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AbstractObjectiveMethodsResultsConclusionSocioeconomic status deprivation is known to be associated with self-harm in Western countries but there is less information about this association in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMIC). One way of investigating this is to assess the prevalence of indicators of financial stress in people who self-harm. We have assessed the prevalence and correlates of day-to-day financial hardships amongst individual presenting with non-fatal self-harm to hospitals in Sri Lanka.Data on non-fatal self-harm presentations were collected from an ongoing surveillance project in 52 hospitals in Sri Lanka. A questionnaire captured data on two forms of financial stress: unmet need (i.e., costs and bills that cannot be paid) and required support (i.e., steps taken to cover costs, such as selling belongings). Additional data on demographic, economic and clinical characteristics were also collected.The sample included 2516 individuals. Both forms of financial stress were very common, with pawning/selling items (47%) and asking family or friends for money (46%) in order to pay bills or cover costs being commonly reported. Greater financial stress was associated with being aged 26-55 years, limited education, and low socioeconomic position. Financial stress was greater in women than men after adjusting for other factors.The results indicate that financial stress is commonly reported amongst individuals presenting to hospital with non-fatal self-harm in Sri Lanka, especially women. The research highlights a need to attend to financial stress both within self-harm prevention and aftercare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluate relationships between changes in dermatologic assessments and quality of life (QoL) measures; quantify dermatologic symptom severity impacts on QoL in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) treated with tofacitinib. Data were from two phase III studies; patients received tofacitinib 5 or 10 mg twice daily (BID), adalimumab 40 mg every other week, or placebo advancing to tofacitinib 5 or 10 mg BID at Month 3. Repeated measures longitudinal models assessed relationships between dermatologic assessments (predictors) Itch Severity Item (ISI), Physician's Global Assessment of Psoriasis (PGA-PsO), and Patient's Global Joint and Skin Assessment-Visual Analog Scale-Psoriasis question (PGJS-VAS-PsO), and QoL measures (outcomes) Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and Short Form-36 Health Survey Version 2 (SF-36v2). Models included one predictor and one outcome. Direct, approximately linear relationships existed between predictors and outcomes. ISI/PGA-PsO/PGJS-VAS-PsO improvements from baseline of ≥3/≥2/≥40-mm VAS corresponded with clinically meaningful DLQI improvements; improvements from baseline of ≥4/≥3/≥40-mm VAS generally corresponded with clinically meaningful improvements across component scores and all SF-36v2 domains. Substantial links exist between dermatologic symptoms and QoL in patients with PsA, potentially informing patient-centered care and research. Rheumatologists should be aware of dermatologic manifestations and QoL impacts in patients with PsA. NCT01877668; NCT01882439 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methylketene (CH 3 CHCO) and acrolein (CH 2 CHCHO) have received considerable attention from both theoreticians and experimentalists. In a number of computational studies, it has been identified that both isomers sit alongside their dissociation products C 2 H 4 + CO , at the bottom of the potential energy surface with energies very close to each another. The most striking feature from preliminary calculations is that the relative energy difference between methylketene and trans-acrolein ( Δ E 0.8–3.4 kJ/mol) changes with respect to choice of reference geometry, correlation treatment, and basis set expansion. While the thermodynamic profile favours trans-acrolein as the lowest-lying isomer, it is difficult to estimate the quality of the currently available results, which are determined with a variety of methods. At higher levels of theory together with reducing basis set incompleteness methylketene might be the true minimum on the C 3 H 4 O potential energy surface. In addition to their being almost isoenergetic, much interest in these C 3 H 4 O isomers stems from an astrochemical standpoint. The discovery of both cis and trans-acrolein in the interstellar medium has led to speculation that methylketene may also be present. While thermodynamically methylketene proves to be a good candidate for extra-terrestrial observation, as yet there have been no reports of its detection. To this end, by applying the best correlation treatment that has been used for this species, using by far the most elaborate and accurate basis sets (up to sextuple-zeta quality), we establish the relative ordering and energetic difference between methylketene and trans-acrolein to within chemical accuracy (within 1 kJ/mol). We find the inclusion of zero-point energy, explicit core-correlation, and augmentation with diffuse functions have significant effects in determining the relative energy difference of the isomers, and assignment of the C 3 H 4 O global minimum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

12 Söderqvist, T. (1996) Existential projects and existential choice in science: science biography as an edifying genre, in: M. Shortland and R Yeo (Eds) Telling Lives in Science: Essays on Scientific Biography, pp. 45 - 84 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). Many people who went on to become scholars and writers about technoscience in its social context, that is, to become contributors to the field now called Science and Technology Studies (STS), were involved in or influenced by counter-cultural and radical activities from the late 1960s, '70s and '80s. Limits of the Forum and the Necessity of (Future) STS Work Importantly, this forum provides only a partial account of the movement from radical science to STS. Further, the essays foreground the importance of counterculture endeavors, including the radical science movement, in developing critical analysis of technoscience within STS. [Extracted from the article]

Taylor proposes the question, "How do we make sense of radical scientists and critics of science in relation to their changing contexts?" After identifying individuals who came to STS after being involved in popular movements of the 1970s, contesting the directions taken in science and technology, he proposes three themes to guide inquiry into the question: transitions, transversals, and tensions. Each of these themes illustrate how different directions (resistance, revival, resignation, ramifications, regularities, reframing), marked shifts in the focus of the intellectual work and lives for some (or perhaps many) of those individuals. These transitions can be seen as linked into a transversal project of exploring ways to stimulate researchers (and students training to become researchers) to self-consciously examine the complexity of their social situatedness so as to change the ways they address the complexity of the situations they study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on an autoethnographic inquiry we present a first-person, narrative account of a mathematics teacher's experience of developing an ethically responsible teaching practice. Reflective commentary on narrative vignettes illustrates the teacher's inquiry in the role of researcher as transformative learner. Inspired by transformative learning theory, he engaged in critical self-reflection on his moments of teaching, which prompted him to switch from the teacher's point of view and pay heed to his student's meaning perspective. This transformation of perspective enabled him to avoid conflict by negotiating a deal with the young resistant learner – 'a rebel kid' – to generate mutual respect, focus on values, and successfully adjust to the student's learning trajectory. The result of this inquiry suggests that endeavouring to teach from students' points of view is important not only for engaging meaningfully in an educative relationship but also for enhancing the sense of ethical responsibility of both teachers and students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, four $ \hbox {C}_2\hbox {H}_4\hbox {O}_2 $ C 2 H 4 O 2 isomers have been identified in the interstellar medium: acetic acid, glycolaldehyde, methyl formate, and (Z)-1,2-ethenediol. The detection of these species raises the question of whether other related carbohydrates could be present in similar astrophysical environments. In this study, we report a systematic investigation of six $ \hbox {C}_2\hbox {H}_4\hbox {O}_2 $ C 2 H 4 O 2 isomers not previously observed spectroscopically in space: anti-(1)-, (2)- and (3)- $ \hbox {CH}_2=\hbox {CHOOH} $ CH 2 = CHOOH , methyldioxirane, and anti- and syn-(2S)-oxiran-2-ol. For each species, we employ coupled-cluster theory at the AE-CCSD(T)/cc-pCVQZ level to provide accurate equilibrium parameters, rotational constants, quartic centrifugal distortion parameters, and permanent electric dipole moment components. Anharmonic force fields were determined within vibrational perturbation theory to second order and evaluated using the MP2 method, thus allowing the evaluation of vibrational corrections. These computations provided, as a by-product, sextic centrifugal distortion constants. Rotational spectra have subsequently been simulated in the millimeter/submillimeter-wave frequency for the first time. It is hoped and anticipated that the accurate theoretical rovibrational spectral data presented herein will aid in experimental investigations of these title molecules in the interstellar medium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we provide a detailed geographical analysis of the role of the New York-London (NYLON) connection in the world city network. We find that its pre-eminence is much greater and much more diverse than previously considered. Our analysis draws on a data collection of the worldwide office networks of producer services firms across cities in 2018, and applies a purposeful combination of principal components analysis and network analysis to identify the relative importance of city-dyads in different regional geographies of globalization. We review the role of NYLON in the the different city sub-nets thus identified, and provide a more focused discussion of NYLON's role in the production of three of these. In a short conclusion, we consider the meaning of our results for the broader literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we attempt to understand the new world geography through its cities by treating corporate globalization from the perspective of cities insofar as they are central to the global networks that make large-scale economic processes possible. To this end, we draw on a conceptual and empirical extension of world city network research to describe the major globalization phases that have been shaping the twenty-first century. After situating our world city network research in the much broader field of research on globalizing cities, we retell the narrative of the extensive, intensive, and Chinese globalization phases as reflected in the office networks of 175 of the world's largest producer services firms across 707 cities. A purposeful combination of connectivity and multivariate analysis is used to reveal cumulative, interacting, overlapping, and unfolding geographies of global economic patterns. We argue that these three key globalizations are shaping the global context of economic processes in the twenty-first century and describe the urban geography of each of these globalizations to understand their broader meanings within today's global economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the association between lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) status and self-harm in UK higher education students. There is currently limited data on this association, and the role psychological variables have in potentially explaining this link, in UK students. We examine whether LGB status is associated with self-harm (both non-suicidal self-injury [NSSI] and suicide attempts [SA]), and whether 4 psychological variables (depression, anxiety, belongingness, self-esteem) mediate this association. A cross-sectional survey was used. UK university students (n = 707) completed an online survey including measures of self-harm, affective symptoms, belongingness, and self-esteem. Latent Variable Modelling (LVM) was used to test our hypotheses. LGB status remained associated with an elevated risk of NSSI and SA even after accounting for mediating factors. Self-esteem and (in the case of SA but not NSSI) thwarted belongingness, did, however, explain some of this association and were correlated with self-harm risk. The findings suggest that psychological factors may account for the association between LGB status and self-harm and, as such, prevention and intervention efforts directed at these psychological mediators may help to reduce self-harm risk in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present research, we examined whether attachment anxiety and avoidance in support recipients were related to the extent to which social support received from a romantic partner matched the actual needs of the recipient. Two-hundred and forty-five first-time mothers, currently involved in romantic relationships, participated in study 1, in which perceptions of support were appraised over the previous month using self-reports. In study 2, we sought to replicate these findings using an experience sampling method to examine the association between attachment and momentary support perceptions in the daily life of mothers with babies (N = 40). Results indicated that high levels of attachment avoidance or anxiety in mothers were associated with negative appraisals of support matching. Receiving support which matched the needs of the mother (i.e., adequate support) was beneficial to mood, but not constructive to relationship satisfaction or perceptions of maternal efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles in the issue on topics including the studies in natural resources and society in illiberal world, the society-environment relations in China and Russia and the environmentality in small states like Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The article discusses a three-stage project that aims to validate the use of the English version of GO-QOL in a British hospital-treated population with thyroid eye disease (TED). Ethical approval was from the National Health Service South West Central Bristol Research Ethics Committee. Participants referred to a trial centre during the duration of the study were considered for inclusion. Internal validity was evaluated through Cronbach's alpha calculations.

In this essay, I review some of the advances made by Jan Almlöf in the calculation of molecular integrals over Gaussian-type basis functions, and in the use of molecular symmetry to both produce integrals over symmetry-adapted combinations of basis functions and to ensure that these latter were constructed from the minimum possible number of distinct integrals over atom-centred functions. The survey is, as already noted, an essay, historical in nature, and I crave the reader's indulgence that it is structured as an essay and not as a conventional scientific manuscript. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the author discusses various reports within the issuer on topics including role of governance plays in unintentionally creating water crises, rise in the demand for water, and challenges related to cross-cutting governance.

This article presents a large-scale analysis of the trajectories of individual cities and regions in the world city network between 2000 and 2012. The methodology used to examine cities' evolving network centralities is based on advanced producer services firms “interlocking” cities through their worldwide distribution of offices. We do not limit our analysis to a limited set of putative world cities, but incorporate 157 cities from all world regions into this global urban analysis. Absolute and relative measures of change are developed to reveal the major dimensions of change. The most notable finding is that significant connectivity gains have been limited to a small set of cities (Dubai, Shanghai, Beijing, and Moscow in particular) in the face of persisting core–periphery patterns at the level of the global economy, with New York and London remaining firmly at the apex. At the same time, overall levels of connectivity in the world city network have clearly risen, suggesting an increasingly integrated network. In geographical terms, a west-to-east shift is discernible, albeit uneven. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air voids in concrete tend to cluster around coarse aggregate particles and potentially weaken the concrete. This study explored key factors influencing air void clustering and evaluated the effect of air void clustering on concrete strength. The six considered variables were cement type (low alkali cement and limestone cement), fly ash (with the low and high loss on ignition), coarse aggregate type (limestone and gravel), admixture combination type (stable and unstable air-entraining agents and compatible and incompatible water reducers), mixing temperature (70 and 90°F), and workability (with and without retempering). A total of 64 mixtures were prepared and tested. The fresh concrete's slump, unit weight and air content were studied along with its compressive strength after 7 and 28 days. Air-void spacing factor, clustering and the voids' specific surface were evaluated. The results showed that retempering was the most significant factor influencing air void clustering. It was found that retempering can increase air content, create finer air voids and aggravate air void clustering. To reduce the risk of air void clustering, retempering and the mixing water temperature of 90°F should be avoided. When the clustering rating exceeded 0.6, some strength loss was observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractWe consider a two-class priority queue in which the priority of a customer increases linearly at some constant, class-dependent rate. We describe the related maximum priority process {(M1(t),M2(t)):t≥0}, which is of interest since the stationary distribution of the maximum priority process at the times of the commencement of service gives information about the waiting time distributions of the two classes of customers. In the case where service times are exponential, we map a two-class maximum priority process {(M1(t),M2(t)):t≥0} to a tandem fluid queue, and use this mapping in order to derive the stationary distribution of {(M1(t),M2(t)):t≥0}. Further, we extended these results to the maximum priority process in which service times are phase-type distributed. We illustrate the theory with numerical examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis paper is the first to systematically review qualitative research on adopted adults’ motivations and experiences of birth family searching. A line of argument synthesis developed four overarching themes: ‘missing pieces’, ‘different and othered’, ‘the circumscribed position in the adoption triad’ and ‘internal and external challenges.’ The main findings illustrated that searching is complex, inherently linked to identity. Also implicated in the process are relational dynamics and internal and external challenges. Practice implications include recommending contact services that provide psychological support for the searching process. Also recommended for mental health practitioners is specialized training in contemporary adoption issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This review systematically examines research that investigates changes in adult attachment representations during psychological therapy. Method: Studies from two adult attachment approaches are reviewed (interview and self-report) with the aim of concluding whether psychotherapy can improve attachment representations. To guide the interpretation of findings, the methodological quality of studies is assessed. Results: The results suggest that attachment security increases following therapy, whereas attachment anxiety decreases following therapy. Findings are unclear with regard to attachment avoidance. Improvements are observed across different methodologies, patient groups, therapeutic approaches, and therapy settings. Findings also appear to be consistent across different levels of study quality. Conclusions: Overall, research supports the suggestion that attachment styles may alter during the course of psychotherapy, but further controlled trials are required to confirm this conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivated by Parker Palmer’s call for teachers to understand the self who teaches, I recently completed a transformative research journey of understanding my past chemistry teaching experiences. I am a university chemistry teacher educator from Indonesia, and recently participated in a three-year longitudinal co-teaching project in lower secondary schools in Western Australia. Conducting co-teaching and narrative research stimulated me to think deeply about, and reflect critically on, my past teaching experiences. As the research involved critical reflection on my professional praxis, I adopted a multi-paradigmatic research approach with three focus paradigms – interpretivism, criticalism, and postmodernism – and designed a critical auto/ethnography as my research methodology. I applied multiple genres within arts-based research, including poetic reflections (poems), stories, dialogues within narrative, and metaphors. This journey revealed how I struggled as an unmotivated teacher to become a highly motivated and passionate teacher. I used Habermas’ three interests and Schubert’s curriculum images to interrogate my chemistry teaching. This journey ultimately opened up the somewhat closed box of my personal and professional practices as a teacher. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Sassen's identification of global cities as 'strategic places' is explored through world city network analysis. This involves searching out advanced producer service ( APS) firms that constitute 'strategic networks,' from whose activities strategic places can be defined. Twenty-five out of 175 APS firms are found to be strategic, and from their office networks, 45 cities out of 526 are designated as strategic places. A measure of 'strategicness' of cities is devised, and individual findings from this are discussed by drawing on existing literature about how APS firms use specific cities. A key finding shows that New York and London have different levels of strategicness, and this is related to the former's innovation prowess and the latter's role in global consumption of services. Other cases of strategicness discussed in terms of the balance between production and consumption of APSs are Beijing, Hong Kong, and Shanghai; Palo Alto; Mexico City; Johannesburg; and Dubai and Frankfurt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Horus is an olpiid pseudoscorpion of which nine species have been described from southern Africa; a tenth, debatable species was described from the Ivory Coast. The two most widely distributed species are H. granulatus and H. obscurus, the former occurring especially in the west and the other in the east, but their distributions overlap; in two instances they have been recorded from the same site. All species have a preference for rock outcrops, which are largely disjunct, and their regular prey comprises small ant species. Fieldwork over a period of 15 years indicated a very low dispersal rate; therefore one would expect localized 'island' populations rather than widely dispersed species. This means that the current species delimitations which lump geographically widespread populations may be incorrect. Mitochondrial DNA of specimens from each of 20 different localities across South Africa were analysed to test the hypothesis. Five of these localities did not yield results, but 14 yielded DNA from specimens which proved to belong to Horus and a fifteenth turned out to be a misidentified pseudoscorpion unrelated to Horus. The results were unequivocal: populations from each locality or group of closely-spaced localities were genetically distinct from any other one tested, and the greater the distance between localities, the greater the genetic differences (i.e. significant isolation by distance). This means that the current species delimitations for Horus are incorrect. It will require detailed micro-anatomical study to identify new characteristics on which species delimitations can be based in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Student perceptions of teaching have often been used in tertiary education for evaluation purposes. However, there is a paucity of research on the validity, reliability, and applicability of instruments that cover a wide range of student perceptions of pedagogies and practices in high school settings for descriptive purposes. The study attempts to validate an inventory of pedagogy and practice (IPP) that provides researchers and practitioners with a psychometrically sound instrument that covers the most salient factors related to teaching. Using a sample of students (N = 1515) from 39 schools in Singapore, 14 factors about teaching in English lessons from the students’ perspective were tested with confirmatory factor analysis (classroom task goal, structure and clarity, curiosity and interest, positive class climate, feedback, questioning, quality homework, review of students’ work, conventional teaching, exam preparation, behaviour management, maximizing learning time, student-centred pedagogy, and subject domain teaching). Two external criterion factors were used to further test the IPP factor structure. The inventory will enable teachers to understand more about their teaching and researchers to examine how teaching may be related to learning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A characterization of pesticides in secondary treated effluent (STE) and a screening health risk assessment were conducted to evaluate potential health impacts of recycled water for potable reuse. Samples of STE were examined pre- and post-reverse osmosis (RO) treatment in two plants. Risk quotients (RQ) were estimated by expressing the maximum and median concentration as a function of the health value. Of 128 pesticides analyzed, 11 were detected in STE. Trifluralin was detected in 86.5% of the STE samples followed by metolachlor (67.6%), 2,4-D (50%), and propiconazole (42.5%). Metolachlor was the only pesticide detected post-RO in one sample (0.08 μg/L, limit of reporting = 0.05 μg/L). RQ(max) were all below health values in the STE with the exception of thiophanate methyl (RQ max = 2.4). RO was able to reduce the concentration of all pesticides below LOR. Median removal efficiency for RO ranged from 67.1% (atrazine) to 98.8% (2,4-D). The results indicate that, despite the detection of pesticides in STE, the impact on indirect potable reuse is negligible due to the low concentrations in STE and their subsequent removal during RO treatment. Implementation of risk management strategies to optimize safety and recommendations for a monitoring program are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the author looks at the contemporary Chinese economic success story which has been started from its great cities and currently most of the population is urban dwellers. He mentions two related globalizations for the same which include neoliberal globalization from western influences and a concurrent China globalization. He adds that geopolitical imaginings and construction are the part of political redemption in response to Western humiliation to support economic redemption.

We report here on a series of interaction-intensive, interdisciplinary workshops to foster collaboration among those who teach, study, and engage with the public about scientific developments and social change-the New England Workshop on Science and Social Change. We include one line of thinking that fed into the workshops and present an analysis of how they contribute to participants developing their interest and skills in collaboration. Workshop evaluations suggest that people are moved to develop themselves as collaborators when they view an experience or training as transformative. Four R's-respect, risk, revelation, and re-engagement-point to the important conditions for interactions among researchers to be experienced as transformative. Three considerations lie behind the focus on the process side of the workshops, not the specific workshop topics: (1) how best to fill in for readers what they missed out on by not being there; (2) workshops and meetings are a ubiquitous part of the culture of science and technology studies (STS) so it is valuable to examine this aspect of our own culture with a view to promoting positive changes; and (3) in some scientific fields organized multi-person collaborative processes form a highly valorized aspect of the culture of science, so reflection on experiences of participation and collaboration in STS might inform our analyses of fields that emphasize collaboration and group processes. Indeed, the authors' own involvement in the workshops extends our own STS work on actor networks and 'heterogeneous engineering', that is, the mobilization of a variety of resources by diverse agents spanning different realms of social action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lewontin and Levins's contributions are viewed from four angles: a more vigorous culture of science criticism; a visible college of Marxist scientists in the USA; inquiries into the diverse social influences shaping science; and motivating readers who want to pursue their science as a political project. Indirect contributions—influences on and appropriations by other actors in the wider realm of biology as politics—are discussed as well as the more direct effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay addresses the relationship of interpretation to change, at two levels. One level concerns the revolutionary claims of molecular biology and biotechnology about using genetic information, read literally or with a minimum of interpretation, to reshape human life. The other level concerns the relationship in social studies of science and technology (STS) between interpreting projects in the life sciences and influencing their direction. On that level, the essay is experimental, employing a series of vignettes that introduce themes and questions—scaffolding—intended to stimulate readers to make their own connections between interpretation and change, in science, STS, and society. The vignettes in Part 1, which range from treatment of individuals with PKU or MAOA genes to personalized medicine and biobanks, indicate in different ways that the use of genetic information always requires social infrastructure. Once attention is given to the actual or implied social infrastructure, the prospect of reshaping life using human genetic information raises more questions than it answers. This thread carries over into Part 2, which speaks to an area of STS that needs more development, namely, conceptualizing the structure of the social context of scientific and technological developments and the nature of human agency in the ongoing restructuring of that context. The vignettes create a picture in which the influence on science of an STS interpretation will, like any effort to produce change, depend on how it links with other engagements and with the heterogeneous components that make up ongoing, intersecting processes of science in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Zoological Society of Southern Africa (ZSSA) has held conferences since 1962. Given the major changes in national and international environmental priorities and in political and societal structures in South Africa over this period, together with technological advances. major shifts in research trends would be expected. The mix of papers presented at conferences held in 1984, 1994, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2007 and 2009 were investigated to identify trends in the subdisciplines, in taxa and habitats studied, and in the collaboration and participation of students. Trends reflected in publications by South African zoological researchers in 1980 and 2007 were also used. Zoology remains a strong discipline, with 16 university departments employing 16% more staff and 14% more professors in 2007 than in 1980. A large number of zoologists are also employed at museums (43) and at other research institutions (74). There has been little major change in terms of subdisciplines, or the taxa or habitats studied, and conferences have remained broad, with no narrow subdiscipline ever comprising more than 15% of presentations. Priorities for terrestrial zoological research identified in a 1995 commentary paper have not received noticeably more attention. Mammals have consistently received the largest amount of attention, but research on birds has increased. The split between research on vertebrates (64%) and invertebrates (36%), as reflected by publications, was identical in 1980 and 2007. Terrestrial research continues to dominate conferences and publications, and collaborative presentations have increased since 1994. Maintaining traditional research focus in filling of vacancies at universities and other institutions, as well as funding opportunities, have probably contributed to the maintenance of broad research coverage over the last 25 years. Major changes in funding strategies and the national focus on large, integrated scientific questions may influence trends into the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the occasion of a symposium celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Zoological Society of Southern Africa (ZSSA), the history of the Society is outlined in terms of its different 'growth stages' under different political dispensations and geographical headquarters, of its 34 organized symposia and of the 34 outstanding zoologists who have been awarded the Society's highest honour, the Gold Medal. The office bearers of the ZSSA Council from its inception to the present are documented. Changes to the Society's journal and newsletter are briefly discussed. It is concluded that the Society faces 'midlife' with a solid foundation and positive future, hut complacency should be avoided. In particular, the Society's journal requires invigoration and enthusiastic commitment, particularly from high-ranking members, to submit excellent manuscripts to the journal, so as to boost its impact factor and allow it to become globally competitive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A question asked by a Year 10 student - 'What is a Mozambican chemistry?' - constituted for me, a school teacher at the time, a matter of wonder and subsequently a key focus of interrogation for my professional practice. This critical event shaped my one-year research journey in which writing about my own lifeworld experience was a way of inquiring into science teacher education in Mozambique. A critical autoethnographic methodology enabled me to represent and interrogate some of the complexity of learning and teaching science in Mozambique. I drew on my evolving professional perspectives - trainee teacher, science teacher, science teacher educator - to generate multiple narratives intended to engage myself and my reader in pedagogical thoughtfulness. In this paper, I reflect on the research process, especially how autoethnography enabled me to explore and reflect critically on the sensitivity of my professional practice to Mozambican culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate mitochondrial DNA and craniometric variation in southern African and Malagasy populations of the small and morphologically variable, house-roosting molossid bat, Chaerephon pumilus in relation to Malagasy populations of the related, smaller-sized species, C. leucogaster. Both cytochrome b and D-loop sequences show C. leucogaster to be nested within C. pumilus sensu lato, with Malagasy C. pumilus forming a sister group to African C. pumilus and Malagasy C. leucogaster. Four distinct D-loop clades are found in southern African populations, all of which occur sympatrically in the greater Durban area of KwaZulu-Natal Province, whilst two of the Durban clades also characterize 1) northern KwaZulu-Natal and low-lying (<600 m) areas of Swaziland, and 2) 'inland' populations comprising the Kruger National Park and higher-lying (>600 m) areas of Swaziland. Clades from low-lying areas show evidence of historical demographic expansion around 3300-13 000 years ago (KwaZulu-Natal coastal clade, Clade A1) to 14 700-60 000 years ago (Durban clade, Clade BI), whilst the inland clade (Clade B2a) was demographically more stable. The origin of these clades can be explained by sea level and vegetation changes hypothesized to follow the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) after 18 000 years ago. Sympatric clades are shown to differ significantly in the proportional width of the braincase, and ongoing work will test evidence for acoustic and other morphological differences between them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the fourth in a series of articles on the debate about the skills required to address the 'new urban agenda'. The previous articles and the editions in which they were published are: Nick Bailey, The Great Skills Debate: Defining and Delivering the Skills Required for Community Regeneration in England (20.3); Deborah Peel, Training Citizens for a Management Role in Regeneration (20.4); and Simon Pemberton, Skills to Deliver Regeneration—Building and Releasing Capacity (21.2). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a critique of Polèse's recent paper entitled ‘Cities and national economic growth: a reappraisal’ which purports to test the ‘Jacobs hypothesis’. It is argued that both main variables used, ‘national levels of urbanisation’ and ‘per capita GDP growth’, are mis-specified. The critique is related to the state-centric nature of social science and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Venezuela is a country where indigenous and local communities use more than 1500 species of plants for medicinal purposes. Anticancer drugs derived from plants may act through a direct cytotoxic effect on tumor cells or through other mechanisms such as inhibitory effects on the proteases involved in tumor growth and spread. From our databases of botanical collections and ethnobiological usage, we selected 17 species to conduct an initial survey of cytotoxicity on eight human tumor cell lines (representing lung, breast, colon, and pancreas) and activity against four proteases. Thirteen extracts from 10 species were cytotoxic, at 100 μg/ml or less, on one or more cell lines. Extracts of Jacaranda copaia and Tapirira guianensis were active against several cell lines, whereas extracts of Gnetum nodiflorum, Protium heptaphyllum, Protium unifoliolatum, Costus scaber, and Croton cuneatus were potent and selectively inhibitory for one or two cell lines. Antiprotease activity against one or more enzymes was detected in extracts from 14 plant species, with most activity being directed against leucine aminopeptidase (LAP). The activities observed are discussed in relation to the chemical constituents reportedly isolated from these plants and/or other species of the genus and their traditional uses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is an empirical paper that uses an interlocking network model to evaluate the importance of leading world cities within contemporary globalisation. Cities are treated as locales through which four globalisations—economic, cultural, political and social—are produced and reproduced. Sixteen sets of data describing agents of global network formation, such as global service firms, NGOs and UN agencies, are analysed to measure cities' overall network locations and sub-net articulator roles. Analyses are synthesised in a taxonomy of leading world cities that identifies five classes of ‘global city’ and types of other world cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we portray an inquiry into the problematic impact of the Chinese National Examination system on Chinese chemistry teaching and learning. The inquiry was conducted as a soulful autoethnography, illuminating the first-hand experiences of a Chinese chemistry teacher struggling to reconcile contradictions between his humanistic ideals (of 'loose' teaching) and the technical forces (of 'strict' teaching) prevailing in his professional culture. This narrative inquiry yielded a mix of short stories and reflective commentary. In this article, selected stories present vignettes of the teacher's enactment of the national chemistry curriculum at critical periods early in his career. The article demonstrates the value of adopting soulful autoethnogaphy as a form of professional development, illustrating how multiple modes of inquiry can open up spaces for practical moral reflection (phronesis), soulful attunement (poesis) and contemplative thinking (theoria) which, taken together contribute to a loving praxis of transformative education. Consistent with the narrative representational form of the research, this article has a diachronic storied structure, which mirrors the process of the inquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the globalization of architectural practice, focusing on the global strategies of architectural firms in relation to those of advanced business services and to the evolving network of world cities that provides the spatial framework for economic globalization. A basic geography of global architecture office networks is identified, and multivariate statistical analysis is used to identify four distinctive global arenas in which architectural firms are involved. In a final section, the implications of these findings for architectural education are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research on the geography of NGOs in Global Civil Society yearbooks has emphasized a north-west European bias. This has been taken to imply that global civil society is but a pale geographical shadow of the power concentrations in global economy and governance. Using an interlocking network model and data on 74 global NGOs with offices across 178 cities, NGO connectivity values for cities show that there is a 'global South', especially sub-Saharan African, geographical bias. Nairobi is the most connected world city with respect to NGO activities. This marked contrast to recent received wisdom implies a diffuse network power relationship. To the extent that global NGOs reveal the new geography of global civil society in a space of flows, these results support a positive interpretation for NGOs contributing to an emancipatory global agenda. † The Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech, 1021 Prince Street, Suite 100, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA. † Loughborough University where he co-directs the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) Study Group and Network (). An adjunct professor at the College of Architecture and Urban Studies (Virginia Tech), he is currently visiting the University of Ghent as the holder of the International Francqui Chair. His latest book is World City Network: A Global Urban Analysis (Routledge). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses complementary questions about the possibilities for changing the development of people's lives and the directions of scientific development. Importance of learning more about how researchers unravel the complexities of the processes of biosocial development for specific conditions; Ways in which gestational programming, life events and difficulties, and reciprocal causation models complicate the biological determinism debate; Interpretation of science in relation to its social context and through reflexivity.

This is an empirical study that analyses the geography of 33 global media firms through their locations in 284 cities across the world. The analyses are set within the world cities literature and a methodology is used that searches out city networks from data on firms to define 'global media cities'. Resulting definitions of network connectivities allow comparisons to be made with more familiar world city network results on global service centres. The relative importance of media industries in European cities is highlighted. The main analysis uses a principal components model to discover global media fields centred upon specific articulator cities, notably New York, Los Angeles, Munich, Berlin, London and Paris. It is concluded that there is a geographical logic to the growth of large media companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines recent agrarian reforms' impact on Mexican community forestry, a common pool resource regime linking peasants' social and economic interests with conservation. It analyzes two agrarian communities that established smaller organizational units and explores peasants' creative responses to neoliberal restructuring, issues posed by new forms of governing collective resources and changing relationships between forestry and community development. Does this restructuring represent reorganization in more effective pursuit of community objectives? Or does it represent division, pursuit of individual agendas inimical to social and ecological sustainability? The counterintuitive experiences of these cases suggest local responses to restructuring may promote viable communities of producers with stakes in sustainable management or bypass such stakeholder communities. In Mexico, common pool resource regimes are best seen not as static categories of private or collective tenure, but as often ambiguous, conflictual property practices embedded in both macro- and micro-level structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In consideration of the local-global nexus it is commonplace to emphasise multiple 'locals'; in this paper, we introduce multiple 'globals' in the sense of differences in firm's globalisation strategies. Building upon the collection of a unique set of data showing advanced producer service office networks for 46 major firms in 55 world cities, the major dimensions of variability in this geography are explored using principal components analyses. An R-mode analysis shows similarities in firm's location patterns and 14 distinctive cross-city profiles of firms are identified. A key finding is that different producer services tend to have different cross-city profiles. A Q-mode analysis groups world cities in terms of similar corporate locations and 9 corporate service mixes are identified. A key finding is that most cities group into regional or interregional clusters; London and New York (but not Tokyo) are exceptional in forming their own distinctive 'global city' dimension. The overall conclusion is that world city formation, a core process of globalisation, has created a rich and informative geographical complexity. Since there is order to the complexity, the paper finishes with a multifarious research agenda derived from this first comprehensive, comparative analysis of world cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The report of the Dearing Committee (NCIHE, 1997) identifies a rapid and ongoing increase in use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to support teaching and learning in higher education. This rapid expansion involves practices that are changing the traditional roles of both staff and students. The need to orient staff to the unfamiliar roles associated with student-centred learning and ICT-augmented teaching is well recognized. This paper argues that students also need to be prepared for their new roles. The paper provides a rationale for student development to prepare students for the transition to learning environments that include extensive use of ICTs as learning technologies. The argument is that both staff and student development are necessary and that these are complementary foci. The discussion then provides a detailed overview of successful student-development strategies that have been developed to support students starting studies at a purpose-built flexible learning campus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the interests of providing patient choice and developing more effective interventions for people struggling with psychosis, it is important that alternative talking therapies are explored. Cognitive Analytic Therapy is an integrative therapy which has specific features that may be particularly suited to psychosis. The current report briefly outlines this approach and its potential benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including environmental social sciences, natural resource management, and environmental and natural resource policy.

A benchmark ab initio study on the thermochemistry of the trans -HNNH, cis -HNNH, and H2NN isomers of diazene has been carried out using the CCSD(T) coupled cluster method, basis sets as large as [7s6p5d4f3g2h/5s4p3d2f1g], and extrapolations towards the 1-particle basis set limit. The effects on inner shell correlation and of anharmonicity in the zero-point energy were taken into account: thus accurate geometries and anharmonic force fields were obtained as by-products. The best computed DeltaHof0 for trans-HNNH, 49.2-0.3kcal mol-1, is in very good agreement with a recent experimental lower limit of 48.8 0.5kcal mol-1. CCSD(T) basis set limit values for the isomerization energies at 0K are 5.2 0.2kcal mol-1 (cis-trans) and 24.1 0.2kcal mol-1 (iso-trans). Our best computed geometry for trans-HNNH, reNN = 1.2468A, (NH) = 1.0283A, and thetae = 106.17o, reproduces the precisely known ground state rotational constants of trans-HNNH to within better than 0.1%. The rotation-vibration spectra of both cis-HNNH and H2NN are dominated by very strong Coriolis and Fermi resonances. In addition, the NH stretches in H2NN are so strongly anharmonic that vibrational perturbation theory breaks down, and the molecule appears to be an excellent test case for variational treatments of the vibrational Schrodinger equation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on the personal experiences of an 'outsider' (or Western-oriented) science teacher and science teacher educator who has lived in Melanesian countries for almost a decade. During a recent interpretive research study of the problematic relationship between the traditional worldviews of Melanesian villagers and the official school science views of young Melanesian people, Waldrip became increasingly aware of the importance of conducting culture-sensitive interpretive research. Mindful of the important role, of the outside researchers in providing essential information for the local contextualization of school science curricula, Waldrip proposes a number of culture-sensitive practices, based on Guba and Lincoln's [(1989) Fourth Generation Evaluation (Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications)] criteria of trustworthiness and authenticity, when working in Melanesian cultural contexts. These practices address issues of initial contact, ownership of knowledge, prolonged engagement, persistent observation, member checks, language and interview process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study of several compositions with a descending chain of interlocking melodic thirds. Comparison of Claudin de Sermisy's `Au joly boys' in 1530 and `Holly Jolly Christmas,' by Johnny Marks; Analysis of the opening verse of the song `Tears Before Bedtime,' by Elvis Costello; Comparison of two songs from Billy Joel and Seals and Crofts; Implications of the study.