Shifting Urban Margins: Accessing Unequal Spaces of Ageing and Care in Zanzibar and Muscat

ABSTRACT

Older people constitute a growing proportion of the urban population and are encountered in all kinds of spaces and neighbourhoods across cities. This article argues that urban seniority and elderly care are a fruitful, new lens to study how inhabitants on the social margins create urban space and social cohesion. This article draws on ethnographic research in the cities of Zanzibar, Tanzania, and Muscat, the capital of Oman. Many older inhabitants of cities experience frailty, serious health problems, or even disabilities and are no longer able to work or make a living, which pushes them towards the social margins. The ethnographic examples and reflections in this article illustrate, first, how cities can be investigated from the perspective of social and spatial marginality. Second, they show how urban dwellers’ social positions can shift between the margins and centres of an urban society depending on their health and access to unequal spaces of ageing and care. And third, the paper analyses how some elders respond to marginality by taking up transnational and cosmopolitan agency.     

Everyday Encounters in the Shopping Mall: (Un)Making Boundaries in the Divided Cities of Johannesburg and Mostar

ABSTRACT

The many studies that see shopping malls as places of power, control and exclusion have often neglected the potential of malls as places of encounters. Drawing on ethnographic data from the divided cities of Johannesburg in South Africa and Mostar in Bosnia–Herzegovina, we examine the ways in which urban dwellers who enter the mall from a marginalised position – poor black urban dwellers at a regional, middle class and white-dominated mall in Johannesburg and Bosniak city dwellers at a mall located in the Croat part of Mostar – use the mall, what kind of relations they build to others and how they rework boundaries of race, class, religion and ethnicity at the mall. Rather than being spaces that strengthen and reproduce centre–margins relations, urban dwellers appropriate them as places where these relations become reworked.     

Effects of co-overexpression of the genes of Rubisco and transketolase on photosynthesis in rice

Metabolome analyses have indicated an accumulation of sedoheptulose 7-phosphate in transgenic rice plants with overproduction of Rubisco (Suzuki et al. in Plant Cell Environ 35:1369–1379, 2012. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3040.2012.02494.x). Since Rubisco overproduction did not quantitatively enhance photosynthesis even under CO₂-limited conditions, it is suspected that such an accumulation of sedoheptulose 7-phosphate hampers the improvement of photosynthetic capacity. In the present study, the gene of transketolase, which is involved in the metabolism of sedoheptulose 7-phosphate, was co-overexpressed with the Rubisco small subunit gene in rice. Rubisco and transketolase were successfully overproduced in comparison with those in wild-type plants by 35–53 and 39–84 %, respectively. These changes in the amounts of the proteins were associated with those of the mRNA levels. However, the rate of CO₂ assimilation under high irradiance and different [CO₂] did not differ between co-overexpressed plants and wild-type plants. Thus, co-overproduction of Rubisco and transketolase did not improve photosynthesis in rice. Transketolase was probably not a limiting factor of photosynthesis as overproduction of transketolase alone by 80–94 % did not affect photosynthesis.     

Unnoticed ingestion of dislodged fixed prosthesis in an elderly patient

doi: 10.1111/j.1741‐2358.2010.00408.x
Unnoticed ingestion of dislodged fixed prosthesis in an elderly patient     

Caring for smiles--a new educational resource for oral health training in care homes

doi: 10.1111/j.1741‐2358.2011.00457.x
Caring for smiles – a new educational resource for oral health training in care homes     

Understanding the ‘epidemic’ of complete tooth loss among older New Zealanders

doi:10.1111/j.1741‐2358.2009.00306.x
Understanding the ‘epidemic’ of complete tooth loss among older New Zealanders Objective: The aim of this study was to obtain a deeper understanding of the social factors driving New Zealand’s historic ‘epidemic of edentulism’ and how they operated. Method: In‐depth, semi‐structured interviews with 31 older New Zealanders were analysed using applied grounded theory. Results: Universal factors present in the data were: (a) the way in which New Zealand society accepted and indeed encouraged edentulism without stigma for those who had a ‘sub‐optimal’ natural dentition; (b) how the predominant patterns of dental care utilisation (symptomatic and extraction‐based) were often strongly influenced by economic and social disadvantage; and (c) the way in which lay and professional worldviews relating to ‘calcium theory’ and dental caries were fundamental in decisions relating to the transition to edentulism. Major influences were rural isolation, the importance of professional authority and how patient‐initiated transitions to edentulism were ultimately facilitated by an accommodating profession. Conclusion: The combined effects of geography, economics, the dental care system and the professional culture of the day, in the context of contemporary (flawed) understandings of oral disease, appear to have been the key drivers. These were supported (in turn) by a widespread acceptance by the profession and society alike of the extraction/denture philosophy in dealing with oral disease.     

Fishing for function – distinct roles of Bace1 and Bace2 in Zebrafish development

Read the full article ‘Loss of Bace2 in zebrafish affects melanocyte migration and is distinct from Bace1 knock out phenotypes’ on doi: 10.1111/jnc.12198 .     

Are the barriers to good oral hygiene in nursing homes within the nurses or the patients?

doi: 10.1111/j.1741‐2358.2011.00554.x
Are the barriers to good oral hygiene in nursing homes within the nurses or the patients? Objective: To explore nursing home patients’ oral hygiene and their nurses’ assessments of barriers to improvement. Background: In nursing homes, nurses are responsible for patients’ oral hygiene. Materials and methods: This study assessed the oral hygiene of 358 patients in 11 Norwegian nursing homes. 494 nurses in the same nursing homes participated in a questionnaire study. Results: More than 40% of patients had unacceptable oral hygiene. ‘More than 10 teeth’ gave OR = 2, 1 (p = 0.013) and ‘resist being helped’ OR = 2.5 (p = 0.018) for unacceptable oral hygiene. Eighty percent of the nurses believed knowledge of oral health was important, and 9.1% often considered taking care of patients’ teeth unpleasant. Half of the nurses reported lack of time to give regular oral care, and 97% experienced resistant behaviour in patients. Resistant behaviour often left oral care undone. Twenty‐one percent of the nurses had considered making legal decisions about use of force or restraints to overcome resistance to teeth cleaning. Conclusion: Oral hygiene in the nursing homes needed to be improved. Resistant behaviour is a major barrier. To overcome this barrier nurses’ education, organisational strategies to provide more time for oral care, and coping with resistant behaviour in patients are important factors.     

Plasticity predicts evolution in a marine alga

Under global change, populations have four possible responses: ‘migrate, acclimate, adapt or die’ (Gienapp et al. 2008 Climate change and evolution: disentangling environmental and genetic response. Mol. Ecol. 17, 167–178. (doi:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2007.03413.x)). The challenge is to predict how much migration, acclimatization or adaptation populations are capable of. We have previously shown that populations from more variable environments are more plastic (Schaum et al. 2013 Variation in plastic responses of a globally distributed picoplankton species to ocean acidification. Nature 3, 298–230. (doi:10.1038/nclimate1774)), and here we use experimental evolution with a marine microbe to learn that plastic responses predict the extent of adaptation in the face of elevated partial pressure of CO₂ (pCO₂). Specifically, plastic populations evolve more, and plastic responses in traits other than growth can predict changes in growth in a marine microbe. The relationship between plasticity and evolution is strongest when populations evolve in fluctuating environments, which favour the evolution and maintenance of plasticity. Strikingly, plasticity predicts the extent, but not direction of phenotypic evolution. The plastic response to elevated pCO₂ in green algae is to increase cell division rates, but the evolutionary response here is to decrease cell division rates over 400 generations until cells are dividing at the same rate their ancestors did in ambient CO₂. Slow-growing cells have higher mitochondrial potential and withstand further environmental change better than faster growing cells. Based on this, we hypothesize that slow growth is adaptive under CO₂ enrichment when associated with the production of higher quality daughter cells.     

Stop CRMPing my style: a new competitive model of CRMP oligomerization

Read the full article ‘Insights into the oligomerization of CRMPs: crystal structure of human collapsin response mediator protein 5’ on doi: 10.1111/jnc.12188 .     

Process,correlation and parameter fitting in species distribution models: a response to Kriticos et al

In a recent article (Dormann et al., 2012, Journal of Biogeography, 39, 2119–2131), we compared different approaches to species distribution modelling and depicted modelling approaches along an axis from purely ‘correlative’ to ‘forward process‐based’ models. In their correspondence, Kriticos et al. (2013, Journal of Biogeography, doi: 10.1111/j.1365‐2699.2012.02791.x ) challenge this view, claiming that our continuum representation neglects differences among models and does not consider the ability of fitted process‐based models to combine the advantages of both process‐based and correlative modelling approaches. Here we clarify that the continuum view resulted from recognition of the manifold differences between models. We also reinforce the point that the current trend towards combining different modelling approaches may lead not only to the desired combination of the advantages but also to the accumulation of the disadvantages of those approaches. This point has not been made sufficiently clear previously.     

mTOR: at the crossroads of aging,chaperones, and Alzheimer's disease

Read the full article ‘Over‐expression of heat shock factor 1 phenocopies the effect of chronic inhibition of TOR by rapamycin and is sufficient to ameliorate Alzheimer's‐like deficits in mice modeling the disease’ on doi: 10.1111/jnc.12080     

Implant‐supported overdenture in an elderly patient with Huntington’s disease

doi:10.1111/j.1741‐2358.2009.00343.x
Implant‐supported overdenture in an elderly patient with Huntington’s disease Huntington’s disease is a hereditary, progressive, neuro‐degenerative disorder characterised by increasingly severe motor impairment, cognitive decline and behavioural manifestations leading to functional disability. Dyskinesia and hyperkinesia of the tongue and the peri‐oral musculature make it impossible for the patient to wear a conventional complete denture, despite an adequate alveolar ridge. The present paper reports on a patient with Huntington’s disease who was rehabilitated with a mandibular overdenture supported by two endosteal implants. One year follow‐up examination showed that the prosthesis was stable and there was considerable improvement in the patient’s masticatory function.     

The 2010 IADR - Geriatric Oral Research Group satellite meeting

doi: 10.1111/j.1741‐2358.2011.00508.x
The 2010 IADR – Geriatric Oral Research Group satellite meeting On 12 and 13 July, the 2010 IADR General Session satellite meeting of the IADR – Geriatric Oral Research Group (GORG) – was attended by around 60 participants in the beautiful surroundings of Sitges in the outskirts of Barcelona, Spain. The speakers reflected on the main topics ‘Disparities and Expectations in Oral Healthcare: An Elderly Focus’ and ‘Risks and Benefits of Ageing with a Natural Dentition’, which was followed by fruitful discussions in the auditorium and the jointly enjoyed meals. The Sitges meeting comprised lectures of distinguished speakers as well as poster presentations, which discussed and defined the situation of research in the field of gerodontology today as well as the development since the last GORG satellite symposium held on Vancouver Island in 1999. Despite enormous progress over the last 10 years, many important questions concerning economics, regulation, the implementation of oral health care, treatment protocols as well as general health implications of oral disease in the frail and elderly remain still unanswered.     

Why and how might genetic and phylogenetic diversity be reflected in the identification of key biodiversity areas?

‘Key biodiversity areas'' are defined as sites contributing significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity. The identification of these sites builds from existing approaches based on measures of species and ecosystem diversity and process. Here, we therefore build from the work of Sgró et al. (2011 Evol. Appl. 4, 326–337. (doi:10.1111/j.1752-4571.2010.00157.x)) to extend a framework for how components of genetic diversity might be considered in the identification of key biodiversity areas. We make three recommendations to inform the ongoing process of consolidating a key biodiversity areas standard: (i) thresholds for the threatened species criterion currently consider a site''s share of a threatened species'' population; expand these to include the proportion of the species'' genetic diversity unique to a site; (ii) expand criterion for ‘threatened species'' to consider ‘threatened taxa’ and (iii) expand the centre of endemism criterion to identify as key biodiversity areas those sites holding a threshold proportion of the compositional or phylogenetic diversity of species (within a taxonomic group) whose restricted ranges collectively define a centre of endemism. We also recommend consideration of occurrence of EDGE species (i.e. threatened phylogenetic diversity) in key biodiversity areas to prioritize species-specific conservation actions among sites.     

Denture stomatitis and its risk indicators in south Brazilian older adults

doi:10.1111/j.1741‐2358.2009.00295.x
Denture stomatitis and its risk indicators in south Brazilian older adults Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate if socio‐demographic, behaviour and health variables are risk indicators for denture‐related stomatitis in community‐dwelling older adults from Carlos Barbosa, Brazil. Materials and methods: In this cross‐sectional study, 872 subjects aged 60 years or more were evaluated. Data collection included dental examinations and questionnaires to assess socio‐demographic, behaviour, general and oral health data. All questionnaires and examinations were carried out during 2004. Associations between the independent variables and the outcomes ‘prevalence of denture stomatitis’ or ‘prevalence of granular stomatitis’ were adjusted by means of multivariate logistic regressions. Results: Participants with denture stomatitis were significantly more likely to be females, to display increased amounts of plaque, and significantly less likely to visit the dentist for treatment. Participants with granular stomatitis were significantly more likely to be females and participants with granular stomatitis were significantly more likely to be females, aged 70 years or more and current smokers. In addition, participants with granular stomatitis displayed increased amounts of plaque. Conclusion: The data presented here confirms the central role of denture biofilm accumulation in denture stomatitis. It also indicates that smoking may increase susceptibility to infection in its most severe form.     

Effect of bone mineral density on masticatory performance and efficiency

doi: 10.1111/j.1741‐2358.2010.00414.x Effect of bone mineral density on masticatory performance and efficiency Objective: To evaluate the effect of bone mineral density (BMD) on masticatory performance and efficiency in dentate subjects. Background data: Osteoporosis is the most common disorder of the bone. It causes reduction in BMD of the all the skeletal tissue including jaw bones. It also promotes bone loss in jaw bones. In osteoporosis, a reduction of maximal bite force and greater electromyography activity of masticatory muscles is documented. This may lead to the development of masticatory dysfunction which can be assessed by a chewing test in the form of change in masticatory performance and efficiency. Materials and methods: Sixty subjects with equal numbers of men and women were selected for the study, in which BMD screening (T‐score) was carried out to identify the normal, osteopenic and osteoporotic subjects. Their masticatory performance and efficiency was evaluated by a chewing test (fractional sieving method). Results: A high ‘T’ score was associated with low masticatory efficiency and a low ‘T’ score with high masticatory efficiency. Masticatory performance and efficiency was significantly higher among males as compared to females with similar range of BMD. Conclusion: In both genders, high BMD groups (low ‘T’ score) had a significantly high percentage of masticatory efficiency compared to the low BMD (high ‘T’ score) group.     

Comparison of twoPisum sativum nodulation mutants with their parental cultivar

In comparison with the parental cv. Finale the ‘RisfixC’ supernodulator exhibited higher, continuously increasing nodule number and fresh mass accumulation, but substantially lower individual nodule fresh mass, leghemoglobin concentration, and specific acetylene reduction activity of nodule tissue. There were no substantial differences between Finale and ‘RisfixC’ in total acetylene reduction, nodule leghemoglobin accumulation per nodulated root, total and specific CO₂ evolution from nodulated roots and gross CO₂ respiratory costs of acetylene reduction. The ‘RisfixC’ also exhibited a substantially lower plant dry mass production (by 30%), but nitrogen concentration in shoots and carotenoid concentration in leaf tissue were significantly higher by 33 and 14%, and the chlorophylla+b content insignficantly higher than in the parental cultivar. In contrast, the nodulation mutant ‘Risnod29’, exhibited a somewhat higher nodule fresh mass accumulation (by 21%) and individual nodule fresh mass (by 23%), total and specific acetylene reduction (by 49 and 19%) and a somewhat more rapid plant dry mass accumulation compared with the cv. Finale.     

Evaluation of a self-assessed screening test for masticatory ability of Taiwanese older adults

doi: 10.1111/j.1741‐2358.2012.00632.x Evaluation of a self‐assessed screening test for masticatory ability of Taiwanese older adults Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate a screening test based on a food intake questionnaire to discriminate the masticatory ability of Taiwanese older adults with 20 and more natural teeth and at least 8 functional tooth units (FTUs) from the masticatory ability of those with fewer than 20 natural teeth and 8 FTUs. Materials and Methods: The subjects were 2244 patients (mean age, 60.4±10.0 years) recruited from 23 counties and cities in Taiwan. Information about their demographic data, dentition, and masticatory ability was collected. Masticatory ability was measured for 23 food groups comprising 35 common Taiwanese foods, and receiver operation characteristic curve analysis was performed. Results: The results showed that the final questionnaire included 14 food groups and a subject choosing ’difficult to eat‘ responses for 4 and more of these food groups had the same masticatory ability as individuals with fewer than 20 natural teeth and 8 FTUs. Conclusion: In conclusion, foods that are the most difficult to eat are not necessarily good discriminatory indicators. Hence, the 14‐food group questionnaire can be considered the best screening test for masticatory ability of Taiwanese older adults in terms of the presence of 20 and more natural teeth and at least 8 FTUs.     

Radicalization and counter-radicalization at British universities: Muslim encounters and alternatives

Abstract

This paper explores the ‘spaces’ left over for Muslims to be ‘radical’ and the management of minority identities in light of their securitization in the UK. The paper considers a key site of this management of ‘radical’ identities: the university. The university works as prototypical case because of the ways in student activism and identity are a priori drawn together but also because of the prevalence of higher education among terrorists in the UK and USA. As a result, universities have been specifically targeted in counterterrorism and counter-radicalization measures. The paper reveals through student narratives how security discourses of ‘radicalization’ constrain their activism, university experience and identities. Yet, alternative identity constructions emerge that work against the moderate/radical binary. These narratives show how incomplete the process is of incorporating Muslims into the nation.