The difficult development of parliamentary politics in the Gulf: parliaments and the process of managed reform in Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman

Parliaments have a poor record in the Middle East, often providing a vehicle to enhance the ruling authorities’ control rather than democratic representation. However, since 2011 the demands for political voice in post-revolutionary states have tended to focus on the creation of mass political parties and an effective, and democratic, parliament. This paper examines the development of the parliamentary institutions in three Gulf states: Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman. In each of these countries these institutions have, to some extent, been a forum for the articulation of demands for more political and constitutional power, but have often been prevented from addressing sensitive political issues, and their powers and membership have been manipulated to the benefit of the government. The paper examines how these dynamics have played themselves out in each of the three Gulf states, and reflects on the role that parliamentary institutions might play in the coming years in both managing those states’ political tensions and providing a catalyst for more far-reaching political reform

How does our choice of observable influence our estimation of the centre of a galaxy cluster? Insights from cosmological simulations

Galaxy clusters are an established and powerful test-bed for theories of both galaxy evolution and cosmology. Accurate interpretation of cluster observations often requires robust identification of the location of the centre. Using a statistical sample of clusters drawn from a suite of cosmological simulations in which we have explored a range of galaxy formation models, we investigate how the location of this centre is affected by the choice of observable - stars, hot gas, or the full mass distribution as can be probed by the gravitational potential. We explore several measures of cluster centre: the minimum of the gravitational potential, which would expect to define the centre if the cluster is in dynamical equilibrium; the peak of the density; the centre of BCG; and the peak and centroid of X-ray luminosity. We find that the centre of BCG correlates more strongly with the minimum of the gravitational potential than the X-ray defined centres, while AGN feedback acts to significantly enhance the offset between the peak X-ray luminosity and minimum gravitational potential. These results highlight the importance of centre identification when interpreting clusters observations, in particular when comparing theoretical predictions and observational data.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, MNRAS accepte

Inability of CMIP5 models to simulate recent strengthening of the walker circulation: implications for projections

This paper examines changes in the strength of the Walker circulation (WC) using the pressure difference between the western and eastern equatorial Pacific. Changes in observations and in 35 climate models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) phase 5 (CMIP5) are determined. On the one hand, 78% of the models show a weakening of the WC over the twentieth century, consistent with the observations and previous studies using CMIP phase 3 (CMIP3) models. However, the observations also exhibit a strengthening in the last three decades (i.e., from 1980 to 2012) that is statistically significant at the 95% level. The models, on the other hand, show no consensus on the sign of change, and none of the models shows a statistically significant strengthening over the same period. While the reasons for the inconsistency between models and observations is not fully understood, it is shown that the ability of the models to generate trends as large as the observed from internal variability is reduced because most models have weaker than observed levels of both multidecadal variability and persistence of interannual variability in WC strength. In the twenty-first-century future projections, the WC weakens in 25 out of 35 models, under representative concentration pathway (RCP) 8.5, 9 out of 11 models under RCP6.0, 16 out of 18 models under RCP4.5, and 12 out of 15 models under RCP2.6. The projected decrease is also consistent with results obtained previously using models from CMIP3. However, as the reasons for the inconsistency between modeled and observed trends in the last three decades are not fully understood, confidence in the model projections is reduced

If you build it, they may not come: Why Australian university students do not take part in outbound mobility experiences.

Universities around the world seek to internalise students to prepare them for an increasingly globalised world. Outbound mobility experiences (OMEs) are recognised as one of the most effective ways to foster independent thinking, cultural sensitivity, and a sense of 'worldmindedness'. This article takes a case study from an Australian university and explores efforts to increase student participation rates in OMEs

Calcitonin: characterisation and expression in a teleost fish, Fugu rubripes

The present report describes the structure and expression of the calcitonin gene in Fugu rubripes. It is composed of 4 exons and 3 introns. Splicing of exons 1, 2 and 3 generates the calcitonin pre-proprotein, while splicing of exons 1, 2 and 4 generates calcitonin gene-related protein (CGRP). Exons 1 and 2 encoding the signal sequence and the N-terminal peptide are common in both the gene products and this gene organisation has been conserved in human, rat, chicken and salmon. The gene environment around calcitonin in Fugu has been poorly conserved when compared with human, apart from a small gene cluster. The calcitonin gene in Fugu has a widespread tissue distribution but it is most highly expressed in the brain. The abundance of gene expression in the ultimobranchial gland and the pituitary indicates that these are important sites of production and that the peptide is probably secreted into the circulation and/or acts as a paracrine or autocrine controlling factor. Whilst the function of calcitonin in fish is still largely unknown, the distribution described here suggests that one of the potential functions may be as a neuropeptide.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Forecasting and Optimizing Dual Media Filter Performance via Machine Learning

Four different machine learning algorithms, including Decision Tree (DT), Random Forest (RF), Multivariable Linear Regression (MLR), Support Vector Regressions (SVR), and Gaussian Process Regressions (GPR), were applied to predict the performance of a multi-media filter operating as a function of raw water quality and plant operating variables. The models were trained using data collected over a seven year period covering water quality and operating variables, including true colour, turbidity, plant flow, and chemical dose for chlorine, KMnO4, FeCl3, and Cationic Polymer (PolyDADMAC). The machine learning algorithms have shown that the best prediction is at a 1-day time lag between input variables and unit filter run volume (UFRV). Furthermore, the RF algorithm with grid search using the input metrics mentioned above with a 1-day time lag has provided the highest reliability in predicting UFRV with a RMSE and R2 of 31.58 and 0.98, respectively. Similarly, RF with grid search has shown the shortest training time, prediction accuracy, and forecasting events using a ROC-AUC curve analysis (AUC over 0.8) in extreme wet weather events. Therefore, Random Forest with grid search and a 1-day time lag is an effective and robust machine learning algorithm that can predict the filter performance to aid water treatment operators in their decision makings by providing real-time warning of the potential turbidity breakthrough from the filters

Beyond all expectations : the work of Lutheran Missionaries from Dresden, Germany amongst Aborigines of South Australia, 1838-1853 : two contributions

Introduction / Katrina Karlapina Power, Greg Lockwood and Gerhard Rüdiger -- Dresden Lutheran Mission work among the Aboriginal people of South Australia 1838-1853 / Christine Lockwood -- Beyond their expectations: Teichelmann and Schürmann's efforts to preserve the Kaurna language continue to bear fruit / Dr. Rob Amery --2nd. edition. The first edition of this book was printed 175 years after the voyage to, and arrival of the first two of four young missionaries from Germany in infant South Australia in 1838. Sent out by the Lutheran Dresden Missionary Society, they commenced living and working with Aboriginal people of what is now known as the Adelaide Plains and two years later, at Encounter Bay and on the Eyre Peninsula. The First Australian people of the Kaurna community, the Ramindjeri / Ngarrindjeri community, and the Barngarla community, trusted these missionaries and taught them their languages, beginning at "Piltawodli" [in the new spelling adopted in 2010: Pirltawardli], on the former native location at the Torrens River, in December 1839. The missionaries recorded their languages systematically, and published three dictionaries hoping that their efforts would help establish a better understanding of the Aboriginal people amongst the white fellow settlers. This did not happen. On the contrary, relations quickly deteriorated. Within 10 years, the missionaries gave up their work due to the lack of financial support and the dispersal of most of the Aboriginal people with whom they had been in contact. As not one of them had converted to Christianity, the Australian mission was considered a failure. However, since the late 1980s, the three dictionaries have come into good use. The Aboriginal people in South Australia, descendants of their forefathers at the time of invasion, use these records to reclaim their languages and thus their culture and identity

Future Design of Accessibility in Games : A Design Vocabulary

Games represent one of the most significant cultural artefacts of this century. They are a massive force in economies around the world and are enjoyed by millions of players worldwide. With their cultural significance firmly in place, it is important to ensure that all people can participate in and play games in order to feel included in our wider society. For people with disabilities, games in particular provide a cultural outlet where they can be included with everyone else, and enabled to do things on an even footing with their non-disabled peers. However, this only happens if we create the necessary design environments that provide inclusive opportunities to game alongside the rest of the player base. Guidelines have been successful in raising awareness of accessibility in games and still function well for evaluating finished games. However, they are not the generative design thinking tools that developers need. Further in being divided to address specific disabilities, they are not capturing the diversity of needs of players with disabilities and the personalised and idiosyncratic adaptations that they make in order to play. We therefore propose developing a vocabulary and language of game accessibility which is no longer about whether someone can perceive or operate an interactive technology, but instead as to whether they can have the experience they want to have. We propose the structure for such a vocabulary showing that it needs to distinguish between access to controls, enablement to meet the challenges of the game and the player experience itself. We show how the intermediate-level knowledge embodied in guidelines can be reformulated in this way to be more generative and so support designers to develop games that deliver accessible player experiences

Jafari and Transformation: A Model to enhance short-term overseas study tours

This paper promotes a reconstructed Jafari (1987) tourism model as a framework to understand the various components of the student and staff travel experience while participating in an outbound mobility experience (OME), especially short-term overseas study trips. Working through each of the components of the Jafari model allows recognition of the changing needs and requirements of both students and staff throughout an OME and the tensions that accompany this relationship