Imagining alternative and better worlds:Isabel Fletcher talks with Adele E. Clarke

In this interview, Adele Clarke and Isabel Fletcher discuss the different routes that led Clarke to science and technology studies (STS), the field’s increasing engagement with biomedical topics, and her perspectives on its character today. Clarke describes how women’s health activism and teaching feminist critiques of bioscience/biomedicine led her to participate in academic networks now known as feminist STS and trans-national reproduction studies. She reflects on the importance of inter-/trans-disciplinary collaboration in her work, but also raises concerns that the rapid expansion of the field has resulted in inadequate training for newcomers in the “theory-method packages” of STS, and hence poor quality scholarship. For her, the future of STS lies in approaches analyzing the complex intersections between technoscience, gender, race, (post)coloniality, and indigenous knowledges, and in its expansion beyond Europe and North America, to Asia, Central and South America, and Africa. In her following reflection, Isabel Fletcher considers the importance of inter/trans-disciplinarity for STS and highlights the role a politically engaged STS can play in imagining alternative and better worlds

Recovery and utilisation of municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash: implications for European waste management strategy

Over the last two decades, the stated intent of European waste management strategy has evolved from a specific focus on landfill diversion to enabling the transition to a circular economy. Widespread introduction of source-segregation alongside deploy-ment of material recovery technologies have improved MSW management practices across Europe. However, with diminishing returns it has become more difficult to achieve further landfill diversion through increased recycling alone, and incineration rates (across the EU-27 as a whole) have continued to increase. The advantages of incineration include the ability to harness the energy content of the waste alongside a sizeable reduction in mass and volume. However, the remaining solid residues, the most substantial being incinerator bottom ash, present a management issue. Exploring the role of incineration and the utilisation of incineration bottom ash, this paper highlights the potential risks of lock-in in the context of evolving waste poli-cy. A simple thought experiment suggests that while increased use of incineration may help member states achieve 2035 landfill diversion targets, it would also carry a substantive risk of placing the 2035 recycling target out of reach. To address this, a long-term vision concerning the future of incineration is required, where it is recom-mended that policy which focuses on landfill diversion and the recycling of residual wastes should be strengthened through mechanisms that gradually phase out incineration and distinguish between open and closed-loop recycling

The importance of the rehabilitation program following an internal hemipelvectomy and reconstrucion with limb salvage - gait analysis and outcomes: a case study

Background: Chondrosarcomas account for approximately 20% of bone sarcomas, with the most common site being the lower limb. Hemipelvectomies that involve hindquarter amputation have previously been the treatment of choice for pelvic tumors. However, with advances in chemotherapy, radiotherapy, imaging and surgical techniques more patients are now being treated with limb salvage surgery. The rehabilitation outcomes following an internal hemipelvectomy have not been well identified and there is currently little, if any, gait analysis data on rehabilitation following hemipelvectomy in limb salvage patients. Case description: A 53-year-old male underwent an internal hemipelvectomy with limb salvage followed by a 2-year rehabilitation program. The aim of this case study is to describe temporal and spatial parameters, metabolic energy expenditure and joint kinematics of a patient with an internal hemipelvectomy who underwent a wide excision of a chondrosarcoma followed by intensive rehabilitation. Outcomes: Walking speed (1.6 m/s), stride length (1.7 m), stride width (0.13 m) and good symmetry in step length (right 0.85 m and left data 0.80 m) and stance time (right 62% and left 59%) indicate a walking pattern similar to the asymptomatic able bodied. Oxygen consumption was 16.6 ml/kg/min and oxygen cost 0.17 ml/kg/m. Discussion: Following the intensive 2-year rehabilitation program this patient’s gait pattern was similar to a control group with no statistically significant difference in the movement of the left and right knee and ankle joints. Some differences were identified against the control group in respect of the movement of the pelvis and hips, but this is partly to be expected. This case study highlights the functional outcomes that can be achieved following limb salvage surgery with intensive rehabilitation and a high level of motivation from the individual

Stakeholder collaboration and heritage management

This article examines a collaborative approach to the relationship between heritage management and tourism development in Luang Prabang, Laos. The purpose is to examine stakeholder collaboration and management roles, heritage tourism development, as well as the interdependence of the heritage conservation and tourism relationship. The research examines a UNESCO/Norwegian government project, which aiming to promote collaboration between heritage conservation and tourism through stakeholder involvement. Five aspects are explored: channels of communication between the heritage and the tourism groups, generating income for heritage conservation and management, involving the local community in decisionmaking, involving the local community in tourism activities, and an assessment of the extent and success of stakeholder collaboration

Outreach:Impact on Skills and Future Careers of Postgraduate Practitioners Working with the Bristol ChemLabS Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning

Postgraduate engagement in delivering outreach activities is more commonplace than it once was. However, the impact on postgraduate students (typically studying for a Ph.D. degree) of participating in the delivery of these outreach activities has rarely, if ever, been recorded. The Bristol ChemLabS Outreach program has been running for ca. 17 years, and in that time, many postgraduate students have been involved (approximately 500), with around 250 typically for up to 3 years. We sought to investigate the impact of outreach engagement on postgraduate alumni who were involved in the program for over 3 years (32) and how the experiences and training of the outreach program had impacted on their careers postgraduation. Thirty of the 32 postgraduates engaged and ∼70% reported that their outreach experience had influenced their decision making on future careers. Many respondents reported that the skills and experiences gained through outreach participation had contributed to success in applying for and interviewing at their future employers. All respondents reported that outreach had helped them to develop key skills that were valued in the workplace, specifically, communication, teamwork, organizational skills, time planning, event planning, and event management. Rather than a pleasant distraction or an opportunity to supplement income, all participants noted that they felt there were many additional benefits and that this was time well spent. Outreach should not be viewed as a distraction to science research but rather an important enhancement to it provided that the program is well constructed and seeks to develop those delivering the outreach activities

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Measurements of the Higgs boson production and decay rates and coupling strengths using pp collision data at √S=7 and 8 TeV in the ATLAS experiment

Combined analyses of the Higgs boson production and decay rates as well as its coupling strengths to vector bosons and fermions are presented. The combinations include the results of the analyses of the H -> gamma gamma, ZZ*, WW*, Z gamma, b (b) over bar, tau tau and mu mu decay modes, and the constraints on the associated production with a pair of top quarks and on the off-shell coupling strengths of the Higgs boson. The results are based on the LHC proton-proton collision datasets, with integrated luminosities of up to 4.7 fb(-1) at root s = 7 TeV and 20.3 fb(-1) at root s = 8 TeV, recorded by the ATLAS detector in 2011 and 2012. Combining all production modes and decay channels, the measured signal yield, normalised to the Standard Model expectation, is 1.18(-0.14)(+0.15). The observed Higgs boson production and decay rates are interpreted in a leading-order coupling framework, exploring a wide range of benchmark coupling models both with and without assumptions on the Higgs boson width and on the Standard Model particle content in loop processes. The data are found to be compatible with the Standard Model expectations for a Higgs boson at a mass of 125.36 GeV for all models considered

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron-B.1.1.529 leads to widespread escape from neutralizing antibody responses

On 24th November 2021, the sequence of a new SARS-CoV-2 viral isolate Omicron-B.1.1.529 was announced, containing far more mutations in Spike (S) than previously reported variants. Neutralization titers of Omicron by sera from vaccinees and convalescent subjects infected with early pandemic Alpha, Beta, Gamma, or Delta are substantially reduced, or the sera failed to neutralize. Titers against Omicron are boosted by third vaccine doses and are high in both vaccinated individuals and those infected by Delta. Mutations in Omicron knock out or substantially reduce neutralization by most of the large panel of potent monoclonal antibodies and antibodies under commercial development. Omicron S has structural changes from earlier viruses and uses mutations that confer tight binding to ACE2 to unleash evolution driven by immune escape. This leads to a large number of mutations in the ACE2 binding site and rebalances receptor affinity to that of earlier pandemic viruses

Outcomes following small bowel obstruction due to malignancy in the national audit of small bowel obstruction

Introduction Patients with cancer who develop small bowel obstruction are at high risk of malnutrition and morbidity following compromise of gastrointestinal tract continuity. This study aimed to characterise current management and outcomes following malignant small bowel obstruction. Methods A prospective, multicentre cohort study of patients with small bowel obstruction who presented to UK hospitals between 16th January and 13th March 2017. Patients who presented with small bowel obstruction due to primary tumours of the intestine (excluding left-sided colonic tumours) or disseminated intra-abdominal malignancy were included. Outcomes included 30-day mortality and in-hospital complications. Cox-proportional hazards models were used to generate adjusted effects estimates, which are presented as hazard ratios (HR) alongside the corresponding 95% confidence interval (95% CI). The threshold for statistical significance was set at the level of P ≤ 0.05 a-priori. Results 205 patients with malignant small bowel obstruction presented to emergency surgery services during the study period. Of these patients, 50 had obstruction due to right sided colon cancer, 143 due to disseminated intraabdominal malignancy, 10 had primary tumours of the small bowel and 2 patients had gastrointestinal stromal tumours. In total 100 out of 205 patients underwent a surgical intervention for obstruction. 30-day in-hospital mortality rate was 11.3% for those with primary tumours and 19.6% for those with disseminated malignancy. Severe risk of malnutrition was an independent predictor for poor mortality in this cohort (adjusted HR 16.18, 95% CI 1.86 to 140.84, p = 0.012). Patients with right-sided colon cancer had high rates of morbidity. Conclusions Mortality rates were high in patients with disseminated malignancy and in those with right sided colon cancer. Further research should identify optimal management strategy to reduce morbidity for these patient groups