The Cutting Edge of SWORD

4th International Conference on Open RepositoriesThis presentation was part of the session : Conference PresentationsDate: 2009-06-04 10:30 AM – 12:00 PMThe presentation will give an overview of the UK JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) funded SWORD2 project. It will essentially be concerned with the need for, and development of, a specification that can be used for depositing research, and learning and teaching materials, and which gave rise to the original SWORD (Simple Web service Offering Repository Deposit) project 1. The presentation will look at how the original SWORD project and the current SWORD 2 project have realised the vision of a standard deposit protocol. The presentation will also consider the future of SWORD and look at some of the recent activity that has arisen around the project outputs, including the adoption into Microsoft Office, a SWORD Facebook application, a Netvibes widget, and current progress with international publishers.UKOLN; JIS

Effect of estrogens on skin aging and the potential role of SERMs

In humans, structural and functional changes attributable to aging are more visibly evident in the skin than in any other organ. Estrogens have significant effects on skin physiology and modulate epidermal keratinocytes, dermal fibroblasts and melanocytes, in addition to skin appendages including the hair follicle and the sebaceous gland. Importantly, skin aging can be significantly delayed by the administration of estrogen. This paper reviews the effects of estrogens on skin and the mechanisms by which estrogens can alleviate the changes due to aging that occur in human skin. The relevance of estrogen replacement therapy (HRT) in post-menopausal women and the potential value of selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) as a therapy for diminishing skin aging are also highlighted

Spontaneous reconnection at a separator current layer : I. Nature of the reconnection

Magnetic separators, which lie on the boundary between four topologically-distinct flux domains, are prime locations in three-dimensional magnetic fields for reconnection, especially in the magnetosphere between the planetary and interplanetary magnetic fields and also in the solar atmosphere. Little is known about the details of separator reconnection and so the aim of this paper, which is the first of two, is to study the properties of magnetic reconnection at a single separator. Three-dimensional, resistive magnetohydrodynamic numerical experiments are run to study separator reconnection starting from a magnetohydrostatic equilibrium which contains a twisted current layer along a single separator linking a pair of opposite-polarity null points. The resulting reconnection occurs in two phases. The first is short involving rapid reconnection in which the current at the separator is reduced by a factor of around 2.3. Most 75% of the magnetic energy is converted during this phase, via Ohmic dissipation, directly into internal energy, with just 0.1% going into kinetic energy. During this phase the reconnection occurs along most of the separator away from its ends (the nulls), but in an asymmetric manner which changes both spatially and temporally over time. The second phase is much longer and involves slow impulsive-bursty reconnection. Again Ohmic heating dominates over viscous damping. Here the reconnection occurs in small localized bursts at random anywhere along the separator.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Spontaneous reconnection at a separator current layer : 2. Nature of the waves and flows

JEHS would like to thank STFC for financial support during her Ph.D and continued support after on the St Andrews SMTG’s STFC consortium grant. CEP also acknowledges support from this same grant.Sudden destabilizations of the magnetic field, such as those caused by spontaneous reconnection, will produce waves and/or flows. Here we investigate the nature of the plasma motions resulting from spontaneous reconnection at a 3‐D separator. In order to clearly see these perturbations, we start from a magnetohydrostatic equilibrium containing two oppositely signed null points joined by a generic separator along which lies a twisted current layer. The nature of the magnetic reconnection initiated in this equilibrium as a result of an anomalous diffusivity is discussed in detail in Stevenson and Parnell (2015). The resulting sudden loss of force balance inevitably generates waves that propagate away from the diffusion region carrying the dissipated current. In their wake a twisting stagnation flow, in planes perpendicular to the separator, feeds flux back into the original diffusion site (the separator) in order to try to regain equilibrium. This flow drives a phase of slow weak impulsive bursty reconnection that follows on after the initial fast‐reconnection phase.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Transnational parent-child separation and reunion during early childhood in Chinese migrant families: An Australian snapshot

Limited international research exists on reasons for transnational child care, or developmental consequences of separations and reunions on young Chinese children. This descriptive study portrays a sample of children from Chinese migrant families residing in western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, whose parents temporarily relinquished their care to grandparents in China. Data were collected via retrospective health record audits. The majority of parents were first-time parents and the majority of children were first-borns sent back to China during infancy. The average duration of transnational parent–child separation was 20 months. Results showed that male child subjects who experienced multiple transnational separations and reunions were more vulnerable to problems associated with disrupted attachment. This study links parental decision for transnational child care and feelings of disempowerment in their parenting role with patriarchal family values and expectations, and their own adverse early experiences. This study may assist child and family health (CFH) professionals identify, understand and help Chinese parents who may be considering transnational child care to avoid or ameliorate adverse consequences, or alternatively, to support parents following reunion to establish or re-establish attachment relationships with their child, and parent well to optimise their child’s development. Study findings increase the evidence base on reasons for transnational child care, and the complex range of developmental and psychological problems children and parents in this study faced following reunion

A state-wide systems approach to embedding the learning and teaching of sustainability in teacher education

[Extract] Education systems have a key role to play in preparing future citizens to engage in sustainable living practices and help create a more sustainable world. Many schools throughout Australia have begun to develop whole-school approaches to sustainability education that are supported by national and state policies and curriculum frameworks. Pre-service teacher education, however, lags behind in the effort to build the capacity of new teachers to initiate and implement such approaches (Steele, 2010). Evidence suggests this is because there is limited or no core environmental or sustainability knowledge or pedagogy in pre- and in-service courses and programs available to teachers in a thorough and systematic fashion

Is magnetic topology important for heating the solar atmosphere?

CEP and JT acknowledge the support of STFC through the St Andrew’s SMTG consolidated grant. JEHS is supported by STFC as a PhD student. SJE is supported STFC through the Durham University Impact Acceleration Account.Magnetic fields permeate the entire solar atmosphere weaving an extremely complex pattern on both local and global scales. In order to understand the nature of this tangled web of magnetic fields, its magnetic skeleton, which forms the boundaries between topologically distinct flux domains, may be determined. The magnetic skeleton consists of null points, separatrix surfaces, spines and separators. The skeleton is often used to clearly visualize key elements of the magnetic configuration, but parts of the skeleton are also locations where currents and waves may collect and dissipate. In this review, the nature of the magnetic skeleton on both global and local scales, over solar cycle time scales, is explained. The behaviour of wave pulses in the vicinity of both nulls and separators is discussed and so too is the formation of current layers and reconnection at the same features. Each of these processes leads to heating of the solar atmosphere, but collectively do they provide enough heat, spread over a wide enough area, to explain the energy losses throughout the solar atmosphere? Here, we consider this question for the three different solar regions: Active regions, open-field regions and the quiet Sun. We find that the heating of active regions and open-field regions is highly unlikely to be due to reconnection or wave dissipation at topological features, but it is possible that these may play a role in the heating of the quiet Sun. In active regions, the absence of a complex topology may play an important role in allowing large energies to build up and then, subsequently, be explosively released in the form of a solar flare. Additionally, knowledge of the intricate boundaries of open-field regions (which the magnetic skeleton provides) could be very important in determining the main acceleration mechanism(s) of the solar wind.PostprintPeer reviewe