Encoding and decoding plantation society : wistful memories of Stuart Hall and Norman Girvan

Abstract in Portuguese by Deborah Hickling included.Two giants of Caribbean thought have recently departed: Stuart Hall (1932 - 2014), cultural scholar, and Norman Girvan (1941 - 2014), economist. Hall held professorial posts at the University of Birmingham and the Open University in the UK, and retained close links with Jamaica. He studied ethnicity, issues of Caribbean diaspora, critical examinations of Marxism, media and communications, and the ideas of the New Left and post-modernism. Girvan, a professor at the University of the West Indies, was a strong critic of the dependence of the Caribbean and other post-colonial nations on economic and technological structures and thinking locked into a colonial paradigm. He also worked in regional and international bodies to achieve closer regional alignment in the Caribbean and strategies for regional economic transformation. This tribute explores the contributions of both scholars to the fields of cultural studies and political economy, and particularly celebrates their significance to the Caribbean and Latin American region.peer-reviewe

Extreme longevity of the common gecko (Hoplodactylus maculatus) on Motunau Island, Canterbury, New Zealand

The longevity of common geckos (Hoplodactylus maculatus) on predator-free Motunau Island, North Canterbury, was investigated. Sixteen of 133 individuals marked between 1967-75 were re-captured in the summer of 1996/97. A growth curve was generated to estimate the age of these geckos at first capture, and from this their age in 1996/97; 10 were estimated to be at least 36 years old. In this cool-temperate habitat, H. maculatus matures late and has a low annual reproductive output over an extended lifespan. This suggests that nearby mainland populations would be particularly slow to recover from the impacts of introduced mammalian predators

Prospective associations between dietary patterns and cognitive performance during adolescence

Background: The aim of the study was to investigate prospective associations between dietary patterns and cognitive performance during adolescence .Methods: Participants were sourced from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study that includes 2868 children born between 1989 and 1992 in Perth, Western Australia. When the children were 17 years old (2006–2009), cognitive performance was assessed using a computerized cognitive battery of tests (CogState) that included six tasks. Using a food frequency questionnaire administered when the children were 14 years old (2003–2006), ‘Healthy’ and ‘Western’ dietary patterns were identified by factor analysis. Associations between dietary patterns at 14 years of age and cognitive performance at 17 years of age were assessed prospectively using multivariate regression models.Results: Dietary and cognitive performance data were available for 602 participants. Following adjustment for the ‘Healthy’ dietary pattern, total energy intake, maternal education, family income, father's presence in the family, family functioning and gender, we found that a longer reaction time in the detection task (ß = .016; 95% CI: 0.004; 0.028; p = .009) and a higher number of total errors in the Groton Maze Learning Test – delayed recall task (ß = .060; 95% CI: 0.006; 0.114; p = .029) were significantly associated with higher scores on the ‘Western’ dietary pattern. The ‘Western’ dietary pattern was characterized by high intakes of take-away food, red and processed meat, soft drink, fried and refined food. We also found that within the dietary patterns, high intake of fried potato, crisps and red meat had negative associations, while increased fruit and leafy green vegetable intake had positive associations with some aspects of cognitive performance. Conclusion: Higher dietary intake of the ‘Western’ dietary pattern at age 14 is associated with diminished cognitive performance 3 years later, at 17 years

Mitigating susceptibility-induced distortions in high-resolution 3DEPI fMRI at 7T

Geometric distortion is a major limiting factor for spatial specificity in high-resolution fMRI using EPI readouts and is exacerbated at higher field strengths due to increased B0 field inhomogeneity. Prominent correction schemes are based on B0 field-mapping or acquiring reverse phase-encoded (reversed-PE) data. However, to date, comparisons of these techniques in the context of fMRI have only been performed on 2DEPI data, either at lower field or lower resolution. In this study, we investigate distortion compensation in the context of sub-millimetre 3DEPI data at 7T. B0 field-mapping and reversed-PE distortion correction techniques were applied to both partial coverage BOLD-weighted and whole brain MT-weighted 3DEPI data with matched distortion. Qualitative assessment showed overall improvement in cortical alignment for both correction techniques in both 3DEPI fMRI and whole-brain MT-3DEPI datasets. The distortion-corrected MT-3DEPI images were quantitatively evaluated by comparing cortical alignment with an anatomical reference using dice coefficient (DC) and correlation ratio (CR) measures. These showed that B0 field-mapping and reversed-PE methods both improved correspondence between the MT-3DEPI and anatomical data, with more substantial improvements consistently obtained using the reversed-PE approach. Regional analyses demonstrated that the largest benefit of distortion correction, and in particular of the reversed-PE approach, occurred in frontal and temporal regions where susceptibility-induced distortions are known to be greatest, but had not led to complete signal dropout. In conclusion, distortion correction based on reversed-PE data has shown the greater capacity for achieving faithful alignment with anatomical data in the context of high-resolution fMRI at 7T using 3DEPI

Associations of passerine birds, rabbits, and ticks with \u3cem\u3eBorrelia miyamotoi and Borrelia andersonii\u3c/em\u3e in Michigan, U.S.A.

Background Wild birds contribute to maintenance and dissemination of vectors and microbes, including those that impact human, domestic animal, and wildlife health. Here we elucidate roles of wild passerine birds, eastern cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus), and Ixodes dentatus ticks in enzootic cycles of two spirochetes, Borrelia miyamotoi and B. andersonii in a region of Michigan where the zoonotic pathogen B. burgdorferi co-circulates. Methods Over a four-year period, wild birds (n = 19,631) and rabbits (n = 20) were inspected for tick presence and ear tissue was obtained from rabbits. Samples were tested for Borrelia spirochetes using nested PCR of the 16S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer region (IGS) and bidirectional DNA sequencing. Natural xenodiagnosis was used to implicate wildlife reservoirs. Results Ixodes dentatus, a tick that specializes on birds and rabbits and rarely bites humans, was the most common tick found, comprising 86.5% of the 12,432 ticks collected in the study. The relapsing fever group spirochete B. miyamotoi was documented for the first time in ticks removed from wild birds (0.7% minimum infection prevalence; MIP, in I. dentatus), and included two IGS strains. The majority of B. miyamotoi-positive ticks were removed from Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis). Borrelia andersonii infected ticks removed from birds (1.6% MIP), ticks removed from rabbits (5.3% MIP), and rabbit ear biopsies (5%) comprised twelve novel IGS strains. Six species of wild birds were implicated as reservoirs for B. andersonii. Frequency of I. dentatus larval and nymphal co-feeding on birds was ten times greater than expected by chance. The relatively well-studied ecology of I. scapularis and the Lyme disease pathogen provides a context for understanding how the phenology of bird ticks may impact B. miyamotoi and B. andersonii prevalence and host associations. Conclusions Given the current invasion of I. scapularis, a human biting species that serves as a bridge vector for Borrelia spirochetes, human exposure to B. miyamotoi and B. andersonii in this region may increase. The presence of these spirochetes underscores the ecological complexity within which Borrelia organisms are maintained and the need for diagnostic tests to differentiate among these organisms

Gender equality and girls education: Investigating frameworks, disjunctures and meanings of quality education

The article draws on qualitative educational research across a diversity of low-income countries to examine the gendered inequalities in education as complex, multi-faceted and situated rather than a series of barriers to be overcome through linear input–output processes focused on isolated dimensions of quality. It argues that frameworks for thinking about educational quality often result in analyses of gender inequalities that are fragmented and incomplete. However, by considering education quality more broadly as a terrain of quality it investigates questions of educational transitions, teacher supply and community participation, and develops understandings of how education is experienced by learners and teachers in their gendered lives and their teaching practices. By taking an approach based on theories of human development the article identifies dynamics of power underpinning gender inequalities in the literature and played out in diverse contexts and influenced by social, cultural and historical contexts. The review and discussion indicate that attaining gender equitable quality education requires recognition and understanding of the ways in which inequalities intersect and interrelate in order to seek out multi-faceted strategies that address not only different dimensions of girls’ and women’s lives, but understand gendered relationships and structurally entrenched inequalities between women and men, girls and boys

Thermal Physiology and Developmental Plasticity of Pigmentation in the Harlequin Bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)

Traits that promote the maintenance of body temperatures within an optimal range provide advantages to ectothermic species. Pigmentation plasticity is found in many insects and enhances thermoregulatory potential as increased melanization can result in greater heat retention. The thermal melanism hypothesis predicts that species with developmental plasticity will have darker pigmentation in colder environments, which can be an important adaptation for temperate species experiencing seasonal variation in climate. The harlequin bug (Murgantia histrionica, Hemiptera: Pentatomidae, Hahn 1834) is a widespread invasive crop pest with variable patterning where developmental plasticity in melanization could affect performance. To investigate the impact of temperature and photoperiod on melanization and size, nymphs were reared under two temperatures and two photoperiods simulating summer and fall seasons. The size and degree of melanization of adults were quantified using digital imagery. To assess the effect of coloration on the amount of heat absorption, we monitored the temperature of adults in a heating experiment. Overall, our results supported the thermal melanism hypothesis and temperature had a comparatively larger effect on coloration and size than photoperiod. When heated, the body temperature of individuals with darker pigmentation increased more relative to the ambient air temperature than individuals with lighter pigmentation. These results suggest that colder temperatures experienced late in the season can induce developmental plasticity for a phenotype that improves thermoregulation in this species. Our work highlights environmental signals and consequences for individual performance due to thermal melanism in a common invasive species, where capacity to respond to changing environments is likely contributing to its spread

'International education : emergences and future possibilities'. Report on a University of Fribourg workshop, 4-7 May, 2015.

An exploratory workshop with the theme: ‘International Education: Emergences and Future Possibilities’, was held at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland from 4-7 May 2015. The workshop, organised by the university’s Department of Educational Sciences, was made possible when the head of department Professor Edgar Forster and lecturer/PhD candidate Ms. Rose Eder applied for and won a grant of 24,810 CHF (Swiss Francs) from the Swiss National Science Foundation. Participants in the workshop included a number of invited global scholars of international education from universities in Canada, the USA, Brazil, Australia, Singapore, Japan and Vietnam, as well as graduate students in Education and their supervisors from the University of Fribourg, some from the transdisciplinary postdoctoral program ‘Migration and Postcoloniality meet Switzerland’.peer-reviewe