War-Affected Children and Youth in Northern Uganda: Toward a Brighter Future

Examines current efforts by international organizations and local communities to aid children and youth living in internally displaced camps. Identifies programs to improve health care, education, economic activities, and justice and amnesty mechanisms

When the War Ends: A Population-Based Survey on Attitudes About Peace, Justice and Social Reconstruction in Northern Uganda

Analyzes survey findings on northern Ugandans' displacement and resettlement as well as views on peace, justice, and social reconstruction during peace talks between the Ugandan government and the Lord Resistance Army. Includes recommendations

RELEASE-HF study:a protocol for an observational, registry-based study on the effectiveness of telemedicine in heart failure in the Netherlands

Introduction:Meta-analyses show postive effects of telemedicine in heart failure (HF) management on hospitalisation, mortality and costs. However, these effects are heterogeneous due to variation in the included HF population, the telemedicine components and the quality of the comparator usual care. Still, telemedicine is gaining acceptance in HF management. The current nationwide study aims to identify (1) in which subgroup(s) of patients with HF telemedicine is (cost-)effective and (2) which components of telemedicine are most (cost-) effective. Methods and analysis:The RELEASE-HF ('REsponsible roLl-out of E-heAlth through Systematic Evaluation -Heart Failure') study is a multicentre, observational, registry-based cohort study that plans to enrol 6480 patients with HF using data from the HF registry facilitated by the Netherlands Heart Registration. Collected data include patient characteristics, treatment information and clinical outcomes, and are measured at HF diagnosis and at 6 and 12 months afterwards. The components of telemedicine are described at the hospital level based on closed-ended interviews with clinicians and at the patient level based on additional data extracted from electronic health records and telemedicine-generated data. The costs of telemedicine are calculated using registration data and interviews with clinicians and finance department staff. To overcome missing data, additional national databases will be linked to the HF registry if feasible. Heterogeneity of the effects of offering telemedicine compared with not offering on days alive without unplanned hospitalisations in 1 year is assessed across predefined patient characteristics using exploratory stratified analyses. The effects of telemedicine components are assessed by fitting separate models for component contrasts. Ethics and dissemination:The study has been approved by the Medical Ethics Committee 2021 of the University Medical Center Utrecht (the Netherlands). Results will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at (inter)national conferences. Effective telemedicine scenarios will be proposed among hospitals throughout the country and abroad, if applicable and feasible.</p

RELEASE-HF study:a protocol for an observational, registry-based study on the effectiveness of telemedicine in heart failure in the Netherlands

Introduction:Meta-analyses show postive effects of telemedicine in heart failure (HF) management on hospitalisation, mortality and costs. However, these effects are heterogeneous due to variation in the included HF population, the telemedicine components and the quality of the comparator usual care. Still, telemedicine is gaining acceptance in HF management. The current nationwide study aims to identify (1) in which subgroup(s) of patients with HF telemedicine is (cost-)effective and (2) which components of telemedicine are most (cost-) effective. Methods and analysis:The RELEASE-HF ('REsponsible roLl-out of E-heAlth through Systematic Evaluation -Heart Failure') study is a multicentre, observational, registry-based cohort study that plans to enrol 6480 patients with HF using data from the HF registry facilitated by the Netherlands Heart Registration. Collected data include patient characteristics, treatment information and clinical outcomes, and are measured at HF diagnosis and at 6 and 12 months afterwards. The components of telemedicine are described at the hospital level based on closed-ended interviews with clinicians and at the patient level based on additional data extracted from electronic health records and telemedicine-generated data. The costs of telemedicine are calculated using registration data and interviews with clinicians and finance department staff. To overcome missing data, additional national databases will be linked to the HF registry if feasible. Heterogeneity of the effects of offering telemedicine compared with not offering on days alive without unplanned hospitalisations in 1 year is assessed across predefined patient characteristics using exploratory stratified analyses. The effects of telemedicine components are assessed by fitting separate models for component contrasts. Ethics and dissemination:The study has been approved by the Medical Ethics Committee 2021 of the University Medical Center Utrecht (the Netherlands). Results will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at (inter)national conferences. Effective telemedicine scenarios will be proposed among hospitals throughout the country and abroad, if applicable and feasible.</p

DETECTING PATTERNS IN OBJECT-ORIENTED SOURCE CODE – A CASE STUDY

Abstract: Pattern detection methods discover recurring solutions in a system’s implementation, for example design patterns in object-oriented source code. Usually this is done with a pattern library. This has the disadvantage that the precise implementation of the patterns must be known in advance. The method used in our case study does not have this disadvantage. It uses a mathematical technique called Formal Concept Analysis and is applied to find structural patterns in two subsystems of a printer controller. The case study shows that it is possible to detect frequently used structural design constructs without upfront knowledge. However, even the detection of relatively simple patterns in relatively small pieces of software takes a lot of computing time. Since this is due to the complexity of the applied algorithms, applying the method to large software systems like the complete controller is not practical. They can be applied to its subsystems though, which are about five to ten percent of its size

Pattern detection in object-oriented source code

Pattern detection methods discover recurring solutions, like design patterns in object-oriented source code. Usually this is done with a pattern library. Hence, the precise implementation of the patterns must be known in advance. The method used in our case study does not have this disadvantage. It uses a mathematical technique, Formal Concept Analysis, and is applied to find structural patterns in two subsystems of a printer controller. The case study shows that it is possible to detect frequently used structural design constructs without upfront knowledge. However, even the detection of relatively simple patterns in relatively small pieces of software takes a lot of computing time. Since this is due to the complexity of the applied algorithms, applying the method to large software systems like the complete controller is not practical. It can be applied to its subsystems though, which are about 5-10% of its size.</p

Using Version Information in Architectural Clustering – A Case Study

This paper describes a case study that uses clustering to group classes of an existing objectoriented system of significant size into subsystems. The clustering process is based on the structural relations between the classes: associations, generalizations and dependencies. We experiment with different combinations of relationships and different ways to use this information in the clustering process. The results clearly show that dependency relations are vital to achieve good clusterings. The clustering is performed with a third party tool called Bunch. Compared to other clustering methods the results come relatively close to the result of a manual reconstruction. Performance wise the clustering takes a significant amount of time, but not too much to make it unpractical. In our case study, we base the clustering on information from multiple versions and compare the result to that obtained when basing the clustering on a single version. We experiment with several combinations of versions. If the clustering is based on relations that were present in both the reconstructed and the first version this leads to a significantly better clustering result compared to that obtained when using only information from the reconstructed version. 1

Forgotten Voices: A Population-Based Survey of Attitudes About Peace and Justice in Northern Uganda

For nearly two decades, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has waged a war against the people of Northern Uganda. The group’s conflict with government forces has received little international attention, even though as many as 1.6 million civilians have been displaced and now languish in dozens of squalid camps throughout the countryside. In recent years, several researchers have conducted qualitative studies of the factors influencing peace and justice considerations in the north, primarily comprising interviews with Ugandan government officials, humanitarian workers, traditional and religious leaders, former LRA members, and others. These studies have contributed greatly to our understanding of the challenges policymakers face in their efforts to end years of war. Yet most research has not included population-based data that represent the spectrum of attitudes and opinions of those most affected by the violence. This report seeks to fill that void.The report presents the findings of a study conducted by researchers from the Human Rights Center (HRC), University of California, Berkeley, in partnership with the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), Payson Center of Tulane University and Makerere University Institute of Public Health.. The findings are based on the preliminary analysis of quantitative data collected from cross-sectional survey of 2,585 individuals residing in the four selected directs in northern Uganda—Gulu and Kitgum (both Acholi districts), and Lira and Soroti (both non-Acholi districts)—between April 20 and May 2, 2005. The specific objectives of the survey were to: 1) Measure the overall exposure to violence as a result of war and human rights abuses in Northern Uganda since 1987; 2) Understand the immediate needs and concerns of residents of towns, villages, and internally displaced person (IDP) camps in Northern Uganda; 3) Capture opinions and attitudes about specific transitional justice mechanisms, including trials, traditional justice, truth commissions, and reparations; and 4) Elucidate views on the relationship between peace and justice in Northern Uganda

Northern Uganda:Research Note on Attitudes about Peace and Justice in Northern Uganda

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