YBa2Cu3O7/NdGaO3/YBa 2Cu3O7 trilayers by modified off-axis sputtering

High-quality epitaxial YBa2Cu3O7-δ (YBCO) thin films were achieved by a modified off-axis sputtering technique with high deposition rates (3.3 nm/min). The film quality and the deposition rate depended crucially on the target-to-substrate separation. Epitaxial YBCO/NdGaO3(NGO)/YBCO trilayers were successfully grown onto SrTiO3, Y-ZrO2, and LaAlO3 substrates by dc and rf sputtering. The epitaxial relations were found to be [001] YBCO//[001]NGO, [100]YBCO, or [010] YBCO//[110]NGO and [001]YBCO//[110] NGO, [100]YBCO, or [010]YBCO//[001] NGO, where the latter orientation relationship was dominating. Subsequent top YBCO layers grew c axis oriented independently of the two epitaxial orientations of the NGO. The orientation relationships between YBCO and NGO were the same. Auger electron depth profiles and transmission electron microscopy indicated that the interdiffusion at the interface between the YBCO and NGO layers was not strong even at 740°C. The superconducting transition temperatures of the top and bottom YBCO layers were about the same as that of YBCO single layers, i.e., 87-90 K. Scanning electron microscopy of the surface morphologies of the YBCO and the NGO showed that a smaller substrate-target distance resulted in smoother films.

An analysis of regression models for predicting the speed of a wave glider autonomous surface vehicle

An important aspect of robotic path planning for is ensuring that the vehicle is in the best location to collect the data necessary for the problem at hand. Given that features of interest are dynamic and move with oceanic currents, vehicle speed is an important factor in any planning exercises to ensure vehicles are at the right place at the right time. Here, we examine different Gaussian process models to find a suitable predictive kinematic model that enable the speed of an underactuated, autonomous surface vehicle to be accurately predicted given a set of input environmental parameters.

The role of Non-Government Organisations (NGOS) in practising editorial photography in a globalised media environment

The news media industry has changed dramatically into a global business with ever-increasing attention being devoted to entertainment and celebrity across the last 10–20 years. There has also been a growing reliance on images produced by citizens (citizen photojournalism), by media outlets and publishers. It is widely acknowledged that in tandem these changes have shrunk publication opportunities for professional photographers undertaking editorial projects. As a result, photographers are increasingly relying on non-government organisations (NGOs) to gain access to photographing issues and events in developing countries and to expand their economic and portfolio opportunities. This increase in photographers working for and alongside NGOs has given rise to a new genre of editorial photography which I call NGO Reportage. By way of a case study, an exploration of this new genre reveals important issues for photographers working with NGOs and examines the constructed narratives of images contained within these emerging practices.

Critical reflections on the use of participatory methodologies to build evaluation capacities in international development organisations

There has been a greater focus on strengthening evaluation capacity building (ECB) within development organisations in recent years. This can be attributed in part to the growing appreciation of the value of participatory and collaborative forms of evaluation. Evaluation is increasingly seen as an ongoing learning process and an important means of strengthening capacity and improving organisational performance (Horton et al., 2003:7). While there are many benefits of using participatory methodologies in ECB projects, our experiences and a review of the literature in this area highlight the many challenges, issues and contradictions that can affect the success of such ECB efforts. We discuss these issues, drawing on our learnings from the ongoing participatory action research (PAR) project 'Assessing Communication for Social Change’ (AC4SC). This four year project, which began in 2007, is a collaboration between communication and development academics and evaluation specialists from two Australian universities and communication for development practitioners and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) staff in the NGO Equal Access Nepal (EAN). The aim is to develop, implement, and evaluate a participatory methodology for assessing the social change impacts of community radio programs produced by EAN. It builds on previous projects that used ethnographic action research (EAR) methodology (Tacchi et al., 2007).

‘It’s about finding a way’ : children, sites of opportunity, and building everyday peace in Colombia

The multiple forms of violence associated with protracted conflict disproportionately affect young people. Literature on conflict-affected children often focuses on the need to provide stability and security through institutions such as schools but rarely considers how young people themselves see these sites as part of their everyday lives. The enduring, pervasive, and complex nature of Colombia’s conflict means many young Colombians face the challenges of poverty, persistent social exclusion, and violence. Such conditions are exacerbated in ‘informal’ barrio communities such as los Altos de Cazucá, just south of the capital Bogotá. Drawing on field research in this community, particularly through interviews conducted with young people aged 10 to 17 this article explores how young people themselves understand the roles of the local school and ngo in their personal conceptualisations of the violence in their everyday lives. The evidence indicates that children use spaces available to them opportunistically and that these actions can and should be read as contributing to local, everyday forms of peacebuilding. The ways in which institutional spaces are understood and used by young people as ‘sites of opportunity’ challenges the assumed illegitimacy of young people’s voices and experiences in these environments.

Assessing the welfare effects of microfinance in Vietnam : empirical results from a quasi-experimental survey

This article analyses the effects of NGO microfinance programmes on household welfare in Vietnam. Data on 470 households across 25 villages were collected using a quasi-experimental survey approach to overcome any self-selection bias. The sample was designed so that member households of microfinance programmes were compared with non-member households with similar characteristics. The analysis shows no significant effects of participation in NGO microfinance on household welfare, proxied by income and consumption per adult equivalent.

An investigation into students' motivation to learn English in higher education in Vietnam

This mixed-methods research explored students' motivation to learn English in an attempt to enhance the quality of teaching and learning English in Vietnamese higher education. An intricate picture of students' motivation was revealed: motivation to learn English to gain pragmatic benefits, to satisfy internal aspirations, and in response to external pressures. Students expressed that feeling connected with significant people (lecturers, peers and parents) enhanced their motivation to learn English. This research has significance at both practical and theoretical levels as it provides important insights into the teaching and learning English in Vietnamese higher education and the literature of second language learning motivation.

Failure to launch: The self-regulating Md -MYB10R6 gene from apple is active in flowers but not leaves of Petunia

Coloured foliage due to anthocyanin pigments (bronze/red/black) is an attractive trait that is often lacking in many bedding, ornamental and horticultural plants. Apples (Malus × domestica) containing an allelic variant of the anthocyanin regulator, Md-MYB10R6, are highly pigmented throughout the plant, due to autoregulation by MYB10 upon its own promoter. We investigated whether Md-MYB10R6 from apple is capable of functioning within the heterologous host Petunia hybrida to generate plants with novel pigmentation patterns. The Md-MYB10R6 transgene (MYB10–R6pro:MYB10:MYB10term) activated anthocyanin synthesis when transiently expressed in Antirrhinumroseadorsea petals and petunia leaf discs. Stable transgenic petunias containing Md-MYB10R6 lacked foliar pigmentation but had coloured flowers, complementing the an2 phenotype of ‘Mitchell’ petunia. The absence of foliar pigmentation was due to the failure of the Md-MYB10R6 gene to self-activate in vegetative tissues, suggesting that additional protein partners are required for Md-MYB10 to activate target genes in this heterologous system. In petunia flowers, where endogenous components including MYB-bHLH-WDR (MBW) proteins were present, expression of the Md-MYB10R6 promoter was initiated, allowing auto-regulation to occur and activating anthocyanin production. Md-MYB10 is capable of operating within the petunia MBW gene regulation network that controls the expression of the anthocyanin biosynthesis genes, AN1 (bHLH) and MYBx (R3-MYB repressor) in petals.

A comparison of motivation to learn English between English major and non-English major students in a Vietnamese university

Despite the plethora of literature examining higher education students’ motivation to learn a second language, it is not known if students who choose to study English as their major differ from those who are required to study English as the minor component of their wider degree. Drawing on self-determination theory, this paper reports on the findings of a quantitative study designed to investigate the types of motivation demonstrated by English major (n=180) and non-English major students (n=242), and their levels of effort expended in learning English in a Vietnamese university. The findings revealed that both groups demonstrated high levels of motivation to learn English to prepare for their future profession. English major students felt more intrinsically motivated and less obligated to learn English. In addition, for both groups, intrinsically motivated students invested the highest levels of effort in learning English. This paper argues that it is imperative for lecturers to foster students’ intrinsic aspirations to learn English to improve the quality of the teaching and learning of English in Vietnamese higher education.

Predicting the speed of a Wave Glider autonomous surface vehicle from wave model data

A key component of robotic path planning is ensuring that one can reliably navigate a vehicle to a desired location. In addition, when the features of interest are dynamic and move with oceanic currents, vehicle speed plays an important role in the planning exercise to ensure that vehicles are in the right place at the right time. Aquatic robot design is moving towards utilizing the environment for propulsion rather than traditional motors and propellers. These new vehicles are able to realize significantly increased endurance, however the mission planning problem, in turn, becomes more difficult as the vehicle velocity is not directly controllable. In this paper, we examine Gaussian process models applied to existing wave model data to predict the behavior, i.e., velocity, of a Wave Glider Autonomous Surface Vehicle. Using training data from an on-board sensor and forecasting with the WAVEWATCH III model, our probabilistic regression models created an effective method for forecasting WG velocity.

Learning challenges of NGOs in development : Co-operation of Finnish NGOs in Morogoro, Tanzania

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have gained an important role in development co-operation during the last two decades. The development funding channelled through NGOs has increased and the number of NGOs engaged in development activities, both North and South, has been growing. Supporting NGOs has been seen as one way to strengthen civil society in the South and to provide potential for enhancing more effective development than the state, and to exercise participatory development and partnership in their North-South relationships. This study focuses on learning in the co-operation practices of small Finnish NGOs in Morogoro, Tanzania. Drawing on the cultural-historical activity theory and the theory of expansive learning, in this study I understand learning as a qualitative change in the actual co-operation practices. The qualitative change, for its part, emerges out of attempts to deal with the contradictions in the present activity. I use the concept of developmental contradiction in exploring the co-operation of the small Finnish NGOs with their Tanzanian counterparts. Developmental contradiction connects learning to actual practice and its historical development. By history, in this study I refer to multiple developmental trajectories, such as trajectories of individual participants, organisations, co-operation practices and the institutional system in which the NGO-development co-operation is embedded. In the empirical chapters I explore the co-operation both in the development co-operation projects and in micro-level interaction between partners taking place within the projects. I analyse the perceptions of the Finnish participants about the different developmental trajectories, the tensions, inclusions and exclusions in the evolving object of co-operation in one project, the construction of power relations in project meetings in three projects, and the collision of explicated partnership with the emerging practice of trusteeship in one project. On the basis of the empirical analyses I elaborate four developmental contradictions and learning challenges for the co-operation. The developmental contradictions include: 1) implementing a ready-made Finnish project idea vs. taking the current activities of Tanzanian NGO as a starting point; 2) gaining experiences and cultural interaction vs. access to outside funding; 3) promoting the official tools of development co-operation in training vs. use of tools and procedures taken from the prior activities of both partners in actual practice; and 4) asymmetric relations between the partners vs. rhetoric of equal partnership. Consequently, on the basis of developmental contradictions four learning challenges are suggested: a shift from legitimation of Finnish ideas to negotiation, transcending the separate objects and finding a partly joint object, developing locally shared tools for the co-operation, and identification and reflection of the power relations in the practice of co-operation. Keywords: activity theory; expansive learning; NGO development co-operation; partnership; power

Fundamental Principles and Rights At Work: Value, Viability, Incidence and Importance as Elements For Economic Progress and Social Justice

Working Paper prepared for the ILO by Maria Luz Vega Ruiz and Daniel Martinez, focusing on the rights at work in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Apparel Industry and Codes of Conduct: A Solution to the International Child Labor Problem?

This report is the third volume in ILAB’s international child labor series. It focuses on the use of child labor in the production of apparel for the U.S. market, and reviews the extent to which U.S. apparel importers have established and are implementing codes of conduct or other business guidelines prohibiting the use of child labor in the production of the clothing they sell. The report was mandated by the Omnibus Consolidated Rescissions and Appropriations Act of 1996, P.L. 104-134.

Design thinking using a collaborative model for skin cancer prevention

Physical activity is well recognised as a means to reduce cancer risk; however, outdoor activity can increase sun exposure and consequential skin cancer risk. It is proposed, one of the key potential solutions to promote active lifestyles whilst enhancing protection against skin cancer is design resolution for active apparel that considers Australia’s sub-tropical climate whilst maintaining comfort, aesthetic appeal and performance. Using a design thinking approach, facilitated through collaboration between an NGO and a university, student designers were tasked with developing apparel prototypes to explore this challenge. Through practical ideation of problems, potential design solutions were developed within a modest NGO budget and adherence to specific brand guidelines. This project is novel as it demonstrates a low cost yet effective way of collaboratively creating a product to meet multiple needs, rather than reactively assessing already manufactured sun protection products for endorsement. It is a nimble and unique stepping stone in integrating sun safety considerations into clothing that is appealing to the population and creating cross-industry understandings of how design can better contribute to human health and wellbeing. Outcomes to be shared include empirical insights for updating sun safe clothing guidelines, issues around the aesthetic nature of sun safe apparel, and the role of design education for sun safety.

K-Ar ages of biotite and muscovite from Pangong metamorphic complex, Shyok suture zone, India: Implications for the youngest post-collision metamorphic event in Ladakh Himalaya

The garnet-kyanite-staurolite and garnet-biotite-staurolite gneisses were collected from a locality within Lukung area that belongs to the Pangong metamorphic complex in Shyok valley, Ladakh Himalaya. The kyanite-free samples have garnet and staurolite in equilibrium, where garnets show euhedral texture and have flat compositional profile. On the other hand, the kyanite-bearing sample shows equilibrium assemblage of garnet-kyanite-staurolite along with muscovite and biotite. In this case, garnet has an inclusion rich core with a distinct grain boundary, which was later overgrown by inclusion free euhedral garnet. Garnet cores are rich in Mn and Ca, while the rims are poor in Mn and rich in Fe and Mg, suggesting two distinct generations of growth. However, the compositional profiles and textural signature of garnets suggests the same stage of P -T evolution for the formation of the inclusion free euhedral garnets in the kyanite-free gneisses and the inclusion free euhedral garnet rims in the kyanite-bearing gneiss. Muscovites from the four samples have consistent K-Ar ages, suggesting the cooling age (∼ 10 Ma) of the gneisses. These ages make a constraint on the timing of the youngest post-collision metamorphic event that may be closely related to an activation of the Karakoram fault in Pangong metamorphic complex.