Remote Predictive Mapping 4. Utilizing High Resolution Satellite Imagery, Western Minto Inlier, Victoria Island, NWT

The very high spatial resolution and stereo capability of GeoEye-1 images were utilized to map the geology of a part of the western Neoproterozoic Minto Inlier on Victoria Island. To optimize the results of predictive mapping, a LANDSAT-7 image together with a SPOT-5 image were also used in concert with the GeoEye-1 images. The predictive bedrock geology map, interpreted based on 3D stereo visualization, presents much more detailed geological information compared to the existing 1:500,000 scale geological map of the area. The high spatial and moderate spectral resolution of GeoEye images allowed us to distinguish a black shale unit (black shale member), and resolve subtle spectral and textural differences between massive stromatolitic dolostone and dolostone containing fine-grained interlayers in an upper carbonate member. As well, an important distinction could be made between Proterozoic sedimentary strata and unconformably overlying interlayered sandstone and carbonate rocks of Cambro-Ordovician age. The SWIR bands in the LANDSAT and SPOT images proved to be very useful in identifying gabbro sills. A geological map, based on field work, was used to evaluate the remote predictive map. Comparison of the predictive map with the field map shows that the two maps look similar in terms of the regional distribution of the lithological units; however, there are discrepancies between the two maps, especially in areas in which the bedrock is covered by glacial sediments and/or other overburden materials. The spectral similarity between different stratigraphic units comprising similar rock types, also contributed to differences between the predictive map and the field map.Nous avons utilisé la très haute résolution spatiale et les capacités stéréoscopiques des images GeoEye-1 pour cartographier la géologie d’une partie de la partie ouest de l’enclave de Minto, datant du Néoprotérozoïque, de l’île Victoria. Pour optimiser les résultats de la cartographie prédictive, nous avons aussi utilisé une image LANDSAT-7 et une image SPOT-5 avec les images GeoEye-1. Les cartes géologiques prédictives du substratum rocheux, interprétées à partir d’une visualisation stéréoscopique 3D, présentent des renseignements géologiques beaucoup plus détaillés que la carte géologique actuelle de cette zone à l’échelle de 1/500 000. La haute résolution spatiale et la résolution spectrale modérée des images GeoEye nous ont permis de distinguer une unité d’ampélite (membre d’ampélite) et de résoudre des différences spectrales et texturales subtiles entre la dolomie stromatolithique massive et la dolomie contenant des interstrates à grain fin dans un membre carbonaté supérieur. De plus, nous avons pu faire une distinction importante entre les strates sédimentaires du Protérozoïque et les couches interstratifiées de roches carbonatées et de grès du Cambro-Ordovicien qui les surmontent en discordance. Les bandes IRCL des images des satellites LANDSAT et SPOT ont été très utiles pour identifier les filons-couches de gabbro. Une carte géologique basée sur des travaux réalisés sur le terrain a servi à évaluer la carte de télécartographie prédictive. Une comparaison de la carte prédictive et de la carte dressée sur le terrain montre que les deux cartes semblent similaires en ce qui a trait à la répartition régionale des unités lithologiques; mais il y a des différences, surtout aux endroits où le substratum rocheux est couvert de sédiments glaciaires et/ou d’autres matériaux de recouvrement. La similitude spectrale entre les différentes unités stratigraphiques ayant des lithologies similaires a aussi contribué à causer des différences entre la carte prédictive et la carte dressée sur le terrain

The learning experiences of health and social care paraprofessionals on a foundation degree

Foundation degrees have been developed in the UK as a means of meeting the learning needs of paraprofessionals in health and social care and the services within which they work in a cost-effective fashion. Workplace learning is an intrinsic component to these degrees. Taking a socio-cultural perspective, this paper examines how the students' workplaces, life circumstances and sense of career trajectory shaped their learning experience and motivation. A small-scale evaluation study, using semi-structured interviews, focused on the learning experiences of a group of paraprofessionals enrolled in a foundation degree in health and social care. Data revealed fragmented employment patterns, underpinned by consistent vocational drives. While the study resonated with vocation, participants were ambivalent or lacked information about career progression. Workplace conditions, relationships and limited time shaped learning and coping strategies. A strategic and focused approach to student learning is required and includes attention to career pathways, workforce development strategy, the requirements of a range of stakeholders, workplace supervision and support for learning

Remote Predictive Mapping 3. Optical Remote Sensing – A Review for Remote Predictive Geological Mapping in Northern Canada

Optical remotely sensed data have broad application for geological mapping in Canada’s North. Diverse remote sensors and digital image processing techniques have specific mapping functions, as demonstrated by numerous examples and associated interpretations. Moderate resolution optical sensors are useful for discriminating rock types, whereas sensors that offer increased spectral resolution (i.e. hyperspectral sensors) allow the geologist to identify certain rock types (mainly different types of carbonates, Fe-bearing rocks, sulphates and hydroxyl-(clay-) bearing rocks) as opposed to merely discriminating between them. Increased spatial resolution and the ability to visualize the earth’s surface in stereo are now offered by a host of optical sensors. However, the usefulness of optical remote sensing for geological mapping is highly dependent on the geologic, surficial and biophysical environment, and bedrock predictive mapping is most successful in areas not obscured by thick drift and vegetation/lichen cover, which is typical of environments proximal to coasts. In general, predictive mapping of surficial materials has fewer restrictions. Optical imagery can be enhanced in a variety of ways and fused with other geo-science datasets to produce imagery that can be visually interpreted in a GIS environment. Computer processing techniques are useful for undertaking more quantitative analyses of imagery for mapping bedrock, surficial materials and geomorphic or glacial features. SOMMAIRE Les données recueillies par télédétection optique offrent beaucoup de possibilités pour la cartographie géologique des régions nordiques canadiennes. La diversité des télécapteurs et des techniques de traitement numérique des données permet la définition de fonctions de cartographie spécifique, tel que l’illustre de nombreux exemples et interprétations associées. Des capteurs optiques de moyenne résolution sont utiles pour différencier les types de roche, alors que les capteurs à plus fines résolutions (les capteurs hyperspectraux, par ex.) permettent au géologue de subdiviser certains types de roches (principalement différents types de carbonates, roches ferrugineuses, roches à sulfates et à hydroxyle (argile). Une meilleure résolution spatiale et la fonction de vision stéréoscopique sont maintenant offertes sur une gamme de capteurs optiques. Cela dit, l’utilité de la télédétection optique pour la cartographie géologique est fortement tributaire des conditions de la géologie de surface et de son environnement biophysique, le potentiel prédictif de la télécartographie étant maximal pour les régions exemptes d’une couverture épaisse de dépôts glaciaires ou d’une couverture végétale/lichen caractéristique typique des environnements longeant les côtes. Divers procédés permettent de rehausser l’imagerie optique et de réaliser des fusions avec d’autres jeux de données géoscientifiques et de produire une imagerie visuellement inter-prétable en environnement de SIG. Les techniques de traitement de données par ordinateur sont utiles pour d’autres types d’analyse quantitative d’imagerie pour la cartographie des matériaux de couverture du socle et pour répertorier des formes glaciaires et géomorphologiques

Stimulating the innovation potential of 'routine' workers through workplace learning

Governments worldwide seek to upgrade the ‘basic skills' of employees deemed to have low literacy and numeracy, in order to enable their greater productivity and participation in workplace practices. A longitudinal investigation of such interventions in the United Kingdom has examined the effects on employees and on organizations of engaging in basic skills programmes offered in and through the workplace. ‘Tracking’ of employees in selected organizational contexts has highlighted ways in which interplay between formal and informal workplace learning can help to create the environments for employees in lower grade jobs to use and expand their skills. This workplace learning is a precondition, a stimulus and an essential ingredient for participation in employee-driven innovation, as workers engage with others to vary, and eventually to change, work practices. © 2010, SAGE Publications. All rights reserved

Precise age of Bangiomorpha pubescens dates the origin of eukaryotic photosynthesis

Although the geological record indicates that eukaryotes evolved by 1.9–1.4 Ga, their early evolution is poorly resolved taxonomically and chronologically. The fossil red alga Bangiomorpha pubescens is the only recognized crown-group eukaryote older than ca. 0.8 Ga and marks the earliest known expression of extant forms of multicellularity and eukaryotic photosynthesis. Because it postdates the divergence between the red and green algae and the prior endosymbiotic event that gave rise to the chloroplast, B. pubescens is uniquely important for calibrating eukaryotic evolution. However, molecular clock estimates for the divergence between the red and green algae are highly variable, and some analyses estimate this split to be younger than the widely inferred but poorly constrained first appearance age of 1.2 Ga for B. pubescens. As a result, many molecular clock studies reject this fossil ex post facto. Here we present new Re-Os isotopic ages from sedimentary rocks that stratigraphically bracket the occurrence of B. pubescens in the Bylot Supergroup of Baffin Island and revise its first appearance to 1.047 +0.013/–0.017 Ga. This date is 150 m.y. younger than commonly held interpretations and permits more precise estimates of early eukaryotic evolution. Using cross-calibrated molecular clock analyses with the new fossil age, we calculate that photosynthesis within the Eukarya emerged ca. 1.25 Ga. This date for primary plastid endosymbiosis serves as a benchmark for interpreting the fossil record of early eukaryotes and evaluating their role in the Proterozoic biosphere

Sustainable development and African local government: can electronic training help build capacities?

A recent study carried out by European and African organizations into the potential for electronic distance training (EDT) on sustainability in African local governments concluded that EDT was both 'useful and feasible'. This article reflects on some of the theoretical and practical implications of that study. It focuses on the connection between learning and sustainability and how EDT programmes might be designed and promoted. The paper argues that, while resource issues and poor access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) create considerable constraints and point to the need for policies to improve access, in general the most important factors for successful capacity building relate to the design of learning programmes that take account of the work contexts and skill and capability requirements of those targeted as learners. 'Useful' and 'feasible' depend on (i) how work-based and work-related learning processes are understood and (ii) the conditions to promote learning within African local government. Keywords: Africa; Electronic distance training; Local government; Sustainability; Workplace learnin

Precise age of Bangiomorpha pubescens dates the origin of eukaryotic photosynthesis

Although the geological record indicates that eukaryotes evolved by 1.9–1.4 Ga, their early evolution is poorly resolved taxonomically and chronologically. The fossil red alga Bangiomorpha pubescens is the only recognized crown-group eukaryote older than ca. 0.8 Ga and marks the earliest known expression of extant forms of multicellularity and eukaryotic photosynthesis. Because it postdates the divergence between the red and green algae and the prior endosymbiotic event that gave rise to the chloroplast, B. pubescens is uniquely important for calibrating eukaryotic evolution. However, molecular clock estimates for the divergence between the red and green algae are highly variable, and some analyses estimate this split to be younger than the widely inferred but poorly constrained first appearance age of 1.2 Ga for B. pubescens. As a result, many molecular clock studies reject this fossil ex post facto. Here we present new Re-Os isotopic ages from sedimentary rocks that stratigraphically bracket the occurrence of B. pubescens in the Bylot Supergroup of Baffin Island and revise its first appearance to 1.047 +0.013/–0.017 Ga. This date is 150 m.y. younger than commonly held interpretations and permits more precise estimates of early eukaryotic evolution. Using cross-calibrated molecular clock analyses with the new fossil age, we calculate that photosynthesis within the Eukarya emerged ca. 1.25 Ga. This date for primary plastid endosymbiosis serves as a benchmark for interpreting the fossil record of early eukaryotes and evaluating their role in the Proterozoic biosphere

Trends in publications regarding evidence-practice gaps: A literature review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Well-designed trials of strategies to improve adherence to clinical practice guidelines are needed to close persistent evidence-practice gaps. We studied how the number of these trials is changing with time, and to what extent physicians are participating in such trials.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This is a literature-based study of trends in evidence-practice gap publications over 10 years and participation of clinicians in intervention trials to narrow evidence-practice gaps. We chose nine evidence-based guidelines and identified relevant publications in the PubMed database from January 1998 to December 2007. We coded these publications by study type (intervention versus non-intervention studies). We further subdivided intervention studies into those for clinicians and those for patients. Data were analyzed to determine if observed trends were statistically significant.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identified 1,151 publications that discussed evidence-practice gaps in nine topic areas. There were 169 intervention studies that were designed to improve adherence to well-established clinical guidelines, averaging 1.9 studies per year per topic area. Twenty-eight publications (34%; 95% CI: 24% - 45%) reported interventions intended for clinicians or health systems that met Effective Practice and Organization of Care (EPOC) criteria for adequate design. The median consent rate of physicians asked to participate in these well-designed studies was 60% (95% CI, 25% to 69%).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We evaluated research publications for nine evidence-practice gaps, and identified small numbers of well-designed intervention trials and low rates of physician participation in these trials.</p

Influences on gum feeding in primates

This chapter reviews the factors that may affect patterns of gum feeding by primates. These are then examined for mixed-species troops of saddleback (S. fuscicollis) and mustached (S. mystax) tamarins. An important distinction is made between gums produced by tree trunks and branches as a result of damage and those produced by seed pods as part of a dispersal strategy as these may be expected to differ in their biochemistry. Feeding on fruit and Parkia seed pod exudates was more prevalent in the morning whereas other exudates were eaten in the afternoon. This itinerary may represent a deliberate strategy to retain trunk gums in the gut overnight, thus maximising the potential for microbial fermentation of their β-linked oligosaccharides. Both types of exudates were eaten more in the dry than the wet season. Consumption was linked to seasonal changes in resource availability and not the tamarins’ reproductive status pro-viding no support for the suggestion that gums are eaten as a pri-mary calcium source in the later stages of gestation and lactation. The role of availability in determining patterns of consumption is further supported by the finding that dietary overlap for the trunk gums eaten was greater between species within mixed-species troops within years than it was within species between years. These data and those for pygmy marmosets (Cebuella pygmaea) suggest that patterns of primate gummivory may reflect the interaction of prefer-ence and availability for both those able to stimulate gum production and those not