Social impact bonds: Financing grassroots sports

This paper aims to analyze the foreign experience of using social impact bonds (SIB) and formulate proposals for the application of this tool in financing projects aimed at developing mass sports and increasing physical activity on a national scale. The scientific novelty of the article is confirmed by the limited application of such a mechanism in Russia and its insufficient study. This research aims to fill this academic and applied gap. The author uses the methods of deconstruction and aspect analysis. The article analyzes in detail the foreign experience of using social impact bonds, reveals the advantages and disadvantages of this model. In the absence of SIB sports projects, the model of social impact bonds is considered through the example of a New York City-based program aimed at reducing the recidivism rate among young people. This example allowed the author to describe the interaction scheme for all participants and stakeholders and to illustrate related advantages and disadvantages. In the future, this model can be introduced into Russian practice and used as a model for launching a similar project in the field of grassroots sports. The analysis of successful projects implemented abroad allowed the author to substantiate the possibility of using social impact bonds in financing programs aimed at increasing population levels of physical activity. A system of target indicators is proposed, including such a metric as social return on investment (SROI). The author describes in detail the methodology for calculating SROI and provides examples of calculating this indicator for mass sports projects. The author concludes that the advantages of SIB prevail over the disadvantages and about the high potential of this tool. Further research in this area can be aimed at clarifying the methodology for calculating the SROI for sport interventions promoting physical activity at the population level and evaluating specific projects in the field.

Nanoplastic transport in aqueous environments: The role of chemo-electric properties and hydrodynamic forces for nanoplastic-mineral interaction.

The fate and transport characteristics of nanoplastic (NP) through different environmental systems is largely governed by physio-chemical processes and their specific interaction with environmental constituents (i.e., minerals, dissolved species, suspended particles). A hydrodynamic component present in almost all terrestrial and marine aqueous environments impact the physio-chemical processes micron-scale is largely overlooked in NP transport studies. Therefore, we tested the interaction behavior of nanosized plastic polystyrene particles of various coatings in the presence of minerals abundant in the Earth crust within a hydrodynamic continuum representing flow rates from groundwater to surface water systems. Our batch experiments show that particle-mineral adsorption is largely driven by the magnitude of opposite charge configurations, which is either produced by mineral type or specific nanoplastic surface coating. Zetapotential serves as a good predictor of adsorption between uncoated and carboxyl-coated polystyrene with minerals. It fails, however, to predict adsorption behavior between NH2 coated polystyrene and apatite or feldspars, due to the more complex and varying compositions of these minerals. Incorporating the hydrodynamic force component into the particle- mineral interaction scheme reproduces those adsorption trends at slow flowrates of 1e-04 m/d. However, increasing flow rates by a factor of 100 modifies charge-driven adsorption between minerals and plastics. This study highlights the unabating importance of hydrodynamic conditions when predicting nanoplastic transport in different subsurface environments, and has implications for nanoplastic behavior in both terrestrial and marine aqueous environments.

Do Loop Current eddies stimulate productivity in the Gulf of Mexico?

Surface chlorophyll concentrations inferred from satellite images suggest a strong influence of the mesoscale activity on biogeochemical variability within the oligotrophic regions of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). More specifically, long-living anticyclonic Loop Current eddies (LCEs) are shed episodically from the Loop Current and propagate westward. This study addresses the biogeochemical response of the LCEs to seasonal forcing and show their role in driving phytoplankton biomass distribution in the GoM. Using an eddy resolving (1/12∘) interannual regional simulation, it is shown that the LCEs foster a large biomass increase in winter in the upper ocean. It is based on the coupled physical–biogeochemical model NEMO-PISCES (Nucleus for European Modeling of the Ocean and Pelagic Interaction Scheme for Carbon and Ecosystem Studies) that yields a realistic representation of the surface chlorophyll distribution. The primary production in the LCEs is larger than the average rate in the surrounding open waters of the GoM. This behavior cannot be directly identified from surface chlorophyll distribution alone since LCEs are associated with a negative surface chlorophyll anomaly all year long. This anomalous biomass increase in the LCEs is explained by the mixed-layer response to winter convective mixing that reaches deeper and nutrient-richer waters.

Air Pollutants’ Concentrations Are Associated with Increased Number of RSV Hospitalizations in Polish Children

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) contributes significantly to pediatric hospitalizations. An association between air pollution and an increased number of RSV cases has been suggested. We sought to evaluate the short-term impact of air pollutants on RSV hospitalizations in Polish children in the period 2010–2019. Daily concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to 10 μm and 2.5 μm, respectively) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) were analyzed in general regression models (GRM) to establish their influence and full interaction scheme. Significant seasonal and annual periodicity among 53,221 hospitalizations was observed; finally, data from the 2012–2019 RSV high-risk seasons created models for seven agglomerations. The addition of PM2.5, PM10, and NO2 to the basic model for RSV seasonality explained 23% (4.9–31%, univariate model) to 31.4% (8.4–31%, multivariate model) of the variance in RSV hospitalizations. A 10 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5, PM10, and NO2 concentrations was associated with 0.134 (0.087–0.16), 0.097 (0.031–0.087), and 0.212 (0.04–0.29) average increases in hospitalizations, respectively. In the multivariate models, PM2.5, PM10, and NO2 alone, as well as PM2.5–NO2, PM2.5–PM10, and PM10–NO2 interactions, were associated with hospitalizations in some of the locations, while the metaregression showed statistically significant interactions between each of the pollutants, and between the pollutants and the year of the study. The inclusion of PM2.5, PM10, and NO2 in GRM explains a significant number of RSV hospitalizations. The pollutants act alone and interact together in a varied manner. Reducing air contamination might decrease the costs of hospital healthcare.

Cassia fistula Leaves; UHPLC-QTOF-MS/MS Based Metabolite Profiling and Molecular Docking Insights to Explore Bioactives Role Towards Inhibition of Pancreatic Lipase

The present work was aimed at investigating hydroethanolic leaf extracts of Cassia fistula for their antioxidant and pancreatic lipase (PL) enzyme inhibitory properties. The most active extract was selected to profile the phytoconstituents by UHPLC-QTOF-MS/MS technique. Among the tested extracts, the 80% hydroethanolic extract exhibited the maximum levels of total phenolic and flavonoid contents (TPC and TFC) with a contribution of 201.3 ± 2.6 mg of gallic acid equivalent per gram of extract (GAE/g extract), and 116.3 ± 2.4 mg of rutin equivalent per gram of extract (RE/g extract), respectively. The same extract also showed promising 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and PL inhibitory activity with an IC50 (half maximal inhibitory concentration) of 30.5 ± 2.8 µg/mL and 17.31 ± 1.18 μg/mL, respectively. The phytochemical profiling of 80% hydroethanolic extract confirmed the presence of 23 metabolites of immense medicinal significance. Docking studies were conducted to investigate the potential interactions of compounds identified in the study. The docking study-based binding energy data and the interaction scheme both revealed the possible role of the identified compounds towards PL inhibitor. Moreover, energies of frontier molecular orbitals (FMOs), ionization potentials (IP), electron affinities (EA) and molecular electrostatic potentials (MEP) were also explored. The findings of the current work suggest that C. fistula is a promising natural source of antioxidant and antiobesity agents, which may be exploited to add pharmacological functionalities to food.