Recovery and resilience of communities in flood risk zones in a small island developing state: A case study from a suburban settlement of Port Louis, Mauritius

Small island developing states (SIDS) are characterised by their small size, remoteness and their dispersal in vulnerable regions globally. In Mauritius, rapid economic growth and expansion of suburban and coastal settlements in flood risk zones have exacerbated challenges from increased vulnerability of local communities to frequent flooding and inadequate resilience. While most studies are devoted to coastal flooding due to sea level rise, inland flooding aggravated by human settlements on exposed areas and by human-environment interaction is rarely considered. Generally, studies have focused on immediate flood impacts rather than on post-event recovery factors that reduce resilience and lead to the inability to recover through successive events. This includes living through onslaught of secondary hazards post-event. This study (2008-2014) focuses on the recovery and resilience of a flood-prone community living in a suburban area of Port-Louis, the capital of Mauritius.A mixed method of quantitative and qualitative approaches was used to examine the recovery and resilience of the community at household level. Results from quantitative analysis showed significant associations at p≤0.05 between variables relating to recovery and those of income level, literacy level, and household size with children, and/or elderly persons. Qualitative results from focus group interviews indicated that social inequity and environmental injustice hindered recovery among low-income households. However, some resilience was present through community capital, with solidarity in times of adversity amongst some community sub-groups. Outcomes from a participatory exercise showed that experiential knowledge of how to cope with floods was crucial in resilience-building strategies of households and communities

Strength in diversity: enhancing learning in vocationally-orientated, master's level courses

Postgraduate education in geography, especially at the Master’s level, is undergoing significant changes in the developed world. There is an expansion of vocationally-oriented degree programmes, increasing recruitment of international students, integration of work place skills, and the engagement of non-traditional postgraduate students as departments respond to policies for a more ‘inclusive’ higher education. This paper sets the context by outlining some programmatic changes in selected countries (Australia, the UK, and the USA). We briefly reflect on how postgraduate ‘bars’ or ‘levels’ are defined and explore in detail what ‘diversity’ or ‘heterogeneity’ means in these new postgraduate settings. The paper then explores some examples of practice drawn from our own experiences, whilst recognising that relevance will vary in other contexts. Finally we consider how diversity can be harnessed as a strength that has potential to enhance taught elements of contemporary postgraduate education in and beyond the discipline

Holocene alluvial fan evolution, Schmidt-hammer exposure-age dating and paraglacial debris floods in the SE Jostedalsbreen region, southern Norway

The evolution of several sub‐alpine alluvial fans SE of the Jostedalsbreen ice cap was investigated based on their geomorphology and Schmidt‐hammer exposure‐age dating (SHD ) applied to 47 boulder deposits on the fan surfaces. A debris‐flood rather than debrisflow or water‐flow origin for the deposits was inferred from their morphology, consisting of low ridges with terminal splays up to 100 m wide without lateral levees. This was supported by fan, catchment, and boulder characteristics. SHD ages ranged from 9480±765 to 1955±810 years. The greatest number of boulder deposits, peak debris‐flood activity and maximum fan aggradation occurred between ̃9.0 and 8.0 ka, following regional deglaciation at ̃9.7 ka. The high debris concentrations necessary for debris floods were attributed to paraglacial processes enhanced by unstable till deposits on steep slopes within the catchments. From ̃8.0 ka, fan aggradation became progressively less as the catchment sediment sources tended towards exhaustion, precipitation decreased during the Holocene Thermal Maximum, and tree cover increased. After ̃4.0 ka, some areas of fan surfaces stabilized, while Late‐Holocene climatic deterioration led to renewed fan aggradation in response to the neoglacial growth of glaciers, culminating in the Little Ice Age. These changes are generalized within a conceptual model of alluvial fan evolution in this recently‐deglaciated mountain region and in glacierized catchments. This study highlights the potential importance of debris floods, of which relatively little is known, especially in the context of alluvial fan evolution

Learning Enhancement for Active Student Community Engagement (LEAPSE).

This project explored the potential of public-student engagement to enhance the student experience through active community and public engagement activities. The project evaluates existing models of public engagement activities to build capacity in both the University and communities to gain greater benefit from the potential such co-generative relationships can provide. This project focused on one university with the intention of complementing this primary activity with collecting case study material from a range of contexts. The context for graduate employment is rapidly changing and there is evidence that students derive benefits when their programmes include opportunities for authentic engagement with real-world problems. There is evidence to suggest that communities can benefit from genuine engagement with universities and their staff and students. Over a two-year period at the University of Gloucestershire, the project team worked with academics, students and community groups with the aim that universities and communities can make the most of the relationships and in particular to enhance the students’ experience. This exciting and innovative project worked closely with the National Coordination Centre for Public Engagement to ensure transferability of the project outcomes and to promote outputs from the project. It finds that an estimated 63% students at the University of Gloucestershire are engaged in voluntary work of some kind (63% nationally), of whom, 22% have arranged this through the University or the Student Union (SU) (38 % nationally). Work carried out as part of a project to log voluntary and community engagement across the university involving staff and students has found that approximately 10,000 hours of voluntary work has been carried out in the 2012/13 academic year. The range of work makes understanding and planning this kind of engagement complex. This comprises • Individual self-organised voluntary work, such as brownie or cub scout leadership. • Individual volunteering through a university programme, such as a sports programme working with local teams, or a school mentoring programme (though some of these are paid and therefore not included here). • Individual or team volunteering through Student Union brokerage, such as the SU-run VolunteerShop, campus-based community gardens and an annual tea dance for elderly residents living near the university. • Individual voluntary work within the context of an internship or placement, which may or may not include work for academic credit, such as for a local community project or voluntary organisation, such as the for sports clubs. However, this does not include undergraduate community based research as part of a module that can also account for a considerable contribution of time, effort and expertise

Why it takes an 'ontological shock' to prompt increases in small firm resilience : sensemaking, emotions and flood risk

This article uses a sensemaking approach to understand small firms’ responses to the threat of external shocks. By analysing semi-structured interviews with owners of flooded small firms, we investigate how owners process flood experiences and explore why such experiences do not consistently lead to the resilient adaptation of premises. We, conclude that some of the explanation for low levels of adaptation relates to a desire to defend existing sensemaking structures and associated identities. Sensemaking structures are only revised if these structures are not critical to business identity, or if a flood constitutes an ‘ontological shock’ and renders untenable existing assumptions regarding long-term business continuity. This article has implications for adaptation to the growing risk of flooding, climate change and external shocks. Future research analysing external shocks would benefit from using a sensemaking approach and survey studies should include measurements of ‘ontological’ impact as well as material and financial damage. In addition, those designing information campaigns should take account of small firms’ resistance to information that threatens their existing sensemaking structures and social identities

Changes in functioning of mesolimbic incentive processing circuits during the premenstrual phase

The premenstrual phase of the menstrual cycle is associated with marked changes in normal and abnormal motivated behaviors. Animal studies suggest that such effects may result from actions of gonadal hormones on the mesolimbic dopamine (DA) system. We therefore investigated premenstrual changes in reward-related neural activity in terminal regions of the DA system in humans. Twenty-eight healthy young women underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging on 2 days during the menstrual cycle, once during the late follicular phase and once during the premenstrual phase, in counterbalanced order. Using a modified version of the monetary incentive delay task, we assessed responsiveness of the ventral striatum to reward anticipation. Our results show enhanced ventral striatal responses during the premenstrual as compared to the follicular phase. Moreover, this effect was most pronounced in women reporting more premenstrual symptoms. These findings provide support for the notion that changes in functioning of mesolimbic incentive processing circuits may underlie premenstrual changes in motivated behaviors. Notably, increases in reward-cue responsiveness have previously been associated with DA withdrawal states. Our findings therefore suggest that the sharp decline of gonadal hormone levels in the premenstrual phase may trigger a similar withdrawal-like state

The impact of viral mutations on recognition by SARS-CoV-2 specific T cells.

We identify amino acid variants within dominant SARS-CoV-2 T cell epitopes by interrogating global sequence data. Several variants within nucleocapsid and ORF3a epitopes have arisen independently in multiple lineages and result in loss of recognition by epitope-specific T cells assessed by IFN-γ and cytotoxic killing assays. Complete loss of T cell responsiveness was seen due to Q213K in the A∗01:01-restricted CD8+ ORF3a epitope FTSDYYQLY207-215; due to P13L, P13S, and P13T in the B∗27:05-restricted CD8+ nucleocapsid epitope QRNAPRITF9-17; and due to T362I and P365S in the A∗03:01/A∗11:01-restricted CD8+ nucleocapsid epitope KTFPPTEPK361-369. CD8+ T cell lines unable to recognize variant epitopes have diverse T cell receptor repertoires. These data demonstrate the potential for T cell evasion and highlight the need for ongoing surveillance for variants capable of escaping T cell as well as humoral immunity.This work is supported by the UK Medical Research Council (MRC); Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences(CAMS) Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences (CIFMS), China; National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, and UK Researchand Innovation (UKRI)/NIHR through the UK Coro-navirus Immunology Consortium (UK-CIC). Sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 samples and collation of data wasundertaken by the COG-UK CONSORTIUM. COG-UK is supported by funding from the Medical ResearchCouncil (MRC) part of UK Research & Innovation (UKRI),the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR),and Genome Research Limited, operating as the Wellcome Sanger Institute. T.I.d.S. is supported by a Well-come Trust Intermediate Clinical Fellowship (110058/Z/15/Z). L.T. is supported by the Wellcome Trust(grant number 205228/Z/16/Z) and by theUniversity of Liverpool Centre for Excellence in Infectious DiseaseResearch (CEIDR). S.D. is funded by an NIHR GlobalResearch Professorship (NIHR300791). L.T. and S.C.M.are also supported by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Medical Countermeasures Initiative contract75F40120C00085 and the National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) inEmerging and Zoonotic Infections (NIHR200907) at University of Liverpool inpartnership with Public HealthEngland (PHE), in collaboration with Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and the University of Oxford.L.T. is based at the University of Liverpool. M.D.P. is funded by the NIHR Sheffield Biomedical ResearchCentre (BRC – IS-BRC-1215-20017). ISARIC4C is supported by the MRC (grant no MC_PC_19059). J.C.K.is a Wellcome Investigator (WT204969/Z/16/Z) and supported by NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centreand CIFMS. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or MRC

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Investigation of hospital discharge cases and SARS-CoV-2 introduction into Lothian care homes

Summary Background The first epidemic wave of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Scotland resulted in high case numbers and mortality in care homes. In Lothian, over one-third of care homes reported an outbreak, while there was limited testing of hospital patients discharged to care homes. Aim To investigate patients discharged from hospitals as a source of SARS-CoV-2 introduction into care homes during the first epidemic wave. Methods A clinical review was performed for all patients discharges from hospitals to care homes from 1st March 2020 to 31st May 2020. Episodes were ruled out based on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) test history, clinical assessment at discharge, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data and an infectious period of 14 days. Clinical samples were processed for WGS, and consensus genomes generated were used for analysis using Cluster Investigation and Virus Epidemiological Tool software. Patient timelines were obtained using electronic hospital records. Findings In total, 787 patients discharged from hospitals to care homes were identified. Of these, 776 (99%) were ruled out for subsequent introduction of SARS-CoV-2 into care homes. However, for 10 episodes, the results were inconclusive as there was low genomic diversity in consensus genomes or no sequencing data were available. Only one discharge episode had a genomic, time and location link to positive cases during hospital admission, leading to 10 positive cases in their care home. Conclusion The majority of patients discharged from hospitals were ruled out for introduction of SARS-CoV-2 into care homes, highlighting the importance of screening all new admissions when faced with a novel emerging virus and no available vaccine

Investigation of hospital discharge cases and SARS-CoV-2 introduction into Lothian care homes

Background The first epidemic wave of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Scotland resulted in high case numbers and mortality in care homes. In Lothian, over one-third of care homes reported an outbreak, while there was limited testing of hospital patients discharged to care homes. Aim To investigate patients discharged from hospitals as a source of SARS-CoV-2 introduction into care homes during the first epidemic wave. Methods A clinical review was performed for all patients discharges from hospitals to care homes from 1st March 2020 to 31st May 2020. Episodes were ruled out based on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) test history, clinical assessment at discharge, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data and an infectious period of 14 days. Clinical samples were processed for WGS, and consensus genomes generated were used for analysis using Cluster Investigation and Virus Epidemiological Tool software. Patient timelines were obtained using electronic hospital records. Findings In total, 787 patients discharged from hospitals to care homes were identified. Of these, 776 (99%) were ruled out for subsequent introduction of SARS-CoV-2 into care homes. However, for 10 episodes, the results were inconclusive as there was low genomic diversity in consensus genomes or no sequencing data were available. Only one discharge episode had a genomic, time and location link to positive cases during hospital admission, leading to 10 positive cases in their care home. Conclusion The majority of patients discharged from hospitals were ruled out for introduction of SARS-CoV-2 into care homes, highlighting the importance of screening all new admissions when faced with a novel emerging virus and no available vaccine