DRAFT Report:Community Systems Strengthening Toward a Research Agenda

Communities have a long history of acting to preserve and promote the health of their members. Public health researchers, programmers, and funders are increasingly recognizing that community involvement is essential to improving health, especially among populations that are disproportionately affected by HIV. The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, together with civil society organizations and other development partners, created the Community Systems Strengthening (CSS) Framework to help Global Fund applicants frame, define, and quantify efforts to strengthen community contributions engagement (Global Fund 2011). Although the use of a CSS approach in health programming implementation shows promise, it lacks a theoretical framework to guide collaborations with communities. Additionally, it suffers from a paucity of program designs and evaluation practices, an incomplete evidence-based rationale for investing in CSS, and imprecise definitions (e.g., what is meant by “community” and “CSS”).The purpose of this paper is to highlight promising areas for future research related to CSS. Toward this objective, we propose to lay a foundation for a CSS research agenda by using theories and approaches relevant to CSS, reinforced with evidence from projects that employ similar approaches

Parameter Extraction and Uncertainty in Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopic Measurements

Terahertz (THz) time domain spectroscopy is emerging as a powerful tool to characterise samples both chemically and physically. In this work different methods of estimating spectroscopic parameters of a sample, its thickness and the uncertainty of these estimates is presented. A number of case studies are also examined including paracetamol polymorphs and a method of creating a spectroscopic simulant of Semtex-H is presented. Approximation of the sample spectroscopic parameters, real refractive index and absorption coeficient were formed by building up a simple model of the samples interaction with THz radiation. Methods of correcting unwrapping error in the real refractive index were developed, including a method to correct in the presence of discontinuities in the refractive index itself. These approximations were then applied to extract parameters of both lactose and paracetamol samples. An algorithm to generate spectroscopic simulants was developed and applied to Semtex-H. These simulants consisted of simple mixtures of inert compounds, which were measured and found to have similar spectrum to the target sample. Methods of fitting resonant models to the sample response were developed to extract both the spectroscopic parameters and sample thickness. These were refined by calibrating for the Gaussian beam profile of the THz radiation, which was shown to increase the accuracy of the extracted thickness. The thickness and spectroscopic parameters of a lactose sample were measured with temperature, and it was found that the spectroscopic parameter change was underestimated when thickness was assumed constant. A resonant model for multilayered samples was then developed and used to characterise IPA in a flowcell measurement. This was then combined with a method of time segmentation of the sample response, to extract spectroscopic parameters and sample thickness simultaneously. This was then applied to a two layer sample, to extract the spectroscopic parameters of a silicon and a quartz layer from a single measurement. Finally, methods of propagating the uncertainty from the time domain to the spectroscopic parameters were developed. These were based on a multivariate normal statistical model of the measurements andwere compared to numerical bootstrap and Monte–Carlo estimates. These were used to develop confidence intervals for the extracted refractive index, absorption coefficient and thickness. These methods were applied to both a lactose and quartz sample

Glass transition in fullerenes: mode-coupling theory predictions

We report idealized mode-coupling theory results for the glass transition of ensembles of model fullerenes interacting via phenomenological two-body potentials. Transition lines are found for C60, C70 and C96 in the temperature-density plane. We argue that the observed glass-transition behavior is indicative of kinetic arrest that is strongly driven by the inter-particle attraction in addition to excluded-volume repulsion. In this respect, these systems differ from most standard glass-forming liquids. They feature arrest that occurs at lower densities and that is stronger than would be expected for repulsion-dominated hard-sphere-like or Lennard-Jones-like systems. The influence of attraction increases with increasing the number of carbon atoms per molecule. However, unrealistically large fullerenes would be needed to yield behavior reminiscent of recently investigated model colloids with strong short-ranged attraction (glass-glass transitions and logarithmic decay of time-correlation functions).Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

An inquiry into the typical and atypical language development of young transnational multilingual children in an international school

This PhD thesis investigates some of the unique characteristics of young transnational multilingual children aged five to eleven from high-socioeconomic status families educated in an international school in Switzerland. Its purpose is to improve understanding of typical and atypical language development for this group. It draws on sociolinguistic research on language variation and exposure, and clinical linguistic research on developmental language disorder identification and cross-linguistic considerations. The specific aim of the pilot research study presented in this thesis is to measure and discuss seven multilingual children’s verbal language abilities in each of their languages, and to measure their combined bilingual verbal abilities and multilingual verbal abilities. It is, therefore, influenced by discussion on language acquisition theories that relate to complex and dynamic systems, such as the Dynamic Model of Multilingualism. In addition, it also identifies any common characteristics, familial language practices or experiences of the pilot group of children. A methodological design is created that could be replicated in the future on a much larger scale as a means of confirming, extending or disputing the findings from the pilot group. This thesis’s pilot research findings suggest that multilingual children from high-income families who attend international schools have significantly above average verbal language abilities when their verbal language abilities are evaluated as one total language system (multilingual ability), a finding that is in stark contrast to the ‘average’ results they receive when each language is evaluated on its own. The thesis concludes that research on multilingual children that does not take into account the variables unique to this group may fail to recognise important factors that can impact their language development

Sensitivity of arrest in mode-coupling glasses to low-q structure

We quantify, within mode coupling theory, how changes in the liquid structure affect that of the glass. Apart from the known sensitivity to the structure factor $S(q)$ at wavevectors around the first sharp diffraction peak $q_0$, we find a strong (and inverted) response to structure at wavevectors \emph{below} this peak: an increase in $S(q_0/2)$ {\em lowers} the degree of arrest over a wide $q$-range. This strong sensitivity to `caged cage' packing effects, on length scales of order 2d, is much weaker in attractive glasses where short-range bonding dominates the steric caging effect.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures. v2: 3 figures replaced; text rewritte

Reflective practice in the library and information sector

This study explores the use of reflection by library and information staff to support practice and continuing development. A questionnaire was sent to library and information mailing lists. A total of 424 responses were received, though the response rate varied for each question. Of 423 respondents 92% identified themselves as reflective practitioners, and 52% of 363 respondents engaged in reflective writing. A number of benefits and barriers were identified. It is concluded that reflective practice and reflective writing are valuable tools for library and information staff, particularly for professional development. Employers and professional bodies have a role in facilitating reflective practice

Fluid adsorption near an apex: Covariance between complete and critical wetting

Critical wetting is an elusive phenomenon for solid-fluid interfaces. Using interfacial models we show that the diverging length scales, which characterize complete wetting at an apex, precisely mimic critical wetting with the apex angle behaving as the contact angle. Transfer matrix, renormalization group (RG) and mean field analysis (MF) shows this covariance is obeyed in 2D, 3D and for long and short ranged forces. This connection should be experimentally accesible and provides a means of checking theoretical predictions for critical wetting.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Can adding oil control domain formation in binary amphiphile bilayers?

Bilayers formed of two species of amphiphile of different chain lengths may segregate into thinner and thicker domains composed predominantly of the respective species. Using a coarse-grained mean-field model, we investigate how mixing oil with the amphiphiles affects the structure and thickness of the bilayer at and on either side of the boundary between two neighbouring domains. In particular, we find that oil molecules whose chain length is close to that of the shorter amphiphiles segregate to the thicker domain. This smooths the surface of the hydrophobic bilayer core on this side of the boundary, reducing its area and curvature and their associated free-energy penalties. The smoothing effect is weaker for oil molecules that are shorter or longer than this optimum value: short molecules spread evenly through the bilayer, while long molecules swell the thicker domain, increasing the surface area and curvature of the bilayer core in the interfacial region. Our results show that adding an appropriate oil could make the formation of domain boundaries more or less favourable, raising the possibility of controlling the domain size distribution.Comment: 18 pages including 5 figure

Can amphiphile architecture directly control vesicle size?

Bilayer membranes self-assembled from simple amphiphiles in solution always have a planar ground-state shape. This is a consequence of several internal relaxation mechanisms of the membrane and prevents the straightforward control of vesicle size. Here, we show that this principle can be circumvented and that direct size control by molecular design is a realistic possibility. Using coarse-grained calculations, we design tetrablock copolymers that form membranes with a preferred curvature, and demonstrate how to form low-polydispersity vesicles while suppressing micellization.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Version 2: Calculations performed for a fuller range of parameters, accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter