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The question of feminist critique
(Sage, 2024-08) Chadwick, Rachelle Joy
This article engages the contested question of feminist critique, suggesting that reflecting on how we ‘do’ critique as feminist scholars is integral to the work of examining the broader politics of feminist worldmaking and knowledge production. Building on the work of Rosalyn Diprose and Audre Lorde, I suggest that the concept of ‘epistemic generosity’ opens space for the development of a lexicon in which the nuances of an open and receptive attitude to feminist critique can be explored. As a stance of open receptivity, epistemic generosity is associated with waiting, slowness and listening, rather than pursuit, suspicion, vigilance and self-affirmation. Furthermore, as a non-directive mode of relating, epistemic generosity does not presume to know. Open to surprise, wonder and connection, it is fundamentally an orientation to thinking and knowing rooted in hopefulness. At the same time, epistemic generosity is not without risks. What thinking generously means, its risks and its costs, differs according to social positioning. For those located in privileged positions, epistemic generosity is only possible in conjunction with constant practices of self-critique that involve attending to friction, discomfort, difference and difficulty.
Identifying the associated risk factors of time to first antenatal care contacts among pregnant women in Somalia : a survival frailty approach
(Bentham Science Publishers, 2025-01) Belay, Denekew Bitew; Fentaw, Kenaw Derebe; Ali, Mahad Ibrahim; Rad, Najmeh Nakhaei; Chen, Ding-Geng (Din)
BACKGROUND : Antenatal care (ANC) utilization offers a wide range of interventions, such as education, counseling, screening, treatment, monitoring, and supporting the health of pregnant women, making it a significant opportunity for expectant mothers. This study aims to investigate the time to the first ANC contact among pregnant women and to identify associated factors by employing the Accelerated Failure Time (AFT) model using different frailty distributions.
METHODS : This study used Somalia's Health and demographic survey data. A sample of 3138 women of reproductive age (15-49 years) were included in the study and accelerated failure time (AFT) models with different frailty distributions were compared using information criteria to select the best model.
RESULTS : Among the women included in this study, only 33.1% of them received their first ANC contacts within the recommended time during their pregnancy. A gamma frailty model with log-logistic as base-line distribution was found to be the best model for the time-to-first ANC utilization for our data. The final model, based on the log-logistic gamma frailty, identified marital status, mother's occupation, wanted pregnancy, region, parity, wealth index, education level of mother, persons deciding on mother health care, and media exposure are significant (p-value <0.05) predictors of time to the first ANC contact in Somalia. The final model evidenced a high degree of heterogeneity at an individual level regarding the time to the first ANC utilization in Somalia.
CONCLUSION : The median time for the first ANC contact among pregnant women was 6.2 months. To ensure accurate analysis and better policy recommendation, different candidate models were compared, and the univariate gamma frailty model with a log-logistic baseline was found to be the most appropriate approach for analyzing time to the first ANC contact among pregnant women. Maternal and child health policies and initiatives must better focus on women's development and implement interventions aimed at increasing the timely initiation of prenatal care services. More specific policy measures, such as targeted educational campaigns, improved pregnancy services, and efforts to minimize regional disparities, should be prioritized as urgent intervention mechanisms.
Green binder system for taphole clays : a potential for glycerine and phenolic resin
(Elsevier, 2025-06) Cameron, Izak Jian-Pierre; Garbers-Craig, Andrie Mariana
Recent advancements in taphole clay binder development have focused on replacing toxic coal tar/pitch, which contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), with greener alternatives. In this study, three different taphole clays were prepared in the laboratory using different binder systems which include phenolic resin: 1) coal tar, 2) glycerine, and 3) petroleum waxy oil. The clays were evaluated and compared to the conventional coal tar and phenolic resin-containing clay used in platinum smelters. The evaluation methods employed included workability and extrusion pressure ageing, hardenability, strength development, and high-temperature properties, which comprised cold crushing strength after ageing at 200 °C, carbon yield, volatile organic compound concentration and apparent porosity. The results indicated that the preferred binder to replace coal tar was glycerine, as this clay retained both its plasticity and hardenability during ageing, while also attaining comparative strength development and high-temperature properties to those of the reference clay containing coal tar.
One Health interventions and challenges under rural African smallholder farmer settings : a scoping review
(Elsevier, 2025-06) Omuse, Evanson R.; Machekano, Honest; Sokame, Bonoukpoe M.; Mutyambai, Daniel M.; Dubois, Thomas; Subramanian, Sevgan; Chidawanyika, Frank
The global human population is rapidly increasing, escalating interactions of people, animals and the environment. This has led to more convoluted health challenges, for which African smallholder farmers bear the brunt. The One Health (OH) approach recognises the interconnectedness of these health challenges and thus follows a transdisciplinary approach involving diverse stakeholders to address them. Although there have recently been global concerted efforts and studies on OH, an information gap exists in Africa, particularly regarding smallholder farmers and their needs. Additionally, evaluation frameworks and outcome metrics for OH initiatives are still unclear. Thus, this study was conducted to critically map the available evidence of OH initiatives in the lens of African smallholder settings and identify gaps and opportunities for optimally targeted interventions. An extensive article searches yielded 1479 references, with only 21 studies from 11 countries qualifying for this review. Implementation of OH initiatives involved the collaboration of diverse stakeholders at local, national, regional and global levels. Most of the reported stakeholders of the OH initiatives were largely UN agencies, CGIAR centres, non-governmental organizations and universities. More than half of the studies focused on zoonotic and human-animal shared diseases. Conversely, few studies focused on human or animal food and nutrition security; land degradations; livelihoods and well-being; antimicrobial resistance, water sanitation and hygiene; food safety; soil health; crop health; biodiversity loss; climate change and gender equity. Effective capacity building, risk mitigation, social benefits, economic benefits, improved animal health and welfare, improved human health and well-being and improved ecosystem health and resilience were identified as OH outcomes. Based on the many evidence gaps, the OH initiatives must address health challenges mostly encountered by smallholder farmers with an increased focus on food security and safety, especially under the ongoing climate change. However, the successful implementation of OH initiatives was constrained by weak governance and coordination structures, poor communication and information sharing, lack of integrated surveillance system, limited community engagement, lack of political will, inadequate resources and logistical support, limited multi-disciplinarity and divergent priorities. Additionally, the lack of consensus on evaluation framework and outcomes highlights the need for an integrated standard framework for developing and implementing OH initiatives and harmonised outcome evaluation metrics to avoid under- or over-estimation of OH benefits.
Anti-phenolic glycolipid antibodies in Mycobacterium bovis infected cattle
(Elsevier, 2025-06) Zhou, Zijie; Van Hooij, Anouk; Van Dijk, J. Hessel M.; Musch, Nina; Pierneef, Louise; Khalid, Hamza; Franken, Kees; Holder, Thomas; Watt, Neil; Michel, Anita Luise; Codee, Jeroen D.C.; Vordermeier, Martin; Corstjens, Paul L.A.M.; Van der Heijden, Elisabeth M.D.L.; Hope, Jayne C.; Geluk, Annemieke
Mycobacterium bovis, the causative agent of bovine tuberculosis (bTB), causes significant financial losses in the agricultural industry. Additionally, M. bovis transmission from animals to humans can result in zoonotic TB, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), highlighting the need to enhance One Health surveillance to mitigate this threat.
Antibodies directed against a major mycobacterial cell wall component of M. leprae, phenolic glycolipid-I (PGL-I), have shown excellent performance in identifying M. leprae infection in humans and animals. In this study, we therefore investigated whether antibodies against M. bovis PGL similarly represent a useful biomarker for M. bovis infection in cattle.
Comparing sera from naturally M. bovis-infected and the single intradermal comparative cervical tuberculin test (SICCT)-negative cattle, we assessed the potential of M. bovis PGL antibodies to identify this mycobacterial infection. Our results show that serum levels of anti-M. bovis PGL IgG and -IgM in M. bovis-infected cattle were significantly higher than in the SICCT-negative cattle. The sensitivity for anti-M. bovis PGL IgM in infected animals was, however, moderate (44.9 %) and the false-positive rate was 6.3 % in SICCT-negative cattle. Notably, vaccination with BCG- or heat-killed M. bovis did not affect serum levels of anti-M. bovis PGL IgM in cattle. Moreover, none of the 57 anti-M. bovis PGL-seropositive cattle tested positive in the anti-M. leprae PGL-I assay. This study shows for the first time that anti M. bovis PGL antibodies can be detected in infected cattle: anti-M. bovis PGL IgM is a highly specific, but moderately sensitive biomarker for M. bovis infection in cattle, showing potential for differentiate infected from vaccinated animals (DIVA). It could be a valuable component in a multi-biomarker approach for diagnosing bTB.