An examination of Australian news coverage of Papua New Guinea

This thesis examines Australian news coverage of Papua New Guinea, a country with which Australia shares geographic proximity and strong historical ties. Specifically, this study examines the coverage of PNG by The Australian and The Sydney Morning Herald newspapers from January 01 until June 30, 2010. This work aims to demonstrate that PNG is a neglected news region. This neglect – in terms of quality reporting – has produced a limited and fragmentary portrayal of PNG in the Australian media. In this context, this study observes that the majority of news stories about PNG tend to lack analysis and contextual background. By examining the process of news framing and news values, this thesis suggests that the disproportionate emphasis on events associated with crime, chaos, disaster, and corruption has constructed PNG as a fragile, suffering and dependent society. The key methodologies used in this thesis are content analysis, and indepth interviews with a selected number of Australian journalists currently or previously based in PNG. The thesis forms part of a much broader examination of the changing trends in international news coverage of developing countries, particularly the Asia-Pacific

Solvation of alkane and alcohol molecules. Energy contributions

In this work we conduct a systematic ab initio study of the solvation of small alkane, monoalcohol and diol molecules, in polar solvents with different properties. A choice of basis set suitable for the type of compounds under study is presented. The various components of the solvent–solute interaction and the cavitation energy are treated individually and their variation with chain length and introduction of hydroxy groups assessed. The use of solute molecules in which controlled changes are imposed allows for an estimation of the relative contributions, thus eliminating accidental error cancellation.Fundacão para a Ciência e Tecnologia SAPIENS POCTI/35415/QUI/200

Conformational study of erythritol and threitol in the gas state by density functional theory calculations

Density functional theory calculations using the B3LYP functional and the 6-311++G(d,p) basis set were carried out on the isolated molecules of erythritol and L-threitol. For the meso isomer, a relatively large number of conformers have to be considered to describe the gas state structure. The lowest energy conformer is characterized by the establishment of a strong intramolecular H-bond between the two terminal hydroxyl groups, giving rise to a seven-membered ring and two additional weaker H-bonds between vicinal OH groups. In the case of L-threitol, two conformers are predominant in the gas state, and both are stabilized by the formation of a cyclic system of four intramolecular hydrogen bonds involving all OH groups. The conformational stability in both diastereomers is discussed in terms of the electronic energy and of the Gibbs energy. The weighted mean enthalpy of both diastereomers in the gas state at 298.15 K was obtained from the thermodynamic data and Boltzmann populations of the low-energy conformers.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6TFF-4F31PT7-3/1/ae9dae05894f1bf2f4865221eb1b29b

Enthalpy of Sublimation in the Study of the Solid State of Organic Compounds. Application to Erythritol and Threitol

The enthalpies of sublimation of erythritol and L-threitol have been determined at 298.15 K by calorimetry. The values obtained for the two diastereomers differ from one another by 17 kJ mol -1 . An interpretation of these results is based on the decomposition of this thermodynamic property in a term coming from the intermolecular interactions of the molecules in the crystal (∆ int H°) and another one related with the conformational change of the molecules on going from the crystal lattice to the most stable forms in the gas phase (∆ conf H°). This last term was calculated from the values of the enthalpy of the molecules in the gas state and of the enthalpy of the isolated molecules with the crystal conformation. Both quantities were obtained by density functional theory (DFT) calculations at the B3LYP/6-311G++(d,p) level of theory. The results obtained in this study show that the most important contribution to the differences observed in the enthalpy of sublimation are the differences in the enthalpy of conformational change (13 kJ mol -1 ) rather than different intermolecular forces exhibited in the solid phase. This is explained by the lower enthalpy of threitol in the gas phase relative to erythritol, which is attributed to the higher strength of the intramolecular hydrogen bonds in the former. The comparison of the calculated infrared spectra obtained for the two compounds in the gas phase supports this interpretation

Engolo and Capoeira. From Ethnic to Diasporic Combat Games in the Southern Atlantic

This article provides a re-examination of the main Afrocentric narrative of capoeira origins, the engolo or ‘Zebra Dance’, in light of historical primary sources and new ethnographic evidence gathered during fieldwork in south-west Angola. By examining engolo’s bodily techniques, its socio-historical context and cultural meanings, the piece emphasises its insertion into a pastoral lifestyle and highlights the relatively narrow ethnic character of the practice in Angola. This analysis and the comparison with capoeira helps us to develop certain hypotheses about the formation, migration, and re-invention of diasporic combat games between southern Angola and coastal Brazil, and more broadly, to increase our understanding of how African cultures spread across the southern Atlantic

Phase Transition in Trans and Cis-1,2-Cyclohexanediol Studied by Infrared Spectroscopy

Abstract The study of trans- and cis-1,2-cyclohexanediol by infrared spectroscopy was performed. The variation of the maximum frequency and of the bandwidth of the OH stretching vibration give evidence of the role played by hydrogen bonding in the solid and liquid phases of both isomers and allows to follow the phase transitions. A solid rotator phase is shown for the cis compound

A Química: o primeiro século na Universidade de Coimbra e o progresso desta ciência

A matriz reflexiva deste escrito é constituída pela evolução da Química na Universidade de Coimbra e nos países cientificamente mais avançados no decurso do primeiro século desta ciência, no que respeit