'Kids sold, desperate moms need cash': Media representations of Zimbabwean women migrants

The article draws on 575 randomly selected articles from the South African Media database to explore the representation of Zimbabwean women migrants. Using critical discourse analysis (CDA), the article shows that some of the dominant construction types depict a picture of caricatured, stereotypical and stigmatised Zimbabwean migrant women without voice and individuality. In turn, the diversity of their actualities is not captured in the process of constructing the twin images of Zimbabwean women as victims and as purveyors of decadent and other negative social ills in society. We conclude that Zimbabwean women migrants appear in the SA media primarily in three negative images: suppliers of sexual services, as un-motherly, and as victims. We also conclude that there is need for media to capture the voices of migrant women recounting their everyday lived experiences in different political and socio-economic contexts in order to account for the migrant women's voices of resilience, defiance and victimhood and of agency, against the normalising and marginalising influences of political institutions and national border controls. This would also help capture the transformative nature of migration to the women, the 'home' in Zimbabwe and the 'home' in South Africa.IS

Synthesis of 14C-labelled polystyrene nanoplastics for environmental studies

AbstractAvailable analytical methods cannot detect nanoplastics at environmentally realistic concentrations in complex matrices such as biological tissues. Here, we describe a one-step polymerization method, allowing direct radiolabeling of a sulfonate end-capped nano-sized polystyrene (nPS; proposed as a model nanoplastic particle representing negatively charged nanoplastics). The method, which produces nanoplastics trackable in simulated environmental settings which have already been used to investigate the behavior of a nanoplastic in vivo in a bivalve mollusc, was developed, optimized and successfully applied to synthesis of 14C-labeled nPS of different sizes. In addition to a description of the method of synthesis, we describe the details for quantification, mass balance and recovery of the labelled particles from complex matrices offered by the radiolabelling approach. The radiolabeling approach described here, coupled to use of a highly sensitive autoradiographic method for monitoring nanoplastic body burden and distributions, may provide a valuable procedure for investigating the environmental pathways followed by negatively charged nanoplastics at low predicted environmental concentrations. Whether the behaviour of the synthetic nPS manufactured here, synthesised using a very common inititator, represents that of manufactured nPS found in the environment, remains to be seen.</jats:p

High expression of tumour-associated trypsin inhibitor correlates with liver metastasis and poor prognosis in colorectal cancer

Increased expression of tumour-associated trypsin inhibitor (TATI) in tumour tissue and/or serum has been associated with poor survival in various cancer forms. Moreover, a proinvasive function of TATI has been shown in colon cancer cell lines. In this study, we have examined the prognostic significance of tumour-specific TATI expression in colorectal cancer, assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) on tissue microarrays (TMAs) with tumour specimens from two independent patient cohorts. Kaplan–Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards modelling were used to estimate time to recurrence, disease-free survival and overall survival. In both cohorts, a high (>50% of tumour cells) TATI expression was an independent predictor of a significantly shorter overall survival. In cohort II, in multivariate analysis including age, gender, disease stage, differentiation grade, vascular invasion and carcinoembryonal antigen (CEA), high TATI expression was associated with a significantly decreased overall survival (HR=1.82; 95% CI=1.19–2.79) and disease-free survival (HR=1.56; 95% CI=1.05–2.32) in curatively treated patients. Moreover, there was an increased risk for liver metastasis in both cohorts that remained significant in multivariate analysis in cohort II (HR=2.85; 95% CI=1.43–5.66). In conclusion, high TATI expression is associated with liver metastasis and is an independent predictor of poor prognosis in patients with colorectal cancer

Análisis del conocimiento táctico a través del procedimiento de evaluación del deporte del equipo/TSAP: un estudio de caso en baloncesto

During the season players can be observed and evaluated in two environments: game context and training context. In basketball, the ab- sence of a valid and reliable instrument to use in order to assess objectively the level of tactical awareness is a main problem in training processes and coaching communities. Team Sport Assessment Procedure was devised by Grehaigne, Godbout & Bouthier providing teachers with objective data on students’ ofensive performance. Two professional players were observed through video analysis by three observers in order to ascertain the validity of TSAP in basketball’s tactical observation in game context. Cohen’s k co- eicient value (k=0.88) reveals an almost perfect inter-observer agreement meaning that observers registered the same actions and interpreted them in the same way. he results shown that TSAP is a valid and reliable tool to assess the ofensive on-ball elements of the game and easy to be used by coaches and athletes.Resumen: Durante la temporada, los jugadores pueden ser observados y evaluados en dos ambientes: en situación de partido y en situación de en- treno. En baloncesto, la falta de un instrumento válido y iable para evaluar de forma objetiva el nivel de conocimiento táctico, es el problema princi- pal en los procesos de formación y en las comunidades de entrenamiento. Team Sport Assessment Procedure fue ideado por Grahaigne, Godbout & Bouthier, brindando a los profesores datos objetivos sobre las actuaciones ofensivas de los estudiantes. Dos jugadores profesionales fueron observados mediante análisis de video por tres observadores, a in de determinar la validad del TSAP en baloncesto táctico en situación de partido. El valor del coeiciente k de Cohen (k = 0,88) revela un acuerdo entre observadores casi perfecta lo que signiica que los observadores registraron las mismas acciones y los interpretan de la misma manera. Los resultados muestran que el TSAP es una herramienta válida y iable para evaluar elementos ofensivos en juego del partido y fácilmente utilizable por entrenadores y jugadores