Water reuse for irrigated agriculture in Jordan: challenges of soil sustainability and the role of management strategies

Reclaimed water provides an important contribution to the water balance in water-scarce Jordan, but the quality of this water presents both benefits and challenges. Careful management of reclaimed water is required to maximize the nutrient benefits while minimizing the salinity risks. This work uses a multi-disciplinary research approach to show that soil response to irrigation with reclaimed water is a function of the management strategies adopted on the farm by the water user. The adoption of management methods to maintain soil productivity can be seen to be a result of farmers’ awareness to potentially plant-toxic ions in the irrigation water (70% of Jordan Valley farmers identified salinization as a hazard from irrigation with reclaimed water). However, the work also suggests that farmers’ management capacity is affected by the institutional management of water. About a third (35%) of farmers in the Jordan Valley claimed that their ability to manage salinization was limited by water shortages. Organizational interviews revealed that institutional awareness of soil management challenges was quite high (34% of interviewees described salinization as a risk from water reuse), but strategies to address this challenge at the institutional level require greater development.

Abatement of mercury pollution in the small-scale gold mining industry: Restructuring the policy and research agendas

This paper critiques contemporary research and policy approaches taken toward the analysis and abatement of mercury pollution in the small-scale gold mining sector. Unmonitored releases of mercury from gold amalgamation have caused considerable environmental contamination and human health complications in rural reaches of sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Asia. Whilst these problems have caught the attention of the scientific community over the past 15-20 years, the research that has since been undertaken has failed to identify appropriate mitigation measures, and has done little to advance understanding of why contamination persists. Moreover, the strategies used to educate operators about the impacts of acute mercury exposure, and the technologies implemented to prevent farther pollution, have been marginally effective at best. The mercury pollution problem will not be resolved until governments and donor agencies commit to carrying out research aimed at improving understanding of the dynamics of small scale gold mining communities. Acquisition of this knowledge is the key to designing and implementing appropriate support and abatement measures. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Strategies, effectiveness and rationale of vector-borne disease control in the pastoralist system of south-western Uganda

In Uganda, control of vector-borne diseases is mainly in form of vector control, and chemotherapy. There have been reports that acaricides are being misused in the pastoralist systems in Uganda. This is because of the belief by scientists that intensive application of acaricide is uneconomical and unsustainable particularly in the indigenous cattle. The objective of this study was to investigate the strategies, rationale and effectiveness of vector-borne disease control by pastoralists. To systematically carry out these investigations, a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods was used, in both the collection and the analysis of data. Cattle keepers were found to control tick-borne diseases (TBDs) mainly through spraying, in contrast with the control of trypanosomosis for which the main method of control was by chemotherapy. The majority of herders applied acaricides weekly and used an acaricide of lower strength than recommended by the manufacturers. They used very little acaricide wash, and spraying was preferred to dipping. Furthermore, pastoralists either treated sick animals themselves or did nothing at all, rather than using veterinary personnel. Oxytetracycline (OTC) was the drug commonly used in the treatment of TBDs. Nevertheless, although pastoralists may not have been following recommended practices in their control of ticks and tick-borne diseases, they were neither wasteful nor uneconomical and their methods appeared to be effective. Trypanosomosis was not a problem either in Sembabule or Mbarara district. Those who used trypanocides were found to use more drugs than were necessary.

Understanding the alphaviruses: Recent research on important emerging pathogens and progress towards their control

The alphaviruses were amongst the first arboviruses to be isolated, characterized and assigned a taxonomic status. They are globally very widespread, infecting a large variety of terrestrial animals, insects and even fish, and circulate both in the sylvatic and urban/peri-urban environment, causing considerable human morbidity and mortality. Nevertheless, despite their obvious importance as pathogens, there are currently no effective antiviral drugs with which to treat humans or animals infected by any of these viruses. The EU-supported project—VIZIER (Comparative Structural Genomics of Viral Enzymes Involved in Replication, FP6 Project: 2004-511960) was instigated with an ultimate view of contributing to the development of antiviral therapies for RNA viruses, including the alphaviruses [Coutard, B., Gorbalenya, A.E., Snijder, E.J., Leontovich, A.M., Poupon, A., De Lamballerie, X., Charrel, R., Gould, E.A., Gunther, S., Norder, H., Klempa, B., Bourhy, H., Rohayemj, J., L’hermite, E., Nordlund, P., Stuart, D.I., Owens, R.J., Grimes, J.M., Tuckerm, P.A., Bolognesi, M., Mattevi, A., Coll, M., Jones, T.A., Åqvist, J., Unger, T., Hilgenfeld, R., Bricogne, G., Neyts, J., La Colla, P., Puerstinger, G., Gonzalez, J.P., Leroy, E., Cambillau, C., Romette, J.L., Canard, B., 2008. The VIZIER project: preparedness against pathogenic RNA viruses. Antiviral Res. 78, 37–46]. This review highlights some of the major features of alphaviruses that have been investigated during recent years. After describing their classification, epidemiology and evolutionary history and the expanding geographic distribution of Chikungunya virus, we review progress in understanding the structure and function of alphavirus replicative enzymes achieved under the VIZIER programme and the development of new disease control strategies.

Identification of trade-offs underlying the primary strategies of plants

Question: What are the key physiological and life-history trade-offs responsible for the evolution of different suites of plant traits (strategies) in different environments? Experimental methods: Common-garden experiments were performed on physiologically realistic model plants, evolved in contrasting environments, in computer simulations. This allowed the identification of the trade-offs that resulted in different suites of traits (strategies). The environments considered were: resource rich, low disturbance (competitive); resource poor, low disturbance (stressed); resource rich, high disturbance (disturbed); and stressed environments containing herbivores (grazed). Results: In disturbed environments, plants increased reproduction at the expense of ability to compete for light and nitrogen. In competitive environments, plants traded off reproductive output and leaf production for vertical growth. In stressed environments, plants traded off vertical growth and reproductive output for nitrogen acquisition, contradicting Grime's (2001) theory that slow-growing, competitively inferior strategies are selected in stressed environments. The contradiction is partly resolved by incorporating herbivores into the stressed environment, which selects for increased investment in defence, at the expense of competitive ability and reproduction. Conclusion: Our explicit modelling of trade-offs produces rigorous testable explanations of observed associations between suites of traits and environments.

Combining physical, cultural and biological methods: prospects for integrated non-chemical weed management strategies

Physical, cultural and biological methods for weed control have developed largely independently and are often concerned with weed control in different systems: physical and cultural control in annual crops and biocontrol in extensive grasslands. We discuss the strengths and limitations of four physical and cultural methods for weed control: mechanical, thermal, cutting, and intercropping, and the advantages and disadvantages of combining biological control with them. These physical and cultural control methods may increase soil nitrogen levels and alter microclimate at soil level; this may be of benefit to biocontrol agents, although physical disturbance to the soil and plant damage may be detrimental. Some weeds escape control by these methods; we suggest that these weeds may be controlled by biocontrol agents. It will be easiest to combine biological control with. re and cutting in grasslands; within arable systems it would be most promising to combine biological control (especially using seed predators and foliar pathogens) with cover-cropping, and mechanical weeding combined with foliar bacterial and possibly foliar fungal pathogens. We stress the need to consider the timing of application of combined control methods in order to cause least damage to the biocontrol agent, along with maximum damage to the weed and to consider the wider implications of these different weed control methods.

Second language listening strategy research: methodological challenges and perspectives

This paper explores methodological issues related to research into second language listening strategies. We argue that a number of central questions regarding research methodology in this line of enquiry are underexamined, and we engage in the discussion of three key methodological questions: (1) To what extent is a verbal report a valid and reliable way of eliciting information about strategies? (2) Should we control for learners' level of linguistic knowledge when examining their listening strategy use? and (3) What are the problems surrounding the analysis of data gained through verbal reports? We discuss each of these three methodological issues within the framework of a research project investigating listening strategies deployed by learners of French in secondary schools in England. Implications from these findings for future research are discussed.

Alternative strategies for activation of the natural lactoperoxidase system in cows' milk: trials in Tanzania

Thiocyanate content and lactoperoxidase activity of individual cow's milk of different breeds were determined, and the effects of different lactoperoxidase system (LP-s) activation strategies were compared. Lactoperoxidase activity varied significantly between Friesian and both Ayrshire and Tanzania Short Horn Zebu (TSHZ), but differences between Ayrshire and TSHZ were not significant. There was no significant variation in SCN- content between breeds. The LP-s was activated using three strategies based on SCN-: namely; equal concentrations of SCN- and H2O2 (7:7, 10:10, 15 :15 mg/l), excess SCN- concentrations (15:10, 20:10, 25:10 mg SCN-: H2O2/I), and excess H2O2 concentrations (10:15, 10:20, 10:25 mg SCN-: H2O2/I), plus a fourth strategy based on I- (15 : 15 mg I- : H2O2/I). The keeping quality (KQ) was assessed using pH, titratable acidity, clot on boiling and alcohol stability tests. All activation strategies enhanced the shelf life of milk (typically increasing KQ from around 10 to around 20 h), but it was clear that the effectiveness of the LP-s depends on the type and concentrations of the activators of the system. The LP-s activated using I- as an electron donor was more effective than the LP-s activated using SCN- as an electron donor, increasing the KQ by a further 6-8 h compared with SCN-.

Strategies and biases in location memory in Williams syndrome

Individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) demonstrate impaired visuo-spatial abilities in comparison to their level of verbal ability. In particular, visuo-spatial construction is an area of relative weakness. It has been hypothesised that poor or atypical location coding abilities contribute strongly to the impaired abilities observed on construction and drawing tasks [Farran, E. K., & Jarrold, C. (2005). Evidence for unusual spatial location coding in Williams syndrome: An explanation for the local bias in visuo-spatial construction tasks? Brain and Cognition, 59, 159-172; Hoffman, J. E., Landau, B., & Pagani, B. (2003). Spatial breakdown in spatial construction: Evidence from eye fixations in children with Williams syndrome. Cognitive Psychology, 46, 260-301]. The current experiment investigated location memory in WS. Specifically, the precision of remembered locations was measured as well as the biases and strategies that were involved in remembering those locations. A developmental trajectory approach was employed; WS performance was assessed relative to the performance of typically developing (TD) children ranging from 4- to 8-year-old. Results showed differential strategy use in the WS and TD groups. WS performance was most similar to the level of a TD 4-year-old and was additionally impaired by the addition of physical category boundaries. Despite their low level of ability, the WS group produced a pattern of biases in performance which pointed towards evidence of a subdivision effect, as observed in TD older children and adults. In contrast, the TD children showed a different pattern of biases, which appears to be explained by a normalisation strategy. In summary, individuals with WS do not process locations in a typical manner. This may have a negative impact on their visuo-spatial construction and drawing abilities. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ethnographic methodologies for construction research: knowing, practice and interventions

Ethnographic methodologies developed in social anthropology and sociology hold considerable promise for addressing practical, problem-based research concerned with the construction site. The extended researcher-engagement characteristic of ethnography reveals rich insights, yet is infrequently used to understand how workplace realities are lived out on construction sites. Moreover, studies that do employ these methods are rarely reported within construction research journals. This paper argues that recent innovations in ethnographic methodologies offer new routes to: posing questions; understanding workplace socialities (i.e. the qualities of the social relationships that develop on construction sites); learning about forms, uses and communication of knowledge on construction sites; and turning these into meaningful recommendations. This argument is supported by examples from an interdisciplinary ethnography concerning migrant workers and communications on UK construction sites. The presented research seeks to understand how construction workers communicate with managers and each other and how they stay safe on site, with the objective of informing site health-and-safety strategies and the production and evaluation of training and other materials.

Negotiating access into firms: obstacles and strategies

Researchers often experience difficulties with the negotiation of access into firms for the purpose of data collection. The question we explore is: What are the main obstacles associated with access negotiation into firms; and what strategies do researchers employ to increase their chances of success? Our research work on the tendering process of contractors took place between 2006 and 2008. We successfully negotiated access into four firms (two each in Ghana and the UK) to observe live examples of tender preparation The techniques we employed in negotiating access were personal contacts, contacting firms through online details and professional institutions, etc. With all of this effort, our average success rate was less than 5 per cent. The main obstacles encountered were firms’ reluctance because of commercial sensitiveness and fear that the data could eventually be divulged to their competitors or end up in the public domain. However, some firms agreed mainly because of the written assurances of confidentiality and anonymity in reporting the study; reputation of the researchers’ academic institution; gatekeepers who spoke to their colleagues on our behalf; academic purpose of the study; and a feedback report which was promised in return for access to the case studies. Although the access through personal contacts is by far the easiest, it is not always possible. Researchers can approach firms as complete strangers, especially in a foreign country, and that could make the firms more likely to assist the research.

Exit strategies for business tenants

Many businesses in the UK occupy premises on fixed term leases, which usually run for several years. During this time property requirements can change. This research critically examines the three main mechanisms by which tenants can bring their leases to an end; breaks, assignment and subletting. We examine the legal rules governing these devices and undertake an analysis of lease data and surveys. Break clauses are providing a useful exit mechanism for many tenants, but they cannot give the more general flexibility of assignment and subletting. However, change is necessary to ensure that these latter provisions provide real flexibility for tenants.