Reproductive Health Disparities in Latin America

Most countries in Latin America have completed or are approaching the completion of the fertility transition. Yet, the pace of the fertility decline in the region is characterized by vast inequalities. There are considerable cross-country and within-country differences, and women in lower socioeconomic strata continue to be more at risk of high adolescent and total fertility. This dissertation investigates reproductive health disparities in four Central American countries, Paraguay, and Argentina. Using Demographic and Reproductive Health Surveys, as well as a unique longitudinal dataset from Northern Argentina, I employ logistic regression, event history analysis, and logistic random effects techniques to examine the factors related to disparities in out-of-union childbearing, sexual behaviors in the transition to adulthood, and contraceptive use among indigenous women. I find that young age, residence in the capital region, and higher levels of religiosity and wealth are significantly related to out-of-union fertility in Paraguay. In Central America, age distributions for important events during the transition to adulthood have undergone little to no change over the past two decades. School enrollment significantly decreased the hazard of experiencing sexual initiation, first marriage and first birth in all countries. Finally, I find unequivocal evidence for the increased uptake of modern contraception among indigenous Toba women in Namqom, Argentina, following the passage of a 2002 law lifting financial barriers to contraception in that country. In addition, I find decreased use among women who have migrated to Namqom from more remote regions of Northern Argentina, and increased use among women with relatively early ages at menarche. Further investigation utilizing the sequencing techniques employed by those researching transitions to adulthood in the developed world is needed to examine the changing adolescent experience in Latin American countries. Moreover, a focus on cross-ethnic variation in health disparities that highlights the experiences of indigenous groups throughout the region is needed to determine how we may improve access to and acceptability of modern reproductive health services

Calcareous nannofossils of the Boreal Lower Cretaceous : applications in biostratigraphy and palaeoceanography

The marine Lower Cretaceous sediments of northern, Boreal latitudes yield diverse and well-preserved calcareous nannofossil assemblages. The calcareous nannofloras of nine core and outcrop sections (of Ryazanian-Albian age) in England, Germany, the North Sea, and Barents Sea, are examined in detail (utilising 773 samples). Dense sampling of key outcrop sections (in particular, Speeton) enables calibration of the observed nannofossil events against ammonite zones. The Barents Sea sections, which are shown to be highly condensed, yield the northernmost Lower Cretaceous nannofossils to be described. The previously chaotic taxonomy of Lower Cretaceous nannofossils is revised, and a major rationalisation of genera proposed - this involves several generic emendations, and twenty five new combinations. Two new genera, Apertasphaera and Neoparhabdolithus, and nine new species are described - Apertasphaera jakubowskii, Calculites bumettiae, Clepsilithus maculosus, Cyclagelosphaera papilla, Nannoconus inomatus, Nannoconus pseudoseptentrionalis, Rucinolithus windleyae, Tegumentum bergeni and Tubodiscus parvus. In addition, one new subspecies - Rhagodiscus angustus parvus - is described, and a number of species are split into informal varieties, to avoid biostratigraphical ambiguity. Following these revisions, the suprageneric classification is reappraised, and a new family - Family Tubodiscaceae - is proposed. An updated nannofossil zonation scheme for the Ryazanian to Aptian of the Boreal area is presented; this comprises twenty two zones (labelled BC1 to BC22, in ascending order), and a number of additional subzones. Biostratigraphical resolution in the HauterivianBarremian is comparable with current ammonite zonations, and enables detailed sequence stratigraphical interpretation. Following the publication of new data from Tethyan sections (Bergen, 1994), the potential for direct inter-regional correlation is investigated; the nannofossil datums utilised generally support traditional, ammonite-based correlations but suggest that, in Boreal areas, the Hauterivian-Barremian boundary should be placed at the top of the variabilis ammonite Zone, slightly higher than its current position. Finally, the palaeoceanographical applications of Lower Cretaceous nannofossils are considered, in the light of new data on modem nannoplankton. Surface water temperature is believed to have been the principal factor controlling species distribution, throughout the history of nannoplankton; the importance of surface water fertility has probably been exaggerated in previous palaeoceanographical studies, which have been hampered by broad taxonomic concepts. There remains much to be done, in deducing the environmental preferences of Cretaceous nannofossils, but the potential for their application to palaeoenvironmental studies is good

Research to establish ecological standards for water resources developments.

Three levels of development were identified to represent the environmental condition of the region under consideration. The least disturbed environments are designated as level I areas to which the strictest ecological standards is assigned to preserve and protect natural environment. The level II areas are designated by an intermediate level of human involvement in the ecological communities. Areas where large concentrations of population are located are designated as level III environments and the standards applied to these areas should be more tolerant of pollutants in the ecological systems.It is not intended that these four indicators be exhaustive; users should feel free to employ additional indicators for their study area. All the estimates of the indicator are transformed into their corresponding indicator performance level by comparing it with the maximum value in the region. They are then weighted in proportion to their relative importance.The system to establish ecological standards for water resources developments has been developed in this study. Two steps were undertaken to establish ecological standards. The first one is the categorization of development levels of natural environment by measuring specific socio-economic factors which are capable of delineating the human modification of the ecological standards in response to various development levels so as to reflect the human influence on the ecological system.Three different scales (X-axis) were proportionally developed for each of the twelve parameters reflecting the three levels of restriction. Formulas were also developed for calculating the parameter estimates. The parameter estimate obtained can be applied to the appropriate scale of a study region whose level of development was previously determined from its socio-economic evaluation. By interpolation, the ecological performance of a parameter in a study region can be derived.The validation of the methodology is accomplished by using data from the Mid-Arkansas River Basin, including Pawnee, Creek, Tulsa, and Osage counties of Oklahoma.Four socio-economic indicators were proposed to quantitatively measure the degree of human involvement in the natural environment: inhabitance index, land value, intensity of water use, and transportation facility. Inhabitance index is an indicator that explains the development level in terms of population size and settlement pattern. It is defined as the result of total population density multiplied by rural population density. Average land value (in dollars per acre) is a significant indicator of the development level of a region because the higher the development level, the more people compete for land, thus, giving rise to higher land values. The indicator of intensity of water use is expressed in terms of domestic, municipal and industrial water use (in acre-feet/sq mile-year). Because the inadequacy of transportation facilities presents great limitations to land resources development, transportation facilities (miles of streets and highways per acre) can be a significant indicator.Twelve parameters were employed to assess the ecological performance of the natural environment. For each parameter, a parameter function graph was developed, which illustrates the relationship between the parameter estimate (X-axis) and ecological performance (Y-axis). A measuring scale was set up to determine how well each parameter performs. This scale ranges from -1 to 0 and from 0 to +1. A zero value is designated as the standard value, while -1 and +1 represent the extremely poor and excellent performances respectively.The indicator performance levels are multiplied by their relative weights to obtain the weighted indicator performance levels which are then summed to obtain the development level estimates. The cutoff points on these development level estimates are determined to differentiate level I, II, and III regions

Evaluating bananas: A global partnership: results of IMTP phase II

For the International Musa Testing Programme (IMTP) Phase II, germplasm was evaluated for resistance to black Sigatoka (M. fijiensis), yellow Sigatoka (M. musicola) and Fusarium wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense). The majority of IMTP Phase II trials were planted during 1996 and 1997. The first part of this publication provides a synthesis of final results. In the second part, full results are given for Sigatoka sites in Cameroon, Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nigeria, the Philippines, Tonga, and Uganda, and for Fusarium wilt (Foc) sites in Australia, Brazil, Honduras, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, and Uganda