The role of support person for Ngaanyatjarra women during pregnancy and birth

BackgroundThis study took place in a remote community on the Ngaanyatjarra Lands, Western Australia. Ngaanyatjarra women's cultural practices have been subject to erosion during the past 70 years. Women are now expected to birth hundreds of kilometres from home and, due to financial barriers, without family support. Older women lament their lack of input into, and control of, contemporary birthing services.Research questionIn order to provide culturally appropriate maternity services we asked: What issues would the Ngaanyatjarra women of the community like to see resolved in the area of antenatal and birthing services?Participants and methodsEligible participants were any Ngaanyatjarra women of the study community who had birthed at least once. We utilised a participatory research methodology. 36 women were interviewed.FindingsThis paper discusses one finding related to support for child-bearing women. The role is important in many ways. Ngaanyatjarra women did not traditionally have their support persons with them during labour and birth, nor do they necessarily expect them to be present in current times. Most women do, however, wish to have a support person with them during antenatal checkups and when they travel to town to await birth.ConclusionAboriginal women from remote communities should be able to have a support person with them when they access regional birthing services, but the nature of this role must not be assumed. A culturally appropriate service has input from the community, provides options and respects choices.     

The Rise of Statistical Phylogenetics

This paper provides a review of the many applications of statistics within the field of phylogenetics, that is, the study of evolutionary history. The reader is assumed to be a statistician rather than a phylogeneticist, so some background is given on what phylogenetics is, along with a brief history of different approaches to phylogenetic inference. The latter half of the paper focuses on a series of open statistical problems in the field with the aim of encouraging more statisticians to engage with this fascinating area of research.     

Understanding neighbourhoods, communities and environments: new approaches for social work research

This article discusses some new ways in which social work research can explore the interaction between neighbourhoods and child and adult wellbeing. The authors note that social work practices are often criticised for taking an individualistic approach and paying too little attention to the service user's environment. The article uses examples of research projects from Chile, the United States of America and Wales, to discuss the use of spatially oriented research methods for understanding neighbourhood factors. Quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods approaches that are particularly appropriate for investigating social work relevant topics are discussed in turn, including quantitative and qualitative uses for geographical information systems (GIS), hierarchical linear modelling (HLM) for analysing spatially clustered data and qualitative mobile interviews. The article continues with a discussion of the strengths and limitations of using spatially orientated research designs in social work research settings and concludes optimistically with suggestions for future directions in this area.     

Fusing point and areal level space–time data with application to wet deposition

Summary.  Motivated by the problem of predicting chemical deposition in eastern USA at weekly, seasonal and annual scales, the paper develops a framework for joint modelling of point- and grid-referenced spatiotemporal data in this context. The hierarchical model proposed can provide accurate spatial interpolation and temporal aggregation by combining information from observed point-referenced monitoring data and gridded output from a numerical simulation model known as the 'community multi-scale air quality model'. The technique avoids the change-of-support problem which arises in other hierarchical models for data fusion settings to combine point- and grid-referenced data. The hierarchical space–time model is fitted to weekly wet sulphate and nitrate deposition data over eastern USA. The model is validated with set-aside data from a number of monitoring sites. Predictive Bayesian methods are developed and illustrated for inference on aggregated summaries such as quarterly and annual sulphate and nitrate deposition maps. The highest wet sulphate deposition occurs near major emissions sources such as fossil-fuelled power plants whereas lower values occur near background monitoring sites.     

Modelling mercury deposition through latent space–time processes

Summary.  The paper provides a space–time process model for total wet mercury deposition. Key methodological features that are introduced include direct modelling of deposition rather than of expected deposition, the utilization of precipitation information (there is no deposition without precipitation) without having to construct a precipitation model and the handling of point masses at 0 in the distributions of both precipitation and deposition. The result is a specification that enables spatial interpolation and temporal prediction of deposition as well as aggregation in space or time to see patterns and trends in deposition. We use weekly deposition monitoring data from the National Atmospheric Deposition Program–Mercury Deposition Network for 2003 restricted to the eastern USA and Canada. Our spatiotemporal hierarchical model allows us to interpolate to arbitrary locations and, hence, to an arbitrary grid, enabling weekly deposition surfaces (with associated uncertainties) for this region. It also allows us to aggregate weekly depositions at coarser, quarterly and annual, temporal levels.     

Simultaneous prediction intervals for all patrwise differences among several future sample means

Hahn (1977) suggested a procedure for constructing prediction intervals for the difference between the means of two future samples from normal populations having equal variance, based on past samples selected from both populations. In this paper, we extend Hahn's work by constructing simultaneous prediction intervals for all pairwise differences among the means of k ≥ 2 future samples from normal populations with equal variances, using past samples taken from each of the k populations. For K = 2, this generalization reduces to Hahn's special case. These prediction intervals may be used when one has sampled the performance of several products and wishes to simultaneously as- sess the differences in future sample mean performance of these products with a predetermined overall coverage probability. The use of the new procedure is demonstrated with a numerical example.     

Culture and change in nonprofit boards

The actions of boards, like all organizational behaviors, emerge from board culture, which is composed of members' customary practices, shared beliefs, and assumptions about reality. It is a board's culture that enables its participants to deal with ambiguity and complexity by providing familiar meanings and solutions to problems. Board development efforts that do not take these factors directly into account are likely to produce only superficial and short-term changes. This article presents alternative approaches to board development, using two levels of learning drawn from examinations of board cultures.     

Stepfamily childbearing in Sweden: quantum and tempo effects, 1950-99

Several studies have demonstrated that stepfamily couples have a higher risk of childbearing than couples in a stable union with the same total number of children. Analysing retrospective data from a nationally representative sample of Swedish adults, we find that the risk of a second or third birth is higher when it is the first or second child in a new union. We also find a faster pace of childbearing after stepfamily formation than after a shared birth. The risk of a second birth (in total) is only a little higher in the first two years after stepfamily formation than in the first two years after a shared birth, and thereafter the risk is lower for stepfamilies. The risk of a third birth (in total) is particularly high early in the stepfamily union and remains higher than that of couples with two shared children for at least five years. The stepfamily difference was lower after than before 1980, when the Swedish government introduced parental leave incentives for short birth intervals.     

Condom Negotiation Strategy Use and Effectiveness among College Students

College students may engage in risky sexual behaviors, such as inconsistent condom use, which increase their risk of sexually transmitted infections. This study examined the association between six condom influence strategies (CIS) and reported condom use among a diverse group of college students. Differences in CIS and condom use were examined by gender, race or ethnicity, and relationship status (casual, monogamous, or no current relationship). The study also used a cluster analysis to investigate how the CIS were used relative to one another, and how patterns of CIS use were related to condom use. Results showed interesting differences in CIS use by gender, race or ethnicity, and relationship status. Four patterns of CIS usage emerged, and results suggested that using all CIS frequently and using more assertive CIS may be particularly important for increased condom use. Men reported more condom use than women overall, but results indicated that using CIS were especially vital for increasing condom use for women. Surprisingly, there were no differences in condom use found for race or ethnicity and relationship type. Programs aimed at increasing students' condom use could benefit from promoting and practicing CIS, and recognizing potential differences among demographic groups.