The Effect of Health and Penal Harm on Aging Female Prisoners' Views of Dying in Prison

With tougher sentencing laws, an increasing number of individuals are finding themselves spending their final years in life in prison. Drawing on a sample of 327 women over the age of 50 incarcerated in 5 Southern states, the present study investigates the relationship between numerous health variables and the Templer Death Anxiety Scale (TDAS). Qualitatively, the article also provides personal accounts from inmates that serve to reinforce death fears when engaging the prison health care system. Participants reported a mean of 6.40 on the TDAS indicating a substantial degree of death and anxiety when compared to community samples. both mental and physical health measures were important indicators of death anxiety. Qualitative information discovered that respondents' concerns about dying in prison were often influenced by the perceived lack of adequate health care and the indifference of prison staff and other instances of penal harm.

Holocene “turn-on” and evolution of the Southern Great Barrier Reef: Revisiting reef cores from the Capricorn Bunker Group

Extensive drilling of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) in the 70s and 80s illuminated the main factors controlling reef growth during the Holocene. However, questions remain about: (1) the precise nature and timing of reef "turnon" or initiation, (2) whether consistent spatio-temporal patterns occur in the bio-sedimentologic response of the reef to Holocene sea-level rise then stability, and (3) how these factors are expressed in the context of the different evolutionary states (juvenile-mature-senile reefs). Combining 21 new C14-AMS and 146 existing recalibrated radiocarbon and U/Th ages, we investigated the detailed spatial and temporal variations in sedimentary facies and coralgal assemblages in fifteen cores across four reefs (Wreck, Fairfax, One Tree and Fitzroy) from the Southern GBR. Our newly defined facies and assemblages record distinct chronostratigraphic patterns in the cores, displaying both lateral zonation across the different reefs and shallowing upwards sequences, characterised by a transition from deep (Porites/faviids) to shallow (Acropora/Isopora) coral types. The revised reef accretion curves show a significant lag period, ranging from 0.7-2 ka, between flooding of the antecedent Pleistocene substrate and Holocene reef turn-on. This lag period and dominance of more environmentally tolerant early colonizers (e.g., domal Porites and faviids), suggests initial conditions that were unfavourable for coral growth. We contend that higher input of fine siliciclastic material from regional terrigenous sources, exposure to hydrodynamic forces and colonisation in deeper waters are the main factors influencing initially reduced growth and development. All four reefs record a time lag and we argue that the size and shape of the antecedent platform is most important in determining the duration between flooding and recolonisation of the Holocene reef. Finally, our study of Capricorn Bunker Group Holocene reefs suggests that the size and shape of the antecedent substrate has a greater impact on reef evolution and final evolutionary state (mature vs. senile), than substrate depth alone. 

Causes and five-year incidence of blindness and visual impairment in urban southern China:The Liwan Eye Study

PURPOSE. We determined the causes and five-year incidence of blindness and visual impairment (VI) in an adult, urban Chinese population. METHODS. Participants underwent a comprehensive eye examination at baseline in 2003 and then five years later. The World Health Organization (WHO) and United States (US) definitions were used to define incident blindness (WHO visual acuity [VA] < 20/400 in the better-seeing eye, US VA ≤ 20/200) and incident VI (WHO VA < 20/60-20/400, US VA < 20/40->20/200). RESULTS. Among 1405 baseline participants, 924 (75%) of 1232 survivors (87.7%) participated in the 5-year follow-up. The incidences of VI and blindness were 5.38% (95% confidence interval [CI] 3.99% ~ 7.07%) and 0.33% (95% CI 0.07% ~ 0.95%), respectively, based on the WHO definition, and 9.85% (95% CI 7.96% ~ 12.0%) and 1.42% (95% CI 0.76% ~ 2.41%), respectively, based on the US definition. Incidence of blindness and VI (WHO definition) increased significantly with older age (P < 0.001) and poorer baseline presenting VA in the worse-seeing eye (P < 0.001). The leading cause of best-corrected VI (WHO definition) was cataract (64.6%), whereas the main causes of presenting VI were refractive error (40.4%) and cataract (38.4%). CONCLUSIONS. The incidence of VI in urban Southern China is high. The major causes are unoperated cataract and undercorrected refractive error, reflecting the need for better surgical and refractive care, even in this urban setting. © 2013 The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc.

Reversal in gender valuations of cataract surgery after the implementation of free screening and low-priced high-quality surgery in a rural population of southern China.

PURPOSE: To assess the impact of community outreach and the availability of low-cost surgeries [500 Renminbi (RMB) or 65 United States dollars (US$) per surgery] on the willingness to pay for cataract surgery among male and female rural-dwelling Chinese.METHODS: Cross-sectional willingness-to-pay surveys were conducted at the initiation of a cataract outreach programme in June 2001 and then again in July 2006. Respondents underwent visual acuity testing and provided socio-demographic data.RESULTS: In 2001 and 2006, 325 and 303 subjects, respectively, were interviewed. On average the 2006 sample subjects were of similar age, more likely to be female (p < 0.01), illiterate (p < 0.01), and less likely to come from a household with annual income of less than US$789 (62% vs. 87%, p < 0.01). Familiarity with cataract surgery increased from 21.2% to 44.4% over the 5 years for male subjects (p < 0.01) and 15.8%-44.4% among females (p < 0.01). The proportion of respondents willing to pay at least 500 RMB for surgery increased from 67% to 88% (p < 0.01) among male subjects and from 50% to 91% (p < 0.01) among females.CONCLUSIONS: Five years of access to free cataract testing and low-cost surgery programmes appears to have improved the familiarity with cataract surgery and increased the willingness to pay at least 500 RMB (US$65) for it in this rural population. Elderly women are now as likely as men to be willing to pay at least 500 RMB, reversing gender differences present 5 years ago.