Effective practice is informed by underlying theoretical models. Better awareness and understanding of such models can enhance reflection by practitioners on their current educational activities and so help drive the cycle of continuing improvement. In this article the author reflects on three ways in which a better understanding of social psychology gave insights into why some practices appear...

Whether or not mangroves function as buffers against tsunamis is the subject of in-depth research, the importance of which has been neglected or underestimated before the recent killer tsunami struck. Our preliminary post-tsunami surveys of Sri Lankan mangrove sites with different degrees of degradation indicate that human activity exacerbated the damage inflicted on the coastal zone by the tsu...

The BE microbiome is a naturally embedded biosensor in urban infrastructure that can be used to monitor environmental quality and human activity. There are many potential opportunities for leveraging BE microbial communities to guide urban design and public health policy.

Anthropogenic heat generated by human activity contributes to urban and regional climate warming. Due to the resolution and accuracy of existing anthropogenic heat data, it is difficult to analyze and simulate the corresponding effects. This study exploited a new method to estimate high spatial and temporal resolutions of anthropogenic heat based on long-term data of energy consumption and the ...

Farming is the basis of our civilization yet is more damaging to wild nature than any other sector of human activity. Here, we propose that in order to limit its impact into the future, conservation researchers and practitioners need to address several big topics--about the scale of future demand, about which crops and livestock to study, about whether low-yield or high-yield farming has the po...

Discoursing, the use of language in interaction with others, plays a part in almost every human activity. Indeed, some have argued that it is discoursing that has made possible the cumulative 5 development of culture over the course of our species’ history. Whether or not that is correct, there can be no question that the ability, with the aid of linguistic discourse, to coordinate action, and ...

The ecological footprint is a quantitative biophysical method commonly used to evaluate the status of regional ecological environment and the degree of sustainable development. In this paper, the concept and calculation process of the ecological footprint are introduced by taking a county located in central China as example. Computational analysis and empirical research of the region’s ecologic...

Since the first prehistoric people started to dig for stone to make implements, rather than pick up loose material, humans have modified the landscape through excavation of rock and soil, generation of waste and creation of artificial ground. In Great Britain over the past 200 years, people have excavated, moved and built up the equivalent of at least six times the volume of Ben Nevis. It is es...

The fundamental organizing elements of the New Urbanism are the neighborhood, the district and the corridor. Neighborhoods are urbanized areas with a balanced mix of human activity; districts are areas dominated by a single activity; corridors are connectors and separators of neighborhoods and districts. A single neighborhood standing free in the landscape is a village. Cities and towns are mad...

UNLABELLED Mentoring is a complex developmental relationship that contributes to individual growth and career advancement in different areas of human activity, including academic medicine. This article describes a broader environmental milieux in which mentoring occurs and considers the ways in which the environmental factors may affect the process and outcomes of mentoring. An ecological model...