Child abuse registration, fetal growth, and preterm birth: a population based study

Objectives: To study the relation of intra-uterine growth and gestational age with child protection registration in a 20 year whole population birth cohort. Setting: West Sussex area of England. Study design: Retrospective whole population birth cohort. Outcomes: Child protection registration; individual categories of registration—sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect. Population and participants: 119 771 infants born in West Sussex between January 1983 and December 2001 with complete data including birth weight, gestational age, maternal age, and postcode. Results: In all categories of registration a linear trend was noted such that the lower the birth weight z score the higher the likelihood of child protection registration. Similar trends were noted for gestational age. All these trends were robust to adjustment for maternal age and socioeconomic status. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that lower levels of fetal growth and shorter gestational duration are associated with increased likelihood of child protection registration in all categories including sexual abuse independent of maternal age or socioeconomic status. This study does not permit comment on whether poor fetal growth or preterm birth predispose to child abuse and neglect or the association arises because they share a common pathway

Non-Parametric Confidence Intervals for Generalized Lorenz Curve using Modified Empirical Likelihood

The Lorenz curve portrays the inequality of income distribution. In this article, we develop three modified empirical likelihood (EL) approaches including adjusted empirical likelihood, transformed empirical likelihood, and transformed adjusted empirical likelihood to construct confidence intervals for the generalized Lorenz ordinate. We have shown that the limiting distribution of the modified EL ratio statistics for the generalized Lorenz ordinate follows the scaled Chi-Squared distributions with one degree of freedom. The coverage probabilities and mean lengths of confidence intervals are compared of the proposed methods with the traditional EL method through simulations under various scenarios. Finally, the proposed methods are illustrated using a real data application to construct confidence intervals.Comment: 20 page

Nature-based social prescribing for connectedness and mental well-being: A realist evaluation of staff's experiences of the project:Interim Report

Introduction: Social prescribing has been defined in Wales as 'connecting citizens to community support to better manage their health and wellbeing' (Rees et al, 2019; WG, 2022), although various models and definitions of social prescribing exist (Kimberlee, 2015; SCIE, 2020). Wales has developed a cross-sectional model of social prescribing that is integrated with existing community and statutory services (Public Health Wales, 2018; Wallace et al., 2021). It uses holistic and person centred methods (Pringle & Jesurasa, 2022) to help empower individuals to recognise their own needs and strengths, and to connect with their communities for support with their health and well-being (WG, 2022).In 2019, a 2-year realist evaluation research project was undertaken by Wrexham Glyndwr University (WGU), in partnership with the University of South Wales, Coleg Cambria and third-sector organisations. The project primarily aimed to understand the underpinning theory of how, why, for whom and to what extent the model of social prescribing used in WGU worked (Wallace et al, 2022a,b). A secondary aim of the project was to translate what was learnt for use across the higher- and further education sectors via a replicable model of social prescribing, to enhance student well-being, build resilience, and promote new ways of working and supporting students. WGU received funding from the Higher Education Funding Council of Wales (HEFCW) to build on this previous work (Wallace et al., 2022a, b) to develop a nature-based social prescribing intervention for their students.The use of nature-based activities and interventions (NBIs) has become increasingly prevalent within social prescribing (Brag & Leck, 2017; Howarth and Lister, 2019; Shanahan et al., 2019). The referral to such activities builds upon the earlier concepts of referral for exercise or diet-based interventions (Patel et al., 2011). NBIs is an umbrella term for interventions that use nature-based organisations to support individuals to become physically and mentally healthier through contact with nature and spending time in natural or semi-natural environments (Newstead et al., 2023). NBIs Include interventions such as green referral, blue referral, care farming, therapeutic horticulture and ecotherapy. NBIs include activities that fall under the umbrella of ‘green referral’ (Newstead et al., 2023) such as conservation activities, nature walks, gardening & therapeutic horticulture, and care farming (taking part in normal farming practices for health, socialisation and education) (Husk et al., 2018; Robinson et al., 2020). NBIS also include activities such as surfing, swimming or kayaking (Hope et al., 2022; Gibbs et al 2022; Wilkie et al., 2022) that fall under the umbrella of ‘blue referral’ (Newstead et al., 2023). Evidence suggests that NBIs provide a means to engage different populations to benefit social and community cohesion (Gonzalez et al, 2010), reduce inflammation (Van den Bosch and Bird, 2019) and can result in significant positive mental and physical health benefits (Bakolis et al, 2018; Li, 2009; McEwan et al., 2019; Sarris et al., 2019; White et al., 2019). The link between social prescribing and green health is an important aspect which Wrexham Glyndwr University (WGU) and the University of South Wales (USW) want to develop further. The project used a co-creative approach which provided opportunities for students to find ways to feel more socially connected and be part of their university community, the wider community and the natural environment. The programme incorporated the establishment and delivery of various activities, events and physical changes to the university campuses, with the aim of evaluating:• How nature-based social prescribing can be used as a tool to enhance student wellbeing and address students' connectedness• How green spaces on campus can be further developed to improve or meet students' needs Evaluation of the project utilised a mixed methods approach that includes: a scoping review, social return on investment, an exploration of ‘what matters’ to stakeholders’, Group Concept Mapping and a Realist Evaluation. This document provides an interim report on the Realist Evaluation method (Wong & Papoutsi, 2016). This Realist Evaluation also aims to inform the ‘programme theory’, developed in prior research (Wallace et al., 2022a,b), that articulates why and to what extent the nature-based social prescribing works for this group, how students access the interventions, what forms they take, and when they are accessed. The initial programme theory (Wallace et al., 2022a) informed the development of a WGU Social Prescribing model that could be scaled for implementation within other Welsh Higher Education Institutions and beyond

Community Broadband Initiatives: what makes them successful and why?

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to thank the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council for their support through grant number (EP/G066051/1) Digital Economy Hub and grant number (EP/K003585/1) Communities and Cultures Network+Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Is There an Association of Physical Activity with Brain Volume, Behavior, and Day-to-day Functioning? A Cross Sectional Design in Prodromal and Early Huntington Disease

Background: Huntington disease (HD) is a genetic neurodegenerative disease leading to progressive motor, cognitive, and behavioral decline. Subtle changes in these domains are detectable up to 15 years before a definitive motor diagnosis is made. This period, called prodromal HD, provides an opportunity to examine lifestyle behaviors that may impact disease progression. Theoretical Framework: Physical activity relates to decreased rates of brain atrophy and improved cognitive and day-to-day functioning in Alzheimer disease and healthy aging populations. Previous research has yielded mixed results regarding the impact of physical activity on disease progression in HD and paid little attention to the prodromal phase. Methods: We conducted analyses of associations among current physical activity level, current and retrospective rate of change for hippocampus and striatum volume, and cognitive, motor, and day-to-day functioning variables. Participants were 48 gene-expanded cases with prodromal and early-diagnosed HD and 27 nongene-expanded control participants. Participants wore Fitbit Ultra activity monitors for three days and completed the self-reported International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Hippocampal and striatal white matter volumes were measured using magnetic resonance imaging. Cognitive tests included the Stroop Color and Word Test, and the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT). Motor function was assessed using the Unified Huntington’s Disease Rating Scale total motor score (TMS). Day-to-day functioning was measured using the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) version 2.0. Results: Higher Fitbit activity scores were significantly related to better scores on the SDMT and WHODAS in case participants but not in controls. Fitbit activity scores tracked better with TMS scores in the group as a whole, though the association did not reach statistical significance in the case participants. Higher Fitbit activity scores related to less day-to-day functioning decline in retrospective slope analyses. Fitbit activity scores did not differ significantly between cases and controls. Conclusions: This is the first known study examining the associations between activity level and imaging, motor, cognitive, and day-to-day functioning outcomes in prodromal and early HD. Preliminary results suggest physical activity positively correlates with improved cognitive and day-to-day functioning and possibly motor function in individuals in the prodromal and early phase of the condition

Investigating the physical properties of transiting hot Jupiters with the 1.5-m Kuiper Telescope

We present new photometric data of 11 hot Jupiter transiting exoplanets (CoRoT-12b, HAT-P-5b, HAT-P-12b, HAT-P-33b, HAT-P-37b, WASP-2b, WASP-24b, WASP-60b, WASP-80b, WASP-103b, XO-3b) in order to update their planetary parameters and to constrain information about their atmospheres. These observations of CoRoT-12b, HAT-P-37b and WASP-60b are the first follow-up data since their discovery. Additionally, the first near-UV transits of WASP-80b and WASP-103b are presented. We compare the results of our analysis with previous work to search for transit timing variations (TTVs) and a wavelength dependence in the transit depth. TTVs may be evidence of a third body in the system and variations in planetary radius with wavelength can help constrain the properties of the exoplanet's atmosphere. For WASP-103b and XO-3b, we find a possible variation in the transit depths that may be evidence of scattering in their atmospheres. The B-band transit depth of HAT-P-37b is found to be smaller than its near-IR transit depth and such a variation may indicate TiO/VO absorption. These variations are detected from 2-4.6$\sigma$, so follow-up observations are needed to confirm these results. Additionally, a flat spectrum across optical wavelengths is found for 5 of the planets (HAT-P-5b, HAT-P-12b, WASP-2b, WASP-24b, WASP-80b), suggestive that clouds may be present in their atmospheres. We calculate a refined orbital period and ephemeris for all the targets, which will help with future observations. No TTVs are seen in our analysis with the exception of WASP-80b and follow-up observations are needed to confirm this possible detection.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, 9 Tables. Light Curves available online. Accepted to MNRAS (2017 August 25