In the footsteps of a quiet pioneer: Revisiting Pearl Jephcott’s work on youth leisure in Scotland and Hong Kong

Pearl Jephcott’s (1967) research on Scottish teens, Time of One’s Own, is one of the first sociological studies of leisure in the postwar period. This research is remarkable not only for its emphasis on ‘ordinary’ young people but also for its ambitious and eclectic research design, which incorporates field research, sample surveys and task based participatory methods. The (Re)Imagining Youth team revisited Jephcott’s Scottish research alongside her survey of The Situation of Children and Youth in Hong Kong (1971) as part of a contemporary study of youth leisure and social change. This paper outlines our attempt to reimagine Jephcott’s work for the contemporary context, highlighting the ways in which her method was both a product of its time and ahead of its time

Political modernisation and the weakening of sustainable development in Britain

Article 28 of Agenda 21 placed elected local authorities at the heart of achieving sustainable development. This required a new balance of environmental, social and economic policies co-ordinated by revitalised democratic local government. However, the context within which this would have to be delivered in the UK was the extensive and ongoing restructuring of sub-national government (i.e. both local and regional government) – a restructuring which has continued apace since then, not least with devolution in Scotland and Wales; the extension of unelected regional government in England; and centrally imposed changes to the local government committee system. In addition a further raft of so-called ‘modernisation’ polices have been implemented with broader social concerns such as ‘well-being’ and ‘community strategies’ within which the core environmental concerns of sustainable development are sidelined - viewed as generally desirable, but, ultimately, as ancillary and not essential. This chapter assesses the cumulative impact of these changes in the nature of sub-national government in Britain on the form and effectiveness of policies for sustainable development

Observational goals for Max '91 to identify the causative agent for impulsive bursts

Recent studies of impulsive hard x ray and microwave bursts suggest that a propagating causative agent with a characteristic velocity of the order of 1000 km/s is responsible for these bursts. The results of these studies are summarized and observable distinguishing characteristics of the various possible agents are highlighted, with emphasis on key observational goals for the Max '91 campaigns. The most likely causative agents suggested by the evidence are shocks, thermal conduction fronts, and propagating modes of magnetic reconnection in flare plasmas. With new instrumentation planned for Max '91, high spatial resolution observations of hard x ray sources have the potential to identify the agent by revealing detailed features of source spatial evolution. Observations with the Very Large Array and other radio imaging instruments are of great importance, as well as detailed modeling of coronal loop structures to place limits on their density and temperature profiles. With the combined hard x ray and microwave imaging observations, aided by loop model results, the simplest causative agent to rule out would be the propagating modes of magnetic reconnection. To fit the observational evidence, reconnection modes would need to travel at approximately the same velocity (the Alfven velocity) in different coronal structures that vary in length by a factor of 10(exp 3). Over such a vast range in loop lengths, it is difficult to believe that the Alfven velocity is constant. Thermal conduction fronts would be suggested by sources that expand along the direction of B and exhibit relatively little particle precipitation. Particle acceleration due to shocks could produce more diverse radially expanding source geometries with precipitation at loop footprints

Excitations in the dilute A_L lattice model: E_6, E_7 and E_8 mass spectra

On the basis of features observed in the exact perturbation approach solution for the eigenspectrum of the dilute A_3 model, we propose expressions for excitations in the dilute A_4 and A_6 models. Principally, we require that these expressions satisfy the appropriate inversion relations. We demonstrate that they give the expected E_7 and E_6 mass spectra, and universal amplitudes, and agree with numerical expressions for the eigenvalues.Comment: 16 pages, Latex, Elsevier style file

Exactly solvable quantum spin tubes and ladders

We find families of integrable n-leg spin-1/2 ladders and tubes with general isotropic exchange interactions between spins. These models are equivalent to su(N) spin chains with N=2^n. Arbitrary rung interactions in the spin tubes and ladders induce chemical potentials in the equivalent spin chains. The potentials are n-dependent and differ for the tube and ladder models. The models are solvable by means of nested Bethe Ansatz.Comment: 6 pages, Latex, 1 eps fig, to appear in J. Phys.

Adaptation of WASH Services Delivery to Climate Change and Other Sources of Risk and Uncertainty

This report urges WASH sector practitioners to take more seriously the threat of climate change and the consequences it could have on their work. By considering climate change within a risk and uncertainty framework, the field can use the multitude of approaches laid out here to adequately protect itself against a range of direct and indirect impacts. Eleven methods and tools for this specific type of risk management are described, including practical advice on how to implement them successfully

Convoluted double square: single layer FSS with close band spacings

A novel element provides reflection band ratios as low as 1.1. It is derived from the double square but is less demanding on printing definition. Together, the two elements offer increased flexibility in Frequency selective surface design for close band applications. Substrate loss effects are also discussed

Magnetic Susceptibility of an integrable anisotropic spin ladder system

We investigate the thermodynamics of a spin ladder model which possesses a free parameter besides the rung and leg couplings. The model is exactly solved by the Bethe Ansatz and exhibits a phase transition between a gapped and a gapless spin excitation spectrum. The magnetic susceptibility is obtained numerically and its dependence on the anisotropy parameter is determined. A connection with the compounds KCuCl3, Cu2(C5H12N2)2Cl4 and (C5H12N)2CuBr4 in the strong coupling regime is made and our results for the magnetic susceptibility fit the experimental data remarkably well.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures included, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Decimetric gyrosynchrotron emission during a solar flare

A decimetric, microwave, and hard X-ray burst was observed during a solar flare in which the radio spectrum below peak flux fits an f+2 power law over more than a decade in frequency. The spectrum is interpreted to mean that the radio emission originated in a homogeneous, thermal, gyrosynchrotron source. This is the first time that gyrosynchrotron radiation has been identified at such low decimetric frequencies (900-998) MHz). The radio emission was cotemporal with the largest single hard X-ray spike burst ever reported. The spectrum of the hard X-ray burst can be well represented by a thermal bremsstrahlung function over the energy range from 30 to 463 keV at the time of maximum flux. The temporal coincidence and thermal form of both the X-ray and radio spectra suggest a common source electron distribution. The unusual low-frequency extent of the single-temperature thermal radio spectrum and its association with the hard X-ray burst imply that the source had an area approx. 10(18) sq cm a temperature approx 5x10(8) K, an electron density approx. 7.10(9) cu cm and a magnetic field of approx. 120 G. H(alpha) and 400-800 MHz evidence suggest that a loop structure of length 10,000 km existed in the flare active region which could have been the common, thermal source of the observed impulsive emissions