An examination of the influence of African-American extended family relationships on child weight status

In the U.S., African American children suffer from higher rates of obesity than their white peers. African American families are often multi-generational, with extended family members, especially women, caring for child relatives. Yet little is currently known about the influence of these female extended family members (EFMs) on African American children’s dietary and physical activity behaviors. The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between the amount of time an African American child spent with an EFM, the frequency of child physical activity and eating around the EFM, and family members’ weight status. Data were collected and analyzed as part of a larger study examining relationships in African American families (n=47). Participating families consisted of the mother, her child aged 8-12 years, and an EFM. Participants were recruited from community organizations in Guilford County, North Carolina. Family Systems Theory guided the research in accordance with current literature which suggests that family-based lifestyle interventions achieve better outcomes than education or information only interventions. Eighty-eight percent of non-pregnant mothers (n=44) and 87% of non-pregnant EFMs (n=45) were classified as overweight or obese as defined by Body Mass Index (BMI) compared to 47% of the children in the study as defined by Body Mass Index For Age (BMI-For-Age). EFMs comprised 10 grandmothers, two great grandmothers, one great aunt, 19 aunts, and 15 cousins. No significant association was found between time spent with EFMs and frequency of child eating and physical activity behaviors. Children were less active around grandmothers and great grandmothers compared to aunts and cousins (p<0.05). Children were less active and ate less frequently around relatives 45 years and older (p<0.01). No significant relationship was found between child weight status and frequency of physical activity around EFMs. Children with higher weight status were more likely to be related to grandmothers, great grandmothers and great aunts than to aunts and cousins (r=-0.289, p<0.05); to spend 4 days or more with EFMs (r=0.311, p<0.05); and to have an EFM who was overweight or obese herself (r=0.314, p<0.05). EFM relationship type and time spent with the EFM were significantly predictive of child BMI status. EFM BMI was also predictive. EFM age and frequency of physical activity around the EFM were not (p<0.05). These findings call for future research to help understand how EFMs influence the dietary and physical activity behaviors of children in their care

Governing and accelerating transformative entrepreneurship: exploring the potential for small business innovation on urban sustainability transitions

The alluring yet nebulous concept of transformative change is increasingly gaining traction in conversations about pathways to more sustainable futures. As such, new conceptual tools are needed to illuminate variety of actors, interests, and capacities at play in potentially radical experiments. This paper draws upon multi-level governance theory, sustainability transitions scholarship, and sustainability entrepreneurship literature, to interrogate the transformative potential of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We (1) identify characteristics of SMEs that might make them relatively more able to produce radical innovations, (2) explore dimensions of the broader socio-political context that influence the likelihood of this potential to be translated into action in urban spaces, and (3) discuss implications of these dynamics for transformative sustainability governance

Governing and accelerating transformative entrepreneurship: exploring the potential for small business innovation on urban sustainability transitions

The alluring yet nebulous concept of transformative change is increasingly gaining traction in conversations about pathways to more sustainable futures. As such, new conceptual tools are needed to illuminate variety of actors, interests, and capacities at play in potentially radical experiments. This paper draws upon multi-level governance theory, sustainability transitions scholarship, and sustainability entrepreneurship literature, to interrogate the transformative potential of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We (1) identify characteristics of SMEs that might make them relatively more able to produce radical innovations, (2) explore dimensions of the broader socio-political context that influence the likelihood of this potential to be translated into action in urban spaces, and (3) discuss implications of these dynamics for transformative sustainability governance

Experiences of wearing support garments by people living with a urostomy

BACKGROUND:support garments are commonly worn by people with a urostomy but there are no published data about their experiences of doing so. AIMS:to identify the views of people living with a urostomy on the role of support garments. METHODS:a cross-sectional survey of the stoma population's experiences of support garments was conducted in 2018. Recruitment was by social media. The free-text responses provided by a sub-sample of 58 people out of 103 respondents with a urostomy, were analysed. FINDINGS:thematic analysis revealed four themes: physical self-management; psychosocial self-management; lifestyle; and healthcare advice and support. There were mixed feelings about the value of support garments. Many cited a sense of reassurance and confidence and being able to be more sociable and active; others reported discomfort and uncertainty about their value. CONCLUSION:these findings add new understanding of experiences of support garments and provide novel theoretical insights about life with a urostomy

1964: Abilene Christian College Bible Lectures - Full Text

LEADERSHIP IN THE CHURCH” Being the Abilene Christian College Annual Bible Lectures 1964 Price: $3.95 Published by ABILENE CHRISTIAN COLLEGE STUDENTS EXCHANGE ACC Station Abilene, Texa

Transactions costs in rural decision-making: The cases of funding and monitoring in rural development in England

Public domain decisions in rural England have become more complex as the number of stakeholders having a say in them has increased. Transactions costs can be used to explore this increasing complexity. The size and distribution of these costs are higher in rural areas. Grouping transactions costs into four - organizations, belief systems, knowledge and information, and institutions - two of the latter are evaluated empirically: growth in the bid culture, and monitoring and evaluation. Amongst 65 Agents of Rural Governance (ARGs) in Gloucestershire, both were found to be increasing over time, but those relating to finance were a greater burden than those of monitoring: the latter can improve ARG performance. Increasing transactions costs in rural decision-making appears to be at variance with ambitions of achieving 'smaller government' through, for example, the Big Society. Smaller government is likely to be shifting the incidence of these costs, rather than reducing them. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

E-NTPDases in human airways: Regulation and relevance for chronic lung diseases

Chronic obstructive lung diseases are characterized by the inability to prevent bacterial infection and a gradual loss of lung function caused by recurrent inflammatory responses. In the past decade, numerous studies have demonstrated the importance of nucleotide-mediated bacterial clearance. Their interaction with P2 receptors on airway epithelia provides a rapid ‘on-and-off’ signal stimulating mucus secretion, cilia beating activity and surface hydration. On the other hand, abnormally high ATP levels resulting from damaged epithelia and bacterial lysis may cause lung edema and exacerbate inflammatory responses. Airway ATP concentrations are regulated by ecto nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolases (E-NTPDases) which are expressed on the mucosal surface and catalyze the sequential dephosphorylation of nucleoside triphosphates to nucleoside monophosphates (ATP → ADP → AMP). The common bacterial product, Pseudomonas aeruginosa lipopolysaccharide (LPS), induces an acute reduction in azide-sensitive E-NTPDase activities, followed by a sustained increase in activity as well as NTPDase 1 and NTPDase 3 expression. Accordingly, chronic lung diseases, including cystic fibrosis (CF) and primary ciliary dyskinesia, are characterized by higher rates of nucleotide elimination, azide-sensitive E-NTPDase activities and expression. This review integrates the biphasic regulation of airway E-NTPDases with the function of purine signaling in lung diseases. During acute insults, a transient reduction in E-NTPDase activities may be beneficial to stimulate ATP-mediated bacterial clearance. In chronic lung diseases, elevating E-NTPDase activities may represent an attempt to prevent P2 receptor desensitization and nucleotide-mediated lung damage

The Moral Economy of Ready-Made Food

The aim of this paper is to develop and apply a framework to explore how moralities of consumption are constituted in and through markets. Using the case of ready-made foods, this paper argues moral economies are comprised through interactions between micro, meso and macro level processes in the form of instituted systems of provision, state regulation, collective food customs promoted though media, NGOs and lifestyle practitioners, and the everyday reflections of consumers. Building on a theoretical framework developed to understand the moral economy of work and employment (Bolton and Laaser, 2013), this paper explores how markets for ready-made food are incessantly negotiated in the context of moral ideas about cooking, femininity and individual responsibility. It focuses on ‘new’ market innovations of fresh ready-to-cook meal solutions and explores how these products are both a response to moralizing discourses about cooking ‘properly’, as well as an intervention into the market that offers opportunities for new moral identities to be performed. Using data gathered from interviews with food manufacturers and consumers, I advocate for a multi-layered perspective that captures the dynamic interplay between consumers, markets and moralities of consumption