The significance of child friendly spaces in promoting the well-being of asylum seeking children:case study at Heikinharju Reception Centre, Finland

Abstract. This study took place at the Heikinharju Reception Centre in Oulu, Finland, between 2015 and 2018. The main goal of the study was to assess the significance of Child Friendly Spaces (CFSs) and their contribution to the well-being of asylum seeking families, especially to that of the children. The data was collected in a period of two years through observation and active participation in weekly gatherings with the children and their guardians as well as through other qualitative data collection methods (e.g., field notes, interviews, and focus group discussions) that took place mainly between October 2016 and May 2017. The following research questions have been used to achieve the aims of this master’s thesis project: 1. How significant are CFS practices in promoting well-being and psychological support for children and their families? a) What are the conditions to increase safety? b) What are the conditions to increase well-being and happiness? 2. How could CFSs be developed and progressed to better serve their goals? Based on the research questions, an Ethnographic case study that was supported by an interpretive ontology and a social constructivist epistemology were used to elicit an in-depth picture of the phenomena explored. Despite the fact that data analysis process took place throughout the research, after completing the data collection phase, the researcher gathered the entire data for a final systematic data analysis. The findings affirm a significantly positive relationship between the CFSs and children’s and families’ well-being. Moreover, data analysis revealed that despite the different perspectives in defining safety, safety still remains vitally important for increasing the well-being and happiness of children. Several recommendations have been made by the researcher to further the development of CFSs. Providing a larger space for the activities and increasing the frequency of the sessions were the first ones that came forward. Additionally, implementing different methods to increase the interactions between asylum seeking children and the local (Finnish) children has been strongly solicited. Finally, introducing Finnish culture through outdoor activities as well as more cultural activities to the children of the CFS has been suggested as a means of increasing the positive impacts of CFS on the asylum seeking children’s and families’ psychosocial development

Transient sex-related changes in the mice hypothalamo–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis during the acute phase of the inflammatory process

The potential role of endogenous sex hormones in regulating hypothalamo–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis function was investigated after a single injection of endotoxin in adult (8 week old) BALB/c mice of both sexes. The effect of LPS on plasma ACTH, corticosterone (B), testosterone and oestradiol (E) levels and on anterior pituitary (AP) ACTH and adrenal B contents at different times after treatment was studied. The results indicate that: (a) basal B but not ACTH plasma levels were significantly higher in female than in male mice; (b) LPS significantly increased both ACTH and B plasma levels over the baseline 2 h after injection, both hormone levels being higher in female than in male mice; (c) although plasma ACTH concentrations recovered the basal value at 72 h after LPS in animals of both sexes, plasma B levels returned to the baseline only at 120 h after treatment; (d) E plasma levels significantly increased 2 h after LPS and returned to the baseline at 72 h post-treatment, in both sexes; (e) at 2 h after LPS, testosterone plasma levels significantly decreased in male mice and increased in female mice, recovering the baseline level at 120 and 72 h after LPS, respectively; (f) AP ACTH content was similar in both sexes in basal condition and it was significantly diminished 72 h post-treatment without sex difference; whereas AP ACTH returned to basal content 120 h after LPS in males, it remained significantly decreased in females; (g) basal adrenal B content was higher in female than in male mice, and it significantly increased in both sexes 2 h post-LPS, maintaining this sex difference. Whereas adrenal B returned to basal content 72 h after treatment in male mice, it remained significantly enhanced up to 120 h post-LPS in female animals. The data demonstrate the existence of a clear sexual dimorphism in basal condition and during the acute phase response as well as in the recovery of the HPA axis function shortly after infection

Self-Stabilizing Byzantine Resilient Topology Discovery and Message Delivery

Traditional Byzantine resilient algorithms use $2f + 1$ vertex disjoint paths to ensure message delivery in the presence of up to f Byzantine nodes. The question of how these paths are identified is related to the fundamental problem of topology discovery. Distributed algorithms for topology discovery cope with a never ending task, dealing with frequent changes in the network topology and unpredictable transient faults. Therefore, algorithms for topology discovery should be self-stabilizing to ensure convergence of the topology information following any such unpredictable sequence of events. We present the first such algorithm that can cope with Byzantine nodes. Starting in an arbitrary global state, and in the presence of f Byzantine nodes, each node is eventually aware of all the other non-Byzantine nodes and their connecting communication links. Using the topology information, nodes can, for example, route messages across the network and deliver messages from one end user to another. We present the first deterministic, cryptographic-assumptions-free, self-stabilizing, Byzantine-resilient algorithms for network topology discovery and end-to-end message delivery. We also consider the task of r-neighborhood discovery for the case in which $r$ and the degree of nodes are bounded by constants. The use of r-neighborhood discovery facilitates polynomial time, communication and space solutions for the above tasks. The obtained algorithms can be used to authenticate parties, in particular during the establishment of private secrets, thus forming public key schemes that are resistant to man-in-the-middle attacks of the compromised Byzantine nodes. A polynomial and efficient end-to-end algorithm that is based on the established private secrets can be employed in between periodical re-establishments of the secrets

Etude expérimentale de la stabilité de l'écoulement de films de fluide non Newtonien sur plan incliné

Nous étudions la stabilité de l'écoulement de films de fluide rhéofluidifiant (pseudoplastique) sur plan incliné. Nous modélisons la viscosité des fluides utilisés par la loi de Carreau. Afin de caractériser nos fluides, nous utilisons l'électrocapillarité comme technique optique consistant à étudier la propagation et l'atténuation d'ondes capillaires. Les résultats de mesures permettent en particulier de déterminer la viscosité à des valeurs de cisaillement aussi faibles que 10-3 s-1. Notre objectif est d'étudier expérimentalement la stabilité de films rhéofluidifiants sur plan incliné. Pour des valeurs fixées de l'angle d'inclinaison, nous avons déterminé le seuil critique expérimental et tracé la courbe marginale de stabilité sur les plans (Re, f) et (Re, k) pour nos différents fluides. Nous trouvons que nos résultats expérimentaux sont en bon accord avec les résultats numériques, et confirment l'effet rhéofluidifiant déstabilisant relativement au cas Newtonien

Plasma Transport in Saturn's Low‐Latitude Ionosphere: Cassini Data

An edited version of this paper was published by AGU. Copyright 2019 American Geophysical Union.In 2017 the Cassini Orbiter made the first in situ measurements of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere of Saturn. The Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer in its ion mode measured densities of light ion species (H+, H2+, H3+, and He+), and the Radio and Plasma Wave Science instrument measured electron densities. During proximal orbit 287 (denoted P287), Cassini reached down to an altitude of about 3,000 km above the 1 bar atmospheric pressure level. The topside ionosphere plasma densities measured for P287 were consistent with ionospheric measurements during other proximal orbits. Spacecraft potentials were measured by the Radio and Plasma Wave Science Langmuir probe and are typically about negative 0.3 V. Also, for this one orbit, Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer was operated in an instrument mode allowing the energies of incident H+ ions to be measured. H+ is the major ion species in the topside ionosphere. Ion flow speeds relative to Saturn's atmosphere were determined. In the southern hemisphere, including near closest approach, the measured ion speeds were close to zero relative to Saturn's corotating atmosphere, but for northern latitudes, southward ion flow of about 3 km/s was observed. One possible interpretation is that the ring shadowing of the southern hemisphere sets up an interhemispheric plasma pressure gradient driving this flow

Evaluación de los límites específicos entre Parthenium hysterophorus y P. glomeratum (Asteraceae-Ambrosiinae): evidencias morfológicas, anatómicas, cromosomáticas y fitoquímicas.

Species boundaries between Parthenium hysterophorus L./P. glomeratum Rollins were examined. Our working hypothesis states that the delimitation of these taxa is based on the dissection of a continuous variation pattern from an elevational cline. We chose a 70 km gradient from 300-3500 m in the Province of Salta (Argentina) where both taxa are sympatric. The study was centred in phenetic analyses of morphological data. In addition, foliar and caulinar anatomy, chromosome numbers and karyotype, and sesquiterpene lactone composition were investigated. Transplant experiments were performed, individuais that occur naturally at high elevations were cultivated at lower ones to analyse the phenetic plasticity of some key characters. Our results indicate that based on morphological and anatomical data no group of specimens can be delimited. The main characters used to recognise both species are significantly correlated with the elevation at which they grow, suggesting a clinal variation. Cytological and phytochemical data show that there is variation among the populations and that no discontinuities can be detected to separate them. Accordingly, it is convenient to consider the studied population as belonging to P. hysterophorus, and P. glomeratum as a synonym of that species.Se evalúan los límites específicos del complejo Parthenium hysterophorum L./P. glomeratum Rollins con la hipótesis de que podría deberse a la disección de un "continuum", representado por una variación clinal en un gradiente altitudinal. Se escogió un gradiente entre 300-3500 m en Salta (Argentina). Se realizó un análisis numérico de coordenadas principales de la variabilidad exomorfológica, se hicieron estudios de anatomía foliar y caulinar, de números cromosomáticos y cariótipos y de lactonas sesquiterpénicas, y se efectuaron experiencias de trasplante. Los resultados indican que no se pueden delimitar grupos significativos sobre la base de los caracteres exomorfológicos y anatómicos. Los caracteres usados para diferenciar las especies están significativamente correlacionados con la altura sobre el mar a la que crecen estas plantas, señalando que se trata de una variación clinal. El experimento de trasplante evidencia que los mismos caracteres muestran una gran plasticidad fenotípica. Los datos citológicos y fitoquímicos indican gran polimorfismo en la población, no encontrándose discontinuidades que permitan separarla. Se considera conveniente tratar a los especímenes estudiados como coespecíficos y pertenecientes a P. hysterophorus, y a P. glomeratum como sinónimo

RESPONSE OF TWO MAIZE CULTIVARS (Zea mays L.) TO ORGANIC MANUR AND MINERAL NANO NITROGEN FERTILIZER UNDER SIWA OASIS CONDITIONS

Two trials were carried out at the Experimental Station farm of Desert Research Center, Teggzerty from Siwa Oasis, Matroh Governorate during the two summer seasons, 2015 and 2016. Trials were performed to study response of two maize hybrids.(Single hybrid 131 and Triple hybrid 329) to organic manure (OM) levels (15 and 30 m3/fed.) and five combinations between mineral and nano nitrogen (N) fertilizers: 1)100% mineral N from the recommended dose (120 kg N/fed.), 2)75% mineral + 25% nano N fertilizers, 3)50% mineral + 50% nano N fertilizers, 4)25% mineral + 75% nano N fertilizers, 5)100% nano N as the recommended rate (500 ppm as foliar application). Mineral N rates were added in three equal doses, with foliar application by nano N rates, after 30, 45 and 60 days from sowing. Treatments, included twenty treatments, was laid out in a splilt-split plot design, with three replicates, OM levels were arranged in the main plots, maize cvs. were allocated in the sub plots, and mineral nano N fertilizer treatments were assigned in the sub-sub plots. At harvest the following characters were recorded, plant height (cm), number of rows/ear, ear length (cm), ear diameter (cm), number of grains/row, 100-grain weight (g), ear weight (ton/fed), grain, straw and biological yields (ton/ fed), shelling (%) and harvest index(%). Results indicated that increasing OM levels significantly increased ear length harvest index and protein content (%), in the 2nd season only, triple hybrid gave the maximum values of all pa rameters, except no. of rows/ear and harvest index, in the 1st season, and 100-grain weight and carbohydrate (%), in both seasons, which had no significant difference with single hybrid in the most cases. Concerning with the effect of mineral and nano N, all parameters, except carbohydrate (%), were increased with increasing mineral N (%) and/or with decreasing nano N (%). Fertilized maize crop by mineral N at 100% or 75% plus 25% nano N fertilizer gave the maximum values of plant ht., no. of rows/ear, ear length and diameter, no. of grains/row, 100-grain wt.,ear weight, grain, straw and biological yields, shelling (%), protein (%), protein yield and harvest index in both seasons. However, fertilized maize crop by nano N at 100% produced the highest value of carbohydrate content (%) in two seasons. Results suggested that selected triple maize hybrid cv. (329), at 30 m3 OM, with 100% mineral N (120 kg N/fed.) or with 75% mineral N (90 kg N/fed.) plus 25% nano N (125 ppm as foliar application) fertilizers could be utilized for attaining the maximal improvement in farmer income by increasing the maize yield under saline conditions at Siwa Oasis, Egypt

Self-stabilizing algorithms for Connected Vertex Cover and Clique decomposition problems

In many wireless networks, there is no fixed physical backbone nor centralized network management. The nodes of such a network have to self-organize in order to maintain a virtual backbone used to route messages. Moreover, any node of the network can be a priori at the origin of a malicious attack. Thus, in one hand the backbone must be fault-tolerant and in other hand it can be useful to monitor all network communications to identify an attack as soon as possible. We are interested in the minimum \emph{Connected Vertex Cover} problem, a generalization of the classical minimum Vertex Cover problem, which allows to obtain a connected backbone. Recently, Delbot et al.~\cite{DelbotLP13} proposed a new centralized algorithm with a constant approximation ratio of $2$ for this problem. In this paper, we propose a distributed and self-stabilizing version of their algorithm with the same approximation guarantee. To the best knowledge of the authors, it is the first distributed and fault-tolerant algorithm for this problem. The approach followed to solve the considered problem is based on the construction of a connected minimal clique partition. Therefore, we also design the first distributed self-stabilizing algorithm for this problem, which is of independent interest

Author Correction: The genetic legacy of continental scale admixture in Indian Austroasiatic speakers

This Article contains errors in the Methods section, under subsection ‘Samples collection and genotyping’