Strategies for maximizing sugarcane yield with limited water in the Bundaberg district

Between 1995 and 2003 sugarcane farmers in Bundaberg had access to limited irrigation water. Over this time water allocations were effectively a quarter of the requirements for a fully irrigated crop. In response to this problem irrigation strategies were developed to assist farmers. Field investigations focused on the performance of water winch and furrow irrigation systems, which make up 91 percent of the irrigated area in the district. As most of these application systems have insufficient capacity to meet crop demands, opportunities to schedule irrigations were limited to start up after rain. Improvements in irrigation system performance were found to provide the greatest potential to increase sugarcane yield under conditions of limited water. Investigations identified that irrigation performance could be significantly improved through relatively minor adjustment. Timing of irrigation start up after rain influenced how much water could be applied to the field. Even with relatively low allocations delayed start up strategies could lead to a situation where water was left over at the end of the season

RIFFS: Un experimento en la escritura de investigación y publicación sobre música popular

RIFFS is a magazine created by a writing group at Birmingham City University. The publication emerged as a space to critically consider the ways in which we communicate research. As we wrote, we realised that by writing fiction, poetry, or by creating new forms of writing that grew out of our research, we were able to more clearly communicate our observations and ideas about popular music.  &nbsp

RIFFS: Un experimento en la escritura de investigación y publicación sobre música popular

RIFFS es una revista que nace en grupo de escritura en Birmingham City University. La publicación sirve para pensar críticamente las formas en que se comunica la investigación académica. Mientras sus integrantes escribían, se dieron cuenta que mediante la ficción, la poesía o la creación de nuevas formas de escritura que surgían desde la investigación, podían comunicar más claramente sus observaciones e ideas sobre la música popular

Challenging Industry to Innovate! How the Government Can Apply Transparency, Collaboration, Unencumbered Communication, and Dynamic Engagement Through Challenge-Based Acquisition

Excerpt from the Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual Acquisition Research SymposiumThe Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Telecommunications Advanced Research and Dynamic Spectrum Sharing Systems (TARDyS3) program demanded new ideas and novel approaches for sharing electromagnetic spectrum between the Department of Defense and commercial industry. To solve this problem, DISA created an acquisition structure that focused on building transparency, collaborating, and actively communicating with industry across the entire acquisition. This focus on dynamically engaging vendors and encouraging innovation allowed DISA to rapidly deploy high-quality and user-approved capabilities. Dynamic engagement involves a two-way exchange of ideas, listening to industry by seeking input, and conveying the government’s ideas and motivations to potential vendors, while innovation centricity consists of encouraging vendors to solve problems with unique solutions, providing a framework for future acquisitions. Dynamic engagement, coupled with innovation centricity, powerfully engages the vendor community to solve hard problems. Combining innovation with communication creates a vendor community that is motivated to meet the government’s needs, and it accelerates risk mitigation. Furthermore, it can improve product quality and shortens delivery time lines at a reasonable price. For these reasons, future programs should consider incorporating dynamic engagement and innovation-centric approaches at the core of their acquisition strategies.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

The Prophetic Book = Ksiega Proroctw

1 volume, 46 unnumbered pages. Title page illustrated and printed on a double page spread. ... translated into Polish by Jerzy Jarniewicz. 11 black and white linocuts by Krzysztof Wawrzyniak ... Limited edition of 100 copies numbered 1-100 ... All copies signed by the poet, the translator and the graphic-artist. --Colophon. Text in Polish and English. Cover has letterpress design/illustration on cover. Housed in five-part folded case. Printed text on lining paper mounted inside the case covers.https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/specialcollections_books_printmaking/1000/thumbnail.jp

The Prophetic book = Ksiega proroctw

1 volume housed in five-part folded case. Title page illustrated and printed on a double page spread. .. translated into Polish by Jerzy Jarniewicz. 11 black and white linocuts by Krzysztof Wawrzyniak.. Limited edition of 100 copies numbered 1-100.. All copies signed by the poet, the translator and the graphic-artist. --Colophon. Text in Polish and English. Cover has letterpress design/illustration on cover. Housed in five-part folded case. Printed text on lining paper mounted inside the case covers. Library has copy no. 17.https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/specialcollections_artistsbooks/1174/thumbnail.jp

COVID-19 and the UK Live Music Industry: A Crisis of Spatial Materiality

For the live music industry, and those who work in it, the COVID-19 outbreak has been predominantly framed as an economic crisis, one in which the economic systems through which revenue is derived from music-based products and practices have been abruptly closed off by a crisis of public health. Using Lefebvre’s trialectics of spatiality as a theoretical lens, we will argue that, for live music, the COVID-19 outbreak can be seen as a crisis of spatial materiality. During a time of lockdown and social distancing, spaces of music production (rehearsal spaces, studios) and consumption (venues, nightclubs) have found themselves suddenly unfit for purpose. Drawing upon empirical data from ongoing research projects in Scotland and the Midlands, we will highlight the ways in which COVID-19 has disrupted the spatial practice of music. From there, we will argue that there is a need for new representational spaces of music, and the creation of new forms of musical-spatial practice, appropriating spaces of the domestic and the everyday, and fusing / overlaying them with new cultural meaning and (crucially for musicians) a reconsideration of value by potential consumers

Crisis as a Catalyst for Change: COVID-19, Spatiality and the UK Live Music Industry

Since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, live music spaces – and the practices which produce them as economically viable – have found themselves in crisis. In spite of a UK government announcement on the 25th of July 2020 which allocated £2.25 million to support 150 music venues across the country, the processes of allocation, the conditions under which this emergency funding is allocated, and capacity to secure medium-to-long-term sustainability of the live music industries in the UK, remains unclear. In this paper, we present a Lefebvrian analysis of live music, highlighting the complex ways in which space is produced and consumed within a live music environment. By extending this framing to consider Lefebvre’s conceptualisation of dominated and appropriated space, we argue that the economic viability of live music stems from its spatiality, and that ongoing responses to the crisis require greater sensitivity to the spatial practices of music production and consumption

Epidemiology of Mental Health Attendances at Emergency Departments: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: The characteristics of Emergency Department (ED) attendances due to mental or behavioural health disorders need to be described to enable appropriate development of services. We aimed to describe the epidemiology of mental health-related ED attendances within health care systems free at the point of access, including clinical reason for presentation, previous service use, and patient sociodemographic characteristics. METHOD: Systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies describing ED attendances by patients with common mental health conditions. FINDINGS: 18 studies from seven countries met eligibility criteria. Patients attending due to mental or behavioural health disorders accounted for 4% of ED attendances; a third were due to self-harm or suicidal ideation. 58.1% of attendees had a history of psychiatric illness and up to 58% were admitted. The majority of studies were single site and of low quality so results must be interpreted cautiously. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence studies of mental health-related ED attendances are required to enable the development of services to meet specific needs

Impact of co-located welfare advice in healthcare settings: prospective quasi-experimental controlled study

Background: Evaluations of primary healthcare co-located welfare advice services have been methodologically limited. Aims: To examine the impact and cost-consequences of co-located benefits and debt advice on mental health and service use. Method: Prospective, controlled quasi-experimental study in eight intervention and nine comparator sites across North Thames. Changes in the proportion meeting criteria for common mental disorder (CMD, 12-item General Health Questionnaire); well-being scores (Shortened Warwick and Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale), 3-month GP consultation rate and financial strain were measured alongside funding costs and financial gains. Results: Relative to controls, CMD reduced among women (ratio of odds ratios (rOR) = 0.37, 95% CI 0.20–0.70) and Black advice recipients (rOR = 0.09, 95% CI 0.03–0.28). Individuals whose advice resulted in positive outcomes demonstrated improved well-being scores (β coefficient 1.29, 95% CI 0.25–2.32). Reductions in financial strain (rOR = 0.42, 95% CI 0.23–0.77) but no changes in 3-month consultation rate were found. Per capita, advice recipients received £15 per £1 of funder investment. Conclusions: Co-located welfare advice improves short-term mental health and well-being, reduces financial strain and generates considerable financial returns