Industrialization, urbanization, and land use in China:

Rapid industrial development and urbanization transfer more and more land away from agricultural production, threatening China's capability to feed itself. This paper analyzes the determinants of land use by modeling arable land and sown area separately. An inverse U-shaped relationship between land use intensity and industrialization is explored both theoretically and empirically. The findings highlight the conflict between the two policy goals of industrialization and grain self-sufficiency in the end. Several policy recommendations are offered to reconcile the conflict.Industrialization., Land use., Urbanization., China.,

Towards evaluation criteria in participatory flood risk management

Flood risk consists of complex and dynamic problems, whose management calls for innovative ways of engaging with a wide range of local stakeholders, many of whom lack the technical expertise to engage with traditional flood risk management practices. Participatory approaches offer potential for involving these stakeholders in decision-making, yet limited advice is available to users in choosing which techniques to employ and what they might expect them to deliver. Assessing the effectiveness of participatory approaches in local flood risk management is a critical step towards better understanding how community resilience is built. This paper presents a framework for evaluating participatory approaches to flood risk management that covers four evaluation elements (context, process, substantive and social outcomes). Practical success criteria are provided for evaluation, with references indicating where further advice and guidance can be sought. Criteria are tailored to the requirements of flood risk management, and aim to be sufficiently flexible for the framework to be easily transferable

Parents of Children With Mental Illness: Exploring the Caregiver Experience and Caregiver-Focused Interventions

© 2011 Alliance for Children and FamiliesSerious mental illness in children can significantly impact the parents who care for these children in both positive and negative ways. Caregiver strain and enrichment manifests in all areas of parents’ lives, including work, mental and physical health, and social and family relationships. Research has identified numerous predictors of caregiver strain such as severity of child’s illness and impairment, race, and social support. These parents need strengths-based, parent-focused interventions to help them care for themselves and their family in a healthy, effective manner. A brief summary describes 4 types of interventions for parents of children with mental illness and the supporting research. Education, support, and skill building are all important components in parent interventions. A parent focus for interventions and research will decrease caregiver strain and create a healthier environment for the entire family

Children, family and the state : revisiting public and private realms

The state is often viewed as part of the impersonal public sphere in opposition to the private family as a locus of warmth and intimacy. In recent years this modernist dichotomy has been challenged by theoretical and institutional trends which have altered the relationship between state and family. This paper explores changes to both elements of the dichotomy that challenge this relationship: a more fragmented family structure and more individualised and networked support for children. It will also examine two new elements that further disrupt any clear mapping between state/family and public/private dichotomies: the third party role of the child in family/state affairs and children's application of virtual technology that locates the private within new cultural and social spaces. The paper concludes by examining the rise of the 'individual child' hitherto hidden within the family/state dichotomy and the implications this has for intergenerational relations at personal and institutional levels

Effects of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder for U.S. Women Veterans

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived postdeployment experiences of U.S. women veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and their perception of the impact their diagnosis had on their immediate families. The theoretical framework was Heider’s causal attribution theory. The first two research questions directly addressed the purpose of the study, and the third research question addressed each participant’s experience with accessing mental healthcare services. NVivo was used to transcribe, code, and analyze data derived from semistructured interviews with six U.S. women veterans who were diagnosed with PTSD by a licensed mental health professional postdeployment. Findings emerged PTSD diagnosis, U.S. women veterans experienced effects of PTSD on themselves and their immediate family members, access challenges to mental health care services. Eight subordinate themes (codes) also emerged history of traumatic events during active duty (i.e., sexual assault);communicative challenges, elevated verbal exchanges/angry outbursts with immediate family members; lengthy process of claims to begin Veterans Affairs mental health services, prescription medication to treat PTSD symptoms; denied mental health care services due to peacetime service; desire for improved U.S. women veterans’ mental health care services; anxiety/panic attacks; and difficulty rescheduling therapy sessions and/or distractable teletherapy sessions due to Covid-19 pandemic. The positive social change implications include increasing awareness for the need of rapid response and access to mental health care services for U.S. women veterans living with PTSD

Parallel evolutionary pathways to antibiotic resistance selected by biocide exposure

OBJECTIVES: Biocides are widely used to prevent infection. We aimed to determine whether exposure of Salmonella to various biocides could act as a driver of antibiotic resistance. METHODS: Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium was exposed to four biocides with differing modes of action. Antibiotic-resistant mutants were selected during exposure to all biocides and characterized phenotypically and genotypically to identify mechanisms of resistance. RESULTS: All biocides tested selected MDR mutants with decreased antibiotic susceptibility; these occurred randomly throughout the experiments. Mutations that resulted in de-repression of the multidrug efflux pump AcrAB-TolC were seen in MDR mutants. A novel mutation in rpoA was also selected and contributed to the MDR phenotype. Other mutants were highly resistant to both quinolone antibiotics and the biocide triclosan. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that exposure of bacteria to biocides can select for antibiotic-resistant mutants and this is mediated by clinically relevant mechanisms of resistance prevalent in human pathogens

Evaluation of GEOS-5 Sulfur Dioxide Simulations During the Frostburg, MD 2010 Field Campaign.

Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is a major atmospheric pollutant with a strong anthropogenic component mostly produced by the combustion of fossil fuel and other industrial activities. As a precursor of sulfate aerosols that affect climate, air quality, and human health, this gas needs to be monitored on a global scale. Global climate and chemistry models including aerosol processes along with their radiative effects are important tools for climate and air quality research. Validation of these models against in-situ and satellite measurements is essential to ascertain the credibility of these models and to guide model improvements. In this study the Goddard Chemistry, Aerosol, Radiation, and Transport (GOCART) module running on-line inside the Goddard Earth Observing System version 5 (GEOS-5) model is used to simulate aerosol and SO2 concentrations. Data taken in November 2010 over Frostburg, Maryland during an SO2 field campaign involving ground instrumentation and aircraft are used to evaluate GEOS-5 simulated SO2 concentrations. Preliminary data analysis indicated the model overestimated surface SO2 concentration, which motivated the examination of mixing processes in the model and the specification of SO2 anthropogenic emission rates. As a result of this analysis, a revision of anthropogenic emission inventories in GEOS-5 was implemented, and the vertical placement of SO2 sources was updated. Results show that these revisions improve the model agreement with observations locally and in regions outside the area of this field campaign. In particular, we use the ground-based measurements collected by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) for the year 2010 to evaluate the revised model simulations over North America

Intensification to injectable therapy in type 2 diabetes: mixed methods study (protocol)

Background: In the UK, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) is largely managed in primary care. Delay in the intensification to injectable therapy, a form of clinical inertia, is associated with worse glycaemic control. UK general practice is highly computerised, with care being recorded on computerised medical record systems; this allows for quantitative analysis of clinical care but not of the underpinning decision-making process. The aim of this study is to investigate perceptions of patients and clinicians in primary care on the initiation of injectable therapies in T2D, and the context within which those decisions are made. Methods: This is a mixed methods study, taking a “realist evaluation” approach. The qualitative components comprise focus groups, interviews, and video recordings of simulated surgeries; the quantitative analysis: an overview of participating practices, elements of the video recording, and an online survey. We will recruit primary care clinicians (general practitioners and nurses) and patients from a representative sample of practices within the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Research and Surveillance Centre (RSC) network. Participants will be patients with T2D, and primary care clinicians. Focus groups and semi-structured interviews will be recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using Framework Analysis. The simulated surgeries will include cases that might be escalated to injectable therapy. The consultation will be reviewed using the Calgary-Cambridge model to assess communication and determination of adherence to national prescribing guidelines. We will conduct multi-channel video recording including screen capture, clinician and patient facial expressions, wide angle view of the consultation, and the computerised medical record screen. This allows annotation and qualitative analysis of the video recordings, and statistical analyses for the quantitative data. We will also conduct an online survey of primary care clinicians’ attitudes to, and perceptions of, initiation of injectable therapies, which will be analysed using summary statistics. Discussion: Results aim to provide a detailed insight into the dynamic two-way decision-making process underpinning use of injectable therapy for T2D. The study will provide insights into clinical practice and enable the development of training, interventions and guidelines that may facilitate, where appropriate, the intensification to injectable therap

Results from the first use of low radioactivity argon in a dark matter search

Liquid argon is a bright scintillator with potent particle identification properties, making it an attractive target for direct-detection dark matter searches. The DarkSide-50 dark matter search here reports the first WIMP search results obtained using a target of low-radioactivity argon. DarkSide-50 is a dark matter detector, using two-phase liquid argon time projection chamber, located at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso. The underground argon is shown to contain Ar-39 at a level reduced by a factor (1.4 +- 0.2) x 10^3 relative to atmospheric argon. We report a background-free null result from (2616 +- 43) kg d of data, accumulated over 70.9 live-days. When combined with our previous search using an atmospheric argon, the 90 % C.L. upper limit on the WIMP-nucleon spin-independent cross section based on zero events found in the WIMP search regions, is 2.0 x 10^-44 cm^2 (8.6 x 10^-44 cm^2, 8.0 x 10^-43 cm^2) for a WIMP mass of 100 GeV/c^2 (1 TeV/c^2 , 10 TeV/c^2).Comment: Accepted by Phys. Rev.

Food processing and technology 1978: a summary of research

Evaluation of tomato cultivars for processing / W. A. Gould, W. Stone, J. Mount, L. Witt, Y. Yamada, and S. Z. Berry -- Geotrichum candidum in midwestern tomato processing plants and various methods of inhibiting its growth / James G. Fox and Wilbur A. Gould -- Effects of various qualities of raw tomatoes (subjective evaluation) on color of extractable juice (objective evaluation) / Yasunori Yamada and Wilbur A. Gould -- Protein content of seeds taken from tomatoes at various stages of ripeness / Daniel Brodowski and J. R. Geisman -- Effects of cultivar, break temperature, and extraction methods on the viscosity of tomato juice / Hashmy Bel-Haj and Wilbur A. Gould -- A study of some factors affecting the solid content of canned tomatoes / J. R. Mount and W. A. Gould -- Prediction of ascorbic acid stability in canned apple juice / Mohamed I. Mahmoud and Wilbur A. Gould -- Investigation of protein content of ohio grown soybeans / Girish N. Desai and Andrew C. Peng -- Recovery and functionality of soybean leaf proteins / Mohammed H. Ali and Andrew C. Peng -- Carotene content of green snap beans / H. Fenercioglu and D. E. Crean -- Effect of reconditioning on the ascorbic acid content of potato cultivars / I. S. Arkoudilos and D. E. Crean -- Kinetic studies of polyphenol oxidase from HiDri cabbage / Ling-May Chen and Andrew C. Peng -- Refinements in pickle brine recycling / T. Glares and J. R. Geisman -- Use of ultraviolet light to inhibit Staphylococcus aureus growth on the surface of baked pumpkin pie / Nicholas N. Kallas and Wilbur A. Gould -- Development of a nutritionally improved corn masa / Thomas H. Rieman and Wilbur A. Gould -- Mechanical deboning of Lake Erie freshwater drum / W. E. Stone and W. A. Gould -- Lake Erie freshwater drum fillet processing, storage, and evaluation / W. E. Stone and W. A. Goul