The UN Security Council and Non-Traditional Security Threats: Why the Failures of the Council's Covid-19 Response Dampen Hopes for Council Action on Climate Change

Since the late 1990s, the mandate of the United Nations Security Council has evolved significantly as the Council has increasingly engaged with non-traditional security threats. Such matters create economic, societal and/or political instability that places livelihoods in peril and increases risks of conflict. COVID-19 presents one such threat. This article analyses the Security Council's COVID-19 response and highlights the challenges preventing effective and efficient action, with a view to understanding the Council's present capacity to deal with emerging non-traditional security threats, particularly climate change. Key challenges include the political conflict within the Council, principally between permanent members, as well as the Council's limited "toolkit" for action, which is primed to respond to traditional security threats. Considering the burden that such challenges had on the Council's COVID-19 response efforts, it is argued that the Council cannot be primarily relied on to manage other non-traditional threats. This is especially so in the case of climate change, which presents a more complex, multifaceted threat than a pandemic. A role for the Council that addresses consequences of climate change that most clearly fall within the Council's mandate is proposed

A survey of the library services in the state teachers colleges of New England

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Time for change : a study of religious conversion and self-identity in prison.

This thesis provides a sociological analysis of religious conversion in prison. In depth-interviews were conducted in order to obtain accounts of prisoners' experiences and subjective perceptions of conversion. Four main research objectives are addressed. Firstly, questions about prisoners' identity are considered. Secondly, the social processes involved in religious conversion are analysed, paying particular attention to the meaning of religious conversion for prisoners. Thirdly, an analysis of the role of religion in the everyday lives of converts is provided. Lastly, the process of personal change that accompanies conversion is discussed, to enhance the analysis of self-identity and personal change more generally. The way in which prisoners' self-identity was questioned prior to conversion is discussed. The importance of experiences other than imprisonment in this process is particularly highlighted. This thesis emphasises the role of both reflective and interactive processes in religious conversion. The ways in which self-reflection led to a contemplation of religious ideas is highlighted, as is how participation in religious activities drew individuals into religious life and belief These considerations are placed within the context of prison life. The role of religion in the everyday lives of prisoners is explored. In particular, the role of religion in enabling inmates to transcend the restrictions of the prison environment, and reconceptualise themselves and their lives, is highlighted. Although the thesis is about religious conversion within the particular context of the prison, changes in self-identity and behaviour are viewed more widely. The analysis highlights the ways in which self-identity is negotiated in everyday life, and emphasises the dual roles of self reflection and interaction in its construction and maintenance

The relationship between visual discomfort and cortical excitability in cone-opponent stimuli

Increased colour contrast can induce visual discomfort, but there is little research on the effect of hue. Colour is processed via one or more information streams or channels. We hypothesized that hues which activate more than one channel would induce greater visual discomfort, as they will demand greater neural resources. Normally-sighted young observers made discomfort judgments of isoluminant stimuli of varying hue and contrast whilst EEG was recorded. As predicted, stimuli recruiting more than one channel were more uncomfortable, and this increased with contrast. Uncomfortable stimuli showed increased N2 event-related potentials and decreased alpha-band oscillations, potentially indicating increased neural excitability. This is evidence that increased neural responses are related to visual discomfort for chromatic stimuli. Furthermore, it suggests that the origins of visual discomfort are in early visual areas, when colour is represented in a cone-opponent space, rather than later areas where colour representation is determined by perceptual similarity

Female students’ experiences of power dynamics as reflected in the negotiation of condom use

Magister Psychologiae - MPsychIn this study, the two most dominant sexual discourses were the male sexual drive discourse and the have/hold discourse. These discourses, together with traditional gender constructions, made condom negotiation difficult for women. Nevertheless, the discourses and constructions were also resisted and challenged. This study was limited by its focus on heterosexual women and the negotiation of condom use. Future studies which explore alternate forms of safe sex, sexual orientation and allow men’s experiences to emerge would provide greater insight

The social life of the dead:the role of post-mortem examinations in medical student socialisation

Dissection has held a privileged position in medical education although the professional values it inculcates have been subject to intense debate. Claims vary from it generating a dehumanising level of emotional detachment, to promotion of rational and dispassionate decision-making, even to being a positive vehicle for ethical education. Social scientists have positioned dissection as a critical experience in the emotional socialisation of medical students. However, curricular revision has provoked debate about the style and quantity of anatomy teaching thus threatening this ‘rite of passage’ of medical students. Consequently, some UK medical schools do not employ dissection at all. In its place, observation of post-mortem examinations - a long established, if underutilised, practice – has re-emerged in an attempt to recoup aspects of anatomical knowledge that are arguably lost when dissection is omitted. Bodies for post-mortem examinations and bodies for dissection, however, have striking differences, meaning that post-mortem examinations and dissection cannot be considered comparable opportunities to learn anatomy. In this article, we explore the distinctions between dissection and post-mortem examinations. In particular, we focus on the absence of a discourse of consent, concerns about bodily integrity, how the body’s shifting ontology, between object and person, disrupts students’ attempts to distance themselves, and how the observation of post-mortem examinations features in the emotional socialisation of medical students

Size, Shape, Scope and Strength of skeletons, Evechinus chloroticus, New Zealand

Ocean acidification will affect calcifying organisms as calcium carbonate saturation levels decrease due to climate change. Echinoids are important components of the coastal ecosystem and use magnesium in their skeletal calcification. Magnesium-calcite is highly susceptible to dissolution and the effects of lowered pH on the skeletal system of echinoids could be severe. This thesis examines the differences in allometry (shape and size), biomineral composition and flexural strength of Evechinus chloroticus skeletal components from six separate populations around New Zealand, including Whakaari White Island as a proxy for future ocean acidification conditions. I measured 20 parameters for 64 individuals from six different locations. Individual skeletal elements within individuals and populations exhibited little variation in size and shape, particularly in those elements comprising the Aristotle’s lantern. Using a standardised measurement to compensate for size of the individual, there was no obvious trend noted amongst locations except for weight of Aristotle lantern components, demonstrating a linear trend of increasing weight with increasing latitude. Evechinus produces skeletons formed of magnesium-calcite (range=3.2–11.9, average=8.6 wt % MgCO3 in calcite 2.01 SD, N=90); here I compared magnesium content in skeletal elements, which showed little variation within and between individuals of the same population. Variation among populations was also minimal. Magnesium content in test plates and Aristotle's lantern components was 9.5 wt % MgCO3 ( 0.4 SD, N=54), whereas spines were in general lower in magnesium (4.9, 0.23 SD, N=18). Flexural strength of primary spines, measured by a two-point bending test was (average=112.0, 37.0 SD, N=640). The data exhibited a broad latitudinal trend with strength increasing with latitude, presumably linked to temperature. Spines from Fiordland, however, were weaker than expected; and those from White Island were stronger, likely due to the influence of seawater chemistry and/or growth rate. Skeletal elemnts of Evechinus chloroticus around New Zealand exhibit minimal variations in response to different abiotic conditions. Tight morphological constraints on parameters, for example the Aristotle’s lantern minimise variations exhibited by individuals and populations, while other parameters like spine morphology are thought to result from biotic pressures. Individual variation in biominerals are minimal and differences observed in magnesium content are expected to arise from different chemical pathways being utilised to offset conditions each calcium structure is exposed to. Strength is the ultimate result from differences in morphology and biominerlisation, affecting the locomotion and defence mechanisms of Evechinus chloroticus. Latitude, and subsequent temperature is linked to spine strength; however, using White Island specimens as a proxy for individuals in future climate change scenarios, there was not an expected decrease in strength below what is anticipated from temperature differences. It is accepted that individuals and populations of Evechinus chloroticus around New Zealand have adapted to maintain skeletal conditions. Keywords: Evechinus chloroticus ▪ Ocean acidification ▪ Skeletal allometry ▪ Spine strength ▪ Carbonate mineralogy ▪ Echinoi

Crime linkage of serial residential burglary : incorporating conditions of consistency

Linking crimes is a decision making problem faced by investigators and practitioners. Deciding if a number of crimes are committed by a single offender (linked) or multiple offenders (unlinked) has implications for how investigations are structured and impacts on the success of the investigative outcome. The police are sometimes criticised for not making seemingly 'obvious' links between offences. However viewed prospectively the linking problem is far more difficult. It is not obvious what type of information should be used in order to make a correct linking decision. The police deal with large volumes of information, sometimes over long periods of time, not all of which may be relevant to the linking task. In order to successfully link crimes, offenders must behave with consistency. Consistency has two components: similarity and distinctiveness. Offenders must demonstrate a degree of similarity across consecutive offences and must also exhibit behaviours distinct from that of other offenders. Differentiation is the product of consistency. The more consistent an offender behaves the more readily their crimes can be differentiated from those of other offenders. Employing binary logistic regression and ROC analysis, the literature on crime linkage or 'Linkage Analysis', reports encouraging findings across a variety of crime types. Offenders are universally found to be highly consistent in their spatial behaviour, resulting in excellent discriminative accuracy. Some crime types also attract highly consistent control type behaviours. Research demonstrates the existence of consistency and reports variation in consistency and differentiation, as a product of the type of offence behaviour employed in making the linking decision. Although important steps have been made in determining that behavioural consistency exists the vast majority of research has neglected to consider the conditions that foster consistency. This is curious considering the current depth of theoretical knowledge concerning consistent behavioural expression. Extensive research in the personality literature supports the premise that behavioural expression is contingent upon individual and situational factors. Evidence suggests that similar situations are likely to give rise to consistent behaviour, while dissimilar situations are not. Further conditions of consistency are also evidenced in the personality literature: events that are temporally proximate tend to be more consistent; and frequent exposure to a situation results in increased behavioural similarity. In an attempt to incorporate the current theory of behavioural consistency with crime linkage analysis, the present study tests three conditions of consistency on a naturally occurring forensic sample, serial residential burglary. The first condition is situational factors. It is hypothesised that consecutive offences committed in similar situations will be more consistent than consecutive offences committed in dissimilar situations. The second condition is temporal proximity. It is hypothesised that greater consistency will be expressed in consecutive offences that are temporally proximate. The third condition is the effect of experience. It is hypothesised that consecutive offences committed at the end of prolific series will be more consistent than consecutive offences committed at the beginning. Abstract: The sample comprises 1991 residential burglary offences committed in the Lancashire area by 414 offenders. Data includes spatial information in the form of offence location geo codes and temporal information comprising date of offence. Binary behavioural data include: Planning and Target behaviours; Entry Behaviours; Internal Behaviours; Exit and Escape behaviours; and Stolen Property information. Similarity scores are calculated between linked and unlinked crime pairs. Inter crime distances comprise the similarity scores for spatial behaviour. Inter crime time differences comprise the similarity score for temporal behaviour and Jaccard's correlation coefficients for Behavioural information. Similarity scores provide the basis on which binary logistic regression models are constructed. Regression models ascertain the predictive accuracy of behavioural domains. In order to ascertain which combination of predictors combined to produce the most predictive model, optimal binary logistic regression models are constructed. The predicted probabilities of the binary logistic regression models provide the measure upon which ROC analysis models are constructed. ROC analysis provides a separate measure of consistency and discriminative accuracy, allowing for improved utility of the measure. A baseline linkage model is constructed using the first two crimes of each series. In order to test the first condition of consistency, situational similarity, the sample is divided into subsamples relating to varying situational contexts. Eight burglary 'contexts' are identified, namely: occupied and unoccupied offences; offences where the victim is known to the offender 'and offences where the victim is a stranger; offences which were disturbed and those which were not; and lastly offences committed in conjunction with a eo-offender and those committed alone. A linkage analysis is constructed for each of the situational subsamples. Subsamples are characterised by consecutive offences committed in similar situations. The linkage analysis of each situational subsample is compared to that of the baseline model. The baseline model is constructed from a sample characterised by dissimilar consecutive offences. In line with the hypothesis, results indicate an overall increase in consistency as a product of situational similarity. The second condition of consistency, temporal proximity, is tested by correlating similarity scores and inter crime time differences. In order to control for the variance introduced by situational factors, the analysis is conducted for the complete sample and also within each of the situational subsamples. In line with the hypothesis, a statistically significant relationship is observed between temporal proximity and behaviour and spatial similarity. Furthermore by controlling for the influence of situational variance, the associations are slightly exaggerated. The third condition of consistency, effect of experience, is tested by comparing the similarity scores of early and late career offences in prolific offenders. In order to control for the variance introduced by situational factors, the analysis is conducted on the full sample and, sufficient sample size permitting, the situational subsamples. In all samples, statistically significantly greater consistency is observed in late career offences of combined behaviours, planning and target behaviours and temporal behaviour. Minimal increases in differences are observed as a product of controlling for situational factors. The findings of this research resonate with both the forensic and personality literature. The operational implications for Linkage analysis are discussed and strategies for future research presented

A scoping review of the impact of Food Policy Groups on local food systems in high-income countries

This scoping review aimed to explore international evidence on the impact of Food Policy Groups (FPGs) on local food systems, in urban and rural regions of high-income countries. Peer-reviewed and grey literature were searched to identify 31 documents published between 2002 and 2022 providing evidence on the impact of FPGs. Activities spanned domains including increasing food equity (e.g. strengthening school meals programs); increasing knowledge and/or demand for healthy food (e.g. food literacy programs with children and adults); increasing food access (e.g. enhancing local food procurement); environmental sustainability (e.g. promoting low-waste food items on café menus); economic development (e.g. ensuring local businesses are not outperformed by large food distributors), and increasing food system resiliency (e.g. establishment of local produce schemes). Most FPGs reported conducting activities that positively influenced multiple food system domains and reported activities in urban areas, and to a lesser extent in rural areas. Our study highlighted a range of qualitative and quantitative evaluation strategies used to measure FPGs\u27 impact on local food systems. Our recommendations focus on regular and systematic evaluation and research surrounding the impact of FPGs activities, to build the evidence base of their impact. Ideally, evaluation would utilise comprehensive, and established tools. We recommend exploring the establishment of FPGs across more regions of high-income countries, particularly rural areas; and forming partnerships between FPGs, local government and universities to maximise implementation and evaluation of activities

(Re)negotiating boundaries in German concentration camp poetry

German-language concentration camp poetry has been repeatedly undervalued and misrepresented. When not overlooked entirely, these texts have primarily been conceptualised as historical documents, testimony, or cultural artefacts, and their identity as poems has been of secondary (or no) importance. Concerns over both the historiographical and aesthetic merit of this poetry have also contributed to critical neglect. Whilst a small number of more in-depth studies – those by Moll (1988), Jaiser (2001) and Nader (2007) – have helpfully asserted the value of these poems, my thesis contributes to filling the significant research gap that remains. It is, crucially, a gap which is not only quantitative but also qualitative. Building upon the work done by Nader in particular, my thesis sets out from the assumption that these texts deserve to be considered as poems, as well as testimonial and historical documents, and therefore uses detailed textual analysis to provide a more nuanced picture of the corpus. Crucially, the poems are considered to be valid and valuable forms of witnessing and subsequently allowed to speak for themselves. Close readings of these texts reveal that inmates used poetry to regain agency and make sense of their circumstances in a diverse range of ways. The creation and removal of boundaries was often central to these attempts. Whilst boundary negotiation is occasionally mentioned in the three previous in-depth studies, it has never been examined systematically, despite its prevalence and ability to further our understanding of these texts. Analysing the poems under this rubric provides a deeper insight into daily reality in the camps and some of the diverse and creative ways in which inmates sought to survive and resist this. The focus is no longer on what these poems are and whether they can be successful in such a role; instead, I concentrate on the rather more enlightening question of what these poems do and how and why they do it