A Tapestry of Edgelands: Defining Carceral Edgeland(s) in Masafer Yatta (Firing Zone 918)

The carceral edgeland occupies a unique position. At times, it is acknowledged; at others, it remains unseen by those outside its boundaries. In cases where the edgeland is architectural, such as a prison or a detention center, it can prompt viewers to consider the power dynamics exercised within. This article, however, is concerned with the possibilities for the edgeland to be moveable and embodied. Focusing on the transformation of the area of Masafer Yatta in the occupied West Bank into a military training zone, the article shifts the discourse from the connection between the edgeland and the symbolic power of carceral architecture to suggest alternative carceral edgelands: the occupying edgeland, wherein the moveable and embodied converge to form a tapestry of edgelands. The Israeli military presence varies in intensity, yet the result is the realization of Achille Mbembe's ‘infrastructural warfare’ (2003) that manifests through the moveable edgeland, and second, the embodied edgeland that is enacted by the military personnel who symbolize the state. In Masafer Yatta, the army's long-term presence has had an impact on the communities that evokes Lauren Berlant's ‘political depression’ (2011). Building on Paul Farley and Michael Symmons Roberts' recognition of multitudinous edgelands (2012), this article suggests that there can be multiple carceral edgelands at one site, all of which facilitate exclusion and political depression through enclosure, whether through fences, walls, or moveable checkpoints.     

Estimating percentile-specific treatment effects in counterfactual models: a case-study of micronutrient supplementation, birth weight and infant mortality

Summary.  Clinical trials of micronutrient supplementation are aimed at reducing the risk of infant mortality by increasing birth weight. Because infant mortality is greatest among the low birth weight (LBW) infants (2500 g or under), an effective intervention increases the birth weight among the smallest babies. The paper defines population and counterfactual parameters for estimating the treatment effects on birth weight and on survival as functions of the percentiles of the birth weight distribution. We use a Bayesian approach with data augmentation to approximate the posterior distributions of the parameters, taking into account uncertainty that is associated with the imputation of the counterfactuals. This approach is particularly suitable for exploring the sensitivity of the results to unverifiable modelling assumptions and other prior beliefs. We estimate that the average causal effect of the treatment on birth weight is 72 g (95% posterior regions 33–110 g) and that this causal effect is largest among the LBW infants. Posterior inferences about average causal effects of the treatment on birth weight are robust to modelling assumptions. However, inferences about causal effects for babies at the tails of the birth weight distribution can be highly sensitive to the unverifiable assumption about the correl-ation between the observed and the counterfactuals birth weights. Among the LBW infants who have a large causal effect of the treatment on birth weight, we estimate that a baby receiving the treatment has 5% less chance of death than if the same baby had received the control. Among the LBW infants, we found weak evidence supporting an additional beneficial effect of the treatment on mortality independent of birth weight.     

Distribution of local plant knowledge in a recently urbanized area (Campeche District,Florianópolis,Brazil)

All over the world, coastal villages are changing rapidly due to the increasing pressures from tourism and urbanization. In this study we investigate ethnobotanical knowledge of current residents of Campeche District, a coastal area that has undergone a rapid process of urbanization, related to 13 native plant species. We also discuss how residents understand and conceptualize the term ‘restinga’, which corresponds to the areas of native vegetation still found at the study site. We interviewed 176 residents in four strata according to time of residence in the district: 0–9 years, 10-19 years, 20-29 years and +30 years, corresponding to the periods of most accentuated demographic growth in the area. Psidium guajava and Eugenia uniflora were the most known, recognized and used plants by respondents. Plant recognition, naming and known uses are strongly correlated; yet there was no difference related to the age of respondents. The only stratum with significant differences in the number of plants named, known and used is the +30 year of residence time, not related to the age of respondents. Explanations given by respondents for the definition of ‘restinga’ were grouped into: vegetation, physical space and ecosystem. Most answers associated ‘restinga’ to vegetation. Knowledge on local flora is affected by the increased amount of migrants and the rapid urbanization in the district during the last 30 years.     

Conjugate analysis of multivariate normal data with incomplete observations

The authors discuss prior distributions that are conjugate to the multivariate normal likelihood when some of the observations are incomplete. They present a general class of priors for incorporating information about unidentified parameters in the covariance matrix. They analyze the special case of monotone patterns of missing data, providing an explicit recursive form for the posterior distribution resulting from a conjugate prior distribution. They develop an importance sampling and a Gibbs sampling approach to sample from a general posterior distribution and compare the two methods.     

Marketing Archetypes: Applying Jungian Psychology to Marketing Research

In the current situation of growing information overload, individuals are gradually becoming less sensitive to traditional marketing communications. For this reason, traditional marketing research models are no longer capable of giving useful insights to management. This calls for new approaches that can grasp the inner meaning of consumer behaviors and evaluate their relevance. To this end, a new multidisciplinary approach is needed to interpret complex behavioral patterns so as to gain deeper and more effective insights into customers and to understand their behavioral patterns. In this paper, following a short introduction to the basic concepts of Jung's analytical psychology and their relevance for marketing, we propose the use of the Jungian archetypes to implement a market research model, considering the case of an Italian research company's development of the Archetipus® model.