A Renewed Call for Feminist Resistance to Population Control

We are feminist advocates for reproductive, environmental and climate justice who are deeply concerned about rising sea levels and rising inequalities. We are troubled that population numbers, composition and movements are often seen as causing or worsening climate change, environmental degradation, poverty, war and conflict. For instance, the United Nation’s 2019 World Population Prospects says that rapid population growth will stand in the way of accomplishing the Sustainable Development Goals related to poverty, equality and hunger

Genetic diversity in Campylobacter jejuni is associated with differential colonization of broiler chickens and C57BL/6J IL10-deficient mice

Previous studies have demonstrated that Campylobacter jejuni, the leading causative agent of bacterial food-borne disease in the USA, exhibits high-frequency genetic variation that is associated with changes in cell-surface antigens and ability to colonize chickens. To expand our understanding of the role of genetic diversity in the disease process, we analysed the ability of three C. jejuni human disease isolates (strains 11168, 33292 and 81-176) and genetically marked derivatives to colonize Ross 308 broilers and C57BL/6J IL10-deficient mice. C. jejuni colonized broilers at much higher efficiency (all three strains, 23 of 24 broilers) than mice (11168 only, 8 of 24 mice). C. jejuni 11168 genetically marked strains colonized mice at very low efficiency (2 of 42 mice); however, C. jejuni reisolated from mice colonized both mice and broilers at high efficiency, suggesting that this pathogen can adapt genetically in the mouse. We compared the genome composition in the three wild-type C. jejuni strains and derivatives by microarray DNA/DNA hybridization analysis; the data demonstrated a high degree of genetic diversity in three gene clusters associated with synthesis and modification of the cell-surface structures capsule, flagella and lipo-oligosaccharide. Finally, we analysed the frequency of mutation in homopolymeric tracts associated with the contingency genes wlaN (GC tract) and flgR (AT tracts) in culture and after passage through broilers and mice. C. jejuni adapted genetically in culture at high frequency and the degree of genetic diversity was increased by passage through broilers but was nearly eliminated in the gastrointestinal tract of mice. The data suggest that the broiler gastrointestinal tract provides an environment which promotes outgrowth and genetic variation in C. jejuni; the enhancement of genetic diversity at this location may contribute to its importance as a human disease reservoir

Modification of the Campylobacter jejuni flagellin glycan by the product of the Cj1295 homopolymeric-tract-containing gene

The Campylobacter jejuni flagellin protein is O-glycosylated with structural analogues of the nine-carbon sugar pseudaminic acid. The most common modifications in the C. jejuni 81-176 strain are the 5,7-di-N-acetylated derivative (Pse5Ac7Ac) and an acetamidino-substituted version (Pse5Am7Ac). Other structures detected include O-acetylated and N-acetylglutamine-substituted derivatives (Pse5Am7Ac8OAc and Pse5Am7Ac8GlnNAc, respectively). Recently, a derivative of pseudaminic acid modified with a di-O-methylglyceroyl group was detected in C. jejuni NCTC 11168 strain. The gene products required for Pse5Ac7Ac biosynthesis have been characterized, but those genes involved in generating other structures have not. We have demonstrated that the mobility of the NCTC 11168 flagellin protein in SDS-PAGE gels can vary spontaneously and we investigated the role of single nucleotide repeats or homopolymeric- tractcontaining genes from the flagellin glycosylation locus in this process. One such gene, Cj1295, was shown to be responsible for structural changes in the flagellin glycoprot ein. Mass spectrometry demonstrated that the Cj1295 gene is required for glycosylation with the di-O-methylglyceroyl-modified version of pseudaminic acid. © 2010 SGM

Seniors and mindfulness-based virtual reality experiences : impacts on quality of life.

Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only.Virtual reality technology has recently received much acclaim for therapeutic affects due to its highly immersive nature. One demographic that could potentially benefit most from VR is the rapidly growing population of senior citizens. As the potential of virtual reality continues to be uncovered, it is clear that both the ancient practice of mindfulness and the new technology of VR are significant tools to improve physical, mental, and social well-being. How might these two powerful conditions benefit older adults residing in an assisted living facility? This thesis documents an exploratory study that uses quantitative and qualitative data analysis to better understand the benefits seniors may experience while practicing mindfulness in a VR condition. The results showed that seniors experience high levels of presence and enjoyment when using VR. Furthermore, the results suggest that seniors reported higher scores on three out of five dimensions relating to their quality of life after the three-week VR mediation sessions, including overall life satisfaction, health, social relationships, independence, and emotional well-being. The qualitative data were mostly consistent with the findings of the surveys. While this study is limited, findings show that VR technology could be effective in facilitating meditation experiences, which later improves the quality of life among older adults and should continue to be investigated.Department of JournalismThesis (M.A.

From Population Control to AIDS: Conceptualising and Critiquing the Global Crisis Model

This essay takes as its point of departure comparative analyses of the population control movement and the global AIDS response. We argue that the responses to both rapid population growth and AIDS reflect a particular model for approaching development issues: The global crisis model. This model provides a framework in which development issues become classified as (1) global in scope, (2) highly urgent and unique, (3) a threat to international stability and (4) addressable through a concerted global response. By reviewing the population control movement and the past, present and possible future of the AIDS response, we examine the evolution of the global crisis model and its consequences in shaping development priorities, problems and solutions. We argue that the model mobilises significant financial resources, but it skews the allocation of development assistance, creates narrow, technical interventions, and fails to examine or remedy the social inequalities that produce health and development disparities. © 2011 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

Targets and Technologies: Sayana Press and Jadelle in Contemporary Population Policies

In this paper, we argue that target-driven population policy enables the return of technical solutions to reproductive health challenges in the form of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC). We examine two Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) commitments related to promotion of the injectable contraceptive Sayana Press and the implant Jadelle. These efforts reintroduce controversial contraceptive methods (Depo-Provera and Norplant); involve public-private partnerships between donors, governments, NGOs and Big Pharma; and facilitate capital accumulation from contraceptive sales in the global South. We employ a demopopulationist lens to highlight the use of neo-Malthusian ideology to justify reducing population growth and engineering population composition. In a geopopulationist frame, Sayana Press and Jadelle reinforce unequal geographies in which the Global North serves as a space of technological innovation and policy-making, and the poorest countries in the Global South, including many in Africa, serve as the laboratory for clinical trials, interventions in fertility, and capital extraction. Finally, the way these contraceptive technologies are promoted harks back to the biopopulationist promise of improving life itself

Women'S Income and healthy eating perception

Purpose - The purpose of the chapter is to explore the relation between women's healthy eating intention and food attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, and barriers with a focus on the effect of women's income differences. Methodology/approach - The research applies the Theory of Planned Behavior, including attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, perceived barriers, and ability opportunity resources. Close-ended survey responses of 704 women between ages 25 and 65 years, affluent and at-risk-of-poverty women in three EU-member countries were analyzed. Findings - Women are mostly positively inclined towards healthy eating, and income does not differentiate women's inclination. Influencing factors are perceived behavioral control, attitudes towards healthy eating, subjective norms, and level of knowledge regarding healthy food. Barriers, when present, are similar for lower or higher income women and relate to routinized family habits and food affordability and availability. Research limitations/implications - Future research should thoroughly investigate family network and structure features, with a focus on family food preferences and habits. Social and practical implications - Encouraging women's healthy behavior also impacts children and men, and vice-versa. There is need to target all family components with enjoyable, self-rewarding, emotionally gratifying, and pleasant tasting food. Originality/value - Income is an overestimated driver in healthy food choices. Women are strongly influenced by personal and environmental factors, mainly personal control, feelings, and family habits

Confronting Populationism: Feminist Challenges to Population Control in an Era of Climate Change

In this themed section, we identify three forms of populationism and bring them into conversation, which allows us to mount feminist challenges to present day forms of population control. These interventions are timely and necessary because of the continued prevalence of population control ideology and population alarmism in sustainable development and climate change policy and programs. We issue a direct challenge to scholarship that links population reduction with climate change adaptation and mitigation and the survival of the planet. The introduction provides an overview of our key argument, that seemingly disparate phenomena—technocratic approaches to fertility control, climate change securitization, Zika assemblages, neo-Malthusian articulations of the Anthropocene, and ‘climate-smart’ agriculture—are entangled with and expressions of demo, geo and biopopulationisms. We employ feminist critiques to contest these manifestations of population control that restrict bodies, reinforce boundaries, and create spaces of exclusion and violence