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Citizenship Reparations Address the Symptoms but Not the Whole System of Colonial Entanglements
No full textA growing number of states have adopted “reparative citizenship” laws. This forum discusses the
normative justification and problematic implications of such policies. In their initial essay, David
Owen and Rainer Bauböck describe the phenomenon as the offer of citizenship status acquired by
declaration or entitlement for persons who live permanently outside the state’s territory and are the
descendants of persons who have lost their citizenship or similar membership status and could not
pass it on to a next generation under conditions for which the current state bears responsibility and
for which it accepts remedial duties. These include state perpetrated mass killings, persecutions or
expulsions, a loss of parts of the state’s territory through secession, partition or annexation by another
state, and discriminatory past citizenship laws that deprived certain groups of their citizenship status
who would be entitled to this status under current legislation. A fourth context is that of reparations for
colonialism and slavery where, however, it is generally not the perpetrator states that have offered
citizenship as a compensation. 19 authors offer responses and further reflections on reparative
citizenship, with some of them widening the scope of the phenomenon to include e.g. voluntary non-
citizenship as a reparation for indigenous peoples (Kane and Lenard), and reparative citizenship
for stateless people in situ (Sperfeld). Many authors are sceptical that citizenship reparations are
normatively required (Erez) and regard such policies as exemplifying a broader trend towards
devaluing citizenship (Spiro), or see them as driven by state efforts of nation-building and nation-
branding (Aragoneses, Pogonyi) and selective immigration policies (Schweitzer and Magazzini).
For Jelena Dzankic, they are not only selective, but also transactional and dangerous. Several
contributions draw general lessons from discussing specific cases, such as Britain’s postimperial
citizenship and immigration policies (Jacob-Owens), New Zealand citizenship for Samoans (Aithal,
Cook, Lloydd and Sardelic), Namibian citizenship for Herero and Nama displaced by the genocide
committed by German colonizers (Manby) and citizenship reparations for past gender discrimination
in ius sanguinis transmissions (Mantha-Hollands, Blanchard). Bauböck and Owen conclude
the debate with a rejoinder in which they defend the view that realist analyses of state motives
do not preclude that under certain conditions reparative citizenship policies might still be defensible
or even required.
Keywords
citizenship, reparations, restoration, ius sanguinis, colonialism, gender discrimination, statelessness,
Indigenous peoples, nation building
ISSN 028 362
The Role of Nitrogen Metabolism in the Stability and Dysfunction of the Cnidarian-Dinoflagellate Symbiosis
No full textCoral reefs are able to thrive in oligotrophic waters due to their symbiosis with dinoflagellate algae (family Symbiodiniaceae), which enables efficient nitrogen recycling and conservation within the holobiont. However, increased seawater temperatures can destabilise this partnership, causing bleaching, which can result in coral mortality. Thermally-tolerant symbionts can withstand higher temperatures, but they may provide the host with less carbon while assimilating more of the host’s nitrogen. The extent of bleaching can also be mitigated or exacerbated depending on the nitrogen form and concentration in the seawater. To elucidate nitrogen’s role in coral bleaching, this thesis aimed to determine how nitrogen assimilation of the host and symbiont varies with temperature and whether this response is influenced by symbiont identity.In Chapter 2, the tropical scleractinian coral Stylophora pistillata was grown at different temperatures (26°C, 30°C and 34°C), before being placed in nutrient-replete or -depleted seawater for 24 h. The corals were then incubated with 13C-labelled sodium bicarbonate and different 15N-labelled nitrogen forms (ammonium, urea, and dissolved free amino acids) to determine their assimilation rates. I found that nutrient depletion inhibited the assimilation of all nitrogen sources studied and that heat stress reduced the assimilation of ammonium and dissolved free amino acids. However, the host assimilated over 3-fold more urea at 30°C relative to 26°C. Overall, both moderate heat stress (30°C) and nutrient depletion individually decreased the total nitrogen assimilated by the symbiont by 66%, and combined, they decreased assimilation by 79%. This led to the symbiotic algae becoming nitrogen starved, with the C:N ratio increasing by over 3-fold at 34°C, potentially exacerbating the impacts of coral bleaching.In Chapter 3, the model anemone Exaiptasia diaphana (“Aiptasia”), colonised with either relatively heat-resistant or -susceptible symbiont species, was maintained at ambient or elevated temperatures and fed with one of four 15N-labelled nitrogen sources (ammonium, nitrate, dissolved free amino acids, and brine shrimp) and simultaneously incubated with 13C-labelled bicarbonate. This allowed quantification of nitrogen and carbon assimilation in host tissues vs. algal symbionts. Despite lower in hospite densities, the non-native symbiont Durusdinium trenchii translocated similar amounts of fixed carbon to the host as the native symbiont Breviolum minutum, contrasting with previous reports of reduced carbon translocation by this non-native symbiont, which may indicate improved inter-partner integration with time spent in symbiosis. The increased temperatures in this study, prior to visible bleaching, also led to increased photosynthetic carbon fixation and translocation to the host and increases in the proportion of heterotrophic nitrogen assimilated by the host. This raises the possibility of the symbionts becoming nitrogen limited at an early stage of bleaching.In Chapter 4, cultures of the thermally-susceptible B. minutum and the thermally-tolerant Breviolum psygmophilum were maintained under nitrogen-depleted conditions to mimic the nitrogen environment inside their cnidarian host. Cultures were then subjected to one of three temperature treatments (cold stress, ambient control, or heat stress) and incubated with 15N-labelled ammonium, nitrate, or urea to track nitrogen assimilation. To assess how ammonium inhibition of nitrate assimilation differs across temperatures, I also incubated samples with ammonium and nitrate simultaneously. In parallel,13C-labelled bicarbonate incubations quantified carbon fixation, allowing carbon and nitrogen fluxes to be linked. I found that temperature effects on ammonium assimilation and carbon fixation increased with temperature in both species, but nitrate assimilation only increased with temperature in B. minutum, and was strongly modulated by the availability of ammonium.In Chapter 5, Aiptasia colonised with the native symbiont B. minutum or non-native D. trenchii was incubated with 13C-labelled bicarbonate and either 15N-labelled ammonium or DFAA for 1 h, and then chased for 120 h. At multiple intervals, I determined the quantity of 13C and 15N in both host tissue and symbiont cells to assess species-specific translocation patterns and nutrient fate. Both symbionts assimilated similar amounts of ammonium per symbiont cell, but D. trenchii more efficiently incorporated host-derived nitrogen released via DFAA metabolism, indicating a competitive advantage in scavenging waste nitrogen. Contrary to expectations based on previous, shorter-term experiments, D. trenchii translocated photosynthate to the host at rates comparable to B. minutum, providing further evidence that inter-partner integration may improve with time spent in symbiosis.This thesis provides a mechanistic link between photosynthesis, nitrogen conservation, and bleaching, and helps to explain, at least in part, why corals with dense symbiont populations bleach more readily under heat stress, and why elevated ammonium can mitigate coral bleaching. This understanding can allow us to develop tools to prevent coral bleaching from occurring at a local scale.</p
The Art of Selling Dreams: The Expression of Charisma and Longevity in Luxury Brand Storytelling
No full textLuxury brand marketing campaigns sell dreams. At the heart of luxury branding strategies is the creation of an extraordinary psychological and emotional impact that stimulates consumer aspiration for identity signalling, social recognition, self-esteem, and achievement signalling, and consumer inspiration involving the spontaneous simulation of new ideas. However, extant research offers limited empirical evidence on reasons that inspire and aspire luxury customers through luxury brand storytelling.This study explores the role of expressed charisma and expressed longevity as key ingredients in luxury brand storytelling. Although it is known that crafting stories in luxury branding is a complex process and there is no single best way to tell a story, more clarity is needed on how key ingredients of luxury brand storytelling affect customer outcomes. This research also investigates the role of narrative transportation in explaining the mechanism of the luxury brand storytelling. Narrative transportation is a measurable mental state that indicates the impact of a story on the minds of story-receivers. This research is important because creating and selecting the right brand story, among many possibilities, not only saves valuable time, effort and resources but also adds psychological and emotional meaning to the brand.This research involved a field observation (video collection and analysis), three cross-sectional surveys, and two online experiments. The data collected was analysed using FsQCA (for preliminary qualitative analysis); Regression, ANOVA, PROCESS macro, and SEM (for hypotheses testing); CFA (for CMV marker variable test); and multi-group analysis (for robustness check).First, the findings from the qualitative comparative analysis demonstrated that expressed charisma in luxury brand storytelling can be conveyed using different combinations of behavioural attributions. Second, using surveys and validated scales, this research showed that expressed charisma and expressed longevity have a significant positive impact on both psychological and intentional customer outcomes. These findings were further confirmed by manipulating expressed charisma and expressed longevity in an online experiment. Third, findings demonstrated a significant mediation effect of narrative transportation on psychological outcomes. The analysis of the mechanisms of these storytelling effects also showed that the intentional customer outcome, inspired-to engage online, is impacted through serial mediation of narrative transportation and psychological customer outcomes (inspired-by story and luxury brand aspiration).Marketing professionals can benefit from this research as it offers a systematic guide to understanding, creating, and measuring customers’ mental states when they are exposed to luxury brand stories. By placing emphasis on key story ingredients, i.e., expressed charisma and expressed longevity, marketers can craft stories to transport minds, that lead to positive psychological and intentional customer outcomes.</p
An amitraz-based miticide does not appear to affect the bacterial microbiota of Apis mellifera (Apidae: Hymenoptera, Linnaeus, 1758) or Varroa destructor (Acari: Varroidae, Anderson & Trueman, 2000)
No full textThe use of pesticides in beehives constitutes an important health issue for honey bees (Apis mellifera). Miticide treatments are not lethal to bees but could still impose significant sublethal costs. This study examined the impacts of amitraz, a commonly used miticide, on the bacterial communities of the honey bee gut and Varroa destructor mites. We sequenced and compared gut 16S rDNA composition pre–and post-amitraz treatment. Amitraz did not significantly influence bacterial gut communities in either honey bees or mites during the first six weeks following treatment. The gut bacterial community of bees was mainly dominated by the commonly observed microbiota in bees, which included species in the genera Gilliamella, Snodgrassella, and Frischella. Deformed wing virus (DWV) loads were analysed but were also unaffected by amitraz treatment over the six-week period studied. The bacterial community of Varroa destructor mites was heavily dominated by Bartonella spp., in contrast to results observed elsewhere. Our results indicating that amitraz does not appear to affect honey bee microbiota should be helpful for beekeepers who rely on this pesticide for mite control
Antarctic coastal polynyas in the global climate system
No full textCoastal polynyas describe regions of persistent open water within the sea-ice pack. In this Review, we outline the critical importance of Antarctic coastal polynyas in the Earth system (including for the atmosphere, sea-ice, ocean and biosphere) and outline their past, present and future changes. Strong offshore winds are the primary force opening coastal polynyas, varying on synoptic timescales to influence polynya existence and size. The exposed ocean surface ventilates heat to the atmosphere, allowing sea surface cooling and frazil ice formation. Frazil ice increases the salinity of surface waters, ultimately sinking as dense shelf water that drives the southern limb of the global ocean overturning circulation. Light and nutrient availability in coastal polynyas also encourages high primary productivity, making them critical aspects of the Antarctic marine food web. Coastal polynya strength and location varies through time, most notably at glacial–interglacial timescales owing to changes in continental shelf available for polynya formation. Predicting the future evolution of Antarctic coastal polynyas is challenged by inadequate model resolution and poorly constrained processes and behaviours, but there are indications that activity will decline with warming. A coordinated and expanded campaign of in situ measurements, as well as new satellite-based observations that use intelligent algorithms, would improve coupled atmosphere–sea-ice–ocean models and, thereby, enhance knowledge of Antarctic coastal polynyas.</p
Rock Climbing in Aotearoa New Zealand: From Novel Activity to Popular Sport, c.1965-2024
No full textThis study examines the growth of rock climbing in Aotearoa New Zealand between c.1965 and 2024. Rock climbing emerged as a novel activity in the 1960s out of New Zealand’s long established mountaineering culture. Over the next 60 years, rock climbing underwent distinct evolutions to become a popular and multifaceted sport and recreational activity. The adaptable nature and wide appeal of rock climbing across its different forms led the activity to have a more dynamic trajectory than other outdoor adventure sports over the same period. Rock climbing guidebooks and climbing club literature provide a record of rock climbing activities, achievements, and insights into key issues from the period under discussion. Oral history interviews give context and further enrich the history within the archival sources. They provide in-depth, reflective accounts from the experiential perspectives of a range of individuals involved in rock climbing over the course of its growth.Themes of place, identity, and risk closely inform the evolutions of rock climbing in Aotearoa. From the mid-1960s to mid-1970s, rock climbers developed unique, technical challenges on urban crags in less dangerous environments, previously overlooked by the alpine-focused climbing community. Rock climbers established social scenes around specific rock climbing sites, publishing their activities in the New Zealand Alpine Journal. Some individuals used their identity as rock climbers to adopt alternative appearances and lifestyles and reject mountaineering conventions. High unemployment, social non-conformity, and protest through the early 1980s influenced a period of anarchistic behaviour among rock climbers at Whanganui Bay on the western shore of Lake Taupō. This resulted in tensions with tangata whenua and landowners, access issues, and divisions within the New Zealand Alpine Club. The establishment of Women Climbing in 1985 brought new energy to the climbing community and provided a supportive environment for women, reflecting a wider mobilisation of women in outdoor recreation. A convergence of new developments and international influences in the late 1980s led to a proliferation of climbing competitions and indoor climbing facilities and the establishment of the New Zealand Sportclimbing Federation c.1987. These developments increased rock climbing’s accessibility and public profile and encouraged growth in commercial and high performance capacities through the 1990s and 2000s. Indoor climbing and competitions drove sport climbing and bouldering as popular and more accessible forms of outdoor climbing. But high growth in numbers and impactful climbing practices led rock climbing sites across Aotearoa to become contested, including Whanganui Bay, Motuoapa to the south of Lake Taupō, and Kura Tāwhiti Castle Hill in the Canterbury High Country. Increasing address of Māori land claims in the 1990s, including the Ngāi Tahu Treaty claim, challenged long-held beliefs over free access to recreational areas among the predominantly Pākehā climbing community.Rock climbing in the 2020s, across its various forms, can be defined as both popular and novel. Rock climbing became a part of mainstream sports programmes, school curricula, the Olympics, and was an accessible recreational activity. In some of its forms, rock climbing remained more fringe and at a distance from public view. Continual participation growth, environmental change, and access challenges prompted rock climbers to reconsider the physical, social, and cultural impacts they had in places whose identities extended beyond that of a rock climbing site. Through the late 2010s and 2020s, rock climbers and organisations, including the newly formed Aotearoa Climbing Access Trust, explored new ways of making rock climbing a less impactful and more sustainable activity within New Zealand’s dynamic places and landscapes.</p
AI in Action: Exploring the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on New Zealand's Productivity (Report 2)
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Spin polarisation and non-isotropic effective mass in the conduction band of GdN
No full textGdN is a ferromagnetic semiconductor which has seen increasing interest in the preceding decades particularly in the areas of spin- and superconducting- based electronics. Here we report a detailed computational and optical spectroscopy study of the electronic structure of stoichiometric and nitrogen vacancy doped GdN. Based on our calculations we provide the effective mass tensor for undoped GdN, and some indicative values for electron doped GdN. Such a property is valuable as it can affect device design, and can be measured experimentally to validate the existing computation results
Family communication and involvement in people with psychosis: A mixed-methods study in Ethiopia
No full textBackground: Psychotic disorders have a significant impact on global health. Affecting over 24 million people worldwide, schizophrenia contributes substantially to the global burden of disease and is associated with high rates of disability and mortality. Comprehensive interventions targeting psychosocial factors have been proposed as effective strategies to improve the lives of people with psychosis. Expressed Emotion (EE) is a well-studied aspect of family dynamics that has been shown to predict relapse in Western settings. Consequently, this understanding has guided the development of family-based interventions, yielding improved outcomes. However, the applicability of EE in non-Western settings is limited for several reasons. Its framework tends to generalize emotional and behavioural expressions that are inherently culturally variable. Additionally, EE predominantly highlights negative family interactions, overlooking supportive ones. The focus is often skewed towards family attitudes and behaviours, with less attention given to the experiences of people with psychosis.In Ethiopia, a country with strong communal ties and limited formal mental health services, families are often the primary caregivers. Thus, a broader, culturally nuanced conceptualization of EE is necessary. The need for a contextual understanding of family communication in non-Western settings has been repeatedly emphasised, aiming to enhance the validity of the EE construct. Understanding the salient features of family communication is essential to identify relevant aspects of family interaction. This can inform targeted interventions to enhance positive communication and mitigate negative behaviours. Objective: This study aimed to develop an in-depth, socially embedded understanding of family communication and involvement in the daily lives of people with psychosis in the Ethiopian context. Based on the insights gained from the ethnography, the study developed and tested a contextual measurement tool for family communication in Ethiopia.Method: A nine-month ethnography was conducted with 14 families living with a relative with psychosis in Ethiopia. Further insights were also gained from 20 in-depth interviews with stakeholders. This was followed by scale development, piloting, and validation studies. Initially, an extensive review of existing measurement scales was conducted to determine their applicability in the Ethiopian setting. Ethnography findings were mapped onto existing measures, relevant items were identified, and new items were generated to create a new measure. Cognitive interviewing and expert consensus meetings were used to assess the content validity and acceptability of the scale items. A total of 201 people with psychosis participated in the pilot study. Item-total, item-item, loading, and test-retest reliability metrics were used to inform item reduction. The revised scale was then assessed in an independent sample of 401 people with psychosis. Internal consistency, construct validity, convergent validity, and reliability of the newly developed family communication and involvement scale were evaluated.Findings: Ethnography Three core themes were developed to explain family communication in Ethiopia: duty to care, communication landscape, and struggle for equal citizenship. The duty to care theme reflects the deep-rooted expectation of collective responsibility toward caring for a member with psychosis in Ethiopian families. However, this often leads to overcontrolling measures that can undermine the voice of the person with psychosis. The communication landscape theme underscores the cautious and subtle nature of interactions within families, where non-verbal cues frequently take the place of direct verbal communication. This restraint prioritizes maintaining stability over emotional expression, with negative attitudes and behaviours often inferred from daily routines rather than explicitly communicated. The struggle for equal citizenship theme highlights the challenges faced by people with psychosis in achieving full inclusion within their families and communities. They are often caught between the support and control exerted by their families, with rigid, all-or-nothing perceptions of wellness contributing to their exclusion. In many cases, the focus on meeting physical needs overshadowed the person’s psychological well-being, limiting their access to resources and social connections during less stable times. Across all themes, socioeconomic factors play a significant role in shaping family communication and inclusion in daily routines.Scale Development and Validation The initial 37-item Family Communication and Involvement (FCI) Scale was drafted drawing items from relevant aspects of family communication identified in the ethnography and incorporating cross-cultural items from existing scales. Through expert evaluation, cognitive interviews, and pilot testing, the scale was refined to a bifactor, 24-item scale demonstrating strong psychometric properties. The final FCI scale exhibited excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's α=0.92) and acceptable convergent validity (r= 0.45 with WHODAS-2.0 and r= 0.48 with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale [BPRS-E]). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed an acceptable model fit, though further refinement could enhance the model’s fitness to the data.Conclusion: This study provided a comprehensive understanding of family communication and involvement in the context of psychosis in Ethiopia. The findings highlighted how cultural norms, socio-economic challenges, and caregiving responsibilities deeply influence family communication and the inclusion of people with psychosis. The development of the FCI scale offers a valuable tool for measuring family communication and involvement in this specific context. The study's findings revealed the tension between support and control within families, often dictated by rigid views of wellness. Ultimately, the study underscores the importance of addressing the broader social and familial contexts in which people with psychosis live, with the potential to improve their care and well-being in Ethiopia and similar low-resource settings.Recommendations: Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations are made: •Mental health professionals should recognize and build upon the existing strengths of families when assessing family communication and involvement. By integrating an understanding of socio-economic realities, care can be tailored to enhance families’ capabilities and address both practical and emotional needs effectively.•Interventions and care frameworks for psychosis should actively involve both individuals with psychosis and their families, fostering collaboration and shared decision-making. By strengthening inclusive family roles and building on existing caregiving practices, these approaches can enhance the sense of contribution and belonging for individuals with psychosis while ensuring support aligns with family capacities and cultural contexts.•Develop policies that support caregiving families by building on their existing financial strategies and capacities. Initiatives such as targeted subsidies, support for income-generating activities, and community-based social protection measures can reduce financial strain while strengthening families’ economic resilience.Keywords: Psychosis, Family communication and involvement, Ethiopia, Cultural context, Ethnography</p
Voltage Control of Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy of CoFeB and Co<sub>2</sub>MnGa-based Stacks for Sensing Applications
No full textThis PhD research investigates the voltage control of magnetic anisotropy (VCMA) in CoFeB and Co2MnGa-based thin film stacks with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, towards a voltage-controlled magnetic sensor based on magnetic tunnel junctions. Here I explored both reversible and irreversible changes in magnetic properties under different experimental conditions. The study primarily utilises ionic liquid gating (ILG) to modulate coercivity and anisotropy in these materials.In CoFeB stacks, two configurations of the stack with variable thicknesses of materials were tried for achieving perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA). The reversible control of PMA in CoFeB was demonstrated through repeated voltage cycling, with measurable transition times. In addition, through the patterning of magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs), I improved both their design and tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR), achieving up to ~27% TMR in CoFeB-based thin film stacks.For PMA Co2MnGa-based thin films, cyclic gate voltages produce distinct coercivity trends depending on the film thickness. In thinner (2 nm) Co2MnGa layers, coercivity decreases while the thicker (3.8 nm) films exhibit increased coercivity with voltage cycling. These findings indicate irreversible coercivity changes with ILG in both thicknesses of Co2MnGa. Through patterning of MTJs in Co2MnGa-based films, I demonstrated the first Co2MnGa-based MTJs made from two PMA Co2MnGa layers and achieved ~11% TMR, highlighting the material's potential for tunnel magnetoresistance applications.To achieve reversible control in Co2MnGa (3.8 nm) stacks, Neon ion irradiation (30 keV, 1014 Ne+·cm2) was employed, resulting in reversible coercivity changes during subsequent ILG experiments. This demonstrates that ion mobility is a driver of coercivity changes with ILG and the formation of open sites through irradiation can lead to increased ion mobility, leading to more reversible anisotropy changes.Additionally, I performed experiments to control magnetic anisotropy using two different voltage-control techniques. I demonstrated piezoelectric control of the hysteresis loop of in-plane magnetised CoFeB thin films, providing insights into tuning anisotropy through piezoelectric strain. I also explored a recently published method of using spin-orbit torque (SOT) for 3D magnetic field sensing, using Co2MnGa-based thin films. Further optimisation of my structures is necessary for full three-axis sensing.These findings contribute to the understanding of VCMA and ion-induced modifications in magnetic thin films, offering new perspectives on the design of structures for voltage-tunable magnetoresistive sensors and other voltage-tunable spintronic devices.</p
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