Larger Community Research Articles

Legal Systems and Domestic Violence: Changes in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health control measures resulted in both higher rates of intimate partner abuse and violence (IPA/V) and more severe victimization. Domestic violence advocacy programs struggled to maintain organizational capacity to provide survivor-centered services in the face of both increased demand and rapid changes necessary to mitigate disease spread. The current study explores ways that legal advocates and the legal systems responded to the needs of IPA/V survivors. Methods Leaders of 25 state and territory Coalitions across the U.S. participated in the study. Semi-structured interview questions were based on rapidly emerging areas of concern and drew on possible strengths and weaknesses in direct service provision during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, including questions about public health control measures, service provision, gaps in services, and lessons learned. Results Interviews with Coalition leaders revealed gaps in legal system responses during the pandemic, but also suggested new directions for service delivery. Four main themes emerged: lack of access to the legal system, limitations of in-person legal system responses, limitations of virtual legal system responses, and changes needed moving forward. Conclusion Backlogs in case processing communicate to survivors and the larger community that responding to IPA/V is not urgent. Advocates faced difficulty supporting survivors in person while virtual hearings sometimes presented other challenges for advocacy. However, some changes, including innovative online services and broad resolve to center BIPOC survivor voices, have the potential to enhance safety for survivors and push the movement forward.

Examining BRCA Previvors' Social Media Content Creation as a Form of Self and Community Care: Qualitative Interview Study.

Genetic testing has become a common way of identifying a woman's risk of developing hereditary breast and ovarian cancer; however, not all medical providers have the necessary information to support patients interested in genetic testing, nor do they always have the proper information for patients once they have been diagnosed. Therefore, many "previvors"-the name given to those who have tested positive for the BRCA genetic mutation-have taken to social media to inform others about the importance of genetic testing and explain to them how to understand their test results. Historically, those desiring to speak about their medical issues online have sought out structured support groups or chat rooms; however, many previvors today are instead posting on their own personal social media accounts and creating more niche communities. This study aimed to examine why BRCA previvors are sharing content on their personal social media accounts and how posting online in this way serves a purpose for their larger community. A total of 16 semistructured interviews were conducted with individuals who posted about their experience being diagnosed with the BRCA genetic mutation and their subsequent treatment on their personal social media accounts, specifically for followers interested in their medical journey. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded by an experienced qualitative researcher and a graduate student using inductive techniques, and a reflexive thematic analysis was applied to the transcripts. The results suggest BRCA previvors want to control the narrative around their personalized medical experiences rather than participating in existing groups or chat rooms. Controlling their own story, rather than adding to existing narratives, gives previvors a sense of control. It also allows them to set boundaries around the types of experiences they have online when sharing their medical journey. Finally, previvors said they feel they are serving the larger BRCA community by each sharing their individual journeys, to hopefully avoid stereotyping and homogenizing the experience of patients with BRCA genetic mutations. Research with the objective of understanding the experiences of BRCA previvors should include exploring how and why they talk about their journeys, especially due to the lack of knowledge BRCA previvors say many of their medical providers have. We suggest further research should examine how other patients with the BRCA genetic mutation, especially racial and ethnic minority patients, are navigating their own content creation, especially considering content moderation policies that social media platforms are continuing to implement that directly impact users' ability to share about their medical experiences.

Coevolution increases robustness to extinctions in mutualistic but not exploitative communities.

Coextinctions may exacerbate the current biodiversity crisis. Yet, we do not understand all the factors that shape the robustness of communities to the loss of species. Here we analyze how coevolution influences the robustness to secondary extinctions of mutualistic and exploitative communities. We find that coevolution increases robustness in mutualism but reduces it under exploitative interactions. These differences are due to coevolution altering the density of interactions in communities. Coevolution leads to densely connected mutualistic communities and sparsely connected exploitative communities. We find the magnitude of these effects depends on the strength of coevolution and the size of the community. The largest changes to the density of interactions and robustness of communities occur when coevolutionary selection is strong. Moreover, the changes to network robustness are greater for small mutualistic communities and large exploitative communities. Our results broaden our understanding of the suite of mechanisms affecting the resilience of ecological communities. These insights may inform efforts to reduce the risk of species loss in the face of global change.

Maternal perspectives on COVID-19 kindergarten learning impacts: a qualitative study of families with low income

In this paper, we aim to understand maternal perspectives on: (1) COVID-19 pandemic learning impacts for kindergartners from low-income households; and (2) Factors that mitigated or exacerbated impacts on learning. We conducted a qualitative study with 22 mothers of low-income households in the United States who had kindergarten-age children. Through in-depth, semi-structured interviews, mothers reflected on their experiences during the 2020–21 school year. We used an iterative approach for developing and revising codes and themes emerging from the transcribed interview data until we reached thematic saturation. Many mothers noted negative learning impacts, but some noted positive impacts that they attributed to active parental engagement in their child’s learning. Mothers described several family-level and school-level supports and barriers to their child’s learning. Fewer mothers described supports and barriers pertaining to their social circle or their larger community. The most commonly reported supports included: economic and social supports that allowed the time and financial means to engage actively in their child’s learning, mental health supports to strengthen family functioning, and regular, timely, and open home-school communication.

Community members’ knowledge of and experience with the Portland Street Response program

ABSTRACT Portland Street Response (PSR) was implemented in Portland, Oregon to provide an alternative to police response for individuals in crisis related to mental illness, substance use, or homelessness in public space. PSR is dispatched through 911. Most calls resulting in a PSR dispatch are made by housed community members, making it important to assess community members’ knowledge of PSR, their thoughts about accessing PSR through 911, and their experiences using PSR. 440 community members were surveyed over four evaluation timepoints. Sixty of these participants were qualitatively interviewed about their direct experience with PSR. Knowledge of PSR was lower among BIPOC than White community members, but increased considerably over the evaluation period. Community members were ambivalent about using 911 to call PSR due to fear of police response or anticipated slow response, though their confidence in reaching PSR increased over time. Community members were satisfied with PSR's work in the field, describing the team's kindness, de-escalation skills, and ability to connect with clients and the larger community. These findings are useful to other cities as they consider implementing alternative first responder programs, and the consistent positive feedback on PSR's work in the field demonstrates the value of these programs.

Construction and Optimization of Ecological Network in Kuqa, China

The ability to achieve coordinated progress towards ecological protection has become an important ecological network, is the basic guarantee, and an important way to achieve regional and urban ecological security. This study takes Kuqa City as the research area, using the Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) method and the landscape connectivity index to extract the ecological source area. After establishing the comprehensive resistance surface, the Minimum Cumulative Resistance (MCR) model is used to identify the ecological corridor, and the source area and the corridor are combined to construct the ecological network of the study area. The analysis results show that the area of cropland continued to rise in 2020, and the area of woodland and grassland decreased; the overall analysis of the ecological security pattern yielded good results, and the main influencing factors were terrain and altitude. We extracted eight ecological source areas, and the distribution structure of the source sites formed two large source site communities in the north and south, with a clear break in the middle. After establishing a comprehensive resistance surface, 28 general corridors were identified using the MCR model. Corridors are more scarce in the western part of the study area, so seven important corridors have been identified according to the gravity model, and four new sources have been added to expand the ecological network coverage area, which can solve the fault phenomenon between the southwest and middle east. Constructing a reasonable ecological network can significantly improve the landscape connectivity of the entire study area, which is conducive to promoting the construction of ecological civilization in Kuqa City, and is of great significance to sustainable development and the protection of the ecological environment.

An Automated Method to Assess the Suitability of Existing Boreholes for Solar-Based Pumping Systems: An Application to Southern Madagascar

Groundwater provides a strategic resource in the face of uncertain climate conditions in arid and semi-arid regions. Solar-based groundwater pumping is quickly gaining ground across rural sub-Saharan Africa, promoted by national and international organizations as the new technology of choice for water supply and irrigation. A crucial question in large-scale developments is whether pre-existing boreholes can be fitted with solar pumps. Based on data from southern Madagascar, this paper provides an automated method to deal with this. Our approach relies on a combination of hydrogeological criteria, including well screen depth, drawdown in relation to the static water column, and pumping efficiency. The results show that 60% of the existing boreholes in the study region are potentially suitable for the installation of solar pumps. Out of these, 54% would be able to supply water to large rural communities (>1000 people), whereas the remaining 46% present the potential to provide water to medium communities (500 to 1000 people). There are, however, concerns as to whether the information contained in the dataset is fully representative of current borehole conditions. Furthermore, the potential for installation of solar-based supplies must be placed in the context of the available resources and local capacities in order to ensure future sustainability.

Variable effects of wildlife and livestock on questing tick abundance across a topographical–climatic gradient

AbstractLarge‐bodied wild ungulates are declining worldwide, while domestic livestock continue to increase in abundance. Such changes in large herbivore communities should have strong effects on the control of ticks and tick‐borne disease as they can indirectly modify habitat and directly serve as final hosts for ticks' lifecycles. Numerous studies have now linked changing ungulate communities to changes in tick populations and disease risk. However, the effects of changing large herbivore communities are variable across studies, and the effect of climate as a mediating factor of this variation remains poorly understood. Also, studies to date have largely focused on wildlife loss without considering the extent to which livestock additions may alter tick populations, even though livestock replacement of wildlife is the global norm. In this study, we used a large‐scale exclosure experiment replicated along a topo‐climatic gradient to examine the effects on tick populations of both large herbivore removal and livestock additions. We found that while questing ticks increased modestly, by 21%, when large herbivores were removed from a system they decreased more substantially, by 50%, when livestock (in the form of cattle) were added. Importantly, in addition to the direct effects of climate on tick populations, climate also mediates the effect of ungulates on questing tick density. Particularly, the addition of livestock under the most arid conditions decreased tick presence, likely due to changes in ground‐level microclimates away from those beneficial to ticks. Overall, the work contributes to our understanding of tick population responses to globally common human‐induced rangeland alterations under the concurrent effects of climate change.

Dynamic Evolutionary Game of Knowledge-Sharing Willingness Among Enterprises in Cluster Innovation Network: Considering the Network Structure

Knowledge-sharing behavior based on cluster innovation network has become the primary way for enterprises to achieve sustainable innovation. The willingness of enterprises to share knowledge is a dynamic evolutionary game, supplemented by their periodic evaluations of changes in the network structure and strategic optimization based on game payoffs. An evolutionary game model is constructed to determine which network structure enables enterprises to attain the highest willingness to share knowledge. The results show the following: (1) The scale-free network exhibits the most significant influence on enhancing enterprises’ willingness to share knowledge, followed by small-world, random, and regular networks. In addition, the scale-free network demonstrates the slowest rate of evolutionary equilibrium. (2) The more apparent the agglomeration and community structure within a network, the greater the likelihood that enterprises will adopt knowledge-sharing strategy. (3) Compared to the network structure with smaller communities, larger communities can enhance enterprises’ willingness. However, larger communities cannot be substituted by an equivalent number of smaller communities, even if they contain the same number of enterprises. The network evolutionary mechanism will be clarified, contributing to the optimization of network structure and the promotion of knowledge-sharing collaboration among enterprises, which facilitates cluster innovation.

Life history is a key driver of temporal fluctuations in tropical tree abundances

The question of what mechanisms maintain tropical biodiversity is a critical frontier in ecology, intensified by the heightened risk of biodiversity loss faced in tropical regions. Ecological theory has shed light on multiple mechanisms that could lead to the high levels of biodiversity in tropical forests. But variation in species abundances over time may be just as important as overall biodiversity, with a more immediate connection to the risk of extirpation and biodiversity loss. Despite the urgency, our understanding of the primary mechanisms driving fluctuations in species abundances has not been clearly established. Here, we introduce a theoretical framework based around life history; the schedule of birth, growth, and mortality over a lifespan, and its systematic variation across species. We develop a mean field model to predict expected fluctuations in abundance for a focal species in a larger community, and we quantify empirical life history variation among 90 tropical forest species in a 50 ha plot in Panama. Putting theory and data together, we show that life history provides a critical piece of this puzzle, allowing us to explain patterns of abundance fluctuations more accurately than previous models incorporating demographic stochasticity without life history variation, and without introducing unobserved couplings between species and their environment. This framework provides a starting point for more general models that incorporate multiple factors in addition to life history variation, and suggests the potential for a fine-grained assessment of extirpation risk based on the impacts of anthropogenic change on demographic rates across life stages.

Izzih-Ukelle Environmental Crisis and Implications for Sustainable Development

Since the inception of earth, there has been a consensus among scholars thatwar and armed conflict of any kind often have major negative impact on thepeople and society more than positive one. Wars especially over land have leftmany nations and societies underdeveloped. Many national and societaleconomies have been crippled as a result of wars and armed conflict therebyleading to retardation of development of some communities, while increasingthe high level of poverty in the society. This article focuses on the conflictbetween Cross River and Ebonyi States, which to a large extent affectedfarming communities. This conflict is about contested land which the peopledepended on for survival because most of the people are farmers. Theresearcher used qualitative research method, where primary data werecollected from field interviews in the conflict affected terrain as well assecondary materials to develop the content of the article. It found that thearmed conflict gave a heavy blow on the people. Consequently, the articlerecommends that it is important to look at how this conflict negativelyimpacted on food security in the country and pursue post conflictpeacebuilding. Politicians and other stakeholders should therefore try to stopfanning the fuel of enmity within Ebonyi and Cross River State.

Green Dreams, Concrete Realities: Overcoming Climate Hurdles in American Mid-Sized Cities

There exists a contradiction in the literature on city size and policy outcomes between those who expect a positive relationship between city size and policy outcomes and those who expect mid-sized cities to be best at providing services. I evaluate this contradiction in the context of climate policy through original fieldwork in four mid-sized cities. Additionally, existing studies of climate policy in mid-sized cities focus on internal best practices for climate policy, while the broader literature on urban climate politics emphasizes the intersectional nature of economic and political context. I evaluate how these previous findings, drawn from research in large or small communities, apply to mid-sized cities. I find that, for my cities, the relationship between size and policy is more nuanced than previous findings expect, while institutions, state capacity, and environmental coalitions all play a crucial role. Finally, I highlight the importance of overcoming the physical legacy of industrialization.

Becoming an Ovambo Adult: Growing Into Agentic Communalism in Sub-Saharan Africa

What does it take to become an adult in Africa? Life-span-development literature includes little exploration on this transition outside Western countries. A qualitative approach was used to identify locally relevant topics and variables in an understudied African context. Fifty 18- to 25-year-old Ovambo Namibians from rural and urban areas were interviewed. Results of reflexive thematic analysis suggest the significance of gender and birth order in defining adult roles and the completion of one’s education as a new rite of passage. Full adult personhood means providing for and engaging with a larger community as well as one’s children and extended family, reflecting the ongoing relevance of African communalism in today’s society. Youth in Namibia, and likely in sub-Saharan Africa more broadly, balance traditional and contemporary demands as they come of age in a postindependence, globalizing society. Our findings reflect the centrality of community and the intermingled nature of agentic and communal values in this process.

Understanding Sociodemographic Differences in Climate Behavior, Climate Policy Acceptance, and Political Participation

IntroductionTo mitigate the global health threat posed by climate change, multifaceted responses are required. In previous work, older, male, and highly educated individuals were shown to exhibit greater general readiness to act against climate change; the same is true for people living in larger communities. Yet, the sociodemographic effects may vary for the single facets of the readiness to act against climate change—namely individual climate-friendly behavior, acceptance of climate-protection policies, and political participation. MethodsData from four waves (2022–2023) of the Planetary Health Action Survey (PACE) were analyzed (N = 3,830, nonprobabilistic representative German sample). Sociodemographic variables (gender, age, community size, education and others) and the three abovementioned facets of the readiness to act against climate change were assessed to examine their relationships. ResultsPatterns varied between the indicators. Women and older individuals exhibited more climate-friendly behavior and policy acceptance. In contrast, levels of political participation were higher for men and younger individuals. Higher education was linked to less sustainable behavior, greater policy acceptance, and higher participation, while municipality size was only linked to the latter two. Additional analyses explore the relations between age and the constructs at item level. ConclusionsFindings underscore the importance of a nuanced understanding of people's readiness to act against climate change. Depending on communication objectives, different target groups may be relevant, e.g., do campaigners want to increase political participation vs. change individual behaviors. While older individuals exhibit greater readiness to act via individual behavior and policy acceptance, it is important to include young people in climate-communication efforts.

Social media use among patients before and after metabolic and bariatric surgery: a systematic review.

Social media use among patients before and after metabolic and bariatric surgery: a systematic review.

Network analysis of cattle movement among municipalities in Minas Gerais State, Brazil, from 2013 to 2023.

Network analysis of cattle movement among municipalities in Minas Gerais State, Brazil, from 2013 to 2023.

Measuring The Level of Social Conflicts in Local Governance: Methodological Aspects and Application For United Communities

Objectives: The objective of this study is to develop and apply a Social Conflict Index (SCI) to assess the level of social tension within United Territorial Communities (UTCs) in Ukraine. The index aims to provide a reliable measure for identifying and addressing social instability, supporting strategic planning and preventive management. Theoretical Framework: The study is grounded in theories of social cohesion and conflict, integrating social, economic, and institutional indicators to define the categories influencing stability and cohesion within communities. It draws from frameworks on decentralization and public administration to address the unique challenges of local governance in Ukraine. Method: A weighted-average approach was applied to evaluate the significance of various indicators, including social tension, economic factors, and institutional metrics. Each indicator was assigned a weight based on its relative importance in assessing social conflict. Data was collected through surveys, statistical analysis, and reviews of public petitions and complaints. The SCI was calculated using a standardized formula, allowing for the classification of conflict levels from low to critical. Results and Discussion: The findings demonstrate that the SCI is an effective tool for quantitatively assessing social tension in UTCs. The index identifies problematic areas, enabling local authorities to determine vulnerable groups and design targeted tension-reduction programs. The SCI scale provides a clear framework for classifying conflict levels, from low to critical, with implications for strategic planning. The study highlights the index’s adaptability for use in monitoring changes in social conflict, particularly under decentralization, and its potential for integration into digital platforms for real-time tracking. Research Implications: The SCI offers a practical tool for local authorities to enhance governance efficiency, supporting adaptive management strategies in the context of decentralization. The methodology is particularly valuable for addressing social inequality and economic challenges in larger communities. Future research could explore regional adaptations of the SCI, the development of digital monitoring platforms, and the modeling of preventive management strategies to enhance social stability. Originality/Value: This study advances local governance by presenting an innovative methodology for measuring social conflict tailored to the socio-political landscape of Ukraine. The SCI’s comprehensive framework integrates multiple indicators into a single measure, providing actionable insights for local governments. Its application contributes to the development of systematic approaches to social conflict management, aligning with the broader goals of decentralization and community stability.

WHAT IS MEMORY CARE IN ASSISTED LIVING?

Abstract Memory care is the most common type of specialized care provided in assisted living (AL) settings. This specialized care caters to people living with dementia and other forms of cognitive impairment. However, what constitutes specialized memory care varies according to who and how the setting is defined. We use the lenses of the state, industry, and consumers to describe the prevalence of ALs with memory care across the US. We created a national directory of ALs and their state licenses to identify those ALs designated as providing specialized memory care by the licensing agency, classified according to whether the state holds these ALs to additional standards or simply requires disclosure. To identify AL communities considered memory care by industry professionals, we relied on a dataset of AL organizations from the National Investment Center (NIC), a nonprofit organization focused on providing data, analytics, and connections to the senior housing and care industries. Finally, to view AL communities through the lens of (potential) residents and their families, we used business advertisement descriptions from Data Axle, a business advertising database. We found that 28% of the 13,715 large (greater than 25 beds) AL communities in our national AL directory were identified as memory care by state licensing agencies, 60% by NIC, and 26% by Data Axle. Our findings raise questions regarding how the care provided in these settings may vary based on who defines memory care.

Self-Diagnosed Cases of Dissociative Identity Disorder on Social Media: Conceptualization, Assessment, and Treatment.

Recent global popularity of social media content about dissociative identity disorder (DID) has coincided with increased self-diagnosis among children and young people who have formed large online communities and presented in clinical settings seeking to affirm their self-diagnoses. We situate this phenomenon within a broader trend toward self-diagnosis due to the widespread visibility and accessibility of mental health content on social media. Social media propelled self-diagnosis raises particular questions for the study and treatment of DID due to long-standing debates over whether the condition is traumagenic, sociogenic, or iatrogenic. This paper draws from the current state of knowledge about psychiatric self-diagnosis, the influence of social media on youth mental health, and the authors' clinical experience to present preliminary conceptualizations of DID self-diagnosis and its significance for clinical practice. Established etiological models for DID acknowledge the role of sociocultural and contextual factors in shaping and reinforcing the elaboration of DID self-states. We hypothesize that multiple forms of online sociality and interaction encourage such elaborations. Social media content regarding DID, however, is routinely unreliable and low quality, often mischaracterizing the condition's symptoms and minimizing associated suffering and disability. This paper considers the likelihood that the self-diagnosing DID cohort includes genuine, genuine but exaggerated, imitative, and malingering cases, and underscores the importance of careful and personalized assessment and diagnosis.

Coral reef rehabilitation following Hurricane Irma using nano-engineered artificial reefs in Sint Maarten.

Artificial reefs are being increasingly deployed as a coral reef restoration strategy. Additional reef habitats made from conventional substrates (e.g., metal, concrete, etc.) have had limited success in addressing conservation objectives on degraded coral reefs due to structure size and lack of standardized monitoring, and inability to enhance select ecological, and species variables. Technological advances and new restoration methods must be quickly tested and applied on a large scale to curb further deterioration of coral reefs. Here, we present the results of the first deployment of Oceanite artificial reefs (ARs). We compare the composition of the benthic community and associated fish assemblages on Oceanite ARs 14 months after deployment in a marine protected area (MPA) and two unprotected sites in Philipsburg, Sint Maarten. We also examined fish abundance and behaviour on the ARs. The initial results from this pilot study suggest that Oceanite mineral matrices can enhance local biodiversity, attract coral recruits, provide food and protection for large fish communities, and develop an early stage, healthy coral reef community in 14 months. We suggest that further research and testing of Oceanite capabilities will allow us to develop site-, species-, and function-specific nanotechnology-enabled substrates to optimize AR conservation goals. Oceanite mix designs can be tuned to precise parameters to promote reef restoration and stressor mitigation (e.g., pH, leachate emissions, surface texture, porosity, void structure, and hydrophobic, heat-absorbing, and disease-fighting properties). Using both bottom-up and top-down restoration processes, we suggest that deploying bio-enhancing habitats with targeted microclimate stressor treatments on the world's critical reefs will allow to build global refuges resilient to climate change and provide much needed ecosystem services.