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The Palgrave Handbook of Carbon Trading in Africa
No full textThis handbook provides a comprehensive guide to the economics, law and governance of carbon pricing in Africa. It explores carbon trading in Africa and sets the agenda for its adoption through robust economic policies, effective governance, contextualised policies and regulations. The specific challenges to carbon trading in Africa, the market mechanisms, laws and regulatory policies required to foster sustainable development within the continent are highlighted, with a particular focus on the energy, manufacturing and forestry sectors. The economic context underpinning carbon trading, the inclusion of Africa within global carbon trading schemes, forestry economics, the legal requirements of carbon trading, and the political economy of carbon pricing are also discussed.This book offers a practical framework for emission trading and the green transition within Africa, which brings together ideas and approaches from across economics, law, and finance. It will be relevant to students, researchers, and policymakers interested in environmental and development economics
Citizen science for individual identification of pine martens Martes martes from camera trap footage
No full textCamera traps have become a popular tool for monitoring a wide range of species, but determining the animals present in the footage can be incredibly time-consuming and remains a significant challenge for many projects. Crowd-sourcing this task through the engagement of members of the public as citizen scientists can be a solution to this problem. There is good evidence that high confidence in classification accuracy can be attained from citizen science species classifications, but whether citizen scientists can also perform more difficult classification tasks, such as identification of individuals within a species, has received far less attention. Here, we used European pine marten Martes martes in the Forest of Dean, UK, as a case study to assess citizen scientist ability to identify different individuals from photo and video camera trap footage. Agreement between expert and citizen scientist individual ID classifications was variable but there is potential for improving citizen science classification quality through optimizing study design. Citizen scientists were more likely to classify pine marten footage correctly to species level and to attempt an individual ID when shown video footage rather than photos. Individual ID accuracy was also improved by proximity of bait to a camera trap. Reassuringly, citizen scientists’ assessment of their own confidence was positively associated with individual ID classification. This study highlights the potential for citizen science to contribute to more than just species classification in camera trapping projects but also emphasises the need for appropriate study design to ensure data quality
Painted loading: a toolkit for loading spatially large optical tweezer arrays
No full textArrays of neutral atoms in optical tweezers are widely used in quantum simulation and computation, and precision frequency metrology. The capabilities of these arrays are enhanced by maximising the number of available sites. Here we increase the spatial extent of a two-dimensional array of 88Sr atoms by sweeping the frequency of the cooling light to move the atomic reservoir across the array. We load arrays with vertical heights of 100 µm, exceeding the height of an array loaded from a static reservoir by a factor of 3. We investigate the site-to-site atom number distribution, tweezer lifetime, and temperature, achieving an average temperature across the array of µK. By controlling the frequency sweep we show it is possible to control the distribution of atoms across the array, including uniform and non-uniformly loaded arrays, and arrays with selectively loaded regions. We explain our results using a rate equation model which is in qualitative agreement with the data
Impact of comminution and resuspension of tephra by vehicular activity on ambient PM 10 levels in urban areas: insights from a pilot experimental study on Mt. Etna volcano, Italy
No full textFine volcanic ash can have an adverse health impact. It is readily produced during explosive eruptions but also can be generated in large quantities by secondary processes. We evaluated the production and resuspension of sub-10 μm volcanic particulate matter (PM10) by road traffic as these processes may generate an increased respiratory exposure hazard. We conducted experiments on the slopes of Etna volcano, where we drove with a small SUV-type car over an area of road artificially covered with tephra and investigated the resulting grain size distribution (GSD) and concentration of PM10 in the air as a function of (1) the number of car passages, (2) the starting thickness of the tephra deposit, and (3) vehicle speed. Our data show that increasing the number of car passages, deposit thickness, and vehicle speed rapidly induces a decrease in the GSD of tephra deposits and results in increased airborne PM10. We show that vehicles will cause comminution (i.e., reduction to a smaller average particle size) and resuspension of basaltic ash, so local communities can expect that, after an eruption, concentrations of PM10 may increase with time and affect exposures close to roads
Possibilities For Social Equity Budgeting: Critical Insights From Bentham?
No full textConsidering prior ways of seeing and practical mobilisations of Social Equity Budgeting (SEB), we suggest that prior conceptualisation, research and practice can be advanced by reflecting on insights from the philosophical and political literature on equity and justice. Here, we pursue such an approach and specifically contribute by considering how the writings of the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) provide critical insights informing possibilities for SEB. Our critical historical perspective, focused on the history of ideas in context, helps reinforce dimensions of today's prescriptive envisioning of SEB and indicate new insights and emphases in this regard around democracy and transparency (or publicity, to use Bentham's term). We here analyze progressive dimensions and possibilities in Bentham but also acknowledge and articulate the need to balance this with appreciation of critique of Bentham and more negative possibilities. Both dimensions have policy implications. Our analysis is facilitated by the notable (relatively) recent work of the Bentham Project at University College London (UCL) in seeking to publish the many previously unpublished writings of Bentham held in the UCL archive. Here, Gallhofer and Haslam's (2003) text, informed in part by detailed archival research into Bentham's then unpublished handwritten manuscripts, was a key starting point
Boundary actions and loop groups: A geometric picture of gauge symmetries at null infinity
Full text linkIn previous work [1, 2], we proposed an extended phase space structure at null infinity accommodating large gauge symmetries for subn-leading soft theorems in Yang-Mills, via dressing fields arising in the Stueckelberg procedure. Here, we give an explicit boundary action controlling the dynamics of these fields. This allows for a derivation from first principles of the associated charges, together with an explicit renormalization procedure when taking the limit to null and spatial infinity, matching with charges proposed in previous work. Using the language of fibre bundles, we relate the existence of Stueckelberg fields to the notion of extension/reduction of the structure group of a principal bundle, thereby deriving their transformation rules in a natural way, thus realising them as Goldstone-like objects. Finally, this allows us to give a geometric picture of the gauge transformation structure at the boundary, via a loop group coming from formal expansions in the coordinate transversal to the boundary
Editorial introduction: special issue on panpsychism and pan(en)theism
Full text linkThe editors of the special issue on panpsychism and pan(en)theism introduce the issue. This includes brief summaries of each of the articles
Global Tales: Exploring Cultural Variances in Parent-Child Interactions Within Narrative Settings.
No full textParent-child interactions, particularly storytelling practices, play a critical role in children's language development, yet the influence of cultural variation in these practices remains underexplored. This quantitative study aims to examine differences between English and Zimbabwean storytelling practices and their impact on children's story recall. To address limitations in previous research, including the reliance on artificial settings and insufficient attention to cultural diversity, we will conduct a naturalistic study in participants' homes. Parent-child dyads will be observed in three contexts: playtime, story time using a storybook and oral narration. Data will be collected on verbal behaviour, hand gestures and visual attention, while children's recall will be measured following each type of storytelling. This study will address four key research questions: (1) How do cultural groups differ in their storytelling mode and pedagogic orientation? (2) How do multimodal dyadic behaviours differ across cultures during storytelling and play? (3) Are there cross-cultural differences in the frequency and types of hand gestures used in storytelling? (4) Is greater parental experience with oral narration associated with enhanced child recall? The study will involve English dyads in England and Zimbabwean dyads in Zimbabwe. By examining these interactions in participants' home environments and by including both Zimbabwean families in Zimbabwe and English families in England, this research will shed light on how culturally rooted storytelling practices influence cognitive and language development and inform our understanding of culturally responsive parenting approaches. [Abstract copyright: © 2026 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Physical activity interventions for older adults – an overview of systematic reviews
Full text linkBackgroundThe proportion of people meeting recommended physical activity (PA) guidelines declines with age. Older adults who are physically inactive have an increased risk of: all-cause mortality; chronic diseases; injury and reduced cognitive functioning. Multiple systematic reviews aim to understand the effectiveness of PA interventions but the evidence is fragmented and it is unclear how well the research reflects the needs of older people. We conducted an overview of existing systematic reviews (PROSPERO reference: CRD42015023796) to map evidence on interventions to encourage older people to be more active.MethodsNine electronic databases were searched, most recently in October 2023. Older people were defined as those aged 50+, with physical activity including active daily living (walking the dog, gardening, etc.), organised activities and clubs and more formal exercise or sport. Screening of records, data extraction, and assessments of quality (using AMSTAR-2) and inequality (using Progress-Plus) were completed independently by two reviewers.ResultsA total of 35 reviews (reported in 36 papers) published between 2002 and 2023 were included. Reviews included between 3 and 79 studies (total 480 unique studies) with a median of 162 and 184 participants per study in meta-analyses (overall AMSTAR-2 median quality low) and narrative syntheses (median quality critically low) respectively. Eighteen included a mixture of interventions (e.g. supporting lifestyle change, walking groups, exercise classes), nine focussed on remote delivery, six on wearable devices, five on 1-to-1 interventions, two on walking, and two focussed on group-based interventions. Interventions to increase physical activity in older people were shown to be effective in the short term (< 12 months). The use of wearable devices as interventions had a small-to-medium effect on increasing physical activity and daily steps. Remote delivery approaches, including the use of text messaging, web- or mobile-technology, and social media, were effective in increasing PA.ConclusionsA range of interventions are effective in increasing PA in older adults. Newer research highlights the usefulness of technology - including wearable devices, social media, text messaging - as useful tools. Improved effectiveness seems to relate to theory-based interventions, but without further research, caution should be taken when interpreting the effectiveness of individual behaviour change techniques. Identifying and resolving wider barriers and facilitators, social and environmental interactions influencing PA may improve future interventions. Better reporting of equity by future studies will improve understanding of who benefits from such interventions. Increased knowledge of potential wider social, economic and environmental determinants of physical activity in older adults, and specifically more vulnerable and minority populations, will help policy makers and practitioners develop more effective interventions
SUFFICIENCY OF DISCLOSURE AND AI-RELATED INVENTIONS
No full textThe patent system grants inventors exclusive rights in exchange for public disclosure of their inventions. Sufficiency of disclosure operates as a threshold condition for patent validity, conditioning entitlement to private reward on the provision of public benefit. This article argues that AI-related inventions expose a structural mismatch within the sufficiency doctrine. The tension arises most clearly in applied settings, where sufficiency assessed as formal enablement diverges from sufficiency understood as a mechanism for supporting reproducibility and knowledge dissemination. While the doctrines of enablement, plausibility, and possession remain conceptually coherent, their application to data-dependent and opaque technologies risks validating disclosures that are legally sufficient yet incapable of supporting practical reproducibility. Building on a distinction between Core AI and Applied AI, the article shows that disclosure challenges arise most acutely in the latter category, where claimed technical effects depend on training data, training methods, model configuration, or trained model states that may not be inferable from common general knowledge. Drawing on utilitarian and economic justifications, it develops a context-sensitive and category-aware account of sufficiency grounded in existing doctrine and informed by a comparative analysis of the UK, the EU, the United States, Singapore, and China. The article demonstrates how sufficiency can be applied in a reproducibility-oriented and exclusion-focused manner without introducing technology-specific legal tests or uniform disclosure mandates. It further argues that complementary mechanisms may support the practical delivery of disclosure where necessary, provided that they remain subordinate to doctrinal assessment and do not displace the core disclosure obligations underpinning the patent bargain
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