Child care system reforms in Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia: Why there is a need to focus on children below three years

UNICEF is supporting governments in Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia to develop national child protection systems that effectively prevent and respond to violence, family separation and detention, including among most vulnerable groups. In particular, UNICEF supports child care reforms aiming at enforcing the right of children to live in a family environment. Ten years of complex reforms in the social sector were not translated into results for children as the rate of children placed in formal care has not declined during the last decade. In order to share a joint vision that every child must grow up in a nurturing family environment, UNICEF and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights launched at the European Parliament in July 2011a call to action to give priority to end the placement of children under three in institutions and prevent the separation of children from their families. At the end of 2012, 20 governments made commitments to adopt national operational plans for preventing the placement of children below three years in formal care. One year later, results can start to be identified and measured. Due primarily to the prompt and effective efforts of the governments of Bulgaria, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Serbia and Turkey, it is estimated that the number of children below three years in institutional care decreased by 10 per cent in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia by the end of 2013. This was achieved through diversified approaches described here

Universal behaviour of a wave chaos based electromagnetic reverberation chamber

In this article, we present a numerical investigation of three-dimensional electromagnetic Sinai-like cavities. We computed around 600 eigenmodes for two different geometries: a parallelepipedic cavity with one half- sphere on one wall and a parallelepipedic cavity with one half-sphere and two spherical caps on three adjacent walls. We show that the statistical requirements of a well operating reverberation chamber are better satisfied in the more complex geometry without a mechanical mode-stirrer/tuner. This is to the fact that our proposed cavities exhibit spatial and spectral statistical behaviours very close to those predicted by random matrix theory. More specifically, we show that in the range of frequency corresponding to the first few hundred modes, the suppression of non-generic modes (regarding their spatial statistics) can be achieved by reducing drastically the amount of parallel walls. Finally, we compare the influence of losses on the statistical complex response of the field inside a parallelepipedic and a chaotic cavity. We demonstrate that, in a chaotic cavity without any stirring process, the low frequency limit of a well operating reverberation chamber can be significantly reduced under the usual values obtained in mode-stirred reverberation chambers

Antidepressant Effects Associated With Different Exercise Conditions in Participants With Depression: A Pilot Study

17 pagesInternational audienceIn this paper, we examined the antidepressant influence of an 8-week long aerobic exercise intervention in which two training parameters were manipulated: exercise frequency and group environment. Twenty-three individuals with elevated symptoms of depression were recruited in a sport and fitness facility and agreed to participate in this 8-week long study. They were randomly assigned to (a) a low-frequency exercise (control) group (n = 7), (b) a high-frequency exercise group (n = 8), and (c) a high-frequency exercise+group-based intervention group (n = 8). Participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) at study entry, 4 and 8 weeks later. The results showed that those in the high-frequency aerobic exercise experimental groups reported lower depression scores than those in the low-frequency (control) group at 4 weeks [13.2 ± 7.3 and 11.7 ± 3.1 vs. 22.4 ± 7.5] and 8 weeks [10.9 ± 8.1 and 9.6 ± 2.5 vs. 20.7 ± 6.3]. However, alleviation in depressive symptoms was not found to be greater in those participants who received a group-based intervention

Antidepressant Effects Associated With Different Exercise Conditions in Participants With Depression: A Pilot Study

17 pagesInternational audienceIn this paper, we examined the antidepressant influence of an 8-week long aerobic exercise intervention in which two training parameters were manipulated: exercise frequency and group environment. Twenty-three individuals with elevated symptoms of depression were recruited in a sport and fitness facility and agreed to participate in this 8-week long study. They were randomly assigned to (a) a low-frequency exercise (control) group (n = 7), (b) a high-frequency exercise group (n = 8), and (c) a high-frequency exercise+group-based intervention group (n = 8). Participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) at study entry, 4 and 8 weeks later. The results showed that those in the high-frequency aerobic exercise experimental groups reported lower depression scores than those in the low-frequency (control) group at 4 weeks [13.2 ± 7.3 and 11.7 ± 3.1 vs. 22.4 ± 7.5] and 8 weeks [10.9 ± 8.1 and 9.6 ± 2.5 vs. 20.7 ± 6.3]. However, alleviation in depressive symptoms was not found to be greater in those participants who received a group-based intervention

The EGIM, modular though generic addresses the requirements of the EMSO platforms

The EGIM (EMSO Generic Instrument Module ) is designed to consistently and continuously measure parameters of interest for most major science areas covered by EMSO. This research infrastructure provides accurate records on marine environmental changes from distributed regional nodes around Europe. The system can deliver data that can support the Global Ocean Observing System –Essential Ocean Variables concept, as well as the Marine Strategy Framework Directive towards evaluating environmentalstatus. The EGIM is flexible for adaptation according to site and disciplinespecific requirements. Inter - operability and capacity of future evolution of the system are key aspects of the modularity. The EGIM is able to operate on any EMSO node type: mooring line, sea bed station, cabled or non - cabled and surface buoy to monitor environmental parameters over a wide depth range. Operating modes, power requirements, mechanical design can adapt to the various EMSO node configurations. In addition to sensors already included in the EGIM prototype (temperature, conductivity, pressure, dissolved Oxygen, Turbidity, currents and passive acoustics) the EGIMcan host up to five additional sensors such as chl -a, pCO 2, pH, seismic and photographic/video images ornew sensors. The EGIM provides all the sensor hosting services required ,for instance power distribution, positioning , and protection against bio -fouling . Within EMSO , the EGIM aimsto have a number of ocean locations where the same set of core variables are measured homogeneously: using the same hardware, same sensor references, same qualification methods, same calibration methods, same data format and access and the same maintenance procedures. It’s compact and modular nature allows for flexible deploymentscenarios that include being able to accommodate new instruments such for Essential Ocean Variables and other needs as theirtechnology readiness levels improve.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version