Trends in Pulse and Oilseed Crops in Winter Cereal Rotations in NSW

The key aims in this study are to assess the current level of importance of pulse and oilseed (broadleaf) crops in winter cereal rotations in NSW, and to identify recent trends. The production of broadleaf crops has increased in each region of NSW, but different crops have been favoured. Canola has played a key role in southern regions, and chickpea in the northern regions. In many areas, pulse crops have been grown more because of rotational benefits than their direct gross margins. If recent trends continue, the role of broadleaf crops will increase to 25% of the area sown to field crops in NSW by 2020. However, that will only be achieved with a focussed effort in both research and extension activities.broadleaf crop, oilseed, pulse, production, rotation, NSW, Agribusiness, Crop Production/Industries, Production Economics, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Q160,

Adoption of unconventional approaches in construction: The case of cross-laminated timber

Achieving sustainable development requires the decoupling of economic growth from the use of non-renewable resources. This depends on industry adopting unconventional approaches to production. This research explores the root causes of barriers to the adoption of such approaches in the construction industry, and applies a behavioural model to assess whether companies are hindered by capability, opportunity or motivation. The long history of lowest-cost tendering in construction has led to a path-dependent lock-in to conventional market-driven objectives of cost and risk reduction; it is suggested that locked-in companies lack the commercial opportunity and hence motivation, rather than the capability, to adopt approaches perceived to increase cost or risk. Such companies will therefore tend to resist unconventional approaches, restricting the physical opportunity for other project participants. This theory is explored in a case study of first adoptions of cross-laminated timber (CLT) in UK projects, using a survey and series of semi-structured interviews. The case study found that project contexts created market niches. This provided designers, who were motivated to use CLT, the opportunity to promote its use in the project. CLT was seen as key to successful resolution of project constraints, thereby providing motivation to other project participants to adopt the material

Phases of granular segregation in a binary mixture

We present results from an extensive experimental investigation into granular segregation of a shallow binary mixture in which particles are driven by frictional interactions with the surface of a vibrating horizontal tray. Three distinct phases of the mixture are established viz; binary gas (unsegregated), segregation liquid and segregation crystal. Their ranges of existence are mapped out as a function of the system's primary control parameters using a number of measures based on Voronoi tessellation. We study the associated transitions and show that segregation can be suppressed is the total filling fraction of the granular layer, $C$, is decreased below a critical value, $C_{c}$, or if the dimensionless acceleration of the driving, $\gamma$, is increased above a value $\gamma_{c}$.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Fair game: exploring the dynamics, perception and environmental impact of ‘surplus’ wild foods in England 10kya-present

This paper brings together zooarchaeological data from Neolithic to Post-medieval sites in England to explore the plasticity of cultural attitudes to the consumption of wild animals. It shows how, through time, game has been considered variously as ‘tabooed’ and ‘edible’, each having implications for patterns of biodiversity and wildlife management. The essential points being made are that deeper-time studies can reveal how human perceptions of ‘surplus foods’ have the potential to both create and remedy problems of environmental sustainability and food security. Perhaps more significantly, this paper argues that understanding the bio-cultural past of edible wild animal species has the potential to transform human attitudes to game in the present. This is important at a time when food security and the production of surplus are pressing national and global concerns

Harnessing lived experience in a community-based intervention to address gambling-related harms

Background Lived experience of people directly or indirectly affected by public health issues can provide unique insights into how to improve interventions. Increasing availability of gambling necessitates involving communities in efforts to reduce gambling-related harms. This presentation reports qualitative exploratory research into the value of lived experience across a city-region gambling harm reduction initiative in the UK. Methods Focus groups and interviews were used to explore the practical application of lived experience with participants: advisory panel members, external stakeholders, community project staff, and public health professionals. Collaborative data analysis combined the framework method with theme development inductively (from participants’ accounts) and deductively (from academic and grey literature). Results Four themes were identified: (1) lived experience spans formal and informal settings with different activities and personal impacts; (2) organic and structured pathways to lived experience involvement coexist; (3) the emotional work of people affected by gambling-related harms ranges from frustration at policy inertia to deeper understanding of their own recovery journey; and (4) lived experience encompasses diverse experiential knowledges. Conclusions Involving lived experience in this intervention increased participants’ awareness of the harmful role of the gambling industry and critical reflection on the representativeness of lived experience. Harnessing lived experience at a regional level requires multi-setting support free from stigma and industry influence to ensure the sustained vitality of a diverse lived experience community specialised in gambling-related harms and equipped to navigate conflicting emotions and a challenging policy environment. Key messages • Increasing availability of gambling necessitates involving communities in efforts to reduce gambling-related harms. • The use of lived experience in gambling-related harms prevention efforts and research can inform intervention development

Involving Lived Experience in regional efforts to address gambling-related harms: going beyond ‘window dressing’ and ‘tick box exercises’

Background Lived Experience (LE) involvement has been shown to improve interventions across diverse sectors. Yet LE contributions to public health approaches to address gambling-related harms remain underexplored, despite notable detrimental health and social outcomes linked to gambling. This paper analyses the potential of LE involvement in public health strategy to address gambling-related harms. It focuses on the example of a UK city-region gambling harms reduction intervention that presented multiple opportunities for LE input. Methods Three focus groups and 33 semi-structured interviews were conducted to hear from people with and without LE who were involved in the gambling harms reduction intervention, or who had previous experience of LE-informed efforts for addressing gambling-related harms. People without LE provided reflections on the value and contributions of others’ LE to their work. Data analysis combined the Framework Method with themes developed inductively (from people’s accounts) and deductively (from the literature, including grey literature). Results Four themes were identified: (1) personal journeys to LE involvement; (2) the value added by LE to interventions for addressing gambling-related harms; (3) emotional impacts on people with LE; and (4) collective LE and diverse lived experiences. Two figures outlining LE involvement specific to gambling harms reduction in the UK, where public health efforts aimed at addressing gambling-related harms coexist with industry-funded programmes, are proposed. Conclusions Integrating a range of LE perspectives in a public health approach to gambling harms reduction requires local access to involvement for people with LE via diverse routes that are free from stigma and present people with LE with options in how they can engage and be heard in decision-making, and how they operate in relation to industry influence. Involving LE in gambling harms reduction requires enabling people to develop the affective and critical skills necessary to navigate complex emotional journeys and a challenging commercial and policy environment

Complex-Temperature Singularities in the d=2d=2 Ising Model. III. Honeycomb Lattice

We study complex-temperature properties of the uniform and staggered susceptibilities $\chi$ and $\chi^{(a)}$ of the Ising model on the honeycomb lattice. From an analysis of low-temperature series expansions, we find evidence that $\chi$ and $\chi^{(a)}$ both have divergent singularities at the point $z=-1 \equiv z_{\ell}$ (where $z=e^{-2K}$), with exponents $\gamma_{\ell}'= \gamma_{\ell,a}'=5/2$. The critical amplitudes at this singularity are calculated. Using exact results, we extract the behaviour of the magnetisation $M$ and specific heat $C$ at complex-temperature singularities. We find that, in addition to its zero at the physical critical point, $M$ diverges at $z=-1$ with exponent $\beta_{\ell}=-1/4$, vanishes continuously at $z=\pm i$ with exponent $\beta_s=3/8$, and vanishes discontinuously elsewhere along the boundary of the complex-temperature ferromagnetic phase. $C$ diverges at $z=-1$ with exponent $\alpha_{\ell}'=2$ and at $v=\pm i/\sqrt{3}$ (where $v = \tanh K$) with exponent $\alpha_e=1$, and diverges logarithmically at $z=\pm i$. We find that the exponent relation $\alpha'+2\beta+\gamma'=2$ is violated at $z=-1$; the right-hand side is 4 rather than 2. The connections of these results with complex-temperature properties of the Ising model on the triangular lattice are discussed.Comment: 22 pages, latex, figures appended after the end of the text as a compressed, uuencoded postscript fil