Vulnerability to Poverty and Vulnerability to Climate Change : Conceptual Framework, Measurement and Synergies in Policy

This paper attempts to compare the concepts and metrics related to vulnerability notion as used in the poverty literature with those in the filed of climate change. Such comparison could shed light on the understanding of the perceived and real differences between the two fields and also help to identify possible policy synergies between the climate change and poverty communities. The analysis shows that while vulnerability concepts in both the disciplines are defendable, broader policy relevant statements about vulnerability could be made if the analysis clearly identifies three primitives introduced in Ionescu et al. (2006) namely, the entity that is vulnerable, the stimulus due to which the entity is vulnerable, and the preference criteria on the outcome of concern. The analysis shows significant similarities between the two fields in terms of vulnerability measurement. The link between the vulnerability metrics in the two fields can be established through the introduction of sensitivity notion. The analysis also shows that the vulnerability metrics in both fields demand a stricter restriction (namely, complete reorder) on preference criteria on the outcome(s) of concern. The analysis identifies two issues that, if addressed, could create synergies between vulnerability assessments in the climate change and the poverty communities. First, the climate change community could benefit from exploring a notion analogous to that of poverty. In development policy, the notion of poverty enables one to recognise that there is a need to focus not only on people who are likely to become poor due to some exogenous input, but also on those who already are poor (and may become even poorer). Second, it would be interesting to explore the analogous concepts of mitigation and adaptive capacity in poverty research. Similar to their use in climate research and policy, the analysis of these concepts could lead to the more explicit consideration of the multidimensional nature of both causes and outcomes of poverty, as well as of the multiple time scales on which these occur.vulnerability, poverty, Climate change, Adaptation

The Political Dimension of Vulnerability: Implications for the Green Climate Fund

As the availability of adaptation finance for developing countries increases, so does the need for a transparent way of prioritising countries for the allocation of money. It is intuitive that some countries are more vulnerable to climate change than others, and that countries that are particularly vulnerable should be given priority for adaptation finance. However, research has shown that science cannot be relied upon for a single objective ranking of vulnerability. This article analyses how the Global Climate Change Alliance (GCCA), the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR) and the Adaptation Fund currently make decisions on adaptation finance allocations. It finds that each of the funds uses vulnerability to prioritise among countries, but the criteria applied vary and other criteria also play a role. Thus, vulnerability is politically, as well as scientifically, ambiguous. The Cancun Agreements have not resolved this, leaving a challenge for the Green Climate Fund

Contexts of diffusion: Adoption of research synthesis in Social Work and Women's Studies

Texts reveal the subjects of interest in research fields, and the values, beliefs, and practices of researchers. In this study, texts are examined through bibliometric mapping and topic modeling to provide a birds eye view of the social dynamics associated with the diffusion of research synthesis methods in the contexts of Social Work and Women's Studies. Research synthesis texts are especially revealing because the methods, which include meta-analysis and systematic review, are reliant on the availability of past research and data, sometimes idealized as objective, egalitarian approaches to research evaluation, fundamentally tied to past research practices, and performed with the goal informing future research and practice. This study highlights the co-influence of past and subsequent research within research fields; illustrates dynamics of the diffusion process; and provides insight into the cultural contexts of research in Social Work and Women's Studies. This study suggests the potential to further develop bibliometric mapping and topic modeling techniques to inform research problem selection and resource allocation.Comment: To appear in proceedings of the 2014 International Conference on Social Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling, and Prediction (SBP2014

Estabilidad oxidativa de aceites de soja y maíz enriquecidos con extracto hidroalcohólico de Pluchea quitoc

Soybean and corn oils are among the most popular vegetable oils, and are ingredients which are widely used in cooking and in the food industry. These oils contain many unsaturated fatty acids such as oleic, linoleic and linolenic acids, which makes them easily oxidized by oxygen. Extensive efforts are being made to prevent or minimize vegetable oil oxidation through the development of antioxidants. Phenolic antioxidants which are present in some extracts can be used as food additives to prevent lipid oxidation. In this study chromatographic analyses (HPLC and GC) of the Pluchea quitoc hydroalcoholic extract were performed. The content of phenolic compounds by the Folin-Ciocalteau method and the antioxidant properties against radicals 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2′-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) were also evaluated. The effect of samples prepared with soybean and corn oils enriched with Pluchea quitoc hydroalcoholic extract was determined and compared with samples of these oils which were free of antioxidants and with samples containing the synthetic antioxidant BHT. The results showed potential for application of the extract. A high content of phenolic compounds (314 milligrams of gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g of extract) and good IC50 values were detected for the inhibition of the radicals DPPH and ABTS (13.2 µg·mL-1 and 5.6 µg·mL-1). In the evaluation of the oxidative stability of the oils enriched with this extract, it was found that at 1% concentration it was possible to obtain values of induction period (IP) close to the samples with added BHT.Los aceites de soja y maíz se encuentran entre los aceites vegetales más populares, ingredientes ampliamente utilizados en la cocina y también en la industria alimentaria. Estos aceites contienen muchos ácidos grasos insaturados como los ácidos oleico, linoleico y linolénico que se oxidan fácilmente con el oxígeno. Se están realizando grandes esfuerzos para prevenir o minimizar la oxidación de los aceites vegetales mediante el desarrollo de antioxidantes. Los antioxidantes fenólicos presentes en algunos extractos se pueden utilizar como aditivos alimentarios para prevenir la oxidación de lípidos. En este estudio se realizó la obtención y análisis cromatográficos (HPLC y GC) del extracto hidroalcohólico de Pluchea quitoc. El contenido de compuestos fenólicos se evaluó por el método de Folin-Ciocalteau y las propiedades antioxidantes frente a radicales DPPH y ABTS. Se determinó el efecto de muestras preparadas con aceites de soja y maíz enriquecidas con extracto hidroalcohólico de Pluchea quitoc y se comparó con muestras de estos aceites libres de antioxidantes y con el antioxidante sintético BHT. Los resultados mostraron potencial para la aplicación del extracto. Se detectó un alto contenido de compuestos fenólicos (314 mg GAE) y buenos valores de IC50 para la inhibición de los radicales DPPH y ABTS (13.2 µg·mL-1 y 5.6 µg·mL-1). En la evaluación de la estabilidad oxidativa de los aceites enriquecidos con este extracto, se encontró que para la concentración del 1% es posible obtener valores de período de inducción (IP) cercanos a las muestras adicionadas con BHT

Cluster Monte Carlo study of multi-component fluids of the Stillinger-Helfand and Widom-Rowlinson type

Phase transitions of fluid mixtures of the type introduced by Stillinger and Helfand are studied using a continuum version of the invaded cluster algorithm. Particles of the same species do not interact, but particles of different types interact with each other via a repulsive potential. Examples of interactions include the Gaussian molecule potential and a repulsive step potential. Accurate values of the critical density, fugacity and magnetic exponent are found in two and three dimensions for the two-species model. The effect of varying the number of species and of introducing quenched impurities is also investigated. In all the cases studied, mixtures of $q$-species are found to have properties similar to $q$-state Potts models.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figure

Universality Class of Thermally Diluted Ising Systems at Criticality

The universality class of thermally diluted Ising systems, in which the realization of the disposition of magnetic atoms and vacancies is taken from the local distribution of spins in the pure original Ising model at criticality, is investigated by finite size scaling techniques using the Monte Carlo method. We find that the critical temperature, the critical exponents and therefore the universality class of these thermally diluted Ising systems depart markedly from the ones of short range correlated disordered systems. Our results agree fairly well with theoretical predictions previously made by Weinrib and Halperin for systems with long range correlated disorder.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, RevTe

Temperature-dependent Raman spectroscopy in BaRuO3_3 systems

We investigated the temperature-dependence of the Raman spectra of a nine-layer BaRuO$_3$ single crystal and a four-layer BaRuO$_3$ epitaxial film, which show pseudogap formations in their metallic states. From the polarized and depolarized spectra, the observed phonon modes are assigned properly according to the predictions of group theory analysis. In both compounds, with decreasing temperature, while $A_{1g}$ modes show a strong hardening, $E_g$ (or $E_{2g}$) modes experience a softening or no significant shift. Their different temperature-dependent behaviors could be related to a direct Ru metal-bonding through the face-sharing of RuO$_6$. It is also observed that another $E_{2g}$ mode of the oxygen participating in the face-sharing becomes split at low temperatures in the four layer BaRuO$_3$. And, the temperature-dependence of the Raman continua between 250 $\sim$ 600 cm$^{-1}$ is strongly correlated to the square of the plasma frequency. Our observations imply that there should be a structural instability in the face-shared structure, which could be closely related to the pseudogap formation of BaRuO$_3$ systems.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures. to be published in Phys. Rev.

Progressive transformation of a flux rope to an ICME

The solar wind conditions at one astronomical unit (AU) can be strongly disturbed by the interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs). A subset, called magnetic clouds (MCs), is formed by twisted flux ropes that transport an important amount of magnetic flux and helicity which is released in CMEs. At 1 AU from the Sun, the magnetic structure of MCs is generally modeled neglecting their expansion during the spacecraft crossing. However, in some cases, MCs present a significant expansion. We present here an analysis of the huge and significantly expanding MC observed by the Wind spacecraft during 9 and 10 November, 2004. After determining an approximated orientation for the flux rope using the minimum variance method, we precise the orientation of the cloud axis relating its front and rear magnetic discontinuities using a direct method. This method takes into account the conservation of the azimuthal magnetic flux between the in- and out-bound branches, and is valid for a finite impact parameter (i.e., not necessarily a small distance between the spacecraft trajectory and the cloud axis). Moreover, using the direct method, we find that the ICME is formed by a flux rope (MC) followed by an extended coherent magnetic region. These observations are interpreted considering the existence of a previous larger flux rope, which partially reconnected with its environment in the front. These findings imply that the ejected flux rope is progressively peeled by reconnection and transformed to the observed ICME (with a remnant flux rope in the front part).Comment: Solar Physics (in press