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Seemingly arcane records of shipping, derived from shipping lists published in newspapers and ship's logbooks and notations therein, can be interrogated in geographical, chronological and typological terms. This paper presents a fully referenced dataset of 1,584 visits by vessels to Tongan waters between 1616 and 1884 which is now available for analysis by interested parties. Example analyses presented in this paper show how the compilation and analysis of shipping data, canvassing the presence, and to some extent movement, of European vessels in Tongan waters, can illuminate large-scale changes in contact and trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores partnership representations in the Trustees' Annual Reports & Accounts (TARA) of English and Welsh international non-governmental organisations (INGOs). INGOs are prominent global actors, whose TARA serve important accountability purposes, while also acting as key fundraising communications. The study uses thematic analysis to examine 83 TARA published between 2014 and 2018 by 29 INGOs. Findings show that in these TARAs' narrative sections, partnership relationships are largely described using the language of collaboration, yet accord the INGO the primary role. In the subsequent managerial and financial sections, however, these relationships are presented as a hierarchy, focusing on upwards accountability from project partners to the INGO. These presentations suggest that INGOs continue to embed power inequalities in their partnership relationships. Furthermore, drawing on stakeholder theory, this exploratory study argues that the contradiction found demonstrates that INGO reporting prioritises legitimation rather than authenticity, and obfuscates understanding of international development partnership relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive research has been reported on MIMO systems for complex environments. It is noted that many communications studies make use of the channel matrix of transmitters and receivers, signal vectors, SNR, and eigenvalues. However, the channel matrix is often expressed in terms of channel modeling, and the detailed statistical characteristics of the channel in terms of physical characteristics of atmospheric turbulence, particulate matter, and rough surfaces and terrain are often not explicitly shown. This paper discusses the inclusion of expressions of physical characteristics of the random medium in the channel matrix. Therefore, the key point of this paper is that the channel matrix is explicitly given in terms of the actual physical parameters of the random environment using the mutual coherence function and stochastic Green's functions; we call this a 'physics-based' communications model. This paper presents a formulation of physics-based communications models in the presence of a random medium based on analytical statistical EM theory. We use the keyhole MIMO as an example to show the key points of this approach. It is hoped that this study may help extend channel modeling to include analytical statistical EM theory for atmospheric turbulence, ocean turbulence, and rough terrain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the ways that communications and marketing professionals with international development non-governmental organisations (NGOs) understand and navigate the tensions between ethical and effective communications about global poverty and development. The paper is based on interviews with 16 senior communications officers in Canadian NGOs and with six marketing firms that support the non-profit sector. The paper finds that most of the communications professionals we interviewed did not view their work from an ethical perspective. Based on these findings, the paper argues that a renewed debate about the ethical dimensions of representing global development and poverty is urgently needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women in developing and developed countries can still suffer from constraints on their ability to exercise their reproductive rights, being subject to gendered norms and forms of control over their bodies and encountering various difficulties to accessing healthcare services. Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) thus continue to matter for the advancement of gender equality, whilst communications when strategically used can shape support for progressive policies. This project seeks to advance research on gender development and advocacy communications for social change. A core question asked here is how can communications be better used for advocacy on SRHR? Making use of a mixed-methods approach, this research engages with a sample of 52 feminist and health NGOs, located in both the North and the South. In-depth interviews with gender experts from the organizations were combined with a survey applied to the communication professionals, followed by content and discourse analysis of their institutional websites and social media engagement. This paper provides a condensed examination of the early research findings and core theoretical frameworks, arguing over the need to deconstruct discourses around SRHR under challenging times and concluding that NGOs need better communication strategies and practices in their advocacy communication efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Wilbur Zelinsky's 1971 paper in Geographical Review entitled the “Hypothesis of the Mobility Transition” was both forward‐looking and offered innovative ideas regarding human geographic mobility. One of the most interesting aspects of the paper was a set of predictions for mobility in a “future superadvanced society”. Many of these predictions have now come to pass, including a general decline in international and internal migration and residential change, the increasing regulation of migration ‐ especially internally, and the possibility that the widespread adoption of information and communication technologies has impacted human geographic mobility. Hence, this essay looks at the mobility transition not as an obsolete frame of reference but as a prescient, pliable, and adaptable framework which not only informs the study of human geographic mobility today but also, perhaps, even into the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Africa–China media and communications field is a nascent but rapidly growing one. This paper provides an overview of the field, followed by a discussion of the theoretical pathways that can be considered as productive in taking the field forward. The paper argues for the need for rigorous theory-building approaches, and makes some suggestions about how this field of study can be developed. The paper concludes with a discussion of potential further research issues. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

COVID-19, Royal Society, future, research, science, expertise, communications In the important collection of papers presented here, we are able to profile work of researchers from diverse academic disciplines including public health, data modelling, psychology, law, philosophy and communications amongst others. Keywords: COVID-19; Royal Society; future; research; science; expertise; communications EN COVID-19 Royal Society future research science expertise communications S1 S3 3 05/11/21 20210302 NES 210302 It is now over a year since the first case of COVID-19 was identified in Aotearoa New Zealand. [Extracted from the article]

In this paper a centralized control strategy for the efficient power management of the power converters conforming a hybrid distributed generation microgrid is explained. The microgrid is based on a DC and an AC bus. The study is focused on the converters connected to the DC bus. The proposed power management algorithm is implemented in a microgrid central processor. This algorithm is based on assigning several operation functions to each of the generators, loads and energy storage systems in the microgrid. A communication system is used to assign the operation functions to each of the microgrid elements. The power flows between the DC and AC buses are studied in several operation scenarios, in which the proposed control can be verified. Experimental and simulation results demonstrate that the algorithm allows to control the power dispatch inside the microgrid properly, by performing the following tasks: (1) the communications among power converters, the grid operator and intelligent loads, (2) the connection and disconnection of loads, (3) the control of the power exchange between the distributed generators and the energy storage system, (4) the compliance of the power dispatch limit set by the grid operator, (5) the synchronization with the grid and (6) the control of the voltage at the DC bus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper engages with Tim Cresswell’s ‘contellations of mobility’ in order to contribute some understanding of historical maritime rhythms. The empirical focus is upon a steamship mail service in the post-emancipation Caribbean. In examining this communications network, it is stressed that while those managing the network valorised predictable efficiency, ‘friction’ was prized by mercantile groups at the steamers’ ports of call. Thus, the different aspects of mobility signified differently across the network, and this historical case study reinforces the resonance of slowness and stoppage time. The synchronisation of steamship arrivals with sociocultural norms in the Caribbean colonies also necessitated the adaptation of mail service rhythms. Through a focus on shipping operations, this paper proposes to temper our understanding of the role of steamship technology in empire. The influence of colonies on the metropole encompassed an alteration of the rhythms of imperial circulation, and it is within the maritime arena that these realities came into sharp focus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growth of the World Wide Web has conic a proliferation of online reference sources. Some of these are electronic versions of already existing paper sources, while others have no paper counterpart. Many of the best reference resources found of the Web are subscription-based, but a surprising number of quality resources are available free. The vastness of the Web makes it difficult to provide a comprehensive and exhaustive survey of all the resources that are currently available. This article attempts to identify sonic of the most significant resources across the social sciences. it includes six disciplines: anthropology, communications, history, political science, and sociology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research studies of political communications at the local or constituency level are scarce. There are few detailed analyses of local newspapers' coverage of the constituency campaign or any systematic account of local journalists' attitudes towards election reporting. This paper seeks to redress this neglect by providing a longitudinal overview and analysis of local newspaper coverage of the local campaign in the 1987, 1992, 1997 and 2001 UK general elections. Drawing on the findings of a unique and extensive analysis of newspapers' election reporting, combined with detailed interviews with journalists, editors, politicians and their agents, the paper argues that while certain aspects of local newspapers' election coverage have declined recently, local journalists' commitments to reporting the election remain strong and coverage continues to be informative and wide ranging: indeed the findings suggest that on some grounds local press reporting of elections compares favourably with national press coverage. But in 2001 three significant changes in local coverage were evident. Reporting was: (1) markedly more locally oriented than in previous elections; (2) notably more disposed towards a "lighter" editorial emphasis preferring to focus on human interest stories about candidates than discussions of policy, and (3) finally, more partisan than previously with newspapers' overall "balance of partisanship" being replaced by a tendency to favour the Conservative Party above Labour - a trend strongly at variance with national newspapers' political sympathies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the notion that interprofessional working is often hampered by the lack of a common language set and the variety of language sets used across the caring professions. The use of art as a common ground communication tool is presented with particular reference to the medium of magazine picture collage work. The paper describes how the use of this medium can enhance the understanding of individuals in interprofessional study days and workshops, where particular issues can be presented and explored by the participants, resulting in the increased awareness of the different perceptions of shared issues. In this way the use of magazine picture collage is advocated as a communication tool aimed to build bridges across the range of language sets used by different professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first mobile phone networks were launched in the UK in 1985. In the 30 years that have elapsed since then, the mobile phone has evolved from an expensive device owned by the few to a mass-market smartphone that is now regarded as an essential part of modern-day life. Behind the scenes, the mobile networks have undergone four major technology evolutions that have transformed their functionality from providing a basic telephone service to offering very high-speed connectivity for data applications. Yet, much of the heritage of this relatively young but transformational mobile technology is poorly documented and in great danger of being completely lost. Each new generation of mobile network replaces and ultimately erases the evidence of its predecessor. Equally, manufacturers are so focused on the release of their next handset that this leaves little scope or motivation for preserving and recording older models. The perception remains that the mobile phone is a new and young technology which is still considered by many to be a recent phenomenon. This results in a very casual attitude to the preservation of cellular mobile communications heritage, hence raising the significant risk that no suitable historical records will be available for future generations. This paper therefore begins to address this deficit by examining, through a UK perspective, two key but highly visible parts of the mobile phone story, namely, the cellular radio site installations that adorn roadsides, rooftops and hillsides and the mobile phones themselves as important historical artefacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Queen's University has included a faculty-wide Introduction to Engineering course (CDIO Standard 4) for many years. We have recently revised and expanded this part of our curriculum in a move to a faculty-wide sequence of courses that will present design, communications and professional practice aspects in a consistent framework across all of our programs (CDIO Standard 5). The new, four-year Engineering Design and Practice Sequence (EDPS) at Queen's is core for all engineering students. It focuses on developing competence in design process methods and tools, problem analysis, creativity, economics and entrepreneurship, engineering communications, professionalism and ethics. It was designed as project based, meeting the requirements of the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board, thus addressing Washington Accord based requirements, and targeting relevant CDIO Syllabus elements. EDPS is following a staged roll-out, with the revised introductory course given to first year students starting in 2010/2011 and the second year design and communications course being delivered for the first time in 2011/2012. This paper reviews the EDPS course design process, year by year objectives and outcomes, and evaluation methods in comparison with previously published EDPSs (Frank et al, 2011). Experience and results from the first two years of offering the sequence are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

‘Dear colleague’ letters – formal, written, member-to-member correspondence – provide a unique window into internal communications in the US House of Representatives. In general, studies of congressional political communications tend to focus on external messaging by members (candidates) to their constituents (voters) through a focus on electoral or constituent communication. Yet these studies may or may not tell us why members choose to engage in internal communication. To address this gap, this paper draws on the literature and presents new hypotheses about factors that increase a member's likelihood of using dear colleague letters. Using House dear colleague letter data from the first session of the 111th Congress (2009), a negative binomial regression tests the importance of seniority, electoral vulnerability, leadership status, and majority party status for dear colleague letter senders. The analysis demonstrates that rank-and-file majority party members who are electorally ‘safe’ are more likely to use the dear colleague system. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Maternal mortality has been falling significantly in Cambodia since 2005 though it had been stagnant for at least 15 years before that. This paper analyzes the evolution of some major societal and health system factors based on recent national and international reports. The maternal mortality ratio fell from 472 per 100,000 live births in 2000–2005 to 206 in 2006–2010. Background factors have included peace and stability, economic growth and poverty reduction, improved primary education, especially for girls, improved roads, improved access to information on health and health services via TV, radio and cellphones, and increased ability to communicate with and within the health system. Specific health system improvements include a rapid increase in facility-based births and skilled birth attendance, notably investment in midwifery training and numbers of midwives providing antenatal care and deliveries within an expanding primary health care network, a monetary incentive for facility-based midwives for every live birth conducted, and an expanding system of health equity funds, making health care free of cost for poor people. Several major challenges remain, including post-partum care, family planning, prevention and treatment of breast and cervical cancer, and addressing sexual violence against women, which need the same priority attention as maternity care. La mortalité maternelle a sensiblement diminué au Cambodge depuis 2005, même si elle avait auparavant stagné pendant au moins 15 ans. L'article analyse l'évolution de facteurs majeurs dans la société et le système de santé, en se fondant sur de récents rapports nationaux et internationaux. Le taux de mortalité maternelle a reculé de 472 pour 100 000 naissances vivantes en 2000–2005 à 206 en 2006–2010. Les facteurs d'ordre général comprennent la paix et la stabilité, la croissance économique et la réduction de la pauvreté, le renforcement de l'enseignement primaire, en particulier pour les filles, l'amélioration des routes, l'accès élargi aux informations sur la santé et les services de santé avec la télévision, la radio et les téléphones portables, et une capacité accrue à communiquer avec et dans le système de santé. Les progrès propres au système de santé incluent une hausse rapide des naissances en institution et de l'assistance qualifiée à l'accouchement, avec des investissements dans la formation des sages-femmes et l'augmentation du nombre de sages-femmes assurant des soins prénatals et des accouchements dans un réseau en expansion de soins de santé primaires, des primes financières pour les sages-femmes dans les maternités pour chaque naissance vivante assistée, et un fonds élargi de financement de la santé garantissant la gratuité des soins pour les pauvres. Il reste à relever plusieurs défis majeurs, notamment les soins du postpartum, la planification familiale, la prévention et le traitement des cancers du sein et du col de l'utérus, et la lutte contre la violence sexuelle faite aux femmes, qui requièrent la même attention prioritaire que la maternité. La mortalidad materna en Camboya ha ido disminuyendo considerablemente desde 2005, aunque antes de eso permaneció estancada durante por lo menos 15 años. En este artículo se analiza la evolución en algunos factores importantes de la sociedad y del sistema de salud a raíz de recientes informes nacionales e internacionales. La razón de mortalidad materna bajó de 472 por cada 100,000 nacidos vivos entre 2000 y 2005, a 206 entre 2006 y 2010. Entre los factores antecedentes figuran paz y estabilidad, crecimiento económico y disminución de la pobreza, mejor enseñanza primaria, especialmente para las niñas, mejores carreteras, mejor acceso a información sobre la salud y servicios de salud por televisión, radio y teléfonos móviles y mayor capacidad para comunicarse con el sistema de salud y dentro de éste. Las mejoras específicas al sistema de salud son: un rápido aumento en el número de partos institucionales y con atención calificada, particularmente inversión en la capacitación de parteras y el número de éstas que ofrecen atención antenatal y durante el parto en una red de atención primaria en expansión, incentivo monetario para las parteras en las unidades de salud por cada bebé nacido vivo, y un sistema en expansión de fondos de equidad en salud, que ofrece servicios de salud sin costo alguno para las personas pobres. Aún falta encarar varios retos importantes –tales como atención posparto, planificación familiar, prevención y tratamiento del cáncer de mama y cáncer cervical, y abordaje de la violencia sexual contra las mujeres– a los cuales se les debe prestar la misma atención prioritaria que a la atención materna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kent State University has developed a centralized system that manages the communication and work related to the review and selection of commercially available electronic resources. It is an automated system that tracks the review process, provides selectors with price and trial information, and compiles reviewers’ feedback about the resource. It manages workflow for departments that provide services for pricing requests and dispenses product and trial information to targeted selectors. The principal benefits of the system are the reclamation of costly staff time, improved communications, a method to apply standards for selection, coordination for the discovery and review of new resources, and the provision of records of past reviews to help prioritize resources for future purchases. This paper provides a context for the conditions that lead to its development, the implementation, its effect on communications, and improvements to workflow as it relates to product research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper introduces the use of Viscous Plastic Processing (VPP) for the production of microwave ferrite materials and components. Conventional ceramic processing methods produce bulk ferrite materials restricted to relatively simple shapes and that can possess significant micro-structural defects resulting in poor mechanical properties. Using VPP the microstructures and physical strength of ferrite materials can be substantially enhanced and entirely new and unique device geometries produced, such as those based on ferrite helices. Ferrite Materials produced by VPP, such as lithium based ferrites, will be compared to those produced by standard methods of production such as powder pressing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The technology driving the wireless world is moving at warp speed and the consequences affecting the organization are immense. As the technology is assimilated, the changes in the relationship between the employer and employee are morphing requiring more trust, more communication, and a major change in the supervisory thinking and function. This adoption leads to cost reductions for the organization, a required 24-7 mentality for the employee, and the realization that while the physical strings have been cut, the wireless strings that bind the relationship between employer and employee are tighter than ever. The paper presents a model that includes a set of organizational processes that may reduce individual resistance, facilitate technological transition, and result in a greater understanding of the technology assimilation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study describes the structure of international conflict with the tools of network analysis to enhance the understanding of multilateral conflict-communication relations and to predict the conflict structure with existing international relations theories (liberal and realist) plus global communication variables. Using data obtained from the Correlates of War Project (http://cow2.la.psu.edu/), the structure of international conflict is described for the period 1993-2001 for 145 nations. The results indicate that this network is very sparse; 42 nations had no conflict, and 36 only one bilateral disagreement. The network is centered about former Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), Russia, the United States, Iraq, and China. Most conflicts are regional. The paper also evaluates both the liberal, expanded liberal (with communication variables included), and realist (including Huntington's Clash of Civilizations Theory) perspectives as predictors of conflict. The results indicate that communication variables substantially enhance explanatory power of a predictive model, but the effects of the communication variables are inconsistent. A multiple regression model including history of colonialism and prior conflict, physical proximity and contiguity, whether or not a nation is a democracy, and the communication variables - international telecommunication, freight, and exports - accounted for 30.0% of the variance in the structure of international conflict and each variable was significantly related to conflict. The need for further research is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Something of a design after-thought, mobile phone SMS (Short-Message Services) have been enthusiastically adopted by consumers worldwide, who have created a new text culture. SMS is now being deployed to provide a range of services and transactions, as well as playing a critical role in offering an interactive path for television broadcasting. In this paper we offer a case study of a lucrative, new industry developing internationally at the intersection of telecommunications, broadcasting, and information services—namely, premium rate SMS/MMS. To explore the issues at stake we focus on an Australian case study of policy responses to the development of premium rate mobile messaging services in the 2002–2005 period. In the first part, we give a brief history of premium rate telecommunications. Secondly, we characterise premium rate mobile message services and examine their emergence. Thirdly, we discuss the responses of Australian policy-makers and industry to these services. Fourthly, we place the Australian experience in international context, and indicate common issues. Finally, we draw some conclusions from the peregrinations of mobile message services for regulators grappling with communications policy frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past decade, numerous ICT-related investigation powers have been introduced or extended. Have these shifted the balance between criminal investigation and privacy? Do governments allow more privacy infringements for the sake of law enforcement than they used to do? As a first step towards answering these questions, this paper presents the results of a case study of communications interception law in the Netherlands. The study offers a historical analysis of the introduction and changes in Dutch law regarding powers to investigate post, telegraphy, telephony, telecommunications, oral communications and traffic data in the period 1838- 2002. The case study shows that the balance between criminal investigation and privacy in Dutch law has shifted somewhat towards law enforcement, particularly in 2000, but privacy is not altogether discarded. Still, privacy does not appear to operate on a par with law enforcement: it seems a secondary rather than a primary factor in legislative practice. Governments and parliaments should pay more attention to substantiating the need for extending investigation powers, if they want to retain a semblance of truth when they speak of the "balance' between criminal investigation and privacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This issue of the journal Prometheus includes an edited collection of papers by communication and media scholars from around the globe treating the social and societal aspects of the use of telecommunication and mass media tied to the tragic events that occurred in the United States on September 11, 2001. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]