Legitimating inaction : differing identity constructions of the Scots language.

The Scots language plays a key role in the political and cultural landscape of contemporary Scotland. From a discourse-historical perspective, this article explores how language ideologies about the Scots language are realized linguistically in a so-called ‘languages strategy’ drafted by the Scottish Executive, and in focus groups consisting of Scottish people. This article shows that although the decline of Scots is said to be a ‘tragedy’, focus group participants seem to reject the notion of Scots as a viable, contemporary language that can be used across a wide range of registers. The policy document also seems to construct Scots in very positive terms, but is shown to be unhelpful or potentially even damaging in the process of changing public attitudes to Scots

Slum health: diseases of neglected populations.

BackgroundUrban slums, like refugee communities, comprise a social cluster that engenders a distinct set of health problems. With 1 billion people currently estimated to live in such communities, this neglected population has become a major reservoir for a wide spectrum of health conditions that the formal health sector must deal with.DiscussionUnlike what occurs with refugee populations, the formal health sector becomes aware of the health problems of slum populations relatively late in the course of their illnesses. As such, the formal health sector inevitably deals with the severe and end-stage complications of these diseases at a substantially greater cost than what it costs to manage non-slum community populations. Because of the informal nature of slum settlements, and cultural, social, and behavioral factors unique to the slum populations, little is known about the spectrum, burden, and determinants of illnesses in these communities that give rise to these complications, especially of those diseases that are chronic but preventable. In this article, we discuss observations made in one slum community of 58,000 people in Salvador, the third largest city in Brazil, to highlight the existence of a spectrum and burden of chronic illnesses not likely to be detected by the formal sector health services until they result in complications or death. Lack of health-related data from slums could lead to inappropriate and unrealistic allocation of health care resources by the public and private providers. Similar misassumptions and misallocations are likely to exist in other nations with large urban slum populations.SummaryContinued neglect of ever-expanding urban slum populations in the world could inevitably lead to greater expenditure and diversion of health care resources to the management of end-stage complications of diseases that are preventable. A new approach to health assessment and characterization of social-cluster determinants of health in urban slums is urgently needed

The morphology of Sersic-Pastoriza galaxies

The authors present the preliminary results of their radio-continuum and neutral hydrogen observations of Sersic-Pastoriza (S-P) galaxies. They show that the central regions contain a population of compact features thought to be young supernova remnants (SNRs) and discuss the overall morphology of the nuclei

Processing and Transmission of Information

Contains reports on three research projects

Sub 20 nm Short Channel Carbon Nanotube Transistors

Carbon nanotube field-effect transistors with sub 20 nm long channels and on/off current ratios of > 1000000 are demonstrated. Individual single-walled carbon nanotubes with diameters ranging from 0.7 nm to 1.1 nm grown from structured catalytic islands using chemical vapor deposition at 700 degree Celsius form the channels. Electron beam lithography and a combination of HSQ, calix[6]arene and PMMA e-beam resists were used to structure the short channels and source and drain regions. The nanotube transistors display on-currents in excess of 15 microA for drain-source biases of only 0.4 Volt.Comment: Nano Letters in pres

On the Nature of Intrinsic Absorption in Reddened Seyfert 1 Galaxies

We discuss the origin of the ``dusty lukewarm absorber'', which we previously identified in the reddened Seyfert 1 galaxies NGC 3227 and Akn 564. This absorber is characterized by saturated UV absorption lines (C IV, N V) near the systemic velocity of the host galaxy, and is likely responsible for reddening both the continuum and the emission lines (including those from the narrow-line region) from these Seyferts. From a large sample of Seyfert 1 galaxies, we find that continuum reddening (as measured by UV color) tends to increase with inclination of the host galaxy. Furthermore, reddened, inclined Seyfert galaxies observed at moderate to high spectral resolution all show evidence for dusty lukewarm absorbers. We suggest that these absorbers lie in the plane of the host galaxy at distances > 100 pc from the nucleus, and are physically distinct from the majority of intrinsic absorbers that are outflowing from the nucleus.Comment: 14 pages, including 2 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal (Letters

Detailed Radio Spectra of Selected Compact Sources in the Nucleus of M82

We have determined detailed radio spectra for 26 compact sources in the starburst nucleus of M82, between 74 and 1.3 cm. Seventeen show low-frequency turnovers. One other has a thermal emission spectrum, and we identify it as an HII region. The low frequency turnovers are due to absorption by the interstellar gas in M82. New information on the AGN candidate 44.01+595, shows it to have a non-thermal falling powerlaw spectrum at the highest frequencies, and that it is strongly absorbed below 2 GHz. We derive large magnetic fields in the supernova remnants, of order 1-2 milliGauss, hence large pressures in the sources suggest that the brightest ones are either expanding or are strongly confined by a dense interstellar medium. From the largest source in our sample, we derive a supernova rate of 0.016 SN/yr.Comment: 19 pages, 7 tables, 29 figures, LaTeX, requires AAS macros v. 4.0. To appear in ApJ July 20, 199

Pastoralism in Kenya and Tanzania: Challenges and opportunities in animal health and food security

Pastoralism is used to describe a society that derives majority of their food and income from livestock. This form of farming system is largely practised in the arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL). It is estimated that 70% of the landmass in the Horn of Africa is dry land; in Kenya 80% of the landmass is classified as ASAL, while approximately half of Tanzania consists of dry land. These dry lands support wild resource harvesting, tourism but most importantly livestock rearing. It is estimated that over 75% of cattle herds in Kenya and 90% in Tanzania are kept by pastoralists who supply the bulk of meat consumed in the countries. In this paper we present current animal health challenges and opportunities being faced by pastoral farmers in Tanzania and Kenya based on primary data collected in Kajiado County, Kenya and Tanga and Morogoro regions in Tanzania. In the midst of many challenges and opportunities, food safety and food security are never assured amongst the pastoralists. We highlight pastoral community high livestock dependency for food and income, market access to livestock products, access to animal and human health services, livestock-wildlife interaction, factors that hinder increase of livestock assets and explore the knowledge of disease and exposure to zoonoses within the pastoral community

Discovery of a Third Harmonic Cyclotron Resonance Scattering Feature in the X-ray Spectrum of 4U 0115+63

We have discovered a third harmonic cyclotron resonance scattering feature (CRSF) in observations of the recent outburst of 4U 0115+63 with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). The spectrum in a narrow pulse phase range shows CRSFs at 12.40+0.65/-0.35, 21.45+0.25/-0.38, and 33.56+0.70/-0.90 keV. With centroid energy ratios to the fundamental of 1.73+/-0.08 and 2.71+/-0.13, the CRSFs are not harmonically spaced. Strong variability of the continuum and CRSFs with pulse phase indicate a complex emission geometry near the neutron star polar cap. In addition, one RXTE observation, which spanned periastron passage, revealed a strong 2 mHz quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO). This is slower by two orders of magnitude than the beat-frequency QPO expected in this system and slower by a factor of more than 5 compared with other QPOs seen in accreting X-ray pulsars.Comment: To appear in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 4 pages, 5 figures. Uses "emulateapj.sty". Revised version includes new figures and additions to the analysi