1,757 research outputs found
Lived experience of mental distress and sense-making in black ethnic groups according to cultural heritage
Objective: Previous research has highlighted men and women from black ethnic groups are more likely to be diagnosed with poor mental health and may have difficulty recognising experiences as such, due to perceptions of stigma and culturally defined attributions of distress. The aim of this research was to explore how black ethnic groups experience mental distress and find meaning in their experiences according to cultural heritage.
Method: Semi-structured interviews with four participants and an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis were conducted.
Results: Findings describe an awareness of cultural stigma relating to mental health, emotional distance impacting disclosure within the family, mental health as a misunderstood concept and feelings of empowerment through acceptance and supported disclosure. Whilst cultural heritage was important for developing awareness and understanding of stigma, attributed meanings of mental distress were individualistic.
Discussion: Awareness of how stigmatic cultural conceptualisations are generationally represented and systemically maintained is vital to understanding how people from black ethnic groups experience mental distress. Clinical implications are discussed to explore how the socio-cultural and mental health needs of this population can be met
Functional plasticity and tolerance to drought conditions of 11 apple tree varieties grown in Morocco
In this study, 11 varieties were grown in the experimental chamber in order to determine the morphological, anatomical and physiological characteristics of each. The experimental protocol was carried out under controlled conditions of irrigation, temperature and hygrometry. The values obtained of the thickness, the cuticle, length of the ostiole, density and size of the stomata and then of stomatal and cuticular sweat have made it possible to calculate the stomatic resistance of each variety and to evaluate its potential to adapt to drought conditions. We have highlighted significant differences related to variety through the Duncan test. 4 groups are identified and the results are discussed in this article
Local u'g'r'i'z' Standard Stars in the Chandra Deep Field-South
Because several observing programs are underway in various spectral regimes
to explore the Chandra Deep Field South (CDF-S), the value of local photometric
standards is obvious. As part of an NOAO Surveys Program to establish
u'g'r'i'z' standard stars in the southern hemisphere, we have observed the
central region of the CDF-S to create local standards for use by other
investigators using these filters. As a courtesy, we present the CDF-S
standards to the public now, although the main program will not finish until
mid-2005.Comment: Accepted by AJ (scheduled for October 2003 issue). 26 pages, 5
tables, 5 figures. High resolution version of Figure 7 available at
http://home.fnal.gov/~dtucker/Southern_ugriz/index.htm
Livestock-environment interactions: Methane emissions from ruminants
Livestock producers face a number of challenges including pressure from the public to be good environmental stewards and adopt welfare-friendly practices. However, environmental stewardship and animal welfare may have excitingly conflicting objectives. Examples include pasture-based dairy and beef cattle production where high-fiber diets increase methane emissions compared with grain feeding practices in confinement. Livestock account for 35-40% of global anthropogenic emissions of methane, via enteric fermentation and manure, which together account for about 80% of the agricultural emissions. Recent estimates indicate that the methane emissions from African cattle, goats, and sheep are likely to increase from their current level of about 7.8 million tons of methane per year in 2000 to 11.1 million tons per year by 2003, largely driven by increase in livestock numbers. This paper therefore reviews certain areas of CH4 emissions from ruminants, highlights on how some novel feed additives can decrease CH4 emissions from ruminants; and how some plants secondary metabolites might act as a selective inhibitor of methanogens. An enteric methane emission (which is one of the greenhouse gases) represents an economic loss to the farmer where feed is converted to CH4 rather than to product output. As developing countries are now responsible for almost three-quarters of such emissions, this has important implications in terms of mitigation strategies, because these countries are presently outside the remit of the Kyoto Protocol.Key words: Environment, CH4 emissions, feed additives, mitigation, ruminants
The 8 o'clock Arc: A Serendipitous Discovery of a Strongly Lensed Lyman Break Galaxy in the SDSS DR4 Imaging Data
We report on the serendipitous discovery of the brightest Lyman Break Galaxy
(LBG) currently known, a galaxy at z=2.73 that is being strongly lensed by the
z=0.38 Luminous Red Galaxy (LRG) SDSS J002240.91+143110.4. The arc of this
gravitational lens system, which we have dubbed the "8 o'clock arc" due to its
time of discovery, was initially identified in the imaging data of the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey Data Release 4 (SDSS DR4); followup observations on the
Astrophysical Research Consortium (ARC) 3.5m telescope at Apache Point
Observatory confirmed the lensing nature of this system and led to the
identification of the arc's spectrum as that of an LBG. The arc has a spectrum
and a redshift remarkably similar to those of the previous record-holder for
brightest LBG (MS 1512-cB58, a.k.a "cB58"), but, with an estimated total
magnitude of (g,r,i) = (20.0,19.2,19.0) and surface brightness of
(mu_g,mu_r,mu_i) = (23.3, 22.5, 22.3) mag/arcsec^2, the 8 o'clock arc is thrice
as bright. The 8 o'clock arc, which consists of three lensed images of the LBG,
is 162deg (9.6arcsec) long and has a length-to-width ratio of 6:1. A fourth
image of the LBG -- a counter-image -- can also be identified in the ARC 3.5m
g-band images. A simple lens model for the system assuming a singular
isothermal ellipsoid potential yields an Einstein radius of 2.91+/-0.14 arcsec,
a total mass for the lensing LRG (within the (10.6+/-0.5)/h kpc enclosed by the
lensed images) of 1.04x10^12/h Msun, and a magnification factor for the LBG of
12.3(+15/-3.6). The LBG itself is intrinsically quite luminous (approximately
6L*) and shows indications of massive recent star formation, perhaps as high as
160/h Msun/year.Comment: 4 pages 5 figures, submitted to ApJ Letter
Interactive sections of an Internet-based intervention increase empowerment of chronic back pain patients: Randomized controlled trial
Background
Chronic back pain (CBP) represents a significant public health problem. As one of the most common causes of disability and sick leave, there is a need to develop cost-effective ways, such as Internet-based interventions, to help empower patients to manage their disease. Research has provided evidence for the effectiveness of Internet-based interventions in many fields, but it has paid little attention to the reasons why they are
effective.
Objective
This study aims to assess the impact of interactive sections of an Internet-based self-management intervention on patient empowerment, their management of the disease, and, ultimately, health outcomes.
Methods
A total of 51 patients were recruited through their health care providers and randomly assigned to either an experimental group with full access to the Internet-based intervention or a control group that was denied access to the interactive sections and knew nothing thereof. The intervention took 8 weeks. A baseline, a mid-term after 4 weeks, and a final assessment after 8 weeks measured patient empowerment, physical exercise,
medication misuse, and pain burden.
Results
All patients completed the study. Overall, the intervention had a moderate effect (F =2.83, P=.03, η =0.30, d=0.55). Compared to the control group, the availability of interactive sections significantly increased patient empowerment (midterm assessment: mean difference=+1.2, P=.03, d=0.63; final assessment: mean difference=+0.8, P=.09, d=0.44) and reduced medication misuse (midterm assessment: mean difference=−1.5, P=.04, d=0.28; final assessment: mean difference=−1.6, P=.03, d=−0.55) in the intervention group. Both the frequency of physical exercise and pain burden decreased, but to equal measures in both groups.
Conclusions
Results suggest that interactive sections as part of Internet-based interventions can positively alter patients’ feelings of empowerment and help prevent medication misuse. Detrimental effects were not observed.
Trial Registration
ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02114788; http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02114788 (Archived by WebCite at
http://www.webcitation.org/6ROXYVoPR)
Large Scale Structure in the SDSS Galaxy Survey
The Large Scale Structure (LSS) in the galaxy distribution is investigated
using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Early Data Release (SDSS EDR). Using the
Minimal Spanning Tree technique we have extracted sets of filaments, of
wall-like structures, of galaxy groups, and of rich clusters from this unique
sample. The physical properties of these structures were then measured and
compared with the expectations from Zel'dovich' theory.
The measured characteristics of galaxy walls were found to be consistent with
those for a spatially flat CDM cosmological model with
0.3 and 0.7, and for Gaussian
initial perturbations with a Harrison -- Zel'dovich power spectrum.
Furthermore, we found that the mass functions of groups and of unrelaxed
structure elements generally fit well with the expectations from Zel'dovich'
theory, although there was some discrepancy for lower mass groups which may be
due to incompleteness in the selected sample of groups. We also note that both
groups and rich clusters tend to prefer the environments of walls, which tend
to be of higher density, rather than the environments of filaments, which tend
to be of lower density.
Finally, we note evidence of systematic differences in the properties of the
LSS between the Northern Galactic Cap stripe and the Southern Galactic Cap
stripe -- in particular, in the physical properties of the walls, their spatial
distribution, and the relative numbers of clusters embedded in walls. Because
the mean separation of walls is 60 -- 70 Mpc, each stripe
only intersects a few tens of walls. Thus, small number statistics and cosmic
variance are the likely drivers of these systematic differences.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, MNRAS submitte
- …