Deforestation in Nigeria: a critical assessment of the Church of Christ in Nations’ (COCIN) Community Development Programme (CCDP) on ecology in Panyam District, Angu Local Government Council, Plateau State.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.This research has investigated the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) Community Development Programme (CCDP’s) theology on ecology. The reason for doing this research was that ecological problems pose a global danger to humanity and the environment. In Nigeria, where the research is situated, one of the common ecological problems is deforestation. Nigeria is critically affected by deforestation as a result of the negative human impacts on the ecosystem, such as relying on firewood as one of the major sources of energy in many rural and urban areas. This research starts with the argument that anthropogenic activities, such as mining, urban development, slash and burn agricultural practices and the felling of trees for the production of charcoal as a source of energy, are the main causes of deforestation in Nigeria. These human activities have resulted in other environmental crises such as soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, the extinction of some indigenous and medicinal plant species and even desertification in some regions in the country. The research found that the COCIN, as one of the main church denominations in Nigeria, does not have any specific document that contains its beliefs and teachings on ecology. However, a careful study of the church’s liturgy on the dedication of the farming season and the thanksgiving service in the COCIN Service Handbook indicates that both human and non-human creation belong to God. From this stand point, it was deduced that one of the beliefs of COCIN on ecology is that God has given to humankind the mandate to care for other creatures. In order to further investigate the issue of deforestation in Nigeria, the research applied Nick Spencer’s theory on “The Biblical Vision of Care for the Environment” as a justifiable framework. Through the application of Nick Spencer’s theory, this research assessed the activities of COCIN’s Community Development Programme (CCDP) as a development arm of the COCIN. This was to ascertain whether their activities, such as raising tree seedlings and organising workshops in some schools and communities and to COCIN’s pastors, help in reducing deforestation in Panyam district and its environs. The research discovered that, despite the awareness created by CCDP for the COCIN’s pastors on climate change and the importance of tree planting, virtually all the sermon notes examined during this study did not reflect any theme on ecology or environmental degradation. To this end, Sallie McFague’s “Planetary Theology” was used to show that humankind needs to embrace the ecological worldview. This idea is based on sustainability, distributive justice and the fair allocation of resources among people in the community. Following the investigation, it is suggested that ecology as a course should be introduced into the curriculum of the Bible Schools and Seminaries that are owned and controlled by COCIN and by so doing, the church will fulfil its prophetic role to the environment

Differential Health and Social Needs of Older Adults Waitlisted for Public Housing or Housing Choice Vouchers

Affordable housing is an important form of income security for low-income older persons. This article describes characteristics of older persons waitlisted for either public housing or a housing choice voucher (HCV) (previously Section 8) in Portland, Oregon. 358 persons (32% response rate) completed a mailed survey with questions about demographics, health and housing status, food insecurity, and preference for housing with services. Findings indicate that many waitlisted older persons experienced homelessness or housing instability, poor health, high hospital use, and food insecurity. Public housing applicants were significantly more likely to report lower incomes, homelessness, and food insecurity than HCV applicants. We conclude with policy implications for housing and health agencies that serve low-income older persons

El impacto de las actividades de innovación financiadas por el FONTAR en la productividad de PyMEs argentinas entre 2006 y 2008

En Argentina, los estudios de impacto de políticas públicas -en particular de las políticas que incentivan actividades de innovación (AI)- aún son escasos. Este trabajo se propone cuantificar los efectos atribuibles a los programas del Fondo Tecnológico Argentino (FONTAR) para otorgar financiamiento para AI sobre el desempeño de las PyMEs beneficiarias, haciendo hincapié en la interacción de las AI con el territorio. En otras palabras, se propone dar evidencia empírica a la hipótesis de que el financiamiento del FONTAR posee una influencia positiva en la productividad de las empresas de menor tamaño, una vez que transcurre el tiempo necesario para que las inversiones en AI incentivadas por dicho programa puedan madurar

Climate Change Policies and Older Adults: An Analysis of States’ Climate Adaptation Plans

Background and Objectives As climate change drives more frequent and intense weather events, older adults face disproportionate impacts, including having the highest mortality rates from storms, wildfires, flooding, and heat waves. State governments are critical in deploying local resources to help address climate change impacts. This policy study analyzes states’ climate adaptation plans to assess the methods through which they address the impact of climate change on older adults. Research Design and Methods This study uses content analysis to analyze available climate change adaptation plans for all U.S. states for strategies designed to increase resilience of older adults to impacts of climate change. Results Nineteen states have climate adaptation plans, of which 18 describe older adults as a population group with specific health impacts and risks factors. Four categories of adaptation strategies for older adults include communications, transportation, housing, and emergency services. State plans vary in terms of the risk factors and adaptation strategies included. Discussion and Implications To varying degrees, states’ climate change adaptation planning address health, social and economic risks specific to older adults, as well as strategies for mitigating those risks. As global warming continues, collaborations between public and private sectors and across regions will be needed to prevent negative outcomes such as forced relocation and other social and economic disruptions as well as disparate morbidity and mortality

Climate and Extreme Weather Event Impacts on Administrators, Direct Care Staff, and Residents in Oregon Assisted Living, Residential Care, and Memory Care Communities, 2024

This brief report on AL/RC staff and resident experiences with climate events highlights the voices of AL/RC direct care staff, former direct care staff, residents, administrators, and management representatives to promote well-being in these care settings. This study can inform Oregon’s efforts to support long-term care workforce readiness for future climate emergencies and inform future quantitative data collection on AL/RC and other long-term care workers, including those employed in home health agencies, nursing facilities, and adult foster homes

Extreme Heat Vulnerability among Older Adults: A Multi-level Risk Index for Portland, Oregon

Background and Objectives Extreme heat is an environmental health equity concern disproportionately impacting low-income older adults and people of color. Exposure factors, such as living in rental housing and lack of air conditioning, and sensitivity factors, such as chronic disease and social isolation, increase mortality risk among older adults. Older persons face multiple barriers to adaptive heat mitigation, particularly for those living in historically temperate climates. This study measures two heat vulnerability indices to identify areas and individuals most vulnerable to extreme heat and discusses opportunities to mitigate vulnerability among older adults. Research Design and Methods We constructed two heat vulnerability indices for the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area: one using area scale proxy measures extracted from existing regional data and another at the individual scale using survey data collected following the 2021 Pacific Northwest Heat Dome event. These indices were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Results Results indicate that the spatial distribution of areas and individuals vulnerable to extreme heat are quite different. The only area found among the most vulnerable on both indices has the largest agglomeration of age- and income-restricted rental housing in the metropolitan area

Promoting Cultural Humility, Belonging, and Inclusion to Improve Well-Being among Direct Care Staff in Oregon Assisted Living, Residential Care, and Memory Care Communities, 2024

The voices and experiences of those working and living in assisted living, residential care, and memory care (AL/RC) settings in Oregon are highlighted in this study to understand cultural humility, belonging, inclusion, and intersectional experiences related to sustaining the workforce and promoting quality care. This qualitative study collected data through individual and focus group interviews with a total of 68 people, including 25 direct care staff, voice memos or interviews with 9 former direct care staff, interviews with 9 administrators, interviews with 7 management representatives (owner/operators, human resources specialists, directors of operations, among other titles), and interviews with 18 current residents in AL/RC settings in Oregon

Oregon Community-Based Care Survey 2016: Adult Foster Homes

This report describes adult foster homes in Oregon. An adult foster home (AFH) is a type of licensed community-based care (CBC) setting that provides residential, personal care, and health-related services, primarily to older adults. The study collected information from adult foster homes to achieve the following four main goals. Describe adult foster home characteristics, including staffing types and levels, policies, and monthly charges and fees Describe current residents’ health and social characteristics Compare current results to prior Oregon surveys and to national studies of similar setting types to identify changes and possible trends Compare setting types for differences that might affect access, quality, or costs The study findings are intended to provide information that state agency staff, legislators, community-based care providers, and consumers may use to guide their decisions. Providing state-level information was one of the goals of Oregon’s LTC 3.0 planning process

Light-Controlled Cell–Cell Assembly Using Photocaged Oligonucleotides

Article asserts that while techniques that allow one to control the arrangement of cells and direct contact between different cell types have been developed that expand upon simple co-culture methods, specific control over heterojunctions that form between cells is not easily accomplished with current methods, such as 3D cell-printing. In this article, DNA-mediated cell interactions are combined with cell-compatible photolithographic approaches to control cell assembly

On the Electromagnetic Response of Charged Bosons Coupled to a Chern-Simons Gauge Field: A Path Integral Approach

We analyze the electromagnetic response of a system of charged bosons coupled to a Chern-Simons gauge field. Path integral techniques are used to obtain an effective action for the particle density of the system dressed with quantum fluctuations of the CS gauge field. From the action thus obtained we compute the U(1) current of the theory for an arbitrary electromagnetic external field. For the particular case of a homogeneous external magnetic field, we show that the quantization of the transverse conductivity is exact, even in the presence of an arbitrary impurity distribution. The relevance of edge states in this context is analyzed. The propagator of density fluctuations is computed, and an effective action for the matter density in the presence of a vortex excitation is suggested.Comment: LaTex file, 27 pages, no figure