Ideology and the self-fulfilling prophecy in conservation and social science research

In this essay, I propose an analytical model, ‘zones of intermediality’, designed to research socio-cultural dynamics in foreign large-scale land projects. ‘Zones of intermediality’ refers to the ontological grids of (inter)national-local stakeholder encounters where diverse ideologies, discourses and practices of land use and valuation are mediated. The model was constructed to analyze conceptual similarities and differences between and within stakeholder groups in such land projects. Just as local ‘communities’ are composed of people with varied social realities, economies, political relations, knowledge, views and perceptions, so are other stakeholder groups. Researchers are not immune to such realities. The subjectivity and epistemologycal rooting of the researcher impact on what he or she sees in the field and what is eventually reported in research publications. Thus, the essay argues for a reflection on these processes in view of the fact that we ourselves mediate representations of ‘local’ people to academic and non-academic audiences. I hope that the ‘zones of intermediality’ model will be useful in facilitating such reflections. RÉSUMÉ Dans cet article, je propose de considérer un modèle analytique dénommé ‘zones d’intermédialité’ conçu pour faire progresser les outils de recherche des dynamiques socioculturelles associées avec des projets d’acquisition foncière de grande envergure en Afrique continentale et à Madagascar. Le modèle ‘zones d’intermédialité’ s’inscrit dans des grilles ontologiques de rencontres d’intervenants (inter)nationaux à locaux dans lesquelles divers idéologies, discours et pratiques ont une influence sur l’utilisation des terres et sur l’évaluation foncière. Le modèle a été conçu pour procéder à une analyse détaillée des différences et des similarités entre et au sein de tels projets d’acquisition foncière. Au même titre que les ‘communautés’ locales sont constituées de personnes avec des réalités sociales, économiques et politiques différentes, et que cette diversité a un effet sur leur opinion et leurs perceptions, convient-il de préciser que ces diverses réalités s’imposent également aux autres groupes d’intervenants et même aux chercheurs qui ne sont pas indifférents à de telles réalités. Les racines subjectives et épistémologiques du chercheur influencent ce qu’il observe sur le terrain et ce qu’il rapporte ultérieurement dans ses publications. C’est pour toutes ces raisons que j'invite à une réflexion sur ces procédés dans la mesure où nous sommes nous-mêmes amenés à influencer les représentations des gens locaux destinés à un public universitaire ou non. J’espère que le modèle ‘zones d’intermédialité’ facilitera de telles réflexions.

Dipole-dipole interaction between orthogonal dipole moments in time-dependent geometries

In two nearby atoms, the dipole-dipole interaction can couple transitions with orthogonal dipole moments. This orthogonal coupling accounts for a number of interesting effects, but strongly depends on the geometry of the setup. Here, we discuss several setups of interest where the geometry is not fixed, such as particles in a trap or gases, by averaging over different sets of geometries. Two averaging methods are compared. In the first method, it is assumed that the internal electronic evolution is much faster than the change of geometry, whereas in the second, it is vice versa. We find that the orthogonal coupling typically survives even extensive averaging over different geometries, albeit with qualitatively different results for the two averaging methods. Typically, one- and two-dimensional averaging ranges modelling, e.g., low-dimensional gases, turn out to be the most promising model systems.Comment: 11 pages, 14 figure

Combining the health belief model and social marketing to develop a community-level campaign about asthma for older adults

This conceptual paper provides a rationale for combining health behaviour theory with a social marketing framework in order to develop a community-level asthma campaign for adults aged 55 years and older. The prevalence of asthma in older adults in Australia is approximately 10%, higher than in many other countries, and asthma mortality increases with age. In addition, older adults\u27 perceptions of asthma causes and treatments are often inaccurate. Many older adults believe that asthma is a childhood disease and that the effects of the condition are relatively minor and would not impact on daily life. In order to address these misperceptions, it is useful to utilise the constructs of the Health Belief Model in conjunction with a framework for the development and implementation of a health promotion effort. The social marketing framework is directly aligned with the most successful methods of promoting health to older adults; tailoring health messages (promotion) to individuals and the community that they are living in, actively involving the older adults themselves to understand their health beliefs and behaviours, empowering individuals by reducing barriers to action (price), enabling individuals to take control of their health (product) through increased knowledge, and ensuring ease of access (place) to health messages and promotional activities. The segment of the population aged 55 years and over not only has a demonstrated need for asthma awareness but also has been largely ignored by past asthma awareness activities. To extend the efforts of previous health promotion efforts, a campaign must be developed, implemented and evaluated to specifically target older adults about asthma to address their low perceived susceptibility to, and severity of, the condition. This paper presents a conceptual framework for the application of the Health Belief Model and social marketing theory to influence the asthma perceptions of older adults

Microcavities coupled to multilevel atoms

A three-level atom in the $\Lambda$-configuration coupled to a microcavity is studied. The two transitions of the atom are assumed couple to different counterpropagating mode pairs in the cavity. We analyze the dynamics both, in the strong-coupling and the bad cavity limit. We find that compared to a two-level setup, the third atomic state and the additional control field modes crucially modify the system dynamics and enable more advanced control schemes. All results are explained using appropriate dressed state and eigenmode representations. As potential applications, we discuss optical switching and turnstile operations and detection of particles close to the resonator surface.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figure

Breathlessness is not a normal part of aging: Development and testing of asthma awareness messages for older Australians

At least 420,000 Australian adults aged 55 years and over, or one in 10, currently have asthma (Australian Centre for Asthma Monitoring 2008). Asthma is under-diagnosed, often misdiagnosed, and undertreated in the older adult population in Australia (Gibson, McDonald and Marks 2010, Marks and Poulos 2005, Wilson et al 2001) as it is overseas. Contrary to the perception that asthma is a childhood disease, asthma can develop in older adults (Adams and Ruffin 2005). The risk of dying from asthma increases with age (AIHW 2010). While the overall mortality rate has decreased by almost 70% since 1989, much of this could be attributed to health promotion efforts directed largely at children and their parents and caregivers (Australian Centre for Asthma Monitoring 2008). In addition, the effects of asthma on quality of life lead to a significant asthma burden. Around 70% of the asthma burden in older adults is due to years lost on account of disability (Australian Institute for Health and Welfare 2010). Previous qualitative research has shown that older adults perceive that asthma is not serious and would not impact their lives (Andrews and Jones 2009)

Pathway interference in a loop array of three coupled microresonators

A system of three coupled toroidal microresonators arranged in a loop configuration is studied. This setup allows light entering the resonator setup from a tapered fiber to evolve along a variety of different pathways before leaving again through the fiber. In particular, the loop configuration of the resonators allows for an evolution which we term roundtrip process, in which the light evolves from one resonator sequentially through all others back to the initial one. This process renders the optical properties of the system sensitive to the phases of all coupling and scattering constants in the system. We analyze the transmission and reflection spectra, and interpret them in terms of interference between the various possible evolution pathways through the resonator system. In particular, we focus on the phase dependence of the optical properties. Finally, we discuss possible applications for this phase sensitivity induced by the roundtrip process, such as the measurement of the position of a nanoparticle close to one of the resonators, and the measurement of changes in the refractive index between two resonators. Our analytical results for the applications are supported by proof-of-principle calculations based on finite-difference-time-domain solution ofMaxwell's equations in two dimensions on a grid.Comment: 12 pages, 14 figure