WorldWideScience

Sample records for early ninth millennium

  1. Early Childhood Nutritional Status in CARICOM Countries: An Overview with respect to Five Nutrition Related Millennium Development Goals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pamela S. Gaskin

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Previous reviews of nutritional status in children under 5 years describe the Caribbean grouped with Latin America. This paper focuses specifically on the Caribbean and the goals and targets of the Millennium Declaration that have bearing on childhood development. The results indicate that CARICOM countries have made progress in terms of child health as assessed by gross health indicators. Yet, the millennium generation experiences coexistence of undernutrition and overweight in early childhood. The associations of GNI with markers such as poverty indices are somewhat inconsistent with traditional findings and highlight a need to reassess the causes of infant mortality and low birth weight. However, a lack of systematic local data has hampered progress on an individual country basis. Interventions that deal more pointedly with country specific needs are required including those targeting obesity if the MDGs are to be attained by all member states.

  2. Early childhood nutritional status in CARICOM countries: an overview with respect to five nutrition related millennium development goals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaskin, Pamela S; Nielsen, Anders L; Willie, Douladel; Durant, Tara C

    2014-01-01

    Previous reviews of nutritional status in children under 5 years describe the Caribbean grouped with Latin America. This paper focuses specifically on the Caribbean and the goals and targets of the Millennium Declaration that have bearing on childhood development. The results indicate that CARICOM countries have made progress in terms of child health as assessed by gross health indicators. Yet, the millennium generation experiences coexistence of undernutrition and overweight in early childhood. The associations of GNI with markers such as poverty indices are somewhat inconsistent with traditional findings and highlight a need to reassess the causes of infant mortality and low birth weight. However, a lack of systematic local data has hampered progress on an individual country basis. Interventions that deal more pointedly with country specific needs are required including those targeting obesity if the MDGs are to be attained by all member states.

  3. Literacy for the New Millennium. Volume 1: Early Literacy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guzzetti, Barbara J., Ed.

    2007-01-01

    Living in an age of communication, literacy is an extremely integral part of our society. We are impacted by literature during our infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. "Literacy for the New Millennium" includes information from specialists in the field who discuss the influence of popular culture, media, and technology on…

  4. Impact of a Ninth-Grade Transition Program on Cumulative GPAs and Credits, Ninth-Grade Dropout Rates, and Student Satisfaction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buhrman, B. R.

    2010-01-01

    Concerned educators have been implementing ninth-grade transition programs to help freshmen adjust to the demands in high school and to reduce ninth-grade failure rates. The purpose of this quasi-experimental quantitative study was to investigate the impact of a ninth-grade transition program. The research questions addressed impact on cumulative…

  5. The Aegean in the Early 7th Millennium BC: Maritime Networks and Colonization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horejs, B; Milić, B; Ostmann, F; Thanheiser, U; Weninger, B; Galik, A

    The process of Near Eastern neolithization and its westward expansion from the core zone in the Levant and upper Mesopotamia has been broadly discussed in recent decades, and many models have been developed to describe the spread of early farming in terms of its timing, structure, geography and sociocultural impact. Until now, based on recent intensive investigations in northwestern and western Anatolia, the discussion has mainly centred on the importance of Anatolian inland routes for the westward spread of neolithization. This contribution focuses on the potential impact of east Mediterranean and Aegean maritime networks on the spread of the Neolithic lifestyle to the western edge of the Anatolian subcontinent in the earliest phases of sedentism. Employing the longue durée model and the concept of 'social memory', we will discuss the arrival of new groups via established maritime routes. The existence of maritime networks prior to the spread of farming is already indicated by the high mobility of Epipalaeolithic/Mesolithic groups exploring the Aegean and east Mediterranean seas, and reaching, for example, the Cyclades and Cyprus. Successful navigation by these early mobile groups across the open sea is attested by the distribution of Melian obsidian. The potential existence of an additional Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) obsidian network that operated between Cappadocia/Cilicia and Cyprus further hints at the importance of maritime coastal trade. Since both the coastal and the high seas networks were apparently already well established in this early period, we may further assume appropriate knowledge of geographic routes, navigational technology and other aspects of successful seafaring. This Mesolithic/PPN maritime know-how package appears to have been used by later groups, in the early 7th millennium calBC, exploring the centre of the Anatolian Aegean coast, and in time establishing some of the first permanent settlements in that region. In the present paper, we

  6. Ninth workshop on crystalline silicon solar cell materials and processes: Summary discussion sessions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sopori, B.; Tan, T.; Swanson, D.; Rosenblum, M.; Sinton, R.

    1999-01-01

    This report is a summary of the panel discussions included with the Ninth Workshop on Crystalline Silicon Solar Cell Materials and Processes. The theme for the workshop was ''R and D Challenges and Opportunities in Si Photovoltaics''. This theme was chosen because it appropriately reflects a host of challenges that the growing production of Si photovoltaics will be facing in the new millennium. The anticipated challenges will arise in developing strategies for cost reduction, increased production, higher throughput per manufacturing line, new sources of low-cost Si, and the introduction of new manufacturing processes for cell production. At the same time, technologies based on CdTe and CIS will come on line posing new competition. With these challenges come new opportunities for Si PV to wean itself from the microelectronics industry, to embark on a more aggressive program in thin-film Si solar cells, and to try new approaches to process monitoring

  7. An Assessment of the UN's Millennium Development Goals and its Millennium Declaration

    OpenAIRE

    Tisdell, Clement A.

    2006-01-01

    The United Nations’ Millennium Declaration, passed by the General Assembly in September 2000, is assessed with particular attention being given to the Millennium Development Goals and associated targets outlined in the Declaration. The focus of the article is not so much on the extent to which these goals are being met but on the adequacy of the Declaration itself. The fundamental values outlined in the Declaration are listed and assessed. The Millennium Development Goals are means for the at...

  8. Adapting Music for the Ninth Grade Mixed Chorus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McIntosh, Kathleen

    1980-01-01

    The author discusses how the ninth grader's vocal development, personality development and musical preferences create unique problems in selecting music for ninth grade choirs. Suggestions are made for adapting published choral music. A list of sacred, secular and Christmas music is included. (KC)

  9. Alemtuzumab (Millennium/ILEX).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dumont, F J

    2001-01-01

    Alemtuzumab, a lymphocyte-depleting humanized monoclonal antibody, is being developed by Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc and ILEX Oncology for the potential treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) [274580]. The utility of the compound for treating bone marrow (BM) stem cell transplantation-associated graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) [372946] and for ex vivo purging of BM to remove malignant T-cells [244056] is also being investigated. Additional potential therapeutic areas for which clinical trials are planned or ongoing include vasculitis, multiple sclerosis [288762] and organ transplantation [338304]. A Biologics License Application (BLA) was filed with the FDA in December 1999 by ILEX and Millennium [351523], [351524], [373873]. The FDA accepted the application for filing in February 2000 [355775] and returned a complete response letter in June 2000 [372172]. Millennium and ILEX submitted a response to the FDA in August 2000 [379766]. Alemtuzumab has received Fast Track designation [304771] and orphan drug status from the FDA [288762], and the drug was reviewed by the FDA's Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee on 14 December, 2000 [387228]. The committee voted 14 to 1 to recommend accelerated approval of alemtuzumab for patients with CLL who have been treated with alkylating agents and who have failed fludarabine therapy [393778], [393894]. In March 2000, Millennium and ILEX also submitted a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for alemtuzumab to the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EMEA) [363595]. In October 2000, EMEA accepted the MAA for alemtuzumab under the agency's centralized approval procedure [387228]. Alemtuzumab was originally synthesized by Herman Waldmann and colleagues at Cambridge University and licensed to Burroughs Wellcome (BW) via the British Technology Group (BTG) [162622]. BW conducted phase I and II trials for a broad range of indications, but then discontinued development because of disappointing results

  10. Maternal employment and early childhood overweight: findings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hawkins, S S; Cole, T J; Law, C

    2008-01-01

    In most developed countries, maternal employment has increased rapidly. Changing patterns of family life have been suggested to be contributing to the rising prevalence of childhood obesity. Our primary objective was to examine the relationship between maternal and partner employment and overweight in children aged 3 years. Our secondary objective was to investigate factors related to early childhood overweight only among mothers in employment. Cohort study. A total of 13 113 singleton children aged 3 years in the Millennium Cohort Study, born between 2000 and 2002 in the United Kingdom, who had complete height/weight data and parental employment histories. Parents were interviewed when the child was aged 9 months and 3 years, and the child's height and weight were measured at 3 years. Overweight (including obesity) was defined by the International Obesity Task Force cut-offs. A total of 23% (3085) of children were overweight at 3 years. Any maternal employment after the child's birth was associated with early childhood overweight (odds ratio (OR) [95% confidence interval (CI)]; 1.14 [1.00, 1.29]), after adjustment for potential confounding and mediating factors. Children were more likely to be overweight for every 10 h a mother worked per week (OR [95% CI]; 1.10 [1.04, 1.17]), after adjustment. An interaction with household income revealed that this relationship was only significant for children from households with an annual income of pound33 000 ($57 750) or higher. There was no evidence for an association between early childhood overweight and whether or for how many hours the partner worked, or with mothers' or partners' duration of employment. These relationships were also evident among mothers in employment. Independent risk factors for early childhood overweight were consistent with the published literature. Long hours of maternal employment, rather than lack of money may impede young children's access to healthy foods and physical activity. Policies

  11. The millennium development goals and tobacco control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collishaw, Neil E

    2010-03-01

    The eight Millennium Development Goals were proposed by the UN Secretary-General in 2001. They are goals with measurable targets to be achieved by 2015 or earlier. The Goals were distilled from the 2000 United Nations Millennium Declaration, a sweeping statement of development values, principles, objectives and proposed actions. The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is a demonstrable translation of some of the ideas in the Millennium Declaration into reality. With 165(i) Parties, the FCTC does more than just improve global tobacco control: * The FCTC contributes to achievement of many of the Millennium Development Goals, and benefits from success in implementation of the Goals in other sectors. * The treaty itself is a demonstration of strengthened international and national rule of law, central tenets of the Millennium Declaration. * The FCTC expands international law into the health sector and provides better balance of international law among economic, environmental, social and health sectors. The Millennium Declaration calls for a more equitable distribution of the benefits of globalization, and the FCTC delivers this result. * The FCTC provides a model for addressing other unsolved global problems through greater use of international law. Alcohol control and dietary improvements including greater control of empty calories in manufactured foods are examples of problems that may benefit from greater governance by international law. Were that to come to pass, those new treaties would also improve implementation of the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals.

  12. Supplemental Reading for Ninth Graders: Classic or Young Adult Literature

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hill, Katherine Jane Roney

    2012-01-01

    The project addressed the debate over supplemental literature: young adult or classic selections to better support teaching ninth graders Tennessee's English I curriculum standards. Research supported both classical and contemporary literature for teaching ninth graders, making it difficult to determine which type of literature might produce the…

  13. Millennium Challenge Account

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Tarnoff, Curt

    2008-01-01

    .... foreign aid initiative. The Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) provides assistance through a competitive selection process to developing nations that are pursing political and economic reforms in three areas...

  14. The ILL millennium symposium and European user meeting

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carlile, C.J.; Frick, B.; Radaelli, P.G.; Alba-Simionesco, C.; Chauty, A.; Niss, K.; Casas, F.; Sokolov, A.; Lequeux, F.; Montes, H.; Harrison, A.; Schurtenberger, P.; Dubbers, D.; Frank, A.; Gudel, H.U.; Wagner, R.; Vettier, C.; Gahler, R.; Protassov, K.; Geltenbort, P.; Plonka, C.; Simpson, G.; Pinston, J.A.; Genevey, J.; Urban, W.; Scherillo, A.; Orlandi, R.; Smith, A.G.; Mana, G.; Abele, H.; Van der Grinten, M.; Steuwer, A.; Klotz, S.; Hamel, G.; Strassle, C.Th.; Kervananois, N.; Koza, M.M.; Nishiyama, Y.; Langan, P.; Wada, M.; Sugiyama, J.; Chanzy, H.; Gunter, M.M.; Lerch, M.; Boysen, H.; Korte, C.; Suard, E.; Blanco, J.A.; Fernandez-Rodriguez, J.; Brown, P.J.; Stunault, A.; Katsumata, K.; Lovesey, S.W.; Iga, F.; Michimura, S.; Kremer, R.K.; Banks, M.; Capogna, L.; Enderle, M.; Gibson, B.J.; McIntyre, G.J.; Ouladdiaf, B.; Pujol, S.; Raggazzoni, J.L.; Rheinstadter, M.; Schefer, J.; Boehm, M.; Roessli, B.; Wills, A.S.; Ouladdiaf, B.; Lelievre-Berna, E.; Goff, J.P.; Toader, A.M.; Skoulatos, M.; Enderle, M.; Stewart, J.R.; Murani, A.; Roger, M.; Shannon, N.; Kaul, E.E.; Geibel, C.; Simonet, V.; Lhotel, E.; Paulsen, C.; Ressouche, E.; Staub, U.; Amato, A.; Baines, C.; Petrakovskii, G.A.; Bramwell, S.; Fukuhara, N.; Ebert, J.; Lindner, D.; Dauvergne, M.T.; Hartlein, M.; Timmins, P.; Conti, E.; Svergun, D.; Budayova-Spano, M.; Bonnete, F.; El Hajji, M.; Blakeley, M.P.; Meilleur, F.; Castro, B.; Gabel, F.; Ferrand, M.; Chenal, A.; Forge, V.; Fragneto, G.; Haertlein, M.; Gillet, D.; Haertlein, M.

    2006-01-01

    Five years ago the ILL (Institute Laue-Langevin) convened the first Millennium symposium in order to launch an ambitious modernization program of instruments and infrastructure known as the ILL Millennium Program. After 5 years of activity we have decided to run a second such symposium. The scientific program of this Millennium Symposium will address the following points: -) instrumental and scientific achievements made possible by the Millennium Program, -) trends in science and engineering and the implications for the ILL, -) scenarios for future instrumentation and user support facilities, and -) the scientific priorities of the user community. This document gathers the abstracts of 63 contributions and 73 posters

  15. The ILL millennium symposium and European user meeting

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carlile, C.J.; Frick, B.; Radaelli, P.G.; Alba-Simionesco, C.; Chauty, A.; Niss, K.; Casas, F.; Sokolov, A.; Lequeux, F.; Montes, H.; Harrison, A.; Schurtenberger, P.; Dubbers, D.; Frank, A.; Gudel, H.U.; Wagner, R.; Vettier, C.; Gahler, R.; Protassov, K.; Geltenbort, P.; Plonka, C.; Simpson, G.; Pinston, J.A.; Genevey, J.; Urban, W.; Scherillo, A.; Orlandi, R.; Smith, A.G.; Mana, G.; Abele, H.; Van der Grinten, M.; Steuwer, A.; Klotz, S.; Hamel, G.; Strassle, C.Th.; Kervananois, N.; Koza, M.M.; Nishiyama, Y.; Langan, P.; Wada, M.; Sugiyama, J.; Chanzy, H.; Gunter, M.M.; Lerch, M.; Boysen, H.; Korte, C.; Suard, E.; Blanco, J.A.; Fernandez-Rodriguez, J.; Brown, P.J.; Stunault, A.; Katsumata, K.; Lovesey, S.W.; Iga, F.; Michimura, S.; Kremer, R.K.; Banks, M.; Capogna, L.; Enderle, M.; Gibson, B.J.; McIntyre, G.J.; Ouladdiaf, B.; Pujol, S.; Raggazzoni, J.L.; Rheinstadter, M.; Schefer, J.; Boehm, M.; Roessli, B.; Wills, A.S.; Ouladdiaf, B.; Lelievre-Berna, E.; Goff, J.P.; Toader, A.M.; Skoulatos, M.; Enderle, M.; Stewart, J.R.; Murani, A.; Roger, M.; Shannon, N.; Kaul, E.E.; Geibel, C.; Simonet, V.; Lhotel, E.; Paulsen, C.; Ressouche, E.; Staub, U.; Amato, A.; Baines, C.; Petrakovskii, G.A.; Bramwell, S.; Fukuhara, N.; Ebert, J.; Lindner, D.; Dauvergne, M.T.; Hartlein, M.; Timmins, P.; Conti, E.; Svergun, D.; Budayova-Spano, M.; Bonnete, F.; El Hajji, M.; Blakeley, M.P.; Meilleur, F.; Castro, B.; Gabel, F.; Ferrand, M.; Chenal, A.; Forge, V.; Fragneto, G.; Haertlein, M.; Gillet, D.; Haertlein, M

    2006-07-01

    Five years ago the ILL (Institute Laue-Langevin) convened the first Millennium symposium in order to launch an ambitious modernization program of instruments and infrastructure known as the ILL Millennium Program. After 5 years of activity we have decided to run a second such symposium. The scientific program of this Millennium Symposium will address the following points: -) instrumental and scientific achievements made possible by the Millennium Program, -) trends in science and engineering and the implications for the ILL, -) scenarios for future instrumentation and user support facilities, and -) the scientific priorities of the user community. This document gathers the abstracts of 63 contributions and 73 posters.

  16. Effectiveness of Ninth-Grade Physics in Maine: Conceptual Understanding

    OpenAIRE

    O'Brien, Michael; Thompson, John

    2009-01-01

    The Physics First movement - teaching a true physics course to ninth grade students - is gaining popularity in high schools. There are several different rhetorical arguments for and against this movement, and it is quite controversial in physics education. However, there is no actual evidence to assess the success, or failure, of this substantial shift in the science teaching sequence. We have undertaken a comparison study of physics classes taught in ninth- and 12th grade classes in Maine. C...

  17. Millennium Global Village-Net: bringing together Millennium Villages throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kanter, Andrew S; Negin, Joel; Olayo, Bernard; Bukachi, Frederick; Johnson, Edward; Sachs, Sonia Ehrlich

    2009-12-01

    The Millennium Villages Project (MVP), based at The Earth Institute at Columbia University, is a bottom-up, community led approach to show how villages in developing countries can get out of the poverty trap that afflicts more than a billion people worldwide. With well-targeted, practical inputs can help the community invest in a path leading to self-sustaining development. There are 80 Millennium Villages clustered in 10 countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa. MVP is an important development process for empowering communities to invest in a package of integrated interventions aiming to increase food production, improve access to safe water, health care, education and infrastructure. The process benefits from synergies of the integrated approach and relies on community leadership as empowered by proven technological inputs. MVP is committed to a science-based approach to assess and monitor the progress of the communities towards clear objectives; the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to do so with mechanisms that are scalable and sustainable. This approach offers much more than simply collecting and analyzing data since the mechanism used for recording progress would provide a bridge over the divide which separates the haves and the have-nots (by facilitating the sharing of solutions from one community to another bidirectionally). By so doing, it allows people to enhance their own futures in a sustainable manner. Solutions found in one community are transferable to similar communities in other MVP villages. To achieve this goal, the MVP requires an information and communication system which can provide both necessary infrastructure for monitoring and evaluation, and tools for communicating among the villages, cities and countries. This system is called the Millennium Global Village-Net (MGV-Net). It takes advantage of the latest in open source software (OpenMRS), databases (MySQL), interface terminology, a centralized concept dictionary, and uses appropriate

  18. The ninth Majlis elections in Iran: Electoral laws, procedures and institutions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdol Moghset Bani Kamal

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Elections have been held regularly in the Islamic Republic of Iran since 1979. This shows the importance the ruling elites attach to elections as a method of legitimating their rule. This paper examines the ninth Majlis (parliamentary elections held on March 2, 2012. It analyses the Iranian electoral laws, the candidates contesting elections, their campaign style, the voting, and the post-election debates. It answers the following questions: What was the significance of the ninth Majlis elections? How were the ninth Majlis elections conducted? And how did the proponents and opponents of the Islamic Republic of Iran look at the entire electoral process?

  19. Millennium bim managing growing demand

    OpenAIRE

    Lopes, Francisca Barbosa Malpique de Paiva

    2014-01-01

    Millennium bim, the Mozambican operation of Millennium bcp group, was the Company selected to serve as background for the development of a teaching case in Marketing. This case is followed by a teaching note, and is intended to be used as a pedagogical tool in undergraduate and/or graduate programs. Even though Mozambique is still characterized by high financial exclusion, the number of people entering within the banking industry has been growing at a fast pace. Actually, the demand for fi...

  20. The Ninth-Century Renaissance in Astronomy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farrell, Charlotte

    1996-01-01

    Discusses the events in the ninth century that moved astronomy away from the pursuit of mystical hermetic sciences and astrology back toward observation and measurement. Describes the achievements of astronomers and the instruments and calculations used during that period. (JRH)

  1. Responding to the Millennium Development Goals

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Enemark, Stig

    2006-01-01

    , disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination of women. These goals are now placed at the heart of the global agenda. The Summit’s Millennium Declaration also outlined a wide range of commitments in human rights, good governance, and democracy. This paper presents the Millennium Goals......-agencies and especially the World Bank to develop a FIG strategy and advise the FIG council on necessary actions....

  2. The Millennium Development Goals, How Realistic Are They?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Keyzer, M.A.; van Wesenbeeck, C.F.A.

    2006-01-01

    In its Millennium Declaration of September 2000, the United Nations adopted the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), to be reached in 2015 through concerted efforts worldwide. According to UN-calculations, the estimated costs in terms of additional development aid of meeting the MDGs in all countries

  3. Associations between maternal experiences of racism and early child health and development: findings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelly, Yvonne; Becares, Laia; Nazroo, James

    2013-01-01

    Emerging evidence suggests that experienced racism might help explain observed ethnic inequalities in early child health and development. There are few studies outside the US context and none that consider mothers' experiences of racism in relation to a range of early childhood health and developmental markers. The authors used cross-sectional data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study on 2136 mothers and their 5-year-old children from ethnic minority groups. Measures of racism tapped two dimensions of mothers' experience: perceived frequency of racist attacks in residential area and interpersonal racism. Markers of child health and development were obesity; socioemotional difficulties; cognitive: verbal, non-verbal and spatial ability test scores. There was a suggestion that the mothers' experience of interpersonal racism was associated with an increased risk of obesity ('received insults' OR=1.47; 'treated unfairly' OR=1.57; 'disrespectful treatment by shop staff' OR=1.55), but all CIs crossed 1.0, and size estimates were attenuated on further statistical adjustment. Perception of racism in the residential area was associated with socioemotional difficulties (fully adjusted coefficient=1.40, SE=0.47) and spatial abilities (fully adjusted coefficient=-1.99, SE=0.93) but not with verbal or non-verbal ability scores. Maternal experiences of racist insults were associated with non-verbal ability scores (fully adjusted coefficient=-1.70, SE=0.88). The results suggest that mothers' experienced racism is linked to markers of early child health and development. Interventions that aim to improve early child development and address ethnic health inequalities need to incorporate approaches to tackling racism at all levels of society.

  4. 78 FR 13904 - Millennium Challenge Corporation Board of Directors Meeting; Sunshine Act Meetings

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-03-01

    ... MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION [MCC FR 13-01] Millennium Challenge Corporation Board of Directors Meeting; Sunshine Act Meetings AGENCY: Millennium Challenge Corporation. TIME AND DATE: 10:00 a.m... CONSIDERED: The Board of Directors (the ``Board'') of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (``MCC'') will...

  5. Family Lifestyle Dynamics and Childhood Obesity: Evidence from the Millennium Cohort Study

    OpenAIRE

    Gray, L.A.; Hernandez Alava, M.; Kelly, M.P.; Campbell, M.

    2017-01-01

    Using data from the Millennium Cohort Study, we investigate the dynamic relationship between underlying family lifestyle and childhood obesity during early childhood. We use a dynamic latent factor model, an approach that allows us to identify family lifestyle, its evolution over time and its influence on childhood obesity and other observable outcomes. We find that family lifestyle is persistent and has a significant influence on childhood weight status as well as other outcomes for all fami...

  6. The ninth Majlis elections in Iran: Electoral laws, procedures and institutions

    OpenAIRE

    Abdol Moghset Bani Kamal

    2013-01-01

    Elections have been held regularly in the Islamic Republic of Iran since 1979. This shows the importance the ruling elites attach to elections as a method of legitimating their rule. This paper examines the ninth Majlis (parliamentary) elections held on March 2, 2012. It analyses the Iranian electoral laws, the candidates contesting elections, their campaign style, the voting, and the post-election debates. It answers the following questions: What was the significance of the ninth Majlis elec...

  7. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: MA Ecosystems

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: MA Ecosystems provides data and information on the extent and classification of ecosystems circa 2000, including coastal,...

  8. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: MA Biodiversity

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: MA Biodiversity provides data and information on amphibians, disease agents (extent and distribution of infectious and parasitic...

  9. Extending a Community of Care beyond the Ninth Grade: A Follow-Up Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellerbrock, Cheryl R.; Kiefer, Sarah M.

    2013-01-01

    This qualitative within-site case study ("N" = 10) is a follow-up study to a 2006-2007 investigation that analyzed how 1 high school created a community of care for its ninth-grade students through the implementation of a ninth-grade transition program--Freshman Focus. All participants were interviewed again 3 years later during…

  10. Millennium development goals: Examining Kenya constraints in achieving the eight goals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wambua Leonard Munyao

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines Kenya’s performance in achieving the famous millennium development goals. The paper provides the government and other stakeholders with proper understanding of the constraints of achieving the millennium development goals as well as reflecting the phase and the passion of the country in achieving this important development goal. The paper further seeks to stress the importance of this goal in reducing poverty in the country. The paper has cited some key factors undermining achieving of the millennium development goals in Kenya. Major recommendations that can contribute towards achieving of the millennium development goals have also been made.

  11. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: MA Population

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: MA Population data sets provide baseline population information as one of the drivers of ecosystem change. The data helped in...

  12. Do early-life exposures explain why more advantaged children get eczema? Findings from the U.K. Millennium Cohort Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor-Robinson, D C; Williams, H; Pearce, A; Law, C; Hope, S

    2016-03-01

    Atopic dermatitis (eczema) in childhood is socially patterned, with higher incidence in more advantaged populations. However, it is unclear what factors explain the social differences. To identify early-life risk factors for eczema, and to explore how early-life risk factors explain any differences in eczema. We estimated odds ratios (ORs) for ever having had eczema by age 5 years in 14 499 children from the U.K. Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), with a focus on maternal, antenatal and early-life risk factors and socioeconomic circumstances (SECs). Risk factors were explored to assess whether they attenuated associations between SECs and eczema. Overall 35·1% of children had ever had eczema by age 5 years. Children of mothers with degree-level qualifications vs. no educational qualifications were more likely to have eczema (OR 1·52, 95% confidence interval 1·31-1·76), and there was a gradient across the socioeconomic spectrum. Maternal atopy, breastfeeding (1-6 weeks and ≥ 6 months), introduction of solids under 4 months or cow's milk under 9 months, antibiotic exposure in the first year of life and grime exposure were associated with an increased odds of having eczema. Female sex, Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnicity, smoking during pregnancy, exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and having more siblings were associated with reduced odds for eczema. Controlling for maternal, antenatal and early-life characteristics (particularly maternal smoking during pregnancy, breastfeeding and number of siblings) reduced the OR for eczema to 1·26 (95% confidence interval 1·03-1·50) in the group with the highest educational qualifications compared with the least. In a representative U.K. child cohort, eczema was more common in more advantaged children. This was explained partially by early-life factors including not smoking during pregnancy, breastfeeding and having fewer siblings. © 2015 The Authors. British Journal of Dermatology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on

  13. Creating a Ninth-Grade Community of Care

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellerbrock, Cheryl R.; Kiefer, Sarah M.

    2010-01-01

    This qualitative case study analyzed how one large high school created a community of care for ninth-grade students. Data were collected during the 2006-2007 school year, including observations, individual interviews, and focus group interviews of 1 female teacher and 9 of her students. Findings suggest the Freshman Focus teachers and program…

  14. The impact of a freshman academy on science performance of first-time ninth-grade students at one Georgia high school

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniel, Vivian Summerour

    The purpose of this within-group experimental study was to find out to what extent ninth-grade students improved their science performance beyond their middle school science performance at one Georgia high school utilizing a freshman academy model. Freshman academies have been recognized as a useful tool for increasing academic performance among ninth-grade students because they address a range of academic support initiatives tailored to improve academic performance among ninth-grade students. The talent development model developed by Legters, Balfanz, Jordan, and McPartland (2002) has served as a foundational standard for many ninth grade academy programs. A cornerstone feature of this model is the creation of small learning communities used to increase ninth-grade student performance. Another recommendation was to offer credit recovery opportunities for ninth graders along with creating parent and community involvement activities to increase academic success among ninth-grade students. While the site's program included some of the initiatives outlined by the talent development model, it did not utilize all of them. The study concluded that the academy did not show a definitive increase in academic performance among ninth-grade students since most students stayed within their original performance category.

  15. 77 FR 68115 - Millennium Pipeline Company, L.L.C.; Notice of Application

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-11-15

    ...] Millennium Pipeline Company, L.L.C.; Notice of Application Take notice that on November 1, 2012, Millennium Pipeline Company, L.L.C. (Millennium), One Blue Hill Plaza, Seventh Floor, P.O. Box 1565, Pearl River, New... system to the existing interconnection with Algonquin Gas Transmission, L.L.C. in Ramapo, New York and...

  16. The Relationship between Home Literary Environments and Attitudes toward Reading in Ninth-Grade Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kubis, Mary Ellen

    A study determined what variables in the home literary environments of ninth-grade students influenced their attitudes toward reading. Subjects, 316 students from 2 ninth-grade classes at 2 metropolitan high schools, were given the Estes Reading Attitude Scale and a researcher-developed, 30-question inventory of their home literary environment.…

  17. Ninth Processing Campaign in the Waste Calcining Facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Childs, K.F.; Donovan, R.I.; Swenson, M.C.

    1982-04-01

    This report discusses the Ninth (and final) Processing Campaign at the Waste Calcining Facility. Several processing interruptions were experienced during this campaign and the emphasis of this report is on process and equipment performance with operating problems and corrective actions discussed in detail

  18. (Goal Number 8) in achieving the Millennium Development Goals

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    In 2000, the United Nations (UN) made a Millennium Declaration that commits governments across the globe to develop the lives of the people by 2015. This declaration is known as Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This paper will examine the role that every government has to play in achieving the goals by focusing ...

  19. Early Maternal Time Investment and Early Child Outcomes

    OpenAIRE

    Del Bono, Emilia; Francesconi, Marco; Kelly, Yvonne; Sacker, Amanda

    2014-01-01

    Using large longitudinal survey data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, this paper estimates the relationship between maternal time inputs and early child development. We find that maternal time is a quantitatively important determinant of skill formation and that its effect declines with child age. There is evidence of long-term effects of early maternal time inputs on later outcomes, especially in the case of cognitive skill development. In the case of non-cognitive development, the evide...

  20. The Millennium Development Goals in the millennium of the elderly

    OpenAIRE

    Anna Cruz de Araujo P. Silva; Hilton P. Silva

    2013-01-01

    The "Millennium Development Goals" (MDG) synthetize eight objectives assumed internationally to the improvement of the quality of life on this planet until 2015. Such expectations, however, do not take into consideration that there is a substantial contingent of vulnerable elderly. Even though the MDG do not address directly the elderly, a comprehensive reading, considering the emerging populational pattern, allows the inclusion of directives and actions geared to them, making urgent the inte...

  1. 77 FR 14835 - Sunshine Act Meeting; Millennium Challenge Corporation Board of Directors; March 22, 2012

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-03-13

    ... MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION [MCC FR 12-03] Sunshine Act Meeting; Millennium Challenge Corporation Board of Directors; March 22, 2012 AGENCY: Millennium Challenge Corporation. TIME AND DATE: 3 p.m... CONSIDERED: The Board of Directors (the ``Board'') of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (``MCC'') will...

  2. Effects of sales promotion on smoking among U.S. ninth graders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Redmond, W H

    1999-03-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the association between tobacco marketing efforts and daily cigarette smoking by adolescents. This was a longitudinal study of uptake of smoking on a daily basis with smoking data from the Monitoring the Future project. Diffusion modeling was used to generate expected rates of daily smoking initiation, which were compared with actual rates. Study data were from a national survey, administered annually from 1978 through 1995. Between 4,416 and 6,099 high school seniors participated per year, for a total of 94,652. The main outcome measure was a deviation score based on expected rates from diffusion modeling vs actual rates of initiation of daily use of cigarettes by ninth graders. Annual data on cigarette marketing expenditures were reported by the Federal Trade Commission. The deviation scores of expected vs actual rates of smoking initiation for ninth graders were correlated with annual changes in marketing expenditures. The correlation between sales promotion expenditures and the deviation score in daily smoking initiation was large (r = 0. 769) and statistically significant (P = 0.009) in the 1983-1992 period. Correlations between sales promotion and smoking initiation were not statistically significant in 1978-1982. Correlations between advertising expenditures and smoking initiation were not significant in either period. In years of high promotional expenditures, the rate of daily smoking initiation among ninth graders was higher than expected from diffusion model predictions. Large promotional pushes by cigarette marketers in the 1980s and 1990s appear to be linked with increased levels of daily smoking initiation among ninth graders. Copyright 1999 American Health Foundation and Academic Press.

  3. Ninth Triennial Toxicology Salary Survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gad, Shayne Cox; Sullivan, Dexter Wayne

    2016-01-01

    This survey serves as the ninth in a series of toxicology salary surveys conducted at 3-year intervals and beginning in 1988. An electronic survey instrument was distributed to 5919 individuals including members of the Society of Toxicology, American College of Toxicology, and 23 additional professional organizations. Question items inquired about gender, age, degree, years of experience, certifications held, areas of specialization, society membership, employment and income. Overall, 1293 responses were received (response rate 21.8%). The results of the 2014 survey provide insight into the job market and career path for current and future toxicologists. © The Author(s) 2016.

  4. Using Robots to Motivate At-Risk Learners in Science over the Ninth Grade Hurdle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cerge, Dora

    The ninth grade is a pivotal year in an adolescent's academic career; however, educators have failed to find a remedy for the high failure and dropout rates at this grade level. Students who lack basic skills and support as they enter high school can experience repeated failures, which often lead to a decrease in motivation and dropping out of school. Up to 15% of all ninth graders repeat ninth grade and 36% of all U. S. dropouts are ninth graders. It is imperative that researchers and educators find new ways to motivate at-risk students and augment basic skills in order to mitigate the dropout problem at this grade level. Robot teachers could be a viable solution to increase student motivation and achievement. However, before such strategies could be recommended for implementation, information about their efficacy in a high school setting is needed. The purpose of this quantitative, two-group experimental, pretest-posttest study was to determine the effects of a robot teacher/instructor on science motivation and science achievement in ninth grade at-risk learners. Approximately 40 at-risk, repeating ninth graders, ranging in age from 13 to 17 years old from one high school in the United States Virgin Islands, participated in the study. Half of the students received a robot teacher/instructor manipulation whereby a robot taught a science lesson for physical science assessments (experimental group), and the other half received the same instruction from a human teacher (control group). An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to compare the science achievement posttest scores, as measured by test scores, and science motivation posttest scores, as measured by the SMTSL, between the experimental and the control groups, while controlling for the pretest scores (covariate). The results demonstrated that posttest motivation and achievement scores in the human teacher condition were not significantly different than posttest motivation scores in the robot teacher

  5. Gemstones and Mineral Products in the Red Sea / Indian Ocean Trade of the First Millennium

    OpenAIRE

    Seland, Eivind Heldaas

    2017-01-01

    This article addresses the role of minerals and mineral products in general and gemstones in particular in Red Sea and Western Indian .cean trade in the frst millennium. It is argued that texts from the early part of the period provide a plausible, albeit approximate overview of the origin and distribution of most kinds of precious stones, and that stable climatic and topographic factors infuencing commercial patterns enable us also to discuss the more fragmentary evidence of the later part o...

  6. Ninth Grade Adjustment and Achievement as Related to Mobility.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benson, Gerald P.; Weigel, Daniel J.

    1980-01-01

    School records of 643 ninth-grade students were examined. Classroom adjustment was measured by the Classroom Behavior Inventory. Results indicated that mobility was negatively related to math achievement and adjustment. Results are discussed in relation to the peer society and the use of these data for schools. (Author/RL)

  7. [Impact of female genital mutilation on the millennium goals].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruiz, Ismael Jiménez; Martínez, María Pilar Almansa; Bravo, María Del Mar Pastor

    2015-01-01

    To relate the Female Genital Mutilation as a negative factor for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Data collection was through review literature review between in the years 2014 and 2015 in the databases Medline/PubMed, Web of Science, LILACS, SCIELO, Tesis Doctorales TESEO and in the webs of WOK, UNICEF, UNAF and WHO using the descriptors: female circumcision, millennium development goals, rights of women. Articles published between years 2010 y 2015, were included and finally 24 articles were selected. The Female Genital Mutilation is based on gender discrimination, and reinforces and encourages the circle of poverty. This practice causes physical complications that may affect the infant mortality and morbidity, complications in pregnancy and childbirth and there is a relationship between the practice and the transmission of human immunodeficiency virus. The fight against Female Genital Mutilation contributes to the achievement of five of the eight Millennium Goals.

  8. Problems and Prospects of Millennium Development Goals in Ghana

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olusola Olasupo

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Ghana, like other developing nations, was not left behind in embracing the eight time-bound Millennium Development Goals (MDGs in September 2000. The millennium development goals aimed towards peace and good standards of living have been faced with series of problems in its attainment in Ghana. These problems have undermined the extent to which Ghana could achieve the MDGs. The study adopting qualitative research method shows that Ghana is faced with difficulty in achieving these eight millennium development goals in certain portions of the nation most especially in the rural communities due to lack of infrastructure. The study therefore recommends that Ghana should focus more on improving the standard of living of the rural dwellers by increasing the public services in the area.  The need for Ghana to focus more on solving these problems is strategic for a better result in this new era of Sustainable Development Goals.

  9. The Millennium Development Goals in the millennium of the elderly

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna Cruz de Araujo P. Silva

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available The "Millennium Development Goals" (MDG synthetize eight objectives assumed internationally to the improvement of the quality of life on this planet until 2015. Such expectations, however, do not take into consideration that there is a substantial contingent of vulnerable elderly. Even though the MDG do not address directly the elderly, a comprehensive reading, considering the emerging populational pattern, allows the inclusion of directives and actions geared to them, making urgent the integrated planning of public policies to attend the needs of those 60 years of age or older, not only today, but for the many decades to come.

  10. Inequalities in selected health-related Millennium Development ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Inequalities in selected health-related Millennium Development Goals ... and interventions (including health promotion, primary and secondary prevention, ... and ensuring environmental sustainability (through reduction in the use of solid fuels ...

  11. Integration of Millennium Development Goals into Physical ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Integration of Millennium Development Goals into Physical Education programme: ... African Journal for Physical Activity and Health Sciences ... the UN in terms of sustainable human development and how graduates of physical education and ...

  12. Exploring the impact of early life factors on inequalities in risk of overweight in UK children: findings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Massion, Samuel; Wickham, Sophie; Pearce, Anna; Barr, Ben; Law, Catherine; Taylor-Robinson, David

    2016-08-01

    Overweight and obesity in childhood are socially patterned, with higher prevalence in more disadvantaged populations, but it is unclear to what extent early life factors attenuate the social inequalities found in childhood overweight/obesity. We estimated relative risks (RRs) for being overweight (combining with obesity) at age 11 in 11 764 children from the UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) according to socio-economic circumstances (SEC). Early life risk factors were explored to assess if they attenuated associations between SECs and overweight. 28.84% of children were overweight at 11 years. Children of mothers with no academic qualifications were more likely to be overweight (RR 1.72, 95% CI 1.48 to 2.01) compared to children of mothers with degrees and higher degrees. Controlling for prenatal, perinatal, and early life characteristics (particularly maternal pre-pregnancy overweight and maternal smoking during pregnancy) reduced the RR for overweight to 1.44, 95% CI 1.23 to 1.69 in the group with the lowest academic qualifications compared to the highest. We observed a clear social gradient in overweight 11-year-old children using a representative UK sample. Moreover, we identified specific early life risk factors, including maternal smoking during pregnancy and maternal pre-pregnancy overweight, that partially account for the social inequalities found in childhood overweight. Policies to support mothers to maintain a healthy weight, breastfeed and abstain from smoking during pregnancy are important to improve maternal and child health outcomes, and our study provides some evidence that they may also help to address the continuing rise in inequalities in childhood overweight. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

  13. The missing history of Bohm's hidden variables theory: The Ninth Symposium of the Colston Research Society, Bristol, 1957

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kožnjak, Boris

    2018-05-01

    In this paper, I analyze the historical context, scientific and philosophical content, and the implications of the thus far historically largely neglected Ninth Symposium of the Colston Research Society held in Bristol at the beginning of April 1957, the first major international event after World War II gathering eminent physicists and philosophers to discuss the foundational questions of quantum mechanics, in respect to the early reception of the causal quantum theory program mapped and defended by David Bohm during the five years preceding the Symposium. As will be demonstrated, contrary to the almost unanimously negative and even hostile reception of Bohm's ideas on hidden variables in the early 1950s, in the close aftermath of the 1957 Colston Research Symposium Bohm's ideas received a more open-minded and ideologically relaxed critical rehabilitation, in which the Symposium itself played a vital and essential part.

  14. Doctoral Theses from Nursing Postgraduate Programs in Brazil and their Association with the Millennium Development Goals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodrigues, Rosalina Aparecida Partezani; Robazzi, Maria Lúcia do Carmo Cruz; Erdmann, Alacoque Lorenzini; Fernandes, Josicélia Dumet; de Barros, Alba Lucia Bottura Leite; Ramos, Flávia Regina Souza

    2015-01-01

    The Millennium Development Goals are centered around combatting poverty and other social evils all over the world. Thus, this study seeks to identify the Millennium Development Goals as an object of study in theses from Postgraduate Nursing Programs in Brazil scoring 5 (national excellence) and 6 or 7 (international excellence), and evaluate the association between the score for the program and achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Exploratory descriptive document research. Data were collected from the Notes on Indicators/Coordination for Higher Education Personnel Improvement for the 15 Postgraduate Nursing Courses scoring between 5 and 7 in the three-year-period of 2010/2012. of the 8 Millennium Development Objectives, 6 were dealt with in the theses. There was an association (Fisher's exact test p-value=0.0059) between the distribution of the theses and the program scores in relation to the Millennium Development Objectives (p-valor=0.0347)CONCLUSION: the doctoral theses were slightly related to the Millennium Development Objectives, covering the population's economic development, health conditions and quality of life. It is recommended that Postgraduate Programs in Nursing pay closer attention to the Millennium Development Objectives.

  15. Doctoral Theses from Nursing Postgraduate Programs in Brazil and their Association with the Millennium Development Goals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rosalina Aparecida Partezani Rodrigues

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: The Millennium Development Goals are centered around combatting poverty and other social evils all over the world. Thus, this study seeks to identify the Millennium Development Goals as an object of study in theses from Postgraduate Nursing Programs in Brazil scoring 5 (national excellence and 6 or 7 (international excellence, and evaluate the association between the score for the program and achieving the Millennium Development Goals.METHOD: Exploratory descriptive document research. Data were collected from the Notes on Indicators/Coordination for Higher Education Personnel Improvement for the 15 Postgraduate Nursing Courses scoring between 5 and 7 in the three-year-period of 2010/2012.RESULTS: of the 8 Millennium Development Objectives, 6 were dealt with in the theses. There was an association (Fisher's exact test p-value=0.0059 between the distribution of the theses and the program scores in relation to the Millennium Development Objectives (p-valor=0.0347CONCLUSION: the doctoral theses were slightly related to the Millennium Development Objectives, covering the population's economic development, health conditions and quality of life. It is recommended that Postgraduate Programs in Nursing pay closer attention to the Millennium Development Objectives..

  16. Ninth Semiannual Report of the Commission to the Congress, July - December 1950. January 1951

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dean, Gordon; Glennan, T. Keith; Murray, Thomas E.; Pike, Sumner T.; Smyth, H. D.

    1951-01-31

    The document represents the ninth semiannual Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) report to Congress. The report sums up the major activities and developments in the national atomic energy program. This ninth report gives a summary of the year's program operations insofar as they can be reported within the limits of national security. It provides as well a brief review of the methods which the Commission follows in contracting with industries, research institutions, and with universities and colleges for the carrying on of the many phases of the national atomic energy program.

  17. Promotion of Gender Equality: A Millennium Development Goal ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Promotion of Gender Equality: A Millennium Development Goal. ... poverty and hunger, combat disease and ensure environmental sustainability. ... political empowerment, educational encouragement and health/well-being opportunities.

  18. Effect of childhood coeliac disease on ninth grade school performance: evidence from a population-based study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Namatovu, Fredinah; Strandh, Mattias; Ivarsson, Anneli; Nilsson, Karina

    2018-02-01

    Coeliac disease might affect school performance due to its effect on cognitive performance and related health consequences that might increase school absenteeism. The aim of this study was to investigate whether children with coeliac disease performed differently on completion of ninth grade in school compared with children without coeliac disease. Analysis was performed on a population of 445 669 children born in Sweden between 1991 and 1994 of whom 1767 were diagnosed with coeliac disease. School performance at ninth grade was the outcome and coeliac disease was the exposure. Other covariates included sex, Apgar score at 5 min, small for gestational age, year of birth, family type, parental education and income. There was no association between coeliac disease and school performance at ninth grade (adjusted coefficient -2.4, 95% CI 5.1 to 0.4). A weak association was established between late coeliac diagnosis and higher grades, but this disappeared after adjusting for parent socioeconomic conditions. Being small for gestational age affected performance negatively (adjusted coefficient -6.9, 95% CI 8.0 to 5.7). Grade scores were significantly lower in children living with a single parent (adjusted coefficient -20.6, 95% CI 20.9 to 20.2), compared with those with married/cohabiting parents. A positive association was found between scores at ninth grade and parental education and income. Coeliac disease diagnosis during childhood is not associated with poor school performance at ninth grade. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

  19. Learning from Millennium Park, Chicago

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Guen, T. [American Society of Landscape Architects, Washington, DC (United States)]|[Terry Guen Design Associates, Chicago, IL (United States)

    2006-07-01

    This paper identified the value of creating green space for public use in an urban area in support of a sustainable environment. The inauguration of Chicago's Millennium Park in July 2004 marked a landmark civic achievement in greening an industrial urban centre. The Park was constructed on a 25-acre, previously vacant 100 year old rail property. In 2001, the first phase of the Park opened with the construction of the garages, train bridge, and infrastructure for future sculptural pieces. The green roof landscaping involved soil and drainage pathways, planting 11 acres of lawn and trees, and building a skating rink and restaurants. Phase 2 included new construction of donor enhancements. Among many benefits, this project stimulated investment in adjacent private development. This paper outlined the historic motivation for the park as a cultural and aesthetic benefit for the public. It reviewed the construction costs, the multiple sources of funding, and the multidisciplinary effort involving public agencies and private supporters. The landscape team included experts in soil, irrigation, planting, design and plant selection. Millennium Park has proven that current design and construction industries have the technical and physical ability to create cultural spaces of interest. 6 figs.

  20. Ratings of Severity of Life Events by Ninth-Grade Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hutton, Jerry B.; And Others

    1987-01-01

    Special education, basic, and honors ninth-grade students (n=60) rated the severity of stress for each of the life events on the Source of Stress Inventory (Chandler, 1981). There was a significant positive relationship between the Chandler rankings (teachers and mental health workers) and the student rankings. (Author/NB)

  1. 76 FR 57765 - Sunshine Act Meeting; Notice of the September 28, 2011, Millennium Challenge Corporation Board of...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-09-16

    ... MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION [MCC FR 11-08] Sunshine Act Meeting; Notice of the September 28, 2011, Millennium Challenge Corporation Board of Directors Meeting AGENCY: Millennium Challenge Corporation. TIME AND DATE: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Wednesday, September 28, 2011. PLACE: Department of State...

  2. The beginning of metallurgy in the southern Levant: a late 6th millennium CalBC copper awl from Tel Tsaf, Israel.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garfinkel, Yosef; Klimscha, Florian; Shalev, Sariel; Rosenberg, Danny

    2014-01-01

    The beginning of metallurgy in the ancient Near East attracts much attention. The southern Levant, with the rich assemblage of copper artifacts from the Nahal Mishmar cave and the unique gold rings of the Nahal Qanah cave, is regarded as a main center of early metallurgy during the second half of the 5th millennium CalBC. However, a recently discovered copper awl from a Middle Chalcolithic burial at Tel Tsaf, Jordan Valley, Israel, suggests that cast metal technology was introduced to the region as early as the late 6th millennium CalBC. This paper examines the chemical composition of this item and reviews its context. The results indicate that it was exported from a distant source, probably in the Caucasus, and that the location where it was found is indicative of the social status of the buried individual. This rare finding indicates that metallurgy was first diffused [corrected] to the southern Levant through exchange networks and only centuries later involved local productionThis copper awl, the earliest metal artifact found in the southern Levant, indicates that the elaborate Late Chalcolithic metallurgy developed from a more ancient tradition.

  3. 77 FR 31161 - Designation of Officers of the Millennium Challenge Corporation To Act as Chief Executive Officer...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-05-25

    ... of May 21, 2012 Designation of Officers of the Millennium Challenge Corporation To Act as Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation Memorandum for the Chief Executive Officer of the... following officers of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), in the order listed, shall act as and...

  4. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: MA Rapid Land Cover Change

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: MA Rapid Land Cover Change provides data and information on global and regional land cover change in raster format for...

  5. Biology Education Delivery for Attaining Health-specific Millennium ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Biology Education Delivery for Attaining Health-specific Millennium ... PROMOTING ACCESS TO AFRICAN RESEARCH ... This study investigated the strategies for ensuring effective delivery of Biology Education at the secondary school level ...

  6. Early Islamic Syria

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Walmsley, Alan

    After more than a century of neglect, a profound revolution is occurring in the way archaeology addresses and interprets developments in the social history of early Islamic Syria-Palestine. This concise book offers an innovative assessment of social and economic developments in Syria-Palestine sh......After more than a century of neglect, a profound revolution is occurring in the way archaeology addresses and interprets developments in the social history of early Islamic Syria-Palestine. This concise book offers an innovative assessment of social and economic developments in Syria......-Palestine shortly before, and in the two centuries after, the Islamic expansion (the later sixth to the early ninth century AD), drawing on a wide range of new evidence from recent archaeological work. Alan Walmsley challenges conventional explanations for social change with the arrival of Islam, arguing...

  7. Climate changes over the past millennium: Relationships with Mediterranean climates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mann, M.E.

    2006-01-01

    Evidence is reviewed for climate change and its causes over the interval spanning roughly the past millennium. Particular emphasis is placed on patterns of climate change influencing Mediterranean climates of the Northern Hemisphere. The evidence is taken from studies using high-resolution climate proxy data sources, and climate modeling simulations. The available evidence suggests that forced changes in dynamical modes of variability including the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) have played a key role in the patterns of climate variability in Mediterranean regions over the past millennium

  8. Ninth Grade Students' Understanding of The Nature of Scientific Knowledge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kilic, Kerem; Sungur, Semra; Cakiroglu, Jale; Tekkaya, Ceren

    2005-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the 9th-grade students' understandings of the nature of scientific knowledge. The study also aimed to investigate the differences in students' understanding of the nature of scientific knowledge by gender, and school types. A total of 575 ninth grade students from four different school types (General…

  9. The State of Washington's Children, Fall 2001. [Ninth Annual Report].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Washington Univ., Seattle. School of Public Health and Community Medicine.

    This Kids Count report is the ninth to examine annually statewide trends in the well-being of Washington's children. The statistical portrait is based on indicators of child well-being in five areas: (1) family and community, including teen birth rate, teen pregnancy rate, divorces involving children, and births to unmarried mothers; (2) economic…

  10. Understanding Gender Differences in Early Adolescents' Sexual Prejudice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mata, Jessieka; Ghavami, Negin; Wittig, Michele A.

    2010-01-01

    Drawing on social dominance theory and the contact hypothesis, we developed and tested a two-mediator model for explaining gender differences in early adolescents' attitudes toward gay males and lesbians. Data from more than 400 ninth graders were analyzed. As predicted, gender differences in attitudes toward gay males were partially explained by…

  11. Halfway up the highway: Can Nepal meet its Health Millennium Development Goals?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abhinav Vaidya

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs are international objectives on poverty reduction adopted by the world community and provide the broad context for this revolution in thinking and practice. The MDGs place a central focus on public health, in recognition of the fact that improvements in public health are vital not only in their own right but also to break the poverty trap of the world's poorest economies. Nepal has been committed to achieving the MDGs since it endorsed the Millennium Declaration. As we have at present just passed the midway through the 15 years to MDGs deadline of 2015, this article reviews the status of Nepal in achieving the MDGs, the challenges it faces and whether it can achieve the MDGs by 2015. Key words: development, goals, health, millennium, Nepal

  12. challenges and prospects of the millennium development goals

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    MISS ANIETIE

    The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is one significant break through in development policy. ... objective of this paper is to justify the status of sustainable development in Nigeria vis-a-vis ..... sectors, particularly in health, education and.

  13. Doctoral Theses from Nursing Postgraduate Programs in Brazil and their Association with the Millennium Development Goals

    OpenAIRE

    Rosalina Aparecida Partezani Rodrigues; Maria Lúcia do Carmo Cruz Robazzi; Alacoque Lorenzini Erdmann; Josicélia Dumet Fernandes; Alba Lucia Bottura Leite de Barros; Flávia Regina Souza Ramos

    2015-01-01

    OBJECTIVES: The Millennium Development Goals are centered around combatting poverty and other social evils all over the world. Thus, this study seeks to identify the Millennium Development Goals as an object of study in theses from Postgraduate Nursing Programs in Brazil scoring 5 (national excellence) and 6 or 7 (international excellence), and evaluate the association between the score for the program and achieving the Millennium Development Goals. METHOD: Exploratory descriptive document re...

  14. Heat transfer 1990. Proceedings of the ninth international heat transfer conference

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hetsroni, G.

    1990-01-01

    This book contains the proceedings of the Ninth International Heat Transfer Conference. Included in Volume 3 are the following chapters: Refrigerant vapor condensation on a horizontal tube bundle. Local heat transfer in a reflux condensation inside a closed two-phase thermosyphon and surface temperature by means of a pulsed photothermal effects

  15. Proceedings of the Ninth National Conference on Research in Physics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2008-01-01

    This is a book of abstracts of the oral presentations that were presented during the ninth national conference on research in physics that was held from 17 to 20 mars 2008 in Tunisia (Yasmine Hammamet). The following themes were covered : Nuclear and theoretical physics; optical, molecular and atomic physics; condensed matter physics; Soft matter physics; Mechanics; Thermal transfer; Electronics; physics engineering

  16. New cancer diagnostics and therapeutics from a ninth 'hallmark of cancer': symmetric self-renewal by mutated distributed stem cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sherley, James L

    2013-11-01

    A total of eight cellular alterations associated with human carcinogenesis have been framed as the 'hallmarks of cancer'. This representation overlooks a ninth hallmark of cancer: the requirement for tumor-originating distributed stem cells to shift sufficiently from asymmetric to symmetric self-renewal kinetics for attainment of the high cell production rate necessary to form clinically significant tumors within a human lifespan. Overlooking this ninth hallmark costs opportunities for discovery of more selective molecular targets for development of improved cancer therapeutics and missing cancer stem cell biomarkers of greater specificity. Here, the biological basis for the ninth hallmark of cancer is considered toward highlighting its importance in human carcinogenesis and, as such, its potential for revealing unique molecules for targeting cancer diagnostics and therapeutics.

  17. Universal Basic Education and Achievement of Millennium ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    For this reason, targets have been set, and projects, programmes and schemes instituted to achieve zero level of illiteracy. One of such is maximizing access to quality education in all nooks and crannies of Nigeria. This is where the Universal Basic Education (UBE) and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) stand out ...

  18. Ninth national conference of the South African Section of the PRI

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1987-01-01

    This publication contains the papers of the ninth national conference of the South African Section of the Plastics and Rubber Institute held at Johannesburg on the 22nd and 23rd October 1987. The papers cover the different applications of polymers and two seminars particularly discuss the chemical radiation effects on polymers

  19. Human behaviour towards climatic change during the 4th millennium BC in the Swiss Alpine forelands

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Karg, Sabine

    Human behaviour towards climatic change during the 4th millennium BC in the Swiss Alpine forelands.......Human behaviour towards climatic change during the 4th millennium BC in the Swiss Alpine forelands....

  20. Proceedings of the ninth annual symposium on computer applications in medical care

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ackerman, M.J.

    1985-01-01

    This book covers the proceedings of the ninth annual symposium on computer applications in medical care. Some topics covered are: Development of a portable report writer for radiology; A new CT - aided robotic stereotaxis system; and a local-area-network based oncology microcomputer system

  1. A Millennium Learning Goal for Education Post-2015: A Question of Outcomes or Processes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barrett, Angeline M.

    2011-01-01

    As the target year for the current Millennium Development Goal of universal completion of primary education approaches, three World Bank economists have proposed its replacement with a Millennium Learning Goal. This is part of a trend of increased privileging of learning outcomes. The proposal is assessed from the perspective of human rights-based…

  2. Maternal death and the Millennium Development Goals

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasch, Vibeke

    2007-01-01

    Maternal health is one of the main global health challenges and reduction of the maternal mortality ratio, from the present 0.6 mio. per year, by three-quarters by 2015 is the target for the fifth Millennium Development Goal (MDG 5). However this goal is the one towards which the least progress h...

  3. Electronic Commerce: Government Services in the New Millennium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maxwell, Terrence A., Ed.

    1998-01-01

    This newsletter features innovations in resource management and information technology to support New York State government. The newsletter contains the following six sections: (1) "Electronic Commerce: Government Services in the New Millennium" -- examining the need for government involvement in electronic commerce policy and…

  4. Where Are You Going in the Next Millennium?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hay, LeRoy E.

    1999-01-01

    Public education should no longer reflect agricultural or industrial era learning modes. Third-millennium administrators must recognize certain societal trends: the "net generation" of students, predominance of technology, electronic schools, the information deluge and the democratization of information, the age of convenience and…

  5. The Interrelation of Intelligence, Involvement in Musical Activities, and Supportive Musical Family Environment in Ninth-Graders

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barbara Kopacin

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Intelligence has increasingly been becoming a desirable human trait, so she scientists from different fields devote it a lot of attention. We were interested in the interconnectedness of intelligence, musical activities and family environment in ninth graders. Correlations were determined with the differences in student achievement in measuring educative components of general intellectual abilities with standard progressive matrices (SPM. The survey results confirm that intelligence, musical activities and musical family environment significantly correlated with each other. The study included 177 randomly selected ninth graders from six basic schools in the region of Primorska.

  6. An Investigation of Ninth Grade Students' Attitudes toward Daily Life Chemistry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kenar, Ismail; Sekerci, Ali Riza; Erdem, Ali Riza; Gecgel, Gürkan; Demir, Halil Ibrahim

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to examine the attitudes towards chemistry of everyday life of high school ninth grade students according to sex/gender, learning/educational level of mother and father, father's profession, and income level of as variables. Survey method has been utilized in research. The sample of the study is composed of a total of…

  7. Nigerian French language curriculum and the millennium goals ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Nigerian French language curriculum and the millennium goals: issues in the Nigerian educational system. ... Lwati: A Journal of Contemporary Research ... Education, on the other hand, language is universally acknowledged as a problem solver, which makes it paramount in the achievement of human developmental ...

  8. Berners-Lee wins inaugural Millennium Technology prize

    CERN Document Server

    2004-01-01

    "World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee today was named recipient of the first-ever Millennium Technology Prize. The honor, which is accompanied by one million euros, is bestowed by the Finnish Technology Award Foundation as an international acknowledgement of outstanding technological innovation aimed at promoting quality of life and sustainable economic and societal development" (1 page)

  9. Effect of Digital Game Based Learning on Ninth Grade Students' Mathematics Achievement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swearingen, Dixie K.

    2011-01-01

    This experimental study examined the effect of an educational massive multiplayer online game (MMOG) on achievement on a standards-based mathematics exam. It also examined the interaction of student characteristics (gender and socioeconomic status) with digital game play on mathematics achievement. Two hundred eighty ninth grade students from a…

  10. Rethinking debt sustainability in the context of the Millennium Development Goals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jan Kregel

    2007-09-01

    Full Text Available The 2005 World Summit Outcome (United Nations, General Assembly 2005b, pp. 7-8 noted that debt relief can be an important source of capital for development. Since debt relief for developing countries is currently determined by assessments of what is considered a sustainable external debt burden, it underlined the importance of debt sustainability to the efforts to achieve national development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs. It also called for the preparation and implementation in 2006 of national development strategies (NDS to achieve the internationally agreed development goals and objectives, including the Millennium Development Goals

  11. Urban health. A challenge for the third millennium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Caroli, S.; Menditto, A.

    1999-01-01

    In the frame of the bilateral governmental programme for scientific and technical cooperation existing between Italy and Hungary a successful series of biennial Symposia were undertaken since the early 1980s. These were designed to provide scientists of both countries with a permanent forum for the evaluation of ongoing joint projects, the exchange of views on future priorities dealt with by these Symposia always made the participation of prominent scientists from other countries a necessary complement substantially enhancing the international characteristics of such events. Each Symposium features a specific theme of primary importance within the general context of human health and environmental protection. In this respect, the ninth edition of this series of Symposia focuses on the major concerns raised by chemical pollution on all aspects of urban life. More than one half of the world population lives today in big cities, with all the attendant problems as regards air, water and soil quality, safe disposal of urban waste, occupational exposure, in one word, the physical, mental and cultural welfare of citizens at large. All facets concurring to protect and maintain urban health will be thus taken into consideration and highlighted in about forty invited lectures, while posters will be displayed in a permanent session throughout the conference duration [it

  12. Ultrasonographic findings of early abortion: suggested predictors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jun, Soon Ae; Ahn, Myoung Ock; Cha, Kwang Yul; Lee, Young Doo

    1992-01-01

    To investigate predictable ultrasonographic findings of early abortion. To investigate objective rules for the screening of abortion. Ultrasonographic examination of 111 early pregnancies between the sixth and ninth week in women who had regular 28 day menstrual cycles was performed. Ultrasonographic measurements of the gestational sac, crown rump length and fetal heart rate were performed using a linear array real time transducer with doppler ultrasonogram. All measurements of 17 early abortions were compared to those of 94 normal pregnancies. Most of early aborted pregnancies were classified correctly by discriminant analysis with G-SAC and CRL (G-SAC=0.5 CRL + 15, sensitivity 76.5%, specificity 96.8%). With the addition of FHR, 94.1% of early abortions could be predicted. In conclusion, ultrasonographic findings of early intrauterine growth retardation, small gestational sac and bradycardia can be predictable signs suggestive of poor prognosis of early pregnancies

  13. The Delphi Technique in Identifying Learning Objectives for the Development of Science, Technology and Society Modules for Palestinian Ninth Grade Science Curriculum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abualrob, Marwan M. A.; Daniel, Esther Gnanamalar Sarojini

    2013-01-01

    This article outlines how learning objectives based upon science, technology and society (STS) elements for Palestinian ninth grade science textbooks were identified, which was part of a bigger study to establish an STS foundation in the ninth grade science curriculum in Palestine. First, an initial list of STS elements was determined. Second,…

  14. Colombian public policies contributing to the achievement of Millennium Development Goals in the health sector, 2006

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lina M. Grisales

    2008-02-01

    Full Text Available During the General Assembly of the United Nations, in September 2000,189 countries (including Colombia committed to eight objectives leading to a more human and fairer world. Such objectives are called the Millennium Development Goals (mdg and to achieve them it is crucial to incorporate them in the action agendas of each country. The purpose of this monograph is to recognize current public policies in Colombia and Antioquia leading the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, specifically those related to the reduction of mortality among children less than 5 years of age, improvement of maternal health and fighting against hiv/aids, malaria and dengue.In Colombia, Conpes 91 of 2005 is the only guideline given by the Government establishing goals and strategies to achieve the Millennium Development Goals in 2015. Nevertheless, other policies, programs and projects before and even after the Millennium Statement (but without explicit purpose contribute to achieving such goals. Revision of those policies is an effort for the research project “Degree of contribution of public policies to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals related to the health sector, Antioquia, 2006”, which will evaluate the impact these guidelines have had in the achievement of the development goals in that particular sector.

  15. Ninth DOD/NASA/FAA Conference on Fibrous Composites in Structural Design, volume 1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soderquist, Joseph R. (Compiler); Neri, Lawrence M. (Compiler); Bohon, Herman L. (Compiler)

    1992-01-01

    This publication contains the proceedings of the Ninth DOD/NASA/FAA conference on Fibrous Composites in structural Design. Presentations were made in the following areas of composite structural design: perspectives in composites; design methodology; design applications; design criteria; supporting technology; damage tolerance; and manufacturing.

  16. Effect of bottle height and aspiration rate on postocclusion surge in Infiniti and Millennium peristaltic phacoemulsification machines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ward, Matthew S; Georgescu, Dan; Olson, Randall J

    2008-08-01

    To assess how flow and bottle height affect postocclusion surge in the Infiniti (Alcon, Inc.) and Millennium (Bausch & Lomb) peristaltic machines. John A. Moran Eye Center Clinical Laboratories, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah. Postocclusion anterior chamber depth changes were measured in human eye-bank eyes using A-scan. Surge was simulated by clamping the aspiration tubing and releasing it at maximum vacuum. In both machines, surge was measured (1) with aspiration held constant at 12 mL/min and bottle heights at 60, 120, and 180 cm and (2) with bottle height held constant at 60 cm and aspiration rates at 12, 24, and 36 mL/min. Surge decreased approximately 40% with each 60 cm increase in bottle height in the Infiniti. It was constant at all bottle heights in the Millennium. At 12 and 24 mL/min aspiration rates, surge in the Millennium was less than half that in the Infiniti (PInfiniti system and was relatively constant with increasing bottle height in the Millennium system. The Millennium may offer a more stable phacoemulsification platform with respect to surge at a higher aspiration rate.

  17. Composition, production and procurement of glass at San Vincenzo Al Volturno: an early Medieval monastic complex in Southern Italy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schibille, Nadine; Freestone, Ian C

    2013-01-01

    136 glasses from the ninth-century monastery of San Vincenzo and its workshops have been analysed by electron microprobe in order to situate the assemblage within the first millennium CE glass making tradition. The majority of the glass compositions can be paralleled by Roman glass from the first to third centuries, with very few samples consistent with later compositional groups. Colours for trailed decoration on vessels, for vessel bodies and for sheet glass for windows were largely produced by melting the glass tesserae from old Roman mosaics. Some weakly-coloured transparent glass was obtained by re-melting Roman window glass, while some was produced by melting and mixing of tesserae, excluding the strongly coloured cobalt blues. Our data suggest that to feed the needs of the glass workshop, the bulk of the glass was removed as tesserae and windows from a large Roman building. This is consistent with a historical account according to which the granite columns of the monastic church were spolia from a Roman temple in the region. The purported shortage of natron from Egypt does not appear to explain the dependency of San Vincenzo on old Roman glass. Rather, the absence of contemporary primary glass may reflect the downturn in long-distance trade in the later first millennium C.E., and the role of patronage in the "ritual economy" founded upon donations and gift-giving of the time.

  18. Pacific and Atlantic influences on Mesoamerican climate over the past millennium

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stahle, D.W.; Burnette, D.J.; Fye, F.K.; Cleaveland, M.K. [University of Arkansas, Department of Geosciences, Fayetteville, AR (United States); Diaz, J.V.; Paredes, J.C. [Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agricolas, y Pecuarias, Laboratorio de Dendrocronologia, Gomez Palacio, Durango (Mexico); Heim, R.R. [NOAA, National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC (United States); Soto, R.A. [UNAM, Departamento Microbiologia y Parastologia, Mexico, D.F. (Mexico)

    2012-09-15

    A new tree-ring reconstruction of the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) for Mesoamerica from AD 771 to 2008 identifies megadroughts more severe and sustained than any witnessed during the twentieth century. Correlation analyses indicate strong forcing of instrumental and reconstructed June PDSI over Mesoamerica from the El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Spectral analyses of the 1,238-year reconstruction indicate significant concentrations of variance at ENSO, sub-decadal, bi-decadal, and multidecadal timescales. Instrumental and model-based analyses indicate that the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation is important to warm season climate variability over Mexico. Ocean-atmospheric variability in the Atlantic is not strongly correlated with the June PDSI reconstruction during the instrumental era, but may be responsible for the strong multidecadal variance detected in the reconstruction episodically over the past millennium. June drought indices in Mesoamerica are negatively correlated with gridded June PDSI over the United States from 1950 to 2005, based on both instrumental and reconstructed data. Interannual variability in this latitudinal moisture gradient is due in part to ENSO forcing, where warm events favor wet June PDSI conditions over the southern US and northern Mexico, but dryness over central and southern Mexico (Mesoamerica). Strong anti-phasing between multidecadal regimes of tree-ring reconstructed June PDSI over Mesoamerica and reconstructed summer (JJA) PDSI over the Southwest has also been detected episodically over the past millennium, including the 1950-1960s when La Nina and warm Atlantic SSTs prevailed, and the 1980-1990s when El Nino and cold Atlantic SSTs prevailed. Several Mesoamerican megadroughts are reconstructed when wetness prevailed over the Southwest, including the early tenth century Terminal Classic Drought, implicating El Nino and Atlantic SSTs in this intense and widespread drought that may have contributed to social changes

  19. Millennium ecosystem assessment: research needs

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Carpenter, SR

    2006-10-01

    Full Text Available changes. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: Research Needs ECOLOGY C r o s s - s c a l e p r o c e s s e s Human well-being Healt h, ba sic ne eds, incom e, sec urity, freed om, s ocial relat ions Direct drivers... Foundation, Los Altos, CA 94022, USA. †Author for correspondence. E-mail: hmooney@stanford.edu Stephen R. Carpenter,1 Ruth DeFries,2 Thomas Dietz,3 Harold A. Mooney,4† Stephen Polasky,5 Walter V. Reid,6* Robert J. Scholes7 Enhanced online at www...

  20. Listening to Music in the New Ninth Grade Program at Lawrence Academy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peisch, Stephen

    1995-01-01

    Describes a class for ninth graders at a private school that used the study of music to help develop six basic intellectual skills and to provide a foundation for further creative work. Discusses using the inquiry/discovery method, applying the intellect, listening to and learning from pop music, the dangers of this approach, and the final exam…

  1. New archaeozoological data from the Fayum "Neolithic" with a critical assessment of the evidence for early stock keeping in Egypt.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Veerle Linseele

    Full Text Available Faunal evidence from the Fayum Neolithic is often cited in the framework of early stock keeping in Egypt. However, the data suffer from a number of problems. In the present paper, large faunal datasets from new excavations at Kom K and Kom W (4850-4250 BC are presented. They clearly show that, despite the presence of domesticates, fish predominate in the animal bone assemblages. In this sense, there is continuity with the earlier Holocene occupation from the Fayum, starting ca. 7350 BC. Domesticated plants and animals appear first from approximately 5400 BC. The earliest possible evidence for domesticates in Egypt are the very controversial domesticated cattle from the 9th/8th millennium BC in the Nabta Playa-Bir Kiseiba area. The earliest domesticates found elsewhere in Egypt date to the 6th millennium BC. The numbers of bones are generally extremely low at this point in time and only caprines are present. From the 5th millennium BC, the numbers of sites with domesticates dramatically increase, more species are also involved and they are usually represented by significant quantities of bones. The data from the Fayum reflect this two phase development, with very limited evidence for domesticates in the 6th millennium BC and more abundant and clearer indications in the 5th millennium BC. Any modelling of early food production in Egypt suffers from poor amounts of data, bias due to differential preservation and visibility of sites and archaeological remains, and a lack of direct dates for domesticates. In general, however, the evidence for early stock keeping and accompanying archaeological features shows large regional variation and seems to be mainly dependent on local environmental conditions. The large numbers of fish at Kom K and Kom W reflect the proximity of Lake Qarun.

  2. Reaching the Millennium Development Goals : Mauritania Should Care

    OpenAIRE

    Magnoli Bocchi, Alessandro; Pontara, Nicola; Fall, Khayar; Tejada, Catalina M.; Gallego Cuervo, Pablo

    2008-01-01

    Mauritania is a resource-rich developing country. As many other African nations, it will not reach most of the Millennium Development Goals, unless the authorities commit to accelerating progress. To succeed by 2015, the government needs to: mobilize additional financial resources, introduce policy changes at the sector level, and strengthen the links between strategic objectives and the b...

  3. New Millennium Technology: A Tool for Re-Branding Education in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    New Millennium Technology: A Tool for Re-Branding Education in Nigeria. ... It could be formal or informal depending on the approaches used. The approaches call for varied and ... AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL.

  4. Closure plan for the proposed Millennium Project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tuttle, S.; Sisson, R.

    1999-01-01

    A $2.2 billion expansion of the current oil sands operation has been proposed by Suncor Energy Inc. The expansion would more than double the productive capacity of the present facility. As part of the application for this expansion, called Project Millennium, a comprehensive closure plan has been developed and filed by the Corporation. The Plan includes a systematic evaluation of the area to be developed, a description of the development activities planned, and the goals and objectives of the Corporation in re-establishing the landforms and ecosystems concurrently with running the operation. The Plan envisages surface contouring as early as practicable during the mine development, soil reconstruction, and re-establishment of vegetation, surface drainage and wetlands. The Corporation undertakes to monitor the performance of the reclaimed areas based on landform performance, the impact of chemical constituents on the landscape and ecosystem sustainability. An annual monitoring report assessing herbaceous vegetation growth, major species composition, tree and shrub survival and growth rate, groundwater conditions, amount of precipitation, the utility of constructed wetlands for treatment of reclamation area seepage and runoff waters, and wildlife population changes, will be prepared annually. A future research program associated with the Reclamation and Closure Plan will also examine the effectiveness of the reclamation drainage system as fish habitat, and the potential of the proposed end-pit lake to provide a viable aquatic ecosystem. 8 refs., 2 figs

  5. Water resources in the next millennium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wood, Warren

    As pressures from an exponentially increasing population and economic expectations rise against a finite water resource, how do we address management? This was the main focus of the Dubai International Conference on Water Resources and Integrated Management in the Third Millennium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2-6 February 2002. The invited forum attracted an eclectic mix of international thinkers from five continents. Presentations and discussions on hydrology policy/property rights, and management strategies focused mainly on problems of water supply, irrigation, and/or ecosystems.

  6. Northeast market view : Millennium Pipeline

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pentzien, D.C.

    1998-01-01

    The potential for growth in the U.S. northeast natural gas markets was discussed. In presenting a forecast for natural gas consumption, the growth in demand was attributed primarily to the planned conversion of coal and oil-fired electric generation plants to gas-fired ones, combined with nuclear plant shutdowns, and more stringent environmental policies. An overview of the development of the Millennium Pipeline bringing natural gas from the Alberta border all the way to New York City was also provided, with an update on the current status of the project. Assuming no unreasonable delays in the present schedule, the line should be in service sometime in the year 2000. figs

  7. Ninth international conference on metering and tariffs for energy supply. Proceedings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1999-01-01

    Contributions to the ninth international conference on Metering and Tariffs for Energy Supply are presented. Topics reviewed include legal metrology, regulation and the commercial framework (3 papers); metering in a competitive supply (7 papers); interactive papers (13 papers); standardisation (5 papers); equipment design (5 papers); equipment manufacture and testing (5 papers); data collection and processing (6 papers); securing and enhancing revenue (5 papers); prepayment systems (5 papers); and metering as a business (4 papers). (UK)

  8. A Career Guidance Curriculum for Ninth Grade Students. Occupational Cluster Learning Activities. Business-Environmental. Part 1 of 2. Ninth Grade Guidance Project. Project Duration: July 16, 1979, to June 30, 1980.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cape May County Vocational Schools, NJ.

    This first of two parts presents learning activities for four occupational clusters of a ninth-grade cluster program. It contains theory and hands-on activities that explore the occupational requirements and working environment of these areas to help students make intelligent decisions of possible career choices based on levels of interest and…

  9. First dairying in green Saharan Africa in the fifth millennium BC.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dunne, Julie; Evershed, Richard P; Salque, Mélanie; Cramp, Lucy; Bruni, Silvia; Ryan, Kathleen; Biagetti, Stefano; di Lernia, Savino

    2012-06-20

    In the prehistoric green Sahara of Holocene North Africa-in contrast to the Neolithic of Europe and Eurasia-a reliance on cattle, sheep and goats emerged as a stable and widespread way of life, long before the first evidence for domesticated plants or settled village farming communities. The remarkable rock art found widely across the region depicts cattle herding among early Saharan pastoral groups, and includes rare scenes of milking; however, these images can rarely be reliably dated. Although the faunal evidence provides further confirmation of the importance of cattle and other domesticates, the scarcity of cattle bones makes it impossible to ascertain herd structures via kill-off patterns, thereby precluding interpretations of whether dairying was practiced. Because pottery production begins early in northern Africa the potential exists to investigate diet and subsistence practices using molecular and isotopic analyses of absorbed food residues. This approach has been successful in determining the chronology of dairying beginning in the 'Fertile Crescent' of the Near East and its spread across Europe. Here we report the first unequivocal chemical evidence, based on the δ(13)C and Δ(13)C values of the major alkanoic acids of milk fat, for the adoption of dairying practices by prehistoric Saharan African people in the fifth millennium bc. Interpretations are supported by a new database of modern ruminant animal fats collected from Africa. These findings confirm the importance of 'lifetime products', such as milk, in early Saharan pastoralism, and provide an evolutionary context for the emergence of lactase persistence in Africa.

  10. Can the big push approach end rural poverty in Africa? : Insights from Sauri millennium village in Kenya

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wanjala, Bernadette

    2016-01-01

    This study sought to provide the first independent rigorous evaluation of the Millennium Villages Project, using Sauri millennium village (Kenya) as a case study. Sauri has been coined as a success story of the MVP across Africa, which makes it an ideal case study to assess the impact of the MVP

  11. Ninth DOD/NASA/FAA Conference on Fibrous Composites in Structural Design, volume 2

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Soderquist, J.R.; Neri, L.M.; Bohon, H.L.

    1992-09-01

    This publication contains the proceedings of the Ninth DOD/NASA/FAA Conference on Fibrous Composites in Structural Design held at Lake Tahoe, Nevada, during 4-7 Nov. 1991. Presentations were made in the following areas of composite structural design: perspectives in composites, design methodology, design applications, design criteria, supporting technology, damage tolerance, and manufacturing.

  12. Ninth DOD/NASA/FAA Conference on Fibrous Composites in Structural Design, volume 3

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soderquist, Joseph R. (Compiler); Neri, Lawrence M. (Compiler); Bohon, Herman L. (Compiler)

    1992-01-01

    This publication contains the proceedings of the Ninth DOD/NASA/FAA Conference on Fibrous Composites in Structural Design held at Lake Tahoe, Nevada, during 4-7 Nov. 1991. Presentations were made in the following areas of composite structural design: perspectives in composites, design methodology, design applications, design criteria, supporting technology, damage tolerance, and manufacturing.

  13. Ninth DOD/NASA/FAA Conference on Fibrous Composites in Structural Design, volume 2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soderquist, Joseph R. (Compiler); Neri, Lawrence M. (Compiler); Bohon, Herman L. (Compiler)

    1992-01-01

    This publication contains the proceedings of the Ninth DOD/NASA/FAA Conference on Fibrous Composites in Structural Design held at Lake Tahoe, Nevada, during 4-7 Nov. 1991. Presentations were made in the following areas of composite structural design: perspectives in composites, design methodology, design applications, design criteria, supporting technology, damage tolerance, and manufacturing.

  14. MTHFR polymorphisms and cognitive ageing in the ninth decade: the Lothian Birth Cohort 1921.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schiepers, O. J.; van Boxtel, M. P. J.; Harris, S. E.; Gow, A. J.; Pattie, A.; Brett, C. E.; de Groot, R. H.; Jolles, J.; Starr, J. M.; Deary, I. J.

    2011-01-01

    Low blood levels of B vitamins have been implicated in age-associated cognitive impairment. The present study investigated the association between genetic variation in folate metabolism and age-related cognitive decline in the ninth decade of life. Both the 677C>T (rs1801133) polymorphism and the

  15. 75 FR 71144 - Notice of Availability of Record of Decision for the Solar Millennium, LLC, Amargosa Farm Road...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-11-22

    ..., Amargosa Farm Road Solar Energy Project AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior. ACTION: Notice of... (ROD) for the Solar Millennium, LLC, Amargosa Farm Road Solar Energy Project Environmental Impact... INFORMATION: The applicant, Solar Millennium, LLC, is authorized to construct the Amargosa Farm Road Solar...

  16. Ninth DOD/NASA/FAA Conference on Fibrous Composites in Structural Design, volume 1

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Soderquist, J.R.; Neri, L.M.; Bohon, H.L.

    1992-09-01

    This publication contains the proceedings of the Ninth DOD/NASA/FAA conference on Fibrous Composites in structural Design. Presentations were made in the following areas of composite structural design: perspectives in composites; design methodology; design applications; design criteria; supporting technology; damage tolerance; and manufacturing. Separate abstracts have been indexed into the database for articles from this report.

  17. Effects of a Co-operative Learning Strategy on Ninth-Graders' Understanding of Human Nutrition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soyibo, Kola; Evans, Hermel G.

    2002-01-01

    Looks at the effect of teaching strategies on a group's attitude toward biology and understanding human nutrition. Used an experimental group that participated in co-operative learning and a control group taught using the lecture method. Involves ninth graders (n=156) from two high schools in Jamaica. (Author/YDS)

  18. Star Messenger: Galileo at the Millennium

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, R. E.

    1999-05-01

    Smith College has recently established the Louise B. and Edmund J. Kahn Liberal Arts Institute to foster interdisciplinary scholarship among the faculty. In the 1999-2000 academic year, the Kahn Institute is sponsoring a project entitled "Star Messenger: Galileo at the Millennium." The project will explore the impact of the astronomical discoveries of Galileo and his contemporaries on the Renaissance world-view and also use Galileo's experience as a lens for examining scientific and cultural developments at the symbolic juncture represented by the year 2000. Seven faculty fellows and 10-12 student fellows will participate in a year-long colloquium pursuing these themes, aided by the participation of some five Visiting Fellows. The inaugural public event will be a symposium on the historical Galileo, with presentation by three noted scholars, each of whom will return to campus for a second meeting with the Kahn colloquium. Additional events will include an exhibit of prints, artifacts, and rare books related to Galileo and his time, an early music concert featuring music composed by Galileo's father, and a series of other events sponsored by diverse departments and programs, all related to the broad themes of the Galileo project. The culminating events will be the premiere of a new music theater work, which will encapsulate the insights of the colloquium about human reactions to novel insights about the world, and a symposium presenting the research results of faculty and student fellows. The symposium will feature a capstone lecture by an visionary scholar projecting the implication of historical and contemporary trends into the future.

  19. The Role of Nomadic Education in Achieving the First Millennium ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The Role of Nomadic Education in Achieving the First Millennium Development Goal in Sub-Saharan Africa. ... PROMOTING ACCESS TO AFRICAN RESEARCH ... The paper further reviews the current awareness about nomadic education policy ... education towards sustainable livestock development as well as economic ...

  20. Tuberculosis elimination in the post Millennium Development Goals era

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wejse, Christian

    2015-01-01

    The Millennium Development Goal for tuberculosis (TB) is to stop the increase in incidence and halve the mortality of TB between 1990 and 2015. This goal has now been reached on a global scale, although not in the most affected region of Africa. The new target is TB elimination, defined as one case...

  1. Composition, production and procurement of glass at San Vincenzo Al Volturno: an early Medieval monastic complex in Southern Italy.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nadine Schibille

    Full Text Available 136 glasses from the ninth-century monastery of San Vincenzo and its workshops have been analysed by electron microprobe in order to situate the assemblage within the first millennium CE glass making tradition. The majority of the glass compositions can be paralleled by Roman glass from the first to third centuries, with very few samples consistent with later compositional groups. Colours for trailed decoration on vessels, for vessel bodies and for sheet glass for windows were largely produced by melting the glass tesserae from old Roman mosaics. Some weakly-coloured transparent glass was obtained by re-melting Roman window glass, while some was produced by melting and mixing of tesserae, excluding the strongly coloured cobalt blues. Our data suggest that to feed the needs of the glass workshop, the bulk of the glass was removed as tesserae and windows from a large Roman building. This is consistent with a historical account according to which the granite columns of the monastic church were spolia from a Roman temple in the region. The purported shortage of natron from Egypt does not appear to explain the dependency of San Vincenzo on old Roman glass. Rather, the absence of contemporary primary glass may reflect the downturn in long-distance trade in the later first millennium C.E., and the role of patronage in the "ritual economy" founded upon donations and gift-giving of the time.

  2. Linkages Between Hemispheric and Regional Circulation Features Over the Past Millennium Inferred From a Network of Long Tree-Ring Chronologies in the Southwestern USA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ni, F.; Hughes, M. K.; Funkhouser, G.

    2003-12-01

    Features of large-scale atmospheric/oceanic circulation at hemispheric and regional scale affect the many moisture-sensitive, well-replicated millennial length tree-ring records in the Western US that span all the last millennium. This tree-ring variability may be associated with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) and the Southwest Trough Index, all of which directly influence climate variations in the American Southwest. 1000-year atmospheric/oceanic time series based in these associations were then linked with the observed and previously reconstructed summer Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) in western US, providing a decadal to multi-century perspective on climate/circulation variability. Hemispheric and regional climate association tend to be stronger during sudden reversals from dry to wet which were not uncommon throughout the millennium, such as the 1970s PDO reversal which followed the 1950s drought, the 1610s wet interval that followed the 16th century mega drought, and the late 11th, early 12th centuries. Proxy and instrumental data suggest that significant regional anomalous dry (wet) periods over the last millennium (for example in the 1580s and 1950s) coincided with infrequent (frequent) short-wave trough activity. This probably teleconnected with cold sea surface temperature (SST) and high sea level pressure (SLP) over the eastern North Pacific that was enhanced by a greater number of in-phase cold-ENSO and PDO events.

  3. Millennium Development Goals: Tool or token of global social governance?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Al Raee, M.; Amoateng, Elvis; Avenyo, E.K.; Beshay, Youssef; Bierbaum, M.; Keijser, C.; Sinha, R.

    2014-01-01

    In this paper we argue that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) experience suggests that Global Social Governance (GSG) exists and that the MDGs have been an effective tool in creating a global accountability framework despite shortcomings mainly arising in the formulation process. The paper

  4. NCI Takes Back the Defelice Cup at Ninth Annual Golf Tournament | Poster

    Science.gov (United States)

    By Ashley DeVine, Staff Writer After being down by a point in the morning, NCI reclaimed the Defelice Cup trophy from Leidos Biomedical Research, with a final score of 12 ½ to 11 ½, at the ninth annual Ronald H. Defelice Golf Tournament, held Oct. 13. “The tightest matches in the nine-year history of this cup competition resulted in a narrow victory for NCI and allowed NCI to

  5. PID Control in the Third Millennium Lessons Learned and New Approaches

    CERN Document Server

    Visioli, Antonio

    2012-01-01

    The early 21st century has seen a renewed interest in research in the widely-adopted proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controllers. PID Control in the Third Millennium provides an overview of the advances made as a result. Featuring: ·        new approaches for controller tuning; ·        control structures and configurations for more efficient control; ·        practical issues in PID implementation; and ·        non-standard approaches to PID including fractional-order, event-based, nonlinear, data-driven and predictive control; the nearly twenty chapters provide a state-of-the-art resumé of PID controller theory, design and realization. Each chapter has specialist authorship and ideas clearly characterized from both academic and industrial viewpoints. Advances in Industrial Control aims to report and encourage the transfer of technology in control engineering. The rapid development of control technology has an impact on all areas of the control discipline. The series o...

  6. New and emerging tools for library practice in the New Millennium ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    New and emerging tools for library practice in the New Millennium. ... DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT Open Access DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT Subscription or Fee ... The new tools of library practice are therefore essentially digital. The economic and ...

  7. The Relationship between Voting Knowledge and Voting Attitudes of Selected Ninth and Tenth Grade Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Golden, Kathleen

    1985-01-01

    A study showed that the acquisition of voting knowledge in a civics class positively influenced ninth- and tenth-grade students' attitudes toward voting. Teachers should give students a solid foundation concerning the electoral process and encourage students to participate in the political process. (RM)

  8. Effectiveness of a Combined Tutoring and Mentoring Intervention with Ninth-Grade, Urban Black Adolescents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Somers, Cheryl L.; Wang, Dan; Piliawsky, Monte

    2016-01-01

    This quasi-experimental study examined the effectiveness of a combined tutoring and mentoring intervention for urban, low-income Black youth during the transition to high school. Participants were 118 ninth-grade students (experimental n = 69; comparison n = 49). After 7 months in the intervention program, students in the experimental group showed…

  9. Successful behavioral health business development for the millennium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pyrce, J M

    1998-08-01

    The business development framework for provider positioning, market share, and competition has significantly shifted in the late 1990s as providers prepare for the millennium. The use of the Marketing Four Ps is a helpful tool for providers to thoroughly evaluate their product/service viability, pricing objectives, promotional mix, and place accessibility, and will allow organizations to reposition in their marketplace, maximize market share, and develop new partnerships with previous competitors.

  10. Temperature variability over the past millennium inferred from Northwestern Alaska tree rings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    D' Arrigo, Rosanne; Mashig, Erika; Jacoby, Gordon [Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Tree-Ring Laboratory, Palisades, NY (United States); Frank, David [WSL, Birmensdorf (Switzerland); Wilson, Rob [University of Edinburgh, School of Geosciences, Grant Institute, Edinburgh (United Kingdom)

    2005-02-01

    We describe a new tree-ring width data set of 14 white spruce chronologies for the Seward Peninsula (SP), Alaska, based on living and subfossil wood dating from 1358 to 2001 AD. A composite chronology derived from these data correlates positively and significantly with summer temperatures at Nome from 1910 to 1970, after which there is some loss of positive temperature response. There is inferred cooling during periods within the Little Ice Age (LIA) from the early to middle 1600s and late 1700s to middle 1800s; and warming from the middle 1600s to early 1700s. We also present a larger composite data set covering 978-2001 AD, utilizing the SP ring-width data in combination with archaeological wood measurements and other recent collections from northwestern Alaska. The Regional Curve Standardization (RCS) method was employed to maximize potential low-frequency information in this data set. The RCS chronology shows intervals of persistent above-average growth around the time of the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) early in the millennium, which are comparable to growth levels in recent centuries. There is a more sustained cold interval during the LIA inferred from the RCS record as compared to the SP ring-width series. The chronologies correlate significantly with Bering and Chukchi Sea sea surface temperatures and with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation index. These atmosphere-ocean linkages probably account for the differences between these records and large-scale reconstructions of Arctic and Northern Hemisphere temperatures based largely on continental interior proxy data. (orig.)

  11. Critical Review of the Millennium Project in Nepal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ashma Vaidya

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available “Our Common Future” harmonized development policies around a new sustainable development (SD paradigm, and experts also emphasize the importance of a democratic and equitable approach to define and achieve sustainable development. However, SD targets and indicators are often defined by a suite of experts or a few stakeholder groups, far removed from on-the-ground conditions. The most common expert-led development framework, the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs, promoted one set of targets and indicators for all developing countries. While progress towards these targets was routinely reported at the national scale, these targets may not reflect context-specific sustainable development. We evaluated the relevance and comprehensiveness of MDG 7 (environmental sustainability for Nepal. Although Nepal has met most of the MDG 7 (e.g., forest cover, protected areas coverage, water and sanitation, on closer inspection these indicators do not provide adequate context for ensuring that these targets provide the intended levels of development. Simple forest cover and protected area indicators belie the dearth of ecological conservation on the ground, and water and sanitation indicators do not reflect the inequality of access based on poverty and regions. While the Millennium Development Goals align with broad sustainability concerns in Nepal, these indicators do not reveal its true development conditions.

  12. El creador de World Wide Web gana premio Millennium de tecnologia

    CERN Multimedia

    Galan, J

    2004-01-01

    "El creador de la World Wide Web (WWW), el fisico britanico Tim Berners-Lee, gano hoy la primera edicion del Millennium Technology Prize, un galardon internacional creado por una fundacion finlandesa y dotado con un millon de euros" (1/2 page)

  13. Ninth DOD/NASA/FAA Conference on Fibrous Composites in Structural Design, volume 3

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Soderquist, J.R.; Neri, L.M.; Bohon, H.L.

    1992-09-01

    This publication contains the proceedings of the Ninth DOD/NASA/FAA Conference on Fibrous Composites in Structural Design held at Lake Tahoe, Nevada, during 4-7 Nov. 1991. Presentations were made in the following areas of composite structural design: perspectives in composites, design methodology, design applications, design criteria, supporting technology, damage tolerance, and manufacturing. Separate abstracts have been prepared for articles from this report.

  14. ‘Castle in the sky’:The anomaly of the millennium villages project fixing food and markets in Sauri, western Kenya

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kimanthi, Hellen; Hebinck, Paul

    2018-01-01

    Millennium Villages Project (MVP) was implemented in various villages across sub-Saharan African countries to catalyse the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and provide evidence of step-wise societal transformation by 2015. This paper critically analyses from an assemblage

  15. Proceedings of the ninth annual underground coal gasification symposium

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wieber, P.R.; Martin, J.W.; Byrer, C.W. (eds.)

    1983-12-01

    The Ninth Underground Coal Gasification Symposium was held August 7 to 10, 1983 at the Indian Lakes Resort and Conference Center in Bloomingdale, Illinois. Over one-hundred attendees from industry, academia, National Laboratories, State Government, and the US Government participated in the exchange of ideas, results and future research plans. Representatives from six countries including France, Belgium, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, West Germany, and Brazil also participated by presenting papers. Fifty papers were presented and discussed in four formal sessions and two informal poster sessions. The presentations described current and future field testing plans, interpretation of field test data, environmental research, laboratory studies, modeling, and economics. All papers were processed for inclusion in the Energy Data Base.

  16. Microscale Experiments in Chemistry-The Need of the New Millennium

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Home; Journals; Resonance – Journal of Science Education; Volume 5; Issue 10. Microscale Experiments in Chemistry – The Need of the New Millennium-Newer Ways of Teaching Laboratory Courses with New Apparatus. Shriniwas L Kelkar Dilip D Dhavale. Series Article Volume 5 Issue 10 October 2000 pp 24-31 ...

  17. Colombian public policies contributing to the achievement of Millennium Development Goals in the health sector, 2006

    OpenAIRE

    Lina M. Grisales; Libardo A. Giraldo

    2008-01-01

    During the General Assembly of the United Nations, in September 2000,189 countries (including Colombia) committed to eight objectives leading to a more human and fairer world. Such objectives are called the Millennium Development Goals (mdg) and to achieve them it is crucial to incorporate them in the action agendas of each country. The purpose of this monograph is to recognize current public policies in Colombia and Antioquia leading the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, speci...

  18. Millennium Open Pit Mine, Alberta, Canada

    Science.gov (United States)

    2007-01-01

    Near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, on the east bank of the Athabasca River, are found the Steepbank and Millennium mines. These open pit mines produce oil sands that are processed to recover bitumen, and then upgrade it to refinery-ready raw crude oil, and diesel fuel. The ASTER images were acquired September 22, 2000 and July 31, 2007, cover an area of 22.5 x 25.5 km, and are located near 57 degrees north latitude, 111.5 degrees west longitude. The U.S. science team is located at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

  19. Tycho Brahe, Abū Ma‘shar, and the Comet beyond Venus (Ninth Century A.D.)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Neuhäuser, Ralph; Kunitzsch, Paul; Mugrauer, Markus; Luge, Daniela; van Gent, R.H.

    From his observations of the A.D. 1572 supernova and the A.D. 1577 comet, Tycho Brahe concluded that such transient celestial objects are outside the Earth’s atmosphere, and he quoted the ninth century A.D. Persian astrologer and astronomer Abū Macshar: Dixit Albumasar, Cometa supra Venerem visus

  20. Experiences from commissioning of the Kamewa / Alstom millennium mermaids, and further navalization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Johansson, M. [Rools-Royce AB (Sweden)

    2000-07-01

    With the launching and commissioning of the Millennium ship during spring year 2000, technology and experience around podded propulsors were brought significantly forward. Millennium, a cruise liner built at Chantiers de l'Atlantique for Celebrity Cruises, is equipped with the most powerful podded propulsors ever built, the 19.5 MW Kamewal Alstom Mermaids, and is also the fastest pod propelled ship so far. This paper describes some experience from sea trials and ship operation. Results from full scale measurements and observations, ranging from cavitation performance to hydro acoustic noise, are discussed and compared to model scale results and predictions. The importance of model scale hydrodynamic testing, in combination with full scale observations, is emphasized as instrumental for a further development of podded propulsors towards naval applications. (author)

  1. Recent applications of PIXE spectrometry in archaeology. Pt. 1; Observations on the early development of copper metallurgy in the Old World

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fleming, S J [MASCA, Univ. Museum, Univ. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States); Swann, C P [Bartol Research Inst., Univ. Delaware, Newark, DE (United States)

    1993-04-01

    The early development of copper metallurgy can be characterized by three steps of innovation: (i) Exploitation of native copper resources for simple tool-making as early as the 7th millennium B.C. in the Near East; (ii) the recovery of copper metal from minerals such as malachite, by smelting, during the 5th millennium B.C., both in the Near East and in eastern Europe; and (iii) the deliberate alloying of copper and tin, to make bronze, circa 2800 B.C. in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). This paper reviews the technological aspects associated the first two of these steps, comparing compositional patterns (as determined by PIXE spectrometry) for the copper metallurgy of various regions including the Middle Danube basin, the Tigris basin, and the Iranian Plateau. (orig.).

  2. Global Food Crisis and the Millennium Development Goals in Africa ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    hunger/poverty, food security in the world has been deteriorating, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Amidst the slow pace of meeting the millennium goal of reducing poverty/hunger arises a serious challenging threat - the food crisis in the midst of the MDGs' efforts. It is on this premise that this paper examines the global ...

  3. Early agriculture and crop transmission among Bronze Age mobile pastoralists of Central Eurasia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spengler, Robert; Frachetti, Michael; Doumani, Paula; Rouse, Lynne; Cerasetti, Barbara; Bullion, Elissa; Mar'yashev, Alexei

    2014-05-22

    Archaeological research in Central Eurasia is exposing unprecedented scales of trans-regional interaction and technology transfer between East Asia and southwest Asia deep into the prehistoric past. This article presents a new archaeobotanical analysis from pastoralist campsites in the mountain and desert regions of Central Eurasia that documents the oldest known evidence for domesticated grains and farming among seasonally mobile herders. Carbonized grains from the sites of Tasbas and Begash illustrate the first transmission of southwest Asian and East Asian domesticated grains into the mountains of Inner Asia in the early third millennium BC. By the middle second millennium BC, seasonal camps in the mountains and deserts illustrate that Eurasian herders incorporated the cultivation of millet, wheat, barley and legumes into their subsistence strategy. These findings push back the chronology for domesticated plant use among Central Eurasian pastoralists by approximately 2000 years. Given the geography, chronology and seed morphology of these data, we argue that mobile pastoralists were key agents in the spread of crop repertoires and the transformation of agricultural economies across Asia from the third to the second millennium BC.

  4. The beginnings of dairying as practised by pastoralists in ‘green’ Saharan Africa in the 5th millennium BC

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julie Dunne

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Previous research has identified the antiquity and chronology of dairying practices as beginning in the Near East and its subsequent spread across Europe. In the Libyan Sahara, archaeological evidence, confirmed by the remarkable rock art depicting cattle herding, together with faunal evidence, also suggests an early inception of dairying practices in North Africa and the formation of an independent ‘secondary products’ economy by mobile pastoral groups. In this paper, we elaborate on the first unequivocal chemical evidence, based on the δ13C and Δ13C values of the major fatty acids of milk fat, for the adoption of dairying practices by prehistoric Saharan African people in the fifth millennium BC.

  5. Ninth International Conference on Dependability and Complex Systems

    CERN Document Server

    Mazurkiewicz, Jacek; Sugier, Jarosław; Walkowiak, Tomasz; Kacprzyk, Janusz

    2014-01-01

    DepCoS – RELCOMEX is an annual series of conferences organized by Wrocław University of Technology to promote a comprehensive approach to evaluation of system performability which is now commonly called dependability. In contrast to classic analyses which were concentrated on reliability of technical resources and structures built from them, dependability is based on multi-disciplinary approach to theory, technology, and maintenance of a system considered to be a multifaceted amalgamation of technical, information, organization, software and human (users, administrators, supervisors, etc.) resources. Diversity of processes being realized (data processing, system management, system monitoring, etc.), their concurrency and their reliance on in-system intelligence often severely impedes construction of strict mathematical models and calls for application of intelligent and soft computing methods. This book presents the proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Dependability and Complex Systems DepC...

  6. TRACE Authored Papers from the First through Ninth Annual Conferences on Rehabilitation Engineering Technology (1977-1986).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brady, Mary; And Others

    Brief papers authored by staff of the Trace Research and Development Center on Communication, Control, and Computer Access for Handicapped Individuals and presented at the first through ninth annual conferences on rehabilitation engineering technology are presented. Papers have the following titles and authors: "The Data Routing Module:…

  7. Limited Representation of Individuals with Disabilities in Early Childhood Classes: Alarming or Status Quo?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Favazza, Paddy C.; Ostrosky, Michaelene M.; Meyer, Lori E.; Yu, SeonYeong; Mouzourou, Chryso

    2017-01-01

    UNICEF's new Millennium Development Goals and Beyond (2015. http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/) focus on the needs of the largest marginalised minority, individuals with disabilities, challenging us to examine issues related to exclusion and develop strategies for making an authentic sense of belonging and high-quality early childhood education a…

  8. Efficiency in Reaching the Millennium Development Goals. World Bank Working Paper.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jayasuriya, Ruwan, Ed.; Wodon, Quentin, Ed.

    The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) provide clear targets and areas of focus for international organizations such as the World Bank. At a conceptual level, to reduce poverty and hunger, to improve education and health indicators, and to promote gender equality and sustainable development, countries can either increase the resources they…

  9. Literacy for the New Millennium. Volume 4: Adult Literacy. Praeger Perspectives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guzzetti, Barbara J., Ed.

    2007-01-01

    Living in an age of communication, literacy is an extremely integral part of our society. We are impacted by literature during our infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. "Literacy for the New Millennium" includes information from specialists in the field who discuss the influence of popular culture, media, and technology on…

  10. Fluidics and heat generation of Alcon Infiniti and Legacy, Bausch & Lomb Millennium, and advanced medical optics sovereign phacoemulsification systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Floyd, Michael S; Valentine, Jeremy R; Olson, Randall J

    2006-09-01

    To study heat generation, vacuum, and flow characteristics of the Alcon Infiniti and Bausch & Lomb Millennium with results compared with the Alcon Legacy and advanced medical optics (AMO) Sovereign machines previously studied. Experimental study. Heat generation with continuous ultrasound was determined with and without a 200-g weight. Flow and vacuum were determined from 12 to 40-ml/min in 2-ml/min steps. The impact of a STAAR Cruise Control was also tested. Millennium created the most heat/20% of power (5.67 +/- 0.51 degrees C unweighted and 6.80 +/- 0.80 degrees C weighted), followed by Sovereign (4.59 +/- 0.70 degrees C unweighted and 5.65 +/- 0.72 degrees C weighted), Infiniti (2.79 +/- 0.62 degrees C unweighted and 3.96 +/- 0.31 degrees C weighted), and Legacy (1.99 +/- 0.49 degrees C unweighted and 4.27 +/- 0.76 degrees C weighted; P Infiniti vs Legacy, both weighted). Flow studies revealed that Millennium Peristaltic was 17% less than indicated (P < .0001 to all other machines), and all other machines were within 3.5% of indicated. Cruise Control decreased flow by 4.1% (P < .0001 for same machine without it). Millennium Venturi had the greatest vacuum (81% more than the least Sovereign; P < .0001), and Cruise Control increased vacuum in a peristaltic machine 35% more than the Venturi system (P < .0001). Percent power is not consistent in regard to heat generation, however, flow was accurate for all machines except Millennium Peristaltic. Restriction with Cruise Control elevates unoccluded vacuum to levels greater than the Venturi system tested.

  11. Proceedings of the ninth Symposium of Atomic Energy Research

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1999-10-01

    The present volume contains 57 papers. Most of the papers were presented on the ninth Symposium of Atomic Energy Research, held in Demanovska Dolina, Slovakia, 4-6 October 1999. The rest of the papers (intended to be presented but not presented due to difficulties) is included based on the decision of the organizers. The papers are in their original form, i. e. no corrections or modifications were carried out. The content of this volume is divided into thematic groups: Spectral and Core Calculation Methods, Core Operation and Fuel Management, Core Monitoring, Surveillance and Testing, Safety Issues, Neutron Kinetics and Reactor Dynamics, Reactivity Evaluation, High Subcriticality, Critical Safety and Spent Fuel and Spent Fuel Transmutations - according to the presentation sequence on the Symposium. At the end of the volume an alphabetical author index is given.

  12. Proceedings of the ninth Symposium of Atomic Energy Research

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1999-10-01

    The present volume contains 57 papers. Most of the papers were presented on the ninth Symposium of Atomic Energy Research, held in Demanovska Dolina, Slovakia, 4-6 October 1999. The rest of the papers (intended to be presented but not presented due to difficulties) is included based on the decision of the organizers. The papers are in their original form, i. e. no corrections or modifications were carried out. The content of this volume is divided into thematic groups: Spectral and Core Calculation Methods, Core Operation and Fuel Management, Core Monitoring, Surveillance and Testing, Safety Issues, Neutron Kinetics and Reactor Dynamics, Reactivity Evaluation, High Subcriticality, Critical Safety and Spent Fuel and Spent Fuel Transmutations - according to the presentation sequence on the Symposium. At the end of the volume an alphabetical author index is given

  13. New Space Industries for the Next Millennium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smitherman, D. V., Jr. (Compiler)

    1998-01-01

    New Space Industries For the Next Millennium is a final report of the findings from the New Space Industries Workshop held in Washington, DC, in February 1998. The primary purpose of this workshop was to identify what must be done to develop new markets, and to generate plans, milestones and new organizational relationships designed to facilitate the goal of space development. This document provides a summary report on the results of that workshop and is not intended as a statement of NASA or government policy. Previous studies had shown great potential for the development of new markets in space (e.g., travel and entertainment, space solar power, satellite and space transfer services, research and development in space, space manufacturing, and space resources), and a great need for coordination and formation of infrastructures (e.g., space transportation, space business parks, and space utilities), to facilitate the growth of new space businesses. The New Space Industries Workshop brought together government, academia, and industry participants from several previous studies and other professionals interested in the development of space for commercial purposes. Their participation provided input into the role of government and industry in space development as well as the technology needs that will enable space development. The opening of the frontier of space, not just to government missions but to private individuals and commercial business, is a challenge of overarching importance. It is our hope that the workshop and this final report continue in earnest the process of identifying and overcoming the barriers to large-scale public access and development of space in the early years of the next century.

  14. A multi-proxy perspective on millennium-long climate variability in the Southern Pyrenees

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Morellón, M.; Pérez-Sanz, A.; Corella, J.P.; Büntgen, U.; Catalán, J.; González-Samprizé, P.; González-Trueba, J.J.; López-Sáez, J.A.; Moreno, A.; Pla-Rabes, S.; Saz-Sánchez, M.Á.; Scussolini, P.; Serrano, E.; Steinhilber, F.; Stefanova, V.; Vegas-Vilarrúbia, T.; Valero-Garcés, B.

    2012-01-01

    This paper reviews multi-proxy paleoclimatic reconstructions with robust age-control derived from lacustrine, dendrochronological and geomorphological records and characterizes the main environmental changes that occurred in the Southern Pyrenees during the last millennium. Warmer and relatively

  15. Vision-21: Space Travel for the Next Millennium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Landis, G.A.

    1990-04-01

    The papers from this symposium, that was held at the NASA Lewis Research Center on April 3-4, 1990, are presented. The theme selected for the symposium was space travel for the next millennium. It was hoped that the participants would allow their focus to consider possible advances in technologies for space travel not just for currently envisioned projects, but for possibilities beyond the next generation and the next thousand years. About half of the contributed papers focussed on propulsion and the other half on other issues related to space travel

  16. Measuring up to the Model: A Ranking of State Public Charter School Laws. Ninth Annual Edition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ziebarth, Todd; Palmer, Louann Bierlein

    2018-01-01

    This ninth edition of "Measuring up to the Model: A Ranking of State Charter School Laws" presents the latest activity in charter public school legislation across the country. For the second year in a row, the 2018 rankings measure each state's charter school law against the National Alliance's updated model charter school law, "New…

  17. Idiopathic Ninth, Tenth, and Twelfth Cranial Nerve Palsy with Ipsilateral Headache: A Case Report

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sun Seung-Ho

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Objective: This case report is to report the effect of Korean traditional treatment for idiopathic ninth, tenth, and twelfth cranial nerve palsy with ipsilateral headache. Methods: The medical history and imaging and laboratory test of a 39-year-old man with cranial palsy were tested to identify the cause of disease. A 0.2-mL dosage of Hwangyeonhaedoktang pharmacopuncture was administered at CV23 and CV17, respectively. Acupuncture was applied at P06, Li05, TE05, and G37 on the right side of the body. Zhuapiandutongbang (左偏頭痛方 was administered at 30 minutes to 1 hour after mealtime three times a day. The symptoms were investigated using Visual Analogue Scale (VAS. Results: The results of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI, computed tomography (CT, and laboratory tests were normal. The medical history showed no trauma, other illnesses, family history of diseases, medications, smoking, drinking and so on. All symptoms disappeared at the 10th day of treatment. Conclusion: Korean traditional treatment such as acupuncture, pharmcopuncture, and herbal medicine for the treatment of ninth, tenth, and twelfth cranial nerve palsy of unknown origin is suggested to be effective even though this conclusion is based on a single.

  18. Passive fire building protection system evaluation (case study: millennium ict centre)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahman, Vinky; Stephanie

    2018-03-01

    Passive fire protection system is a system that refers to the building design, both regarding of architecture and structure. This system usually consists of structural protection that protects the structure of the building and prevents the spread of fire and facilitate the evacuation process in case of fire. Millennium ICT Center is the largest electronic shopping center in Medan, Indonesia. As a public building that accommodates the crowd, this building needs a fire protection system by the standards. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate passive fire protection system of Millennium ICT Center building. The study was conducted to describe the facts of the building as well as direct observation to the research location. The collected data is then processed using the AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process) method in its weighting process to obtain the reliability value of passive fire protection fire system. The results showed that there are some components of passive fire protection system in the building, but some are still unqualified. The first section in your paper

  19. Heavy Episodic Drinking and Alcohol-Related Consequences: Sex-Specific Differences in Parental Influences among Ninth-Grade Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doumas, Diana M.; Hausheer, Robin; Esp, Susan

    2015-01-01

    Parents impact adolescent substance abuse, but sex-specific influences are not well-understood. This study examined parental influences on adolescent drinking behavior in a sample of ninth-grade students (N = 473). Hierarchical regression analyses indicated parental monitoring, disapproval of teen alcohol use, and quality of parent-teen general…

  20. Do High-Ability Students Disidentify with Science? A Descriptive Study of U.S. Ninth Graders in 2009

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andersen, Lori; Chen, Jason A.

    2016-01-01

    The present study describes science expectancy-value motivation classes within a nationally representative sample of students who were U.S. ninth graders in 2009. An expectancy-value model was the basis for science-specific profile indicators (self-efficacy, attainment value, utility value, interest-enjoyment value). Using exploratory latent class…

  1. Ninth ITER technical meeting on safety and environment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raeder, J.; Gordon, C.

    2001-01-01

    The ninth ITER Technical Meeting on safety and environment, the last in the course of the ITER Engineering Design Activities (EDA), was held at the ITER Garching Joint Work site, 8 to 10 May 2001. At this Meeting, safety experts from the House Teams worked together with the members of the Safety, Environment and Health Groups (SEHG) of the ITER Joint Central Team (JCT) in the following areas: finalization of the Generic Site Safety report (GSSR) which is considered to be the most important objective of the present work; summary of the safety related R and D work done by the Home Teams for ITER during EDA; review of verification and validation work done on computer codes being applied for Safety and Environment (S and E) analyses; outline of work considered necessary for improving the S and E database, quantifying uncertainties of the code results and preparing the adaptation of ITER to a specific site

  2. Reification in the Learning of Square Roots in a Ninth Grade Classroom: Combining Semiotic and Discursive Approaches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shinno, Yusuke

    2018-01-01

    This paper reports on combining semiotic and discursive approaches to reification in classroom interactions. It focuses on the discursive characteristics and semiotic processes involved in the teaching and learning of square roots in a ninth grade classroom in Japan. The purpose of this study is to characterize the development of mathematical…

  3. Multisite Case Study of Florida's Millennium High School Reform Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carol A. Mullen

    2002-10-01

    Full Text Available This study should have immediate utility for the United States and beyond its borders. School-to-work approaches to comprehensive reform are increasingly expected of schools while legislative funding for this purpose gets pulled back. This multisite case study launches the first analysis of the New Millennium High School (NMHS model in Florida. This improvement program relies upon exemplary leadership for preparing students for postsecondary education

  4. Maternal Employment and Child Cognitive Outcomes in the First Three Years of Life: The NICHD Study of Early Child Care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne; Han, Wen-Jui; Waldfogel, Jane

    2002-01-01

    Examined data on 900 European American children from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care to explore links between maternal employment during the child's first year and child cognitive outcomes. Found that maternal employment by the child's ninth month related to lower school readiness scores at 36 months, with more pronounced effects for certain…

  5. Expanding Access and Opportunity: The Impact of the Gates Millennium Scholars Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramsey, Jennifer

    2010-01-01

    In 1999, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation began an innovative scholarship program that provides full financial support to low-income minority students across the United States. The Gates Millennium Scholars (GMS) program has already awarded more than 10,000 scholarships to exceptional students, with the ultimate goal of funding at least…

  6. Teachers' Motivating Methods to Support Thai Ninth Grade Students' Levels of Motivation and Learning in Mathematics Classrooms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nenthien, Sansanee; Loima, Jyrki

    2016-01-01

    The aims of this qualitative research were to investigate the level of motivation and learning of ninth grade students in mathematics classrooms in Thailand and to reveal how the teachers supported students' levels of motivation and learning. The participants were 333 students and 12 teachers in 12 mathematics classrooms from four regions of…

  7. Surface changes in the North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during the last millennium

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wanamaker, A.D.; Butler, P.G.; Scourse, J.D.

    2012-01-01

    of decadal-to-centennial scale changes in Atlantic meridional overturning circulation strength in regulating the climate of the last millennium. Here we use the time-constrained high-resolution local radiocarbon reservoir age offset derived from an absolutely dated annually resolved shell chronology spanning...

  8. Dermatology in the new millennium

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomas Jayakar

    2001-01-01

    Full Text Available Dermatology in the new millennium will have to focus on the demands, hopes, and satisfaction of those who look at themselves as having skin liaments. Governments may modify this by declaring some unperceived needs as important and therefore fundable and others as unimportant. Hopefully there should be equity, the women will be equal to men, and poor countries equal to the rich. The importance of skin to the individual will not diminish and hopefully will be better recognized by funding agencies. The costs of treating skin diseases will always be an issue, and the case for treating skin diseases will have to be made in the competitive world of much life threatening disease. Dermatologists may themselves opt out of treating conditions which governance deems important. An example would be all breaks in surface continuity of the skin which other professions might wish to take over as leg ulcers, the diabetic foot ulcer, the pressure sore, or burns.

  9. Comparative Effects of Prescribed Weight-Training and Basketball Programs on Basketball Skill Test Scores of Ninth Grade Boys.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ford, H. Thomas, Jr.; Puckett, John R.

    1983-01-01

    The effects of weight-training and basketball programs on four basketball skills were evaluated with a pre- to posttest study of ninth-grade boys. No significant differences or trends were found among groups on the front shot, speed pass, jump and reach, or dribble. (Author/RD)

  10. Reasonable Expectations and the First Millennium Development Goal

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dalgaard, Carl-Johan Lars; Ericksson, Lennart

    2009-01-01

    Using a calibrated neoclassical growth model, we address three questions: (i) how much growth should aid flows have produced in Sub-Saharan Africa over the last three decades? (ii) how much aid would be needed to attain the First Millennium Development Goal (MDG#1) of cutting poverty in half...... by 2015? (iii) taking proposed aid flows as given, how much would structural characteristics, such as domestic savings rates and productivity, have to change in order to reach the MDG#1? Our analysis indicates that past and future expectations for aid in fostering growth and poverty reduction have been...

  11. SU-F-T-366: Dosimetric Parameters Enhancement of 120-Leaf Millennium MLC Using EGSnrc and IAEA Phase-Space Data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haddad, K; Alopoor, H

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: Recently, the multileaf collimators (MLC) have become an important part of any LINAC collimation systems because they reduce the treatment planning time and improves the conformity. Important factors that affects the MLCs collimation performance are leaves material composition and their thickness. In this study, we investigate the main dosimetric parameters of 120-leaf Millennium MLC including dose in the buildup point, physical penumbra as well as average and end leaf leakages. Effects of the leaves geometry and density on these parameters are evaluated Methods: From EGSnrc Monte Carlo code, BEAMnrc and DOSXYZnrc modules are used to evaluate the dosimetric parameters of a water phantom exposed to a Varian xi for 100cm SSD. Using IAEA phasespace data just above MLC (Z=46cm) and BEAMnrc, for the modified 120-leaf Millennium MLC a new phase space data at Z=52cm is produces. The MLC is modified both in leaf thickness and material composition. EGSgui code generates 521ICRU library for tungsten alloys. DOSXYZnrc with the new phase space evaluates the dose distribution in a water phantom of 60×60×20 cm3 with voxel size of 4×4×2 mm3. Using DOSXYZnrc dose distributions for open beam and closed beam as well as the leakages definition, end leakage, average leakage and physical penumbra are evaluated. Results: A new MLC with improved dosimetric parameters is proposed. The physical penumbra for proposed MLC is 4.7mm compared to 5.16 mm for Millennium. Average leakage in our design is reduced to 1.16% compared to 1.73% for Millennium, the end leaf leakage suggested design is also reduced to 4.86% compared to 7.26% of Millennium. Conclusion: The results show that the proposed MLC with enhanced dosimetric parameters could improve the conformity of treatment planning.

  12. SU-F-T-366: Dosimetric Parameters Enhancement of 120-Leaf Millennium MLC Using EGSnrc and IAEA Phase-Space Data

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Haddad, K; Alopoor, H [Shiraz University, Shiraz, I.R. Iran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

    2016-06-15

    Purpose: Recently, the multileaf collimators (MLC) have become an important part of any LINAC collimation systems because they reduce the treatment planning time and improves the conformity. Important factors that affects the MLCs collimation performance are leaves material composition and their thickness. In this study, we investigate the main dosimetric parameters of 120-leaf Millennium MLC including dose in the buildup point, physical penumbra as well as average and end leaf leakages. Effects of the leaves geometry and density on these parameters are evaluated Methods: From EGSnrc Monte Carlo code, BEAMnrc and DOSXYZnrc modules are used to evaluate the dosimetric parameters of a water phantom exposed to a Varian xi for 100cm SSD. Using IAEA phasespace data just above MLC (Z=46cm) and BEAMnrc, for the modified 120-leaf Millennium MLC a new phase space data at Z=52cm is produces. The MLC is modified both in leaf thickness and material composition. EGSgui code generates 521ICRU library for tungsten alloys. DOSXYZnrc with the new phase space evaluates the dose distribution in a water phantom of 60×60×20 cm3 with voxel size of 4×4×2 mm3. Using DOSXYZnrc dose distributions for open beam and closed beam as well as the leakages definition, end leakage, average leakage and physical penumbra are evaluated. Results: A new MLC with improved dosimetric parameters is proposed. The physical penumbra for proposed MLC is 4.7mm compared to 5.16 mm for Millennium. Average leakage in our design is reduced to 1.16% compared to 1.73% for Millennium, the end leaf leakage suggested design is also reduced to 4.86% compared to 7.26% of Millennium. Conclusion: The results show that the proposed MLC with enhanced dosimetric parameters could improve the conformity of treatment planning.

  13. Ninth Thermal and Fluids Analysis Workshop Proceedings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakowski, Barbara (Compiler)

    1999-01-01

    The Ninth Thermal and Fluids Analysis Workshop (TFAWS 98) was held at the Ohio Aerospace Institute in Cleveland, Ohio from August 31 to September 4, 1998. The theme for the hands-on training workshop and conference was "Integrating Computational Fluid Dynamics and Heat Transfer into the Design Process." Highlights of the workshop (in addition to the papers published herein) included an address by the NASA Chief Engineer, Dr. Daniel Mulville; a CFD short course by Dr. John D. Anderson of the University of Maryland; and a short course by Dr. Robert Cochran of Sandia National Laboratories. In addition, lectures and hands-on training were offered in the use of several cutting-edge engineering design and analysis-oriented CFD and Heat Transfer tools. The workshop resulted in international participation of over 125 persons representing aerospace and automotive industries, academia, software providers, government agencies, and private corporations. The papers published herein address issues and solutions related to the integration of computational fluid dynamics and heat transfer into the engineering design process. Although the primary focus is aerospace, the topics and ideas presented are applicable to many other areas where these and other disciplines are interdependent.

  14. Ninth Graders and Climate Change: Attitudes towards Consequences, Views on Mitigation, and Predictors of Willingness to Act

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hermans, Mikaela; Korhonen, Johan

    2017-01-01

    The aim of this study is to examine Finnish ninth graders' attitudes towards the consequences of climate change, their views on climate change mitigation and the impact of a set of selected predictors on their willingness to act in climate change mitigation. Students (N = 549) from 11 secondary schools participated in the questionnaire-based…

  15. Modelling the climate of the last millennium: what causes the differences between simulations?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Goosse, H.; Crowley, T.J.; Zorita, E.; Ammann, C.M.; Renssen, H.; Driesschaert, E.

    2005-01-01

    An ensemble of simulations performed with a coarse resolution 3-D climate model driven by various combinations of external forcing is used to investigate possible causes for differences noticed in two recent simulations of the climate of the past millennium using General Circulation Models (GCMs).

  16. Syphilis Resurgence in Belgrade, Serbia, in the New Millennium: An Outbreak in 2014.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bjekić, Milan; Šipetić-Grujičić, Sandra; Begović-Vuksanović, Biljana; Rafailović, Nevena; Vlajinac, Hristina

    2017-12-01

    A worldwide syphilis incidence increase was recorded at the beginning of the new millennium, occurring primarily among men who have sex with men (MSM). The aim of this study was to analyse the epidemiological situation of syphilis in the Belgrade population between 2005 and 2014 and to examine the characteristics of an early syphilis outbreak among MSM in Belgrade in 2014. Reporting of syphilis is compulsory in Serbia. Routinely reported data were analysed along with data collected from patients' charts. During the period observed, syphilis incidence increased from 1.07 per 100,000 in 2005 to 4.1 per 100,000 in 2014 (383.2%). From 2005 to 2009, syphilis rates in Belgrade were low, around 1 case per 100,000 people. The first outbreak was registered in 2010. The new incidence increase happened in 2012, and again in 2014 when it was the highest. These incidence changes were registered mainly in men, where the frequency of syphilis was much higher than in women. In 2014, primary syphilis was diagnosed in 20 cases, secondary syphilis in 42, and early latent syphilis in 9 patients. Fifty-seven were MSM, 10 were heterosexual men and 4 were women. Twenty-four cases, all MSM were co-infected with HIV. Majority of patients acquired infection in Belgrade, while in 42/71 cases oral sex was the only risk factor. In comparison with HIV negative, HIV positive syphilis patients were older, more frequently unemployed and MSM. They also more frequently had sex with unknown partners and were diagnosed in the secondary stage of infection. Study results underline the need for coordinated and expeditious surveillance, partner services, enhanced screening of population at risk, health education, as well as early diagnosis and treatment. Copyright© by the National Institute of Public Health, Prague 2017

  17. Spinoff 2001: Special Millennium Feature

    Science.gov (United States)

    2001-01-01

    For the past 43 years, NASA has devoted its facilities, labor force, and expertise to sharing the abundance of technology developments used for its missions with the nation's industries. These countless technologies have not only successfully contributed to the growth of the U.S. economy, but also to the quality of life on Earth. For the past 25 years, NASA's Spinoff publication has brought attention to thousands of technologies, products, and services that were developed as a direct result of commercial partnerships between NASA and the private business sector. Many of these exciting technologies included advances in ceramics, computer technology, fiber optics, and remote sensing. New and ongoing research at the NASA field centers covers a full spectrum of technologies that will provide numerous advantages for the future, many of which have made significant strides in the commercial market. The NASA Commercial Technology Network plays a large role in transferring this progress. By applying NASA technologies such as data communication, aircraft de-icing technologies, and innovative materials to everyday functions, American consumers and the national economy benefit. Moving forward into the new millennium, these new technologies will further advance our country's position as the world leader in scientific and technical innovation. These cutting-edge innovations represent the investment of the U.S. citizen in the Space Program. Some of these technologies are highlighted in Spinoff 2001, an example of NASA's commitment to technology transfer and commercialization assistance. This year's issue spotlights the commercial technology efforts of NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center. Kennedy's extensive network of commercial technology opportunities has enabled them to become a leader in technology transfer outreach. This kind of leadership is exemplified through Kennedy's recent partnership with the State of Florida, working toward the development of the Space Experiment

  18. Vitrectomia transconjuntival: dados preliminares com o sistema Millennium TSV-25 Transconjunctival vitrectomy: preliminary data using the TSV-25 Millennium System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Flávio Rezende Filho

    2005-12-01

    Full Text Available OBJETIVO: Relatar os resultados cirúrgicos preliminares de vitrectomia via pars plana com técnica transconjuntival com o sistema Millennium-TSV-25. MÉTODOS: Vinte pacientes (20 olhos, obtidos seqüencialmente, submetidos à vitrectomia transconjuntival com o sistema Millennium-TSV-25, entre julho de 2003 e janeiro de 2004, foram avaliados prospectivamente por um período mínimo de um mês pós-operatório. Olhos com buraco macular, membrana epi-retiniana, edema macular, descolamento regmatogênico da retina, endoftalmite e hemorragia vítrea com ou sem descolamento tracional da retina foram incluídos. Complicações e dificuldades intra e pós-operatórias foram computadas. RESULTADOS: Os 20 pacientes completaram pelo menos um mês de acompanhamento pós-operatório. Foram 4 buracos maculares, 2 membranas epi-retinianas, 2 edemas maculares cistóides pós-facectomia, 1 edema macular diabético, 5 descolamentos regmatogênicos da retina, 5 hemorragias vítreas (2 associadas a descolamento tracional da retina e 1 endoftalmite. A média da pressão intra-ocular no primeiro dia pós-operatório foi de 15,7 mmHg (6 - 46 mmHg e no primeiro mês de 14,2 mmHg (8 - 22 mmHg. Não houve nenhum caso de complicação, como rotura relacionada às esclerotomias, endoftalmite ou hipotonia ocular pós-operatória. Três dos 5 olhos (60% com descolamento de retina necessitaram de nova intervenção cirúrgica (todos pseudofácicos e 4 dos 5 olhos (80% com hemorragia vítrea tiveram hemorragia vítrea residual pós-operatória. Todos os casos com alterações maculares e os olhos fácicos com descolamento de retina foram bem sucedidos. CONCLUSÕES: Esta técnica de vitrectomia transconjuntival demonstrou, como principais benefícios, a baixa incidência de roturas relacionadas às esclerotomias e hipertensão ocular pós-operatória. Parece ser imprescindível a adequada seleção dos casos.PURPOSE: To report the preliminary surgical results of pars plana

  19. Evidence for early irrigation at Bat (Wadi Sharsah, northwestern Oman) before the advent of farming villages

    Science.gov (United States)

    Desruelles, Stéphane; Fouache, Eric; Eddargach, Wassel; Cammas, Cecilia; Wattez, Julia; Beuzen-Waller, Tara; Martin, Chloé; Tengberg, Margareta; Cable, Charlotte; Thornton, Christopher; Murray, Andrew

    2016-10-01

    Decades of archaeological research in southeastern Arabia (Oman and the UAE) have provided a good understanding of the evolution of human societies in this arid region, with the transition from mobile pastoralism to settled agricultural villages occurring at the start of the Hafit period (ca. 3100-2700 BCE). The delayed adoption of farming, ceramics, mudbrick architecture, metallurgy, and other technologies until the start of the 3rd millennium BCE has been a particularly salient feature of this region relative to its neighbours in Mesopotamia, southern Iran, and northwestern South Asia. However, recent geoarchaeological research at the World Heritage Site of Bat, situated within the Wadi Sharsah valley in northwest Oman, has provided evidence of irrigation practices that have been dated to the early-mid 4th millennium BCE. While direct evidence of farming from this early period remains elusive, the presence of irrigated fields at this time raises new questions about the supposedly mobile pastoralist groups of the Arabian Neolithic and the beginning of farming practices in the region.

  20. Plantadores de cidade ehk linnaistutajad : Millennium Village, Briti elamuehituse suurprojekt / Tõnu Laigu

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Laigu, Tõnu

    2002-01-01

    Greenwich Peninsula arendamine. Üldplaneering büroolt Richard Rodgers Partnership. Millennium Village'i, mis on kavas välja arendada 2005. aastaks, planeeringu ja ala ruumilise ettepaneku koostas arhitekt Ralph Erskine koostöös bürooga Hunt Thompson Architects. Ehitatud on R. Erskine 100 korteriga elamu ja arhitekt Proctor Matthews'i lintmajad

  1. Learning for Development: The Commonwealth of Learning and the Millennium Development Goals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Commonwealth of Learning, 2011

    2011-01-01

    World leaders, meeting at the United Nations in 2000, set eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that aim to transform the condition of humankind in the 21st century. These Goals now guide the policies of governments and the priorities of development agencies. These eight goals are: (1) Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; (2) Achieve…

  2. Unravelling the complexity of domestication: a case study using morphometrics and ancient DNA analyses of archaeological pigs from Romania

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evin, Allowen; Flink, Linus Girdland; Bălăşescu, Adrian; Popovici, Dragomir; Andreescu, Radian; Bailey, Douglas; Mirea, Pavel; Lazăr, Cătălin; Boroneanţ, Adina; Bonsall, Clive; Vidarsdottir, Una Strand; Brehard, Stéphanie; Tresset, Anne; Cucchi, Thomas; Larson, Greger; Dobney, Keith

    2015-01-01

    Current evidence suggests that pigs were first domesticated in Eastern Anatolia during the ninth millennium cal BC before dispersing into Europe with Early Neolithic farmers from the beginning of the seventh millennium. Recent ancient DNA (aDNA) research also indicates the incorporation of European wild boar into domestic stock during the Neolithization process. In order to establish the timing of the arrival of domestic pigs into Europe, and to test hypotheses regarding the role European wild boar played in the domestication process, we combined a geometric morphometric analysis (allowing us to combine tooth size and shape) of 449 Romanian ancient teeth with aDNA analysis. Our results firstly substantiate claims that the first domestic pigs in Romania possessed the same mtDNA signatures found in Neolithic pigs in west and central Anatolia. Second, we identified a significant proportion of individuals with large molars whose tooth shape matched that of archaeological (likely) domestic pigs. These large ‘domestic shape’ specimens were present from the outset of the Romanian Neolithic (6100–5500 cal BC) through to later prehistory, suggesting a long history of admixture between introduced domestic pigs and local wild boar. Finally, we confirmed a turnover in mitochondrial lineages found in domestic pigs, possibly coincident with human migration into Anatolia and the Levant that occurred in later prehistory. PMID:25487340

  3. Maternal employment and child socio-emotional behaviour in the UK: longitudinal evidence from the UK Millennium Cohort Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McMunn, Anne; Kelly, Yvonne; Cable, Noriko; Bartley, Mel

    2012-07-01

    Mothers of young children are increasingly combining paid work with childrearing. Empirical evidence on the effects of maternal employment on children is contradictory and little work has considered the impact of maternal employment within the context of the employment patterns of both parents. Data on parental employment across three sweeps (when children were in infancy, age 3 and age 5 y) of the Millennium Cohort Study, a large nationally representative prospective birth cohort study, were used to investigate the relation between parental employment and child socio-emotional behaviour at age 5 years independent of maternal education, maternal depression or household income. The cumulative effect of maternal employment across the early years was investigated. The impact of maternal employment in the first year of life was separately examined as a potentially 'sensitive period'. There was no evidence of detrimental effects of maternal employment in the early years on subsequent child socio-emotional behaviour. There were significant gender differences in the effects of parental employment on behavioural outcomes. The most beneficial working arrangement for both girls and boys was that in which both mothers and fathers were present in the household and in paid work independent of maternal educational attainment and household income. No detrimental effects of maternal employment in the early years were seen. There were important gender differences in relationships between parental working arrangements and child socio-emotional outcomes.

  4. United nations scientific committee on the effects of atomic radiation (UNSCEAR) and its forty-ninth session

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pan Ziqiang; Xiu Binglin

    2000-01-01

    The author describes the brief history of United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation and main issues under discussion at the Forty-ninth session of UNSCEAR. During the session UNSCEAR completed its 2000 Report and scientific Annexes to the General Assembly. The report with scientific Annexes will be published in this year. The author discusses noticeable aspects and make a suggestion for future work

  5. Trend in infant mortality rate in Argentina within the framework of the Millennium Development Goals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finkelstein, Juliana Z; Duhau, Mariana; Speranza, Ana

    2016-06-01

    Infant mortality rate (IMR) is an indicator of the health status of a population and of the quality of and access to health care services. In 2000, and within the framework of the Millennium Development Goals, Argentina committed to achieve by 2015 a reduction by two thirds of its 1990 infant mortality rate, and to identify and close inter-jurisdictional gaps. The objective of this article is to describe the trend in infant mortality rate in Argentina and interjurisdictional gaps, infant mortality magnitude and causes, in compliance with the Millennium Development Goals. A descriptive study on infant mortality was conducted in Argentina in 1990 and between 2000 and 2013, based on vital statistics data published by the Health Statistics and Information Department of the Ministry of Health of Argentina. The following reductions were confirmed: 57.8% in IMR, 52.6% in neonatal mortality rate and 63.8% in post-neonatal mortality rate. The inter-provincial Gini coefficient for IMR decreased by 27%. The population attributable risk decreased by 16.6% for IMR, 38.8% for neonatal mortality rate and 51.5% for post-neonatal mortality rate in 2013 versus 1990. A significant reduction in infant mortality and its components has been shown, but not enough to meet the Millennium Development Goals. The reduction in IMR gaps reached the set goal; however, inequalities still persist. Sociedad Argentina de Pediatría.

  6. Equality for Women : Where Do We Stand on Millennium Development Goal 3?

    OpenAIRE

    Buviníc, Mayra; Morrison, Andrew R.; Ofosu-Amaah, A. Waafas; Sjöblom, Mirja

    2008-01-01

    There is compelling evidence of the importance of gender equality for poverty reduction and sustainable growth. So it should come as no surprise that most development actors-international agencies, bilateral donors, and most developing countries, have an official policy for promoting gender equality. Millennium Development Goal 3 (MDG3) on gender equality and women's empowerment is shared ...

  7. Nothing but the Truth? The United Nations and the Millennium Development Goals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Porter, Shirley

    2014-01-01

    The United Nations established eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000, with the target for achievement set at 2015. On the UN website a special section is devoted to the MDGs. In this article the website as it was presented in late 2013 is examined. Although the website was easy to negotiate, it was difficult to ascertain any…

  8. Millennium Pipeline Presentation : a new northeast passage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wolnik, J.

    1997-01-01

    Routes of the proposed Millennium Pipeline project were presented. The pipeline is to originate at the Empress gas field in Alberta and link up to eastern markets in the United States. One of the key advantages of the pipeline is that it will have the lowest proposed rates from Empress to Chicago and through links via affiliates to New York and other eastern markets. It will include 380 miles of new 36-inch pipeline and have a capacity of 650 million cubic feet per day. In many instances it will follow existing rights-of-way. The pipeline is expected to be in service for the 1999 winter heating season. The project sponsors are Columbia Gas Transmission, CMS Energy, MCN Energy, and Westcoast Energy. 6 figs

  9. Planning for successful outcomes in the new millennium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matthews, P

    2000-02-01

    The complexity of the health care environment will increase in the next millennium. Organizations must adopt an approach of selecting outcomes management solutions that are focused on data capture, analysis, and comparative reviews and reporting. They must decisively and creatively implement, in a phased approach, integrated solutions from existing robust systems, while considering future systems targeted for implementation. Outcomes management solutions must be integrated with the organization's information systems strategic plan. The successful organization must be able to turn business-critical data into information that supports both business and clinical decision-making activities. In short, health care organizations will have to become information-driven.

  10. Early Detection with Pulse Oximetry of Hypoxemic Neonatal Conditions. Development of the IX Clinical Consensus Statement of the Ibero-American Society of Neonatology (SIBEN

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Augusto Sola

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available This article reviews the development of the Ninth Clinical Consensus Statement by SIBEN (the Ibero-American of Neonatology on “Early Detection with Pulse Oximetry (SpO2 of Hypoxemic Neonatal Conditions”. It describes the process of the consensus, and the conclusions and recommendations for screening newborns with pulse oximetry.

  11. The millennium development goals and household energy requirements in Nigeria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ibitoye, Francis I

    2013-01-01

    Access to clean and affordable energy is critical for the realization of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals, or MDGs. In many developing countries, a large proportion of household energy requirements is met by use of non-commercial fuels such as wood, animal dung, crop residues, etc., and the associated health and environmental hazards of these are well documented. In this work, a scenario analysis of energy requirements in Nigeria's households is carried out to compare estimates between 2005 and 2020 under a reference scenario, with estimates under the assumption that Nigeria will meet the millennium goals. Requirements for energy under the MDG scenario are measured by the impacts on energy use, of a reduction by half, in 2015, (a) the number of household without access to electricity for basic services, (b) the number of households without access to modern energy carriers for cooking, and (c) the number of families living in one-room households in Nigeria's overcrowded urban slums. For these to be achieved, household electricity consumption would increase by about 41% over the study period, while the use of modern fuels would more than double. This migration to the use of modern fuels for cooking results in a reduction in the overall fuelwood consumption, from 5 GJ/capita in 2005, to 2.9 GJ/capita in 2015.

  12. The Internet and the menopause consultation: menopause management in the third millennium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cumming, Grant P; Currie, Heather

    2005-09-01

    The Internet was born in 1969; it was originally developed so that computers could share information on research and development in the scientific and military fields. The original Internet consisted of four university computers networked in the United States. Email became available two years later. The infant Internet initially required complex computing knowledge to be used. However, this was all to change with the development of the World Wide Web in the early 1990s, which made the Internet much more widely accessible. The Internet has since grown at a phenomenal rate and has evolved into a global communications tool. It is by nature anarchic, in that it is an unrestricted broadcast medium. Although this lack of censorship is a strength, it is also a weakness. The quality of information available on the Web is variable and discernment is required. With the growth of e-health, medicine and its allied specialties are faced with the challenges of providing their services in a novel way while maintaining the first principle of medicine, primum non nocere (first, do no harm). This provision of e-health care is in its infancy and this review explores issues arising from the use of the Internet as a medium for organizing menopausal health care in the third millennium.

  13. Science and Technology Capacity in the Framework of Millennium Development Goals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aduda, B.O.

    2006-01-01

    The millennium Development Goals (MDG's) are eight goals to be achieved by 2015 in response to the world's main challenges. The eight goals are: 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, 2: Achieve universal primary Education, 3: Promote gender equality and empower women, 4: Reduce child mortality, 5: Improve maternal health, 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, 7: Ensure environmental sustainability, and 8: Develop a global Partnership for development

  14. Implementation of the Millennium Development Goals in Nigeria through Non-Formal Education Curriculum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akpama, Simon Ibor; Asor, Love Joseph; Erim, Costly M.; Adekola, G.

    2012-01-01

    Nigeria is a signatory to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) declaration but till now she has not made any significant milestones in actualizing these human development goals. In spite of the coordinated efforts towards mobilizing those in the formal education system to partially address its implementation challenges, serious gaps still exit…

  15. Poverty, Education, Gender and the Millennium Development Goals: Reflections on Boundaries and Intersectionality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Unterhalter, Elaine

    2012-01-01

    The article considers the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) concerned with poverty, education and gender (MDG 1, MDG 2 and MDG 3). Despite considerable achievements associated with the MDG approach, which entails international and national target setting and monitoring, a sharp distinction between areas of social policy is entailed. In addition…

  16. Dating Norms and Dating Violence among Ninth Graders in Northeast Georgia: Reports from Student Surveys and Focus Groups

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reeves, Patricia M.; Orpinas, Pamela

    2012-01-01

    This mixed-methods study describes the norms supporting male-to-female and female-to-male dating violence in a diverse sample of ninth graders. The quantitative study, based on student surveys (n = 624), compared norms supporting dating violence by sex, race/ethnicity, and dating status, and it examined the relation between dating violence norms…

  17. Nuclear power for the new millennium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hucik, S.A.; Redding, J.R.

    1998-01-01

    Advanced nuclear technology is being commercially deployed. Two ABWR's have been constructed in Japan and are reliably generating large amounts of low cost electricity. Taiwan is now in the process of licensing and constructing two more ABWR's, which will enter commercial operation in 2004 and 2005. Other countries have similar strategies to deploy advanced nuclear plants and the successful deployment of ABWR's in Japan and Taiwan, coupled with international agreements to limit CO 2 emissions, will only reinforce these plans. The ABWR will play an important role in meeting the conflicting needs of developed and developing economies for more massive amounts of electricity and the need worldwide to limit CO 2 emissions. Successful ABWR projects in Japan arid Taiwan, coupled with licensing approval in the United States, represent the new approach to the design, licensing, construction and operation of nuclear power in the new millennium. (author)

  18. Basic mechanisms for the new millennium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dressendorfer, P.V.

    1998-01-01

    This part of the Short Course will review the basic mechanisms for radiation effects in semiconductor devices. All three areas of radiation damage will be considered -- total dose, displacement effects, and single event effects. Each of these areas will be discussed in turn. First an overview and background will be provided on the historical understanding of the damage mechanism. Then there will be a discussion of recent enhancements to the understanding of those mechanisms and an up-to-date picture provided of the current state of knowledge. Next the potential impact of each of these damage mechanisms on devices in emerging technologies and how the mechanisms may be used to understand device performance will be described, with an emphasis on those likely to be of importance in the new millennium. Finally some additional thoughts will be presented on how device scaling expected into the next century may impact radiation hardness

  19. E-health in the new millennium: a research and practice agenda.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Metaxiotis, Kostas; Ptochos, Dimitrios; Psarras, John

    2004-01-01

    Advances in telecommunications, automated processes, web technologies and wireless computing are already forcing dramatic changes in a variety of sectors, ranging from business and industry to education and health. Yet, the electronic business space, in a broader sense, is still in a relatively early state of evolution, and it is only recently that policy makers have started looking at the potential of applying the tools and techniques of e-commerce to the tasks of other sectors. The use of the internet as a source of health information and connectivity between healthcare providers and consumers has increased interest in e-health. E-health offers the rich potential of supplementing traditional delivery of services and channels of communication in ways that extend the healthcare organisation's ability to meet the needs of its patients. To date, some e-health applications have improved the quality of healthcare, and later they will lead to substantial cost savings. However, e-health is not simply a technology but a complex technological and relational process. In this sense, practitioners and researchers who want to successfully exploit e-health need to pay attention to various pending issues that have to be addressed. The aim of this paper is to propose a novel taxonomy for e-health research in the new millennium by instantaneously presenting the current status with some major themes of e-health research.

  20. Constraining the temperature history of the past millennium using early instrumental observations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. Brohan

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available The current assessment that twentieth-century global temperature change is unusual in the context of the last thousand years relies on estimates of temperature changes from natural proxies (tree-rings, ice-cores, etc. and climate model simulations. Confidence in such estimates is limited by difficulties in calibrating the proxies and systematic differences between proxy reconstructions and model simulations. As the difference between the estimates extends into the relatively recent period of the early nineteenth century it is possible to compare them with a reliable instrumental estimate of the temperature change over that period, provided that enough early thermometer observations, covering a wide enough expanse of the world, can be collected.

    One organisation which systematically made observations and collected the results was the English East India Company (EEIC, and their archives have been preserved in the British Library. Inspection of those archives revealed 900 log-books of EEIC ships containing daily instrumental measurements of temperature and pressure, and subjective estimates of wind speed and direction, from voyages across the Atlantic and Indian Oceans between 1789 and 1834. Those records have been extracted and digitised, providing 273 000 new weather records offering an unprecedentedly detailed view of the weather and climate of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

    The new thermometer observations demonstrate that the large-scale temperature response to the Tambora eruption and the 1809 eruption was modest (perhaps 0.5 °C. This provides an out-of-sample validation for the proxy reconstructions – supporting their use for longer-term climate reconstructions. However, some of the climate model simulations in the CMIP5 ensemble show much larger volcanic effects than this – such simulations are unlikely to be accurate in this respect.

  1. Making poverty reduction irreversible: development implications of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bass, Steve

    2006-07-15

    Development is achieved through growing and managing the 'portfolio of assets' available to a household or a nation. Soils, water, plants and animals often make up the biggest chunk of poor people's assets. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) has taken stock of these environmental assets worldwide. It reveals that fully sixty percent are being degraded – with poor people disproportionately suffering the consequences such as shortage of clean water, floods and droughts. Yet the MA also identified instances of effective asset management – proven 'Response Options' that deserve scaling up. This briefing note identifies the major developmental implications of the MA, and calls for action in four areas: Information – getting information on environmental assets and hazards to the heart of development planning; Institutional reform – encouraging ecosystem management by poor people and local organisations, and enabling better oversight by national authorities; International cooperation – increasing aid and benchmarking it against just how far off-track we are on MDG7 (the 'environmental sustainability' goal); Investment vehicles and budgets – to support long-term environmental management in key environmentally-sensitive sectors. Action on these is so urgently required that we can no longer avoid asking what it will cost. We propose 'Millennium Ecosystem Budgets', globally and nationally.

  2. Biodiversity for the Millennium Development Goals: What local organisations can do

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Roe, Dilys; Bond, Ivan

    2007-03-15

    In 2002 the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted a target to significantly reduce biodiversity loss by 2010 'as a contribution to poverty alleviation'. In 2005, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) offered compelling evidence of the positive links between biodiversity conservation and human well-being. In practice, however, biodiversity conservation and local people's livelihoods often compete – particularly in some 'top-down' approaches to conservation such as certain national parks. Can 'bottom-up' approaches to conservation – decentralisation and community management – provide the answer? A recent review shows that community-led conservation can contribute to human well-being and to the achievement of many Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), but in the majority of cases, it remains small-scale, isolated and not integrated within the formal conservation sector. We suggest that, given appropriate support, community conservation could achieve much more for poverty reduction. Indeed, without further local action, the international targets set within the CBD and the MDGs are likely to be unattainable. We suggest a range of actions for donor and government agencies to help unleash this potential – including payments for ecosystem services, mainstreaming biodiversity into sector-wide initiatives, and better integration of biodiversity within the MDG framework.

  3. Biodiversity for the Millennium Development Goals: What local organisations can do

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Roe, Dilys; Bond, Ivan

    2007-03-15

    In 2002 the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted a target to significantly reduce biodiversity loss by 2010 'as a contribution to poverty alleviation'. In 2005, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) offered compelling evidence of the positive links between biodiversity conservation and human well-being. In practice, however, biodiversity conservation and local people's livelihoods often compete – particularly in some 'top-down' approaches to conservation such as certain national parks. Can 'bottom-up' approaches to conservation – decentralisation and community management – provide the answer? A recent review shows that community-led conservation can contribute to human well-being and to the achievement of many Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), but in the majority of cases, it remains small-scale, isolated and not integrated within the formal conservation sector. We suggest that, given appropriate support, community conservation could achieve much more for poverty reduction. Indeed, without further local action, the international targets set within the CBD and the MDGs are likely to be unattainable. We suggest a range of actions for donor and government agencies to help unleash this potential – including payments for ecosystem services, mainstreaming biodiversity into sector-wide initiatives, and better integration of biodiversity within the MDG framework.

  4. A growing demand in emerging countries. Millennium development goals

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ahm, Peter [PA Energy (Denmark)

    2007-06-15

    This presentation is basically about the Millennium Development goals and its relation to the Photovoltaic Power System Programme (PVPS) of the International Energy Agency (IEA). In the first part, there are mentioned the following aspects: objectives and mission of the PVPS, situation in the rural electrification, relation between the sustainability of the energy and the development of a country, targets of the Millennium Development Goals concerning the developing countries, among others. Then, there are shown some comparison charts having data related to this topic, among there are going to be found: percent of the population without electricity access, estimated off-grid installations, etc. Finally, there are mentioned the Publications of Photovoltaic Systems for Developing Countries (PVSDC) [Spanish] Basicamente en esta presentacion se habla acerca de los objetivos de Desarollo del Milenio y su relacion con el programa de Sistemas Fotovoltaicos (SFV) de la Agencia Internacional de la Energia (AIE). En la primera parte, son mencionados los siguientes aspectos: objetivos y mision del programa de SFV, situacion de la electrificacion de zonas rurales, relacion entre la sustentabilidad de la energia y el desarrollo de un pais, objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio en relacion con los paises en vias de desarrollo, entre otros mas. Enseguida, se muestran algunos cuadros comparativos, los cuales contienen informacion relacion con este tema, entre los que se pueden encontrar: porcentaje de la poblacion que no cuenta con electricidad, estimado de numero de instalaciones aisladas de la red, etc. Finalmente, se mencionan las publicaciones de los sistemas fotovoltaicos para los paises en vias de desarrollo (PVSDC por sus siglas en ingles)

  5. Employee assistance programs in the new millennium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masi, Dale A

    2005-01-01

    This article presents an overall view of Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs). Beginning with the history, this article describes various models and essential ingredients of EAPs. It then discusses current trends including integration with Work/Life, web-based services, EAP accreditation, and the growth of international programs. Several issues are discussed including the need for licensing done nationally rather than by states and the effect the lack of substance abuse and brief counseling education has had on the delivery of EAP services. Future directions for EAPs emphasize the importance of quality assurance and the development of performance measurements, performance guarantees, and outcome measurements. The formation of the Alliance for Employee Assistance Advancement, an organization of organizations, completes the description and shows a new direction for EAPs in the next millennium.

  6. The potential impact of plant biotechnology on the Millennium Development Goals

    OpenAIRE

    Yuan, D. W.; Bassie, L.; Sabalza, M.; Miralpeix, B.; Dashevskaya, S.; Farre, G.; Rivera, S. M.; Banakar, R.; Bai, C.; Sanahuja, G.; Arjo, G.; Avilla, E.; Zorrilla-Lopez, U.; Ugidos-Damboriena, N.; Lopez, A.

    2011-01-01

    The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are international development targets for the year 2015 that aim to achieve relative improvements in the standards of health, socioeconomic status and education in the world’s poorest countries. Many of the challenges addressed by the MDGs reflect the direct or indirect consequences of subsistence agriculture in the developing world, and hence, plant biotechnology has an important role to play in helping to achieve MDG targ...

  7. Social complexity in the third millennium cal BC in southern Portugal

    OpenAIRE

    Soares, Joaquina

    2016-01-01

    The starting point of this paper is the extensive archaeological fieldwork developed at the Chalcolithic fortification of Porto das Carretas on the left bank of the Middle Guadiana River (Soares, 2013). The well-preserved stratigraphy and correlated radiocarbon dates of Porto das Carretas enabled a new and deep insight into the third millennium cal BC, displaying environmental, economic and social transformations from the first to the second half of the millenium. Furhermore, the integration ...

  8. Archives of Environmental Health, Volume 18 Number 4. Ninth AMA Air Pollution Medical Research Conference, Denver, July 22-24, 1968.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barton, Frank

    Papers read before the Ninth American Medical Association (AMA) Air Pollution Medical Research Conference, Denver, Colorado, July 22-24, 1968, are presented in this document. Topics deal with the relationship and effects of atmospheric pollution to respiratory diseases, epidemiology, human physiological reactions, urban morbidity, health of school…

  9. Malaria and the Millennium Development Goals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Owens, Stephen

    2015-02-01

    Malaria, as a key disease of poverty, was singled out for special attention in the Millennium Project of 2000. Recent data suggest that malaria incidence and mortality are now declining all over the world. While these figures are cause for celebration, they must be interpreted carefully and with caution, particularly in relation to Africa. There are daunting challenges ahead for those working to achieve malaria eradication, not least of which is the poor quality of the data on which the work is based. In the absence of an affordable and fully effective vaccine, international funding for malaria control needs to be escalated still further. The money is essential to pay for universal access to a set of simple and proven interventions which would save the lives of millions of children over the next 15 years. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  10. Proceedings of the ISES Millennium Solar Forum 2000. 1. ed.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Estrada, Claudio A. [ed.

    2000-07-01

    The ISES Millennium Solar Forum 2000 was organized by the Association Nacional de Energia Solar (ANES) of Mexico, and the International Solar Energy Society (ISES), in collaboration with other national and international organizations from 17 to 22 of September, 2000 in Mexico City. The Scientific-Technical Conference forms the core of this forum. This comprises of 167 papers, which were presented orally and form part of the proceedings. The papers represent the results of research and technological development effort in Renewable Energy reported by professionals and students of 22 countries. Of course, a major component is from Mexico and Latin America. Here you will find useful information on the advances in different fields of Renewable Energy. [Spanish] La Asociacion Nacional de Energia Solar A.C. (ANES) y la International Solar Society (ISES), apoyadas por organizaciones nacionales e internacionales, comprometidas con la promocion de las energias renovables organizaron el ISES Millennium Solar Forum 2000, los dias 17 a 22 de septiembre del 2000 en la Ciudad de Mexico. Como parte medular de este foro se organizo la reunion cientifico-tecnica, en donde se presentaron 167 trabajos, la mayoria de los cuales se incluyen en esta memoria. Estos trabajos representan el esfuerzo en investigacion y desarrollo tecnologico de estudiantes y profesionales de mas de 22 paises, la mayoria de Mexico y America Latina. En esta memoria se encuentran los avances mas relevantes en las distintas areas de especializacion de las energias renovables.

  11. NWHSS Implement Family Member Assessment Component in the Millennium Cohort Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-10-01

    Response and Referral Rates (McMaster) Panel 4 Impact of Cognitive Dissonance Improvement Strategies *Open Discussion* Family Improvement... Cognitive Dissonance (Via Effort Justification) Study  This pilot study utilized a random selection of married Panel 4 Millennium Cohort members taking...Spousal and family  functioning  Determine service member  factors that are associated  with spouse reports of  marital  satisfaction  and  family

  12. Pengendalian Malaria dalam Upaya Percepatan Pencapaian Target Millennium Development Goals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tri Rini Puji Lestari

    2012-08-01

    health official Malaria Center, and community leaders who observe malaria. Retrieval of data time is 10 – 16 April 2011 by in-depth interviews. It was found that malaria control programs have been implemented by the Departement of Health North Maluku Province, but have not been able to effectively reduce malaria morbidity. This is because malaria control is performed is not comprehensive. Handling is more directed to break the chain transmission to human, their habitats have not been touched up. Key words: Control of malaria, millennium development goals, malaria morbidity

  13. The US Department of Defense Millennium Cohort Study: career span and beyond longitudinal follow-up.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Tyler C

    2009-10-01

    To describe current and future career-span health research in the US Department of Defense Millennium Cohort Study. Collaborating with all military service branches and the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Millennium Cohort Study launched in 2001, before September 11 and the start of deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq, to conduct coordinated strategic research to determine any effects of military occupational and deployment-related exposures, on long-term health. More than 150,000 consenting members represent demographic, occupational, military, and health characteristics of the US military. More than 70% of the first two panels have submitted follow-up questionnaires and >50% have deployed since 2001. Prospective cohort data have identified subgroups of military populations at higher risk or more resilient to decrements in mental and physical health. Continued career span and beyond follow-up will answer long-term health questions related to military service.

  14. Family lifestyle dynamics and childhood obesity: evidence from the millennium cohort study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gray, Laura A; Hernandez Alava, Monica; Kelly, Michael P; Campbell, Michael J

    2018-04-16

    The prevalence of childhood obesity has been increasing but the causes are not fully understood. Recent public health interventions and guidance aiming to reduce childhood obesity have focused on the whole family, as opposed to just the child but there remains a lack of empirical evidence examining this relationship. Using data from the longitudinal Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), we investigate the dynamic relationship between underlying family lifestyle and childhood obesity during early childhood. The MCS interviewed parents shortly after the birth of their child and follow up interviews were carried out when the child was 3, 5 and 7 years. We use a dynamic latent factor model, an approach that allows us to identify family lifestyle, its evolution over time (in this case between birth and 7 years) and its influence on childhood obesity and other observable outcomes. We find that family lifestyle is persistent, 87.43% of families which were above the 95th percentile on the lifestyle distribution, remained above the 95th percentile when the child was 7 years old. Family lifestyle has a significant influence on all outcomes in the study, including diet, exercise and parental weight status; family lifestyle accounts for 11.3% of the variation in child weight by age 7 years. The analysis suggests that interventions should therefore be prolonged and persuasive and target the underlying lifestyle of a family as early as possible during childhood in order to have the greatest cumulative influence. Our results suggest that children from advantaged backgrounds are more likely to be exposed to healthier lifestyles and that this leads to inequalities in the prevalence of obesity. To reduce inequalities in childhood obesity, policy makers should target disadvantaged families and design interventions specifically for these families.

  15. Testing DARKexp against energy and density distributions of Millennium-II halos

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nolting, Chris; Williams, Liliya L.R. [School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, 116 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55454 (United States); Boylan-Kolchin, Michael [Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin, 2515 Speedway, Stop C1400, Austin, TX, 78712 (United States); Hjorth, Jens, E-mail: nolting@astro.umn.edu, E-mail: llrw@astro.umn.edu, E-mail: mbk@astro.as.utexas.edu, E-mail: jens@dark-cosmology.dk [Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, Copenhagen, DK-2100 Denmark (Denmark)

    2016-09-01

    We test the DARKexp model for relaxed, self-gravitating, collisionless systems against equilibrium dark matter halos from the Millennium-II simulation. While limited tests of DARKexp against simulations and observations have been carried out elsewhere, this is the first time the testing is done with a large sample of simulated halos spanning a factor of ∼ 50 in mass, and using independent fits to density and energy distributions. We show that DARKexp, a one shape parameter family, provides very good fits to the shapes of density profiles, ρ( r ), and differential energy distributions, N ( E ), of individual simulated halos. The best fit shape parameter φ{sub 0} obtained from the two types of fits are correlated, though with scatter. Our most important conclusions come from ρ( r ) and N ( E ) that have been averaged over many halos. These show that the bulk of the deviations between DARKexp and individual Millennium-II halos come from halo-to-halo fluctuations, likely driven by substructure, and other density perturbations. The average ρ( r ) and N ( E ) are quite smooth and follow DARKexp very closely. The only deviation that remains after averaging is small, and located at most bound energies for N ( E ) and smallest radii for ρ( r ). Since the deviation is confined to 3–4 smoothing lengths, and is larger for low mass halos, it is likely due to numerical resolution effects.

  16. Making poverty reduction irreversible: development implications of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bass, Steve

    2006-07-15

    Development is achieved through growing and managing the 'portfolio of assets' available to a household or a nation. Soils, water, plants and animals often make up the biggest chunk of poor people's assets. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) has taken stock of these environmental assets worldwide. It reveals that fully sixty percent are being degraded – with poor people disproportionately suffering the consequences such as shortage of clean water, floods and droughts. Yet the MA also identified instances of effective asset management – proven 'Response Options' that deserve scaling up. This briefing note identifies the major developmental implications of the MA, and calls for action in four areas: Information – getting information on environmental assets and hazards to the heart of development planning; Institutional reform – encouraging ecosystem management by poor people and local organisations, and enabling better oversight by national authorities; International cooperation – increasing aid and benchmarking it against just how far off-track we are on MDG7 (the 'environmental sustainability' goal); Investment vehicles and budgets – to support long-term environmental management in key environmentally-sensitive sectors. Action on these is so urgently required that we can no longer avoid asking what it will cost. We propose 'Millennium Ecosystem Budgets', globally and nationally.

  17. Twenty-ninth annual progress report of the Pennsylvania State University Breazeale Nuclear Reactor, July 1, 1983-June 30, 1984

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Levine, S.H.; Totenbier, R.E.

    1984-07-01

    The twenty-ninth annual progress report of the operation of the Pennsylvania State University Breazeale Reactor is submitted in accordance with the requirements of Contract DE-AC02-76ER03409 with the United States Department of Energy. This report also provides the University administration with a summary of the operation of the facility for the past year

  18. FY 2000 Blue Book: High Performance Computing and Communications: Information Technology Frontiers for a New Millennium

    Data.gov (United States)

    Networking and Information Technology Research and Development, Executive Office of the President — As we near the dawn of a new millennium, advances made possible by computing, information, and communications research and development R and D ? once barely...

  19. The Status of the Millennium Development Goals in the UNECE Region

    OpenAIRE

    Patrice Robineau

    2008-01-01

    Besides creating a growing, prosperous, and peaceful Europe, we all have an interest in ensuring that the benefits of this extend to the most unfortunate of those amongst us. The UN Millennium Development Goals provide a yardstick for how well this objective is being addressed. This paper provides a concise overview of the progress that is being made in achieving the MGDs in the region. The central message is that although significant progress is being made based upon strong economic growth, ...

  20. Schooling Entrepreneurs: Entrepreneurship, Governmentality and Education Policy in Sweden at the Turn of the Millennium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dahlstedt, Magnus; Hertzberg, Fredrik

    2012-01-01

    Departing from Michel Foucault's concept of governmentality, the focus of this article is the introduction of entrepreneurial education in Swedish education policy at the turn of the millennium. We analyze the various meanings attached to the concepts of "entrepreneur" and "entrepreneurship" in education policy documents, as…

  1. Securing the future in the anthropocene: A critical analysis of the millennium ecosystem assessment scenarios

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert P. Marzec

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available This commentary analyzes the ontological character of the United Nations’ Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005 and its attempt to imagine business-as-usual and transformative human-environmental futures. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA constitutes the first and most significant attempt by an international political body to incorporate environmental concerns into the field of imaginative scenario building. In addition to its lengthy report on the threatened status of planetary ecosystems, the MA contains extensive “future scenarios” that imagine how human-environmental relations might unfold over the course of the twenty-first century. These scenarios arise out of the lineage of military scenarios generated during the Cold War, and continue to inform UN assessments in the present. This commentary explores how a politico-military concern for security informs the framework of the scenarios, and limits how the MA characterizes the fundamental human act of narration. In the process, the commentary explores alternative ontologies of narration and how these may lead to more transformative narratological interventions.

  2. SECURITY IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: COMPARING UNITED NATIONS 2030 AGENDA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT WITH MILLENNIUM DECLARATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmet BARBAK

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to compare United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with Millennium Declaration in terms of their security conceptualizations to explore changes in security thinking and policy components (goals, targets, principles, priorities etc. over time. In doing so, it is envisaged that United Nations’ expectations from member states regarding their national security policies and organizations could be revealed. Security thinking has changed since late 1980’s with the introduction of sustainable development approach by the United Nations. This shift in security thinking encompasses human security and security-development nexus. Holding all member states responsible, Millennium Declaration and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development constitute the primary and the most recent outcome documents of United Nations’ sustainable development policy. Both documents have security components. This enables extracting security elements and comparing them with an analytical manner. Consequently, findings are compared and discussed in terms of public policy and organization at national level.

  3. Pervasive multidecadal variations in productivity within the Peruvian Upwelling System over the last millennium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fleury, S.; Martinez, P.; Crosta, X.; Charlier, K.; Billy, I.; Hanquiez, V.; Blanz, T.; Schneider, R. R.

    2015-10-01

    There is no agreement on the pluri-decadal expression of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the Pacific over the last millennium. Marine records from the Peruvian margin indicate humid conditions (El Niño-like mean conditions) over the Little Ice Age, while precipitation records from the eastern equatorial Pacific infer arid conditions (La Niña-like mean conditions) for the same period. We here studied diatom assemblages, nitrogen isotopes, and major and minor elements at the lamination level in three laminated trigger cores located between 11°S and 15°S on the Peruvian shelf within the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) to reconstruct precipitation and ocean productivity at the multiannual to multidecadal timescales over the last millennium. We respected the sediment structure, thus providing the first records of the mean climatic conditions at the origin of the lamination deposition, which ones represent several years. Light laminations were deposited under productive and dry conditions, indicative of La Niña-like mean conditions in the system, while dark laminations were deposited under non-productive and humid conditions, representative of El Niño-like mean conditions. La Niña-like mean conditions were predominant during the Medieval Warm Period (MWP; 1000-600 years BP) and Current Warm Period (CWP; 150 years BP to present), while El Niño-like mean conditions prevailed over the Little Ice Age (LIA; 600-150 years BP). We provide evidence for persistent multidecadal variations in productivity over the last millennium, which were disconnected from the mean climate state. Multidecadal variability has been stronger over the last 450 years concomitantly to increased variability in the NAO index. Two intervals of strong multidecadal variability were also observed over the MWP, congruent to decreased solar irradiance and increased volcanic activity.

  4. Behind the Public Face of Kew: Education and Conservation in the Millennium Seed Bank

    Science.gov (United States)

    McFarlane, Angela

    2010-01-01

    At its Wakehurst Place garden in West Sussex, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, has established the UK home of one of the world's largest conservation projects, the Millennium Seed Bank (MSB) partnership, a global project to conserve biodiversity by collecting and preserving seeds. This article describes what the MSB partnership does, how seeds are…

  5. Ecosystems and human well-being: health synthesis : a report of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Hales, Simon; Corvalan, Carlos; McMichael, Anthony (Tony) J

    2005-01-01

    ... 36 4 What actions are required to address the health consequences of ecosystem change? 4.1 Reducing vulnerability 4.2 The Millennium Development Goals 38 38 39 5 How can priorities be established for actions to address the health consequences of ecosystem change? 5.1 What considerations are important when setting priorities and what...

  6. Post Millennium Urban Space Design in Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kiib, Hans

    Hans Kiib Post Millennium Urban Space Design in Denmark - a survey on 100 Danish projects from 2002 – 2010. This article is based on an evaluation of 100 Danish open space projects form 2000 – 2010. The projects was initially proposals from Danish municipalities for the Campaign on Better Open...... Spaces (Bedre Byrums Kampagne) run by Realdania stating in 2002. These projects are all proposed just after 2002. Based on the quality of the projects including the goals for the proposal, the quality of the proposed design, and finally to what extent the projects contributed to new concepts...... and perspectives in open space design, 24 proposals were selected for further development. These projects were developed in the period from 2003 – 2007 with support from consultants. The evaluation has been carried out in 2011. It categorizes the initial 100 projects in relation to location, goals, concepts, scale...

  7. Muusikamaailm : "Musica Nova" avataktid Helsingis. "Towards the Millennium" lõpusirgel. "Sõda ja rahu" kuulsatel lavadel / Priit Kuusk

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Kuusk, Priit, 1938-

    2000-01-01

    3.-11. märtsini Heslingis toimuvast uue muusika festivalist "Musica nova". S. Rattle"i kümme aastat tagasi algatatud kontserdiseeriast "Towards the Millennium". S. Prokofjevi ooperi "Sõda ja rahu" taaslavastustest Pariisis ja Peterburis

  8. The Life Cycle Completed. Extended Version with New Chapters on the Ninth Stage of Development by Joan M. Erikson.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erikson, Erik H.

    This expanded edition of a 1982 book by Erik Erikson summarizes his work on the stages of the human life cycle, including chapters on psychosexuality and the cycle of generations, major stages in psychosocial development, and ego and ethos. An additional chapter on the ninth stage sets forth his philosophy on old age--i.e. the 80s and 90s--and how…

  9. Natural levee evolution in the Rhine-Meuse delta, the Netherlands, during the first millennium CE

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pierik, H.J.; Stouthamer, E.; Cohen, K.M.

    2017-01-01

    This paper presents reconstructions on natural levee development in the Rhine-Meuse delta, the Netherlands, during the first millennium CE, covering the full delta plain. It is the first study that performs this on a delta scale, which allows seeing the delta-wide trends on levee-forming controls

  10. [Primary health care and the millennium development goals].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faye, A; Bob, M; Fall, A; Fall, C

    2012-01-01

    Member countries of the World Health Organization (WHO) met in Alma Ata (8-12 September 1978) to define and advocate the implementation of primary health care (PHC) worldwide, above all, in developing countries, which had a real need to review their strategies for meeting the health needs of their populations. They did not suspect that 20 years later the vision they displayed would remain undeniably relevant. Here we examine the similarities and points of convergence of their declaration about PHC with the Millennium Development Goals that seek today to reduce poverty across the world. An exhaustive and analytic literature review was conducted to collect those similarities. Further analysis of the definitions, objectives, principles and recommendations of the Alma Ata Declaration and the Millennium Declaration reveals multiple dependencies and fundamental points of similarity between these two representations. Almost all states have pledged to achieve the eight MDG by 2015: to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality and empower women, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability, and develop a global partnership for development. The Alma Ata conference defined primary health care as essential health care, based on practical methods and techniques that are both scientifically sound and socially acceptable, universally accessible to all individuals and all families of the community, through their full participation and at a cost that the community and countries can afford at all stages of their development in the spirit of self-reliance and self-determination. It is an integral part of economic and social development. The following principles are involved in the achievement of both primary health care and the MDG: social equity, community participation, and intersectorality. Public health is an essential condition of poverty

  11. Millennium development goals and eye health

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hannah B Faal

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available In September 2000, world leaders made a commitment to build a more equitable, prosperous and safer world by 2015 and launched the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs. In the previous year, the World Health Organization and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness in partnership launched the global initiative to eliminate avoidable blindness by the year 2020-VISION 2020 the Right to Sight. It has focused on the prevention of a disability-blindness and recognized a health issue-sight as a human right. Both global initiatives have made considerable progress with synergy especially on MDG 1-the reduction of poverty and the reduction in numbers of the blind. A review of the MDGs has identified the need to address disparities within and between countries, quality, and disability. Noncommunicable diseases are emerging as a challenge to the MDGs and Vision 2020:0 the Right to Sight. For the future, up to and beyond 2015, there will be need for both initiatives to continue to work in synergy to address present and emerging challenges.

  12. Technology readiness levels for the new millennium program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moynihan, P. I.; Minning, C. P.; Stocky, J. F.

    2003-01-01

    NASA's New Millennium Program (NMP) seeks to advance space exploration by providing an in-space validating mechanism to verify the maturity of promising advanced technologies that cannot be adequately validated with Earth-based testing alone. In meeting this objective, NMP uses NASA Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) as key indicators of technology advancement and assesses development progress against this generalized metric. By providing an opportunity for in-space validation, NMP can mature a suitable advanced technology from TRL 4 (component and/or breadboard validation in laboratory environment) to a TRL 7 (system prototype demonstrated in an Earth-based space environment). Spaceflight technology comprises a myriad of categories, types, and functions, and as each individual technology emerges, a consistent interpretation of its specific state of technological advancement relative to other technologies is problematic.

  13. Impact of the millennium effect on insurance for damage and civil responsibility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baena Maestre, J.M.

    1998-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to contribute, as far as possible, to sounding the alarm so that executives and directors will be prepared for the effect mentioned above, without ruling out the possibility os someone else inside their company being responsible for studying and solving the problem. The millennium bug, Y 2k, 2000 Year's Shock, 2000 Effect, are some of the expressions used to name a common problem which will affect every computing system in all areas of the global economy, because both process and management computers that use the old-fashioned two digit date formats, will believe that the new year after 1999 is the year 1900. That mistake may produce unknown problems, due to lack of experience in establishing a universal basis of foreseeability. Therefore, we are facing a complex challenge, the possible solutions of which are still not unknown, but which, from the insurace point of view, and because of the definition itself of an accident as a sudden, unforeseen event causing damage to people or to things, we can state that those problems deriving from the Millennium Effect do not, fulfil the basic requirements of suddeness and unforeseeability, because both their existence and their possible effects are known and, therefore, Operators are obliged to take the necessary steps in order to avoid any demaging consequence. All Risk Managers must start a round of consultations with their brokers, advisers and insurance companies, with the intention of, if after having taken all the suitable steps accessible to the Operators, the Contractors and the Equipment Suppliers, an accident due to the Millenium Effect occurs, then the insurance companies will cover such sinisters. The suitable steps mentioned above include: identification of the affected systems, correction of the effect, performing of real or simulated tests proving that the correction has been succesful, and its acceptable from both technical and documentary points of view. In conclusion, it can be

  14. 77 FR 21111 - Report on Countries That Are Candidates for Millennium Challenge Account Eligibility in Fiscal...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-04-09

    ... economic growth and poverty reduction. The Act requires the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to take... freedom, and (iii) investments in its people; and (b) considering the opportunity to reduce poverty and...* Haiti Tanzania Honduras Timor-Leste India Togo Indonesia Tuvalu Iraq Uganda Kenya Vanuatu Kiribati...

  15. Poverty determinants of acute respiratory infections among Mapuche indigenous peoples in Chile's Ninth Region of Araucania, using GIS and spatial statistics to identify health disparities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rojas, Flavio

    2007-07-02

    This research concerns Araucanía, often called the Ninth Region, the poorest region of Chile where inequalities are most extreme. Araucanía hasn't enjoyed the economic success Chile achieved when the country returned to democracy in 1990. The Ninth Region also has the largest ethnic Mapuche population, located in rural areas and attached to small agricultural properties. Written and oral histories of diseases have been the most frequently used methods to explore the links between an ancestral population's perception of health conditions and their deprived environments. With census data and hospital records, it is now possible to incorporate statistical data about the links between poverty and disease among ethnic communities and compare results with non-Mapuche population. Hospital discharge records from Health Services North N = 24,126 patients, year 2003, and 7 hospitals), Health Services South (N = 81,780 patients and 25 hospitals); CAS-2/Family records (N = 527,539 individuals, 439 neighborhoods, 32 Comunas). Given the over-dispersion of data and the clustered nature of observations, we used the global Moran's I and General G Gettis-Ord procedures to test spatial dependence. These tests confirmed the clusters of disease and the need to use spatial regression within a General Linear Mixed Model perspective. Health outcomes indicate significantly higher morbidity rates for the Mapuche compared to non-Mapuche in both age groups Mapuches than non-Mapuches for the entire Ninth Region and for all age groups. Mortality caused by respiratory infections is higher among Mapuches than non-Mapuches in all age-groups. A major finding is the link between poverty and respiratory infections. Poverty is significantly associated with respiratory infections in the population of Chile's Ninth Region. High deprivation areas are associated with poverty, and poverty is a predictor of respiratory infections. Mapuches are at higher risk of deaths caused by respiratory infections in

  16. Bullying climate and school engagement in ninth-grade students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mehta, Sharmila B; Cornell, Dewey; Fan, Xitao; Gregory, Anne

    2013-01-01

    Many authorities agree that bullying has a widespread impact on school climate, affecting bystanders as well as victims. This study tested the contention that a climate of bullying can have a schoolwide impact on student engagement in school. Hierarchical linear modeling assessed the relations between student perception of bullying climate and student engagement at the individual and school level in a statewide sample of 7058 ninth graders randomly selected from 289 schools participating in the Virginia High School Safety Study. Student engagement was assessed by self-report scales measuring commitment to school and involvement in school activities. Individual differences in perception of school climate characterized by bullying were associated with lower commitment to school, but not less involvement in school activities. School-level differences in student perceptions of bullying climate were associated with both lower commitment to school and less involvement in school activities, after controlling for the effects of gender, race, school size, proportion of ethnic minority students in the school, and individual-level perception of bullying climate. Efforts to improve student engagement should consider the schoolwide impact of bullying on all students. © 2013, American School Health Association.

  17. Geografilärares och niondeklassares syn på undervisningen om klimatförändringenClimate change education: Geography teachers’ and ninth-graders’ views

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mikaela Hermans

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available It has been increasingly recognised that education plays a key role in addressing human-induced climate change. The ultimate goal of climate change education (CCE is positive impacts on the climate through both individual and collective actions. The aim of this study is to investigate geography teachers’ and their ninth-graders’ views about CCE. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews with geography teachers (N = 13 and questionnaires for ninth-graders (N = 549 at eleven secondary schools from all parts of Swedish-speaking Finland. The results show that although the students’ attitudes to CCE is positive, it does not supply them with action competence. The geography teachers in this study largely miss the ultimate goal of CCE, pointing at the need for more effort to be made in the process of developing CCE at secondary school.

  18. 77 FR 53917 - Report on Countries That Are Candidates for Millennium Challenge Account Eligibility in Fiscal...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-09-04

    ... poverty reduction. The Act requires the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to take a number of steps... its people; and (b) considering the opportunity to reduce poverty and generate economic growth in the... India Indonesia Iraq Kenya Kiribati Kyrgyz Republic Lao PDR Lesotho Liberia Malawi Mauritania Micronesia...

  19. 76 FR 69290 - Report on Countries That Are Candidates for Millennium Challenge Account Eligibility in Fiscal...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-11-08

    ... countries to achieve lasting economic growth and poverty reduction. The Act requires the Millennium... to reduce poverty and generate economic growth in the country. These steps include the submission of... Dem. Rep. of the Congo Djibouti Ethiopia Gambia, The Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Haiti Honduras India...

  20. Transformasie, partisipasie en pluraliteit – die Kappadosiese erfenis vir die Sistematiese Teologie in die derde millennium

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tanya van Wyk

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Transformation, participation and plurality: The Cappadocian heritage for Systematic Theology in the third millennium. The aim of this article is to demonstrate how Systematic Theology in the third millennium utilises facets from the legacy of the Cappadocian fathers. The focal point is the influence on present-day Trinitarian theology. Aspects which are discussed include matters of metaphysics, philosophy, morality and spirituality. The influence of the legacy of the Cappadocian fathers concerns the challenge which diversity and plurality create in systematic theology. This legacy is explored by means of the ‘lived experiences’ of the life stories of the Cappadocians. These narratives illustrate a shift from the ‘impersonal’ to the ‘personal’, from ‘disengaged abstraction’ to ‘relational participation’. The latter is referred to as ‘a pastoral doctrine of the Trinity’ by Paul S. Fiddes. The emphasis on ‘economical ontology’ confirms the Cappadocians’ relevance for a present-day ethical discourse and the ‘aesthetics of a feeling for the Other’.

  1. The impact of a scheduling change on ninth grade high school performance on biology benchmark exams and the California Standards Test

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leonardi, Marcelo

    The primary purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a scheduling change from a trimester 4x4 block schedule to a modified hybrid schedule on student achievement in ninth grade biology courses. This study examined the impact of the scheduling change on student achievement through teacher created benchmark assessments in Genetics, DNA, and Evolution and on the California Standardized Test in Biology. The secondary purpose of this study examined the ninth grade biology teacher perceptions of ninth grade biology student achievement. Using a mixed methods research approach, data was collected both quantitatively and qualitatively as aligned to research questions. Quantitative methods included gathering data from departmental benchmark exams and California Standardized Test in Biology and conducting multiple analysis of covariance and analysis of covariance to determine significance differences. Qualitative methods include journal entries questions and focus group interviews. The results revealed a statistically significant increase in scores on both the DNA and Evolution benchmark exams. DNA and Evolution benchmark exams showed significant improvements from a change in scheduling format. The scheduling change was responsible for 1.5% of the increase in DNA benchmark scores and 2% of the increase in Evolution benchmark scores. The results revealed a statistically significant decrease in scores on the Genetics Benchmark exam as a result of the scheduling change. The scheduling change was responsible for 1% of the decrease in Genetics benchmark scores. The results also revealed a statistically significant increase in scores on the CST Biology exam. The scheduling change was responsible for .7% of the increase in CST Biology scores. Results of the focus group discussions indicated that all teachers preferred the modified hybrid schedule over the trimester schedule and that it improved student achievement.

  2. Child malnutrition and the Millennium Development Goals: much haste but less speed?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oruamabo, Raphael S

    2015-02-01

    The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) provide a framework for measuring the progress of nations. Several of these goals relate to child malnutrition, which remains an important contributor to child morbidity and mortality, accounting for approximately 45% of child deaths globally. A high proportion of undernourished children still live in Africa and parts of Asia, and the uneven rate of reduction in the prevalence of various types of child malnutrition among different income groups worldwide is worrying. Attempts to reduce child malnutrition should therefore begin from the grassroots by improving primary healthcare services in developing countries with particular focus on basic requirements. Adequate nutrition should be provided from birth, through infancy, preschool and early childhood to adolescence. The overall strategy should be one of careful and meticulous planning involving all development sectors with an emphasis on a bottom-up approach within a stable and disciplined polity; the MDGs will be only be useful if they are seen not as narrow objectives with unidirectional interventions but as multifaceted and co-ordinated. The setting of deadlines, whether 2015 or 2035, should not be emphasised so as to avoid hasty decision making. The top priority should be the implementation of the essential social services of basic education, primary healthcare, nutrition, reproductive health care, water and sanitation in partnership with the developed economies. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  3. The millennium development goals and road traffic injuries: exploring the linkages in South Asia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hyder, Adnan A; Ghaffar, Abdul

    2004-12-01

    In a major summit of the members of the United Nations (UN) in 2000, a Millennium Declaration was adopted which called for making the elimination of poverty and promotion of sustainable development a global priority. A road map was agreed upon to operationalize the declaration, and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) were integrated within the document. The MDGs are now increasingly being used to assess the performance of countries, institutions and the global community. WHO declares that the MDGs provide "a set of outcomes that are relevant to the development of national health policy frameworks". It also states that although MDGs do not cover all the components of public health, when broadly interpreted "the goals provide an opportunity to address important cross-cutting issues and key constraints to health". Consistent with WHO's call for a broad interpretation of the MDGs, and building on the health linkages identified by WHO, this paper explores the linkages between the MDGs and the impact of road traffic injuries (RTI). This is done in the context of South Asia, one of the poorest and populated regions of the developing world.

  4. Challenges experienced by South Africa in attaining Millennium Development Goals 4, 5 and 6

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fhumulani M. Mulaudzi

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Background: Despite progress made by other countries worldwide in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs 4, 5 and 6, South Africa is experiencing a challenge in attaining positive outcomes for these goals. Objective and setting: To describe the challenges experienced by South Africa regarding the successful implementation of MDGs 4, 5 and 6. Methods: An integrative literature review was used to identify and synthesise various streams of literature on the challenges experienced by South Africa in attaining MDGs 4, 5 and 6. Results: The integrative review revealed the following themes: (1 interventions related to child mortality reduction, (2 implementation of maternal mortality reduction strategies, and (3 identified barriers to zero HIV and TB infections and management. Conclusion: It is recommended that poverty relief mechanisms be intensified to improve the socio-economic status of women. There is a need for sectoral planning towards maternal health, and training of healthcare workers should emphasise the reduction of maternal deaths. Programmes addressing the reduction of maternal and child mortality rates, HIV, STIs and TB need to be put in place. Keywords: Millennium Development Goals; maternal and child morbidity and mortality; HIV and AIDS; STI and TB

  5. Approaching the millennium - strategies for the gas buyers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Holder, J.; Kelton, F.

    1998-01-01

    An overview of what is in store for gas purchasing in Ontario's new deregulated market was presented. Basically, responsibilities will shift from the utility to market players. The impact of this shift on marketers, on end-users and on the utility were assessed. In the new millennium, Consumers Gas, which is Canada's largest and oldest natural gas distributor, will be operating under a new name, Enbridge. The company will focus on developing marketing programs to position natural gas as the number one fuel choice for residential, commercial, apartments, vehicles, cogeneration and industrial markets. The evolution of the 200 customer market model( i.e. large volume customers, gas marketers, commercial customers and residential customers as a group), what each of these groups want from Enbridge, and what Enbridge can deliver as the wholesale provider of natural gas delivery services rounded out the discussion. figs

  6. Changes of climate regimes during the last millennium and the twenty-first century simulated by the Community Earth System Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Wei; Feng, Song; Liu, Chang; Chen, Jie; Chen, Jianhui; Chen, Fahu

    2018-01-01

    This study examines the shifts in terrestrial climate regimes using the Köppen-Trewartha (K-T) climate classification by analyzing the Community Earth System Model Last Millennium Ensemble (CESM-LME) simulations for the period 850-2005 and CESM Medium Ensemble (CESM-ME), CESM Large Ensemble (CESM-LE) and CESM with fixed aerosols Medium Ensemble (CESM-LE_FixA) simulations for the period 1920-2080. We compare K-T climate types from the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) (950-1250) with the Little Ice Age (LIA) (1550-1850), from present day (PD) (1971-2000) with the last millennium (LM) (850-1850), and from the future (2050-2080) with the LM in order to place anthropogenic changes in the context of changes due to natural forcings occurring during the last millennium. For CESM-LME, we focused on the simulations with all forcings, though the impacts of individual forcings (e.g., solar activities, volcanic eruptions, greenhouse gases, aerosols and land use changes) were also analyzed. We found that the climate types changed slightly between the MCA and the LIA due to weak changes in temperature and precipitation. The climate type changes in PD relative to the last millennium have been largely driven by greenhouse gas-induced warming, but anthropogenic aerosols have also played an important role on regional scales. At the end of the twenty-first century, the anthropogenic forcing has a much greater effect on climate types than the PD. Following the reduction of aerosol emissions, the impact of greenhouse gases will further promote global warming in the future. Compared to precipitation, changes in climate types are dominated by greenhouse gas-induced warming. The large shift in climate types by the end of this century suggests possible wide-spread redistribution of surface vegetation and a significant change in species distributions.

  7. Maternal employment and early childhood overweight: findings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study

    OpenAIRE

    Hawkins, S. S.; Cole, T. J.; Law, C.; Millennium Cohort Study Child Health Group, The

    2008-01-01

    Background: In most developed countries, maternal employment has increased rapidly. Changing patterns of family life have been suggested to be contributing to the rising prevalence of childhood obesity. Objectives: Our primary objective was to examine the relationship between maternal and partner employment and overweight in children aged 3 years. Our secondary objective was to investigate factors related to early childhood overweight only among mothers in employment. Design: Cohort study. Su...

  8. Maternal employment and early childhood overweight: findings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study

    OpenAIRE

    Hawkins, S. S.; Cole, T. J.; Law, C.; Millennium Cohort Study Child Hlth

    2008-01-01

    Background: In most developed countries, maternal employment has increased rapidly. Changing patterns of family life have been suggested to be contributing to the rising prevalence of childhood obesity.Objectives: Our primary objective was to examine the relationship between maternal and partner employment and overweight in children aged 3 years. Our secondary objective was to investigate factors related to early childhood overweight only among mothers in employment.Design: Cohort study.Subje...

  9. Intelligent robot trends and predictions for the new millennium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, Ernest L.; Mundhenk, Terrell N.

    1999-08-01

    An intelligent robot is a remarkably useful combination of a manipulator, sensors and controls. The current use of these machines in outer space, medicine, hazardous materials, defense applications and industry is being pursued with vigor but little funding. In factory automation such robotics machines can improve productivity, increase product quality and improve competitiveness. The computer and the robot have both been developed during recent times. The intelligent robot combines both technologies and requires a thorough understanding and knowledge of mechatronics. In honor of the new millennium, this paper will present a discussion of futuristic trends and predictions. However, in keeping with technical tradition, a new technique for 'Follow the Leader' will also be presented in the hope of it becoming a new, useful and non-obvious technique.

  10. Expectancy-Value Models for the STEM Persistence Plans of Ninth-Grade, High-Ability Students: A Comparison between Black, Hispanic, and White Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andersen, Lori; Ward, Thomas J.

    2014-01-01

    Group differences in the effects of the expectancies and values that high-ability students have for science and mathematics on plans to persist in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) were investigated. A nationally representative sample of ninth-grade students, the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS: 2009; n =…

  11. Towards the identification of dyestuffs in Early Iron Age Scandinavian peat bog textiles

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mannering, Ulla; Gleba, Margarita; Vanden Berghe, Ina

    2009-01-01

    A large systematic dye investigation of prehistoric Danish and Norwegian bog textiles was carried out using high performance liquid chromatography with photo diode array detection. After the selection of the most suitable protocol for dye extraction and HPLC analysis for this specific group of ar...... of biological dye sources in Early Iron Age Scandinavia. The results clearly indicate that most Scandinavian peat bog textiles originally were dyed and that already during the 1st millennium BC, the populations in Scandinavia were familiar with the dyeing technology....

  12. Evaluation of the Camp Project for Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Graders. Research and Development Report, Vol. V, No. 4, Summer 1971.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kopp, Frederick S.; Barnes, Jarvis

    The Title I (Elementary and Secondary Education Act) 1971 Summer Camp Project of the Atlanta Public Schools offered to a group of 427 seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-grade boys and girls of 5 1/2-day camping experience. Camp activities were directed at an attempt to integrate the children's knowledge of the outdoors with actual experience in nature…

  13. A Ninth Planet in Our Solar System?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kohler, Susanna

    2016-01-01

    The recent discovery that the orbits of some Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) share properties has proved puzzling. A pair of scientists have now proposed a bold explanation: there may be a planet-sized object yet undetected in our solar system.Mysterious ClusteringKBOs, the population of mainly small objects beyond Neptune, have proven an especially interesting subject of study in the last decade as many small, distant bodies (such as Eris, the object that led to the demotion of Pluto to dwarf planet) have been discovered.Previous studies have recently discovered that some especially distant KBOs those that orbit with semimajor axes of a 150 AU, nearly four times that of Pluto all cross the ecliptic at a similar phase in their elliptical trajectories. This is unexpected, since gravitational tugs from the giant planets should have randomized this parameter over our solar systems multi-billion-year lifespan.Physical alignment of the orbits of Kuiper belt objects with a 250 AU (and two objects with a 150 AU that are dynamically stable). [Batygin Brown 2016]Two scientists at California Institute of Technology, Konstantin Batygin and Michael Brown (you might recognize Brown as the man who killed Pluto) have now increased the mystery. In a recently published a study, they demonstrate that for KBOs that have orbits with a 250 AU, the orbits are actually physically aligned.To explain this unexpected alignment which Batygin and Brown calculate has only a 0.007% probability of having occurred by chance the authors ask an exciting question: could this be caused by the presence of an unseen, large, perturbing body further out in the solar system?Simulating a Ninth PlanetThe authors test this hypothesis by carrying out both analytical calculations and numerical N-body simulations designed to determine if the gravitational influence of a distant, planetary-mass companion can explain the behavior we observe from the large-orbit KBOs.Simulation of the effect of a distant planet (M = 10

  14. Maintenance for the Millennium: Another Approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sculthorpe, Barruy R.

    2002-01-01

    Nuclear units nationwide are struggling to increase plant reliability and availability while at the same time reduce their operating and maintenance costs. Some very costly investments have been made in programs such as Reliability Centered Maintenance [RCM]. Florida Power and Light's approach at the St. Lucie Nuclear Plant has taken a slightly different approach. Building on our knowledge of the RCM process and an already existing 'World Class' Predictive Maintenance Program, a 'Condition-Based' Maintenance Program that takes advantage of the RCM philosophy and our toolbox full of advanced and highly successful predictive maintenance technologies. These tools currently consist of vibration analysis, lubricant analysis (both physical property and wear metals analysis, thermographic analysis, motor current signature analysis, tribology and process parameter trending. All employed with the intent to evaluate a machines health. This machine health check allows the forecasting of future preventative maintenance [PM's] tasks and the revision of existing PM's to maximize machine performance and eliminate 'no-value-added' maintenance activities/costs. Within the last year, the Condition-Based Maintenance Program has produced a cost saving of approximately $1.5 million dollars. As the program matures, these cost savings will accumulate well into the millennium. (authors)

  15. 75 FR 52990 - Report on Countries That Are Candidates for Millennium Challenge Account Eligibility in Fiscal...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-08-30

    ... poverty reduction. The Act requires the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to take a number of steps...) investments in its people; and (b) considering the opportunity to reduce poverty and generate economic growth.... Guinea Bissau 20. Guyana 21. Haiti 22. Honduras 23. India 24. Kenya 25. Kiribati 26. Kyrgyz Republic 27...

  16. Family employment and child socioemotional behaviour: longitudinal findings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hope, Steven; Pearce, Anna; Whitehead, Margaret; Law, Catherine

    2014-10-01

    Levels of paid employment in two parent and lone parent families have increased in the UK but evidence of its impact on child socioemotional behaviour is limited and inconsistent. We conducted a longitudinal analysis using the first four sweeps of the Millennium Cohort Study (9 months, 3 years, 5 years and 7 years) to investigate the influence of family employment trajectories in the early years on socioemotional behaviour at 7 years, unadjusted and adjusted for covariates. In addition, mothers' employment was investigated separately. Children from families where no parent was employed for one or more sweeps were at a greater risk of socioemotional problem behaviour compared with those where a parent was continuously employed, even after adjustment for covariates. Children of mothers who were non-employed for one or more sweeps were at greater risk of problem behaviour compared with mothers who were employed at all sweeps. Adjustment for covariates fully attenuated the excess risk for children whose mothers had moved into employment by the time they were 7 years. In contrast, the elevated risk associated with continuous non-employment and a single transition out of employment was attenuated after adjustment for early covariates, fathers' employment, household income and mothers' psychological distress at 7 years, but remained significant. Family and mothers' employment were associated with a lower risk of problem behaviour for children in middle childhood, in part explained by sociodemographic characteristics of families and the apparent psychological and socioeconomic benefits of employment. Results for mothers' transitions in or out of the labour market suggest that child problem behaviour is influenced by current status, over and above diverse earlier experiences of employment and non-employment. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  17. Family employment and child socioemotional behaviour: longitudinal findings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hope, Steven; Pearce, Anna; Whitehead, Margaret; Law, Catherine

    2014-01-01

    Background Levels of paid employment in two parent and lone parent families have increased in the UK but evidence of its impact on child socioemotional behaviour is limited and inconsistent. Methods We conducted a longitudinal analysis using the first four sweeps of the Millennium Cohort Study (9 months, 3 years, 5 years and 7 years) to investigate the influence of family employment trajectories in the early years on socioemotional behaviour at 7 years, unadjusted and adjusted for covariates. In addition, mothers’ employment was investigated separately. Results Children from families where no parent was employed for one or more sweeps were at a greater risk of socioemotional problem behaviour compared with those where a parent was continuously employed, even after adjustment for covariates. Children of mothers who were non-employed for one or more sweeps were at greater risk of problem behaviour compared with mothers who were employed at all sweeps. Adjustment for covariates fully attenuated the excess risk for children whose mothers had moved into employment by the time they were 7 years. In contrast, the elevated risk associated with continuous non-employment and a single transition out of employment was attenuated after adjustment for early covariates, fathers’ employment, household income and mothers’ psychological distress at 7 years, but remained significant. Conclusions Family and mothers’ employment were associated with a lower risk of problem behaviour for children in middle childhood, in part explained by sociodemographic characteristics of families and the apparent psychological and socioeconomic benefits of employment. Results for mothers’ transitions in or out of the labour market suggest that child problem behaviour is influenced by current status, over and above diverse earlier experiences of employment and non-employment. PMID:24889054

  18. Acid sulfate soils and human health--a Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ljung, Karin; Maley, Fiona; Cook, Angus; Weinstein, Philip

    2009-11-01

    Acid sulfate soils have been described as the "nastiest soils on earth" because of their strong acidity, increased mobility of potentially toxic elements and limited bioavailability of nutrients. They only cover a small area of the world's total problem soils, but often have significant adverse effects on agriculture, aquaculture and the environment on a local scale. Their location often coincides with high population density areas along the coasts of many developing countries. As a result, their negative impacts on ecosystems can have serious implications to those least equipped for coping with the low crop yields and reduced water quality that can result from acid sulfate soil disturbance. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment called on by the United Nations in 2000 emphasised the importance of ecosystems for human health and well-being. These include the service they provide as sources of food and water, through the control of pollution and disease, as well as for the cultural services ecosystems provide. While the problems related to agriculture, aquaculture and the environment have been the focus of many acid sulfate soil management efforts, the connection to human health has largely been ignored. This paper presents the potential health issues of acid sulfate soils, in relation to the ecosystem services identified in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. It is recognised that significant implications on food security and livelihood can result, as well as on community cohesiveness and the spread of vector-borne disease. However, the connection between these outcomes and acid sulfate soils is often not obvious and it is therefore argued that the impact of such soils on human well-being needs to be recognised in order to raise awareness among the public and decision makers, to in turn facilitate proper management and avoid potential human ill-health.

  19. Temperature Covariance in Tree Ring Reconstructions and Model Simulations Over the Past Millennium

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Hartl-Meier, C. T. M.; Büntgen, Ulf; Smerdon, J. E.; Zorita, E.; Krusic, P. J.; Ljungqvist, F. C.; Schneider, L.; Esper, J.

    2017-01-01

    Roč. 44, č. 18 (2017), s. 9458-9469 ISSN 0094-8276 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) LO1415 Institutional support: RVO:68378076 Keywords : last millennium * northern-hemisphere * summer temperatures * american southwest * volcanic-eruptions * tibetan plateau * sierra-nevada * system model * central-asia * climate * paleoclimate * spatial temperature synchrony * millennial scale * radiative forcing * proxy model comparison Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour OBOR OECD: Environmental sciences (social aspects to be 5.7) Impact factor: 4.253, year: 2016

  20. Training effectiveness vs. cost effectiveness: The next millennium challenge

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Coe, Richard P.

    2003-01-01

    With the advent of the new millennium and energy deregulation, organizations will be challenged to be cost competitive and profitable. Deregulation in the US energy industry will force utilities and, more specifically, commercial nuclear power production to unprecedented cost control measures. It will also renew the fires of debate about costs vs. safety. With personnel costs being the single largest expenditure for most organizations management will be faced with constant dilemmas of competition for scarce resources. Salaries, benefits and training costs will be under greater scrutiny. Training resources and programs will face increased pressure to be job related, based on conservative requirements and more cost effective than in the past. For nearly two decades the US National Academy for Nuclear Training (NANT) has developed and used industry-wide accreditation and evaluation standards based on the Systematic Approach to Training (SAT). This process assures that existing and emerging technical training is constantly reviewed and evaluated against standardized criteria to assure job relatedness and enhanced job performance. The process also requires management to approve, actively participate in and support the training of NPP personnel. Instructors must be highly skilled and well trained in the SAT process and various instructional strategies. The SAT process is grounded in five interlocking keystone steps; Analysis - Design - Development - Implementation - Evaluation (ADDIE). Evaluation of training is often said to be the most crucial and most difficult step. Here is where an organization determines if the training is effective and meeting the legitimate needs of all of the stakeholders. This QA/QC aspect of training must be an ongoing process involving management, instructors and the students. It is only through the discipline of an SAT based evaluation process that an organization can truly determine if the training is efficient, effective, cost effective and

  1. Leadership theory and research in the new millennium : current theoretical trends and changing perspectives.

    OpenAIRE

    Dinh, J.; Lord, R.; Garnder, W.; Meuser, J.; Liden, R.C.; Hu, J.

    2014-01-01

    Scholarly research on the topic of leadership has witnessed a dramatic increase over the last decade, resulting in the development of diverse leadership theories. To take stock of established and developing theories since the beginning of the new millennium, we conducted an extensive qualitative review of leadership theory across 10 top-tier academic publishing outlets that included The Leadership Quarterly, Administrative Science Quarterly, American Psychologist, Journal of Management, Acade...

  2. Last millennium northern hemisphere summer temperatures from tree rings: Part I: The long term context

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Wilson, R.; Anchukaitis, K.; Briffa, K. R.; Büntgen, Ulf; Cook, E.; D'Arrigo, R.; Davi, N.; Esper, J.; Frank, D.; Gunnarson, B.; Hegerl, G.; Helama, S.; Klesse, S.; Krusic, P. J.; Linderholm, H. W.; Myglan, V. S.; Osborn, T. J.; Rydval, M.; Schneider, L.; Schurer, A.; Wiles, G.; Zhang, P.; Zorita, E.

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 134, FEB (2016), s. 1-18 ISSN 0277-3791 Institutional support: RVO:67179843 Keywords : high-resolution paleoclimatology * stable carbon isotopes * medieval warm period * past 600 years * blue intensity * volcanic-eruptions * density data * ice-age * dendroclimatic reconstruction * cambium phenology * Tree-rings * Northern hemisphere * Last millennium * Summer temperatures * Reconstruction * CMIP5 models Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour Impact factor: 4.797, year: 2016

  3. Expecting success: Factors influencing ninth graders' science self-efficacy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Donahue, Elizabeth

    What factors influence ninth grade students' expectations for success in science? Using social cognitive theory and bioecological systems theory as theoretical frameworks, this dissertation employs data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) to examine the relative impact of teacher practices and their perceived attitudes on students' science self-efficacy. Further, as they relate to this broader issue, the relative impact of student subjective task value and teacher characteristics is also investigated. It has been well documented that U.S. students are not achieving at satisfactory levels in science. Education policy has focused on improving science teacher quality as one way to address this problem. Teacher effectiveness has been primarily measured by student achievement on standardized tests. However, not enough attention has been given to the social cognitive factors that can lead to increased achievement and persistence in science as well as how teachers may influence these factors. This study interrogates the relationship between student and teacher variables and the social cognitive construct of self-efficacy, which has proven to have a significant impact on student achievement and persistence in science. Findings add to the current literature surrounding ways that educators may increase student performance in science by employing policies and practices that benefit the development of student science self-efficacy.

  4. The Ninth International scientific and technical conference Safety, efficiency and economy of atomic energy. Book of abstracts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2014-01-01

    The abstracts of the Ninth International scientific and technical conference Safety, efficiency and economy of atomic energy are present. The conference took place in Moscow, 21-23 May, 2014. The problems of WWER, RBMK, BN and EhGP-6 NPPs operation, maintenance and repair; materials testing and metallic structures control; radioactive wastes and spent fuel management; NPP decommissioning; radiation safety, NPP ecology, emergency preparedness were discussed on the conference. The great attention was paid to the problems of atomic energy economy and its developing, international cooperation for NPP safety and young NPP specialists training [ru

  5. Meeting the 2015 Millennium Development Goals with new interventions for abused women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karmaliani, Rozina; Shehzad, Shireen; Hirani, Saima Shams; Asad, Nargis; Akbar Ali Hirani, Shela; McFarlane, Judith

    2011-12-01

    In a developing country such as Pakistan, where illiteracy, poverty, gender differences, and health issues are prevalent, violence against women is a commonly observed phenomenon. The rising incidences of abuse among women indicate a need to introduce evidence-based community-derived interventions for meeting Millennium Developmental Goals by 2015. This article discusses the application of counseling, economic skills building, and microcredit programs as practical and effective interventions to improve the health outcomes of abused women and, therefore, improving maternal and child health in the Pakistani society. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Emerging solutions in reference services implications for libraries in the new millennium

    CERN Document Server

    Edwards, John D

    2013-01-01

    How can you enhance reference services without adding staff?Modern law librarians are under growing pressure to keep up with new technologies, deal instantly with the demands of patrons, keep the library safe and user-friendly, and generally offer the best possible service while keeping costs down. Emerging Solutions in Reference Services: Implications for Libraries in the New Millennium is a very practical guide for coping with rapidly changing technology and increasing demands for services. Its sane, well-researched advice and suggestions can help you deal with the hectic days and

  7. Proceedings of the ninth national conference on undergraduate research, 1995. Volume 2

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yearout, R.D.

    1995-07-01

    The Ninth National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR 95) was held at Union College in Schenectady, New York. This annual celebration of undergraduate scholarly activity continues to elicit strong nation-wide support and enthusiasm among both students and faculty. Attendance was nearly 1,650, which included 1,213 student oral and poster presenters. For the second year in a row, many student papers had to be rejected for presentation at NCUR due to conference size limitations. Thus, submitted papers for presentation at NCUR 95 were put through a careful review process before acceptance. Those students who have been selected to have their paper appear in these Proceedings have been through yet a second review process. As a consequence, their work has been judged to represent an impressive level of achievement at the undergraduate level. Volume 2 contains papers related to Engineering and Mathematics (41 papers) and Physical Science (18 papers).

  8. Medical use of ionising radiation - challenges for the third millennium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leitz, W.

    2003-01-01

    From the very beginning after its discovery ionising radiation has been in beneficial use for health care. But even the drawbacks showed up very early: only a few months after Roentgens discovery reports were published on patients who got severe skin damage after fluoroscopy with x-rays. This finding of the adverse effects was soon turned into something positive: ionising radiation could be used for treatment of cancer. In 1928 radiologists took the initiative to the foundation of what later became the International Commission on Radiological Protection, ICRP. Medical use of ionising radiation is giving by far the largest contribution to the radiation burden of the global population from artificial sources, on average 0,3 mSv per year and inhabitant, excluding doses from radiation treatment. In the Nordic countries this dose is approximately 0,7 mSv. This isn't a problem by itself. The total benefit is exceeding the total radiation risk with large margins. But the margins could even be larger. Methods for examinations and treatments have often a potential for improvements, meaning that the medical effect can be obtained with a lower dose to the patient. In certain circumstances the examination does not contribute to the further treatment of the patient or to her/his well-being and is then regarded as not justified. The huge challenge we are facing depends among other things on the extreme fast technical development which enables exposures of a magnitude that we haven't seen before and applications we only could dream about. There is a risk that the motto 'do what is possible to do' is followed instead of 'do what the individual patient needs'. This presentation addresses the possibilities, but also the dangers that medical use of ionising radiation in medical care is facing in the new millennium, or at least in its first years. (orig.)

  9. The association between maternal serious psychological distress and child obesity at 3 years: a cross-sectional analysis of the UK Millennium Cohort Data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramasubramanian, L; Lane, S; Rahman, A

    2013-01-01

      The prevalence of child obesity is increasing rapidly worldwide. Early childhood has been identified as a critical time period for the development of obesity. Maternal mental health and early life environment are crucial factors and have been linked to adverse child outcomes. The objective of the study was to examine the relationship between maternal serious psychological distress and obesity in early childhood.   A cross-sectional analysis of data from the Millennium Cohort Study was conducted. Subjects consisted of all natural mothers (n= 10 465) who had complete and plausible data for Kessler-6 scores, socio-demographic and anthropometric variables, and their children for whom anthropometric measurements were completed at age 3. Maternal serious psychological distress was defined as a score of 13 or more on the Kessler-6 scale. Obesity was defined as body mass index ≥95th centile of the 1990 reference chart for age and sex in children. The data were analysed using spss 16. Maternal socio-demographic factors that are known to influence maternal mental health and child obesity were identified and adjusted using multivariate logistic regression.   Of the 10 465 mother-child dyads, 3.5% of mothers had serious psychological distress and 5.5% of children were obese at 3 years of age. Logistic regression analysis showed that maternal serious psychological distress was associated with early childhood obesity (P= 0.01; OR 1.62, 95% CI 1.11, 2.37). After adjusting for potential confounding factors using multivariate logistic regression, maternal serious psychological distress remained significantly associated with early childhood obesity (P= 0.01; OR 1.59, 95% CI 1.08, 2.34).   The results show that maternal serious psychological distress is independently associated with early childhood obesity. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  10. Poverty determinants of acute respiratory infections among Mapuche indigenous peoples in Chile's Ninth Region of Araucania, using GIS and spatial statistics to identify health disparities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rojas Flavio

    2007-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background This research concerns Araucanía, often called the Ninth Region, the poorest region of Chile where inequalities are most extreme. Araucanía hasn't enjoyed the economic success Chile achieved when the country returned to democracy in 1990. The Ninth Region also has the largest ethnic Mapuche population, located in rural areas and attached to small agricultural properties. Written and oral histories of diseases have been the most frequently used methods to explore the links between an ancestral population's perception of health conditions and their deprived environments. With census data and hospital records, it is now possible to incorporate statistical data about the links between poverty and disease among ethnic communities and compare results with non-Mapuche population. Data sources Hospital discharge records from Health Services North N = 24,126 patients, year 2003, and 7 hospitals, Health Services South (N = 81,780 patients and 25 hospitals; CAS-2/Family records (N = 527,539 individuals, 439 neighborhoods, 32 Comunas. Methods Given the over-dispersion of data and the clustered nature of observations, we used the global Moran's I and General G Gettis-Ord procedures to test spatial dependence. These tests confirmed the clusters of disease and the need to use spatial regression within a General Linear Mixed Model perspective. Results Health outcomes indicate significantly higher morbidity rates for the Mapuche compared to non-Mapuche in both age groups Mapuches than non-Mapuches for the entire Ninth Region and for all age groups. Mortality caused by respiratory infections is higher among Mapuches than non-Mapuches in all age-groups. A major finding is the link between poverty and respiratory infections. Conclusion Poverty is significantly associated with respiratory infections in the population of Chile's Ninth Region. High deprivation areas are associated with poverty, and poverty is a predictor of respiratory infections

  11. EARLY LIFE RISKS, ANTISOCIAL TENDENCIES, AND PRETEEN DELINQUENCY*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Staff, Jeremy; Whichard, Corey; Siennick, Sonja; Maggs, Jennifer

    2015-01-01

    Early age-of-onset delinquency and substance use confer a major risk for continued criminality, alcohol and drug abuse, and other serious difficulties throughout the life course. Our objective is to examine the developmental roots of preteen delinquency and substance use. Using nationally representative longitudinal data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study (n = 13,221), we examine the influence of early childhood developmental and family risks on latent pathways of antisocial tendencies from ages 3 to 7, and the influence of those pathways on property crime and substance use by age 11. We identified a normative, non-antisocial pathway; a pathway marked by oppositional behavior and fighting; a pathway marked by impulsivity and inattention; and a rare pathway characterized by a wide range of antisocial tendencies. Children with developmental and family risks that emerged by age 3—specifically difficult infant temperament, low cognitive ability, weak parental closeness, and disadvantaged family background—face increased odds of antisocial tendencies. There is minimal overlap between the risk factors for early antisocial tendencies and those for preteen delinquency. Children on an antisocial pathway are more likely to engage in preteen delinquency and substance use by age 11, even after accounting for early life risk factors. PMID:26900167

  12. Toward an essential ethic for teaching science in the new millennium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hays, Irene De La Bretonne

    The purpose of this study was to identify and explore values and views that might underlie an essential ethic for teaching science in the new millennium. With such an ethic, teachers may be better able to prepare young people to form and fully participate in communities that restore and sustain Earth. Reviewed in the literature for this study were changing philosophies and theories from early indigenous cultures to the present on the nature of nature, the value of nature, and the human relationship with nature. These philosophies and theories were found to influence values that today underlie the work scientists do and the ways young people are educated in science. In the study, two groups of participants--Nature Writers and scientists--revealed the essence and meaning of their relationship with nature. A two-stage, modified Delphi method was used for collecting data. Stage One comprised the first "round" of the Delphi and involved content analysis of writings by a select group of U.S. Nature Writers from the early 1800s to the present. In Stage Two, comprising three rounds of the modified Delphi, perspectives of Nature Writers were imbedded in questionnaires and presented for response to a select group of scientists connected with research and education at National Laboratories across the country. Finally, results from each participant group were brought together in a recursive process, one with the other, to determine findings. Strong Earth-care values, including receptivity, responsibility, interdependence, respect, cooperation, love, and care, were found to be held in common by the Nature Writers and scientists in this study and could form the foundation for an essential ethic for teaching science. The strongest dissonance between Nature Writers and scientists was evident in emotional and spiritual domains--despite that many scientists revealed emotional and spiritual elements in stories told of their experiences with nature. Contrary to what might have been

  13. The Spiritually-Based Organization: A Theoretical Review and its Potential Role in the Third Millennium

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anselmo Ferreira Vasconcelos

    Full Text Available This paper examines whether the spiritually-based organization (SBO can be regarded as an imperative for the third millennium. As a result, it draws on the literature review of organizational spirituality, psychology of religion, positive psychology, and spirituality leadership theory in order to support its conclusions, as well as it offers some research propositions. Overall, the evidence gathered throughout this paper suggests that the spiritual paradigm starts to play a key role alongside with the concept of SBOs. Rather, it concludes that these topics can be regarded as authentic imperatives for this millennium. Nonetheless, it argues that is likely to take some time until the spirituality topic may mold, so to speak, organizations' character regarding that spiritual theme is starting to become a noteworthy topic. Furthermore, it argues that the logic that has prevailed on business enterprises has been largely economic, except some honorable initiatives. The findings also indicate that the material paradigm is not suited to deal with germane problems that shape our today's world. Finally, it suggests that the concept of SBO embraces positive changes and, as such, it may be potentially conducive to improving people lives and the planet's health and equilibrium.

  14. Proceedings of the ninth annual conference on fossil energy materials

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cole, N.C.; Judkins, R.R. [comps.

    1995-08-01

    The Ninth Annual Conference on Fossil Energy materials was held in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on May 16--18, 1995. The meeting was sponsored by the US Department of Energy`s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy through the Advanced Research and Technology Development (AR&TD) Materials Program. The objective of the AR&TD Materials Program is to conduct research and development on materials for longer-term fossil energy applications as well as for generic needs of various fossil fuel technologies. The management of the program has been decentralized to the DOE Oak Ridge Operations Office with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) as the technical support contractor. The research is performed by staff members at ORNL and by researchers at other national laboratories, universities, and in private industry. The work is divided into the following categories: (1) structural ceramics, (2) new alloys and coatings, (3) functional materials, and (4) technology assessment and transfer. This conference is held each year to review the work on all of the projects of the Program. Selected papers have been processed separately for inclusion in the Energy Science and Technology database.

  15. Update on Key Studies - The Millennium Cohort Study, The STAMPEDE Study, The Million Veteran Program, and The National Health Study for a New Generation of US Veterans

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-01-01

    Deployment scientific; ethical ; and legal experts in the field of genetics and veteran representatives, and partners, including but not limited to veterans...Smith TC, et al. Anthrax vaccination in the Millennium Cohort: validation and measures of health. Am J Prev Med. 2007;32:347–353. 20. Smith B, Smith...LeardMann CA, Smith B, Smith TC, Wells TS, Ryan MAK. Smallpox vaccination : comparison of self-reported and electronic vaccine records in the millennium

  16. 77 FR 41779 - Millennium Pipeline Company, LLC; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-07-16

    ... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. PF12-10-000] Millennium Pipeline Company, LLC; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Planned Hancock Compressor Project, Request for Comments on Environmental Issues, and Notice of Public Scoping Meeting The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory...

  17. 76 FR 52654 - Millennium Pipeline Company, LLC; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-08-23

    ... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. CP11-515-000] Millennium Pipeline Company, LLC; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Minisink Compressor Project, Request for Comments on Environmental Issues, and Notice of Public Scoping Meeting The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory...

  18. Tim Berners-Lee receives the Millennium Technology Prize

    CERN Multimedia

    2004-01-01

    On 15 April, for his invention of the Web, Tim Berners-Lee was awarded the first ever Millennium Technology Prize by the Finnish Technology Award Foundation, which recognises technological innovations of lasting benefit to society. "Tim Berners-Lee's invention perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the Prize. The Web is encouraging new types of social networks, contributing to transparency and democracy, and opening up new avenues for information management and business development," underlined Pekka Tarjanne, chairman of the jury and former Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Tim Berners-Lee is congratulated by Jukka Valtasaari, Finland's Ambassador to the United States. Tim Berners-Lee created the first server, browser and editor, the HTML code, the URL address and the HTTP transmission protocol at CERN in 1990. CERN released the Web into the public domain in 1993. Tim Berners-Lee is currently head of the World Wide Web Consortium, managed by ERCIM (Europe...

  19. Probiotics in the third millennium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gorbach, S L

    2002-09-01

    Probiotics are "living microorganisms which upon ingestion in certain numbers exert health benefits beyond inherent general nutrition". Since 1987, when the first publication on the properties of the Lactobacillus GG was done, overall, there have been over 200 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals. This paper will report the status and the prospectus of probiotics research at the beginning of the Third Millennium. Probiotics have proven benefits in treatment and prevention of rotavirus diarrhoea in children and reduction of antibiotic-associated intestinal side-effects. Interesting results have recently been published regarding food allergies and atopic eczema in children. Prevention of vaginitis and of travellers' diarrhoea have also been reported. Promising results are being reported in patients with inflammatory bowel disease, cystic fibrosis, dental caries and irritable bowel syndrome. It has also been suggested that probiotics could enhance oral vaccine administration, and that they may help treatment against Helicobacter pylori infection, but further studies are needed. Future areas of research regard probiotics' role in the process of carcinogenesis, given their influence on the gut microflora, and as immune modulators in autoimmune disorders. The possibility of introducing appropriate genes to the probiotics to make them produce various compounds is also under investigation. However, there is still confusion in the minds of the authorities over whether a probiotic is a drug, a food, or a dietary supplement. The challenge is to continue research to define the appropriate uses of probiotics and discover new applications which will bring benefit to humankind.

  20. Detroit, 22-27 September 1974: Report on ninth world energy conference

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1974-01-01

    The acceleration of world demand for energy during the last forty years has led to a projection of future needs far in excess of present capacity, and one which threatens exhaustion of today's conventional sources at some future time. Coupled with this premise is the realization of two inter-related facts: inadequate, uneconomic sources of energy cripple a man, his nation, and his world and lead to insecurity, famine and ignorance; on the other hand, excessive, uncontrolled use of energy sources leads to wastage of resources, pollution and human misery that likewise respects no national boundaries. These dominating concerns led to the selection of the main theme of the Ninth World Energy Conference - 'The Economic and Environmental Challenges of Future Energy Requirements'. This theme was broadly broken down into six main categories: energy needs, sources of energy, energy conversion and utilization, conservation of energy, economics and environmental considerations. A total of 229 formal papers were considered by the several thousand participants who represented more than 60 countries and a number of international organizations at the Conference

  1. Detroit, 22-27 September 1974: Report on ninth world energy conference

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1974-07-01

    The acceleration of world demand for energy during the last forty years has led to a projection of future needs far in excess of present capacity, and one which threatens exhaustion of today's conventional sources at some future time. Coupled with this premise is the realization of two inter-related facts: inadequate, uneconomic sources of energy cripple a man, his nation, and his world and lead to insecurity, famine and ignorance; on the other hand, excessive, uncontrolled use of energy sources leads to wastage of resources, pollution and human misery that likewise respects no national boundaries. These dominating concerns led to the selection of the main theme of the Ninth World Energy Conference - 'The Economic and Environmental Challenges of Future Energy Requirements'. This theme was broadly broken down into six main categories: energy needs, sources of energy, energy conversion and utilization, conservation of energy, economics and environmental considerations. A total of 229 formal papers were considered by the several thousand participants who represented more than 60 countries and a number of international organizations at the Conference.

  2. Trees, poverty and targets: Forests and the Millennium Development Goals

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Myers, James

    2007-04-15

    Where are the forests in the MDGs? When players in the forestry world get together they are good at setting goals. They are a good match for the political leaders that gave us the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Since the 1980s there has been a proliferation of international dialogues dealing with forests and, a bit like the football World Cup, every four years or so they come up with a feast of goals. If forestry goals were all we needed to make progress, then sustainable and pro-poor forestry would have long since become a worldwide reality. Of course, implementation still lags well behind aspiration, but at least there is now a considerable body of international knowledge and agreement on how forests can contribute to development.

  3. 5. annual clean coal technology conference: powering the next millennium. Vol.1

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1997-07-01

    The Fifth Annual Clean Coal Technology Conference focuses on presenting strategies and approaches that will enable clean coal technologies to resolve the competing, interrelated demands for power, economic viability, and environmental constraints associated with the use of coal in the post-2000 era. The program addresses the dynamic changes that will result from utility competition and industry restructuring, and to the evolution of markets abroad. Current projections for electricity highlight the preferential role that electric power will have in accomplishing the long-range goals of most nations. Increased demands can be met by utilizing coal in technologies that achieve environmental goals while keeping the cost- per-unit of energy competitive. Results from projects in the DOE Clean Coal technology Demonstration Program confirm that technology is the pathway to achieving these goals. The industry/government partnership, cemented over the past 10 years, is focused on moving the clean coal technologies into the domestic and international marketplaces. The Fifth Annual Clean Coal Technology Conference provides a forum to discuss these benchmark issues and the essential role and need for these technologies in the post-2000 era. This volume contains papers presented at the plenary session and panel sessions on; international markets for clean coal technologies (CCTs); role of CCTs in the evolving domestic electricity market; environmental issues affecting CCT deployment; and CCT deployment from today into the next millennium. In addition papers presented at the closing plenary session on powering the next millennium--CCT answers the challenge are included. Selected papers have been processed for inclusion in the Energy Science and Technology database.

  4. Proceedings of the ninth national conference on undergraduate research, 1995. Volume 1

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yearout, R.D. [ed.

    1995-07-01

    The Ninth National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR 95) was held at Union College in Schenectady, New York. This annual celebration of undergraduate scholarly activity continues to elicit strong nation-wide support and enthusiasm among both students and faculty. Attendance was nearly 1,650, which included 1,213 student oral and poster presenters. For the second year in a row, many student papers had to be rejected for presentation at NCUR due to conference size limitations. Thus, submitted papers for presentation at NCUR 95 were put through a careful review process before acceptance. Those students who have been selected to have their paper appear in these Proceedings have been through yet a second review process. As a consequence, their work has been judged to represent an impressive level of achievement at the undergraduate level. Volume 1 contains papers related to Arts and Humanities (52 papers), and Social and Behavioral Sciences (64 papers).

  5. Proceedings of the ninth national conference on undergraduate research, 1995. Volume 3

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yearout, R.D. [ed.

    1995-07-01

    The Ninth National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR 95) was held at Union College in Schenectady, New York. This annual celebration of undergraduate scholarly activity continues to elicit strong nation-wide support and enthusiasm among both students and faculty. Attendance was nearly 1,650, which included 1,213 student oral and poster presenters. For the second year in a row, many student papers had to be rejected for presentation at NCUR due to conference size limitations. Thus, submitted papers for presentation at NCUR 95 were put through a careful review process before acceptance. Those students who have been selected to have their paper appear in these Proceedings have been through yet a second review process. As a consequence, their work has been judged to represent an impressive level of achievement at the undergraduate level. Volume 3 contains papers related to Biological Sciences (46 papers); Chemical Sciences (21 papers); and Environmental Sciences (7 papers).

  6. At the beginning... Cosmogony, theogony and anthropogeny in Sumerian texts of the third and second millennium BCE

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lisman, Johannes Jacobus Wilhelmus (Jan)

    2013-01-01

    A diachronic survey of the Sumerian ideas about Beginnings – cosmogony, theogony and anthropogeny – is described. Third millennium Sumerian texts describe the 'marriage' of the primaeval pair an and ki – Heaven and Earth, thereafter the sky god An and the mother goddess Ninḫursaĝa – and the birth

  7. Innovation for a better life: IdeaSquare to host a panel discussion for the 2016 Millennium Technology Prize

    CERN Multimedia

    Antonella Del Rosso

    2015-01-01

    The one-million-euro Millennium Technology Prize promotes technological innovations that improve the quality of people’s lives. A series of panel discussions are being held worldwide to draw attention to the themes of the prize and to promote nominations for high-calibre candidates for the 2016 award. For the first time, IdeaSquare has been chosen as one of the venues and CERN people are invited to take part. Save the date: 30 June, 3 p.m.   The Millennium Technology Prize was established in 2004 by the Technology Academy Finland (TAF), an independent foundation whose mission is “to promote innovations that improve the quality of people’s lives in a sustainable manner”. Awarded every other year, the prize has already recognised the work of seven great innovators who developed technological innovations to tackle the great challenges of mankind: learning, health and a clean environment. The first prize was awarded to Tim Berners-Lee for the World Wide Web. E...

  8. The Millennium Cohort: A 21-Year Contribution to the Understanding of Military and Veterans’ Health

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-12-10

    syndrome (15 items) • Other anxiety syndrome (6 items) • Eating disorders (4 items; binge and bulimia nervosa) Has your doctor or other health...The Millennium Cohort: a 21-Year Contribution to the Understanding of Military and Veterans’ Health Second Annual Trauma Stress Disorders ...AVAILABILITY STATEMENT Approved for public release; distribution unlimited 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES Presented at The Second Annual Trauma Spectrum Disorders

  9. The U.S. Department of Defense Millennium Cohort Study: Career Span and Beyond Longitudinal Follow-Up

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-10-01

    PHQ*) Caffeine and fast food intake (2 questions) Strength and duration of physical activity (1 question with 3 items; NHIS *) Daily physical activity...Complementary and Alternative Medicine; NHIS , National Health Interview Survey; NHANES, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; SF36-V, Short...USAMRMC) Military Operational Medicine Research Pro- gram (MOMRP). The Millennium Cohort Study requires considerable financial and logistical support that

  10. Development Innovations through Entrepreneurial Microfinance and the Attempt to Achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals in Bangladesh

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saleh Ahmed

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available As one of the countries in the Global South, Bangladesh has experienced numerous development challenges since its liberation in 1971. Bangladesh has showcased how to fight against poverty and to initiate meaningful change and development in human lives. Nobel Prize (2006 winner Grameen Bank is one of the popular development innovations in the country. Since the beginning of this Bank in the early 1970s, microfinance and entrepreneurship development with small amounts of money have proliferated to nearly every corner of the globe with the paramount goal of alleviating global poverty and ensuring human development. Like all other new social science techniques, the societal revolution brought about by microfinance expansion has left substantial room for refinement and further support by empirical evidence. This article critically evaluates a non-governmental initiative to empower extremely poor women through entrepreneurial microfinance, and examines the socioeconomic impacts in achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (UNMDGs. This article covers both primary and secondary information. The aim is to demonstrate how countries of the Global South can use carefully designed microfinance projects to address major development challenges and meaningfully contribute to creating a more equal, humane society.

  11. Information Memory Processing and Retrieval: The Use of Information Theory to Study Primacy and Recency Characteristics of Ninth Grade Science Students Processing Learning Tasks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dunlop, David L.

    Reported is another study related to the Project on an Information Memory Model. This study involved using information theory to investigate the concepts of primacy and recency as they were exhibited by ninth-grade science students while processing a biological sorting problem and an immediate, abstract recall task. Two hundred randomly selected…

  12. Hemispherically Asymmetric Volcanic Forcing of Tropical Hydroclimate During the Last Millennium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colose, Christopher M.; Legrande, Allegra N.; Vuille, Mathias

    2016-01-01

    Volcanic aerosols exert the most important natural radiative forcing of the last millennium. State-of-the-art paleoclimate simulations of this interval are typically forced with diverse spatial patterns of volcanic forcing, leading to different responses in tropical hydroclimate. Recently, theoretical considerations relating the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) position to the demands of global energy balance have emerged in the literature, allowing for a connection to be made between the paleoclimate simulations and recent developments in the understanding of ITCZ dynamics. These energetic considerations aid in explaining the well-known historical, paleoclimatic, and modeling evidence that the ITCZ migrates away from the hemisphere that is energetically deficient in response to asymmetric forcing. Here we use two separate general circulation model (GCM) suites of experiments for the last millennium to relate the ITCZ position to asymmetries in prescribed volcanic sulfate aerosols in the stratosphere and related asymmetric radiative forcing. We discuss the ITCZ shift in the context of atmospheric energetics and discuss the ramifications of transient ITCZ migrations for other sensitive indicators of changes in the tropical hydrologic cycle, including global streamflow. For the first time, we also offer insight into the large-scale fingerprint of water isotopologues in precipitation (delta sup 18 Op) in response to asymmetries in radiative forcing. The ITCZ shifts away from the hemisphere with greater volcanic forcing. Since the isotopic composition of precipitation in the ITCZ is relatively depleted compared to areas outside this zone, this meridional precipitation migration results in a large-scale enrichment (depletion) in the isotopic composition of tropical precipitation in regions the ITCZ moves away from (toward). Our results highlight the need for careful consideration of the spatial structure of volcanic forcing for interpreting volcanic signals in

  13. Goals? What goals? Europeans to hear more about the world's millennium development goals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bianchi, S.

    2005-01-01

    The European Union (EU) is quickly becoming the front-runner of development aid to regions in Africa and other developing countries. However, over three-quarters of EU citizens are unaware of development efforts being made on the part of the Union to Third World countries, according to a public opinion poll released by Eurobarometer. In light of the low awareness of the EU's development agenda and the United Nations's Millennium Development Goals, the EU Humanitarian Aid and Development Commission has employed a campaign to raise the level of awareness among the EU's 460 million citizens

  14. GLOBAL GOVERNANCE AND POVERTY REDUCTION THIS MILLENNIUM: NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John N. N. Ugoani

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Issue of global poverty became very worrisome that the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000 placed it at the heart of global agenda to halve 1990 extreme poverty and hunger rates by the end of 2015. This means that the percentage of improvised people defined by the World Bank as those living on less than $1.25 a day must fall to 25 percent by the end of this year, while the proportion of people without adequate food security must be reduced to 12.5 percent. To achieve the aim, global leaders agreed to set a time-bound and measurable goals and targets. The United Nations believes that achieving the target which involves improvements in standards of living, universal primary education, empowerment of women, reduction in mortality rates, unemployment, among others, requires a global partnership with national governments, multinational agencies through global governance architecture. The ideal of global governance is a process of co-operative leadership that brings together national governments, multilateral public agencies and civil society to achieve commonly accepted goals. It provides strategic direction and then marshals collective energies to address global challenges. It is inclusive, dynamic and operates across national and sectoral boundaries and interests. It is this perspective of global governance that drives the Millennium Development Goals agenda toward global poverty reduction. This perspective is making positive contributions with some regions in the world heading toward the achievement of the target. Even those countries in sub-saharan Africa where most of the global poor live and who are lagging behind, are making frantic efforts to do so, with the assistance of global bodies like the world bank,  IMF, UNIDO, among others. The beauty of global governance is that it appears to be more democratic than authoritarian, more openly political than bureaucratic, and more integrated than specialized. This is the level that drives the

  15. Area and Family Effects on the Psychopathology of the Millennium Cohort Study Children and Their Older Siblings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flouri, Eirini; Tzavidis, Nikos; Kallis, Constantinos

    2010-01-01

    Background: To model and compare contextual (area and family) effects on the psychopathology of children nested in families nested in areas. Method: Data from the first two sweeps of the UK's Millennium Cohort Study were used. The final study sample was 9,630 children clustered in 6,052 families clustered in 1,681 Lower-layer Super Output Areas.…

  16. Limitations of the Millennium Development Goals: a literature review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fehling, Maya; Nelson, Brett D.; Venkatapuram, Sridhar

    2013-01-01

    With the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) showing uneven progress, this review identifies possible limitations arising from the MDG framework itself rather than extrinsic issues. A multidisciplinary literature review was conducted with a focus on limitations in the formulation of the MDGs, their structure, content and implementation. Of 1837 MDG-related articles, 90 met criteria for analysis. Articles describe MDGs as being created by only a few stakeholders without adequate involvement by developing countries and overlooking development objectives previously agreed upon. Others claim MDGs are unachievable and simplistic, not adapted to national needs, do not specify accountable parties and reinforce vertical interventions. While MDGs have promoted increased health and well-being in many countries by recognising and deliberating on the possible constraints of the MDG framework, the post-2015 agenda may have even greater impact. Complex problems have simple, easy to understand, wrong answers (Henry Louis Mencken) PMID:24266508

  17. Millennium Development Goals progress: a perspective from sub-Saharan Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    English, Mike; English, Rex; English, Atti

    2015-01-01

    Sub-Saharan Africa is a highly diverse geo-political region. Any brief discussion of the progress made over the last 15 years towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will therefore not do justice to the true complexity of context and events. Our focus will be MDG4—to reduce child mortality by 66% from 1990 levels. We will touch briefly on MDG1, to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, MDG2, to achieve universal primary education, and MDG5, to improve maternal health, which are inextricably linked with child well-being. We will also draw on an eclectic mix of additional global indicators. Acknowledging the limitations of this approach, we first offer a summary of expected progress and then point to debates on future goals. PMID:25613971

  18. Female genital mutilation and efforts to achieve Millennium Development Goals 3, 4, and 5 in southeast Nigeria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawani, Lucky O; Onyebuchi, Azubuike K; Iyoke, Chukwuemeka A; Okeke, Nwabunike E

    2014-05-01

    To determine the prevalence of female genital mutilation (FGM), the common forms of FGM, reasons for the practice, associated obstetric outcomes, and how these have affected efforts to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 3, 4, and 5 in southeast Nigeria. A prospective descriptive study of parturients in southeast Nigeria was conducted from January to December 2012. All primigravid women attending delivery services at 2 health institutions during the study period were recruited, examined, and classified using the 2008 WHO classification for FGM. The mean age of the 516 participants was 27.24±4.80 years and most (66.3%) had undergone FGM. Type II FGM was the most common form, accounting for 59.6% of cases. Most FGM procedures were performed in infancy (97.1%) and for cultural reasons (60.8%). Women who had undergone FGM had significantly higher risk for episiotomy, perineal tear, hemorrhage, cesarean delivery, neonatal resuscitation, fresh stillbirth/early neonatal death, and longer hospitalization, with higher risk ratios associated with higher degrees of FGM. FGM is still a common practice in southeast Nigeria, where its association with adverse reproductive outcomes militates against efforts to achieve MDGs 3, 4, and 5. Copyright © 2014 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Public Perception of the Millennium Development Goals on Access to Safe Drinking Water in Cross River State, Nigeria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eni, David D.; Ojong, William M.

    2014-01-01

    This study evaluated the public perception of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of environmental sustainability with focus on the MDG target which has to do with reducing the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water in Cross River State, Nigeria. The stratified and systematic sampling techniques were adopted for the study,…

  20. Expert meeting on Child Growth and Micronutrient Deficiencies--New Initiatives for Developing Countries to Achieve Millennium Development Goals: executive summary report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Usfar, Avita A; Achadi, Endang L; Martorell, Reynaldo; Hadi, Hamam; Thaha, Razak; Jus'at, Idrus; Atmarita; Martianto, Drajat; Ridwan, Hardinsyah; Soekirman

    2009-01-01

    Undernutrition in early childhood has long-term physical and intellectual consequences. Improving child growth should start before the age of two years and be an integrated effort between all sectors, covering all aspects such as diet and nutrient intake, disease reduction, optimum child care, and improved environmental sanitation. To discuss these issues, the Indonesian Danone Institute Foundation organized an expert meeting on Child Growth and Micronutrient Deficiencies: New Initiatives for Developing Countries to Achieve Millennium Development Goals. The objective of the meeting was to have a retrospective view on child growth: lessons learned from programs to overcome under-nutrition in the developed countries and to relate the situation to the Indonesian context, as well as to discuss implications for future programs. Recommendations derived from the meeting include focus intervention on the window of opportunity group, re-activation of the Integrated Health Post at the village level, improvement of infant and young child feeding, expand food fortification intervention programs, strengthen supplementation programs with multi-micronutrient, and strengthening public and private partnership on food related programs.

  1. Assessment of Knowledge and Perception towards Breast Cancer Prevention and Early Detection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saleh Hadi Alharbi

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Breast cancer was the ninth leading cause of mortality for women in Saudi Arabia, and to reduce the burden of this disease appropriate information about breast cancer and its’ early detection measures are highly needed. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and perception of Northern Saudi Arabia people towards breast cancer prevention and early detection. Methodology: In this cross sectional descriptive study, data about breast cancer were obtained from 566 Saudi volunteers living in the city of Hail, Saudi Arabia. Results: When the level of individual’s knowledge about breast cancer was assessed, the majority of the study subjects were found with good knowledge followed by moderate and poor representing 187 (34.3%, 170 (31.2% and 86 (15.8%, respectively. For females, most of them were found with good knowledge followed by moderate and poor constituting 142 (36.1%, 111 (28.2% and 62 (15.8%, respectively. Conclusion: The findings of the present study have delivered evidence that women in Northern Saudi Arabia lack appropriate information about breast cancer and its’ early detection measures.

  2. THE HALO MERGER RATE IN THE MILLENNIUM SIMULATION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR OBSERVED GALAXY MERGER FRACTIONS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Genel, Shy; Genzel, Reinhard; Bouche, Nicolas; Naab, Thorsten; Sternberg, Amiel

    2009-01-01

    We have developed a new method to extract halo merger rates from the Millennium Simulation. First, by removing superfluous mergers that are artifacts of the standard friends-of-friends (FOF) halo identification algorithm, we find a lower merger rate compared to previous work. The reductions are more significant at lower redshifts and lower halo masses, and especially for minor mergers. Our new approach results in a better agreement with predictions from the extended Press-Schechter model. Second, we find that the FOF halo finder overestimates the halo mass by up to 50% for halos that are about to merge, which leads to an additional ∼20% overestimate of the merger rate. Therefore, we define halo masses by including only particles that are gravitationally bound to their FOF groups. We provide new best-fitting parameters for a global formula to account for these improvements. In addition, we extract the merger rate per progenitor halo, as well as per descendant halo. The merger rate per progenitor halo is the quantity that should be related to observed galaxy merger fractions when they are measured via pair counting. At low-mass/redshift, the merger rate increases moderately with mass and steeply with redshift. At high enough mass/redshift (for the rarest halos with masses a few times the 'knee' of the mass function), these trends break down, and the merger rate per progenitor halo decreases with mass and increases only moderately with redshift. Defining the merger rate per progenitor halo also allows us to quantify the rate at which halos are being accreted onto larger halos, in addition to the minor and major merger rates. We provide an analytic formula that converts any given merger rate per descendant halo into a merger rate per progenitor halo. Finally, we perform a direct comparison between observed merger fractions and the fraction of halos in the Millennium Simulation that have undergone a major merger during the recent dynamical friction time, and find a

  3. Millennium scale radiocarbon variations in Eastern North Atlantic thermocline waters: 0-7000 years

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Frank, N.; Tisnerat-Laborde, N.; Hatte, C. [LSCE, F-91190 Gif Sur Yvette, (France); Colin, C. [Univ Paris 11, IDES, Orsay, (France); Dottori, M.; Reverdin, G. [Univ Paris 06, LOCEAN, F-75252 Paris, (France)

    2009-07-01

    Complete text of publication follows: Deep water corals are exceptional archives of modern and past ocean circulation as combined U-series and radiocarbon dating allows to reconstruct seawater radiocarbon. Here we present thermocline water radiocarbon concentrations that have been reconstructed for the past {approx} 7000 years for the eastern north Atlantic, based on deep-water corals from Rockall Bank and Porcupine Seabight. We find that thermocline water radiocarbon values follow overall the mean atmospheric long term trend with an average offset of {Delta}{sup 14}C between intermediate water and atmosphere of -55{+-}5 per thousand until 1960 AD. Residual variations are strong ({+-}25 per thousand) over the past 7000 years and there is first evidence that those are synchronous to millennium scale climate variability. Over the past 60 years thermocline water radiocarbon values increase due to the penetration of bomb-radiocarbon into the upper intermediate ocean. Radiocarbon increases by {Delta}{sup 14}C of +95 per thousand compared to +210 per thousand for eastern North Atlantic surface waters. Moreover, bomb-radiocarbon penetration to thermocline depth occurs with a delay of {approx} 10-15 years. Based on high resolution ocean circulation models we suggest that radiocarbon changes at upper intermediate depth are today barely affected by vertical mixing and represent more likely variable advection and mixing of water masses from the Labrador Sea and the temperate Atlantic (including Mediterranean outflow water). Consequently, we assume that residual radiocarbon variations over the past 7000 years reflect millennium scale variability of the Atlantic sub-polar and sub-tropical gyres

  4. Developing a Model of Compulsory Basic Education Completion Acceleration in Support of Millennium Development Goals in Magelang, Indonesia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sukarno; Haryati, Sri

    2015-01-01

    This article reports Year One of a two-year study to develop a model to accelerate compulsory basic education completion toward Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Magelang, Indonesia. The study focuses on five issues: (1) profile of MDGs in Magelang, (2) achievement of MDGs, (3) problems in MDGs implementation, (4) model of compulsary basic…

  5. Electronic Publishing and Academic Dialogue between Academicians via Online Journals in the New Millennium: A Case of "TOJDE"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Demiray, Ugur

    2003-01-01

    This study aims to discuss electronic scholarly publishing and dialogue an academicians in the millennium. There are three main part of this presentation. In the first part focuses on some concepts dealt with electronic publishing and advantages and disadvantages its. The needs of dialog of the academicians are mentioned in the second part of the…

  6. Development of sedentary behavior across childhood and adolescence: longitudinal analysis of the Gateshead Millennium Study

    OpenAIRE

    Janssen, Xanne; Mann, Kay D.; Basterfield, Laura; Parkinson, Kathryn N.; Pearce, Mark S.; Reilly, Jessica K.; Adamson, Ashley J.; Reilly, John J.

    2016-01-01

    Background In many parts of the world policy and research interventions to modify sedentary behavior of children and adolescents are now being developed. However, the evidence to inform these interventions (e.g. how sedentary behavior changes across childhood and adolescence) is limited. This study aimed to assess longitudinal changes in sedentary behavior, and examine the degree of tracking of sedentary behavior from age 7y to 15y. Methods Participants were part of the Gateshead Millennium S...

  7. The Vanuatu medical supply system – documenting opportunities and challenges to meet the Millennium Development Goals

    OpenAIRE

    Brown, Andrew; Gilbert, Ben

    2012-01-01

    Objectives: Limited human resources are widely recognised as a barrier to achieve health-related Millennium Development Goals. Availability of medical supplies and suitably trained health personnel are crucial to ensuring a well-functioning medical supply system. The objective of this paper is to identify the factors which influence the availability of medical supplies within the health facilities of Vanuatu. Methods: A qualitative triangulated strategy using semi-structured interviews, obser...

  8. Longitudinal Assessment of Self-Reported Recent Back Pain and Combat Deployment in the Millennium Cohort Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-11-15

    deployment and self-reported recent back pain in a population- based U.S. military cohort. Summary of Background Data. The study consisted of Millennium Cohort...acute injury based on a ‘‘diathesis-stress’’ model in which predis- posing psychological characteristics are activated by stress.40 In our study , both...Other studies have shown psychosocial and psycho- logical factors, including depression, psychological distress, passive coping strategies, fear

  9. Brain and psyche in early Christian asceticism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bradford, David T

    2011-10-01

    This study is an 11-part investigation of the psychology and neuropsychology of early Christian asceticism as represented by Evagrius Ponticus (AD 345-399), the tradition's first ascetical theologian and possibly its mosfinfluential. Evagrius's biography is reviewed in the first section. The living circuinstaii and perceptual consequences of desert asceticism are considered in the second. Penitence, dispassion, and the mysticism of "pure prayer" are discussed in the third. Austerities are addressed in the fourth section, particularly fasting, prostrations, and prolonged standing. Ascetical perspectives on sleep, dreams, and the hypnogogic state are analyzed in the fifth. The depressive syndrome of acedia is discussed in the sixth. Evagrius's reports of auditory, olfactory, and visual hallucinations are analyzed in the seventh. Multiple complementary interpretations of demonic phenoniena are developed in the eighth section. Evagrius's psychotherapy for anger is reviewed in the ninth. Interpersonal relations among ascetics are considered in the tenth section. The study concludes with a summary.

  10. Student Self-governance in Hungary in the New Millennium: Advocacy, Organisation, Entrepreneurship in the Higher Education Supermarket

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    JANCSÁK, Csaba

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The research focuses on active personal and community citizenship, political participation, self-organisation by generations and patterns of public and community activity in the interpretive communities of higher education, as well as on new forms of public activity and the development of student organisations in the new millennium. The empirical source of this article is the database resulting from the study “Active Youth in Hungary” (Aktív fiatalok Magyarországon (2013, N=1300. This article presents the characteristics of the different phases in the life-cycle of higher education students’ unions as organisations (in terms of performance, creativity, risk-taking, administration and integration. The author analyses the institution system of students’ unions, and the underlying causes of shifts in functions and values and their consequences by using a sociology-of-youth approach to higher educations’ historical milestones between 2000 and 2013. The reforms introduced in Hungarian higher education in the new millennium, in particular the introduction of the credit system, led to the transformation of the students’ collective interests which caused a shift in values, a decline of advocating function and the loss of the mass base in the students’ union movement.

  11. No Pending National Elections, Who Cares? What Newspaper Publications Reveal about Local Efforts Towards Millennium Development Goal 3

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arku, Frank S.; Arku, Cynthia

    2013-01-01

    The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has become a catch phrase in development discourse. This study is an assessment of the MDG 3: to promote gender equality at all levels of education in Ghana. The Daily Graphic (a newspaper in Ghana) which is Ghana's prominent newspaper was reviewed from 2000 to 2011 to determine the frequency of articles…

  12. Climatic Change, Wars and Dynastic Cycles in China Over the Last Millennium

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, D.D.; Jim, C.Y.; Lin, G.C.S.; Wang, J.J.; Lee, H.F. [Department of Geography, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong (China); He, Yuan-Qing [CAREERI, Chinese Academy of Science, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730000 (China)

    2006-06-15

    In recent years, the phenomenon of global warming and its implications for the future of the human race have been intensively studied. In contrast, few quantitative studies have been attempted on the notable effects of past climatic changes upon human societies. This study explored the relationship between climatic change and war in China by comparing high-resolution paleo-climatic reconstructions with known war incidences in China in the last millennium. War frequencies showed a cyclic pattern that closely followed the global paleo-temperature changes. Strong and significant correlations were found between climatic change, war occurrence, harvest level, population size and dynastic transition. During cold phases, China suffered more often from frequent wars, population decline and dynastic changes. The quantitative analyses suggested that the reduction of thermal energy input during a cold phase would lower the land carrying capacity in the traditional agrarian society, and the population size, with significant accretions accrued in the previous warm phase, could not be sustained by the shrinking resource base. The stressed human-nature relationship generated a 'push force', leading to more frequent wars between states, regions and tribes, which could lead to the collapse of dynasties and collapses of human population size. War frequencies varied according to geographical locations (North, Central and South China) due to spatial variations in the physical environment and hence differential response to climatic change. Moreover, war occurrences demonstrated an obvious time lag after an episode of temperature fall, and the three geographical regions experienced different length of time lags. This research also shows that human population increases and collapses were correlated with the climatic phases and the social instabilities that were induced by climate changes during the last millennium. The findings proposed a new interpretation of human

  13. The PMIP4 contribution to CMIP6 – Part 3: The last millennium, scientific objective, and experimental design for the PMIP4 past1000 simulations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. H. Jungclaus

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The pre-industrial millennium is among the periods selected by the Paleoclimate Model Intercomparison Project (PMIP for experiments contributing to the sixth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6 and the fourth phase of the PMIP (PMIP4. The past1000 transient simulations serve to investigate the response to (mainly natural forcing under background conditions not too different from today, and to discriminate between forced and internally generated variability on interannual to centennial timescales. This paper describes the motivation and the experimental set-ups for the PMIP4-CMIP6 past1000 simulations, and discusses the forcing agents orbital, solar, volcanic, and land use/land cover changes, and variations in greenhouse gas concentrations. The past1000 simulations covering the pre-industrial millennium from 850 Common Era (CE to 1849 CE have to be complemented by historical simulations (1850 to 2014 CE following the CMIP6 protocol. The external forcings for the past1000 experiments have been adapted to provide a seamless transition across these time periods. Protocols for the past1000 simulations have been divided into three tiers. A default forcing data set has been defined for the Tier 1 (the CMIP6 past1000 experiment. However, the PMIP community has maintained the flexibility to conduct coordinated sensitivity experiments to explore uncertainty in forcing reconstructions as well as parameter uncertainty in dedicated Tier 2 simulations. Additional experiments (Tier 3 are defined to foster collaborative model experiments focusing on the early instrumental period and to extend the temporal range and the scope of the simulations. This paper outlines current and future research foci and common analyses for collaborative work between the PMIP and the observational communities (reconstructions, instrumental data.

  14. Oxygen Isotope Speleothem record of Decadal and Multidecadal Atlantic Oscillations over the last millennium in Southwestern Morocco

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ait Brahim, Yassine; Sha, LiJuan; Sifeddine, Abdelfettah; Cheng, Hai; Bouchaou, Lhoussaine; Da Cruz Junior, Francisco William; Khodri, Myriam; Peerbocus, Nawaaz; Mariller, Alexandre; Apaestegui, James; Guyot, Jean-Loup; Auler, Augusto; Hassane Beraaouz, El

    2016-04-01

    In this work, we present a stable oxygen isotope (δ18O) speleothem record from Ifoulki cave located South-West of Morocco (N 30°42'29'', W 09°19'39'' and 1267 meters above sea level). The age model, based on eighteen U-Th dates, reveals that the record covers the AD 790-1953 period with a data resolution of ~1.7 years. Stable oxygen isotope variations show substantial decadal to multi-decadal swings between dry and humid periods. The Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) is characterized by the longest period with δ18O values above the average, suggestive of pronounced drying possibly as a response to positive North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) phases and increased volcanic activity during this period. However, at least two short wet phases are recognized during the MCA in Morocco, with peaks centered on the years AD 1040 and AD 1190 and seem to overlap with negative NAO phases as recorded in a recently published NAO reconstruction for the last millennium. During the next centuries, the NAO again depicts predominantly negative values and the δ18O drops below the average during the Little Ice Age (LIA). Furthermore, a striking resemblance is observed between our record and another recently published stalagmite record from the Piste cave in Northeastern Morocco, which is quite remarkable given the different type of tracers (δ18O vs. Mg and Sr) obtained from different environments (Western High Atlas vs. Northeastern Middle Atlas and ~634 km away). Comparison with regional paleorecords from other studies also reveals the replication of many characteristic climate features from the last millennium, first detected in Northern Morocco and the Iberian Peninsula. In particular, the evidence of generally dry conditions during the MCA and wetter conditions in the LIA, which is confirmed by all the paleorecords. These similarities indicate coherent climate variability in Northwest Africa and the Iberian Peninsula and suggest a strong regional control of the NAO during the last

  15. Postoperative pain control in the parturient: new challenges in the new millennium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuczkowski, Krzysztof M

    2011-02-01

    In the new millennium, the horizons of modern anesthesia practice continue to expand beyond the provision of surgical anesthesia to encompass areas outside of the operating room, including preoperative evaluation, labor analgesia, postanesthesia care, critical care and acute and chronic pain management. Adequate postoperative analgesia following caesarean delivery hastens ambulation, decreases maternal morbidity, improves patient outcome, and facilitates care of the newborn. There is currently no "gold standard" for post-cesarean pain management. The number of options is large and the choice of the method of pain control is determined by drug availability, institutional protocols, individual preferences, available resources, and financial considerations. This article provides an overview of the currently available methods of post-cesarean analgesia.

  16. Comparing the Global Charcoal Database with Burned Area Trends from an Offline Fire Model Driven by the NCAR Last Millennium Ensemble

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schaefer, A.; Magi, B. I.; Marlon, J. R.; Bartlein, P. J.

    2017-12-01

    This study uses an offline fire model driven by output from the NCAR Community Earth System Model Last Millennium Ensemble (LME) to evaluate how climate, ecological, and human factors contributed to burned area over the past millennium, and uses the Global Charcoal Database (GCD) record of fire activity as a constraint. The offline fire model is similar to the fire module within the NCAR Community Land Model. The LME experiment includes 13 simulations of the Earth system from 850 CE through 2005 CE, and the fire model simulates burned area using LME climate and vegetation with imposed land use and land cover change. The fire model trends are compared to GCD records of charcoal accumulation rates derived from sediment cores. The comparisons are a way to assess the skill of the fire model, but also set up a methodology to directly test hypotheses of the main drivers of fire patterns over the past millennium. The focus is on regions selected from the GCD with high data density, and that have lake sediment cores that best capture the last millennium. Preliminary results are based on a fire model which excludes burning cropland and pasture land cover types, but this allows some assessment of how climate variability is captured by the fire model. Generally, there is good agreement between modeled burned area trends and fire trends from GCD for many regions of interest, suggesting the strength of climate variability as a control. At the global scale, trends and features are similar from 850 to 1700, which includes the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age. After 1700, the trends significantly deviate, which may be due to non-cultivated land being converted to cultivated. In key regions of high data density in the GCD such as the Western USA, the trends agree from 850 to 1200 but diverge from 1200 to 1300. From 1300 to 1800, the trends show good agreement again. Implementing processes to include burning cultivated land within the fire model is anticipated to

  17. The Millennium Villages Project: a retrospective, observational, endline evaluation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shira Mitchell, PhD

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Summary: Background: The Millennium Villages Project (MVP was a 10 year, multisector, rural development project, initiated in 2005, operating across ten sites in ten sub-Saharan African countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs. In this study, we aimed to estimate the project's impact, target attainment, and on-site spending. Methods: In this endline evaluation of the MVP, we retrospectively selected comparison villages that best matched the project villages on possible confounding variables. Cross-sectional survey data on 40 outcomes of interest were collected from both the project and the comparison villages in 2015. Using these data, as well as on-site spending data collected during the project, we estimated project impacts as differences in outcomes between the project and comparison villages; target attainment as differences between project outcomes and prespecified targets; and on-site spending as expenditures reported by communities, donors, governments, and the project. Spending data were not collected in the comparison villages. Findings: Averaged across the ten project sites, we found that impact estimates for 30 of 40 outcomes were significant (95% uncertainty intervals [UIs] for these outcomes excluded zero and favoured the project villages. In particular, substantial effects were seen in agriculture and health, in which some outcomes were roughly one SD better in the project villages than in the comparison villages. The project was estimated to have no significant impact on the consumption-based measures of poverty, but a significant favourable impact on an index of asset ownership. Impacts on nutrition and education outcomes were often inconclusive (95% UIs included zero. Averaging across outcomes within categories, the project had significant favourable impacts on agriculture, nutrition, education, child health, maternal health, HIV and malaria, and water and sanitation. A third of the targets were met in the

  18. Longitudinal Latent Cognitive Profiles and Psychosocial Well-being in Early Adolescence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zilanawala, Afshin; Sacker, Amanda; Kelly, Yvonne

    2017-10-01

    Engaging in exploratory risky behaviors and experiencing poor mental health during early adolescence are important markers for poor health during adulthood. Prior research suggests protective effects from cognition, but less is known about the associations between early childhood cognition and early adolescent psychosocial well-being, as identified by self-esteem, mental health, and exploratory risky behaviors. This article investigates the extent that early adolescent psychosocial well-being at the age of 11 years is associated with patterns of cognitive skills measured across the first decade of a child's life. We used data collected from the four follow-up sweeps of the UK Millennium Cohort Study and utilized latent profile analysis to identify three discernible cognitive profiles (n = 16,899). We find cohort members in low-achieving profiles to be more likely to engage in exploratory risky behaviors-drinking, smoking, and antisocial conduct-and to have poor self-esteem and more problem behaviors, compared with their peers in high-achieving profiles. Socioeconomic and family psychosocial markers considerably attenuated these disadvantages. Understanding which adolescents have adverse psychosocial well-being has implications for the prevention of chronic diseases and for clinical care and policy. Copyright © 2017 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. The Last Millennium Reanalysis: Improvements to proxies and proxy modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tardif, R.; Hakim, G. J.; Emile-Geay, J.; Noone, D.; Anderson, D. M.

    2017-12-01

    The Last Millennium Reanalysis (LMR) employs a paleoclimate data assimilation (PDA) approach to produce climate field reconstructions (CFRs). Here, we focus on two key factors in PDA generated CFRs: the set of assimilated proxy records and forward models (FMs) used to estimate proxies from climate model output. In the initial configuration of the LMR [Hakim et al., 2016], the proxy dataset of [PAGES2k Consortium, 2013] was used, along with univariate linear FMs calibrated against annually-averaged 20th century temperature datasets. In an updated configuration, proxy records from the recent dataset [PAGES2k Consortium, 2017] are used, while a hierarchy of statistical FMs are tested: (1) univariate calibrated on annual temperature as in the initial configuration, (2) univariate against temperature as in (1) but calibration performed using expert-derived seasonality for individual proxy records, (3) as in (2) but expert proxy seasonality replaced by seasonal averaging determined objectively as part of the calibration process, (4) linear objective seasonal FMs as in (3) but objectively selecting relationships calibrated either on temperature or precipitation, and (5) bivariate linear models calibrated on temperature and precipitation with objectively-derived seasonality. (4) and (5) specifically aim at better representing the physical drivers of tree ring width proxies. Reconstructions generated using the CCSM4 Last Millennium simulation as an uninformed prior are evaluated against various 20th century data products. Results show the benefits of using the new proxy collection, particularly on the detrended global mean temperature and spatial patterns. The positive impact of using proper seasonality and temperature/moisture sensitivities for tree ring width records is also notable. This updated configuration will be used for the first generation of LMR-generated CFRs to be publicly released. These also provide a benchmark for future efforts aimed at evaluating the

  20. Highlights from the Ninth International Symposium of Thrombosis and Anticoagulation (ISTA IX), October 15, 2016, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lopes, Renato D; Guimarães, Patricia O; Hylek, Elaine; Feitosa-Filho, Gilson S; Ritt, Luiz; Filgueiras, Nivaldo; Darzé, Eduardo; Rocha, Mario S; Magalhães, Luis P; Sousa, Antonio Carlos Sobral; Correia, Luis Claudio; Oliveira, Lucas Hollanda; Garcia, David A

    2017-11-01

    To discuss and share knowledge about advances in the care of patients with thrombotic disorders, the Ninth International Symposium of Thrombosis and Anticoagulation was held in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, on October 15, 2016. This scientific program was developed by clinicians for clinicians and was promoted by two major clinical research institutes-the Brazilian Clinical Research Institute and the Duke Clinical Research Institute of the Duke University School of Medicine. Comprising academic presentations and open discussion, the symposium had as its primary goal to educate, motivate, and inspire internists, cardiologists, hematologists, and other physicians by convening national and international visionaries, thought-leaders, and dedicated clinician-scientists. This paper summarizes the symposium proceedings.

  1. Editorial - Special Issue on the Ninth International Conference on Aeolian Research - ICAR IX (Coastal Dune Processes and Aeolian Transport)

    Science.gov (United States)

    da Silva, Graziela Miot

    2018-04-01

    This special issue combines some of the papers related to coastal dune processes and aeolian sediment transport that were presented at the Ninth International Conference on Aeolian Research - ICAR IX. The conference was held between 4 and 8 of July 2016 in Mildura, Australia, organized by the International Society for Aeolian Research (ISAR) and convened by Adrian Chappell (Cardiff University), Craig Strong (Australian National University), Stephen Cattle (University of Sydney), Patrick Hesp (Flinders University), John Leys (New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage), Lynda Petherick (University of Wellington) and Nick Webb (USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range).

  2. Achieving the Millennium Development Goal of reducing maternal mortality in rural Africa: an experience from Burundi.

    OpenAIRE

    Tayler-Smith, K; Zachariah, R; Manzi, M; Van den Boogaard, W; Nyandwi, G; Reid, T; Van den Bergh, R; De Plecker, E; Lambert, V; Nicolai, M; Goetghebuer, S; Christaens, B; Ndelema, B; Kabangu, A; Manirampa, J

    2012-01-01

    OBJECTIVES: To estimate the reduction in maternal mortality associated with the emergency obstetric care provided by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and to compare this to the fifth Millennium Development Goal of reducing maternal mortality. METHODS: The impact of MSF's intervention was approximated by estimating how many deaths were averted among women transferred to and treated at MSF's emergency obstetric care facility in Kabezi, Burundi, with a severe acute maternal morbidity. Using this e...

  3. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Synthesis Report. Pre-publication. Final Draft Approved by MA Board on March 23, 2005. A Report of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reid, W.V.; Mooney, H.A.; Cropper, A.; Capistrano, D.; Carpenter, S.R.; Chopra, K.; Dasgupta, P.; Dietz, T.; Duraiappah, A.K.; Hassan, R.; Kasperson, R.; Leemans, R.; May, R.M.; McMichael, T.; Pingali, P.; Samper, C.; Scholes, R.; Watson, R.T.; Zakri, A.H.; Shidong, Z.; Ash, N.J.; Bennett, E.; Kumar, P.; Lee, M.J.; Raudsepp-Hearne, C.; Simons, H.; Thonell, J.; Zurek, M.B.

    2005-01-01

    This report presents a synthesis and integration of the findings of the four MA (Millennium Assessment) Working Groups along with more detailed findings for selected ecosystem services concerning condition and trends and scenarios and response options. Five additional synthesis reports were prepared for ease of use by specific audiences: CBD (biodiversity), UNCCD (desertification), Ramsar Convention (wetlands), business, and the health sector. Each MA sub-global assessment will also produce additional reports to meet the needs of its own audience. The full technical assessment reports of the four MA Working Groups will be published in mid-2005 by Island Press. All printed materials of the assessment, along with core data and a glossary of terminology used in the technical reports, will be available on the Internet at www.MAweb.org. Appendix D lists the acronyms and abbreviations used in this report and includes additional information on sources for some of the Figures in this report

  4. Five Ways the Sustainable Development Goals Are Better than the Millennium Development Goals and Why Every Educationalist Should Care

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caprani, Lily

    2016-01-01

    For 15 years the millennium development goals (MDGs) were a guiding force for many issues affecting the lives of children and young people around the world. Agreed by UN member states in 2001, the eight MDGs were designed as a framework around which states were expected to develop policy priorities and shape their overseas aid spending plans. The…

  5. Assessing childhood malnutrition in Haiti: Meeting the United Nations Millennium Development Goal #4

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R.L Bush

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Background The United Nations (UN Millennium Developmental Goal #4 addresses needed reductions in childhood mortality. A major cause of death in Haitian children is malnutrition and starvation. Objectives Our primary objective was to identify population characteristics of children living in rural Haiti that may place them at higher risk of malnutrition than others. Armed with this knowledge, community health workers can recognize and attribute resources to those most in need. We will also examine the overall nutrition status in the population of interest and compare to the UN Millennium Goal statistics. Study design The study cohort consisted of 103 children under the age of 5 years, who were consecutively seen in a rural medical clinic from 4 communities in the Thomazeau region of Haiti over a 7-day time period. Families were asked the following five questions: (1 How many children do you have? (2 What is the birth order of this child (1st, 2nd, etc.? (3 What is the distance between your house and clean water? (4 Do you obtain water for your family? (5 What was the highest grade you finished in school? The medical team recorded each child’s gender, age, height, weight, household size, when the last meal was eaten, and last time protein was ingested. Nutritional status was assessed using World Health Organization growth standards. The data was then analyzed to determine each child’s level of malnutrition as measured by weight-for-height Z-score (number of standard deviations [SD] below reference value, percentage of malnutrition for all children surveyed, and whether correlations existed between malnutrition level and number of siblings, household size, or location. Trends were defined as associations significant at p3 SD below normal Z-score. Using a parsimonious multivariable regression model to compare family structure factors to anthropomorphic variables, multiparity was positively associated with Z- score (p<0.05, suggesting that later

  6. Assessing the Progress of Gender Parity in Education through Achieving Millennium Development Goals: A Case Study of Quetta District Balochistan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rashid, Abdul; Bibi, Zainab; Din, Siraj ud

    2012-01-01

    Using secondary data of Government Schools and literacy department for 10 years that is 2000-2010, this paper assesses the progress on the issue of gender equality within the framework of education related Millennium Development Goals (MDG) in district Quetta. The assessment is based on the selected indicators of goals by applying descriptive…

  7. The Papua New Guinea medical supply system - documenting opportunities and challenges to meet the Millennium Development Goals

    OpenAIRE

    Brown, Andrew N; Gilbert, Ben

    2014-01-01

    Objectives Limited human resources are widely recognised as an impediment to achieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals in Pacific Island Countries, with the availability of medical supplies and suitably trained health personnel crucial to ensuring a well-functioning medical supply chain. This paper presents our findings as we seek to answer the research question ?What factors influence the availability of medical supplies within the health facilities of Papua New Guinea?? Meth...

  8. Variations in the width of the Indo-Pacific tropical rain belt over the last millennium: synthesis of stalagmite proxy records and climate model simulations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ummenhofer, Caroline; Denniston, Rhawn

    2017-04-01

    The seasonal north-south migration of the intertropical convergence zone defines the tropical rain belt (TRB), a region of enormous terrestrial biodiversity and home to 40% of the world's population. The TRB is dynamic and has been shown to shift south as a coherent system during periods of Northern Hemisphere cooling. However, recent studies of Indo-Pacific hydroclimate suggest that during the Little Ice Age (AD 1400-1850), the TRB in this region contracted rather than being displaced uniformly southward. This behaviour is not well understood, particularly during climatic fluctuations less pronounced than those of the Little Ice Age, the largest centennial-scale cool period of the last millennium. Using state-of-the-art climate model simulations conducted as part of the Last Millennium Ensemble with the Community Earth System Model (CESM), we evaluate variations in the width of the Indo-Pacific TRB, as well as movements in the position of its northward and southward edges, across a range of timescales over the pre-Industrial portion of the last millennium (AD 850-1850). The climate model results complement a recent reconstruction of late Holocene variability of the Indo-Pacific TRB, based on a precisely-dated, monsoon-sensitive stalagmite reconstruction from northern Australia (cave KNI-51), located at the southern edge of the TRB and thus highly sensitive to variations at its southern edge. Integrating KNI-51 with a record from Dongge Cave in southern China allows a stalagmite-based TRB reconstruction. Our results reveal that rather than shifting meridionally, the Indo-Pacific TRB expanded and contracted over multidecadal/centennial time scales during the late Holocene, with symmetric weakening/strengthening of summer monsoons in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres of the Indo-Pacific (the East Asian summer monsoon in China and the Australian summer monsoon in northern Australia). Links to large-scale climatic conditions across the Indo-Pacific region

  9. The impact of globalisation, free trade and technology on food and nutrition in the new millennium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McMichael, P

    2001-05-01

    The millennium promises a dramatic politicisation of the food question. In addition to the prominent issues of food security, hunger and nutrition, bioengineering, food safety and quality, there are related issues of environmental sustainability, power, sovereignty and rights. All these issues are deeply implicated in the current corporate form of globalisation, which is transforming historic global arrangements by subordinating public institutions and the question of food security to private solutions. The present paper questions the self-evident association between globalisation and nutritional improvement.

  10. Early evidence (late 2nd millennium BCE of plant-based dyeing of textiles from Timna, Israel.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Naama Sukenik

    Full Text Available In this article, we focus on the analysis of dyed textile fragments uncovered at an early Iron Age (11th-10th centuries BCE copper smelting site during new excavations in the Timna Valley conducted by the Central Timna Valley (CTV Project, as well as those found by the Arabah Expedition at the Hathor Temple (Site 200, dated to the Late Bronze/early Iron Ages (13th-11th centuries BCE. Analysis by HPLC-DAD identified two organic dyestuffs, Rubia tinctorum L. and indigotin, from a plant source (probably Isatis tinctoria L.. They are among the earliest plants known in the dyeing craft and cultivated primarily for this purpose. This study provides the earliest evidence of textiles dyed utilizing a chemical dyeing process based on an industrial dyeing plant from the Levant. Moreover, our results shed new light on the society operating the copper mines at the time, suggesting the existence of an elite that was interested in these high quality textiles and invested efforts in procuring them by long-distance trade.

  11. Early evidence (late 2nd millennium BCE) of plant-based dyeing of textiles from Timna, Israel.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sukenik, Naama; Iluz, David; Amar, Zohar; Varvak, Alexander; Workman, Vanessa; Shamir, Orit; Ben-Yosef, Erez

    2017-01-01

    In this article, we focus on the analysis of dyed textile fragments uncovered at an early Iron Age (11th-10th centuries BCE) copper smelting site during new excavations in the Timna Valley conducted by the Central Timna Valley (CTV) Project, as well as those found by the Arabah Expedition at the Hathor Temple (Site 200), dated to the Late Bronze/early Iron Ages (13th-11th centuries BCE). Analysis by HPLC-DAD identified two organic dyestuffs, Rubia tinctorum L. and indigotin, from a plant source (probably Isatis tinctoria L.). They are among the earliest plants known in the dyeing craft and cultivated primarily for this purpose. This study provides the earliest evidence of textiles dyed utilizing a chemical dyeing process based on an industrial dyeing plant from the Levant. Moreover, our results shed new light on the society operating the copper mines at the time, suggesting the existence of an elite that was interested in these high quality textiles and invested efforts in procuring them by long-distance trade.

  12. Millennium Development Goals progress: a perspective from sub-Saharan Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    English, Mike; English, Rex; English, Atti

    2015-02-01

    Sub-Saharan Africa is a highly diverse geo-political region. Any brief discussion of the progress made over the last 15 years towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will therefore not do justice to the true complexity of context and events. Our focus will be MDG4-to reduce child mortality by 66% from 1990 levels. We will touch briefly on MDG1, to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, MDG2, to achieve universal primary education, and MDG5, to improve maternal health, which are inextricably linked with child well-being. We will also draw on an eclectic mix of additional global indicators. Acknowledging the limitations of this approach, we first offer a summary of expected progress and then point to debates on future goals. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  13. Nanotechnology and the millennium development goals: water, energy, and agri-food

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cozzens, Susan; Cortes, Rodrigo; Soumonni, Ogundiran; Woodson, Thomas

    2013-01-01

    The claim has often been made that nanotechnologies will contribute to the global development process. In 2005, a careful study identified specific areas where nanotechnologies could help developing countries achieve the millennium development goals. This article examines whether the research agenda of nanotechnology in the intervening period, as reflected in publications, has followed the directions identified at that time, in three key areas, water, energy, and agri-food. We find that the research community has taken up the broad directions indicated in the earlier study, although not so often the detailed applications of specific nanoscale techniques or phenomena. However, the impact on global development is unclear, both because the same applications can be useful in both developed and developing countries, and because the conditions in developing countries may not match the socio-technical requirements of the applications

  14. Vrancea early warning system for Bucharest and industrial objectives

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ionescu, C.; Marmureanu, A.; Grigore, A.; Tataru, D.

    2005-01-01

    Romania is an earthquake prone area and it is of crucial importance to obtain quantitative information needed for seismic risk mitigation and related public policies and seismic safety measures. The most damaging earthquakes in Romania concentrate in the Vrancea region, located at the sharp bend of the Eastern Carpathians Arc, in a well confined focal volume at intermediate depths between 60 km and 200 km.Vrancea earthquakes are documented for at least a millennium (since 985 a.c.) and represent very peculiar characteristics. They are a permanent threat for large urban areas on the Romanian territory and extended areas in Europe. Bucharest is among the cities mostly affected by destructive earthquakes. The early warning system in Romania is to provide individuals and communities exposed to disaster risk given by strong Vrancea earthquakes, with accurate information about an impending hazard as early as possible, to act in a timely and appropriate manner to reduce probability of suffering, personal damage, death and property losses. The purpose of this early system is to issue messages at sites of interest before the destructive seismic energy arrives. Early warning system is a technological instrument to detect, monitor and submit warnings/alerts. It needs to become part of a management information system for decision - making in the context of national institutional frameworks for disaster management and as a part of national and local strategies for disaster risk reduction. (authors)

  15. Vrancea early warning system for Bucharest and industrial objectives

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ionescu, Constantin; Marmureanu, Alexandru; Wenzel, Friedemann; Bonjer, K. P.

    2004-01-01

    Romania is an earthquake prone area and it is of crucial importance to obtain quantitative information needed for seismic risk mitigation and related public policies and seismic safety measures. The most damaging earthquakes in Romania concentrate in the Vrancea region, located at the sharp bend of the Eastern Carpathians Arc, in a well confined focal volume at intermediate depths between 60 km and 200 km. Vrancea earthquakes are documented for at least a millennium (since 985 a.c.) and represent very peculiar characteristics. They are a permanent threat for large urban areas on the Romanian territory and extended areas in Europe. Bucharest is among the mega cities mostly affected by destructive earthquakes. The early warning system in Romania is to provide individuals and communities exposed to disaster risk due to strong Vrancea earthquakes, with accurate information about an impending hazard as early as possible, to act in a timely and appropriate manner to reduce probability of suffering, personal damage, death and property losses. The purpose of this early system is to issue messages at sites of interest before the destructive seismic energy arrives. Early warning system is a technological instrument to detect, monitor and issue warnings/alerts. It needs to become part of a management information system for decision - making in the context of national institutional frameworks for disaster management and as a part of national and local strategies for disaster risk reduction. (authors)

  16. The Millennium Drought in southeast Australia (2001–2009): Natural and human causes and implications for water resources, ecosystems, economy, and society

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Dijk, A.I.J.M.; Beck, H.E.; Crosbie, R.S.; de Jeu, R.A.M.; Liu, Y.Y.; Podger, G.M.; Timbal, B.; Viney, N.R.

    2013-01-01

    The "Millennium Drought" (2001-2009) can be described as the worst drought on record for southeast Australia. Adaptation to future severe droughts requires insight into the drivers of the drought and its impacts. These were analyzed using climate, water, economic, and remote sensing data combined

  17. Ninth Workshop and Tutorial on Practical Use of Coloured Petri Nets and the CPN Tools

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Daniel Moldt, Gremany Laure Petrucci, France Rüdiger Vlak, Germany Lee Wagenhals, USA Karsten Wolf, Germany Jianli Xu, Finland The programme committee has accepted 10 papers for presentation. Most of these deal with different projects in which Coloured Petri Nets and their tools have been put......This booklet contains the proceedings of the Ninth Workshop on Pratical Use of Coloured Petri Nets and CPN Tools, October 20-22, 2008. The workshop is organised by the CPN group at the Department of Computer Science, Aarhus University, Denmark. Coloured Petri Nets and the CPN Tools are now licensed...... to more than 7,200 users in 138 countries. The aim of the workshop is to bring together some of the users and in this way provide a forum for those who are interested in the practical use of Coloured Petri nets and their tools. The submitted papers were evaluated by a programme committee...

  18. The Millennium Villages Project: a retrospective, observational, endline evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell, Shira; Gelman, Andrew; Ross, Rebecca; Chen, Joyce; Bari, Sehrish; Huynh, Uyen Kim; Harris, Matthew W; Sachs, Sonia Ehrlich; Stuart, Elizabeth A; Feller, Avi; Makela, Susanna; Zaslavsky, Alan M; McClellan, Lucy; Ohemeng-Dapaah, Seth; Namakula, Patricia; Palm, Cheryl A; Sachs, Jeffrey D

    2018-05-01

    The Millennium Villages Project (MVP) was a 10 year, multisector, rural development project, initiated in 2005, operating across ten sites in ten sub-Saharan African countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In this study, we aimed to estimate the project's impact, target attainment, and on-site spending. In this endline evaluation of the MVP, we retrospectively selected comparison villages that best matched the project villages on possible confounding variables. Cross-sectional survey data on 40 outcomes of interest were collected from both the project and the comparison villages in 2015. Using these data, as well as on-site spending data collected during the project, we estimated project impacts as differences in outcomes between the project and comparison villages; target attainment as differences between project outcomes and prespecified targets; and on-site spending as expenditures reported by communities, donors, governments, and the project. Spending data were not collected in the comparison villages. Averaged across the ten project sites, we found that impact estimates for 30 of 40 outcomes were significant (95% uncertainty intervals [UIs] for these outcomes excluded zero) and favoured the project villages. In particular, substantial effects were seen in agriculture and health, in which some outcomes were roughly one SD better in the project villages than in the comparison villages. The project was estimated to have no significant impact on the consumption-based measures of poverty, but a significant favourable impact on an index of asset ownership. Impacts on nutrition and education outcomes were often inconclusive (95% UIs included zero). Averaging across outcomes within categories, the project had significant favourable impacts on agriculture, nutrition, education, child health, maternal health, HIV and malaria, and water and sanitation. A third of the targets were met in the project sites. Total on-site spending decreased from US$132

  19. Vegetation and climate history during the last millennium derived from Anggertu Lake, Tengger Desert

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duan, F.; An, C.; Zhao, Y.; Wang, W.; Cao, Z.

    2017-12-01

    Studying the climate changes during the last millennium can help us to understand current relationship between human-social activities and natural environment changes, and improve projections of future climate. Pollen assemblages, loss-on-ignition (LOIorg at 550 °C) and grain size data collected from sediment core (AGE15A) from the center of Anggertu lake (eastern Tengger Desert, Inner Mongolia) are presented to reconstruct regional vegetation and climate history during the last millennium. Results show that: 1) desert or desert steppe dominated by Artemisia and Amaranthaceae expanded around this region during the period of 988 1437 A.D., indicating a generally dry climate condition with two short humid periods (1003 1082 A.D. and 1388 1437 A.D). These two wet periods are characterized by relatively high vegetation cover and bio-productivity, reflected by high pollen concentrations and LOIorg. Increase in the steppe or meadow vegetation communities (Poaceae, Cyperaceae) and vegetation cover during the period of 1437 2015 A.D. suggest a wetting trend, as also indicated by gradually finer grain size. The relatively high LOI indicate a high bio-productivity during this interval. And then unstable lacustrine environment was found with frequent fluctuations in pollen concentration and grain size since 1842 A.D.. 2) This study recorded a relatively dry Medieval Warm Period (MWP; 1082 1388 A.D.) and a wet Little Ice Age (LIA; 1437 1842 A.D.), which is generally consistent with climate characteristics in arid central Asia (ACA). 3) Increased Amaranthaceae and high abundance of Poaceae were related to overgrazing and agricultural activities at that time to some extent. Thus vegetation evolution of the lake region was influenced by human activities and climate changes.

  20. Dosimetric and qualitative analysis of kinetic properties of millennium 80 multileaf collimator system for dynamic intensity modulated radiotherapy treatments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bhardwaj Anup

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to analyze the positional accuracy, kinetic properties of the dynamic multileaf collimator (MLC and dosimetric evaluation of fractional dose delivery for the intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT for step and shoot and sliding window (dynamic techniques of Varian multileaf collimator millennium 80. Various quality assurance tests such as accuracy in leaf positioning and speed, stability of dynamic MLC output, inter and intra leaf transmission, dosimetric leaf separation and multiple carriage field verification were performed. Evaluation of standard field patterns as pyramid, peaks, wedge, chair, garden fence test, picket fence test and sweeping gap output was done. Patient dose quality assurance procedure consists of an absolute dose measurement for all fields at 5 cm depth on solid water phantom using 0.6cc water proof ion chamber and relative dose verification using Kodak EDR-2 films for all treatment fields along transverse and coronal direction using IMRT phantom. The relative dose verification was performed using Omni Pro IMRT film verification software. The tests performed showed acceptable results for commissioning the millennium 80 MLC and Clinac DHX for dynamic and step and shoot IMRT treatments.

  1. The Alarcos settlement (Ciudad Real in the early first millennium BC: Structures and ceramics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M.ª del Rosario García Huerta

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available The final Bronze Age and Early Iron Age of the south-western Meseta were insufficiently documented to be properly characterized until the final years of the 20th century. However, recent work at settlements such as Alarcos (Ciudad Real has obtained valuable information about the habitat structures and a large amount of well contextualized archaeological material (mainly pottery painted after firing. These are carefully-made tablewares whose decoration indicates a selective adoption of fashions and customs of Tartessian inspiration (e.g., Carambolo type and burnished-lattice ceramics as consequence of commercial exchanges. This new data is helping us achieve a better understanding of the new settlement patterns that started to appear at that time in the middle valley of the Guadiana river and shows the dynamism of the communities located there.

  2. Urban health. A challenge for the third millennium

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Caroli, S [Istituto Superiore di Sanita' , Rome (Italy). Lab. di Tossicologia Applicata; Menditto, A [Istituto Superiore di Sanita' , Rome (Italy). Lab. di Biochimica Clinica

    1999-07-01

    In the frame of the bilateral governmental programme for scientific and technical cooperation existing between Italy and Hungary a successful series of biennial Symposia were undertaken since the early 1980s. These were designed to provide scientists of both countries with a permanent forum for the evaluation of ongoing joint projects, the exchange of views on future priorities dealt with by these Symposia always made the participation of prominent scientists from other countries a necessary complement substantially enhancing the international characteristics of such events. Each Symposium features a specific theme of primary importance within the general context of human health and environmental protection. In this respect, the ninth edition of this series of Symposia focuses on the major concerns raised by chemical pollution on all aspects of urban life. More than one half of the world population lives today in big cities, with all the attendant problems as regards air, water and soil quality, safe disposal of urban waste, occupational exposure, in one word, the physical, mental and cultural welfare of citizens at large. All facets concurring to protect and maintain urban health will be thus taken into consideration and highlighted in about forty invited lectures, while posters will be displayed in a permanent session throughout the conference duration. [Italian] Nel quadro degli accordi bilaterali di collaborazione tecnica e scientifica vigenti tra Italia ed Ungheria e' stata intrapresa con successo sin dall'inizio degli anni '80 una serie di simposi a cadenza biennale. Tali manifestazioni hanno lo scopo di fornire agli studiosi di entrambi i paesi un forum permanente per la valutazione dell'andamento dei progetti comuni di ricerca, lo scambio di idee sulle priorita' future e la proposta di nuove iniziative. D'altro canto, la natura sovranazionale dei problemi oggetto di questi simposi ha reso anche necessaria la presenza di qualificati esponenti scientifici di

  3. Discourse, ideas and power in global health policy networks: political attention for maternal and child health in the millennium development goal era.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDougall, Lori

    2016-05-18

    Maternal and child health issues have gained global political attention and resources in the past 10 years, due in part to their prominence on the Millennium Development Goal agenda and the use of evidence-based advocacy by policy networks. This paper identifies key factors for this achievement, and raises questions about prospective challenges for sustaining attention in the transition to the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals, far broader in scope than the Millennium Development Goals. This paper relies on participant observation methods and document analysis to develop a case study of the behaviours of global maternal and child health advocacy networks during 2005-2015. The development of coordinated networks of heterogeneous actors facilitated the rise in attention to maternal and child health during the past 10 years. The strategic use of epidemiological and economic evidence by these networks enabled policy attention and promoted network cohesion. The time-bound opportunity of reaching the 2015 Millennium Development Goals created a window of opportunity for joint action. As the new post-2015 goals emerge, networks seek to sustain attention by repositioning their framing of issues, network structures, and external alliances, including with networks that lay both inside and outside of the health domain. Issues rise on global policy agendas because of how ideas are constructed, portrayed and positioned by actors within given contexts. Policy networks play a critical role by uniting stakeholders to promote persuasive ideas about policy problems and solutions. The behaviours of networks in issue-framing, member-alignment, and strategic outreach can force open windows of opportunity for political attention -- or prevent them from closing.

  4. Chronology of soil evolution and climatic changes in the dry steppe zone of the Northern Caucasus, Russia, during the 3rd millennium BC

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Alexandrovskiy, AL; van der Plicht, J; Belinskiy, AB; Khokhlova, OS

    2001-01-01

    Chrono-sequences of paleosols buried under different mounds of the large Ipatovo Kurgan, constructed during the Bronze Age, have been studied to reconstruct climatic changes in the dry steppe zone of the Northern Caucasus, Russia. Abrupt climatic and environmental changes in the third millennium BC

  5. Extent of Implementation of Minimum Standards of Basic Education for the Realisation of the Second Millennium Development Goal in Bayelsa State

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ogochukwu, Emeka; Gbendu, Olaowei Godiva

    2015-01-01

    The study was carried out in Salga Education Zone of Bayelsa State specifically to determine the extent of implementation of the minimum standards for basic education in order to ensure the realization of the second millennium development goal. The study adopted the descriptive research design. The population of the study comprised of all the…

  6. Representations of ECT in English-Language Film and Television in the New Millennium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matthews, Avery Madeleine; Rosenquist, Peter B; McCall, William Vaughn

    2016-09-01

    The aim of the study was to survey the media landscape to determine whether visual depictions of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are becoming more or less medically accurate in the new millennium. English-language film and television shows depicting ECT were analyzed for patient demographics, administrator roles, indication, consent, anesthesia, paralytics, bite block, lead placement, electroencephalogram, and outcome. Thirty-nine ECT scenes were viewed, and just 3 included all 5 essential tools of modern ECT: anesthesia, paralytic, electrodes, electroencephalogram, and a bite block. Media depictions of ECT do not reflect current practice. Too often, ECT is portrayed as a torture technique rather than an evidenced-based therapy, and even in a therapeutic setting, it is too often shown with outdated techniques.

  7. Climate in Sweden during the past millennium - Evidence from proxy data, instrumental data and model simulations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moberg, Anders; Gouirand, Isabelle; Schoning, Kristian; Wohlfarth, Barbara [Stockholm Univ. (Sweden). Dept. of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology; Kjellstroem, Erik; Rummukainen, Markku [Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Inst., Norrkoeping (Sweden). Rossby Centre; Jong, Rixt de [Lund Univ. (Sweden). Dept. of Quaternary Geology; Linderholm, Hans [Goeteborg Univ. (Sweden). Dept. of Earth Sciences; Zorita, Eduardo [GKSS Research Centre, Geesthacht (Germany)

    2006-12-15

    Knowledge about climatic variations is essential for SKB in its safety assessments of a geological repository for spent nuclear waste. There is therefore a need for information about possible future climatic variations under a range of possible climatic states. However, predictions of future climate in any deterministic sense are still beyond our reach. We can, nevertheless, try to estimate the magnitude of future climate variability and change due to natural forcing factors, by means of inferences drawn from natural climate variability in the past. Indeed, the climate of the future will be shaped by the sum of natural and anthropogenic climate forcing, as well as the internal climate variability. The aim here is to review and analyse the knowledge about Swedish climate variability, essentially during the past millennium. Available climate proxy data and long instrumental records provide empirical information on past climatic changes. We also demonstrate how climate modelling can be used to extend such knowledge. We use output from a global climate model driven with reconstructed radiative forcings (solar, volcanic and greenhouse gas forcing), to provide boundary conditions for a regional climate model. The regional model provides more details of the climate than the global model, and we develop a simulated climate history for Sweden that is complete in time and space and physically consistent. We use output from a regional model simulation for long periods in the last millennium, to study annual mean temperature, precipitation and runoff for the northern and southern parts of Sweden. The simulated data are used to place corresponding instrumental records for the 20th century into a plausible historical perspective. We also use output from the regional model to study how the frequency distribution of the daily temperature, precipitation, runoff and evaporation at Forsmark and Oskarshamn could have varied between unusually warm and cold 30-year periods during the

  8. Climate in Sweden during the past millennium - Evidence from proxy data, instrumental data and model simulations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moberg, Anders; Gouirand, Isabelle; Schoning, Kristian; Wohlfarth, Barbara

    2006-12-01

    Knowledge about climatic variations is essential for SKB in its safety assessments of a geological repository for spent nuclear waste. There is therefore a need for information about possible future climatic variations under a range of possible climatic states. However, predictions of future climate in any deterministic sense are still beyond our reach. We can, nevertheless, try to estimate the magnitude of future climate variability and change due to natural forcing factors, by means of inferences drawn from natural climate variability in the past. Indeed, the climate of the future will be shaped by the sum of natural and anthropogenic climate forcing, as well as the internal climate variability. The aim here is to review and analyse the knowledge about Swedish climate variability, essentially during the past millennium. Available climate proxy data and long instrumental records provide empirical information on past climatic changes. We also demonstrate how climate modelling can be used to extend such knowledge. We use output from a global climate model driven with reconstructed radiative forcings (solar, volcanic and greenhouse gas forcing), to provide boundary conditions for a regional climate model. The regional model provides more details of the climate than the global model, and we develop a simulated climate history for Sweden that is complete in time and space and physically consistent. We use output from a regional model simulation for long periods in the last millennium, to study annual mean temperature, precipitation and runoff for the northern and southern parts of Sweden. The simulated data are used to place corresponding instrumental records for the 20th century into a plausible historical perspective. We also use output from the regional model to study how the frequency distribution of the daily temperature, precipitation, runoff and evaporation at Forsmark and Oskarshamn could have varied between unusually warm and cold 30-year periods during the

  9. DMCA Section 104 Report: A Report of the Register of Copyrights Pursuant to [Section] 104 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Library of Congress, Washington, DC. Copyright Office.

    As required under section 104 of Public Law No. 105-304, this Report evaluates the effects of title I of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998 and the development of electronic commerce and associated technology on the operation of sections 109 and 117 of title 17, U.S.C. It also evaluates the relationship between existing and…

  10. Measuring conditions and trends in ecosystem services at multiple scales: the Southern African Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (SAfMA) experience

    OpenAIRE

    van Jaarsveld, A.S; Biggs, R; Scholes, R.J; Bohensky, E; Reyers, B; Lynam, T; Musvoto, C; Fabricius, C

    2005-01-01

    The Southern African Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (SAfMA) evaluated the relationships between ecosystem services and human well-being at multiple scales, ranging from local through to sub-continental. Trends in ecosystem services (fresh water, food, fuel-wood, cultural and biodiversity) over the period 1990-2000 were mixed across scales. Freshwater resources appear strained across the continent with large numbers of people not securing adequate supplies, especially of good quality water. T...

  11. Worldwide Growth Convergence in the New Millennium: An Empirical Investigation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lawrence J. Gomes

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Economic growth is an important ingredient for reducing poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals proposed by United Nations in 2000. Meeting these goals by the proposed 2015 target data depends on the ability of poor nations to grow their economies and improve their standards of living. Neoclassical and new growth theory suggests that there should be a negative relationship between a nation’s initial income and subsequent growth giving rise to either absolute convergence (income levels of all nations converge over time or conditional convergence (each nation converges to its unique steady-state income level. Using the most recent (2000-2013 World Bank data and cross-country regression techniques, I evaluated whether convergence has been occurring in the world in the last decade. My results showed a robust negative relationship between starting income level and subsequent growth. Savings and education were also associated with growth whereas trade was not. Overall, these results support the notion of convergence which is an encouraging finding as the world approaches the 2015 post-development agenda.

  12. Resolutions and other decisions of the general conference. Thirty-ninth regular session. 18-22 September 1995

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1996-03-01

    The twenty-four resolutions adopted and the seventeen other decisions taken by the General Conference at its thirty-ninth (1995) regular session are reproduced in this booklet. The resolutions are, for ease of reference, preceded by the agenda for the session. Before the title of each resolution a serial number is given by which it may be cited. Any footnotes to a resolution appear immediately after the text on the left side of the page; on the right side are given the date of the adoption of the resolution, the relevant agenda item and a reference to the record of the meeting at which the resolution was adopted. The other decisions taken by the Conference are presented similarly. This booklet should be read in conjunction with the summary records of the General Conference, where details of the proceedings, including voting results, are contained (GC(39)/OR.1-10)

  13. Resolutions and other decisions of the general conference. Thirty-ninth regular session. 18-22 September 1995

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1996-03-01

    The twenty-four resolutions adopted and the seventeen other decisions taken by the General Conference at its thirty-ninth (1995) regular session are reproduced in this booklet. The resolutions are, for ease of reference, preceded by the agenda for the session. Before the title of each resolution a serial number is given by which it may be cited. Any footnotes to a resolution appear immediately after the text on the left side of the page; on the right side are given the date of the adoption of the resolution, the relevant agenda item and a reference to the record of the meeting at which the resolution was adopted. The other decisions taken by the Conference are presented similarly. This booklet should be read in conjunction with the summary records of the General Conference, where details of the proceedings, including voting results, are contained (GC(39)/OR.1-10).

  14. The potential impact of plant biotechnology on the Millennium Development Goals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuan, Dawei; Bassie, Ludovic; Sabalza, Maite; Miralpeix, Bruna; Dashevskaya, Svetlana; Farre, Gemma; Rivera, Sol M; Banakar, Raviraj; Bai, Chao; Sanahuja, Georgina; Arjó, Gemma; Avilla, Eva; Zorrilla-López, Uxue; Ugidos-Damboriena, Nerea; López, Alberto; Almacellas, David; Zhu, Changfu; Capell, Teresa; Hahne, Gunther; Twyman, Richard M; Christou, Paul

    2011-03-01

    The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are international development targets for the year 2015 that aim to achieve relative improvements in the standards of health, socioeconomic status and education in the world's poorest countries. Many of the challenges addressed by the MDGs reflect the direct or indirect consequences of subsistence agriculture in the developing world, and hence, plant biotechnology has an important role to play in helping to achieve MDG targets. In this opinion article, we discuss each of the MDGs in turn, provide examples to show how plant biotechnology may be able to accelerate progress towards the stated MDG objectives, and offer our opinion on the likelihood of such technology being implemented. In combination with other strategies, plant biotechnology can make a contribution towards sustainable development in the future although the extent to which progress can be made in today's political climate depends on how we deal with current barriers to adoption.

  15. India at the crossroads of millennium development goals 4 and 5.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hazarika, Indrajit

    2012-05-01

    The current year marks the completion of two thirds of the period between the adoption of the millennium development goals (MDGs) and the target date of 2015. Although there has been some progress, it is incontestable that much more needs to be done. India contributes to 20% of births worldwide and has the highest proportion of children younger than 5 years. Global progress toward MDG 4 and 5 depends significantly on improvements in maternal and child health indicators in India. Although it has been reported that the country has made substantial progress, the pace has been slow and marred by vast regional variability. Certain states continue to have unacceptably high mortality and morbidity rates. This article provides a context to the current status of maternal and child health in India, highlights the achievements, and uses the available data effectively to emphasize the progress. The authors acknowledge the new initiatives and make recommendations for reinforcing the continuum of care.

  16. Reflections upon the Presentation of Parallel Algorithms Across the Astral and Mathematical Sciences in First-Millennium China

    OpenAIRE

    Morgan, Daniel Patrick

    2015-01-01

    International audience; Most of what changes from one first-millennium lì 曆 procedure text to another are the ‘numbers’ (shù 數) and not the ‘procedures’ (shù 術) for calculating therewith—algorithms, for example, for finding the position of the mean sun at winter solstice or the hour of quarter moon. What changes do occur in the algorithms are generally cumulative and modular—something new is introduced, or something changed, within an otherwise stable framework of tables and algorithms stretc...

  17. Teleconnection stationarity, variability and trends of the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) during the last millennium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dätwyler, Christoph; Neukom, Raphael; Abram, Nerilie J.; Gallant, Ailie J. E.; Grosjean, Martin; Jacques-Coper, Martín; Karoly, David J.; Villalba, Ricardo

    2017-11-01

    The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) is the leading mode of atmospheric interannual variability in the Southern Hemisphere (SH) extra-tropics. Here, we assess the stationarity of SAM spatial correlations with instrumental and paleoclimate proxy data for the past millennium. The instrumental period shows that temporal non-stationarities in SAM teleconnections are not consistent across the SH land areas. This suggests that the influence of the SAM index is modulated by regional effects. However, within key-regions with good proxy data coverage (South America, Tasmania, New Zealand), teleconnections are mostly stationary over the instrumental period. Using different stationarity criteria for proxy record selection, we provide new austral summer and annual mean SAM index reconstructions over the last millennium. Our summer SAM reconstructions are very robust to changes in proxy record selection and the selection of the calibration period, particularly on the multi-decadal timescale. In contrast, the weaker performance and lower agreement in the annual mean SAM reconstructions point towards changing teleconnection patterns that may be particularly important outside the summer months. Our results clearly portend that the temporal stationarity of the proxy-climate relationships should be taken into account in the design of comprehensive regional and hemispherical climate reconstructions. The summer SAM reconstructions show no significant relationship to solar, greenhouse gas and volcanic forcing, with the exception of an extremely strong negative anomaly following the AD 1257 Samalas eruption. Furthermore, reconstructed pre-industrial summer SAM trends are very similar to trends obtained by model control simulations. We find that recent trends in the summer SAM lie outside the 5-95% range of pre-industrial natural variability.

  18. Progress towards Millennium Development Goals with women empowerment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shobha Chaturvedi

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Background: Women empowerment is a powerful determinant of their own, children’s and their families’ health. Perhaps, due to this fact, promotion of gender equality and empowering women was kept as one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs. Objective: The present analysis was undertaken to study the effect of women empowerment on health of women, family planning and various health indicators of children. Methods: Available data from National Surveys in India, various research studies and evidences from published global studies were gathered and further analyzed. Results: Census 2011 (India have shown that states having higher women literacy, like Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra (75%, have better positive indicators of health than states like Rajasthan with 53 % literacy. NFHS -3 (India showed that empowered women had better access to maternal services (76 %, more use of contraception (66.6% and resultantly, had lower neonatal mortality (36%. As against this, for less empowered women, access to maternal services (72 % is low, lesser use of contraception (44% and relatively higher neonatal mortality (43%. A systematic analysis of 175 countries (Lancet, 2010 has established that increase in women education decreases under five child mortality. Conclusions: Investments in women’s employment, health and education, are correlated with a range of positive outcomes, including greater economic growth and children’s health and survival.

  19. Progress towards Millennium Development Goals with women empowerment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shobha Chaturvedi

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Background: Women empowerment is a powerful determinant of their own, children’s and their families’ health. Perhaps, due to this fact, promotion of gender equality and empowering women was kept as one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs.Objective: The present analysis was undertaken to study the effect of women empowerment on health of women, family planning and various health indicators of children.Methods: Available data from National Surveys in India, various research studies and evidences from published global studies were gathered and further analyzed.Results: Census 2011 (India have shown that states having higher women literacy, like Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra (75%, have better positive indicators of health than states like Rajasthan with 53 % literacy. NFHS -3 (India showed that empowered women had better access to maternal services (76 %, more use of contraception (66.6% and resultantly, had lower neonatal mortality (36%. As against this, for less empowered women, access to maternal services (72 % is low, lesser use of contraception (44% and relatively higher neonatal mortality (43%. A systematic analysis of 175 countries (Lancet, 2010 has established that increase in women education decreases under five child mortality.Conclusions: Investments in women’s employment, health and education, are correlated with a range of positive outcomes, including greater economic growth and children’s health and survival.

  20. Maternal Employment and Early Adolescent Substance Use.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hillman, Stephen B.; Sawilowsky, Shlomo S.

    1991-01-01

    Examined effects of maternal employment on use of alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, and other drugs by ninth graders (n=48). Comparison of maternal employment patterns (full-time versus part-time versus not employed outside the home) indicated no significant differences in substance use behavior among adolescents. Findings support literature on…

  1. Variations of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation in control and transient simulations of the last millennium

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. Hofer

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available The variability of the Atlantic meridional overturing circulation (AMOC strength is investigated in control experiments and in transient simulations of up to the last millennium using the low-resolution Community Climate System Model version 3. In the transient simulations the AMOC exhibits enhanced low-frequency variability that is mainly caused by infrequent transitions between two semi-stable circulation states which amount to a 10 percent change of the maximum overturning. One transition is also found in a control experiment, but the time-varying external forcing significantly increases the probability of the occurrence of such events though not having a direct, linear impact on the AMOC. The transition from a high to a low AMOC state starts with a reduction of the convection in the Labrador and Irminger Seas and goes along with a changed barotropic circulation of both gyres in the North Atlantic and a gradual strengthening of the convection in the Greenland-Iceland-Norwegian (GIN Seas. In contrast, the transition from a weak to a strong overturning is induced by decreased mixing in the GIN Seas. As a consequence of the transition, regional sea surface temperature (SST anomalies are found in the midlatitude North Atlantic and in the convection regions with an amplitude of up to 3 K. The atmospheric response to the SST forcing associated with the transition indicates a significant impact on the Scandinavian surface air temperature (SAT in the order of 1 K. Thus, the changes of the ocean circulation make a major contribution to the Scandinavian SAT variability in the last millennium.

  2. The Neurodevelopmental Basis of Early Childhood Disruptive Behavior: Irritable and Callous Phenotypes as Exemplars.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wakschlag, Lauren S; Perlman, Susan B; Blair, R James; Leibenluft, Ellen; Briggs-Gowan, Margaret J; Pine, Daniel S

    2018-02-01

    The arrival of the Journal's 175th anniversary occurs at a time of recent advances in research, providing an ideal opportunity to present a neurodevelopmental roadmap for understanding, preventing, and treating psychiatric disorders. Such a roadmap is particularly relevant for early-childhood-onset neurodevelopmental conditions, which emerge when experience-dependent neuroplasticity is at its peak. Employing a novel developmental specification approach, this review places recent neurodevelopmental research on early childhood disruptive behavior within the historical context of the Journal. The authors highlight irritability and callous behavior as two core exemplars of early disruptive behavior. Both phenotypes can be reliably differentiated from normative variation as early as the first years of life. Both link to discrete pathophysiology: irritability with disruptions in prefrontal regulation of emotion, and callous behavior with abnormal fear processing. Each phenotype also possesses clinical and predictive utility. Based on a nomologic net of evidence, the authors conclude that early disruptive behavior is neurodevelopmental in nature and should be reclassified as an early-childhood-onset neurodevelopmental condition in DSM-5. Rapid translation from neurodevelopmental discovery to clinical application has transformative potential for psychiatric approaches of the millennium. [AJP at 175: Remembering Our Past As We Envision Our Future November 1938: Electroencephalographic Analyses of Behavior Problem Children Herbert Jasper and colleagues found that brain abnormalities revealed by EEG are a potential causal factor in childhood behavioral disorders. (Am J Psychiatry 1938; 95:641-658 )].

  3. Before Sustainable Development Goals (SDG): why Nigeria failed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oleribe, Obinna Ositadimma; Taylor-Robinson, Simon David

    2016-01-01

    World leaders adopted the UN Millennium Declaration in 2000, which committed the nations of the world to a new global partnership, aimed at reducing extreme poverty and other time-bound targets, with a stated deadline of 2015. Fifteen years later, although significant progress has been made worldwide, Nigeria is lagging behind for a variety of reasons, including bureaucracy, poor resource management in the healthcare system, sequential healthcare worker industrial action, Boko Haram insurgency in the north of Nigeria and kidnappings in the south of Nigeria. The country needs to tackle these problems to be able to significantly advance with the new sustainable development goals (SDGs) by the 2030 target date.

  4. Enhanced Formation Flying for the Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) New Millennium Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Folta, David; Quinn, David

    1997-01-01

    With scientific objectives for Earth observation programs becoming more ambitious and spacecraft becoming more autonomous, the need for new technical approaches on the feasibility of achieving and maintaining formations of spacecraft has come to the forefront. The trend to develop small low cost spacecraft has led many scientists to recognize the advantage of flying several spacecraft in formation, an example of which is shown in the figure below, to achieve the correlated instrument measurements formerly possible only by flying many instruments on a single large platform. Yet, formation flying imposes additional complications on orbit maintenance, especially when each spacecraft has its own orbit requirements. However, advances in automation proposed by GSFC Codes 550 and 712 allow more of the burden in maneuver planning and execution to be placed onboard the spacecraft, mitigating some of the associated operational concerns. The purpose of this analysis is to develop the fundamentals of formation flying mechanics, concepts for understanding the relative motion of free flying spacecraft, and an operational control theory for formation maintenance of the Earth Observing-1 (EO-l) spacecraft that is part of the New Millennium. Results of this development can be used to determine the appropriateness of formation flying for a particular case as well as the operational impacts. Applications to the Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE) Earth Observing System (EOS) and New Millennium (NM) were highly considered in analysis and applications. This paper presents the proposed methods for the guidance and control of the EO-1 spacecraft to formation fly with the Landsat-7 spacecraft using an autonomous closed loop three axis navigation control, GPS, and Cross link navigation support. Simulation results using various fidelity levels of modeling, algorithms developed and implemented in MATLAB, and autonomous 'fuzzy logic' control using AutoCon will be presented. The results of these

  5. Reflections on the maternal mortality millennium goal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawson, Gerald W; Keirse, Marc J N C

    2013-06-01

    Nearly every 2 minutes, somewhere in the world, a woman dies because of complications of pregnancy and childbirth. Every such death is an overwhelming catastrophe for everyone confronted with it. Most deaths occur in developing countries, especially in Africa and southern Asia, but a significant number also occur in the developed world. We examined the available data on the progress and the challenges to the United Nations' fifth Millennium Development Goal of achieving a 75 percent worldwide reduction in the maternal mortality by 2015 from what it was in 1990. Some countries, such as Belarus, Egypt, Estonia, Honduras, Iran, Lithuania, Malaysia, Romania, Sri Lanka and Thailand, are likely to meet the target by 2015. Many poor countries with weak health infrastructures and high fertility rates are unlikely to meet the goal. Some, such as Botswana, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Guyana, Lesotho, Namibia, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe, had worse maternal mortality ratios in 2010 than in 1990, partially because of wars and civil strife. Worldwide, the leading causes of maternal death are still hemorrhage, hypertension, sepsis, obstructed labor, and unsafe abortions, while indirect causes are gaining in importance in developed countries. Maternal death is especially distressing if it was potentially preventable. However, as there is no single cause, there is no silver bullet to correct the problem. Many countries also face new challenges as their childbearing population is growing in age and in weight. Much remains to be done to make safe motherhood a reality. © 2013, Copyright the Authors, Journal compilation © 2013, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  6. South African Sugar Technologists' Association. Proceedings of the fifty-ninth annual congress held at Durban and Mount Edgecombe, 17 to 21 June 1985

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1985-01-01

    This publication presents the proceedings of the fifty-ninth annual congress of the South African Sugar Technologists' Association, held in Durban and Mount Edgecombe, from 17 to 21 June 1985. Almost every facet of the sugar industry is covered including topics such as milling, irrigation, growth, crystal elongation and crystal size distribution, pans, stirrers and boilers used in the industry, evaporation, sucrose losses, radiometric and other gauges, the use of x-ray techniques and chemical methods of analysis, diseases, cooling waters, refining, maintenance, efficiency, operation, production and performance of a sugar station

  7. Vanuatu mortuary practices over three millenia : Lapita to early European contact period

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Valentin, F.; Spriggs, M.; Bedford, S.; Buckley, H.

    2011-01-01

    New discoveries and previously-unpublished data on burials from south, central, and north Vanuatu are reviewed in this paper, offering a synthesis of mortuary practices over three millennia, from Lapita to the early European contact period. Relying on five attributes describing the practices and behaviours (body and bone treatment, position and orientation of the body, ornaments and associated artefacts, and use of single or multiple burial), the analysis emphasizes two major episodes of structural changes in the overall funerary system following initial settlement of Vanuatu. The first occurred towards the end of the Lapita period and the second is indicated by the distinctiveness of the second millennium AD burials. A possible interpretation of these changes, following the lines of Thomas's 'genealogical approach' (2001) is proposed. (author). 70 refs., 5 figs.

  8. LA MUJER MARROQUÍ Y LOS OBJETIVOS DE DESARROLLO DEL MILENIO / THE MOROCCAN WOMAN AND THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

    OpenAIRE

    Mohamed Laghdas

    2017-01-01

    In the last decades, the situation of the Moroccan woman has experienced a change at social, economic, and politic level, which has led to a path to attain sustainable development. Regarding this, Morocco committed to achieving the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) including two directly related to women, which are the third and fifth. The objective of this article is to analyze the efforts and the advances made in the field of the promotion of gender equality and the autonomy of wome...

  9. Antenatal HIV Testing in Sub-Saharan Africa During the Implementation of the Millennium Development Goals: A Systematic Review Using the PEN-3 Cultural Model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blackstone, Sarah R; Nwaozuru, Ucheoma; Iwelunmor, Juliet

    2018-01-01

    This study systematically explored the barriers and facilitators to routine antenatal HIV testing from the perspective of pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa during the implementation period of the Millennium Development Goals. Articles published between 2000 and 2015 were selected after reviewing the title, abstract, and references. Twenty-seven studies published in 11 African countries were eligible for the current study and reviewed. The most common barriers identified include communication with male partners, patient convenience and accessibility, health system and health-care provider issues, fear of disclosure, HIV-related stigma, the burden of other responsibilities at home, and the perception of antenatal care as a "woman's job." Routine testing among pregnant women is crucial for the eradication of infant and child HIV infections. Further understanding the interplay of social and cultural factors, particularly the role of women in intimate relationships and the influence of men on antenatal care seeking behaviors, is necessary to continue the work of the Millennium Development Goals.

  10. Program and Abstracts of the ninth Joint Uzbek-Korea Symposium Nanoscience: Problems and Prospects on Quantum Functional Materials and Devices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zakhidov, E.A.; Kang, T.W.; Mamatkulov, Sh.; Kokhkharov, A.M.; Cho Hak Dong

    2010-11-01

    The Ninth Joint Uzbek-Korea Symposium on Quantum Functional Materials and Devices was held on November 2-5, 2010 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The purpose of the Symposium is to provide a forum for Uzbekistan and Korean scientists to get together and discuss recent progress and future trends in the rapidly advancing nanoscience and nanotechnology. The symposium will promote an exchange of scientific information and a mutual collaboration. Symposium activities include in-depth coverage on materials grows, physics, characterization, device fabrication and application. The main scientific topics of the symposium: Synthesis of nanomaterials, nanocomposites and nanostructures; Structural, electrical and optical properties; New concepts of devices and related phenomena; Theoretical aspects of nanosciense. (eds.)

  11. Urban health. A challenge for the third millennium

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Caroli, S. [Istituto Superiore di Sanita' , Rome (Italy). Lab. di Tossicologia Applicata; Menditto, A. [Istituto Superiore di Sanita' , Rome (Italy). Lab. di Biochimica Clinica

    1999-07-01

    In the frame of the bilateral governmental programme for scientific and technical cooperation existing between Italy and Hungary a successful series of biennial Symposia were undertaken since the early 1980s. These were designed to provide scientists of both countries with a permanent forum for the evaluation of ongoing joint projects, the exchange of views on future priorities dealt with by these Symposia always made the participation of prominent scientists from other countries a necessary complement substantially enhancing the international characteristics of such events. Each Symposium features a specific theme of primary importance within the general context of human health and environmental protection. In this respect, the ninth edition of this series of Symposia focuses on the major concerns raised by chemical pollution on all aspects of urban life. More than one half of the world population lives today in big cities, with all the attendant problems as regards air, water and soil quality, safe disposal of urban waste, occupational exposure, in one word, the physical, mental and cultural welfare of citizens at large. All facets concurring to protect and maintain urban health will be thus taken into consideration and highlighted in about forty invited lectures, while posters will be displayed in a permanent session throughout the conference duration. [Italian] Nel quadro degli accordi bilaterali di collaborazione tecnica e scientifica vigenti tra Italia ed Ungheria e' stata intrapresa con successo sin dall'inizio degli anni '80 una serie di simposi a cadenza biennale. Tali manifestazioni hanno lo scopo di fornire agli studiosi di entrambi i paesi un forum permanente per la valutazione dell'andamento dei progetti comuni di ricerca, lo scambio di idee sulle priorita' future e la proposta di nuove iniziative. D'altro canto, la natura sovranazionale dei problemi oggetto di questi simposi ha reso anche necessaria la presenza di

  12. Closing the science achievement gap for ninth grade English learners through standards- and inquiry-based science instruction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Estrada, Myrna Hipol

    In light of the need to close the achievement gap among our culturally and linguistically diverse students, more specifically the Hispanics and the Hispanic English Learners (ELs), the effects of teacher professional development (2 year PD vs. 1 Year PD vs. no PD) on the implementation of a standards-aligned and inquiry-based science curriculum program---the Integrated Coordinated Science for the 21st Century published by It's About Time, Inc. (ICS-IAT)---on the LAUSD ninth graders science scores were examined. Participants included 8,937 9th grade students (7,356 Hispanics). The primary outcome measurement was scaled scores from the California Standard Test (CST) in Integrated Coordinated Science (CST_ICS1). Correlations between California English Language Development Test (CELDT) component subscores (reading, listening and speaking) and CST scores were also examined. Results indicated that the science scores of the students of teachers who participated in two year PD were significantly higher compared to the scores of students of the one year PD group and the control group. The results show that all ethnic groups benefited from two years of teacher PD, except the African American group. Among Hispanics, students classified as IFEP, RFEP and EO gained from the teachers having two years of professional development. But the target population, ELs did not benefit from two years of teacher PD. The correlations between the CELDT and CST_ELA were much higher than the CELDT and CST_ICS1 correlations. This finding validates Abedi's claim (2004) that EL students are disadvantaged because of their language handicap on tests that have a greater language load. Two year PD participation significantly enhanced the accessibility of science to the ninth graders. The essential features in the PD were classroom simulation of all the activities identified in the storyboard with the actual and correct use of needed equipment and materials; creation and presentation of sample or model

  13. Proceeding of the Fifth Scientific Presentation on Nuclear Fuel Cycle: Development of Nuclear Fuel Cycle Technology in Third Millennium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suripto, A.; Sastratenaya, A.S.; Sutarno, D.

    2000-01-01

    The proceeding contains papers presented in the Fifth Scientific Presentation on Nuclear Fuel Element Cycle with theme of Development of Nuclear Fuel Cycle Technology in Third Millennium, held on 22 February in Jakarta, Indonesia. These papers were divided by three groups that are technology of exploration, processing, purification and analysis of nuclear materials; technology of nuclear fuel elements and structures; and technology of waste management, safety and management of nuclear fuel cycle. There are 35 papers indexed individually. (id)

  14. Early Father Involvement and Subsequent Child Behaviour at Ages 3, 5 and 7 Years: Prospective Analysis of the UK Millennium Cohort Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kroll, Mary E; Carson, Claire; Redshaw, Maggie; Quigley, Maria A

    Fathers are increasingly involved in care of their babies and young children. We assessed the association of resident fathers' involvement with subsequent behaviour of their children, examining boys and girls separately. We used longitudinal data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study for children born in 2000-2001, divided into three separate analysis periods: ages 9 months to 3 years, 3 to 5 years, and 5 to 7 years. By exploratory factor analysis of self-reported attitudes and engagement in caring activities, we derived composite measures of various types of father involvement at 9 months, 3 and 5 years. Where possible we created equivalent measures of mother involvement. Child behaviour was assessed by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), which was completed by the mother when the child was aged 3, 5 and 7 years. We estimated gender-specific odds ratios for behaviour problems per quintile of father involvement, using separate logistic regression models for boys and girls in each analysis period. We controlled for a wide range of potential confounders: characteristics of the child (temperament and development at 9 months, and illness and exact age at outcome), equivalent mother involvement where appropriate, and factors related to socioeconomic status, household change, and parental well-being, where statistically significant. Paternal positive parenting beliefs at age 9 months and increased frequency of creative play at age 5 years were significantly associated with lower risk of subsequent behaviour problems (SDQ total difficulties) in both boys and girls (pinvolvement. No associations were observed for other composite measures of caring activity by the father at 9 months, 3 years or 5 years. Quality of parenting, rather than the division of routine care between parents, was associated with child behavioural outcomes.

  15. Climatic changes and social transformations in the Near East and North Africa during the 'long' 4th millennium BC: A comparative study of environmental and archaeological evidence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clarke, Joanne; Brooks, Nick; Banning, Edward B.; Bar-Matthews, Miryam; Campbell, Stuart; Clare, Lee; Cremaschi, Mauro; di Lernia, Savino; Drake, Nick; Gallinaro, Marina; Manning, Sturt; Nicoll, Kathleen; Philip, Graham; Rosen, Steve; Schoop, Ulf-Dietrich; Tafuri, Mary Anne; Weninger, Bernhard; Zerboni, Andrea

    2016-03-01

    This paper explores the possible links between rapid climate change (RCC) and social change in the Near East and surrounding regions (Anatolia, central Syria, southern Israel, Mesopotamia, Cyprus and eastern and central Sahara) during the 'long' 4th millennium (∼4500-3000) BC. Twenty terrestrial and 20 marine climate proxies are used to identify long-term trends in humidity involving transitions from humid to arid conditions and vice versa. The frequency distribution of episodes of relative aridity across these records is calculated for the period 6300-2000 BC, so that the results may be interpreted in the context of the established arid episodes associated with RCC around 6200 and 2200 BC (the 8.2 and 4.2 kyr events). We identify two distinct episodes of heightened aridity in the early-mid 4th, and late 4th millennium BC. These episodes cluster strongly at 3600-3700 and 3100-3300 BC. There is also evidence of localised aridity spikes in the 5th and 6th millennia BC. These results are used as context for the interpretation of regional and local archaeological records with a particular focus on case studies from western Syria, the middle Euphrates, southern Israel and Cyprus. Interpretation of the records involves the construction of plausible narratives of human-climate interaction informed by concepts of adaptation and resilience from the literature on contemporary (i.e. 21st century) climate change and adaptation. The results are presented alongside well-documented examples of climatically-influenced societal change in the central and eastern Sahara, where detailed geomorphological studies of ancient environments have been undertaken in tandem with archaeological research. While the narratives for the Near East and Eastern Mediterranean remain somewhat speculative, the use of resilience and adaptation frameworks allows for a more nuanced treatment of human-climate interactions and recognises the diversity and context-specificity of human responses to climatic

  16. A case study:Finnish ninth grade students’ and their teacher’s views on and experiences in using YouTube video content in English language learning and teaching

    OpenAIRE

    Pigg, E. (Eveliina)

    2017-01-01

    Abstract The purpose of this thesis is to examine how Finnish ninth grade students and their teacher view the use of YouTube in English language learning and teaching and what kind of experiences they have in using it in school and outside the normative school context. The method of the study is ethnographic and it is based on sociocultural and ecological views on language learning. The materials used in the study were ques...

  17. Elevation-dependent cooling caused by volcanic eruptions during last millennium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ning, L.; Liu, J.; Bradley, R. S.; Yan, M.; Sun, W.; Liu, L.

    2017-12-01

    The amplified warming over the high-elevation regions in recent decades due to the increases of greenhouse gases has attracted lots of attentions, due to the potential severe impacts on mountain hydrological systems and ecosystems and corresponding social and economic influences. Similarly, the model simulations show that the rate of cooling is also amplified with elevation after volcanic eruptions during last millennium, such that high-mountain environments experience larger decreases in temperature than environments at lower elevations. This elevation-dependent cooling (EDC) testifies two important mechanisms, i.e. snow albedo feedback and tropical deep convection mechanism, which also induce the elevation-dependent warming (EDW) found in recent decades due to the increases of greenhouse gases that accelerates the rates of changes in mountain hydrological regimes and ecosystems. It can be concluded that although the influences from natural forcing and anthropogenic forcing on the high-mountain regions are opposite, the mechanisms behind the influences are the same. This finding shows that the temperature change over high-elevation regions is more sensitive to the background climate changes, and needs more attention for adaptations and mitigations due to their bio-diversity and fragile ecosystems.

  18. Cyber disorders: the mental health concern for the new millennium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, K; Pistner, M; O'Mara, J; Buchanan, J

    1999-01-01

    Anecdotal evidence has suggested that mental health practitioners' report increased caseloads of clients whose primary complaint involves the Internet. However, little is known about the incidence, associated behaviors, attitudes of practitioners, and interventions involved related to this relatively new phenomenon. Therefore, this study surveyed therapists who have treated clients suffering from cyber-related problems to gather such outcome information. Respondents reported an average caseload of nine clients who they classified as Internet-addicted, with a range between 2 and 50 clients treated within the past year. Five general subtypes of Internet addiction were categorized based on the most problematic types of online applications, and they include addictions to Cybersex, Cyber-relationships, online stock trading or gambling, information surfing, and computer games. Treatment strategies included cognitive-behavioral approaches, sexual offender therapy, marital and family therapy, social skills training, and pharmacological interventions. Based on their client encounters, efforts to initiate support groups and recovery programs specializing in the treatment of Internet addiction were being considered. Finally, based upon the findings, this article examines the impact of cyberdisorders on future research, treatment, and public policy issues for the new millennium.

  19. Responding to the Gender and Education Millennium Development Goals in South Africa and Kenya: Reflections on Education Rights, Gender Equality, Capabilities and Global Justice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Unterhalter, Elaine; North, Amy

    2011-01-01

    This paper explores understandings of gender equality and education and the nature of global goal and target setting, drawing on empirical data collected in central and local government departments in Kenya and South Africa reflecting on their implementation of Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 1, concerned with poverty, MDG 2, concerned with…

  20. Hydroclimate variability in Scandinavia over the last millennium - insights from a climate model-proxy data comparison

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seftigen, Kristina; Goosse, Hugues; Klein, Francois; Chen, Deliang

    2017-12-01

    The integration of climate proxy information with general circulation model (GCM) results offers considerable potential for deriving greater understanding of the mechanisms underlying climate variability, as well as unique opportunities for out-of-sample evaluations of model performance. In this study, we combine insights from a new tree-ring hydroclimate reconstruction from Scandinavia with projections from a suite of forced transient simulations of the last millennium and historical intervals from the CMIP5 and PMIP3 archives. Model simulations and proxy reconstruction data are found to broadly agree on the modes of atmospheric variability that produce droughts-pluvials in the region. Despite these dynamical similarities, large differences between simulated and reconstructed hydroclimate time series remain. We find that the GCM-simulated multi-decadal and/or longer hydroclimate variability is systematically smaller than the proxy-based estimates, whereas the dominance of GCM-simulated high-frequency components of variability is not reflected in the proxy record. Furthermore, the paleoclimate evidence indicates in-phase coherencies between regional hydroclimate and temperature on decadal timescales, i.e., sustained wet periods have often been concurrent with warm periods and vice versa. The CMIP5-PMIP3 archive suggests, however, out-of-phase coherencies between the two variables in the last millennium. The lack of adequate understanding of mechanisms linking temperature and moisture supply on longer timescales has serious implications for attribution and prediction of regional hydroclimate changes. Our findings stress the need for further paleoclimate data-model intercomparison efforts to expand our understanding of the dynamics of hydroclimate variability and change, to enhance our ability to evaluate climate models, and to provide a more comprehensive view of future drought and pluvial risks.

  1. Public health strategies to fasten the achievement of the millennium development goal -4A related to under-five mortality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saurabh RamBihariLal Shrivastava

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Under-five mortality rate (U5MR refers to the total number of deaths in the age group of 0-5 years divided by the total number of live births in the same time interval. Under the MDG-4A, the target was to reduce U5MR by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015. An extensive search of all materials related to the topic was made using library sources including Pubmed, Medline and google scholar searches. Keywords used in the search include under-five mortality rate, Millennium development goals, and global. Although, reduction in U5MR has been observed, the decline is neither sufficient nor uniform, being highest in the African region and least in the European continent. Multiple barriers and gaps have been identified that are eventually aggravating the magnitude of the under-five mortality. In order to reduce the global burden of under-five mortality and to counter the identified challenges, there is a need of formulating innovative, cost-effective, multi-faceted and targeted strategies to address the problem in all dimensions. To conclude, there is a crucial need to save lives of under-five children by ensuring strategic implementation of comprehensive and target-oriented strategies, especially in developing countries to universally achieve the millennium development goal-4A. [J Contemp Med 2015; 5(1.000: 67-70

  2. Achieving the health Millennium Development Goals for South Africa: challenges and priorities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chopra, Mickey; Lawn, Joy E; Sanders, David; Barron, Peter; Abdool Karim, Salim S; Bradshaw, Debbie; Jewkes, Rachel; Abdool Karim, Quarraisha; Flisher, Alan J; Mayosi, Bongani M; Tollman, Stephen M; Churchyard, Gavin J; Coovadia, Hoosen

    2009-09-19

    15 years after liberation from apartheid, South Africans are facing new challenges for which the highest calibre of leadership, vision, and commitment is needed. The effect of the unprecedented HIV/AIDS epidemic has been immense. Substantial increases in mortality and morbidity are threatening to overwhelm the health system and undermine the potential of South Africa to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). However The Lancet's Series on South Africa has identified several examples of leadership and innovation that point towards a different future scenario. We discuss the type of vision, leadership, and priority actions needed to achieve such a change. We still have time to change the health trajectory of the country, and even meet the MDGs. The South African Government, installed in April, 2009, has the mandate and potential to address the public health emergencies facing the country--will they do so or will another opportunity and many more lives be lost?

  3. HARMONISASI KEBIJAKAN PENGENTASAN KEMISKINAN DI INDONESIA YANG BERORIENTASI PADA MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emmy Latifah

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this research is to understand the level of harmonization of poverty alleviation regulations and policies in Indonesia within the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs, especially Target 1. From this research, it can be created a model of regulation and polices harmonization of poverty alleviation in Indonesia in order to harmony with the MDGs. To achieve these objectives, data collected by regulation and policies of poverty alleviation in Indonesia, and then it is analyzed with editing analysis style. The results of this research are the policies of poverty alleviation in Indonesia are not harmonious with the MDG target. It is because of the poverty alleviation policies in Indonesia with the MDG target as a result of differences in defining poverty, which is not focused on the definition of poverty used by the MDGs. The definition of poverty according to the MDGs is those who have income less than US$ 1 per day.

  4. Life in a landfill slum, children's health, and the Millennium Development Goals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shibata, Tomoyuki; Wilson, James L.; Watson, Lindsey M.; Nikitin, Ivan V.; Ansariadi; La Ane, Ruslan; Maidin, Alimin

    2015-01-01

    People living in slums can be considered left behind with regard to national successes in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The objective of this study was to evaluate the living and working conditions of waste pickers and their children in a landfill slum located in the largest city in eastern Indonesia. A total of 113 people from the landfill slum and 1184 people from the general population participated in face-to-face interviews. Municipal solid waste (MSW) was analyzed for metals, metalloids and fecal indicator bacteria. Ambient air quality including particulate matter was measured in the landfill. Households in the landfill slum were 5.73 (p = 0.04) times more likely to be below the international poverty line (MDG 1: Poverty) and 15.6 times (p < 0.01) more likely to have no one in the household possessing a primary education (MDG 2: Universal Education), and 107 times (p < 0.01) more likely not to have improved sanitation facilities (MDG 7: Environmental Sustainability) when compared to the general population. Diarrhea is one of the leading causes of death in children under five in Indonesia. Young children living in the landfill slum were 2.87 times (p = 0.02) more likely to develop diarrhea than their general population counterparts. Other survey results and environmental measurements suggest that landfill slum children have additional adverse health effects (e.g. infections and poisoning). Poverty underlies several MDG issues that directly or indirectly affect child health. Therefore, eradicating extreme poverty will continue to be the most critical challenge for the MDGs beyond 2015. - Highlights: • Waste-pickers and the health and well-being of their children are examined • Landfill slum (LS) residents do not have a share in improving economies • LSs illustrate the interrelationship of Millennium Development Goals • LS mothers and children are exposed to toxic chemicals and pathogens • MDGs directly and indirectly addresses issues

  5. Life in a landfill slum, children's health, and the Millennium Development Goals

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shibata, Tomoyuki, E-mail: tshibata@niu.edu [Public Health Program, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL (United States); Institute of the Study for Environment, Sustainability, and Energy, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL (United States); Faculty of Public Health, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, South Sulawesi (Indonesia); Wilson, James L. [Institute of the Study for Environment, Sustainability, and Energy, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL (United States); Department of Geography, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL (United States); Watson, Lindsey M.; Nikitin, Ivan V. [Public Health Program, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL (United States); Ansariadi; La Ane, Ruslan; Maidin, Alimin [Faculty of Public Health, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, South Sulawesi (Indonesia)

    2015-12-01

    People living in slums can be considered left behind with regard to national successes in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The objective of this study was to evaluate the living and working conditions of waste pickers and their children in a landfill slum located in the largest city in eastern Indonesia. A total of 113 people from the landfill slum and 1184 people from the general population participated in face-to-face interviews. Municipal solid waste (MSW) was analyzed for metals, metalloids and fecal indicator bacteria. Ambient air quality including particulate matter was measured in the landfill. Households in the landfill slum were 5.73 (p = 0.04) times more likely to be below the international poverty line (MDG 1: Poverty) and 15.6 times (p < 0.01) more likely to have no one in the household possessing a primary education (MDG 2: Universal Education), and 107 times (p < 0.01) more likely not to have improved sanitation facilities (MDG 7: Environmental Sustainability) when compared to the general population. Diarrhea is one of the leading causes of death in children under five in Indonesia. Young children living in the landfill slum were 2.87 times (p = 0.02) more likely to develop diarrhea than their general population counterparts. Other survey results and environmental measurements suggest that landfill slum children have additional adverse health effects (e.g. infections and poisoning). Poverty underlies several MDG issues that directly or indirectly affect child health. Therefore, eradicating extreme poverty will continue to be the most critical challenge for the MDGs beyond 2015. - Highlights: • Waste-pickers and the health and well-being of their children are examined • Landfill slum (LS) residents do not have a share in improving economies • LSs illustrate the interrelationship of Millennium Development Goals • LS mothers and children are exposed to toxic chemicals and pathogens • MDGs directly and indirectly addresses issues

  6. Agricultural production and stability of settlement systems in Upper Mesopotamia during the Early Bronze Age (third millennium BCE)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalayci, Tuna

    This study investigates the relationship between rainfall variation and rain-fed agricultural production in Upper Mesopotamia with a specific focus on Early Bronze Age urban settlements. In return, the variation in production is used to explore stability of urban settlement systems. The organization of the flow of agricultural goods is the key to sustaining the total settlement system. The vulnerability of a settlement system increases due to the increased demand for more output from agricultural lands. This demand is the key for the success of urbanization project. However, without estimating how many foodstuffs were available at the end of a production cycle, further discussions on the forces that shaped and sustained urban settlement systems will be lacking. While large scale fluctuations in the flow of agricultural products between settlements are not the only determinants of hierarchical structures, the total available agricultural yield for each urban settlement in a hierarchy must have influenced settlement relations. As for the methodology, first, Early Bronze Age precipitation levels are estimated by using modern day associations between the eastern Mediterranean coastal areas and the inner regions of Upper Mesopotamia. Next, these levels are integrated into a remote-sensing based biological growth model. Also, a CORONA satellite imagery based archaeological survey is conducted in order to map the Early Bronze Age settlement system in its entirety as well as the ancient markers of agricultural intensification. Finally, ancient agricultural production landscapes are modeled in a GIS. The study takes a critical position towards the traditionally held assumption that large urban settlements (cities) in Upper Mesopotamia were in a state of constant demand for food. The results from this study also suggest that when variations in ancient precipitation levels are translated into the variations in production levels, the impact of climatic aridification on ancient

  7. Yemeni women's perceptions of own authority during childbirth: what does it have to do with achieving the Millennium Development Goals?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kempe, Annica; Theorell, Töres; Noor-Aldin Alwazer, Fatoom; Christensson, Kyllike; Johansson, Annika

    2013-10-01

    women's underutilisation of professional care during childbirth in many low-income countries is a serious concern in terms of achievement of maternal Millennium Development Goal 5. to explore women's perceived own authority within the modern and traditional spheres of childbirth in a high maternal mortality setting on the Arab peninsula. Yemen is a signatory to the Millennium Development Goals and one of 10 countries chosen for the United Nations Millennium Project. In Yemen, home birth has remained the norm for several decades in spite of high maternal mortality and morbidity rates. a multistage (stratified-purposive-random) sampling process was used. Two hundred and twenty women with childbirth experience in urban/rural Yemen were selected at random for interview. Answers to the question 'Did you feel that you were the authority during childbirth?' were analysed using qualitative content analysis. the governorates of Aden, Lahej, Hadramout, Taiz and Hodeidah. three main themes emerged from the analysis: (i) 'Being at the centre', including two categories 'being able to follow through on own wants' and its opposite 'to be under the authority of others'; (ii) 'A sense of belonging' with the categories 'belonging and support among women in the community' and 'the denial of support, the experience of separation' and (iii) 'Husband's role in childbirth' including one category 'opportunity to show authority over the husband'. Authority was experienced primarily among women within the traditional childbirth sector although a general complaint among women delivered by trained medical staff was the loss of own authority. these findings show that women's authority during childbirth is decreasing in the context of Safe Motherhood and the expansion of modern delivery care. This is likely to be an important reason why women underutilise professional care. Acquisition of knowledge from the traditional childbirth sector regarding how women exercise authority to facilitate

  8. Carbon nanotubes as VEGF carriers to improve the early vascularization of porcine small intestinal submucosa in abdominal wall defect repair

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liu Z

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Zhengni Liu,1,* Xueyi Feng,2,* Huichun Wang,1 Jun Ma,1 Wei Liu,3 Daxiang Cui,4 Yan Gu,1 Rui Tang,11Department of General Surgery, Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Hernia and Abdominal Wall Disease Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of General Surgery, Lu’an People’s Hospital, Lu’an Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Lu’an, Province Anhui, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Tissue Engineering, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 4Institute of Nano Biomedicine and Engineering, Key Laboratory for Thin Film and Microfabrication Technology of the Ministry of Education, Research Institute of Micro/Nano Science and Technology, Bio-X Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Abstract: Insufficient early vascularization in biological meshes, resulting in limited host tissue incorporation, is thought to be the primary cause for the failure of abdominal wall defect repair after implantation. The sustained release of exogenous angiogenic factors from a biocompatible nanomaterial might be a way to overcome this limitation. In the study reported here, multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNT were functionalized by plasma polymerization to deliver vascular endothelial growth factor165 (VEGF165. The novel VEGF165-controlled released system was incorporated into porcine small intestinal submucosa (PSIS to construct a composite scaffold. Scaffolds incorporating varying amounts of VEGF165-loaded functionalized MWNT were characterized in vitro. At 5 weight percent MWNT, the scaffolds exhibited optimal properties and were implanted in rats to repair abdominal wall defects. PSIS scaffolds incorporating VEGF165-loaded MWNT (VEGF

  9. Early sedentary economy in the basin of Mexico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niederberger, C

    1979-01-12

    Artifactual and nonartifactual evidence from the lacustrine shores of the Chalco-Xochimilco Basin suggest the existence of fully sedentary human communities in the Basin of Mexico from at least the sixth millennium B.C.

  10. Report of the ninth meeting of the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission - Helsinki Commission (HELCOM). Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1988-01-01

    This document is the report of the ninth meeting of the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission - the Helsinki Commission - held in Helsinki 15-19 February 1988. The Commission is composed of the representatives of Denmark, Finland, Federal Republic of Germany, Poland, Sweden and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as well as national, regional and international organizations. The Meeting made a number of proposals and recommendations on the protection of the marine environment

  11. Report of the ninth meeting of the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission - Helsinki Commission (HELCOM). Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1988-07-01

    This document is the report of the ninth meeting of the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission - the Helsinki Commission - held in Helsinki 15-19 February 1988. The Commission is composed of the representatives of Denmark, Finland, Federal Republic of Germany, Poland, Sweden and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as well as national, regional and international organizations. The Meeting made a number of proposals and recommendations on the protection of the marine environment.

  12. The effect of an integrated multisector model for achieving the Millennium Development Goals and improving child survival in rural sub-Saharan Africa: a non-randomised controlled assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pronyk, Paul M; Muniz, Maria; Nemser, Ben; Somers, Marie-Andrée; McClellan, Lucy; Palm, Cheryl A; Huynh, Uyen Kim; Ben Amor, Yanis; Begashaw, Belay; McArthur, John W; Niang, Amadou; Sachs, Sonia Ehrlich; Singh, Prabhjot; Teklehaimanot, Awash; Sachs, Jeffrey D

    2012-06-09

    Simultaneously addressing multiple Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has the potential to complement essential health interventions to accelerate gains in child survival. The Millennium Villages project is an integrated multisector approach to rural development operating across diverse sub-Saharan African sites. Our aim was to assess the effects of the project on MDG-related outcomes including child mortality 3 years after implementation and compare these changes to local comparison data. Village sites averaging 35,000 people were selected from rural areas across diverse agroecological zones with high baseline levels of poverty and undernutrition. Starting in 2006, simultaneous investments were made in agriculture, the environment, business development, education, infrastructure, and health in partnership with communities and local governments at an annual projected cost of US$120 per person. We assessed MDG-related progress by monitoring changes 3 years after implementation across Millenium Village sites in nine countries. The primary outcome was the mortality rate of children younger than 5 years of age. To assess plausibility and attribution, we compared changes to reference data gathered from matched randomly selected comparison sites for the mortality rate of children younger than 5 years of age. Analyses were done on a per-protocol basis. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01125618. Baseline levels of MDG-related spending averaged $27 per head, increasing to $116 by year 3 of which $25 was spent on health. After 3 years, reductions in poverty, food insecurity, stunting, and malaria parasitaemia were reported across nine Millennium Village sites. Access to improved water and sanitation increased, along with coverage for many maternal-child health interventions. Mortality rates in children younger than 5 years of age decreased by 22% in Millennium Village sites relative to baseline (absolute decrease 25 deaths per 1000 livebirths, p=0

  13. Infertility: Ongoing Global challenge of new millennium

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kantibhai Naranbhai Sonaliya

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Background: Infertility tends to be the global challenge even in the second decade of the new millennium. Especially in developing countries like India, it is still one the most lethal social evil responsible for a big proportion of cases of psychological disturbances including suicide. Again, recently, few conditions other than communicable or Non-communicable diseases are given place among the categories of significant public health problems like Road Traffic Accidents, Burns, Poisoning, drowning and few more. But, for developing countries like India, the list is incomplete without inclusion of Infertility (there may be several others also. In public health, tuberculosis, leprosy and some other diseases are considered social diseases which produce social stigma for the patients and/or his family members.1 In same manner, Infertility is an important cause of social stigmatization since centuries for a couple suffering from, especially for woman involved. During a transitory phase of industrialization and socio-economic development, the situation is changed a minute smidgen at urban areas of India but at rural parts, sub-urban or even at urban slums (mainly among pockets of recent migrants the situation is as same as a few hundred years ago. A female of no religion, caste, social status or higher level of education are barred from some stringent mores related to infertility. Infertile females are still not allowed to take part in so many religious or social ceremonies; on the contrary, they have to face more harassment including domestic violence than their counterparts, who have given birth to the child. Due to social, psychological, economic disturbances, they are forced to take multiple sorts of treatments including religious quacks. So many infertile women are exploited physically and economically also in such weird ways of treatment to gain a pregnancy.

  14. Learning Societies in the New Millennium: Creativity, Caring & Commitments. International Conference on Computers in Education/International Conference on Computer Assisted Instruction (Taipei, Taiwan, November 21-24, 2000).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education. Asia-Pacific Chapter.

    This conference addressed pedagogical, social, and technological issues related to computers in education. The conference theme, "Learning Societies in the New Millennium: Creativity, Caring & Commitments," focused on creative learning, caring for diverse cultures and global issues, and committing oneself to a new way of…

  15. Social justice: The link between trade liberalisation and sub-Saharan Africa's potential to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals by 2015

    OpenAIRE

    Chigara, B

    2008-01-01

    Copyright © 2008 Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM). The possible impact of the unintended worst possible effects of the current multilateral WTO sponsored trade liberalisation project on Sub-Saharan Africa’s potential to realise the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the target date of 2015 is examined. The article shows that the WTO’s current approach to trade liberalisation is nurturing and strengthening economic inequalities between and within economic regions ...

  16. LA MUJER MARROQUÍ Y LOS OBJETIVOS DE DESARROLLO DEL MILENIO / THE MOROCCAN WOMAN AND THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohamed Laghdas

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available In the last decades, the situation of the Moroccan woman has experienced a change at social, economic, and politic level, which has led to a path to attain sustainable development. Regarding this, Morocco committed to achieving the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs including two directly related to women, which are the third and fifth. The objective of this article is to analyze the efforts and the advances made in the field of the promotion of gender equality and the autonomy of women by means of qualitative and quantitative data, as well as the improvement of maternal health.

  17. Hunting for genes for hypertension: the Millennium Genome Project for Hypertension.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tabara, Yasuharu; Kohara, Katsuhiko; Miki, Tetsuro

    2012-06-01

    The Millennium Genome Project for Hypertension was started in 2000 to identify genetic variants conferring susceptibility to hypertension, with the aim of furthering the understanding of the pathogenesis of this condition and realizing genome-based personalized medical care. Two different approaches were launched, genome-wide association analysis using single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and microsatellite markers, and systematic candidate gene analysis, under the hypothesis that common variants have an important role in the etiology of common diseases. These multilateral approaches identified ATP2B1 as a gene responsible for hypertension in not only Japanese but also Caucasians. The high blood pressure susceptibility conferred by certain alleles of ATP2B1 has been widely replicated in various populations. Ex vivo mRNA expression analysis in umbilical artery smooth muscle cells indicated that reduced expression of this gene associated with the risk allele may be an underlying mechanism relating the ATP2B1 variant to hypertension. However, the effect size of a SNP was too small to clarify the entire picture of the genetic basis of hypertension. Further, dense genome analysis with accurate phenotype data may be required.

  18. Ninth workshop on geothermal reservoir engineering: Proceedings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ramey, H.J. Jr.; Kruger, P.; Miller, F.G.; Horne, R.N.; Brigham, W.E.; Gudmundsson, J.S. (Stanford Geothermal Program)

    1983-12-15

    (Reservoir Chemistry), Malcolm Mossman (Reservoir Chemistry), Greg Raasch (Production), Manny Nathenson (Injection), Susan Petty (Injection), Subir Sanyal (Simulation), Marty Molloy (Petrothermal), and Allen Moench (Reservoir Physics). The Workshop was organized by the Stanford Geothermal Program faculty, staff and students. We would like to thank Jean Cook, Joanne Hartford, Terri Ramey, Amy Osugi, and Marilyn King for their valued help with the Workshop arrangements and the Proceedings. We also owe thanks to the program students who arranged and operated the audio-visual equipment. The Ninth Workshop was supported by the Geothermal and Hydropower Technologies Division of the U . S . Department of Energy through contract DE-AT03-80SF11459. We deeply appreciate this continued support. H. J. Ramey, Jr., R. N. Horne, P. Kruger, W. E. Brigham, F. G. Miller, J. S . Gudmundsson -vii

  19. Nuclear water desalination technology as a tool for achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dahunsi, S. O. A.; Ala, A.

    2011-01-01

    Potable water is regarded as one of the essential needs for the attainment of the target of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), but every year new countries are affected by growing water problems and Climate change is likely to further stress regions already facing dire water shortages. Recent statistics also shown that 2.3 billion people currently live in water-stressed areas and among them 1.7 billion live in water-scarce areas where the water availability per person is less than 1000 m 3 /year. Only large-scale commercially available desalination processes will be a solution to the menace of this water shortage. This paper therefore focuses on the results and applications of results of research and development in water desalination using nuclear technology which is evolving as an important option for safe, economic and sustainable supply of large amounts of portable water to meet the ever-increasing worldwide water demand.

  20. A millennium approach to data acquisition: SCI and PCI

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mueller, Hans; Bogaerts, A.; Lindenstruth, V.

    1996-01-01

    The international SCI standard IEEE/ANSI 1596 a is on its way to become the computer interconnect of the year 2000 since for a first time, low latency desktop multiprocessing and cluster computing can be implemented at low cost. The PCI bus is todays's dominating local bus extension for all major computer platforms as well as buses like VMEbus. PCI is a self configuring memory and I/O system for peripheral components with a hierarchical architecture. SCI is a scalable, bus-like interconnect for distributed processors and memories. It allows for optionally coherent data caching and assures error free data delivery. First measurement with commercial SCI products (SBUS-SCI) confirm simulations that SCI can handle even the highest data rates of LHC experiments. The event builder layer for a millennium very high rate DAQ system can therefore be viewed as a SCI network (bridges, cables and switches) interfaced between PCI buses on the front end (VME b ) side and on the processor farm Multi-CPU) side. Such a combination of SCI and PCI enables PCI-PCI memory access, transparently across SCI. It also allows for a novel, low level trigger technique: the trigger algorithm can access VME data buffers with bus-like latencies like local memory, full data transfers become redundant. The first prototype of a PCI-SCI bridge for DAQ is presented as starting point for a test system with built-in scalability. (author)

  1. Climate of the last millennium: a sensitivity study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bertrand, Cedric [Royal Meterological Inst. of Belgium, Brussels (Belgium); Loutre, Marie-France; Crucifix, Michel; Berger, Andre [Univ. catholique de Louvain, Louvain la-neuve (Belgium). Inst. d' Astronomie et de Geophysique G. Lemaitre

    2002-05-01

    Seventy-one sensitivity experiments have been performed using a two-dimensional sector-averaged global climate model to assess the potential impact of six different factors on the last millennium climate and in particular on the surface air temperature evolution. Both natural (i.e. solar and volcanism) and anthropogenically-induced (i.e. deforestation, additional greenhouse gases, and tropospheric aerosol burden) climate forcings have been considered. Comparisons of climate reconstructions with model results indicate that all the investigated forcings are needed to simulate the surface air temperature evolution. Due to uncertainties in historical climate forcings and temperature reconstructions, the relative importance of a particular forcing in the explanation of the recorded temperature variance is largely function of the forcing time series used. Nevertheless, our results indicate that whatever the historical solar and volcanic reconstructions may be, these externally driven natural climate forcings are unable to give climate responses comparable in magnitude and time to the late-2Oth-century temperature warming while for earlier periods combination of solar and volcanic forcings can explain the Little Ice Age and the Medieval Warm Period. Only the greenhouse gas forcing allows the model to simulate an accelerated warming rate during the last three decades. The best guess simulation (largest similarity with the reconstruction) for the period starting 1850 AD requires however to include anthropogenic sulphate forcing as well as the impact of deforestation to constrain the magnitude of the greenhouse gas twentieth century warming to better fit the observation. On the contrary, prior to 1850 AD mid-latitude land clearance tends to reinforce the Little Ice age in our simulations.

  2. Climatic differences and similarities between Indian and East Asian Monsoon regions of China over the last millennium: a perspective based mainly on stalagmite records.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ming Tan

    2007-07-01

    Full Text Available Cave sediments, especially stalagmites, have been providing absolute dated climate records that can extend from the present to over 500,000 years ago. Based on the reconstructed temperature time series, a comprehensive overview of the climatic differences and similarities between the Indian and the East Asian Monsoon regions of China over the last millennium is presented. Evidence from accurately dated and high-resolution records including stalagmites, ice cores and tree rings show that there was a “Medieval Warm Period” (around 1000 to 1400 AD in north and east China where climate is dominated by the East Asian monsoon; whilst no such interval is evident in the records including stalagmites and ice cores from southwest China where climate is dominated by the Indian monsoon. However, both regions underwent a significant cooling during the Little Ice Age (around the mid 1500s to the 1800s. The result achieved here may allow a possibility of distinguishing the boundary between Indian monsoon and East Asian monsoon regions over the last millennium with increase of climate records, especially stalagmites that are mostly suitable for accurate U/Th dating and/or lamina counting.

  3. Variations in large-scale tropical cyclone genesis factors over the western North Pacific in the PMIP3 last millennium simulations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yan, Qing; Wei, Ting; Zhang, Zhongshi

    2017-02-01

    Investigation of past tropical cyclone (TC) activity in the Western North Pacific (WNP) is potentially helpful to enable better understanding of future TC behaviors. In this study, we examine variations in large-scale environmental factors important to TC genesis in the last millennium simulations from the Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project Phase 3 (PMIP3). The results show that potential intensity, a theoretical prediction of the maximum TC intensity, is increased relative to the last millennium in the north part of the WNP in the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA; 950-1200 AD) while it is decreased in the Little Ice Age (LIA; 1600-1850 AD). Vertical wind shear that generally inhibits TC genesis is enhanced (reduced) to the south of 20°N and is reduced (enhanced) to the north in the MCA (LIA). Relative humidity (at 600 hPa) that measures the mid-tropospheric moisture content broadly shows an increase (decrease) in the MCA (LIA). A genesis potential index indicates that conditions are generally favorable (unfavorable) for TC formation in the WNP in the MCA (LIA), especially in the northern part. Taking changes in steering flows into account, there may be an increasing (decreasing) favorability for storm strikes in East Asia in the MCA (LIA). The estimated TC activity is consistent with the geological proxies in Japan, but contradicts with the typhoon records in southern China and Taiwan. This model-data discrepancy is attributed to the limitations in both simulations and reconstructions.

  4. The Papua New Guinea medical supply system - documenting opportunities and challenges to meet the Millennium Development Goals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Andrew N; Gilbert, Ben

    2014-01-01

    Limited human resources are widely recognised as an impediment to achieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals in Pacific Island Countries, with the availability of medical supplies and suitably trained health personnel crucial to ensuring a well-functioning medical supply chain. This paper presents our findings as we seek to answer the research question 'What factors influence the availability of medical supplies within the health facilities of Papua New Guinea?' We used a qualitative, triangulated strategy using semi-structured interviews, workplace observation and semi-structured focus groups. The parallel use of the interview tool and workplace observation tool allowed identification of 'know-do' gaps between what the interviewee said they did in their work practices, and the actual evidence of these practices. Focus groups provided further opportunities for raising and elaborating issues. During 2 weeks of data collection we conducted 17 interviews and 15 observational workplace surveys in 15 facilities. Sixteen health personnel participated in 3 focus groups across 2 provinces and one district. An array of medical supply issues across all levels of the medical supply chain were revealed, including standard operating procedures, facilities, transport, emergency medical kits, the cold chain and record keeping. The influence of health worker training and competency was found to be common across all of these issues. The factors influencing the availability of medical supplies in PNG consist of a range of interrelating issues, consisting of both simple and complex problems involving the different levels and cadres of workers within the medical supply chain. Health systems sustainability theory suggests that a coordinated approach which addresses the inter-related nature of these issues, led by the PNG government and supported by suitable development partners, will be required for sustainable health systems change to occur. These changes are necessary

  5. Sampling data summary for the ninth run of the Large Slurry Fed Melter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sabatino, D.M.

    1983-01-01

    The ninth experimental run of the Large Slurry Fed Melter (LSFM) was completed June 27, 1983, after 63 days of continuous operation. During the run, the various melter and off-gas streams were sampled and analyzed to determine melter material balances and to characterize off-gas emissions. Sampling methods and preliminary results were reported earlier. The emphasis was on the chemical analyses of the off-gas entrainment, deposits, and scrubber liquid. The significant sampling results from the run are summarized below: Flushing the Frit 165 with Frit 131 without bubbler agitation required 3 to 4.5 melter volumes. The off-gas cesium concentration during feeding was on the order of 36 to 56 μgCs/scf. The cesium concentration in the melter plenum (based on air in leakage only) was on the order of 110 to 210 μgCs/scf. Using <1 micron as the cut point for semivolatile material 60% of the chloride, 35% of the sodium and less than 5% of the managanese and iron in the entrainment are present as semivolatiles. A material balance on the scrubber tank solids shows good agreement with entrainment data. An overall cesium balance using LSFM-9 data and the DWPF production rate indicates an emission of 0.11 mCi/yr of cesium from the DWPF off-gas. This is a factor of 27 less than the maximum allowable 3 mCi/yr

  6. Visions of the North American natural gas and power markets in the next millennium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rounding, M.C.

    1999-01-01

    The state of affairs in the North American energy markets was discussed. Significant changes are taking place in the energy industry at a greater pace than ever before. These changes include more strategic alliances, mergers, acquisitions and name changes. This paper also discussed the issue of climate change and how it will effect business operations in the energy industry in the next millennium. It was suggested that climate change should be viewed as a business issue. Marketing 'green power' will become a significant business tool in the next century. The role that natural gas will play in new business opportunities was also discussed. Future gas supply and demand forecasts indicate that there is enough natural gas to last well into the twenty second century. Natural gas prices are not expected to climb high enough to deter its use. The future for natural gas looks promising

  7. Process skills acquisition, cognitive growth, and attitude change of ninth grade students in a scientific literacy course

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, Dale R.; Piburn, Michael

    This is a report of the effects of a scientific literacy course on the skills, cognitive ability, and attitude of students in the first year of high school. Specifically, the research examines (1) whether it is possible to teach scientific skills, (2) whether a literacy curriculum affects attitude and cognitive ability, and (3) whether incoming student characteristics affect the development of attitude and cognitive abilities. Two hundred and fifty (126 male and 124 female) ninth grade students were enrolled in a specially designed literacy course which met for 3 hours and 20 minutes each week for 39 weeks. Students were pretested for logical, spatial, verbal, and mathematical ability, as well as for attitude toward self and science, and psychological type. The course was successful in teaching skills. In addition, there were significant increases in spatial, verbal, and quantitative ability. Increases in cognitive ability were predicted by logical ability, measurement skills, and academic self-concept. Attitudes declined as a result of participation in the course. Self concept and mastery were related to cognitive variables and motivation, mastery, and control were related to psychological type.

  8. Convergent Television and 'Audience Participation': The Early Days of Interactive Digital Television in the UK

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vivi Theodoropoulou

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper focuses on the introduction of interactive digital television (DTV in the UK, at the turn of the millennium, and its take-up and use by early audiences. It discusses whether the processes of television technological convergence went together with “consumer behavior convergence”[i], enhanced audience engagement with the interactive TV services offered, and participation. Based on findings from a UK-wide survey and interviews with early Sky digital subscribers[ii] it shows that early interactive DTV was taken up because of its multichannel offering and thematic orientation and, interestingly, was approached and appreciated mostly as a television content provider. It thus notes a divergence on industry’s attempts to promote convergence in broadcasting and on the level and pace with which users adopt and adapt to such change. In so doing it highlights the evolutionary nature and slow rate of ‘change’ of cultural habits and forms. [i] Horst Stipp, ‘Convergence now?’, The International Journal of Media Management, 1, 1, 1999, 10-13. [ii] A postal survey using a simple random sample of 1986 early Sky digital subscribers was conducted and achieved a response rate of 35.25%. This was complemented by 15 in-depth interviews with a stratified sample of the original survey sample. In the quotes that follow the gender initial (Male or Female and age of the interviewee is used as an identification mark.

  9. Report on the results of the ninth medical examination of atomic bomb survivors in South America

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ohta, Michiya; Hiyama, Keiko; Matsuo, Kakaru; Yamamoto, Hiroki; Nishida, Masashi; Sasaki, Yoshinobu

    2001-01-01

    The results of the ninth medical examination are reported. Atomic bomb survivors who had emigrated to South America as of November 2000 totaled 180 (153 to Brazil, 4 to Paraguay, 7 to Bolivia, 13 to Argentina, and 3 to Peru). Eighty persons (44.4%) were examined (62 in Brazil, 2 in Paraguay, 6 in Bolivia, 7 in Argentina, and 3 in Peru). The mean age of the males was 71.3 years, and the mean age of the females was 69.7 years. They had hypertension (24.1%), diabetes (10.1%), cancer (8.9%), heart disease (7.6%), and thyroid disease (2.5%). The most common manifestations of illness were fatigue (69.6%), loss of vigor (65.8%), taking medicine (55.7%), and heat intolerance (53.2%). The incident rates of electrocardiographic abnormalities and urine, blood, and biochemical tests abnormalities were almost the same as at the previous examination, and there was no change in the percentage of those who required detailed tests and treatment. When independence in daily life was judged by the criteria of the nursing care insurance system, 68 persons were judged ''independent'', and 7 persons ''handicapped.'' (K.H.)

  10. Off-gas system data summary for the ninth run of the large slurry fed melter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Colven, W.P.

    1983-01-01

    The ninth melter campaign successfully demonstrated extended operation of both melter and off-gas systems. Two critical problem areas associated with the handling of melter off-gases were resolved leading to firm definition of the DWPF Off-Gas Treatment System. These two concerns, wet scrubber decontamination efficiency and the reduction of solids deposition at the off-gas line entrance, were the primary focus of off-gas system studies during the 63-day run (LSFM-9). The Hydro-Sonic Scrubber was confirmed to be the superior candidate for wet scrubbing by outperforming all other scrubbers tested at the Equipment Test Facility (ETF). The two stage, steam-driven scrubber achieved consistent decontamination factors for cesium exceeding the required DWPF flowsheet DF of 50. As a result, the device was selected as the reference wet scrubber for the DWPF. The Off-Gas Film Cooling device continued to show promising results for reducing three accumulation of solid deposits at the entrance to the off-gas line. In addition, a rotating wire brush cleaning device provided easy and efficient removal of deposits which had accumulated. The combination of the two has adequately resolved the deposit accumulation problem and both devices have been incorporated in the DWPF design

  11. Ninth Grade Student Responses to Authentic Science Instruction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellison, Michael Steven

    This mixed methods case study documents an effort to implement authentic science and engineering instruction in one teacher's ninth grade science classrooms in a science-focused public school. The research framework and methodology is a derivative of work developed and reported by Newmann and others (Newmann & Associates, 1996). Based on a working definition of authenticity, data were collected for eight months on the authenticity in the experienced teacher's pedagogy and in student performance. Authenticity was defined as the degree to which a classroom lesson, an assessment task, or an example of student performance demonstrates construction of knowledge through use of the meaning-making processes of science and engineering, and has some value to students beyond demonstrating success in school (Wehlage et al., 1996). Instruments adapted for this study produced a rich description of the authenticity of the teacher's instruction and student performance. The pedagogical practices of the classroom teacher were measured as moderately authentic on average. However, the authenticity model revealed the teacher's strategy of interspersing relatively low authenticity instructional units focused on building science knowledge with much higher authenticity tasks requiring students to apply these concepts and skills. The authenticity of the construction of knowledge and science meaning-making processes components of authentic pedagogy were found to be greater, than the authenticity of affordances for students to find value in classroom activities beyond demonstrating success in school. Instruction frequently included one aspect of value beyond school, connections to the world outside the classroom, but students were infrequently afforded the opportunity to present their classwork to audiences beyond the teacher. When the science instruction in the case was measured to afford a greater level of authentic intellectual work, a higher level of authentic student performance on

  12. Salud, equidad y los objetivos de desarrollo del milenio Health, equity, and the Millennium Development Goals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristina Torres

    2004-06-01

    Full Text Available In September 2000 representatives of 189 countries met for the Millennium Summit, which the United Nations convened in New York City, and adopted the declaration that provided the basis for formulating the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs. The eight goals are part of a long series of initiatives that governments, the United Nations system, and international financial institutions have undertaken to reduce world poverty. Three of the eight goals deal with health, so the health sector will be responsible for implementing, monitoring, and evaluating measures proposed to meet targets that have been formulated: to reduce by two-thirds the mortality rate in children under 5 years of age between 1990 and 2015; to reduce by three-quarters the maternal mortality rate between 1990 and 2015; and to halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by the year 2015, as well as to halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria, tuberculosis, and other major diseases. The health sector must also work with other parties to achieve targets connected with two other of the goals: to improve access to affordable essential drugs, and to reduce the proportion of persons who do not have safe drinking water. Adopting a strategy focused on the most vulnerable groups-ones concentrated in locations and populations with the greatest social exclusion-would make possible the largest total reduction in deaths among children, thus reaching the proposed target as well as producing greater equity. In the Region of the Americas the principal challenges in meeting the MDGs are: improving and harmonizing health information systems; designing health programs related to the MDGs that bring together the set of services and interventions that have the greatest impact, according to the special characteristics of the populations who are intended to be the beneficiaries; strengthening the political will to support the MDGs; and guaranteeing funding for the measures undertaken to

  13. Forensic anthropology: developments of a classical discipline in the new millennium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cattaneo, Cristina

    2007-01-17

    The present brief review is a survey of the role of forensic anthropology (FA) in the new millennium. After an introduction which deals with the expanding definition of the discipline and the issue of professionality and training, the author approaches the role and novel developments of the field, with particular reference to the past 5 years. Such developments are discussed in a sectorial manner, distinguishing the role of research in the areas of forensic anthropology which deal with human remains and those that deal with the living. As regards the "human remains" domain, advances and stalls still present in the fields of species and postmortem interval determination, sexing, aging and attribution of ancestry are stressed. The need for standards in facial reconstruction and positive identification by bone morphology are underlined, as well as the growing role of the anthropologist in detecting signs of trauma. Finally, the relatively new role of the forensic anthropologist in the domain of identification of the living is described, although this area is still underrepresented as regards research activity: these studies concern the strive to devise methods for identifying faces (e.g. in the case of crimes registered by videosurveillance systems), aging living individuals or juveniles represented in pedopornographic material.

  14. Insights into Atlantic multidecadal variability using the Last Millennium Reanalysis framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Hansi K. A.; Hakim, Gregory J.; Tardif, Robert; Emile-Geay, Julien; Noone, David C.

    2018-02-01

    The Last Millennium Reanalysis (LMR) employs a data assimilation approach to reconstruct climate fields from annually resolved proxy data over years 0-2000 CE. We use the LMR to examine Atlantic multidecadal variability (AMV) over the last 2 millennia and find several robust thermodynamic features associated with a positive Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) index that reveal a dynamically consistent pattern of variability: the Atlantic and most continents warm; sea ice thins over the Arctic and retreats over the Greenland, Iceland, and Norwegian seas; and equatorial precipitation shifts northward. The latter is consistent with anomalous southward energy transport mediated by the atmosphere. Net downward shortwave radiation increases at both the top of the atmosphere and the surface, indicating a decrease in planetary albedo, likely due to a decrease in low clouds. Heat is absorbed by the climate system and the oceans warm. Wavelet analysis of the AMO time series shows a reddening of the frequency spectrum on the 50- to 100-year timescale, but no evidence of a distinct multidecadal or centennial spectral peak. This latter result is insensitive to both the choice of prior model and the calibration dataset used in the data assimilation algorithm, suggesting that the lack of a distinct multidecadal spectral peak is a robust result.

  15. Regional asynchronicity in dairy production and processing in early farming communities of the northern Mediterranean.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Debono Spiteri, Cynthianne; Gillis, Rosalind E; Roffet-Salque, Mélanie; Castells Navarro, Laura; Guilaine, Jean; Manen, Claire; Muntoni, Italo M; Saña Segui, Maria; Urem-Kotsou, Dushka; Whelton, Helen L; Craig, Oliver E; Vigne, Jean-Denis; Evershed, Richard P

    2016-11-29

    In the absence of any direct evidence, the relative importance of meat and dairy productions to Neolithic prehistoric Mediterranean communities has been extensively debated. Here, we combine lipid residue analysis of ceramic vessels with osteo-archaeological age-at-death analysis from 82 northern Mediterranean and Near Eastern sites dating from the seventh to fifth millennia BC to address this question. The findings show variable intensities in dairy and nondairy activities in the Mediterranean region with the slaughter profiles of domesticated ruminants mirroring the results of the organic residue analyses. The finding of milk residues in very early Neolithic pottery (seventh millennium BC) from both the east and west of the region contrasts with much lower intensities in sites of northern Greece, where pig bones are present in higher frequencies compared with other locations. In this region, the slaughter profiles of all domesticated ruminants suggest meat production predominated. Overall, it appears that milk or the by-products of milk was an important foodstuff, which may have contributed significantly to the spread of these cultural groups by providing a nourishing and sustainable product for early farming communities.

  16. Regional asynchronicity in dairy production and processing in early farming communities of the northern Mediterranean

    Science.gov (United States)

    Debono Spiteri, Cynthianne; Gillis, Rosalind E.; Roffet-Salque, Mélanie; Castells Navarro, Laura; Guilaine, Jean; Manen, Claire; Muntoni, Italo M.; Whelton, Helen L.; Craig, Oliver E.; Vigne, Jean-Denis; Evershed, Richard P.

    2016-01-01

    In the absence of any direct evidence, the relative importance of meat and dairy productions to Neolithic prehistoric Mediterranean communities has been extensively debated. Here, we combine lipid residue analysis of ceramic vessels with osteo-archaeological age-at-death analysis from 82 northern Mediterranean and Near Eastern sites dating from the seventh to fifth millennia BC to address this question. The findings show variable intensities in dairy and nondairy activities in the Mediterranean region with the slaughter profiles of domesticated ruminants mirroring the results of the organic residue analyses. The finding of milk residues in very early Neolithic pottery (seventh millennium BC) from both the east and west of the region contrasts with much lower intensities in sites of northern Greece, where pig bones are present in higher frequencies compared with other locations. In this region, the slaughter profiles of all domesticated ruminants suggest meat production predominated. Overall, it appears that milk or the by-products of milk was an important foodstuff, which may have contributed significantly to the spread of these cultural groups by providing a nourishing and sustainable product for early farming communities. PMID:27849595

  17. Earliest Urbanism in Northern Mesopotamia

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Skuldbøl, Tim Boaz Bruun

    This dissertation is based on new evidence from the most recent archaeological fieldwork conducted at Tell Brak in northeastern Syria, one of the most important early cities in Mesopotamia. An analysis of this data underscores the transformative and creative nature of the urbanization process...... in the early 4th millennium BC, in which discontinuity and experimentation – rather than continuity and stability – prevailed. This aspect of early urban formation is mirrored in the immediate environs of early cities; farmland was transformed into new and experimental zones of use. In the early 4th millennium...... reports, which are integrated to form Part 1 of the dissertation. In Part 2, a set of theoretical approaches to the rise of cities is considered, in light of the new information from Tell Brak, with a view to suggesting future approaches towards the urbanization process. Total printed: 470 pages incl...

  18. A regional climate simulation over the Iberian Peninsula for the last millennium

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. J. Gómez-Navarro

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available A high-resolution (30 km regional paleoclimate simulation of the last millennium over the Iberian Peninsula (IP is presented. The simulation was performed with a climate version of the mesoscale model MM5 driven by the global model ECHO-G. Both models were driven by the same reconstructions of several external forcing factors. The high spatial resolution of the regional model allows climatologists to realistically simulate many aspects of the climate in the IP, as compared to an observational data set in the reference period 1961–1990. Although the spatial-averaged values developed by the regional model are tightly driven by the boundary conditions, it is capable to develop a different realisation of the past climate at regional scales, especially in the high-frequency domain and for precipitation. This has to be considered when comparing the results of climate simulations versus proxy reconstructions. A preliminary comparison of the simulation results with reconstructions of temperature and precipitation over the IP shows good agreement in the warming trends in the last century of the simulation, although there are large disagreements in key periods such as the precipitation anomalies in the Maunder Minimum.

  19. Apocalypse deterred : oil and gas community pulls out ahead in vaccinating itself against Y2K, the millennium bug

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gordon, M.

    1999-01-01

    Results of a survey of the membership of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) regarding efforts to deal with the threat posed by the Y2K millennium bug are reviewed. Survey results reveal that CAPP's 170 member companies take the year 2000 date rollover very seriously, and the vast majority (99 per cent) have formal action plans to deal with the threat. The vast majority of plans have components that take into account the effects of the computer glitch on inventories, compliance and risk assessment matters, correction and replacement. All are doing testing and assessments involving business partners, and are developing contingency plans to keep operating if any problems develop despite all the efforts currently underway. Test results to date show low failure rates in field production control equipment. The current focus is on contingency plans for higher risk items. The downstream sector of the industry, involving transportation, distribution and retail marketing, is making similar efforts to minimize the threat of the Y2K bug, sometimes to the point of switching to new and improved equipment to vaccinate all its major operations against the expected computer failure. The cost of coping with the millennium bug is colossal. Canadian governments expect the cost to reach three billion dollars to purge the bug from government operations alone. Estimates of world-wide cost run to 530 billion dollars, plus another trillion dollars to clean up the aftermath of infections. Nevertheless, the current assessment is that the back of the problem has been broken at least in Canada, the United States and Western Europe. Nevertheless, there is no justification for complacency just yet

  20. Tackling Millennium Development Goals (MDGs 4 and 5: the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS approach in Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shafiu Mohammed

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Developing countries are devising various strategies and mechanisms to accelerate their speed towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs by 2015. In Nigeria, different approaches have been used to address the tackling of health-related MDGs. One creative approach has been the implementation of the NHIS Maternal and Child Health (NHIS-MCH Project. The project aims to speed up the achievement of MDGs 4 and 5 (reducing child mortality and improving maternal health in the country. Little is known about the NHISMCH Project’s design and health insurance coverage activities. Project planning and monitoring could be hampered by lack of technical and managerial skills of health insurance most especially at middle and local levels. Challenging debates continue to emanate on the project’s sustainability.

  1. Tackling Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5: The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) Approach in Nigeria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohammed, Shafiu; Dong, Hengjin

    2012-03-07

    Developing countries are devising various strategies and mechanisms to accelerate their speed towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. In Nigeria, different approaches have been used to address the tackling of health-related MDGs. One creative approach has been the implementation of the NHIS Maternal and Child Health (NHIS-MCH) Project. The project aims to speed up the achievement of MDGs 4 and 5 (reducing child mortality and improving maternal health) in the country. Little is known about the NHIS-MCH Project's design and health insurance coverage activities. Project planning and monitoring could be hampered by lack of technical and managerial skills of health insurance most especially at middle and local levels. Challenging debates continue to emanate on the project's sustainability.

  2. [Prenatal cerebrovascular accidents diagnosed in the early infant stage: a series of 10 patients].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pina-Jover, María; Martinez-Del Villar, María; Lillo-Laguna, Lucía; Jadraque-Rodriguez, Rocío; Martinez-Pastor, Pedro; Jover-Cerda, Jenaro; Gomez-Gosalvez, Francisco

    2013-07-01

    INTRODUCTION. A foetal or prenatal cerebrovascular accident (CVA) is defined as an ischaemic, thrombotic or arterial or venous haemorrhagic event that occurs between the 14th week of gestation and the onset of labour. PATIENTS AND METHODS. We report a retrospective study of a series of 10 patients suffering from a, presumably foetal, stroke that went unnoticed during the pregnancy and was diagnosed in the early infant stage. The symptoms and the age at which they were identified are highlighted. RESULTS. None of the 10 patients studied presented any relevant events in the mothers' medical history, but there were four threats of a preterm birth that were solved using the usual means and without the occurrence of any alterations that later affected the foetus. The studies that led to the diagnosis were carried out between the sixth and ninth months of life, and the reason for visiting was reported by the family as being a lower degree of mobility on one side of the body with respect to the other. Two patients presented thrombophilia. With a mean follow-up time of six years, all the patients have an associated infantile cerebral palsy, a third of them have epilepsy and 75% have learning difficulties or intellectual disability. CONCLUSIONS. When CVA are not detected in the prenatal period, it is important in primary care to look for and detect the warning signs of the psychomotor development of the infant at an early stage in order to begin a study of the case and to undertake rehabilitation as early as possible.

  3. Critical thinking in health professions education: summary and consensus statements of the Millennium Conference 2011.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Grace C; Newman, Lori R; Schwartzstein, Richard M

    2014-01-01

    Critical thinking is central to the function of health care professionals. However, this topic is not explicitly taught or assessed within current programs, yet the need is greater than ever, in an era of information explosion, spiraling health care costs, and increased understanding about metacognition. To address the importance of teaching critical thinking in health professions education, the Shapiro Institute for Education and Research and the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation jointly sponsored the Millennium Conference 2011 on Critical Thinking. Teams of physician and nurse educators were selected through an application process. Attendees proposed strategies for integrating principles of critical thinking more explicitly into health professions curricula. Working in interprofessional, multi-institutional groups, participants tackled questions about teaching, assessment, and faculty development. Deliberations were summarized into consensus statements. Educational leaders participated in a structured dialogue about the enhancement of critical thinking in health professions education and recommend strategies to teach critical thinking.

  4. An approach to classifying human resources constraints to attaining health-related Millennium Development Goals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wyss Kaspar

    2004-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background For any wide-ranging effort to scale up health-related priority interventions, human resources for health (HRH are likely to be a key to success. This study explores constraints related to human resources in the health sector for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs in low-income countries. Methods and framework The analysis drew on information from a variety of publicly-available sources and principally on data presented in published papers in peer-reviewed journals. For classifying HRH constraints an analytical framework was used that considers constraints at five levels: individual characteristics, the health service delivery level, the health sector level, training capacities and the sociopolitical and economic context of a country. Results and discussion At individual level, the decision to enter, remain and serve in the health sector workforce is influenced by a series of social, economic, cultural and gender-related determinants. For example, to cover the health needs of the poorest it is necessary to employ personnel with specific social, ethnic and cultural characteristics. At health-service level, the commitment of health staff is determined by a number of organizational and management factors. The workplace environment has a great impact not only on health worker performance, but also on the comprehensiveness and efficiency of health service delivery. At health-sector level, the use of monetary and nonmonetary incentives is of crucial importance for having the accurate skill mix at the appropriate place. Scaling up of priority interventions is likely to require significant investments in initial and continuous training. Given the lead time required to produce new health workers, such investments must occur in the early phases of scaling up. At the same time coherent national HRH policies are required for giving direction on HRH development and linking HRH into health-sector reform issues, the scaling

  5. Family income, maternal psychological distress and child socio-emotional behaviour: Longitudinal findings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noonan, Katharine; Burns, Richéal; Violato, Mara

    2018-04-01

    The association between low family income and socio-emotional behaviour problems in early childhood has been well-documented, and maternal psychological distress is highlighted as central in mediating this relationship. However, whether this relationship holds for older children, and the precise mechanisms by which income may influence child behaviour is unclear. This study investigated the relationship between family income and child socio-emotional behaviour at 11 years of age, and examined the mediating role of maternal psychological distress over time using the UK Millennium Cohort Study. The primary outcome was parent-reported behavioural problems, as captured by the Total Difficulties Score (TDS), derived from the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Secondary outcomes were the emotional, peer-related, conduct, and hyperactivity/inattention problems subscales of the SDQ; and teacher-reported TDS. Permanent family income was the primary exposure variable; frequency of poverty up to age 11 years was the secondary exposure variable. Maternal psychological distress was operationalised to reflect the trajectory from child birth to age 11. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate the effect of permanent family income on child behaviour at age 11, controlling for maternal psychological distress and other relevant covariates. Results showed a statistically significant protective effect of increased permanent family income on the likelihood of behavioural problems at age 11. This finding was consistent for all SDQ subscales apart from emotional problems, and was strongest for teacher-reported behavioural problems. Maternal distress was an important mediator in the income-child behaviour relationship for parent-reported, but not teacher-reported, behavioural problems. The results of this study strengthen empirical evidence that the child behaviour-income gradient is maintained in older childhood. Mother's psychological distress

  6. Primary surgery for differentiated thyroid cancer in the new millennium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dralle, H; Machens, A

    2012-01-01

    Differentiated thyroid cancers (DTC) are malignancies of follicular cell derivation. Histopathologically and oncologically, DTC fall into two broad tumor categories: papillary (PTC) and follicular thyroid cancer (FTC). These major tumor categories, based on clinical manifestation and biological behavior, are further subdivided into low-risk [papillary microcarcinoma (mPTC); minimally invasive follicular cancer (MIFTC)] and high-risk DTC [PTC>1 cm or metastatic; MIFTC with histopathological angioinvasion; widely invasive FTC (WIFTC)]. Recently, a surgical approach has been adopted that differentiates between low-risk and high-risk DTC. The rationale behind this new concept is to better balance oncologic risk (high vs low) with the surgical morbidity attendant to the procedure (recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy and hypoparathyroidism). This surgical risk is larger with routine total thyroidectomy (TT) and central node dissection (CND) than with less than TT or TT without CND.Whereas TT with CND remains the treatment of choice for high-risk DTC with metastases, the extent of thyroid resection and lymph node dissection can be reduced in low-risk PTC and FTC without demonstrable loss of oncological benefit. In the new millennium, the surgical approach to DTC, especially low-risk PTC and FTC, has undergone considerable change, resulting in less extensive procedures. This risk-adapted strategy relies not only on the skillful histopathologic detection of multifocality in PTC and vascular invasion in MIFTC, but likewise necessitates diligent follow-up to spot and adequately treat local recurrences and distant metastases as they become clinically apparent.

  7. Neutron activation analysis of Lerna ceramics (Greece) at Early Bronze Age: local production and trade exchanges

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Attas, M.

    1980-01-01

    Neutron activation analysis is a powerful tool for determining the provenance of ancient ceramics. A sophisticated analytical system for gamma-ray spectrometry, designed specifically for the chemical analysis of ceramics by thermal neutron activation, was used to determine the concentrations of twenty elements in samples of ancient pottery. The measurements were made relative to the standard pottery of Perlman and Asaro. The purpose of the work was to study the production of fine pottery at the settlement of Lerna, in the Argolid of Greece, during the Early Bronze Age (third millennium BC). About half of the 50 samples analysed formed the major compositional group, which was attributed to Lerna. It included, besides the majority of the samples from the second phase of the Early Bronze Age (Lerna III), several samples from the third phase (Lerna IV); that is, from levels immediately succeeding the great destruction which marks the end of the Lerna III settlement. A small number of objects forms a second group of local origin and includes 4 of the 5 clay sealings sampled. Among the archaeologically unusual objects, several could be attributed to Lerna, while others were characterized as imports [fr

  8. High Temperature Materials Laboratory eight and ninth annual reports, October 1994 through September 1996

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pasto, A.E.; Russell, B.J.

    1997-10-01

    The High Temperature Materials Laboratory (HTML) has completed its ninth year of operation as a designated US Department of Energy User Facility at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This document profiles the historical growth of the HTML User and Fellowship Programs since their inception in 1987. Growth of the HTML programs has been demonstrated by the number of institutions executing user agreements, and by the number of days of instrument use (user days) since the HTML began operation. A total of 276 nonproprietary agreements (135 industry, 135 university, and 6 other federal agency) and 56 proprietary agreements are now in effect. This represents an increase of 70 nonproprietary user agreements since the last reporting period (for FY 1994). A state-by-state summary of these nonproprietary user agreements is given in Appendix A, and an alphabetical listing is provided in Appendix B. Forty-four states are represented by these users. During FY 1995 and 1996, the HTML User Program evaluated 145 nonproprietary proposals (62 from industry, 82 from universities, and 1 from other government facilities) and several proprietary proposals. The HTML User Advisory Committee approved about 95% of those proposals, frequently after the prospective user revised the proposal based on comments from the committee. This annual report discusses activities in the individual user centers, as well as plans for the future. It also gives statistics about users, proposals, and publications as well as summaries of the nonproprietary research projects active during 1995 and 1996.

  9. Diversity and homogeneity among the early farming communities of Western Anatolia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eylem Özdoğan

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Our knowledge of the Neolithisation of Western Anatolia has increased considerably in recent years. Being located beyond, but on the border of the formative zone of Neolithisation, the region has acted as a buffer in the dispersal of the Neolithic way of life farther to the west. Recent research in Western Anatolia has shown that Neolithic sites appeared in the second quarter of the 7th millennium BC and had become widespread by the second half of the same millennium. There is now adequate data available on both the distribution of sites and the material culture in some subregions. In this context, this article will focus not on the Neolithisation process, but on the characteristic features of the sub-regions and the interaction between them.

  10. Report on the results of the ninth medical examination of atomic bomb survivors in South America

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ohta, Michiya [Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Hospital (Japan); Hiyama, Keiko; Matsuo, Kakaru; Yamamoto, Hiroki; Nishida, Masashi; Sasaki, Yoshinobu

    2001-06-01

    The results of the ninth medical examination are reported. Atomic bomb survivors who had emigrated to South America as of November 2000 totaled 180 (153 to Brazil, 4 to Paraguay, 7 to Bolivia, 13 to Argentina, and 3 to Peru). Eighty persons (44.4%) were examined (62 in Brazil, 2 in Paraguay, 6 in Bolivia, 7 in Argentina, and 3 in Peru). The mean age of the males was 71.3 years, and the mean age of the females was 69.7 years. They had hypertension (24.1%), diabetes (10.1%), cancer (8.9%), heart disease (7.6%), and thyroid disease (2.5%). The most common manifestations of illness were fatigue (69.6%), loss of vigor (65.8%), taking medicine (55.7%), and heat intolerance (53.2%). The incident rates of electrocardiographic abnormalities and urine, blood, and biochemical tests abnormalities were almost the same as at the previous examination, and there was no change in the percentage of those who required detailed tests and treatment. When independence in daily life was judged by the criteria of the nursing care insurance system, 68 persons were judged ''independent'', and 7 persons ''handicapped.'' (K.H.)

  11. Children's Social Behaviour, Language and Literacy in Early Years

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartas, Dimitra

    2012-01-01

    Using a longitudinal, UK representative sample from the Millennium Cohort Study, the present study examined longitudinal variations in parent ratings of child social, emotional and behavioural difficulties and prosocial behaviour (preschool to end of Key Stage 1); the magnitude of parent-teacher agreement regarding behaviour ratings; and…

  12. The Papua New Guinea medical supply system - documenting opportunities and challenges to meet the Millennium Development Goals

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-01-01

    Objectives Limited human resources are widely recognised as an impediment to achieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals in Pacific Island Countries, with the availability of medical supplies and suitably trained health personnel crucial to ensuring a well-functioning medical supply chain. This paper presents our findings as we seek to answer the research question ‘What factors influence the availability of medical supplies within the health facilities of Papua New Guinea?’ Methods We used a qualitative, triangulated strategy using semi-structured interviews, workplace observation and semi-structured focus groups. The parallel use of the interview tool and workplace observation tool allowed identification of ‘know-do’ gaps between what the interviewee said they did in their work practices, and the actual evidence of these practices. Focus groups provided further opportunities for raising and elaborating issues. Results During 2 weeks of data collection we conducted 17 interviews and 15 observational workplace surveys in 15 facilities. Sixteen health personnel participated in 3 focus groups across 2 provinces and one district. An array of medical supply issues across all levels of the medical supply chain were revealed, including standard operating procedures, facilities, transport, emergency medical kits, the cold chain and record keeping. The influence of health worker training and competency was found to be common across all of these issues. Conclusion The factors influencing the availability of medical supplies in PNG consist of a range of interrelating issues, consisting of both simple and complex problems involving the different levels and cadres of workers within the medical supply chain. Health systems sustainability theory suggests that a coordinated approach which addresses the inter-related nature of these issues, led by the PNG government and supported by suitable development partners, will be required for sustainable health

  13. Ranking of tree-ring based temperature reconstructions of the past millennium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esper, Jan; Krusic, Paul J.; Ljungqvist, Fredrik C.; Luterbacher, Jürg; Carrer, Marco; Cook, Ed; Davi, Nicole K.; Hartl-Meier, Claudia; Kirdyanov, Alexander; Konter, Oliver; Myglan, Vladimir; Timonen, Mauri; Treydte, Kerstin; Trouet, Valerie; Villalba, Ricardo; Yang, Bao; Büntgen, Ulf

    2016-08-01

    Tree-ring chronologies are widely used to reconstruct high-to low-frequency variations in growing season temperatures over centuries to millennia. The relevance of these timeseries in large-scale climate reconstructions is often determined by the strength of their correlation against instrumental temperature data. However, this single criterion ignores several important quantitative and qualitative characteristics of tree-ring chronologies. Those characteristics are (i) data homogeneity, (ii) sample replication, (iii) growth coherence, (iv) chronology development, and (v) climate signal including the correlation with instrumental data. Based on these 5 characteristics, a reconstruction-scoring scheme is proposed and applied to 39 published, millennial-length temperature reconstructions from Asia, Europe, North America, and the Southern Hemisphere. Results reveal no reconstruction scores highest in every category and each has their own strengths and weaknesses. Reconstructions that perform better overall include N-Scan and Finland from Europe, E-Canada from North America, Yamal and Dzhelo from Asia. Reconstructions performing less well include W-Himalaya and Karakorum from Asia, Tatra and S-Finland from Europe, and Great Basin from North America. By providing a comprehensive set of criteria to evaluate tree-ring chronologies we hope to improve the development of large-scale temperature reconstructions spanning the past millennium. All reconstructions and their corresponding scores are provided at http://www.blogs.uni-mainz.de/fb09climatology.

  14. Sixty Years of Mogollon Archaeeology: Papers From the Ninth Mogollon Conference, Silver City, New Mexico, 1996, by Stephanie M Whittlesey, SRI Press, Tucson, 1999

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephen E. Nash

    2000-11-01

    Full Text Available "The diverse papers that were presented at the 1996 Mogollon Conference reveal the geographic, intellectual, and temporal scope of contemporary Mogollon archaeology, and almost nothing of the historical controversy surrounding the Mogollon culture concept" (Whittlesey 1999:vii. With these words, Stephanie M. Whittlesey makes it clear in the preface that Sixty Years of Mogollon Archaeology: Papers From the Ninth Mogollon Conference, Silver City, New Mexico, 1996 (SRl Press 2000 contains few papers on the history of Mogollon archaeology. It might therefore be more appropri­ately titled "Current Research in Mogollon Archaeology." The volume was apparently named to honor the sixtieth anniversary of Emil Haury's 1936 publication The Mogollon Culture of Southwestern New Mexico, which described the Mogollon for the first time.

  15. The global landscape of cross-border reproductive care: twenty key findings for the new millennium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Inhorn, Marcia C; Patrizio, Pasquale

    2012-06-01

    Cross-border reproductive care (CBRC), also known as procreative tourism, fertility tourism, or reproductive tourism, is an increasing global phenomenon. This article reviews the expanding scholarly literature on CBRC, with 2010-2011 representing watershed years for CBRC scholarship and activism. Terminological debates, missing data, and lack of international monitoring plague the study of CBRC. Nonetheless, it is widely acknowledged that CBRC is a growing industry, with new global hubs, new intermediaries, new media, and new spaces of interaction. Religious bans and legal restrictions have created a patchwork of 'restrictive' and 'permissive' countries, with law evasion being a primary driver of CBRC. Yet, patient motivations for CBRC are diverse and patients' levels of satisfaction with CBRC and its outcomes are generally high. Thus, scholarly concern with CBRC as law evasion must be tempered with qualitative studies of positive patient experiences. CBRC can be considered a form of 'global gynecology' in which reproductive medicine, tourism, and commerce are converging in the second decade of the new millennium.

  16. Development of an Ion Thruster and Power Processor for New Millennium's Deep Space 1 Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sovey, James S.; Hamley, John A.; Haag, Thomas W.; Patterson, Michael J.; Pencil, Eric J.; Peterson, Todd T.; Pinero, Luis R.; Power, John L.; Rawlin, Vincent K.; Sarmiento, Charles J.; hide

    1997-01-01

    The NASA Solar Electric Propulsion Technology Applications Readiness Program (NSTAR) will provide a single-string primary propulsion system to NASA's New Millennium Deep Space 1 Mission which will perform comet and asteroid flybys in the years 1999 and 2000. The propulsion system includes a 30-cm diameter ion thruster, a xenon feed system, a power processing unit, and a digital control and interface unit. A total of four engineering model ion thrusters, three breadboard power processors, and a controller have been built, integrated, and tested. An extensive set of development tests has been completed along with thruster design verification tests of 2000 h and 1000 h. An 8000 h Life Demonstration Test is ongoing and has successfully demonstrated more than 6000 h of operation. In situ measurements of accelerator grid wear are consistent with grid lifetimes well in excess of the 12,000 h qualification test requirement. Flight hardware is now being assembled in preparation for integration, functional, and acceptance tests.

  17. Massive quiescent galaxies at z > 3 in the Millennium simulation populated by a semi-analytic galaxy formation model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rong, Yu; Jing, Yingjie; Gao, Liang; Guo, Qi; Wang, Jie; Sun, Shuangpeng; Wang, Lin; Pan, Jun

    2017-10-01

    We take advantage of the statistical power of the large-volume dark-matter-only Millennium simulation (MS), combined with a sophisticated semi-analytic galaxy formation model, to explore whether the recently reported z = 3.7 quiescent galaxy ZF-COSMOS-20115 (ZF) can be accommodated in current galaxy formation models. In our model, a population of quiescent galaxies with stellar masses and star formation rates comparable to those of ZF naturally emerges at redshifts z 3.5 massive QGs are rare (about 2 per cent of the galaxies with the similar stellar masses), the existing AGN feedback model implemented in the semi-analytic galaxy formation model can successfully explain the formation of the high-redshift QGs as it does on their lower redshift counterparts.

  18. A utility perspective on the deployment of CCTs into the next millennium

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mudd, M.J. [AEP Energy Services, Columbus, OH (United States)

    1997-12-31

    The successful Clean Coal Technology projects which are being discussed in this conference are all a testament to the positive advancements that can be made with environmentally superior technologies when the government and industry cooperate in the context of a properly funded and a well thought-out program. Many of the technologies developed in the Clean Coal Technology Program have taken a competitive position in the marketplace, and many others are on the verge of being competitive in the marketplace. Based on the success of the Clean Coal Technology Program, one would expect that they would be ready for full deployment in the marketplace with the approach of the next millennium. This is not happening. There are several hurdles that impede their deployment. Some of those hurdles, such as the higher first-of-a-kind cost and technology risk factors that accompany not-yet mature technologies, have existed since the initiation of the Clean Coal Technology Program. However, several new hurdles are impeding the market penetration of Clean Coal Technologies. Those hurdles include the radically different marketplace due to the restructuring of the electric utility industry, a soft market, the difficulty in financing new power plants, low natural gas prices, and lower-cost and higher-efficiency natural gas combined cycle technology.

  19. Life in a landfill slum, children's health, and the Millennium Development Goals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shibata, Tomoyuki; Wilson, James L; Watson, Lindsey M; Nikitin, Ivan V; Ansariadi; La Ane, Ruslan; Maidin, Alimin

    2015-12-01

    People living in slums can be considered left behind with regard to national successes in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The objective of this study was to evaluate the living and working conditions of waste pickers and their children in a landfill slum located in the largest city in eastern Indonesia. A total of 113 people from the landfill slum and 1184 people from the general population participated in face-to-face interviews. Municipal solid waste (MSW) was analyzed for metals, metalloids and fecal indicator bacteria. Ambient air quality including particulate matter was measured in the landfill. Households in the landfill slum were 5.73 (p=0.04) times more likely to be below the international poverty line (MDG 1: Poverty) and 15.6 times (pIndonesia. Young children living in the landfill slum were 2.87 times (p=0.02) more likely to develop diarrhea than their general population counterparts. Other survey results and environmental measurements suggest that landfill slum children have additional adverse health effects (e.g. infections and poisoning). Poverty underlies several MDG issues that directly or indirectly affect child health. Therefore, eradicating extreme poverty will continue to be the most critical challenge for the MDGs beyond 2015. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Spatiotemporal drought variability of the eastern Tibetan Plateau during the last millennium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deng, Yang; Gou, Xiaohua; Gao, Linlin; Yang, Meixue; Zhang, Fen

    2017-09-01

    Tibetan Plateau is the headwater region of many major Asian rivers and very susceptive to climate change. Therefore, knowledge about climate and its spatiotemporal variability in this area is very important for ecological conservation, water resource management and social development. The aim of this study was to reconstruct and analyze the hydroclimate variation on eastern Tibetan Plateau (ETP) over many centuries and explore possible forcing factors on regional hydroclimate variability. We used 118 tree-ring chronologies from ETP to reconstruct the gridded May-July Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index for the ETP over the last millennium. The reconstruction was developed using an ensemble point-by-point reconstruction method, and a searching region method was used to locate the candidate tree-ring chronologies. The reconstructions have nicely captured the spatial and temporal features of the regional drought variation. The drought variations in south and north of 32.5°N are notably different, which may be related to the divergence influence of North Atlantic Oscillation on the climate systems in the south and north, as well as differences in local climate. Spectral analysis and series comparison suggest that the drought variation in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau has been possibly influenced by solar activity on centurial and longer time scale.

  1. A millennium of metallurgy recorded by lake sediments from Morococha, Peruvian Andes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooke, Colin A; Abbott, Mark B; Wolfe, Alexander P; Kittleson, John L

    2007-05-15

    To date, information concerning pre-Colonial metallurgy in South America has largely been limited to the archaeological record of artifacts. Here, we reconstruct a millennium of smelting activity in the Peruvian Andes using the lake-sediment stratigraphy of atmospherically derived metals (Pb, Zn, Cu, Ag, Sb, Bi, and Ti) and lead isotopic ratios (206Pb/ 207Pb) associated with smelting from the Morococha mining region in the central Peruvian Andes. The earliest evidence for metallurgy occurs ca. 1000 A.D., coinciding with the fall of the Wari Empire and decentralization of local populations. Smelting during this interval appears to have been aimed at copper and copper alloys, because of large increases in Zn and Cu relative to Pb. A subsequent switch to silver metallurgy under Inca control (ca. 1450 to conquest, 1533 A.D.) is indicated by increases in Pb, Sb, and Bi, a conclusion supported by further increases of these metals during Colonial mining, which targeted silver extraction. Rapid development of the central Andes during the 20th century raised metal burdens by an order of magnitude above previous levels. Our results represent the first evidence for pre-Colonial smelting in the central Peruvian Andes, and corroborate the sensitivity of lake sediments to pre-Colonial metallurgical activity suggested by earlier findings from Bolivia.

  2. Contribution of Mexico's Universal Immunization Program to the Fourth Millennium Development Goal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vesta Richardson

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To identify and describe 1 progress achieved thus far in meeting the commitments of the Fourth Millennium Development Goal (MDG 4 in Mexico, mainly the contribution of the Universal Immunization Program (UIP over the last 20 years, and 2 new opportunities for further reducing mortality among children under 5 years old. METHODS: An observational, descriptive, retrospective study was carried out to examine registered causes of death in children under 5 between 1990 and 2010. Indicators were built according to the recommendations of the United Nations. RESULTS: In 2010, deaths among children under 5 decreased 64.3% compared to the baseline (1990 figure. Of the total deaths of the children under 5, the neonatal period was the most affected (52.8%, followed by the 1 to 11 months (30.9%, and the 12 to 59 months (16.2% groups. A 34% overall mortality reduction was observed after the universalization of immunization against influenza, rotavirus, and pneumococcus in children under 5. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a significant reduction in under-5 mortality in Mexico over the last 20 years, largely due to the successes of the UIP, several challenges remain, particularly in improving preventive and curative services during pre- and postnatal care.

  3. The effect of a transition into poverty on child and maternal mental health: a longitudinal analysis of the UK Millennium Cohort Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wickham, Sophie; Whitehead, Margaret; Taylor-Robinson, David; Barr, Ben

    2017-03-01

    Whether or not relative measures of income poverty effectively reflect children's life chances has been the focus of policy debates in the UK. Although poverty is associated with poor child and maternal mental health, few studies have assessed the effect of moving into poverty on mental health. To inform policy, we explore the association between transitions into poverty and subsequent mental health among children and their mothers. In this longtitudinal analysis, we used data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, a large nationally representative cohort of children born in the UK between Sept 1, 2000, and Jan 11, 2002, who participated in five survey waves as they progressed from 9 months of age to 11 years of age. Our analysis included all children and mothers who were free from mental health problems and not in poverty when the children were aged 3 years. We only included singletons (ie, not twins or other multiple pregnancies) and children for whom the mother was the main respondent to the study. The main outcomes were child socioemotional behavioural problems (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) at ages 5 years, 7 years, and 11 years and maternal psychological distress (Kessler 6 scale). Using discrete time-hazard models, we followed up families without mental health problems at baseline and estimated odds ratios for subsequent onset of maternal and child mental health problems associated with first transition into poverty, while adjusting for confounders, including employment transitions. We further assessed whether or not change in maternal mental health explained any effect on child mental health. Of the 6063 families in the UK Millennium Cohort study at 3 years who met our inclusion criteria, 844 (14%) had a new transition into poverty compared with 5219 (86%) who remained out of poverty. After adjustment for confounders, transition into poverty increased the odds of socioemotional behavioural problems in children (odds ratio 1·41 [95% CI 1·02-1·93

  4. Compatibility between the Millennium Development Goals and the Global Development Discourse: PERSPECTIVES FROM ZIMBABWE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tendai Chiguware

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The Millennium Development Goals were a rather a bold initiate meant to curtail rising levels of poverty in developing countries. While the intention of the MDGs has been roundly praised, what has beenquestioned is the capacity of the respective governments to implement and achieve the stated goals. Conceptually, there were also questions about a program with uniform indicators that did not take cognisance of disparities within countries. However, the design of the MDGs did not raise as much questions as the execution of them. In recent, there have also been questions on the possibility and efficacy of achieving the MDG. While there were always doubts about the capacity of the international community to raise the requisite resources to achieve the MDGs, there were always undercurrents of the capacity of beneficiary countries to implement the goals. Further, the study argues that the prevailing development discourse in Zimbabwe entrenched in the use and dependence of donor agencies and their respective implementing NGOs further reduced the chances of the MDGs, and consequently, sustainable development ever being achieved in the country.

  5. Access to potable water and sanitation in Cameroon within the context of Millennium Development Goals (MDGS).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ako, Andrew Ako; Shimada, Jun; Eyong, Gloria Eneke Takem; Fantong, Wilson Yetoh

    2010-01-01

    Cameroon has been fully engaged with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) since their inception in 2000. This paper examines the situation of access to potable water and sanitation in Cameroon within the context of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), establishes whether Cameroon is on the track of meeting the MDGs in these domains and proposes actions to be taken to bring it closer to these objectives. Based on analyzed data obtained from national surveys, government ministries, national statistical offices, bibliographic research, reports and interviews, it argues that Cameroon will not reach the water and sanitation MGDs. While Cameroon is not yet on track to meet the targets of the MDGs for water and sanitation, it has made notable progress since 1990, much more needs to be done to improve the situation, especially in rural areas. In 2006, 70% of the population had access to safe drinking water and the coverage in urban centres is 88%, significantly better than the 47% in rural areas. However, rapid urbanization has rendered existing infrastructure inadequate with periurban dwellers also lacking access to safe drinking water. Sanitation coverage is also poor. In urban areas only 58% of the population has access to improved sanitation facilities, and the rate in rural areas is 42%. Women and girls shoulder the largest burden in collecting water, 15% of urban and 18% rural populations use improved drinking water sources over 30 minutes away. Cameroon faces the following challenges in reaching the water and sanitation MDGs: poor management and development of the resources, coupled with inadequate political will and commitment for the long term; rapid urbanization; urban and rural poverty and regulation and legislative lapses. The authors propose that: bridging the gap between national water policies and water services; recognizing the role played by Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in the attainment of MDGs; developing a Council Water Resource Management

  6. Proceedings of the sixth APEC Coal Flow Seminar. Coal in the new millennium

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2000-08-01

    The 6th APEC Coal Flow Seminar titled on 'The coal in the new millennium' was held in Korea from March 14 to March 16, 2000, and the proceedings were summed up. In this seminar, as to economies of coal consumption countries and coal supply countries in the APEC region, discussions were made on coal supply/demand, coal price, environmental problems and others. The keynote address was 'Twenty first century coal in the APEC region and Republic of Korea' given by Mr. Gam Yeol Lee from Korea. The main theme of the seminar was 'The status quo for the coal market,' and lectures titled on the following were given from Japan: 'The status quo of coal purchase by the Japanese electric company and its outlook' and 'A perspective of coal fired IPP under environmental constraints and deregulation of electricity.' Lectures from Australia: 'Responding to coal market growth in APEC regions by the Australian coal industry' and 'The coal price impact on coal supply and demand.' Further discussions were made on 'The long-term outlook for coal supply/demand' and 'Economies report on the outlook for coal supply/demand.' (NEDO)

  7. Meeting the millennium development goals in Sub-saharan Africa: what about mental health?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skeen, Sarah; Lund, Crick; Kleintjes, Sharon; Flisher, Alan

    2010-01-01

    Mental health is a crucial public health and development issue in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), a region where little progress has been made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In this paper we argue that not only will limited progress in achieving these targets have a significant impact on mental health, but it will be impossible to achieve some of these aspirations in the absence of addressing mental health concerns. We consider the strong relationship of mental health with dimensions of human development represented in the MDGs, including reducing poverty, achieving universal primary education, decreasing child mortality rates, improving maternal health, HIV, environmental factors and improving the lives of those living in informal settlements. With these links in mind, we examine the mental health context in SSA settings and provide some specific examples of best practice for addressing mental health and the MDGs. It is recommended that the role of mental health interventions in accelerating the realization of the MDGs is investigated; further efforts are dedicated to probing the impact of different development projects upon mental health outcomes, and that mental health is declared a global development priority for the remainder of the MDG period and beyond.

  8. The Thorium-Cycle: safe, abundant power for the new millennium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Don, May; George, Kim; Peter, Mcintyre; Charles, Meitzler; Robert, Rogers; Akhdior, Sattarov; Mustafa, Yavuz

    2001-10-01

    A design has been developed for using accelerator-driven thorium fission to produce electric power. A thorium-cycle reactor works by electro-breeding. A pattern of thorium fuel rods is supported in a vessel containing molten lead. A beam of high-energy (1 GeV) protons is targeted in the center of the vessel, and produces a copious flux of energetic neutrons by spallation. The neutrons transmute the thorium nuclei two steps up the periodic table to U233, which fissions rapidly to produce thermal energy. The lead serves as the spallation target, the moderator, and the heat exchange medium to transfer heat from the core to steam exchangers above the core. The thorium cycle has several important advantages over current uranium-cycle fission technology: it is intrinsically stable it cannot melt down; it eats its own waste; it cannot produce bomb-grade isotopes; and there are sufficient thorium reserves to supply the entire Earth’s energy economy for the next millennium. The concept of a thorium-cycle power reactor was first proposed by Rubbia in 1995. Key problems in the original concept were the proton injector (15 MW beam power), reliability of accelerator systems, and parasitic absorption of neutrons by fission products during the life of the core. We have addressed all three problems in a design for a flux-coupled stack of isochronous cyclotrons, delivering a pattern of 7 independent beams to the core. An interdisciplinary collaboration is being formed to develop the concept to a serious design.

  9. Kidney Care (A Cup of Health with CDC)

    Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

    Kidney diseases are the ninth leading cause of death in the United States. Early detection is important to treat chronic kidney disease and prevent complications. In this podcast, Nilka Rios Burrows discusses the importance of maintaining healthy kidneys.

  10. Agricultural origins on the Anatolian plateau

    OpenAIRE

    Baird, D.; Fairbairn, A.; Jenkins, Emma L.; Martin, L.; Middleton, C.; Pearson, J.; Asouti, E.; Edwards, Y.; Kabukcu, C.; Mustafaoğlu, G.; Russell, N.; Bar-Yosef, O.; Jacobsen, G.; Wu, X.

    2018-01-01

    This paper explores explanations for, and consequences of, the early appearance of food production outside the Fertile Crescent of Southwest Asia, where it had originated in the 10th/9th millennium cal BC. We present evidence that cultivation appeared in Central Anatolia through adoption by indigenous foragers in the mid 9th millennium cal BC, but also demonstrate that uptake was not uniform, and that some communities chose to actively disregard cultivation. Adoption of cultivation seems to h...

  11. A Zonal Mode in the Indian Ocean over the Past Millennium? Isotopic Evidence from Continental Climate Archives and Model Simulations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Konecky, B.; Russell, J. M.; Vuille, M.; Rodysill, J. R.; Cohen, L. R.; Chuman, A. F.; Huang, Y.

    2011-12-01

    We present new evidence for multi-decadal to millennial scale hydro-climatic change in the continental Indian Ocean region over the past two millennia. We assess regional hydrological variability using new records of the δD of terrestrial plant waxes from the sediments of several lakes in tropical East Africa and Indonesia. We compare these new data to previous δ18O and δD records from the region and interpret these results in light of an isotope-enabled climate model simulation of the past 130 years. Long-term trends in our data support a southward migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)'s mean position over the past millennium, bringing progressively wetter conditions and D-depleted waxes to our southernmost site (~8°S) starting around 950 C.E. while maintaining overall wet conditions at our northernmost site (~0°N) until the end of the 19th century. Superimposed on this long-term trend are a series of pronounced, multi-decadal to centennial scale isotopic excursions that are of the same timing but in opposite directions on the two sides of the Indian Ocean. These zonally asymmetric isotopic fluctuations become progressively more pronounced beginning around 1400 C.E., with the onset of Little Ice Age cool conditions recorded in sea surface temperature reconstructions from the Northern Hemisphere and the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool (IPWP). Previous work in the IPWP region suggests cooler SST, reduced boreal summer Asian monsoon intensity, and less ENSO-like activity during the Little Ice Age [Oppo et al., 2009, Nature 460:1113, and references therein], although recent paleolimnological reconstructions from Java indicate punctuated droughts during this time [Rodysill et al., 2010, Eos Trans. AGU, 91(52), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract PP51B-04]. Our records suggest that multi-decadal to centennial precipitation variability was in fact enhanced during this time period in parts of equatorial East Africa and western Indonesia. The direction of isotopic

  12. Global Emissions of Terpenoid VOCs from Terrestrial Vegetation in the Last Millennium

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Acosta Navarro, J. C.; Smolander, S.; Struthers, H.; Zorita, E.; Ekman, A. M.; Kaplan, J. O.; Guenther, Alex B.; Arneth, A.; Riipinen, I.

    2014-06-16

    We investigated the millennial variability of global BVOC emissions by using two independent numerical models: The Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature (MEGAN), for isoprene, monoterpene and sesquiterpene and Lund-Potsdam-Jena General Ecosystem Simulator (LPJ8 GUESS), for isoprene and monoterpenes. We found the millennial trends of global isoprene emissions to be mostly affected by land cover and atmospheric carbon dioxide changes, whereas monoterpene and sesquiterpene emission were dominated by temperature change. Isoprene emissions declined substantially in regions with large and rapid land cover change. In addition, isoprene emission sensitivity to drought proved to have signicant short term global effects. By the end of the past millennium MEGAN isoprene emissions were 634 TgC yr-1 (13% and 19% less than during during 1750-1850 and 1000- 15 1200, respectively) and LPJ-GUESS emissions were 323 TgC yr-1 (15% and 20% less than during 1750-1850 and 1000-1200, respectively). Monoterpene emissions were 89 TgC yr-1 (10% and 6% higher than during 1750-1850 and 1000-1200, respectively) in MEGAN, and 24 TgC yr-1 (2% higher and 5% 19 20 less than during 1750-1850 and 1000-1200, respectively) in LPJ-GUESS. MEGAN sesquiterpene emissions were 36 TgC yr-1 (10% and 4% higher than during1750-1850 and 1000-1200, respectively). Although both models capture similar We investigated the millennial variability of global BVOC emissions by using two independent numerical models: The Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature (MEGAN), for isoprene, monoterpene and sesquiterpene and Lund-Potsdam-Jena General Ecosystem Simulator (LPJ8GUESS), for isoprene and monoterpenes. We found the millennial trends ofglobal isoprene emissions to be mostly a*ected by land cover and atmospheric carbon dioxide changes, whereas monoterpene and sesquiterpene emission were dominated by temperature change. Isoprene emissions declined substantially in regions with large and rapid

  13. From Early Domesticated Rice of the Middle Yangtze Basin to Millet, Rice and Wheat Agriculture: Archaeobotanical Macro-Remains from Baligang, Nanyang Basin, Central China (6700-500 BC.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhenhua Deng

    Full Text Available Baligang is a Neolithic site on a northern tributary of the middle Yangtze and provides a long archaeobotanical sequence from the Seventh Millennium BC upto the First Millennium BC. It provides evidence for developments in rice and millet agriculture influenced by shifting cultural affiliation with the north (Yangshao and Longshan and south (Qujialing and Shijiahe between 4300 and 1800 BC. This paper reports on plant macro-remains (seeds, from systematic flotation of 123 samples (1700 litres, producing more than 10,000 identifiable remains. The earliest Pre-Yangshao occupation of the sites provide evidence for cultivation of rice (Oryza sativa between 6300-6700 BC. This rice appears already domesticated in on the basis of a dominance of non-shattering spikelet bases. However, in terms of grain size changes has not yet finished, as grains are still thinner than more recent domesaticated rice and are closer in grain shape to wild rices. This early rice was cultivated alongside collection of wild staple foods, especially acorns (Quercus/Lithicarpus sensu lato. In later periods the sites has evidence for mixed farming of both rice and millets (Setaria italica and Panicum miliaceum. Soybean appears on the site in the Shijiahe period (ca.2500 BC and wheat (Triticum cf. aestivum in the Late Longshan levels (2200-1800 BC. Weed flora suggests an intensification of rice agriculture over time with increasing evidence of wetland weeds. We interpret these data as indicating early opportunistic cultivation of alluvial floodplains and some rainfed rice, developing into more systematic and probably irrigated cultivation starting in the Yangshao period, which intensified in the Qujialing and Shijiahe period, before a shift back to an emphasis on millets with the Late Longshan cultural influence from the north.

  14. Sal die Era van Aquarius met ’n “skrikkelsprong” in die millennium tot sy reg kom

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. P. Smits

    2001-09-01

    Full Text Available Waar ons nou die einde van die 2de millennium AD nader, het dit duidelik geword dat daar heelwat verwarring heers oor hoe en waarom ons kalender opgestel is soos dit is. Die lengte van ’n jaar en van die astronomiese eeu word beide gedefinieer aan die hand van die posisie van ’n bepaalde punt aan die hemel, wat bekend staan as die Eerste punt van Aries. Deurdat hierdie punt met betrekking tot die sterre-agtergrond beweeg, skep dit probleme om sterrekundige gebeurtenisse, wat die seisoene bepaal, aan ’n vaste datum in ons kalender te koppel. Die Katolieke Kerk se wens om Paasfees op ’n datum te vier wat deur spesifieke astronomiese gebeurtenis se bepaal word, het in die 16de eeu gelei tot die implementering van die kalender wat nou internasionaal in gebruik is.

  15. Variability of the ocean heat content during the last millennium – an assessment with the ECHO-g Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. Ortega

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Studies addressing climate variability during the last millennium generally focus on variables with a direct influence on climate variability, like the fast thermal response to varying radiative forcing, or the large-scale changes in atmospheric dynamics (e.g. North Atlantic Oscillation. The ocean responds to these variations by slowly integrating in depth the upper heat flux changes, thus producing a delayed influence on ocean heat content (OHC that can later impact low frequency SST (sea surface temperature variability through reemergence processes. In this study, both the externally and internally driven variations of the OHC during the last millennium are investigated using a set of fully coupled simulations with the ECHO-G (coupled climate model ECHAMA4 and ocean model HOPE-G atmosphere–ocean general circulation model (AOGCM. When compared to observations for the last 55 yr, the model tends to overestimate the global trends and underestimate the decadal OHC variability. Extending the analysis back to the last one thousand years, the main impact of the radiative forcing is an OHC increase at high latitudes, explained to some extent by a reduction in cloud cover and the subsequent increase of short-wave radiation at the surface. This OHC response is dominated by the effect of volcanism in the preindustrial era, and by the fast increase of GHGs during the last 150 yr. Likewise, salient impacts from internal climate variability are observed at regional scales. For instance, upper temperature in the equatorial Pacific is controlled by ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation variability from interannual to multidecadal timescales. Also, both the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO modulate intermittently the interdecadal OHC variability in the North Pacific and Mid Atlantic, respectively. The NAO, through its influence on North Atlantic surface heat fluxes and convection, also plays an important role on

  16. Gender equity and health: evaluating the impact of Millennium Development Goal Three on women's health in South Asia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shannon, Geordan D; Im, Dana D; Katzelnick, Leah; Franco, Oscar H

    2013-01-01

    Researchers evaluated the progress of Millennium Development Goal Three, which promotes gender equity and empowering women, by assessing the targets for education, employment, and government, and their relation to women's health in South Asia. Researchers obtained data from the United Nations, Inter-Parliamentary Union, International Labor Organization, World Bank, and World Health Organization. First, they performed a literature review including manuscripts that quantified a Millenium Development Goal Three outcome in South Asia and were published after 1991. They derived women's health outcomes from World Health Organization databases. Spearman's rank test was used to evaluate the relationship between change in gender parity and change in women's health outcomes. South Asia's average primary education Gender Parity Index (defined as the ratio of girls to boys enrolled in primary, secondary, and tertiary education and expressed as a value between 0 and 1.0) improved from 0.73 (SD 0.34) to 0.92 (SD 0.13) between 2000 and 2008. Secondary and tertiary education had a lower Gender Parity Index (average 2008 Gender Parity Index 0.87 (SD 0.21) and 0.59 (SD 0.23), respectively), but had also improved from 2000 (average Gender Parity Index = 0.77, SD 0.38) to 2008 (average Gender Parity Index = 0.52, SD 0.11). An average proportion of 22.1% (SD 12.58) of women participated in waged, non-agricultural employment and 16.6% (SD 10.3) in national parliaments. No clear association was found between change in gender equity and women's health in South Asia between 2000 and 2008. Some progress has been made toward gender equity in South Asia, although the results have been mixed and inequities persist, especially in employment and government. While gender equity does not appear to have been related to female health outcomes, both must be addressed simultaneously as priority development targets and remain prerequisites to achieving the overall Millennium Development Goals

  17. Monsoonal Responses to External Forcings over the Past Millennium: A Model Study (Invited)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, J.; Wang, B.

    2009-12-01

    The climate variations related to Global Monsoon (GM) and East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) rainfall over the past 1000 years were investigated by analysis of a pair of millennium simulations with the coupled climate model named ECHO-G. The free run was generated using fixed external (annual cycle) forcing, while the forced run was obtained using time-varying solar irradiance variability, greenhouse gases (CO2 and CH4) concentration and estimated radiative effect of volcanic aerosols. The model results indicate that the centennial-millennial variation of the GM and EASM is essentially a forced response to the external radiative forcings (insolation, volcanic aerosols, and greenhouse gases). The GM strength responds more directly to the effective solar forcing (insolation plus radiative effect of the volcanoes) when compared to responses of the global mean surface temperature on centennial timescale. The simulated GM precipitation in the forced run exhibits a significant quasi-bi-centennial oscillation. Weak GM precipitation was simulated during the Little Ice Age (1450-1850) with three weakest periods concurring with the Spörer, Maunder, and Dalton Minimum of solar activity. Conversely, strong GM was simulated during the model Medieval Warm Period (ca. 1030-1240). Before the industrial period, the natural variation in effective solar forcing reinforces the thermal contrasts both between the ocean and continent and between the northern and southern hemispheres, resulting in millennium-scale variation and the quasi-bi-centennial oscillation of the GM. The prominent upward trend in the GM precipitation occurring in the last century and the remarkably strengthening of the global monsoon in the period of 1961-1990 appear unprecedented and owed possibly in part to the increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration. The EASM has the largest meridional extent (5oN-55oN) among all the regional monsoons on globe. Thus, the EASM provides an unique opportunity for

  18. The 1430s: a cold period of extraordinary internal climate variability during the early Sporer Minimum with social and economic impacts in north-western and central Europe

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Camenisch, C.; Keller, K. M.; Salvisberg, M.; Amann, B.; Bauch, M.; Blumer, S.; Brázdil, Rudolf; Bronnimann, S.; Büntgen, Ulf; Campbell, B. M. S.; Fernandez-Donado, L.; Fleitmann, D.; Gläser, R.; González-Rouco, J. F.; Grosjean, M.; Hoffmann, R.; Huhtamaa, H.; Joos, F.; Kiss, A.; Kotyza, O.; Lehner, F.; Luterbacher, J.; Maughan, T. S.; Neukom, R.; Novy, T.; Pribyl, K.; Raible, C. C.; Riemann, D.; Schuh, M.; Slavin, P.; Werner, J. P.; Wetter, O.

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 12, č. 11 (2016), s. 2107-2126 ISSN 1814-9324 Institutional support: RVO:86652079 Keywords : varved lake-sediments * maunder minimum * past millennium * system model * last millennium * ice-age * temperature-variations * environmental history * volcanic-eruptions * carbon-cycle Subject RIV: DG - Athmosphere Sciences, Meteorology OBOR OECD: Climatic research Impact factor: 3.543, year: 2016

  19. From Early Domesticated Rice of the Middle Yangtze Basin to Millet, Rice and Wheat Agriculture: Archaeobotanical Macro-Remains from Baligang, Nanyang Basin, Central China (6700–500 BC)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deng, Zhenhua; Qin, Ling; Gao, Yu; Weisskopf, Alison Ruth; Zhang, Chi; Fuller, Dorian Q.

    2015-01-01

    Baligang is a Neolithic site on a northern tributary of the middle Yangtze and provides a long archaeobotanical sequence from the Seventh Millennium BC upto the First Millennium BC. It provides evidence for developments in rice and millet agriculture influenced by shifting cultural affiliation with the north (Yangshao and Longshan) and south (Qujialing and Shijiahe) between 4300 and 1800 BC. This paper reports on plant macro-remains (seeds), from systematic flotation of 123 samples (1700 litres), producing more than 10,000 identifiable remains. The earliest Pre-Yangshao occupation of the sites provide evidence for cultivation of rice (Oryza sativa) between 6300–6700 BC. This rice appears already domesticated in on the basis of a dominance of non-shattering spikelet bases. However, in terms of grain size changes has not yet finished, as grains are still thinner than more recent domesaticated rice and are closer in grain shape to wild rices. This early rice was cultivated alongside collection of wild staple foods, especially acorns (Quercus/Lithicarpus sensu lato). In later periods the sites has evidence for mixed farming of both rice and millets (Setaria italica and Panicum miliaceum). Soybean appears on the site in the Shijiahe period (ca.2500 BC) and wheat (Triticum cf. aestivum) in the Late Longshan levels (2200–1800 BC). Weed flora suggests an intensification of rice agriculture over time with increasing evidence of wetland weeds. We interpret these data as indicating early opportunistic cultivation of alluvial floodplains and some rainfed rice, developing into more systematic and probably irrigated cultivation starting in the Yangshao period, which intensified in the Qujialing and Shijiahe period, before a shift back to an emphasis on millets with the Late Longshan cultural influence from the north. PMID:26460975

  20. Dating stratified settlement sites at Kom K and Kom W: Fifth millennium BCE radiocarbon ages for the Fayum Neolithic

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wendrich, W. [Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 92521 (United States); Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 92521 (United States); Taylor, R.E., E-mail: retaylor@ucr.ed [Department of Anthropology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521 (United States); Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 92521 (United States); Keck Carbon Cycle Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697 (United States); Southon, J. [Keck Carbon Cycle Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697 (United States)

    2010-04-15

    The earliest evidence of the use of domesticated plants, a traditional hallmark of Neolithic societies in the ancient Near East, first appears in Egypt in archaeological sites in the Fayum depression. Due to wind erosion often resulting in deflation of sediments in this region, stratified sites containing organic materials are rare and the depositional contexts of some earlier {sup 14}C measurements on Fayum Neolithic materials are not precisely documented. We report the results of 29 AMS-based {sup 14}C determinations on charcoal recovered from stratified contexts in two Fayum Neolithic village sites, Kom K and Kom W. These data assign a mid-5th millennium BCE age to these sites and permit an estimate of the length of their occupation to be approximately three centuries.

  1. Dating stratified settlement sites at Kom K and Kom W: Fifth millennium BCE radiocarbon ages for the Fayum Neolithic

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wendrich, W.; Taylor, R.E.; Southon, J.

    2010-01-01

    The earliest evidence of the use of domesticated plants, a traditional hallmark of Neolithic societies in the ancient Near East, first appears in Egypt in archaeological sites in the Fayum depression. Due to wind erosion often resulting in deflation of sediments in this region, stratified sites containing organic materials are rare and the depositional contexts of some earlier 14 C measurements on Fayum Neolithic materials are not precisely documented. We report the results of 29 AMS-based 14 C determinations on charcoal recovered from stratified contexts in two Fayum Neolithic village sites, Kom K and Kom W. These data assign a mid-5th millennium BCE age to these sites and permit an estimate of the length of their occupation to be approximately three centuries.

  2. Pakistan and the Millennium Development Goals for Maternal and Child Health: progress and the way forward.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rizvi, Arjumand; Bhatti, Zaid; Das, Jai K; Bhutta, Zulfiqar A

    2015-01-01

    The world has made substantial progress in reducing maternal and child mortality, but many countries are projected to fall short of achieving their Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5 targets. The major objective of this paper is to examine progress in Pakistan in reducing maternal and child mortality and malnutrition over the last two decades. Data from recent national and international surveys suggest that Pakistan lags behind on all of its MDGs related to maternal and child health and, for some indicators especially related to nutrition, the situation has worsened from the baseline of 1990. Progress in addressing key social determinants such as poverty, female education and empowerment has also been slow and unregulated population growth has further compromised progress. There is a need to integrate the various different sectors and programmes to achieve the desired results effectively and efficiently as many of the determinants and influencing factors are outside the health sector.

  3. Setting the stage for equity-sensitive monitoring of the maternal and child health Millennium Development Goals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wirth, Meg E.; Balk, Deborah; Delamonica, Enrique; Storeygard, Adam; Sacks, Emma; Minujin, Alberto

    2006-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: This analysis seeks to set the stage for equity-sensitive monitoring of the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). METHODS: We use data from international household-level surveys (Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS)) to demonstrate that establishing an equity baseline is necessary and feasible, even in low-income and data-poor countries. We assess data from six countries using 11 health indicators and six social stratifiers. Simple bivariate stratification is complemented by simultaneous stratification to expose the compound effect of multiple forms of vulnerability. FINDINGS: The data reveal that inequities are complex and interactive: inferences cannot be drawn about the nature or extent of inequities in health outcomes from a single stratifier or indicator. CONCLUSION: The MDGs and other development initiatives must become more comprehensive and explicit in their analysis and tracking of inequities. The design of policies to narrow health gaps must take into account country-specific inequities. PMID:16878225

  4. The post-millennium development goals agenda: include 'end to all wars' as a public health goal!

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jayasinghe, Saroj

    2014-09-01

    The process of identifying global post-millennium development goals (post-MDGs) has begun in earnest. Consensus is emerging in certain areas (e.g. eliminating poverty) and conflicts and violence are recognized as key factors that retard human development. However, current discussions focus on tackling intra-state conflicts and individual-based violence and hardly mention eliminating wars as a goal. Wars create public health catastrophes. They kill, maim, displace and affect millions. Inter-state wars fuel intra-state conflicts and violence. The peace agenda should not be the monopoly of the UN Security Council, and the current consensus-building process setting the post-MDG agenda is a rallying point for the global community. The human rights approach will not suffice to eliminate wars, because few are fought to protect human rights. The development agenda should therefore commit to eliminating all wars by 2030. Targets to reduce tensions and discourage wars should be included. We should act now. © The Author(s) 2014.

  5. Establishing cross-curricular links between Science and English in ninth grade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chala Bejarano Pedro Antonio

    2003-08-01

    Full Text Available For many years, English has been studied apart from the other subjects in nonbilingual centres, isolating it from other knowledge areas, underestimating its nature as a vehicle for communication. English has thus been considered just as a set of rules to be memorized with no communicative purpose. As English teachers our objective to design this proposal, was to show this language as a useful tool, not only to be practiced in the classroom, but also in the context of other areas, in this case, science. Throughout the piloting of this project at Gustavo Restrepo school, in the south of Bogotá, English was used to learn science and science was used to practice English during the performance of some tasks with a communicative purpose so that the students of ninth grade had the opportunity to learn by doing. Key Words: English-High School-Teaching, Sciences-High School-Teaching, English-Teaching-Methods Por muchos años, el inglés ha sido estudiado aparte de las otras materias en instituciones no bilingües, aislándolo de otras áreas del conocimiento y menospreciando su naturaleza como vehículo de comunicación. El inglés ha sido entonces considerado simplemente un conjunto de reglas que se memorizan sin un propósito comunicativo. Como profesores de inglés nuestro objetivo al diseñar esta propuesta fue mostrar este idioma como una herramienta útil, no sólo para ser usada en el aula, sino también en el contexto de otras áreas; en este caso ciencias naturales. A través del pilotaje de este proyecto en el colegio Gustavo Restrepo en el sur de Bogotá, el inglés fue usado para aprender ciencias naturales y las ciencias naturales fueron usadas para practicar inglés durante el desarrollo de algunas actividades, con un propósito comunicativo de manera que los estudiantes de noveno grado tuvieran la oportunidad de aprender haciendo. Palabras claves: Inglés-Enseñanza Secundaria, Ciencias Naturales-Enseñanza Secundaria, Inglés-Enseñanza-Métodos

  6. Middle East energy megaprojects after the millennium: the need to start now

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shammas, Pierre

    1997-01-01

    The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region will become the heart of the world energy supply in the new millennium. Integrated energy megaprojects upon which the oil majors want to embark will be urgently needed and given typical lead times of five to ten years need to be started now. Although perhaps in the most unstable part of the energy world, MENA has the potential to become the most profitable market for such projects in the light of such factors as the security of world energy supply and the decrease in commercial oil inventories. Other considerations include the link between MENA's political stability and socio-economic reforms, and the influence of multinational organisations in promoting privatisation and structural change. A key factor is the link between the Middle East peace process and economic growth. The integrated megaprojects include the Middle East loop of gas pipelines to supply Europe and Asia. Together with the related mini independent power projects and communications links, this will raise MENA living standards and promote MENA's growing liquefied natural gas business. In the energy integration of MENA with both Europe and Asia, Turkey, Egypt, Iran and Iraq will have major roles to play. Data on MENA power requirements to 2005 and private wealth in the Arab world are appended. (2 tables). (UK)

  7. Nuclear technology: the role of the IAEA. Ninth international conference on emerging nuclear energy systems, Tel Aviv, 28 June 1998

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    ElBaradei, M.

    1998-01-01

    The document reproduces the text of the conference given by the Director General of the IAEA at the Ninth International Conference on Emerging Nuclear Energy Systems, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on 28 June 1998. The Director General outlines the role of the IAEA in assisting its Member States to meet the challenges facing the use of nuclear energy, based on the Agency' mandate on the following inter-related tasks: ta act as a catalyst for the scientific community and as a hub for state-of-the-art technology; to act as a centre for the transfer of nuclear technologies so as to ensure their accessibility to member State in general, and to developing countries in particular; to assist Member States to make informed and appropriate choices concerning the energy mix by producing comparative assessments of nuclear and other technologies; to strive for the highest level of safety in all areas of the use of nuclear energy; and to assure, through its verification system, the pledges to use nuclear energy exclusively for peaceful purposes are fulfilled

  8. What drives the global summer monsoon over the past millennium?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liu, Jian [Chinese Academy of Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Nanjing (China); Wang, Bin [University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Meteorology, Honolulu, HI (United States); University of Hawaii at Manoa, International Pacific Research Center, Honolulu, HI (United States); Yim, So-Young; Lee, June-Yi [University of Hawaii at Manoa, International Pacific Research Center, Honolulu, HI (United States); Jhun, Jong-Ghap [Seoul National University, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences/Research Institute of Oceanography, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Ha, Kyung-Ja [Pusan National University, Division of Earth Environmental System, Busan (Korea, Republic of)

    2012-09-15

    The global summer monsoon precipitation (GSMP) provides a fundamental measure for changes in the annual cycle of the climate system and hydroclimate. We investigate mechanisms governing decadal-centennial variations of the GSMP over the past millennium with a coupled climate model's (ECHO-G) simulation forced by solar-volcanic (SV) radiative forcing and greenhouse gases (GHG) forcing. We show that the leading mode of GSMP is a forced response to external forcing on centennial time scale with a globally uniform change of precipitation across all monsoon regions, whereas the second mode represents internal variability on multi-decadal time scale with regional characteristics. The total amount of GSMP varies in phase with the global mean temperature, indicating that global warming is accompanied by amplification of the annual cycle of the climate system. The northern hemisphere summer monsoon precipitation (NHSMP) responds to GHG forcing more sensitively, while the southern hemisphere summer monsoon precipitation (SHSMP) responds to the SV radiative forcing more sensitively. The NHSMP is enhanced by increased NH land-ocean thermal contrast and NH-minus-SH thermal contrast. On the other hand, the SHSMP is strengthened by enhanced SH subtropical highs and the east-west mass contrast between Southeast Pacific and tropical Indian Ocean. The strength of the GSMP is determined by the factors controlling both the NHSMP and SHSMP. Intensification of GSMP is associated with (a) increased global land-ocean thermal contrast, (b) reinforced east-west mass contrast between Southeast Pacific and tropical Indian Ocean, and (c) enhanced circumglobal SH subtropical highs. The physical mechanisms revealed here will add understanding of future change of the global monsoon. (orig.)

  9. A mid-third millennium BC collective burial cave in central Iberia: El Rebollosillo (Torrelaguna, Madrid

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pedro Díaz-del-Río

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available El Rebollosillo is a small karstic cave located in the center of Iberia used for the disposition of secondary burials during the mid third millennium BC. We present bioanthropological, isotopic (87Sr/86Sr, δ13C and δ18O analyses and 16 radiocarbon dates on human remains, as well as mineralogical characterization of 6 beads (4 of them variscite from Palazuelo de las Cuevas, Zamora, and a quantitative analysis of 43 pottery fragments recovered during the 1989 excavations. A minimum of 21 individuals have been identified, covering all age ranges and sex. Low percentages of pathologies have been detected, mainly dental calculus and caries, with specific cases of cribra orbitalia, periostosis and arthritis. Only adults received a clearly individualized treatment, suggestive of achieved status. We interpret the evidence as a multi-staged mortuary program, the last phase of which is documented at the site, with previous stages perhaps carried out elsewhere, and we evaluate these results in the context of the regional funerary record.

  10. Early Adolescents' and Their Parents' Mental Imagery in Relation to Perceived Reading Competence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mol, Suzanne E.; Jolles, Jelle; Van Batenburg-Eddes, Tamara; Bult, Maureen K.

    2016-01-01

    This cross-sectional survey study examined the relation between mental imagery (i.e., seeing images of a story "in the mind's eye") and perceived self-competence in reading. The study was conducted with a group of seventh-grade to ninth-grade students in the prevocational educational track of secondary schools in the Netherlands and…

  11. Proceedings of the sixth APEC Coal Flow Seminar. Coal in the new millennium

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2000-08-01

    The 6th APEC Coal Flow Seminar titled on 'The coal in the new millennium' was held in Korea from March 14 to March 16, 2000, and the proceedings were summed up. In this seminar, as to economies of coal consumption countries and coal supply countries in the APEC region, discussions were made on coal supply/demand, coal price, environmental problems and others. The keynote address was 'Twenty first century coal in the APEC region and Republic of Korea' given by Mr. Gam Yeol Lee from Korea. The main theme of the seminar was 'The status quo for the coal market,' and lectures titled on the following were given from Japan: 'The status quo of coal purchase by the Japanese electric company and its outlook' and 'A perspective of coal fired IPP under environmental constraints and deregulation of electricity.' Lectures from Australia: 'Responding to coal market growth in APEC regions by the Australian coal industry' and 'The coal price impact on coal supply and demand.' Further discussions were made on 'The long-term outlook for coal supply/demand' and 'Economies report on the outlook for coal supply/demand.' (NEDO)

  12. Genome medicine: gene therapy for the millennium, 30 September-3 October 2001, Rome, Italy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gruenert, D C; Novelli, G; Dallapiccola, B; Colosimo, A

    2002-06-01

    The recent surge of DNA sequence information resulting from the efforts of agencies interested in deciphering the human genetic code has facilitated technological developments that have been critical in the identification of genes associated with numerous disease pathologies. In addition, these efforts have opened the door to the opportunity to develop novel genetic therapies to treat a broad range of inherited disorders. Through a joint effort by the University of Vermont, the University of Rome, Tor Vergata, University of Rome, La Sapienza, and the CSS Mendel Institute, Rome, an international meeting, 'Genome Medicine: Gene Therapy for the Millennium' was organized. This meeting provided a forum for the discussion of scientific and clinical advances stimulated by the explosion of sequence information generated by the Human Genome Project and the implications these advances have for gene therapy. The meeting had six sessions that focused on the functional evaluation of specific genes via biochemical analysis and through animal models, the development of novel therapeutic strategies involving gene targeting, artificial chromsomes, DNA delivery systems and non-embryonic stem cells, and on the ethical and social implications of these advances.

  13. Family income, maternal psychological distress and child socio-emotional behaviour: Longitudinal findings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katharine Noonan

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The association between low family income and socio-emotional behaviour problems in early childhood has been well-documented, and maternal psychological distress is highlighted as central in mediating this relationship. However, whether this relationship holds for older children, and the precise mechanisms by which income may influence child behaviour is unclear.This study investigated the relationship between family income and child socio-emotional behaviour at 11 years of age, and examined the mediating role of maternal psychological distress over time using the UK Millennium Cohort Study.The primary outcome was parent-reported behavioural problems, as captured by the Total Difficulties Score (TDS, derived from the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ. Secondary outcomes were the emotional, peer-related, conduct, and hyperactivity/inattention problems subscales of the SDQ; and teacher-reported TDS. Permanent family income was the primary exposure variable; frequency of poverty up to age 11 years was the secondary exposure variable. Maternal psychological distress was operationalised to reflect the trajectory from child birth to age 11. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate the effect of permanent family income on child behaviour at age 11, controlling for maternal psychological distress and other relevant covariates.Results showed a statistically significant protective effect of increased permanent family income on the likelihood of behavioural problems at age 11. This finding was consistent for all SDQ subscales apart from emotional problems, and was strongest for teacher-reported behavioural problems. Maternal distress was an important mediator in the income-child behaviour relationship for parent-reported, but not teacher-reported, behavioural problems.The results of this study strengthen empirical evidence that the child behaviour-income gradient is maintained in older childhood. Mother’s psychological

  14. Financial Strain, Parental Smoking, and the Great Recession: An Analysis of the UK Millennium Cohort Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKenna, Caoimhe S; Law, Catherine; Pearce, Anna

    2017-11-07

    During the recent "Great Recession," many families in the United Kingdom experienced increased financial strain (FS). The aim of this study was to determine if increases in FS, occurring over the period of the "Great Recession," were associated with increased risks of persistent and relapsed tobacco use among parents. We analyzed the Millennium Cohort Study, a longitudinal study of 18819 children born in the United Kingdom between 2000 and 2002. Surveys at 7 (T1, 2008) and 11 years (T2, 2012) spanned the "Great Recession." Three measures of increased FS were defined; "became income poor" (self-reported household income dropped below the "poverty line" between T1 and T2); "developed difficulty managing" (parental report of being "financially comfortable" at T1 and finding it "difficult to manage" at T2); "felt worse off" (parental report of feeling financially "worse off" at T2, compared to T1). Poisson regression was used to estimate risk ratios (RR), adjusted RRs (aRR), and 95% confidence intervals for three outcomes: "persistent tobacco use," "new reported tobacco use," and "relapsed tobacco use." Parents in households which "became income poor" over the period of the "Great Recession" were significantly more likely to report "persistent tobacco use" (aRR = 2.17 [1.83-2.57]) or "new reported tobacco use" (aRR = 1.72 [1.04-2.83]). Ninety-five percent of "new reported tobacco users" had evidence of prior tobacco use suggesting the majority were "relapsed tobacco users." Similar patterns were seen for those who "developed difficulty managing" and "felt worse off." Increased tobacco use among financially strained families has the potential to widen inequalities and undermine the public health policies that have had positive impacts on tobacco consumption in the United Kingdom. While several studies have shown that FS is associated with a higher prevalence of tobacco use, heavier smoking, and relapsed tobacco use, most of this work used cross-sectional data and none

  15. The nursing shortage ... will we become an endangered species or near extinction in the new millennium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lanford, A; Hardesty, P

    1998-12-01

    In conclusion, it is obvious to each of us that the nursing shortage issue is complex. There are no simple solutions. In the acute care arena we can expect to see the usual recruitment wars using sign-on bonuses, increased salaries for per diem staff, internship programs and all sorts of methods used in the past to recruit needed staff. It is that sort of crisis management and short term thinking that has plagued the profession in the past. These are bandaid efforts especially in light of the factors of supply vs demand with short-term quick fixes. There must be, however, more efforts towards addressing the long-term issues such as wage compression, differentiated practice and pay, effective models of care delivery, educating the public about nursing, and public/government funding more nursing education and research at all levels. There may need to be a federal subsidy for nursing education and recruitment included to affect the magnitude of this potential societal problem. The profession is at a crossroads. One thing is certain however, this nursing shortage is different and will get worse before it gets better. Let's not let the demand for nurses become so large and supply become so small that we are an endangered species or near extinction in the new millennium. What will be the scenario for nurses in 2050? Are we, as the largest healthcare profession, so complacent about our continued existence that we are at a point of paralysis? Are we in such a state of deep depression in response to current changing environment that we will allow ourselves to be devoured by our predators. Are we cannibalistic as we eat our young and chew on our own unresolved internal issues with a lack of action? Are we septic as a result of our own self-inflicted professional wounds? Our profession must become immediately aware of our possibly tenuous future. We must work together as a community of nurses to strategically address the areas of recruitment, education, retention and

  16. Lesotho - Urban and Peri-Urban Water and Metolong Dam

    Data.gov (United States)

    Millennium Challenge Corporation — Early on, MCC and the evaluator decided to focus the Urban and Peri-Urban Water evaluation on Package 1 infrastructure, which benefited Maseru and Mazenod. MCC later...

  17. How states exerted power to create the Millennium Development Goals and how this shaped the global health agenda: Lessons for the sustainable development goals and the future of global health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marten, Robert

    2018-04-26

    Since 2000, the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) provided the framework for global development efforts transforming the field now known as global health. The MDGs both reflected and contributed to shaping a normative global health agenda. In the field of global health, the role of the state is largely considered to have diminished; however, this paper reasserts states as actors in the conceptualisation and institutionalisation of the MDGs, and illustrates how states exerted power and engaged in the MDG process. States not only sanctioned the MDGs through their heads of states endorsing the Millennium Declaration, but also acted more subtly behind the scenes supporting, enabling, and/or leveraging other actors, institutions and processes to conceptualise and legitimize the MDGs. Appreciating the MDGs' role in the conceptualisation of global health is particularly relevant as the world transitions to the MDGs' successor, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs' influence, impact and importance remains to be seen; however, to understand the future of global health and how actors, particularly states, can engage to shape the field, a deeper sense of the MDGs' legacy and how actors engaged in the past is helpful.

  18. Global irrigated area map (GIAM), derived from remote sensing, for the end of the last millennium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thenkabail, P.S.; Biradar, C.M.; Noojipady, P.; Dheeravath, V.; Li, Y.; Velpuri, M.; Gumma, M.; Gangalakunta, O.R.P.; Turral, H.; Cai, X.; Vithanage, J.; Schull, M.A.; Dutta, R.

    2009-01-01

    A Global Irrigated Area Map (GIAM) has been produced for the end of the last millennium using multiple satellite sensor, secondary, Google Earth and groundtruth data. The data included: (a) Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) 3-band and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) 10 km monthly time-series for 1997-1999, (b) Syste me pour l'Observation de la Terre Vegetation (SPOT VGT) NDVI 1 km monthly time series for 1999, (c) East Anglia University Climate Research Unit (CRU) rainfall 50km monthly time series for 1961-2000, (d) Global 30 Arc-Second Elevation Data Set (GTOPO30) 1 km digital elevation data of the World, (e) Japanese Earth Resources Satellite-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (JERS-1 SAR) data for the rain forests during two seasons in 1996 and (f) University of Maryland Global Tree Cover 1 km data for 1992-1993. A single mega-file data-cube (MFDC) of the World with 159 layers, akin to hyperspectral data, was composed by re-sampling different data types into a common 1 km resolution. The MFDC was segmented based on elevation, temperature and precipitation zones. Classification was performed on the segments. Quantitative spectral matching techniques (SMTs) used in hyperspectral data analysis were adopted to group class spectra derived from unsupervised classification and match them with ideal or target spectra. A rigorous class identification and labelling process involved the use of: (a) space-time spiral curve (ST-SC) plots, (b) brightness-greenness-wetness (BGW) plots, (c) time series NDVI plots, (d) Google Earth very-high-resolution imagery (VHRI) 'zoom-in views' in over 11 000 locations, (e) groundtruth data broadly sourced from the degree confluence project (3 864 sample locations) and from the GIAM project (1 790 sample locations), (f) high-resolution Landsat-ETM+ Geocover 150m mosaic of the World and (g) secondary data (e.g. national and global land use and land cover data). Mixed classes were resolved based on decision tree

  19. Kidney Care (A Minute of Health with CDC)

    Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

    2018-03-15

    Kidney diseases are the ninth leading cause of death in the United States. This podcast discusses common risk factors of chronic kidney disease and the importance of early detection.  Created: 3/15/2018 by MMWR.   Date Released: 3/15/2018.

  20. Millennium Development Goals: how public health professionals perceive the achievement of MDGs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marta Lomazzi

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Background: There have been various consultations on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs by different groups. However, even if it is clear that the health sector has led the development success of the MDGs, only a few MDG reports consider public health experts’ points of view and these are mainly government driven. Designs: The World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA has executed a global survey to consult public health professionals worldwide concerning the implementation and achievements of the MDGs.The survey was conceived by WFPHA health professionals and promulgated online. Public health professionals and organisations dealing with MDGs responded to the survey. Content analysis was conducted to analyse the data. Results: Survey participants attributed the highest importance worldwide to MDGs dealing with women, poverty and hunger reduction, and disease prevention and management. Moreover, they underlined the role of education, referring both to school children and professionals. In high and upper-middle income countries, environmental challenges also received considerable attention.Notably, respondents underlined that weak governance and unstable political situations, as well as the gap between professionals and politicians, were among the main causes that detracted from MDG achievements. Conclusion: The public health workforce felt it would be imperative to be included from the outset in the design and implementation of further goals. This implies that those professionals have to take an active part in the political process leading to a new and accountable framework.

  1. Analysis of the association between millennium development goals 4 & 5 and the physician workforce across international economic strata.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morley, Christopher P; Wang, Dongliang; Mader, Emily M; Plante, Kyle P; Kingston, Lindsey N; Rabiei, Azadeh

    2017-07-18

    The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are 8 international development goals voluntarily adopted by 189 nations. The goals included health related aims to reduce the under-five child mortality rate by two-thirds (MDG4), and to reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three-quarters (MDG5). To assess the relationship between the healthcare workforce and MDGs 4-5, we examined the physician workforces of countries around the globe, in terms of the Physician Density Level (PDL, or number of physicians per 1000 population), and compared this rate across a number of years to several indicator variables specified as markers of progress towards MDG4 and MDG5. Data for each variable of interest were obtained from the World Bank's Millennium Development Goals and World Development Indicators databases for 208 countries and territories from 2004 to 2014, representing a ten-year period for which the most information is available. We analyzed the relationships between MDG outcomes and PDL, controlling for national income levels and other covariates, using linear mixed model regression. Dependent variables were logarithmically transformed to meet assumptions necessary for multivariate analysis. In unadjusted models, an increase of every one physician per 1000 population (one unit change in PDL) lowered the risk of not being vaccinated for measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) to 29.3% (p < 0.001, 95% CI: 22.2%-38.7%) and for not receiving diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTaP) vaccination rate decreased to 38.5% (p < 0.001, 95% CI: 28.7% - 51.7%). Maternal mortality rate decreased to 76.6% (p < 0.001, 95% CI: 74.3% - 79.0%), neonatal mortality decreased to 58.8% (p < 0.001, 95% CI: 54.8% - 63.2%) and under-5 mortality rate decreased to 52.1% (p < 0.001, 95% CI: 48.0% - 56.4%), with every one-unit change in PDL. Adjusted models tended to reflect unadjusted risk assessments. The maintenance and improvement of the health workforce is a vital consideration when assessing how to achieve

  2. Radiology system evolution in the new millennium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nauert, R C

    2001-01-01

    For many decades the practice of radiology grew slowly in America and was largely a secondary function under the control of hospitals. In more recent times it has vastly expanded its array of diagnostic, interventional, and therapeutic abilities. There is increasing consumer logic for direct access. Motivations have grown to create large independent entities with broadly diverse capabilities in order to succeed in the new millennium. Most regional markets are evolving rapidly in terms of managed care penetration, health system formation, physician practice consolidation and aggressive purchaser behavior by employers and consumers. To understand the enormity of healthcare evolution, it is useful to look at the industry's paradigm shifts in recent decades. Virtually every aspect of organizational infrastructure, delivery approaches, and the business environment has evolved markedly during the past fifty years. These changes will accelerate. To succeed financially, radiology groups must strengthen their market positions, technical capabilities, continuums of care and geographic dominance. Equally important is the wisdom of diversifying incomes into related services and businesses that provide additional related revenues. Key factors for successful development include facility market growth, full coverage of managed care contracts, high efficiency and aggressive diversification. A fully evolved system generates significant revenues and profitability by protecting and strengthening its financial position in this environment. That is accomplished through the development of strategically located radiology groups, aggressive alliances with medical practices in allied disciplines, and managed radiology departments and facilities for partner health systems. Organizational success ultimately depends on the ability to accept capitated payments under risk-bearing arrangements. The strategic business plan should be organized with the appropriate levels of detail needed to

  3. Scaling the State: Egypt in the Third Millennium BC

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Richard Bussmann

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Discussions of the early Egyptian state suffer from a weak consideration of scale. Egyptian archaeologists derive their arguments primarily from evidence of court cemeteries, elite tombs, and monuments of royal display. The material informs the analysis of kingship, early writing, and administration but it remains obscure how the core of the early Pharaonic state was embedded in the territory it claimed to administer. This paper suggests that the relationship between centre and hinterland is key for scaling the Egyptian state of the Old Kingdom (ca. 2,700-2,200 BC. Initially, central administration imagines Egypt using models at variance with provincial practice. The end of the Old Kingdom demarcates not the collapse, but the beginning of a large-scale state characterized by the coalescence of central and local models.

  4. Multiscale combination of climate model simulations and proxy records over the last millennium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Xin; Xing, Pei; Luo, Yong; Nie, Suping; Zhao, Zongci; Huang, Jianbin; Tian, Qinhua

    2018-05-01

    To highlight the compatibility of climate model simulation and proxy reconstruction at different timescales, a timescale separation merging method combining proxy records and climate model simulations is presented. Annual mean surface temperature anomalies for the last millennium (851-2005 AD) at various scales over the land of the Northern Hemisphere were reconstructed with 2° × 2° spatial resolution, using an optimal interpolation (OI) algorithm. All target series were decomposed using an ensemble empirical mode decomposition method followed by power spectral analysis. Four typical components were obtained at inter-annual, decadal, multidecadal, and centennial timescales. A total of 323 temperature-sensitive proxy chronologies were incorporated after screening for each component. By scaling the proxy components using variance matching and applying a localized OI algorithm to all four components point by point, we obtained merged surface temperatures. Independent validation indicates that the most significant improvement was for components at the inter-annual scale, but this became less evident with increasing timescales. In mid-latitude land areas, 10-30% of grids were significantly corrected at the inter-annual scale. By assimilating the proxy records, the merged results reduced the gap in response to volcanic forcing between a pure reconstruction and simulation. Difficulty remained in verifying the centennial information and quantifying corresponding uncertainties, so additional effort should be devoted to this aspect in future research.

  5. Household water treatment and the millennium development goals: keeping the focus on health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clasen, Thomas F

    2010-10-01

    Waterborne diseases such as diarrhea are a major killer in low-income settings, particularly of young children. For those without access to safe drinking water, household water treatment, such as boiling, chlorinating, and filtering water in the home, when combined with safe storage (HWTS) can significantly improve water quality and prevent disease, thereby contributing to the child survival and other health priorities encompassed within the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). There is uncertainly, however, about whether HWTS should count toward the MDG water target, which promotes "sustainable access to safe drinking water". This paper reviews the relevant research and concludes that it should not. Although HWTS can significantly improve water quality, it does not improve water quantity and access-key aspects of the MDG water target that are essential for optimal improvements in health and development. A policy that excludes HWTS from the MDG water target will discourage governments from diverting scarce public resources from comprehensive and long-term improvements in water supplies. At the same time, the health-oriented MDGs provide a sufficient case for scaling up effective and appropriate HWTS among target populations. Moreover, a health-based strategy for HWTS will help ensure that promotion of the intervention is driven by measurable improvements in outcomes rather than inputs, thus encouraging advances in both hardware and programmatic delivery that will make HWTS more effective, appropriate, and accessible to vulnerable populations.

  6. Stable isotope record in annually laminated lake sediments from Lake Żabińskie (NE Poland) for the last millennium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gabryś, Alicja; Piotrowska, Natalia; Tylmann, Wojciech; Bonk, Alicja; Filipiak, Janusz; Wacnik, Agnieszka; Hernandez-Almeida, Ivan; Grosjean, Martin

    2015-04-01

    Stable isotope record of carbon (13C) and oxygen (18O) has been analysed from an annually laminated sediment from Lake Zabinskie (Mazurian Lakeland, NE Poland) with high resolution (1-3 yrs). The sediment layers which were formed in each year during the last millennium contain information about environmental changes in the past. The calcite layers are formed in lake sediment in warm months of the year, therefore the reconstruction of summer climate variables in the past is potentially possible. The investigation of correlation between isotope dataset and instrumental climate data for years 1897-2008 AD confirmed that theory. The record of temperature, precipitation and SPEI (Standardised Precipitation Evaporation Index) coefficient, which is a combination of both temperature and precipitation, was tested. The strongest linear correlations were found for most samples for June, July, August (JJA) months but in some cases the correlation coefficient was stronger when also May was taken into account. For the whole 120-yrs series the correlation between δ18O and average JJA temperature is 0.007, average JJA precipitation is 0.16 and average JJA SPEI is 0.20. Analyzing the results for 1897-2008 we can distinguish period 1960-2008 with relevantly stronger correlations: R(temperature) = 0.19, R(precipitation) = 0.20 and R(SPEI) = 0.45. This period is connected with cessation of human activity close to Lake Zabinskie. Reconstruction of climate variables for the last millennium was made using transfer function obtained for calibration period (1897-2008). Reconstructions showed that known climate extremes like Medieval Warm Period, Little Ice Age with Sporer (1420-1570), Maunder (1645-1715) and Dalton (1790-1820) Minimum was recorded in sediment from Lake Zabinskie. The presented study is a part of the project "Climate of northern Poland during the last 1000 years: Constraining the future with the past (CLIMPOL)", funded within Polish-Swiss Research Programme. http://www.climpol.ug.edu.pl

  7. Bridging the spectral divide: a case study with PAGES2k, the CESM Last Millennium Ensemble and proxy system models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, F.; Emile-Geay, J.; Ault, T.; McKay, N.; Dee, S.

    2017-12-01

    A grand challenge for paleoclimatology is to constrain climate model behavior on timescales longer than the instrumental record. Of particular interest is the spectrum of temperature as sensed by climate proxies. The "continuum" of climate variability [Huybers & Curry, Nature 2006] is often characterized by its scaling exponent β , where the spectral density S and the frequency f satisfy the power law S ∝ f-β . Recent studies have voiced concern that climate models underestimate scaling behavior compared to proxies [Laepple & Huybers, PNAS 2014]. Part of this discrepancy is known to lie in the complex processes whereby proxies transform climate signals [Dee et al, EPSL in press], yet many questions remain open. Here we leverage a recent multiproxy compilation [PAGES 2k Consortium, Sci Data 2017] to characterize scaling behavior over the Common Era using an interpolation-free method [Kirchner & Neal, PNAS 2013]. Proxy spectra are compared to spectra derived from the CESM Last Millennium Ensemble [Otto-Bliesner et al, BAMS 2016], using: (a) a naive model where proxies are assumed linearly related to annual temperature vs (b) proxy system models [Evans et al, QSR 2013] of varying complexity. Scaling behavior varies considerably by archive: on average the strongest centennial slopes are observed for lake sediments (β =1.2), while the smallest are observed for glacier ice (β =0.24). Results confirm that the CESM Last Millennium simulation (LM) exhibits decadal-centennial scaling closer to proxy spectra than the pre-industrial control run (PI): the latter shows a "blue" spectrum (β 0), suggesting that forcings are essential to reduce the spectral divide. Yet, even with forcings, LM spectra are flatter than the proxy spectra. Subsequent work will investigate the roles of seasonal sensitivity (trees, foraminifera, alkenones), multivariate influences (corals, trees), detrending (trees) and post-depositional processes (ice cores, lake & marine sediments) on spectral

  8. SU-E-T-569: Evaluation of VMAT Plans Generated with HD120 and Millennium 120 MLC Between Two Matched Linacs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cui, G; Ballas, L; Chang, E; Chung, E; Chiu, R; Cummings, D; Shiu, A [University Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)

    2014-06-01

    Purpose: To evaluate VMAT treatment plans generated with HD120 MLC and Millennium 120 MLC between two matched linacs and to determine if one can back up the other. Methods: The 6x photon beams are matched for our Varian TrueBeam STx and Trilogy linacs, which are equipped with HD120 MLC and Millennium 120 MLC, respectively. Three prostate and three brain VMAT plans were used for the evaluation. Five plans (three prostate and two brain plans) were originally generated with the TrueBeam STx and re-computed with the Trilogy. One brain plan was evaluated the other way around. For each plan, the PTV coverage of V95 was made the same between two linacs. The dosimetric differences associated with the plans were compared using: 1) Percentage mean dose differences to the PTV, 2) Homogeneity index, HI = (Dmax − Dmin)/Dmean for the PTV. For prostate plans, the mean dose differences to the rectum were evaluated. While for brain plans, the percentage max dose differences to the lenses (left and right lens) were evaluated. Results: For three prostate plans, the average of the percentage mean dose differences to the PTV was 0.5 ± 0.1% and the HI was 0.1 ± 0.0%. The average of the percentage mean dose difference to the rectum was 3.5 ± 0.5%. For three brain plans, the average of the percentage mean dose differences to the PTV was 0.2 ± 1.1% and the HI was 0.2 ± 0.1%. The average of the percentage max dose differences to the lenses was 22.9 ± 4.0%. Conclusion: For prostate VMAT plans, changing the treatment from the TrueBeam STx to the Trilogy does not necessarily need re-optimization. But for brain plans, in order to minimize dose to the lenses, it is recommended to re-optimize the plan if changing the treatment between these two linacs.

  9. SU-E-T-569: Evaluation of VMAT Plans Generated with HD120 and Millennium 120 MLC Between Two Matched Linacs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cui, G; Ballas, L; Chang, E; Chung, E; Chiu, R; Cummings, D; Shiu, A

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: To evaluate VMAT treatment plans generated with HD120 MLC and Millennium 120 MLC between two matched linacs and to determine if one can back up the other. Methods: The 6x photon beams are matched for our Varian TrueBeam STx and Trilogy linacs, which are equipped with HD120 MLC and Millennium 120 MLC, respectively. Three prostate and three brain VMAT plans were used for the evaluation. Five plans (three prostate and two brain plans) were originally generated with the TrueBeam STx and re-computed with the Trilogy. One brain plan was evaluated the other way around. For each plan, the PTV coverage of V95 was made the same between two linacs. The dosimetric differences associated with the plans were compared using: 1) Percentage mean dose differences to the PTV, 2) Homogeneity index, HI = (Dmax − Dmin)/Dmean for the PTV. For prostate plans, the mean dose differences to the rectum were evaluated. While for brain plans, the percentage max dose differences to the lenses (left and right lens) were evaluated. Results: For three prostate plans, the average of the percentage mean dose differences to the PTV was 0.5 ± 0.1% and the HI was 0.1 ± 0.0%. The average of the percentage mean dose difference to the rectum was 3.5 ± 0.5%. For three brain plans, the average of the percentage mean dose differences to the PTV was 0.2 ± 1.1% and the HI was 0.2 ± 0.1%. The average of the percentage max dose differences to the lenses was 22.9 ± 4.0%. Conclusion: For prostate VMAT plans, changing the treatment from the TrueBeam STx to the Trilogy does not necessarily need re-optimization. But for brain plans, in order to minimize dose to the lenses, it is recommended to re-optimize the plan if changing the treatment between these two linacs

  10. Results of the ninth exercise of intercomparison in services of personal dosimetry in Argentina Republic in the year of 2011

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ferrufino, G.A.; Discacciatti, P.A.; Lopez, F.O.

    2013-01-01

    In this paper we present the results of the ninth intercomparison exercise personal dosimetry services, conducted by the Nuclear Regulatory Authority in 2011. The exercise was designed to evaluate the performance of laboratories providing personal dosimetry services in Argentina , for X-rays and gamma radiation fields . This exercise was organized by the Nuclear Regulatory Authority with the Ministry of Health of the Nation and the Regional Reference Laboratory Centre for Dosimetry of the National Atomic Energy Commission . The irradiations were carried out in full accordance with ISO 4037-3 . Participates all private companies in Argentina serving all personal dosimetry laboratories and agencies, provincial and national. Furthermore, the Laboratories from Cuba, Brazil and Uruguay also participate. The performance of a laboratory is considered acceptable if it meets the criteria established in the IRAM- ISO 14146 , which states: 'It is recognized that at most, one-tenth of dosimeters irradiated to exceed the limits'. Of all of the laboratories that participated , 68% reported their results within the acceptance criteria above. The primary objective of this intercomparison exercise is to provide an objective tool to evaluate the ability of personnel dosimetry services. (author)

  11. Longitudinal analysis of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire scores of the Millennium Cohort Study children in England using M-quantile random-effects regression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tzavidis, Nikos; Salvati, Nicola; Schmid, Timo; Flouri, Eirini; Midouhas, Emily

    2016-02-01

    Multilevel modelling is a popular approach for longitudinal data analysis. Statistical models conventionally target a parameter at the centre of a distribution. However, when the distribution of the data is asymmetric, modelling other location parameters, e.g. percentiles, may be more informative. We present a new approach, M -quantile random-effects regression, for modelling multilevel data. The proposed method is used for modelling location parameters of the distribution of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire scores of children in England who participate in the Millennium Cohort Study. Quantile mixed models are also considered. The analyses offer insights to child psychologists about the differential effects of risk factors on children's outcomes.

  12. Teleconnected ocean forcing of Western North American droughts and pluvials during the last millennium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Routson, Cody C.; Woodhouse, Connie A.; Overpeck, Jonathan T.; Betancourt, Julio L.; McKay, Nicholas P.

    2016-01-01

    Western North America (WNA) is rich in hydroclimate reconstructions, yet questions remain about the causes of decadal-to-multidecadal hydroclimate variability. Teleconnection patterns preserved in annually-resolved tree-ring reconstructed drought maps, and anomalies in a global network of proxy sea surface temperature (SST) reconstructions, were used to reassess the evidence linking ocean forcing to WNA hydroclimate variability over the past millennium. Potential forcing mechanisms of the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) and individual drought and pluvial events—including two multidecadal-length MCA pluvials—were evaluated. We show strong teleconnection patterns occurred during the driest (wettest) years within persistent droughts (pluvials), implicating SSTs as a potent hydroclimate forcing mechanism. The role of the SSTs on longer timescales is more complex. Pacific teleconnection patterns show little long-term change, whereas low-resolution SST reconstructions vary over decades to centuries. While weaker than the tropical Pacific teleconnections, North Atlantic teleconnection patterns and SST reconstructions also show links to WNA droughts and pluvials, and may in part account for longer-term WNA hydroclimate changes. Nonetheless, evidence linking WNA hydroclimate to SSTs still remains sparse and nuanced—especially over long-timescales with a broader range of hydroclimatic variability than characterized during the 20th century.

  13. Climate Objectives and Development: Promoting Convergence between Millennium and Climate Goals in Climate Negotiations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mathy, Sandrine

    2015-01-01

    The next Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will be held in France in late 2015. The aim of the gathering will be to arrive at an international agreement to keep global warming below an upper limit of 2 deg. C (above 1990 levels) by the end of the century. As the COPs of recent years have shown, this is an ambitious goal and many obstacles stand in its way, among them the development of emerging and developing nations. Why should these countries be forced to restrict their economic development when 'liability for climate change' rests mainly with the developed nations? The question is entirely legitimate, which is why it would probably be more constructive, as Sandrine Mathy advocates here, to negotiate in a way that combines thinking on Millennium Development Goals with climate objectives. As this article shows, it is entirely possible to combine these two types of aim and promote economic development and poverty reduction while, at the same time, striving to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Mathy shows what the common factors are and frames concrete recommendations for establishing a mechanism to promote this convergence between poverty reduction and climate preservation. (author)

  14. Intubations and airway management: An overview of Hassles through third millennium

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdullah Alanazi

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: The placement of a tube into a patient′s trachea "the intubation" as we call is not as simple as it looks. It is a very tricky and tedious maneuver that entails skills to assess and perform. Nevertheless, often this is left to the chores of inefficient hands due to a paucity of the availability of experts. They seldom are able to complete the task and often wind up calling the attention of the unit. The present review is an attempt to describe the need to undertake intubation, the procedures and techniques, the complications, including morbidity and mortality and airway management. This overview includes explicit descriptions of the difficult airway which represents multifaceted interface amid patient factors, clinical setting, and skills of the practitioner. Materials and Methods: To accomplish the target, peer-reviewed English language articles published during third millennium up to 2013 were selected from Pub Med, Pub Med Central, Science Direct, Up-to-date, Med Line, comprehensive databases, Cochrane library, and the Internet (Google, Yahoo. Review of Literature: The review constituted a systematic search of literature on the requirements that necessitate the practice of intubation, different techniques that facilitate easy conduct of procedure, the complications, including, morbidity and mortality, and the airway management. Conclusion: Recording every single detail has been beyond the scope of this review, however; some aspects have been wrapped up in nutshell. Some areas of the review are too basic which the medics are well aware of and knowledgeable. Nevertheless, these are difficult to be dispensed with in consideration of their source to the awareness of a common man and a great majority of the patients.

  15. Pagan, Pirate, Subject, Saint : Defining and Redefining Saxons, 150-900 A.D.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Flierman, R.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/35753767X

    2015-01-01

    The student of the early medieval Saxons faces a number of methodological challenges. First, before the ninth century, the Saxons can only be known through reports composed by outsiders. Either Saxons left no writing of their own, or more likely, none of it survived. Second, what little reliable

  16. Preparing Girls for Menstruation: Recommendations from Adolescent Girls.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koff, Elissa; Rierdan, Jill

    1995-01-01

    Ninth-grade girls (n=157) rated their own experience of menarche and answered 4 open-ended questions. Responses suggested several ways that early preparation could be revised, and supported a conceptualization of menstrual education as a long-term, continuous process, beginning well before menarche and continuing long after. (JPS)

  17. The ninth International Symposium on Electron Beam Ion Sources and Traps and Their Applications, 15-17 April 2004

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakamura, Nobuyuki; Ohtani, Shunsuke

    2004-01-01

    The ninth International Symposium on Electron Beam Ion Sources and Traps and Their Applications - EBIS/T 2004 was held at the Tokyo Metropolitan University (TMU), 15-17 April 2004. There were about 40 participants and about 30 papers presented. The meeting has shown the remarkable progress in science and technology with the EBIS/T machines. In this meeting, besides the normal presentations related to the EBIS/T works, a special session was organized on the last day which was dedicated to Professors N Kobayashi and K Okuno, who have contributed to the EBIS/T development and to the physics of highly charged ions (HCI), to mark their retirement from the TMU in March 2004. In the evening of the first day, there was a laboratory tour where the participants enjoyed seeing the Tokyo EBIT facility and also a beer party in a small hall next to the laboratory. The banquet was held in a traditional Japanese restaurant in a village under Mt Takao with the Japanese meals and performances, after seeing the HCI-research activities in the TMU. The next EBIS/T symposium will be held in Heidelberg in the summer of 2007 as a satellite meeting of XXV ICPEAC. We are looking forward to the next exciting meeting there. Finally, we thank all of TMU staffs and students for their help during the meeting. (preface)

  18. Children's social behaviour, language and literacy in early years

    OpenAIRE

    Hartas, Dimitra

    2012-01-01

    Using a longitudinal, UK representative sample from the Millennium Cohort Study, the present study examined longitudinal variations in parent ratings of child social, emotional and behavioural difficulties and prosocial behaviour (preschool to end of Key Stage 1); the magnitude of parent-teacher agreement regarding behaviour ratings; and concurrent relationships between behaviour and language and literacy at the end of the Key Stage 1. The findings showed significant downward trends in rating...

  19. Climate Change to the End of the Millennium. An Editorial Review Essay

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lenton, T.M.

    2006-01-01

    Anthropogenic climate change will continue long after anthropogenic CO2 emissions cease. Atmospheric CO2, global warming and ocean circulation will approach equilibrium on the millennial timescale, whereas thermal expansion of the ocean, ice sheet melt and their contributions to sea level rise are unlikely to be complete. Atmospheric CO2 in year 3000 depends non-linearly on the total amount of CO2 emitted and is very likely to exceed the present level of circa 380 ppmv. CO2 is doubled for circa 2500 GtC emitted, quadrupled if all circa 5000 GtC of conventional fossil fuel resources are emitted, and increases by a factor of circa 32 if a further 20,000 GtC of exotic fossil fuel resources are emitted. Global warming in year 3000 will also depend on climate sensitivity to doubling CO2, which is most probably circa 3C but highly uncertain. Thermal expansion will contribute 0.5-2 m to millennial sea level rise for each doubling of CO2. The Greenland ice sheet could melt completely within the millennium under > 8 x CO2, adding a further circa 7 m to sea level. The rate of melt depends on the magnitude of forcing above a regional warming threshold of 1-3C. The West Antarctic ice sheet could be threatened by 4-10C local warming, and its potential contribution to millennial sea level rise exceeds current maximum estimates of circa 1 m. The fate of the ocean thermohaline circulation may depend on the rate as well as the magnitude of forcing

  20. Climate Change to the End of the Millennium. An Editorial Review Essay

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lenton, T.M. [Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, UK and School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ (United Kingdom)

    2006-05-15

    Anthropogenic climate change will continue long after anthropogenic CO2 emissions cease. Atmospheric CO2, global warming and ocean circulation will approach equilibrium on the millennial timescale, whereas thermal expansion of the ocean, ice sheet melt and their contributions to sea level rise are unlikely to be complete. Atmospheric CO2 in year 3000 depends non-linearly on the total amount of CO2 emitted and is very likely to exceed the present level of circa 380 ppmv. CO2 is doubled for circa 2500 GtC emitted, quadrupled if all circa 5000 GtC of conventional fossil fuel resources are emitted, and increases by a factor of circa 32 if a further 20,000 GtC of exotic fossil fuel resources are emitted. Global warming in year 3000 will also depend on climate sensitivity to doubling CO2, which is most probably circa 3C but highly uncertain. Thermal expansion will contribute 0.5-2 m to millennial sea level rise for each doubling of CO2. The Greenland ice sheet could melt completely within the millennium under > 8 x CO2, adding a further circa 7 m to sea level. The rate of melt depends on the magnitude of forcing above a regional warming threshold of 1-3C. The West Antarctic ice sheet could be threatened by 4-10C local warming, and its potential contribution to millennial sea level rise exceeds current maximum estimates of circa 1 m. The fate of the ocean thermohaline circulation may depend on the rate as well as the magnitude of forcing.