Determinants of Mammography Usage across Rural and Urban Regions of Canada

Breast cancer is a leading source of mortality among Canadian women; however early detection via mammography considerably improves survival rates. Accordingly, national guidelines advocate biennial screening for asymptomatic women aged 50 to 69 years. Unfortunately many women do not abide by such recommendations, and there is some evidence that compliance rates are lower in rural areas. This report explores the extent of regional variation within and between Canadian provinces using a new and more detailed set of rural indicators based on economic zones of influence. We find the incidence of ever having a mammogram and screening within the last two years are significantly lower for women most removed from large urban centers. This result is obtained after controlling for demographic and socio-economic characteristics, concentration of physicians and specialists in the local area and whether the woman has a regular family doctor. An important reason for the observed differences across rural and urban areas is found to be awareness of the need for regular screening. We also observe that differences in mammography usage between rural and urban areas vary significantly across Canadian provinces.mammography, cancer screening, rural health, women's health

Murals In Motion: Mexican Muralism On The Silver Screen And Its Place In Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy

This research focuses on Mexican Muralism as a part of an educational initiative introduced following the Mexican Revolution of 1910. Functioning as a didactic art form, the intention of the murals was to educate the masses about its history, new national identity and promising modern future. This work not only examines Mexican Muralism and its recurring themes and representation of Indigenous subjects, but also tracks the appearance of these images from mural walls to movie screens in Mexican film of the Golden age. Using the 21st century theory developed by Django Paris and Samy Alim, Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy, this work asserts and finds that elements of the pedagogical theory, however small, can be traced from the Mexican Muralism movement of the 1920s to Golden Age films of the mid 20th century and finally in the 21st century where the theory is established. Previous research in this area emphasizes the transference of imagery and subject matter from wall to screen with little connection to its lasting impact in modern film nor to pedagogical theory as it relates to potential integration in Latin American Studies curriculum. The purpose of this study is to leverage the artistic products created in post-revolutionary Mexico in the form of muralism and film to gain a more comprehensive understanding of Indigenous representation and the evolution thereof in order to utilize these artforms for their original intended purpose-as didactic artforms meant to educate the public on a nation’s people and history

Process Evaluation of Georgia's Integrated Family Support Demonstration Project: Findings from First Year Implementation Efforts

This report summarizes findings from first year implementation efforts of the Georgia Department of Human Resources' Family Support Demonstration Project. The goal of the project was to reduce child abuse and neglect and improve child health by providing support to Georgia's families with infants and young children at highest risk for child maltreatment

Making Detention Reform Work for Girls: A Guide to Juvenile Detention Reform

Throughout the nation, court-involved girls frequently pose minimal risk to public safety but suffer with significant social service needs. Data on detention utilization show that girls are being disproportionately detained for misdemeanors, status offenses and technical violations of probation and parole. In short, many girls enter detention for the wrong reasons and many remain in detention for extended periods harmful to them and contrary to best practice. This practice guide responds to a call from both mature and new sites from within the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) network, which continue to find that effectively serving and supervising girls is among the most difficult issues in detention reform. The practice guide stresses that efforts to safely reduce the inappropriate detention of low-risk girls must be rooted in JDAI\u27s core strategies, but with an added intentional focus on applying those core strategies to girls\u27 unique needs and circumstances. Thus, the Practice Guide updates the 2005 Pathways report Detention Reform and Girls: Challenges and Solutions and then details steps jurisdictions can take to pinpoint policies or practices that may result in girls\u27 inappropriate or unnecessary detention. It then profiles an array of promising and proven strategies drawn from experience and literature that jurisdictions can use to improve the detention process and reduce the use of detention for girls

Developing a collaborative framework for naturalistic visual search

While much research has investigated the mechanisms of visual search behaviour in laboratory-based computer tasks, there has been relatively little work on whether these results generalise to more naturalistic search tasks and thus how well existing theories explain real-world search behaviour. In addition, work relating to this question has often been carried out by researchers working in very different disciplines, including not just vision science but also fields such as consumer behaviour, sports science and medical science, making it more difficult to get an overview of the progress made and open questions remaining. We present findings from a systematic review of real-world visual search, showing that we can group the current literature into theoretical and applied approaches, and that there are certain well-studied topics (e.g., X-ray screening) but that there are relatively few links made across different search tasks and/or search contexts. We also present preliminary work detailing our development of a “naturalistic search task battery”, which aims to provide a suite of open source, reproducible and standardised real-world search tasks, thus enabling the generation of comparable data across multiple studies and aiding theory and modelling in this area

Does the availability of snack foods in supermarkets vary internationally?

BackgroundCross-country differences in dietary behaviours and obesity rates have been previously reported. Consumption of energy-dense snack foods and soft drinks are implicated as contributing to weight gain, however little is known about how the availability of these items within supermarkets varies internationally. This study assessed variations in the display of snack foods and soft drinks within a sample of supermarkets across eight countries.MethodsWithin-store audits were used to evaluate and compare the availability of potato chips (crisps), chocolate, confectionery and soft drinks. Displays measured included shelf length and the proportion of checkouts and end-of-aisle displays containing these products. Audits were conducted in a convenience sample of 170 supermarkets across eight developed nations (Australia, Canada, Denmark, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, United Kingdom (UK), and United States of America (US)).ResultsThe mean total aisle length of snack foods (adjusted for store size) was greatest in supermarkets from the UK (56.4 m) and lowest in New Zealand (21.7 m). When assessed by individual item, the greatest aisle length devoted to chips, chocolate and confectionery was found in UK supermarkets while the greatest aisle length dedicated to soft drinks was in Australian supermarkets. Only stores from the Netherlands (41%) had less than 70% of checkouts featuring displays of snack foods or soft drinks.ConclusionWhilst between-country variations were observed, overall results indicate high levels of snack food and soft drinks displays within supermarkets across the eight countries. Exposure to snack foods is largely unavoidable within supermarkets, increasing the likelihood of purchases and particularly those made impulsively.<br /

Killing of orangutans in Kalimantan: community perspectives on incidence and drivers

Despite decades of conservation management, many orangutan populations are on the brink of extinction. This is primarily due to habitat loss and direct killings. A study from 2008/2009 suggested that killing was impacting orangutan populations at a rate sufficient to cause local extinctions. As an illegal and taboo behavior that is difficult to measure, killing has been severely understudied since. We conducted 431 interviews in 79 villages across Kalimantan in 2020/2021. Ours is the first quantitative field study in more than 10 years to assess the state of killing of orangutans. We aimed to: (1) assess the current state of killing of orangutans in Kalimantan and compare this to the previous study; (2) determine whether conservation projects are affecting killing; and (3) explore drivers of killing. We examined killing of orangutans across villages with forest conservation projects, orangutan conservation projects, and no conservation projects. We assessed the existence of killing and used scenarios to examine perceived norms about illegal behavior relating to orangutans. We then used matching techniques to assess whether projects have any impact on these indicators. Overall, our findings suggest that killing has occurred in recent times, and our data does not indicate a clear attenuation of the behavior. As such, we argue that killing may still present a substantial threat to Bornean orangutan populations. We also found no statistically significant evidence that conservation projects are reducing killing. Conservation project managers could seek to understand the drivers of killing, and to invest in interventions that address these drivers. Research suggests that current allocation of conservation funding has been ineffective at abating orangutan population decline. We argue that a key part of improving Bornean orangutan conservation practice involves directly addressing killing of orangutans and the underlying drivers of killing