Environmental and ecological citizenship in civil society

Drawing from the work of Andrew Dobson, two notions of citizenship in civil society can be distinguished: environmental citizenship, which focuses on environmental rights and seeks to redefine the relationship between the state and the citizen; and ecological citizenship, which goes beyond a rights-based notion of citizenship to advocate the fair usage of ecological space across international borders. Using civil society initiatives to conserve forests, this article argues that these two notions of citizenship should be seen as overlapping in that civil society groups seek to work through national and international law to reduce the ecological footprint of some countries on others. The article concludes by drawing a distinction between the environmental state and the ecological state

New synchronization method for <i>Plasmodium falciparum</i>

&lt;b&gt;Background&lt;/b&gt;: Plasmodium falciparum is usually asynchronous during in vitro culture. Although various synchronization methods are available, they are not able to narrow the range of ages of parasites. A newly developed method is described that allows synchronization of parasites to produce cultures with an age range as low as 30 minutes. &lt;b&gt;Methods&lt;/b&gt;: Trophozoites and schizonts are enriched using Plasmion. The enriched late stage parasites are immobilized as a monolayer onto plastic Petri dishes using concanavalin A. Uninfected erythrocytes are placed onto the monolayer for a limited time period, during which time schizonts on the monolayer rupture and the released merozoites invade the fresh erythrocytes. The overlay is then taken off into a culture flask, resulting in a highly synchronized population of parasites. &lt;b&gt;Results&lt;/b&gt;: Plasmion treatment results in a 10- to 13-fold enrichment of late stage parasites. The monolayer method results in highly synchronized cultures of parasites where invasion has occurred within a very limited time window, which can be as low as 30 minutes. The method is simple, requiring no specialized equipment and relatively cheap reagents. &lt;b&gt;Conclusions&lt;/b&gt;: The new method for parasite synchronization results in highly synchronized populations of parasites, which will be useful for studies of the parasite asexual cell cycle

A 15.65 solar mass black hole in an eclipsing binary in the nearby spiral galaxy Messier 33

Stellar-mass black holes are discovered in X-ray emitting binary systems, where their mass can be determined from the dynamics of their companion stars. Models of stellar evolution have difficulty producing black holes in close binaries with masses >10 solar masses, which is consistent with the fact that the most massive stellar black holes known so all have masses within 1 sigma of 10 solar masses. Here we report a mass of 15.65 +/- 1.45 solar masses for the black hole in the recently discovered system M33 X-7, which is located in the nearby galaxy Messier 33 (M33) and is the only known black hole that is in an eclipsing binary. In order to produce such a massive black hole, the progenitor star must have retained much of its outer envelope until after helium fusion in the core was completed. On the other hand, in order for the black hole to be in its present 3.45 day orbit about its 70.0 +/- 6.9 solar mass companion, there must have been a ``common envelope'' phase of evolution in which a significant amount of mass was lost from the system. We find the common envelope phase could not have occured in M33 X-7 unless the amount of mass lost from the progenitor during its evolution was an order of magnitude less than what is usually assumed in evolutionary models of massive stars.Comment: To appear in Nature October 18, 2007. Four figures (one color figure degraded). Differs slightly from published version. Supplementary Information follows in a separate postin

Benchmarking Dynamic Balancing Controllers for Humanoid Robots

This paper presents a comparison study of three control design approaches for humanoid balancing based on the Center of Mass (CoM) stabilization and body posture adjustment. The comparison was carried out under controlled circumstances allowing other researchers to replicate and compare our results with their own. The feedback control from state space design is based on simple models and provides sufficient robustness to control complex and high Degrees of Freedom (DoFs) systems, such as humanoids. The implemented strategies allow compliant behavior of the robot in reaction to impulsive or periodical disturbances, resulting in a smooth and human-like response while considering constraints. In this respect, we implemented two balancing strategies to compensate for the CoM deviation. The first one uses the robot’s capture point as a stability principle and the second one uses the Force/Torque sensors at the ankles to define a CoM reference that stabilizes the robot. In addition, was implemented a third strategy based on upper body orientation to absorb external disturbances and counterbalance them. Even though the balancing strategies are implemented independently, they can be merged to further increase balancing performance. The proposed strategies were previously applied on different humanoid bipedal platforms, however, their performance could not be properly benchmarked before. With this concern, this paper focuses on benchmarking in controlled scenarios to help the community in comparing different balance techniques. The key performance indicators (KPIs) used in our comparison are the CoM deviation, the settling time, the maximum measured orientation, passive gait measure, measured ankles torques, and reconstructed Center of Pressure (CoP). The benchmarking experiments were carried out in simulations and using the facility at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia on the REEM-C humanoid robot provided by PAL robotics inside the EU H2020 project EUROBENCH framework

Robot life: simulation and participation in the study of evolution and social behavior.

This paper explores the case of using robots to simulate evolution, in particular the case of Hamilton's Law. The uses of robots raises several questions that this paper seeks to address. The first concerns the role of the robots in biological research: do they simulate something (life, evolution, sociality) or do they participate in something? The second question concerns the physicality of the robots: what difference does embodiment make to the role of the robot in these experiments. Thirdly, how do life, embodiment and social behavior relate in contemporary biology and why is it possible for robots to illuminate this relation? These questions are provoked by a strange similarity that has not been noted before: between the problem of simulation in philosophy of science, and Deleuze's reading of Plato on the relationship of ideas, copies and simulacra

Perceptions of the mental health impact of intimate partner violence and health service responses in Malawi

Background and objectives: This study explores the perceptions of a wide range of stakeholders in Malawi towards the mental health impact of intimate partner violence (IPV) and the capacity of health services for addressing these. Design: In-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted in three areas of Blantyre district, and in two additional districts. A total of 10 FGDs, 1 small group, and 14 IDIs with health care providers; 18 FGDs and 1 small group with male and female, urban and rural community members; 7 IDIs with female survivors; and 26 key informant interviews and 1 small group with government ministry staff, donors, gender-based violence service providers, religious institutions, and police were conducted. A thematic framework analysis method was applied to emerging themes. Results: The significant mental health impact of IPV was mentioned by all participants and formal care seeking was thought to be impeded by social pressures to resolve conflict, and fear of judgemental attitudes. Providers felt inadequately prepared to handle the psychosocial and mental health consequences of IPV; this was complicated by staff shortages, a lack of clarity on the mandate of the health sector, as well as confusion over the definition and need for ‘counselling’. Referral options to other sectors for mental health support were perceived as limited but the restructuring of the Ministry of Health to cover violence prevention, mental health, and alcohol and drug misuse under a single unit provides an opportunity. Conclusion: Despite widespread recognition of the burden of IPV-associated mental health problems in Malawi, there is limited capacity to support affected individuals at community or health sector level. Participants highlighted potential entry points to health services as well as local and national opportunities for interventions that are culturally appropriate and are built on local structures and resilience

The incursion of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) into North Atlantic seabird populations: an interim report from the 15th International Seabird Group conference

The H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) outbreak devastated populations of North Atlantic seabirds in the 2022 breeding season. Positive cases of HPAI in seabirds were previously reported in Great Skuas Stercorarius skua colonies in the 2021 breeding season (Banyard et al. 2022). During the 2022 breeding season, major outbreaks were sequentially reported in an increasing number of species and spread generally north to south across the UK and beyond. To date 15 breeding seabird species have tested positive in Scotland and over 20,500 birds have been reported dead (NatureScot, unpublished data). By September 2022, more than 2,600 Great Skuas had died: 13% of the UK population and 8% of the world population (NatureScot, unpublished data), 1,400 on Foula, Shetland alone (Camphuysen & Gear 2022). These figures are derived mostly from colony counts and will be a substantial underestimate of total mortality, not accounting for birds lost at sea or remote locations with limited reporting. In response to this unfolding situation, a workshop was convened in August 2022, at the 15th International Seabird Group Conference in Cork, to bring together the seabird community (researchers, ringers, volunteers, site managers, non-government organisations and policy makers) and infectious disease experts to share knowledge and experiences and recommend positive future actions. This report focusses on three key considerations addressed by the workshop, and will be followed by a full open-access report on the EcoEvoRxiv repository. All six presentations can be viewed online (Gamble et al. 2022). The views expressed here reflect the wider discussion expressed by the seabird community in the workshop that followed the presentations and should not be associated with any individual author

Eta Carinae -- Physics of the Inner Ejecta

Eta Carinae's inner ejecta are dominated observationally by the bright Weigelt blobs and their famously rich spectra of nebular emission and absorption lines. They are dense (n_e ~ 10^7 to 10^8 cm^-3), warm (T_e ~ 6000 to 7000 K) and slow moving (~40 km/s) condensations of mostly neutral (H^0) gas. Located within 1000 AU of the central star, they contain heavily CNO-processed material that was ejected from the star about a century ago. Outside the blobs, the inner ejecta include absorption-line clouds with similar conditions, plus emission-line gas that has generally lower densities and a wider range of speeds (reaching a few hundred km/s) compared to the blobs. The blobs appear to contain a negligible amount of dust and have a nearly dust-free view of the central source, but our view across the inner ejecta is severely affected by uncertain amounts of dust having a patchy distribution in the foreground. Emission lines from the inner ejecta are powered by photoionization and fluorescent processes. The variable nature of this emission, occurring in a 5.54 yr event cycle, requires specific changes to the incident flux that hold important clues to the nature of the central object.Comment: This is Chapter 5 in a book entitled: Eta Carinae and the Supernova Impostors, Kris Davidson and Roberta M. Humphreys, editors Springe

Plugging a hole and lightening the burden: A process evaluation of a practice education team

Aim: To investigate the perceptions of clinical and senior managers about the role of Practice Educators employed in one acute hospital in the UK. Background: Producing nurses who are fit for practice, purpose and academic award is a key issue for nurse education partnership providers in the UK. Various new models for practice learning support structures and new roles within health care institutions have been established. To sustain funding and policy support for these models, there is a need for evaluation research. Design: A process evaluation methodology was employed to determine the current value of a practice education team and to provide information to guide future direction. Methods: Data were collected through semi-structured telephone interviews using a previously designed schedule. All senior nurse managers (N=5) and a purposive sample of clinical managers (n=13) who had personal experience of and perceptions about the role of practice educators provided the data. Interview notes were transcribed, coded and a thematic framework devised to present the results. Results: A number of key themes emerged including: qualities needed for being a successful practice educator; visibility and presence of practice educators; providing a link with the university; ‘plugging a hole’ in supporting learning needs; providing relief to practitioners in dealing with ‘the burden of students’; alleviating the ‘plight of students’; and effects on student attrition. Conclusions: Findings provided evidence for the continued funding of the practice educator role with improvements to be made in dealing with stakeholder expectations and outcomes. Relevance to clinical practice: In the UK, there still remain concerns about the fitness for practice of newly registered nurses, prompting a recent national consultation by the professional regulating body. Despite fiscal pressures, recommendations for further strengthening of all systems that will support the quality of practice learning may continue to sustain practice learning support roles