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In Thailand, a series of global and local political events has destabilized the concept of dying and begun to replace it with a competing concept known as "the end of life." As a result, the ethical frameworks governing the Thai deathbed have become disjointed. This dissertation is about the origin of these frameworks and how individuals, families and care providers navigate them. In Northern Thailand, dying has traditionally been conceived in two phases. First, from diagnosis until the hours before death, family members are driven by an imperative to pay back a "debt of life" to their relative by giving them "heart power" - support based on a unique model of the relationship between heart/mind, body and social world. The imperative to give "heart power" sets up an ambiguous relationship to truth-telling, which can drain heart power and hasten death. Second, the last hours of life are governed by an imperative to optimize the separation of body and spirit at the moment of death, best achieved in the familiarity of home rather than the metaphysically polluted hospital. It is into this ethical environment of these two phases that the new object "end of life" has arrived. In the 1990s, a military massacre of pro-democracy protesters and a scandal in the Buddhist clergy caused an opening in the traditional structures of Thai power. During this opening, the famous activist monk Buddhadasa died in the intensive care unit, against his wish for a natural death. Political and religious reform groups rallied around the Saint's death as the focus of their interventions for Thai society. They proposed a set of new ethical figures: the figure of the dying patient as a rights-wielding citizen, and the figure of the dying patient as seeker of wisdom. These ethical figures require a knowing subject and stretch the moment of death into a prolonged "end of life" that can be used for subject formation. These figures clash with the existing frameworks at the deathbed, which require an ignorant subject and conceive death as a moment. Individuals must navigate among these politicized ethical frameworks to make decisions about dying.

The rolling out of governing arrangements related to marketization and managerialization has characterized contemporary societies over the last decades, signaling a radical change in how governance is organized. A particular form of governing that has been given impetus during this transformation is the project. In an era of "projectification", politics is transformed into measurable and controllable activities that should be implemented during limited periods of time. The aim of this thesis is to explore how the project as an organizational form shapes Swedish development aid and makes it governable. By mobilizing the concept of assemblage, this thesis investigates how the project is constructed in order to govern development aid efforts and how it attains stability in contexts of tension. By studying how state funders, civil society organizations, and private consultants organize development aid through the project, the thesis shows that multiple components need to be assembled in order to form and sustain it. Thus, the work of brokers with the capacity to align the interests of different stakeholders, the mobilization of standardized work practices, the use of scientific approaches to control and evaluation, the construction of markets for project financing, and the mobilization of a particular form of project time are pivotal for the construction of the project. The assembling of these components transforms the project into a depoliticized form of governing in which marketization, expertise, and administrative procedures displace political and transformational ambitions. This depoliticization hampers the politicization of the colonial notions of rationality, logic, and linearity upon which the project rests. The thesis concludes that discourses of marketization, managerialization, and standardization constitute raw material from which an advanced neoliberal-modern project can be constructed. This form of governing arrangement requires attention and critique. ; The project enjoys a prominent position as a mode of governing in contemporary society. In a political landscape in which marketization and management principles exert great influence, the project has found fertile ground to thrive in, as it offers both flexibility and control. This thesis explores how the project is used to organize Swedish development aid and the political implications for transformational work. Exploring how civil society organizations, state funders, and consultants organize development work through the project, the thesis illustrates the importance of assembling a wide array of components, ranging from consensus-building among stakeholders to the mobilization of artifacts, standards, expertise, and markets. The drawing together of these components displays a high level of organizational capacity, as they stabilize the project into a depoliticized form of governing in which administration and expertise displace politics. Furthermore, depoliticization hampers the possibility to politicize the colonial notions of rationality, logic, and linearity upon which the project rests. The project, thus, reproduces power relations that are specific for modernity and neoliberal modes of governing, thereby warranting a critical approach to its use.

President Macron talks of France's 'Indo-Pacific strategy' (une stratégie indo-pacifique). This article analyzes French strategic discourse and strategy adopted for the Indo-Pacific by France. It finds that French strategy has three main elements. Firstly it has seeks legitimacy, politically seeking to move from a colonial possessions position to democratic integration with France, and has sought to achieve regional integration and legitimacy of this. Secondly, geographically France has moved up northwards from its possessions in the Southern Indian Ocean and Southern Pacific to active maritime involvement in the northern Indian Ocean, South China Sea and Western Pacific. Thirdly, French strategy is to actively secure security partnerships with other countries in the region. Naval projection is a prominent feature of French strategy, which is a strategy which is significantly driven by China's maritime expansion across the Indo-Pacific. The article thus seeks to analyze, explain and evaluate the effectiveness of France's Indo-Pacific strategy.

Throughout the second half of the nineteenth century, arrangements of Irish airs were popularly performed in Victorian drawing rooms and concert venues in both London and Dublin, the most notable publications being Thomas Moore's collections of Irish Melodies with harmonisations by John Stephenson. Performances of Irish ballads remained popular with English audiences but the publication of Stanford's song collection An Irish Idyll in Six Miniatures in 1901 by Boosey and Hawkes in London marks a shift to a different type of Irish song. This was a move away from the typical 'Irish ballad,' towards original art song settings of Irish poetry. Can this collection be said in any way to have contributed to or inspired a distinctive tradition of Irish art song? This thesis examines the original Irish song collections that Stanford composed between 1901 and his death in 1924 alongside similar works by his most prominent Irish contemporary in England, Hamilton Harty. It contrasts these with the emerging group of composers in early twentieth-century Ireland, such as Ina Boyle and John Larchet, placing them within the broader context of song composition in Ireland. As well as highlighting key songs, the thesis will consider the social, political and economic factors which affected both their reception and their afterlife in England and Ireland. Finally, the thesis will evaluate which songs would be particularly suitable for revival on the concert platform today.

Includes bibliographical references. ; There is consensus that wine tourism summarily offers a strong competitive advantage for wine regions, and can generate profitable business for wineries, other wine-related products and for visitor services. And in the four decades since the first manifestation of South African wine tourism was established in the Stellenbosch wine route, there has been general agreement that South African wine tourism has grown significantly in both local and international reputation and recognition. As a result of the widely identified potential of wine tourism, the South African industry has presented a continuing expectation of sustained industrial growth and tangible developmental manifestations and contributions. However, the industry successes since democracy have more recently been shadowed by an increasingly evident developmental frustration and dissatisfaction on the part of stakeholders, academics and observers.There has been considerable discussion and argument over the growing evidence of non-existent or insufficiently developed industry associative networks, the wide spread and overbearing prevalence of a production mind set and the mounting agreement that there are tremendous amounts of further research and investment still required if South African wine tourism is to realize the true value of its assets. This study identifies and clarifies this prevalent practical problem and research concern of slow and disparate development in the South African wine tourism industry in cognizance of the increasingly evident dissatisfaction and unrealized expectation of South African wine tourism industry stakeholders.

This thesis analyzes the environment, structure, and process of the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba. It examines the operation of this modern regulatory body with reference to the literature on regulation. Regulatory bodies are created in specific circumstances. They perform particular mandated functions within identifiable, external policy environments. The outputs of these bodies are also influenced by their internal administrative structures and dynamics of decision-making. The thesis begins with a brief examination of the history of workers compensation. Early common-law remedies available to workers injured in the course of their employment proved inadequate. The progress toward the development of no-fault compensation systems in common-law jurisdictions reflected a concern with these remedies. The Meredith Report, commissioned by the Ontario Government in the early 1900s, provided the blueprint for the subsequent implementation of provincial workers compensation legislation in Canada. The next chapter of the thesis examines the external policy environment of the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba. As a regulatory body, the W.C.B. operates within a policy community which includes both governmental and non-governmental actors and institutions. These interests have the potential to influence the outputs of the regulatory body through various points of contact. The thesis identifies and analyses the component features of the policy community of the W.C.B. of Manitoba. The outputs of modern regulatory bodies are also influenced by their internal administrative structures. The structure of Manitoba's W.C.B. mirrors those of other modern disability programs. Chapter 4 begins with a description of the structural elements of disability programs and their associated decision-making processes. These elements and decision-making processes within the W.C.B. of Manitoba are then discussed and their influence on program output examined. The conclusion of the thesis summarizes the chapters of the thesis. In ...

The following research completes several statistical analyses of per pupil expenditure data in the Commonwealth of Virginia to assess the degree of fiscal equity in the statewide finance model for public elementary and secondary education. Five years, between 2004 and 2020, were selected for analysis to examine whether trends noted in a 2005 study of fiscal equity in Virginia have remained constant or whether the degree of equity has increased or decreased. A historical overview of the funding of public schools in Virginia and revisions to the Virginia Constitution and its Education Articles provide information about the development of public education in Virginia. This commentary is followed by an explanation of the current funding model, Standards of Quality formula, and legislative criticism of the design elements thereof. School finance reform litigation from across the nation is then reviewed to demonstrate how the constitutionality of state public school finance models has been challenged in both federal and state courts over time. The school finance litigation discussion begins with the broad topic of equal protection guarantees in the federal Constitution and how those guarantees shaped early equity lawsuits. A survey of school finance reform cases is presented to show a progression from equity suits to adequacy suits. The litigation commentary concludes with a discussion of the most recent school finance case in Virginia, Scott v. Commonwealth (1994). After establishing the precedents for the analysis of state funding models, a series of dispersion statistics are calculated based on per pupil expenditures for each of the 132 school divisions in Virginia. These statistics include Range, Restricted Range, Coefficient of Variation, Gini Coefficient, and McLoone Index. The findings of the 2004-2020 analyses are compared to the findings of the 2005 study of fiscal equity in Virginia. The noted results of the analyses have implications for policy makers in the Commonwealth. ; Doctor of Education ; The following research completes statistical analyses of educational spending data to assess equity in the statewide finance model for public elementary and secondary school in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Five years2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020were selected for analysis to examine whether trends noted in a 2005 study of fiscal equity in Virginia have continued or whether the degree of equity has increased or decreased. A historical overview of the funding of public schools in Virginia and revisions to the Virginia Constitution and its Education Articles provide information about the development of public education in Virginia. This commentary is followed by an explanation of the current funding model (the Standards of Quality formula), legislative criticism of the formula, and an overview of school finance reform litigation from across the nation. The school finance litigation discussion begins with equal protection guarantees and develops to show a progression from cases that challenge equity in funding to cases that challenge the adequacy of funding. The litigation commentary concludes with a discussion of the most recent school finance case in Virginia, Scott v. Commonwealth (1994). After establishing the precedents for the analysis of state funding models, a series of statistics are calculated based on per pupil expenditures for each of the 132 school divisions in Virginia. The findings of the 2004-2020 analyses are compared to the findings of the 2005 study of fiscal equity in Virginia. The noted results of the analyses have implications for policy makers in the Commonwealth.

As an organisational form, the project poses a challenge today for the possibility of articulating feminist politics, understood as feminist visions and ambitions. With a focus on women's organisations working in international development aid, we examine how the project format and its managerial attributes shape the possibility of articulating feminist politics. Mobilising assemblage thinking on a material consisting mainly of interviews with project workers in women's organisations, we show that these organisations engage in assembly work to fit their activism with the project format, such as translating feminist ambitions into bureaucratic procedures and notions of temporality, activating repertoires of expertise, and adopting marketised approaches to development. We conclude that the project format depoliticises feminist politics, although it does not make the articulation of feminist ambitions impossible. Assemblage thinking is suggested as a suitable framework for feminist research when investigating how contemporary governing arrangements influence the articulation of feminist politics.

Scholarship has generally represented moot court competitions in one of two ways: either as a beneficial way for students to develop practical skills prior to the Bar, or as a reproducer of hierarchy and exclusion. This review essay attempts to plot a third way of thinking about moots, one that finds critical potential in the exercise of mooting while remaining attentive to its conservative biases. Building out from a critique of the common law focus of Thomas and Cradduck's The Art of Mooting, the essay reflects on how critical approaches to international law can be used to teach moot skills more effectively. The essay then turns to the limitations such a critical pedagogy must be aware of within the actual practice of the competition, considering how these limits can be navigated and even flipped into teachable moments for critically inclined students. The essay closes with a call for a more nuanced discussion about the use of experiential learning, of which moots are only one example, for fostering critical engagement with international law. ; Peer reviewed

European Union; European Economic Community; European Baccalaureate; EU expansion; assessment reform

The life cycle of Sarcocystis species is heteroxenous (2-host), with carnivores being the definitive host and herbivores serving as intermediate hosts in predator-prey relationships. Raptors (eagles, hawks, falcons, and owls) are apex predators and are not consumed routinely by other carnivores, making the occurrence of sarcocysts in their muscles unusual. Recent reports of sarcocysts in eagles and owls with Sarcocystis encephalitis suggests that this condition may be becoming more frequent, and Sarcocystis falcatula has been implicated as the agent of encephalitis in golden (Aquila chrysaetos) and bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) as well as great horned owls (Bubo virginianus). The present study was done to determine the prevalence of sarcocysts of Sarcocystis species in the muscles of raptors from the southeastern United States. Pectoral and heart muscle from 204 raptor patients from the Carolina Raptor Center, Huntersville, North Carolina were tested for the presence of Sarcocystis species using histology. Only a few sarcocysts were seen in sections of pectoral muscle from 39 of 204 raptors (19.1%) and heart muscle from 9 that also had sarcocysts in their pectoral muscle. Two structural types of sarcocysts, thin-walled (1 mu m; 62%) or thick-walled (>2 mu m, 38%), were seen. Statistical analysis of raptor age and gender was done by Fisher's exact test on samples from raptors with 20 or more samples per group. The prevalence of sarcocysts by age (2 yr or more) was significant for red-shouldered hawks (Buteo lineatus) (P = 0.022) and Cooper's hawks (Accipiter cooperii) (P = 0.028). Sarcocyst prevalence in male raptors from these groups evaluated statistically were always less than in females. Prevalence in female red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) (42.1%) was significantly greater than in males (6.7%) using Fisher's exact test (P = 0.047). Examination of case histories from the 39 sarcocyst-positive raptors did not reveal an association with sarcocysts in raptor pectoral or heart muscle and in a diagnosis of encephalitis. Additional studies are needed to determine the epidemiology and relationships of Sarcocystis spp. that use raptors as intermediate hosts and the importance of Sarcocystis spp. in the overall wellbeing of raptors in their natural environments. ; National Science Foundation Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program [1505407]; Intramural Research Competition (IRC) grant from the VirginiaMaryland College of Veterinary Medicine ; We would like to thank the staff and students at the Carolina Raptor Center in Huntersville, North Carolina for providing us with samples. This work was supported by grant 1505407 from the National Science Foundation Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program to A.v.D. and an Intramural Research Competition (IRC) grant from the VirginiaMaryland College of Veterinary Medicine to D.S.L. We thank the numerous undergraduate students from Johnson C. Smith University and undergraduate and graduate students from Virginia Tech for assistance with this project. Mention of trade names or commercial products in this publication is solely for the purpose of providing specific information and does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture;; USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. ; Public domain authored by a U.S. government employee

Archaeological excavations at a U-shaped pyramid in the northern Lake Titicaca Basin of Peru have documented a continuous 5-m-deep stratigraphic sequence of metalworking remains. The sequence begins in the first millennium AD and ends in the Spanish Colonial period ca. AD 1600. The earliest dates associated with silver production are 1960 ± 40 BP (2-sigma cal. 40 BC to AD 120) and 1870 ± 40 BP (2-sigma cal. AD 60 to 240) representing the oldest known silver smelting in South America. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis of production debris indicate a complex, multistage, high temperature technology for producing silver throughout the archaeological sequence. These data hold significant theoretical implications including the following: (i) silver production occurred before the development of the first southern Andean state of Tiwanaku, (ii) the location and process of silverworking remained consistent for 1,500 years even though political control of the area cycled between expansionist states and smaller chiefly polities, and (iii) that U-shaped structures were the location of ceremonial, residential, and industrial activities.

We are interested in the disease ecology of Sarcocystis species that infect birds of prey as definitive and intermediate hosts. The present study was done to test our hypothesis that a laboratory model can be developed for sarcocystis infection in mammals using gamma interferon gene knockout (KO) mice as a source of Sarcocystis strixi bradyzoites and mammalian cell cultures as a source of sporulated S. strixi oocysts. Sporocysts of S. strixi from a naturally infected barred owl (Strix varia) were fed to KO mice to produce sarcocysts, and the enclosed bradyzoites were obtained by acid-pepsin digestion of abdominal and thigh muscles. Bradyzoites, metrocytes, and an unusual spherical stage were seen in digest before the inoculation of host cells. The spherical stages stained dark with Giemsa stain, but no nucleus was observed, and they were seen free and associated with the concave portion of some bradyzoites. Examination of infected cell cultures demonstrated that macrogamonts and microgamonts were present at 24 hr post-inoculation. Since sporulated oocysts were not observed, we had to reject our current hypothesis. ; National Science Foundation Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program [1505407]; Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine; DOEUnited States Department of Energy (DOE) [DE-SC0014664] ; Published version ; This work was supported in part by grant number 1505407 from the National Science Foundation Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program to A.R.V.D. and an Internal Research Competition (IRC) grant from the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine to D.S.L. This research was supported in part by an appointment to the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Research Participation Program administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) through an interagency agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). ORISE is managed by Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) under DOE contract number DE-SC0014664. All opinions expressed in this paper are the authors' and do not necessarily reflect the policies and views of USDA, ARS, DOE, or ORAU/ORISE. The USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. ; Public domain authored by a U.S. government employee

Raptors serve as the definitive host for several Sarcocystis species. The complete life cycles of only a few of these Sarcocystis species that use birds of prey as definitive hosts have been described. In the present study, Sarcocystis species sporocysts were obtained from the intestine of a Cooper's hawk (Accipiter cooperii) and were used to infect cell cultures of African green monkey kidney cells to isolate a continuous culture and describe asexual stages of the parasite. Two clones of the parasite were obtained by limiting dilution. Asexual stages were used to obtain DNA for molecular classification and identification. PCR amplification and sequencing were done at three nuclear ribosomal DNA loci; 18S rRNA, 28S rRNA, and ITS-1, and the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) locus. Examination of clonal isolates of the parasite indicated a single species related to S. columbae (termed Sarcocystis sp. ex Accipiter cooperii) was present in the Cooper's hawk. Our results document for the first time Sarcocystis sp. ex A. cooperii occurs naturally in an unknown intermediate host in North America and that Cooper's hawks (A. cooperii) are a natural definitive host. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. ; National Science Foundation Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program [1505407]; Virginia Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine ; This work was supported by grant # 1505407 from the National Science Foundation Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program to ACR and an IRC grant from the Virginia Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine to DSL. ; Public domain authored by a U.S. government employee

This study was contracted by the Malta Aquaculture Research Centre (MARC), Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs (MRRA) and took place over a 4 month period between February and June 2011. The purpose of the study is the preparation of an aquaculture strategy for Malta, with the overall objectives stated as: (1) To lay down a structured path for sustainably developing aquaculture in Malta (2) To identify the domains that are essential for a profitable and sustainable industry in Malta. The report contains sections on international context, the present status of the industry, key industry issues, future potential, and a strategy for the industry. ; peer-reviewed