The duty to bring children living in conflict zones to a safe haven.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Schweiger G
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5479336 | biostudies-other | 2016 Sep
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
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Project description: Not available
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Project description:The Arab world has struggled with conflict and political turmoil for several decades, rendering its already underdeveloped mental healthcare system unable to serve the psychiatric needs of victims of violence and trauma, with consequences that extend far beyond the cessation of hostilities. This role has become incumbent on international relief agencies, which have expanded mental health programmes in countries of conflict and refuge. Although their intervention has overall been positive, their mission is usually short term, leaving countries unable to maintain these advantages when the funding ends. The authors advocate for a sustainable framework that emphasises a larger role for regional and local actors. Expertise that is culturally and socially grounded could take the initiative in research, training and deployment in collaboration with non-governmental organisations, allowing for comprehensive development of the mental health sector.
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Project description:Chromosome replication and transcription occur within a complex nuclear milieu whose functional subdomains are only beginning to be mapped out. The nuclear envelope (NE) generally interacts with heterochromatic regions of the genome that are inherently difficult to replicate. Here we delineate compositionally and functionally distict domains of the fission yeast NE, focusing on the NE regions specifically enriched for the inner NE protein, Bqt4, or the conserved lamin interacting domain protein, Lem2. Bqt4 is relatively mobile around the NE and acts in two capacities. First, Bqt4 is required for tethering two key heterochromatic regions, the chromosome termini and the mat locus, to the NE specifically while these regions are undergoing DNA replication. This positioning is required for robust replication and heterochromatin assembly in the wake of the replication fork. Second, Bqt4 mobilizes a subset of Lem2 molecules around the NE, where Lem2/Bqt4 promote pericentric heterochromatin maintenance. Opposing Bqt4-dependent Lem2 mobility are factors that stabilize Lem2 at its most abundant localization site beneath the centrosome, where Lem2 plays a crucial role in kinetochore maintenance. Our data prompt a model in which Bqt4-rich nuclear subdomains are ‘safe zones’ in which collisions between transcription and replication are averted and heterochromatin is reassembled faithfully following replication.
2017-10-20 | GSE105184 | GEO
Project description:Many post-disaster and post-conflict regions do not have sufficient data on their transportation infrastructure assets, hindering both mobility and reconstruction. In particular, as the number of ageing and deteriorating bridges increases, it is necessary to quantify their load characteristics in order to inform maintenance and asset databases. The load carrying capacity and the design load are considered as the main aspects of any civil structures. Human examination can be costly and slow when expertise is lacking in challenging scenarios. In this paper, we propose to employ deep learning as a method to estimate the load carrying capacity from crowdsourced images. A convolutional neural network architecture is trained on data from over 6000 bridges, which will benefit future research and applications. We observe significant variations in the dataset (e.g. class interval, image completion, image colour) and quantify their impact on the prediction accuracy, precision, recall and F1 score. Finally, practical optimization is performed by converting multiclass classification into binary classification to achieve a promising field use performance.
| S-EPMC6936281 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundGenetic diversity in Plasmodium falciparum populations can be used to describe the resilience and spatial distribution of the parasite in the midst of intensified intervention efforts. This study used microsatellite analysis to evaluate the genetic diversity and population dynamics of P. falciparum parasites circulating in three ecological zones of Ghana.MethodsA total of 1168 afebrile children aged between 3 to 13 years were recruited from five (5) Primary schools in 3 different ecological zones (Sahel (Tamale and Kumbungu), Forest (Konongo) and Coastal (Ada and Dodowa)) of Ghana. Asymptomatic malaria parasite carriage was determined using microscopy and PCR, whilst fragment analysis of 6 microsatellite loci was used to determine the diversity and population structure of P. falciparum parasites.ResultsOut of the 1168 samples examined, 16.1 and 39.5% tested positive for P. falciparum by microscopy and nested PCR respectively. The genetic diversity of parasites in the 3 ecological zones was generally high, with an average heterozygosity (He) of 0.804, 0.787 and 0.608 the rainy (peak) season for the Sahel, Forest and Coastal zones respectively. The mean He for the dry (off-peak) season were 0.562, 0.693 and 0.610 for the Sahel, Forest and Coastal zones respectively. Parasites from the Forest zone were more closely related to those from the Sahel than from the Coastal zone, despite the Coastal zone being closer in physical distance to the Forest zone. The fixation indexes among study sites ranged from 0.049 to 0.112 during the rainy season and 0.112 to 0.348 during the dry season.ConclusionA large asymptomatic parasite reservoir was found in the school children during both rainy and dry seasons, especially those in the Forest and Sahel savannah zones where parasites were also found to be related compared to those from the Coastal zone. Further studies are recommended to understand why despite the roll out of several malaria interventions in Ghana, high transmission still persist.
| S-EPMC8120845 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe population effects of armed conflict on non-combatant vulnerable populations are incompletely understood. We aimed to study the effects of conflict on mortality among women of childbearing age (15-49 years) and on orphanhood among children younger than 15 years in Africa.MethodsWe tested the extent to which mortality among women aged 15-49 years, and orphanhood among children younger than 15 years, increased in response to nearby armed conflict in Africa. Data on location, timing, and intensity of armed conflicts were obtained from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program, and data on the location, timing, and outcomes of women and children from Demographic and Health Surveys done in 35 African countries from 1990 to 2016. Mortality among women was obtained from sibling survival data. We used cluster-area fixed-effects regression models to compare survival of women during periods of nearby conflict (within 50 km) to survival of women in the same area during times without conflict. We used similar methods to examine the extent to which children living near armed conflicts are at increased risk of becoming orphans. We examined the effects of varying conflict intensity using number of direct battle deaths and duration of consecutive conflict exposure.FindingsWe analysed data on 1 629 352 women (19 286 387 person-years), of which 103 011 (6·3%) died (534·1 deaths per 100 000 women-years), and 2 354 041 children younger than 15 years, of which 204 276 (8·7%) had lost a parent. On average, conflict within 50 km increased women's mortality by 112 deaths per 100 000 person-years (95% CI 97-128; a 21% increase above baseline), and the probability that a child has lost at least one parent by 6·0% (95% CI 3-8). This effect was driven by high-intensity conflicts: exposure to the highest (tenth) decile conflict in terms of conflict-related deaths increased the probability of female mortality by 202% (187-218) and increased the likelihood of orphanhood by 42% compared with a conflict-free period. Among the conflict-attributed deaths, 10% were due to maternal mortality.InterpretationAfrican women of childbearing age are at a substantially increased risk of death from nearby high-intensity armed conflicts. Children exposed to conflict are analogously at increased risk of becoming orphans. This work fills gaps in literature on the harmful effects of armed conflict on non-combatants and highlights the need for humanitarian interventions to protect vulnerable populations.FundingBill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the BRANCH Consortium.
| S-EPMC7024993 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundRobotic-assisted total knee arthroplasty may result in array pin-related complications. Lack of knowledge on ideal pin placement results in varied insertion sites and trajectory, with unknown risks to surrounding neurovascular structures.MethodsThis study included 10 lower-extremity magnetic resonance images. Images were subdivided into 6 zones of study. Zones consisted of a correlating axial image with femoral pin placement replicated by drawing a line angled 45° from the anterior to posterior reference in the anteromedial to posterolateral femoral quadrants. The distances from the pin paths to the neurovascular structures were measured.ResultsZone 2C demonstrated femoral pin trajectory an average of 14 mm from the femoral artery/vein. In Zone 2B, proximity increased to an average of 30 mm to the femoral artery and 29 mm to the femoral vein. At Zone 1A, the popliteal artery and vein were on average 22 mm from the femoral pin, while the common peroneal nerve was an average of 21 mm. Placing pins in Zone 1A poses a high risk of injury to the genicular arteries. Women demonstrated greater proximity to neurovascular structures than men in 66% of the sites (P < .05).ConclusionsThis classification system for safe zones and trajectory of femoral pin placement in robotic-assisted total knee arthroplasty demonstrates that proximally, the profunda femoris and femoral artery/vein are at risk of injury, while distally, the genicular arteries, common peroneal nerve, and popliteal artery/vein are at risk. Caution should be exercised if femoral pins are inserted with an angle less than 45°, especially in women.
| S-EPMC10517266 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The prevalence of underweight among children below 60 months old in Nigeria remains a significant public health challenge, especially in northern geopolitical zones (NGZ), ranging from 15% to 35%. This study investigates time-based trends in underweight prevalence and its related characteristics among NGZ children below 60 months old. Extracted NGZ representative dataset of 33,776 live births from the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey between 2008 and 2018 was used to assess the characteristics related to underweight prevalence in children aged 0-23, 24-59, and 0-59 months using multilevel logistics regression. Findings showed that 11,313 NGZ children below 60 months old were underweight, and 24-59-month-old children recorded the highest prevalence (34.8%; 95% confidence interval: 33.5-36.2). Four factors were consistently significantly related to underweight prevalence in children across the three age groups: poor or average-income households, maternal height, children who had diarrhoea episodes, and children living in the northeast or northwest. Intervention initiatives that include poverty alleviation through cash transfer, timely health checks of offspring of short mothers, and adequate clean water and sanitation infrastructure to reduce the incidence of diarrhoea can substantially reduce underweight prevalence among children in NGZ in Nigeria.
| S-EPMC9142964 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Chromosome replication and transcription occur within a complex nuclear milieu whose functional subdomains are beginning to be mapped out. Here we delineate distinct domains of the fission yeast nuclear envelope (NE), focusing on regions enriched for the inner NE protein, Bqt4, or the lamin interacting domain protein, Lem2. Bqt4 is relatively mobile around the NE and acts in two capacities. First, Bqt4 tethers chromosome termini and the mat locus to the NE specifically while these regions are replicating. This positioning is required for accurate heterochromatin replication. Second, Bqt4 mobilizes a subset of Lem2 molecules around the NE to promote pericentric heterochromatin maintenance. Opposing Bqt4-dependent Lem2 mobility are factors that stabilize Lem2 beneath the centrosome, where Lem2 plays a crucial role in kinetochore maintenance. Our data prompt a model in which Bqt4-rich nuclear subdomains are 'safe zones' in which collisions between transcription and replication are averted and heterochromatin is reassembled faithfully.
| S-EPMC5933923 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundIn total hip arthroplasty (THA), component position is critical to avoid instability and improve longevity. Appropriate combined femoral and acetabular component anteversion is important for improved THA stability and increased impingement-free range of motion. In direct anterior THA (DA-THA), concern has been expressed regarding the accuracy of femoral component positioning. This study seeks to quantify acetabular, femoral, and combined component orientation relative to the accepted "safe zones" in patients who have undergone DA-THA.MethodsTwenty-nine patients who had THA performed via direct anterior approach had postoperative computerized tomography scans done to assess femoral anteversion. Stem rotational alignment was measured relative to the transepicondylar axis (TEA) and the posterior condylar axis (PCA) of the femur at the knee. Acetabular abduction and version were recorded on anteroposterior pelvis radiographs.ResultsThe mean stem anteversion was 17.5° (standard deviation = 10.8°) from the TEA and 21.7° (standard deviation = 11.3°) from the PCA. Ten of 30 cups were appropriately anteverted; however, all the cups had appropriate abduction. Combined version when using the TEA resulted in 79% (23/29) of patients within the "safe zone" of 25°-50°. Pearson correlation coefficients were high for both stem anteversion from the TEA (R = 0.96) and PCA (R = 0.98); however, interobserver reliability for combined component anteversion was greater for the TEA (kappa, 0.83 vs 0.65).ConclusionsCombined anteversion within the "safe zone" was achieved 79% of the time with DA-THA. Interestingly, most of the "excessive" combined anteversion appears to be related to increased anteversion of the acetabular component with only 10 patients within the acetabular cup "safe zone" of 5°-25°.
| S-EPMC7451890 | biostudies-literature