In-flux:(re)negotiations of gender, identity and ‘home’ in post-war Southern Sudan

Can war and displacement have an empowering and emancipating impact on gender asymmetries? How does being continuously on the move and ‘in-flux’ due to war and years spent being displaced and returning supposedly ‘home’ affect people’s lives and the practice and negotiation of gender relations? Conceptualising war-time displacement as a catalyst of social change, the research explores the transformation of southern Sudanese Nuer gender relations in the context of refugee return as a result of the most recent war (1983-2005). Based on ethnographic research in Kenya and southern Sudan, this thesis examines the gendered displacement of Nuer refugees in Kakuma camp and their after-return emplacement experiences in southern Sudan. This research analyses how women and men, old and young navigated the social conditions of war and violence and used their agency to adjust, adapt and negotiate their place in exile and after return ‘home’. It unravels changing narratives of ‘becoming and being’ a man and a woman in conflict-zones, refugee camps and in the processes of emplacement after return. It argues that asymmetrical gender relations and women’s subordination were challenged as a result of the Sudanese civil wars. Consequently, multiple forms of gender identities emerged showing creative ways in which women and men cope with war-time displacement, beyond being either only victims or perpetrators of violence. In the post-war Nuerland, militarised forms of masculinities and violence-affected femininities are juxtaposed against ‘educated prowomen’ men and ‘empowered educated women’ that emerged due to experiences in the refugee camp. The findings illustrate how gender (and age) are constraining concepts for women and men, yet women’s agency and choices are more restricted. The concepts of ‘home’ as imagined, lived and (re)produced are of key importance in the continuing shaping and re-shaping of gender identities, ideologies and institutions. In the context of after ‘return’ emplacement, returnee women and girls experience restriction of opportunities despite their attempts at autonomy. The creation of new power sources (through militarisation and education) mostly accessible to men reifies women’s subordination by reinforcing men’s power over (uneducated) women

Ali Nada Mustafa. — Gender, Race and Sudan’s Exile Politics: Do We All Belong to this Country?

“Do we all belong to this country?” asks Nada Mustafa Ali in her book entitled: Gender, Race and Sudan’s Exile Politics. The title of the book is taken from a speech given in 1998 in Cairo by anthropologist Sharif Harir, the vice president of the Sudan Federal Democratic Party and member of the Sudan’s National Democratic Alliance’s executive office at that time, in which he discussed structural racism in the Old Sudan. While the issues of racism, gender and belonging have been at the centre ..

Infections and Ischemic Stroke Outcome

Background. Infections increase the risk of ischemic stroke (IS) and may worsen IS prognosis. Adverse effects of in-hospital infections on stroke outcome were also reported. We aimed to study the prevalence of pre- and poststroke infections and their impact on IS outcome. Methods. We analysed clinical data of 2066 IS patients to assess the effect of pre-stroke and post-stroke infections on IS severity, as well as short-term (up to 30 days) and long-term (90 days) outcome. The independent impact of infections on poor outcome (death, death/dependency) was investigated by use of logistic regression analysis. The effect of antibiotic therapy during hospitalization on the outcome was also assessed. Results. Pre-stroke infections independently predicted worse short-term outcome. In-hospital infections were associated with worse short-term and long-term IS prognosis. Antibacterial treatment during hospitalization did not improve patients' outcome. Conclusions. Prevention of infections may improve IS prognosis. The role of antibiotic therapy after IS requires further investigations

Mean glandular dose values used for the mammography screening program in Poland according to the type of image registration system

Between 2007–2014, there have been considerable changes in the use of different types of detector systems at mammography facilities undertaking screening programs in Poland. The use of screen-film systems (termed SF systems) has largely decreased and been replaced by either computed radiography (termed CR systems) or digital radiography systems (termed DR systems); this inevitably affecting mean glandular dose values. The study aim was to evaluate changes of mean glandular dose values for a dose exposure of 4.5 cm (MGD4,5cmPMMA) achieved by using different image detectors. The study consisted of analysing 1499 protocols for quality control tests carried out by medical physicists at 16 Regional Coordination Offices in 2007, 2011, 2012 and 2013. The mean CR system values were higher than for SF systems; by 25% in 2011, by 26% in 2012, and by 28% in 2013. In subsequent years, the MGD4,5cmPMMA mean values for DR systems were higher than for SF systems by respectively 15%, 4% and 5%. Also in the subsequent years, the MGD4,5cmPMMA mean values for CR systems were higher than for DR systems by respectively 13%, 23% and 24%. In all cases, the MGD4,5cmPMMA mean values were within the acceptable level of 2.5 mGy. The MGD4,5cmPMMA mean values were different, depending on the detection system used for mammography screening in Poland

The South Sudan House in Amarat: South Sudanese enclaves in Khartoum

This article presents our first reflections and impressions on two separate ethnographic fieldworks carried out between 2015 and 2016, and offers insights into a particular enclave of South Sudan in a Khartoum neighbourhood, Amarat. It discusses the wider issues that have emerged as a result of the separation of the two Sudans. In July 2011, South Sudan became an independent nation, and broke away from Northern Sudan. The break-up was a violent experience for the people of the two nations, and the dynamic changes that followed the separation of the two Sudans have affected the lives of people from the north and the south, as well as those who are considered to be ‘Jenubeen’ (Southern or South Sudanese) in the north and those who are considered to be ‘Shageen’ (Northern) in the south. With the political developments in the two nations and the introduction of new citizenship laws, Southerners have become foreigners in Sudan, while Northerners have lost their citizenship privileges in South Sudan. These political changes have had a profound impact on social, political, and economic reconfigurations, as well as on identity claims in the two nations