Small mammal pollination in Protea Witzenbergiana

Protea witzenbergiana possesses some features common to that of therophilous Proteas in the Cape Floristic Region, such as a cup-shaped, downwards-hanging inflorescence surrounded by red involucral bracts, which emits a yeasty, musky odour. The flowering season occurs in the winter and the plants occur in small, localized and isolated stands in the Witzenberg fynbos. However, the species has never been investigated as to whether it is pollinated by small mammals. This study investigated whether the plant is rodent-pollinated, and if so to what extent by various species. Fieldwork was carried out over three days of live trapping, during and after the flowering season. Exclosure experiments were set up in order to assess seed set. Mammal droppings were collected, processed and pollen grains were counted. All small mammal species excepting one (Otomys irroratus) contained pollen grains in their faeces. Oendromus melanotis, Mus minutoides and Aethomys namaquensis were found to be the most important pollinators. The small mammal community showed a distinct change in size and composition after flowering season had ended, suggesting that the availability of nectar resources may be an important food supply to small mammals in the area. Implications of these findings could be relevant for conservation and co-evolutionary studies

The Making of a MOOC: Reflections from the Journey!

The Making of a MOOC': Any relevance to "normal" learning and teaching? MOOCs (massive open online courses) are a hugely topical area of educational policy and practice. The University of Glasgow is developing two new courses in partnership with FutureLearn, a free, open, online platform for courses from multiple UK and international universities. The university will initially offer two courses, one from the School of Medicine and one from the School of Law, beginning in May/June 2014.'Cancer in the 21st Century: The Genomic Revolution' has been developed by the School of Medicine in collaboration with the Institute of Cancer Sciences. In this presentation we will provide an introduction to MOOCs and reflect on our own experiences in the development of the cancer genetics MOOC over the past year. Specific areas of potential relevance to traditional course design such as student retention, student engagement, peer-assisted learning and peer review will be considered. We will review our approach to course design and discuss how factors such as online accessibility, the size of the student cohort, and the varying levels of background knowledge amongst students have influenced our decision making process. The design of the student surveys for the course and how the data generated will impact our model of sustainability for the MOOC in future academic sessions will also be discussed

GETTING A GRIP ON GUNS: Rolling out the Firearms Control Act

The use of guns in crime remains high in South Africa. The annual report of the National Injury Mortality Surveillance System (NIMSS) for 2000 found that death caused by firearms is higher in South Africa than death occurring through road traffic accidents or any other external cause of non-natural death. The government maintains that controlling firearms remains a priority and is focusing on the implementation of the Firearms Contro

Playing the Numbers Game: Students as Assessors in a MOOC Context

With increasing focus on online platforms in learning and teaching, it is vital to examine how we can best assess students in the online context. The main rationale driving innovative assessment in MOOCs is the unprecedented scale of class sizes. While it may be logistically challenging for staff to mark/give feedback on the large number of student assignments, peers are plentiful. Assessment and feedback must therefore come either from automated processes, like MCQ quizzes or from other students i.e. peer review (PR). Our study was based on data from the 6-week MOOC ‘Cancer in the 21st Century: The Genomic Revolution’ on which there were >7000 students enrolled. Over 200 students took part in a PR task as part of the MOOC. The aim of our research was to investigate the quality of the PRs produced, what factors influence this and the students’ experience of the PR process. Demographic data (age, gender, previous level of education, whether students are currently employed and field of employment) was collected and linked to 79 students who had participated. Peer reviews were compared with staff marking of the written task and the demographic data was analysed in relation to both written task and peer review performance. Qualitative comments were also gathered from various forums and thematic analysis was carried out on these. Overall, many high quality reviews were generated, and students identified specific benefits to both receiving and giving reviews, including promoting deeper learning. We also found that while several demographic factors may influence both participation in, and quality of initial written task itself, they do not appear to have a marked effect on the quality of the peer review which an individual is able to give. We will discuss the implications of these results for use of PR in both online and offline environments

The use of emerging techniques to understand seagrass ecosystems: Case studies using Posidonia oceanica in the Eastern Aegean

Seagrass meadows are vital coastal habitats that support a wide array of species and provide numerous ecosystem services. The area of seagrass meadow has declined significantly, at a rate of about 5% per year, since 1980. Emerging techniques for seagrass research has the potential to provide new insights to fill knowledge gaps and improve our understanding of seagrass ecological function and ecosystem services. This improved understanding will help us to inform policy makers about protection measures. Using Posidonia oceanica dominated habitats as a case study, this thesis assesses emerging techniques for mapping seagrass habitats, monitoring biodiversity with seagrass habitats and assessing microplastic pollution loads within seagrass sediments.Kayak-borne down-scan sonar is shown to provide an accurate and cost-effective method for mapping the distribution of seagrass meadows. Sonar-derived data suggested current estimates of seagrass extent in the Aegean, based on analysis of satellite imagery, may contain considerable inaccuracies particularly in areas of complex bathymetry. It is suggested that kayak-borne sonar mapping can provide accurate reference data for larger scale satellite mapping, delivering benefits in terms of our ability to survey seagrass distribution and monitor temporal changes in extent and health.Environmental DNA is proven to be an effective tool for the non invasive detection of, Pinna nobilis, a culturally important yet Critically Endangered bivalve species associated with P. oceanica habitats. The technique developed in this study is capable of detecting concentrations of DNA as low as 5.50 x 10-10 ng µl-1 from sea water samples. This technique can be used at different spatial scales dependent on the season, allowing eDNA to be a sensitive and precise tool in locating and identifying a key species inhabiting seagrass meadows.A fine-scale analysis of microplastic distribution within the sediment under a seagrass meadow using recently developed Sediment Microplastic Isolation techniques, indicated that seagrass did not influence the deposition of microplastics to sediment at a semi isolated bay. Microplastics were recovered at relatively low densities across the entire study area. Analysis of sediment patterns suggested that most sediment input was from terrestrial sources immediately adjacent to the seagrass bed and, therefore, that seagrass beds that are closer to terrestrial sources of microplastic pollution are likely to show much greater microplastic loadings.It is concluded that, emerging techniques such as down-scan sonar, eDNA and microplastic extraction can provide novel insights into the distribution and ecological functioning of seagrass habitats. These insights provide avenues for the development of existing monitoring methods and for conservation policies

OPERATION SETHUNYA: Proactive policing can solve the illicit firearms problem

In 2003 the South African Police Service intensified its efforts to confiscate illegal firearms and check legal owners’ compliance with the firearms legislation. The initiative with the highest profile was Operation Sethunya (‘firearm’) run from April to September 2003. Sethunya was the largest ever police effort in the country focused exclusively on stemming the proliferation of firearms. The amount of weapons and ammunition collected during the operation is impressive, but what impact has it had on the number of illicit firearms in circulation

Expression of nitric oxide synthase and transforming growth factor-beta in crush-injured tendon and synovium.

This study examined the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) in macrophage infiltrates within crush-injured digital flexor tendon and synovium of control rats and rats treated with N(G)-nitro-1-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) (5 mg/kg). Release of TGF-beta from organ cultures of tendon, muscle, and synovium, and the effects of L-NAME treatment (in vitro and in vivo), on adhesion of peritoneal macrophages to epitenon monolayers were also investigated. The results showed that during normal tendon healing the levels of TGF-beta are high at first and gradually decrease after 3 weeks of injury to slightly above control uninjured levels. However, when L-NAME was administered at the time of injury, the macrophage infiltrates were expressing high levels of TGF-beta even at 5 weeks after the injury, with no evidence of reduction. In the standard injury, iNOS activity was greatest at the acute phase of the inflammatory response and then gradually returned to normal. Treatment with L-NAME, however, resulted in inhibition of iNOS activity at 3 days and a reduction in the activity at the later time points examined after injury. We also found greatly increased levels of adhesion of peritoneal macrophages from L-NAME-treated rats to epitenon monolayers in vitro, which reflect a chronic imbalance in expression of TGF-beta, which is overexpressed, and nitric oxide, which is underexpressed. The results of the current study show that formation of nitric oxide is an important event in the course of tendon healing since its inhibition results in chronic inflammation and fibrosis due to an imbalance in TGF-beta expression in vivo

Is peer review an appropriate form of assessment in a MOOC? Student participation and performance in formative peer review

Many aspects of traditional higher education must be reconceptualised for massive open online courses (MOOCs). Formative and summative assessment of qualitative work in particular requires novel approaches to cope with the numbers involved. Peer review has been proposed as one solution, and has been widely adopted by major MOOC providers but there is currently little evidence about whether it is appropriate in the MOOC context, or under what conditions. Here, we examine student participation, performance and opinions of a peer review task in a biomedical science MOOC. We evaluate data from approximately 200 student topic summaries and 300 qualitative peer reviews of those summaries, and compare these to student demographic data (gender, age, employment status, education, national language) and to performance in multiple choice tests (MCQs). We show that higher performance in the written topic summary correlated with both higher participation in the peer review task, and with writing higher quality peer reviews. Qualitative analysis of student comments revealed that student opinion on the usefulness of the peer review task was mixed: some strongly believed it benefitted their learning, while others did not find it useful or did not participate. We suggest instructional design strategies to improve student participation and increase learning gain from peer review in the MOOC context

The use of storm fragments and biodegradable replanting methods allows for a low-impact habitat restoration method of seagrass meadows, in the eastern Aegean Sea

Seagrasses are important marine ecosystems but are vulnerable to physical damage from anthropogenic activities such as anchoring and trawling. Replanting damaged areas can represent a viable restoration strategy, yet current methods rely on the removal of plants from existing meadows and in some cases the use of non-sustainable planting materials. In this paper, we present evidence of a sustainable replanting strategy. Storm fragments of the endemic Mediterranean seagrass, neptune grass Posidonia oceanica were collected from the shore and shallow water, both the plagiotropic and orthotropic (horizontal and vertical) growth forms were then replanted using one of two biodegradable materials, coconut fibre pots or bamboo stakes, to secure them to the seafloor. Establishment of plagiotropic fragments were increased by bamboo anchorage (x̅ = 89% SE ± 0%) compared to orthotropic storm fragments (x̅ = 66.5% SE ± 6.5%). By contrast a coconut fibre method resulted in greater establishment of orthotropic fragments (x̅ = 79% SE ± 7%) compared to plagiotropic (x̅ = 51% SE ± 11%). Fragments showed some blade growth, but little shoot growth after 15 months. The fragment shoot and blade growth did not differ between the plagiotropic or orthotropic fragments replanted by bamboo stakes or coconut fibre pot. Our results suggest that the use of storm fragments and biodegradable anchoring materials constitutes a viable, non-destructive replanting technique in seagrass restoration. Furthermore success can be increased by selecting a growth-form appropriate planting method

Testing of a novel questionnaire of Household Exposure to Wood Smoke

Household air pollution from wood smoke (WS), contributes to adverse health effects in both low- and high-income countries. However, measurement of WS exposure has been limited to expensive in-home monitoring and lengthy face-to-face interviews. This paper reports on the development and testing of a novel, self-report nine-item measure of WS exposure, called the Household Exposure to Wood Smoke (HEWS). A sample of 149 individuals using household wood stoves for heating from western states in the U.S., completed the HEWS during the winter months (November to March) of 2013 through 2016 with 30 subjects having in-home particle monitoring. Hard copy or online surveys were completed. Cronbach\u27s alpha (α), intraclass correlations (ICC), exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and tests of associations were done to evaluate reliability and validity of the HEWS. Based on initial analysis, only 9 of the 12 items were retained and entered in the EFA. The EFA did not support a unitary scale as the 9 items demonstrated a 3-factor solution (WS exposure duration, proximity, and intensity) with Cronbach\u27s α of 0.79, 0.91, and 0.62, respectively. ICC was 0.86 of the combined items with single items ranging from 0.46 to 0.95. WS intensity was associated with symptoms and levoglucosan levels, while WS duration was associated with stove and flume maintenance. The three-dimensional HEWS demonstrated internal consistency and test-retest reliability, structural validity, and initial criterion and construct validity