Herbage Characteristics as Affected by the Canopies of Dominant Trees in a Savanna of Southern Mozambique

This study surveyed the species composition, forage yield and forage nitrogen concentration of the herbaceous layer 50, 100 and 200% of the canopy radius from the trunks of many-stemmed false thorn, knob thorn, scented thorn and marula trees in a southern Mozambican savanna. Tree species did not affect herbaceous DM yield or species diversity. Neither direction nor distance from the tree trunk affected DM or specific diversity. Crude protein percentages were 15% higher for legumes and 9% higher for grasses at 50% canopy than at 200% canopy. Grasses under the marulas, the only non-legume tree in the study, had 18% lower CP than the average for the other three tree species. Green panic was the predominant grass species under the canopies while no single grass species predominated outside the canopy where common urochloa, Themeda triandra and Aristida spp. were the most common grasses. Vigna spp. and Stylosanthes fruticosa were evenly distributed whereas Tephrosia spp. was found predominantly outside the canopy

Tree Legumes as Sustainable Ecosystem Services in Livestock Systems

Arboreal legumes provide multiple uses in pastures and rangelands. Trees directly and indirectly feed, house, doctor, and warm humans at minimal environmental cost through forage (fodder), timber, biofuel, medicines, as well as edible leaves, pods, and seeds. Leguminous trees, because they foster biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) and acquire deep-soil nutrients and moisture, compete less with herbaceous plants for shallow-horizon soil moisture and nutrients. Their ecosystem services (ES) are generally less obvious and quantifiable. These include converting CO2 to sequestered C and released O2 in N-poor soils where trees without BNF do not thrive. Other ES include shade for animals (including humans), plants, and soil microorganisms that would not otherwise survive in direct sunlight, in dry seasons, or under human mismanagement (overgrazing). Arboreal legumes in semi-arid and arid environments also provide habitat and nutrition to insects (pollinators), mammals, and birds during crucial drought seasons and years, facilitating repopulation to the ecosystem when rainfall returns. Additional ES include crucial ecosystem biological diversity, climatic stability, as well as aesthetic and cultural values. Humans have long recognized their value in natural semi-arid and arid ecosystems such as rangelands but have been slower to incorporate them into cultivated pastures where herbaceous monocultures dominate. Incorporating arboreal legumes with greater regularity into restored rangelands or cultivated pastures would not only increase overall productivity by adding non-herbaceous aerial and deep-soil root biomass but also provide ES that herbaceous species cannot match

Transforming learning of programming: A mentoring project

Programming is central to Computer Science and cognate disciplines, and poses early-learning challenges in problem-solving and coding. Since the recent past the School of Computer Science & Information Technology (RMIT University) has provided a student mentoring service to assist novice student programmers with their programming, indeed, to build up their confidence in programming. The service has received favourable feedback from students and, as an interesting aside, has had the added benefit of increasing mentors' confidence and improving mentors' communication skills. Mentors volunteer their services under a University leadership initiative, and are not paid to assist students. In light of such success, we secured a University action-research teaching and learning grant, to investigate aspects of the service delivered to date. While mentoring has been shown to be helpful for novice student programmers to learn and improve their programming, less recognised, but of equal importance, is the value to mentors through the skills and experience they gain. This paper reports early findings of a dual-purpose research investigation into the mentoring service. The research project seeks to discover ways to improve the mentoring service for novice student programmers, as well as to enhance a range of qualities in mentors

Consumer and carer consultants in mental health: The formation of their role identity

Following the introduction of the first National Mental Health Plan in 1992 consumer participation was and continues to be identified as a key component of the reform of Australia's mental health services. One strategy to achieve participation has been the creation of the role of consumer and carer consultants (CCCs) who have been employed in public mental health services since the early 1990s. Despite over two decades of service by CCCs there seems to be little consensus between the CCCs and mental health professionals regarding the roles and function of these positions. This qualitative study sought to explore the question of 'what is the role of consultants?' from the perspective of CCCs, focusing in particular on the formation of CCCs' role identity. Four themes were identified, namely: role motivation; role preparation; role practice/focus; and role ambiguity/conflict. This paper explores these themes and their implications, and finally makes recommendations regarding clinical practice

¹⁴C AMS at SUERC: improving QA data from the 5 MV tandem AMS and 250 kV SSAMS

In 2003, a National Electrostatics Corporation (NEC) 5MV tandem accelerator mass spectrometer was installed at SUERC, providing the radiocarbon laboratory with 14C measurements to 4–5‰ repeatability. In 2007, a 250kV single-stage accelerator mass spectrometer (SSAMS) was added to provide additional 14C capability and is now the preferred system for 14C analysis. Changes to the technology and to our operations are evident in our copious quality assurance data: typically, we now use the 134-position MC-SNICS source, which is filled to capacity. Measurement of standards shows that spectrometer running without the complication of on-line δ13C evaluation is a good operational compromise. Currently, 3‰ 14C/13C measurements are routinely achieved for samples up to nearly 3 half-lives old by consistent sample preparation and an automated data acquisition algorithm with sample random access for measurement repeats. Background and known-age standard data are presented for the period 2003–2008 for the 5MV system and 2007–2008 for the SSAMS, to demonstrate the improvements in data quality

Attitudes and impressions of participants in a study of the causes of childhood cancer

Researchers and ethics committees are increasingly concerned about the perceived emotional impact on individuals following participation in epidemiologic studies. This attitudinal survey was designed to investigate this issue among 751 of the parents who had already given an interview in the UK Childhood Cancer Study (UKCCS), one of the largest case-control studies ever undertaken to investigate the aetiology of cancer in children. Information was collected by postal questionnaire on their reasons for agreeing to take part in the UKCCS, on whether questions had caused distress or difficulty and what their feelings were immediately after the interview and at the time of this survey. Parents were asked if they felt they had benefited in any way by taking part and control parents were asked if they would have taken part without prior consent of their doctor. 90% of both cases and controls felt glad to have taken part immediately after the interview and few reported any anxiety at having done so; 95% of both cases and controls felt satisfied that they had made a worthwhile contribution. Although 18% of cases felt tense and 14% felt unhappy after the interview, over 90% of them felt glad that they had taken part a few weeks later. Of particular interest is that 38% of cases and 24% of controls said they had positively benefited from taking part in the UKCCS and 96% of control mothers did not mind their family doctor giving permission for them to be contacted. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co