The Expansion of Renewable Energy Technologies and Their Impact on Household Energy Portfolios and Sustainable Development: A Study Of Nepal

Encouraging households to switch from traditional fuels to cleaner, modern fuels (e.g.; electricity, liquid petroleum gas (LPG), biogas) is a widespread policy focus due to its expected benefits for health and the environment. As one of the Sustainable Development Goals, it is recognized that access to these energy sources is necessary to achieve economic development. This dissertation studies the expansion of renewable energy technologies in Nepal to draw conclusions about how increased access both influences household fuel portfolios and impacts economic and environmental outcomes. Chapter One examines household fuel behavior and factors influencing fuel adoption and use. Despite recent, widespread adoption of modern fuels, the dependence on traditional fuels such as wood remains high. This suggests that in the case of Nepal, increasing access to modern fuels may not have all of the household and environmental benefits expected from reduced reliance on traditional fuels. Chapter Two employs quasi-experimental techniques to measure the effects of biogas adoption on household labor allocation and local forest cover. Biogas leads to significant increases in time devoted to education, as well as other region- and sex-specific impacts. We do not detect robust impacts on local forest cover overall, but do find evidence of positive impacts when biogas is paired with forest protection policies. Chapter Three uses two instrumental variables to causally identify the impacts of grid and off-grid electricity expansion to previously underserved areas, comparing their impacts on household labor allocation. We find that households electrified by the grid shift their labor in different ways and in larger magnitudes than households electrified by off-grid, micro-hydro plants. Overall, results suggest that increased access to modern energy can improve socioeconomic and environmental outcomes, particularly in combination with complementary opportunities or policies.PHDPublic Policy & EconomicsUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137092/1/hopet_1.pd

Assessing Effective Interventions in Pregnant and Postpartum American Indian and Alaska Native Women

Through the creation of the Indian Health Service in 1955, the health status of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) has improved; however, AI/AN women of reproductive age still have some of the poorest health outcomes of all populations. This study aimed to examine effective interventions that seek to improve the health of AI/AN women during pregnancy, and immediately postpartum (up to 12 months post delivery). This study addressed the research question: What effect does parental competence have on early parenting and/or infant/toddler outcomes? The life course conceptual framework was used to demonstrate how life experiences impact current health. The methodology followed the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses statement. A literature review from 1993-2015 using derivatives for race and pregnancy was conducted. Inclusion and eligibility were determined using a priori criteria and application of the population, intervention, comparator, outcome, and study design(s) approach. Study quality was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool and an expert review panel. A meta-analysis was conducted to determine the impact of parental competence through parenting knowledge and self-efficacy. The findings of this study suggest that evidence based interventions focused on: reducing multiple risky maternal health behaviors, through education and treatment options (creating positive social change at the individual, family, and societal levels); increasing access to prenatal care early in pregnancy, through community based participatory research (creating change at the societal level); and supporting parental competence, through training (creating change at the organizational level), will promote positive birth outcomes in AI/AN women

The impact of food and nutrition on health and chronic disease: from birth to death

This panel will discuss the importance of nutrition during each life stage, beginning with birth and moving up through aging

Lysosomal trafficking functions of mucolipin-1 in murine macrophages

BACKGROUND:Mucolipidosis Type IV is currently characterized as a lysosomal storage disorder with defects that include corneal clouding, achlorhydria and psychomotor retardation. MCOLN1, the gene responsible for this disease, encodes the protein mucolipin-1 that belongs to the "Transient Receptor Potential" family of proteins and has been shown to function as a non-selective cation channel whose activity is modulated by pH. Two cell biological defects that have been described in MLIV fibroblasts are a hyperacidification of lysosomes and a delay in the exit of lipids from lysosomes.RESULTS:We show that mucolipin-1 localizes to lysosomal compartments in RAW264.7 mouse macrophages that show subcompartmental accumulations of endocytosed molecules. Using stable RNAi clones, we show that mucolipin-1 is required for the exit of lipids from these compartments, for the transport of endocytosed molecules to terminal lysosomes, and for the transport of the Major Histocompatibility Complex II to the plasma membrane.CONCLUSION:Mucolipin-1 functions in the efficient exit of molecules, destined for various cellular organelles, from lysosomal compartments.This item is part of the UA Faculty Publications collection. For more information this item or other items in the UA Campus Repository, contact the University of Arizona Libraries at [email protected]

Hydration practices in residential and nursing care homes for older people

Aim: To scope and explore hydration practices in care homes. Background: Older residents do not regularly consume adequate fluids to support health. Achieving this is difficult with residents who have coexisting health, sensory and functional problems, as well as challenging hydration habits. Design: This project used a sequential exploratory mixed method design to scope and explore existing hydration practices. Methods: Data were collected via two stages. First was a survey of hydration practices. Twenty-nine responses were received from 81 care homes (response rate: 35.8%). Second was the exploration of practitioners' experiences and perceptions of hydration practice via semi-structured interviews (54 staff: 43 interviews). Descriptive statistics summarised the survey findings. Open coding and thematic analysis were applied to the qualitative data, and details of the methods are reported in adherence to COREQ criteria. Results: It is important to provide hydration support in addition to regularly offering drinks to residents. Hydration practices include the following: use of social interaction to encourage drinking; verbal and nonverbal prompts to drink; giving fluids with routine practices and social activities; providing drinks-related activity, use of aids and equipment to support drinking; and creating a drink-friendly environment. Practices are implemented in care homes; however, no one care home implements all these hydration strategies at any one time. Conclusions: Older care home residents need support and encouragement to drink adequate fluids which can be difficult to achieve with residents who have complex needs and challenging drinking habits. In addition to the routine offer of drinks, hydration support should be used to facilitate residents to drink sufficient amounts of fluid. Relevance to clinical practice: Staff working in care homes have an important role in assessing the hydration needs of residents and using multiple hydration practices to support residents to achieve their hydration requirements

Tracking Lysosome Migration within Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) Cells Following Exposure to Nanosecond Pulsed Electric Fields

Above a threshold electric field strength, 600 ns-duration pulsed electric field (nsPEF) exposure substantially porates and permeabilizes cellular plasma membranes in aqueous solution to many small ions. Repetitive exposures increase permeabilization to calcium ions (Ca2+) in a dosage-dependent manner. Such exposure conditions can create relatively long-lived pores that reseal after passive lateral diffusion of lipids should have closed the pores. One explanation for eventual pore resealing is active membrane repair, and an ubiquitous repair mechanism in mammalian cells is lysosome exocytosis. A previous study shows that intracellular lysosome movement halts upon a 16.2 kV/cm, 600-ns PEF exposure of a single train of 20 pulses at 5 Hz. In that study, lysosome stagnation qualitatively correlates with the presence of Ca2+ in the extracellular solution and with microtubule collapse. The present study tests the hypothesis that limitation of nsPEF-induced Ca2+ influx and colloid osmotic cell swelling permits unabated lysosome translocation in exposed cells. The results indicate that the efforts used herein to preclude Ca2+ influx and colloid osmotic swelling following nsPEF exposure did not prevent attenuation of lysosome translocation. Intracellular lysosome movement is inhibited by nsPEF exposure(s) in the presence of PEG 300-containing solution or by 20 pulses of nsPEF in the presence of extracellular calcium. The only cases with no significant decreases in lysosome movement are the sham and exposure to a single nsPEF in Ca2+-free solution

Network Analysis Reveals Distinct Clinical Syndromes Underlying Acute Mountain Sickness

Acute mountain sickness (AMS) is a common problem among visitors at high altitude, and may progress to life-threatening pulmonary and cerebral oedema in a minority of cases. International consensus defines AMS as a constellation of subjective, non-specific symptoms. Specifically, headache, sleep disturbance, fatigue and dizziness are given equal diagnostic weighting. Different pathophysiological mechanisms are now thought to underlie headache and sleep disturbance during acute exposure to high altitude. Hence, these symptoms may not belong together as a single syndrome. Using a novel visual analogue scale (VAS), we sought to undertake a systematic exploration of the symptomatology of AMS using an unbiased, data-driven approach originally designed for analysis of gene expression. Symptom scores were collected from 292 subjects during 1110 subject-days at altitudes between 3650 m and 5200 m on Apex expeditions to Bolivia and Kilimanjaro. Three distinct patterns of symptoms were consistently identified. Although fatigue is a ubiquitous finding, sleep disturbance and headache are each commonly reported without the other. The commonest pattern of symptoms was sleep disturbance and fatigue, with little or no headache. In subjects reporting severe headache, 40% did not report sleep disturbance. Sleep disturbance correlates poorly with other symptoms of AMS (Mean Spearman correlation 0.25). These results challenge the accepted paradigm that AMS is a single disease process and describe at least two distinct syndromes following acute ascent to high altitude. This approach to analysing symptom patterns has potential utility in other clinical syndromes