If the Tasmanian Tiger were found, what should we do? An interdisciplinary guide to endangered species recovery

The Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus), is a wolf-like carnivorous marsupial last reported in the 1930s in Tasmania, an island state of Australia. Although the species is likely extinct, sightings are reported annually. A fictional scenario is described in which a female thylacine with four pouched young is captured. This scenario is explored and an interdisciplinary approach to endangered species recovery is introduced. This approach is applicable to all endangered species recovery efforts and focuses on the principal dimensions of recovery: (1) orienting to the problem at hand and meeting it successfully; (2) understanding the recovery effort itself, its full context, and the required management (decision) process; (3) using a broad range of methods; and (4) integrating research results into a comprehensive recovery process (picture of the whole). By using this interdisciplinary approach, recovery can be systematically understood, best managed, and restoration prospects enhanced.

Multi-core security defense system (MSDS)

Today's security program developers are not only facing an uphill battle of developing and implementing. But now have to take into consideration, the emergence of next generation of multi-core system, and its effect on security application design. In our previous work, we developed a framework called bodyguard. The objective of this framework was to help security software developers, shift from their use of serialized paradigm, to a multi-core paradigm. Working within this paradigm, we developed a security bodyguard system called Farmer. This abstract framework placed particular applications into categories, like security or multi-media, which were ran on separate core processors within the multi-core system. With further analysis of the bodyguard paradigm, we found that this paradigm was suitable to be used in other computer science areas, such as spam filtering and multi-media. In this paper, we update our research work within the bodyguard paradigm, and showed a marked improvement of 110% speedup performance with an average cost of 1.5 ms.

Inclusive schooling : contexts, texts and politics

The title ‘Inclusive schooling: contexts, texts and politics’, names a thesis which critically analyses the development of inclusive schooling in the small Australian Island state of Tasmania between 1996 and 1998. The ‘Inclusion of Students with Disabilities’ policy, introduced in 1995 by the Tasmanian Department of Education, Community and Cultural Development, provides an opportunity to understand the cultural context and politics of change in schooling over this period. The qualitative methodology deployed here is informed by poststructuralism and captures the everyday experiences of university teaching as a research site. The teacher/researcher as the visible maker of the research use metaphors of fibre and textile practice, techniques of textual juxtaposition and her positioned subjectivity as a female academic to tell a 'big story'. The researcher develops a 'double method' as a possible model for Inclusive research practice and educational policy analysis. Using a critical ethnographic method, derived from the work of Carspecken (1996), 'data stories' (Lather & Smithies 1997, p.34) are produced from the narratives of five key informants – a parent, two teachers, a policy-maker and the researcher. Assembled as the data of the thesis the multi-voiced texts provide an account of the sociocultural, professional and systemic context of Inclusive schooling over a three-year period. In the analysis these data are interpreted from a feminist poststructural standpoint. A deconstructuive reading of the data stories interprets the discourse of inclusive schooling emphasising the dominant foundation of the special education knowledge tradition. The idea of author function (after Foucault 1975, 1984b and Grundy and Hatton 1995) is used to interpret the 'texts' of the key Informants as discursive constructions. The researcher theorises inclusive schooling as an entangled, multiple and contradictory discourse, embedded in the social, cultural and material contexts, rather than a singular unitary Idea of the progress within the special education knowledge tradition. The study contributes a fine-grained analysis of the constructed knowledge of inclusive schooling in one locality. The thesis advocates continuing engagement with questions of epistemology and social transformation in inclusive schooling, rather than persisting with technical rationality and the status quo. The researcher takes the position that the opportunities to theorise inclusive schooling lie within the multiple and disparate constructed texts of the micro world of everyday practice and the macro understanding of understandings of contemporary social justice. The poststructuralist writing/reading questions traditionalist theorising in the special education field. Central to the negotiations of power and truth inclusive schooling research and practice is a communicative theory that transforms populist conceptions of inclusion.

Radical conservative experiment in New South Wales education

This study, written from the perspective of a parent activist, articulates the 'battle of ideas' or struggle 'around the truth' of public education in New South Wales since the conservative Greiner government came to power in 1988 and instituted the 'new right' agenda. Political control is theorised in the light of debates about hegemony, power, ideology and truth. Documents what happened in 'consultations' about educational reform between the Ministers and their appointees on on the one hand, and the public education lobby, on the other.

Listening to different voices

The paper reports on a larger study carried out in the island state of Tasmania, Australia, between 1996 1998. The research reviewed the impact of the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities Policy (ISDP 1995) within the government school system between 1996-1998.

This Qualitative study interprets and critically analyses the stories of five key informants - a parent, two teachers (a support teacher and a class teacher), a policy maker and a university academic - during the early period of the implementation of the IDSP (1995). The visual and literary 'data stories' produced through the study narrate inclusive schooling in the Tasmanian context as a 'detective story' of the special education knowledge tradition, originating from the policy makers' reality rather than from the transformative experience of developing pedagogical models and processes in classrooms and communities.

The paper presents an argument for a poststructuralist approach to research and policy writing/reading that questions traditionalist theorising in the special education field and populist slogans of 'inclusion'.

Inclusive schooling : representation and textual practice

This paper reports on a larger study carried out in the island state of Tasmania, Australia, between 1996 and 1998. The research reviewed the impact of the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities Policy (ISDP) within the government school system. The qualitative study describes the interpretations of five key informants: a parent; two teachers—a support teacher and a class teacher—a policy-maker and a university academic, during the early period of the implementation of the ISDP. The visual and literary ‘data stories’ of the research are woven together to narrate inclusive schooling in the Tasmanian context as a ‘detective story’ of the special education knowledge tradition. Drawing from poststructuralist methodology and narrative theory the multi-voiced text is a deliberate attempt to enter into conversations with the reader rather than tell the story. Researching inclusive schooling policy through representation and textual practice, I question dominant research practices in the special education field and populist slogans of ‘inclusion’.

Natah and telajakan : the role and identity in indigenous villages

There are many Indigenous villages scattered across Bali Island. Most of these villages are located surrounding a mountain so that an Indigenous village in Bali is called 'Bali Aga' or 'Bali Kuna', which means "Mountain Balinese·. Bali has unique Indigenous villages still possessing traditional village patterns in harmony with their natural environment. Natah and telajakan are an integral part of traditional housing patterns in these villages. Both are often forgotten about in contemporary housing developments in Bali, because most people in the Denpasar want to construct their building with a modern style but these do not have an eco-friendly atmosphere.Natah is the open space in the centre of a compound of Balinese traditional buildings. Natah functions as a place for traditional ceremonies; as a centre of building orientation; and, as well as ecological function. Research into natah has demonstrated that the more extensive the natah and the more luxuriant its plants the greater the reductions of wind speed and humidity modification in traditional housing (Primayatna, 2010). This means that the natah direcUy influences a better quality of living in the traditional housing. Telajakan is an outdoor open space pattern of traditional housing which is located between traditional fencing (penyengker) and drainage lines (jelinjingan), which is planted for spiritual and economic functions. Natah and telajakan are largely integral components of Balinese Indigenous villages. Most well-known Indigenous villages in Bali still retain their natural linear sequences of natah and telajakan such as Penglipuran Village, Tenganan Village, etc.The paper examines the role of natah and telajakan as part of Indigenous Balinese housing traditional patterns which serves not only aesthetic functions, but economic functions, health and ecological aspects, and informs the identity of Indigenous villages in Bali. This paper focuses on how both natah and telajakan values and patterns can be adopted for future lifestyles and development in Bali.

Messages from Long Tan, Vietnam: memorialisation, reconciliation, and historical justice

This article explores the changing ways in which Australians and Vietnamese remember and memorialize their involvement in the Vietnam War and how these processes intersect with notions of reconciliation and historical justice in postwar contexts. It uses the Battle of Long Tan of August 1966 as an entrée into these considerations and questions how heritage-making and memorialization processes can facilitate the achievement of reconciliation between parties formerly in conflict. Not surprisingly, the Australian and Vietnamese veterans of the battle and the two states, the Commonwealth of Australia and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, have different motivations for wanting to remember Long Tan. On the Australian side, a sense that reconciliation and atonement are needed is often reflected in official government and veterans’ statements about the war and Australia-Vietnam relations, in the memorialization process at Long Tan and in the involvement of Australian veterans groups engaged in local economic development and community building in Vietnam. On the Vietnamese side, where the Vietnam War played out as a civil as well as an international war, efforts by those who actively supported the former Republic of Vietnam based in Saigon in the south and among the overseas Vietnamese (Viet kieu) to memorialize their engagement in the conflict have been frustrated. The usefulness of the notion of seeking historical justice is therefore questioned in post–civil war situations where people are locked into fixed histories and are unprepared or unable to revisit and retell personal and collective memories and histories.

Are green turtles globally endangered?

Aim  To examine the exploitation, recovery and current status of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) nesting at Ascension Island. Location  Ascension Island (UK) (7°57′ S, 14°22′ W), South Atlantic Ocean. Methods  We analysed records of the harvest of green turtles nesting at Ascension Island between 1822 and 1935, illustrating the decline in numbers over this period. Using a deterministic age-class structured model we predict the initial number of breeding females present in the population prior to the recorded harvest and compare this to our estimate of the current population based upon our recent annual surveys (1999–2004). Results  Prior to 1822 we estimate the nesting population of green turtles to have been at least 19,000–22,000 individuals in order for the population to have survived the level of harvest recorded. From recent data (1999–2004), we estimate the current breeding population of green turtles at this site to be 11,000–15,000 females. Our results illustrate a dramatic recovery of the population, which is still increasing exponentially and shows no evidence of slowing, suggesting it has not reached 50% of its carrying capacity. Main conclusions  We estimate that, since the 1970s, the Ascension Island population of green turtles has increased by 285% and question the recent listing of this species as endangered by the IUCN (World Conservation Union), in particular in the Atlantic Ocean, where 75% of the populations assessed by the IUCN are increasing. Indeed, we estimate the global population of this species to be in excess of 2.2 million individuals. We suggest that the IUCN's global listing process detracts attention from those populations that are truly threatened with extinction and should not, in its present form, be applied to globally distributed long-lived species such as marine turtles.

Materials Education and Research in Art and Design: A New Role for Libraries - Session 3. RISD Faculty

Faculty from Rhode Island School of Design representing Interior Architecture, Industrial Design, and Textiles detail their thoughtful interactions with materials.

American Indian Blankets

Raid the Icebox 1 with Andy Warhol exhibition installation negative of a blanket chest containing American Indian blankets. The top lid and front drawer are open.

American Windsor Chairs

Raid the Icebox 1 with Andy Warhol exhibition installation negative of a room containing primarily American Windsor chairs.

Integração de dados em ambiente SIG para mapeamento de favorabilidade mineral de ouro na ilha cristalina de Rivera (Uruguai)

Guias para exploração mineral são normalmente baseados em modelos conceituais de depósitos. Esses guias são, normalmente, baseados na experiência dos geólogos, em dados descritivos e em dados genéticos. Modelamentos numéricos, probabilísticos e não probabilísticos, para estimar a ocorrência de depósitos minerais é um novo procedimento que vem a cada dia aumentando sua utilização e aceitação pela comunidade geológica. Essa tese utiliza recentes metodologias para a geração de mapas de favorablidade mineral. A denominada Ilha Cristalina de Rivera, uma janela erosional da Bacia do Paraná, situada na porção norte do Uruguai, foi escolhida como estudo de caso para a aplicação das metodologias. A construção dos mapas de favorabilidade mineral foi feita com base nos seguintes tipos de dados, informações e resultados de prospecção: 1) imagens orbitais; 2) prospecção geoquimica; 3) prospecção aerogeofísica; 4) mapeamento geo-estrutural e 5) altimetria. Essas informacões foram selecionadas e processadas com base em um modelo de depósito mineral (modelo conceitual), desenvolvido com base na Mina de Ouro San Gregorio. O modelo conceitual (modelo San Gregorio), incluiu características descritivas e genéticas da Mina San Gregorio, a qual abrange os elementos característicos significativos das demais ocorrências minerais conhecidas na Ilha Cristalina de Rivera. A geração dos mapas de favorabilidade mineral envolveu a construção de um banco de dados, o processamento dos dados, e a integração dos dados. As etapas de construção e processamento dos dados, compreenderam a coleta, a seleção e o tratamento dos dados de maneira a constituírem os denominados Planos de Informação. Esses Planos de Informação foram gerados e processados organizadamente em agrupamentos, de modo a constituírem os Fatores de Integração para o mapeamento de favorabilidade mineral na Ilha Cristalina de Rivera. Os dados foram integrados por meio da utilização de duas diferentes metodologias: 1) Pesos de Evidência (dirigida pelos dados) e 2) Lógica Difusa (dirigida pelo conhecimento). Os mapas de favorabilidade mineral resultantes da implementação das duas metodologias de integração foram primeiramente analisados e interpretados de maneira individual. Após foi feita uma análise comparativa entre os resultados. As duas metodologias xxiv obtiveram sucesso em identificar, como áreas de alta favorabilidade, as áreas mineralizadas conhecidas, além de outras áreas ainda não trabalhadas. Os mapas de favorabilidade mineral resultantes das duas metodologias mostraram-se coincidentes em relação as áreas de mais alta favorabilidade. A metodologia Pesos de Evidência apresentou o mapa de favorabilidade mineral mais conservador em termos de extensão areal, porém mais otimista em termos de valores de favorabilidade em comparação aos mapas de favorabilidade mineral resultantes da implementação da metodologia Lógica Difusa. Novos alvos para exploração mineral foram identificados e deverão ser objeto de investigação em detalhe.

Argilas modificadas como catalisadores ácidos sólidos

Important bentonitic deposits are present in Porto Santo Island, part of the Madeira Archipelago. Several locations were selected and samples were collected and characterised. The bentonite obtained at Serra de Dentro (SD) was selected for further laboratorial work. The fine fraction of SD bentonite was purified using several methods and the sodium homoionic form was prepared. This was the starting material used in the three generic types of modifications: metal exchange, acid activation and pillaring. These modifications produce materials with markedly different acidic (e.g. Brönsted and/or Lewis acidity), textural (e.g. increase of the surface area and active site accessibility) or structural (e.g. creation of permanent porous structures) properties. The wide range of materials obtained (including reference clays counterparts) was characterised in terms of chemical, structural, textural and catalytic properties. Limonene is an important raw material produced in Portugal, and its aromatisation reaction was chosen for the catalytic characterisation of the clay catalysts prepared.

Estrutura genética de Chromis multilineata (Guichenot, 1853) (Perciformes Pomacentridae) na costa NE do Brasil e ilhas oceânicas: evidências de um passado evolutivo instável.

The fauna of Brazilian reef fishes comprises approximately 320 species distributed along the coast of the mainland and islands ocean. Little is known about the levels of connectivity between their populations, but has been given the interest in the relations between the offshore and the islands of the Brazil, in a biogeographical perspective. The oceanic islands Brazilian hosting a considerable number of endemic species, which are locally abundant, and divide a substantial portion of its reef fish fauna with the Western Atlantic. Among the richest families of reef fish in species are Pomacentridae. This study analyzed through analysis of sequences of the mitochondrial DNA control region (D-loop), the standards-breeding population of C. Multilineata in different areas of the NE coast of Brazil, involving both oceanic islands (Fernando de Noronha Archipelago and of St. Peter and St. Paul) and continental shelf (RN and BA). To this aim, partial sequences were used in the region HVR1 of mtDNA (312pb). The population structure and parameters for the estimates of genetic variability, molecular variance (AMOVA), estimation of the index for fixing (FST) and number of migrants were determined. The phylogenetic relationships between the populations were estimated using neighbor-joining (NJ) method. A group of Bayesian analysis was used to verify population structure, according to haplotype frequency of each individual. The genetic variability of populations was extremely high. The populations sampled show moderate genetic structure, with a higher degree of genetic divergence being observed for the sample of the Archipelago of St. Peter and St. Paul. At smaller geographical scale, the sample of Rio Grande do Norte and the Archipelago of Fernando de Noronha do not have genetic differentiation. Three moderately differentiated population groups were identified: a population group (I), formed by the Rio Grande do Norte (I') and the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha (I''), and two other different groups formed by the island population of the archipelago of Saint Peter and St. Paul (II) and Bahia (III). The genetic patterns found suggest that the species has suffered a relatively recent radiation favoring the absence of shared haplotypes. C. multilineata seems to constitute a relatively homogenous population along the West Atlantic coast, with evidence of a moderate population genetic structure in relation to the Archipelago of St. Peter and St. Paul. These data supports the importance of the dispersal larvae by marine current and the interpopulation similarity this species.