Species Identification of Unknown Trees in Winona State Landscape Arboretum

This project was designed to identify seven trees in the WSU Landscape Arboretum which could not be adequately identified using a dichotomous key. These trees include an oak (Quercus sp.), three pears (Pyrus sp.), two birches (Betula sp.), and an apple tree (Malus sp.). This project will benefit the WSU Landscape Arboretum in their effort to educate the WSU’s community about local plant life, while also confirming whether those trees should be present in the Arboretum. Specifically, if the pear trees are identified as invasive Callery pears which harm the native flora, their removal will be recommended. Chloroplast DNA was extracted from the leaves following a modified Qiagen DNeasy protocol. PCR was conducted on the samples to amplify 900 bp of the maturaseK (matK) gene and 600 bp of the ribulose-bisphosphate carboxylase (rcbL) gene, which are among the top contenders for universal barcoding in plants. Amplicons were sequenced, and they were assembled and aligned in Sequencher. Phylogenetic analyses were reconstructed in the Mesquite software package using oak, pear, birch, and apple matK and rcbL sequences from GenBank to assign a genetic identification to the seven trees. The WSU Landscape Arboretum were provided the genetic identifications and advised about how to proceed with the new information

Invention and Resistance: FabLabs against Proletarianization

The contemporary philosopher Bernard Stiegler has reopened the debate on the historically Marxist concept of proletarianization. Whereas Marx and Engels define the term as the continued expansion of an economic class that must sell their labour to the owners of the means of production, Stiegler argues that proletarianization is better understood as the gradual erosion of know-how (savoir). He attributes this erosion to a societal mismanagement of technological change. Starting from the premise that technological objects are material externalizations of capacities that previously inhered in the human, Stiegler asserts that we have systematically failed to compensate for these technological externalizations with the acquisition of new capacities, specifically those that would allow us to participate in technology's continuous evolution. As a consequence, this new technologically illiterate proletariat must constantly react to technological changes that are always developed elsewhere. This thesis contributes to the debate on proletarianization by investigating a network of digital fabrication workshops called Fabrication Laboratories, or FabLabs. Part of the broader 'maker' movement, an international community of people who make their own things and electronics, FabLabs are committed to democratizing access to the means of digital fabrication. Unlike other community-based workshops or shared machine shops, their goal is to build a global network of local labs that share similar capacities. Similar to the free and open source software movement, the FabLabs promote decentralized organizational structures and horizontal hierarchies both within and between labs. My aim is to investigate the extent to which the FabLabs can be considered sites of de-proletarianization. In so doing, I build on Stiegler's work to propose my own definition of proletarianization as a process that weakens our individual and collective abilities to pose and respond to political, social, and economic problems. This process has been driven by an acceleration in the rate of technological change that has not been matched with a commensurate cultivation and distribution of the capacities that would allow people to problematize and participate in the technological evolution of their societies. As a result, the problems we face as individuals, collectives, and as a species, are increasingly conditioned by technological artifacts that we grasp inadequately as users and consumers. Based on an ethnographic study of grassroots labs in France, Germany, and Hungary, I argue that FabLabs have a significant de-proletarianizing potential because they encourage people to problematize the technological conditions of society and develop the capacities necessary to change those conditions. However, FabLabs have thus far had a minimal de-proletarianizing effect on the societies in which they operate, largely due to their limited, and relatively homogeneous, membership base. They have also struggled to apply their principles of decentralization and flat hierarchies to the political structuring of the labs themselves, thereby undermining the abilities of their members to pose problems that are not just technological, but political as well. Underlying this investigation is an ontological framework that is capacities-based, pluralist, and non-anthropocentric. Inspired by the works of Gilles Deleuze and the object-oriented ontologist Levi Bryant, I argue that all beings, humans and nonhumans, are defined by their capacities to affect, to be affected, and to resist. This ontological framework allows me to develop different concepts of invention and resistance that are integral to both my theorization of proletarianization and my assessment of the FabLabs as sites of de-proletarianization

Im Stechschritt zum Angesicht Gottes: Faschismustheorie im muslimischen Südasien der Zwischenkriegszeit

Der Faschismus – sowohl in seiner italienischen als auch deutschen Ausprägung – fand einen starken Widerhall in der politischen Kultur der indischen Mittelklasse. Standard-Geschichtswerke zur späten Kolonialzeit in Südasien tragen dieser ideologischen Komponente oft nicht genug Rechnung. Im Zusammenhang der Nationwerdung von Muslimen, Hindus und anderen Religionsgruppen stehen andere Fragen im Mittelpunkt, zum Beispiel wo die Grenzlinien der neuen politischen Gemeinschaft zu ziehen sind, oder wie ‚religiös’ das neue nationale Gemeinschaftsethos sein soll oder darf. Zudem scheint so etwas wie Faschismus gar nicht so recht in das an und für sich positiv belegte Klima der Befreiung vom imperialen Joch zu passen

Support surfaces for pressure ulcer prevention.

BACKGROUND: Pressure ulcers (also known as bedsores, pressure sores, decubitus ulcers) are areas of localised damage to the skin and underlying tissue due to pressure, shear or friction. They are common in the elderly and immobile and costly in financial and human terms. Pressure-relieving beds, mattresses and seat cushions are widely used as aids to prevention in both institutional and non-institutional settings. OBJECTIVES: This systematic review seeks to answer the following questions: to what extent do pressure-relieving cushions, beds, mattress overlays and mattress replacements reduce the incidence of pressure ulcers compared with standard support surfaces? how effective are different pressure-relieving surfaces in preventing pressure ulcers, compared to one another? SEARCH STRATEGY: The Specialised Trials Register of the Cochrane Wounds Group (compiled from regular searches of many electronic databases including MEDLINE, CINAHL and EMBASE plus handsearching of specialist journals and conference proceedings) was searched up to January 2004, Issue 3, 2004 of the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials was also searched. The reference sections of included studies were searched for further trials. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs), published or unpublished, which assessed the effectiveness of beds, mattresses, mattress overlays, and seating cushions for the prevention of pressure ulcers, in any patient group, in any setting. RCTs were eligible for inclusion if they reported an objective, clinical outcome measure such as incidence and severity of new of pressure ulcers developed. Studies which only reported proxy outcome measures such as interface pressure were excluded. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Trial data were extracted by one researcher and checked by a second. The results from each study are presented as relative risk for dichotomous variables. Where deemed appropriate, similar studies were pooled in a meta analysis. MAIN RESULTS: 41 RCTs were included in the review. Foam alternatives to the standard hospital foam mattress can reduce the incidence of pressure ulcers in people at risk. The relative merits of alternating and constant low pressure devices, and of the different alternating pressure devices for pressure ulcer prevention are unclear.Pressure-relieving overlays on the operating table have been shown to reduce postoperative pressure ulcer incidence, although one study indicated that an overlay resulted in adverse skin changes. One trial indicated that Australian standard medical sheepskins prevented pressure ulcers. There is insufficient evidence to draw conclusions on the value of seat cushions, limb protectors and various constant low pressure devices as pressure ulcer prevention strategies.A study of Accident & Emergency trolley overlays did not identify a reduction in pressure ulcer incidence. There are tentative indications that foot waffle heel elevators, a particular low air loss hydrotherapy mattress and an operating theatre overlay are harmful. REVIEWERS' CONCLUSIONS: In people at high risk of pressure ulcer development, consideration should be given to the use of higher specification foam mattresses rather than standard hospital foam mattresses. The relative merits of higher-tech constant low pressure and alternating pressure for prevention are unclear. Organisations might consider the use of pressure relief for high risk patients in the operating theatre, as this is associated with a reduction in post-operative incidence of pressure ulcers. Seat cushions and overlays designed for use in Accident & Emergency settings have not been adequately evaluated

Disputing Contraception:Muslim Reform, Secular Change and Fertility

In South Asia, Muslim reformers have often attempted to 'rationalize' and gentrify the everyday behaviour of ordinary Muslims. Yet, despite the existence of discussions of contraceptive techniques in the - yunan-i tibb curricula of 19th century India and the apparent affinity between rationalism and fertility regulation, contraception was rarely discussed in public debates involving Muslim reformers. In this paper we discuss some of the relationships between elite debates among Muslim leaders and the grassroots behaviour of villagers in rural Bijnor, in western Uttar Pradesh. Villagers' voices are ambiguous, with fears for mother and child health surfacing as often as concerns for religious orthodoxy and one's destiny in the afterlife. In addition, many of the villagers' views of Islam were Much more restrictive than those of the locally accepted authoritative voices: although the staff at Daru'l 'Ulum, Deoband, saw much modern contraception as an unwelcome sign of modernity, their discussions of the acceptability of family planning circled round notions of majburi [compulsion], repentance, and the unfathomable mercy of Allah. We conclude that focusing oil local notions of Islam to understand the fertility behaviour of rural Muslims is less fruitful than considering a "political economy of hopelessness" that, increasingly since 1947, affects many Muslims in north India.</p