Welfare Reform and Lone Parents in the UK

The last thirty years saw dramatic increases in the proportion of children living in lone parent households. In 1997 the incoming Labour government initiated a series of policy reforms aimed at reducing this high level of child poverty. A key element of their strategy was a move towards increasing employment rates among families with children by a combination of increased in-work support through the Working Families Tax Credit and active case management of the population on welfare through the New Deal for Lone Parents. The assessment of this policy reform agenda has focused to date mainly on lone mothers’ employment and poverty. In this paper we extend this to include at the impact on the numbers of lone parent families and a range of outcomes for mothers and children. We cover mothers’ mental well-being and health, child outcomes and relationship patterns. As well as representing the basic facts about employment incomes and hours of work. Our results show there was no significant impact of these policy reforms on family structure. Mothers malaise scores are, unsurprisingly, very high on family break up but they tend to recover after around 2 years. WFTC is found to reduce the spike of high malaise co-incident with the transition into lone parenthood but to have no longer term effects. This decline in malaise is strongly associated with improved financial indicators. Adolescent children in lone parents families report lower self-esteem, more unhappiness, lower quality relationships with the mother and a number of worse or risky behaviours. Difference-in-difference techniques suggest a marked narrowing if these gaps since WFTC. The magnitude of these changes are quite large, half of the gap in self-esteem and unhappiness scores and in truanting, smoking and planning to leave school at age 16 are eliminated after the policy reforms. This strongly suggests that the increases in incomes and employment associated with the reforms have profoundly changed the quality of life children in lone parent families.Welfare reform, lone parents, tax Credits

How important is pro-social behaviour in the delivery of public services?

A number of papers have posited that there is a relationship between institutional structure and pro-social behaviour, in particular donated labour, in the delivery of public services, such as health, social care and education. However, there has been very little empirical research that attempts to measure whether such a relationship exists in practice. This is the aim of this paper. Including a robust set of individual and job-specific controls, we find that individuals in the non-profit sector are significantly more likely to donate their labour, measured by unpaid overtime, than those in the for-profit sector. We can reject that this difference is simply due to implicit contracts or social norms. We find some evidence that individuals differentially select into the non-profit and for-profit sectors according to whether they donate their labour.pro-social behaviour; public services; donated labour; motivation

A qualitative assessment of women’s sourcing and appraisal of maternal nutritional information: a pilot study

A qualitative assessment of women’s sourcing and appraisal of maternal nutritional information: a pilot study. By M. Hanson, D. Smith and R. Gregg, Department of Health Professionals, Manchester Metropolitan University, 53 Bonsall Street, Manchester, M15 6GX Susceptibility to obesity and certain non-communicable diseases (NCDs) stem from pre-conception and foetal development in-utero(1). There is also a growing body of evidence to suggest that diet quality (DQ) is significantly important throughout pregnancy, irrespective of maternal BMI(2). However, healthcare professionals (HCPs) and guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) maintain focus on sustaining a normal BMI(3). This study aimed to assess where and how women source and appraise nutritional information during pregnancy, to understand further the nutritional needs of the mother, and the role of HCPs in providing nutritional support. Women were recruited via social media and from community maternity services. Four focus groups were carried out, and halted due to data saturation. In total, 13 participants were included (pregnant n=3, up to 12-months post-partum n=10). Focus groups were transcribed, subjected to thematic analysis and categorised into four central themes (Attitudes, Acquisition, Barriers and Knowledge) grounded in the theory, which were presented in a thematic map. Firstly, regarding the Attitudes reported by women, there was an awareness of supplementation requirements and “unsafe” foods to avoid during pregnancy, yet this was usually inaccurate. Beyond foods to avoid women reported higher intakes of “chocolate”, “cake” and “stodge”, as shown in figure 1. They saw this as compensation for having to avoid the “unsafe” foods as they felt there were few consequences beyond displeasing aesthetics. Secondly, Acquisition of nutrition information was both active (mainly internet) and passive (mainly HCPs, friends and family). Participants displayed self-confidence and an ‘expert opinion’ due to the accessibility of information on the internet. Women sought this information due to uncertainties and a feeling of unmet nutritional needs: one woman found that both her midwife and doctor could not advise on non-dairy sources of calcium, as shown in figure 2. Thirdly, Barriers included the trustworthiness of differing sources: most women reported difficulties in appraising the available information, as shown in figure 3. Moreover, women reported HCPs made the assumption that women were already knowledgeable about the constituents of a “healthy diet” and therefore did not explain further, resulting in confusion and a lack of knowledge among the participants. Finally, Knowledge surrounding guidelines and the importance of DQ in this group was found to be poor, as shown in figure 4 and participants reported that HCPs did not follow-up the initial weigh-in with any further weigh-ins, nutritional support or guidance, irrespective of their BMI, despite NICE stipulating all three for overweight/obese expectant mothers. In conclusion, the themes presented are in support of wider research demonstrating both the need and difficulty in providing detailed, individualised nutritional support for expectant mothers. Moreover, a revision of NICE guidelines may be required to recognise not only maternal BMI but the importance of DQ and methods for safe weight loss throughout pregnancy as well, to mirror the current literature(2) (3). With the hope to reduce NCD prevalence in the future; in line with the World Health Organsiation Agenda for Sustainable Development. 1. Baird J, Jacob C et al. Healthcare. 2017;5(1):14. 2. Shapiro A, Kaar J et al. IJO. 2016;40(7):1056-1062. 3. Brown A, Avery A. J Hum Nutr Diet. 2012;25(4):378-387

Visualization of oxygen distribution patterns caused by coral and algae.

Planar optodes were used to visualize oxygen distribution patterns associated with a coral reef associated green algae (Chaetomorpha sp.) and a hermatypic coral (Favia sp.) separately, as standalone organisms, and placed in close proximity mimicking coral-algal interactions. Oxygen patterns were assessed in light and dark conditions and under varying flow regimes. The images show discrete high oxygen concentration regions above the organisms during lighted periods and low oxygen in the dark. Size and orientation of these areas were dependent on flow regime. For corals and algae in close proximity the 2D optodes show areas of extremely low oxygen concentration at the interaction interfaces under both dark (18.4 ± 7.7 µmol O2 L(- 1)) and daylight (97.9 ± 27.5 µmol O2 L(- 1)) conditions. These images present the first two-dimensional visualization of oxygen gradients generated by benthic reef algae and corals under varying flow conditions and provide a 2D depiction of previously observed hypoxic zones at coral algae interfaces. This approach allows for visualization of locally confined, distinctive alterations of oxygen concentrations facilitated by benthic organisms and provides compelling evidence for hypoxic conditions at coral-algae interaction zones

Short Report on the Intensive Archeological Survey of the City of Austin’s Burleson Road Pressure Conversion Travis County, Texas

Hicks & Company archeologists, working on behalf of K. Friese + Associates and the City of Austin (COA), recently conducted an archeological survey supplemented with shovel testing in undisturbed locations for the COA’s proposed Burleson Road Pressure Conversion project (Figure 1). According to current design plans, pipe will be installed through open-cut trenching with a northern terminus at East Riverside Drive and a southern terminus at Burleson Road within a 10 meter-wide construction corridor. From its northern terminus, the proposed alignment follows Grove Boulevard southward to Montopolis Drive, for an approximate distance of 1,355 meters. After which, the proposed alignment turns west, following the East Oltorf Street corridor, until turning south on Alvin Devane Boulevard, crossing under State Highway (SH) 71 via installation using a jack and bore methodology. Continuing on to Comsouth Drive, the alignment turns east to follow Trade Center Drive for an approximate distance of 655 meters before turning south/southwest for approximately 370 meters before terminating at Burleson Road. Currently, construction easements are planned at three locations: approximately 450 meters south of the intersection of East Riverside Drive and Grove Boulevard; just north of SH 71 near Alvin Devane Boulevard; and along the proposed alignment between Trade Center Drive and Burleson Road. The total acreage for this project is 10.62 acres. The project is being funded by the COA and is therefore subject to the Antiquities Code of Texas (ACT). Investigations were conducted under Texas Antiquities Permit #7177 in accordance with the Texas Historical Commission (THC) and the Council of Texas Archeologists’ (CTAs) guidelines for intensive archeological survey. During the investigations, 13 shovel tests were excavated, with all shovel tests negative for cultural materials. None of the shovel tests excavated during this survey were positive for cultural materials and no archeological sites, features, or artifacts were observed during the investigations. Based on the results of the current survey, it is recommended that no archeological historic properties (36 CFR 800.16(1)) or State Antiquities Landmarks (13 TAC 26.12) will be affected by this construction of the proposed alignment. No further cultural resource investigations are recommended for the proposed project. Fieldwork for the initial archeological survey occurred on February 19, 2015, requiring ten labor hours to complete. Necessitated by a rerouting of the segment located between Trade Center Drive and Burleson Road, additional fieldwork was conducted on October 19, 2015, requiring six labor hours to complete. Josh Haefner served as Principal Investigator and Gregg Cestaro served as Project Archeologist. Gregg Cestaro, Shannon Smith, and Keith Faz authored the report and conducted the survey with Josh Haefner and Meghan Egan. This report includes an environmental background, a discussion of previous surveys and recorded sites, a description of field methodology, a discussion of the results of the field investigation, and a conclusion containing formal regulatory recommendations. Also included are appendices containing regulatory correspondence (Appendix A), and shovel test results and locations (Appendix B). Project-generated notes, forms, and photographs will be curated at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory in Austin, Texas. This report is offered in partial fulfillment of Texas Antiquities Permit #7177

Observation of Interaction of Spin and Intrinsic Orbital Angular Momentum of Light

Interaction of spin and intrinsic orbital angular momentum of light is observed, as evidenced by length-dependent rotations of both spatial patterns and optical polarization in a cylindrically-symmetric isotropic optical fiber. Such rotations occur in straight few-mode fiber when superpositions of two modes with parallel and anti-parallel orientation of spin and intrinsic orbital angular momentum (IOAM=$2\hslash$) are excited, resulting from a degeneracy splitting of the propagation constants of the modes.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, and a detailed supplement. Version 3 corrects a typo and adds the journal referenc

Evolution of volcanism and faulting in a segment of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 25°N

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2005. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems 6 (2005): Q09008, doi:10.1029/2005GC000954.We reconstruct the volcanic and tectonic evolution over the last 250,000 years of the median valley floor in the spreading segment of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge centered at 25°N. In the center of the segment, multibeam bathymetry and deep-towed side-scan images show a large area of smooth-textured lava flows more like those of the East Pacific Rise than those of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Hummocky flows more typical of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge are found toward the southern end of the segment. The presence of the abundant smooth-textured flows allows us to interpret the volcanic and tectonic relationships in the segment. We construct a geological map using (1) multibeam bathymetry to identify the key volcanic structures and fault scarps and (2) high-resolution TOBI side-scan sonar images to interpret age relationships between features on the basis of overall sediment cover as shown by backscatter brightness. Bottom photographs across key features on the median valley floor yield detailed information on stratigraphic relationships between volcanic features and faults and allow us to calibrate backscatter brightness in terms of sediment cover and hence of age. In this way we derive a history of volcanic activity and deformation in a detailed survey area at the segment center, with the most recent flows erupted about 5000 years ago, and the youngest smooth flows about 10,000 years ago, separated by an episode of faulting. Using bathymetry and side-scan surveys, we extrapolate this to the whole of the median valley floor. The volcanic activity giving rise to the smooth flows has been continuous for about a quarter of a million years at the segment center. Over the same period, hummocky flows have been continuously erupted at the southern end of the segment. Electron probe analyses of dredged basalt glasses show that there is a systematic variation in composition with position in the segment. Basalts from the segment center are all more evolved than those at the southern end of the segment. There is, however, no relation of chemistry with lava type. The basalts from the segment center have very nearly the same composition whether they come from hummocky flows or smooth flows. The boundary between the smooth flows and hummocky flows has fluctuated with time and migrated rapidly northward over the last few thousand years, so that shortly the eruption of smooth flows will probably have ceased. The survey shows that flows that are smooth on side-scan images are not necessarily sheet flows. In this study they uniformly show pillow morphology. We conclude that smooth flows were probably erupted at faster eruption rates than hummocky flows.This project was funded by an NERC grant that enabled Charles Darwin cruise 65 and by NSF grant OCE-9811575