Socioeconomics and values of resources in great Lake-Tonle Sap and Mekong-Bassac area : results from a sample survey in Kampong Chhnang, Siem Reap and Kandal provinces, Cambodia

Socioeconomics aspects, Fishery economics, Cambodia,

New occurrences of aphyllophoroid fungi (Agaricomycetes, basidiomycota) in the central forest state biosphere nature reserve, Tver region, Russia

New data on non-agaricoid wood-inhabiting basidiomycetes collected from dead wood in the Central Forest Nature Reserve are provided. In total, 228 species were recorded during short-term visits in 2009-2015, of which 37 are reported as new to the reserve. An annotated species list is presented including details of associated substrata and, when available, personal fungarium specimen numbers. The paper increases the total number of species reported for the reserve and provides notes on specimens belonging to the genus Phlebiella, which is probably an undescribed species. Records of some rare, or rarely collected species, such as Antrodiella foliaceodentata, Basidiodendron radians, Phlebiella fibrillosa and Tulasnella eichleriana are discussed. © 2016 Estonian Naturalists' Society. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Modelling the impact of calorie‐reduction interventions on population prevalence and inequalities in childhood obesity in the Southampton Women’s Survey

Background: In the United Kingdom, rates of childhood obesity are high and inequalities in obesity have widened in recent years. Children with obesity face heightened risks of living with obesity as adults and suffering from associated morbidities. Addressing population prevalence and inequalities in childhood obesity is a key priority for public health policymakers in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Where randomized controlled trials are not possible, potential policy actions can be simulated using causal modeling techniques. Objectives: Using data from the Southampton Women's Survey (SWS), a cohort with high quality dietary and lifestyle data, the potential impact of policy-relevant calorie-reduction interventions on population prevalence and inequalities of childhood obesity was investigated. Methods: Predicted probabilities of obesity (using UK90 cut-offs) at age 6–7 years were estimated from logistic marginal structural models adjusting for observed calorie consumption at age 3 years (using food diaries) and confounding. A series of policy-relevant intervention scenarios were modeled to simulate reductions in energy intake (differing in effectiveness, the targeting mechanisms, and level of uptake). Results: At age 6–7 years, 8.3% of children were living with obesity, after accounting for observed energy intake and confounding. A universal intervention to lower median energy intake to the estimated average requirement (a 13% decrease), with an uptake of 75%, reduced obesity prevalence by 1% but relative and absolute inequalities remained broadly unchanged. Conclusions: Simulated interventions substantially reduced population prevalence of obesity, which may be useful in informing policymakers

Impact of meningitis on intelligence and development: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: We undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis to address the question "what is the impact of meningitis on IQ and development." METHODS: Search: conducted using standardized search terms across Medline, PsychInfo and EMBASE to 06/2014. Eligibility: human studies of any infectious aetiology of meningitis reporting IQ or infant developmental age or stage outcomes. Quality: Centre for Evidence Based Medicine, Oxford, quality tools. Analysis: random effects meta-analysis by organism. RESULTS: 39 studies were included in the review, 34 providing data on IQ (2015 subjects) and 12 on developmental delay (382 subjects). Across all bacterial organisms, meningitis survivors had a mean IQ 5.50 (95% CI: -7.19, -3.80; I2 = 47%, p = 0.02) points lower than controls. IQ was significantly lower than controls for Neisseria meningitides (NM: 5 points) and Haemophilus influenzae b (Hib: 6 points) but not in viral meningitis, with only single studies included for Streptococcus pneumoniae (SP) and group B streptococcus (GBS). The pooled relative risk (RR) for low IQ (IQ<70) in survivors of bacterial meningitis compared with controls was 4.99 (95% CI: 3.17, 7.86) with no significant heterogeneity (I2 = 49%, p = 0.07). Developmental delay of approximately 0.5SD was reported in studies of bacterial meningitis but no delay in the only study of viral meningitis. CONCLUSIONS: We found moderate evidence that surviving bacterial meningitis has a deleterious impact on IQ and development but no evidence that viral meningitis had meaningful cognitive impacts. Survivors of bacterial meningitis should be routinely offered screening for cognitive deficits and developmental delay in addition to hearing loss

Is earlier obesity associated with poorer executive functioning later in childhood? Findings from the Millennium Cohort Study

BACKGROUND: Children affected with overweight or obesity have been associated with having lower educational achievement compared to peers who are non-overweight/obese. One of the drivers of this association could be a link between obesity and poorer executive function. Evidence is limited to small, cross-sectional studies which lack adjustment for important common causes. OBJECTIVE: We investigate the association between weight status and executive function longitudinally in mid-childhood, accounting for potential common causes. METHODS: Linear regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between weight status between 5 and 7 years and executive functioning at 11 years in members of the Millennium Cohort Study (n = 7739), accounting for a wide range of potential common causes. Age- and sex-specific International Obesity Taskforce cut-points for body mass index (BMI) were used. Executive function, including decision-making, impulsivity and spatial working memory, was assessed using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. RESULTS: There were no unadjusted associations between weight status and decision-making or impulsivity. After adjustment for all potential common causes, there was a lack of consistent evidence to support an association between persistent obesity (including overweight) between 5 and 7 years and spatial working memory task at 11 years. CONCLUSIONS: We found little evidence that poorer spatial working memory contributes to the association of children with obesity having lower educational achievement

The effect of screen advertising on children's dietary intake: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Evidence indicates that screen advertising for unhealthy food results in significant increases in dietary intake among children. This review was undertaken with the main aim of estimating the quantitative effect of screen advertising in experimental and nonexperimental conditions on children's dietary intake. Systematic searches were undertaken of interdisciplinary databases. Studies from 1980 to April 2018, all geography and languages, were included; participants were children and adolescents aged between 2 and 18 years; the intervention was screen advertising; and the outcome was dietary intake. Meta-analyses were conducted for measured and nonmeasured outcomes. Food advertising was found to increase dietary intake among children (age range 2-14, mean 8.8 years) in experimental conditions for television (TV) advertising and advergames. Meta-analysis revealed that children exposed to food advertising on TV (11 studies) and advergames (five studies) respectively consumed an average 60.0 kcal (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.1-116.9) and 53.2 kcal (95% CI, 31.5-74.9) more than children exposed to nonfood advertising. There was also an effect by body mass index (BMI). Findings from nonexperimental studies revealed that exposure to TV food advertising was positively associated with and predictive of dietary intake in children. Short-term exposure to unhealthy food advertising on TV and advergames increases immediate calorie consumption in children

Obesity prevention in the early years: a mapping study of national policies in England from a behavioural science perspective

Background Evidence indicates that early life is critical for determining future obesity risk. A sharper policy focus on pregnancy and early childhood could help improve obesity prevention efforts. This study aimed to systematically identify and categorise policy levers used in England with potential to influence early lifecourse (pregnancy, 0-5 years) and identify how these interface with energy balance behaviours. The objective is to identify gaps and where further policy actions could most effectively focus. Methods A behavioural science approach was taken using the Capability-Opportunity-Motivation-Behaviour (COM-B) model and Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW) framework. The key determinants of energy balance in the early years were identified from the Foresight Systems Map. Policy actions were scoped systematically from available literature, including any health or non-health policies which could impact on energy balance behaviours. Foresight variables and policy actions were considered in terms of COM-B and the BCW to determine approaches likely to be effective for obesity prevention and treatment. Existing policies were overlaid across the map of key risk factors to identify gaps in obesity prevention and treatment provision. Results A wide range of policy actions were identified (n=115) to address obesity-relevant risk factors. These were most commonly educational or guidelines relating to environmental restructuring (i.e. changing the physical or social context). Scope for strengthening policies relating to the food system (e.g. the market price of food) and psychological factors contributing to obesity were identified. Policies acted via all aspects of the COM-B model, but there was scope for improving policies to increase capability through skills acquisition and both reflective and automatic motivation. Conclusions There is substantial policy activity to address early years obesity but much is focused on education. Scope exists to strengthen actions relating to upstream policies which act on food systems and those targeting psychological factors contributing to obesity risk

Tawney and the third way

From the 1920s to the 1950s R. H. Tawney was the most influential socialist thinker in Britain. He articulated an ethical socialism at odds with powerful statist and mechanistic traditions in British socialist thinking. Tawney's work is thus an important antecedent to third way thinking. Tawney's religiously-based critique of the morality of capitalism was combined with a concern for detailed institutional reform, challenging simple dichotomies between public and private ownership. He began a debate about democratizing the enterprise and corporate governance though his efforts fell on stony ground. Conversely, Tawney's moralism informed a whole-hearted condemnation of market forces in tension with both his concern with institutional reform and modern third way thought. Unfortunately, he refused to engage seriously with emergent welfare economics which for many social democrats promised a more nuanced understanding of the limits of market forces. Tawney's legacy is a complex one, whose various elements form a vital part of the intellectual background to current third way thinking

Growth and adrenarche: findings from the CATS observational study

BACKGROUND: There is increasing evidence that patterns of pubertal maturation are associated with different patterns of health risk. This study aimed to explore the associations between anthropometric measures and salivary androgen concentrations in pre-adolescent children. METHODS: We analysed a stratified random sample (N=1151) of pupils aged 8-9 years old from 43 primary schools in Melbourne, Australia from the Childhood to Adolescence Transition Study. Saliva samples were assayed for dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), DHEA-sulfate and testosterone. Anthropometric measures included height, weight, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference. Associations between (1) anthropometric measures and each androgen, and (2) hormone status with obesity and parental report of pubertal development were investigated using linear regression modelling with general estimating equations. RESULTS: Greater height, weight, BMI and waist circumference were positively associated with higher androgen concentrations, after adjusting for sex and socioeconomic status. Being overweight or obese was associated with higher testosterone and DHEA concentrations compared with the normal BMI category. Those who were obese were more likely (OR=2.7, 95% CI 1.61 to 4.43, p<0.001) to be in the top tertile of age-adjusted androgen status in both sexes. CONCLUSION: This study provides clear evidence for an association between obesity and higher androgen levels in mid-childhood. The adrenal transition may be a critical time period for weight management intervention strategies in order to manage the risk for metabolic problems in later life for high-risk individuals

The health benefits of secondary education in adolescents and young adults: An international analysis in 186 low-, middle- and high-income countries from 1990 to 2013.

BACKGROUND: The health benefits of secondary education have been little studied. We undertook country-level longitudinal analyses of the impact of lengthening secondary education on health outcomes amongst 15-24 year olds. METHODS: Exposures: average length of secondary and primary education from 1980 to 2013.Data/Outcomes: Country level adolescent fertility rate (AFR), HIV prevalence and mortality rate from 1989/90 to 2013 across 186 low-, middle- and high-income countries.Analysis: Longitudinal mixed effects models, entering secondary and primary education together, adjusted for time varying GDP and country income status. Longitudinal structural marginal models using inverse probability weighting (IPW) to take account of time varying confounding by primary education and GDP. Counterfactual scenarios of no change in secondary education since 1980/1990 were estimated from model coefficients for each outcome. FINDINGS: Each additional year of secondary education decreased AFR by 8.4% in mixed effects models and 14.6% in IPW models independent of primary education and GDP. Counterfactual analyses showed the proportion of the reduction in adolescent fertility rate over the study period independently attributable to secondary education was 28% in low income countries. Each additional year of secondary education reduced mortality by 16.9% for 15-19 year and 14.8% for 20-24 year old young women and 11.4% for 15-19 year and 8.8% for 20-24 year old young men. Counterfactual scenarios suggested 12% and 23% of the mortality reduction for 15-19 and 20-24 year old young men was attributable to secondary education in low income countries. Each additional year of secondary education was associated with a 24.5% and 43.1% reduction in HIV prevalence amongst young men and women. INTERPRETATION: The health benefits associated with secondary education were greater than those of primary education and were greatest amongst young women and those from low income countries. Secondary education has the potential to be a social vaccine across many outcomes in low and middle income countries