Assessing the climate vulnerability of the world’s natural and cultural heritage

Climate change is the fastest-growing global threat to the world’s natural and cultural heritage. No systematic approach to assess climate vulnerability of protected areas and their associated communities has existed—until now. The Climate Vulnerability Index (CVI) is scientifically robust, transparent, and repeatable, and has now been applied to various World Heritage properties. The CVI builds upon an established Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) framework to systematically assess vulnerability through a risk assessment approach that considers the key values of the World Heritage property in question and identifies key climate stressors. The CVI process is then used to assess the climate-related vulnerability of the community (including local residents, domestic visitors, and international tourists) associated with the World Heritage property considering economic, social, and cultural connections. Climate impacts are increasingly adding to a wide range of compounding pressures (e.g., increasing tourism, infrastructure development, changing land use practices) that are affecting places, people, customs, and values. Applications of the CVI to date have led to commitments to integrate outcomes into relevant management plans, and to periodically repeat the process, enabling responsive management to changing future circumstances. The CVI has also demonstrated its potential applicability for protected areas beyond World Heritage properties. The CVI process engages local community members in determining impacts, provides opportunities for identifying adaptation and impact mitigation within the community, and aids broader communication about key climate issues

Quantitative sensory testing in painful hand osteoarthritis demonstrates features of peripheral sensitisation.

Hand osteoarthritis (HOA) is a prevalent condition for which treatments are based on analgesia and physical therapies. Our primary objective was to evaluate pain perception in participants with HOA by assessing the characteristics of nodal involvement, pain threshold in each hand joint, and radiological severity. We hypothesised that inflammation in hand osteoarthritis joints enhances sensitivity and firing of peripheral nociceptors, thereby causing chronic pain. Participants with proximal and distal interphalangeal (PIP and DIP) joint HOA and non-OA controls were recruited. Clinical parameters of joint involvement were measured including clinical nodes, VAS (visual analogue score) for pain (0-100 mm scale), HAQ (health assessment questionnaire), and Kellgren-Lawrence scores for radiological severity and pain threshold measurement were performed. The mean VAS in HOA participants was 59.3 mm ± 8.19 compared with 4.0 mm ± 1.89 in the control group (P < 0.0001). Quantitative sensory testing (QST) demonstrated lower pain thresholds in DIP/PIP joints and other subgroups in the OA group including the thumb, metacarpophalangeal (MCPs), joints, and wrists (P < 0.008) but not in controls (P = 0.348). Our data demonstrate that HOA subjects are sensitised to pain due to increased firing of peripheral nociceptors. Future work to evaluate mechanisms of peripheral sensitisation warrants further investigation

Electron kinetic effects in the nonlinear evolution of a driven ion-acoustic wave

The electron kinetic effects are shown to play an important role in the nonlinear evolution of a driven ion-acoustic wave. The numerical simulation results obtained (i) with a hybrid code, in which the electrons behave as a fluid and the ions are described along the particle-in-cell (PIC) method, are compared with those obtained (ii) with a full-PIC code, in which the kinetic effects on both species are retained. The electron kinetic effects interplay with the usual fluid-type nonlinearity to give rise to a broadband spectrum of ion-acoustic waves saturated at a low level, even in the case of a strong excitation. This low asymptotic level might solve the long-standing problem of the small stimulated Brillouin scattering reflectivity observed in laser-plasma interaction experiments

Electron and ion kinetic effects in the saturation of a driven ion acoustic wave

The role of ion and electron kinetic effects is investigated in the context of the nonlinear saturation of a driven ion acoustic wave(IAW) and its parametric decay into subharmonics. The simulations are carried out with a full–particle-in-cell (PIC) code, in which both ions and electrons are treated kinetically. The full-PIC results are compared with those obtained from a hybrid-PIC code (kinetic ions and Boltzmann electrons). It is found that the largest differences between the two kinds of simulations take place when the IAW is driven above the ion wave-breaking limit. In such a case of a strong drive, the hybrid-PIC simulations lead to a Berstein-Greene-Kruskal-like nonlinear IAW of a large amplitude, while in the full-PIC the IAW amplitude decays to a small level after a transient stage. The electron velocity distribution function is significantly flattened in the domain of small electron velocities. As a result the nonlinear frequency shift due to the electron kinetic effects compensates partly the nonlinear frequency shift due to the ion kinetic effects, allowing then for the parametric decay of the driven IAW into subharmonics. These observations lead to the conclusion that electron kinetic effects become important whenever the nonlinear effects come into play

Barriers and facilitators of disclosing domestic violence to the healthcare service:A systematic review of qualitative research

Domestic violence victims are in frequent contact with the healthcare service yet rarely disclose. Therefore, it is critical to understand victims' experiences and perceptions regarding disclosure in healthcare settings. The goal of this review is to provide an updated synthesis of qualitative research identifying barriers and facilitators, advice, and positive and negative outcomes of adult victims' disclosure of domestic violence to healthcare professionals (HCPs). A systematic search of PsychINFO, CINAHL and Web of Science was conducted in January 2018. Thirty-four eligible studies were identified, including 783 domestic violence victims (781 females). Formal quality assessment indicated variable study quality. Barriers of disclosure included negative HCPs attitudes, victims' perceptions of safety and concerns about the consequences of disclosing. Facilitators of disclosing included a positive relationship with the HCP, HCPs directly asking victims about abuse, and HCPs ensuring that the environment is safe and disclosure is confidential. Victims advised increased awareness of HCPs reactions to disclosure and avoiding mirroring their perpetrators minimization. HCPs were encouraged to engage in direct questioning and maintain a supportive and secure environment. Positive and negative outcomes of abuse were identified, such as being able to leave the abuser or, on the other hand, the victims' situation not changing. Our results indicate that barriers for disclosure of domestic violence in healthcare settings persist despite the widespread implementation of policies and guidelines to counter them. Based on these findings, we provide recommendations for clinical practice and future research to help improve disclosure in healthcare settings

Phase Transition in Asymmetrical Superfluids I: Equal Fermi Surfaces

In this paper, we study phase transitions in asymmetrical fermion superfluids. In this scenario, the candidates to form pair are particles with mismatched masses and chemical potentials. We derive an expression for the critical temperature in terms of the gap and masses (or chemical potentials) when the constraint of equal Fermi surfaces $m_a\mu_a = m_b\mu_b$ is imposed.Comment: RevTex, 11 pages, 2 figures, typos corrected and an appendix added, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Temperature effects on the magnetization of quasi-one-dimensional Peierls distorted materials

It is shown that temperature acts to disrupt the magnetization of Peierls distorted quasi-one-dimensional materials (Q1DM). The mean-field finite temperature phase diagram for the field theory model employed is obtained by considering both homogeneous and inhomogeneous condensates. The tricritical points of the second order transition lines of the gap parameter and magnetization are explicitly calculated. It is also shown that in the absence of an external static magnetic field the magnetization is always zero, at any temperature. As expected, temperature does not induce any magnetization effect on Peierls distorted Q1DM.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figure

Barriers and Facilitators of Disclosing Domestic Violence to the UK Health Service

Domestic violence victims frequently visit health care facilities yet rarely disclose, so it is important to understand what factors are barriers and facilitators of disclosure. UK-based qualitative investigations into barriers and facilitators of disclosure in health care settings have suffered from a limited focus on ethnic minority women. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore victims’ perceptions and experiences of disclosing to health care services and to identify barriers and facilitators of disclosure within an ethnically diverse UK sample. Semi-structured interviews were administered among 29 British (8 ethnic minority) female victims. Content analysis demonstrated that barriers to disclosure were; emotional (e.g., fear, embarrassment/shame and self-blame), physical (e.g., partner’s physical presence, controlling behavior, and manipulation of professionals) and organizational (e.g., appropriateness of setting and time for disclosure). Additional problems for ethnic minority women were language difficulties and religious practices. Facilitators to disclosure were interpersonal relations, safety, and validation from health care professionals. Barriers and facilitators of disclosure in health care services are diverse and some are specific to minority ethnic groups. Health care professionals should receive awareness and skills training to establish a positive, validating, and safe environment for victim disclosure

Calibration of Strain Gauged Square Tunnels for Centrifuge Testing

© 2016, Springer International Publishing Switzerland. A series of dynamic centrifuge tests were conducted on square aluminum model tunnels embedded in dry sand. The tests were carried out at the Schofield Centre of the Cambridge University Engineering Department, aiming to investigate the dynamic response of these types of structures. An extensive instrumentation scheme was employed to record the soil-tunnel system response, which comprised of miniature accelerometers, total earth pressures cells and position sensors. To record the lining forces, the model tunnels were strain gauged. The calibration of the strain gauges, the data from which was crucial to furthering our understanding on the seismic performance of box-type tunnels, was performed combining physical testing and numerical modelling. This technical note summarizes this calibration procedure, highlighting the importance of advanced numerical simulation in the calibration of complex construction models