Environmental impacts of grazed clover/grass pastures

peer-reviwedGrazed clover/grass pastures are important for animal production systems and the clover component is critical for its contribution to N inputs via biological fixation of atmospheric N2. The resource efficiency and environmental emissions for clover/grass pastures can differ from that of N-fertilised grass-only pastures. Fixation of N2 by clover uses photosynthetically- fixed carbon, whereas fertiliser N production consumes fossil fuels and has net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Clover has a higher phosphorus (P) requirement than grass and where extra P fertiliser is used for clover/grass pastures the risk of P loss to waterways is greater than for grass-only pastures. Nitrogen leaching from grazed pasture increases exponentially with increased N inputs and urinary-N contributes 70 to 90% of total N leaching. However, the few studies comparing clover/grass and N-fertilised grass-only pastures at similar total N inputs indicated similar N leaching losses. Nitrous oxide emissions from grazed pastures due to N-cycling of excreta are similar for clover/grass and N-fertilised grass-only pastures at similar total N inputs. However, grass-only pasture requires the application of N fertiliser, which will result in additional specific losses that don’t occur from clover-fixed N. Thus, total N2O emissions are generally higher for N-fertilised grass pastures than for clover/grass pastures. A summary of various whole-system and life cycle assessment analyses for dairy farms from various countries indicated that at similar total N inputs, clover/grass pasture systems can be more efficient than N-fertilised grass systems per kilogram of milk produced from an energy use and GHG perspective whereas results for nutrient losses to waterways were mixed and appear to be similar for both pasture types. In practice, other management practices on farm, such as crop integration, supplementary feeding strategy and winter management, can have a larger overall effect on environmental emissions than whether the N input is derived from fertiliser N or from N2 fixation

The Invisible Workforce of the First World War: An Examination of Female Woollen Workers and Their Community in Huddersfield and the Colne Valley

This thesis examines the neglected wartime history of woollen textiles in Huddersfield and the Colne Valley, and women’s crucial role in maintaining output. The historiography of female participation in the Great War has concentrated on women entering previously male-dominated work for the first time or women experiencing a brief freedom before returning to the cage of domesticity. These alternative interpretations ignore many aspects of the actuality of women’s lives in industries which already had a large female workforce. Moreover, the historiography of textiles has tended to focus on cotton - the biggest textile industry - and the one most impacted by the war. Yet woollens formed an essential part of the wartime economy, providing uniforms and equipment for the British and Allied armed forces and was traditionally one of the largest areas of female employment. During the war the trade suffered a lack of official interest, public indifference and obstructive policies. Women in textiles were neglected as attention focused on munitions and the adherence to ‘business as usual’ which drained resources of labour and capital from the mills of the West Riding at a time of increased workload and worsening living conditions. In looking at trade unions, housing, leisure, work practices, pay and conditions, and the organization of the wider community, this thesis argues that women cannot be reduced to a single category and that textiles was a much more variegated picture than previously suggested: the view is much more nuanced than either historiography has allowed. Women in the woollen textile industry maintained output despite official policy rather than because of it. This thesis examines how this was achieved and investigates the impact of the influx of working women into the town on existing local gender, social and economic relations. Historians of women’s work in the war have addressed the question of skill in industry (usually in industries where women had no previous role) and whether and how women took on new, more highly skilled roles. This thesis is attentive to the question of skill in the textile industry, and examines the intricate way in which this was culturally determined and highly gendered – and the complicated balancing act attempted by the unions who tried to recruit extra women whilst also maintaining the hierarchies of status in this sector. In the woolen industry of Huddersfield and the Colne Valley, women played a valuable part in wartime production and by examining how, despite their increased importance, their status within the industry changed little, this thesis provides a significant contribution to the picture of women’s work during the Great War

Environmental impacts of grazed pastures

Large nitrogen (N) surplus and return of excreta-N in localised patches at high N rates in intensively grazed pasture systems markedly increases the risk of N losses to waterways and the atmosphere. Here are described the main routes of N input to grazed pastures, losses via N leaching, methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. Furthermore farm N budgets and N use efficiency in relation to management strategies that can be applied to reduce N losses are discussed. Nitrate leaching increases exponentially with increased inputs and is closely related to urine patches, which also influence the leaching of dissolved organic N. High N2O emission rates in grazed pastures are related to fertiliser-N or N in excreta combined with compaction by animal treading. Grazing may considerably reduce CH3 emissions compared to indoor housing of cows. Pastures are occasionally cultivated due to sward deterioration followed by a rapid and extended period of N mineralization, contributing to an increased potential for losses. Good management of the pasture (e.g. reduced fertiliser input and reduced length of grazing) and of the mixed crop rotation during both the grassland and the arable phase (e.g. delayed ploughing time and a catch crop strategy) can considerably reduce the negative environmental impact of grazing. It is important to consider the whole farm system when evaluating environmental impact. In particular for green house gasses since the pasture may serve as a source of N2O and indirectly of CH3, but also as a sink of CO2 influenced by management practices on the farm

CommuniSense: Crowdsourcing Road Hazards in Nairobi

Nairobi is one of the fastest growing metropolitan cities and a major business and technology powerhouse in Africa. However, Nairobi currently lacks monitoring technologies to obtain reliable data on traffic and road infrastructure conditions. In this paper, we investigate the use of mobile crowdsourcing as means to gather and document Nairobi's road quality information. We first present the key findings of a city-wide road quality survey about the perception of existing road quality conditions in Nairobi. Based on the survey's findings, we then developed a mobile crowdsourcing application, called CommuniSense, to collect road quality data. The application serves as a tool for users to locate, describe, and photograph road hazards. We tested our application through a two-week field study amongst 30 participants to document various forms of road hazards from different areas in Nairobi. To verify the authenticity of user-contributed reports from our field study, we proposed to use online crowdsourcing using Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk) to verify whether submitted reports indeed depict road hazards. We found 92% of user-submitted reports to match the MTurkers judgements. While our prototype was designed and tested on a specific city, our methodology is applicable to other developing cities.Comment: In Proceedings of 17th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services (MobileHCI 2015

The Rhythm of the Saints : Barricades, boundaries, and arts-based interventions in communities with a history of violence

This pamphlet is an updating of a previously published book chapter (2016) based on data up to 2014. The period from 2014-2020 includes the 2019 50th anniversary of the first peace wall and incorporates new information produced in connection with this. The pamphlet is intended to accompany an associated exhibition of 150 images incluidng a multimedia surround sound installation that had to be postponed because of Covid-19 restrictions

Toma de decisiones conscientes respecto al uso de nuevas tecnologías en alumnado de 1º de la ESO. Una propuesta de innovación didáctica

Mediante el presente trabajo se desarrolla material didáctico para la asignatura de Tecnología y Digitalización de 1º de la ESO. El alumnado revisa las concepciones entorno a la tecnología y las fuerzas que influyen en su avance; analiza los valores que portan diversas tecnologías de uso cotidiano y su influencia en la cultura para así desarrollar la capacidad de realizar elecciones conscientes respecto al uso de tecnologías emergentes