Contributions in the field of palaeopalynology at the Bernard Price Institute, past, present and future

Main articleA brief chronological summary of the palynological research carried out by students and past members of the staff at the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research is presented. The contribution that each of these studies has made to the understanding of stratigraphic relationships in the southern African region is highlighted. A correlation chart of palynological biozones documented from South African localities is presented (Table 1).Non

Violence, uncertainty, and resilience among refugee women and community workers: An evaluation of gender-based violence case management services in the Dadaab refugee camps.

Reports of gender-based violence (GBV) are common in camps for refugees and displaced populations. In the Dadaab refugee camps in north-eastern Kenya, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and CARE International (CARE) implement programmes that aim to both respond to and prevent GBV. A cornerstone of this work has been to train refugees, known as refugee community workers, to deliver aspects of GBV prevention and response work in order to develop a broader implementation of traditional GBV outreach, community mobilisation, and case management. To date, there has been limited rigorous research on this broader GBV case management plus task sharing approach in the context of a refugee camp setting. To address this key gap in evidence, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and the African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC), in collaboration with IRC and CARE, have sought to assess this model to understand its feasibility, acceptability, and influence among female survivors of GBV accessing care. Data for this study, funded by UK aid, were collected in the Dadaab refugee camps between 2014 and 2017, which coincided with a temporary decision to close the camp and repatriate Somali refugees. The research confirms the magnitude and complexity of the violence that women and girls experience in the camps in Dadaab. In the year leading up to this study, 47% of women accessing the GBV centres for case management reported experiencing intimate partner violence and 39% reported experiencing non-partner violence. In addition, the study highlights the specific risks, challenges, opportunities and rewards experienced by refugee community workers in their dual role of community members and GBV activists living side-by-side with survivors and perpetrators of violence. Solely related to their work as GBV caseworkers, one in three refugee community workers reported experiencing non-partner violence in the last 12 months. Despite this, 93% of refugee community workers stated their work was rewarding or extremely rewarding. The majority of women (82%) accessing services reported that their interactions with refugee community workers had a positive effect, and that working with them was useful. However, having refugees deliver services to their own community was not without its challenges, and survivors raised issues on confidentiality, mistranslations, and perceived biases on clan differences. The study also provides an insight into the importance of contextual factors in case management, and the impact of the announcement of the (now-delayed) camp closure in Dadaab. Priorities of both the camp population and service providers (GBV and referral services) shifted greatly during this time of uncertainty and affected when and how women were accessing services

(E)-1-(2,5-Dichloro-3-thien­yl)-3-[4-(dimethyl­amino)phen­yl]prop-2-en-1-one

In the title compound, C15H13Cl2NOS, the benzene and thio­phene rings make a dihedral angle of 10.8 (1)°. The dimethyl­amino substituent and the α,β-unsaturated carbonyl group are almost coplanar with respect to the aromatic ring, forming dihedral angles of 4.73 (3)° and 5.0 (2)°, respectively. In the crystal structure, mol­ecules are connected into two-dimensional layers by weak C—H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds and C—Cl⋯O [Cl⋯O = 3.073 (2) Å] inter­actions. These layers are stacked with short C(meth­yl)–H⋯π contacts betweeen the layers

Locating and sizing energy storage systems for distribution feeder expansion planning

In this paper we present a mixed integer programming (MIP) formulation of an electricity network expansion planning model that considers the location, sizing, and operation of energy storage systems (ESS) as well as additional circuits. The model includes constraints to manage generator ramp rates, ESS charge/discharge rates, and losses on power transferred to, from, and within storage. Two new test networks based on representative feeder taxonomies identified by the National Feeder Taxonomy Study are used to demonstrate the use of the model, and a procedure to create other such test systems is defined. We find that ESS are typically omitted from the expansion plan as the cost of installing the new circuits is currently less than the cost of distribution scale energy storage

Polarisation of equine pregnancy outcome is associated with a maternal MHC class I allele

Identification of risk factors which are associated with severe clinical signs can assist in the management of disease outbreaks and indicate future research areas. Pregnancy loss during late gestation in the mare compromises welfare, reduces fecundity and has financial implications for horse owners. This retrospective study focussed on the identification of risk factors associated with pregnancy loss among 46 Thoroughbred mares on a single British stud farm, with some but not all losses involving equid herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) infection. In a sub-group of 30 mares, association between pregnancy loss and the presence of five common Thoroughbred horse haplotypes of the equine Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) was assessed. This involved development of sequence specific, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reactions and in several mares, EHV-1 specific, cytotoxic T lymphocyte activity. Of the 46 mares, 10 suffered late gestation pregnancy loss or neonatal foal death, five of which were EHV-1 positive. Maternal factors including age, parity, number of EHV-1 specific vaccinations and the number of days between final vaccination and foaling or abortion were not significantly associated with pregnancy loss. In contrast, a statistically significant association between the presence of the MHC class I B2 allele and pregnancy loss was identified, regardless of the fetus / foal’s EHV-1 status (p=0.002). In conclusion, this study demonstrated a significantly positive association between pregnancy loss in Thoroughbred mares and a specific MHC class I allele in the mother. This association requires independent validation and further investigation of the mechanism by which the mare’s genetic background contributes to pregnancy outcome

3-(3-Bromo-4-methoxy­phen­yl)-1,5-diphenyl­pentane-1,5-dione

In the title compound, C24H21BrO3, the central bromo­methoxy­benzene ring forms dihedral angles of 63.6 (1) and 60.3 (1)° with the terminal phenyl rings, while the angle between the two phenyl rings is 25.8 (1)°. The crystal structure is stabilized by weak C—H⋯Br and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, and C—H⋯π and π–π stacking [centroid–centroid distance = 3.910 (3) Å] inter­actions

Bis(tetra­phenyl­phospho­nium) bis­[N-(2,5-dichloro­phenyl­sulfon­yl)dithio­carbimato(2−)-κ2 S,S′]platinate(II)

In the title salt, (C24H20P)2[Pt(C7H3Cl2NO2S3)2], the PtII ion (site symmetry ) is coordinated by two S,S′-bidentate N-(2,5-dichloro­phenyl­sulfon­yl)dithio­carbimate ligands, resulting in a slightly distorted PtS4 square-planar geometry. In the crystal, a C—H⋯O inter­action is observed, as well as electrostatic attraction between the oppositely charged ions