The Chinese From Indonesia in the Netherlands and Their Heritage Chinese Indonesian Heritage Center (CIHC)

Chinese from Indonesia in the Netherlands are (post)colonial migrants who share a long historical tie with the Dutch. In this article the author brings together and focuses on three interconnected subjects: Chinese from Indonesia in the Netherlands; the historical development and present meaning of “heritage”; and the Chinese Indonesian Heritage Center (CIHC). For her research on the Chinese Indonesians in the Netherlands, the author has used the literature available on this minority group. The scarce specific data for this group are part of the explanation of its “invisibility” in society and research, and of the difficulty in quantifying them. The development of heritage as a western concept has led her to the question of what heritage might mean for migrants in their new homeland. The concluding part on the Chinese Indonesian Heritage Center introduces the activities of the Center designed to achieve her goals which are focused on the history of this group

Gender Justice and Climate Justice: Community-based strategies to increase women’s political agency in watershed management in times of climate change

Socially vulnerable people, and women in particular, are disproportionately affected by global climate change because of their gendered socioeconomic roles and often their geographic location; yet they are least equipped to deal with those impacts due to their disadvantaged economic and political position. Women, however, have special contributions to make towards climate change adaptation because of gendered differences in positional knowledge of ecological and water-related conditions. To date, women have been largely underrepresented, and in the majority of cases, excluded from formal decision-making processes related to climate change mitigation and adaptation. Including women in these processes and building their capacity and resilience is required for the development of effective and gender-sensitive climate change adaptation policy. Also, preparing women for the short and long-term impacts of climate change is crucial for addressing some of the social aspects of this phenomenon and for preventing further aggravation of existing gender inequalities. This paper discusses South-North initiatives and models for community-based environmental and climate change education which are using the democratic opening provided by watershed-based governance structures to broaden grassroots participation, especially of women, in political processes. We outline the activities and results of two international projects, the Sister Watersheds project, with Brazilian and Canadian partners (2002-2008), and a Climate Change Adaptation in Africa project with partners in Canada, Kenya, Mozambique, and South Africa (2010-2013)

Women and water management in times of climate change: participatory and inclusive processes

This paper focuses on community engagement, and particularly the inclusion of women, in water management as a response to climate change. Addressing water-related problems is central to climate change adaptation, and civil society, marginalized populations and women, in particular, must be involved. This is for both moral and pragmatic reasons: not only are the marginalized the first and worst affected by extreme weather events, but they also possess local ecological, social and political knowledge which can inform and contribute significantly to climate change adaptation strategies. Because of their social roles and position worldwide, women are greatly affected by water scarcity and flooding, and tend to be gravely impacted by poor water management, yet they face great difficulties in participating effectively in governance bodies. Sustainable long-term management of water resources in the face of climate change requires the participation of women, who possess knowledge of effective social tech- nologies for coping with and adapting to climate change. Community-based environmental education is therefore required in order to expand the equitable involvement of women in water-related climate change adaptation activities and policy development. Environmental non-governmental organizations worldwide, working on shoestring budgets at the local level, are developing a range of methods to organize, raise consciousness and confidence, and help local activists create successful climate defense programs. This paper discusses SoutheNorth initiatives and models for community-based environmental and climate change education which are using the democratic opening provided by watershed-based governance structures to broaden grassroots participation, especially of women, in political processes. We outline the activities and results of two international projects: the Sister Watersheds project, with Brazilian and Canadian partners (2002e2008); and a Climate Change Adaptation in Africa project with partners in Canada, Kenya, Mozambique, and South Africa (2010e2012).This research was supported by the International Development Research Centre, grant number IDRC GRANT NO. 106002-00

International partnerships of women for sustainable watershed governance in times of climate change

This chapter describes and assesses collaborative research with women actively engaged in local and global community engagement processes for water management in times of global climate change. As an equity-focused response to climate change, the interrelated networks and initiatives described in the chapter involve organizations and individuals in Brazil, Mozambique, South Africa, Kenya, and Canada. These collaborations are focused on strengthening low-income women's voices, and legitimizing their knowledge and action within water management institutions and processes. The chapter draws from what people learned through two international projects, the Sister Watersheds project with Canadian and Brazilian partners, and a Climate Change Adaptation in Africa project with partners in Canada, Kenya, Mozambique, and South Africa. The methods and approach of the Sister Watersheds project proved to be applicable to climate change education and organizing in Canada as well as in Brazil. The chapter summarizes that women are working together on climate education and water governance, helping to inspire and generate related strategies.This research was supported by the International Development Research Centre, grant number IDRC GRANT NO. 106002-00

Pseudomonas aeruginosa can be detected in a polymicrobial competition model using impedance spectroscopy with a novel biosensor

Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) is a powerful technique that can be used to elicit information about an electrode interface. In this article, we highlight six principal processes by which the presence of microorganisms can affect impedance and show how one of these - the production of electroactive metabolites - changes the impedance signature of culture media containing Pseudomonas aeruginosa. EIS, was used in conjunction with a low cost screen printed carbon sensor to detect the presence of P. aeruginosa when grown in isolation or as part of a polymicrobial infection with Staphylococcus aureus. By comparing the electrode to a starting measurement, we were able to identify an impedance signature characteristic of P. aeruginosa. Furthermore, we are able to show that one of the changes in the impedance signature is due to pyocyanin and associated phenazine compounds. The findings of this study indicate that it might be possible to develop a low cost sensor for the detection of P. aeruginosa in important point of care diagnostic applications. In particular, we suggest that a development of the device described here could be used in a polymicrobial clinical sample such as sputum from a CF patient to detect P. aeruginosa

Tracking the precession of compact binaries from their gravitational-wave signal

We present a simple method to track the precession of a black-hole-binary system, using only information from the gravitational-wave (GW) signal. Our method consists of locating the frame from which the magnitude of the $(\ell=2,|m|=2)$ modes is maximized, which we denote the "quadrupole-aligned" frame. We demonstrate the efficacy of this method when applied to waveforms from numerical simulations. In the test case of an equal-mass nonspinning binary, our method locates the direction of the orbital angular momentum to within $(\Delta \theta, \Delta \phi) = (0.05^{\circ},0.2^{\circ})$. We then apply the method to a $q = M_2/M_1 = 3$ binary that exhibits significant precession. In general a spinning binary's orbital angular momentum $\mathbf{L}$ is \emph{not} orthogonal to the orbital plane. Evidence that our method locates the direction of $\mathbf{L}$ rather than the normal of the orbital plane is provided by comparison with post-Newtonian (PN) results. Also, we observe that it accurately reproduces similar higher-mode amplitudes to a comparable non-spinning (and therefore non-precessing) binary, and that the frequency of the $(\ell=2,|m|=2)$ modes is consistent with the "total frequency" of the binary's motion. The simple form of the quadrupole-aligned waveform will be useful in attempts to analytically model the inspiral-merger-ringdown (IMR) signal of precessing binaries, and in standardizing the representation of waveforms for studies of accuracy and consistency of source modelling efforts, both numerical and analytical.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figures, 1 tabl

Re-establishing Justice as a Pillar of Ecological Economics Through Feminist

Ecological economics has long claimed distributive justice as a central tenet, yet discussions of equity and justice have received relatively little attention over the history of the field. While ecological economics has aspired to be transdisciplinary, its framing of justice is hardly pluralistic. Feminist perspectives and justice frameworks offer a structure for appraising the human condition that bridges social and ecological issues. Through a brief overview of the uptake of feminist perspectives in other social sciences, this paper outlines an initial justice-integration strategy for ecological economics by providing both a point of entry for readers to the vast and diverse field of feminist economic thought, as well as a context for the process of disciplinary evolution in social sciences. We also critique ecological economics' toleration of neoclassical mainstays such as individualism that run counter to justice goals. The paper concludes with a call for ecological economics practitioners and theorists to learn from other social sciences and elevate their attention to justice, to open possibilities for more dynamic, inter- disciplinary, community-oriented, and pluralistic analysis.This research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada SSHRC File #: 895-2013-1010 Project period: 01-April-14 to 31-Mar-2

Numerical Relativity Injection Infrastructure

This document describes the new Numerical Relativity (NR) injection infrastructure in the LIGO Algorithms Library (LAL), which henceforth allows for the usage of NR waveforms as a discrete waveform approximant in LAL. With this new interface, NR waveforms provided in the described format can directly be used as simulated GW signals ("injections") for data analyses, which include parameter estimation, searches, hardware injections etc. As opposed to the previous infrastructure, this new interface natively handles sub-dominant modes and waveforms from numerical simulations of precessing binary black holes, making them directly accessible to LIGO analyses. To correctly handle precessing simulations, the new NR injection infrastructure internally transforms the NR data into the coordinate frame convention used in LAL.Comment: 20 pages, 2 figures, technical repor