34,751 research outputs found

    Balancing the urban stomach: public health, food selling and consumption in London, c. 1558-1640

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    Until recently, public health histories have been predominantly shaped by medical and scientific perspectives, to the neglect of their wider social, economic and political contexts. These medically-minded studies have tended to present broad, sweeping narratives of health policy's explicit successes or failures, often focusing on extraordinary periods of epidemic disease viewed from a national context. This approach is problematic, particularly in studies of public health practice prior to 1800. Before the rise of modern scientific medicine, public health policies were more often influenced by shared social, cultural, economic and religious values which favoured maintaining hierarchy, stability and concern for 'the common good'. These values have frequently been overlooked by modern researchers. This has yielded pessimistic assessments of contemporary sanitation, implying that local authorities did not care about or prioritise the health of populations. Overly medicalised perspectives have further restricted historians' investigation and use of source material, their interpretation of multifaceted and sometimes contested cultural practices such as fasting, and their examination of habitual - and not just extraordinary - health actions. These perspectives have encouraged a focus on reactive - rather than preventative - measures. This thesis contributes to a growing body of research that expands our restrictive understandings of pre-modern public health. It focuses on how public health practices were regulated, monitored and expanded in later Tudor and early Stuart London, with a particular focus on consumption and food-selling. Acknowledging the fundamental public health value of maintaining urban foodways, it investigates how contemporaries sought to manage consumption, food production waste, and vending practices in the early modern City's wards and parishes. It delineates the practical and political distinctions between food and medicine, broadly investigates the activities, reputations of and correlations between London's guild and itinerant food vendors and licensed and irregular medical practitioners, traces the directions in which different kinds of public health policy filtered up or down, and explores how policies were enacted at a national and local level. Finally, it compares and contrasts habitual and extraordinary public health regulations, with a particular focus on how perceptions of and actual food shortages, paired with the omnipresent threat of disease, impacted broader aspects of civic life

    Structural and Attitudinal Barriers to Bicycle Ownership and Cycle-Based Transport in Gauteng, South Africa

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    Policies that aim to facilitate and promote non-motorised transport (NMT), and in particular cycling, have been developed by many high-income countries facing increasingly congested roads and saturated public transport systems. Such policies are also emerging in many low- and middle-income settings where high rates of urbanisation have led to similar problems with motorised transport. The aim of the present study was to better understand the potential structural and attitudinal barriers to cycle-based transport in one such context: South Africa’s Gauteng Province, the industrial powerhouse of sub-Saharan Africa that has recently made a firm commitment to NMT. The study focussed on demographic and socioeconomic variation in bicycle and car ownership, and related this to: (1) the reported use of motorised and non-motorised transport (both private and public); and (2) perceived ‘problems’ with cycling. The analyses drew on interviews with key respondents from n = 27,490 households conducted in 2013 as part of the third Quality of Life survey undertaken by the Gauteng City Regional Observatory. The survey contained items on three outcomes of interest: household vehicle ownership (bicycles and cars); modes of transport used for the “trips” most often made; and respondents’ “single biggest problem with… cycling”. Respondent- and household-level demographic and socioeconomic determinants of these outcomes were examined using descriptive and multivariable statistical analyses, the latter after adjustment for measured potential confounders identified using a theoretical causal path diagram (in the form of a directed acyclic graph). Of the n = 26,469 households providing complete data on all of the variables examined in the present study, only n = 8722 (32.9%) owned a car and fewer still (n = 2244; 8.4%) owned a bicycle. The ownership of these assets was commonest amongst wealthier, economically active households; and those that owned a car had over five times the odds of also owning a bicycle, even after adjustment for potential confounding (OR 5.17; 95% CI 4.58, 5.85). Moreover, of household respondents who reported making ‘trips’ during the preceding month (n = 18,209), over two-thirds of those whose households owned a car (70.1%) reported private car-based transport for such trips, while only 3.2% of those owning a bicycle reported cycling. Amongst the specific responses given to the item requesting the “single biggest problem with… cycling” by far the commonest was “Don’t know how to cycle” (32.2%), less than half as many citing “Vehicle accident risk” (15.9%), and fewer still: “Destination is too far” (13.9%); “Crime” (10.3%); “Too much effort” (9.2%); or “Lack of good paths” (4.6%). While the first of these reasons was commonest amongst poorer households, concerns about risk and effort were both most common amongst better educated, economically active and wealthier/better serviced households. In contrast, concerns over (cycle) paths were only common amongst those owning bicycles. The low prevalence of household bicycle ownership, and the disproportionate number of households owning bicycles that also owned cars, might explain the very small proportion of the ‘the trips most often made’ that involved cycle-based transport (0.3%), and the preferential use of cars amongst households owning both bicycles and cars. Low levels of bicycle ownership might also explain why so many respondents cited “Don’t know how” as the “single biggest problem with… cycling”; although risk and effort were also substantial concerns (presumably for many who did, and some who did not, know how to cycle); the lack of suitable cycle lanes being only primarily a concern for those who actually owned bicycles. Structural and attitudinal barriers to cycle-based transport limit the use of cycle-based transport in Gauteng, not only amongst the vast majority of household respondents who lack the means to cycle (and the means to learn how), but also amongst those dissuaded from learning to cycle, purchasing a bicycle and/or using a bicycle they own by: the risks and effort involved; the lack of suitable cycle paths; and/or because they also own a car and prefer to drive than cycle

    Tense times for young migrants: temporality, life-course and immigration status

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    This article explores the intersection between immigration status, life-course and the experience of time. It looks at how time and life-course transitions are experienced by young people who are in constant encounter with the immigration regime in the UK. The encounters at this intersection produce a complex landscape for young people to navigate during their transitions to adulthood. What emerges from unpicking the relations of this messy and complex temporal-immigration status matrix, are distinct experiences of time and life-course transitions for young migrants. First, in dealing with the immigration regime young people are confined to a passive role of waiting that results in a sense of feeling stuck. Secondly, pre-18 young people experience a growing up too early and upon turning 18 and gaining legal independence, their situation paradoxically leads to practical dependence. And thirdly, the immigration status renewal system produces long-term uncertainty for young people’s futures

    Multi-dimensional barrier identification for wind farm repowering in Spain through an expert judgment approach

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    .Spain was one of the pioneers in the deployment of wind energy systems worldwide and thus since 2014 has a potential for repowering that reaches between 3.3 and 8.7 GW in 2021 (12%–32% of its current installed wind capacity). However, despite the technical and economic advantages, we have observed little interest from promoters in the repowering of already amortized wind farms. The aim of the proposed study is to depict the background framework of barriers for repowering wind farms, which is specially affecting to Spain, but that can also extend to other EU countries. Therefore, we conducted a systematic survey study with academics, promoters, financial experts, manufacturers, operators, maintainers and policymakers to identify and understand the existing real and practical barriers. As a result, we have identified 34 major barriers covering five categories: technical issues, economics, environmental considerations, social concerns, and regulatory and administrative hurdles. We then asked the experts to rate these barriers based on their impact or relevance. We found that the experts agree that regulatory and administrative barriers have the maximum impact, while economic, environmental and technical barriers have only a mid-high impact. Therefore, we can conclude that, in general, the Administration must develop a concise and stable regulatory framework for all RES, especially for repowering projects, and carry out a review of both the technical requirements and the incentives schemes, with a focus on energy efficiency.S

    Viability of patent insurance in Spain

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    M-24609-2013Since 1975 the FUNDACIÓN MAPFRE has involved itself in activities serving the general interests of society in different areas of business and culture along with activities aimed at improving the economic and social conditions of the least advantaged members and sectors of society. Within this framework, the FUNDACIÓN MAPFRE’s Institute of Insurance Science promotes and undertakes educational and research activities in the fields of insurance and risk management. In the area of education, its activities include specialized, post-graduate academic training carried out in association with the Pontifical University of Salamanca and courses and seminars for professionals held in Spain and Latin America. These activities have been expanded into other geographic regions thanks to cooperation with a series of institutions in Spain and other countries and an Internet training programme. The Institute offers grants for research in risk and insurance science and operates a specialized insurance and risk management Documentation Centre as support for its activities. The Institute routinely sponsors and draws up reports and publishes books dealing with insurance and risk management to improve our understanding of these fields. Some are intended as reference materials for those starting out in the study or practice of insurance affairs, while others are intended as information sources for undertaking research into specialized issues in greater depth. One of these activities is the publication of this volume, the outcome of research carried out by Drs. Pérez Carrillo and Cuypers in 2011 and 2012, under the guidance of José Antonio Aventín Arroyo

    Relaciones intergeneracionales: beneficios, satisfacción y limitaciones derivadas de la práctica de actividades presenciales y virtuales = Intergenerational relationships: benefits, satisfaction, and limitations derived from the practice of face-to-face and virtual activities

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    421 p.Introducción Durante las últimas décadas, el aislamiento social y la soledad entre los adultos mayores ha conducido a un mayor interés en el estudio de las relaciones intergeneracionales. Los programas intergeneracionales constituyen una gran oportunidad para que los adultos mayores conecten con personas de otras generaciones. Numerosos estudios han descrito los efectos beneficiosos de estos programas, mejorando la salud mental y física de las personas mayores y contribuyendo a una mejor formación académica y habilidades sociales en los niños. Las tecnologías digitales se han vuelto necesarias para realizar las actividades diarias de personas de todas las edades, incluyendo cada vez más a las personas mayores. Las TICs y las herramientas virtuales pueden ofrecer una gran oportunidad para que los adultos mayores conecten con personas de otras generaciones, lo que producirá beneficios en su calidad de vida y bienestar. Preguntas de investigación ¿Las intervenciones de base empírica empleadas para la evaluación de los efectos de las interacciones intergeneracionales cumplen los indicadores IBE y en ello influye el tipo de modalidad presencial, virtual o combinada? ¿La realización de actividades intergeneracionales de tipo presencial tiene un impacto positivo, en relación a sus beneficios, satisfacción y limitaciones, en todas las personas involucradas? ¿La realización de actividades intergeneracionales mediante el uso de herramientas virtuales tiene un impacto positivo, en relación a sus beneficios, satisfacción y limitaciones, en todas las personas involucradas? Objetivos Identificar los elementos relevantes que aseguran la eficacia de las intervenciones intergeneracionales tanto presenciales como virtuales. Evaluar los beneficios, la satisfacción y las limitaciones de las interacciones intergeneracionales derivadas de la realización de actividades presenciales. Analizar los beneficios, la satisfacción y las limitaciones de las interacciones intergeneracionales derivadas del uso de herramientas virtuales. Resultados Revisión sistemática (Artículo IV): Los análisis descriptivos y multivariados realizados mostraron que los programas con mayor número de controles IBE tienen mayor eficacia, independientemente del modo de intervención empleado, y que esta eficacia también está modulada por otras variables como la discapacidad de los participantes, su nivel de alfabetización o su pertenencia a una institución. Análisis de los beneficios, la satisfacción y las limitaciones derivadas de la realización de actividades intergeneracionales presenciales (Artículo VIII): El análisis de las variables sociodemográficas reveló que personas de 40 años o más, con autonomía personal, solteras o casadas, convivientes con su pareja y/u otro familiar y no jubilados realizaban actividades presenciales con personas de otra generación con una frecuencia significativamente mayor que el resto de grupos para cada variable. La mayoría de los encuestados que participaron en actividades intergeneracionales presenciales indicaron beneficios en su salud física y mental, estado de ánimo, relaciones, autodeterminación, participación social y educación académica. La mayoría de los participantes se mostraron bastante o muy satisfechos con la persona con la que realizaban este tipo de actividades, especialmente si esta persona era un amigo o un familiar cercano. Excepto los abuelos, las personas que participaron en actividades intergeneracionales presenciales y que no tenían limitaciones o discapacidades fueron las que indicaron los participantes con mayor frecuencia. Análisis de los beneficios, la satisfacción y las limitaciones derivadas de la realización de actividades intergeneracionales virtuales (Artículo IX): El análisis de los datos sociodemográficos de los encuestados mostró asociaciones significativas entre el uso de redes sociales y todas las variables analizadas, excepto su nivel de autonomía. La mayoría de los participantes que participaron en actividades intergeneracionales virtuales refirieron beneficios en su participación social, relaciones, estado de ánimo, salud mental y educación académica. Además, la mayoría de los participantes estaban bastante o muy satisfechos con la persona con la que utilizaron las herramientas virtuales, especialmente si esta persona era un amigo, su pareja, un hermano, otro familiar o un colega. Excepto los abuelos, las personas que participaron en actividades intergeneracionales virtuales y que no tenían limitaciones o discapacidades fueron las indicadas por los participantes más frecuentemente. Conclusiones El uso de herramientas digitales ofrece una gran oportunidad para el desarrollo de programas intergeneracionales con beneficios tanto para los niños y jóvenes como para los adultos mayores. Sin embargo, se ha identificado la necesidad de incrementar el número de intervenciones de tipo virtual que puedan mejorar la eficacia de las actividades realizadas y, al mismo tiempo, asegurar que se cumplan los indicadores de base empírica. Las interacciones intergeneracionales, tanto de tipo presencial como aquellas basadas en el uso de herramientas virtuales, pueden contribuir a mejorar la salud tanto física como mental, las habilidades y las relaciones sociales de todas las personas involucradas
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