The Effort to Decrease Maternal and Child Mortality Rates Through Cultural Transformation

Maternal and infant mortality in Ende is still high, but research related a social science is rare. The cultural aspect and medical factors such as the lack of primary health care services are also play a role. This study aims are to identifying and formulate the local cultural transformation as a way to solve maternal and infant mortality. This ethnographic research was conducted in 2013. The study carried not only interviews, but also observation towards reproductive-age women, heads of family, traditional birth attendants, doctors, midwives, local leaders, adat leaders, pastors and sisters, local government officials, and head of health district at Ende. Data is analysed phenomenologically. The strong belief to adat and local tradition has implication to people's attitude towards traditional birth attendants. Traditional birth attendants hold superior position in the community. They also have strong influence due to their ability to massage, correctly guess infant's sex, reposition infant in the womb, and stop bleeding during labor. Maternal and/or infant mortality has nothing to do with traditional birth attendants because local people believe that such case happens as a result of hex or black magic called ru'u. Anemia, bleeding, food taboo, and incorrect diet pattern worsen the overall condition of pregnant women. Cultural transformation is done by alternating TBAs practices in massaging pregnant women. TBAs are encouraged to massage pregnant women's back instead of stomach since pregnant women often have to deal with low back pain during pregnancy

Coatings decrease metal fatigue failure

Metal test specimens were coated with suitable materials to limit the rate of attack of fresh metal surfaces by the atmosphere. The fatigue properties of coated metals were superior to those which were uncoated and approached the properties observable in vacuum

Does fertility decrease household consumption?

This paper presents an empirical analysis of the relationship between fertility and a direct measure of poverty for Indonesia, a country, which has experienced unprecedented economic growth and sharp fertility declines over recent decades. It focuses on illustrating the sensitivity of the effect of fertility on household consumption with respect to the equivalence scale by applying the propensity score matching method. The analysis suggests that a newborn child decreases household consumption per person by 20 percent within four years. When the estimates of equivalence scales implied by the Indonesian sample are applied, the effect of a child on household consumption is still negative, but the magnitudes are in the range from 20 to 65 percent of that found with the per-capita expenditure as a measure of consumption. Therefore, it is suggested that the analysis based on the conventional measure of poverty is likely to exaggerate the effect of fertility on poverty at least because of the neglect of the proper equivalence scale.consumption, equivalence scale, fertility, Indonesia, poverty dynamics

Rigidity spectrum of Forbush decrease

Using data from neutron monitors and muon telescopes at surface and underground stations, the average rigidity spectrum of Forbush decreases (Fds) during the period of 1978-1982 were obtained. Thirty eight Ed-events are classified into two groups Hard Fd and Soft Fd according to size of Fd at Sakashita station. It is found that a spectral form of fractional-power type (P to the-gamma sub 1 (P+P sub c) to the -gamma sub2) is more suitable for the present purpose than that of power-exponential type or of power type with an upper limiting rigidity. The best fitted spectrum of fractional-power type is expressed by gamma sub1 = 0.37, gamma sub2 = 0.89 and P subc = 10 GV for Hard Fd and gamma sub1 = 0.77, gamma sub2 = 1.02 and P sub c - 14GV for Soft Fd