Tag: Competition

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Exploitation in Micro and Macro by Jerome Berglund

reproduction of
creepy manor in small scale
capital idea

By Jerome Berglund

Just as certain species of ants given ample opportunity will attempt to enslave other species, their victims must remain constantly vigilant to maintain or fight desperately to regain liberty. Social and economic patterns of exploitation and expropriation if not guarded against fiercely and checked through education and equitable distribution of resources can disrupt and endanger vulnerable populations under any conditions, from systems of the most diminutive sizes no less than those largest.

Further reading: 

Slave-making ants (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slave-making_ant

Author bio:

Jerome Berglund, recently nominated for the 2022 Touchstone awards, graduated from USC’s film program, worked in the entertainment industry before returning to the midwest where he has been employed as everything from dishwasher to paralegal, night watchman to assembler of heart valves.  Jerome has exhibited many haiku, senryu and haiga online and in print, most recently in the Asahi Shimbun, Bear Creek Haiku, Bamboo Hut, Cold Moon Journal, Daily Haiga, Failed Haiku, Haiku Dialogue, Scarlet Dragonfly, Under the Basho, and the Zen Space. You can follow him on Twitter @BerglundJerome and find more of his poetry here:  https://flowersunmedia.wixsite.com/jbphotography/post/haiku-senryu-and-haiga-publications

Check out more sciku from Jerome here: ‘Environmental Charlie Browns’, ‘Illusion’, and ‘Civil Disobedience’, and ‘Vested Interests’.

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Fussy Eaters

When it comes to food,
a devil may indeed care.
Picky scavengers.

Scavengers are opportunists, feeding whenever and on whatever they can. If an animal relies primarily on scavenging (instead of hunting) then food is not guaranteed and so it’s important to feed when they can. As a result, scavengers shouldn’t be picky eaters.

Yet recent research by Lewis et al. (2022) suggests that the Tasmanian devil may buck these expectations. The researchers took whisker samples from devils caught around Tasmania and analysed the stable isotopes present in them to determine what the devils had been eating.

Rather than seeing the generalised diet typical of a scavenger, the researchers found that most Tasmanian devils are actually dietary specialists, preferring to feed on specific foods (for example birds, wallabies or possums). Curiously, heavier devils were more likely to show this specialisation in feeding behaviour, although the reasons for this are as yet unknown.

So why are Tasmanian devils different from all other scavengers?

It may be because there are no larger predators to compete with in Tasmania – their main competition is each other. Medium-sized mammals, such as wallabies and possum, are common victims of road collisions which may mean that there’s an abundance of carcasses of these species for devils to choose from, which combined with reduced competition enables dietary specialisation.

Further reading: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ECE3.8338

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Mistletoe

festive parasites
regulating virulence
to preserve their hosts

Mistletoe is a parasitic plant often found growing on hardwoods, such as apple trees. Whilst able to photosynthesize itself, the majority of a mistletoe plant’s water and nutrients are taken from its host, putting strain on the host plant.

The burden of parasitism can be particularly hard on the host when environmental conditions are tough, for instance during a drought. Research by Nabity et al. (2021), however, has shown that the desert mistletoe (Phoradendron californicum) is able to adjust the balance between autotrophy (the amount it obtains resources for itself through photosynthesis) and heterotrophy (the amount it takes resources from its host).

During dry periods the researchers found that desert mistletoe plants increased the amount of photosynthesis they performed, limiting the burden they place on their environmentally stressed host, the velvet mesquite (Prosopsis velutina). In this way mistletoe plants increase the chances of their host plants surviving the harsh environmental conditions and, as a result, increase their own chances of survival.

The researchers also demonstrated evidence of competition for xylem resources between mistletoe plants on the same host, some of the first evidence of intraspecific competition in parasites. The mistletoe plants are able to detect other mistletoe plants on the same host and can adjust their virulence accordingly. Possible ways that mistletoe could detect one another include via scent (chemical compounds released through a plant’s pores) or through chemical compounds traveling along the host’s xylem.

The research also suggests that levels of relatedness between mistletoe plants sharing the same host may even affect virulence. More research is needed to clarify this, however, and to investigate whether the plants can actually detect relatedness or whether mistletoe’s method of seed dispersal simply means that plants sharing the same host are likely to have higher levels of relatedness than mistletoe plants on separate hosts.

Further reading: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.01.034

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Digging for Truffles by Professor Michael Hauskeller

In mid-2021 The Sciku Project teamed up with the Literature and Science Hub at the University of Liverpool to run the ‘Research in Verse Poetry Competition’, open to staff and postgraduate research students across the university to submit poems about their research subject. The competition saw poems addressing all sorts of topics, ranging from gravity to slavery to life in the lab.

First prize was won by Professor Michael Hauskeller for his poem ‘Digging for Truffles’:

Digging for Truffles

Do something important, we’re told,
Be a Shakespeare, a Newton, a Plato.
Only greatness can fill
The vast empty spaces.
The little lives are lost.

Cure cancer, make history,
save the world, make it count.
Don’t just laugh and love and live
Like any other
Ordinary person.

If you do, your life’s pointless,
A dog’s life, a pig’s, barely human.
Life’s worth living but for those
Who shine bright and bold,
Saved by the glory of their accomplishments.

You and I, though, we carry on,
Quite content with not being special,
Chasing balls in the fields and
Quietly digging for truffles
That will only last for a day.

Background

Objectivist accounts of meaning in life strongly suggest that nothing is worth doing or desiring that cannot be evaluated on a scale of better or worse, nor is it worth doing or desiring if it ranks low on that scale. It is assumed that a life can only be meaningful if it is good for something other than itself. Objectivist accounts thus accommodate our deep-seated fear of insignificance and our desire to receive some public affirmation of our existence and its value. As a corrective, I am developing a subjective account of meaning that is more democratic and inclusive. More information can be found here.

Prof Michael Hauskeller is Head of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Liverpool, with an interest in the broader issues around ethics.

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Progress by Dr Katy Roscoe

In mid-2021 The Sciku Project teamed up with the Literature and Science Hub at the University of Liverpool to run the ‘Research in Verse Poetry Competition’, open to staff and postgraduate research students across the university to submit poems about their research subject. The competition saw poems addressing all sorts of topics, ranging from gravity to slavery to life in the lab.

Second prize was won by Dr Katy Roscoe for her poem ‘Progress’:

Progress

The scratching and scraping of steel on rock,
In concert our muscles, they crunch and creak.
Slow inch by inch we chisel out the dock,
Ankles bound in irons, the hulls in teak.

Wiping sweat from my brow, I gaze afore:
I’m dazzled – bright sun, blue sky, white lime.
Ocean’s eternity returns ashore,
An excess of brightness ¬– like hope – can blind.

Night falls, men drive us into beached ships,
Dank air, sodden bodies, yellow fever.
Vessels for human cargo turned crypts,
If my body holds out, I will leave here.

Will I be able to retrieve the past,
Or will that monolith be all that lasts?

Background

My research is about convicts who quarried stone to build the naval dockyard at Bermuda, an Atlantic archipelago. Around 9,000 British and Irish men, many poor and starving, were transported there from 1842-63. Prisoners slept in decommissioned ships (hulks) which were dirty and crowded. Over 1200 men died there from effects of hard labour and yellow fever. Some went temporarily blind (opthamalia) from sunlight reflecting off limestone. “Retrieve the past” is a quote from a convict’s letter (1857). He hoped to be released under a “Ticket-of-Leave” in Australia, where he could earn an honest living, rather than return home.

Dr Katherine (Katy) Roscoe is a historical criminologist at the University of Liverpool with research interests centred on global mobilities, unfree labour and racial inequalities, with a particular focus on mid-nineteenth century crime and punishment in Britain and its former empire. You can connect with her on Twitter here: @KatyARoscoe

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Apparent Horizons by Dr Lee Tsang

In mid-2021 The Sciku Project teamed up with the Literature and Science Hub at the University of Liverpool to run the ‘Research in Verse Poetry Competition’, open to staff and postgraduate research students across the university to submit poems about their research subject. The competition saw poems addressing all sorts of topics, ranging from gravity to slavery to life in the lab.

Third prize was won by Dr Lee Tsang for his poem ‘Apparent Horizons’:

Apparent Horizons

I am what I am and what I’m not.
I’m the acts and non-acts of
‘might’ and ‘forgot’.
More than that.
I am the suns I never had.

I’m the light that
moves
both outwards
and in.
I am the Green Ray,
a moment
of fusion where
Apparent Horizons play with time.

As you are to me
I’m the passing cusp of
hopes and fears
for suns untamed.

I am the Light
both extinguished
and aflame.

Background

Dr Lee Tsang is a musician of dual heritage who takes on multiple roles in crossover works. His poem was written while reflecting on complex systems in his own practice, as demonstrated in Twisting Ways (2020, 2020/2021), the latest output from a longstanding partnership with Canadian jazz-classical pianist and composer David Braid. The poem contemplates philosophical and psychological issues relating to agency, identity, and fluid performance/compositional processes in light of Korsyn’s espousal of Harold Bloom’s Anxiety of Influence for musical contexts. You can connect with Lee on Twitter here: @l_tsang

Further Reading:

Bloom, H. (1973). Anxiety of Influence: A Theory of Poetry. New York: Oxford University Press.

Korsyn, K. (1991). ‘Towards a New Poetics of Musical Influence’, Music Analysis, 10(1/2), pp. 3-72.  

Tsang, L. (2015). David Braid’s ‘Resolute Bay’ with Sinfonia UK Collective. Toronto: K52 Music. Available at: http://www.sinfonia-uk-collective.org/

Tsang, L. (2016). ‘David Braid: Flow’. In Flow: David Braid + Epoque Quartet [CD liner notes]. New York, NY: Steinway & Sons. Available at: http://www.sinfonia-uk-collective.org/flow_albumNotes.pdf

Tsang, L. (2018). David Braid: Corona Divinae Misericordiae [CD, B07KZTWBJL]. Epoque Chamber Orchestra, Patricia O’Callaghan, Elmer Iseler Singers, Sinfonia UK Collective. Toronto: K52 Music.

Tsang, L. (2020). Tsang’s musical poetry (2018-2020) for ‘Twisting Ways’ (Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra 2020). Available at: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/3110815/   

Tsang, L. (2020/2021). ‘The Hand’, ‘Hope Shadow’ and ‘Lydian Sky’, Twisting Ways: The Music of David Braid and Philippe Côté [CD, WJOCD0005]. Winnipeg, MB: Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra.

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An Evening in the Lab by Dr Bhavin Siritanaratkul

In mid-2021 The Sciku Project teamed up with the Literature and Science Hub at the University of Liverpool to run the ‘Research in Verse Poetry Competition’, open to staff and postgraduate research students across the university to submit poems about their research subject. The competition saw poems addressing all sorts of topics, ranging from gravity to slavery to life in the lab.

Dr Bhavin Siritanaratkul’s poem ‘An Evening in the Lab’ was praised by the judges as a notable entry:

An evening in the lab

Quiet corridors, empty desks
The light patter of rain
Graphs on my screen, a tangle of lines
A fog on my brain

Discarded reactions, black lumps of carbon
The products of my labour
Wrong trends, unequal sums
This week’s experiments, a failure

Replace elements, reroute gas lines
New patterns and ideas converge
Remake electrodes, repeat measurements
A hazy plan, outlines emerge

Darkened skies, unyielding rain
But gone was my sorrow
Lightened steps, a clear mind
Decision made, new experiments tomorrow!

Background

My research is in the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide, with the dream to use renewable electricity to convert carbon dioxide back to valuable fuels and chemicals. The poem was written while I was looking for a break in the evening when none of my experiments were working.

Dr Bhavin Siritanaratkul is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Liverpool with a focus on carbon dioxide reduction. You can connect with him on Twitter here: @BhavinSiri

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Public Health by Dr Alex Stockdale

In mid-2021 The Sciku Project teamed up with the Literature and Science Hub at the University of Liverpool to run the ‘Research in Verse Poetry Competition’, open to staff and postgraduate research students across the university to submit poems about their research subject. The competition saw poems addressing all sorts of topics, ranging from gravity to slavery to life in the lab.

Dr Alex Stockdale’s poem ‘Public Health’ was praised by the judges as a notable entry:

Public Health

In a long corridor wailing
Bite
The virus knuckles and grasps
Enters cells
At birth was I living with him
His genome nestling in mine

Now fluid fills the belly
Tumour fills my liver
Hope left this station
Staring out the window
At a blue calm sky on a roaring hot day in Malawi

Too late they said
Too hard
Nothing more to say
I don’t have much time left to live but I want you to know
It could have been prevented

Background

This poem is about my research into liver disease in Blantyre, Malawi. We found that over 70% of liver cancer is caused by hepatitis B. Infection can be prevented by vaccination starting at birth and by antiviral treatment for pregnant women. Currently, vaccination starts at 6 weeks of age and my research is exploring whether this is sufficient to prevent transmission. This poem draws attention to the many people who present with late stage liver cancer in Malawi, for whom median prognosis is only 6 weeks at diagnosis, and for whom hepatitis B infection remains a preventable disease. 

Dr Alexander Stockdale is a clinical researcher at the University of Liverpool with a focus on viral hepatitis and HIV in sub-Saharan Africa.

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Mammoth document by Dr Janette Greenhalgh

In mid-2021 The Sciku Project teamed up with the Literature and Science Hub at the University of Liverpool to run the ‘Research in Verse Poetry Competition’, open to staff and postgraduate research students across the university to submit poems about their research subject. The competition saw poems addressing all sorts of topics, ranging from gravity to slavery to life in the lab.

Dr Janette Greenhalgh’s fascinating poem using a repeating haiku structure was a notable entry:

Mammoth document

Mammoth document
Brim-full of words, so URGENT!
Fight, flight, cup of tea?

URGENT document
Mammoth in the room, storming
Kettle shrieks volumes

Words, words, words and more
Unwrap, repurpose, rebind
With fight, flight and tea

Mammoth document
Brim-full of our words. Job done!
Outside, sweet birdsong

Background

Our research is mainly commissioned by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment programme on behalf of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Our core work is to provide a critique of evidence submissions to NICE from pharmaceutical companies for the clinical and cost effectiveness of new drugs. We have multi-disciplinary teams working on each report (clinical effectiveness reviewer, statistician, economic modeller, clinical expert). The timelines are very short – we have 8 weeks from receipt of the evidence to submitting our critique to NICE.

Dr Janette Greenhalgh is a Senior Research Fellow with the Liverpool Reviews and Implementation Group, Department of Health Data Science, Institute of Psychology and Health. You can connect with her on Twitter here: @drjanetteg

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Yearning by Dr Kate Baker

In mid-2021 The Sciku Project teamed up with the Literature and Science Hub at the University of Liverpool to run the ‘Research in Verse Poetry Competition’, open to staff and postgraduate research students across the university to submit poems about their research subject. The competition saw poems addressing all sorts of topics, ranging from gravity to slavery to life in the lab.

Dr Kate Baker’s nostalgic haiku on the perils of academic career progression was a notable entry:

Yearning

Test tubes and pipettes?
A life spent on email
yearning for the bench

Background

It’s not so much my research as the transition from postdoc to principal investigator that inspired my poem.

Dr Kate Baker is a Senior Lecturer and leader of The Bakery – an applied microbial genomics laboratory at the University of Liverpool. You can connect with her on Twitter here: @ksbakes.