The Geopolitics of Climate Knowledge Mobilization:Transdisciplinary Research at the Science–Policy Interface(s) in the Americas

Climate change and sustainability science have become more international in scope and transdisciplinary in nature, in response to growing expectations that scientific knowledge directly informs collective action and transformation. In this article, we move past idealized models of the science–policy interface to examine the social processes and geopolitical dynamics of knowledge mobilization. We argue that sociotechnical imaginaries of transdisciplinary research, deployed in parallel to “universal” regimes of evidence-based decision-making from the global North, conceal how international collaborations of scientists and societal actors actually experience knowledge mobilization, its systemic barriers, and its paths to policy action. Through ethnographic study of a transdisciplinary research program in the Americas, coupled with in-depth analysis of Colombia, we reveal divergences in how participants envision and experience knowledge mobilization and identify persistent disparities that diminish the capacity of researchers to influence decision-making and fit climate knowledge within broader neoliberal development paradigms. Results of the study point to a plurality of science–policy interface(s), each shaped by national sociotechnical imaginaries, development priorities, and local social orders. We conclude that a geopolitical approach to transdisciplinary science is necessary to understand how climate and sustainability knowledge circulates unevenly in a world marked by persistent inequality and dominance. </jats:p

Adaptation requires attuning to shifting temporal patterns

Communal life is characterized by the shared timing of human and environmental events. Climate change is disrupting these timings, creating mismatches in these coordinated temporal patterns and requiring adaptive governance

Strengthening Resilience by thinking of Knowledge as a Nutrient that connects the personal to global thinking

Poster presented at the Adaptation Futures Conference, the Third International Climate Change Adaptation Conference, Fortaleza Ceará, Brazil, May 12-16,2014. http://adaptationfutures2014.ccst.inpe.brPoster presented at the Adaptation Futures Conference, the Third International Climate Change Adaptation Conference, Fortaleza Ceará, Brazil, May 12-16,2014. http://adaptationfutures2014.ccst.inpe.br In April 2009, we held an international conference at York University, Toronto, Canada. Activists and academics who work with NGOs from the Global South and North came together to discuss adaptation to climate change. Most significantly, the Canadian perspective was entirely presented by First Nations and Inuit, which was and is highly unusual at conferences of this kind that are held in the south of Canada. This conference triggered and reinforced a cascade of diverse activities and research that has followed many intertwining pathways that diverged, crossed and reconnected over time. Several key factors have emerged from both the field experiences shared at the conference, and the related research, indicating that the adaptive capacity of disenfranchised peoples in Brazil, India, South Africa, Canada and beyond, is enhanced by diverse kinds of shared knowledge.York University & Environment Canada, Government of Canada International Polar Year for fundin

Preparing for and Responding to Disturbance: Examples from the Forest Sector in Sweden and Canada

Coping or adaptation following large-scale disturbance may depend on the political system and its preparedness and policy development in relation to risks. Adaptive or foresight planning is necessary in order to account and plan for potential risks that may increase or take place concurrently with climate change. Forests constitute relevant examples of large-scale renewable resource systems that have been directly affected by recent environmental and social changes, and where different levels of management may influence each other. This article views disturbances in the forest sectors of Sweden and Canada, two large forest nations with comparable forestry experiences, in order to elucidate the preparedness and existing responses to multiple potential stresses. The article concludes that the two countries are exposed to stresses that indicate the importance of the governing and institutional system particularly with regard to multi-level systems including federal and EU levels. While economic change largely results in privatization of risk onto individual companies and their economic resources (in Canada coupled with a contestation of institutional systems and equity in these), storm and pest outbreaks in particular challenge institutional capacities at administrative levels, within the context provided by governance and tenure systems.In Sweden, funding from the research agency FORMAS, the MISTRA Arctic Futures programme, and the Future Forests programme (funded by research agency MISTRA, the forest industries, Umeå University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) as well as from the EU for data collection is acknowledged. Ryan Bullock acknowledges funding provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and by the Mistra Arctic Futures programme for preparing this paper.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/2/2/50

Draft Genome Sequence of Mn(II)-Oxidizing Bacterium Oxalobacteraceae sp. Strain AB_14.

Biological Mn(II) oxidation produces reactive manganese oxides that help to mitigate metal contamination in the environment. Here, we present the genome of Oxalobacteraceae sp. strain AB_14, a species of Mn(II)-oxidizing bacteria (MOB) that is notable for its ability to catalyze Mn oxidation at low pH (5.5)

Literatur-Rundschau

Klaus Beck: Kommunikationswissenschaft / Klaus Meier: Journalistik / Rudolf Stöber: Kommunikations- und Medienwissenschaften (Ralf Hohlfeld)Birgitta Derenthal: Medienverantwortung in christlicher Perspektive. Ein Beitrag zu einer praktisch-theologischen Medienethik (Christian Klenk)Jürgen Wilke: Presseanweisungen im zwanzigsten Jahrhundert. Erster Weltkrieg - Drittes Reich - DDR (Markus Behmer)Bernd-Michael Haese: Hinter den Spiegeln - Kirche im virtuellen Zeitalter des Internet (Nicole Stroth)Helmut Rolfes/Angela Ann Zukowski (Hg.): Communicatio Socialis. Challenge of Theology and Ministry in the Church. Festschrift für Franz-Josef Eilers (Ferdinand Oertel)Hein Blommestijn et al.: God in je huiskamer (Joan Hemels)Manfred Piwinger/Ansgar Zerfaß (Hg.): Handbuch Untemehmenskommunikation (Roland Burkart)

The Association of Physical Activity Fragmentation with Physical Function in Older Adults: Analysis from the SITLESS Study

The distribution of physical activity bouts through the day may provide useful information for assessing the impacts of interventions on aspects such as physical function. This study aimed to investigate the associations between physical activity fragmentation, tested using different minimum physical activity bout lengths, with physical function in older adults. The SITLESS project recruited 1360 community-dwelling participants from four European countries (≥65 years old). Physical activity fragmentation was represented as the active-to-sedentary transition probability (ASTP), the reciprocal of the average physical activity bout duration measured using ActiGraph wGT3X+ accelerometers. Four minimum bout lengths were utilised to calculate the ASTP: ≥10-s, ≥60-s, ≥120-s and ≥300-s. Physical function was assessed using the 2-min walk test (2MWT) and the composite score from the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) test. Linear regression analyses, after adjusting for relevant covariates, were used to assess cross-sectional associations. After adjustment for relevant covariates, lower ASTP using ≥10-s bouts were associated with longer 2MWT distances and higher SPPB scores. Lower ASTP using ≥120-s bouts and ≥300-s bouts were associated with longer 2MWT distances but not the SPPB. Less fragmented physical activity patterns appeared to be associated with better physical function in community-dwelling older adult

Associations of sedentary behavior bouts with community-dwelling older adults' physical function

The study aim was to explore associations between sedentary behavior (SB) bouts and physical function in 1360 community-dwelling older adults (≥65 years old). SB was measured using an ActiGraph wGT3X + accelerometer for seven consecutive days at the dominant hip and processed accordingly. Various SB bout lengths were assessed including: 1- to 9-minutes; 10- to 29-minutes; 30- to 59-minutes; and ≥60-minutes, as well as maximum time spent in a SB bout. Total SB time was adjusted for within the SB bout variables used (percentage SB time in the SB bout length and number of SB bouts per total SB hour). Physical function was assessed using the 2-minute walk test (2MWT), 5-times sit-to-stand (chair stand) test, and unipedal stance test (UST). Hierarchical linear regression models were utilized. Covariates such as moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), demographic and health characteristics were controlled for. Lower percentage time spent in ≥60-minute SB bouts was significantly (P <.05) associated with longer 2MWT distance while lower numbers of ≥60-minute SB bouts were associated with longer 2MWT distance, shorter chair stand time and longer UST time. There were mixed associations with physical function for 10- to 29-minute SB bouts. In a large cohort of European older adults, prolonged SB bouts lasting ≥60-minutes appear to be associated with reduced physical function after controlling for MVPA and numerous other important covariates. Besides reducing SB levels, these findings suggest there is a need to regularly interrupt prolonged SB to improve physical function in older adults

West Nile virus transmission in resident birds, Dominican Republic

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol9no10/03-0222.htmWe report West Nile virus (WNV) activity in the Dominican Republic for the first time. Specific anti-WNV antibodies were detected in 5 (15%) of 33 resident birds sampled at one location in November 2002. One seropositive bird was <4 months old, indicating a recent infection

West Nile virus transmission in resident birds, Dominican Republic

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol9no10/03-0222.htmWe report West Nile virus (WNV) activity in the Dominican Republic for the first time. Specific anti-WNV antibodies were detected in 5 (15%) of 33 resident birds sampled at one location in November 2002. One seropositive bird was <4 months old, indicating a recent infection