‘“Demonstrating the machine guns”: rebellion, violence and state formation in early colonial Darfur’

Recent literature on British colonial rule in Africa has increasingly emphasised the ways in which relatively cautious colonial states were formed in processes of engagement and accommodation with local societies. This article uses the example of a major rebellion against colonial authority in southern Darfur in 1921 to demonstrate the ways in which these processes of local engagement might themselves feed into rebellion against state authority, rather than secure colonial rule. The rebellion was inspired by Mahdist millenarian belief, but the involvement of local societies in both the rebellion and its repression was also shaped by patterns of local rivalries into which the colonial state had entered as an additional actor. The article also reminds us, more broadly, that spectacular violence and local accommodation were not distinct modes of colonial governance but rather continually intertwined in processes of colonial state formation

Negotiating the state at its margins: Colonial authority in Condominium Darfur 1916-1956

The period of British colonial rule in Darfur is prominent in current debates about the roots of recent conflict. It has been argued that the colonial policy of ‘Native Administration’, and the ethnicisation of land rights that it imposed, made large scale violence almost inevitable. In this view, colonial rule established a ‘retribalisation’ of politics and society in Darfur, a reversal of the ‘detribalisation’ imposed by the pre-colonial Sultans. In contrast, this thesis argues that British colonial governance in Darfur intensified a tendency towards growing association between local leaders and the state that had begun well before 1916. Rather than regarding colonial rule as a monolithic imposition of state authority from above, this thesis demonstrates the fragmented, negotiated and personalised character of colonial rule at the local level. Whilst colonial rule introduced important innovations (such as territorial boundaries around ethnic homelands and more powerful paramount chiefs), overall its transformative power was rather limited: rather the colonial state had to engage with many of the same political dynamics as its predecessors. The thesis also shows that Darfuris contracted with colonial authority on the grounds of local chieftaincy and boundary disputes. Rather than simply enforcing state authority, officials were often drawn into local political dynamics by the force of local initiative, particularly that of their clients, the chiefs. The thesis therefore contributes to broader scholarship which emphasises the interactive, negotiated character of colonial rule in Africa. It also locates the roots of the neo-patrimonial culture of the post-colonial Sudanese state in these local dynamics, emphasising the interpenetration between bureaucratic and patrimonial forms of governance which characterised colonial rule in Darfur. The thesis thus challenges the core-periphery model of Sudanese political geography by arguing for the importance of ‘peripheral’ political cultures in determining the character of the Sudanese state

A GIS model to rapidly predict probability of hurricane damage

Emergency managers are faced with the challenge of acting quickly after a hurricane but rarely have detailed information available about type and amount of damage. In response to this need, linear additive geospatial models based on logistic regression analyses of driving variables including wind, rain, surge, topography were developed and automation routines programmed that rapidly and accurately predict a variety of damage types. Since a preponderance of damage is associated with falling trees, over 2000 post-Katrina forested plots were used to fit and validate independent models for hardwood blowdown and pine shear. Additional models using peak wind gusts and maximum sustained winds respectively were fully automated. Most importantly, total model run time was decreased from 36 to 5 hours for the more complicated forest damage models. The models have been vetted by the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and will be part of MEMA’s hurricane action response plans

Recurrent selection for groat-oil content in oats

An increase in the groat (caryopsis) oil content of oats (Avena sativa L.) could result in development of oilseed oat cultivars. Oat oil is a high quality vegetable oil suitable for human consumption. Additionally, oat oil may prove a valuable source of antioxidant compounds. In this study, three cycles of phenotypic recurrent selection for high groat-oil content were conducted in an introgressed oat gene pool constructed to contain high-oil alleles from both A. sativa and the wild hexaploid oat A. sterilis L. in an adapted agronomic background. Selection for groat-oil content was applied to individual F[subscript]1 plants, recombining the highest 10% to form the improved populations. One year was required to complete each cycle of selection. Response to selection for groat-oil content was evaluated for groat-oil content per se, oil yield per unit land area, and for several unselected agronomic traits;Gains in groat-oil content were realized both in cycle means and individual line performance. Groat-oil content increased linearly 9.26 g kg[superscript]-1 per cycle of selection, subsequently increasing oil yield 21 kg ha[superscript]-1 per cycle. Cycle three mean groat-oil content represented an increase of 135% over the mean of currently used commercial oat cultivars. Highest groat-oil content of any indiviual line was 144.8 g kg[superscript]-1. Broad-sense heritability and genetic variance remained high and significant, suggesting continuing progress;Phenotypic recurrent selection for high groat-oil content resulted in no significant correlated change in mean expression of any unselected agronomic trait measured. Declines in genetic variance, however, were noted for several traits and may have resulted either from selection for high groat-oil content or culling of populations for good agronomic type. Phenotypic and genetic correlation coefficients revealed negative, though mostly nonsignificant, relationships between groat-oil content and several traits which may reflect a purported bioenergetic limitation to increasing groat-oil content in oats;Results of this study suggest that phenotypic recurrent selection and the introgression of wild oat germplasm into the cultivated oat gene pool can be effective in the modification of chemical composition of the oat grain

Digital X-rays come of age

In early November 1895 Willem Röntgen performed an experiment in which invisible cathode rays, generated by electrostatic discharges from within an evacuated glass tube, caused a cardboard screen painted with barium platinocyanide to fluoresce. Although the new rays would also come to bear his name, Röntgen called them X-rays, apparently using the mathematical designation for something unknown.1 While investigating the ability of various materials to stop the Xrays, he stepped into the line of the rays to introduce a piece of lead and was startled to see an image of his own skeleton shimmering on the fluorescent screen. His groundbreaking article2 was published less than 2 months later on 28 December 1895

Associations Between Physical Activity, Physical Fitness, and Falls Risk in Healthy Older Individuals

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess relationships between objectively measured physical activity, physical fitness, and the risk of falling. Methods: A total of n=29 subjects completed the study, n=15 male and n=14 female age (mean±SD)= 70± 4 and 71±3 years, respectively. In a single testing session, subjects performed pre-post evaluations of falls risk (Short-from PPA) with a 6-minute walking intervention between the assessments. The falls risk assessment included tests of balance, knee extensor strength, proprioception, reaction time, and visual contrast. The sub-maximal effort 6-minute walking task served as an indirect assessment of cardiorespiratory fitness. Subjects traversed a walking mat to assess for variation in gait parameters during the walking task. Additional center of pressure (COP) balance measures were collected via forceplate during the falls risk assessments. Subjects completed a Modified Falls Efficacy Scale (MFES) falls confidence survey. Subjects’ falls histories were also collected. Subjects wore hip mounted accelerometers for a 7-day period to assess time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Results: Males had greater body mass and height than females (p=0.001, p=0.001). Males had a lower falls risk than females at baseline (p=0.043) and post-walk (p=0.031). MFES scores were similar among all subjects (Median = 10). Falls history reporting revealed; fallers (n=8) and non-fallers (n=21). No significant relationships were found between main outcome measures of MVPA, cardiorespiratory fitness, or falls risk. Fallers had higher knee extensor strength than non-fallers at baseline (p=0.028) and post-walk (p=0.011). Though not significant (p=0.306), fallers spent 90 minutes more time in MVPA than non-fallers (427.8±244.6 min versus 335.7±199.5). Variations in gait and COP variables were not significant. Conclusions: This study found no apparent relationship between objectively measured physical activity, indirectly measured cardiorespiratory fitness, and falls risk

Seasonality of Prescribed Fire in the Southern Appalachians

There has been growing interest in recent decades in using prescribed fire for hazardous fuels reduction and ecological restoration in the southern Appalachian Mountains. The application of prescribed fire in forests of this region has typically occurred in the dormant season, but with managers often looking for more opportunities to burn. In this study, we compared the effects of dormant season and early growing season burn treatments on fire behavior, fuel consumption, and the structure and composition of plant communities in relation to topographic and meteorological influences on fire behavior. Replicated treatments were analyzed using univariate, bivariate, and multivariate methods to quantify and evaluate effects on response variables. Our results indicated that fuel moisture was lower and temperatures were higher in early growing season burns than in dormant season burns. This pattern likely contributed to the greater proportion of plot area burned in the early growing season, reflecting fire spread into parts of the landscape that would remain unburned in the dormant season. Season of burn had few significant effects on understory plant abundance and diversity. In the midstory, early growing season burns were most effective among treatments in reducing shrub density, with the greatest differences concentrated in the smallest size classes. Early growing season burns reduced midstory red maple (Acer rubrum L.) density to a greater extent than dormant season burns, though other mesophytic hardwood species may have responded differently. The combination of environmental gradients of elevation, burn severity, and change in canopy cover best explained changes in midstory community composition. In conclusion, early growing season prescribed burns may result in more variable fire behavior yet can still be expected to achieve a similar level of fuel consumption in comparison to dormant season burns. Burning in the early growing season can expand opportunities for meeting management objectives with prescribed fire and be at least as effective as burning in the dormant season in reducing the abundance of mesophytic hardwoods. Season of burn has implications for fuel consumption and response of vegetation that managers can incorporate in using prescribed fire for restoration of fire-excluded forest communities in the southern Appalachians

A GIS model to rapidly predict probability of hurricane damage

Emergency managers are faced with the challenge of acting quickly after a hurricane but rarely have detailed information available about type and amount of damage. In response to this need, linear additive geospatial models based on logistic regression analyses of driving variables including wind, rain, surge, topography were developed and automation routines programmed that rapidly and accurately predict a variety of damage types. Since a preponderance of damage is associated with falling trees, over 2000 post-Katrina forested plots were used to fit and validate independent models for hardwood blowdown and pine shear. Additional models using peak wind gusts and maximum sustained winds respectively were fully automated. Most importantly, total model run time was decreased from 36 to 5 hours for the more complicated forest damage models. The models have been vetted by the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and will be part of MEMA’s hurricane action response plans

Low back pain in dance: Prevalence and associated factors

Introduction Low back pain (LBP) is a leading cause of disability worldwide. Dancers, who are often required to perform complex and repetitive movements of the spine, are thought to be vulnerable to LBP. However, there is limited available evidence concerning the prevalence, experience, impact, or factors associated with LBP in this population. Therefore, the overarching aim of this thesis was to investigate the prevalence and factors associated with LBP in dance. Methods This thesis consists of five discrete but interrelated studies. Study one systematically synthesises the available evidence for the prevalence of, and risk factors for, LBP and injury in dance populations. Studies two and three investigates the prevalence and risk factors for LBP in multiple pre-professional and professional contemporary dance and classical ballet cohorts. Lifetime prevalence of LBP is determined using a cross-sectional study design. Monthly prevalence, duration, and impact of LBP episodes are investigated prospectively. Multivariable logistic regression is used to examine for individual and demographic factors associated with LBP. Studies four and five investigate the interaction between dance, LBP, and spine kinematics. To do so, they employ three-dimensional motion analysis and a multi-segment spine marker set. Posture as well as clinical and functional movement tasks common in LBP assessment are examined in dancers and non-dancers with and without LBP. Results The systematic review supported that dancers appear vulnerable to the experience of LBP. However, due to the heterogeneous nature of available research, and an absence of multivariable statistical analysis, clarity regarding the prevalence and risk factors for LBP remains limited. The need for multi-site epidemiological studies that employ definitions sensitive to the nature of LBP and that use appropriate statistical methods to investigate risk factors for LBP within dance populations was identified. The cross-sectional study revealed 74% of pre-professional and professional dancers had a history of LBP. Prospectively, 52% of dancers experienced activity limiting LBP and 24% suffered from LBP that was chronic in duration. Prior experience of LBP preceded the experience of future episodes of LBP (adjusted odds ratio: 3.98; 95% confidence interval: 1.44, 11.00; p < 0.01). There was no association between personal or demographic factors and LBP. With respect to spine kinematics, female dancers presented with a flatter upper lumbar spine posture (p< 0.01, ηp2 = 0.15) in the sagittal plane and increased upper lumbar (p=0.04, ηp2=0.08) and lower thoracic (p=0.02, ηp2=0.09) frontal plane range of motion than non-dancers. However, there was no interaction between these measures and LBP. During walking gait, female dancers with recent LBP displayed a moderate reduction in transverse plane ROM for the lower lumbar spine (effect size (ES)=-0.65, 95% CI: -1.24, -0.06, p=0.03), and a moderate increase in lower thoracic transverse plane ROM (ES=0.62, 95% CI: 0.04, 1.21, p=0.04) compared to asymptomatic dancers. Conclusion Dancers are vulnerable to the experience of LBP. However, there is considerable variation in the time-course and impact of LBP episodes. History of LBP predicts future episodes, which supports that LBP is rarely limited to a single episode. Beyond this, the factors associated with LBP are complex and not easily discerned. With respect to movement, an altered movement strategy during walking gait suggests that female dancers with LBP may compensate for reduced mobility in painful regions by increasing mobility in other regions. However, these movement strategies are subtle, and the overall number of biomechanical differences was limited. Whether this indicates dance training protects against biomechanical changes normally associated with LBP, or suggests dancers are intrinsically different to non-dancers requires further consideration