Uneven interventions and the scalar politics of governing livelihood adaptation in rural Nepal

Accounts that address the governance of adaptation are increasingly exploring the ways in which the institutional context can both enable and constrain effective and equal adaptation. This paper contributes to such a growing field by providing empirical evidence derived from participatory field research in the Nepali districts of Chitwan and Nawalparasi in 2010. The results support previous arguments that emphasise the need to address the multi-scalar context of adaptation as a governance issue associated with individual and collective deliberative action (or inaction). Institution analysis identifies the ways in which networks of powerful and well-connected political actors are able to control adaptation projects, flows of knowledge and information, and the ways in which institutions and organisations intervene in response to livelihood needs. This control is under-pinned by an unequal scalar politics that constructs and reproduces particular local adaptation needs at multiple governance scales at once. Many existing tools and frameworks for assessing the institutional elements of adaptation are unable to grapple with these factors systematically. The paper concludes with a call for further attention to forms of scalar politics in the governance of adaptation so that we might be able to more effectively theorise up from local complexity without glossing over inherent power relations, social inequalities, and institutional constraints.     

Radio-continuum observations of Sérsic-Pastoriza galaxies

Preliminary results of radio continuum observations of selected Sérsic-Pastoriza galaxies are presented. Subjects reported are their radio properties at 6 and 20 cm, estimates of linear polarization and spectral indices and a discussion of possible relationships between nuclear morphology and radio luminosity.     

The 6-GHz multibeam maser survey – I. Techniques

A new seven-beam 6–7 GHz receiver has been built to survey the Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds for newly forming high-mass stars that are pinpointed by strong methanol maser emission at 6668 MHz. The receiver was jointly constructed by Jodrell Bank Observatory (JBO) and the Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF) and allows simultaneous coverage at 6668 and 6035 MHz. It was successfully commissioned at Parkes in 2006 January and is now being used to conduct the Parkes–Jodrell multibeam maser survey of the Milky Way. This will be the first systematic survey of the entire Galactic plane for masers of not only 6668-MHz methanol, but also 6035-MHz excited-state hydroxyl. The survey is two orders of magnitude faster than most previous systematic surveys and has an rms noise level of ∼0.17 Jy. This paper describes the observational strategy, techniques and reduction procedures of the Galactic and Magellanic Cloud surveys, together with deeper, pointed, follow-up observations and complementary observations with other instruments. It also includes an estimate of the survey detection efficiency. The 111 d of observations with the Parkes telescope have so far yielded >800 methanol sources, of which ∼350 are new discoveries. The whole project will provide the first comprehensive Galaxy-wide catalogue of 6668-MHz and 6035-MHz masers.     

Autonomous underwater vehicle homing/docking via electromagneticguidance

Central to the successful operation of an autonomous undersea vehicle (AUV) is the capability to return to a dock, such that consistent recovery of the AUV is practical. Vehicle orientation becomes increasingly important in the final stages of the docking, as large changes in orientation near the dock are impractical and often not possible. A number of homing technologies have been proposed and tested, with acoustic homing the most prevalent. If AUV orientation is required as well as bearing and distance to the dock, an acoustic homing system will require high update rates, and extensive signal conditioning. An Electromagnetic Homing (EM) system is one alternative that can provide accurate measurement of the AUV position and orientation to the dock during homing. This system offers inherent advantages in defining the AUV orientation, when compared to high frequency acoustic systems. The design and testing of an EM homing system are given, with particular attention to one can be adapted to a wide class of AUVs. A number of homing, docking, and latching trials were successfully performed with the design. Homing data include dead reckoning computation and acoustic tracking of the homing track, and video documentation of homing into the dock     

An interface system for autonomous undersea vehicles

Central to the successful operation of an autonomous undersea vehicle (AUV) is the capability to return from a mission, in that there is consistent recovery or docking of the AUV. In addition, some missions may require communication with and power transfer to the AUV after docking. This paper describes an inductive system that provides a nonintrusive power and communications interface between the dock and the AUV. The system makes up to 200 W of AC or DC power available to the AUV. The communications interface is 10BaseT Ethernet and is platform- and protocol-independent. The overall design of the system is given as well as results from wet laboratory and field tests