The application of elemental fingerprinting techniques to identify population connectivity using austrovenus stutchburyi recruits

The density, distribution and dynamics of benthic bivalve populations are believed to be largely determined by the planktonic larval phase of the life history. As the hard parts of larvae, such as the prodissoconch (larval shell), develop and grow, ambient environmental conditions are recorded as chemical signatures (elemental fingerprints). If the chemical signals of reference sites are known, the larval signatures can be matched to reference sites, hereby reconstructing the origin of the larvae. The collection and identification of larval bivalves is extremely difficult, however, previous studies have shown that the prodissoconch is retained into the juvenile phase, thus enabling juveniles to maintain a record of the larval movement. Before elemental fingerprinting can be used as a larval tracking tool, site specific signatures must be evident in the shells. As a precursor study to test the application of elemental fingerprinting to track bivalve larvae, the presence of spatial variability in shell signatures as well as the scale at which these variations occurred, were established for New Zealand conditions. Furthermore, temporal stability of the shell signatures was explored, as temporal stability is crucial if the signals of shells collected at one time are to be used as predictors of unknown samples collected at a different time. The venerid bivalve Austrovenus stutchburyi is a common and widespread constituent of New Zealand estuarine communities and were therefore selected as the study species. The chemical signatures of entire Austrovenus stutchburyi shells were examined to determine the inter-site spatial differences in elemental fingerprints of shells and also to characterise the temporal stability of the signatures. Furthermore, shells were ablated at two reference points (the prodissoconch and most recently formed shell material) to determine the intra-shell variation in the chemical signatures. Juvenile individuals were collected from 19 sites in the North Island of New Zealand as part of the whole shell spatial study. One site (in Tauranga Harbour) was examined for the temporal study, whilst four sites were used to compare intra-shell chemical variation. Whole shells were digested and analysed as solution based samples using inductively coupled ii ABSTRACT iii plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for the spatial and temporal studies, and by laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) for the point ablation intra-shell variation study. Results showed that shell concentrations were sufficiently different to yield a classification success of 68% over 19 sites, however the classification success markedly increased as the number of sites included in the analysis decreased (e.g. 12 sites = 75%, 10 sites = 84%, 5 sites = 90%, 3 sites = 95%). Shells were successfully classified across all of the spatial scales that were tested (approximately 10 km to 1150 km). Temporal stability in chemical signatures was observed over a 44 day period. The chemical signatures were not correlated with ambient temperature or salinity, however more vigorous sampling is needed to accurately assess the relationship between shell elemental incorporation and environmental conditions. Intra-shell variation was also observed for some of the shells analysed from two of the four sites. These results were promising and indicated that there may be chemical variations between the larval shells and the more recently formed shell material, thus suggesting the possibility of external recruitment. The results from this study emphasised the potential for the application of elemental fingerprinting techniques to track and better understand the larval transport and population connectivity for New Zealand invertebrate species, however more research is required before elemental fingerprinting can effectively be applied to New Zealand invertebrate species. With a fundamental understanding of the origin of bivalve recruits, restoration efforts following estuarine disturbance events can be effectively employed

The Effects of Read 180 on Reading Outcomes for Secondary Students

In this starred paper, I examine the effectiveness of Read 180 on struggling readers in grades 6-12. The literature review is based on quantitative studies that were published between 2009 and 2015. Although Scholastic has published a number of studies that examine Read 180 outcomes, I did not incorporate any of these studies in Chapter 2 due to potential bias. The only information taken from Scholastic consisted of the overall structure of Read 180. All studies used in the literature review are from peer-reviewed journals or published dissertations. The majority of the studies summarized in this paper were generated from PsychINFO, ERIC, and Academic Search Premier. Keywords that helped to find studies for this literature review include reading, remedial reading, Read 180, high school, reading intervention, secondary, upper grades, literacy, effective reading programs, adolescent, and struggling readers

Towards an Effective Learning Organisation and the Role of Human Resources (HR) Department: The Case of a South African Finance Organisation

This study investigates the effectiveness of measures taken by a South African finance institution towards guaranteeing that it is a learning organisation and the supportive role of Human Resources (HR) in this regard. The business environment today is volatile, uncertain, and has become more complex and ambiguous. Organisations have to make fast and appropriate decisions in order to remain current and relevant. Given the rate of change in the global business environment, organisations which are still characterised by traditional bureaucratic and hierarchical structures will find it difficult to adapt to the ever-changing business environment. This institution’s environment is characterised by a high level of bureaucracy and hierarchy resulting in prolonged decision-making processes. The prevalent culture does not promote information sharing and synergies between employees and different departments. In this study, the quantitative research method was used due to the large sample and population. The probability sampling technique was used to collect data from a population of 388 stratified into different management layers. Using multiple regression analysis, the study proved that the ability to promote learning abilities is significantly influenced by HR in driving a culture of learning within the organisation. The study provided further evidence that the learning organisation concept is holistic in its approach and that HR plays a key role in laying the foundation for this concept to thrive. Finally, a recommendation is made in the study that management should review organisational structures in place to improve decision-making. HR should play a more visible role in providing guidelines for mentorship and encourage cross-functional training, knowledge sharing and transfer among departments and employees

Creative-destructivism : a Delphi study of the current South African business environment

Abstract: In an attempt to remain financially viable, modern day organisations are forced to destabilise traditional business methodologies and principles. The dynamic interplay between the efforts of the conserving institutions, i.e. society at large and the disruptors, i.e. the organisations, within the business environment may be defined in terms of the Schumpeterian notion of ‘creative-destructivism’. Within the context of the creative-destructive environment, it is postulated that no individual or organisation will ever have complete information, knowledge or fore-knowledge of how the environment will shape and change in the near future. The South African economy is not exempt from the aforesaid notion. The research will contextualise the current South African business environment, by means of a Delphi study with the results offering insight into the management of the creative-destructive environment

Architecting information : a Delphi study of South African perspective

Abstract: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has transformed society at large, with the Internet and World Wide Web (WWW) revolutionising the access, flow and use of information within the societal context. For organisations to maintain and increase their competitive stance within the market, attention should be focused on how the information is structured within the organisational context. Considering information may be regarded as the catalysts of change within the economy, the objective of this research is to determine how important the architecture of information is to organisations operating in South Africa. The research design utilised to answer the question is based on a pragmatic ontological stance. Building onto the ontological stance, the research employs an abductive epistemological assumption to rationalise the nature of knowledge..

Factors influencing a mother's choice of feeding after discharge of her baby from a neonatal unit

Objective. To assess feeding methods chosen by mothers of babies who spent time in a neonatal unit.  Factors influencing this decision were investigated.Design. Descriptive study.Methods. Mothers were interviewed on the day they took their babies home. Basic demographic data on mother and baby were collected from the hospital records.Setting. The neonatal unit, Pelonomi Hospital, Bloemfontein from May 1996 to May 1998.Subjects. Eighty-one mothers of babies admitted to the neonatal unit.Outcome measures. At discharge 60% of mothers intended to breast-feed their babies exclusively the  next day. The mother's decision to breasHeed her baby at home was significantly associated with her decision before delivery (P = 0.0050). Otherfactors positively associated with the decision to breast-feed exclusively at home were a significantly higher birth weight of the baby (P < 0.0008) and gestational age of the baby (P < 0.0005). The only hospital practice positively associated with this decision was the frequency with which mothers saw their babies during their stay in the unit (P = 0.0153). Mothers' knowledge of how to increase breast-milk supply was very poor.Conclusions. Infants with a lower weight and gestational age, who stayed in the unit longer, were less  likely to be breast-fed after discharge from the neonatal unit. The mothers' experience in the unit did not seem to alter their choice of feeding method decided upon before delivery. This suggests that efforts to promote breast-feeding in the neonatal unit were either ineffectual or inadequate. In order to remedy this situation it is necessary to keep the motherinfant pair together (lodger mothers) and to promote  breastfeeding before and after delivery. It would also be necessary to train staff in the management of lactation problems

A tailored-fit model evaluation strategy for better decisions about structural equation models

Abstract Proper measurement of technology knowledge and social change enables managers to advance strategies in technology management. Structural equation modeling is the ideal method in Technological Forecasting and Social Change (TFSC) and other leading journals to assess the measurement quality of the relevant decision variables and understand how they are related. However, a myriad of indicators are now available to judge how suitable these measurements are (i.e., how well they fit). Despite a consensus that fit indicators are highly context-dependent and no "one-fits-all approach" emerges, a more contingent perspective is surprisingly missing. To fill this gap, we advocate for a "tailored-fit model evaluation strategy" that is specific to the situation at hand to exploit the particular strengths of fit indicators. Motivated by a synthesis of structural equation modeling in TFSC, our simulation study finds that three critical distinctions regarding (a) model novelty, (b) focus on measurement or structural models, and (c) sample size are vital. The proposed strategy demonstrates that, in many contexts, only a few indicators are recommended to avoid artificially inflated Type I/II errors. We provide a decision tree to reach more accurate decisions in model evaluation in order to better theorize and forecast technological and social challenges

Rezeption muslimischer Repräsentationen und gesellschaftlicher Zusammenhalt

Im Artikel werden Befunde einer qualitativen Rezeptionsstudie mit Angehörigen der muslimischen Diaspora zu Medienrepräsentationen des Islams präsentiert. Ausgangspunkt für die Durchführung der Studie waren zwei zentrale Aspekte. Erstens belegen zahlreiche Inhaltsanalysen, dass über Muslimas und Muslime sowie den Islam zumeist ereigniszentriert und in einem gewalt- und konfliktbehafteten Kontext berichtet wird. Es ist anzunehmen, dass eine derart negativ verengte Berichterstattung nicht folgenlos für den Zusammenhalt in der Gesellschaft bleibt. Allerdings ist zweitens wenig darüber bekannt, wie Muslimas und Muslime selbst die Islamberichterstattung wahrnehmen und ob sie muslimische Medienbilder als Gefährdung für den gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt deuten. Diese Leerstelle aufgreifend wurden 12 problemzentrierte Leitfadeninterviews mit Angehörigen der muslimischen Diaspora geführt. Die Befunde zeigen, dass aus Sicht der Interviewten die mediale Repräsentation weitestgehend nicht mit ihrem eigenen Selbstverständnis übereinstimmt und nur wenig Identifikationspotenzial bietet. Im Gegenteil, sie fühlen sich vielfach durch die Islamberichterstattung diskriminiert und ausgegrenzt. In diesem Zusammenhang werden Tendenzen einer Gefährdung des gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalts sichtbar. Für die medienpädagogische Praxis bieten die empirischen Befunde zahlreiche Ansatzpunkte