Re-orienting the postcolonial: responding to the South, working in the North

Taking bearings from critical currents of thought in south Asia and black Africa and beyond, this paper discusses some of the differences in how postcolonialism is read from place to place in the light of local politics and culture. The paper makes a case for a more “hands-on” politics, one that goes out into the world, for postcolonialism applied rather than left in the ether of high theory. So it is not simply about getting a better deal for Aboriginal people or asylum seekers and refugees but it is a matter of addressing the way our societies and the world order are constituted and working to change them for the better. This paper was presented as part of Rethinking the Postcolonial in the Age of the War on Terror joint symposium, by the MnM Centre in conjunction with the UNESCO Chair in Transnational Diasporas and Reconciliation Studies, at the University of South Australia, on 16 and 17 September 2010. The aim of the symposium was to explore the postcolonial condition in the era of the \u27war on terror\u27 and to rethink postcolonialism in order to reformulate or reinforce its critical insights

The assessment of driver and manager training in the context of work-related road safety interventions

Vehicles being driven for work purposes represent a large proportion of road collision and deaths in the workplace. These observations mean that people driving for work can impose a large burden on organisations and on society. In addition, previous studies identified a fleet driver effect for which there was greater collision risk for those who drive for work compared to the general driving population, even after controlling for exposure. This accentuates the need for both organisational and government policy makers to take steps to reduce the impact of these collisions. No single intervention has been found to solve issues around work-related road safety therefore a range of initiatives have been directed towards the risks associated with drivers, vehicles, journeys and organisations. Many of the interventions, however, lack robust evidence to support their use. The aim of this thesis is to assess organisational interventions to improve work-related road safety by using econometric models on real-world data. The data represents driving claims made between 2005 and 2012 by employees of a large UK company, with a fleet of approximately 35,000 vehicles. The drivers were employed in a variety of roles such as working in technical positions at customer sites or making sales visits. The company has applied a range of strategies to road safety resulting in annual claim reductions of 7.7% compared to only a 4.5% reduction in collisions nationally. The company s data are used to undertake three studies which focused on driver training, manager training and claim segmentation. Statistical models were employed to investigate the effect of two different driver training courses on the frequency of claims while controlling for other factors. The results indicated that driver training courses significantly reduced both the total number of claims and the claim types targeted by the training. The impacts of the interventions were also adjusted for the effects of non-random driver selection and other safety improvements initiated by the company or other agencies. An important finding of this work was that randomly inflated pre-training events accounted for between a third and a quarter of the observed reduction in claims following training. The second study evaluated the impact of management training on claims using multilevel models which allowed for correlation between observations. The study could not confirm that this training was an effective safety intervention. This null result provides an incentive to re-evaluate the implementation of the scheme. The final study identified homogeneous claim segments using statistical models and the impact of training was evaluated on these segments. Such claims were estimated to be reduced by between 32% to 55% following existing driver training courses. This thesis has helped close important gaps and contributed to knowledge in terms of both intervention methodology and the understanding of the effectiveness of work-related road safety interventions. The results, which are already being applied in the case study organisation, demonstrated that training employees in either safe and fuel efficient driving, or low speed manoeuvring, reduced vehicle insurance claims. Further work is necessary to verify the safety value of manager training including gathering detailed information on interactions between managers and drivers

The Effects of Topdressing Organic Nitrogen Hard Red Winter Wheat

The demand for local organic food is steadily increasing throughout Vermont and New England. Consumers are asking for bread baked with locally grown wheat; however bakers have been slow to incorporate local wheat flour because of the challenges associated with obtaining grains that consistently meet bread-baking standards. Addressing the quality issue is essential for expanding the bread flour market in the northeast. One of the major quality factors facing Vermont grain producers is protein content. Much of the winter wheat currently produced in Vermont has protein levels below what most commercial mills would consider suitable for flour production. Commercial mills prefer to buy wheat with CP concentrations of 12-14%. Higher protein levels generally improve baking characteristics. In 2010, the University of Vermont Extension in collaboration with Gleason Grains (Bridport, VT) and Borderview Farm (Alburgh, VT) established trials to evaluate if winter wheat yield and protein could be improved by topdressing with various organic nitrogen (N) sources at key developmental stages

Winter Wheat Variety Trial

In 2010, the University of Vermont Extension in collaboration with the University of Maine began an extensive organic variety trial of hard red winter wheat in order to determine which varieties thrive in our northern climate. The trials were established at the Borderview Research Farm in Alburgh, Vermont and at Cornell University’s Willsboro Research Farm in Willsboro, New York. This trial is one of several in a USDA OREI grant focused on the production of hig

Spring Wheat Variety Trial

In 2010, the University of Vermont Extension in collaboration with the University of Maine began an extensive evaluation of hard red spring wheat varieties grown under organic production in order to determine which varieties thrive in our northern climate. The trials were established at Borderview Research Farm in Alburgh, Vermont and at the Cornell Willsboro Research Farm in Willsboro, New York. This trial is one of several in a USDA Organic Research Education Initiative grant focused on the production of high quality organic bread wheat in New England

The Local, the ‘Indigenous’ and the Limits of Rethinking Peacebuilding

© 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is the accepted manuscript version of an article which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1080/17502977.2021.1882755Recent critical perspectives on peacebuilding have sought to shed light on experiences so far marginalized by mainstream approaches. In particular, critics have pushed peacebuilding towards radically different ways of thinking about governance, conflict and peace, by engaging with narratives, experiences and knowledge coming from societies perceived as not invested in modernity or liberalism, such as Indigenous communities. Whilst this may force theory to confront questions of human-centrism, colonial erasure, and structural violence, turning to Indigeneity without questioning the impact of liberal peace ‘thinking', might further elicit marginalization and appropriation, and simply ‘save’ liberal peacebuilding through the back door.Peer reviewe

A Putative P-Type ATPase Required for Virulence and Resistance to Haem Toxicity in Listeria monocytogenes

Regulation of iron homeostasis in many pathogens is principally mediated by the ferric uptake regulator, Fur. Since acquisition of iron from the host is essential for the intracellular pathogen Listeria monocytogenes, we predicted the existence of Fur-regulated systems that support infection. We examined the contribution of nine Fur-regulated loci to the pathogenicity of L. monocytogenes in a murine model of infection. While mutating the majority of the genes failed to affect virulence, three mutants exhibited a significantly compromised virulence potential. Most striking was the role of the membrane protein we designate FrvA (Fur regulated virulence factor A; encoded by frvA [lmo0641]), which is absolutely required for the systemic phase of infection in mice and also for virulence in an alternative infection model, the Wax Moth Galleria mellonella. Further analysis of the ΔfrvA mutant revealed poor growth in iron deficient media and inhibition of growth by micromolar concentrations of haem or haemoglobin, a phenotype which may contribute to the attenuated growth of this mutant during infection. Uptake studies indicated that the ΔfrvA mutant is unaffected in the uptake of ferric citrate but demonstrates a significant increase in uptake of haem and haemin. The data suggest a potential role for FrvA as a haem exporter that functions, at least in part, to protect the cell against the potential toxicity of free haem

Investigation of hospital discharge cases and SARS-CoV-2 introduction into Lothian care homes

Background The first epidemic wave of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Scotland resulted in high case numbers and mortality in care homes. In Lothian, over one-third of care homes reported an outbreak, while there was limited testing of hospital patients discharged to care homes. Aim To investigate patients discharged from hospitals as a source of SARS-CoV-2 introduction into care homes during the first epidemic wave. Methods A clinical review was performed for all patients discharges from hospitals to care homes from 1st March 2020 to 31st May 2020. Episodes were ruled out based on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) test history, clinical assessment at discharge, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data and an infectious period of 14 days. Clinical samples were processed for WGS, and consensus genomes generated were used for analysis using Cluster Investigation and Virus Epidemiological Tool software. Patient timelines were obtained using electronic hospital records. Findings In total, 787 patients discharged from hospitals to care homes were identified. Of these, 776 (99%) were ruled out for subsequent introduction of SARS-CoV-2 into care homes. However, for 10 episodes, the results were inconclusive as there was low genomic diversity in consensus genomes or no sequencing data were available. Only one discharge episode had a genomic, time and location link to positive cases during hospital admission, leading to 10 positive cases in their care home. Conclusion The majority of patients discharged from hospitals were ruled out for introduction of SARS-CoV-2 into care homes, highlighting the importance of screening all new admissions when faced with a novel emerging virus and no available vaccine