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Sea temperature and pollution are associated with infectious disease mortality in short-beaked common dolphins.
Get PDFThe concurrent pressures of climate change and chemical pollution, often studied in isolation, have been linked to increases in infectious disease that threaten biodiversity. Understanding their interconnected nature is vital, as the impacts of climate-mediated environmental changes can be exacerbated by chemical pollution and vice versa. Using data from 836 UK-stranded short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) (n = 153 (analysed for polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) blubber concentrations)) necropsied between 1990 and 2020, we show that PCB concentrations and sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are associated with an increased risk of infectious disease mortality. Specifically, a 1 mg/kg lipid increase in PCB concentration correlates with a 1.6% increase in disease mortality risk, while a 1 °C rise in SST corresponds to a 14% increase. Additionally, we derived a novel PCB threshold concentration (22 mg/kg lipid), defined as the level where PCB blubber concentrations are significantly associated with infectious disease mortality risk. International efforts to reduce carbon emissions have mostly failed, and despite regulatory efforts, PCBs remain a significant threat. We demonstrate the urgent need for conservation strategies that address both risk factors simultaneously to protect marine biodiversity
Ending the past: international law, intertemporality and reparations for past wrongs
Get PDFThere has been increasing attention both at national and international level to demands of reparations for historic injustices—colonialism, enslavement and the transatlantic chattel slave trade—and the role and relevance of international law in this context. A routinely identified legal obstacle to reparation demands is the doctrine of intertemporal law, which is generally interpreted to require past acts to be considered in the light of the law contemporary with them. This interpretation of the intertemporal doctrine has been contested more recently in international legal scholarship and practice, which both seek to instill an increased sense of ambiguity into the laws of the past, but crucially, this Article shows, these efforts do not extend this ambiguity to the doctrine of intertemporal law itself. This Article takes a closer look at the intertemporal doctrine and interrogates these varying interpretations. It analyses both conventional and critical international legal scholarship on the intertemporal doctrine in the context of reparation claims for historic injustices and contrasts them to the scholarly reception of the intertemporal doctrine in the past and selected cases from the International Court of Justice (“ICJ”), arguing that whilst an often–unquestioned static understanding of intertemporality prevails, more dynamic interpretations of the doctrine also exist. By building on these legal arguments that enshrine a less static relationship between past and present laws within the discipline of international law—including ICJ decisions, judges’ dissenting opinions, states’ arguments, and critical legal scholarship—the Article defends a potentially emancipatory interpretive approach to the doctrine that could reframe it so as to support, rather than hinder, reparation claims for historic injustices in international law
Crime in the restive city: Globalisation, illicit labour and urban change
No full textShifts in criminal markets are driven by urban change. This chapter traces the evolution of illicit labour in the urban economy during three historical periods: industrial society, deindustrialisation, and globalisation. It deciphers how gangs, organised crime and drug markets have responded and adapted to changing trajectories of economic development and city building processes over the course of the twentieth century until today’s globalised society. Critically analysing these trajectories sheds light on how gangs, organised crime, and drug markets are not isolated entities detached from broader socio-economic and political processes and structures, but rather are highly intertwined with these forces which operate at various spatial scales – from local neighbourhoods to global circuits of capital and drugs. Future research, we suggest, should be oriented toward conceptual and empirical bridges between these diverse scales
AI from the point of view of ordinary language
Get PDFI shall first consider two puzzles that illustrate the contrast between everyday experience or ordinary language, on the one hand, and scientific description on the other. What is common to them is simply that the ordinary description and the scientific description seem to conflict, and the philosopher is called upon to resolve the apparent contradiction. I contend—with some caveats—that there is no such conflict, nothing to adjust. That is one philosophical point (which has been made before). The other is to articulate the lesson for a third puzzle, for the concept of intelligence, particularly with respect to AI or artificial intelligence (especially as purportedly instantiated by LLMs, ‘Large Language Models’)
A novel CFD-DPM model for particle deposition and removal in microchannels with different contact angles
Get PDFDeposition of suspended particles hinders the development of nanofluids for microchannel cooling systems. Traditional discrete phase models (DPMs) only simulate particles moving towards the surface without considering surface conditions and the removal process. In order to accurately predict particle deposition for a microchannel design, a direct experimental method for real-time visualisation of particle deposition and removal is presented, and a novel DPM was developed based on experimental data. Results show that particle deposition is reduced when the Reynolds number is increased, and the contact angle is decreased. When the Reynolds number is 0.003, the net deposition number increases from 26 to 76 as the contact angle changes from 80.3° to 102.3° after two hours. This new model was developed by dividing the initial particle deposition process into three stages: the first stage involves DPM; the second stage involves a new correlation between surface wettability and particle deposition; and the third stage involves a new correlation between particle removal and particle deposition. Therefore, the “Improved DPM” incorporates all stages, providing good agreement with experimental results
Supplementary Specifications for the application of the United Nations Framework Classification for Resources (Update 2019) to Wind Energy Resources, ECE/ENERGY/GE.3/2025/7
No full textNo abstract available
Ethnicity and frailty: a systematic review of association with prevalence, incidence, trajectories and risks
Get PDFBackground:
Ethnic variations in frailty are not fully understood. This systematic review examined ethnic differences in the prevalence, incidence and trajectories of frailty; associations between frailty and sociodemographic/lifestyle risk-factors; and health-related outcomes of frailty.
Methods:
We searched four electronic databases from 2000 to July 2023 using terms for ethnicity and frailty. Inclusion criteria: observational studies assessing frailty in adults ≥18 years from community-based settings, including care homes; ethnicity defined by race, country of birth, language, ancestry, or culture. We supplemented searches with manual citation and reference list searches. Outcomes included prevalence, incidence, and transitions of frailty; factors associated with frailty; and health-related outcomes (e.g., falls, hospital admissions, mortality). Two reviewers independently screened all articles.
Results:
We included 82 studies, representing data from 13 countries plus two multi-national samples. Across the included countries, frailty prevalence was higher in minority groups compared to majority groups. Ethnic differences appear sensitive to methods used to measure frailty. Two United States-based studies found that ethnic differences were independent of sociodemographic differences such as income or education. Six studies from the United States or United Kingdom showed that Black and South-Asian people, respectively, had higher frailty incidence or more rapid frailty progression. Two studies showed that frailty was associated with mortality across ethnic groups but with some small differences in magnitude between groups.
Conclusion:
Ethnic disparities in frailty prevalence persist across community-based settings in different countries and are not fully explained by known inequalities. Addressing these disparities will likely require careful frailty measurement and assessment; confronting structural inequalities; and tailoring interventions to the needs of minoritised populations
Markets in biodiversity offsets
Get PDFWe outline the key features of markets for biodiversity offsets as a promising economic instrument to incentivise conservation on farmland. Following a review of the main advantages of the approach, we summarise the results of empirical investigations of four key design features of such markets: the metric, the exchange rate, the regulatory target and geographic scope
Characterising Bugs in Jupyter Platform
No full textAs a representative literate programming platform, Jupyter is widely adopted by developers, data analysts, and researchers for replication, data sharing, documentation, interactive data visualization, and more. Understanding the bugs in the Jupyter platform is essential for ensuring its correctness, security, and robustness. Previous studies focused on code reuse, restoration, and repair execution environment for Jupyter notebooks. However, the bugs in Jupyter notebooks’ hosting platform Jupyter are not investigated. In this paper, we investigate 387 bugs in the Jupyter platform. These Jupyter bugs are classified into 11 root causes and 11 bug symptoms. We identify 14 major findings for developers. More importantly, our study opens new directions in building tools for detecting and fixing bugs in the Jupyter platform
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