The monkey's sworn oath : Cultures of engagement for reconciliation and healing in the aftermath of the civil war in Mozambique

This study examines the social world of reconciliation and healing in the aftermath of the protracted Mozambican civil war. Using a multidisciplinary approach (sociology, history, legal and medical anthropology, and international law) this research explores how reconciliation and healing unfold contributing to the repair of a devastated social world. It examines the war survivors__ judgments regarding the potential roles of various forms of transitional justice in redressing the abuses and crimes of the past, the contributions of the agricultural cycle and customary justice to reconciliation, and those of healing practices in addressing ill-health problems. The overall goal is to elucidate how the various social practices invested in reconciliation and healing contribute to rebuilding the shattered social world, to peace and to social stability. The study demonstrates that amidst the indescribable and appalling human disruption and material destruction coupled with the officially orchestrated post-war cultures of denial, war survivors in Gorongosa have laboured to create and maintain peace and social stability by breaking the cycles of injustice and unaccountability, reconciling with former enemies and healing the wounds of war.LEI Universiteit LeidenWOTRO/NOW, LUFniet-projectgebonden outpu

Parylene C as a Multipurpose Material for Electronics and Microfluidics

Funding Information: This work was financed by national funds from FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., in the scope of the projects LA/P/0037/2020, UIDP/50025/2020 and UIDB/50025/2020 of the Associate Laboratory Institute of Nanostructures, Nanomodelling and Nanofabrication—i3N. Furthermore, the work received funding from FCT in the scope of projects UIDP/04378/2020 and UIDB/04378/2020 of the Research Unit on Applied Molecular Biosciences—UCIBIO and the project LA/P/0140/2020 of the Associate Laboratory Institute for Health and Bioeconomy—i4HB. This work also received funding from the European Community’s H2020 program under grant agreements 716510 (ERC-2016-StG TREND), 787410 (ERC-2019-AdG DIGISMART) and 952169 (SYNERGY, H2020-WIDESPREAD-2020-5, CSA), 101008701 (EMERGE, H2020-INFRAIA-2018-2020). B. J. Coelho acknowledges FCT for the attribution of grant SFRH/BD/132904/2017 and grant COVID/BD/152453/2022. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.Poly(p-xylylene) derivatives, widely known as Parylenes, have been considerably adopted by the scientific community for several applications, ranging from simple passive coatings to active device components. Here, we explore the thermal, structural, and electrical properties of Parylene C, and further present a variety of electronic devices featuring this polymer: transistors, capacitors, and digital microfluidic (DMF) devices. We evaluate transistors produced with Parylene C as a dielectric, substrate, and encapsulation layer, either semitransparent or fully transparent. Such transistors exhibit steep transfer curves and subthreshold slopes of 0.26 V/dec, negligible gate leak currents, and fair mobilities. Furthermore, we characterize MIM (metal–insulator–metal) structures with Parylene C as a dielectric and demonstrate the functionality of the polymer deposited in single and double layers under temperature and AC signal stimuli, mimicking the DMF stimuli. Applying temperature generally leads to a decrease in the capacitance of the dielectric layer, whereas applying an AC signal leads to an increase in said capacitance for double-layered Parylene C only. By applying the two stimuli, the capacitance seems to suffer from a balanced influence of both the separated stimuli. Lastly, we demonstrate that DMF devices with double-layered Parylene C allow for faster droplet motion and enable long nucleic acid amplification reactions.publishersversionpublishe

Design, Fabrication and Characterization

Funding Information: This work was financed by national funds from FCT, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., in the scope of the projects LA/P/0037/2020, UIDP/50025/2020, and UIDB/50025/2020 of the Associate Laboratory Institute of Nanostructures, Nanomodelling and Nanofabrication, i3N, and also under project dPCR4FreeDNA of the same research unit, PTDC/BTM-SAL/31201/2017. Furthermore, the work received funding from FCT in the scope of projects UIDP/04378/2020 and UIDB/04378/2020 of the Research Unit on Applied Molecular Biosciences, UCIBIO, and the project LA/P/0140/2020 of the Associate Laboratory Institute for Health and Bioeconomy, i4HB. B. J. Coelho acknowledges FCT for the attribution of grant SFRH/BD/132904/2017 and grant COVID/BD/152453/2022. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.Microfluidic-based platforms have become a hallmark for chemical and biological assays, empowering micro- and nano-reaction vessels. The fusion of microfluidic technologies (digital microfluidics, continuous-flow microfluidics, and droplet microfluidics, just to name a few) presents great potential for overcoming the inherent limitations of each approach, while also elevating their respective strengths. This work exploits the combination of digital microfluidics (DMF) and droplet microfluidics (DrMF) on a single substrate, where DMF enables droplet mixing and further acts as a controlled liquid supplier for a high-throughput nano-liter droplet generator. Droplet generation is performed at a flow-focusing region, operating on dual pressure: negative pressure applied to the aqueous phase and positive pressure applied to the oil phase. We evaluate the droplets produced with our hybrid DMF–DrMF devices in terms of droplet volume, speed, and production frequency and further compare them with standalone DrMF devices. Both types of devices enable customizable droplet production (various volumes and circulation speeds), yet hybrid DMF–DrMF devices yield more controlled droplet production while achieving throughputs that are similar to standalone DrMF devices. These hybrid devices enable the production of up to four droplets per second, which reach a maximum circulation speed close to 1540 µm/s and volumes as low as 0.5 nL.publishersversionpublishe

Open-source tool for real-time and automated analysis of droplet-based microfluidic

Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Royal Society of Chemistry.Droplet-based microfluidic technology is a powerful tool for generating large numbers of monodispersed nanoliter-sized droplets for ultra-high throughput screening of molecules or single cells. Yet further progress in the development of methods for the real-time detection and measurement of passing droplets is needed for achieving fully automated systems and ultimately scalability. Existing droplet monitoring technologies are either difficult to implement by non-experts or require complex experimentation setups. Moreover, commercially available monitoring equipment is expensive and therefore limited to a few laboratories worldwide. In this work, we validated for the first time an easy-to-use, open-source Bonsai visual programming language to accurately measure in real-time droplets generated in a microfluidic device. With this method, droplets are found and characterized from bright-field images with high processing speed. We used off-the-shelf components to achieve an optical system that allows sensitive image-based, label-free, and cost-effective monitoring. As a test of its use we present the results, in terms of droplet radius, circulation speed and production frequency, of our method and compared its performance with that of the widely-used ImageJ software. Moreover, we show that similar results are obtained regardless of the degree of expertise. Finally, our goal is to provide a robust, simple to integrate, and user-friendly tool for monitoring droplets, capable of helping researchers to get started in the laboratory immediately, even without programming experience, enabling analysis and reporting of droplet data in real-time and closed-loop experiments.publishersversionepub_ahead_of_prin

Cup Blocks the Precocious Activation of the Orb Autoregulatory Loop

Translational regulation of localized mRNAs is essential for patterning and axes determination in many organisms. In the Drosophila ovary, the germline-specific Orb protein mediates the translational activation of a variety of mRNAs localized in the oocyte. One of the Orb target mRNAs is orb itself, and this autoregulatory activity ensures that Orb proteins specifically accumulate in the developing oocyte. Orb is an RNA-binding protein and is a member of the cytoplasmic polyadenylation element binding (CPEB) protein family. We report here that Cup forms a complex in vivo with Orb. We also show that cup negatively regulates orb and is required to block the precocious activation of the orb positive autoregulatory loop. In cup mutant ovaries, high levels of Orb accumulate in the nurse cells, leading to what appears to be a failure in oocyte specification as a number of oocyte markers inappropriately accumulate in nurse cells. In addition, while orb mRNA is mislocalized and destabilized, a longer poly(A) tail is maintained than in wild type ovaries. Analysis of Orb phosphoisoforms reveals that loss of cup leads to the accumulation of hyperphosphorylated Orb, suggesting that an important function of cup in orb-dependent mRNA localization pathways is to impede Orb activation

Experiences of female survivors of sexual violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo: a mixed-methods study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the deadliest since World War II. Over a decade of fighting amongst an array of armed groups has resulted in extensive human rights abuses, particularly the widespread use of sexual violence against women.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using a mixed-methods approach, we surveyed a non-random sample of 255 women attending a referral hospital and two local non-governmental organizations to characterize their experiences of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). We then conducted focus groups of 48 women survivors of SGBV to elaborate on survey findings. Quantitative and qualitative data underwent thematic and statistical analysis respectively.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>Of the women surveyed, 193 (75.7%) experienced rape. Twenty-nine percent of raped women were rejected by their families and 6% by their communities. Thirteen percent of women had a child from rape. Widowhood, husband abandonment, gang rape, and having a child from rape were significant risk factors for social rejection. Mixed methods findings show rape survivors were seen as "contaminated" with HIV, contributing to their isolation and over 95% could not access prophylactic care in time. Receiving support from their husbands after rape was protective against survivors' feelings of shame and social isolation.</p> <p>Interpretation</p> <p>Rape results not only in physical and psychological trauma, but can destroy family and community structures. Women face significant obstacles in seeking services after rape. Interventions offering long-term solutions for hyper-vulnerable women are vital, but lacking; reintegration programs on SGBV for women, men, and communities are also needed.</p

Unravelling the spirits’ message: a study of help-seeking steps and explanatory models among patients suffering from spirit possession in Uganda

As in many cultures, also in Uganda spirit possession is a common idiom of distress associated with traumatic experiences. In the DSM-IV and -5, possession trance disorders can be classified as dissociative disorders. Dissociation in Western countries is associated with complicated, time-consuming and costly therapies. Patients with spirit possession in SW Uganda, however, often report partial or full recovery after treatment by traditional healers. The aim of this study is to explore how the development of symptoms concomitant help-seeking steps, and explanatory models (EM) eventually contributed to healing of patients with spirit possession in SW Uganda. Illness narratives of 119 patients with spirit possession referred by traditional healers were analysed using a mixed-method approach. Treatments of two-thirds of the patients were unsuccessful when first seeking help in the medical sector. Their initially physical symptoms subsequently developed into dissociative possession symptoms. After an average of two help-seeking steps, patients reached a healing place where 99% of them found satisfactory EM and effective healing. During healing sessions, possessing agents were summoned to identify themselves and underlying problems were addressed. Often-mentioned explanations were the following: neglect of rituals and of responsibilities towards relatives and inheritance, the call to become a healer, witchcraft, grief, and land conflicts. The results demonstrate that traditional healing processes of spirit possession can play a role in restoring connections with the supra-, inter-, intra-, and extra-human worlds. It does not always seem necessary to address individual traumatic experiences per se, which is in line with other research in this field. The study leads to additional perspectives on treatment of trauma-related dissociation in Western countries and on developing effective mental health services in low -and middle-income countries

The Immunophilin-Like Protein XAP2 Is a Negative Regulator of Estrogen Signaling through Interaction with Estrogen Receptor α

XAP2 (also known as aryl hydrocarbon receptor interacting protein, AIP) is originally identified as a negative regulator of the hepatitis B virus X-associated protein. Recent studies have expanded the range of XAP2 client proteins to include the nuclear receptor family of transcription factors. In this study, we show that XAP2 is recruited to the promoter of ERα regulated genes like the breast cancer marker gene pS2 or GREB1 and negatively regulate the expression of these genes in MCF-7 cells. Interestingly, we show that XAP2 downregulates the E2-dependent transcriptional activation in an estrogen receptor (ER) isoform-specific manner: XAP2 inhibits ERα but not ERβ-mediated transcription. Thus, knockdown of intracellular XAP2 levels leads to increased ERα activity. XAP2 proteins, carrying mutations in their primary structures, loose the ability of interacting with ERα and can no longer regulate ER target gene transcription. Taken together, this study shows that XAP2 exerts a negative effect on ERα transcriptional activity and may thus prevent ERα-dependent events

Dynamics of Socioeconomic Risk Factors for Neglected Tropical Diseases and Malaria in an Armed Conflict

Armed conflict and war and infectious diseases are globally among the leading causes of human suffering and premature death. Moreover, they are closely interlinked, as an adverse public health situation may spur violent conflict, and violent conflict may favor the spread of infectious diseases. The consequences of this vicious cycle are increasingly borne by civilians, often as a hidden and hence neglected burden. We analyzed household data that were collected before and after an armed conflict in a rural part of western Côte d'Ivoire, and investigated the dynamics of socioeconomic risk factors for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and malaria. We identified a worsening of the sanitation infrastructure, decreasing use of protective measures against mosquito bites, and increasing difficulties to reach public health care infrastructure. In contrast, household crowding, the availability of soap, and the accessibility of comparatively simple means of health care provision (e.g., traditional healers and community health workers) seemed to be more stable. Knowledge about such dynamics may help to increase crisis-proofness of critical infrastructure and public health systems, and hence mitigate human suffering due to armed conflict and war

Atopic dermatitis and vitamin D: facts and controversies

Patients with atopic dermatitis have genetically determined risk factors that affect the barrier function of the skin and immune responses that interact with environmental factors. Clinically, this results in an intensely pruriginous and inflamed skin that allows the penetration of irritants and allergens and predisposes patients to colonization and infection by microorganisms. Among the various etiological factors responsible for the increased prevalence of atopic diseases over the past few decades, the role of vitamin D has been emphasized. As the pathogenesis of AD involves a complex interplay of epidermal barrier dysfunction and dysregulated immune response, and vitamin D is involved in both processes, it is reasonable to expect that vitamin D's status could be associated with atopic dermatitis' risk or severity. Such association is suggested by epidemiological and experimental data. in this review, we will discuss the evidence for and against this controversial relationship, emphasizing the possible etiopathogenic mechanisms involved.Univ Brasilia UNB, Brasilia, DF, BrazilFed Dist Hlth State Dept SES DF, Brasilia, DF, BrazilUniv Brasilia HUB UNB, Brasilia Univ Hosp, Brasilia, DF, BrazilSão Paulo Fed Univ UNIFESP, Brasilia, DF, BrazilSão Paulo Fed Univ UNIFESP, Brasilia, DF, BrazilWeb of Scienc