Challenging hierarchical research relations and improving research trustworthiness: the use of member checking

This contribution discusses the use of member checking in Tot, Kenya and Engaruka, Tanzania as enriching practices for both the researched and the researcher. By utilising a series of pamphlets produced in local languages, participants are able to see the result of their contribution to the research and give them a chance to have a second say by adding or rectifying what they would have reported earlier. In this way, member checking enables a researcher to realise any erroneous understanding of community practices under examination. Member checking is indeed far from perfect, but its employment improved the trustworthiness, transferability and confirmability of the study, writes Martina Angela Caretta

Feminist participatory methodologies in geography: creating spaces of inclusion

This introduction prefaces a special issue on the topic of feminist participatory methodologies in geography. Drawing upon the experiences of the contributors in developing new tools and methods to facilitate interaction with participants and working with groups that tend to be forgotten, subordinated and/or alienated, we argue for the methodological significance of instating a feminist perspective to participatory research. Although much theoretical debate has taken place among feminist and post-colonial scholars on unequal research relationships between ‘researchers’ and ‘research subjects’, the literature on how to operationalize greater equality remains quite limited. We attempt to fill this research gap by bringing together scholars working in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres in order to illuminate the multifaceted ways in which these methods can be used not only to debunk hierarchical research relationships, but also to produce new scientific insights with greater validity

Household Water Security: An Analysis of Water Affect in the Context of Hydraulic Fracturing in West Virginia, Appalachia

Hydraulic fracturing has been booming in the last decade in the United States. While natural gas extraction and production has improved the national energy security, it has raised questions around the water security of those communities where extraction is taking place. Both scientists and residents are concerned about hydraulic fracturing’s impacts on surface- and groundwater, especially regarding how hydraulic fracturing impacts residents’ access to safe household well water. In the past decade, the Marcellus Shale has been developed in Northwestern West Virginia, yet the human geography dimensions of oil and gas extraction in West Virginia remain to be investigated. This article, based on 30 in-depth interviews, explores household groundwater insecurity due to hydraulic fracturing experienced by residents (i.e., mineral owners, surface owners, and concerned citizens) in Northwestern West Virginia. The concept of water affect is used to attend to the emotional and subjective dimensions of water security by unveiling the power, emotional struggles, and mental stress inherent in water testing practices and environmental regulation around hydraulic fracturing. Water testing is typically conducted by contractors hired by oil and gas companies, but it is mired in delayed test results and incorrect testing procedures, triggering residents’ negative feelings toward oil and gas companies. This article furthers the understanding of water security, commonly defined in terms of individual access to adequate water quality and quantity, by studying Appalachian residents’ anxieties about well water contamination and uncertainty around the long-term water impacts of hydraulic fracturing. By investigating the uneven power relations around groundwater in West Virginia, the emotional experiences and responses are articulated to further the notion of water affect as impacting household groundwater security

Women and Water: an Art-Based Academic-Community Partnership

Women constitute most volunteer water stewards in West Virginia. After having conducted participatory research on the motivations behind women’s engagement with water preservation and restoration work we carried out two participatory art-based activities. In this Practices and Curations, we reflect on these two art-based activities to facilitate networking between researchers and participants and to communicate to the wider public the role of women water stewards. Together with community partners we first organized an icebreaker for women to share a boundary object that signified their connection with water. These boundary objects were subsequently displayed in an art exhibit highlighting women’s connection to water, their reasons for care work and the consistent role they had played in environmental preservation in West Virginia. We conclude by providing incitements to our fellow academics to engage with art in participatory geographical research as a learning experience that can overturn the common researcher-researched power dynamics

Arsenic Poisoning in Rural Bangladesh-An intersectional analysis of impact in women

Based on a qualitative case study in six arsenic acute villages in southwest Bangladesh, this paper presents the intersectional impact of the arsenic poisoning crisis in rural Bangladesh. Findings indicate that the arsenic poisoning crisis is aggravating existing gender inequalities as well as gender roles and responsibilities. The gender inequalities related to arsenicosis are manifested in the access to health care and in the degree of social stigma: women are the biggest victims, unmarried women in particular. The study shows that multiple axis of oppression as class, disability and age are crucial in determining the magnitude of the arsenic poisoning impacts in rural Bangladesh. Understanding the gendered dynamics in the arsenic poisoning crisis and, in particular its intersectional impact on women informs the debate on disaster management. Consequently, by expanding current knowledge, this case study lays the ground for more comprehensive and gender inclusive policy making in the context of hazardous waterscapes

From Controlled to Automatic Processes and Back Again: The Role of Contextual Features

In cognitive psychology, classical approaches categorize automatic and controlled processes from a dichotomous point of view. Automatic processes are believed to be rigid, whereas controlled processes are thought to be flexible. New theories have softened this dichotomous view. The aim of the present study is to examine the possibility of implementing flexibility in automatic processing through reliance on contextual features. One hundred and twenty subjects (mean age 22.4, SD = 4.2), 60 male and 60 female, participated in this study. An automatic sequence task (with and without contextual features) was used to test flexibility in automatic processing. Results showed that the use of contextual cues can increase flexibility in automatic processes. The results are discussed in light of new theories on softened automaticity

Die Umsetzung des revidierten Erwachsenenschutzrechts: eine qualitative Untersuchung am Beispiel zweier Deutschschweizer Kantone

Gegenstand dieser qualitativen Forschungsarbeit bildet die Umsetzung des revidierten Erwachsenenschutzrechts, welches im Januar 2013 in Kraft getreten ist. Es wird den Fragen nachgegangen, wie die Kindes- und Erwachsenenschutzbehörden (KESB) strukturell organisiert sind, wie sich die Zusammenarbeit mit den Sozialen Diensten, welche Berufsbeistandschaften übernehmen, gestaltet und wie die strukturelle Organisation einer KESB diese Zusammenarbeit beeinflusst. Im theoretischen Teil wird unter anderem auf die rechtlich normativen Grundlagen der KESB eingegangen. Zu den rechtlich normativen Grundlagen zählen das Schweizerische Zivilgesetzbuch (ZGB) und die kantonalen Einführungsgesetze (EG). Damit die Organisation einer KESB verstanden werden kann, werden weiter Aspekte des Organisationsaufbaus und grundsätzliche Organisationsstrukturen aufgezeigt. Weiter wird auf die Akteurinnen eines Sozialen Dienstes und deren Dienstleistungen eingegangen. Denn sowohl die KESB als auch die Sozialen Dienste, welche Berufsbeistandschaften übernehmen, bieten soziale personenbezogene Dienstleistungen an. Die Merkmale einer solchen sozialen personenbezogenen Dienstleistung werden aufgezeigt. Da die KESB von Gesetzes wegen eine interdisziplinär zusammengesetzte Fachbehörde ist, werden Begrifflichkeiten, Bedingungen und Ziele der interdisziplinären Zusammenarbeit erläutert. Für den empirischen Teil wurden zwei Deutschschweizer Kantone untersucht. Insgesamt wurden fünf Experteninterviews mit Behördenmitgliedern und fünf Experteninterviews mit Führungspersonen oder Mitarbeitenden eines Sozialen Dienstes durchgeführt. Anhand einer Fallstudie erfolgte die Auswertung der Daten. Bei der Datenanalyse wurde der Fokus auf die Hauptthemen „Struktur“, „Prozess“ und „externe Zusammenarbeit“ der untersuchten KESB gelegt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen auf, dass die Kantone den grossen Gestaltungsspielraum bei der Organisation der KESB wahrgenommen haben. Die unterschiedliche Umsetzung der Kantone führte zu strukturellen Unterschieden der untersuchten KESB. Weiter wurde herausgefunden, dass diese strukturellen Unterschiede die Zusammenarbeit mit den Sozialen Diensten, welche Berufsbeistandschaften übernehmen, beeinflussen. Zu den wichtigsten strukturellen Unterschieden, die die Zusammenarbeit begünstigen oder erschweren, zählen insbesondere die Voraussetzungen der Aufbauarbeit, gefestigte interne Prozesse und Abläufe, die interne Organisation mit Fach- und Sachmitarbeitenden, die Anzahl Sozialer Dienste, mit welchen die KESB in Kontakt steht, und die Trägerschaft. Am Schluss der Arbeit werden mögliche weitere Forschungsmöglichkeiten formuliert und Konsequenzen für die Praxis der Sozialen Arbeit erläutert

Long-term maintenance of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus in culture

Abstract The common sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1816) is an important commercial species in the Mediterranean Sea for the consumption of its gonads (roe). This species has also long been used as an animal model in developmental biology and as an indicator in the assessment of environmental quality. In recent decades, the exploitation of this marine resource has become increasingly intensive, causing the depletion of wild stocks. The ripple effect observed in the laboratory use of this species has been the growing difficulty in finding valiant mature animals in the wild. We focused on the long-term maintenance of wild P. lividus and on the essential question of diet to maintain the animals and improve gonad development. The use of practical ration blocks which are nutrient-rich and show stability, easy storage and handling, resulted reduction in labor requirement and time for feeding streamlining the feeding practice. A significantly higher gonad production and a prolonged period of reproduction were obtained compared to wild caught individuals over the same period of time

NUT midline carcinoma of the head and neck: current perspectives

NUT midline carcinoma (NMC) is a rare and aggressive subtype of squamous carcinoma that typically arises from midline supradiaphragmatic structures, frequently from the head and neck area. NMC is genetically driven by a chromosomal rearrangement involving the NUT gene, which forms oncoproteins considered major pathogenic drivers of cellular transformation. Diagnosis of NMC has been made remarkably easier with the availability of a commercial antibody against NUT, and can be established through positive nuclear immunohistochemical staining. Although NMC remains an underrecognized malignancy, in recent years there has appeared to be increasing awareness of disease and frequency of diagnosis in adults. To date, a standard treatment for head and neck NMC has not been established and a multimodal approach with systemic chemotherapy, surgery and radiation therapy is currently adopted in clinical practice. Recently, BET inhibitors and histone deacetylase inhibitors have emerged as two promising classes of targeted agents, currently investigated in clinical trials for adults with head and neck NMC. At the same time, combination approaches and novel targeted agents, such as next-generation BET inhibitors and CDK9 inhibitors, have shown preclinical activity. The present review explores the clinical pathological characteristics of NMC of the head and neck and presents the current state of the art on diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of this rare but lethal disease