STATEWIDE INITIATIVES TO ENCOURAGE ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND ENHANCE COLLABORATIVE APPROACHES TO RESOLVING FAMILY ISSUES

Over the past 27 years, since the concept of the multidoor courthouse was first introduced, methods for resolving family issues have increasingly focused on less adversarial and more collaborative approaches. Infrastructures have developed in a variety of ways in different states to initiate, support, and promote these approaches, and pilot projects have provided an invaluable avenue for testing and implementing changes. This article will describe some of the current statewide initiatives to develop infrastructure and implement change through creative pilot projects and will propose strategies to sustain these changes.     

Agricultural development in Ethiopia: Government budgeting and development assistance in the pre and post 1975 periods

An analysis of rural development programmes in pre‐ and post‐1975 Ethiopia demonstrates the importance of international donor agencies in rural development activities. Since pre‐1975 Development Plans largely neglected agriculture, current and capital expenditure budgets allocated few financial resources to agriculture. While acknowledging the importance of agriculture in promoting economic growth in its Third Five Year Plan, the Imperial Government recognised its lack of resources and absence of an articulated rural development plan and turned to donor agencies for both programme formulation and financing. The post‐1975 government, while continuing to utilise donor agency assistance, is not only allocating a greater proportion of capital expenditure to agriculture, but has also articulated specific rural development objectives within which it has outlined the role of donor agency assistance.     

D-dimer assays for the identification of menstrual blood

A method to reliably distinguish menstrual blood from blood in the normal circulation (peripheral blood) would be of considerable use in the forensic analysis and interpretation of evidence in sexual offence investigations. Previous attempts to address this issue have explored microscopy, lactate dehydrogenase isozyme identification, mRNA and miRNA profiling, and identification of the products of fibrinolysis. Here, four assays for D-dimer, a terminal degradation product of fibrinolysis, are evaluated for their specificity and sensitivity in detection of menstrual blood. In addition the effect of exercise, and sample storage upon D-dimer detection was investigated. Comparison of different assays revealed significant differences in results given. Nevertheless, no positive results for D-dimer were obtained using peripheral blood, mixtures of peripheral blood with semen, or peripheral blood taken from donors after moderate exercise. D-dimer was found to be detectable in 100% of menstrual blood samples after 1 week at room temperature and also in samples stored long-term (>3 years) at -20 °C. D-dimer may be an effective, simple to use tool for the presumptive identification of menstrual blood identification.