Seeing like the international community: how peacebuilding failed (and survived) in Tajikistan

Post-print version. 18 month embargo by the publisher. Article will be released April 2010.The international community claims transformative power over post-conflict spaces via the concept of peacebuilding. International actors discursively make space for themselves in settings such as the Central Asian state of Tajikistan which endured a civil war during the 1990s and has only seen an end to widespread political violence in recent years. With the work of James C. Scott, this paper challenges the notion that post-conflict spaces are merely the objects of international intervention. It reveals how, even in cases of apparent stability such as that of Tajikistan, international actors fail to achieve their ostensible goals for that place yet make space for themselves in that place. International peacebuilders may provide essential resources for the re-emergence of local forms of order yet these symbolic and material resources are inevitably re-interpreted and re-appropriated by local actors to serve purposes which may be the opposite of their aims. However, despite this ‘failure’ of peacebuilding it nevertheless survives as a discursive construction through highly subjective processes of monitoring and evaluation. So maintained, peacebuilding is a constitutive element of world order where the necessity of intervention for humanitarian, democratic and statebuilding ends goes unchallenged. This raises the question of what or where – in spatial terms – is the locus of international intervention: the local recipients of peacebuilding programmes (who are the ostensible targets) or ‘the International Community’ itself (whose space is re-inscribed as that of an imperfect but necessary regulator of world order)

Beyond BMI for self-estimates of body size and shape: A new method for developing stimuli correctly calibrated for body composition

Accurate self-assessment of body shape and size plays a key role in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of both obesity and eating disorders. These chronic conditions cause significant health problems, reduced quality of life, and represent a major problem for health services. Variation in body shape depends on two aspects of composition: adiposity and muscularity. However, most self-assessment tools are unidimensional. They depict variation in adiposity only, typically quantified by the body mass index. This can lead to substantial, and clinically meaningful, errors in estimates of body shape and size. To solve this problem, we detail a method of creating biometrically valid body stimuli. We obtained high-resolution 3D body shape scans and composition measures from 397 volunteers (aged 18–45 years) and produced a statistical mapping between the two. This allowed us to create 3D computer-generated models of bodies, correctly calibrated for body composition (i.e., muscularity and adiposity). We show how these stimuli, whose shape changes are based on change in composition in two dimensions, can be used to match the body size and shape participants believe themselves to have, to the stimulus they see. We also show how multivariate multiple regression can be used to model shape change predicted by these 2D outcomes, so that participants’ choices can be explained by their measured body composition together with other psychometric variables. Together, this approach should substantially improve the accuracy and precision with which self-assessments of body size and shape can be made in obese individuals and those suffering from eating disorders

SecA, a remarkable nanomachine

Biological cells harbor a variety of molecular machines that carry out mechanical work at the nanoscale. One of these nanomachines is the bacterial motor protein SecA which translocates secretory proteins through the protein-conducting membrane channel SecYEG. SecA converts chemically stored energy in the form of ATP into a mechanical force to drive polypeptide transport through SecYEG and across the cytoplasmic membrane. In order to accommodate a translocating polypeptide chain and to release transmembrane segments of membrane proteins into the lipid bilayer, SecYEG needs to open its central channel and the lateral gate. Recent crystal structures provide a detailed insight into the rearrangements required for channel opening. Here, we review our current understanding of the mode of operation of the SecA motor protein in concert with the dynamic SecYEG channel. We conclude with a new model for SecA-mediated protein translocation that unifies previous conflicting data

Internationale Medizinstudierende - eine Bestandsaufnahme zu Herausforderungen und Unterstützungsangeboten an den Medizinischen Fakultäten

Introduction: Medical students with a non-German background face several challenges during their studies. Besides support given by foreign student offices further specific projects for international students have been developed and are offered by medical faculties. However, so far, neither a systematic survey of the faculties' perceived problems nor of the offered support exists.Method: All study deaneries of medical faculties in Germany were contacted between April and October 2013 and asked for their participation in a telephone interview. Interview partners were asked about 1.) The percentage of non-German students at the medical faculty; 2.) The perceived difficulties and problems of foreign students; 3.) The offers for non-German students; and 4.) The specification of further possibilities of support. Given information was noted, frequencies counted and results interpreted via frequency analysis.Results: Only 39% of the medical faculties could give detailed information about the percentage of non-German students. They reported an average share of 3.9% of students with an EU migration background and 4.9% with a non-EU background. Most frequently cited offers are student conducted tutorials, language courses and tandem-programs. The most frequently reported problem by far is the perceived lack of language skills of foreign students at the beginning of their studies. Suggested solutions are mainly the development of tutorials and the improvement of German medical terminology.Discussion: Offers of support provided by medical faculties for foreign students vary greatly in type and extent. Support offered is seen to be insufficient in coping with the needs of the international students in many cases. Hence, a better coverage of international students as well as further research efforts to the specific needs and the effectiveness of applied interventions seem to be essential.Einleitung: Internationale Medizinstudierende sind im Rahmen ihres Studiums in Deutschland mit einer Reihe von Herausforderungen konfrontiert. Neben der Unterstützung durch die zuständigen Akademischen Auslandsämter werden zunehmend auch spezifische Angebote für internationale Studierende durch die Medizinischen Fakultäten selbst entwickelt und angeboten. Eine systematische Übersicht über die Art und Verbreitung solcher Angebote sowie die von Seiten der Fakultäten wahrgenommenen Problemfelder für internationale Studierende existiert bislang nicht.Methode: Alle Studiendekanate der Medizinischen Fakultäten Deutschlands wurden zwischen April und Oktober 2013 kontaktiert und um Teilnahme an einem Telefoninterview gebeten. Die Interviewpartner wurden zu folgenden Sachverhalten befragt: 1.) Anteil internationaler Studierender an der Medizinischen Fakultät; 2.) Wahrgenommene Schwierigkeiten und Probleme internationaler Studierender; 3.) Angebot für internationale Studierende; 4.) Spezifizierung des weiteren Bedarfs an Unterstützungsmöglichkeiten. Die Angaben wurden notiert, Häufigkeiten im Anschluss ausgezählt und die Ergebnisse frequenzanalytisch ausgewertet.Ergebnisse: 39% der Medizinischen Fakultäten konnten detaillierte Auskunft über den Anteil internationaler Studierender geben. Von diesen Fakultäten wurde ein durchschnittlicher Anteil von 3,9% EU- und 4,9% Nicht-EU-Ausländer angegeben. Die häufigsten genannten Angebote sind durch andere Studierende geleitete Tutorien, Sprachkurse und Tandem-Programme. Das mit Abstand am häufigsten berichtete Problem ist laut den Studiendekanaten das sprachliche Defizit der internationalen Studierenden zu Beginn des Studiums. Als Lösungsvorschläge werden hauptsächlich der Ausbau von Tutorien sowie die Verbesserung der fachsprachlichen Deutschkenntnisse genannt.Diskussion: An den Medizinischen Fakultäten bestehen in Art und Umfang sehr unterschiedliche Unterstützungsangebote für internationale Studierende. In vielen Fällen wird das Angebot als unzureichend erlebt, um den Bedürfnissen der internationalen Studierenden gerecht zu werden. Eine bessere Erfassung der internationalen Studierenden sowie verstärkte Forschungsbemühungen zum spezifischen Bedarf sowie zur Wirksamkeit der angewandten Interventionen erscheinen in diesem Zusammenhang dringend notwendig