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Growth Indicators (growth + indicator)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Life Sciences	75%

Selected Abstracts

Expenditure Reform in Industrialised Countries: A Case-Study Approach,

FISCAL STUDIES, Issue 3 2007
Sebastian Hauptmeier
This study examines reforms of public expenditure in industrialised countries over the past two decades. We distinguish ambitious and timid reformers and analyse in detail reform experiences in eight case studies of ambitious reform episodes. We find that ambitious reform countries reduce spending on transfers, subsidies and public consumption. Such expenditure retrenchment is also typically part of a comprehensive reform package that includes improvements in fiscal institutions as well as structural and other macroeconomic reforms. The study finds that ambitious expenditure retrenchment and reform coincides with large improvements in fiscal and economic growth indicators. [source]

Sociodemographic determinants of growth among Malian adolescent females

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 3 2010
Timothy F. Leslie
In Africa, research concerning the social determinants of poor nutritional status has typically focused on children under 5 years of age and has used defined categorical boundaries based on international reference standards. In this article, stunting and wasting of 1,157 Malian adolescent girls is measured through both categorical and continuous data. The focus on adolescent girls is significant because there is relatively little literature examining this group, and because adolescence marks the time when girls gain greater workload responsibilities, autonomy of food choices, and, as a result of the adolescent growth spurt, require the greatest amount of caloric intake respective to their weight since infancy. To differentiate stunting and wasting causes, a number of socioeconomic, geographic, and demographic factors are explored. The findings suggest that continuous data provides a basis for modeling stunting and wasting superior to utilizing international reference categories. Estimations show that decreasing age, the presence of servants, a greater number of wives in a compound, and residence in a large urban area correlate with improved nutritional status while wealthier families appear to correlate with greater stunting and wasting, and no correlation exists with estimated energy expenditure. Future studies should incorporate continuous data, and the need exists for greater analysis of social determinants of growth indicators among adolescent females. Further, these findings have significant implications in the development of nutrition intervention programs aimed at the vulnerable population in Mali, leading us to conclude that factors beyond socioeconomic indicators such as household structure and location should be more fully examined. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Growth and market integration in Amazonia: A comparison of growth indicators between Shuar, Shiwiar, and nonindigenous school children

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2009
Aaron D. Blackwell
We describe and compare the growth of three groups of juveniles, aged 0,18, who experience different degrees of market integration and acculturation in the Ecuadorian Amazon. These include 1,384 indigenous Shuar from the Upano Valley of Ecuador and surrounding areas, 570 nonindigenous colono (or colonist) children from the same area, and 42 Shiwiar from the interior of Ecuador. We use differences between these populations in National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) z -scores to assess the effects of changing subsistence patterns on Shuar growth and nutrition. Although, for all three groups, mean height-for-age z -scores were negative, Shuar z -scores were significantly lower than either colono or Shiwiar z -scores. Mean weight-for-age z -scores were also negative for Shuar and colono juveniles, while mean BMI-for-age and weight-for-height z -scores were greater than zero for all three groups. Using NHANES standards, 41% of male and 38% of female Shuar were classified as stunted, versus 16% of male and 20% of female colonos. Compared to Shuar, colonos were three times less likely to be stunted (OR = 0.33, P < 0.01) and Shiwiar were eight times less likely to be stunted (OR = 0.13, P = 0.01). These differences suggest that changes in diet have negatively affected Shuar growth and nutrition. Am. J. Hum. Biol, 2009. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Northern Environment Predisposes Birches to Ozone Damage

PLANT BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2007
E. Oksanen
Abstract: Ozone sensitivity of silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) has been thoroughly investigated since early 1990,s in Finland. In our long-term open-field experiments the annual percentage reduction in basal diameter and stem volume increment were the best non-destructive growth indicators for ozone impact when plotted against AOTX. Remarkable differences in defence strategies, stomatal conductance, and defence compounds (phenolics), clearly indicate that external exposure indices are ineffective for accurate risk assessment for birch. For flux-based approaches, site-specific values for gmax and gdark are necessary, and determinants for detoxification capacity, ageing of leaves, and cumulative ozone impact would be needed for further model development. Increasing CO2 seems to counteract negative ozone responses in birch, whereas exposure to springtime frost may seriously exacerbate ozone damage in northern conditions. Therefore, we need to proceed towards incorporating the most important climate change factors in any attempts for ozone risk assessment. [source]