A reality check: teaching practices in Fijian secondary schools

This interpretive study of teaching practices explored the perceptions of teachers in a changing landscape in secondary schools in Fiji. Research participants engaged in focus group interviews in which they shared their teaching stories. The study found that the key issues for teachers were student-centered learning and continuous assessment. It also found that teachers were skilled and knowledgeable in pedagogy however some of their teaching practices are ineffective. It is contended that this situation is the result of inadequate support systems for teachers and in turn is perpetuating protracted change in the education system. Suggestions for teachers to develop adaptive and innovative skills that enable them to meet the changing role of teaching include a range of initiatives related to continuous professional development

Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Spectroscopy on Iron-Pnictides

Tremendous excitement has followed the recent discovery of superconductivity up to Tc= 56 K in iron–arsenic based materials (pnictides). This discovery breaks the monopoly on high-Tc superconductivity held by copper-oxides (cuprates) for over two decades and renews hope that high-Tc superconductivity may finally be theoretically understood and widely applied. Since scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS) have been key tools in the investigation and understanding of both conventional and unconventional superconductivity, these techniques are also applied to the pnictides. While the field is still in its early stages, several important achievements by STM and STS have been reported on the pnictides. In this paper, we will review their contribution towards an understanding of superconductivity in this new class of materials.Physic

Heaviside's dolphins (Cephalorhynchus heavisidii) relax acoustic crypsis to increase communication range

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2018. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here under a nonexclusive, irrevocable, paid-up, worldwide license granted to WHOI. It is made available for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Biological Sciences 285 (2018): 20181178, doi:10.1098/rspb.2018.1178.The costs of predation may exert significant pressure on the mode of communication used by an animal, and many species balance the benefits of communication (e.g. mate attraction) against the potential risk of predation. Four groups of toothed whales have independently evolved narrowband high-frequency (NBHF) echolocation signals. These signals help NBHF species avoid predation through acoustic crypsis by echolocating and communicating at frequencies inaudible to predators such as mammal-eating killer whales. Heaviside’s dolphins (Cephalorhynchus heavisidii) are thought to exclusively produce NBHF echolocation clicks with a centroid frequency around 125 kHz and little to no energy below 100 kHz. To test this, we recorded wild Heaviside’s dolphins in a sheltered bay in Namibia. We demonstrate that Heaviside’s dolphins produce a second type of click with lower frequency and broader bandwidth in a frequency range that is audible to killer whales. These clicks are used in burst-pulses and occasional click series but not foraging buzzes. We evaluate three different hypotheses and conclude that the most likely benefit of these clicks is to decrease transmission directivity and increase conspecific communication range. The expected increase in active space depends on background noise but ranges from 2.5 (Wenz Sea State 6) to 5 times (Wenz Sea State 1) the active space of NBHF signals. This dual click strategy therefore allows these social dolphins to maintain acoustic crypsis during navigation and foraging, and to selectively relax their crypsis to facilitate communication with conspecifics.This research was supported by a Fulbright U.S. Research Fellowship, the National Geographic Society’s Emerging Explorers Grant in conjunction with the Waitt Foundation (38115) and the University of Pretoria’s Zoology Department. TG was funded by the Claude Leon Foundation, and SE was funded by the South African National Research Foundation. FHJ acknowledges funding from the Office of Naval Research (N00014-1410410) and an AIAS-COFUND fellowship from Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies

The Amsterdam energy transition roadmap – introducing the City-zen methodology

Purpose – City-zen is an EU-funded interdisciplinary project that aims to develop and demonstrate energy-efficient cities and to build methods and tools for cities, industries and citizens to achieve ambitious sustainability targets. As part of the project, an Urban Energy Transition Methodology is developed, elaborated and used to create Roadmaps, which indicate the interventions needed to get from the current situation to the desired sustainable future state of a city. For one of the partner cities, Amsterdam, such a Roadmap was developed. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This paper discusses the approach and methodology behind the City-zen Urban Energy Transition Methodology, with its six steps from the initial energy analysis to the roadmap towards a desired future state. The paper will illustrate this by results from the Amsterdam Roadmap study, in numbers and figures. Findings – The Roadmap study of Amsterdam revealed that the city can become energy neutral in its heat demand, but not in the production of sufficient electricity from renewables. Research limitations/implications – Although as yet only applied to the City of Amsterdam, the methodology behind the roadmap can be applied by cities across the world. Practical implications – An enormous effort is required in order to transform, renovate and adapt parts of the city. It was calculated, for instance, how many energy renovation projects, district heating pipes and photovoltaic panels will be annually needed in order to timely become carbon neutral, energy neutral and “fossil free”. Social implications – The technical-spatial content of the Roadmap was presented to stakeholders of the Dutch capital city, such as politicians, energy companies, commercial enterprises, and not least citizens themselves. Although informed by scientific work, the Roadmap appealed too many, demonstrated by the extensive media coverage. Originality/value – The City-zen Methodology builds upon earlier urban energy approaches such as REAP (Tillie et al., 2009), LES (Dobbelsteen et al., 2011) and Energy Potential Mapping (Broersma et al., 2013), but creates a stepped approach that has not been presented and applied to a city as a whole yet. As far as the authors know, so far, an energy transition roadmap has never been developed for an entire city

Changing Climate for Quality Assured Regional Qualifications in the Pacific: An innovative collaboration (EU-PacTVET & EQAP)

The Pacific region embraces 22 countries and territories. With more than 7,500 islands over 30 million square kilometres, their combined land mass accounts for only two per cent of this area. Climate change and disasters threaten Pacific economies, livelihoods and cultures, and impact a range of sectors, including natural resources, agriculture, food security, education, public health and infrastructure. The Pacific leaders have continued to reaffirm the ongoing urgency of addressing the challenges posed by, and the impacts of, climate change as a regional priority.1 At the Forty-Sixth Pacific Islands Forum held in September 2015 the leaders of the Pacific small island states reiterated their concerns that climate change remains the single greatest threat to the livelihood, security and well-being of the people of the Pacific. Pacific Island Countries (PICs) recognise a commitment to sustainable development is a national responsibility but also realize that this cannot be achieved without a regional approach. The European Union Pacific Technical, Vocational Education and Training in Sustainable Energy (SE) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) Project (EU PacTVET) aims to develop a quality assured regional qualification and accreditation process. This paper reflects discussions, views and validations from members of government agencies, private industry, training providers, non-government organisations, community groups, donors, and industry associations surrounding a regional accreditation strategy

Greener pastures 2 - Nitrogen for intensively grazed dairy pastures

We undertook three main studies during the Greener Pastures project: 1. From mid 2005 to late 2008, a farming systems study was undertaken with five rates of nitrogen fertiliser as the main treatment. This study will be referred to as the ‘nitrogen response farmlets’. 2. From 2006 to 2008 a series of smaller ‘supporting’ studies were completed to investigate how grazing management influences the pasture production gains from nitrogen fertiliser. This will be referred to as the ‘nitrogen by growth-stage study’. 3. From early 2009 to early 2010, a farming systems study was undertaken to investigate the potential to increase pasture utilisation by delaying grazing based on the leaf stage of the ryegrass plant. This study will be referred to as the ‘leaf-stage farmlets’.https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/bulletins/1129/thumbnail.jp

Quantitative BOLD imaging at 3T: Temporal changes in hepatocellular carcinoma and fibrosis following oxygen challenge.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the utility of oxygen challenge and report on temporal changes in blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrast in normal liver, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and background fibrosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eleven volunteers (nine male and two female, mean age 33.5, range 27-41 years) and 10 patients (nine male and one female, mean age 68.9, range 56-87 years) with hepatocellular carcinoma on a background of diffuse liver disease were recruited. Imaging was performed on a 3T system using a multiphase, multiecho, fast gradient echo sequence. Oxygen was administered via a Hudson mask after 2 minutes of free-breathing. Paired t-tests were performed to determine if the mean pre- and post-O2 differences were statistically significant. RESULTS: In patients with liver fibrosis (n = 8) the change in T2* following O2 administration was elevated (0.88 ± 0.582 msec, range 0.03-1.69 msec) and the difference was significant (P = 0.004). The magnitude of the BOLD response in patients with HCC (n = 10) was larger, however the response was more variable (1.07 ± 1.458 msec, range -0.93-3.26 msec), and the difference was borderline significant (P = 0.046). The BOLD response in the volunteer cohort was not significant (P = 0.121, 0.59 ± 1.162 msec, range -0.81-2.44 msec). CONCLUSION: This work demonstrates that the BOLD response following oxygen challenge within cirrhotic liver is consistent with a breakdown in vascular autoregulatory mechanisms. Similarly, the elevated BOLD response within HCC is consistent with the abnormal capillary vasculature within tumors and the arterialization of the blood supply. Our results suggest that oxygen challenge may prove a viable BOLD contrast mechanism in the liver. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2016;44:739-744.This study was supported by the Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, Cambridge’s Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre and a NIHR comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre award to Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with the University of Cambridge.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Wiley via https://doi.org/10.1002/jmri.2518