Dangerous Exits: The Abuse of Women in Rural America

Decade after decade, violence against women has gained more attention from scholars, policy makers, and the general public. Social scientists in particular have contributed significant empirical and theoretical understandings to this issue. Strikingly, scant attention has focused on the victimization of women who want to leave their hostile partners. This groundbreaking work challenges the perception that rural communities are safe havens from the brutality of urban living. Identifying hidden crimes of economic blackmail and psychological mistreatment, and the complex relationship between patriarchy and abuse, Walter S. DeKeseredy and Martin D. Schwartz propose concrete and effective solutions, giving voice to women who have often suffered in silence.

A prospective study of pregnancy weight gain in Australian women

Background: While weight gain during pregnancy is regarded as important, there has not been a prospective study of measured weight gain in pregnancy in Australia. This study aimed to prospectively evaluate pregnancy-related weight gain against the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommendations in women receiving antenatal care in a setting where ongoing weight monitoring is not part of routine clinical practice, to describe women's knowledge of weight gain recommendations and to describe the health professional advice received relating to gestational weight gain (GWG). Methods: Pregnant women were recruited ≤20 weeks of gestation (n = 664) from a tertiary obstetric hospital between August 2010 to July 2011 for this prospective observational study. Outcome measures were weight gain from pre-pregnancy to 36 weeks of gestation, weight gain knowledge and health professional advice received. Results: Thirty-six percent of women gained weight according to guidelines. Twenty-six percent gained inadequate weight, and 38% gained excess weight. Fifty-six percent of overweight women gained weight in excess of the IOM guidelines compared with 30% of those who started with a healthy weight (P < 0.001). At 16 weeks, 47% of participants were unsure of the weight gain recommendations for them. Sixty-two percent of women reported that the health professionals caring for them during this pregnancy ‘never’ or ‘rarely’ offered advice about how much weight to gain. Conclusions: The prevalence of inappropriate gestational weight gain in this study was high. The majority of women do not know their recommended weight gain. The advice women received from health professionals relating to healthy weight gain in pregnancy could be improved.

Weight gain and nutritional intake in obese pregnant women : some clues for intervention

Aim:  Maternal obesity is associated with increased risk of adverse outcomes for mothers and offspring. Strategies to better manage maternal obesity are urgently needed; however, there is little evidence to assist the development of nutrition interventions during antenatal care. The present study aimed to assess maternal weight gain and dietary intakes of overweight and obese women participating in an exercise trial. Results will assist the development of interventions for the management of maternal overweight and obesity. Methods:  Fifty overweight and obese pregnant women receiving antenatal care were recruited and provided dietary and weight data at baseline (12 weeks), 28 weeks, 36 weeks gestation and 6 weeks post-partum. Data collected were compared with current nutritional and weight gain recommendations. Associations used Pearson's correlation coefficient, and ANOVA assessed dietary changes over time, P < 0.05. Results:  Mean prepregnancy body mass index was 34.4 ± 6.6 kg/m2. Gestational weight gain was 10.6 ± 6 kg with a wide range (−4.1 to 23.0 kg). 52% of women gained excessive weight (>11.5 kg for overweight and >9 kg for obese women). Gestational weight gain correlated with post-partum weight retention (P < 0.001). Dietary intakes did not change significantly during pregnancy. No women achieved dietary fat or dietary iron recommendations, only 11% achieved adequate dietary folate, and 38% achieved adequate dietary calcium. Very few women achieved recommended food group servings for pregnancy, with 83% consuming excess servings of non-core foods. Conclusion:  Results provide evidence that early intervention and personalised support for obese pregnant women may help achieve individualised goals for maternal weight gain and dietary adequacy, but this needs to be tested in a clinical setting.

Are we missing opportunities? Understanding health behaviours associated with overweight in pregnancy

While maternal obesity, excess pregnancy weight gain and lifestyle behaviours are associated with future overweight for both mothers and babies, there is limited research on how best to intervene. An evidence base that identifies behavioural influences is crucial to the development of effective interventions. This thesis aims to gain an understanding of maternal behavioural outcomes of healthy eating, physical activity and gestational weight gain (GWG), the psychosocial influences on these and to examine differences according to pre-pregnancy weight status. The New Beginnings Healthy Mothers and Babies Study was a prospective observational study using the PRECEDE-PROCEED model of health promotion planning as a framework. A consecutive sample of 715 women was recruited. Height and weight were measured and women completed questionnaires at approximately 16 and 36 weeks gestation. This thesis presents three chapters of original research across four study domains. While healthy eating was widely regarded as important during pregnancy and had become more so, there was more variability in attitudes towards physical activity. Ninety-two percent of participants achieved the maximum knowledge score relating to the influence of nutrition on pregnancy. However, 8% and 36% respectively knew how many serves of fruit and vegetables should be consumed daily. Six percent of participants met the recommendations for fruit consumption, 4% achieved the recommended vegetable intake and 44% achieved sufficient physical activity. There were few differences between healthy and overweight women for measures of physical activity and healthy eating. Many predisposing, reinforcing and enabling factors with a positive influence on health behaviours were lower in women commencing pregnancy overweight and those factors with a negative influence on health behaviours were higher when compared to healthy weight women. Some of these antecedents to health behaviours that were different according to prepregnancy weight status were associated with diet quality and physical activity. While self efficacy was consistently associated with diet quality and physical activity for both weight groups, other associations between specific predisposing, reinforcing and enabling factors differed with behaviour and weight status group. These results highlight the complexity of supporting behaviour change in a one-size-fits-all approach. Sixty-four percent of participants gained weight outside of recommendations. Compared to healthy weight women, those women who were already overweight at the beginning of pregnancy were more likely to gain too much weight (30% vs 56%, p<0.001). Only 35% of participants reported their correct recommended weight gain. Excess GWG was associated with few predisposing factors, however, these were not consistent between prepregnancy weight status groups. Less than 50% of women reported sometimes/usually/always receiving advice from health professionals relating to healthy eating, physical activity or GWG. These results indicate that there are opportunities to improve the advice and support provided by health care professionals in the antenatal period. Evidence from this PhD research suggests that there is a need for effective prevention and management of excess weight in pregnancy. Effective management of this problem is likely to require a multidisciplinary approach with multi-level strategies. Importantly, the strategies may need to be tailored according to pre-pregnancy weight status. Collectively, the evidence derived from this thesis suggests that opportunities to support healthy lifestyles and prevent future overweight are being missed during pregnancy.

Supporting context-aware process design : learnings from a design science study

Recent studies have started to explore context-awareness as a driver in the design of adaptable business processes. The emerging challenge of identifying and considering contextual drivers in the environment of a business process are well understood, however, typical methods and models for business process design do not yet consider this context. In this paper, we describe our work on the design of a method framework and appropriate models to enable a context-aware process design approach. We report on our ongoing work with an Australian insurance provider and describe the design science we employed to develop innovative and useful artifacts as part of a context-aware method framework. We discuss the utility of these artifacts in an application in the claims handling process at the case organization.

Spectroscopic characterization of manganese minerals

Manganese minerals ardenite, alleghanyite and leucopoenicite originated from Madhya Pradesh, India, Nagano prefecture Japan, Sussex Country and Parker Shaft Franklin, Sussex Country, New Jersey respectively are used in the present work. In these minerals manganese is the major constituent and iron if present is in traces only. An EPR study of on all of the above samples confirms the presence of Mn(II) with g around 2.0. Optical absorption spectrum of the mineral alleghanyite indicates that Mn(II) is present in two different octahedral sites and in leucophoenicite Mn(II) is also in octahedral geometry. Ardenite mineral gives only a few Mn(II) bands. NIR results of the minerals ardenite, leucophoenicite and alleghanyite are due to hydroxyl and silicate anions which confirming the formulae of the minerals.

Homeostatic epistemology : reliability, coherence and coordination in a Bayesian virtue epistemology

How do agents with limited cognitive capacities flourish in informationally impoverished or unexpected circumstances? Aristotle argued that human flourishing emerged from knowing about the world and our place within it. If he is right, then the virtuous processes that produce knowledge, best explain flourishing. Influenced by Aristotle, virtue epistemology defends an analysis of knowledge where beliefs are evaluated for their truth and the intellectual virtue or competences relied on in their creation. However, human flourishing may emerge from how degrees of ignorance are managed in an uncertain world. Perhaps decision-making in the shadow of knowledge best explains human wellbeing—a Bayesian approach? In this dissertation I argue that a hybrid of virtue and Bayesian epistemologies explains human flourishing—what I term homeostatic epistemology. Homeostatic epistemology supposes that an agent has a rational credence p when p is the product of reliable processes aligned with the norms of probability theory; whereas an agent knows that p when a rational credence p is the product of reliable processes such that: 1) p meets some relevant threshold for belief (such that the agent acts as though p were true and indeed p is true), 2) p coheres with a satisficing set of relevant beliefs and, 3) the relevant set of beliefs is coordinated appropriately to meet the integrated aims of the agent. Homeostatic epistemology recognizes that justificatory relationships between beliefs are constantly changing to combat uncertainties and to take advantage of predictable circumstances. Contrary to holism, justification is built up and broken down across limited sets like the anabolic and catabolic processes that maintain homeostasis in the cells, organs and systems of the body. It is the coordination of choristic sets of reliably produced beliefs that create the greatest flourishing given the limitations inherent in the situated agent.

Taming the terabytes : a human-centered approach to surviving the information deluge

A fear of imminent information overload predates the World Wide Web by decades. Yet, that fear has never abated. Worse, as the World Wide Web today takes the lion’s share of the information we deal with, both in amount and in time spent gathering it, the situation has only become more precarious. This chapter analyses new issues in information overload that have emerged with the advent of the Web, which emphasizes written communication, defined in this context as the exchange of ideas expressed informally, often casually, as in verbal language. The chapter focuses on three ways to mitigate these issues. First, it helps us, the users, to be more specific in what we ask for. Second, it helps us amend our request when we don't get what we think we asked for. And third, since only we, the human users, can judge whether the information received is what we want, it makes retrieval techniques more effective by basing them on how humans structure information. This chapter reports on extensive experiments we conducted in all three areas. First, to let users be more specific in describing an information need, they were allowed to express themselves in an unrestricted conversational style. This way, they could convey their information need as if they were talking to a fellow human instead of using the two or three words typically supplied to a search engine. Second, users were provided with effective ways to zoom in on the desired information once potentially relevant information became available. Third, a variety of experiments focused on the search engine itself as the mediator between request and delivery of information. All examples that are explained in detail have actually been implemented. The results of our experiments demonstrate how a human-centered approach can reduce information overload in an area that grows in importance with each day that passes. By actually having built these applications, I present an operational, not just aspirational approach.

An observational study of nutrition and physical activity behaviours, knowledge, and advice in pregnancy

Maternal obesity, excess weight gain and lifestyle behaviours during pregnancy have been associated with future overweight and other adverse health outcomes for mothers and babies. This study compared the nutrition and physical activity behaviours of Australian healthy (BMI ≤ 25 k/m2) and overweight (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) pregnant women and described their knowledge and receipt of health professional advice early in pregnancy. Methods Pregnant women (n=58) aged 29±5 (mean±s.d.) years were recruited at 16±2 weeks gestation from an Australian metropolitan hospital. Height and weight were measured using standard procedures and women completed a self administered semi-quantitative survey. Results Healthy and overweight women had very similar levels of knowledge, behaviour and levels of advice provided except where specifically mentioned. Only 8% and 36% of participants knew the correct recommended daily number of fruit and vegetable serves respectively. Four percent of participants ate the recommended 5 serves/day of vegetables. Overweight women were less likely than healthy weight women to achieve the recommended fruit intake (4% vs. 8%, p=0.05), and more likely to consume soft drinks or cordial (55% vs 43%, p=0.005) and take away foods (37% vs. 25%, p=0.002) once a week or more. Less than half of all women achieved sufficient physical activity. Despite 80% of women saying they would have liked education about nutrition, physical activity and weight gain, particularly at the beginning of pregnancy, less than 50% were given appropriate advice regarding healthy eating and physical activity. Conclusion Healthy pregnancy behaviour recommendations were not being met, with overweight women less likely to meet some of the recommendations. Knowledge of dietary recommendations was poor and health care professional advice was limited. There are opportunities to improve the health care practices and education pregnant women received to improve knowledge and behaviours. Pregnant women appear to want this.

David L. Rosenhan (1929–2012)

Presents an obituary for David L. Rosenhan (1929–2012). A distinguished psychologist and professor emeritus at Stanford University, Rosenhan died February 6, 2012, at the age of 82, after a long illness. Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, on November 22, 1929, he received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics (1951) from Yeshiva College and a master’s degree in economics (1953) and a doctorate in psychology (1958) from Columbia University. A professor of law and of psychology at Stanford University from 1971 until his retirement in 1998, Rosenhan was a pioneer in applying psychological methods to the practice of law, including the examination of expert witnesses, jury selection, and jury deliberation. A former president of the American Psychology–Law Society and of the American Board of Forensic Psychology, Rosenhan was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, of the American Psychological Association, and of the American Psychological Society. Before joining the Stanford Law School faculty, he was a member of the faculties of Swarthmore College, Princeton University, Haverford College, and the University of Pennsylvania. He also served as a research psychologist at the Educational Testing Service. As generations of Stanford students can attest, David Rosenhan was a spellbinding lecturer who managed to convey the sense that he was speaking to each individual, no matter how large the group. To his graduate students, he was consistently encouraging and optimistic, always ready to share a joke or story, and gently encouraging of their creativity and progressive independence as researchers. The lessons he cared most about offering, in the classroom as in his research, were about human dignity and the need to confront abuse of power and human frailties.

Confirmatory factor analysis of the baby eating behaviour questionnaire and associations with infant weight, gender and feeding mode in an Australian sample

The aim of this study was to evaluate the factor structure of the Baby Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (BEBQ) in an Australian community sample of mother-infant dyads. A secondary aim was to explore the relationship between the BEBQ subscales and infant gender, weight and current feeding mode. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) utilising structural equation modelling examined the hypothesised 4-factor model of the BEBQ. Only mothers (N=467) who completed all items on the BEBQ (infant age: M=17 weeks, SD=3 weeks) were included in the analysis. The original 4-factor model did not provide an acceptable fit to the data due to poor performance of the Satiety responsiveness factor. Removal of this factor (3 items) resulted in a well-fitting 3-factor model. Cronbach’s α was acceptable for the Enjoyment of food (α=0.73), Food responsiveness (α=0.78) and Slowness in eating (α=0.68) subscales but low for the Satiety responsiveness (α=0.56) subscale. Enjoyment of food was associated with higher infant weight whereas Slowness in eating and Satiety responsiveness were both associated with lower infant weight. Differences on all four subscales as a function of feeding mode were observed. This study is the first to use CFA to evaluate the hypothesised factor structure of the BEBQ. Findings support further development work on the Satiety responsiveness subscale in particular, but confirm the utility of the Enjoyment of food, Food responsiveness and Slowness in eating subscales.