scholarly journals Understanding digital drug markets through the geography of postal drug deliveries in Scotland

2021 ◽  
pp. 147737082199732
Author(s):  
Ben Matthews ◽  
Ben Collier ◽  
Susan McVie ◽  
Chris Dibben
Keyword(s):  
Drug Delivery ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Spatial Clustering ◽  
National Level ◽  
Illegal Drug ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Drug Markets ◽  
Access To Services ◽  
Bayesian Hierarchical ◽  
Postal Services

An increase in the use of postal services to deliver drugs purchased online raises concerns about widening access to drugs markets, especially in remote and rural areas that were previously protected by geographical boundaries. Yet little is known about the geographical patterning of drugs delivered through the post. Using a novel law enforcement dataset containing details of illegal drug packages intercepted by UK Border Force en route to Scotland, we examine the geographical destination of drugs purchased online and explore the area-based characteristics associated with higher rates of delivery. This article provides previously unavailable insights into the spatial patterning of digital drugs markets at sub-national level. We use descriptive statistics, Bayesian hierarchical regression models, and spatial autocorrelation to describe the relationship between area-based characteristics and expected rate of illegal drug consignments identified across Scotland. The majority of intercepted drug packages were destined for urban centres, but there was a higher than expected delivery rate to some of Scotland’s remote and rural locations. Increased rates of drug delivery within Scottish neighbourhoods was independently associated with higher levels of crime and deprivation, with Internet connectivity and with access to services, but not with higher rates of drug-related hospitalization. Analysis of spatial clustering showed that drug delivery to the most remote and rural locations was still associated with good access to services because the packages were typically delivered to addresses in larger settlements within remote locations. Overall, postal drugs delivery reflects both relatively high use in more urban, more deprived areas but also seems to open up more remote regions to drug markets, albeit with usage concentrated in larger settlements within otherwise remote areas.

scholarly journals Understanding digital drug markets through the geography of postal drug deliveries in Scotland

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Matthews ◽  
Ben Collier ◽  
Susan McVie ◽  
chris dibben
Keyword(s):  
Drug Delivery ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Spatial Clustering ◽  
Illegal Drug ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Drug Markets ◽  
Access To Services ◽  
Bayesian Hierarchical ◽  
Related Hospitalisation ◽  
Postal Services

An increase in the use of postal services to deliver drugs purchased online raises concerns about widening access to drugs markets, especially in remote and rural areas that were previously protected by geographical boundaries. Yet, little is known about the geographical patterning of drugs delivered through the post. Using a novel law enforcement dataset containing details of illegal drug packages intercepted by UK Border Force en-route to Scotland, we examine the geographical destination of drugs purchased online and explore the area-based characteristics associated with higher rates of delivery. This paper provides previously unavailable insights into the spatial patterning of digital drugs markets at sub-national level.We use descriptive statistics, Bayesian hierarchical regression models, and spatial autocorrelation to describe the relationship between area-based characteristics and expected rate of illegal drug consignments identified across Scotland.The majority of intercepted drug packages were destined for urban centres, but there was a higher than expected delivery rate to some of Scotland's remote and rural locations. Increased rates of drug delivery within Scottish neighbourhoods was associated with higher levels of crime and deprivation, internet connectivity and with access to services, but not with higher rates of drug-related hospitalisation. Analysis of spatial clustering showed that drug delivery to the most remote and rural locations was still associated with good access to services because the packages were typically delivered to addresses in larger settlements within remote locations.Overall postal drugs delivery reflects both relatively high use in more urban, more deprived areas but also seems to open up more remote regions to drug markets, albeit with usage concentrated in larger settlements within otherwise remote areas.

scholarly journals Analysing Normative Influences on the Prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting among 0–14 Years Old Girls in Senegal: A Spatial Bayesian Hierarchical Regression Approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 3822
Author(s):  
Ngianga-Bakwin Kandala ◽  
Chibuzor Christopher Nnanatu ◽  
Glory Atilola ◽  
Paul Komba ◽  
Lubanzadio Mavatikua ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Female Genital Mutilation ◽  
Deviance Information Criterion ◽  
Information Criterion ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Traditional Practice ◽  
Bayesian Hierarchical ◽  
Genital Mutilation ◽  
Female Genital ◽  
Normative Influences

Background: Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is a harmful traditional practice affecting the health and rights of women and girls. This has raised global attention on the implementation of strategies to eliminate the practice in conformity with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A recent study on the trends of FGM/C among Senegalese women (aged 15–49) which examined how individual- and community-level factors affected the practice, found significant regional variations in the practice. However, the dynamics of the practice among girls (0–14 years old) is not fully understood. This paper attempts to fill this knowledge gap by investigating normative influences in the persistence of the practice among Senegalese girls, identify and map ‘hotspots’. Methods: We do so by using a class of Bayesian hierarchical geospatial modelling approach implemented in R statistical software (R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria) using R2BayesX package. We employed Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques for full Bayesian inference, while model fit and complexity assessment utilised deviance information criterion (DIC). Results: We found that a girl’s probability of cutting was higher if her mother was cut, supported FGM/C continuation or believed that the practice was a religious obligation. In addition, living in rural areas and being born to a mother from Diola, Mandingue, Soninke or Poular ethnic group increased a girl’s likelihood of being cut. The hotspots identified included Matam, Tambacounda and Kolda regions. Conclusions: Our findings offer a clearer picture of the dynamics of FGM/C practice among Senegalese girls and prove useful in informing evidence-based intervention policies designed to achieve the abandonment of the practice in Senegal.

International Telesupervision: The Clinical Fellowship Experience

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (11) ◽  
pp. 73-78
Author(s):  
David W. Rule ◽  
Lisa N. Kelchner
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Clinical Supervision ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
The United States ◽  
Speech Language Pathology ◽  
Access To Services ◽  
East African ◽  
The World ◽  
Language Pathology ◽  
National Certification

Telepractice technology allows greater access to speech-language pathology services around the world. These technologies extend beyond evaluation and treatment and are shown to be used effectively in clinical supervision including graduate students and clinical fellows. In fact, a clinical fellow from the United States completed the entire supervised clinical fellowship (CF) year internationally at a rural East African hospital, meeting all requirements for state and national certification by employing telesupervision technology. Thus, telesupervision has the potential to be successfully implemented to address a range of needs including supervisory shortages, health disparities worldwide, and access to services in rural areas where speech-language pathology services are not readily available. The telesupervision experience, potential advantages, implications, and possible limitations are discussed. A brief guide for clinical fellows pursuing telesupervision is also provided.

scholarly journals Green and Blue Space Availability and Self-Rated Health among Seniors in China: Evidence from a National Survey

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 545
Author(s):  
Chensong Lin ◽  
Longfeng Wu
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
National Level ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Coverage Ratio ◽  
Self Rated Health ◽  
Health Promoting ◽  
Major River ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas

Many empirical studies have shown evidence of multiple health benefits provided by green and blue spaces. Despite the importance of these spaces, investigations are scarce in details for blue spaces rather than green. Moreover, most research has focused on developed regions. A limited number of studies on blue spaces can be found in China with a focus on the city level. Outcomes have been mixed due to varying research scales, methodologies, and definitions. This study relies on a national-level social survey to explore how the self-rated health (SRH) of senior individuals is associated with local green and blue space availability in urban and rural areas. Results indicate that the coverage ratio of overall green spaces and waterbodies around a resident’s home have marginal effects on SRH status in both urban and rural areas. In urban areas, living close to a park can is marginally beneficial for older people’s health. Regarding different types of blue spaces, the presence of a major river (within 0.3–0.5 km) or coastline (within 1 km and 1–5 km) in the vicinity of home negatively affects SRH among the elderly in urban areas. Close proximity to lakes and other types of waterbodies with a water surface larger than 6.25 ha did not significantly influence SRH. These findings not only evaluate general health impacts of green/blue space development on senior populations across the county but inform decision makers concerning the health-promoting qualities and features of different green/blue spaces to better accommodate an aging population in the era of urbanization.

scholarly journals Baseline risk factor prevalence among adolescents aged 15–17 years old: findings from National Non-communicable Disease Monitoring Survey (NNMS) of India

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. e044066
Author(s):  
Prashant Mathur ◽  
Vaitheeswaran Kulothungan ◽  
Sravya Leburu ◽  
Anand Krishnan ◽  
Himanshu Kumar Chaturvedi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Risk Factors ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Communicable Disease ◽  
National Level ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Overweight And Obesity ◽  
Baseline Risk ◽  
Attitudes And Practices ◽  
Non Communicable Disease

ObjectiveTo generate national estimates of key non-communicable disease (NCD) risk factors for adolescents (15–17 years) identified in the National NCD Monitoring Framework and, study the knowledge, attitudes and practices towards NCD risk behaviours among school-going adolescents.Design and settingA community-based, national, cross-sectional survey conducted during 2017–2018. The survey was coordinated by the Indian Council of Medical Research—National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research with 10 reputed implementing research institutes/organisations across India in urban and rural areas.ParticipantsA multistage sampling design was adopted covering ages between 15 and 69 years—adolescents (15–17 years) and adults (18–69 years). The sample included 12 000 households drawn from 600 primary sampling units. All available adolescents (15–17 years) from the selected households were included in the survey.Main outcome measuresKey NCD risk factors for adolescents (15–17 years)—current tobacco and alcohol use, dietary behaviours, insufficient physical activity, overweight and obesity.ResultsOverall, 1402 households and 1531 adolescents completed the survey. Prevalence of current daily use of tobacco was 3.1% (95% CI: 2.0% to 4.7%), 25.2% (95% CI: 22.2% to 28.5%) adolescents showed insufficient levels of physical activity, 6.2% (95% CI: 4.9% to 7.9%) were overweight and 1.8% (95% CI: 1.0% to 2.9%) were obese. Two-thirds reported being imparted health education on NCD risk factors in their schools/colleges.ConclusionThe survey provides baseline data on NCD-related key risk factors among 15–17 years in India. These national-level data fill information gaps for this age group and help assess India’s progress towards NCD targets set for 2025 comprehensively. Though the prevalence of select risk factors is much lower than in many developed countries, this study offers national evidence for revisiting and framing appropriate policies, strategies for prevention and control of NCDs in younger age groups.

A Bayesian adjusted plus-minus analysis for the esport Dota 2

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 325-341
Author(s):  
Nicholas Clark ◽  
Brian Macdonald ◽  
Ian Kloo
Keyword(s):  
Professional Sports ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Sports Analytics ◽  
Bayesian Hierarchical ◽  
The Past ◽  
Score Statistics ◽  
Level Statistics ◽  
Traditional Sports ◽  
Level Information ◽  
Individual Player

AbstractAnalytics and professional sports have become linked over the past several years, but little attention has been paid to the growing field of esports within the sports analytics community. We seek to apply an Adjusted Plus Minus (APM) model, an accepted analytic approach used in traditional sports like hockey and basketball, to one particular esports game: Defense of the Ancients 2 (Dota 2). As with traditional sports, we show how APM metrics developed with Bayesian hierarchical regression can be used to quantify individual player contributions to their teams and, ultimately, use this player-level information to predict game outcomes. In particular, we first provide evidence that gold can be used as a continuous proxy for wins to evaluate a team’s performance, and then use a Bayesian APM model to estimate how players contribute to their team’s gold differential. We demonstrate that this APM model outperforms models based on common team-level statistics (often referred to as “box score statistics”). Beyond the specifics of our modeling approach, this paper serves as an example of the potential utility of applying analytical methodologies from traditional sports analytics to esports.

Influence of community satisfaction with individual happiness: comparative study in semi-urban and rural areas of Tikapur, Nepal

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 22-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myung-Bae Park ◽  
Chun-Bae Kim ◽  
Chhabi Ranabhat ◽  
Chang-Soo Kim ◽  
Sei-Jin Chang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Physical Environment ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
National Level ◽  
Medical Services ◽  
Community Satisfaction ◽  
Critical Factors ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas

Happiness is a subjective indicator of overall living conditions and quality of life. Recently, community- and national-level investigations connecting happiness and community satisfaction were conducted. This study investigated the effects of community satisfaction on happiness in Nepal. A factor analysis was employed to examine 24 items that are used to measure community satisfaction, and a multiple regression analysis was conducted to investigate the effects of these factors on happiness. In semi-urban areas, sanitation showed a positive relationship with happiness. In rural areas, edu-medical services were negatively related to happiness, while agriculture was positively related. Gender and perceived health were closely associated with happiness in rural areas. Both happiness and satisfaction are subjective concepts, and are perceived differently depending on the socio-physical environment and personal needs. Sanitation, agriculture (food) and edu-medical services were critical factors that affected happiness; however, the results of this study cannot be generalized to high-income countries.

Polyculture de tilapia et Clarias en etang dans la commune de Pobè, sud-est du Benin.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kochikpa Ondodje
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Eating Habits ◽  
National Level ◽  
Wholesale Price ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Fish Farms ◽  
Technical Standards ◽  
Pipe System ◽  
The Many ◽  
Modern Breeding

Abstract The SARL "Pobè Fish Farm" located in the South-East of Benin specializes in the production and sale of tilapia and Clarias. The farm has twenty two ponds of 200 m2 (10 m × 20 m) supplied with water by a pipe system from a natural and permanent stream. The water supply is via a concrete channel which did not allow the water to be renewed once the pond is full. Work has been carried out to allow a larger inflow of water and communication between the ponds. The operation of the farm is modeled on the types of agro-fish farms existing in Asia and encountered in Vietnam in particular; it aims to put theoretical knowledge into practice and on the other hand to contribute to the development of a sector still little known in Benin, despite the many hydroagricultural potentials with which this country is endowed. The species bred at national level are rustic and adapted to the environment and whose genetic performance has not been improved. In fact, only modern breeding following very precise technical standards can allow obtaining interesting results from the point of view of agronomic yield and financial profitability. Indeed, these fish from our ponds are very popular with the populations (the average wholesale price is 1000 FCFA/kg) and are already an integral part of eating habits both in rural areas and in cities.

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