What is the real impact of schooling on age of first union and age of first parenting ? New evidence from Guatemala

The ages of first union and of first parenting are of considerable interest, not only because of their implications for individual welfare and well-being over the life cycle, but also because they are strongly associated with fertility patterns that are thought to have important implications for the broader society. But the many positive associations between schooling attainment and ages of first union and first parenting do not mean that increasing education causes increases in ages of first union and first parenting. This study contributes to the literature by investigating the impact of schooling on ages of first union and first parenting using data collected over 35 years in Guatemala. It advances beyond the previous literature by (1) treating schooling as behaviorally-determined, which changes the estimated schooling impacts considerably in a number of cases, tending to result in stronger positive effects of schooling for females and weaker ones for males; (2) including other aspects of individuals'human capital and parental family background, which in some cases changes the estimated impact of schooling attainment a fair amount; and (3) including outcomes, additional to ages of first union and first parenting, such as union partner's human capital and union partner's family's social and economic status, which enriches the understanding of the multiple effects that schooling attainment has on the processes under study.Population&Development,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Population Policies,Science Education,Scientific Research&Science Parks

The importance of women's status for child nutrition in developing countries:

"Malnutrition affects one out of every three preschool-age children living in developing countries.This disturbing, yet preventable, state of affairs causes untold suffering and, given its wide scale, presents a major obstacle to the development process.Volumes have been written about the causes of child malnutrition and the means of reducing it. But the role of women's social status in determining their children's nutritional health has gone largely unnoticed until recently. This study explores the relationship between women's status and children's nutrition in three developing regions: South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)." from textChild welfare, Children Developing countries Nutrition, Women Social conditions, Gender, Health and nutrition,

A double-blind study to determine the maximum tolerated dose of ethionamide, when administered twice-weekly to patients with pulmonary tuberculosis

ATI earlier report from this Centre (Tuber-culosis Chemotherapy Centre, Madras, 1964) showed that a fully supervised twice-weekly regimen of streptomycin plus high-dosage isoniazid was highly effective in the treatment of patients with newly-diagnosed bacteriologi-cally confirmed pulmonary tuberculosis. How-ever, this regimen involves intramuscular injections of streptomycin and may not always be easy to organize, especially in rural areas and in developing countries with limited resources. For this reason, it was decided to investigate the possibility of replacing strepto-mycin in the twice-weekly regimen by two oral drugs, namely ethionamide and PAS. Ethiona-mide was chosen since, apart from isoniazid and streptomycin, it was the most potent drug available at the time, and PAS was included with a view to enhance the efficacy of the regimen. Finally, it was decided that the patients should be given an intensive phase of daily treatment with streptomycin, PAS and isoniazid for two weeks. Experiments in the guinea-pig had shown that the size of the individual dose of a drug needed to be increased as the interval between successive doses was increased (Dickinson & Mitchison, 1966). As PAS is bulky and the dosage of isoniazid in the twice-weekly regimen was already high, namely 15 mg./kg. body-weight, it was decided to explore the possibility of increasing the dosage of ethionamide to a level higher than that usually employed (0.5— 1.0 g.) in daily regimens. An investigation was therefore undertaken to determine the maximum tolerated dose of ethionamide. when administered twice-weekly together with isonia-zid plus PAS. Since the assessment of ethio-namide intolerance is largely subjective, the study was conducted ‘double-blind’ with respect to the dosage of ethionamide

Identifying bottlenecks in the iron and folic acid supply chain in Bihar, India: a mixed-methods study

Background: Maternal anaemia prevalence in Bihar, India remains high despite government mandated iron supplementation targeting pregnant women. Inadequate supply has been identified as a potential barrier to iron and folic acid (IFA) receipt. Our study objective was to examine the government health system’s IFA supply and distribution system and identify bottlenecks contributing to insufficient IFA supply. Methods: Primary data collection was conducted in November 2011 and July 2012 across 8 districts in Bihar, India. A cross-sectional, observational, mixed methods approach was utilized. Auxiliary Nurse Midwives were surveyed on current IFA supply and practices. In-depth interviews (n = 59) were conducted with health workers at state, district, block, health sub-centre, and village levels. Results: Overall, 44% of Auxiliary Nurse Midwives were out of IFA stock. Stock levels and supply chain practices varied greatly across districts. Qualitative data revealed specific bottlenecks impacting IFA forecasting, procurement, storage, disposal, lack of personnel, and few training opportunities for key players in the supply chain. Conclusions: Inadequate IFA supply is a major constraint to the IFA supplementation program, the extent of which varies widely across districts. Improvements at all levels of infrastructure, practices, and effective monitoring will be critical to strengthen the IFA supply chain in Bihar

Supply chain resilience and business responses to disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic

Purpose: At its peak, the Covid-19 pandemic has created disruption to food supply chains in the UK and for the entire world. Although societal changes created some resilience within the supply chains, high volatility in demand creates supply, logistics and distribution issues. This is reflected in the economic instability of businesses and SMEs. In this paper, we explore factors behind this initial disruption in the supply chains and offer suggestions to businesses based on the established practices and theories. Design: We use mixed methods research. First, we conducted an exploratory study by collecting data from published online sources. Then we analysed possible scenarios from the available information using regression. We then conducted two interviews with UK retail sector representatives. These scenarios have been compared and contrasted to provide decision making points to businesses and supply chain players to tackle current and any future potential disruptions. Findings: Our findings from the current exploratory study inform the volatility of supply chains. We suggested some possible responses from businesses, during and after the pandemic. Value: Our regression model provides a decision-making approach to help supply chain businesses during the pandemic outbreak. Once a complete data set of Covid-19 is available, we can create a resilience model that can help businesses and supply chains

Evaluating the Psychological Impact of Forest Bathing: A Meta-Analysis of Emotional State Outcomes

Background: Forest bathing, a therapeutic practice involving immersion in natural forest environments, has gained attention for its potential mental health benefits. This meta-analysis evaluates the impact of forest bathing on psychological parameters such as tension-anxiety, depression, anger-hostility, fatigue, confusion, and vigor. Methods: A meta-analysis was conducted on studies assessing forest bathing's effects on psychological states. Six studies were included, analyzing data using fixed and random effects models. Results: The analysis of six studies with 296 participants revealed a strong positive correlation between forest bathing and reduced tension-anxiety, with correlation coefficients of 0.634 (fixed effects) and 0.613 (random effects). Both models were statistically significant (p < 0.001), despite moderate to high heterogeneity (I² = 67.57%). For depression, five studies (277 participants) showed a significant reduction, with a stronger correlation in the random effects model (0.557) compared to the fixed effects model (0.432). Anger-hostility was similarly reduced, with high heterogeneity (I² = 90.12%) and correlation coefficients of 0.741 (fixed) and 0.767 (random). Fatigue, assessed in six studies (296 participants), also showed significant reductions, with moderate heterogeneity (I² = 45.16%). Confusion was moderately reduced (I² = 29.52%), with correlation coefficients of 0.339 (fixed) and 0.323 (random). Lastly, vigor showed a weak positive association, with a correlation coefficient of 0.269. Conclusion: The findings confirm the therapeutic potential of forest environments in promoting mental health. Given the observed positive effects, forest bathing could be integrated into public health strategies as a non-pharmacological intervention for stress and mood disorders

Maternal Influenza Immunization and Reduced Likelihood of Prematurity and Small for Gestational Age Births: A Retrospective Cohort Study

In an analysis of surveillance data from the state of Georgia (US), Saad Omer and colleagues show an association between receipt of influenza vaccination among pregnant women and reduced risk of premature births

Maternal Pre‐Pregnancy Body Mass Index Is Not Associated With Infant and Young Child Feeding in Low‐Income Mexican Children 1–24 Months Old

Pre-pregnancy overweight and obesity is associated with shorter breastfeeding (BF) duration. Whether pre-pregnancy overweight and obesity is associated with other aspects of infant and young child feeding (IYCF) hasnot been investigated. We used data from 370 children born January 1999–September 2001 in a semi-urbancommunity in Morelos, Mexico, where information on how they were fed was available at 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 and 24months of age. We modified the World Health Organization’s dietary diversity indicator to assess the quality ofthe complementary foods. An index that included BF, quality of complementary foods and other behaviours wasconstructed to measure IYCF. We used survival analysis to examine the association of pre-pregnancy body massindex (pBMI) category and BF duration and mixed models for quality of complementary food and IYCF index.Mean maternal pBMI was 24.44.1; 31% were overweight, and 9% were obese. pBMI was not associated with BF duration. Quality of complementary food improved over time (6 months, 1.3 1.3; 24 months, 3.8 1.04).Compared with normal-weight women, overweight and obese women were more likely to feed from more foodgroups (0.24 0.11 point,P=0.03), but this did not improve diet diversity from 6 to 24 months. IYCF indexdecreased throughout follow-up (1 month, 7.8 2.4; 24 months, 5.5 1.8), and pBMI was not associated withIYCF (-0.11 0.13 point,P=0.4). We conclude that heavier women were not engaging in IYCF behaviours thatwere distinct from those of normal-weight women from 1 to 24 months post-partum

A Case Study of Human Milk Banking with Focus on the Role of IoT Sensor Technology

Human milk is the biological norm for newborn nutrition, with breast milk from the mother being recognized as the best nutritious source for infant health. When the milk is unavailable, donor human milk is the best alternative for infants with low birthweights. Growing recognition of the benefits of donor human milk has led to increasing global interest in monitoring and controlling human milk’s quality to fulfil the need for donor human milk. In response to this need, the REAMIT project proposed to adapt and apply existing innovative technology to continuously monitor and record human milk quality and signal potential milk quality issues. IoT sensors and a Big Data technology have been used to monitor conditions that may increase spoilage (such as temperature and humidity) in the transportation stage. The sensors were installed in the insulated bags used to transport the milk from the donor’s home/hospital to the human milk bank and vice versa. The temperature and humidity were collected every 30 minutes, whilst the GPS locator sent data every 2 minutes. The data are collected in the cloud using GPRS/CAT-M1 technology. An algorithm has been designed to send alerts when the milk temperature is above the pre-specified threshold specified by the organisation, i.e. above - 20°C. The experience showed evidence that IoT sensors can efficiently be used to monitor and maintain quality in supply chains of high-quality human milk. This rare product needs a high level of quality control which is possible with the support of smart technologies. The IoT technology is helping the human milk supply chain in five different aspects, namely reducing waste, assuring quality, improving availability, reducing cost and improving sustainability. This system could be extended to various supply chains of rare and precious commodities, including further medical supplies such as human blood and organs to completely avoid waste and ensure total quality in supply chains

Adapting Digital Technologies to Reduce Food Waste and Improve Operational Efficiency of a Frozen Food Company—The Case of Yumchop Foods in the UK

Cold storage is an essential operation for many food products in cold supply chains. The main objective of this kind of storage is to preserve the food products for a certain period of time. However, often due to a lack of accurate technology, humidity and temperature in food storge are not monitored in real-time, which will affect the food quality. At present, the Internet of Things (IoT) has become a very popular choice for businesses in food supply chains. This is mainly because of the easy availability of internet, which helps monitor and control the quality of food in storage and transport. In this paper, the experiences of adapting and testing IoT sensors and Big Data technology for reducing food waste in a frozen food manufacturer in the UK are presented. The temperature and humidity monitoring within the operations of this ready-to-eat frozen meal company are also expected to maintain food quality and adhere to legal food safety requirements. Our reflection of experience gained in the installation of the sensors, collecting the data to a cloud server, and conducting data analytics with the data are also described. During the implementation of the technology, the company was able to identify optimal and non-optimal storage conditions for their food products and pre-processed ingredients. This allowed the further development of an alert system and corrective action protocol assisted using the technology installed. Results of the case study evidenced and reported a thorough real-time monitoring system that was able to reduce food waste and assure product quality, which could be applied in different stages of the food supply chain. This case can influence several food businesses to start adapting technology in their routine operations to ensure food quality and safety