Population stress: A spatiotemporal analysis of population change and land development at the county level in the contiguous United States, 2001-2011.

The past century has witnessed rapidly increasing population-land conflicts due to exponential population growth and its many consequences. Although the measures of population-land conflicts are many, there lacks a model that appropriately considers both the social and physical contexts of population-land conflicts. In this study we introduce the concept of population stress, which identifies areas with populations growing faster than the lands available for sustainable development. Specifically, population stress areas are identified by comparing population growth and land development as measured by land developability in the contiguous United States from 2001 to 2011. Our approach is based on a combination of spatial multicriteria analysis, zonal statistics, and spatiotemporal modeling. We found that the population growth of a county is associated with the decrease of land developability, along with the spatial influences of surrounding counties. The Midwest and the traditional "Deep South" counties would have less population stress with future land development, whereas the Southeast Coast, Washington State, Northern Texas, and the Southwest would face more stress due to population growth that is faster than the loss of suitable lands for development. The factors contributing to population stress may differ from place to place. Our population stress concept is useful and innovative for understanding population stress due to land development and can be applied to other regions as well as global research. It can act as a basis towards developing coherent sustainable land use policies. Coordination among local governments and across different levels of governments in the twenty-first century is a must for effective land use planning.

The Terrorist Attacks and the Human Live Birth Sex Ratio: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

AIM: The live birth sex ratio is defined as male/total births (M/F). Terrorist attacks have been associated with a transient decline in M/F 3-5 months later with an excess of male losses in ongoing pregnancies. The early 21st century is replete with religious/politically instigated attacks. This study estimated the pooled effect size between exposure to attacks and M/F. Registration number CRD42016041220. METHODS: PubMed and Scopus were searched for ecological studies that evaluated the relationship between terrorist attacks from 1/1/2000 to 16/6/2016 and M/F. An overall pooled odds ratio (OR) for the main outcome was generated using the generic inverse variance method. RESULTS: Five studies were included: 2011 Norway attacks; 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting; 2001 September 11 attacks; 2004 Madrid and 2005 London bombings. OR at 0.97 95% CI (0.94-1.00) (I2 = 63%) showed a small statistically significant 3% decline in the odds (p = 0.03) of having a male live birth 3-5 months later. For lone wolf attacks there was a 10% reduction, OR 0.90 95% CI (0.86-0.95) (p = 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Terrorist (especially lone wolf) attacks were significantly associated with reduced odds of having a live male birth. Pregnancy loss remains an important Public Health challenge. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses considering other calamities are warranted.

The sex ratio at birth in France was unchanged 9months after the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

INTRODUCTION: Positive psychological phenomena such as increased feelings of belonging linked to hosting the FIFA World Cup were observed in France 1998 and South Africa 2010. Approximately nine months after South Africa hosted the 2010 World Cup the sex ratio at birth increased significantly. Given the similarity of positive psychological phenomena between the two countries, this study sought to determine if the sex ratio at birth increased in France circa nine months after the 1998 World Cup. METHODS: Anonymized publicly available live birth data from 1994 to 2004 inclusive was obtained from the Insee (Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes/Économiques - National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies). For statistical analysis, chi-squared tests were used. RESULTS: The sex ratio at birth for March and April 1999 did not differ significantly from that of the rest of same period from 1996 to 2000 (p=0.558), there was also no significant difference for February and March 1999. CONCLUSION: The sex ratio at birth did not increase in France after it hosted the 1998 World Cup. Possible reasons why the sex ratio at birth did not increase as it did in South Africa include a higher French prevalence of modern contraceptive use and a different kind/level of excitement for the World Cup in France since it has previously hosted large international sports tournaments. The influence of the World Cup on the sex ratio at birth depends on the context of a specific country.

Try-It-On: Experiential Learning of Holistic Stress Management in a Graduate Nursing Curriculum.

The aim of this article is to relate how nursing students in a graduate curriculum can learn, personally practice, and prepare to disseminate stress management strategies to patients. Advanced practice nurses often provide care for patients experiencing stress-related disorders while concurrently trying to manage their own high levels of stress. Through the innovative Try-It-On teaching-learning strategy, graduate students experimented with holistic stress management approaches, with the intention of sharing with patients what worked effectively. Student comments on course evaluations were positive regarding Try-It-On. In the pilot trial of a quantitative survey to expand the evaluation of the strategy, students who trialed holistic stress management techniques reported satisfaction, engagement, perceived relevance, and intention to trial techniques with patients in future clinical courses. Modeling role modeling theory and the Kirkpatrick evaluation model guided the project, which filled gaps in current knowledge about experiential learning in graduate nursing programs.

The sex ratio at birth in South Africa increased 9months after the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

INTRODUCTION: In humans in the absence of significant stress the sex ratio at birth [males/(males+females)] is in favor of more male than female live births. METHODS: This study sought to determine the influence of the 2010 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup in South Africa on the sex ratio at birth in that country specifically 9months afterwards. Publicly available data from Statistics South Africa was utilized detailing recorded live births. Analysis was carried out by Chi-squared tests. RESULTS: February and March 2011 about 9months after the World Cup, had the highest observed sex ratio at birth (relatively more male births) of 0.5063 for the period 2003 to 2012. The observed sex ratio at birth in the considered two months of 2011 was 0.63% (p=0.02) greater than the sex ratio at birth for corresponding periods from 2008 to 2012. The increase noted in 2011 corresponds to more than 1000 extra male births than expected for February and March 2011. CONCLUSION: The 2010 FIFA World Cup was followed about 9months afterwards by a significant increase in the sex ratio at birth. The main mechanism driving the observed increase in the sex ratio at birth in South Africa is most likely more frequent sexual intercourse at population level during the tournament.