Evidence of moderation effects in predicting active transport to school

Distance from home to school is an important influence on the decision to use active transport (AT); however, ecological perspectives would suggest this relationship may be moderated by individual, interpersonal and environmental factors. This study investigates whether (i) gender, (ii) biological maturation, (iii) perceived family support for physical activity (PA) and (iv) multiple deprivation moderate the relationship between distance to school and AT.A total of 611 children (11-12 years old, 334 females) were recruited from schools in Leicestershire, UK. Gender, family support for PA, and AT were self-reported. Home and school postcodes were used to determine multiple deprivation and distance to school (km). Predicted age at peak height velocity was used to indicate biological maturation.Logistic regressions revealed the main effects explained 40.2% of the variance in AT; however; distance to school was the only significant predictor. Further analyses revealed that distance to school had a greater negative impact on the use of AT in late-maturing (OR: 3.60, CI: 1.45-8.96), less deprived (OR: 3.54, CI: 1.17-10.72) and children with low family support of PA (OR: 0.26, CI: 0.11-0.61).This study provides evidence that, although distance to school might be the strongest predictor of AT, this relationship is complex

On Nigeria Big Bet: 2019 Evaluation Report

Since 2015, the MacArthur Foundation's On Nigeria strategy has sought to reduce corruption by supporting Nigerian-led efforts that strengthen accountability, transparency, and participation. Its theory of change builds on Jonathan Fox's "sandwich theory," which leverages the interplay between a push from below, by which citizens demand change ("voice"), and a squeeze from above to encourage public and private institutions to develop and enforce laws and regulations ("teeth").As of January 2020, the On Nigeria strategy has made 138 grants (totaling $66.8 million) that are a proving ground to develop and test a range of tactics and entry points for addressing corruption. Corruption is complex and ever-evolving, and progress toward the goal of reducing it will most certainly not be linear nor simple. Thus, On Nigeria reflects a multilayered strategy, comprising five areas of targeted programming, or modules—the Home Grown School Feeding (HGSF) Program, the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Intervention Fund, Electricity Distribution, Criminal Justice, and Media and Journalism; and three cross-cutting areas—behavior and social norm change, civil society pressure for government accountability, and election-related efforts.The goal of this paper is to provide the latest information from the ongoing evaluation of On Nigeria, facilitate learning, and serve as one input to determine the next stage of programming. The evidence presented explores the strategy's progress to date, the validity of its theory of change, and status of windows of opportunity in the strategy's landscape

Using Community-Engaged Research to Explore Social Determinants of Health in a Low-Resource Community in the Dominican Republic: A Community Health Assessment

Introduction: Previously published community health assessments (CHA) have explored social determinants of health in low-resource, Haitian-majority Dominican communities. The present CHA was conducted in Las Malvinas II, a Dominican-majority low-resource community, and represented a first step for developing a building a healthier community process. Method: A binational community–academic partnership adapted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s CHANGE (Community Health Assessment and Group Evaluation) guide to conduct a CHA through community-engaged, mixed-methods research. Data were collected on five community selected public health priorities (i.e., education, sanitation, unwanted pregnancies, chronic disease management, and vaccine-preventable diseases) and community assets through focus groups, interviews with key informants, and a household survey using GIS (geographical information systems) technology. Results: Of all five priorities, unwanted pregnancies and sanitation received the lowest average CHANGE tool ratings for both policies and Systems and Environment. However, data gathered on the five public health priorities reflect the perceived needs and assets of Las Malvinas II, and are equally important in improving the community’s health and well-being status. Community members identified as important goals the construction of a primary health clinic, as well as a bigger school, that includes pre-school and high school levels. Conclusion: A coalition emerged from the CHA to address the identified issues. The coalition used CHA findings to develop a community health improvement plan. The establishment of a primary health care center and a bigger school were identified as primary goals

Interventions to improve water supply and quality, sanitation and handwashing facilities in healthcare facilities, and their effect on health care associated infections in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review and supplementary scoping review

Introduction Healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) are the most frequent adverse event compromising patient safety globally. Patients in healthcare facilities (HCFs) in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) are most at risk. Although water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions are likely important for the prevention of HCAIs, there have been no systematic reviews to date. Methods As per our prepublished protocol, we systematically searched academic databases, trial registers, WHO databases, grey literature resources and conference abstracts to identify studies assessing the impact of HCF WASH services and practices on HCAIs in LMICs. In parallel, we undertook a supplementary scoping review including less rigorous study designs to develop a conceptual framework for how WASH can impact HCAIs and to identify key literature gaps. Results Only three studies were included in the systematic review. All assessed hygiene interventions and included: a cluster-randomised controlled trial, a cohort study, and a matched case-control study. All reported a reduction in HCAIs, but all were considered at medium high risk of bias. The additional 27 before-after studies included in our scoping review all focused on hygiene interventions, none assessed improvements to water quantity, quality or sanitation facilities. 26 of the studies reported a reduction in at least one HCAI. Our scoping review identified multiple mechanisms by which WASH can influence HCAI and highlighted a number of important research gaps. Conclusions Although there is a dearth of evidence for the effect of WASH in HCFs, the studies of hygiene interventions were consistently protective against HCAIs in LMICs. Additional and higher quality research is urgently needed to fill this gap to understand how WASH service

Assessing the clinical utility of cancer genomic and proteomic data across tumor types

Molecular profiling of tumors promises to advance the clinical management of cancer, but the benefits of integrating molecular data with traditional clinical variables have not been systematically studied. Here we retrospectively predict patient survival using diverse molecular data (somatic copy-number alteration, DNA methylation and mRNA, miRNA and protein expression) from 953 samples of four cancer types from The Cancer Genome Atlas project. We found that incorporating molecular data with clinical variables yielded statistically significantly improved predictions (FDR < 0.05) for three cancers but those quantitative gains were limited (2.2–23.9%). Additional analyses revealed little predictive power across tumor types except for one case. In clinically relevant genes, we identified 10,281 somatic alterations across 12 cancer types in 2,928 of 3,277 patients (89.4%), many of which would not be revealed in single-tumor analyses. Our study provides a starting point and resources, including an open-access model evaluation platform, for building reliable prognostic and therapeutic strategies that incorporate molecular data

Search strategies for "Articulating a global research agenda on the effects of climate change hazards on hygiene-related health and wellbeing outcomes"

A draft search strategy was compiled in the Ovid Medline ALL database by an experienced information specialist. The search strategy included strings of terms and synonyms to reflect the following concepts: (1) climate change, (2) hygiene, (3) adaptations or perceptions. Publication date was limited from 2000 to current. No other limits were added. The search strategy was refined with the project team until the retrieved results reflected the scope of the project. The following databases were searched on 28 March 2024: Ovid Medline ALL; Ovid Embase; Ovid Global Health; EBSCOhost GreenFILE. The draft search was adapted for each of the databases to incorporate database-specific syntax and controlled vocabularies

'Offshore' salmon aquaculture and identifying the needs for environmental regulation

‘Offshore’ aquaculture has gained increased attention as a potential route of expanding production of commercially important finfish species such as Atlantic salmon (S. salar). However, there is a lack of clarity about the term ‘offshore’ and how different ‘offshore’ environments are, compared to more traditional coastal or inshore locations. This uncertainty is an issue for effective governance and regulation and is a bottleneck for development that must be addressed. This study used a mixed method approach to evaluate what is meant by ‘offshore’ production and determine if existing approaches are suitable for licensing and regulating ‘offshore’ salmon aquaculture in Scotland, as a case study. First, a systematic literature review was used to assess academic studies and then an online questionnaire was used to gather views from salmon aquaculture stakeholders in Scotland and other countries. The results show there is inconsistency in what is perceived by the term ‘offshore’ aquaculture, making it challenging to determine a global definition. Literature, which was not limited to salmon production, tended to focus on distance from the coast but salmon aquaculture stakeholders had very mixed views, though a slight majority considered wave exposure was the key characteristic. The stakeholders indicated there may be a number of benefits of ‘offshore’ salmon aquaculture, but also suggested that existing regulations are not appropriate for ‘offshore’ salmon production and could be enhanced. The study results suggest that regulators and stakeholders need to agree on consistent terminology that characterises the production environment. Depending on local or regional complexities, several classifications that reflect key features, may be required. Additionally, new or adapted approaches to aquaculture licensing, regulation and site suitability may also be needed to account for physical and ecological differences from more traditional farming locations. Ultimately, environmental regulation will only be fit-for-purpose if it is evidence-based and relevant to the environmental conditions, surrounding ecosystem, and species being produced. Ironically, the biggest constraint to ‘offshore’ aquaculture regulation seems be understanding what ‘offshore’ is and means, and until this is addressed there will continue to be uncertainty and confusion that hinders development of the sector

Mosquito habitat and dengue risk potential in Kenya: alternative methods to traditional risk mapping techniques

Outbreaks, epidemics and endemic conditions make dengue a disease that has emerged as a major threat in tropical and sub-tropical countries over the past 30 years. Dengue fever creates a growing burden for public health systems and has the potential to affect over 40% of the world population. The problem being investigated is to identify the highest and lowest areas of dengue risk. This paper presents “Similarity Search”, a geospatial analysis aimed at identifying these locations with- in Kenya. Similarity Search develops a risk map by combining environmental susceptibility analysis and geographical infor- mation systems, and then compares areas with dengue prevalence to all other locations. Kenya has had outbreaks of dengue during the past 3 years, and we identified areas with the highest susceptibility to dengue infection using bioclimatic variables, elevation and mosquito habitat as input to the model. Comparison of the modelled risk map with the reported dengue epi- demic cases obtained from the open source reporting ProMED and Government news reports from 1982-2013 confirmed the high-risk locations that were used as the Similarity Search presence cells. Developing the risk model based upon the bio- climatic variables, elevation and mosquito habitat increased the efficiency and effectiveness of the dengue fever risk mapping process