Austerity in a disadvantaged West Midlands neighbourhood:Everyday experiences of families and family support professionals

This article examines everyday effects of austerity in Kingshurst – a disadvantaged urban neighbourhood in the West Midlands. It draws on qualitative data gathered from local families with children, and public and third sector professionals working in the area in family support services. While some of the issues raised are common to other disadvantaged communities across the UK, we recognise that austerity is experienced in specific socio-spatial contexts: in this case, Kingshurst’s circumstance of deprivation within a local authority borough that (as a whole) is above averagely affluent. This shaped the ways that residents and professionals framed the disadvantage they encountered in their everyday lives and work, in particular strengthening understandings of austerity as unfairly and unevenly experienced on the bases of geography and social class, and highlighting territorial stigma towards the neighbourhood by professionals and decision-makers which impeded residents’ engagement with the family support services available to them locally

The Long Term Impact of Micronutrient Supplementation during Infancy on Cognition and Executive Function Performance in Pre-School Children

Brain growth and development are critically dependent on several micronutrients. During early development cellular activity may be sensitive to micronutrient deficiencies, however the evidence from human studies is equivocal. The objective of this study was to examine the long-term cognitive and social-emotional effects of multiple micronutrient supplementation compared with iron supplementation alone, administered during infancy. This study was a follow-up to an initial randomized, double-blind controlled trial (RCT) in 2010 in which 902 infants, aged 6-17 months, from Lima, Peru, were given daily supplements of either iron (Fe) or multiple micronutrients (MMN) including zinc (451 in each group). The supplementation period for both groups was six months. In 2012, a subsample of 184 children from the original cohort (now aged 36-48 months) was randomly selected to participate in a follow-up trial and was assessed for intelligence, working memory, inhibition, and executive function. The tests showed no significant differences between the supplementation groups though there were some gender differences, with girls displaying higher scores than boys across both groups on the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) Verbal IQ sentences subtest, the Day-Night cognitive test and on the Brief Infant-Toddler Social Emotional Assessment (BITSEA) social competency, and boys scoring higher than girls in problem behaviour. The results indicate that MMN supplementation had no long term additional effects on cognitive function compared with iron supplementation alone. The timing of supplement administration for maximum impact on a child's cognitive development requires further investigation

A proposal for the use of a targeted, parent-child, school- based educational intervention to reduce initial experimentation with methamphetamine by teenagers in Western North Carolina.

Methamphetamine use is a growing threat to small rural communities in Western North Carolina. As clandestine labs with their toxic by products flourish, increasing numbers of teenagers are seen in the local emergency departments with symptoms of acute methamphetamine intoxication. Research points to the potential long-term damage likely to be suffered by individuals and the community from this methamphetamine epidemic. It is becoming clear that control efforts are costly and substance abuse treatment for a developed addiction is often ineffective and needs to be repeated. As with most public health threats, there is growing recognition that the problem is best addressed through early intervention. It is suggested that the development of an intensive effort targeting middle school children and their parents, strengthening parent-child bonds and communicating a strong non-use message may be an effective strategy in the prevention of initial experimentation with methamphetamine in adolescence.Master of Public Healt

Managing community relationships, reputation and sustaining competitive advantage : The case of mining towns

An important issue currently facing the mining industry in Australia is the management and cost to the industry and other stakeholders of entry into and exit from towns and their communities. These costs can be environmental, social, economic, political or reputational. The ability of companies to engage the trust of communities, governments and investors is critical, and corporate reputation plays a significant role in this. For the industry to secure a long-term and sustainable future, it must have the technical, business and reputation assets to proceed in a cost-effective, environmentally acceptable and socially supportive way. The paper introduces the concepts of sustainability both at the corporate level and the regional town and community level. For the companies, there are important impacts on costs and efficiencies, an organisations ‘license to operate’, shareholder value and the trade off between dealing with environmental and social issues through prevention or retrofit and corrective measures. However, for the mining industry, possibly the most important aspect of this study is the ability of companies to get access to new sites at competitive cost. For mining companies sustainability has moved from mineral and environmental resources, to a greater emphasis on economic sustainability and community capacity building.E

The influence of industrial clusters and place on innovation and entrepreneurial behaviour

Responses from a questionnaire survey of wine and tourism businesses operating in regional clusters were analysed using factor analysis. These suggested three factor scores relating to entrepreneurial behaviour; four factor scores relating to cluster activities and attributes; and three factors relating to the respondents' personal characteristics. The three entrepreneurial behaviour factor scores were interpreted as: innovator, calculator and venturer. These were used as dependent variables in regression models. The independent variables were the cluster and personal characteristics factor scores, industry and place. The central result was that the cluster activity variables did not have a significant impact on the innovator behaviour variable, which contradicts the standard view. Cluster activities and attributes were found to attract entrepreneurs of the calculator kind, and to a lesser extent, of the venturer kind. Place did seem to offer an attraction to entrepreneurs beyond those offered by the intensities of the cluster activities and attributes. Responses from a questionnaire survey of wine and tourism businesses operating in regional clusters were analysed using factor analysis. These suggested three factor scores relating to entrepreneurial behaviour; four factor scores relating to cluster activities and attributes; and three factors relating to the respondents' personal characteristics. The three entrepreneurial behaviour factor scores were interpreted as: innovator, calculator and venturer. These were used as dependent variables in regression models. The independent variables were the cluster and personal characteristics factor scores, industry and place. The central result was that the cluster activity variables did not have a significant impact on the innovator behaviour variable, which contradicts the standard view. Cluster activities and attributes were found to attract entrepreneurs of the calculator kind, and to a lesser extent, of the venturer kind. Place did seem to offer an attraction to entrepreneurs beyond those offered by the intensities of the cluster activities and attributes.C

The determinants of cluster activities in the Australian wine and tourism industries

This paper discusses wine and tourism clusters and the recent innovation of wine tourism in which businesses operate within both industries. The concept of micro-clusters is examined in terms of trust, networking, collaboration and other activities, all of which are argued to depend on the concepts of game theory and sunk costs. The study involved both interviews and a questionnaire. Conceptual variables are created from the questionnaire responses using factor analysis. The determinants of cluster activities are modelled using regression analysis. The effects of industry, place and respondents' entrepreneurial characteristics are used as exogenous variables. The study finds that industry does seem to be more important than place in the determination of networking and cooperative cluster activities, and that members of the wine tourism industry participate more in these activities than members of the tourism or hospitality industries. The addition of three variables that embody the entrepreneurial characteristics of the respondents approximately doubles the explanatory power of the original models. There is evidence to suggest that cluster activities are idiosyncratic for each industry-place cluster. The effects of firm size on cluster activities are also examined. No evidence is found of cooperative activities depending on cluster size. The main results support the contention that sunk costs are important in the determination of cluster activities.C

Small business clustering : Accessing knowledge through local networks

Over the last decade there has been considerable interest and activity in clustering and the concomitant link to regional development. In the world economy small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are now recognised as playing a pivotal role in regional economic sustainability and growth, yet there is relatively little research that examines SME clustering processes, and in particular the nature of knowledge creation in local/regional SME networks. This paper discusses the topic of small business clustering and local network knowledge transfer. It outlines some of the key literature on clustering within a regional development context and discusses the implications on industry and place vis-à-vis regional cluster learning, knowledge creation and innovation. To illustrate SME clustering and knowledge transfer issues, the paper briefly highlights three regional Australian small business clustering studies. The paper concludes with some future directions for SME clustering in terms of policy, industry and place.E

Survival, Growth and Reproduction of Non-Native Nile Tilapia II: Fundamental Niche Projections and Invasion Potential in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

Understanding the fundamental niche of invasive species facilitates our ability to predict both dispersal patterns and invasion success and therefore provides the basis for better-informed conservation and management policies. Here we focus on Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus Linnaeus, 1758), one of the most widely cultured fish worldwide and a species that has escaped local aquaculture facilities to become established in a coastal-draining river in Mississippi (northern Gulf of Mexico). Using empirical physiological data, logistic regression models were developed to predict the probabilities of Nile tilapia survival, growth, and reproduction at different combinations of temperature (14 and 30°C) and salinity (0–60, by increments of 10). These predictive models were combined with kriged seasonal salinity data derived from multiple long-term data sets to project the species\u27 fundamental niche in Mississippi coastal waters during normal salinity years (averaged across all years) and salinity patterns in extremely wet and dry years (which might emerge more frequently under scenarios of climate change). The derived fundamental niche projections showed that during the summer, Nile tilapia is capable of surviving throughout Mississippi\u27s coastal waters but growth and reproduction were limited to river mouths (or upriver). Overwinter survival was also limited to river mouths. The areas where Nile tilapia could survive, grow, and reproduce increased during extremely wet years (2–368%) and decreased during extremely dry years (86–92%) in the summer with a similar pattern holding for overwinter survival. These results indicate that Nile tilapia is capable of 1) using saline waters to gain access to other watersheds throughout the region and 2) establishing populations in nearshore, low-salinity waters, particularly in the western portion of coastal Mississippi

An educational intervention to prevent overweight in pre-school years: a cluster randomised trial with a focus on disadvantaged families

Background: Early prevention is a promising strategy for reducing obesity in childhood, and Early Years settings are ideal venues for interventions. This work evaluated an educational intervention with the primary aim of preventing overweight and obesity in pre-school children. Methods: A pragmatic, cluster randomised trial with a parallel, matched-pair design was undertaken. Interventions were targeted at both the cluster (Early Years’ Centres, matched by geographical area) and individual participant level (families: mother and 2-year old child). At the cluster level, a staff training intervention used the educational resource Be Active, Eat Healthy. Policies and provision for healthy eating and physical activity were evaluated at baseline and 12-months. The intervention at participant level was the Healthy Heroes Activity Pack: delivered over 6 months by Centre staff to promote healthy eating and physical activity in a fun, interactive way. Child and parent height and weight were measured at four time-points over two years. The trial primary outcome was the change in BMI z-score of the child between ages 2 and 4 years. Secondary outcomes consisted of parent-reported measures administered at baseline and two-year follow-up. Results: Five pairs of Early Years’ Centres were recruited. Four pairs were analysed as one Centre withdrew (47 intervention families; 34 control families). At the cluster level, improvement in Centre policies and practices was similar for both groups (p=0.830). At the participant level, the intervention group reduced their mean BMI z-score between age 2 and 4 years (p=0.002; change difference 0.49; 95% CI 0.17 to 0.80) whereas the control group showed increasing BMI z-score throughout. Changes in parent-reported outcomes and parent BMI (p=0.582) were similar in both groups. Conclusions: The Healthy Heroes educational resource deterred excess weight gain in pre-school children from poor socioeconomic areas. With training, Early Years’ staff can implement the Healthy Heroes programme. Trial Registration Number ISRCTN22620137 Registered 21st December 201

Head-group acylation of monogalactosyldiacylglycerol is a common stress response, and the acyl-galactose acyl composition varies with the plant species and applied stress

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Vu, H. S., Roth, M. R., Tamura, P., Samarakoon, T., Shiva, S., Honey, S., Lowe, K., Schmelz, E. A., Williams, T. D. and Welti, R. (2014), Head-group acylation of monogalactosyldiacylglycerol is a common stress response, and the acyl-galactose acyl composition varies with the plant species and applied stress. Physiol Plantarum, 150: 517–528. doi:10.1111/ppl.12132, which has been published in final form at http://doi.org/10.1111/ppl.12132. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.Formation of galactose-acylated monogalactosyldiacylglycerols has been shown to be induced by leaf homogenization, mechanical wounding, avirulent bacterial infection, and thawing after snap-freezing. Here, lipidomic analysis using mass spectrometry showed that galactose-acylated monogalactosyldiacylglycerols, formed in wheat (Triticum aestivum) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) leaves upon wounding, have acyl-galactose profiles that differ from those of wounded Arabidopsis thaliana, indicating that different plant species accumulate different acyl-galactose components in response to the same stress. Additionally, the composition of the acyl-galactose component of Arabidopsis acMGDG depends on the stress treatment. After sub-lethal freezing treatment, acMGDG contained mainly non-oxidized fatty acids esterified to galactose, whereas mostly oxidized fatty acids accumulated on galactose after wounding or bacterial infection. Compositional data are consistent with acMGDG being formed in vivo by transacylation with fatty acids from digalactosyldiacylglycerols. Oxophytodienoic acid, an oxidized fatty acid, was more concentrated on the galactosyl ring of acylated monogalactosyldiacylglycerols than in galactolipids in general. Also, oxidized fatty acid-containing acylated monogalactosyldiacylglycerols increased cumulatively when wounded Arabidopsis leaves were wounded again. These findings suggest that, in Arabidopsis, the pool of galactose-acylated monogalactosyldiacylglycerols may serve to sequester oxidized fatty acids during stress responses