Development and application of dynamic models for environmental management of aquaculture in South East Asia

With the world’s population set to reach 9 billion by the mid 21st century food security has never been more important. Increased competition regarding land for agricultural use and over fished seas means it falls to aquaculture to meet the global demands for protein requirements. The largest supply of aquaculture products are cultivated in South East Asia where the industry has seen rapid expansion, particularly of pond production in the past 50 years. This initial expansion has come at a cost with mangrove losses and eutrophication of natural water sources resulting. The impact of these not only affects other stakeholders, including domestic users, but effects will be felt by the aquaculture industry. Indiscriminate release of effluents to the surrounding water reduces the water quality for other users and may impact on the farm discharging the water originally. Poor water quality can then result in poor growth rates and increased mortalities reducing the profitability of the farm and endangering the livelihood of the farmer. If aquaculture is to meet the global food demand it is important that current and future enterprises are developed with sustainability at the fore front. This study investigates the nutrient dynamics in pond culture in South East Asia, focussing initially on four countries outlined by the SEAT (Sustainable Ethical Aquaculture Trade) project, including Thailand, Vietnam, China and Bangladesh. Within the four countries the main species cultured for export were identified resulting in tilapia, shrimp, pangasiid catfish and prawn. Following a farmer survey designed to collect a large volume of data over a range of topics including, water management, social, economic and ethical perceptions, dynamic models were developed, using Powersim Studio 8© (Powersim, Norway), for a generic fish and shrimp ponds separately. The models draw on data from the survey combined with other literature sources to provide outputs for Total Nitrogen and Total Phosphorus in water and sediment as well as dissolved oxygen in the pond water. One of the biggest challenges facing this study was the objective selection of relevant sites for case studies to apply the models to. With such a large preselected set of sites (200 per species per country) it was important that the method be capable of handling such large datasets. Thusly it was decided that a multivariate method be used due to the removal of any pre judgement of the data relevant to the study. In order to investigate the nutrient dynamics water management data was used in the multivariate analysis to identify any similarity between the practices occurring on farms. The case studies in this project focus on Thailand and Vietnam, covering tilapia, shrimp and pangasius. Prawn farms were disregarded as, through the survey, it was discovered most production was for domestic trade. The models were adapted to each farm case study expanding the boundary from pond level to farm level, providing an output for each pond in terms of nutrients in the water and production levels and the farm as a whole for dissolved oxygen and sediment accumulation. The results of the models suggest the culture species to be taking up much of the TN added followed by the accumulation in sediments in shrimp ponds, while TP is mostly taken up by sediments. The fish case studies suggest that most of the TN is discharged to the environment followed by uptake. While Total phosphorus shows similar results to shrimp, accumulating in the sediment. The models presented in this study can be used to estimate outputs from farms of similar water management strategies and can assist in the determination of where improvements can be made to reduce the potential for eutrophication of natural water sources

Time, institutional support and quality of decision making in child protection:A cross-country analysis

This paper examines perceptions of time and institutional support for decision making and staff confidence in child welfare staffs ultimate decisions – examining differences and similarities between and within the service-oriented Nordic countries (Norway and Finland) and the risk-oriented Anglo-American countries (England and California). The study identifies a high degree of work pressure across all the countries, lines of predominantly vertical institutional support and relatively high confidence in decisions. Finland stands out with higher perceived work pressure and with a horizontal support line, whereas England stands out with workers having a lower degree of confidence in their own and others’ decisions

Facing up to the challenge of behavioural observation in infant hearing assessment

The ability to assess detection and discrimination of speech by infants has proved elusive. Dr Iain Jackson and colleagues discuss how new technologies and fresh approaches might offer valuable insight into young infants’ behavioural responses to sound

Children's Databases - Safety and Privacy

This report describes in detail the policy background, the systems that are being built, the problems with them, and the legal situation in the UK. An appendix looks at Europe, and examines in particular detail how France and Germany have dealt with these issues. Our report concludes with three suggested regulatory action strategies for the Commissioner: one minimal strategy in which he tackles only the clear breaches of the law, one moderate strategy in which he seeks to educate departments and agencies and guide them towards best practice, and finally a vigorous option in which he would seek to bring UK data protection practice in these areas more in line with normal practice in Europe, and indeed with our obligations under European law

Advances in the management of uterine fibroids

Uterine fibroids are extremely common, with major surgery the current main management option; uterine artery embolisation is an alternative, but risks to fertility are unclear. Minimally invasive procedures are becoming more commonly performed via both the hysteroscope and laparoscope, minimising recovery time for patients. Recently, small doses of progesterone receptor modulators (mifepristone and asoprisnil) have been shown to be effective in reducing menstrual blood loss and fibroid size. Progress from here should include the development of a well-tolerated oral preparation that will maintain fertility

Van der Waals Frictional Drag induced by Liquid Flow in Low- Dimensional Systems

We study the van der Waals frictional drag force induced by liquid flow in low-dimensional systems (2D and 1D electron systems, and 2D and 1D channels with liquid). We find that for both 1D and 2D systems, the frictional drag force induced by liquid flow may be several orders of magnitude larger than the frictional drag induced by electronic current.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Electromagnetic Actuated stirring in Microbioreactors enabling easier multiplexing & flexible device design

This paper was presented at the 4th Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2014), which was held at University College, London, UK. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Italian Union of Thermofluiddynamics, IPEM, the Process Intensification Network, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Heat Transfer Society, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group, and the Energy Institute, ASME Press, LCN London Centre for Nanotechnology, UCL University College London, UCL Engineering, the International NanoScience Community, www.nanopaprika.eu.The development of a novel electromagnetically (EM) actuated stirring method, for use in microbioreactors, is reported. Mixing in microbioreactors is critical to ensure even distribution of nutrients to microorganisms and cells. Magnetically driven stirrer bars or peristaltic mixing are the most commonly utilised mixing methods employed in completely liquid-filled microbioreactors. However the circular reactor shape required for mixing with a stirrer bar and frequently used for peristaltically mixed microbioreactors presents difficulties for bubble-free priming in a microfluidic bioreactor. Moreover the circular shape and the hardware required for both types of mixing reduces the potential packing density of multiplexed reactors. We present a new method of mixing, displaying design flexibility by demonstrating mixing in circular and diamond-shaped reactors and a duplex diamond reactor and fermentation of the gram-positive bacteria S. carnosus in a diamond-shaped microbioreactor system. The results of the optimisation of this mixing method for performing fermentations alongside both batch and continuous culture fermentations are presented

easySTORM: a robust, lower-cost approach to localisation and TIRF microscopy

TIRF and STORM microscopy are super-resolving fluorescence imaging modalities for which current implementations on standard microscopes can present significant complexity and cost. We present a straightforward and low-cost approach to implement STORM and TIRF taking advantage of multimode optical fibres and multimode diode lasers to provide the required excitation light. Combined with open source software and relatively simple protocols to prepare samples for STORM, including the use of Vectashield for non-TIRF imaging, this approach enables TIRF and STORM imaging of cells labelled with appropriate dyes or expressing suitable fluorescent proteins to become widely accessible at low cost

Leading the evaluation of institutional online learning environments for quality enhancement in times of change

This paper reports on findings from a nationally funded project which aims to design and implement a quality management framework for online learning environments (OLEs). Evaluation is a key component of any quality management system and it is this aspect of the framework that is the focus of this paper. In developing the framework initial focus groups were conducted at the five participating institutions. These revealed that, although regarded as important, there did not appear to be a shared understanding of the nature and purpose of evaluation. A second series of focus groups revealed there were multiple perspectives arising from those with a vested interest in online learning. These perspectives will be outlined. Overall, how evaluation was undertaken was highly variable within and across the five institutions reflecting where they were at in relation to the development of their OLE

Occupational stress facing nurse academics—A mixed-methods systematic review

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Aim: To better understand occupational stress faced by nurse academics. Methods: A mixed-methods systematic review, following the Joanna Briggs Institute [JBI], (Joanna Briggs Institute Reviewers’ Manual: 2014 edition, 2014) process. Studies were assessed for quality and risk of bias by using standardised critical appraisal instruments from the Joanna Briggs Institute. In addition, processes and reporting were checked against the Equator guidelines. See Appendix S1. Results: The review revealed that nursing academics do experience occupational stress, including burnout. Occupational stress for academic nurses is associated with various factors including work–life balance, workload issues, resources and support, and adapting to change. However, much of the literature focuses on nurses during the initial transition from clinical to academic environment, with rather less focus on established mid-to-late career nurse academics. Discussion: Occupational stress and burnout are evident in the university academic workforce, adversely affecting the well-being of academic nurses, and the long-term sustainability of the academic nursing workforce. While there is considerable literature focusing on the novice academic nurse, particularly during the transition period, rather less is known about occupational stress among academic nurses across the career trajectory. Various strategies to deal with the negative consequences of occupational stress are identified, including (a) quality mentors for novice and younger nursing academics; (b) training in resilience building for novice academics; (c) supporting collegial relationships and reducing bullying; (d) assistance for professional development and research; (e) better support and resources to overcome increasing workloads; and (f) greater work-related empowerment to enhance job satisfaction. Conclusion: There is a need for a broader whole-of-career research focus to more fully identify, explore and mitigate the occupational stressors that negatively affect the academic nurse workforce. Relevance to clinical practice: A strong and resilient academic nurse workforce is essential for the sustainability of the profession. Organisations should review their work practices and provide greater work-related empowerment to reduce occupational stressors among nursing academics