HUNTERS IN THE GARDEN: YUP’IK SUBSISTENCE AND THE AGRICULTURAL MYTHS OF EDEN

Yup’ik writers and Yup’ik subsistence offer valuable challenges, parallels, and alternative models to mainstream nature writing’s discourse surrounding human relationships to the land, a discourse that carries an inherent agricultural bias. An introduction to western Alaska’s Nunivak Island provides context for Chapter 1, which demonstrates the fluidity of cultural, geographical, and historical margins through discussion of the works of Yup’ik journalist John Active and historian and ethnographer James Clifford. Chapter 2 provides an overview of Yup’ik subsistence centered around the community of Bethel, Alaska, then subjects mainstream nature writing, represented mostly by Wendell Berry, to critiques supplied by Canadian anthropologist Hugh Brody, who asserts that “Western” discourse carries traces of the myths of Eden and the curses of the book of Genesis. Chapter 3 returns to the geography and stories of Nunivak Island before detailing the contributions that Yup’ik writers like Oscar Kawagley and John Active have to offer back to the prevailing discourse, contributions that stress the importance of sharing and kinship and stress the dangers of commodification

Soziale Herkunft, Bildung und Gesundheit: die Bedeutung intergenerationaler Bildungsmobilität für die soziale Ungleichheit von Gesundheitschancen im Jugendalter

Kuntz B. Soziale Herkunft, Bildung und Gesundheit: die Bedeutung intergenerationaler Bildungsmobilität für die soziale Ungleichheit von Gesundheitschancen im Jugendalter. Bielefeld: Universitätsbibliothek Bielefeld; 2014.This cumulative doctoral thesis deals with the link between social origin, education and health in adolescence. The dissertation consists of five original articles that were published between 2011 and 2013 in national and international public health journals with peer review. Based on the well-known close relationship between social origin and educational prospects, the impli-cations for the healthy development of adolescents were analysed. This issue is not only rele-vant for public health and health policy, but also for research on education and inequality as well as political debate on fair opportunities. The focus is on the admission to secondary edu-cation which has been identified by educational researchers as a crucial step for subsequent educational career and resultant employment and income opportunities. The dissertation is based on the assumption that the transition from primary to secondary education might also be important for the health prospects of adolescents. In order to prove this hypothesis, health status and health behaviour of adolescents with different educational trajectories were exam-ined considering their social origin. Statistical analyses were based on data of the first German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS). The KiGGS baseline study was conducted by the Robert Koch Institute from May 2003 to May 2006 in order to collect comprehensive data about the health situation of children and adoles-cents living in Germany. The results show that adolescents’ own educational status is highly relevant for their healthy development – independent of their social origin. This applies par-ticularly for key aspects of health behaviour. Furthermore, the thesis illustrates the health im-pact of intergenerational social mobility: upward mobility seems to be accompanied with im-provements in health and better health behaviours whereas downward mobility seems to be occasionally associated with detrimental health effects. The findings indicate that intergenera-tional educational transmission and the low level of social mobility play an important role for the production and reproduction of health inequalities over generations. The present synopsis summarises the results of the five original articles and discusses them critically in the light of the current state of health inequality research.Die vorliegende kumulative Dissertation befasst sich mit dem Zusammenhang von sozialer Herkunft, Bildung und Gesundheit im Jugendalter. Die Arbeit basiert auf fünf Originalbeiträ-gen, die im Zeitraum von 2011 bis 2013 in nationalen und internationalen gesundheitswissen-schaftlichen Fachzeitschriften mit Peer-Review-Verfahren veröffentlicht wurden. Ausgehend von dem vielfach belegten engen Zusammenhang zwischen der sozialen Herkunft und den Bildungschancen wird nach den Konsequenzen für die gesundheitliche Entwicklung im Ju-gendalter gefragt. Die Arbeit greift damit ein Thema auf, das nicht nur aus Sicht von Public Health und der Gesundheitspolitik relevant ist, sondern auch Schnittstellen zur Ungleichheits- und Bildungsforschung sowie zu politischen Diskussionen über Chancengerechtigkeit auf-weist. Der Blick richtet sich dabei auf den Zugang zu weiterführenden Schulen, der von Bil-dungsforschern als entscheidende Weichenstellung für den nachfolgenden Bildungsweg und die daraus resultierenden Erwerbs- und Einkommenschancen angesehen wird. Der Dissertati-on liegt die Annahme zugrunde, dass dieser Übergang im Bildungssystem auch für die ge-sundheitliche Entwicklung von großer Bedeutung ist. Um diese Annahme zu prüfen, wird die gesundheitliche Situation von Jugendlichen mit unterschiedlichen Bildungswegen unter Be-rücksichtigung ihrer sozialen Herkunft betrachtet. Die statistischen Analysen beruhen auf Da-ten der Basiserhebung des Kinder- und Jugendgesundheitssurveys (KiGGS), mit der das Ro-bert Koch-Institut (RKI) von Mai 2003 bis Mai 2006 umfassende Informationen zur Gesund-heit der in Deutschland lebenden Kinder und Jugendlichen gesammelt hat. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass dem eigenen Bildungsstatus von Jugendlichen – unabhängig von ihrer sozialen Herkunft – eine herausragende Bedeutung für ihre gesundheitliche Entwicklung zukommt. Dies gilt vor allem für zentrale Aspekte des Gesundheitsverhaltens. Die Arbeit verdeutlicht darüber hinaus die gesundheitliche Relevanz intergenerationaler sozialer Mobilität: Schaffen Jugendliche aus sozial benachteiligten Familien den Sprung auf ein Gymnasium, drückt sich dies in deutlich verbesserten Gesundheitschancen aus. Umgekehrt zeichnen sich bei Jugendli-chen aus sozial besser gestellten Familien, die kein Gymnasium besuchen, in einigen Bereichen negative Auswirkungen auf ihre gesundheitliche Entwicklung ab. Die Befunde sprechen dafür, dass der Mechanismus der Bildungsvererbung und das geringe Ausmaß an sozialer Mobilität bei der Produktion und Reproduktion gesundheitlicher Ungleichheiten über Genera-tionsgrenzen hinweg eine wichtige Rolle spielen. Die vorliegende Synopse fasst die Ergebnis-se der fünf Einzelpublikationen zusammen, unterzieht die zentralen Befunde einer kritischen Diskussion und ordnet sie in den Stand der gesundheitlichen Ungleichheitsforschung ein

“Smoke on the water“ – Wasserpfeifenkonsum bei Jugendlichen in Deutschland (Ergebnisse aus KiGGS Welle 1)

Wasserpfeifen (Shishas) erfreuen sich auch in Deutschland zunehmender Beliebtheit. Während die allgemeine Rauchquote und damit vor allem das Zigarettenrauchen bei Jugendlichen in den letzten 15 Jahren deutlich zurückgegangen ist, hat sich das Shisha-Rauchen als alternative Form des Tabakkonsums etabliert. Wie die Daten der Studie zur Gesundheit von Kindern und Jugendlichen in Deutschland (KiGGS Welle 1, 2009–2012) zeigen, beträgt die Lebenszeitprävalenz des Wasserpfeifenkonsums in der Altersgruppe der 12- bis 17-Jährigen 28,9 Prozent, die 12-Monatsprävalenz liegt bei 20,9 Prozent. Jeder zehnte Jugendliche hat nach eigenen Angaben innerhalb der letzten 30 Tage vor der Befragung Wasserpfeife geraucht. Insgesamt ist der Konsum von Wasserpfeifen bei Jungen etwas stärker verbreitet als bei Mädchen, die Prävalenzen steigen bei beiden Geschlechtern mit zunehmendem Alter an. Jungen mit beidseitigem Migrationshintergrund greifen häu¿ger zur Wasserpfeife als Jungen ohne Migrationshintergrund. Da die Gesundheits- und Suchtgefahren des Shisha-Rauchens von Jugendlichen häu¿g unterschätzt werden, erscheint eine verstärkte Aufklärungsarbeit im Rahmen der Tabakprävention dringend geboten.In Germany, as in other countries, waterpipe (shisha) tobacco smoking has been increasing in popularity. While in the last 15 years overall smoking prevalence, particularly cigarette smoking, has declined among adolescents, waterpipe smoking has become an emerging type of tobacco use. According to the results of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS Wave 1, 2009–2012), lifetime prevalence of waterpipe use among 12- to 17-year-olds was 28.9 per cent. Approx imately one-¿fth (20.6 %) of the adolescents reported waterpipe use in the past 12 months, onetenth (10.0 %) reported current use (at least once during the past 30 days). In both sexes, prevalence increased with age. Waterpipe smoking rates were signi¿cantly higher among boys than girls. Among boys with a two-sided migration background (both parents, or the child and one parent, immigrated to Germany) waterpipe use was more common compared to non-immigrants. Due to waterpipe related health and addiction risks that are often underestimated by adolescents, speci¿c health education and prevention measures are necessary

A Mushroom-shaped Structure from the Impact of a Cloud with the Galactic Disk

We propose that the mushroom-shaped structure of the Galactic worm GW 123.4--1.5 is created by a cloud collision with the Galactic gas disk. A hydrodynamic simulation shows that a mushroom-shaped structure is created after the cloud crosses the Galactic midplane. The lifetime of the mushroom-shaped structure is of order the dynamical time scale of the disk, \sim 10^7 years. We find that the velocities across the cap of the mushroom-shaped structure in the simulation are consistent with the observed values. The simulation also predicts a structure on the opposite side of the Galactic plane which is created by the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability after the cloud passes through the disk.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in A&A, color figures and movies at http://www.astro.uwo.ca/~kudoh/mushroom

A Deep XMM-Newton Survey of M33: Point Source Catalog, Source Detection and Characterization of Overlapping Fields

We have obtained a deep 8-field XMM-Newton mosaic of M33 covering the galaxy out to the D$_{25}$ isophote and beyond to a limiting 0.2--4.5 keV unabsorbed flux of 5$\times$10$^{-16}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ (L${>}$4$\times$10$^{34}$ erg s$^{-1}$ at the distance of M33). These data allow complete coverage of the galaxy with high sensitivity to soft sources such as diffuse hot gas and supernova remnants. Here we describe the methods we used to identify and characterize 1296 point sources in the 8 fields. We compare our resulting source catalog to the literature, note variable sources, construct hardness ratios, classify soft sources, analyze the source density profile, and measure the X-ray luminosity function. As a result of the large effective area of XMM-Newton below 1 keV, the survey contains many new soft X-ray sources. The radial source density profile and X-ray luminosity function for the sources suggests that only $\sim$15% of the 391 bright sources with L${>}$3.6$\times$10$^{35}$ erg s$^{-1}$ are likely to be associated with M33, and more than a third of these are known supernova remnants. The log(N)--log(S) distribution, when corrected for background contamination, is a relatively flat power-law with a differential index of 1.5, which suggests many of the other M33 sources may be high-mass X-ray binaries. Finally, we note the discovery of an interesting new transient X-ray source, which we are unable to classify.Comment: 26 pages, 6 tables, 13 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

Gesundheitliche Ungleichheit im höheren Lebensalter

Soziale Unterschiede in der Gesundheit und Lebenserwartung stellen ein zentrales Thema von Public Health und Gesundheitspolitik dar. Die bisherigen Forschungsergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass auch nach dem Alter von 65 Jahren soziale Unterschiede in der Gesundheit und der ferneren Lebenserwartung bestehen. Die vorliegende Ausgabe der Reihe GBE kompakt widmet sich der Frage, ob in Bezug auf die gesundheitliche Situation von älteren Menschen soziale Unterschiede bestehen und wie stark diese ausgeprägt sind. Dazu wird zunächst der internationale Forschungsstand zur gesundheitlichen Ungleichheit im höheren Lebensalter zusammengefasst, um dann die Ergebnisse der bislang in Deutschland zu dieser Thematik durchgeführten Untersuchungen vorzustellen. In Ergänzung werden neue Befunde der Studie »Gesundheit in Deutschland aktuell« (GEDA) präsentiert

The Origin of the Hot Gas in the Galactic Halo: Confronting Models with XMM-Newton Observations

We compare the predictions of three physical models for the origin of the hot halo gas with the observed halo X-ray emission, derived from 26 high-latitude XMM-Newton observations of the soft X-ray background between l=120\degr and l=240\degr. These observations were chosen from a much larger set of observations as they are expected to be the least contaminated by solar wind charge exchange emission. We characterize the halo emission in the XMM-Newton band with a single-temperature plasma model. We find that the observed halo temperature is fairly constant across the sky (~1.8e6-2.3e6 K), whereas the halo emission measure varies by an order of magnitude (~0.0005-0.006 cm^-6 pc). When we compare our observations with the model predictions, we find that most of the hot gas observed with XMM-Newton does not reside in isolated extraplanar supernova remnants -- this model predicts emission an order of magnitude too faint. A model of a supernova-driven interstellar medium, including the flow of hot gas from the disk into the halo in a galactic fountain, gives good agreement with the observed 0.4-2.0 keV surface brightness. This model overpredicts the halo X-ray temperature by a factor of ~2, but there are a several possible explanations for this discrepancy. We therefore conclude that a major (possibly dominant) contributor to the halo X-ray emission observed with XMM-Newton is a fountain of hot gas driven into the halo by disk supernovae. However, we cannot rule out the possibility that the extended hot halo of accreted material predicted by disk galaxy formation models also contributes to the emission.Comment: 20 pages, 14 figures. New version accepted for publication in ApJ. Changes include new section discussing systematic errors (Section 3.2), improved method for characterizing our model spectra (4.2.2), changes to discussion of other observations (5.1). Note that we can no longer rule out possibility that extended hot halo of accreted material contributes to observed halo emission (see 5.2.1

Chandra ACIS Survey of M33 (ChASeM33): A First Look

We present an overview of the Chandra ACIS Survey of M33 (ChASeM33): A Deep Survey of the Nearest Face-on Spiral Galaxy. The 1.4 Ms survey covers the galaxy out to R \approx 18\arcmin (\approx 4 kpc). These data provide the most intensive, high spatial resolution assessment of the X-ray source populations available for the confused inner regions of M33. Mosaic images of the ChASeM33 observations show several hundred individual X-ray sources as well as soft diffuse emission from the hot interstellar medium. Bright, extended emission surrounds the nucleus and is also seen from the giant \hii regions NGC 604 and IC 131. Fainter extended emission and numerous individual sources appear to trace the inner spiral structure. The initial source catalog, arising from $\sim$~2/3 of the expected survey data, includes 394 sources significant at the $3\sigma$ confidence level or greater, down to a limiting luminosity (absorbed) of $\sim$1.6\ergs{35} (0.35 -- 8.0 keV). The hardness ratios of the sources separate those with soft, thermal spectra such as supernova remnants from those with hard, non-thermal spectra such as X-ray binaries and background active galactic nuclei. Emission extended beyond the Chandra point spread function is evident in 23 of the 394 sources. Cross-correlation of the ChASeM33 sources against previous catalogs of X-ray sources in M33 results in matches for the vast majority of the brighter sources and shows 28 ChASeM33 sources within 10\arcsec of supernova remnants identified by prior optical and radio searches. This brings the total number of such associations to 31 out of 100 known supernova remnants in M33.Comment: accepted for publication ApJS, full resolution images and complete tables available at http://hea-www.harvard.edu/vlp_m33_public