Naresuan University Journal
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The AIBLHiCoS method:predicting aqueous pKa values from gas phase equilibrium bond lengths
No full textEffects of annealing conditions on resistive switching characteristics of SnO<sub>x</sub> thin films
No full textA resistive random-access memory based on an Al/SnOx/Pt structure is demonstrated. The SnOx thin films were prepared by DC sputtering at room temperature and different post-deposition thermal treatments carried out. We observe a significant improvement of bipolar resistive switching characteristics after annealing at 300 °C in nitrogen. The obtained memory devices show good stability with a relatively long retention time, exceeding 105s. The resistance ratio remains above 55 within the duration of 100 endurance cycles. An interface modified space-charge-limited-current model is proposed as a possible switching mechanism. The achieved characteristics of the resistive switching in SnOx films seem to be a promising candidate for nonvolatile memory applications
Market prices of remanufactured, used and new items: Evidence from eBay
No full textExtending the life-cycle of products has received ample attention in the field of reverse logistics, but research on the market acceptance of remanufactured products is still in its infancy, especially how they compare to used products. In this paper, we investigate how consumers perceive remanufactured products relative to used and new products. We construct a database containing 1716 eBay listings, and use that to investigate the factors that influence the differences in prices between used, remanufactured, and new iPods. Our results confirm that remanufactured products are sold at a discount relative to new products. New to the literature on reverse logistics are the following results. For all types of iPods we find evidence that remanufactured products command a premium over their used counterparts. Also, for two types of iPod, a positive description of the product increases the average price for used products relative to remanufactured ones, which suggests that consumers need less reassurance regarding the quality of remanufactured products than used ones. Furthermore, for the third type of iPod, and for all new and remanufactured products, we find no evidence that a positive description significantly affects price. We explain our findings through the lenses of information asymmetry and adverse selection. We also observed that price dispersion is higher for used than for remanufactured products, indicating that remanufacturing may homogenise the quality of products, or at least the way consumers perceive them. We conclude that consumer perception of remanufactured products relative to their used and new counterparts, and hence their willingness to pay, depends in subtle and not yet well-understood ways on the nature of the product
Visualisation of plastid degradation in sperm cells of wheat pollen
No full textLike most angiosperms, wheat (Triticum aestivum) shows maternal inheritance of plastids. It is thought that this takes place by cytoplasmic stripping at fertilisation rather than the absence of plastids in sperm cells. To determine the fate of plastids during sperm cell development, plastid-targeted green fluorescent protein was used to visualise these organelles in nuclear transgenic wheat lines. Fewer than thirty small 1–2-μm plastids were visible in early uninucleate pollen cells. These dramatically increased to several hundred larger (4 μm) plastids during pollen maturation and went through distinct morphological changes. Only small plastids were visible in generative cells (n = 25) and young sperm cells (n = 9). In mature sperm cells, these green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged plastids were absent. This is consistent with maternal inheritance of plastids resulting from their degradation in mature sperm cells in wheat
The Construction of Collective Experience among Evacuated Japanese Children during World War II
No full textStudies of childhood in Japan frequently neglect to engage with the texts and images that young people produced, focusing instead on the adult imagination of youth. By looking solely at adults’ conceptions, we miss the importance of other children in forming their peers’ subjectivity. By analyzing the diaries, letters, postcards, yosegaki, and artwork of evacuated children during WWII, this article shows how adults framed the process of language acquisition, but that children contributed to the creation of a shared language for describing their experiences. When children combined language learning with group experience, which was inscribed through collective writing practices, evacuees came to embrace a strong group identity. Grasping the relationship between collective experience, life-writing, and children’s culture is crucial to understanding how children perceived their world. Apart from these methodological considerations, dismissing the documents left behind by evacuees as mere recapitulations of adult discourse does the history of childhood a great disservice
Village land politics and the legacy of ujamaa
No full textThe paper explores the question of whether Tanzanian villages and their institutional and political legacies can provide a legal and locational alternative to the individualisation of land. It is built on ethnographic data on village politics collected in Tanga, Morogoro and Mbeya region in different points in time comprised between 2007 and 2014. It is divided in three sections. The first considers the ujamaa legacies on Tanzanian village administrative and political institutions and the political weight of past top-down politics , especially in handling dissent at the village level. In the second section, village land politics are investigated under the light of the reform of the land laws (1999), to then underline the role of village authorities in collective land claims in Tanga region – an area of historical land dispossession then; and to illustrate how village land allocations occur in practice. The third section analyses data from three villages in Kilombero district, to reflect on the salience of village land politics and Village Land Use Plans
Farmers or squatters? Collective land claims on sisal estates, Tanzania (1980s - 2000s)
No full textThis paper offers a historically grounded analysis of the land question by analysing the political history of collective land claims in sisal estates in Tanga region, in north-east Tanzania. The persistence of sisal plantations amidst failed attempts at land redistribution is explored by drawing on primary research in villages in the vicinity of three privatized sisal estates. I situate collective land claims in the wider politics of African socialism (ujamaa), to then explain their gradual demise throughout the 1990s as a consequence of neo-liberal policies such as privatization and liberalization. Throughout the 2000s, the subsequent allocation of contested lands to commercial sisal contract farmers has fuelled further land disputes. An account of land claims over time, coupled with a class analysis of sisal contract farming, underlines the continuing relevance of the land question in areas of historical land dispossession
Understanding stakeholder interactions in urban partnerships
No full textThis paper aims to better understand urban partnerships through the nature of the interactions between their stakeholders. Following a review of approaches to stakeholder arrangements in urban partnerships, which draws on a variety of literatures, including strategic management, public administration, urban studies and geography, the paper presents results of an action-case study undertaken in an urban partnership context – namely, Houldsworth Village Partnership (HVP) – within the GreaterManchester region of the UK. The findings begin by classifying HVP stakeholders along broad sectoral lines, beforemoving to examine, through a thematic analysis of data, the influences on their interactions in terms of ‘process enablers’ and ‘inhibitors’. This leads to a schema, whereby HVP stakeholder interactions are conceptualized on the dual continua of attitude and behavior. The schema provides a theoretical contribution by offering an understanding of stakeholders' dynamic interplay within an urban partnership context, and a means of classifying such stakeholders beyond their individual/ organizational characteristics or sectoral affiliations
Who Self-Weighs and What Do They Gain From It? A Retrospective Comparison Between Smart Scale Users and the General Population in England.
No full textBACKGROUND: Digital self-monitoring, particularly of weight, is increasingly prevalent. The associated data could be reused for clinical and research purposes. OBJECTIVE: The aim was to compare participants who use connected smart scale technologies with the general population and explore how use of smart scale technology affects, or is affected by, weight change. METHODS: This was a retrospective study comparing 2 databases: (1) the longitudinal height and weight measurement database of smart scale users and (2) the Health Survey for England, a cross-sectional survey of the general population in England. Baseline comparison was of body mass index (BMI) in the 2 databases via a regression model. For exploring engagement with the technology, two analyses were performed: (1) a regression model of BMI change predicted by measures of engagement and (2) a recurrent event survival analysis with instantaneous probability of a subsequent self-weighing predicted by previous BMI change. RESULTS: Among women, users of self-weighing technology had a mean BMI of 1.62 kg/m(2) (95% CI 1.03-2.22) lower than the general population (of the same age and height) (