Civic Geographies of Architectural Enthusiasm

In this short intervention, we introduce the display and walking tour that formed our contribution to the ‘civic geographies’ exhibition and session at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Annual Conference in July 2012. We then move on to explore the notion of ‘civic geographies’ in relation to the architectural enthusiasm, specifically a strong emotional attachment to buildings, exhibited by members of The Twentieth Century Society. In doing so, we suggest that a more critical account of the role of enthusiasm in the civic realm is required for two important reasons: first, because such groups can be understood to be doing geography beyond the academy in the civic realm; and second, because enthusiast knowledges and practices are active in the (re)constitution of civic landscapes of various kinds. Enthusiasts participate in caring for buildings, preserving heritage, making community spaces, as well as creating and curating local histories. An understanding of who is participating in making these civic geographies, why, how, and with what consequences, is therefore crucial

Finding ‘new’ geographies in dedications, acknowledgements, and citations

In his translator's introduction to For a New Geography Archie Davies highlights the many guises of Milton Santos – from powerhouse of Brazilian geography, through to radical geographer of international standing. However, my engagement with Santos falls into another category: ‘the English-language Milton Santos, a much more fragmented, uncertain and emergent figure’ (Davies, 2021). Santos has certainly been talked about and written about more widely in English-language settings over the past few years (see Davies, 2021; Ferretti, 2020; Ferretti and Viotto Pedrosa, 2018; Melgaço, 2017). However, I was particularly curious to engage with this new translation as it contributes to a wider push to diversify and decolonise the histories of geography, which have tended to reinforce Anglo-American hegemony

Managing enthusiasm: between ‘extremist’ volunteers and ‘rational’ professional practices in architectural conservation

Recent geographical research has considered enthusiasm to be a shared passion and a motivator to action. Through the example of architectural conservation in Britain, and the activities of the Twentieth Century Society in particular, this paper examines the tensions between enthusiasm as a productive and positive affiliation, and enthusiasm as a negative, prohibitive, and at times extremist position. The paper makes three key contributions: firstly, it demonstrates how methodologically it is possible to trace enthusiasm, using ethnographic method to reveal not only what groups say they do, but also what they actually do. Secondly, it argues that enthusiasm is a productive but ambivalent term that creates tensions within organisations and societies where professional and volunteer roles are present. Thirdly, we show that even though enthusiasm has productive capacities, it also requires careful management, and on occasion denial. The tensions between enthusiasm and professionalism that we trace are relevant beyond the realm of architectural conservation and resonate with other groups comprised of volunteers and professionals

What happens if we start from Nigeria? Diversifying histories of geography

This paper asks, what if, rather than starting from the United States of America or the United Kingdom in histories of geography, we start from Nigeria? Focusing on Nigerian geographers working in Nigeria’s first university 1945-1990, and drawing on archival evidence and oral history interviews, it argues that the view from Nigeria offers important new perspectives on the history of geography. First, it highlights the intellectual contribution of Nigerian scholars, highlighting the partial and exclusionary nature of many traditional histories. Second, it illuminates the as yet unacknowledged impact of the Cold War on the discipline far beyond the United States and Soviet Union. Third, this new perspective makes it possible to consider afresh the contemporary Anglo-American hegemony of ‘international’ geography, providing evidence of the consequences of this hegemony for scholars working beyond the west, and revealing the less hierarchical disciplinary maps that at some moments appeared possible. Fourth, by highlighting the shifting structures which facilitated and foreclosed opportunities for participation in the international geographical community, the paper considers what - for the work of constructing a more equal academic community in the future - we might learn from this earlier period

Ecological drivers of global gradients in avian dispersal inferred from wing morphology

An organism’s ability to disperse influences many fundamental processes, from speciation and geographical range expansion to community assembly. However, the patterns and underlying drivers of variation in dispersal across species remain unclear, partly because standardised estimates of dispersal ability are rarely available. Here we present a global dataset of avian hand-wing index (HWI), an estimate of wing shape widely adopted as a proxy for dispersal ability in birds. We show that HWI is correlated with geography and ecology across 10,338 (>99%) species, increasing at higher latitudes and with migration, and decreasing with territoriality. After controlling for these effects, the strongest predictor of HWI is temperature variability (seasonality), with secondary effects of diet and habitat type. Finally, we also show that HWI is a strong predictor of geographical range size. Our analyses reveal a prominent latitudinal gradient in HWI shaped by a combination of environmental and behavioural factors, and also provide a global index of avian dispersal ability for use in community ecology, macroecology, and macroevolution

Provinciality and the Art World: The Midland Group 1961- 1977

This paper takes as its focus the Midland Group Gallery in order to first, make a case for the consideration of the geographies of art galleries. Second, highlight the importance of galleries in the context of cultural geographies of the sixties. Third, discuss the role of provinciality in the operation of art worlds. In so doing it explicates one set of geographies surrounding the gallery – those of the local, regional and international networks that connected to produce art works and art space. It reveals how the interactions between places and practices outside of metropolitan and regional hierarchies provides a more nuanced insight into how art worlds operated during the sixties, a period of growing internationalism of art, and how contested definitions of the provincial played an integral role in this. The paper charts the operations of the Midland Group Gallery and the spaces that it occupied to demonstrate how it was representative of a post-war discourse of provincialism and a corresponding re-evaluation of regional cultural activity

Flame spheroidisation of dense and porous Ca2Fe2O5 microspheres

Compositionally uniform magnetic Ca2Fe2O5 (srebrodolskite) microspheres created via a rapid, single-stage flame spheroidisation (FS) process using magnetite and carbonate based porogen (1:1 Fe3O4:CaCO3) feedstock powders, are described. Two types of Ca2Fe2O5 microsphere are produced: dense (35 - 80 µm), and porous (125 - 180 µm). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) based techniques are used to image and quantify these. Complementary high-temperature X-ray diffraction (HT-XRD) measurements and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) provide insights into the initial process of porogen feedstock decomposition, prior to the coalescence of molten droplets and spheroidisation, driven by surface tension. Evolution of CO2 gas (from porogen decomposition) is attributed to the development of interconnected porosity within the porous microspheres. This occurs during Ca2Fe2O5 rapid cooling and solidification. The facile FS-processing route provides a method for the rapid production of both dense and porous magnetic microspheres, with high levels of compositional uniformity and excellent opportunity for size control. The controllability of these factors make the FS production method useful for a range of healthcare, energy and environmental remediation applications

Open-label comparative clinical study of chlorproguanil-dapsone fixed dose combination (Lapdap) alone or with three different doses of artesunate for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria.

UNLABELLED: The objective of this study was to determine the appropriate dose of artesunate for use in a fixed dose combination therapy with chlorproguanil-dapsone (CPG-DDS) for the treatment of uncomplicated falciparum malaria. METHODS: Open-label clinical trial comparing CPG-DDS alone or with artesunate 4, 2, or 1 mg/kg at medical centers in Blantyre, Malawi and Farafenni, The Gambia. The trial was conducted between June 2002 and February 2005, including 116 adults (median age 27 years) and 107 children (median age 38 months) with acute uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Subjects were randomized into 4 groups to receive CPG-DDS alone or plus 4, 2 or 1 mg/kg of artesunate once daily for 3 days. Assessments took place on Days 0-3 in hospital and follow-up on Days 7 and 14 as out-patients. Efficacy was evaluated in the Day 3 per-protocol (PP) population using mean time to reduce baseline parasitemia by 90% (PC90). A number of secondary outcomes were also included. Appropriate artesunate dose was determined using a pre-defined decision matrix based on primary and secondary outcomes. Treatment emergent adverse events were recorded from clinical assessments and blood parameters. Safety was evaluated in the intent to treat (ITT) population. RESULTS: In the Day 3 PP population for the adult group (N = 85), mean time to PC90 was 19.1 h in the CPG-DDS group, significantly longer than for the +artesunate 1 mg/kg (12.5 h; treatment difference -6.6 h [95%CI -11.8, -1.5]), 2 mg/kg (10.7 h; -8.4 h [95%CI -13.6, -3.2]) and 4 mg/kg (10.3 h; -8.7 h [95%CI -14.1, -3.2]) groups. For children in the Day 3 PP population (N = 92), mean time to PC90 was 21.1 h in the CPG-DDS group, similar to the +artesunate 1 mg/kg group (17.7 h; -3.3 h [95%CI -8.6, 2.0]), though the +artesunate 2 mg/kg and 4 mg/kg groups had significantly shorter mean times to PC90 versus CPG-DDS; 14.4 h (treatment difference -6.4 h [95%CI -11.7, -1.0]) and 12.8 h (-7.4 h [95%CI -12.9, -1.8]), respectively. An analysis of mean time to PC90 for the Day 14 PP and ITT populations was consistent with the primary analysis. Treatment emergent, drug-related adverse events were experienced in 35.3% (41/116) of adults and 70.1% (75/107) of children; mostly hematological and gastroenterological. The nature and incidence of adverse events was similar between the groups. No dose-related changes in laboratory parameters were observed. Nine serious adverse events due to any cause occurred in five subjects including two cases of hemolysis believed to be associated with drug treatment (one adult, one child). One adult died of anaphylactic shock, not associated with investigational therapy. CONCLUSIONS: CPG-DDS plus artesunate demonstrated advantages over CPG-DDS alone for the primary efficacy endpoint (mean time to PC90) except in children for the 1 mg/kg artesunate dose. Based on a pre-defined decision matrix, the primary endpoint in the child group supported an artesunate dose of 4 mg/kg. Secondary endpoints also supported a 4 mg/kg artesunate dose to take forward into the remainder of the development program. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00519467