644 research outputs found
Transmitting marriage models across generations: narratives of mothers and daughters between Morocco and Italy
This article explores the processes of construction of gender and sexuality in the life course of two generations of women of Moroccan origin in Italy â mother and daughter dyads â while challenging the most popular constructs within academia and the current policy climate around migrant families. While these approaches are often a combination of evolutionary and polarised assumptions focused on establishing how far behind âtheyâ are from âusâ, with inevitable discriminatory consequences, this article explores the potential of a different frame. Based on 29 biographical narratives collected in Italy and Morocco, it unravels how discourses and practices around marriage models are differently transmitted, reproduced, contrasted and transformed across womenâs generations in multiple spaces and times. Marriage models are treated as processes to which women may contribute through a variety of intergenerational kin activities, instead of being considered as fixed and static categories.
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Combating Violence against Women (VAW) in South Kivu: A Critical Analysis
During the on-going civil conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo or DRC), which has raged on and off since 1996 and throughout the post-2002 transition period, thousands of cases of rape and other forms of sexual violence against women have been reported. Drawing on secondary data and evidence from our own field research, this article describes and assesses aid delivery to victims of sexual violence. Aid practices on the ground, as well as the underlying policy framework are critically analysed through a gender lens. It is argued that the lack of a gender perspective in the relevant humanitarian and development policies, and in current interventions on the ground, may largely explain inadequacies of the responses
Virtual water controlled demographic growth of nations
Population growth is in general constrained by food production, which in turn
depends on the access to water resources. At a country level, some populations
use more water than they control because of their ability to import food and
the virtual water required for its production. Here, we investigate the
dependence of demographic growth on available water resources for exporting and
importing nations. By quantifying the carrying capacity of nations based on
calculations of the virtual water available through the food trade network, we
point to the existence of a global water unbalance. We suggest that current
export rates will not be maintained and consequently we question the long-run
sustainability of the food trade system as a whole. Water rich regions are
likely to soon reduce the amount of virtual water they export, thus leaving
import-dependent regions without enough water to sustain their populations. We
also investigate the potential impact of possible scenarios that might mitigate
these effects through (1) cooperative interactions among nations whereby water
rich countries maintain a tiny fraction of their food production available for
export; (2) changes in consumption patterns; and (3) a positive feedback
between demographic growth and technological innovations. We find that these
strategies may indeed reduce the vulnerability of water-controlled societies.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure
Spatio-temporal stochastic resonance induces patterns in wetland vegetation dynamics
Water availability is a major environmental driver affecting riparian and
wetland vegetation. The interaction between water table fluctuations and
vegetation in a stochastic environment contributes to the complexity of the
dynamics of these ecosystems. We investigate the possible emergence of spatial
patterns induced by spatio-temporal stochastic resonance in a simple model of
groundwater-dependent ecosystems. These spatio-temporal dynamics are driven by
the combined effect of three components: (i) an additive white Gaussian noise,
accounting for external random disturbances such as fires or fluctuations in
rain water availability, (ii) a weak periodic modulation in time, describing
hydrological drivers such as seasonal fluctuations of water table depth, and
(iii) a spatial coupling term, which takes into account the ability of
vegetation to spread and colonize other parts of the landscape. A suitable
cooperation between these three terms is able to give rise to ordered
structures which show spatial and temporal coherence, and are statistically
steady in time.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure
The influence of massive stars in the interstellar medium of IC 1613: the supernova remnant S8 and the nebula S3 associated with a WO star
We present a detailed kinematical analysis of two selected nebulae in the
Local Group irregular galaxy IC 1613. The nebulae are: S8, the only known
supernova remnant in this galaxy, and S3, a Wolf-Rayet nebula associated with
the only WO star in this galaxy. For S8, we have obtained and analyzed its
radial velocity field, where we found complex profiles which can be fitted by
several velocity components. These profiles also show the presence of high
velocity, low density gas. From this, we have obtained the expansion velocity,
estimated the preshock density and calculated the basic kinematical parameters
of this SNR. We suggest that in S8 we are seing a SNR partially hidden by dust.
This suggestion comes from the fact that the SNR is located between two
superbubbles where a ridge of obscured material unveils the existence of dust.
Moreover, we show that this hypothesis prevails when energetic arguments are
taken into account. In the case of S3, this nebula shows bipolar structure. By
means of its kinematics, we have analyzed its two lobes, the ``waist'', as well
as its relation with the nearest superbubbles. For the first time we are able
to see closed the NW lobe, showing a clover leaf shape. This fact allows a
better quantitative knowledge of the nebula as a whole. Furthermore, we found
evidence of an expansion motion in the NW lobe. In the light of our results, we
can express that these nebulae are the product of very massive stellar
evolution. It is surprising the influence these stars still have in shaping
their surrounding gas, and on the energy liberation towards the interstellar
medium of this galaxy.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal, July issue. 11
pages, 12 figures. High resolution figures can be found at
http://www.inaoep.mx/~mago/PAPERS/AJ
High-Resolution Spectroscopy from 3050 to 10000 A of the HDF-S QSO J2233-606 with UVES at the ESO VLT
We report on high-resolution observations () of the Hubble
Deep Field South QSO J2233-606 obtained with the VLT UV-Visual Echelle
Spectrograph (UVES). We present spectral data for the wavelength region \AA. The ratio of the final spectrum is about 50 per
resolution element at 4000 \AA, 90 at 5000 \AA, 80 at 6000 \AA, 40 at 8000 \AA.
Redshifts, column densities and Doppler widths of the absorption features have
been determined with Voigt-profile fitting. A total of 621 lines have been
measured. In particular 270 Ly-alpha lines, 41 Ly-beta and 24 systems
containing metal lines have been identified. Together with other data in the
literature, the present spectrum confirms that the evolution of the number
density of Ly-alpha lines with \huno has an upturn at .Comment: 34 pages Latex, with 3 PostScript figures. Astronomical Journal, in
press. A few revised upper limit
A Low Upper Limit to the Lyman Continuum Emission of two galaxies at z 3
Long exposure, long-slit spectra have been obtained in the UV/optical bands
for two galaxies at z=2.96 and z=3.32 to investigate the fraction of ionizing
UV photons escaping from high redshifts galaxies. The two targets are among the
brightest galaxies discovered by Steidel and collaborators and they have
different properties in terms of Lyman-alpha emission and dust reddening. No
significant Lyman continuum emission has been detected. The noise level in the
spectra implies an upper limit of f_{rel,esc}\equiv 3 f(900)/f(1500)< 16% for
the relative escape fraction of ionizing photons, after correction for
absorption by the intervening intergalactic medium. This upper limit is 4 times
lower than the previous detection derived from a composite spectrum of 29 Lyman
break galaxies at z 3.4. If this value is typical of the escape fraction of the
z 3 galaxies, and is added to the expected contribution of the QSO population,
the derived UV background is in good agreement with the one derived by the
proximity effect.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figures, ApJ Letters in pres
When two become one: an apparent QSO pair turns out to be a single quasar
We report on our serendipitous discovery that the objects Q 01323-4037 and Q
0132-4037, listed in the V\'eron-Cetty & V\'eron catalog (2006) as two
different quasars, are actually a quasar and a star. We briefly discuss the
origin of the misidentification, and provide a refined measurement of the
quasar redshift.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures; accepted for publication in A&
Comparing the Evolution of the Galaxy Disk Sizes with CDM Models: The Hubble Deep Field
The intrinsic sizes of the field galaxies with I<26 in the Hubble and ESO-NTT
Deep Fields are shown as a function of their redshifts and absolute magnitudes
using photometric redshifts derived from the multicolor catalogs and are
compared with the CDM predictions. Extending to lower luminosities and to
higher z our previous analysis performed on the NTT field alone, we find that
the distribution of the galaxy disk sizes at different cosmic epochs is within
the range predicted by typical CDM models. However, the observed size
distribution of faint (M_B>-19) galaxies is skewed with respect to the CDM
predictions and an excess of small-size disks (R_d<2 kpc) is already present at
z~ 0.5. The excess persists up to z~3 and involves brighter galaxies . Such an
excess may be reduced if luminosity-dependent effects, like starburst activity
in interacting galaxies, are included in the physical mechanisms governing the
star formation history in CDM models.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, ApJ Letters in pres
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