Palestinian Refugee Camps: from Shelter to Habitat

Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA and their housing conditions are officially characterized by a “ temporary status” , a situation which has lasted the past sixty years. This article explores this time-paradox by focusing on the host governments’ and UNRWA’s policies affecting the refugees’ housing conditions. After having reviewed available literature, this contribution analyses the current housing situation. Drawing on data from a recent survey, the authors provide insights on areas where intervention is needed. In all UNRWA’s fields of operation, overcrowding, lack of public spaces, humidity and structural defects are the main sources of housing discomfort that camp refugees endure. Host countries’ restrictions as well as the incapacity or unwillingness of larger urban municipalities to incorporate refugee camps in their master plans are among the main obstacles to the refugees’ housing development. Rehabilitation and self-help re-housing programs may offer substantial incentives for housing improvement. The success of such programs depends, among several factors, on the host governments’ good will to provide UNRWA with authorizations, financial support, and land, as well as on the capacity of involving the refugee communities in projects’ planning and implementation.

Sensitive and rapid detection of ganciclovir resistance by PCR based MALDI-TOF analysis

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is associated with significant morbidity and mortality in transplant recipients. Resistance against ganciclovir is increasingly observed. According to current guidelines, direct drug resistance testing is not always performed due to high costs and work effort, even when resistance is suspected.

Inbreeding and selection on sex ratio in the bark beetle Xylosandrus germanus

Background Local Mate Competition (LMC) theory predicts a female should produce a more female-biased sex ratio if her sons compete with each other for mates. Because it provides quantitative predictions that can be experimentally tested, LMC is a textbook example of the predictive power of evolutionary theory. A limitation of many earlier studies in the field is that the population structure and mating system of the studied species are often estimated only indirectly. Here we use microsatellites to characterize the levels of inbreeding of the bark beetle Xylosandrus germanus, a species where the level of LMC is expected to be high. Results For three populations studied, genetic variation for our genetic markers was very low, indicative of an extremely high level of inbreeding (FIS = 0.88). There was also strong linkage disequilibrium between microsatellite loci and a very strong genetic differentiation between populations. The data suggest that matings among non-siblings are very rare (3%), although sex ratios from X. germanus in both the field and the laboratory have suggested more matings between non-sibs, and so less intense LMC. Conclusions Our results confirm that caution is needed when inferring mating systems from sex ratio data, especially when a lack of biological detail means the use of overly simple forms of the model of interest.