Management of an invasive plant in a Mediterranean Protected Area: the experience of Senecio deltoideus in Italy

Biological invasions are one of the most serious threats to global biodiversity and ecosystem integrity. The problem is growing year by year and a large number of protected areas worldwide are today invaded by at least one exotic species. In this study, we tested the eco-friendly and cost-effective weeding control of Senecio deltoideus in a Regional Protected Area in the North Mediterranean region. During a two years experiment, four techniques compatible with the local laws on protected areas (natural-herbicide, flame-weeding, mulching and mowing) were applied five times a season on sixty plots, compared with fifteen untreated controls. All techniques were effective in reducing Senecio covering: after the first year the maximum covering was limited to 37.93% (flame weeding) with a mean value of 10%; after second year the covering was further reduced (17.02% max; 2% mean). Interestingly, during the second year all plots submitted to a one-year treatment showed an enduring control of S. deltoideus covering (40.73% max; 20% mean). Taking into account feasibility and their impact on the environment, the weeding control recommendable for S. deltoideus is mowing. In a long-time management strategy, the selected treatment could be applied every two years with a drastic reduction in costs for the manager of the protected area

Reproductive traits of the invasive species Acacia dealbata Link. in the northern Mediterranean basin

Among the many exotic plants introduced in the last two centuries in Northern Mediterranean Basin Acacia dealbata Link. is one of the most invasive. Despite its presence in the region since many years, it has not yet been investigated how the species has established itself and has formed small forests. In this study, we aimed to gather data on reproductive trait of the invasive species A. dealbata at the northern limit of the Mediterranean bioclimatic region. In six naturalized populations, fruit and seed set were estimated and seed germination was tested in laboratory. Two out of the six populations failed to set fruits, and the fruit set was always low as observed in other invaded areas of the world. Only three populations produced germinating seeds whose rates were comparable to other invasive areas. The seeds may constitute a long-lasting seed bank that may favour the colonization of the species in areas disturbed by external factors. In conclusion, the reproductive system may contributes only partially to the spread and invasiveness of the species in the Northern Mediterranean basin, while the plant to spread itself adopts also other vegetative strategies

Feminist Experiences of ‘Studying up’: Encounters with International Institutions

Feminist Experiences of \u27Studying up\u27: Encounters with International Institutions This article makes the case for feminist IR to build knowledge of international institutions. It emerges from a roundtable titled ‘Challenges and Opportunities for Feminist IR: Researching Gendered Institutions’ which took place at the International Studies Association Annual Convention in Baltimore in 2017. Here, we engage in self-reflexivity, drawing upon our conversation to consider what it means for feminist scholars to ‘study up’. We argue that feminist IR conceptions of narratives and the everyday make a valuable contribution to feminist institutionalist understandings of the formal and informal. We also draw attention to the value of postcolonial approaches, and multi-site analysis of international institutions for creating a counter-narrative to hegemonic accounts emerging from both the institutions themselves, and scholars studying them without a critical feminist perspective. In so doing, we draw attention to the salience of considering not just what we study as feminist International Relations scholars but how we study it. Spanish Experiencias feministas de \uabEstudiar a los de arriba\ubb: encuentros con instituciones internacionales Este art\uedculo plantea el argumento de que las relaciones internacionales (RR. II.) feministas pueden fomentar el conocimiento de las instituciones internacionales. Se destila de una mesa redonda denominada Challenges and Opportunities for Feminist IR: Researching Gendered Institutions(Retos y oportunidades para las RR. II. feministas: el estudio de las instituciones marcadas por el g\ue9nero) que tuvo lugar en la convenci\uf3n anual de la Asociaci\uf3n de Estudios Internacionales celebrada en Baltimore en 2017. Aqu\ued, nos sumergimos en la autorreflexi\uf3n, recurriendo a nuestra conversaci\uf3n para dilucidar qu\ue9 significa para los acad\ue9micos feministas \uabestudiar a los de arriba\ubb. Argumentamos que las concepciones feministas de las RR. II. sobre los relatos y lo cotidiano realizan una valiosa contribuci\uf3n a las interpretaciones institucionalistas feministas de lo formal y lo informal. Tambi\ue9n queremos destacar el valor de los enfoques poscoloniales y el an\ue1lisis de m\ufaltiples ubicaciones de las instituciones internacionales para crear un contrarrelato frente a los discursos hegem\uf3nicos que se derivan tanto de las propias instituciones como de los acad\ue9micos que las estudian sin una perspectiva feminista cr\uedtica. Al hacerlo, pretendemos destacar la trascendencia de tener en cuenta no solo lo que estudiamos como acad\ue9micos feministas de Relaciones Internacionales, sino tambi\ue9n c\uf3mo lo estudiamos.Palabras clave: g\ue9nero, instituciones internacionales, relaciones internacionales feministas French Exp\ue9riences f\ue9ministes de \uab studying up \ubb : \uc0 la rencontre des institutions internationalesCet article affirme la n\ue9cessit\ue9 pour l’approche f\ue9ministe des RI de renforcer le savoir en mati\ue8re d’institutions internationales. Il est issu d’une table ronde intitul\ue9e \uab D\ue9fis et opportunit\ue9s pour l’approche f\ue9ministes des RI : Recherche sur les institutions genr\ue9es \ubb ayant eu lieu \ue0 Baltimore en 2017 lors de la convention annuelle de l’International Studies Association. Nous entreprenons ici un travail de r\ue9flexion sur nous-m\ueames \ue0 partir de notre discussion sur la question de savoir ce que \uab study up \ubb signifie pour les chercheurs f\ue9ministes. Nous soutenons que les conceptions f\ue9ministes des r\ue9cits et du quotidien dans les RI contribuent positivement \ue0 une compr\ue9hension f\ue9ministe institutionnaliste du formel et de l’informel. Nous mettons \ue9galement en exergue la valeur des approches postcoloniales et de l’analyse sur plusieurs sites des institutions internationales dans la cr\ue9ation d’un r\ue9cit alternatif aux r\ue9cits h\ue9g\ue9moniques provenant \ue0 la fois des institutions elles-m\ueames et des chercheurs qui les \ue9tudient sans cadre d’analyse critique f\ue9ministe. Nous attirons ainsi l’attention sur l’importance pour nous, en tant que sp\ue9cialistes des relations internationales sous un angle f\ue9ministe, de bien r\ue9fl\ue9chir non seulement \ue0 l’objet de nos recherches, mais \ue9galement \ue0 la mani\ue8re dont nous effectuons ces recherches.Mots-cl\ue9s : genre, institutions internationales, relations internationales f\ue9ministes

Regulating working families in the European Union: a history of disjointed strategies

Families in market economies worldwide have long been confronted with the demands of participating in paid work and providing care for their dependent members. The social, economic and political contexts within which families do so differ from country to country but an increasing number of governments are being asked to engage, or better engage, with this important area of public policy. What seems like a relatively simple goal – to enable families to better balance care-giving and paid employment – has raised several difficulties and dilemmas for policy makers which have been approached in different ways. This paper aims to identify and critique the nature and development of the means by which legal engagement with work-family reconciliation has, historically, been framed in the European Union. In doing so, and with reference to specific cohorts of workers, we demonstrate how disjointed the strategies are in relation to working carers and argue that the EU is unlikely to provide the legal framework necessary to bring about effective change in this fundamentally important area of social policy

Equalities in Freefall? Ontological Insecurity and the long-term Impact of COVID-19 in the Academy

This intervention focuses on the impact of the global crisis resulting from the COVID‐19 pandemic on existing racialized and gendered inequalities within the academy and in particular our discipline of Politics and International Relations. We argue that responses to recent crises within the academy have exacerbated ontological insecurity among minoritized groups, including women. When coupled with increased caring responsibilities the current crises call into question who can be creative and innovative, necessary conditions for knowledge production. While University managers seek to reassure University staff of the temporary nature of COVID‐19 interventions, we argue that the possibilities for progressive leaps at a later state of institutional regeneration is unlikely when efforts to address structural inequalities are sidelined and crisis responses are undertaken which run counter to such work

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor deficiency causes the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease through the integration of multiple pathogenic mechanisms

Emphysema, a component of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), is characterized by irreversible alveolar destruction that results in a progressive decline in lung function. This alveolar destruction is caused by cigarette smoke, the most important risk factor for COPD. Only 15%-20% of smokers develop COPD, suggesting that unknown factors contribute to disease pathogenesis. We postulate that the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), a receptor/transcription factor highly expressed in the lungs, may be a new susceptibility factor whose expression protects against COPD. Here, we report that Ahr-deficient mice chronically exposed to cigarette smoke develop airspace enlargement concomitant with a decline in lung function. Chronic cigarette smoke exposure also increased cleaved caspase-3, lowered SOD2 expression, and altered MMP9 and TIMP-1 levels in Ahr-deficient mice. We also show that people with COPD have reduced expression of pulmonary and systemic AHR, with systemic AHR mRNA levels positively correlating with lung function. Systemic AHR was also lower in never-smokers with COPD. Thus, AHR expression protects against the development of COPD by controlling interrelated mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of this disease. This study identifies the AHR as a new, central player in the homeostatic maintenance of lung health, providing a foundation for the AHR as a novel therapeutic target and/or predictive biomarker in chronic lung disease

Brexit and the work-family conflict:a Scottish perspective

This paper examines the Scottish Government’s desire to maintain ties with EU law post-Brexit in the context of employment and equality law, particularly those laws which impact on work-family conflict. The paper critically examines whether there is, or could be, a distinctly Scottish perspective in the context of work-family rights post-Brexit. The paper frames the analysis by considering the potentially gendered implications of Brexit in this context. In doing so, it examines this issue from the perspective of traditional heterosexual dual-partnered working family models. It is argued that rights for working fathers will be most vulnerable post-Brexit, with related consequences for working mothers. Consequently, the implications of Brexit in this context are primarily viewed through the lens of working fathers. The paper then critically examines the Scottish Government’s position on EU employment and equality law in the post-Brexit context

Queering Brexit: what’s in Brexit for sexual and gender minorities?

On 24 June 2016, many people had the feeling that they had gone to bed the night before in the United Kingdom and had woken up in Little Britain – a country prone to isolationism and protectionism, risking hurting its economic and social development for the sake of imperial nostalgia and moral panic about ‘loss of sovereignty’ and ‘mass migration’. That feeling inevitably affected many individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, queer and other (LGBTIQ+). Although the possible impact of Brexit seems to have been scrutinised from most angles, there has been limited analysis of how it may affect LGBTIQ+ individuals. This contribution assesses Brexit in relation to the situation of LGBTIQ+ individuals. This is particularly timely in the light of the recent UK Supreme Court decision in Walker v Innospec Limited, where the Court relied on European Union (EU) law to hold a provision of the Equality Act 2010 unlawful for violating pension rights of same-sex couples

Gender and European external relations: Dominant discourses and unintended consequences of gender mainstreaming

This paper presents a critical assessment of the unintended consequences of gender mainstreaming when applied to European external relations. It seeks to address two distinct but interrelated questions: 1) has gender mainstreaming, as a strategy and political objective, fulfilled its potential? and 2) what kind of gender order is emerging in the context of a wider European equality agenda, which includes external relations within its remit. Using discourse analysis it will identify the dominant gender discourses in European external relations and foreign policy documents and compare this to the overarching aims of equality principles enshrined within the Treaties. It will look specifically at the European Neighbourhood Policy as it provides a useful starting point and areas of comparison given its similarity, in terms of power relations between the EU and third countries, to the process of enlargement

Gender and European External Relations: Dominant Discourses and Unintended Consequences of Gender Maisntreaming

This paper presents a critical assessment of the unintended consequences of gender mainstreaming when applied to European external relations. It seeks to address two distinct but interrelated questions: 1) has gender mainstreaming, as a strategy and political objective, fulfilled its potential? and 2) what kind of gender order is emerging in the context of a wider European equality agenda, which includes external relations within its remit. Using discourse analysis it will identify the dominant gender discourses in European external relations and foreign policy documents and compare this to the overarching aims of equality principles enshrined within the Treaties. It will look specifically at the European Neighbourhood Policy as it provides a useful starting point and areas of comparison given its similarity, in terms of power relations between the EU and third countries, to the process of enlargement