Land registration in Papua New Guinea: Competing Perspectives

Like other post-colonial states, Papua New Guinea continues to grapple with issues pertaining to land. In addition to being an important source of group identity, in resource rich Papua New Guinea, land is an important source of economic prosperity. Vigorous debate however, has ensued over the relationship between customary land tenure systems and economic growth, with official land registration being proposed as a more economically viable alternative to local systems of land tenure. This discussion paper, based on a seminar at AusAID, provides an overview of perspectives on land registration, which as demonstrated by violent protests in 1995 and 2000 is a highly contentious issue in Papua New Guinea. Peter Larmour provides a brief theoretical introduction followed by a chronological overview of official thinking about land registration in Papua New Guinea, concluding with a practical consideration of the mechanics of registering land in the country. Tim Curtin and Hartmut Holzknecht then provide competing perspectives on land registration, with Curtin advocating the establishment of individual land ownership in Papua New Guinea in order to accelerate economic growth, a task for which he believes customary land tenure is ill equipped. Conversely, Holzknecht argues that customary land tenure systems are highly productive (drawing upon the example of a motivated and productive community in Morobe Province), and that in any case, the Melanesian socio-political context is likely to confound attempts at land reform.AusAI

Immunization enhances the natural antibody repertoire

The role of immunization in the production of antibodies directed against immunogens is widely appreciated in laboratory animals and in humans. However, the role of immunization in the development of “natural antibodies” has not been investigated. Natural antibodies are those antibodies present without known history of infection or immunization, and react to a wide range of targets, including “cryptic” self-antigens that are exposed upon cell death. In this study, the ability of immunization to elicit the production of natural antibodies in laboratory rats was evaluated. Laboratory rats were immunized with a series of injections using peanut extracts (a common allergen), a high molecular weight protein conjugated to hapten (FITC-KLH), and a carbohydrate conjugated to hapten (DNPFicall). Significantly greater binding of antibodies from immunized animals compared to controls was observed to numerous autologous organ extracts (brain, kidney, liver, lung, prostate, and spleen) for both IgM and IgG, although the effect was more pronounced for IgM. These studies suggest that immunization may have at least one unforeseen benefit, enhancing networks of natural antibodies that may be important in such processes as wound repair and tumor surveillance. Such enhancement of natural antibody function may be particularly important in Western society, where decreased exposure to the environment may be associated with a weakened natural antibody repertoire

Imaginario Social : una aproximación desde la obra de Michel Maffesoli

En este texto presentamos una revisión, -a modo de ejercicio de reflexión colectiva-, de la extensa producción bibliográfica de Michel Maffesoli, buscando articular desde los supuestos presentes en su obra, la noción de imaginario social. Para comprender el contexto de producción de este sociólogo francés, hemos comenzado por hacer una breve revisión de sus principales trabajos e influencias teóricas. Posteriormente hemos centrado la reflexión sobre sus textos fundamentales: El conocimiento ordinario, La orgía, El tiempo de las tribus, Elogio de la razón sensible y El instante eterno. Finalmente, nos aproximamos a la intersección de su obra con el imaginario social de acuerdo a cuatro categorías temáticas propuestas por Enrique Carretero (2003): el significado de la utopía, la problemática en torno a la modernidad, la integración simbólica del neotribalismo y la legitimidad del orden social.In the following text we display a review, -a sort of collective reflection exercise-, regarding the extensive bibliographic production of Michel Maffesoli, trying to articulate the notion of social imaginary departing from the suppositions present in Maffesoli's work. In order to understand the production context of this French sociologist, we began by a brief review of his main work as well as other theoretical influences. Afterwards, his fundamental texts are the subject to a reflection: Ordinary Knowledge, The orgy, The Time of the Tribes, Praise of a Sensible Reason, and The Eternal Instant. Finally, several elements studied were integrated in an approach to the notion of social imaginary, facing four thematic categories following Enrique Carretero's (2003) proposals: utopia's meaning, problems concerning modernity, symbolic integration of neotribalism, and the legitimacy of social order

Nonlinear Dynamics of Composite Fermions in Nanostructures

We outline a theory describing the quasi-classical dynamics of composite fermions in the fractional quantum Hall regime in the potentials of arbitrary nanostructures. By an appropriate parametrization of time we show that their trajectories are independent of their mass and dispersion. This allows to study the dynamics in terms of an effective Hamiltonian although the actual dispersion is as yet unknown. The applicability of the theory is verified in the case of antidot arrays where it explains details of magnetoresistance measurements and thus confirms the existence of these quasiparticles.Comment: submitted to Europhys. Lett., 4 pages, postscrip

Double play in listening assessment

All listening test developers are faced with a choice: whether to play the listening text once (single play), or twice (double play). Although practices of international high-stakes test providers vary widely in this regard, only a relatively small number of studies have investigated the effects of single and double play. The central focus of most studies has been whether double play had an effect on test takers’ scores. Establishing effects on test scores is important, however an equally relevant question is whether double play impacts construct validity as conceptualised by Messick (1989, 1995). It has not been fully established in what ways double play influences test takers’ response processes compared to single play and thus how it alters the listening construct. The research in this thesis investigated the effects of double play on item parameters and test takers’ response processes, their anxiety levels, and perceptions. In Study 1, 306 candidates responded to four listening tasks in a complex counter-balanced research design involving two conditions (single and double play), two task formats (multiple-choice and open format), and two questionnaires targeting listening strategies, test-taking strategies, anxiety levels, and test takers’ perceptions. In Study 2, 16 candidates completed the same tasks in both conditions on an eye-tracker and performed verbal recalls, which were stimulated by their eye-movements while they had been solving the items. The verbal recalls were analysed in terms of candidates’ cognitive processing, their use of listening strategies and test-taking strategies, and their anxiety levels. The results from Study 1 confirm the common finding of previous research in that double play increases test scores. However, the results from Study 1 and Study 2 also agree in showing that double play is beneficial in terms of reducing construct-irrelevant variance and enhancing construct representation. Candidates displayed more higher-order cognitive processing and used a greater variety and a greater proportion of listening strategies in double play versus single play. Candidates also relied less on test-taking strategies and were markedly less anxious. In addition, items from both task formats were more reliable and showed better discrimination in the double play condition. The findings are discussed in light of the many competing priorities in listening assessment, including test purpose, authenticity, practicality, and construct validity