A rough life: exploring the involvement of street children in organised crime in Dhaka

Street children in Dhaka are hired by 'mastaans' to carry weapons, sell drugs, collect extortion money, commit political violence and conduct contract killings. While exploring the involvement of street children in organised crime groups Dr Sally Atkinson-Sheppard explains why they are neither victims nor offenders. They are instead 'illicit labourers', doing what they can to survive on the streets

Work-life imbalance: informal care and paid employment

In the United Kingdom informal carers are people who look after relatives or friends who need extra support because of age, physical or learning disability or illness. The majority of informal carers are women and female carers also care for longer hours and for longer durations than men. Thus women and older women in particular, shoulder the burden of informal care. We consider the costs of caring in terms of the impact that these kinds of caring responsibilities have on employment. The research is based on the responses of informal carers to a dedicated questionnaire and in-depth interviews with a smaller sub-sample of carers. Our results indicate that the duration of a caring episode as well as the hours carers commit to caring impact on their employment participation. In addition carers’ employment is affected by financial considerations, the needs of the person they care for, carers’ beliefs about the compatibility of informal care and paid work and employers’ willingness to accommodate carers’ needs. Overall, the research confirms that informal carers continue to face difficulties when they try to combine employment and care in spite of recent policy initiatives designed to help them

Changes in corneal collagen architecture during mouse postnatal development

Purpose. To characterize changes in corneal collagen arrangement during mouse postnatal development. Methods. Small-angle X-ray scatter patterns were gathered from the centers of 32 excised mice corneas aged between postnatal days 10 (before eye opening) and 28 (onset of sexual maturity). These were analyzed to produce measurements of the average separation distance between corneal collagen fibrils. Changes in the predominant orientation of corneal collagen and its relative distribution during the same developmental period were determined using wide-angle X-ray scatter data collected at 0.2-mm intervals over the entire cornea and limbal region of each specimen. Results. Collagen interfibrillar spacing decreased in the days leading up to eye opening (61.3 ± 2.9 nm at day 10 to 45.5 ± 4.5 nm at day 14), after which it remained constant. However, changes in collagen orientation and distribution occurred throughout the entire developmental period. After eye opening at day 12, collagen alignment gradually increased in the peripheral cornea and limbus. By day 28, an annulus of highly aligned collagen surrounded the cornea. Conclusions. Changes in corneal thickness before and after eye opening are not caused by widespread alterations in the collagen fibrillar array but are more likely caused by expansion and contraction of regions devoid of regularly arranged collagen. The postnatal development of a corneal annulus of collagen, thought to play a role in stabilizing the curvature of the cornea, may be triggered by visual factors

Modeling the Residential Infiltration of Outdoor PM2.5 in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and Air Pollution (MESA Air)

Background: Epidemiologic studies of fine particulate matter [aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 μm (PM2.5)] typically use outdoor concentrations as exposure surrogates. Failure to account for variation in residential infiltration efficiencies (Finf) will affect epidemiologic study results

Water, women and disability: Using mixed-methods to support inclusive WASH programme design in Vanuatu.

BACKGROUND: Adequate access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) is imperative for health and wellbeing, yet people with disabilities, people with incontinence and people who menstruate often experience unmet WASH requirements. METHODS: In 2019 we completed a mixed-methods study in two provinces of Vanuatu, (SANMA and TORBA). The study comprised 1) a population-based disability survey using the Washington Group Short-Set 2) a nested case-control study to explore associations between WASH, disability and gender, and 3) an in-depth qualitative assessment of the experiences of WASH users with additional requirements: people with and without disabilities who menstruate, or experience incontinence. FINDING: 11,446 households (response rate 85%) were enrolled into the survey. All-age disability prevalence across the two provinces was 2.6% (95% Confidence Interval 2.5-2.8), increasing with age. 814 people with, and 702 people without disabilities participated in the case-control study. People with disabilities were statistically more likely to experience barriers in seven of eight intra-household indicators. WASH-related stigma, reliance on informal caregivers, and under-resourcing of WASH personnel were critical issues for people who menstruate or experience incontinence. INTERPRETATION: People with disabilities, people with incontinence and people who menstruate in Northern Vanuatu face continued challenges in accessing safe, affordable and appropriate WASH that meets their requirements. Outputs from this study have supported progression towards gender and disability-inclusive WASH programming in the area and highlighted the value of mixed-methods research. FUNDING: The research was funded by the Australian Government's Water for Women fund and donations from the Australian public

"The weather is not good": exploring the menstrual health experiences of menstruators with and without disabilities in Vanuatu.

BACKGROUND: Menstrual health is essential for gender equality and achieving the sustainable development goals. Though currently lacking, understanding and addressing menstrual health and social related inequalities requires comparison of experiences between menstruators with and without disabilities. METHODS: We completed a mixed-methods population-based study of water, sanitation and hygiene, disability and menstrual health in TORBA and SANMA Provinces, Vanuatu. Methods included a census, nested case-control study, in-depth interviews (IDIs), focus group discussions (FGDs), PhotoVoice and structured observations. We undertook a population census of 11,000+ households and recruited 164 menstruators with and 169 without disabilities (aged 10-45) into a nested case-control study. 20 menstruators across both groups were selected for the qualitative component. FINDINGS: Menstruators with disabilities were five times (adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR] 5.5, 95% Confidence Interval 1.8 - 16.5) more likely to use different bathing facilities to others in the household, nearly twice as likely (1.8, 1.1 - 3.1) to miss social activities, and three times (3.0, 1.6 - 5.7) more likely to eat alone during menstruation. Menstrual restrictions were widespread for all, but collecting water and managing menstrual materials was harder for menstruators with disabilities, particularly those requiring caregivers' support. These factors negatively impacted menstruators with disabilities' comfort, safety and hygiene, yet they reported less interference of menstruation on participation. INTERPRETATION: Negative factors affecting all menstruators disproportionately impact those with disabilities, compounding existing inequalities. Menstruators with disabilities may have reported less interference because they are accustomed to greater participation restrictions than others. FUNDING: Australian Government's Water for Women fund and public donations

Herbivory, Connectivity, and Ecosystem Resilience: Response of a Coral Reef to a Large-Scale Perturbation

Coral reefs world-wide are threatened by escalating local and global impacts, and some impacted reefs have shifted from coral dominance to a state dominated by macroalgae. Therefore, there is a growing need to understand the processes that affect the capacity of these ecosystems to return to coral dominance following disturbances, including those that prevent the establishment of persistent stands of macroalgae. Unlike many reefs in the Caribbean, over the last several decades, reefs around the Indo-Pacific island of Moorea, French Polynesia have consistently returned to coral dominance following major perturbations without shifting to a macroalgae-dominated state. Here, we present evidence of a rapid increase in populations of herbivorous fishes following the most recent perturbation, and show that grazing by these herbivores has prevented the establishment of macroalgae following near complete loss of coral on offshore reefs. Importantly, we found the positive response of herbivorous fishes to increased benthic primary productivity associated with coral loss was driven largely by parrotfishes that initially recruit to stable nursery habitat within the lagoons before moving to offshore reefs later in life. These results underscore the importance of connectivity between the lagoon and offshore reefs for preventing the establishment of macroalgae following disturbances, and indicate that protecting nearshore nursery habitat of herbivorous fishes is critical for maintaining reef resilience

Individual patient data meta-analysis of self-monitoring of blood pressure (BP-SMART): a protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Self-monitoring of blood pressure is effective in reducing blood pressure in hypertension. However previous meta-analyses have shown a considerable amount of heterogeneity between studies, only part of which can be accounted for by meta-regression. This may be due to differences in design, recruited populations, intervention components or results among patient subgroups. To further investigate these differences, an individual patient data (IPD) meta-analysis of self-monitoring of blood pressure will be performed. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will identify randomised trials that have compared patients with hypertension who are self-monitoring blood pressure with those who are not and invite trialists to provide IPD including clinic and/or ambulatory systolic and diastolic blood pressure at baseline and all follow-up points where both intervention and control groups were measured. Other data requested will include measurement methodology, length of follow-up, cointerventions, baseline demographic (age, gender) and psychosocial factors (deprivation, quality of life), setting, intensity of self-monitoring, self-monitored blood pressure, comorbidities, lifestyle factors (weight, smoking) and presence or not of antihypertensive treatment. Data on all available patients will be included in order to take an intention-to-treat approach. A two-stage procedure for IPD meta-analysis, stratified by trial and taking into account age, sex, diabetes and baseline systolic BP will be used. Exploratory subgroup analyses will further investigate non-linear relationships between the prespecified variables. Sensitivity analyses will assess the impact of trials which have and have not provided IPD. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study does not include identifiable data. Results will be disseminated in a peer-reviewed publication and by international conference presentations. CONCLUSIONS: IPD analysis should help the understanding of which self-monitoring interventions for which patient groups are most effective in the control of blood pressure

TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits - the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants - determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits - almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives