Rethinking fieldwork education and practice in Southern Africa: lessons from Botswana

A conference paper on the education of social worker's' fieldwork practice in Botswana.The purpose of this paper is not so much to critique what is currently the practice of fieldwork in southern Africa in general, and in Botswana in particular. Major discussions regarding the role of fieldwork education in the context of a developing country have been debated at length by several authors (Kaseke, 1986; Muzaale, 1988; Ankrah, 1986; Hall, 1990, Njau, 1986). The main focus of this paper, therefore, is to consider, from a developmental and organisational perspective, ideally what ought to become offield education with particular reference to Botswana. This approach to field education, obviously, does not suggest a blueprint, but rather a working framework for contextualised fieldwork education in Botswana. The approach is therefore tentative and exploratory. An attempt will be made to map out a plausible alternative to fieldwork education for Botswana. Logically, the practice of fieldwork cannot be divorced from the dominant social work education methodology and issues pertaining to the Department of Social Work’s “organisational competence”. The bottom line, however, is that social work education in Botswana lacks structural cohesiveness as a necessary condition to spearhead a unity of purpose and a sense of community among all those with a stake in it (that is, practitioners, educators, students and client constituencies). The practice of fieldwork, therefore, is conceptualised as positing plausible opportunities for organised and purposeful social involvement based on the principle of: social work for development with equality and justice. The focus of fieldwork, we argue, should be woven around the production and the delivery of services to communities by those who have a major stake in the process, specifically, social work students and educators.Overseas Development Administration, British Development Division, Central Africa; British Council

Succession narratives in family business: the case of Alessi

One of the most significant challenges facing family firms is how to successfully manage succession from one generation of leaders to the next. In this paper, we contribute to existing understandings of this complex and difficult process by exploring how successors use family business succession narratives to legitimate their succession. Building on a case study of Alessi, a family-owned Italian design firm, we draw on the literature on organizational narratives to develop a framework for understanding family business succession narratives and present a typology of some of the narrative strategies that can be used during succession. We conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and practical ramifications of a narrative view of succession in family firms

Assessing the influence of the rhizosphere on soil hydraulic properties using X-ray Computed Tomography and numerical modelling

Understanding the dynamics of water distribution in soil is crucial for enhancing our knowledge of managing soil and water resources. The application of X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) to the plant and soil sciences is now well established. However, few studies have utilised the technique for visualising water in soil pore spaces. Here we utilise this method to visualise the water in soil in situ and in three-dimensions at successive reductive matric potentials in bulk and rhizosphere soil. The measurements are combined with numerical modelling to determine the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, providing a complete picture of the hydraulic properties of the soil. The technique was performed on soil cores that were sampled adjacent to established roots (rhizosphere soil) and from soil that had not been influenced by roots (bulk soil). A water release curve was obtained for the different soil types using measurements of their pore geometries derived from CT imaging and verified using conventional methods e.g. pressure plates. The water, soil and air phases from the images were segmented and quantified using image analysis. The water release characteristics obtained for the contrasting soils showed clear differences in hydraulic properties between rhizosphere and bulk soil, especially in clay soil. The data suggests that soils influenced by roots (rhizosphere soil) are less porous due to increased aggregation when compared to bulk soil. The information and insights obtained on the hydraulic properties of rhizosphere and bulk soil will enhance our understanding of rhizosphere biophysics and improve current water uptake models

Recording, monitoring and managing the conservation of historic sites : a new application for BGS Sigma

Historic Environment Scotland (HES), a non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government charged with safeguarding the nation’s historic environment, is directly responsible for 335 sites of national significance, most of which are built from stone. Similar to other heritage organisations, HES needs a system that can store and present conservation and maintenance information for historic sites; ideally, the same system could be used to plan effective programmes of maintenance and repair. To meet this need, the British Geological Survey (BGS) has worked with HES to develop an integrated digital site assessment system that provides a refined survey process for stone-built (and other) historic sites. Based on the BGS System for Integrated Geoscience Mapping (BGS▪SIGMA)—an integrated workflow underpinned by a geo-spatial platform for data capture and interpretation—the system is built on top of ESRI’s ArcGIS software, and underpinned by a relational database. Users can populate custom-built data entry forms to record maintenance issues and repair specifications for architectural elements ranging from individual blocks of stone to entire building elevations. Photographs, sketches, and digital documents can be linked to architectural elements to enhance the usability of the data. Predetermined data fields and supporting dictionaries constrain the input parameters to ensure a high degree of consistency and facilitate data extraction and querying. Presenting the data within a GIS provides a versatile planning tool for scheduling works, specifying materials, identifying skills needed for repairs, and allocating resources. The overall condition of a site can be monitored accurately over time by repeating the survey at regular intervals (e.g. every 5 years). Other datasets can be linked to the database and other geospatially referenced datasets can be superimposed in GIS, adding considerably to the scope and utility of the system. The system can be applied to any geospatially referenced object in a wide range of situations thus providing many potential applications in conservation, archaeology and related fields

Ecology of the Oceanic Rim: Pelagic Eels as Key Ecosystem Components

Although 92% of the total volume of the world’s oceans occurs below a depth of 200 m, our understanding of deep-sea food webs lags far behind that of continental shelves. In particular, little is known about the exchange of biomass at the interface of continental margins and deep-sea ecosystems. Recent studies suggest that the transport of organic matter from continental shelves may influence deep-sea ecosystems more than previously thought. Here, we present results of a pelagic nekton survey along the southern slope of Georges Bank, NW Atlantic, a transition area between coastal and deep-sea environments. Specimens were collected as part of the Census of Marine Life program Gulf of Maine Area project. Macrocrustacea (primarily sergestid shrimps and large euphausiids) dominated the total nekton (all taxa) numbers and biomass. Of the 85 deep-pelagic fish species collected during this cruise, the slender snipe eel Nemichthys scolopaceus (Anguilliformes: Nemichthyidae) ranked first in biomass and second in abundance. Microscopic analysis of N. scolopaceus gut contents revealed a predominance of large euphausiid and decapod prey. Other abundant potential prey, such as zooplankton, fish, and cephalopods, were absent from the diet, suggesting discriminatory feeding. Considering the relative biomass dominance of sergestid shrimps, large euphausiids, and pelagic eels in this system, the ecological interaction described here likely represents a major trophic pathway in this and similar ‘oceanic rim’ ecosystems

Electromagnetic Actuated stirring in Microbioreactors enabling easier multiplexing & flexible device design

This paper was presented at the 4th Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2014), which was held at University College, London, UK. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Italian Union of Thermofluiddynamics, IPEM, the Process Intensification Network, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Heat Transfer Society, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group, and the Energy Institute, ASME Press, LCN London Centre for Nanotechnology, UCL University College London, UCL Engineering, the International NanoScience Community, www.nanopaprika.eu.The development of a novel electromagnetically (EM) actuated stirring method, for use in microbioreactors, is reported. Mixing in microbioreactors is critical to ensure even distribution of nutrients to microorganisms and cells. Magnetically driven stirrer bars or peristaltic mixing are the most commonly utilised mixing methods employed in completely liquid-filled microbioreactors. However the circular reactor shape required for mixing with a stirrer bar and frequently used for peristaltically mixed microbioreactors presents difficulties for bubble-free priming in a microfluidic bioreactor. Moreover the circular shape and the hardware required for both types of mixing reduces the potential packing density of multiplexed reactors. We present a new method of mixing, displaying design flexibility by demonstrating mixing in circular and diamond-shaped reactors and a duplex diamond reactor and fermentation of the gram-positive bacteria S. carnosus in a diamond-shaped microbioreactor system. The results of the optimisation of this mixing method for performing fermentations alongside both batch and continuous culture fermentations are presented

On Overcoming Barriers to Application of Neuroinflammation Research

Throughout history, new ideas in medicine or science have met initial resistance by entrenched medical or scientific communities. Barriers to medical innovation fall into six main categories as listed here in order of historical chronology: (1) Theological, (2) Academic, (3) Scientific, (4) Financial, (5) Governmental, and (6) Commercial. Researchers in the field of neuroinflammation often encounter such obstacles that may include denialism. Despite these barriers, recognition of the therapeutic potential of targeting neuroinflammation for treatment of stroke, traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer’s disease, spinal pain, and a variety of additional brain disorders has accelerated in the past 10 years. Consequently, a paradigm shift in scientific thinking regarding neuroinflammation as a therapeutic target is now underway

Complete Sequences of Organelle Genomes from the Medicinal Plant Rhazya Stricta (Apocynaceae) and Contrasting Patterns of Mitochondrial Genome Evolution Across Asterids

Rhazya stricta is native to arid regions in South Asia and the Middle East and is used extensively in folk medicine to treat a wide range of diseases. In addition to generating genomic resources for this medicinally important plant, analyses of the complete plastid and mitochondrial genomes and a nuclear transcriptome from Rhazya provide insights into inter-compartmental transfers between genomes and the patterns of evolution among eight asterid mitochondrial genomes. Results: The 154,841 bp plastid genome is highly conserved with gene content and order identical to the ancestral organization of angiosperms. The 548,608 bp mitochondrial genome exhibits a number of phenomena including the presence of recombinogenic repeats that generate a multipartite organization, transferred DNA from the plastid and nuclear genomes, and bidirectional DNA transfers between the mitochondrion and the nucleus. The mitochondrial genes sdh3 and rps14 have been transferred to the nucleus and have acquired targeting presequences. In the case of rps14, two copies are present in the nucleus; only one has a mitochondrial targeting presequence and may be functional. Phylogenetic analyses of both nuclear and mitochondrial copies of rps14 across angiosperms suggests Rhazya has experienced a single transfer of this gene to the nucleus, followed by a duplication event. Furthermore, the phylogenetic distribution of gene losses and the high level of sequence divergence in targeting presequences suggest multiple, independent transfers of both sdh3 and rps14 across asterids. Comparative analyses of mitochondrial genomes of eight sequenced asterids indicates a complicated evolutionary history in this large angiosperm clade with considerable diversity in genome organization and size, repeat, gene and intron content, and amount of foreign DNA from the plastid and nuclear genomes. Conclusions: Organelle genomes of Rhazya stricta provide valuable information for improving the understanding of mitochondrial genome evolution among angiosperms. The genomic data have enabled a rigorous examination of the gene transfer events. Rhazya is unique among the eight sequenced asterids in the types of events that have shaped the evolution of its mitochondrial genome. Furthermore, the organelle genomes of R. stricta provide valuable genomic resources for utilizing this important medicinal plant in biotechnology applications.King Abdulaziz UniversityIntegrative Biolog

Optimal classical-communication-assisted local model of n-qubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger correlations

We present a model, motivated by the criterion of reality put forward by Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen and supplemented by classical communication, which correctly reproduces the quantum-mechanical predictions for measurements of all products of Pauli operators on an n-qubit GHZ state (or ``cat state''). The n-2 bits employed by our model are shown to be optimal for the allowed set of measurements, demonstrating that the required communication overhead scales linearly with n. We formulate a connection between the generation of the local values utilized by our model and the stabilizer formalism, which leads us to conjecture that a generalization of this method will shed light on the content of the Gottesman-Knill theorem.Comment: New version - expanded and revised to address referee comment