Month: April 2024
Compromise on Parenting and Family Violence? Reforms to Canada’s Divorce Act
Abstract
This paper contributes to international feminist debates on shared parenting and family violence via reforms to Canada’s Divorce Act, in force since 2021. Looking backwards, it reviews parliamentary debates and early judicial discussions. The documentary review reads the reforms as an unstable compromise between calls from feminist voices and experts on family violence and from groups representing fathers. Family violence is now defined broadly and declared relevant to children’s welfare. But language in the statute may undermine its seriousness. Exposing the tensions underlying these reforms is useful for Canadian participants in family justice and for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers elsewhere, exemplifying the promise and perils of reform in this area. Looking ahead, the paper offers recommendations to higher courts. Appellate judges should read rules on contact with both parents and parental cooperation in the light of the new recognition of family violence, taking the latter as an overarching objective of the statute.
Incest and the Production of Property in Children: Maintaining White Supremacy Through US Criminal Law
Abstract
The criminal law of incest that emerged in the United States after the Civil War played a key role in producing race, gender, sexuality, and the normative family through the bodies of children, effectively framing the problem of incest as one of social property interests. Drawing upon case analyses, this article illustrates the role of incest law in producing white female children as sites of both sexual pleasure and biological reproduction by framing incest through the property interests of white males. Read through insights from feminist legal theory, these cases help to clarify law’s framing of the problem of sex with children as inextricably linked to reproductively viable white girls, reflecting contemporary anxieties around the relationship between racial purity and whites’ property interests. This analysis reveals how the criminal law functions as a technology of propertisation, bolstering the property interests of fathers in service of a broader project of property consolidation and accumulation for white male elites, linking some children’s bodies to the reproduction of an exploiter class while excluding others.
Supplementation of red palm olein-enriched biscuits improves levels of provitamin A carotenes, iron, and erythropoiesis in vitamin A-deficient primary schoolchildren: a double-blinded randomised controlled trial
Abstract
Purpose
Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) remains a significant contributor to childhood morbidity and mortality in developing countries; therefore, the implementation of sustainable and cost-effective approaches to control VAD is of utmost pertinence. This study aims to investigate the efficacy of red palm olein (RPO)-enriched biscuit supplementation in improving vitamin A, haematological, iron, and inflammatory status among vitamin A-deficient schoolchildren.
Methods
We conducted a double-blinded, randomised controlled trial involving 651 rural primary schoolchildren (8–12 years) with VAD in Malaysia. The schoolchildren were randomised to receive either RPO-enriched biscuits (experimental group, n = 334) or palm olein-enriched biscuits (control group, n = 317) for 6-month duration.
Results
Significant improvements in retinol and retinol-binding protein 4 levels were observed in both groups after supplementation (P < 0.001). The improvement in retinol levels were similar across groups among subjects with confirmed VAD (P = 0.40). Among those with marginal VAD, greater improvement in retinol levels was recorded in the control group (P < 0.001) but lacked clinical significance. The levels of α- and β-carotenes, haematological parameters (haemoglobin, packed cell volume, mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular haemoglobin) and iron enhanced more significantly in the experimental group (P < 0.05). The significant reduction in the prevalence of microcytic anaemia (− 21.8%) and high inflammation (− 8.1%) was only observed in the experimental group.
Conclusion
The supplementation of RPO-enriched biscuits enhanced levels of provitamin A carotenes, iron, and erythropoiesis, and exhibited anti-inflammatory effects. Therefore, the incorporation of RPO into National Nutritional Intervention Programs may be a potential measure to improve the health status of vitamin A-deficient children, among various other interventions.
Clinical trial registration
ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03256123).
Climate change impacts on the Nahavand karstic springs using the data mining techniques
Abstract
Karst resources are sensitive to environmental changes, especially climate change. In this research, monthly data (years 1994–2020) were collected for five karstic springs, namely Famaseb (Sp1), Faresban (Sp2), Ghalebaroodab (Sp3), Giyan (Sp4), and Gonbadkabood (Sp5), located in the Nahavand plain, west of Iran. Data mining models such as KNN, SVM, and M5tree were used to simulate the discharge of springs. The results obtained, based on two statistical indices, correlation coefficient (r) and normalized root mean square error (nRMSE), the M5tree model was more accurate than the other models and was selected to simulate the discharge of the springs. The r-value was equal to 0.736, and nRMSE was 0.113. In the later stage, discharge of the springs was projected for four time periods: 2021–2040, 2041–2060, 2061–2080, and 2081–2100 under two scenarios, RCP8.5 and RCP4.5. The results showed that in the monthly survey, the ratio of the variation in the discharge of the springs compared to the historical period in the Sp1 and Sp2 springs had the most variations. It was found that in November, there was an average increase of + 250% in the investigated periods. Also, the highest decrease compared to the historical period of these two springs was observed during May, which were about − 37 and − 70%, respectively. In springs Sp3, Sp4, and Sp5, like the previous two springs, the most fluctuations occurred in November and May, respectively.
Graphical abstract
Projected irrigation demand for large-scale rice granary under future climate scenarios based on CMIP6 multi-GCM ensemble: a case study of Kerian Irrigation Scheme, Malaysia
Abstract
Future climate prediction at a local scale is one of the pressing challenges affecting water management-related mitigation plans. The rice irrigation demands are always related to the climate of the area. This study presents possible changes in the monthly rice irrigation demand patterns under future climate scenarios in the Kerian Irrigation Scheme, Malaysia. An ensemble of five Global Climate Models under three Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, and SSP5-8.5) was employed to help project irrigation demand from 2021 to 2080. The study compared the future projections with the baseline period (1985–2014) and revealed that future irrigation demand changes for two planting periods range between − 1.0 to 0.1% and − 5.3 to − 2.6% during the dry season (February–July) and wet season (August–January), respectively. A significant decrease in irrigation water demand was predicted in September and October for each SSP scenario due to increased rainfall during the wet season, with SSP5-8.5 being the most prominent. Although the temperature and reference evapotranspiratopn (ETo) were predicted to increase, mainly during the near future (2021–2050) rather than the far future (2051–2080), the increase in predicted monthly rainfall successfully copes with the risk of the possible high demand for irrigation supply. Climate change potentially alters the future monthly irrigation water demand pattern, resulting in challenges to water resource management. Predicting the impacts of rice irrigation water demand under the potential future climate change is crucial for Bukit Merah Reservoir to help establish appropriate operational policies for irrigation release for its sustainability.
Simulation of extreme precipitation changes in Central Asia using CMIP6 under different climate scenarios
Abstract
Central Asia has a dry climate, scarce water resources, extremely fragile ecosystems, and frequent extreme precipitation events. Using the data of 22 global climate models in the CMIP6 plan, the trend of the extreme precipitation index under four Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) was estimated by calculating eight extreme precipitation indices in Central Asia and optimizing the best multi-model set using the Taylor evaluation and comprehensive score. The results showed that in Central Asia, the CMIP6 mode and multi-mode collection can reasonably reproduce the regional differences of various severe precipitation indices. However, these results only performed well for consecutive dry days (CDD) and annual total precipitation (PRCPTOT), but poorly for the replication of extreme high- and low-value regions. We found that the simulation effect of the multi-mode ensemble results was better than that of a single mode, and that CMIP6 can roughly depict the evolving characteristics of extreme precipitation events. However, the CMIP6 data performed poorly in terms of spatial divergence ability characteristics. According to the estimated results, mountainous regions have experienced considerable changes, and a significant increase in the range of change was observed for severe precipitation (consecutive wet days (CWD), single day maximum precipitation (Rx1day), and PRCPTOT) in wet and dry regions during the twenty-first century. Simultaneously, the humidification trend accelerated after 2050, and four shared socioeconomic paths showed similar trends; however, the extreme precipitation rate was higher under the high forcing path. Consecutive dry days (CDD) in Central Asia decreased by 90% under SSP5-8.5 relative to SSP1-2.6, whereas CWD, Rx1day, and PRCPTOT increased by 20%, 150%, and 118%, respectively.
Performance evaluation of a high-resolution regional climate model in West Africa: sensitivity to land surface schemes
Abstract
This research examines the suitability of four land surface schemes (LSSs) in Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model over different West Africa’s (WA) climatological zones, namely Guinea, Savanna, and Sahel. The four LSSs include Noah, Noah (Multiparameterization) MP, Noah MP with the groundwater option (Noah GW), and Community Land Model Version 4 (CLM4). A 3-month simulation was carried out with each LSS during July–September 2012. Temperature and dew point temperature (Dpt) were evaluated using the ERA5 dataset, while precipitation was evaluated using the TRMM product. Based on the three variables, CLM4 is most suitable for the Guinea zone; Noah, Noah MP, and CLM4 perform equally well for Savanna; and Noah MP is most suitable for the Sahel zone. In general, and over all zones, Noah MP is most suitable for precipitation simulation, while CLM4 is the best for dew point temperature as Noah MP and Noah GW are equally suitable for 2 m temperature. Noah GW overestimates surface moisture, altering surface fluxes, increasing evaporative fraction, and increasing convective activities (especially in semi-arid areas), which led to a significant bias in temperature and precipitation. Also, over the Savanna and Sahel zone, a strong African Easterly Jet (AEJ) with a weak Tropical Easterly Jet (TEJ) in Noah led to lower rainfall. In contrast, weak AEJ with strong TEJ in Noah MP and Noah GW caused higher rainfall. Further studies would be to evaluate the sensitivity of each LSS under different initial conditions, and their land-atmosphere interactions strength over the zones.
Validation of the wind climatology from the ALARO-0 model at different resolutions over Ethiopia
Abstract
The establishment of wind-energy resources in Ethiopia has seen tremendous growth in the past few years. Ethiopia, however, features a complex topography rendering a detailed wind-resource assessment essential. This requires detailed modeling and a reliable observational dataset for validation. In this study, we compare the ability of a regional climate model ALARO-0 at various resolutions (4, 12, and 40-km) in reproducing the near-surface summer wind climatology by comparison with long-term (1990-2010) ground observations at 35 sites. Despite a consistent model underestimation, both the model and observations show higher wind speeds along and east of the Great Rift Valley than in the central regions of the Ethiopian highlands with 4.12 m/s and 2.12 m/s on average for the observations. Evaluation scores indicate better performance at higher resolutions especially for those stations with high wind-energy potential. The overall model underestimation decreases from -1.34 m/s to -0.45 m/s and further to -0.24 m/s for the 40-km, 12-km, and 4-km resolutions, respectively. The observed wind distribution reveals a variety of prevailing wind directions, with the most common being approximately 30% southwesterly, around 20% southeasterly, and roughly 10% for both northerly and easterly directions while the modeled wind direction was predominantly southwest. Clustering based on principal-component analysis identifies two distinct regions of wind speed variability: one in the Ethiopian highlands and another along and east of the Great Rift Valley and both also feature strongly-different validation results. The high-resolution ALARO-0 model run at 4-km resolution clearly outperforms the 12-km and 40-km runs, thereby providing an added value for the identification of areas with significant wind-energy potential. These findings underscore the advantages of high-resolution climate simulations and the benefits of mapping wind-energy resources in regions with complex orography.