No child’s play: Recognising the agency of former child soldiers in peace building processes

Engaging with the emerging discourse on children that recognises childhood as culturally specific and that children actively engage with their environment, this paper questions the dominant discourse’s view of children as passive recipients of socialisation. This paper argues that the discourse on children’s agency is a more useful framework for understanding the experiences of former child soldiers and that engaging meaningfully with this discourse will both improve life outcomes and reduce the risk of ongoing instability. This argument is made by an examination of the two discourses; examining their development and arguing for the usefulness of the agency discourse. This provides for an examination of children’s agency in education and skills training programs and of their political involvement (or marginalisation) in three conflicts: Colombia, Sierra Leone and Uganda. Recognising children as agents and engaging with how they navigate their lived experiences after involvement in conflict testifies to children’s resilience and their desire for change. Challenging the dominant discourse through the agency discourse allows for the acknowledgement of former child soldiers as both social and political agents in their own right and of their potential for contributing to stable and lasting peace.

Continuous after-the-fact leakage-resilient eCK-secure key exchange

Security models for two-party authenticated key exchange (AKE) protocols have developed over time to capture the security of AKE protocols even when the adversary learns certain secret values. Increased granularity of security can be modelled by considering partial leakage of secrets in the manner of models for leakage-resilient cryptography, designed to capture side-channel attacks. In this work, we use the strongest known partial-leakage-based security model for key exchange protocols, namely continuous after-the-fact leakage eCK (CAFL-eCK) model. We resolve an open problem by constructing the first concrete two-pass leakage-resilient key exchange protocol that is secure in the CAFL-eCK model.

Ammatti, ihminen ja maailmankuva murroksessa : Tutkimus yliopistokirjastoista ja kirjastonhoitajista tietoyhteiskuntakaudella 1970-2005

PROFESSION, PERSON AND WORLDVIEW AT A TURNING POINT A Study of University Libraries and Library Staff in the Information Age 1970 - 2005 The incongruity between commonly held ideas of libraries and librarians and the changes that have occurred in libraries since 2000 provided the impulse for this work. The object is to find out if the changes of the last few decades have penetrated to a deeper level, that is, if they have caused changes in the values and world views of library staff and management. The study focuses on Finnish university libraries and the people who work in them. The theoretical framework is provided by the concepts of world view (values, the concept of time, man and self, the experience of the supernatural and the holy, community and leadership). The viewpoint, framework and methods of the study place it in the area of Comparative Religion by applying the world view framework. The time frame is the information age, which has deeply affected Finnish society and scholarly communication from 1970 to 2005. The source material of the study comprises 30 life stories; somewhat more than half of the stories come from the University of Helsinki, and the rest from the other eight universities. Written sources include library journals, planning documents and historical accounts of libraries. The experiences and research diaries of the research worker are also used as source material. The world view questions are discussed on different levels: 1) recognition of the differences and similarities in the values of the library sphere and the university sphere, 2) examination of the world view elements, community and leadership based on the life stories, and 3) the three phases of the effects of information technology on the university libraries and those who work in them. In comparing the values of the library sphere and the university sphere, the appreciation of creative work and culture as well as the founding principles of science and research are jointly held values. The main difference between the values in the university and library spheres concerns competition and service. Competition is part of the university as an institution of research work. The core value of the library sphere is service, which creates the essential ethos of library work. The ethical principles of the library sphere also include the values of democracy and equality as well as the value of intellectual freedom. There is also a difference between an essential value in the university sphere, the value of autonomy and academic freedom on the one hand, and the global value of the library sphere - organizing operations in a practical and efficient way on the other hand. Implementing this value can also create tension between the research community and the library. Based on the life stories, similarities can be found in the values of the library staff members. The value of service seems to be of primary importance for all who are committed to library work and who find it interesting and rewarding. The service role of the library staff can be extended from information services provider to include the roles of teacher, listener and even therapist, all needed in a competitive research community. The values of democracy and equality also emerge fairly strongly. The information age development has progressed in three phases in the libraries from the 1960s onward. In the third phase beginning in the mid 1990s, the increased usage of electronic resources has set fundamental changes in motion. The changes have affected basic values and the concept of time as well as the hierarchies and valuations within the library community. In addition to and as a replacement for the library possessing a local identity and operational model, a networked, global library is emerging. The changes have brought tension both to the library communities and to the relationship between the university community and the library. Future orientation can be said to be the key concept for change; it affects where the ideals and models for operations are taken from. Future orientation manifests itself as changes in metaphors, changes in the model of a good librarian and as communal valuations. Tension between the libraries and research communities can arise if the research community pictures the library primarily as a traditional library building with a local identity, whereas the 21st century library staff and directors are affected by future orientation and membership in a networked library sphere, working proactively to develop their libraries.

A Study of Speed of the Boundary Element Method as applied to the Realtime Computational Simulation of Biological Organs

In this work, possibility of simulating biological organs in realtime using the Boundary Element Method (BEM) is investigated. Biological organs are assumed to follow linear elastostatic material behavior, and constant boundary element is the element type used. First, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) is used to speed up the BEM computations to achieve the realtime performance. Next, instead of the GPU, a computer cluster is used. Results indicate that BEM is fast enough to provide for realtime graphics if biological organs are assumed to follow linear elastostatic material behavior. Although the present work does not conduct any simulation using nonlinear material models, results from using the linear elastostatic material model imply that it would be difficult to obtain realtime performance if highly nonlinear material models that properly characterize biological organs are used. Although the use of BEM for the simulation of biological organs is not new, the results presented in the present study are not found elsewhere in the literature.

Repositórios institucionais de acesso livre no Brasil : estudo Delfos

A filosofia do acesso livre ao conhecimento científico surgiu da dificuldade das bibliotecas universitárias de todo mundo em manter atualizadas as assinaturas das coleções de periódicos científicos. Os repositórios institucionais são uma das ferramentas que se mostram como alternativa para a comunicação da Ciência livre de barreiras de acesso. A pesquisa tem por objetivo verificar quais são as perspectivas futuras das atuais políticas de implementação de repositórios institucionais de acesso livre no Brasil na opinião de especialistas na área, tendo como base a análise do estado da arte das implementações de Repositórios Institucionais no Brasil. Neste trabalho, a pesquisa é dividida em três etapas: a primeira consiste na coleta de dados descritivos dos repositórios institucionais da Universidade de Brasília (RIUnB) e do Superior Tribunal de Justiça (BDJur-STJ); já na segunda etapa de pesquisa, procede-se à consulta aos especialistas indagando-os acerca da situação atual das implementações de repositórios institucionais no Brasil; e, por fim, na terceira etapa de pesquisa consultamos estes mesmos especialistas sobre os desdobramentos futuros destas políticas no País. Utilizamos da técnica Delfos de pesquisa, onde os especialistas são consultados através de questionários constituídos de perguntas abertas, possibilitando assim chegar a um consenso das opiniões no final da pesquisa. Como resultado da pesquisa, é elaborado um quadro com a tabulação das respostas dos especialistas consultados revelando o panorama das perspectivas futuras das implementações de repositórios institucionais no Brasil na opinião dos especialistas que fazem parte da nossa amostra de pesquisa.

Impacto da implementação do Restaurante Universitário na alimentação de estudantes da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro

O ambiente universitário é um espaço estratégico para a promoção da alimentação saudável e da segurança alimentar e nutricional, pois muitos hábitos alimentares adquiridos pelos estudantes se mantêm na idade adulta. No Brasil, nos últimos anos, esse ambiente passou a ser ainda mais estratégico, uma vez que incorporou medidas de ação afirmativa (sistema de cotas) e de permanência dos estudantes. O objetivo desse estudo foi avaliar o impacto da implementação do Restaurante Universitário (RU) na alimentação de estudantes de uma universidade pública brasileira. Seus resultados estão apresentados na forma de dois artigos. O primeiro objetivou descrever as práticas alimentares de estudantes do campus Maracanã da UERJ antes da implementação do RU e examiná-las segundo sua forma de ingresso na universidade (cotistas e não cotistas). No segundo semestre de 2011, foi realizado um estudo seccional com o universo de estudantes ingressantes no primeiro semestre daquele ano. Utilizou-se questionário autopreenchido e identificado que abarcou os hábitos de realizar desjejum e de substituir o almoço e/ou o jantar por lanche regularmente (≥ 5 dias/semana) e o consumo regular (≥ 5 dias/semana) de alimentos marcadores de alimentação saudável e não saudável. Participaram do estudo 1336 estudantes. Foram descritas e comparadas a distribuição da frequência semanal dessas práticas e, também, a proporção de estudantes que realizaram essas práticas em pelo menos cinco dias na semana que antecedeu o estudo. Foram observadas proporções expressivas de: não realização do desjejum, substituição do jantar por lanche, baixo consumo de frutas, hortaliças e feijão e consumo frequente de bebidas açucaradas, guloseimas e biscoitos e/ou salgadinhos de pacote. Entre cotistas, foi mais frequente o consumo de feijão, de biscoitos e/ou salgadinhos de pacote e de biscoitos doces e menos frequentes a substituição de jantar por lanche e o consumo de hortaliças e de frutas. Cotistas e não cotistas apresentaram práticas alimentares com algumas semelhanças e desfavoráveis para a saúde. As diferenças observadas entre os dois grupos foram, em sua maioria, na direção de um quadro mais desfavorável para os cotistas, exceto para o feijão. O segundo artigo objetivou avaliar o impacto da implementação do RU sobre as práticas alimentares dos estudantes segundo forma de ingresso na universidade. Para isso, entre os meses de dezembro de 2012 e março de 2013, os estudantes responderam outra vez o questionário autopreenchido no baseline complementado com questões sobre utilização do RU (n= 1131). A variação das práticas alimentares foi examinada pela diferença entre proporções obtidas antes e depois da implementação do RU e pela trajetória individual de cada estudante em relação às práticas estudadas. Foi observada associação entre maior assiduidade ao RU e maior frequência de consumo regular de feijão, hortaliças, hortaliças cruas, hortaliças cozidas e frutas e, também, menor frequência de consumo regular de batata frita e/ou salgados fritos e de biscoitos e/ou salgadinhos de pacote. Quando comparados aos demais, os usuários assíduos tiveram maior chance de trajetória positiva para realização do almoço, do jantar e consumo de feijão, hortaliças, hortaliças cruas, frutas e guloseimas e menor chance de trajetória negativa para consumo de feijão, hortaliças cruas, batata frita e/ou salgados fritos. Cotistas assíduos ao RU apresentaram resultados favoráveis para consumo de feijão, hortaliças, hortaliças cruas, biscoitos e/ou salgadinhos de pacote e batata frita e/ou salgados fritos e não cotistas assíduos ao RU, para consumo de feijão, hortaliças cruas, embutidos e guloseimas. A implementação do RU promoveu a melhoria na alimentação dos estudantes assíduos ao RU.

Training for professional librarians in Slovakia by distance-learning methods: an overview of the PROLIB and EDULIB projects

Tedd, L.A., Dahl, K., Francis, S.,Tet?evov?, M.& ?ihlavn?kov?, E.(2002).Training for professional librarians in Slovakia by distance-learning methods: an overview of the PROLIB and EDULIB projects. Library Hi Tech, 20(3), 340-351. Sponsorship: European Union and the Open Society Institute

Badania wykorzystania przez polskie biblioteki naukowe środków europejskich, grantów ministerialnych i samorządowych oraz dotacji sponsorów w latach 2000-2008

Badania dotyczące pozyskiwania środków pomocowych przez polskie biblioteki naukowe przeprowadzone zostały w ramach wewnętrznych projektów badawczych Biblioteki Uniwersyteckiej w Poznaniu. Realizacji projektu podjął się Oddział Prac Naukowych, Wydawniczych i Dydaktycznych BU. Zadanie wykonano od września 2008 do czerwca 2009 roku. Zamierzeniem autorek artykułu było uzyskanie pełnej informacji na temat środków pozabudżetowych pozyskiwanych przez polskie biblioteki naukowe oraz określenie stopnia ich wykorzystania. Zastosowano metodę sondażu diagnostycznego z wykorzystaniem techniki ankiety. Przygotowany kwestionariusz ankiety wraz z informacją dla respondentów o celu prowadzonych badań skierowano do wszystkich bibliotek uniwersyteckich, bibliotek głównych uczelni technicznych, medycznych, ekonomicznych, bibliotek akademii wychowania fizycznego, uczelni pedagogicznych i rolniczych oraz do bibliotek publicznych posiadających status bibliotek naukowych. Łącznie wysłano 70 ankiet, odpowiedzi udzieliło 38 respondentów. Wskazany w artykule okres 2000-2008 był czasem zwiększonych możliwości uzyskiwania dodatkowych funduszy przez biblioteki. Najczęściej otrzymywane fundusze to dotacje ministerialne, dalej środki sponsorów na działalność podstawową. W poważnym stopniu wspierały biblioteki, głównie biblioteki publiczne, lokalne samorządy. Zauważalne były dotacje wspierające biblioteki przekazywane przez fundacje i środki ofiarowane przez sponsorów na działalność organizacyjną; ewenementem natomiast – subwencje unijne.

African wastes reclaimed : illustrated in the story of the Lovedale Mission

http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC09108077

OpenBU: Institutional Repository Procedures Manual

(adapted from the DSpace Procedures Manual developed by Kalamazoo College Digital Archive)

Collection Development and the Value of the Library

This is a draft 2 of a discussion paper written for Boston University Libraries

Services to support BU Authors with Open Access Issues

A working paper written for Boston University Libraries to foster discussion about how to provide better support for BU faculty authors.

Annual Report [2004/2005]

Bracken Health Sciences Library Annual report for 2004/05. Includes information about the following services: Reference and Information; Education; Documents; Collections; Technical; and Outreach. Also includes information on the Centre for Health Electronic Education Resources (CHEER) and a five year statistical comparison.