Activism and the Fossil Fuel Industry by Andrew Cheon and Johannes Urpelainen

Review of Andrew Cheon and Johannes Urpelainen\u27s Activism and the Fossil Fuel Industr

Upstream Downtown: Theatre Creation Through a Feminist and Multispecies Lens

In the historically masculine Western sciences, we are told we can fully know a being by dissecting, labelling, testing, observing, and documenting. This article explores how multispecies and feminist theatre creation and performance, specifically in the style of clown and bouffon, can work to resist such narratives and offer a more sentient understanding of interspecies relationships. Our investigations focus on our journey as two female creators of Upstream Downtown, a research-based, physical theatre play about salmon and humans finding home in the settler colonial city of Toronto

Carbon Footprints as Cultural-Ecological Metaphors by Anita Girvan

Review of Anita Girvan’s Carbon Footprints as Cultural-Ecological Metaphors

Authigenic Clays used as Terrestrial Climate Proxies: Locality 80, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

Authigenic clays are potential proxies for paleoclimate change when formed under saline conditions. Between 1.9 -1.7 mya, Olduvai was a closed-hydrologic basin into which Al- and Fe- rich detrital clays were transported from surrounding soils. Authigenic Mg-rich smectite formed within the basin due to chemical alteration in alkaline and saline conditions. 40 samples were chosen from a stratigraphic section in the center of the paleolake and analyzed to characterize the geochemical facies of the material using XRD, EMPA, and FTIR. ~70% of samples were Mg-rich with clay d060 XRD peaks between 1.506-1.523Å. EMPA indicated (Al2O3 + Fe2O3)/MgO ratios ranged from 0.2-4.8, 21 had ratios \u3e1.0, indicating higher (Al2O3 + Fe2O3) content. These clay data correlated with bulk XRF data, indicating diagenetic controls on bulk composition. Therefore, bulk geochemistry can potentially indicate paleoclimate change when influenced by Mg-rich phyllosilicate formation

Psychology in neuromyelitis optica, transverse myelitis, and multiple sclerosis: a cross-sectional study of fatigue, pain, and depression associated with disability

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston UniversityMultiple sclerosis (MS), neuromyelitis optica (NMO), and transverse myelitis (TM) are devastating autoimmune neuroinflammatory disorders that produce varying levels of disability. The presence of psychological symptoms including depression, fatigue, and pain has been long documented and researched in MS patients. Only recently have few studies begun to estimate the prevalence of depression, fatigue, and pain in NMO patients, and no existing literature focuses on the psychological burden of TM. Our research question focused on the prevalence of these psychological issues in NMO, TM, and MS patients, and how disability relates to depression, fatigue, and pain in these disease groups. We developed a research study using a survey format where NMO, TM, and MS participants completed a series of online surveys assessing disability, depression, fatigue, and pain. We used the patient-administered Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) to assess disability, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) to assess depression, the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) to assess fatigue, and the short form Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) to assess pain. In all, 15 NMO, 14 TM, and 23 MS patients participated in the study. While we did not find a significant difference between disease groups on any outcome measure in this limited sample size, we did observe several trends. First, NMO and TM patients had higher levels of disability and pain severity than MS patients, yet MS and TM patients displayed more fatigue and depressive symptomatology than NMO patients. Relationships between disability scores and the psychological outcome variables (BDI, FSS, and BPI scores) were assessed by correlational analysis. We found that disability correlated with measures of depression (r = +0.56), fatigue (r = +0.42), pain severity (r = +0.50) and pain interference (r = +0.42) in the MS group

Dignity through discretion: a review of discretionary support schemes in the UK

The role of discretionary payments in the social security system has taken on added significance over the course of the last decade as cuts to social security benefits have reduced their ability to meet basic subsistence needs. The patchwork of discretionary support services across the UK that, since 2012, has replaced the statutory Social Fund is therefore faced with meeting an expanding need from budgets that are, at best, cash-limited rather than demand led, and at worst, subsumed within other budget priorities that leave no scope for emergency or discretionary support. This article reviews the provision of crisis or emergency relief schemes in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, in the context of how they each contribute to the objective of protecting the dignity of those in need of emergency support. It considers, in particular, the empirical research carried out in 2021 as part of the Independent Review of Discretionary Support in Northern Ireland, a statutory review which the lead author was appointed to chair, and to which the other authors contributed. The article examines the extent to which Discretionary Support in Northern Ireland currently provides dignity for its users and outlines the recommendations made by the panel to better meet the objective of dignity. On the basis of this evidence the article outlines how dignity through discretion could be delivered across the UK

Effects of Zostera marina Roots and Leaf Detritus on the Concentration and Distribution of Pore-Water Sulfide in Marine Sediments

Sulfide toxicity is implicated in seagrass declines worldwide. Studies examining the relationship between seagrass presence and sulfide concentrations have yielded conflicting results. Interpretation of the seagrass-sulfide relationship is complicated due to the opposing effects of the root system which can increase sulfide oxidation and the burial of organic matter from the plant itself which can increase sulfide production. To quantify the impact of eelgrass leaf detritus and the Zostera marina rhizosphere on pore-water sulfide concentrations, field samples of pore-water sulfide were collected in areas with and without eelgrass. To decouple the effects of live versus dead eelgrass tissue, laboratory studies were conducted over 4 weeks using 10 aquaria with or without eelgrass shoots and 0-8 pieces of Z. marina detritus located at 4 cm and 11 cm depth. Diffusive Gradients in Thin-Films (DGTs) were used to obtain 2D visualizations of sulfide concentrations within the sediment in relation to location of eelgrass detritus and the rhizosphere. In the field study, the presence of leaf detritus accounted for higher than average sulfide concentrations in the sediment. In the laboratory study, the presence of live eelgrass shoots resulted in higher overall sulfide concentrations compared to aquaria without eelgrass. Sulfide concentrations increased with higher mass of added detritus compared to locations where no detritus was added. Sediment within the rhizosphere exhibited reduced sulfide concentrations compared sediment outside the rhizosphere. It is likely that seagrasses are simultaneously increasing and decreasing sulfide concentrations depending on the location analyzed relative to the rhizosphere or buried eelgrass detritus

The Values of Community Archaeology: A Comparative Assessment

Does community archaeology work? Worldwide over the last decade, there has been a boom in projects utilising the popular phrase ‘community archaeology’. These projects take many different forms, stretching from the public-face of research and developer-funded programmes to projects run by museums, archaeological units, universities and archaeological societies. Many of these projects are driven by the desire for archaeology to meet a range of perceived educational and social values in bringing about knowledge and awareness of the past in the present. They are also motivated by the desire to secure adequate funding for archaeological research. However, appropriate criteria and methodologies for evaluating the effectiveness of these projects have yet to be designed. This thesis sets out a methodology based on self-reflexivity and ethnology. It focuses on community excavations, in a range of contexts both in the UK and US. It assesses the values these projects produce for communities and evaluates what community archaeology actually does. It concludes that community archaeology frequently fails to balance the desired outcomes of its stakeholders. It suffers from its short-term funding and, therefore, often lacks sustainability, which hampers its ability to produce and maintain values. Evaluation of projects should be qualitative as well as quantitative in establishing the cost effectiveness of projects. Subsequently, recommendations are made for future community archaeology project designs.Heritage Lottery Fun