The role of social capital in women's sexual and reproductive health and rights in humanitarian settings: a systematic review of qualitative studies.

Background Social capital is an important social determinant of women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights. Little research has been conducted to understand the role of social capital in women’s sexual and reproductive health and how this can be harnessed to improve health in humanitarian settings. We synthesised the evidence to examine the nexus of women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights and social capital in humanitarian contexts. Methods We undertook a systematic review of qualitative studies. The preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis guidelines were used to identify peer-reviewed, qualitative studies conducted in humanitarian settings published since 1999. We searched CINAHL, MEDLINE, ProQuest Health & Medicine, PubMed, Embase and Web of science core collection and assessed quality using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme tool. We used a meta-ethnographic approach to synthesise and analyse the data. Findings Of 6749 initially identified studies, we included 19 studies, of which 18 were in conflict-related humanitarian settings and one in a natural disaster setting. The analysis revealed that the main form of social capital available to women was bonding social capital or strong links between people within groups of similar characteristics. There was limited use of bridging social capital, consisting of weaker connections between people of approximately equal status and power but with different characteristics. The primary social capital mechanisms that played a role in women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights were social support, informal social control and collective action. Depending on the nature of the values, norms and traditions shared by network members, these social capital mechanisms had the potential to both facilitate and hinder positive health outcomes for women. Conclusions These findings demonstrate the importance of understanding social capital in planning sexual and reproductive health responses in humanitarian settings. The analysis highlights the need to investigate social capital from an individual perspective to expose the intra-network dynamics that shape women’s experiences. Insights could help inform community-based preparedness and response programs aimed at improving the demand for and access to quality sexual and reproductive health services in humanitarian settings

Pre-Illinoian Glaciation in Southeastern Ohio

Author Institution: New Philadelphia, Ohi

Strong evidence for nucleon resonances near 1900 MeV

Data on the reaction γp → KþΛ from the CLAS experiments are used to derive the leading multipoles, E0þ, M1−, E1þ, and M1þ, from the production threshold to 2180 MeV in 24 slices of the invariant mass. The four multipoles are determined without any constraints. The multipoles are fitted using a multichannel L þ P model that allows us to search for singularities and to extract the positions of poles on the complex energy plane in an almost model-independent method. The multipoles are also used as additional constraints in an energy-dependent analysis of a large body of pion and photoinduced reactions within the Bonn-Gatchina partial wave analysis. The study confirms the existence of poles due to nucleon resonances with spin parity JP ¼ 1=2−, 1=2þ, and 3=2þ in the region at about 1.9 Ge

Assessing the effectiveness of specially protected areas for conservation of Antarctica's botanical diversity

Vegetation is sparsely distributed over Antarctica's ice-free ground, and distinct plant communities are present in each of the continent's 15 recently identified Antarctic Conservation Biogeographic Regions (ACBRs). With rapidly increasing human activity in Antarctica, terrestrial plant communities are at risk of damage or destruction by trampling, overland transport and infrastructure construction, and the impacts of anthropogenically introduced species, as well as uncontrollable pressures such as fur seal activity and climate change. Under the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, the conservation of plant communities can be enacted and facilitated through the designation of Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPAs). In this study we examined the distribution within the 15 ACBRs of the 33 ASPAs whose explicit purpose includes protecting macroscopic terrestrial flora. Large omissions in the protection of Antarctic botanical diversity were found, with no protection of plant communities in six ACBRs and, in a further six, less than 0.4% of the ACBR area was included within an ASPA protecting vegetation. We completed the first normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) satellite remote sensing survey to provide baseline data on the extent of vegetation cover in all ASPAs designated for plant protection in Antarctica. Protected vegetation cover within the 33 ASPAs totalled 16.1 km2 for the entire Antarctic continent, with over half of this within a single protected area. Over 96% of the protected vegetation was contained within two ACBRs, which together contribute only 7.8% of the continent's ice-free ground. We conclude that Antarctic botanical diversity is clearly inadequately protected, and call for systematic designation of ASPAs protecting plant communities across by the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties, the members of the governing body of the continen

A close halo of large transparent grains around extreme red giant stars

Intermediate-mass stars end their lives by ejecting the bulk of their envelope via a slow dense wind back into the interstellar medium, to form the next generation of stars and planets. Stellar pulsations are thought to elevate gas to an altitude cool enough for the condensation of dust, which is then accelerated by radiation pressure from starlight, entraining the gas and driving the wind. However accounting for the mass loss has been a problem due to the difficulty in observing tenuous gas and dust tens of milliarcseconds from the star, and there is accordingly no consensus on the way sufficient momentum is transferred from the starlight to the outflow. Here, we present spatially-resolved, multi-wavelength observations of circumstellar dust shells of three stars on the asymptotic giant branch of the HR diagram. When imaged in scattered light, dust shells were found at remarkably small radii (<~ 2 stellar radii) and with unexpectedly large grains (~300 nm radius). This proximity to the photosphere argues for dust species that are transparent to starlight and therefore resistant to sublimation by the intense radiation field. While transparency usually implies insufficient radiative pressure to drive a wind, the radiation field can accelerate these large grains via photon scattering rather than absorption - a plausible mass-loss mechanism for lower-amplitude pulsating stars.Comment: 13 pages, 1 table, 6 figure

Lung function in South African children with cystic fibrosis

Objective: To determine the pattern of lung function in stable cystic fibrosis (CF) patients and to investigate the relationship of abnormal lung function to demographic variables, CF genotype and pulmonary colonisation with Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA)Design: A descriptive study done at the CF clinic at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital in Cape Town.Methods: Data were recorded and pulmonary function testing (PFT) was performed in 42 CF patients.Results: 29 patients (69%) had mild disease,. while 11 (26%) and 2 (5%) had moderate and severe disease respectively. Twenty-four patients (57'%) demonstrated lower airway obstruction (LAO). Patients with moderate or severe disease were significantly older than those with mild disease (13.3 (3.7) years (mean (SD)) compared with 11.1 (3.0) years (t =2.1; P =OM)). PA colonisation status differed significantly with the pattern of lung function (X2 =6.6; P = 0.04) and severity of lung disease (X2=12.6; P =0.002.). Nine (35%) of the 26 patients tested before and after broncbodilator therapy showed a positive response.Conclusion: The majority of patients had mildly impaired or normal lung function, with LAO predominating. A minority of patients were bronchodilator-responsive. PA colonisation may be associated with the development of abnormal lung function and more severe pulmonary disease.

Investigating the emission characteristics of single crystal YAG when activated by high power laser beams

© The Author(s) 2016. Limitations associated with light emitting diodes (LEDs) operating under high current densities due to the efficiency droop has created a need to look for alternative light sources; here we report investigations on the potential of laser diodes (LDs) for high brightness lighting solutions. High power laser diodes require phosphor targets with certain performance criteria such as high thermal conductivity, efficiency and structural geometry. Here we examine the possibility of using single crystal YAG:Ce phosphor materials as potential targets for generation of light via laser diodes. We report on the emission properties of the crystals with different sizes and examine the effect of laser beam incident angle incident on crystal target emission

Abundances in intermediate-mass AGB stars undergoing third dredge-up and hot-bottom burning

High dispersion near-infrared spectra have been taken of seven highly-evolved, variable, intermediate-mass (4-6 Msun) AGB stars in the LMC and SMC in order to look for C, N and O variations that are expected to arise from third dredge-up and hot-bottom burning. The pulsation of the objects has been modelled, yielding stellar masses, and spectral synthesis calculations have been performed in order to derive abundances from the observed spectra. For two stars, abundances of C, N, O, Na, Al, Ti, Sc and Fe were derived and compared with the abundances predicted by detailed AGB models. Both stars show very large N enhancements and C deficiencies. These results provide the first observational confirmation of the long-predicted production of primary nitrogen by the combination of third dredge-up and hot-bottom burning in intermediate-mass AGB stars. It was not possible to derive abundances for the remaining five stars: three were too cool to model, while another two had strong shocks in their atmospheres which caused strong emission to fill the line cores and made abundance determination impossible. The latter occurrence allows us to predict the pulsation phase interval during which observations should be made if successful abundance analysis is to be possible.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA

The Interpersonal Style and Complementarity Between Crisis Negotiators and Forensic Inpatients

Previous negotiation research has explored the interaction and communication between crisis negotiators and perpetrators. A crisis negotiator attempts to resolve a critical incident through negotiation with an individual, or group of persons in crisis. The purpose of this study was to establish the interpersonal style of crisis negotiators and complementarity of the interpersonal interaction between them and forensic inpatients. Crisis negotiators, clinical workers and students (n = 90) used the Check List of Interpersonal Transactions-Revised (CLOIT-R) to identify interpersonal style, along with eight vignettes detailing interpersonal styles. Crisis negotiators were most likely to have a friendly interpersonal style compared to the other non-trained groups. Complementarity theory was not exclusively supported as submissive individuals did not show optimistic judgments in working with dominant forensic inpatients and vice versa. Exploratory analysis revealed that dominant crisis negotiators were optimistic in working with forensic inpatients with a dominant interpersonal style. This study provides insight into the area of interpersonal complementarity of crisis negotiators and forensic inpatients. Whilst further research is required, a potential new finding was established, with significant ‘similarity’ found when dominant crisis negotiators are asked to work with dominant forensic inpatients