Prevalence, features and health impacts of eating disorders amongst First-Australian Yiramarang (adolescents) and in comparison with other Australian adolescents

Background: This study aimed to support previous research conducted with First-Australians (FA) by establishing the prevalence of eating disorders, and their demographic distribution and burden in adolescent First-Australians compared to other-Australians (OA). Methods: Data were used from the baseline survey of the EveryBODY Study, a longitudinal investigation of eating disorders among Australian adolescents. Of the 5068 participants included, 402 (8%) identified as FA, 4586 (90.5%) identified as OA. Diagnosis of eating disorders was based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual version 5. Socioeconomic status and measures of impairment were assessed using validated instruments. Body mass index was calculated based on self-reported weight and height. Statistical analyses used data weighted to the distribution of gender in adolescents in New South Wales in the 2016 Australian Census. Chi-square tests were performed to determine prevalence of eating disorders amongst FA and to compare to OA. ANOVA and logistic regression analyses where conducted to examine the moderation effect of sociodemographic status, measures of impairment and FA status on the distribution of eating disorders. Results: The prevalence rates for eating disorder diagnoses where similar for FA and OA with the exception of Night eating Syndrome (OSFED-NES), which occurred in 7.14% (95%CI 4.81–10.49) of FA vs. 3.72% (95%CI 3.17–4.36) in OA. The greater prevalence of OSFED-NES in FA was largely explained by poorer psychosocial quality of life amongst FA. Conclusion: Eating disorders are common amongst First-Australian adolescents and are associated with poor psychosocial quality of life. These findings are consistent with previous research conducted with First-Australian adults. There is a need to screen for eating disorders amongst First-Australian adolescent girls and boys

Impressing for Success: A Gendered Analysis of a Key Social Capital Accumulation Strategy

Social capital theory assesses the career benefits that accrue to individuals from the stock of relationships they have. Such benefits can be in the form of guidance and advice, access to key projects and assignments and help with setting up business deals. However, when assessing whether such career-enhancing resources are available equally to men and women, we find that gender impacts on the access to and accumulation of social capital. The article seeks to address two key research questions. The first is whether women are aware of the need to accumulate social capital to advance their careers and the second is whether they use impression management techniques in order to assist them in doing this. Findings are reported from a study in an international consulting firm with 19 female consultants. In respect of research question one the findings indicate that women in the sample are aware of the need to accumulate social capital to advance their careers; with particular emphasis being placed on the importance of gaining access to influential sponsors. In respect of research question two, the findings confirm that women in the sample do perceive the necessity to utilise impression management techniques to help them to accumulate social capital. This is done in a defensive way and is linked to ensuring that one is seen as ambitious, likable and available. It is argued that these are key organizational norms, and it is perceived that in order to accumulate social capital, women need to actively work to dispel the negative stereotypes that attach to them because of their gender. The article calls for greater recognition of the impact that masculine organizational cultures have on the career development of women, who not only have to perform at a high level but are also required to expend additional energy conforming to masculine organizational cultures they have had little say in creating

The winter 2015/2016 floods in the UK: a hydrological appraisal

The winter 2015/2016 saw one of the most severe and extensive periods of flooding in the UK, leading to much debate around flood risk management in a warming world. After such devastating floods, it is important to quantify the severity of the rainfall and river flows and to place them in a historical context to inform dialogue on future flood risk management strategies. This poster offers perspective from the National Hydrological Monitoring Programme, continuing a long history of documenting major flood and drought events in the UK. The exceptionally wet weather began in November and lasted into January, leading to severe and extensive flooding, focused in northern and western areas. Throughout this period, a number of rainfall and temperature records were surpassed, and previous maximum river flows exceeded in a large number of catchments. December was the wettest calendar month on record for the UK (in a series from 1910) and delivered new 24-hour and 48-hour rainfall totals. Much of the northern Britain and Northern Ireland saw double the average December rainfall, whilst some areas saw up to three times the average. Remarkable peak river flow records were set during storm ‘Desmond’; more than 1700 cumecs were recorded on the Eden, Lune & Tyne - the highest gauged river flows, outside Scotland, based on UK National River Flow Archive records. Wet weather continued into January, with more peak river flow records set in Scotland (e.g. on the Dee and Don). Impacts were severe: flooded homes and businesses, damaged bridges, canals and railways, and extensive agricultural impacts. The severity of the winter 2015/2016 flooding, alongside other episodes in the recent past, further underlines our continued vulnerability to flooding and highlights an ongoing need to identify the most appropriate flood risk management strategies to reduce impacts of flooding on people and infrastructure

Deletion of smn-1, the Caenorhabditis elegans ortholog of the spinal muscular atrophy gene, results in locomotor dysfunction and reduced lifespan

Spinal muscular atrophy is the most common genetic cause of infant mortality and is characterized by degeneration of lower motor neurons leading to muscle wasting. The causative gene has been identified as survival motor neuron (SMN). The invertebrate model organism Caenorhabditis elegans contains smn-1, the ortholog of human SMN. Caenorhabditis elegans smn-1 is expressed in various tissues including the nervous system and body wall muscle, and knockdown of smn-1 by RNA interference is embryonic lethal. Here we show that the smn-1(ok355) deletion, which removes most of smn-1 including the translation start site, produces a pleiotropic phenotype including late larval arrest, reduced lifespan, sterility as well as impaired locomotion and pharyngeal activity. Mutant nematodes develop to late larval stages due to maternal contribution of the smn-1 gene product that allows to study SMN-1 functions beyond embryogenesis. Neuronal, but not muscle-directed, expression of smn-1 partially rescues the smn-1(ok355) phenotype. Thus, the deletion mutant smn-1(ok355) provides a useful platform for functional analysis of an invertebrate ortholog of the human SMN protein

Water quality and UK agriculture: challenges and opportunities

There are high aspirations for environmental water quality targets in the UK, but requirements for significant growth in agricultural production to meet both food security objectives and provide viable livelihoods for farmers make these hard to achieve. Significant water quality challenges are related to nutrients, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, pathogens, sediments and habitat alteration. To facilitate the challenges posed, there is a need for predictive, spatially-distributed models to be developed that encompass the key aspects of agriculture and water management in order to inform future policy and organisations with an interest in land management. Additionally, there needs to be recognition from policy makers that different solutions are needed in different agri-water systems and that it often takes many years or decades for policies to have a sustained water quality impact. Long-term support for research infrastructure and the scientific skills base is required to enable measurement and data analysis necessary to inform decision making. Farmers need clearly articulated information on the issues and potential solutions on which to make informed management decisions regarding water. There are existing solutions to some problems and this knowledge needs to be effectively disseminated with appropriate incentives for implementation to have maximum impact. Greater collaboration between researchers, industry and policy makers, with the necessary framework to deliver effective joint working, is urgently needed. There is also a need for a wider societal understanding of the land-water system and the various ways in which society pays (and might pay in the future) for the real value of water

Mapping Patent Classifications: Portfolio and Statistical Analysis, and the Comparison of Strengths and Weaknesses

The Cooperative Patent Classifications (CPC) jointly developed by the European and US Patent Offices provide a new basis for mapping and portfolio analysis. This update provides an occasion for rethinking the parameter choices. The new maps are significantly different from previous ones, although this may not always be obvious on visual inspection. Since these maps are statistical constructs based on index terms, their quality--as different from utility--can only be controlled discursively. We provide nested maps online and a routine for portfolio overlays and further statistical analysis. We add a new tool for "difference maps" which is illustrated by comparing the portfolios of patents granted to Novartis and MSD in 2016.Comment: Scientometrics 112(3) (2017) 1573-1591; http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11192-017-2449-

The role of infant life histories in the construction of identities in death: An incremental isotope study of dietary and physiological status among children afforded differential burial

YesObjectives Isotope ratio analyses of dentine collagen were used to characterize short-term changes in physiological status (both dietary status and biological stress) across the life course of children afforded special funerary treatment. Materials and Methods Temporal sequences of δ15N and δ13C isotope profiles for incrementally-forming dentine collagen were obtained from deciduous teeth of 86 children from four early-medieval English cemeteries. Thirty-one were interred in child-specific burial clusters, and the remainder alongside adults in other areas of the cemetery. Isotope profiles were categorized into four distinct patterns of dietary and health status between the final prenatal months and death. Results Isotope profiles from individuals from the burial clusters were significantly less likely to reflect weaning curves, suggesting distinctive breastfeeding and weaning experiences. This relationship was not simply a factor of differential age at death between cohorts. There was no association of burial location with stage of weaning at death, nor with isotopic evidence of physiological stress at the end of life. Discussion This study is the first to identify a relationship between the extent of breastfeeding and the provision of child-specific funerary rites. Limited breastfeeding may indicate the mother had died during or soon after birth, or that either mother or child was unable to feed due to illness. Children who were not breastfed will have experienced a significantly higher risk of malnutrition, undernutrition and infection. These sickly and perhaps motherless children received care to nourish them during early life, and were similarly provided with special treatment in death.University of Sheffield Early Career Researcher Scheme by a grant awarded to ECA in 2014-15