Natural History of Curtis Island, Bass Strait - 1. Introduction

This paper introduces a series concerned with the results of a scientific expedition undertaken between February 8 and 15, 1971, to Curtis Island, Bass Strait, Tasmania

Natural History of Curtis Island, Bass Strait -2. Soils and Vegetation with notes on Rodondo Island

The soils of Curtis Island are described and the vegetation of Curtis and Rodondo Islands is described and mapped. The main plant communities on Curtis are Poa poiformis tussock grassland, Disphyma blackii herbfield, and Melaleuca armillaris scrub and forest. These occur on Rodondo too, with Eucalyptys aff. globulus forest and Casuarina stricta forest. The role of salt spray, altitude, fire and biotic factors in determining the distribution of these communities is discussed. Six species recorded are not known from the adjacent mainland and their distribution is discussed in relation to long distance dispersal and former land bridges

Eta Carinae and the Luminous Blue Variables

We evaluate the place of Eta Carinae amongst the class of luminous blue variables (LBVs) and show that the LBV phenomenon is not restricted to extremely luminous objects like Eta Car, but extends luminosities as low as log(L/Lsun) = 5.4 - corresponding to initial masses ~25 Msun, and final masses as low as ~10-15 Msun. We present a census of S Doradus variability, and discuss basic LBV properties, their mass-loss behaviour, and whether at maximum light they form pseudo-photospheres. We argue that those objects that exhibit giant Eta Car-type eruptions are most likely related to the more common type of S Doradus variability. Alternative atmospheric models as well as sub-photospheric models for the instability are presented, but the true nature of the LBV phenomenon remains as yet elusive. We end with a discussion on the evolutionary status of LBVs - highlighting recent indications that some LBVs may be in a direct pre-supernova state, in contradiction to the standard paradigm for massive star evolution.Comment: 27 pages, 6 figures, Review Chapter in "Eta Carinae and the supernova imposters" (eds R. Humphreys and K. Davidson) new version submitted to Springe

Mapping children's presence in the neighbourhood

Within the work of Gert Biesta, public spaces are considered as the main fields where processes of civic learning can take place. Learning is always “in place and time”. Place matters, not only as a spatial background or set of conditions , but as a pedagogical process in itself. So in order to facilitate processes of civic learning we need to understand how spaces function as a co-educator in its own right.. In my PhD I studied how the neighbourhood can be understood as a co-educator. The processes through which children are socialised into a given order are not universal, nor neutral. One might state that children grow up into very different orders. The neighbourhood is an important factor into these diversified socialisation processes, but the neighbourhood is also made by its residents and users themselves, including children. This emphasises that socialisation is a relational process and not a functional oneway introduction of children into a prescribed social ordeIn this contribution, a methodological framework will be developed for understanding and studying the neighbourhood of children as a co-educator. The basis of this framework is formed by the synergy between spatial, social and personal dimensions of the neighbourhood

Waiting times for radiotherapy: variation over time and between cancer networks in southeast England

The aim of this study was to investigate variations in the length of time that patients with cancer wait from diagnosis to treatment with radiotherapy. A total of 57 426 men and 71 018 women diagnosed with cancer between 1992 and 2001 and receiving radiotherapy within 6 months of diagnosis were identified from the Thames Cancer Registry database. In total, 12 sites were identified for which a substantial number or proportion of patients received radiotherapy: head and neck, oesophagus, colon, rectum, lung, nonmelanoma skin cancer, breast, uterus, prostate, bladder, brain and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Median waiting times from diagnosis to radiotherapy were calculated, together with the proportion of patients who received radiotherapy within 60 days of diagnosis, and analysed by year of diagnosis, cancer site, deprivation quintile, age at diagnosis, sex and cancer network of either residence or treatment. Logistic regression was used to adjust the proportion receiving treatment within 60 days for the effects of the other factors. There were significant differences in the proportions receiving radiotherapy within 60 days between different networks and different cancer sites, which remained after adjustment. Median waiting times varied from 42 to 65 days across networks of residence, with the adjusted proportion treated within 60 days ranging from 44 to 71%. There was no difference between male and female patients after adjustment for the other factors, particularly site. There was a highly significant trend over time: the median wait increased from 45 days in 1992 to 76 days in 2001, while the adjusted proportion being treated within 60 days declined by almost a half, from 64 to 35%, over the same period

A new skilled emigration dynamic: Portuguese nurses and recruitment in the southern European periphery

Philippine and Indian nurses have been emigrating for many years, but Portu-guese nurses and other South and East Europeans have recently started to replace them in the UK. This study focuses on the recent migration of Portuguese nurses – both as emigrants and immigrants – within the European area. The research mixes extensive and intensive methodologies. Health agencies start-ed to recruit heavily among Portuguese nurses after 2008, which often led to their decision to leave the country with a guaranteed job abroad. In turn, this dynamic of emigration being motived by institutional and recruitment networks was caused by a structural factor: the barriers erected in 2010 by UK immigration pol-icies against the contracting of nurses from outside the EU, which led the job agencies to search for nurses inside Europe. The chapter’s main finding is that alt-hough the push factor of economic recession and increased unemployment that hit the European periphery after the 2008 financial crisis played a role in the out-flow of Portuguese nurses, it was the pull factor that was more significant. The second finding is that this new mass emigration of nurses is not just a Portuguese phenomenon but rather is in keeping with other Southern and East European pe-ripheral countries.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Method of analysis of the spatial galaxy distribution at gigaparsec scales. I. Initial principles

Initial principles of a method of analysis of the luminous matter spatial distribution with sizes about thousands Mpc are presented. The method is based on an analysis of the photometric redshift distribution N(z) in the deep fields with large redshift bins \Deltaz=0.1{\div}0.3. Number density fluctuations in the bins are conditioned by the Poisson's noise, the correlated structures and the systematic errors of the photo-z determination. The method includes covering of a sufficiently large region on the sky by a net of the deep multiband surveys with the sell size about 10^{\circ}x10^{\circ} where individual deep fields have angular size about 10'x10' and may be observed at telescopes having diameters 3-10 meters. The distributions of photo-z within each deep field will give information about the radial extension of the super large structures while a comparison of the individual radial distributions of the net of the deep fields will give information on the tangential extension of the super large structures. A necessary element of the method is an analysis of possible distortion effects related to the methodic of the photo-z determination.Comment: 12 page

Latina and European American Girls’ Experiences with Academic Sexism and their Self-Concepts in Mathematics and Science During Adolescence

The study investigated Latina and European American adolescent girls’ (N = 345, M = 15.2 years, range = 13 to 18) experiences with academic sexism in mathematics and science (M/S) and their M/S perceived competence and M/S value (liking and importance). M/S academic sexism was based on girls’ reported experiences hearing sexist comments about girls’ abilities in math and science. Older European American adolescents, and both younger and older Latina adolescents, who experienced several instances of academic sexism felt less competent in M/S than girls who experienced less sexism (controlling for M/S grades). In addition, among older girls (regardless of ethnicity), those who experienced several instances of academic sexism valued M/S less than girls who experienced less sexism

Ethnic Label Use in Adolescents from Traditional and Non-Traditional Immigrant Communities

Understanding adolescents’ use of ethnic labels is a key developmental issue, particularly given the practical significance of identity and self-definition in adolescents’ lives. Ethnic labeling was examined among adolescents in the traditional immigrant receiving area of Los Angeles (Asian n = 258, Latino n = 279) and the non-traditional immigrant receiving area of North Carolina (Asian n = 165, Latino n = 239). Logistic regressions showed that adolescents from different geographic settings use different ethnic labels, with youth from NC preferring heritage and panethnic labels and youth from LA preferring hyphenated American labels. Second generation youth were more likely than first generation youth to use hyphenated American labels, and less likely to use heritage or panethnic labels. Greater ethnic centrality increased the odds of heritage label use, and greater English proficiency increased the odds of heritage-American label use. These associations significantly mediated the initial effects of setting. Further results examine ethnic differences as well as links between labels and self-esteem. The discussion highlights implications of ethnic labeling and context

Dynamic liquefaction of shear zones in intact loess during simulated earthquake loading

The 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence in New Zealand exposed loess-mantled slopes in the area to very high levels of seismic excitation (locally measured as >2 g). Few loess slopes showed permanent local downslope deformation, and most of these showed only limited accumulated displacement. A series of innovative dynamic back pressured shear-box tests were undertaken on intact and remoulded loess samples collected from one of the recently active slopes replicating field conditions under different simplified horizontal seismic excitations. During each test, the strength reduction and excess pore water pressures generated were measured as the sample failed. Test results suggest that although dynamic liquefaction could have occurred, a key factor was likely to have been that the loess was largely unsaturated at the times of the large earthquake events. The failure of intact loess samples in the tests was complex and variable due to the highly variable geotechnical characteristics of the material. Some loess samples failed rapidly as a result of dynamic liquefaction as seismic excitation generated an increase in pore-water pressure, triggering rapid loss of strength and thus of shear resistance. Following initial failure, pore pressure dissipated with continued seismic excitation and the sample consolidated, resulting in partial shear-strength recovery. Once excess pore-water pressures had dissipated, deformation continued in a critical effective stress state with no further change in volume. Remoulded and weaker samples, however, did not liquefy, and instead immediately reduced in volume with an accompanying slower and more sustained increase in pore pressure as the sample consolidated. Thereafter excess pressures dissipated and deformation continued at a critical state. The complex behaviour explained why, despite exceptionally strong ground shaking, there was only limited displacement and lack of run-out: dynamic liquefaction was unlikely to occur in the freely draining slopes. Dynamic liquefaction however remained a plausible mechanism to explain loess failure in some of the low-angle toe slopes, where a permanent water table was present in the loess