Power and danger in the third decade of women, peace and security

A decade ago, Dianne Otto identified the trouble at the heart of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda: the collision between the power of feminist ideas and the danger of cooptation and tokenism. The ‘power’ was not just that of an “imperial and hegemonic” Security Council which might act on behalf of a global women’s movement, but also of feminists themselves using the machinery of state. The ‘danger’ lay in those same institutions, where feminist ideas would likely be curtailed and distorted, the more radical elements jettisoned in favour of a veneer of legitimacy for the superpowers and the perpetuation of structures feminists otherwise criticised

News satire: Giving the news a memory

It is claimed that journalism is facing a far-reaching crisis, with mainstream news becoming ever less independent and informative, and therefore less trusted by publics. In response to this journalistic crisis, what has been termed the “fifth estate” – news satire – has flourished globally in recent years. A fertile area of scholarship has sprung up around it, arguing that it plays an important role in contemporary democracy. This article aims to contribute to these debates around the social functions of both news and news satire by bringing questions of memory and forgetting to these discussions. Firstly, it argues that, linked to acceleration under capitalism, news is a key site of the production of amnesia, and that this media amnesia has ideological outcomes. Secondly, it shows how television news satires both critique and attempt to make sense of the news, and to some extent counter the amnesiac tendencies of news by giving it a memory. In doing this, to some extent news satires thus resist the ideolog-ical work performed by news-forgetting along multiple dimensions. The article explores five memory practices in two news satires: The Daily Show (US) and Newswipe (UK)

Molecular triaging options for women testing HPV positive with self-collected samples

We review developments in molecular triaging options for women who test positive for high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) on self-collected samples in the context of cervical cancer elimination. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends hrHPV screening as the primary test for cervical screening due to its high sensitivity compared to other screening tests. However, when hrHPV testing is used alone for treatment decisions, a proportion of women of childbearing age receive unnecessary treatments. This provides the incentive to optimize screening regimes to minimize the risk of overtreatment in women of reproductive age. Molecular biomarkers can potentially enhance the accuracy and efficiency of screening and triage. HrHPV testing is currently the only screening test that allows triage with molecular methods using the same sample. Additionally, offering self-collected hrHPV tests to women has been reported to increase screening coverage. This creates an opportunity to focus health resources on linking screen-positive women to diagnosis and treatment. Adding an additional test to the screening algorithm (a triage test) may improve the test’s positive predictive value (PPV) and offer a better balance of benefits and risks for women. Conventional triage methods like cytology and visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) cannot be performed on self-collected samples and require additional clinic visits and subjective interpretations. Molecular triaging using methods like partial and extended genotyping, methylation tests, detection of E6/E7 proteins, and hrHPV viral load in the same sample as the hrHPV test may improve the prediction of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or worse (CIN2+) and invasive cancer, offering more precise, efficient, and cost-effective screening regimes. More research is needed to determine if self-collected samples are effective and cost-efficient for diverse populations and in comparison to other triage methods. The implementation of molecular triaging could improve screening accuracy and reduce the need for multiple clinical visits. These important factors play a crucial role in achieving the global goal of eliminating cervical cancer as a public health problem

Molecular gas properties of UV-bright star-forming galaxies at low redshift

Lyman break analogues (LBAs) are a population of star-forming galaxies at low redshift (z ∼ 0.2) selected in the ultraviolet (UV). These objects present higher star formation rates and lower dust extinction than other galaxies with similar masses and luminosities in the local universe. In this work, we present results from a survey with the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA) array to detect CO(1–0) emission in LBAs, in order to analyse the properties of the molecular gas in these galaxies. Our results show that LBAs follow the same Schmidt–Kennicutt law as local galaxies. On the other hand, they have higher gas fractions (up to 66 per cent) and faster gas depletion time-scales (below 1 Gyr). These characteristics render these objects more akin to high-redshift star-forming galaxies. We conclude that LBAs are a great nearby laboratory for studying the cold interstellar medium in low-metallicity, UV-bright compact star-forming galaxies

Think global, act local: using a translocal approach to understand community-based organisations’ responses to planetary health crises during COVID-19

Little is known on how community-based responses to planetary health crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, can integrate concerns about livelihoods, equity, health, wellbeing, and the environment. We used a translocal learning approach to co-develop insights on community-based responses to complex health and environmental and economic crises with leaders from five organisations working with communities at the front line of intersecting planetary health challenges in Finland, India, Kenya, Peru, and the USA. Translocal learning supports collective knowledge production across different localities in ways that value local perspectives but transcend national boundaries. There were three main findings from the translocal learning process. First, thanks to their proximity to the communities they served, community-based organisations (CBOs) can quickly identify the ways in which COVID-19 might worsen existing social and health inequities. Second, localised CBO actions are key to supporting communities with unique challenges in the face of systemic planetary health crises. Third, CBOs can develop rights-based, ecologically-minded actions responding to local priorities and mobilising available resources. Our findings show how solutions to planetary health might come from small-scale community initiatives that are well connected within and across contexts. Locally-focused globally-aware actions should be harnessed through greater recognition, funding, and networking opportunities. Globally, planetary health initiatives should be supported by applying the principles of subsidiarity and translocalism

Revisiting Delta Y/Delta Z from multiple main sequences in Globular Clusters: insight from nearby stars

For nearby K dwarfs, the broadening of the observed Main Sequence at low metallicities is much narrower than expected from isochrones with the standard helium-to-metal enrichment ratio DY/DZ=2. Though the latter value fits well the Main Sequence around solar metallicity, and agrees with independent measurements from HII regions as well as with theoretical stellar yields and chemical evolution models, a much higher DY/DZ~10 is necessary to reproduce the broadening observed for nearby subdwarfs. This result resembles, on a milder scale, the very high DY/DZ estimated from the multiple Main Sequences in Omega Cen and NGC 2808. Although not "inverted" as in omega Cen, where the metal-rich Main Sequence is bluer than the metal-poor one, the broadening observed for nearby subdwarfs is much narrower than stellar models predict for a standard helium content. We use this empirical evidence to argue that a revision of lower Main Sequence stellar models, suggested from nearby stars, could significantly reduce the helium content inferred for the subpopulations of those globular clusters. A simple formula based on empirically calibrated homology relations is constructed, for an alternative estimate of DY/DZ in multiple main sequences. We find that, under the most favourable assumptions, the estimated helium content for the enriched populations could decrease from Y~0.4 to as low as Y~0.3.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, in press on MNRA

Cervical cancer prevention in countries with the highest HIV prevalence: a review of policies.

INTRODUCTION Cervical cancer (CC) is the leading cause of cancer-related death among women in sub-Saharan Africa. It occurs most frequently in women living with HIV (WLHIV) and is classified as an AIDS-defining illness. Recent World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations provide guidance for CC prevention policies, with specifications for WLHIV. We systematically reviewed policies for CC prevention and control in sub-Saharan countries with the highest HIV prevalence. METHODS We included countries with an HIV prevalence ≥ 10% in 2018 and policies published between January 1st 2010 and March 31st 2022. We searched Medline via PubMed, the international cancer control partnership website and national governmental websites of included countries for relevant policy documents. The online document search was supplemented with expert consultation for each included country. We synthesised aspects defined in policies for HPV vaccination, sex education, condom use, tobacco control, male circumcision,cervical screening, diagnosis and treatment of cervical pre-cancerous lesions and cancer, monitoring mechanisms and cost of services to women while highlighting specificities for WLHIV. RESULTS We reviewed 33 policy documents from nine countries. All included countries had policies on CC prevention and control either as a standalone policy (77.8%), or as part of a cancer or non-communicable diseases policy (22.2%) or both (66.7%). Aspects of HPV vaccination were reported in 7 (77.8%) of the 9 countries. All countries (100%) planned to develop or review Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials for CC prevention including condom use and tobacco control. Age at screening commencement and screening intervals for WLHIV varied across countries. The most common recommended screening and treatment methods were visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) (88.9%), Pap smear (77.8%); cryotherapy (100%) and loop electrosurgical procedure (LEEP) (88.9%) respectively. Global indicators disaggregated by HIV status for monitoring CC programs were rarely reported. CC prevention and care policies included service costs at various stages in three countries (33.3%). CONCLUSION Considerable progress has been made in policy development for CC prevention and control in sub Saharan Africa. However, in countries with a high HIV burden, there is need to tailor these policies to respond to the specific needs of WLHIV. Countries may consider updating policies using the recent WHO guidelines for CC prevention, while adapting them to context realities