According to a 2017 study conducted by the Guttmacher Institute, roughly one in four women will have an abortion in their lifetime. Despite how incredibly common of an experience it is, one almost never hears abortion talked about on an individual basis. This study seeks to find out why people who’ve had abortions do or don’t talk about them, and why, as well as what, if anything, can and needs to be done to change the conversational landscape around abortion. I used qualitative methods to conduct seven participant-led interviews with different people who have had abortions. My findings show that people don’t talk about their abortions for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to: fear of stigma, feeling there’s no non-“awkward” way to bring it up in conversation, and simply not really thinking about it that often. My participants also described a variety of ideas for fighting this stigma, primarily through connecting with, talking with, listening to, and being a source of mutual support for other people who have also had abortions. Because I used a participatory-action model of methods, my participants and I worked to put some of their ideas into action after the conclusion of our interviews.

This thesis investigates the effect of US development aid on US exports to 134 recipient countries over the time period 1993 to 2015 with an application of the gravity model of international trade. Estimates of one-way panel dataset, specified by a dummy approach and estimated with OLS and PPML, suggest that for every aid dollar spent by the United States, US exports significantly increase by 1.59 US dollar. By lagging the aid variable for several years after disbursement, we find a declining effect of US aid on US exports, which indicates that tied aid is an important channel of the effect's magnitude. The effect does not vary systematically across income groups. Yet for geographical regions with a higher US export share, the impact of US aid on US exports is significantly larger suggesting that existing trading relations contribute to a larger effect of aid on donor's exports. The evidence shows that US aid increases US exports and reinforces economic relations with recipient countries and, thus, can be regarded as an important motive for the donor to provide development aid.

The main aim of my diploma thesis was a didactical analysis of the theme First aid in the biological curriculum at secondary schools and creation of a project specializing on the first aid education. This project offers the teachers a way how to approach the first aid education. In the chapter Theoretical Background the problems of first aid in the biology curriculum and text books are mentioned. It also deals with the history of first aid and with educational methods appropriate for first aid education. This part focuses on various didactical methods used in the project, especially on the activating and the verbal ones. In the main part of my diploma thesis I am proposing a project consisting of four parts: theoretical preparation, training of first aid, training of first aid with the application of situational methods, a contest with a test. In the course of the project students should acquire the basic skills necessary for the right treatment of injuries and casualties. My thesis also includes appendices: a test, a completed test, graphs showing the rate of students{\crq} success in the test and photos taken during the realisation of the project.

Genomic complexity in non-Hodgkin’s Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) leads to a treatment failure in ~40% of patients. Activation-Induced Cytosine Deaminase (AID), one of the enzymes involved in generating antibody diversity via class switching recombination (CSR) and somatic hypermutation (SHM) of immunoglobulin (Ig) genes in activated B-cells is one mechanism for the introduction of genomic lesions. In previous studies, AID was shown to preferentially bind to super-enhancer (SE) regions within the genome, but 26% of AID targets were not within the SE regions. The mechanism by which AID interacts with SE elements and its off-target interactions still remains a mystery. Recent evidence suggests that AID may cause genomic lesions in DLBCL via interaction with oncogenes such as MYC and BCL2 resulting in mutations and translocations. Sequences within the MYC promoter contain the four-nucleotide AID target sequence (WRCY) and highly G-rich sequences known to form G-quadruplex DNA secondary structures. We hypothesize that key DNA secondary structures act as recruiting elements for aberrant AID activity at promoters and SEs of key genes involved in the development of DLBCL. Here, we first sought to determine whether known AID DNA targets have the potential to form G-quadruplex DNA secondary structures. The data collected from activated mouse B-cells showed 90% of the AID targets contained sequences that could potentially form G-quadruplexes and the data collected from the human Ramos cell line showed 100% of the sequences had the potential to form G-quadruplexes. To further study our hypothesis we used the techniques circular dichroism (CD) and the electrophoresis motility shift assay (EMSA) to explore the potential interaction between AID and the BCL2 and MYC G-quadruplexes. We observed no significant interactions between AID and these two G-quadruplexes, however further experimentation with different conditions and molecular techniques may show interaction. Additional studies will not only provide key insight into the genomic instability within DLBCL, but will also provide a potential mechanism by which AID is recruited to its DNA targets.

My dissertation is an advocacy of the idea that if aid proved to be ineffective, it is partly because of the donor and not only the recipient as it is usually argued. The thesis contributes to the theoretical and empirical literature on aid effectiveness and explores the ability of aid to achieve its goals in the presence of both incentives and informational problems. <p>The thesis consists of three essays dealing with a particular aspect of donor policies that may impact the effectiveness of aid: i) the drivers of aid allocation among recipient countries, ii) ex-post conditionality and the role of reputation in inducing compliance with aid contracts; iii) and finally, the optimal choice of aid modalities.<p>The first chapter investigates the drivers of U.S. aid policy. <p><p>I find considerable evidence that the pattern of aid is dictated as much by political and strategic considerations, as by the economic needs and merit of the recipients. Most importantly, inertia seems to impact heavily the aid allocation process. Any of these motivations, when excessive, would lead to a time inconsistency situation where the donor is not credible in his conditionality. With such an impact on aid allocation, the question arises on the effectiveness of conditioning aid provision on political, social, or economic reforms. This is precisely the scope of chapter 2.<p><p>The second chapter investigates the conditions under which reputation can serve as commitment device in order to induce donors of development aid to enforce aid contracts and recipients to comply with such contracts. The idea is that the success of conditionality rests solely on the availability of a commitment technology that ties the hands of the donor. Reputation concerns could create the required incentives and overcome the altruism effect on the donor side.<p><p>Notwithstanding that incentive creation must not be driven by the volume of aid only, but also by the way it is channelled, i.e. aid modality. This is particularly relevant for recipients with certain characteristics. Depending on the preference alignment of the donor and the recipient, the information structure in place, the optimal aid modality can change. The characteristics of the optimal aid package are investigated in chapter 3. Optimality imposes a mix of fixed project and financial transfer to recipient countries. The transfer can be negative for countries exhibiting a high willingness or ability to redistribute to the poor. This is interpreted as a contribution to the financing of the infrastructure project. The extent of the project (large or small size) is determined by the interest of government for the poor in the recipient country.<p> / Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

M.A. (History) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Magister Legum - LLM / This paper seeks to examine the relationship between foreign aid and corruption in Zambia. Drawing from the analysis of the two, it then explores whether the existing legal instruments are adequate and effective to combat corruption in the aid context.

The aim of this thesis is to discover the level of theoretical knowledge of first aid with students of primary and secondary schools. I would like to also discover the efficiency of teaching the first aid at school so that the students can use the gained information in ther lives. I will find out the theoretical knowledge of first aid by using the quantitative research, questionaire. It is possible to propose the changes of teaching the first aid at schools based on gathered figures in order to teach the theoretical knowledge more effectively.

The core of this study is an intensive review of a small sample of Indian foster children, their natural parents, their foster parents and of the services each group receives from a children's aid society. To a considerable extent, this is a test of facts against theoretical knowledge and against common beliefs. It is also an operational study which has been undertaken in response to a specific need, and with the hope of finding some procedures for remedial action. The research material is drawn from thirty-one sets of three kinds of files, and the returns from twenty-four questionnaires which were mailed to the foster parent group with covering letters. Data were also secured from a questionnaire which was pretested in an interview with one foster mother who had several Indian children; from consultations with social workers and other experienced people; and from personal knowledge gained by working with the groups involved. A preliminary review of Indians in British Columbia, historically and currently, throws light on the special problems of Indians here characterized as "marginality", "anomie" and prejudice. The study is, then, directed to three primary questions relating to: (1) planning foster placement for the Indian child; (2) the adequacy of the service offered to the Indian children, their parents and foster parents; and (3) the equipment of the social worker who handles Indian cases. The research also throws light upon eight other related queries, which were formulated in the course of the enquiry. On the basis of the evidence from the aggregate material, a number of procedures are proposed, both for improved service in planning for the Indian foster child, and for helping the agency and its workers who are responsible for his care. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

The Children's Aid Society of the Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver has now been in existence for forty-eight years. This study reviews its development from its origin in 1905 to the present day. Material for this purpose was collected from the minutes of the Executive Board of the Society, 1905 to 1953; annual reports for the years 1944 to 1948; statutes of British Columbia; personal interviews with the Director; and other related records and literature of the agency. In the course of its existence, the Society has expanded from an organization providing care only to children committed to it by court, to a social welfare agency which cares for both "ward" and "non-ward" children, provides a service to adoptive parents and unmarried mothers, and engages in family and preventive work. This study traces the increased participation of the Provincial Government in financing the Society, and in serving the Catholic population in those areas of British Columbia where the agency does not operate. It also reveals changes in views on child care. At first, most children in need of protection were placed in institutions. Later, emphasis was placed on foster homes. To-day, the agency shares the modern belief that certain children benefit more from institutional than foster home care. An appraisal of the Catholic Children's Aid Society shows that it has filled a definite need in the Catholic community within the overall framework of local agencies. Its efforts, however, have been hampered by a lack of foster and adoption homes, and a shortage of qualified personnel. The record indicates that more effective and continuous interpretation to the community is required if the agency is to improve its services. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate