Nunca invisibles: insurgent memory and self-representation by female ex-combatants in Colombia

As part of attempts to end more than half century of armed conflict, transitional justice and memory initiatives have proliferated in Colombia, providing recognition and redress to victims of violence. Yet, alongside the focus on victims, former insurgents in Colombia have also called for the inclusion of their own narratives of the conflict in public memory initiatives. Responding to recent memory studies scholarship, which has begun to reorient the field away from a narrow focus on past trauma, this article analyses the construction of ‘insurgent memory’ in Colombia through the 2018 documentary Nunca Invisibles: Mujeres Farianas, Adiós a la guerra. Emerging from a grassroots memory project led by women from the FARC, I explore how the film challenges the predominant framing of ex-combatant women as victims in transitional justice and DDR scholarship. Situating this in a longer history of memory projects by female combatants, the article analyses how such projects, whilst articulating a discourse of peace and reconciliation, vindicate a narrative of female revolutionary activism and a political identity that is often erased in post-conflict “reintegration” processes. In doing so, I demonstrate the importance of creative, grassroots processes in enabling ex-combatants to represent themselves and move beyond the limitations of official memory and transitional justice frameworks

Electrochemical reduction of CerMet fuels for transmutation using surrogate CeO₂-Mo pellets

One of the concepts chosen for the transmutation of minor actinides in Accelerator Driven Systems or fast reactors proposes the use of fuels and targets containing minor actinides oxides embedded in an inert matrix either composed of molybdenum metal (CerMet fuel) or of ceramic magnesium oxide (CerCer fuel). Since the sufficient transmutation cannot be achieved in a single step, it requires multi-recycling of the fuel including recovery of the not transmuted minor actinides. In the present work, a pyrochemical process for treatment of Mo metal inert matrix based CerMet fuels is studied, particularly the electroreduction in molten chloride salt as a head-end step required prior the main separation process. At the initial stage, different inactive pellets simulating the fuel containing CeO2 as minor actinide surrogates were examined. The main studied parameters of the process efficiency were the porosity and composition of the pellets and the process parameters as current density and passed charge. The results indicated the feasibility of the process, gave insight into its limiting parameters and defined the parameters for the future experiment on minor actinide containing material. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY licens

Separation of actinides from irradiated An–Zr based fuel by electrorefining on solid aluminium cathodes in molten LiCl–KCl

AbstractAn electrorefining process for metallic spent nuclear fuel treatment is being investigated in ITU. Solid aluminium cathodes are used for homogeneous recovery of all actinides within the process carried out in molten LiCl–KCl eutectic salt at a temperature of 500°C. As the selectivity, efficiency and performance of solid Al has been already shown using un-irradiated An–Zr alloy based test fuels, the present work was focused on laboratory-scale demonstration of the process using irradiated METAPHIX-1 fuel composed of U67–Pu19–Zr10–MA2–RE2 (wt.%, MA=Np, Am, Cm, RE=Nd, Ce, Gd, Y). Different electrorefining techniques, conditions and cathode geometries were used during the experiment yielding evaluation of separation factors, kinetic parameters of actinide–aluminium alloy formation, process efficiency and macro-structure characterisation of the deposits. The results confirmed an excellent separation and very high efficiency of the electrorefining process using solid Al cathodes

Prévalence des troubles cognitifs et nutritionnels chez les sujets âgés cancéreux évalués en consultation d’oncogériatrie

National audienc

Developing an SMS text message intervention on sexual and reproductive health with adolescents and youth in Peru

Background: Improved access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services and information is essential for supporting adolescents and youth in making informed decisions and optimizing each young person’s outcomes related to their SRH, health and well-being and countries’ current and future social and economic development. Mobile phones offer opportunities for young people to privately access SRH content and to be linked to SRH services. The objective of this study was to develop the content for an SMS (short message service or “text message”) platform jointly with adolescents and youth in three regions in Peru (Lima, Ayacucho and Loreto) as part of the ARMADILLO (Adolescent/Youth Reproductive Mobile Access and Delivery Initiative for Love and Life Outcomes) Study. Methods: Content development was done in three stages. During Stage 1, we held community consultations with 13–17 year old adolescents, 18–24 year old youth and professionals who work with young people through the education and health sectors (“adult advisers”) to identify and rate SRH topics of interest through group free- and guided-brainstorming activities and an individual written sharing activity. During Stage 2, the team developed the preliminary domains, sub-domains and content for the SMS platform. During Stage 3, we held focus groups with adolescents to validate the SMS content, including both individual scoring of and group feedback for each SMS. Group feedback asked about their general impressions and understanding and their thoughts about the language and usefulness of the SMS. Results: A total of 172 adolescents and youth ages 13–24 and 20 adult advisers participated. Adolescents and youth brainstormed and rated SRH topics and sub-topics that led to the initial structure for the SMS platform, with 9 domains, 25 sub-domains and 146 draft SMS. Adolescents provided high scores for the SMS, with all sub-domains receiving average scores of 3.0 or higher (out of 4.0) for the SMS included. Adolescents also provided suggestions to optimize content, including improvements to unclear messages, resulting in SMS with adolescent-friendly content in simple, straightforward language. This process also revealed that adolescents lacked knowledge and had misconceptions related to contraceptive methods. Conclusion: This study details the systematic process used to develop relevant and accessible SRH information through a participatory approach. We document critical information about what young people know and how they think, enabling us to understand their perspective and literally speak their language. Results also provide future directions for programmatic, research and policy efforts with young people, in particular around gender norms, interpersonal violence, and access to SRH information and services, in similar settings

Antiproliferative, antiandrogenic and cytotoxic effects of novel caffeic acid derivatives in LNCaP human androgen-dependent prostate cancer cells.

International audienceCaffeic acid and its naturally occurring derivative caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) have antiproliferative and cytotoxic properties in a variety of cancer cell lines without displaying significant toxicity toward healthy cells, and are considered to be potential anticancer agents. However, little is known about their effects on prostate cancer cells. We synthesized and evaluated the effects of caffeic acid, CAPE (2) and 18 synthetic derivatives on cell viability and androgen-dependent cell proliferation, subcellular localisation and expression of androgen receptor (AR) and secretion of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in LNCaP human hormone-dependent prostate cancer cells. Several synthetic derivatives of CAPE were strong, concentration-dependent cytotoxic agents in LNCaP cells with IC50 values in the 6.8-26.6 μM range, potencies that were up to five-fold greater than that of CAPE (33.7±4.0 μM). A number of caffeic acid derivatives were inhibitors of androgen-stimulated LNCaP cell proliferation with concomitant inhibition of DHT-stimulated PSA secretion. Compound 24 was the most cytotoxic and antiproliferative caffeic acid derivative (IC50 values of 6.8±0.3 and 2.4±0.8 μM, respectively) inhibiting DHT-stimulated cell proliferation and PSA secretion statistically significantly at concentrations as low as 0.3 μM. Exposure to DHT increased cytoplasmic and nuclear AR levels and co-treatment with increasing concentrations of compound 24 or CAPE (2), notably, further increased these levels. In conclusion, a number of synthetic derivatives of caffeic acid are potent inhibitors of androgen-dependent prostate cancer cell proliferation and viability, acting, at least in part, via an antiandrogenic mechanism that involves increased nuclear accumulation of (presumably inactive) AR