Kids on bikes: A community intervention

We describe the development, implementation and evaluation of a pilot programme to increase physical activity, through cycling, among children. The programme, implemented in Dunedin, New Zealand, during 2003, comprised three components. The first was a free community based programme to promote safe cycling, it was open to all children aged 4–12 to register for, required access to a safe cycle and helmet, and was conducted on a weeknight at a local park (n=101). The second component targeted children from a low socioeconomic schoolwhowere less likely to have access to the community programme and less likely to have access to a cycle or helmet (n=20). The third and final component was the donatea- bike programme; this componentwas designed to provide cycles for those children from the low SES school who would otherwise not be able to cycle. The lead author was approached to help redesign an existing unstructured cycling programme for children, provided one night each week, lacking trained volunteers, and having a negligible number of children from low socio-economic schools. The objectives of the old programme were to promote cycling as a sport and to teach children skills to improve their safety in cycling

Marginalisation, Grenfell Tower and the voice of the social-housing resident: a critical juncture in housing law and policy?

This paper draws on historical institutionalism to consider the impact of housing-policy responses following the Grenfell fire on the marginalisation of the social-housing resident. We consider three specific policy responses: reform focused on conditions of rented properties; the social-housing White Paper; and building regulation and building-safety reforms. We suggest that, in historical institutionalist terms, each is part of a matrix of reform in which understandings of the social-housing resident play a critical role. We argue that rather than the fire provoking a paradigm shift in the recognition that government accords to the ignored and stigmatised citizens who live in social housing, the policy initiatives to date indicate a much more limited adjustment of policy within a normal frame. We suggest that this is because housing policy is dominated by a consumerist ideology that is self-reinforcing and ignores the social, economic and political complexity of tenure

You and Your Neighbor

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Life course outcomes and developmental pathways for children and young people with harmful sexual behaviour

Most outcome studies for children and young people who have displayed harmful sexual behaviour have focused on sexual recidivism as their primary outcome measure. Relatively little is known about broader life outcomes for children displaying such behaviours, nor about the processes involved with longer-term developmental success or failure. This paper examines long-term life course outcomes for 69 adults in the UK who presented with abusive sexual behaviour as children. Between 10 and 20 years after their childhood sexual behaviour problems, few in the sample had sexually reoffended, but general life course outcomes were much less positive. A range of individual, relational and social/environmental factors appeared to be associated with successful and unsuccessful outcomes. Successful outcomes were associated with stable partner relationships, wider supportive relationships, and educational opportunity and achievement. The findings highlight the importance of broad-based, developmental interventions in assisting those with childhood sexual behaviour problems to live successfully

Fire Safety, Building Regulations and Empowering Residents

Notes the continuing need to empower tenants of tower blocks to identify fire safety issues relevant to their homes. Reviews the development of the Fire Safety Checklist to assist them, key provisions of the consultation document "Building a Safer Future", whether implementing the private right of action for breaches of building regulations under the Building Act 1984 s.38 would improve efficiency and whether it should have retrospective effect

Legislating for a Pandemic: Exposing the Stateless State

Initially the subject of widespread consensus, legislative and policy responses to coronavirus are increasingly provoking predictable, albeit understandable, reactions. The right and the left are united by a concern that essential freedoms are being eroded by a State utilising the opportunity of the pandemic to make a power-grab. Focused on the Coronavirus Act 2020, this article takes a more cautious approach, suggesting instead that the law should be understood not as the product of a hierarchical State but rather as a demonstration of the ‘statelessness’ of the contemporary state. The article examines the Act, with particular focus on open justice, adult social care, and Business Improvement Districts. We argue that reading this unique piece of legislation through the lens of the stateless state reveals the complexities, ambiguities and contestations within contemporary policy making. We suggest that dismissing the Act as unnecessarily authoritarian is an insufficiently nuanced response, and furthermore, that this exploration of the law allows us to develop and complicate scholarship on the stateless state

Factors associated with syphilis incidence in the HIV-infected in the era of highly active antiretrovirals.

After several years of steady decline, syphilis is reemerging globally as a public health hazard, especially among people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Syphilis resurgence is observed mainly in men who have sex with men (MSM), yet other transmission groups are affected too. In this manuscript, we study the factors associated with syphilis incidence in the Swiss HIV cohort study in the era of highly effective antiretrovirals. Using parametric interval censored models with fixed and time-varying covariates, we studied the immunological, behavioral, and treatment-related elements associated with syphilis incidence in 3 transmission groups: MSM, heterosexuals, and intravenous drug users. Syphilis incidence has been increasing annually since 2005, with up to 74 incident cases per 1000 person-years in 2013, with MSM being the population with the highest burden (92% of cases). While antiretroviral treatment (ART) in general did not affect syphilis incidence, nevirapine (NVP) was associated with a lower hazard of syphilis incidence (multivariable hazard ratio 0.5, 95% confidence interval 0.2-1.0). We observed that condomless sex and younger age were associated with higher syphilis incidence. Moreover, time-updated CD4, nadir CD4, and CD8 cell counts were not associated with syphilis incidence. Finally, testing frequency higher than the recommended once a year routine testing was associated with a 2-fold higher risk of acquiring syphilis. Condomless sex is the main driver of syphilis resurgence in the Swiss HIV Cohort study; ART and immune reconstitution provide no protection against syphilis. This entails targeted interventions and frequent screening of high-risk populations. There is no known effect of NVP on syphilis; therefore, further clinical, epidemiological, and microbiological investigation is necessary to validate our observation

Diversification of refugia types needed to secure the future of coral reefs subject to climate change

Identifying locations of refugia from the thermal stresses of climate change for coral reefs and better managing them is one of the key recommendations for climate change adaptation. We review and summarize approximately 30 years of applied research focused on identifying climate refugia to prioritize the conservation actions for coral reefs under rapid climate change. We found that currently proposed climate refugia and the locations predicted to avoid future coral losses are highly reliant on excess heat metrics, such as degree heating weeks. However, many existing alternative environmental, ecological, and life-history variables could be used to identify other types of refugia that lead to the desired diversified portfolio for coral reef conservation. To improve conservation priorities for coral reefs, there is a need to evaluate and validate the predictions of climate refugia with long-term field data on coral abundance, diversity, and functioning. There is also the need to identify and safeguard locations displaying resistance toprolonged exposure to heat waves and the ability to recover quickly after thermal exposure. We recommend using more metrics to identify a portfolio of potential refugia sites for coral reefs that can avoid, resist, and recover from exposure to high ocean temperatures and the consequences of climate change, thereby shifting past efforts focused on avoidance to a diversified risk-spreading portfolio that can be used to improve strategic coral reef conservation in a rapidly warming climate

Coral reef conservation solution-scape white paper

In the face of climate change, warming oceans, and repeated mass coral bleaching, coral reef conservation is at a timely crossroads. There is a new urgency to support and strengthen a rich history of conservation partnerships and actions, while also building toward new actions to meet unparalleled global threats. The goal of this white paper is to synthesize and summarize the diversity of tools, approaches and solutions for coral reef conservation implemented to date and to understand the enabling conditions that lead to successful coral reef conservation. Framed as a “solution-scape,” this white paper seeks to support ongoing decisions to strengthen existing assets and build new investments into portfolios of global coral reef conservation that are equitable and aligned with diverse cultures and worldviews