Field Study

Biochar addition to agricultural soil has been suggested to mitigate climate change through increased biogenic carbon storage and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. We measured the fluxes of N2O, CO2, and CH4 after adding 9 t ha−1 biochar on an agricultural soil in Southern Finland in May 2009. We conducted these measurements twice a week for 1.5 months, between sowing and canopy closure, to capture the period of highest N2O emissions, where the potential for mitigation would also be highest. Biochar addition increased CH4 uptake (96% increase in the average cumulative CH4 uptake), but no statistically significant differences were observed in the CO2 and N2O emissions between the biochar amended and control plots. Added biochar increased soil water holding capacity by 11%. Further studies are needed to clarify whether this may help balance fluctuations in water availability to plants in the future climate with more frequent drought periods.▶ Biochar addition to boreal agricultural soil increases CH4 uptake. ▶ Biochar addition to boreal agricultural soil increases water holding capacity. ▶ Biochar addition to boreal agricultural soil had no effect on N2O or CO2 fluxes.

Based on the author's artistic research on migration, contemporary urban experience, and sonic alienation, The Nomadic Listener is composed of a series of texts stemming from psychogeographic explorations of contemporary cities, including Copenhagen, Berlin, Kolkata, Vienna, Delhi, Hong Kong, Mumbai, and New York, among others.
Each text is an act of listening, where the author records his surrounding environment and attunes to the sonic fluctuations of movement and the passing of events. What surfaces is a collection of meditations on the occurrences of life movingly interwoven with memories, associations, desires, and reflections. Readers are brought into a tender map of contemporary urban experience and the often lonely, surprising, and random interactions found in traveling. The Nomadic Listener includes parallel drawings based on the original audio recordings and appears as ghostly renderings of the corresponding experiences. The recordings are published by Gruenrekorder and accessed through a QR code in the book.

Gale A.Bishop, R. Kelly Vance, Fredrick J. Rich, Brian. K. Meyer, E. J. Davis, R. H. Hayes, and N. B. Marsh

Field Geology Education: Historical Perspectives and Modern Approaches Field Education in Geology at Georgia Southern University: Historical Perspectives and Modern Approaches

BishopField-based learning practices in  Geology and Geography at Georgia Southern University  evolved over  50 years from  trips intended to enhance  major’s courses, through development of trips  enhancing learning in K-12 teachers and geology/geography majors, and culminating in synergistic, sustainable place-based outdoor education conserving loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta Linnaeus, 1758).The St. Catherines Island Sea Turtle Program integrated "Conservation, Research, and Education" into a holistic program that,as of 2008 put 114,907  hatchlings into the Atlantic Ocean, promoted the distribution of knowledge through presentations, publications, and web-based outreach, and served 213 interns  They have impacted over 220,531students. Teacher-centered  lectures, and demonstration and explanation of techniques on the beach, followed by inquiry-based learning, have been accomplished by six faculty members and two GaDNR Interns who mentor 14 teacher-interns per year..Teacher-interns investigate loggerhead sea turtle  ecology, the history of St. Catherines Island, coastal physical processes, and make natural history collections for use in  classrooms. Instructional technologies include  distance learning, digital photography used in PowerPointTM" presentations, video-learning in the field, and integrated note-taking and field sketching. Research outcomes include  defined morphology of loggerhead nests, development of a Rapid Habitat Assessment Tool, conceptualization of the history of sea level rise, and definition and discovery of the first described Cretaceous sea turtle nest.  Educational reform in field- and  inquiry-based learning, and collaborative research in archaeology and zooarchaeology have also occured. Models of field-based learning are presented for emulation: The Scientific Learning Model, The Project-Based Natural History Program Model, and The Synergistic CPU Project Model. 

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A field study of 209 leader–follower dyads from 12 different organizations was conducted to test the moderating effects of job enrichment and goal difficulty on the relationship between transformational leadership and three follower outcomes: performance, affective organizational ...

We characterize the spatial organization of red-tailed sportive lemurs (Lepilemur ruficaudatus) as a key aspect of their social organization and social system. Sportive lemurs are small (<1000 g), nocturnal and folivorous primates endemic to Madagascar. We studied a population of 57 individually-marked individuals in Kirindy Forest, western Madagascar, between 1995 and 2001. We radio-tracked 20 males and 26 females of

Previous discussions concerned with combining User Experience (UX) design and Agile development have either focused on integrating them as two separate processes, or on incorporating techniques from UX design into an Agile context. There is still no rigorous academic view on the nature of practice in this area. Further, the many and varied settings in which Agile developers and UX designers work together, and how those settings shape their work, remain largely unexplored. We conducted two field studies to address this. The results suggest that the values and assumptions of decision-makers external to the teams shape UX/Agile practice. The current focus on processes and techniques falls short of providing the insight necessary to improve practice. Instead, our results indicate that improvement requires further explication of contextual values.

This paper contains geophysical analysis of the largest town square in Sigtuna, Sweden. The studied area is approximately 736 m2. The purpose of the study was to search for early medieval house remnants and to possibly find structures matching those found during excavations in other parts of the town. The hypothesis is that the town of Sigtuna was planned and that the yards of the town were put out in a special pattern following the main street, which is the same as today. During the day of the geophysical prospection the weather conditions were not optimal. A lot of water at the surface disturbed the instrument and gave a blurred image. It turned out that a lot of contemporary pipes and a large traffic island from the 1930s covered the area. Archaeological structures could only be seen in smaller areas in between later structures. Vague oblong structures could be seen, as well as a distinct smaller square on the eastern part of the area. A large rectangle close to the main street was also observed. None of these structures could be seen in modern maps or photographs and are therefore marked as something that could be of archaeological interest. Some of the structures that were noted were probably part of the original medieval town plan, as judged by their size and location.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and validation of a multi-dimensional instrument to measure servant leadership. Design/Methodology/Approach Based on an extensive literature review and expert judgment, 99 items were formulated. In three steps, using eight samples totaling 1571 persons from The Netherlands and the UK with a diverse occupational background, a combined exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis approach was used. This was followed by an analysis of the criterion-related validity. Findings The final result is an eight-dimensional measure of 30 items: the eight dimensions being: standing back, forgiveness, courage, empowerment, accountability, authenticity, humility, and stewardship. The internal consistency of the subscales is good. The results show that the Servant Leadership Survey (SLS) has convergent validity with other leadership measures, and also adds unique elements to the leadership field. Evidence for criterion-related validity came from studies relating the eight dimensions to well-being and performance. Implications With this survey, a valid and reliable instrument to measure the essential elements of servant leadership has been introduced. Originality/Value The SLS is the first measure where the underlying factor structure was developed and confirmed across several field studies in two countries. It can be used in future studies to test the underlying premises of servant leadership theory. The SLS provides a clear picture of the key servant leadership qualities and shows where improvements can be made on the individual and organizational level; as such, it may also offer a valuable starting point for training and leadership development.

A field-adapted procedure based on species-specific isotope dilution (SSID) methodology for trace-level determinations of methyl mercury (CH(3)Hg(+)) in mire, fresh and sea water samples was developed, validated and applied in a field study. In the field study, mire water samples were filtered, standardised volumetrically with isotopically enriched CH(3) (200)Hg(+), and frozen on dry ice. The samples were derivatised in the laboratory without further pre-treatment using sodium tetraethyl borate (NaB(C(2)H(5))(4)) and the ethylated methyl mercury was purge-trapped on Tenax columns. The analyte was thermo-desorbed onto a GC-ICP-MS system for analysis. Investigations preceding field application of the method showed that when using SSID, for all tested matrices, identical results were obtained between samples that were freeze-preserved or analysed unpreserved. For DOC-rich samples (mire water) additional experiments showed no difference in CH(3)Hg(+) concentration between samples that were derivatised without pre-treatment or after liquid extraction. Extractions of samples for matrix-analyte separation prior to derivatisation are therefore not necessary. No formation of CH(3)Hg(+) was observed during sample storage and treatment when spiking samples with (198)Hg(2+). Total uncertainty budgets for the field application of the method showed that for analyte concentrations higher than 1.5 pg g(-1) (as Hg) the relative expanded uncertainty (REU) was approximately 5% and dominated by the uncertainty in the isotope standard concentration. Below 0.5 pg g(-1) (as Hg), the REU was >10% and dominated by variations in the field blank. The uncertainty of the method is sufficiently low to accurately determine CH(3)Hg(+) concentrations at trace levels. The detection limit was determined to be 4 fg g(-1) (as Hg) based on replicate analyses of laboratory blanks. The described procedure is reliable, considerably faster and simplified compared to non-SSID methods and thereby very suitable for routine applications of CH(3)Hg(+) speciation analysis in a wide range of water samples.

Ensuring acceptance of dedicated biomass feedstocks by landowners, agricultural communities, environmental and public interest groups, requires that the environmental benefits, concerns, and risks associated with their production be quantified. Establishment and management measures to benefit soil and water quality are being identified by ongoing research. Field studies are showing that nutrients are retained within the rooting zone of dedicated feedstocks, subsurface herbicide transport does not occur, and off-site chemical transport is minimal compared with traditional agricultural crops. The amounts and timing of fertilizer application were critical to minimizing off- site transport of nutrients. Maintaining soil cover decreased runoff, sediment losses, and nutrient transport compared with traditional agricultural crops. Conversion of traditional croplands to biomass and no-till crop production improved soil quality and soil carbon storage. Subsurface nutrient losses were less fr...

Slit-check dams are widely employed in mountain river control. However an analysis of their performance in the field is still lacking. In the present work a field verification to evaluate the interaction between solid discharge regime and four slit-check dams built in two subcatchments of ...

The geological sciences are challenged to manage and interpret increasing volumes of data as observations and simulations increase in size and complexity. For example, simulations of earthquake-related processes typically generate complex, time-varying data sets in two or more dimensions. To facilitate interpretation and analysis of these data sets, evaluate the underlying models, and to drive future calculations, we have developed

BackgroundToday many merchant ships sail with only two nautical officers, working a shift schedule of 6 hr on and 6 hr off. There are concerns that such a shift schedule is related to fatigue. However, little data exist from onboard studies of seafarers.Today many merchant ships sail with only two nautical officers, working a shift schedule of 6 hr on and 6 hr off. There are concerns that such a shift schedule is related to fatigue. However, little data exist from onboard studies of seafarers.MethodsData were collected on board 13 ships. Fifteen participants worked on a 6-on, 6-off watch system and another 15 on a 4-on, 8-off watch system. Electrooculography, actigraphy, diaries, and reaction time tests were used to measure the effects of shift system on fatigue and sleep.Data were collected on board 13 ships. Fifteen participants worked on a 6-on, 6-off watch system and another 15 on a 4-on, 8-off watch system. Electrooculography, actigraphy, diaries, and reaction time tests were used to measure the effects of shift system on fatigue and sleep.Results and ConclusionsSleepiness was higher during the night shift in the 6-on, 6-off system. Moreover, sleepiness increased more during the watch in the 6-on, 6-off system compared to the 4-on, 8-off system. There was a trend toward shorter sleep episodes in the 6-on, 6-off system and sleep was more often split into two episodes. Am. J. Ind. Med. 53:733–740, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Sleepiness was higher during the night shift in the 6-on, 6-off system. Moreover, sleepiness increased more during the watch in the 6-on, 6-off system compared to the 4-on, 8-off system. There was a trend toward shorter sleep episodes in the 6-on, 6-off system and sleep was more often split into two episodes. Am. J. Ind. Med. 53:733–740, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.