Restorative Justice As One of the Methods of Disengagement from Terrorism in Indonesia

This paper explains about disengagement by using the concept of restorative justice to ex- convicts of terrorism and their networks in Indonesia. Restorative justice is carried out by voluntarily bringing together the terrorist bombing victims with ex-convicted terrorism cases and their networks in Indonesia. Focus group discussions are used in carrying out restorative justice thus ex-convicts of terrorism and their networks can be more open in issuing opinions. The findings in this study are the sincerity of terrorist bombing victims who have forgiven the ex-convicts of terrorism, even before the meeting, have made the ex-convicts of terrorism feel touched, cried and apologized for the actions of their friends and what they themselves have done. In addition, restorative justice is not effective if it is carried out against former terrorism inmates from Poso, Central Sulawesi. Restorative justice can be one of the methods of disengagement for ex-convicted terrorists and their networks which will be effective in the future. Building a good relationship with former terrorism inmates and their networks need to be done before the implementation of restorative justice. Keywords: Disengagement, Indonesia, Restorative Justice, Terroris

Human Enteroviruses isolated during acute flaccid paralysis surveillance in Ghana: implications for the post eradication era

Introduction: Surveillance of acute flaccid surveillance (AFP) has been used world-wide to monitor the control and eradication of circulating wildpolioviruses. The Polio Laboratory since its accreditation in 1996 has supported the Disease Surveillance Department for AFP surveillance. Thisstudy aims to isolate and characterize human enteroviruses from patients with AFP in Ghana. Method: Stool suspension was prepared from 308samples received in 2009 from the surveillance activities throughout the country and inoculated on both RD and L20B cell lines. Isolates thatshowed growth on L20B were selected for real-time RT-PCR using degenerate and non-degenerate primers and probes. RD isolates were however characterized by microneutralisation technique with antisera pools from RIVM, The Netherlands and viruses that were untypable subjected toneutralization assay using antibodies specific for E71. Results: Of the 308 samples processed, 17 (5.5%) grew on both L20B and RD cells while 32(10.4%) grew on RD only. All 28 isolates from L20B were characterized by rRT-PCR as Sabin-like polioviruses. No wild poliovirus or VDPV wasfound. However from the microneutralisation assay, six different enteroviruses were characterized. Among these, Coxsackie B viruses were most predominant followed by Echovirus. Three children from whom non-polio enteroviruses were isolated had residual paralysis while one child with VAPP found. The non-polio enteroviruses circulated throughout the country with the majority (20.7%) from Ashanti region. Conclusion: Thisstudy showed the absence of wild or vaccine-derived poliovirus circulation in the country. However, the detection of three non-polio enterovirusesand one Sabin-like poliovirus with residual paralysis call for continuous surveillance even in the post polio eradication era

miR-132/212 knockout mice reveal roles for these miRNAs in regulating cortical synaptic transmission and plasticity

miR-132 and miR-212 are two closely related miRNAs encoded in the same intron of a small non-coding gene, which have been suggested to play roles in both immune and neuronal function. We describe here the generation and initial characterisation of a miR-132/212 double knockout mouse. These mice were viable and fertile with no overt adverse phenotype. Analysis of innate immune responses, including TLR-induced cytokine production and IFNβ induction in response to viral infection of primary fibroblasts did not reveal any phenotype in the knockouts. In contrast, the loss of miR-132 and miR-212, while not overtly affecting neuronal morphology, did affect synaptic function. In both hippocampal and neocortical slices miR-132/212 knockout reduced basal synaptic transmission, without affecting paired-pulse facilitation. Hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) induced by tetanic stimulation was not affected by miR-132/212 deletion, whilst theta burst LTP was enhanced. In contrast, neocortical theta burst-induced LTP was inhibited by loss of miR-132/212. Together these results indicate that miR-132 and/or miR-212 play a significant role in synaptic function, possibly by regulating the number of postsynaptic AMPA receptors under basal conditions and during activity-dependent synaptic plasticity

Barriers to initiation of antiretroviral treatment in rural and urban areas of Zambia: a cross-sectional study of cost, stigma, and perceptions about ART

BACKGROUND: While the number of HIV-positive patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in resource-limited settings has increased dramatically, some patients eligible for treatment do not initiate ART even when it is available to them. Understanding why patients opt out of care, or are unable to opt in, is important to achieving the goal of universal access. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 400 patients on ART (those who were able to access care) and 400 patients accessing home-based care (HBC), but who had not initiated ART (either they were not able to, or chose not to, access care) in two rural and two urban sites in Zambia to identify barriers to and facilitators of ART uptake. RESULTS: HBC patients were 50% more likely to report that it would be very difficult to get to the ART clinic than those on ART (RR: 1.48; 95% CI: 1.21-1.82). Stigma was common in all areas, with 54% of HBC patients, but only 15% of ART patients, being afraid to go to the clinic (RR: 3.61; 95% CI: 3.12-4.18). Cost barriers differed by location: urban HBC patients were three times more likely to report needing to pay to travel to the clinic than those on ART (RR: 2.84; 95% CI: 2.02-3.98) and 10 times more likely to believe they would need to pay a fee at the clinic (RR: 9.50; 95% CI: 2.24-40.3). In rural areas, HBC subjects were more likely to report needing to pay non-transport costs to attend the clinic than those on ART (RR: 4.52; 95% CI: 1.91-10.7). HBC patients were twice as likely as ART patients to report not having enough food to take ART being a concern (27% vs. 13%, RR: 2.03; 95% CI: 1.71-2.41), regardless of location and gender. CONCLUSIONS: Patients in home-based care for HIV/AIDS who never initiated ART perceived greater financial and logistical barriers to seeking HIV care and had more negative perceptions about the benefits of the treatment. Future efforts to expand access to antiretroviral care should consider ways to reduce these barriers in order to encourage more of those medically eligible for antiretrovirals to initiate care

Landscape of international event-based biosurveillance

Event-based biosurveillance is a scientific discipline in which diverse sources of data, many of which are available from the Internet, are characterized prospectively to provide information on infectious disease events. Biosurveillance complements traditional public health surveillance to provide both early warning of infectious disease events and situational awareness. The Global Health Security Action Group of the Global Health Security Initiative is developing a biosurveillance capability that integrates and leverages component systems from member nations. This work discusses these biosurveillance systems and identifies needed future studies

The not-so-barren ranges

© Thesis Eleven Pty, Ltd., SAGE Publications. This is an impressionistic and informal essay written near the end of a novelist's Australia Research Council funded research project: 'Developing narratives from language and stories indigenous to the south coast of Western Australia', and informed by how that research project morphed into an emphasis on revitalization of Noongar language, and the attempt to restore connections between a particular Creation Story and landscape in an area regarded as 'massacre territory'. A sympathetic reader might think of the topic as 'The Wirlomin Noongar Language and Stories Project meets The Barren Ranges'

The conserved C-terminus of the PcrA/UvrD helicase interacts directly with RNA polymerase

Copyright: © 2013 Gwynn et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Funding: This work was supported by a Wellcome Trust project grant to MD (Reference: 077368), an ERC starting grant to MD (Acronym: SM-DNA-REPAIR) and a BBSRC project grant to PM, NS and MD (Reference: BB/I003142/1). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Randomised trial of glutamine and selenium supplemented parenteral nutrition for critically ill patients

Background: Mortality rates in the Intensive Care Unit and subsequent hospital mortality rates in the UK remain high. Infections in Intensive Care are associated with a 2–3 times increased risk of death. It is thought that under conditions of severe metabolic stress glutamine becomes "conditionally essential". Selenium is an essential trace element that has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Approximately 23% of patients in Intensive Care require parenteral nutrition and glutamine and selenium are either absent or present in low amounts. Both glutamine and selenium have the potential to influence the immune system through independent biochemical pathways. Systematic reviews suggest that supplementing parenteral nutrition in critical illness with glutamine or selenium may reduce infections and mortality. Pilot data has shown that more than 50% of participants developed infections, typically resistant organisms. We are powered to show definitively whether supplementation of PN with either glutamine or selenium is effective at reducing new infections in critically ill patients. Methods/design: 2 × 2 factorial, pragmatic, multicentre, double-blind, randomised controlled trial. The trial has an enrolment target of 500 patients. Inclusion criteria include: expected to be in critical care for at least 48 hours, aged 16 years or over, patients who require parenteral nutrition and are expected to have at least half their daily nutritional requirements given by that route. Allocation is to one of four iso-caloric, iso-nitrogenous groups: glutamine, selenium, both glutamine & selenium or no additional glutamine or selenium. Trial supplementation is given for up to seven days on the Intensive Care Unit and subsequent wards if practicable. The primary outcomes are episodes of infection in the 14 days after starting trial nutrition and mortality. Secondary outcomes include antibiotic usage, length of hospital stay, quality of life and cost-effectiveness. Discussion: To date more than 285 patients have been recruited to the trial from 10 sites in Scotland. Recruitment is due to finish in August 2008 with a further six months follow up. We expect to report the results of the trial in summer 2009. Trial registration: This trial is registered with the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number system. ISRCTN87144826Not peer reviewedPublisher PD

HIV Prevention in Care and Treatment Settings: Baseline Risk Behaviors among HIV Patients in Kenya, Namibia, and Tanzania.

HIV care and treatment settings provide an opportunity to reach people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) with prevention messages and services. Population-based surveys in sub-Saharan Africa have identified HIV risk behaviors among PLHIV, yet data are limited regarding HIV risk behaviors of PLHIV in clinical care. This paper describes the baseline sociodemographic, HIV transmission risk behaviors, and clinical data of a study evaluating an HIV prevention intervention package for HIV care and treatment clinics in Africa. The study was a longitudinal group-randomized trial in 9 intervention clinics and 9 comparison clinics in Kenya, Namibia, and Tanzania (N = 3538). Baseline participants were mostly female, married, had less than a primary education, and were relatively recently diagnosed with HIV. Fifty-two percent of participants had a partner of negative or unknown status, 24% were not using condoms consistently, and 11% reported STI symptoms in the last 6 months. There were differences in demographic and HIV transmission risk variables by country, indicating the need to consider local context in designing studies and using caution when generalizing findings across African countries. Baseline data from this study indicate that participants were often engaging in HIV transmission risk behaviors, which supports the need for prevention with PLHIV (PwP). TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01256463