On "Diversity" as Anti-Racism in Library and Information Studies: A Critique

Drawing on a range of critical race and anti-colonial writing, and focusing chiefly on Anglo-Western contexts of librarianship, this paper offers a broad critique of diversity as the dominant mode of anti-racism in LIS. After outlining diversity's core tenets, I examine the ways in which the paradigm's centering of inclusion as a core anti-racist strategy has tended to inhibit meaningful treatment of racism as a structural phenomenon. Situating LIS diversity as a liberal anti-racism, I then turn to diversity's tendency to privilege individualist narratives of (anti-)racism, particularly narratives of cultural competence, and the intersection of such individualism with broader structures of political-economic domination. Diversity's preoccupation with demographic inclusion and individual behavioural competence has, I contend, left little room in the field for substantive engagement with race as a historically contingent phenomenon: race is ultimately reified through LIS diversity discourse, effectively precluding exploration of the ways in which racial formations are differentially produced in the contextually-specific exercise of power itself. I argue that an LIS foregrounding of race as a historical construct - the assumption of its contingency - would enable deeper inquiry into the complex ways in which our field - and indeed the diversity paradigm specifically - aligns with the operations of contemporary regimes of racial subordination in the first place. I conclude with a reflection on the importance of the Journal of Critical Information and Library Studies as a potential site of critical exchange from which to articulate a sustained critique of race in and through our field

Unintended consequences of invasive predator control in an Australian forest: overabundant wallabies and vegetation change

Over-abundance of native herbivores is a problem in many forests worldwide. The abundance of native macropod wallabies is extremely high at Booderee National Park (BNP) in south-eastern Australia. This has occurred because of the reduction of exotic predators through an intensive baiting program, coupled with the absence of other predators. The high density of wallabies at BNP may be inhibiting the recruitment of many plant species following fire-induced recruitment events. We experimentally examined the post-fire response of a range of plant species to browsing by wallabies in a forest heavily infested with the invasive species, bitou bush Chrysanthemoides monilifera. We recorded the abundance and size of a range of plant species in 18 unfenced (browsed) and 16 fenced (unbrowsed) plots. We found the abundance and size of bitou bush was suppressed in browsed plots compared to unbrowsed plots. Regenerating seedlings of the canopy or middle storey tree species Eucalyptus pilularis, Acacia implexa, Allocasuarina littoralis, Breynia oblongifolia and Banksia integrifolia were either smaller or fewer in number in grazed plots than treatment plots as were the vines Kennedia rubicunda, Glycine tabacina and Glycine clandestina. In contrast, the understorey fern, Pteridium esculentum increased in abundance in the browsed plots relative to unbrowsed plots probably because of reduced competition with more palatable angiosperms. Twelve months after plots were installed the community structure of the browsed and unbrowsed plots was significantly different (P = 0.023, Global R = 0.091). The relative abundance of C. monilifera and P. esculentum contributed most to the differences. We discuss the possible development of a low diversity bracken fern parkland in Booderee National Park through a trophic cascade, similar to that caused by overabundant deer in the northern hemisphere. We also discuss its implications for broad scale fox control in southern Australian forests.Funding was provided by Parks Australia, and the Australian Research Council

On Structures and Self-Work: Locating Anti-Racist Politics in LIS

The tension between the individual and the structural continues to be a key issue in racial politics. This tension has marked recent discussions on the dog-whistle demagoguery of Donald Trump, the racialization of violence through Thug/Loner/Terrorist media narratives, the accountability of police brutality perpetrators, and beyond. The degree to which racialized power and difference are understood to represent individual phenomena and/or structural phenomena — and the anti-racist implications of such critical understandings — have long been sites of contention in anti-racist discourse. As Goldberg (1993) has demonstrated, the liberal racial politics that has dominated anti-racist thought has tended to locate racism and anti-racism (and, indeed, race itself) chiefly as matters of individual (in)action. In particular, racism comes to be framed as aberrant ignorance and irrationality and anti-racism as “self-work,” whether this be personal “unlearning” or individual institutional reform; consequently, investigations of racism as a structuring aspect of broader social, economic, and political arrangements tend to be deemphasized. The goal becomes diversification of existing arrangements towards harmonious “race relations” rather than the exploration of the complex ways in which such structures work to reproduce race and white supremacy. This presentation seeks to explore this central problem in anti-racist analysis within the context of Library and Information Studies (LIS). While LIS critics (e.g. Honma (2005), Hussey (2010), Peterson (1996, 1999)) have long pointed to the tendency within dominant narratives of diversity to ignore structural critique, individualized accounts of racial power and difference continue to dominate the field, underpinning literature on cultural competence, microaggressions, demographic alignment, and white privilege and allyship. Drawing on work by Goldberg (1993, 1997, 2002, 2009), Ahmed (2012), Bonnett (2000), López (2014), and other critical race scholars, the proposed paper will offer context through (a) an overview of key issues in critical race engagements with the question of the individual versus the structural; and (b) an elaboration of the ways in which such issues play out in LIS discourse on race. We will then explore questions on the dynamics, implications, possibilities, and challenges of individual and structural analyses. What, for instance, might an LIS emphasis on structural dynamics look like? Would a shift towards such an emphasis require changes in research culture? And what modes of analysis might such a shift enable? Is analysis like this methodologically practical in the library world (and what are the implications of asking such a question)? If white supremacy is understood to be a structural formation, how do we integrate critique of individual behavior, from microaggression to macroaggression? Does individual education have a place within structural analysis? How — if at all — might individual and structural approaches ultimately work in tandem to create more robust critiques of white supremacy from within our field? In highlighting key analytical tensions within anti-racist politics, this presentation hopes to contribute to the foundation of a more theoretically nuanced understanding of race, power, and difference within our field’s emerging critical race analyses

Duloxetine in the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder: An Open-Label Study

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a chronic and highly disabling condition. Existing pharmacotherapies produce full remission in only 30% to 40% of treated patients. Antidepressants exhibiting dual reuptake inhibition of both serotonin (5-HT) and norepinephrine (NE) may achieve higher rates of remission compared with those acting upon a single neurotransmitter. In this study, the safety and efficacy of duloxetine, a potent dual reuptake inhibitor of 5-HT and NE, were examined. Methods: Patients (N = 533) meeting DSM-IV criteria for MDD received open-label duloxetine (60 mg once a day [QD]) for 12 weeks during the initial phase of a relapse prevention trial. Patients were required to have a 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD17) total score ≥18 and a Clinical Global Impression of Severity (CGI-S) score ≥4 at baseline. Efficacy measures included the HAMD17 total score, HAMD17 subscales, the CGI-S, the Patient Global Impression of Improvement (PGI-I) scale, Visual Analog Scales (VAS) for pain, and the Symptom Questionnaire, Somatic Subscale (SQ-SS). Quality of life was assessed using the Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS) and the Quality of Life in Depression Scale (QLDS). Safety was evaluated by recording spontaneously-reported treatment-emergent adverse events, changes in vital signs and laboratory analytes, and the Patient Global Impression of Sexual Function (PGI-SF) scale. Results: The rate of discontinuation due to adverse events was 11.3%. Treatment-emergent adverse events reported by ≥10% duloxetine-treated patients were nausea, headache, dry mouth, somnolence, insomnia, and dizziness. Following 12 weeks of open-label duloxetine therapy, significant improvements were observed in all assessed efficacy and quality of life measures. In assessments of depression severity (HAMD17, CGI-S) the magnitude of symptom improvement continued to increase at each study visit, while for painful physical symptoms the onset of improvement was rapid and reached a maximum after 2 to 3 weeks of treatment. Conclusion: In this open-label phase of a relapse prevention study, duloxetine (60 mg QD) was shown to be safe and effective in the treatment of MDD. Trial registration: NCT00036309

Evidence of Molecular Evolution Driven by Recombination Events Influencing Tropism in a Novel Human Adenovirus that Causes Epidemic Keratoconjunctivitis

In 2005, a human adenovirus strain (formerly known as HAdV-D22/H8 but renamed here HAdV-D53) was isolated from an outbreak of epidemic keratoconjunctititis (EKC), a disease that is usually caused by HAdV-D8, -D19, or -D37, not HAdV-D22. To date, a complete change of tropism compared to the prototype has never been observed, although apparent recombinant strains of other viruses from species Human adenovirus D (HAdV-D) have been described. The complete genome of HAdV-D53 was sequenced to elucidate recombination events that lead to the emergence of a viable and highly virulent virus with a modified tropism. Bioinformatic and phylogenetic analyses of this genome demonstrate that this adenovirus is a recombinant of HAdV-D8 (including the fiber gene encoding the primary cellular receptor binding site), HAdV-D22, (the ε determinant of the hexon gene), HAdV-D37 (including the penton base gene encoding the secondary cellular receptor binding site), and at least one unknown or unsequenced HAdV-D strain. Bootscanning analysis of the complete genomic sequence of this novel adenovirus, which we have re-named HAdV-D53, indicated at least five recombination events between the aforementioned adenoviruses. Intrahexon recombination sites perfectly framed the ε neutralization determinant that was almost identical to the HAdV-D22 prototype. Additional bootscan analysis of all HAdV-D hexon genes revealed recombinations in identical locations in several other adenoviruses. In addition, HAdV-D53 but not HAdV-D22 induced corneal inflammation in a mouse model. Serological analysis confirmed previous results and demonstrated that HAdV-D53 has a neutralization profile representative of the ε determinant of its hexon (HAdV-D22) and the fiber (HAdV-D8) proteins. Our recombinant hexon sequence is almost identical to the hexon sequences of the HAdV-D strain causing EKC outbreaks in Japan, suggesting that HAdV-D53 is pandemic as an emerging EKC agent. This documents the first genomic, bioinformatic, and biological descriptions of the molecular evolution events engendering an emerging pathogenic adenovirus

An updated seabed bathymetry beneath Larsen C Ice Shelf, west Antarctic

Abstract. In recent decades, rapid ice-shelf disintegration along the Antarctic Peninsula has had a global impact through enhancing outlet glacier flow, and hence sea level rise, and the freshening of Antarctic Bottom Water. Ice shelf thinning due to basal melting results from the circulation of relatively warm water in the underlying ocean cavity. However, the effect of sub-shelf circulation on future ice-shelf stability cannot be predicted accurately with computer simulations if the geometry of the ice-shelf cavity is unknown. To address this deficit for Larsen C Ice Shelf, west Antarctica, we integrate new water-column thickness measurements with existing observations. We present these new data here along with an updated bathymetry grid of the ocean cavity. Key findings include relatively deep seabed to the south-east of the Kenyon Peninsula, along the grounding line and around the key ice shelf pinning point of Bawden Ice Rise. In addition, we can confirm that the cavity’s southern trough stretches from Mobiloil Inlet to the open ocean. These areas of deep seabed will influence ocean circulation and tidal mixing, and will therefore affect the basal-melt distribution. These results will help constrain models of ice-shelf cavity circulation with the aim of improving our understanding of sub-shelf processes and their potential influence on ice shelf stability. The data set comprises all point measurements of seabed depth and a gridded data product, derived using additional measurements of both offshore seabed depth and the thickness of grounded ice. We present all new depth measurements here as well as a compilation of previously published measurements used in the gridding process. The gridded data product is included in the supplementary material. The underlying seismic data sets which were used to determine bed depth and ice thickness are available at https://doi.org/10.5285/315740B1-A7B9-4CF0-9521-86F046E33E9A (Brisbourne et al., 2019), https://doi.org/10.5285/5D63777D-B375-4791-918F-9A5527093298 (Booth, 2019), https://doi.org/10.5285/FFF8AFEE-4978-495E-9210-120872983A8D (Kulessa and Bevan, 2019) and https://doi.org/10.5285/147BAF64-B9AF-4A97-8091-26AEC0D3C0BB (Booth et al., 2019). </jats:p

An updated seabed bathymetry beneath Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula

Abstract. In recent decades, rapid ice shelf disintegration along the Antarctic Peninsula has had a global impact through enhancing outlet glacier flow and hence sea level rise and the freshening of Antarctic Bottom Water. Ice shelf thinning due to basal melting results from the circulation of relatively warm water in the underlying ocean cavity. However, the effect of sub-shelf circulation on future ice shelf stability cannot be predicted accurately with computer simulations if the geometry of the ice shelf cavity is unknown. To address this deficit for Larsen C Ice Shelf, West Antarctica, we integrate new water column thickness measurements from recent seismic campaigns with existing observations. We present these new data here along with an updated bathymetry grid of the ocean cavity. Key findings include a relatively deep seabed to the southeast of the Kenyon Peninsula, along the grounding line and around the key ice shelf pinning-point of Bawden Ice Rise. In addition, we can confirm that the cavity's southern trough stretches from Mobiloil Inlet to the open ocean. These areas of deep seabed will influence ocean circulation and tidal mixing and will therefore affect the basal-melt distribution. These results will help constrain models of ice shelf cavity circulation with the aim of improving our understanding of sub-shelf processes and their potential influence on ice shelf stability. The datasets are comprised of all the new point measurements of seabed depth. We present the new depth measurements here, as well as a compilation of previously published measurements. To demonstrate the improvements to the sub-shelf bathymetry map that these new data provide we include a gridded data product in the Supplement of this paper, derived using the additional measurements of both offshore seabed depth and the thickness of grounded ice. The underlying seismic datasets that were used to determine bed depth and ice thickness are available at https://doi.org/10.5285/315740B1-A7B9-4CF0-9521-86F046E33E9A (Brisbourne et al., 2019), https://doi.org/10.5285/5D63777D-B375-4791-918F-9A5527093298 (Booth, 2019), https://doi.org/10.5285/FFF8AFEE-4978-495E-9210-120872983A8D (Kulessa and Bevan, 2019) and https://doi.org/10.5285/147BAF64-B9AF-4A97-8091-26AEC0D3C0BB (Booth et al., 2019). </jats:p