War as exit from exclusion?: the formation of Mayi-Mayi militias in Eastern Congo

In eastern Congo scores of young and marginalized people have been increasingly attracted to the mobilising efforts of new local actors. The inquiry into this phenomenon traces the emergence of the first militias to the end of the eighties. These first generation militias were a result of the growing willingness of marginalized youngsters and school drop-outs to form groups of under-aged combatants acting against eveiy representative of modern political authority and against their desperate feelings of exclusion, for which both their political and social environment were held responsible. As they had nothing more to lose than their marginalisation, rebellion became an option, both as a survival strategy and as a strategy of self-defence against a predatory political and social order. The shiftiness of their ideological basis and allies only further proved what these first militias were about: a search for alternatives to a situation of acute deprivation. This article reveals that the present RCD rebellion that rages through the eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo has had an escalating effect on the proliferation of new militias. Before, the Kabila-led AFDL rebellion had already offered the already existing militias a new cause: that of an anti-Tutsi force fighting against foreign occupation. In resistance to the effects of state collapse and armed foreign interventions, rural and urban youth today have combined former traditions and newly developed patterns of mobility in an interpretation of customary and national defence. This has not meant that they link up with the traditional emanations of authority. Rather, a crisis in the social fabric has meant a shift in authority towards these combatants and the use of violence. In addition, shared feelings of antipathy towards the 'Tutsi-aggressors ' have facilitated the creation of links between these diverse local groupings and other, foreign, factions of armed militia roaming the local countryside. Consolidation, however, remains unlikely as this shared ideology does not run very deep and alliances continuously change. The question remains what the future impact of these militias might be on the local social order. On the one hand, for several years now in some remote areas these armed groupings have become the only representatives of any authority structure, even if this structure is based on violence. Contrary to other cases, these militias in South Kivu are still closely linked to the rural population and have not turned against them. On the other hand, the dynamic of the Inter-Congolese Dialogue has forced their leaders to present their grievances to the outside world

Chemokines: structure, receptors and functions. A new target for inflammation and asthma therapy?

Five to 10% of the human population have a disorder of the respiratory tract called ‘asthma’. It has been known as a potentially dangerous disease for over 2000 years, as it was already described by Hippocrates and recognized as a disease entity by Egyptian and Hebrew physicians. At the beginning of this decade, there has been a fundamental change in asthma management. The emphasis has shifted from symptom relief with bronchodilator therapies (e.g. β2-agonists) to a much earlier introduction of anti-inflammatory treatment (e.g. corticosteroids). Asthma is now recognized to be a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways, involving various inflammatory cells and their mediators. Although asthma has been the subject of many investigations, the exact role of the different inflammatory cells has not been elucidated completely. Many suggestions have been made and several cells have been implicated in the pathogenesis of asthma, such as the eosinophils, the mast cells, the basophils and the lymphocytes. To date, however, the relative importance of these cells is not completely understood. The cell type predominantly found in the asthmatic lung is the eosinophil and the recruitment of these eosinophils can be seen as a characteristic of asthma. In recent years much attention is given to the role of the newly identified chemokines in asthma pathology. Chemokines are structurally and functionally related 8–10 kDa peptides that are the products of distinct genes clustered on human chromosomes 4 and 17 and can be found at sites of inflammation. They form a superfamily of proinflammatory mediators that promote the recruitment of various kinds of leukocytes and lymphocytes. The chemokine superfamily can be divided into three subgroups based on overall sequence homology. Although the chemokines have highly conserved amino acid sequences, each of the chemokines binds to and induces the chemotaxis of particular classes of white blood cells. Certain chemokines stimulate the recruitment of multiple cell types including monocytes, lymphocytes, basophils, and eosinophils, which are important cells in asthma. Intervention in this process, by the development of chemokine antagonists, might be the key to new therapy. In this review we present an overview of recent developments in the field of chemokines and their role in inflammations as reported in literature

On undirected trips, satisfaction, and well-being: Evidence from Flanders (Belgium)

Despite having the potential to improve subjective well-being, satisfaction with undirected travel, or travel for its own sake (e.g. taking a walk, bike ride, or joy ride), has not yet been empirically investigated. Using mean-comparison and generalized linear regression models, this study analyzes 1579 undirected trips made by 852 respondents to a survey in Flanders, Belgium during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown (18 March – 4 May 2020). Undirected travel was found to be longer in duration and more satisfying than results from directed trips in previous literature, with an indication that higher levels of physical activity are important to satisfaction. Undirected travel satisfaction was found to have a clear positive relationship to well-being. As these trips are often active and were found to imply a positive utility of travel, understanding them can be important to policy goals regarding health, sustainability, and improving individual well-being

Evolutions in undirected travel (satisfaction) during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic illustrated that undirected travel (UT), or trips taken for their own sake, can partly compensate for a reduction in destination-based trips due to governmental regulations. Consequently, UT (in general, but particularly during the pandemic) may be especially satisfying and therefore important to subjective well-being. However, through the course of the pandemic, changes in UT were anticipated as individuals adapted to a ‘new normal’. This research – conducted in Flanders, Belgium – first investigates whether the characteristics of and satisfaction with UT persisted after one year into the pandemic (April 2020 to May 2021) using longitudinal panel data from two waves (n = 332). Results of paired sample t-tests indicate that UT satisfaction increased though duration of trips decreased, and results of the Sign test indicate that the frequency of UT generally decreased. Second, this research investigates characteristics of individuals with different UT behavior. Six profiles of UT behavior were identified based on starting or stopping UT, increasing or decreasing UT, maintaining UT frequency, or not participating in UT. Chi2 tests identified differences among profiles based on wave 1 UT frequency, most recent trip mode, socio-demographic, and household characteristics. Results indicate that participation in UT might motivate future UT, one to three UT trips per week is a maintainable frequency, UT might be important to those with smaller living spaces and those living with children or other adults, and suggest that attention should be paid to mobility equity, including how and for whom systems are planned. These findings are important to understanding the effects of long-term governmental regulations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on travel behavior, and how investigating UT might help to challenge and reimagine traditional mobility systems post-pandemic

Marine biogenics in sea spray aerosols interact with the mTOR signaling pathway

Sea spray aerosols (SSAs) have profound effects on our climate and ecosystems. They also contain microbiota and biogenic molecules which could affect human health. Yet the exposure and effects of SSAs on human health remain poorly studied. Here, we exposed human lung cancer cells to extracts of a natural sea spray aerosol collected at the seashore in Belgium, a laboratory-generated SSA, the marine algal toxin homoyessotoxin and a chemical inhibitor of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway. We observed significant increased expression of genes related to the mTOR pathway and Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) after exposure to homoyessotoxin and the laboratory-generated SSA. In contrast, we observed a significant decrease in gene expression in the mTOR pathway and of PCSK9 after exposure to the natural SSA and the mTOR inhibitor, suggesting induction of apoptosis. Our results indicate that marine biogenics in SSAs interact with PCSK9 and the mTOR pathway and can be used in new potential pharmaceutical applications. Overall, our results provide a substantial molecular evidence base for potential beneficial health effects at environmentally relevant concentrations of natural SSAs