Honour-related violence (HRV) in Scotland: A cross- and multi-agency intervention involvement survey

This paper documents the results of a small-scale pilot study, which represents the first step towards further research in this overlooked area of violence against women and represents a first step towards responding to widespread calls for multi-disciplinary research to be conducted in this area. ‘Honour’ killings and ‘honour’ related violence is a neglected area in criminology. Such killings and acts of violence are assaults committed against women both by female and male family or community members, for what is considered ‘immoral behaviour,’ that might include women choosing their own marriage partner, allegations of premarital or extramarital sex, being a victim of sexual abuse or rape and even talking innocently with a man who is not a relative. This paper highlights the lack of provision for females facing this specific type of family violence and problems faced by agencies who attempt to help them. This Primary Research Paper provides insights that will remind/inform readers that because this form of violence is shrouded by notions of ‘honour’, there are girls and women living in the UK who are outwardly living calmly in what are effectively dangerous and violent family- and community-governed environments

Fluctuations in Number of Cercospora beticola Conidia in Relationship to Environment and Disease Severity in Sugar Beet

All content of Phytopathology is open access without restriction 12 months after publicationCercospora leaf spot, caused by Cercospora beticola, is the most damaging foliar disease of sugar beet in Minnesota (MN) and North Dakota (ND). Research was conducted to characterize the temporal progression of aerial concentration of C. beticola conidia in association with the environment and disease severity in sugar beet. In 2003 and 2004, volumetric spore traps were placed within inoculated sugar beet plots to determine daily dispersal of conidia at Breckenridge, MN, and St. Thomas, ND. Plots were rated weekly for disease severity. At both locations, conidia were first collected in early July 2003 and late June in 2004. Peaks of conidia per cubic meter of air were observed with maxima in late August 2003 and in early September 2004 at both locations. Peaks of airborne conidium concentration were significantly correlated with the average temperature of daily hours when relative humidity was greater than 87%. Weekly mean hourly conidia per cubic meter of air was significantly (P <0.01) associated with disease severity during both years and across locations. This study showed that C. beticola conidial numbers may be used to estimate potential disease severity that, with further research, could be incorporated in a disease forecasting model to rationalize Cercospora leaf spot management.Peer reviewe

Employment and Millennium Development Goals

This paper looks at the role of employment-intensive growth in attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000 ratified by setting specific targets with respect to eight different goals: eradication of extreme poverty and hunger; universal primary education; gender equality; reduction of child mortality; improved maternal health; combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensuring environmental sustainability; and promoting global partnership for development. With the exception of the last goal, which is a matter for the international community dominated by the advanced countries, the remaining goals are to be pursued by individual developing countries by adopting appropriate policies. The seven such goals may conveniently be divided into three categories: (a) those that may by and large be treated as private goods whose benefits are mainly captured by their recipients; the promotion of personal income is the principal instrument for their achievement; (b) those that are characterized by substantial externalities in that they provide benefits not only to their direct recipients but also to others; their achievement is a matter of both private income generation and public action; and (c) those goals that are public goods characterized by non-excludability and non-rivalry; their achievement is primarily a matter of public action. The first MDG - reduction of poverty and hunger - is achieved by rapid and inequality-averse economic growth filtering down to households and providing the poor with an increase in personal income to enable them to rise above the poverty threshold which is defined in terms of personal income. Employment-intensive growth is the principal instrument for the achievement of this goal. There can be plenty of scope for public action in promoting this kind of growth and for supplementary public action to augment the income of the poor households who are bypassed by such growth. But the instrument for the reduction of poverty and hunger is the augmentation of personal income. For the attainment of the MDGs entailing externalities it is not enough to augment personal income. Households would not spend enough to purchase the socially desirable amounts of education and health for children and healthcare for mothers. Public action would be necessary to supplement private expenditure to attain desirable quantities of these services. The attainment of desirable levels of public goods like gender empowerment, control of epidemic diseases and environmental protection would be even more a matter of public action and expenditure with at best a limited role for private expenditure. Compared to the earlier development goal of promoting growth with poverty reduction, the endorsement of MDGs as the principal development strategy by the world community thus represents a substantial widening of the role of public action in development, a point that should be adequately recognized. Employment-intensive growth would need to be supplemented by a broad range of public action in the achievement of the MDG package. The paper analyzes the range of policies related to the promotion of employment-intensive growth and other public actions needed to attain the three categories of MDGs. It illustrates the above by taking a close look at the performance of four countries – Armenia, Cambodia, Ethiopia and Mongolia – in attaining MDGs. It also looks at a more limited set of aspects of performance in attaining MDGs for a larger set of so-called poor Integrated Package Service countries.

Feasibility of fisheries co-management in Africa

The current, highly centralized approach to fisheries management seems to be incapable of coping with escalating resource depletion and environmental degradation. Co-management has been identified as an alternative. This paper compares various approaches to fisheries management and discusses their performance in relation to the nature of the fishery. It is concluded that in African fisheries, stringent institutional arrangements, poor human, technical and financial resources, and a limited time frame often thwart co-management approaches. However, with the right conditions and prerequisites, comanagement can be successful in improving compliance with regulations and maintaining or enhancing the quality of the resource. The paper brings out the issues that require further research

Towards flexible asymmetric MSM structures using Si microwires through contact printing

This paper presents development of flexible metal-semiconductor-metal devices using silicon (Si) microwires. Monocrystalline Si in the shape of microwires are used which are developed through standard photolithography and etching. These microwires are assembled on secondary flexible substrates through a dry transfer printing by using a polydimethylsiloxane stamp. The conductive patterns on Si microwires are printed using a colloidal silver nanoparticles based solution and an organic conductor i.e. poly (3,4-ethylene dioxthiophene) doped with poly (styrene sulfonate). A custom developed spray coating technique is used for conductive patterns on Si microwires. A comparative study of the current–voltage (I–V) responses is carried out in flat and bent orientations as well as the response to the light illumination of the wires is explored. Current variations as high as 17.1 μA are recorded going from flat to bend conditions, while the highest I on/I off ratio i.e. 43.8 is achieved with light illuminations. The abrupt changes in the current response due to light-on/off conditions validates these devices for fast flexible photodetector switches. These devices are also evaluated based on transfer procedure i.e. flip-over and stamp-assisted transfer printing for manipulating Si microwires and their subsequent post-processing. These new developments were made to study the most feasible approach for transfer printing of Si microwires and to harvest their capabilities such as photodetection and several other applications in the shape of metal-semiconductor-metal structures

The problem of pika control in Baluchistand, Pakistan

The collared pika, Ochotona rufescens, has been recorded as a serious pest in apple orchards in the uplands valley of Ziarat in Baluchistan. In the winter, when the natural vegetation is lacking, the pikas debark the apple tree trunks or branches resulting in the killing of the tree and reduced fruit production. In summer, damage to wheat, corn and potatoes is also very severe. It is estimated that pikas cause hundreds of thousands of dollars (US) in annual apple production losses. The apple production in Baluchistan accounts for about 35 percent of the total provincial income through food production. During the six years (1974-1979), the winter of 1973-74 was noted for heavy damage to apple trees and thereafter it declined steadily. The control measures evaluated were of various kinds among which repellent "Ostico" was very effective in protecting the trees. Poison baiting with brodifacoum (0.005%), Vacor (1%) and thallium sulphate (1%) were also effective in reducing the pika population. To alleviate damage caused by pikas, the farmers also practice some traditional protective methods which in some cases are quite effective but very laborious

The condition of banks: what are examiners finding?

Bank supervision

Use of labour induction and risk of cesarean delivery: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Induction of labour is common, and cesarean delivery is regarded as its major complication. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate whether the risk of cesarean delivery is higher or lower following labour induction compared with expectant management. Methods: We searched 6 electronic databases for relevant articles published through April 2012 to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in which labour induction was compared with placebo or expectant management among women with a viable singleton pregnancy. We assessed risk of bias and obtained data on rates of cesarean delivery. We used regression analysis techniques to explore the effect of patient characteristics, induction methods and study quality on risk of cesarean delivery. Results: We identified 157 eligible RCTs (n = 31 085). Overall, the risk of cesarean delivery was 12% lower with labour induction than with expectant management (pooled relative risk [RR] 0.88, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.84-0.93; I2 = 0%). The effect was significant in term and post-term gestations but not in preterm gestations. Meta-regression analysis showed that initial cervical score, indication for induction and method of induction did not alter the main result. There was a reduced risk of fetal death (RR 0.50, 95% CI 0.25-0.99; I2 = 0%) and admission to a neonatal intensive care unit (RR 0.86, 95% CI 0.79-0.94), and no impact on maternal death (RR 1.00, 95% CI 0.10-9.57; I2 = 0%) with labour induction. Interpretation: The risk of cesarean delivery was lower among women whose labour was induced than among those managed expectantly in term and post-term gestations. There were benefits for the fetus and no increased risk of maternal death. © 2014 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors