Talking through difference: everyday ethics across borders in an Israeli-Palestinian community

At the centre of one of the most well-known and seemingly intractable societal conflicts in modern history, a movement of Jewish and Palestinian Israelis has tried over the decades to work towards equality, a shared society, and positive inter-group relationships. Within this movement is the community of Wahat al-Salam - Neve Shalom (‘Oasis of Peace’ in Arabic and Hebrew), where 30 Jewish families and 30 Palestinian families have chosen to live together and run educational outreach projects to share their theories about peace and equality with others in Israel-Palestine. Key to this moral endeavour is dialogue, which really means being able to talk through difference; villagers believe in talking with each other despite the political and social barriers that may stand in their way, and making those very socio-political differences into objects of discussion. This thesis, based on 17-months fieldwork in Wahat al-Salam - Neve Shalom, explores three puzzles with implications for the mission of the community as well as anthropological theory. First, what kind of language ideologies underlie the idea of talking as a tool for peace? Second, what concept of difference do community members have, given the potentially negative implications of either emphasizing or downplaying difference? Third, what motivates people in social movements to live their ethical ideals in the everyday? Given the highly politicised context in which the villagers live, and the moral objectives they live by, even seemingly banal linguistic choices can affect relationships. Friendships across difference can be formed, strengthened, or fall apart as the result of verbal and non-verbal interactions — energising those involved when they go well and producing feelings of discomfort or embarrassment when they do not. In sum, this thesis suggests that everyday ethical approaches to difference draw on a mixture of political awareness and sensitivity, explicit theories about the way to engage with others, and the internal dynamics of interactions. These internal dynamics bring up moments of ambiguity that require reflection but also provide the potential for people to challenge their differences and how best to deal with them

Forekomst og karakteristika ved uveitt hos barn med juvenil idiopatisk artritt

Dette er et multisenter tverrsnittstudie angående forekomst, kliniske funn og komplikasjoner ved JIA-assosiert uveitt. Juvenil idiopatisk artritt (JIA) er en kronisk leddsykdom som rammer barn og ungdom. Den vanligste ekstra-artikulære manifestasjonen til JIA er uveitt. Forekomst og karakteristika ved uveitt varierer i ulike studier. Enkelte studier viser at forekomsten av uveitt hos barn og ungdom med JIA kan være lavere per i dag enn tidligere, ettersom flere starter tidlig med mer effektiv medikamentell og biologisk behandling. Studien er et delprosjekt av den større prospektive kohortstudien NorJIA. Data i er i denne oppgaven kontrollert, systematisert og analysert for å undersøke andel barn med uveitt, karakteristika for sykdommene, behandlingsalternativer, aktivitet av uveitt, og forekomst av komplikasjoner. Av totalt 33 barn med uveitt hadde 18 barn enten én eller flere komplikasjoner. Vi fant signifikant forskjell i forekomst av uveitt hos barn som fikk diagnosen JIA i ung alder, og blant ANA-positive. Kumulativ insidens av uveitt i studiekohorten blant barn med JIA og uveitt er 14,5%, som er sammenliknbart med tidligere studier fra vår region. Vi fant komplikasjoner ved JIA-assosiert uveitt som båndformet keratopati, flare, synekier, katarakt, glaukom, unormal papille og unormal fovearefleks. I alt tre barn hadde nedsatt visus

Det beste for mennesket

Eg skriv om Auguste Comte sin altruisme og Ayn Rand sin egoisme, og reflekterer rundt kva desse filosofane meinar er det beste for mennesket. Mitt spørsmål er: finst det ein gylden middelveg mellom det å kun ta vare på andre og det å kun ta vare på seg sjølv? To moralske ytterpunkt. Nokon vil til og med seie at det å være egoist nettopp ikkje er å være moralsk. Spørsmålet om du skal prioritere dei rundt deg, eller deg sjølv meinar eg er viktig å avklare før me går vidare med noko som helst innan filosofien. Det er eit spørsmål som ligg til grunn bak all moral. Eg brukar Aristoteles når eg diskuterer middelvegen, og Henrik Ibsen når eg diskuterer korleis orda har vorte misforstått. Til slutt forsøker eg å argumentere for at middelvegen er det å ta vare på seg sjølv samtidig som ein tek vare på sine medmennesker

Flow Measurement of Wet CO2 Using an Averaging Pitot Tube and Coriolis Mass Flowmeters

The flow measurement of wet-gas is an active field with extensive research background that remains a modern-day challenge. The implication of wet-gas flow conditions is no different in Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) pipelines. The associated complex flow regime with wet-gas flow makes it difficult to accurately meter the flow rate of the gas phase. Some conventional single-phase flowmeters like the Coriolis, Orifice plate, Ultrasonic, V-Cone, Venturi and Vortex have been tested for this application, usually accompanied with special recommendations. Often, a correlation equation valid within a certain range of specific conditions is required to correct the response of the flowmeter. This paper presents investigations into the suitability and performance of one of the most advanced averaging pitot tubes for the flow measurement of wet CO2 gas. The averaging pitot tube with flow conditioning wing geometry (APT-FCW) was studied and experimentally assessed in earlier work for the flow measurement of pure and dry CO2 within an error of ±1%. Under wet-gas conditions, however, the APT-FCW sensor is found to give an error of up to ±25% and within ±1.5% after appropriate correcting solutions are applied for a liquid fraction of up to 20%

Learning probabilistic models of hydrogen bond stability from molecular dynamics simulation trajectories

Hydrogen bonds (H-bonds) play a key role in both the formation and stabilization of protein structures. H-bonds involving atoms from residues that are close to each other in the main-chain sequence stabilize secondary structure elements. H-bonds between atoms from distant residues stabilize a protein’s tertiary structure. However, H-bonds greatly vary in stability. They form and break while a protein deforms. For instance, the transition of a protein from a nonfunctional to a functional state may require some H-bonds to break and others to form. The intrinsic strength of an individual H-bond has been studied from an energetic viewpoint, but energy alone may not be a very good predictor. Other local interactions may reinforce (or weaken) an H-bond. This paper describes inductive learning methods to train a protein-independent probabilistic model of H-bond stability from molecular dynamics (MD) simulation trajectories. The training data describes H-bond occurrences at successive times along these trajectories by the values of attributes called predictors. A trained model is constructed in the form of a regression tree in which each non-leaf node is a Boolean test (split) on a predictor. Each occurrence of an H-bond maps to a path in this tree from the root to a leaf node. Its predicted stability is associated with the leaf node. Experimental results demonstrate that such models can predict H-bond stability quite well. In particular, their performance is roughly 20 % better than that of models based on H-bond energy alone. In addition, they can accurately identify a large fraction of the least stable H-bonds in a give

Strategies, methods and tools for managing nanorisks in construction

This paper presents a general overview of the work carried out by European project SCAFFOLD (GA 280535) during its 30 months of life, with special emphasis on risk management component. The research conducted by SCAFFOLD is focused on the European construction sector and considers 5 types of nanomaterials (TiO2, SiO2, carbon nanofibres, cellulose nanofibers and nanoclays), 6 construction applications (Depollutant mortars, selfcompacting concretes, coatings, self-cleaning coatings, fire resistant panels and insulation materials) and 26 exposure scenarios, including lab, pilot and industrial scales. The document focuses on the structure, content and operation modes of the Risk Management Toolkit developed by the project to facilitate the implementation of "nano-management" in construction companies. The tool deploys and integrated approach OHSAS 18001 - ISO 31000 and is currently being validated on 5 industrial case studies.Research carried out by project SCAFFOLD was made possible thanks to funding from the European Commission, through the Seventh Framework Programme (GA 280535

User Experiences of Development of Dependence on the Synthetic Cannabinoids, 5f-AKB48 and 5F-PB-22, and Subsequent Withdrawal Syndromes

Emergence of synthetic cannabinoids (SCBs) in herbal smoking mixtures is a public health concern. New SCB’s such as 5f-AKB48 and 5F-PB-22 have been detected in French seizures and in sudden death post mortems in the US. The aim was to describe development of dependence on herbal smoking mixtures containing the SCB’s, 5f-AKB48 and 5F-PB-22 and subsequent withdrawal syndromes. Dependent users of herbal smoking mixtures known to contain the SCB’s 5f-AKB48 and 5F-PB-22 with an average Severity of Dependence Score (SDS) of 13 were interviewed using a structured guide (three males/three females). Narratives were analysed using the Empirical Phenomenological Psychological (EPP) five step method. Six themes with 68 categories emerged from the analysis. Themes are illustrated as 1) Networks and Product Availability; 2) Drivers and Motives for Use; 3) Effect and Pathways toward Dependence; 4) Poly Substance Use and Comparisons to Natural Cannabis; 5) Dependence and Withdrawal and 6) Self-detoxification Attempts. Two higher levels of abstraction above these theme-levels emerged from the data, with sole use of herbal smoking mixtures containing 5f-AKB48 and 5F-PB-22 centering on the interplay between intense cravings, compulsive all-consuming seeking, use and re-dose behaviours, and fear of the psychiatric and self-harms caused when in withdrawal. This is the first study describing dependence and withdrawal experiences in users dependent on 5f-AKB48 and 5F-PB-22. Given the potential for adverse psychiatric and physical consequences of dependent use, further development of specific clinical responses and clinical research around toxicity and withdrawal severity are warranted