Ethical realists hold (i) that our ethical concepts, thoughts, and claims are in the business of representing ethical reality, by representing evaluative or normative properties and facts as aspects of reality, and (ii) that such representations are at least sometimes accurate. Non-naturalist realists add the further claim that ethical properties and facts are ultimately non-natural, though they are nonetheless worldly. My aim is threefold: to elucidate the sort of representation involved in ethical evaluation on realist views; to clarify what exactly is represented and how non-naturalism comes into the picture for non-naturalists; and to defend worldly non-naturalism against some objections. The first question addressed is how we should model evaluation on any realist view, which should in turn guide the identification of which properties and facts are credibly regarded as ‘evaluative’ ones. Then the question is: what role might non-natural properties and facts play, and how are they related to what is represented in ethical evaluation? Once that is clear, we will be in a position to answer certain objections to non-naturalist realism from Jackson, Gibbard, Bedke, and Dreier. I argue that the objections all mischaracterize the role played by non-natural properties and facts on plausible versions of non-naturalist realism.

Introduction: The harm that may come to healthcare providers impacted by adverse events has led them to be called “second victims.” Our objective was to characterize the range and context of interventions used to support second victims in acute care settings. Methods: We performed a scoping study using the process described by Arksey and O'Malley. Comprehensive searches of scientific databases and grey literature were conducted in September 2017 and updated in November 2018. A library scientist searched PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE and CENTRAL. We sought unpublished literature (Canadian Electronic Library, Proquest and Scopus) and searched reference lists of included studies. Stakeholder organizations and authors of included studies were contacted through email, requesting information on relevant programs. Two reviewers independently reviewed titles and abstracts using predetermined criteria. Using a structured data abstraction form, two reviewers independently extracted data and appraised methodological quality with the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT). All discrepancies were resolved through consensus. A qualitative approach was used to categorize the context and characteristics of the identified strategies and interventions. Results: Our search strategy yielded 3883 results. After screening titles and abstracts, 173 studies underwent full text screening. Extracted data reflected 21 interventions categorized as providing peer-support (n = 7), proactive education (n = 7) or both (n = 7). Programs came from Canada (n = 2), Spain (n = 2), and United States (n = 17). Specific traumatic events were described as the trigger for development of five programs. While some programs were confined to a standard definition of second victim as a healthcare provider traumatized by an “unanticipated adverse patient event” (n = 6), other programs had a broader scope (n = 12) including situations such as non-accidental trauma, stressful anticipated patient events and complaints/litigation (3 programs were unclear about the definition). Confidentiality was assured in nine peer support programs. Outcome measures were often not reported and were limited in terms of quality. Conclusion: This is a new area of study with little scientific rigour from which to determine whether these programs are effective. Concerns about protecting healthcare providers from potential legal proceedings hinder documentation and study of program effectiveness.

Introduction: Adolescents who present to emergency departments (ED) following intentional injuries present a challenge in terms of ascertaining their intent and risk for future self-injurious or suicidal behaviour. Our ED has seen an 80% increase in visits for mental health issues over the past ten years. As usage of our Emergency Mental Health and Addictions Services (EMHAS) team continues to rise, it is increasingly important to understand the incidence of NSSI among our youth, explore if NSSI is reported at triage and identify characteristics that may distinguish these adolescents from others presenting for mental health assessment. Methods: This is an exploratory research study using retrospective data. Patients who had an Emergency Mental Health Triage (EMHT) form on their health record from an ED visit between June 1, 2017 and May 31, 2018 were eligible. Trained research assistants, using a structured data collection form in REDCap. abstracted data from the EMHT form, the EMHAS Assessment form, the Assessment of Suicide Risk Inventory and our CHIRPP (Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program) database. We calculated kappa values and 95% confidence intervals to describe the extent to which the forms agree with respect to identifying NSSI. We will compare the cohort who reports NSSI with the cohort who does not report NSSI using chi-square statistics depending. We will use descriptive statistics to characterize the NSSI patients. Results: During the one-year study period 955 patients had an EMHT form completed. In preliminary analysis 558 (58.4%) reported a history of NSSI. Patients reported NSSI on both the EMHT form and the EMHAS assessment form 64.7% of the time (kappa 0.56) indicating moderate agreement. In patients with NSSI, 9.5% of patients reported it only at triage and 25.8% of patients reported it only during their EMHAS assessment. Between group comparisons and descriptive analysis is underway. Conclusion: More than half of youth triaged with an emergency mental health complaint in our ED reported a history of NSSI. Screening at triage was moderately effective in identifying adolescents with NSSI compared to an in-depth assessment by the mental health team. Further research is needed to clarify how NSSI relates to risk for suicide.

Given their sheer number and evidence for long-term prehistoric occupation, atolls occupy a unique position in the peopling of the Pacific. However, they have frequently been overlooked in favor of larger islands due to a host of logistical and other issues. Once viewed as marginal environments, current research is now showing that small islands like these may have been more attractive to settlers than once thought. A new research program in Micronesia is dedicated to examining atolls to better develop baseline chronologies and investigate long-term human adaptations. As part of the initial stage of the project, we present the first radiocarbon dates (n=10) from Mwoakilloa (Mokil) atoll, which support a continuous occupation beginning between 1700–1560 cal BP (2σ). When compared to the settlement of other atoll groups in Micronesia such as the Marshall Islands—along with the nearby high volcanic islands of Pohnpei and Kosrae at approximately 2000–1800 yr ago—the dates from Mwoakilloa suggest a nearly contemporaneous or only slightly later occupation. The recovery of faunal material also demonstrates the translocation of at least two animals (Pacific rat and dog) to the island by humans that was coeval with early settlement. Additionally, there is evidence of landscape transformation in the form of a relatively large artificial mound created by debris and platform accumulation unseen elsewhere in central-eastern Micronesia, but common to atolls. These new dates reinforce the notion that Mwoakilloa and other atolls are integral to understanding prehistoric adaptations across the vast Pacific, though many questions still remain such as to the degree of interaction that occurred with nearby islands and whether settlement was continuous or intermittent through time.

Among territorial syrphids, males of Eumerus tuberculatus (Rond.) are less aggressive than Merodon equestris (Fab.) and Eristalis tenax (L.) males. This difference in aggressiveness persists even when territorial pressures increase with increasing numbers of conspecifics.

Males of each species recognized conspecific females mainly by a combination of visual and behavioural cues. A territorial male might approach any intruder, but would only attempt to mate if, like the appropriate female, the intruder did not respond to the male's approach. Differences in behavioural patterns may be due to different mating strategies.

Archaeological investigations demonstrate that peoples first settled the Caribbean islands approximately 6000–7000 years ago. At least four major, and multiple minor, migrations took place over the next millennia by peoples from Mesoamerica and South America who practised various subsistence strategies and had different levels of technology. For decades, researchers have been interested in investigating how these groups adapted to and impacted insular environments through time. This paper combines archaeological, palaeoecological, historical, and modern biological data to examine the effects of humans on Caribbean island ecosystems using a historical ecology approach. By synthesising a wide range of data sources, we take a human/nature dialectical perspective to understanding how peoples adapted to and modified their environments. The data suggest that earlier foraging/fishing Archaic groups (ca. 6000–3000 BP), who used a stone tool and shell technology and transported few, if any non-indigenous plants or animals, still impacted island landscapes as evidenced by bird and sloth extinctions. As more advanced ceramic making horticulturalists entered the Antillean chain around 2500 BP, there is an observable change to island environments as a result of forest clearance, overexploitation of both terrestrial and marine resources, and growing populations. Palaeoecological and palaeoenvironmental records also suggest, however, that an increased moisture regime during the late Holocene probably led to a decrease in near-shore salinity and heavier sediment and nutrient loads in rivers. These conditions would have been exacerbated by land clearance for agriculture, leading to coastline progradation, increased turbidity, and mangrove development resulting in changes to the availability of resources for humans on some islands. Although prehistoric peoples in the Caribbean were certainly impacting their environments, it was not until Europeans arrived and population centres grew that intensive and widespread degradation of island landscapes and resources occurred. Modern ecological studies, along with historical and archaeological data, indicate that hundreds of species have been driven to extinction or extirpation – many others have significantly diminished in number, especially within the last two millennia.

The mammalian visual cortex harbors a number of functional maps that represent distinct attributes of stimuli in the visual environment. How different functional maps are accommodated within the same cortical space, especially in species that show marked irregularities in one or more functional maps, remains poorly understood. We used optical imaging of intrinsic signals and electrophysiological techniques to investigate the organization of the maps of orientation preference, ocular dominance, and visual space in ferret. This species shows striking nonuniformity in the arrangement of ocular dominance domains and disruption of the mapping of visual space along the V1/V2 border. We asked whether these irregularities would be reflected in the organization of the map of orientation preference. The results show that orientation preference is mapped consistently within both V1 and V2, and across the interareal boundary, with no reflection of the irregularities in the other maps. These observations demonstrate the accommodation of multiple functional maps within the same cortical space without systematic geometrical relationships that necessarily constrain the organization of each representation. Furthermore, they imply that the structure of the map of orientation preference reflects the architecture and activity patterns of cortical circuits that are independent of other columnar systems established in layer 4.