title: The right place at the right time: Seasonal variation of bacterial communities in arid Avicennia ‎marina soils in the Red Sea is specific to its position in the intertidal

authors: Thomson, Timothy

abstract: Mangrove forests play an important role in facilitating biogeochemical pathways and cycling acting as blue carbon sinks. These services are primarily regulated by the activity of the soil microbiome. However, there is still limited research into spatial and temporal variation patterns of bacterial community assemblages in mangrove soils. This study investigated important ecological scales of microprocesses that govern microbial communities in an arid mangrove ecosystem. Shifts in microbial community composition were influenced by fluctuations in environmental factors within the mangrove forests of the Red Sea influenced by seasonal changes in sea level. Notably, in summer microbial communities in shrub sites differed significantly from the fringe and the winter samples, with lower alpha diversity yet a higher dominance of specialized species capable of surviving in extreme conditions. The onset of dispersal limitation and heterogenous selection and the reduction of drift are likely the main forces shaping community assemblages. Specifically, in summer lower mean tidal levels eliminate tidal inundation creating a harsh high salinity and high temperature environment with no tidal connection thereby influencing the onset of dispersal limitation. An increased understanding of the spatial and temporal variation of bacterial communities is critical when assessing delivery of ecosystem services and their role in soil biogeochemical processes.

text: The right place at the right time: Seasonal variation of bacterial communities in arid Avicennia ‎marina soils in the Red Sea is specific to its position in the intertidal Mangrove forests play an important role in facilitating biogeochemical pathways and cycling acting as blue carbon sinks. These services are primarily regulated by the activity of the soil microbiome. However, there is still limited research into spatial and temporal variation patterns of bacterial community assemblages in mangrove soils. This study investigated important ecological scales of microprocesses that govern microbial communities in an arid mangrove ecosystem. Shifts in microbial community composition were influenced by fluctuations in environmental factors within the mangrove forests of the Red Sea influenced by seasonal changes in sea level. Notably, in summer microbial communities in shrub sites differed significantly from the fringe and the winter samples, with lower alpha diversity yet a higher dominance of specialized species capable of surviving in extreme conditions. The onset of dispersal limitation and heterogenous selection and the reduction of drift are likely the main forces shaping community assemblages. Specifically, in summer lower mean tidal levels eliminate tidal inundation creating a harsh high salinity and high temperature environment with no tidal connection thereby influencing the onset of dispersal limitation. An increased understanding of the spatial and temporal variation of bacterial communities is critical when assessing delivery of ecosystem services and their role in soil biogeochemical processes.

year: 2022

title: Towards transforming OpenFlow rulesets to fit fixed-function pipelines

authors: Sanger, Richard

subjects: computer science

abstract: OpenFlow feature support differs between devices due to devicespecific hardware constraints. OpenFlow places the burden of addressing these differences on the controller, which increases development cost and restricts device interoperability. This paper investigates reducing this burden by algorithmically transforming an existing ruleset to fit an incompatible fixed-function pipeline to improve device interoperability. Existing rule-fitting schemes in the literature require metadata to link rules between tables into a path through the pipeline, but not all pipelines support metadata. We developed a novel approach that does not rely on any particular pipeline features, like metadata, and considers the pipeline's constraints, including both the matches and actions available. This paper presents our implementation, including ruleset preprocessing techniques, methods of transforming rules, and how we use a partially constrained boolean satisfiability problem to select from these transformations and build the final ruleset. While future work remains towards real-world deployment, our approach demonstrates fitting rulesets to fixed-function pipelines without metadata is feasible, and our techniques to reduce the size of the problem are beneficial.

text: Towards transforming OpenFlow rulesets to fit fixed-function pipelines OpenFlow feature support differs between devices due to devicespecific hardware constraints. OpenFlow places the burden of addressing these differences on the controller, which increases development cost and restricts device interoperability. This paper investigates reducing this burden by algorithmically transforming an existing ruleset to fit an incompatible fixed-function pipeline to improve device interoperability. Existing rule-fitting schemes in the literature require metadata to link rules between tables into a path through the pipeline, but not all pipelines support metadata. We developed a novel approach that does not rely on any particular pipeline features, like metadata, and considers the pipeline's constraints, including both the matches and actions available. This paper presents our implementation, including ruleset preprocessing techniques, methods of transforming rules, and how we use a partially constrained boolean satisfiability problem to select from these transformations and build the final ruleset. While future work remains towards real-world deployment, our approach demonstrates fitting rulesets to fixed-function pipelines without metadata is feasible, and our techniques to reduce the size of the problem are beneficial.

year: 2020

title: Developing restorative practices in schools: Some reflections

authors: Drewery, Wendy

subjects: Counselling

abstract: The use of disciplinary practices derived from restorative justice have recently been gaining popularity and inciting keen interest in the education community. Practices that have so far been introduced have tended to centre on conferencing, although there is a broadening range of other practices in schools that are being brought under the heading “restorative”. This paper offers some reflections on these developments, building on the experiences of a team at the University of Waikato, which completed two projects on restorative conferencing in schools for the Ministry of Education under the rubric of the Suspension Reduction Initiative, and continues to develop understanding of the practices. The projects included developing and trialling processes for suspension hearings using restorative conferencing and principles from restorative justice. Objectives of both projects were related to the desire to reduce numbers of suspensions and exclusions, particularly of Māori children. We argue that the introduction of restorative practices invites schools into some tectonic shifts in thinking about offending behaviour, about community, and ultimately about the purposes of education.

text: Developing restorative practices in schools: Some reflections The use of disciplinary practices derived from restorative justice have recently been gaining popularity and inciting keen interest in the education community. Practices that have so far been introduced have tended to centre on conferencing, although there is a broadening range of other practices in schools that are being brought under the heading “restorative”. This paper offers some reflections on these developments, building on the experiences of a team at the University of Waikato, which completed two projects on restorative conferencing in schools for the Ministry of Education under the rubric of the Suspension Reduction Initiative, and continues to develop understanding of the practices. The projects included developing and trialling processes for suspension hearings using restorative conferencing and principles from restorative justice. Objectives of both projects were related to the desire to reduce numbers of suspensions and exclusions, particularly of Māori children. We argue that the introduction of restorative practices invites schools into some tectonic shifts in thinking about offending behaviour, about community, and ultimately about the purposes of education.

year: 2005