2,165 research outputs found
Ecofeminism in the 21st Century
This paper considers the influence of ecofeminism on policy concerning gender (in)equality and the environment during the past 20 years. It reviews the broad contours of the ecofeminist debate before focusing on the social construction interpretation of women's relationship with the environment. It will argue that there have been substantial policy shifts in Europe and the UK in both the environmental and equalities fields, and that this is in part a result of lobbying at a range of scales by groups informed by ecofeminist debates. Nevertheless, the paper cautions that these shifts are largely incremental and operate within existing structures, which inevitably limit their capacity to create change. As policy addresses some of the concerns highlighted by ecofeminism, academic discourse and grass roots activity have been moving on to address other issues, and the paper concludes with a brief consideration of contemporary trajectories of ecofeminism and campaigning on issues that link women's, feminist and environment concerns
Are there gender differences in the geography of alcohol-related mortality in Scotland? An ecological study
<b>Background</b>
There is growing concern about alcohol-related harm, particularly within Scotland which has some of the highest rates of alcohol-related death in western Europe. There are large gender differences in alcohol-related mortality rates in Scotland and in other countries, but the reasons for these differences are not clearly understood. In this paper, we aimed to address calls in the literature for further research on gender differences in the causes, contexts and consequences of alcohol-related harm. Our primary research question was whether the kind of social environment which tends to produce higher or lower rates of alcohol-related mortality is the same for both men and women across Scotland.
<b>Methods</b>
Cross-sectional, ecological design. A comparison was made between spatial variation in men's and women's age-standardised alcohol-related mortality rates in Scotland using maps, Moran's Index, linear regression and spatial analyses of residuals. Directly standardised mortality rates were derived from individual level records of death registration, 2000–2005 (n = 8685).
<b>Results</b>
As expected, men's alcohol-related mortality rate substantially exceeded women's and there was substantial spatial variation in these rates for both men and women within Scotland. However, there was little spatial variation in the relationship between men's and women's alcohol-mortality rates (r2 = 0.73); areas with relatively high rates of alcohol-related mortality for men tended also to have relatively high rates for women. In a small number of areas (8 out of 144) the relationship between men's and women's alcohol-related mortality rates was significantly different.
<b>Conclusion</b>
In as far as geographic location captures exposure to social and economic environment, our results suggest that the relationship between social and economic environment and alcohol-related harm is very similar for men and women. The existence of a small number of areas in which men's and women's alcohol-related mortality had an different relationship suggests that some places may have unusual drinking cultures. These might prove useful for further investigations into the factors which influence drinking behaviour in men and women
On the driven Frenkel-Kontorova model: II. Chaotic sliding and nonequilibrium melting and freezing
The dynamical behavior of a weakly damped harmonic chain in a spatially
periodic potential (Frenkel-Kontorova model) under the subject of an external
force is investigated. We show that the chain can be in a spatio-temporally
chaotic state called fluid-sliding state. This is proven by calculating
correlation functions and Lyapunov spectra. An effective temperature is
attributed to the fluid-sliding state. Even though the velocity fluctuations
are Gaussian distributed, the fluid-sliding state is clearly not in equilibrium
because the equipartition theorem is violated. We also study the transition
between frozen states (stationary solutions) and=7F molten states
(fluid-sliding states). The transition is similar to a first-order phase
transition, and it shows hysteresis. The depinning-pinning transition
(freezing) is a nucleation process. The frozen state contains usually two
domains of different particle densities. The pinning-depinning transition
(melting) is caused by saddle-node bifurcations of the stationary states. It
depends on the history. Melting is accompanied by precursors, called
micro-slips, which reconfigurate the chain locally. Even though we investigate
the dynamics at zero temperature, the behavior of the Frenkel-Kontorova model
is qualitatively similar to the behavior of similar models at nonzero
temperature.Comment: Written in RevTeX, 13 figures in PostScript, appears in PR
On the driven Frenkel-Kontorova model: I. Uniform sliding states and dynamical domains of different particle densities
The dynamical behavior of a harmonic chain in a spatially periodic potential
(Frenkel-Kontorova model, discrete sine-Gordon equation) under the influence of
an external force and a velocity proportional damping is investigated. We do
this at zero temperature for long chains in a regime where inertia and damping
as well as the nearest-neighbor interaction and the potential are of the same
order. There are two types of regular sliding states: Uniform sliding states,
which are periodic solutions where all particles perform the same motion
shifted in time, and nonuniform sliding states, which are quasi-periodic
solutions where the system forms patterns of domains of different uniform
sliding states. We discuss the properties of this kind of pattern formation and
derive equations of motion for the slowly varying average particle density and
velocity. To observe these dynamical domains we suggest experiments with a
discrete ring of at least fifty Josephson junctions.Comment: Written in RevTeX, 9 figures in PostScrip
South-South technology transfer of low-carbon innovation: large Chinese hydropower dams in Cambodia
Large dams have been controversially debated for decades due to their large‐scale and often irreversible social and environmental impacts. In the pursuit of low‐carbon energy and climate change mitigation, hydropower is experiencing a new renaissance. At the forefront of this renaissance are Chinese actors as the world's largest hydropower dam‐builders. This paper aims to discuss the role of South–South technology transfer of low‐carbon energy innovation and its opportunities and barriers by using a case study of the first large Chinese‐funded and Chinese‐built dam in Cambodia. Using the Kamchay Dam as an example, the paper finds that technology transfer can only be fully successful when host governments and organizations have the capacity to absorb new technologies. The paper also finds that technology transfer in the dam sector needs to go beyond hardware and focus more on the transfer of expertise, skills and knowledge to enable long‐term sustainable development
Remotely sensed albedo allows the identification of two ecosystem states along aridity gradients in Africa
Empirical verification of multiple states in drylands is scarce, impeding the design of indicators to anticipate the onset of desertification. Remote sensing‐derived indicators of ecosystem states are gaining new ground due to the possibilities they bring to be applied inexpensively over large areas. Remotely sensed albedo has been often used to monitor drylands due to its close relationship with ecosystem status and climate. Here, we used a space‐for‐time‐substitution approach to evaluate whether albedo (averaged from 2000 to 2016) can identify multiple ecosystem states in African drylands spanning from the Saharan desert to tropical Africa. By using latent class analysis, we found that albedo showed two states (low and high; the cut‐off level was 0.22 at the shortwave band). Potential analysis revealed that albedo exhibited an abrupt and discontinuous increase with increased aridity (1 − [precipitation/potential evapotranspiration]). The two albedo states co‐occurred along aridity values ranging from 0.72 to 0.78, during which vegetation cover exhibited a rapid, continuous decrease from ~90% to ~50%. At aridity values of 0.75, the low albedo state started to exhibit less attraction than the high albedo state. Low albedo areas beyond this aridity value were considered as vulnerable regions where abrupt shifts in albedo may occur if aridity increases, as forecasted by current climate change models. Our findings indicate that remotely sensed albedo can identify two ecosystem states in African drylands. They support the suitability of albedo indices to inform us about discontinuous responses to aridity experienced by drylands, which can be linked to the onset of land degradation.This work was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant XDA19030500), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant 2016YFC0503302), the European Research Council (BIODESERT project, ERC Grant Agreement 647038), the Joint PhD, Training Program of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Research Foundation of Henan University of Technology (Grant 31401178)
Troubling the exclusive privileges of citizenship: mobile solidarities, asylum seekers, and the right to work
This article discusses asylum seekers and the right to work in the UK. Differential access to the labour market is one of the ways in which the state maintains a distinction between British citizens, who ‘belong’, and non-citizens who do not. While such a policy approach garners widespread support amongst the general public of citizens, it does not go uncontested. This article discusses a UK-based campaign, ‘Let Them Work’, which has sought to influence the government in extending the right to work to asylum seekers. In doing so, it demonstrates the ways in which the stratified regime of citizenship rights is contested politically, and explores how such contestation troubles the exclusive privileges of citizenship by enacting mobile solidarities from marginalised spaces
Directional Limits on Persistent Gravitational Waves from Advanced LIGO’s First Observing Run
We employ gravitational-wave radiometry to map the stochastic gravitational wave background
expected from a variety of contributing mechanisms and test the assumption of isotropy using data
from the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory’s (aLIGO) first observing run.
We also search for persistent gravitational waves from point sources with only minimal assumptions
over the 20–1726 Hz frequency band. Finding no evidence of gravitational waves from either point
sources or a stochastic background, we set limits at 90% confidence. For broadband point sources, we
report upper limits on the gravitational wave energy flux per unit frequency in the range Fα;ΘðfÞ <
ð0.1–56Þ × 10−8 erg cm−2 s−1 Hz−1ðf=25 HzÞα−1 depending on the sky location Θ and the spectral
power index α. For extended sources, we report upper limits on the fractional gravitational wave energy
density required to close the Universe of Ωðf; ΘÞ < ð0.39–7.6Þ × 10−8 sr−1ðf=25 HzÞα depending on Θ
and α. Directed searches for narrowband gravitational waves from astrophysically interesting objects
(Scorpius X-1, Supernova 1987 A, and the Galactic Center) yield median frequency-dependent limits on
strain amplitude of h0 < ð6.7; 5.5; and 7.0Þ × 10−25, respectively, at the most sensitive detector frequencies
between 130–175 Hz. This represents a mean improvement of a factor of 2 across the band compared
to previous searches of this kind for these sky locations, considering the different quantities of strain
constrained in each case
Prospects for observing and localizing gravitational-wave transients with Advanced LIGO, Advanced Virgo and KAGRA
We present possible observing scenarios for the Advanced LIGO, Advanced Virgo and KAGRA gravitational-wave detectors over the next decade, with the intention of providing information to the astronomy community to facilitate planning for multi-messenger astronomy with gravitational waves. We estimate the sensitivity of the network to transient gravitational-wave signals, and study the capability of the network to determine the sky location of the source. We report our findings for gravitational-wave transients, with particular focus on gravitational-wave signals from the inspiral of binary neutron star systems, which are the most promising targets for multi-messenger astronomy. The ability to localize the sources of the detected signals depends on the geographical distribution of the detectors and their relative sensitivity, and 90% credible regions can be as large as thousands of square degrees when only two sensitive detectors are operational. Determining the sky position of a significant fraction of detected signals to areas of 5– 20 deg2 requires at least three detectors of sensitivity within a factor of ∼2 of each other and with a broad frequency bandwidth. When all detectors, including KAGRA and the third LIGO detector in India, reach design sensitivity, a significant fraction of gravitational-wave signals will be localized to a few square degrees by gravitational-wave observations alone
Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at TeV with the ATLAS detector
This paper presents measurements of the and cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a
function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were
collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with
the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity
of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements
varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the
1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured
with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with
predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various
parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between
them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables,
submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at
https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13
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