Bee Work | Departure

How do we get closer to the nature of the bee’s, or any non-human\u27s, experience, mystery that it is? This essay is a lyrical meditation on the power (and challenges) of poetry and language to access non-human worlds

Howden Moss: a study of vegetational history in Upper Teesdale

The peat deposits at Howden Moss, Upper Teesdale, have been examined stratigraphically and pollen analytically. The present state of the bog in described and pollen diagrams are presented for three sites. The results show that peat formation had begun by the early post-glacial period, zone V, and growth apparently continued up to the present time. The area was colonised by birch trees early in its development. Open birchwood persisted on the site during the expansion of mixed oak forest into the valley bottom. This dichotomous situation continued until the birch wood on the fell was replaced by blanket bog communities. The late-glacial rolict flora which is associated with some sites in Upper Teesdale is not found at Howden Moss. The pollen record provides no evidence for its past existence in the area

Teaching Indigenous children : listening to and learning from indigenous teachers

This article is based on the findings of a qualitative case study that examined the professional experiences and career pathways of fifty current and former Australian Indigenous teachers. Here, we draw on data obtained from semi-structured interviews with the teachers to highlight their knowledge in three key areas: ‘Indigenous ways of knowing’, ‘Indigenous learners’ lives beyond the classroom’ and ‘Building relationships with Indigenous students and communities’. We suggest that Indigenous teachers can potentially play important roles as teacher educators and as mentors to non-Indigenous teachers and preservice teachers. We argue that it is important for schooling systems and teacher education to create and formalise opportunities for non-Indigenous teachers and preservice teachers to listen to, and learn from their Indigenous colleagues

An Investigation of the Cumulative Impacts of Shrimp Trawling on Mud Bottom Fishing Grounds in the Gulf of Maine: Effects on Habitat and Macrofaunal Community Structure

Despite the widespread occurrence of trawl fisheries on mud-bottoms, there is limited knowledge concerning the effects of trawling induced disturbance on these habitats and their resident macrofaunal communities. I investigated the cumulative impacts of seasonal commercial shrimp trawling on infaunal habitat and macrofaunal community structure on two mud-bottom fishing grounds in the Gulf of Maine from June 2000 - December 2001. One fishing ground located near the Outer Pumpkin Ledges (Pumpkin) experienced trawling activity during the 2000-2001 fishing season. In contrast, the other fishing ground near Monhegan Island was not trawled during the same period because shrimp abundances were low. Consequently, impacts of trawling reported for the Pumpkin fishing ground are representative of both past and more recent short- term effects of trawling while results reported for the Monhegan are indicative of longer- term, cumulative effects only. To further examine short-term effects on trawling on mud bottom habitat structure, a Before-After Control-Impact (BACI) experiment was carried out at a different location (Thrumcap). Images of infaunal habitat structure obtained by sediment x-radiography showed no evidence of changes in overall structure (as measured by relative sediment density) related to commercial or experimental (BACI) shrimp trawling disturbance; however, excess 2 \u27 0 ~ b activity profiles suggest that trawling may affect sediment mixing regimes. Macrofaunal communities on the two fishing grounds exhibited different responses to shrimp trawling disturbance which I attribute to disparities in levels of fishing activity during the 2000-2001 shrimp season. Multivariate community analysis showed that the Pumpkin fishing ground displayed significant differences in macrofaunal community structure compared to adjacent untrawled areas. Abundances of opportunistic polychaete families were higher in the trawled areas while disturbance-sensitive taxa, such as bivalves, were more abundant in the untrawled area. Similar patterns in taxa abundance were not observed at Monhegan. Results from mud bottom fishing grounds suggest that seasonal shrimp trawling disturbance produced at least short-term changes in infaunal community structure, but did not appear to result in long-term cumulative changes. Resilience to trawling disturbance may be due in part to high levels of biological sediment disturbance from high densities of large surface-dwelling megafauna such as lobsters, fishes, and brittle stars. These animals rework sediments to a depth of 16- 17 cm by burrowing, pit-digging and possibly foraging. Sediment reworking by these benthic megafauna creates disturbance that appears to maintain macrofaunal communities in a perpetually low successional state, thereby potentially minimizing trawling impacts

The role of population pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic modelling in antimalarial chemotherapy

Despite the high rates of mortality and morbidity associated with malaria very few new antimalarial drugs are being developed. Hence there is much to be gained by optimising currently available antimalarials. Using pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic data from field trials where mefloquine was administered either alone or in combination with artesunate important information regarding optimal dosing for the clinician has been obtained. The pharmacokinetics of mefloquine were influenced relatively little, or not at all, by factors such as age, sex, or measures of acute malaria severity. Splitting the 25 mglkg dose of mefloquine monotherapy was associated with a 50% increase in oral bioavailability, and bioavailability increased by 20% for the split dose on the combination treatment. Oral bioavailability was also observed to be associated with more rapid parasite clearance, a surrogate outcome measure for cure. A mechanistic mathematical model was developed that describes the change in total parasite burden with time in vivo, in the presence of mefloquine. Estimates for the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameters were obtained from population modelling of pharmacokinetic and in vitro pharmacodynamic data, both derived from the same region. Model simulations confirmed that, early in the evolution of resistance, conventional assessments of the therapeutic response 28 days after treatment underestimate considerably the level of resistance. Longer follow-up is required. The model also indicates that initial deployment of a lower (l5-mglkg) dose of mefloquine provides a greater opportunity for the selection of resistant mutants and would be expected to lead more rapidly to resistance than de novo use of the higher (25-mglkg) dose. From the modelling of malaria therapy data it was observed that even in the absence of drugs the patient parasitaemia versus time profiles varied greatly between both patients and parasites. Parasite multiplication rate every 48 hours was estimated to be approximately 8 fold

The Meaning of Production: Art in the GDR

Presented in longer form ... at the opening of the exhibition Twelve Artists from East Germany, Ann Arbor, Michigan. 10 February 1990