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Should children have the right to know their biological origins, and should that right be accompanied by parental rights and responsibilities for sperm donors, egg donors and surrogates? a comparative study of South Africa and Australia
(University of the Western Cape, 2024) Stwebile, Erick
This dissertation investigated whether children should have the right to know their biological origins and whether this right should be accompanied by parental rights and responsibilities for gamete donors and surrogate mothers. It was found that this right originated from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This right has also found progressive recognition under the jurisdiction of the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights. This right consists of at least four aspects, namely the parental disclosure, medical, identity and relational aspect. The parents of donor-conceived children (DCC) and surrogate-born children (SBC) should tell them about their birth status. Additionally, they should know the medical information of their donors and surrogates and the identities of their donors and surrogates. Further, they should be able to have a basic relationship with their donors and surrogates. However, donors and surrogates should not acquire any parental rights and responsibilities, only limited and managed contact.
Attempting to be dad and dad: examining the challenges of surrogacy for gay couples in Namibia
(University of the Western Cape, 2026) Madi, Khwezi
This dissertation confirms that the current landscape in Namibia fails to adequately cater for the recognition of gay couple’s rights to create families by means of surrogacy. It concluded this by examining challenges of surrogacy for gay couples in Namibia and found that gay couples experience numerous challenges in creating families. In its research it discovers that Namibia’s position on gay couples stems from the enactment of the Sodomy law. Its social and political climate (which has more than 30 years) enabled inequality and discrimination between heterosexual and homosexual couples. Following its repeal, Namibia’s stance has yet to change. The basis of this research focuses greatly on the rationale of the right to family creation. It provides detail on the right to family creation internationally and regionally and places significance in the need for Namibia to recognise the exercise of this right, irrespective of one’s gender and/or sexual orientation. The importance of this grants gay couples equal rights to family creation while Namibia simultaneously adheres to its obligations under international laws.
Detection of c3 in Titan with VLT-espresso
(Oxford University Press, 2026) Rianço-Silva, Rafael; MacHado, Pedro; Rannou, Pascal; Martins, J. H.C.; Lynas-Gray, Anthony Eugene; Tinetti, Giovanna
Titan is regarded as a Solar system natural laboratory for studying atmospheric photochemistry and abiotic production of organic molecules on cold small exoplanets. Since the Cassini-Huygens mission ended, telescope observations enabled new detections of increasingly complex carbon-based molecules at infrared and sub-mm wavelengths, while the optical regime has been largely overlooked. Following a recent tentative detection of the 4050 Å absorption band of C$_3$ in Titan – a photochemical precursor to aromatic chemistry – in archived optical VLT-UVES spectra (R$\approx$ 60 000), this work presents a 8$\sigma$ detection of the C$_3$ 4050 Å absorption band in Titan from dedicated ultra-high-resolution VLT-ESPRESSO observations of Titan (R$\approx$ 190 000, highest spectral resolution observations of Titan in optical wavelengths ever). VLT-ESPRESSO spectrum is compared to a model spectrum of Titan, for varying C$_3$ abundances; a $\chi ^2$ curve is drawn to assess the agreement of non-solar spectral features with C$_3$ absorption when varying C$_3$ abundance; and a Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) fit between model and observed spectra is performed. $\chi ^2$ curve analysis yields an 8$\sigma$ C$_3$ detection, consistent with a C$_3$ column density of $N = 1.5 \times 10^{13}$ cm$^{-2}$, whereas the MCMC fit retrieved a C$_3$ column density on Titan’s atmosphere of $N = (1.47 \pm 0.30) \times 10^{13}$ cm$^{-2}$ at 5$\sigma$, the same order of magnitude of predicted C$_3$ abundances by photochemical models, reaching ppm levels on Titan’s mesosphere. This work showcases the usefulness of instruments and techniques originally dedicated to exoplanet research when applied to Solar system targets and science cases.
Exploring the quasar disc–wind–jet connection with LoTSS and SDSS
(Oxford University Press, 2026) Whittam, Imogen H.; Jackson, Charlotte L.; Jarvis, Matt J.
We investigate the relationship between disc winds, radio jets, accretion rates, and black hole masses of a sample of ∼100 k quasars at z ≈2. Combining spectra from the 17th data release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) with radio fluxes from the 2nd data release of the Low F requency ARr ay (LOFAR) Tw o-Met er Sky Surv ey (LoTSS), w e statistically charact erize a radio-loud and radio - quiet population using a two - component Gaussian Mixture model, and perform population matching in black hole mass and Eddingt on fraction. We det ermine how the fr action of r adio-loud sources changes across this parameter space, finding that jets are most efficiently produced in quasars with either a very massive central black hole( MBH > 109 M ) or one that is rapidly accreting ( λEdd > 0 . 3 ). We also show that there are differences in the blueshift of the C iv λ 1549 Åline and the equivalent width of the He ii λ1640 Åline in radio loud and radio - quiet quasars that persist even after accounting for differences in the mass and accretion rate of the central black hole. Generally, we find an anticorrelation between the inferred presence of disc winds and jets, which we suggest is mediated by differences in the quasars’ spectral energy distributions. The latter result is shown through the close coupling between tracers of wind kinematics and the ionizing flux – which holds for both radio-loud and radio - quiet sources, despite differences between their emission line properties –and is hinted at by a different Baldwin effect in the two populations.
Trimester-specific exposure to multiple heat indicators and adverse birth outcomes across four European countries
(Academic Press Inc., 2026) Jackson, Debra; Bao, Mian; Nobile, Federica
The health of pregnant women and their fetuses is increasingly challenged by abnormal heat events. Few studies have disentangled the trimester-specific effects of heat exposure during pregnancy on perinatal outcomes and examined potential differences across multiple heat indicators. This study included singleton births from multiple national and region registries across Europe: Sweden (2014-2019), Belgium (2012-2022), Italy (Lazio Region) (2001-2019), and Greece (1999-2021). We obtained 2-m air temperature, Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI), Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT), and Heat Index data from the ERA5 reanalysis dataset. Our study outcomes were preterm birth (PTB), stillbirth (SB), small for gestational age (SGA), and large for gestational age (LGA). Cox proportional hazard models, with gestational age as the underlying time scale, were applied to evaluate trimester-specific associations between multiple heat indicators and adverse birth outcomes. Country-specific estimates were then combined through meta-analyses. In total, 4,924,422 mother-child pairs were included in the analysis. An increase in mean temperature from the 75th to the 99th percentile in the third trimester was associated with PTB (HR = 1.51, 95% CI: 1.34-1.71), SB (HR = 1.54, 95% CI: 1.44-1.65), SGA (HR = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.11-1.20), and LGA (HR = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.07-1.17). Comparable associations were observed across heat indicators and countries for each trimester. Our findings suggest that the third trimester is a critical exposure window of vulnerability for heat during pregnancy. The comparable effect estimates among heat indicators highlight the usefulness of mean air temperature in Europe.