'This Is Real Misery': Experiences of Women Denied Legal Abortion in Tunisia.

Barriers to accessing legal abortion services in Tunisia are increasing, despite a liberal abortion law, and women are often denied wanted legal abortion services. In this paper, we seek to explore the reasons for abortion denial and whether these reasons had a legal or medical basis. We also identify barriers women faced in accessing abortion and make recommendations for improved access to quality abortion care. We recruited women immediately after they had been turned away from legal abortion services at two facilities in Tunis, Tunisia. Thirteen women consented to participate in qualitative interviews two months after they were turned away from the facility. Women were denied abortion care on the day they were recruited due to three main reasons: gestational age, health conditions, and logistical barriers. Nine women ultimately terminated their pregnancies at another facility, and four women carried to term. None of the women attempted illegal abortion services or self-induction. Further research is needed in order to assess abortion denial from the perspective of providers and medical staff

Social Media: Children’s Lawyer’s Friend and Foe

(Excerpt) Social media is taking over the globe. The Pew Research Internet Project states that in the United States, 95 percent of 12- to 17-year-old children are online. Teenagers are also sharing more and more information online: 91 percent of teenagers post a photo of themselves, 92 percent post their real name, and 71 percent post the city or town where they live. “Teens Fact Sheet,” Pew Res. Internet Project (Sept. 2012). This information, in the wrong hands, can be harmful to a child. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule, designed to safeguard children’s information and access online, is a start, but it defines a child as someone under age 13, thus excluding the majority of underage Internet users: kids ages 13–18. As attorneys for children, therefore, it is important that we talk to our clients about the use—and misuse—of social media. Children need to be aware that what they share on social media is never completely private and can be used against them, or against people they care about. One New York attorney notes that her office always advises kids to take down their social media sites completely once a case has begun, especially where the parties in the case are known to each other, but kids seldom comply (or they report they have complied when they haven’t). This is because the draw of social media, especially on teens, is extremely powerful. The key point for attorneys to remember about electronic communication is that privacy is never guaranteed. As the child’s lawyer, you will want to protect your client’s electronic privacy, while exploiting gaps in the electronic privacy of others

Perspectives on self-managed abortion among providers in hospitals along the Texas– Mexico border

Background Following self-managed abortion (SMA), or a pregnancy termination attempt outside of the formal health system, some patients may seek care in an emergency department. Information about provider experiences treating these patients in hospital settings on the Texas-Mexico border is lacking. Methods The study team conducted semi-structured interviews with physicians, advanced practice clinicians, and nurses who had experience with patients presenting with early pregnancy complications in emergency and/or labor and delivery departments in five hospitals near the Texas-Mexico border. Interview questions focused on respondents’ roles at the hospital, knowledge of abortion services and laws, perspectives on SMA trends, experiences treating patients presenting after SMA, and potential gaps in training related to abortion. Researchers conducted interviews in person between October 2017 and January 2018, and analyzed transcripts using a thematic analysis approach. Results Most of the 54 participants interviewed said that the care provided to SMA patients was, and should be, the same as for patients presenting after miscarriage. The majority had treated a patient they suspected or confirmed had attempted SMA; typically, these cases required only expectant management and confirmation of pregnancy termination, or treatment for incomplete abortion. In rare cases, further clinical intervention was required. Many providers lacked clinical and legal knowledge about abortion, including local resources available. Conclusions Treatment provided to SMA patients is similar to that provided to patients presenting after early pregnancy loss. Lack of provider knowledge about abortion and SMA, despite their involvement with SMA patients, highlights a need for improved training

NEURAL CORRELATES OF AUDIOVISUAL SPEECH PERCEPTION IN APHASIA AND HEALTHY AGING

Understanding speech in face-to-face conversation utilizes the integration of multiple pieces of information, most importantly the auditory vocal sounds and visual lip movements. Prior studies of the neural underpinnings of audiovisual integration in the brain have provided converging evidence to suggest that neurons within the left superior temporal sulcus (STS) provide a critical neural hub for the integration of auditory and visual information in speech. While most studies of audiovisual processing focus on neural mechanisms within healthy, young adults, we currently know very little about how changes to the brain can affect audiovisual integration in speech. To examine this further, two particular cases of changing neural structure were investigated. I first conducted a case study with patient SJ, who suffered damage from a stroke that injured a large portion of her left tempo-parietal area, including the left STS. I tested SJ five years after her stroke with behavioral testing and determined that she is able to integrate auditory and visual information in speech. In order to understand the neural basis of SJ’s intact multisensory integration abilities, I examined her and 23 age-matched controls with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). SJ had a greater volume of multisensory cortex as well as greater response amplitude in her right STS in response to an audiovisual speech illusion than the age-matched controls. This evidence suggests that SJ’s brain reorganized after her stroke such that the right STS now supports the functions of the stroke damaged left-sided cortex. Because changes to the brain occur even with healthy aging, I next examined the neural response to audiovisual speech in healthy older adults. Many behavioral studies have noted that older adults show not only performance declines during various sensory and cognitive tasks, but also greater variability in performance. I sought to determine if there is a neural counterpart to this increased behavioral variability. I found that older adults exhibited greater intrasubject variability in their neural responses across trials compared to younger adults. This was true in individual regions-of-interest in the multisensory speech perception network and across all brain voxels that responded to speech stimuli. This increase in variability may underlie a decreased ability of the brain to distinguish between similar stimuli (such as the categorical boundaries of speech perception), which could link these findings to declines in speech perception in aging

Behavioral, perceptual, and neural alterations in sensory and multisensory function in autism spectrum disorder.

Although sensory processing challenges have been noted since the first clinical descriptions of autism, it has taken until the release of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) in 2013 for sensory problems to be included as part of the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the diagnostic profile. Because sensory information forms the building blocks for higher-order social and cognitive functions, we argue that sensory processing is not only an additional piece of the puzzle, but rather a critical cornerstone for characterizing and understanding ASD. In this review we discuss what is currently known about sensory processing in ASD, how sensory function fits within contemporary models of ASD, and what is understood about the differences in the underlying neural processing of sensory and social communication observed between individuals with and without ASD. In addition to highlighting the sensory features associated with ASD, we also emphasize the importance of multisensory processing in building perceptual and cognitive representations, and how deficits in multisensory integration may also be a core characteristic of ASD

Exploring Experiences Responding to the Individual Level Abortion Stigma Scale: Methodological Considerations From In-depth Interviews

Background: The Individual-Level Abortion Stigma (ILAS) scale is a tool to measure multiple dimensions of stigma among people who have abortions. Despite use of the scale globally, little is known about participant experiences completing the scale. We assessed reactions to and experiences with the scale among women who obtained abortions in Mexico, exploring how the items made them feel about themselves and their abortion.Methods: We conducted 10 in-depth interviews with women approximately 6 months after their abortion. We explored experiences answering the ILAS overall as well as each sub-scale (self-judgement; worries about judgement; isolation; community condemnation). We used thematic analysis to examine overall experiences with the ILAS and framework analysis to summarize responses by sub-scale.Results: Many respondents reported positive experiences responding to the scale or said it served a therapeutic purpose. Other participants said the scale caused strong or mixed emotions or generated doubts. Women generally described mixed and negative reactions to the “worries about judgement” and “community condemnation” sub-scales, and more neutral or positive reactions to the “isolation” and “self judgement” sub-scales. Nearly all respondents hypothesized that completing the ILAS at the time of their abortion would be more difficult than responding months after their abortion.Conclusions: People can experience both positive and negative effects when responding to abortion stigma scales. Use of the scales may cause discomfort and introduce concepts that further perpetuate stigma. This study highlights the importance of carefully considering when it is appropriate to implement the scale and exploring safeguards for participants

Augsburger Volkskundliche Nachrichten: 01/2022

Vorwort 5 Aufsätze Facetten des Todes Über den (un-)sichtbaren Wandel der Bestattungs- und Friedhofskultur Marlene Lippok und Sarah Baum 6 Sterben und Tod als Unterrichtsthema in der Grundschule Lara Fausel 53 TRAUE(R)N: Zwischen privatem Empfinden und öffentlicher Rezeption Mein Besuch in der Kunsthalle Hamburg Hannah Rabea Wagner 81 First Steps Gedenken am Straßenrand Geschichte, Gestaltung und Funktion von Unfallkreuzen Anne-Sophie Liehr 100 Ghostbikes – zwischen Mahnmal und politischem Desiderat Jasmin Rother 115 Berichte Der protestantische Friedhof in Augsburg Vom Wert des Friedhofs Johanna Warmuth und Kim Schmidt-Bilkenroth 138 Den Tod aus verschiedenen Blickwinkeln betrachten lernen Mein Besuch der Transmortale XI Johanna Herschlein 14

Effect of advertising for a state-based health insurance marketplace on information-seeking behavior

Introduction • Kentucky was an early success stories under the Affordable Care Act through its statebased marketplace, known as kynect • The state sponsored an award-winning multimedia campaign to create awareness and educate its residents about the opportunity to gain coverage • In 2015, the new administration failed to renew a contract that resulted in the cancellation of television advertising for the final four weeks of the 2016 open enrollment period • We leverage this change to identify whether a dose-response relationship exists between state-sponsored television advertising and information seeking about health insurance Methods • Advertising data from 10 media markets across Kentucky was obtained for October 2013 through January 2016 from Kantar Media/CMAG through a partnership with the Wesleyan Media Project • State-level information-seeking was derived from reports made by the Office of the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services obtained via public records request • Policy variable – state-level population-weighted average count of kynect ads per week • Outcomes – 1) calls to the kynect call center, 2) page views (number of individual pages viewed), 3) visits (including repeats from the same IP address), 4) unique visitors (excluding repeats) for the kynect web site • Linear regression models used to describe how changes in kynect advertising volume affected these outcomes, adjusting for other advertising (healthcare.gov, insurers, insurance agencies, nonprofits, and other state governments), open enrollment periods, and other relevant time periods (e.g., week of Thanksgiving, week of Christmas, etc.) Results • Advertising for kynect fell from an average of 58.8 and 52.3 ads per week during the 2014 and 2015 open enrollment periods, respectively, to 19.4 during the first nine weeks of the 2016 open enrollment period and none during the last four weeks • Each additional kynect ad per week during open enrollment was associated with – 7,973 additional page views for kynect website – 390 additional visits for kynect website – 388 additional unique visitors for kynect website • Advertising was not significantly associated with calls to the kynect call center Conclusions • State-sponsored television advertising was a key driver of information-seeking behavior in Kentucky during the 2014-2016 open enrollment periods • Our findings add to previous evidence indicating that government-sponsored media campaigns are associated with increased enrollment for health insurance exchanges • Reductions in public outreach efforts could have negative effects on the individual market if consumers are uncertain about the continued availability of coverage and so-called “healthy procrastinators” fail to enroll as a result, contributing to lower enrollment and potentially a worse risk pool for insurers Implications • Misconceptions about eligibility and deadlines for enrollment in health insurance coverage are barriers to having all eligible individuals covered • Given the uncertain future of the ACA and the individual non-group market for health insurance in the United States, our findings indicate that state-sponsored media campaigns can be an effective strategy for encouraging information-seeking behavio