Magnetic Ordering in the Spin-Ice Candidate Ho2_2Ru2_2O7_7

Neutron scattering measurements on the spin-ice candidate material Ho$_2$Ru$_2$O$_7$ have revealed two magnetic transitions at T $\sim$ 95 K and T $\sim$ 1.4 K to long-range ordered states involving the Ru and Ho sublattices, respectively. Between these transitions, the Ho$^{3+}$ moments form short-ranged ordered spin clusters. The internal field provided by the ordered S=1 Ru$^{4+}$ moments disrupts the fragile spin-ice state and drives the Ho$^{3+}$ moments to order. We have directly measured a slight shift in the Ho$^{3+}$ crystal field levels at 95 K from the Ru ordering.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Letter

Magnetic ordering in the spin-ice candidate Ho2Ru2O7

Neutron scattering measurements on the spin-ice candidate material Ho2Ru2O7 have revealed two magnetic transitions at Tsimilar to95 and similar to1.4 K to long-range ordered states involving the Ru and Ho sublattices, respectively. Between these transitions, the Ho3+ moments form short-ranged ordered spin clusters. The internal field provided by the ordered S=1 Ru4+ moments disrupts the fragile spin-ice state and drives the Ho3+ moments to order. We have directly measured a slight shift in the Ho3+ crystal field levels at 95 K from the Ru ordering

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

The Complexities of Green Economy Policy Reform: a case study in Aceh, Indonesia

As the world continues its search for effective approaches to sustainable development, a green economy has been touted as a ‘triple-win’ solution. This thesis applies a political economy framework to examine the prospects and barriers for achieving green economy policy reforms. It questions simplistic assumptions regarding the feasibility of ‘triple-win solutions’ in green economy literature. The thesis instead reveals the conflicts, trade-offs and power dynamics that ultimately determine whether or not a green economy can be realised in practice. The research focuses on the Aceh Green intervention, initiated in 2007 in Aceh Province, Indonesia. Aceh Green was one of the first attempts globally to transform economic and environmental management systems in an integrated, cross-sectoral manner, as envisaged by green economy engineers. An analysis of the shortcomings of Aceh Green, which failed to survive a change of political leadership, provides new insights into the difficult realities of green economy policy reform, and highlights problems within the approach and its assumptions. I argue that Aceh Green failed to achieve its vision of a private sector driven transition towards a new economic system due to three related reasons: 1) the risk versus reward balance was not sufficient for ‘green investors’; 2) actors with vested economic and political interests resisted change; and 3) the Aceh Green intervention was unable to build coalitions for change that may have helped to overcome these obstacles. Case study findings raise important questions regarding the viability of a green economy approach to sustainable development in Aceh, and beyond. Fundamentally, the green economy approach, with its reliance on market based solutions, is vulnerable to the local investment climate as well as the lack of mature markets for ‘green commodities’. Furthermore, entrenched political and economic elites can undermine the institutional reforms on which the green economy concept is founded. The study therefore proposes that green economy efforts must be founded upon a deeper understanding of the nuanced political economy at play in different settings. The dilemma of realising a green economy is exposed as an elemental struggle between actors over the management of and access to natural resources and the benefits derived from them. The process of navigating these complexities needs to receive greater attention. In contrast, much of the current normative work on a green economy emphasises the desired policies and outcomes without factoring in the difficulties of the reform process that must be addressed. More consideration is needed of specific and early interventions that shift beliefs and realign economic incentives amongst critical actors. Without this, attempts at green economy policy reform will fail to build the necessary coalitions for change to counter vested interests.

Compensating for development : Orang Asli experiences of Malaysia's Sungai Selangor dam

In 2001, two indigenous Orang Asli communities living in Peninsula Malaysia were forced to leave their homelands to make way for the Sungai Selangor dam. The dam, built to resolve water shortages in Kuala Lumpur, came with a comprehensive compensation package designed to alleviate the hardships faced by the displaced communities. This paper explores the discursive and material impacts of these compensation packages. We argue that the emerging literature on compensation for displaced people values the same sorts of economic and social criteria as the Malaysian government does in its pursuit of modernising the Orang Asli. Their shared belief that effective compensation would improve the quality of life for affected communities above pre-displacement levels helped to publicly legitimise the dam-building project. Interviews with the displaced communities, however, found stark differences in community satisfaction which have more to do with losses of intrinsic place-based cultural and spiritual values, for which there may be no effective or adequate compensation, than social and economic criteria. We conclude that compensation programmes will always struggle to effectively cope with these less tangible place-based values and that open acknowledgement of this weakness is required if alternatives to displacement-inducing development projects are to be more readily considered.13 page(s

Green economy meets political economy: Lessons from the "Aceh Green" initiative, Indonesia

In the search for effective approaches to sustainable development, a 'green economy' has been touted by key UN bodies and donors as a ‘triple-win’ solution. Through a political economy lens, this paper examines the prospects and barriers of this approach. The analysis focuses on the Aceh Green intervention in Indonesia, initiated in 2007. Aceh Green was one of the first attempts within Indonesia and globally to transform economic and environmental management systems in an integrated, cross-sectoral manner, as envisaged by green economy engineers. An analysis of the shortcomings of Aceh Green, which ultimately failed to survive a change of political leadership, provides new insights into the difficult realities of this approach and its underlying assumptions. Three main challenges are identified in this case 1) actors with vested economic and political interests held sway; 2) the intervention was unable to build coalitions for change needed to overcome these powerful actors; and consequently 3) the balance of risks versus rewards was not sufficient for ‘green investors,’ who then withdrew support. The dilemma of realising a green economy is exposed as an elemental struggle between actors over the management of and access to natural resources and the benefits derived from them, which ultimately undermines the viability of the approach

Social and economic considerations relevant to REDD+

The chapter examines the evolution of REDD+ governance and identifies policy options to increase synergies among REDD+, the sustainable management of forests and biodiversity conservation. REDD+ emerged at the international level as a point of convergence across the ‘institutional complexes’ of forests, climate and biodiversity. This convergence attracted the engagement of a wide range of institutions in REDD+ activities, which together have drawn on three primary sources of authority to influence REDD+ rule-making: government sovereignty, contingent finance and voluntary carbon markets. Intergovernmental processes, which represent the primary articulation of governmental authority at the global level, have generated few binding commitments to the sustainable management of forests or biodiversity due to conflicting country interests. These efforts instead have favoured normative guidance, monitoring and reporting, and legality verification initiatives that reinforce sovereign authority. Bilateral and multi-lateral finance initiatives have exerted ‘fund-based’ authority through the application of operational safeguards protecting indigenous and local communities and biodiversity, but limited funding and low capacity of REDD+ countries to absorb those funds have constrained their influence. Finally, non-state actors have developed voluntary certification schemes for forest and carbon as a ’fast track’ approach to elaborating more substantive international standards for environmentally- and socially-responsible forest practices. While the small size and voluntary nature of markets for forest carbon have greatly constrained the impact of these approaches, this could change if a significant regulatory market for REDD+ develops. Furthermore, the governance of REDD+, forest management and biodiversity is pluralistic, involving multiple institutions and actors. Efforts to promote REDD+ safeguarding at the international level exist in tension with national sovereignty and local autonomy. This complexity is taken into consideration in the suite of policy options provided in this chapter, which suggest the need to draw on a range of institutions and approaches and to consider how together they influence the balance of power and incentives across actors and scales

Serotonergic modulation of prefrontal cortex during negative feedback in probabilistic reversal learning.

This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine the effects of acute tryptophan (TRP) depletion (ATD), a well-recognized method for inducing transient cerebral serotonin depletion, on brain activity during probabilistic reversal learning. Twelve healthy male volunteers received a TRP-depleting drink or a balanced amino-acid drink ( placebo) in a double-blind crossover design. At 5 h after drink ingestion, subjects were scanned while performing a probabilistic reversal learning task and while viewing a flashing checkerboard. The probabilistic reversal learning task enabled the separate examination of the effects of ATD on behavioral reversal following negative feedback and negative feedback per se that was not followed by behavioral adaptation. Consistent with previous findings, behavioral reversal was accompanied by significant signal change in the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. ATD enhanced reversal-related signal change in the dorsomedial PFC, but did not modulate the ventrolateral PFC response. The ATD-induced signal change in the dorsomedial PFC during behavioral reversal learning extended to trials where subjects received negative feedback but did not change their behavior. These data suggest that ATD affects reversal learning and the processing of aversive signals by modulation of the dorsomedial PFC