Epistemic prejudice and geographies of innovation

This article seeks to understand how and why certain locations are excluded from or seen as foreclosed as places of innovation and knowledge production in health research and practice. Rooted in several years of collaborative ethnographic research in Mississippi, we develop this conceptual framework to understand the persistence of – and often ineffective response to – racialized and classed health disparities. We define our concept of epistemic prejudice as a structural inability or resistance to seeing certain places, bodies, and locations as capable of knowledge production and innovation. The history of the community health center movement, paired with the portrayal of Mississippi in contemporary media representations, helps us develop our concept. We use an interface ethnography method as Mississippi scholars to demonstrate the importance of this model of research in understanding persistent inequality in places of ‘lack’, noting that the challenges of addressing health problems in Mississippi stem in part from epistemic prejudice of scholars, health care practitioners, and policy-makers. Epistemic prejudice has broader implications for how global health initiatives are implemented, how postcolonial frameworks still shape knowledge production, and how knowledge is generated and taken as authoritative

Fernando Cassinello Pérez, arquitecto poliédrico

The work of architect Fernando Cassinello Pérez (Almería, 1928-Madrid, 1975) rests on three pillars: architectural production focused on the design and construction of housing and hotel establishments, academic activity as Professor of Construction at the Escuela de Arquitectura de Madrid, and research concern developed in the IETcc of which he became director, and exercised as an author of books and research papers, as disseminator lecturer, speaker at major conferences or as an active member of international associations linked to construction with concrete. This article will review his prolific activity as polyhedral architect and will find interesting works that designed and built by relying on extensive contemporary and international architectural culture.La obra del arquitecto almeriense Fernando Cassinello Pérez (Almería, 1928-Madrid, 1975) se apoya sobre tres pilares: la producción arquitectónica centrada en el proyecto y construcción de viviendas y establecimientos hoteleros; la actividad académica como Catedrático de Construcción en la Escuela de Arquitectura de Madrid, y la inquietud investigadora desarrollada en el Instituto Eduardo Torroja del que llegó a ser director, y ejercida como autor de libros y artículos de investigación, como conferenciante divulgador, como ponente en importantes congresos o como miembro activo de asociaciones internacionales vinculadas a la construcción con hormigón. Este artículo hará un repaso de su prolífica actividad como arquitecto poliédrico y dará cuenta de las interesantes obras que proyectó y construyó apoyándose en una dilatada cultura arquitectónica contemporánea e internacional

Removal of 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid from aqueous medium by electrochemical oxidation with a BDD anode: mineralization, kinetics and oxidation products

The degradation of 100 mL of solutions containing 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid in 0.050 M Na2SO4 at pH 3.0 has been performed by anodic oxidation with electrogenerated H2O2 (AO-H2O2) using a stirred tank reactor equipped with a boron-doped diamond (BDD) anode and an air-diffusion cathode. An almost total mineralization with 95.5% total organic carbon (TOC) removal was achieved for a 1.03 mM substrate solution at 100 mA cm-2. The effect of current density between 16.7 and 100 mA cm-2 and 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid content between 0.21 and 2.06 mM was examined. Greater current efficiency with lower specific energy consumption and smaller mineralization was found at low current density and high substrate concentration. The TOC abatement as well as the 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid concentration decay obeyed a pseudo-first-order kinetics. The oxidation role of hydroxyl radical formed from water discharge at the BDD anode is explained on the basis of its electrogeneration rate and competitive wasting reactions. 4-Hydroxybenzenemethanol and its derivative 4-hydroxybenzenealdehyde were identified as primary aromatic by-products by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Ion-exclusion HPLC allowed the detection of low amounts of the persistent oxalic acid during the AO-H2O2 process. The remaining TOC in final electrolyzed solutions is related to the presence of a large proportion of unidentified by-products that are even more recalcitrant than common short-linear aliphatic carboxylic acids

Network structure of avian mixed-species flocks decays with elevation and latitude across the Andes.

Birds in mixed-species flocks benefit from greater foraging efficiency and reduced predation, but also face costs related to competition and activity matching. Because this cost-benefit trade-off is context-dependent (e.g. abiotic conditions and habitat quality), the structure of flocks is expected to vary along elevational, latitudinal and disturbance gradients. Specifically, we predicted that the connectivity and cohesion of flocking networks would (i) decline towards tropical latitudes and lower elevations, where competition and activity matching costs are higher, and (ii) increase with lower forest cover and greater human disturbance. We analysed the structure of 84 flock networks across the Andes and assessed the effect of elevation, latitude, forest cover and human disturbance on network characteristics. We found that Andean flocks are overall open-membership systems (unstructured), though the extent of network structure varied across gradients. Elevation was the main predictor of structure, with more connected and less modular flocks upslope. As expected, flocks in areas with higher forest cover were less cohesive, with better defined flock subtypes. Flocks also varied across latitude and disturbance gradients as predicted, but effect sizes were small. Our findings indicate that the unstructured nature of Andean flocks might arise as a strategy to cope with harsh environmental conditions. This article is part of the theme issue 'Mixed-species groups and aggregations: shaping ecological and behavioural patterns and processes'

Consequences of Intraspecific Variation in Seed Dispersal for Plant Demography, Communities, Evolution and Global Change

As the single opportunity for plants to move, seed dispersal has an important impact on plant fitness, species distributions and patterns of biodiversity. However, models that predict dynamics such as risk of extinction, range shifts and biodiversity loss tend to rely on the mean value of parameters and rarely incorporate realistic dispersal mechanisms. By focusing on the mean population value, variation among individuals or variability caused by complex spatial and temporal dynamics is ignored. This calls for increased efforts to understand individual variation in dispersal and integrate it more explicitly into population and community models involving dispersal. However, the sources, magnitude and outcomes of intraspecific variation in dispersal are poorly characterized, limiting our understanding of the role of dispersal in mediating the dynamics of communities and their response to global change. In this manuscript, we synthesize recent research that examines the sources of individual variation in dispersal and emphasize its implications for plant fitness, populations and communities. We argue that this intraspecific variation in seed dispersal does not simply add noise to systems, but, in fact, alters dispersal processes and patterns with consequences for demography, communities, evolution and response to anthropogenic changes. We conclude with recommendations for moving this field of research forward

Consequences of Intraspecific Variation in Seed Dispersal for Plant Demography, Communities, Evolution and Global Change

As the single opportunity for plants to move, seed dispersal has an important impact on plant fitness, species distributions and patterns of biodiversity. However, models that predict dynamics such as risk of extinction, range shifts and biodiversity loss tend to rely on the mean value of parameters and rarely incorporate realistic dispersal mechanisms. By focusing on the mean population value, variation among individuals or variability caused by complex spatial and temporal dynamics is ignored. This calls for increased efforts to understand individual variation in dispersal and integrate it more explicitly into population and community models involving dispersal. However, the sources, magnitude and outcomes of intraspecific variation in dispersal are poorly characterized, limiting our understanding of the role of dispersal in mediating the dynamics of communities and their response to global change. In this manuscript, we synthesize recent research that examines the sources of individual variation in dispersal and emphasize its implications for plant fitness, populations and communities. We argue that this intraspecific variation in seed dispersal does not simply add noise to systems, but, in fact, alters dispersal processes and patterns with consequences for demography, communities, evolution and response to anthropogenic changes. We conclude with recommendations for moving this field of research forward

Capturado y registrado: potencial de las redes de varamientos para el estudio de las capturas accidentales de cetáceos

XII Congreso de la Sociedad Española de Cetáceos, 4 al 7 de octubre de 2021, onlineN

AVONET: Morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds

Functional traits offer a rich quantitative framework for developing and testing theories in evolutionary biology, ecology and ecosystem science. However, the potential of functional traits to drive theoretical advances and refine models of global change can only be fully realised when species-level information is complete. Here we present the AVONET dataset containing comprehensive functional trait data for all birds, including six ecological variables, 11 continuous morphological traits, and information on range size and location. Raw morphological measurements are presented from 90,020 individuals of 11,009 extant bird species sampled from 181 countries. These data are also summarised as species averages in three taxonomic formats, allowing integration with a global phylogeny, geographical range maps, IUCN Red List data and the eBird citizen science database. The AVONET dataset provides the most detailed picture of continuous trait variation for any major radiation of organisms, offering a global template for testing hypotheses and exploring the evolutionary origins, structure and functioning of biodiversity.Fil: Tobias, Joseph A.. Imperial College London; Reino Unido. University of Oxford; Reino UnidoFil: Sheard, Catherine. University of Oxford; Reino Unido. University of Bristol; Reino UnidoFil: Pigot, Alex L.. University of Oxford; Reino Unido. University College London; Estados UnidosFil: Devenish, Adam J. M.. Imperial College London; Reino UnidoFil: Yang, Jingyi. Imperial College London; Reino UnidoFil: Sayol, Ferran. University College London; Estados UnidosFil: Neate Clegg, Montague H. C.. University of Oxford; Reino Unido. University of Utah; Estados UnidosFil: Alioravainen, Nico. University of Oxford; Reino Unido. Natural Resources Institute Finland; FinlandiaFil: Weeks, Thomas L.. Imperial College London; Reino Unido. Natural History Museum; Reino UnidoFil: Barber, Robert A.. Imperial College London; Reino UnidoFil: Walkden, Patrick A.. Imperial College London; Reino Unido. Natural History Museum; Reino UnidoFil: MacGregor, Hannah E. A.. University of Oxford; Reino Unido. University of Bristol; Reino UnidoFil: Jones, Samuel E. I.. University of Oxford; Reino Unido. University of London; Reino UnidoFil: Vincent, Claire. Organización de Las Naciones Unidas; ArgentinaFil: Phillips, Anna G.. Senckenberg Biodiversity And Climate Research Centre; AlemaniaFil: Marples, Nicola M.. Trinity College; Estados UnidosFil: Montaño Centellas, Flavia A.. Universidad Mayor de San Andrés; Bolivia. University of Florida; Estados UnidosFil: Leandro Silva, Victor. Universidade Federal de Pernambuco; BrasilFil: Claramunt, Santiago. University of Toronto; Canadá. Royal Ontario Museum; CanadáFil: Darski, Bianca. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Freeman, Benjamin G.. University of British Columbia; CanadáFil: Bregman, Tom P.. University of Oxford; Reino Unido. Future-Fit Foundation; Reino UnidoFil: Cooney, Christopher R.. University Of Sheffield; Reino UnidoFil: Hughes, Emma C.. University Of Sheffield; Reino UnidoFil: Capp, Elliot J. R.. University Of Sheffield; Reino UnidoFil: Varley, Zoë K.. University Of Sheffield; Reino Unido. Natural History Museum; Reino UnidoFil: Friedman, Nicholas R.. Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University; JapónFil: Korntheuer, Heiko. Johannes Gutenberg Universitat Mainz; AlemaniaFil: Corrales Vargas, Andrea. Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica; Costa RicaFil: García, Natalia Cristina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; Argentin