Education and leadership

This truly international book brings together authors from different regions of the world including North America, South Africa, Europe, Iran and Russia all of whom are concerned with aspects of the challenges involved in the expansion of higher education, both in student numbers and areas of study. Some are concerned about the loss of guiding principles which steered university education for centuries. The traditional purposes of higher education have come under such pressure that we have achieved “conflicting models of the university” (Claes) and “ambiguity” in regard to teaching and research (Simons et al). For others, the problems are at a different stage. Contributions from South Africa look at three challenges: Can we provide enough places in higher education? How do we deal with institutional mergers? How do we make staff development effective in a situation in which English is the first language of less than five percent of the staff? Young scholars in Russian regions face formidable hurdles in achieving academic careers while the best law graduates in Canada are faced with the ethical dilemma of personal career advancement or social justice (Topsakal). The problem of integrating nursing into a traditional Irish university is reviewed by Grant while the role of a university in regional development is addressed from a Greek perspective by Papaelias et al. The comparative international approach features in research into teacher job satisfaction in India and Iran while McMahon reviews the impact of the Bologna Process

Where are Long-Toed Salamanders Found in a Game of Hide-And-Seek With Trout?

In many alpine lakes, trout have been introduced for recreational fishing and have replaced native amphibians as top predators. In these systems, trout are associated with reducing the abundance of amphibians and have extirpated populations of long-toed salamanders ( Ambystoma macrodactylum) from many lakes. Although rare, salamander coexistence with trout may occur in some lakes where habitat characteristics such as emergent vegetation and physical barriers are present, as these environments can provide refugia from predation. We sought to identify what key habitat features might allow this co-occurrence. We sampled seven lakes with salamanders and fish and seven with only salamanders in northwestern Montana between July and August 2012. We used minnow traps to capture salamander larvae and we quantified habitat characteristics (e.g., vegetation density, structural complexity) where salamanders were captured. We compared capture rates and habitat characteristics to determine whether lakes with and without fish differed. Preliminary results suggest that salamander capture rates were higher in lakes with fish (33%, 95% CI = 13-84%), but salamanders were smaller, as larvae had 68 percent shorter tails (51-91%) in lakes with fish. Despite these differences, we did not detect any differences in habitat characteristics. Unless minnow traps were used as refugia, our findings suggest that salamanders utilize similar habitat in these lakes regardless of the presence of fish. Future work will examine factors influencing salamander growth and tail length and determine whether adding habitat complexity is an effective strategy to facilitate coexistence of salamanders and fish

Investigating Coexistence Between Trout and Long-Toed Salamanders and the Indirect Effects of Fish Predators

In many, formerly fishless lakes in western North America, trout have been introduced for recreational fishing, replacing native amphibians as top predators. Trout are associated with reducing the abundance of amphibians and have extirpated populations of long-toed salamanders (Ambystoma macrodactylum). Salamanders and trout may coexist in some lakes, as larvae often are able to alter foraging behavior, use of open water, and time in refugia in response to predatory cues. However, salamanders are still subject to attacks and may have different body morphology in environments with fish. We sought to estimate minimum population sizes of long-toed salamanders, as well as investigate indirect effects of fish on salamander morphology. We sampled lakes with and without fish in northwestern Montana during the summers of 2012 and 2013. We caught salamander larvae using minnow traps, took several body measurements, and compared capture rates and morphological measurements between lakes with and without fish. Preliminary results suggest that more salamanders were captured per trap in lakes with fish (1.8 salamanders/trap, 95% CI = 1.3-2.4), compared to lakes without fish (0.58 salamanders/trap, 0.36-0.81), which could reflect higher population sizes or increased use of traps as refugia. However, salamanders in lakes with fish were smaller: they weighed less, had shorter snout-vent lengths, and had shorter and narrower tails. Even if salamanders are more abundant in lakes with fish, growth may be reduced. Further research into the coexistence of long-toed salamanders and trout may aid in developing conservation strategies for these and other amphibians affected by novel predators

Why banker Bob (still) can’t get TLS right: A Security Analysis of TLS in Leading UK Banking Apps

This paper presents a security review of the mobile apps provided by the UK’s leading banks; we focus on the connections the apps make, and the way in which TLS is used. We apply existing TLS testing methods to the apps which only find errors in legacy apps. We then go on to look at extensions of these methods and find five of the apps have serious vulnerabilities. In particular, we find that two apps pin a TLS root CA certificate, but do not verify the hostname. In this case, the use of certificate pinning means that all existing test methods would miss detecting the hostname verification flaw. We find that three apps load adverts over insecure connections, which could be exploited for in-app phishing attacks. Some of the apps used the users’ PIN as authentication, for which PCI guidelines require extra security, so these apps use an additional cryptographic protocol; we study the underlying protocol of one banking app in detail and show that it provides little additional protection, meaning that an active man-in-the-middle attacker can retrieve the user’s credentials, login to the bank and perform every operation the legitimate user could

South American streamflow and the extreme phases of the Southern Oscillation

This study investigates the extent of the affect [sic] of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation on South American streamflow. The response of South American precipitation and temperature to the extreme phases of ENSO (El Niño and La Niña events) is well documented; but the response of South American hydrology has been barely studied. Such paucity of research contrasts sharply with that available on the response of North American streamflow to ENSO events

HIV infection is an independent risk factor for decreased 6-minute walk test distance.

BackgroundAmbulatory function predicts morbidity and mortality and may be influenced by cardiopulmonary dysfunction. Persons living with HIV (PLWH) suffer from a high prevalence of cardiac and pulmonary comorbidities that may contribute to higher risk of ambulatory dysfunction as measured by 6-minute walk test distance (6-MWD). We investigated the effect of HIV on 6-MWD.MethodsPLWH and HIV-uninfected individuals were enrolled from 2 clinical centers and completed a 6-MWD, spirometry, diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) and St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ). Results of 6-MWD were compared between PLWH and uninfected individuals after adjusting for confounders. Multivariable linear regression analysis was used to determine predictors of 6-MWD.ResultsMean 6-MWD in PLWH was 431 meters versus 462 in 130 HIV-uninfected individuals (p = 0.0001). Older age, lower forced expiratory volume (FEV1)% or lower forced vital capacity (FVC)%, and smoking were significant predictors of decreased 6-MWD in PLWH, but not HIV-uninfected individuals. Lower DLCO% and higher SGRQ were associated with lower 6-MWD in both groups. In a combined model, HIV status remained an independent predictor of decreased 6-MWD (Mean difference = -19.9 meters, p = 0.005).ConclusionsHIV infection was associated with decreased ambulatory function. Airflow limitation and impaired diffusion capacity can partially explain this effect. Subjective assessments of respiratory symptoms may identify individuals at risk for impaired physical function who may benefit from early intervention

Divergent trophic responses of sympatric penguin species to historic anthropogenic exploitation and recent climate change

The Southern Ocean is in an era of significant change. Historic overharvesting of marine mammals and recent climatic warming have cascading impacts on resource availability and, in turn, ecosystem structure and function. We examined trophic responses of sympatric chinstrap (Pygoscelis antarctica) and gentoo (Pygoscelis papua) penguins to nearly 100 y of shared environmental change in the Antarctic Peninsula region using compound-specific stable isotope analyses of museum specimens. A century ago, gentoo penguins fed almost exclusively on low-trophic level prey, such as krill, during the peak of historic overexploitation of marine mammals, which was hypothesized to have resulted in a krill surplus. In the last 40 y, gentoo penguin trophic position has increased a full level as krill declined in response to recent climate change, increased competition from recovering marine mammal populations, and the development of a commercial krill fishery. A shifting isotopic baseline supporting gentoo penguins suggests a concurrent increase in coastal productivity over this time. In contrast, chinstrap penguins exhibited no change in trophic position, despite variation in krill availability over the past century. The specialized foraging niche of chinstrap penguins likely renders them more sensitive to changes in krill availability, relative to gentoo penguins, as evinced by their declining population trends in the Antarctic Peninsula over the past 40 y. Over the next century, similarly divergent trophic and population responses are likely to occur among Antarctic krill predators if climate change and other anthropogenic impacts continue to favor generalist over specialist species