A psychology of possession

Although widespread, the phenomenon of possession does not appear in all cultures. This suggests that possession is a cultural artefact, either in the strong sense of being nothing more than a cultural creation or in the weaker one of culture moulding and shaping universal psychological processes in socially relevant ways. My own approach to understanding possession lies very much within the framework of the weaker version. The hypothesis I will seek to develop is essentially that the phenomena of possession are best understood in terms of the psychological processes associated with the term ‘trance’. I use this term deliberately and in full awareness of the reservations about its usefulness expressed by some psychologists

ICOPER Project - Deliverable 4.3 ISURE: Recommendations for extending effective reuse, embodied in the ICOPER CD&R

The purpose of this document is to capture the ideas and recommendations, within and beyond the ICOPER community, concerning the reuse of learning content, including appropriate methodologies as well as established strategies for remixing and repurposing reusable resources. The overall remit of this work focuses on describing the key issues that are related to extending effective reuse embodied in such materials. The objective of this investigation, is to support the reuse of learning content whilst considering how it could be originally created and then adapted with that ‘reuse’ in mind. In these circumstances a survey on effective reuse best practices can often provide an insight into the main challenges and benefits involved in the process of creating, remixing and repurposing what we are now designating as Reusable Learning Content (RLC). Several key issues are analysed in this report: Recommendations for extending effective reuse, building upon those described in the previous related deliverables 4.1 Content Development Methodologies and 4.2 Quality Control and Web 2.0 technologies. The findings of this current survey, however, provide further recommendations and strategies for using and developing this reusable learning content. In the spirit of ‘reuse’, this work also aims to serve as a foundation for the many different stakeholders and users within, and beyond, the ICOPER community who are interested in reusing learning resources. This report analyses a variety of information. Evidence has been gathered from a qualitative survey that has focused on the technical and pedagogical recommendations suggested by a Special Interest Group (SIG) on the most innovative practices with respect to new media content authors (for content authoring or modification) and course designers (for unit creation). This extended community includes a wider collection of OER specialists. This collected evidence, in the form of video and audio interviews, has also been represented as multimedia assets potentially helpful for learning and useful as learning content in the New Media Space (See section 4 for further details). Section 2 of this report introduces the concept of reusable learning content and reusability. Section 3 discusses an application created by the ICOPER community to enhance the opportunities for developing reusable content. Section 4 of this report provides an overview of the methodology used for the qualitative survey. Section 5 presents a summary of thematic findings. Section 6 highlights a list of recommendations for effective reuse of educational content, which were derived from thematic analysis described in Appendix A. Finally, section 7 summarises the key outcomes of this work

Chinese Evacuation Operations Part 1: A New Consideration for the Pacific

The increasing number of Chinese citizens living, working and travelling abroad as part of China’s rise has created an obligation for the People’s Republic of China to protect them. This is particularly the case in the South Pacific, where anti-Chinese riots in 2006 and 2009 led to some of the earliest examples of ‘overseas citizen protection’. The Chinese leadership had previously assumed that, in most cases, other powers would evacuate Chinese citizens along with their own from situations of unrest abroad, but this has changed in the last decade, leading to new policies and capabilities that have in turn generated new expectations among the Chinese population. This phenomenon can be explained as the response of a rising power needing to protect its people and interests overseas as its influence expands. It could also be seen as a justification for the projection of power to underwrite China’s growing stake in world affairs. Part 1 of this series examines this trend, while Part 2 investigates a recent and highly nationalistic genre of Chinese movies used by the former to explain the latter in a clear move to establish such operations by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) as ‘the new normal’ for both domestic and international audiences

Chinese Evacuation Operations Part 2: A New Narrative

As China’s security posture and foreign policy become more assertive, stories about evacuation operations message these capabilities to the Chinese population and to the world. Chinese war movies in recent years have become more nationalistic and explicit. These movies have included The Taking of Tiger Mountain (智取威虎山), 2014; Wolf Warrior (战狼), 2015; Operation Mekong (湄公河行動), 2016; and Sky Hunter (空天猎), 2017. Most recently films have featured the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) operating abroad in reference to overseas citizen protection operations in Wolf Warrior 2 (2017) and Operation Red Sea (2018). Given that all movies must be approved for release by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), this is a significant trend, which Part 2 in this series will explore

The toxic sheep collar for control of sheep-killing coyotes: A progress report

The toxic sheep collar is the most selective method known for killing coyotes that prey on domestic sheep. The concept dates back to the early 1900's and has been studied at the Denver Wildlife Research Center (DWRC) since 1974. Field tests with sodium cyanide (NaCN) in 1975 were unsuccessful due to repellent properties of the toxicant and to the apparent reluctance of coyotes to attack tethered lambs wearing bulky collars. Coyotes attacked one or more tethered, collared lambs in 7 of the 19 test pastures. In all, 14 collared lambs were attacked. Eight of the collars were punctured but no dead coyotes were recovered. A smaller collar containing diphacinone was field tested in 1976. The diphacinone-filled collars were readily accepted by coyotes and lethal to them, but the slow action (5-16 days between dosing and death) of diphacinone made it difficult to assess the effectiveness of these collars under field conditions. Target flocks containing 1 to 12 collared lambs plus uncollared ewes were placed in 15 fenced pastures from which the larger ranch flocks had been removed after repeated coyote predation. One or more collared lambs were attacked in 11 of the 15 tests. An unknown number of coyotes were killed, and in most tests the subsequent incidence of predation was lower than that before the test. Captive coyotes continued to kill sheep for 4 or 5 days after they received a lethal dose of diphacinone; therefore a faster-acting toxicant is needed. This research has shown that problem coyotes can be killed with toxic collars, but further studies are needed to determine the feasibility of this approach compared with traditional means of control. In most tests to date the frequency of coyote predation has been too low and too irregular to permit effective use of the collar; target flocks were in the field for an average of 10 days before being attacked. The known disadvantages of the method include the need to sacrifice live lambs, the human hazards associated with the use of toxicants under field conditions, and the costs of managing target flocks and other sheep in the problem areas

Building to Last: A Grantmaker's Guide to Strengthening Nonprofit Organizations, A Briefing Paper on Effective Philanthropy

This briefing paper includes an overview of capacity building, a step-by-step guide for enhancing organizational effectiveness, tools for building organizational effectiveness, and tips for further reading and resources

Development of an enzymatic probe for the exocytic pathways of animal cells

The polarised epithelial cell phenotype is generated and maintained by the polarised delivery of proteins to either the apical or basolateral domains, where they perform domain-specific functions. Proteins destined for the two domains have been co-localised up to and including the trans-Golgi network. Subsequent transport to either domain occurs by distinct vesicles, although the morphology and itinerary of these pathways are not understood. This lack of understanding is due mainly to the low sensitivity of antibody detection, resulting from loss of antigenicity and inaccessibility. Thus, advancements in this area await the development of a more sensitive detection system. A solution to this problem would be the development of an enzymatic probe within the exocytic pathway of animal cells. The aim of this research project was to develop such a probe. Three potential probes were examined, microperoxidase, β-galactosidase and horseradish peroxidase (HRP). Unfortunately, microperoxidase expressed from DNA was inactive. However, the other two probes were both found to be active and present within the exocytic pathway. Horseradish peroxidase activity was further analysed and found to be secreted from cells with a t1/2 of 80 minutes. The development of stable cell lines expressing HRP have proved difficult, with cells dying after a only few passages. This cell death was concomitant with the intracellular accumulation of inactive HRP. Interestingly, the addition of exogenous haemin converted this inactive intracellular pool to an active and secreted form of HRP. It may now be possible to rescue stable cell lines by their incubation in the presence of low levels of haemin. In summary, an enzymatic probe has been successfully introduced into the exocytic pathway of animal cells. This probe (HRP) can be detected at high levels within cells by electron microscopy. Enzyme activity may also be detected biochemically by the spectroscopy of soluble reaction product

Building the Capacity of Capacity Builders: A Study of Management Support and Field-Building Organizations in the Nonprofit Sector

Provides an overview of the current state of management assistance, and promising capacity building practices. Examines the impact an MSO's own organizational capacity has on the quality of the services they provide. Includes recommendations

The Economic Impact of Changes in Alcohol Consumption in the UK

The alcohol industry (both manufacturing and sales) is important to the UK Economy as it supports thousands of jobs (IAS, 2017a; Oxford Economics, 2016). However, there are many well documented adverse effects of high alcohol consumption, most notably on public health. With the UK having one of the highest alcohol consumption rates in the world, recent Government policy has sought to address some of this harm. Changes in policy and social attitudes may result in changes in UK alcohol consumption. The focus of this report is to examine the potential macroeconomic impact from changes in UK alcohol consumption. Previous studies (WTSA, 2013) have investigated the gross impacts resulting from changes in consumption – that is, the impact of the alcohol sector without considering reallocation of spending to other goods and services. This report extends the literature and investigates the net impacts by including the redistribution of both household and government income