Thematic Cluster Research Articles

Disorientation and Disillusionment in Post-9/11 Poetry: A Thematic Reading

The paper examines the immediate responses that emerged in American poetry after the terrorist attacks on 11 September, 2001. The aim of the paper is not to summarize the tragic events of 9/11, but to show how poets reacted to the terrorist attacks. In response to 9/11, a great deal of poetry emerged that expresses the poetic and completely personal, intimate side of the crisis, and many printed publications appeared in which poets addressed 9/11. Although one can find a range of features in American poetry after the attacks, there are notable similarities among the poetry being produced. The post-9/11 poetry can be divided into thematic clusters. This paper is, however, limited to responses that deal only with feelings of disorientation, loss and despair after 9/11. Furthermore, the paper presents poetic reactions that involve a sense of disillusionment and the idea that everything changed after the attacks. Each thematic cluster offers examples of 9/11 poetry that are interpreted with the help of close reading.

A Referência a Marx no Ensino de Lacan

RESUMO A referência a Marx forma uma constante no ensino de Lacan. Rastreando o conjunto de tais referências, vemos Marx surgir, desaparecer, para, logo em seguida, ressurgir no interior do pensamento lacaniano. Tal diálogo manifesta a persistência de um núcleo central. Nesse sentido, consideramos que o interesse de Lacan em formalizar a relação existente entre os conceitos de sujeito do significante, de Outro e de gozo constitui o núcleo de tal diálogo do começo ao fim. Nosso artigo tratará da recorrência desse núcleo temático, percorrendo sucessivamente três diferentes momentos desse diálogo na obra de Lacan.

Assessment of Urban Mobility Needs, Gaps and Priorities in Mediterranean Partner Countries

Improving urban mobility and reaching the goal of sustainability is a key priority for the European Union. To this end, substantial efforts have been undertaken in several regions within the European context regarding the investigation and successful implementation of innovative and green urban mobility solutions. The knowledge and experience gained, at the local level, throughout the implementation process of such solutions is of utmost importance and significant added-value when considering their successful transferability in other cities/regions within Europe and beyond. Within the aforementioned context, this paper aims first to present a set of such innovative and green urban mobility solutions, as identified by leading experts within the framework of the EU-funded “SOLUTIONS” research project, and then assess the transferability potential of selected solutions in Mediterranean Partner Countries (MPCs). The identified solutions were clustered into four thematic areas namely public transport, transport infrastructure, city logistics and integrated planning/Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans. For each thematic cluster, existing urban mobility needs, gaps and priorities were assessed in three selected MPCs, enabling the identification of common priorities for the Mediterranean region as well as the selection and prioritization of promising urban mobility solutions fitting best the local context of Mediterranean cities thus presenting the largest potential towards meeting sustainability targets.

Cyclones, windstorms and the IMILAST project

By way of introduction to the TELLUS thematic cluster on outcomes of the IMILAST project (Intercomparison of MId-LAtitude STorm diagnostics), this paper presents the results of new research that is fundamental for the correct interpretation of IMILAST results. Specifically we investigated the mesoscale structure of cyclonic windstorms, and the representation of those windstorms in re-analysis data. The paper concludes with an overview of the project itself. Twenty-nine historic windstorms are studied in detail, using wide-ranging observational data, and on this basis a conceptual model of the life cycle of a typical windstorm-generating cyclone is developed. The model delineates three wind phenomena, the warm jet, the sting jet and the cold jet, and maps out the typical damage footprint left by each. Focussing on the boundary layer, the physical processes at work in each jet zone are investigated. These include the impact of near-surface stability and exposure on gust strength. Based on numerous cases, a generic description of the sting jet is provided, with many new features highlighted. This phenomenon looks to be unique in that exceptional gusts can be realised well inland because destabilisation is activated from above. We next investigate how well the widely-referenced ERA-Interim re-analysis, that has been a primary data source for IMILAST, can represent windstorms. In many ways, performance is suboptimal. Compared to a benchmark manually-analysed dataset, windstorm-generating cyclones generally do not deepen rapidly enough. In part, this is a resolution limitation. For one medium-sized cyclone, it is shown, using other models, that horizontal resolution of order 20 km or better is required to capture the most damaging winds. In the context of IMILAST, which has used data at resolutions ≥80 km, this is a fundamental result. For this and other reasons, caution is clearly needed when inferring storm behaviour and severity from model-based metrics.

Cyclones, windstorms and the IMILAST project

By way of introduction to the TELLUS thematic cluster on outcomes of the IMILAST project (Intercomparison of MId-LAtitude STorm diagnostics), this paper presents the results of new research that is fundamental for the correct interpretation of IMILAST results. Specifically we investigated the mesoscale structure of cyclonic windstorms, and the representation of those windstorms in re-analysis data. The paper concludes with an overview of the project itself. Twenty-nine historic windstorms are studied in detail, using wide-ranging observational data, and on this basis a conceptual model of the life cycle of a typical windstorm-generating cyclone is developed. The model delineates three wind phenomena, the warm jet, the sting jet and the cold jet, and maps out the typical damage footprint left by each. Focussing on the boundary layer, the physical processes at work in each jet zone are investigated. These include the impact of near-surface stability and exposure on gust strength. Based on numerous cases, a generic description of the sting jet is provided, with many new features highlighted. This phenomenon looks to be unique in that exceptional gusts can be realised well inland because destabilisation is activated from above. We next investigate how well the widely-referenced ERA-Interim re-analysis, that has been a primary data source for IMILAST, can represent windstorms. In many ways, performance is suboptimal. Compared to a benchmark manually-analysed dataset, windstorm-generating cyclones generally do not deepen rapidly enough. In part, this is a resolution limitation. For one medium-sized cyclone, it is shown, using other models, that horizontal resolution of order 20 km or better is required to capture the most damaging winds. In the context of IMILAST, which has used data at resolutions ≥80 km, this is a fundamental result. For this and other reasons, caution is clearly needed when inferring storm behaviour and severity from model-based metrics. Keywords: cyclone life-cycle, conceptual model, sting jet, cyclone tracking, windstorm footprint, satellite imagery, re-analyses, boundary layer, convective instability, evaporation (Published: 1 September 2015) Citation: Tellus A 2015, 67, 27128, http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/tellusa.v67.27128

Remembering Africa: The Rediscovery of Colonialism in Contemporary German Literature

Remembering Africa: The Rediscovery of Colonialism in Contemporary German Literature

Biochemistry in an undergraduate writing‐intensive first‐year program: Seminar courses in drugs and bioethics

The College of the Holy Cross offers a universal first-year program called Montserrat, in which first-year students participate in a living-learning experience anchored by a yearlong seminar course. The seminar courses are part of a thematic cluster of four to eight courses; students in the cluster live together in a common dormitory and participate in shared co-curricular events designed to engage the entire cluster in intellectual discourse related to the theme. A two-semester seminar within the "Natural World" cluster was offered using biochemical principles as the underlying content. In the first semester, students were introduced to drug design, activity and abuse via student presentations and guided readings on ethnobotany, drug laws, drug use in religion, and prescription drug costs. In the second semester, students discussed primary readings in ethics followed by case study analyses of assisted reproduction technologies, informed consent, genetic privacy, performance enhancing drugs and genetically modified organisms. Student learning outcomes were evaluated via rubrics and a College-facilitated survey.

Introducing the thematic cluster.

No abstract available. (Published: 29 May 2015) Citation: Microbial Ecology in Health & Disease 2015, 26: 27982 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/mehd.v26.27982

Feminist Sinologies: An Introduction

“Feminist Sinologies” offers an introduction to the thematic cluster published in this issue. Its historicist account of the entanglements between feminism and sinology reveals the deep and broad ties between the theories, methods, and problematics of feminism and the ongoing production of knowledge about China (our repurposed definition of sinology). It argues that this dialectic has special explanatory power for both contemporary Chinese phenomena and twenty-first-century feminist studies.

The Arctic Observing Summit 2013

The Arctic Observing Summit (AOS) was initiated in 2013 as a high-level international forum to provide community-driven, science-based guidance for the design and implementation of a sustained, comprehensive, and integrated Arctic observing system. The biennial summits target scientists, managers, stakeholders, agencies, Arctic community members, and the private sector across all levels, from local to international. The AOS is a Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks (SAON) task led by the International Study of Arctic Change (ISAC). The inaugural Arctic Observing Summit was held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, from 30 April to 2 May 2013. In preparation for that meeting, AOS participants and members of the research community provided input and perspectives on specific themes related to the design, implementation, and utility of an adaptive Arctic observing system. To capture and integrate input from a broad range of participants, the AOS encouraged contributions of community-based white papers and statements. This activity continues and will form a part of AOS 2016, to be held in Fairbanks, Alaska. Building on this input and stemming from the AOS white papers, a thematic cluster of papers was selected for publication in this special issue of Arctic. The resulting collection includes both peer-reviewed scientific articles and reports that address AOS themes such as the following:

Introduction: Questions of Space and Place in Scholarship on Modern Hungary

Reflecting on both the personal and intellectual factors that influenced this thematic cluster on space, place, and the making of modern Hungary, the authors situate themselves within the history of the post-socialist revival of geography in Hungary, outlining in particular emergent fields of study and new schools of thought that have transformed geographical research and teaching over the last decade. Having drawn together historians and geographers working in Hungary, Canada, and the United States, Part I of this two-part cluster represents an effort to bring different disciplinary streams and academic cultures into contact with one another, and has provided the authors with an opportunity to better survey the state of a very broad and dynamic field of study, and to identify and begin to address lacunae in their collaborative work.

ИНТЕГРИРОВАННЫЙ МЕТОД РАЗРАБОТКИ СПЕЦИАЛИЗИРОВАННЫХ ПРОДУКТОВ ДЛЯ КОРРЕКЦИИ ПИТАНИЯ ПЕРСОНАЛА, РАБОТАЮЩЕГО ВО ВРЕДНЫХ УСЛОВИЯХ ТРУДА

The paper presents the system of basic elements of an integrated method of development of special products for correction of nutrition for people working in hazardous conditions. The interpreted method of synectics, based on the work of specialists in the catering area, is offered as a main instrument for the development of specialized food products. The authors consider the following thematic areas of research revealing the problems: development and implementation of management systems in accordance with requirements of international standards and GMP rules to ensure the quality and safety of products; development of a system of organizations and enterprises for research and innovation activities in the catering field according to thematic priorities; formation of a system of main elements of the integrated method of development of specialized products for nutrition correction for people working in hazardous conditions; interpreted method of synectics (IMS) for the development of specialized food products (SPP). The principles of forming a thematic innovation cluster (TIC), which integrates the work of science and education and enterprises at various levels are developed. Its potential partners, i.e. main participants are examined. Based on the practical application of IMS using the integrated method of SPP specialized products with functional properties designed to correct nutrition and maintain working capacity and health of workers in the metallurgical industry: soft drinks “Vitalife” and “Golden ball” are developed. The feature of this method is integration of intellectual and material resources in the conditions of the region, which is ensured by the system of the organization of enterprises in order to create a NID in the field of nutrition in the form of the thematic innovation cluster on the basis of “science and education – production – market”. It’s found out that the integrated method helps to form the NID process “from an idea to a consumer” and to solve the problem of correcting the diet for workers, who contact with harmful factors of production taking into account regional conditions.

Foreword to the thematic cluster: the Arctic in Rapid Transition—marine ecosystems

The Arctic is warming and losing sea ice. Happening at a much faster rate than previously expected, these changes are causing multiple ecosystem feedbacks in the Arctic Ocean. The Arctic in Rapid Transition (ART) initiative was developed by early-career scientists as an integrative, international, multidisciplinary, long-term pan-Arctic network to study changes and feedbacks among the physical and biogeochemical components of the Arctic Ocean and their ultimate impacts on biological productivity on different timescales. In 2012, ART jointly organized with the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists their second science workshop—Overcoming Challenges of Observation to Model Integration in Marine Ecosystem Response to Sea Ice Transitions—at the Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, in Sopot. This workshop aimed to identify linkages and feedbacks between atmosphere–ice–ocean forcing and biogeochemical processes, which are critical for ecosystem function, land–ocean interactions and productive capacity of the Arctic Ocean. This special thematic cluster of Polar Research brings together seven papers that grew out of workgroup discussions. Papers examine the climate change impacts on various ecosystem elements, providing important insights on the marine ecological and biogeochemical processes on various timescales. They also highlight priority areas for future research.Keywords: Climate change; biogeochemical processes; forcing; ecosystem; sea ice; Arctic Ocean.(Published: 23 December 2015)Citation: Polar Research 2015, 34, 30684, http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/polar.v34.30684

A House with Many Mansions

This contribution engages in presenting the underdeveloped thematic cluster of twentieth-century theological research designated by the umbrella-term, ‘Christian anthropology’ and in particular, the contribution of the Louvain Faculty of Theology to that field. It proposes a new structure for this (international) field of Christian anthropology by focusing on theological reflection of the human being (Christian humanism), the temporal order as such (Théologie des réalités terrestres), the history in which humanity is placed (theology of history), the social context (theology of society), as well as the identity of the laity and their role within the Church and society (theology of the laity). In each section the active efforts of different members of the Belgian Faculty of Theology to make progress in these different areas shall be presented for the period 1942–1962.

Training needs for research in health inequities among health and demographic researchers from eight African and Asian countries.

BackgroundTo support equity focussed public health policy in low and middle income countries, more evidence and analysis of the social determinants of health inequalities is needed. This requires specific know how among researchers. The INDEPTH Training and Research Centres of Excellence (INTREC) collaboration will develop and provide training on the social determinants of health approach for health researchers from the International Network for the Demographic Evaluation of Populations and Their Health in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (INDEPTH) in Africa and Asia. To identify learning needs among the potential target group, this qualitative study explored what INDEPTH researchers from Ghana, Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, and Bangladesh feel that they want to learn to be able to conduct research on the causes of health inequalities in their country.MethodsUsing an inductive method, online concept-mapping, participants were asked to generate statements in response to the question what background knowledge they would need to conduct research on the causes of health inequalities in their country, to sort those statements into thematic groups, and to rate them in terms of how important it would be for the INTREC program to offer instruction on each of the statements. Statistical techniques were used to structure statements into a thematic cluster map and average importance ratings of statements/clusters were calculated.ResultsOf the 150 invited researchers, 82 participated in the study: 54 from Africa; 28 from Asia. Participants generated 59 statements and sorted them into 6 broader thematic clusters: “assessing health inequalities”; “research design and methods”; “research and policy”; “demography and health inequalities”; “social determinants of health” and “interventions”. African participants assigned the highest importance to further training on methods for assessing health inequalities. Asian participants assigned the highest importance to training on research and policy.ConclusionThe identified thematic clusters and statements provide a detailed understanding of what INDEPTH researchers want to learn in order to be able to conduct research on the social determinants of health inequalities. This offers a framework for developing capacity building programs in this emerging field of public health research.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-1254) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Gendered Violence: Continuities and Transformation in the Aftermath of Conflict in Africa

This thematic cluster of essays, titled “Gendered Violence: Continuities and Transformation in the Aftermath of Conflict in Africa,” focuses on the continuities between regimes of violence during organized political conflict and persisting violence against women in the postconflict era of democratic governance. The genesis for this collection evolved out of an international symposium organized by the first author of this introduction, in August 2011. The aim of the symposium was to explore African women’s experiences in the aftermath of mass violence and genocide—both in terms of their victimhood and their agency—and their positioning in the broader context of their social, cultural, and political engagement after the official ending of hostilities. In this introduction, we consider the multiple violations that women have suffered in recent conflicts and genocide on the African continent, and which they continue to suffer long after the violent conflict has ended. We explore the plurality of women’s experiences in the wake of political violence and in its aftermath—their simultaneous experiences of trauma and victimhood, their agency and empowerment, and their solidarity in standing together in their woundedness to rebuild their communities.

Queering Masturbation in Lorde's Life and Writing

In his article Queering Masturbation in Lorde's Life and Writing Eric Sipyinyu Njeng discusses masturbation in Audre Lorde's life and works to signal an important aspect of her oeuvre often neglected in scholarship. Lorde stands out among prominent queer queens by demonstrating theory corporeally thereby going beyond mere theory and positing her body as a space of complex sexual passions. When Judith Butler speaks of gender as performative rather than embodied, Lorde theorizes and foregrounds this in her works and self and celebrates a sexual matrix that ranges from heterosexuality to homosexuality to auto-sexuality. Lorde places masturbation between the binary hetero/homosexual options which privilege one form over the other suggesting that the hetero/homoerotic dichotomy is not transacted on a level field of emotional and analytical impartiality, but of homophobic pressure intent on devaluing other forms of sexuality. By forcing the third singularly corporeal option between the two, Lorde interpellates generalized homophobia and antimasturbatory sentiment which remain pervasive in culture and society. Eric Sipyinyu Njeng, Queering Masturbation in Lorde's Life and Writing page 2 of 9 CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 16.3 (2014): Thematic Cluster Love, Sexualities, and Marriage in Literature

The impact of climate change on the well‐being and lifestyle of a First Nation community in the western James Bay region

Through the use of traditional environmental knowledge (TEK), the impacts of climate change on the Fort Albany First Nation community are explored. Thirty‐nine community members were interviewed using a semi‐directive interview format to gather knowledge about their observations of local environmental and climatic change and the significance of these changes. Thematic analysis, cluster analysis, and concept mapping were applied to analyze interview transcriptions. A second round of interviews was conducted to obtain feedback on the themes and concepts that emerged from the first round of interviews. Community members indicated that there have been noticeable changes in the timing of seasons, snow type, and total snowfall, with an increase in extreme weather events. These changes have impacted animal behaviour, traditional harvesting activities, and the winter road, which have led to socio‐economic and well‐being issues. The community has exhibited strength in adapting to ongoing changes in the environment; however, their ability to adapt to climate change in the future is not certain.

Employment and Migrant Deservingness

The past 15 years have seen a growing number of studies investigating how migrants’ legal status affects their employment. Typically, this literature tends to view legal restrictions, conditions and opportunities as parts of a wider political opportunity structure circumscribing migrants’ agency and their ability to secure gainful employment (Moulier-Boutang, 1999; Jounin, 2008; Anderson, 2009; Kraler, 2010). But the reverse question – the effects of employment on residential legality – has hardly been broached. This thematic cluster focuses on the role of employment for the legal status of non-nationals in Europe and the many ways in which work has come to determine migrant citizenship. We refer to citizenship in a broad sense, covering access to various types of formal legal status as well as normative struggles over what constitutes ‘good citizenship’ that can affect migrants’ likelihood to obtain, maintain, renew, improve, or lose their legal status (Anderson, 2013). What kinds of work are considered legitimate for legal entry into different European countries? How are skilled and unskilled migrations constructed as distinct categories and treated differently? How does recruitment take place, both before and after entry? Which actors define migrant entitlement to legal status? How does the wide array of residence permits granted by host countries interact with economic insecurity in determining the capacity of migrant workers to maintain and renew their papers? How do migrants handle the precariousness of their residence permits, often involving repeated transitions in and out of illegality? What are the consequences for industrial relations in sectors that employ legal and illegal migrants? Understanding the role of employment in migrants’ legality involves examining how policies construct different categories and levels of membership on the basis of work. The building up of frameworks, categories and discourses derives not only from policy documents and formal law: we need to examine the conditions of policy formation, the principles and knowledge that precede and follow policies, the practices they consist of and the ways in which these practices are carried out. Our point of departure is that the study of formal policy frameworks must be accompanied by empirical investigation of political processes and administrative practices. Thus our primary interest is not why policies fail or why their outcomes differ from the intended ones – the so-called policy-gap

The influence of seasonal climate variability on mortality in pre-industrial Sweden

BackgroundRecent studies have shown an association between weather and climatic factors with mortality, cardiovascular and infectious diseases. We used historical data to investigate the impact of seasonal temperature and precipitation on total mortality in Uppsala, Sweden, during the first two stages of the demographic transition, 1749–1859.DesignWe retrieved mortality and population numbers of the Uppsala Domkyrka parish from digitised parish records and obtained monthly temperature and precipitation measures recorded in Uppsala during that time. Statistical models were established for year-to-year variability in deaths by annual and seasonal temperature and precipitation, adjusting for longer time trends. In a second step, a model was established for three different periods to study changes in the association of climate variability and mortality over time. Relative risks (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated.ResultsPrecipitation during spring and autumn was significantly associated with annual mortality (spring RR 0.982, CI 0.965–1.000; autumn RR 1.018, CI 1.004–1.032, respectively, per centimetre increase of precipitation). Higher springtime temperature decreased annual mortality, while higher summer temperature increased the death toll; however, both were only borderline significant (p=0.07). The significant effect of springtime precipitation for mortality was present only in the first two periods (1749–1785 and 1786–1824). On the contrary, the overall effect of autumn precipitation was mainly due to its relevance during the last period, 1825–1859 (RR 1.024, CI 0.997–1.052). At that time, higher winter precipitation was found to decrease mortality.ConclusionsIn urban Uppsala, during the 18th and 19th century, precipitation appeared to be a stronger predictor for mortality than temperature. Higher spring precipitation decreased and higher autumn precipitation increased the number of deaths. However, this association differed before and during the early stages of industrialisation. Further research shall take age-specific differences into account, as well as changes in socio-economic conditions during that time.This paper is part of the thematic cluster Global Health Beyond 2015 - more papers from this cluster can be found at http://www.globalhealthaction.net