Women and wages: Gender and the control of income in farm and Bantustan households

African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented 15 September 1986Virtually all of the married men to whom we spoke in Matatiele and Qwaqwa were bitterly opposed to their wives engaging in certain kinds of local income-generating activity. The main target of male opprobrium was shebeening, because husbands who were migrant workers were afraid that if their wives sold liquor from their homes they would be tempted into prostitution by their clients. The men were not, of course, opposed to the existence of shebeens, and were happy, when home on leave, to visit shebeens run by other men's wives, mothers or daughters. Male migrants attempted, despite their long absences from home, to exert control over their wives' activities in this regard. They left strict instructions concerning the disbursal of remittances, often threatening physical violence if their wives 'wasted' the money they remitted on liquor or the ingredients of homebrew. Where possible they also asked other men to check that their wives were not shebeening surreptitiously, and to report any breach of their prohibition. Women found it necessary to view shebeening differently. To them, it was one of the most accessible and convenient ways in which to generate a cash income from the home. It required little by way of equipment, did not demand regular inputs of time and labour, and could be undertaken at the same time as other domestic work. Women also had more personal discretion over income from shebeening than from remittances. For these reasons many women brewed and sold liquor, and some went to considerable lengths to conceal their activity from their husbands. A common strategy was to run the shebeen from the home of a friend in the vicinity - often the latter was a widow, whose marital status and age permitted her to avoid or disregard male censure. Women who did this explained that if questioned by their husbands, they could always say that they were just 'helping out' now and again for a neighbour. In both Matatiele and Qwaqwa, male and female images of shebeens were very different. Women stressed that most of the shebeens in their neighbourhood were small-scale affairs, with a limited number of clients at any one time; during the week, moreover, most of the clients were old men - pensioners for whom a visit to a shebeen in a neighbour’s house was a means of quiet recreation. Men, on the other hand, painted lurid pictures to express anxiety about their homes being turned into sites of drunken revelry in their absence, with sex and drugs as well as liquor for sale on demand. Both types of shebeen undoubtedly existed in both areas, but whereas male images seemed to represent the kind they most liked to visit themselves, women's accounts were more accurate in the case of the majority of such establishments. Disagreement about the nature of shebeens and the desirability of shebeening were part of a much broader struggle between men and women about access to income and control over this and other resources within households. This paper examines some aspects of this wider domestic struggle in the particular circumstances of the bantustans, and explores several key differences between Matatiele and Qwaqwa in this regard. The notion of 'domestic Struggle’ (Bozzoli, 1983: 144-148) is, for two reasons, central to our argument…

Infrared Non-detection of Fomalhaut b -- Implications for the Planet Interpretation

The nearby A4-type star Fomalhaut hosts a debris belt in the form of an eccentric ring, which is thought to be caused by dynamical influence from a giant planet companion. In 2008, a detection of a point-source inside the inner edge of the ring was reported and was interpreted as a direct image of the planet, named Fomalhaut b. The detection was made at ~600--800 nm, but no corresponding signatures were found in the near-infrared range, where the bulk emission of such a planet should be expected. Here we present deep observations of Fomalhaut with Spitzer/IRAC at 4.5 um, using a novel PSF subtraction technique based on ADI and LOCI, in order to substantially improve the Spitzer contrast at small separations. The results provide more than an order of magnitude improvement in the upper flux limit of Fomalhaut b and exclude the possibility that any flux from a giant planet surface contributes to the observed flux at visible wavelengths. This renders any direct connection between the observed light source and the dynamically inferred giant planet highly unlikely. We discuss several possible interpretations of the total body of observations of the Fomalhaut system, and find that the interpretation that best matches the available data for the observed source is scattered light from transient or semi-transient dust cloud.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, ApJ 747, 166. V2: updated acknowledgments and reference

Perturbation of isotherms below topography: constraints from tunnel transects through the Alps, Gotthard road tunnel

For many years it has been known that near surface isotherms are influenced by the topography (Lees 1910). Recently, a number of studies were pursued to quantify the effect of topography on low temperature isotherms (e.g. Stüwe et al. 1994, Mancktelow & Grasemann 1997). The magnitude of perturbation depends on several parameters: exhumation rate, geothermal gradient, wavelength and amplitude of topography, and finally by the age of surface relief change (Braun 2002).conferenc

The Deuterium-Burning Mass Limit for Brown Dwarfs and Giant Planets

There is no universally acknowledged criterion to distinguish brown dwarfs from planets. Numerous studies have used or suggested a definition based on an object's mass, taking the ~13-Jupiter mass (M_J) limit for the ignition of deuterium. Here, we investigate various deuterium-burning masses for a range of models. We find that, while 13 M_J is generally a reasonable rule of thumb, the deuterium fusion mass depends on the helium abundance, the initial deuterium abundance, the metallicity of the model, and on what fraction of an object's initial deuterium abundance must combust in order for the object to qualify as having burned deuterium. Even though, for most proto-brown dwarf conditions, 50% of the initial deuterium will burn if the object's mass is ~(13.0 +/- 0.8)M_J, the full range of possibilities is significantly broader. For models ranging from zero-metallicity to more than three times solar metallicity, the deuterium burning mass ranges from ~11.0 M_J (for 3-times solar metallicity, 10% of initial deuterium burned) to ~16.3 M_J (for zero metallicity, 90% of initial deuterium burned).Comment: "Models" section expanded, references added, accepted by Ap

Gypsum-DL: an open-source program for preparing small-molecule libraries for structure-based virtual screening

Computational techniques such as structure-based virtual screening require carefully prepared 3D models of potential small-molecule ligands. Though powerful, existing commercial programs for virtual-library preparation have restrictive and/or expensive licenses. Freely available alternatives, though often effective, do not fully account for all possible ionization, tautomeric, and ring-conformational variants. We here present Gypsum-DL, a free, robust open-source program that addresses these challenges. As input, Gypsum-DL accepts virtual compound libraries in SMILES or flat SDF formats. For each molecule in the virtual library, it enumerates appropriate ionization, tautomeric, chiral, cis/trans isomeric, and ring-conformational forms. As output, Gypsum-DL produces an SDF file containing each molecular form, with 3D coordinates assigned. To demonstrate its utility, we processed 1558 molecules taken from the NCI Diversity Set VI and 56,608 molecules taken from a Distributed Drug Discovery (D3) combinatorial virtual library. We also used 4463 high-quality protein-ligand complexes from the PDBBind database to show that Gypsum-DL processing can improve virtual-screening pose prediction. Gypsum-DL is available free of charge under the terms of the Apache License, Version 2.0

Child Acute Malnutrition and Mortality in Populations Affected by Displacement in the Horn of Africa, 1997–2009

Drought and conflict in the Horn of Africa are causing population displacement, increasing risks of child mortality and malnutrition. Humanitarian agencies are trying to mitigate the impact, with limited resources. Data from previous years may help guide decisions. Trends in different populations affected by displacement (1997–2009) were analyzed to investigate: (1) how elevated malnutrition and mortality were among displaced compared to host populations; (2) whether the mortality/malnutrition relation changed through time; and (3) how useful is malnutrition in identifying high mortality situations. Under-five mortality rates (usually from 90-day recall, as deaths/10,000/day: U5MR) and global acute malnutrition (wasting prevalences, < −2SDs of references plus edema: GAM) were extracted from reports of 1,175 surveys carried out between 1997–2009 in the Horn of Africa; these outcome indicators were analyzed by livelihood (pastoral, agricultural) and by displacement status (refugee/internally displaced, local resident/host population, mixed); associations between these indicators were examined, stratifying by status. Patterns of GAM and U5MR plotted over time by country and livelihood clarified trends and showed substantial correspondence. Over the period GAM was steady but U5MR generally fell by nearly half. Average U5MR was similar overall between displaced and local residents. GAM was double on average for pastoralists compared with agriculturalists (17% vs. 8%), but was not different between displaced and local populations. Agricultural populations showed increased U5MR when displaced, in contrast to pastoralist. U5MR rose sharply with increasing GAM, at different GAM thresholds depending on livelihood. Higher GAM cut-points for pastoralists than agriculturalists would better predict elevated U5MR (1/10,000/day) or emergency levels (2/10,000/day) in the Horn of Africa; cut-points of 20–25% GAM in pastoral populations and 10–15% GAM in agriculturalists are suggested. The GAM cut-points in current use do not vary by livelihood, and this needs to be changed, tailoring cut points to livelihood groups, to better identify priorities for intervention. This could help to prioritize limited resources in the current situation of food insecurity and save lives

Post-CCSD(T) corrections to bond distances and vibrational frequencies: the power of Λ\Lambda

The importance of post-CCSD(T) corrections as high as CCSDTQ56 for ground-state spectroscopic constants ($D_e$, $\omega_e$, $\omega_ex_e$, and $\alpha_e$) has been surveyed for a sample of two dozen mostly heavy-atom diatomics spanning a broad range of static correlation strength. While CCSD(T) is known to be an unusually felicitous `Pauling point' between accuracy and computational cost, performance leaves something to be desired for molecules with strong static correlation. We find CCSDT(Q)$_\Lambda$ to be the next `sweet spot' up, of comparable or superior quality to the much more expensive CCSDTQ. A similar comparison applies to CCSDTQ(5)$_\Lambda$ vs. CCSDTQ5, while CCSDTQ5(6)$_\Lambda$ is essentially indistinguishable from CCSDTQ56. A composite of CCSD(T)-X2C/ACV5Z-X2C with [CCSDT(Q)$_\Lambda$ -- CCSD(T)]/cc-pVTZ or even cc-pVDZ basis sets appears highly effective for computational vibrational spectroscopy. Unlike CCSDT(Q) which breaks down for the ozone vibrational frequencies, CCSDT(Q)$_\Lambda$ handles them gracefully.Comment: Mol. Phys., in press [Timothy J. Lee memorial issue

中国产量数据的可信度

一些评论员质疑，中国经济在 2012 年减缓的速度可能比官方国内生产总值数据所显 的更慢。然而，2012 年报道的产出和工业产量数据都与反映中国经济活动的其他指标 一致，比如说发电量和由国外机构报道的中国对外贸易额统计。这些国内外报告的其 经济指标表明中国经济增长比官方数据显示的要更慢的说法是没有证据支持的

Variation of the cochlear anatomy and cochlea duct length: analysis with a new tablet-based software

PURPOSE In cochlear implantation, thorough preoperative planning together with measurement of the cochlear duct length (CDL) assists in choosing the correct electrode length. For measuring the CDL, different techniques have been introduced in the past century along with the then available technology. A tablet-based software offers an easy and intuitive way to visualize and analyze the anatomy of the temporal bone, its proportions and measure the CDL. Therefore, we investigated the calculation technique of the CDL via a tablet-based software on our own cohort retrospectively. METHODS One hundred and eight preoperative computed tomography scans of the temporal bone (slice thickness < 0.7~mm) of already implanted FLEX28™ and FLEXSOFT™ patients were found eligible for analysis with the OTOPLAN software. Measurements were performed by two trained investigators independently. CDL, angular insertion depth (AID), and cochlear coverage were calculated and compared between groups of electrode types, sex, sides, and age. RESULTS Mean CDL was 36.2 ± 1.8~mm with significant differences between sex (female: 35.8 ± 0.3~mm; male: 36.5 ± 0.2~mm; p = 0.037), but none concerning side or age. Differences in mean AID (FLEX28: 525.4 ± 46.4°; FLEXSOFT: 615.4 ± 47.6°), and cochlear coverage (FLEX28: 63.9 ± 5.6%; FLEXSOFT: 75.8 ± 4.3%) were significant (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION A broad range of CDL was observed with significant larger values in male, but no significant differences concerning side or age. Almost every cochlea was measured longer than 31.0~mm. Preoperative assessment aids in prevention of complications (incomplete insertion, kinking, tipfoldover), attempt of atraumatic insertion, and addressing individual necessities (hearing preservation, cochlear malformation). The preferred AID of 720° (two turns of the cochlea) was never reached, opening the discussion for the requirement of longer CI-electrodes versus a debatable audiological benefit for the patient in his/her everyday life