Urban landscape survey in Italy and the Mediterranean

Field survey has been making a major contribution to our understanding of the rural landscapes of the Mediterranean for nearly forty years. During that time the techniques used to map ancient settlement patterns have grown in sophistication from being a process of simply identifying sites in the landscape, to one which provided nuanced understandings of their layouts, chronologies and contexts. This has led to a revolution in how archaeologists approach urban sites, with survey techniques being used increasingly often to generate a plan of a town site prior to excavation as a way of ensuring that the excavation can be used to address site-specific questions in a way that had not been possible before. Most recently, research has begun to reveal the advantages of integrating a range of different non-destructive techniques on urban sites. In combination with exciting new computer-based means of data visualization, all of this work means that it is now possible to virtually reconstruct a buried town within a relatively short space of time, as opposed to the old and destructive excavation-centered approach that could take generations. Unsurprisingly these advances are starting to make a very important understanding to urbanism in general and the Roman Empire in particular. Urban Landscape Survey in Italy and the Mediterranean builds upon all these new developments and is one of the first publications to focus exclusively upon the contribution of survey techniques to our understanding of ancient towns. It addresses methodology led enquiry into the nature of urban settlements primarily in Italy, but also in Greece, Turkey, Croatia, Portugal and Spain. The twenty-two papers from leading specialists in the field focus on two underlying themes. The first deals with the characterization of urban sites and draws upon a wide range of case studies. These range from key protohistoric centres in central and south Italy, to towns that epitomise the contradictions of cultural change under Rome, such as Paestum, Aquinum and Sagalassos, to Roman centres such as Teano, Suasa and Ammaia. The second theme is inter-urban relationships, looking in particular at wider urbanized landscapes in Italy. The fascinating selection of recent and on-going projects presented here significantly moves the limits of our current knowledge about ancient towns

Regimented Activity, or How Medicine was Predicated of the Way of Life: A History of the Plague in the Russian Far East, 1860-1911.

M.A. Thesis. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa 2018

Association between coverage of maternal and child health interventions, and under-5 mortality: a repeated cross-sectional analysis of 35 sub-Saharan African countries

Background: Infant and child mortality rates are among the most important indicators of child health, nutrition, implementation of key survival interventions, and the overall social and economic development of a population. In this paper, we investigate the role of coverage of maternal and child health (MNCH) interventions in contributing to declines in child mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. Design: Data are from 81 Demographic and Health Surveys from 35 sub-Saharan African countries. Using ecological time-series and child-level regression models, we estimated the effect of MNCH interventions (summarized by the percent composite coverage index, or CCI) on child mortality with in the first 5 years of life net of temporal trends and covariates at the household, maternal, and child levels. Results: At the ecologic level, a unit increase in standardized CCI was associated with a reduction in under-5 child mortality rate (U5MR) of 29.0 per 1,000 (95% CI: −43.2, −14.7) after adjustment for survey period effects and country-level per capita gross domestic product (pcGDP). At the child level, a unit increase in standardized CCI was associated with an odds ratio of 0.86 for child mortality (95% CI: 0.82–0.90) after adjustment for survey period effect, country-level pcGDP, and a set of household-, maternal-, and child-level covariates. Conclusions: MNCH interventions are important in reducing U5MR, while the effects of economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa remain weak and inconsistent. Improved coverage of proven life-saving interventions will likely contribute to further reductions in U5MR in sub-Saharan Africa

Association between socioeconomic status and self-reported diabetes in India: a cross-sectional multilevel analysis

Objectives: To quantify the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and type 2 diabetes in India. Design: Nationally representative cross-sectional household survey. Setting: Urban and rural areas across 29 states in India. Participants: 168 135 survey respondents aged 18–49 years (women) and 18–54 years (men). Primary outcome measure: Self-reported diabetes status. Results: Markers of SES were social caste, household wealth and education. The overall prevalence of self-reported diabetes was 1.5%; this increased to 1.9% and 2.5% for those with the highest levels of education and household wealth, respectively. In multilevel logistic regression models (adjusted for age, gender, religion, marital status and place of residence), education (OR 1.87 for higher education vs no education) and household wealth (OR 4.04 for richest quintile vs poorest) were positively related to self-reported diabetes (p40% of the population is living in poverty

Psychosocial Outcomes and Physical Activity Levels of Children Participating in the Fun and Fit for Life Program

The Fun and Fit for Life Program attempts to combat health disparities for low-income children, by providing the opportunity to engage in positive youth development and physical activity experiences. Program goals include creating a mastery motivational climate; teaching three key values (cooperation, participation, respect), and promoting enjoyable physical activity. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate program effectiveness by assessing perceived physical competence, personal and social responsibility, coach-created climate, and physical activity levels. METHODS: Children from local after school groups, such as the Boys and Girls Club, were recruited to participate in the Fun and Fit for Life Program (4-6 90-minute sessions), taught primarily by undergraduate physical education students. Participants age 8-13 years-old (n=60) completed a pre and post survey to assess psychosocial variables. A subset of the children (n=48, age 6-10 years-old) wore accelerometers throughout the duration of the camp, to measure activity levels. RESULTS: Paired t-tests showed that personal and social responsibility at the end of camp were significantly higher than before camp started (p\u3c.05). Perceived physical competence did not change from beginning to end of camp. Regression analyses showed that greater perceptions of a mastery climate predicted increases in personal responsibility, social responsibility, and perceived competence (p\u3c.05). In terms of activity level, children were engaged in physical activity for an average of 60% of each 90-minute session. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that Fun and Fit for Life is having a positive impact on children from a low-income environment. Children improved in their personal and social responsibility and engaged in light, moderate, and vigorous physical activity