Optimal Extraction of Fibre Optic Spectroscopy

We report an optimal extraction methodology, for the reduction of multi-object fibre spectroscopy data, operating in the regime of tightly packed (and hence significantly overlapping) fibre profiles. The routine minimises crosstalk between adjacent fibres and statistically weights the extraction to reduce noise. As an example of the process we use simulations of the numerous modes of operation of the AAOmega fibre spectrograph and observational data from the SPIRAL Integral Field Unit at the Anglo-Australian Telescope.Comment: Accepted for publication in PAS

The Post-2015 Development Agenda: Keeping Our Focus On the Worst Off

Non-communicable diseases now account for the majority of the global burden of disease and an international campaign has emerged to raise their priority on the post-2015 development agenda. We argue, to the contrary, that there remain strong reasons to prioritize maternal and child health. Policy-makers ought to assign highest priority to the health conditions that afflict the worst off. In virtue of how little healthy life they have had, children who die young are among the globally worst off. Moreover, many interventions to deal with the conditions that cause mortality in the young are low-cost and provide great benefits to their recipients. Consistent with the original Millennium Development Goals, the international community should continue to prioritize reductions in communicable diseases, neonatal conditions, and maternal health despite the shifts in the global burden of disease

The Savvy CEO: Advice From Those Who Have Been There

Shares practical advice from among philanthropy's most experienced leaders and attempts to establish a set of critical skills for CEOs as well as recommendations for board members through a series of hypothetical case studies

Sustainable development : a model Indonesian SRI co-operative : this research paper is presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of International Development, Massey University, New Zealand

This research report explores how ‘sustainable livelihoods’ have been achieved at a model cooperative using the ‘System of Rice Intensification’ named SIMPATIK. To conduct the research a novel template was developed. The framework was required following a review of sustainable livelihood literature which found deficiencies with the ‘sustainable livelihoods framework’, particularly its treatment of equity, social capital, culture and agro-ecology which disqualified the framework as an appropriate approach for the research. Amekawa’s (2011) ‘Integrated Sustainable Livelihoods Framework’ which synthesises agro-ecology and the sustainable livelihoods framework is then discussed. Further work is then presented on social capital which this paper argues has a critical role in facilitating access to livelihood capitals. A discussion of the significance of culture then follows to underline its importance as a form of livelihood capital. The research then introduces an operational model that is appropriate to the local cultural, institutional and geographical context to demonstrate how livelihood capitals are linked to livelihood outcomes, a model I have labelled the ‘Apt-Integrated Sustainable Livelihoods Framework’. This framework is then informed through field research at the SIMPATIK co-operative. Impact pathways through ‘synergetic forms of social capital’ and the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) are shown indeed to lead to sustainable livelihood outcomes for research participants. The ‘sequencing’ of livelihood capitals is seen to be critical and the research culminates in the development of a ‘SRI Co-operative Template for Sustainable Livelihoods’; a transferable model that shows how SRI can be promoted as a sustainable livelihood strategy

Public participation and policy: unpacking connections in one British LA21

YesWithin western cultures, the term `public participation¿ has strong positive connotations, and is associated with the promotion of democracy. The contention of this paper is that these invocations of democracy - although not entirely inaccurate - obscure the varied and tangible effects of public participation on wider policy processes. Drawing on Sharp and Connelly 2001, this paper argues that participation should not be analysed in terms of the type of democracy it invokes, but rather in terms of the extent and nature of its influence on the policy process. In particular, the policy process is examined for conflict between participants over (1) the extent of participation, (2) the nature of participation and (3) the influence of the participation, as well as (4) the outcomes to which it leads. This approach to the analysis of participation is demonstrated through a study of one element of participation in an authority¿s Local Agenda 21 process. The paper concludes that participation is inherently political and practitioners need to act strategically to manage participation in support of progressive agendas

Distribution of Fenitized Crustal Xenoliths in Carbonatite Intrusions, West-Central Arkansas

Crustal xenoliths from carbonatite intrusions in the Morrilton-Perryville Arkansas area display a variety of mineralogical and textural features that suggest that they are fragments of basement crystalline rock that has undergone sodic metasomatism resulting from their close proximity at depth to a carbonatite complex. With increasing degrees of fenitization, the leucocratic xenoliths range from granolite - syenite - analcite syenite, while the melanocratic xenoliths range from hornblende - biotite to aegerine-apatite. A definite increase in fenitization is observed from Morrilton in the north to Brazil Branch, 16.8 km to the south. Fenitized xenoliths from Brazil Branch are generally quite small (0.5 cm - 1.0 cm) and contain a substantial amount of analcite. At Morrilton Lock and Dam, the fenitized xenoliths are very large (1.0 cm - 2.5 cm), and granolites are common. The xenoliths at Oppello Dump are intermediate in both size and mineralogical character. This area is therefore interpreted as a single alkalic - carbonatitic complex at depth, with its center near the southern extremity of the sampled area

Spinoza and the possibilities for radical climate ethics

In this commentary, I respond to the core question of Ruddick’s paper: How does the theoretical dethroning of humanity force us to reinvent ethics? In so doing, I expand on Spinoza’s profound contribution to the radical rethinking of the subject at the level of ontology. Although Ruddick invokes Spinoza, first and foremost, as a potential resource for ethics in light of climate disruption, I conclude that those resources offer only a glimmer of how to live differently. The work of re-imagination at the level of metaphysics is flourishing, but we have yet to develop its implications for ethics and politics