Monitored background radiometer

The infrared (IR) testing of the Olympus thermal model has provided a capability to perform cost effective thermal balance testing of satellites and satellite components. A high-accuracy monitored background radiometer was developed for the measurement of absorbed radiation heat flux encountered during IR thermal vacuum testing of spacecraft. The design, development, and calibration of this radiometer is described

Why is child malnutrition lower in urban than rural areas?

"While ample evidence documents that urban children generally have better nutritional status than their rural counterparts, recent research suggests that urban malnutrition is on the rise. The environment, choices, and opportunities of urbanites differ greatly from those of rural dwellers' from employment conditions to social and family networks to access to health care and other services. Given these differences, understanding the relative importance of the various determinants of child malnutrition in urban and rural areas and especially whether they differ is key to designing context-relevant, effective program and policy responses for stemming malnutrition. This study uses Demographic and Health Survey data from 36 developing countries to address the question of whether the socioeconomic determinants of child nutritional status differ across urban and rural areas. The purpose is to answer the broader question of why child malnutrition rates are lower in urban areas. The socioeconomic determinants examined are women's education, women's status, access to safe water and sanitation, and household economic status. The analysis finds little evidence of differences in the nature of the socioeconomic determinants or in the strength of their associations with child nutritional status across urban and rural areas. As expected, however, it documents marked differences in the levels of these determinants in favor of urban areas. Large gaps in favor of urban areas are also found in the levels of key proximate determinants of child nutritional status, especially maternal prenatal and birthing care, quality of complementary feeding, and immunization of children. The conclusion is that better nutritional status of urban children is probably due to the cumulative effect of a series of more favorable socioeconomic conditions, which, in turn, seems to lead to better caring practices for children and their mothers. Given that the nature of the determinants of child nutritional status is largely the same across urban and rural areas, the same program and policy framework can be used to stem malnutrition in both. Efforts to alleviate the most critical socioeconomic constraints specific to the different environments should continue to be prioritized." Authors' Abstractmalnutrition ,Demographic and Health Survey ,

Why is child malnutrition lower in urban than rural areas?

"While ample evidence documents that urban children generally have better nutritional status than their rural counterparts, recent research suggests that urban malnutrition is on the rise. The environment, choices, and opportunities of urbanites differ greatly from those of rural dwellers' from employment conditions to social and family networks to access to health care and other services. Given these differences, understanding the relative importance of the various determinants of child malnutrition in urban and rural areas and especially whether they differ is key to designing context-relevant, effective program and policy responses for stemming malnutrition. This study uses Demographic and Health Survey data from 36 developing countries to address the question of whether the socioeconomic determinants of child nutritional status differ across urban and rural areas. The purpose is to answer the broader question of why child malnutrition rates are lower in urban areas. The socioeconomic determinants examined are women's education, women's status, access to safe water and sanitation, and household economic status. The analysis finds little evidence of differences in the nature of the socioeconomic determinants or in the strength of their associations with child nutritional status across urban and rural areas. As expected, however, it documents marked differences in the levels of these determinants in favor of urban areas. Large gaps in favor of urban areas are also found in the levels of key proximate determinants of child nutritional status, especially maternal prenatal and birthing care, quality of complementary feeding, and immunization of children. The conclusion is that better nutritional status of urban children is probably due to the cumulative effect of a series of more favorable socioeconomic conditions, which, in turn, seems to lead to better caring practices for children and their mothers. Given that the nature of the determinants of child nutritional status is largely the same across urban and rural areas, the same program and policy framework can be used to stem malnutrition in both. Efforts to alleviate the most critical socioeconomic constraints specific to the different environments should continue to be prioritized." Authors' Abstractmalnutrition ,Demographic and Health Survey ,

Morphological indicators of growth response of coniferous advance regeneration to overstorey removal in the boreal forest

Regeneration of forest stands through the preservation of existing advance regeneration has gained considerable interest in various regions of North America. The effectiveness of this approach relies on the capacity of regeneration to respond positively to overstory removal. Responses of advance regeneration to release is dependent on tree characteristics and site conditions interacting with the degree of physiological shock caused by the sudden change in environmental conditions. This paper presents a review of the literature describing the relationships between morphological indicators and the advance regeneration response to canopy removal. It focuses primarily on the following species: jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.), lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. var. latifolia Engelm.), black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.), interior spruce (Picea glauca x engelmannii), white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss), balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.), and subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt). Pre-release height growth has been found to be a good indicator of post-release response for many species. Live-crown ratio also appears to be a good indicator of vigour for shade-tolerant species. The ratio of leader length to length of the longest lateral at the last whorl could serve to describe the degree of suppression before harvest for shade-tolerant species. Number of nodal and internodal branches or buds has been found to be related with vigour for many species. Logging damage has been shown to be an important determinant of seedling response to overstory removal. In contrast, height/diameter ratio has limited value for predicting response to release since it varies with site, species and other factors. No clear relationship between age, height at release and response to release could be demonstrated. This paper also suggests the use of combined indicators and critical threshold values for these indicators

Functional ecology of advance regeneration in relation to light in boreal forests

This paper reviews aspects of the functional ecology of naturally established tree seedlings in the boreal forests of North America with an emphasis on the relationship between light availability and the growth and survival of shade tolerant conifers up to pole size. Shade tolerant conifer species such as firs and spruces tend to have a lower specific leaf mass, photosynthetic rate at saturation, live crown ratio, STAR (shoot silhouette area to total needle surface area ratio), and root to shoot ratio than the shade intolerant pines. The inability of intolerant species such as the pines and aspen to survive in shade appears to be mainly the result of characteristics at the shoot, crown, and whole-tree levels and not at the leaf level. Although firs and spruces frequently coexist in shaded understories, they do not have identical growth patterns and crown architectures. We propose a simple framework based on the maximum height that different tree species can sustain in shade, which may help managers determine the timing of partial or complete harvests. Consideration of these functional aspects of regeneration is important to the understanding of boreal forest dynamics and can be useful to forest managers seeking to develop or assess novel silvicultural systems

Double-Duty Actions: Seizing Program and Policy Opportunities to Address Malnutrition in all its Forms

Actions to address different forms of malnutrition are typically managed by separate communities, policies, programmes, governance structures, and funding streams. In contrast, double duty actions, which aim to simultaneously tackle both undernutrition and problems of overweight, obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (DR-NCDs) have been proposed as a way to effectively address malnutrition in all its forms in a more holsitic way. This paper identifies ten double duty actions that have strong potential to reduce the risk of both undernutrition and obesity/DR-NCDs. It does so by : 1) summarizing evidence on common drivers of different forms of malnutrition; 2) documenting examples of unintended harm caused by some undernutrition-focused programmes on obesity/DR-NCDs; and 3) highlighting a few examples of first double duty actions undertaken to tackle multiple forms of malnutrition. We find that undernutrition and obesity/DR-NCDs are intrinsically linked through early life nutrition; dietary quality; food environments; and socioeconomic factors. There is some evidence that undernutrition-focused programs have raised risks of poor quality diets and obesity/DR-NCDs, especially in countries undergoing a rapid nutrition transition. The paper builds on this evidence to develop a framework to guide the design of double duty approaches and strategies, and defines the first steps needed to deliver them. With a clear package of double duty actions now identified, there is an urgent need to move forward with double duty actions to address malnutrition in all its forms

Reflexivity in Qualitative Research: A Journey of Learning

Conducting research, more so, fieldwork, changes every researcher in many ways. This paper shares the various reflexivities – the journeys of learning – that we underwent as field researchers. Here, we share the changes brought about to ourselves, as a result of the research process, and how these changes have affected the research process. It highlights the journey of discovering how we, as researchers, shaped and how we were shaped by the research process and outputs. All these efforts were done in our attempts to discover and understand various social phenomena and issues such as poverty, development, gender, migration, and ill health in the Philippines. This article includes the challenges encountered in our epistemological stance/s and personal and methodological concerns shown in our reflexivity notes/insights. Indeed, it is when researchers acknowledge these changes, that reflexivity in research constitutes part of the research findings. It is through this consciousness of the relational and reflective nature of being aware of personal and methodological concerns that we honor ourselves, our teammates/co-researchers and all others involved with the research project. As researchers, we need to be cognizant of our contributions to the construction of meanings and of lived experiences throughout the research process. We need to acknowledge that indeed it is impossible to remain “outside of” one\u27s study topic while conducting research

Double Duty Actions to Tackle All Forms of Malnutrition (P10-053-19).

Objectives: Background: Most countries are now experiencing a double burden of malnutrition (DBM), characterized by the coexistence of nutritional deficiencies (underweight, wasting, stunting, micronutrient deficiencies) and overweight/obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (obesity/DR-NCDs). Actions to address the two sides of the DBM are typically managed by separate communities, policies, programs, governance structures, and funding streams. Double duty actions, defined as actions that simultaneously address nutritional deficiencies and obesity/DR-NCDs, have been proposed as a win-win solution to tackling malnutrition in all its forms. The objective of the work was to explore opportunities-and make recommendations-for double duty actions to be delivered by programs and policies in key sectors such as health, social protection, education, and agriculture. Methods: We reviewed evidence on the known shared drivers of undernutrition and obesity/DR-NCDs; searched the literature to identify examples of undernutrition-focused programs (in the four sectors selected) that have inadvertently caused harm by increasing risks of obesity/DR-NCDs; and looked for additional information on measures that programs may have adopted to correct these problems following recognition of harm. Results: Undernutrition and obesity/DR-NCDs are intrinsically linked through four shared drivers: early life nutrition; dietary quality; food environments; and socioeconomic factors. Failure to adopt double duty actions in the past has caused harm. Examples from Latin America and Egypt show that some social cash/food transfer programs aimed at reducing poverty and undernutrition have led to deteriorations in diet quality (e.g., excess intakes of energy- fat- and sugar-dense and micronutrient-poor foods) and rises in obesity/DR-NCD risks. Realizing the harm, some of these programs pilot-tested successful corrective measures, thereby providing useful examples of early double duty actions. Conclusions: Leveraging the shared drivers of undernutrition and obesity/DR-NCDs through programs and policies delivered by the health, social protection, education, or agriculture sectors is possible and offers considerable opportunities for double duty actions and impacts on all forms of malnutrition. Funding Sources: CGIAR A4NH program led by IFPRI

Hypercube matrix computation task

A major objective of the Hypercube Matrix Computation effort at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is to investigate the applicability of a parallel computing architecture to the solution of large-scale electromagnetic scattering problems. Three scattering analysis codes are being implemented and assessed on a JPL/California Institute of Technology (Caltech) Mark 3 Hypercube. The codes, which utilize different underlying algorithms, give a means of evaluating the general applicability of this parallel architecture. The three analysis codes being implemented are a frequency domain method of moments code, a time domain finite difference code, and a frequency domain finite elements code. These analysis capabilities are being integrated into an electromagnetics interactive analysis workstation which can serve as a design tool for the construction of antennas and other radiating or scattering structures. The first two years of work on the Hypercube Matrix Computation effort is summarized. It includes both new developments and results as well as work previously reported in the Hypercube Matrix Computation Task: Final Report for 1986 to 1987 (JPL Publication 87-18)