Farming for the future : the AGWEST Library Network

Jane Serventy reports on the changes in information delivery at the library of Agriculture Western Australi

Generation 1.5 learners: Using an arts-informed, grounded theory approach to understanding how these students managed their undergraduate studies in a Perth-based, public university in Western Australia over an academic year

The International Organization for Migration’s World Migration Report (2020) estimates the number of migrants worldwide to be approximately 272 million. In an era of demographic scarcity and globalisation-driven uncertainties, asylum seeker, migration, and refugee re-settlement programs are now a worldwide phenomenon. Major English-speaking, immigrant-receiving countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America (USA) face associated educational, political, and social repercussions. Rumbaut and Ima (1988) introduced the term ‘Generation 1.5’ in relation to a distinct cohort of immigrant youth, English as second language (L2) learners studying in San Diego, California in the USA. This term signifies learners neither part of the first generation in an immigrant-receiving country, nor part of the second generation of children born in that country. North American-based research finds these learners are generally not fully proficient in either their first language or their L2. While typically possessing well-developed basic interpersonal communicative skills, learners are less skilled in terms of the cognitive academic learning proficiency levels that are essential for academic achievement. Additionally, they may lack discrete language skills, the rule-governed areas that include grammar, phonology, and spelling. However, the crucial academic L2 variables relate to immigrants’ age-on-arrival and length of residence in their host countries. In Australian tertiary education, the implications of having increasing numbers of university students meeting this learner profile remains under-researched. This study investigated how six participants meeting the Generation 1.5 learner profile managed their undergraduate studies in a Perth-based, public university in Western Australia over an academic year. This arts-informed study used an interpretivist paradigm, with symbolic interactionism as the theoretical position, and grounded theory (GT) methodology (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). Semi-structured, in-depth interviews and written responses to research questions comprised the major data-generation methods. Data analysis used GT open, axial, and selective coding in conjunction with memo-writing and Resource Journal commentaries. The iterative process of data analysis and literature access that included arts-informed, non-technical, and technical material collectively informed the study findings. As the ‘grounded theory’ driver, ‘wanting-it-all-regardless’ dominated the data findings, within which the core category, the Academic Highway Journey, and the five major categories were identified. These major categories comprised academic, coping, identity, immigration, and learning systems. In using an astronomy metaphor, the core category or newly-discovered planetary force has five major categories or satellite systems orbiting within its sphere of influence. These GT-generated components resulted in developing the Wanting-It-All-Regardless Theory (the Theory). This Theory explained how the research participants, in ‘misframing’ their Academic Highway Journeys, managed the barriers, breakdowns, and breakthroughs experienced along the way. Making an original and important contribution to Australian-based Generation 1.5 learner research, study findings highlighted major pedagogical policy, program, and practice implications. As evidenced in this study, high school is no longer considered the educational ‘finish line’. The participants in this study, either as high school graduates, university preparation courses attendees, or as having limited, formal L2 instruction, were inadequately prepared and supported during their academic journeys. Paradoxically, for these participants, university acceptance and course enrolment were conflated with having the L2 academic resources necessary to succeed educationally. In an increasingly uncertain and unstable globally connected and interconnected world, major immigration-destination countries such as Australia must urgently address the Generation 1.5 learner area as a significant impact of increasing demographic scarcity

Generation 1.5 learners: Removing the mask of student invisibility and recognising the learning disconnections that marred their academic journeys

Distinctive cohorts of students revealing inherent problems in managing their learning are on-going concerns in all universities. Students identified as Generation 1.5 learners are an increasing phenomenon in Australian universities yet may be “invisible” or unknown to teaching staff. They are neither fully proficient in their first language nor in English which is typically their second language (L2). Characteristically possessing well-developed basic interpersonal communicative skills, they lack the cognitive academic learning proficiencies essential for tertiary success. This article reports on doctoral research into six Generation 1.5 undergraduates navigating one academic year in one Western Australian university. Key findings include their “invisibility” and how L2 learning “disconnections” marred their studies. Learning disconnections comprise discrepancies and disjunctions driven by the participants’ immigration experiences, their academic needs, and their lack of connection with the teaching methods and the university-provided learning support services. Greater awareness of the distinctive features of these learners may improve their academic outcomes

Ocean Surface Winds Drive Dynamics of Transoceanic Aerial Movements

Global wind patterns influence dispersal and migration processes of aerial organisms, propagules and particles, which ultimately could determine the dynamics of colonizations, invasions or spread of pathogens. However, studying how wind-mediated movements actually happen has been hampered so far by the lack of high resolution global wind data as well as the impossibility to track aerial movements. Using concurrent data on winds and actual pathways of a tracked seabird, here we show that oceanic winds define spatiotemporal pathways and barriers for large-scale aerial movements. We obtained wind data from NASA SeaWinds scatterometer to calculate wind cost (impedance) models reflecting the resistance to the aerial movement near the ocean surface. We also tracked the movements of a model organism, the Cory's shearwater (Calonectris diomedea), a pelagic bird known to perform long distance migrations. Cost models revealed that distant areas can be connected through “wind highways” that do not match the shortest great circle routes. Bird routes closely followed the low-cost “wind-highways” linking breeding and wintering areas. In addition, we found that a potential barrier, the near surface westerlies in the Atlantic sector of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), temporally hindered meridional trans-equatorial movements. Once the westerlies vanished, birds crossed the ITCZ to their winter quarters. This study provides a novel approach to investigate wind-mediated movements in oceanic environments and shows that large-scale migration and dispersal processes over the oceans can be largely driven by spatiotemporal wind patterns

Ocean Surface Winds Drive Dynamics of Transoceanic Aerial Movements

Global wind patterns influence dispersal and migration processes of aerial organisms, propagules and particles, which ultimately could determine the dynamics of colonizations, invasions or spread of pathogens. However, studying how wind-mediated movements actually happen has been hampered so far by the lack of high resolution global wind data as well as the impossibility to track aerial movements. Using concurrent data on winds and actual pathways of a tracked seabird, here we show that oceanic winds define spatiotemporal pathways and barriers for large-scale aerial movements. We obtained wind data from NASA SeaWinds scatterometer to calculate wind cost (impedance) models reflecting the resistance to the aerial movement near the ocean surface. We also tracked the movements of a model organism, the Cory's shearwater (Calonectris diomedea), a pelagic bird known to perform long distance migrations. Cost models revealed that distant areas can be connected through “wind highways” that do not match the shortest great circle routes. Bird routes closely followed the low-cost “wind-highways” linking breeding and wintering areas. In addition, we found that a potential barrier, the near surface westerlies in the Atlantic sector of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), temporally hindered meridional trans-equatorial movements. Once the westerlies vanished, birds crossed the ITCZ to their winter quarters. This study provides a novel approach to investigate wind-mediated movements in oceanic environments and shows that large-scale migration and dispersal processes over the oceans can be largely driven by spatiotemporal wind patterns

Shearwater Foraging in the Southern Ocean: The Roles of Prey Availability and Winds

Background Sooty (Puffinus griseus) and short-tailed (P. tenuirostris) shearwaters are abundant seabirds that range widely across global oceans. Understanding the foraging ecology of these species in the Southern Ocean is important for monitoring and ecosystem conservation and management. Methodology/Principal Findings Tracking data from sooty and short-tailed shearwaters from three regions of New Zealand and Australia were combined with at-sea observations of shearwaters in the Southern Ocean, physical oceanography, near-surface copepod distributions, pelagic trawl data, and synoptic near-surface winds. Shearwaters from all three regions foraged in the Polar Front zone, and showed particular overlap in the region around 140°E. Short-tailed shearwaters from South Australia also foraged in Antarctic waters south of the Polar Front. The spatial distribution of shearwater foraging effort in the Polar Front zone was matched by patterns in large-scale upwelling, primary production, and abundances of copepods and myctophid fish. Oceanic winds were found to be broad determinants of foraging distribution, and of the flight paths taken by the birds on long foraging trips to Antarctic waters. Conclusions/Significance The shearwaters displayed foraging site fidelity and overlap of foraging habitat between species and populations that may enhance their utility as indicators of Southern Ocean ecosystems. The results highlight the importance of upwellings due to interactions of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current with large-scale bottom topography, and the corresponding localised increases in the productivity of the Polar Front ecosystem

Kualitas Hidup Pasien Diabetes Melitus Tipe 2 di Puskesmas Se Kota Kupang

Diabetes Mellitus is well known as a chronic disease which can lead to a decrease in quality of life in all domains. The study aims to explore the diabetic type 2 patient\u27s quality of life and find out the factors affecting in type 2 diabetic mellitus patients. The cross-sectional study design is used that included 65 patient with type 2 diabetes mellitus, in 11 public health centers of Kupang City. Data were collected by using Short Form Survey (SF-36) that assessed 8-scale health profile. Independent sample t-test is used to analyze the correlation between the factors affecting and the quality of life. the study showed that the QoL of DM patients decreased in all 8- health profile including physical functioning, social functioning, mental health, general health, pain, change in the role due to physical problems and emotional problems. The Study also showed there was a relationship between gender, duration of suffering from Diabetes mellitus, and complications to the quality of life. Male perceived a better quality of life than female

Roles of metabolic level and temperature regulation in the adjustment of Western plumed pigeons (Lophophaps ferruginea) to desert conditions

1. 1. Standard metabolic rate of western plumed pigeons (Lophophaps ferruginea) averages 0[middle dot]88 ml O2 (g hr)-1 during summer. This rate and the rate of evaporative water loss by these birds at 25[deg]C are well below levels anticipated for birds of comparable size (81 g).2. 2. Summer and late fall birds did not have significantly different minimal thermal conductances, the means for both approximating 1[middle dot]8 kcal (m2 hr [deg]C)-1.3. 3. A relatively low level of metabolism and effortless evaporative cooling restrict the caloric burden for western plumed pigeons in the hot and arid regions of northwestern Australia where these birds live. Other pigeons closely associated with hot and arid environments also have relatively low metabolic rates.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/33957/1/0000227.pd