Engaging Processes of Sense-Making and Negotiation in Contemporary Timor-Leste

The articles in this special issue build on past ethnographic inquiries and focus on political and social change since Timor-Leste independence. One of the things we have found particularly exciting about researching post-independent Timor-Leste has been to carry out fieldwork in a context where not just researchers, but also our informants, are caught up in processes of sense-making of determining what kind of place Timor-Leste as an independent nation is becoming. The reality of ethnographic research in such a context is far different from, as Ferguson (1999, 208) has it, the archetypal image of the anthropologist dropped into the middle of a cultural homogenous village community where the researcher acquires from local informants a degree of cultural fluency. Rather, while we as researchers have tried to learn about Timor-Leste, our informants, as citizens of a new nation, have been absorbed in a parallel process of learning, deliberating and at times contesting what kind of place Timor-Leste as an independent nation is, and should become in the future (see Kammen 2009). In other words, making sense of independent Timor- Leste has, over the past decade, been a project that preoccupies Timorese citizens as much as the foreign researcher. This issue addresses some of these processes of sense-making and negotiation; and highlights the ambiguities and paradoxes, while stressing the heterogeneity and unpredictability of contemporary Timor-Leste

THE EFFECT OF LANGUAGE BARRIERS ON VARIATION AND RECEIPT OF EARLY STAGE BREAST CANCER TREATMENT

Background: Arriving at and implementing an appropriate patient centered treatment plan for early stage breast cancer requires significant dialogue between healthcare providers and patients. How language barriers affect this process has not been thoroughly explored in the literature. The aim of this paper is to examine the effect of language barrier on variation and receipt of early stage breast cancer treatment. Methods: Rates of lumpectomy, mastectomy, and contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) with or without reconstruction were compared between English speaking and Low English Proficiency (LEP) cohorts. Patients with recurrent or bilateral breast cancer, male patients, and/or known genetic mutations were excluded. Receipt of recommended treatments including chemotherapy, hormonal therapy and radiation were compared between the two groups, as well as patient refusal and loss of follow-up. Regression analysis for all-cause mortality within this time period was tabulated for each group. Results: There were no significant differences between receipt of recommended treatments, patient refusal or loss of follow up between the cohorts. LEP patients had a greater proportion of lumpectomies (79.7 versus 70.7%) while 9.2% of English-speaking patients had CPM or CPM with reconstruction compared to none of the LEP patients. These trends, however, did not rise to statistical significance within our small population sample. Age, insurance type, and LEP were associated with significant difference in all-cause mortality, however only age and insurance remained significant in adjusted analysis. Conclusion: Our results indicate a non-statistically significant trend towards less variation of surgical treatment variation for early stage breast cancer in the LEP population, including a greater frequency of lumpectomy and less utilization of CPM. Larger, multicenter studies would be needed to affirm and further investigate these trends

Ultra-high temperature measuring techniques Final report

Real time technique for measurement of high temperature gases and spectroscopic techniques for temperature measurement of hot cesium seeded hydroge

Ranking of food safety risks in pork from organic and free-range production systems

The objectives of this semi-quantitative risk assessment were to identify, assess and rank food safety risks in outdoor pig production (organic and free-range) compared to indoor pig production (conventional) in Denmark. In addition, high-risk pork products would be identified. Finally, risk-reducing strategies for handling the identified agents would be suggested. Data were obtained from the literature as well as in-house statistics. Data describing tetracycline-resistant E. coli in outdoor pigs were available from the Qualysafe project. The OIE framework for risk assessment was applied

Electron-ion Recombination In Gas Mixtures Of Helium, Nitrogen, And Carbon Dioxide

A study has been conducted to determine the electron-ion recombination rates in gas mixtures of helium, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. Measurements were made as functions of electric field strength, gas pressure, and gas composition. In gas mixtures containing only nitrogen and carbon dioxide, the rates were dependent on pressure. This dependence is interpreted as being due to the separate effects of two- and three-body recombination processes. No pressure dependence was observed for mixtures containing helium. In such mixtures, two-body recombination appears to be dominant. Moreover, the addition of relatively low concentrations of helium to the discharge leads to a dramatic change in the bulk recombination rate. Two possible explanations for this observation are suggested. © 1984 American Institute of Physics

Two- And Three-body Electron-ion Recombination In Carbon Dioxide

The electron-ion recombination rate in carbon dioxide was measured as a function of electric field strength and gas pressure. The separate effects of two- and three-body recombination was observed, and the respective rate constants obtained. The results indicate that three-body recombination is dominant at low field strengths for gas pressures above 1 atm, whereas two-body recombination is dominant at high field strengths

Static Properties of Trapped Bose-Fermi Mixed Condensate of Alkali Atoms

Static properties of a bose-fermi mixture of trapped potassium atoms are studied in terms of coupled Gross-Pitaevskii and Thomas-Fermi equations for both repulsive and attractive bose-fermi interatomic potentials. Qualitative estimates are given for solutions of the coupled equations, and the parameter regions are obtained analytically for the boson-density profile change and for the boson/fermion phase separation. Especially, the parameter ratio $R_{int}$ is found that discriminates the region of the large boson-profile change. These estimates are applied for numerical results for the potassium atoms and checked their consistency. It is suggested that a small fraction of fermions could be trapped without an external potential for the system with an attractive boson-fermion interaction.Comment: 8 pages,5 figure

“Navigating the Different Spaces”: Experiences of Inclusion and Isolation Among Racially Minoritized Faculty in Canada

The intersection of multiple identities (e.g., racialization, gender, class) strongly determines an individual’s social location. In-depth interviews with 42 racially minoritized academics in Canadian universities allowed U.S. to begin to grasp the challenges faced by those who must negotiate the different spaces in an academy that is predominately white, Eurocentric and male. Using an anti-racist framework, we found that the level of inclusion that racially minoritized academics in our study felt within their workplaces depended upon their experiences with 1) acceptance (e.g., through hiring, promotion, and tenure); 2) visibility (e.g., in terms of perceived power in informal and formal work interactions); 3) support (e.g., via collegial and administrative encouragement, assistance, collaboration and resource support); and 4) mentoring (e.g., in terms of providing and seeking mentor experiences). Our findings suggest that the increasing presence of racially minoritized academics may better serve institutional purposes of portraying a mission of diversity than actually achieving a mission of equity.Le croisement des identités multiples telles que la racialisation, le genre et la classe sociale détermine fortement la position sociale de l’individu. Quarante-deux professeurs universitaires canadiens membres de minorités visibles se sont prêtés à une entrevue approfondie afi n de mieux comprendre les obstacles et défi s qu’ils doivent surmonter dans un milieu majoritairement dominé par des hommes blancs d’origine européenne. Analysées dans une perspective anti-raciste, ces entrevues indiquent que le niveau d’intégration au milieu académique perçu par ces professeurs issus de groupes minorisés est associé à certains critères tels que: 1) l’acceptation (comme l’embauche, l’avancement, la titularisation), 2) la visibilité (comme l’infl uence dans les relations de travail formelles et informelles), 3) le soutien (offert par les collègues ou l’administration par exemple) et 4) le mentorat (comme l’accès aux conseils d’un collègue plus expérimenté). L’analyse des résultats démontre que la présence accrue de professeurs issus de groupes minorisés sert surtout à affi cher que l’institution se diversifi e plutôt que de réellement améliorer l’équité entre les différents groupes sociaux