Raising awareness for potential sustainability effects in Uganda: A survey-based empirical study

Copyright © 2019 for this paper by its authors. In July 2019, we ran the 3rd International BRIGHT summer school for Software Engineering and Information Systems at the Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. The participants developed a group project over the course of the week, which included the application of the Sustainability Awareness Framework. The framework promotes discussion on the impact of software systems on sustainability based on a set of questions. In this paper, we present the educational evaluation of the Sustainability Awareness Framework in a country in Sub-Saharan Africa. The results indicate that the framework can provide supportive guidance of the societal and environmental challenges in the given context

La sylviculture du pin d'Alep en forêt communale de Gémenos

La visite de la forêt de Gémenos a été l'occasion d'appréhender l'état actuel des peuplements de la région : une parcelle très dense issue d'une régénération après incendie qui subit une sylviculture de rattrapage et un peuplement jeune qui est l'objet d'une sylviculture précoce. Article suivi de : « visite d'une forêt privée : l'Oraison à Saint Savournin »

Trois initiatives en matière d’adaptation au changement climatique

L’article met l’accent sur trois initiatives qui se sont intéressées à la problématique du changement climatique et à l’adaptation à ses effets, au travers de l’expérimentation de terrain, de la formation des administrations et de la production de données. Le projet For Climadapt (programme MED) a développé des méthodes et des outils à destination des acteurs de terrain, au travers de visites de terrain, d’échanges d’informations et de partage d’expérience. Le projet régional GIZ a concouru à la montée en compétence des administrations, forestières et non forestières, de cinq pays méditerranéens, au travers de deux approches d’adaptation au changement climatique : une sectorielle, sur l’adaptation des forêts, et une multisectorielle, sur le rôle des forêts dans l’adaptation des territoires et des populations (adaptation fondée sur les écosystèmes forestiers). La composante 1 du projet financé par le FFEM a permis la production d’une grande quantité de données, notamment cartographiques : cartes de vulnérabilité, cartes d’évolution du couvert, simulation des conditions climatiques, base de données de la littérature sur le sujet

Three initiatives in terms of adaptation to climate change

The article focuses on three initiatives that have addressed the issue of climate change and adaptation to its effects, through field experimentation, administrations training and data production. The For Climadapt project (MED programme) has developed methods and tools for actors in the field, through field visits, exchange of information and sharing of experience. The GIZ regional project has contributed to the capacity building of forest and non-forest administrations, in five Mediterranean countries, through two approaches to adaptation to climate change: a sectorial, on the adaptation of forests, and a multisectorial on the role of forests in the adaptation of territories and populations (Forest Ecosystem-based adaptation, FEbA). The component 1 of the project financed by the FFEM has enabled the production of large amounts of data, in particular maps: vulnerability maps, evolution of forest cover and land use maps, future projections of climate conditions, database of the literature on the subject

Studying the media education practices of young children at home: Methodological lessons from a cross-national qualitative study on digital activities at home

Do you remember 2010? Our phones had become smart, a new category of media technology, which would take the name of the “tablet”, was about to radically change the way in which we engage with digital media. Within a few years, these devices were adopted massively in Western countries and beyond. The secrets of their success reside in some, at that time, original assets like touch screen technology, portability, and versatility (Straker et al., 2018; Marsh, 2020). The then-new digital devices appealed not only to adults but increasingly to younger children

Absence of Proviral Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Type 1 Evolution in Early-Treated Individuals With HIV Switching to Dolutegravir Monotherapy During 48 Weeks

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection is treated with antiretroviral therapy (ART), usually consisting of 2-3 different drugs, referred to as combination ART (cART). Our recent randomized clinical trial comparing a switch to dolutegravir monotherapy with continuation of cART in early-treated individuals demonstrated sustained virological suppression over 48 weeks. Here, we characterize the longitudinal landscape of the HIV-1 reservoir in these participants, with particular attention to potential differences between treatment groups regarding evidence of evolution as a proxy for low-level replication. Near full-length HIV-1 proviral polymerase chain reaction and next-generation sequencing was applied to longitudinal peripheral blood mononuclear cell samples to assess proviral evolution and the potential emergence of drug resistance mutations (DRMs). Neither an increase in genetic distance nor diversity over time was detected in participants of both treatment groups. Single proviral analysis showed high proportions of defective proviruses and low DRM numbers. No evidence for evolution during dolutegravir monotherapy was found in these early-treated individuals

Equipping Health Professions Educators to Better Address Medical Misinformation

As part of a cooperative agreement with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Federal Award Identification Number [FAIN]: NU50CK000586), the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) began a strategic initiative in 2022 both to increase confidence in COVID-19 vaccines and to address medical misinformation and mistrust through education in health professions contexts. Specifically, the AAMC solicited proposals for integrating competency-based, interprofessional strategies to mitigate health misinformation into new or existing curricula. Five Health Professions Education Curricular Innovations subgrantees received support from the AAMC in 2022 and reflected on the implementation of their ideas in a series of meetings over several months. Subgrantees included the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo, the Maine Medical Center/Tufts University School of Medicine, and the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. This paper comprises insights from each of the teams and overarching observations regarding the challenges and opportunities involved with leveraging health professions education to address medical misinformation and improve patient health

Is there an association between depressive and urinary symptoms during and after pregnancy?

Depressive symptoms and urinary symptoms are both highly prevalent in pregnancy. In the general population, an association is reported between urinary symptoms and depressive symptoms. The association of depressive and urinary symptoms has not yet been assessed in pregnancy. In this study, we assessed (1) the prevalence of depressive symptoms, over-active bladder (OAB) syndrome, urge urinary incontinence (UUI) and stress urinary incontinence (SUI) during and after pregnancy using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and the Urogenital Distress Inventory (UDI) and (2) the association of depressive symptoms with urinary incontinence and over-active bladder syndrome during and after pregnancy, controlling for confounding socioeconomic, psychosocial, behavioural and biomedical factors in a cohort of healthy nulliparous women. Our data show a significant increase in prevalence of depressive symptoms, UUI, SUI and OAB during pregnancy and a significant reduction in prevalence of depressive symptoms, SUI and OAB after childbirth. UUI prevalence did not significantly decrease after childbirth. In univariate analysis, urinary incontinence and the OAB syndrome were significantly associated with a CES-D score indicative of a possible clinical depression at 36 weeks gestation. However, after adjusting for possible confounding factors, only the OAB syndrome remained significantly associated (OR 4.4 [1.8–10.5]). No association was found between depressive and urinary symptoms at 1 year post-partum. Only OAB was independently associated with depressive symptoms during pregnancy. Possible explanations for this association are discussed

Protocol for the ROSE sustainment (ROSES) study, a sequential multiple assignment randomized trial to determine the minimum necessary intervention to maintain a postpartum depression prevention program in prenatal clinics serving low-income women

Background: More research on sustainment of interventions is needed, especially return on investment (ROI) studies to determine cost-benefit trade-offs for effort required to sustain and how much is gained when effective programs are sustained. The ROSE sustainment (ROSES) study uses a sequential multiple assignment randomized (SMART) design to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a stepwise approach to sustainment of the ROSE postpartum depression prevention program in 90 outpatient clinics providing prenatal care to pregnant women on public assistance. Postpartum depression (PPD) is common and can have lasting consequences. Outpatient clinics offering prenatal care are an opportune place to provide PPD prevention because most women visit while pregnant. The ROSE (Reach Out, Stay Strong, Essentials for mothers of newborns) program is a group educational intervention to prevent PPD, delivered during pregnancy. ROSE has been found to reduce cases of PPD in community prenatal settings serving low-income pregnant women. Methods: All 90 prenatal clinics will receive enhanced implementation as usual (EIAU; initial training + tools for sustainment). At the first time at which a clinic is determined to be at risk for failure to sustain (i.e., at 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 months), that clinic will be randomized to receive either (1) no additional implementation support (i.e., EIAU only), or (2) low-intensity coaching and feedback (LICF). If clinics receiving LICF are still at risk at subsequent assessments, they will be randomized to either (1) EIAU + LICF only, or (2) high-intensity coaching and feedback (HICF). Additional follow-up interviews will occur at 18, 24, and 30 months, but no implementation intervention will occur after 18 months. Outcomes include (1) percent sustainment of core program elements at each time point, (2) health impact (PPD rates over time at each clinic) and reach, and (3) ROI (costs and cost-effectiveness) of each sustainment step. Hypothesized mechanisms include sustainment of capacity to deliver core elements and engagement/ownership. Discussion: This study is the first randomized trial evaluating the ROI of a stepped approach to sustainment, a critical unanswered question in implementation science. It will also advance knowledge of implementation mechanisms and clinical care for an at-risk population