Metabolic effects of elevated temperature on organic acid degradation in ripening Vitis vinifera fruit.

Berries of the cultivated grapevine Vitis vinifera are notably responsive to temperature, which can influence fruit quality and hence the future compatibility of varieties with their current growing regions. Organic acids represent a key component of fruit organoleptic quality and their content is significantly influenced by temperature. The objectives of this study were to (i) manipulate thermal regimes to realistically capture warming-driven reduction of malate content in Shiraz berries, and (ii) investigate the mechanisms behind temperature-sensitive malate loss and the potential downstream effects on berry metabolism. In the field we compared untreated controls at ambient temperature with longer and milder warming (2-4 °C differential for three weeks; Experiment 1) or shorter and more severe warming (4-6 °C differential for 11 days; Experiment 2). We complemented field trials with control (25/15 °C) and elevated (35/20 °C) day/night temperature controlled-environment trials using potted vines (Experiment 3). Elevating maximum temperatures (4-10 °C above controls) during pre-véraison stages led to higher malate content, particularly with warmer nights. Heating at véraison and ripening stages reduced malate content, consistent with effects typically seen in warm vintages. However, when minimum temperatures were also raised by 4-6 °C, malate content was not reduced, suggesting that the regulation of malate metabolism differs during the day and night. Increased NAD-dependent malic enzyme activity and decreased phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase and pyruvate kinase activities, as well as the accumulation of various amino acids and γ-aminobutyric acid, suggest enhanced anaplerotic capacity of the TCA cycle and a need for coping with decreased cytosolic pH in heated fruit.

Mothers' views on portion sizes for children.

BACKGROUND: Childhood obesity has increased steadily over recent years and has coincided with a general trend towards larger portions of foods consumed both inside and outside the home. A causal link between portion size and weight gain has not been established, although there is evidence of an association between larger portions and greater energy intake. The present study aimed to investigate parent's attitudes, knowledge, practices, and concerns about appropriate portions for children. METHODS: Four focus groups with a total of 14 volunteer mothers of 8-11-year-old children taking part in a larger school-based study. Mothers were asked their views about portion sizes for their children and were asked to demonstrate typical servings that they would offer their children, by weighing five common foods provided. Conversations were tape-recorded and transcribed for thematic analysis. RESULTS: Participants were unconcerned about portion sizes and would not welcome official guidance, particularly if it involved weighing foods. Mothers fed their children the amount that they believed they would eat and felt that this varied across children and across occasions. The weighing task revealed a wide variation in portion sizes served to children, with portions of the more energy-dense foods being smaller on average than those of less energy-dense foods. CONCLUSIONS: There was little understanding of age-appropriate serving sizes amongst mothers in this study. Education campaigns should be mindful of the need to make portion information clear and simple because parents may not be prepared to weigh the food that they serve to their children.

Editorial.

PIP: This editorial introduces a volume of Oxfam's Gender and Development journal that highlights the role of education and training in promoting gender equality. While the articles do not focus entirely on gender training, all seek ways to transform gender relations by developing accessible female-friendly educational methods. Educational systems worldwide reflect their social context (with male biased, Western-style education a by-product of colonialism) and may transmit culture, reinforce the status quo, or promote change. Structural adjustment programs are also increasing the barriers to education by forcing imposition of school fees, and female education is still considered subversive and threatening in many settings. Development donors, however, view the education of girls as a modernizing influence that can promote development. However, female skills acquisition must be matched by structural changes to improve women's status. Specific articles in this journal, therefore, consider the agenda of donors who stress Western-style education, the stereotyping of gender roles in formal educational systems, participatory educational methods, "education for empowerment" versus "schooling for subordination," and gender training as a component of a project to increase female access to schools, and innovative techniques. The journal also includes a report on the Fifth International Conference on Adult Education that calls for implementation of the conference goals.^ieng

Magda Mateus Cardenas, director of Centro Amauta, Cusco, Peru: interview.

PIP: Magda Mateus Cardenas, trained as an anthropologist, is currently director of Centro Amauta, a feminist organization in Peru that addresses issues of gender, class, and culture. In this interview, Mateus Cardenas describes her long involvement with development organizations and grass-roots campaigns to improve women's status. She notes that, although many organizations have adopted a gender perspective, few comprehend its highly political, transformational aspects. Women's rights tend to be viewed by development agencies as just one more factor to be incorporated into development projects rather than as a perspective that changes views of development itself. A genuine gender perspective entails changes in the organizational, social, and political aspects of the themes of autonomy and empowerment, with adaptations of content and methods to local conditions. A precondition to women's emancipation is access to and control of financial and economic resources. This, in turn, requires training in technical skills and access to the marketplace on more competitive terms.^ieng

Editorial.

PIP: A gender perspective requires examining how gender roles affect the ways in which various family members can participate in the wider community, economy, and state. It is important to recognize the disparity between perceptions about the family as a benign institution and the reality that many families consist of a paradoxical blend of love, support, friction, domination, and even cruelty. Definitions of family reveal the social implications of the belief that families are centered on children and the need of patriarchs to control female sexuality. Notions about households are generally more concrete, and many households include people who are not family members and are not nuclear in nature. Many development initiatives have floundered because of the assumption that households distribute resources according to individual needs. Instead, household members use bargaining power to get their way, and women are generally in weaker bargaining positions than men. Linking men solely with production and women solely with reproduction ignores the realities of most women's lives, although the unpaid reproductive work women do influences their access to paid employment. In order to assure family stability and to find ways to provide social welfare, women's workload in the family must be reduced. Family life must not be hidden in a "private" sphere where injustices and violence are ignored. Unconscious biases against families of various types must be rooted out and overcome, and policy-makers must recognize that families evolve to meet changing needs. Finally, the notion of the nuclear family as the ideal family type must be challenged.^ieng

Interview. Maria Isabal Plata, executive director of Profamilia, talks to Caroline Sweetman about the work of the organisation in Colombia.

PIP: In this interview, Maria Isabal Plata discusses the work of the nongovernmental organization Profamilia in Colombia. Since its founding in 1965, Profamilia has assumed direct and indirect responsibility for nearly 70% of family planning (FP) and reproductive health activities in the country. These activities are complemented by a legal service program, an evaluation and research program, and a documentation center. In Colombia, women gained equal rights under the law in 1974 and a constitutional prohibition on discrimination in 1991, but sex stereotypes still dictate responsibility for family chores. When women realize their economic and social rights, poverty and inequalities will diminish. Thus, it is crucial to safeguard reproductive and sexual rights and ban violence against women. The traditional concept of family forces a disregard for the rights of family members and allows societies to oppose the interests of women. The aftermath of the UN Fourth Women's Conference in Colombia will be to work towards achieving full citizenship for women and democratic societies. The experience women's groups had at the conference has created a situation in which grassroots organizations can consider beginning to work with development organizations to achieve some of these goals.^ieng

Editorial.

PIP: This editorial introduces a journal devoted to examination of the implications of cultural issues on gender and development work. The secondary status of women is one of the few universals in the world, with biology used as an excuse (yet the only constraints placed upon a woman by biology are when she is pregnant or breast feeding). Constraints differ among societies, and cultural practices which appeal to tradition reinforce the power of men. Patriarchal societies foster the notion of an ideal woman to insure the paternity of children and preserve the families. Because women have primary responsibility for children, they are also perceived as the guardians of the very culture which reduces their status. Rape and domestic violence are used to enforce women's conformity to a traditional role. Violence against women is also used as a weapon of warfare while religious fundamentalists manipulate religious texts to insure women's subordination. Participation in development efforts, however, can allow women to question their marginalization and to become positive role models for other women. The arts and the media can also be used to challenge the status quo. The views of women from southern nations have also been marginalized by the north, and people with formal education wield more power than those with experience but no qualifications. Multicultural ideals require development agencies to listen to historically ignored voices, to make a longterm commitment to cultural change, and to employ local people. Charges of cultural imperialism can be refuted if the aspirations of southern women are included on the development agenda.^ieng

Abortion, reproductive rights and maternal mortality.

PIP: Women prefer to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Women do not prefer abortion. Unsafe abortion kills and contributes to 40% of maternal mortality worldwide or an estimated 200,000 deaths/year. More than 50% of abortions are performed by unskilled persons. Legal abortion i 11 times safer than childbirth in the USA. About 7 out of 10 women would have an unwanted pregnancy, even if fertility were reduced to 2 births/woman. There are costs beyond death, pain, and suffering of the women themselves; costs are incurred by families and communities and health services. The costs of after care exceed the cost of performing an abortion. Women are frequently denied autonomy to prevent pregnancy. When contraception is denied, the only possible option for women to take control of their lives and destiny is abortion. Male-dominated cultures prescribe the role of woman as procreation and motherhood, without contraception or abortion options. The Roman Catholic encyclical "Veritatis Splendor" espouses such a belief. Women in fact share a multiplicity of roles. Socially sanctioned norms have never been able to control sexual relations, and development initiatives must address functional behavior, rather than idealized behavior. For example, Safe Motherhood programs integrate family planning in educational and health care services, but the emphasis is on contraception among high risk women, and unsafe abortion is ignored. Abortion has not only been viewed as an option for contraceptive failure, but as a means of fertility control. Communist bloc countries frequently provided no other option, except abortion. Poverty and social status were considered tied to access to contraceptive advice and appropriate, safe technology. Poor women may seek unsafe abortion as an inexpensive option; safe abortion even in illegal circumstances can be purchased for those able to afford it. Although rape and incest are socially unacceptable, many countries will not provide abortion even in these circumstances. State funding of abortion may have limits for provision of services only to those in severe mental or physical conditions. Son preference has contributed to the abuse of abortion. The abortion issue should be viewed as an issue of human rights and women's empowerment, and unsafe abortion must be addressed as part of health policy.^ieng