Caraid nan Gaidheal and 'Friend of Emigration': Gaelic emigration literature of the 1840s

This study focuses on Gaelic emigration literature which was published in the aftermath of the Highland potato famine of 1836-37 and before that of 1846-50. The end of the eighteenth century had witnessed a steady flow of emigrants out of the Highlands in response to a complex mix of factors, including landlord pressure, population growth and the prospect of a more prosperous future elsewhere

Impact of an educational video as a consent tool on knowledge about cure research among patients and caregivers at HIV clinics in South Africa

Background: Despite increasing access to antiretroviral therapy in low- and middle-income countries, only 54% of eligible individuals were receiving treatment in Africa by 2015. Recent developments in HIV cure research have been encouraging. However, the complex science and procedures of cure research render the informed consent process challenging. Objective: This study evaluates the impact of a video tool on educating participants about HIV cure. Methods: A questionnaire assessing the content of the video was administered to adults recruited from two clinics in South Africa. Patients and their care partners, who provided voluntary informed consent, were included in the study. The questionnaire was administered in each participant‘s home language before, immediately after and at 3 months after viewing the video, in an uncontrolled quasi-experimental ‘one group pre-test–post-test’ design. Scoring was carried out according to a predetermined scoring grid, with a maximum score of 22. Results: A total of 88 participants, median age 32.0 years and 86% female, were enrolled and completed the pre- and post-video questionnaires. Twenty-nine (33%) completed the follow-up questionnaire 3 months later to assess retention of knowledge. Sixty-three (72%) participants had a known HIV-positive status. A significant increase (10.1 vs 15.1, P=0.001) in knowledge about HIV and HIV cure immediately after viewing the video was noted. No statistically significant difference in knowledge between HIV-positive and -negative patients was noted at baseline. After 3 months, a decrease in performance participation (14 vs 13.5, P=0.19) was noted. However, knowledge scores achieved after 3 months remained significantly higher than scores at baseline (13.5 vs 9.5, P<0.01). Conclusions: This research showed that a video intervention improved participants’ knowledge related to HIV, HIV cure research and ethics, and the improvement was sustained over 3 months. Video intervention may be a useful tool to add to the consent process when dealing with complex medical research questions

Widespread mitochondrial depletion via mitophagy does not compromise necroptosis

Programmed necrosis (or necroptosis) is a form of cell death triggered by the activation of receptor interacting protein kinase-3 (RIPK3). Several reports have implicated mitochondria and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation as effectors of RIPK3-dependent cell death. Here, we directly test this idea by employing a method for the specific removal of mitochondria via mitophagy. Mitochondria-deficient cells were resistant to the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis, but efficiently died via tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-induced, RIPK3-dependent programmed necrosis or as a result of direct oligomerization of RIPK3. Although the ROS scavenger butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) delayed TNF-induced necroptosis, it had no effect on necroptosis induced by RIPK3 oligomerization. Furthermore, although TNF-induced ROS production was dependent on mitochondria, the inhibition of TNF-induced necroptosis by BHA was observed in mitochondria-depleted cells. Our data indicate that mitochondrial ROS production accompanies, but does not cause, RIPK3-dependent necroptotic cell death

Fluctuations of indicator and index microbes as indication of pollution over three years in the Plankenburg and Eerste Rivers, Western Cape, South Africa

The Plankenburg and Eerste Rivers (Western Cape) have been reported to be contaminated with faecal coliforms. Water is drawn from both rivers for irrigation of fresh produce. The potential risk in the use of these rivers as irrigation sources was assessed by determining the fluctuations of ‘indicator’ and ‘index’ microbes over 3 years. Selected physico-chemical (water temperature, pH, COD, conductivity and alkalinity) and microbiological parameters, including coliforms, faecal coliforms, Escherichia coli and enterococci, as ‘indicators’ of faecal pollution, and Salmonella, Listeria and Staphylococcus, as ‘index’ of the presence of potential pathogens, were monitored.No correlation was found between water temperature and COD (r2 = 0.0003), whereas for temperature and pH a significant trend (p = 0.0004), but low correlation (r2 = 0.108), was observed. With the exception of the faecal coliforms (E. coli), no significant trends and no correlations between temperature and the dependent variables were found. For the faecal coliforms there was a significant trend (p = 0.0289) with temperature but not a good correlation (r2 = 0.0434), but the impact of temperature over time was significant (p = 0.0047). This is important, when the World Health Organisation (WHO) and South African Department of Water Affairs (DWA) guidelines for faecal coliforms are applied, as it indicates that temperaturedoes impact the faecal coliform numbers. The presence of indicator organisms did not only indicate unsanitary conditions, but also the presence of potential pathogens such as Staphylococcus, Klebsiella, Listeria and Salmonella. Based on these results the microbial quality of these rivers was found to be unacceptable and does not meet the WHO and DWA guidelines for safe irrigation. There was also a high risk of exposure to human pathogens when water from these rivers is used to irrigate produce that is consumed without further processing.Keywords: Irrigation water, faecal pollution, indicator and index organisms, Plankenburg and Eerste River

’Team GB’ and London 2012: The Paradox of National and Global Identities

This article explores the problems associated with ’national identity’ in the UK and examines the tensions arising between the international and local dimensions of the games through examples of domestic (UK) and international (Brazil, Chicago) media coverage of the key debates relating to London’s period of preparation. The chapter proposes a conception of London 2012 as exemplar of an event poised to generate insights and experiences connected to a new politics of ’cosmopolitan’ identity; insights central to grasping the cultural politics of contemporary urban development-and the paradoxes of national identity in current discourses of Olympism. Properly speaking, cosmopolitanism suits those people who have no country, while internationalism should be the state of mind of those who love their country above all, who seek to draw to it the friendship of foreigners by professing for the countries of those foreigners an intelligent and enlightened sympathy. © 2010 Taylor & Francis

The upgrading of fire safety in historic buildings

There is a seemingly continual erosion of our cultural heritage due to fires in historic buildings. Some of these fires result in partial loss of the asset, some result in total loss – in all cases irreplaceable historic fabric is destroyed. Accurate recording for fires in historic buildings is problematic, but such data as has been collated indicates that the level of loss is high. One of the key factors in achieving robust fire safety in historic buildings is the upgrading of physical fire protection measures. It has been suggested that we should assume a fire event is probable, and together with a context in which outside help might be some time in arriving, such measures are considered crucial in containing the fire and raising the alarm as quickly as possible. This article considers passive and active fire protection measures, using case study material to provide illustrative examples. Where it might be expected that conservation requirements, aiming to avoid negative impact to character and significance, might hinder disruptive physical interventions to improve fire protection, in fact a great deal can be achieved. Such a pragmatic approach is arguably necessary for the safety and preservation of built heritage, when the alternative might otherwise be yet another burnt-out shell

Indymedia and the long story of rebellion against neoliberal capitalism

Indymedia was born of the anti-globalisation movement of the late 1990s and quickly spread to become a social movement in its own right. This article reflects on how prescient the claims of the anti-globalisation movement have proven to be and how 20 years ago Indymedia and the anti-globalisation movement predicted there was trouble ahead and that neoliberalism was a central part of the problem. It notes how a history of struggle and protest emanating from the days of Indymedia has developed over time building a counter-politics that is becoming ever wiser about the multiple intersectional harms of capitalism and ever more sophisticated in its political response. The challenge is what comes next

The Extremely High Energy Cosmic Rays

Experimental results from Haverah Park, Yakutsk, AGASA and Fly's Eye are reviewed. All these experiments work in the energy range above 0.1 EeV. The 'dip' structure around 3 EeV in the energy spectrum is well established by all the experiments, though the exact position differs slightly. Fly's Eye and Yakutsk results on the chemical composition indicate that the cosmic rays are getting lighter over the energy range from 0.1 EeV to 10 EeV, but the exact fraction is hadronic interaction model dependent, as indicated by the AGASA analysis. The arrival directions of cosmic rays are largely isotropic, but interesting features may be starting to emerge. Most of the experimental results can best be explained with the scenario that an extragalactic component gradually takes over a galactic population as energy increases and cosmic rays at the highest energies are dominated by particles coming from extragalactic space. However, identification of the extragalactic sources has not yet been successful because of limited statistics and the resolution of the data.Comment: The review paper including 21 figures. 39 pages: To be published in Journal of Physics

What’s so bad about scientism?

In their attempt to defend philosophy from accusations of uselessness made by prominent scientists, such as Stephen Hawking, some philosophers respond with the charge of ‘scientism.’ This charge makes endorsing a scientistic stance, a mistake by definition. For this reason, it begs the question against these critics of philosophy, or anyone who is inclined to endorse a scientistic stance, and turns the scientism debate into a verbal dispute. In this paper, I propose a different definition of scientism, and thus a new way of looking at the scientism debate. Those philosophers who seek to defend philosophy against accusations of uselessness would do philosophy a much better service, I submit, if they were to engage with the definition of scientism put forth in this paper, rather than simply make it analytic that scientism is a mistake