The Relationship between Self-Described Spirituality and an External or Internal Locus of Control

This study investigates the relationship between spirituality and locus of control using similar definitions and processes of previous research on the topic. This cross comparison of participants who categorize themselves into different groups of spirituality allows for the examination of how people of various spiritual groups can be described as having an internal or external locus of control. Items from questionnaires completed by an undergraduate population were analyzed using a one-way ANOVA to examine the direct relationship between the variables. A significant difference between the groups of participants of differing spiritualities and their locus of control was found. Participants who consider themselves atheists were found to have higher levels of internal locus of control versus participants who labeled themselves agnostic, unsure, spiritual, religious, or a combination of labels. Participants who described themselves as agnostic, unsure, spiritual, religious, or a combination of levels were found to have higher levels of external locus of control versus those who described themselves as atheists. These results offer support for past research and open opportunities for the continuance of studying aspects of the relationship between spirituality and locus of control

PWE-055 Stigma in inflammatory bowel disease: building resilience

qualitative study aimed to: a) understand the experience of stigma in people with IBD and whether stigma derives from the bowel disorder diagnosis or from related FI; b) understand how stigma affects social, personal and emotional wellbeing, and how people with IBD manage these issues. Using purposive stratified sampling, 40 members of a UK IBD charity were recruited. Participants self-identified as having FI or not, and feeling stigmatised or not

Assessing Addictions in a Spiritual World: Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equations Modeling to Develop the Life Interests Questionnaire

This study uses the thoughts and writings of Evagrius of Ponticus to provide a measure useful in assessing addictions in relation to spirituality. Evagrius (1972) theorizes that there are eight tempting thoughts that can form the basis of disordered attachments, and that these deadly thoughts could lead one to a life of addictions. These thoughts formed the foundation of the Life Interests Questionnaire (LIQ). This self-report survey consists of 170 items, all of which are scored on a Likert scale (1 = strongly agree and 5 = strongly disagree). The LIQ was paired with an interest survey containing 43 items taken from previously tested measures. These questions asked about one’s religious identification, locus of control, and beliefs about the world. In a pilot study, each attachment item group was examined through confirmatory factor analysis which allowed the substructure of the questionnaire to be examined and the overall fit of the model was found to be marginally adequate (GFI 0.8889). Reliability and validity of this measure were attained primarily through construct validity and it found both a valid and reliable measure of Evagrius’s underlying theory. Future plans include correlational studies between religious identification/practices and level of disordered attachments

Can a Combined Agriculture and Nutrition Behaviour Change Intervention Improve Women’s Empowerment? A Mixed Methods Feasibility Study in Rural Bangladesh

Many agricultural and home gardening interventions aim to improve the nutritional status of women and children in low- and middle-income countries by focusing on women as the recipients of the intervention and make assumptions that women will be empowered as a result. This paper examines the potential impact of an intervention study that combined home garden training and support, and nutrition behaviour change communication, with a social safety net payment, on women’s empowerment in rural Bangladesh. We assessed the implementation of this study in terms of feasibility, acceptability, and practical application. Twenty in-depth interviews were conducted with randomly selected women that took part in the study. Qualitative data was coded using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke 2006) and the results presented using the following five indicators: control over use of income, input into productive decisions, respect among household members, self-efficacy, and input into nutrition and health care decisions. Our study showed that a combined nutrition-specific (nutrition counselling) and nutrition-sensitive (agricultural training and unconditional cash transfer) intervention, delivered on a mobile platform, to women from low-income families in rural Bangladesh was feasible and acceptable. The study further revealed evidence on behaviour change across five key indicators related to women’s empowerment. The study highlights the potential for such an intervention to impact women’s empowerment and provides insight for the aid in the design of larger-scale trials implemented in similar settings

Shonjibon cash and counselling : a community-based cluster randomised controlled trial to measure the effectiveness of unconditional cash transfers and mobile behaviour change communications to reduce child undernutrition in rural Bangladesh

Background: Undernutrition is strongly associated with poverty - levels of undernutrition are higher in poor countries than in better-off countries. Social protection especially cash transfer is increasingly recognized as an important strategy to accelerate progress in improving maternal and child nutrition. A critical method to improve nutrition knowledge and influence feeding practices is through behaviour change communication intervention. The Shonjibon Cash and Counselling study aims to assess the effectiveness of unconditional cash transfers combined with a mobile application on nutrition counselling and direct counselling through mobile phone in reducing the prevalence of stunting in children at 18 months. Method: The study is a longitudinal cluster randomised controlled trial, with two parallel groups, and cluster assignment by groups of villages. The cohort of mother-child dyads will be followed-up over the intervention period of approximately 24 months, starting from recruitment to 18 months of the child’s age. The study will take place in north-central Bangladesh. The primary trial outcome will be the percentage of stunted children at 18 m as measured in follow up assessments starting from birth. The secondary trial outcomes will include differences between treatment arms in (1) Mean birthweight, percentage with low birthweight and small for gestational age (2) Mean child length-for age, weight for age and weight-for-length Z scores (3) Prevalence of child wasting (4) Percentage of women exclusively breastfeeding and mean duration of exclusive breastfeeding (5) Percentage of children consuming > 4 food groups (6) Mean child intake of energy, protein, carbohydrate, fat and micronutrients (7) Percentage of women at risk of inadequate nutrient intakes in all three trimesters (8) Maternal weight gain (9) Household food security (10) Number of events for child suffering from diarrhoea, acute respiratory illness and fever (11) Average costs of mobile phone BCC and cash transfer, and benefit-cost ratio for primary and secondary outcomes. Discussion: The proposed trial will provide high-level evidence of the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of mobile phone nutrition behavior change communication, combined with unconditional cash transfers in reducing child undernutrition in rural Bangladesh. Trial registration: The study has been registered in the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12618001975280)

Socio-economic and agricultural factors associated with stunting of under 5-year children: findings from surveys in mountains, dry zone and delta regions of rural Myanmar (2016–2017)

Abstract Objective: The study’s objective was to investigate multiple underlying social, economic and agricultural determinants of stunting among under-five children in three distinct ecological areas in rural Myanmar. Design: Repeated cross-sectional surveys in three states of Myanmar. Setting: Rural households in Chin (mountainous), Magway (plains) and Ayeyarwady (delta). Participants: From two purposively selected adjacent townships in each state, we randomly selected twenty villages and, in each village, thirty households with under-five children. Households in the first survey in 2016 were revisited in late 2017 to capture seasonal variations. Results: Stunting increased from 40·4 % to 42·0 %, with the highest stunting prevalence in Chin state (62·4%). Univariate Poisson regression showed factors contributing to child stunting varied across the regions. Adjusted Poisson regression models showed that child’s age and short maternal stature (aRR = 1·14 for Chin, aRR = 1·89 for Magway and aRR = 1·86 for Ayeyarwady) were consistently associated with child stunting across three areas. For Chin, village-level indicators such as crop consumption (aRR = 1·18), crop diversity (aRR = 0·82) and land ownership (aRR = 0·89) were significantly associated with stunting. In Magway, the number of household members (aRR = 1·92), wealth status (aRR = 0·46), food security status (aRR = 1·14), land ownership (aRR = 0·85) and in Ayeyarwady, women’s decision-making (aRR = 0·67) and indicators related to hygiene (aRR = 1·13) and sanitation (aRR = 1·45) were associated with stunting. Conclusions: Area-specific factors were associated with stunting. Maternal short stature and child age were consistent determinants of stunting. A multi-sectoral local approach, including improvements in transport, is needed to address the intergenerational malnutrition problem

A study into the impact of ectomycorrhizal fungal morphotypes on the growth of Quercus robur in ancient, secondary, and plantation woodlands: in Wytham Woods, Oxfordshire

This paper explores the relationships between Ectomycorrhiza (ECM) and oak trees in a variety of woodland types. Building on existing research, including data from a previous study covering the same trees twelve years ago, it provides a detailed analysis of the many variables which effect tree growth, and considers whether there is evidence that ECM richness is a significant factor. The research was undertaken at Wytham Woods in Oxfordshire, an area of some 415 hectares of a mixture of ancient woodland, secondary woodland, and plantations. The analysis of results did not show a significant correlation between the ECM richness and tree growth, but they also did not show a correlation with nutrient levels in the soil or indeed any other variable. This may simply be an indication that the woodlands are in generally good health, with no significant stress factors coming into play. The lack of conclusive results is perhaps also indicative of the limited extent of the project, more than any failure in the research, as there was a limited time available for the project field work, limited availability of equipment, limited budget for testing and limited laboratory time. This project could feasibly be a pilot study, so future work to extend the research could make use of a number of suggestions in this paper. With increasing levels of Acute Oak Decline (AOD) in the UK it is to be hoped that there will be further research into the relationship between ECM and oak trees, with the aim of establishing whether support for ECM can be used to support the trees and help to limit the impact of AOD

The Marri Gudjaga project: a study protocol for a randomised control trial using Aboriginal peer support workers to promote breastfeeding of Aboriginal babies

Background Breastfeeding protects against a range of conditions in the infant, including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), diarrhoea, respiratory infections and middle ear infections [1, 2]. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding until six months of age, with continued breastfeeding recommended for at least two years and other complementary nutritious foods [3]. The 2017-18 National Health Survey (NHS) and 2018-19 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey (NATSIHS) reported that the proportion of breastfeeding in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants (0–2 years) were less than half that of non-Indigenous infants (21.2% vs. 45%, respectively)[4]. There is a lack of research on interventions supporting Aboriginal women to breastfeed, identifying an evaluation gap related to peer support interventions to encourage exclusive breastfeeding in Aboriginal women. Methods We will evaluate the effect of scheduled breastfeeding peer support for and by Aboriginal women, on breastfeeding initiation and the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding. This MRFF (Medical Research Future Fund) funded project is designed as a single-blinded cluster randomised controlled trial recruiting six sites across New South Wales, Australia, with three sites being randomised to employ a peer support worker or undertaking standard care. Forty pregnant women will be recruited each year from each of the six sites and will be surveyed during pregnancy, at six weeks, four and six months postnatally with a single text message at 12 months to ascertain breastfeeding rates. In-depth interviews via an Indigenous style of conversation and storytelling called ‘Yarning’ will be completed at pre- and post-intervention with five randomly recruited community members and five health professionals at each site” [5]. Yarns will be audio recorded, transcribed, coded and thematic analysis undertaken. Health economic analysis will be completed to assess the health system incremental cost and effects of the breastfeeding intervention relative to usual care. Discussion Evidence will be given on the effectiveness of Aboriginal peer support workers to promote the initiation and continuation of breastfeeding of Aboriginal babies. The findings of this study will provide evidence of effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of including peer support workers in postnatal care to promote breastfeeding practices. Trial Registration ACTRN12622001208796 The impact of breastfeeding peer support on nutrition of Aboriginal infant

A legal perspective of carbon rights and benefit sharing under REDD+: A conceptual framework and examples from Cambodia and Kenya

This article discusses two key issues in REDD+ design and implementation at the national level – carbon rights, and benefit sharing. Both carbon rights and benefit sharing can be understood as new legal concepts (although they build on existing law), and as legal concepts they offer a framework for addressing related areas of REDD+ policy. Many countries are currently considering how to manage carbon rights and benefit sharing issues, including Cambodia and Kenya. Both of these countries host existing forest carbon projects and are also in the process of designing national REDD+ programmes. This article uses a conceptual framework for carbon rights and benefit sharing derived from legal analysis to consider the cases of both Cambodia and Kenya, and also includes a general discussion of the challenges countries might encounter when considering how to manage carbon rights and benefit sharing in the context of REDD+ implementation