Technical assistance, neo-colonialism or mutual trade? The experience of an Anglo/Ukrainian/Russian social work practice learning project

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union there has been a steady stream of Western consultants ready to work in Eastern Europe and Russia and share professional and academic expertise and experience. Social work, unknown as a discrete discipline or profession in the Soviet Union, has been a growth area with funding from a variety of sources to help promote East-West partnerships.Social work theory and practice emphasises critical appraisal of policy and embraces issues of power, discrimination and oppression. Social work educators should therefore be especially alert to the complex ethical questions which these kinds of collaborations raise, and adept at finding practical solutions or workable compromises. This article explores these ethical and political issues with reference to a project to develop social work practice learning in a Russian oblast' (region). The project was an ambitious partnership of British, Ukrainian and Russian educators, involving numerous Russian social work and related agencies, and four Russian universities and colleges in one oblast'. The authors use a series of vignettes to help the reader achieve insights into these East-West transactions. The article concludes with a discussion of different interpretations of these dealings, using three prisms: technical assistance, neo-colonialism and mutual trade

On the classification of conditionally integrable evolution systems in (1+1) dimensions

We generalize earlier results of Fokas and Liu and find all locally analytic (1+1)-dimensional evolution equations of order $n$ that admit an $N$-shock type solution with $N\leq n+1$. To this end we develop a refinement of the technique from our earlier work (A. Sergyeyev, J. Phys. A: Math. Gen, 35 (2002), 7653--7660), where we completely characterized all (1+1)-dimensional evolution systems \bi{u}_t=\bi{F}(x,t,\bi{u},\p\bi{u}/\p x,...,\p^n\bi{u}/\p x^n) that are conditionally invariant under a given generalized (Lie--B\"acklund) vector field \bi{Q}(x,t,\bi{u},\p\bi{u}/\p x,...,\p^k\bi{u}/\p x^k)\p/\p\bi{u} under the assumption that the system of ODEs \bi{Q}=0 is totally nondegenerate. Every such conditionally invariant evolution system admits a reduction to a system of ODEs in $t$, thus being a nonlinear counterpart to quasi-exactly solvable models in quantum mechanics. Keywords: Exact solutions, nonlinear evolution equations, conditional integrability, generalized symmetries, reduction, generalized conditional symmetries MSC 2000: 35A30, 35G25, 81U15, 35N10, 37K35, 58J70, 58J72, 34A34Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX 2e, now uses hyperre

Symmetry classification of third-order nonlinear evolution equations. Part I: Semi-simple algebras

We give a complete point-symmetry classification of all third-order evolution equations of the form $u_t=F(t,x,u,u_x, u_{xx})u_{xxx}+G(t,x,u,u_x, u_{xx})$ which admit semi-simple symmetry algebras and extensions of these semi-simple Lie algebras by solvable Lie algebras. The methods we employ are extensions and refinements of previous techniques which have been used in such classifications.Comment: 53 page

The nonabelian Liouville-Arnold integrability by quadratures problem: a symplectic approach

A symplectic theory approach is devised for solving the problem of algebraic-analytical construction of integral submanifold imbeddings for integrable (via the nonabelian Liouville-Arnold theorem) Hamiltonian systems on canonically symplectic phase spaces

New results on group classification of nonlinear diffusion-convection equations

Using a new method and additional (conditional and partial) equivalence transformations, we performed group classification in a class of variable coefficient $(1+1)$-dimensional nonlinear diffusion-convection equations of the general form $f(x)u_t=(D(u)u_x)_x+K(u)u_x.$ We obtain new interesting cases of such equations with the density $f$ localized in space, which have large invariance algebra. Exact solutions of these equations are constructed. We also consider the problem of investigation of the possible local trasformations for an arbitrary pair of equations from the class under consideration, i.e. of describing all the possible partial equivalence transformations in this class.Comment: LaTeX2e, 19 page

Safeguarding children in dentistry: 1. Child protection training, experience and practice of dental professionals with an interest in paediatric dentistry

* Few dental professionals with child protection training have experience of making referrals. * There is a wide gap in practice between recognising signs of child abuse and neglect and responding effectively. * This may indicate missed opportunities to save children from continuing abuse. * There is a need for improved child protection information, support and training for dental professionals. Abstract Following several highly publicised inquiries into the deaths of children from abuse and neglect, there has been much recent interest in the role and responsibility of all health professionals to protect children at risk of maltreatment. The findings of a postal questionnaire, sent in March 2005 to 789 dentists and dental care professionals with an interest in paediatric dentistry working in varied settings in the UK, are presented in a two-part report and discussed in the context of current multi-agency good practice in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. This first part explores reported child protection training, experience and practice. There was a significant gap between recognising signs of abuse and responding effectively: 67% of respondents had suspected abuse or neglect of a child patient at some time in their career but only 29% had ever made a child protection referral. The dental profession is alerted to the need to ensure necessary appropriate action to safeguard children is always taken when child abuse or neglect are suspected

Technical report: Modeling nitrate leaching risk from specialty crop fields during on-farm managed floodwater recharge in the Kings Groundwater Basin and the potential for its management

This project has focused on better understanding the potential impact of On-Farm Flood Capture and Recharge (OFFCR) on groundwater quality pertaining to salts and nitrate and on assessing potential management opportunities. To achieve these goals, we used a combination of field and modeling studies. For the field study, soil cores were taken to a depth of 30 feet in replicate across fields with three different specialty crops identified as important to the San Joaquin Valley (tomatoes, almonds, vineyards) and with potential suitability for OFFCR. A prime goal of the field study was to provide data for parameterizing two models developed to assess nitrate, salt and water transport through the vadose zone, prior to percolating into the groundwater aquifer. However, the field study also resulted in key findings that show its value as a stand-alone study: 1) Nitrate concentrations are highest in the upper vadose zone and affected by texture. Those effects are not evident in the deeper vadose zone. 2) Vadose zone nitrate concentrations are affected by the crop grown. These results suggest an opportunity for lower legacy mass transport for grapes and higher legacy mass transport for both tomatoes and almonds. 3) Variability in individual farmers’ past and present fertilizer and water management practices contributes to different legacy salt and nitrate loads in the vadose zone. Data from the field study and other related and concurrent OFFCR field efforts were used during model development. The overall modeling approach was designed to model nitrate and salt transport for lands under OFFCR operation for different crop types, vadose zone characteristics and groundwater characteristics. The defined goals of this design and modeling approach were to: 1) model nitrate and salt movement through the vadose zone and into groundwater; 2) test the model against scenarios that consider different recharge rates, cultural practices, soil types, and depths to groundwater, assessing the timing and magnitude of loading through the vadose zone and the effects on underlying groundwater; and 3) recommend management practices to mitigate potential groundwater impacts. To achieve these goals, two models were integrated to simulate nitrate and salt transport through the vadose zone to groundwater under different scenarios: a 1D Hydrus model and an analytical groundwater model (AGM)

Four decades of Antarctic surface elevation changes from multi-mission satellite altimetry

We developed a multi-mission satellite altimetry analysis over the Antarctic Ice Sheet which comprises Seasat, Geosat, ERS-1, ERS-2, Envisat, ICESat and CryoSat-2. After a consistent reprocessing and a stepwise calibration of the inter-mission offsets, we obtained monthly grids of multi-mission surface elevation change (SEC) with respect to the reference epoch 09/2010 (in the format of month/year) from 1978 to 2017. A validation with independent elevation changes from in situ and airborne observations as well as a comparison with a firn model proves that the different missions and observation modes have been successfully combined to a seamless multi-mission time series. For coastal East Antarctica, even Seasat and Geosat provide reliable information and, hence, allow for the analysis of four decades of elevation changes. The spatial and temporal resolution of our result allows for the identification of when and where significant changes in elevation occurred. These time series add detailed information to the evolution of surface elevation in such key regions as Pine Island Glacier, Totten Glacier, Dronning Maud Land or Lake Vostok. After applying a density mask, we calculated time series of mass changes and found that the Antarctic Ice Sheet north of 81.5∘&thinsp;S was losing mass at an average rate of -85±16&thinsp;Gt&thinsp;yr−1 between 1992 and 2017, which accelerated to -137±25&thinsp;Gt&thinsp;yr−1 after 2010.</p

Group Analysis of Variable Coefficient Diffusion-Convection Equations. I. Enhanced Group Classification

We discuss the classical statement of group classification problem and some its extensions in the general case. After that, we carry out the complete extended group classification for a class of (1+1)-dimensional nonlinear diffusion--convection equations with coefficients depending on the space variable. At first, we construct the usual equivalence group and the extended one including transformations which are nonlocal with respect to arbitrary elements. The extended equivalence group has interesting structure since it contains a non-trivial subgroup of non-local gauge equivalence transformations. The complete group classification of the class under consideration is carried out with respect to the extended equivalence group and with respect to the set of all point transformations. Usage of extended equivalence and correct choice of gauges of arbitrary elements play the major role for simple and clear formulation of the final results. The set of admissible transformations of this class is preliminary investigated.Comment: 25 page

Realizations of Real Low-Dimensional Lie Algebras

Using a new powerful technique based on the notion of megaideal, we construct a complete set of inequivalent realizations of real Lie algebras of dimension no greater than four in vector fields on a space of an arbitrary (finite) number of variables. Our classification amends and essentially generalizes earlier works on the subject. Known results on classification of low-dimensional real Lie algebras, their automorphisms, differentiations, ideals, subalgebras and realizations are reviewed.Comment: LaTeX2e, 39 pages. Essentially exetended version. Misprints in Appendix are correcte