Understanding global civil society: theory, governance and the global water crisis

2010 Fall.Includes bibliographical references.How does global civil society (GCS) fit in the history of world politics? Have technology and global capitalism liberated civil society from its former dependence on states and markets to develop into an autonomous and self-regulated sphere within the world political system? If not, perhaps recent developments really signal the emergence of new strategic opportunities for non-state actors to project their domestic political concerns onto the international agenda. Of course, there is also the possibility that GCS primarily functions to reinforce the privileged position of a hegemonic historic bloc, which rests at the confluence of dominant institutions, ideas, and material capabilities. In the effort to answer how GCS fits in the history of world politics, this dissertation identifies and adjudicates the dominant theoretical accounts of GCS. This work rests on the observation that theoretical considerations of GCS have recently entered a new phase. Previously, GCS scholarship worked to build credibility in a field traditionally dominated by a state-centric view of world politics. The success of this initial phase is manifest in the inclusion of GCS into the political lexicon. Thus, what began as an effort to project the concept of GCS outward, in the first phase, turned inward, in the second phase, to weigh the implications of this phenomenon for our understanding of world politics. The specific occasion for this dissertation project is the recent emergence, within the second phase, of three distinct and dominant theoretical positions. The primary goal of this dissertation is to adjudicate these theoretical claims. Thus, this dissertation will appeal to a diverse audience, including international relations scholars, students of global civil society, and water policy experts. At its core this dissertation is concerned with the architecture of the world political system, the changes in this system over time, and the implications of these changes for our understanding of the power relations that both animate and hold this system together - topics that are central to the study of international relations. GCS offers an interesting way to explore these issues, not because its emergence is widely perceived as a new phenomenon in the history of world politics but rather because the very existence of GCS constitutes a potential threat to the core assumption in international relations that states are the dominant central actors within the world political system. For students of GCS, this dissertation offers advice for improving the theoretical development of their burgeoning field. To achieve this end, the dissertation examines the role GCS plays in the global governance of freshwater resources, weighing this evidence against the diverse and divergent theoretical expectations regarding the role GCS plays in the history of world politics. In the process, this analysis highlights the depth and diversity of GCS engagement in the global water crisis, which argues for the need to expand beyond the highly state centric and institutional approach that has thus far consumed the attention of water resource scholars and water policy experts

Vaccine candidates for dengue virus type 1 (DEN1) generated by replacement of the structural genes of rDEN4 and rDEN4Δ30 with those of DEN1

BACKGROUND: Antigenic chimeric viruses have previously been generated in which the structural genes of recombinant dengue virus type 4 (rDEN4) have been replaced with those derived from DEN2 or DEN3. Two vaccine candidates were identified, rDEN2/4Δ30(ME) and rDEN3/4Δ30(ME), which contain the membrane (M) precursor and envelope (E) genes of DEN2 and DEN3, respectively, and a 30 nucleotide deletion (Δ30) in the 3' untranslated region of the DEN4 backbone. Based on the promising preclinical phenotypes of these viruses and the safety and immunogenicity of rDEN2/4Δ30(ME) in humans, we now describe the generation of a panel of four antigenic chimeric DEN4 viruses using either the capsid (C), M, and E (CME) or ME structural genes of DEN1 Puerto Rico/94 strain. RESULTS: Four antigenic chimeric viruses were generated and found to replicate efficiently in Vero cells: rDEN1/4(CME), rDEN1/4Δ30(CME), rDEN1/4(ME), and rDEN1/4Δ30(ME). With the exception of rDEN1/4(ME), each chimeric virus was significantly attenuated in a SCID-HuH-7 mouse xenograft model with a 25-fold or greater reduction in replication compared to wild type DEN1. In rhesus monkeys, only chimeric viruses with the Δ30 mutation appeared to be attenuated as measured by duration and magnitude of viremia. rDEN1/4Δ30(CME) appeared over-attenuated since it failed to induce detectable neutralizing antibody and did not confer protection from wild type DEN1 challenge. In contrast, rDEN1/4Δ30(ME) induced 66% seroconversion and protection from DEN1 challenge. Presence of the Δ30 mutation conferred a significant restriction in mosquito infectivity upon rDEN1/4Δ30(ME) which was shown to be non-infectious for Aedes aegypti fed an infectious bloodmeal. CONCLUSION: The attenuation phenotype in SCID-HuH-7 mice, rhesus monkeys, and mosquitoes and the protective immunity observed in rhesus monkeys suggest that rDEN1/4Δ30(ME) should be considered for evaluation in a clinical trial

Climate Change Impacts on Freshwater Wetland Hydrology and Vegetation Cover Cycling Along a Regional Aridity Gradient

Global mean temperature may increase up to 6°C by the end of this century and together with precipitation change may steepen regional aridity gradients. The hydrology, productivity, and ecosystem services from freshwater wetlands depend on their future water balance. We simulated the hydrology and vegetation dynamics of wetland complexes in the North American Prairie Pothole Region with the WETLANDSCAPE model. Simulations for 63 precipitation × temperature combinations spanning 6°C warming and −20% to +20% annual precipitation change at 19 locations along a mid-continental aridity gradient showed that aridity explained up to 99% of the variation in wetland stage and hydroperiod for all wetland permanence types, and in vegetation cycling for semipermanent wetlands. The magnitude and direction of hydrologic responses depended on whether climate changes increased or decreased water deficits. Warming to 6°C and 20% less precipitation increased wetland water deficits and more strongly decreased wetland stage and hydroperiod from historic levels at low aridity, especially in semipermanent wetlands, where peak vegetation cycling (Cover Cycle Index, CCI) also shifted to lower aridity. In contrast, 20% more precipitation decreased water deficits, increasing wetland stage and hydroperiod most strongly in shallow wetlands at high aridity, but filling semipermanent wetlands and reducing CCI at low aridity. All climate changes narrowed the range of aridity favorable to high productivity. Climate changes that reduce water deficits may help maintain wetlands at high aridity at the expense of those at low aridity, but with warming certain, increased deficits are more likely and will help maintain wetlands at lower aridity but exacerbate loss of wetlands at high aridity. Thus, there is likely not a universally applicable approach to mitigating climate change impacts on freshwater wetlands across regional aridity gradients. Conservation strategies need to account for aridity-specific effects of climate change on freshwater wetland ecosystems

Analysis of Learning Outcomes in LGBTQ+ Medical School Curriculum

Introduction. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) youth are at increased risk for negative health outcomes and experience increased barriers to health care.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1088/thumbnail.jp

The potassic sedimentary rocks in Gale Crater, Mars, as seen by ChemCam on board Curiosity

The Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity encountered potassium-rich clastic sedimentary rocks at two sites in Gale Crater, the waypoints Cooperstown and Kimberley. These rocks include several distinct meters thick sedimentary outcrops ranging from fine sandstone to conglomerate, interpreted to record an ancient fluvial or fluvio-deltaic depositional system. From ChemCam Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) chemical analyses, this suite of sedimentary rocks has an overall mean K2O abundance that is more than 5 times higher than that of the average Martian crust. The combined analysis of ChemCam data with stratigraphic and geographic locations reveals that the mean K2O abundance increases upward through the stratigraphic section. Chemical analyses across each unit can be represented as mixtures of several distinct chemical components, i.e., mineral phases, including K-bearing minerals, mafic silicates, Fe-oxides, and Fe-hydroxide/oxyhydroxides. Possible K-bearing minerals include alkali feldspar (including anorthoclase and sanidine) and K-bearing phyllosilicate such as illite. Mixtures of different source rocks, including a potassium-rich rock located on the rim and walls of Gale Crater, are the likely origin of observed chemical variations within each unit. Physical sorting may have also played a role in the enrichment in K in the Kimberley formation. The occurrence of these potassic sedimentary rocks provides additional evidence for the chemical diversity of the crust exposed at Gale Crater

Apatites in Gale Crater

ChemCam is an active remote sensing instrument suite that has operated successfully on MSL since landing Aug. 6th, 2012. It uses laser pulses to remove dust and to analyze rocks up to 7 m away. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) obtains emission spectra of materials ablated from the samples in electronically excited states. The intensities of the emission lines scale with the abundances of the related element. ChemCam is sensitive to most major rock-forming elements as well as to a set of minor and trace elements such as F, Cl, Li, P, Sr, Ba, and Rb. The measured chemical composition can then be used to infer the mineralogical composition of the ablated material. Here, we report a summary of inferred apatite detections along the MSL traverse at Gale Crater. We present the geologic settings of these findings and derive some interpretations about the formation conditions of apatite in time and space

Risk of Dengue for Tourists and Teams during the World Cup 2014 in Brazil

Abstract:Background:This year, Brazil will host about 600,000 foreign visitors during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The concern of possible dengue transmission during this event has been raised given the high transmission rates reported in the past by this country.Methodology/Principal Findings:We used dengue incidence rates reported by each host city during previous years (2001-2013) to estimate the risk of dengue during the World Cup for tourists and teams. Two statistical models were used: a percentile rank (PR) and an Empirical Bayes (EB) model. Expected IR's during the games were generally low (<10/100,000) but predictions varied across locations and between models. Based on current ticket allocations, the mean number of expected symptomatic dengue cases ranged from 26 (PR, 10th-100th percentile: 5-334 cases) to 59 (EB, 95% credible interval: 30-77 cases) among foreign tourists but none are expected among teams. These numbers will highly depend on actual travel schedules and dengue immunity among visitors. Sensitivity analysis for both models indicated that the expected number of cases could be as low as 4 or 5 with 100,000 visitors and as high as 38 or 70 with 800,000 visitors (PR and EB, respectively).Conclusion/Significance:The risk of dengue among tourists during the World Cup is expected to be small due to immunity among the Brazil host population provided by last year's epidemic with the same DENV serotypes. Quantitative risk estimates by different groups and methodologies should be made routinely for mass gathering events. © 2014 van Panhuis et al