Infants born preterm and infants born full-term generate more selective leg joint movement during the scaffolded mobile task

Infants born very preterm (PT), prior to 32 weeks gestation, are at increased risk of developing cerebral palsy. Children with spastic cerebral palsy have impaired selective leg joint movement, which contributes to lifelong walking limitations. We investigated whether infants born PT generated more selective hip–knee joint movement (e.g., hip flexes as knee extends) while participating in a scaffolded mobile task. Infants born PT and infants born full-term (FT) at 4 months corrected age participated in a scaffolded mobile task for 2–3 consecutive days. The scaffolded mobile task required infants to raise their legs vertically over a virtual threshold. Three threshold heights (low, middle, and high) were used to test whether the middle and high heights encourage infants to move their legs more selectively. Fifteen infants born FT learned the task and showed more selective hip–knee movement at each of the three threshold heights on the day that they learned, compared with their baseline spontaneous kicking. Thirteen infants born PT learned the task and showed more selective hip–knee movement on their learning day, but only when the middle and high thresholds were used. The results show that the scaffolded mobile task effectively encouraged infants to generate more selective hip–knee joint movement.     

Trends in the age at reproductive transitions in the developing world: The role of education

Girls’ school participation has expanded considerably in the developing world over the last few decades, a phenomenon expected to have substantial consequences for reproductive behaviour. Using Demographic and Health Survey data from 43 countries, this paper examines trends and differentials in the mean ages at three critical life-cycle events for young women: first sexual intercourse, first marriage, and first birth. We measure the extent to which trends in the timing of these events are driven either by the changing educational composition of populations or by changes in behaviour within education groups. Mean ages have risen over time in all regions for all three events, except age at first sex in Latin America and the Caribbean. Results from a decomposition exercise indicate that increases in educational attainment, rather than trends within education groups, are primarily responsible for the overall trends. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed.     

A systematic review of the relationship between urban agriculture and biodiversity

Urban agriculture is a unique form of agriculture that can provide fresh, local produce for urban residents, and may benefit biodiversity by decreasing the need to expand agriculture into natural areas as well as enhancing biodiversity in urban areas. However, although urban agriculture is also often cited as promoting biodiversity in urban areas, the extent of empirical evidence for such claims has not been studied. Here we systematically review the relationship between urban agriculture and biodiversity in the scientific literature. We strictly define urban agriculture as areas in cities that grow produce specifically for human consumption. We examined 148 papers from 2000 to 2017, of which only 24 studies fit our definition of urban agriculture, and of those, only 18 both involved urban agriculture and measured biodiversity. Of the studies that did measure biodiversity, some showed increases in diversity compared to urban vacant lots, but other showed no difference. Moreover, these studies were mostly focused on plants and invertebrates and were conducted almost exclusively in North America. In order to use the generalization that urban agriculture will have a positive influence on urban biodiversity, more studies will need to be conducted across a wider geographic range worldwide (particularly in developing countries in the tropics) and on a greater diversity of species and taxa (e.g., herpetiles, birds and small mammals). Such studies will likely increase in conservation importance as urban expansion and agricultural demands increase globally.     

Professionalization of management accounting in family firms: the impact of family members

Review of Managerial Science - Literature on the professionalization of management accounting in family firms has extensively focused on non-family experts, such as controllers or CFOs, as drivers...     

The reporting of sensitive behavior by adolescents: A methodological experiment in Kenya

Does audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (ACASI) produce more valid reporting of sexual activity and related behaviors than face-to-face interviews or self-administered interviews? This analysis, based on data collected from over 6,000 unmarried adolescents in two districts of Kenya—Nyeri and Kisumu—indicates substantial and significant differences in reported rates of premarital sex across interview modes, although not always in the expected direction. Our assumption that girls underreport sexual activity in face-to-face interviews by comparison with ACASI is not confirmed by the Nyeri data, but our results from Kisumu are considerably more promising. As for boys, who we believe exaggerate their level of sexual activity in face-to-face interviews, a more nuanced set of expectations regarding the reporting of sensitive behaviors was offered; our results from Kisumu, although not always significant, by and large conform to expectations.

     

Maternal Work and Child Care in China: A Multi‐Method Analysis

The majority of women in China, including mothers of young children, are in the labor force. This article investigates the relationship between mothers' work and child care and explores how type of work affects level of involvement in children's care. Substantive understandings of the relationship between mothers' work and child care may well depend on the way work is conceptualized and measured, especially nonwage work. Nearly two‐thirds of women in China live in rural areas, where nonwage work predominates. Analysis of data from eight provinces indicates that wage workers spend less time in child care, but so do women with heavy nonwage demands. Women's involvement in multiple economic activities has consequences for both work‐child care compatibility and work intensity, and may be especially important in efforts to categorize women's work in industrializing economies. Because the majority of the world's women do not work in the wage sector, the implications of these findings extend beyond China.     

Community and contraceptive choice in rural Thailand: A case study of Nang Rong

This paper blends quantitative with qualitative data in an investigation of community and contraceptive choice in Nang Rong, Thailand. Specifically, it develops an explanation of 1) method dominance within villages, coupled with 2) marked differences between villages in the popularity of particular methods. The quantitative analysis demonstrates the importance of village location and placement of family planning services for patterns of contraceptive choice. The qualitative data provide a complementary perspective, emphasizing the importance of social as well as physical space and giving particular attention to the structure of conversational networks.     

Environment,Access to Health Care,and Other Factors Affecting Infant and Child Survival Among the African and Coloured Populations of South Africa, 1989–94

Some maintain that environmental factors are unimportant for infant and child survival once mother's education and other characteristics have been taken into account. However, an analysis of survival of African and Coloured children based on the 1994 October Household Survey supports the importance of environmental factors in relatively high mortality populations. Among African households, the source of domestic water is important, but for Coloured households, almost all of which have safe water, the type of sanitation is important. If safe drinking water is available, the type of sanitation influences survival; if safe drinking water is not available, sanitation seems to matter little.