Economic Empowerment and Gender-Based Violence: A Practicum Study of Action Against Hunger in Post-Conflict Northern Uganda

This project is an exploration with Action Against Hunger (ACF) on gender-based violence and economic empowerment of women in northern Uganda. The two-decade long civil war in northern Uganda has dramatically affected the lives and livelihoods of the population, creating the situation of a basic need for livelihood enhancement. The program that is analyzed utilizes cash transfers for the most vulnerable populations in thirteen sub-counties in the region in order to address the issues of both gender-based violence and lack of reliable economic production. This project realizes the realities of the relationship between gender-based violence and livelihood enhancement and aims to combat the underlying causes. The intentions of this practicum were to develop an understanding of the work that ACF conducts and the underlying causes of the main issues facing the population in the region.During this practicum period, activities, workshops, meetings and daily workings of the organization were observed. Numerous secondary sources were researched and interviews were carried out amongst both the ACF staff and the beneficiaries of the program.While six weeks is too short of a time to undertake a full, comprehensive understanding and analysis of the success of such a program, it was found according to the practicum, that this program is of great importance and has had meaningful successes; the context of northern Uganda is unique and any program that looks to address the issues facing the communities must also take a unique approach that addresses the underlying issues in order to create sustainable and effective change, which ACF has done. In the following and concluding year of the “Combating Gender-based Violence and Enhancing Economic Empowerment of women in Northern Uganda through cash transfers” project there are ways in which it can improve in order to best help the communities it works in. This practicum revealed the challenges that the organization faces, and the views of the beneficiaries on such a project

With the Weathermen: The Personal Journal of a Revolutionary Woman

Drugs. Sex. Revolutionary violence. From its first pages, Susan Stern\u27s memoir With the Weathermen provides a candid, first-hand look at the radical politics and the social and cultural environment of the New Left during the late 1960s.The Weathermen--a U.S.-based, revolutionary splinter group of Students for a Democratic Society--advocated the overthrow of the government and capitalism, and toward that end, carried out a campaign of bombings, jailbreaks, and riots throughout the United States. In With the Weathermen Stern traces her involvement with this group, and her transformation from a shy, married graduate student into a go-go dancing, street-fighting macho mama. In vivid and emotional language, she describes the attractions and difficulties of joining a collective radical group and in maintaining a position within it.Stern\u27s memoir offers a rich description of the raw and rough social dynamics of this community, from its strict demands to smash monogamy, to its sometimes enforced orgies, and to the demeaning character assassination that was led by the group\u27s top members. She provides a distinctly personal and female perspective on the destructive social functionality and frequently contradictory attitudes toward gender roles and women\u27s rights within the New Left.Laura Browder\u27s masterful introduction situates Stern\u27s memoir in its historical context, examines the circumstances of its writing and publication, and describes the book\u27s somewhat controversial reception by the public and critics alike.https://scholarship.richmond.edu/bookshelf/1071/thumbnail.jp

Full Bayesian analysis for a class of jump-diffusion models

A new Bayesian significance test is adjusted for jump detection in a diffusion process. This is an advantageous procedure for temporal data having extreme valued outliers, like financial data, pluvial or tectonic forces records and others.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures; real data analysis adde

Lessons learned from engaging men in sexual and reproductive health as clients, partners and advocates of change in the Hoima district of Uganda.

This study examined the impact of a three-year intervention project conducted in the Hoima district of Uganda, which sought to engage men in sexual and reproductive health as clients, equal partners and advocates of change. Structured surveys with 164 self-reported heterosexual men aged 18-54 years were used to assess knowledge and attitudes towards sexual and reproductive health. Data from these were analysed using Stata and SPSS. Additionally, five focus groups were conducted with the female partners and male beneficiaries of the project and with project peer educators. Four interviews were conducted with project staff and male beneficiaries. Data from these and the focus groups were analysed using a thematic approach. Following the intervention, a significantly greater number of men accessed, and supported their partners in accessing sexual health services services, had gained sexual and reproductive health awareness, reported sharing domestic duties and contraceptive decision-making, and displayed a decreased tolerance for domestic violence. It was more difficult to assess men's involvement and behaviours as advocates of change, which sheds light on the complexities of a gender transformative project and the importance of evaluating such projects from both men's and their partners' perspectives and at different levels of the male involvement model in sexual and reproductive health

Vergleich der Hilotherm®-Therapie und der konventionellen Kühlung mit Coolpacks zur Behandlung von postoperativen Schwellungen und Schmerzen nach orthognathen Operationen: eine randomisierte kontrollierte Studie mit Hilfe der quantitativen 3D-Photogrammetrie.

Bei orthognathen Operationen kann es nach erfolgtem Eingriff zu massiven Schwellungen im Bereich des Mittel- und Untergesichtes sowie zu starken postoperativen Schmerzen kommen. Diese Effekte stören die Wundheilung des Patienten und können stark entstellend wirken. Daher wird den Patienten eine lokale Kühlung empfohlen, die häufig mit Coolpacks erfolgt. Ein weiteres innovatives Kühlmittel ist die Hilotherm®-Technologie, die mittels speziell geformter Masken für verschiedene Körperregionen eine Durchlaufkühlung mit konstanter, wählbarer Temperatur ermöglicht. In der vorliegenden Arbeit sollte in einem systematischen, randomisierten Vergleich geklärt werden, welche Kühlungsmethode (Coolpacks oder die Hilotherm®-Technologie) einen stärkeren Einfluss auf das Schwellungsvolumen und postoperative Schmerzen erzielt. Nach Aufklärung und Einwilligung der Patienten zur Teilnahme an dieser Studie erfolgte eine randomisierte Verteilung der Patienten auf die unterschiedlichen postoperativen Kühlungsmethoden. Im Rahmen des stationären Aufenthalts, üblicherweise eine Woche, erfolgte dann jeden Tag zum selben Zeitpunkt eine dreidimensionale Fotographie des Gesichts. Mit dem CAD-Programm Alias® Automotive wurden definierte Ausschnitte (begrenzt durch Landmarken) des Gesichtes anhand von 3-D Fotoaufnahmen ermittelt und analysiert. Die sich aus den postoperativen Aufnahmen zum Ausgangsbild ergebenden Differenzvolumen wurden statistisch ausgewertet. Zur Beurteilung der postoperativen Schmerzen erfolgte eine Auswertung der im postoperativen Verlauf erhaltenen Schmerzmedikamente. Die Studie zeigte eine Tendenz zu einer höheren Schwellungsabnahme bei Anwendung der Hilotherm®-Technologie. Dies war jedoch statistisch nicht signifikant. Der Schmerzmittelbedarf war bei der Hioltherm® Gruppe geringer, was auf eine bessere schmerzreduzierende Wirkung durch die konstante Kühlungstemperatur hinweist. Andere untersuchte Merkmale wie Geschlecht, Alter und Operationsdauer hatten keinen signifikanten Einfluss auf das Schwellungsverhalten

Coupled Cognitive and Functional Change in Alzheimer's Disease and the Influence of Depressive Symptoms

In Alzheimer's disease (AD), cognition and function are only moderately correlated in cross-sectional studies, and studies of their longitudinal association are less common. One potential non-cognitive contributor to function is depression, which has been associated with poorer clinical outcomes. The current study investigated longitudinal associations between functional abilities, cognitive status, and depressive symptoms in AD. 517 patients diagnosed with probable AD and enrolled in The Multicenter Study of Predictors of Disease Course in Alzheimer's Disease were included. Patients were followed at 6-month intervals over 5.5 years. Longitudinal changes in the Blessed Dementia Rating Scale, modified Mini-Mental State Exam, and the depression subscale of the Columbia University Scale for Psychopathology in AD were examined in a multivariate latent growth curve model that controlled for gender, age, education, and recruitment site. Results showed that cognition and function worsened over the study period, whereas depressive symptoms were largely stable. Rates of change in cognition and function were correlated across participants and coupled within participants, indicating that they travel together over time. Worse initial cognitive status was associated with faster subsequent functional decline, and vice versa. Higher level of depressive symptoms was associated with worse initial functioning and faster subsequent cognitive and functional decline. These findings highlight the importance of both cognitive and psychiatric assessment for functional prognosis. Targeting both cognitive and depressive symptoms in the clinical treatment of AD may have incremental benefit on functional abilities

Differing Effects of Education on Cognitive Decline in Diverse Elders with Low Versus High Educational Attainment

OBJECTIVE: In light of growing debate over whether and how early life educational experiences alter late-life cognitive trajectories, this study sought to more thoroughly investigate the relationship between educational attainment and rates of late-life cognitive decline in a racially, ethnically, and educationally diverse population. METHOD: Older adults (N = 3,435) in the community-based Washington Heights-Inwood Columbia Aging Project were administered neuropsychological tests of memory, language, visuospatial function, and processing speed at approximate 24-month intervals for up to 18 years. Second-order latent growth curves estimated direct and indirect (through income) effects of educational attainment on rates of global cognitive decline separately in individuals with low (0-8 years) and high (9-20 years) educational attainment. RESULTS: More years of education were associated with higher cognitive level and slower cognitive decline in individuals with low or high educational attainment. The association between having more than 9 years of education and exhibiting slower cognitive decline was fully mediated by income. Although having additional years of education up to 8 years was also associated with higher income, this did not explain associations between education and cognitive change in the low-education group. CONCLUSIONS: Early education (i.e., up to 8 years) may promote aspects of development during a sensitive period of childhood that protect against late-life cognitive decline independent of income. In contrast, later education (i.e., 9 years and beyond) is associated with higher income, which may influence late-life cognitive health through multiple, nonmutually exclusive pathways

The Embeddedness of Community Cultural Institutions: Wall Art in Social Context

This paper uses the findings of a pilot study of wall art in two Philadelphia neighborhoods to examine how community art is embedded in the lives of individuals, families, and communities. During the summer of 1994, three SIAP research assistants--Laura Amrofel, Gina Abrevaya Dyer, and Alison Wolk--hung out in the neighborhoods around two wall murals (one in South Philadelphia, one in West Philadelphia), talked to residents, and observed the way the spaces around the murals were used. They found that the impact of the murals on their neighborhoods was connected to the demography and ecology of the community, but not in a simple way, and in fact was more complex than current theories of art and society suggest. The authors concluded that the role of a wall mural could not be separated from its specific community context--a phenomenon they described as embeddedness