Global Transitions最新文献

Background & aims

Traditional Chinese customs practicing in postpartum yield mixed results on maternal health. The objectives of this study are 1) to depict the postpartum customs in Chinese lactating women in varied areas and 2) to explore its effects on dietary intake.

Method

This study is part of the “YI” study; data of 974 lactating women from ten cities of China were used. Food intake frequencies in the past month were assessed with the Food Frequency Questionnaire. The 24-h dietary recall was used to estimate nutrient intake and assess dietary diversity. Participants were also required to report in detail those traditional customs which they had practiced in postpartum, and word clouds were drawn according to the report frequencies of certain customs.

Results

In total, 49.9% of women practiced certain traditional customs in postpartum. A total of 159 customs were recorded, including 130 dietary customs. The most frequently reported customs included “avoid eating cold food” (n = 164), “no spicy food” (n = 121) and “avoiding food influencing breast milk secretion” (n = 42). The dietary diversity was not associated with practicing postpartum customs; however, women with customs had significantly higher intake frequencies of potato and yam, seaweed, fruits, livestock meat and other dairy products, yet a lower intake frequency of dark green vegetables. For nutrient intake, women who practicing certain practices were observed to have a significantly higher intake of energy, protein, carbohydrate, niacin, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium.

Conclusions

Traditional postpartum customs are still common in Chinese women and associated with dietary intake.

Large scale population-based epidemiological health surveys require effective administration. The diverse phenotype data sets also lead to challenge to quick and visual feedback of health check-up results or meeting the need of self-health management. With the rapid popularization of smartphone use, the smartphone-based applications bring about new inspirations for traditional epidemiological studies to fulfill various health and research needs. In 2015, we designed a software named Peking Union Health Application (PUHApp), which can be used noncommercially via smartphone or modern desktop web browser. PUHApp has been used by over 50 000 individuals to obtain their e-health reports. Diverse health data have been linked to this application. The module of self-health assessment and disease risk prediction modules enable individuals to estimate their physical fitness conveniently. By describing the concepts and usage of PUHApp, we aim to demonstrate its key role as modern solution for effective epidemiological survey administration and health promotion, and to provide practical cases that could be helpful for other researchers.

Diabetes and dementia are becoming the major problems in elderly people. This study evaluated the relationships of dietary inflammatory index (DII), systemic immune inflammation index (SII) and system inflammation response index (SIRI) with diabetes as well as MCI, and explored the different synergistic effects of DII, SII and SIRI on blood glucose and cognition based on diabetes status. 1050 eligible participants from Beijing were included. Cognitive function was evaluated by neuropsychological tests. Food frequency questionnaire was used to calculate energy-adjusted DII scores. Blood samples were applied to obtain fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and calculate SII, SIRI. The dietary intake between different diabetes status had no differences, while the consumption of Mg, niacin and thiamin were significantly lower in diabetes patients with MCI than others. Lower levels of DII, SIRI and SII might increase the risk of diabetes, MCI and co-morbidity of diabetes with MCI. Higher FPG enhanced the synergistic effects of DII and SII on MCI, as well as DII and SIRI. The lower levels of DII, SIRI and SII were significantly correlated with higher MoCA scores and lower FPG in diabetes patients. The relationships between inflammatory and cognition or FPG were significantly diminished or even disappeared in non-diabetes population. In conclusion, lower levels of DII, SIRI and SII might play protective roles in reducing the risks of diabetes and/or MCI. The synergistic effects of low dietary and blood inflammation on cognitive protection and FPG control were more sensitive in elderly people with diabetes.

Background & aims

Previous evidence varied on the relationship of dietary sodium, potassium, sodium/potassium, and salt with cognitive function. This study aimed to explore the associations of sodium, potassium, sodium/potassium, and salt intakes with cognitive function among the elderly in China.

Methods

Data were accessed from the database of the 1997–2006 China Health and Nutrition Survey, including 4213 participants aged at least 50 years at baseline. Dietary data at individual and household levels were collected using the method of 24-h dietary recall in three consecutive days. Cognitive function was measured through objective and subjective methods. Linear regression models and multinomial logistic regression models were established to elucidate the association of dietary sodium, potassium, sodium/potassium, and salt with cognitive function. Mediation effect analysis and substitution analysis were also conducted.

Results

Higher potassium intakes in Q3 (Median: 1653.3 g/day, β = 1.366, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.845 to 1.887) and Q4 (Median: 2181.4 g/day, β = 1.454, 95% CI: 0.865 to 2.044) were significantly associated with higher cognitive test score compared with Q1 (Median: 1053.7 g/day). Sodium/potassium intake in Q3 (Median: 3.8, β = −0.791, 95% CI: -1.264 to −0.317) and Q4 (Median: 5.5, β = −0.909, 95% CI: -1.401 to −0.417) were inversely associated with the cognitive test score compared with Q1 (Median: 2.0). Higher dietary sodium and sodium/potassium intakes were associated with a higher risk of a self-reported poor and deteriorated memory during the past 12 months. Additionally, higher potassium intakes were significantly associated with a lower risk of deteriorated memory. The associations of dietary potassium and sodium/potassium were mediated by CCVD, and average cognitive test score increased by about 1 point after replacing 1000 mg/day of sodium with an equal intake of potassium.

Conclusions

Restricting sodium and increasing potassium, and keeping the balance of dietary sodium and potassium are encouraged to prevent cognitive decline and dementia in the elderly.

Objective

To explore the associations of own and spousal intra- and extra-familial adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) with cognitive function and the role of depression in women.

Methods

Data were from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. ACEs included 11 intra-familial and 3 extra-familial domains. Principal component analysis was used to divide ACEs into mild, moderate, severe, and most severe. Depression was assessed using CESD-10 (cutoff≥10). Global cognition included episodic memory and mental intactness, with values ranging from 0 to 31. Adjusted multiple generalized linear regression models (GLM) were used to investigate the associations of own or spousal ACEs with women's cognitive function and the role of their depression in general women in Analysis 1 and married women in Analysis 2, respectively.

Results

Among 4613 women aged 59.0 (52.0–65.0) in Analysis 1, depression mediated 12.3%, 14.6%, and 9.5% the effects of most severe overall ACEs on global cognition, episodic memory, and mental intactness. In Analysis 2, most severe spousal overall ACEs were associated with women's mental intactness, with β (95% CI) of −0.120 (−0.217 to −0.023), which was mediated by women's depression by 19.8%. Furthermore, most severe spousal extra-familial ACEs were associated with women's global cognition, episodic memory, and mental intactness (β = −0.210, 95% CI -0.297 to −0.123; β = −0.150, 95% CI -0.241 to −0.060; β = −0.211, 95% CI -0.302 to −0.121), which was 7.6%, 9.4%, and 6.0% mediated by their depression.

Conclusion

Depression mediated the effects of own and spousal extra-familial (not intra-familial) ACEs on women's cognitive function.

Competing agendas are common within the sustainability field, given its complex and diverse social, economic, and environmental priorities. They can cause less effective policy results, where multiple goals can result in trade-offs and policy compromises. This paper proposes a conceptual framework: CompeSA – Assessing Competing Sustainability Agendas in Carbon Neutrality Policy Pathways. This framework enables the exploration of competing sustainability agendas arising from the simultaneous implementation of climate change, energy transitions, and energy poverty agendas. CompeSA is built on three key steps, 1) The WHAT, aiming to define the scope, 2) The WHERE, to understand the scales at which corresponding policy impacts apply; and 3) the WHO, for deep characterization and analysis of the key stakeholder groups.

We base the development and application of the framework in Portugal, a test case strongly engaged with the carbon neutrality agenda, to illustrate important dilemmas over policy mixes and unpack emerging synergies and barriers. Identified synergies include the linked concepts of economic recovery and employment opportunities, mainly through renewable energy expansion, enhanced economic competitiveness, and skilled job creation. Improvements in air quality and the built environment contribute to health benefits. The most significant barriers are inequitable benefit allocation and power imbalances between the energy-poor and agenda-setting actors. Our demonstration shows CompeSA to be a helpful support tool for structured analysis of competing sustainability agendas and pinpoints key critical points that determine the effectiveness of sustainability policies.

To secure an inclusive and development-oriented society where nations can create, access, and utilize a scalable and sustainable infrastructure and resources, an equitable and effective investment in education and human capital development, including science, technology, and innovation (STI) has proven to be inevitable. There have been speculations on how disproportionate the global government investments and expenditures may be in achieving those goals across the regions. This study conducts a comparative analysis of data about global government investment in relation to education, STI and researchers/human capital development. We applied a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and multiple comparisons (Post Hoc Tukey) tests to determine the association between the different types of regions and the level of Educational and STI investment as per percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) and full-time equivalent (FTE) of researchers between 2015 and 2020, respectively. Three categories of data from The UNESCO's Institute for Statistics (UIS) on sustainable development goals (SDGs) were used for the investigations. The analyzed dataset consisted of information about Education as per GDP (n = 190), STI as per GDP (n = 155), and STI as per Researcher FTE (n = 155). The results show that there were differences in the global government investments in the above constructs between the low- and middle-income vs high-income regions. In turn, the study empirically discussed and shed light on the leading factors by considering their implications, and how those can be used to support decision-making and infrastructural investment policies by the various governments, policymakers, financial investors, and educators towards a global/sustainable practice.

As the Philippines pursues its mission of decarbonization in the energy sector by 2030, a target which aims to achieve a 35% share of renewable energy (RE) in the country's power generation mix, the broad participation of merchant plant developers and banks is crucial. Developers of merchant plants can generate supply of renewable energy, while banks can provide the financing. Nonetheless, banks traditionally do not lend to fully merchant plants, particularly by small proponents who have no implicit guarantor. In recent years, as more banks embed sustainability principles in their corporate philosophy, the question arises on whether this trend has also impacted the bank lending logics, especially with respect to how banks evaluate the risk-return profiles of RE projects, including pure merchant plants by small developers. Using qualitative research methods, we collected data through interviews and desk research from six banks in the Philippines (private and government-controlled, as well as universal and rural). To unpack the lending logics of banks, we presented ten credit enhancement options for the banks to appraise. We found that government-controlled banks, partly due to their mandate in supporting national development, have more appetite towards small merchant plants, unlike private banks, despite the latter's aggressive pursuit of sustainability targets. In the end, a fundamental gap between private banks and merchant plants remains. Since addressing it is crucial for the Philippines to achieve its mission of energy decarbonization, we end with some recommendations on how this gap may be bridged.