India Summer Monsoon and Spatial Erosion Variability in the Arun Valley, Eastern Nepal

Abstract HKT-ISTP 2013 B

“It’s just another added layer of difficulty”: Language access equity and inclusion in pediatric interpreted medical encounters — Provider and interpreter perspectives

Limited English proficient or language-diverse patients and families in pediatric interpreted medical encounters (IME) are susceptible to health disparities and inequities in the US compared to English proficient patients and families in language-concordant medical encounters. Policies to improve access to language services intend to bridge this gap, yet evidence suggests that significant inequities still exist. This study explores perspectives of interpreters and pediatric critical care medical providers to better understand the complexities of IME in pediatric settings. Qualitative data were analyzed from two interview studies with medical interpreters and providers using thematic coding and inductive analysis. Several factors were identified by both interpreters and medical providers that negatively affected communication, equity, and inclusion. These included systems-level factors (e.g., time constraints and language variety), interpersonal factors (e.g., difficulties with communication and mistrust), and intrapersonal factors (e.g., implicit biases and judgements). These results highlight multiple layers of potential inequities which adversely affect patients and families in pediatric IME.; En los encuentros médicos interpretados (EMI) en pediatría en los EE.UU., las personas y familiares que acuden a una consulta médica con un dominio limitado del inglés o con otras lenguas están expuestas a perjuicios y desigualdades en materia de salud, en comparación con aquellas que dominan el inglés y que asisten a las consultas en su idioma. Las políticas para mejorar el acceso a los servicios lingüísticos pretenden salvar esta brecha, pero los datos indican que siguen dándose desigualdades significativas. Este estudio explora las perspectivas de intérpretes y de proveedores de atención sanitaria crítica pediátrica para comprender mejor las complejidades de los EMI en contextos pediátricos. Se analizan los datos cualitativos procedentes de dos estudios con entrevistas a intérpretes y proveedores de atención sanitaria utilizando codificación temática y análisis inductivo. Los resultados muestran que ambos grupos detectan varios factores que afectan negativamente a la comunicación, la equidad y la inclusión. Estos factores se localizan a nivel sistémico (como son las limitaciones de tiempo y la variedad lingüística), interpersonal (por ejemplo, las dificultades de comunicación y la desconfianza) y a nivel intrapersonal (como son los sesgos implícitos y los prejuicios). Estos resultados ponen de manifiesto las múltiples capas de desigualdades potenciales que perjudican a pacientes y familiares en los EMI en pediatría.; En les trobades mèdiques interpretades (EMI) en pediatria als EUA, les persones i familiars que acudeixen a una consulta mèdica amb un domini limitat de l'anglés o amb llengües diferents a aquesta s’exposen a perjudicis i desigualtats en matèria de salut, en comparació amb les que dominen l'anglès i que assisteixen a les consultes en el seu idioma. Les polítiques per millorar l'accés als serveis lingüístics pretenen salvar aquesta escletxa, però les dades indiquen que continuen donant-se desigualtats significatives. Aquest estudi explora les perspectives d’intèrprets i de proveïdors d’atenció sanitària crítica en pediatria per comprendre millor les complexitats de les EMI en contextos pediàtrics. S’analitzen les dades qualitatives procedents de dos estudis amb entrevistes a intèrprets i proveïdors d’atenció sanitària utilitzant una codificació temàtica i una anàlisi inductiva. Els resultats mostren que tots dos grups detecten diversos factors que afecten negativament la comunicació, l'equitat i la inclusió. Aquests factors es localitzen a nivell sistèmic (com són les limitacions de temps i la varietat lingüística), interpersonal (per exemple, les dificultats de comunicació i la desconfiança) i a nivell intrapersonal (com ara els biaixos implícits i els prejudicis). Aquests resultats palesen les múltiples capes de desigualtats potencials que perjudiquen pacients i familiars als EMI en pediatria

Global warming and psychotraumatology of natural disasters: the case of the deadly rains and floods of April 2022 in South Africa

Climate change and global warming have led to an increased incidence of flooding across the world. Against the backdrop of the recent devastating floods in the Kwazulu-Natal province of South Africa, this paper explores psychotraumatology of natural disasters. In particular, we explore the impact of internal migration in South Africa, as well as apartheid spatial planning and inequality on the consequences of the flooding. We also focus on the psychotraumatology resulting from flooding, in general, and in particular on the victims of the flooding in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. We conclude that the psychopathological consequences of such natural disasters are ignored even though they seriously affect the people concerned. The development of specific trainings for psychologists in psychotraumatology and the care of victims should be a priority in the future

Global transpiration data from sap flow measurements: The SAPFLUXNET database

Plant transpiration links physiological responses of vegetation to water supply and demand with hydrological, energy, and carbon budgets at the land-atmosphere interface. However, despite being the main land evaporative flux at the global scale, transpiration and its response to environmental drivers are currently not well constrained by observations. Here we introduce the first global compilation of whole-plant transpiration data from sap flow measurements (SAPFLUXNET, https://sapfluxnet.creaf.cat/, last access: 8 June 2021). We harmonized and quality-controlled individual datasets supplied by contributors worldwide in a semi-automatic data workflow implemented in the R programming language. Datasets include sub-daily time series of sap flow and hydrometeorological drivers for one or more growing seasons, as well as metadata on the stand characteristics, plant attributes, and technical details of the measurements. SAPFLUXNET contains 202 globally distributed datasets with sap flow time series for 2714 plants, mostly trees, of 174 species. SAPFLUXNET has a broad bioclimatic coverage, with woodland/shrubland and temperate forest biomes especially well represented (80% of the datasets). The measurements cover a wide variety of stand structural characteristics and plant sizes. The datasets encompass the period between 1995 and 2018, with 50% of the datasets being at least 3 years long. Accompanying radiation and vapour pressure deficit data are available for most of the datasets, while on-site soil water content is available for 56% of the datasets. Many datasets contain data for species that make up 90% or more of the total stand basal area, allowing the estimation of stand transpiration in diverse ecological settings. SAPFLUXNET adds to existing plant trait datasets, ecosystem flux networks, and remote sensing products to help increase our understanding of plant water use, plant responses to drought, and ecohydrological processes. SAPFLUXNET version 0.1.5 is freely available from the Zenodo repository (10.5281/zenodo.3971689; Poyatos et al., 2020a). The "sapfluxnetr"R package-designed to access, visualize, and process SAPFLUXNET data-is available from CRAN. © 2021 Rafael Poyatos et al.This research was supported by the Minis-terio de Economía y Competitividad (grant no. CGL2014-55883-JIN), the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (grant no. RTI2018-095297-J-I00), the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (grant no. CAS16/00207), the Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (grant no. SGR1001), the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung (Humboldt Research Fellowship for Experienced Researchers (RP)), and the Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (Academia Award (JMV)). Víctor Flo was supported by the doctoral fellowship FPU15/03939 (MECD, Spain)

Obesity is Associated With Increased Risk of Crohn's disease, but not Ulcerative Colitis: A Pooled Analysis of Five Prospective Cohort Studies

Background and Aims: It is unclear whether obesity is associated with the development of inflammatory bowel disease despite compelling data from basic science studies. We therefore examined the association between obesity and risk of Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Methods: We conducted pooled analyses of 5 prospective cohorts with validated anthropometric measurements for body mass index (BMI) and waist-hip ratio and other lifestyle factors. Diagnoses of CD and UC were confirmed through medical records or ascertained using validated definitions. We used Cox proportional hazards modeling to calculate pooled multivariable-adjusted HRs (aHRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: Among 601,009 participants (age range, 18-98 years) with 10,110,018 person-years of follow-up, we confirmed 563 incident cases of CD and 1047 incident cases of UC. Obesity (baseline BMI ≥30 kg/m2) was associated with an increased risk of CD (pooled aHR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.05-1.71, I2 = 0%) compared with normal BMI (18.5 to <25 kg/m2). Each 5 kg/m2 increment in baseline BMI was associated with a 16% increase in risk of CD (pooled aHR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.05-1.22; I2 = 0%). Similarly, with each 5 kg/m2 increment in early adulthood BMI (age, 18-20 years), there was a 22% increase in risk of CD (pooled aHR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.05-1.40; I2 = 13.6%). An increase in waist-hip ratio was associated with an increased risk of CD that did not reach statistical significance (pooled aHR across quartiles, 1.08; 95% CI, 0.97-1.19; I2 = 0%). No associations were observed between measures of obesity and risk of UC. Conclusions: In an adult population, obesity as measured by BMI was associated with an increased risk of older-onset CD but not UC

Whole-Genome Analysis of Two-Component Signal Transduction Genes in Fungal Pathogens

Two-component phosphorelay systems are minimally comprised of a histidine kinase (HK) component, which autophosphorylates in response to an environmental stimulus, and a response regulator (RR) component, which transmits the signal, resulting in an output such as activation of transcription, or of a mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade. The genomes of the yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, and Candida albicans encode one, three, and three HKs, respectively. In contrast, the genome sequences of the filamentous ascomycetes Neurospora crassa, Cochliobolus heterostrophus (Bipolaris maydis), Gibberella moniliformis (Fusarium verticillioides), and Botryotinia fuckeliana (Botrytis cinerea) encode an extensive family of two-component signaling proteins. The putative HKs fall into 11 classes. Most of these classes are represented in each filamentous ascomycete species examined. A few of these classes are significantly more prevalent in the fungal pathogens than in the saprobe N. crassa, suggesting that these groups contain paralogs required for virulence. Despite the larger numbers of HKs in filamentous ascomycetes than in yeasts, all of the ascomycetes contain virtually the same downstream histidine phosphotransfer proteins and RR proteins, suggesting extensive cross talk or redundancy among HKs