‘When I look at this van, it’s not only a van’: symbolic objects in the policing of migration

The ‘Go Home Van’ was the centrepiece of the UK government’s 2013 immigration enforcement campaign. Vehicles were driven around ethnically diverse London neighbourhoods clad with giant posters offering irregular migrants a choice between ‘voluntary departure’ and criminal arrest. Abandoned shortly afterwards in response to complaints, the GHV nonetheless had a significant impact on migrants. Through interviews and focus groups, this article investigates what was conveyed by the van, and the means by which it achieved these effects. We find that the GHV communicated meanings about the illegitimacy and criminality of migrants, with its material characteristics (visibility and mobility) as important as the words and pictures on its surface. Migrants sought to resist the van through hiding, while support organisations rejected dominant meanings and crafted alternatives. The article establishes a research agenda around the wider role of symbolic objects, in the context of the global migration crisis

New long-lived particle searches in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC

We show that heavy-ion collisions at the LHC provide a promising environment to search for signatures with displaced vertices in well-motivated new physics scenarios. Compared to proton collisions, they offer several advantages: (i) the number of parton level interactions per collision is larger, (ii) there is no pileup, (iii) the lower instantaneous luminosity compared to proton collisions allows one to operate the LHC experiments with very loose triggers, and (iv) there are new production mechanisms that are absent in proton collisions We focus on the third point and show that the modification of the triggers alone can increase the number of observable events by orders of magnitude if the long-lived particles are predominantly produced with low transverse momentum. Our results show that collisions of ions lighter than lead are well motivated from the viewpoint of searches for new physics. We illustrate this for the example of heavy neutrinos in the Neutrino Minimal Standard Model

Recycling bins, garbage cans or think tanks? Three myths regarding policy analysis institutes

The phrase 'think tank' has become ubiquitous – overworked and underspecified – in the political lexicon. It is entrenched in scholarly discussions of public policy as well as in the 'policy wonk' of journalists, lobbyists and spin-doctors. This does not mean that there is an agreed definition of think tank or consensual understanding of their roles and functions. Nevertheless, the majority of organizations with this label undertake policy research of some kind. The idea of think tanks as a research communication 'bridge' presupposes that there are discernible boundaries between (social) science and policy. This paper will investigate some of these boundaries. The frontiers are not only organizational and legal; they also exist in how the 'public interest' is conceived by these bodies and their financiers. Moreover, the social interactions and exchanges involved in 'bridging', themselves muddy the conception of 'boundary', allowing for analysis to go beyond the dualism imposed in seeing science on one side of the bridge, and the state on the other, to address the complex relations between experts and public policy

Cytotoxic effect of acetogenins and sesquiterpenes obtained from the Red alga Laurencia majuscula

Purpose: To evaluate the cytotoxicity of n-hexane extract and its metabolites obtained from the red alga, Laurencia majuscula, against three cancer cell lines HCT-116 (colon cancer), PC-3 (prostate cancer) and HepG2 (liver cancer) cells; and to identify the phytochemical compound(s) involved. Methods: Solvent extraction, thin layer chromatography, aluminum oxide column chromatography, and preparative thin layer chromatography (PTLC) were employed for isolating pure compounds from nhexane extract of Laurencia majuscula. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS) measurements were used for structural elucidation of the compounds. The cytotoxicity of the nonpolar extract and isolated compounds were evaluated against HCT, PC-3, and HepG2 cells using MTT assay, relative to the standard cytotoxic drug (cisplatin). Results: Three sesquiterpenes (1, 2 and 8), and five acetogenins (3-7) were isolated from the n-hexane extract. The n-hexane extract showed higher potent cytotoxic effect than sesquiterpenes and the acetogenins (3-7). Conclusion: These results indicate that the n-hexane extract of Laurencia majuscula exerts significant cytotoxicity against HCT-116, PC-3 and HepG2 cell lines, thus suggesting that the plant extract may be effective chemotherapeutic agents for the management of colon, postrate and liver cancer. Keywords: Red Sea alga, Rhodomelaceae, Polyketides, Terpenes, Anticance

A general wavelet-based profile decomposition in the critical embedding of function spaces

We characterize the lack of compactness in the critical embedding of functions spaces $X\subset Y$ having similar scaling properties in the following terms : a sequence $(u_n)_{n\geq 0}$ bounded in $X$ has a subsequence that can be expressed as a finite sum of translations and dilations of functions $(\phi_l)_{l>0}$ such that the remainder converges to zero in $Y$ as the number of functions in the sum and $n$ tend to $+\infty$. Such a decomposition was established by G\'erard for the embedding of the homogeneous Sobolev space $X=\dot H^s$ into the $Y=L^p$ in $d$ dimensions with $0<s=d/2-d/p$, and then generalized by Jaffard to the case where $X$ is a Riesz potential space, using wavelet expansions. In this paper, we revisit the wavelet-based profile decomposition, in order to treat a larger range of examples of critical embedding in a hopefully simplified way. In particular we identify two generic properties on the spaces $X$ and $Y$ that are of key use in building the profile decomposition. These properties may then easily be checked for typical choices of $X$ and $Y$ satisfying critical embedding properties. These includes Sobolev, Besov, Triebel-Lizorkin, Lorentz, H\"older and BMO spaces.Comment: 24 page

Local “Battlegrounds”. Relocating multi-level and multi-actor governance of immigration

The multi-level governance (MLG) approach is widely used to understand the complex processes of immigration policymaking. In this literature review, we consider both (i) the vertical dimension of MLG: the local, regional, national, European, or even global level; and (ii) the horizontal dimension of MLG: the relations between public and non-public actors. While focusing on the local level, this review identifies a trend regarding, on the one hand, local processes of bordering, and local policies of inclusion on the other. Furthermore, the article reviews how civil society has responded to the arrival of refugees. It identifies how this literature pays insufficient attention to dimensions of conflict and, more specifically, to how local borders can be challenged. Moreover, it shows a lack of attention to anti-migrant responses, and to the interaction between migrants and civil society regarding immigration governance. Concluding, the paper argues for the adoption of a “battleground” perspective as a more dynamic basis for the MLG approach.L’approche théorique de la gouvernance multi-niveaux (GMN) est largement utilisée pour comprendre les processus complexes d’élaboration des politiques migratoires. Dans cet article, nous proposons, sous la forme d’un état de l’art, une analyse de la dimension verticale (niveau local, régional, national, européen ou mondial) et horizontale (relations entre acteurs publics et non publics) de la GMN. Centré sur le niveau local et sur les questions d’asile, cet article identifie une tendance concernant, d’une part, les processus locaux de définition des frontières, et d’autre part, les politiques locales d’inclusion. En outre, nous examinons comment la société civile a réagi face aux arrivées de réfugiés. L’article montre que la littérature sur la GMN n’a pas accordé assez d’attention à la question du conflit et à la façon dont celui-ci peut déplacer les frontières sociales au niveau local. La littérature a insuffisamment abordé les mobilisations anti-migrants et les interactions entre migrants et société civile. En conclusion, nous ajoutons que le concept de « champ de bataille » (Battlegrounds) permet une compréhension plus dynamique de la GMN.La gobernanza multinivel (MLG por su acrónimo inglés) es un enfoque ampliamente utilizado para comprender los complejos procesos de formulación de políticas públicas en torno al tema de la inmigración. Esta revisión de la literatura analiza tanto la dimensión vertical de la MLG: el nivel local, regional, nacional, europeo o incluso global; como la dimensión horizontal de la misma: las relaciones entre actores públicos y no públicos. Centrándose en el nivel local y particularmente en el tema del asilo, esta revisión bibliográfica identifica una tendencia con respecto a los procesos locales de frontera por un lado, y las políticas locales de inclusión por el otro. Las dimensiones del conflicto y el cómo se desafían las fronteras locales no se tratan exhaustivamente en este documento. Sin embargo, a este respecto revisamos cómo la sociedad civil ha respondido a la llegada de refugiados. Esta literatura no ha otorgado suficiente atención a las respuestas anti-inmigrantes, y a cómo la sociedad civil y los migrantes interactúan en relación a la gobernanza de la inmigración. Concluimos elaborando sobre la manera en la que un marco conceptual en términos de «campo de batalla» (Battlegrounds) permite aplicar una perspectiva dinámica al entendimiento de la gobernanza multinivel o MLG

The discovery of ash dieback in the UK: the making of a focusing event

Why did the identification of ‘Ash Dieback’ (Chalara Fraxinea) in 2012 in the UK catch the national media, public and political zeitgeist, and lead to policy changes, in a way that no other contemporary tree pest or pathogen outbreak has?The identification of Ash Dieback in the UK is conceptualised as a successful ‘focusing event’ and the ways in which it was socially constructed by the media, stakeholders and the government are analysed. National newspaper coverage contributed to the way that the disease was understood and was significant in driving the political response. Ash Dieback’s focal power derived from the perceived scale and nature of its impact; the initial attribution of blame on government; the ‘war-like’ response from the government; and Ash’s status as a threatened ‘native’ tree. The Ash Dieback focusing event has increased the salience of plant health issues amongst policymakers, the public and conservation organisations in the UK

Adequate Levels of Adherence with Controller Medication Is Associated with Increased Use of Rescue Medication in Asthmatic Children

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Sustainability appraisal: Jack of all trades, master of none?

Sustainable development is a commonly quoted goal for decision making and supports a large number of other discourses. Sustainability appraisal has a stated goal of supporting decision making for sustainable development. We suggest that the inherent flexibility of sustainability appraisal facilitates outcomes that often do not adhere to the three goals enshrined in most definitions of sustainable development: economic growth, environmental protection and enhancement, and the wellbeing of the human population. Current practice is for sustainable development to be disenfranchised through the interpretation of sustainability, whereby the best alternative is good enough even when unsustainable. Practitioners must carefully and transparently review the frameworks applied during sustainability appraisal to ensure that outcomes will meet the three goals, rather than focusing on a discourse that emphasises one or more goals at the expense of the other(s)