Diurnal variation in harbour porpoise detection – potential implications for management

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Title IX’s Protections for Transgender Student Athletes

This article examines legal authority and policy to determine whether transgender students in K-12 schools must be permitted to participate in athletics according to their gender identity, and without any requirement for medical intervention. The articles concludes that such a policy is consistent with legal authority under Title IX and Title VII and, more importantly, best advances the well-being of already vulnerable transgender youth by helping to incorporate and include such students in activities that are critical to physical, social, mental, emotional development, and health. Part II of this article briefly details the history of Title IX with respect to athletics, including the historical justifications for separating the sexes for purposes of athletic competition, and challenges that have been made to that practice. Part III analyzes the case law that has developed under Title IX and other sex-discrimination laws, which has increasingly recognized that discrimination against transgender people is a cognizable form of sex discrimination. Part IV delves into the possible justifications for barring transgender student-athletes from participating on the team that matches their gender identity, concluding that the purported concerns about safety and privacy have little basis in fact, particularly when applied to students in primary and secondary school. Indeed, for that reason, school districts and athletic associations across the country have begun adopting policies — many of which are described in Part IV, as examples of “best practices” — that allow transgender students to participate on athletic teams based on their gender identity. Finally, Part V looks at the developmental benefits of participation in sports, concluding that equal access to athletic competition is critically important for the well-being of transgender young people

Environmental entrepreneurship: The sustainability challenge

Objectives: The past decade has seen an upsurge in academic, practitioner and policy interest in environmental entrepreneurship (e.g. Kirkwood and Walton, 2010a, b; Walley et al, 2010), as well as a focus on ‘sustainable entrepreneurship’ in the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) (e.g. Cohen & Wynn, 2004; Dean and McMullen, 2007; Hall et al, 2010; Pacheco et al, 2009; Parrish, 2005, 2007a, b; Parrish and Foxon, 2009; Rodgers, 2009; Tilley and Parrish, 2006, 2009). Because this nascent topic – which straddles entrepreneurship, sustainability, innovation and technological change – remains under-theorised with clear gaps in the literature, this paper develops conceptual understanding of the link between environmental entrepreneurship, sustainability, and innovation. Approach: We review critically the literature on environmental entrepreneurship, highlighting (as above) a lack of conceptual development, and relate it to debates within other related fields, such as innovation and technological change (e.g. Drucker, 1985a, b; Rothwell, 1994; Preece and Laurila, 2003; Bolton & Thompson, 2004) and strategic entrepreneurship (e.g. Covin & Miles, 1999; Thompson, 1999; Hitt et al, 2001). Subsequently, we present two testable conceptual models, which, with ongoing research we are applying to a diverse range of case studies. Results: Therefore, building on prior work by Bolton & Thompson (2004) – which identified a ‘social facet’ which can affect a person’s temperament and which manifests itself as a hierarchy of four stages – the authors develop two new conceptual frameworks. Both feature a Business/Environment Sustainability Index (e.g. a double or maybe even a triple bottom line assessment or sustainable value (see Figge & Hahn, 2005; Hahn et al 2007)). One framework separates opportunity driven businesses from those constrained by regulation; and the second distinguishes economics as a predominant motive force from cause-driven behaviour. Implications: At a global level, we are concerned about things that are happening in the world, generally things many perceive as ‘negative’ in the context of (environmental) sustainability. At a national level, wealthy and successful regions attract more money and value creators, while relatively unsuccessful regions enter into a spiral of decline, resulting in blighted landscapes and no-go areas – whilst their renewal might be a local issue it has wider connotations – the funding and energy required could go elsewhere. Locally, it can be tempting to believe any development is better than no development. Value: This paper provides novel conceptual models for an emerging topic within the fields of entrepreneurship and sustainability and considers whether it needs organisations to be ‘on message’ for successful environmental outcomes to be achieved. It is a work-in-progress that the authors are continuing and it can also be an opportunity for other researchers with an interest in environmental entrepreneurship

Semi-automated image analysis for the identification of bivalve larvae from a Cape Cod estuary

Author Posting. © Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography, 2012. This article is posted here by permission of Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Limnology and Oceanography: Methods 10 (2012): 538-554, doi:10.4319/lom.2012.10.538.Machine-learning methods for identifying planktonic organisms are becoming well-established. Although similar morphologies among species make traditional image identification methods difficult for larval bivalves, species-specific shell birefringence patterns under polarized light permit identification by color and texture-based features. This approach uses cross-polarized images of bivalve larvae, extracts Gabor and color angle features from each image, and classifies images using a Support Vector Machine. We adapted this method, which was established on hatchery-reared larvae, to identify bivalve larvae from a series of field samples from a Cape Cod estuary in 2009. This method had 98% identification accuracy for four hatchery-reared species. We used a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method to confirm field identifications and to compare accuracies to the software classifications. Image classification of larvae collected in the field had lower accuracies than both the classification of hatchery species and PCR-based identification due to error in visually classifying unknown larvae and variability in larval images from the field. A six-species field training set had the best correspondence to our visual classifications with 75% overall agreement and individual species agreements from 63% to 88%. Larval abundance estimates for a time-series of field samples showed good correspondence with visual methods after correction. Overall, this approach represents a cost- and time-saving alternative to molecular-based identifications and can produce sufficient results to address long-term abundance and transport-based questions on a species-specific level, a rarity in studies of bivalve larvae.This project was supported by an award to S. Gallager and C. Mingione Thompson from the Estuarine Reserves Division, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a grant from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Coastal Ocean Institute

Species-specific abundance of bivalve larvae in relation to biological and physical conditions in a Cape Cod estuary : Waquoit Bay, Massachusetts (USA)

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2012. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Inter-Research for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Marine Ecology Progress Series 469 (2012): 53-69, doi:10.3354/meps09998.Physical and biological conditions impact recruitment and adult population structure of 34 marine invertebrates by affecting early life history processes from spawning to post-settlement. We investigated how temperature, salinity and phytoplankton influenced larval abundance and larval size structure for three species of bivalves over two non-consecutive years in Waquoit Bay, MA. Abundance and size of Mercenaria mercenaria (quahog), Anomia simplex (jingle clam), and Geukensia demissa (ribbed mussel) larvae were compared between locations in the bay and with environmental conditions. Shell birefringence patterns using polarized light microscopy were used to distinguish species. Larval abundances for all three species were higher in 2009 than in 2007 and were positively correlated with temperature in both years. Differences in larval abundance and size structure between bay sites were attributed to salinity tolerances and potential source locations. Higher survival in 2009 than in 2007, as determined by number of pediveligers, was likely due to higher temperatures and greater food availability during the peak abundance months of July and August in 2009. Yearly differences in larval growth and survival can have a large impact on recruitment. Knowing the optimal periods and locations for larval abundance and survival can be useful for isolating species-specific patterns in larval dispersal and to aid resource managers in enhancing or restoring depleted populations.This research was conducted in the National Estuarine Research Reserve System under an award to S. Gallager and C. Mingione Thompson from the Estuarine Reserves Division, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Superconductivity in SrNi2As2 Single Crystals

The electrical resistivity \rho(T) and heat capacity C(T) on single crystals of SrNi2As2 and EuNi2As2 are reported. While there is no evidence for a structural transition in either compound, SrNi2As2 is found to be a bulk superconductor at T_c=0.62 K with a Sommerfeld coefficient of \gamma= 8.7 mJ/mol K^2 and a small upper critical field H_{c2} \sim 200 Oe. No superconductivity was found in EuNi2As2 above 0.4 K, but anomalies in \rho and C reveal that magnetic order associated with the Eu^{2+} magnetic moments occurs at T_m = 14 K.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Pure and loaded fireballs in SGR giant flares

On December 27, 2004, a giant flare from SGR 1806$-$20 was detected on earth. Its thermal spectrum and temperature suggest that the flare resulted from an energy release of about $10^{47}$ erg/sec close to the surface of a neutron star in the form of radiation and/or pairs. This plasma expanded under its own pressure producing a fireball and the observed gamma-rays escaped once the fireball became optically thin. The giant flare was followed by a bright radio afterglow, with an observable extended size, implying an energetic relativistic outflow. We revisit here the evolution of relativistic fireballs and we calculate the Lorentz factor and energy remaining in relativistic outflow once the radiation escapes. We show that pairs that arise naturally in a pure pairs-radiation fireball do not carry enough energy to account for the observed afterglow. We consider various alternatives and we show that if the relativistic outflow that causes the afterglow is related directly to the prompt flare, then the initial fireball must be loaded by baryons or Poynting flux. While we focus on parameters applicable to the giant flare and the radio afterglow of SGR 1806$-$20 the calculations presented here might be also applicable to GRBs

Effects of Hunter Access on Hunting Season Elk Distributions in the Missouri River Breaks

Increasing harvest of adult female elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) is the primary management tool for curtailing elk population growth and reducing elk populations. However, this tool is not effective when elk are located on private properties that restrict hunter access to elk during the hunting season. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the effects of hunter access and other landscape factors on elk resource selection during the archery and rifle hunting seasons in the Missouri River Breaks area. We sampled 46 adult female elk for 2-years in 2 adjacent populations: the Missouri River Breaks (MRB) population and the Larb Hills population. The MRB archery and rifle season elk population ranges were 97% accessible to hunters. Several large properties in the center of the Larb Hills range restricted or did not allow hunter access, and the archery and rifle season elk population ranges were 79% accessible to hunters. To quantify the effects of hunter access and other factors on elk selection of home ranges and elk selection of locations within their home range, we conducted a resource selection modeling exercise. Second-order population-level selection coefficients showed that elk in both MRB and Larb Hills selected home ranges in areas with no hunter access, and hunter access was the strongest predictor of second-order selection. Similarly, third-order population-level selection coefficients showed elk in both populations selected locations within their seasonal home range with no hunter access, and the strength of selection for locations with no hunter access was stronger in the archery season than the rifle season. However, individual models revealed that although third-order population-level selection for no hunter access was strong, only 43% of MRB elk selected for no hunter access during the archery season and 18% of elk selected for no hunter access during the rifle season. Additionally, the majority of all MRB elk locations (i.e., 68% of archery locations and 91% of rifle locations) occurred in areas accessible to hunters. In Larb Hills, individual models confirmed results of the population-level analysis, and 76% and 60% of elk selected for locations with no hunter access during the archery and rifle seasons. Even if hunter access is restricted or in a relatively small geographic area within an elk population range, elk refuge situations may have a disproportionate affect on elk distributions and prevent effective harvest of female elk to maintain elk populations at objective levels. Working cooperatively with stakeholders to minimize these situations is necessary for curtailing further elk population increases and maintaining a distribution of elk across public and private lands. If elk refuge situations cannot be resolved, stakeholders may need to choose between allowing some level of hunter access to harvest female elk or accepting higher numbers of elk, and associated property damage issues

Experiential learning, new venture creation, strategic entrepreneurship, knowledge and competency in the university context

In this paper, by analysing two different entrepreneurship education programmes in the UK, we explore how experiential entrepreneurial learning can be optimised while students engage in parallel in actually creating a new venture. Until both programmes are properly up-and running - with graduates – both programmes started in 2009 - it will not be possible to draw firm conclusions about the types of business being started. This paper describes how research, experience and anecdotal evidence was used to develop two degrees. Progress will be the subject of reflective, longitudinal research to evaluate the relevant propositions. We identified four important issues arising from our analysis. First, a clear importance within these programmes that students start a real business, rather than just learn with cases or participate in simulations, business games, or role plays. In addition, we see a need to capture the learning with a portfolio. Second, there remains a debate about whether such a pedagogical intervention is best achieved at Undergraduate (Bachelor’s) or Postgraduate (Master’s) level. However, an important point about these programmes is that students can still graduate because there is a valuable learning experience in business start up to capture in a portfolio. Third, it remains unclear whether entrepreneurship (as opposed to enterprise skills) should be in the curriculum or adjunct to it. Or, indeed, whether the optimal situation is to have entrepreneurship as both part of the curriculum and adjunct to it. Fourth, it is important to recognise the potential of collaboration between 'complementary' Universities and the building of a sharing community, something of a federation which might grow over time, grounded with reference to entrepreneurial universities

Timing Noise in SGR 1806-20

We have phase connected a sequence of RXTE PCA observations of SGR 1806-20 covering 178 days. We find a simple secular spin-down model does not adequately fit the data. The period derivative varies gradually during the observations between 8.1 and 11.7 * 10^-11 s/s (at its highest, ~40% larger than the long term trend), while the average burst rate as seen with BATSE drops throughout the time interval. The phase residuals give no compelling evidence for periodicity, but more closely resemble timing noise as seen in radio pulsars. The magnitude of the timing noise, however, is large relative to the noise level typically found in radio pulsars. Combining these results with the noise levels measured for some AXPs, we find all magnetar candidates have \Delta_8 values larger than those expected from a simple extrapolation of the correlation found in radio pulsars. We find that the timing noise in SGR 1806-20 is greater than or equal to the levels found in some accreting systems (e.g., Vela X-1, 4U 1538-52 and 4U 1626-67), but the spin-down of SGR 1806-20 has thus far maintained coherence over 6 years. Alternatively, an orbital model with a period P_orb = 733 days provides a statistically acceptable fit to the data. If the phase residuals are created by Doppler shifts from a gravitationally bound companion, then the allowed parameter space for the mass function (small) and orbital separation (large) rule out the possibility of accretion from the companion sufficient to power the persistent emission from the SGR.Comment: 11 pages, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter