Citizen science and natural resource governance: program design for vernal pool policy innovation

Effective natural resource policy depends on knowing what is needed to sustain a resource and building the capacity to identify, develop, and implement flexible policies. This retrospective case study applies resilience concepts to a 16-year citizen science program and vernal pool regulatory development process in Maine, USA. We describe how citizen science improved adaptive capacities for innovative and effective policies to regulate vernal pools. We identified two core program elements that allowed people to act within narrow windows of opportunity for policy transformation, including (1) the simultaneous generation of useful, credible scientific knowledge and construction of networks among diverse institutions, and (2) the formation of diverse leadership that promoted individual and collective abilities to identify problems and propose policy solutions. If citizen science program leaders want to promote social-ecological systems resilience and natural resource policies as outcomes, we recommend they create a system for internal project evaluation, publish scientific studies using citizen science data, pursue resources for program sustainability, and plan for leadership diversity and informal networks to foster adaptive governance. Effective natural resource policy depends on knowing what is needed to sustain a resource and building the capacity to identify, develop, and implement flexible policies. This retrospective case study applies resilience concepts to a 16-year citizen science program and vernal pool regulatory development process in Maine, USA. We describe how citizen science improved adaptive capacities for innovative and effective policies to regulate vernal pools. We identified two core program elements that allowed people to act within narrow windows of opportunity for policy transformation, including (1) the simultaneous generation of useful, credible scientific knowledge and construction of networks among diverse institutions, and (2) the formation of diverse leadership that promoted individual and collective abilities to identify problems and propose policy solutions. If citizen science program leaders want to promote social-ecological systems resilience and natural resource policies as outcomes, we recommend they create a system for internal project evaluation, publish scientific studies using citizen science data, pursue resources for program sustainability, and plan for leadership diversity and informal networks to foster adaptive governance

Community-based Strategies for Strengthening Science and Influencing Policy: Vernal Pool Initiatives in Maine

Scientific research is not having the impact it could and should have on natural resources conservation. Rather than conceptualize and conduct research in isolation, we need new approaches to identify and investigate problems in coordination with stakeholders, poli­cymakers, and others who would benefit from the research. By supporting partnerships between researchers and the public, citizen science creates new opportunities for stake­holders to interact with scientific experts. This process of public collaboration with scien­tists has far-reaching implications for science, management, and policy. Drawing on two decades of work on vernal pool management strategies in Maine, we illustrate how citi­zen science and engaged research helped bridge the science-policy gap. As scientists, we learned from diverse stakeholders at multiple levels of decision making, and this feedback led to improvements in our citizen science programs, gradual adaptations to our scientific research process, and locally based, innovative vernal pool policy initiatives

Reaching urban female adolescents at key points of sexual and reproductive health transitions: evidence from a longitudinal study from Kenya

Urban areas include large numbers of adolescents (ages 15-19) and young adults (ages 20-24) who may have unmet sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs. Worldwide, adolescents contribute 11% of births, many of which are in low and middle-income countries. This study uses recently collected longitudinal data from urban Kenyan women to examine the association between targeted intervention activities and adolescents‘ SRH transitions. The focus was on a female adolescent (15-19) sample and their transition to first sex and first pregnancy/birth. Multinomial logistic regression methods were used to examine whether exposure to program activities was associated with delays in transitions. Overall, a high percentage of adolescents were exposed to television activities with family planning messages. About a third were exposed to community events, program posters, or the Shujaaz comic book that included themes related to relationships and positive health outcomes using recognizable characters. Multivariate analyses found that exposure to the Shujaaz comic book was associated with remaining sexually inexperienced and never pregnant at end line. Future programs for urban adolescents should implement interventions that test novel media strategies, like the Shujaaz comic book, that may be more interesting for young people. Innovative strategies are needed to reach female adolescents in urban settings.Keywords: Urban; Kenya; Sexual Initiation; Pregnancy; Adolescent

Long-lived quantum coherence in photosynthetic complexes at physiological temperature

Photosynthetic antenna complexes capture and concentrate solar radiation by transferring the excitation to the reaction center which stores energy from the photon in chemical bonds. This process occurs with near-perfect quantum efficiency. Recent experiments at cryogenic temperatures have revealed that coherent energy transfer - a wavelike transfer mechanism - occurs in many photosynthetic pigment-protein complexes (1-4). Using the Fenna-Matthews-Olson antenna complex (FMO) as a model system, theoretical studies incorporating both incoherent and coherent transfer as well as thermal dephasing predict that environmentally assisted quantum transfer efficiency peaks near physiological temperature; these studies further show that this process is equivalent to a quantum random walk algorithm (5-8). This theory requires long-lived quantum coherence at room temperature, which never has been observed in FMO. Here we present the first evidence that quantum coherence survives in FMO at physiological temperature for at least 300 fs, long enough to perform a rudimentary quantum computational operation. This data proves that the wave-like energy transfer process discovered at 77 K is directly relevant to biological function. Microscopically, we attribute this long coherence lifetime to correlated motions within the protein matrix encapsulating the chromophores, and we find that the degree of protection afforded by the protein appears constant between 77 K and 277 K. The protein shapes the energy landscape and mediates an efficient energy transfer despite thermal fluctuations. The persistence of quantum coherence in a dynamic, disordered system under these conditions suggests a new biomimetic strategy for designing dedicated quantum computational devices that can operate at high temperature.Comment: PDF files, 15 pages, 3 figures (included in the PDF file

Topological phase transition between composite-fermion and Pfaffian daughter states near {\nu} = 1/2 FQHS

$\nu$=1/2 is among the most enigmatic many-body phases in two-dimensional electron systems as it appears in the ground-state rather than an excited Landau level. It is observed in wide quantum wells where the electrons have a bilayer charge distribution with finite tunneling. Whether this 1/2 FQHS is two-component (Abelian) or one-component (non-Abelian) has been debated since its experimental discovery over 30 years ago. Here, we report strong 1/2 FQHSs in ultrahigh-quality, wide, GaAs quantum wells, with transport energy gaps up to $\simeq$4K, among the largest gaps reported for any even-denominator FQHS. The 1/2 FQHS is flanked by numerous, Jain-sequence FQHSs at $\nu$=$p$/(2$p$$\pm$1) up to $\nu$=8/17 and 9/17. Remarkably, as we raise the density and strengthen the 1/2 FQHS, the 8/17 and 7/13 FQHSs suddenly become strong, much stronger than their neighboring high-order FQHSs. Insofar as FQHSs at $\nu$=8/17 and 7/13 are precisely the theoretically-predicted, simplest, daughter states of the one-component Pfaffian 1/2 FQHS, our data suggest a topological phase-transition of 8/17 and 7/13 FQHSs from the Jain-states to the daughter states of the Pfaffian, and that the parent 1/2 FQHS we observe is the Pfaffian state.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figure

Everyday cosmopolitanism in representations of Europe among young Romanians in Britain

The paper presents an analysis of everyday cosmopolitanism in constructions of Europe among young Romanian nationals living in Britain. Adopting a social representations approach, cosmopolitanism is understood as a cultural symbolic resource that is part of everyday knowledge. Through a discursively-oriented analysis of focus group data, we explore the ways in which notions of cosmopolitanism intersect with images of Europeanness in the accounts of participants. We show that, for our participants, representations of Europe are anchored in an Orientalist schema of West-vs.-East, whereby the West is seen as epitomising European values of modernity and progress, while the East is seen as backward and traditional. Our findings further show that representations of cosmopolitanism reinforce this East/West dichotomy, within a discourse of ‘Occidental cosmopolitanism’. The paper concludes with a critical discussion of the diverse and complex ideological foundations of these constructions of European cosmopolitanism and their implications

The concept of solidarity: emerging from the theoretical shadows?

The concept of solidarity has been relatively neglected by social scientists since Durkheim's pioneering work in the late 19th century. The discipline of politics has been guilty of overlooking this 'subjective' element of community life, but recent works by Stjernø and Brunkhorst reflect a growing awareness of the theoretical significance of the concept. Whereas early liberal attempts to theorise solidarity took the nation state to be the appropriate community for its realisation, the emergence of globalisation raises the possibility of human solidarity developing in the global community. Traditional forms of solidarity have been dissipated by the social changes accompanying globalisation, but they were often locked into the defence of particular interests. New forms may be emerging to rekindle the broader vision of human solidarity. Recent work by writers such as Habermas, Honneth, Rorty and Touraine focuses on widening and deepening democratic participation and/or the articulation of our ethical obligations in various ways. It is argued here that these perspectives need to be supplemented by a radical humanist approach grounded in a normative theory of human self-realisation

Enhanced dynamic functional connectivity (whole-brain chronnectome) in chess experts

Multidisciplinary approaches have demonstrated that the brain is potentially modulated by the long-term acquisition and practice of specific skills. Chess playing can be considered a paradigm for shaping brain function, with complex interactions among brain networks possibly enhancing cognitive processing. Dynamic network analysis based on resting-state magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) can be useful to explore the effect of chess playing on whole-brain fluidity/dynamism (the chronnectome). Dynamic connectivity parameters of 18 professional chess players and 20 beginner chess players were evaluated applying spatial independent component analysis (sICA), sliding-time window correlation, and meta-state approaches to rs-fMRI data. Four indexes of meta-state dynamic fluidity were studied: i) the number of distinct meta-states a subject pass through, ii) the number of switches from one meta-state to another, iii) the span of the realized meta-states (the largest distance between two meta-states that subjects occupied), and iv) the total distance travelled in the state space. Professional chess players exhibited an increased dynamic fluidity, expressed as a higher number of occupied meta-states (meta-state numbers, 75.8 ± 7.9 vs 68.8 ± 12.0, p = 0.043 FDR-corrected) and changes from one meta-state to another (meta-state changes, 77.1 ± 7.3 vs 71.2 ± 11.0, p = 0.043 FDR-corrected) than beginner chess players. Furthermore, professional chess players exhibited an increased dynamic range, with increased traveling between successive meta-states (meta-state total distance, 131.7 ± 17.8 vs 108.7 ± 19.7, p = 0.0004 FDR-corrected). Chess playing may induce changes in brain activity through the modulation of the chronnectome. Future studies are warranted to evaluate if these potential effects lead to enhanced cognitive processing and if "gaming" might be used as a treatment in clinical practice

If players are sparse social dilemmas are too: Importance of percolation for evolution of cooperation

Spatial reciprocity is a well known tour de force of cooperation promotion. A thorough understanding of the effects of different population densities is therefore crucial. Here we study the evolution of cooperation in social dilemmas on different interaction graphs with a certain fraction of vacant nodes. We find that sparsity may favor the resolution of social dilemmas, especially if the population density is close to the percolation threshold of the underlying graph. Regardless of the type of the governing social dilemma as well as particularities of the interaction graph, we show that under pairwise imitation the percolation threshold is a universal indicator of how dense the occupancy ought to be for cooperation to be optimally promoted. We also demonstrate that myopic updating, due to the lack of efficient spread of information via imitation, renders the reported mechanism dysfunctional, which in turn further strengthens its foundations.Comment: 6 two-column pages, 5 figures; accepted for publication in Scientific Reports [related work available at http://arxiv.org/abs/1205.0541