Perceived Impact of Individual Development Account Participation Among Native Hawaiians

Indigenous peoples face many social development challenges and the lingering effects of colonization. Income transfer, a traditional social welfare approach designed to raise minimum living standards, has had limited beneficial effects on long-term social conditions. As a complement to income transfer, asset-based approaches to social welfare have resulted in positive effects in the short and long terms. Some Indigenous communities are exploring how asset-based interventions might enhance social development (Hicks, Edwards, Dennis, & Finsel, 2005), but only limited and scattered research describes how they experience asset-building programs. This qualitative descriptive study explores the perceived impact of a large Individual Development Account (IDA) program for Indigenous Native Hawaiians. Data consist of answers to open-ended questions about the impacts of participating in an IDA program. Participants felt that the culturally based program material was empowering and that they gained lasting, meaningful life skills. They attributed skills development, psychological changes, and tangible asset gains to the IDA program. Notably, participants who did not finish the program identified barriers to doing so, including a lack of flexibility in savings requirements and life events that forced an exit from the program

Golden gravitational lensing systems from the Sloan Lens ACS Survey. II. SDSS J1430+4105: A precise inner total mass profile from lensing alone

We study the SLACS strong lensing system SDSSJ1430+4105 at z=0.285. The lensed source (z=0.575) of this system has a complex morphology with several subcomponents. Its subcomponents span a radial range from 4 to 10kpc in the lens plane. Therefore we can constrain the slope of the total projected mass profile around the Einstein radius (R_E) from lensing alone. We measure a density profile that is slightly but not significantly shallower than isothermal at R_E. We decompose the mass of the lensing galaxy into a de Vaucouleurs (deV) component to trace the stars and an additional dark component. The spread of multiple image components over a large radial range also allows us to determine the amplitude of the deV and dark matter components separately. We get a mass to light ratio of M_deV/L_B~5.5\pm1.5M/L_sun,B and a dark matter fraction within R_E of ~20 to 40%. Modelling the star formation history assuming composite stellar populations at solar metallicity to the galaxy's photometry yields a mass to light ratio of M_star,salp/L_B~4.0_{-1.3}^{+0.6}M/L_sun,B and M_star,chab/L_B~2.3_{-0.8}^{+0.3}M/L_sun,B for Salpeter and Chabrier IMFs, respectively. Hence, the mass to light ratio derived from lensing is more Salpeter-like, in agreement with results for massive Coma galaxies and other nearby massive early type galaxies. We examine the consequences of the galaxy group in which the lensing galaxy is embedded, showing that it has little influence on the mass to light ratio obtained for the deV component of the lensing galaxy. Finally, we decompose the projected, azimuthally averaged 2D density distribution of the deV and dark matter component of the lensing signal into spherically averaged 3D density profiles. We can show that the 3D dark and luminous matter density within R_E~0.6R_eff of this SLACS galaxy is similar to the values of Coma galaxies with the same velocity dispersions.Comment: 24 pages, 21 figures, 11 tables, accepted for publication by MNRA

Nutrient enrichment increases invertebrate herbivory and pathogen damage in grasslands

1- Plant damage by invertebrate herbivores and pathogens influences the dynamics of grassland ecosystems, but anthropogenic changes in nitrogen and phosphorus availability can modify these relationships. 2- Using a globally distributed experiment, we describe leaf damage on 153 plant taxa from 27 grasslands worldwide, under ambient conditions and with experimentally elevated nitrogen and phosphorus. 3- Invertebrate damage significantly increased with nitrogen addition, especially in grasses and non-leguminous forbs. Pathogen damage increased with nitrogen in grasses and legumes but not forbs. Effects of phosphorus were generally weaker. Damage was higher in grasslands with more precipitation, but climatic conditions did not change effects of nutrients on leaf damage. On average, invertebrate damage was relatively higher on legumes and pathogen damage was relatively higher on grasses. Community-weighted mean damage reflected these functional group patterns, with no effects of N on community-weighted pathogen damage (due to opposing responses of grasses and forbs) but stronger effects of N on community-weighted invertebrate damage (due to consistent responses of grasses and forbs). 4- Synthesis. As human-induced inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus continue to increase, understanding their impacts on invertebrate and pathogen damage becomes increasingly important. Our results demonstrate that eutrophication frequently increases plant damage and that damage increases with precipitation across a wide array of grasslands. Invertebrate and pathogen damage in grasslands is likely to increase in the future, with potential consequences for plant, invertebrate and pathogen communities, as well as the transfer of energy and nutrients across trophic levels.EEA Santa CruzFil: Ebeling, Anne. University of Jena. Institute of Ecology and Evolution; AlemaniaFil: Strauss, Alex T. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior; Estados UnidosFil: Strauss, Alex T. University of Georgia. Odum School of Ecology; Estados UnidosFil: Adler, Peter B. Utah State University. Department of Wildland Resources and the Ecology Center; Estados UnidosFil: Arnillas, Carlos Alberto. University of Toronto —Scarborough. Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences; CanadáFil: Barrio, Isabel C. Agricultural University of Iceland. Faculty of Environmental and Forest Sciences; IslandiaFil: Biederman, Lori A. Iowa State University. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology; Estados UnidosFil. Borer, Elizabeth T. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior; Estados UnidosFil: Bugalho, Miguel N. University of Lisbon. Centre for Applied Ecology (CEABN-InBIO). School of Agriculture; Portugal.Fil: Caldeira, Maria C. University of Lisbon. Forest Research Centre. School of Agriculture; Portugal.Fil: Cadotte, Marc W. University of Toronto Scarborough. Department of Biological Sciences; CanadáFil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santa Cruz; Argentina.Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral; Argentina.Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina.Fil: Blumenthal, Dana M. USDA-ARS, Rangeland Resources & Systems Research Unit; Estados Unido

Effect of halo modelling on WIMP exclusion limits

WIMP direct detection experiments are just reaching the sensitivity required to detect galactic dark matter in the form of neutralinos. Data from these experiments are usually analysed under the simplifying assumption that the Milky Way halo is an isothermal sphere with maxwellian velocity distribution. Observations and numerical simulations indicate that galaxy halos are in fact triaxial and anisotropic. Furthermore, in the cold dark matter paradigm galactic halos form via the merger of smaller subhalos, and at least some residual substructure survives. We examine the effect of halo modelling on WIMP exclusion limits, taking into account the detector response. Triaxial and anisotropic halo models, with parameters motivated by observations and numerical simulations, lead to significant changes which are different for different experiments, while if the local WIMP distribution is dominated by small scale clumps then the exclusion limits are changed dramatically.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, version to appear in Phys. Rev. D, minor change

Zum Leistungs- und Entwicklungsstand inklusiv beschulter Schülerinnen und Schüler mit (sonder-)pädagogischen Förderbedarfen auf der Insel Rügen nach sechs Schulbesuchsjahren

In zwei Teilstudien wurden im Schuljahr 2015/16 die Leistungsstände und Lernfortschritte von Schülerinnen und Schülern mit besonderen Förderbedarfen in fünften (N = 20) und sechsten Klassen (N = 46) an Regionalen Schulen der Insel Rügen untersucht. Diese Kinder wurden in ihrer Grundschulzeit innerhalb der Präventiven Integrativen Schule auf Rügen (PISaR) nach dem Rügener Inklusionsmodell (RIM) beschult (Einschulungsjahrgang 2010/11). Die untersuchten Kinder fünfter Klassen wiederholten innerhalb der Grundschulzeit eine Klassenstufe. Innerhalb der Rügener Regionalen Schulen werden die Kinder mit besonderen Förderbedarfen weiterhin inklusiv beschult. Hierzu sollen laut einer Zielvereinbarung mit dem Bildungsministerium Mecklenburg-Vorpommern u. a. eine Förderung auf mehreren Förderebenen, regelmäßige Lernfortschrittsmessungen und Förderplanungen in Teambesprechungen beitragen. Die Leistungsstände der Fünft- bzw. Sechstklässler wurden mit Schulleistungstest gemessen, die für die jeweilige Klassenstufe geeicht sind (Messung des Leistungsstandes mittels T-Werten). Die Leistungszuwächse im Schuljahr 2015/16 wurden mithilfe der Durchführung von Schulleistungstest der jeweils vorausgegangenen Klassenstufe ermittelt. Hieraus wurden unter Berücksichtigung von Vorjahresergebnissen Effekte der Förderung (d-Werte) ermittelt

Survival Benefit for Individuals With Constitutional Mismatch Repair Deficiency Undergoing Surveillance

PURPOSE: Constitutional mismatch repair deficiency syndrome (CMMRD) is a lethal cancer predisposition syndrome characterized by early-onset synchronous and metachronous multiorgan tumors. We designed a surveillance protocol for early tumor detection in these individuals. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data were collected from patients with confirmed CMMRD who were registered in the International Replication Repair Deficiency Consortium. Tumor spectrum, efficacy of the surveillance protocol, and malignant transformation of low-grade lesions were examined for the entire cohort. Survival outcomes were analyzed for patients followed prospectively from the time of surveillance implementation. RESULTS: A total of 193 malignant tumors in 110 patients were identified. Median age of first cancer diagnosis was 9.2 years (range: 1.7-39.5 years). For patients undergoing surveillance, all GI and other solid tumors, and 75% of brain cancers were detected asymptomatically. By contrast, only 16% of hematologic malignancies were detected asymptomatically (P \u3c .001). Eighty-nine patients were followed prospectively and used for survival analysis. Five-year overall survival (OS) was 90% (95% CI, 78.6 to 100) and 50% (95% CI, 39.2 to 63.7) when cancer was detected asymptomatically and symptomatically, respectively (P = .001). Patient outcome measured by adherence to the surveillance protocol revealed 4-year OS of 79% (95% CI, 54.8 to 90.9) for patients undergoing full surveillance, 55% (95% CI, 28.5 to 74.5) for partial surveillance, and 15% (95% CI, 5.2 to 28.8) for those not under surveillance (P \u3c .0001). Of the 64 low-grade tumors detected, the cumulative likelihood of transformation from low-to high-grade was 81% for GI cancers within 8 years and 100% for gliomas in 6 years. CONCLUSION: Surveillance and early cancer detection are associated with improved OS for individuals with CMMRD

Physical activity as a treatment for depression: the TREAD randomised trial protocol

Depression is one of the most common reasons for consulting a General Practitioner (GP) within the UK. Whilst antidepressants have been shown to be clinically effective, many patients and healthcare professionals would like to access other forms of treatment as an alternative or adjunct to drug therapy for depression. A recent systematic review presented some evidence that physical activity could offer one such option, although further investigation is needed to test its effectiveness within the context of the National Health Service.The aim of this paper is to describe the protocol for a randomised, controlled trial (RCT) designed to evaluate an intervention developed to increase physical activity as a treatment for depression within primary care