Analyzing the EU Refugee Crisis: Humanity, Heritage and Responsibility to Protect

2015 has shaken the EU to its core. Hard upon the heels of geopolitical upheavals in Ukraine, as well as internal battles to define both Eurozone and energy governance, the refugee crisis has prompted a sober reckoning of the EU’s competence and its humanity. With an increasing number of articles and Special Issues in Politics and Governance focusing upon key aspects of the EU as both a political actor, and a source of governance, our autumn 2015 editorial looks briefly at the significance of the refugee crisis in the context of the EU’s current response and future options

Open Access Publishing

The rise of open source online journals, free online courses, and other changes in the research and education environment, coined the "academic spring" by some commentators, represents an increasing trend in opening up the rules of access for research. Universities, libraries, publishers and even govern­ments are paying attention to this new movement often referred to with the acronym A2K (access to knowledge)

Open Access Publishing

The rise of open source online journals, free online courses, and other changes in the research and education environment, coined the "academic spring" by some commentators, represents an increasing trend in opening up the rules of access for research. Universities, libraries, publishers and even governments are paying attention to this new movement often referred to with the acronym A2K (access to knowledge)

C-reactive protein, Epstein-Barr virus, and cortisol trajectories in refugee and non-refugee youth: Links with stress, mental health, and cognitive function during a randomized controlled trial.

Experiencing childhood adversity has been associated with significant changes in inflammation, cell-mediated immunocompetence, and cortisol secretion. Relatively few studies have examined, longitudinally, alterations to inflammatory processes during adolescence, especially outside Western contexts; none have evaluated biomarker trajectories for at-risk youth in response to a structured behavioral intervention. We conducted a randomized controlled trial evaluating the efficacy of a humanitarian intervention targeting stress-alleviation, with 12-18 year-old Syrian refugees (n = 446) and Jordanian non-refugees (n = 371) living side-by-side in war-affected communities in Jordan. We measured C-reactive protein (CRP), Epstein-Barr virus antibodies (EBV), and hair cortisol concentration (HCC) at three timepoints (pre/post intervention and 11 month follow-up), and assessed three main outcomes (psychosocial stress, mental health, and cognitive function). Using growth mixture models, regressions, and growth curve models, we identified three distinct trajectories for CRP, two for EBV, and three for HCC, and examined their associations with age, gender, BMI, poverty, and trauma. We found associations with BMI for CRP, refugee status for EBV, and BMI and gender with HCC trajectory. In terms of health outcomes, we found associations between rising CRP levels and perceived stress (B =  -2.92, p = .007), and between HCC hypersecretion and insecurity (B = 7.21, p = .017). In terms of responses to the intervention, we observed no differential impacts by CRP or EBV trajectories, unlike HCC. These results suggest that commonly-assayed biomarkers do not associate with health outcomes and respond to targeted interventions in straightforward ways. Our study is the first to examine multiple biomarker trajectories in war-affected adolescents, in order to better evaluate the extent, timing, and malleability of the biological signatures of poverty, conflict, and forced displacement

Erratum to: 36th International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13054-016-1208-6.]