COVID-19, systemic crisis, and possible implications for the wild meat trade in sub-Saharan Africa

Wild animals play an integral and complex role in the economies and ecologies of many countries across the globe, including those of West and Central Africa, the focus of this policy perspective. The trade in wild meat, and its role in diets, have been brought into focus as a consequence of discussions over the origins of COVID-19. As a result, there have been calls for the closure of China’s “wet markets”; greater scrutiny of the wildlife trade in general; and a spotlight has been placed on the potential risks posed by growing human populations and shrinking natural habitats for animal to human transmission of zoonotic diseases. However, to date there has been little attention given to what the consequences of the COVID-19 economic shock may be for the wildlife trade; the people who rely on it for their livelihoods; and the wildlife that is exploited. In this policy perspective, we argue that the links between the COVID-19 pandemic, rural livelihoods and wildlife are likely to be more complex, more nuanced, and more far-reaching, than is represented in the literature to date. We develop a causal model that tracks the likely implications for the wild meat trade of the systemic crisis triggered by COVID-19. We focus on the resulting economic shockwave, as manifested in the collapse in global demand for commodities such as oil, and international tourism services, and what this may mean for local African economies and livelihoods. We trace the shockwave through to the consequences for the use of, and demand for, wild meats as households respond to these changes. We suggest that understanding and predicting the complex dynamics of wild meat use requires increased collaboration between environmental and resource economics and the ecological and conservation sciences

Basic Design: the Dynamics of Visual Form

The fundamentals of 2/D design are the underpinnings of all image making. The dynamic and interaction of mark, line, shape, value and color determine the quality and meaning of all images, be they carefully planned or wildly spontaneous. Maurice de Sausmarez in the introduction to his book Basic Design: The dynamics of visual form characterizes Basic Design as “... an attitude of mind, not a method...A form of inquiry, not a new art form....emphatically not an end in itself but a means of making the individual more acutely aware of the expressive resources at his/her command, a fostering of an inquisitiveness...”. We will be directing our inquiries through 6 explorations that will be undertaken over the course of the semester. In all of this work the process will be as important as the finished product and will provide the key to what design is about. In addition you will be learning the rudiments of computer imaging by completing the “Against the Clocki tutorial for Adobe Illustrator. We will also look briefly at “Streamline” and “Photoshop” to enable you to work with scans. Familiarity with digital imaging processes is a powerful tool and valuable life skill. You will always have the option of using the computer to do your projects. The design explorations are set up to build on each other, the further along we go in the semester the more I will expect you to use what you have learned

Pre-hospital transfusion of packed red blood cells in 147 patients from a UK helicopter emergency medical service

Background: Early transfusion of packed red blood cells (PRBC) has been associated with improved survival in patients with haemorrhagic shock. This study aims to describe the characteristics of patients receiving pre-hospital blood transfusion and evaluate their subsequent need for in-hospital transfusion and surgery. Methods: The decision to administer a pre-hospital PRBC transfusion was based on clinical judgment. All patients transfused pre-hospital PRBC between February 2013 and December 2014 were included. Pre-hospital and in-hospital records were retrospectively reviewed. Results: One hundred forty-seven patients were included. 142 patients had traumatic injuries and 5 patients had haemorrhagic shock from a medical origin. Median Injury Severity Score was 30. 90% of patients receiving PRBC had an ISS of >15. Patients received a mean of 2.4(±1.1) units of PRBC in the pre-hospital phase. Median time from initial emergency call to hospital arrival was 114 min (IQR 103–140). There was significant improvement in systolic (p < 0.001), diastolic (p < 0.001) and mean arterial pressures (p < 0.001) with PRBC transfusion but there was no difference in HR (p = 0.961). Patients received PRBC significantly faster in the field than waiting until hospital arrival. At the receiving hospital 57% required an urgent surgical or interventional radiology procedure. At hospital arrival, patients had a mean lactate of 5.4(±4.4) mmol/L, pH of 6.9(±1.3) and base deficit of −8.1(±6.7). Mean initial serum adjusted calcium was 2.26(±0.29) mmol/L. 89% received further blood products in hospital. No transfusion complications or significant incidents occurred and 100% traceability was achieved. Discussion: Pre-hospital transfusion of packed red cells has the potential to improvde outcome for trauma patients with major haemorrhage. The pre-hospital time for trauma patients can be several hours, suggesting transfusion needs to start in the pre-hospital phase. Hospital transfusion research suggests a 1:1 ratio of packed red blood cells to plasma improves outcome and further research into pre-hospital adoption of this strategy is needed. Conclusion: Pre-hospital PRBC transfusion significantly reduces the time to transfusion for major trauma patients with suspected major haemorrhage. The majority of patients receiving pre-hospital PRBC were severely injured and required further transfusion in hospital. Further research is warranted to determine which patients are most likely to have outcome benefit from pre-hospital blood products and what triggers should be used for pre-hospital transfusion

Pre-hospital transfusion of packed red blood cells in 147 patients from a UK helicopter emergency medical service

Background: Early transfusion of packed red blood cells (PRBC) has been associated with improved survival in patients with haemorrhagic shock. This study aims to describe the characteristics of patients receiving pre-hospital blood transfusion and evaluate their subsequent need for in-hospital transfusion and surgery. Methods: The decision to administer a pre-hospital PRBC transfusion was based on clinical judgment. All patients transfused pre-hospital PRBC between February 2013 and December 2014 were included. Pre-hospital and in-hospital records were retrospectively reviewed. Results: One hundred forty-seven patients were included. 142 patients had traumatic injuries and 5 patients had haemorrhagic shock from a medical origin. Median Injury Severity Score was 30. 90% of patients receiving PRBC had an ISS of >15. Patients received a mean of 2.4(±1.1) units of PRBC in the pre-hospital phase. Median time from initial emergency call to hospital arrival was 114 min (IQR 103–140). There was significant improvement in systolic (p < 0.001), diastolic (p < 0.001) and mean arterial pressures (p < 0.001) with PRBC transfusion but there was no difference in HR (p = 0.961). Patients received PRBC significantly faster in the field than waiting until hospital arrival. At the receiving hospital 57% required an urgent surgical or interventional radiology procedure. At hospital arrival, patients had a mean lactate of 5.4(±4.4) mmol/L, pH of 6.9(±1.3) and base deficit of −8.1(±6.7). Mean initial serum adjusted calcium was 2.26(±0.29) mmol/L. 89% received further blood products in hospital. No transfusion complications or significant incidents occurred and 100% traceability was achieved. Discussion: Pre-hospital transfusion of packed red cells has the potential to improvde outcome for trauma patients with major haemorrhage. The pre-hospital time for trauma patients can be several hours, suggesting transfusion needs to start in the pre-hospital phase. Hospital transfusion research suggests a 1:1 ratio of packed red blood cells to plasma improves outcome and further research into pre-hospital adoption of this strategy is needed. Conclusion: Pre-hospital PRBC transfusion significantly reduces the time to transfusion for major trauma patients with suspected major haemorrhage. The majority of patients receiving pre-hospital PRBC were severely injured and required further transfusion in hospital. Further research is warranted to determine which patients are most likely to have outcome benefit from pre-hospital blood products and what triggers should be used for pre-hospital transfusion

The nature of Op Art: Bridget Riley and the art of nonrepresentation

The monochrome paintings of the British Op artist Bridget Riley produced between 1960 and 1965, in common with a number of experimental arts and media practices of the 1960s, were characterised by a drift away from traditional representational techniques towards what are now described as nonrepresentational practices. The dynamics of the Op Art aesthetic and the critical writings that surround it bear striking similarities to much recent work on nonrepresentational thought. Based upon an engagement with Riley s early work and specifically the perception and understanding of nature it engendered, an argument can be made that suggests that despite claims to the contrary, Riley was engaged in a form of representational practice that rendered a new and fashionable understanding of cosmic nature. The multi-dimensional nature evoked in her aesthetic was designed to be experienced by the viewer in a precognitive, embodied fashion. In this there are strong echoes with the call made by nonrepresentational theorists who operationalise the same kind of cosmology to develop an evocative, creative account of the world. Both Op Art and nonrepresentational thought seem to build upon a shift in the representational register that occurred during the immediate post-war period, one which prompted representational practices which attempted to subjectify rather than objectify, to evoke instability and multi-dimensionality, and to exercise not only visual, oral and cognitive ways of knowing, but also the precognitive and the haptic. The complex co-relations between representation and nonrepresentation are apparent here, suggesting that it is problematic to emphasise one side of the duality over the other

The sustainability of using domestic tourism as a post-COVID-19 recovery strategy in a distressed destination

Tourism is a critical contributor to the gross domestic product, especially among developing countries like Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is a tourist destination that relies more on international travellers, a market which has been affected by the novel coronavirus. The purpose of this study is to establish the perceptions of domestic travellers and tourism managers on the sustainability of using domestic tourism as strategic responses to the impacts of the coronavirus. This study employs a qualitative methodology to examine the perceptions of the demand and supply side regarding the recovery options for Zimbabwean tourism post-pandemic. Online interviews with demand and supply participants were conducted. Data were analysed using thematic analysis, and the results were discussed. Results show that domestic tourism as a recovery option is unsustainable due to the challenges that Zimbabwe is facing, beyond the coronavirus