Taking Complexity Seriously in International Law: A View from the Arctic

Over the past three decades, the Arctic system has undergone significant, large-scale transformational change – a shift which has profoundly altered human-environment interactions and feedbacks within the system. What was once described as a relatively closed area, both in terms of its material and social reality, has become increasingly open and complex. I am interested in the capacity of international law, as an instrument of governance, to manage this rapidly changing Arctic system. More specifically, this project seeks to answer a central research question: Is the emerging material reality of the Arctic system fundamentally incommensurable with the functional requirements of the law that seeks to govern it? I conclude that that is the case, and, in the conclusion of this dissertation, I argue that a complex systems ontology might be able to help us identify how to build a better governance structure for the Arctic. Contrary to existing scholarship, which often defines the Arctic based on geography or issue area, I begin by drawing on a complex systems ontology to introduce what we seek to manage: an increasingly open and tightly coupled Arctic system. This is followed by an overview of current governance approaches and their response to the nature of change in the Arctic system, where I draw on three case studies to point to a disjuncture between the emerging material and social reality of the Arctic system and current governance responses, which can give rise to governance failure. I argue that a significant part of the problem is an insistence on law and formality as one of the primary responses. Then, I highlight how the theoretical underpinnings of current approaches, specifically legal positivism, make it difficult for us to envision alternative methods of Arctic environmental governance which can account for complexity and change. I argue that there is a fundamental incommensurability between the demands of legal positivism – defined by characteristics like predictability, closed boundaries, and formal legal rationality – and the demands of the complex systems it seeks to govern – defined by characteristics like thermodynamic openness, heightened non-linearity, and connectivity. In search of an alternative theoretical underpinning, I turn to non-positivist legal theories including research on Transnational Legal Process and Interactional Legal Theory and find that both theories are insufficient because they give little focus to the co-evolution of various systems including the human-environment nexus. Recognizing a shortfall between the rapidly rising need for legal innovation and its inadequate supply in both current Arctic environmental governance and Arctic scholarship alike, I point to research in Earth systems science, on social-ecological systems, and Earth system governance which increasingly draws on a complex systems ontology to think about the ways in which different components of a system fit together, interact with one another, and respond to change. More precisely, I make note of a call to action for the juridical sciences to embrace a complex system ontology and vice versa. Finally, having diagnosed the problem and seeking to respond to this call to action, I outline a prospective research agenda for a complex systems ontology and Arctic environmental governance. Specifically, I propose a set of three complexity tools – the WIT framework, the energy landscape metaphor, and the law of requisite variety – which can help us re-imagine the Arctic system and explore the role of international law in anticipating and responding to critical transitions therein

Treatment of Clostridium difficile infection: a national survey of clinician recommendations and the use of faecal microbiota transplantation

Adherence to Clostridium difficile infection treatment guidelines is associated with lower recurrence rates and mortality as well as cost savings. Our survey of Irish clinicians indicates that patients are managed using a variety of approaches. FMT is potentially underutilised despite its recommendation in national and European guidelines

Does Discharge Pharmacy Affect Outcomes After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention?

Aims for Improvement To reduce the rate of this institution’s readmission rate in patients discharged after PCI, by identifying the current trends in readmission in relation to prescription and medication delivery practices over the past 1 year

(Erwerbs-)Arbeit mit Hindernissen: Eine dispositivanalytische Perspektive auf biographische Erzählungen von Menschen mit Behinderungen

Der Beitrag benutzt eine dispositivanalytische Forschungsperspektive auf biographische Erzählungen von Menschen mit Behinderungen und fragt am Beispiel von (Erwerbs-)Arbeit, wie sich das Dispositiv der Behinderung in individuellen Erwerbsbiographien manifestiert und welche Dispositivelemente dabei zum Vorschein kommen. Anhand von Interviewdaten zeigen sich Verflechtungen des Behinderungsdispositivs mit weiteren Dispositiven, etwa der Bildung oder der Erwerbsarbeit. Auch werden handlungsfähige, wirkmächtige Dispositivelemente freigelegt, die als relevante Andere die Erwerbsbiographien behinderter Personen und deren Teilhabe an (Erwerbs-)Arbeit mitgestalten. Herausgearbeitet wird zudem, wie die interviewten Frauen und Männer mit unterschiedlichen Beeinträchtigungen mit den Erwartungen von Fachkräften und der Arbeitsagentur umgehen

A Critical Analysis of Decentralisation and Community-Based Irrigation Water Resource Governance in Ghana

Ghana began a series of water sector institutional reforms in the early 1990s, adopting an integrated water resources management (IWRM) approach, which recognised the importance of the agricultural sector as a major water user. Much progress has been achieved in establishing the regulatory frameworks for IWRM implementation. The national irrigation water policy emphasised the social and economic value of the decentralisation of irrigation water governance. The policy sought to transfer irrigation water governance to local government authorities (District Assemblies) and Water User Associations (WUAs) and aimed to promote participatory community-based irrigation water governance. The implementation of the policy sought to adhere to the principle of subsidiarity in devolving management roles, ownership and control to the District Assemblies and WUAs. However, little progress has been achieved in realising the policy intent of decentralisation. There remain weaknesses in the current governance arrangements which have resulted in low participation and cooperation of regional government agencies, District Assemblies, communities, and general water users in irrigation water governance. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to evaluate current decentralised governance structures and processes at the regional, district and community levels, and to assess to what extent these structures effectively support a community-based approach to irrigation water governance in Ghana

Crystallographic preferred orientations of ice deformed in direct-shear experiments at low temperatures

Synthetic polycrystalline ice was sheared at temperatures of-5,-20 and-30 °C, to different shear strains, up to γ = 2.6, equivalent to a maximum stretch of 2.94 (final line length is 2.94 times the original length). Cryo-electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis shows that basal intracrystalline slip planes become preferentially oriented parallel to the shear plane in all experiments, with a primary cluster of crystal c axes (the c axis is perpendicular to the basal plane) perpendicular to the shear plane. In all except the two highest-strain experiments at-30 °C, a secondary cluster of c axes is observed, at an angle to the primary cluster. With increasing strain, the primary c-axis cluster strengthens. With increasing temperature, both clusters strengthen. In the-5 °C experiments, the angle between the two clusters reduces with strain. The c-axis clusters are elongated perpendicular to the shear direction. This elongation increases with increasing shear strain and with decreasing temperature. Highly curved grain boundaries are more prevalent in samples sheared at higher temperatures. At each temperature, the proportion of curved boundaries decreases with increasing shear strain. Subgrains are observed in all samples. Microstructural interpretations and comparisons of the data from experimentally sheared samples with numerical models suggest that the observed crystallographic orientation patterns result from a balance of the rates of lattice rotation (during dislocation creep) and growth of grains by strain-induced grain boundary migration (GBM). GBM is faster at higher temperatures and becomes less important as shear strain increases. These observations and interpretations provide a hypothesis to be tested in further experiments and using numerical models, with the ultimate goal of aiding the interpretation of crystallographic preferred orientations in naturally deformed ice

Decreasing rates of disorganised attachment in infants and young children, who are at risk of developing, or who already have disorganised attachment. A systematic review and meta-analysis of early parenting interventions

BACKGROUND: Disorganised attachment patterns in infants have been linked to later psychopathology. Services have variable practices for identifying and providing interventions for families of children with disorganised attachment patterns, which is the attachment pattern leading to most future psychopathology. Several recent government reports have highlighted the need for better parenting interventions in at risk groups. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of available parenting interventions for families of children at high risk of developing, or already showing, a disorganised pattern of attachment. METHODS: Population: Studies were included if they involved parents or caregivers of young children with a mean age under 13 years who had a disorganised classification of attachment or were identified as at high risk of developing such problems. Included interventions were aimed at parents or caregivers (e.g. foster carers) seeking to improve attachment. Comparators included an alternative intervention, an attention control, treatment as usual or no intervention. The primary outcome was a disorganised pattern in childhood measured using a validated attachment instrument. Studies that did not use a true Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) design were excluded from the review. Both published and unpublished papers were included, there were no restrictions on years since publication and foreign language papers were included where translation services could be accessed within necessary timescales. RESULTS: A comprehensive search of relevant databases yielded 15,298 papers. This paper reports a systematic review as part of an NIHR HTA study identifying studies pre-2012, updated to include all papers to October 2016. Two independent reviewers undertook two stage screening and data extraction of the included studies at all stages. A Cochrane quality assessment was carried out to assess the risk of bias. In total, fourteen studies were included in the review. In a meta-analysis of these fourteen studies the interventions saw less disorganised attachment at outcome compared to the control (OR = 0.50, (0.32, 0.77), p = 0.008). The majority of the interventions targeted maternal sensitivity. We carried out exploratory analyses to examine factors that may influence treatment outcome but these should be treated with caution given that we were limited by small numbers of studies. CONCLUSIONS: Parenting interventions that target parental sensitivity show promise in reducing disorganised attachment. This is limited by few high quality studies and the fact that most studies are with mothers. More high quality randomised controlled trials are required to elucidate this further

Effect of thermal treatment and storage on bioactive compounds, organic acids and antioxidant activity of baobab fruit (Adansonia digitata) pulp from Malawi

Bioactive compounds of baobab (Adansonia digitata) pulp from Malawi were investigated. The effect of thermal treatment and storage on selected quality attributes of the juice was also evaluated. Organic compounds were analysed by HPLC; total phenol content (TPC) and total antioxidant activity (FRAP, ABTS and DPPH) were measured by spectrophotometry. Malawi baobab pulp contains high levels of procyanidin B2 (533 ± 22.6 mg/100 g FW), vitamin C (AA + DHA) (466 ± 2.5 mg/100 g FW), gallic acid (68.5 ± 12.4 mg/100 g FW) and (−)-epicatechin (43.0 ± 3.0 mg/100 g FW) and showed a maximum TPC of 1.89 × 103 ± 1.61 mg GAE/100 g FW. The maximum antioxidant activity was 2.81 × 103 ± 92.8 mg TEAC/100 g FW for FRAP, 1.52 × 103 ± 17.1 mg TEAC/100 g FW for ABTS and 50.9 ± 0.43% DPPH for DPPH. Thermal pasteurisation (72 °C, 15 s) retained vitamin C which further showed extended half-life under refrigeration temperature (6 °C). Procyanidin B2, (−)-epicatechin, TPC and antioxidant activity fluctuated during storage. Antioxidant activity was significantly correlated (p ≤ 0.05) with bioactive compounds and TPC