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National contributions to science are influenced by a number of factors, including economic capacity, national scientific priorities, science policy, and institutional settings and cultures. Nations do not have equal opportunities to access the global scientific market, and therefore, often seek out international partners with complementary resources and expertise. This study aims at investigating national collaboration strategies, with a focus on research leadership—measured through corresponding authorship—and its relationship with scientific impact. Results show that countries with higher R&D investments are more scientifically independent, and confirm that international collaboration is positively related to citation impact. However, leadership in international collaboration is inversely related with a countries’ share of international collaboration and there is a very little relationship between citation impact and international leadership. For instance, most countries—and particularly those that have fewer resources—have higher scientific impact when they are not leading. This suggests that, despite increasing global participation in science, most international collaborations are asymmetrical, and that the research system remains structured around a few dominate nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to demonstrate the impact of coal enterprises’ vertical integration on the performance of innovation corporate social responsibility (ICSR) and to elaborate its specific transmission path through financing structure and market power. This paper takes the data of A-share listed coal company from 2008 to 2017 as samples, uses input-output table method to measure the degree of vertical integration, and explores the relationship between the four factors through multiple linear regression and Bootstrap method. We found that: (1) the vertical integration of coal enterprises has positive incentives for the promotion of ICSR. (2) Financing structure and market power play a chain intermediary role in this process of incentive. (3) In areas with high marketization process, vertical integration has more significant incentive effect on ICSR. The paper extends the research on the relationship between vertical integration and innovation, which provides a reference for the improvement of China’s supply-side reform and corporate social responsibility (CSR) fulfillment policy. It is helpful to promote the sustainable development of the coal industry, stimulate the innovation vitality of enterprises, and improve the fulfillment of CSR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we aim to establish a mathematical model to design a maximizing social welfare intervention mechanism of healthcare service goods in China. The intervention mechanism is helpful to facilitate the adoption of the healthcare service goods. We consider a research problem that regulates the supply chain system for healthcare service goods by an intervention mechanism, and two intervention strategies composed of demand-growth strategy and subsidy strategy are used to the combination of intervention mechanism. Then this paper presents a new method based on fuzzy set and bilevel programming to design the intervention mechanism. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model, we conduct a case study for Wudang personalized health package and verify our model by the specific result analysis, the result indicates that our joint intervention mechanism is helpful to achieve the target and increase social welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, with the rapid development of China's air transport industry and the change in market consumption structure, service quality has become one of the important factors affecting airline revenue. How to formulate a reasonable pricing strategy and maintain competitiveness in the fierce market competition has become an urgent problem for airlines. First, the impact factor of service quality level in the traditional pricing model is introduced and a static price competition model for multi-oligopoly airlines based on service quality is established in this paper. And then, a dynamic pricing model based on service quality of the multi-oligopoly airlines is established. The model incorporates the weight factor of service quality impact, which is used to indicate the weight of the service quality level in the process of airline dynamic pricing. The research results show that the service quality level of airlines has an indispensable influence on its development. Airlines should improve service quality as soon as possible to enhance market competitiveness and achieve sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the calculation of the inclusive financial development level of 22 provinces and 4 municipalities in China from 2004 to 2017, this paper uses the Kernel density estimation method to further analyze the evolution of the inclusive financial index. Based on the above analysis, we make empirical analysis of the impact of China's inclusive financial inclusion development index on farmers' entrepreneurship using static panel and dynamic panel estimation method. The empirical conclusions show that there are certain differences in inclusive financial inclusion development level in various provinces in China. Improving the inclusion development level of inclusive finance can better promote farmers' entrepreneurship. Urbanization level, economic openness and regional economic development level have a significant positive effect on farmers' entrepreneurship, while farmers' income and education level have a significant negative effect on farmers' entrepreneurship. It is possible to promote farmers' entrepreneurship by improving the inclusive development level of inclusive finance, combining urbanization, increasing government investment in productive fixed assets, increasing economic openness and improving regional economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to describe the prevalent forms of intimate partner violence (IPV), and the factors associated with IPV among women and men living in the two migrant communities of Baglung district, Nepal. 357 adult women and men were enrolled following a family model, interviewing young married women with daughter-in-law status in the home, their husbands, and mothers-in-law and fathers-in-laws using an electronic questionnaire. Random effects regression modelling compared men and women, as well as young married women with daughter-in-law status and older women with mothers-in-law with status. 28.6% of women had ever experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner compared to 18.2% of men ever perpetrated these forms of violence against their wives. Being older, male controlling behaviour and poor relations with husband increased women’s IPV in their lifetime while perceptions that the mother-in-law is kind were protective. Being ashamed of being unemployed and childhood trauma were associated with men perpetrating IPV in their lifetime. Borrowing money or food increased young married women’s lifetime IPV risk while mother-in-law cruelty and male control increased older married women’s lifetime IPV exposure. Factors associated with IPV in the past year among men were being younger, job seeking, experiences of childhood trauma and depression exposure among men while difficulty accessing money for emergencies, holding inequitable gender attitudes, and depression was associated with women’s increased IPV exposure. Unemployment stress, holding inequitable gender attitudes and mother-in-law kindness were associated with young women’s increased IPV risk and hunger, mother-in-law cruelty and depression with older women’s IPV risk. There is a need to critically challenge harmful social and gender norms by using approaches that are sensitive to young married women’s position and unequal gender relations in the family. IPV prevention interventions need to employ a holistic approach that combines changing social and gender norms and improving socioeconomic conditions of women living in migrant communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of the shared prosperity goal by the World Bank in 2013 and Sustainable Development Goal 10, on inequality, by the United Nations in 2015 should strengthen the focus of development interventions and cooperation on the income growth of the bottom 40 percent of the income distribution. This paper contributes to the incipient literature on within-country allocations of development institutions and assesses the geographic targeting of World Bank projects to the bottom 40 percent. Bivariate correlations between the allocation of project funding approved over 2005–14 and the geographical distribution of the bottom 40 as measured by survey income or consumption data are complemented by regressions with population and other potential factors affecting the within-country allocations as controls. The correlation analysis shows that, of the 58 countries in the sample, 41 exhibit a positive correlation between the shares of the bottom 40 and World Bank funding, and, in almost half of these, the correlation is above 0.5. Slightly more than a quarter of the countries, mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa, exhibit a negative correlation. The regression analysis shows that, once one controls for population, the correlation between the bottom 40 and World Bank funding switches sign and becomes significant and negative on average. This is entirely driven by Sub-Saharan Africa and not observed in the other regions. Hence, the significant and positive correlation in the estimations without controlling for population suggests that World Bank project funding is concentrated in administrative areas in which more people live (including the bottom 40) rather than in poorer administrative areas. Furthermore, capital cities receive disproportionally high shares of World Bank funding on average. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops two-stage inverse data envelopment analysis models with undesirable outputs to formulate resource plans for 16 Chinese listed commercial banks whose outputs are increased and overall efficiency is kept unchanged in the short term. We use these models to meet three different output targets, namely, increasing both the desirable and undesirable outputs by the same percentage, increasing these outputs by different percentages, and increasing only the desirable outputs while keeping the undesirable outputs unchanged. We find that operation cost and interest expense are more flexible than labor in the adjustment process and that deposits have no obvious law of change. The findings of this work provide some suggestions for bank managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deterioration of water quality has become a primary environmental concern worldwide. Understanding the status of water quality and identifying the influencing factors are important for water resources management. However, reported analyses have mostly been conducted in small and focused areas. It is still unclear if factors driving spatial variation in water quality would be different in extended spatial scales. In this paper, we analyzed spatial pattern of inland surface water quality in China using a dataset with four water quality parameters (i.e., pH, DO, NH4+-N and CODMn) and the water quality level. We tested the effects of anthropogenic (i.e., land use and socio-economic) and natural (i.e., climatic and topographic) factors on spatial variation in water quality. The study concluded that the overall inland surface water quality in China was at level III (fair). Water quality level was strongly correlated with CODMn and NH4+-N concentration. In contrast to reported studies that suggested land use patterns were the determinants of inland surface water quality, this study revealed that both anthropogenic and natural factors played important roles in explaining spatial variation of inland surface water quality in China. Among the tested explanatory variables, mean elevation within watershed appeared as the best predictor for pH, while annual precipitation and mean air temperature were the most important explanatory variables for CODMn and DO, respectively. NH4+-N concentration and water quality level were most strongly correlated with the percent of forest cover in watershed. Compared to studies at smaller spatial scales, this study found different influencing factors of surface water quality, suggesting that factors may play different roles at different spatial scales of consideration. Therefore management policies and measures in water quality control must be established and implemented accordingly. Since currently adopted parameters for monitoring of inland surface water quality in China are largely influenced by natural variables, additional physicochemical and biological indicators are needed for a robust assessment of human impacts on water quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most papers on the physical condition of birds during spring migration focused on food availability preceding migratory take-off. Only a few studies examined the effect of climate conditions at the wintering grounds upon autumn arrival on bird physical condition later on. Here, we hypothesized that environmental conditions upon arrival at the wintering grounds, and not necessarily upon departure, have a crucial carry-over effect on bird spring migration. Using 29,000 observations of the lesser whitethroat, Sylvia curruca, and the eastern Bonelli’s warbler, Phylloscopus orientalis, we found temperatures upon arrival at the African wintering grounds to be the only climatic variable correlated with birds’ body state upon spring stopover in Israel, six months later. Two different mechanisms could explain these results. One possibility is that high temperatures create favorable conditions for insect activity, which allows rapid recovery from autumn migration and hence successful winter survival and maintenance. Another possible scenario is that harsh conditions, due to the heat and dry environment, cause high mortality, permitting survival of larger individuals which, then, enjoy reduced inter- and intra-specific competition. Whatever the mechanism is, our findings suggest that conditions upon autumn arrival, and not necessarily at the end of winter as traditionally thought, may have a major impact on migrating birds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper combines a Granger causality test and a VAR model to investigate the relationships among oil price shocks, global economic policy uncertainty (GEPU), and China’s industrial economic growth. Based on monthly data from 2000 to 2017, we reveal that GEPU and world oil prices jointly Granger cause China's industrial economic growth; world oil prices have a positive effect on China's industrial economic growth, while GEPU has a negative effect. Further analyses investigate the asymmetry effect of oil prices and find that the negative component shows a more significant impact on China's industrial economic growth. The results are robust to different oil price and EPU proxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the link between reliance on Facebook for news, political knowledge, and political engagement in the Philippines. We tested five hypotheses using data gathered from an online survey of 978 Filipinos conducted from February 1 to March 31, 2016. Findings support the hypothesis that those who rely less on social media as a news source exhibit higher levels of perceived knowledge about politics than those who rely more on it for news. Controlling for traditional news use, following political officials or institutions on social media is associated with higher levels of political interest and engagement, those with more politically active friends on Facebook have higher levels of exposure to political content online, and there is a positive correlation between Facebook being a source of information about politics and discussing politics more often with others. However, the hypothesis that those with more friends on their network who are politically active, will have greater political knowledge and more political engagement than those who have few politically active friends on their Facebook network is not supported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use agent-based computer simulation to test the effect of environmental conditions (available biomass/carrying capacity and environmental risk) on the development of wealth inequality and patron-client herding networks in nomadic pastoral economies. Our results show that 1) wealth inequality reaches very high levels when carrying capacity is high and risk is low, and 2) patron-client contract herding networks increase in size and duration when carrying capacity is high and risk is low. We compare empirical data from the Mongol (1206–1368 CE) and Xiongnu (209 BCE– 48 CE) empires with simulation results to develop an explanatory mechanism for the apparent correlation between nomadic empire creation and positive environmental conditions. We argue that the internal dynamics of nomadic pastoral societies are sufficient to produce high degrees of inequality and hierarchical herding networks. Nomadic empires are more likely to form during key periods of increased biomass and decreased environmental risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender diversity is known to have a positive effect on innovation in developed countries. However, it is unclear whether the benefits of gender diversity for innovation also apply to the particular context of developing countries, which is characterized by diverse and lower levels of gender equality. We propose that gender diversity positively impacts innovation in the developing countries participating in our study. In addition, we expect that this effect is moderated by country-specific levels of gender equality. In a cross-country study covering 18,547 firms in 15 developing countries, we find that gender diversity among a firm’s owners and workforce as well as having a female top manager benefit innovation in developing countries. Yet, contradictory to our expectations, gender equality does not significantly moderate this relationship. As such, our results underline the importance of enabling and fostering gender diversity and have critical implications for firms and policy makers alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migration studies emphasize the role of economic, social and cultural capital in shaping out-migration decisions. Yet, little attention is paid to the effect of capital endowment on return migration, particularly among the highly educated. This article examines the extent to which different forms of capital determine return decisions of early-career researchers (ECRs). We hypothesized that individuals from more privileged backgrounds would repatriate at higher rates, due to the benefits that their capital stock might offer them upon homeland re-integration at home. Drawing on a sample of 223 early career Israeli scholars in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) disciplines, we used logistic regressions to analyze the effects of material wealth, social ties, and family-oriented cultural capital on their return propensities. No significant differences were found between repatriating and non-repatriating scholars with respect to cultural capital. However, accumulating social and economic capital was positively correlated with the decision to repatriate as was marrying into academic families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical education professionals aim to develop quality programmes for physical education. This study aimed to develop and validate a scale using professionals’ perceptions of Quality Physical Education QPE in Asia using twenty-four items regarding QPE quality issues. The items covered status and roles, development of educational elements and supportive features in physical education. A sample of N = 799 sport and physical education professionals from eleven Asian cities participated in this questionnaire survey. Twenty-four items relating to QPE were examined via exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using maximum likelihood extraction and direct oblimin rotation methods. Nevertheless, only 20 items were extracted following the EFA examination. Items 1, 9, 14 and 18 were excluded because of low factor loadings. The remaining items were clustered into four subscales: Development and Supportive Elements for Quality Physical Education in Schools (DSFQPE; α = .918), Core Values of Quality Physical Education (CVPE; α = .908), Curriculum Arrangement of Physical Activities (CAPA; α = .884) and Provision and Norms in Physical Education (PNPE; α = .865). The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (α = .875) indicated excellent internal consistency for the overall measure. Furthermore, the 4 retained factors from the EFA were assessed via robust confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The 4-factor model demonstrated a good fit with the data (CMIN/DF = 3.450, CFI = .928, TLI = .916, PCFI = .801, RMSEA = .078). The study identified a 4-factor structure with internal consistency and acceptable interfactor correlations. The structure seemed to be applicable, including the twenty items identified as useful and necessary tools for the framework of analysis in the investigation of diverse settings for the study of quality physical education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was launched in India in 2005 to address the health needs of under-served populations in rural areas, and to support universal access to care. Despite this initiative, unaccredited informal providers (IPs) often remain patients’ first point of contact, which has led to inconsistencies in treatment, and has compromised the quality of care. Aim: To explore the factors that influence patients’ decisions about healthcare providers in rural areas of central India. Methods: Nine focus group discussions (FGDs) were held in nine villages in central India. Framework analysis using an inductive approach was used to analyse the data. Results: The crosscutting theme across the discussions was not choice but need—the need for affordable and accessible health care regardless of the provider’s qualification. Results highlighted that IPs play a pivotal role in villagers’ lives. Formal healthcare services were accessed infrequently, and mainly when a condition was judged severe or possibly even fatal. Even then, affordability was carefully weighed. Villagers’ distance from formal providers contributed to high cost and low preference of formal providers. When opting for IPs, familiarity and trust were more important to villagers than qualifications. IPs have operated in rural communities in India for a long time and have adapted their services to meet the needs, preferences, social norms, and economic conditions of villagers. Conclusion: IPs have captured a niche and are often the first contact point in rural settings even when patients ultimately are diagnosed and treated by trained doctors. Merely tackling the undersupply of qualified doctors is not effective or sufficient to impact on the rural healthcare system: the strong and prevalent influence of IPs needs to be addressed also. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caesarean section (CS) can prevent maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity. However, it involves risks and high costs that can be a burden, especially in low and middle income countries. The aim of this study is to assess its magnitude and correlates among women of reproductive age in the urban and rural areas of Vietnam. We analyzed microdata from the national Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) conducted in 2014 by using a representative sample of households at the national level in both urban and rural areas. A total of 1,350 women who delivered in institutional settings in the two years preceding the survey were included. Frequency and percentage distributions of the variables were performed. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were undertaken to identify the factors associated with CS. Odds ratios with a 95% confidence interval were used to ascertain the direction and strength of the associations. The overall CS rate among the women who delivered in healthcare facilities in Vietnam has rapidly increased and reached a high level (29.2%). After controlling for significant characteristics, living in urban areas doubles the likelihood of undergoing a CS (OR = 1.98; 95% CI 1.48 to 2.67). Maternal age at delivery over 35 years is a major positive correlate of CS. Beyond this common phenomenon, different distinct lines of socioeconomic and demographic cleavage operate in urban compared with rural areas. The differences regarding the correlates of CS according to the place of residence suggest that specific measures should be taken in each setting to allow women to access childbirth services that are appropriate to their needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourist congestion at hot spots has been a major management concern for UNESCO World Heritage Sites and other iconic protected areas. A growing number of heritage sites employ technologies, such as cameras and electronic ticket-checking systems, to monitor user levels, but data collected by these monitoring technologies are often under-utilized. In this study, we illustrated how to integrate data from hot spots by camera-captured monitoring and entrance counts to manage use levels at a World Heritage Site in Southeastern China. 6,930 photos of a congestion hotspot (scenic outlook on a trail) were collected within the park at a 10-minute interval over 105 days from January to November 2017. The entrance counts were used to predict daily average and maximum use level at the hotspots. Results showed that the average use level at the congestion hotspot did not exceed the use limit mandated by the park administration agency. However, from 9:20 am to 12:00 pm, the use level at hotspots exceeded visitor preferred use level. Visitor use level was significantly higher at the hotspot during a major Chinese “Golden Week”. The daily entrance counts significantly predicted the average and maximum use level at the hotspot. Based on our findings, park managers can achieve the management goals by permitting the corresponding number of visitors passing the entrances. The gap manifested the complexities in visitor capacity management at high-use World Heritage Sites and other protected areas and calls for innovative monitoring and management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the Philippines, one in four pregnancies are unintended and 610 000 unsafe abortions are performed each year. This study explored the association between missed opportunities to provide family planning counseling, quality of counseling and its impact on utilization of effective contraception in the Philippines. Methods: One-hundred-one nationally representative health facilities were randomly selected from five levels of the health system. Sexually-active women 18–49 years old, wanting to delay or limit childbearing, attending primary care clinics between April 24 and August 8, 2017 were included. Data on contraceptive use, counseling and availability were collected using interviews and facility assessments. Effective contraceptive methods were defined as those with rates of unintended pregnancy of less than 10 per 100 women in first year of typical use. Findings: 849 women were recruited of whom 51.1% currently used effective contraceptive methods, 20.6% were former effective method users and 28.3% had never used an effective method. Of 1664 cumulative clinic visits reported by women in the previous year, 72.6% had a missed opportunity to receive family planning counseling at any visit regardless of level of facility, with 83.7% having a missed counseling opportunity on the day of the interview. Most women (55.9%) reported health concerns about modern contraception, with 2.9% receiving counseling addressing their concerns. Only 0.6% of former users and 2.1% never-users said they would consider starting a modern contraceptive in the future. Short and long acting reversible contraceptive methods were available in 93% and 68% of facilities respectively. Conclusions: Missed opportunities to provide family planning counseling are widespread in the Philippines. Delivery of effective contraceptive methods requires that wider legal, policy, social, cultural, and structural barriers are addressed, coupled with systems approaches for improving availability and quality of counseling at all primary health care contacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The prevalence of overweightness in Bangladesh is increasing, while underweightness also continues to persist. A better understanding of the patterns and socioeconomic risk factors of both conditions, particularly among women, is critical in order to promote the development of interventions to improve maternal health in Bangladesh. This study therefore sought to assess the patterns of under- and overweightness between 2004 and 2014 and to examine the predictors of individual and community-level inequalities of under- and overnutrition in Bangladesh. Methods: Cross-sectional data of 10, 431, and 16,478 ever-married nonpregnant women aged between 15 and 49 years who did not give birth in the two months preceding the survey were extracted from the 2004 and 2014 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys, respectively. Body mass index was used to measure weight status, and underweightness, at-risk for overweightness, overweightness, and obesity were the main outcome variables. Patterns of nutritional change over time was examined by considering the annual average rate of change. Multilevel multinomial logistic regression and quantile regression were used to identify the inequalities. Results: In 2014, the age-adjusted prevalence values of underweightness, at-risk for overweightness, overweightness, and obesity were 19.7%, 14.9%, 18.1% and 4.0%, respectively. A higher average annual rate of reduction of underweightness was found among wealthier, highly educated, and wealthier community–living women, while a rate of increase of overweightness was found among poorer, uneducated, and poor community–living women. Individual and community-level inequalities of malnutrition were observed among these populations. In comparison with women living in low wealth communities, women from wealthier communities were at an increased risk of being at-risk for overweightness [adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 1.53, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.23–1.91], overweight (AOR: 1.60, 95% CI: 1.27–2.00), and obese (AOR: 2.12, 95% CI: 1.42–3.18). Conclusions: This study suggests the coexistence of a double burden of under- and overnutrition in Bangladesh and that the prevalence of overweightness surpasses that of underweightness. The burdens of under- and overnutrition are strongly associated with women’s individual socioeconomic positions and the nature of the community in which they live. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bosten Lake is an important region of Northwest China that has transformed from a freshwater lake to a saltwater lake since the 1970s. The water quality in the Bosten Lake basin is important for social and economic development, and nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are the key indicators of water quality. The land use data, precipitation data and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data with the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model were used to simulate the N and P exports of the Bosten Lake basin. The spatial and temporal dynamics of nitrogen and phosphorus exports, and the response of nitrogen and phosphorus exports to land use change and precipitation change were analyzed between 2000 and 2015. The results show that the amount of N and P exports increased during 2000–2015, and the N and P exports are mainly distributed around Bosten Lake. The N and P exports are greatly affected by cultivated land, built-up areas and grassland, while they are less affected by other land use types. The high precipitation areas with small exports of N and P are mainly distributed in mountain areas, while small precipitation areas with large exports of N and P are distributed in plains where the cultivated land and built-up areas are concentrated. The InVEST model can be used in Northwest China, and the statistical downscaling of reanalysis precipitation data can be used in the InVEST model to improve the simulation accuracy in the data scarce regions of Northwest China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have seen tremendous advances in the scientific study of networks, as more and larger data sets of relationships among nodes have become available in many different fields. This has led to pathbreaking discoveries of near-universal network behavior over time, including the principle of preferential attachment and the emergence of scaling in complex networks. Missing from the set of network analysis methods to date is a measure that describes for each node how its relationship (or links) with other nodes changes from one period to the next. Conventional measures of network change for the most part show how the degrees of a node change; these are scalar comparisons. Our contribution is to use, for the first time, the cosine similarity to capture not just the change in degrees of a node but its relationship to other nodes. These are vector (or matrix)-based comparisons, rather than scalar, and we refer to them as “rewiring” coefficients. We apply this measure to three different networks over time to show the differences in the two types of measures. In general, bigger increases in our rewiring measure are associated with larger increases in network density, but this is not always the case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior to the introduction of wheat and barley from Central Asia during the Neolithic period, northern Chinese agricultural groups subsisted heavily on millet. Despite being the focus of many decades of intensive interest and research, the exact route(s), date(s), and mechanisms of the spread and adoption of wheat and barley into the existing well-established millet-based diet in northern China are still debated. As the majority of the important introduced crops are C3 plants, while the indigenous millet is C4, archaeologists can effectively identify the consumption of any introduced crops using stable carbon isotope analysis. Here we examine published stable isotope and dental caries data of human skeletal remains from 77 archaeological sites across northern and northwestern China. These sites date between 9000 to 1750 BP, encompassing the period from the beginning of agriculture to wheat’s emergence as a staple crop in northern China. The aim of this study is to evaluate the implications of the spread and adoption of these crops in ancient China. Detailed analysis of human bone collagen δ13C values reveals an almost concurrent shift from a C4-based to a mixed C3/ C4– based subsistence economy across all regions at around 4500–4000 BP. This coincided with a global climatic event, Holocene Event 3 at 4200 BP, suggesting that the sudden change in subsistence economy across northern and northwestern China was likely related to climate change. Moreover, the substantially increased prevalence of dental caries from pre–to post–4000 BP indicates an increase in the consumption of cariogenic cereals during the later period. The results from this study have significant implications for understanding how the adoption of a staple crop can be indicative of large-scale environmental and socio-political changes in a region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of regional trends in the rural-urban fertility gradient helps us to understand the pace of completion of the fertility transition and the geography of urban growth in the global South. We question whether the hypothesized inverted U-shaped evolution in rural excess fertility is confirmed in four developing regions, and investigate the underlying fertility dynamics by place of residence. Using multiple surveys for 60 developing countries, we analyze long-term rural and urban trends in cohort fertility. The regional comparison is controlled for the international heterogeneity in the stages attained in the fertility transition and the context of urbanization. We found a clearly inverted U-shaped trend in the rural-urban fertility gradient in Latin America, the Middle East and Northern Africa. In Asia, rural excess fertility remained limited. In sub-Saharan Africa it increased monotonically until the most recent cohorts. These differences stem from variations in the urban-to-rural diffusion of the onset of fertility transition and, in sub-Saharan Africa, from a slower pace of decline in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reasons and processes that led hunter-gatherers to transition into a sedentary and agricultural way of life are a fundamental unresolved question of human history. Here we present results of excavations of two single-occupation early Neolithic sites (dated to 7.9 and 7.4 ka) and two high-resolution archaeological surveys in northeast China, which capture the earliest stages of sedentism and millet cultivation in the second oldest center of domestication in the Old World. The transition to sedentism coincided with a significant transition to wetter conditions in north China, at 8.1–7.9 ka. We suggest that these wetter conditions were an empirical precondition that facilitated the complex transitional process to sedentism and eventually millet domestication in north China. Interestingly, sedentism and plant domestication followed different trajectories. The sedentary way of life and cultural norms evolved rapidly, within a few hundred years, we find complex sedentary villages inhabiting the landscape. However, the process of plant domestication, progressed slowly over several millennia. Our earliest evidence for the beginning of the domestication process appear in the context of an already complex sedentary village (late Xinglongwa culture), a half millennia after the onset of cultivation, and even in this phase domesticated plants and animals were rare, suggesting that the transition to domesticated (sensu stricto) plants in affluent areas might have not played a substantial role in the transition to sedentary societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long working hours and a lack of sleep have been suggested to negatively affect the safety of workers. Here, we examined the association between long working hours/sleep-related problems and near-misses/injuries in industrial settings using a nationally representative sample of workers in Japan. Based on the composition ratio of workers by industry, sex, and age in Japan, data from a web-based cross-sectional survey for 18,682 participant full-time workers (7,098 female and 11,584 male; mean age, 43.7 [standard deviation 11.1] years) were analyzed. Nearly 30% and 5% of participants reported any types of near-misses during the past six months and injuries during the past year, respectively. For all types of near-misses and some types of injuries, a significant difference in frequency distribution was observed by industry. After adjustment for demographic, job-, and life-related variables, participants who worked long hours (i.e., more than 51 hours per week) were more likely to report job-related near-misses/injuries than those who worked 35–40 hours per week. The presence of sleep-related problems was also significantly related to near-misses and injuries. However, while sleep-related problems were significantly associated with near-misses/injuries in all industries, the association between long working hours and near-misses/injuries differed by industry. Odds ratios for near-misses/injuries were strongly significant in the “transport/postal services” industry for those who worked more than 51 hours per week compared to those who worked 35–40 hours per week. Comprehensive protective measures for workers, including (1) reducing total hours of service/job-related fatigue, (2) maintaining sufficient sleep hours/good sleep, and (3) increasing awareness about the impact of overwork/long working hours and sleep-related problems on workers’ safety among employers, workers, clients/customers, and the general public might be effective for preventing near-misses and injuries in industrial settings among workers, especially those who work long hours in the “transport/postal services” industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A common means of vaccination coverage measurement is the administrative method, done by dividing the aggregated number of doses administered over a set period (numerator) by the target population (denominator). To assess the quality of national target populations, we defined nine potential denominator data inconsistencies or flags that would warrant further exploration and examination of data reported by Member States to the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF between 2000 and 2016. Methods and findings: We used the denominator reported to calculate national coverage for BCG, a tuberculosis vaccine, and for the third dose of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis-containing (DTP3) vaccines, usually live births (LB) and surviving infants (SI), respectively. Out of 2,565 possible reporting events (data points for countries using administrative coverage with the vaccine in the schedule and year) for BCG and 2,939 possible reporting events for DTP3, 194 and 274 reporting events were missing, respectively. Reported coverage exceeding 100% was seen in 11% of all reporting events for BCG and in 6% for DTP3. Of all year-to-year percent differences in reported denominators, 12% and 11% exceeded 10% for reported LB and SI, respectively. The implied infant mortality rate, based on the country’s reported LB and SI, would be negative in 9% of all reporting events i.e., the country reported more SI than LB for the same year. Overall, reported LB and SI tended to be lower than the UN Population Division 2017 estimates, which would lead to overestimation of coverage, but this difference seems to be decreasing over time. Other inconsistencies were identified using the nine proposed criteria. Conclusions: Applying a set of criteria to assess reported target populations used to estimate administrative vaccination coverage can flag potential quality issues related to the national denominators and may be useful to help monitor ongoing efforts to improve the quality of vaccination coverage estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although most Indians live in rural settings, data on cardiovascular disease risk factors in these groups are limited. We describe the association between socioeconomic position and cardiovascular disease risk factors in a large rural population in north India. Methods: We performed representative, community-based sampling from 2013 to 2014 of Solan district in Himachal Pradesh. We used education, occupation, household income, and household assets as indicators of socioeconomic position. We used tobacco use, alcohol use, low physical activity, obesity, hypertension, and diabetes as risk factors for cardiovascular disease. We performed hierarchical multivariable logistic regression, adjusting for age, sex and clustering of the health sub-centers, to evaluate the cross-sectional association of socioeconomic position indicators and cardiovascular disease risk factors. Results: Among 38,457 participants, mean (SD) age was 42.7 (15.9) years, and 57% were women. The odds of tobacco use was lowest in participants with graduate school and above education (adjusted OR 0.11, 95% CI 0.09, 0.13), household income >15,000 INR (adjusted OR 0.35, 95% CI 0.29, 0.43), and highest quartile of assets (adjusted OR 0.28, 95% CI 0.24, 0.34) compared with other groups but not occupation (skilled worker adjusted OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.74, 1.16). Alcohol use was lower among individuals in the higher quartile of income (adjusted OR 0.75, 95% CI 0.64, 0.88) and assets (adjusted OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.59, 0.82). The odds of obesity was highest in participants with graduate school and above education (adjusted OR 2.33, 95% CI 1.85, 2.94), household income > 15,000 Indian rupees (adjusted OR 1.89, 95% CI 1.63, 2.19), and highest quartile of household assets (adjusted OR 2.87, 95% CI 2.39, 3.45). The odds of prevalent hypertension and diabetes were also generally higher among individuals with higher socioeconomic position. Conclusions: Individuals with lower socioeconomic position in Himachal Pradesh were more likely to have abnormal behavioral risk factors, and individuals with higher socioeconomic position were more likely to have abnormal clinical risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Numerous studies have demonstrated that different weight change patterns from adolescence to adulthood may exert different effects on opportunities from which individuals subsequently benefit. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the association of weight change patterns from late adolescence to young adulthood with monthly wage in young adulthood for both genders in Taiwan. Methods: A nationally representative retrospective panel of 3730 young people (1707 men and 2023 women) from the Taiwan Educational Panel Survey (2001–2014) was included. Individuals were divided into four weight-change-pattern categories based on changes in their body mass index at two time points that were 7 years apart, between late adolescence (aged 18–19 years) and young adulthood (aged 25–26 years). These categories were (1) no obesity, (2) obesity reversal, (3) developing obesity, and (4) persistent obesity. Cross-classified, hierarchical linear regression modeling analysis was performed to explore the association of weight change patterns with monthly wage in young adulthood, after adjustment for both individual- and contextual-level variables. Results: Of the weight-change-pattern categories for both genders, individuals with persistent obesity had the lowest monthly wage. For women, the mean monthly wage decreased progressively for the categories of no obesity, obesity reversal, developing obesity, and persistent obesity (test for difference, P = 0.016; test for trend, P = 0.026). Women with persistent obesity earned 20% less per month than did those who were never obese (P = 0.024), after controlling for individual and contextual factors. For men, no association was found between weight change patterns and monthly wage. Conclusion: Persistent obesity from late adolescence to young adulthood is associated with low monthly wage in young adulthood in women but not in men. These findings highlight the urgency of addressing persistent obesity early in life, especially for women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bitcoin market becomes the focus of the economic market since its birth, and it has attracted wide attention from both academia and industry. Due to the absence of regulations in the Bitcoin market, it may be easier to bring some kinds of illegal behaviors. Thus, it raises an interesting question: Is there abnormity or illegal behavior in Bitcoin platforms? To answer this question, we investigate the abnormity in five leading Bitcoin platforms. By analyzing the financial index, i.e. the normalized logarithmic price return, we find that the properties of price return in bitFlyer are completely different from others. To find the possible reasons, we find that the abnormal ask price and bid price appear simultaneously in bitFlyer, which may be potentially linked to either price manipulation or money laundering. It verifies our conjecture that there may be abnormity or price manipulation in Bitcoin platforms. Furthermore, our findings in price return could also provide an innovative and effective method to detect the abnormity in Bitcoin platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The feeding ecology of gray wolves has been investigated extensively worldwide. Despite previous studies on food habits of wolves in Asia and Iran, none has focused on the diet of the species in a scenario of depleted of wild prey and with recent records of attacks on humans. Here, we combined telemetry methods and scat analysis to study the diet of wolves in areas of Hamadan province, Iran, where medium to large wild prey is almost absent. Between October 2015 and March 2017, we studied the feeding behavior (by identifying feeding sites through clusters of GPS locations) of three wolves fitted with GPS collars, belonging to different wolf packs. We also collected and analyzed 110 wolf scats during the same period within the same areas. Overall, we investigated 850 clusters of GPS locations in the field, and identified 312 feeding sites. Most feeding clusters were linked to dumpsites and poultry farms around villages. We found 142 and 170 events of predatory (kill sites) and scavenging behavior, respectively. Prey composition based on kill sites was comprised of 74.6% livestock, 19.7% lagomorphs, 3.5% dogs, 1.4% red fox, and 0.7% golden jackal. Similarly, prey composition based on scavenging clusters was comprised of 79.9% livestock, 10.6% red fox, and 9.4% golden jackal. Scat analysis, however, indicated that livestock (34.3%), garbage (23.7%), poultry (16.0%), and European hare (15.4%) were the most frequent food items. We discuss the role of anthropogenic food sources in a context where agonistic wolf-human encounters occur recurrently, and suggest management guidelines regarding illegal dumping of animal carcasses and garbage dumpsites, in order to minimize wolf-human negative interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anemia is a condition in which the number of red blood cells is not sufficient to meet the physiological need of the body. Women of reproductive age and pregnant women are at a high risk of anemia, which in turn may contribute to maternal morbidity and mortality. We aimed to describe the prevalence of anemia and the factors associated with the risk of developing anemia in women of reproductive age in Nepal. Additionally, we examined the association of women’s decision-making autonomy regarding healthcare and experience of intimate partner violence (IPV) with anemia. Data from the 2016 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) were used in this study. The data were adjusted for sampling weight, stratification, and cluster sampling design. A battery-operated portable HemoCue was used to measure hemoglobin and detect anemia. Using complex sample logistic regression, the association between dependent and independent variables were examined; crude and adjusted odds ratio were reported. The mean (± SD) hemoglobin concentration was 12.13 g/dL (± 1.48). Overall, about 41% (95% CI 38.6–43.0%) of women aged 15–49 years were anemic. Women in households with wells as the source of drinking water (aOR 1.93; 95% CI 1.58–2.37) were significantly associated with an increased risk of developing anemia. While women who were currently using hormonal contraceptives (aOR 0.63, 95% CI 0.52–0.76) were significantly less likely to be anemic. After adjusting for background characteristics among women who were married at the time of the survey, decision-making autonomy regarding healthcare, and experience of IPV did not have a significant association with anemia. The high prevalence of anemia suggests the need for substantial improvement in the nutritional status of women. The increased disease burden compared with the past survey highlights the needs to reconsider the existing nutritional policy in Nepal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Network Scale Up (NSU) is a promising tool for size estimation of sensitive issues. In this study we investigated the important methodological considerations to employ this method for estimating behaviors, such as abortion, which happens in a particular age-gender group. Methods: We recruited 1250 males and 1250 females aged 18 to 50. Abortion rate was calculated through direct question and NSU methodology. The NSU was applied on three sub-samples (male, female and aggregate). Integrating replies to 25 reference groups, we estimated the network size (C) of respondents and its age-gender structure. To calculate the part of network that is subject to abortion, we compared two approaches: proportional and data based. The Visibility Factor (VF) was calculated through 222 females who had abortion. Direct estimate was considered as gold standard. Results: Using C’s derived from proportional method, the Relative Bias (RB) in the male and female samples was 33% and 84%. Applying the data-based C’s, the RB in the gender-specific and aggregate samples was 5% and 2%. Conclusion: The proportional method overestimates the prevalence. The data-based method to calculate the C is superior. The determination of the age-sex distribution of the network and the specific VF is essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Grasping the human cost of war requires comprehensive evaluation of multiple dimensions of conflict. While the number of civilian casualties is a frequently used indicator to evaluate intensity of violence in conflict, the inclusion of other indicators may provide a more complete understanding of how war impacts people and their communities. The Syrian conflict has been specifically marked by attacks against healthcare facilities, and the advancement of technology has provided an avenue for remote data analysis of conflict trends. This study aims to determine the feasibility of using publicly available, online data of attacks on healthcare facilities to better describe population-level violence in the Syrian Civil War. Methods: This study utilized publicly available datasets from the Violations Documentation Center (VDC) and Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) to compare trends in attacks on healthcare facilities and civilian casualties from March 2011 to November 2017 in the Syrian Civil War. We used descriptive statistics, bivariate tests and a multivariable hypothesis testing model to measure the association between the two indicators while adjusting for confounding variables. Results: We examined for associations between attacks on healthcare facilities and overall civilian casualties. In the adjusted regression model, each attack on a healthcare facility in the Syrian conflict corresponded to an estimated 260 reported civilian casualties in the same month (95% CI: 227 to 294). This model adjusted for population displacement (using number of registered refugees as a proxy). The May 2014 interaction term, used a transition point of early/late war based on political events during that time, illustrated that each healthcare facility attack after May 2014 corresponded to a statistically significant decrease of 228 civilian deaths. This suggests that although attacks on healthcare facilities continued to contribute to overall civilian deaths, the scale that this was happening was lower after May 2014. Conclusion: In the Syrian Civil War, our findings suggest that the inclusion of other humanitarian indicators, such as attacks on hospitals, may add granularity to traditional indicators of violence (e.g. such as civilian casualties) to develop a more nuanced understanding of the warring tactics used and violence against civilians in the Syrian conflict. This exploratory case study represents a novel approach to utilizing open-source data along with statistical analysis to interpret violence against civilians. Future research could benefit from analyzing attacks on healthcare facilities and other civilian infrastructure concurrently with civilian casualty data for further data-driven utilization of open-source data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the efforts of community health workers to increase access to healthcare among ethnic minority groups in low- and -middle income countries, members of ethnic minorities are less likely than women from other ethnic groups to use maternal and child healthcare services. However, much less is known about the factors that limit access of ethnic minorities to healthcare services, including the services of community health workers in Nepal, who are known as Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs). To address this issue, we conducted a qualitative study to explore perceived barriers to accessing maternal and child healthcare services among ethnic minority groups in two different geographical locations (the hill and Terai regions- flatland bordering south India) with varying degrees of access to local healthcare centres. Between April 2014 and September 2014, semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty FCHVs, 26 women service users and 11 paid local health workers. In addition, 15 FCHVs participated in four focus group discussions. A thematic analysis of the data identified five major themes underlying barriers to accessing available maternal and child healthcare services by ethnic minority groups such as Dalits, Madhesi, Muslim, Chepang and Tamang. These themes include: a) lack of knowledge among service users; b) lack of trust in volunteers; c) traditional beliefs and healthcare practices; d) low decision-making power of women; and e) perceived indignities experienced when using health centres. We conclude that community health programmes should focus on increasing awareness of healthcare services among ethnic minority groups, and the programmes should involve family members (husband and mothers-in-law) and traditional health practitioners. Both the FCHVs and local healthcare providers should be trained to communicate effectively in order to deliver respectful care among ethnic minorities if we want to achieve universal healthcare coverage for maternal and child health in low- and -middle income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurately predicting reference evapotranspiration (ET0) with limited climatic data is crucial for irrigation scheduling design and agricultural water management. This study evaluated eight machine learning models in four categories, i.e. neuron-based (MLP, GRNN and ANFIS), kernel-based (SVM, KNEA), tree-based (M5Tree, XGBoost) and curve-based (MARS) models, for predicting daily ET0 with maximum/maximum temperature and precipitation data during 2001–2015 from 14 stations in various climatic regions of China, i.e., arid desert of northwest China (NWC), semi-arid steppe of Inner Mongolia (IM), Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), (semi-)humid cold-temperate northeast China (NEC), semi-humid warm-temperate north China (NC), humid subtropical central China (CC) and humid tropical south China (SC). The results showed machine learning models using only temperature data obtained satisfactory daily ET0 estimates (on average R2 = 0.829, RMSE = 0.718 mm day−1, NRMSE = 0.250 and MAE = 0.508 mm day−1). The prediction accuracy was improved by 7.6% across China when information of precipitation was further considered, particularly in (sub)tropical humid regions (by 9.7% in CC and 12.4% in SC). The kernel-based SVM, KNEA and curve-based MARS models generally outperformed the others in terms of prediction accuracy, with the best performance by KNEA in NWC and IM, by SVM in QTP, CC and SC, and very similar performance by them in NEC and NC. SVM (1.9%), MLP (2.0%), MARS (2.6%) and KNEA (6.4%) showed relatively small average increases in RMSE during testing compared with training RMSE. SVM is highly recommended for predicting daily ET0 across China in light of best accuracy and stability, while KNEA and MARS are also promising powerful models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Donor funding for HIV/AIDS services is declining in Cambodia, and domestic resources need to be mobilized to sustain and expand these services. However, the cost of delivering HIV/AIDS services is not well studied in Cambodia. This study aims to assess the costs of delivering HIV/AIDS services, identify the major components of costs, and sources of funding. Methods: Four of the six highest HIV burden provinces were selected at random for this study. Within each province, four health centers and two hospitals were selected for detailed data collection. A mix of top-down and bottom-up methods were used to assess the costs for HIV testing and antiretroviral therapy (ART) from the provider perspective. We assessed the differences in the quantity and prices of inputs between health facilities of the same type to identify cost-drivers. Results: The average cost per visit for HIV testing was $8.92 at health centers and $14.03 at referral hospitals. Differences in the number of visits per staff were the primary determinant of differences in the cost per visit. First-line ART costed about $250 per patient per year, and the number of patients per staff was an important cost driver. Second-line ART costed from $500 to $716 per patient per year, on average, across the types of facilities, with the quantity and mix of second-line antiretroviral drugs being an important cost driver. Inpatient care at referral and provincial hospitals in total represented less than 2 percent of costs of outpatient ART. Discussion: Costs are similar to neighboring countries, but over 50% of the costs of ART are financed by donors. Cambodia now is scaling up social health insurance coverage; the data from this study could serve as one input when setting reimbursement rates for HIV/AIDS services to help ensure that providers are adequately reimbursed for their services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adaptability of our species, as revealed by the geographic routes and palaeoenvironmental contexts of human dispersal beyond Africa, is a prominent topic in archaeology and palaeoanthropology. Northern and Central Asia have largely been neglected as it has been assumed that the deserts and mountain ranges of these regions acted as ‘barriers’, forcing human populations to arc north into temperate and arctic Siberia. Here, we test this proposition by constructing Least Cost Path models of human dispersal under glacial and interstadial conditions between prominent archaeological sites in Central and East Asia. Incorporating information from palaeoclimatic, palaeolake, and archaeological data, we demonstrate that regions such as the Gobi Desert and the Altai Mountain chains could have periodically acted as corridors and routes for human dispersals and framing biological interactions between hominin populations. Review of the archaeological datasets in these regions indicates the necessity of wide-scale archaeological survey and excavations in many poorly documented parts of Eurasia. We argue that such work is likely to highlight the ‘northern routes’ of human dispersal as variable, yet crucial, foci for understanding the extreme adaptive plasticity characteristic of the emergence of Homo sapiens as a global species, as well as the cultural and biological hybridization of the diverse hominin species present in Asia during the Late Pleistocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study investigated how the essential elements of informed consent are realised during the consent process and examined the challenges in obtaining genuine informed consent in Korea. Methods: Through purposive sampling, we recruited 21 subjects from those participating in anticancer drug research since 2013. We undertook 1:1 in-depth interviews and analysed the data by framework analysis. Results: Themes raised throughout the interviews were categorised into ‘disclosure’ and ‘understanding’ of clinical information and ‘decision’. Provider-centred information, both verbal and written, was delivered to each participant. There were few tools that the research staff might evaluate study participants’ level of understanding of the provided information during the clinical trial. Although participants did not understand basic clinical trial concepts as much as desired, they may not seek to solve difficulties through communication with trial researchers. Doubts were raised about whether participants had sufficient capacity and free will to provide informed consent. Conclusion: There is a concern that informed consent can fall short of genuine in Korea. To ensure informed consent meets the international standard, greater efforts should be made to establish an explicit standard operational protocol for obtaining informed consent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we designed a delayed payment mechanism in laboratory second price auctions (SPAs), under which subjects received a cash endowment two weeks after the experiment day and had to use their own money to pay the experimental losses (if any) on the experiment day. We compared the effect of delayed payment on overbidding in the induced value SPAs with the conventional “on-the-spot” payment mechanism where the subjects received an endowment on the experiment day, and the prepaid mechanism where the subjects received the endowment two weeks before the experiment day. Each auction was repeated for 20 rounds to provide sufficient learning opportunities to the bidders. Our results showed that bids converged to the corresponding values over auction rounds and overbidding was reduced by previous losses, consistently with the adaptive learning theory. Moreover, overbidding seems to depend significantly on bidders’ cash holding, and the magnitude of the payment treatment effects depends crucially on liquidity constraints. In the presence of liquidity constraints, both delayed and prepaid payment mechanisms reduced overbidding, while in the absence of liquidity constraints, only the delayed endowment mechanism reduced overbidding. Furthermore, when controlling the degree of liquidity constraints, subjects with higher GPAs were less likely to overbid and the delayed endowment mechanism significantly reduced overbidding compared to other payment mechanisms. These results suggest that overbidding in SPAs might be caused by bounded rationality and could be reduced by adaptive learning especially when overbidding becomes “truly” costly to subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Only a few, large population-based studies, have reported on whiplash-associated disorder (WAD). However, none of them have investigated the influence of crash severity on WAD outcome. In the present study, we aimed to determine whether crash severity predicts outcomes among patients with no-fault government insurance for acute WAD. Methods: We utilized data from a compulsory, no-fault government automobile liability insurance agency in Japan. Individuals involved in a car accident between April 2001 and June 2015 with residual disabilities reported at the end of the treatment between October 2014 and September 2015 were included. Crash severity was assessed based on property damage costs, size of the other vehicle (large car, medium car, small car, or two-wheeled vehicles), and collision types (rear-end collision, contact with vehicle moving in the same direction, or in the opposite direction). Outcomes included the time to claim closure and the number of treatment visits. Results: We analyzed data for a total of 52,251 individuals (28,571 male and 23,680 female) with a median age of 44 years (range: 2–95 years). The median time to claim closure was 220 days (range: 1–4,938 days), and the median number of treatment visits was 102 (range: 1–2,492). There was no significant association between outcomes and property damage costs or size of the other vehicle. Collision types exhibited no consistent association with outcomes. However, older age and affected body parts, in addition to the neck, were independent risk factors for delayed claim closure and a large number of visits, although, all odds ratios were low (often less than 2.0). Conclusions: There was no obvious association of outcomes with property damage costs, size of the other vehicle, or collision types in acute WAD patients. Further studies should investigate the influence of psychological factors, compensation systems, and cultural conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objective: Anorexia nervosa (AN) is one of the most difficult-to-treat psychiatric disorders. AN is associated with individual vulnerability, societal and family factors. There has been limited research in Asia regarding the patients or their families’ perceptions on its treatment. This study explored the perceived treatment outcomes among Chinese families having adolescents with AN. Methods: Qualitative interviews were conducted on parents of adolescents with AN recruited through an eating disorder association in Hong Kong to understand their views and experiences regarding the help-seeking and treatment process. Results: The parents expressed dissatisfaction towards help-seeking and treatment outcomes, including relationships with health professionals, hospitalization, health professionals’ knowledge of AN, understanding of the treatment model and parents’ role, amount of psychological support, and coordination among health professionals. The parents were unclear about the treatment plan as they received little explanation from the health professionals. The parents perceived that the AN treatment only focused on weight restoration with limited psychological support. Home diet monitoring was seen as a harsh task which worsened the relationship with their children. The parents often needed to take up the coordinator role and search around for different health professionals and integrate their advices by themselves. Conclusions: The study shows that limited psychoeducation, communication and coordination in the treatment for AN are major problems in a Chinese context. Open communication between the health professionals and the parents about the expected treatment outcomes and limitations is needed to enhance their mutual trust. Besides, treatment should emphasize not only family involvement but also empower them to fight against AN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a serious pubic health concern and known to have the adverse effects on mother’s perinatal wellbeing; and child’s physical and cognitive development. There were limited literatures on PPD in Bangladesh, especially in urban slum context. The aim of this study was to assess the burden and risk factors of PPD among the urban slum women. A cross-sectional study was conducted between November-December 2017 in three urban slums on 376 women within first 12 months of postpartum. A validated Bangla version of Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale was used to measure the depression status. Respondent’s socio-economic characteristics and other risk factors were collected with structured validated questionaire by trained interviewers. Unadjusted Prevalence Ratio (PR) and Adjusted Prevalence Ratio (APR) were estimated with Generalized Linear Model (GLM) and Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) respectively to identify the risk factors of PPD. The prevalence of PPD was 39.4% within first 12 months following the child birth. Job involvement after child delivery (APR = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.1, 3.3), job loss due to pregnancy (APR = 1.5, 95% CI = 1.0, 2.1), history of miscarriage or still birth or child death (APR = 1.4, 95% CI = 1.0, 2.0), unintended pregnancy (APR = 1.8, 95% CI = 1.3, 2.5), management of delivery cost by borrowing, selling or mortgaging assets (APR = 1.3, 95% CI = 0.9, 1.9), depressive symptom during pregnancy (APR = 2.5, 95% CI = 1.7, 3.8) and intimate partner violence (APR = 2.0, 95% CI = 1.2, 3.3), were identified as risk factors. PPD was not associated with poverty, mother in law and any child related factors. The burden of postpartum depression was high in the urban slum of Bangladesh. Maternal mental health services should be integrated with existing maternal health services. Research is required for the innovation of effective, low cost and culturally appropriate PPD case management and preventive intervention in urban slum of Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Disclosure of HIV status is a critical gateway to HIV prevention. Despite many studies on this topic, there is a gap in knowledge regarding HIV status disclosure and risky sexual behavior in HIV-infected female migrant workers. The current study addressed this research gap, and focused on HIV-infected Shan female migrant workers in Northern Thailand. Methods: This study conducted in-depth interviews with 18 HIV-infected Shan female migrants (aged between 23–54 years old) and 29 healthcare workers in district hospitals in Chiang Mai. Content analysis was employed to identify particular themes related to HIV status disclosure, sexual risk behavior, and ART adherence. Results: We found that non-disclosure to husbands/partners was mostly related to fear of marital conflict and of losing social and financial support. Non-disclosure prevented Shan female migrant workers from negotiating condom use with their partners. Reasons for not disclosing to friends, family and other community members were mostly related to feared rejection and discrimination due to HIV-related stigma. Accounts of condomless sex in the context of HIV status disclosure suggest that gender norms and male dominance over women influenced decision-making for safe sex. Lastly, some female migrant workers perceived low risk of HIV transmission with good adherence to the ART. Conclusions: This study highlighted the complex challenges of HIV status disclosure among HIV-positive Shan female migrant workers and the link between disclosure/non-disclosure and condom use. There is a pressing need to create realistic disclosure mechanisms that take into account the socio-cultural barriers to disclosure including marital conflicts, stigma, and gender norms. Messages to encourage condom use should be delivered carefully so that knowledge of the HIV transmission reduction qualities of good ART adherence does not serve as a barrier to condom use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The iDSI reference case, originally published in 2014, aims to improve the quality and comparability of cost-effectiveness analyses (CEA). This study assesses whether the development of the guideline is associated with an improvement in methodological and reporting practices for CEAs using disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs). Methods: We analyzed the Tufts Medical Center Global Health CEA Registry to identify cost-per-DALY averted studies published from 2011 to 2017. Among each of 11 principles in the iDSI reference case, we translated all methodological specifications and reporting standards into a series of binary questions (satisfied or not satisfied) and awarded articles one point for each item satisfied. We then calculated methodological and reporting adherence scores separately as a percentage of total possible points, measured as normalized adherence score (0% = no adherence; 100% = full adherence). Using the year 2014 as the dissemination period, we conducted a pre-post analysis. We also conducted sensitivity analyses using: 1) optional criteria in scoring, 2) alternate dissemination period (2014–2015), and 3) alternative comparator classification. Results: Articles averaged 60% adherence to methodological specifications and 74% adherence to reporting standards. While methodological adherence scores did not significantly improve (59% pre-2014 vs. 60% post-2014, p = 0.53), reporting adherence scores increased slightly over time (72% pre-2014 vs. 75% post-2014, p<0.01). Overall, reporting adherence scores exceeded methodological adherence scores (74% vs. 60%, p<0.001). Articles seldom addressed budget impact (9% reporting, 10% methodological) or equity (7% reporting, 7% methodological). Conclusions: The iDSI reference case has substantial potential to serve as a useful resource for researchers and policy-makers in global health settings, but greater effort to promote adherence and awareness is needed to achieve its potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of environmental change on internal migration has received wide attention in recent years. Mass internal migration has been a significant economic and social phenomenon in China, and soil erosion is a major environmental problem that impacts sustainable socioeconomic development. This study aims to identify the impact of soil erosion on internal migration in China at the county level based on gravity model by analyzing related data, such as the sixth national population census data and the soil and water conservation survey data. The results of spatial overlay could not identify an obvious relationship between soil erosion and net outmigration in China. The traditional gravity model of migration is modified to analyze the impact of soil erosion on net outmigration while other variables are controlled. The results indicate that only serious soil erosion increases the possibility of outmigration and that the impact is considerably higher in agricultural counties than in non-agricultural counties. In general, the impact of soil erosion on internal migration is far less than the impact of socioeconomic factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Safety climate, which provides a snapshot of safety culture, is rarely measured in Indonesian healthcare organisations because there are no validated surveys that can be administered in its native language, Bahasa Indonesia. The objectives of this study were to translate and linguistically adapt the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire into Bahasa Indonesia, and investigate the internal construct validity and reliability of the translated survey. Methods: The Safety Attitudes Questionnaire was translated into Indonesian language through forward and backward translation. The internal construct validity and reliability of the translated survey was assessed using Rasch analysis which examines overall model fit, unidimensionality, response format, targeting, internal consistency reliability and item bias. Results: A total of 279 nurses (response rate 82%) completed the Indonesian version of the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire. Most respondents were Division 2 registered nurses (n = 209; 75%), female (n = 174; 62%), and aged less than 30 years (n = 187; 67%). All six domains of the Indonesian version of the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire demonstrated unidimensionality (t-test less than 0.05 threshold value). However, suboptimal targeting (ceiling effect) was observed in all domains, and had at least one misfitting item (item fit residual beyond ±2.5) Item bias was also evident in most domains. Conclusion: This study has translated and validated an Indonesian version of the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire for the first time. Whilst there was general support to sum items to obtain domain scores, further work is required to refine the response options as well as the wording and number of items in this survey to improve its overall measurement properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Increased mobile phone subscribership in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) provides novel opportunities to track population health. The objective of this study was to examine reliability of data in comparing participant responses collected using two mobile phone survey (MPS) delivery modalities, computer assisted telephone interviews (CATI) and interactive voice response (IVR) in Bangladesh (BGD) and Tanzania (TZA). Methods: Using a cross-over design, we used random digit dialing (RDD) to call randomly generated mobile phone numbers and recruit survey participants to receive either a CATI or IVR survey on non-communicable disease (NCD) risk factors, followed 7 days later by the survey mode not received during first contact; either IVR or CATI. Respondents who received the first survey were designated as first contact (FC) and those who consented to being called a second time and subsequently answered the call were designated as follow-up (FU). We used the same questionnaire for both contacts, with response options modified to suit the delivery mode. Reliability of responses was analyzed using the Cohen’s kappa statistic for percent agreement between two modes. Results: Self-reported data on demographic characteristics and NCD behavioral risk factors were collected from 482 (CATI-FC) and 653 (IVR-FC) age-eligible and consenting respondents in BGD, and from 387 (CATI-FC) and 674 (IVR-FC) respondents in TZA respectively. Survey follow-up rates were 30.7% (n = 482) for IVR-FU and 53.8% (n = 653) for CATI-FU in BGD; and 42.4% (n = 387) for IVR-FU and 49.9% (n = 674) for CATI-FU in TZA respectively. Overall, there was high consistency between delivery modalities for alcohol consumption in the past 30 days in both countries (kappa = 0.64 for CATI→IVR (BGD), kappa = 0.54 for IVR→CATI (BGD); kappa = 0.66 for CATI→IVR (TZA), kappa = 0.76 for IVR→CATI (TZA)), and current smoking (kappa = 0.68 for CATI→IVR (BGD), kappa = 0.69 for IVR→CATI (BGD); kappa = 0.39 for CATI→IVR (TZA), kappa = 0.50 for IVR→CATI (TZA)). There was moderate to substantial consistency in both countries for history of checking for hypertension and diabetes with kappa statistics ranging from 0.43 to 0.67. There was generally lower consistency in both countries for physical activity (vigorous and moderate) with kappa statistics ranging from 0.10 to 0.41, weekly fruit and vegetable with kappa ranging from 0.08 to 0.45, consumption of foods high in salt and efforts to limit salt with kappa generally below 0.3. Conclusions: The study found that when respondents are re-interviewed, the reliability of answers to most demographic and NCD variables is similar whether starting with CATI or IVR. The study underscores the need for caution when selecting questions for mobile phone surveys. Careful design can help ensure clarity of questions to minimize cognitive burden for respondents, many of whom may not have prior experience in taking automated surveys. Further research should explore possible differences and determinants of survey reliability between delivery modes and ideally compare both IVR and CATI surveys to in-person face-to-face interviews. In addition, research is needed to better understand factors that influence survey cooperation, completion, refusal and attrition rates across populations and contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Antepartum depression is a contributing factor for adverse maternal and perinatal outcome. The study aimed to assess the antepartum depressive symptoms in selected public health facilities of Nepal. Methodology: This is a mixed-method cross-sectional study that included 143 pregnant women attending the antenatal checkup in four public health facilities of Kathmandu. Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) tool with cut-off score > = 10 was used to assess the antepartum depressive symptoms. Bivariate and multivariable analysis was carried out to identify factors associated with the depressive symptoms. Further semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 pregnant women identified with the depressive symptoms. Result: Of the total 143 pregnant women, 26 (18%, CI at 95% 12.6–25.5) reported depressive symptoms. Multivariable analysis reported higher odds of antepartum depressive-symptoms with health problem, early gestational age, sex preference, and spousal alcohol intake. Thematic analysis of qualitative data further revealed participants’ apprehension on; birth outcome, a family expectation of male child, inadequate support from the family/husband and disturbed family environment. Conclusion: Notable proportion of pregnant women were reported with antepartum depressive symptoms. Women’s perception on patriarchal values for childbirth was revealed to be important factor for the depressive symptoms. The study draws an attention to a need for screening for antepartum depression into primary health care system. Strengthening ongoing efforts on gender equity could contribute the psychological well-being of pregnant women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]