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peer-reviewed, This artist statement and video offer an extract from an auto-ethnographic performance of my learning journey as a doctoral student, titled The Lines Between Us. The video provides an example of how I used arts practice research in my doctoral thesis to bring together multiple aspects of my identity: those of singer, songwriter, community musician, and researcher. I utilised my skills as a singer and songwriter in order to better understand my practice as a community musician, to communicate my learning process to an audience, and to become a more empathetic and effective facilitator working in a field that is deeply connected to social justice. Since the video presented is a sample from a much larger work, this artist statement provides context for the reader / audience and guidance on how to engage meaningfully with the performance. In particular, this statement will consider the following: What is community music? Why arts practice research? What did this performance seek to achieve? The audience is invited to experience this performance and to further discuss its efficacy by engaging with a series of points to consider., PUBLISHED, peer-reviewed

This review assesses existing data, models, and other knowledge-based methods for valuing the effects of sustainable land management including the cost of land degradation on a global scale. The overall development goal of sustainable human well-being should be to obtain social, ecologic, and economic viability, not merely growth of the market economy. Therefore new and more integrated methods to value sustainable development are needed. There is a huge amount of data and methods currently available to model and analyze land management practices. However, it is scattered and requires consolidation and reformatting to be useful. In this review we collected and evaluated databases and computer models that could be useful for analyzing and valuing land management options for sustaining natural capital and maximizing ecosystem services. The current methods and models are not well equipped to handle large scale transdisciplinary analyses and a major conclusion of this synthesis paper is that there is a need for further development of the integrated approaches, which considers all four types of capital (human, built, natural, and social), and their interaction at spatially explicit, multiple scales. This should be facilitated by adapting existing models and make them and their outcomes more accessible to stakeholders. Other shortcomings and caveats of models should be addressed by adding the 'human factor', for instance, in participatory decision-making and scenario testing. For integration of the models themselves, a more participatory approach to model development is also recommended, along with the possibility of adding advanced gaming interfaces to the models to allow them to be "played" by a large number of interested parties and their trade-off decisions to be accumulated and compared.

Over the years liturgical dance has been recognized as possessing unique potential and power in translating and transmitting ideas of faith within the Christian tradition. Yet, liturgical dance is not a regular component of worship services in most Christian congregations. This absence is a loss. This dissertation addresses the power and potential liturgical dance has in nourishing the faith life of congregants. The driving question for this dissertation project is what are the characteristics embedded in liturgical dance which identify it as religious education within the church as a community place of learning? This question prompts the investigation of the many characteristics within liturgical dance which render it as religious education. This qualitative research applies an interpretive naturalistic method while employing two methodologies: semi-structured interviews and arts-based research. The purposeful samples include ten interviews from persons who have been affiliated with or affected by the use of liturgical dance as a teaching tool within the life of the church. The arts-based methodology reveals the presence of certain aesthetic qualities that infuse the inquiry and its writing. Liturgical dance is the focus of the arts-based activity and although there are associations with both music and written text, the dominant presence of dance classifies this as arts-based research. The study is divided into six chapters. The first chapter outlines the structure of the study, while chapter two explores the use of dance, music, and word as teaching tools during the Antebellum period of the African slaves, and the Shakers. The third chapter examines the validity of arts education as a source of learning, and dance as a way of knowing. Chapter four explores the theories of education and aesthetic education through and by experience, while defining the church as a community place of learning. Chapter five reviews the historical use of dance from the Old Testament an

The bacterial replisome is a target for the development of new antibiotics to combat drug resistant strains. The β2 sliding clamp is an essential component of the replicative machinery, providing a platform for recruitment and function of other replisomal components and ensuring polymerase processivity during DNA replication and repair. A single binding region of the clamp is utilized by its binding partners, which all contain conserved binding motifs. The C-terminal Leu and Phe residues of these motifs are integral to the binding interaction. We acquired three-dimensional structural information on the binding site in β2 by a study of the binding of modified peptides. Development of a three-dimensional pharmacophore based on the C-terminal dipeptide of the motif enabled identification of compounds that on further development inhibited α–β2 interaction at low micromolar concentrations. We report the crystal structure of the complex containing one of these inhibitors, a biphenyl oxime, bound to β2, as a starting point for further inhibitor design.

As of October 1, 2007, the United States Government (USG) officially stood up the African Command (AFRICOM) as a sub-unified command of EUCOM. By October 2008, AFRICOM is to be fully operational. AFRICOM symbolizes a change in the DoD as far as how to structure its organizations. AFRICOM has the responsibilities of U.S. traditional COCOMs, but has additional staff and resources to provide more civil-military capabilities in Africa. This is a change that should be viewed as a transformation within the DoD and its efforts to improve interagency relations. Because AFRICOM has been publicized as a command-plus, there has been suspicion concerning the motives behind the command. To promote AFRICOM, DoD began its strategic communication plan back in 2006. AFRICOM's commander and staff have campaigned in Africa and the U.S. to explain it's mission. This monograph introduces an approach called strategic communication design that focuses on a detailed analysis and comprehensive understanding of the information environment. The problem facing the USG is that strategic communication is poorly defined and has not been effective in communicating a synchronized message amongst DoD, the State Department and other government agencies. In order to be effective in communicating, the USG (specifically DoD and the State Department) needs to share a common understanding of what strategic communication is. In this monograph, strategic communication is broken down into five parts; the broadcaster, the message, the medium, the audience, and feedback. This study used strategic communication design to examine the ongoing effect to establish AFRICOM as a geographic combatant command to assess the feasibility and usefulness of the approach. The purpose is to outline a new approach to the strategic communication process using AFRICOM as a case study, and to provide recommendations to the AFRICOM staff for communicating its purpose and mission to audiences both internal and external to Africa., The original document contains color images.

This thesis examines the 1999-2003 case of political conflict in Ambon, in Eastern Indonesia, in the context of political change in Indonesia from 1950-1998. It is argued that political transformation during this period was closely influenced by a much longer period of unprecedented social change preceding the politics of this period. It is suggested that the ideologisation of ethnic identities is likely to occur when structures of community are disrupted by changes in the contemporary world such as economic fluctuations or state policy interventions. One result is to disrupt traditional village communities so as to place individuals in stress situations making them susceptible to new nationalist ideologies. The other impact is to dislocate authority structures so that both incumbent and aspiring elites lose their power and authority and thus search for new ways in order to re-establish their moral and political legitimacy. It is argued that nationalism is able to offer a resolution to social disruption and thus to the community in search of social cohesion, while also functioning to rebuild elite authority. In ethnic nationalist ideology, insecurities and feelings of isolation are ameliorated by subsequent constructions of 'us' and 'them' where members of one distinct community are demarcated from other communities. It is suggested that myths of ancestry and homeland together with counterposed moral dichotomies appealed to the Ambonese who needed this form of ideological support. It is the insecurities and fear experienced by disrupted communities which promote this powerful ideological formula. It is asserted that conflict on the island has been characterised by this trend towards ideological absolutism where two conflicting ideological constructions have translated the conflict into a non-negotiable confrontation between opposing national rights. It is argued that these two ideological constructions have remained internalised on the island and embedded within the

peer-reviewed, The aim of the study was to explore women’s experiences of learning to sing lullabies during pregnancy

peer-reviewed, The aim of the study was to explore women’s experiences of learning to sing lullabies during pregnancy

Since President Bush's announcement establishing AFRICOM, the Office of Secretary of Defense, the State Department, and European Command (EUCOM) began the initial planning of Africa Command (AFRICOM). As of October 1, 2007, the United States Government (USG) officially stood up AFRICOM as a sub-unified command of EUCOM and headquartered it in Stuttgart, Germany. By October 2008, AFRICOM is expected to be fully operational and will not locate its headquarters on the continent for the time being. AFRICOM symbolizes a change in the DoD as far as how to structure its organizations. AFRICOM has the responsibilities of U.S. traditional COCOMs, but has additional staff and resources to provide more civil-military capabilities in Africa. This is a significant change in the way the USG conducts business that should be viewed as a transformation within the DoD and its efforts to improve interagency relations. Because AFRICOM is a new combatant command and has been publicized as a command-plus, there has been a lot of suspicion concerning the motives behind the command from both on the continent of Africa itself, and throughout the world. In order promote AFRICOM, DoD began its strategic communication plan back in 2006, with little success. AFRICOM's commander, General William "Kipp" Ward and his staff have campaigned in Africa and the U.S. to explain AFRICOM's mission and garner support for the command. This monograph introduces an approach called strategic communication design that focuses on a detailed analysis and comprehensive understanding of the information environment. The problem facing the USG is that strategic communication is poorly defined and has not been effective in communicating a synchronized message amongst DoD, the State Department and other government agencies. In order to be effective in communicating, the USG (specifically DoD and the State Department), needs to share a common understanding of what strategic communication is. In this monograph, strategic