Integrating multiple perspectives on the human-nature relationship: A reply to Fletcher 2017

The concept of “connectedness with nature” is increasingly used in environmental and sustainability discourse. However, this construct has also been critiqued and proponents charged with harboring an ambivalence that paradoxically reinforces a sense of separation from “nature”. We respond to one critique by demonstrating that whilst problematizing aspects of “connectedness with nature” has merit, selective use of examples misconstrues efforts in this field, undermines common ground and conflates theoretical conceptualizations with practical implementation. In addressing problems of perception and praxis, we emphasize the primacy of direct experience in shaping ways of knowing and recommend integral ecology (based on Wilber’s integral theory) as an inclusive framework for attending to multiple perspectives on the human-nature relationship.     

New directions in education? A critique of contemporary policy reforms

This paper draws on facets of Foucault's theoretical resources to critique current education policy reform from within the Australian State of Victoria, namely the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development's (DEECD) discussion paper New directions for school leadership and the teaching profession. Implicit in the reform effort is decentralization, including penalties for “underperforming” classroom teachers and “ineffective” teacher education courses. Principals will hold a pre-eminent rank in the reforms proposed as they are charged with their oversight and implementation, including intervening in the education and preparation of pre-service teachers.     

Mouse (Mus) burrows: Effects of age,strain, and domestication

Burrows dug by house mice in laboratory burrow boxes were examined in two inbred strains (C57BL/6J and BALB/cJ) across five age groups and compared with burrows of wild trapped mice. Burrows of feral domestic mice were examined in an outdoor enclosure as well as in the laboratory. Results demonstrated that burrows differ between strains; highly active C57 mice tended to burrow more than did Balbs at all age ranges. Moreover, burrows became more complex with age in both strains. Differences among domestic, feral, and wild mice were minimal. Results are discussed in terms of possible genetic differences in activity and as evidence against the notions of degeneracy accompanying domestication.     

The role of intertrial interval in the learning of two simple avoidance tasks

Learning & Behavior - Rats were trained to avoid shock in either a jump-up or a one-way running situation with intertrial intervals of 20 min to 3 h for different groups. The rats with the...     

RTP-based broadcast streaming of high definition H.264/AVC video: an error robustness evaluation

In this work, we present an evaluation of the performance and error robustness of RTP-based broadcast streaming of high-quality high-definition (HD) H.264/AVC video. Using a fully controlled IP test bed (Hillestad et al., 2005), we broadcast high-definition video over RTP/UDP, and use an IP network emulator to introduce a varying amount of randomly distributed packet loss. A high-performance network interface monitoring card is used to capture the video packets into a trace file. Purpose-built software parses the trace file, analyzes the RTP stream and assembles the correctly received NAL units into an H.264/AVC Annex B byte stream file, which is subsequently decoded by JVT JM 10.1 reference software. The proposed measurement setup is a novel, practical and intuitive approach to perform error resilience testing of real-world H.264/AVC broadcast applications. Through a series of experiments, we evaluate some of the error resilience features of the H.264/AVC standard, and see how they perform at packet loss rates from 0.01 % to 5%. The results confirmed that an appropriate slice partitioning scheme is essential to have a graceful degradation in received quality in the case of packet loss. While flexible macroblock ordering reduces the compression efficiency about 1 dB for our test material, reconstructed video quality is improved for loss rates above 0.25%.