CommonVisions: Photography and Conflict Transformation

AbstractPositive community change came in a place long entrenched in racism through the CommonVisions: Photographic Explorations of Unity in Diversity project. Here an arts-based photography project was used as a means to overcome racism, a major impediment to peace, equity and justice in the world. It was built on the concept of the oneness of humanity, a Bahá’í principle, and was listed in the 2000 Directory of Faith Based Promising Practices for Racial Unity and Justice of the National Conference of Community and Justice (NCCJ) and was a grant project selected for the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation (ZSR) “Race Will Not Divide Us” initiative.  Since verbal dialogues on racism were often derailed and stifled by entrenched prejudices, CommonVisions was designed as a bridge over that verbal quagmire. It applied new strategies using the universal language of photography and a medical model to bring relief and healing from the disease of racism. This article gives peace and conflict studies practitioners a glimpse at the seldom seen evolutionary steps on the winding pathway from concept to praxis

Phytoplankton Blooms: Their Occurrence and Composition Within Virginia\u27s Tidal Tributaries

Sporadic algal bloom development within a 10 year monitoring program in Virginia tidal tributaries of Chesapeake Bay is reviewed. These blooms were common events, characteristically producing a color signature to the surface water, typically short lived, occurring mainly from spring into autumn throughout different salinity regions of these rivers, and were produced primarily by dinoflagellates. The abundance threshold levels that would identify bloom status from a non-bloom presence were species specific, varied with the taxon\u27s cell size, and ranged from ca. 10 to 104 cells mL-1. Among the most consistent sporadic bloom producers were the dinoflagellates Akashiwo sanguinea, Cochlodinium polykrikoides, Heterocapsa rotundata, Heterocapsa triquetra, Karlodinium veneficum, Prorocentrum minimum, Scrippsiella trochoidea, the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa, and two categories containing several species of often unidentified Gymnodinium spp. and Gyrodinium spp. Additional bloom producers within these tributaries are also discussed

Phytoplankton Blooms: Their Occurence and Composition Within Virginia\u27s Tidal Tributaries

Sporadic algal bloom development within a 10 year monitoring program in Virginia tidal tributaries of Chesapeake Bay is reviewed. These blooms were common events, characteristically producing a color signature to the surface water, typically short lived, occurring mainly from spring into autumn throughout different salinity regions of these rivers, and were produced primarily by dinoflagellates. The abundance threshold levels that would identify bloom status from a non-bloom presence were species specific, varied with the taxon\u27s cell size, and ranged from ca. 10 to 10(4) cells mL(-1). Among the most consistent sporadic bloom producers were the dinoflagellates Akashiwo sanguinea, Cochlodinium polykrikoides, Heterocapsa rotundata, Heterocapsa triquetra, Karlodinium veneficum, Prorocentrum minimum, Scrippsiella trochoidea, the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa, and two categories containing several species of often unidentified Gymnodinium spp. and Gyrodinium spp. Additional bloom producers within these tributaries are also discussed

A New Herbicide (GF-839) for Long-Term Control of Annual and Perennial Broad-Leaved Weeds in Grassland

The new herbicide GF-839 is a combination of a new active substance aminopyralid and the fully approved active substance fluroxypyr in the quantities 30 g ae/l aminopyralid + 100 g ae/l fluroxypyr. It is an emulsion, water in oil formulation (EO), and will be sold as a foliar acting herbicide for the long-term control of annual and perennial broad-leaved weeds in grassland. Globally aminopyralid can be used for weed control in range and pasture situations and plantations; in addition, uses in oilseed rape and cereals are also being explored. Aminopyralid is the most active halopyridine yet discovered and as a synthetic hormone it poses a low risk of resistance. Rumex obtusifolius (broad-leaved dock), R. crispus (curled leaf dock), Cirsium arvense (creeping thistle), C. vulgare (spear thistle), Urtica dioica (common nettle), Ranunculus repens (creeping buttercup), Taraxacum officinale (dandelion) and Stellaria media (common chickweed) are all pernicious, persistent weeds of grassland in Europe. If left unchecked they can lead to significant reductions in sward quality and quantity as well as spreading to neighbouring areas. In the UK 1.1M ha of grassland are infested with thistles, and 400,000 ha with more than 1/m2, equating to a potential loss of 1Mt DM / year. Docks at an infestation level of 10% cause potential silage losses of 10%. There are currently various products on the market for control of these weeds but GF-839 differs in that it is the first new compound to be developed primarily for the grassland market for over 30 years, and offers reliable long-term control of all of these weeds, in combination with good grassland management practice, whilst also offering a high degree of selectivity to grass

Deliberate clinical inertia: Using meta-cognition to improve decision-making

Deliberate clinical inertia is the art of doing nothing as a positive response. To be able to apply this concept, individual clinicians need to specifically focus on their clinical decision-making. The skill of solving problems and making optimal clinical decisions requires more attention in medical training and should play a more prominent part of the medical curriculum. This paper provides suggestions on how this may be achieved. Strategies to mitigate common biases are outlined, with an emphasis on reversing a 'more is better' culture towards more temperate, critical thinking. To incorporate such an approach in medical curricula and in clinical practice, institutional endorsement and support is required

Compositional analysis of InAs-GaAs-GaSb heterostructures by low-loss electron energy loss spectroscopy

As an alternative to Core-Loss Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy, Low-Loss EELS is suitable for compositional analysis of complex heterostructures, such as the InAs-GaAs-GaSb system, since in this energy range the edges corresponding to these elements are better defined than in Core-Loss. Furthermore, the analysis of the bulk plasmon peak, which is present in this energy range, also provides information about the composition. In this work, compositional information in an InAs-GaAs-GaSb heterostructure has been obtained from Low-Loss EEL spectra