Report on the Workshop on Refugee and Asylum Policy in Practice in Europe and North America

Western nations have struggled to accomplish the dual goals of refugee and asylum policies: (1) identifying and protecting Convention refugees as well as those fleeing civil conflict; and (2) controlling for abuse. The Workshop on Refugee and Asylum Policy in Practice in Europe and North America was organized to facilitate a transatlantic dialogue to explore just how well these asylum systems are balancing the dual goals. The workshop exa!llined key elements of the U.S. and European asylum systems: decision making on claims, deterrence of abuse, independent review, return of rejected asylum seekers, scope of the refugee concept, social rights and employment, international cooperation, and data and evaluation. The Workshop was convened by the Institute for the Study of International Migration (ISIM) of Georgetown University and the Center for the Study of Immigration, Integration and Citizenship Policies (CEPIC) of the Centre Nationale de Recherche Scientifique, with the support of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. It was held on July 1-3, 1999, at Oxford University. Workshop participants included government officials, scholars, and representatives from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) actively involved in analyzing and implementing refugee and asylum policies. This report outlines the major points of discussion and the areas of consensus at the Workshop, and emphasizes the issues in need of further analysis and agreement. Through this report, the Workshop seeks to encourage further discussion on refugee and asylum policies in practice in order to clarify, develop, and improve the existing mechanisms for protection

Influences of lifelong learning on adults' expectations and experiences of returning to formal learning contexts

This multi-site qualitative study focused on mature students'\ud meanings for and experiences of learning inside and outside formal\ud education. Its purpose was to ascertain how influences of lifelong\ud learning shape adults' expectations and experiences of returning to a\ud formal learning situation after a gap of at least three years. Eight\ud cycles of inquiry were guided by continual data analysis. Sources for\ud data collection and analysis during cycles 1-7, involving 48\ud participants, included life story interviews with 3S; group\ud interviews with 21, 11 of whom were also seen individually or in\ud pairs; conversations with students; written material; reflexive\ud field notes. Two cycles involved follow ups of participants who had\ud moved to another formal learning situation. Additional groups of adult\ud learners were used in Cycle 8 to check meaningfulness and credibility\ud of the final data analysis. In Cycles 1-7, adults spoke from the\ud vantage points of 55 different formal learning situations, 48 of which\ud were in higher education. The majority of participants are identified\ud as 'non-traditional' in the higher education literature.\ud The final analysis is presented in four main sections: learning\ud during the initial school years; learning as an adult outside formal\ud education; expectations of and transitions to formal learning\ud contexts; experiences of formal learning situations, and especially\ud higher education. An additional section summarises checks for\ud meaningfulness and credibility of the final data analysis with study\ud and non-study participants. The notion of 'disjunction and\ud integration' serves to organise the final analysis. Learning\ud experiences characterised by disjunction or integration are seen to\ud shape a sense of 'learner identity and possibility' in particular\ud ways. These sensitising concepts provide a way of illuminating the\ud situation of adult learners from a perspective not currently found in\ud the literature relating to access and mature students. The\ud implications of study outcomes are considered with respect to current\ud concerns to widen access to British higher education

Balancing Instrumental, Biographic and Social Competencies: Enhancing the Participation of Young Adults in Economic and Social Processes

No abstract available

An Investigation of ISR Coordination and Information Presentation Strategies to Support Expeditionary Strike Groups

12th ICCRTS, Adapting C2 to the 21st CenturyThis paper describes a planned experiment based on the combined research of the Adaptive Architectures for Command and Control (A2C2) and the Command-21 programs, both of which are sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. In line with the theme of this year’s symposium, “Adapting C2 to the 21st Century,” in this research we focus on the nexus of organizational design and information presentation strategies — both of which are undergoing dramatic changes in form and function within the US military. The formation of Expeditionary Strike Groups (ESGs) provides one example of the transformational vision provided in the Naval Operating Concept where Strike Groups offer the potential to revolutionize naval warfare in the littoral region. The ESG provides a flexible force package, capable of tailoring itself to accomplish a wide variety of mission sets. In this effort, we seek to explore how ESGs with alternative structures and processes, in this case specifically related to incorporation of an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) officer and different information presen-tation strategies, can affect performance and information flow in an information rich planning and execution environment

Phase 1b safety study of farletuzumab, carboplatin and pegylated liposomal doxorubicin in patients with platinum-sensitive epithelial ovarian cancer

Farletuzumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody that binds to folate receptor alpha, over-expressed in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) but largely absent in normal tissue. Previously, carboplatin plus pegylated liposomal doxorubicin showed superior progression-free survival and an improved therapeutic index compared with carboplatin/paclitaxel in relapsed platinum-sensitive EOC. This study assessed safety of farletuzumab/carboplatin/pegylated liposomal doxorubicin in women with platinum-sensitive recurrent EOC

A review of hospital-based health promotion programs in Michigan non-governmental hospitals

In 1983, the 217 hospitals of the Michigan Hospital Association (MHA) were surveyed to learn more about their efforts in health promotion programming. Eighty percent (174 hospitals) responded to the survey, with 48% reporting on 532 programs. Those programs included 216 in health promotion as defined by the survey instructions, 110 in disease management, 66 in first aid and safety, 87 screening, and 53 miscellaneous education programs. Further particulars about the programs are presented, including information regarding program audience, times offered per year, median enrollment, median participant hours, program age, number and type of educational methods used, follow-up methods, and fees charged.Hospital administrators' perceptions regarding health promotion programs were also surveyed. They indicated a higher level of interest in providing such programs because they viewed them as a needed community service. Conversely, they did not see them as a revenue generator. Seventy-two percent of the responding administrators indicated they currently offered health promotion programs, although only 48% submitted information regarding them. Seventy percent said they planned to begin new health promotion programs within the next 12 months, while only 6% planned to discontinue programs in the next year.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/25477/1/0000017.pd

Myelopathy following intrathecal chemotherapy in a patient with extensive burkitt's lymphoma and altered immune status

A 30-year-old homosexual man presented with widespread Burkitt's lymphoma. On the basis of immunologic and viral studies, he was suspected of having the acquired Immune deficiency syndrome. Following chemotherapy that included Intrathecal cytosine arabinoside and methotrexate, brain stem edema, paraplegia, and an elevated cerebrospinal fluid level of myelin basic protein developed. Autopsy revealed vacuolar demyelination of spinal cord, brain stem, and cerebellum. The pathologic findings were similar to those reported to occur In myelopathy associated with intrathecal chemotherapy, but far more extensive. The contribution of the suspected acquired immune deficiency syndrome is unknown.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/25727/1/0000284.pd

Histopathologic Improvement with Lymphedema Management, Léogâne, Haiti

Basic management improves the histologic profile of limbs in patients with filarial lymphedema

Therapeutic Neonatal Hepatic Gene Therapy in Mucopolysaccharidosis VII Dogs

Dogs with mucopolysaccharidosis VII (MPS VII) were injected intravenously at 2–3 days of age with a retroviral vector (RV) expressing canine β-glucuronidase (cGUSB). Five animals received RV alone, and two dogs received hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) before RV in an attempt to increase transduction efficiency. Transduced hepatocytes expanded clonally during normal liver growth and secreted enzyme with mannose 6-phosphate. Serum GUSB activity was stable for up to 14 months at normal levels for the RV-treated dogs, and for 17 months at 67-fold normal for the HGF/RV-treated dog. GUSB activity in other organs was 1.5–60% of normal at 6 months for two RV-treated dogs, which was likely because of uptake of enzyme from blood by the mannose 6-phosphate receptor. The body weights of untreated MPS VII dogs are 50% of normal at 6 months. MPS VII dogs cannot walk or stand after 6 months, and progressively develop eye and heart disease. RV- and HGF/RV-treated MPS VII dogs achieved 87% and 84% of normal body weight, respectively. Treated animals could run at all times of evaluation for 6–17 months because of improvements in bone and joint abnormalities, and had little or no corneal clouding and no mitral valve thickening. Despite higher GUSB expression, the clinical improvements in the HGF/RV-treated dog were similar to those in the RV-treated animals. This is the first successful application of gene therapy in preventing the clinical manifestations of a lysosomal storage disease in a large animal

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase II study to assess the efficacy/safety of farletuzumab in combination with carboplatin plus paclitaxel or carboplatin plus pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD) in women with low CA-125 platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer

Objectives: The primary objective of this study (MORAb-003-011/ENGOT-ov27) was to determine if farletuzumab (FAR) had superior efficacy compared with placebo (PLB) in improving progression-free survival (PFS) when added to carboplatin (carbo)/paclitaxel (pacli) or carbo/PLD, in subjects with platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer in first relapse (platinum-free interval: 6-36 months) with low cancer antigen 125 (CA-125). CA-125 inhibits target cell killing via antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, thereby reducing the efficacy of immunotherapeutic antibodies. Subgroup analysis in a prior randomized Phase III study±FAR suggested that subjects with CA-125 levels ≤3 x upper limit of normal (ULN), showed superior PFS (hazard risk [HR] = 0.49) and overall survival (OS, HR = 0.44) compared with PLB. Methods: Eligibility included age ≥18 years old, CA-125 ≤3 x ULN (105 U/mL), high-grade serous epithelial ovarian cancer, and previous treatment with debulking surgery and first-line platinum-based chemotherapy. Subjects received 6 cycles with either carbo/pacli every 3 weeks or carbo/PLD in combination with either FAR [5 mg/kg weekly] or PLB in a 2:1 ratio. Maintenance treatment with FAR (5 mg/kg weekly) or PLB was given until disease progression. Tumor assessments were every 6 weeks during the Combination Treatment Phase and every 9 weeks during the Maintenance Treatment Phase. The study was designed to detect a PFS HR of 0.667 (33.3% risk reduction) with FAR compared with PLB with approximately 85% power and a 1-sided type I error rate of 0.10. The comparison of PFS between treatment groups was based on the log-rank test. The HR was estimated based on Cox\u27s proportional-hazards model. Results: A total of 214 subjects were randomized and enrolled, 142 with FAR+chemotherapy (FAR-CT) and 72 with placebo+chemotherapy (PLB-CT). The median PFS in the Intent-to-Treat [ITT] Population was not significantly different between treatment groups; 11.7 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 10.2, 13.6) versus 10.8 months (95% CI: 9.5, 13.2) for FAR-CT and PLB-CT, respectively (HR = 0.89; 80% CI: 0.71, 1.11). An interim analysis of OS showed no significant difference between treatment groups. The overall response rate (ORR) was 69.6% in 96 subjects treated with FAR-CT versus 73.5% in 50 subjects treated with PLB-CT (p=0.53). No significant differences between treatment groups were observed for any other efficacy parameters. The safety profile of the 2 treatment groups was similar except for an increase in interstitial lung disease among the FAR cohort. Interstitial lung disease occurred in 7 of 141 (5.0%) subjects treated with FAR-CT (1 with Grade 1, 4 with Grade 2, and 2 with Grade 3) and none in subjects treated with PLB-CT. Conclusions: The combination of FAR-CT did not show signals of superior efficacy compared with PLB-CT in improving PFS or other efficacy parameters in subjects with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer in first relapse who had low CA-125 levels. No new safety concerns were identified with the combination of FAR-CT. Since FAR binds to the folate receptor alpha, a novel antibody-drug conjugate has been developed and clinical studies are ongoing to assess the safety/efficacy of this modification. Clinical Trial Registry: NCT02289950