2,022 research outputs found
The rights of the child: are we creating a world in which all children are enabled to reach their full potential?
This chapter, through the lens of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, reviews whether we are actually creating world in which childrenâs development needs are recognized and met. The principle focus of the chapter is each childâs right to an education. In particular Articles 28 and 29 of the UNCRC are highlighted to provide a benchmark against which to consider education provision in multiple international contexts. Reference is made to the UN Millennium Declaration, the eight Millennium Development Goals and the UNICEF report âThe State of the Worldâs Children 2016: A fair chance for every childâ to enable examination of how a world fit for children is being achieved or not. From examination of the aforementioned reports, three imperatives emerge: economic, education and moral. These imperatives challenge the reader to consider how legislation and policy works towards or hinders the goal of creating a world in which all children are enabled to reach their full potential
Interactional positioning and narrative self-construction in the first session of psychodynamic-interpersonal psychotherapy
The purpose of this study is to identify possible session one indicators of end of treatment psychotherapy outcome using the framework of three types of interactional positioning; clientâs self-positioning, clientâs positioning between narrated self and different partners, and the positioning between client and therapist. Three successful cases of 8-session psychodynamic-interpersonal (PI) therapy were selected on the basis of client Beck Depression Inventory scores. One unsuccessful case was also selected against which identified patterns could be tested. The successful clients were more descriptive about their problems and demonstrated active rapport-building, while the therapist used positionings expressed by the client in order to explore the positionings developed between them during therapy. The unsuccessful case was characterized by lack of positive self-comment, minimization of agentic self-capacity, and empathy-disrupting narrative confusions. We conclude that the theory of interactional positioning has been useful in identifying patterns worth exploring as early indicators of success in PI therapy
Fermi-level alignment at metal-carbon nanotube interfaces: application to scanning tunneling spectroscopy
At any metal-carbon nanotube interface there is charge transfer and the
induced interfacial field determines the position of the carbon nanotube band
structure relative to the metal Fermi-level. In the case of a single-wall
carbon nanotube (SWNT) supported on a gold substrate, we show that the charge
transfers induce a local electrostatic potential perturbation which gives rise
to the observed Fermi-level shift in scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS)
measurements. We also discuss the relevance of this study to recent experiments
on carbon nanotube transistors and argue that the Fermi-level alignment will be
different for carbon nanotube transistors with low resistance and high
resistance contacts.Comment: 4 pages, 3 ps figures, minor corrections, accepted by Phys. Rev. Let
The Standard Model with gravity couplings
In this paper, we examine the coupling of matter fields to gravity within the
framework of the Standard Model of particle physics. The coupling is described
in terms of Weyl fermions of a definite chirality, and employs only
(anti)self-dual or left-handed spin connection fields. It is known from the
work of Ashtekar and others that such fields can furnish a complete description
of gravity without matter. We show that conditions ensuring the cancellation of
perturbative chiral gauge anomalies are not disturbed. We also explore a global
anomaly associated with the theory, and argue that its removal requires that
the number of fundamental fermions in the theory must be multiples of 16. In
addition, we investigate the behavior of the theory under discrete
transformations P, C and T; and discuss possible violations of these discrete
symmetries, including CPT, in the presence of instantons and the
Adler-Bell-Jackiw anomaly.Comment: Extended, and replaced with LaTex file. 25 Page
An exploratory study of factors that affect the performance and usage of rapid diagnostic tests for malaria in the Limpopo Province, South Africa
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are relatively simple to perform and provide results quickly for making treatment decisions. However, the accuracy and application of RDT results depends on several factors such as quality of the RDT, storage, transport and end user performance. A cross sectional survey to explore factors that affect the performance and use of RDTs was conducted in the primary care facilities in South Africa.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This study was conducted in three malaria risk sub-districts of the Limpopo Province, in South Africa. Twenty nurses were randomly selected from 17 primary health care facilities, three nurses from hospitals serving the study area and 10 other key informants, representing the managers of the malaria control programmes, routine and research laboratories, were interviewed, using semi-structured questionnaires.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was a high degree of efficiency in ordering and distribution of RDTs, however only 13/20 (65%) of the health facilities had appropriate air-conditioning and monitoring of room temperatures. Sixty percent (12/20) of the nurses did not receive any external training on conducting and interpreting RDT. Fifty percent of nurses (10/20) reported RDT stock-outs. Only 3/20 nurses mentioned that they periodically checked quality of RDT. Fifteen percent of nurses reported giving antimalarial drugs even if the RDT was negative.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Storage, quality assurance, end user training and use of RDT results for clinical decision making in primary care facilities in South Africa need to be improved. Further studies of the factors influencing the quality control of RDTs, their performance of RDTs and the ways to improve their use of RDTs are needed.</p
A perspective on multinational enterpriseâs national identity dilemma
This conceptual paper identifies gaps and contributes to the literature on âidentityâ dilemmas faced by multinational enterprises operating in a globalised world. Various characteristics and business strategies of multinational enterprises are delineated and analysed through the lens of social identity theory and international business concepts such as market and institutional logic. Our analysis, based on multiple cases, and derived from a variety of industries and countries, associates the identity dilemma to informed business strategy. Our findings suggest that while multinational enterprises face identity dilemmas that they sometimes use to their advantage, it also poses several challenges. Through our conceptualisation, we derive five distinct propositions to shape future research directions
The Reliability of Global and Hemispheric Surface Temperature Records
The purpose of this review article is to discuss the development and associated estimation of uncertainties in the global and hemispheric surface temperature records. The review begins by detailing the groups that produce surface temperature datasets. After discussing the reasons for similarities and differences between the various products, the main issues that must be addressed when deriving accurate estimates, particularly for hemispheric and global averages, are then considered. These issues are discussed in the order of their importance for temperature records at these spatial scales: biases in SST data, particularly before the 1940s; the exposure of land-based thermometers before the development of louvred screens in the late 19th century; and urbanization effects in some regions in recent decades. The homogeneity of land-based records is also discussed; however, at these large scales it is relatively unimportant. The article concludes by illustrating hemispheric and global temperature records from the four groups that produce series in near-real time
Comparative cervical profiles of adult and under-18 front-row rugby players: implications for playing policy
Objective To compare the cervical isometric strength, fatigue endurance and range of motion of adult and under-18 age-grade front-row rugby players to inform the development of a safe age group policy with particular reference to scrummaging.Design Cross-sectional cohort study.Setting âField testingâ at Murrayfield stadium.Participants 30 high-performance under-18 players and 22 adult front-row rugby players.Outcome measures Isometric neck strength, height, weight and grip strength.Results Youth players demonstrated the same height and grip strength as the adult players; however, the adults were significantly heavier and demonstrated substantially greater isometric strength (p<0.001). Only two of the âeliteâ younger players could match the adult mean cervical isometric strength value. In contrast to school age players in general, grip strength was poorly associated with neck strength (r=0.2) in front-row players; instead, player weight (r=0.4) and the number of yearsâ experience of playing in the front row (r=0.5) were the only relevant factors in multivariate modelling of cervical strength (R2=0.3).Conclusions Extreme forces are generated between opposing front rows in the scrum and avoidance of mismatch is important if the risk of injury is to be minimised. Although elite youth front-row rugby players demonstrate the same peripheral strength as their adult counterparts on grip testing, the adults demonstrate significantly greater cervical strength. If older youths and adults are to play together, such findings have to be noted in the development of age group policies with particular reference to the scrum
Reassessing changes in diurnal temperature range: Intercomparison and evaluation of existing global data set estimates
Changes in diurnal temperature range (DTR) over global land areas are compared from a broad range of independent data sets. All data sets agree that global-mean DTR has decreased significantly since 1950, with most of that decrease occurring over 1960â1980. The since-1979 trends are not significant, with inter-data set disagreement even over the sign of global changes. Inter-data set spread becomes greater regionally and in particular at the grid box level. Despite this, there is general agreement that DTR decreased in North America, Europe, and Australia since 1951, with this decrease being partially reversed over Australia and Europe since the early 1980s. There is substantive disagreement between data sets prior to the middle of the twentieth century, particularly over Europe, which precludes making any meaningful conclusions about DTR changes prior to 1950, either globally or regionally. Several variants that undertake a broad range of approaches to postprocessing steps of gridding and interpolation were analyzed for two of the data sets. These choices have a substantial influence in data sparse regions or periods. The potential of further insights is therefore inextricably linked with the efficacy of data rescue and digitization for maximum and minimum temperature series prior to 1950 everywhere and in data sparse regions throughout the period of record. Over North America, station selection and homogeneity assessment is the primary determinant. Over Europe, where the basic station data are similar, the postprocessing choices are dominant. We assess that globally averaged DTR has decreased since the middle twentieth century but that this decrease has not been linear
- âŠ