Dream of a City

Emma Saunders\u27 comic, Dream of a City, received honorable mention in Penn Libraries\u27 comic book contest. The comic contest was designed in conjunction with the Year of the Comic and inspired by the Penn Reading Project selection, Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body, by Neil Shubin.https://repository.upenn.edu/showcase_comics/1006/thumbnail.jp

Emma Saunders-Hastings: Philanthropy and Democracy

Overview & Shownotes Inquiries around the ethics of philanthropy might seem pretty cut-and-dry at first glance. Are the people receiving donations better off than they were before they received help? Even if the answer to that question is yes, political theorist Emma Saunders-Hastings argues that it’s not the only critical question we should be asking about philanthropy. On this episode of the podcast, we discuss her new book, Private Virtues, Public Vices: Philanthropy and Democratic Equality. For the episode transcript, download a copy or read it below. Contact us at [email protected] Links to people and ideas mentioned in the show Emma Saunders-Hastings, Private Virtues, Public Vices: Philanthropy and Democratic Equality Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Give Directly Please note that the Prindle Institute does not endorse any of the organizations linked in the show notes. Credits Thanks to Evelyn Brosius for our logo. Music featured in the show: “Gin Boheme” by Blue Dot Sessions “Songe d’Automne” by Latché Swing from the Free Music Archive. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 F

Femoroacetabular impingement and cam morphology: Contributions to bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology

Femoroacetabular impingement is a clinical disorder of the hip caused by premature contact between the femur and the acetabulum. A lead cause of this condition is cam morphology, additional bone growth on the anterior aspect of the femoral head. Cam morphology has been associated with physical activity due to its high prevalence rates in athletes compared to non-athletes. A link between non-metric traits of the femur, particularly; Poirier’s facets, plaque and cribra, and cam morphology has been suggested due to their shared location and suggested aetiology. Osteitis pubis, an overuse syndrome of the pubic symphysis, is believed to be a compensatory injury of femoroacetabular impingement. The overall aim of this study was to determine the contributions of femoroacetabular impingement to the disciplines of bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology, with regards to femoral non-metric traits analysis, activity reconstruction and awareness of conditions that may affect the formation of biological profiles. To achieve this, this study aimed to establish if there is a link between cam morphology and non-metric traits of the anterior aspect of the femur. This would provide further understanding of the respective/joint aetiologies through the use of multidisciplinary literature. It also aimed to determine if the development of cam morphology is linked to occupational physical activity. Additionally, this study looked to determine if any osseous changes are present in individuals with femoroacetabular impingement in association with cam morphology, to allow the identification of symptomatic individuals when the presence of clinical information is not available. Finally, it also aimed to determine if there is a link between cam morphology and osteitis pubis at the pubic symphysis. This would contribute to both bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology, by highlighting a condition which may impact an area commonly used for the age estimation. Two skeletal collections, the Wharram Percy collection and the Luís Lopes Identified Skeletal Collection, and a clinical comparison sample were utilised. These collections were selected due to presence of contextual information regarding lifestyle and occupation in different forms. The clinical comparison sample consisted of 3D volume ii rendered CT models of individuals being investigated for femoroacetabular impingement and a control sample. Non-metric traits of the femur and commonly used clinical measures to determine the presence of cam morphology were recorded on all samples. Recording criteria for osteitis pubis was developed and applied to the pubic symphysis of the two skeletal collections. Comparisons of these measurements were made within and between the samples. The results of this study have shown there is a link between Poirier’s facets and plaque with cam morphology. Through the use of contextual information, it is recommended this association is a functional adaptation. There was no association between cam morphology, alpha angle size and occupational physical activity groups in adults. It is suggested cam morphology is therefore a better indicator of activity levels, or other extrinsic factors, requiring additional stability at the hip during skeletal maturation. No clear osseous indicators of the presence of FAI due to cam morphology were identified. Therefore, it is not possible to identify symptomatic individuals through skeletal changes alone. There was also limited evidence of a link between osteitis pubis traits and alpha angle size. Although eburnation could be an indicator for the later stages of this condition, however, there is the requirement for further study to confirm this

Micro-Analytical Studies of the Petrogenesis of Silicic Arc Magmas in the Taupo Volcanic Zone and Southern Kermadec Arc, New Zealand

The petrogenesis of silicic arc magmas is controversial with end-member models of fractional crystallisation and crustal anatexis having been invoked. A prime example of this is the archetypical continental Taupo Volcanic Zone and the adjacent oceanic Kermadec Arc. Insights into the genesis and timescales of magmatic processes of four continental rhyolitic magmas (Whakamaru, Oruanui, Taupo and Rotorua eruptives) and an oceanic (Healy seamount) rhyodacitic magma are documented through micro-analytical chemical studies of melt inclusions and crystal zonation of plagioclase and quartz. Electron probe microanalysis, laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy have been used to measure major, trace and volatile element concentrations, respectively, of melt inclusions and crystals. Melt inclusions are high silica (e.g. 74 - 79 wt%) irrespective of arc setting and display a wide range of trace element compositions (e.g. Sr = 17 - 180 ppm). Taupo Volcanic Zone melt inclusions exhibit higher K2O and Ce/Yb relative to Healy melt inclusions reflecting the assimilation of continental lithosphere. Quantitative trace element modelling of melt inclusion compositions: (a) demonstrates that magma genesis occurred through 62 - 76% fractional crystallisation at Healy whereas assimilation of continental lithosphere (greywacke) in addition to 60 - 80% fractional crystallisation is required for the Taupo Volcanic Zone magmas; and (b) suggests the presence of crystal mush bodies beneath silicic magma chambers in both continental and oceanic arc environments. Water concentrations of melt inclusions ranged between 1.4 - 5.1 wt% for the Whakamaru, Taupo and Healy samples. However, the inconsistency in the measured molecular water to hydroxyl concentrations of melt inclusions relative to those determined experimentally for groundmass rhyolitic glasses provide evidence for the degassing of inclusions prior to quenching, by diffusion of hydroxyl groups through the crystal host. Thus, partial pressures of water estimated from the inclusions and inferred depths of the crystallising magma bodies are underestimated. Chemical profiles of mineral zonation, however, indicate a more complex origin of silicic melts than simple fractionation and assimilation. For example, trace element modelling of Whakamaru plagioclase suggests that the three distinct textural plagioclase populations present in Whakamaru samples crystallised from four physiochemically discrete silicic melts. This modelling indicates a strong petrogenetic link between andesitic and silicic magmas from the chemical variation of selected Whakamaru plagioclase crystals possessing high anorthite (45-60 mol %) cores and low anorthite (~ 30 mol %) rim compositions and the interaction of greywacke partial melts. Furthermore, Sr diffusion modelling of core-rim interfaces of the same plagioclase crystals indicate the amalgamation of the magma chamber occurred continuously over the 15,000 years preceding the climactic eruption. Conversely, the major element zonation of Taupo plagioclases implies magma genesis occurred solely through assimilation and fractional crystallisation without the incorporation of evolved crystal mush magmas, indicating a spectrum of magmatic processes are occurring beneath the Taupo Volcanic Zone with each eruption providing only a snapshot of the petrogenesis of the Taupo Volcanic Zone

Chipping away at globalisation: transnational labour organising in the semiconductor industry

In an age of globalised, highly competitive, volatile and financialised markets, the question of how to effectively organise workers to win concrete improvements in their working lives is increasingly difficult to answer. This thesis builds on four years of action-research, which supported eight unions in one company spread across five countries, to coordinate some of their actions and to push for a Global Framework Agreement to secure workers’ associational freedoms. It highlights the difficulties that workers face when trying to collaborate across borders and argues that any attempt to effectively study or empower trade unions at the scale of their multinational employer must pay attention to the specific factors which condition their agency as well as to the goals, tactics and enactments through which the ideal of international solidarity is embodied. The company studied produces silicon chips, employing approximately 28,000 workers across highly capital-intensive processes of research, development and chip production in the Global North, alongside 17,000 workers in the Global South to test and assemble the circuits. Between 2005 and 2016, the company underwent a process of financialisation, distributing ever larger dividends to its shareholders, whilst decreasing capital expenditure and implementing several restructuring and layoff plans. Faced with what they saw as an existential threat to their company’s future, seven unions from four different countries (France, Italy, Morocco and Malaysia) organised successful joint actions to secure greater capital investments and the replacement of the corporation’s senior management team. Following this campaign, these unions, joined by an eighth from Malta, created an international network to exchange information and campaigned without success for the company to sign a Global Framework Agreement. This attempt to organise across sites, languages, cultures, and institutional contexts, I argue, acts as a microcosm of the difficulties workers face in their efforts to exert power in a world characterised by globalising and centralising production and intensified financialisation. This thesis makes two contributions to labour geography and struggles for workers’ rights more broadly. First, it argues that any attempt to understand these struggles and their chances of success must be attuned to the actually-existing conditions of building solidarity and that these conditions cross a number of spatialities and temporalities. The unions’ international solidarity efforts were balanced on a series of contradictory and uneven relationships. Their members were tied to specific national interests, and their company confronted heightened pressures of scale which reverberated across the sites. Each union reflected their members’ experiences and socio-spatial positionalities, whose register crossed a number of scales and each union was threatened and/or co-opted by corporate tactics and stood by different ideological visions. Unless scholars and activists attend to these detailed variations and stories, practices and studies of international labour solidarity will remain an abstract ideal, rather than placed in the grounded and ‘messy’ attempt by workers’ organisations to deal with and work across multiple differences. Second, it argues that international efforts which focus on formal processes of rule-making at the expense of more grassroots and militant approaches stifle international collaboration. To sustain international collaboration, instead of an institutional and “dialogue”- based approach, which underplays the conflict opposing workers and their employers, trade unions should push for ambitious demands based on shared experiences and interests and engage in truly reciprocal forms of solidarity, rather than semi-patronising “help” models, whilst recognising that these discussions are traversed by each unions’ local realities and ideological stances. Ultimately, this thesis reminds us that building a sense of collective agency at the international scale is an iterative process, necessary but difficult, facing constant threats and changing circumstances. In the face of a global economy managed with increasing disregard for workers’ dignity and survival, let alone their power, it is vital that geographers pay increased attention to the strategies, challenges, and achievements of unions both on the ground, and, even if unsuccessful, over space

Multiple system atrophy

This is a practical guide to diagnosing and managing multiple system atrophy (MSA). We explain the newly published Movement Disorders Society Consensus Diagnostic Criteria, which include new ‘Clinically Established MSA’ and ‘Possible Prodromal MSA’ categories, hopefully reducing time to diagnosis. We then highlight the key clinical features of MSA to aid diagnosis. We include a list of MSA mimics with suggested methods of differentiation from MSA. Lastly, we discuss practical symptom management in people living with MSA, including balancing side effects, with the ultimate aim of improving quality of life

Emergencies within hospital wards: An observational study of the non-technical skills of medical emergency teams

Background Medical emergency teams are essential in responding to acute deterioration of patients in hospitals, requiring both clinical and non-technical skills. This study aims to assess the non-technical skills of medical emergency teams during hospital ward emergencies and explore team members perceptions and experiences of the use non-technical skills during medical emergencies. Methods A multi-methods study was conducted in two phases. During phase one observation and assessment of non-technical skills used in medical emergencies using the Team Emergency Assessment Measure (TEAM™) was conducted; and in the phase two in-depth interviews were undertaken with medical emergency team members. Results Based on 20 observations, mean TEAM™ ratings for non-technical skill domains were: ‘leadership’ 5.0 out of 8 (±2.0); ‘teamwork’ 21.6 out of 28 (±3.6); and ‘task management’ 6.5 out of 8 (±1.4). The mean ‘global’ score was 7.5 out of 10 (±1.5). The qualitative findings identified three areas, ‘individual’, ‘team’ and ‘other’ contributing factors, which impacted upon the non-technical skills of medical emergency teams. Conclusion Non-technical skills of hospital medical emergency teams differ, and the impact of the skill mix on resuscitation outcomes was recognised by team members. These findings emphasize the importance non-technical skills in resuscitation training and well-developed processes for medical emergency teams