Parental investment and child health in a Yanomamö village suffering short-term food stress

The 1998 El Niño significantly reduced garden productivity in the Upper Orinoco region in Venezuela. Consequently, parents were forced to allocate food carefully to their children. Nutrition data collected from village children combined with genealogical data allowed the determination of which children suffered most, and whether the patterns of food distribution accorded with predictions from parental investment theory. For boys, three social variables accounted for over 70% of the variance in subcutaneous fat after controlling for age: number of siblings, age of the mother’s youngest child, and whether the mother was the senior or junior co-wife, or was married monogamously. These results accord well with parental investment theory. Parents experiencing food stress faced a trade-off between quantity and quality, and between investing in younger versus older offspring. In addition, boys with access to more paternal investment (i.e. no stepmother) were better nourished. These variables did not account for any of the variance in female nutrition. Girls’ nutrition was associated with the size of their patrilineage and the number of non-relatives in the village, suggesting that lineage politics may have played a role. An apparent lack of relationship between orphan status and nutrition is also interesting, given that orphans suffered high rates of skin flea infections. The large number of orphans being cared for by only two grandparents suggests that grooming time may have been the resource in short supply. Introductio

Proposal for a Retirement Home Garden

The purpose of this proposal is to construct, with the permission of the owner of a local retirement home, a handicap-accessible garden. Our aim is to make the proposal personal, relevant, and practical for the target audience--the owner of the retirement home. Before writing the proposal, we had to conduct research to investigate the budget, garden logistics, and practical support that would be required for successful implementation. One challenge we faced was the need to convince our audience that a handicap-accessible garden would be plausible. We accomplish this in our plan by implementing, among other accommodations, raised garden beds at various levels to assist those that would be otherwise unable to participate. We begin with a formal yet personal introduction to show that we are familiar with the retirement home and to demonstrate our investment in the project. To prove that the idea is practical, we anticipate and address potential objections and challenges. In order to show the relevance of the project, we supply the owner with a list of potential benefits, including developing a reputation for his facility for providing exemplary care. Through our preliminary research, we learned that a handicap-accessible garden could be made possible by innovative tools and garden designs. We also discovered the benefits that such a garden can provide for both individual users and communities

African American Women with Type 2 Diabetes : A Biopsychosocial-Spiritual Approach

This dissertation consists of two articles written to address the context of type 2 diabetes care in African American women. In addition, the proposal and required Institutional Review Board (IRB) documentation are included as Appendices. The first article is a review of the existing literature regarding the psychosocial and spiritual aspects of type 2 diabetes management and outcomes in African American women. The aim of conducting this review of extant literature was to identify what further research was needed specifically in African American women with type 2 diabetes as there is very little to date. The second article was written to identify and explore several demographic and biopsychosocial-spiritual variables associated with type 2 diabetes control in African American women. A set of variables were found to predict diabetes control over time (hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c)), body mass index (BMI), and depression severity.   The focus of type 2 diabetes management has been predominantly biomedical. With major disparities in morbidity and mortality and a growing disease burden, the psychosocial-spiritual context of diabetes is important to consider. For this non-systematic review, articles were found in Google Scholar, EBSCO, and reference sections of resultant articles. Search terms included "type 2 diabetes management," "family," and "African American" and were set as follows: "type 2 diabetes management and family" and "type 2 diabetes management and African American." A total of 41 articles met inclusion criteria. Several factors associated with type 2 diabetes management in African American women were identified including: psychosocial support, socioeconomic status, culture, gender and sex, mental health, and spirituality. African American women's health appeared particularly sensitive to family context and spiritual wellbeing. Culture, socioeconomic status, and mental health were also associated with their diabetes-related health outcomes. Future researchers should address the multiplicative influence of these factors specifically in relation to African American women and their diabetes management and outcomes.  The second article was written to report the biopsychosocial-spiritual variables related to type 2 diabetes management in African American women. A cross-sectional survey of African American women with type 2 diabetes (n=58) was utilized to explore demographic and biopsychosocial-spiritual variables related to diabetes control (HbA1c). Associations between BMI and depression severity (PHQ-9) and demographic and biopsychosocial-spiritual variables were explored. Participants were surveyed with the following scales: Diabetes Care Profile, Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Family Crisis Orientation Personal Evaluation, Illness Cognition, Health Distress, and Basic Adlerian Scales for Interpersonal Success. BMI and current HbA1c were extracted from participants' medical records. According to hierarchical regression analyses, the biopsychosocial model trended toward significant prediction of the variance in HbA1c; the demographic and biopsychological model explained 27% (p<0.001) of the variance in BMI; and the demographic and biopsychosocial-spiritual model explained 52% (p<0.001) of the variance in depression. Disability status was a significant individual predictor of BMI. Health distress and social/personal factors were individually significant predictors of PHQ-9. A revised framework of biopsychosocial-spiritual factors may be more predictive of HbA1c and diabetes risk factors in this population. This warrants further investigation in efforts to improve type 2 diabetes management and outcomes.  Ph.D

The 'Settlers and Colonists' Affair

In the final weeks of 2012, media reports on Alasdair Gray&rsquo;s essay &lsquo;Settlers and Colonists&rsquo; sparked a heated debate concerning Scottish cultural governance and &lsquo;anti-Englishness&rsquo;. This chapter documents and contextualizes the controversy vis-&agrave;-vis the campaigns for and against Scottish independence, and several related cultural debates. A detailed chronology of initial media coverage and political reaction (extraordinary in its volume and vehemence) is supplemented by a list of recommended essays and blogs providing further insight. The lasting impact of this episode on Gray&rsquo;s reputation and public standing is unclear; this chapter examines the role of politicians, the media and Gray himself in a process by which the author became (and was made to become) a casualty of his own incautious words, but also rendered curiously voiceless

Modelling the impact of forest loss on shallow landslide sediment yield, Ijuez river catchment, Spanish Pyrenees

International audienceThe SHETRAN model for simulating the sediment yield arising from shallow landslides at the scale of a river catchment was applied to the 45-km2 Ijuez catchment in the central Spanish Pyrenees, to investigate the effect of loss of forest cover on landslide and debris flow incidence and on catchment sediment yield. The application demonstrated how such a model, with a large number of parameters to be evaluated, can be used even when directly measured data are not available: rainfall and discharge time series were generated by reference to other local records and data providing the basis for a soil map were obtained by a short field campaign. Uncertainty bounds for the outputs were determined as a function of the uncertainty in the values of key model parameters. For a four-year period and for the existing forested state of the catchment, a good ability to simulate the observed long term spatial distribution of debris flows (represented by a 45-year inventory) and to determine catchment sediment yield within the range of regional observations was demonstrated. The lower uncertainty bound on simulated landslide occurrence approximated the observed annual rate of landsliding and suggests that landslides provide a relatively minor proportion of the total sediment yield, at least in drier years. A scenario simulation in which the forest cover was replaced by grassland indicated an increase in landsliding but a decrease in the number of landslides which evolve into debris flows and, at least for drier years, a reduction in sediment delivery to the channel network

Multiobjective Optimisation for Improved Management of Flood Risk

Effective flood risk management requires consideration of a range of different mitigation measures. Depending on the location, these could include structural or non-structural measures as well as maintenance regimes for existing levee systems. Risk analysis models are used to quantify the benefits, in terms of risk reduction, when introducing different measures; further investigation is required to identify the most appropriate solution to implement. Effective flood risk management decision making requires consideration of a range of performance criteria. Determining the better performing strategies, according to multiple criteria can be a challenge. This paper describes the development of a decision support system that couples a multi-objective optimisation algorithm with a flood risk analysis model and an automated cost model. The system has the ability to generate potential mitigation measures that are implemented at different points in time. It then optimises the performance of the mitigation measures against multiple criteria. The decision support system is applied to an area of the Thames Estuary and the results obtained demonstrate the benefits multiobjective optimisation can bring to flood risk management

Transformation of PbI2, PbBr2 and PbCl2 salts into MAPbBr3 perovskite by halide exchange as an effective method for recombination reduction

Halide perovskite derivatives present unprecedented physical phenomena among those materials which are suitable for photovoltaics, such as a fast ion diffusion coefficient. In this paper it is reported how the benefits of this property can be used during the growth of halide perovskites in order to control the morphological and optoelectronic properties of the final thin film. Using a large enough halide reservoir, the nature of the halides present in the final perovskite layer can be exchanged and this depends on the initial salt used in the two-step deposition method. In particular, the preparation of a methylammonium lead bromide (MAPbBr3) thin film is reported, using a two-step method based on the transformation of lead(II) iodide (PbI2), lead(II) bromide (PbBr2) and lead(II) chloride (PbCl2) salts into MAPbBr3 perovskite after dipping in a methylammonium bromide (MABr) solution. The films prepared from different salts present different properties in terms of morphology and optoelectronic properties, thus providing significantly different performance when they are used for the preparation of photovoltaic devices. Interestingly, the use of PbI2 and PbCl2 salts reduce the charge recombination and increase the open circuit potential obtained, especially in the former case. However, the highest photocurrent is obtained when PbBr2 is used. For PbI2 and PbCl2 salts no traces of the former salt are observed in the MAPbBr3 layer obtained after 10 minutes of dipping time, however, the presence of PbBr2 has still been detected (using X-ray diffraction) when this salt has been employed

Argon behaviour in an inverted Barrovian sequence, Sikkim Himalaya: the consequences of temperature and timescale on ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar mica geochronology

40Ar/39Ar dating of metamorphic rocks sometimes yields complicated datasets which are difficult to interpret in terms of timescales of the metamorphic cycle. Single-grain fusion and step-heating data were obtained for rocks sampled through a major thrust-sense shear zone (the Main Central Thrust) and the associated inverted metamorphic zone in the Sikkim region of the eastern Himalaya. This transect provides a natural laboratory to explore factors influencing apparent 40Ar/39Ar ages in similar lithologies at a variety of metamorphic pressure and temperature (P–T) conditions. The 40Ar/39Ar dataset records progressively younger apparent age populations and a decrease in within-sample dispersion with increasing temperature through the sequence. The white mica populations span ~ 2–9 Ma within each sample in the structurally lower levels (garnet grade) but only ~ 0–3 Ma at structurally higher levels (kyanite-sillimanite grade). Mean white mica single-grain fusion population ages vary from 16.2 ± 3.9 Ma (2σ) to 13.2 ± 1.3 Ma (2σ) from lowest to highest levels. White mica step-heating data from the same samples yields plateau ages from 14.27 ± 0.13 Ma to 12.96 ± 0.05 Ma. Biotite yield older apparent age populations with mean single-grain fusion dates varying from 74.7 ± 11.8 Ma (2σ) at the lowest structural levels to 18.6 ± 4.7 Ma (2σ) at the highest structural levels; the step-heating plateaux are commonly disturbed. Temperatures > 600 °C at pressures of 0.4–0.8 GPa sustained over > 5 Ma, appear to be required for white mica and biotite ages to be consistent with diffusive, open-system cooling. At lower temperatures, and/or over shorter metamorphic timescales, more 40Ar is retained than results from simple diffusion models suggest. Diffusion modelling of Ar in white mica from the highest structural levels suggests that the high-temperature rocks cooled at a rate of ~ 50–80 °C Ma− 1, consistent with rapid thrusting, extrusion and exhumation along the Main Central Thrust during the mid-Miocene