Central Asia Wars and Ethnic Conflicts – Rebuilding Failed States

human development, culture

La incierta transición de Afganistán: del caos a la normalidad

Este documento de trabajo es una traducción, realizada por el Real Instituto Elcano, del publicado originalmente en inglés por el Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), organismo sin afiliación política, con sedes en Washington y Nueva York, dedicado a la publicación y difusión de ideas para facilitar la comprensión de la situación mundial y de las medidas de política exterior adoptadas en los Estados Unidos y otros Estados

Sibling Support Program: A Family-Centered Mental Health Initiative

Sibling Support Program: A Family-Centered Mental Health Initiative was developed at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center of the University of Massachusetts Medical School. The project is currently implemented at Cambridge Health Alliance in Cambridge, Massachusetts as an IRB-approved research study, and at another Boston-based hospital as a Quality Improvement (QI) initiative. The program was also piloted at Boston Children\u27s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. The project explores the impact of mental illness on typically developing siblings and caregivers of children with psychiatric needs. Project goals: to increase resiliency and mitigate the trauma commonly experienced by siblings of children admitted for psychiatric hospitalization; to build skills, competency and confidence among parents; to help restore family stability post-discharge; to build capacity among medical practitioners. Interventions include psycho-educational groups for caregivers, and sibling support groups for children growing up alongside the patient. Participants complete surveys following the intervention to report on knowledge learned, satisfaction level, and behavioral change anticipated by the participant. Over 1,500 participants have participated in this innovative program that utilizes parent mentors and medical trainees to deliver interventions, with high satisfaction scores among participants. Results suggest that a child\u27s mental illness can be traumatic for family members, and that sharing stories can alleviate the stress and anxiety related to living in a home with a child with mental illness. The program serves as a training rotation for psychiatry residents through Harvard Medical School

Entanglement and visibility at the output of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer

We study the entanglement between the two beams exiting a Mach-Zehnder interferometer fed by a couple of squeezed-coherent states with arbitrary squeezing parameter. The quantum correlations at the output are function of the internal phase-shift of the interferometer, with the output state ranging from a totally disentangled state to a state whose degree of entanglement is an increasing function of the input squeezing parameter. A couple of squeezed vacuum at the input leads to maximum entangled state at the output. The fringes visibilities resulting from measuring the coincidence counting rate or the squared difference photocurrent are evaluated and compared each other. Homodyne-like detection turns out to be preferable in almost all situations, with the exception of the very low signals regime.Comment: 6 figs, accepted for publication on PRA, see also http://enterprise.pv.infn.it/~pari

The contribution of a negative colorectal screening test result to symptom appraisal and help-seeking behaviour among patients subsequently diagnosed with an interval colorectal cancer

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening programmes using a guaiac faecal occult blood test (gFOBt) reduce CRC mortality. Interval cancers are diagnosed between screening rounds: reassurance from a negative gFOBt has the potential to influence the pathway to diagnosis of an interval colorectal cancer. Methods: Twenty-six semi-structured face-to-face interviews were carried out in Scotland and England, with individuals diagnosed with an interval colorectal cancer following a negative gFOBt result. Results: Participants reported they were reassured by a negative gFOBt, interpreting their result as an "all clear". Therefore, most did not suspect cancer as a possible cause of symptoms and many did not recall their screening result during symptom appraisal. Among those who did consider cancer, and did think about their screening test result, reassurance from a negative gFOBt led some to "downplay" the seriousness of their symptoms with some interviewees explicitly stating that their negative test result contributed to a delayed decision to seek help. Conclusion: Screening participants need to be informed of the limitations of screening and the ongoing risk of developing colorectal cancer even when in receipt of a negative result: the importance of minimizing delay in seeking medical advice for colorectal symptoms should be emphasized