An organization overview of pedagogical practice in work-integrated education

Tertiary curriculum design has increasingly emphasized work-integrated learning (WIL) opportunities. This qualitative study provides an overview of a variety of WIL activities at Massey University, New Zealand. Descriptive comments, provided through interviews with fifteen academic supervisors from disciplines ranging from the applied sciences through social sciences to business, education and creative arts, highlight the following six factors to be considered in the resourcing of WIL programs. Themes related to set-up include placement requirements, support, selection, location, and risk management issues. Student preparation involves pre-requisite theoretical knowledge, general career preparation (CV & interview skills) and readiness for practice. With respect to supervision, an on-campus academic mentor and a work-place supervisor are both important to the student. Competencies linked to team work and professional standards include self-confidence, communication and people skills. The teaching pedagogies used include lectures and labs, oral presentations, scenario-based-learning and project work. Assessment involved a learning contract, reflective journal, oral presentation, and final report

A comparative investigation of the wear characteristics of a high power diode laser generated single-stage tile grout and commercial epoxy tile grout

A comparative study of a single-stage ceramic tile grout, generated using a 60 W high power diode laser (HPDL), and a commercially available tile grout has determined the wear characteristics of the two materials. Within both normal and corrosive environmental conditions, the single-stage ceramic tile grout proved to have a superior wear rate over the epoxy tile grout, 0.9 mg/cm2/h compared with 125 mg/cm2/h when in an HNO3 environment respectively. Likewise, life assessment testing revealed that the single-stage ceramic tile grout gave an increase in wear life of 4 to 42 times over the commercially available epoxy tile grout, depending upon the corrosive environment. It is believed that the economic and material benefits to be gained from the deployment of such an effective and efficient means of sealing ceramic tiles could be significant

The N170 event-related potential differentiates congruent and incongruent gaze responses in gaze leading

To facilitate social interactions, humans need to process the responses that other people make to their actions, including eye movements that could establish joint attention. Here, we investigated the neurophysiological correlates of the processing of observed gaze responses following the participants’ own eye movement. These observed gaze responses could either establish, or fail to establish, joint attention. We implemented a gaze leading paradigm in which participants made a saccade from an on-screen face to an object, followed by the on-screen face either making a congruent or incongruent gaze shift. An N170 event-related potential was elicited by the peripherally located gaze shift stimulus. Critically, the N170 was greater for joint attention than non-joint gaze both when task-irrelevant (Experiment 1) and task-relevant (Experiment 2). These data suggest for the first time that the neurocognitive system responsible for structural encoding of face stimuli is affected by the establishment of participant-initiated joint attention

The role of farmyard manure in the maintenance of botanical diversity in the traditionally managed hay meadows of the Pennines

PhD ThesisTraditionally managed hay meadows of the Pennines are highly prized for their botanical diversity. In recent decades there has been a drastic reduction in these meadows because of the negative effects on botanical diversity of widespread management changes, such as the application of inorganic fertiliser and the switch from hay to silage production. The consequences of changes in grazing regime, cut date and inorganic fertiliser application have been well documented. However, although farmyard manure application is an integral part of long term meadow management it has as yet received less scientific attention. The application of farmyard manure provides a possible mechanism by which seed contained within hay cut from the meadows can subsequently be returned to the meadow. The dispersal of seed and establishment of plants within traditionally managed hay meadows is an important area of study because of the problems associated with attempts to re-create meadows in the Pennines and throughout the UK, an important goal of agri-environment schemes. Field, glasshouse and laboratory experiments are described which attempt to establish the viable seed content in samples of hay from botanically diverse meadows and how subsequent feeding to livestock affects the viable seed content of the farmyard manure produced. The experiments also explored the extent to which seed remained viable during the time that manure was stored prior to spreading, thus affecting its capacity to germinate once spread or to become incorporated into the soil seed bank. The spreading of farmyard manure has often been observed to create bare patches within the meadow vegetation. It was therefore hypothesised that these patches may be suitable niches for the germination of seeds from within the manure itself or from the soil seed bank, and this was investigated using field experimentation. Comparison of the original vegetation with the viable seed content of hay, manure and dung from cattle fed exclusively on meadow hay from two traditionally managed sources produced some interesting results. The meadow vegetation contained a range of prominent perennial herbs such as Geranium sylvaticum, Sanguisorba officinalis and Filipendula ulmaria which are considered to be important from a conservation management viewpoint. However, germination of the seed within the hay cut from these meadows failed to provide any evidence for the occurrence of such species within the hay. Either the typical mid July hay cut comes before these species produce ripe seed or the seed was lost from the hay during the turning and baling operations. Viable seeds of the early flowering annual herb Rhinanthus minor, which is also considered by ecologists to be desirable, were also absent from the hay. The most abundant species in the hay were generally grasses, with Poa trivialis especially prominent, and less important, often annual, herb species. The feeding of this hay to cattle and subsequent germination of seed within the dung showed that the digestive system of the cattle was extremely damaging to seed viability. Proportionally P. trivialis became even more dominant within the dung samples with many of the less common species in the hay failing to have any viable seed within the dung. In contrast to the dung, the fresh manure collected from the two farms contained a larger quantity of seed, and more species than the dung. These samples were in fact more comparable to the hay samples in terms of species composition although not quantity. This suggests that the majority of the viable seed which is incorporated into manure does not pass through the digestive tract of the livestock, but rather falls directly from feed racks onto the barn floor. Confirmation of the negative effect of the digestive processes of cattle on seed viability was achieved in a laboratory experiment. A three stage process was used to mimic the effects of chewing, rumen digestion and post ruminal digestion. Five species were tested; two grasses P. trivlalis and Anthoxanthum odoratum which occurred within the hay samples, the annual herb Myosotis arvensis which was found within hay samples and two perennial herbs F. ulmaria and S. officinalis which were absent from the hay samples. Whilst the effects of chewing and ruminal digestion varied between the five species tested the post ruminal digestion was extremely damaging in all five species. These results suggested that the prominence of P. trivialis in dung samples was due more to the high quantity of seed within the hay rather than to any increased ability to survive digestion. The perennial herbs, F. ulmaria and S. officinalis were able to survive digestion at least as well as P. trivialis and so given appropriate management of hay cut timing could become incorporated into manure for subsequent dispersal via this route. By comparing the viable seed content of fresh" manure with that in samples stored for 3 months, 6 months and 12 months it was clear that the seed content of the manure did not reduce until it had been stored for a period longer than 6 months. Once again those species with the greatest quantity of seed in fresh manure were the ones which were able to survive within the older manure samples. The burial in manure of known quantities of the same seeds as used in the laboratory digestion experiment confirmed this result, and also showed that herb species absent from the hay and manure are at least as capable of survival within manure heaps as species such as P. trivialis which dominated the manure samples collected from farms. In order to assess the role that manure application to meadows may have in supplying seed to the soil seed bank, soil cores were extracted from the meadows at the two farms used in the study and the seed content estimated by seed germination. The soil seed bank contained all of the species found within the manure samples as well as a range of earlier flowering species including the annual herb R. minor. Again the longer lived perennial herb species valued from a bio-diversity perspective were largely absent from the soil seed bank or only present in very low quantities. The species make up of the seed bank within these diverse hay meadow communities was found to be more akin to the species make up of species poor pasture communities. This suggests that seed set by many of the ecologically desirable species is not a regular occurrence within Pennine meadows. The large quantity of seed of certain species found within manure applied to the meadows means that it could play a significant role in the build up of seed within the soil seed bank, although these species may be expected to be recruited to the soil seed bank via other routes such as seed rain during the period of crop growth and the hay making operations. Field experimentation with observation of the colonisation of gaps created by farmyard manure application showed that vegetation colonising these gaps did not compare to the seed content of the manure or the soil seed bank, but rather the surrounding vegetation. Colonisation of these gaps did not give rise to vegetation containing a higher quantity of species indicative of the manure or soil seed content. Perennial herb species absent from both the manure and the soil seed bank were amongst the colonisers of the these gaps suggesting that vegetative re-growth is an important process in the maintenance of long term botanical diversity within such meadows. Whilst it remains possible that during years when the hay cut is later than usual, seed production and subsequent incorporation into the hay of more desirable later flowering herbs could occur, the overwhelming weight of evidence suggests that the farmyard manure from cattle fed meadow hay is not a significant contributor to the dispersal of ecologically valuable components of meadow vegetation. Indeed, the results suggest that seed production may be less important than the vegetative propagation of many species

Status of the Black Bear in Southwestern Alabama

Black bears (Ursus americanus floridanus) once were abundant throughout Alabama (Hall 1981), but today sightings of bears are common only in the extreme southwestern portion of the state. The objectives of my study were to determine the distribution of black bears in southwestern Alabama, estimate basic demographic parameters, and evaluate their habitat needs. To determine bear distribution I established and monitored 168 bait stations within the study area from 1998 to 2000. Baits were checked for bear activity at approximately weekly intervals. In areas where bear presence was detected I trapped from 22 October--20 November 1998, 22 June--4 November 1999, and 24 May--29 October 2000, using Aldrich spring-activated foot snares. I recorded 23 captures of 17 (10F: 7M) individual bears from 53 trap sites. I radiocollared 16 (10F: 6M) individual bears and monitored movements once every 10 days in 1999 and twice every 7 days in 2000 by fixed-wing aircraft. Sizes of average home range using the 95% minimum convex polygon technique were 7.8 km2 for females (n = 10) and 67.1 km2 for males (n = 6). Home range overlap was extensive between and within sexes. I estimated second-order habitat selection (Johnson 1980) for bears in southwest Alabama using compositional analysis (Aebischer et al. 1993). I generated 2 available habitat areas for the analysis, one including the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, and the other excluding the delta. The analysis extent including the delta suggested that bears were more likely to position their home ranges in areas that contained pine, and the analysis extent excluding the delta suggested that bears were more likely to position their home ranges in areas that contained woody wetlands. Among 16 radiocollared bears, 4 lost their collars (3 summer 2000, 1 winter 2001) and one bear died in fall 2000. Cumulative annual survival over the duration of the study was 0.957 (95% CI = 0.880-1.0). I used a population model (RISKMAN version 1.5.413; Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) to estimate population growth and probability of extinction. With the given parameter estimates for the population growth simulation, and an estimated initial population of 30 individuals, the mean annual growth rate (λ) was 1.027. Additionally, I estimated extinction probability for initial populations of 20, 30, and 40 individuals. Extinction occurred in 17, 13, and 4% of the trials, respectively. This variation in extinction probability suggests that the loss or gain of only a few individuals could greatly affect the stability and perpetuity of the population. I used 19 hair samples from 17 live captured and 2 vehicle-killed bears to determine the total observed alleles and frequencies and over all measure of heterozygosity for the samples collected. Average number of alleles per locus was 2.88 (range 2-4) and average heterozygosity for the 8 loci sampled was 31.6% (range 5-58%). These numbers were low compared to similar analysis for other southeastern black bear populations; this was likely due to the low amount of genetic interchange with other bear populations and the low number of breeding individuals in the population. The bear population in southwest Alabama is being maintained in only a few small isolated areas where breeding females occur, and thus may be one of the most threatened populations of black bears in North America. These breeding females appear to be associated with feeder streams and associated swamps and bays not subject to river flooding adjacent to pine and oak-pine upland habitats. Bears appear to be scarce in the extensive seasonally flooded habitats along the Mobile, Tensaw, Alabama, and Tombigbee rivers; this is likely due to the low number of sufficient den trees, and isolation from current populations. However, because of its extensive size (app. 100 km2) and natural isolation, these seasonally flooded wetlands may hold the greatest potential for bear habitat in the region

Polyfluorinated alkenes and alkynes

The research described within this thesis may be divided into four main subject areas: 1) The use of (Z)-2H-heptafluorobut-2-ene (10) as a synthon for hexafluorobut- 2-yne (4) in Diels-Alder reactions was investigated. Novel 'one-pot' routes to a variety of bis(trifluoromethyl) substituted furan and arene derivatives were discovered, along with the synthesis of the novel diene, bis(trifluoromethyl)cyclopentadiene (46), from cyclopentadiene.2) A variety of nucleophiles were successfully reacted with (10), the products of which were identical to those that have been, or would be expected to be, formed from the reaction of the same nucleophile with (4). A novel route to a fluorinated quinoline derivative was also discovered.3) Perfluoroperhydrophenanthrene (74) was used as a 'bulking agent' to replace the hydrocarbon solvent used in halogen exchange reactions for the preparation of octafluorocyclopentene (3), chlorofluoro -pyridine, -pyrimidine, and -benzene derivatives. New 'one-pot' syntheses of hexafluorobut-2-yne (4), octafluorobut-2-ene (6) and hexafluorocyclobutene (2) were also discovered.4) Various routes were explored in an attempt to improve the present literature preparations of tetrafluoropropyne (79), including pyrolysis and elimination methods. Tetrafluoroallene (81), and trace amounts of (79), were found to be formed on the elimination of hydrogen fluoride from 2H-pentafluoropropene (5)