The Measure of Poverty: A Boston Indicators Project Special Report

Examines Boston's poverty rate by race/ethnicity, family structure, education, and geography; income inequality; demand for safety-net programs; and how the high cost of living and budget cuts affect vulnerable households and those below the poverty line

City of Ideas: Reinventing Boston's Innovation Economy: The Boston Indicators Report 2012

Analyzes indicators of the city's economic, social, and technological progress; potential for creating innovative solutions to global and national challenges; and complexities, disparities, and weaknesses in the indicators and innovation economy paradigm

Paleo diet vs. modified paleo diet: A randomized control trial of health quality and benefit

Consuming a diet similar to our hunter-gatherer ancestors has been shown to confer numerous health benefits. Our purpose was to compare metabolic, physiological, and psychological improvements of participants consuming a full-scale Paleolithic-type diet (PD) or a modified Paleolithic-type diet (MPD). Twenty participants (WT 74.9+3.3kg; BMI 26+1kg/m2) aged 43+3 yrs were enrolled in a two-group, clinical 5-week dietary intervention study comparing a PD to a MPD. All participants were instructed to maintain current activity levels and turn in weekly diet compliance records. Both groups were instructed to consume only items that are included in a traditional Paleolithic-type diet (i.e. lean meats, f/v, eggs, nuts, and fish); however MPD participants were allowed to include three ‘unrestricted meals’ and two ‘unrestricted snacks’. Outcome measures included insulin sensitivity, body composition and weight, blood pressure, and lipid profiles. Five-week data showed a significant within group decline in WT (-3.3+0.4kg), BMI (- 1.2+0.2kg/m2), FFM (-0.9+0.3kg), Fat Mass (-2.2+0.3kg), and % Body Fat (-1.6+0.4%) over time, all p\u3c0.05. Clinically, all biochemical and blood pressure measures improved, however there were no significant between group differences. Both groups had 70% retention. Following both a full-scale or modified Paleolithic-type diet for 5-weeks resulted in significant reductions in body weight, fat mass, and percent body fat and may be beneficial for lowering blood pressure, and improving insulin sensitivity and lipid profiles. The present research suggests that following a modified Paleolithic-type diet can have similar physiological benefits as the more restrictive full-scale Paleolithic-type diet. More research needs to be conducted to examine the extent of these benefits

A systematic review of the relationship between behavioral and psychological symptoms (BPSD) and caregiver well-being

Background: Behavioural and psychological symptoms in dementia (BPSD) are important predictors of institutionalisation as well as caregiver burden and depression. Previous reviews have tended to group BPSD as one category with little focus on the role of the individual symptoms. This review investigates the role of the individual symptoms of BPSD in relation to the impact on different measures of family caregiver wellbeing. Methods: Systematic review and meta-analysis of articles published in English between 1980 and December 2015 reporting which BPSD affect caregiver wellbeing. Article quality was appraised using the Downs and Black Checklist (1998). Results: 40 medium and high quality quantitative articles met the inclusion criteria, 16 were suitable to be included in a meta-analysis of mean distress scores. Depressive behaviours were the most distressing for caregivers followed by agitation/aggression and apathy. Euphoria was the least distressing. Correlation coefficients between mean total behaviour scores and mean distress scores were pooled for 4 studies. Irritability, aberrant motor behaviour and delusions were the most strongly correlated to distress, disinhibition was the least correlated. Conclusion: The evidence is not conclusive as to whether some BPSD impact caregiver wellbeing more than others. Studies which validly examined BPSD individually were limited, and the included studies used numerous measures of BPSD and numerous measures of caregiver wellbeing. Future research may benefit from a consistent measure of BPSD, examining BPSD individually, and by examining the causal mechanisms by which BPSD impact wellbeing by including caregiver variables so that interventions can be designed to target BPSD more effectively

Documenting numerical experiments in support of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6)

Numerical simulation, and in particular simulation of the earth system, relies on contributions from diverse communities, from those who develop models to those involved in devising, executing, and analysing numerical experiments. Often these people work in different institutions and may be working with significant separation in time (particularly analysts, who may be working on data produced years earlier), and they typically communicate via published information (whether journal papers, technical notes, or websites). The complexity of the models, experiments, and methodologies, along with the diversity (and sometimes inexact nature) of information sources, can easily lead to misinterpretation of what was actually intended or done. In this paper we introduce a taxonomy of terms for more clearly defining numerical experiments, put it in the context of previous work on experimental ontologies, and describe how we have used it to document the experiments of the sixth phase for the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6). We describe how, through iteration with a range of CMIP6 stakeholders, we rationalized multiple sources of information and improved the clarity of experimental definitions. We demonstrate how this process has added value to CMIP6 itself by (a) helping those devising experiments to be clear about their goals and their implementation, (b) making it easier for those executing experiments to know what is intended, (c) exposing interrelationships between experiments, and (d) making it clearer for third parties (data users) to understand the CMIP6 experiments. We conclude with some lessons learnt and how these may be applied to future CMIP phases as well as other modelling campaigns

Performance and diarrhoea in piglets following weaning at seven weeks of age: Challenge with E. coli O 149 and effect of dietary factors

Four dietary factors (ad libitum versus feed restriction, control versus protein restriction at ad libitum feeding, control versus inclusion of lupine as a protein source at ad libitum feeding, and control versus extra vitamin E at ad libitum feeding) were tested in four separate experiments for the effect on diarrhoea. To introduce a diarrhoea-like condition, half of the piglets were challenged with an inoculation of an E. coli O 149 dose of 1 x 108 colony forming units on day two and three after weaning (day of weaning = day one). All piglets were susceptible since the dams were tested mono-zygotic susceptible to the attachment site of E. coli O 149 in the intestines. Each of the four experiments included 32 piglets from 4 sows. The design was 2 x 2 factorial with dietary factor and E. coli O 149 challenge as the two factors, each at two levels. The piglets were housed individually during the experiment which lasted for 10 days from weaning at 7 weeks of age. The daily recordings included feed intake, weight and faeces score (from 1 = firm and solid to 6 = yellow and watery). Faeces from days 2 to 5 were tested for E. coli strains. In addition, blood was sampled and serum was analysed for E. coli antibodies, IgG and IgM. Generally the E. coli challenge had no effect on growth and feed intake whereas faeces score and number of faeces haemolytic bacteria increased and faeces dry matter decreased. Feed restriction decreased the weight gain while faeces characteristics were unaffected. An analysis including all four experiments revealed that a feed intake of less than 200 g day one after weaning seems to be associated with a relatively high incidence of a post-weaning diarrhoea-like condition. Protein restriction decreased faeces score and increased faeces dry matter while weight gain tended to decrease. Inclusion of lupine affected neither weight gain nor faeces characteristics. Extra vitamin E did not affect weight gain while faeces dry matter decreased, and faeces score and number of faecal haemolytic bacteria increased. The dietary treatments had no effect on the immunological responses. In conclusion, the studied dietary factors could not alleviate a diarrhoea-like condition and at the same time maintain the growth rate. Furthermore, the results indicate that performance can be improved if piglets achieve a daily feed intake of at least 200 g from day one after weaning

The origin of massive sandstone facies in an ancient braided river deposits

Lateral profiling techniques have been utilised to define the three-dimensional fluvial architecture of the Fell Sandstone Group (Arundian-Holkerian) of the Northumberland Basin, UK; the Lee-type sandstones (Morrowan-Atokan) of the central Appalachian Basin, USA; the Mansfield and Brazil Formations (Morrowan-Atokan) of the Illinois Basin, USA; and the Anisian Hawkesbury Sandstone of the Sydney Basin, Australia. These strata are characterised by sandstones of braided fluvial origin. Individual fluvial channels are dominated by downstream accreting mesoforms and macroforms, interpreted to represent mid-channel and bank attached bars and dunes. Palaeocurrents are unimodal and of low variance. Evidence of low stage reworking is rare, indicating that the fluvial systems were perennial. Cross-stratified sandstones are interbedded with structureless sand bodies, which display three distinct geometric forms: Sms, Smc and Sme. The texture and composition of facies Sms, Smc and Sme are distinct from associated structured facies. Facies Sms forms erosively based sandsheets 250 m parallel and transverse to the flow. The upper surface is planar. Facies Smc forms elongate channels trending at high angles to the palaeoflow of fluvial channels. The sandbodies preserve a symmetrical cross-section with margins dipping 6 m thick, and may be traced >200 m parallel and transverse to flow direction. Amalgamation of the facies results in sandsheets >20m thick. Scours, elongate both parallel and oblique to fluvial flow are preserved along the basal surface. A classification scheme of massive sandstone facies has been developed. The facies are interpreted in terms of deposition from highly concentrated, laminar sediment/water flows. Sediment-laden currents were generated through primary and secondary mechanisms related to flooding and mass flow

The impacts of out-group threats on within- and between-group behaviours in the cooperatively breeding white-browed sparrow-weaver

Groups face a variety of potential threats from out-group conspecifics. Individuals from outside the group may challenge the breeding position and success of group members and groups often defend against neighbouring or unfamiliar groups. These groups might attempt to acquire the group's resources or encroach into their territory. Together, these threats from out-group conspecifics may give rise to costs affecting group members, resulting in a greater incentive to cooperatively defend against rivals. Few studies have investigated the long-term effects of threats from out-group conspecifics on group dynamics, cooperation and spatial competition. This thesis aims to address the need to investigate, not only the long-term impacts of inter-group conflict for competition over space, but also the consequences of the breakdown in monogamy resulting from out-group breeder replacement in the cooperatively breeding white-browed sparrow weaver (Plocepasser mahali). Firstly, I investigated the effects of out-group breeder replacement on helper retention and reproductive success, finding that neither is markedly negatively impacted by out-group breeder replacement, even though breeder replacement was expected to destablise cooperative groups due to reductions in relatedness. Secondly, I investigated the role of group size in between-group conflict over space and found that larger social groups dominate competition for space. To maintain a large group size relative to neighbouring groups, subordinate helpers may work to increase group size by improving the reproductive success of the dominant (known as group augmentation) in order to enjoy the benefits of living in a large group. As a result, there may be strong selection for cooperative territorial defence, especially if success in conflict relies on cohesion between group members, to overcome the threat from out-group conspecifics

NF91-46 Guidelines for Collection, Storage and Heating of Human Milk

This NebFact discusses the guidelines for collecting, storing, and heating human milk. Most important are clean conditions from washing your hands, cleaning containers and pumps thoroughly. Proper storing of human milk is important when storing either in the refrigerator or freezer. And last but not least is how to warm the milk for consumption by the baby