Experimental evidence of differences in the absorption spectra of clustered and isolated ions in erbium doped fibers

The absorption spectra of clustered and isolated ions in erbium-doped germanosilicate fibers have been experimentally studied. The ground state absorption spectra broaden as the degree of erbium-ion clustering increases, indicating that the absorption spectra of clustered ions is significantly different from that of the homogeneous ions. This is confirmed by comparing the broadened absorption spectra with the fibre unbleachable loss spectrum; a direct measurement of the clustered ions. This is the first experimental evidence indicating different absorption cross-sections for the two species of ions in germanosilicate glass, an assumption used in the theoretical description of self-pulsing in erbium doped fiber lasers, but in direct contradiction to the pair-induced quenching model widely used to characterise EDFAs

The Idea of Progress, Industrialization and the Replacement of Indigenous Peoples: The Muskrat Falls Megadam Boondoggle

This essay examines the continuing currency of the idea of progress to justify the state and corporate appropriation of Indigenous peoples' lands and the diminution of their rights. Focusing upon the Innu peoples of the Labrador-Quebec peninsula and the Newfoundland government-sponsored Lower Churchill hydroelectric project, especially its Muskrat Falls megadam component, the essay shows how the megadam is framed by a narrative of progress and a corrupt land claims process that violates Aboriginal title. In this context, I argue that the idea of industry as progress justifies the replacement of Indigenous peoples and their land-based ways of life with appeals to prosperity and sustainable development in which they are rendered insignificant

A World You Do Not Know: Settler Societies, Indigenous Peoples and the Attack on Cultural Diversity

'A World You Do Not Know' explores the wilful ignorance demonstrated by North America’s settlers in establishing their societies on lands already occupied by indigenous nations. Using the Innu of Labrador-Quebec as one powerful contemporary example, Colin Samson shows how the processes of displacement and assimilation today resemble those of the 19th century as the state and corporations scramble for Innu lands. While nation building, capitalism and industrialisation are shown to have undermined indigenous peoples’ wellbeing, the values that guide societies like the Innu are very much alive. The book ends by showcasing how ideas and land-based activities of indigenous groups in Canada and the US are being maintained and recast as ways to address the attack on cultural diversity and move forward to more positive futures

A World You Do Not Know

A World You Do Not Know explores the wilful ignorance demonstrated by North America’s settlers in establishing their societies on lands already occupied by indigenous nations. Using the Innu of Labrador-Quebec as one powerful contemporary example, Colin Samson shows how the processes of displacement and assimilation today resemble those of the 19th century as the state and corporations scramble for Innu lands. While nation building, capitalism and industrialisation are shown to have undermined indigenous peoples’ wellbeing, the values that guide societies like the Innu are very much alive. The book ends by showcasing how ideas and land-based activities of indigenous groups in Canada and the US are being maintained and recast as ways to address the attack on cultural diversity and move forward to more positive futures.; This is a thoughtful book, highlighting the arrogance with which we approach indigenous ways of knowing and being, while also highlighting the continued resistance of indigenous peoples to western colonisation. -David MacDonald, Professor of Political Science, University of Guelph ; A World You Do Not Know explores the wilful ignorance demonstrated by NorthAmerica’s settlers in establishing their societies on lands already occupied by indigenous nations. Using the Innu of Labrador-Quebec as one powerful contemporary example, Colin Samson shows how the processes of displacement and assimilation today resemble those of the 19th century as the state and corporations scramble for Innu lands. While nation building, capitalism and industrialisation are shown to have undermined indigenous peoples’ wellbeing, the values that guide societies like the Innu are very much alive. The book ends by showcasing how ideas and land-based activities of indigenous groups in Canada and the US are being maintained and recast as ways to address the attack on cultural diversity and move forward to more positive futures

Drinking and Healing: Reflections on the Lost Autonomy of the Innu

Heavy drinking has been a feature of the village lives of the Innu people of Labrador ever since they were coerced to abandon permanent nomadic hunting in the 1950s and 1960s, when the government-built villages of Sheshatshiu and Davis Inlet (or Utshimassits) were created. The process of sedentarization has accompanied a removal of the people from the hunting life in the interior of Labrador (known as the country or nutshimit), incurring a serious loss of meaning, purpose and autonomy. To combat heavy drinking, the Canadian authorities have imported into the Innu villages both pan-Native healing organizations and their own social services and criminal justice institutions. The Innu, through their political body, the Innu Nation, have also developed Healing Services. In these reflections, which are derived from my work with the Innu since 1994, I examine various approaches to healing and look at the experiences of some Innu with drinking. Paradoxically, although drinking is very often destructive, it can also be a form of emotional sharing, protest against assimilation and power to drinkers

Hewers of Wood and Drawers of Water: English Subaltern Education from the Charity Schools to the Neoliberal Meritocracy of Widening Participation

British educational ideas and policies towards working-class and minority youth show continuous preoccupations with social status and preparation for labour. In examining this, we link educational discourses and practices in England from the Charity Schools to the contemporary higher education policy Widening Participation (WP). We argue that WP is heir to successive educational programmes that explicitly fit poor and marginalised youth to labour and, contrary to its asserted aims, legitimates social and economic hierarchies. Using major government reports, promotional narratives and data on university expansion and tuition fees, we argue that the ‘disadvantaged student’ in WP is a currency for higher education institutions and student debt is the price of a ticket to ‘success’ within an imagined neoliberal meritocracy. The novelty is that whereas in the past, the costs of subaltern education were covered by philanthropy, today’s ‘disadvantaged students’ indebt themselves to maintain their positions in society

Grand Challenge 7: Journeys in Non-Classical Computation

We review progress in Grand Challenge 7 : Journeys in Non-Classical Computation. We overview GC7-related events, review some background work in certain aspects of GC7 (hypercomputation, bio-inspired computation, and embodied computation) and identify some of the unifying challenges. We review the progress in implementations of one class of non-classical computers: reaction-diffusion systems. We conclude with warnings about “regression to the classical”

Mobile Phone-based Infectious Disease Surveillance System, Sri Lanka

Because many infectious diseases are emerging in animals in low-income and middle-income countries, surveillance of animal health in these areas may be needed for forecasting disease risks to humans. We present an overview of a mobile phone–based frontline surveillance system developed and implemented in Sri Lanka. Field veterinarians reported animal health information by using mobile phones. Submissions increased steadily over 9 months, with ≈4,000 interactions between fi eld veterinarians and reports on the animal population received by the system. Development of human resources and increased communication between local stakeholders (groups and persons whose actions are affected by emerging infectious diseases and animal health) were instrumental for successful implementation. The primary lesson learned was that mobile phone–based surveillance of animal populations is acceptable and feasible in lower-resource settings. However, any system implementation plan must consider the time needed to garner support for novel surveillance methods among users and stakeholders

Is there a common water-activity limit for the three domains of life?

Archaea and Bacteria constitute a majority of life systems on Earth but have long been considered inferior to Eukarya in terms of solute tolerance. Whereas the most halophilic prokaryotes are known for an ability to multiply at saturated NaCl (water activity (a w) 0.755) some xerophilic fungi can germinate, usually at high-sugar concentrations, at values as low as 0.650-0.605 a w. Here, we present evidence that halophilic prokayotes can grow down to water activities of <0.755 for Halanaerobium lacusrosei (0.748), Halobacterium strain 004.1 (0.728), Halobacterium sp. NRC-1 and Halococcus morrhuae (0.717), Haloquadratum walsbyi (0.709), Halococcus salifodinae (0.693), Halobacterium noricense (0.687), Natrinema pallidum (0.681) and haloarchaeal strains GN-2 and GN-5 (0.635 a w). Furthermore, extrapolation of growth curves (prone to giving conservative estimates) indicated theoretical minima down to 0.611 a w for extreme, obligately halophilic Archaea and Bacteria. These were compared with minima for the most solute-tolerant Bacteria in high-sugar (or other non-saline) media (Mycobacterium spp., Tetragenococcus halophilus, Saccharibacter floricola, Staphylococcus aureus and so on) and eukaryotic microbes in saline (Wallemia spp., Basipetospora halophila, Dunaliella spp. and so on) and high-sugar substrates (for example, Xeromyces bisporus, Zygosaccharomyces rouxii, Aspergillus and Eurotium spp.). We also manipulated the balance of chaotropic and kosmotropic stressors for the extreme, xerophilic fungi Aspergillus penicilloides and X. bisporus and, via this approach, their established water-activity limits for mycelial growth (∼0.65) were reduced to 0.640. Furthermore, extrapolations indicated theoretical limits of 0.632 and 0.636 a w for A. penicilloides and X. bisporus, respectively. Collectively, these findings suggest that there is a common water-activity limit that is determined by physicochemical constraints for the three domains of life