Modern identities in a traditional society the effect of modern development on the traditional identity of a rural island

I examine the economic developments on the island of Gozo in connection with Malta’s membership to the European Union. As an island that has been known for its fishing villages, hand made lace, and traditional Catholic values, the economic development and consequential influx of consumerism are changing the face of Gozo. I identify the different cultural identities that arise from new developments, higher standard of living, and increased consumer culture. Then, by analyzing the different generations on the island as well as personal ties to traditions such as siestas and opinions about the development on the island, I illustrate the generation gaps in acceptance of new identity, as well as the struggle to hold on to an older way of life.peer-reviewe

Dignity in Decision-Making: Modernity and Social Navigation among Rural French Polynesian Youth

This research examines critical questions about the experiences of youth through the lenses of modernity, subjectivity, and the lifecourse. Growing up in a (post)colonial context of shifting definitions of adulthood, youth from the rural island of Rurutu, French Polynesia must navigate various decisions and transformations with little information to base their future aspirations on. This dissertation identifies dignity as the main motivating factor in youth decision-making, one that is constantly redefined as youth navigate shifting social fields. Dignity, as used here, is a target youth strive for in order to contest feelings of social precarity stemming from unaccommodating education systems and an unstable economic and political situation. Conceptually, the research is framed by Johnson-Hanks’ theory of vital conjunctures, which she defines as ‘the zone of possibility that emerges around specific periods of potential transformation in a life or lives’ (2002, 866). This research expands the examination of vital conjunctures through the use of what I will refer to as “vital conjuncture narratives.” These narratives allow young people to reflect on the turning points they find most important, instead of relying on those established by the anthropologist, thus revealing the frequency and flow of decisions as well as the experiences of transformation. This way of examining youth allows for narrative agency and problematizes the historically linear lifecourse concept of transitioning into adulthood. These narratives show that youth seek dignity through connections to tradition, land, and family, upholding their ties to Rurutu as a foundation upon which to build their lives

An Analysis of Sexism in the Core Picture Books from the California State department of Education\u27s Recommended Readings in Literature

This study assesses sex-role stereotyping in core picture books from the California State Department of Education\u27s Recommended Readings in Literature using modified criteria from past studies of sexism in children\u27s literature, notably Weitzman et.al. (1972), Kolbe and La voie (1981), Collins et.al. (1984) and Stewig and Higgs (1973). A survey of previous literature notes the types, trends, and influences of sexism in children\u27s literature

The impact of correlated projections on weak lensing cluster counts

Large-scale structure projections are an obstacle in converting the shear signal of clusters detected in weak-lensing maps into virial masses. However, this step is not necessary for constraining cosmology with the shear-peak abundance, if we are able to predict its amplitude. We generate a large ensemble of N-body simulations spanning four cosmological models, with total volume V~1 (Gpc/h)^3 per model. Variations to the matter density parameter and amplitude of fluctuations are considered. We measure the abundance of peaks in the mass density projected in ~100 Mpc/h slabs to determine the impact of structures spatially correlated with the simulation clusters, identified by the 3D friends-of-friends algorithm. The halo model shows that the choice of the smoothing filter for the density field is important in reducing the contribution of correlated projections to individual halo masses. Such contributions are less than 2% in the case of the optimal, compensated filter used throughout this analysis. We measure the change in the mass of peaks when projected in slabs of various thicknesses. Peaks in slabs of 26 Mpc/h and 102 Mpc/h suffer an average mass change of less than 2% compared to their mass in slabs of 51 Mpc/h. We then explore the cosmology dependence of the projected-peak mass function, and find that, for a wide range of slab thicknesses (<500 Mpc/h), it scales with cosmology in exactly the same way as the 3D friends-of-friends mass function and the Sheth-Tormen formula. This extends the earlier result of Marian et al. (2009). Finally, we show that for all cosmological models considered, the low and intermediate mass bins of the peak abundance can be described using a modified Sheth-Tormen functional form to within 10%-20% accuracy.Comment: 19 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

Let’s talk about sex(ual) wellbeing! Staff perceptions of implementing a novel service for people with Multiple Sclerosis

BACKGROUND: In people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS), a complex interplay of neurological dysfunction, polypharmacy and psychological issues, contrive to impair their sexual and reproductive wellbeing. Realising an unmet need, the Tayside MS service in collaboration with a sexual health clinician (LJ), established a ‘Pelvic Health Clinic’ to improve quality of life for PwMS. OBJECTIVE: To explore clinician's perceptions of implementing an MS Pelvic Health service with a view to establishing future outcomes for health care professionals about the utility in such a service. METHOD: In this small-scale qualitative case study, we explored clinician's perceptions of such a clinic adjunct. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, transcribed, and thematically analysed in a reflexive manner. RESULTS: Five participants consented. Ten sub-themes emerged, which were organised into three main themes: service tensions, patient needs and practitioner feelings. CONCLUSION: Clinicians highly valued the new MS ‘pelvic health clinic’. Knowing that there was a service available empowered clinicians to ask patients about sexual health needs. Specific referral criteria may help further develop the service and improve patient care. Staff welcome training and support in this area or the option to signpost onwards; either mechanism lends itself to enhancing MS patient needs

Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) within the Feed the Future Project Portfolio of USAID-Zambia: A CCAFS Deep Dive Review

As part of a global effort that will inform how Feed the Future tracks CSA across the 19 focus countries (plus aligned) the CCAFS and USAID/BFS team selected 5 to carry out a deeper analysis of their portfolio. A visit in May 2015 by staff from CCAFS and USAID-BFS Washington to the Zambia Mission provided an opportunity to identify and discuss CSA-related activities within the country and the USAID zone of influence (ZOI). The five-day visit included a series of meetings with Mission staff, implementing partners of Feed the Future projects, agency personnel of the Government of Zambia, and the FAO-Zambia CSA specialist. The discussions were preceded by a document review of projects in the Feed the Future portfolio, shared in advance of the visit by the Mission, and other agriculture and climate change information available on the web. This report outlines key findings of the visit and suggests ways in which CSA can be further integrated into upcoming Feed the Future programming in Zambia. Although climate change has been a key theme in FtF, considerations are under way for CSA being an explicit cross-cutting theme. Five countries were selected for visits. Results from these inquiries will inform how FtF tracks CSA across the 19 focus countries, plus aligned countries

Smart and sustainable scheduling of charging events for electric buses

This paper presents a framework for the efficient management of renewable energies to charge a fleet of electric buses (eBuses). Our framework starts with the prediction of clean energy time windows, i.e., periods of time when the production of clean energy exceeds the demand of the country. Then, the optimization phase schedules charging events to reduce the use of non-clean energy to recharge eBuses while passengers are embarking or disembarking. The proposed framework is capable of overcoming the unstable and chaotic nature of wind power generation to operate the fleet without perturbing the quality of service. Our extensive empirical validation with real instances from Ireland suggests that our solutions can significantly reduce non-clean energy consumed on large data setsThis work received funding from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) Research, Development and Demonstration (RDD) 2019 programme under the grant number 19/ RDD/51

CCAFS Deep Dive Assessment of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) in the Feed the Future Portfolio in Senegal

As part of a global effort that will inform how Feed the Future tracks CSA across the 19 focus countries (plus aligned) the CCAFS and USAID/BFS team selected 5 to carry out a deeper analysis of their portfolio. In July 2015, CCAFS’ visit to the USAID Senegal mission provided an opportunity to identify and discuss CSA-related activities within the country and the USAID zone of influence (ZOI) highlighting the importance of addressing the effects of climate change in the agricultural sector and the current and potential benefits of Feed the Future’s presence for climate resilience. The visit included meetings with USAID Mission staff, Feed the Future implementing partners, and three government agencies. The process also included the review of Feed the Future strategy and project documents, as well as a limited external literature review. This report outlines the key findings of the visit and highlights some ways in which CSA approaches can be further incorporated into the Mission’s future programming