Family planning and resilience: associations found in a Population,Health, and Environment (PHE) project in Western Tanzania

Using 2016 household survey data from Tanzania, we define and measure resilience within the context of Population, Health, and Environment programming and quantify the link between resilience and family planning. We created a multicomponent model using confirmatory factor analysis in a structural equation modeling context. Factor loadings for eight defined latent factors of resilience were statistically significant (p?<?0.001). We created a factor called “FP-MCH” reflecting awareness, attitudes, and access to family planning (FP) and health care services and use of maternal and child health care (MCH) facilities. Analysis, with controls, shows that a 1 standard deviation (SD) increase in FP/MCH was associated with a 0.68 SD increase in resilience (p?<?0.01), suggesting that the association between FP/MCH and resilience is robust across a range of factors. Analyses showed that the association between FP/MCH is broadly related to the construct of resilience and not through any single component. This study supports the importance of including FP/MCH as part of integrated projects to enhance resilience.     

Hide and don’t seek: analyzing strategies for concealing organizations and their members

Although the contemporary landscape is filled with organizations promoting their identity to various audiences, we know very little about how a different set of collectives purposely conceal themselves (e.g., anonymous support groups, secret societies, covert military units, terrorist organizations). In this study, we qualitatively analyzed concealment strategies used by 12 hidden organizations as they attempt to hide themselves and their members to achieve various goals. We found both organizations and their members use a variety of communicative strategies to conceal themselves, which we label administrative, partial concealment, complete concealment, deception, moving target (organization only), and membership exit (individual member only). These findings have implications for hidden organizations and those who wish to reveal them; furthermore, they add to our understanding of the role of communication in concealing and revealing organizational identity.     

Smallest tournaments not realizable by $${\frac{2}{3}}$$-majority voting

Define the predictability number α(T) of a tournament T to be the largest supermajority threshold for which T could represent the pairwise voting outcomes from some population of voter preference orders. We establish that the predictability number always exists and is rational. Only acyclic tournaments have predictability 1; the Condorcet voting paradox tournament has predictability ; Gilboa has found a tournament on 54 alternatives (i.e. vertices) that has predictability less than , and has asked whether a smaller such tournament exists. We exhibit an 8-vertex tournament that has predictability , and prove that it is the smallest tournament with predictability <  . Our methodology is to formulate the problem as a finite set of two-person zero-sum games, employ the minimax duality and linear programming basic solution theorems, and solve using rational arithmetic. D. Shepardson was supported by a NSF Graduate Research Fellowship during the course of this work.     

The syntax of ‘tactic(s)’ in public relations research

Strategies and tactics are foundational to the teaching of public relations, yet little scholarly reflection on the term ‘tactic(s)’ itself exists in our research. We content analyzed 30 years of research in Public Relations Review for references to the term ‘tactic(s).’ Our research reveals that of the 174 studies reviewed, 13% elaborated on the term, but none defined it. Moreover, the term ‘tactic(s)’ appeared more frequently with ‘strategies’ (31.5%) than in conjunction with ‘ethics’ (2%). We conclude our research note with a call for greater reflection on core concepts related to our public relations teaching and research.     

Work and Family: How Does the (Gender) Balance Change as Children Grow?

This article investigates how work–family balance and the gender division of labour differ according to whether children are in early childhood, middle childhood or the early teen years. It uses measures of both behaviour and attitudes, drawing on two nationally representative Australian data sets, the Bureau of Statistics Time Use Survey and the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia. Women have more responsibility for care than men, but with older children there is greater gender equity in the division of labour, a less pressing domestic burden and less maternal time stress. This occurs because women recalibrate their commitments to work and home, not because domestic labour is redistributed between mothers and fathers. Further, it does not hold if women replace unpaid with paid labour; mothers who work full time have high total workloads and high stress levels regardless of the age of children. Fathers are more satisfied with their work–family balance the more they participate in childcare and the more they feel supported by their workplace to access family‐friendly work policies.     

Demonstrating LGBTQ+ Affirmative Practice in Groups:: Developing Competence through Simulation-Based Learning

Clinical Social Work Journal - Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other sexual and/or gender minority (LGBTQ+) populations experience significant mental and behavioral health...     

Genets in the city: community observations and perceptions of large-spotted genets (Genetta tigrina) in an urban environment

Urban Ecosystems - The global increase in urbanization has resulted in exclusion of many carnivore species from human-altered landscapes due to a variety of anthropogenic impacts. However, despite...     

Modeling the Airborne Infection Risk of Tuberculosis for a Research Facility in eMalahleni,South Africa

A detailed mathematical modeling framework for the risk of airborne infectious disease transmission in indoor spaces was developed to enable mathematical analysis of experiments conducted at the Airborne Infections Research (AIR) facility, eMalahleni, South Africa. A model was built using this framework to explore possible causes of why an experiment at the AIR facility did not produce expected results. The experiment was conducted at the AIR facility from August 31, 2015 to December 4, 2015, in which the efficacy of upper room germicidal ultraviolet (GUV) irradiation as an environmental control was tested. However, the experiment did not produce the expected outcome of having fewer infections in the test animal room than the control room. The simulation results indicate that dynamic effects, caused by switching the GUV lights, power outages, or introduction of new patients, did not result in the unexpected outcomes. However, a sensitivity analysis highlights that significant uncertainty exists with risk of transmission predictions based on current measurement practices, due to the reliance on large viable literature ranges for parameters.     

Effects of acute androstenedione supplementation on testosterone levels in older men

The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of acute androstenedione supplementation on hormone levels in older men at rest and during exercise. Men (n?=?11) between the ages of 58 and 69 were divided into an experimental (n?=?6; 62.33?±?2.57 y) and control (n?=?5; 60.2?±?1.02 y) groups. Each participant received an oral 300?mg dose of either androstenedione (experimental) or a cellulose placebo (control) for 7 d. Pre- and post-supplementation participants completed two separate, 20-min strength tasks consisting of leg extension and leg curls at different percentages of their 10-RM. Researchers collected blood samples pre-, during, and post-exercise. Blood samples were analyzed for testosterone, androstenedione, and estradiol levels. The researchers found a significant difference between pre- (4.36?±?56?ng/mL) and post- (5.51?±?0.35?ng/mL) testosterone levels, as well as pre- (0.88?±?0.20) and post- (7.46?±?1.25) androstenedione levels, but no significant differences between pre- and post-estradiol levels for either group. It appears that short-term androstenedione supplementation augmented acute testosterone responses to resistance exercise in older men. However, further study of this supplement is needed to determine any potential it may have in mitigating andropause.