1,115 research outputs found

    Information actors beyond modernity and coloniality in times of climate change:A comparative design ethnography on the making of monitors for sustainable futures in Curaçao and Amsterdam, between 2019-2022

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    In his dissertation, Mr. Goilo developed a cutting-edge theoretical framework for an Anthropology of Information. This study compares information in the context of modernity in Amsterdam and coloniality in Curaçao through the making process of monitors and develops five ways to understand how information can act towards sustainable futures. The research also discusses how the two contexts, that is modernity and coloniality, have been in informational symbiosis for centuries which is producing negative informational side effects within the age of the Anthropocene. By exploring the modernity-coloniality symbiosis of information, the author explains how scholars, policymakers, and data-analysts can act through historical and structural roots of contemporary global inequities related to the production and distribution of information. Ultimately, the five theses propose conditions towards the collective production of knowledge towards a more sustainable planet

    Management strategies and contributory factors for resistance exercise-induced muscle damage: an exploration of dietary protein, exercise load, and sex

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    The World Health Organisation recommends that resistance exercise be performed at least twice per week to benefit general health and wellbeing. However, resistance exercise is associated with acute muscle damage that potentially can dampen muscle adaptations promoted by chronic resistance training. The extent to which muscle is damaged by exercise is influenced by various factors, including age, training status, exercise type, and – notable to this thesis – sex. To this end, establishing sex-specific management strategies for exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD) is important to optimise the benefits of exercise. Two EIMD management strategies were focussed on in this thesis: dietary protein supplementation and exercise load manipulation. It was identified in this thesis that research into the impact both of protein supplementation and exercise load on EIMD heavily underrepresent female populations (chapters 3 and 5), despite well-documented sex differences in EIMD responses. Therefore, future research priority should be placed on bridging the sex data gap by conducting high-quality studies centralising around female-focussed and sex-comparative methodological designs. Both peri-exercise protein supplementation and exercise load manipulation in favour of lighter loads were revealed to be effective management strategies for resistance EIMD in males through systematic and scoping review of the current literature (chapters 3 and 5, respectively). Due to a lack of data from females, it is only appropriate for these strategies to be recommended for males at present. To decipher whether protein supplementation and lower exercise loads are beneficial for managing EIMD in females, a randomised controlled trial (RCT) (chapter 4) and a protocol for an RCT (chapter 6) involving male and female participants are presented in this thesis. The incorporation of ecologically-valid resistance exercise in the RCT in chapter 4 highlighted that even mild muscle damage is attenuated in females, reflected in diminished increases in post-exercise creatine kinase concentration and muscle soreness compared with males; however, the reason for this difference requires further investigation. This study, while supporting sex differences, contrasted previous studies, as neither males nor females experienced an attenuation of EIMD during milk protein supplementation. This difference likely owed to the lower severity of muscle damage induced in the current study relative to previous studies, and accordingly, future research should seek to discover alternative management strategies for mild EIMD. A protocol for an RCT examining the impact of exercise load on EIMD in untrained males and females is described in Chapter 6 of this thesis and may be used as guidance for researchers developing similar, sex-comparative studies. It was hypothesised that females will experience attenuated muscle damage relative to males and low-load exercise will induce less muscle damage than high-load exercise in both sexes. A lack of methodological consistency among EIMD studies was a recurring finding throughout this thesis, which posed an issue when attempting to compare between-study outcomes and reach a consensus. Achieving greater uniformity in study designs by adopting comparable methods relating to EIMD markers and time-points of assessment would help improve understanding of the factors influencing the magnitude of EIMD and effective management strategies. While there are limitations with several EIMD markers – for example the variability of biomarkers and subjectivity of perceptual assessments – once the optimal markers are determined, these should be consistently used moving forward. Overall, this thesis has contributed to the current body of knowledge by demonstrating that milk protein ingestion is not an effective management strategy for muscle damage following ecologically-valid resistance exercise; therefore, alternative strategies to mitigate mild muscle damage should be investigated. Further, this work supported previous reports of sex differences in EIMD and indicated that the attenuation of EIMD in females relative to males was not attributed to sex differences in body composition; thus, the aetiology of such differences necessitates further exploration by means of high-quality sex comparative research. Finally, this thesis reached the consensus recommendation that lower exercise loads can be utilised to reduce muscle damage in males; nonetheless, supporting evidence for the application of this recommendation to females is required

    Designs of Blackness

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    Across more than two centuries Afro-America has created a huge and dazzling variety of literary self-expression. Designs of Blackness provides less a narrative literary history than, precisely, a series of mappings—each literary-critical and comparative while at the same time offering cultural and historical context. This carefully re-edited version of the 1998 publication opens with an estimation of earliest African American voice in the names of Phillis Wheatley and her contemporaries. It then takes up the huge span of autobiography from Frederick Douglass through to Maya Angelou. "Harlem on My Mind," which follows, sets out the literary contours of America’s premier black city. Womanism, Alice Walker’s presiding term, is given full due in an analysis of fiction from Harriet E. Wilson to Toni Morrison. Richard Wright is approached not as some regulation "realist" but as a more inward, at times near-surreal, author. Decadology has its risks but the 1940s has rarely been approached as a unique era of war and peace and especially in African American texts. Beat Generation work usually adheres to Ginsberg and Kerouac, but black Beat writing invites its own chapter in the names of Amiri Baraka, Ted Joans and Bob Kaufman. The 1960s has long become a mythic change-decade, and in few greater respects than as a black theatre both of the stage and politics. In Leon Forrest African America had a figure of the postmodern turn: his work is explored in its own right and for how it takes its place in the context of other reflexive black fiction. "African American Fictions of Passing" unpacks the whole deceptive trope of "race" in writing from Williams Wells Brown through to Charles Johnson. The two newly added chapters pursue African American literary achievement into the Obama-Trump century, fiction from Octavia Butler to Darryl Pinkney, poetry from Rita Dove to Kevin Young

    Power, Poverty, and Knowledge – Reflecting on 50 Years of Learning with Robert Chambers

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    Robert Chambers is one of the most influential and prolific scholars to write about participation, poverty, and knowledge in development studies. His writing and thinking have revolutionised the discipline, inspiring both participatory processes and more inclusive practice. His work continues to inspire and provoke debate and discussion among development practitioners, activists, and academics from around the world. Here we present an Archive Collection of the IDS Bulletin in a celebration of Robert’s contribution to the journal over the last five decades. The eight articles included in this IDS Bulletin Archive Collection clearly show change – change in Robert’s evolving interests, change in the strategic focus of IDS as a research institute, change in the wider development studies field, as well as change in the world at large over the last 50 years. Robert’s earlier IDS Bulletin articles show a strong focus on local knowledge and rural development. Over time, this shifts to a concern with professional development management, and a focus on power and participatory methods. While each article stands alone, these themes re-occur and re-emerge. Bias or unfairness in the development sphere is a major concern which Robert highlights in his IDS Bulletin articles, whilst his advocacy for bottom-up, diverse, and process-led approaches to participation clearly emerges. As the editorial introduction explains and explores, the premise of this IDS Bulletin Archive Collection is to delve into Robert’s contribution to the journal, to resurface buried gems of development studies scholarship, and to reinvigorate debates about how we can do better – a question described by Robert as the eternal challenge of development

    Music and musicality in brain surgery:The effect on delirium and language

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    Delirium is a neuropsychiatric clinical syndrome with overlapping symptoms withthe neurologic primary disease. This is why delirium is such a difficult and underexposedtopic in neurosurgical literature. Delirium is a complication which mightaffect recovery after brain surgery, hence we describe in Chapter 2 a systematicreview which focuses on how delirium is defined in the neurosurgical literature.We included twenty-four studies (5589 patients) and found no validation studiesof screening instruments in neurosurgical papers. Delirium screening instruments,validated in other cohorts, were used in 70% of the studies, consisting of theConfusion Assessment Method (- Intensive Care Unit) (45%), Delirium ObservationScreening Scale (5%), Intensive Care Delirium Screening Checklist (10%), Neelonand Champagne Confusion Scale (5%), and Nursing Delirium Screening Scale (5%).Incidence of post-operative delirium after intracranial surgery was 19%, ranging from12 – 26% caused by variation in clinical features and delirium assessment methods.Our review highlighted the need of future research on delirium in neurosurgery,which should focus on optimizing diagnosis, and assessing prognostic significanceand management.It is unclear what the impact of delirium is on the recovery after brain surgery,as delirium is often a self-limiting and temporary complication. In Chapter 3 wetherefore investigated the impact of delirium, by means of incidence and healthoutcomes, and identified independent risk factors by including 2901 intracranialsurgical procedures. We found that delirium was present in 19.4% with an averageonset (mean/SD) within 2.62/1.22 days and associated with more Intensive CareUnit (ICU) admissions and more discharge towards residential care. These numbersconfirm the impact of delirium with its incidence rates, which were in line with ourprevious systematic review, and significant health-related outcomes. We identifiedseveral independent non-modifiable risk factors such as age, pre-existing memoryproblems, emergency operations, and modifiable risk factors such as low preoperativepotassium and opioid and dexamethasone administration, which shed lighton the pathophysiologic mechanisms of POD in this cohort and could be targetedfor future intervention studies.10As listening to recorded music has been proven to lower delirium-eliciting factors inthe surgical population, such as pain, we were interested in the size of analgesic effectand its underlying mechanism before applying this into our clinical setting. In Chapter4 we describe the results of a two-armed experimental randomized controlled trial inwhich 70 participants received increasing electric stimuli through their non-dominantindex finger. This study was conducted within a unique pain model as participantswere blinded for the outcome. Participants in the music group received a 20-minutemusic intervention and participants in the control group a 20-minute resting period.Although the effect of the music intervention on pain endurance was not statisticallysignificant in our intention-to-treat analysis (p = 0.482, CI -0.85; 1.79), the subgroupanalyses revealed an increase in pain endurance in the music group after correcting fortechnical uncertainties (p = 0.013, CI 0.35; 2.85). This effect on pain endurance couldbe attributed to increased parasympathetic activation, as an increased Heart RateVariability (HRV) was observed in the music vs. the control group (p=0.008;0.032).As our prior chapters increased our knowledge on the significance of delirium on thepost-operative recovery after brain surgery and the possible beneficial effects of music,we decided to design a randomized controlled trial. In Chapter 5 we describe theprotocol and in Chapter 6 we describe the results of this single-centered randomizedcontrolled trial. In this trial we included 189 patients undergoing craniotomy andcompared the effects of music administered before, during and after craniotomy withstandard of clinical care. The primary endpoint delirium was assessed by the deliriumobservation screening scale (DOSS) and confirmed by a psychiatrist accordingto DSM-5 criteria. A variety of secondary outcomes were assessed to substantiatethe effects of music on delirium and its clinical implications. Our results supportthe efficacy of music in preventing delirium after craniotomy, as found with DOSS(OR:0.49, p=0.048) but not after DSM-5 confirmation (OR:0.47, p=0.342). Thispossible beneficial effect is substantiated by the effect of music on pre-operativeautonomic tone, measured with HRV (p=0.021;0.025), and depth of anesthesia(p=&lt;0.001;0.022). Our results fit well within the current literature and support theimplementation of music for the prevention of delirium within the neurosurgicalpopulation. However, delirium screening tools should be validated and the long-termimplications should be evaluated after craniotomy to assess the true impact of musicafter brain surgery.Musicality and language in awake brain surgeryIn the second part of this thesis, the focus swifts towards maintaining musicality andlanguage functions around awake craniotomy. Intra-operative mapping of languagedoes not ensure complete maintenance which mostly deteriorates after tumor resection.Most patients recover to their baseline whereas other remain to suffer from aphasiaaffecting their quality of life. The level of musical training might affect the speed andextend of postoperative language recovery, as increased white matter connectivity inthe corpus callosum is described in musicians compared to non-musicians. Hence,in Chapter 7 we evaluate the effect of musicality on language recovery after awakeglioma surgery in a cohort study of forty-six patients. We divided the patients intothree groups based on the musicality and compared the language scores between thesegroups. With the first study on this topic, we support that musicality protects againstlanguage decline after awake glioma surgery, as a trend towards less deterioration oflanguage was observed within the first three months on the phonological domain (p= 0.04). This seemed plausible as phonology shares a common hierarchical structurebetween language and singing. Moreover, our results support the hypothesis ofmusicality induced contralateral compensation in the (sub-) acute phase through thecorpus callosum as the largest difference of size was found in the anterior corpuscallosum in non- musicians compared to trained musicians (p = 0.02).In Chapter 8 we addressed musicality as a sole brain function and whether it canbe protected during awake craniotomy in a systematic review consisting of tenstudies and fourteen patients. Isolated music disruption, defined as disruption duringmusic tasks with intact language/speech and/or motor functions, was identified intwo patients in the right superior temporal gyrus, one patient in the right and onepatient in the left middle frontal gyrus and one patient in the left medial temporalgyrus. Pre-operative functional MRI confirmed these localizations in three patients.Assessment of post-operative musical function, only conducted in seven patients bymeans of standardized (57%) and non-standardized (43%) tools, report no loss ofmusical function. With these results we concluded that mapping music is feasibleduring awake craniotomy. Moreover, we identified certain brain regions relevant formusic production and detected no decline during follow-up, suggesting an addedvalue of mapping musicality during awake craniotomy. A systematic approach to mapmusicality should be implemented, to improve current knowledge on the added valueof mapping musicality during awake craniotomy.<br/

    (b2023 to 2014) The UNBELIEVABLE similarities between the ideas of some people (2006-2016) and my ideas (2002-2008) in physics (quantum mechanics, cosmology), cognitive neuroscience, philosophy of mind, and philosophy (this manuscript would require a REVOLUTION in international academy environment!)

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    (b2023 to 2014) The UNBELIEVABLE similarities between the ideas of some people (2006-2016) and my ideas (2002-2008) in physics (quantum mechanics, cosmology), cognitive neuroscience, philosophy of mind, and philosophy (this manuscript would require a REVOLUTION in international academy environment!

    Investigating the conservation value of leopard population indices obtained through camera traps in the greater Kruger region of South Africa

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    Leopards (Panthera pardus) are one of the most widespread large felids, historically ranging across much of Africa, the middle east and Asia. Their solitary and elusive nature has allowed them to persist in many areas where other members of the large carnivore guild have been extirpated. However, the combined effects of habitat loss, reduced prey abundance, unsustainable trophy hunting, negative interactions with humans and a growing demand for body parts are taking their toll on the species. Leopards now occupy between 25 and 37% of their historic range, and population densities are decreasing across many small reserves in South Africa. Modifications to current management regimes, informed by monitoring programs, are thus crucial to the persistence of the species. Kruger National Park (KNP) is the largest protected area in South Africa and has thus been assumed to be an inviolate refuge for leopards, despite a lack of data on key leopard population parameters. In this thesisI provide crucial density estimates for leopardsin different regions of KNP and adjacent privately managed areas. Additionally, I explore other often neglected data routinely recorded by camera traps that are potentially important to refining population monitoring efforts. Specifically, I investigate temporal leopard activity quantified using time stamps on photographs of individuals and the potential drivers of activity patterns across differentsites as well asthe relationship between phenotypic similarity derived from photographs of known individuals and relatedness estimates from pedigree data. Multisession spatial capture-recapture (SCR) models proved useful in estimating density across sites and looking at drivers of density. Leopard density ranged from 2.6 ± 0.6 to 13.2 ± 2.6 leopards/100km2 across the sites surveyed. Differences in reserve management appear to be having a substantial effect on the density of leopard populations, providing cause for concern that leopards are being negatively affected by anthropogenically driven mortalities and populations are thus failing to reach their carrying capacity. Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was also an important driver of density, showing a strong interaction with Reserve Type. Higher NDVI was more strongly positively correlated with leopard density in better protected reserves. Leopard activity was predominantly nocturnal with crepuscular peaks and diel activity patterns that differed between sites. These differences were driven mainly by seasonal variation in temperatures and not the relative abundance of humans, potential competitors, or prey. Leopard activity also varied on a lunar scale, with leopards showing higher activity levels with greater lunar illumination, possibly in response to decreased hunting success at higher light levels. I quantified phenotypic similarity in leopards from the Sabi Sand Game Reserve (SSGR) by measuring the resemblance of flank rosette patterns using Hotspotter and ImageJ software and manually recording the resemblance of whisker spot markings. I then compared these metrics to relatedness scores obtained from a pedigree derived from known maternal relationships with offspring. Despite six of 15 phenotypic metrics showing significant heritability, this relationship was noisy at the population level and thus phenotypic resemblance measures derived from photographic data could not provide information on the level of relatedness between leopard individuals from within populations. The data collected throughout this study provides a comprehensive baseline of leopard population status in KNP and select adjacent and contiguous private protected areas. Density remains highest in the SSGR which invests heavily in preventing negative anthropogenic impacts, is intermediate in KNP where there is concern over the potential for some human induced mortality and is lowest in Karingani Game Reserve (KGR), a protected area in its infancy where the effects of protection have not yet had time to materialise. This study also provides an indication of the uses and limitations of camera trap data, and how it can be helpful in informing leopard conservation and management

    Defining a wave? The visual culture and artistic practices of fourth wave feminism

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    What defines a wave? This question encapsulates the difficulty of defining something both fluid and active. In response, this thesis focusses on the messiness, contradictions and entanglements of fourth wave feminism, offering a more complex and nuanced understanding of this feminist temporality in opposition to reductive and simplified definitions. I go beyond existing scholarship on fourth wave feminism to examine how the fourth wave is constituted in relation to three intersecting and overlapping areas: social media; visual and artistic practices; and its relationship to previous waves, especially second wave feminism. I resist oppositional framings of feminist waves by focussing on the overlaps, convergences, (dis)continuities and connections between artworks from supposedly opposing feminist waves. Indeed, this thesis analyses feminist art and visual culture in order to challenge oppositional and linear framings of feminist waves due to the ways in which contemporary feminist artists draw on, rework and are shaped by earlier feminist tactics and traditions. The intergenerational comparative analyses in this thesis are framed by three core modes, each of which forms the basis of a substantive chapter: speaking out against sexual violence; “reclaiming” the body and (in)visibilities; and the use of humour and subversion. My original methodology of fourth wave feminist art criticism provides a flexible framework with an art historical grounding that is appropriate for analysing this material. Moreover, by comparing case studies from the fourth wave and previous waves, this thesis also intervenes into a live and reactive movement and draws out what lessons can be learnt to benefit contemporary feminist discourse and praxis and sustain it for the future. Overall, by analysing the connections and (dis)continuities between visual culture and artistic practices of the second and fourth waves, this thesis contributes to the understanding of fourth wave feminism, thus challenging misconceptions about contemporary feminism and oppositional and linear framings of feminist waves
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