Establishing death in stranded Odontocetes (toothed whales) using other mammals : a pilot study : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Zoology at Massey University

The aim of this study was to investigate and evaluate a new method for determining death in stranded odontocetes (toothed whales). The new method was using the pulsations seen in the retinal blood vessels in the place of the heart rate. The retinal blood vessels can visualized, using an ophthalmoscope, in the fundus of the eye. Initially the procedure was to be testing using animals at a mass stranding, but there were no suitable strandings that took place during the time of the study. Therefore other mammal species were used to test the procedure. These mammals were cattle, sheep, and dogs, with additional observational testing carried out on seals, sea lions and dolphins. The mammals were chosen because of their availability and supply. The results showed that there was a strong relationship between the heart rate and the pulsations measured in the retinal blood vessels. This was expected as the cardiovascular system is connected and pulsations of blood vessels must have originated from the heart. The results using dogs, also indicated that there is a relationship between the cessation of the pulsations in the retinal blood vessels and the cessation of the heart beat. Dogs were used as a benchmark by which all other mammals could be compared. Therefore this study indicates that it is possible to identify the cessation of the heart using the cessation of the pulsations in the retinal blood vessels

Becoming “Holistically Indigenous”: Young Muslims and Political Participation in Canada

While media and the government often focus on the supposed “radicalization” of Muslim youth in Canada, our research explores the more complicated and nuanced political identities among 20 young Canadian Muslims. Using semi-structured in-depth interviews with these youth in the Greater Toronto Area and in London, Ontario, we explore these young citizens' concepts of political participation; conceptions of the self as a political actor; formal, informal, and civic political involvement; and the relationship between their religious and Canadian identities. Our research is grounded in a positive and pluralistic politics of care, respect, and engagement. We treated Muslim youth as similar to other Canadian youth and designed our study guided by other contemporary research into Canadian youth and political participation. While our interviewees noted the impact of negative public discourse about Muslims and some experiences of racism, the research results revealed an overwhelming commitment to Canada and political engagement among Muslim youth, evidenced most fully by a high level of civic engagement

Granny Would Be Proud: on Doing Vintage, Practices and Emergent Socialities

It is proposed that vintage consumption must be understood as an embodied practice. This paper seeks to initiate a Vintage Turn within consumer research, to consider vintage as a practice of transformation and togetherness in an alternative consumption space

Estimating Workforce Development Needs for High-Speed Rail in California, Research Report 11-16

This study provides an assessment of the job creation and attendant education and training needs associated with the creation of the California High-Speed Rail (CHSR) network, scheduled to begin construction in September 2012. Given the high profile of national and state commitment to the project, a comprehensive analysis that discusses the education, training, and related needs created during the build out of the CHSR network is necessary. This needs assessment is achieved by means of: 1) analyzing current high-speed rail specific challenges pertaining to 220mph trains; 2) using a more accurate and robust “bottom-up” approach to estimate the labor, education, skills, and knowledge needed to complete the CHSR network; and 3) assessing the current capacity of railroad-specific training and education in the state of California and the nation. Through these analyses, the study identifies the magnitude and attributes of the workforce development needs and challenges that lie ahead for California. The results of this research offer new insight into the training and education levels likely to be needed for the emergent high-speed rail workforce, including which types of workers and professionals are needed over the life of the project (by project phase), and their anticipated educational level. Results indicates that although the education attained by the design engineers of the system signifies the most advanced levels of education in the workforce, this group is comparatively small over the life of the project. Secondly, this report identifies vast training needs for the construction workforce and higher education needs for a managerial construction workforce. Finally, the report identifies an extremely limited existing capacity for training and educating the high-speed rail workforce in both California and in the U.S. generally

"I Ain't No Tea Lady": Identifying and addressing barriers to non-traditional employment, training and education from a female perspective, SOVA

The aim of this research was to examine perceptions and experiences of accessing non-traditional Education Training and Employment (ETE) from the vantage point of disadvantaged women using innovative sampling and research techniques. The research design and strategy sought to access the participant’s views and valuable experience. Many of the women whose opinions the research was trying to elicit had never considered non-traditional ETE, in their own words it simply was 'not on their radar'. We decided to adopt a 'workshop' approach. A workshop format was designed which used fun and thought provoking exercises to promote discussion. These interactive and dynamic workshops proved successful in generating some excellent data. In total 80 women from a range of areas of disadvantage participated in the research

Evaluation of the South Yorkshire Restorative Justice programme (SYRJP)

The SYRJP was developed in partnership between South Yorkshire Police and the Local Criminal Justice Board (LCJB) with the aim of implementing a county wide model of Restorative Justice (RJ) for use in neighbourhood policing and other community applications. It is aimed at tackling low level crime and anti-social behaviour in neighbourhoods and gives police officers the discretion to use Youth and Adult Restorative disposals as an alternative to prosecution for low level offending behaviour where offenders have no previous convictions, make an admission of guilt and where both offender and victim consent to the RJ process

Did Implementing Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) of 1990 Improve Diet?

Nutrition labeling, in the words of the then FDA commissioner, David Kessler, was to “help millions of Americans make more informed, healthier choices.” Although the NLEA primarily focused on standardizing the nutrition facts label, its implementation also involved an informational and educational campaign on how to use the new nutrition facts label and the benefits of using it. Evidently label use more than doubled between 1989-91 and 1994-96. Most of the studies provide evidence of the effects of nutrition label use by comparing label users against non-users using data after NLEA was in effect. Using pseudo-panel data method, we find that implementing NLEA did not improve diet quality but use of labels did. Further, label usage showed no improvement in diet quality within a cohort but it did reveal significant differences among or between cohorts. We also test for differences in diet quality between the two periods by comparing individuals of similar characteristics using a non-parametric approach, the Mahalnobis distance matching technique. Differences across the two periods would be tested at different quantiles of the diet quality with an emphasis on label use and education levels.Nutrition, diet, nutrition facts label, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,