| 41. |
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| 42. |
- Bucardo, Filemón, et al.
(författare)
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Association of Genetic Polymorphisms in DC-SIGN, Toll-Like Receptor 3, and Tumor Necrosis Factor a Genes and the Lewis-Negative Phenotype With Chikungunya Infection and Disease in Nicaragua
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Infectious Diseases. - : Oxford University Press. - 0022-1899 .- 1537-6613. ; 223:2, s. 278-286
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BackgroundChikungunya infections range from subclinical infection to debilitating arthralgia and to chronic inflammatory rheumatism. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) α, DC-SIGN (dendritic cell–specific intercellular adhesion molecule 3–grabbing nonintegrin), Toll-like receptor (TLR) 3, and blood groups have been directly or indirectly implicated in the susceptibility and pathogenesis of chikungunya.MethodsTo test the hypothesis that polymorphisms in genes coding for these molecules determine clinical outcomes of chikungunya infection, a retrospective case-control study was performed in León, Nicaragua. The study included 132 case patients and 132 controls, matched for age, sex and neighborhood. Case patients had clinical symptoms of chikungunya, which was diagnosed by means of polymerase chain reaction. Controls were individuals not reporting abrupt presentation of clinical chikungunya-like symptoms. Polymorphisms were identified by TaqMan single-nucleotide polymorphism genotyping assays.ResultsAfter adjustment for sociodemographic risk factors, chikungunya disease was associated with polymorphism in DC-SIGN and TLR3 genes (odds ratios, 5.2 and 3.3, respectively), and TNF-α with reduced persistent joint pain (0.24). Persistent joint pain was also associated with age, female sex and other comorbid conditions. Most interestingly, the Lewis-negative phenotype was strongly associated with both symptomatic chikungunya and immunoglobulin G seropositivity (odds ratios, 2.7, and 3.3, respectively).ConclusionThis study identified polymorphisms in DC-SIGN, TLR3, and TNF-α genes as well as Lewis-negative phenotype as risk factors for chikungunya infection and disease progression.
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| 43. |
- Ellsberg, Mary Carroll
(författare)
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Candies in hell : research and action on domestic violence against women in Nicaragua
- 2000
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall aim of the research was to explore the magnitude and characteristics of domestic violence against women in Leon, Nicaragua. A cross-sectional survey was carried out among a representative sample of 488 women between the ages of 15-49 years. In-depth interviews were performed with women who had experienced violence. Also, participatory techniques were used in 19 focus groups of men and women from diverse sectors of Nicaraguan society to gain an understanding of how Nicaraguans view social and legal sanctions for domestic violence.Among ever-married women (n=360) lifetime prevalence of physical violence was 52%, and current prevalence (during the last 12 months) was 27%. Seventy percent of the violence was classified as severe. No significant differences were found with regard to women's age, educational attainment, or occupation and the prevalence of partner abuse. Significant positive associations were found between the risk of wife abuse and poverty, number of children, history of violence in husband's family, husband's controlling behavior and lack of social networks. Abused women were six times more likely to present emotional distress than non-abused women. Emotional distress was more related to the severity of the abuse than to how long ago it had taken place. A significant positive association was found between wife abuse and problems among the children, including physical abuse. Nearly half of the abused women reported that their children had witnessed the violence. Both the qualitative as well as the quantitative data indicated that abused women frequently experience feelings of shame, isolation and entrapment, which in turn contribute to their difficulty in recognizing the violence and disengaging from the violent relationship. Women in Nicaragua used a variety of strategies to protect themselves from violence and most abused women eventually did leave abusive relationships. Temporary leaving and help seeking were critical steps in the process of overcoming violence. However, many women indicated that they did not receive support for their situation.The results of the prevalence survey were compared to findings from two other population-based studies carried out subsequently in Nicaragua. This comparison suggested that under-reporting is a significant threat to the validity of prevalence research on violence, and underscored the importance of incorporating specific measures to enhance disclosure into the research plan, such as providing more than one opportunity to disclose violence and using behaviorally specific language.Moreover, measures that have been primarily viewed from the perspective of ethics and safety, such as ensuring privacy and confidentiality and providing special training and support for interviewers, may have a significant impact on data quality, due to their effect on the disclosure of violence.The survey results and the narrative analysis suggest that domestic violence is a serious public health problem in Nicaragua. The focus group research found that opinions regarding domestic violence differed sharply between men and women, but that broad sectors of society felt that psychological violence was as serious as physical violence, and that new laws and programs were needed to punish violent offenders and to prevent future violence.The results of the research were discussed widely in Nicaragua, and contributed to the debate on the reform of the Nicaraguan Criminal Code with regard to sanctions for domestic violence and protection for victims of violence.
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| 44. |
- Ugarte, William J., 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Measuring HIV- and AIDS-related stigma and discrimination in Nicaragua : Results from a community-based study
- 2013
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Ingår i: AIDS Education and Prevention. - : Guilford Publications. - 0899-9546 .- 1943-2755. ; 25:2, s. 164-178
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Psychometric properties of external HIV-related stigma and discrimination scales and their predictors were investigated. A cross-sectional community-based study was carried out among 520 participants using an ongoing health and demographic surveillance system in León, Nicaragua. Participants completed an 18-item HIV stigma scale and 19 HIV and AIDS discrimination-related statements. A factor analysis found that 15 of the 18 items in the stigma scale and 18 of the 19 items in the discrimination scale loaded clearly into five- and four-factor structures, respectively. Overall Cronbach’s alpha of .81 for the HIV stigma scale and .91 for the HIV discrimination scale provided evidence of internal consistency. Hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis identified that females, rural residents, people with insufficient HIV-related transmission knowledge, those not tested for HIV, those reporting an elevated self-perception of HIV risk, and those unwilling to disclose their HIV status were associated with higher stigmatizing attitudes and higher discriminatory actions towards HIV-positive people. This is the first community-based study in Nicaragua that demonstrates that overall HIV stigma and discrimination scales were reliable and valid in a community-based sample comprised of men and women of reproductive age. Stigma and discrimination were reported high in the general population, especially among sub-groups. The findings in the current study suggest Community-based strategies, including the monitoring of stigma and discrimination, and designing and implementing stigma reduction interventions, are greatly needed to reduce inequities and increase acceptance of persons with HIV.
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| 45. |
- Pérez, Enrique
(författare)
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Mellan det förflutna och framtiden : Den sandinistiska revolutionen i Nicaragua
- 1997
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The theme throughout this book is the buildning up of a new societal structure and the conflicts encompassed in such a project. I discuss the societal changes in Sandinista Nicaragua by way of placing the revolution in a historic, political, and social context. Throughout the work process it became increasingly clear that the conflicts of the FSLN were in principal due to two factors. First, the FSLN leadership made an effort to create a new social order for the country and did not take into consideration the various local development strategies and structures. Second, this was to be achieved by investing in modern forms of production and, in a special organization in which the government would have the leading role.The book is about a conflict ridden encounter between a future oriented project, a product of the political movement, and the historically constituted everyday life world of ordinary people. At a certain point the developmentist ideology of the FSLN began to distance itself from the traditional visions of the future entertained by a significant part of the Nicaraguan people. I have tried to highlight the historical continuity that lies in the structure of the social changes promoted by the political movement. From a methodological point of view this study combines an analysis of tendencies at the national level with fieldresearch in a mining village in the northern part of the country. The fieldwork took place in connection with the development project "Sociala Komponenter" financed by SIDA. I view the development project as a social phenomenon in its own right and therefore the ethnographic material focuses on concrete social relationship in the project in its the local context.
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| 46. |
- Chham, E., et al.
(författare)
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Sources of the seasonal-trend behaviour and periodicity modulation of 7Be air concentration in the atmospheric surface layer observed in southeastern Spain
- 2019
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Ingår i: Atmospheric Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 1352-2310. ; , s. 148-158
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The components and the periodicity characterising airborne 7Be monthly concentration collected in Granada (SE Spain) between 2000 and 2018 are studied. These 19 years of measurements are particularly significant for the 7Be analysis as they cover the complete 24th solar cycle, 2008–2018. A Time Series Decomposition (TSD) technique has been applied to determine the different components present in the dataset: the trend, seasonal and irregular components. Then, the atmospheric parameters (Precipitation (Pp), Relative Humidity (RH), Temperature (Temp), Wind speed (WS), Total Cloudiness (TC), Low Cloudiness (LC)), teleconnection indices and the solar activity (Sun Spot Number, SSN) were used to justify the variability of each component. SSN and the teleconnection indices (Western Mediterranean Oscillation (WeMO), Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) and Quasi Biennial Oscillation (QBO)) are found to have a major impact on the trend component of 7Be. In turn, all the atmospheric parameters were found to have strong impact on the seasonal component. In order to observe the change in the impact of the parameters from the 24th solar cycle (from 2008 to 2018) to the complete time series (starting in 2000), the comparison between the two periods has been carried out. The results show that, over the 24th solar cycle, the SSN impacted predominantly on the trend component, whereas atmospheric parameters showed a slightly higher impact on the seasonal component. In addition, some atmospheric factors (Temp, RH, Pp, TC, LC) appeared to partially affect the irregular component. The analysis of the two phases of the 24th solar cycle shows that the influence of SSN is higher during the descending phase than during the ascending one. This behaviour is opposed to the one found for the 23rd solar cycle, which clarifies the special characteristics of the 24th cycle. Besides that, the Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) analysis was applied in order to extract the possible periodicities characterising 7Be data. The analysis revealed three sets of periodicities. Then, the Wavelet Coherence Analysis (WCA) method was particularly useful to study coherences between 7Be data and teleconnection indices. The 7Be concentrations in the large period (11–14 years) detected by CWT was found to be mainly modulated by WeMO, AMO and QBO, while the NAO modulates the smaller periods. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd
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| 47. |
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| 48. |
- Berg, Linda, 1974-, et al.
(författare)
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A conversation about the state in pandemic times : Necropolitics and the legacy of social democracy in Sweden and Nicaragua
- 2021
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Ingår i: Kulturella perspektiv - Svensk etnologisk tidskrift. - : Publicera, Kungliga Biblioteket. - 1102-7908 .- 2004-0288. ; 30:2-3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Established ideas about state responsibility and state violence are placed in a new light in times characterized as states of emergency. The following conversation addresses the role of the state in the safeguarding of public health, taking its departure in media debates and political debates about state responsibility in two countries that have been criticized for not taking strong enough measures to protect the very futuriority of the nation in times of a pandemic Sweden and Nicaragua. Both countries have been castigated for avoiding total lockdown and for having taken a passive approach to what Wendy Brown has called “the political management of the virus” (Brown 2020). At the same time, the rhetoric used to describe their respective strategies has differed vastly in dialogue we explore notions about governance, biopolitics and necropolitics as they are articulated and negotiated in national contexts that claim the label social democracies. One of the points of departure is that while the response to Covid-19 is often described in war metaphors, and hence as a state of emergency, the unjust and unequal distribution of life and death is by no means exceptional.
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| 49. |
- 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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| 50. |
- Valladares Cardoza, Eliette, 1963-
(författare)
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Partner violence during pregnancy, psychosocial factors and child outcomes in Nicaragua
- 2005
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The objectives of the thesis was to explore partner violence during pregnancy in Nicaragua – its prevalence and characteristics, how women perceive, understand and cope with it, its association with specific child outcomes such as low birth weight (LBW), small for gestational age (SGA) and preterm birth, and possible pathways. A cross-sectional community-based study was conducted with 478 pregnant women and for a sub-sample of 147 salivary cortisol was measured. A case-referent hospital-based study was organized including 303 mothers immediately after delivery. In-depth interviews were conducted with women survivors to increase understanding of partner violence during pregnancy. The prevalence of emotional, physical and sexual partner abuse during pregnancy was 32.4%, 13.4% and 6.7% respectively. Seventeen percent of the victims suffered all three types of violence and in two thirds the abuse was severe and repeated. Half of the abused women had experienced punches and kicks directed to the abdomen; however, only 14% had sought health care and very few had disclosed the abuse or contacted police or authorities. Adolescent mothers, unwanted pregnancy and late registration for antenatal care or no check-ups were more likely among victims. The access to social resources facilitated the women’s ability to cope with the abuse, but the pregnancy itself was a barrier to receiving support from family, friends or society. The ability to confront abuse was determined by a complex interplay of factors such as economic independence, severity of abuse, access to social resources, implications for important others (i.e. children), socioeconomic group and a personal ability to cope with social norms. Low social resources, high levels of emotional distress and attempted suicide were associated with violence during pregnancy. Abuse during pregnancy was also found as an independent risk factor for LBW. Sixteen percent of LBW was attributed to physical abuse by a partner during pregnancy. A significant association between abuse during the index pregnancy and SGA was found. Partner violence during the pregnancy, low social resources and emotional distress were associated with higher levels of salivary cortisol. Pregnant women with high cortisol values were significantly more likely to give birth to SGA babies. A substantial decrease of birthweight, 142 grams, was estimated to be associated with increases in cortisol due to violence exposure. Partner violence during pregnancy is a serious social problem that impacts the rights, health and wellbeing of both the woman and her unborn child. The studies call for prioritization of intervention programmes for prevention and detection of violence, treatment and rehabilitation of the victims and the perpetrators, and change of the structural causes producing violence in society.
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