Globalisation and Insecurity

Summaries There is a growing awareness across many sectors that small arms represent a serious risk to human and global security. Partly as a result of the growing awareness of the problem, the analytical appraisal of their effects has diversified. But the field is undergoing a process of self?definition. This article attempts to trace the broadening contours of the debate and highlight the need for a multidisciplinary and integrated approach to disarmament. It recognises that small arms constitute a challenge, both in terms of demand and supply. The article demonstrates that small arms diffusion takes place at the interface of the global and local arenas, in situations of underdevelopment and insecurity, posing intricate challenges to national, regional and international actors. Relief and development actors, including donors and governments, have only now started to acknowledge that armed violence, perpetrated with small arms and light weapons, are a serious impediment to population health and criminality, as well as social and economic development

Risk factors for pre-term birth in Iraq: a case-control study

BACKGROUND: Preterm birth (PTB)is a major clinical problem associated with perinatal mortality and morbidity. The aim of the present study is to identify risk factors associated with PTB in Mosul, Iraq. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted in Mosul, Iraq, from 1(st )September, 2003 to 28(th )February, 2004. RESULTS: A total of 200 cases of PTB and 200 controls of full-term births were screened and enrolled in the study. Forward logistic regression analysis was used in the analysis. Several significant risk associations between PTB and the following risk factors were identified: poor diet (OR = 4.33), heavy manual work (OR = 1.70), caring for domestic animals (OR = 5.06), urinary tract infection (OR = 2.85), anxiety (OR = 2.16), cervical incompetence (OR = 4.74), multiple pregnancies (OR = 7.51), direct trauma to abdomen (OR = 3.76) and abortion (OR = 6.36). CONCLUSION: The main determinants of PTB in Iraq were low socio-economic status and factors associated with it, such as heavy manual work and caring for domestic animals, in addition to urinary tract infections and poor obstetric history

Peri-urban Promises of Connectivity: Linking project-led polycentrism to the infrastructure scramble

This paper offers an interpretive framework linking polycentric urban expansion in emerging/frontier economies to the global extension of infrastructure networks. Drawing from scholarship on state restructuring, we theorize an infrastructure scramble whereby numerous state actors and agencies make massive investments in infrastructure connectivity to secure effective integration to transnational value chains as economic and geopolitical competition intensify. This has manifold territorial implications, and matters for debates on planetary urbanization. Novel urbanization processes include the proliferation of peri-urban nodes. Built in cheaply-available land, these respond to (or anticipate economic gains from) enhanced connective infrastructure. In contrast to city-regional exemplars, project-led polycentrism does not arise from territorially-decentralized governance arrangements, and may deepen peri-urban exclusion. The paper includes an experimental comparison of two peri-urban nodal projects: the Iranduba University City, located in a riparian rainforest of the Brazilian Amazon 17 miles from bustling Manaus, and the Bagamoyo Port and Special Economic Zone, located 35 miles north of the congested port of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s expansive capital. Our findings suggest that: i) techno-entrepreneurial capacity requirements underpin the centralist scalar politics governing the development of peri-urban nodes; as ii) state-led projects rely on ambitious physical planning, with masterplans evincing elite, globalization-oriented objectives that neglect local needs and trigger displacement; and iii) even failing projects spearhead varying trajectories of territorial transformation in erstwhile-stagnant peri-urban peripheries. Concluding, we call for further research on multiple drivers and modalities of polycentrism in the global South, and the infrastructure scramble’s broad implications for hyper-connected and bypassed territories

Assessing patient-centered care in patients with chronic health conditions attending chiropractic practice: protocol for a mixed-methods study

BACKGROUND: The management of chronic health conditions increasingly requires an organized, coordinated, and patient-centered approach to care. The Chronic Care Model (CCM) has been adopted in primary care to improve care delivery for those with chronic health conditions. Chiropractors manage chronic health conditions; however, little is known if such care is patient-centered. The primary aim of this study is to determine to what extent chiropractic patients with chronic health conditions perceive their care is patient-centred. We will assess concordance with the CCM using the Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care (PACIC) survey in study patients. We will also explore perception of how patient-centered the care provided by chiropractors is for those with chronic health conditions according to patients and chiropractors. METHODS/DESIGN: We will use a sequential mixed methods design with quantitative priority. In the quantitative component patients will complete a written questionnaire providing sociodemographic, health status, and health care interaction information, all of which will serve as the independent variables. Patients will also complete a modified version of the PACIC; the average overall score will be the dependent variable. In the qualitative component semi-structured interviews and focus groups with patients and chiropractors will be conducted. A pilot study will be conducted to determine if the modified PACIC will perform adequately in measuring concordance with the CCM for chiropractic care. Pilot testing will also allow for assessment of the interview and focus groups guides. Variables found to be significantly associated will be included in a multivariate linear regression analysis to identify significant predictors of the dependent variable. Qualitative data will be analyzed using an inductive thematic analysis to provide meaning to the quantitative results. DISCUSSION: There is a paucity of research describing the extent to which chiropractic care for patients with chronic health conditions is concordant with the CCM. This study will examine this relationship and the perceptions and experiences of patients and chiropractors regarding how patient-centered chiropractic care is for these patients