Anarchist Abolitionism: The Context and Meaning of Kropotkin's Prison Writings

The use of the prison is a highly debatable topic. Its main aims are to deter and reform criminals, but recent reports show high recidivism rates which suggests that the prison does not work in reducing crime. Penal abolitionists oppose the current use of the prison and wish for its removal. In line with their views, Peter Kropotkin also wished for the removal of the prison. He believed it was a harmful institution just as abolitionists did but Kropotkin further proposed a vision of an ideal society which operated without prison. In contemporary society a world without prison seems unimaginable, however, Kropotkin did not just oppose the operation of the prison but in fact opposed all forms of authority and wished for their removal. He stated that his ideal society without hierarchy and governance would prosper and crime would reduce. This thesis explores Kropotkin’s thoughts on crime and punishment. It aims, by using Skinner’s method, to set a historical context in order to explore if Kropotkin’s anarchist or abolitionist views are reflected within his prison writings. To set such a context, Kropotkin’s life will be explored. The events and influences which would have contributed to his thought will be uncovered and in addition a selection of the literature he read will be examined. This will allow for the reader to develop a similar knowledge-base to that which Kropotkin would have had and therefore will allow for an understanding of where Kropotkin’s thought initially came from. After a close examination of these aspects of Kropotkin’s life and thought, and after an in depth study of his prison writings, it is reasonable to conclude that his work is both anarchist and abolitionist. This shows a great overlap between the two differing schools of thought

Settlement in the Diyala and Southern Mesopotamia: A Reassessment of Robert McCormick Adams' Sasanian and Early Islamic Ceramic 'Type Fossils'

Robert McCormick Adams', considered to be a pioneer in Near Eastern archaeology, has been extremely influential in his surveys and hypotheses concerning the settlement, population and agricultural patterns of Mesopotamia. It is the aim of this discussion to examine his views concerning the Sasanian and Early Islamic periods by means of reassessing his correspondingly dated ceramic 'type fossils' (outlined in Adams' publication Land Behind Baghdad (1965)). More recent excavations in the area have suggested that some of these 'type fossils' should be dated later than originally considered. Therefore Adams' 'type fossils' and conclusions concerning the Mesopotamian region are in need of reviewing. What follows is a reassessment and examination of Adams' surveys and excavations in the Diyala (Land Behind Baghdad (1965)) and at the site of Tell Abu Sarifa (1970). By reassessing his dating for the 'type fossils' it has been possible to reclassify some of his archaeological phases. In applying the new dating to Adams' survey data from Land Behind Baghdad, it has also been feasible to critically review how the settlement and economy changed in the Sasanian and Early Islamic periods in the Diyala and Southern Mesopotamia. In this work, it has been concluded that some of Adams' 'type fossils' do need re-dating, the effects of which being that the dating of the site of Tell Abu Sarifa probably needs to shift by 100-150 years. In the application of this new dating to the settlement data collected by Adams in his surveys of the Diyala Plain, it is suggested that there was a massive boom in settlement in Early Islamic times. This therefore has implications for our current understanding of the history and development of that period, calling for a re-evaluation of how it is viewed

"He's going to be a doctor in August": A narrative interview study of medical students' and their educators' experiences of aligned and misaligned assistantships

Objective To explore final-year students’ and clinical supervisors’ experiences of alignment and misalignment with future Foundation Year 1 (F1) posts in an assistantship programme in the UK. Setting Assistantships are clinical placements in which students assist junior doctors by undertaking similar duties under supervision. Models of assistantship programmes vary across curricula. Some actively seek to align with students’ initial postgraduate F1 post. To date, no research has examined the implications of this association for teaching and learning. Qualitative individual and group narrative interviews were conducted with students and supervisors of 2 Welsh medical schools to address: RQ1: How do students and supervisors understand the purpose of the longitudinal assistantship? RQ2: Does alignment/misalignment of the assistantship with students’ initial F1 post influence students’ and supervisors’ teaching and learning experiences? Audio-recordings of interviews were transcribed, participants anonymised and framework analysis was used. Participants A convenience sample of 4 participant groups comprised (1) final-year medical students whose assistantship and F1 post were aligned (n=27), (2) final-year medical students whose assistantship and F1 post were misaligned (n=18) and (3) supervisors (n=10, junior doctors; n=11, consultants). Results All participant groups highlighted increased student confidence in undertaking the duties of an F1 doctor arising from their assistantship period. Learning transferable skills was also highlighted. Many students considered themselves to be team members, ‘learning the trade’ as they shadowed their F1. Opportunities for caring for acutely unwell patients were scarce. The evidence shows enhanced engagement for students aligned to their first F1 post with greater opportunities for workplace acclimatisation. Those who were misaligned were perceived as being disadvantaged. Conclusions Our findings suggest that alignment with students’ first F1 post enhances the assistantship experience. Further longitudinal assessment is required to examine whether and how this translates into improvement

Review of best management practices for aquatic vegetation control in stormwater ponds, wetlands, and lakes

Auckland Council (AC) is responsible for the development and operation of a stormwater network across the region to avert risks to citizens and the environment. Within this stormwater network, aquatic vegetation (including plants, unicellular and filamentous algae) can have both a positive and negative role in stormwater management and water quality treatment. The situations where management is needed to control aquatic vegetation are not always clear, and an inability to identify effective, feasible and economical control options may constrain management initiatives. AC (Infrastructure and Technical Services, Stormwater) commissioned this technical report to provide information for decision- making on aquatic vegetation management with in stormwater systems that are likely to experience vegetation-related issues. Information was collated from a comprehensive literature review, augmented by knowledge held by the authors. This review identified a wide range of management practices that could be potentially employed. It also demonstrated complexities and uncertainties relating to these options that makes the identification of a best management practice difficult. Hence, the focus of this report was to enable users to screen for potential options, and use reference material provided on each option to confirm the best practice to employ for each situation. The report identifies factors to define whether there is an aquatic vegetation problem (Section 3.0), and emphasises the need for agreed management goals for control (e.g. reduction, mitigation, containment, eradication). Resources to screen which management option(s) to employ are provided (Section 4.0), relating to the target aquatic vegetation, likely applicability of options to the system being managed, indicative cost, and ease of implementation. Initial screening allows users to shortlist potential control options for further reference (Section 5.0). Thirty-five control options are described (Section 5.0) in sufficient detail to consider applicability to individual sites and species. These options are grouped under categories of biological, chemical or physical control. Biological control options involve the use of organisms to predate, infect or control vegetation growth (e.g. classical biological control) or manipulate conditions to control algal growth (e.g. pest fish removal, microbial products). Chemical control options involve the use of pesticides and chemicals (e.g. glyphosate, diquat), or the use of flocculants and nutrient inactivation products that are used to reduce nutrient loading, thereby decreasing algal growth. Physical control options involve removing vegetation or algal biomass (e.g. mechanical or manual harvesting), or setting up barriers to their growth (e.g. shading, bottom lining, sediment capping). Preventative management options are usually the most cost effective, and these are also briefly described (Section 6.0). For example, the use of hygiene or quarantine protocols can reduce weed introductions or spread. Catchment- based practices to reduce sediment and nutrient sources to stormwater are likely to assist in the avoidance of algal and possibly aquatic plant problems. Nutrient removal may be a co-benefit where harvesting of submerged weed biomass is undertaken in stormwater systems. It should also be considered that removal of substantial amounts of submerged vegetation may result in a sudden and difficult-to-reverse s witch to a turbid, phytoplankton dominated state. Another possible solution is the conversion of systems that experience aquatic vegetation issues, to systems that are less likely to experience issues. The focus of this report is on systems that receive significant stormwater inputs, i.e. constructed bodies, including ponds, amenity lakes, wetlands, and highly-modified receiving bodies. However, some information will have application to other natural water bodies

Options for basing Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) on chronic disease endpoints: report from a joint US-/Canadian-sponsored working group.

Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) are used in Canada and the United States in planning and assessing diets of apparently healthy individuals and population groups. The approaches used to establish DRIs on the basis of classical nutrient deficiencies and/or toxicities have worked well. However, it has proved to be more challenging to base DRI values on chronic disease endpoints; deviations from the traditional framework were often required, and in some cases, DRI values were not established for intakes that affected chronic disease outcomes despite evidence that supported a relation. The increasing proportions of elderly citizens, the growing prevalence of chronic diseases, and the persistently high prevalence of overweight and obesity, which predispose to chronic disease, highlight the importance of understanding the impact of nutrition on chronic disease prevention and control. A multidisciplinary working group sponsored by the Canadian and US government DRI steering committees met from November 2014 to April 2016 to identify options for addressing key scientific challenges encountered in the use of chronic disease endpoints to establish reference values. The working group focused on 3 key questions: 1) What are the important evidentiary challenges for selecting and using chronic disease endpoints in future DRI reviews, 2) what intake-response models can future DRI committees consider when using chronic disease endpoints, and 3) what are the arguments for and against continuing to include chronic disease endpoints in future DRI reviews? This report outlines the range of options identified by the working group for answering these key questions, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each option

Estimating Risk from Ambient Concentrations of Acrolein across the United States

BACKGROUND: Estimated ambient concentrations of acrolein, a hazardous air pollutant, are greater than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reference concentration throughout the United States, making it a concern for human health. However, there is no method for assessing the extent of risk under the U.S. EPA noncancer risk assessment framework. OBJECTIVES: We estimated excess risks from ambient concentrations of acrolein based on dose–response modeling of a study in rats with a relationship between acrolein and residual volume/total lung capacity ratio (RV/TLC) and specific compliance (sC(L)), markers for altered lung function. METHODS: Based on existing literature, we defined values above the 90th percentile for controls as “adverse.” We estimated the increase over baseline response that would occur in the human population from estimated ambient concentrations of acrolein, taken from the U.S. EPA’s National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment for 1999, after standard animal-to-human conversions and extrapolating to doses below the experimental data. RESULTS: The estimated median additional number of adverse sC(L) outcomes across the United States was approximately 2.5 cases per 1,000 people. The estimated range of additional outcomes from the 5th to the 95th percentile of acrolein concentration levels across census tracts was 0.28–14 cases per 1,000. For RV/TLC, the median additional outcome was 0.002 per 1,000, and the additional outcome at the 95th percentile was 0.13 per 1,000. CONCLUSIONS: Although there are uncertainties in estimating human risks from animal data, this analysis demonstrates a method for estimating health risks for noncancer effects and suggests that acrolein could be associated with decreased respiratory function in the United States