2,157 research outputs found
Effects of municipal smoke-free ordinances on secondhand smoke exposure in the Republic of Korea
ObjectiveTo reduce premature deaths due to secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure among non-smokers, the Republic of Korea (ROK) adopted changes to the National Health Promotion Act, which allowed local governments to enact municipal ordinances to strengthen their authority to designate smoke-free areas and levy penalty fines. In this study, we examined national trends in SHS exposure after the introduction of these municipal ordinances at the city level in 2010.MethodsWe used interrupted time series analysis to assess whether the trends of SHS exposure in the workplace and at home, and the primary cigarette smoking rate changed following the policy adjustment in the national legislation in ROK. Population-standardized data for selected variables were retrieved from a nationally representative survey dataset and used to study the policy action’s effectiveness.ResultsFollowing the change in the legislation, SHS exposure in the workplace reversed course from an increasing (18% per year) trend prior to the introduction of these smoke-free ordinances to a decreasing (−10% per year) trend after adoption and enforcement of these laws (β2 = 0.18, p-value = 0.07; β3 = −0.10, p-value = 0.02). SHS exposure at home (β2 = 0.10, p-value = 0.09; β3 = −0.03, p-value = 0.14) and the primary cigarette smoking rate (β2 = 0.03, p-value = 0.10; β3 = 0.008, p-value = 0.15) showed no significant changes in the sampled period. Although analyses stratified by sex showed that the allowance of municipal ordinances resulted in reduced SHS exposure in the workplace for both males and females, they did not affect the primary cigarette smoking rate as much, especially among females.ConclusionStrengthening the role of local governments by giving them the authority to enact and enforce penalties on SHS exposure violation helped ROK to reduce SHS exposure in the workplace. However, smoking behaviors and related activities seemed to shift to less restrictive areas such as on the streets and in apartment hallways, negating some of the effects due to these ordinances. Future studies should investigate how smoke-free policies beyond public places can further reduce the SHS exposure in ROK
30th European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2023)
This is the abstract book of 30th European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2023
Tradition and Innovation in Construction Project Management
This book is a reprint of the Special Issue 'Tradition and Innovation in Construction Project Management' that was published in the journal Buildings
An empirical evaluation of m-health service users’ behaviours: A case of Bangladesh
A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Wolverhampton for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.Mobile health (m-health) services are revolutionising healthcare in the developing world by improving accessibility, affordability, and availability. Although these services are revolutionising healthcare in various ways, there are growing concerns regarding users' service quality perceptions and overall influence on satisfaction and usage behaviours. In developing countries, access to healthcare and low healthcare costs are insufficient if users lack confidence in healthcare service quality.
Bangladesh's Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) provides the only government-sponsored m-health service available to the entire population. DGHS's m-health service, available since 2009, is yet to be evaluated in terms of users' perceptions of the quality of service and its impact on satisfaction and usage. Hence, this study developed a conceptual model for evaluating the associations between overall DGHS m-health service quality, satisfaction, and usage behaviours. This study operationalised overall m-health service quality as a higher-order construct with three dimensions- platform quality, information quality, and outcome quality, and nine corresponding subdimensions-privacy, systems availability, systems reliability, systems efficiency, responsiveness, empathy, assurance, emotional benefit, and functional benefit.
Moreover, researchers in various service domains, including- healthcare, marketing, environmental protection, and information systems, evaluated and confirmed the influence of social and personal norms on satisfaction and behavioural outcomes like- intention to use. Despite this, no research has been conducted to determine whether these normative components affect m-health users' service satisfaction and usage behaviours. As a result, this study included social and personal norms along with overall service quality into the conceptual model to assess the influence of these variables on users' satisfaction and m-health service usage behaviours. Data was collected from two districts in Bangladesh- Dhaka and Rajshahi, utilising the online survey approach. A total of 417 usable questionnaires were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling to investigate the relationships between the constructs in Warp PLS.
The study confirms that all three dimensions of service quality and their corresponding subdimensions influence users' overall perceptions of DGHS m-health service quality. Moreover, overall DGHS m-health service quality has a significant direct association with satisfaction and an indirect association with usage behaviours through satisfaction. While social norms do not influence satisfaction and usage behaviours within the DGHS m-health context, personal norms directly influence users' satisfaction and indirectly influence usage behaviours through satisfaction. Theoretically, the study contributes by framing the influence of users' overall m-health service quality perceptions, social and personal norms on their actual usage behaviours rather than the intention to use. It also extends the existing knowledge by assessing and comparing m-health users' continuous and discontinuous behaviours. Methodologically this study confirms the usefulness of partial least squares structural equational modelling to analyse a complex model including a higher order construct (i.e., overall perceived service quality). Practically, the study demonstrates the importance of users' satisfaction in addition to service quality, as service quality only affects usage behaviours through satisfaction in the current study context. Additionally, knowing that personal norms significantly influence service satisfaction motivates providers of m-health services to strive to enhance users' personal norms toward m-health service to enhance service satisfaction and usage. Overall, the study will help enhance patient outcomes and m-health service usage
Taylor University Catalog 2023-2024
The 2023-2024 academic catalog of Taylor University in Upland, Indiana.https://pillars.taylor.edu/catalogs/1128/thumbnail.jp
Early life cow's milk allergy prevention: PLGA Nanoparticles for the Oral Delivery of β-Lactoglobulin Derived Peptide and CpG Oligodeoxynucleotides
The prevalence and lack of good solutions for cow's milk allergy (CMA) in young children are leading to public concern and increasing socioeconomic problems. This requires new preventive approaches. In this thesis, we investigated the potential of an oral formulation – based on poly(lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles (NP) – of selected peptides from whey proteins and CpG-Oligodeoxynucleotides for CMA prevention, using both in vitro and in vivo studies. In vitro, we showed, through Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) and imaging in living cells, that PLGA NP protected the encapsulated peptides for up to 6 hours in simulated gastric fluid and extended their residence time in isolated mouse dendritic cells to 96 hours. This demonstrates the hypothesis that PLGA nanoparticles improved the stability of the encapsulated peptide cargo in the gastrointestinal lumen and retention in intestinal DC upon internalization. In vivo, we showed that oral pretreatment with two PLGA-NP-encapsulated peptides, prior to allergic sensitization to whey, protected mice from acute allergic skin reactions upon intradermal exposure to whey. In addition, we have shown that this protection is dose-related and may be associated with whey-specific systemic silencing of ex vivo whey-stimulated TNF-α release by splenocytes. Intriguingly, in vivo, we showed the superior tolerogenic effect of orally administered PLGA nanoparticles co-loaded with T-cell epitopes containing peptide and a CpG adjuvant as compared to the separately encapsulated peptide and CpG counterpart. The combination of peptides and CpG prevented rise in specific IgE antibody levels in serum and whey-induced acute allergic skin reactions, and showed a beneficial immunomodulatory effect on immune cells. Finally, allergy-associated immunomodulatory effects of empty, peptide or CpG-containing PLGA nanoparticles were evaluated in vitro using dendritic cells derived from human monocytes. The immature moDCs primed with CpG-ODN loaded PLGA NP also effectively increased the ratios of Treg/Th2 and Th1/Th2. This finding supports the hypothesis that the co-encapsulated CpG-ODN facilitates the inhibition of Th2 immunity also in vivo. In conclusion, our findings substantiate the translational potential of PLGA nanoparticles in which T-cell epitopes containing peptides are encapsulated for future development of effective and safe strategies for early life CMA prevention (i.e., supplementing hydrolyzed formula milk for infants at risk). In addition, besides BLG-peptides also CpG-ODN motives, which may include bacterial DNA of selected bacterial strains, can be co-loaded in the PLGA NP to increase the efficacy of the formulations in oral tolerance induction. This strategy may be further developed as a modality to treat cow’s milk allergy for example as adjunct treatment for allergen specific oral immunotherapy
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UK food sustainability and global food supply chains: a sustainability impact study of Ghana's fresh vegetable exports to the UK
The purpose of this research is to explore the opportunities for reducing sustainability implications associated with the UK's global food supply chains by analysing Ghana's fresh vegetables exports. Existing literature assesses sustainability implications focusing on the traditional sustainability dimensions; namely, the environmental, social, and economic dimensions. Further, studies on the assessment of the UK food sustainability are yet to consider sustainability concerns generated by global food sources. To facilitate a holistic evaluation of the UK's global food supply chains and propagate its vision of global leadership in food sustainability, there is a need to consider all other relevant sustainability dimensions and their impacts associated with the activities and operations of global food suppliers. Case study data involving interviews and focus groups, together with survey data, are obtained from producers of Ghanaian fresh vegetables, such as smallholder farmers, outgrowers, local farmers, and exporters. The interviews and focus groups are first analysed using NVivo 11 software, following a thematic approach. Multilinear Regression (MLR) is performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to analyse the survey, in order to examine the relationship between sustainable food supply chains (sustainable FSC) and sustainability dimensions identified from the thematic analysis of the interviews and focus groups.
These findings indicate that six sustainability dimensions and their associated impacts are important in analysing Ghana's fresh vegetable exports to the UK. These are environmental, social, and economic dimensions, regulatory frameworks, collaboration, and producers' complexities in developing sustainable food supply chains (sustainable FSC). Interestingly, the survey results suggest that four of these dimensions are statistically significant; these are environmental, social, regulatory frameworks, and collaboration. The survey further revealed that an increase in regulatory frameworks and mechanisms can reduce sustainable FSC; whereas an increase in the practices and activities of the environmental, social, and collaborative dimensions increases sustainable FSC, thus improving overall sustainability. Revelations and findings from both the thematic and survey analysis were utilised to develop, test and validate the Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) model (thus, a conceptual framework of the study).
This study contributes to the body of knowledge in several ways. To theory, an SIA model is suggested, demonstrating the capture of all important sustainability dimensions; namely, environmental, economic, social, regulatory, collaboration, and complexities of food supply chains. It extends the discussion on sustainability impact assessments and sustainability development and encourages research in sustainability assessment. In practice, this SIA model can facilitate easy capture, examination, and evaluation of all relevant sustainability implications and allow new insights into the development and assessment of the stream of sustainability development.
Among many other implications such as promoting collaboration, policymakers need to encourage FairTrade for producers in developing countries, and regulatory mechanisms should be re-designed to enhance profitability by using simple conformity and economic incentives. Further, food trade partners and FSC professionals should encourage smart strategies and technologies to enhance logistics that minimise food waste and energy consumption, while boosting producers' welfare. Moreover, governments and policymakers should ensure that the sustainability concerns of overseas countries are captured in food policies and strategies to help facilitate global leadership in food sustainability
Songs of life from fluvial worlds: A river, the state and Bengali Muslim char-dwellers in Assam, India
This dissertation looks at state-society relations of marginalized people living in liminal and (now) vulnerable ecologies. It is set in the fluvial and unstable landscapes called Chars or river-islands in Assam, a northeastern state in India. Using ethnography and archival sources, it looks at the historically marginalized Bengali Muslims living in these ‘chars’ and their interactions and experiences with a post-colonial majoritarian state, not just in the background of ‘jatiyotabaad’ or Assamese nationalism but also the rise and consolidation of a Hindutva regime both in India and Assam.
This narrative of state-society relations between Bengali Muslim char-dwellers and a majoritarian state is complicated by the fluvial and unpredictable ecological processes and Assam being a borderland state, sharing boundaries with other nations. Thus, as much as this dissertation understands char-dwellers’ relationship with the state through their everyday interactions, it also evaluates this relationship through events such as the ‘anti-immigration’2 Assam Movement or the more recent citizenship project called the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
This dissertation thus, in its quest to understand state-society relations, has been informed by and makes commentary on concepts such as violence, fluvial environment, immigration, citizenship, bureaucracy, affect, among others. Using the works of Baruch Spinoza (2002), Gilles Deleuze (1994, 1997) Pierre-Félix Guattari (1987 co-authored with Deleuze) and Sara Ahmed (2014), this dissertation finds affect to be rhizomatic which is a principle guiding both this dissertation’s methodology and as it will be established, the state-society relations in this context. Thus, while
it evaluates the violence that is characterized of this state-society relationship, the thesis will show that it is marked by beyond violence.
What are the varied dimensions, the other elements that characterize this state-society relation in a borderland state that historically has grappled with ‘anti-immigration’ sentiments but now also faces a fascist Hindu regime, while a river erodes and floods even more violently?
That is the story that this dissertation aims to understand
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