Intrinsic Resilience Research Articles

Intrinsic fractality of classic shot noise

We revisit the classic shot noise of Campbell and Schottky--a stochastic process governed by Ornstein-Uhlenbeck dynamics driven by a Poissonian noise. Exploring the order statistics of the shot magnitudes composing its stationary noise level, we show that classic shot noise is intrinsically fractal. This fractality is manifested by (i) intrinsic Paretian and scale-invariant structures; (ii) an intrinsic power-law scaling; (iii) an intrinsic statistical resilience to random power-law perturbations.

Understanding the dynamics of risk and protective factors in promoting success in science and mathematics education

This volume of the Canadian Journal of Mathematics, Science, and Technology is devoted to some of the research and development activity associated with the University of Manitoba's Centre for Research in Youth, Science Teaching and Learning (CRYSTAL). Under the direction of Professor Gordon Robinson, a research biologist and advocate for school science and mathematics improvement, CRYSTAL involves researchers from the Universities of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Regina, and Saskatchewan, the College Universitaire de Saint-Boniface, Brandon University, and Lakehead University. It is quite apparent that teaching and learning within the K-12 environment are emergent properties of complex interacting systems (e.g., Senge et al., 2000) and success is a function of the intrinsic resilience within each system. Rather than try to tease apart these systems, each of which has an effect on the successful teaching and learning of science, CRYSTAL has opted to adopt the simplification found in the late Urie Bronfenbrenner's (1979, 1992) ecological systems theory, in which he reduced the complexity of systems into the four nested layers of the 'micro system,' the 'meso-system,' the 'exosystem,' and the 'macrosystem.' It is entirely possible, albeit somewhat abstract, to define our research theme as research to increase the resilience that resides within these four nested 'systems' and thereby increase the success of the teaching and learning of science, but for purposes of clarity we should more clearly define what we mean by 'resilience' (sometimes referred to as 'resiliency')and the boundaries of these somewhat ill-defined 'systems.'

Cyanobacterial soil crusts and woody shrub canopies in Kalahari rangelands

AbstractIntensive grazing of Kalahari rangelands has led to woody plant encroachment, notably of Acacia mellifera and Grewia flava. The mechanisms causing this process, and the ecological stability of woody plant encroached ecosystems, remain uncertain. Past studies suggest that canopy–soil relations may enhance woody plant competitive dominance. This study aims to investigate one element of this ecological change by examining the spatial distribution of cyanobacterial soil crusts in two vegetation sub‐habitats at sites of different disturbance. Crust burial by litter was also assessed to analyse the dynamics of canopy–crust relations. Our results show there is enhanced cyanobacterial crust cover under A. mellifera canopies and that unlike G. flava canopies, the crust cover remains under A. mellifera even at highly disturbed sites. This canopy–crust association suggests A. mellifera encroachment exhibits intrinsic resilience because of the crusts ability to stabilize the soil surface and increase nutrient retention. Crust burial by litter that accumulates under larger woody plants restricts crust development under canopies. Disturbance restricts crust development in plant interspaces and under G. flava. These two mechanisms combine to restrict crust development to an observed 40% threshold, with nonlinear models required to explain spatial patterns of crust dynamics.

Resiliency: What We Have Learned

Children, Youth and Environments Vol. 15 No. 1 (2005) ISSN: 1546-2250 Resiliency: What We Have Learned Benard, Bonnie (2004). San Francisco, CA: WestEd; 148 pages. $19.95. ISBN 0914409182. Ten years ago, resiliency was relatively new to the fields of prevention and education. Today, it is at the heart of hundreds of school and community programs that recognize in all young people the capacity to lead healthy, successful lives. This book is written for parents, social workers, students, practitioners, researchers, educators, administrators, policy makers, program developers, and anyone else motivated to enhance the intrinsic resilience of children and seeking holistic strategies that meet the requirements of the “No Child Left Behind” Act using quantifiable and proven methods. It provides an inspirational account of practices that work and the theories that support them. The roots of resiliency theory began in 1955 with Emmy E. Werner’s paper, “Risk, Resilience, and Recovery: Perspectives from the Kauai Longitudinal Study,” that focused on children who had learned to lead successful lives despite environmental hardships and extreme stresses during their upbringing (Werner 1992). During the 1970s, youth development researchers started similar “life-spanning” studies of inner-city children. According to Bonnie Benard, research editor for Resiliency in Action (1996), their research focused on “children born into seriously high-risk conditions such as families where parents were mentally ill, alcoholic or abusive.” Out of these studies the term resiliency emerged to describe people who have overcome hardships and risk factors through self-efficacy. What began as a quest to understand the extraordinary has revealed the power of the ordinary. Resilience does not come from rare and special qualities, but from the everyday magic of ordinary, normative human resources in the minds, brains, and bodies of 433 children, in their families and relationships, and in their communities. - Ann Masten (Benard 2004, p. iv) Benard (2004) states that early in her research, I began to see that perhaps the most useful role I could play would be to bring to practitioners the research that supported what they knew intuitively in their hearts and from their experience and wisdom worked to prevent health-risk behaviors and promote life success. That is what this and all my writing has been about. From this perspective, Benard discusses results and implications of studies that consistently validate resilience theory and practice. She highlights monumental studies including the most recent outcomes of the Werner and Smith 30+ year longitudinal study of over 640 “at risk” children measuring their capacity to cope with internal and external stresses. Another important study discussed is The National Longitudinal School-Based Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) created to assess health-related behaviors of adolescents in grades 7-12 and designed to explore the causes of these behaviors, with an emphasis on the influence of social context. Karen Seashore Louis, professor of educational policy and administration at the University of Minnesota and Director of the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI) states in the opening editorial for the spring 1997 CAREI newsletter, The concept of resilience has, in the last decade, begun to change the way that we look at the lives of children. When policy discussions emphasize ‘children at-risk,’ the task of removing all of the factors that can create significant stresses for children seems overwhelming. Rather than promoting action, it tends to promote labeling and inaction. In an effort to redirect past approaches which often focused on problem assessment and thus led to inaction, Resiliency: What We 434 Have Learned takes on an assets-based approach, focused on creating optimal environments and conditions to support youth and to reduce daily stresses. This more positive outlook enables people who care for children to do what they can, rather than attempting to solve things over which they have no control. According to Benard (2004, p. 3-4), the goal is to synthesize and integrate some of the key research findings and their application in programs and movements that support positive youth development and resilience. The emphases here on providing a framework, research support, and a rationale for resilience-based prevention and education are in line with the profound messages of long-term developmental studies of...

Land degradation, stocking rates and conservation policies in the communal rangelands of Botswana and Zimbabwe

AbstractCommunal rangeland management policies in Botswana and Zimbabwe are based on incorrect technical assumptions about the stability of semiarid rangeland, the nature of rangeland degradation, and the benefits of destocking. Consequently, inappropriate policies, stressing the need to destock and stabilise the rangelands, are pursued. Acknowledgement of the great instability but intrinsic resilience of rangeland would encourage the Governments to more favourably regard the opportunistic stocking strategies of the agro‐pastoralists of the Communal Areas. However, degradation of rangelands is occurring, although at varying rates. This justifies the promotion of a ‘tracking strategy’, in which livestock densities are encouraged to follow, more closely that at present, variations in rainfall.The establishment of grazing territories controlled by specific ‘communities’ may be a prerequisite for the promotion of the tracking strategy, and for communal rangeland management and improvement. However, the establishment of such territories must take into account social equity, institutional problems and transaction costs, as well as spatial and temporal variation in rangeland resources.

The Effect of Yarn Twist on Fabric Crease Recovery

When fabrics are bent or creased in other than the warp or fill directions, the de formation of the individual yarns has a torsional component. The interaction of this component with the twist of the yarn should result in anisotropic creasing behavior in the fabric. Crease recovery as a function of test direction was measured for a number of fabrics. Anisotropy attributable to torsion-twist interaction was found in cellulosic fabrics when strong directional effects due to such factors as twill ribs were not introduced by the fabric construction. The effect could be qualitatively related to the yarn twists. With fibers of greater intrinsic resilience, such as wool, nylon, or acetate, the crease recovery was essentially isotropic. When cellulosic fabrics were treated with dimethylol urea, their crease recovery not only became greater but also was more nearly isotropic.