Women, the peasantry and the state in Ethiopia

This thesis is based on fieldwork carried out in 1988-89 in a rural community within Menz, a highland Amhara society of Northern Shewa, Ethiopia. It considers two sets of interactions operative in a Peasants' Association. These are, firstly, the relationship between the State and the peasantry and, secondly, relations between men and women. In both cases the focus of analysis is on understanding and explaining the position and the channels of actions of the subordinate group - the peasantry and women. In the first of the empirical chapters, the effects of the State and the community's attitudes to it are considered in the context of the activities of various associations, cooperatives, campaigns and ministries through which the State administers the population. The following chapter focuses on one particular policy, the Villagization campaign. The complexity of its overall effects on a heterogeneous population are illustrated. Consideration is given to areas of mismatch between Government theory and practice, between what the State conceives and what the peasantry understand to be happening, between the impact of the State on men and on women. Having explored the significant areas of the society in which there is State involvement, the thesis is increasingly devoted to the areas of people's lives which the State has not penetrated. Some activities are more visible than others, both to the State and within society. In Menz, ploughing is a male domain which cannot exist without crop processing, a female domain. Livestock husbandry, and other activities such as spinning and fuel production show the ways in which women are marginalized, while accounting for their vital role in the economy. The phenomenon of marital instability and the relationship between spouses points to the hardship and dissatisfaction in unions. It also demonstrates women's ability to play an active role in decisions that affect their position. Neither State nor Church have had much success in regulating the forms of contracts and numbers of marriages an individual goes through. Government policies have been directed at the household as a single unit, oblivious of the frequency of divorce, the demographic cycle of the household and the stratifications within it. The identity and valuation of women is established, at least in part, by their reproductory abilities; and life giving events are firmly within their domain. Yet women's experiences, such as menstruation and pregnancy, are camouflaged; their blood has to be purified through holy water and the mediation of a priest. The burdens of biology and the social constructions of womanhood are not considered by the State. Similarly, death is a crucial occasion in which the State plays no part. Despite its attempts at radical transformation, the State has made little attempt to affect lifecycle events, its priorities being established elsewhere. The dominant Orthodox Christian religion is one which gives power to men, however, women find support, particularly in the figure of Mary and, in addition, they prevail in an alternative, socially marginalized and eclectic spirit-belief system. The various forms of religion, in particular the spirit-belief system, exist despite the conflicting ideologies of a State imbued with Socialist modernizing values. The State ideology has had little impact on rural beliefs and its local legitimacy rests, in part, on a manipulation of Christianity. The empirical data presented in the body of the thesis is brought together in the final chapter. The interrelationships emerge between different spheres of State intervention, between the household economy, religion, marital relations and lifecycle events. All these considerations combine to show how women are oppressed, but also how women take control; to show how peasants are constrained and influenced by the State, but also how peasants' lives remain directed by themselves and the battle against limited resources

Helen Pankhurst on how far women's rights have come since the suffragettes

Women are still fighting for equality, despite huge progress since the suffragette campaigns. How far have we still to go and how might we get there? Helen Pankhurst draws on her new book to provide some answers

What works? A comparative evaluation of the roles of student adviser and personal tutor in relation to undergraduate student retention

Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is a large HEI with (at the start of our study) about 24,000 students and two main campuses in Cambridge and Chelmsford, as well as a smaller campus in Peterborough and Fulbourn. It has a student population characterised by large numbers of mature, part-time students, many with non-traditional backgrounds. Over recent years, we have adjusted our regional focus away from having many small FE partners to fewer but larger joint venture (JV) relationships. Consistency of higher education (HE) experience across all of Anglia Ruskin, including the JV partners, is a key aspiration for us

Multicentre randomised controlled trial: protocol for Plasma-Lyte Usage and Assessment of Kidney Transplant Outcomes in Children (PLUTO)

INTRODUCTION: Acute electrolyte and acid-base imbalance is experienced by many children following kidney transplantation. When severe, this can lead to complications including seizures, cerebral oedema and death. Relatively large volumes of intravenous fluid are administered to children perioperatively in order to establish perfusion to the donor kidney, the majority of which are from living and deceased adult donors. Hypotonic intravenous fluid is commonly used in the post-transplant period due to clinicians' concerns about the sodium, chloride and potassium content of isotonic alternatives when administered in large volumes.Plasma-Lyte 148 is an isotonic, balanced intravenous fluid that contains sodium, chloride, potassium and magnesium with concentrations equivalent to those of plasma. There is a physiological basis to expect that Plasma-Lyte 148 will reduce the incidence of clinically significant electrolyte and acid-base abnormalities in children following kidney transplantation compared with current practice.The aim of the Plasma-Lyte Usage and Assessment of Kidney Transplant Outcomes in Children (PLUTO) trial was to determine whether the incidence of clinically significantly abnormal plasma electrolyte levels in paediatric kidney transplant recipients will be different with the use of Plasma-Lyte 148 compared with intravenous fluid currently administered. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: PLUTO is a pragmatic, open-label, randomised controlled trial comparing Plasma-Lyte 148 to current care in paediatric kidney transplant recipients, conducted in nine UK paediatric kidney transplant centres.A total of 144 children receiving kidney transplants will be randomised to receive either Plasma-Lyte 148 (the intervention) intraoperatively and postoperatively, or current fluid. Apart from intravenous fluid composition, all participants will receive standard clinical transplant care.The primary outcome measure is acute hyponatraemia in the first 72 hours post-transplant, defined as laboratory plasma sodium concentration of <135 mmol/L. Secondary outcomes include symptoms of acute hyponatraemia, other electrolyte and acid-base imbalances and transplant kidney function.The primary outcome will be analysed using a logistic regression model adjusting for donor type (living vs deceased donor), patient weight (<20 kg vs ≥20 kg pretransplant) and transplant centre as a random effect. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The trial received Health Research Authority approval on 20 January 2020. Findings will be presented to academic groups via national and international conferences and peer-reviewed journals. The patient and public involvement group will play an important part in disseminating the study findings to the public domain

John Stuart Mill and Fourierism: ‘association’, ‘friendly rivalry’ and distributive justice

John Stuart Mill’s self-description as ‘under the general designation of Socialist’ has been under-explored. It is an important feature of something else often overlooked: the importance of the French context of Mill’s thought. This article focuses on the role of Fourierism in the development of Mill’s ideas, exploring the links to Fourierism in Mill’s writing on profit-sharing; his use of the words ‘association’ and ‘friendly rivalry’; and his views concerning distributive justice. It then reconsiders his assessment of Fourierism as a desirable, workable and immediately implementable form of social reform, ultimately arguing it was Mill’s most-preferred form of ‘utopian’ socialism

Adoption by clinicians of electronic order communications in NHS secondary care:a descriptive account

Background: Due to the rapid advancement in information technology, changes to communication modalities are increasingly implemented in healthcare. One such modality is Computerised Provider Order Entry (CPOE) systems which replace paper, verbal or telephone orders with electronic booking of requests. We aimed to understand the uptake, and user acceptability, of CPOE in a large National Health Service hospital system. Methods: This retrospective single-centre study investigates the longitudinal uptake of communications through the Prescribing, Information and Communication System (PICS). The development and configuration of PICS are led by the doctors, nurses and allied health professionals that use it and requests for CPOE driven by clinical need have been described. Records of every request (imaging, specialty review, procedure, laboratory) made through PICS were collected between October 2008 and July 2019 and resulting counts were presented. An estimate of the proportion of completed requests made through the system has been provided for three example requests. User surveys were completed. Results: In the first 6 months of implementation, a total of 832 new request types (imaging types and specialty referrals) were added to the system. Subsequently, an average of 6.6 new request types were added monthly. In total, 8 035 132 orders were requested through PICS. In three example request types (imaging, endoscopy and full blood count), increases in the proportion of requests being made via PICS were seen. User feedback at 6 months reported improved communications using the electronic system. Conclusion: CPOE was popular, rapidly adopted and diversified across specialties encompassing wide-ranging requests

Evaluation of NEWS2 response thresholds in a retrospective observational study from a UK acute hospital.

OBJECTIVE Use of National Early Warning Score 2 (NEWS2) has been mandated in adults admitted to acute hospitals in England. Urgent clinical review is recommended at NEWS2 ≥5. This policy is recognised as requiring ongoing evaluation. We assessed NEWS2 acquisition, alerting at key thresholds and patient outcomes, to understand how response recommendations would affect clinical resource allocation. SETTING Adult acute hospital in England. DESIGN Retrospective observational cohort study. PARTICIPANTS 100 362 consecutive admissions between November 2018 and July 2019. OUTCOME Death or admission to intensive care unit within 24 hours of a score. METHODS NEWS2 were assembled as single scores from consecutive 24-hour time frames, (the first NEWS2 termed 'Index-NEWS2'), or as all scores from the admission (termed All-NEWS2). Scores were excluded when a patient was in intensive care, in the presence of a decision not to attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or on day 1 of elective admission. RESULTS A mean of 4.5 NEWS2 were acquired per patient per day. The outcome rate following an Index-NEWS2 was 0.22/100 patient-days. The sensitivity of outcome prediction at Index-NEWS2 ≥5=0.46, and number needed to evaluate (NNE)=52. At this threshold, a mean of 37.6 alerts/100 patient-days would be generated, occurring in 12.3% of patients on any single day. Threshold changes to increase sensitivity by 0.1, would result in a twofold increase in alert rate and 1.5-fold increase in NNE. Overall, NEWS2 classification performance was significantly worse on Index-scores than All-scores (c-statistic=0.78 vs 0.85; p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS The combination of low event-rate, high alert-rate and low sensitivity, in patients for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, means that at current NEWS2 thresholds, resource demand would be sufficient to meaningfully compete with other pathways to clinical evaluation. In analyses that epitomise in-patient screening, NEWS2 performance suggests a need for re-evaluation of current response recommendations in this population

Application of magnetic field hyperthermia and superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles to HIV-1-specific T-cell cytotoxicity

The latent HIV-1 reservoir remains the major barrier to HIV-1 eradication. Although successful at limiting HIV replication, highly active antiretroviral therapy is unable to cure HIV infection, thus novel therapeutic strategies are needed to eliminate the virus. Magnetic field hyperthermia (MFH) generates thermoablative cytotoxic temperatures in target-cell populations, and has delivered promising outcomes in animal models, as well as in several cancer clinical trials. MFH has been proposed as a strategy to improve the killing of HIV-infected cells and for targeting the HIV latent reservoirs. We wished to determine whether MFH could be used to enhance cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) targeting of HIV-infected cells in a proof-of-concept study. Here, for the first time, we apply MFH to an infectious disease (HIV-1) using the superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle FeraSpin R. We attempt to improve the cytotoxic potential of T-cell receptor-transfected HIV-specific CTLs using thermotherapy, and assess superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle toxicity, uptake, and effect on cell function using more sensitive methods than previously described. FeraSpin R exhibited only limited toxicity, demonstrated efficient uptake and cell-surface attachment, and only modestly impacted T-cell function. In contrast to the cancer models, insufficient MFH was generated to enhance CTL killing of HIV-infected cells. MFH remains an exciting new technology in the field of cancer therapeutics, which, as technology improves, may have significant potential to enhance CTL function and act as an adjunctive therapy in the eradication of latently infected HIV-positive cells

Mesoproterozoic plume-modified orogenesis in eastern Precambrian Australia

Copyright 2009 by the American Geophysical Union.[1] Tectonic models for the latest Paleoproterozoic to earliest Mesoproterozoic evolution of eastern Australia (circa 1620–1500 Ma) are diverse and either emphasize plume or plate margin activity, neither of which satisfactorily explains all geological observations. The dichotomy is largely attributed to geochemical, spatial and temporal data that suggest voluminous A-type felsic magmas are plume related, whereas distribution of arc-related magmas and intense orogenic overprint suggest plate margin activity. The salient geological events include arc-related magmatism at circa 1620–1610 Ma followed by a magmatic hiatus coincident with north-south crustal shortening (1610–1590 Ma) and a magmatic flare-up of A-type felsic magmas throughout the Gawler Craton (circa 1595–1575 Ma). These magmas form the oldest component of a northward younging hot spot track that extends to the Mount Isa Inlier. At circa 1590–1550 Ma, arc magmatism resumed along the northern margin of the Gawler Craton and the rest of eastern Australia records a 90° shift in the regional shortening direction related to activity along the eastern margin of the Australian continent. A plume-modified orogenic setting satisfies all of the spatial and temporal relationships between magma generation and orogenic activity. In this model, the Gawler Craton and the adjacent subduction zone migrated over a mantle plume (circa 1620–1610 Ma). Resultant flat subduction caused transient orogenesis (1610–1595 Ma) in the overriding plate. Slab delamination and thermal assimilation of the plume and the subducting slab caused a switch to crustal extension in the overriding plate, resulting in extensive mantle-derived and crustal melting in the Gawler Craton (1595–1575 Ma).Peter G. Betts, David Giles, John Foden, Bruce F. Schaefer, Geordie Mark, Matthew J. Pankhurst, Caroline J. Forbes, Helen A. Williams and Neil C. Chalmer