Appraising and selecting conservation measures to mitigate desertification and land degradation based on stakeholder participation and global best practices

Most desertification research focuses on degradation assessments without putting sufficient emphasis on prevention and mitigation strategies, although the concept of Sustainable Land Management (SLM) is increasingly being acknowledged. A variety of already applied conservation measures exist at the local level, but they are not adequately recognised, evaluated and shared, either by land users, technicians, researchers, or policy makers. Likewise, collaboration between research and implementation is often insufficient. The aim of this paper is to present a new methodology for a participatory process of appraising and selecting desertification mitigation strategies, and to present first experiences from its application in the EU-funded DESIRE project. The methodology combines a collective learning and decision approach with the use of evaluated global best practices. In three parts, it moves through a concise process, starting with identifying land degradation and locally applied solutions in a stakeholder workshop, leading to assessing local solutions with a standardised evaluation tool, and ending with jointly selecting promising strategies for implementation with the help of a decision support tool. The methodology is currently being applied in 16 study sites. Preliminary analysis from the application of the first part of the methodology shows that the initial stakeholder workshop results in a good basis for stakeholder cooperation, and in promising land conservation practices for further assessment. Study site research teams appreciated the valuable results, as burning issues and promising options emerged from joint reflection. The methodology is suitable to initiate mutual learning among different stakeholder groups and to integrate local and scientific knowledge.

The SAKK cancer-specific geriatric assessment (C-SGA): a pilot study of a brief tool for clinical decision-making in older cancer patients

BACKGROUND Recommendations from international task forces on geriatric assessment emphasize the need for research including validation of cancer-specific geriatric assessment (C-SGA) tools in oncological settings. The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of the SAKK Cancer-Specific Geriatric Assessment (C-SGA) in clinical practice. METHODS A cross sectional study of cancer patients >=65 years old (N = 51) with pathologically confirmed cancer presenting for initiation of chemotherapy treatment (07/01/2009-03/31/2011) at two oncology departments in Swiss canton hospitals: Kantonsspital Graubunden (KSGR N = 25), Kantonsspital St. Gallen (KSSG N = 26). Data was collected using three instruments, the SAKK C-SGA plus physician and patient evaluation forms. The SAKK C-SGA includes six measures covering five geriatric assessment domains (comorbidity, function, psychosocial, nutrition, cognition) using a mix of medical record abstraction (MRA) and patient interview. Five individual domains and one overall SAKK C-SGA score were calculated and dichotomized as below/above literature-based cut-offs. The SAKK C-SGA was evaluated by: patient and physician estimated time to complete, ease of completing, and difficult or unanswered questions. RESULTS Time to complete the patient questionnaire was considered acceptable by almost all (>=96%) patients and physicians. Patients reported slightly shorter times to complete the questionnaire than physicians (17.33 +/- 7.34 vs. 20.59 +/- 6.53 minutes, p = 0.02). Both groups rated the patient questionnaire as easy/fairly easy to complete (91% vs. 84% respectively, p = 0.14) with few difficult or unanswered questions. The MRA took on average 8.32 +/- 4.72 minutes to complete. Physicians (100%) considered time to complete MRA acceptable, 96% rated it as easy/fairly easy to complete. Individual study site populations differed on health-related characteristics (excellent/good physician-rated general health KSGR 71% vs. KSSG 32%, p = 0.007). The overall mean C-SGA score was 2.4 +/- 1.12. Patients at KSGR had lower C-SGA scores (2.00 +/- 1.19 vs. 2.81 +/- 0.90, p = 0.009) and a smaller proportion (28% vs.65%, p = 0.008) was above the C-SGA cut-off score compared to KSSG. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest the SAKK C-SGA is a feasible practical tool for use in clinical practice. It demonstrated discriminative ability based on objective geriatric assessment measures, but additional investigations on use for clinical decision-making are warranted. The SAKK C-SGA also provides important usable domain information for intervention to optimize outcomes in older cancer patients.

Ragu: a free tool for the analysis of EEG and MEG event-related scalp field data using global randomization statistics

We present a program (Ragu; Randomization Graphical User interface) for statistical analyses of multichannel event-related EEG and MEG experiments. Based on measures of scalp field differences including all sensors, and using powerful, assumption-free randomization statistics, the program yields robust, physiologically meaningful conclusions based on the entire, untransformed, and unbiased set of measurements. Ragu accommodates up to two within-subject factors and one between-subject factor with multiple levels each. Significance is computed as function of time and can be controlled for type II errors with overall analyses. Results are displayed in an intuitive visual interface that allows further exploration of the findings. A sample analysis of an ERP experiment illustrates the different possibilities offered by Ragu. The aim of Ragu is to maximize statistical power while minimizing the need for a-priori choices of models and parameters (like inverse models or sensors of interest) that interact with and bias statistics.

Creating a public tool to assess and promote transparency in global land deals: the experience of the Land Matrix

The Beta version of the Land Matrix (Land Matrix 2012) was launched in April 2012 as a tool to promote public participation in building a constantly evolving database on large-scale land deals, and making the data visible and understandable. The aim of the Land Matrix partnership is to promote transparency and open data in decisionmaking over land and investment, as a step towards greater accountability. Since its launch, the Land Matrix has attracted a high degree of attention, and stirred some controversy. It provides valuable lessons on the challenges and benefits of promoting open data on practices that are often shrouded in secrecy. This paper critically examines the ongoing efforts by the Land Matrix partnership to build a public tool to promote greater transparency in decision-making over land and investment at a global level. It intends to provoke discussion of the extent to which such a tool can ultimately promote greater transparency and be a step towards greater accountability and improved decision-making. It will present the Land Matrix and its value addition, before detailing the challenges it encountered related to the measurement of the largescale land acquisition phenomenon. It will then specify how it intends to address these issues in order to establish a dynamic and participatory tool for open development.

Loss estimation for landslides in mountain areas – An integrated toolbox for vulnerability assessment and damage documentation

Global environmental change includes changes in a wide range of global scale phenomena, which are expected to affect a number of physical processes, as well as the vulnerability of the communities that will experience their impact. Decision-makers are in need of tools that will enable them to assess the loss of such processes under different future scenarios and to design risk reduction strategies. In this paper, a tool is presented that can be used by a range of end-users (e.g. local authorities, decision makers, etc.) for the assessment of the monetary loss from future landslide events, with a particular focus on torrential processes. The toolbox includes three functions: a) enhancement of the post-event damage data collection process, b) assessment of monetary loss of future events and c) continuous updating and improvement of an existing vulnerability curve by adding data of recent events. All functions of the tool are demonstrated through examples of its application.

Global evidence in local debates: the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in Swiss direct-democratic debates on school policy

This article analyses the use of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and other evidence in educational policy discourse in the context of direct-democratic votes in Switzerland. The results of a quantitative content analysis show that PISA is used by all actors to support a wide range of policy measures and ideological positions. Other evidence, however, is only used to support single specific policy positions. These findings demonstrate the ubiquity of PISA. The article discusses these results in view of the question of whether the incorporation of evidence into policy debates contributes to informed discourse.

Post-colonial (American?) English Presence on the North-Western Pacific Island of Kosrae: A cross-linguistic analysis of the overlaps and divergences of Kosraean English compared to standard American English

Kosrae is the most remote island of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), with a population of less than 7,000 inhabitants, located in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Guam. FSM is an independent sovereign nation consisting of four states in total: Pohnpei, Chuuk, Yap, and Kosrae. Having passed through the hands of Spain, Germany and Japan, the United States gained administrative control of FSM after WWII, as commissioned by the UN. The FSM became an independent nation in 1986 while still retaining affiliation with the US under a ‘Compact of Free Association’. Now both Kosraean and English are considered to be the two official languages and the variety of Kosraean English which has arisen proves for an interesting comparative study. In order to obtain the relevant data, I spent three months on the island of Kosrae, interviewing 90 local speakers, ranging in age (16-70), occupation, sex and time spent off island. The 45 minute long interviews were informal but supported by participant information to capture relevant data and conversations were guided in a way that aimed to reveal language and cultural attitudes. With reference to these samples, I examine the effects of American English on the language use in Kosrae. This paper aims to present a broad analysis of phonological, morphosyntactic and pragmatic features, such as pro-dropping, discourse markers and other practices in order to demonstrate the similarities and differences between the two varieties, which are coming to shape the variety developing on Kosrae. Having transcribed conversations using the tool Elan, I will put particular focus on [h] deletion and insertion, a rare occurrence found in a variety of post-colonial American English which I believe is of particular interest. I assess the presence of English in Kosrae with reference to sociological influences, past and present. First, I discuss the extralinguistic factors which have shaped the English that is currently used on Kosrae, including migration between US and FSM, and English as a language of administration, social media usage and visual media presence. Secondly, I assess the use of English in this community in light of Schneider’s (2007) ‘Dynamic Model’, with reference to America’s contribution as an ‘exploitation colony’ as defined by Mufwene (2001). Finally, an overview of the salient linguistic characteristics of Kosraean English, based on the data collected will be presented and compared to features associated with standard American English in view of examining overlap and divergence. The overall objective is to present a cross-linguistic description of a hitherto unexamined English emerging in a postcolonial environment with a juxtaposed contact variety. Mufwene, Salikoko S. 2001. The ecology of language evolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Schneider, E. (2007). Postcolonial Englishes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Segal, H.G. (1989) Kosrae, The Sleeping Lady Awakens. Kosrae: Kosrae Tourist Division, Dept. Of Conservation and Development. Keywords: American English, Global English, Pacific English, Morphosyntactic, Phonological, Variation, Discourse

La cohesión y la seguridad ciudadana : un enfoque global

El artículo revisa el concepto de cohesión social y la noción de seguridad, partiendo del análisis de los profundos desequilibrios y desigualdades sociales que el modelo económico dominante a escala global desde los años 1980 crea o intensifica en América Latina. Centrado en las transformaciones que generaron la pérdida de confianza en las instituciones, en el Estado, en el mercado del trabajo, en la educación, incluso en la religión y en la familia, sobre las cuales reposaba la solidaridad orgánica en el marco de la sociedad industrial capitalista, examina cinco indicadores de la existencia de problemas de inseguridad en relación con la cohesión social. Pone de relieve que el problema de la inseguridad se asocia con la ruptura o la fragilidad de los mecanismos de integración y de mediación social y sostiene la necesidad de reconstruir la cohesión social para alcanzar la seguridad ciudadana, destacando que este proceso se funda en una profunda modificación política, económica y social enfocada en la inclusión social, de la que son co-responsables el Estado y los ciudadanos como actores de su propio desarrollo.

¿Hacia un keynesianismo global multilateral?

El motivo de la realización de este trabajo es analizar el “Keynesianismo global unilateral" realizado por los Estados Unidos en contexto del auge económico experimentado en los años de posguerra de la segunda guerra mundial, para luego centrarse en el progreso de la economía mundial hasta la actualidad. La modernización de la economía mundial deja a muchos modelos y teorías rezagadas y olvidadas por una razón obvia, el modelo funciona en un entorno controlado en donde las variables irrelevantes se mantienen constantes (ceteris paribus) y solo se perciben variaciones en las variables relevantes las cuales nos interesan analizar. Pero, ¿qué sucede si se modifica el paisaje en el cual el modelo se desempeña? ¿Podría seguir funcionando y obteniendo resultados coherentes? ¿Es posible la actualización del “Keynesianismo Global Unilateral" a un “Keynesianismo Global Multilateral" existiendo en la actualidad la ausencia de un único líder económico mundial?