Suchergebnisse

Afghanistan has gone through a series of turmoils propelled by internal conflicts and foreign interventions. As the neighbor that shares Afghanistan's longest and, arguably, most important neighbor, Pakistan cannot remain aloof from the developments in Afghanistan. During the past 40 years, Pakistan has supported Mujahiddin against Soviets in 1980s, recognized the Taliban regime in 1990s, and joined the US-led war on terror in the 2000s and 2010s. The article argues that the current Afghan imbroglio confronts Pakistan with a peculiar set of challenges due to the lack of legitimacy of the Taliban regime in the eyes of foreign powers and the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. We contend that Pakistan needs to engage with the Taliban and use its leverage to make the Afghan government under the Taliban more inclusive. The same will help to resolve the miseries of the Afghan population.

Pudendal Neuralgia (PN) is a rare, debilitating disease caused by damage to the pudendal nerve, which innervates the anus, rectum, perineum, lower urinary tract, and genitalia. Although its etiology remains scientifically unknown, a number of sports practices, including horse-riding, are reported as triggering and/or aggravating factors. The present work summarizes the experimental measurements of the contact pressure at the interface between the rider and saddle, for a population of 12 experienced female riders. These tests reveal that dynamic horseback-riding leads to high levels of peak pressures in the perineal region, which confirms that the practice of equine sports may cause neuropathologies such as PN. All collected data will be used as boundary conditions in a future numerical 3D model aimed at locating the possible areas of pudendal nerve crushing.

Recognizing the pluriethnic and multicultural character of the Colombian nation in the 1991 Constitution led to open various spaces of political representation and participation for Afro-descendant populations. The impact that this process has had on the institutionalization of the Afro-Colombian social movement has been widely studied; however, less attention has been paid to the interactions that take place in these spaces for dialogue. Based on the ethnography of Afro-descendant leaders' staging in one of these scenarios, we propose to unveil the boundaries between state and non-state actors. To understand the dual nature of the ethnic leader both as community representative and public servant, we propose the notion of bureaucratized activism. It encompasses at least three attributes: the acquisition of bureaucratic competencies, the staging of certain actions, and the performances of tradition.

The perspective of time towards migration and displacement has emerged as a key research interest. However, less attention has been granted to the role that time plays in shaping methodological and ethical considerations in research settings. This paper develops this point by reflecting on the authors' research process with older East Timorese adults living amid ongoing displacement conditions for over two decades in West Timor, Indonesia. Examining their ageing experiences provides insight into what it means to live through displacement over time and space. However, older people are among the groups of displaced populations considered most vulnerable, requiring the researcher to consider particular methodological sensitivity. This paper argues that understandings of time, reflexivity and the ways lives are linked in relation to people's later-life experiences in exile can provide useful tools for dealing with ethical and pragmatic dilemmas.

Abstract Presents the process of preparing the Composite Index of Social and Environmental Concepts (ICCSA): a multi-response model questionnaire that addresses the themes of Environmental Education, Sustainability and Environment from the perspective of the transition to Sustainable Societies. During the elaboration process, two internal consistency and validity analysis phases were conducted with participation of experts. The final version of the ICCSA presents 43 statements, arranged in six dimensions, suggesting sufficiency in terms of internal reliability and content and discriminant validity. The results show that the instrument can be used to indicate stances in relation to the transition to Sustainable Societies. It is recommended that future studies be carried out, with larger populations, to complement the reliability and validity analyzes with non-specialist participants. ICCSA is available for any researchers who might wish to use it.

The countries of the Western Balkans are facing a serious demographic crisis due to a declining birth rate that is in line with European trends, and the situation is exacerbated by high levels of migration, mainly towards the European Union. A cheap, well-educated labour force from the Balkans has been working as guest workers in Western European countries since the late 1960s, a tradition that has continued and even intensified since then. The exodus of the population, especially young and skilled workers, is already leading to labour shortages in the region, which discourages the inflow of FDI that would be essential for development. Outlining the current demographic trends, this paper concludes that the demographic crisis in the Western Balkans is irreversible; governments are failing to provide adequate incentives to increase birth rates, while labour and brain drain increases.

Abstract. Although neuropsychological assessments include some measures that are administered, scored, or interpreted using new technologies, most researchers in this area advocate that more technology should be integrated. The current situation in neuropsychological assessment may be conceptualized as triggering a crisis leading to a paradigm shift, as there is some resistance to adopting more technology. In this paper, the context of the present crisis in neuropsychological assessment, the main obstacles, and new developments will be discussed. An example of a new computerized assessment tool, the NIH Toolbox, is highlighted. Also addressed are potential issues: in the assessment with tablets illustrating it with the older adult population and how to ensure the compatibility of data collected through these devices within the framework of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Recommendations for research, test development, and clinical practice are also provided.

The non-take-up of public services has the potential to undermine civil rights and deepen social inequality. Looking at the case of the Youth Community College Programme in China, an innovation in governance to facilitate community integration of the migrant population by providing free education, this study finds that the targeted disadvantaged groups are systematically excluded due to the disproportionate imposition of various administrative burdens on them. We propose that an interaction mechanism – which we term "selective affinity" – between the policy process and individuals' human capital leads to this unintended outcome. The study contributes to a deeper understanding of the causal mechanisms underlying vulnerable people's non-take-up of public services, while highlighting an example of dysfunctional state–society interaction and a mechanism for the reproduction of social inequality under authoritarianism in China. (China Q / GIGA)

This doctoral study investigates the process of state-making in contemporary Vietnam from the perspective of electricity infrastructure. It demonstrates that the state-people relationship, upon which the Vietnamese state relies, is forged at the grassroots. Here, the electricity grid not only allures but also enables the rural population to participate in and co-create affective political rituals and spaces. The nascent energy transition appears to contribute to this process of "electric state-making". The study highlights the human aspect of infrastructure, focusing on electricity workers whose physical and mental capabilities are integrated into the material grid. Buffered by this "human infrastructure," market-oriented reforms in Vietnam's electricity sector have partly succeeded to deliver infrastructural promises that the state lacks the resources to fulfil otherwise, and, concurrently, renewed affective entanglements between the state and rural citizens through electricity.

The study deals with the issue of commercial education in Austrian Silesia in the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It specifi cally focuses on schools oriented this way in the East Silesian centre of Cieszyn (Teschen), whose development is placed in the context of more general trends in the development of Silesian and pre-Austrian commercial education. It primarily focuses on the circumstances of the emergence of schools and their composition, organization, curriculum content and students. The study aims to assess to what extent Cieszyn fulfi lled the role of an alternative centre for commercial education in Silesia during the observed period alongside the provincial capital of Opava, and to what extent the signifi cance of local educational institutions crossed provincial borders and benefi ted the population of the southern regions of neighbouring Galicia.

The genetic diversity and divergence of closely related species Oxytropis strobilacea, O. adamsiana, and O. vassilczenkoi series Strobilacei of the section Orobia (Fabaceae) from Asian Russia were studied using the data of nucleotide polymorphism of the psbA–trnH, trnL–trnF, and trnS–trnG intergenic spacers of cpDNA, as well as the ITS nrDNA. Most populations are characterized by an average and high level of chloroplast genetic diversity (h varies from 0.600 to 1.000). 65 chlorotypes were identified, no shared chlorotypes were found in taxa, and that confirms the status of O. vassilczenkoi as a separate species. Two phyletic lineages were found for O. strobilacea that indicates an intensively proceeding diversification process. Among the seven identified ITS ribotypes, one ribotype was shared for all three species, probably, due to their common origin and relatively recent divergence.

ABSTRACT The LGBT Clinic in Macaé (RJ) operates daily to provide health care for LGBTQIA+ people. This service is part of a network, including the Pedro Ernesto University Hospital and the Casa de Convivência clinic. The service has predominantly served transvestites and transgender people. This study aimed to investigate how trans people access the LGBT Clinic in Macaé. We sought to discuss gender issues, as LGBTQIA+ people have increasingly arrived at health clinics with specific demands, which creates the need for improvement for such a public. This qualitative research was conducted with thirteen users of the LGBT Clinic who self-declared transgender. As a result, several cases were confirmed in which the populations studied did not find adequate help in other health services. Furthermore, the LGBT Clinic was provenly a receptive healthcare space for trans and transvestite people in the region.

En s'appuyant sur des enquêtes de terrain menées dans le nord de la France, cet article s'intéresse aux associations et militants — bénévoles et salariés — de la cause des étrangers et se propose de saisir leur rôle dans l'accueil et la défense de ces populations à travers la figure de l'« intermédiaire ». En analysant des configurations locales d'intermédiation et de délégation, l'article montre que les associations et les militants constituent des figures intermédiaires entre les étrangers, l'État et les politiques migratoires. Les modalités du travail militant participent à la transmission de connaissances, compétences, catégories et normes de et sur l'immigration : les militants apparaissent à la fois comme des experts juridiques et des chaînons des politiques migratoires. En retour, la position d'intermédiaire dit quelque chose des militants, des dilemmes auxquels ils sont confrontés ainsi que des stratégies de démarcation qu'ils mettent parfois en place.

This doctoral study investigates the process of state-making in contemporary Vietnam from the perspective of electricity infrastructure. It demonstrates that the state-people relationship, upon which the Vietnamese state relies, is forged at the grassroots. Here, the electricity grid not only allures but also enables the rural population to participate in and co-create affective political rituals and spaces. The nascent energy transition appears to contribute to this process of "electric state-making". The study highlights the human aspect of infrastructure, focusing on electricity workers whose physical and mental capabilities are integrated into the material grid. Buffered by this "human infrastructure," market-oriented reforms in Vietnam's electricity sector have partly succeeded to deliver infrastructural promises that the state lacks the resources to fulfil otherwise, and, concurrently, renewed affective entanglements between the state and rural citizens through electricity.

Collective bargaining institutions are correlated with better population health. However, there are still major gaps in our understanding regarding the impact of collective bargaining on health inequalities, particularly between labour market 'insiders' and 'outsiders'. In this study, we investigate the effect of collective bargaining coverage on individuals' self-rated health, and whether the impact varies according to labour market status. We use four waves of the European Values Survey (1981-2018) and three-level nested random intercept models across 33 OECD and European countries (N = 66 301). We find that stronger and more inclusive collective bargaining institutions reduce health inequalities between the unemployed and the employed by disproportionately improving the health of the unemployed. This study implies that targeting the political institutions that shape the distribution of power and resources is important for reducing health inequalities.