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From ‘living death’ to ‘becoming-with’:caring for dementia beyond the human
No full textThis essay provides a critical overview of historical and contemporary conceptualisations of selfhood in dementia. We explore the intersections of psychological and sociological research, as well as care practices, in dementia scholarship and how these have evolved in the years leading to and proceeding the start of the 21st century. Focusing on historical discourses of dementia and the metaphor of dementia as a ‘living death’, this essay maps the development of prominent conceptualisations of dementia in western cultures, from their roots in Cartesian philosophy to modernist values and existential anxieties. We firstly explore historical notions of selfhood in people living with dementia and the presumed erosion of the self that culminates in a so-called living death. Then, we discuss the radical shift in attitudes that arose around the start of the 21st century towards perseverance of selfhood in dementia and person-centred care. We finally consider whether our current understanding of selfhood in dementia could benefit from a posthuman approach, which requires a radical shift towards a more relational, multiple, and ultimately affirmative ways of caring for dementia
Passive acoustic monitoring of baleen whale seasonal presence across the New York Bight
No full textThe New York Bight is an ecologically and economically important marine region along the U.S. Atlantic Coast. Extensive assessments have characterized the habitats and biota in this ecosystem; however, most have focused on fishes, benthic habitats, and human impacts. To investigate the spatial and temporal occurrence of whales in this region, we conducted a three-year passive acoustic monitoring survey that documented the acoustic presence of five baleen whale species that occur within the New York Bight and are of conservation concern: North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis), humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus), sei whales (Balaenoptera borealis), and blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus). Data were recorded with 14 bottom-mounted acoustic sensors across the continental shelf between 2017 and 2020. Right whales were detected across all seasons, with most detections in autumn closer to New York Harbor and spring detections at sites closer to the continental shelf edge. Humpbacks were detected during all months of the year with varying distribution of detections across the shelf. The year-round presence of right and humpback whales challenges previous hypotheses that this region is primarily a stopover location along their migration paths. Fin whales were detected at all sites on most days. Sei whales were detected primarily during the spring at offshore sites. Blue whales were detected in the winter at sites closer to the continental shelf edge, but were rare. These data improve our understanding of baleen whale seasonal occurrences in the New York Bight and can inform monitoring and mitigation efforts associated with the management and conservation of these species
Time since separation, repartnering, and homeownership in England and Wales, and Germany
No full textSeparation, divorce, and repartnering are increasingly common across European societies. These partnership transitions are closely related to individuals' housing careers. For example, after separation, individuals are likely to move out of homeownership and experience a period of elevated residential mobility. However, little is known about the role of repartnering for post-separation housing careers. This paper investigates homeownership levels among separated and repartnered individuals in Germany, and England and Wales, two societies with similar levels of economic development but different welfare and housing systems. We use multi-level logistic regression to study the probability of being a homeowner on combined data from the British Household Panel Survey and the United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Study, and the German Socio-Economic Panel. We find that separated individuals are significantly less likely to own a home than those who are married or cohabiting in both countries. Homeownership levels increase over time since separation, but this increase is largely associated with repartnering. Homeownership rates remain low among separated individuals who do not repartner, especially among those with low socio-economic status. We conclude that separation has a long-term effect on individuals' housing careers, which exacerbates existing housing inequalities particularly in countries such as England and Wales where homeownership is the main tenure type
Periglacial vegetation-banked terraces:a global survey
No full textPeriglacial vegetation-banked terraces (VBTs) are roughly parallel, step-like landforms with bare treads and vegetated risers, where tread length (across-slope) markedly exceeds tread width (downslope). Many follow the contour, but others dip off-contour at angles of up to 40°. Most VBTs with a low off-contour dip occupy lee slopes with gradients of 4°–25°, with dip increasing to windward. They are widespread in marginal periglacial environments characterised by strong winds, abundant precipitation, winter snow cover, shallow ground freezing and frequent freeze–thaw cycles, but also occur in alpine environments and on low-latitude and tropical mountains. They appear to be rare or absent in polar or subpolar permafrost environments. Riser vegetation is often dominated by cushion plants, dwarf shrubs or bunchgrasses. This review (1) outlines the history of research on VBTs; (2) identifies their global distribution and the environmental conditions under which they have developed; (3) summarises data concerning their dimensions and structure, and measurements of current activity; and (4) proposes models of VBT formation. Many VBTs have apparently evolved from prior establishment of alternating bands of bare and vegetated ground across slopes. This may have occurred either through the lateral extension of vegetation bands or through the formation of wind stripes, where alternating bands of vegetated and bare ground have developed normal to the direction of dominant winds through turf exfoliation by needle ice, frost heave and wind scour. Such vegetated bands trap mobile debris to build risers, with consequent lowering of tread gradients. Some terraces are subsequently immobilized by stacking of clasts under risers, but those on frost-susceptible soils may move en masse downslope through solifluction. Other VBTs represent stripping of vegetation cover from the windswept treads of vegetation-covered solifluction terraces, and possibly also selective vegetation colonisation of the sheltered risers of stone-banked solifluction terraces
Simplicial complexes defined on groups
No full textThis study makes some preliminary observations towards an extension of current work on graphs defined on groups to simplicial complexes. I define a variety of simplicial complexes on a group, which are preserved by automorphisms of the group, and in many cases have a relation to familiar graphs on the group. The ones which seem to reach deepest into the graph structure are two forms of independence complex, and some results on the class of groups for which these two complexes coincide are given. Other examples are treated more briefly
Tax policies for development
No full textAt its best, tax is our social superpower: the most effective and important channel of development finance. But international pressures and global governance failures provide a major obstacle, giving rise to global tax losses estimated at nearly half a trillion dollars a year and felt most intensely by lower-income countries. This chapter addresses the important role of tax, the nature of the international obstacles, and the policies—both national and international—that can underpin long-term, sustainable development, including in the context of the climate crisis
Evidence of self-care tooling and phylogenetic modeling reveal parrot tool use is not rare
No full textPutatively rare behaviors like tool use are difficult to study because absence of evidence can arise from a species' inability to produce the behavior or from insufficient research. We combine data from digital platforms and phylogenetic modeling to estimate rates of tool use in parrots. Videos on YouTube revealed novel instances of self-care tooling in 17 parrot species, more than doubling the number of tool-using parrots from 11 (3%) to 28 (7%). Phylogenetic modeling suggests 11-17% of extant parrot species may be capable of tool use and identifies likely candidates. These discoveries impact our understanding of the evolution of tool use in parrots, revealing associations with relative brain size and feeding generalism and indicating likely ancestral tool use in several genera. Our findings challenge the assumption that current sampling efforts fully capture the distribution of putatively rare animal behaviors and offer a fruitful approach for investigating other rare behaviors.</p
Between prosopography and historiography:the intervention in the senate on the dies postriduani (389 BC)
No full textAddressing contextual pressures and challenges in social care:the prospects of multi-actor engagement with strategic HRM
No full textDrawing on an exemplary case of strategic HRM in a nonprofit social care provider responding to a recruitment and retention crisis, this article offers evidence for a multi-actor, recursive model of HRM implementation. We examine how multi-actor engagement with strategic HRM reinforces or modifies intended HRM, and how this engagement is shaped by external and internal contextual pressures in nonprofit social care organizations. Through an in-depth qualitative study, we shed light on the internal process dynamics that not only engender a shared understanding of intended HRM strategy and practice among key organizational actors (convergence) but also allow for local deviation (divergence) that forges a more adequate response to workforce challenges. Our study contributes to theory on the social dynamics of HRM implementation within wider institutional contexts while highlighting the limits of a business-oriented HRM system for delivering a sustainable workforce within social care
High diversity of <i>Escherichia coli</i> causing invasive disease in neonates in Malawi poses challenges for O-antigen based vaccine approach
No full textBackground Escherichia coli is an important cause of neonatal sepsis and the third most prevalent cause of neonatal infection in sub-Saharan Africa, often with negative outcomes. Development of maternally administered vaccines is under consideration, but to provide adequate protection, an understanding of serotypes causing invasive disease in this population is essential. We describe the genomic characteristics of a collection of neonatal E. coli isolates from a tertiary hospital in Blantyre, Malawi, with specific reference to potential protection by vaccines under development.Methods Neonatal blood or cerebrospinal fluid cultures from 2012 to 2021 identified 208 E. coli isolates, and 169 could be recovered for sequencing.Results Our data shows very high diversity in sequence types, LPS O-antigen-type and flagellar H-type, which all show temporal fluctuations and, as far as we are aware previously undescribed diversity, including ten putative novel O-types. Vaccines in clinical trials target the O-antigen but would only protect against less than half (37.9%) of neonatal sepsis cases in this population (EXPEC9V). An O-antigen-based vaccine would require 30 different O-types to protect against 80% of infections.Conclusions Vaccines against neonatal sepsis in Africa are of considerable potential value, but their development requires larger studies to establish the diversity and stability over time of relevant O-types for this population