REACHING FOR BLUE GOLD - How the EU can rise to the water challenge while reaping the rewards. EPC Issue Paper No. 80, November 2015

Foreword. Climate change is bad news for water resources – and thus for human development, societies, economies, the environment, and local and global security. The increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events such as droughts and floods serves as a reminder of the effects climate change can have on the quantity and quality of global water reserves, and thus on various other aspects of life. Even though the effects differ from region to region, this is a global challenge with far-reaching consequences to which Europe is not immune. As the world leaders gather in Paris in December 2015 to discuss a new international climate deal, it is worth to remind politicians, businesses and citizens of the water challenge and its wider implications, which already affect us today – and which will only get worse with climate change. However, water-related risks resulting from climate change are not a fatality and damage control doesn’t have to be the only mantra. Placing the water challenge at the centre of political and security dialogues, development strategies and climate mitigation and adaptation measures, and implementing smarter water management, could also bring great economic, environmental and social benefits, in and outside the European Union. It would also contribute to global security. Water matters – now more than ever. This is also what this publication demonstrates. Building on the European Policy Centre’s, two-year “Blue Gold” project, this publication shows the rationale for action, how the EU could use its existing internal and external policy instruments to tackle the water challenge with its various dimensions and the benefits of action.

Asian Middle Classes - Drivers of Political Change? Asia Policy Brief 2014/06, November 2014

Asia watchers have been kept exceptionally busy by recent political developments in the region. An unprecedented landslide victory in India’s general elections, pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, close elections in Indonesia, a coup in Thailand – the list goes on. As unrelated as these events appear, analysts may find a missing link among a social group that is currently exploding in numbers: Asia’s middle classes. Often discussed simply in terms of its economic potential, Asia’s middle-income population is also flexing its political muscle. A closer look at its influence throughout the region in recent months seems to confirm for the field of politics what economists have known for some time: The rise of the Asian middle classes constitutes one of the most fundamental transformations of our time. The consequences remain to be seen.

An insight into the breakup of Gondwana: Identifying events through low-temperature thermochronology from the basement rocks of Madagascar

Fission track analysis was applied to the Precambrian suites of Madagascar in order to identify the lower-temperature cooling histories and their relationships to the Phanerozoic events that affected the island. Apatite ages range from 431 to 68 Ma, and zircon ages range from 452 to 238 Ma. Thermochronologically, the island can be divided into a southern, central, and northern region each with a subdivision on an east-west basis. The southern region is sharply separated from the central region by strongly contrasting apparent apatite ages over the northwest-southeast striking Ranotsara Shear Zone (RSZ). The change in apparent ages over the RSZ is indicative of later reactivation along younger brittle faults. The central region has the oldest ages of the island and has a diffuse contact to the third region northward. Along the entire western margin of the Precambrian basement initial Paleozoic exhumation was followed by heating (burial by sediments) during Jurassic and Cretaceous times. A decrease in ages along the eastern margin from 119 to 68 Ma coincides with the predicted positions of the Marion hot spot after effects of erosion are considered. On the other hand, these ages may represent progressive opening of the margin in a southward direction together with associated denudation of the rift shoulder. The eastern part of the central region has remained very stable since at least Devonian times, undergoing only long-term very slow exhumation at rates of 1–5 m/Myr.

Morphology Change of C60 Islands on Organic Crystals Observed by Atomic Force Microscopy

Organic-organic heterojunctions are nowadays highly regarded materials for light-emitting diodes, field-effect transistors, and photovoltaic cells with the prospect of designing low-cost, flexible, and efficient electronic devices.1-3 However, the key parameter of optimized heterojunctions relies on the choice of the molecular compounds as well as on the morphology of the organic-organic interface,4 which thus requires fundamental studies. In this work, we investigated the deposition of C60 molecules at room temperature on an organic layer compound, the salt bis(benzylammonium)bis(oxalato)cupurate(II), by means of noncontact atomic force microscopy. Three-dimensional molecular islands of C60 having either triangular or hexagonal shapes are formed on the substrate following a "Volmer-Weber" type of growth. We demonstrate the dynamical reshaping of those C60 nanostructures under the local action of the AFM tip at room temperature. The dissipated energy is about 75 meV and can be interpreted as the activation energy required for this migration process.

Estimated chronologic ages of benthic microfossil events in ODP Site 105-647 (Table 1)

Benthic foraminifers were examined from the Paleogene of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 647 and Deep Sea Drilling Program (DSDP) Site 112 in the southern Labrador Sea. The Paleogene sequence of the deep Labrador Sea can be subdivided into seven assemblages, based on the ranges and relative abundance of characteristic taxa. The first occurrences (FOs) and last occurrences (LOs) of important benthic taxa are calibrated to a standard biochronology, by interpolating from our age model for Site 647. The biostratigraphy of Site 647 is used to improve the age estimates of Site112 cores. Fifteen microfossil events in Site 647 also are found in the sedimentary wedge along the Labrador Margin. A comparison of the probabilistic microfossil sequence from the Labrador Margin with that at Site 647 yields four isochronous benthic foraminifer LOs. Two new species are described from Sites 647 and 112: Hyperammina kenmilleri, Kaminski n.sp., and Ammodiscus nagyi Kaminski n.sp. Significant faunal turnovers are observed at the Ypresian/Lutetian and Eocene/Oligocene boundaries. The Ypresian/Lutetian boundary is characterized by a Glomospira-facies and is attributed to a rise in the CCD (carbonate compensation depth) associated with the NP14 lowstand in sea level. The Eocene/Oligocene boundary is delimited by the LO of Spiroplectammina spectabilis and Reticulophragmium amplectens. The change from an Eocene agglutinated assemblageto a predominantly calcareous assemblage in the early Oligocene took place gradually, over a period of about 4 Ma, but the rate of change accelerated near the boundary. This faunal turnover is attributed to changes in the preservationof agglutinated foraminifers, as delicate species disappeared first. Increasingly poorer preservation of agglutinated foraminifers in the late Eocene to earliest Oligocene reflects the first appearance of cool, nutrient-poor deep water in the southern Labrador Sea. The approximately coeval disappearance of agglutinated assemblages along the Labrador Margin was caused by a regional trend from slope to shelf environments, accentuated by the 'mid'-Oligocene lowstand in sea level.

Certayne notes of instruction in English verse. 1575. 2. The steele glas... 1576. 3. The complaynt of Philomene... 1576. Preceded by George Whetstone's A remembrance of the well imployed life, and godly end of George Gascoigne, esquire...

"Chronicle of some of the principal events in the life...of George Gascoigne", and bibliography prefixed.

Biology, with preludes on current events /

At head of title: Boston Monday lectures.

"Life--be in it."

Title from cover.

Ourselves and the universe : studies in life and religion /

"First edition, June, 1902 ... Sixth edition, November, 1906."

Retraining to adapt to technological change /

Mode of access: Internet.

Productivity and job security : retraining to adapt to technological change /

Mode of access: Internet.

Depression in the aftermath of eviction : A one-year follow-up study of a disruptive housing life event

Eviction from housing is an institutionalized social process affecting millions in the western world, but very little is understood about its impact on people’s lives. Guided by George Brown and Tirril Harris’s landmark sociological research on disruptive life events, together with evidence that home is an important ‘place’, this study aims to contribute to an understanding of eviction’s fallout by considering depression as a potential outcome. Taking advantage of unique data on all evictions in Sweden and linking to longitudinal registers, this study seeks to determine whether working-age adults facing imminent eviction in 2009 had a greater risk of depression in the following year compared, using penalized maximum likelihood logistic regressions, to a control group randomly drawn from the Swedish population. Results indicate that imminent eviction is significantly associated with subsequent depression, even accounting for a range of social, economic, geographic and behavioral characteristics. Contrary to expectations, the findings are not robust for gender differences. Recent mental illness is the only control variable significantly moderating the association of interest, which remains significant regardless of illness history. The results provide grounds for treating eviction as a disruptive life event in its own right.

Future-Proofing: Seeking Resilience in the Historic Built Environment

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

An Integrated Assessment of the Red Sea Urchin (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus) Fisheries in Southern California and Washington State: Addressing Sustainability and Vulnerability in the face of Climate Change

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Use of complementary and alternative medicine and quality of life: changes at the end of life

The purpose of this study was to compare the physical, psychological and social dimensions associated with quality-of-life outcomes over the last year of life, between advanced cancer users and nonusers of complementary and alternative medicine. One hundred and eleven patients were identified through Queensland Cancer Registry records, and followed up every four to six weeks until close to death using standardized protocols. Outcome measures were symptom burden, psychological distress, subjective wellbeing, satisfaction with conventional medicine and need for control over treatment decisions. At the initial interview, 36 (32%) participants had used complementary/ alternative medicine the previous week; mainly vitamins, minerals and tonics and herbal remedies. Among all participants, 53 (48%) used at least one form of complementary/ alternative medicine over the study period. Only six (11%) visited alternative practitioners on a regular basis. Overall, complementary/ alternative medicine users reported higher levels of anxiety and pain, less satisfaction with conventional medicine and lower need for control over treatment decisions compared with nonusers. These differences tend to change as death approaches. A more rigorous assessment of complementary/ alternative medicine use, psychological distress, pain and subjective wellbeing among patients with advanced cancer is needed in the clinical setting.