Biotic carbon feedbacks in a materially-closed soil-vegetation-atmosphere system

The magnitude and direction of the coupled feedbacks between the biotic and abiotic components of the terrestrial carbon cycle is a major source of uncertainty in coupled climate–carbon-cycle models1, 2, 3. Materially closed, energetically open biological systems continuously and simultaneously allow the two-way feedback loop between the biotic and abiotic components to take place4, 5, 6, 7, but so far have not been used to their full potential in ecological research, owing to the challenge of achieving sustainable model systems6, 7. We show that using materially closed soil–vegetation–atmosphere systems with pro rata carbon amounts for the main terrestrial carbon pools enables the establishment of conditions that balance plant carbon assimilation, and autotrophic and heterotrophic respiration fluxes over periods suitable to investigate short-term biotic carbon feedbacks. Using this approach, we tested an alternative way of assessing the impact of increased CO2 and temperature on biotic carbon feedbacks. The results show that without nutrient and water limitations, the short-term biotic responses could potentially buffer a temperature increase of 2.3 °C without significant positive feedbacks to atmospheric CO2. We argue that such closed-system research represents an important test-bed platform for model validation and parameterization of plant and soil biotic responses to environmental changes.

'In practice it doesn't always work out like that.' Undergraduate experiences in a research community of practice

This paper examines the extent to which a structured undergraduate research intervention, UROP, permits undergraduate students early access to legitimate peripheral participation (LPP) in a research community of practice. Accounts of placement experiences suggest that UROP affords rich possibilities for engagement with research practice. Undergraduates tread a path of gaining access to mature practice while also building their own independence, participating in work that they see matters to the community and making gains in use of a shared research repertoire. Students place UROP experiences in a contrasting frame to research exercises experienced during degree programmes; their sense of the authenticity of the research experienced through UROP emerges as a key element of these accounts. The data generate the interesting question that the degree of engagement with mature practice may account for more of the gain from UROP than simply the quantity of contact other researchers.

Middle and Late Cenomanian anoxia in shallow and deeper shelf environments of western Morocco

The response of shallow-water sequences to oceanic anoxic event 2 and mid-Cenomanian events 1a and 1b was investigated along the west African margin of Morocco north of Agadir (Azazoul) and correlated with the deep-water sequence of the Tarfaya Basin (Mohammed Beach) based on biostratigraphy, mineralogy, phosphorus and stable isotopes. In the deeper Mohammed Beach section results show double peaks in δ13Corg for mid-Cenomanian events 1a and 1b (Rotalipora reicheli biozone, lower CC10a biozone), the characteristic oceanic anoxic event 2 δ13C excursion (Rotalipora cushmani extinction, top of CC10a biozone) and laminated (anoxic) black shale. In the shallow environment north of Agadir, a fluctuating sea-level associated with dysoxic, brackish and mesotrophic conditions prevailed during the middle to late Cenomanian, as indicated by oyster biostromes, nannofossils, planktonic and benthonic foraminiferal assemblages. Anoxic conditions characteristic of oceanic anoxic event 2 (for example, laminated black shales) did not reach into shallow-water environments until the maximum transgression of the early Turonian. Climate conditions decoupled along the western margin of Morocco between mid-Cenomanian event 1b and the Cenomanian–Turonian boundary, as also observed in eastern Tethys. North of Agadir alternating humid and dry seasonal conditions prevailed, whereas in the Tarfaya Basin the climate was dry and seasonal. This climatic decoupling can be attributed to variations in the Intertropical Convergence Zone and in the intensity of the north-east trade winds in tropical areas.

Good and bad increases in ecological awareness: environmental differentiation revisited

We analyze a vertically differentiated market, assuming that conventional and green firms' products have different impacts on the environment. Heterogeneous consumers choose to be supplied by a conventional or a green firm, depending on their extra willingness to pay for a green product and the relative prices of the products in the market. We show that environmental awareness campaigns may have a negative impact on total welfare. This possibility is shown to exist without consumer misperceptions about the quality of green products and ruling out changes in the coverage and the structure of the market. Surprisingly, both conventional and green firms may benefit from heterogeneity-enhancing awareness campaigns, while social welfare is more likely to be enhanced by heterogeneity-reducing ones.

Aspects of in vitro and in vivo research approaches directed towards identifying probiotics and prebiotics for human use

The microbiota of the human gastrointestinal tract plays a key role in nutrition and health. Through the process of fermentation, gut bacteria metabolize various substrates (principally dietary components) to end products such as short-chain fatty acids and gases. This anaerobic metabolism is thought to contribute positively toward host daily energy requirements. However, under certain circumstances, the fermentative process may produce undesirable metabolites. This may cause the onset of gut disorders that can be manifest through both acute and chronic conditions. Moreover, the gut flora may become contaminated by transient pathogens that serve further to upset the normal community structure. There has been a recent increase in the use of dietary components that help to maintain, or even improve, the gut microflora "balance." Probiotics are live microbial feed supplements added to appropriate food vehicles (usually fermented milks), whereas prebiotics are dietary carbohydrates that have a selective metabolism in the colon and serve to increase numbers of bacteria seen as desirable. Because of their purported health-promoting properties, lactic acid-producing bacteria, including bifidobacteria, are the usual target organisms. The market value and biological potential of both approaches are enormous. This article will summarize how efficacious types can be identified.

A gestalt generated from grounded theory concerning intuition in IS research

Intuition is an important and under-researched concept in information systems. Prior exploratory research has shown that that there is potential to characterize the use of intuition in academic information systems research. This paper extends this research to all of the available issues of two leading IS journals with the aim of reaching an approximation of theoretical saturation. Specifically, the entire text of MISQ and ISR was reviewed for the years 1990 through 2009 using searchable PDF versions of these publications. All references to intuition were coded on a basis consistent with Grounded Theory, interpreted as a gestalt and represented as a mind-map. In the period 1990-2009, 681 incidents of the use of "intuition", and related terms were found in the articles reviewed, representing a greater range of codes than prior research. In addition, codes were assigned to all issues of MIS Quarterly from commencement of publication to the end of the 2012 publication year to support the conjecture that coding saturation has been approximated. The most prominent use of the term of "intuition" was coded as "Intuition as Authority" in which intuition was used to validate a statement, research objective or a finding; representing approximately 34 per cent of codes assigned. In research articles where mathematical analysis was presented, researchers not infrequently commented on the degree to which a mathematical formulation was "intuitive"; this was the second most common coding representing approximately 16 per cent of the codes. The possibly most impactful use of the term "intuition" was "Intuition as Outcome", representing approximately 7 per cent of all coding, which characterized research results as adding to the intuitive understanding of a research topic or phenomena.This research aims to contribute to a greater theoretical understanding of the use of intuition in academic IS research publications. It provides potential benefits to practitioners by providing insight into the use of intuition in IS management, for example, emphasizing the emerging importance of "intuitive technology". Research directions include the creation of reflective and/or formative constructs for intuition in information systems research and the expansion of this novel research method to additional IS academic publications and topics.

Work placements in doctoral research training in the humanities: eight cases from translation studies

Research cooperation between academic and nonacademic institutions tends not to concern the humanities, where mutual financial rewards are mostly not in evidence. The study of eight nonacademic placements of doctoral researchers working on inter- lingual translation nevertheless indicates some degree of success. It is found that the placements lead to ongoing cooperation when the following conditions are met: 1) the nature of the placement is understood and relations of trust are established; 2) mutual benefits are envisaged; and 3) there are prior arrangements for receiving visiting researchers. A placement can be successful even when one of the last two factors is missing. Further, the measure of success for placements in the humanities should concern social and symbolic benefits, in addition to financial profits.

Big Data and ecosystem research programmes

The size and complexity of data sets generated within ecosystem-level programmes merits their capture, curation, storage and analysis, synthesis and visualisation using Big Data approaches. This review looks at previous attempts to organise and analyse such data through the International Biological Programme and draws on the mistakes made and the lessons learned for effective Big Data approaches to current Research Councils United Kingdom (RCUK) ecosystem-level programmes, using Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (BESS) and Environmental Virtual Observatory Pilot (EVOp) as exemplars. The challenges raised by such data are identified, explored and suggestions are made for the two major issues of extending analyses across different spatio-temporal scales and for the effective integration of quantitative and qualitative data.

Putting theory to work: the use of theory in construction research

Attention to epistemology, theory use and citation practices are all issues which distinguish academic disciplines from other ways of knowing. Examples from construction research are used to outline and reflect on these issues. In doing so, the discussion provides an introduction to some key issues in social research as well as a reflection on the current state of construction research as a field. More specifically, differences between positivist and interpretivist epistemologies, the role of theory in each and their use by construction researchers are discussed. Philosophical differences are illustrated by appeal to two published construction research articles by Reichstein et al. and Harty on innovation (Reichstein, Salter and Gann, 2005; Harty, 2008). An analysis of citations for each highlights different cumulativity strategies. The potential contribution of mixed research programmes, combining positivist and interpretivist research, is evaluated. The paper should be of interest to early researchers and to scholars concerned with the ongoing development of construction research as an academic field.