Is Ecotourism an Outdated Solution to Orangutan Conservation in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo?

Since its inception, ecotourism has been presented as an ideal way to raise money and awareness for conservation while at the same time benefitting local communities. In the early 1960\u27s, orangutan rehabilitation centers in Malaysia and Indonesia began to integrate tourism into their fundraising efforts in order to reintroduce ex-captive orangutans back into the wild and provide education on the conservation of the species. This early integration of tourism led to a widely popular industry that today is thriving. The present research provides a review of the history and current perspectives of traditional orangutan tourism and the more novel wild orangutan ecotourism in the state of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, to assess whether ecotourism is an appropriate future solution to orangutan conservation. Due to a lack of evidence supporting claims that ecotourism is a panacea for conservation, it is suggested that further research be carried out on the ecological role that orangutans play in their habitats as seed dispersers, and that educational programs surrounding orangutans\u27 ecological roles may provide a more sustainable method of promoting conservation

An Original Composition for Symphonic Wind Ensemble in Contemporary Style

The purpose of the composition, Overture for Symphonic Winds, is to contribute to the list of works designed exclusively for wind ensemble performance

The effects of self-examination to peers on student learning in physical science

This study was undertaken to test if the use of self-explanation to a peer would affect learning outcomes in the classroom. The outcomes of classes taught using the self-explanation technique were compared to outcomes from traditional lecture courses in lessons of comparable content. Great Scholars and traditional students in a sixth grade physical science classroom setting were given pre-and post-tests in two units of study, matter and waves. In the matter unit, students participated in a lesson on density using traditional lecture and a lesson on changes in matter using self-explanation. In the waves unit, students utilized lecture instruction for a lesson on electromagnetic waves and self-explanation instruction for a lesson on sound waves. Pre-test scores, post-test scores, and learning gains were analyzed for each lesson across instructional treatments and class types. After the unit on waves students were given an opinion survey to determine which instructional method they preferred using. Self-explanation had a significantly positive impact on learning gains for the Great Scholars students in the first unit of study. No detectible differences in gains for the second unit of study were found in either group of students. However, the opinion survey given after the second unit of study suggests that students experience greater enjoyment when using the self-explanation instructional technique. Larger sample sizes and experiments in other science disciplines may lead to a better understanding of how self-explanation to a peer impacts student learning

Restoring civic values to the news media ecology

The emergence of converged digital media platforms has seen a proliferation of new services, but also a disruption to value chains and business models, especially in a small, highly deregulated media market like New Zealand’s. Although consumer choice has expanded in some respects (e.g. subscriber video on demand via smart tablets), this does not fundamentally alter the information needs of citizens if they are to participate in a democratic society. Although digital media also provide spaces for citizen journalism and informed blogging, these complement, rather than replace, mainstream news production.&nbsp

Subsolidus and Partial Melting Reactions in the Quartz-excess CaO+MgO+Al2O3+SiO2+H2O System under Water-excess and Water-deficient Conditions to 10 kb: Some Implications for the Origin of Peraluminous Melts from Mafic Rocks

Experimental results up to 10 kb pressure are presented on the stability of amphibole in the quartz-excess CaO+MgO+Al2O3 (CMASH) system under H2O)-excess and H2O deficient conditions. Amphibole is stable above the solidus under H2O-excess conditions whereas under H2O-deficient conditions dehydration melting of amphibole-bearing assemblages defines the solidus. The successive appearance of amphibole, talc, and zoisite with increasing pressure considerably modifies the plagioclase-pyroxene-garnet-kyanite reactions documented experimentally in the CaO+MgO+Al2O3+SiO2 system for gabbro-granulite-eclogite transitions. Although both clino pyroxene and cordierite (with anorthite+orthopyroxene+quartz) may melt eutectically at one atmosphere to form diopside-normative and corundum-normative melts respectively, at higher pressures under H2O-excess conditions the peritectic melting of mafic rock compositions produces corundum-normative liquids together with either clinopyroxene or amphibole. Dehydration melting produces melts which are not corundum-normative. These data are used to discuss the origins and evolution of contrasting basalt-andesite-dacite-rhyolite volcanic suites and granitic plutons, many of whose silicic variants are corundum-normative in character, such as the Toba luff ignimbrites, Indonesia (Beddoc-Stephens et al., 1983) and I-type granite minimum melts (White & Chappell, 1977). In contrast, it is proposed that for the Cascades basalt-andesite-dacite-rhyolite suite the ortho pyroxene-plagioclase-quartz thermal divide was maintained up to rhyolite compositions, thereby prohibiting the derivation of corundum-normative rocks from diopside-normative parent magmas. The deduced reaction relations between pyroxenes, amphibole, plagioclase, quartz, and liquid are used to explain the absence or extreme scarcity of hydrous phases in some hydrous magmas. These phase relations can also explain the development of later plagioclase overgrowths on resorbed plagioclase cores in granitic intrusives, and the general absence of resorption and overgrowths in chemically equivalent extrusive rocks. A theoretical analysis of the partial melting of forsterite-bearing assemblages in the CaO+MgO+Al2O3+SiO2+H2O system shows that under H2O-excess conditions partial melting may generate corundum-normative (but low SiO2) melts from a peridotite source at shallow depth

One-Shot Strategically Deconflicted Route and Operational Volume Generation for Urban Air Mobility Operations

In the UAM space, strategic deconfliction provides an all-essential layer to airspace automation by providing safe, pre-emptive deconfliction or assignment of airspace resources to airspace users pre-flight. Strategic deconfliction approaches provide an elegant solution to pre-flight deconfliction operations. This overall creates safer and more efficient airspace and reduces the workload on controllers. In this research, we propose a method that constructs routes between start and end nodes in airspace, assigns a contract of operational volumes (OVs) and ensures that these OVs are sufficiently deconflicted against static no-fly zones and OVs of other airspace users. Our approach uses the A* optimal cost path algorithm to generate the shortest routes between the origin and destination. We present a method for generating OVs based on the distribution of aircraft positions from simulated flights; volumes are constructed such that this distribution is conservatively described.Comment: 8 pages, 7 Figure

A Framework for Operational Volume Generation for UAM Strategic Deconfliction

Strategic pre-flight systems focus on the planning and deconfliction of routes for aircraft systems. The urban air mobility concept calls for higher levels of autonomy with both onboard and en route systems but also strategic and other pre-flight systems. Existing endeavors into strategic pre-flight systems focus on improving the route generation and strategic deconfliction of these routes. Introduced with the urban air mobility concept is the premise of operational volumes, 4D regions of airspace, including time, a single aircraft is expected to operate within, forming a contract of finite operational volumes over the duration of a route. It is no longer enough to only deconflict routes within the airspace, but to now consider these 4D operational volumes. To provide an effective all-in-one approach, we propose a novel framework for generating routes and accompanying contracts of operational volumes, along with deconfliction focused around 4D operational volumes. Experimental results show efficiency of operational volume generation utilising reachability analysis and demonstrate sufficient success in deconfliction of operational volumes.Comment: 8 pages, 4 Figure

The Quenching of the Axial Coupling in Nuclear and Neutron-Star Matter

Using a chirally invariant effective Lagrangian, we calculate the density and isospin dependences of the in-medium axial coupling, $g_A^*$, in spatially uniform matter present in core collapse supernovae and neutron stars. The quenching of $g_A^*$ with density in matter with different proton fractions is found to be similar. However, our results suggest that the quenching of the nucleon's $g_A^*$ in matter with hyperons is likely to be significantly greater than in matter with nucleons only.Comment: 4 pages revtex, 2 eps figure

Moderate deviations for random field Curie-Weiss models

The random field Curie-Weiss model is derived from the classical Curie-Weiss model by replacing the deterministic global magnetic field by random local magnetic fields. This opens up a new and interestingly rich phase structure. In this setting, we derive moderate deviations principles for the random total magnetization $S_n$, which is the partial sum of (dependent) spins. A typical result is that under appropriate assumptions on the distribution of the local external fields there exist a real number $m$, a positive real number $\lambda$, and a positive integer $k$ such that $(S_n-nm)/n^{\alpha}$ satisfies a moderate deviations principle with speed $n^{1-2k(1-\alpha)}$ and rate function $\lambda x^{2k}/(2k)!$, where $1-1/(2(2k-1)) < \alpha < 1$.Comment: 21 page

Persistence of Renibacterium salmoninarum in experimentally infected rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

The persistence of Renibacterium salmoninarum (Rs) in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) experimentally infected with either a virulent or non-virulent strain of Rs was examined in this study. Mortalities from bacterial kidney disease (BKD) peaked at 48 % 6 weeks post-challenge with the virulent strain, but no mortality from BKD occurred in fish infected with the avirulent strain. Culture on Selective Kidney Disease Medium (SKDM), a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were used to monitor the duration of the infection. The presence of bacteria in challenged fish could be detected by PCR at 12 and 20 weeks post-challenge with non-virulent and virulent strains, respectively. On the other hand, it was only possible to detect Rs NCIMB 1113 by ELISA and by culture on SKDM up to 10 weeks and 12 weeks, respectively. Furthermore, the avirulent isolate was not detected in fish injected with this strain on SKDM or by ELISA. Using the methods of detection described, it would appear that the fish were able to clear the virulent Rs by week 22 post-challenge