2,145 research outputs found
Involved in something (involucrado en algo): denial and stigmatization in Mexicoâs âwar on drugsâ
This article responds empirically to the question posed by Stan Cohen about âwhy, when faced by knowledge of othersâ suffering and painâparticularly the suffering and pain resulting from what are called âhuman rights violationsââdoes âreactionâ so often take the form of denial, avoidance, passivity, indifference, rationalisation or collusion?â. Our context is Mexico's âwar on drugs.â Since 2006 this âwarâ has claimed the lives of around 240,000 Mexican citizens and disappeared around 60,000 others. Perpetrators include organized criminal gangs and state security services. Violence is pervasive and widely reported. Most people are at risk. Our study is based on qualitative interviews and focus groups involving 68 âordinary Mexicansâ living in five different Mexican cities which have varying levels of violence. It investigates participant proximity to the victims and the psychological defense mechanisms they deploy to cope with proximity to the violence. We found that 62 of our participants knew, directly or indirectly, one or more people who had been affected. We also found one dominant rationalization (defense mechanism) for the violence: that the victims were âinvolved in somethingâ (drugs or organized crime) and therefore âdeserved their fate.â This echoes prevailing state discourses about the violence. We argue that the discourse of âinvolvedâ is a discourse of denial that plays three prominent roles in a highly violent society in which almost noâone is immune: it masks state violence, stigmatizes the victims, and sanctions bystander passivity. As such, we show how official and individual denial converge, live, and reproduce, and play a powerful role in the perpetuation of violence
Involucrado en algo: negaciĂłn y estigma en la âguerra contra las drogasâ de MĂ©xico
This article answers, empirically, the question once posed by Stan Cohen: âwhy the âreactionâ to the suffering and pain of others particularly the suffering and pain resulting from what we call âhuman rights violationsâ? so often does it take the form of denial, evasion, passivity, indifference, justification or collusion?â. Our context is the war on drugs in Mexico. Since 2006, this âwarâ has claimed the lives of around 240 000 Mexican citizens and has disappeared nearly 60 000. Perpetrators include organized crime gangs and state security forces. Violence is ubiquitous and widely known. Most people are at risk. Our study is based on qualitative interviews and focus groups with 68 âordinary Mexicansâ from five different cities with varying levels of violence. It studies the proximity of the participants to the victims and the psychological defense mechanisms they use to deal with the proximity of violence. We found that 62 of our participants knew, directly or indirectly, one or more people affected. We also found that the main justification or defense mechanism that people use to deal with violence is to assume that the victims âwere involved in somethingâ (drug trafficking or organized crime) and, therefore, âdeserved what happened to themâ. This echoes the dominant official discourses about violence. We argue that the discourse of engagement is a discourse of denial that plays three main roles in a highly violent society, in which practically no one is immune: to mask state violence, to stigmatize the victims, and to authorize the passivity of observers (bystanders). In this way we show how official denial and individual denial converge, coexist, reproduce and play a central role in perpetuating violence
Estimating the total incidence of kidney failure in australia including individuals who are not treated by dialysis or transplantation
Background: To date, incidence data for kidney failure in Australia have been available for only those who start renal replacement therapy (RRT). Information about the total incidence of kidney failure, including non-RRT-treated cases, is important to help understand the burden of kidney failure in the community and the characteristics of patients who die without receiving treatment
Corrosion of aluminium metal in OPC- and CAC-based cement matrices
Corrosion of aluminium metal in ordinary Portland cement (OPC) based pastes produces hydrogen gas and expansive reaction products causing problems for the encapsulation of aluminium containing nuclear wastes. Although corrosion of aluminium in cements has been long known, the extent of aluminium corrosion in the cement matrices and effects of such reaction on the cement phases are not well established. The present study investigates the corrosion reaction of aluminium in OPC, OPC-blast furnace slag (BFS) and calcium aluminate cement (CAC) based systems. The total amount of aluminium able to corrode in an OPC and 4:1 BFS:OPC system was determined, and the correlation between the amount of calcium hydroxide in the system and the reaction of aluminium obtained. It was also shown that a CAC-based system could offer a potential matrix to incorporate aluminium metal with a further reduction of pH by introduction of phosphate, producing a calcium phosphate cement
Characterization of porcine endogenous retrovirus expression in neonatal and adult pig pancreatic islets
BACKGROUND: Pig islets represent an alternative to the current modes of treatment for patients with diabetes. However, the concerns over pathogen transmission including that of PERV limit their immediate, widespread usage in humans. It has been previously demonstrated that PERV copy number and particularly expression levels can vary considerably between individuals and within different tissues of a single animal. In general, expression levels have been found to be particularly low in the pancreas compared to other porcine tissues suggesting a reduced risk associated with the use of this tissue. Data regarding this crucial aspect, however, remain limited and little is known about PERV status of islets themselves, which represent the final product to be transplanted. In addition, comparative analysis of the PERV status of neonatal piglets with adults is important as they are increasingly considered as potential islet donors for xenotransplantation.
METHODS: Tissue samples from 51 neonatal piglets (age between 14 and 21 days) and 29 adult pigs were collected from Belgian landrace pigs used for pancreas procurement and islet isolation. Tissue biopsies were used to extract DNA for PERV copy number quantification by qPCR and RNA for PERV expression by qRT-PCR.
RESULTS: As expected, PERV expression demonstrated great variation and was significantly lower in pancreas compared to other tissues. More importantly, PERV RNA expression was found to be specifically enriched in pancreatic islets reaching values similar to those found in other tissues such as liver and kidney. Interestingly, this expression was not coupled with the detection of reverse transcriptase in islet cultures or indeed detection of PERV virus. Lung, spleen, and lymph node consistently showed the highest levels of PERV expression. Comparison of PERV in neonatal and adult pigs showed that copy number did not vary significantly from birth to adulthood. PERV expression on the other hand was significantly lower in neonatal pig islets compared to adult islets and did not increase over the period of culture.
CONCLUSION: Our study confirms the low level of PERV expression in whole pancreas in a large population of both neonatal and adult pigs (n=80). The level of PERV expression was however higher in the endocrine tissue than in the exocrine cells. There was no correlation between PERV status in donor PBMCs and islet cells, and no evidence of active replication in in vitro regardless of PERV expression in islet cells. Moreover, neonatal pig islets were found to have significantly lower PERV expression compared to adult islets. Neonatal islets have been suggested as the best choice for xenotransplantation in terms of economic and procurement considerations; the PERV status reported here would also potentially support their use
Record Maximum Oscillation Frequency in C-face Epitaxial Graphene Transistors
The maximum oscillation frequency (fmax) quantifies the practical upper bound
for useful circuit operation. We report here an fmax of 70 GHz in transistors
using epitaxial graphene grown on the C-face of SiC. This is a significant
improvement over Si-face epitaxial graphene used in the prior high frequency
transistor studies, exemplifying the superior electronics potential of C-face
epitaxial graphene. Careful transistor design using a high {\kappa} dielectric
T-gate and self-aligned contacts, further contributed to the record-breaking
fmax
Predicting Responses of Geo-ecological Carbonate Reef Systems to Climate Change: A Conceptual Model and Review
Coral reefs provide critical ecological and geomorphic (e.g. sediment production for reef-fronted shoreline maintenance) services, which interact in complex and dynamic ways. These services are under threat from climate change, requiring dynamic modelling approaches that predict how reef systems will respond to different future climate scenarios. Carbonate budgets, which estimate net reef calcium carbonate production, provide a comprehensive âsnap-shotâ assessment of reef accretionary potential and reef stability. These budgets, however, were not intended to account for the full suite of processes that maintain coral reef services or to provide predictive capacity on longer timescales (decadal to centennial). To respond to the dual challenges of enhancing carbonate budget assessments and advancing their predictive capacity, we applied a novel model elicitation and review method to create a qualitative geo-ecological carbonate reef system model that links geomorphic, ecological and physical processes. Our approach conceptualizes relationships between net carbonate production, sediment transport and landform stability, and rates knowledge confidence to reveal major knowledge gaps and critical future research pathways. The model provides a blueprint for future coral reef research that aims to quantify net carbonate production and sediment dynamics, improving our capacity to predict responses of reefs and reef-fronted shorelines to future climate change
Concert recording 2013-02-01
[Track 01]. Soon ah\u27 will be done / arranged by William Dawson -- [Track 02]. Twenty-four negro melodies, op. 59. Wade in the water / Samuel Coleridge-Taylor -- [Track 03]. Multiple voices of an expanding distance / Jeffrey Mumford -- [Track 04]. On music. Invitation ; The final prelude / Shawn E. Okpcbholo -- [Track 05]. Psalm for the living / William Grant Still -- [Track 06]. Warm valley / Edward K. Duke Ellington -- [Track 07]. Betelehemu / arranged by Wendell Whalum
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