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- Karlén, Niklas
(författare)
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Changing Commitments : US Support to Rebels in Syria and Nicaragua
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The provision of external state support to non-state actors in civil wars is a dynamic process. The calculus of state sponsors varies over time, which means that assistance provided to the armed opposition fluctuates. This is rarely recognized in existing research, which has focused more on the initiation of support and its subsequent effects on conflict dynamics. While we know many of the motives behind decisions to provide support, we know less about why state sponsorship of rebels changes over time. To address this, I propose a theoretical argument that is able to account for policy adjustments over time. The theory builds on the notion that leaders change their support commitment when there is adverse feedback and that support increases as long as the causes of policy failure can be attributed to external actors, while cutbacks occur when failure is attributed to the state sponsor’s own actions. The latter prompts domestic audiences to act in order to force leaders to back down. Process tracing is used to explore the value of this framework in within-case analyses of the United States’ support commitments to insurgent groups in Nicaragua during the 1980s and in Syria during the 2010s. The study demonstrates the utility of focusing on shifts in leaders’ perceptions rather than structural features of the international system or rebel behavior to understand temporal variation in external support.
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- Valladares, Eliette, et al.
(författare)
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HIV community prevalence and testing practices in León, Nicaragua
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Our objective was to determine the HIV prevalence, testing practices, and HIV-related behaviors in a general population sample in the municipality of Leon, Nicaragua. We performed a cross-sectional community-based study of 2,204 males and females ages 18 to 69, from a health and demographic surveillance system. A behavior survey and blood sampling for HIV were also carried out. Seven of 1,960 individuals who provided biological samples (0.35%; CI 0.18–0.67) were HIV positive. The predicted prevalence of HIV among non-participants was about 11% higher than the observed prevalence but it was not significantly different. The major obstacle to HIV testing seemed to be the fear of being diagnosed HIV positive. This is the first study to determine HIV prevalence among the general population in Nicaragua. Our findings confirmed that this population has a low prevalence but high risk for HIV infection. Prevention strategies are essential to maintain this figure.
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- Pérez, Wilton, et al.
(författare)
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Community development actions to achieve the Millennium Development Goals : An analysis based on a surveillance site in Cuatro Santos, Nicaragua
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- BackgroundAccording to preliminary data, the remote rural area of Cuatro Santos, Nicaragua has shown improvements in almost all Millennium Development Goals (MDG), while a set of interventions have been running in the area. This study describes the progress toward a set of MDG, as well as the geographical disparities encountered in reaching MDG1.MethodsWe investigated selected MDG prospectively and retrospectively in 2004 and 2009, and prepared a descriptive analysis of MDG and community interventions by proportions, rates, and ratios. In order to determine any geographical disparities in progress toward MDG1 among the households receiving interventions, we used a spatial scan test (SaTScan®) to identify unique non-random spatial clusters of poverty and interventions, and a retrospective model to identify multiple clusters in a defined geographic area. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were also performed to examine the participation of single interventions on the poverty clusters that were identified by the spatial cluster analysis technique.ResultsDescriptive analysis indicated that poverty and under-five mortality declined in Cuatro Santos. Education showed no wide inequality by gender. Access to drinking water and sanitation has risen, but is not universal. Spatial analyses identified a sizeable cluster of poor households located in the northeast part of Cuatro Santos with a high probability of receiving one or more intervention. However, none reached this area. More detailed analyses of the relations between the single interventions and the poverty clusters showed that almost all interventions were positively related to the low poverty clusters (OR > 1), and negatively connected to the high-poverty clusters (OR > 1).ConclusionsThe Cuatro Santos area of Nicaragua has reached several millennium targets, and scaling up of community actions has accelerated the trend towards fulfilling MDG without increasing inequality. However, a geographical analysis reveals that areas of high poverty barely reached by interventions remain. Therefore, continuous surveillance is important to prioritize segments of the population with more social needs.
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| 7. |
- Rodriguez, Teresa, 1966-, et al.
(författare)
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Pyrethroids exposure and neurobehavioral performance in school age children in rural Nicaragua
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Objective: This cross-sectional study explored whether pre or postnatal pyrethroid exposure impaired cognitive performance and behavior in school-aged children from a rural area in Nicaragua.Methods: Pyrethroid exposure was assessed in 110 children age 7-9, attending grade 1-3, with cumulative parental pyrethroid use indices of hours of spraying, during pregnancy, the first year of life, and older than age one. Cypermethrin accounted for most of the pyrethroid use. Cognitive performance of the children was evaluated with 12 sub-tests and total IQ of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC IV), grouped into indices for perceptual reasoning, verbal comprehension, working memory, and processing speed. Behavior at school was measured with the oppositional, cognitive problem/inattention, hyperactivity and ADHD index subscales of the Conners’ Teacher Rating Scale-Revised:Short form (CTRS-R:S). One year later, the pyrethroid metabolite 3-PBA was measured in 211 urine samples from 74 children (median 3.3 µg/g creatinine, max. 547) and the effect of recent exposure on cognitive and behavior was assessed with a shortened battery. Results:Pyrethroid exposure indices during the first year of life significantly decreased performance of perceptual reasoning in children aged 7-9. For each 10-fold increasein hours of pyrethroid application , children’s performance on the Perceptual Reasoning Index decreased on average with 1.1 point. Postnatal exposures, during the first year and after age 1, associated with hyperactivity and attention problem. Urinary 3-PBA levels were negatively associated with a number of cognitive functions and, noteworthy, with increased scores for ADHD in girls but not in boys.Conclusion:Pyrethroid exposure in the first year of life was associated with decreased perceptual reasoning in rural children and with hyperactivity and ADHD predominantly in girls.
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| 8. |
- Rodriguez, Teresa, 1966-, et al.
(författare)
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Pyrethroids exposure and neurobehavioral performance in school age children in rural Nicaragua
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Annan publikation (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- Objective: This cross-sectional study explored whether pre or postnatal pyrethroid exposure impaired cognitive performance and behavior in school-aged children from a rural area in Nicaragua.Methods: Pyrethroid exposure was assessed in 110 children age 7-9, attending grade 1-3, with cumulative parental pyrethroid use indices of hours of spraying, during pregnancy, the first year of life, and older than age one. Cypermethrin accounted for most of the pyrethroid use. Cognitive performance of the children was evaluated with 12 sub-tests and total IQ of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC IV), grouped into indices for perceptual reasoning, verbal comprehension, working memory, and processing speed. Behavior at school was measured with the oppositional, cognitive problem/inattention, hyperactivity and ADHD index subscales of the Conners’ Teacher Rating Scale-Revised:Short form (CTRS-R:S). One year later, the pyrethroid metabolite 3-PBA was measured in 211 urine samples from 74 children (median 3.3 µg/g creatinine, max. 547) and the effect of recent exposure on cognitive and behavior was assessed with a shortened battery. Results:Pyrethroid exposure indices during the first year of life significantly decreased performance of perceptual reasoning in children aged 7-9. For each 10-fold increasein hours of pyrethroid application , children’s performance on the Perceptual Reasoning Index decreased on average with 1.1 point. Postnatal exposures, during the first year and after age 1, associated with hyperactivity and attention problem. Urinary 3-PBA levels were negatively associated with a number of cognitive functions and, noteworthy, with increased scores for ADHD in girls but not in boys.Conclusion:Pyrethroid exposure in the first year of life was associated with decreased perceptual reasoning in rural children and with hyperactivity and ADHD predominantly in girls.
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