MUES (Mid Wales - Users - Ethnic Services) Ethnic services provision 2007-08. Report for Libraries for Life: Delivering the entitlement agenda for library users in Wales 2007-09

Thomas, R., Urquhart, C., Crossan, S. & Hines, B. (2008). MUES (Mid Wales - Users - Ethnic Services) Ethnic services provision 2007-08. Report for Libraries for Life: Delivering the entitlement agenda for library users in Wales 2007-09. Aberystwyth: Department of Information Studies, Aberystwyth University. Related policy guidance published separately Sponsorship: CyMAL

MUES (Mid Wales - Users - Ethnic Services) Ethnic services provision 2007-08. Policy guidance for Libraries for Life: Delivering the entitlement agenda for library users in Wales 2007-09

Urquhart, C., Thomas, R., Crossan, S. & Hines, B. (2008). MUES (Mid Wales - Users - Ethnic Services) Ethnic services provision 2007-08. Policy guidance for Libraries for Life: Delivering the entitlement agenda for library users in Wales 2007-09. Aberystwyth: Department of Information Studies, Aberystwyth University. Relates to report of same title - http://hdl.handle.net/2160/609 Sponsorship: CyMAL

Spank [at Queer in Europe, Exeter University, September 08]

Spank follows the journeys of two women as they reveal stories from private and public sources set apart by two centuries. It investigates notions of 'faction' and what is filtered out historically within a theme of female trauma and the body. [ABSTRACT BY THE AUTHOR]

Mobile authoring of open educational resources for authentic learning scenarios

The proliferation of smartphones in the last decade and the number of publications in the field of authoring systems for computer-assisted learning depict a scenario that needs to be explored in order to facilitate the scaffolding of learning activities across contexts. Learning resources are traditionally designed in desktop-based authoring systems where the context is mostly restricted to the learning objective, capturing relevant case characteristics, or virtual situation models. Mobile authoring tools enable learners and teachers to foster universal access to educational resources not only providing channels to share, remix or re-contextualize these, but also capturing the context in-situ and in-time. As a further matter, authoring educational resources in a mobile context is an authentic experience where authors can link learning with their own daily life activities and reflections. The contribution of this manuscript is fourfold: first, the main barriers for ubiquitous and mobile authoring of educational resources are identified; second, recent research on mobile authoring tools is reviewed, and 10 key shortcomings of current approaches are identified; third, the design of a mobile environment to author educational resources (MAT for ARLearn) is presented, and the results of an evaluation of usability and hedonic quality are presented; fourth, conclusions and a research agenda for mobile authoring are discussed.

Determining factors of the innovative behavior of cooperatives: an analysis of the case of Castilla y León

Cooperatives have a long historical experience in the Spanish economy and have demonstrated their ability to compete against traditional firms in the market. To maintain this capability, while taking advantage of the competitive advantages associated with their idiosyncrasies as social economy enterprises, they should take into consideration that the economy is increasingly globalized and increasingly knowledge-based, especially with regards to technological content. As a consequence, the innovative capacity appears to be a key aspect in order to be able to challenge competitors. This article characterizes the innovative behavior of cooperatives in the region of Castile and Leon and analyses the internal and external factors affecting their innovative performance, based on data from a survey of 581 cooperatives. The results of the empirical analysis, which is performed by multivariate binary logistic regression on various types of innovation, lead us to identify the size of the organizations, the existence of planning, the R & D activities and the human capital as the main determining factors.

La ciudad de Rávena y los paisajes de la abstracción en "Deserto Rosso" de Michelangelo Antonioni

La presente investigación trata de poner énfasis en la importancia del paisaje en Deserto Rosso de Michelangelo Antonioni, erigiéndose este como elemento fundamental de la trama argumental del filme. Partiendo de esta premisa, se analiza el significado de dicho paisaje en el contexto socioartístico de los años 60. La interacción del hombre con su entorno parece ser el punto de partida para una reflexión más profunda sobre el devenir humano. Las nuevas conquistas estéticas alcanzadas y el análisis históricoartístico de los precedentes más inmediatos del filme, sitúan a Deserto Rosso como obra cumbre de la neovanguardia posmoderna europea.

A note on the warm glow of giving and scope sensitivity in contingent valuation studies

This note develops a behavioral framework to classify individual contingent valuation (CV) respondents in terms of the warm glow and altruistic motives in their WTP responses. We suggest that at least five possible behavioral categories for CV responses may exist, depending on the type of underlying preferences and whether respondents are satiated or non-satiated with respect to the good. An empirical example suggests that the warm glow motive may be present in the majority of bids, although its presence does not necessarily preclude scope sensitivity to the quantity/quality of an environmental good. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

ZnO based nanowires grown by chemical vapour deposition for selective hydrogenation of acetylene alcohols

Vertically aligned ZnO nanowires (NWs) with a length of 1.5-10 mu m and a mean diameter of ca. 150 nm were grown by chemical vapour deposition onto a c-oriented ZnO seed layer which was deposited by atomic layer deposition on Si substrates. The substrates were then spin-coated with an ethanol solution containing Pd nanoparticles with an average size of 2.7 and 4.5 nm. A homogeneous distribution of the Pd nanoparticles on ZnO NWs has been obtained using both Pd particle series. The catalytic activity of the ZnO NWs and Pd/ZnO NWs catalysts was measured in the semihydrogenation of 2-methyl-3-butyn-2-ol at 303-343 K and a pressure of 2-10 bar. The effect of the solvent used on the catalytic performance of the Pd/ZnO NWs catalyst was studied. The Pd/ZnO catalysts showed alkene selectivity of up to 95% at an alkyne conversion of 99%. A kinetic model is proposed to explain the activity and selectivity of the ZnO support and Pd/ZnO catalysts.

Mass limits for the progenitor star of supernova 2001du and other Type II-P supernovae

The supernova SN 2001du was discovered in the galaxy NGC 1365 at a distance of 19 +/- 2 Mpc, and is a core-collapse event of Type II-P. Images of this galaxy, of moderate depth, have been taken with the Hubble Space Telescope approximately 6.6 yr before discovery and include the supernova position on the WFPC2 field of view. We have observed the supernova with the WFPC2 to allow accurate differential astrometry of SN 2001du on the pre-explosion frames. As a core-collapse event it is expected that the progenitor was a massive, luminous star. There is a marginal detection (3sigma) of a source close to the supernova position on the pre-discovery V -band frame, but it is not precisely coincident and we do not believe it to be a robust detection of a point source. We conclude that there is no stellar progenitor at the supernova position and derive sensitivity limits of the pre-discovery images that provide an upper mass limit for the progenitor star. We estimate that the progenitor had a mass of less than 15 M-circle dot . We revisit two other nearby Type II-P supernovae that have high-quality pre-explosion images, and refine the upper mass limits for the progenitor stars. Using a new distance determination for SN 1999gi from the expanding photosphere method, we revise the upper mass limit to 12 M-circle dot . We present new HST images of the site of SN 1999em, which validate the use of lower spatial resolution ground-based images in the progenitor studies and use a new Cepheid distance to the galaxy to measure an upper mass limit of 15 M-circle dot for that progenitor. Finally we compile all the direct information available for the progenitors of eight nearby core-collapse supernovae and compare their mass estimates. These are compared with the latest stellar evolutionary models of pre-supernova evolution which have attempted to relate metallicity and mass to the supernovae type. Although this is statistically limited at present, reasonable agreement is already found for the lower-mass events (generally the II-P), but some discrepancies appear at higher masses.