Timing of poverty in childhood and adolescent health: Evidence from the US and UK

Childhood poverty is associated with poorer adolescent health and health behaviours, but the importance of the timing of poverty remains unclear. There may be critical or sensitive periods in early life or early adolescence, or poverty may have cumulative effects throughout childhood. Understanding when poverty is most important can support efficient timing of interventions to raise family income or buffer against the effects of low income, but answers may vary across social contexts. The US and the UK are a useful comparison with similar liberal approaches to cash transfers, but very different approaches to healthcare provision. Utilising data from large population studies in the US (n = 9408; born 1979–1996) and UK (n = 1204; born 1991–1997), this study employs a structured life course approach to compare competing hypotheses about the importance of the timing or pattern of childhood exposure to poverty in predicting adolescent health limitations, symptoms of psychiatric distress, and smoking at age 16 (age 15/16 in US). Household income histories identified experience of poverty (measured as <60% of the national median equivalised income for a given year) in early life (ages 0–5), mid-childhood (ages 6–10) and early adolescence (ages 11–15). The Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) compared fit across models with variables representing different life course patterns of exposure to poverty. Adolescent distress was not associated with poverty in either country. In both countries, however, variables representing cumulative or persistent experiences of poverty exhibited optimal fit of all poverty exposure variables in predicting adolescent smoking and health limitations. There was also evidence of an early life sensitive period for smoking in the US. Poverty was more persistent in the US, but associations between poverty and outcomes were consistent across countries. Although poverty can have cumulative effects on health and behaviour, early interventions may offer the best long-term protection

(Re)reading Afghanistan through the Lens of Securitisation Theory

This article explores practices of (de)securitisation in a setting where securitisation, violence and legitimacy interact in complex ways. It is argued that in such settings (de)securitisations need to be analysed in relation to the complexities of violence and security on the ground and to the way that these are tied to local modalities of legitimisation and delegitimisation. In the highly fragmented Afghan setting, processes of (de)securitisation appear in a context where existing patterns of authority are constantly (re)negotiated and political order is in a continuous process of violent transformation. Conceptually, this suggests the need for a distinctly non-linear and relational reading of securitisation dynamics that challenges the way securitisation theory has traditionally been understood

Substance Use-Associated Infant Maltreatment Report Rates in the Context of Complex Prenatal Substance Use Policy Environments

State responses to substance use during pregnancy have included policies designed to increase access to substance use treatment as well as punish such substance use. Prior research has found that punitive policies are associated with increased rates of child maltreatment reporting, but it is unclear if the presence of punitive-promoting policies also moderate the association between access-promoting polices and maltreatment reports. Using data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System and state-level fixed effects models, this study investigates how interactions between access-promoting and punitive prenatal substance use policies are associated with rates of substance use-associated maltreatment reports among infants. In states with punitive policies, access-promoting policies were associated with smaller decreases in these reports than in states without punitive policies. In some cases, access-promoting policies were associated with greater increases in these reports when punitive policies were also present than when only one type of policy was adopted. Interactions between prenatal substance use policies may result in unintended and counterproductive consequences for maternal and child health and the child welfare system

Towards multimodal detection of melanoma thickness based on optical coherence tomography and optoacoustics

Melanoma skin cancer has one of the highest mortality rates of all types of cancer if not detected at an early stage. The survival rate is highly dependent on its penetration depth, which is commonly determined by histopathology. In this work, we aim at combining optical coherence tomography and optoacoustic as a non-invasive all-optical method to measure the penetration depth of melanoma. We present our recent achievements to setup a handheld multimodal device and also results from first in vivo measurements on healthy and cancerous skin tissue, which are compared to measurements obtained by ultrasound and histopathology. © 2016 SPIE

Adverse childhood experiences and substance use across diverse neighborhoods

Adverse childhood experiences (e.g., abuse, substance abuse or mental illness in the household, incarceration of a family member) have gained prominence in the medical and epidemiological literature in recent years due in part to the implications these experiences have for later adult health. One pathway by which adverse childhood experiences influence later health is through the development of problematic health behaviors that serve as coping mechanisms, such as drinking alcohol and smoking. Individuals typically initiate these behaviors in one form or another during adolescence, a time of experimentation and increased autonomy. Accordingly, the first aim of this study analyzes the extent to which adverse childhood experiences are linked with later substance use during adolescence and the transition to adulthood. In addition to the household environment, neighborhood context may also play a role in adolescents’ substance use behaviors. Protective resources in youth’s neighborhood, such as collective efficacy, might buffer the effects of growing up in a troubled household, although other neighborhood environments may contribute to youth’s substance use. The second aim of this study explores how the neighborhood social context moderates the association between adverse childhood experiences and later substance use. Lastly, as substance use shows systematic age-related patterns, the third aim of this study tests if the foregoing relationships vary by age. This study uses the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods data to estimate multi-level models predicting three health behaviors during adolescence: drinking, cigarette smoking, and drug use. Results showed consistent associations between adverse childhood experiences and the amount of cigarettes smoked and the likelihood of illicit drug use, although not the amount of days drunk in the past year. Second, neighborhood interaction effects operated unexpectedly so that some neighborhood resources increased substance use among youth with adverse childhood experiences. Third, adverse childhood experiences and neighborhood resources were the most salient for substance use at the older ages. This examination of how childhood experiences relates to substance use behaviors in adolescence provides additional insight into the family and neighborhood contexts of adolescent substance use as well as how adverse childhood experiences matter across the life course.Sociolog

Better Names for Phosphate and Potash

Expressing the phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) content of fertilizer in the elemental form will place these two nutrients on the same basis as nitrogen (N) and other nutrients already expressed in elemental form

Modern Farmers Need to Be -Accountants in the Cornfield

By coupling soil-test results with knowledge of crop sequence and plant nutrients carried over, added by manures, and removed or added by crops, you can eliminate more and more of the guesswork in crop fertilization

What Is a Soil Test?

Soil tests can be made in several ways; some are better than others. Fully as important as the methods, however, is how well fertilizer recommendations based on soil-test results are related to actual crop responses in the field