Peasant Subsistence in Northwestern Haiti: Geography, Cultural Ecology, and Rural Development.

Geographers are challenged to explain the why of where. This study grapples with whys of peasant subsistence in contemporary rural Haiti. Cultural ecology, one of the fundamental themes in cultural geography, examines the interplay between cultural traditions and the realities of subsistence in a given physical environment. Haitian cultural traditions derive from a rich melange of folkways from West Africa, Indian Middle America, and Western Europe. The land is semiarid and hilly in Northwestern Haiti, the poorest, driest, and most sparsely settled of Haiti\u27s provinces. Crops and livestock betray traditional preferences in foodways, and reveal much about the constraints of the land. This study examines crops such as the roots and tubers that come from various culture realms but that particularly emphasize Haiti\u27s African heritage. The predominant species of livestock, goats, chickens and hogs, fill roles required of them by both human society--place in voodoo ritual, ease of marketing--and by constraints of the land--the need to forage and browse in wasteland scrub. While cultural geographers generally focus their attention on material manifestations of culture on the landscape, non-material culture traits are influential upon the local genre de vie, or way of life. Religion and belief systems are commonly accepted subjects of geographical inquiry, yet this study gives more attention to a parallel cultural construct, local political traditions and how they interrelate with and influence rural subsistence strategies. Among the rural folklife elements with strongest political implications are land tenure customs, coffee marketing mechanisms, maize storage methods, and the rationale behind the selection of root crops. These factors are compounded with the troubles of three of Haiti\u27s most important agricultural industries--coffee, sugar cane, and swine. This paper calls attention to the convergence of these impacts upon the Haitian peasant. The ensemble of demands of rural subsistence is summarized with the basic needs approach to development. Groundwork is laid for an alternative rural development plan based on economic resources now relatively underexploited. Citrus cultivation is reexamined in the context of international markets. Renewable energy resources are reevaluated in light of changing technology

International aspects of the nitrate situation

This item was digitized by the Internet Archive. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Boston Universityhttps://archive.org/details/internationalasp00bri

Sciences, technologie, société

Le cours de chimie, Chemistry in the Community, n’est pas destiné à des spécialistes de cette discipline mais doit permettre à un plus grand nombre d’élèves de saisir les liens entre sciences, technologie et société. Le succès de cette approche de l’enseignement scientifique a nécessité de la part des enseignants un important effort d’adaptation et de formation

A study of thirty factors related to male students who have had disciplinary problems in a college dormitory at Kansas State University, 1965-1966

Digitized by Kansas State University Librarie

Electromagnetic transition rates in the Ν = 80 nucleus 138/58Ce

The half-life of the I?=6+ yrast state at Ex=2294 keV in 138Ce has been measured as T1/2=880(19) ps using the fast-timing ?-ray coincidence method with a mixed LaBr3(Ce)- HPGe array. The excited states in 138Ce have been populated by the 130Te(12C,4n) fusion-evaporation reaction at an incident beam energy of 56 MeV. The extracted B(E2;61+?41+)=0.101(24) W.u. value is compared with the predictions of truncated basis shell model calculations and with the systematics of the region. This shows an anomalous behavior compared to the neighboring isotonic and isotopic chains. Half-lives for the yrast 5-, 11+ and 14+ states in 138Ce have also been determined in this work. � 2013 American Physical Society

Étude internationale des curricula

Dans le cadre des enquêtes menées par l’IEA, la troisième enquête internationale sur les mathématiques et les sciences a été l’occasion d’une mise au point de techniques d’analyses facilitant l’étude des curricula, et, plus spécifiquement, le curriculum formel (intented curriculum). Ces techniques qui représentent une innovation importante pour la recherche éducative, font l’objet d’une présentation dans cet article

A randomized, placebo-controlled trial of repeated IV antibiotic therapy for Lyme encephalopathy

Background: Optimal treatment remains uncertain for patients with cognitive impairment that persists or returns after standard IV antibiotic therapy for Lyme disease. Methods: Patients had well-documented Lyme disease, with at least 3 weeks of prior IV antibiotics, current positive IgG Western blot, and objective memory impairment. Healthy individuals served as controls for practice effects. Patients were randomly assigned to 10 weeks of double-masked treatment with IV ceftriaxone or IV placebo and then no antibiotic therapy. The primary outcome was neurocognitive performance at week 12—specifically, memory. Durability of benefit was evaluated at week 24. Group differences were estimated according to longitudinal mixed-effects models. Results: After screening 3368 patients and 305 volunteers, 37 patients and 20 healthy individuals enrolled. Enrolled patients had mild to moderate cognitive impairment and marked levels of fatigue, pain, and impaired physical functioning. Across six cognitive domains, a significant treatment-by-time interaction favored the antibiotic-treated group at week 12. The improvement was generalized (not specific to domain) and moderate in magnitude, but it was not sustained to week 24. On secondary outcome, patients with more severe fatigue, pain, and impaired physical functioning who received antibiotics were improved at week 12, and this was sustained to week 24 for pain and physical functioning. Adverse events from either the study medication or the PICC line were noted among 6 of 23 (26.1%) patients given IV ceftriaxone and among 1 of 14 (7.1%) patients given IV placebo; these resolved without permanent injury. Conclusion: IV ceftriaxone therapy results in short-term cognitive improvement for patients with posttreatment Lyme encephalopathy, but relapse in cognition occurs after the antibiotic is discontinued. Treatment strategies that result in sustained cognitive improvement are needed

Hereditary haemochromatosis, haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis and COVID-19

Background Syndromes of iron overload have been shown to increase the risk severe clinical disease in viral infections. Immune dysfunction is similarly described in hereditary haemochromatosis (HH). We present here the case of a 51-year-old man who developed severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) complicated by suspected haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). He was found to have HH post-mortem and we propose a link between his iron overload and the development of severe COVID-19. Case report The initial clinical presentation consisted of cough, shortness of breath and fever. Pancytopenia, markedly elevated ferritin and d-dimer were present. Computed tomography (CT) showed bilateral ground glass changes consistent with COVID-19, widespread lymphadenopathy and splenomegaly. A subsequent combined nose and throat swab was positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). HLH was suspected based upon the H-score and Anakinra, an IL-1 receptor antagonist, was commenced. Liver function acutely worsened and magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) revealed hepatic haemosiderosis. Intense splenic and cervical lymph node uptake were seen on a positron emission tomography (PET) scan and high doses of intravenous steroids were administered due to concerns over haematological malignancy. Results Day fourteen of admission heralded the start of progressive clinical deterioration with rapid increase in oxygen demands. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) was trialled without success and the patient unfortunately died seventeen days into admission. Results returned after his death showed homozygous C282Y mutation of the HFE gene consistent with a diagnosis of HH. Post-mortem examination revealed widespread haemosiderin deposition in the liver along with lung pathology in keeping with severe COVID-19 and widespread splenic infarctions. Conclusion An association between HH and COVID-19 is not currently described in the literature. What does exist, however, is an evidence base for the detrimental impacts iron overload has on viral infections in general and the negative effects of HH on the immune system. We therefore postulate that the underlying metabolic and immune disturbances seen in HH should be considered a potential risk factor for the development of severe COVID-19. This case also adds to the evidence that hyperinflammation appears to be a unique and interesting characteristic of this novel viral disease