Editorial: Mental Health Services in Southern Sudan – a Vision for the Future

No Abstrac

Five centuries of Latin American income inequality

Special Issue on Latin American InequalityMost analysts of the modern Latin American economy believe that it has always had very high levels of inequality. Indeed, some have argued that high inequality appeared very early in the post-conquest Americas, and that this fact supported rent-seeking and anti-growth institutions that help explain the disappointing growth performance we observe there even today. This paper argues to the contrary. Compared with the rest of the world, Latin American inequality was not high either in pre-conquest 1491 or in the post-conquest decades following 1492. Indeed, it was not even high in the mid-19th century just before Latin America’s belle e´poque. It only became high thereafter. Historical persistence in Latin American inequality is a myth.La mayoría de los análisis sobre la economía latinoamericana contemporánea creen que siempre ha tenido muy altos niveles de desigualdad. A decir verdad, algunos han argumentado que los altos niveles de desigualdad aparecieron en épocas muy tempranas en la América posterior a la Conquista. Esto supondría la existencia de instituciones buscadoras de renta y no propiciatorias del crecimiento lo que nos ayudaría a explicar los problemas de desarrollo que observamos incluso hoy en día. Este artículo argumenta lo contrario. Comparada con el resto del mundo, la desigualdad en Latinoamérica no era alta en los años anteriores a la Conquista de 1491, y no fue alta en las décadas posteriores que siguieron a 1492. En realidad, no fue alta a mitad del siglo XIX en los años anteriores a la belle époque en Latinoamérica. Sólo llegó a ser alta posteriormente. La persistencia histórica de la desigualdad en Latinoamérica es un mito

Service evaluation of the GOALS family-based childhood obesity treatment intervention during the first 3 years of implementation.

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of the GOALS (Getting Our Active Lifestyles Started) family-based childhood obesity treatment intervention during the first 3 years of implementation. Design: Single-group repeated measures with qualitative questionnaires. Setting: Community venues in a socioeconomically deprived, urban location in the North-West of England. Participants: 70 overweight or obese children (mean age 10.5 years, 46% boys) and their parents/carers who completed GOALS between September 2006 and March 2009. Interventions: GOALS was a childhood obesity treatment intervention that drew on social cognitive theory to promote whole family lifestyle change. Sessions covered physical activity (PA), diet and behaviour change over 18 2 h weekly group sessions (lasting approximately 6 months). A Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) checklist of intervention components is provided. Primary and secondary outcome measures: The primary outcome measure was child body mass index (BMI) z-score, collected at baseline, post-intervention and 12 months. Secondary outcome measures were child selfperceptions, parent/carer BMI and qualitative changes in family diet and PA (parent/carer questionnaire). Results: Child BMI z-score reduced by 0.07 from baseline to post-intervention (p<0.001) and was maintained at 12 months (p<0.05). There was no change in parent/carer BMI or child self-perceptions, other than an increase in perceived social acceptance from baseline to post-intervention (p<0.05). Parents/carers reported positive changes to family PA and dietary behaviours after completing GOALS. Conclusions: GOALS completion was associated with small improvements in child BMI z-score and improved family PA and dietary behaviours. Several intervention modifications were necessary during the implementation period and it is suggested childhood obesity treatment interventions need time to embed before a definitive evaluation is conducted. Researchers are urged to use the TIDieR checklist to ensure transparent reporting of interventions and facilitate the translation of evidence to practice

Archaeology and Desertification in the Wadi Faynan: the Fourth (1999) Season of the Wadi Faynan Landscape Survey

Reproduced with permission of the publisher. © 2000 Council for British Research in the Levant. Details of the publication are available at: http://www.cbrl.org.uk/Publications/publications_default.shtmThis report describes the fourth season of fieldwork by an interdisciplinary team of archaeologists and geographers working together to reconstruct the landscape history of the Wadi Faynan in southern Jordan. The particular focus of the project is the long-term history of inter-relationships between landscape and people, as a contribution to the study of processes of desertification and environmental degradation. The 1999 fieldwork contributed significantly towards the five Objectives defined for the final two field seasons of the project in 1999 and 2000: to map the archaeology outside the ancient field systems flooring the wadi that have formed the principal focus of the archaeological survey in the previous seasons; to use ethnoarchaeological studies both to reconstruct modern and recent land use and also to yield archaeological signatures of land use to inform the analysis of the survey data; to complete the survey of ancient field systems and refine understanding of when and how they functioned; to complete the programme of geomorphological and palaeoecological fieldwork, and in particular to refine the chronology of climatic change and human impacts; and to complete the recording and classification of finds

Effect of Chronic Diseases and Multimorbidity on Survival and Functioning in Elderly Adults

Objectives To determine the effect of chronic disorders and their co-occurrence on survival and functioning in community-dwelling older adults. Design Population-based cohort study. Setting Kungsholmen, Stockholm, Sweden. Participants Individuals aged 78 and older examined by physicians four times over 11 years (N = 1,099). Measurements Chronic diseases (grouped according to 10 organ systems according to the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, code) and multimorbidity (≥2 coexisting chronic diseases) were evaluated in terms of mortality, population attributable risk of death, median years of life lost, and median survival time with and without disability (need of assistance in ≥1 activities of daily living). Results Approximately one in four deaths were attributable to cardiovascular and one in six to neuropsychiatric diseases. Malignancy was the condition with the shortest survival time (2.5 years). Malignancies and cardiovascular disorders each accounted for approximately 5 years of life lost. In contrast, neurosensorial and neuropsychiatric conditions had the longest median survival time (>6 years), and affected people were disabled for more than half of this time. The most-prevalent and -burdensome condition was multimorbidity, affecting 70.4% of the population, accounting for 69.3% of total deaths, and causing 7.5 years of life lost. Finally, people with multimorbidity lived 81% of their remaining years of life with disability (median 5.2 years). Conclusion Survival in older adults differs in length and quality depending on specific conditions. The greatest negative effect at the individual (shorter life, greater dependence) and societal (number of attributable deaths, years spent with disability) level was from multimorbidity, which has made multimorbidity a clinical and public health priority

Intrinsic response time of graphene photodetectors

Graphene-based photodetectors are promising new devices for high-speed optoelectronic applications. However, despite recent efforts, it is not clear what determines the ultimate speed limit of these devices. Here, we present measurements of the intrinsic response time of metal-graphene-metal photodetectors with monolayer graphene using an optical correlation technique with ultrashort laser pulses. We obtain a response time of 2.1 ps that is mainly given by the short lifetime of the photogenerated carriers. This time translates into a bandwidth of ~262 GHz. Moreover, we investigate the dependence of the response time on gate voltage and illumination laser power

A novel causal mechanism for grey squirrel bark stripping: The Calcium Hypothesis

AbstractGrey squirrels, Sciurus carolinensis, damage trees in the UK by stripping bark and eating the underlying phloem; squirrel motivation for damage is, however, unknown. Damage can result in deterioration of timber quality and a significant economic toll on the forestry industry. Prediction of severe damage followed by targeted killing of squirrels is the current recommended management option. However, the use of warfarin (an anticoagulant poison) is now restricted in the UK and other more humane methods of killing are labour-intensive, so an alternative solution is needed. A better understanding of what motivates grey squirrels to strip bark may enable a preventive approach to be developed. Whilst the bark stripping literature has explored predictive factors affecting the likelihood of damage, causal understanding is lacking. The aim of this review is to introduce the Calcium Hypothesis as a possible explanation for bark stripping, with a view to informing the prevention of damage. The Calcium Hypothesis states that grey squirrels damage trees to ameliorate a calcium deficiency. The main predictive factors of bark stripping behaviour each inform and lend support to the Calcium Hypothesis. Calcium is stored in tree phloem, and damage increases with phloem width, providing squirrels with more calcium per unit area ingested. Calcium levels increase in trees as active growth resumes after winter dormancy, this occurs immediately prior to the main bark stripping season of May–July, and trees growing most vigorously are at increased risk of damage. It is likely grey squirrels also have a requirement for calcium during the bark stripping season. Adult females will be under post-parturition pressures such as lactation, and juveniles will be going through their main period of bone growth, both of which likely represent a requirement for calcium – which supports an observed positive correlation between juvenile abundance and bark stripping. A high autumnal seed crop increases juvenile recruitment the following spring, and could also induce a requirement for calcium to a population due to the high phosphorus to calcium ratio of seeds. To further investigate the hypothesis, the extent to which grey squirrels can utilise calcium oxalate, as calcium occurs in bark, should be determined, and also the extent to which grey squirrels undergo seasonal periods of calcium deficiency. Increasing our causal understanding of bark stripping could inform the future development of preventive measures to aid forest management

Restoration of a chalk stream using wood: assessment of habitat improvements using the Modular River Survey

© 2019 CIWEM The installation of large wood and sediment berms to narrow the overwide channel of the River Bulbourne, Hertfordshire, aimed to restore geomorphological processes, improve channel habitat diversity and increase the amenity value of the park in which the river is located. The Modular River Survey provides a framework and suite of tools for river managers and volunteers to monitor and assess restoration activities. Applying this technique to the River Bulbourne before and after restoration demonstrated that the works increased physical habitat and vegetation complexity. The restored section was narrowed, substrate composition changed and the range of in-stream vegetation morphotypes increased. The initial slight improvement in riparian habitat complexity immediately following the restoration is expected to increase further over time as the riparian vegetation develops and the restored section of channel matures. A public perception and recreational use survey reviewed how visitor experience and use of the park changed following restoration

How Grandparents Matter: Support for the Cooperative Breeding Hypothesis in a Contemporary Dutch Population

Low birth rates in developed societies reflect women’s difficulties in combining work and motherhood. While demographic research has focused on the role of formal childcare in easing this dilemma, evolutionary theory points to the importance of kin. The cooperative breeding hypothesis states that the wider kin group has facilitated women’s reproduction during our evolutionary history. This mechanism has been demonstrated in pre-industrial societies, but there is no direct evidence of beneficial effects of kin’s support on parents’ reproduction in modern societies. Using three-generation longitudinal data anchored in a sample of grandparents aged 55 and over in 1992 in the Netherlands, we show that childcare support from grandparents increases the probability that parents have additional children in the next 8 to 10 years. Grandparental childcare provided to a nephew or niece of childless children did not significantly increase the probability that those children started a family. These results suggest that childcare support by grandparents can enhance their children’s reproductive success in modern societies and is an important factor in people’s fertility decisions, along with the availability of formal childcare