Factors influencing distribution and habitat utilisation of Leptoptilos javanicus in and around Barandabhar Corridor Forest, Chitwan, Nepal

The globally Vulnerable wetland-dependent bird species Leptoptilos javanicus was once thought to avoid farmlands, but recent studies in lowland Nepal showed that the species uses farmlands extensively for foraging and breeding. Identifying whether this preference of L. javanicus to these habitats is common throughout Nepal is essential to understanding the conservation needs of the species. This study aimed to explore the seasonal distribution and habitat utilisation by L. javanicus in and around the Barandabhar Corridor Forest by using 220 randomly selected squares within a 500 × 500 m2 grid. We visited centroids of each selected square to collect data on L. javanicus distribution, habitat types, and probable causes of disturbance in two seasons (rainy: August – September 2019 and winter: December – January 2019–2020). A total of 64 observations of L. javanicus (n = 29 in winter, n = 35 in rainy) were made. Leptoptilos javanicus were seen in more squares outside the Protected Area (65.2%) during the rainy season. Variables that negatively influenced L. javanicus sightings were distance to the road (few individuals seen close to the road), distance to the village (few individuals seen close to settlement), and areas under human disturbance (only few individuals seen in areas with more livestock and people) during both seasons. The farmlands around the Barandabhar Corridor Forest hosted many individuals of L. javanicus and are a new location in lowland Nepal with a resident population of this species. Past assumptions regarding L. javanicus conservation require revision, and including a focus on farmlands is an important requirement in Nepal's conservation planning.

EVALUATING THE ECOPHYSIOLOGY OF SURVIVAL FOR MAPANIA CUSPIDATA (MIQ.) UITTIEN (CYPERACEAE) TRANSPLANTATION

SHABDIN, Z., NORI, H., MEEKIONG, K. & FAIZ, M. F. M. 2021. Evaluating the ecophysiology of survival for Mapania cuspidata (Miq.) Uittien (Cyperaceae) transplantation. Reinwardtia 20(2): 69–75. — This study aimed to investigate the ecology of the sedge Mapania cuspidata at three different locations in East Malaysia, namely Gunung Gading, Matang and Bengoh, and the survival of M. cuspidata transplanted in pots exposed to different light intensities in Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, East Malaysia. The highest species density was recorded in Matang with a total density of 1.98 individuals/ha followed by Bengoh (1.42) and Gunung Gading (0.96). In these locations, the soil pH ranged from 4.9 in Bengoh to 5.7 in Matang where as soil organic matter content was between 3.47% in Bengoh and 8.68% in Gunung Gading. The highest light intensity was recorded in Matang with 0.94 kLux, and produced plants with the highest chorophyll content (64.8 SPAD value). This study found that the transplanted M. cuspidata had 90% survival over a four month experiment, produced ~ 8 new leaves, took an average of 15.8 days to produce a new leaf and had a chlorophyll content of ~30.3 SPAD value regardless of the intensity of light where the plants were exposed to. The findings of this study suggests that M. cuspidata can grow well in any light conditions and therefore it is also possible to transplant and re-establish other Mapania species in new location. It is hoped that the initiative to relocateother Mapania species of concervation concern will be effective if adequate post-harvest handling methods are practiced.

Discourse and Discipline

This chapter advances the claim that to understand the development of economic knowledge from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, one needs to understand the new location that this knowledge found: the modern university. Broad questions of ‘education and economy’ in industrialising societies are raised and placed in an international context. Following on from this, existing work on the ‘institutionalisation’ of economics is reviewed, emphasising the need for detailed knowledge of institutional structures—what was taught, how it was taught, the sources of student demand, and the attitude of employers—if we are to adequately capture the dynamics of an emerging discipline.

Performance Evaluation of Temperature-Based Global Solar Radiation Models—Case Study: Arar City, KSA

Solar radiation is considered the main renewable energy source which reshapes the global sustainability plan for future development. Due to the lack of solar radiation measurements, this work investigates the performance of several temperature-based hybrid solar radiation models combining the parametric, statistical and satellite data approaches to estimate the global solar radiation on a horizontal surface. Over 35 years of meteorological data in the new location, Arar City, KSA (Latitude 30°96′ N and longitude 41°05′ E) are employed to establish and validate the models. These models are validated using two datasets with different averaging time spans to investigate the accuracy and reliability of different models as forecasting tools for the solar radiation. The mostly common statistical indicators are calculated to identify the most accurate model. The results show that Model (1) has the best performance among all models with high reliability as a solar radiation forecasting tool in this new location. This model is also validated against the widely-used datasets, namely NASA, On-Site measurements and PVGIS-SARAH data. The model shows excellent values for statistical indicators with high values of coefficient of determination, R2 > 0.955, presenting the best performance regardless of the time span of the validation datasets.

Complexity amidst Diversity: Exploring the Lives of LGBTQ International Teachers

This paper analyzes findings from research with 23 lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer international educators and their experiences working in non-Western countries. This study documents the participants’ struggles, challenges, and triumphs of teaching overseas. In-depth interviews, as the data collection method, focus on changes made to thrive in the new country context and barriers to job success. The data reveals four key themes: (1) shifting identities in the new location; (2) belonging as a spectral concept; (3) work ethic as personal security; and (4) queer initiatives and student engagement. The authors introduce the notion of “belonging-scape” to suggest that while LGBTQ international educators faced a series of hetero/cisnormative borders, their sense of belonging to the workplace and to the community was in constant flux. Recommendations for educational administrators to ameliorate challenges unique to LGBTQ international teachers conclude the paper.

Sedimentary basins of the eastern Asia Arctic zone: new details on their structure revealed by decompensative gravity anomalies

In the present study, the structure of sedimentary basins in the eastern Asia Arctic zone is analysed by employing the approach based on decompensative gravity anomalies. Two obtained models, differing in their initial conditions, provide thickness and density of sediments in the study area. They demonstrate essentially new details on the structure, shape, and density of the sedimentary basins. Significant changes in the sedimentary thickness and the depo-centre location have been found for the Anadyr Basin in its continental part. Also, new details on the sedimentary thickness distribution have been revealed for the central part of the Penzhin and Pustorets basins; for the latter, the new location of the depo-centre has been identified. The new model agrees well with the seismic data on the sedimentary thickness for the offshore part of the Chauna Basin confirming that the method is robust. The most significant lateral redistribution of the thickness has been found for the Lower Cretaceous coal-bearing strata in the northern part of the Zyryanka Basin, where the connection of two coal-bearing zones, which was not previously mapped, has been identified. Also, the new details on the sedimentary thickness distribution have been discovered for the Primorsk Basin. Therefore, the new results substantially improve our knowledge about the region, since previous geological and geophysical studies were unsystematic, sparse, and limited in depth. Thus, the implementation of the decompensative gravity anomalies approach provides a better understanding of the evolution of the sedimentary basins and the obtained results can be used for planning future detailed studies in the area.

AN EFFECTIVENESS OF STRATEGIC LAND DEVELOPMENT ON SEWERAGE PLANNING AND LAND SERVICES IN INDAH WATER KONSORTIUM SDN BHD

The higher demanding factor for residential and commercial units has seen an increasing number of STP maintained by IWK every year. This increasing number of STP has forced IWK to incur increased operating and maintenance costs. With a limited number of employees and a large catchment area, it has raised several issues and problems such as the issue of encroachment into the STP land. To overcome the issues and problems, strategic land development is needed where it is also a method in achieving sustainable development. This study used a qualitative method by analyzing the current work procedures or guidelines and government documents used by IWK such as the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, National Land Code, and Malaysian Sewerage Industry Guidelines. The findings of the study found that the function of IWK in sewerage land management for public STP and the former STP site is quite limited. Thus, a new procedure or guidelines need to be developed to improve these weaknesses. Based on the land issues faced by IWK, it shows that the strategic land development will be able to help IWK in the planning stages in the future effectively. While sustainable development can be achieved by IWK using a combination between the new land management model and GIS application. This new land management model needs to be combined and should include all the existing procedures or guidelines and be controlled by one unit only. GIS as the most powerful tool today seen can help IWK to manage all the matter related sewerage lands, such as finding the decommissioned STP site, selecting the new location for the Regional STP project, and selection of the new alignment for a property connection project. Indirectly, it can help IWK to reduce the cost of operation and maintenance, sewerage land issues, environmental issues, and others.

Language as an Impediment to Immigrants’ welfares and Development: A Case Study

Language is a vector of development. “Considered like privileged vehicle of transfer of knowledge and ideas, the language plays an irreplaceable role (…) in all the process of scientific and technological development” (Diki-Kidiri, 2004: 27). It is the means of expressing or communicating ideas which provide the capacity to communicate, thus making it a tool crucial to social organization and technological development. Indeed, language and development are intimately and incontestably linked that no country in the world could develop under using a language other than that of the concerned population. On the other hand, migration is not a new phenomenon: humans are migratory species. For economic or security reasons, people migrate. They moved to new location and new language ecologies where they come in contact with speakers of a specific set of other languages. These changes in the linguistic environment are not without consequences. At this juncture, it is worth noting that to reach their own objectives, immigrants as well as the developers: partners, animators, sensitisers, NGOs agents are in need of language of communication as the development constitutes a process in the center of which the language is. This paper focuses on the utility of language in action in order to understand how can language blocs, impedes immigrants in their daily interaction as it is inconceivable for man to do almost any activity that he does without the use of language. The research utilizes qualitative research methodology by incorporating structured interviews. Another research instrument I use is obtrusive observation to find out which of the second language acquisition, code switching, code mixing or even translation can help immigrants overcome language barriers and experience successful economic and social integration in the host country.

Location, Location, Location? Comparing Release Plan Quality, Community Experience, and Recidivism Rate of High-Risk Offenders Released to a Fresh Start or Returning to the Devil They Know

<p>When offenders are released from prison, does it matter where they go? To answer this question, this study investigated the effects of residential relocation on 282 high-risk male offenders released from New Zealand prisons. Offenders were initially divided into those returning to their old neighbourhoods and those released to a new location. A second division created three groups: offenders released to a new location were further divided into those making a voluntary residential relocation, and those making a residential relocation non-voluntarily. Offender groups were compared on demographic and criminal history variables, release plan quality, experiences at two months in the community, and recidivism. Recidivism indices were breach of release condition, reconviction, violent reconviction, and reimprisonment over the first year post-release. Release destination and release plan quality coding protocols were developed. Results indicated that parolees returning to their old neighbourhoods and those released to a new location reoffended at approximately the same rate. However, parolees relocating under duress breached conditions and reoffended at a higher rate than both parolees making a voluntary residential relocation and those returning to their old neighbourhoods. Significant group differences in release plan quality and experience in the community were few, but suggested that making a voluntary residential relocation may lead to better parole experiences, and that making a residential relocation under duress may lead to worse parole experiences, than returning to a familiar location. Implications, applications, and limitations of the study are discussed, along with possible directions for future research.</p>