Academic literature on the topic 'Socio-economic Mapping'

Postnatal depression (PND) is a significant global health issue, which not only impacts maternal wellbeing, but also infant development and family structures. Mental health disorders represent approximately 14% of global burden of disease and disability, including low and middle-income countries (LMIC), and PND has direct relevance to the Millennium Development Goals of reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, and creating global partnerships (United Nations, 2012; Guiseppe, Becker & Farmer, 2011). Emerging evidence suggests that PND in LMIC is similar to, or higher than in high-income countries (HIC), however, less than 10% of LMIC have prevalence data available (Fisher, Cabral de Mello, & Izutsu 2009; Lund et al., 2011). Whilst a small number of studies on maternal mental disorders have been published in Vietnam, only one specifically focuses on PND in a hospital-based sample. Also, community based mental health studies and information on mental health in rural areas of Vietnam is still scarce. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of PND, and its associated social determinants in postnatal women in Thua Thien Hue Province, Central Vietnam. In order to identify social determinants relevant to the Central Vietnamese context, two qualitative studies and one community survey were undertaken. Associations between maternal mental health and infant health outcomes were also explored. The study was comprised of three phases. Firstly, iterative, qualitative interviews with Vietnamese health professionals (n = 17) and postpartum women (n = 15) were conducted and analysed using Kleinman's theory of explanatory models to identify narratives surrounding PND in the Vietnamese context (Kleinman, 1978). Secondly, a participatory concept mapping exercise was undertaken with two groups of health professionals (n = 12) to explore perceived risk and protective factors for postnatal mental health. Qualitative phases of the research elucidated narratives surrounding maternal mental health in the Vietnamese context such as son preference, use of traditional medicines, and the popularity of confinement practices such as having one to three months of complete rest. The qualitative research also revealed the construct of depression was not widely recognised. Rather, postpartum changes in mood were conceptualised as a loss of 'vital strength' following childbirth or 'disappointment'. Most women managed postpartum changes in mood within the family although some sought help from traditional medicine practitioners or biomedical doctors. Thirdly, a cross-sectional study of twelve randomly selected communes (six urban, six rural) in Thua Thien Hue Province was then conducted. Overall, 465 women with infants between 4 weeks and six months old participated, and 431 questionnaires were analysed. Women from urban (n = 216) and rural (n = 215) areas participated. All eligible women completed a structured interview about their health, basic demographics, and social circumstances. Maternal depression was measured using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) as a continuous variable. Multivariate generalised linear regression was conducted using PASW Statistics version 18.0 (2009). When using the conventional EPDS threshold for probable depression (EPDS score ~ 13) 18.1% (n = 78) of women were depressed (Gibson, McKenzie-McHarg, Shakespeare, Price & Gray, 2009). Interestingly, 20.4% of urban women (n = 44) had EPDS scores~ 13, which was a higher proportion than rural women, where 15.8% (n = 34) had EPDS scores ~ 13, although this difference was not statistically significant: t(429) = -0.689, p = 0.491. Whilst qualitative narratives identified infant gender and family composition, and traditional confinement practices as relevant to postnatal mood, these were not statistically significant in multivariate analysis. Rather, poverty, food security, being frightened of your husband or family members, experiences of intimate partner violence and breastfeeding difficulties had strong statistical associations. PND was also associated with having an infant with diarrhoea in the past two weeks, but not infant malnutrition or acute respiratory infections. This study is the first to explore maternal mental health in Central Vietnam, and provides further evidence that PND is a universally experienced phenomenon. The independent social risk factors of depressive symptoms identified such as poverty, food insecurity, experiences of violence and powerlessness, and relationship adversity points to women in a context of social suffering which is relevant throughout the world (Kleinman, Das & Lock, 1997). The culturally specific risk factors explored such as infant gender were not statistically significant when included in a multivariable model. However, they feature prominently in qualitative narratives surrounding PND in Vietnam, both in this study and previous literature. It appears that whilst infant gender may not be associated with PND per se, the reactions of close relatives to the gender of the baby can adversely affect maternal wellbeing. This study used a community based participatory research approach (CBPR) (Israel.2005). This approach encourages the knowledge produced to be used for public health interventions and workforce training in the community in which the research was conducted, and such work has commenced. These results suggest that packages of interventions for LMIC devised to address maternal mental health and infant wellbeing could be applied in Central Vietnam. Such interventions could include training lay workers to follow up postpartum women, and incorporating mental health screening and referral into primary maternal and child health care (Pate! et al., 2011; Rahman, Malik, Sikander & Roberts, 2008). Addressing the underlying social determinants of PND through poverty reduction and violence elimination programs is also recommended.

R É S U M É<p><p>I. Actuellement, en Afrique sub-saharienne, les acteurs de la conservation considèrent que la<p>survie à long terme de la faune sauvage ne peut être assurée que par le maintien de son habitat<p>en dehors des aires de conservation intégrale. Dans cette optique, les projets de conservation<p>tentent de préserver des étendues de végétation naturelle au sein de « zones tampons » ou de<p>« corridors de migration » dans la périphérie des aires protégées. Cette thèse s’est intéressée aux possibilités de conserver de tels espaces en concertation avec les populations riveraines du parc national de Zakouma, une aire protégée du Sud-est du Tchad. Notre objectif a été de rechercher des solutions aux problèmes que rencontrent généralement les aménagistes dans cette action. Notre hypothèse est que l’aménagement des périphéries d’aires protégées doit s’appuyer sur une meilleure identification des déterminants locaux de l’exploitation des espaces de végétation naturelle, et que leur analyse doit s’appuyer sur une approche spatiale.<p>II. Plusieurs étapes de recherches ont permis d’alimenter notre réflexion :<p>Une première phase de terrain a été tout d’abord été menée à Am Choka, un village représentatif de la zone la plus densément peuplée de la périphérie est du PNZ. Les objectifs visés étaient i.) d’une part, de déterminer les activités humaines affectant le plus le paysage<p>végétal naturel de la périphérie du parc, et donc susceptibles d’annihiler son rôle de « zone<p>tampon », et ii) d’autre part, d’identifier les savoir-faire et les facteurs socioéconomiques et<p>politiques qui régissent l’exploitation des espaces de végétation naturelle. Outre l’observation participante au village, des cartographies fines du terroir et des zones d’exploitation, ainsi que des entretiens semi-structurés ont été réalisés sur le terrain.<p>La seconde phase de recherche a été consacrée à la réalisation d’un outil cartographique dans<p>le but (i) d’évaluer l’état de la zone périphérique en terme de répartition et d’occupation relative des diverses formations végétales naturelles par rapport à l’emprise agricole, et ii.) d’en déduire les zones de la périphérie les plus susceptibles de faire l’objet d’un processus de gestion des espaces de végétation naturelle. A cet effet, quatre images satellites récentes ont été acquises. Les opérations de terrain ont donné lieu à 234 relevés sur ligneux et 2440 relevés qualitatifs d’autres types d’occupation du sol. Ces relevés ont été utilisés pour l’interprétation des scènes satellites en unités cartographiques.<p>La troisième phase de recherche a porté sur une analyse du dispositif d’aménagement récemment proposé pour la zone périphérique du PNZ par le projet gestionnaire du parc. Notre objectif était de mettre en évidence, les modalités réelles de prise en compte de l’organisation locale de l’exploitation ou de la gestion des espaces de végétation naturelle, et de les confronter avec les connaissances acquises lors de la première phase de recherche. <p>III. La recherche aboutit aux résultats suivants :<p>Les populations rurales ont une bonne connaissance du milieu physique et utilisent une<p>typologie qui leur permet de localiser les différentes composantes de leur terroir et de leur<p>finage, et d’en évaluer le potentiel.<p>La défriche des espaces de végétation naturelle à des fins agricoles est régie par des instances<p>coutumières villageoises et cantonale qui exercent un fort pouvoir en matière de gestion du<p>foncier et de planifications agricoles.<p>La culture du sorgho repiqué (berbéré - Sorghum bicolor) constitue la principale source de<p>réduction des espaces de végétation naturelle. Elle modifie le paysage sur de grandes portions<p>de territoire car sa mise en place nécessite un essartage intégral des savanes à Acacia seyal.<p>L’accès et l’usage des espaces de végétation naturelle pour la collecte de produits forestiers<p>ligneux et non-ligneux sont libres et non liés à la propriété foncière. L’exploitation de ces<p>produits n’entraîne pas de coupe à blanc mais les contraintes d’exploitation conditionne l’étendue spatiale du finage autour d’un village donné. Certaines zones du finage sont cependant l’objet de bornages fonciers en vue de projets agricoles à plus ou moins long terme. Les travaux cartographiques ont abouti à l’appréciation de l’étendue et de répartition des formations végétales naturelles. Le sorgho de décrue occupe un peu moins de 5% de la totalité de la superficie de zone périphérique. Les zones de cultures sont concentrées pour l’essentiel à<p>l’est et au nord de l’aire protégée. Un dixième de la superficie d’origine des savanes à Acacia<p>seyal a déjà été exploité à des fins agricoles. Cette carte peut être exploitée pour localiser les<p>zones d’enjeux entre conservation et développement économique. Cet exercice permet de<p>reconsidérer la délimitation en zones de protection de la périphérie.<p>Dans sa formulation, le « plan de gestion » témoigne largement d’une volonté d’associer les<p>populations riveraines à l’aménagement de la périphérie du parc. Cette collaboration sera<p>certainement entravée par l’absence de compensation en contrepartie de la limitation du<p>développement agricole au profit de l’habitat de la faune sauvage. Par contre, elle pourrait<p>être favorisée si le zonage proposé correspondait aux limites des terroirs et des finages. Un<p>préliminaire à tout processus de gestion concertée des espaces de végétation naturelle est aussi l’identification des décideurs qui ont autorité sur ces espaces. L’étude débouche sur suggestions permettant aux aménagistes leurs permettant d’atteindre leurs objectifs de conservation de la faune et de son habitat en concertation avec les populations riveraines. Ces recommandations peuvent certainement être adaptées à d’autres contextes d’aménagement des périphéries d’aires protégées. <p><p><p>ABSTRACT<p>I. Nowadays, in Sub-Saharan Africa, conservation actors believe that the long-term survival<p>of wild animals can be ensured only through the maintenance of their habitat outside areas of<p>total conservation. Accordingly, conservation projects seek to preserve areas of natural<p>vegetation in “buffer zones” or “migration corridors” on the periphery of protected areas.<p>The present doctoral thesis studies the possibilities of conservating such areas in concertation<p>with the populations living around Zakouma National Park (ZNP), a protected area in southeast<p>Chad. Our aim has been to find solutions to the problems generally encountered by forest<p>managers working towards this goal. Our hypothesis is that the management of surroundings<p>of protected areas must be grounded on a better identification of the local factors determining<p>the exploitation of natural vegetation areas, and that any analysis must be based on a spatial<p>approach.<p>II. Several steps in the research provided grounds for reflection:<p>As a first phase, a survey was conducted in Am Choka, a village representative of the most<p>densely populated zone of the eastern periphery of ZNP. The objectives were (i) to determine<p>which human activities most affect the natural vegetal landscape of the periphery of the park<p>and hence are likely to annul its role of “buffer zone”, and (ii) to identify which know-how<p>and socio-economic or political factors govern the exploitation of natural vegetation areas. In<p>addition to participatory observation in the village, detailed maps were made of the ‘terroir’<p>and the ‘finage’ (the total area exploited by a village), and semi-structured interviews were<p>conducted on the spot.<p>The second phase of research was dedicated to the creation of a cartographic tool with the<p>intention of (i) assessing the state of the peripheral zone in terms of where and to what extent<p>the natural vegetal formations are situated in comparison with the land under cultivation, and<p>(ii) pinpointing the peripheral zones best suited to a process of management of natural<p>vegetation areas. To that end, four recent satellite pictures were acquired. Operations on the<p>ground yielded 234 plottings over wood stands and 2 440 qualitative plottings of other types<p>of land occupation. These plottings were used to convert the satellite images into cartographic<p>units.<p>The third phase of research was concerned with an analysis of the management mechanism<p>recently proposed for the peripheral zone of ZNP by the park management project. Our aim<p>was to bring to the fore the actual methods by which the local organisation of exploitation or<p>management of the natural vegetation areas is taken into account and to compare them with<p>the knowledge acquired under the first phase of research.<p>III. The research produced the following results:<p>The rural populations have a good knowledge of the physical environment and use a typology<p>which enables them to localise the different components of the terroir and of the finage, and<p>to assess their potential.<p>The clearing of areas of natural vegetation for agricultural purposes is governed by traditional<p>village or canton authorities, which exert a powerful influence over land management and<p>agricultural planning.<p>The cultivation of transplanted sorghum (berbéré - Sorghum bicolor) is the main source of<p>reduction of areas with natural vegetation. It modifies the landscape over large swathes of<p>territory inasmuch as this cultivation method leads to a total clearing of the Acacia seyal<p>savannas. Access to and use of areas of natural vegetation for collecting wood and non-wood forest<p>products are free and not linked to land ownership. Exploiting these products does not lead to clear-cutting of the forest, but the constraints of exploitation influence the spatial extent of the finage around a given village. Some zones of finage are nevertheless subjected to land<p>boundary markings when agricultural projects are planned in the shorter or longer term.<p>The cartographic findings led to an assessment of the area covered by, and the distribution of,<p>natural vegetal formations. Flood-irrigated sorghum occupies just under 5% of the total area<p>of the periphery. The cultivation zones are mostly concentrated east and north of the protected area. One tenth of the original area of Acacia seyal savannas has already been exploited for agriculture. The map can also be used to identify areas caught between conservation and<p>economic development. This exercise makes its possible to reconsider the delimitation of the<p>periphery into protection zones. In its formulation, the “management plan” largely reveals the will to involve local populations<p>in the management of the periphery of the park. This collaboration will certainly be hampered<p>by the absence of compensation to offset any limitation of agricultural development to the<p>benefit of the wild animal habitat. It could, however, be promoted if the proposed zoning were<p>to correspond to the limits of the terroirs and finages. A preliminary to any process of<p>concerted management of the areas of natural vegetation would also be to identify the<p>decision-makers who have authority over these expanses. The present study throws up suggestions as to how forest managers might attain their<p>objectives for the conservation of fauna and their habitat in concertation with the local<p>populations. These recommendations can certainly also be extrapolated to other contexts of<p>management of the peripheries of protected areas.<br>Doctorat en Sciences agronomiques et ingénierie biologique<br>info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

2006/2007<br>Questa tesi indaga, sotto il riferimento teorico della Value Chain Analysis e della Teoria delle Convenzioni, i dispositivi di qualificazione di prodotto e le corrispondenti forme di coordinamento che gli attori del contesto produttivo caffeicolo brasiliano e del Minas Gerais hanno, nel corso della storia, adottato come strategia di sopravvivenza prima e, in seguito, di crescita. In questa analisi, particolare rilevanza viene data allo spazio e al ruolo della referenza territoriale, quale dispositivo di qualificazione del prodotto caffè e strategia di sviluppo nella storia caffeicola brasiliana. Il fine ultimo è di analizzarne una sua specifica dimensione, quella del terroir, presentandone concetti, definizioni, e mettendo in luce, in via descrittiva, possibili approcci per la sua caratterizzazione pedologico - spaziale. Chiude un’indagine conoscitiva di caratterizzazione climatico – produttiva del terroir di una zona rinomata per la produzione caffeicola del Minas Gerais.<br>XIX Ciclo<br>1979

Like many other cities Memphis has been hit hard by the economic downturn, but unlike other cities there are several other factors which cause the existing conditions in Memphis to be even more devastating. Memphis is one of the largest majority minority cities in the country with high rates of unemployment and, extremely high rates of crime. Foreclosures have ravaged the housing stock, graduation rates are far below the state goal, there are huge disparities in income and HIV/AIDS is on the rise at alarming rates. In Memphis, these factors combine to exacerbate the existing desert of opportunity that reproduces patterns of desolation, segregation, and social and economic disparities. This report aims to investigate the socio-economic dynamics of those areas most affected by inequality in an effort to understand the correlation between various factors, identify trends within those areas and assess how the interaction of various components could have potentially detrimental effects on the overall community.<br>text

Apartheid left a legacy that is spatially skewed. This is reflected in the present patterns of poverty and inequality in South Africa. While a number of global and national initiatives are in place to reduce the levels of poverty and inequality in rural South Africa, this research aimed at the development of a tool that would be able to assist communities themselves in reducing their own levels of poverty and inequality. This research was undertaken in collaboration with the Greater Rustenburg Community Foundation and a variety of rural communities in South Africa. The Community Asset Mapping Programme (CAMP) has as its purpose the achievement of sustainable and responsible high impact social change within communities. CAMP enables community members to map their own assets and empowers them to use these assets sustainably to create a better life for themselves. Communities are empowered to identify their own entrepreneurship and livelihood strategies and opportunities in an attempt to generate their own wealth. Unlike many existing asset mapping applications, CAMP advocates that the success of any roots-driven change depends on the inclusion of processes that will provide a cognitive shift in terms of a variety of processes such as wishes, fears, trust, self-worth, and power mapping, all providing different components that ensure a process of sustainable change within communities. The research presents an argument that if communities are to achieve effective roots-driven change they would require partnerships with Non Profit Organisations, government, civil society, business, and institutes of higher learning, who are willing to stand aside and allow communities to decide their own priorities in their journey to achieve their own wealth, but who would be willing to provide funding, mentorship, skills, and a continuous monitoring process over the medium to long term.<br>Sociology<br>Ph.D. (Geography)

A choropleth map is a cartographic document. It shows a geographic study area tessellated by a set of polygons that differ in shape and size. Each polygon is depicted by a uniform symbol representing the manifestation of some phenomenon. This thesis focuses on socio-economic phenomena. We want to delineate a set of socio-economic regions within a study area. These regions are used for decision making about the delivery of specific goods and services and/or the provision of specific community infrastructure. However, we have identified three fundamental weaknesses associated with the use of choropleth maps for socio-economic regionalisation. Therefore, as an alternative to the choropleth map if we think explicitly in R³, then the best representation of the spatial distribution of a socio- economic phenomenon is a smooth surface. The socio-economic data we use are collected during a national census of population and are summarised for areas, i.e., polygons. To accommodate these data we have developed and applied a method for gridding and smoothing - termed regularisation - in order to build a smooth surface. We apply Green's theorem and use path integrals with much simplification to compute a smoothed datum for each intersection of a, say, 100 by 100 grid that describes a surface. Mathematically, surface shape is interpreted through the comparison of curvatures. Surface shape analysis involves the measurement of the Gaussian and mean curvatures at the internal intersections of the grid. Curvature measurement requires at least a twice differentiable function. We have invented such a function based on Lagrange interpolation. It is called a Lagrange polynomial in xy. Each internal intersection of the grid is the (2,2) element of a 3 x 3 matrix extracted from the grid. We compute a Lagrange polynomial in xy for each 3 x 3 matrix. Then we use this polynomial to measure the curvatures and classify the shape. Contiguous grid intersections of the same shape class comprise a shape neighbourhoods region interpreted as a specific manifestation of a socio-economic phenomenon. Hence, we have the basis for describing the spatial distribution of the phenomenon. Three investigations into the construction of quadratic polynomials as alternative functions are described. Two of these quadratic polynomials are called `exact fit' in the sense that the polynomial returns the exact z-datum associated with each xy-pair used in its construction. Construction of a `best fit' quadratic polynomial based on least squares interpolation comprises the third investigation. We compare the four different types of polynomials and of these we choose the Lagrange polynomial in x y as most appropriate. Given a relatively high density grid, e.g., 250 by 250, regardless of the polynomial used the resulting maps of shape neighbourhoods regions are virtually identical. This surprising convergence in R² is explained. Is a map of shape neighbourhoods regions an accurate description of the spatial distribution of a socio-economic phenomenon? We effect an indirect evaluation of a known phenomenon represented by the spatial distribution of f(x,y) = sin x sin y. We compute the true map of shape neighbourhoods regions of this phenomenon. An approximate map of shape neighbourhoods regions is computed by sampling with 100 randomly generated polygons. Comparison implies that the approximate map is an accurate representation of the true map. This conclusion is supported strongly by the results of a study of a nonperiodic-nonrandom known phenomenon, based on a combination of exponential functions in x and y. This has a surface similar to that of a socio-economic phenomenon. We review selected geographic studies in which mathematical tools have been used for analytical purposes. Mathematical analysis is gaining broader acceptance in geography. The innovative, high quality Surpop work of British geographers is described, and we comment on the strongly complementary nature of the research presented in this thesis to the Surpop work. We describe 18 future research directions and themes; suggestions are made on how each may be undertaken. Next, we summarise each of the ten results of the research presented in this thesis. The thesis concludes with a statement of the medium-term research directions of the researcher and his acknowledgements.<br>Thesis (M.Sc.(M&CS)) -- University of Adelaide, School of Mathematical Sciences, 2012