549 research outputs found
A morphological and molecular description of a new Teleopsis species (Diptera: Diopsidae) from Thailand
A new species of Teleopsis (Diptera, Diopsidae) from Chiang Mai, Thailand is described and illustrated. Teleopsis thaii Földvåri & Carr is shown to be a member of a species group, termed the dalmanni species group, along with three previously described species. Presented here are a morphological description of T. thaii and an allometric comparison of the species with other members of the Teleopsis genus. We also present multi-gene phylogenetic analyses to highlight the possible position of T. thaii within the dalmanni species group
A sharp bound on fixed points of surface symplectomorphisms in each mapping class
Given a closed, oriented surface, possibly with boundary, and a mapping
class, we obtain sharp lower bounds on the number of fixed points of a surface
symplectomorphism (i.e. area-preserving map) in the given mapping class, both
with and without nondegeneracy assumptions on the fixed points. This
generalizes the Poincar\'e-Birkhoff fixed point theorem to arbitrary surfaces
and mapping classes. These bounds often exceed those for non-area-preserving
maps. We obtain these bounds from Floer homology computations with certain
twisted coefficients plus a method for obtaining fixed point bounds on entire
symplectic mapping classes on monotone symplectic manifolds from such
computations. For the case of possibly degenerate fixed points, we use
quantum-cup-length-type arguments for certain cohomology operations we define
on summands of the Floer homology.Comment: 25 pages, 14 figure
Reporting aid flows for water supply and sanitation: official development assistance
Current resource allocations for water supply and sanitation are far below those required to meet
basic needs, particularly in low income countries. Many organisations supporting advocacy and
arguing for change make use of the primary statistical data for Official Development Assistance (ODA)
which measures donor aid flows to the sector. Important changes have taken place to the way ODA
is reported including disaggregation between aid flows for water supply and aid flows for sanitation
from 2010 onwards. This paper reports findings from a consultative group regarding issues requiring
clarification for the revised codes to be applied consistently. These include: disaggregation of water
and sanitation from within integrated water sector projects; disaggregation of water and sanitation
components from projects in other sectors; clarity on working definitions of âlarge and basicâ when
reporting water and sanitation projects; capacity development that directly supports
implementation; and recording the transition from projects to programme-based aid. Case studies
drawn from donorsâ reporting of ODA are used to illustrate key issues for users of ODA statistical
information who aim to capture data on aid flows to the water sector
Africa-EU statement on sanitation
A commitment to do more on sanitation through an Africa â EU partnership
to help achieve the sanitation MDG target in Africa where 589 million people
(60% of the population) lack access to safe sanitation
Sexual Selection: Does Condition Dependence Fail to Resolve the âLek Paradoxâ?
The âlek paradoxâ â the hypothesis that females do not gain substantial genetic benefits from mate choice â could be resolved by sexually selected traits being indicative of male condition. A recent paper, however, suggests that this may not be the case in Drosophila bunnanda
Sexual Selection: The Importance of Long-Term Fitness Measures
New results from a 20-year study of free-living song sparrows confirm that attractive males contribute more offspring than less attractive males. They also reveal that the offspring of preferred males produce more descendents themselves. Females prefer males with a large song repertoire, which further work shows is a condition-dependent indicator of male quality
Community-partnered procurement : a socially sensitive option
The purpose of this paper is to provide information for promoting increased involvement of
low income urban communities in the procurement of neighbourhood (tertiary level)
infrastructure. The contexts are several and varied including
âą upgrading works carried out by urban government
âą donor funded urban development programmes
âą programmes initiated by NGOs.
The paper aims to introduce the potential benefits to be gained from community partnered
procurement(CPP). The content of the paper applies to those frequently occurring, low risk,
routine small infrastructure works which characterise neighbourhood urban upgrading
programmes and projects. We investigate cases relating to water supply, sanitation, drainage,
access, paving, street and security lighting, solid waste removal, and community buildings. It
is not applicable to complex, large, high risk and high hazard infrastructure projects.
The findings are based on the results of interviews and a review of literature, documents and
project files on urban upgrading projects in Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka. We are particularly
grateful to the many government officials who so generously gave their time to us, and
provided access to very detailed information on a wide range of both community-based
infrastructure works and conventional procurement contracts
Performance monitoring of micro-contracts for the procurement of urban infrastructure
This document presents the findings from Project R6857 Performance Monitoring of Infrastructure Procurement for Urban Low Income Communities carried out by the authors as part of the Knowledge and Research Programme, Infrastructure and Urban Development Department, Department for International Development (DFID) of the British Government. The purpose of this project is to develop a framework and tools for the appraisal, monitoring and evaluation of micro-contracts for the procurement of local infrastructure in urban low-income communities. In addition to the standard measures of time, cost and quality, the work also attempts to capture some of the crucial wider socio-economic impacts of community-based works. The findings in this booklet will be of use to donor/lending agencies, government officials, and non-government organizations (NGOs) involved in improving services for the urban poor
Operation and maintenance of urban services: Synthesis note
This synthesis note introduces other resource material available on the operation and maintenance (O&M) of urban services. Designed for policy-makers who need to optimize investments in services for the urban poor, and professional staff employed in public utilities in developing countries, it also summarizes the key issues and recent research findings; presents an overview of O&M and the difficult questions which still remain; and examines some of the requirements for success
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