Defining'science-based targets'

The 2015 Paris Agreement to keep global warming well below 2℃above pre-industrial levels and aim towards limiting warming to 1.5℃marked a wa-tershed in planetar...     

Pitfalls in an International Development (ID) Project Implementation: A Case Study in a Developing Country

Literature review noted that donor funded projects and programs are sometimes referred to as International Development: ID projects. ID projects and programs are often being provided for the developing countries like an emerging, developing or least developed country. Such projects and programs are under public sector development specifically designed for economic and social needs of developing countries. These projects or programs are either implemented by recipient governments under a bilateral (or multilateral) agreement with the donor country or through an ’implementing partner’ of the donor, frequently a non-governmental organization or professional contractor. The operating environment and culture of the host country also make ID projects different from traditional business projects and make traditional project management tools in the developed world less appropriate (Blunt and Jones, 1992). This sometimes provides big challenges to various project teams. The paper through a Case study approach evaluates an ID Chinese Government funding construction project and its pitfalls through qualitative research approach. Qualitative data was presented and discussed to provide an insight into major challenges in the implementation of ID project of such scale.     

从小盆栽到阳台花园

小时候,我特喜欢在长满野花的荒地上奔跑,那些酢浆草、野菊花漫山遍野,到处都是,蓬勃的生命力令人着迷。离开乡村,走进城市,看到了整齐的绿化树、花色一致的盆栽,规规矩矩,觉得毫无吸引力。但转念一想,     

The money trail: a new historiography for networks, patronage, and scientific careers

Money is everywhere in science. Yet historians have only rarely placed the money trail at the center of their analyses. The essays in this Focus section demonstrate that following the money offers a historiographical path for investigating a number of key issues across disciplinary boundaries in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Drawing on cases and materials relating to a number of scientific fields, including electrical engineering, aeronautics, agriculture, and paleontology, the essays examine the continuous role of money in industrial and military patronage, personal connections and networks, and spatial and geographical dimensions of science, as well as in relation to state funding and ownership. Together, the contributions demonstrate how following the money offers a way of overcoming hyperprofessionalism in the history of science.     

The effects of high resistance–few repetitions and low resistance–high repetitions resistance training on climbing performance

The aim of the study was to compare the effects of different strength training intensities on climbing performance, climbing-specific tests and a general strength test. Thirty lower grade and intermediate-level climbers participated in a 10-week training programme. The participants were randomized into three groups: high resistance–few repetitions training groups (HR-FR), low resistance–high repetitions training groups (LR-HR) and a control group (CON) which continued climbing/training as usual. Post-testing results demonstrated statistical tendencies for climbing performance improvements in the HR-FR and LR-HR (p?=?0.088–0.090, effect size?=?0.55–0.73), but no differences were observed between the groups (p?=?0.950). For the climbing-specific tests, no differences were observed between the groups (p?=?0.507–1.000), but the HR-FR and LR-HR improved their time in both Dead-hang (p?=?0.004–0.026) and Bent-arm hang (p?<?0.001–0.002). The HR-FR and LR-HR improved their 12RM strength in pull-down (p?≤?0.001), but not the CON group (p?=?0.250). No differences were observed in the CON group in any of the tests (p?=?0.190–0.596) with the exception of improvement in Bent-arm Hang (p?=?0.018). The training groups reduced their climbing sessions during the intervention compared to the CON group (p?=?0.057–0.074). In conclusion, HR-FR and LR-HR training programmes demonstrated an 11% and 12% non-significant improvement in climbing performance despite a 50% reduction in climbing sessions, but improved the results in strength and climbing-specific tests. None of the training intensities was superior compared to the others.     

Maximal oxygen uptake versus maximal power output in children

Maximal oxygen uptake VO(2max)) is considered the optimal method to assess aerobic fitness. The measurement of VO(2max), however, requires special equipment and training. Maximal exercise testing with determination of maximal power output offers a more simple approach. This study explores the relationship between [Vdot]O(2max) and maximal power output in 247 children (139 boys and 108 girls) aged 7.9-11.1 years. Maximal oxygen uptake was measured by indirect calorimetry during a maximal ergometer exercise test with an initial workload of 30 W and 15 W x min(-1) increments. Maximal power output was also measured. A sample (n = 124) was used to calculate reference equations, which were then validated using another sample (n = 123). The linear reference equation for both sexes combined was: VO(2max) (ml x min(-1)) = 96 + 10.6 x maximal power + 3.5 . body mass. Using this reference equation, estimated VO(2max) per unit of body mass (ml x min(-1) x kg(-1)) calculated from maximal power correlated closely with the direct measurement of VO(2max) (r = 0.91, P <0.001). Bland-Altman analysis gave a mean limits of agreement of 0.2+/-2.9 (ml x min(-1) x kg(-1)) (1 s). Our results suggest that maximal power output serves as a good surrogate measurement for VO(2max) in population studies of children aged 8-11 years.     

The organizing and regulation of mountain guiding in Scandinavia 1820–2016, with a glance at the Alps

Abstract

In this article, we study how mountain guiding was organized and regulated in Scandinavia and the Alps between 1820 and 2015 and focus on the most important differences and similarities in Scandinavia, and between Scandinavia and the Alps. We conclude that Switzerland and Chamonix (France) represent two different systems in the Alps during the nineteenth century. However, through the emergence of national and international guide unions the regulation of mountain guiding in the Alps today appears unified, with a close connection between national regulation and mountain guide unions. In Scandinavia, Norway and Sweden historically had similar practices organizing and regulating mountain guiding, where a relatively strong layman tradition emerged during the 1960s and 1970s. In 2008, legal decisions led Sweden to change its system to match the Alp model, while Norway held on to the layman tradition. This leaves mountain guiding in Norway as a distinctly less regulated field than in France, and Switzerland, as in and Sweden.