The Role of Traditional Leaders in Fostering Democracy, Justice and Human Rights in Zimbabwe

This article examines the role of chiefs in fostering democracy, human rights and peace in Zimbabwe. It argues that in the precolonial era, chiefs had knowledge of grassroots democracy as they made consultations with their council machinery before taking any decision. It also argues that the pre-colonial chiefs were custodians of peace and human rights. Human life was viewed as sacred and annoyance of innocent people would evoke punishment from the ancestors. With the introduction of salaries and newadministrative policies, the office of chieftaincy was compromised in both the colonial and post-colonial periods. Chiefs lost most of their powers and, therefore, lost control of their people. This article argues that chiefs can however use their position, influence and power to transform Zimbabwe into a democratic, lawful and peaceful nation. It invites the current chiefs to borrow a leaf from their counterparts in the pre-colonial era who were guided by democratic principles in their deliberations, who respected the laws of their chiefdoms and ensured that subjects under their jurisdictionwere given fair treatment

Rumah Sakit Khusus Jantung Di Kota Batu

Penyakit Jantung menjadi salah satu pembunuh terbesar dalam beberapa tahun terakhir baik di Indonesia maupun di dunia. Khususnya di daerah Malang Raya, lebih dari 34% dari jumlah pasien yang berobat di Rumah Sakit se-Malang Raya merupakan penderita penyakit jantung pada tahun 2011. Dalam menanggapi hal ini, Pemerintah Kota Batu berencana membangun Rumah Sakit Khusus Jantung di Kota Batu, tepatnya di Tlekung, daerah Jalan Hassanudin. Rumah Sakit Khusus Jantung di Kota Batu, dirancang berdasarkan standar operasional pelayanan penyakit jantung, dimulai dari tata letak antar intalasi, sampai ke waktu tempuh yang dijadikan acuan dalam merencanakan alur sirkulasi pada rumah sakit khusus jantung. Sirkulasi menjadi penting dalam perancangan rumah sakit khusus jantung, karena kebutuhan akan kecepatan penanganan pada penyakit jantung menjadi hal utama yang harus di perhatikan. Oleh karena itu, sirkulasi menjadi poin utama dalam perancangan rumah sakit khusus jantung di Kota Batu

Outlaw Community Innovations

Recent studies of outlaw communities provide qualitative evidence of their existence and the organisation of the underlying innovation processes. We provide descriptive results from a large scale survey of two online outlaw communities focussing on Microsoft's XBox. In line with previous findings, we identify two types of participants in outlaw communities - user innovators and adopters. Based on 2,256 responses, we find that users modify their XBox mainly to be able to increase the set of available functions of their XBox. Users are also motivated to modify their XBox for the sake of having fun and to conduct pirate behaviour. Finally, the results from our survey suggest that user innovators are largely intrinsically motivated by fun and the intellectual stimulation of writing code for homebrew software

Rethinking place and the social work office in the delivery of children's social work services

Limited attention has been given to the concept of place in social work research and practice. This paper draws on the national evaluation of social work practices (SWPs) in England undertaken between 2009 and 2012. SWPs were pilot organisations providing independent social work services for children in out-of-home care in five sites. One factor distinguishing some of these pilots was their attention to place. The evaluation employed a mixed methods approach and we use data from interviews with 121 children and young people in out-of-home care, 19 birth parents and 31 interviews with SWP staff which explored their views and experiences of the SWP offices. Children and young people were alert to the stigma which could attach to social work premises and appreciated offices which were planned and furnished to appear less institutional and more ‘normal’. Daily interactions with staff which conveyed a sense of recognition and value to service users also contributed to a view of some SWP offices as accessible and welcoming places. Both children and parents appreciated offices that provided fun activities that positioned them as active rather than passive. Staff valued opportunities for influencing planning decisions about offices and place was seen to confer a value on them as well as on service users. However, not all the SWPs were able to achieve these aspects of place, and engaging children and families in place was less likely when the service user population was widely dispersed. Recognising the importance of place and how place is constructed through relationships between people as well as through the physical environment appeared to be key to creating offices that combated the stigma attached to out-of-home care. Those leading and managing children’s services should explore ways of involving local communities in planning social work offices and turn attention to making these offices accessible, welcoming, places

Healthcare choice: Discourses, perceptions, experiences and practices

Policy discourse shaped by neoliberal ideology, with its emphasis on marketisation and competition, has highlighted the importance of choice in the context of healthcare and health systems globally. Yet, evidence about how so-called consumers perceive and experience healthcare choice is in short supply and limited to specific healthcare systems, primarily in the Global North. This special issue aims to explore how choice is perceived and utilised in the context of different systems of healthcare throughout the world, where choice, at least in policy and organisational terms, has been embedded for some time. The articles are divided into those emphasising: embodiment and the meaning of choice; social processes associated with choice; the uncertainties, risks and trust involved in making choices; and issues of access and inequality associated with enacting choice. These sociological studies reveal complexities not always captured in policy discourse and suggest that the commodification of healthcare is particularly problematic

Development and characterization of a single particle laser ablation mass spectrometer (SPLAM) for organic aerosol studies

A single particle instrument was developed for real-time analysis of organic aerosol. This instrument, named Single Particle Laser Ablation Mass Spectrometry (SPLAM), samples particles using an aerodynamic lens system for which the theoretical performances were calculated. At the outlet of this system, particle detection and sizing are realized by using two continuous diode lasers operating at λ = 403 nm. Polystyrene Latex (PSL), sodium chloride (NaCl) and dioctylphtalate (DOP) particles were used to characterize and calibrate optical detection of SPLAM. The optical detection limit (DL) and detection efficiency (DE) were determined using size-selected DOP particles. The DE ranges from 0.1 to 90% for 100 and 350 nm DOP particles respectively and the SPLAM instrument is able to detect and size-resolve particles as small as 110–120 nm. During optical detection, particle scattered light from the two diode lasers, is detected by two photomultipliers and the detected signals are used to trigger UV excimer laser (λ = 248 nm) used for one-step laser desorption ionization (LDI) of individual aerosol particles. The formed ions are analyzed by a 1 m linear time-of-flight mass spectrometer in order to access to the chemical composition of individual particles. The TOF-MS detection limit for gaseous aromatic compounds was determined to be 0.85 × 10<sup>−15</sup> kg (∼4 × 10<sup>3</sup> molecules). DOP particles were also used to test the overall operation of the instrument. The analysis of a secondary organic aerosol, formed in a smog chamber by the ozonolysis of indene, is presented as a first application of the instrument. Single particle mass spectra were obtained with an effective hit rate of 8%. Some of these mass spectra were found to be very different from one particle to another possibly reflecting chemical differences within the investigated indene SOA particles. Our study shows that an exhaustive statistical analysis, over hundreds of particles, and adapted reference mass spectra are further needed to understand the chemical meaning of single particle mass spectra of chemically complex submicrometer-sized organic aerosols

Interaction of reed and acoustic resonator in clarinetlike systems

Sound emergence in clarinetlike instruments is investigated in terms of instability of the static regime. Various models of reed-bore coupling are considered, from the pioneering work of Wilson and Beavers ["Operating modes of the clarinet", J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 56, 653--658 (1974)] to more recent modeling including viscothermal bore losses and vena contracta at the reed inlet. The pressure threshold above which these models may oscillate as well as the frequency of oscillation at threshold are calculated. In addition to Wilson and Beavers' previous conclusions concerning the role of the reed damping in the selection of the register the instrument will play on, the influence of the reed motion induced flow is also emphasized, particularly its effect on playing frequencies, contributing to reduce discrepancies between Wilson and Beavers' experimental results and theory, despite discrepancies still remain concerning the pressure threshold. Finally, analytical approximations of the oscillating solution based on Fourier series expansion are obtained in the vicinity of the threshold of oscillation. This allows to emphasize the conditions which determine the nature of the bifurcation (direct or inverse) through which the note may emerge, with therefore important consequences on the musical playing performances

Assessing the impact of peat erosion on growing season CO2 fluxes by comparing erosional peat pans and surrounding vegetated haggs (article)

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from International Mire Conservation Group and International Peat Society via the DOI in this record.The research data supporting this publication are openly available from the University of Exeter's institutional repository at: https://doi.org/10.24378/exe.1143.Peatlands are recognised as an important but vulnerable ecological resource. Understanding the effects of existing damage, in this case erosion, enables more informed land management decisions to be made. Over the growing seasons of 2013 and 2014 photosynthesis and ecosystem respiration were measured using closed chamber techniques within vegetated haggs and erosional peat pans in Dartmoor National Park, southwest England. Below-ground total and heterotrophic respiration were measured and autotrophic respiration estimated from the vegetated haggs. The mean water table was significantly higher in the peat pans than in the vegetated haggs; because of this, and the switching from submerged to dry peat, there were differences in vegetation composition, photosynthesis and ecosystem respiration. In the peat pans photosynthetic CO2 uptake and ecosystem respiration were greater than in the vegetated haggs and strongly dependent on the depth to water table (r2>0.78, p<0.001). Whilst in the vegetated haggs, photosynthesis and ecosystem respiration had the strongest relationships with normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) (r2=0.82, p<0.001) and soil temperature at 15 cm depth (r2=0.77, p=0.001). Autotrophic and total below-ground respiration in the vegetated haggs varied with soil temperature; heterotrophic respiration increased as water tables fell. An empirically derived net ecosystem model estimated that over the two growing seasons both the vegetated haggs (29 and 20 gC m 2; 95 % confidence intervals of -570 to 762 and -873 to 1105 gC m-2) and the peat pans (7 and 8 gC m 2; 95 % confidence intervals of -147 to 465 and -136 to 436 gC m 2) were most likely net CO2 sources. This study suggests that not only the visibly degraded bare peat pans but also the surrounding vegetated haggs are losing carbon to the atmosphere, particularly during warmer and drier conditions, highlighting a need for ecohydrological restoration.MomentaSouth West Water (SWW)Dartmoor National Park Authorit