Suchergebnisse

Environmental change poses risks to societies, including disrupting social and economic systems such as migration. At the same time, migration is an effective adaptation to environmental and other risks. We review novel science on interactions between migration, environmental risks and climate change. We highlight emergent findings, including how dominant flows of rural to urban migration mean that populations are exposed to new risks within destination areas and the requirement for urban sustainability. We highlight the issue of lack of mobility as a major issue limiting the effectiveness of migration as an adaptation strategy and leading to potentially trapped populations. The paper presents scenarios of future migration that show both displacement and trapped populations over the incoming decades. Papers in the special issue bring new insights from demography, human geography, political science and environmental science to this emerging field.

Comparative politics has witnessed periodic debates between proponents of contextually sensitive area studies research and others who view such work as unscientific, noncumulative, or of limited relevance for advancing broader social science knowledge. InSoutheast Asia in Political Science: Theory, Region, and Qualitative Analysis, edited by Erik Martinez Kuhonta, Dan Slater, and Tuong Vu, a group of bright, young Southeast Asianists argue that contextually sensitive research in Southeast Asia using qualitative research methods has made fundamental and lasting contributions to comparative politics. They challenge other Southeast Asianists to assert proudly the contributions that their work has made and urge the rest of the comparative politics discipline to take these contributions seriously. This symposium includes four short critical reviews ofSoutheast Asia in Political Scienceby political scientists representing diverse scholarly traditions. The reviews address both the methodological and the theoretical orientations of the book and are followed by a response from the editors.

Evidence that early years interventions can reduce inequalities has led to Scottish Government policy recommending that local areas implement initiatives to improve early child development. How best to measure the effects of these interventions is, however, unclear. We conducted a pilot study of the first UK use of the teacher-administered Early Development Instrument (EDI), an internationally validated measure of global child development now used at school entry in all children in Australia and most of Canada. The study, conducted in the primary school setting in 2011–12, was cross-sectional in design and used qualitative and quantitative methods. During phase 1 the EDI was adapted for the Scottish context. 14 teachers assessed 154 pupils, using the instrument. Focus groups and semi-structured questionnaires were used to gather feedback from teacher participants on the instrument and the process. Phase 2 collected and analysed data from 1090 pupil participants, comprising 98% of eligible school-entrants in East Lothian local authority, assessed by 68 teachers. The 104-item EDI questionnaire has five domains of child development: physical, social, emotional, language and cognitive, and communication and general knowledge. Data were analysed with SPSS (version 17.0). The psychometric properties of the EDI were assessed with Cronbach's α. Mean scores in the domains were linked to levels of deprivation and results were mapped using Geographic Information System. Phase 3 monitored subsequent dissemination and use of EDI results. The study was approved by the School of Psychological Sciences and Health Ethics Committee of the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK; the Education Authority of the relevant school district; and the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government. In line with EDI data collection in other countries, opt-out consent was used for parents of pupils. All teachers provided written, informed consent. Children in the most deprived quintile were 2·8 times more likely than the most affluent to be developmentally vulnerable in one or more domains; however, substantial developmental vulnerability was found across all five quintiles, not only in the most deprived. The EDI was found to be user friendly and acceptable to teachers, demonstrating high levels of internal reliability. Dissemination of results created a forum for multidisciplinary discussion and raised awareness about the importance of early child development, domains of development, and how inequalities can be tackled, leading to new initiatives based on EDI data. The EDI is a robust instrument able to highlight developmental differences in children between socioeconomic groups and small-scale geographical areas. Its simplicity and usability lend themselves easily to community-wide implementation.

Blast-induced mild traumatic brain injury (bTBI) has become increasingly common in recent military conflicts. The mechanisms by which non-impact blast exposure results in bTBI are incompletely understood. Current small animal bTBI models predominantly utilize compressed air-driven membrane rupture as their blast wave source, while large animal models use chemical explosives. The pressure-time signature of each blast mode is unique, making it difficult to evaluate the contributions of the different components of the blast wave to bTBI when using a single blast source. We utilized a multi-mode shock tube, the McMillan blast device, capable of utilizing compressed air- and compressed helium-driven membrane rupture, and the explosives oxyhydrogen and cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX, the primary component of C-4 plastic explosives) as the driving source. At similar maximal blast overpressures, the positive pressure phase of compressed air-driven blasts was longer, and the positive impulse was greater, than those observed for shockwaves produced by other driving sources. Helium-driven shockwaves more closely resembled RDX blasts, but by displacing air created a hypoxic environment within the shock tube. Pressure-time traces from oxyhydrogen-driven shockwaves were very similar those produced by RDX, although they resulted in elevated carbon monoxide levels due to combustion of the polyethylene bag used to contain the gases within the shock tube prior to detonation. Rats exposed to compressed air-driven blasts had more pronounced vascular damage than those exposed to oxyhydrogen-driven blasts of the same peak overpressure, indicating that differences in blast wave characteristics other than peak overpressure may influence the extent of bTBI. Use of this multi-mode shock tube in small animal models will enable comparison of the extent of brain injury with the pressure-time signature produced using each blast mode, facilitating evaluation of the blast wave components contributing to bTBI.

This paper explores the role played by the production and use of knowledge about international migration – or to be more specific the incompleteness of such knowledge –in driving new forms of EU migration governance.
The focus is on the transformation of modes of governance linked to the roles played by instrumental, social and communicative logics of institutional action. The paper shows that, while the key referent for migration governance in Europe remains the state and associated state-centered logics of control, it is now evident that both the understanding of the issues and the pursuit of policy objectives are clearly shaped by the EU. A key reason for this is the role played by uncertainty related not only to the causes and effects of international migration, but also about the actual numbers of international migrants living both regularly and irregularly in EU member states. In contrast to existing approaches that see uncertainty and incomplete knowledge as causes of policy failure, this paper sees uncertainty and incomplete knowledge as creating social and political opportunities for EU action linked to the quest for more and 'better' knowledgewith resultant conceptual and practical space for `transgovernmental' relations among government units working across borders.

G20 countries have a critical role to play in leading efforts to combat climate change, as they account for 79% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In 2009, they committed to phasing out fossil fuel subsidies in the medium term, and since then many have played an important part in driving forward climate action internationally. However, a decade on from this commitment, G20 governments continue to provide billions of dollars of support for the production and consumption of fossil fuels, spending at least $63.9 billion per year on coal alone, the most polluting fossil fuel. They have also neglected to define or document the full extent of their subsidies. This research tracks each G20 country's progress in phasing out subsidies to the production and consumption of coal (including coal-fired power), looking at fiscal support, public finance, and state-owned enterprise investment. The report summarises key findings from 18 parallel country briefs, with accompanying data sheets that list all the support identified for each country.

INTRODUCTION: India is home to 20% of the world's children and yet, little is known on the magnitude and trends of child maltreatment nationwide. The aims of this review are to provide a prevalence of child maltreatment in India with considerations for any effects of gender; urbanisation (eg, urban vs rural) and legislation (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012). METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A rapid review will be undertaken of all quantitative peer-reviewed studies on child maltreatment in India between 2005 and 2020. Four electronic databases will be systematically searched: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane and PsychInfo. The primary outcomes will include all aspects of child maltreatment: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, emotional neglect and physical neglect. Study participants will be between 0 and 18 years and will have reported maltreatment experiences using validated, reliable tools such as the Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire as well as child self-reports and clinician reports. Study selection will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, and the methodological appraisal of the studies will be assessed by the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality assessment scale. A narrative synthesis will be conducted for all included studies. Also, if sufficient data are available, a meta-analysis will be conducted. Effect sizes will be determined from random-effects models stratified by gender, urbanisation and the pre-2012 and post-2012 POCSO Act cut-off. I(2) statistics will be used to assess heterogeneity and identify their potential sources and τ(2) statistics will indicate any between-study variance. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: As this is a rapid review, minimal ethical risks are expected. The protocol and level 1 self-audit checklist were submitted and approved by the Usher Research Ethics Group panel in the Usher Institute (School of Medicine and Veterinary Sciences) at the University of Edinburgh (Reference B126255). Findings from this ...

This paper explores a neglected aspect of the wider debate about EU enlargement; namely bilateral disputes
between a Member State and an applicant, where the former uses, or threatens to use, its membership
to block membership to resolve a dispute. As we show through analysis of three cases - Italy and Slovenia,
Slovenia and Croatia, and Greece and Macedonia - the EU's transformative power does not always flow
'outwards' towards the state seeking membership. This raises interesting questions about enlargement as
international bargaining between sovereign states filtered via a supranational entity formally responsible
for the negotiations. Our cases suggest limits to the EU's transformative power in the context of disputes
that are linked to the meaning and significance of borders. When enlargement intersects with identity
politics, the result can be potentially destabilizing in ways that can lead to a decline in the EU's legitimacy. It
is not surprising that the Commission prefers disputes to be resolved bilaterally or via a third-party.