Provision of water to the poor in Africa : experience with water standposts and the informal water sector

Standpipes that dispense water from utilities are the most common alternatives to piped water connections for poor customers in the cities of Sub-Saharan Africa. Fifty-five percent of the unconnected urban population relies on standpipes as their first water source. Other informal water providers include household resellers and a variety of water tankers and vendors, which are the first water source of 1 percent and 3 percent of the urban population, respectively. In the cities studied, the percentage of unconnected households ranges from 12 percent to 86 percent of the population. The percentage of unconnected people covered by standpipes is substantially higher for countries with higher rates of household connection, while the percentage of unconnected people covered by water tankers or water vendors is higher for countries with lower rates of household connection. Water prices in the informal market are much higher than for households with private connections or yard taps. Although standpipes are heavily subsidized by utilities, the prices charged by standpipe operators are closely related to the informal water reseller price. Standpipe management models also affect the informal price of water. For example, the shift from utilities management to delegated management models without complementary regulation or consumer information has often led to declines in service levels and increased prices. Standpipes are not the only or even the most efficient solution in peri-urban areas. Programs that promote private household connections and arrangements that improve pricing and services in the household resale market should also be considered by policy makers.Town Water Supply and Sanitation,Urban Water Supply and Sanitation,Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions,Water and Industry,Water Conservation

The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment: Exploring Fundamental Symmetries of the Universe

The preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early Universe, the dynamics of the supernova bursts that produced the heavy elements necessary for life and whether protons eventually decay --- these mysteries at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics are key to understanding the early evolution of our Universe, its current state and its eventual fate. The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE) represents an extensively developed plan for a world-class experiment dedicated to addressing these questions. LBNE is conceived around three central components: (1) a new, high-intensity neutrino source generated from a megawatt-class proton accelerator at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, (2) a near neutrino detector just downstream of the source, and (3) a massive liquid argon time-projection chamber deployed as a far detector deep underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility. This facility, located at the site of the former Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota, is approximately 1,300 km from the neutrino source at Fermilab -- a distance (baseline) that delivers optimal sensitivity to neutrino charge-parity symmetry violation and mass ordering effects. This ambitious yet cost-effective design incorporates scalability and flexibility and can accommodate a variety of upgrades and contributions. With its exceptional combination of experimental configuration, technical capabilities, and potential for transformative discoveries, LBNE promises to be a vital facility for the field of particle physics worldwide, providing physicists from around the globe with opportunities to collaborate in a twenty to thirty year program of exciting science. In this document we provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess.Comment: Major update of previous version. This is the reference document for LBNE science program and current status. Chapters 1, 3, and 9 provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess. 288 pages, 116 figure

The ABC130 barrel module prototyping programme for the ATLAS strip tracker

For the Phase-II Upgrade of the ATLAS Detector, its Inner Detector, consisting of silicon pixel, silicon strip and transition radiation sub-detectors, will be replaced with an all new 100 % silicon tracker, composed of a pixel tracker at inner radii and a strip tracker at outer radii. The future ATLAS strip tracker will include 11,000 silicon sensor modules in the central region (barrel) and 7,000 modules in the forward region (end-caps), which are foreseen to be constructed over a period of 3.5 years. The construction of each module consists of a series of assembly and quality control steps, which were engineered to be identical for all production sites. In order to develop the tooling and procedures for assembly and testing of these modules, two series of major prototyping programs were conducted: an early program using readout chips designed using a 250 nm fabrication process (ABCN-25) and a subsequent program using a follow-up chip set made using 130 nm processing (ABC130 and HCC130 chips). This second generation of readout chips was used for an extensive prototyping program that produced around 100 barrel-type modules and contributed significantly to the development of the final module layout. This paper gives an overview of the components used in ABC130 barrel modules, their assembly procedure and findings resulting from their tests.Comment: 82 pages, 66 figure

10 Things You Should Know about...Scholarly Communication

For its general concept, the authors are deeply indebted to the EDUCAUSE “Seven Things You Need to Know About…” reports

Using Program Theory to Evaluate a Graduate College Student Development Program

Background: The “3 Minute Presentation” is a graduate student competition based off the more popular “3 Minute Thesis” competition. The program aims to help graduate students learn to inform others of their research in a quick and accessible manner. Programs to engage graduate students more deeply in their education require evaluation to determine if they are useful and effective at meeting their intended goals. Evaluation literature in graduate educational programs is currently limited, but increasingly needed for both the field and the students served.   Purpose: Development and testing of a program-theory evaluation to understand participation, recruitment, preparation, training, skills, and confidence of graduate students engaging in a “3 Minute Presentation” competition at a state university.   Setting: Institution of Higher Education     Intervention: 3 Minute Presentation competition   Research Design:  Mixed-method program-theory evaluation   Data Collection and Analysis: Direct observations and closed-ended survey analyzed through qualitative coding, descriptive statistics, group comparisons, and correlation analysis.     Findings: Overall, the program evaluation found, with a possible lack of diversity in participants, that the program components of recruitment, preparation, and skill development work as expected.  Additionally, engagement in preparation was associated with competition scores and the perceived helpfulness of preparation was related to students’ confidence in their presentation skills. This evaluation was deemed useful for program improvement and capacity building in the program’s continuation at the university.&nbsp

The Gold Star Journal, 2014 Edition

The Gold Star Journal showcases the excellence of every academic department at The Citadel through the publication of cross-disciplinary, nonfiction papers and creativity and ingenuity through the publication of photographs and photo stories. This edition's featured papers are: Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory - T. E. Lawrence and the Arab Revolt ; Democratization and Civil-Military Relations of Estonia ; From Satanic to Sublime: Marlowe’s Faustus and Milton’s Satan as Prototypes of the Romantic Hero ; The Fall of a Country: the Negative Effects of the Transition From Rhodesia to Zimbabwe ; Deciphering the Myth, Observations on the Nature of the Legend of La Malinche ; Use of Percoll Gradient for Purifying Mitochondria Preparation in Brassica Olerace with Histone H3 implications

Rival approaches to mathematical modelling in immunology

This article is not available through ChesterRep.This article discusses a multidisciplinary approach to the formulation of quantitatively correct mathematical models of the immune system, and that how to do so requires an understanding of immune processes and familiarity with a range of mathematical techniques.This article was submitted to the RAE2008 for the University of Chester - Allied Health Professions and Studies