The Development of Black-Led Archives in London

This thesis works to recreate a framework within the archival field in which to view the development of three Black-led archives in London: the Black Cultural Archives based in Brixton, the George Padmore Institute in Finsbury Park and the Huntley Collection based at the London Metropolitan Archives. In this work I bring together the history and intellectual contribution of the Pan-African movement and Black archival thought to discuss how the key concepts of experiences and narratives have underpinned the collection of Black archival material. This thesis focusses on the work and writing of Arthur Schomburg and other key figures in the Pan-African tradition from which to draw a general theory of Black archival thought. It also traces the development and transmission of the theory during the twentieth century through networks. In this work I discuss how this Black archival canon and thought has been employed by the founders of the archives in the face of shifting racism and government policies. This thesis traces the shifts in how racism has been articulated, to examine how the development of the archives, whilst underpinned by modes of Pan-Africanism have been shaped by changing narratives of Britishness, Government policy and available funding that ultimately led to the formation of the archives as they stand today

Reducing Cost and Contention of P2P Live Streaming through Locality and Piece Selection

The use of locality within peer-to-peer (P2P) networks is ensuring the construction of overlay networks that are both economically viable for network operators and scalable. However, the underlying protocols on which traditional P2P overlays are based are rapidly having to evolve in order to better support more time sensitive, real-time video delivery systems. This shift places greater demand on locality mechanisms to ensure the correct balance between bandwidth savings and successful timely playback. In this paper, we investigate the impact of peer locality within live streaming P2P systems and consider the pertinent challenges when designing locality based algorithms to support efficient P2P live streaming services. Based on our findings we propose an algorithm for supporting locality and harmonised play points in a live streaming P2P system. We present our results and in-depth analysis of its operation though a series of simulations which measure bandwidth consumption at network egress points, failure rates and each peer’s play point relative to the live stream

A challenging diagnosis of alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency: identification of a patient with a novel F/Null phenotype

Alpha-1-antitrypsin (A1AT) deficiency is a genetic disease characterized by low levels and/or function of A1AT protein. A1AT deficiency can result in the development of COPD, liver disease, and certain skin conditions. The disease can be diagnosed by demonstrating a low level of A1AT protein and genotype screening for S and Z mutations, which are the most common. However, there are many genetic variants in A1AT deficiency, and this screening may miss rarer cases, such as those caused by dysfunctional protein. We identified a patient with a previously unreported F/null phenotype that was missed by routine screening. This case highlights the wide variation in possible mutations, limitations in diagnostics, and the importance of combining clinical suspicion with measurement of protein levels, phenotypic analysis, and in appropriate cases expanded genetic analysis

Challenges and Opportunities to Updating Prescribing Information for Longstanding Oncology Drugs.

A number of important drugs used to treat cancer-many of which serve as the backbone of modern chemotherapy regimens-have outdated prescribing information in their drug labeling. The Food and Drug Administration is undertaking a pilot project to develop a process and criteria for updating prescribing information for longstanding oncology drugs, based on the breadth of knowledge the cancer community has accumulated with the use of these drugs over time. This article highlights a number of considerations for labeling updates, including selecting priorities for updating; data sources and evidentiary criteria; as well as the risks, challenges, and opportunities for iterative review to ensure prescribing information for oncology drugs remains relevant to current clinical practice

Climate, Vegetation, and Weathering across Space and Time in Lake Tanganyika (Tropical Eastern Africa)

Climate and vegetation influence weathering rates and processes; however, evaluating the effects of each and feedbacks between systems, has yet to be accomplished for many types of landscapes. A detailed understanding of how these processes interact to shape landscapes is particularly crucial for reconciling future scenarios of changing climate, where profound alterations to both the biosphere and geosphere are anticipated. In the tropics, ecosystem services, such as soil and water quality, are linked to both vegetation and weathering processes that form a strong control on natural resources that are the foundation of many communities’ daily subsistence. This understanding is further complicated by intensifying land-use within tropical watersheds, which decouples vegetation change from climate; it is yet unclear what the direct effects of vegetation change may be on erosion and weathering when operating independent of climate. Long term observational records tracking changes to the critical zone do not exist in tropical Africa, however, sedimentary paleo-records from lakes are often of sufficient length and resolution to record the impact of bioclimatic variability on surface processes. Here, we use a novel approach combining long (60ka) and intermediate-length (400yrs) lake sediment records along with historical repeat photography from Lake Tanganyika (Tanzania) to document changes and relationships among climate, vegetation, and weathering at multiple scales. These records illustrate that glacial-interglacial climate change did not significantly alter weathering intensity. Instead, we observe chemical and physical weathering responses only when the vegetation becomes more open beginning at the transition to the Holocene. Also, the largest change in chemical weathering intensity occurs only within the last ∼3ka. This is consistent with a major reorganization of vegetation and is directly attributable to Iron Age human activity, rather than climate. Furthermore, anthropogenic landscape alteration as early as ∼2.5ka, in addition to well-documented comparisons of historical land-use, suggest widespread responses of both chemical weathering intensity and enhanced soil erosion to human activity. This shows that changes in vegetation structure induced by anthropogenic activity, decoupled from climate change, generate a disproportionately large weathering response