Descandalizing Laing: R.D. Laing as a social theorist

The scandal surrounding R.D. Laing’s work concerns both his life and his theories. Given that there is sufficient biographical material on Laing already in existence, this thesis focuses upon his theoretical contributions. No substantial review and critique of the criticism of Laing is currently in existence. The main objectives of this thesis are to evaluate the critiques of Laing, and to examine these in the light of his contributions to social theory. The critiques of Laing fall into three main categories: conservative critiques by psychiatrists, feminist critiques, and left-wing criticism. The methodological problems involved in the production of a critique are highlighted within each category of criticism. Some of the critiques of Laing constitute little other than criticism of the critic’s own misreading and misinterpretation of his work, which omit the lack of textual evidence to support the critic’s claims. The lines of development of key concepts within Laing’s work, and his intentions for his projects, may be ignored. Laing’s feminist critics view his work as prejudiced against women

Unemployment and training reform: A critical analysis of Australian Federal Government policy 1983 to 1993

Unemployment levels in Australia are a problem that have confronted governments since the mid-1970\u27s. Since the 1983 election, Labor Government policy has sought to combat unemployment by linking training reform within the parameters of economic restructuring. This thesis argues from a critical perspective that Australian Labor Government unemployment and training reform policies aim to develop people\u27s economic potential rather than their personal potential. To this end, six policy documents form the basis of the analysis. There are four Reports (Australia Reconstructed, \u27Finn\u27, \u27Carmichael\u27 and \u27Mayer\u27), one Policy Statement (One Nation), and one Discussion Paper (\u27The Employment Green Paper\u27). The thesis sets out to critically challenge the Government\u27s \u27taken-for-granted\u27 strategy of international competitiveness to solve the unemployment problem. Drawing on critical policy analysis, the themes of economic rationalism, unemployment, active citizenship, post-Fordism, globalisation and training reform provide a framework for discussion. Rather than addressing the problem of unemployment, Government policies tend to alienate the growing number of unemployed people, devalue their self-worth, extend Australia\u27s indebtedness, allow greater foreign control of our wealth, and, transform the education and training system into a carefully managed production process focusing on economic ends. In this context, the thesis asks the critical question of \u27who benefits?\u27 Structural impediments restrict the overall benefits to unemployed people. Policy delivery stakeholders benefit from increased use of their services. Employers stand to benefit through a supply of subsidised labour. Large corporations stand to benefit because they abdicate their responsibility for employing large numbers of people. Finally, the burden of employment shifts to the small business sector thereby allowing \u27defacto\u27 subsidisation of large corporations\u27 profits as they \u27downsize\u27 their workforce. As an alternative, the thesis develops the strategy of self-reliance as a way forward. Australia can ac/1ieve self-reliance by shutting out imports that it can produce and by focusing on production suitable to the nation\u27s natural advantages. Reintroduction of labour intensive industries would largely solve the unemployment problem. In addition, a reversal of current training reform towards a \u27whole person\u27 approach is necessary. Individuals need to develop their own sense of self-reliance. This includes becoming more informed about their own society and pursuing a lifestyle based on the idea of personal potential. The thesis concludes that Government unemployment and train1ng policies aim to develop people\u27s economic potential rather than their personal potential, because of the Government\u27s commitment to dominant economic interests. A strategy of national and individual self-reliance, can reverse the current trend toward international competitiveness and increase Australia\u27s control over its own destiny

Two-dimensional mapping of triaxial strain fields in a multiferroic BiFeO3 thin film using scanning x-ray microdiffraction

The dramatically enhanced polarizations and saturation magnetizations observed in the epitaxially constrained BiFeO3 (BFO) thin films with their pronounced grain-orientation dependence have attracted much attention and are attributed largely to the constrained in-plane strain. Thus, it is highly desirable to directly obtain information on the two-dimensional (2D) distribution of the in-plane strain and its correlation with the grain orientation of each corresponding microregion. Here the authors report a 2D quantitative mapping of the grain orientation and the local triaxial strain field in a 250 nm thick multiferroic BFO film using a synchrotron x-ray microdiffraction technique. This direct scanning measurement demonstrates that the deviatoric component of the in-plane strain tensor is between 5x10(-3) and 6x10(-3) and that the local triaxial strain is fairly well correlated with the grain orientation in that particular region. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.X1145Nsciescopu

Localization of Two-dimensional Electron Gas in LaAlO3/SrTiO3 Heterostructures

We report strong localization of 2D electron gas in LaAlO3 / SrTiO3 epitaxial thin-film heterostructures grown on (LaAlO3)0.3-(Sr2AlTaO3)0.7 substrates by using pulsed laser deposition with in-situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction. Using longitudinal and transverse magnetotransport measurements, we have determined that disorder at the interface influences the conduction behavior, and that increasing the carrier concentration by growing at lower oxygen partial pressure changes the conduction from strongly localized at low carrier concentration to metallic at higher carrier concentration, with indications of weak localization. We interpret this behavior in terms of a changing occupation of Ti 3d bands near the interface, each with a different spatial extent and susceptibility to localization by disorder, and differences in carrier confinement due to misfit strain and point defects.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

Conductance asymmetry in point-contacts on epitaxial thin films of Ba(Fe0.92_{0.92}Co0.08_{0.08})2_2As2_2

Point-contact spectroscopy is a powerful tool for probing superconductors. One of the most common observations in the point-contact spectra on the recently discovered ferropnictide superconductors is a large conductance asymmetry with respect to voltage across the point-contact. In this paper we show that the antisymmetric part of the point-contact spectrum between a silver tip and an epitaxial thin film of Ba(Fe$_{0.92}$Co$_{0.08}$)$_2$As$_2$ shows certain unique features. These features have an interesting evolution with increasing temperature up to a temperature that is 30% larger than the critical temperature $T_c$ of the superconductor. We argue that this evolution can be associated with the rich normal state properties of these materials.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Reconciling place attachment with catchment-based flood risk management:What can we learn from film?

A catchment-based approach to flood risk management (FRM) is gaining prominence in the United Kingdom. It is undertaken with wider awareness of multiple stakeholders, as part of a catchment scale understanding, and, as with other approaches, can visually re-shape place. Land cover and land management change at this scale also has the potential to reconfigure landscape values and place attachment. Researchers have used qualitative, quantitative, and mapping approaches to understand place attachment. Here we explore secondary data, specifically, we transcribe and code the stories of five Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire residents from the short film, Calder about the December 26, 2015 floods. We find place attachment, identity, and social capital are interconnected and feature strongly in the mitigation and prevention phase, post-disaster. Our findings suggest better understanding of place attachment can support a more catchment scale approach to FRM policy and practice

Reducing the Cost of Being the Boss : Authentic Leadership Suppresses the Effect of Role Stereotype Conflict on Antisocial Behaviors in Leaders and Entrepreneurs

What drives entrepreneurs to engage in antisocial economic behaviors? Without dismissing entrepreneurs' agency in their decision-making processes, our study aims to answer this question by proposing that antisocial economic behaviors are a dysfunctional coping mechanism to reduce the psychological tension that entrepreneurs face in their day-to-day activities. Further, given the overlap between the male gender role stereotype and both leader and entrepreneur role stereotypes, this psychological tension should be stronger in female entrepreneurs (or any person who identifies with the female gender role). We argue that besides the well-established female gender role - leader role incongruence, female entrepreneurs also suffer a female gender role - entrepreneur role incongruence. Thus, we predicted that men (or those identifying with the male gender role) or entrepreneurs (regardless of their gender identity) that embrace these roles stereotypes to an extreme, are more likely to engage in antisocial economic behaviors. In this context, the term antisocial economic behaviors refers to cheating or trying to harm competitors' businesses. Finally, we predicted that embracing an authentic leadership style might mitigate this effect. We tested our predictions in two laboratory studies (Phase 1 and 2). For Phase 1 we recruited a sample of French Business school students (N = 82). For Phase 2 we recruited a sample of Costa Rican male and female entrepreneurs, using male and female managers as reference groups (N = 64). Our results show that authentic leadership reduced the likelihood of entrepreneurs and men of engaging in antisocial economic behaviors such as trying to harm one's competition or seeking an unfair advantage

The in vivo study of cardiac mechano-electric and mechano-mechanical coupling during heart development in zebrafish

In the adult heart, acute adaptation of electrical and mechanical activity to changes in mechanical load occur

Calculation of a complete set of spin observables for proton elastic scattering from stable and unstable nuclei

A microscopic study of proton elastic scattering from unstable nuclei at intermediate energies using a relativistic formalism is presented. We have employed both the original relativistic impulse approximation (IA1) and the generalised impulse approximation (IA2) formalisms to calculate the relativistic optical potentials, with target densities derived from relativistic mean field (RMF) theory using the NL3 and FSUGold parameter sets. Comparisons between the optical potentials computed using both IA1 and IA2 formalisms, and the different RMF Lagrangians are presented for both stable and unstable targets. The comparisons are required to study the effect of using IA1 versus IA2 optical potentials, with different RMF parameter sets, on elastic scattering observables for unstable targets at intermediate energies. We also study the effect of full-folding versus the factorized form of the optical potentials on elastic scattering observables. As with the case for stable nuclei, we found that the use of the full-folding optical potential improves the scattering observables (especially spin observables) at low intermediate energy (e.g. 200MeV). No discernible difference is found at a projectile incident energy of 500 MeV. To check the validity of using localized optical potential, we calculate the scattering observables using non-local potentials by solving the momentum space Dirac equation. The Dirac equation is transformed to two coupled Lippmann-Schwinger equations, which are then numerically solved to obtain elastic scattering observables. The results are discussed and compared to calculations involving local coordinate-space optical potentials