Exploring ‘pro-environmental’ actions through discarded materials in the home

The household is a crucial focus of both waste and wider environmental policy, being seen as a central site of socio -economic-environmental change, a space in which people may perform their civic responsibilities and where individual and wider imperatives are brought together. Yet policy makers have shown limited appreciation and understanding of what happens inside the home. So in contemporary waste policy, for example, households remain a ‘closed entity’ in which everyday routines and practices remain hidden. Increasingly, though, it is acknowledged by social scientists that the lived experiences of environmental and waste management in the home are significant issues requiring further study, but how we might go about trying to study them is proving a challenging question. Conventional pro-environmental behaviour research has often tended to study behaviours in ways abstracted from the social contexts in which these take place. This has prompted recent research involving repeat in-depth interviews with householders and more ethnographic approaches, the use of reflexive diaries and narrative methodologies. Curiously, however, there has been little research considering environmental management(s) in the home which has focussed on waste itself. This paper seeks to add to the discussion, by focusing on everyday processes within households, using a qualitative approach of ‘getting in the bin’ of households - that is, an interview approach which takes respondents’ discarded waste as a starting point from which we ask them to discuss the lived experience(s) and activities of everyday life. More broadly by developing insights from what has been termed a ‘realist governmentality’ perspective the paper seeks to offer a more nuanced and finely grained analysis of governing in situ, exploring the extent to which governmental ambitions in relation to waste are accommodated, resisted or [re]worked at the household level. The paper draws illustratively on case studies from a Leverhulme-funded research project based in Kingston-Upon-Thames, an outer London borough in the UK. The approach used a focus on the contents of household waste bins to develop a narrative approach driven by householders centred on stories about pro-environmental practice. The paper will deal with three elements of the research approach: texturing narratives of waste, generating narratives of recycling in practice, and producing narratives of understanding. The outcome is development of a more thoroughgoing understanding of how processes within the home shape waste governance, moving beyond treating the home as a closed entity

COMPTEL upper limits for Seyfert galaxies

The gamma‐ray emission of Seyfert galaxies has fallen far short of pre‐GRO expectations. No single object of this class has been detected by either COMPTEL or EGRET, and OSSE has detected only a fraction of the Seyferts expected. To derive a more stringent upper limit to the emission from these objects in the energy ranges 0.75 to 1 and 1 to 3 MeV, we have summed a large number of COMPTEL observations acquired during Phase 1 of the GRO mission. From a total of 47 observations of 23 individual X‐ray selected Seyfert galaxies, we derive preliminary upper limits of 8×10−8 photons/(cm2 s keV) in the 0.75‐1 MeV band and 1×10−8 photons/(cm2 s keV) in the 1‐3 MeV band

Thoracic transplantation

Note on Sources: The articles in this supplement are based on the reference tables in the 2002 OPTN/SRTR Annual Report, which are not included in this publication. Many relevant data appear in figures and tables directly referred to in the article; other tables from the Annual Report that serve as the basis for this article include the following: Tables 1.5, 1.6, 1.12, 1.13, 11.1–11.4, 11.8, 11.9, 12.1–12.4, 12.7–12.9, 13.1–13.4, and 13.7–13.9. All of these tables are also available online at http://www.ustransplant.org.The Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) is funded by contract #231-00-0116 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The views expressed herein are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the US Government. This is a US Government-funded work. There are no restrictions on its use.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/91976/1/2003 AJT Thoracic Transplantation.pd

Bariatric Surgery Outcomes in Appalachia Influenced by Surgery Type, Diabetes, and Depression

Background Most effective treatment for morbid obesity and its comorbidities is bariatric surgery. However, research is limited on weight loss and associated outcomes among patients in Appalachia. The objective of this study was to examine demographic and comorbidity influence on surgical outcomes of this population including age, sex, race, state of residence, education, marital status, body mass index (BMI kg/m2), excess body weight (EBW), percent excess weight loss (%EWL), blood pressure, diagnosed depression, diagnosed type 2 diabetes (T2D), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), and laboratory values (i.e., hemoglobin A1c). Methods A retrospective electronic medical record (EMR) data extraction was performed on N = 582 patients receiving bariatric surgery (laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass [RYGB] and laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy [SG]) between 10/2013 and 2/2017. Results Patient population was 92.5% Caucasian, 79.3% female, 62.8% married, 45 ± 11.1 years, 75.8% received RYGB, and 24.2% received SG. Average %EWL from baseline to 1-year follow-up was 68.5 ± 18.4% (n = 224). In final descriptive models, surgery type, diagnosed T2D, HbA1c, and depressive symptoms were significant covariates associated with lower %EWL. Conclusions Findings suggest patients completing surgery within an Appalachian region have successful surgical outcomes at 1-year post-surgery, as indicated by significant reductions of \u3e 50% EWL, regardless of other covariates. Results suggest that bariatric programs should consider paying special consideration to patients with T2D or depressive symptoms to improve outcomes. Results have potential to inform future prospective studies and aid in guiding specific interventions tailored to address needs of this unique population

The Malcolm Boat (38CH803): Discovery, Stabilization, Excavation, and Preservation of an Historic Sea Going Small Craft in the Ashley River, Charleston County, South Carolina

The following report details the results of an investigation of the remains of a small historic sailing craft, The Malcolm Boat (38CH803), discovered in a mud bank of the Ashley River in 1985. The investigation, conducted in June of 1992, with partial funding support from the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, revealed that the vessel was a small ocean-going hull dating to the last quarter of the eighteenth century and the first quarter of the nineteenth. The analysis presented discusses the vessel\u27s age, method of construction and function as a coastal or possibly inter-islander trader, and places the vessel within a regional maritime historical context. Historical context is provided in the form of the background history of shipbuilding in South Carolina and a preliminary typology of local small craft. Methods of site stabilization for intertidal zone sites are discussed with recommendations for future work in this new area of investigation in the state.https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/archanth_books/1194/thumbnail.jp

Prenatal DDT Exposure in Relation to Anthropometric and Pubertal Measures in Adolescent Males

DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), a pesticide once used widely in agriculture and now limited to public health use, remains a controversial chemical because of a combination of benefits and risks. DDT or its breakdown products are ubiquitous in the environment and in humans. Compounds in the DDT family have endocrine actions and have been associated with reproductive toxicity. A previous study reported associations between prenatal exposure to p,p′-DDE [1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-ethylene] and increased height and weight in adolescent boys. We examined a group with higher exposures to see whether similar associations would occur. Our study group was 304 males born in Philadelphia in the early 1960s who had participated in a previous study. Anthropometric and pubertal measures from one to six visits during their adolescent years were available, as were stored maternal serum samples from pregnancy. We measured p,p′-DDE, p,p′-DDT [1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-ethane], and o,p′-DDT [1,1,1-trichloro-2-(o-chlorophenyl)-2-(p-chlorophenyl)-ethane] in the maternal serum. Outcomes examined in the boys were height, ratio of sitting height to height, body mass index, triceps skinfold thickness, ratio of subscapular to the sum of triceps and subscapular skinfold thicknesses, skeletal age, serum testosterone, and serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate. No associations between prenatal exposure to any of the DDT compounds and any outcome measure were seen

Monetary Cost of the MyPlate Diet in Young Adults: Higher Expenses Associated with Increased Fruit and Vegetable Consumption

Background. Cost is a commonly reported barrier to healthy eating. This is a secondary research analysis designed to examine the food expenditures of young adults on a university campus following the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) MyPlate guidelines for fruits and vegetables. Methods. Meal receipts and dietary intake were recorded weekly. Anthropometrics and clinical assessments were recorded before intervention. Researchers rated compliance based on the participant’s dietary food log, receipt matching, food pictures, and reports during weekly 1-hour consultations. Results. Fifty-three young adults (18–30 years old) at-risk of, or diagnosed with, metabolic syndrome (MetS) were enrolled in the study, with 10 excluded (n = 43) from analyses due to enrollment in a fixed cost university campus dining meal plan. A two sample t-test assessed differences in food costs and regression analysis determined associations between food cost and diet compliance while controlling for confounding factors of age, sex, and body mass index (BMI). Diet compliant subjects (n = 38) had higher weekly food cost at $95.73 compared to noncompliant subjects (n = 5) who spent$66.24 (). A regression analysis controlling for age, sex, BMI, and geographical region also indicated cost differences based on diet compliance (). Conclusion. Results indicate an ∼$29.00 per week increase in food cost when eating the recommended amount of fruit and vegetables. These findings can contribute to research incentive design, program planning cost, and determining effective interventions to improve diet in this population

Prediagnostic Serum Concentrations of Organochlorine Compounds and Risk of Testicular Germ Cell Tumors

BACKGROUND: Recent findings suggest that exposure to organochlorine (OC) compounds, chlordanes and p,p′-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p′-DDE) in particular, may increase the risk of developing testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs). OBJECTIVE: To further investigate this question, we conducted a nested case-control study of TGCTs within the Norwegian Janus Serum Bank cohort. METHODS: The study was conducted among individuals with serum collected between 1972 and 1978. TGCT cases diagnosed through 1999 (n = 49; 27-62 years of age at diagnosis) were identified through linkage to the Norwegian Cancer Registry. Controls (n =51) were matched to cases on region, blood draw year, and age at blood draw. Measurements of 11 OC insecticide compounds and 34 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners were performed using gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry. Case-control comparisons of lipid-adjusted analyte concentrations were performed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for tertiles of analyte concentration were calculated using conditional logistic regression. RESULTS: TGCT cases had elevated concentrations of p,p′-DDE (tertile 3 vs. tertile 1 OR (ORT3) 2.2; 95% CI, 0.7-6.5; p Wilcoxon = 0.07), oxychlordane (ORT3 3.2; 95% CI, 0.6-16.8; pWilcoxon = 0.05), trans-nonachlor (ORT3 2.6; 95% CI, 0.7-8.9; pWilcoxon = 0.07), and total chlordanes (OR T3 2.0; 95% CI, 0.6-7.2; pWilcoxon = 0.048) compared with controls, although no ORs were statistically significant. Seminoma cases had significantly lower concentrations of PCB congeners 44, 49, and 52 and significantly higher concentrations of PCBs 99, 138, 153, 167, 183, and 195. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides additional but qualified evidence supporting an association between exposures to p,p′-DDE and chlordane compounds, and possibly some PCB congeners, and TGCT risk