Academic literature on the topic 'Prickly bush'

Abstract A two-year experiment was conducted to determine growth responses of three North American desert native plants, brittle bush (Encelia farinosa), four wing salt bush (Atriplex canescens), and Santa Rita prickly pear cactus (Opuntia santa rita) to four landscape mulch treatments (shredded landscape tree trimmings, composted ponderosa pine residue, decomposing granite, or a no mulch control). In addition, brittle bush and four wing salt bush plants were drip irrigated with either 1275 liters (337 gal) or 2550 liters (674 gal) of water-plant−1year−1. Santa Rita prickly pear cacti were not irrigated. Transplant survivability of brittle bush was differentially affected by mulch treatment. In contrast, mulch treatments had no impact on survivability of four wing salt bush or Santa Rita prickly pear. Mulch treatments also had no effect on growth indices of all plants. Compared to the no mulch control treatment, shredded tree trimming mulch increased relative water content of Santa Rita prickly pear padded stems. Shoot dry weights were greatest for non-irrigated four wing salt bush and brittle bush. These findings suggest that supplemental drip irrigation and inorganic mulches might not be needed to grow some North American desert plants in southwest urban landscapes.

A new species of functionally dioecious bush tomato of Solanum subgenus Leptostemonum is described. Solanum scalarium Martine & T.M.Williams, sp. nov., is a member of the taxonomically challenging “Kimberley dioecious clade” in Australia and differs from other species in the group in its spreading decumbent habit and conspicuously prickly male floral rachis. The species is so far known from one site in Judbarra/Gregory National Park in the Northern Territory. Ex situ crosses and confirmation of inaperturate pollen grains produced in morphologically cosexual flowers indicate that these flowers are functionally female and the species is functionally dioecious. The scientific name reflects the ladder-like appearance of the inflorescence rachis armature of male individuals, the stone staircase that provides access to the type locality at the Escarpment Lookout Walk, and the importance of maintaining equitable and safe access to outdoor spaces. The common name Garrarnawun Bush Tomato is proposed in recognition of the lookout point at this site, a traditional meeting place of the Wardaman and Nungali-Ngaliwurru peoples whose lands overlap in this area.

In August, 1976, while conducting a search along the Brisbane River Banks for scarred trees, one of the writers (WL) discovered stone artefacts scattered on a pathway at the edge of the river about 2km from the Queensland University campus. Further examination of the area revealed the presence of a number of backed stone artefacts among an assemblage of flakes and cores. After enlisting the aid of the Prehistory section of The University of Queensland application was made to the Aboriginal Relics Advisory Committee for permission to make a collection of this assemblage. This paper reports the basic findings of that work and initiates an inquiry into the problem of how to estimate the degree of disturbance, especially trampling, a site has received by examining stone artefacts.

The characteristic of the biological characteristics of three varieties (Koktebel, Yuzanin, Radoslav) and three forms (forms 1, 2, 3) of Ziziphus jujuba, which have decorative features are given. Described varieties and forms are grown in the experimental farm «Novokakhovsky» (Kherson region). The recommendations for their use in landscaping southern Steppe of Ukraine are developed. We recommended using Ziziphus plants in landscape design in single and group plantings when creating plant compositions. Jujube decorates green lawn, perfect for creating avenues or shady corner. Unique is the form of 3 which sinuously-curved «serpentine» shoots. It almost does not overgrow, but needs annual formative pruning. No less interesting is the shape 2 (bush), needs no pruning, has a beautiful, spherical shape of the crown, continuing throughout life. Late in the growing season comes, it is not damaged by spring frosts, heavy, regular fruits, the fruits are stored on the bush until frost and winter partially on the plant than enhance decorative. Promising for use in landscaping is a variety of Koktebel. Plants in this class are of medium-grown, not prickly, with a very spreading, medium thick crown. The plant is decorated with large light-brown spherical fruits. Both the shape and grade of Koktebel will fit perfectly the landscape design as tapeworms. The results of biochemical analysis of fruits, leaves and shoots Ziziphus jujube are given. We determined the total content of phenolic compounds and flavonoids in the leaves, shoots and fruits of Ziziphus. A high content of phenolic compounds, and the maximum concentration was found to be present in Ziziphus leaves.

The study aimed to determine the effect of prickly pear cactus extract in inhibiting the growth of Staphylococcusaureus, Streptococcus mutans and Candida albicans. The laboratory experimental study using diffusion method. Theconcentration of the prickly pear cactus fruit extract used was 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%, whereas bacterial samplesderived from the laboratory of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Hasanuddin. The observation ofseveral concentrations showed a decrease in the number of colonies contained S.aureus, S.mutans, C.albicanssignificant with increasing concentrations of the prickly pear cactus fruit extract. From these observations, thelargest inhibitory concentration present in a concentration of 100%. The conclusion is the fruit of the prickly pearcactus extract can inhibit the growth of S.aureus, S.mutans, and C.albicans. The higher the concentration of theextract, the more reduced the growth of S.aureus colonies, S.mutans, and C.albicans and vice versa.

I think we learn to be worldly from grappling with, rather than generalizing from, the ordinary.—Donna HarawayThe question that preoccupies me in the light of recent global violence is, Who counts as human? Whose lives count as lives? And, finally, What makes for a grievable life?—Judith ButlerIn a New York Times editorial piece published in May 2007 about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Nicholas Kristof lamented, not for the first time, that people “aren't moved by genocide.” “The human conscience just isn't pricked by mass suffering,” Kristof continues, and yet, as both anecdotal evidence and scientific research have repeatedly shown, “an individual child (or puppy) in distress causes our hearts to flutter.” He recounts a series of psychological and sociological experiments that have borne out what he calls “the limits of rationality,” including the fact that people who hear narratives or see images that “prime the emotions” by focusing on the plight of an individual suffering creature—say, a baby or “a soulful dog in peril”—respond more vigorously to that suffering than those who have had their “rational side” primed by performing math problems. Perhaps, Kristof proposes in disgust, what the Darfur situation needs in order to achieve the public recognition it deserves—let alone to effect actual change—is not statistics of mass genocide but a very photogenic, if appropriately sad-eyed, poster child, “a suffering puppy with big eyes and floppy ears.” “If President Bush and the global public alike are unmoved by the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of fellow humans,” he despairingly concludes, “maybe our last, best hope is that we can be galvanized by a puppy in distress.”

Forest is a stretch of land that contains natural resources and has the potential to meet human needs. One of the benefits that are immediately taken from the forest is non-timber forest products in the form of plants for woven craft materials. the utilization of non-timber forest products as materials for woven crafts in Mekar Raya Village is not processed optimally and has not been well documented. This study aims to record and document non-timber forest products used by communities around the forest as raw materials for woven crafts and to find out the use of plants as woven materials in Mekar Raya Village, Simpang Dua District, Ketapang Regency. This study uses a survey method with data collection techniques using census techniques. Data was obtained through observation and interviews. The results showed that there were 15 species of plants used, namely marau rattan (Calamus mattanensis Blume), sega rattan (Calamus caesius Blume), row palm rattan (Calamus ciliaris), belubuk rattan (Calamus burckianus Beccari), shrimp rattan (Korthalsia echinometra Beccari), rattan rattan fine (Calamus hispidulus Becc), tali bamboo (Gigantochloa hasskarliana), talang bamboo (Schizostachyum brachycladum), Betung bamboo (Dendrocalamus asper), pring bamboo (Bambusa arundinacea) tingel bamboo (Schizostachyum flexuosum), resam (Dicranopterisagu linearis), bemban (Donnax canniformis), prickly pandanus (Pandanus tectorius). which produces as many as 33 produce of webbing such as Badang, oyik podi, kerampan, pingan, bag, badah fruit, lid serving, keranyang, bakol, prada, labong subang, pemangkong mattress, trige, tangol, troket, nyiruk, temasok tomik, ngora, ujo , sengkurung, circular, bracelet, ring, roof of the house, copan, temasok tomik, pretentious perogoh, pretentious ignition, bajot, and omak.Keywords: Ethnobotany, Crafts, Society.Abstrak Hutan merupakan hamparan lahan yang mengandung sumber daya alami dan memiliki potensi untuk memenuhi kebutuhan manusia. Salah satu manfaat yang lansung diambil dari hutan adalah hasil hutan bukan kayu berupa tumbuhan untuk bahan kerajinan anyaman. pemanfaatan hasil hutan bukan kayu sebagai bahan kerajinan anyaman di Desa Mekar Raya kurang diolah dengan maksimal dan belum terdokumentasi dengan baik. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendata dan mendokumentasikan hasil hutan bukan kayu yang dimanfaatkan oleh masyarakat sekitar hutan sebagai bahan baku kerajinan anyaman dan mengetahui pemanfaatan tumbuhan sebagai bahan anyaman di Desa Mekar Raya Kecamatan Simpang Dua Kabupaten Ketapang. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode survei dengan teknik pengumpulan data menggunakan teknik sensus. Data diperoleh melalui observasi dan wawancara. Hasil penelitian menunjukan ada 15 jenis tumbuhan yang digunakan yaitu rotan marau (Calamus mattanensis Blume) rotan sega (Calamus caesius Blume), rotan palem baris (Calamus ciliaris) rotan belubuk (Calamus burckianus Beccari), rotan udang (Korthalsia echinometra Beccari), rotan rotan halus (Calamus hispidulus Becc), bambu tali (Gigantochloa hasskarliana), bambu talang (Schizostachyum brachycladum), bambu Betung (Dendrocalamus asper), bambu pring (Bambusa arundinacea) bambu tingel (Schizostachyum flexuosum), resam (Dicranopteris linearis) Rumbia (metroxylon sagu), bemban (Donnax canniformis), pandan berduri (Pandanus tectorius). yang menghasilkan sebanyak 33 jenis produk anyaman seperti Badang, oyik podi, kerampan, pingan, tas, badah buah, tutup saji, keranyang, bakol, prada, labong subang, pemangkong kasur, trige, tangol, troket, nyiruk, temasok tomik, ngora, ujo, sengkurung, bundar, gelang, cincin, atap rumah, copan, temasok tomik, sok perogoh, sok penyalan, bajot, dan omak. Kata kunci: Etnobotani, Kerajinan, Masyarakat.

Abstract Introduction. Anemia is a common cause of global morbidity and mortality, disproportionately affecting women and children living in resource-limited settings. The etiology of anemia is multifactorial, but sickle cell disease (SCD) is one of the most important causes and is associated with significant morbidity and early mortality. Simple, inexpensive, point-of-care (POC) diagnostic assays for both anemia and SCD could allow for timely, life-saving medical interventions. Recently developed POC assays have been evaluated in controlled laboratory settings by experienced US investigators, but their feasibility and accuracy have yet to be evaluated in a busy low-resource setting by minimally trained local end-users. In the Robust Assays for Point-of-care Identification of Disease (RAPID) study, we simultaneously evaluated POC assays for both anemia and SCD in Mwanza, Tanzania. Methods. RAPID was a prospective study performed at Bugando Medical Centre, a busy referral hospital in northwest Tanzania. Patients <21 years old were recruited from the sickle cell clinic, the outpatient pediatric clinic, the emergency department, and the inpatient pediatric ward. SCD status was determined using Sickle SCANTM (Biomedomics, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina), a POC lateral flow assay able to qualitatively identify the presence of HbS, HbC, and HbA. The presence and severity of anemia was determined using a first generation novel POC color-based assay that quantifies the hemoglobin concentration by chemically altering the sample's color and comparing it to a pre-defined color scale. Both assays are performed using 5-10 μL of blood collected by finger prick, providing results within 5 minutes. Hemoglobin electrophoresis and a complete blood count (CBC) were also completed for each participant. Both POC assays were independently interpreted by 2 care providers at the bedside, one being an experienced primary member of the RAPID study team and the other a minimally trained medical staff member. Interobserver agreement was calculated, and the sensitivity and specificity of each POC assay was determined using the electrophoresis and CBC results as the gold standard. The sickle cell POC devices were provided free-of-charge by Biomedomics. They had no access to the data or results. Results. RAPID recruited 752 participants (age range 1 day to 20 years, average age 5.2 ± 4.2 years), and data were available for 745. Children were primarily recruited from the inpatient pediatric ward (58.2%) or the sickle cell clinic (38.5%). Two individuals served as Scorer 1, and they interpreted 99% of the assays. Scorer 2 included 136 different Tanzanian pediatricians, interns, students, and nurses. Sensitivity and specificity for the SCD POC assay were excellent for both Scorer 1 (sensitivity 99.4%; specificity 94%) and Scorer 2 (sensitivity 98.1%; specificity 91.1%), with excellent interobserver agreement (Kappa = 0.95). The absolute difference (mean ± SD) between the color-based anemia POC assay and the CBC result was 1.0 ± 0.9 g/dL for Scorer 1 and 1.1 ± 0.9 g/dL for Scorer 2. There was a moderately strong correlation between the anemia POC assay and the measured hemoglobin concentration (r=0.65), and the POC assay had 83.2% sensitivity and 74.5% specificity for detection of severe anemia (Hb ≤7 g/dL, n=171). Interobserver agreement was excellent in the POC anemia assay (r = 0.96). Conclusions. RAPID provides practical feasibility data regarding two novel POC assays for the diagnosis of anemia and SCD in a real-world field evaluation within sub-Saharan Africa. The POC SCD device was highly sensitive and specific compared to the laboratory result, even when interpreted by numerous minimally trained personnel with variable expertise in clinical medicine. The first generation POC anemia assay demonstrated good correlation with the laboratory result and showed excellent interobserver agreement. Pilot results for the POC anemia assay are being used to design a subsequent generation, better suited for low-resource settings. Overall, the pilot data for these POC assays represent important steps toward refining and implementing them in limited resource settings where they are needed the most. Disclosures Tyburski: Sanguina, LLC: Equity Ownership. Lam: Sanguina, LLC: Equity Ownership. Ware: Agios: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Global Blood Therapeutics: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.

Research Question: The objective of this particular piece of research was to evaluate the condition of the real estate market in the period preceding the pandemic outbreak. Motivation: Our goal was to determine whether real estate has been overpriced, i.e., whether and when speculative bubbles began to form and whether there were indications of their bursting. This paper brings together the need for discussing theories that can potentially explain the real estate market bubbles and boom-bust cycles (Gleaser &Nathanson, 2014) and the new approach which proved promising to detect the exuberance of economic and financial activities (Phillips, Shi &Yu, 2015). Potential collapse of real estate prices would have devastating effects and would likely cause a collapse of the financial system. Idea: The core idea of this paper was to evaluate whether speculative bubbles could be detected in the real estate market over the period immediately before the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus pandemic, and whether the pandemic or the financial crisis arising from it led to bursting of bubbles in this market and consequently brought their economies into even deeper crises. Data: Quarterly price movements were analyzed in the real estate market in six countries: Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia in the period Q1 1980 - Q4 2019 for Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom; Q1 2002 - Q4 2019 for Serbia and Croatia and Q1 2007 - Q4 2019 for Slovenia. Tools: Empirical analysis has been performed by utilizing generalized sub-augmented Dickey-Fuller (GSADF) test of unit roots for the detection and data stamping of bubbles in the real estate market in time series at hand. Findings: In conclusion, grand European shutdown and COVID pandemic apparently did not prick multiplicity of previously formed real estate bubbles, at least not for the time being. Moreover, in several developing countries with stunted financial markets, the virus may have somewhat paradoxically solidified real estate prices and even sustained a build-up of rational real estate bubbles. Contribution: This paper expands previous research on real estate bubbles and provides new insights into the initial consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

IntroductionPeople say, “don’t you ever want to come off?” I don’t know. The thought of me getting up without taking something is totally... to me that’s normal. If I haven’t taken anything then I’m not normal. And for me to even, I can’t contemplate not taking something, you know. I’m not a lost cause. I know what my problem is. It’s other people that want me to stop. I don’t want to stop. I don’t want to. Does that make sense to you? (Mya)This extract is taken from an interview that formed part of my doctoral research looking at people’s experiences of injecting drug use and treatment services in London, UK. Here I consider one of the ways participants described their use of drugs through a concept of becoming “normal.” I pay particular attention to Mya’s account and explore the very sense-making that her question (above) demands. Mya uses the concept of normality not only to reflect how drugs have become part of her everyday routines, or part of feeling normal, but actually in materially becoming herself—in embodying a “normal body.” As she puts it, “if I haven’t taken anything then I am not normal.” In this sense, Mya’s problem is not the drugs, but the people who want her to stop taking them. This understanding is important for challenging recent policy shifts towards reducing opiate replacement/substitution services in the UK (HM Government; Home Office).Methods The study took place from January to September 2014, and included participant observation at a drug treatment service, interviews with service providers, and “creative” interviews with people who inject drugs. The project was granted ethical approval by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Ethics Committee and the NHS Regional Ethics Committee. All participants were given pseudonyms.The creative interview is a term coined by Jennifer Mason to describe an in-depth semi-structured interview which produces additional types of data beyond the spoken word. The method was employed to explore participants’ feelings of embodiment as enacted in the drug-using “event.” I used a body mapping (drawing) task in these interviews to aid the communication of hard-to-articulate visceral experiences and depict the many actors, human and nonhuman, involved. (For a fuller explanation of the “events” perspective and methods taken in this study, please see Dennis 2016.) Below, I draw both from Mya’s narrative and her pictorial account.Becoming “Normal” with DiamorphineMya is a 52-year-old woman who was recruited to the study through word of mouth. She attended a supervised injecting clinic where another participant informed her about the study. The purpose of this clinic is to prescribe injectable diamorphine (pharmaceutical heroin) for clients to administer under supervised conditions. This unique service is specifically targeted at people who have previously struggled with the more orthodox opiate substitution treatments, such as methadone and buprenorphine. Mya explained that she had a long history of using street heroin, but in the last ten years has been injecting legally and has also illegally sought diamorphine. Mya’s drug use had become very hard to sustain financially, both in paying for private prescriptions and in the illegal drugs market, and therefore she wanted a prescription through the National Health Service. She was told that this was only possible through this clinic. However, the clinic’s intention was always to reduce this consumption, which Mya did not want to accept. This is because, as she explained, without drugs she is “not normal.”A rhetoric of “normality,” as deployed in the drug field, has taken two dominant paths. The first is in Parker et al.’s “normalisation thesis,” which documents a move during the 1990s when drug use, albeit “recreational drug use,” became increasingly common. A concept of “normalisation” is used to explain this social shift in acceptability towards drug taking. The second lies in a Foucauldian-influenced embodied idea of performing normality in line with dominant neoliberal discourses. For example, Nettleton et al.’s study with recovering heroin users employs a concept of “normalisation” to explore the ways in which people talk about regaining certain bodily practices to fit in with “the norm.” Using the work of Michel Foucault, and his concept of governmentality more specifically, Nettleton et al. argue that “normalisation” is “a crucial aspect of neo-liberal societies, where individuals are encouraged through [decentralised] political projects to become normal: ‘the judges of normality are everywhere’ (Foucault, 1977)” (175). Although there are vast differences, both these accounts seem to share an understanding of normality as a socially or discursively produced set of practices.However, Mya’s narrative of becoming normal seems to be doing something different. She highlights how she becomes normal with drugs in a way that suggests that without drugs she is not normal. This highlights the material work involved in achieving this “normal” state. It is clear that being normal is something we do (both theories above consider normal behaviour as performative) rather than it being pre-defined. But for Mya this is enacted in an ontological rather than learnt way as she connects with drugs. To know normality—“to me that’s normal”—and to be normal—“if I haven’t taken anything then I’m not normal”—are conflated. Karen Barad, in her theory of agential realism, would call this an intra-action rather than an inter-action, where what we know (epistemology) and what is (ontology) collide, or rather elide. It is in these entanglements of matter and meaning that Mya becomes normal. Mya’s narrative highlights the human body as an assemblage (Deleuze and Guattari) in which drugs have become a part. In this sense, drugs can be seen as part of this embodied self rather than separate. Consequently, Mya’s account is about more than how her body interacts with drugs, but rather how they become together. Drawing from Deleuze’s ontology of becoming, this is the idea that life does not start with any given entities or organisms, but that these forms are brought into being through the forces of life, and as such they are in a constant state of flux, becoming something else.This can challenge ideas of “recovery” (e.g. Home Office) where people are expected to remove themselves from drugs in order to regain their “normal” self. If one’s “normal” includes drugs this calls into question the very attempt to de-couple an entangled relationship that, as another participant put it, “has been a long time in the making” (my emphasis). Therefore, it is perhaps not surprising that Mya explains with a heavy heart that she is feeling substantial pressure to reduce her prescription. She feels the clinic staff fail to understand how drugs are part of her and what constitutes her “normal.” Thus, as she sees it, her “problem” is not the drugs themselves, but the people who want her to stop taking them. Mya’s frustrations start to make more sense—to return to the question in the epigraph—when we think about the body as something we do, involved in a constant task of keeping oneself together.Keeping Oneself TogetherOne does not hang together as a matter of course: keeping oneself together is something the embodied person needs to do. The person who fails to do so dies. (Mol and Law 43)Mol and Law argue that bodies are not something we have but something we do, and that bodies are actively held together through a series of practices. For instance, in their example of hypoglycaemia, a pin prick of blood needs to be taken for the condition to be known, and then counteracted by eating a sugary substance (49). Thinking about Mya’s account of becoming normal in these terms, drugs, instead of being seen as “evil” objects of misuse, can, for Mya at least, be part of this vital (life) project of keeping oneself together. This thoroughly blurs the distinctions between “good” medicine (life sustaining/enhancing) and “bad” drugs of abuse (life destroying). Following a Deleuzian understanding of the human body as an assemblage, making the body “actualise” as one is a process of life: “‘A’ or ‘a’ (one) is always the index of a multiplicity: an event, a singularity, a life...” (Deleuze 388). As such, making bodily boundaries becomes essential. For Mya, drugs are part of this individualisation process in quite overt ways. For example, in her body map (Figure 1) she drew a picture of herself inside a cloud, with voices shouting inwards, penetrating the barrier from outside. About these she said, they are “shouting at me,” “telling me what to do,” and “what’s best for me.” But she was at pains to point out that the depicted cloud is not about representing a pleasurable or disassociated feeling, but more to do with blocking out these intruding voices telling her how to live her life so that they “can’t get to me”:Mya: That makes it sound like the drug makes me feel like I’m in a cloud, it doesn’t, cos I just feel normal, it just helps me to, to deal with things better, it helps me to get less stressful, does that make sense?Author: Normal?Mya: YeahAuthor: So if you haven’t had it, you feel more on edge?Mya: I’m a complete nervous wreck. I’ll be jumping everywhere, you know, if someone opens the window of a bus and I’m jumping.Figure 1: Mya’s Body MapFor Mya, then, her drug use is not about pleasure, or pain for that matter, but about something altogether more vital: it is about keeping together in a stressful, invasive world, to “deal with things better.” It seems that Mya’s drawing—through which she was asked to depict her feelings when using drugs—is about trying to hold the permeable, leaky body together. For the injecting body, which regularly incorporates and excorporates drugs, is an active/metabolic body:The active body has semi-permeable boundaries [...] inside and outside are not so stable. Metabolism, after all, is about eating, drinking and breathing; about defecating, urinating and sweating. For a metabolic body incorporation and excorporation are essential. (Mol and Law 54)A similar argument is made by Vitellone, citing Keane:Heroin is not separate from but becomes central to the body, selfhood, and processes of individualization. Thus according to Keane “a drug is something external that becomes internalized, blurring the distinction between not only inside/outside but also self/other”. (166; see also Keane)In Mya’s drawing and account, drugs are intimately involved in the task of individuating—in making clear boundaries between her and the world. In this sense, her drawing of a cloud can be seen almost like an extra layer of skin.This also occurs in the accounts of two other participants. One female participant commented on how, without drugs, she does not feel herself, to the point that she said, “I don’t want to be in my own skin.” And a male participant also used similar language to note that without heroin (even though he is prescribed methadone, an opiate substitute) he can feel “disembodied”:Everything is all “oh oh” [he makes sounds and body movements to show a fear of things getting too close] like that, everything is like right, like if you’re trying to walk around the streets and it’s just like you can’t handle busy high streets and you know busy like tubes and ...In these accounts, drugs are playing a key role in this boundary work, that is, in enacting the body as One. This resonates strongly with Donna Haraway’s idea of individualisation as “a strategic defense problem” (212). This is the idea that the individual body is not something we are born with, but something we strive towards. Haraway argues that “bodies have become cyborgs,” where “the cyborg is text, machine, body, and metaphor” (212). Mya takes great care in making sure that I have understood this process of boundary-making, which is essential to the cyborg, and on several occasions checks back with me to confirm that she is making sense. She gives the impression that she has been explaining these feelings for years, but still does not feel fully understood. This is perhaps why she seems so thrilled when she feels I have finally got a handle on the dynamic:Mya: But the methadone makes me feel heavy, lethargic, with the diamorphine I can get on with being normal, more better, and not so sleepy, does that make sense? [...] It just helps me cope with everything. You know what I mean, everything. Even ...Author: Like taking the edge off things?Mya: That’s it, the edge off things, you’ve got it! I’ve never thought of that before, that’s a good way of putting it.Author: No cos I was thinking about what you were saying about how you can feel anxious and stuff, and I can imagine it just ...Mya: You’re right, you’ve done it in a nut shell there. Cos people have asked me that before and I haven’t been able to answer. That is a good answer. It takes the edge of things. Yeah.At the end of the interview, and long past this initial reference, Mya shows appreciation of this phrase once more, as an expression which she feels could help in her bid to be better understood:Author: Anyway, I’ll end the interview there.Mya: Was that alright?Author: Yeah, perfect. Is there anything else that you think is important that I’ve missed out?Mya: No not at all. I think you’ve just helped me there by saying it takes the edge off things, I’ve been trying to put that into words for a long time, I didn’t know how to say it ...Although these experiences are of course linked to withdrawal symptoms as a particular arrangement of bodily connections, when I ask about this, it is evident that it is also about something more. For example, in trying to get at why Mya feels she needs diamorphine rather than methadone, she talks about it being “cleaner,” “purer,” “less groggy.” And even though I prompt her on the potential enjoyment, she links “the buzz” to being able to get on with “normal things,” saying “I can act more normal with the heroin”:Mya: Definitely it’s less groggy.Author: And does it give you a slight buzz also?Mya: Sometimes it does yeah. Like I can get on with my housework better and things like that, day to day things, I can act more normal with the heroin. With just the methadone, things just slip.With an interesting use of the term, Mya says that with methadone (which would be the more usual opiate prescribed in heroin treatment) “things just slip.” Again, there is a sense of diamorphine holding her together, in a way that without it she would “slip.” This perhaps highlights the slipperiness of connections that are only ever “partial” (Haraway 181). Rather than becoming too porous, with methadone she becomes too shut off or “groggy,” and again her body becomes unable to do things. This is perhaps why she is so insistent that diamorphine stays put in her life: “I’m not going to lie, even if I don’t get it, I’m still going to use the diamorphine.” Or, in Haraway’s words, she “would rather be a cyborg than a goddess”(181) —she would rather endure the political and potentially criminal consequences of requiring this “outside” substance than pretend to live apart from/above the material world.ConclusionWhen we consider bodies as something we do, rather than have, we see that rather than Mya’s account of normality reflecting a social change (Parker et al.) or solely discursive embodiment (Nettleton et al.), it actually refers to how she becomes her “normal self” in more material ways. Mya’s account thoroughly disrupts a separation of object/subject, as well as several other binaries that underpin contemporary ideas of psychoactive drug use and the body, including drug/medicine, inner/outer, self/other, and of course, normal/pathological. Instead, and in trying to do justice to Mya’s question which opened the essay, her body is seen connecting with drugs in a way that holds her together (as One) in becoming “normal.” Consequently, her fears over having these drugs stopped are very real concerns over a disruption to her corporeality, which demand to be taken seriously. This calls for urgent questions to be asked over current UK policy trends toward eliminating diamorphine prescribing services (see O’Mara) and reducing opiate substitution more generally.References Barad, Karen. Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning. Durham: Duke UP, 2007.Deleuze, Gilles. “Immanence: A Life.” Two Regimes of Madness: Texts and Interviews 1975–1995. Ed. David Lapoujade. New York: Semiotext(e), 2006. 384­–91.Deleuze, Gilles, and Felix Guattari. A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia. London: Continuum, 2004.Dennis, Fay. “Encountering ‘Triggers:’ Drug-Body-World Entanglements of Injecting Drug Use.” Contemporary Drug Problems (2016). <http://cdx.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/03/14/0091450916636379.full.pdf?ijkey=6yYSsmgMiHATwe6&keytype=finite>.Haraway, Donna. Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature. London: Free Association Books, 1991. HM Government. “Drug Strategy 2010: Reducing Demand, Restricting Supply, Building Recovery: Supporting People to Live a Drug Free Life.” Home Office, 2010. 1 Jan. 2011 <https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/98026/drug-strategy-2010.pdf>.Home Office. “Putting Full Recovery First.” Home Office, 2012. 5 Feb. 2013 <https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/98010/recovery-roadmap.pdf>.Keane, Helen. What’s Wrong with Addiction? Melbourne: Melbourne UP, 2002.Mason, Jennifer. “What Is Creative Interviewing?” 2010. 10 May 2013 <http://www.method s.manchester.ac.uk/methods/creativeinterviewing/>.Mol, Annemarie, and John Law. “Embodied Action, Enacted Bodies. The Example of Hypoglycaemia.” Body & Society 10.2 (2004): 43-62.Nettleton, Sarah, Joanne Neale, and Lucy Pickering. “‘I Just Want to Be Normal’: An Analysis of Discourses of Normality among Recovering Heroin Users.” Health 17.2 (2013): 174–190.O’Mara, Erin. “The State We’re In: Heroin Prescribing in the UK.” Drink and Drug News (Dec. 2015). 20 Jan. 2016 <https://drinkanddrugsnews.com/the-state-were-in-2/>.Parker, Howard, Judith Aldridge, and Fiona Measham. Illegal Leisure: The Normalization of Adolescent Recreational Drug Use. Hove: Routledge, 1998.Vitellone, Nicole. “The Rush: Needle Fixation or Technical Materialization?” Journal for Cultural Research 7.2 (2003): 165–177.

Prosopis spp. are prolific seeders with estimates of seed production reaching from 630,000 to 980,000 seeds per mature tree per annum (Felker 1979; Harding 1988). Prosopis velutina shrubs have been recorded to produce up to 5,000 seeds per year (Glendening and Paulsen

1955). The plant has the ability to establish on disturbed or bare soil and can develop into very dense infestations. The plant often grows on scalded areas devoid of other vegetation and out-competes native herbage for moisture and light.

The plant is armed with long axillary spines; it branches from the base and has long arching stems. Its leaves are not commonly eaten by sheep and bovine breeds. Consequently, it forms dense stands that restrict the movement of stock, particularly around watering points, and this interferes with mustering.

There are many options for control of mesquite with herbicide application being integral in a management suite of mesquite control initiatives. Other control methods, which limit its distribution and spread, include mechanical removal, grazing management, competitive pasture

establishment, biological control, and a burning regime where adequate fuel is available.

The thesis discusses merits of the Prosopis species. Commonly known as mesquite or prickly bush, the Australian pest plant is endemic in the southern United States. The description then turns to how the weed was introduced into Queensland at both Quilpie and Hughenden in the north of the state. Some detail is given to its distribution and the effects on primary producers and the environment, and on the cost of control initiatives conducted through the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines. 

Scientific findings from the research process are considerable given the base knowledge when the mesquite research project was revived in 1989. Initially, a research review of available literature was conducted revealing a large pool of knowledge from the United States of America. Their research findings on foliar applied herbicides have resulted in a high utilization of tank mixes principally containing triclopyr + clopyralid formulations sometimes with hydrocarbon additives. A more comprehensive summary of field research findings for Queensland is compiled as part of this thesis (Chapter 8) and presents some herbicide control options and constraints that may qualify their performance. Basal stem research in North America has produced many adopted recommendations. There have been numerous experiments on controlling mesquite with herbicides with many referred to in Control of Mesquite in the USA (Chapter 1). 

Chapter 2 presents a comparative analysis conducted to determine the different effects of applied herbicides to targeted young mesquite when applied in early summer compared to application in autumn. Formulations of fluroxypyr as well as metsulfuron methyl did not prove

efficacious in this trial. For the first time glyphosate proved to be a valuable herbicide in controlling mesquite when applied in autumn. Triclopyr + picloram and triclopyr alone proved to be more effective following wet conditions when applied in the early summer compared to the autumn application. However, treated plants growing adjacent to continuous paddock ponding were able to recover. Clopyralid exhibited high efficacy in both early summer and autumn treatment applications. 

Following poor control of Prosopis velutina at Quilpie by treatments recommended for control

of Prosopis pallida, a potted plant pilot trial was conducted to determine if the two species responded similarly (Chapter 3). The results indicated that Prosopis velutina was ineffectively controlled by herbicide application, at standard rates, compared to the control of Prosopis pallida. The follow-on replicated trial detail in Chapter 4 indicates a similar response for both

species. The effects of the treatments indicated differing susceptibility between the two species,

with metsulfuron, fluroxypyr, 2,4-D + picloram and triclopyr + picloram demonstrating the most pronounced differences compared to the glyphosate formulations here negligible difference occurred. A re -application of all herbicides to the surviving plants, and to a control

group, indicated that susceptibility can decrease when a follow-up application is in autumn and the time since initial application is short. This trend was particularly noticeable for P. velutina where previous sub -lethal damage prevented effective herbicide action. 

More fieldwork was conducted following this shade -house work as a prolific growth phase occurred in Quilpie mesquite in the early summer of 1999 (Chapter 5). Four glyphosate, and four triclopyr tank mixes and a control set out in each of three habitats made up the 27 plots evaluated in this aerial herbicide experiment. The triclopyr + picloram formulations at 5 and 7 L ha -1 with the addition of paraffinic oil (582 g L-1) and non-ionic surfactants (208 g L-1) produced the most efficacious and uniform results although triclopyr treatment with the addition of 1000 g L-1 alcohol alkoxylate produced similar results. However, the long-term effect was compromised because of the lack of a residual component in this formulation. 

A more manageable result was obtained when larger older plants were foliar overall sprayed using truck -mounted high pressure equipment (Chapter 6). A total of 33 treatments were assessed after each of four assessments of various herbicide mixtures. A blocking factor was plant density. Glyphosate tank formulations were consistently more efficient than other treatments, at all densities, except in combination with metsulfuron methyl. In the low density plots flumetsulam 0.10 g L-1 + glyphosate 3.60 g L-1 tank mix performed significantly better

than other treatments between the second and third applications and the third and fourth applications. Treatments containing clopyralid also showed high efficacy.  

A further experiment using the most common method of control (basal stem application technology) was conducted using dieseline as the herbicide carrier in March 1995 (Chapter 7).

The higher strength treatments with dicamba and triclopyr formulations showed the most activity irrespective of plant size (> 1.5 m or < 1.5 m) or water availability with the higher strength of each formulation, dichloromethoxybenzoic amine @ 10 g a.i. L-1 and triclopyr butoxyethyl ester 10 g a.i. L-1, being the most efficacious and not showing significant differenc from each other. 

In conclusion a three-year cycle planner was developed incorporating best control strategies researched within this thesis (Chapter 8). Suggestions were also put forward covering grazing management to enhance the effect of control strategies.

Packing Insulation Was Mike Patrick’s first job at Midwest Manufacturing. He was one of 300 men, mostly young, hired in January 1959 to help Admiral, a Chicago-based company that owned the Galesburg factory, meet America’s seemingly insatiable postwar appetite for appliances. He had failed an eye test during the nurse’s exam at the factory and had to get glasses before he started. Patrick had suspected he needed glasses because he always had trouble see­ing the chalkboard from the back of the room in high school. But because he was an athlete, he didn’t want to tie glasses around his head during basketball games. New hires got the nastiest, most grueling jobs, and stuffing insulation— which was like prickly cotton candy—into bare metal cabinets was one of them. The cabinets came from the metal-cutting area of the factory known as the “black line,” because the steel, darkened with oil, hadn’t yet been painted. The black line was the birthplace of these early Admiral refrigerators. Flatbed semis unloaded massive rolls of thick steel from Chicago—the plant used 10 rolls a day, 50 million pounds a year—that cutters and folding machines would shape into five sides. Gun welders then joined what would become the back, the two sides, and the top and bottom of the refrigerator. They left the door for later. The fused steel cabinet dangled from an overhead conveyor as it rode to the paint shop to be cleaned of its oily residue and painted. It would continue on the conveyor to a cabinet bank, where the empty cabinets gathered until they were needed on the line. When the scheduler called for them, men would slide the cabinets to the line across a concrete floor, which had been treated with a smooth, protective coating to prevent damage. A young man then spread scalding, gooey tar into the corners and up and down the creases of the bare metal cabinets. He shot the tar out of a pistol-gripped nozzle attached to a long canvas hose that he snaked in and around the metal shell.