A stage of limbo : a meta-synthesis of refugees’ liminality

The asylum regime encloses tens of millions of applicants for international protection in camps and different types of reception centres, to wait even decades for their cases to be resolved. Simultaneously both within and outside the nation state, asylum seekers and refugees occupy a social space outside the natural order of things, a stage of limbo. By incorporating the classical anthropological concepts of limbo and liminality to the methodological possibilities of meta-ethnography, we conducted to our knowledge the first meta-synthesis of 17 scientific peer-reviewed articles with the aims of defining what constitutes the concept of a stage of limbo and investigating refugees' and asylum seekers' agency as they cope when navigating in it. By dissecting detailed descriptions of forced migrants' experiences of liminality, our synthesis identified four key concepts involved in negotiations of agency in a stage of limbo: process of eligibility, spatial-temporal inconsistency, ontological insecurity and actions.Peer reviewe

Kaksikielisen lapsen kielellisen identiteetin tukeminen varhaiskasvatuksessa

Tiivistelmä. Tämä kandidaatintutkielma on kuvaileva kirjallisuuskatsaus, jonka tavoitteena on tarkastella teoreettisesti kaksikielisen lapsen kielellisen identiteetin tukemista varhaiskasvatuksessa. Maahanmuutto ja monikieliset avioliitot luovat lisääntyvissä määrin moninaisuutta Suomen yhteiskuntaan ja varhaiskasvatukseen. Varhaiskasvatuksen asiakirjoissa korostetaan monikielisyyden olevan osa jokapäiväistä toimintaa, mutta missä määrin? Asiakirjoissa kaksikielisyyttä käsitellään pääasiassa maahanmuuton osalta, vaikka kaksikielisiä ovat myös syntymästään asti suomen lisäksi toista kieltä käyttävät lapset. Jokaisen lapsen kielitausta tulisi ottaa huomioon varhaiskasvatustoiminnan suunnittelussa ja toteutuksessa, sillä kielten eriarvoinen asema vaikuttaa lapsen identiteettiin. Tutkielma on laadullinen tutkimus, jonka aineisto koostuu aiheen aiemmasta suomenkielisestä ja kansainvälisestä tutkimuksesta, tutkimuskirjallisuudesta ja perusteoksista. Pääkäsitteet kaksikielisyys ja kielellinen identiteetti ovat laajoja, mutta vertailemalla eri tutkijoiden käsityksiä käsitteiden kokonaiskuva näyttäytyy selkeänä. Aineiston perusteella luon kattavan kuvan kaksikielisen lapsen kielellisen identiteetin tukemisesta varhaiskasvatuksessa. Varhaiskasvatuksen asiakirjojen ja muun aineiston avulla selvitän, miten varhaiskasvatuksessa toteutetaan kaksikielisen lapsen kielellisen identiteetin tukemista ja miten teoria sekä käytäntö kohtaavat. Kaksikielisen lapsen kielellistä identiteettiä tuetaan parhaiten tuomalla kaikki kielet ja kulttuurit näkyväksi osaksi varhaiskasvatustoimintaa. Tämä vaatii varhaiskasvatuksen opettajalta ja muulta henkilöstöltä tietoa sekä taitoa kasvatus- ja varhaiskasvatustieteeseen liittyen. Monikielisyyttä arvostava toimintakulttuuri voidaan luoda esimerkiksi lastenkirjallisuuden, leikin ja monikielisen henkilöstön avulla. Suomen kielen lisäksi muiden kielten kuuleminen ja käyttäminen on mahdollistettava yhteistyössä huoltajien kanssa. Tämän tutkimuksen aineisto on rajattu 2000-luvun tutkimuksiin ja teoksiin, mikä vaikuttaa luotettavuuteen. Kuitenkin koko aineistossa korostuu monikielisyyden lisääntyminen varhaiskasvatuksessa, henkilöstön osaaminen ja käytännön tukikeinot varhaiskasvatuksessa, mikä kertoo tulosten yleistettävyydestä ja käytäntöön soveltumisesta

Super star clusters and Supernovae in interacting LIRGs unmasked by NIR adaptive optics

We report on an on-going near-IR adaptive optics survey targeting interacting luminous IR galaxies. High-spatial resolution NIR data are crucial to enable interpretation of kinematic, dynamical and star formation (SF) properties of these very dusty objects. Whole progenitor nuclei in the interactions can be missed if only optical HST imaging is used. Here we specifically present the latest results regarding core-collapse supernovae found within the highly extincted nuclear regions of these galaxies. Direct detection and study of such highly obscured CCSNe is crucial for revising the optically-derived SN rates used for providing an independent measurement of the SF history of the Universe. We also present thus-far the first NIR luminosity functions of super star cluster (SSC) candidates. The LFs can then be used to constrain the formation and evolution of SSCs via constraints based on initial mass functions and cluster disruption models.Comment: 6 pages. To appear in proceedings of 'Galaxies and their Masks' (Namibia, April 2010), published by Springer, New York, eds. D.L. Block, K.C. Freeman, I. Puerar

Spatial characteristics of species distributions as drivers in conservation prioritization

Peer reviewe

ESO Imaging Survey: infrared observations of CDF-S and HDF-S

This paper presents infrared data obtained from observations carried out at the ESO 3.5m New Technology Telescope (NTT) of the Hubble Deep Field South (HDF-S) and the Chandra Deep Field South (CDF-S). These data were taken as part of the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS) program, a public survey conducted by ESO to promote follow-up observations with the VLT. In the HDF-S field the infrared observations cover an area of ~53 square arcmin, encompassing the HST WFPC2 and STIS fields, in the JHKs passbands. The seeing measured in the final stacked images ranges from 0.79" to 1.22" and the median limiting magnitudes (AB system, 2" aperture, 5sigma detection limit) are J_AB~23.0, H_AB~22.8 and K_AB~23.0 mag. Less complete data are also available in JKs for the adjacent HST NICMOS field. For CDF-S, the infrared observations cover a total area of \~100 square arcmin, reaching median limiting magnitudes (as defined above) of J_AB~23.6 and K_AB~22.7 mag. For one CDF-S field H-band data are also available. This paper describes the observations and presents the results of new reductions carried out entirely through the un-supervised, high-throughput EIS Data Reduction System and its associated EIS/MVM C++-based image processing library developed, over the past 5 years, by the EIS project and now publicly available. The paper also presents source catalogs extracted from the final co-added images which are used to evaluate the scientific quality of the survey products, and hence the performance of the software. This is done comparing the results obtained in the present work with those obtained by other authors from independent data and/or reductions carried out with different software packages and techniques. The final science-grade catalogs and co-added images are available at CDS.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 13 pages, 12 figures; a full resolution version of the paper is available from http://www.astro.ku.dk/~lisbeth/eisdata/papers/4528.pdf ; related catalogs and images are available through http://www.astro.ku.dk/~lisbeth/eisdata

ESO Imaging Survey: Infrared Deep Public Survey

This paper presents new J and Ks data obtained from observations conducted at the ESO 3.5m New Technology Telescope using the SOFI camera. These data were taken as part of the ESO Imaging Survey Deep Public Survey (DPS) and significantly extend the earlier optical/infrared EIS-DEEP survey presented in a previous paper. The DPS-IR survey comprises two observing strategies: shallow Ks observations providing nearly full coverage of pointings with complementary multi-band optical data and deeper J and Ks observations of the central parts of these fields. The DPS-IR survey provides a coverage of roughly 2.1 square degrees in Ks with 0.63 square degrees to fainter magnitudes and also covered in J, over three independent regions of the sky. The goal of the present paper is to describe the observations, the data reduction procedures, and to present the final survey products. The astrometric solution with an estimated accuracy of <0.15" is based on the USNO catalog. The final stacked images presented here number 89 and 272, in J and Ks, respectively, the latter reflecting the larger surveyed area. The J and Ks images were taken with a median seeing of 0.77" and 0.8". The images reach a median 5sigma limiting magnitude of J_AB~23.06 in an aperture of 2", while the corresponding limiting magnitude in Ks_AB is ~21.41 and ~22.16 mag for the shallow and deep strategies. Overall, the observed limiting magnitudes are consistent with those originally proposed. The quality of the data has been assessed by comparing the measured magnitude of sources at the bright end directly with those reported by the 2MASS survey and at the faint end by comparing the counts of galaxies and stars with those of other surveys to comparable depth and to model predictions. The final science-grade catalogs and images are available at CDS.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 14 pages, 8 figures, a full resolution version of the paper is available from http://www.astro.ku.dk/~lisbeth/eisdata/papers/5019.pd

A multi-wavelength view of the central kiloparsec region in the Luminous Infrared Galaxy NGC1614

The Luminous Infrared Galaxy NGC1614 hosts a prominent circumnuclear ring of star formation. However, the nature of the dominant emitting mechanism in its central ~100 pc is still under debate. We present sub-arcsecond angular resolution radio, mid-infrared, Pa-alpha, optical, and X-ray observations of NGC1614, aimed at studying in detail both the circumnuclear ring and the nuclear region. The 8.4 GHz continuum emission traced by the Very Large Array (VLA) and the Gemini/T-ReCS 8.7 micron emission, as well as the Pa-alpha line emission, show remarkable morphological similarities within the star-forming ring, suggesting that the underlying emission mechanisms are tightly related. We used an HST/NICMOS Pa-alpha map of similar resolution to our radio maps to disentangle the thermal free-free and non-thermal synchrotron radio emission, from which we obtained the intrinsic synchrotron power-law for each individual region within the central kpc of NGC1614. The radio ring surrounds a relatively faint, steep-spectrum source at the very center of the galaxy, suggesting that the central source is not powered by an AGN, but rather by a compact (r < 90 pc) starburst. Chandra X-ray data also show that the central kpc region is dominated by starburst activity, without requiring the existence of an AGN. We also used publicly available infrared data to model-fit the spectral energy distribution of both the starburst ring and a putative AGN in NGC1614. In summary, we conclude that there is no need to invoke an AGN to explain the observed bolometric properties of the galaxy.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in Ap

Mid-infrared selection of AGN

Since a large fraction of active galactic nuclei (AGN) is missed in common UV-excess surveys and is even hard to find in radio, near-IR and X-ray surveys, we have used a new AGN selection technique which is expected to be not affected by extinction. Within the scientific verification of the ISOCAM Parallel Survey at 6.7 micron we have discovered objects with exceptional mid-infrared (MIR) emission. They are essentially not detected on IRAS-ADDSCANs and only very few of them show up in the NVSS and FIRST radio surveys. Various colour criteria of the 6.7 micron data with 2MASS and optical wavebands show that the sources reach more extreme IR colours than the sources in the Hubble Deep Field-South and the ELAIS survey. The comparison with known object types suggests that we have found AGN with a pronounced MIR emission, probably due to circum-nuclear dust. First results from optical spectroscopy of ten candidates corroborate this interpretation showing four AGN, two reddened LINER and four extremely reddened emission-line galaxies with MIR/FIR flux ratios higher than for known pure starburst galaxies. The results will make a significant contribution to the debate on the entire AGN population.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication as Letter in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Macroecology of ground beetles : Species richness, range size and body size show different geographical patterns across a climatically heterogeneous area

Aim Ecogeographical patterns have been widely studied in endothermic vertebrates, but relatively few studies have simultaneously examined patterns and causes of gradients in species richness, range size and body size in ectothermic insects. We examined patterns in species richness, mean range size and mean body size of ground beetle assemblages across the biogeographical provinces of Northern Europe, a region that was mostly covered by ice sheets during the latest Ice Age and that presents strong contemporary climatic gradients. Location Northern Europe. Methods We used literature information on the occurrence of ground beetles, and analysed patterns in species richness, mean range size and mean body size across the provinces using generalized linear models and boosted regression tree (BRT) analysis. Results We found a strongly decreasing gradient in species richness with increasing latitude, a strongly unimodal range size-latitude relationship, and a weak unimodal body size-latitude relationship in entire ground beetle assemblages. These gradients also varied among four major genera, suggesting that the overall patterns result from the nuances of smaller clades of ground beetles. The relative importance of contemporary environmental drivers also varied between species richness, mean range size and mean body size in BRT analysis. While species richness increased with mean annual temperature, mean range size showed an opposite relationship. Mean body size was most clearly associated with the precipitation of the driest month. Main Conclusions Our findings showed that the latitudinal species richness gradient was strong, and it was closely related to concomitant variation in temperature, whereas variations in mean range size and mean body size were more complex. These findings suggest that the causes for range size and body size variation in insects may be complex, requiring additional insights from studies conducted at local, regional and continental scales