Showing papers by "University of Greenwich published in 1997"

Gender and Nation

Abstract: The article outlines some of the main dimensions in which gender relations are crucial in understanding and analysing the phenomena of nations and nationalism, and the specific boundaries of inclusions and exclusions that they construct. Three major dimensions of nationalist projects that relate to citizenship, culture and origin are differentiated. In each of them gender relations play specific roles and have mobilized specific struggles. The article looks at the dualistic nature of women's citizenship, as both included and excluded from the general body of citizens. Even when there is a formal equality of women in their political rights as citizens, other modes of exclusion in the political, social and civil spheres continue to operate. The particular ways in which the entry of women into the military has been linked to struggles for women's equality as citizens are examined in this context. In relation to national cultures, both secular and religious, the article examines the ways in which wom...

Genesis of ‘hummocky moraines’ by thrusting in glacier ice: evidence from Svalbard and Britain

Abstract: Irregular mounds of glacial debris, commonly referred to as 9hummocky moraine9, until recently were linked to ice stagnation during rapid climatic amelioration. However, recent work in Scotland has demonstrated that some hummocky moraine, dating from the Younger Dryas event ( c. 10 000 years BP ), was the product of deposition at active ice margins. Observations at modern high–arctic glacier margins in Svalbard (76–80°N) indicate that some moraines of this type form under a dynamic glaciological regime, mainly by thrusting in active polythermal ice undergoing strong longitudinal compression. This situation is particularly common where there is a transition from warm–based ice in the interior of a glacier to cold–based ice at the margins or snout. From their morphological similarity (rectilinear slopes facing up–glacier and irregular downglacier faces), and apparent stacking of slabs of sediment of subglacial derivation, it is concluded that some assemblages of British moraines are also the product of thrusting. This process appears to be most dominant in polythermal glaciers, rather than in temperate glaciers. On this basis, it is tentatively suggested that the Younger Dryas in Britain was characterized by a climatic regime similar to that in Svalbard today (mean annual temperature − 5°C; 400–1000 mm precipitation), and that the associated glaciers may have been of polythermal character.

Apparent absence of viruses in most symptomless field-grown sweet potato in Uganda.

Abstract: Summary Symptomless sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) plants obtained from farmers' fields in each of the main sweet potato growing regions of Uganda were tested by nitro-cellulose membrane enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (NCM-ELISA) for sweet potato feathery mottle virus (SPFMV), sweet potato mild mottle virus (SPMMV), sweet potato chlorotic fleck virus (SPCFV), sweet potato latent virus (SPLV), C-6 virus (C-6) and sweet potato caulimo-like virus (SPCa-LV). Most of the plants tested gave negative reactions in all NCM-ELISA, only c. 5% giving positive reactions to SPFMV and c 1% to SPMMV or SPCFV. Graft inoculations of cuttings from symptomless sweet potato plants, obtained either at Namulonge Agricultural and Animal Production Research Institute (NAARI) or from farmers' fields, onto seedlings of the near-universal indicator plant for sweet potato viruses, Zpomoea setosa, caused symptoms in c. 15% of indicator plants; in all such cases, SPFMV alone was identified by NCM-ELISA. Supplementary tests, involving further grafting of sweet potato to I. setosa seedlings or grafting sweet potato plants themselves with sweet potato sunken vein virus (SPSVV), which in the presence of SPFMV causes sweet potato virus disease (SPVD), confirmed the absence of infection in sweet potato cuttings which had not caused symptoms on I. setosa in the initial graft test. Possible mechanisms explaining the prevalence of virus-free sweet potato plants in farmers' fields are discussed.

The narrative self in autobiographical accounts of illness

Abstract: The paper analyzes autobiographical accounts of the experience of chronic illness and its treatment to develop a sociological theory of the self. It is suggested that ‘self’ is not a biologistic or psychologistic thing. Rather self is autobiographical narrative – hence the narrative self. It is argued that four elements constitute such narrative selves in autobiographical discourse: evaluative relationships between events in time; cosmology; power relationships; and conceptualisation of self as object.

The impact of pregnancy on the long-term weight gain of primiparous women in England

Abstract: Objectives To investigate the impact of pregnancy on long-term weight gain of primiparous mothers in England, and to identify potential risk factors for maternal obesity. Design A retrospective, repeat-pregnancy study which examined the change in maternal body weight from the beginning of the first successful pregnancy to the beginning of the second. Subjects Two hundred and forty-three mothers, all of whom had been weighed during the first trimester of their first and second pregnancies, and none of whom had fallen pregnant less than 12 months after the birth of their first child. Measurements Sociodemographic, behavioural, medical, obstetric and perinatal data, together with antenatal measurements of maternal body weight and height, were extracted from each mother's obstetric notes. A comprehensive survey of weighing scales used at all antenatal clinics was undertaken. Results After accounting for the effect of ageing, there was no significant long-term increase in mean maternal body weight following the first pregnancy (95% Confidence Intervals: -0.82-0.28kg). While most mothers (70.8%) gained 1.0 kg or less, 24.7% gained more than 1.54 kg. Even after accounting for the maximum error in clinic scales, 14.8% of the mothers gained 1.54 kg or more in association with their first pregnancy. Mothers with higher BMIs at the beginning of their first pregnancy, who gained more weight during pregnancy, gave birth to heavier babies and had longer intervals between their pregnancies, gained significantly more weight from one pregnancy to the next. Conclusions Pregnancy has little impact on the mean weight gain of primiparous women from England, who have a low prevalence of obesity (BMI > or = 26.0, 25.5%). Nevertheless, pregnancy may be associated with a permanent increase in maternal body weight simply because it is a period of positive energy balance during which some women gain excessive weight. Other factors, such as prepregnant BMI, determine whether long-term weight gain actually occurs.

Petrology and palaeoenvironmental significance of glaucony in the Eocene succession at Whitecliff Bay, Hampshire Basin, UK

Abstract: Following the investigations of Odin and others into the distribution of green granules, glaucony has been widely assumed to be a reliable indicator of a fully marine, open shelf environment with a low sedimentation rate. We have investigated the value of glaucony as a palaeoenvironmental indicator through an investigation of the pellets, and their distribution and reworking in the predominantly brackish to shallow marine Tertiary sediments of the Hampshire basin, together with a re-evaluation of the sedimentology. Glaucony has apparently formed in situ in all lithofacies from shallow marine to estuarine. Of the three highest glaucony concentrations (all dominated by in situ glaucony) two occur within highstand system tracts, the third is at a sequence boundary. Several important surfaces do not have more than a few percent glaucony, with very variable proportions of mature and in situ pellets. The correlation between glaucony concentration and sequence stratigraphy is most obvious in the London Clay and Wittering Formations, where least reworking of pellets has occurred. In the Barton Group there are no major concentrations of glaucony at any of the important stratal surfaces, we believe this more random glaucony distribution is due to limited glaucony formation and reworking of older glaucony. In these sediments ideal conditions for glaucony formation are interpreted to have been: fully marine, 10–30 m water depth, a ‘warm’ temperature plus low sedimentation rate with periodic winnowing to concentrate the pellets. Although most of these conditions for glaucony formation occurred in the Selsey Formation and Barton Group, a factor or factors mitigated against glauconitization. We suggest that this was lowering of the water temperature. The London Clay and Wittering Formations were deposited relatively rapidly (50–60 m Ma −1 ) and include intervals of estuarine sedimentation, both factors that we believe inhibited glaucony formation. Glaucony maturity reflects the minimum length of time spent in surface sediments, close to the oxic/sub-oxic interface. Point count data and chemical data for glaucony indicate widespread reworking and an overall increase in reworking with time, possibly due to uplift on the Isle of Wight monocline. The apparently wide range of conditions in which glaucony will form, and the frequency with which it is reworked, suggest that it is a less useful indicator palaeo-environmental indicator than is commonly supposed.

Is there an independent association between parity and maternal weight gain

Abstract: SummaryThe independent associations between parity and maternal body mass index (BMI), and between parity and maternal weight gain, were investigated using a combination of cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses based on a retrospective, repeat-pregnancy study that examined the change in maternal body weight from the beginning of one pregnancy to the beginning of the next. A group of 523 multiparous women who had been weighed regularly during pregnancy, and none of whom had fallen pregnant less than 12 months after the birth of their previous child, were examined. Sociodemographic, behavioural, medical, obstetric and perinatal data, together with antenatal measurements of maternal body weight and height, were abstracted from each mother's obstetric notes. Parity was found to be independently associated with maternal BMI (p < 0·001), gestational weight gain (p < 0·001) and interpregnancy weight gain (p = 0·032). Women of different parities were found to be at differential risk of long-term weight gain f...

Greening business in a market economy

Abstract: Explains the factors that influence corporate behaviour towards the environment. There is a tendency for business to ignore environmental costs in order to reduce production costs and stay competitive. However, there is a growing trend towards “green” consumerism reflecting the increasing number of consumers who prefer to buy products that satisfy high standards of environmental protection. Consequently, it is becoming profitable to sell “green” products in both the domestic and international markets. The “pull” of the market is reinforced by the “push” resulting from environmental legislation which sets higher standards of environmental quality. A recent survey of business opinion confirms that environmental issues are of growing importance to companies and more than half go beyond the requirements of the law. This suggests that companies are becoming proactive in their management of environmental problems and are beginning to exploit the commercial opportunities that arise from raising environmental standards.

The Adulteration of Drugs: What Dealers Do to Illicit Drugs, and What They Think is Done to Them

Abstract: The notion that street drugs have been adulterated/diluted by all sorts of dangerous substances such as Vim, Ajax, ground-glass, brick-dust and even rat-poison is a common one. Moreover, it is in fact a practice believed to be true by those involved with the researching of drug issues, the treatment and rehabilitation of drug users, the policing of drug users and the educating of drug users (if. Coomber 1996) as well as by the users themselves. As this paper will show it is also thought to happen and be perpetrated by those who are deemed to be responsible for such adulteration/dilution, the dealers themselves. This however does not accord with the forensic evidence, or, as are the concerns of this paper with the practice or experience of individual drug dealers. This paper suggests, on the evidence of interviews with drug dealers at different levels of the drug distribution chain that less adulteration/dilution actually occurs than previously thought and that when it does happen 'on the street' it is of ...

Comparison of the performance of Cicadulina leafhoppers on flight mills with that to be expected in free flight

Abstract: Flight mills are commonly used to assess the relative flight performance of migratory insects, but uncertainties about the rate of energy expenditure on the mill mean that absolute estimates of flight endurance are not usually attempted. In this paper we describe how we measured the power delivered to a lightweight flight mill by tethered Cicadulina storeyi China leafhoppers (Homoptera: Cicadellidae), and compared this to estimates of the power they use to maintain free flight. Our results showed that the leafhoppers were generating more than 0.90 μW of mechanical power when on the mill, and that they probably have 3-4 μW available for free flight. We conclude that whilst flying on the mill, the insects were generating at least 20-30% of the mechanical power needed for free flight, and that this percentage may have been significantly higher.

Modification of clast shape in high-Arctic glacial environments

Abstract: Clast shape data from a range of different glacial environments at several high-arctic valley glaciers in Svalbard are presented. These data add to the growing body of reference information about clast shape in modern glacial environments and is used to explore the role of lithology in clast morphogenesis and to evaluate the different methodological approaches to the analysis of clast shape data. The following conclusions are drawn: (1) it is possible to distinguish clasts transported subglacially from those moved supraglacially; (2) it is not possible to differentiate among different types of subglacial sediment or to distinguish them collectively from glaciofluvial samples; (3) lithology has some influence on clast shape, although not as much as previously suggested; and (4) covaria t plots of the RA (percentage of angular and very angular clasts) versus C40 (percentage of clasts with c to a axial ratio <=0.4) index give superior data visualization and discriminate more effectively among different glacial sediments than sphericity and roundness plots.

Singular value decomposition of 3-D DNA melting curves reveals complexity in the melting process

Abstract: The thermal denaturation of synthetic deoxypolynucleotides of defined sequence was studied by a three dimensional melting technique in which complete UV absorbance spectra were recorded as a function of temperature. The results of such an experiment defined a surface bounded by absorbance, wavelength, and temperature. A matrix of the experimental data was built, and analyzed by the method of singular value decomposition (SVD). SVD provides a rigorous, model-free analytical tool for evaluating the number of significant spectral species required to account for the changes in UV absorbance accompany-ing the duplex – to – single strand transition. For all of the polynucleotides studied (Poly dA – Poly dT; [Poly (dAdT)]2; Poly dG – Poly dC; [Poly(dGdC)]2), SVD indicated the existence of at least 4 – 5 significant spectral species. The DNA melting transition for even these simple repeating sequences cannot, therefore, be a simple two-state process. The basis spectra obtained by SVD analysis were found to be unique for each polynucleotide studied. Differential scanning calorimetry was used to obtain model free estimates for the enthalpy of melting for the polynucleotides studied, with results in good agreement with previously published values.

Why are class teachers reluctant to become researchers

Abstract: Although the teacher-as-researcher movement has been in existence for some twenty years, there is reason to think that the majority of class teachers remain uninvolved. What lies behind their reluctance? This paper puts forward explanations in four main areas: teachers' professional status; teachers' working conditions; teachers' confidence; and teachers' difficulty engaging with outsider's research methodologies. It is suggested that classroom teaching is an all-demanding and all-involving task which is excluding of an activity as exacting as research. However, it is argued that with appropriate support more teachers may become involved in research-like activities and thus enable a wider dissemination of their insights into children's learning. Why are class teachers reluctant to become researchers?

Do the changes in energy balance that occur during pregnancy predispose parous women to obesity

Abstract: The aim of this review was to re-assess whether the changes in energy balance that accompany pregnancy predispose parous women to obesity. A number of cross-sectional studies have sought to answer this question by examining the relationship between parity and maternal body weight. However, these studies were unable to control for the large number of sociobehavioural confounders that might be responsible for the apparent effect of parity on body weight. Longitudinal studies that examine changes in maternal body weight before and after regnancy avoid these problems by using each mother as her own control. Nevertheless, these studies have to overcome three methodological constraints: They must obtain an accurate measure of prepregnant body weight, they must give each mother sufficient time to lose any weight retained following delivery, and they must take into account the effect of ageing on maternal weight gain during pregnancy and the follow-up period. More than 90% of the studies reviewed found body weight to be greater after pregnancy than it was before (by 0.2-10.6 kg). and previous researchers who have examined the evidence for pregnancy-related weight gains suggest that body weight increases by an average of 04-4.8 kg following pregnancy. However, only three of the 71 longitudinal studies examined in the present review complied with the three methodological criteria. These studies concluded that mothers gain, on average, 0.9-3.3 kg more weight following pregnancy than nonpregnant controls, and that mean body weight remained 0.4-3.0 kg higher, even after controlling for a number of sociobehavioural confounders. This apparently modest increase in mean maternal body weight for women having one or two children conceals the fact that some mothers experience a substantial increase in body weight and become obese following pregnancy. It remains unclear whether these increases are simply the result of changes in energy metabolism during pregnancy and lactation, or whether they are influenced by inherent changes in lifestyle that accompany pregnancy and motherhood. Understanding the relative importance of these alternatives might help to explain the aetiology of maternal obesity."Clover was a stout motherly mare approaching middle life, who had never quite got her figure back after her fourth foal"George Well (1945) Animal Farm. London: Secker and Warburg.

Vim in the Veins–Fantasy or Fact: The Adulteration of Illicit Drugs

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to throw some light on the adulteration and dilution of illicit drugs, heroin, cocaine, amphetamine and ecstasy in particular. The findings of the paper question common assertions that street drugs are 'dirty' drugs full of dangerous and unknown quantities such as brick-dust, Vim, Ajax (domestic cleaning agents), rat-poison and even ground glass, as well as the logic of why such practices should be thought to exist. Common adulterants and diluents (diluting agents) are outlined and discussed and an understanding of them as essentially rational and relatively safe not unpredictable and life-threatening is put forward. It is further suggested that far less adulteration than is frequently believed to take place actually does so.

Mesh partitioning and load balancing for distributed memory parallel systems

Abstract: A method is outlined for optimising graph partitions which arise in mapping unstructured mesh calculations to parallel computers. The method employs a relative gain iterative technique to both evenly balance the workload and minimise the number and volume of interprocessor communications. A parallel graph reduction technique is also briefly described and can be used to give a global perspective to the optimisation. The algorithms work efficiently in parallel as well as sequentially and when combined with a fast direct partitioning technique (such as the Greedy algorithm) to give an initial partition, the resulting two-stage process proves itself to be both a powerful and flexible solution to the static graph-partitioning problem. Experiments indicate that the resulting parallel code can provide high quality partitions, independent of the initial partition, within a few seconds. The algorithms can also be used for dynamic load-balancing, reusing existing partitions and in this case the procedures are much faster than static techniques, provide partitions of similar or higher quality and, in comparison, involve the migration of a fraction of the data.

Florence Nightingale, feminism and nursing

Abstract: Three key aspects of Florence Nightingale remarkable life are examine. First, the influence during her formative years: the education and guidance provided by her father, the resistance by her family when she decided to become a nurse; and the rejection by Nightingale of the societal expectations of a woman in the Victorian era. Secondly, her professional life is examined, in particular how she appears to have been viewed by certain members of society, and how it turn she viewed them. It is anticipated that her position as an early feminist will be postulated and illuminated. Thirdly, an analysis of her personal and professional life indicates a way forward for the nursing profession.

Short-distance wind dispersal of the fungal pathogens causing Sigatoka diseases in banana and plantain

Abstract: Airborne spores of the fungal pathogens causing Sigatoka diseases in banana and plantain were monitored using rotorod spore traps, sited at various heights within an infected plantation in Costa Rica from December 1993 to February 1994. Different capture patterns of ascospores and conidia were found and the relationship between wind behaviour and spore catches was investigated. This information has enabled an assessment to be made of the reliability of point measurements of airborne spores for monitoring spore movements on the plantation scale. The use of such information in forecasting the airborne movement of these spores and the likely role of the wind in the spread of this disease to uninfected areas is discussed.