Rotational spectroscopy of the HCCO and DCCO radicals in the millimeter and submillimeter range

The ketenyl radical, HCCO, has recently been detected in the ISM for the first time. Further astronomical detections of HCCO will help us understand its gas-grain chemistry, and subsequently revise the oxygen-bearing chemistry towards dark clouds. Moreover, its deuterated counterpart, DCCO, has never been observed in the ISM. HCCO and DCCO still lack a broad spectroscopic investigation, although they exhibit a significant astrophysical relevance. In this work we aim to measure the pure rotational spectra of the ground state of HCCO and DCCO in the millimeter and submillimeter region, considerably extending the frequency range covered by previous studies. The spectral acquisition was performed using a frequency-modulation absorption spectrometer between 170 and 650 GHz. The radicals were produced in a low-density plasma generated from a select mixture of gaseous precursors. For each isotopologue we were able to detect and assign more than 100 rotational lines. The new lines have significantly enhanced the previous data set allowing the determination of highly precise rotational and centrifugal distortion parameters. In our analysis we have taken into account the interaction between the ground electronic state and a low-lying excited state (Renner-Teller pair) which enables the prediction and assignment of rotational transitions with $K_a$ up to 4. The present set of spectroscopic parameters provides highly accurate, millimeter and submillimeter rest-frequencies of HCCO and DCCO for future astronomical observations. We also show that towards the pre-stellar core L1544, ketenyl peaks in the region where $c$-$\mathrm{C_3H_2}$ peaks, suggesting that HCCO follows a predominant hydrocarbon chemistry, as already proposed by recent gas-grain chemical models

The legislative framework regarding bullying in South African schools

Bullying in schools is a global phenomenon that has the potential to impact on children not only physically but also psychologically. In South Africa countless children fall victim to bullying, harassment and abuse at schools. A myriad of constitutional rights are infringed upon when bullying occurs, and the problem is escalating. The Protection from Harassment Act 71 of 2011 was signed and accepted into law on the 27th of April 2013. This new Act may grant relief to victims of bullying inter alia by providing for  protection orders, and therefore adds to the legislative framework available to victims. However, in terms of bullying in schools, the parties to these incidents are minors and therefore a critical analysis is necessary with regard to the rights of the victim and the offender. In this context the relationship and interaction between the Protection from Harassment Act 71 of 2011, the Child Justice Act 75 of 2008, the Children's Act 38 of 2005 and the South African Schools Act 84 of 1996 call for critical analysis

GRB 110205A: Anatomy of a long gamma-ray burst

The Swift burst GRB 110205A was a very bright burst visible in the Northern hemisphere. GRB 110205A was intrinsically long and very energetic and it occurred in a low-density interstellar medium environment, leading to delayed afterglow emission and a clear temporal separation of the main emitting components: prompt emission, reverse shock, and forward shock. Our observations show several remarkable features of GRB 110205A : the detection of prompt optical emission strongly correlated with the BAT light curve, with no temporal lag between the two ; the absence of correlation of the X-ray emission compared to the optical and high energy gamma-ray ones during the prompt phase ; and a large optical re-brightening after the end of the prompt phase, that we interpret as a signature of the reverse shock. Beyond the pedagogical value offered by the excellent multi-wavelength coverage of a GRB with temporally separated radiating components, we discuss several questions raised by our observations: the nature of the prompt optical emission and the spectral evolution of the prompt emission at high-energies (from 0.5 keV to 150 keV) ; the origin of an X-ray flare at the beginning of the forward shock; and the modeling of the afterglow, including the reverse shock, in the framework of the classical fireball model.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figure (all in colors), accepted for publication in Ap

Determining the possible application value of diatoms as indicators of general water quality: a comparison with SASS 5

The applicability of a European numerical diatom index, the Specific Pollution sensitivity Index (SPI), was tested in a river system where the SPI scores were compared both to chemical water quality and to scores yielded using a macro-invertebrate index of riverine health namely the South African Scoring System (SASS 5). This investigation showed that the SPI reflects certain elements of water quality with a high degree of accuracy. Due to the broad species base of SPI, few problems were encountered when using this system in the Southern Hemisphere. The conclusion is that SPI or a similar diatom index will provide a valuable addition to the suite of biomonitoring tools currently in use in South Africa. WaterSA Vol.30 (3) 2004: 325-33

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONNEL IN THE CONDITIONS OF INNOVATIVE ECONOMY AS A FACTOR OF INCREASING THE LEVEL OF LIFE QUALITY

The importance of the social development of personnel in innovative economy as a decisive factor in the stability of society and improving the quality of life of both workers themselves and the entire population of the country has been defined. It has been shown that social development of staff in the organization contributes to the improvement of social and labor relations through interaction of the parties of social partnership based on the principle of tripartite cooperation and “tripartism”, and also contributes to the full development of the potential of employees and their professional competences. The main directions of social development of personnel included in the social policy of the organization have been determined in the paper. As a result of the research, priority role of cash payments and guarantees in the organization’s social responsibility strategy have been identified. At the same time, the main principle in the development of policy aimed at social development of staff should be targeted consideration of the needs of employees. The principle of targeting to determine the level of staff satisfaction should be the main one for evaluating the effectiveness of work in this direction. In addition, the authors point to the need to use modeling and forecasting the prospects of social innovations in order to achieve sustainable development in the long term

CONFLICTS՚ SOURCES AND STRESSFUL FACTORS IN MODERN ORGANIZATIONS

The article gives the results of a study of managers and ordinary employees of Russian organizations on the problem of identifying sources of conflicts and stress factors affecting the functioning of companies. The paper analyses in detail and presents the answers of respondents to the questionnaire about the frequency of the confrontation; on the impact of collisions on staff productivity and on the development of unfavorable mental states of workers; on the role of management and ordinary employees in the emergence of conflicts; about the main reasons for the conflict confrontation; on the system of conflict and stress management, including measures to prevent and resolve them. The results of the survey showed that both the company’s management and ordinary personnel are involved in conflicts, and the leading source of confrontation, according to the majority of respondents, is the individual psychological characteristics of employees. At the same time, the conflicts themselves act as stress factors, having a direct adverse effect on the efficiency of activities and causing specific unwanted emotional reactions. Among other things, the results of the survey showed that the organizations where the respondents work do not have a well-functioning system of conflict management. The research results are practice-oriented

Wind and trophic status explain within and among‐lake variability of algal biomass

Phytoplankton biomass and production regulates key aspects of freshwater ecosystems yet its variability and subsequent predictability is poorly understood. We estimated within‐lake variation in biomass using high‐frequency chlorophyll fluorescence data from 18 globally distributed lakes. We tested how variation in fluorescence at monthly, daily, and hourly scales was related to high‐frequency variability of wind, water temperature, and radiation within lakes as well as productivity and physical attributes among lakes. Within lakes, monthly variation dominated, but combined daily and hourly variation were equivalent to that expressed monthly. Among lakes, biomass variability increased with trophic status while, within‐lake biomass variation increased with increasing variability in wind speed. Our results highlight the benefits of high‐frequency chlorophyll monitoring and suggest that predicted changes associated with climate, as well as ongoing cultural eutrophication, are likely to substantially increase the temporal variability of algal biomass and thus the predictability of the services it provides