Pride of the South: Risk Analysis for Marine Biosecurity in Fiordland

This paper describes a model used to assess alternative scenarios for managing the marine biosecurity risk to Fiordland from vessel traffic. Scenarios are assessed in terms of risk reduction per dollar spent. To keep the analysis manageable, we focus on vessel risks from hull fouling, as this is considered the primary pathway of vessel-related spread. Our analysis includes evaluation of the costs and benefits of different types of vector treatment as well as the possibility of continued vessel monitoring and control of pest populations in Bluff Harbour to reduce the risk of vector infection.Fiordland, marine biosecurity, risk reduction, benefit cost analysis, management options, Bluff, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty, Health Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Livestock Production/Industries, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

Wave heating from proto-neutron star convection and the core-collapse supernova explosion mechanism

Our understanding of the core-collapse supernova explosion mechanism is incomplete. While the favoured scenario is delayed revival of the stalled shock by neutrino heating, it is difficult to reliably compute explosion outcomes and energies, which depend sensitively on the complex radiation hydrodynamics of the post-shock region. The dynamics of the (non-)explosion depend sensitively on how energy is transported from inside and near the proto-neutron star (PNS) to material just behind the supernova shock. Although most of the PNS energy is lost in the form of neutrinos, hydrodynamic and hydromagnetic waves can also carry energy from the PNS to the shock. We show that gravity waves excited by core PNS convection can couple with outgoing acoustic waves that present an appreciable source of energy and pressure in the post-shock region. Using one-dimensional simulations, we estimate the gravity wave energy flux excited by PNS convection and the fraction of this energy transmitted upwards to the post-shock region as acoustic waves. We find wave energy fluxes near 10⁵¹ergs⁻¹ are likely to persist for ∼1s post-bounce. The wave pressure on the shock may exceed 10 per cent of the thermal pressure, potentially contributing to shock revival and, subsequently, a successful and energetic explosion. We also discuss how future simulations can better capture the effects of waves, and more accurately quantify wave heating rates

Pasture establishment (2012)

"Agriculture.""Dairy grazing.""Dairy grazing publication series : This publication is one in a series about operating and managing a pasture-based dairy. Although these publications often refer to conditions in Missouri, many of the principles and concepts described may apply to operations throughout the United States."New 6/12/Web

Prevalence and patterns of hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption assessed using the AUDIT among Bhutanese refugees in Nepal.

AIMS: This study sought to ascertain the prevalence of hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption among Bhutanese refugees in Nepal and to identify predictors of elevated risk in order to better understand intervention need. METHODS: Hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption was assessed using the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) administered in a face-to-face interview in a census of two camps comprising ∼8000 refugees. RESULTS: Approximately 1/5 men and 1/14 women drank alcohol and prevalence of hazardous drinking among current drinkers was high and comparable to that seen in Western countries with longstanding alcohol cultures. Harmful drinking was particularly associated with the use of other substances including tobacco. CONCLUSIONS: Assessment of the alcohol-related needs of Bhutanese refugees has permitted the design of interventions. This study adds to the small international literature on substance use in forced migration populations, about which there is growing concern

Tackling Structure and Format -- The \u27Great Unknown\u27 in Professional Blogging

This article addresses a gap in guidelines for those who blog professionally. It does so in a way that uniquely serves extension and research communicators. Many types of blogs have been used and described. Plenty of generic advice is available about writing blogs. However, little of it involves how to organize them. In this analysis, for example, advice about structure and format of blogs made up less than 3 percent of the 315 tips identified. A review of journalism literature identif ied some of the practices used in structuring news and information for media. The review also identified formats for organizing several other cousins of blogs. This article introduces a unique hybrid format for blogs, based on experiences of one of the authors. It involves a seven-step process that incorporates elements of objective reporting (explaining) with those of subjective expression (stimulating and advocating)

Moving Past Disconnected Hurdles: Empowering Graduate Students to Affect Positive Change Through the Thesis and Dissertation Experience

This article argues for the need to significantly adjust the process and focus of the educational thesis and dissertation to better match the preparation and needs of students who are practitioners in order to help these students become stronger and better educators and leaders. To that end, the article presents innovative approaches to improve experiences for graduate students who are developing, conducting and completing master’s degree theses and doctoral dissertations in the field of education. The vast majority of students who pursue master’s or doctoral degrees in education do not intend to become researchers or university faculty.  Rather, most of these students are looking to improve their skills as teachers and educational leaders, and will likely never conduct a major research effort beyond the thesis or dissertation.  While these students have a great deal of practical experience in their field, most of them have had little or no exposure to graduate level research, scholarly literature or academic writing.  Recognizing that research skills including data collection and analysis, and academic writing are essential skills for all graduate students including those in educational programs, these skills alone are inadequate in preparing educators for the realities they face as they work to conduct multi-tiered and multi-faceted research that will affect positive change and contribute to the field to improve overall student success. For many of these students the thesis and dissertation, while a significant requirement for the degree, are viewed as major “hurdles” that are too often disconnected from the realities and complexities of the classroom and administrative office.  Appropriate theoretical and conceptual frameworks are used to examine how the educational thesis and dissertation process can be improved to better serve the needs of educational practitioners.  This includes the use of Role AcquisitionTheory (Thornton & Nardi, 1975) to examine and help facilitate the intrinsic change process in graduate students in education during the thesis and dissertation process. Transformative Learning Framework (Cranton, 2016) is used to better understand and advance developmental changes and scaffolding that are necessary to examine problematic frames of reference, openly reflect, and to emotionally change from the experience. The Loss/Momentum Framework (RP Group, 2012) is used in two separate ways; first to scrutinize specific institutional barriers and supports that exist in graduate and doctoral programs in education as well throughout the university that influence the process of completing the thesis and dissertation.  Second, it is used to identify and examine individual characteristics, skills, and attributes of these students that serve as either barriers or assets to completing a meaningful thesis or dissertation. Practical recommendations for improving the educational thesis and dissertation process are provided, and mentoring and strategic coaching approaches discussed

The use of national datasets to baseline science education reform: exploring value-added approaches

This paper uses data from the National Pupil Database to investigate the differences in ‘performance’ across the range of science courses available following the 2006 Key Stage 4 (KS4) science reforms in England. This is a value-added exploration (from Key Stage 3 [KS3] to KS4) aimed not at the student or the school level, but rather at that of the course. Different methodological approaches to carrying out such an analysis, ranging from simple non-contextualized techniques, to more complex fully contextualized multilevel models, are investigated and their limitations and benefits are evaluated. Important differences between courses are found in terms of the typical ‘value’ they add to the students studying them with particular applied science courses producing higher mean KS4 outcomes for the same KS3 level compared with other courses. The implications of the emergence of such differences, in a context where schools are judged to a great extent on their value-added performance, are discussed. The relative importance of a variety of student characteristics in determining KS4 outcomes are also investigated. Substantive findings are that across all types of course, science prior attainment at KS3, rather than that of mathematics or English, is the most important predictor of KS4 performance in science, and that students of lower socio-economic status consistently make less progress over KS4 than might be expected, despite prior attainment being accounted for in the modelling

Exposure to cues of harsh or safe environmental conditions alters food preferences

In humans, psychological stress is positively correlated with an increased desire for certain energy-dense food items, indicating that stress may trigger foraging behavior that adapts to perceived current and future resource availability. However, the extent to which such processes influence desire for different kinds of foods remains unclear. Here, we examine the effects of perceived environmental conditions on food preferences across the food spectrum of dairy, meats, vegetables, fruit, grains, and sweets. We first showed images of 30 different food items to participants and recorded their stated desire to eat each kind of food. We then repeated this procedure after exposing participants to cues of either a harsh or a safe environment. As predicted, we found cues of environmental harshness increased the desirability of energy-dense food items. However, there was also evidence for decreased desirability for energy-dense food items following exposure to cues of a relatively safe environment. Our findings indicate that simple manipulations of perceived environmental conditions may trigger changes in desire for different kinds of food. Our study has relevance for increasing efforts to understand eating behavior in order to promote uptake of healthier diets