Recordings of the magnetic field from 9,000 years ago teach us about the magnetic field today

Tel Aviv University Research Links Archaeology, Physics, and Geophysics

Peer-Reviewed Publication

TEL-AVIV UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: EXCAVATIONS -TEL TIFDAN/ WADI FIDAN. view more 

CREDIT: THOMAS E. LEVY

International research by Tel Aviv University, the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Rome, and the University of California San Diego uncovered findings regarding the magnetic field that prevailed in the Middle East between approximately 10,000 and 8,000 years ago. Researchers examined pottery and burnt flints from archaeological sites in Jordan, on which the magnetic field during that time period was recorded. Information about the magnetic field during prehistoric times can affect our understanding of the magnetic field today, which has been showing a weakening trend that has been cause for concern among climate and environmental researchers.

 

The research was conducted under the leadership of Prof. Erez Ben-Yosef of the Jacob M. Alkow Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures at Tel Aviv University and Prof. Lisa Tauxe, head of the Paleomagnetic Laboratory at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, in collaboration with other researchers from the University of California at San Diego, Rome and Jordan. The article was published in the journal PNAS.

 

Prof. Ben-Yosef explains, "Albert Einstein characterized the planet's magnetic field as one of the five greatest mysteries of modern physics. As of now, we know a number of basic facts about it: The magnetic field is generated by processes that take place below a depth of approximately 3,000 km beneath the surface of the planet (for the sake of comparison, the deepest human drilling has reached a depth of only 20 km); it protects the planet from the continued bombardment by cosmic radiation and thus allows life as we know it to exist; it is volatile and its strength and direction are constantly shifting, and it is connected to various phenomena in the atmosphere and the planet's ecological system, including – possibly – having a certain impact on climate. Nevertheless, the magnetic field's essence and origins have remained largely unresolved. In our research, we sought to open a peephole into this great riddle."

  

CAPTION

Wadi Fidan

CREDIT

Thomas E. Levy

The researchers explain that instruments for measuring the strength of the Earth's magnetic field were first invented only approximately 200 years ago. In order to examine the history of the field during earlier periods, science is helped by archaeological and geological materials that recorded the properties of the field when they were heated to high temperatures. The magnetic information remains "frozen" (forever or until another heating event) within tiny crystals of ferromagnetic minerals, from which it can be extracted using a series of experiments in the magnetics laboratory. Basalt from volcanic eruptions or ceramics fired in a kiln are frequent materials used for these types of experiments. The great advantage in using archaeological materials as opposed to geological is the time resolution: While in geology dating is on the scale of thousands years at best, in archaeology the artifacts and the magnetic field that they have recorded can be dated at a resolution of hundreds and sometimes even tens of years (and in specific cases, such as a known destruction event, even give an exact date). The obvious disadvantage of archaeology is the young age of the relevant artifacts: Ceramics, which have been used for this purpose up until now, were only invented 8,500 years ago.

  

CAPTION

. Burnt flints and ceramics used to reconstruct the strength of the ancient geomagnetic field (from the article)

CREDIT

(from the article)

The current study is based on materials from four archaeological sites in Wadi Feinan (Jordan), which have been dated (using carbon-14) to the Neolithic period – approximately 10,000 to 8,000 years ago - some of which predate the invention of ceramics. Researchers examined the magnetic field that was recorded in 129 items found in these excavations, and this time, burnt flint tools were added to the ceramic shards.  Prof. Ben-Yosef: "This is the first time that burnt flints from prehistoric sites are being used to reconstruct the magnetic field from their time period. About a year ago, groundbreaking research at the Hebrew University was published, showing the feasibility of working with such materials, and we took that one step forward, extracting geomagnetic information from tightly dated burned flint. Working with this material extends the research possibilities tens of thousands of years back, as humans used flint tools for a very long period of time prior to the invention of ceramics. Additionally, after enough information is collected about the changes in the geomagnetic field over the course of time, we will be able to use it in order to date archaeological remains".

  

CAPTION

Prof. Erez Ben-Yosef

CREDIT

Yoram Reshef

An additional and important finding of this study is the strength of the magnetic field during the time period that was examined. The archaeological artifacts demonstrated that at a certain stage during the Neolithic period, the field became very weak (among the weakest values ever recorded for the last 10,000 years), but recovered and strengthened within a relatively short amount of time. According to Prof. Tauxe, this finding is significant for us today: "In our time, since measurements began less than 200 years ago, we have seen a continuous decrease in the field's strength. This fact gives rise to a concern that we could completely lose the magnetic field that protects us against cosmic radiation and therefore, is essential to the existence of life on Earth. The findings of our study can be reassuring: This has already happened in the past. Approximately 7,600 years ago, the strength of the magnetic field was even lower than today, but within approximately 600 years, it gained strength and again rose to high levels."

The research was carried out with the support of the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation, which encourages academic collaborations between universities in Israel and in the US. The researchers note that in this case, the collaboration was particularly essential to the success of the study because it is based on a tight integration of methods from the fields of archaeology and geophysics, and the insights that were obtained are notably relevant to both of these disciplines.

 

Link to the article:

https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2100995118

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DOI

https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2100995118

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

15-Aug-2021

 

Fire in wet area of the Amazon destroys 27% of trees in up to three years, study finds

Based on data collected in the field, researchers showed that small and medium trees suffer most in the first two years after a fire, but the overall impact on vegetation can last decades. Carbon stocks fall 12.8% in burned areas on average

Peer-Reviewed Publication

FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO

 

IMAGE: CARBON STOCKS FALL 12.8% IN BURNED AREAS ON AVERAGE view more 

CREDIT: INPE

Even in the wettest parts of the Amazon, the impact of forest fires, which spread through these areas only during extreme droughts, is sufficient to change the characteristics of the vegetation in the coming decades, although it is not as significant as in other parts of the biome.

According to an innovative study that measured the effects of fire in situ, burned forest in a wet area loses 27.3% of its stem density on average. The destruction affects mainly trees of small and medium size. Loss of biomass (stored carbon) in the three years following a fire reaches 12.8%. Mortality is worst in the first two years, and makes way for the growth of native herbaceous bamboo species.

The Amazon region corresponds to 59% of Brazil, with an area of 5 million sq. km., 775 municipalities, 67% of the planet’s tropical forest, a third of its trees, and 20% of its freshwater.

It is also the Brazilian biome with the most fires every year since records began, according to the National Space Research Institute (INPE). In 2020, INPE recorded 103,161 fires, the largest number since 2017 (107,439) and the third-largest in the decade. The second-largest number occurred in 2015 (106,438). INPE’s forest fire statistics are summarized at: https://queimadas.dgi.inpe.br/queimadas/portal-static/estatisticas_estados/.

The 2015 fires, exacerbated by the extreme drought relating to El Niño, were the focus for a study supported by São Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP via two projects (16/21043-8 and 20/06734-0). An article describing the results, including data collected directly in the field, is published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

The study was led by Luiz Eduardo Oliveira e Cruz de Aragão, who heads INPE’s Earth Observation and Geoinformatics Division (DIOTG).

“Studying how forests respond to fire in the long run is one of the frontiers of knowledge about the functioning of the Amazon. It’s important both to enhance our capacity to model the biome’s future and climate interactions, and to provide data for Brazil to report emissions and carbon removal more accurately in the context of policies to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation [REDD+], which can yield financial benefits for the country,” Aragão told.

The researchers analyzed burned and unburned areas immediately after the fires that swept through the north of the area between the Purus and Madeira Rivers (central Amazon), and conducted annual surveys to track the demographic drivers of biomass change in the ensuing three years.

The area is located in the municipality of Autazes, some 90 km southeast of Manaus, near the BR-319 highway. The researchers measured trees with a diameter of 10 cm or more, and estimated the extent to which stem growth and tree mortality were influenced by fire intensity (represented by bole char height, an indicator of the length of time a tree bole has been exposed to the flames and high temperatures of a fire), and tree morphology (size and wood density).

Most of the field work was done by Aline Pontes-Lopes, a PhD candidate at INPE, and Camila Silva, a researcher at the Amazon Institute of Environmental Research (IPAM), respectively first and second authors of the article.

“The field data is very valuable. The study included multiple censuses of the same burned area, a type of information that’s rare for the Amazon. In particular, field data is rare for tree mortality, growth and local dynamics in rainforest areas generally. The study also analyzed the effects of fire on the wettest parts of the forest, where it’s unusual. A great deal of new knowledge about such areas was produced,” said Ricardo Dal’Agnol, a researcher at INPE and another co-author of the article.

Dal’Agnol, who is supported by FAPESP via a postdoctoral scholarship, participated in another study published in January showing that water stress, soil fertility and anthropic forest degradation create gaps in the Amazon Rainforest, and influence tree mortality more than any other factors (more at: agencia.fapesp.br/35620).

Results

“In the burned areas we saw that saplings, small trees and bushes are the first to die, clearing the understory enough for us to walk through the forest and set up the forest inventory plots in 2015. Small and medium trees above all died in two to three years,” Pontes-Lopes said in an interview given to Agência FAPESP. The understory is the layer of trees and shrubs beneath the forest canopy but above the forest floor.

Another important point, she added, is the impact of fire on biomass. According to the study, biomass remained stable throughout the three-year period in the unburned plots but decreased 12.8% in the burned areas.

The impact was especially severe on lianas, which lost 38.6% of their individuals and 38.1% of their biomass. Tree loss was 28% for individual trees and 12.1% for biomass; for palms, the loss was 14.6% for individuals and 27.2% for biomass. The same comparisons for unburned plots showed much smaller losses or no significant change.

The scientists’ growth measurements and comparisons of burned with unburned areas showed that trees with lower wood density grew faster in burned areas in a three-year timeframe, and that large trees stored more carbon in burned areas. However, faster growth by these two tree classes did not cause an increase in the forest’s total biomass or in wood production, both of which were outpaced by tree mortality due to fire.

According to Pontes-Lopes, other groups are using the data collected in at least four studies. The data has been standardized and posted to ForestPlots.net, a website for researchers, forest scientists and forest communities to share data that will help measure, monitor and understand the world’s forests, especially in the tropics.

Future

According to the researchers, continuous monitoring of areas affected by fire at regular intervals (annual or semiannual) is important to improve our understanding of carbon emissions and uptake, the time forest takes to recover to a pre-fire state, and disruption of carbon dynamics by tree mortality due to additional drought and fire events. Future studies should focus on long-term post-fire monitoring to find out whether delayed mortality of large trees occurs on a significant scale in the Amazon, they conclude.

Fire in the Amazon is estimated to cause more than 50% of global greenhouse gas emissions due to land use change. These gases, especially carbon dioxide (CO2), contribute to the average temperature rise, which could reach 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels by 2050 if effective measures are not taken soon to mitigate global warming.

The long-term impact of fires in the Amazon is insufficiently quantified, however. An article published last year with Silva as first author showed that more than 70% of the gross emissions resulting from forest fires in a 30-year period were due to tree mortality and decomposition (as distinct from combustion). These emissions were only partially offset by forest growth in the same period. The study also found that net annual emissions peaked four years after forest fires.

Deforestation and forest degradation, in conjunction with climate change, compromise forest carbon stocks. Plant photosynthesis converts light and CO2 into energy, reducing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. The carbon remains in the biomass until the vegetation burns, or dies and decomposes.

“Without proper land use regulation, the current intention of Brazil's government to pave the BR-319 will increase deforestation in the Purus-Madeira region, increasing ignition sources and the associated risk of large-scale forest dieback,” the authors warn.

They recommend two initiatives in support of future decision making to avoid large-scale forest fire in the Amazon: mapping of forest fire risks, and mapping of potential fire impacts based on morphological plant traits. Remote sensing technologies are essential to complement field inventories in developing these initiatives.

“If the effects of fire on the forest are better understood, management of the biome can improve thanks to better fire management policy, which should be decoupled from deforestation reduction policy,” Aragão said. “Progress in this matter is crucial to quantify the real impact of human activity on the carbon cycle in the Amazon and find coherent ways of achieving sustainable development for the nation.”

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About São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)

The São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) is a public institution with the mission of supporting scientific research in all fields of knowledge by awarding scholarships, fellowships and grants to investigators linked with higher education and research institutions in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. FAPESP is aware that the very best research can only be done by working with the best researchers internationally. Therefore, it has established partnerships with funding agencies, higher education, private companies, and research organizations in other countries known for the quality of their research and has been encouraging scientists funded by its grants to further develop their international collaboration. You can learn more about FAPESP at http://www.fapesp.br/en and visit FAPESP news agency at http://www.agencia.fapesp.br/en to keep updated with the latest scientific breakthroughs FAPESP helps achieve through its many programs, awards and research centers. You may also subscribe to FAPESP news agency at http://agencia.fapesp.br/subscribe.

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JOURNAL

Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences

DOI

10.1098/rspb.2021.0094#d1e581

ARTICLE TITLE

Drought-driven wildfire impacts on structure and dynamics in a wet Central Amazonian forest

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

18-May-2021

 

Suicide deaths have risen by 20,000 over past 30 years around the world

This is despite significant fall in age-specific suicide rates

Peer-Reviewed Publication

BMJ

Suicide deaths have risen by 20,000 over past 30 years around the world

• This is despite significant fall in age-specific suicide rates
• Trend may be hard to reverse amid rapidly ageing populations 

The overall global death toll from suicide has risen by nearly 20,000 over the past 30 years, despite a significant fall in age-specific suicide rates during this period, finds an analysis of international data, published online in the journal Injury Prevention.

Population ageing, population growth, and changes in population age structure, especially in lower middle-income and upper middle-income regions, have largely driven the figures, say the researchers.

Countries may struggle to reverse the trend in suicide deaths, because suicide rates are highest among those aged 70+ in almost all regions of the world, they point out. 

Despite accounting for nearly 800,000 deaths every year, suicide hasn’t received the level of attention given to other global public health issues, such as HIV/AIDS and cancer, they say.

In a bid to change that, the researchers set out to explore the complex relationships between population growth, population age structure, income level, sex, and age-specific suicide rates to gain a better understanding of the global changes in suicide rates and deaths over the past 30 years.

They drew on data from the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2019. This provides  population estimates for 204 countries and territories for 1950–2019 by location, age, and sex. And it captures information on 369 diseases and injuries from 1990 to 2019 by age and sex. 

The researchers looked at the influence of changes in age-specific and gender-specific suicide rates; population age structure; and population growth for each of the four income level regions, as defined by the World Bank: low-income; lower middle-income; upper middle-income; and high-income. 

In 1990, the overall global suicide rate was 13.8 per 100,000 of the population, falling to 9.8/100,000 in 2019. The rate among men fell from 16.6/100,000 to 13.5/100,000, and from 11/100,000 to 6.1/100,000 among women. 

The most significant fall occurred in upper middle-income countries--a fall of 6.25/100,000-- followed by those in the lower middle-income region, with a fall of 2.51 per 100,000. 

Overall, the decline in suicide rates among women was steeper than that for men: a fall of 4.91 vs 3.09/100,000, especially in upper middle-income countries where the equivalent falls were 8.12 vs 4.37/100,000.

The reduction in age-specific suicide rates was the major driver for the declining rates of suicide, offsetting the effect of changes in population age structure. 

For example, in the high-income region, the declining age-specific suicide rate (−3.83/100.000; 216%) had a much larger impact than the change in population age structure (2.06/100,000;−116%).

The overall number of suicide deaths rose by 19,897 from 738,799 in 1990 to 758, 696 in 2019, with the sharpest rise in lower middle-income countries where the death toll rose by 72,550 from 232,340 to 304,890. 

The main contributors to this increase were population growth (1512.5%), followed by changes in population age structure (952.5%). But these effects were offset by the the substantial reduction in the age-specific suicide rates (−470,556/100,000;−2365%).

The total number of male suicide deaths rose sharply, largely explained by male population growth (890%) and changes in male population age structure (604%). But these patterns weren’t universal.

The overall contribution of population age structure mainly came from the 45–64 (565%) and 65+ (529%) age groups, a trend that was observed in middle-income and high-income regions, reflecting the global effect of population ageing, say the researchers. 

“The reasons for the significant decline in suicide [rates] across all income level regions have yet to be determined,” write the researchers, although global efforts by the WHO and the United Nations to foster national suicide prevention initiatives, might have played a part, they suggest. 

But the contribution of population growth should be a cause for concern in view of global population projections in low income countries, they add. Sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Southern Asia are set to account for over 75% of the additional 2 billion total global population growth between 2019 and 2050.

Increasing life expectancy and declining fertility will continue to affect global age structure, with populations around the world continuing to “experience pronounced and historically unprecedented ageing in the coming decades,” write the researchers.

“As suicide rates are highest among the elderly (70 years or above) for both genders in almost all regions of the world, the rapidly ageing population globally will pose huge challenges for the reduction in the number of suicide deaths in the future,” they warn.  

And there’s a considerable imbalance in the resources allocated to suicide prevention work, especially in low-income and middle-income countries, they note. 

“It is time to revisit this situation to ensure that sufficient resources can be redeployed globally to meet the future challenges,” they conclude.

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JOURNAL

Injury Prevention

DOI

10.1136/injuryprev-2021-044263

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Demographic and epidemiological decomposition analysis of global changes in suicide rates and numbers over the period 1990–2019

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

15-Aug-2021

Disclaimer: AAAS and Eu

QUIT BITCHING ABOUT HOME SCHOOLING

During COVID, students taking courses online got a lot more sleep

Peer-Reviewed Publication

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS USA

A new paper in Sleep indicates that different teaching strategies schools imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in dramatic differences in when and how much students slept. Notably students receiving online instruction without live classes or scheduled teacher interactions woke up the latest and slept the most. Students receiving in-person instruction in schools woke up the earliest and slept the least.

Beginning in March 2020, as states and cities imposed lockdowns to prevent the spread of COVID-19, schools and school districts began to teach children very differently. Some schools retained in-person instruction in school buildings. Others moved to hybrid instruction. Some went entirely online. There were dramatic differences in scheduling requirements (e.g., specific start time, day-to-day variability in scheduled instruction). Online options also differed. Some schools required students to sign on to online classes at specific times and interact with teachers directly. Other schools did not offer scheduled classes and student work was entirely self-directed.

From October 14 to November 26, 2020 researchers recruited U.S. adolescent in grades 6-12 through social media (Facebook and Instagram) to examine associations among instructional approaches, school start times, and sleep during the COVID-19 pandemic. Adolescents selected one of three instructional approaches for each weekday (Monday – Friday) during the previous week: in-person; online/synchronous (live online classes or interactions with teachers); or online/asynchronous (online, but without live classes or scheduled teacher interactions). Researchers received complete sleep outcome data from 5,245 adolescents from across the United States.

For in-person instructional days, 20.4% of middle school and 37.2% of high school students reported getting sufficient sleep (at least 9 hours for middle school and at least 8 hours for high school). For students taking live online classes 38.7% of middle school and 56.9% of high school students reported getting sufficient sleep. But over 62% of middle school and more than 81% of high school students taking courses online without live classes reported getting sufficient sleep.

Students, in both middle and high school, got more sleep if they had later school start times. However, even when students had the same early start times, more students with online courses requiring them to sign in at specific times got sufficient sleep than students receiving in-person instruction. “Without the required transportation time or time required to get ready for school in the morning, online students were able to wake later, and thus get more sleep,” said Lisa Meltzer, the lead author of the study.

For middle school students, a start time of 8:30- 9:00 (in-person or online with live classes) resulted in the greatest proportion of students getting enough sleep. For high school students, only when the online school day started at 8:00-8:29 am or later, did the percentage of students getting enough sleep exceed 50%. For in-person instruction 50% of high school students got enough sleep only when the start time was 9:00 am. Hybrid schedules, that included at least one day of in person instruction, were associated with the greatest night-to-night variability in bedtimes, wake times, and amount of sleep.

“Both inconsistent sleep patterns and not getting enough sleep have negative downstream effects on adolescent health,” said Meltzer. “Thus, it is important for education and health policy makers to consider the consequences of early and variable school start times on sleep for secondary school students.”

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The paper, “COVID-19 Instructional Approaches (In-Person, Online, Hybrid), School Start Times, and Sleep in Over 5,000 U.S. Adolescents,” will be available (at midnight on August 17th ) at: https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsab180.

Direct correspondence to:

Lisa J. Meltzer

Professor of Pediatrics

National Jewish Health

1400 Jackson Street, G311

Denver, CO 80206

meltzerL@njhealth.org

 

To request a copy of the study, please contact:

Daniel Luzer

daniel.luzer@oup.com

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JOURNAL

SLEEP

DOI

10.1093/sleep/zsab180

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

COVID-19 Instructional Approaches (In-Person, Online, Hybrid), School Start Times, and Sleep in Over 5,000 U.S. Adolescents

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

17-Aug-2021

 

Research shows that exposure to sexualised images on Instagram leads to greater body dissatisfaction

Reports and Proceedings

UNIVERSITY OF SURREY

The research team studied 247 Italian women aged 19 to 32 who were recruited to this study that considered reactions to both Instagram imagery and the comments alongside those images.

Participants were asked to fill out several questionnaires, including one on body dissatisfaction. Then, after being exposed at random to one of four videos of Instagram images (sexualised or non-sexualised) combined with comments, they completed follow-up questionnaires on body dissatisfaction, mood and future cosmetic surgery intentions.

The research revealed that young women exposed to sexualised imagery reported increased body dissatisfaction compared to pre-exposure levels. However, those exposed to non-sexualised images did not report an increase in body dissatisfaction, indicating that the sexualisation of images on Instagram is an influential factor in body image. Conversely, the type of comments on the images did not appear to affect participants’ body dissatisfaction.

The study also looked at the role of Instagram addiction proclivity (IAP), with those who had higher problematic use of the platform compared to those who used it more sporadically. The findings suggest that women who used the platform more frequently would be more likely to consider cosmetic surgery, especially after being exposed to objectifying features (sexualised imagery or appearance comments) on Instagram feeds.

Dr Francesca Guizzo, co-author of the study and Lecturer in Social Psychology at the University of Surrey, said: “This is an exciting study that brings together different dimensions in mental health research and highlights risk factors; findings such as these show there is a clear link between the sexualised imagery young women are exposed to on Instagram and how they feel about themselves. Given Instagram’s popularity as one of the world’s most popular social media platforms and the increasing prevalence of cosmetic procedures, these findings are of particular interest. More needs to be done to counteract body negativity; actions such as spreading body positivity messaging may work to improve female body satisfaction.”

Katrina Jenkins, Targeted Programmes Manager at the Mental Health Foundation, said: “This valuable new research adds to the weight of evidence about the harmfulness of the sexualised images of people that are so common on social media. It also echoes the findings of our own research with a diverse range of adults, who urged us to work to counter the effects of such imagery. We created our ‘Mind Over Mirror’ campaign accordingly, offering tips and strategies to address this challenge. For instance, it can be useful to be mindful of what we view on social media and how it makes us feel. Unfollowing Instagram pages that encourage negative self-comparisons can also help us to take control over the effect of social media on our body image and mental health.”

The research has been published by the journal Body Image.

Find out more about the Mental Health Foundation’s ‘Mind over Mirror’ campaign here.

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JOURNAL

Body Image

DOI

10.1016/j.bodyim.2021.06.005

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Instagram Sexualization: When posts make you feel dissatisfied and wanting to change your body

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

13-Jun-2021

Europe-wide political divide emerging between cities and countryside – study

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

A new study reveals the extent of the political divide opening up between city and countryside right across Europe, with research suggesting that political polarisation in the 21st century may have a lot to do with place and location.

University of Cambridge researchers analysed survey data collected between 2002 and 2018 to gauge the social and civic attitudes of people across the cities, towns and rural areas of thirty European countries. 

The findings show that political division throughout the continent runs on a “gradient” of disenchantment and distrust in democracy that increases as it moves from urban centres through suburbs, towns, villages and out into open country.

People in the more rural parts of Europe have the lowest levels of trust in their nation’s current political system – and yet are significantly more likely than their urban counterparts to actually vote in elections.

Those in suburbs, followed by towns and then the countryside, are increasingly more likely to see themselves as politically conservative, and hold anti-immigration and anti-EU views, while city dwellers lean towards the left.

However, it’s not the poorest rural areas where disillusion is strongest, and small town and countryside dwellers report much higher levels of life satisfaction while voicing dissatisfaction with democratic institutions. 

Researchers from Cambridge’s Bennett Institute for Public Policy and Department of Land Economy say the study suggests a “deepening geographical fracture” in European societies that could see a return to the stark urban-rural political divides of the early 20th century.

“Those living outside of Europe’s major urban centres have much less faith in politics,” said study co-author Prof Michael Kenny from the Bennett Institute. “The growth of disenchantment in more rural areas has provided fertile soil for nationalist and populist parties and causes – a trend that looks set to continue.”

“Mainstream politicians seeking to re-engage residents of small towns and villages must provide economic opportunities, but they also need to address feelings of disconnection from mainstream politics and the changes associated with a more globalised economy,” he said.  

Across Western Europe, residents of rural areas are on average 33.5% more likely to vote than those in inner cities, but 16% less likely to report a one-unit increase in their trust of political parties on a scale of 0-10. They are also far less likely to engage in political actions such as protests and boycotts.

Conservatism incrementally increases as locations shift from suburb to town to the countryside. Europeans in rural places are an average of 57% more likely to feel one point closer to the right on the political spectrum (on a ten-point scale where five is the centre ground) than a city dweller.  

When asked if migration and the EU “enrich the national culture”, rural Europeans are 55% more likely than those in cities to disagree by one unit on a ten-unit scale.

However, on issues of the welfare state and trust in police – both iconic in post-war rhetorical battles between left and right – no urban-rural divisions were detected. “Worries about law and welfare may no longer be key to Europe’s political geography in our new populist age,” said Kenny.

Last year, research from the Bennett Institute revealed a global decline in satisfaction with democracy, and the latest study suggests that – in Europe, at least – this is most acute in rural locations.

After discounting characteristics typically thought to influence political attitudes, from education to age, the researchers still found that people in rural housing were 10% more likely than urbanites to report a one unit drop in democratic satisfaction (on a scale of 0-10).

“We find that there is a geography to current patterns of political disillusion,” said Dr Davide Luca of the Land Economy Department, co-author of the study now published in the Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society.

“As disenchantment rises in European hinterlands, democratic politics risks being eroded from within by people who engage with elections yet distrust the system and are drawn to populist, anti-system parties.”

Of the thirty nations they looked at – the EU27 plus Norway, Switzerland and the UK – France had the sharpest urban-rural divide in political attitudes. “Large cities such as Paris and Lyon are seen to be highly globalised and full of bohemians nicknamed the ‘bobos’, while small towns and rural areas are primarily inhabited by long-term immigrants and the indigenous working classes,” Luca said.

While less pronounced across the Channel, the trend is still very much in evidence in the UK. “Cambridge is a prime example,” explains Luca. “The centre hosts the world’s leading labs and companies, yet greater Cambridge is one of the UK’s least equal cities – and the fenland market towns are even more disconnected from the city’s hyper-globalised core.”

Added Luca: “Ageing populations in small towns and villages combined with years of austerity have put pressure on public services in rural areas – services that are often central to the social connections needed for a community to thrive.

“Reviving these services may be key to reducing the political divides emerging between urban and rural populations across Europe.” 

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JOURNAL

Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society

DOI

10.1093/cjres/rsab012

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

The urban-rural polarisation of political disenchantment: an investigation of social and political attitudes in 30 European countries

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

15-Jul-2021

REPUBLICAN  PROVINCE

COVID-19: Alberta's active cases nine times higher, hospitalizations up 1.5 times in one month; 1,407 new cases since Friday

Lauren Boothby 

© Provided by Edmonton Journal NDP health critic David Shepherd wants the Alberta government to release all of the modelling and scientific data used to justify stopping the test-trace-isolate system during a news conference in Edmonton on Monday, Aug. 16, 2021.


Active cases of COVID-19 in Alberta are nine times higher than they were a month ago.

Alberta had 5,354 active cases of the novel coronavirus by Monday, up from 579 July 16 , provincial data shows. The Edmonton Zone’s active cases are 11 times higher. Alberta has both the highest rate and highest overall number of active cases in the country .

Serious cases of the disease haven’t grown at the same rate. But with 161 Albertans hospitalized with COVID-19 by Monday — including 43 in intensive care — this is about 1.5 times higher than the same time last month.

Another 1,407 cases of COVID-19 were reported in Alberta over the previous three days, including 564 on Friday, 451 on Saturday and 392 on Sunday.

Cases have risen steadily beginning two weeks after the province lifted nearly all public health restrictions July 1. Before that, numbers were in decline for more than two months after reaching the peak of the third wave in early May.

The highest share of active cases are in the Calgary and Edmonton areas — there were 1,989 active cases in the Calgary Zone and 1,431 in the Edmonton Zone by Monday.

More than 81 per cent of Alberta’s active cases are variants of concern. Another 1,215 variant cases were discovered Sunday.

As of Sunday, more than 5.4 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been given out. In total, 76.8 per cent of Albertans 12 and older have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 67.9 per cent have had two. Vaccines in Alberta have been proven to be safe and prevent those exposed to the disease from falling seriously ill. Province-wide, 2,333 people have died from COVID-19.

Mask bylaw talks delayed

Meantime, Edmonton city council on Monday asked staff to draft suggestions for masking bylaw amendments that could be put in place after Sept. 27 — when Alberta is set to end mandatory masking on transit — that could be triggered if certain conditions are met. Staff are due to come back with suggestions Aug. 30.

Council moved the masking discussion after the province on Friday delayed plans to halt COVID-19 testing, tracing and isolation requirements from Aug. 16 to Sept. 27 amid mounting public pressure and criticism from medical professionals.

Also responding to the shift, NDP health critic MLA David Shepherd on Monday called on the province to release the modelling it relied on for both the initial and revised end dates to COVID-19 measures.

“Albertans are right to ask why Jason Kenney has chosen an arbitrary end date to our most public health-care measures instead of tying them to successfully reaching benchmarks, such as hospitalizations, ICU admissions or vaccination rates,” Shepherd said.

“Indeed, those are the very indicators Dr. Hinshaw said she wanted to monitor over the next six weeks.”

Hinshaw said Friday the rise in hospitalizations and increase in children getting sick from COVID-19 in the United States means Alberta needs more time to monitor the situation. She said hospitalizations were 62 per cent higher than expected.

Masks are required on public transit, taxis and other ride-sharing until Sept. 27. Quarantining for 10 days for those with COVID-19 symptoms or who test positive will also be mandatory, and testing assessment centres for anyone with symptoms will remain open until that date.

— With files from Anna Junker, Dustin Cook, Ashley Joannou and Lisa Johnson

lboothby@postmedia.com

More than 25% of kids with COVID-19 spread it to others in household, study finds

While children were thought to be at lower risk of acquiring or spreading COVID-19 earlier in the pandemic, researchers now say 1 in 4 kids is the cause of household spread of the disease. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Aug. 16 (UPI) -- One in four children with COVID-19 spreads the disease to other members of their households, with the highest risk for virus transmission among infants, a study published Monday by JAMA Pediatrics found.

In the analysis of nearly 6,300 households with at least one pediatric case of infection, more than 1,700, or 27%, saw another member become sick with the virus, the data showed.

Newborns and children up to age 3 were 43% more likely to pass the virus to others in their households than those age 14 to 17, the researchers said.

The study focused on pediatric cases among households Ontario, Canada, confirmed between June 1 and Dec. 31, or before the more contagious Delta variant of the virus became the predominant one in the region.

"As the number of pediatric cases increases worldwide, the role of children in household transmission will continue to grow," wrote the researchers, from Public Health Ontario, a provincial agency.

"We found that younger children may be more likely to transmit [COVID-19] infection compared with older children, and the highest odds of transmission were observed for children aged 0 to 3 years," the researchers said.

The role of children in spread of the virus has been the subject of much debate since the pandemic started.

At least early on, studies suggested children were at lower risk for infection and, thus, disease spread.

However, in recent months, with the emergence of the Delta variant in the United States and elsewhere, an increasing number of children have developed severe COVID-19.

Nationally, nearly 2,000 children were hospitalized with the virus through Saturday, a record high, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services.

RELATED School closures reduced COVID-19 cases, deaths up to 60%, study finds

This is a cause for concern, particularly as schools across the country begin to reopen, officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevent said earlier this month.

For this study, the Public Health Ontario researchers analyzed COVID-19 spread among nearly 90,000 households in the province over a seven-month period.

Among the households included in the analysis, about 6,300, or 7%, had at least one confirmed pediatric case of the virus, the data showed.

About 12% of the pediatric cases were in children 3 years and younger, while 20% involved children ages 4 to 8, 30% occurred in children ages 9 to 13 and 38% were in children ages 14 to 17.

Nearly 31% of households with an infected child age 3 or younger saw at least one "secondary" case, or instance of virus spread -- the highest percentage of any age group.

It is possible that younger children have similar levels of virus in their bodies -- or viral loads -- as adults, which leads to higher transmission, they said.

"Differential infectivity of pediatric age groups has implications for infection prevention controls within households and schools [and] childcare [facilities] to minimize risk of house-hold secondary transmission," the researchers wrote.

"As it is challenging and often impossible to socially isolate from sick children, caregivers should apply other infection control measures where feasible, such as use of masks, increased hand washing and separation from siblings," they said.

In a commentary entitled "Yes, Children Can Transmit COVID, but We Need Not Fear," published with the study, authors from the University of Pennsylvania add, "the obvious solution to protect a household with a sick young infant or toddler is to make sure that all eligible members of the household are vaccinated."

Study: More 'green time,' less screen time boosts kids' mental health

By Denise Mann, HealthDay News

Want to see a temperamental tween or teen act happier?

The formula is simple, a large international study suggests.

"Screen time should be replaced by 'green time' for optimizing the well-being of our kids," said study author Asad Khan, an associate professor in biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia.

That advice stems from surveys of more than 577,000 11-, 13- and 15-year-olds in 42 European and North American countries.

Boys who spent about 90 minutes a day on their screens -- including TV, cellphones, computers and video games -- and girls who spent an hour on devices were more likely to feel sad about their lives, the surveys found. And the more screen time they logged, the worse they tended to feel.

But the more active they were, the happier they were. What's more, physical activity helped blunt some of the negatives resulting from too much screen time.

The study was not designed to say how -- or even if -- too much screen time and too little exercise affect tween and teen well-being.

But the findings' "dose-dependent" trend -- the more screen time, the less satisfied kids were with life -- suggests a link, the researchers said. It does not prove cause and effect, however.

Only 19% of the young respondents reported they were physically active every day, and their average recreational screen time was about six hours a day.

Those who were less active physically were more likely feel irritable or nervous, and to report trouble sleeping, headaches, stomachaches and backaches, the surveys found.

The findings suggested physical activity promotes mental well-being even when kids also spend lots of time glued to their screens.

The good news: Teens who reported more than eight hours a day on their screens showed dramatic increases in life satisfaction and fewer health complaints when they bumped up their physical activity.

The findings were published recently in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health.

Based on the findings, Khan called on parents to set an example for their kids.

"We can create 'technology-free zones,' set aside times to unplug, explain why we're limiting their screen time, and create opportunities for other activities especially in outdoor settings," he said.

Khan noted the study didn't ask what kids were doing on their screens. Researchers are now trying to learn more about that.

"We're now trying to understand effects of various types of screen use on mental well-being -- whether passive [e.g. television] and mentally active [e.g. electronic games] have equivalent and dose-dependent links with the mental well-being of adolescents," Khan said.

Outside experts say the onus is on families to help get kids off their screen and into the green.

"My advice to families is to set reasonable limits on [nonacademic] screen time and to work with teens to schedule preferred activities that do not involve screens," said Sarah Hornack, a psychologist at Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C., who reviewed the findings.

"We know that family-based approaches to increasing physical activity are the most effective," Hornack said.

This can include family hiking, family step challenges, or having dance-offs, she said.

Even though kids' satisfaction with life fell after an hour of daily screen time, getting them to log off can be easier said than done, Hornack conceded.

"The American Academy of Pediatrics' recommendation is a limit of two hours daily of nonacademic screen time, which many teens have difficulty adhering to already," she said.

Excessive screen time isn't healthy for anybody -- kids or adults, added Dr. Gene Beresin, executive director of the Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

"The more we use digital media, the less time we spend being physically active and being in nature," said Beresin, who is also a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

The study took place before the COVID-19 pandemic triggered widespread shutdowns. Kids' screen time has likely increased and physical activity has likely declined as a result, he said.

"Pediatricians and physicians need to take media histories and ask how many TVs, computers, cellphones and tablets are in the house, and who is watching what," Beresin said.

What kids are doing on their screens and what type of physical activity they are getting can make a difference in mental well-being, he said. For example, "team sports teach kids lots of stuff, including leadership skills, sportsmanship and how to compete without being aggressive or violent," Beresin noted.More information

The American Academy of Pediatrics offers more guidance on screen time for children of all ages.

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