How Climate Change is Driving Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Innovation

Climate Change continues to create ongoing challenges to companies, our communities and planet. Key stakeholders from employees to Investors request that we are all held accountable. Learn how companies have responded and the innovation that is driving change and hope for a better world. Be humbled, educated and inspired to make a difference

Nutrition in Central Uganda - An Estimation of a Minimum Cost Healthy Diet

This study makes use of linear programming methodology to design a minimum cost diet for the Central Ugandan region. We used a set of constraints on recommended levels of daily nutrient intake, recommended proportions of groups of foods, as well as preferences and food availability in Central Uganda, to design a minimum cost healthy daily diet. Several models were considered, each forcing at least one of the following frequently consumed staple foods: matooke, cassava, and rice. We found that the minimum costs of the optimal diets were lowest in the planting season of March and highest in the harvesting season of December.Central Uganda, minimum cost diet, malnutrition, linear programming, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Health Economics and Policy,

Digital Injustice: A Case Study of Land Use Classification Using Multisource Data in Nairobi, Kenya

The utilisation of big data has emerged as a critical instrument for land use classification and decision-making processes due to its high spatiotemporal accuracy and ability to diminish manual data collection. However, the reliability and feasibility of big data are still controversial, the most important of which is whether it can represent the whole population with justice. The present study incorporates multiple data sources to facilitate land use classification while proving the existence of data bias caused digital injustice. Using Nairobi, Kenya, as a case study and employing a random forest classifier as a benchmark, this research combines satellite imagery, night-time light images, building footprint, Twitter posts, and street view images. The findings of the land use classification also disclose the presence of data bias resulting from the inadequate coverage of social media and street view data, potentially contributing to injustice in big data-informed decision-making. Strategies to mitigate such digital injustice situations are briefly discussed here, and more in-depth exploration remains for future work

Should we pay research participants? feminist political economy for ethical practices in precarious times

Questions of paying research participants have taken on a new urgency as contemporary geographies of precarity, inequality and austerity affect both potential participants and, to varying extents, early-career researchers, while universities place greater emphasis on public engagement and research impact. Here, we offer reflections and recommendations that come from our experiences as PhD students in London, as precarious researchers researching precarious lives. We make a case for paying participants based on ethics of care and readings of precarity informed by feminist political economy. We discuss how and how much to pay. We recommend changes to institutional norms that have treated payments with suspicion, to research design and funding, and to ethical approval procedures and publishing practices

Using an Inductive Grounded Theory Approach to Understand How Screening Tools and Case Studies Assess Environmental Injustices in Communities in the United States

Communities of color and low-income communities in the United States are disproportionately overburdened with environmental burdens while having reduced access to environmental amenities and other environmental services. The collective term for this experience is environmental injustice. Case studies and screening tools are two common methods of assessing environmental injustices at the community level. There have been comprehensive analyses of both screening tools and case studies, but there has been little comparative work on how screens and case studies capture environmental injustices. Through the use of an inductive grounded theory approach, 24 case studies and eight screens were reviewed and coded using MAXQDA to identify a total of 38 themes. Additionally, eleven semi-structured interviews were conducted with a variety of stakeholder groups to identify additional themes that may not have been present in either screens or case studies. Race, socioeconomic status, environmental impacts and degradation, land use-physical hazards and reduced health outcomes were the most commonly identified themes in both screens and case studies. Case studies addressed a larger proportion of the identified themes, but these themes were unevenly distributed. By completing a comparative analysis of how environmental injustices are captured by case studies and screening tools, this thesis seeks to highlight potential weaknesses that limit the capability of these methods to effectively assess and reflect the environmental justice concerns held by community members

Design and synthesis of novel amphiphilic calixarenes, amphiphilic urea sulfonate salts and fluorescent anion receptors.

Antimicrobial resistance has become a growing threat over the last decade to the health and safety of the human populous, with the task of developing new antimicrobials having become the responsibility of academic researchers. Current antimicrobials are largely based on those that interact with specific proteins, but these are becoming increasingly less and less effective as microbials develop resistance to the antimicrobials currently in circulation. Work published by Hiscock et al. has developed a novel class of amphiphilic antimicrobials that target the phospholipid membrane rather than common protein targets. Building on the past work within the Hiscock group and extending this research is the basis for the work described herein. Amphiphilic antimicrobial calix[4]arene derived compounds have been synthesised and amphiphilic urea-sulfonate salts have been designed, the properties of which have been studied in the solid, liquid and gas states.The study of the urea-sulfonate salts in the solid state showed that the compound tends to form extended structures with several different binding modes. In the gas phase, low level complexes are visible which indicate the bonds formed between the structures are strong as they survive the experimental conditions. Studies in the solution state show that the compounds form larger structures in DMSO, whilst one compound formed larger structures in an H2O: EtOH 19:1 solution. The results obtained thus far prove the compounds to be amphiphilic, but do not indicate antimicrobial activity, so, further study is required.The detection of anions in the environment is an ever-growing concern in modern society as the world becomes more aware of the impact that anionic pollutants are having upon the Earth. Anionic receptors are molecules designed to detect, respond to, and recognise species carrying a negative charge. The application of anionic receptors to modern day science is varied and includes organocatalysts which may be catalysed through hydrogen bond formation, in the separation of anionic mixtures in industrial or radioactive waste as well as applications in biology, for the treatment of ion channel based diseases such as cystic fibrosis.1 Novel fluorescent anionic receptors have been designed and synthesised based on works published by Hiscock et al., with properties studied in the solid, liquid and gas state also.Studies in the solid state showed the formation of intramolecular bonds with two of the compounds synthesised, along with the formation of intermolecular bonds between one compound and water that is used to stabilise the extended crystal structure. In the gas phase, one compound showed the presence of low-level complexes. In the solution state all the receptors detected the presence of anions and showed selectivity to specific anions also, where the order of selectivity showed an inverse in the Hofmeister series

Effects of Yoga on Perceived Stress Level and Cognitive Ability in College-Aged Females

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if perceived stress levels and response inhibition scores (measure of cognitive function) differ in female college students who regularly participate in yoga compared to female college students who do not. Methods: College-aged females ranging from 19-24 years of age were recruited to participate in this study. Subjects filled out a personal information sheet followed by a perceived stress level questionnaire to measure the amount of yoga each participant performed and assess their perceived stress level, respectively. Response inhibition and accuracy (cognitive function) were measured via a computerized Stroop Effect test consisting of three modules. The research project implemented a cross-sectional design, with the independent variable being past yoga experience (no previous experience & regular yoga participation) and the dependent variables being perceived stress level and response inhibition (speed & accuracy) score of the Stroop Effect test. Significance was accepted at p ≤0.05. Results: An independent t-test revealed that there were no differences in average reaction time or percent accuracy between yogis and novice yogis. The difference between average perceived stress scores (PSS) in advanced versus novice yogis was approaching significance (p ≤ 0.06). The PSS for novice yogis was 17.28 ± 4.20 while that for advanced yogis was 21.59 ± 7.96. Conclusion: The study concludes that yogis reported higher PSS compared to non-yogis; however, there was no significant difference in cognitive ability between the groups. Future studies should seek to further investigate various measures of cognitive abilities in these populations. Furthermore, more research should be implemented to discern the true effects of yoga on an individual’s perceived stress level

Understanding Training and Workforce Pathways to Develop and Retain Black Maternal Health Clinicians in California

Despite evidence that greater diversity in health professions increases quality of care, the maternal health field has made little progress on increasing and sustaining the number of Black maternal health care workers. In this study, Urban researchers examine opportunities for and barriers to increasing the workforce of Black obstetrician/gynecologists (OB/GYNs), labor and delivery (L&D) nurses, and midwives, especially in light of the ongoing US maternal health crisis. Through interviews with Black maternal health clinicians and training program staff, we recommend actions that federal and state policymakers, leaders at higher education and health system institutions, and philanthropies can take to address structural barriers to entering and staying within the field and to support a thriving workforce

The Development of Ambulatory Cancer Care in the UK: A Scoping Review of the Literature

INTRODUCTION: Ambulatory Care (AC), where patients receive inpatient cancer treatment on an outpatient basis, was introduced into the United Kingdom (UK) National Health Service (NHS) in 2004. Although now well established within some services, the development of AC across the NHS is yet to be described. We report findings of a scoping review that set out to understand the provenance of the clinical pathway, whilst exploring drivers for the development of AC in the UK. METHODS: Using scoping review methods, database citation, and grey literature, searches were undertaken to map the storyline of AC’s development internationally. The Joanna Briggs Institute guidance was followed; this included consultation with six professionals considered critical to the development of AC. RESULTS: From the 57 records identified between 1979 and 2022, four domains were identified through a narrative synthesis that reflected the following drivers for AC: financial; optimisation of bed capacity; advances in technology and supportive care; and professional motivation to improve patient experience. CONCLUSION: We report the first descriptive analysis of the international development of AC, locating the UK cancer service within its commissioning, operational, and philosophical foundations. The review additionally highlights limited research exploring the experience of the AC model from the patients’ perspective