The sufficiency economy and community sustainability in rural Northeastern Thailand

Thailand is promoting a sufficiency economy (SE) emphasizing community solidarity, mixed farming and sustainable agriculture. We analyze to what extent the SE philosophy is part of the daily lives of communities in Isan, NE Thailand. We interviewed rural household representatives and community leaders on education,employment, community dynamics, aspirations, concerns and social-sufficiency. The majority observed that community values and interaction were essential and were satisfied with living standards and community. However, most want their children to proceed to university meaning many may not return to agriculture limiting the ability of SE values to be transferred to the next generation.NHMRC (National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia

Social Security in Independent Ireland, 1922-52

The raison d'être of this work is to provide an historical analysis of the rise and subsequent co-ordination and consolidation of the Irish welfare state by focusing on income maintenance legislation in independent Ireland up to 1952. Originally undertaken as a project in social history, the completed work is a synthesis of social, economic, political and administrative history, discussion of all these areas being necessary to understand fully the timing, pace and extent of social welfare legislation

Freedom on the Net 2014 - Tightening the Net: Governments Expand Online Controls (Summary)

Internet freedom around the world has declined for the fourth consecutive year, with a growing number of countries introducing online censorship and monitoring practices that are simultaneously more aggressive and more sophisticated in their targeting of individual users. This booklet is a summary of findings for the 2014 edition of "Freedom on the Net.

Introduction

This introduction to The Cambridge Companion to Sappho provides an overview of the book as a whole by examining key themes and giving an account of the different sections of which the volume is composed

Enhancing academic self-efficacy and performance among fourth year psychology students: Findings from a short educational intervention

Academic self-efficacy is the degree to which students believe they are capable of learning or accomplishing an academic task within a specific area of education. High academic self-efficacy has been associated with positive education outcomes such as enhanced learning, motivation, self-determination, and ultimately academic performance. The current study designed, implemented and evaluated an educational intervention to enhance the academic self-efficacy and performance of 21 psychology students enrolled in a group supervised Honours course, the outcome being a thesis dissertation. Students completed pre-intervention surveys in class half way through the course and then another survey after the 8-week intervention. Measures of self-efficacy (based on student responses) were similar over the two assessments. Furthermore, self-efficacy did not predict academic outcomes as determined by two independent examiners’ final marks on their thesis. Findings are discussed in relation to limitations of the data and challenges faced when implementing interventions aimed to enhance academic self-efficacy

Intussusception secondary to retroflexion of a proximal jejunal diverticulum, leading to Type 3 vagal indigestion with severe hypochloraemia in an adult Simmental bull (Bos taurus)

Intussusception is a rare but well described cause of intestinal obstruction in several species, including cattle, and is often associated with enteritis, intestinal parasitism or intestinal neoplasia. Clinical signs are non-specific and include anorexia with reduced faecal output.This report describes a four-year-old Simmental bull that presented with anorexia and reduced faecal output, along with severe ruminal bloat and a large, dilated intestinal loop palpated rectally. Serum biochemistry identified severe hypochloraemia, consistent with proximal intestinal obstruction and a poor prognosis. Although supportive and symptomatic treatment was provided, the bull died before a definitive diagnosis could be made.Post-mortem examination identified a segmental intestinal intussusception, within the proximal jejunum, which had resulted in intestinal obstruction. The primary cause of this intussusception was a retroflexed intestinal diverticulum, which formed the intussusceptum.<br/

Using Common Formative Assessments to Guide Fluency Instruction

In the Spring of 2013, first-grade literacy data were reviewed and we concluded that changes needed to occur with teacher instructional methods to ensure growth in student reading fluency. We collaborated to find what effect common formative assessments would have on teachers’ abilities to help students meet reading fluency benchmarks. Data were collected on 52 first-grade students within three classroom settings. Throughout this process, teachers monitored student progress toward proficiency in reading fluency, in particular rate, through the use of common formative assessments, teacher observation notes and teacher collaboration. After the data collection period, results showed that the use of common formative assessments had a positive effect on students’ reading fluency. We plan to use the data to guide reading intervention groups in the future and will continue to collaborate during weekly PLCs to adjust instruction to meet our students’ needs

Advantages of 3D time-of-flight range imaging cameras in machine vision applications

Machine vision using image processing of traditional intensity images is in wide spread use. In many situations environmental conditions or object colours or shades cannot be controlled, leading to difficulties in correctly processing the images and requiring complicated processing algorithms. Many of these complications can be avoided by using range image data, instead of intensity data. This is because range image data represents the physical properties of object location and shape, practically independently of object colour or shading. The advantages of range image processing are presented, along with three example applications that show how robust machine vision results can be obtained with relatively simple range image processing in real-time applications

The Age of Onset of Substance Use Disorders

Illicit drug use frequently starts during adolescence and young adulthood. Early initiation of illicit drug use in this period is associated with continued drug use in adulthood, the development of dependence, polydrug use and a number of adverse social, educational and mental health outcomes. Understanding when and why illicit drug use starts has important implications for preventing a major source of personal and financial cost to individuals, families and communities. In this chapter, we review research on the prevalence of drug use in the early years, the impact of early illicit drug use on psychosocial outcomes in young adulthood and widely researched models that explain the early initiation of drug use. We explore the implications of evidence-based models for prevention of the early initiation of illicit drug use