Economic empowerment of women displaced by conflict requires transformative change

People displaced by conflict want and need to earn money and to provide for their families. In her recent research Zeynep Kaya uncovered the varied experiences of refugee and internally displaced women in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and calls for an holistic approach to improving their chances of economic empowerment

“A place without walls, only opportunities”: personal accounts of attending Recovery Colleges in Norway

Introduction: Recovery colleges (RCs) are learning environments, first established in the UK, based on principles that support positive life changes and reduce stigma related to challenges with mental health and substance use problems. RCs offer courses based on co-production processes and are designed and delivered jointly by individuals with lived experience and professional experts. The courses are open to anyone, attracting people with a variety of life experiences. RCs are non-clinical environments that provide individuals with the identities of students and/or trainers as autonomous and independent agents. In this paper, we investigate experiences of being a part of a RC in Norway, either as a student and/or as a course trainer with lived experiences of mental health or substance use challenges. We ask the following research question: What kinds of personal and social processes are enabled by being part of a recovery college from the perspective of persons with experience-based competence? Materials and methods: The study is qualitative and explorative based on 11 individual (N = 11) and two focus group interviews (N = 8). Participants were recruited from two of the first RCs in Norway between August 2021 and January 2022. Results: Study participants describe how their involvement in a RC provided them with opportunities to assume new positions in their recovery process, both related to former institutional identities given in the course of treatment and related to the way they see themselves as people struggling with mental health and substances use challenges. Attending a RC represented significant transitions (1) from an institutional position as “sick” or as “what’s on the paper” into a position as “a whole person”; (2) from being in in a position as a recipient of care to the position as actively responsible for life changes; (3) from seeing themselves as worthless to seeing themselves as persons with resources; (4) from being alone to being part of a fellowship. Participants describe being part of a RC as an invaluable addition to other kind of support or help. Discussion: It is important to provide alternative arenas like RC for facilitating work with life changes, as an invaluable addition to regular services.publishedVersio

Innrammet beruselse : En analyse av alkoholbruk og fellesskap under fadderuken

Fadderuken er et årlig arrangement ved norske høyskoler og universiteter spesielt rettet mot nye studenter med målsettingen om å legge til rette for et godt og inkluderende studentmiljø. Et kjennetegn ved arrangementet er at det konsumeres mye alkohol. Den alkoholdrevne beruselsen under fadderuken blir utsatt for mye kritikk i media. I denne artikkelen ønsker vi å utforske nærmere nettopp bruken av alkohol og spesielt beruselsens betydning i forbindelse med fadderuken ut fra et sosiologisk perspektiv. Artikkelen er basert på en feltstudie av fadderuken ved Universitetet i Stavanger og dataene ble analysert med utgangspunkt i begrepene kollektiv effervesens og kroppsliggjort beruselse (embodied intoxication), som bygger på Durkheims teorier om betydningen av beruselse innenfor rituelle eller seremonielle handlinger. Vår analyse foreslår at beruselsen som finner sted i tilknytning til fadderuken er innrammet på en slik måte at den bidrar til å bygge fellesskap og tilhørighet blant studenter, og dermed representerer «normale» former for kroppsliggjort beruselse, i motsetning til «abnormal» beruselse som ikke makter å knytte individet til fellesskapet. Alkoholbruken innenfor rammen av fadderuken kan derfor på den ene siden være mindre problematisk enn man kan få inntrykk av gjennom media. Samtidig vil det være studenter som nettopp på grunn av alkoholbruk velger å ikke delta på alle delene av arrangementet. Avslutningsvis stiller artikkelen spørsmål om hvorvidt høgskole og universitet klarer å omsette den sterke fellesskapsfølelsen som skapes innenfor rammen av fadderuken til god integrering i varig fellesskap.publishedVersio

Problematisk alkoholbruk etter fedmekirurgi – en kvalitativ studie

BAKGRUNN Forskning viser at det er økt risiko for alkoholbrukslidelser etter fedmekirurgi. Hensikten med studien var å få innsikt i hva fedmeopererte i rusbehandling selv tenker om mulige årsaker til utvikling av problematisk alkoholbruk etter fedmekirurgi. MATERIALE OG METODE Ti dybdeintervju med pasienter i rusbehandling i 2020 som tidligere hadde gjennomgått fedmekirurgi (seks menn og fire kvinner), ble gjennomført. Materialet ble transkribert og analysert ved hjelp av en stegvis deduktiv-induktiv (SDI) metode. RESULTATER Deltakerne opplevde problematisk alkoholbruk først etter fedmeoperasjonen. De beskrev nye intense rusopplevelser og at kroppen responderte annerledes på alkohol. Alkohol fikk nye funksjoner, som appetittvekker, smertedemper og materstatter. De fleste hadde positive erfaringer fra den første tiden etter operasjonen, men deltakerne beskrev samtidig en ambivalent kroppsomstilling og økt psykisk sårbarhet i årene etter. FORTOLKNING Alkoholens nye virkning og funksjon etter inngrepet kan ha gjort deltakerne mer sårbare for utvikling av problematisk alkoholbruk. HOVEDFUNN Et problematisk forhold til alkohol utviklet seg først etter fedmekirurgi. Studiedeltakere beskrev nye og intense rusopplevelser ved alkoholinntak etter operasjonen. Alkohol fikk nye funksjoner knyttet til appetitt, smerter, erstatning for mat og psykiske helseutfordringer.publishedVersio

Animal study assessing safety of an acoustic coupling fluid that holds the potential to avoid surgically induced artifacts in 3D ultrasound guided operations

BACKGROUND: Use of ultrasound in brain tumor surgery is common. The difference in attenuation between brain and isotonic saline may cause artifacts that degrade the ultrasound images, potentially affecting resection grades and safety. Our research group has developed an acoustic coupling fluid that attenuates ultrasound energy like the normal brain. We aimed to test in animals if the newly developed acoustic coupling fluid may have harmful effects. METHODS: Eight rats were included for intraparenchymal injection into the brain, and if no adverse reactions were detected, 6 pigs were to be included with injection of the coupling fluid into the subarachnoid space. Animal behavior, EEG registrations, histopathology and immunohistochemistry were used in assessment. RESULTS: In total, 14 animals were included, 8 rats and 6 pigs. We did not detect any clinical adverse effects, seizure activity on EEG or histopathological signs of tissue damage. CONCLUSION: The novel acoustic coupling fluid intended for brain tumor surgery appears safe in rats and pigs under the tested circumstances

Continental crust beneath southeast Iceland

The magmatic activity (0–16 Ma) in Iceland is linked to a deep mantle plume that has been active for the past 62 My. Icelandic and northeast Atlantic basalts contain variable proportions of two enriched components, interpreted as recycled oceanic crust supplied by the plume, and subcontinental lithospheric mantle derived from the nearby continental margins. A restricted area in southeast Iceland—and especially the Öræfajökull volcano—is characterized by a unique enriched-mantle component (EM2-like) with elevated 87Sr/86Sr and 207Pb/204Pb. Here, we demonstrate through modeling of Sr–Nd–Pb abundances and isotope ratios that the primitive Öræfajökull melts could have assimilated 2–6% of underlying continental crust before differentiating to more evolved melts. From inversion of gravity anomaly data (crustal thickness), analysis of regional magnetic data, and plate reconstructions, we propose that continental crust beneath southeast Iceland is part of ∼350-km-long and 70-km-wide extension of the Jan Mayen Microcontinent (JMM). The extended JMM was marginal to East Greenland but detached in the Early Eocene (between 52 and 47 Mya); by the Oligocene (27 Mya), all parts of the JMM permanently became part of the Eurasian plate following a westward ridge jump in the direction of the Iceland plume

Hundreårsmarkeringen : en markering av det flerkulturelle Norge?

Denne rapporten formidler observasjoner og foreløpige tolkninger av hvordan den flerkulturelle dimensjonen ble ivaretatt i hundreårsmarkeringen for unionsoppløsningen