Cows, cockies and atlases : use and abuse of biodiversity monitoring in environmental decision making

Lesson #I. Good long-term monitoring makes for informed and confident decisions on land management.
Lesson #2. Monitoring showing species and habitat decline can directly lead to better protection mechanisms.
Lesson #3. Results of monitoring can be ignored, misused and misquoted to achieve political ends.
Lesson #4. Are we seeing a decline in systematic species surveys by government?
Lesson #5. We don't know enough about what monitoring is happening and why monitoring isn't happening.
Lesson #6. Disparate data sets and cumbersome collection methods are hindering species status monitoring.
Lesson #7. Make better use of existing resomces and expertise.
Lesson #8. Make monitoring data more accessible and enable it to be more repeatable.
Lesson #9. Embed the requirement for monitoring in biodiversity and threatened species legislation.
Lesson #10. Understand better the social elements of ecological monitoring

Musical arts education in Africa : differentiation, integration and disassociation

By discussing the future challenges to musical arts education in Africa in which local cultural practices are valued, the differences of those historically marginalised by virtue of gender, race, ethnicity, and class, are celebrated. In Africa, musical arts education and culture are regarded as an integral part of our life, which not only embraces the spiritual, material and intellectual aspects of our society, but also contributes greatly toward our emotional development. This affirms the integrity and importance of various forms of 'Art' including literature, technology, design, dance, drama, music, visual art, media and communication.

This paper will discuss the future of African musical arts education programmes through the dynamic cycle of differentiation, integration and disassociation. The authors will consider the concept of ‘differentiation’, ‘integration’ and ‘disassociation’ within musical arts practice. An analysis of selected international arts education programmes provides a globally differentiated perspective through a discipline-based approach. In the African context, arts education programmes are located within an integrated approach. The structure of a Music Action Research Team (MAT cell) in Southern African Developing Community (SADC) countries will be highlighted as a means to address disassociation through the active engagement of professional development programmes offered by the Centre for Indigenous African Instrumental Music and Dance (CIIMDA).

Improving biodiversity monitoring

Effective biodiversity monitoring is critical to evaluate, learn from, and ultimately improve conservation practice. Well conceived, designed and implemented monitoring of biodiversity should: (i) deliver information on trends in key aspects of biodiversity (e.g. population changes); (ii) provide early warning of problems that might otherwise be difficult or expensive to reverse; (iii) generate quantifiable evidence of conservation successes (e.g. species recovery following management) and conservation failures; (iv) highlight ways to make management more effective; and (v) provide information on return on conservation investment. The importance of effective biodiversity monitoring is widely recognized (e.g. Australian Biodiversity Strategy). Yet, while everyone thinks biodiversity monitoring is a good idea, this has not translated into a culture of sound biodiversity monitoring, or widespread use of monitoring data. We identify four barriers to more effective biodiversity monitoring in Australia. These are: (i) many conservation programmes have poorly articulated or vague objectives against which it is difficult to measure progress contributing to design and implementation problems; (ii) the case for long-term and sustained biodiversity monitoring is often poorly developed and/or articulated; (iii) there is often a lack of appropriate institutional support, co-ordination, and targeted funding for biodiversity monitoring; and (iv) there is often a lack of appropriate standards to guide monitoring activities and make data available from these programmes. To deal with these issues, we suggest that policy makers, resource managers and scientists better and more explicitly articulate the objectives of biodiversity monitoring and better demonstrate the case for greater investments in biodiversitymonitoring. There is an urgent need for improved institutional support for biodiversity monitoring in Australia, for improved monitoring standards, and for improved archiving of, and access to, monitoring data. We suggest that more strategic financial, institutional and intellectual investments in monitoring will lead to more efficient use of the resources available for biodiversity conservation and ultimately better conservation outcomes.

Camera trapping: a contemporary approach to monitoring invasive rodents in high conservation priority ecosystems

Invasive rodent species have established on 80% of the world's islands causing significant damage to island environments. Insular ecosystems support proportionally more biodiversity than comparative mainland areas, highlighting them as critical for global biodiversity conservation. Few techniques currently exist to adequately detect, with high confidence, species that are trap-adverse such as the black rat, Rattus rattus, in high conservation priority areas where multiple non-target species persist. This study investigates the effectiveness of camera trapping for monitoring invasive rodents in high conservation areas, and the influence of habitat features and density of colonial-nesting seabirds on rodent relative activity levels to provide insights into their potential impacts. A total of 276 camera sites were established and left in situ for 8 days. Identified species were recorded in discrete 15 min intervals, referred to as 'events'. In total, 19 804 events were recorded. From these, 31 species were identified comprising 25 native species and six introduced. Two introduced rodent species were detected: the black rat (90% of sites), and house mouse Mus musculus (56% of sites). Rodent activity of both black rats and house mice were positively associated with the structural density of habitats. Density of seabird burrows was not strongly associated with relative activity levels of rodents, yet rodents were still present in these areas. Camera trapping enabled a large number of rodents to be detected with confidence in site-specific absences and high resolution to quantify relative activity levels. This method enables detection of multiple species simultaneously with low impact (for both target and non-target individuals); an ideal strategy for monitoring trap-adverse invasive rodents in high conservation areas.

Monitoring and analysis of respiratory patterns using microwave doppler radar

 Noncontact detection characteristic of Doppler radar provides an unobtrusive means of respiration detection and monitoring. This avoids additional preparations, such as physical sensor attachment or special clothing, which can be useful for certain healthcare applications. Furthermore, robustness of Doppler radar against environmental factors, such as light, ambient temperature, interference from other signals occupying the same bandwidth, fading effects, reduce environmental constraints and strengthens the possibility of employing Doppler radar in long-term respiration detection, and monitoring applications such as sleep studies. This paper presents an evaluation in the of use of microwave Doppler radar for capturing different dynamics of breathing patterns in addition to the respiration rate. Although finding the respiration rate is essential, identifying abnormal breathing patterns in real-time could be used to gain further insights into respiratory disorders and refine diagnostic procedures. Several known breathing disorders were professionally role played and captured in a real-time laboratory environment using a noncontact Doppler radar to evaluate the feasibility of this noncontact form of measurement in capturing breathing patterns under different conditions associated with certain breathing disorders. In addition to that, inhalation and exhalation flow patterns under different breathing scenarios were investigated to further support the feasibility of Doppler radar to accurately estimate the tidal volume. The results obtained for both experiments were compared with the gold standard measurement schemes, such as respiration belt and spirometry readings, yielding significant correlations with the Doppler radar-based information. In summary, Doppler radar is highlighted as an alternative approach not only for determining respiration rates, but also for identifying breathing patterns and tidal volumes as a preferred nonwearable alternative to the conventional - ontact sensing methods.

Process capability analysis in non normal linear regression profiles

When the distribution of a process characterized by a profile is non normal, process capability analysis using normal assumption often leads to erroneous interpretations of the process performance. Profile monitoring is a relatively new set of techniques in quality control that is used in situations where the state of product or process is represented by a function of two or more quality characteristics. Such profiles can be modeled using linear or nonlinear regression models. In some applications, it is assumed that the quality characteristics follow a normal distribution; however, in certain applications this assumption may fail to hold and may yield misleading results. In this article, we consider process capability analysis of non normal linear profiles. We investigate and compare five methods to estimate non normal process capability index (PCI) in profiles. In three of the methods, an estimation of the cumulative distribution function (cdf) of the process is required to analyze process capability in profiles. In order to estimate cdf of the process, we use a Burr XII distribution as well as empirical distributions. However, the resulted PCI with estimating cdf of the process is sometimes far from its true value. So, here we apply artificial neural network with supervised learning which allows the estimation of PCIs in profiles without the need to estimate cdf of the process. Box-Cox transformation technique is also developed to deal with non normal situations. Finally, a comparison study is performed through the simulation of Gamma, Weibull, Lognormal, Beta and student-t data.

Streaming analysis in wireless sensor networks

Two new incremental models for online anomaly detection in data streams at nodes in wireless sensor networks are discussed. These models are incremental versions of a model that uses ellipsoids to detect first, second, and higher-ordered anomalies in arrears. The incremental versions can also be used this way but have additional capabilities offered by processing data incrementally as they arrive in time. Specifically, they can detect anomalies 'on-the-fly' in near real time. They can also be used to track temporal changes in near real-time because of sensor drift, cyclic variation, or seasonal changes. One of the new models has a mechanism that enables graceful degradation of inputs in the distant past (fading memory). Three real datasets from single sensors in deployed environmental monitoring networks are used to illustrate various facets of the new models. Examples compare the incremental version with the previous batch and dynamic models and show that the incremental versions can detect various types of dynamic anomalies in near real time.

Risk analysis in cost planning and its effect on efficiency in capital cost budgeting

Builds on earlier work which reported on the experience of the Hong Kong Government in using risk analysis techniques in capital cost estimating. In 1993 the Hong Kong Government implemented a methodology for capital cost estimating using risk analysis (ERA) in its public works planning. This calculated amount replaces the pre-1993 contingency allowance, which was merely a percentage addition on top of the base estimate of a project. Adopts a team approach to identify, classify and cost the uncertainties associated with a project. The sum of the average risk allowance for the identified risk events thus becomes the contingency. A study of the effect of ERA was carried out to compare the variability and consistency of the contingency estimates between non-ERA and ERA projects. The preliminary results of a survey showed a highly significant difference in variation and consistency between these groups. This analysis indicates the successful use of the ERA method for public works projects to reduce unnecessary and  exaggerated allowance for risk. However, the contingency allowance for ERA projects was also considered high. Adds data from the UK with descriptions of 41 private sector projects which fall into the non-ERA category and reflect better performance in the determining of contingency allowances.

Toad atrial natriuretic peptide : cDNA cloning and functional analysis in isolated perfused kidneys

Complementary DNA (cDNA) encoding Bufo marinus (toad) preproatrial natriuretic peptide (preproANP) was isolated by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. Sequence analysis of toad preproANP cDNA revealed an open reading frame of 150 amino acid residues, which shared 72% and 66% identity with Rana catesbeiana and Xenopus laevis preproANP, respectively. The deduced amino acid sequence of toad ANP that corresponded to ANP 1–24 of R. catesbeiana and Rana ridibunda was identical, but it differed by four residues from that of X. laevis. ANP mRNA transcripts were also shown to be expressed in the toad kidney. Subsequently, the effect of frog ANP (1–24) on renal function in toad was examined using a perfused kidney preparation. The arterial infusion of frog ANP caused a dose-dependent decrease in the arterial perfusion pressure that was associated with an increase in the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and a renal natriuresis and diuresis. The renal natriuresis and diuresis resulted predominantly from an increased GFR rather than from direct tubular effects. This study demonstrates that ANP can regulate renal function, which suggests it may be involved in overall fluid volume regulation.

There are always two sides to a story: the use of social dramas as a mode of data analysis in information systems

With the continually evolving social nature of information systems research there is a need to identify different “modes of analysis” (Myers, 1997) to uncover our understanding of the complex, messy and often chaotic nature of human factors. One suggested mode of analysis is that of social dramas, a tool developed in the anthropological discipline by Victor Turner. The use of social dramas also utilises the work by Goffman (1959; 1997) and enables the researcher to investigate events from the front stage, reporting obvious issues in systems implementation, and from the back stage, identifying the hidden aspects of systems implementation and the underpinning discourses. A case study exploring the social dramas involved in systems selection and implementation has been provided to support the use of this methodological tool.

Using multi-criteria decision analysis in natural resource management

The proposed volume aims to provide useful insights on the use of Multi-criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) in natural resource management by examining a number of empirical applications for several countries and natural resources. There is increasing interest among researchers and policy makers in using MCDA to evaluate complex management issues and problems. While several books with empirical applications have been published, these applications are very recent. Evidence from major studies suggests that MCDA approaches to the management of water, forestry, wetland and other natural resources have substantially improved the design and implementation of natural resource and environmental policies. Using innovative approaches, such as MCDA, to manage complex natural systems will enhance our understanding and management of those systems. Stakeholder involvement is an important determinant of successful resource management, and MCDA provides a useful and effective framework for getting stakeholders involved in resource management decisions. Despite the general acceptance of the role of MCDA in natural resource management, problems remain in applying these techniques. Problems include difficulties in applying the techniques, eliciting required information, lack of suitable measures for environmental variables, and development of innovative methods to simplify the use of MCDA. The proposed book examines several applications of MCDA for several countries (Australia, USA and Europe) and natural resources, including forestry, water resources and vegetation.