Distal occurrence of mid-Holocene Whakatane Tephra on the Chatham Islands, New Zealand, and potential for cryptotephra studies

The Whakatane Tephra, a rhyolitic tephra erupted ca. 5500 cal. BP from Okataina Volcanic Centre, central North Island, has been identified on the Chatham Islands which lie ˜900 km east of Christchurch, New Zealand. The visible tephra layer, ˜5 mm in thickness and preserved within peat on Pitt Island, was identified using both radiocarbon dating and analysis of glass shards by electron microprobe. Whakatane Tephra is the first Holocene tephra to be identified on the Chatham Islands, and it is the most distal Holocene tephra yet recorded in the New Zealand region, being ˜850 km from source. The Pitt Island occurrence extends the tephra's dispersal area markedly, by an order of magnitude, possibly to ˜300,000 km2. An estimated dispersal index (D) of approximately 105 km2 indicates that the eruption generated a very high plinian column, possibly exceeding ˜30 km in height, with strong winds blowing the ash plume southeastwards. This new discovery of distal Whakatane Tephra as a thin but visible layer strongly implies that cryptotephras are likely to be preserved on the Chatham Islands and within adjacent ocean floor sediments. Therefore the potential exists to develop enhanced cryptotephrostratigraphic records from these distal areas, which in turn would help facilitate precise correlation via tephrochronology of palaeoenvironmental records (such as NZ-INTIMATE) from mainland New Zealand, the southwest Pacific Ocean, and the Chatham Islands

Which outcome expectancies are important in determining young adults intentions to use condoms with casual sexual partners?: A cross-sectional study

Background: The prevalence of unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection amongst young adults represents an important public health problem in the UK. Individuals attitude towards the use of condoms has been identified as an important determinant of behavioural intentions and action. The Theory of Planned Behaviour has been widely used to explain and predict health behaviour. This posits that the degree to which an individual positively or negatively values a behaviour (termed direct attitude) is based upon consideration of the likelihood of a number of outcomes occurring (outcome expectancy) weighted by the perceived desirability of those outcomes (outcome evaluation). Outcome expectancy and outcome evaluation when multiplied form indirect attitude. The study aimed to assess whether positive outcome expectancies of unprotected sex were more important for young adults with lower safe sex intentions, than those with safer sex intentions, and to isolate optimal outcomes for targeting through health promotion campaigns. Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was used. Data was collected from 1051 school and university students aged 16-24 years. Measures of intention, direct attitude and indirect attitude were taken. Participants were asked to select outcome expectancies which were most important in determining whether they would use condoms with casual sexual partners. Results: People with lower safe sex intentions were more likely than those with safer sex intentions to select all positive outcome expectancies for unprotected sex as salient, and less likely to select all negative outcome expectancies as salient. Outcome expectancies for which the greatest proportion of participants in the less safe sex group held an unfavourable position were: showing that I am a caring person, making sexual experiences less enjoyable, and protecting against pregnancy. Conclusions: The findings point to ways in which the attitudes of those with less safe sex intentions could be altered in order to motivate positive behavioural change. They suggest that it would be advantageous to highlight the potential for condom use to demonstrate a caring attitude, to challenge the potential for protected sex to reduce sexual pleasure, and to target young adults risk appraisals for pregnancy as a consequence of unprotected sex with casual sexual partners

Publications of the Space Physiology and Countermeasures Program, Cardiopulmonary Discipline: 1980-1990

A 10-year cumulative bibliography of publications resulting from research supported by the Cardiopulmonary Discipline of the Space Physiology and Countermeasures Program of NASA's Life Sciences Division is provided. Primary subjects included in this bibliography are Fluid Shifts, Cardiovascular Fitness, Cardiovascular Physiology, and Pulmonary Physiology. General physiology references are also included. Principal investigators whose research tasks resulted in publication are identified. Publications are identified by a record number corresponding with their entry in the Life Sciences Bibliographic Database, maintained at the George Washington University

Student staff partnership to create an interdisciplinary science skills course in a research intensive university

This paper reflects upon the development of a multidisciplinary lesson plan aimed at developing science skills for Physics and Astronomy, Geographical and Earth Sciences, and Chemistry students at a research intensive Scottish university. The lesson plan was co-developed with a small group of staff and undergraduate students from these disciplinary areas. The authors discuss the rationale and process for developing the course, drawing upon literature relating to students and staff co-creating curricula in higher education. The authors conclude by offering suggestions for the academic development community about ways in which this kind of collaboration can be supported at local and institutional levels

Publications of the space physiology and countermeasures program, regulatory physiology discipline: 1980 - 1990

A 10-year cumulative bibliography of publications resulting from research supported by the Regulatory Physiology discipline of the Space Physiology and Countermeasures Program of NASA's Life Sciences Division is provided. Primary subjects included in this bibliography are circadian rhythms, endocrinology, fluid and electrolyte regulation, hematology, immunology, metabolism and nutrition, temperature regulation, and general regulatory physiology. General physiology references are also included. Principal investigators whose research tasks resulted in publication are identified by asterisk. Publications are identified by a record number corresponding with their entry in the Life Sciences Bibliographic Database, maintained at the George Washington University

Publications of the space physiology and countermeasures program, Musculoskeletal Discipline: 1980-1990

A 10-year cumulative bibliography of publications resulting from research supported by the musculoskeletal discipline of the space physiology and countermeasures program of NASA's Life Sciences Division is provided. Primary subjects are bone, mineral, and connective tissue, and muscle. General physiology references are also included. Principal investigators whose research tasks resulted in publication are identified by asterisk. Publications are identified by a record number corresponding with their entry in the life sciences bibliographic database, maintained by the George Washington University

Trading pollution for water quality : assessing the effects of market-based instruments in three basins

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2007.Includes bibliographical references (p. 83-90).Since its passage in 1972, the majority of pollution reduction under the federal Clean Water Act has resulted from technology-based limits imposed on point source dischargers. However, most U.S. water bodies are unmonitored and of those that are, between 40 and 50 percent remain impaired. Given this limited progress, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, multiple state agencies, and non-governmental organizations have proposed water quality trading as a cost-effective means to achieve pollution reductions from point and nonpoint sources. To determine whether these programs actually achieve cost-effective pollution reduction in practice that they promise in theory, I evaluate direct and indirect outcomes associated with three water quality trading cases: the Grassland Area Farmers Tradable Loads Program in California's San Joaquin Valley; the Tar-Pamlico River Basin Nutrient Offset Program in North Carolina; and the Long Island Sound Nitrogen Credit Exchange in Connecticut. Although reallocating reduction efforts through trades to achieve cost-effective solutions is supposedly the major benefit of market-based instruments, only dischargers in the Long Island Sound Nitrogen Credit Exchange actively traded.(cont.) The Grassland Area Farmers abandoned trading in favor of a more affordable and heavily subsidized management strategy, and members of the Tar-Pamlico Basin Association removed pollution onsite because reductions were less costly than expected and uncertainty over Offset Program parameters impeded planning around trades. Dischargers in the two cases also hesitated to trade because political transaction costs that trading imposed on relationships among entities did not outweigh perceived savings. Connecticut mitigated these costs and uncertainty by administering the Nitrogen Credit Exchange. The major contributions of market-based instruments across cases were facilitating dischargers' willingness to accept more stringent regulations and increasing the institutional capacity for watershed management by encouraging formation of organizations along hydrologic boundaries and information collection and dissemination. These benefits are attributable to the decentralized governance structure in general rather than economic incentives specifically, suggesting that policymakers should consider other decentralized approaches to watershed management.(cont.) If policymakers want dischargers to actively trade, they should design parameters that mitigate uncertainty, market distortions, and political transaction costs. Even if trades never occur, however, indirect outcomes associated with market-based instruments are significant given the ongoing challenges to water quality improvement under the Clean Water Act.by Katherine Hay Wallace.M.C.P

Measuring inequity: a systematic review of methods used to quantify structural racism

Abstract Objective: To summarize the ways in which researchers have quantified measures of structural racism for the purposes of empirical, quantitative investigation of its associations with physical and mental health outcomes. Methods: Systematic review of literature published January 1, 2007-June 30, 2017. We searched PubMed and EMBASE databases for studies including at least one of the following search terms in the title or abstract: “structural racism”, “systemic racism”, “institutional racism”, “institutionalized racism”. Excluded studies were not original research, not US based, did not quantify an explicitly named indicator of structural racism, or were qualitative designs. Data from full text articles were abstracted and synthesized. Results: Twenty articles met the final inclusion criteria. Articles included measures of structural racism within the following domains: residential neighborhood/housing, perceived racism in social institutions, immigration and border enforcement, political participation, socioeconomic status, criminal justice, and workplace environment. Conclusions: A burgeoning body of work suggest ways to operationalize and measure structural racism in US society for the purposes of exploring its impacts on individual and population health inequities