8 research outputs found
Spacetime Fermions in Light-cone Gauge Superstring Field Theory and Dimensional Regularization
We consider the dimensional regularization of the light-cone gauge type II
superstring field theories in the NSR formalism. In the previous work, we have
calculated the tree-level amplitudes with external lines in the (NS,NS) sector
using the regularization and shown that the desired results are obtained
without introducing contact term interactions. In this work, we study the
tree-level amplitudes with external lines in the Ramond sector. In order to
deal with them, we propose a worldsheet theory to be used instead of that for
the naive dimensional regularization. With the worldsheet theory, we regularize
and define the tree-level amplitudes by analytic continuation. We show that the
results coincide with those of the first quantized formulation.Comment: 28 pages, 5 figures; v2: more details of our manipulations in
subsection 3.2 added, figures and references added; v3: clarifications adde
Social factors influencing child health in Ghana
Objectives
Social factors have profound effects on health. Children are especially vulnerable to social influences, particularly in their early years. Adverse social exposures in childhood can lead to chronic disorders later in life. Here, we sought to identify and evaluate the impact of social factors on child health in Ghana. As Ghana is unlikely to achieve the Millennium Development Goals’ target of reducing child mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015, we deemed it necessary to identify social determinants that might have contributed to the non-realisation of this goal.
Methods
ScienceDirect, PubMed, MEDLINE via EBSCO and Google Scholar were searched for published articles reporting on the influence of social factors on child health in Ghana. After screening the 98 articles identified, 34 of them that met our inclusion criteria were selected for qualitative review.
Results
Major social factors influencing child health in the country include maternal education, rural-urban disparities (place of residence), family income (wealth/poverty) and high dependency (multiparousity). These factors are associated with child mortality, nutritional status of children, completion of immunisation programmes, health-seeking behaviour and hygiene practices.
Conclusions
Several social factors influence child health outcomes in Ghana. Developing more effective responses to these social determinants would require sustainable efforts from all stakeholders including the Government, healthcare providers and families. We recommend the development of interventions that would support families through direct social support initiatives aimed at alleviating poverty and inequality, and indirect approaches targeted at eliminating the dependence of poor health outcomes on social factors. Importantly, the expansion of quality free education interventions to improve would-be-mother’s health knowledge is emphasised
Biophysical interactions in tropical agroforestry systems
sequential systems, simultaneous systems Abstract. The rate and extent to which biophysical resources are captured and utilized by the components of an agroforestry system are determined by the nature and intensity of interac-tions between the components. The net effect of these interactions is often determined by the influence of the tree component on the other component(s) and/or on the overall system, and is expressed in terms of such quantifiable responses as soil fertility changes, microclimate modification, resource (water, nutrients, and light) availability and utilization, pest and disease incidence, and allelopathy. The paper reviews such manifestations of biophysical interactions in major simultaneous (e.g., hedgerow intercropping and trees on croplands) and sequential (e.g., planted tree fallows) agroforestry systems. In hedgerow intercropping (HI), the hedge/crop interactions are dominated by soil fertility improvement and competition for growth resources. Higher crop yields in HI than in sole cropping are noted mostly in inherently fertile soils in humid and subhumid tropics, and are caused by large fertility improvement relative to the effects of competition. But, yield increases are rare in semiarid tropics and infertile acid soils because fertility improvement does not offse