Existential kinetics of movement and stasis: young Eritrean refugees' thwarted hopes of movement-through-education

This article attempts to theorise people’s balancing acts between conditions of movement and stasis. Drawing on a radical empirical reading of one critical moment that occurred while conducting ethnographic research among Eritrean unaccompanied minors living in a Swiss educational institution, it thinks through what happens when this equilibrium is thrown out of whack and life’s flow is suddenly experienced as a standstill. By focusing on the experiences of one young man, it explores the importance of education as a vectorial metaphor for moving forward in one’s life. Zooming in on one critical moment in Abel’s life, it sheds light on what happens when hopes of ‘movement-through-education’ clash with the reality of a restrictive asylum system that curtails young refugees’ hopes for forward movement. By showing the dialectical ways mobility and immobility enter into and envelop each other, the article highlights how an existentially oriented ethnography can be utilised as an avenue for theorising migrant im/mobilities

Preface: Stuck in motion? Capturing the dialectics of movement and stasis in an era of containment

In this special section we rethink the role of movement and stasis in an age of globalization from an existential perspective. We suggest that this theoretical avenue is particularly well suited to move beyond the dualistic binaries that have haunted much writing on mobilities. Rather than fixating movement and stasis into two opposite poles, this perspective allows us to productively work with the overlaps and paradoxes as they appear in the everyday, thereby carving out a dialectics of im/mobility. We argue that exploring the interplay of movement and stasis has become particularly important in the current global political climate, where the mobilities of people and groups deemed troublesome are violently cut short or obstructed in ways that keep them “stuck” in continuous loops of “motion”. By zooming in on the vectorial metaphors migrants and refugees seemingly stuck in immovable conditions deploy to make sense of their situations, we conceptualize both the existential orientation of migratory projects and the wider social and political coordinates impinging on these inner quests for (forward) movement and/or stillness

Analysis of Spatial Distribution of Canada Thistle (Cirsium Arvense) in Notill Soybean (Glycine Max)

The nonuniform spatial distribution of weeds across a field landscape complicates sampling and modeling, but allows site specific rather than broadcast management of weed populations. Where weeds are aggregated, densities measured at random locations are not independent, but rather spatially related or autocorrelated. Geostatistical methods were used to describe and map nonrandom distribution and variation of shoot density across ten well established patches of Canada thistle, a perennial weed, in a 65 hectare notillage soybean field in Moody county, South Dakota in 1996. Canada thistle densities were determined by counting the number of shoots present in a 20 by 50 cm (0.1m2 ) rectangle. Shoot densities were recorded at 3.04 m increments in 8 .directions from the center of each patch using adaptive sampling. The boundary of the thistle patch on each axis was arbitrarily defined as having 2 consecutive measurements of 0 shoots per 0.1 m2 . Contour maps of weed densities were generated and overlaid on field topography maps. A contour map was generated to estimate the size and density of each thistle patch. Generally, the highest densities of Canada thistle appear in the center of the patches. Shoot density within the patches declined as the distance from the center of the patch increased. Near infrared images were generated with a digital camera and compared to weed maps produced with ground scouting

Sampling Weed Spatial Variability on a Fieldwide Scale

Site-specific weed management recommendations require knowledge of weed species, density, and location in the field. This study compared several sampling techniques to estimate weed density and distribution in two 65-ha no-till Zea mays–Glycine max rotation fields in eastern South Dakota. The most common weeds (Setaria viridis, Setaria glauca, Cirsium arvense, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, and Polygonum pensylvanicum) were counted by species in 0.1-m2 areas on a 15- by 30-m (1,352 points in each field) or 30- by 30-m (676 points in each field) grid pattern, and points were georeferenced and data spatially analyzed. Using different sampling approaches, weed populations were estimated by resampling the original data set. The average density for each technique was calculated and compared with the average field density calculated from the all-point data. All weeds had skewed population distributions with more than 60% of sampling points lacking the specific weed, but very high densities (i.e., \u3e 100 plants m−2) were also observed. More than 300 random samples were required to estimate densities within 20% of the all-point means about 60% of the time. Sampling requirement increased as average density decreased. The W pattern produced average species densities that often were similar to the field averages, but information on patch location was absent. Weed counts taken on the 15- by 30-m grid were dependent spatially and weed contour maps were developed. Kriged maps presented both density and location of weed patches and could be used to establish management zones. However, grid-sampling production fields on a small enough scale to obtain spatially dependent data may have limited usefulness because of time, cost, and labor constraints

Prevention and management of osteoporotic fractures by non-physician health professionals: a systematic literature review to inform EULAR points to consider

Objective To perform a systematic literature review (SLR) about the effect of non-pharmacological interventions delivered by non-physician health professionals to prevent and manage osteoporotic fractures. Methods Eight clinical questions based on two criteria guided the SLR: (1) adults >= 50 years at high risk of osteoporotic fracture and (2) interventions delivered by non-physician health professionals to prevent and manage osteoporotic fractures. Interventions focused on diagnostic procedures to identify risk of falling, therapeutic approaches and implementation strategies. Outcomes included fractures, falls, risk of falling and change in bone mineral density. Systematic reviews and randomised controlled trials were preferentially selected. Data were synthesised using a qualitative descriptive approach. Results Of 15 917 records, 43 articles were included. Studies were clinically and methodologically diverse. We identified sufficient evidence that structured exercise, incorporating progressive resistance training delivered to people who had undergone hip fracture surgery, and multicomponent exercise, delivered to people at risk of primary fracture, reduced risk of falling. The effectiveness of multidisciplinary fracture liaison services in reducing refracture rate was confirmed. There was insufficient evidence found to support the effectiveness of nutrients and falls prevention programmes in this patient population. Conclusion Despite study heterogeneity, our SLR showed beneficial effects of some interventions delivered by non-physician health professionals and the positive impact of multidisciplinary team working and patient educational approaches to prevent and manage osteoporotic fractures. These results informed a EULAR taskforce that developed points to consider for non-physician health professionals to prevent and manage osteoporotic fractures.This study was funded by the EULAR. Grant reference HPR 032.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Tumor-mediated immunosuppression and cytokine spreading affects the relation between EMT and PD-L1 status

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and immune resistance mediated by Programmed Death-Ligand 1 (PD-L1) upregulation are established drivers of tumor progression. Their bi-directional crosstalk has been proposed to facilitate tumor immunoevasion, yet the impact of immunosuppression and spatial heterogeneity on the interplay between these processes remains to be characterized. Here we study the role of these factors using mathematical and spatial models. We first designed models incorporating immunosuppressive effects on T cells mediated via PD-L1 and the EMT-inducing cytokine Transforming Growth Factor beta (TGFβ). Our models predict that PD-L1-mediated immunosuppression merely reduces the difference in PD-L1 levels between EMT states, while TGFβ-mediated suppression also causes PD-L1 expression to correlate negatively with TGFβ within each EMT phenotype. We subsequently embedded the models in multi-scale spatial simulations to explicitly describe heterogeneity in cytokine levels and intratumoral heterogeneity. Our multi-scale models show that Interferon gamma (IFNγ)-induced partial EMT of a tumor cell subpopulation can provide some, albeit limited protection to bystander tumor cells. Moreover, our simulations show that the true relationship between EMT status and PD-L1 expression may be hidden at the population level, highlighting the importance of studying EMT and PD-L1 status at the single-cell level. Our findings deepen the understanding of the interactions between EMT and the immune response, which is crucial for developing novel diagnostics and therapeutics for cancer patients

‘McDonald’s Is Good for My Social Life’. Developing Health Promotion Together with Adolescent Girls from Disadvantaged Neighbourhoods in Amsterdam

There is limited knowledge about key factors that enable adolescent girls with a low socioeconomic position (SEP) to adopt a healthy lifestyle. This paper aims to better understand the comp

SCOPE: a scorecard for osteoporosis in Europe

Summary The scorecard summarises key indicators of the burden of osteoporosis and its management in each of the member states of the European Union. The resulting scorecard elements were then assembled on a single sheet to provide a unique overview of osteoporosis in Europe. Introduction The scorecard for osteoporosis in Europe (SCOPE) is an independent project that seeks to raise awareness of osteoporosis care in Europe. The aim of this project was to develop a scorecard and background documents to draw attention to gaps and inequalities in the provision of primary and secondary prevention of fractures due to osteoporosis. Methods The SCOPE panel reviewed the information available on osteoporosis and the resulting fractures for each of the 27 countries of the European Union (EU27). The information researched covered four domains: background information (e.g. the burden of osteoporosis and fractures), policy framework, service provision and service uptake e.g. the proportion of men and women at high risk that do not receive treatment (the treatment gap). Results There was a marked difference in fracture risk among the EU27. Of concern was the marked heterogeneity in the policy framework, service provision and service uptake for osteoporotic fracture that bore little relation to the fracture burden. For example, despite the wide availability of treatments to prevent fractures, in the majority of the EU27, only a minority of patients at high risk receive treatment for osteoporosis even after their first fracture. The elements of each domain in each country were scored and coded using a traffic light system (red, orange, green) and used to synthesise a scorecard. The resulting scorecard elements were then assembled on a single sheet to provide a unique overview of osteoporosis in Europe. Conclusions The scorecard will enable healthcare professionals and policy makers to assess their country’s general approach to the disease and provide indicators to inform future provision of healthcare