Women, Weather, and Woes: The Triangular Dynamics of Female-Headed Households, Economic Vulnerability, and Climate Variability in South Africa

SummaryExisting gender inequality is believed to be heightened as a result of weather events and climate-related disasters that are likely to become more common in the future. We show that an already marginalized group—female-headed households in South Africa—is differentially affected by relatively modest levels of variation in rainfall, which households experience on a year-to-year basis. Data from three waves of the National Income Dynamics Survey in South Africa allow us to follow incomes of 4,162 households from 2006 to 2012. By observing how household income is affected by variation in rainfall relative to what is normally experienced during the rainy season in each district, our study employs a series of naturally occurring experiments that allow us to identify causal effects. We find that households where a single head can be identified based on residency or work status are more vulnerable to climate variability than households headed by two adults. Single male-headed households are more vulnerable because of lower initial earnings and, to a lesser extent, other household characteristics that contribute to economic disadvantages. However, this can only explain some of the differential vulnerability of female-headed households. This suggests that there are traits specific to female-headed households, such as limited access to protective social networks or other coping strategies, which makes this an important dimension of marginalization to consider for further research and policy in South Africa and other national contexts. Households headed by widows, never-married women, and women with a non-resident spouse (e.g., “left-behind” migrant households) are particularly vulnerable. We find vulnerable households only in districts where rainfall has a large effect on agricultural yields, and female-headed households remain vulnerable when accounting for dynamic impacts of rainfall on income

Fate of polyphenols in pili (Canarium ovatum Engl.) pomace after in vitro simulated digestion

AbstractObjectiveTo evaluate the stability and bioavailability of polyphenols in pili (Canarium ovatum Engl.) pomace during simulated in vitro digestion.MethodsFreeze-dried pili pomace was subjected to in vitro digestion simulating conditions in the stomach, small intestine and colon. Total polyphenols, anthocyanins, flavonoids and condensed tannins, and its antioxidant activity – 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, 2,2′-azinobis-3-ethylbenzothiozoline-6-sulfonic acid, and ferric reducing antioxidant power were measured using standard spectrophotometric methods.ResultsIn vitro digestion of pili pomace resulted in reduction of phenolic compounds. Condensed tannins and anthocyanins were released in the gastric and intestinal stages, while total polyphenols and flavonoids after fermentation simulating colonic conditions. Antioxidant values of the bioavailable fractions showed that more than 90% of activity was lost during simulated digestion.ConclusionsFindings indicate that pili pomace is a promising functional ingredient for food and dietary supplements which can furnish potentially bioavailable phenolic antioxidants to the body

School-based depression and anxiety prevention programs for young people: A systematic review and meta-analysis

AbstractDepression and anxiety often emerge for the first time during youth. The school environment provides an ideal context to deliver prevention programs, with potential to offset the trajectory towards disorder. The aim of this review was to provide a comprehensive evaluation of randomised-controlled trials of psychological programs, designed to prevent depression and/or anxiety in children and adolescents delivered in school settings. Medline, PsycINFO and the Cochrane Library were systematically searched for articles published until February 2015. Eighty-one unique studies comprising 31,794 school students met inclusion criteria. Small effect sizes for both depression (g=0.23) and anxiety (g=0.20) prevention programs immediately post-intervention were detected. Small effects were evident after 12-month follow-up for both depression (g=0.11) and anxiety (g=0.13). Overall, the quality of the included studies was poor, and heterogeneity was moderate. Subgroup analyses suggested that universal depression prevention programs had smaller effect sizes at post-test relative to targeted programs. For anxiety, effect sizes were comparable for universal and targeted programs. There was some evidence that externally-delivered interventions were superior to those delivered by school staff for depression, but not anxiety. Meta-regression confirmed that targeted programs predicted larger effect sizes for the prevention of depression. These results suggest that the refinement of school-based prevention programs have the potential to reduce mental health burden and advance public health outcomes

Crystal plasticity modelling and HR-DIC measurement of slip activation and strain localization in single and oligo-crystal Ni alloys under fatigue

AbstractSingle crystal (CMSX4) and oligocrystal (MAR002) nickel have been studied using three-point beam bending under conditions of cyclic loading. SEM images have enabled identification of slip activation, and high resolution digital image correlation has been utilized to quantify the developing strain fields and the strain localization in both single and oligocrystals in fatigue. The single and oligocrystal microstructures have been replicated within crystal plasticity finite element models and the fatigue loading analysed such that grain-by-grain comparisons of slip may be carried out. Single and multiple slip activation, slip localization and microstructure-sensitive stress evolution have been examined.Single crystal bend fatigue gives rise to non-symmetric slip fields and localization depending on crystallographic orientation. Modelling correctly captures slip activation and the developing non-symmetric slip fields. Oligocrystal slip is markedly heterogeneous, with grain misorientations driving strong variations, also reasonably captured by the model. Microstructure behaviour is found to vary spatially and include elastic-plastic hysteresis which is stable, and which undergoes mean stress relaxation so that plastic shakedown occurs. Remarkable variations occur between locations either side of grain boundaries, providing appropriate opportunities for fatigue crack nucleation

Preparation of nanostructured ruthenium doped titania for the photocatalytic degradation of 2-chlorophenol under visible light

AbstractRu doped titania was prepared by the impregnation method and examined for the photocatalytic degradation of 2-chlorophenol at ambient conditions. Ru/TiO2 photocatalysts with metal loadings of 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8wt% were prepared and characterized using TEM, XRD, FTIR, SBET and EDX analyses. The degradation of 2-chlorophenol (2-CP) in the aqueous phase was investigated under irradiation at 254nm, employing either photodegradation in the presence of titania, Ru doped titania or photolysis, to compare the efficiency of these photoinduced advanced oxidation techniques. Photocatalysis under visible irradiation was also investigated. The removal efficiency arrived at 50% using 0.2% Ru/TiO2 catalyst

Impact of diurnal variability and meteorological factors on the PM2.5 - AOD relationship: Implications for PM2.5 remote sensing

AbstractPM2.5 retrieval from space is still challenging due to the elusive relationship between PM2.5 and aerosol optical depth (AOD), which is further complicated by meteorological factors. In this work, we investigated the diurnal cycle of PM2.5 in China, using ground-based PM measurements obtained at 226 sites of China Atmosphere Watch Network during the period of January 2013 to December 2015. Results showed that nearly half of the sites witnessed a PM2.5 maximum in the morning, in contrast to the least frequent occurrence (5%) in the afternoon when strong solar radiation received at the surface results in rapid vertical diffusion of aerosols and thus lower mass concentration. PM2.5 tends to peak equally in the morning and evening in North China Plain (NCP) with an amplitude of nearly twice or three times that in the Pearl River Delta (PRD), whereas the morning PM2.5 peak dominates in Yangtze River Delta (YRD) with a magnitude lying between those of NCP and PRD. The gridded correlation maps reveal varying correlations around each PM2.5 site, depending on the locations and seasons. Concerning the impact of aerosol diurnal variation on the correlation, the averaging schemes of PM2.5 using 3-h, 5-h, and 24-h time windows tend to have larger R biases, compared with the scheme of 1-h time window, indicating diurnal variation of aerosols plays a significant role in the establishment of explicit correlation between PM2.5 and AOD. In addition, high cloud fraction and relative humidity tend to weaken the correlation, regardless of geographical location. Therefore, the impact of meteorology could be one of the most plausible alternatives in explaining the varying R values observed, due to its non-negligible effect on MODIS AOD retrievals. Our findings have implications for PM2.5 remote sensing, as long as the aerosol diurnal cycle, along with meteorology, are explicitly considered in the future

Synthesis, spectroscopic characterization and antibacterial screening of novel Mannich bases of Ganciclovir

AbstractBiologically active Mannich bases with heteroaromatic ring system of substituted guanine derivative (2-amino-9 [{(1,3 di hydroxy propane-2yl) oxy} methyl] 6-9 dihydro-3H-purine-6-one) (ganciclovir), have been synthesized via Mannich reaction. The aminomethylation of ganciclovir with various biologically potent sulphonamides was carried out and then characterized by elemental analysis and spectral studies – UV, IR, 1H NMR, powder X-ray diffraction and Scanning Electron Microscopy. The compounds were screened for their antibacterial activity against various pathogenic bacteria at varying concentrations. The antibacterial activity of derived Mannich bases was compared with parent sulphonamides. The toxicity of synthesized Mannich bases was ascertained by LD50 test

Excess thermodynamic parameters for binary and ternary mixtures of {1-butanol (1)+cyclohexylamine (2)+n-heptane (3)} at different temperatures: A theoretical study

AbstractIn this work, we used the experimental data of Kijevcanin et al. for determining the excess thermodynamic parameters such as excess thermal expansion coefficients αE, isothermal coefficient of pressure excess molar enthalpy (∂HmE/∂P)T and excess partial molar volumes V¯m,iE for the binary and ternary mixtures formed by {1-butanol+cyclohexylamine+n-heptanes} at (288.15–323.15) K. The αE values, for 1-butanol+cyclohexylamine are S-shaped and for 1-butanol+n-heptane are positive and for cyclohexylamine+n-heptane are negative over the mole fraction range. The (∂HmE/∂P)T values, for 1-butanol+cyclohexylamine are S-shaped and for binary mixture of 1-butanol+n-heptane are negative and for binary mixture of cyclohexylamine+n-heptane are positive over the mole fraction. The values of αE and (∂HmE/∂P)T are calculated by using the Flory theory, the results show a good agreement with experimental data. The values of αE and (∂HmE/∂P)T for ternary mixture {1-butanol+cyclohexylamine+n-heptanes} are determined and the experimental data are correlated as a function of the mole fraction by using the equations of Cibulka, Jasinski and Malanowski, Singe et al., Pintos et al., Calvo et al., Kohler, and Jacob–Fitzner. The results show that the Calvo et al. equation is better than others

A combined inverse finite element – elastoplastic modelling method to simulate the size-effect in nanoindentation and characterise materials from the nano to micro-scale

AbstractMaterial properties such as hardness can be dependent on the size of the indentation load when that load is small, a phenomenon known as the indentation size effect (ISE). In this work an inverse finite element method (IFEM) is used to investigate the ISE, with reference to experiments with a Berkovich indenter and an aluminium test material. It was found that the yield stress is highly dependent on indentation depth and in order to simulate this, an elastoplastic constitutive relation in which yielding varies with indentation depth/load was developed. It is shown that whereas Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio are not influenced by the length scale over the range tested, the amplitude portion of yield stress, which is independent of hardening and corresponds to the initial stress for a bulk material, changes radically at small indentation depths. Using the proposed material model and material parameters extracted using IFEM, the indentation depth-time and load-depth plots can be predicted at different loads with excellent agreement to experiment; the relative residual achieved between FE modelling displacement and experiment being less than 0.32%. An improved method of determining hardness from nanoindentation test data is also presented, which shows goof agreement with that determined using the IFEM

Xanthogranulomatous Prostatitis, a Rare Prostatic Entity

AbstractThere are several benign prostatic pathologies that can clinically mimic a prostate adenocarcinoma. Xanthogranulomatous prostatitis is a benign inflammatory condition of the prostate and a rare entity. A 47-year old male, with 3 years of lower urinary tract symptoms, with a palpable hypogastric tumor, digital rectal examination: solid prostate, of approximately 60 g. Initial PSA was 0.90 ng/mL. He underwent surgical excision of the lower abdominal nodule and prostatectomy. Histopathology showed xanthogranulomatous prostatitis, without malignancy. Xanthogranulomatous prostatitis is an extremely rare entity that can simulate prostate adenocarcinoma, therefore having a correct histopathological diagnosis is essential