Transport disadvantage, social exclusion, and subjective well-being: The role of the neighborhood environment—evidence from Sydney, Australia

© 2018 Liang Ma, Jennifer L. Kent & Corinne Mulley. This study explores the effects of the neighborhood environment on transport disadvantage, social exclusion, personal health and subjective well-being (SWB) using survey data collected in Sydney, Australia. The data is analyzed using structural equation modelling (SEM). Overall, our model supports the hypothesis that a walkable neighborhood environment helps to reduce transport disadvantage and increase social inclusion. Neighborhood density has negative effects on both physical and mental health, but a positive effect on SWB. Further, a cohesive neighborhood environment is associated with less transport disadvantage, more engagement in political and civic activities, more social help, better mental health and higher SWB. By contrast, perception of crime in a neighborhood is associated with more transport disadvantage and worse physical health. Neighborhood aesthetics and the neighborhood social environment have stronger effects on SWB than other neighborhood environment characteristics

What Types of Evidence are Available for Translating Health Evidence into Planning Strategies for Higher Density Living? A Review of the Literature

Despite abundant knowledge and research highlighting the significance of urban planning for improving health outcomes, there remains an absence of understanding of how health evidence can be translated into planning policy and practice, particularly for higher density urban development. This paper presents the findings of combined systematic and narrative review of academic literature pertaining to urban planning for higher density living. The study examined: 1) What types of health-related evidence have been translated into current planning strategies; 2) What types of health-related evidence have been used to critique existing planning strategies; and 3) What types of health evidence are proposed for translation into planning policy and practice? The findings reveal that while health evidence is regularly used to critique existing planning strategies, it is rarely applied to the practice of planning and constructing higher density developments. This indicates there is a need to improve integration of health evidence within the planning stages of higher density development. Our review also exposes an extensive range of suggestions for embedding health evidence in future planning strategies to improve human and environmental health outcomes in higher density environments. We conclude that targeted transdisciplinary research is required to apply, test, and evaluate the implementation of health evidence within specific local higher density contexts. This is essential for ensuring that urban planning strategies can successfully enhance the health and wellbeing of the growing population predicted to be living in higher density urban environments in the future

Gastrointestinal-Sparing Effects of Novel NSAIDs in Rats with Compromised Mucosal Defence

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are among the most commonly used prescription and over-the-counter medications, but they often produce significant gastrointestinal ulceration and bleeding, particularly in elderly patients and patients with certain co-morbidities. Novel anti-inflammatory drugs are seldom tested in animal models that mimic the high risk human users, leading to an underestimate of the true toxicity of the drugs. In the present study we examined the effects of two novel NSAIDs and two commonly used NSAIDs in models in which mucosal defence was expected to be impaired. Naproxen, celecoxib, ATB-346 (a hydrogen sulfide- and naproxen-releasing compound) and NCX 429 (a nitric oxide- and naproxen-releasing compound) were evaluated in healthy, arthritic, obese, and hypertensive rats and in rats of advanced age (19 months) and rats co-administered low-dose aspirin and/or omeprazole. In all models except hypertension, greater gastric and/or intestinal damage was observed when naproxen was administered in these models than in healthy rats. Celecoxib-induced damage was significantly increased when co-administered with low-dose aspirin and/or omeprazole. In contrast, ATB-346 and NCX 429, when tested at doses that were as effective as naproxen and celecoxib in reducing inflammation and inhibiting cyclooxygenase activity, did not produce significant gastric or intestinal damage in any of the models. These results demonstrate that animal models of human co-morbidities display the same increased susceptibility to NSAID-induced gastrointestinal damage as observed in humans. Moreover, two novel NSAIDs that release mediators of mucosal defence (hydrogen sulfide and nitric oxide) do not induce significant gastrointestinal damage in these models of impaired mucosal defence

Panic results in unique molecular and network changes in the amygdala that facilitate fear responses

Recurrent panic attacks (PAs) are a common feature of panic disorder (PD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Several distinct brain regions are involved in the regulation of panic responses, such as perifornical hypothalamus (PeF), periaqueductal grey, amygdala and frontal cortex. We have previously shown that inhibition of GABA synthesis in the PeF produces panic-vulnerable rats. Here, we investigate the mechanisms by which a panic-vulnerable state could lead to persistent fear. We first show that optogenetic activation of glutamatergic terminals from the PeF to the basolateral amygdala (BLA) enhanced the acquisition, delayed the extinction and induced the persistence of fear responses 3 weeks later, confirming a functional PeF-amygdala pathway involved in fear learning. Similar to optogenetic activation of PeF, panic-prone rats also exhibited delayed extinction. Next, we demonstrate that panic-prone rats had altered inhibitory and enhanced excitatory synaptic transmission of the principal neurons, and reduced protein levels of metabotropic glutamate type 2 receptor (mGluR2) in the BLA. Application of an mGluR2 positive allosteric modulator (PAM) reduced glutamate neurotransmission in the BLA slices from panic-prone rats. Treating panic-prone rats with mGluR2 PAM blocked sodium lactate (NaLac)-induced panic responses and normalized fear extinction deficits. Finally, in a subset of patients with comorbid PD, treatment with mGluR2 PAM resulted in complete remission of panic symptoms. These data demonstrate that a panic-prone state leads to specific reduction in mGluR2 function within the amygdala network and facilitates fear, and mGluR2 PAMs could be a targeted treatment for panic symptoms in PD and PTSD patients

STRP Screening Sets for the human genome at 5 cM density

BACKGROUND: Short tandem repeat polymorphisms (STRPs) are powerful tools for gene mapping and other applications. A STRP genome scan of 10 cM is usually adequate for mapping single gene disorders. However mapping studies involving genetically complex disorders and especially association (linkage disequilibrium) often require higher STRP density. RESULTS: We report the development of two separate 10 cM human STRP Screening Sets (Sets 12 and 52) which span all chromosomes. When combined, the two Sets contain a total of 782 STRPs, with average STRP spacing of 4.8 cM, average heterozygosity of 0.72, and total sex-average coverage of 3535 cM. The current Sets are comprised almost entirely of STRPs based on tri- and tetranucleotide repeats. We also report correction of primer sequences for many STRPs used in previous Screening Sets. Detailed information for the new Screening Sets is available from our web site: . CONCLUSION: Our new human STRP Screening Sets will improve the quality and cost effectiveness of genotyping for gene mapping and other applications

‘Trendy’ cities: exploring the adoption of different types of social media by Portuguese municipalities

What are the determinants of social media adoption by local government? This ongoing research provides a tentative answer to this question by analysing the 308 municipalities in Portugal. Extending previous analyses of Facebook and/or Twitter usage levels, we examine why local governments adopt a particular social media platform. More concretely, we explore, with statistical analyses, the determinants of the adoption of different types of social media. We investigate the adoption of three extremely popular social media (i.e. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube) as well as possible alternatives to those, more popular, applications. Since these platforms have distinct natures and can serve diverse purposes, we examine to what extent aspects such as local government’s commitment to transparency and participation, administrative capacity, media landscape, and socio-demographic and economic factors can explain the adoption of certain social media platforms. The results show that, indeed, demographic characteristics and administrative capacity are important factors for the adoption of less popular social media. Surprisingly, we also observe a geographical difference in municipalities’ social media adoption, with the south, in this regard, being ‘trendier’, or more innovative, than the north.This paper is a result of the project “SmartEGOV: Harnessing EGOV for Smart Governance (Foundations, methods, Tools)/NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000037”, supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (EFDR). António Tavares acknowledges the financial support of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science through national funds [Grant No. UID/CPO/0758/2019]

Studying Health Outcomes in Farmworker Populations Exposed to Pesticides

A major goal of studying farmworkers is to better understand how their work environment, including exposure to pesticides, affects their health. Although a number of health conditions have been associated with pesticide exposure, clear linkages have yet to be made between exposure and health effects except in cases of acute pesticide exposure. In this article, we review the most common health end points that have been studied and describe the epidemiologic challenges encountered in studying these health effects of pesticides among farmworkers, including the difficulties in accessing the population and challenges associated with obtaining health end point data. The assessment of neurobehavioral health effects serves as one of the most common and best examples of an approach used to study health outcomes in farmworkers and other populations exposed to pesticides. We review the current limitations in neurobehavioral assessment and strategies to improve these analytical methods. Emerging techniques to improve our assessment of health effects associated with pesticide exposure are reviewed. These techniques, which in most cases have not been applied to farmworker populations, hold promise in our ability to study and understand the relationship between pesticide exposure and a variety of health effects in this population

“It’s just a theory”: trainee science teachers’ misunderstandings of key scientific terminology

Background: This article presents the findings from a survey of 189 pre-service science teachers who were asked to provide definitions of key scientific terms ('theory'; 'fact'; 'law'; 'hypothesis'). The survey was a scoping and mapping exercise to establish the range and variety of definitions. Methods: Graduates on a pre-service science teacher training course were asked to complete a short, free response survey and define key science terminology a >95% response rate was achieved and respondents definitions were categorised according to a best fit model. Results: In some cases, definitions contrary to accepted scientific meanings were given. In other cases, terminology was defined in a wholly non-scientific way, e.g., one-fifth of the respondents defined a ‘law’ in the context of rules that govern society rather than in a scientific context. Science graduates’ definitions and their understanding of key terminology is poor despite their study of science in formal university settings (with many respondents being recent science graduates). Conclusions: Key terminology in science, such as 'theory', 'law', 'fact', 'hypothesis', tends not to be taught and defined with consideration for the differences in meaning that different audiences/users give to them. This article calls for better instruction for pre-service science teachers’ in the importance of accurate and precise definitions of key science terminology in order to better differentiate between the scientific and colloquial usage of key terms