Keeping phosphorus on the land

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Canada License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ca/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.The workshop was financially supported by a Capacity Building Award (Seed Funding) provided by the University of Saskatchewan’s Global Institute for Water Security and the Global Water Futures Program, Agricultural Water Futures project, and CareerLauncher Internships.Non-Peer ReviewedManagement of the phosphorus (P) in prairie soils faces a challenging dilemma. Phosphorus is critical to continued agronomic productivity. Yet, management of P in prairie landscapes is also crucial to the protection of prairie lakes and reservoirs, which are highly vulnerable to issues of nutrient pollution and harmful algal blooms. In our workshop, “Keeping Phosphorus on the Land” (February 22 & March 2, 2021), we worked to bridge the disciplines of water quality, and agronomy, and better understand issues, and opportunities within and across these areas of work as they relate to managing soil P. After two half-days of meetings that engaged researchers and practitioners in government, industry and universities, we gained a long list of ideas to act on, and a number of crucial new insights. This two-page synthesis highlights several key points that came from the workshop. Readers are directed to our full report to learn about these key points and other areas in more detail, and for a full list of recommendations resulting from the meeting

Keeping phosphorus on the land

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Canada License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ca/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.Supported by a Capacity Building Award (Seed Funding) provided by the University of Saskatchewan’s Global Institute for Water Security and the Global Water Futures Program, Agricultural Water Futures project, and Career Launcher Internships.Non-Peer ReviewedManagement of the phosphorus (P) in prairie soils presents a challenging dilemma. Phosphorus is critical to continued agronomic productivity. Yet, management of P in prairie landscapes is also crucial to the protection of prairie lakes and reservoirs, which are highly vulnerable to issues of nutrient pollution and harmful algal blooms. Here we present detailed insights from a 2-day workshop “Keeping Phosphorus on the Land” where we worked to bridge the disciplines of water quality, and agronomy, and better understand issues, and opportunities within and across these areas of work as they relate to managing soil P. This report includes detailed insights and recommendations that reflect outcomes of presentations, panels, and discussions engaging researchers and practitioners in government, industry and universities from each of Canada’s three prairie provinces. It includes recommendations on ‘actionable’ areas, and areas where further research and dialogue is required. Readers are also directed to our short synthesis report, available here: Liu, J., H.M. Baulch, and J.A. Elliott. 2021. Keeping Phosphorus on the Land: Main Takeaways for Managing Soil Phosphorus in the Prairies. University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada. DOI:10.23688/1gvs-5333

Secondary Schools (A Dialogue)

The purpose of this exercise was to consider how language teaching changed in response to the teaching conditions imposed by the pandemic (e.g., distanced online learning, face-to-face teaching with restrictions on activities, a hybrid situation where some pupils were present and some online, synchronous or asynchronous teaching) both during the pandemic (especially during lockdowns) and post-pandemic. Eight practitioners described their experiences honestly and openly through an asynchronous conversation, each giving an answer to six questions and then engaging with the answers given by others. Key points that emerged • All types of distanced learning magnified the challenges of regular teaching • Examples of very positive use of technology to meet the challenges of distanced learning • Departments tended to divide up responsibility for lesson planning to make this more efficient • Assessment of routine language was made more engaging and easier to monitor via technology • Stark differences between schools regarding teacher and pupil access to and expertise in technology The contributions provide a rich source of information which could provide the basis for research into effective language teaching pedagogy generally

Keeping Phosphorus on the Land

Non-Peer ReviewedThe prairie provinces are major crop production regions in Canada but which face severe problems of eutrophication in surface waterbodies associated with nutrient runoff. Managing soil nutrients, particularly phosphorous (P) as the driving factor, is key to achieving both agricultural production and enhancing water quality. Although both agronomists and water quality scientists strive for better management of P, existing guidelines do not acknowledge contemporary cropping systems nor give sufficient consideration to downstream water quality. Furthermore, collaborations and knowledge exchange between agronomy and environmental sciences and professions are weak. We are organizing a virtual workshop to bring together researchers and professionals from across the prairie provinces to foster a discussion on how to bridge mutually beneficial interests, and to inform the necessary research, policy and operational recommendations to help keep P on the land. In this presentation, we will report the key messages from our workshop to the audiences of the Soils and Crops Conference. Link to Video Presentation: https://youtu.be/JzSPOlucn8

Understanding service users’ and therapists’ experiences of pharmacological treatment for sexual preoccupation and/or hypersexuality in incarcerated sex offenders

This research comprises two qualitative studies understanding the experiences of 1) convicted sex offenders voluntarily receiving pharmacological treatment to reduce sexual preoccupation and 2) therapists working with these offenders. The studies form part of a research programme evaluating the use of pharmacological treatment with sexual offenders. In study one, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 sexual offenders receiving selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). In study two, interviews were conducted with eight intervention staff with varying levels of experience of working with offenders taking anti-libidinals. Thematic analysis was used and in study one, two main themes emerged: (i) the impact of the pharmacological treatment on prisoners’ daily functioning; (ii) barriers to compliance/engagement. In study two, three main themes emerged: (i) offenders’ reluctance to engage with pharmacological treatment; (ii) challenges for therapists; (iii) pharmacology: ‘just another piece of the puzzle’. Findings are discussed in relation to practice and future research

White Habits, Anti‐Racism, and Philosophy as a Way of Life

This paper examines Pierre Hadot’s philosophy as a way of life in the context of race. I argue that a “way of life” approach to philosophy renders intelligible how anti-racist confrontation of racist ideas and institutionalized white complicity is a properly philosophical way of life requiring regulated reflection on habits – particularly, habits of whiteness. I first rehearse some of Hadot’s analysis of the “way of life” orientation in philosophy, in which philosophical wisdom is understood as cultivated by actions which result in the creation of wise habits. I analyze a phenomenological claim about the nature of habit implied by the “way of life” approach, namely, that habits can be both the cause and the effect of action. This point is central to the “way of life” philosophy, I claim, in that it makes possible the intelligent redirection of habits, in which wise habits are more the effect than simply the cause of action. Lastly, I illustrate the “way of life” approach in the context of anti-racism by turning to Linda Martín Alcoff’s whiteness anti-eliminativism, which outlines a morally defensible transformation of the habits of whiteness. I argue that anti-racism provides an intelligible context for modern day forms of what Hadot calls “spiritual exercises” insofar as the “way of life” philosophy is embodied in the practice of whites seeing themselves seeing as white and seeing themselves being seen as white

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Bureaucracy as a Lens for Analyzing and Designing Algorithmic Systems

Scholarship on algorithms has drawn on the analogy between algorithmic systems and bureaucracies to diagnose shortcomings in algorithmic decision-making. We extend the analogy further by drawing on Michel Crozier’s theory of bureaucratic organizations to analyze the relationship between algorithmic and human decision-making power. We present algorithms as analogous to impartial bureaucratic rules for controlling action, and argue that discretionary decision-making power in algorithmic systems accumulates at locations where uncertainty about the operation of algorithms persists. This key point of our essay connects with Alkhatib and Bernstein’s theory of ’street-level algorithms’, and highlights that the role of human discretion in algorithmic systems is to accommodate uncertain situations which inflexible algorithms cannot handle. We conclude by discussing how the analysis and design of algorithmic systems could seek to identify and cultivate important sources of uncertainty, to enable the human discretionary work that enhances systemic resilience in the face of algorithmic errors.Peer reviewe