Gender in the Climate-Conflict Nexus: "Forgotten" Variables, Alternative Securities, and Hidden Power Dimensions

The literature on the security implications of climate change, and in particular on potential climate-conflict linkages, is burgeoning. Up until now, gender considerations have only played a marginal role in this research area. This is despite growing awareness of intersections between protecting women’s rights, building peace and security, and addressing environmental changes. This article advances the claim that adopting a gender perspective is integral for understanding the conflict implications of climate change. We substantiate this claim via three main points. First, gender is an essential, yet insufficiently considered intervening variable between climate change and conflict. Gender roles and identities as well as gendered power structures are important in facilitating or preventing climate-related conflicts. Second, climate change does affect armed conflicts and social unrest, but a gender perspective alters and expands the notion of what conflict can look like, and whose security is at stake. Such a perspective supports research inquiries that are grounded in everyday risks and that document alternative experiences of insecurity. Third, gender-differentiated vulnerabilities to both climate change and conflict stem from inequities within local power structures and socio-cultural norms and practices, including those related to social reproductive labor. Recognition of these power dynamics is key to understanding and promoting resilience to conflict and climate change. The overall lessons drawn for these three arguments is that gender concerns need to move center stage in future research and policy on climate change and conflicts

Slowdowns in diversification rates from real phylogenies may not be real

Studies of diversification patterns often find a slowing in lineage accumulation toward the present. This seemingly pervasive pattern of rate downturns has been taken as evidence for adaptive radiations, density-dependent regulation, and metacommunity species interactions. The significance of rate downturns is evaluated with statistical tests (the γ statistic and Monte Carlo constant rates (MCCR) test; birth–death likelihood models and Akaike Information Criterion [AIC] scores) that rely on null distributions, which assume that the included species are a random sample of the entire clade. Sampling in real phylogenies, however, often is nonrandom because systematists try to include early-diverging species or representatives of previous intrataxon classifications. We studied the effects of biased sampling, structured sampling, and random sampling by experimentally pruning simulated trees (60 and 150 species) as well as a completely sampled empirical tree (58 species) and then applying the γ statistic/MCCR test and birth–death likelihood models/AIC scores to assess rate changes. For trees with random species sampling, the true model (i.e., the one fitting the complete phylogenies) could be inferred in most cases. Oversampling deep nodes, however, strongly biases inferences toward downturns, with simulations of structured and biased sampling suggesting that this occurs when sampling percentages drop below 80%. The magnitude of the effect and the sensitivity of diversification rate models is such that a useful rule of thumb may be not to infer rate downturns from real trees unless they have >80% species sampling

Prevalence and Consequences of Aggression and Violence towards Nursing and Care Staff in Germany—A Survey

Acts of aggression by patients or clients are a part of the average working day for many Health care employees. The objective of the survey was to study the frequency and nature of violence and the handling of aggressive behavior by facility management. The cross-sectional study was conducted in 2017, 81 different healthcare facilities and 1984 employees participated. The questionnaire encompassed socio-demographic details, the frequency of physical violence and verbal abuse, consequences of violence and the stress of employees. In the previous twelve months, 94.1% of the employees in the survey had experienced verbal abuse and 69.8% had experienced physical aggression. Acts of aggression were most commonly encountered in hospitals and residential facilities for the disabled. One third of the employees felt under high levels of stress as a result of the incidents. If the workplace prepares effectively, however, this reduces the perceived stress odds ratio (OR) 0.6, 95% CI 0.4–0.8). Violence and aggression are very common. Healthcare facilities are increasingly dealing with this topic. Awareness raising is likely to lead to higher incident reporting rates. Good preparation and an open approach to the topic in the facilities have a positive effect on the feeling of stress and work ability

The ultimate and proximate mechanisms driving the evolution of long tails in forest deer mice

Understanding both the role of selection in driving phenotypic change and its underlying genetic basis remain major challenges in evolutionary biology. Here, we use modern tools to revisit a classic system of local adaptation in the North American deer mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus, which occupies two main habitat types: prairie and forest. Using historical collections, we find that forest‐dwelling mice have longer tails than those from nonforested habitat, even when we account for individual and population relatedness. Using genome‐wide SNP data, we show that mice from forested habitats in the eastern and western parts of their range form separate clades, suggesting that increased tail length evolved independently. We find that forest mice in the east and west have both more and longer caudal vertebrae, but not trunk vertebrae, than nearby prairie forms. By intercrossing prairie and forest mice, we show that the number and length of caudal vertebrae are not correlated in this recombinant population, indicating that variation in these traits is controlled by separate genetic loci. Together, these results demonstrate convergent evolution of the long‐tailed forest phenotype through two distinct genetic mechanisms, affecting number and length of vertebrae, and suggest that these morphological changes—either independently or together—are adaptive

Zymosan-induced glycerylprostaglandin and prostaglandin synthesis in resident peritoneal macrophages: roles of cyclo-oxygenase-1 and -2

COX [cyclo-oxygenase; PG (prostaglandin) G/H synthase] oxygenates AA (arachidonic acid) and 2-AG (2-arachidonylglycerol) to endoperoxides that are converted into PGs and PG-Gs (glycerylprostaglandins) respectively. In vitro, 2-AG is a selective substrate for COX-2, but in zymosan-stimulated peritoneal macrophages, PG-G synthesis is not sensitive to selective COX-2 inhibition. This suggests that COX-1 oxygenates 2-AG, so studies were carried out to identify enzymes involved in zymosan-dependent PG-G and PG synthesis. When macrophages from COX-1(−/−) or COX-2(−/−) mice were treated with zymosan, 20–25% and 10–15% of the PG and PG-G synthesis observed in wild-type cells respectively was COX-2 dependent. When exogenous AA and 2-AG were supplied to COX-2(−/−) macrophages, PG and PG-G synthesis was reduced as compared with wild-type cells. In contrast, when exogenous substrates were provided to COX-1(−/−) macrophages, PG-G but not PG synthesis was reduced. Product synthesis also was evaluated in macrophages from cPLA(2α) (cytosolic phospholipase A(2α))(−/−) mice, in which zymosan-induced PG synthesis was markedly reduced, and PG-G synthesis was increased approx. 2-fold. These studies confirm that peritoneal macrophages synthesize PG-Gs in response to zymosan, but that this process is primarily COX-1-dependent, as is the synthesis of PGs. They also indicate that the 2-AG and AA used for PG-G and PG synthesis respectively are derived from independent pathways