What Works to Prevent Sexual Violence Against Children

The data is clear: Sexual violence affects girls and boys in every country around the world. For far too long it has been a silent pandemic, with little awareness of the scope, scale, and consequences of the problem or understanding of potential solutions. That silence has allowed violence against children to perpetuate. However, there is hope. Recently, there has been a global awakening to the issue of sexual violence against children. While there has been little conversation around solutions to prevent sexual violence, this document intends to change that. By analyzing the best available research on existing strategies and identifying the most effective and promising solutions, we have created a resource for decision-makers, advocates, and program implementers, showcasing what works to prevent sexual violence in childhood and adolescence. Building off the INSPIRE framework “Seven Strategies to Prevent Violence Against Children,” this evidence review looked at strategies specifically focused on preventing sexual violence. We then categorized these interventions as effective, promising, prudent, conflicting, no effect, or harmful. From school-based, safe-dating programs to community mobilization efforts, these evidence-based solutions showcase that there are practical, cost-effective programs that can help break the cycle of violence. The evidence shows that sexual violence can — and must — be prevented. Now it’s on us to bring these solutions to scale. Together, we can create a safer world for every child

Sensitivity of simulated crop yield and nitrate leaching of the wheat-maize cropping system in the North China Plain to model parameters

Process-based crop simulation models are often over-parameterised and are therefore difficult to calibrate properly. Following this rationale, the Morris screening sensitivity method was carried out on the DAISY model to identify the most influential input parameters operating on selected model outputs, i.e. crop yield, grain nitrogen (N), evapotranspiration and N leaching. The results obtained refer to the winter wheat-summer maize cropping system in the North China Plain. In this study, four different N fertiliser treatments over six years were considered based on a randomised field experiment at Luancheng Experimental Station to elucidate the impact of weather and nitrogen inputs on model sensitivity. A total of 128 parameters were considered for the sensitivity analysis. The ratios [output changes/parameter increments] demonstrated high standard deviations for the most relevant parameters, indicating high parameter non-linearity/interactions. In general, about 34 parameters influenced the outputs of the DAISY model for both crops. The most influential parameters depended on the output considered with sensitivity patterns consistent with the expected dominant processes. Interestingly, some parameters related to the previous crop were found to affect output variables of the following crop, illustrating the importance of considering crop sequences for model calibration. The developed RDAISY toolbox used in this study can serve as a basis for following sensitivity analysis of the DAISY model, thus enabling the selection of the most influential parameters to be considered with model calibration

The ‘doing’ and ‘undoing’ of male household decision-making and economic authority in Rwanda and its implications for gender transformative programming

This paper explores two key norms that can underpin intimate partner violence (IPV) in Rwanda: men’s role as economic provider and decision-making authority in the household. It describes the political, legal and socio-economic factors affecting these norms and how they create opportunities and barriers to ‘undoing’ restrictive gender norms. The findings are drawn from an evaluation of Inadshyikirwa, an IPV prevention programme operating in Rwanda. Across 3 intervention sectors, 24 focus groups were conducted with unmarried and married men and women residing in intervention communities. 30 interviews with couples and 9 interviews with opinion leaders were conducted before they completed programme trainings designed to shift gender norms underlying IPV. The data indicates a strong awareness of and accountability to Rwandan laws and policies supporting women’s economic empowerment and decision-making, yet also persisting traditional notions of men as household heads and primary breadwinners. Transgression of these norms could be accommodated in some circumstances, especially those involving economic necessity. The data also identified an increasing recognition of the value of a more equitable partnership model. This paper highlights the importance of carefully assessing cracks in the existing gender order that can be exploited to support gender equality and non-violence

Pathways between childhood trauma, intimate partner violence, and harsh parenting : findings from the UN multi-country study on men and violence in Asia and the Pacific

2016-2017 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journal201804_a bcmaVersion of RecordPublishe

The Origin and Evolution of Mutations in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

SummaryMost mutations in cancer genomes are thought to be acquired after the initiating event, which may cause genomic instability and drive clonal evolution. However, for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), normal karyotypes are common, and genomic instability is unusual. To better understand clonal evolution in AML, we sequenced the genomes of M3-AML samples with a known initiating event (PML-RARA) versus the genomes of normal karyotype M1-AML samples and the exomes of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) from healthy people. Collectively, the data suggest that most of the mutations found in AML genomes are actually random events that occurred in HSPCs before they acquired the initiating mutation; the mutational history of that cell is “captured” as the clone expands. In many cases, only one or two additional, cooperating mutations are needed to generate the malignant founding clone. Cells from the founding clone can acquire additional cooperating mutations, yielding subclones that can contribute to disease progression and/or relapse

Evidence for increasing global wheat yield potential

Wheat is the most widely grown food crop, with 761 Mt produced globally in 2020. To meet the expected grain demand by mid-century, wheat breeding strategies must continue to improve upon yield-advancing physiological traits, regardless of climate change impacts. Here, the best performing doubled haploid (DH) crosses with an increased canopy photosynthesis from wheat field experiments in the literature were extrapolated to the global scale with a multi-model ensemble of process-based wheat crop models to estimate global wheat production. The DH field experiments were also used to determine a quantitative relationship between wheat production and solar radiation to estimate genetic yield potential. The multi-model ensemble projected a global annual wheat production of 1050 +/- 145 Mt due to the improved canopy photosynthesis, a 37% increase, without expanding cropping area. Achieving this genetic yield potential would meet the lower estimate of the projected grain demand in 2050, albeit with considerable challenges