Invasive weeds in urban riparian zones: the influence of catchment imperviousness and soil chemistry across an urbanization gradient

The riparian zones of urban waterways are frequently degraded by weed invasions. This study examined the effects of different levels of catchment imperviousness, as a surrogate for the extent and intensity of urbanisation, on invasive weeds and soil physical and chemical attributes. The study was conducted adjacent to waterways in the partly urbanised Georges River catchment in south western Sydney. Vegetation and soil sampling was undertaken in the riparian zone of 10 freshwater streams in non-urban (low imperviousness), peri-urban (moderate imperviousness) and urban (high imperviousness) sub-catchments. Soil samples were tested for a suite of physical and chemical properties (moisture, bulk density, organic matter, pH, salinity, phosphorus, potassium and calcium). Increased levels of sub-catchment imperviousness and urbanisation were associated with higher weed coverage and elevated soil geochemical attributes. One of the most interesting findings in this study was that urban soil calcium concentrations were over 2000 times greater than soils collected from non-urban catchments. The BIOENV procedure identified soil pH, salinity, calcium, organic matter, moisture and catchment imperviousness to be important environmental factors associated with variation in riparian vegetation. The single factor of soil pH was most highly correlated with variations in riparian vegetation. Soil pH was approximately 1.5 units higher in urban compared to non-urban riparian soils. We speculate that there is a link between urban concrete materials, urban soil and water contaminants and riparian weed invasion. We also recommend further study into the contribution of urban concrete materials on the geochemical contamination of riparian soils.     

Privacy,data protection and emerging sciences and technologies: towards a common framework

Privacy is an important fundamental human right. It underpins human dignity and other values such as freedom of association and freedom of speech. However, privacy is being challenged in the networked society. The use of new technologies undermines this right because it facilitates the collection, storage, processing and combination of personal data by security agencies and businesses. This research note presents the background and agenda of the recently-commenced research project PRESCIENT, which aims at reconceptualizing the concept of privacy and developing means for the assessment of privacy impacts.     

无形资产准则中的会计职业判断及其对财务的影响

会计职业判断越来越多地运用于会计实务处理中。随着无形资产会计处理的变化,会计职业判断相继会在研发支出的确认、无形资产的初始计量和后续计量中发挥直接或间接的作用,从而也影响着公司的财务指标。分析会计职业判断在无形资产会计处理中的运用及其对财务的影响,可以帮助信息使用者识别研发支出会计信息,提高会计信息的可用性,同时在一定程度上监督公司合理运用会计职业判断。     

UNDER THE BRIDGES OF POLK COUNTY:

The obituary was short, to the point. It noted that he was thirty-seven years old, had died of pneumonia at Broadlawns Medical Center, and was survived by a wife, a daughter, his mother, five brothers and two sisters. Nine of the twenty-two lines that appeared on June 1, 1993, in the Des Moines Register reported on demographics about these relatives. Between the middle and last name was inserted, in quotation marks, the word "Wolfman." The information, squeezed in with other similar summaries about other people who had died recently, noted that he was a "self-employed carpenter," that he was from, and his family continued to be in and around, Fort Worth, Texas, and that the services would be at Hamilton's Funeral Home, with burial at Rest-haven Cemetery in West Des Moines.
It is not possible that twenty-two short lines could do justice to thirty-seven years of any person's life. Yet that is what he was allotted. The summer after he died was the summer of the Great Iowa Flood. Wolfman, as everyone called him, never lived to experience the natural event that brought notoriety to the city and devastation to the lives of so many people who shared his community but never knew he existed. I doubt that many people in Des Moines who brushed against his life even knew that his real name was Billy Dean Roberts.     

水泥裂缝中开出的花朵--狂欢化解读伊恩·麦克尤恩《水泥花园》里孩子们的笑

素有"恐怖伊恩"之称的英国当代作家伊恩·麦克尤恩1978年所著小说《水泥花园》讲述了在失去正常社会秩序和规范的家庭荒原中,未成年孩子们经历的痛苦、无序、混沌的成长。运用巴赫金的狂欢化理论解读《水泥花园》,认为笑是孩子们从自我放逐走向成熟的重要线索。孩子们标志性的三次狂欢式的笑既是对权力交替的庆祝,又是对父母权威的嘲讽;既是对迎接新生的礼赞,又是对过去身份的告别。以笑为依托获得成长的孩子们,并非如评论界所言在伦理缺失的荒原上胡作非为,而是在用狂欢的庆典争取欢乐的自由,用笑声的养分培育出水泥缝中的生命之花。