Women, workplace militancy and political subjectivity in Britain, 1968-1985

This thesis examines the experiences and political subjectivity of women who engaged in workplace protest in Britain between 1968 and 1985. The study covers a period that has been identified with the ‘zenith’ of trade-union militancy in British labour history. The women’s liberation movement also emerged in this period, which produced a shift in public debates about gender roles and relations in the home and the workplace. Women’s trade union membership increased dramatically and trade unions increasingly committed themselves to supporting ‘women’s issues’. Industrial disputes involving working-class women have frequently been cited as evidence of women’s growing participation in the labour movement. However, the voices and experiences of female workers who engaged in workplace protest remain largely unexplored. This thesis addresses this space through an original analysis of the 1968 sewing-machinists’ strike at Ford, Dagenham; the 1976 equal pay strike at Trico, Brentford; the 1972 Sexton shoe factory occupation in Fakenham, Norfolk; the 1981 Lee Jeans factory occupation in Greenock, Inverclyde and the 1984-1985 sewing-machinists’ strike at Ford Dagenham. Drawing upon a combination of oral history and written sources, this study contributes a fresh understanding of the relationship between feminism, workplace activism and trade unionism during the years 1968-1985. In every dispute considered in this thesis, women’s behaviour was perceived by observers as novel, ‘historic’ or extraordinary. But the women did not think of themselves as extraordinary, and rather understood their behaviour as a legitimate and justified response to their everyday experiences of gender and class antagonism. The industrial disputes analysed in this thesis show that women’s workplace militancy was not simply a direct response to women’s heightened presence in trade unions. The women involved in these disputes were more likely to understand their experiences of workplace activism as an expression of the economic, social and subjective value of their work. Whilst they did not adopt a feminist identity or associate their action with the WLM, they spoke about themselves and their motivations in a manner that emphasised feminist values of equality, autonomy and self-worth.

The epidemiology of foot-and-mouth disease at the wildlife-livestock interface in northern Tanzania

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), a disease of cloven hooved animals caused by FMD virus (FMDV), is one of the most economically devastating diseases of livestock worldwide. The global burden of disease is borne largely by livestock-keepers in areas of Africa and Asia where the disease is endemic and where many people rely on livestock for their livelihoods and food-security. Yet, there are many gaps in our knowledge of the drivers of FMDV circulation in these settings. In East Africa, FMD epidemiology is complicated by the circulation of multiple FMDV serotypes (distinct antigenic variants) and by the presence of large populations of susceptible wildlife and domestic livestock. The African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) is the only wildlife species with consistent evidence of high levels of FMDV infection, and East Africa contains the largest population of this species globally. To inform FMD control in this region, key questions relate to heterogeneities in FMD prevalence and impacts in different livestock management systems and to the role of wildlife as a potential source of FMDV for livestock. To develop FMD control strategies and make best use of vaccine control options, serotype-specific patterns of circulation need to be characterised. In this study, the impacts and epidemiology of FMD were investigated across a range of traditional livestock-keeping systems in northern Tanzania, including pastoralist, agro-pastoralist and rural smallholder systems. Data were generated through field studies and laboratory analyses between 2010 and 2015. The study involved analysis of existing household survey data and generated serological data from cross-sectional livestock and buffalo samples and longitudinal cattle samples. Serological analyses included non-structural protein ELISAs, serotype-specific solid-phase competitive ELISAs, with optimisation to detect East African FMDV variants, and virus neutralisation testing. Risk factors for FMDV infection and outbreaks were investigated through analysis of cross-sectional serological data in conjunction with a case-control outbreak analysis. A novel Bayesian modeling approach was developed to infer serotype-specific infection history from serological data, and combined with virus isolation data from FMD outbreaks to characterise temporal and spatial patterns of serotype-specific infection. A high seroprevalence of FMD was detected in both northern Tanzanian livestock (69%, [66.5 - 71.4%] in cattle and 48.5%, [45.7-51.3%] in small ruminants) and in buffalo (80.9%, [74.7-86.1%]). Four different serotypes of FMDV (A, O, SAT1 and SAT2) were isolated from livestock. Up to three outbreaks per year were reported by households and active surveillance highlighted up to four serial outbreaks in the same herds within three years. Agro-pastoral and pastoral livestock keepers reported more frequent FMD outbreaks compared to smallholders. Households in all three management systems reported that FMD outbreaks caused significant impacts on milk production and sales, and on animals’ draught power, hence on crop production, with implications for food security and livelihoods. Risk factor analyses showed that older livestock were more likely to be seropositive for FMD (Odds Ratio [OR] 1.4 [1.4-1.5] per extra year) and that cattle (OR 3.3 [2.7-4.0]) were more likely than sheep and goats to be seropositive. Livestock managed by agro-pastoralists (OR 8.1 [2.8-23.6]) or pastoralists (OR 7.1 [2.9-17.6]) were more likely to be seropositive compared to those managed by smallholders. Larger herds (OR: 1.02 [1.01-1.03] per extra bovine) and those that recently acquired new livestock (OR: 5.57 [1.01 – 30.91]) had increased odds of suffering an FMD outbreak. Measures of potential contact with buffalo or with other FMD susceptible wildlife did not increase the likelihood of FMD in livestock in either the cross-sectional serological analysis or case-control outbreak analysis. The Bayesian model was validated to correctly infer from ELISA data the most recent serotype to infect cattle. Consistent with the lack of risk factors related to wildlife contact, temporal and spatial patterns of exposure to specific FMDV serotypes were not tightly linked in cattle and buffalo. In cattle, four serial waves of different FMDV serotypes that swept through southern Kenyan and northern Tanzanian livestock populations over a four-year period dominated infection patterns. In contrast, only two serotypes (SAT1 and SAT2) dominated in buffalo populations. Key conclusions are that FMD has a substantial impact in traditional livestock systems in East Africa. Wildlife does not currently appear to act as an important source of FMDV for East African livestock, and control efforts in the region should initially focus on livestock management and vaccination strategies. A novel modeling approach greatly facilitated the interpretation of serological data and may be a potent epidemiological tool in the African setting. There was a clear temporal pattern of FMDV antigenic dominance across northern Tanzania and southern Kenya. Longer-term research to investigate whether serotype-specific FMDV sweeps are truly predictable, and to shed light on FMD post-infection immunity in animals exposed to serial FMD infections is warranted.

In vitro studies of drug transformations: application to forensic toxicology

The forensic toxicologist faces challenges in the detection of drugs and poisons in biological samples due to transformations which occur both during life and after death. For example, changes can result from drug metabolism during life or from the use of formalin solution for post mortem embalming purposes. The former requires the identification of drug metabolites and the latter the identification of chemical reaction products in order to know which substances had been administered. The work described in this thesis was aimed at providing ways of tackling these challenges and was divided into two parts. Part 1 investigated the use of in vitro drug metabolism by human liver microsomes (HLM) to obtain information on drug metabolites and Part 2 investigated the chemical reactions of drugs and a carbamate pesticide with formalin solution and formalin-blood. The initial aim of part I was to develop an in vitro metabolism method using HLM, based on a literature review of previous studies of this type. MDMA was chosen as a model compound to develop the HLM method because its metabolism was known and standards of its metabolites were commercially available. In addition, a sensitive and selective method was developed for the identification and quantitation of hydrophilic phase I drug metabolites using LC/MS/MS with a conventional reverse-phase (C18) column. In order to obtain suitable retention factors for polar drug metabolites on this column, acetyl derivatives were evaluated for converting the metabolites to more lipophilic compounds and an optimal separation system was developed. Acetate derivatives were found to be stable in the HPLC mobile phase and to provide good chromatographic separation of the target analytes. In vitro metabolism of MDMA and, subsequently, of other drugs involved incubation of 4 µg drug substance in pH 7.4 buffer with an NADPH generating system (NGS) at 37oC for 90 min with addition of more NGS after 30 min. The reaction was stopped at 90 min by the addition of acetonitrile before extraction of the metabolites. Acetate derivatives of MDMA metabolites were identified by LC/MS/MS using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM). Three phase I metabolites (both major and minor metabolites) of MDMA were detected in HLM samples. 3,4-dihydroxy-methamphetamine and 4-hydroxy-3-methoxymethamphetamine were found to be major metabolites of MDMA whereas 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine was found to be a minor metabolite. Subsequently, ten MDMA positive urines were analysed to compare the metabolite patterns with those produced by HLM. An LC/MS method for MDMA and its metabolites in urine samples was developed and validated. The method demonstrated good linearity, accuracy and precision and insignificant matrix effects, with limits of quantitation of 0.025 µg/ml. Moreover, derivatives of MDMA and its metabolites were quantified in all 10 positive human urine samples. The urine metabolite pattern was found to be similar to that from HLM. The second aim of Part 1 was to use the HLM system to study the metabolism of some new psychoactive substances, whose misuse worldwide has necessitated the development of analytical methods for these drugs in biological specimens. Methylone and butylone were selected as representative cathinones and para-methoxyamphetamine (PMA) was chosen as a representative ring-substituted amphetamine, because of the involvement of these drugs in recent drug-related deaths, because of a relative lack of information on their metabolism, and because reference standards of their metabolites were not commercially available. An LC/MS/MS method for the analysis of methylone, butylone, PMA and their metabolites was developed. Three phase I metabolites of methylone and butylone were detected in HLM samples. Ketone reduction to β-OH metabolites and demethylenation to dihydroxy-metabolites were found to be major phase I metabolic pathways of butylone and methylone whereas N-demethylation to nor-methylone and nor-butylone were found to be minor pathways. Also, demethylation to para-hydroxyamphetamine was found to be a major phase I metabolic pathway of PMA whereas β-hydroxylation to β-OH-PMA was found to be a minor pathway. Formaldehyde is used for embalming, to reduce decomposition and preserve cadavers, especially in tropical countries such as Thailand. Drugs present in the body can be exposed to formaldehyde resulting in decreasing concentrations of the original compounds and production of new substances. The aim of part II of the study was to evaluate the in vitro reactions of formaldehyde with selected drug groups including amphetamines (amphetamine, methamphetamine and MDMA), benzodiazepines (alprazolam and diazepam), opiates (morphine, hydromorphone, codeine and hydrocodone) and with a carbamate insecticide (carbosulfan). The study would identify degradation products to serve as markers for the parent compounds when these were no longer detectable. Drugs standards were spiked in 10% formalin solution and 10% formalin blood. Water and whole blood without formalin were used for controls. Samples were analysed by LC/MS/MS at different times from the start, over periods of up to 30 days. Amphetamine, methamphetamine and MDMA were found to rapidly convert to methamphetamine, DMA and MDDMA respectively, in both formalin solution and formalin blood, confirming the Eschweiler-Clarke reaction between amine-containing compounds and formaldehyde. Alprazolam was found to be unstable whereas diazepam was found to be stable in both formalin solution and water. Both were found to hydrolyse in formalin solution and to give open-ring alprazolam and open-ring diazepam. Other alprazolam conversion products attached to paraformaldehyde were detected in both formalin solution and formalin blood. Morphine and codeine were found to be more stable than hydromorphone and hydrocodone in formalin solution. Conversion products of hydromorphone and hydrocodone attached to paraformaldehyde were tentatively identified in formalin solution. Moreover, hydrocodone and hydromorphone rapidly decreased within 24 h in formalin blood and could not be detected after 7 days. Carbosulfan was found to be unstable in formalin solution and was rapidly hydrolysed within 24 h, whereas in water it was stable up to 48 h. Carbofuran was the major degradation product, plus smaller amounts of other products, 3-ketocarbofuran and 3-hydrocarbofuran. By contrast, carbosulfan slowly hydrolysed in formalin-blood and was still detected after 15 days. It was concluded that HLM provide a useful tool for human drug metabolism studies when ethical considerations preclude their controlled administration to humans. The use of chemical derivatisation for hydrophilic compounds such as polar drug metabolites for analysis by LC/MS/MS with a conventional C18 column is effective and inexpensive, and suitable for routine use in the identification and quantitation of drugs and their metabolites. The detection of parent drugs and their metabolites or conversion and decomposition products is potentially very useful for the interpretation of cases in forensic toxicology, especially when the original compounds cannot be observed.

The Scottish Parliament in the 15th and 16th centuries

Earlier histories of the Scottish parliament have been somewhat constitutional in emphasis and have been exceedingly critical of what was understood to be parliament's subservience to the crown. Estimates by constitutional historians of the extreme weakness of parliament rested on an assessment of the constitutional system. The argument was that many of its features were not consistent with a reasonably strong parliament. Because the 'constitution' is apparently fragmented, with active roles played by bodies such as the lords of articles, the general council and the convention of estates, each apparently suggesting that parliament was inadequate, historians have sometimes failed to appreciate the positive role played by the estates in the conduct of national affairs. The thesis begins with a discussion of the reliability of the printed text of APS and proceeds to an examination of selected aspects of the work of parliament in a period from c 1424-c 1625. The belief of constitutional historians such as Rait that conditions In Scotland proved unfavourable to the interests and. effectiveness of parliament in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, is also examined. Chapter 1 concludes that APS is a less than reliable text, particularly for the reign of James I. Numerous statutes were excluded from the printed text and they are offered below for the first time. These statutes have been a useful addition to our understanding of the reign of James I. Chapter 2 analyses the motives behind the schemes for shire representation and concludes that neither constitutional theory nor political opportunism explains the support which James I and James VI gave to these measures. Both these monarchs were motivated by the realisation that their particular ambitions were dependent on winning the support of the estates whose ranks should include representatives from the shires. Chapter 3 examines the method of electing the lords of articles, the composition of this committee, and some aspects of its operation. The conclusion is that in the main the estates were the deciding force in the choice of the lords of articles. The committee's composition was more a reflection of a desire for a balance between representatives from north and south of the Forth and for the most important burghs and clergy to be selected than an attempt at electing government favourites. The articles did exercise a significant control over the items which came before parliament but this control was not absolute and applied to government as well as private legislation. Chapter 4 questions the traditional view that the general council and convention of estates were the same body. It is argued that they were two different institutions with different powers, but that they nevertheless worked within certain limits and were careful not to usurp the authority of parliament. Chapter 5 concedes that taxation was sometimes decided outside parliament; that the irregularity of taxation certainly weakened the bargaining power of the estates and that the latter did not appear to capitalise on these occasions when taxation was an issue. But the tendency was to ensure that, whether in or out of parliament, the decision to impose taxation was taken by a large number of each estate. The infrequency of taxation was a direct consequence of an unwillingness among the estates to agree to a regular taxation and their preference to ensure for the crown an alternative source of income. Moreover taxation was one issue, which more than any other, would be subject to contentious opposition by the estates, and could lead to the crown's defeat. Chapter 6 is concerned with ecclesiastical representation after the Reformation and the church's attitudes to the possibility of ministerial representation. Some ministers had doctrinal misgivings but the majority came to believe that the church's absence from parliament bad severely reduced. the influence of the church. That no agreement was forthcoming on a system of ministerial representation, particularly after 1597, is attributable to the estates' unwillingness to compromise and, not to the strength of opposition in the church. Chapter 7 examines the institutions which are sometime seen as 'rivals' of parliament and concludes that institutions such as the privy council were generally very careful in matters which needed the approval of parliament, and seemed aware of the greater authority of parliament. Chapter 8 which illustrates how parliament had the right to be consulted in all important matters of state, brings together the main points of the earlier chapters and offers further illustrations of the essential role which parliament played in the conduct of national affairs. Whether or not the system can be regarded as constitutionally sound, the estates in Scotland could observe parliament's day-to-day operation with some satisfaction. All in all, there is little convincing evidence that parliament was as weak as some historians would have us believe.

Leptospirosis in northern Tanzania: exploring the role of rodents and ruminant livestock in a neglected public health problem

Leptospirosis is an important but neglected zoonotic disease that is often overlooked in Africa. Although comprehensive data on the incidence of human disease are lacking, robust evidence of infection has been demonstrated in people and animals from all regions of the continent. However, to date, there are few examples of direct epidemiological linkages between human disease and animal infection. In East Africa, awareness of the importance of human leptospirosis as a cause of non-malarial febrile illness is growing. In northern Tanzania, acute leptospirosis has been diagnosed in 9% of patients with severe febrile illness compared to only 2% with malaria. However, little is known about the relative importance of different potential animal hosts as sources of human infection in this area. This project was established to investigate the roles of rodents and ruminant livestock, important hosts of Leptospira in other settings, in the epidemiology of leptospirosis in northern Tanzania. A cross-sectional survey of rodents living in and around human settlements was performed alongside an abattoir survey of ruminant livestock. Unusual patterns of animal infection were detected by real-time PCR detection. Renal Leptospira infection was absent from rodents but was detected in cattle from several geographic areas. Infection was demonstrated for the first time in small ruminants sub-Saharan Africa. Two major Leptospira species and a novel Leptospira genotype were detected in livestock. L. borgpetersenii was seen only in cattle but L. kirschneri infection was detected in multiple livestock species (cattle, sheep and goats), suggesting that at least two distinct patterns of Leptospira infection occur in livestock in northern Tanzania. Analysis of samples from acute leptospirosis in febrile human patients could not detect Leptospira DNA by real-time PCR but identified social and behavioural factors that may limit the utility of acute-phase diagnostic tests in this community. Analysis of serological data revealed considerable overlap between serogroups detected in cattle and human leptospirosis cases. Human disease was most commonly attributed to the serogroups Mini and Australis, which were also predominant reactive serogroups in cattle. Collectively, the results of this study led to the hypothesis that livestock are an important reservoir of Leptospira infection for people in northern Tanzania. These results also challenge our understanding of the relationship between Leptospira and common invasive rodent species, which do not appear to maintain infection in this setting. Livestock Leptospira infection has substantial potential to affect the well-being of people in East Africa, through direct transmission of infection or through indirect effects on food production and economic security. Further research is needed to quantify the impact of livestock leptospirosis in Africa and to develop effective interventions for the control of human and animal disease.