Jellyfish swarms and degree of exposure and vulnerabil-ity of recreational and tourist activities on beaches. Methodological approach to their assessment in the Lagos-Ferrara sector (Málaga, Spain)

An important part of the economy of the municipalities on the southern Spanish coast revolves around tourist activity, whose main attraction is the sun and beach. Events such as the arrival of swarms of jellyfish on their beaches have generated a certain amount of fear in the tourism sector. This work presents a methodological essay to evaluate the possible impact of this phenomenon on the use of the beach and the tourist economic activity linked to it. The chosen study area is the stretch of coast between the beach-es of "Lagos" and "Ferrara" (eastern coast of the province of Málaga). It is developed from a risk management perspective, addressing exposure and vulnerability factors. The sources are mainly surveys. The results show that in the short term there are no clear consequences, but there are in the long term.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

The reliability of the general functioning scale in Norwegian 13–15-year-old adolescents and association with family dinner frequency

Background Family environment is crucial to the development of health behaviors into adolescence and adulthood. The aims of this study were (1) to explore the reliability of the General Functioning Scale (GFS) among Norwegian 13-15-year-olds, and (2) to assess whether family functioning reported by adolescents was associated with family dinner frequency. Methods In total 440 secondary-school students were invited to participate in this cross-sectional web-based questionnaire survey, with 54 participating in the test-retest study. Test-retest and internal consistency were assessed for the 12-item GFS-scale. Associations between family functioning and family dinner frequency were tested using multiple logistic regression. Results The GFS had high internal consistency (corrected item-total correlations ranging from 0.40 to 0.65, Cronbach’s α = 0.85), and excellent test–retest reliability (intra-class correlation coefficient = 0.83). In the logistic regression model, a higher score on GFS (poorer family functioning) was associated with a reduced likelihood of having dinner together on a daily basis (i.e., 6–7 times per week, OR = 0.36, CI = 0.20–0-64) after adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity, living situation and parental education level. Conclusions The GFS had high reliability. As poorer family functioning was associated with less frequent family dinners, the family environment may be an important (contextual) target to influence adolescent health behaviors. It would be of interest to further explore the role of family functioning in relation to adolescents’ dietary habits, besides shared family meals, and to reveal the mechanisms underlying such relationships.publishedVersio

Symptoms of depression and cardiovascular reactions to acute psychological stress: Evidence from a population study

Depression and exaggerated cardiovascular reactivity are considered risk factors for cardiovascular disease, possibly as a result of common antecedents, such as altered autonomic nervous system function. We examined the association between depressive symptomatology and cardiovascular reactions to psychological stress in 1608 adults (875 women) comprising three distinct age cohorts: 24-, 44-, and 63-year olds. Depression was assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Blood pressure and heart rate were measured at baseline and during the paced auditory serial arithmetic test. Depression scores were negatively associated with systolic blood pressure and heart rate reactions, after adjustment for likely confounders such as sex, cohort, occupational status, body mass index, stress task performance score, baseline cardiovascular activity, antidepressant and antihypertensive medication. The direction of association was opposite to that which would be expected if excessive reactivity were to mediate the association between depression and cardiovascular disease outcomes or if they shared common antecedents

On the risk of studying practices in isolation: Linking what, who and how in strategy research

This paper challenges the recent focus on practices as stand-alone phenomena, as exemplified by the so-called “Practice-Based View of Strategy (PBV)” by Bromiley and Rau (2014). While the goal of “PBV” points to the potential of standard practices to generate performance differentials (in contrast to the Resource Based View), it marginalizes wellknown insights from practice theory more widely. In particular, by limiting its focus to practices, i.e. “what” practices are used, it underplays the implications of “who” is engaged in the practices and “how” the practices are carried out. In examining practices in isolation, the “PBV” carries the serious risk of misattributing performance differentials. In this paper, we offer an integrative practice perspective on strategy and performance that should aid scholars in generating more precise and contextually-sensitive theories about the enactment and impact of practices as well as about critical factors shaping differences in practice outcomes

Integrating complementary survey methods to estimate catches in Norway’s complex marine recreational hook-and-line fishery

Marine recreational fishing is popular in Norway, but current estimates of the catches by resident and tourist anglers are lacking due to several challenges, in particular Norway’s long and intricate coastline with no defined access points and the large tourist fishery. To test methods for long-term monitoring of boat-based marine recreational anglers, estimate their catches, and characterize the fishery, we conducted a roving creel survey based on a novel spatial sampling frame and a survey of tourist fishing businesses in Troms and Hordaland County. These surveys showed that cod (Gadus morhua) and saithe (Pollachius virens) dominated the catches in Troms, while mackerel (Scomber scombrus) and saithe dominated the catches in Hordaland. The estimated total annual harvest of cod by all marine recreational anglers was 2 160 tonnes (relative standard error, or RSE 44%) in Troms and 73 tonnes (RSE 29%) in Hordaland, of which ∼40% (in weight) were landed in registered tourist fishing businesses, based on data from the tourist fishing survey. The results indicate that recreational anglers in Hordaland harvest more cod in coastal waters than commercial fishers. This study provides information for developing marine recreational fisheries monitoring in challenging survey situations to support science-based fisheries management.publishedVersio

Mapping poverty using mobile phone and satellite data

Poverty is one of the most important determinants of adverse health outcomes globally, a major cause of societal instability and one of the largest causes of lost human potential. Traditional approaches to measuring and targeting poverty rely heavily on census data, which in most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are unavailable or out-of-date. Alternate measures are needed to comp- lement and update estimates between censuses. This study demonstrates how public and private data sources that are commonly available for LMICs can be used to provide novel insight into the spatial distribution of poverty. We evalu- ate the relative value of modelling three traditional poverty measures using aggregate data from mobile operators and widely available geospatial data. Taken together, models combining these data sources providethebest predictive power (highest r 2 ¼ 0.78) and lowest error, but generally models employing mobile data only yield comparable results, offering the potential to measure poverty more frequently and at finer granularity. Stratifying models into urban and rural areas highlights the advantage of using mobile data in urban areas and different data in different contexts. The findings indicate the possibility to estimate and continually monitor poverty rates at high spatial resolution in countries with limited capacity to support traditional methods of datacollection

The combined diabetes and renal control trial (C-DIRECT) - a feasibility randomised controlled trial to evaluate outcomes in multi-morbid patients with diabetes and on dialysis using a mixed methods approach

Background: This cluster randomised controlled trial set out to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of the “Combined Diabetes and Renal Control Trial” (C-DIRECT) intervention, a nurse-led intervention based on motivational interviewing and self-management in patients with coexisting end stage renal diseases and diabetes mellitus (DM ESRD). Its efficacy to improve glycaemic control, as well as psychosocial and self-care outcomes were also evaluated as secondary outcomes. Methods: An assessor-blinded, clustered randomised-controlled trial was conducted with 44 haemodialysis patients with DM ESRD and ≥ 8% glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), in dialysis centres across Singapore. Patients were randomised according to dialysis shifts. 20 patients were assigned to intervention and 24 were in usual care. The C-DIRECT intervention consisted of three weekly chair-side sessions delivered by diabetes specialist nurses. Data on recruitment, randomisation, and retention, and secondary outcomes such as clinical endpoints, emotional distress, adherence, and self-management skills measures were obtained at baseline and at 12 weeks follow-up. A qualitative evaluation using interviews was conducted at the end of the trial. Results: Of the 44 recruited at baseline, 42 patients were evaluated at follow-up. One patient died, and one discontinued the study due to deteriorating health. Recruitment, retention, and acceptability rates of C-DIRECT were generally satisfactory HbA1c levels decreased in both groups, but C-DIRECT had more participants with HbA1c < 8% at follow up compared to usual care. Significant improvements in role limitations due to physical health were noted for C-DIRECT whereas levels remained stable in usual care. No statistically significant differences between groups were observed for other clinical markers and other patient-reported outcomes. There were no adverse effects. Conclusions: The trial demonstrated satisfactory feasibility. A brief intervention delivered on bedside as part of routine dialysis care showed some benefits in glycaemic control and on QOL domain compared with usual care, although no effect was observed in other secondary outcomes. Further research is needed to design and assess interventions to promote diabetes self-management in socially vulnerable patients