Early Life Stage Characteristics of Six Acadian Conifer Species: Germination and Seedling Development in a Changing Climate

Global climate change will drastically alter regional climates. The influence of these changes on the distribution and relative abundance of forest trees is both critically important and subject to substantial uncertainty. It will be particularly important to understand the effects of different climate scenarios on the early life stages of major tree species, because: 1) Early life stage performance and survival strongly influence the abundance of mature trees of a given species, 2) Trees are most sensitive to environmental variation during their early life stages, and 3) Our knowledge of the response of Acadian Forest tree species to environmental variation is very limited. In Experiment 1, we monitored the germination, growth, and development of six major Acadian Forest conifers: Abies balsamea, Picea glauca, Picea mariana, Picea rubens, Pinus strobus, and Tsuga canadensis. Seedlings were grown in two light environments: high light (60% of full sun), typical of canopy gaps, and low light (10% of full sun), typical of the understory beneath full canopies. In terms of germination, the Picea species germinated most rapidly and completely, P. strobus and A.balsamea germinated less completely and more gradually, and T. canadensis germination was strongly inhibited by higher soil temperatures associated with the high-light environment. Growth and biomass allocation varied widely among the six species. In the highlight environment, P. strobus and A. balsamea quickly developed extensive root systems, while the Picea species concentrated their growth on shoot development. In the low-light environment, A. balsamea maintained higher root allocation relative to the other species. In the high-light environment, the Picea species exhibited season-long neoformed shoot growth, while relatively early budset limited the shoot growth of the other species. In Experiment 2, we studied the relative sensitivity of P. rubens and A. balsamea growth and development to different light, soil moisture, and root competition treatments over the seedlings’ first growing season and the first two months of their second growing season. We found that the growth and development of both species was similarly sensitive to variation in belowground nutrient competition and soil moisture. So, any interspecific differences in the response of P. rubens and A. balsamea to dry conditions would probably arise due to differences in mortality rates during severely dry conditions rather than long-term growth effects of non-lethal variation in soil moisture. The results of Experiments 1 and 2 will provide insights into the relative fitness of these species in various climate change scenarios

Chaordic Ministry: Structuring Church Ministry for the Emerging Culture

Many churches are struggling to adapt to changing needs and characteristics of people in the twenty-first century. For decades churches operated by developing standardized programs to reach large groups of people with relatively homogenous needs. The fragmentation of culture into ever-smaller affinity circles means that people often have very different and unique needs from each other. Further, fragmentation has also affected the character and pattern of lifestyles in the emerging culture. There is no longer any standard pattern of work, recreation and home life. Each family has its own needs and its own schedule. This means people no longer have the time or energy to be involved in programs that do not fit their own schedule and do not meet their specific needs. Churches have begun to grapple with the problems this creates and there is much talk of change; of equipping the laity and of being creative in ministry to name just two recent topics of interest. Efforts to implement these changes often encounter great stress as they run into the established patterns of ministry structure. All the good intentions and great effort to change ministry will not succeed unless the environment these ministries occur in, the church structure, is changed with them. The challenge the church faces is trying to find a ministry structure that allows the church to meet the needs of this fragmented and diverse culture and still provides the stability and direction the church needs to remain a unified and energized group. Grace Evangelical Bible Church is an example of one of those churches struggling to adapt to this new world. Grace Evangelical Bible Church in Abbotsford, B.C., Canada, has been encountering difficulties in its ministry. Over the last ten years the number of people serving and attending its major ministries has been falling. The leadership has spent many hours trying to determine the cause of this problem and to refine its program offerings. One problem is the organizational structure of Grace Church. It is unable to adapt to the changing needs of people in the twenty-first Century. This paper proposes that the leaders of Grace Church need to move from an organizational structure focused on controlling ministries targeted at large groups of people to a church structure that focuses on creating an environment that allows micro-ministries to develop, based on the gifts and passions of the people within the congregation. Chapter 1 introduces the problem and sets the context for its solution. The current situation of the various ministry tracks at Grace Church is presented. The chapter outlines the current organizational and ministry structure along with congregational values about programs. The chapter concludes with a discussion concerning the importance and limitations of local church structure. Chapter 2 will demonstrate how four cultural shifts are creating an environment for which the organizational structure of Grace Church is ill prepared. The chapter will show that the organizational structure needs to be re-designed for this new environment. Chapter 3 will outline the biblical principles that are the foundation of the local church. These principles show a more open and empowering (or less controlling) style of local church structure, which is in line with the priesthood of believers and lay driven ministry. The chapter will demonstrate how a network-oriented structure is well-suited to Paul\u27s metaphor of the Body of Christ, and it will allow for the widest development of the gifts of the Spirit amongst the laity. The chapter will also address the theological implications behind the modem church\u27s need for control. Chapter 4 will examine Christian history for examples of movements that blossomed when control was not a primary determination of structure and where organic structures were used. This will include a review of the historical tension that has existed between the institutional church and lay-driven movements. Chapter 5 will address material on how organizations are adapting to the changing environment. New insights from the field of complexity science will demonstrate how organizations can be viewed as complex adaptive systems. The self-organizing properties of complex adaptive systems will be applied to the task of structuring the local church. This will show how micro-ministries could provide a structure that is agile enough to keep up with the rapid changes in the emerging culture. Chapter 6 would offer a new model of church organizational structure for Grace Church. It will outline how Grace Church could move from being structured for control to a structure that cultivates an environment that empowers and equips people to minister out of their unique gifts and passions. It will demonstrate through the science of self-organizing systems how such a network structure could stay unified and connected, without direct control

Neutron star cooling after deep crustal heating in the X-ray transient KS 1731-260

We simulate the cooling of the neutron star in the X-ray transient KS 1731-260 after the source returned to quiescence in 2001 from a long (>~ 12.5 yr) outburst state. We show that the cooling can be explained assuming that the crust underwent deep heating during the outburst stage. In our best theoretical scenario the neutron star has no enhanced neutrino emission in the core, and its crust is thin, superfluid, and has the normal thermal conductivity. The thermal afterburst crust-core relaxation in the star may be not over.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, accepted by MNRAS. In v.2, two references added and typos correcte

SWOT Analysis of Information Security Management System ISO 27001

Information security is a main concern for many organisations with no signs of decreasing urgency in the coming years. To address this a structured approach is required, with the ISO 27000 series being one of the most popular practices for managing Information Security. In this work, we used a combination of qualitative research methods to conduct a SWOT analysis on the ISMS. The findings from the SWOT were then validated using a survey instrument. Finally, the results were validated and analysed using statistical methods. Our findings show that there was a generally positive view on the 'Strengths' and 'Opportunities' compared to that of 'Weaknesses' and 'Threats'. We identified statistically significant differences in the perception of 'Strengths' and 'Opportunities' across groups but also found that there is no significant variance in the perception of 'Threats'. The SWOT produced will help practitioners and researchers tailor ways to enhance ISMS using existing techniques such as TOWS matrix

Understanding Student Computational Thinking with Computational Modeling

Recently, the National Research Council's framework for next generation science standards highlighted "computational thinking" as one of its "fundamental practices". 9th Grade students taking a physics course that employed the Modeling Instruction curriculum were taught to construct computational models of physical systems. Student computational thinking was assessed using a proctored programming assignment, written essay, and a series of think-aloud interviews, where the students produced and discussed a computational model of a baseball in motion via a high-level programming environment (VPython). Roughly a third of the students in the study were successful in completing the programming assignment. Student success on this assessment was tied to how students synthesized their knowledge of physics and computation. On the essay and interview assessments, students displayed unique views of the relationship between force and motion; those who spoke of this relationship in causal (rather than observational) terms tended to have more success in the programming exercise.Comment: preprint to submit to PERC proceedings 201