Health impacts of climate change on gender diverse populations: A scoping review

PURPOSE

To determine what is known about climate change health effects for gender diverse (GD) populations, and identify gaps in research, practice, education, and policy.

DESIGN/METHODS

A scoping review was conducted.

FINDINGS

Twenty-seven information sources met inclusion criteria. Natural disasters and inadequate disaster relief responses were identified as an overarching health threat for GD populations. Within this theme, four sub-themes emerged. No other climate-related health impacts for GD populations were mentioned in the sources reviewed.

CONCLUSIONS

There are major gaps in knowledge about health implications of climate change for GD populations. Gender-sensitive data must be collected in order to better understand these threats and detect disparities. Currently most practice and policy recommendations focus on disaster relief. More research on the broad effects of climate change on GD populations is urgently needed to inform practice and policy.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Climate change amplifies existing risks of adverse health outcomes. Because of discrimination, stigma, and violence, gender diverse individuals are particularly vulnerable.

Unintended pregnancy: a framework for prevention and options for midlife women in the US

Recently unintended pregnancies have been described as "a new kind of mid-life crisis." Given the high prevalence of unwanted or mistimed pregnancy in the US, we examined the sexual and reproductive health patterns of sexually active midlife women. An examination of the prevalence of unintended pregnancy among midlife women revealed a gap in data indicating unmet sexual and reproductive health needs of midlife women. The application of a framework for primary, secondary and tertiary prevention for unintended pregnancy may assist with guiding care for women and identifying implications for reproductive health policy and potential political interference as they relate to sexual and reproductive health in midlife women.

Providing options counseling for women with unintended pregnancies

Nearly half of the pregnancies in the United States are unintended, and nurses frequently encounter women with unintended pregnancies in the clinical setting. Nurses may be responsible for counseling these women on how to explore and decide between the options of parenting, adoption, and abortion. To date, little has been written about options counseling, despite the fact that unintended pregnancy is one of the most common health conditions that women face. This article presents epidemiological data on prevalence, outcomes, consequences, causes, and prevention of unintended pregnancy. It examines the conflicts that nurses may experience when providing care to women with unintended pregnancies and discusses the intersection of professional responsibilities and personal values. Finally, the article presents general strategies and specific suggested steps for providing options counseling.

Disruption by conophthorin of the kairomonal response of sawyer beetles to bark beetle pheromones

Antennally active nonhost angiosperm bark volatiles were tested for their ability to reduce the response of three common species of coniferophagous wood-boring Cerambycidae to attractant-baited multiple funnel traps in the southern interior of British Columbia. Of the nonhost volatiles tested, only conophthorin was behaviorally active, disrupting the attraction of sawyer beetles, Monochamus spp., to traps baited with the host volatiles alpha-pinene and ethanol and the bark beetle pheromones ipsenol and ipsdienol. Conophthorin did not affect the attraction of sawyer beetles to the host kairomones alpha-pinene and ethanol in the absence of bark beetle pheromones, nor did it have any behavioral effect on adults of Xylotrechus longitarsis, which were not attracted to bark beetle pheromones. These results indicate that conophthorin does not act as a general repellent for coniferophagous Cerambycidae, as it seems to do for many species of Scolytidae, but has the specific activity of disrupting the kairomonal response of sawyer beetles to bark beetle pheromones.

Computational and experimental investigation of the fields generated by a 1-3 piezocomposite transducer

Large-scale three-dimensional numerical simulations using the finite-difference time domain technique are used to compute the continuous wave fields associated with a composite transducer. The interior of the transducer is made of a periodic array of square rods. This lattice causes elastic wave Bragg diffraction similar to electrons in a periodic lattice. A low frequency mode shape is assumed for the rods. This prescribed motion includes longitudinal and transverse components. It is shown that the transverse motion in the rod gives rise to shear waves causing standing waves (lateral resonances) in the polymer regions. This is also confirmed by experimental results presented here and other independent analytical and experimental work. The full-scale numerical simulation is performed on a large parallel supercomputer and permits modeling of not only the composite transducer but the radiated pressure from near to far field. In addition, cover plates and edge effects are included, unlike analytical treatments. Although only mechanical effects are included, the wave propagation approach captures many essential features.