1,719 research outputs found
CLIMATE AND COOPERATION: A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON THE MANAGEMENT OF SHARED FISH STOCKS
Climate regime shifts occur at irregular intervals and have profound and persistent impacts on ocean temperature and circulation patterns and on the dynamics of marine fish populations. Despite a growing scientific literature and some attention to the implications of such regime shifts for domestic fisheries, the issue has received little attention in the context of international fishery management. This paper presents evidence for the significance of climatic regime shifts, and draws upon the recent history of conflict between Canada and the United States over Pacific salmon management to illustrate the dangers that unpredicted, unanticipated environmental regime shifts pose for efforts to maintain international cooperation. This suggests a need for greater attention to this issue. Fishery agreements can be made more resilient to the impacts of such environmental changes by explicitly building in flexibility — for example, by allowing the use of side payments. In addition, pre-agreements on procedures to be followed in the event of sustained changes in fish stock productivity or migration patterns, and cooperation on developing common scientific understandings, can help to prevent destructive conflicts. Finally, the literature employing game theoretic shared-fishery models could be further developed to focus on providing practical guidance for maintaining cooperation in the presence of unpredictable and persistent environmental changes.climate regimes, shared fisheries, potential conflicts, uncertainty, Q21, Q22, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,
PERSISTENT POVERTY ACROSS THE RURAL-URBAN CONTINUUM
Persistent poverty is overwhelmingly rural and is very geographically concentrated. We have redefined the USDA ERS persistent poverty classification to include metropolitan counties meeting the 20 percent or higher poor criterion and we extend the time period through the 2000 Census. With this updated definition, there are 382 counties that have had poverty rates of 20 percent or more in each decennial census between 1960 and 2000. These persistent poverty counties are overwhelmingly rural (95 percent) and disproportionately rural (16 percent of nonmetro counties versus 2 percent of metro). The local economic environment in persistent poverty counties is much less favorable than in the nation as a whole. Per capita income is lower and unemployment rates higher in persistent poverty counties. Employment is more concentrated in services, extractive, construction/maintenance, and production/transportation occupations. Residents of persistent poverty counties tend to have lower education levels, and persistent poverty counties generally have larger shares of minority populations. The number of persistent poverty counties reduced considerably during the 1990s, but the "leavers" were disproportionately metropolitan, making persistent poverty increasingly a rural problem. Persistent poverty is overwhelmingly rural and it is very concentrated geographically. In this paper, we examine these striking regularities in U.S. economic geography, seeking to understand the causes and dynamics of poverty across the rural urban continuum. We also consider how alternative characterizations of "persistent poverty" and "rural and urban" might deepen our understanding of poverty and place. The paper has four sections. In the first, we examine how poverty and persistent poverty vary across the Rural Urban Continuum Codes and Urban Influence Codes developed by the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS). We start with the very useful "persistent poverty" classification developed by ERS that defines nonmetropolitan counties as persistent poverty counties if the poverty rate is 20 percent or higher in each decennial census between 1960 and 1990.We redefine persistent poverty to include metropolitan counties meeting the 20 percent or more poor criterion and we extend the time period through the 2000 Census. We also examine where poverty is concentrated in the United States and how persistent poverty varies across the new Core Based Statistical Area definitions for counties, developed recently by the Office of Management and Budget. In the second section, we examine how the demographic characteristics of the population vary across the rural-urban spectrum, comparing persistent poverty county demographics with those of all counties. The third section examines the dynamics of poverty and place. We examine the location, rurality and demographics of counties that escaped persistent poverty statues between 1990 and 2000, and how those characteristics compare to counties that remained in persistent poverty. We then identify the new entrants into high poverty since 1960. In the fourth section, we consider implications of reconceptualizing both "persistent poverty" and "rural and urban diversity". First, we explore the "persistent poverty" county classification, and how alternative definitions of persistent poverty counties might alter the conclusions one reaches about the geography of persistent poverty. We do this by exploring how defining persistent poverty with a different base year such as 1970 or 1980 affects the number of "persistent poverty" counties. We then explore what happens to "persistent poverty" if we raise the poverty threshold to 30 and 40 percent in defining persistent poverty counties. We then examine how conclusions about rural and urban persistent poverty change if one looks at poverty persistence in individual households rather than counties. Using PSID data, this analysis examines rates of persistent household poverty by looking at how the percent of households who remain in poverty for all 5 years during the 1993-98 period varies across central metro county to remote rural county continuum (an aggregation of Beale codes). Finally, we briefly explore how conclusions about the geography of poverty change if one divides metropolitan areas into "central city" and "suburb", and nonmetropolitan areas into "adjacent" and "nonadjacent."Food Security and Poverty,
Indian Law—Indian Sovereignty and Tribal Jurisdiction over Non-Indian Offenders—Oliphant v. Schlie, 544 F. 2d 1007 (9th Cir. 1976)
Oliphant, the first attempt in recent case law to deal directly with the issue of tribal criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians, represents an acceptance of the theory that tribal sovereignty is diminished only to the extent that it is expressly limited by the federal government. The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that, in the absence of any express limitations on tribal power, the original criminal jurisdiction of the tribe remains undiminished. After establishing this foundational principle, the court proceeded to analyze the alleged limitations on tribal jurisdiction. First, the court found no treaty purporting to limit the tribe\u27s criminal jurisdiction. Second, the federal jurisdictional statute was found to contain no claim of exclusivity. Third, the court construed the 1968 Indian Civil Rights Act as limiting but not extinguishing tribal criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians. Fourth, state jurisdiction under Public Law 280 was found to have been effectively retroceded. Finally, the court found that tribal criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians conformed with the federal policy of encouraging Indian self-government
Climate Variability, Climate Change, and Western Water: Report to the Western Water Policy Review Advisory Commission
Misunderstanding of Front-Of-Package Nutrition Information on US Food Products.
Front-of-package nutrition symbols (FOPs) are presumably readily noticeable and require minimal prior nutrition knowledge to use. Although there is evidence to support this notion, few studies have focused on Facts Up Front type symbols which are used in the US. Participants with varying levels of prior knowledge were asked to view two products and decide which was more healthful. FOPs on packages were manipulated so that one product was more healthful, allowing us to assess accuracy. Attention to nutrition information was assessed via eye tracking to determine what if any FOP information was used to make their decisions. Results showed that accuracy was below chance on half of the comparisons despite consulting FOPs. Negative correlations between attention to calories, fat, and sodium and accuracy indicated that consumers over-relied on these nutrients. Although relatively little attention was allocated to fiber and sugar, associations between attention and accuracy were positive. Attention to vitamin D showed no association to accuracy, indicating confusion surrounding what constitutes a meaningful change across products. Greater nutrition knowledge was associated with greater accuracy, even when less attention was paid. Individuals, particularly those with less knowledge, are misled by calorie, sodium, and fat information on FOPs
Relationships among food label use, motivation, and dietary quality.
Nutrition information on packaged foods supplies information that aids consumers in meeting the recommendations put forth in the US Dietary Guidelines for Americans such as reducing intake of solid fats and added sugars. It is important to understand how food label use is related to dietary intake. However, prior work is based only on self-reported use of food labels, making it unclear if subjective assessments are biased toward motivational influences. We assessed food label use using both self-reported and objective measures, the stage of change, and dietary quality in a sample of 392 stratified by income. Self-reported food label use was assessed using a questionnaire. Objective use was assessed using a mock shopping task in which participants viewed food labels and decided which foods to purchase. Eye movements were monitored to assess attention to nutrition information on the food labels. Individuals paid attention to nutrition information when selecting foods to buy. Self-reported and objective measures of label use showed some overlap with each other (r=0.29, p<0.001), and both predicted dietary quality (p<0.001 for both). The stage of change diminished the predictive power of subjective (p<0.09), but not objective (p<0.01), food label use. These data show both self-reported and objective measures of food label use are positively associated with dietary quality. However, self-reported measures appear to capture a greater motivational component of food label use than do more objective measures
Nursing Home Staff Palliative Care Knowledge and Practices: Results of a Large Survey of Frontline Workers
CONTEXT: Deficits in quality end-of-life care for nursing home (NH) residents are well known. Palliative care is promoted as an approach to improve quality. The Palliative Care Survey (PCS) is designed to measure NH staff palliative care knowledge and practice.
OBJECTIVES: To comparing palliative care knowledge and practices across NH staff roles using the PCS, and to examine relationships between facility characteristics and PCS scores.
METHODS: The PCS was administered to frontline NH staff-certified nursing assistants (CNAs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs), registered nurses (RNs), and social workers (SWs)-in 51 facilities in 2012. Descriptive statistics were calculated by job role. Linear mixed effects models were used to identify facility and individual factors associated with palliative care practice and knowledge.
RESULTS: The analytic sample included 1200 surveys. CNAs had significantly lower practice and knowledge scores compared to LPNs, RNs, and SWs (P < 0.05). LPNs had significantly lower psychological, end-of-life, and total knowledge scores than RNs (P < 0.05 for all). Although knowledge about physical symptoms was uniformly high, end-of-life knowledge was notably low for all staff. A one-point higher facility star rating was significantly associated with a 0.06 increase in family communication score (P = 0.003; 95% CI: 0.02-0.09; SE = 0.02). Higher penetration of hospice in the NH was associated with higher end-of-life knowledge (P = 0.003; parameter estimate = 0.006; 95% CI: 0.002-0.010; SE = 0.002). Sixty-two percent of respondents stated that, with additional training, they would be interested in being leaders in palliative care.
CONCLUSION: Given observed differences in palliative care practice and knowledge scores by staff training, it appears the PCS is a useful tool to assess NH staff. Low end-of-life knowledge scores represent an important target for quality improvement
Hospice in the nursing home: perspectives of front line nursing home staff
OBJECTIVE: Use of hospice has been associated with improved outcomes for nursing home residents and attitudes of nursing home staff toward hospice influences hospice referral. The objective of this study is to describe attitudes of certified nursing assistants (CNAs), nurses, and social workers toward hospice care in nursing homes.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: We conducted a survey of 1859 staff from 52 Indiana nursing homes.
MEASUREMENTS: Study data include responses to 6 scaled questions and 3 open-ended qualitative prompts. In addition, respondents who cared for a resident on hospice in the nursing home were asked how often hospice: (1) makes their job easier; (2) is responsive when a patient has symptoms or is actively dying; (3) makes care coordination smooth; (4) is needed; (5) taught them something; and (6) is appreciated by patients/families. Responses were dichotomized as always/often or sometimes/never.
RESULTS: A total of 1229 surveys met criteria for inclusion. Of the respondents, 48% were CNAs, 49% were nurses, and 3% were social workers; 83% reported caring for a nursing home patient on hospice. The statement with the highest proportion of always/often rating was 'patient/family appreciate added care' (84%); the lowest was 'hospice makes my job easier' (54%). More social workers responded favorably regarding hospice responsiveness and coordination of care compared with CNAs (P = .03 and P = .05, respectively).
CONCLUSIONS: A majority of staff responded favorably regarding hospice care in nursing homes. About one-third of nursing home staff rated coordination of care lower than other aspects, and many qualitative comments highlighted examples of when hospice was not responsive to patient needs, representing important opportunities for improvement
Rare Tumors Adjacent to the Achilles Tendon: Report of Two Cases
Benign masses are not uncommon near the Achilles tendon of the ankle. However, the occurrence of angiomyomas or glomus tumors in the region has rarely been reported. We describe two patients, a 44-year-old woman and 44-yearold man, who presented with a tender mass posterior to the Achilles tendon. Excision led to successful removal of the lesion in both cases. Results of histological examinations revealed an angiomyoma and glomus tumor in the woman and man, respectively. Although rare, the presence of these tumors should be considered in the differential diagnosis of masses near the Achilles tendon
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