Examining the Causal Impact of Prenatal Home Visiting on Birth Outcomes: A Propensity Score Analysis

Objectives: In Ohio, African American babies die at 2.5–3 times the rate of White babies. Preterm birth and low birth weight are the leading causes of infant mortality. Home visiting is an evidence-based strategy for serving low-income pregnant women; however, there are relatively few rigorous studies examining its effect on birth outcomes. Methods: This study uses a propensity score technique to estimate the causal effect of participation in home visiting on prematurity and low birth weight among a low-income, predominantly African American sample (N = 26,814). Results: We found that participation in home visiting significantly reduced the odds of experiencing both adverse birth events, with a larger program effect for the low birth weight outcome. Conclusions for Practice: Results suggest that selective prevention strategies must be accompanied by universal attempts to improve the health and life circumstances of low income and minority women

Investing in High Quality Preschool: Lessons from an Urban Setting

Large numbers of children of low income families in the United States arrive at kindergarten already far behind their more affluent peers on measures of school readiness. In the absence of any federal preschool policy and amidst alarm about this growing divide, universal prekindergarten (UPK) programs have been launched around the United States, at both the state and local levels, to address the school readiness gap. Invest in Children, a public/private partnership in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland, OH) launched a UPK program of high quality, affordable preschool nine years ago. The program’s creation, implementation and challenges are discussed along with evaluation findings that document its positive impact on school readiness. Lessons learned are discussed in terms of the impact of political and economic shifts, as well as state policy changes, on this local program. The program’s planned expansion and enhancements to program design and evaluation are also described

Texture-specific Si isotope variations in Barberton Greenstone Belt cherts record low temperature fractionations in early Archean seawater

Sedimentary cherts are unusually abundant in early Archean (pre-3.0 Ga) sequences, suggesting a silica cycle that was profoundly different than the modern system. Previously applied for the purpose of paleothermometry, Si isotopes in ancient cherts can offer broader insight into mass fluxes and mechanisms associated with silica concentration, precipitation, diagenesis, and metamorphism. Early Archean cherts contain a rich suite of sedimentological and petrographic textures that document a history of silica deposition, cementation, silicification, and recrystallization. To add a new layer of insight into the chemistry of early cherts, we have used wavelength-dispersive spectroscopy and then secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) to produce elemental and Si and O isotope ratio data from banded black-and-white cherts from the Onverwacht Group of the Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa. This geochemical data is then interpreted in the framework of depositional and diagenetic timing of silica precipitation provided by geological observations. SIMS allows the comparison of Si and O isotope ratios of distinct silica phases, including black carbonaceous chert beds and bands (many including well-defined sedimentary grains), white relatively pure chert bands including primary silica granules, early cavity-filling cements, and later quartz-filled veins. Including all chert types and textures analyzed, the δ^(30)Si dataset spans a range from −4.78‰ to +3.74‰, with overall mean 0.20‰, median 0.51‰, and standard deviation 1.30‰ (n = 1087). Most samples have broadly similar δ^(30)Si distributions, but systematic texture-specific δ^(30)Si differences are observed between white chert bands (mean +0.60‰, n = 750), which contain textures that represent primary and earliest diagenetic silica phases, and later cavity-filling cements (mean −1.41‰, n = 198). We observed variations at a ∼100 μm scale indicating a lack of Si isotope homogenization at this scale during diagenesis and metamorphism, although fractionations during diagenetic phase transformations may have affected certain textures. We interpret these systematic variations to reflect fractionation during silica precipitation as well as isotopically distinct fluids from which later phases originated. SIMS δ^(18)O values fall in a range from 16.39‰ to 23.39‰ (n = 381), similar to previously published data from bulk gas source mass spectrometry of Onverwacht cherts. We observed only limited examples of texture-related variation in δ^(18)O and did not observe correlation of δ^(18)O with δ^(30)Si trends. This is consistent with hypotheses that Si isotope ratios are more resistant to alteration under conditions of rock-buffered diagenesis (Marin-Carbonne et al., 2011). Our results indicate that low temperature processes fractionated silicon isotopes in early Archean marine basins, a behavior that probably precludes the application of chert δ^(30)Si as a robust paleothermometer. The values we observe for facies that sedimentological and petrographic observations indicate formed as primary and earliest diagenetic silica precipitates from seawater are more ^(30)Si-rich than that expected for bulk silicate Earth. This is consistent with the hypothesis that the silicon isotope budget is balanced by the coeval deposition of ^(30)Si-enriched cherts and ^(30)Si-depleted iron formation lithologies. Precipitation of authigenic clay minerals in both terrestrial and marine settings may have also comprised a large ^(30)Si-depleted sink, with the corollary of an important non-carbonate alkalinity sink consuming cations released by silicate weathering

Assessing the Deployment of Home Visiting: Learning from a State-Wide Survey of Home Visiting Programs

Objectives: Large-scale planning for health and human services programming is required to inform effective public policy as well as deliver services to meet community needs. The present study demonstrates the value of collecting data directly from deliverers of home visiting programs across a state. This study was conducted in response to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which requires states to conduct a needs assessment of home visiting programs for pregnant women and young children to receive federal funding. In this paper, we provide a descriptive analysis of a needs assessment of home visiting programs in Ohio. Methods: All programs in the state that met the federal definition of home visiting were included in this study. Program staff completed a web-based survey with open- and close-ended questions covering program management, content, goals, and characteristics of the families served. Results: Consistent with the research literature, program representatives reported great diversity with regard to program management, reach, eligibility, goals, content, and services delivered, yet consistently conveyed great need for home visiting services across the state. Conclusions: Results demonstrate quantitative and qualitative assessments of need have direct implications for public policy. Given the lack of consistency highlighted in Ohio, other states are encouraged to conduct a similar needs assessment to facilitate cross-program and cross-state comparisons. Data could be used to outline a capacity-building and technical assistance agenda to ensure states can effectively meet the need for home visiting in their state

Bibliometric Analysis of Gender Authorship Trends and Collaboration Dynamics over 30 Years of Spine 1985 to 2015

Study Design. A bibliometric analysis. Objective. The aim of this article was to study bibliometric changes over the last 30 years of Spine. These trends are important regarding academic publication productivity. Summary of Background Data. Inflation in authorship number and other bibliometric variables has been described in the scientific literature. The issue of author gender is taking on increasing importance, as efforts are being made to close the gender gap. Methods. From 1985 to 2015, 10-year incremental data for several bibliometric variables were collected, including author gender. Standard bivariate statistical analyses were performed. Trends over time were assessed by the Cochran linear trend. A P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results. Inclusion criteria were met for 1566 manuscripts. The majority of the manuscripts were from North America (51.2%), Europe (25.2%), and Asia (20.8%). The number of manuscripts, authors, countries, pages, and references all increased from 1985 to 2015. There was a slight increase in female first authors over time (17.5% to 18.4%, P = 0.048). There was no gender change over time for corresponding authors (14.3% to 14.0%, P = 0.29). There was an 88% increase in the percentage of female first authors having male corresponding authors (P = 0.00004), and a 123% increase in male first authors having female corresponding authors (P = 0.0002). The 14% to 18% of female authors in Spine is higher than the ∼5% female membership of the Scoliosis Research Society and North American Spine Society. Conclusion. Manuscripts in Spine over the past 30 years have shown a significant increase in the number of authors, collaborating institutions and countries, printed pages, references, and number of times each manuscript was cited. There has been a mild increase in female first authorship, but none in corresponding authorship. Increases in female authorship will likely require recruitment of more females into the discipline rather than providing females in the discipline with authorship opportunities. Level of Evidence: N/

Bibliometric Analysis of Female Authorship Trends and Collaboration Dynamics Over JBMR's 30-Year History

In academia, authorship is considered a currency and is important for career advancement. As the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research (JBMR) is the highest-ranked journal in the field of bone, muscle, and mineral metabolism and is the official publication of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, we sought to examine authorship changes over JBMR's 30-year history. Two bibliometric methods were used to collect the data. The “decade method” included all published manuscripts throughout 1 year in each decade over the past 30 years starting with the inaugural year, yielding 746 manuscripts for analysis. The “random method” examined 10% of published manuscripts from each of the 30 years, yielding 652 manuscripts for analysis. Using both methods, the average number of authors per manuscript, numerical location of the corresponding author, number of collaborating institutions, number of collaborating countries, number of printed manuscript pages, and the number of times each manuscript was cited all significantly increased between 1986 and 2015 (p < 10−4). Using the decade method, there was a significant increase in the percentage of female first authors over time from 35.8% in 1986 to 47.7% in 2015 (p = 0.02), and this trend was confirmed using the random method. The highest percentage of female first authors in 2015 was in Europe (60.0%), and Europe also had the most dramatic increase in female first authors over time (more than double in 2015 compared with 1986). Likewise, the overall number of female corresponding authors significantly increased during the past 30 years. With the increasing demands of publishing in academic medicine, understanding changes in publishing characteristics over time and by geographical region is important. These findings highlight JBMR's authorship trends over the past 30 years and demonstrate those countries having the most changes and where challenges still exist

Rethinking Sustainability to Meet the Climate Change Challenge

A group of environmental law professors formed the Environmental Law Collaborative with the goal of engaging environmental law scholars in the thorny issues of the day. The members of the Collaborative gathered in the summer of 2012 to produce an intensive and collective assessment of sustainability in the age of climate change. Their writings examine the process of adapting the principles and application of sustainability to the demands of climate change, including framing the term sustainability in climate change discussions; coordinating sustainable practices across disciplines such as law, economics, ethics, and the hard sciences; and conceptualizing the role of sustainability in formulating adaptation and resiliency strategies. Their work also contemplates the role of law and legal systems in crafting effective climate change adaptation strategies and considers feasible strategies in the context of specific examples

Percentile indices for assessing changes in heavy precipitation events

Many climate studies assess trends and projections in heavy precipitation events using precipitation percentile (or quantile) indices. Here we investigate three different percentile indices that are commonly used. We demonstrate that these may produce very different results and thus require great care with interpretation. More specifically, consideration is given to two intensity-based indices and one frequency-based index, namely (a) all-day percentiles, (b) wet-day percentiles, and (c) frequency indices based on the exceedance of a percentile threshold. Wet-day percentiles are conditionally computed for the subset of wet events (with precipitation exceeding some threshold, e.g. 1 mm/d for daily precipitation). We present evidence that this commonly used methodology can lead to artifacts and misleading results if significant changes in the wet-day frequency are not accounted for. Percentile threshold indices measure the frequency of exceedance with respect to a percentile-based threshold. We show that these indices yield an assessment of changes in heavy precipitation events that is qualitatively consistent with all-day percentiles, but there are substantial differences in quantitative terms. We discuss the reasons for these effects, present a theoretical assessment, and provide a series of examples using global and regional climate models to quantify the effects in typical applications. Application to climate model output shows that these considerations are relevant to a wide range of typical climate-change applications. In particular, wet-day percentiles generally yield different results, and in most instances should not be used for the impact-oriented assessment of changes in heavy precipitation events

Fertility, Living Arrangements, Care and Mobility

There are four main interconnecting themes around which the contributions in this book are based. This introductory chapter aims to establish the broad context for the chapters that follow by discussing each of the themes. It does so by setting these themes within the overarching demographic challenge of the twenty-first century – demographic ageing. Each chapter is introduced in the context of the specific theme to which it primarily relates and there is a summary of the data sets used by the contributors to illustrate the wide range of cross-sectional and longitudinal data analysed