14,405 research outputs found

    'When we were children we had dreams, then we came to Dhaka to survive': urban stories connecting loss of wellbeing, displacement and (im)mobility

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    This article uses storytelling methodology to investigate the connections between urban climate-induced loss of wellbeing and (im)mobility in Bhola Slum, an informal settlement in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The settlement houses Internally Displaced People from the southern coast who built and named the slum after their home - Bhola Island. The storytelling sessions revealed that loss of belonging, identity, quality of life and social value produced in people a desire to return. Nostalgic storylines of home also shaped the narratives of the children born in the slum who often referred to the island as their home. Some women felt that the move had resulted in more liberty, but also claimed that it had increased the risk of social punishment and stigmatisation. Social stigma often extended from parents to children. More women than men reported feeling unsafe, depressed and anxious. Mental and physical ill health were both common consequences of the compromised living and working conditions of the slum. Loss of health (due to injuries or disease) damaged people's wellbeing and pushed already fragile families into a downward spiral with no escape. Few empirical studies investigate ‘trapped’ populations and non-economic losses and damages in urban environments. The insights gained from this work can therefore help safeguard vulnerable populations worldwide and build more robust climate policy frameworks

    'I do not like her going to the shelter': Stories on gendered disaster (im)mobility and wellbeing loss in coastal Bangladesh

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    The literature body on cyclone strikes in Bangladesh suggests that people sometimes fail to evacuate, and that more women than men have died in past disasters. People's reasoning and decision-making leading up to their disaster (im)mobility are strongly embedded in social structures such as gender systems. Subjective non-evacuation behaviours are founded in collective understandings and reproductions of social values. People's perceptions around these values therefore offer important empirical evidence that helps us understand who, how and why some people end up immobile or ‘trapped’ when disaster strikes. This study builds on individual and collective unstructured people-centred storytelling sessions and discourse analysis. The storytelling study captured rich empirical insights around the notions of disaster (im)mobility, and their links to the existing power and gender systems. Three thematic areas were identified including; safe and unsafe spaces for women and men, female and male knowledge, and male and female experiences of ‘internal damages’, trauma and mental ill-health. The insightful storylines of socially immobilising attitudes can support building robust climate policy and DRR frameworks that better protect our most vulnerable people across the globe

    High fidelity readout scheme for rare-earth solid state quantum computing

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    We propose and analyze a high fidelity readout scheme for a single instance approach to quantum computing in rare-earth-ion-doped crystals. The scheme is based on using different species of qubit and readout ions, and it is shown that by allowing the closest qubit ion to act as a readout buffer, the readout error can be reduced by more than an order of magnitude. The scheme is shown to be robust against certain experimental variations, such as varying detection efficiencies, and we use the scheme to predict the expected quantum fidelity of a CNOT gate in these solid state systems. In addition, we discuss the potential scalability of the protocol to larger qubit systems. The results are based on parameters which we believed are experimentally feasible with current technology, and which can be simultaneously realized.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

    Ecosystem properties and principles of living systems as foundation for sustainable agriculture – Critical reviews of environmental assessment tools, key findings and questions from a course process

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    With increasing demands on limited resources worldwide, there is a growing interest in sustainable patterns of utilisation and production. Ecological agriculture is a response to these concerns. To assess progress and compliance, standard and comprehensive measures of resource requirements, impacts and agro-ecological health are needed. Assessment tools should also be rapid, standardized, userfriendly, meaningful to public policy and applicable to management. Fully considering these requirements confounds the development of integrated methods. Currently, there are many methodologies for monitoring performance, each with its own foundations, assumptions, goals, and outcomes, dependent upon agency agenda or academic orientation. Clearly, a concept of sustainability must address biophysical, ecological, economic, and sociocultural foundations. Assessment indicators and criteria, however, are generally limited, lacking integration, and at times in conflict with one another. A result is that certification criteria, indicators, and assessment methods are not based on a consistent, underlying conceptual framework and often lack a management focus. Ecosystem properties and principles of living systems, including self-organisation, renewal, embeddedness, emergence and commensurate response provide foundation for sustainability assessments and may be appropriate focal points for critical thinking in an evaluation of current methods and standards. A systems framework may also help facilitate a comprehensive approach and promote a context for meaningful discourse. Without holistic accounts, sustainable progress remains an illdefined concept and an elusive goal. Our intent, in the work with this report, was to use systems ecology as a pedagogic basis for learning and discussion to: - Articulate general and common characteristics of living systems. - Identify principles, properties and patterns inherent in natural ecosystems. - Use these findings as foci in a dialogue about attributes of sustainability to: a. develop a model for communicating scientific rationale. b. critically evaluate environmental assessment tools for application in land-use. c. propose appropriate criteria for a comprehensive assessment and expanded definition of ecological land use

    Subjectivity in Contrast: a cross-linguistic comparison of "I think" in Australian English, French and Swedish

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    Model Based vs. Model Independent Tests for Cross-Correlation

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    This article discusses the issue of whether cross correlation should be tested by model dependent or model independent methods. Several different tests are proposed and their main properties are investigated analytically and with simulations. It is argued that model independent tests should be used in applied work
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