An uphill battle : understanding small arms transfers

This chapter provides an annual update of the authorized trade in small arms and light weapons. It examines trends in the trade, and provides information on major exporters and importers, whom they trade with, and in what types of weapons. The lack of transparency on the part of many important suppliers and recipients in this global trade makes this effort an uphill battle. In fact, although the issue of small arms and light weapons has been on the international agenda for over a decade, few, if any, states provide full information on their small arms and light weapons exports and imports. So clearly, the Small Arms Trade Transparency Barometer, introduced in Small Arms Survey 2004, remains an important tool. Following up on the analysis of the illicit trade in Europe in Small Arms Survey 2005, this chapter provides more systematic information on the illicit trade in South America. The analysis is based on two sources of internationally comparable data partially available for the illicit trade, namely customs and police seizure data.peer-reviewe

New chemical engineering provision: Quality in diversity

Recent growth in chemical engineering student numbers has driven an increase in the number of UK universities offering the subject. The implications of this growth are described, along with the different challenges facing new providers in the UK compared with established departments. The approaches taken by the various new entrants are reviewed, with reference to recruitment strategies, infrastructure, the use of external facilities, and the particular flavours of chemical engineering being offered by the new providers. Information about the differentiating features of the large number of chemical engineering degree courses now available is somewhat indistinct: this should be rectified in the interests both of prospective students and of employers. Dilemmas facing new providers include the need to address the fundamentals of the subject as well as moving into more novel research-led areas; enabling students to develop the competencies to sustain them for a whole career as well as meeting immediate employer needs; and providing sufficient industry understanding when academics may lack substantial industrial experience. The central importance of practical provision and of the design project, and the approaches taken by new providers to deliver these components, are reviewed, together with the role of software tools in chemical engineering education, and measures to facilitate industry input into courses. As long as it is not used prescriptively or to inhibit innovation, the accreditation process provides constructive guidance and leverage for universities developing new chemical engineering programmes

How Mathematicians Obtain Conviction: Implications for Mathematics Instruction and Research on Epistemic Cognition

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Educational Psychologist on 16th January 2014, available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/10.1080/00461520.2013.865527The received view of mathematical practice is that mathematicians gain certainty in mathematical assertions by deductive evidence rather than empirical or authoritarian evidence. This assumption has influenced mathematics instruction where students are expected to justify assertions with deductive arguments rather than by checking the assertion with specific examples or appealing to authorities. In this paper, we argue that the received view about mathematical practice is too simplistic; some mathematicians sometimes gain high levels of conviction with empirical or authoritarian evidence and sometimes do not gain full conviction from the proofs that they read. We discuss what implications this might have, both for for mathematics instruction and theories of epistemic cognition

A Complete Set of Flagellar Genes Acquired by Horizontal Transfer Coexists with the Endogenous Flagellar System in Rhodobacter sphaeroides

Bacteria swim in liquid environments by means of a complex rotating structure known as the flagellum. Approximately 40 proteins are required for the assembly and functionality of this structure. Rhodobacter sphaeroides has two flagellar systems. One of these systems has been shown to be functional and is required for the synthesis of the well-characterized single subpolar flagellum, while the other was found only after the genome sequence of this bacterium was completed. In this work we found that the second flagellar system of R. sphaeroides can be expressed and produces a functional flagellum. In many bacteria with two flagellar systems, one is required for swimming, while the other allows movement in denser environments by producing a large number of flagella over the entire cell surface. In contrast, the second flagellar system of R. sphaeroides produces polar flagella that are required for swimming. Expression of the second set of flagellar genes seems to be positively regulated under anaerobic growth conditions. Phylogenic analysis suggests that the flagellar system that was initially characterized was in fact acquired by horizontal transfer from a γ-proteobacterium, while the second flagellar system contains the native genes. Interestingly, other α-proteobacteria closely related to R. sphaeroides have also acquired a set of flagellar genes similar to the set found in R. sphaeroides, suggesting that a common ancestor received this gene cluster