Crown structural properties, wood density, and liana load: influence on growth and mortality in subtropical forests

Wood density (WD) and other wood mechanical and structural properties may have a strong functional relationship with demographic patterns and allometry of trees. We analyzed the influence of WD, structural properties, architectural traits, and community-level attributes on growth rates (GRs) and mortality modes of canopy tree species in a subtropical forest of Argentina. Stem WD and the WD, strength, stiffness, toughness, and hardness of branches were measured in 10 canopy species. Architectural traits and liana load were also determined. Strength and hardness of branches were linearly correlated to branch WD, and GRs were linearly correlated to stem WD across species. At the individual level, trees with greater hardness and toughness in branches died mostly uprooted, and trees with greater branch stiffness and susceptibility to colonization by lianas were mostly broken. At the community level, the suppressed trees died mostly broken. The dominant trees with high local tree density died mostly broken, whereas more isolated trees died mostly uprooted. Mortality modes were determined not only by mechanical properties, but also by community properties such as liana load, crown canopy position, and number of neighboring trees. Other biophysical traits besides WD are important explanatory variables when dry wood is used to describe functional characteristics of trees.

Download Full-text

Individual and community-level factors influencing optimal breastfeeding: A multilevel analysis from a national survey study in Ethiopia

10.21203/rs.2.13720/v1 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Amanuel Hagos ◽

Mache Tsadik ◽

Abate Bekele ◽

Afewerki Tesfahunegn

Keyword(s):

Child Death ◽

Random Effect ◽

Wealth Index ◽

Community Level ◽

Survey Study ◽

Hierarchical Level ◽

Individual Level ◽

Explanatory Variables ◽

Variation Explained ◽

The Individual

Abstract Background Optimal breastfeeding is critical for healthy growth. Despite this about 820,000 children and 20,000 women lost due to inappropriate breastfeeding each year globally. In Ethiopia, about 50,000 children lost related to malnutrition. Of these, about 18% of child death is contributed by poor breastfeeding habit. Many studies reported the individual-level factors; however, little is known about the determinants of breastfeeding at the hierarchical level. Therefore, this study aimed to identify factors associated with optimal breastfeeding among children age 0-5 month in Ethiopia using multilevel analysis.Methods A five-year representative survey study was conducted to assess the determinants of optimal breastfeeding among 1,087 children aged 0-5 months using the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey data (EDHS). Both bivariate and multivariable multilevel logistic regression analysis were done to identify significant explanatory variables. Fixed effect and random effect were done to estimate the association between the dependent and explanatory variable and to measure the variation explained by the higher level respectively.Results Among the total of 1,087 children, only 45.4% of optimally breastfed. Children aged 4-5 months (AOR =0.19; 95%CI: 0.12-0.27), children from richest wealth index (AOR=2.87; 95% CI: 1.53- 5.43), children born through cesarean section and residing in Afar region were found significantly associated with optimal breastfeeding. The random-effects showed that the variation between communities was statistically significant.Conclusion Both individual and community level factors play a significant role in shaping optimal breastfeeding. Future strategies and health interventions should target individual and community level factors that enhance optimal breastfeeding.

Download Full-text

Less than one-fifth of the mothers practised exclusive breastfeeding in the emerging regions of Ethiopia: a multilevel analysis of the 2016 Ethiopian demographic and health survey

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/s12889-020-10071-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Tsegaye Gebremedhin ◽

Demiss Mulatu Geberu ◽

Asmamaw Atnafu

Keyword(s):

Health Survey ◽

Exclusive Breastfeeding ◽

Household Wealth ◽

Community Level ◽

Wealth Status ◽

Individual Level ◽

Factors Associated ◽

Breastfeeding Practices ◽

The Individual ◽

Low Coverage

Abstract Background The burden of low coverage of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) has a significant impact on the health of a newborn and also on the family and social economy in the long term. Even though the prevalence of EBF practices in Ethiopia is low, the practices in the pastoral communities, in particular, are significantly low and affected by individual and community-level factors. Besides, its adverse outcomes are mostly unrecognised. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the individual and community-level factors of low coverage of EBF practices in the emerging regions of Ethiopia. Methods In this analysis, data from 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) were used. A two-stage stratified sampling technique was used to identify 1406 children aged 0 to 23 months in the emerging regions of Ethiopia. A multilevel mixed-effect binary logistic regression analysis was used to determine the individual and community level factors associated with exclusive breastfeeding practices. In the final model, variables with a p-value of < 0.05 and Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) with 95% Confidence Interval (CI) were found to be statistically significant factors that affect exclusive breastfeeding practices. Results Overall, 17.6% (95% CI: 15.6–19.6) of the children aged 0 to 23 months have received exclusive breastfeeding. Employed mothers (AOR: 0.33, 95% CI: 0.21–0.53), richer household wealth status (AOR: 0.39, 95% CI: 0.16–0.96), mothers undecided to have more children (AOR: 2.29, 95% CI: 1.21–4.29), a child with a history of diarrhoea (AOR: 0.31, 95% CI: 0.16–0.61) were the individual-level factors, whereas Benishangul region (AOR: 2.63, 95% CI: 1.44–4.82) was the community-level factors associated with the exclusive breastfeeding practices. Conclusions Less than one-fifth of the mothers have practised exclusive breastfeeding in the emerging regions of Ethiopia. The individual-level factors such as mother’s employment status, household wealth status, desire for more children, presence of diarrhoea and community-level factors such as region have contributed to the low coverage of exclusive breastfeeding. Therefore, the federal and regional health bureaus and other implementers should emphasise to those emerging regions by creating awareness and strengthening the existing community-based health extension program to enhance exclusive breastfeeding practices.

Download Full-text

Individual-level and community-level factors associated with the family planning use among pastoralist community of Ethiopia: a community-based cross-sectional study

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2019-036519 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (9) ◽

pp. e036519 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mussie Alemayehu ◽

Araya Abrha Medhanyie ◽

Elizabeth Reed ◽

Afework Mulugeta

Keyword(s):

Family Planning ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Married Women ◽

Community Level ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Community Based ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Individual Level ◽

Pastoralist Community ◽

The Individual

ObjectiveThe study aimed to identify the effects of the individual-level and community-level factors on the use of family planning (FP) among married women in the pastoralist community of Ethiopia.DesignA community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in September 2018. Data were analysed using R software. To determine the fixed effect of individual-level and community-level factors of FP use, a two-level mixed-effects logistic regression was used. The result was described using the Adjusted OR (AOR), and the variance partition coefficient.Setting and participantsAfar, Ethiopia (2018; n=891) married women of reproductive age (15–49) years.Primary outcome measuresFP use or non-use.ResultsThe current use of FP was 18.7% (16.31%–21.43%). Women who need to walk 1 hour and more to the nearest health facility (AOR 0.14, 95% CI 0.05 to 0.3), have ANC visit of 4 and above (AOR 6.02, 95% CI 1.74 to 20.8), had their last birth at a health facility (AOR 2.71 95% CI 1.27 to 5.81), have five and more children (AOR 4.71, 95% CI 1.86 to 11.9), have high knowledge on FP (AOR 2.74, 95% CI 1.11 to 6.74) and had high intentions to use FP (AOR 10.3, 95% CI 3.85 to 27.6) were more likely to report FP use. The magnitude of the effect of for FP use was smaller than that of 9 of the 13 individual factors. Apart from this 19.4% of the total variance in the odds of using FP attributed to between community difference (intraclass correlation coefficient=0.194). Regarding the community-level characteristics, clusters of having higher electronic media possession (AOR 2.84, 95% CI 1.2 to 6.72) and higher women decision making on FP (AOR 8.35, 95% CI 2.7 to 27.1) were significantly associated with increased FP use compared with clusters with lower reports of these aspects.ConclusionFP use among the pastoralist community is influenced by both individual cluster/community-level characteristics or factors. Even though the effect of clustering in FP use was large in comparison with the unexplained between-cluster variation, it was lower than the individual-level factors.Trail registrtion numberNCT03450564

Download Full-text

Game of hypocrites: Beurs break silence in Faïza Guène’s Kiffe kiffe demain

French Cultural Studies ◽

10.1177/0957155819861039 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 30 (4) ◽

pp. 335-346

Author(s):

Nour Seblini

Keyword(s):

Community Level ◽

Immigrant Community ◽

Individual Level ◽

French Culture ◽

Cultural Crisis ◽

Younger Generation ◽

The Individual

This article analyses the cultural crisis of beur youth by calling attention, in Faïza Guène’s novel, Kiffe kiffe demain (2004), to how Maghrebi immigrants as well as the French state attempt to manipulate young bodies and minds. The struggle that underlies the narrative is an exploitation of Islam within France’s Moroccan immigrant community to preserve honneur at the immigrant community level, while enjoying bonheur at the individual level. As religion is used to subjugate the younger generation, Islam loses credibility in the eyes of beurs. I also seek to explore how la laïcité of French culture marginalises individuals who do not accept assimilation into a superior racist system that is based on an exclusionary notion of citizenship. Who falls victim in the end? It is the young beur, who cannot tolerate the extremism of either French Orientalist views or their parents’ Occidentalist views.

Download Full-text

Unbalanced bilingual acquisition as a mechanism of grammatical change

Bilingualism Language and Cognition ◽

10.1017/s1366728910000593 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 159-161 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

STEPHEN MATTHEWS ◽

VIRGINIA YIP

Keyword(s):

Language Acquisition ◽

Language Change ◽

First Language ◽

Community Level ◽

First Language Acquisition ◽

Individual Level ◽

Grammatical Change ◽

The Individual

Bilingual first language acquisition (BFLA) has been considered a possible mechanism of contact-induced change in several recent studies (Siegel, 2008, p. 117; Satterfield, 2005, p. 2075; Thomason, 2001, p. 148; Yip & Matthews, 2007, p.15). There is as yet little consensus on the question, with divergent views regarding both BFLA at the individual level and the implications for language change at the community level.

Download Full-text

The Dubai Community Psychiatric Survey: acculturation and the prevalence of psychiatric disorder

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291700026891 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 121-131 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

R. Ghubash ◽

E. Hamdi ◽

P. Bebbington

Keyword(s):

Social Change ◽

Cultural Change ◽

Psychiatric Morbidity ◽

Community Level ◽

Gulf Region ◽

Individual Level ◽

Oil Reserves ◽

Community Psychiatric ◽

The Social ◽

The Individual

SynopsisDubai, an Emirate in the Gulf region, has experienced spectacular social change as a result of the exploitation of its oil reserves. The Dubai Community Psychiatric Survey was designed to study the effects of this social change on the mental health of female nationals.In this paper, we approach the problem by quantifying social change in two main ways: the first focused on social change at the individual level as measured by the Socio-cultural Change Questionnaire (Bebbington et al. 1993). The second examined the effect of social change at the community level by identifying areas of residence at different levels of development. We hypothesized that attitudes and behaviours markedly at odds with traditional prescriptions would be associated with high rates of psychiatric morbidity.On the individual level, the association between psychiatric morbidity and the amount of social change reflected in the behaviours and views of the subjects was not significant. However, there was a significant association between morbidity and between social attitudes and behaviours. At the community level, in contrast, the relationship between psychiatric morbidity and social change was significant: there was more psychiatric morbidity in areas at the extremes of the social change continuum. The hypothesis put forward in this study must be modified accordingly.

Download Full-text

Examining the Impact of Individual, Community, and Market Factors on Methamphetamine Use: A Tale of Two Cities

Journal of Drug Issues ◽

10.1177/002204260503500402 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 35 (4) ◽

pp. 665-693 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Nancy Rodriguez ◽

Charles Katz ◽

Vincent J. Webb ◽

David R. Schaefer

Keyword(s):

Drug Market ◽

Community Level ◽

Policy Implications ◽

Individual Level ◽

Methamphetamine Use ◽

Level Data ◽

Two Cities ◽

Market Factors ◽

The Individual ◽

The Impact

Although prior studies have monitored the trends in methamphetamine use and reported its increase over the years, few studies have considered how community-level characteristics affect the use of methamphetamine. In this study, we utilize data from the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program from two cities to examine how individual-level, community-level, and drug market factors influence methamphetamine use. Results indicate that both individual and community-level data significantly influence methamphetamine use. Also, findings show that predictors of methamphetamine use (at the individual and community-level) differ significantly from marijuana, cocaine, and opiate use. Policy implications regarding law enforcement suppression and the treatment of methamphetamine users are discussed.

Download Full-text

Title: Determinants of Minimum Acceptable Diet among 6–23 Months Age Children in Ethiopia: A Multilevel Analysis of The Ethiopian Demographic Health Survey

10.1101/393678 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Aberash abay ◽

Dejen Yemane ◽

Abate Bekele ◽

Beyene Meressa

Keyword(s):

Logistic Regression ◽

Health Survey ◽

Community Context ◽

Community Level ◽

P Value ◽

Multilevel Logistic Regression ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Nutritional Interventions ◽

Individual Level ◽

The Individual

AbstractBackgroundThough infant and young children should be fed according to a minimum acceptable diet to ensure appropriate growth and development, only 7% of Ethiopian 6-23 months age children meet the minimum acceptable dietary standards, which is lower than the national target of 11% set for 2016. Therefore, this study aims to assess the individual and community level determinants of minimum acceptable diet among 6–23 months age children in Ethiopia.MethodsThis study analyzed retrospectively a cross-sectional data on a weighted sample of 2919 children aged 6-23 months nested within 617 clusters after extracting from Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey 2016 via the link www.measuredhs.com. By employing bi-variate multilevel logistic regression model, variables which were significant at the p-value < 25 were included in multivariable multilevel logistic regression analysis. Finally, variables with p-value < 0.05 were considered as significant predictors of minimum acceptable diet.ResultsOnly 6.1% of 6-23 months age children feed minimum acceptable diet in Ethiopia. Children 18-23 months age (AOR=3.7, 95%CI 1.9, 7.2), father’s with secondary or higher education (AOR=2.1, 95%CI 1.2, 3.6), Employed mothers (AOR=1.7, 95%CI 1.2, 2.5), mothers have access to drinking water (AOR=1.9, 95%CI 1.2, 2.9), mothers with media exposure (AOR=2.1 95%CI 1.1, 2.7) were positive individual level predictors. Urban mothers (AOR=4.8, 95%CI 1.7, 13.2)) and agrarian dominant region (AOR=5.6, 95%CI 2.2, 14.5) were community level factors that significantly associated with minimum acceptable diet of 6–23 months age children.ConclusionBoth individual and community level factors were significantly associated with minimum acceptable diet of 6-23 months age children in Ethiopia, suggesting that nutritional interventions designed to improve child health should not only be implemented at the individual level but tailored to community context as well.

Download Full-text

INFLUENCE OF INDIVIDUAL AND COMMUNITY-LEVEL ASSOCIATES OF CONTRACEPTIVE USE IN PAKISTAN: A MULTI-LEVEL MIXED EFFECT ANALYSIS (PDHS 2017-18)

Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews ◽

10.18510/hssr.2021.9375 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 764-775

Author(s):

Asifa Kamal ◽

Sadaf Malik ◽

Hafsa Batool ◽

Afza Rasul

Keyword(s):

Mass Media ◽

Women's Education ◽

Contraceptive Use ◽

Media Exposure ◽

Married Women ◽

Community Level ◽

Women’S Empowerment ◽

Individual Level ◽

The Individual ◽

Mass Media Exposure

Purpose of the study: This research aims to investigate the impact of mass media exposure and women's autonomy on the use of contraceptives, along with other potential determinants at the individual level and community level among women in Pakistan. Methodology: Data was extracted from Pakistan Demographic & Health Surveys 2017-18. The sample size included 10,461 non-pregnant and married women from a total of 15,068 ever-married women. The analysis was done using two-level mixed-effects logistic regression for the binary outcome variable, i.e., current contraceptive use (yes/no). Main Findings: Significant factors positively associated with contraceptive use at the individual level were women's education, wealth index, parity, age at first cohabitation, child mortality experience, and mass media exposure. Community attributes like region (Sindh, KPK, Balochistan as compared to Punjab), residence (rural as compared to urban) had an inverse relationship with contraceptive use. At the same time, women's education and an ideal number of children were the significant positive associates. Women's empowerment has though insignificant, but it has a positive impact on the use of contraceptives at both individual and community levels. Applications of this study: Family planning programs can be extended by focusing on women residing in rural settings or in high fertility intentions communities, less educated and unprivileged younger women who had reduced the uptake of contraceptives. An increase in women's access to education, media exposure, employment, and women's empowerment can help attain Pakistan's contraceptive prevalence targets. Novelty/Originality of this study: The current study's effect of individual and community-level factors was investigated using National-level data, mainly focusing on the role of mass media and women's autonomy.

Download Full-text

Community Determinants of Physical Growth and Cognitive Development among Indian Children in Early Childhood: A Multivariate Multilevel Analysis

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17010182 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 182

Author(s):

Jongho Heo ◽

Aditi Krishna ◽

Jessica M. Perkins ◽

Hwa-young Lee ◽

Jong-koo Lee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Development ◽

Child Growth ◽

Community Level ◽

Physical Growth ◽

Indian Children ◽

Individual Level ◽

Math Scores ◽

Mathematics Test ◽

Z Scores ◽

The Individual

Inadequate child physical growth and cognitive development share common individual-level risk factors. Less understood is how outcomes co-cluster at the community level and to what extent certain community-level characteristics influence the clustering. This study aims to quantify the extent to which child growth and development co-occur across communities, and to identify community-level characteristics associated with the clustering of the two development dimensions. We used longitudinal data from 1824 children (aged 5 years) across 98 communities in Andhra Pradesh, India in round 2 (2006) of the Young Lives study, who were followed up 3 years later in round 3 (2009). A multivariate, multilevel statistical model was estimated wherein the responses were nested within individuals, and communities. We used z-scores of height-for-age, weight-for-age, Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, and a mathematics test in 2009 as outcome variables. At the community level, we included compositional variables representing community characteristics while controlling for child socio-demographic characteristics at the individual level. At the community level, children’s physical growth and cognitive development were strongly correlated (coefficient: 0.55–0.76) and, even after controlling for individual-level covariables, a more pronounced correlation was shown at the community level than individual level correlation. Greater local healthcare resources were associated with better physical growth. More local programs run by government and NGOs/charities were associated with higher child language skills. Local social problems were inversely associated with math scores. Our study showed that physical growth and cognitive development tended to be clustered and co-occurred within communities as well as individual children.

Download Full-text