Using RIVPACS for studies on conservation and biodiversity

Invertebrate conservation relies not only on public support and political will, but also on possessing an adequate understanding of the distribution and ecology of invertebrate species and communities. In the UK, RIVPACS is making an important contribution to assessing the conservation importance of river invertebrate assemblages. So far, work has largely centred on using RIVPACS as an integral part of SERCON (System for Evaluating Rivers for Conservation), in which data collected using the standard RIVPACS method are interpreted with reference to conservation criteria such as species richness and representativeness. Applications of RIVPACS to other areas of conservation - whether providing information on the ecological requirements of rare species, monitoring the success of river restoration projects, or making broader assessments of sustainability - are probably more limited, but merit further examination. It is important to develop closer links between RIVPACS and techniques such as SERCON and RHS (River Habitat Survey) in order to maximise the benefit each can bring tostudies on conservation and biodiversity. It should also be recognised that there are limitations in transferring such systems to other countries where approaches to nature conservation may be very different

Journal Staff

Deal of the day is a new business model that has been adopted by thousands of companies worldwide. For marketers and consumers, deal of the day is a form of sales promotion in which an intermediary manages a list of subscribers, and allows merchants access to promote their offerings at a discount, in exchange for a commission. However, deal of the day is in some ways different from traditional forms of sales promotion. Deals are bought online and redeemed later, moving the risk of non-redemption from merchant to consumer. Additionally, deals are typically offered by companies in the hospitality sector, while knowledge about sales promotion is primarily based on shopper data for basic goods. The aim of the first two papers is to learn more about deal of the day. Paper 1 shows that deal of the day is used by companies from various sectors, and that they have many options to restrict purchase and consumption of deals to suit their purpose. Paper 2 finds that most consumers buy only a few deals per year, and that only a small segment buys at a very high frequency. The next two papers assess the impact that deal of the day has on existing knowledge about how consumers respond to sales promotion. Paper 3 identifies segments within the deal of the day subscriber base that should be targeted individually. Paper 4 determines that high-frequency deal purchasers are knowledgeable and social, and important for both intermediaries and merchants. This thesis shows that although consumers’ response to deal of the day is similar to what is known about traditional promotion, the wide range of merchants and deals makes it dangerous to generalize about their intentions and behavior.QC 20141201</p

Propagation of Actinidia chinensis (Planch.) by stem and root cutting : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Horticultural Science at Massey University

Basal wounding, bottom heat, light with IBA treatments were found to be beneficial for rooting of Actinidia chinensis (Planch.). IBA treatment was effective only when there was a high natural ability to initiate root in Summer and Spring. Seasonal fluctuations in rooting ability was pronounced. This seasonal variation seems to be related to the levels of endogenous IAA, ABA and cofactor 2. No correlation between root initiation and bud activity or IAN level was established. IAA seems to be the fundamental physiological promoter of adventitous root formation. IBA plays only a supporting role in promoting root formation, by protecting the endogenous IAA level in the cutting base. Leaf tissue is an important factor for rooting to be successful. The role of leaf tissue is not just to produce auxin or synthesize nutrients but rather some unknown factor in the leaf can produce a synergistic interaction with auxin in root formation processes. Root cuttings of Abbott variety were sequentially harvested and planted over a period from late Autumn (1.4.77) until mid Summer (8.1.78). Root cuttings of different thickness and length were compared to evaluate their effect on regeneration. The effect of various growth regulators was investigated too. Root diameters of 0.5 - 1.5 cm. out performed that of the thinner or thicker ones. Shorter cuttings (5 cm) of equivalent total length were found to be more productive than a single long cutting (15cm). Strong polarity was observed with shoots only arising from the proximal end of the cutting. Regenerative capacity was highest in late Autumn and Winter and lowest in Summer. This seasonal fluctuation can be altered by exogenous application of growth regulators. IBA suppressed shoot regeneration, whereas cytokinin and sucrose promoted it, while GA3 did not have any significant effect. For commercial use, the practical and economic aspects of this techique require further investigation

Efficiency and productivity of Singapore’s manufacturing sector 2001-2010: An analysis using Simar and Wilson’s (2007) bootstrapped truncated approach

This paper seeks to explain the lagging productivity in Singapore’s manufacturing noted in the statements of the Economic Strategies Committee Report 2010. Two methods are employed: the Malmquist productivity to measure total factor productivity change and Simar and Wilson’s (J Econ, 136:31–64, 2007) bootstrapped truncated regression approach. In the first stage, the nonparametric data envelopment analysis is used to measure technical efficiency. To quantify the economic drivers underlying inefficiencies, the second stage employs a bootstrapped truncated regression whereby bias-corrected efficiency estimates are regressed against explanatory variables. The findings reveal that growth in total factor productivity was attributed to efficiency change with no technical progress. Most industries were technically inefficient throughout the period except for ‘Pharmaceutical Products’. Sources of efficiency were attributed to quality of worker and flexible work arrangements while incessant use of foreign workers lowered efficiency

Distribution Trade Sector Output and Productivity Performance: A Case Study of Singapore and Hong Kong 2001-2008

This paper employs the industry of origin approach to compare value added and productivity of Singapore and Hong Kong's Distribution Trade Sector for the period 2001-2008. The direct comparison between these two economies was motivated by the statements of the Singapore government: Its services sector, especially in Retail Trade, lags behind Hong Kong's productivity levels. The results show that since 2005, Singapore's Distribution performance in terms of labour productivity was below Hong Kong's level, which was largely due to poor performance in its Retail Trade sector arising from an influx of foreign workers. Results from total factor productivity (TFP) between these two economies also suggest that Hong Kong's better performance (since 2005) was largely due to its ability to employ more educated and trained workers with limited use of capital. The results suggest that polices that worked in Hong Kong may not work for Singapore because its population is more diverse which poses a challenge to policy-makers in raising its productivity level.purchasing power parities; distribution trade; wholesale trade; retail trade; total factor productivity; labour productivity

Heavy-traffic analysis of k-limited polling systems

In this paper we study a two-queue polling model with zero switch-over times and $k$-limited service (serve at most $k_i$ customers during one visit period to queue $i$, $i=1,2$) in each queue. The arrival processes at the two queues are Poisson, and the service times are exponentially distributed. By increasing the arrival intensities until one of the queues becomes critically loaded, we derive exact heavy-traffic limits for the joint queue-length distribution using a singular-perturbation technique. It turns out that the number of customers in the stable queue has the same distribution as the number of customers in a vacation system with Erlang-$k_2$ distributed vacations. The queue-length distribution of the critically loaded queue, after applying an appropriate scaling, is exponentially distributed. Finally, we show that the two queue-length processes are independent in heavy traffic