Quality of life in elderly with dizziness

Dizziness is frequent in elderly people. AIMS: To evaluate the Quality of Life (QoL) in elderly subjects with dizziness, relate it with gender and age. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A prospective study comprising 120 elderly patients with dizziness evaluated with Brazilian versions of the Whoqol-bref and the dizziness handicap inventory (DHI). The factor analysis (FA), the Mann Whitney and Kruskal Wallis tests, and the Spearman correlation were applied to study the results. RESULTS: The most compromised domains were the DHI physical domain and the Whoqol-bref physical and environment domains. FA resulted in 3 factors in the DHI and 5 factors in the Whoqol-bref. There was a moderate correlation (-0.596) in the total scores of both instruments. Males had a better QoL in the environment perception and introspectivity and health perception factors of the Whoqol-bref test. Females had a better QoL in the functionality perception factor of the Whoqol-bref test. There were no significant age differences. CONCLUSIONS: Elderly patients with dizziness have a worse QoL. Elderly females with dizziness have worse QoL scores in environment perception and introspectivity and health perception and better QoL in the functionality perception factor compared to elderly males.Tontura é muito frequente em idosos. OBJETIVOS: Avaliar a qualidade de vida (QV) em idosos vestibulopatas e relacioná-la com o gênero e a faixa etária. MATERIAL E MÉTODO: Estudo prospectivo que incluiu série de 120 casos de idosos com tontura que foram avaliados por meio das versões brasileiras dos questionários Whoqol-bref e Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI). Os resultados obtidos foram submetidos à Análise Fatorial (AF) e aos testes de Mann Whitney, Kruskal Wallis e correlação de Spearman. RESULTADOS: O domínio físico avaliado pelo DHI, e o físico e o ambiental do Whoqol-bref foram os mais comprometidos. A AF resultou em 3 fatores no DHI e 5 no Whoqol-bref: Houve moderada correlação (-0,596) entre o escore total de ambos os instrumentos. Os homens apresentaram melhor QV nos fatores percepção ambiental e introspectividade e percepção da saúde do Whoqol-bref. As idosas obtiveram melhor QV no fator percepção da funcionalidade do Whoqol-bref. Não houve diferenças significantes entre os fatores dos dois instrumentos por faixa etária. CONCLUSÕES: Idosos vestibulopatas apresentam QV prejudicada. As idosas vestibulopatas apresentam pior QV em relação aos fatores percepção ambiental e introspectividade e percepção da saúde e melhor QV em relação ao fator percepção da funcionalidade que os homens.UNIFESP-EPMUNIBAN Programa de Mestrado em Reabilitação do Equilíbrio Corporal e Inclusão SocialUNIFESP-EPM Departamento de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia de Cabeça e PescoçoUNIFESP, EPM, Depto. de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia de Cabeça e PescoçoSciEL

Climate Change and Critical Agrarian Studies

Climate change is perhaps the greatest threat to humanity today and plays out as a cruel engine of myriad forms of injustice, violence and destruction. The effects of climate change from human-made emissions of greenhouse gases are devastating and accelerating; yet are uncertain and uneven both in terms of geography and socio-economic impacts. Emerging from the dynamics of capitalism since the industrial revolution — as well as industrialisation under state-led socialism — the consequences of climate change are especially profound for the countryside and its inhabitants. The book interrogates the narratives and strategies that frame climate change and examines the institutionalised responses in agrarian settings, highlighting what exclusions and inclusions result. It explores how different people — in relation to class and other co-constituted axes of social difference such as gender, race, ethnicity, age and occupation — are affected by climate change, as well as the climate adaptation and mitigation responses being implemented in rural areas. The book in turn explores how climate change – and the responses to it - affect processes of social differentiation, trajectories of accumulation and in turn agrarian politics. Finally, the book examines what strategies are required to confront climate change, and the underlying political-economic dynamics that cause it, reflecting on what this means for agrarian struggles across the world. The 26 chapters in this volume explore how the relationship between capitalism and climate change plays out in the rural world and, in particular, the way agrarian struggles connect with the huge challenge of climate change. Through a huge variety of case studies alongside more conceptual chapters, the book makes the often-missing connection between climate change and critical agrarian studies. The book argues that making the connection between climate and agrarian justice is crucial

Policies, Political-Economy, and Swidden in Southeast Asia

For centuries swidden was an important farming practice found across the girth of Southeast Asia. Today, however, these systems are changing and sometimes disappearing at a pace never before experienced. In order to explain the demise or transitioning of swidden we need to understand the rapid and massive changes that have and are occurring in the political and economic environment in which these farmers operate. Swidden farming has always been characterized by change, but since the onset of modern independent nation states, governments and markets in Southeast Asia have transformed the terms of swiddeners’ everyday lives to a degree that is significantly different from that ever experienced before. In this paper we identified six factors that have contributed to the demise or transformation of swidden systems, and support these arguments with examples from China (Xishuangbanna), Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. These trends include classifying swiddeners as ethnic minorities within nation-states, dividing the landscape into forest and permanent agriculture, expansion of forest departments and the rise of conservation, resettlement, privatization and commoditization of land and land-based production, and expansion of market infrastructure and the promotion of industrial agriculture. In addition we note a growing trend toward a transition from rural to urban livelihoods and expanding urban-labor markets

Human Rights in the Context of Environmental Conservation on the US-Mexico Border

At Cabeza Priesta National Wildlife Refuge, a wilderness area on the US-Mexico border in Arizona, conflicting policies permit the provision of supplementary water for wildlife but not for undocumented immigrants passing through the area. Federal refuge environmental policy prioritizes active management of endangered and threatened species. Vast systems of water resources have been developed to support wildlife conservation in this extremely hot and dry environment. At the same time, humanitarian groups are not allowed to supply water to undocumented border crossers in the park. Human border-crossers must utilize non-potable wildlife water guzzlers for survival and face risk of illness or death by dehydration. This article analyzes human rights via an ethnographic lens. From this perspective, water policy at the wildlife refuge brings into question the value of human life in a border conservation context, especially for those entering the site illegally

The MIntAct project—IntAct as a common curation platform for 11 molecular interaction databases

IntAct (freely available at http://www.ebi.ac.uk/intact) is an open-source, open data molecular interaction database populated by data either curated from the literature or from direct data depositions. IntAct has developed a sophisticated web-based curation tool, capable of supporting both IMEx- and MIMIx-level curation. This tool is now utilized by multiple additional curation teams, all of whom annotate data directly into the IntAct database. Members of the IntAct team supply appropriate levels of training, perform quality control on entries and take responsibility for long-term data maintenance. Recently, the MINT and IntAct databases decided to merge their separate efforts to make optimal use of limited developer resources and maximize the curation output. All data manually curated by the MINT curators have been moved into the IntAct database at EMBL-EBI and are merged with the existing IntAct dataset. Both IntAct and MINT are active contributors to the IMEx consortium (http://www.imexconsortium.org

Networking in the Commons: A Tragedy for Rattan?

Page range: 95-10