6,931 research outputs found
The Membership Journey: Understanding and Boosting Membership Today
This is the final version. Available from the University of Sheffield via the link in this record.Membership is an important part of the working of a healthy democratic system. Yet in a
world where individual and sporadic engagement is becoming the norm, membership of
political organisations is increasingly unusual.
• Membership organisations now regularly confront challenges in recruiting, activating and
retaining members.
• Membership can be usefully understood as a journey, not a series of disconnected stages.
This journey is underpinned by three factors:
1) MOTIVATION
2) PROCESS
3) TRIGGER
• By understanding these factors, organisations can better recruit, activate and retain
members.
• Organisations wishing to address membership challenges can take the following actions:
* Understanding motivation: collect and communicate members’ reasons for
joining; feedback members on the outcomes of their campaigning activity; target
specific events around specific motivations; thank members for engaging and
volunteering time
* Understanding process: conduct mystery shopper exercises to see how easy it
is to join and get involved with your organisation; install a direct debit system
by default; share best practice in recruitment, retention and activation; offer
lifetime membership; highlight motivations for joining and remaining in the
party online
* Understanding triggers: identify existing events, activities and catalysts for
joining or taking action in an organisation, piggyback on external events and
campaigns that might drive people to your organisation; orchestrate events that
might cultivate engagement and boost membership; mainstream membership
recruitment and engagement as a part of ongoing activities; ensure that triggers
are the only cause of membership lossThis report was produced as part of a wider research project ‘Renewing Party Politics’
that is funded by the ESRC (Grant number: ES/N01667X/1)
Reflexivity of the translation-dilation algebras on L^2(R)
The hyperbolic algebra A_h, studied recently by Katavolos and Power, is the
weak star closed operator algebra on L^2(R) generated by H^\infty(R), as
multiplication operators, and by the dilation operators V_t, t \geq 0, given by
V_t f(x) = e^{t/2} f(e^t x). We show that A_h is a reflexive operator algebra
and that the four dimensional manifold Lat A_h (with the natural topology) is
the reflexive hull of a natural two dimensional subspace.Comment: 10 pages, no figures To appear in the International Journal of
Mathematic
Crop residue conservation during fallow and erosion risk in west central Saskatchewan
Non-Peer ReviewedSummerfallow is considered to be a necessary practice to replenish soil moisture reserves in much of west central Saskatchewan. Unfortunately, this practice has been largely responsible for severe erosion in the
past. Recently many farmers have attempted to keep more crop residue on the soil surface, by using herbicides and wide blade cultivators to control weeds during the fallow period. Much of the increase in these practices has been due to assistance programs provided by PFRA, Saskatchewan Agriculture (e.g., Save Our Soils (SOS) program), Ducks Unlimited and other organizations. This paper looks at the effectiveness of these projects in mainta1n1ng crop residue to minimize erosion. Included are evaluations of weed control, costs, subsequent crop yields and farmer perceptions. Results of a crop residue survey are also presented. This survey provides a good comparison with the project fields. It also enables one to forecast erosion potential for the following winter, spring, and summer seasons. While the paper focuses mainly on 1988 activities, it should be noted that similar work was done in 1986-87
Conquering the great divide: Rural mothers of children with chronic health conditions accessing specialist medical care for their children
© 2019 Australian College of Nursing Ltd Background: Globally, the number of children with chronic health conditions (CHCs) is increasing and mothers are mostly responsible for their care. Aim: Few studies have focused on rural mothers and their experiences of sourcing health care for their children who have CHCs. The purpose of this study was to explore these experiences. Method: Using a phenomenological approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted in early 2018. The Consolidated criteria for Reporting Qualitative research (COREQ) guidelines were followed. Sixteen rural mothers were interviewed regarding their experiences of accessing health care to provide optimal management of their children's CHC. Findings: Thematic analysis of resulting data revealed the overarching theme ‘Conquering the great divide’. From this overarching theme, four themes emerged. This paper focuses on the first theme, ‘Heading to the big smoke: access’. Discussion: Rural mothers felt challenged accessing health care for their children in the major cities whilst also maintaining routine family life back home. Conclusion: Understanding these rural women's experiences could assist health care professionals to develop strategies to facilitate rural mothers accessing services for their children with a CHC
Monitoring digital election campaigns: assessing the transparency ecosystem in the United Kingdom
Digital election campaigning has undergone increased levels of scrutiny in recent years, with numerous calls for improved transparency. One key innovation has been the creation of online advertising archives offered by social media platforms such as Facebook, Google, and Snapchat. In this article, we compare what we know about digital campaigning in the United Kingdom from official election returns and Facebook and Google’s online advertising archives. We analyse whether both transparency sources provide agreed standards of completeness, consistency, accuracy, and accessibility. We find that – despite the United Kingdom having an effectively world-leading transparency regime – this is not the case. We therefore consider a number of potential reforms to increase knowledge of the workings of campaigns at the national level
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Effects of past climate variability on fire and vegetation in the cerrãdo savanna of the Huanchaca Mesetta, NE Bolivia
Cerrãdo savannas have the greatest fire activity
of all major global land-cover types and play a significant
role in the global carbon cycle. During the 21st century,
temperatures are projected to increase by ∼ 3
â—¦C coupled
with a precipitation decrease of ∼ 20 %. Although these conditions
could potentially intensify drought stress, it is unknown
how that might alter vegetation composition and fire
regimes. To assess how Neotropical savannas responded to
past climate changes, a 14 500-year, high-resolution, sedimentary
record from Huanchaca Mesetta, a palm swamp located
in the cerrãdo savanna in northeastern Bolivia, was analyzed
with phytoliths, stable isotopes, and charcoal. A nonanalogue,
cold-adapted vegetation community dominated the
Lateglacial–early Holocene period (14 500–9000 cal yr BP,
which included trees and C3 Pooideae and C4 Panicoideae
grasses. The Lateglacial vegetation was fire-sensitive and fire
activity during this period was low, likely responding to fuel
availability and limitation. Although similar vegetation characterized
the early Holocene, the warming conditions associated
with the onset of the Holocene led to an initial increase
in fire activity. Huanchaca Mesetta became increasingly firedependent
during the middle Holocene with the expansion
of C4 fire-adapted grasses. However, as warm, dry conditions,
characterized by increased length and severity of the
dry season, continued, fuel availability decreased. The establishment
of the modern palm swamp vegetation occurred at
5000 cal yr BP. Edaphic factors are the first-order control on
vegetation on the rocky quartzite mesetta. Where soils are
sufficiently thick, climate is the second-order control of vegetation
on the mesetta. The presence of the modern palm
swamp is attributed to two factors: (1) increased precipitation
that increased water table levels and (2) decreased frequency
and duration of surazos (cold wind incursions from
Patagonia) leading to increased temperature minima. Natural
(soil, climate, fire) drivers rather than anthropogenic
drivers control the vegetation and fire activity at Huanchaca
Mesetta. Thus the cerrãdo savanna ecosystem of the Huanchaca
Plateau has exhibited ecosystem resilience to major
climatic changes in both temperature and precipitation since
the Lateglacial period
RKKY interaction between adsorbed magnetic impurities in graphene: Symmetry and strain effects
The growing interest in carbon-based spintronics has stimulated a number of
recent theoretical studies on the RKKY interaction in graphene, with the aim of
determining the most energetically favourable alignments between embedded
magnetic moments. The RKKY interaction in undoped graphene decays faster than
expected for conventional two-dimensional materials and recent studies suggest
that the adsorption configurations favoured by many transition-metal impurities
may lead to even shorter ranged decays and possible sign-changing oscillations.
Here we show that these features emerge in a mathematically transparent manner
when the symmetry of the configurations is included in the calculation.
Furthermore, we show that by breaking the symmetry of the graphene lattice, via
uniaxial strain, the decay rate, and hence the range, of the RKKY interaction
can be significantly altered. Our results suggest that magnetic interactions
between adsorbed impurities in graphene can be manipulated by careful strain
engineering of such systems.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, submitte
Experimental Observation of Energy Modulation in Electron Beams Passing Through Terahertz Dielectric Wakefield Structures
We report observation of a strong wakefield induced energy modulation in an
energy-chirped electron bunch passing through a dielectric-lined waveguide.
This modulation can be effectively converted into a spatial modulation forming
micro-bunches with a periodicity of 0.5 - 1 picosecond, hence capable of
driving coherent THz radiation. The experimental results agree well with
theoretical predictions.Comment: v3. Reviewers' suggestions incorporated. Accepted by PR
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