Situation Assessment in Villa Nueva: Prospects for an Urban Disaster Risk Reduction Program in Guatemala City’s Precarious Settlements

In 2009, Oxfam-Great Britain in Guatemala asked The Resilience Institute of Western Washington University to conduct a situation assessment of two informal communities in the outskirts of Guatemala City, Guatemala. Oxfam sought to assess the potential for developing an urban disaster risk reduction program within the metropolitan’s precarious settlements – informal settlements along the steep embankments of ravines. These settlements are often rapidly constructed overnight using temporary materials, with little possibility for considering the prevalent risk of landslides and seismic activity. Because residents build these squatter settlements without municipal approval, the settlements are considered illegal and often remain un-serviced for year

Street View Data Collection Design for Disaster Reconnaissance

Over the last decade, street-view type images have been used across disciplines to generate and understand various place-based metrics. However efforts to collect this data were often meant to support investigator-driven research without regard to the utility of the data for other researchers. To address this, we describe our methods for collecting and publishing longitudinal data of this type in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and discuss some of the challenges we encountered along the way. Our process included designing a route taking into account both broad area canvassing and community capitals transects. We also implemented procedures for uploading and publishing data from each survey. Our methods successfully generated the kind of longitudinal data that can be beneficial to a variety of research disciplines. However, there were some challenges with data collection consistency and the sheer magnitude of data produced. Overall, our approach demonstrates the feasibility of generating longitudinal street-view data in the wake of a disaster event. Based on our experience, we provide recommendations for future researchers attempting to create a similar data set.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, 1 tabl

Tumor Vasculature in Young and Old Hosts: Scanning Electron Microscopy of Microcorrosion Casts with Microangiography, Light Microscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy

Tumor growth in vivo is dependent upon new blood vessel formation. When B16-F10 melanoma cells are implanted subcutaneously in young (3 mo) and old (24 mo) C57BL/6 mice the rate of growth is dependent on the age of the mice. This study involved a wide range of histological and microscopic techniques but was limited primarily to the initial phase of tumor growth. Stereological point counting from light microscopy (LM) of standard histological sections has been used to yield data regarding blood content. Tumor-bearing mice were perfused through the aorta with a fixation solution and were infused with a low-viscosity radiopaque gel (Microfil) or resin (Mercox). Soft x-rays of the whole animal were used for identifying the feeding vessels to the tumor. Tumors with Microfil were sliced and used for microangiography and light-microscopic observation while those with resin were used to make corrosion casts for scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The different characteristics of the tumor blood vessels in different aged mice were most obvious through SEM of vascular corrosion casts. In comparison with tumors in young mice those of similar size in old hosts had more necrosis, reduced presence of angiogenic features, decreased vessel density, reduced penetration into the tumor, and enhanced tortuosity of the vessel lumen. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed incompletely developed wall structure of the vessels regardless of host. The above results are consistent with the hypothesis that retarded angiogenesis may be responsible in part for the limited growth of tumors in old hosts

Gender, migration and the ambiguous enterprise of professionalizing domestic service: the case of vocational training for the unemployed in France

Drawing on ethnographic data concerning migrant male domestic workers, this article examines the gendered dimensions of the process of racialization in Italy and France. First, it shows that specific racialized constructions of masculinity are mobilized by the employers as well as by training and recruitment agencies. These constructions of masculinity are related to different forms of organization of the sector in each country and to different ideologies about the integration of migrants. Second, the data presented reveal the strategies used by migrant male domestic workers to reaffirm their masculinity in a traditionally feminized sector. In doing so, this article intends to explore the connections between international migration and the gendering of occupations, with regard to the construction and management of masculinities in domestic service. Finally, by examining men’s experiences, this article aims to contribute to a more complex definition of the international division of care work

Experimental evidence for drought induced alternative stable states of soil moisture

Ecosystems may exhibit alternative stable states (ASS) in response to environmental change. Modelling and observational data broadly support the theory of ASS, however evidence from manipulation experiments supporting this theory is limited. Here, we provide long-term manipulation and observation data supporting the existence of drought induced alternative stable soil moisture states (irreversible soil wetting) in upland Atlantic heath, dominated by Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull. Manipulated repeated moderate summer drought, and intense natural summer drought both lowered resilience resulting in shifts in soil moisture dynamics. The repeated moderate summer drought decreased winter soil moisture retention by ~10%. However, intense summer drought, superimposed on the experiment, that began in 2003 and peaked in 2005 caused an unexpected erosion of resilience and a shift to an ASS; both for the experimental drought manipulation and control plots, impairing the soil from rewetting in winter. Measurements outside plots, with vegetation removal, showed no evidence of moisture shifts. Further independent evidence supports our findings from historical soil moisture monitoring at a long-term upland hydrological observatory. The results herald the need for a new paradigm regarding our understanding of soil structure, hydraulics and climate interaction

Intravenous versus oral iron supplementation for correction of post-transplant anaemia in renal transplant patients

Background Post-transplant anaemia remains a common problem after kidney transplantation, with an incidence ranging from nearly 80% at day 0 to about 25% at 1 year. It has been associated with poor graft outcome, and recently has also been shown to be associated with increased mortality. Our transplant unit routinely administers oral iron supplements to renal transplant recipients but this is frequently accompanied by side effects, mainly gastrointestinal intolerance. Intravenous iron is frequently administered to dialysis patients and we sought to investigate this mode of administration in transplant recipients after noticing less anaemia in several patients who had received intravenous iron just prior to being called in for transplantation. Methods This study is a single-centre, prospective, open-label, randomised, controlled trial of oral versus intravenous iron supplements in renal transplant recipients and aims to recruit approximately 100 patients over a 12-month period. Patients will be randomised to receive a single dose of 500 mg iron polymaltose (intravenous iron group) or 2 ferrous sulphate slow-release tablets daily (oral iron group). The primary outcome is time to normalisation of haemoglobin post-transplant. Prospective power calculations have indicated that a minimum of 48 patients in each group would have to be followed up for 3 months in order to have a 90% probability of detecting a halving of the time to correction of haemoglobin levels to ≥110 g/l in iron-treated patients, assuming an α of 0.05. All eligible adult patients undergoing renal transplantation at the Princess Alexandra Hospital will be offered participation in the trial. Exclusion criteria will include iron overload (transferrin saturation >50% or ferritin >800 μg/l), or previous intolerance of either oral or intravenous iron supplements. Discussion If the trial shows a reduction in the time to correction of anaemia with intravenous iron or less side effects than oral iron, then intravenous iron may become the standard of treatment in this patient group

Genomic and physiological footprint of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on resident marsh fishes

The biological consequences of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill are unknown, especially for resident organisms. Here, we report results from a field study tracking the effects of contaminating oil across space and time in resident killifish during the first 4 mo of the spill event. Remote sensing and analytical chemistry identified exposures, which were linked to effects in fish characterized by genome expression and associated gill immunohistochemistry, despite very low concentrations of hydrocarbons remaining in water and tissues. Divergence in genome expression coincides with contaminating oil and is consistent with genome responses that are predictive of exposure to hydrocarbon-like chemicals and indicative of physiological and reproductive impairment. Oil-contaminated waters are also associated with aberrant protein expression in gill tissues of larval and adult fish. These data suggest that heavily weathered crude oil from the spill imparts significant biological impacts in sensitive Louisiana marshes, some of which remain for over 2 mo following initial exposures

Negotiating identities: ethnicity and social relations in a young offenders' institution

This article explores the situated nature of male prisoner identities in the late modern British context, using the contrasting theoretical frames of Sykes's (1958) indigenous model and Jacobs' (1979) importation model of prisoner subcultures and social relations. Drawing on eight months of ethnographic fieldwork in an ethnically, religiously and nationally diverse young offenders institution, consideration is given to how prisoners manage and negotiate difference, exploring the contours of racialization and racism which can operate in ambiguous and contradictory ways. Sociological understandings of identity, ethnicity, racialization and racism are used to inform a more empirically grounded theoretical criminology