Search Results (32)

Artificial light at night (ALAN) is altering nocturnal ecosystems. While the effects of direct light sources on insect behavior are well studied, the influence of large-scale skyglow on migratory orientation remains unclear. Here, we tested how skyglow-induced luminance gradients influence the flight orientation of the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, a globally invasive nocturnal migrant that performs seasonal migration in China, using controlled indoor simulations and field assays. Surprisingly, individuals consistently oriented toward darker regions, suggesting that luminance gradients may influence their heading away from the expected seasonal migratory direction. This response was highly consistent across both settings, indicating that skyglow-generated luminance gradients can function as directional cues and potentially interfere with seasonal orientation processes. Such gradients may thus function as ecological traps and represent an underrecognized factor in nocturnal insect navigation. Our findings point to a previously overlooked pathway through which skyglow may affect long-distance orientation in nocturnal migrants, underscoring the need for further work to evaluate its ecological significance within light-polluted environments. Full article

During crisis situations like the COVID-19 pandemic, nonprofit organizations must rapidly adapt their community engagement approaches, yet traditional co-design methods often fall short in such time-sensitive, multi-stakeholder contexts. This paper examines how design methods need to evolve when working with nonprofits during crises by analyzing our intensive six-month collaboration with five Australian nonprofits serving migrant youth communities. Through Action Research involving over 130 co-design sessions, workshops, and stakeholder meetings, we developed and iteratively refined a social media engagement playbook. Our findings reveal three key methodological innovations: (1) adapting co-design methods for crisis contexts through flexible, asynchronous engagement; (2) managing multiple stakeholder relationships through what we term “nonprofit ecologies”—understanding organizations’ overlapping roles and relationships—and (3) balancing immediate needs with long-term goals through infrastructuring approaches that build sustainable capacity. This research contributes practical methods for conducting collaborative design during crises while advancing a theoretical understanding of how traditional design approaches must adapt to support nonprofits in complex, time-sensitive situations. Full article

This study aimed to uncover how harm is normalised in migrant communities using rationalisations, power imbalances, and emotional distancing. This research counters the dominant discourse that migrant communities are cohesive, altruistic, and protective by critically analysing the psychological and moral mechanisms of intra-community harm. Migration scholarship has long extolled the contribution of migrant networks to settlement, employment, and integration. Using a qualitative ethnographic approach, data were gathered using participant observation and semi-structured interviews with twelve purposively sampled migrants. The aim of applying a primary qualitative study was to capture a detailed, first-hand understanding of participants’ lived experiences and social relations. It permitted the in-depth examination of how people rationalise and navigate intra-community harm in the actual contexts of their lives. Thematic analysis yielded four significant findings: one, injustices in the community are frequently met with silence and inaction due to fear and moral disengagement; two, assistance is extraordinarily situational and gendered, often falling disproportionately on women or being mediated by institutions; three, internal exploitation—like rent gouging and manipulation of aid—is justified through community narratives; and four, people increasingly feel isolation, emotional burnout, and only symbolic unity at communal events. The research suggests that, although migrant networks can offer critical resources, they are not invulnerable to internal hierarchies and moral collapses. To create effectively inclusive and nurturing settings, future interventions must account for more than mere structural barriers, intra-group processes, and psychological rationalisations allowing intra-community injury. Full article

Drought and high-severity, stand-replacing wildfires can have substantial impacts on the composition of avian communities, including stop-over communities during migration. An inextricable link exists between drought and wildfire, each operating and impacting across different timescales. Many studies have found nonlinear avian abundance trends in breeding community time series data that include pre- and post-fire observations, describing an initial decrease in abundance followed by rapid increases that can attenuate over time. Here, we use a fall bird-banding dataset to evaluate shifts in a drought-impacted avian community following wildfire from taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic perspectives. We looked at the community as a whole and also categorized birds as residents, migrants, and breeders to assess potential varying responses at the study site. We observed post-fire shifts in functional and phylogenetic diversity that corresponded to changes in vegetation. An influx of migratory insectivores post-fire drove much of the variation between pre- and post-fire avian communities and toward a more related, less phylogenetically dispersed community. A concurrent monsoon season drought was also associated with functional and phylogenetic diversity, highlighting the intertwined pulse press effects on avian communities. Overall, our results suggest that, although bird communities are immediately impacted by fire-driven resource changes, they can rebound over time, it is unclear how long-term drought may continue to shape the composition of these avian communities. Full article

Marginalized populations face significant barriers to mental health care, such as stigma, poverty, and limited access to adapted services, with conventional psychiatric approaches often falling short. This study aimed to explore how psychiatric care can be adapted to better meet the needs of vulnerable populations. Data were collected from psychiatry residents, psychiatrists, and community organization staff during a course on vulnerable populations, using semi-structured discussions and analyzed through grounded theory with iterative coding. Seven main themes emerged: (1) barriers and needs of vulnerable populations, highlighting challenges like homelessness and stigma; (2) psychiatric interventions and flexible approaches, emphasizing tailored care; (3) collaboration with community organizations, focusing on partnerships to improve care access; (4) ethical approach and respect for rights, ensuring dignity in treatment; (5) specific populations and associated challenges, addressing the needs of groups like LGBTQ+ youth and migrants; (6) intervention and support models, such as proximity-based care and post-hospitalization follow-up; (7) innovation and evolution of practices, focusing on research and institutional adaptations. This study emphasizes the need for personalized, intersectoral care, recommending improved collaboration, flexible models, and greater clinical exposure, with future research exploring how psychiatric education can better prepare clinicians to work with marginalized groups. Full article

While native grass and shrub restoration is often promoted for bird conservation, evaluations are necessary to understand the effects of habitat change on songbird vital rates and migratory stopover use. We evaluated the effects of native vegetation restoration on the species richness, productivity, and capture rate of breeding and fall migrating songbirds at the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, in central Kentucky, USA. From 2009 to 2022, we conducted constant effort mist netting, resulting in 8418 captures of 110 bird species. In 2012–2013, we implemented management in the study area, which began as an old field, to restore native grasses, forbs, and shrubs. Effects on the vital rates of breeding species included higher Spizella pusilla (field sparrow) and Spinus tristis (American goldfinch) productivity post restoration. Restoration of native vegetation also led to significantly higher fall capture rates for pooled cohorts of both long-distance and medium-distance migrants. Our results demonstrate that the restoration and management of native vegetation can enhance stopover habitats for fall migrating songbirds including neotropical migrants and the field sparrow, a common bird in steep decline. We recommend prioritizing areas for native grass and shrub restoration that initially lack structural heterogeneity (a well-developed grass component with diverse forbs and interspersed shrubs). Full article

An increasing number of people are relocating to search for work, leading to substantial implications for both local and global health. Approximately 3.6% of the global population (281 million) migrates annually. Nepal has experienced a notable surge in labour migration in recent years, with a substantial proportion of its residents actively seeking work opportunities abroad. Understanding work-related risks is crucial for informing policies, interventions, and practices that can improve the welfare of this hard-to-reach population. This scoping review aims to systematically identify and analyse occupational health hazards encountered by Nepali migrant workers employed overseas. Medline, Scopus, Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), and the NepJOL databases were systematically searched for primary research papers published in English up to July 2024. Relevant data, including workplace hazards and their impact on health outcomes, were extracted and narratively synthesised by highlighting key themes in the existing literature. A total of 24 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in this review. Of these, twelve studies were conducted in Nepal, five in Gulf countries, four in Malaysia, two in Hong Kong, and one each in India and Korea. Workplace injuries (motor vehicle injuries, machinery injuries, falls from a height, and falls on a heavy object), poor working environment (including long working hours, work without leave, discrepancy in pay scale, limited access to drinking water and toilet/bathroom facilities), workplace abuse, sexual abuse, and torture were identified as key occupational health hazards faced by the Nepali migrant workers abroad. Multi-level intervention strategies, such as safety training standards, improving working conditions, and eliminating exploitative labour practices, are critical to improving occupational health and safety standards for Nepali migrant workers abroad. This includes creating a supportive working environment where employees can easily and timely access health services as needed. Full article

The number of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia (SA) has gradually increased, particularly in the construction industry, where migrant workers make up 89% of the workforce. Migrant workers frequently experience exposure to dangerous working conditions and increased risk for occupational injury and hazards due to the work they typically perform. Despite this, there is a lack of comprehensive studies comparing occupational accidents and injuries between migrant and domestic workers. To address this challenge, this study explores the differences between migrant and domestic workers’ injuries and occupational accident rates in SA’s construction industry. Data were analyzed from reported accidents and injuries obtained from the General Organisation for Social Insurance (GOSI) between 2014 and 2019. Chi-square test was used to examine the associations of occupational accidents and injuries among migrant and domestic workers. Migrant workers experienced higher incidences of falls, strikes, collisions, abrasions (wounds caused by scraping), bodily reactions (e.g., chemical reactions), and car accidents compared to domestic workers. Furthermore, migrant workers aged 30–39 and domestic workers aged 20–29 experienced more severe injuries and higher seasonal mortality rates during the six-year period examined (2014–2019). In addition, domestic workers achieved a higher proportion of full recovery across all types of accidents, except for transport and car accidents related to construction. The findings emphasize the need for ongoing safety education, training, and improved safety measures to protect the health and safety of construction workers, especially migrant workers. Full article

This article is based on a months-long investigation and aims to contribute to the scientific understanding of the process of racialisation of the sub-Saharan migrants in Tunisia. The starting point of our research was the speech given by the Tunisian president, Kais Saied, in February 2023. In the light of new negotiations with the EU for technical, administrative, and financial support in the management of migration in the Mediterranean, the president emphasised the importance of Tunisia being and remaining Arab and Muslim. The sub-Saharan migrants who have penetrated the Mediterranean area in large numbers, mostly via Libya or Algeria, are black. Many of them are also Christians. The Tunisian case regarding the racialisation of migrants is similar to the dynamics of political discourses and actions of systemic racialisation in European countries. Our thesis is that racialisation based on religion and/or skin colour is part of a more complex dynamic, defined by the capitalist mode of production, which, due to its inner contradictions, simultaneously requires and expels human labour force. We claim that the permanently expelled constitute surplus populations that are, due to not being disciplined by the capitalist markets, considered dangerous, which is why they fall under police jurisdiction. This process of policing surplus populations is what constitutes contemporary systemic racism as a special mode of state politics, whereby “race” is the result of said process and not determined by its biological, religious, ethnic, or cultural characteristics. We support our thesis by a fieldwork study consisting of qualitative interviews with Tunisian experts, conducted based on purposive sampling and subsequent qualitative coding, as well as of three personal narrative interviews, which were conducted with sub-Saharan migrants from Cameroon, who had been living in a refugee “village” in the north of Tunisia for more than a year. Full article

Monarch butterfly populations in western North America suffered a substantial decline, from millions of butterflies overwintering in California in the 1980s to less than 400,000 at the beginning of the 21st century. The introduction of neonicotinoid insecticides in the mid–1990s and their subsequent widespread use appears to be the most likely major factor behind this sudden decline. Habitat loss and unfavorable climates (high temperatures, aridity, and winter storms) have also played important and ongoing roles. These factors kept overwintering populations stable but below 300,000 during 2001–2017. Late winter storm mortality and consequent poor spring reproduction drove winter populations to less than 30,000 butterflies during 2018–2019. Record high temperatures in California during the fall of 2020 appeared to prematurely terminate monarch migration, resulting in the lowest overwintering population (1899) ever recorded. Many migrants formed winter-breeding populations in urban areas. Normal seasonal temperatures in the autumns of 2021 and 2022 enabled overwintering populations to return to around the 300,000 level, characteristic of the previous two decades. Natural enemies (predators, parasitoids, parasites, and pathogens) may be important regional or local drivers at times but they are a consistent and fundamental part of monarch ecology. Human interference (capture, rearing) likely has the least impact on monarch populations. The rearing of monarch caterpillars, particularly by children, is an important human link to nature that has positive ramifications for insect conservation beyond monarch butterflies and should be encouraged. Full article

China is in the transition period of urbanization, and the imbalance of land use generated during the original rapid development of megacities still exists, resulting in the preservation of a large number of urban villages in the peripheral areas of cities. Unlike formal housing, these villages are heavily influenced by the confrontation and interweaving between top-down policies of local governments and bottom-up spontaneous construction by local villagers, resulting in a diverse and complex status quo. At the same time, self-built housing in urban villages has become a gathering place for a large number of low-income migrants due to its relatively low rental prices. In terms of the research of urban villages on the current situation of housing, the real needs of users and housing performance are mostly subjective judgments and conclusions. Therefore, the entry point of this paper is the leased space and the leasers, taking Laojuntang Village in Chaoyang District of Beijing as the research object and analyzing its current problems and the real needs of users. This paper adopts an integrated approach of fuzzy Kano model evaluation and building performance simulation. After analyzing the data and discussing the influencing factors, this paper identifies the specific problems and user needs that exist in leased spaces in Laojuntang Village: (1) The architectural performance of leased space is a Must-be Quality, which is the bottom-line requirement and must be improved. (2) The quality of the basic facilities and equipment of the leased space is mostly a One-dimensional Quality, Attractive Quality, and the degree of importance is lower than that of the building performance. (3) The external activity facilities of the leased space are mostly undifferentiated needs, for which the local users are not particularly prominent. (4) The scale and plot ratio of local housing is relatively high, and users are dissatisfied and complaining, which falls under the category of Reverse Quality. Full article

The fall armyworm (JE Smith) (Spodoptera frugiperda) is a polyphagous pest targeted by selected Cry and Vip3A insecticidal proteins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) that are produced in transgenic Bt corn and cotton. Available evidence suggests that sublethal larval exposure to Cry1Ac increases flight activity in adult Spodoptera spp. However, it is not known whether this effect is also observed in survivors from generally lethal exposure to Cry1Ac. Moreover, while multiple cases of field-evolved resistance to Bt proteins have been described in the native range of S. frugiperda, the effect of resistance on flight behavior has not been examined. Long-distance migratory flight capacity of S. frugiperda is of concern given its ongoing global spread and the possibility that migrants may be carrying resistance alleles against pesticides and Bt crops. In this study, we used rotational flight mills to test the effects of generally lethal exposure to Cry1Ac in susceptible and sublethal exposure in Cry1F-resistant S. frugiperda strains. The results detected altered pupal weight after larval feeding on diet containing Cry proteins, which only translated in significantly increased tendency for longer flights in female moths from the susceptible strain. This information has relevant implications when considering current models and assumptions for resistance management of Bt crops. Full article

In The Netherlands, women who experience domestic violence can rely on public policies that aim to support them, such as shelters. Drawing on the lived experiences, through 10 interviews and observations, of women with different cultural backgrounds and nationalities staying in a shelter, and on 37 interviews with social workers working with these women, we observed that this support falls short for them. We argue that immigration rules, together with policies on domestic violence and housing, (unintentionally) often work in tandem with violent partners to prevent women with migration backgrounds from leaving violent relationships. The paper draws on a perspective of institutional considerations of solidarity to unpack the relations between domestic violence, cultural constraints, and public policies but looks also at the positive experiences of women of migrant backgrounds with these Dutch policies. This research indicates that there is a lack of institutional solidarity towards women, especially those arriving as marriage migrants, who have experienced domestic violence. In exploring the intersections of domestic violence and often exclusionary state policies, the paper reflects on how The Netherlands can provide more support to those women and how intersectional justice and solidarity might be expressed. Full article

The complex and urgent migration crisis demands a proper framework to formulate and drive the appropriate solutions. In this study, the author attempts to present a theological framework on the roles of Christians to migrants grounded in the theme of “shamar” (שָׁמַר; keep), tracing it through the Bible, from the Old Testament to the New. We argue that welcoming (keeping) strangers originated from man’s first mission by exegeting Genesis 2:15 and 4:9 (the primordial assignment in the creation narrative and the denial in the first murder). After the Fall, the task is passed to all descendants and is then explicitly included in the Law. In the New Testament, “shamar” and its meanings are further revealed through three characters: the Samaritan leper, the Samaritan woman, and the Good Samaritan. The Samaritans show us that one should see a migrant as not only a brother or sister but also as oneself and as a part of one’s mission. One should see with an open heart and be ready to be converted. A Samaritan may not be just one who comes from Samaria; instead, one who practices “shamar”—welcomes strangers unconditionally. Full article

It is crucial to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of targeted poverty alleviation (TPA) policies in promoting sustainable livelihoods among impoverished populations, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The existing literature, however, predominantly focuses on assessing the policies’ effectiveness in terms of income, while neglecting other critical dimensions of sustainable livelihoods. In line with sustainable livelihood theory, we utilized data from the Chinese Household Financial Survey Database from 2017 and 2019 and employed a fuzzy regression discontinuity (FRD) method to systematically examine the implementation outcomes of TPA policies through the lens of “capability-strategy-results”. Our analysis revealed that the implementation of TPA policies had a positive impact on the ability of poor households to cope with unexpected shocks, as evidenced by an increase in the accumulation rates of material, social, and financial capital. Furthermore, we observed an optimization of livelihood strategies among poor households, with a significant increase in the proportion of wage income. These policies also had a positive impact on their livelihood outcomes, such as a reduced likelihood of falling back into poverty and an increased possibility of escaping from marginal poverty without relying on government subsidies; however, some limitations require attention. Notably, our analysis revealed that the policies did not effectively improve the human capital of poor households. To further explore the heterogeneity of policy effects, we categorized poor households into three groups based on their farmer’s market participation ability and willingness. Our findings indicate that TPA policies effectively reduced poverty among households lacking labor force through government subsidies and saw an increase in the proportion of medical insurance reimbursement; however, households lacking motivation or capability did not experience positive outcomes in the short term. Therefore, future support policies should prioritize these vulnerable groups and monitor their progress closely. Moreover, our analysis revealed that migrant work is the primary livelihood strategy among the poor, and stabilizing their employment faces significant challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, additional policies and interventions are needed to address the adverse impact of the pandemic on the employment and livelihoods of low-income households. Full article