The Status of Loggerhead, Caretta caretta; Kemp's Ridley, Lepidochelys kempi; and Green, Chelonia mydas, Sea Turtles in U.S. Waters: A Reconsideration

Assessing the status of widely distributed marine species can prove difficult because virtually every sampling technique has assumptions, limitations, and biases that affect the results of the study. These biases often are overlooked when the biological and nonbiological implications of the results are discussed. In a recent review, Thompson (1988) used mostly unpublished population census data derived from studies conducted by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to draw conclusions about the status of Kemp's ridley, Lepidochelys kempi; Atlantic coast green turtles, Chelonia mydas; and the loggerhead sea turtle, Caretta caretta

Developing Farmer Focus Groups as a Knowledge Transfer Mechanism: A Practical Experience

The use of farmer focus groups is discussed as a mechanism for effective knowledge transfer activity, and the functionality of the focus farm contrasted with that of the demonstration farm. Key qualities of focus farmers and the essential characteristics of focus groups are summarised, as portrayed by four different stakeholder groups. Benchmarking, as a means of identifying and sharing good practice within the groups is also highlighted within the knowledge transfer mechanism.Farmer Focus Group, Demonstration Farm, Benchmarking, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

TAVERTET: LOCUS CRUCIALIS

MARY BYLES nasqué als Estats Units. Passà uns dies a Tavertet visitant el seu amic Raimon Panikkar i es quedà impressionada no sols per la beutat del païssatge com de la força espiritual que emanava. Ningú li va demanar que escrigués sobre Tavertet. Ho va fer espontàniament

Socio-demographic differences of disability prevalence among the population aged 60 years and over in Bangladesh

This study aims to delineate the sociodemographic differences in disability prevalence across the population aged 60 years and over in Bangladesh, and to investigate the association of factors with reporting disability in later life. A microdata sample for those aged 60 years or over from the Census of Bangladesh 2011 was used where disability was assessed with a self-reported single response question. Logistic regression models were performed separately for men and women. Results reveal that the disability prevalence rate increased sharply with age, and it was higher among older women (5.2%) compared to men (4.8%). Physical and vision disabilities were the two categories with the highest prevalence of reported disabilities, with a higher prevalence of physical disability among men and vision disability among women. Being older, female, currently not in marital partnership, and having a lower educational attainment, not being employed, living alone, and residing in the rural areas were significantly associated with reporting disability in later life. The higher prevalence of disability among older women, those who are illiterate, and those residing in rural areas highlights the need for policies prioritising these groups. Special attention should also be given to those who are currently not in marital partnership, particularly women who are living alone

Continuing Professional Development and Farm Business Performance

Economic and social pressures are transforming farm businesses and the structure of the agricultural industry, consequently it is presumed that farm management skills are under intense pressure. This creates a need for effective interaction between knowledge management and the actions taken by farm decision makers. However a definition of “successful farm business performance” is not easy to find and this, combined with literature that deals with managerial tasks in isolation, does not provide a clear picture for the farm manager pursuing self development. Farm businesses vary considerably in their attributes and resource base and the plethora of measurable factors mean that the manager needs to be able to identify what to measure and why on his own farm. In the UK it appears that most of the measures used in farming do not take into account the customer or human factors alluded to in other industries. Development of the skills and abilities of the decision makers to utilise techniques, interpret measures and relate them to their own business needs is increasingly important. The preliminary investigations described in this paper indicate that farmers and farm managers are aware of business management techniques but do not appear to integrate them fully into their own businesses.Farm Management, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Technology rich learning spaces - opportunities and risks

In this workshop participants explore the potential of the technology rich group learning spaces such as those in Bournemouth University’s SCONUL Library Design Award winning The Sir Michael Cobham Library. The development of these spaces was informed by the research undertaken by Educause1 and the outcomes of Bournemouth’s eRes2,3, which focussed on the pedagogies influencing e-learning with e-resources. Participants will be assigned to groups and each group will be presented with different profiles such as netgen4 and digital immigrant 5. The concept of technology rich learning space will be introduced before the groups engage in a “learning activity” to consider the relationships between technology, space and learning outcomes. The group will then identify and share opportunities and challenges from the student and staff perspective. This workshop was successfully used in November 2008 with Bournemouth University’s PGCert students, who have already begun to incorporate the opportunities presented by technology rich learning spaces into their teaching

Positive components of mental health provide significant protection against likelihood of falling in older women over a 13-year period

BACKGROUND: In late life, falls are associated with disability, increased health service utilization and mortality. Physical and psychological risk factors of falls include falls history, grip strength, sedative use, stroke, cognitive impairment, and mental ill-health. Less understood is the role of positive psychological well-being components. This study investigated the protective effect of vitality on the likelihood of falls in comparison to mental and physical health. METHODS: Female participants were drawn from the Dynamic Analyses to Optimise Ageing (DYNOPTA) harmonization project. Participants (n = 11,340) were aged 55-95 years (Mean = 73.68; SD = 4.31) at baseline and observed on up to four occasions for up to 13 years (Mean = 5.30; SD = 2.53). RESULTS: A series of random intercept logistic regression models consistently identified vitality's protective effects on falls as a stronger effect in the reduction of the likelihood of falls than the effect of mental health. Vitality is a significant predictor of falls likelihood even after adjusting for physical health, although the size of effect is substantially explained by its covariance with mental and physical heath. CONCLUSIONS: Vitality has significant protective effects on the likelihood of falls. In comparison with mental health, vitality reported much stronger protective effects on the likelihood to fall in comparison with the risk associated with poor mental health in a large sample of older female adults. Both physical health and mental health account for much of the variance in vitality, but vitality still reports a protective effect on the likelihood of falls.NHMRC (National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia

An Integrative and Socio-Cultural Perspective of Health, Wealth, and Adjustment in Widowhood

Women comprise a larger proportion of the ageing population than men, often outlive their spouses, and face a variety of challenges upon widowhood. Discrete aspects of the health impact of widowhood have been described in the literature; however, the expanse of sociocontextual issues that impact on older women's adjustment is less prominent. We undertook a literature review to synthesize recent research and interventions and identify current trends and gaps in knowledge and services. Although many health, social, cultural, and economic factors impact on recently widowed older women throughout the world, we found that few interventions targeting this population incorporate these factors. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

Moderate agreement between self-reported stroke and hospital-recorded stroke in two cohorts of Australian women: a validation study

Background: Conflicting findings on the validity of self-reported stroke from existing studies creates uncertainty about the appropriateness of using self-reported stroke in epidemiological research. We aimed to compare self-reported stroke against hospital-recorded stroke, and investigate reasons for disagreement. Methods: We included participants from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health born in 1921-26 (n = 1556) and 1946-51 (n = 2119), who were living in New South Wales and who returned all survey questionnaires over a defined period of time. We determined agreement between self-reported and hospitalised stroke by calculating sensitivity, specificity and kappa statistics. We investigated whether characteristics including age, education, area of residence, country of birth, language spoken at home, recent mental health at survey completion and proxy completion of questionnaire were associated with disagreement, using logistic regression analysis to obtain odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: Agreement between self-report and hospital-recorded stroke was fair in older women (kappa 0.35, 95% CI 0.25 to 0.46) and moderate in mid-aged women (0.56, 95% CI 0.37 to 0.75). There was a high proportion with unverified self-reported stroke, partly due to: reporting of transient ischaemic attacks; strokes occurring outside the period of interest; and possible reporting of stroke-like conditions. In the older cohort, a large proportion with unverified stroke had hospital records of other cerebrovascular disease. In both cohorts, higher education was associated with agreement, whereas recent poor mental health was associated with disagreement. Conclusion: Among women who returned survey questionnaires within the period of interest, validity of self-reported stroke was fair to moderate, but is probably underestimated. Agreement between self-report and hospital-recorded stroke was associated with individual characteristics. Where clinically verified stroke data are unavailable, self-report may be a reasonable alternative method of stroke ascertainment for some epidemiological studies