A Qualitative Study of a Stepfather’s Perceptions of Their Role in a Successful Second Marriage in a Blended Family

This phenomenological study aimed to comprehensively understand the unique perspective of remarried men as stepfathers within the context of second marriages in blended families. The research delved into the lived experiences of these individuals to shed light on their roles, challenges, and contributions to the dynamic of blended households. By applying Bowen’s family systems theory (FST) to the constructs relevant to blended families, this study offers a resource to the professional counseling community and support for blended families facing various issues. Data collection involved semi-structured interviews focused on the stepfather’s role and responsibilities within the blended family structure. The narratives were meticulously analyzed to uncover significant themes that emerged from the participants’ experiences. First, being a supportive husband emerged as a factor in fostering harmonious family dynamics. Second, the process of building and nurturing relationships with stepchildren was identified as an area of significance for stepfathers. Third, the stepfathers emphasized the significance of being consistently available for their stepchildren and wives. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of the complexities surrounding remarried men as stepfathers in blended families. The insights gained from this study may enhance professional counseling interventions to foster healthier and more resilient blended family dynamics

Indigenous uses of wild and tended plant biodiversity maintain ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes of the Terai Plains of Nepal

BACKGROUND: Despite a rapidly accumulating evidence base quantifying ecosystem services, the role of biodiversity in the maintenance of ecosystem services in shared human-nature environments is still understudied, as is how indigenous and agriculturally dependent communities perceive, use, and manage biodiversity. The present study aims to document traditional ethnobotanical knowledge of the ecosystem service benefits derived from wild and tended plants in rice-cultivated agroecosystems, compare this to botanical surveys, and analyze the extent to which ecosystem services contribute social-ecological resilience in the Terai Plains of Nepal. METHOD: Sampling was carried out in four landscapes, 22 Village District Committees, and 40 wards in the monsoon season. Data collection was based on transects walks to collect plant specimens, structured and semi-structured interviews, and participatory fieldwork in and around home gardens, farms, and production landscapes. We asked 180 farmers to free-list vernacular names and describe use-value of wild and tended plants in rice-cultivated agroecosystems. Uses were categorized into eight broad groupings, and 61 biomedical ailment classifications. We assessed if knowledge of plant species diversity and abundance differed with regard to caste, age, and gender. RESULTS: Nepalese farmers have a deep knowledge of the use and management of the 391 vascular plant specimens identified, which provide key provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural ecosystem services. Altogether, plants belong to 76 distinct plant species from 49 phylogenetic families: 56 are used to cure 61 ailments, 27 for rituals, 25 for food, 20 for timber, 17 for fuel, 17 for fodder, 11 for soil enhancement, and eight for pesticides. Four caste groups have statistically different knowledge, and younger informants report a lower average number of useful plants. CONCLUSION: Agricultural landscapes in Nepal are reservoirs of biodiversity. The knowledge of the use of wild and tended plant species in and around these farms differs by the caste and age group of land manager. Conducting research on agroecosystems will contribute to a deeper understanding of how nature is perceived by locals, to more efficient management and conservation of the breadbasket of Nepal, and to the conservation of valuable, but disappearing traditional knowledge and practice

Factors Affecting Quality of Life for Children with Asthma

BACKGROUND: In the U.S., asthma is the most common chronic illness in children under 18 years. An exploration of asthma admission rates in emergency departments indicated this was also the case for Southeast Georgia. Despite the availability of effective asthma treatments and interventions, asthma continues to severely impact children’s health-related QOL. PURPOSE: This exploratory study sought to assess quality of life (QOL) issues facing children with asthma and their caregivers. Specifically, this study aimed to 1) Determine the baseline QOL in children with asthma and their parents/caregivers, & 2) Determine what factors affect QOL for children with asthma and their caregivers. METHODS: This exploratory study employed a mixed-model design. Participants were recruited for a convenience sample from a large children’s hospital outpatient clinic in Southeast Georgia. Participants included children aged 7-17 with a diagnosis of asthma or reactive airway disease (N=104) and their parents/caregivers (N=104). Child participants completed the Paediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (PAQLQ), a reliable and validated QOL questionnaire for childhood asthma focusing on the domains of activity limitations, emotional function, and an exploration of symptoms. Caregiver participants completed a demographics questionnaire and the Paediatric Asthma Caregiver’s Quality of Life Questionnaire (PACQLQ), a reliable and validated QOL questionnaire for caregivers of children with childhood asthma focusing on two domains, activity limitations and emotional function. Items in both the PAQLQ and PACQLQ questionnaires are rated on a 7-point scale, with higher scores indicating less impairment and lower scores indicating greater impairment to the domain under consideration. RESULTS & CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: In addressing the first aim of this study, the results revealed that the baseline QOL for children with asthma and their caregivers was relatively high. In addressing the second aim of this study, the results of both the PAQLQ and the PACQLQ revealed that the most significant factor that affects the QOL of children with asthma is ED visits. The more ED visits reported, the greater the impairment to emotional function and physical activity. While the findings of this study demonstrate a positive baseline QOL, it is important to further investigate the specific impact of ED visits on QOL of children with asthma and their caregivers. An important clinical implication is that education on controlling asthma symptoms to prevent ED visits for both children and their caregivers may be of value to improve their QOL

Assessing the umbrella value of a range-wide conservation network for Jaguars (Panthera onca)

Umbrella species are employed as conservation short-cuts for the design of reserves or reserve networks. However, empirical data on the effectiveness of umbrellas is equivocal, which has prevented more widespread application of this conservation strategy. We perform a novel, large-scale evaluation of umbrella species by assessing the potential umbrella value of a jaguar (Panthera onca) conservation network (consisting of viable populations and corridors) that extends from Mexico to Argentina. Using species richness, habitat quality, and fragmentation indices of similar to 1500 co-occurring mammal species, we show that jaguar populations and corridors overlap a substantial amount and percentage of high-quality habitat for co-occurring mammals and that the jaguar network performs better than random networks in protecting high-quality, interior habitat. Significantly, the effectiveness of the jaguar network as an umbrella would not have been noticeable had we focused on species richness as our sole metric of umbrella utility. Substantial inter-order variability existed, indicating the need for complementary conservation strategies for certain groups of mammals. We offer several reasons for the positive result we document, including the large spatial scale of our analysis and our focus on multiple metrics of umbrella effectiveness. Taken together, our results demonstrate that a regional, single-species conservation strategy can serve as an effective umbrella for the larger community and should help conserve viable populations and connectivity for a suite of co-occurring mammals. Current and future range-wide planning exercises for other large predators may therefore have important umbrella benefits

Evaluating the Current State of Findability and Accessibility of Microplastics Data

Tia Jenkins1, Bhaleka D. Persaud1, Win Cowger2, Kathy Szigeti3, Dominique G. Roche4,5, Erin Clary6, Stephanie Slowinski1, Benjamin Lei1, Amila Abeynayaka7, Ebenezer S. Nyadjro8,9, Thomas Maes10, Leah Thornton Hampton11, Melanie Bergmann12, Julian Aherne13, Sherri A. Mason14, John F. Honek15, Fereidoun Rezanezhad1, Amy L. Lusher16, Andy M. Booth17, Rodney D. L. Smith15 and Philippe Van Cappellen1. Affiliations: 1 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada 2 Moore Institute for Plastic Pollution Research, Long Beach, CA, United States 3 Davis Centre Library, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada 4 Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada 5 Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland 6 Digital Research Alliance of Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada 7 Institute for Global Environment Strategies (IGES), Kanagawa, Japan 8 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Stennis Space Center, Starkville, MS, United States 9 Northern Gulf Institute, Mississippi State University, Stennis Space Center, Starkville, MS, United States 10 GRID-Arendal, Arendal, Norway 11 Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP), Costa Mesa, CA, United States 12 Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany 13 School of Environment, Trent University, Peterborough, ON, Canada 14 The Behrend College, Pennsylvania State University, Erie, PA, United States 15 Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada 16 Norwegian Institute for Water Research, Oslo, Norway 17 SINTEF Ocean, Trondheim, NorwayThe rapid growth in microplastic pollution research is influencing funding priorities, environmental policy, and public perceptions of risks to water quality and environmental and human health. Ensuring that environmental microplastics research data are findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) is essential to inform policy and mitigation strategies. We present a bibliographic analysis of data sharing practices in the environmental microplastics research community, highlighting the state of openness of microplastics data. A stratified (by year) random subset of 785 of 6,608 microplastics articles indexed in Web of Science indicates that, since 2006, less than a third (28.5%) contained a data sharing statement. These statements further show that most often, the data were provided in the articles’ supplementary material (38.8%) and only 13.8% via a data repository. Of the 279 microplastics datasets found in online data repositories, 20.4% presented only metadata with access to the data requiring additional approval. Although increasing, the rate of microplastic data sharing still lags behind that of publication of peer-reviewed articles on environmental microplastics. About a quarter of the repository data originated from North America (12.8%) and Europe (13.4%). Marine and estuarine environments are the most frequently sampled systems (26.2%); sediments (18.8%) and water (15.3%) are the predominant media. Of the available datasets accessible, 15.4% and 18.2% do not have adequate metadata to determine the sampling location and media type, respectively. We discuss five recommendations to strengthen data sharing practices in the environmental microplastic research community. Read more at https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2022.912107/fullNSERC/ECCC Alliance Grants - Plastics science for a cleaner future program, Grant ALLRP 558435-20 || The Canada First Research Excellence Fund Global Water Futures Programme || The McPike Zima Charitable || The PoF IV program “Changing Earth - Sustaining our Future” Topic 6.4 of the German Helmholtz Association || The Research Council of Norway projects REVEAL, Grant 301157 || ANDROMEDA, Grant 312262 || MicroLEACH, Grant 295174 || The Early-Career Research Fellowship from the Gulf Research Program of the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Grant 2000012639 || European Union’s Horizon 2020 Coordination and Support Action programme, Grant 101003805 (EUROqCHARM) || The Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Marie Skłodowska-Curie, Grant 838237-OPTIMISE

The significance of repetitive hair-pulling behaviors in eating disorders

We studied the relation between intrusive and repetitive hair-pulling, the defining feature of trichotillomania, and compulsive and impulsive features in 1453 individuals with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. We conducted a series of regression models examining the relative influence of compulsive features associated with obsessive compulsive disorder; compulsive features associated with eating disorders; trait features related to harm avoidance, perfectionism and novelty seeking; and self harm. A final model with a reduced sample (n=928) examined the additional contribution of impulsive attributes. One out of 20 individuals endorsed hair-pulling. Evidence of a positive association with endorsement of compulsive behavior of the obsessive compulsive spectrum emerged. Hair-pulling may be more consonant with ritualistic compulsions than impulsive urges in those with eating disorders

Life beyond the eating disorder: Education, relationships, and reproduction

We investigated sociodemographic characteristics in women with and without lifetime eating disorders

Plunge Show Card

Haggerty Gallery Inaugural Opening. Show Card for Plunge.https://digitalcommons.udallas.edu/plunge/1000/thumbnail.jp

Evaluating the Effects of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Mutation D614G on Transmissibility and Pathogenicity.

Global dispersal and increasing frequency of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein variant D614G are suggestive of a selective advantage but may also be due to a random founder effect. We investigate the hypothesis for positive selection of spike D614G in the United Kingdom using more than 25,000 whole genome SARS-CoV-2 sequences. Despite the availability of a large dataset, well represented by both spike 614 variants, not all approaches showed a conclusive signal of positive selection. Population genetic analysis indicates that 614G increases in frequency relative to 614D in a manner consistent with a selective advantage. We do not find any indication that patients infected with the spike 614G variant have higher COVID-19 mortality or clinical severity, but 614G is associated with higher viral load and younger age of patients. Significant differences in growth and size of 614G phylogenetic clusters indicate a need for continued study of this variant