Shutdowns & the New Jobs Coalitions: The Philadelphia Experience

[Excerpt] Surely the bleeding of Philadelphia-area jobs — 140,000 fewer manufacturing jobs in 1980 than in 1970 — set the climate. Yet the plant closing ordinance could not have been passed without the skillful organizing efforts of the Delaware Valley Coalition for Jobs (DVCJ). Virtually all of the pro-ordinance testimony presented in City Council hearings was orchestrated by DVCJ. At the hearings, DVCJ arranged for statements from dozens of witnesses - unionists, unemployed activists, families of laid-off workers, community leaders, clergy, lawyers, and academics (like myself). The victory in the Philadelphia City Council was a major accomplishment for DVCJ and the plant closing fight in general. But the new law is not being enforced by the city, and the anti-plant-closing movement is stalled. Partly, this situation arose because DVCJ is a defensively-oriented direct action group and not primarily a legislative lobbying group. The coalition paid less attention to the details of legislative processes and enforcement mechanisms than to rallying support for the idea of a law. DVCJ\u27s strength has been in mobilizing mass actions against plant closings and in agitating for full employment policies. Jobs coalitions such as DVCJ have great potential for changing the public agenda on job loss and unemployment, but they also have some inherent stumbling blocks. The example of DVCJ, one of the more successful jobs coalitions, illustrates some of the strengths and weaknesses of the movement against plant closings in general

Bestial boredom: a biological perspective on animal boredom and suggestions for its scientific investigation

Boredom is likely to have adaptive value in motivating exploration and learning, and many animals may possess the basic neurological mechanisms to support it. Chronic inescapable boredom can be extremely aversive, and understimulation can harm neural, cognitive and behavioural flexibility. Wild and domesticated animals are at particular risk in captivity, which is often spatially and temporally monotonous. Yet biological research into boredom has barely begun, despite having important implications for animal welfare, the evolution of motivation and cognition, and for human dysfunction at individual and societal levels. Here I aim to facilitate hypotheses about how monotony affects behaviour and physiology, so that boredom can be objectively studied by ethologists and other scientists. I cover valence (pleasantness) and arousal (wakefulness) qualities of boredom, because both can be measured, and I suggest boredom includes suboptimal arousal and aversion to monotony. Because the suboptimal arousal during boredom is aversive, individuals will resist low arousal. Thus, behavioural indicators of boredom will, seemingly paradoxically, include signs of increasing drowsiness, alongside bouts of restlessness, avoidance and sensation-seeking behaviour. Valence and arousal are not, however, sufficient to fully describe boredom. For example, human boredom is further characterized by a perception that time ‘drags’, and this effect of monotony on time perception can too be behaviourally assayed in animals. Sleep disruption and some abnormal behaviour may also be caused by boredom. Ethological research into this emotional phenomenon will deepen understanding of its causes, development, function and evolution, and will enable evidence-based interventions to mitigate human and animal boredom

Enhancing cross-institute generalisation of GNNs in histopathology through multiple embedding graph augmentation (MEGA)

Many recent methods for the analysis of histology whole slide images (WSIs) have used graph neural networks (GNNs) to aggregate visual information over a large image resolution. However, domain shift is a significant challenge in computational histopathology, due to differences in WSI appearance between institutes, and the effect of these differences on training GNNs has not been explored. In this work, we present the Multiple Embedding Graph Augmentation (MEGA) strategy to improve the cross-institute generalisation of GNNs in histology. We show that by introducing image augmentation and normalisation to the node features used to train a GNN, we can train a model that is robust to domain shift without additional labels or further training of the feature extractor. We compare MEGA to noise-based regularisation and demonstrate its effectiveness in a node classification tissue prediction task in placenta histology

Severe Clostridial Pyomyoma following an Abortion Does Not Always Require Surgical Intervention

Background. Clostridial infection following pregnancy may be fatal, and surgery is considered as the treatment of choice. We suggest a conservative management in selected cases when preservation of fertility is of major importance. Case. A 41-year-old primigravida presented with abdominal pain and fever, one day following dilatation and curettage at 20 weeks of gestation. Her abdomen was diffusely tender, with a uterus enlarged to 20 weeks' gestation. Laboratory studies were consistent with sepsis and hemolysis. CT demonstrated a gas-containing mass compressing the uterine cavity, and presence of air in pelvic veins. Blood cultures were positive for Clostridium perfringens. The patient was treated conservatively, with IV antibiotics and fluid resuscitation, and recovered. Conclusion. In selected cases of infected myoma complicated by clostridial sepsis, refraining from surgical intervention is a possible therapeutic approach

Using Worker Participation and Buyouts to Save Jobs

This book probes the effectiveness of two job-saving strategies, worker buyouts and QWL (quality of worklife) programs, used to try to reverse the shutdown of a chain of supermarkets in Philadelphia.https://research.upjohn.org/up_press/1113/thumbnail.jp

Job-Saving Strategies: Worker Buyouts and QWL

This book probes the effectiveness of two job-saving strategies, worker buyouts and QWL (quality of worklife) programs, used to try to reverse the shutdown of a chain of supermarkets in Philadelphia.https://research.upjohn.org/up_press/1113/thumbnail.jp

Enriched Environment Increases PCNA and PARP1 Levels in Octopus vulgaris Central Nervous System: First Evidence of Adult Neurogenesis in Lophotrochozoa

Organisms showing a complex and centralized nervous system, such as teleosts, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, and among invertebrates, crustaceans and insects, can adjust their behavior according to the environmental challenges. Proliferation, differentiation, migration, and axonal and dendritic development of newborn neurons take place in brain areas where structural plasticity, involved in learning, memory, and sensory stimuli integration, occurs. Octopus vulgaris has a complex and centralized nervous system, located between the eyes, with a hierarchical organization. It is considered the most "intelligent" invertebrate for its advanced cognitive capabilities, as learning and memory, and its sophisticated behaviors. The experimental data obtained by immunohistochemistry and western blot assay using proliferating cell nuclear antigen and poli (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 as marker of cell proliferation and synaptogenesis, respectively, revealed cell proliferation in areas of brain involved in learning, memory, and sensory stimuli integration. Furthermore, we showed how enriched environmental conditions affect adult neurogenesis

Obesity and Blood Pressure in 17-Year-Old Offspring of Mothers with Gestational Diabetes: Insights from the Jerusalem Perinatal Study

Objective. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) influences fetal development and offspring's metabolic risk. We evaluated this association in 17-year-old offspring adjusting for birth weight (BW) and prepregnancy maternal BMI (mBMI). Study Design. The JPS birth cohort contains extensive data on 92,408 births from 1964 to 1976. Offspring's BMI and blood pressure (BP) were obtained from military records. For a subcohort born between 1974 and 1976, prepregnancy mBMI was available. Offspring were classified as born to mothers with GDM (n = 293) or born to mothers without recorded GDM (n = 59,499). Results. GDM offspring had higher mean BMI and systolic and diastolic BP compared to no-recorded-GDM offspring. After adjusting for BW, GDM remained significantly associated with offspring BMI and diastolic BP (β = 1.169 and 1.520, resp.). In the subcohort, when prepregnancy mBMI was entered to the models, it markedly attenuated the associations with GDM. Conclusions. Maternal characteristics have long-term effects on cardiometabolic outcomes of their offspring aged 17 years