The troubling concept of class: reflecting on our ‘failure’ to encourage sociology students to re-cognise their classed locations using autobiographical methods

This paper provides a narrative of the four authors‟ commitment to auto/biographical methods as teachers and researchers in „new‟ universities. As they went about their work, they observed that, whereas students engage with the gendered, sexualised and racialised processes when negotiating their identities, they are reluctant or unable to conceptualise „class-ifying‟ processes as key determinants of their life chances. This general inability puzzled the authors, given the students‟ predominantly working-class backgrounds. Through application of their own stories, the authors explore the sociological significance of this pedagogical „failure‟ to account for the troubling concept of class not only in the classroom but also in contemporary society

Evaluating the Mechanism of Oxalate Synthesis of Fibroporia Radiculosa Isolates Adapting to Copper-Tolerance

Four Fibroporia radiculosa isolates undergoing decay of untreated and 1.2% ammoniacal copper citrate treated wood were evaluated for differential expression of citrate synthase (CS), isocitrate lyase (ICL), glyoxylate dehydrogenase (GLOXDH), succinate/fumarate antiporter (ANTI), and a copper resistance-associated ATPase pump (ATPase). Samples were analyzed at 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks for oxalate and protein production, enzyme activities, and gene expression. ATPase pump expression was increased in the presence of copper when initial oxalate concentrations were low, suggesting it functions in helping the fungus adapt to the copper-rich environment by pumping toxic copper ions out of the cell. A connection in expression levels between CS, ANTI, ICL, and GLOXDH for the four isolates was found suggesting the production of oxalate originates in the mictochondrial TCA cycle (CS), shunts to the glyoxysomal glyoxylate cycle (ANTI), moves through a portion of the glyoxylate cycle (ICL), and ultimately is made in the cytoplasm (GLOXDH)

Modelling the economic and social consequences of drought under future projections of climate change

Drought events and their consequences pose a considerable problem for governments, businesses and individuals. Superimposed on this risk is the danger of future anthropogenic climate change. Climate models are increasingly being used to understand how climate change may affect future drought regimes. However, methodologies to quantify the type and scale of social and economic effects that could occur under these future scenarios are virtually non-existent. Consequently, this study developed a methodology for projecting and quantifying future drought risk in terms of economic damages and numbers of lives lost and affected. In this study, historic drought events were identified in regional precipitation data using the Standardised Precipitation Index, and their magnitude quantified. Drought magnitude was linked to reported historic data on economic damages and the numbers of lives affected and lost, to create country specific economic and social drought damage functions for Australia, Brazil, China, Ethiopia, India, Spain/Portugal and the USA. Future projections of drought magnitude for 2003-2050 were modelled using the integrated assessment model CIAS (Community Integrated Assessment System), for a range of climate and emission scenarios, and applied to the drought damage functions to estimate future economic and social drought effects. Additionally, a preliminary investigation of indirect economic drought damages was conducted using the Adaptive Regional Input-Output model (ARIO). The analysis identified large variability in the scale and trend of economic and social effects from future drought. Economic benefits projected to occur in some countries were outweighed by negative effects elsewhere, with annual losses to global GDP from drought increasing in the first half of the 21st century. The analysis suggested that severe and extreme SPI-6 and SPI-12 drought events could cause additional losses to global GDP of 0.01% to 0.25% annually. Whilst this effect on global GDP may appear small, this is considered a conservative estimate namely as the analysis is representative of six countries only; the estimates do not incorporate the possibility of successive drought events, or compounding effects on vulnerability from interactions with other extreme events such as floods. Additionally, the global economic estimates exclude indirect economic effects, and social and environmental losses; the possibility of increasing vulnerability due to changing socio-economic conditions; and the possibility of irreversible or systemic collapse of economies as, under future climate change, drought magnitude may exceed current experience and surpass thresholds of social and economic resilience. Yet importantly, even just considering direct economic effects of individual drought events on a handful of countries still resulted in a noticeable effect on global GDP. Stringent mitigation had little effect on the increasing economic and social effects of drought in the first half of the 21st century, so in the short-term adaptation in drought ‘hot spots’ is crucial. However, stringent mitigation will be required to reduce increasingly severe drought events that are projected for the second half of the 21st century. A case study of Spain suggested that indirect economic losses increased non-linearly as a function of direct losses, amplifying total economic damages of drought. Importantly the non-linearity seen between direct and indirect economic costs suggests that the benefits of stringent mitigation policies, in terms of avoided indirect losses, may be more substantial than for direct losses in the second half of the 21st century. The main impact of the research is its contribution to the assessment of economic and social damages from drought events through the creation and application of drought damage functions. The drought damage functions could be incorporated into wider economic assessments of climate change or integrated assessment models that currently exclude extreme weather events. The inclusion of drought related economic and social damages could help to guide appropriate levels of climate change mitigation, help to gauge the vulnerability of communities to future drought events, guide drought risk management, and inform drought adaptation strategies. The application of I-O analysis to estimate indirect economic losses from drought is a relatively new and developing area of research. The research highlights how I-O analysis could be used to provide estimates of economic drought damages under future climate change, which are more comprehensive, and useful for assessing benefits of future mitigation and adaptation strategies. Consequently, there are many gains to be seen from the continued development and application of this research methodology for drought

Evaluating the Mechanism of Oxalate Synthesis of Fibroporia Radiculosa Isolates Adapting to Copper-Tolerance

Four Fibroporia radiculosa isolates undergoing decay of untreated and 1.2% ammoniacal copper citrate treated wood were evaluated for differential expression of citrate synthase (CS), isocitrate lyase (ICL), glyoxylate dehydrogenase (GLOXDH), succinate/fumarate antiporter (ANTI), and a copper resistance-associated ATPase pump (ATPase). Samples were analyzed at 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks for oxalate and protein production, enzyme activities, and gene expression. ATPase pump expression was increased in the presence of copper when initial oxalate concentrations were low, suggesting it functions in helping the fungus adapt to the copper-rich environment by pumping toxic copper ions out of the cell. A connection in expression levels between CS, ANTI, ICL, and GLOXDH for the four isolates was found suggesting the production of oxalate originates in the mictochondrial TCA cycle (CS), shunts to the glyoxysomal glyoxylate cycle (ANTI), moves through a portion of the glyoxylate cycle (ICL), and ultimately is made in the cytoplasm (GLOXDH)

Drought-Damage Functions for the Estimation of Drought Costs under Future Projections of Climate Change

Drought events and their impacts pose a considerable problem for governments, businesses and individuals. Superimposed on this is the risk of anthropogenic climate change. Climate models are increasingly being used to understand how climate change may affect future drought regimes. However, methodologies to quantify economic costs which could occur under these future scenarios are virtually non-existent. In this study, historic drought events were identified in regional precipitation data using the Standardized Precipitation Index, and their magnitude quantified and linked to reported economic costs. Drought damage functions were created for Australia, Brazil, China, India, Spain/Portugal and the USA. Projections of drought magnitude for 2003–2050 were modeled using the Community Integrated Assessment System, for a range of climate and emission scenarios, and future economic costs estimated. Severe and extreme drought events were projected to cause estimated additional losses ranging between 0.04 and 9 percent of national GDP in Australia, the USA and Spain/Portugal under future scenarios of climate change. The combined effect on global GDP from projected long-term drought events in the countries analyzed resulted in additional annual losses of 0.01 to 0.25 percent. This is considered conservative as the analysis is representative of seven countries only; does not incorporate the possibility of successive drought events, or compounding effects on vulnerability from interactions with other extreme events. Furthermore, it excludes indirect economic effects; social and environmental losses; the possibility of increasing vulnerability due to changing socio-economic conditions; and the possibility of irreversible or systemic collapse of economies as the study highlighted that under future climate change drought magnitude may exceed current experience potentially passing thresholds of social and economic resilience. Stringent mitigation had little effect on the increasing impacts of drought in the first half of the 21st century, so in the short-term adaptation in drought “hot spots” will be crucial

It takes two? A randomised controlled pilot study to evaluate the feasibility and indicative effectiveness of joint physical activity consultations with colorectal cancer survivors and their partners

Title: A randomised controlled pilot study to assess the feasibility and indicative effectiveness of joint physical activity consultations with colorectal cancer survivors and their partners. Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in Scotland and five-year survival has increased to 60% in the past 30 years. Evidence suggests that physical activity (PA) can improve cancer-specific and overall survival, as well as general and cancer-specific health outcomes in colorectal cancer survivors (CRC-Ss). Partners are a potential source of social support for CRC-Ss who may also benefit from increased PA. Couples have also been shown to share health behaviours. Therefore, this pilot study aimed to examine the feasibility of a randomised controlled trial of a joint PA intervention (PA consultations) with CRC-Ss and their partners. Specific objectives were to assess the feasibility of trial methods, the feasibility of the intervention and indicative effectiveness of the intervention on PA level and other health outcomes in CRC-Ss and their partners. Method: This 6-month, parallel, randomised controlled pilot study took place in Glasgow. Participants were CRC-Ss who had completed all treatment for colorectal cancer in the previous 30 months and their partners. Participants were recruited by colorectal nurses from one hospital site and randomised using blocked SNOSE randomisation. This was not a blinded study. The intervention group received two home-based PA consultations, at baseline and three months. The control group received usual care. The main outcome measures were descriptions of trial protocol and intervention feasibility. Situational Analysis was conducted on intervention audio-recordings to inform feasibility. Data was also collected on PA level, mental well-being, quality of life, general self-efficacy and perceived relationship support. Results: Over 15 weeks, 199 CRC-Ss were screened for eligibility; 49 (64.5%) eligible CRC-Ss were telephoned and 29 (59.1%) were recruited and randomised to the study along with their partners; 15 couples in the intervention group and 14 couples in the control. Retention to the study and compliance with the intervention were both 100%. Compliance with objective measures of PA was acceptable (77.6%), although there was some attrition in certain self-reported outcome data. There were no large indicative effects of the intervention on PA level or health outcomes, although small changes were found in PA level in the intervention group. There were no adverse events related to study participation. Conclusions: Overall, trial protocol was feasible and joint PA consultations were feasible to deliver with CRC-Ss and their partners. There was a slight increase in PA at 3 months. Alone, this study does not provide sufficient evidence to proceed to a pilot trial. Future research should consider alternative sources of social support, alternative interventionist and systematic synthesis of feasibility research in this area

Improving climate resilience in the urban environment: Enhancing the uptake and use of building-scale to city-scale decision support models by policymakers and industry.

The ARCC network aims to develop and exchange knowledge and evidence to inform policy and practice. It covers a host of EPSRC-funded research projects focused on adaptation to changes in the built environment and infrastructure. There are currently 42 completed or ongoing projects listed on the ARCC website, which provides a focal point for knowledge exchange, information and engagement opportunities, and engages with a wide range of stakeholders. </p

Surface water flood risk and management strategies for London: an agent-based model approach

Flooding is recognised as one of the most common and costliest natural disasters in England. Flooding in urban areas during heavy rainfall is known as ‘surface water flooding’, considered to be the most likely cause of flood events and one of the greatest short-term climate risks for London. In this paper we present results from a novel Agent-Based Model designed to assess the interplay between different adaptation options, different agents, and the role of flood insurance and the flood insurance pool, Flood Re, in the context of climate change. The model illustrates how investment in adaptation options could reduce London’s surface water flood risk, today and in the future. However, benefits can be outweighed by continued development in high risk areas and the effects of climate change. Flood Re is beneficial in its function to provide affordable insurance, even under climate change. However, it offers no additional benefits in terms of overall risk reduction, and will face increasing pressure due to rising surface water flood risk in the future. The modelling approach and findings are highly relevant for reviewing the proposed Flood Re scheme, as well as for wider discussions on the potential of insurance schemes, and broader multi-sectoral partnerships, to incentivise flood risk management in the UK and internationally

Strengthening insurance partnerships in the face of climate change: insights from an agent-based model of flood insurance in the UK

Multisectoral partnerships are increasingly cited as a mechanism to deliver and improve disaster risk management. Yet, partnerships are not a panacea and more research is required to understand the role that they can play in disaster risk management and particularly disaster risk reduction. This paper investigates how partnerships can incentivise flood risk reduction by focusing on the UK public-private partnership on flood insurance. Developing the right flood insurance arrangements to incentivise flood risk reduction and adaptation to climate change is a key challenge. In the face of rising flood risks due to climate change and socio-economic development insurance partnerships can no longer afford to focus only on the risk transfer function. However, while expectations of the insurance industry have traditionally been high when it comes to flood risk management, the insurance industry alone will not provide the solution to the challenge of rising risks. The case of flood insurance in the UK illustrates this: even national government and industry together cannot fully address these risks and other actors need to be involved to create strong incentives for risk reduction. Using an agent-based model focused on surface water flood risk in London we analyse how other partners could strengthen the insurance partnership by reducing flood risk and thus helping to maintain affordable insurance premiums. Our findings are relevant for wider discussions on the potential of insurance schemes to incentivise flood risk management and climate adaptation in the UK and also internationally

Our Space: Being a Responsible Citizen of the Digital World

Our Space is a set of curricular materials designed to encourage high school students to reflect on the ethical dimensions of their participation in new media environments. Through role-playing activities and reflective exercises, students are asked to consider the ethical responsibilities of other people, and whether and how they behave ethically themselves online. These issues are raised in relation to five core themes that are highly relevant online: identity, privacy, authorship and ownership, credibility, and participation.Our Space was co-developed by The Good Play Project and Project New Media Literacies (established at MIT and now housed at University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism). The Our Space collaboration grew out of a shared interest in fostering ethical thinking and conduct among young people when exercising new media skills