Self reliant groups from India to Scotland: lessons from south to north

There is a move towards partnership working across the global north and south but there remain questions about how to do it most effectively. This paper reports on the findings from a project that built a partnership between women in Scotland and India in order to transfer knowledge about Indian Self Help Groups. By creating peer to peer relationships that challenged traditional roles of 'teacher' and 'learner', the project was effective in transferring learning from south to north and generating meaningful outcomes for those involved. Despite the contextual differences, the successful transfer of key components of the model, savings, and loans, has led to a sense of empowerment in the Scottish women that is comparable to their Indian counterparts. As the project continues, it will be important that the dialogue between the partners continues, so there is ongoing learning as the Scottish groups expand and develop

The Gorse Blooms Pale - Dan Davin’s Southland Stories

These two new collections of Dan Davin’s short fiction have a friendly, nostalgic appearance. With matching gloss white hardback covers, vigorous title fonts, and bright chunky artwork by Jenny Cooper, they are faintly reminiscent of New Zealand school journals; my twelve-year-old son, spotting them on the table beside me, assumed they were holiday reading I had picked up on his behalf. Between the covers, however, they are revealed to be substantial, many-faceted works that provide, along with the stories, a wealth of meticulously organised and annotated detail that richly rewards the concentrated reader

A Bayesian shifting method for uncertainty in the open-hole gamma-ray log around casing points

The wireline gamma-ray log is sensitive to open-hole conditions and, in particular, the diameter. This means that the log can jump at casing points. Although environmental corrections exist, they can fail at these points. We present a Bayesian method for deriving a new quantity – the shifted gamma–ray index – that takes these shifts into account by fitting a piecewise linear function to open-hole data in a depth window around the casing point. Because it is Bayesian, the method enables us to assess our uncertainty about its performance. This method requires very little knowledge of the borehole or drilling conditions but relies on the assumption that the lithology is consistent. Investigating the other wireline logs enables us to assess whether this assumption is valid. We demonstrate our method using well data from offshore mid-Norway

Developing inter-cultural competencies without travelling: Internationalising the curriculum for healthcare students

Healthcare professionals work with increasingly diverse groups of colleagues and patients in their practice, and it is essential that they develop intercultural competence. International experiences in healthcare curricula can help in this development, but healthcare students on courses tend to have limited opportunities for travel. This paper presents data on the use of an online classroom to provide an environment in which physiotherapy students from two countries could work together to review video case studies to enhance their knowledge and understanding of selected patient conditions and compare different approaches to diagnosis and treatment. These activities were integrated into the usual curriculum in both countries. Evaluation of students’ experiences showed that they valued the opportunity to engage with their peers in another country and were readily able to identify professional and academic benefit from participation. They commented on the impact on their professional identity formation, the benefits of widening their community of practice, and of becoming more interculturally competen

Carpenters Gap 1: A 47,000 year old record of indigenous adaption and innovation

Here we present the first detailed analysis of the archaeological finds from Carpenters Gap 1 rockshelter, one of the oldest radiocarbon dated sites in Australia and one of the few sites in the Sahul region to preserve both plant and animal remains down to the lowest Pleistocene aged deposits. Occupation at the site began between 51,000 and 45,000 cal BP and continued into the Last Glacial Maximum, and throughout the Holocene. While CG1 has featured in several studies, the full complement of 100 radiocarbon dates is presented here for the first time in stratigraphic context, and a Bayesian model is used to evaluate the age sequence. We present analyses of the stone artefact and faunal assemblages from Square A2, the oldest and deepest square excavated. These data depict a remarkable record of adaptation in technology, mobility, and diet breadth spanning 47,000 years. We discuss the dating and settlement record from CG1 and other northern Australian sites within the context of the new dates for occupation of Madjedbebe in Arnhem Land at 65,000 years (±5700), and implications for colonisation and dispersal within Sahul.We thank the Bunuba Aboriginal Corporation for their assistance in this work. Radiocarbon dates obtained in 2013 and 2014 and micromorphological research by Vannieuwenhuyse were funded by the Australian Research Council grant LP100200415 ‘Lifeways of the first Australians’ with contributions from the Kimberley Foundation Australia and the Department of Sustainability, Water, Populations and Communities, awarded to O'Connor and Balme, as well as support from the Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage as well as support from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CE170100015)

Hydrogeology and Geochemistry of Glacial Deposits in Northeastern Kansas

Twelve counties (Atchison, Brown, Doniphan, Douglas, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Leavenworth, Nemaha, Shawnee, Wabaunsee, and Wyandotte) in northeastern Kansas were glaciated during the Pleistocene Epoch. The glacial deposits consist of till, fluvial, loess, and lacustrine deposits locally totalling thicknesses of 400 ft (120 m). A major buried valley 3 mi (5 km) wide, 400 ft (120 m) deep, and 75 mi (120 km) long trends eastward across southern Nemaha, northern Jackson, and central Atchison counties. Several smaller tributary valleys can be identified in Atchison, Nemaha, Brown, Jackson, and Jefferson counties. Other buried valleys generally trend southward to the Kansas River valley or northward into Nebraska and Missouri. The glacial deposits filling the buried valleys locally are clayey. However, most valleys contain at least some water-bearing sand and gravel. Wells drilled into the best water-bearing sand and gravel deposits may yield as much as 900 gallons per minute (gpm; 0.06 m3/sm3/s), but less than 500 gpm (0.03 m3/s) is more common. The alluvial deposits of the Kansas and Missouri river valleys are the major sources of ground water in northeastern Kansas. Wells in these aquifers may have yields of 5,000 gpm (0.3 m3/s), but yields are more commonly less than 3,000 gpm (0.2 m3/s). We analyzed data from 80 pump tests using computer programs to find the best fit for transmissivity (1) and storage (S) values on glacial, alluvial, and bedrock aquifers. Transmissivities in the Missouri River valley alluvium ranged from 200,000 gallons per day per foot (gpd/ft) to 600,000 gpd/ft (2,000-7,000 m2/d), and storage values were between 0.001 and 0.0004. Tests in the Kansas River valley alluvium indicated transmissivities in the range 50,000-600,000 gpd/ft (600-7,000 m2/d) and storage values of 0.03. In the main buried valley across northeastern Kansas, the glacial deposits had T and S values of 2,500-25,600 gpd/ft (31.0-318 m2/d) and 0.00002-0.002, respectively. In the smaller buried valleys the glacial deposits had T values ranging from 1,500 gpd/ft to 100,000 gpd/ft (19-1,200 m2/d). Because of increasing population size in northeastern Kansas, appropriations of water for public and industrial water supplies have been increasing. Most of the pumpage comes from wells in the Kansas and Missouri river valleys. However, in 1981 the Division of Water Resources reported allocations of 1,466 acre-ft of water from wells tapping glacial aquifers associated with the main buried channel across Nemaha, Jackson, and Atchison counties and an additional 837 acre-ft from tributaries associated with the main buried channel. Nemaha County has the largest appropriation of water from the glacial aquifer (1,549 acre-ft/yr in 1983), and Wyandotte County has the largest appropriation of water from the alluvial aquifers (54,250 acre-ft/yr in 1983). Shawnee County has the largest number of ground-water appropriation rights (217). In 1981, for the 12-county study area, the Division of Water Resources found that 773 wells have ground-water appropriation rights. These 773 wells have appropriation rights for 140,484 acre-ft of water from alluvial aquifers, 5,290 acre-ft from glacial aquifers, and 2,146 acre-ft from Pennsylvanian and Permian rock aquifers. Maps for each county show the depth to bedrock, total thickness of Pleistocene sand and gravel deposits, estimated yield of wells, depth to water in wells and test holes, and the saturated thickness of Pleistocene deposits. A bedrock topographic map for the twelve counties was prepared from outcrop data and information from more than 5,000 water well, oil and gas, and test-hole logs. Ground waters from alluvial deposits are hard calcium bicarbonate waters that may have iron concentrations of several milligrams per liter. Sand and gravel associated with the glacial deposits generally yield hard calcium bicarbonate waters and may contain appreciable amounts of iron, manganese, sulfate, and chloride locally. Nitrate concentrations above 45 mg/L are noted in a number of wells of varying depth and aquifer source