Saving Young Lives: Pathfinder International’s Youth-Friendly Postabortion Care Project

As many as 2.5 million adolescent women seek abortion each year, and nearly 70,000 women die from complications related to unsafe abortion, of which almost half are women under the age of 25. A further 5 million women suffer disability due to unsafe abortion yearly. In most developing countries, abortion is legally restricted or highly inaccessible, which leads young women to seek services from unskilled practitioners often leading to incomplete, septic abortions and massive bleeding, which can result in permanent injury, infertility, and death. Based on our deeply held belief that all people, including adolescents, have a right to sexual and reproductive health services and the importance of addressing adolescent needs within Postabortion Care (PAC) services, Pathfinder used private funds to initiate a Youth-Friendly Postabortion Care (YFPAC) program in eight sub-Saharan African countries. Implemented between June 2007 and May 2008, the YFPAC program offered an opportunity to apply the PAC Consortium’s Technical Guidance on Youth-Friendly PAC, generating promising approaches and lessons learned. The goal of the YFPAC initiative was to increase access to PAC services that are responsive to adolescent needs in sub-Saharan Africa. While outcomes varied according to the country, the overall outcomes included: Increased community support for services and activities that prevent unwanted pregnancy, decreased stigma around abortion, and awareness of the issue of unsafe abortion among adolescent women: 311 peer educators reached almost 17,487 youth and other community members; 171 stakeholders (e.g., religious and traditional leaders, health officials, and local government officials) were sensitized on YFPAC, resulting in a positive shift in communities’ attitudes toward youth in need of PAC services. 125 service providers were trained to deliver YFPAC services and three doctors in Ghana were provided with a technical update on YFPAC. YFPAC services are available in Angola, Ghana, Nigeria, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Kenya. Pathfinder introduced YFPAC services into 25 facilities (in 27 service delivery points), and provided more than 3,800 clients with YFPAC services throughout the eight countries. The number of adolescent PAC clients seen at the project facilities increased— 710 clients were seen in the first quarter, 1,144 were seen in the fourth. The number of adolescent PAC clients who adopt a contraceptive method to prevent future unintended pregnancies has increased. Statistics show an average postabortion contraceptive acceptance of 69%, with the highest acceptance being 83% and the lowest being 44%. Evidence-based approaches, tools, and lessons learned are being disseminated and used for scale-up or replication of YFPAC interventions.

Los jóvenes entre la historia y la política : Primeras aproximaciones a las representaciones de la democracia, los gobiernos militares y la participación política de alumnos de la escuela secundaria

El presente trabajo forma parte del proyecto de investigación "Los jóvenes frente a la Historia" dirigido por Luis Cerri y Gonzalo de Amézola, cuyo objeto es abordar el estado actual de la enseñanza y del aprendizaje de la Historia en Argentina, Brasil y Uruguay. El proyecto parte de reconocer como problema la "falta de conocimientos sistemáticos sobre los resultados de la enseñanza de la historia, las características de la conciencia histórica y la cultura política de los jóvenes". El artículo centra su análisis en las respuestas a las preguntas referidas a los gobiernos militares, la democracia y el futuro de los jóvenes, presentes en una encuesta que realizaron en el 2008 alumnos de entre 15 y 16 años de distintas escuelas de la Argentina para acercarnos a sus conocimientos sobre dichos conceptos y al papel de la enseñanza de la Historia en su construcción. Al mismo tiempo se utilizan registros de clases de escuelas secundarias de la ciudad de La Plata para conocer de modo cualitativo las modalidades concretas que asumen las prácticas de la enseñanza en historia en las aulas

Los jóvenes entre la historia y la política : Primeras aproximaciones a las representaciones de la democracia, los gobiernos militares y la participación política de alumnos de la escuela secundaria

El presente trabajo forma parte del proyecto de investigación "Los jóvenes frente a la Historia" dirigido por Luis Cerri y Gonzalo de Amézola, cuyo objeto es abordar el estado actual de la enseñanza y del aprendizaje de la Historia en Argentina, Brasil y Uruguay. El proyecto parte de reconocer como problema la "falta de conocimientos sistemáticos sobre los resultados de la enseñanza de la historia, las características de la conciencia histórica y la cultura política de los jóvenes". El artículo centra su análisis en las respuestas a las preguntas referidas a los gobiernos militares, la democracia y el futuro de los jóvenes, presentes en una encuesta que realizaron en el 2008 alumnos de entre 15 y 16 años de distintas escuelas de la Argentina para acercarnos a sus conocimientos sobre dichos conceptos y al papel de la enseñanza de la Historia en su construcción. Al mismo tiempo se utilizan registros de clases de escuelas secundarias de la ciudad de La Plata para conocer de modo cualitativo las modalidades concretas que asumen las prácticas de la enseñanza en historia en las aulas

Los jóvenes entre la historia y la política : Primeras aproximaciones a las representaciones de la democracia, los gobiernos militares y la participación política de alumnos de la escuela secundaria

El presente trabajo forma parte del proyecto de investigación "Los jóvenes frente a la Historia" dirigido por Luis Cerri y Gonzalo de Amézola, cuyo objeto es abordar el estado actual de la enseñanza y del aprendizaje de la Historia en Argentina, Brasil y Uruguay. El proyecto parte de reconocer como problema la "falta de conocimientos sistemáticos sobre los resultados de la enseñanza de la historia, las características de la conciencia histórica y la cultura política de los jóvenes". El artículo centra su análisis en las respuestas a las preguntas referidas a los gobiernos militares, la democracia y el futuro de los jóvenes, presentes en una encuesta que realizaron en el 2008 alumnos de entre 15 y 16 años de distintas escuelas de la Argentina para acercarnos a sus conocimientos sobre dichos conceptos y al papel de la enseñanza de la Historia en su construcción. Al mismo tiempo se utilizan registros de clases de escuelas secundarias de la ciudad de La Plata para conocer de modo cualitativo las modalidades concretas que asumen las prácticas de la enseñanza en historia en las aulas

Examining the Alliance-Outcome Relationship: Reverse Causation, Third Variables, and Treatment Phase Artifacts

Psychotherapy research reveals consistent associations between therapeutic alliance and treatment outcomes in the youth and adult literatures. Despite these consistent findings, prospective associations are not sufficient to support the claim that the alliance is a change mechanism in psychotherapy. The current study examined the direction of effect of the alliance- outcome relationship, the contribution of early symptom change in treatment to the development of therapeutic alliance, and the potential for pretreatment interpersonal functioning characteristics to be third variables that account for the association between alliance and outcome. Participants were adolescents with depression and a history of interpersonal trauma that presented to a community mental health center for treatment. Findings demonstrated that a more positive therapeutic alliance predicted greater subsequent symptom improvement, even after removing symptom change occurring before the measurement of alliance. Results also suggested that early change only slightly contributed to alliance development. Finally, though pretreatment interpersonal functioning was related to the first session alliance, these pretreatment client characteristics were not related to later alliance or symptom change. Overall, results provided some support for therapeutic alliance as a mechanism of change in psychotherapy. Methodological and clinical issues are discussed.

Invisible Suffering: Practitioner Reflections on Peacebuilding Programs with Youth Exposed to Traumatic Stressors in Intergroup Conflict

For decades, the international community has recognized that youth are some of the most vulnerable to mental and emotional distress within the intractable and cyclical nature of identity-based violent conflict. Exposure to traumatic stressors within these intergroup conflicts poses unique risks not only to the neurological and social development of youth, but also to the capacities of youth to fully participate in peacebuilding interventions. The peacebuilding field has yet to strongly consider how traumatic stress affects dynamics within programs for youth and how these programs may need to modify expectations of youth’s cognitive, social, and emotional functioning to account for the traumatic dimensions of political and social violence. Through a qualitative analysis of practitioner reflections gathered from an online survey distributed worldwide, this study explores how practitioners conceptualize and approach issues of traumatic stress in peacebuilding programs focused on youth in conflict-affected contexts. The objective is to identify the working assumptions undergirding practitioner conceptualizations and approaches to traumatic stress and gaps in trauma interventions in peacebuilding programs for youth. The implications of these findings will support efforts to enhance trauma-sensitive peacebuilding practice by revisiting and reconsidering preexisting norms.

Stabilizing and Modulating Color by Copigmentation: Insights from Theory and Experiment

Natural anthocyanin pigments/dyes and phenolic copigments/co-dyes form noncovalent complexes, which stabilize and modulate (in particular blue, violet, and red) colors in flowers, berries, and food products derived from them (including wines, jams, purees, and syrups). This noncovalent association and their electronic and optical implications constitute the copigmentation phenomenon. Over the past decade, experimental and theoretical studies have enabled a molecular understanding of copigmentation. This review revisits this phenomenon to provide a comprehensive description of the nature of binding (the dispersion and electrostatic components of π–π stacking, the hydrophobic effect, and possible hydrogen-bonding between pigment and copigment) and of spectral modifications occurring in copigmentation complexes, in which charge transfer plays an important role. Particular attention is paid to applications of copigmentation in food chemistry.

The Presence of the Past: Perceptions of Authoritarianism and Democratic Transition in Contemporary Portugal. [Special Issue]

Revista / Org.

Portuguese Democratisation 40 Years on: Its Meaning and Enduring Legacies

On the fortieth anniversary of the Carnation Revolution, it is pertinent to ask how Portuguese citizens understand their transition to democracy. In this article, some of the main findings concerning the meanings and legacies of 25 April 1974 are presented, drawing on the findings of two surveys focusing on Portuguese attitudes towards 25 April and fielded in 2004 and 2014, respectively, to a representative sample of the Portuguese population. Here we focus on the degree to which the transition is viewed positively and its social and economic legacies. In the final sections, the main findings of the articles in this special issue are discussed through a presentation of the main questions they answer and the new ones they raise.

Shifting Responsibilities for EU Roma Citizens: The 2010 French affair on Roma evictions and expulsions continued. CEPS Paper in Liberty and Security in Europe No. 55, June 2013

Despite the ultimatum delivered in October 2010 to the French government by Viviane Reding, Vice-President of the European Commission, to adapt its national immigration law ‘to the letter’ of the Citizens Directive 2004/38, the country has continued to evict and expel Romanian and Bulgarian nationals of Roma origin. This paper examines the state of affairs with respect to France’s policy on eviction and expulsion of Roma and assesses the way in which the controversy has developed and can be understood from the perspective of citizenship of the EU. On the basis of an examination of the subsequent responses by the European Commission and the EU member states involved, as well as of a recent bilateral agreement concluded between France and Romania on the reintegration of families of Romanian citizens belonging to the Roma minority who have exercised their freedom to move, the paper suggests that there has been a paradigm shift in the priorities driving EU policy responses and politics. This shift has led to an ethnicisation of citizenship of the Union, where ethnicity increasingly plays a decisive role in the allocation and attribution of responsibility to secure and safeguard the union freedoms.

The oligarchic democracy: The influence of business groups on Ukrainian politics. OSW Study 42/2012

The Ukrainian oligarchic system, which developed into its ultimate shape during Leonid Kuchma’s second presidency, turned out to be very durable. The nature of close relations between the government and the oligarchs has not undergone any major changes either as a consequence of the Orange Revolution or following Victor Yanukovych’s victory in the presidential election of 2010. Although reshuffles have taken place inside the political and business elites, nothing seems to be able to change this system, at least in the medium term. This text is aimed at presenting the network of connections existing between big business and politics in Ukraine and at pointing to the key oligarchic groups and the political forces they support. A definite majority of papers concerning contemporary Ukrainian politics as a rule disregard or deal with this subject very superficially, while it is impossible to understand modern Ukraine without understanding a number of dependencies existing between the political and business elites there.

How to reconcile the EU border paradox? The concurrence of refugee reception and deterrence. IES Policy Brief 2015/4, November 2015

The refugee crisis that unfolded in Europe in the summer of 2015 questions the effectiveness of European border and refugee policies. The breakdown of the Dublin and Schengen rules due to chaotic situations at the borders in the Balkans marks a critical juncture for the EU. We consider this breakdown as a consequence of a long-lasting co-operation crisis among EU Member States. The most recent Council decision responds to this co-operation crisis (Council Decision 12098/15). This Policy Brief analyses EU policy and politics and argues that plans for refugee relocation and reception centres as well as the use of qualified majority voting in the Council can unfold a dynamic that helps to solve the co-operation crisis. However, underlying the problems of co-operation and effectiveness is the EU’s border paradox: while EU border policy works towards refugee deterrence, EU asylum policy aims at refugee protection. The EU’s approach in regulating borders and asylum can be understood in terms of ‘organised hypocrisy’ (Brunsson, 1993). Reconciling the paradox calls for overcoming such hypocrisy.

Rhomboid intramembrane protease RHBDL4 triggers ER-export and non-canonical secretion of membrane-anchored TGFα

Rhomboid intramembrane proteases are the enzymes that release active epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) ligands in Drosophila and C. elegans, but little is known about their functions in mammals. Here we show that the mammalian rhomboid protease RHBDL4 (also known as Rhbdd1) promotes trafficking of several membrane proteins, including the EGFR ligand TGFα, from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the Golgi apparatus, thereby triggering their secretion by extracellular microvesicles. Our data also demonstrate that RHBDL4-dependent trafficking control is regulated by G-protein coupled receptors, suggesting a role for this rhomboid protease in pathological conditions, including EGFR signaling. We propose that RHBDL4 reorganizes trafficking events within the early secretory pathway in response to GPCR signaling. Our work identifies RHBDL4 as a rheostat that tunes secretion dynamics and abundance of specific membrane protein cargoes.

Socio-technical transitions and policy change - Advocacy coalitions in Swiss energy policy

Policies and politics are an integral part of socio-technical transitions but have not received much attention in the transitions literature so far. Drawing on the advocacy coalition framework, our paper addresses this gap with a study on actors and coalitions in Swiss energy policy. Our results show that advocacy coalitions in Switzerland have largely remained stable despite the Fukushima shock. However, heterogeneity of beliefs has increased and in 2013, even a majority of actors expressed their support for the energy transition – an indication that major policy change might be ahead. It seems that in socio-technical transitions, changes in the policy issue and in the actor base also work toward policy change, next to changes in core beliefs. We make suggestions how the advocacy coalition framework can inform analysis and theory building in transition studies. We also present first ideas about the interplay of socio-technical systems and policy systems.