Metaphors that inspire 'researching with people': UK farming, countrysides and diverse stakeholder contexts

An awareness of metaphors offers exciting possibilities for research. Metaphors can be seen as central to our understandings and as a way to be able to appreciate different understandings. In contexts characterised by many actors and different activities, such as in agriculture, metaphors provide a way of dealing with this diversity. Metaphors also enhance attempts to be self-reflective and responsible in research. Researching with people explicitly recognises the roles assumed by the researcher as well as co-researchers. Researching with people removes a divide between doing and using research, and focuses on how to create a space where different understandings can emerge. The context for this research is how future counrrysides in the UK can come about. Farming, environmental and social issues are all included in this context, although farming is taken as a base. The main 'co-researchers' were several farming families and members of The Farming and Wildlife Advisoy Group (WAG). In the thesis, a framework is developed for recognising, bringing forth and exploring metaphors. Ways of using metaphors explicitly in research are developed by considering how metaphors provide: a way to understand our understandings, as well as the way language is used; a way to reflect on, and structure research; a way to understand the research context and to appreciate a diversity of understandings; and a way to create space for understandings to emerge. An approach is proposed that can inform research in diverse stakeholder contexts, in a wide range of fields, based on an awareness of metaphor

Mediating Contexts in Trans-Generational Faith Transmission : a Qualitative Study

Problem. This descriptive study explored the experience of faith transmission across generations in order to seek to identify the conditions that are intrinsic to successful faith transmission, and conversely, the conditions that my lead to a rejection of faith in Jesus Christ. Method. Diads were chosen purposively so that the diads were: (1) known to the interviewer, (2) representative of the convergent or divergent paradigm, (3) residents of Australia, and (4) composed of children between 20-40 years of age. Convergent diads were defined as diads in which all in the diad when interviewed were members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Divergent diads were those in which one person of the diad is no longer a practicing Seventh-day Adventist, although that person may have a personal faith in Jesus. Twelve convergent diads and 9 divergent diads were interviewed. Discussion. Six major themes were derived from the interview analysis: internal family influences; external environmental influences; exclusivism associated with Adventism; issues of differentiation regarding God, faith, and the church; faith nurture; and encouragement in open communication and decision making. These themes appeared to synthesize into two major areas in faith development, a social-relational dimension and an intellectual-personal dimension. This was consistent with Fowler\u27s notion that these two dimensions were foundational to faith development and growth. Faith development was impacted by the person\u27s emotional, social, and faith development maturation. If intellectual dissonance or limited social interaction and acceptance occurred, personality style appeared to be another major influence that affected the retention or rejection of personal and/or institutional faith. For this study, personal faith in God appeared to be well transmitted by both convergent and divergent diads, with 20 of the 21 diads interviewed apparently successful in transmitting personal faith in God. The shape of that faith seemed dependent on the individual\u27s conception of relational and intellectual adequacy along with the impact of his or her personal and faith development maturation and personality that influenced his or her faith view. Thus, institutional faith adherence seemed to be as much a question of personal outlook as parental nurture

Rainfall input, throughfall and stemflow of nutrients in a central African rain forest dominated by ectomycorrhizal trees

Incident rainfall is a major source of nutrient input to a forest ecosystem and the consequent throughfall and stemflow contribute to nutrient cycling. These rain-based fluxes were measured over 12 mo in two forest types in Korup National Park, Cameroon, one with low (LEM) and one with high (HEM) ectomycorrhizal abundances of trees. Throughfall was 96.6 and 92.4% of the incident annual rainfall (5370 mm) in LEM and HEM forests respectively; stemflow was correspondingly 1.5 and 2.2%. Architectural analysis showed that ln(funneling ratio) declined linearly with increasing ln(basal area) of trees. Mean annual inputs of N, P, K, Mg and Ca in incident rainfall were 1.50, 1.07, 7.77, 5.25 and 9.27 kg ha(-1), and total rain-based inputs to the forest floor were 5.0, 3.2, 123.4, 14.4 and 37.7 kg ha-1 respectively. The value for K is high for tropical forests and that for N is low. Nitrogen showed a significantly lower loading of throughfall and stemflow in HEM than in LEM forest, this being associated in the HEM forest with a greater abundance of epiphytic bryophytes which may absorb more N. Incident rainfall provided c. 35% of the gross input of P to the forest floor (i. e., rain-based plus small litter inputs), a surprisingly high contribution given the sandy P-poor soils. At the start of the wet season leaching of K from the canopy was particularly high. Calcium in the rain was also highest at this time, most likely due to washing off of dry-deposited Harmattan dusts. It is proposed that throughfall has an important `priming' function in the rapid decomposition of litter and mineralization of P at the start of the wet season. The contribution of P inputted from the atmosphere appears to be significant when compared to the rates of P mineralization from leaf litter

Rural Teachers’ and Non-Rural Teachers’ Motivations to Teach: Differences and Similarities

The purpose of this study was to explore the motivations of teachers in a Midwestern state that has a mix of rural and non-rural geographic regions. Namely, this study set out to identify differences between educators working in rural areas and those working in non-rural (urban or suburban) regions by examining their motivations, perceptions, and reasons for teaching through administration of the Factors Influencing Teaching Choice (FIT-Choice) survey to a group of 616 Midwestern educators. Multiple group confirmatory factor analysis confirms that the collected data do fit the model as outlined by Watt and Richardson, and significant differences were found between 6 of 18 measured subfactors, including: fallback career, job transferability, time for family, salary, satisfaction teaching, and social contribution. As policy interacts with place, these findings suggest that a one-size-fits-all policy model may warrant reconsideration. Rural and non-rural teachers are not identical groups, and perhaps the differences run deeper than teachers simply needing more exposure to a rural setting

General Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations of the Hard State as a Magnetically-Dominated Accretion Flow

(Abridged) We present one of the first physically-motivated two-dimensional general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) numerical simulations of a radiatively-cooled black-hole accretion disk. The fiducial simulation combines a total-energy-conserving formulation with a radiative cooling function, which includes bremsstrahlung, synchrotron, and Compton effects. By comparison with other simulations we show that in optically thin advection-dominated accretion flows, radiative cooling can significantly affect the structure, without necessarily leading to an optically thick, geometrically thin accretion disk. We further compare the results of our radiatively-cooled simulation to the predictions of a previously developed analytic model for such flows. For the very low stress parameter and accretion rate found in our simulated disk, we closely match a state called the "transition" solution between an outer advection-dominated accretion flow and what would be a magnetically-dominated accretion flow (MDAF) in the interior. The qualitative and quantitative agreement between the numerical and analytic models is quite good, with only a few well-understood exceptions. According to the analytic model then, at significantly higher stress or accretion, we would expect a full MDAF to form. The collection of simulations in this work also provide important data for interpreting other numerical results in the literature, as they span the most common treatments of thermodynamics, including simulations evolving: 1) the internal energy only; 2) the internal energy plus an explicit cooling function; 3) the total energy without cooling; and 4) total energy including cooling. We find that the total energy formulation is a necessary prerequisite for proper treatment of radiative cooling in MRI accretion flows.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Ap

The Relationship between School Climate and Faith Engagement

The study of school climate has gained increased attention over the past 25 years, with research indicating significant relationships between school climate and a number of social, emotional and academic outcomes for students. An aspect of school climate that has seen little attention, however, is the relationship between the development of faith and positive school climate. This study analyses data from 368 students in one faith-based school in Australia, utilising self-reported measures of school climate and faith engagement. A significant relationship is found between these variables, indicating the potential impact that school climate and faith engagement may have on each other. The study discusses the implications of these findings and makes suggestions in relation to the strengthening of these two areas within faith-based schools

Faith Engagement at School

The ability of teachers to engage and develop the faith journey of students is seen as a central endeavour in faith-based schools. Much has been written in the literature regarding approaches that may be effective in facilitating this process. This study analysed qualitative data collected from 368 Year 5–12 students from one faith-based school in Australia. Students reported on the key areas they believe assist in developing their faith, in addition to aspects they believe could be improved in this regard. A significant difference was found between the attitudes of those who reported not having a faith background and those who did. This chapter builds onto findings reported in the previous chapter

Plurality of tree species responses to drought perturbation in Bornean tropical rain forest

Drought perturbation driven by the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a principal stochastic variable determining the dynamics of lowland rain forest in S.E. Asia. Mortality, recruitment and stem growth rates at Danum in Sabah (Malaysian Borneo) were recorded in two 4-ha plots (trees ≥ 10 cm gbh) for two periods, 1986–1996 and 1996–2001. Mortality and growth were also recorded in a sample of subplots for small trees (10 to <50 cm gbh) in two sub-periods, 1996–1999 and 1999–2001. Dynamics variables were employed to build indices of drought response for each of the 34 most abundant plot-level species (22 at the subplot level), these being interval-weighted percentage changes between periods and sub-periods. A significant yet complex effect of the strong 1997/1998 drought at the forest community level was shown by randomization procedures followed by multiple hypothesis testing. Despite a general resistance of the forest to drought, large and significant differences in short-term responses were apparent for several species. Using a diagrammatic form of stability analysis, different species showed immediate or lagged effects, high or low degrees of resilience or even oscillatory dynamics. In the context of the local topographic gradient, species’ responses define the newly termed perturbation response niche. The largest responses, particularly for recruitment and growth, were among the small trees, many of which are members of understorey taxa. The results bring with them a novel approach to understanding community dynamics: the kaleidoscopic complexity of idiosyncratic responses to stochastic perturbations suggests that plurality, rather than neutrality, of responses may be essential to understanding these tropical forests. The basis to the various responses lies with the mechanisms of tree-soil water relations which are physiologically predictable: the timing and intensity of the next drought, however, is not. To date, environmental stochasticity has been insufficiently incorporated into models of tropical forest dynamics, a step that might considerably improve the reality of theories about these globally important ecosystems

Phase coupling in the cardiorespiratory interaction.

Markovian analysis is applied to derive nonlinear stochastic equations for the reconstruction of heart rate and respiration rate variability data. A model of their 'phase' interactions is obtained for the first time, thereby gaining new insights into the strength and direction of the cardiorespiratory phase coupling. The reconstructed model can reproduce synchronisation phenomena between the cardiac and the respiratory systems, including switches in synchronisation ratio. The technique is equally applicable to the extraction of the multi-dimensional couplings between many interacting subsystems