Emergency conflict-related psychosocial interventions in Sierra Leone and Uganda: lessons from Médecins Sans Frontières

Médecins Sans Frontières has been involved in emergency mental health or psychosocial programmes since 1990. In this article the intervention model developed for emergency settings is shared. Psychosocial programmes distinguish two elements. The 'psycho'-component facilitates the reconnection of the affected individual to his environment. The 'socio'-element aims to create an environment that facilitates the individual to re-integrate. The nature of mental health and psychosocial programmes requires a multidisciplinary approach. Emotional support can also be provided by regular medical staff and does not always require a specialist. The years ahead of us are important for the development of psychosocial interventions. Fundamental issues such as programme evaluation need systematic research

Four-path interference and uncertainty principle in photodetachment microscopy

We study the quantal motion of electrons emitted by a pointlike monochromatic isotropic source into parallel uniform electric and magnetic fields. The two-path interference pattern in the emerging electron wave due to the electric force is modified by the magnetic lens effect which periodically focuses the beam into narrow filaments along the symmetry axis. There, four classical paths interfere. With increasing electron energy, the current distribution changes from a quantum regime governed by the uncertainty principle, to an intricate spatial pattern that yields to a semiclassical analysis.Comment: submitted to Europhysics Letter

Exposure to violence and PTSD symptoms among Somali women

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, exposure to traumatic stressors, and health care utilization were examined in 84 women attending a primary health care clinic in Mogadishu, Somalia. The Somalia-Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale was used in this active warzone to measure symptoms. Nearly all women reported high levels of confrontations with violence; half described being exposed to a potentially traumatizing event. Nearly one third had significant PTSD symptoms. Compared to those who did not, women who reported exposure to a traumatic stressor reported more confrontations with violence (7.1 vs. 3.3; p < . 001), health complaints (3.8 vs. 2.9; p = .03), and nearly 3 times as much (p = .03) health service utilization. A potentially traumatizing event was found to be a simplified proxy for assessing mental health distress in women attending a primary health care facility in highly insecure, unpredictable, resource-limited settings

Monitoring hillslope moisture dynamics with surface ERT for enhancing spatial significance of hydrometric point measurements

Besides floodplains, hillslopes are basic units that mainly control water movement and flow pathways within catchments of subdued mountain ranges. The structure of their shallow subsurface affects water balance, e.g. infiltration, retention, and runoff. Nevertheless, there is still a gap in the knowledge of the hydrological dynamics on hillslopes, notably due to the lack of generalization and transferability. This study presents a robust multi-method framework of electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) in addition to hydrometric point measurements, transferring hydrometric data into higher spatial scales to obtain additional patterns of distribution and dynamics of soil moisture on a hillslope. A geoelectrical monitoring in a small catchment in the eastern Ore Mountains was carried out at weekly intervals from May to December 2008 to image seasonal moisture dynamics on the hillslope scale. To link water content and electrical resistivity, the parameters of Archie's law were determined using different core samples. To optimize inversion parameters and methods, the derived spatial and temporal water content distribution was compared to tensiometer data. The results from ERT measurements show a strong correlation with the hydrometric data. The response is congruent to the soil tension data. Water content calculated from the ERT profile shows similar variations as that of water content from soil moisture sensors. Consequently, soil moisture dynamics on the hillslope scale may be determined not only by expensive invasive punctual hydrometric measurements, but also by minimally invasive time-lapse ERT, provided that pedo-/petrophysical relationships are known. Since ERT integrates larger spatial scales, a combination with hydrometric point measurements improves the understanding of the ongoing hydrological processes and better suits identification of heterogeneities

Reverse logistics in a pharmaceutical company: a case study

Schering spends considerable effort to undertake product recovery activities in pharmaceutical production. The two main recovery activities are by-product recycling and solvent reuse. The main driver for engaging in these activities is economical. Recovery leads to annual savings of approximately DM 25 million, which is about 8.5 % of the total production cost. This figure does not include additional savings due to reduced disposal quantities and additional costs due to investments in recovery equipment, of which we do not have reliable estimates. Furthermore, being engaged in recovery activities has additional benefits for Schering that are related to the reduced waste stream: production is in accordance with environmental legislation, the company builds an environmentally friendly image, and there is less strain on the environment. The downside of the recovery activities is that they complicate production and inventory planning. Especially the added complexity of production planning, resulting from cycles in the production structure, is a disadvantage.A simple MRP approach, as commonly used in practice, is no longer applicable but has to be replaced by a more sophisticated planning procedure. Schering has developed an advanced decision support system which integrates a MIP procedure. Thus it turns out that reverse logistics also is a field which creates challenges for developing advanced planning systems in order to support practical decision making

Feel the future: Perceptions of branding and design towards product development in the motor industry

The car industry is on the brink of a new era. Carmakers have reinvented themselves significantly at least three times during the last hundred years. First, Ford with mass production, then Sloan with the planned obsolescence and then Toyota with the Lean System have all revolutionised the industry. However, there is much evidence that it is time again for a change towards a sustainable future. This research brings to light three areas that will certainly have a huge impact on this change: design, branding and innovation. The meaning of design has extended beyond form and function to a new way of thinking when dealing with contemporary issues. Branding has also evolved from a visual representation of goods to an intangible asset of a company, which in many cases is even more valuable than the tangible assets. Thus, innovation is the oxygen that sustains both design and branding. The main contribution of this research results from an original approach that brings together theory and practice in the demanding area of vehicle design. The central research question is: How can users' perceptions of branding and design be determinant in product development within the motor industry? A unique way of gathering users' insights from a blend of qualitative methods was developed and applied through a series of workshops in Brazil and in the United Kingdom (UK). This approach has been fundamental to the research hypothesis, which proposes that the automotive industry should transfer from a product-driven to a user-centred model when developing their products. The outcome of this new methodology is presented through an imagery map, which was entirely developed by the participants as their own representation of their feelings and desires about what the future drivers of change might be in the next twenty years. Convergences and divergences were identified from the users' insights and the results were collated into four future scenarios that have, in turn, served as the basis for a brief of fifteen projects developed by the Royal College of Art (RCA) MA Vehicle Design students. The participants then validated those projects by stating their opinions about whether or not the concept vehicles matched with their perceptions. A substantial positive response from the participants gave support to the research hypothesis. Hence, all the thoughtful designs explored further the users' insights highlighting the importance of design thinking throughout the process. The final outcomes of this research are expected to become a theoretical catalyst designed to generate further constructive knowledge and awareness about the relevance of engaging the user at the early stage of the design process

Міфологізм у символістській прозі Клима Поліщука

The particularities of mythology in symbolist prose by Klym Polishchuk are explained in the article. There are two time planes of plot evolvement in fantastic stories by Klym PolishchukG past and present. Fantastic events in the past have continuation in

Особливості гендерної характеризації персонажів та гендерні характеристики автора

BACKGROUND: The colonial war that Portugal was involved in between 1961 and 1974 had a significant impact on veterans and their families. However, it is unclear what the consequences of this war are, in particular with regard to levels of childhood maltreatment (CM) in offspring. OBJECTIVE: Our study aims to analyze the influences of fathers' war exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on the offspring's CM and simultaneously test the hypothesis of the intergenerational transmission of father-child CM. METHOD: Cross-sectional data were collected, using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form, from 203 adult children and 117 fathers. Subjects were distributed according to three conditions based on the father's war exposure status: did not participate in war, or non-war-exposed (NW); participated in war, or war-exposed (W); and war-exposed with PTSD diagnosis (WP). The data were examined using correlations, variance/covariance, and regression analyses. RESULTS: Children of war veterans with PTSD reported more emotional and physical neglect, while their fathers reported increased emotional and physical abuse exposure during their own childhood. Significant father-child CM correlations were found in the war veteran group but less in the war veteran with PTSD group. Father CM predicted 16% of offspring CM of children of war veterans. CONCLUSIONS: The father's war-related PTSD might be a risk factor for offspring neglect but potentially a protective one for the father-child abuse transmission. War-exposed fathers without PTSD did transmit their own CM experiences more often. Therefore, father's war exposure and father's war PTSD may each be important variables to take into account in the study of intergenerational transmission of C

The Limbic System Conception and Its Historical Evolution

Throughout the centuries, scientific observers have endeavoured to extend their knowledge of the interrelationships between the brain and its regulatory control of human emotions and behaviour. Since the time of physicians such as Aristotle and Galen and the more recent observations of clinicians and neuropathologists such as Broca, Papez, and McLean, the field of affective neuroscience has matured to become the province of neuroscientists, neuropsychologists, neurologists, and psychiatrists. It is accepted that the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex, hippocampus, and insula participate in the majority of emotional processes. New imaging technologies and molecular biology discoveries are expanding further the frontiers of knowledge in this arena. The advancements of knowledge on the interplay between the human brain and emotions came about as the legacy of the pioneers mentioned in this field. The aim of this paper is to describe the historical evolution of the scientific understanding of interconnections between the human brain, behaviour, and emotions