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The development of algorithms for remote sensing of water quality (RSWQ) requires a large amount of in situ data to account for the bio-geo-optical diversity of inland and coastal waters. The GLObal Reflectance community dataset for Imaging and optical sensing of Aquatic environments (GLORIA) includes 7,572 curated hyperspectral remote sensing reflectance measurements at 1 nm intervals within the 350 to 900 nm wavelength range. In addition, at least one co-located water quality measurement of chlorophyll a, total suspended solids, absorption by dissolved substances, and Secchi depth, is provided. The data were contributed by researchers affiliated with 59 institutions worldwide and come from 450 different water bodies, making GLORIA the de-facto state of knowledge of in situ coastal and inland aquatic optical diversity. Each measurement is documented with comprehensive methodological details, allowing users to evaluate fitness-for-purpose, and providing a reference for practitioners planning similar measurements. We provide open and free access to this dataset with the goal of enabling scientific and technological advancement towards operational regional and global RSWQ monitoring.

Although physical activity and sedentary behavior are moderately heritable, little is known about the mechanisms that influence these traits. Combining data for up to 703,901 individuals from 51 studies in a multi-ancestry meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies yields 99 loci that associate with self-reported moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity during leisure time (MVPA), leisure screen time (LST) and/or sedentary behavior at work. Loci associated with LST are enriched for genes whose expression in skeletal muscle is altered by resistance training. A missense variant in ACTN3 makes the alpha-actinin-3 filaments more flexible, resulting in lower maximal force in isolated type IIA muscle fibers, and possibly protection from exercise-induced muscle damage. Finally, Mendelian randomization analyses show that beneficial effects of lower LST and higher MVPA on several risk factors and diseases are mediated or confounded by body mass index (BMI). Our results provide insights into physical activity mechanisms and its role in disease prevention.

Education Minister Tehan's recent announcement to double the cost of an Arts Degree has been a bombshell like no other in recent higher education policy. Many have rightly seen it as a policy that makes no practical sense -- if teachers are wanted, as is claimed in the overall policy, a sizeable number of these trained in the humanities are of course needed. More concerning though, is the perception that the decision is just another dismal episode in Australia's never-ending culture wars, where national policy seems to be driven, as much as anything, by a desire to vanquish one's ideological foes -- real or imagined. In this article, Tim Moore asserts Australians should fervently decry this latest plan by the Government and its motivations. In this piece however, he argues that Australia's critical gaze should be directed as much at their universities -- or at least at that class of administrator that has come to run them in recent decades. In the directions and strategies that have been pursued over this time, there has been little defence by Australian 'institutional leaders' of the broader educational mission of universities, leaving them seriously exposed to the anti-academic, anti-democratic policies now being imposed. Moore describes two notions that have been key in the directions that have been pursued, and which lie at the heart of the intellectual enfeeblement of Australian institutions. The first of these, is the so-called employability agenda, which has come to construct higher education in almost exclusively instrumentalist terms; the other, is the highly flawed notion that skills in university study can be unproblematically prioritised over the learning of disciplinary knowledge.

The research is complete, the article written, there's just one last job-think of a great title, one that not only elegantly summarizes your research, but that is also going to grab the attention of a fickle and perpetually time-poor readership. Article titling is a challenge for experienced researchers, and even more so for young academics seeking to get a toe hold in the tough and unforgiving world of academic publishing. In Tim Moore's work as a writing and communications lecturer in the arts faculty of an Australian university, he spends some time in classes talking about research article titles, and which assemblages of words might help students get the right exposure for their work. Here he provides some insight into how to come up with a perfect title. He also provides some dos and don'ts for article titling.

Peatland pools are unvegetated, inundated depressions that cover up to 30 % of the surface of many temperate and boreal peatlands and that are net carbon (C) sources within C-accumulating ecosystems. The emission of carbon dioxide (CO 2) and methane (CH 4) from peatland pools comes from the degradation of organic matter (OM) that comprises the surrounding matrix. It is, however, not clear how decomposition rates in pools, which define their function and distinguish them from other aquatic ecosystems, vary spatially and what mechanisms drive these variations. We first quantified rates of OM decomposition from fresh litter at different depths in six pools of distinct morphological characteristics in a temperate ombrotrophic peatland using litterbags of Sphagnum capillifolium and Typha latifolia over a 27-month period. Rates of decomposition were faster for T. latifolia than S. capillifolium and, overall, faster at the pool surface and decreased with increasing depth. We then measured potential CO 2 and CH 4 production from the sediments of the same six pools by performing 35 d laboratory incubations. Pool sediment chemistry was variable among pools and influenced the production of CH 4 and CO 2 from sediments, with decreasing CO 2 production with increasing OM humification and decreasing CH 4 production with increasing nitrogen-to-phosphorus ratio. Both CH 4 production and CO 2 production from pool sediments were higher in the 1 m deep pools but similar in the shallow < 1 and the > 1.5 m deep pools. When combining both experiments, our results indicate that OM decomposition in peatland pools is highly variable and mostly related to the environmental conditions in which it occurs as a function of general pool depth rather than to OM chemistry. Overall, we show that OM degradation and C emissions in peatland open-water pools may increase over time in warmer and drier climate conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade, in both Australia and Britain, universities have been under increasing pressure to make themselves accountable for the extent to which they cultivate in their students transferable skills and "attributes" that will prepare them for the rapidly-changing world of employment. The Government's "Striving for Quality" document begins by pointing out that "Australia is actively positioning itself within an international "knowledge-based economy," which has placed new demands on higher education." The Government has questioned the effectiveness of higher education in this regard, in view of the Nielsen survey on employer satisfaction with graduates conducted in 2000. Here, employers reported that graduates often had weaknesses in the areas of "creativity and flair"; oral (and, to a lesser extent, written) communication; "interpersonal skills"; and "understanding of business practice." Much consideration has been given to the question of what role universities should play in the preparation for work; and, concomitantly, to ways of measuring the outcome of their efforts. This article looks at a testing instrument commissioned by the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) and developed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). This "Graduate Skills Assessment" (GSA) Test is still at a pilot stage, but the Government has shown some interest in it as a method of quality assurance, and appears to be leaving it open as a policy option in the future. It is timely therefore to look closely at what this test promises and how it works. On its website, ACER has made available a sample set of questions representing the types of questions that might be asked in any iteration of the GSA. It has also posted an example of the assessment report that candidates receive, showing them their score, how it compares to "the distribution of the results for the middle 60% of students from fields of study similar to [theirs]," and what the scores at each level indicate about the candidate's skills in each category. In this article, the authors quote from the sample questions, and from the descriptions of what ACER says can be inferred about a candidate who scores at Level 3 (the highest level). The authors consider to what extent particular sample questions seem able to test what they purport to test, at the level at which they claim to test it. The authors comment only on the ones that are publicly available.

Summary: Ericaceous shrubs adapt to the nutrient‐poor conditions in ombrotrophic peatlands by forming symbiotic associations with ericoid mycorrhizal (ERM) fungi. Increased nutrient availability may diminish the role of ERM pathways in shrub nutrient uptake, consequently altering the biogeochemical cycling within bogs.To explore the significance of ERM fungi in ombrotrophic peatlands, we developed the model MWMmic (a peat cohort‐based biogeochemical model) into MWMmic‐NP by explicitly incorporating plant‐soil nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) cycling and ERM fungi processes. The new model was applied to simulate the biogeochemical cycles in the Mer Bleue (MB) bog in Ontario, Canada, and their responses to fertilization.MWMmic_NP reproduced the carbon(C)–N–P cycles and vegetation dynamics observed in the MB bog, and their responses to fertilization. Our simulations showed that fertilization increased shrub biomass by reducing the C allocation to ERM fungi, subsequently suppressing the growth of underlying Sphagnum mosses, and decreasing the peatland C sequestration. Our species removal simulation further demonstrated that ERM fungi were key to maintaining the shrub–moss coexistence and C sink function of bogs.Our results suggest that ERM fungi play a significant role in the biogeochemical cycles in ombrotrophic peatlands and should be considered in future modeling efforts. See also the Commentary on this article by Barel & Robroek, 238: 5–7. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]