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Ensuring Access to Safe and Nutritious Food for All Through the Transformation of Food Systems
Small newborns in post-conflict Northern Uganda: Burden and interventions for improved outcomes
Introduction: A small newborn can be the result of either a low birthweight (LBW), or a preterm birth (PB), or both. LBW can be due to either a preterm appropriate-for gestational-age (preterm-AGA), or a term small-for-gestational age (term-SGA) or intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). An IUGR is a limited in-utero foetal growth rates or foetal weight < 10th percentile. Small newborns have an increased risk of dying, particularly in low-resource settings. We set out to assess the burden, the modifiable risk factors and health outcomes of small newborns in the post-conflict Northern Ugandan district of Lira. In addition, we studied the use of video-debriefing when training health staff in Helping Babies Breathe.
Subjects and methods: In 2018-19, we conducted a community-based cohort study on 1556 mother-infant dyads, nested within a cluster randomized trial. In our cohort study, we estimated the incidence and risk factors for LBW and PB and the association of LBW with severe outcomes. We explored the prevalence of and factors associated with neonatal hypoglycaemia, as well as any association between neonatal death and hypoglycaemia. In addition, we conducted a cluster randomized trial to compare Helping Babies Breathe (HBB) training in combination with video debriefing to the traditional HBB training alone on the attainment and retention of health worker neonatal resuscitation competency.
Results: The incidence of LBW and PB in our cohort was lower than the global estimates, 7.3% and 5.0%, respectively. Intermittent preventive treatment for malaria was associated with a reduced risk of LBW. HIV infection was associated with an increased risk of both LBW and PB, while maternal formal education (schooling) of ≥7 years was associated with a reduced risk of LBW and PB.
The proportions of neonatal deaths were many-folds higher among LBW infants compared to their non-LBW counterparts. The proportion of neonatal deaths among LBW was 103/1000 live births compared to 5/1000 among the non-LBW.
The prevalence of neonatal hypoglycaemia in our cohort was 2.5%. LBW and PB each independently were associated with an increased risk of neonatal hypoglycaemia. Neonatal hypoglycaemia was associated with an increased risk of hospitalisation and severe outcomes.
We demonstrated that neonatal resuscitation training with video debriefing, improved competence attainment and retention among health workers, compared to traditional HBB training alone.
Conclusion: In northern Uganda, small infants still have a many-fold higher risk of dying compared to normal infants. In addition, small infants are also at more risk of neonatal hypoglycaemia compared to normal infants. Efforts are needed to secure essential newborn care, should we reach the target of Sustainable Development Goal number 3.2 of reducing infant mortality to less than 12/1000 live births by 2030
A Design Science Research Approach to Smart and Collaborative Urban Supply Networks
Urban supply networks are facing increasing demands and challenges and thus constitute a relevant field for research and practical development. Supply chain management holds enormous potential and relevance for society and everyday life as the flow of goods and information are important economic functions. Being a heterogeneous field, the literature base of supply chain management research is difficult to manage and navigate. Disruptive digital technologies and the implementation of cross-network information analysis and sharing drive the need for new organisational and technological approaches. Practical issues are manifold and include mega trends such as digital transformation, urbanisation, and environmental awareness.
A promising approach to solving these problems is the realisation of smart and collaborative supply networks. The growth of artificial intelligence applications in recent years has led to a wide range of applications in a variety of domains. However, the potential of artificial intelligence utilisation in supply chain management has not yet been fully exploited. Similarly, value creation increasingly takes place in networked value creation cycles that have become continuously more collaborative, complex, and dynamic as interactions in business processes involving information technologies have become more intense.
Following a design science research approach this cumulative thesis comprises the development and discussion of four artefacts for the analysis and advancement of smart and collaborative urban supply networks. This thesis aims to highlight the potential of artificial intelligence-based supply networks, to advance data-driven inter-organisational collaboration, and to improve last mile supply network sustainability. Based on thorough machine learning and systematic literature reviews, reference and system dynamics modelling, simulation, and qualitative empirical research, the artefacts provide a valuable contribution to research and practice
Perceptions of surveillance: exploring feelings held by Black community leaders in Boston toward camera enforcement of roadway infractions
Roadway camera enforcement programs have been found to effectively reduce vehicle travel speeds, as well as decrease the number and severity of collisions. Despite a wealth of evaluative research confirming this enforcement approach's aptitude at promoting safer roadway behavior, fewer than 50 % of US states currently host camera-based programs. Public opposition is frequently cited as the cause for the slow proliferation of this enforcement strategy. However, with public demand for police reform having an increasing presence on the national political stage, how might feelings toward camera technology currently stand among groups most marginalized by existing enforcement systems, and how might those feelings vary by type of enforcement application? Through a series of focus groups, this work centers Black voices on matters of surveillance and roadway enforcement by discussing sentiment toward camera programs with Black community leaders. This discussion is contextually situated in Boston, Massachusetts, where legislation that would allow for camera enforcement of roadway infractions is actively being deliberated in the State Senate. Findings culminate in a list of right-sizing and procedural recommendations for policy makers hoping to gain support for camera enforcement, improve roadway safety, and advance racial equity in our systems of policing and governance
A Visual Modeling Method for Spatiotemporal and Multidimensional Features in Epidemiological Analysis: Applied COVID-19 Aggregated Datasets
The visual modeling method enables flexible interactions with rich graphical
depictions of data and supports the exploration of the complexities of
epidemiological analysis. However, most epidemiology visualizations do not
support the combined analysis of objective factors that might influence the
transmission situation, resulting in a lack of quantitative and qualitative
evidence. To address this issue, we have developed a portrait-based visual
modeling method called +msRNAer. This method considers the spatiotemporal
features of virus transmission patterns and the multidimensional features of
objective risk factors in communities, enabling portrait-based exploration and
comparison in epidemiological analysis. We applied +msRNAer to aggregate
COVID-19-related datasets in New South Wales, Australia, which combined
COVID-19 case number trends, geo-information, intervention events, and
expert-supervised risk factors extracted from LGA-based censuses. We perfected
the +msRNAer workflow with collaborative views and evaluated its feasibility,
effectiveness, and usefulness through one user study and three subject-driven
case studies. Positive feedback from experts indicates that +msRNAer provides a
general understanding of analyzing comprehension that not only compares
relationships between cases in time-varying and risk factors through portraits
but also supports navigation in fundamental geographical, timeline, and other
factor comparisons. By adopting interactions, experts discovered functional and
practical implications for potential patterns of long-standing community
factors against the vulnerability faced by the pandemic. Experts confirmed that
+msRNAer is expected to deliver visual modeling benefits with spatiotemporal
and multidimensional features in other epidemiological analysis scenarios
Lift EVERY Voice and Sing: An Intersectional Qualitative Study Examining the Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Queer Faculty and Administrators at Historically Black Colleges and Universities
While there is minimal literature that address the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans* identified students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), the experiences of Black, queer faculty and administrators at HBCUs has not been studied. This intersectional qualitative research study focused on the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer identified faculty and administrators who work at HBCUs. By investigating the intersections of religion, race, gender, and sexuality within a predominantly Black institution, this study aims to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at HBCUs by sharing the experiences of the LGBQ faculty and administrators that previously or currently work at an HBCU as a full-time employee. The research questions that guided this study were 1) How have LGBQ faculty and staff negotiated/navigated their careers at HBCUs? and 2) How do LGBQ faculty and staff at HBCUs influence cultural (relating to LGBQ inclusion) change at the organizational level? The main theoretical framework used was intersectionality and it shaped the chosen methodology and methods. The Politics of Respectability was the second theoretical framework used to describe the intra-racial tensions within the Black/African American community. The study included 60-120 minute interviews with 12 participants. Using intersectionality as a guide, the data were coded and utilized for thematic analysis. Then, an ethnodramatic performance engages readers. The goals of this study were to encourage policy changes, promote inclusivity for LGBQ employees at HBCUs, and provide an expansion to the body of literature in the field pertaining to the experiences of LGBQ faculty and administrators in higher education
China’s approach to international law and the Belt and Road Initiative - perspectives from international investment law
This dissertation examines China’s approach to international law. In order to do so, it compares the country’s stance on international dispute resolution in past and present times. After a first historical chapter outlining China’s changeable relationship with international adjudication, the thesis subsequently focuses on contemporary developments. The emphasis here is on international instruments and mechanisms that China uses to protect investments within the Belt and Road Initiative.
This dissertation combines doctrinal analysis with concrete case studies and applies deductive as well as inductive methods. The study of the legal dimension of the initiative leads to the basic assumption that two coexisting regulatory complexes provide investment protection within the initiative. Accordingly, as a first complex, the dissertation analyses China’s design of investment protection treaties and China’s stance in the reform debate on the future of in-vestment arbitration. As an outcome, the analysis claims that even though the first complex does not relate specifically to the Belt and Road Initiative, this complex nevertheless has inextricable links to China’s approach in the initiative’s context. Soft law documents, which China has concluded with both state and non-state actors, and informal mechanisms of dispute resolution form the second regulatory complex. The study investigates their functions for investment protection in the Belt and Road Initiative.
In an overall view of the two regulatory complexes, this dissertation finds that China uses strictly legal and rather political methods for investment protection. In the synopsis of this result with the findings obtained from the historical part, the study concludes that China follows a realist approach to international law
Exploring the Structure of Scattering Amplitudes in Quantum Field Theory: Scattering Equations, On-Shell Diagrams and Ambitwistor String Models in Gauge Theory and Gravity
In this thesis I analyse the structure of scattering amplitudes in super-symmetric gauge and gravitational theories in four dimensional spacetime, starting with a detailed review of background material accessible to a non-expert. I then analyse the 4D scattering equations, developing the theory of how they can be used to express scattering amplitudes at tree level. I go on to explain how the equations can be solved numerically using a Monte Carlo algorithm, and introduce my Mathematica package treeamps4dJAF which performs these calculations. Next I analyse the relation between the 4D scattering equations and on-shell diagrams in N = 4 super Yang-Mills, which provides a new perspective on the tree level amplitudes of the theory. I apply a similar analysis to N = 8 supergravity, developing the theory of on-shell diagrams to derive new Grassmannian integral formulae for the amplitudes of the theory. In both theories I derive a new worldsheet expression for the 4 point one loop amplitude supported on 4D scattering equations. Finally I use 4D ambitwistor string theory to analyse scattering amplitudes in N = 4 conformal supergravity, deriving new worldsheet formulae for both plane wave and non-plane wave amplitudes supported on 4D scattering equations. I introduce a new prescription to calculate the derivatives of on-shell variables with respect to momenta, and I use this to show that certain non-plane wave amplitudes can be calculated as momentum derivatives of amplitudes with plane wave states
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