Food allergen communication in businesses feasibility trial

Background: Clear allergen communication in food business operators (FBOs) has been shown to have a positive impact on customers’ perceptions of businesses (Barnett et al., 2013). However, the precise size and nature of this effect is not known: there is a paucity of quantitative evidence in this area, particularly in the form of randomised controlled trials (RCTs). The Food Standards Agency (FSA), in collaboration with Kantar’s Behavioural Practice, conducted a feasibility trial to investigate whether a randomised cluster trial – involving the proactive communication of allergen information at the point of sale in FBOs – is feasible in the United Kingdom (UK). Objectives: The trial sought to establish: ease of recruitments of businesses into trials; customer response rates for in-store outcome surveys; fidelity of intervention delivery by FBO staff; sensitivity of outcome survey measures to change; and appropriateness of the chosen analytical approach. Method: Following a recruitment phase – in which one of fourteen multinational FBOs was successfully recruited – the execution of the feasibility trial involved a quasi-randomised matched-pairs clustered experiment. Each of the FBO’s ten participating branches underwent pair-wise matching, with similarity of branches judged according to four criteria: Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) score, average weekly footfall, number of staff and customer satisfaction rating. The allocation ratio for this trial was 1:1: one branch in each pair was assigned to the treatment group by a representative from the FBO, while the other continued to operate in accordance with their standard operating procedure. As a business-based feasibility trial, customers at participating branches throughout the fieldwork period were automatically enrolled in the trial. The trial was single-blind: customers at treatment branches were not aware that they were receiving an intervention. All customers who visited participating branches throughout the fieldwork period were asked to complete a short in-store survey on a tablet affixed in branches. This survey contained four outcome measures which operationalised customers’: perceptions of food safety in the FBO; trust in the FBO; self-reported confidence to ask for allergen information in future visits; and overall satisfaction with their visit. Results: Fieldwork was conducted from the 3 – 20 March 2020, with cessation occurring prematurely due to the closure of outlets following the proliferation of COVID-19. n=177 participants took part in the trial across the ten branches; however, response rates (which ranged between 0.1 - 0.8%) were likely also adversely affected by COVID-19. Intervention fidelity was an issue in this study: while compliance with delivery of the intervention was relatively high in treatment branches (78.9%), erroneous delivery in control branches was also common (46.2%). Survey data were analysed using random-intercept multilevel linear regression models (due to the nesting of customers within branches). Despite the trial’s modest sample size, there was some evidence to suggest that the intervention had a positive effect for those suffering from allergies/intolerances for the ‘trust’ (β = 1.288, p<0.01) and ‘satisfaction’ (β = 0.945, p<0.01) outcome variables. Due to singularity within the fitted linear models, hierarchical Bayes models were used to corroborate the size of these interactions. Conclusions: The results of this trial suggest that a fully powered clustered RCT would likely be feasible in the UK. In this case, the primary challenge in the execution of the trial was the recruitment of FBOs: despite high levels of initial interest from four chains, only one took part. However, it is likely that the proliferation of COVID-19 adversely impacted chain participation – two other FBOs withdrew during branch eligibility assessment and selection, citing COVID-19 as a barrier. COVID-19 also likely lowered the on-site survey response rate: a significant negative Pearson correlation was observed between daily survey completions and COVID-19 cases in the UK, highlighting a likely relationship between the two. Limitations: The trial was quasi-random: selection of branches, pair matching and allocation to treatment/control groups were not systematically conducted. These processes were undertaken by a representative from the FBO’s Safety and Quality Assurance team (with oversight from Kantar representatives on pair matching), as a result of the chain’s internal operational restrictions.

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Experiences and impact of international medical volunteering: a multi-country mixed methods study

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2020-041599 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. e041599 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mary McCauley ◽

Joanna Raven ◽

Nynke van den Broek

Keyword(s):

Low Income ◽

Online Survey ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Healthcare Providers ◽

International Medical ◽

Middle Income ◽

Use Of Resources ◽

The Uk ◽

Medical Volunteers ◽

The Impact

ObjectiveTo assess the experience and impact of medical volunteers who facilitated training workshops for healthcare providers in maternal and newborn emergency care in 13 countries.SettingsBangladesh, Ghana, India, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, UK and Zimbabwe.ParticipantsMedical volunteers from the UK (n=162) and from low-income and middle-income countries (LMIC) (n=138).Outcome measuresExpectations, experience, views, personal and professional impact of the experience of volunteering on medical volunteers based in the UK and in LMIC.ResultsUK-based medical volunteers (n=38) were interviewed using focus group discussions (n=12) and key informant interviews (n=26). 262 volunteers (UK-based n=124 (47.3%), and LMIC-based n=138 (52.7%)) responded to the online survey (62% response rate), covering 506 volunteering episodes. UK-based medical volunteers were motivated by altruism, and perceived volunteering as a valuable opportunity to develop their skills in leadership, teaching and communication, skills reported to be transferable to their home workplace. Medical volunteers based in the UK and in LMIC (n=244) reported increased confidence (98%, n=239); improved teamwork (95%, n=232); strengthened leadership skills (90%, n=220); and reported that volunteering had a positive impact for the host country (96%, n=234) and healthcare providers trained (99%, n=241); formed sustainable partnerships (97%, n=237); promoted multidisciplinary team working (98%, n=239); and was a good use of resources (98%, n=239). Medical volunteers based in LMIC reported higher satisfaction scores than those from the UK with regards to impact on personal and professional development.ConclusionHealthcare providers from the UK and LMIC are highly motivated to volunteer to increase local healthcare providers’ knowledge and skills in low-resource settings. Further research is necessary to understand the experiences of local partners and communities regarding how the impact of international medical volunteering can be mutually beneficial and sustainable with measurable outcomes.

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European Youth Work Policy and Young People’s Experience of Open Access Youth Work

Journal of Social Policy ◽

10.1017/s0047279421000143 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-21

Author(s):

JON ORD ◽

MARC CARLETTI ◽

DANIELE MORCIANO ◽

LASSE SIURALA ◽

CHRISTOPHE DANSAC ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Open Access ◽

Young People ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Policy Formulation ◽

Youth Work ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Policy Goals ◽

The Uk ◽

The Impact ◽

European Youth

Abstract This article examines young people’s experiences of open access youth work in settings in the UK, Finland, Estonia, Italy and France. It analyses 844 individual narratives from young people, which communicate the impact of youthwork on their lives. These accounts are then analysed in the light of the European youth work policy goals. It concludes that it is encouraging that what young people identify as the positive impact of youth work are broadly consistent with many of these goals. There are however some disparities which require attention. These include the importance young people place on the social context of youth work, such as friendship, which is largely absent in EU youth work policy; as well as the importance placed on experiential learning. The paper also highlights a tension between ‘top down’ policy formulation and the ‘youth centric’ practices of youth work. It concludes with a reminder to policy makers that for youth work to remain successful the spaces and places for young people must remain meaningful to them ‘on their terms’.

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Modeling the Impact of Climate Changes on Crop Yield: Irrigated vs. Non-Irrigated Zones in Mississippi

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13122249 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (12) ◽

pp. 2249

Author(s):

Sadia Alam Shammi ◽

Qingmin Meng

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Crop Yield ◽

Crop Yields ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Information Criterion ◽

Growing Season ◽

Maximum Temperature ◽

Linear Regression Models ◽

The Impact

Climate change and its impact on agriculture are challenging issues regarding food production and food security. Many researchers have been trying to show the direct and indirect impacts of climate change on agriculture using different methods. In this study, we used linear regression models to assess the impact of climate on crop yield spatially and temporally by managing irrigated and non-irrigated crop fields. The climate data used in this study are Tmax (maximum temperature), Tmean (mean temperature), Tmin (minimum temperature), precipitation, and soybean annual yields, at county scale for Mississippi, USA, from 1980 to 2019. We fit a series of linear models that were evaluated based on statistical measurements of adjusted R-square, Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), and Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC). According to the statistical model evaluation, the 1980–1992 model Y[Tmax,Tmin,Precipitation]92i (BIC = 120.2) for irrigated zones and the 1993–2002 model Y[Tmax,Tmean,Precipitation]02ni (BIC = 1128.9) for non-irrigated zones showed the best fit for the 10-year period of climatic impacts on crop yields. These models showed about 2 to 7% significant negative impact of Tmax increase on the crop yield for irrigated and non-irrigated regions. Besides, the models for different agricultural districts also explained the changes of Tmax, Tmean, Tmin, and precipitation in the irrigated (adjusted R-square: 13–28%) and non-irrigated zones (adjusted R-square: 8–73%). About 2–10% negative impact of Tmax was estimated across different agricultural districts, whereas about −2 to +17% impacts of precipitation were observed for different districts. The modeling of 40-year periods of the whole state of Mississippi estimated a negative impact of Tmax (about 2.7 to 8.34%) but a positive impact of Tmean (+8.9%) on crop yield during the crop growing season, for both irrigated and non-irrigated regions. Overall, we assessed that crop yields were negatively affected (about 2–8%) by the increase of Tmax during the growing season, for both irrigated and non-irrigated zones. Both positive and negative impacts on crop yields were observed for the increases of Tmean, Tmin, and precipitation, respectively, for irrigated and non-irrigated zones. This study showed the pattern and extent of Tmax, Tmean, Tmin, and precipitation and their impacts on soybean yield at local and regional scales. The methods and the models proposed in this study could be helpful to quantify the climate change impacts on crop yields by considering irrigation conditions for different regions and periods.

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Investigating the Impacts of Smoking and Exercise History on the Recovery Course among Covid-19 Patients

10.53350/pjmhs2115102977 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 (10) ◽

pp. 2977-2981

Author(s):

Merve Uca ◽

Kenan Sivrikaya ◽

Canatan Taşdemir

Keyword(s):

Recovery Time ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Personal Information ◽

Pearson Correlation ◽

Smoking History ◽

Chi Square ◽

Interview Method ◽

History Of ◽

Standard Medication ◽

Demographic Background

Aim: The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of exercise and smoking history of the COVID-19 patients on their recovery course and time. Methods: In this respect, as the data source, we observed a total of 310 patients, 176 males 134 females, who tested positive for COVID-19, had no chronic disease, and received inpatient or outpatient treatment. The patients also filled out a personal information form covering their demographic background, including smoking and exercise history. All participants received favipiravir as the standard medication, and their symptoms and the durations of these symptoms were evaluated using the focus group interview method. We analyzed the data on SPSS 17.0 utilizing Independent T-Test, one-way ANOVA, Chi-Square, and Pearson Correlation tests. Results: The results revealed significant differences between former smokers and those who never smoked and quitted smoking by recovery time (p<0.01). There were also significant differences between those doing exercises actively and those who never did or quitted exercise (p<0.01). Again, with regard to recovery time, we found significant differences between groups that quitted exercise in different periods (p<0.05) and between those with different weights (p<0.05). In addition, we reached smoking cessation time and exercise history had positive relationships with recovery time. Conclusion: Considering the results, we concluded that non-smoking and exercise had a positive impact on avoiding adverse effects of the COVID-19 disease. Keywords: Covid-19, exercise, smoking, sports, acute respiratory syndrome

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Does eating local food reduce the environmental impact of food production and enhance consumer health?

Proceedings of The Nutrition Society ◽

10.1017/s0029665110002004 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 69 (4) ◽

pp. 582-591 ◽

Cited By ~ 70

Author(s):

Gareth Edwards-Jones

Keyword(s):

Food System ◽

Local Food ◽

Local Level ◽

Qualitative Assessment ◽

Small Scale ◽

Quantitative Evidence ◽

Self Sufficiency ◽

Non Local ◽

The Uk ◽

The Impact

The concept of local food has gained traction in the media, engaged consumers and offered farmers a new marketing tool. Positive claims about the benefits of local food are probably not harmful when made by small-scale producers at the local level; however, greater concern would arise should such claims be echoed in policy circles. This review examines the evidence base supporting claims about the environmental and health benefits of local food. The results do not offer any support for claims that local food is universally superior to non-local food in terms of its impact on the climate or the health of consumers. Indeed several examples are presented that demonstrate that local food can on occasions be inferior to non-local food. The analysis also considers the impact on greenhouse gas emissions of moving the UK towards self-sufficiency. Quantitative evidence is absent on the changes in overall emissions that would occur if the UK switched to self-sufficiency. A qualitative assessment suggests the emissions per item of food would probably be greater under a scenario of self-sufficiency than under the current food system. The review does not identify any generalisable or systematic benefits to the environment or human health that arise from the consumption of local food in preference to non-local food.

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The cost of consent: why healthcare providers must be compliant with the Montgomery principles

The Bone & Joint Journal ◽

10.1302/0301-620x.102b5.bjj-2019-1759 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 102-B (5) ◽

pp. 550-555

Author(s):

Nick Birch ◽

Nick V. Todd

Keyword(s):

Positive Impact ◽

Healthcare Providers ◽

International Comparisons ◽

Point Of View ◽

Public Healthcare ◽

Health Board ◽

Malpractice Claim ◽

The Usa ◽

The Uk ◽

The Cost

The cost of clinical negligence in the UK has continued to rise despite no increase in claims numbers from 2016 to 2019. In the US, medical malpractice claim rates have fallen each year since 2001 and the payout rate has stabilized. In Germany, malpractice claim rates for spinal surgery fell yearly from 2012 to 2017, despite the number of spinal operations increasing. In Australia, public healthcare claim rates were largely static from 2008 to 2013, but private claims rose marginally. The cost of claims rose during the period. UK and Australian trends are therefore out of alignment with other international comparisons. Many of the claims in orthopaedics occur as a result of “failure to warn”, i.e. lack of adequately documented and appropriate consent. The UK and USA have similar rates (26% and 24% respectively), but in Germany the rate is 14% and in Australia only 2%. This paper considers the drivers for the increased cost of clinical negligence claims in the UK compared to the USA, Germany and Australia, from a spinal and orthopaedic point of view, with a focus on “failure to warn” and lack of compliance with the principles established in February 2015 in the Supreme Court in the case of Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board. The article provides a description of the prevailing medicolegal situation in the UK and also calculates, from publicly available data, the cost to the public purse of the failure to comply with the principles established. It shows that compliance with the Montgomery principles would have an immediate and lasting positive impact on the sums paid by NHS Resolution to settle negligence cases in a way that has already been established in the USA. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2020;102-B(5):550–555.

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Food for all? Critically evaluating the role of the Incredible Edible movement in the UK

Urban gardening and the struggle for social and spatial justice ◽

10.7228/manchester/9781526126092.003.0009 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 139-153

Author(s):

Michael Hardman ◽

Mags Adams ◽

Melissa Barker ◽

Luke Beesley

Keyword(s):

Positive Impact ◽

Economic Benefits ◽

Powerful Method ◽

The Public ◽

Social Environmental ◽

The Uk ◽

Food Movement ◽

The Town ◽

Insight Into

With the concept of Urban Agriculture (UA) growing in popularity, more cities and towns are exploring opportunities to enable the practice and transform neglected spaces into havens for produce. This chapter provides an insight into one such town, Todmorden and its Incredible Edible movement, located in the heart of England. This chapter adopts a qualitative approach to critically exploring the IET movement and to understand its impact on Todmorden. We engaged with key actors and the public in order to ascertain views towards the schemes, analysing the positives and negatives of the model. Findings revealed that the scheme has an overwhelmingly positive impact on the town, with social, environmental and economic benefits. Furthermore, it was made clear that IET is helping to create a more just food movement in Todmorden, particularly through its free for all philosophy. However, some negatives were also highlighted during the course of the research, predominately around maintenance issues and a lack of perceived inclusivity in parts. Overall, the scheme was highly valued and seen as a powerful method for growing the wider UA movement; recommendations centred on further replicating the model and helping local food to prosper in similar locations globally.

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Robust Statistical Inference in Generalized Linear Models Based on Minimum Renyi’s Pseudodistance Estimators

Entropy ◽

10.3390/e24010123 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 123

Author(s):

María Jaenada ◽

Leandro Pardo

Keyword(s):

Generalized Linear Models ◽

Influence Function ◽

Regression Models ◽

Linear Models ◽

Asymptotic Properties ◽

Significant Loss ◽

Superior Performance ◽

Test Statistics ◽

Linear Regression Models ◽

Type Test

Minimum Renyi’s pseudodistance estimators (MRPEs) enjoy good robustness properties without a significant loss of efficiency in general statistical models, and, in particular, for linear regression models (LRMs). In this line, Castilla et al. considered robust Wald-type test statistics in LRMs based on these MRPEs. In this paper, we extend the theory of MRPEs to Generalized Linear Models (GLMs) using independent and nonidentically distributed observations (INIDO). We derive asymptotic properties of the proposed estimators and analyze their influence function to asses their robustness properties. Additionally, we define robust Wald-type test statistics for testing linear hypothesis and theoretically study their asymptotic distribution, as well as their influence function. The performance of the proposed MRPEs and Wald-type test statistics are empirically examined for the Poisson Regression models through a simulation study, focusing on their robustness properties. We finally test the proposed methods in a real dataset related to the treatment of epilepsy, illustrating the superior performance of the robust MRPEs as well as Wald-type tests.

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Application of Mixed Linear Models in the Analysis of Road Surface Features

Lietuvos statistikos darbai ◽

10.15388/ljs.2015.13885 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 54 (1) ◽

pp. 101-109 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jurgita Židanavičiūtė ◽

Audrius Vaitkus

Keyword(s):

Linear Models ◽

Road Surface ◽

Linear Regression Models ◽

Mixed Linear Models ◽

Time Intervals ◽

Surface Strength ◽

The Road ◽

Unequally Spaced ◽

Units Of Analysis ◽

The Impact

The data were collected by researchers at the Road Research Institute, in a study investigating the impact of differentfactors on road surface strength. In this statistical analysis, we apply linear mixed models (LMMs) to clustered longitudinal data, inwhich the units of analysis (points in the road) are nested within clusters (sample of four different road segments), and repeatedmeasures of road strength in these different points are collected over time with unequally spaced time intervals. The data arebalanced – each cluster has the same number of units, which are measured at the same number of time points. Because of correlateddata and different clusters in which data could be correlated, linear regression models are not appropriate here, and therefore linearmixed models are applied.

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The Effect of Governance On Entrepreneurship: From All Income Economies Perspective

10.21203/rs.3.rs-853223/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Mekonnen Bogale Abegaz ◽

Kenenisa Lemi Debela ◽

Reta Megersa Hundie

Keyword(s):

Time Series Data ◽

Pearson Correlation ◽

Control Variable ◽

Political Stability ◽

Series Data ◽

Outcome Variable ◽

Net Income ◽

Linear Regression Models ◽

Governance Indicators ◽

Development Levels

Abstract The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of governance indicators on Entrepreneurship. Explanatory research design with Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression models were applied. Five-year World Bank data (2014–2018) of 126 countries from all economic development levels were used. Worldwide governance indicators considered are voice and accountability, political stability, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law, and corruption control. Gross net income was taken as a control variable. To measure entrepreneurship, the number of formally registered limited liability businesses as a percentage of the working-age population, was used. To make highly skewed time series data of dependent variable (entrepreneurship) closer to normal, logarithmic transformation was made and heteroscedasticity of residuals was checked. The finding of Pearson correlation shows that there are strong and significant correlations(r > 0.466, p < 0.01) between predictors and the outcome variable and among predictor variables. Regression analysis was computed after two highly collinear variables were dropped from the model using the VIF test. The study found that the remaining four independent variables and the control variable predict 71.5% of the variance in the outcome variable. Except for voice and accountability, all predictors have their own statistically significant influence on entrepreneurship. Thus, working on each predictor up to the standard application can bring incremental changes in new business formation and entry. The researchers believe that this study is of significant interest to policymakers, program developers, entrepreneurs, analysis, and supporters since it provides useful insight on how governance indicators influence entrepreneurship.

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