Dear living person

This chapter is written from the perspective of a recently deceased corpse. It examines the claims art makes to moving beyond boundaries and testing limits (of medium, discipline, and category) as a cliché of transcendence. This is described in relation to the operation of the false ‘master’ limit between the living and the dead, with reference to Reza Negarestani’s vivid reenactment of Etruscan torture, and contemporary performances of institutional critique: Fraser, Krebber and Carpenter.

The island and the world: kinship, friendship and living together in selected writings of Sam Selvon

This article argues that the ethical force of Trinidadian Sam Selvon’s creative writings comes from the particular configuration of living together that he is interested in, both in his Trinidadian novels and his London ones. It reads examples of this living together alongside and in difference that emerges through his focus on the relations between neighbours, friends and lovers, rather than the kinship relations of family. It argues that his works thereby map horizontal zones of attachment and possible solidarities across groupings that reconfigure vertically inscribed genealogical paradigms of belonging to place and each other based on models of historical continuity and inheritance.

Safeguarding inheritance and enhancing the resilience of orphaned young people living in child- and youth-headed households in Tanzania and Uganda

This paper explores the resilience of orphaned young people in safeguarding the physical assets (land and property) that they inherited from their parents and in sustaining their households without a co-resident adult relative. Drawing on the concept of resilience and the sustainable livelihoods framework, this paper analyses the findings of an exploratory study conducted with 15 orphaned young people heading households,18 of their siblings and 39 NGO workers and community members in Tanzania and Uganda. The research suggests that inherited land and property represent key determining factors in the formation and viability of child- and youth-headed households in both rural and urban areas. Despite experiences of stigma and marginalisation in the community, social networks were crucial in enabling young people to protect themselves and their property, in providing access to material and emotional resources and in enhancing their skills and capabilities to develop sustainable livelihoods. Support for child- and youth-headed households needs to recognise young people's agency and adopt a holistic approach to their lives that analyses the physical assets, material resources, human and social capital available to the household, as well as individual young people's wellbeing, outlook and aspirations. Alongside cash transfers and material support, youth-led collective mobilisation that is sustained over time may also help to build resilience and foster more supportive social environments that challenge property grabbing and the stigmatisation of child- and youth-headed households.

The potential for community groups to promote sustainable living

In recent times there has been a growing recognition amongst policy-makers of the role for community-based action in contributing to the broader aims of energy policy and climate change. In this paper, we will examine the potential for existing community groups to use their influence and elements of internal cohesion to encourage more widespread understanding and adoption of sustainable lifestyle habits; both amongst their members and within the broader communities of which they are a part. Findings are presented from recent empirical work with a range of well-established community groups for whom environmental issues are not their main priority. A central aspect of the research was to explore both the current status and potential role of groups that may have the capacity to reach and influence a broader sphere of the public than energy/environment specific initiatives of recent times have been able to achieve. Representing a diversity of interests, age groups and functionality, the results suggest that the potential for more effective ‘bottom-up’ engagement on climate change and sustainable living might be given fresh impetus by these types of established community groups and their networks. An assessment of what motivates participation and membership in the groups highlights a series of factors common to all groups and a smaller number that are significant for particular groups individually. It is argued that an appreciation of motivating factors can be useful in understanding more clearly how such groups are able to survive and maintain cohesion over time. The findings also suggest that climate change action means different things for different groups, with the diversity of the groups bringing with it the challenge of making sustainable living relevant to a range of interests and different shared values.

Mapping evidence gaps in anti-corruption: assessing the state of the operationally relevant evidence on donors' actions and approaches to reducing corruption

This paper charts the current evidence on effectiveness of different anti-corruption reforms, and identifies significant evidence gaps. Despite a substantial amount of literature on corruption, this review found very few studies focusing on anti-corruption reforms, and even fewer that credibly assess issues of effectiveness and impact. The evidence was strong for only two types of interventions: public financial management (PFM) reforms and supreme audit institutions (SAIs). For PFM, the evidence in general showed positive results, whereas the effectiveness was mixed for SAIs. No strong evidence indicates that any of the interventions pursued have been ineffective, but there is fair evidence that anti-corruption authorities, civil service reforms and the use of corruption conditionality in aid allocation decisions in general have not been effective. The paper advocates more operationally-relevant research and rigorous evaluations to build up the missing evidence base, particularly in conflict-afflicted states, in regards to the private sector, and on the interactions and interdependencies between different anti-corruption interventions.

Apheresis donors and platelet function: inherent platelet responsiveness influences platelet quality

BACKGROUND: Process-induced platelet (PLT) activation occurs with all production methods, including apheresis. Recent studies have highlighted the range and consistence of interindividual variation in the PLT response, but little is known about the contribution of a donors' inherent PLT responsiveness to the activation state of the apheresis PLTs or the effect of frequent apheresis on donors' PLTs. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: The relationship between the donors' PLT response on the apheresis PLTs was studied in 47 individuals selected as having PLTs with inherently low, intermediate, or high responsiveness. Whole-blood flow cytometry was used to measure PLT activation (levels of bound fibrinogen) before donation and in the apheresis PLTs. The effects of regular apheresis on the activation status of donors' PLTs were studied by comparing the in vivo activation status of PLTs from apheresis (n = 349) and whole-blood donors (n = 157), before donation. The effect of apheresis per se on PLT activation was measured in 10 apheresis donors before and after donation. RESULTS: The level of PLT activation in the apheresis packs was generally higher than in the donor, and the most activated PLTs were from high-responder donors. There was no significant difference in PLT activation before donation between the apheresis and whole-blood donors (p = 0.697), and there was no consistent evidence of activation in the donors immediately after apheresis. CONCLUSION: The most activated apheresis PLTs were obtained from donors with more responsive PLTs. Regular apheresis, however, does not lead to PLT activation in the donors.

Wearable device to assist independent living

Older people increasingly want to remain living independently in their own homes. The aim of the ENABLE project is to develop a wearable device that can be used to support older people in their daily lives and which can monitor their health status, detect potential problems, provide activity reminders and offer communication and alarm services. In order to determine the specifications and functionality required for the development of the device, user surveys and focus groups were undertaken, use case analysis and scenario modeling carried out. The project has resulted in the development of a wrist-worn device and mobile phone combination that can support and assist older and vulnerable wearers with a range of activities and services both inside their home and as they move around their local environment. The device is currently undergoing pilot trials in five European countries. The aim of this paper is to describe the ENABLE device, its features and services, and the infrastructure within which it operates.

Like the living end

A chapbook of seventeen new poems, not to be confused with the single poem of the same name (the title poem) listed in its own right as a separate publication.

Suck the living labour

The project, commissioned by Ort, Birmingham, explores geriatric vampirism. Austerity measures have indebted the young and the old through the privatisation of education and health. These age groups have been thrown into a relationship of mutual dependency and conflicting interests. As well as a new film, the exhibition featured six videos that have been outsourced using the services of sellers on the website Fiverr, ‘a place for people to share things they're willing to do for $5’. Interrogating the means of production and the meaning of work under post-Fordism, the Suck the Living Labour extends Marx’s metaphor, comparing Capital to a vampiric force that thirsts for infinite surplus.

Assessment of the anthelmintic activity of medicinal plant extracts and purified condensed tannins against free-living and parasitic stages of Oesophagostomum dentatum

Background: Plant-derived condensed tannins (CT) show promise as a complementary option to treat gastrointestinal helminth infections, thus reducing reliance on synthetic anthelmintic drugs. Most studies on the anthelmintic effects of CT have been conducted on parasites of ruminant livestock. Oesophagostomum dentatum is an economically important parasite of pigs, as well as serving as a useful laboratory model of helminth parasites due to the ability to culture it in vitro for long periods through several life-cycle stages. Here, we investigated the anthelmintic effects of CT on multiple life-cycles stages of O. dentatum. Methods: Extracts and purified fractions were prepared from five plants containing CT and analysed by HPLC-MS. Anthelmintic activity was assessed at five different stages of the O. dentatum life cycle; the development of eggs to infective third-stage larvae (L3), the parasitic L3 stage, the moult from L3 to fourth-stage larvae (L4), the L4 stage and the adult stage. Results: Free-living larvae of O. dentatum were highly susceptible to all five plant extracts. In contrast, only two of the five extracts had activity against L3, as evidenced by migration inhibition assays, whilst three of the five extracts inhibited the moulting of L3 to L4. All five extracts reduced the motility of L4, and the motility of adult worms exposed to a CT-rich extract derived from hazelnut skins was strongly inhibited, with electron microscopy demonstrating direct damage to the worm cuticle and hypodermis. Purified CT fractions retained anthelmintic activity, and depletion of CT from extracts by pre-incubation in polyvinylpolypyrrolidone removed anthelmintic effects, strongly suggesting CT as the active molecules. Conclusions: These results suggest that CT may have promise as an alternative parasite control option for O. dentatum in pigs, particularly against adult stages. Moreover, our results demonstrate a varied susceptibility of different life-cycle stages of the same parasite to CT, which may offer an insight into the anthelmintic mechanisms of these commonly found plant compounds.

TNF-α influences the lateral dynamics of TNF receptor I in living cells

In mammalian cells, inflammation is mainly mediated by the binding of tumor necrosis factor alpha to tumor necrosis factor receptor 1. In this study, we investigated lateral dynamics of TNF-R1 before and after ligand binding using high-density single-particle tracking in combination with photoactivated localization microscopy. Our single-molecule data indicates the presence of tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 with different mobilities in the plasma membrane, suggesting different molecular organizations. Cholesterol depletion led to a decrease of slow receptor species and a strong increase in the average diffusion coefficient. Moreover, as a consequence of tumor necrosis factor-alpha treatment, the mean diffusion coefficient moderately increased while its distribution narrowed. Based on our observation, we propose a refined mechanism on the structural arrangement and activation of tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 in the plasma membrane.