When Refugees are Women: Emergence of the Issue on the International Agenda

Using the latest refugee statistics available from the United Nations High Commissionerfor Refugees (UNHCR), the author examines, first, the presence of women in refugee populations. Second, she chronologically reviews the efforts of the United Nations and United Nations agencies to heighten awareness regarding the issue, and to resolve specific problems that refugee women face. Lastly, the special needs for women refugees are identified with implications for possible program interventions.A l'aide des plus récentes statistiques sur les réfugiés émises par le Haut Commissaire des Nations Unies sur les réfugiés, l'auteure du prisent article examine d'abord la prisence féminine dans la population de réfugiés. Ensuite elle prisente chronologiquement les tentatives des Nations Unies et de leurs diverses agences pour accroitre la sensibilisation sur la question, et résoudre les problhes particuliers auxquels les femmes réfugiées font face. Finalement, on procède à une identification des besoins spéciaux des femmes réfugiées ainsi que des implications sur les programmes d'interuention possibles

Ageing and family in Asian society : future roles of our younger generations

Owing to a long-term decline in fertility and improvement in longevity, the rapid process of population ageing has become an emerging reality that challenges Asian society. Along with such transformations, the family in Asia is also experiencing unprecedented changes, in terms of its structure, function and value. Prof. Osaki addresses inevitable socio-demographic changes shaping the societies in Asia and calls attention to the needs to strengthen inter-generational solidarity. Using the framework of the United Nations World Programme of Action for Youth (WAPY), she stresses that the facilitation of interdependence between younger and older persons should be a prerequisite to meeting the challenges of ageing society and a condition for the development of society as a whole

Sonographic evaluation of cervical nerve roots in ALS and its clinical subtypes

Morphological assessment of peripheral nerves in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has been available by sonography. Detection of possible axonal atrophy could be important in predicting progression. Research on correlation between sonographic findings and clinical presentation has been sparse. The aim of the study was to assess possible motor axon loss in patients with ALS by sonography and to correlate the imaging features with clinical subtypes. Patients with either definite or probable ALS and control subjects had sonographic evaluation of the cervical nerve roots (C5, C6, and C7). Each diameter and their sums were measured. The ALS patients were classified by their clinical onset and progression (arm-onset, leg-onset, bulbar, and flail-arm variant) and the sonographic features were compared. Overall, the cervical nerve roots were thinner in ALS than in the controls, but the diagnostic sensitivity was low. The patients with arm dysfunctions tended to show thinner nerve roots than those with normal or relatively preserved arm functions. The four ALS subtypes showed similar diameters of the nerve roots. There was no correlation between the disease duration and the diameters of the nerve roots. Sonography of the cervical nerve roots showed axonal atrophy in ALS and potentially reflects subtle arm dysfunctions

Which muscle shows fasciculations by ultrasound in patients with ALS?

The purpose of the present study was to elucidate the relative frequencies of fasciculations assessed by sonography in a large number of muscles in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The patients diagnosed as having ALS were retrospectively assessed by muscle sonography. The frequencies of having fasciculations were compared among the 15 muscles and the subtypes according to the initially affected body region. Overall, approximately half of the muscles had fasciculations (48.8%), in the average of 11.4 muscles per patient. The frequency of fasciculations tended to be lower in the patients with longer disease durations upon testing. Biceps brachii had the highest frequency, followed by extensor digitorum communis, whereas sternocleidomastoid and rectus abdominis had the lowest frequencies. The frequencies of fasciculations were similar among the clinical subtypes. In conclusion, in patients with ALS, fasciculations were detected most frequently in proximal arm muscles by sonography, whereas truncal muscles had lower frequencies. Fasciculations tended to be less evident in the advanced disease stage, possibly reflecting muscle degeneration. Appropriate selection of muscles to observe fasciculations is important for diagnosis of ALS

Characterization of Individuals with Sacroiliac Joint Bridging in a Skeletal Population: Analysis of Degenerative Changes in Spinal Vertebrae

Theaimof this study was to characterize the individualswith sacroiliac joint bridging (SIB) by analyzing the degenerative changes intheirwhole vertebral column and comparing themwith the controls.Atotal of 291modern Japanesemale skeletons,with an averageage at death of 60.8 years, were examined macroscopically. They were divided into two groups: individuals with SIB and thosewithout bridging (Non-SIB).The degenerative changes in their whole vertebral column were evaluated, and marginal osteophytescores (MOS) of the vertebral bodies and degenerative joint scores in zygapophyseal jointswere calculated. SIBwas recognized in 30individuals froma total of 291 males (10.3%).The average of age at death in SIB group was significantly higher than that in Non-SIBgroup. The values ofMOS in the thoracic spines, particularly in the anterior part of the vertebral bodies, were consecutively higherin SIB group than in Non-SIB group. Incidence of fused vertebral bodies intervertebral levels was obviously higher in SIB groupthan in Non-SIB group. SIB and marginal osteophyte formation in vertebral bodies could coexist in a skeletal population of men.Some systemic factors might act on these degenerative changes simultaneously both in sacroiliac joint and in vertebral column

Migration, Remittances and Gender in the Context of Development: The Case of Thailand

In developing countries, migration often generates flows of resources from migrants to their households of origin in the form of individual remittances. The main objective of this study was to deepen our understanding of the extent to which the remittances of internal migrants contribute to the well-being of their households of origin. Using data from the 1992 National Migration Survey (NMS) of Thailand, the study identified individual and household characteristics which affected migrants\u27 remittance behaviour, and also how much migrant remittances affected the well-being of household left behind. As a secondary objective, the study also explored the role of gender in shaping the remittance behavior of migrants and its ultimate consequences for the households of origin. The analyses revealed that, in Thailand, a significant proportion of migrants retained contacts with their household of origin through remittances for a long time after they moved out. While making remittances to parents was a common behavior among migrant children, given Thai culture, some migrants left their homes specifically in order to provide economic support for the origin household. Indeed, the migrants who left to seek job elsewhere had a higher propensity to remit and to send larger remittances than those who migrated for other reasons. Women in Thailand not only actively participate in all types of migration streams, but also made significant contributions to their origin households by sending remittances. Given their low earnings, however, female migrants could not remit as much as male migrants did. The study also demonstrated that poor economic status of origin households is an important explanatory variable for the out-migration of its members and their remittance behavior. Thus, remittances made by out-migrants were crucial resources for many households to overcome capital constraints or to ensure their survival. However, no evidence was found that remittances were channeled to economically productive investment. Therefore, policy measures to provide households with income-generating opportunities and encourage the utilization of remittances for development were suggested

Ninety-year-, but not single, application of phosphorus fertilizer has a major impact on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities

Background and aims Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi play a significant role in P nutrition of crops in agriculture, but P accumulation in the soil, e.g., application of P-fertilizer, generally reduces AM fungal colonization. The impact of long-term application of chemical fertilizer on AM fungal communities was investigated with respect to the time scale. Methods Soils were collected from four plots with different fertilizer management in the long-term experimental field established in 1914. Lotus japonicus was grown in the soils in a greenhouse, while Glycine max was grown in the plots in the field. DNA was extracted from their roots, and the diversity and community compositions were analyzed based on occurrence of the AM fungal phylotypes defined by sequence similarity in the LSU rDNA. Results The 90-year-application of N and K in the absence of P increased AM fungal diversity and resulted in formation of a distinctive fungal community compared with those in the other treatments. This effect was not cancelled by single application of P. Whereas the impact of balanced application of N, P, and K was ambiguous. Conclusion These observations suggest that the presence/absence of P-fertilizer has a major impact on AM fungal communities, but the action may appear only on a long time scale. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11104-012-1398-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

The role of home-based records in the establishment of a continuum of care for mothers, newborns, and children in Indonesia

Background: The provision of appropriate care along the continuum of maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) service delivery is a challenge in developing countries. To improve this, in the 1990s, Indonesia introduced the maternal and child health (MCH) handbook, as an integrated form of parallel home-based records. Objective: This study aimed to identify the roles of home-based records both before and after childbirth, especially in provinces where the MCH handbook (MCHHB) was extensively promoted, by examining their association with MNCH service uptake. Design: This was a cross-sectional study using nationally representative data sets, the Indonesia Demographic and Health Surveys (IDHSs) from 1997, 2002–2003, and 2007. The IDHS identifies respondents’ ownership of home-based records before and after childbirth. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine associations between record ownership and service utilisation in national data and data from two provinces, West Sumatra and North Sulawesi, where ownership of pre- and post-natal records served as a proxy for MCHHB ownership. Results: Pre- and post-natal record ownership increased from 1997 to 2007. Provincial data from 2007 showed that handbook ownership was associated with having delivery assisted by trained personnel [adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 2.12, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.05–4.25], receiving maternal care (aOR: 3.92, 95% CI: 2.35–6.52), completing 12 doses of child immunisation for seven diseases (aOR: 4.86, 95% CI: 2.37–9.95), and having immunisation before and after childbirth (aOR: 5.40, 95% CI: 2.28–12.76), whereas national data showed that service utilisation was associated with ownership of both records compared with owning a single record or none. Conclusion: Our results suggest that pre- and post-natal home-based record use may be effective for ensuring service utilisation. In addition, since the handbook is an efficient home-based record for use throughout children's life courses, it could be an effective tool for promoting the continuum of MNCH care in Indonesia