Editorial: The Global Disappearance of Decent Work? Precarity, Exploitation, and Work‐Based Harms in the Neoliberal Era

This thematic issue offers an international perspective on precarious work and the social harms generated by such work. In the following introduction, we contextualise these trends in relation to entrenched neoliberal policy, rising contractual insecurity, the proliferation of borders, and other forms of institutional discrimination and inequality. We distinguish between formal contractual insecurity and the subjective experiences of precarity, interrogate the types of harms that accompany precarious work, and set out a social justice perspective for an engaged critique of precarious work. The collection is truly global in its scope, encompassing case studies from Bangladesh, China, Czechia, Ecuador, Finland, Italy, India, Jordan, Latvia, and Spain. These case studies draw out the diverse contexts for rising precarity, ranging from post‐soviet, post‐socialist, and neoliberal transitions to post‐colonial and neocolonial contexts, examining how precarity is shaped by and interacts with divisions of ethnicity, migration status, gender, sexuality, and class. This thematic issue arises out of the work of the (In)Justice International Collective and is dedicated to the organization's founder, Dr. Simon Prideaux, who passed away in 2023

Extent of craniofacial fungal osteomyelitis in a ketoacidotic patient may predict optic nerve involvement: A case report

Introduction: Mucormycosis is an opportunistic mycosis common in poorly-controlled insulin dependent diabetic patients particularly with ketoacidosis. Fungal osteomyelitis is a life-threatening condition affectation of the nose and paranasal sinuses within the orofacial region. Presentation of case: We present a 63-year-old diabetic male patient with maxillary mucormycotic osteomyelitis threatening his better seeing eye and review the clinical symptoms, relevant imaging, and management. Discussion: We highlight a rare pattern of craniofacial fungal bone infection with maxillary and orbital involvement that ultimately spared the optic nerve. This case report offers the clinician a review of important clinical and diagnostic findings that can help direct the need for orbital exenteration. Conclusion: Maxillary mucormycotic osteomyelitis is an aggressive infection that needs to be addressed promptly to prevent fatal consequences

Road operation phase sustainability indicator as a response to the climate change phenomena

Road infrastructure is a major contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) around the world. Once constructed, a road becomes a part of a road network and is subjected to recurrent maintenance/rehabilitation activities. Studies to date are mostly aimed at the development of sustainability indicators that deal with the material and construction phases of a road when it is constructed. The operation phase is infrequently studied and there is a need for sustainability indicators to be developed relating to this phase to better understand the GHG emissions as a proper response to the climate change phenomena. During the operation phase, maintenance/rehabilitation activities are undertaken based on certain agreed intervention criteria that do not include environmental implications relating to the climate change aspect properly. Availability of appropriate indicators may, therefore, assist in sustainable road asset maintenance management. This paper presents the findings of a literature based study and has proposed a way forward to develop a key “road operation phase” environmental indicator, which can contribute to road operation phase carbon footprint management based on a comprehensive road life cycle system boundary model. The proposed indicator can address multiple aspects of high impact road operation life environmental components such as: pavement rolling resistance, albedo, material, traffic congestion and lighting, based on availability of relevant scientific knowledge. Development of the indicator to appropriate level would offset the impacts of these components significantly and contribute to sustainable road operation management

Systematic review of micro-RNA expression in pre-eclampsia identifies a number of common pathways associated with the disease

Background: Pre-eclampsia (PE) is a complex, multi-systemic condition of pregnancy which greatly impacts maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. MicroRNAs (miRs) are differentially expressed in PE and may be important in helping to understand the condition and its pathogenesis. Methods: Case-control studies investigating expression of miRs in PE were collected through a systematic literature search. Data was extracted and compared from 58 studies to identify the most promising miRs associated with PE pathogenesis and identify areas of methodology which could account for often conflicting results. Results: Some of the most frequently differentially expressed miRs in PE include miR-210, miR-223 and miR-126/126* which associate strongly with the etiological domains of hypoxia, immunology and angiogenesis. Members of the miR-515 family belonging to the imprinted chromosome 19 miR cluster with putative roles in trophoblast invasion were also found to be differentially expressed. Certain miRs appear to associate with more severe forms of PE such as miR-210 and the immune-related miR-181a and miR-15 families. Patterns of miR expression may help pinpoint key pathways (e.g. IL-6/miR-223/STAT3) and aid in untangling the heterogeneous nature of PE. The detectable presence of many PE-associated miRs in antenatal circulatory samples suggests their usefulness as predictive biomarkers. Further progress in ascertaining the clinical value of miRs and in understanding how they might contribute to pathogenesis is predicated upon resolving current methodological challenges in studies. These include differences in diagnostic criteria, cohort characteristics, sampling technique, RNA isolation and platform-dependent variation in miR profiling. Conclusion: Reviewing studies of PE-associated miRs has revealed their potential as informants of underlying target genes and pathways relating to PE pathogenesis. However, the incongruity in results across current studies hampers their capacity to be useful biomarkers of the condition

Freirian and postcolonial perspectives on the development of information and communication technology (ICT) in African higher education institutions :a case study

Information and communication technology (ICT) is seen as great opportunity for\ud higher education institutions, and considerable efforts and resources are invested\ud worldwide in promoting its use. As with other institutions in the world, African\ud higher education institutions have invested considerable resources in ICT\ud development. However, it has been reported repeatedly that the continent\ud experiences problems with ICT development. A review of the literature has\ud identified internal and external factors that limit ICT development as well as\ud problems associated with bringing technology into local practices. Broadly, the\ud thesis examines the extent to which African higher education institutions have\ud benefited from technology. The specific aim is to investigate whether universities'\ud decision makers have given due consideration to staff development for ICT use.\ud To explore issues of technology adoption, studies were undertaken. Empirical\ud research has been conducted focusing on a single university in Uganda as a case\ud study. Qualitative research methods were used including data collection techniques\ud such as document analysis, observations, open-ended questionnaires and in-depth\ud interviews. Theoretically, the study used Freirian and postcolonial theories to guide\ud data collection and analysis. Freirian theory was also used to guide data collection,\ud with the problem-posing approach developed by Freire being adapted to interview\ud participants. This proved to be a valuable technique to collect data.\ud The study findings confirm the enormous benefits that African higher\ud education institutions can gain from technology. The benefits that were identified\ud included more efficient communication, teaching, and research. However, it was\ud feared that costs and possible cultural impact would arise as negative aspects of\ud technology adoption. ICT staff development approaches were found to be mainly\ud ineffective and, to some extent, dehumanising. Humanistic approaches would result\ud in more relevant, more engaging staff development that may transform ICT\ud development within Africa

Resistin mediates sex-dependent effects of perivascular adipose tissue on vascular function in the SHRSP

Premenopausal women are relatively protected from developing hypertension compared to men. Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) has been shown to mediate vasoactive effects; however, a sex-dependent difference in PVAT function in the setting of hypertension has not yet been explored. We investigated the effect of PVAT on resistance vessel biology in male and female 16 week old stroke prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP). This preclinical model of hypertension exhibits a sex-dependent difference in the development of hypertension similar to humans. Wire myography was used to assess vascular function in third-order mesenteric arteries. KATP channel-mediated vasorelaxation by cromakalim was significantly impaired in vessels from SHRSP males + PVAT relative to females (maximum relaxation: male + PVAT 46.9 ± 3.9% vs. female + PVAT 97.3 ± 2.7%). A cross-over study assessing the function of male PVAT on female vessels confirmed the reduced vasorelaxation response to cromakalim associated with male PVAT (maximum relaxation: female + PVATfemale 90.6 ± 1.4% vs. female + PVATmale 65.8 ± 3.5%). In order to explore the sex-dependent differences in PVAT at a molecular level, an adipokine array and subsequent western blot validation identified resistin expression to be increased approximately 2-fold in PVAT from male SHRSP vessels. Further wire myography experiments showed that pre-incubation with resistin (40 ng/ml) significantly impaired the ability of female + PVAT vessels to relax in response to cromakalim (maximum relaxation: female + PVAT 97.3 ± 0.9% vs. female + PVAT + resistin[40ng/ml] 36.8 ± 2.3%). These findings indicate a novel role for resistin in mediating sex-dependent vascular function in hypertension through a KATP channel-mediated mechanism

Europium nanoparticle-based high performing immunoassay for the screening of treponemal antibodies

Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum (Tp) is the causative agent of syphilis which mainly spreads through sexual contact, blood transfusion and perinatal route. In order to curtail the spread of the infection and to clinically manage the disease, timely, accurate and reliable diagnosis is very important. We have developed an immunoassay for the detection of treponemal antibodies in human serum or plasma samples. In vivo biotinylated and non-biotinylated versions of the recombinant antigen were designed by the fusion of three Tp-specific antigens namely Tp15, Tp17 and Tp47. These fusion antigens were expressed in E. coli and purified using single-step metal affinity chromatography. Biotinylated fusion antigen immobilized on streptavidin coated plate was used to capture the treponemal antibodies and the non-biotinylated antigen coated on europium nanoparticles was used as tracer. Assays with two different incubation times of 10 min and 1 h were developed, and following the incubation the europium fluorescence was measured using time-resolved fluorometry. The developed Time-resolved Fluorometric (TRF) immunoassays were evaluated with in-house and commercial serum/plasma sample panels. For well-established treponemal antibodies positive or negative samples, the sensitivity of TRF immunoassay with 10 min incubation time was 97.4% and of TRF immunoassay with 1 h incubation time was 98.7% and the specificities of both the TRF immunoassays were 99.2%. For the samples with discordant results with the reference assays, both the TRF immunoassays showed better specificity than the Enzygnost syphilis enzyme immunoassay as a screening test. The two different incubation times did not have any significant effect on the signal to cutoff (S/Co) ratios obtained with the two immunoassays (p  =  0.06). Our results indicate that the developed immunoassay with a short incubation time of 10 min has the potential to be used in clinical laboratories and in blood-bank settings as a screening test for treponemal antibodies

The Global Disappearance of Decent Work? Precarity, Exploitation, and Work‐Based Harms in the Neoliberal Era

This thematic issue offers an international perspective on precarious work and the social harms generated by such work. In the following introduction, we contextualise these trends in relation to entrenched neoliberal policy, rising contractual insecurity, the proliferation of borders, and other forms of institutional discrimination and inequality. We distinguish between formal contractual insecurity and the subjective experiences of precarity, interrogate the types of harms that accompany precarious work, and set out a social justice perspective for an engaged critique of precarious work. The collection is truly global in its scope, encompassing case studies from Bangladesh, China, Czechia, Ecuador, Finland, Italy, India, Jordan, Latvia, and Spain. These case studies draw out the diverse contexts for rising precarity, ranging from post‐soviet, post‐socialist, and neoliberal transitions to post‐colonial and neocolonial contexts, examining how precarity is shaped by and interacts with divisions of ethnicity, migration status, gender, sexuality, and class. This thematic issue arises out of the work of the (In)Justice International Collective and is dedicated to the organization’s founder, Dr. Simon Prideaux, who passed away in 2023

Residual Phytotoxicity Effects of Paraquat, Glyphosate and Glufosinate-Ammonium Herbicides in Soils from Field-Treated Plots

Soil residual phytotoxicity of commonly used herbicides in plantation crops in Malaysia were investigated through bioassay. Paraquat (GramoxoneR) and glufosinate-ammonium (BastaR) at 200, 400, 600 and 800 g a.i. ha-1, and glyphosate (Round-upR) at 400, 800, 1200 and 1600 g a.i. ha-1 were applied to field plots of 5 x 20 m2. Cucumber and corn were used in the bioassay to test the residual effect of herbicides in the soil of the treated plots. Soil, sampled at 1 day after treatment (DAT) and until 2 weeks (WAT) later, did not affect the seed germination and seedling development of cucumber and corn. Recommended rates, paraquat (400-600 g a.i. ha-1), glufosinate-ammonium (500 g a.i.ha-1) and glyphosate (1000 g a.i. ha-1) applied to field to control weeds in oil palm plantation, therefore leave no phytotoxic residue in the soil

Implementing health system and the new federalism in Somalia: challenges and opportunities

In the 21st century, healthcare stands out as a formidable, contentious social responsibility for governments due to its high costs. This study delves into Somalia's healthcare system under Federal Government leadership, scrutinizing the complexities of health governance and financing. The Federal Government (FGS), along with governmental states (FMS) and regional authorities, collectively shoulder leadership and governance roles within Somalia's healthcare framework. Vital to resilient and inclusive development, the health sector holds a pivotal role. A strategic investment in healthcare not only drives substantial demographic dividends through enhanced life expectancy and reduced fertility rates, but also paves Somalia's trajectory toward progress. The Federal Government of Somalia confronts a multitude of challenges in its pursuit of effective healthcare implementation. A prominent obstacle lies in health financing. Somalia relies heavily on international and private sources for health support, primarily due to limited government revenue generation. This financial shortfall restrains the government's capacity to allocate ample funds for public services and critical investments, including healthcare. This paper sheds light on the present healthcare landscape in Somalia and expounds on the hurdles confronted by healthcare systems under federal governance. Moreover, it delves into the historical evolution of Somalia's healthcare system and the advent of new federalist principles. In doing so, this study comprehensively examines the dynamics of healthcare governance, financing, and historical progression in Somalia