The Miner and the Activist: a parable for our carbon constrained world

This paper reviews the meaning of carbon by applying five broad questions to this controversial substance: what is land; what is property; what is ownership; what is value; and what are property rights? By exploring each of these questions, we aim to show that a multidimensional and complex understanding is required for effective policy discussions to confront the challenge of global warming. We engage the perspective of a miner and an environmental activist to illustrate the tensions relating to carbon pollution in an era of climate change, and in so doing we offer a parable for our carbon constrained world. We conclude by considering the implications of property rights for carbon for polluters, governments, people as individuals with a right to breathe clean air, as well as the global commons and other species

Citizen or consumer? Contrasting Australia and Europe’s data protection policies

© 2019, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society. All rights reserved. This paper examines how data access and transfer rights are conceptualised in the European Union and Australia. The study discusses the planned introduction of a Consumer Data Right (CDR) to Australia and contrasts it to comparable developments in European law. We then assess the broader reform moments around data (which these various data access and transfer rights form a part of), that have occurred in each jurisdiction. The paper shows that Europe has placed an increasing value on protecting the fundamental rights of citizens, whereas Australia has taken a more neoliberal approach to data, only granting individuals rights in the context of the market

Refreshing critical pedagogy and citizenship education through the lens of justice and complexity pedagogy

© The Author(s) 2018. Maximal citizenship educators are committed to advancing an approach to citizenship learning with the following staple features: learner-centred; experiential; problem- and action-oriented; racialised, classed and gendered analysis of power; and strengthening the public sphere and democracy. This type of approach to education shares many similarities with the principles of critical pedagogy. However, there have been valid arguments that Frankfurt School Critical Theory inspired pedagogy still tends to focus on class, at the expense of gender and race, analyses. This article seeks ways to refresh and extend the language and theoretical frameworks used by critical pedagogues. To do so, it will deploy the terms justice pedagogy and complexity pedagogy. The adjective ‘justice’ does the same work as ‘critical’ in signalling the commitment to using education as a means to bring about a more socially just world. The recent rise in scholarship in complexity thinking lends itself to conceptualising critical pedagogy in necessarily fresh ways. This article draws attention to the kindred nature of guiding concepts in complexity thinking and critical pedagogy, including grassroots organising, distributed decision-making and emergent learning, before presenting a description of how such approaches might refresh critical pedagogy through a critical citizenship education programme using justice pedagogy. This example illustrates the way that justice pedagogy can inform decisions about appropriate teaching and learning strategies for children and young people today growing up in an increasingly globalised world

Civics and citizenship education: What have we learned and what does it mean for the future of Australian democracy?

The ambitious project to nationalise the Australian Curriculum has prompted great interest among policymakers, academics and civics teachers in Australian schools. The government-led citizenship education initiative Discovering Democracy (1997–2007) comprehensively failed to meet its objectives, most prominently the stated goal of developing active citizens. This article has twin objectives: to explore the ways in which government-directed civics education programmes have fallen short; and to argue for a shift in our approaches to civics education, in terms of both content and delivery, drawing on the surplus model, which credits students with unique ideas, knowledge and experiences. We draw upon Justice Citizens, an alternative approach to Civics Education that foregrounds students’ own interests and abilities as central to their development into active citizens as an example of the educational practices that can promote and strengthen active citizenship among school students. From this programme and other research, we discuss four student-centred themes that should inform further civics education curriculum development. </jats:p

Compactness in Banach space theory - selected problems

We list a number of problems in several topics related to compactness in nonseparable Banach spaces. Namely, about the Hilbertian ball in its weak topology, spaces of continuous functions on Eberlein compacta, WCG Banach spaces, Valdivia compacta and Radon-Nikod\'{y}m compacta

Diabetes and the Risk of Developing Parkinson’s Disease in Denmark

Objective: Insulin contributes to normal brain function. Previous studies have suggested associations between midlife diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease. Using Danish population registers, we investigated whether a history of diabetes or the use of antidiabetes drugs was associated with Parkinson’s disease. Research Design and Methods: From the nationwide Danish Hospital Register hospital records, we identified 1,931 patients with a first-time diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease between 2001 and 2006. We randomly selected 9,651 population control subjects from the Central Population Registry and density matched them by birth year and sex. Pharmacy records comprising all antidiabetes and anti-Parkinson drug prescriptions in Denmark were available. Odds ratios (ORs) were estimated by logistic regression models. Results: Having diabetes, as defined by one or more hospitalizations and/or outpatient visits for the condition, was associated with a 36% increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease (OR 1.36 [95% CI 1.08–1.71]). Similarly, diabetes defined by the use of any antidiabetes medications was associated with a 35% increased Parkinson’s disease risk (1.35 [1.10–1.65]). When diabetes was defined as the use of oral antidiabetes medications, effect estimates were stronger in women (2.92 [1.34–6.36]), whereas when diabetes was defined as any antidiabetes drug prescription, patients with early-onset Parkinson’s disease were at highest risk (i.e., Parkinson’s disease diagnosed before the age of 60 years; 3.07 [1.65–5.70]). Conclusions: We found that a diagnosis of, or treatment received for, diabetes was significantly associated with an increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, especially younger-onset Parkinson’s disease. Our results suggest a common pathophysiologic pathway between the two diseases. Future studies should take age at Parkinson’s disease onset into account

Gb/s Underwater Wireless Optical Communications Using Series-Connected GaN Micro-LED Arrays

High speed wireless communications are highly desirable for many industrial and scientific underwater applications. Acoustic communications suffer from high latency and limited data rates, while Radio Frequency communications are severely limited by attenuation in seawater. Optical communications are a promising alternative, offering high transmission rates (up to Gb/s), while water has relatively low attenuation at visible wavelengths. Here we demonstrate the use of series-connected micro-light-emitting-diode (μLED) arrays consisting of 6 μLED pixels either 60 μm or 80 μm in diameter and operating at 450 nm. These devices increase the output power whilst maintaining relatively high modulation bandwidth. Using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) we demonstrate underwater wireless data transmission at rates of up to 4.92 Gb/s, 3.22 Gb/s and 3.4 Gb/s over 1.5 m, 3 m and 4.5 m, respectively, with corresponding bit error ratios (BERs) of 1.5×10-3, 1.1×10-3 and 3.1×10-3, through clear tap water, and Mb/s rates through >5 attenuation lengths (ALs) in turbid waters