Family Protection Orders in Lae, Papua New Guinea: Part 1 Accessing Justice

A pilot study was undertaken in Lae, the second-largest urban centre in PNG, over six months in 2018 to examine the uptake and efficacy of family protection orders (FPOs). With the support of the Morobe Family and Sexual Violence Action Committee (FSVAC) and assistance from a family and sexual violence case management centre, Femili PNG, the study involved consultations and interviews with more than 50 professional stakeholders (mainly in the legal, policing and welfare sectors) and interviews with 14 women survivors. The study drew on more than three years of de-identified client data from Femili PNG, district court statistics on orders in 2017 and for a five-month period in 2018, a sample of police prosecution files and observations at the district court and the police’s Family and Sexual Violence Unit. The results of the study are detailed in a report (Putt et al. 2019) and summarised in three In Briefs. Part 1 focuses on whether there are improvements in DFV victims’ access to justice through the introduction of protection orders. Part 2 examines whether the orders have contributed to victims’ being or feeling safer. Part 3 identifies the factors that were found to affect the accessibility and effectiveness of the orders

Family Protection Orders in Lae, Papua New Guinea: Part 2 Improving Safety

A pilot study on the use and effectiveness of family protection orders was undertaken in Lae, Papua New Guinea (PNG) in 2018. The aim of the orders, introduced under the Family Protection Act (FPA) 2013, is to improve access to justice and the protection of and support for victims of domestic and family violence (DFV). This is the second In Brief summarising the findings of the pilot study, with a focus on whether the civil orders are improving the safety of applicants (see Putt et al. 2019 for more detail on the study)

Family Protection Orders in Lae, Papua New Guinea: Part 3 Factors Affecting the Accessibility and Effectiveness of the Orders

A pilot study on the use and effectiveness of family protection orders (FPOs) was undertaken in Lae, Papua New Guinea (PNG) in 2018. The aim of the orders, introduced under the Family Protection Act (FPA) 2013, is to improve access to justice and the protection of and support for victims of domestic and family violence (DFV). This is the third and final In Brief summarising the findings from the pilot study, with the first two focusing on access to justice and safety. The pilot study suggests that more people are applying for orders and the process is timelier and more effective over almost four years. This In Brief considers the impact of the reform on the system and the factors that were identified as affecting the accessibility and effectiveness of FPOs. The recommendations from stakeholders and survivors who were interviewed in the study are also summarised

Family Protection Orders: A Key Response to Domestic and Family Violence. A Pilot Study in Lae, Papua New Guinea

The pilot study was conducted primarily from March to August 2018 in the urban centre of Lae in Papua New Guinea (PNG), with the support and advice of members of the Morobe Family and Sexual Violence Action Committee. Drawing on consultations and interviews with more than 50 stakeholders and interviews with 14 women survivors, the research aimed to determine the use and efficacy of family protection orders. The study drew on de-identified client data for a period of more than three years from Femili PNG (FPNG), a non-government organisation (NGO) that provides case management and support for survivors of family and sexual violence. In addition, the district court provided statistics on orders for 2017 and 2018, a sample of police prosecution files were reviewed and the research team observed proceedings at the district court.AusAI

The Family Foundation Life Cycle and the Role of Consultants

The dynamics unique to family foundations, including a dedication to preserving a legacy and to sharing decision-making among family members, are often a significant influence on a foundation’s governance and operations and may extend to how their experiences with consultants differ from those of other foundations or nonprofits. This article, which draws on a survey and interviews with family foundations asking why, when, and how they hire consultants, looks at common experiences that lead family foundations to seek external help and how these foundations can learn from the experiences of their peers. This article introduces the Family Foundation Life Cycle as a lens for understanding the stages of a family foundation’s operations, and provides a Family Foundation/Consultant Guide to help foundations anticipate needs and set the stage for successful consulting engagements

Research Brief No. 1 - Social Inclusion of the Oldest-Old: Toward Supportive Housing Policies

Although most seniors aged 85+ live relatively independently in the community, research on this age group tends to focus on the negative aspects of aging. This study looks instead at seniors aged 85 and older who are living well and semi-independently in their communities with the help of an informal care provider. The study aims to identify the mechanisms that allow them to live with dignity and autonomy in their own homes and remain socially included in their communities. We conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 16 individuals aged 85 to 94 years and their primary informal support-persons in Southwestern Ontario, from Hamilton to Chatham. The result is evidence-based information about how the “oldest-old” and their caregivers manage to overcome problems seniors experience with daily tasks such as mobility, transportation and cooking. The research identifies optimal environments in which these “caring relationships” can be sustained and in which seniors can flexibly manage daily life and continue to stay in their own homes

Visualizing biological data in museums : Visitor learning with an interactive tree of life exhibit

In this study, we investigate museum visitor learning and engagement at an interactive visualization of an evolutionary tree of life consisting of over 70,000 species. The study was conducted at two natural history museums where visitors collaboratively explored the tree of life using direct touch gestures on a multi-touch tabletop display. In the study, 247 youth, aged 8-15 years, were randomly assigned in pairs to one of four conditions. In two of the conditions, pairs of youth interacted with different versions of the tree of life tabletop exhibit for a fixed duration of 10minutes. In a third condition, pairs watched a 10minute video on a similar topic. Individual responses on a 53-item exit interview were then compared to responses from a fourth, baseline condition. Contrasting with the baseline condition, visitors who interacted with the tabletop exhibits were significantly more likely to reason correctly about core evolutionary concepts, particularly common descent and shared ancestry. They were also more likely to correctly interpret phylogenetic tree diagrams. To investigate the factors influencing these learning outcomes, we used linear mixed models to analyze measures of dyads' verbal engagement and physical interaction with the exhibit. These models indicated that, while our verbal and physical measures were related, they accounted for significant portions of the variance on their own, independent of youth age, prior knowledge, and parental background. Our results provide evidence that multi-touch interactive exhibits that enable visitors to explore large scientific datasets can provide engaging and effective learning opportunities

Estimation of Indices of Health Service Readiness with A Principal Component Analysis of the Tanzania Service Provision Assessment Survey.

Service Provision Assessment (SPA) surveys have been conducted to gauge primary health care and family planning clinical readiness throughout East and South Asia as well as sub-Saharan Africa. Intended to provide useful descriptive information on health system functioning to supplement the Demographic and Health Survey data, each SPA produces a plethora of discrete indicators that are so numerous as to be impossible to analyze in conjunction with population and health survey data or to rate the relative readiness of individual health facilities. Moreover, sequential SPA surveys have yet to be analyzed in ways that provide systematic evidence that service readiness is improving or deteriorating over time. This paper presents an illustrative analysis of the 2006 Tanzania SPA with the goal of demonstrating a practical solution to SPA data utilization challenges using a subset of variables selected to represent the six building blocks of health system strength identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) with a focus on system readiness to provide service. Principal Components Analytical (PCA) models extract indices representing common variance of readiness indicators. Possible uses of results include the application of PCA loadings to checklist data, either for the comparison of current circumstances in a locality with a national standard, for the ranking of the relative strength of operation of clinics, or for the estimation of trends in clinic service quality improvement or deterioration over time. Among hospitals and health centers in Tanzania, indices representing two components explain 32 % of the common variance of 141 SPA indicators. For dispensaries, a single principal component explains 26 % of the common variance of 86 SPA indicators. For hospitals/HCs, the principal component is characterized by preventive measures and indicators of basic primary health care capabilities. For dispensaries, the principal component is characterized by very basic newborn care as well as preparedness for delivery. PCA of complex facility survey data generates composite scale coefficients that can be used to reduce indicators to indices for application in comparative analyses of clinical readiness, or for multi-level analysis of the impact of clinical capability on health outcomes or on survival

Interchange II: Transitions, a Collaborative Recital

The KSU School of Music along with Zuckerman Museum of Art and Department of Dance present a special collaboration featuring musical works that explore crossing global boundaries and cultural exchange selected to correspond with themes presented in two ZMA exhibitions: “Sleight of Hand” and “Transitions.”https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1656/thumbnail.jp

Grxcr1 promotes hair bundle development by destabilizing the physical interaction between Harmonin and Sans usher syndrome proteins

© The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Cell Reports 25 (2018): 1281–1291, doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2018.10.005.Morphogenesis and mechanoelectrical transduction of the hair cell mechanoreceptor depend on the correct assembly of Usher syndrome (USH) proteins into highly organized macromolecular complexes. Defects in these proteins lead to deafness and vestibular areflexia in USH patients. Mutations in a non-USH protein, glutaredoxin domain-containing cysteine-rich 1 (GRXCR1), cause non-syndromic sensorineural deafness. To understand the deglutathionylating enzyme function of GRXCR1 in deafness, we generated two grxcr1 zebrafish mutant alleles. We found that hair bundles are thinner in homozygous grxcr1 mutants, similar to the USH1 mutants ush1c (Harmonin) and ush1ga (Sans). In vitro assays showed that glutathionylation promotes the interaction between Ush1c and Ush1ga and that Grxcr1 regulates mechanoreceptor development by preventing physical interaction between these proteins without affecting the assembly of another USH1 protein complex, the Ush1c- Cadherin23-Myosin7aa tripartite complex. By elucidating the molecular mechanism through which Grxcr1 functions, we also identify a mechanism that dynamically regulates the formation of Usher protein complexes.This work was supported by grants from the NIH (DC004186, OD011195, and HD22486)