Legitimacy in REDD+ governance in Indonesia

This paper addresses the question of legitimacy in REDD+ governance in Indonesia. It develops a legitimacy framework that builds on elements of Scharpf (J Eur Pub Policy 4(1):18–36, 1997) input and output legitimacy concept and the political economy lens described by Brockhaus and Angelsen (Analysing REDD+: Challenges and choices, CIFOR, Bogor, 2012). Using data collected through key informant interviews and focus groups, we identify and explore stakeholder perceptions of legitimacy. The analysis reveals a complex interplay between input and output legitimacy, finding that state, non-state and hybrid actors perceive output legitimacy (i.e. project outcomes) as highly dependent on the level of input legitimacy achieved during the governance process. Non-state actors perceive proxies for input legitimacy, such as participation and inclusion of local people, as goals in themselves. In the main, they perceive inclusion to be integral to the empowerment of local people. They perceive output legitimacy as less important because of the intangibility of REDD+ outcomes at this stage in the process. The findings also highlight the challenges associated with measuring the legitimacy of REDD+ governance in Indonesia

Weak Responses to Auditory Feedback Perturbation during Articulation in Persons Who Stutter: Evidence for Abnormal Auditory-Motor Transformation

Previous empirical observations have led researchers to propose that auditory feedback (the auditory perception of self-produced sounds when speaking) functions abnormally in the speech motor systems of persons who stutter (PWS). Researchers have theorized that an important neural basis of stuttering is the aberrant integration of auditory information into incipient speech motor commands. Because of the circumstantial support for these hypotheses and the differences and contradictions between them, there is a need for carefully designed experiments that directly examine auditory-motor integration during speech production in PWS. In the current study, we used real-time manipulation of auditory feedback to directly investigate whether the speech motor system of PWS utilizes auditory feedback abnormally during articulation and to characterize potential deficits of this auditory-motor integration. Twenty-one PWS and 18 fluent control participants were recruited. Using a short-latency formant-perturbation system, we examined participants’ compensatory responses to unanticipated perturbation of auditory feedback of the first formant frequency during the production of the monophthong [ε]. The PWS showed compensatory responses that were qualitatively similar to the controls’ and had close-to-normal latencies (~150 ms), but the magnitudes of their responses were substantially and significantly smaller than those of the control participants (by 47% on average, p<0.05). Measurements of auditory acuity indicate that the weaker-than-normal compensatory responses in PWS were not attributable to a deficit in low-level auditory processing. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that stuttering is associated with functional defects in the inverse models responsible for the transformation from the domain of auditory targets and auditory error information into the domain of speech motor commands

The Biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea: Estimates, Patterns, and Threats

The Mediterranean Sea is a marine biodiversity hot spot. Here we combined an extensive literature analysis with expert opinions to update publicly available estimates of major taxa in this marine ecosystem and to revise and update several species lists. We also assessed overall spatial and temporal patterns of species diversity and identified major changes and threats. Our results listed approximately 17,000 marine species occurring in the Mediterranean Sea. However, our estimates of marine diversity are still incomplete as yet—undescribed species will be added in the future. Diversity for microbes is substantially underestimated, and the deep-sea areas and portions of the southern and eastern region are still poorly known. In addition, the invasion of alien species is a crucial factor that will continue to change the biodiversity of the Mediterranean, mainly in its eastern basin that can spread rapidly northwards and westwards due to the warming of the Mediterranean Sea. Spatial patterns showed a general decrease in biodiversity from northwestern to southeastern regions following a gradient of production, with some exceptions and caution due to gaps in our knowledge of the biota along the southern and eastern rims. Biodiversity was also generally higher in coastal areas and continental shelves, and decreases with depth. Temporal trends indicated that overexploitation and habitat loss have been the main human drivers of historical changes in biodiversity. At present, habitat loss and degradation, followed by fishing impacts, pollution, climate change, eutrophication, and the establishment of alien species are the most important threats and affect the greatest number of taxonomic groups. All these impacts are expected to grow in importance in the future, especially climate change and habitat degradation. The spatial identification of hot spots highlighted the ecological importance of most of the western Mediterranean shelves (and in particular, the Strait of Gibraltar and the adjacent Alboran Sea), western African coast, the Adriatic, and the Aegean Sea, which show high concentrations of endangered, threatened, or vulnerable species. The Levantine Basin, severely impacted by the invasion of species, is endangered as well

Double-layer mesh hernioplasty for repairing umbilical hernias in 10 goats

Umbilical hernias in goats are uncommon and can vary in their etiology and management. Hernioplasty can be done by closing the abdominal wall with a horizontal mattress pattern using absorbable sutures. However, larger defects (hernial ring size >3 cm) generally require the use of prosthetic materials that allow for a tension-free repair. In this study, 10 young female goats with umbilical hernias and hernial ring sizes ranging from 7-10 cm in width were treated using a double-layer polypropylene mesh. An ultrasonographic examination was performed to assess healing and connective tissue production

Early-Phase Perceptions of COVID-19&rsquo;s Impact on Ophthalmology Practice Patterns: A Survey from the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology

Francisco Javier Bonilla-Escobar,1– 3,&ast; Daniel Sánchez-Cano,1,&ast; Andres F Lasave,4 Jaime Soria,5 Valentina Franco-Cárdenas,6 Victor E Reviglio,7 Paulo EC Dantas,8 Claudia Palacio Pastrana,9 Juan Carlos Corbera,10 Rita Yee Chan,11 Alberto Luis Diaz,12 Milton Garcia Hernandez,13 Mauricio Maia,14 Cristian Carpentier,15 Lihteh Wu,16 Martin Sanchez,17 Marcelo Murillo Sasamoto,18 Gonzalo Murillo Azcárraga,18 Jose A Roca,19 Martin A Serrano,20 Arturo A Alezzandrini,21 Juan Gonzalo Sanchez Montoya,22 Gregorio Gabela,23 Gerardo Garcia-Aguirre,24 J Fernando Arevalo25,&ast; 1Fundación Somos Ciencia al Servicio de la Comunidad, Fundación SCISCO/Science to Serve the Community Foundation, SCISCO Foundation, Cali, Colombia; 2Ophthalmology Department, Institute for Clinical Research Education, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; 3Vision y Salud Ocular, VISOC, Ophthalmology Department, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia; 4The Retina and Vitreous Department, Private Eyes Clinic, Mar del Plata, Argentina; 5Ophthalmology Department, Clínica Real Visión, Uniofken, CIVE y Funcrisa, Guayaquil, Ecuador; 6Ophthalmology Department, Sanatorio Oftalmológico Mérida, Mexico City, Mexico; 7Ophthalmology Department, Instituto de la Visión Cerro, Sanatorio Allende Cerro & Universidad Católica de Córdoba, Health Science Faculty, Cordoba, Argentina; 8Ophthalmology Department, Sorocaba Eye Bank Hospital, Sorocaba, Brazil; 9Department of Microsurgery of the Anterior Segment, Fundación Hospital Nuestra Señora de la Luz IAP, Mexico City, Mexico; 10Ophthalmology Department, Oftalmica Clinica de la Vision, Lima, Peru; 11Ophthalmology Department, Clinica Nacional de Oftalmologia, Panama City, Panama; 12Ophthalmology Department, Complejo Medico FOSCAL Internacional, Floridablanca, Santander, Colombia; 13Ophthalmology Department, Private Practice, El Salvador, El Salvador; 14Ophthalmology Department, Federal University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil; 15Ophthalmology Department, Fundación Oftalmológica Los Andes, Santiago, Chile; 16Retina Department, Asociados de Macula Vitreo y Retina de Costa Rica, San Jose, Costa Rica; 17Ophthalmology Department, Hospital de Minas, Montevideo, Uruguay; 18Ophthalmology Department, Instituto Privado de Oftalmología, La Paz, Bolivia; 19Ophthalmology Department, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru; 20Retina Department, Centro Médico Docente La Trinidad, Caracas, Venezuela; 21Ophthalmology Department, OFTALMOS, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Medicina, Buenos Aires, Argentina; 22Ophthalmology Department, Instituto Nacional de Investigacion en Oftalmologia –INIO and Clinica Oftalmologica de Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia; 23Ophthalmology Department, Hospital Metropolitano, Quito, Ecuador; 24Retina Department, School of Medicine, Tecnológico de Monterrey Asociación Para Evitar la Ceguera en México, Mexico City, Mexico; 25Ophthalmology Department, Johns Hopkins University, Wilmer Eye Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: J Fernando Arevalo, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 N. Wolfe Street, Maumenee 713, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA, Email [email protected]: The COVID-19 pandemic affected medical practice worldwide due to interventions to prevent spreading. Its effect on ophthalmology practices in Latin America has not yet been explored. We aimed to assess the perceptions about the pandemic from countries’ ophthalmological national and subspecialty retina societies affiliated to the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology (PAAO).Patients and Methods: A survey-based study of leaders of national ophthalmological and retinal societies was conducted. The survey was sent by email to 30 societies, from which 20 responded (12 countries, 66.6% response rate). It included closed- and open-ended questions about (1) operational capacity and precautions, (2) telemedicine and virtual care, (3) procedures, and (4) post-pandemic considerations.Results: There was a marked decline in ophthalmology patient visits (80– 95%) and elective surgeries (90%) during 2020 compared to before the pandemic. Precautions like temperature checks, mask usage, and social distancing were widely implemented while personal protective equipment (PPE) availability varied. Telemedicine use was limited due to lack of experience with it. Reopening plans focused on maintaining precautions and gradually resuming activities. Economic and security concerns were raised, and adherence to guidelines was emphasized. Respondents acknowledged the need to adapt to a “new normal”. Long duration drugs, fewer imaging studies, and shorter wait times were preferred; however, availability of long duration drugs was limited.Conclusion: The pandemic impacted ophthalmology in Latin America, with reduced patient visits, procedures, and surgeries. Delayed treatment and complications were likely the result of the pandemic.Keywords: COVID-19, pandemics, international agencies, ophthalmology, retina, medical societie