Better Policing for the City of Buffalo: Toward Community, Transparency, and Justice

This policy brief was drafted by Andrea Ó Súilleabháin, Deputy Director at Partnership for the Public Good. It recommends that the Buffalo Police Department expand its community policing efforts through culture change and incentives, a diversified police force, increased training, improved transparency and oversight, more restorative justice and diversion programs, and the use of crime prevention through environmental design. The brief is based on “Collaboration, Communication, and CommunityBuilding: A New Model of Policing for 21st Century Buffalo,” a 2016 PPG report prepared by Sam Magavern, Steve Peraza, Kerry Battenfield, Caryn Blair, Erin Carman, Stephen Hart, Tina Meyers, and Sarah Wooton. It also draws on Open Buffalo’s Community Policing Survey data, collected from 2,018 residents of Buffalo in spring 2016. The research and strategies it sets out inform PPG’s work with Open Buffalo’s Justice and Opportunity Coalition. This table of community groups and individuals seeks an improved relationship between police and community, based on respect, trust, confidence, oversight, and mutual benefit

Cruelty and Cost: Money Bail in Buffalo

It presents new data on bail in Buffalo, including frequency of money bail, average amounts by level and type of offense, and racial disparities. This dataset is based on PPG\u27s observation of 240 arraignment hearings from November 2017 to February 2018

Idiopathic Proximal Hemimegacolon in an Adult Woman

Idiopathic proximal hemimegacolon is a disorder characterized by bowel dilatation proximal to the splenic flexure. It is a very rare and therefore a poorly understood clinical entity. This report describes a case of idiopathic proximal hemimegacolon in a 44-year-old woman. The patient suffered from 2 episodes of constipation and bowel dilatation over 4 years and was successfully treated by medical therapy

It Takes a Village: UN Peace Operations and Social Networks in Post-conflict Environments

Why civil society organizations (CSOs) so often are unable to make a difference during the transition process to peace despite the widespread recognition of their potential role in fostering peace? I argue that the involvement and contributions of local civil society organizations and women’s organizations (WOs) in post-conflict peacebuilding should be understood in terms of social networks and connections that emerge in the peacebuilding process. Both linking and bridging social capital shape social interactions essential for successful post-conflict reconstruction. Yet, external actors often implement policies that strengthen hierarchical networks at the expense of horizontal networks; thus, undermining the creation of bridging social capital. To explore the types of networks that emerge in post-conflict reconstruction I use semi-structured interviews conducted in Liberia. The evidence suggests that emerging horizontal networks are more robust in areas where local communities and women have a tradition of organizing. However, these networks remain fairly unstable. The assistance is mostly channeled centrally strengthening hierarchical ties and leading to distortions in the distribution of resources. This type of external intervention has negative implications and hinders bridging social networks even when these networks are present

Communicating with children in court: a useful guide in child protection

If it is stressful for adults to attend court, it is doubly so for children and young people. Courts can be intimidating places and child protection cases are highly-sensitive and emotive. It can be hard to understand the language used by professionals; tensions can be high; there is a lot at stake; the physical design of court buildings can be intimidating; and professionalsâ roles can be unclear to children and parents. Professionals working in criminal and family courts often say that they feel ill-prepared to communicate with children and young people. This tool provides practical suggestions and guidance to support your practice in communicating with children in court

Online Continuing Professional Development: An integrative approach

[EN] This paper reports on the design, development, delivery and evaluation of an online continuing professional development (CPD) course in the area of online teaching by three Irish Higher Education Institutes (HEIs). The course was developed in the context of a nationally coordinated effort to promote CPD of those that teach in Higher Education through digital badges. Survey results suggest a very high overall satisfaction rate with the course as a whole, increased levels of knowledge and confidence in relation to teaching online, and also intended transference to practice. While the external motivator of demonstrating engagement through the digital badge arose in the surveys and focus groups, it did not feature particularly strongly. Implications for CPD are discussed in relation to internal and external drivers and motivations around CPD for higher education teachers, and the need for opportunities for participants to interact and engage in the manner reminiscent of a community of practice approach.Risquez, A.; Cassidy, D.; Ó Súilleabháin, G.; Garvey, R.; Spain, S. (2019). Online Continuing Professional Development: An integrative approach. En HEAD'19. 5th International Conference on Higher Education Advances. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 641-648. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD19.2019.9423OCS64164

Promoting Positive Masculinities to Address Violence Against Women: A Multicountry Concept Mapping Study

Interventions engaging men that challenge unequal gender norms have been shown to be effective in reducing violence against women (VAW). However, few studies have explored how to promote anti-VAW positive masculinity in young adults. This study aims to identify key multicountry strategies, as conceived by young adults and other stakeholders, for promoting positive masculinities to improve gender equity and prevent and target VAW. This study (2019–2021) involved young adults (aged 18–24 years) and stakeholders from Ireland, Israel, Spain, and Sweden. We applied concept mapping, a participatory mixed-method approach, in phases: (1) brainstorming, using semi-structured interviews with young adults (n = 105) and stakeholders (n = 60), plus focus group discussions (n = 88), to collect ideas for promoting anti-VAW positive masculinity; (2) development of an online questionnaire for sorting (n = 201) and rating ideas emerging from brainstorming by importance (n = 406) and applicability (n = 360); (3) based on sorting and rating data, creating rating maps for importance and applicability and clusters/strategies using multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis with groupwisdom™ software; and (4) interpretation of results with multicountry stakeholders to reach agreement. The cluster map identified seven key strategies (41 actions) for promoting anti-VAW positive masculinities ranked from highest to lowest: Formal and informal education and training; Preventive education and activities in different settings/areas; Skills and knowledge; Empathy, reflection, and understanding; Media and public efforts; Policy, legislation, and the criminal justice system; and Organizational actions and interventions. Pattern matches indicated high agreement between young people and stakeholders in ranking importance (r = 0.96), but low agreement for applicability (r = 0.60). Agreement in the total sample on prioritizing statements by importance and applicability was also low (r = 0.20); only 14 actions were prioritized as both important and applicable. Young people and stakeholders suggested seven comprehensive, multidimensional, multi-setting strategies to facilitate promoting positive masculinity to reduce VAW. Discrepancy between importance and applicability might indicate policy and implementation obstacles.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article: This work was part of a multisite study supported by GENDER NET Plus CoFund (reference number 2018-00968). It was funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain (Ref. PCI2019-103580), the Swedish Research Council (Grant number: 2018-00968), the Irish Research Council, and the Ministry of Science & Technology of Israel (315662)

Prevenir los conflictos transformar la justicia garantizar la paz

La Entidad de las Naciones Unidas para la Igualdad de Género y el Empoderamiento de las Mujeres (ONU Mujeres), en coordinación con los Gobiernos de El Salvador y Suecia, lanzaron a nivel regional el estudio mundial “Prevenir los conflictos, transformar la justicia, garantizar la paz”, informe sobre la aplicación de la Resolución 1325, que pone en relevancia la participación de las mujeres en la prevención, gestión y solución de conflictos. Según el informe, las mujeres y las niñas se convierten en la población más afectada, ya que se ven expuestas a experimentar violencia sexual y de género. En el año 2000 el Consejo de Seguridad de las Naciones Unidas elaboró la resolución 1325 donde destaca la participación de las mujeres, como garantes de la igualdad, en la prevención y solución de conflictos, la consolidación y el mantenimiento de la paz y la seguridad de los países. El estudio mundial fortalece y reconoce el poder de la intervención de las mujeres en la construcción de la paz, asimismo, demuestra que la inclusión de las mujeres mejora la eficacia en la asistencia humanitaria, fortalece los esfuerzos en la consolidación de la paz y la recuperación económica de los países. Con este lanzamiento, ONU Mujeres promueve la implementación de esta resolución en los países del istmo, con énfasis en los del Triángulo Norte. Por su parte, los gobiernos de El Salvador y Suecia muestran su compromiso, este último como socio estratégico, a fin de fortalecer los esfuerzos para garantizar la paz y la seguridad, sobre todo para las mujeres y niñas, quienes son las principales víctimas en estos contextos

Academic freedom: in justification of a universal ideal

This paper examines the justification for, and benefits of, academic freedom to academics, students, universities and the world at large. The paper surveys the development of the concept of academic freedom within Europe, more especially the impact of the reforms at the University of Berlin instigated by Wilhelm von Humboldt. Following from this, the paper examines the reasons why the various facets of academic freedom are important and why the principle should continue to be supported

Sarcopenia and post-operative morbidity and mortality in patients with gastric cancer

Purpose: Surgical resection for gastric adenocarcinoma is associated with significant post-operative morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic significance of sarcopenia in patients undergoing resection for gastric adenocarcinoma with respect to post-operative morbidity and survival. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on a cohort of consecutive patients who underwent surgical resection for gastric adenocarcinoma between 2008 and 2014. Patient demographics, radiological parameters, and pathological data were collected. OsiriX software (Pixmeo) was used to measure skeletal muscle area, which was normalized for height to calculate skeletal muscle index. Results: A total of 56 patients (41 male, 15 female; mean age, 68.4 ± 11.9 years) met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 36% (20 of 56) of the patients were sarcopenic pre-operatively. Both sarcopenic and non-sarcopenic patient groups were equally matched with the exception of weight and body mass index (P=0.036 and 0.001, respectively). Sarcopenia was associated with a decreased overall survival (log-rank P=0.003) and was an adverse prognostic predictor of overall survival in multivariate analysis (hazard ratio, 10.915; P=0.001). Sarcopenia was a predictor of serious in-hospital complications in multivariate analysis (odds ratio, 3.508; P=0.042). Conclusions: In patients undergoing curative resection for gastric cancer, there was a statistically significant association between sarcopenia and both decreased overall survival and serious post-operative complications. The measurement and reporting of skeletal muscle index on pre-operative computed tomography should be considered