Book review: Clarence, S. & Dyson, L. (Eds.). (2017). Writing Centres in Higher Education: Working in and across disciplines. Stellenbosch, South Africa: African Sun Media.

Book reviewClarence, S. & Dyson, L. (Eds.). (2017). Writing Centresin Higher Education: Working in and across disciplines.Stellenbosch, South Africa: African Sun Media.Reviewed by Annsilla Nyar

Traces of identity: the construction of white ethnicity in New Zealand.

Settler colonies arose out of a form of European colonialism where a white collectivity was installed permanently on territory formerly occupied by non-European 'indigenous' peoples. In British colonies where white settlers formed the majority population - the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand - the political, economic and cultural infrastructure has historically privileged whites over 'indigenous' groups. -In recent years territorial appropriations, which formed the basis of national wealth in these places, have been the focus of struggles for self-determination by 'first peoples'. This thesis focuses on the colonisation of New Zealand to show that although there were commonalities between white settler colonies, generally the historic specificity of nation building in each place, together with the way in which racial hierarchies were interpreted by colonialists, meant that national formations developed differently. New Zealand was the last of the 'dominions' to be settled and it became a commonplace that this was the most successful British colony in terms of racial harmony, largely because of a treaty made with the Maori. However recent reinterpretations of the nation's history have shown that while this treaty has functioned as a symbol of nationhood, notions of 'civility' which were brought to bear on the Maori people meant the terms of the treaty were never honoured. The thesis examines, through analyses of a variety of cultural artefacts, - from nineteenth century travel writing to contemporary cultural forms - films, television and museums -, the way ‘civilising discourses' underpinned a matrix of ethnic, gendered and class-based differences which legitimated the privilege of the settler majority. In recent years reinterpretations of the Treaty of Waitangi, and the severing of ties with Britain, have led to new forms of nationhood constructed around the ‘indigenisation' of the 'treaty partners' - Maori and Pakeha. Drawing on Cultural Studies approaches to representation and ethnicity, the thesis addresses issues which arise specifically from the way in which these shifts have challenged the hegemony of 'whiteness' in the colonial context

Macroscopic limits of individual-based models for motile cell populations with volume exclusion

Partial differential equation models are ubiquitous in studies of motile cell populations, giving a phenomenological description of events which can be analyzed and simulated using a wide range of existing tools. However, these models are seldom derived from individual cell behaviors and so it is difficult to accurately include biological hypotheses on this spatial scale. Moreover, studies which do attempt to link individual- and population-level behavior generally employ lattice-based frameworks in which the artifacts of lattice choice at the population level are unclear. In this work we derive limiting population-level descriptions of a motile cell population from an off-lattice, individual-based model (IBM) and investigate the effects of volume exclusion on the population-level dynamics. While motility with excluded volume in on-lattice IBMs can be accurately described by Fickian diffusion, we demonstrate that this is not the case off lattice. We show that the balance between two key parameters in the IBM (the distance moved in one step and the radius of an individual) determines whether volume exclusion results in enhanced or slowed diffusion. The magnitude of this effect is shown to increase with the number of cells and the rate of their movement. The method we describe is extendable to higher-dimensional and more complex systems and thereby provides a framework for deriving biologically realistic, continuum descriptions of motile populations

Does Inflation Provide Natural Initial Conditions for the Universe?

If our universe underwent inflation, its entropy during the inflationary phase was substantially lower than it is today. Because a low-entropy state is less likely to be chosen randomly than a high-entropy one, inflation is unlikely to arise through randomly-chosen initial conditions. To resolve this puzzle, we examine the notion of a natural state for the universe, and argue that it is a nearly-empty spacetime. If empty space has a small vacuum energy, however, inflation can begin spontaneously in this background. This scenario explains why a universe like ours is likely to have begun via a period of inflation, and also provides an origin for the cosmological arrow of time.Comment: Submitted to Gravity Research Foundation Essay Competition; based on hep-th/041027

Tiwah upacara kematian pada Masyarakat Dayak Ngaju di Kalimantan Tengah

Dari berba,gai kebudayaan dan adat istiadat yang hidup di indonesia belum semua deskripsinya dapat dikumpulkan serta didokumentasikan baik dalam bentuk penerbitan buku maupun melalui media teknologi . yang lain seperti film, slide, dan sebagainya. Dengan demikian aneka ragam kebudayaan Indonesia kurang dikenal dan menyebar luas di kalangan masyarakat Indonesia sendiri maupun masyariikat asing. Untuk memperkaya informasi ·tentang khasanah. kebudayaan Indonesia, dalam kesempatan ini kami hadirkan di tengah · sidang pembaca yang budiman tulisan yang menggambarkan seluk beluk 'Upacara Kematian di Kalimantan Tengah". Perhatian utama dalam tulisan ini terpusat pada kekhususan upacara kematian yang diselenggarakan menurut adat istiadat dan kebudayaan Dayak yang ada di Kalimantan Tengah, dan khusμsnya upacara kematian pada sukubangsa Dayak Ngaju yakni 'Upacara Tiwah'

Diagnosing risk factors alongside mass drug administration using serial diagnostic tests-which test first?

Background: When tests are used in series to determine individual risk factors and infection status in a mass drug administration (MDA), the diagnostics, test order and subsequent treatment decisions (the testing algorithm) affect population-level treatment coverage and cost, but there is no existing framework for evaluating which algorithm optimizes any given outcome. Methods: We present a mathematical tool (with spreadsheet implementation) to analyse the effect of test ordering, illustrated using treatment for onchocerciasis in an area where high-burden Loa loa co-infections present a known risk factor. Results: The prevalence of the infection and risk factor have a non-linear impact on the optimal ordering of tests. Testing for the MDA infection first always leaves more infected people untreated but fewer people with the risk factor being misclassified. The cost of the treatment given to infected individuals with the risk factor does not affect which algorithm is more cost effective. Conclusions: For a given test and treat algorithm and its costs, the correct strategy depends on the expected prevalence. In most cases, when the apparent prevalence of the target infection is greater than the apparent prevalence of the risk factor, it is cheaper to do the risk factor test first, and vice versa

Self-Administered Computer Therapy for Apraxia of Speech

Background and Purpose There is currently little evidence on effective interventions for poststroke apraxia of speech. We report outcomes of a trial of self-administered computer therapy for apraxia of speech. Methods Effects of speech intervention on naming and repetition of treated and untreated words were compared with those of a visuospatial sham program. The study used a parallel-group, 2-period, crossover design, with participants receiving 2 interventions. Fifty participants with chronic and stable apraxia of speech were randomly allocated to 1 of 2 order conditions: speech-first condition versus sham-first condition. Period 1 design was equivalent to a randomized controlled trial. We report results for this period and profile the effect of the period 2 crossover. Results Period 1 results revealed significant improvement in naming and repetition only in the speech-first group. The sham-first group displayed improvement in speech production after speech intervention in period 2. Significant improvement of treated words was found in both naming and repetition, with little generalization to structurally similar and dissimilar untreated words. Speech gains were largely maintained after withdrawal of intervention. There was a significant relationship between treatment dose and response. However, average self-administered dose was modest for both groups. Future software design would benefit from incorporation of social and gaming components to boost motivation. Conclusions Single-word production can be improved in chronic apraxia of speech with behavioral intervention. Self-administered computerized therapy is a promising method for delivering high-intensity speech/language rehabilitation

Men and infant feeding: Perceptions of embarrassment, sexuality, and social conduct in white low-income British men

Copyright @ 2010 The Authors. This is the accepted version of the following article: Henderson, L., McMillan, B., Green, J. M. and Renfrew, M. J. (2011), Men and Infant Feeding: Perceptions of Embarrassment, Sexuality, and Social Conduct in White Low-Income British Men. Birth, 38: 61–70, which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1523-536X.2010.00442.x/abstract.Background:  The views of fathers have been shown to be important determinants of infant feeding decisions, but men’s perceptions of breastfeeding and formula feeding are rarely explored. Our objectives were to address this gap and examine cultural associations and beliefs concerning infant feeding practices among men. Methods:  Five focus groups were conducted with low-income men (n = 28) living in areas of social deprivation in Leeds, northeast of England, and low-income areas of Glasgow, west of Scotland. Participants were white British men, aged between 16 and 45 years, and included fathers, expectant fathers, and potential fathers. Results:  Overarching themes concerning sexuality, embarrassment, and social conduct were identified across all groups. Participants perceived breastfeeding as “natural” but problematic, whereas formula feeding was mainly considered as convenient and safe. Participants without direct experience of breastfeeding assumed that it involved excessive public exposure and attracted unwanted male attention. Underpinning these fears were strong cultural associations between breasts and sexuality and anxieties concerning appropriate gender roles. Conclusions:  In some communities few opportunities may occur to witness breastfeeding, and thus existing fears concerning the activity as attracting predatory male attention remain unchallenged. Perceptions of breastfeeding as a sexual activity and the dominant mass media emphasis on breasts as a sexual site may present additional obstacles to breastfeeding. Antenatal or perinatal education with men should address not only practical issues but also provide advice on tackling problems generated by wider sociocultural issues of sexuality and masculinity

Tachyons in de Sitter space and analytical continuation from dS/CFT to AdS/CFT

We discuss analytic continuation from d-dimensional Lorentzian de Sitter (dS$_d$) to d-dimensional Lorentzian anti-de Sitter (AdS$_{d}$) spacetime. We show that AdS$_{d}$, with opposite signature of the metric, can be obtained as analytic continuation of a portion of dS$_d$. This implies that the dynamics of (positive square-mass) scalar particles in AdS$_{d}$ can be obtained from the dynamics of tachyons in dS$_d$. We discuss this correspondence both at the level of the solution of the field equations and of the Green functions. The AdS/CFT duality is obtained as analytic continuation of the dS/CFT duality.Comment: 17 pages, 1 figure, JHEP styl

Towards an M-banking framework for rural SMEs in Bangladesh

This research aims at discovering factors which impact on the intention of rural SME owners and managers to adopt m-banking in Bangladesh. Over the last ten years, a wide spectrum of mbanking frameworks has emerged that offers new insights into the adoption and acceptance of mbanking. However, m-banking has still not been extended to rural Bangladesh. To fill the gap this research surveyed 550 SMEs owners/managers in four rural villages. The result indicates that poor banking facilities, cost, credibility, gender, education and SME category are the main factors that significantly influence the intention to adopt m-banking. The analysis introduces three factors which have been largely overlooked in prior literature. The study broadens our understanding of m-banking and provides insights into developing m-banking strategies in Bangladesh. This research will be of potential value in accelerating the development of m-banking in Bangladesh