Phonological literacy: Preparing primary teachers for the challenge of a balanced approach to literacy education

Researchers at the University of New England have developed an electronic module designed to introduce the elements of phonology and phonics to trainee primary teachers. This paper discusses the background and conception of the module, and then describes its contents, its implementation and the results of its formal evaluation

Combining two complementary micrometeorological methods to measure CH4 and N2O fluxes over pasture

New Zealand\u27s largest industrial sector is pastoral agriculture, giving rise to a large fraction of the country\u27s emissions of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). We designed a system to continuously measure CH4 and N2O fluxes at the field scale on two adjacent pastures that differed with respect to management. At the core of this system was a closed-cell Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer, which measured the mole fractions of CH4, N2O and carbon dioxide (CO2) at two heights at each site. In parallel, CO2 fluxes were measured using eddy-covariance instrumentation. We applied two different micrometeorological ratio methods to infer the CH4 and N2O fluxes from their respective mole fractions and the CO2 fluxes. The first is a variant of the flux-gradient method, where it is assumed that the turbulent diffusivities of CH4 and N2O equal that of CO2. This method was reliable when the CO2 mole-fraction difference between heights was at least 4 times greater than the FTIR\u27s resolution of differences. For the second method, the temporal increases of mole fractions in the stable nocturnal boundary layer, which are correlated for concurrently emitted gases, are used to infer the unknown fluxes of CH4 and N2O from the known flux of CO2. This method was sensitive to contamination from trace gas sources other than the pasture of interest and therefore required careful filtering. With both methods combined, estimates of mean daily CH4 and N2O fluxes were obtained for 56 % of days at one site and 73 % at the other. Both methods indicated both sites as net sources of CH4 and N2O. Mean emission rates for 1 year at the unfertilised, winter-grazed site were 8.9 (±0.79) nmol CH4 m−2 s−1 and 0.38 (±0.018) nmol N2O m−2 s−1. During the same year, mean emission rates at the irrigated, fertilised and rotationally grazed site were 8.9 (±0.79) nmol CH4 m−2 s−1 and 0.58 (±0.020) nmol N2O m−2 s−1. At this site, the N2O emissions amounted to 1.21 (±0.15) % of the nitrogen inputs from animal excreta and fertiliser application

Carbon budgets for an irrigated intensively grazed dairy pasture and an unirrigated winter-grazed pasture

Intensification of pastoral agriculture is occurring rapidly across New Zealand, including increasing use of irrigation and fertiliser application in some regions. While this enables greater gross primary production (GPP) and livestock grazing intensity, the consequences for the net ecosystem carbon budget (NECB) of the pastures are poorly known. Here, we determined the NECB over one year for an irrigated, fertilised and rotationally grazed dairy pasture and a neighbouring unirrigated, unfertilised, winter-grazed pasture. Primary terms in the NECB calculation were: net ecosystem production (NEP), biomass carbon removed by grazing cows and carbon (C) input from their excreta. Annual NEP was measured using the eddy-covariance method. Carbon removal was estimated with plate-meter measurements calibrated against biomass collections, pre- and post-grazing. Excreta deposition was calculated from animal feed intake. The intensively managed pasture gained C (NECB = 103±42g Cm−2yr−1) but would have been subject to a non-significant C loss if cattle excreta had not been returned to the pasture. The unirrigated pasture was C-neutral (NECB = −13±23g Cm−2yr−1). While annual GPP of the former was almost twice that of the latter (2679 vs. 1372g Cm−2yr−1), ecosystem respiration differed by only 68% between the two pastures (2271 vs. 1352g Cm−2yr−1). The ratio of GPP to the total annual water input of the irrigated pasture was 37% greater than that of the unirrigated pasture, i.e. the former used the water input more efficiently than the latter to produce biomass. The NECB results agree qualitatively with those from many other eddy-covariance studies of grazed grasslands, but they seem to be at odds with long-term carbon-stock studies of other New Zealand pastures.ISSN:1726-4170ISSN:1726-417

Combining two complementary micrometeorological methods to measure CH4 and N2O fluxes over pasture

New Zealand's largest industrial sector is pastoral agriculture, giving rise to a large fraction of the country's emissions of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). We designed a system to continuously measure CH4 and N2O fluxes at the field scale on two adjacent pastures that differed with respect to management. At the core of this system was a closed-cell Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer, which measured the mole fractions of CH4, N2O and carbon dioxide (CO2) at two heights at each site. In parallel, CO2 fluxes were measured using eddy-covariance instrumentation. We applied two different micrometeorological ratio methods to infer the CH4 and N2O fluxes from their respective mole fractions and the CO2 fluxes. The first is a variant of the flux-gradient method, where it is assumed that the turbulent diffusivities of CH4 and N2O equal that of CO2. This method was reliable when the CO2 mole-fraction difference between heights was at least 4 times greater than the FTIR's resolution of differences. For the second method, the temporal increases of mole fractions in the stable nocturnal boundary layer, which are correlated for concurrently emitted gases, are used to infer the unknown fluxes of CH4 and N2O from the known flux of CO2. This method was sensitive to “contamination” from trace gas sources other than the pasture of interest and therefore required careful filtering. With both methods combined, estimates of mean daily CH4 and N2O fluxes were obtained for 56% of days at one site and 73% at the other. Both methods indicated both sites as net sources of CH4 and N2O. Mean emission rates for 1 year at the unfertilised, winter-grazed site were 8.9 (±0.79)nmolCH4m−2s−1 and 0.38 (±0.018)nmolN2Om−2s−1. During the same year, mean emission rates at the irrigated, fertilised and rotationally grazed site were 8.9 (±0.79)nmolCH4m−2s−1 and 0.58 (±0.020)nmolN2Om−2s−1. At this site, the N2O emissions amounted to 1.21 (±0.15)% of the nitrogen inputs from animal excreta and fertiliser application.ISSN:1726-4170ISSN:1726-417

Discovery of a variable energy-dependent X-ray polarization in the accreting neutron star GX 5-1

International audienceWe report on the coordinated observations of the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary (NS-LMXB) GX 5−1 in X-rays (IXPE, NICER, NuSTAR, and INTEGRAL), optical (REM and LCO), near-infrared (REM), mid-infrared (VLT VISIR), and radio (ATCA). This Z-source was observed by IXPE twice in March-April 2023 (Obs. 1 and 2). In the radio band the source was detected, but only upper limits to the linear polarization were obtained at a 3σ level of 6.1% at 5.5 GHz and 5.9% at 9 GHz in Obs. 1 and 12.5% at 5.5 GHz and 20% at 9 GHz in Obs. 2. The mid-IR, near-IR, and optical observations suggest the presence of a compact jet that peaks in the mid- or far-IR. The X-ray polarization degree was found to be 3.7%±0.4% (at 90% confidence level) during Obs. 1 when the source was in the horizontal branch of the Z-track and 1.8%±0.4% during Obs. 2 when the source was in the normal-flaring branch. These results confirm the variation in polarization degree as a function of the position of the source in the color-color diagram, as for previously observed Z-track sources (Cyg X-2 and XTE 1701−462). Evidence of a variation in the polarization angle of ∼20° with energy is found in both observations, likely related to the different, nonorthogonal polarization angles of the disk and Comptonization components, which peak at different energies