Transatlantic Surveys of Seabirds, Cetaceans and Turtles, July 2013 and July 2018

Analysis of multi-species tracking data suggest that an area of the deep northwest Atlantic bounded by Flemish Cap, Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone and Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) has a relatively high abundance and diversity of pelagic seabirds. It is also thought to be important for other wideranging, air-breathing higher predators, including cetaceans and tunas. The area’s oceanography is dominated by a system of banded zonal fronts associated with the North Atlantic Current and this may be responsible for levels of diversity and abundance that are unusual for oceanic waters. The area is currently therefore being considered by the OSPAR Committee as a candidate high seas Marine Protected Area (cMPA). The seabird distribution patterns inferred from tracking data were confirmed in part by research cruise DY080, which surveyed the area in June 2017. However, weather during that cruise was not ideal for detecting small and medium deep-diving cetaceans and relatively few other at-sea surveys have been carried out in the deep northwest Atlantic. Here, I summarise seabird, cetacean and turtle sightings from surveys carried out opportunistically during transatlantic crossings aboard a cruise ship in July 2013 and July 2018, which passed though the cMPA. In 2013, 180 km of track was surveyed, with the weather being ideal for detecting cetaceans in the southwest of the cMPA. In 2018, 470 km of track was surveyed. The weather was poorer for detecting cetaceans in the cMPA but ideal to the east of the MAR. Seabird data support the findings of previous studies, showing high seabird diversity and abundance between the Flemish Cap and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. During the cruises, great shearwaters, northern fulmars and Cory’s shearwaters dominated the avifauna of cMPA. Long-tailed and south polar skuas were also relatively abundant and a Fea’s petrel was sighted for the first time at sea in the cMPA, confirming tracking observations of this species. In 2013, a high diversity of cetaceans was recorded in the southwest of the cMPA, including Kogia and Mesoplodon spp. and in 2018 common minke whales were recorded for the first time in the cMPA. These results suggest that the cMPA has a relatively high diversity of cetaceans. An area of high cetacean diversity, including Sowerby’s beaked whales and northern bottlenose whales, was also encountered east of the MAR in 2018, in the vicinity of the Thulean Rise

Developments in asset-based welfare policy

At the time of the Pre-Budget Report, the Treasury published a second consultation document discussing two proposed asset-based welfare policies, the Saving Gateway and the Child Trust Fund. These are intended to ‘extend the benefits of saving and asset-ownership more widely’.1 In this chapter, we consider each of these two policies in turn. We discuss what the new document tells us about the policies and then consider what issues remain to be resolved before the policies are implemented

Water Quality Assessment of Sager Creek Utilizing Physiochemical Parameters and a Family-Level Biotic Index

An annual rapid bioassessment and physiochemical survey of Sager Creek in Northwest Arkansas was conducted. Sager Creek is a first to second order stream that flows through the city of Siloam Springs, AR. Invertebrate collections and water samples were collected at three different reaches, with the most downstream reach being below the effluent of the Siloam Springs Wastewater Treatment Plant. Benthic arthropods were collected, identified, and counted to produce a family-level biotic index and a family-level index of diversity. Statistical analysis revealed that these indices were significantly different for the effluent- influenced reach. However, this difference could not be correlated to any measured physiochemical parameter

Persistence of Urban Stream Syndrome Effects from Point Source and Non-Point Source Pollutants

In a previous study, Sager Creek, a small 1st-3rd order stream in northwest Arkansas was shown to be negatively impacted by urban land usage within the watershed, producing a stream that exhibited several indicators of urban stream syndrome. This included (1) physical disturbances: increases in impervious surfaces in the watershed, dams built across the stream, and alteration of the natural stream flow through the construction of retaining walls, (2) chemical disturbances: increases in electrical conductivity (EC) and total dissolved solids (TDS) as well as elevated PO4 levels (3) and biological disturbances: low populations of pollution intolerant macroinvertebrate species and high populations of pollution tolerant species. It could be hypothesized that these negative impacts could be mitigated by both biological and physiochemical remediation processes downstream from the effluent of the Siloam Springs Wastewater Treatment Plant (SSWTP), the most heavily effected of the previous study sites. A three-year investigation to test this hypothesis was completed. Utilizing physiochemical properties and biological assessments, four stream reaches, two in the previous research site and two downstream, were assessed for negative urban impact. Some acquired data supported the hypothesis that negative effects are mitigated downstream, particularly a lowering of EC and TDS levels and an increase in macroinvertebrate diversity. However, a larger amount of data, including mean water temperature, total water flow, pH, dissolved O2 and NO3 levels and mean Family-level Biotic Indices supported the null hypothesis that reaches above, at and, below the SSWTP were all equivalent in investigated physiochemical parameters and biological indicators

GENDER AND LOCAL LEVEL DECISION MAKING: FINDINGS FROM A CASE STUDY IN SAMANGAN

Community/Rural/Urban Development, Labor and Human Capital,

Explosive welding technique for joining aluminum and steel tubes

Silver sheet is wrapped around aluminum portion of joint. Mylar powder box is wrapped over silver sheet. Explosion welds silver to aluminum. Stainless-steel tube is placed over silver-aluminum interface. Mylar powder box, covered with Mylar tape, is wrapped around steel member. Explosion welds steel to silver-aluminum interface

Philanthropy and Social Media

We define social media as online or digital technologies that serve to connect people, information and organisations through networks. The term evolved as a way to -distinguish the emerging online -information platforms from traditional "broadcast media" -- TV, radio, film, newspapers -- by highlighting that these new tools -were "socialised" and allowed the audiences to contribute to their content. Social media have therefore become defined in relation to these existing media channels, but in fact they have their ancestry in existing social technologies, like the telephone and the letter. If traditional media connect people to information, social media connect people to people