Toward Understanding Person–Place Transactions in Neighborhoods: A Qualitative-Participatory Geospatial Approach

Background and Objectives Emerging research regarding aging in neighborhoods emphasizes the importance of this context for well-being; however, in-depth information about the nature of person–place relationships is lacking. The interwoven and complex nature of person and place points to methods that can examine these relationships in situ and explore meanings attached to places. Participatory geospatial methods can capture situated details about place that are not verbalized during interviews or otherwise discerned, and qualitative methods can explore interpretations, both helping to generate deep understandings of the relationships between person and place. This article describes a combined qualitative-geospatial approach for studying of older adults in neighborhoods and investigates the qualitative-geospatial approach developed, including its utility and feasibility in exploring person–place transactions in neighborhoods. Research Design and Methods We developed and implemented a qualitative-geospatial approach to explore how neighborhood and person transact to shape sense of social connectedness in older adults. Methods included narrative interviews, go-along interviews, and global positioning system tracking with activity/travel diary completion followed by map-based interviews. We used a variety of data analysis methods with attention to fully utilizing diverse forms of data and integrating data during analysis. We reflected on and examined the utility and feasibility of the approach through a variety of methods. Results Findings indicate the unique understandings that each method contributes, the strengths of the overall approach, and the feasibility of implementing the approach. Discussion and Implications The developed approach has strong potential to generate knowledge about person–place transactions that can inform practice, planning, policy, and research to promote older adults’ well-being

Nonconstant electronic density of states tunneling inversion for A15 superconductors: Nb3Sn

We re-examine the tunneling data on A15 superconductors by performing a generalized McMillan-Rowell tunneling inversion that incorporates a nonconstant electronic density of states obtained from band-structure calculations. For Nb3Sn, we find that the fit to the experimental data can be slightly improved by taking into account the sharp structure in the density of states, but it is likely that such an analysis alone is not enough to completely explain the superconducting tunneling characteristics of this material. Nevertheless, the extracted Eliashberg function displays a number of features expected to be present for the highest quality Nb3Sn samples.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figure

Legitimizing intimate partner violence: the role of romantic love and the mediating effect of patriarchal ideologies

Romantic love in heterosexual relationships is recognized as an important aspect to be considered in relation to the psychosocial mechanisms associated with the persistence of intimate partner violence and the help-seeking barriers faced by female victims. However, few studies have explored the processes underlying the relationship between this form of love and attitudes toward this kind of violence. To do this, the current study aims to analyze the relationship between the adherence to romantic love and the legitimization of intimate partner violence (i.e., perceived severity of violence, victim blame, and exoneration of the perpetrator). It was also to test the mediating effect of patriarchal ideologies (i.e., ambivalent sexism and domestic violence myths) on this relationship. Two hundred thirty-five French adults (51.1% women) were surveyed. The data were analyzed with structural equation models to study the mediations between the variables considered. Consistent with our hypotheses, the results showed that the more the participants adhered to romantic love, the more they blamed the victim and exonerated the perpetrator. They also showed a positive link between romantic love, ambivalent sexism, and domestic violence myths. Finally, the results demonstrated that the relationship between romantic love and the legitimization of violence is mediatized by ambivalent sexism and domestic violence myths. The findings illustrate the need to deconstruct romantic love ideology and the psychosocial logics underlying the legitimization of intimate partner violence.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

“I h 8 u”: Findings from a five-year study of text and e-mail bullying

Copyright @ 2010 British Educational Research Association. The final version of this article is available at the link below.This study charts reports of nasty or threatening text and e-mail messages received by students in academic years 7 and 8 (11-13 years of age) attending 13 secondary schools in the North of England between 2002-2006. Annual surveys were undertaken on behalf of the local education authority (LEA) to monitor bullying. Results indicated that, over five years, the number of pupils receiving one or more nasty or threatening text messages or e-mails increased significantly, particularly among girls. However, receipt of frequent nasty or threatening text and e-mail messages remained relatively stable. For boys, being a victim of direct-physical bullying was associated with receiving nasty or threatening text and e-mail messages; for girls it was being unpopular among peers. Boys received more hate-related messages and girls were primarily the victims of name-calling, Findings are discussed with respect to theoretical and policy developments, and recommendations for future research are offered

The bubble snails (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia) of Mozambique: an overlooked biodiversity hotspot

This first account, dedicated to the shallow water marine heterobranch gastropods of Mozambique is presented with a focus on the clades Acteonoidea and Cephalaspidea. Specimens were obtained as a result of sporadic sampling and two dedicated field campaigns between the years of 2012 and 2015, conducted along the northern and southern coasts of Mozambique. Specimens were collected by hand in the intertidal and subtidal reefs by snorkelling or SCUBA diving down to a depth of 33 m. Thirty-two species were found, of which 22 are new records to Mozambique and five are new for the Western Indian Ocean. This account raises the total number of shallow water Acteonoidea and Cephalaspidea known in Mozambique to 39 species, which represents approximately 50 % of the Indian Ocean diversity and 83 % of the diversity of these molluscs found in the Red Sea. A gap in sampling was identified in the central swamp/mangrove bio-region of Mozambique, and therefore, we suggest that future research efforts concentrate on or at least consider this region.publishedVersio

GH peak response to GHRH-arginine: relationship to insulin resistance and other cardiovascular risk factors in a population of adults aged 50–90

OBJECTIVE: To assess the GH response to GHRH-arginine in apparently healthy adults in relation to cardiovascular risk factors. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. PATIENTS: Eighty-six male and female volunteers aged 50–90. MEASUREMENTS: GH peak response to GHRH-arginine and cardiovascular risk factors, including obesity, insulin resistance, low levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, elevated triglycerides, and hypertension. The primary outcome measurement was GH response to GHRH-arginine. The relationship between GH peak responses and cardiovascular risk factors was determined after data collection. RESULTS: GH peaks were highly variable, ranging from 2·3 to 185 µg/l (14% with GH peaks < 9 µg/l). An increasing number of cardiovascular risk factors were associated with a lower mean GH peak (P < 0·0001). By univariate analysis, fasting glucose, insulin, body mass index (BMI), HDL cholesterol and triglycerides were significantly associated with GH peak (all P < 0·0001). Multiple regression analysis revealed that fasting glucose, fasting insulin, BMI, triglycerides and sex accounted for 54% of GH peak variability. The role of abdominal fat as it relates to GH peak was explored in a subset of 45 subjects. Trunk fat and abdominal subregion fat measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) were inversely related to GH peak (P < 0·008 and 0·001, respectively). Analysis of this subgroup by multiple regression revealed that subregion abdominal fat became the significant obesity-related determinant of GH peak, but still lagged behind fasting insulin and glucose. CONCLUSIONS: GH response to secretagogues was highly variable in apparently healthy adults aged 50–90 years. Peak GH was significantly related to fasting glucose, insulin, BMI, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, trunk fat and abdominal subregion fat, with fasting glucose ranking first by multiple regression analysis. There was a strong relationship between cardiovascular risk factors and low GH, with individual risk factors being additive. Although these data do not differentiate between low GH being a cause or an effect of these cardiovascular risk factors, they indicate that the relationship between low GH and increased cardiovascular risk may be physiologically important in the absence of pituitary disease

A qualitative study of the experiences and expectations of women receiving in-patient postnatal care in one English maternity unit

Background Studies consistently highlight in-patient postnatal care as the area of maternity care women are least satisfied with. As part of a quality improvement study to promote a continuum of care from the birthing room to discharge home from hospital, we explored women’s expectations and experiences of current inpatient care. Methods For this part of the study, qualitative data from semi-structured interviews were transcribed and analysed using content analyses to identify issues and concepts. Women were recruited from two postnatal wards in one large maternity unit in the South of England, with around 6,000 births a year. Results Twenty women, who had a vaginal or caesarean birth, were interviewed on the postnatal ward. Identified themes included; the impact of the ward environment; the impact of the attitude of staff; quality and level of support for breastfeeding; unmet information needs; and women’s low expectations of hospital based postnatal care. Findings informed revision to the content and planning of in-patient postnatal care, results of which will be reported elsewhere. Conclusions Women’s responses highlighted several areas where changes could be implemented. Staff should be aware that how they inter-act with women could make a difference to care as a positive or negative experience. The lack of support and inconsistent advice on breastfeeding highlights that units need to consider how individual staff communicate information to women. Units need to address how and when information on practical aspects of infant care is provided if women and their partners are to feel confident on the woman’s transfer home from hospital

Weak Localization Effect in Superconductors by Radiation Damage

Large reductions of the superconducting transition temperature $T_{c}$ and the accompanying loss of the thermal electrical resistivity (electron-phonon interaction) due to radiation damage have been observed for several A15 compounds, Chevrel phase and Ternary superconductors, and $\rm{NbSe_{2}}$ in the high fluence regime. We examine these behaviors based on the recent theory of weak localization effect in superconductors. We find a good fitting to the experimental data. In particular, weak localization correction to the phonon-mediated interaction is derived from the density correlation function. It is shown that weak localization has a strong influence on both the phonon-mediated interaction and the electron-phonon interaction, which leads to the universal correlation of $T_{c}$ and resistance ratio.Comment: 16 pages plus 3 figures, revtex, 76 references, For more information, Plesse see http://www.fen.bilkent.edu.tr/~yjki