Međugeneracijska obiteljska solidarnost imigranata iz dviju država sljednica bivše Jugoslavije koji žive u Austriji

Intergenerational Family Solidarity (IGFS) is important for social cohesion and challenged by migration. Scientific evidence on how migrants sustain IGFS is scarce. In 2016, 421,875 migrants from different Former Yugoslav Republics were residing in Austria, the majority coming from Bosnia and Herzegovina (162.021) and Serbia (137.057). Immigrants from these countries are predominantly economic migrants who came in the 1960s and refugees of the Balkan wars in the 1990s. A literature review showed that intergenerational solidarity in migrant families in Austria is hardly covered by previous research. No published studies explicitly dealing with this subject were found. To generate more understanding, three migrant women who migrated as refugees in the 1990s from Bosnia and Serbia were asked about their family structures, family life, and family solidarity through semi-structured in-depth interviews based on qualitative sociological method. Results show that although immigration has weakened IGFS in terms of frequency of contact, high normative solidarity prevails and results in feelings of guilt and non-met family responsibilities. Support of parents and relatives is sustained by sending money and goods to the home country.Međugeneracijska obiteljska solidarnost (IGFS) važna je za socijalnu koheziju i ugrožena je migracijom. Malobrojni su znanstveni dokazi o tome kako migranti održavaju međugeneracijsku obiteljsku solidarnost. U Austriji je 2016. boravilo 421 875 migranata iz bivših jugoslavenskih republika, od kojih je većina došla iz Bosne i Hercegovine (162 021) i Srbije (137 057). Imigranti iz tih zemalja uglavnom su ekonomski migranti koji su se iselili u šezdesetim godinama dvadesetoga stoljeća i izbjeglice iz balkanskih ratova 1990-ih. Pregled literature pokazao je da prethodnih istraživanja međugeneracijske solidarnosti u obiteljima migranata u Austriji gotovo nema. Nisu pronađene objavljene studije koje se izravno bave ovom temom. Kako bi se produbilo razumijevanje ove problematike, tri žene koje su 1990. godine izbjegle iz Bosne i Srbije ispitane su o obiteljskim strukturama, obiteljskom životu i obiteljskoj solidarnosti polustrukturiranim dubinskim intervjuima koji se temelje na kvalitativnoj sociološkoj metodi. Rezultati pokazuju da premda iseljavanje slabi međugeneracijsku obiteljsku solidarnost u smislu učestalosti kontakata, prevladava visoka normativna solidarnost i rezultira osjećajima krivnje i neispunjenim obiteljskim obvezama. Podrška roditeljima i rodbini iskazuje se slanjem novca i robe u domovinu

Supermetric search with the four-point property

Metric indexing research is concerned with the efficient evaluation of queries in metric spaces. In general, a large space of objects is arranged in such a way that, when a further object is presented as a query, those objects most similar to the query can be efficiently found. Most such mechanisms rely upon the triangle inequality property of the metric governing the space. The triangle inequality property is equivalent to a finite embedding property, which states that any three points of the space can be isometrically embedded in two-dimensional Euclidean space. In this paper, we examine a class of semimetric space which is finitely 4-embeddable in three-dimensional Euclidean space. In mathematics this property has been extensively studied and is generally known as the four-point property. All spaces with the four-point property are metric spaces, but they also have some stronger geometric guarantees. We coin the term supermetric space as, in terms of metric search, they are significantly more tractable. We show some stronger geometric guarantees deriving from the four-point property which can be used in indexing to great effect, and show results for two of the SISAP benchmark searches that are substantially better than any previously published

"Zweimal 'Bitte'?, dann hat die keine Geduld mehr und schimpft sie schon": kulturelle Lernprozesse zur Integration von migrantischen Pflegekräften

"Der Artikel schildert Erfahrungen im Zusammenhang mit 'Kultur lernen' in Integrationsprozessen, die migrantische Pflegekräfte in österreichischen Kranken- und Pflegeeinrichtungen gemacht haben. Der Beitrag beruht auf zehn qualitativen Interviews. Leitende Fragen betreffen Erfahrungen bei der Eingliederung in den Arbeitsmarkt, bei der Aufnahme im Arbeitsumfeld, die erlebte Unterstützung von und Begegnung mit Vorgesetzten, KollegInnen und PatientInnen, und damit den Aspekt 'kulturellen Lernens' in Integrationsprozessen. Der Artikel argumentiert, dass Integration asymmetrisch verläuft. Die Leistung 'Kultur lernen' wird von migrantischen Pflegekräften gefordert, wobei Unterstützung der Organisation und/ oder durch Personen (KollegInnen, Vorgesetzte, PatientInnen) punktuell, zufällig und uneingefordert erfolgt. Mitgebrachte Ressourcen z.B. Sprache, werden ebenso punktuell genutzt, etwa für Gespräche mit PatientInnen, sind aber verpönt, wenn es um Sprachgebrauch im Behandlungsteam geht." (Autorenreferat)"The article provides insights on integration experiences of migrant nurses in Austrian hospitals and nursing homes. Ten qualitative interviews were analysed that referred to integration experiences into the labour market and workplace; support from colleagues, superiors and patients; and aspects of 'cultural learning' for integration processes. Results show that 'cultural learning' is asymmetric, because demands on the migrant nurses are high, but with only little backing from the organisational structures. Support from colleagues, superiors, and patients occurs mostly only sporadic, by chance, and in informal contexts. Resources like language are also being used occasionally, e.g. for conversations with migrant patients, but are proscribed for professional communication in the care-giving teams." (author's abstract

Reference point hyperplane trees

Our context of interest is tree-structured exact search in metric spaces. We make the simple observation that, the deeper a data item is within the tree, the higher the probability of that item being excluded from a search. Assuming a fixed and independent probability p of any subtree being excluded at query time, the probability of an individual data item being accessed is (1−p)d for a node at depth d. In a balanced binary tree half of the data will be at the maximum depth of the tree so this effect should be significant and observable. We test this hypothesis with two experiments on partition trees. First, we force a balance by adjusting the partition/exclusion criteria, and compare this with unbalanced trees where the mean data depth is greater. Second, we compare a generic hyperplane tree with a monotone hyperplane tree, where also the mean depth is greater. In both cases the tree with the greater mean data depth performs better in high-dimensional spaces. We then experiment with increasing the mean depth of nodes by using a small, fixed set of reference points to make exclusion decisions over the whole tree, so that almost all of the data resides at the maximum depth. Again this can be seen to reduce the overall cost of indexing. Furthermore, we observe that having already calculated reference point distances for all data, a final filtering can be applied if the distance table is retained. This reduces further the number of distance calculations required, whilst retaining scalability. The final structure can in fact be viewed as a hybrid between a generic hyperplane tree and a LAESA search structure

Climate change aggravating migration and health issues in the African context: The views and direct experiences of a community of interest in the field

Climate change is an increasingly important theme in Africa, where a large majority of its people depend on livestock and agricultural activities for livelihood. Concurrently, the topic of health of migrants and people on the move is rapidly raising both in the health debate and migration governance agenda in the Region. The link with climate change from the perspective of health and migration experts needs to be systematically addressed.Objectives The article aims to contribute to the discourse on the interrelation of climate change, migration, and health by providing contributions of experts in the field of health and migration directly working with migrant and refugee communities in Africa.Methods A webinar was conducted to collect and discuss first-hand experience with 25 participants from a postgraduate online course on health and migration funded by the Austrian Government and implemented in a co-operation of the Center for Health and Migration, Austria, with Makerere University, Uganda, the International Organization for Migration – UN Migration, and Lancet-Migration. As a result from the discussions, two cases from Sudan and Zimbabwe were selected to be further analysed with desk research to illustrate and underpin the points made.Results All webinar participants reported to encounter climate change effects on health and migration in their professional practice. In their experience, climate change aggravates issues of health and migration by fueling forced migration and displacement, increasing health care needs, and deteriorating access to health care. Specific health challenges were identified for mental health problems caused by effects of climate change-induced migration, which remain widely undiagnosed and untreated, and the special affectedness of women and girls, with their mental, sexual and reproductive health severely deteriorated in insecure environments. The case studies from Sudan and Zimbabwe underline these observations. Conclusions The interplay of effects of climate change, (internal) migration, and health is reported by a community of experts in the field of health and migration who are residing in Africa and working with migrant communities. Webinars prove to be an easy to implement tool to collect first hand evidence from practice experts, to foster exchange of experiences, and to get people engaged in further collaboration and discussion

Re-ranking Permutation-Based Candidate Sets with the n-Simplex Projection

In the realm of metric search, the permutation-based approaches have shown very good performance in indexing and supporting approximate search on large databases. These methods embed the metric objects into a permutation space where candidate results to a given query can be efficiently identified. Typically, to achieve high effectiveness, the permutation-based result set is refined by directly comparing each candidate object to the query one. Therefore, one drawback of these approaches is that the original dataset needs to be stored and then accessed during the refining step. We propose a refining approach based on a metric embedding, called n-Simplex projection, that can be used on metric spaces meeting the n-point property. The n-Simplex projection provides upper- and lower-bounds of the actual distance, derived using the distances between the data objects and a finite set of pivots. We propose to reuse the distances computed for building the data permutations to derive these bounds and we show how to use them to improve the permutation-based results. Our approach is particularly advantageous for all the cases in which the traditional refining step is too costly, e.g. very large dataset or very expensive metric function

Experiences of refugees and asylum seekers in general practice: a qualitative study

Background: There has been much debate regarding the refugee health situation in the UK. However most of the existing literature fails to take account of the opinions of refugees themselves. This study was established to determine the views of asylum seekers and refugees on their overall experiences in primary care and to suggest improvements to their care. Methods: Qualitative study of adult asylum seekers and refugees who had entered the UK in the last 10 years. The study was set in Barnet Refugee Walk in Service, London. 11 Semi structured interviews were conducted and analysed using framework analysis. Results: Access to GPs may be more difficult for failed asylum seekers and those without support from refugee agencies or family. There may be concerns amongst some in the refugee community regarding the access to and confidentiality of professional interpreters. Most participants stated their preference for GPs who offered advice rather than prescriptions. The stigma associated with refugee status in the UK may have led to some refugees altering their help seeking behaviour. Conclusion: The problem of poor access for those with inadequate support may be improved by better education and support for GPs in how to provide for refugees. Primary Care Trusts could also supply information to newly arrived refugees on how to access services. GPs should be aware that, in some situations, professional interpreters may not always be desired and that instead, it may be advisable to reach a consensus as to who should be used as an interpreter. A better doctor-patient experience resulting from improvements in access and communication may help to reduce the stigma associated with refugee status and lead to more appropriate help seeking behaviour. Given the small nature of our investigation, larger studies need to be conducted to confirm and to quantify these results

Metric Embedding into the Hamming Space with the n-Simplex Projection

Transformations of data objects into the Hamming space are often exploited to speed-up the similarity search in metric spaces. Techniques applicable in generic metric spaces require expensive learning, e.g., selection of pivoting objects. However, when searching in common Euclidean space, the best performance is usually achieved by transformations specifically designed for this space. We propose a novel transformation technique that provides a good trade-off between the applicability and the quality of the space approximation. It uses the n-Simplex projection to transform metric objects into a low-dimensional Euclidean space, and then transform this space to the Hamming space. We compare our approach theoretically and experimentally with several techniques of the metric embedding into the Hamming space. We focus on the applicability, learning cost, and the quality of search space approximation

Development of the Migrant Friendly Maternity Care Questionnaire (MFMCQ) for migrants to Western societies: an international Delphi consensus process

Background Through the World Health Assembly Resolution, ‘Health of Migrants’, the international community has identified migrant health as a priority. Recommendations for general hospital care for international migrants in receiving-countries have been put forward by the Migrant Friendly Hospital Initiative; adaptations of these recommendations specific to maternity care have yet to be elucidated and validated. We aimed to develop a questionnaire measuring migrant-friendly maternity care (MFMC) which could be used in a range of maternity care settings and countries. Methods This study was conducted in four stages. First, questions related to migrant friendly maternity care were identified from existing questionnaires including the Migrant Friendliness Quality Questionnaire, developed in Europe to capture recommended general hospital care for migrants, and the Mothers In a New Country (MINC) Questionnaire, developed in Australia and revised for use in Canada to capture the maternity care experiences of migrant women, and combined to create an initial MFMC questionnaire. Second, a Delphi consensus process in three rounds with a panel of 89 experts in perinatal health and migration from 17 countries was undertaken to identify priority themes and questions as well as to clarify wording and format. Third, the draft questionnaire was translated from English to French and Spanish and back-translated and subsequently culturally validated (assessed for cultural appropriateness) by migrant women. Fourth, the questionnaire was piloted with migrant women who had recently given birth in Montreal, Canada. Results A 112-item questionnaire on maternity care from pregnancy, through labour and birth, to postpartum care, and including items on maternal socio-demographic, migration and obstetrical characteristics, and perceptions of care, has been created - the Migrant Friendly Maternity Care Questionnaire (MFMCQ) – in three languages (English, French and Spanish). It is completed in 45 minutes via interview administration several months post-birth. Conclusions A 4-stage process of questionnaire development with international experts in migrant reproductive health and research resulted in the MFMCQ, a questionnaire measuring key aspects of migrant-sensitive maternity care. The MFMCQ is available for further translation and use to examine and compare care and perceptions of care within and across countries, and by key socio-demographic, migration, and obstetrical characteristics of migrant women