Nature As Ecology: Toward a More Constructive Ecocriticism

Cheryll Glotfelty's essay collection The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology was published in 1996, eighteen years after William Rueckert coined the term “ecocriticism,” and yet Glotfelty's main goal, through three hundred ninety-one pages and twenty-five essays, was still to answer the question “what is ecocriticism?”. Many of the essays included in the Reader are in direct conversation – if not outright argument – with one another and even today – sixteen years later still – “what is ecocriticism?” is a question with no easy answer. This is as it should be. As a discipline that is connected to literary theory by the dual bridges of culture and science – a culture that is becoming increasingly aware of its culpability in worldwide environmental destruction through the work of science – ecocriticism would be worse than useless if it was unable to reinvent itself in the face of this growing environmental awareness. It continues – appropriately – to adapt, not unlike the ecosystems that it discusses. But how does one define the parameters of a critical discourse that can't agree on its own tenets? I suggest that instead of searching for a definition of ecocriticism in the answers it provides, we look instead at the questions it asks. There are many, for certain, but a few stand out: the Big Questions that are the most repeated and that can often be glimpsed lurking behind many smaller inquiries. By enumerating these Big Questions and synthesizing some of the most important responses to them, I create an outline – a skeleton, if you will – upon which the muscles of ecocriticism can be seen to work. Extrapolating from this model, then, I critique the thesis of Timothy Morton's book Ecology Without Nature and through that critique suggest a constructive revision of Morton's idea of “ecology without nature,” a conceptual mode of responsible, ecological living that I label “nature as ecology.” Ultimately, this essay is both a critique of the current state of ecocritical discourse and an argument for a new, more constructive direction

Land Cover Mapping using Digital Earth Australia

This study establishes the use of the Earth Observation Data for Ecosystem Monitoring (EODESM) to generate land cover and change classifications based on the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Land Cover Classification System (LCCS) and environmental variables (EVs) available within, or accessible from, Geoscience Australia’s (GA) Digital Earth Australia (DEA). Classifications representing the LCCS Level 3 taxonomy (8 categories representing semi-(natural) and/or cultivated/managed vegetation or natural or artificial bare or water bodies) were generated for two time periods and across four test sites located in the Australian states of QueenslandandNewSouthWales. Thiswasachievedbyprogressivelyandhierarchicallycombining existing time-static layers relating to (a) the extent of artificial surfaces (urban, water) and agriculture and (b) annual summaries of EVs relating to the extent of vegetation (fractional cover) and water (hydroperiod, intertidal area, mangroves) generated through DEA. More detailed classifications that integrated information on, for example, forest structure (based on vegetation cover (%) and height (m); time-static for 2009) and hydroperiod (months), were subsequently produced for each time-step. The overall accuracies of the land cover classifications were dependent upon those reported for the individual input layers, with these ranging from 80% (for cultivated, urban and artificial water) to over95%(forhydroperiodandfractionalcover).Thechangesidentifiedincludemangrovediebackin the southeastern Gulf of Carpentaria and reduced dam water levels and an associated expansion of vegetation in Lake Ross, Burdekin. The extent of detected changes corresponded with those observed using time-series of RapidEye data (2014 to 2016; for the Gulf of Carpentaria) and Google Earth imagery (2009–2016 for Lake Ross). This use case demonstrates the capacity and a conceptual framework to implement EODESM within DEA and provides countries using the Open Data Cube (ODC) environment with the opportunity to routinely generate land cover maps from Landsat or Sentinel-1/2 data, at least annually, using a consistent and internationally recognised taxonomy

To what extent is behaviour a problem in English schools?:Exploring the scale and prevalence of deficits in classroom climate

The working atmosphere in the classroom is an important variable in the process of education in schools, with several studies suggesting that classroom climate is an important influence on pupil attainment. There are wide differences in the extent to which classroom climate is considered to be a problem in English schools. Some ‘official’ reports suggest that behaviour in schools is ‘satisfactory or better’ in the vast majority of schools; other sources have pointed to behaviour being a serious and widespread problem. The paper details four studies conducted over the past decade which aimed to explore these disparities. The aim of the research was to gain a more accurate insight into the extent to which deficits in classroom climate limit educational attainment and equality of educational opportunity in English schools. The findings question the suggestion that behaviour is satisfactory or better in 99.7% of English schools and the concluding section suggests ways in which deficits in classroom climate might be addressed. Although the study is limited to classrooms in England, OECD studies suggest that deficits in the working atmosphere in classrooms occur in many countries. The study therefore has potential relevance for education systems in other countries

Exploring inequities in child welfare and child protection services: explaining the 'inverse intervention law'

Attempts to record, understand and respond to variations in child welfare and protection reporting, service patterns and outcomes are international, numerous and longstanding. Reframing such variations as an issue of inequity between children and between families opens the way to a new approach to explaining the profound difference in intervention rates between and within countries and administrative districts. Recent accounts of variation have frequently been based on the idea that there is a binary division between bias and risk (or need). Here we propose seeing supply (bias) and demand (risk) factors as two aspects of a single system, both framed, in part, by social structures. A recent finding from a study of intervention rates in England, the 'inverse intervention law', is used to illustrate the complex ways in which a range of factors interact to produce intervention rates. In turn, this analysis raises profound moral, policy, practice and research questions about current child welfare and child protection services

US Cosmic Visions: New Ideas in Dark Matter 2017: Community Report

This white paper summarizes the workshop "U.S. Cosmic Visions: New Ideas in Dark Matter" held at University of Maryland on March 23-25, 2017.Comment: 102 pages + reference

A cluster randomized controlled trial aimed at implementation of local quality improvement collaboratives to improve prescribing and test ordering performance of general practitioners: Study Protocol

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The use of guidelines in general practice is not optimal. Although evidence-based methods to improve guideline adherence are available, variation in physician adherence to general practice guidelines remains relatively high. The objective for this study is to transfer a quality improvement strategy based on audit, feedback, educational materials, and peer group discussion moderated by local opinion leaders to the field. The research questions are: is the multifaceted strategy implemented on a large scale as planned?; what is the effect on general practitioners' (GPs) test ordering and prescribing behaviour?; and what are the costs of implementing the strategy?</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In order to evaluate the effects, costs and feasibility of this new strategy we plan a multi-centre cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) with a balanced incomplete block design. Local GP groups in the south of the Netherlands already taking part in pharmacotherapeutic audit meeting groups, will be recruited by regional health officers. Approximately 50 groups of GPs will be randomly allocated to two arms. These GPs will be offered two different balanced sets of clinical topics. Each GP within a group will receive comparative feedback on test ordering and prescribing performance. The feedback will be discussed in the group and working agreements will be created after discussion of the guidelines and barriers to change. The data for the feedback will be collected from existing and newly formed databases, both at baseline and after one year.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>We are not aware of published studies on successes and failures of attempts to transfer to the stakeholders in the field a multifaceted strategy aimed at GPs' test ordering and prescribing behaviour. This pragmatic study will focus on compatibility with existing infrastructure, while permitting a certain degree of adaptation to local needs and routines.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>Nederlands Trial Register ISRCTN40008171</p

Discrimination, Reliability, Sensitivity, and Specificity of Robotic Surgical Proficiency Assessment With Global Evaluative Assessment of Robotic Skills and Binary Scoring Metrics: Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective: To compare binary metrics and Global Evaluative Assessment of Robotic Skills (GEARS) evaluations of training outcome assessments for reliability, sensitivity, and specificity. Background: GEARS–Likert-scale skills assessment are a widely accepted tool for robotic surgical training outcome evaluations. Proficiency-based progression (PBP) training is another methodology but uses binary performance metrics for evaluations. Methods: In a prospective, randomized, and blinded study, we compared conventional with PBP training for a robotic suturing, knot-tying anastomosis task. Thirty-six surgical residents from 16 Belgium residency programs were randomized. In the skills laboratory, the PBP group trained until they demonstrated a quantitatively defined proficiency benchmark. The conventional group were yoked to the same training time but without the proficiency requirement. The final trial was video recorded and assessed with binary metrics and GEARS by robotic surgeons blinded to individual, group, and residency program. Sensitivity and specificity of the two assessment methods were evaluated with area under the curve (AUC) and receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves. Results: The PBP group made 42% fewer objectively assessed performance errors than the conventional group (P &lt; 0.001) and scored 15% better on the GEARS assessment (P = 0.033). The mean interrater reliability for binary metrics and GEARS was 0.87 and 0.38, respectively. Binary total error metrics AUC was 97% and for GEARS 85%. With a sensitivity threshold of 0.8, false positives rates were 3% and 25% for, respectively, the binary and GEARS assessments. Conclusions: Binary metrics for scoring a robotic VUA task demonstrated better psychometric properties than the GEARS assessment. </jats:sec

HP1α recruitment to DNA damage by p150CAF-1 promotes homologous recombination repair

p150CAF-1-mediated recruitment of HP1α to DNA is essential for efficient assembly of DNA damage response complexes and subsequent homologous recombination repair