Immigrant Engagement in Public Open Space: Strategies for the New Boston

Today, almost 30% of Boston residents were born outside the United States and of these, nearly half came from Latin America, a quarter from Asia, and almost 10% from Africa. The future of the city's open space system - how much land is set aside, and how that land is designed, maintained, and used - will increasingly depend on the passion and commitment of families and communities who may not see themselves or their interests reflected in the city's public lands.In this paper, we consider some of the ways in which recent immigrants to Boston connect (and do not connect) to public parks and open spaces. Our goal is two-fold: to explore alternative ways of "seeing" and using parks and open spaces in different communities in the city, as well as to highlight specific strategies, both here and across the country, that successfully engage urban residents born outside the United States. If Boston's civic spaces are to be celebrated in the future as they have been in the past, they must come to reflect the new diversity of Boston's people. Our hope is that these stories and models will encourage more culturally resonant uses of parks and other public open spaces, and equip policy makers and environmental organizations to partner more fully with newcomer communities - in Boston and beyond

Follow the streakers - in flight decision-making by honey bees

Contains fulltext : mmubn000001_184347718.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Promotores : J. Raaijmakers en E. Roskam169 p

Temporal Variation in Predation Risk May Explain Daily Rhythms of Foraging Behavior in an Orb-Weaving Spider

Daily rhythms occur in numerous physiological and behavioral processes across an immense diversity of taxa, but there remain few cases in which mechanistic links between rhythms of trait expression and organismal fitness have been established. We construct a dynamic optimization model to determine whether risk allocation provides an adaptive explanation for the daily foraging rhythm observed in many species using the orb-weaving spider Cyclosa turbinata as a case study. Our model predicts that female C. turbinata should generally start foraging at lower levels of energy reserves (i.e., should be less bold) during midday when predators are most abundant. We also find that individuals’ foraging efficacy determines whether daily rates of encounters with predators or prey more strongly influences boldness under high risk. The qualitative model predictions are robust to variation in our parameter estimates and likely apply to a wide range of taxa. The predictions are also consistent with observed patterns of foraging behavior under both laboratory and field conditions. We discuss the implications of our study for understanding the evolution of daily rhythms and the importance of model predictions for interpreting empirical studies and generating additional hypotheses regarding behavioral evolution

Food Security and Assistance Programs in Vermont Before and During COVID-19

Here we surveyed a cohort of Vermonters at three time points over the first year of the pandemic. The surveys were conducted in March/ April 2020, June 2020, and March/April 2021. The demographics of the 441 Vermonters who responded to all three surveys are comparable to average Vermont demographics on income, but the respondents were more likely to have a college degree and to identify as female. This brief explores how the use of food assistance programs varied within this population and changed over the course of the pandemic. Key findings include: 1. The number of Vermonters using food assistance programs grew by 86.7% between March 2020 and March 2021 from 24.8% to 46.4%. 2. Vermonters using food assistance programs were more likely to have lower incomes and education levels, to have children, or to have experienced job disruption during the pandemic than those that did not use food assistance programs. 3. BIPOC/Hispanic Vermonters were more likely to use community-based food assistance programs (compared with federal food assistance programs) than non-Hispanic white Vermonters. 4. Worries about the qualifications, logistics, and stigma involved in using food programs grew between May/June 2020 and March 2021. 5. Experiences and perceptions of food assistance program use vary significantly between individuals using federal programs, community programs, or a combination of the two. 6. There are significant demographic differences between groups of people using federal programs, community programs, or a combination of the two

Smoking intensity before and after introduction of the public place smoking ban in Scotland

AbstractA study was performed to determine whether cigarettes were smoked more intensely outside of public venues in Scotland, compared to indoors, after introduction of the public place smoking (PPS) ban. It was conducted in three waves: before the ban, immediately after and 6months after introduction. The study included 322 regular smokers of four cigarette brand variants. Filter analysis measurements were used to estimate the human-smoked yields of tar and nicotine from cigarettes smoked predominantly inside (before the ban) or outside (after the ban) public venues. Self-reported cigarette consumption data were also collected. Numbers of cigarettes smoked indoors in public places fell dramatically after the ban. There was a corresponding rise in smoking incidence in outdoor public locations. The ban did not significantly affect the total number of cigarettes smoked by the subjects over the weekends investigated. Human-smoked yields of tar and nicotine decreased slightly after the introduction of the ban and some reductions were significant. Therefore, smoking outdoors at public venues, following the PPS ban, did not increase smoking intensity. Any changes in smoking behaviour that may have occurred had little effect on mainstream smoke exposure or cigarette consumption for those that continued to smoke

Barriers to flexible sigmoidoscopy colorectal cancer screening in low uptake socio-demographic groups: A systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: To synthesise qualitative evidence related to barriers and facilitators of flexible sigmoidoscopy screening (FSS) intention and uptake, particularly within low socio-demographic uptake groups. FSS uptake is lower amongst women, lower socio-economic status (SES), and Asian ethnic groups within the United Kingdom (UK) and United States of America. METHODS: A total of 12 168 articles were identified from searches of four databases: EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Web of Science. Eligibility criteria included: individuals eligible to attend FSS and empirical peer-reviewed studies that analysed qualitative data. The Critical Appraisal Skills Program tool evaluated the methodological quality of included studies, and thematic synthesis was used to analyse the data. RESULTS: Ten qualitative studies met the inclusion criteria. Key barriers to FSS intention and uptake centred upon procedural anxieties. Women, including UK Asian women, reported shame and embarrassment, anticipated pain, perforation risk, and test preparation difficulties to elevate anxiety levels. Religious and cultural-influenced health beliefs amongst UK Asian groups were reported to inhibit FSS intention and uptake. Competing priorities, such as caring commitments, particularly impeded women's ability to attend certain FSS appointments. The review identified a knowledge gap concerning factors especially associated with FSS participation amongst lower SES groups. CONCLUSIONS: Studies mostly focussed on barriers and facilitators of intention to participate in FSS, particularly within UK Asian groups. To determine the barriers associated with FSS uptake, and further understand how screening intention translates to behaviour, it is important that future qualitative research is equally directed towards factors associated with screening behaviour

Observation of an Estuarine Turbidity Maximum in the Highly Impacted Capibaribe Estuary, Brazil

Background: Alterations in insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) signaling have been associated with dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Studies on the association between IGF-I levels and dementia risk have been inconclusive. We reported earlier that higher levels of IGF-I receptor stimulating activity are associated with a higher prevalence and incidence of dementia. Objective: In the present study, we test the robustness of the association between IGF-I receptor stimulating activity and dementia by extending the follow-up period to 16 years and investigate possible effect modification by apolipoprotein E (ApoE). Methods: At baseline, circulating IGF-I receptor stimulating activity was determined by the IGF-I kinase receptor activation (KIRA) assay in 1,014 elderly from the Rotterdam Study. Dementia was assessed from baseline (1997-1999) to follow-up in January 2015. Associations of IGF-I receptor stimulating activity and incident dementia were assessed with Cox proportional hazards models. Results: During 10,752 person-years of follow-up, 174 people developed dementia. In the extended follow-up we no longer observed a dose-response relationship between IGF-I receptor stimulating activity and risk of dementia [adjusted odds ratio 1.11; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.97-1.28]. Interestingly, we found evidence of an interaction between ApoE-ε4 and tertiles of IGF-I receptor stimulating activity. IGF-I receptor stimulating activity in the median and top tertiles was related to increased dementia incidence in hetero- and homozygotes of the ApoE-ε4 allele, but did not show any association with dementia risk in people without the ApoE-ε4 allele (adjusted odds ratio medium vs. low IGF-I receptor stimulating activity in ApoE-ε4 carriers: 1.45; 95% CI 1.00-2.12). These findings suggest a threshold effect in ApoE-ε4 carriers. In line with the hypothesis that downregulation of IGF-I signaling is associated with increased dementia risk, ApoE-ε4 homozygotes without prevalent dementia displayed lower levels of IGF-I receptor stimulating activity than heterozygotes and non-carriers. Conclusion: The findings shed new light on the association between IGF-I signaling and the neuropathology of dementia and ask for replication in other cohorts, using measures of IGF-I receptor stimulating activity rather than total serum levels as putative markers of dementia risk

Maternal mental health and children's development: a bi-directional relationship?

Objectives Research on bi-directional associations between self-reported caregiver mental health and child development is mixed. Through linkage of a cohort study and primary care data, we examine whether maternal mental health diagnoses, treatment and symptoms are bi-directionally associated with child development, namely emotional and conduct problems, hyperactivity and peer problems. Approach We accessed 14 years of data by linking the Millennium Cohort Study (in Wales) to anonymised individual-level population-scale health and administrative data within the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank. We identified maternal mental health problems using John et al’s (2016) existing algorithm for anxiety and depression diagnoses, symptoms and treatment. We measured child development using parent-reports of the Strengths and Difficulties questionnaire. Outcomes were tested when the child was 3, 5, 7, 11 and 14 years of age. We used Bayesian Structural Equation Modelling, specifically Random-Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Models, to analyse within and between-person associations. Results We found that mother’s mental health was strongly associated over time, as were children’s development difficulties. Cross-lagged associations from mother to child were weakly positively associated at age 3 to 5 for child total scores, and at age 11 to 14 for child emotional problems. In contrast, child development associations with maternal mental health were significant from age 7 to 11 for total scores, emotional and peer problems, but weakly associated at age 3 to 5, and 11 to 14 for conduct problems. Hyperactivity had few associations. Few associations at the same-time point were found, but emotional problems at age 11 and 14 were positively associated, as were hyperactivity at age 14, and peer problems at age 11. Between-person effects were consistently strongly associated. Conclusion We find mixed evidence for bi-directional associations, but strong between-person associations. Overall development and emotional problem models showed more bi-directional relationships; child development was positively associated with mother’s mental health event at age 7 for all models except hyperactivity, conduct problems were weakly associated at age 5 and 11