Militant research against-and-beyond itself: critical perspectives from the university and Occupy London

This paper examines the increasingly popular approach of militant research and argues for the need to conceptualise it as a contradictory approach that exists against-and-beyond any form it takes. It understands militant research as a committed and intense process of internal reflection from within particular struggle(s) that seeks to map out and discuss underlying antagonisms while pushing the movement forward. Based on the author's experiences of doing militant research with Occupy London from both inside the university and through the Occupy Research Collective created outside, it argues that there are no ideal sites for doing militant research. It explores the opportunities of doing militant research within the university, pointing towards the potential for subverting the resources available, and highlights the barriers, in particular with relation to ethics. The Occupy Research Collective (ORC) is then examined as an alternative space for doing militant research. In turn, a number of limitations of ORC are noted, including both its lack of resources and tendency to (re)create a form of doing militant research detached from broader struggles. While recent work has highlighted the need for militant research to operate antagonistically to the neoliberal university, and there have been calls to create new institutions outside it, this paper extends previous arguments by emphasising the need to criticise all forms of militant research in order to push struggles forward. It draws on John Holloway's widely referenced ‘in-against-and-beyond’ dialectical approach to emphasise the inevitable challenges of institutionalising militant research, no matter where this takes place. It concludes by suggesting that militant research should not shy away from embracing critiques of particular struggles and that further theoretical work needs to be done in terms of developing a more open and relational understanding of militancy

Infection, inflammation and artherosclerosis

Myocardial infarction and stroke are leading causes of death and disability iii the Western world, and substantial resources are spent on treatment, care and rehabilitation. A marked reduction in cardiovascular mortality has been observed in both genders in Norway during the 1980s and 1990s (Statistics Norway), probably due to both improved prevention and treatment of the acute ischemic event. In spite of this, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) accounted for nearly 40 % of the total mortality in 2004 (Statistics Norway). Atherosclerosis is an age-related disorder, and as the population ages, the burden of CVD will increase. A better understanding of the pathogenesis and mechanisms behind atherosclerosis is needed to improve preventive and therapeutic strategies. Endothelial dysfunction with progressive lipid accumulation in the vessel wall and formation of an atheromatous plaque is the hallmark of atherosclerosis, and an important cause of cardiovascular events. Atherosclerosis is considered a dynamic inflammatory process rather than a passive process of lipid accumulation [1]. Recent research indicates that plaque pathology is more essential than the stenotic flow-reduction for the risk of acute ischemic events [2-4]. Some authors claim that a significant number of patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) lack conventional risk factors (cigarette smoking, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension) [5,6]. This claim implies that other risk factors may play a pivotal role in atherosclerosis, and the search for non-traditional risk factors, such as infectious and/or inflammatory causes, has been extensive during the last decade

Palaeovegetation and environment during Weichselian stadials and interstadials at Mamontovaya Kurja and Sokolova in the Pechora basin, northern Russia

The vegetation and climate history of the Pechora area of northwestern Russia during the Early- and Mid Weichselian have been studied. Sediments from two sites have been analysed in this study; from Sokolova and Mamontovaya Kurja. The results show that the vegetation successional sequence found at Sokolova, most probably represent vegetation types of the Early Weichselian. The vegetation changed from an open shrub tundra, or grass tundra during the pre-Brörup stages, to an open birch forest, with some scattered spruce during the Brörup interstadial. The vegetation sequence at Mamontovaya Kurja possibly reflects two different warming periods (interstadials) of the Weichselian. The first one occurring around 37 ka BP, the second around 27- 30 ka BP (correlating to the Ålesund interstadial). The vegetation at Mamontovaya Kurja showed minor changes throughout the studied section. The vegetation was probably an open grass steppe or steppe tundra throughout the time period studied. In the upper part of the section the vegetation seems to have changed to a drier type. This appears to reflect a climatic deterioration. Increased eolian activity is reflected in the sequence by almost complete disappearance of pollen grains in the uppermost layers. The age of the lowermost pollen assemblage at Mamontovaya Kurja has not yet been resolved, but datings of these sediments are currently being undertaken

Wireless Communication in Process Control Loop: Requirements Analysis, Industry Practices and Experimental Evaluation

Wireless communication is already used in process automation for process monitoring. The next stage of implementation of wireless technology in industrial applications is for process control. The need for wireless networked control systems has evolved because of the necessity for extensibility, mobility, modularity, fast deployment, and reduced installation and maintenance cost. These benefits are only applicable given that the wireless network of choice can meet the strict requirements of process control applications, such as latency. In this regard, this paper is an effort towards identifying current industry practices related to implementing process control over a wireless link and evaluates the suitability of ISA100.11a network for use in process control through experiments

Conductivity of interacting spinless fermion systems via the high dimensional approach

Spinless fermions with repulsion are treated non-perturbatively by classifying the diagrams of the generating functional $\Phi$ in powers of the inverse lattice dimension $1/d$. The equations derived from the first two orders are evaluated on the one- and on the two-particle level. The order parameter of the AB-charge density wave (AB-CDW) occurring at larger interaction is calculated in $d=3$. The Bethe-Salpeter equation is evaluated for the conductivity \sigma(\om) which is found to have two peaks within the energy gap $2\Delta$ in the AB-CDW: a remnant of the Drude peak and an excitonic resonance. Unexpectedly, $\sigma_{\rm\scriptscriptstyle DC}$ does not vanish for $T\to 0$Comment: Latex, 4 page

Complex Line Bundles over Simplicial Complexes and their Applications

Discrete vector bundles are important in Physics and recently found remarkable applications in Computer Graphics. This article approaches discrete bundles from the viewpoint of Discrete Differential Geometry, including a complete classification of discrete vector bundles over finite simplicial complexes. In particular, we obtain a discrete analogue of a theorem of Andr\'e Weil on the classification of hermitian line bundles. Moreover, we associate to each discrete hermitian line bundle with curvature a unique piecewise-smooth hermitian line bundle of piecewise constant curvature. This is then used to define a discrete Dirichlet energy which generalizes the well-known cotangent Laplace operator to discrete hermitian line bundles over Euclidean simplicial manifolds of arbitrary dimension

Spatial dialectics and the geography of social movements: the case of Occupy London

This paper develops spatial dialectics as an analytical method capable of exposing and explaining the contradictions, dilemmas and tensions that cut through the spatialities of social movements. Despite scholarly recognition of internal divides in movements such as Occupy, there is greater need to conceptualise the inherently contradictory nature of social movements, in particular by reflecting on the role of spatiality. Building on recent work on multiple spatialities of activism, the paper shifts attention to contradiction as a key factor in spatial mobilisation, further arguing that the recent turn to assemblage thought is ill equipped for such a task. Dialectics is introduced via Bertell Ollman's influential account of its ontological and epistemological bases, before turning to Edward Soja's reading of Henri Lefebvre to incorporate spatiality. Spatial dialectics disrupts the linearity of thesis–antithesis–synthesis, placing contradictions not only within the historical unfolding of relations but also within co-dependent yet antagonistic moments of space, through Lefebvre's ‘trialetic’ of perceived, conceived and lived space. Building on ‘militant research’, which combined a seven-month ethnography, 43 in-depth interviews and analyses of representations of space, spatial dialectics is put to work through the analysis of three specific contradictions in Occupy London's spatial strategies: a global movement that became tied to the physical space of occupation; a prefigurative space engulfed by internal hierarchies; and a grassroots territorial strategy that was subsumed into logics of dominant territorial institutions. In each case, Occupy London's spatial strategies are explained in the context of unfolding contradictions in conceived, perceived and lived spaces and the subsequent dilemmas and shifts in spatial strategy this led to. In conclusion, the paper highlights broader lessons for social movements’ spatial praxis generated through the analysis of Occupy London.This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (grant: S/J500185/)

Possible paths to increase detection of child sexual abuse in child and adolescent psychiatry: a meta-synthesis of survivors’ and health professionals’ experiences of addressing child sexual abuse

Background: Efforts are directed both towards prevention and early detection of Child sexual abuse (CSA). Yet, only about 50% of CSA survivors disclose before adulthood, and health professionals rarely are the first disclosure recipients. Increasing the detection rate of CSA within the context of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (CAP) therefore represents a significant secondary prevention strategy. However, facilitating CSA disclosure when the survivor is reluctant to tell is a highly complex and emotionally demanding clinical task. We therefore argue that efforts to increase detection rates of CSA within CAP need to rest on knowledge of how both survivors and health professionals experience addressing CSA. Method: Using meta-ethnography as method, we present separate sub-syntheses as well an overarching joint synthesis of how survivors and health professionals experience addressing CSA. Results: Results show how both survivors and health professionals facing CSA disclosure feel deeply isolated, they experience the consequences of addressing CSA as highly unpredictable, and they need support from others to counteract the negative impact of CSA. Conclusion: The results indicate that adapting the organization of CAP to knowledge of how the survivors and health professionals experience addressing CSA is critical to facilitate earlier disclosure of CSA within CAP.publishedVersio

Deliberating Public Policy Issues with Adolescents: Classroom Dynamics and Sociocultural Considerations

Classroom discussion and deliberation have been widely touted in the research literature as a centerpiece of high quality civic education. Empirical studies, however, of such processes are relatively few. In a public policy deliberation on immigration conducted in three Midwestern high schools during the academic year 2015–16, the authors found that analysis of a set of deliberations on the subject of immigration policy in the United States reveals the ways in which sociocultural identity aspects of the settings and participants influenced the processes and dynamics of these classroom events. Reflecting upon this analysis suggests a set of factors that reveal the degree to which classroom deliberations are shaped by factors other than rational consideration of the topic

Conceptualisation, development and validation of T-QoL© (Teenagers' Quality of Life): a patient-focused measure to assess quality of life of adolescents with skin diseases

Aim To develop and validate a dermatology-specific quality of life (QoL) instrument for adolescents with skin diseases. Methods Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with adolescents with skin disease to gain in-depth understanding of how skin diseases affect their QoL. A prototype instrument based on the themes identified from content analysis of interviews was tested in several stages, using Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT) models to develop this new tool and conduct its psychometric evaluation. Results Thirty-three QoL issues were identified from semi-structured interviews with 50 adolescents. A questionnaire based on items derived from content analysis of interviews was subjected to Rasch analysis: factor analysis identified three domains, therefore not supporting the validity of T-QoL as a unidimensional measure. Psychometric evaluation of the final 18-item questionnaire was carried out in a cohort of 203 adolescents. Convergent validity was demonstrated by significant correlation with Skindex-Teen and CDLQI or DLQI. The T-QoL showed excellent internal consistency reliability: Cronbach's α=0.89 for total scale score and 0.85, 0.60, and 0.74 respectively for domains 1, 2 and 3. Test-retest reliability was high in stable subjects. T-QoL showed sensitivity to change in two sub-groups of patients who indicated change in their self-assessed disease severity. Conclusion Built on rich qualitative data from patients, the T-QoL is a simple and valid tool to quantify the impact of skin disease on adolescents’ QoL; it could be used as an outcome measure in both clinical practice and clinical research