The Impact of Having a Baby on the Level and Content of Women’s Well-Being

The primary objective of this study was to more fully understand the impact of having a baby on women’s well-being by attending to both the level and the content of well-being. To cover the judgemental and affective aspects of well-being we included global measures of life satisfaction and well-being and affective experience measures derived from the day reconstruction method. In a sample of 19 first-time mothers no differences between pre and postnatal reports of general life satisfaction, depression, anxiety, and experienced positive and negative affect were found, suggesting that the arrival of the newborn baby does not universally impact on women’s level of well-being. Changes in the content of well-being were studied by examining changes in the way women experience specific activities and interactions with various social partners. There appeared to be an upward shift in experienced positive affect during active leisure and a slight decrease in negative affect during time spent with relatives. The results are discussed in light of previously documented changes across the transition to motherhood in negative mood states, time use, women’s evaluation of various aspects of daily life, and relational satisfaction

Addressing vulnerability, building resilience:community-based adaptation to vector-borne diseases in the context of global change

Abstract Background The threat of a rapidly changing planet – of coupled social, environmental and climatic change – pose new conceptual and practical challenges in responding to vector-borne diseases. These include non-linear and uncertain spatial-temporal change dynamics associated with climate, animals, land, water, food, settlement, conflict, ecology and human socio-cultural, economic and political-institutional systems. To date, research efforts have been dominated by disease modeling, which has provided limited practical advice to policymakers and practitioners in developing policies and programmes on the ground. Main body In this paper, we provide an alternative biosocial perspective grounded in social science insights, drawing upon concepts of vulnerability, resilience, participation and community-based adaptation. Our analysis was informed by a realist review (provided in the Additional file 2) focused on seven major climate-sensitive vector-borne diseases: malaria, schistosomiasis, dengue, leishmaniasis, sleeping sickness, chagas disease, and rift valley fever. Here, we situate our analysis of existing community-based interventions within the context of global change processes and the wider social science literature. We identify and discuss best practices and conceptual principles that should guide future community-based efforts to mitigate human vulnerability to vector-borne diseases. We argue that more focused attention and investments are needed in meaningful public participation, appropriate technologies, the strengthening of health systems, sustainable development, wider institutional changes and attention to the social determinants of health, including the drivers of co-infection. Conclusion In order to respond effectively to uncertain future scenarios for vector-borne disease in a changing world, more attention needs to be given to building resilient and equitable systems in the present

The relationship between water, sanitation and schistosomiasis : a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Access to "safe" water and "adequate" sanitation are emphasized as important measures for schistosomiasis control. Indeed, the schistosomes' lifecycles suggest that their transmission may be reduced through safe water and adequate sanitation. However, the evidence has not previously been compiled in a systematic review. METHODOLOGY: We carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies reporting schistosome infection rates in people who do or do not have access to safe water and adequate sanitation. PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were searched from inception to 31 December 2013, without restrictions on year of publication or language. Studies' titles and abstracts were screened by two independent assessors. Papers deemed of interest were read in full and appropriate studies included in the meta-analysis. Publication bias was assessed through the visual inspection of funnel plots and through Egger's test. Heterogeneity of datasets within the meta-analysis was quantified using Higgins' I2. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Safe water supplies were associated with significantly lower odds of schistosomiasis (odds ratio (OR) = 0.53, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.47-0.61). Adequate sanitation was associated with lower odds of Schistosoma mansoni, (OR = 0.59, 95% CI: 0.47-0.73) and Schistosoma haematobium (OR = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.57-0.84). Included studies were mainly cross-sectional and quality was largely poor. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our systematic review and meta-analysis suggests that increasing access to safe water and adequate sanitation are important measures to reduce the odds of schistosome infection. However, most of the studies were observational and quality was poor. Hence, there is a pressing need for adequately powered cluster randomized trials comparing schistosome infection risk with access to safe water and adequate sanitation, more studies which rigorously define water and sanitation, and new research on the relationships between water, sanitation, hygiene, human behavior, and schistosome transmissio

Aspectos temporais auditivos em adolescentes do 6º ano do Ensino Fundamental Temporal aspects of hearing in adolescents from the 6th year of elementary education

OBJETIVO: esclarecer a relação entre desempenho escolar e aspectos temporais auditivos. MÉTODO: estudo descritivo-transversal com amostra de conveniência, composta por 82 estudantes, na faixa etária de 11 a 13 anos, sendo 43 do sexo feminino e 38 do sexo masculino do 6º ano de uma escola de financiamento privado na Região Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte. Cada estudante respondeu a um formulário de caracterização da amostra, realizou o Teste de Desempenho Escolar e foi submetido aos testes que avaliam os aspectos temporais auditivos: Teste Padrão de Duração, Teste Padrão de Frequência e Teste Gap-in-Noise. RESULTADOS: os testes que avaliam os aspectos temporais auditivos não sofreram influência relacionada às variáveis sexo, idade, realização de atividades de musicalização e preferência manual. Com exceção da variável "acompanhamento fonoaudiológico" que apresentou significância estatística no teste Gap-in-Noise. Os subtestes do Teste de Desempenho Escolar que exerceram maior influencia no desempenho nos testes Padrão de Duração e Padrão de Frequência foram Escrita, seguida de Leitura e Aritmética. CONCLUSÃO: a análise dos dados revelou que há correlação entre desempenho escolar e aspectos temporais auditivos. Cabe ressaltar que os testes que avaliam a ordenação temporal complexa (Teste Padrão de Frequência e Teste Padrão de Duração) são influenciados pelo desempenho no Teste de Desempenho Escolar. Porém o mesmo não ocorre com o teste que avalia resolução temporal (Gap-in-Noise).<br>PURPOSE: to elucidate the relationship between school performance and temporal aspects of hearing. METHOD: a descriptive cross-sectional convenience sample composed of 82 students, aged 11-13 years, 43 females, and 38 males in the 6th grade at a private funding school in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte. Each student responded to one form of sample characterization, performed the Academic Performance Test and was submitted to tests that evaluated the temporal auditory aspects (Duration Pattern Sequence, Pitch Pattern Sequence and Gap-in-Noise). RESULTS: the tests that assess auditory temporal aspects were not affected by the variables gender, age, music activity performance and, hand preference. The speech therapy variable was statistically significant on Gap in Noise Test. The subtests of the Educational Achievements' Test had the greatest influence on the Duration and Frequency Pattern Sequence performance were writing followed by reading and arithmetic. CONCLUSION: data analysis revealed a correlation between school performance and temporal aspects of hearing. It should be noted that the tests that evaluate the temporal ordering tasks (Frequency Pattern Sequence and Duration Pattern Sequence) are influenced by the Academic Achievement Test performance. However this does not occur with the test that evaluates the temporal resolution (Gap-in-Noise)