Previously, a study conducted by UNICEF found that malnutrition affects approximately 80% of the indigenous children in Guatemala.
Identify prevalence and risk factors for stunted growth in ...communities surrounding Lake Atitlán, Guatemala.
Height-for-age measurements of children under the age of five, N = 84, determined stunting prevalence and presumed burden of malnutrition in this region of the Guatemalan highlands. Mothers of a subset of this sample, N = 29, were interviewed to assess factors contributing to stunting. Analysis assessed the following risk factors: inadequate nutrition, increased infectious disease risk, high rate self-report illness, inadequate breastfeeding, and inadequate utilization of prenatal care.
The majority of children under the age of five were stunted (65.6%) and likely malnourished. ANOVA analysis showed significant differences in mean height-for-age Z scores (HAZs) between groups with and without adequate nutrition (F = 7.069, p = 0.013), as well has with and without high rates of self-report illness (F = 6.894, p = 0.014). Both groups with inadequate nutrition (mean HAZs = -2.9, 95% CI = -3.58, -2.24) and high rates of self-report illness (mean HAZs = -2.8, 95% CI = -3.13, -2.38) had mean HAZs that are indicative of stunting. No other risk factors were associated with stunting.
These pilot study results offer methods by which to obtain baseline data for assessing nutritional and public health interventions to improve stunting and malnutrition status as well as the health outcomes of children in rural, indigenous communities.
Many songbirds are under increasing pressure owing to habitat loss, land-use changes, and rapidly changing climatic conditions. Using citizen science data collected from 1980 to 2014, we asked how ...local weather and regional climate influenced the breeding dynamics of Mountain Bluebirds (Sialia currucoides (Bechstein, 1798)) and Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor (Vieillot, 1808)). Mountain Bluebird reproduction was strongly associated with local weather: number of nestlings and fledglings both decreased in years of high rainfall. Clutch size and number of fledglings also declined over the study period. Abundance of Mountain Bluebirds was higher in years of lower early-season snowfall and warmer local temperatures, as well as more negative Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) values, indicating a positive influence of El Niño conditions. Tree Swallow reproduction (clutch size, number of nestlings, and number of fledglings) was negatively associated with SOI values, and the number of Tree Swallow nestlings decreased in years of higher rainfall and warmer temperatures. Tree Swallows also showed a marked decline in abundance over the period of the study, consistent with recent range-wide declines. Together, our results demonstrate that local weather and regional climate differentially affect the reproductive dynamics of Mountain Bluebirds and Tree Swallows and highlight the importance of long-term citizen science data sets.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
•Simultaneous IRT and video capture is a suitable replacement for invasive telemetry devices.•A plastic arena cover permits IRT and video recording and controls ambient air temperature.•Continuous ...IRT and video capture provides very useful data of high resolution and accuracy.
Many behavioral and physiological studies of laboratory mice employ invasive methods such as radio telemetry to measure key aspects of behavior and physiology. Radio telemetry requires surgical implants, which may impact mouse health and behavior, and thus reduce the reliability of the data collected.
We developed a method to measure key aspects of thermoregulatory behavior without compromising animal welfare. We examined the thermoregulatory response to heat stress in a custom-built arena that permitted the use of simultaneous and continuous infrared thermography (IRT) and video capture. This allowed us to measure changes in surface body temperature and determine total distance traveled using EthoVision XT animal tracking software.
Locomotor activity and surface body temperature differed between heat-stressed mice and mice kept within their thermal comfort zone. The former had an increase in surface body temperature and a decline in locomotor activity, whereas the latter had a stable surface body temperature and showed greater activity levels.
Surface body temperature and locomotor activity are conventionally quantified by measurements taken at regular intervals, which limit the use and accuracy of the data. We obtained data of high resolution (i.e., recorded continuously) and accuracy that allowed for the examination of key physiological measurements such as energy expenditure and peripheral vasomotor tone.
This novel experimental method for studying thermoregulatory behavior in mice using non-invasive tools has advantages over radio-telemetry and represents an improvement in laboratory animal welfare.
Feminist research is informed by a history of breaking silences, of demanding that women's voices be heard, recorded and included in wider intellectual genealogies and histories. This has led to an ...emphasis on voice and speaking out in the research endeavour. Moments of secrecy and silence are less often addressed. This gives rise to a number of questions. What are the silences, secrets, omissions and and political consequences of such moments? What particular dilemmas and constraints do they represent or entail? What are their implications for research praxis? Are such moments always indicative of voicelessness or powerlessness? Or may they also constitute a productive moment in the research encounter? Contributors to this volume were invited to reflect on these questions. The resulting chapters are a fascinating collection of insights into the research process, making an important contribution to theoretical and empirical debates about epistemology, subjectivity and identity in research. Researchers often face difficult dilemmas about who to represent and how, what to omit and what to include. This book explores such questions in an important and timely collection of essays from international scholars.
Atmospheric correction of high spatial resolution (10–30 m pixel sizes) satellite imagery for use in large-area land-cover monitoring is difficult due to the lack of aerosol optical depth (AOD) ...estimates made coincident with image acquisition. We present a methodology to determine the upper and lower bounds of AOD estimates that allow the subsequent calculation of a biophysical variable of interest to a pre-determined precision. Knowledge of that range can be used to identify an appropriate method for estimating AOD. We applied the methodology to Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper data in Queensland (QLD) and New South Wales (NSW), Australia, and determined that AOD must be estimated within approximately 0.05 of actual AOD for retrieval of foliage projective cover (FPC) to a precision of 10%. That knowledge was then used to determine the relative merit of using a fixed constant, Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) climatology, or dense dark vegetation (DDV) method for estimating AOD in QLD and NSW. It was found that using a fixed AOD of 0.05 allows estimates of FPC within 10% of their true value when the true value of AOD is less than 0.1. Such AOD values account for approximately 90% of all inland observations and 65% of coastal observations as determined by analysis of data obtained from AERONET. Using an AERONET climatology to estimate AOD was found to increase the likelihood of accurate FPC retrieval in coastal locations to 83%, although it should be noted that AERONET data are very sparse. DDV has potential in eastern and central areas for retrieving AOD observations with greater precision than fixed values or climatologies. However, more work is needed to understand the temporal variation of vegetation reflectance before the DDV method can be used operationally.
State Government agencies in northern and eastern Australia and the University of Queensland, Brisbane, have been collaborating through the Joint Remote Sensing Research Program (JRSRP). This has ...resulted in a significant acceleration in the development and successful operational application of remote sensing methods for the JRSRP members and the various state and national programs and policies which they support. The JRSRP provides an open and collaborative mechanism and governance structure to successfully bring together a unique combination of expertise in image processing, field data collection, and data integration approaches to deliver accurate, repeatable and robust methods for mapping and monitoring Australia’s unique ecosystems. Remote sensing provides spatially- and temporally-comprehensive information about land cover features at a range of scales and often for minimal cost compared to traditional mapping and monitoring approaches. This makes remote sensing a very useful operational mapping and monitoring tool for land managers, particularly in the vast rangelands of Australia. This paper outlines recent developments in remote sensing and modelling products that are being used operationally by JRSRP members to address large area landcover understanding.
Grazing is a major land use in Australia's rangelands. The 'safe' livestock carrying capacity (LCC) required to maintain resource condition is strongly dependent on climate. We reviewed: the ...approaches for quantifying LCC; current trends in climate and their effect on components of the grazing system; implications of the 'best estimates' of climate change projections for LCC; the agreement and disagreement between the current trends and projections; and the adequacy of current models of forage production in simulating the impact of climate change. We report the results of a sensitivity study of climate change impacts on forage production across the rangelands, and we discuss the more general issues facing grazing enterprises associated with climate change, such as 'known uncertainties' and adaptation responses (e.g. use of climate risk assessment). We found that the method of quantifying LCC from a combination of estimates (simulations) of long-term (>30 years) forage production and successful grazier experience has been well tested across northern Australian rangelands with different climatic regions. This methodology provides a sound base for the assessment of climate change impacts, even though there are many identified gaps in knowledge. The evaluation of current trends indicated substantial differences in the trends of annual rainfall (and simulated forage production) across Australian rangelands with general increases in most of western Australian rangelands (including northern regions of the Northern Territory) and decreases in eastern Australian rangelands and south-western Western Australia. Some of the projected changes in rainfall and temperature appear small compared with year-to-year variability. Nevertheless, the impacts on rangeland production systems are expected to be important in terms of required managerial and enterprise adaptations. Some important aspects of climate systems science remain unresolved, and we suggest that a risk-averse approach to rangeland management, based on the 'best estimate' projections, in combination with appropriate responses to short-term (1-5 years) climate variability, would reduce the risk of resource degradation. Climate change projections - including changes in rainfall, temperature, carbon dioxide and other climatic variables - if realised, are likely to affect forage and animal production, and ecosystem functioning. The major known uncertainties in quantifying climate change impacts are: (i) carbon dioxide effects on forage production, quality, nutrient cycling and competition between life forms (e.g. grass, shrubs and trees); and (ii) the future role of woody plants including effects of fire, climatic extremes and management for carbon storage. In a simple example of simulating climate change impacts on forage production, we found that increased temperature (3°C) was likely to result in a decrease in forage production for most rangeland locations (e.g. -21% calculated as an unweighted average across 90 locations). The increase in temperature exacerbated or reduced the effects of a 10% decrease/increase in rainfall respectively (-33% or -9%). Estimates of the beneficial effects of increased CO₂ (from 350 to 650ppm) on forage production and water use efficiency indicated enhanced forage production (+26%). The increase was approximately equivalent to the decline in forage production associated with a 3°C temperature increase. The large magnitude of these opposing effects emphasised the importance of the uncertainties in quantifying the impacts of these components of climate change. We anticipate decreases in LCC given that the 'best estimate' of climate change across the rangelands is for a decline (or little change) in rainfall and an increase in temperature. As a consequence, we suggest that public policy have regard for: the implications for livestock enterprises, regional communities, potential resource damage, animal welfare and human distress. However, the capability to quantify these warnings is yet to be developed and this important task remains as a challenge for rangeland and climate systems science.
STUDY DESIGN.A case-control study.
OBJECTIVE.To determine whether parity and abdominal surgeries are associated with degenerative spondylolisthesis (DS).
SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA.DS is considered ...to be a major cause of low back pain (LBP) in the older population, with greater prevalence of DS among women. Because LBP and impaired abdominal muscle function are common during pregnancy and post-partum, parity-related abdominal muscle deficiency, resulting in poor spinal mechanics, could be a factor in the development of DS in women. Indeed a relationship between the number of pregnancies and DS was reported in one study.
METHODS.A total of 322 women between the ages of 40 and 80 (149 with DS and 173 controls) filled out a questionnaire providing information about their demographics, the number of full-term pregnancies, the number and types of abdominal surgeries (including cesarean section and hysterectomies), and age at menopause among other items. A binary logistic regression was used as a multivariate model to identify the variables associated with DS.
RESULTS.Along with age and body mass index as covariates, the number of full-term pregnancies and the hysterectomy were significant predictors of DS. Other abdominal surgeries, cesarean section, or the number of years postmenopause were not significant predictors of DS in this regression model after adjusting for all other significant variables.
CONCLUSION.Each full-term pregnancy seems to be associated with the 22% increase in odds of developing DS. Hysterectomy nearly doubles the odds of DS as compared to women who did not have hysterectomy.Level of Evidence4
To compare morphologic diagnoses determined from needle biopsy specimens obtained from the livers of dogs and cats with morphologic diagnoses determined from wedge biopsy specimens.
Prospective ...study.
124 dogs and cats.
2 needle biopsy specimens were obtained from each animal; wedge biopsy specimens were obtained from the same liver lobe during laparotomy or postmortem examination. Histologic features were scored independently by 3 individuals; a morphologic diagnosis was rendered after histologic features were scored. Cases were included only if at least 2 of the 3 examiners agreed on the morphologic diagnosis; the definitive diagnosis was considered to be the morphologic diagnosis rendered for the wedge biopsy specimen. Physical characteristics (length, width, surface area, degree of fragmentation, and number of portal triads for needle biopsy specimens and surface area for wedge biopsy specimens) were determined.
Definitive diagnoses included hepatic necrosis (n = 10), cholangitis-cholangiohepatitis (13), chronic hepatitis-cirrhosis (12), canine vacuolar hepatopathy (11), portosystemic vascular anomaly-microvascular dysplasia (17), neoplasia (10), miscellaneous hepatic disorders (18), and no hepatic disease (33). For individual examiners, the morphologic diagnosis assigned to needle biopsy specimens agreed with the morphologic diagnosis assigned to wedge biopsy specimens for 56 and 67% of the specimens. All 3 examiners agreed on the morphologic diagnosis assigned to needle and wedge biopsy specimens for 44 and 65% of the specimens, respectively. Morphologic diagnoses assigned to needle biopsy specimens concurred with the definitive diagnosis for 59 of 124 (48%) animals.
Results suggest that needle biopsy specimens of the liver from dogs and cats must be interpreted with caution.
The use of dense dark vegetation (DDV) for atmospheric aerosol correction of Landsat imagery is investigated for Australian conditions. Aerosol optical depth (AOD) measurements from sun photometers ...are used as a reference data set and compared against estimates of AOD derived from Landsat imagery using the DDV method. The DDV method makes assumptions that the vegetation is sufficiently dark and the ratio between bottom-of-atmosphere reflectances at different wavelengths is constant. These assumptions were tested using Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper (TM) imagery corrected with AOD measured by field-based sun photometers on the AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) network. The assumptions were found to be correct only for one of the three locations studied. In other locations, the spatial and temporal variability of the vegetation and its relative brightness makes the method unsuitable.
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