Emerging research suggests exposure to vape stores and their proximity to schools play a role in vaping initiation among adolescents. In New Zealand, regulatory changes enacted that restrict sales of flavoured vape products to specialist vape retailers (SVRs) have led to growth in "store-within-a-store" (SWAS) SVRs in or beside convenience stores to circumvent restrictions. This paper assesses the number and type of SVR retailers, including SWAS, and their proximity to educational institutes (primary, secondary and tertiary) and marae across Auckland suburbs with different socio-economic deprivation levels. Google Maps data and tools were used to assess SVR "type" and distance from schools, marae and other SVRs in selected Auckland suburbs. One hundred and sixty SVRs were examined across 14 suburbs. The median number of SVRs per suburb was 9.5. Forty-four percent of SVRs were SWAS. SWAS density increased with socio-economic deprivation, with high-deprivation suburbs containing a median of 8.5 SWAS compared with 2.0 in low-deprivation suburbs. Half of the SVRs (56%) were located within 300m of at least one educational institute. SWAS density in Auckland increased with neighbourhood socio-economic deprivation. SWAS retailers likely contribute to greater exposure to vape retail and products among adolescents in these areas.
Diabetes disproportionately affects Black populations in Canada, yet little is known about how Black older adults navigate self-management in everyday life. Existing research often emphasizes biomedical outcomes while overlooking racism, cultural identity, and aging. This study explores how Black older adults living with prediabetes or diabetes in suburban Toronto, Ontario, understand and carry out self-management, using an intersectional lens. We conducted a qualitative study with 21 English-speaking Black immigrants 55 to 83 years of age and living with diabetes or prediabetes in suburban Ontario. Participants were recruited through Black-led community organizations, health and social agencies, and peer networks. Semistructured interviews were transcribed verbatim and reviewed for accuracy. Data were analyzed using the DEPICT model, combining inductive coding with deductive attention to intersectionality and Jones's 3 levels of racism (institutional, personally mediated, internalized). Strategies to ensure trustworthiness included field notes, investigator triangulation, and peer-researcher validation. The analysis revealed an overarching theme of racism and epistemic injustice in health care, shaping every dimension of diabetes self-management. Participants described balancing biomedical advice with cultural traditions, adapting diets, physical activity, and medications while maintaining cultural identity. Emotional and financial pressures, coupled with limited provider engagement, left many to self-educate and rely on peer support. Family members, especially women, played central roles in meal planning and monitoring, which provided support but also introduced tensions around autonomy and household decision-making. Black older adults in suburban Toronto, Ontario, manage diabetes in ways shaped by culture, family, and systemic racism. These findings challenge individualistic models of self-management and highlight the need for relational, equity-oriented, and culturally responsive care that explicitly addresses anti-Black racism and supports community-led approaches.
PM2.5 concentrations have declined under tighter controls, yet visibility in many East Asian suburbs has not improved proportionally. This discrepancy poses challenges for air quality management and policy formulation. Here, using a three-year campaign (2020-2022) integrating semi-continuous aerosol chemistry, size-resolved optics, and VOC source apportionment at a suburban receptor site in central Taiwan, we investigate a mixed urban-industrial environment influenced by regional transport conditions common to many East Asian settings. Our analysis identifies that organic matter contributed up to 52% of summer light extinction by 2022, with accumulation-mode particles (100-1000 nm) accounting for over 80% of total extinction, amplified by hygroscopic growth. Sensitivity analysis reveals that under prevailing ammonia-excess, VOC-limited conditions, daytime nitrate formation is three times more responsive to oxidant (Ox) availability than to NOx concentrations. Positive Matrix Factorization identifies industrial solvent usage (57% of total secondary organic aerosol formation potential) and traffic exhaust as dominant reactive VOC sources, providing clear targets for co-reducing atmospheric oxidation capacity and secondary aerosol formation.
ObjectiveTo investigate the distribution features of dyslipidemia within the ABO blood group system Suburbs of Shanghai, China.MethodsThis retrospective cross-sectional study analyzed 12,926 sets of blood lipid data associated with the ABO blood group from January 2018 to December 2024 at Tinglin Hospital in Suburbs of Shanghai. We presented the overall prevalence of dyslipidemia across various ABO blood groups with respect to sex and blood lipid indicators.ResultsAmong the 12,926 individuals included in the study, the overall prevalence of dyslipidemia was 53.44%. The prevalence by blood group was 55.59% in type A, 51.82% in type B, 52.49% in type O, and 54.89% in type AB. Across all blood groups, males consistently showed higher dyslipidemia rates than females, and the sex differences were significant in each ABO group (all P < 0.001).ConclusionIn this hospital-based adult population, dyslipidemia was common and crude prevalence differed modestly across ABO blood groups, with type A showing the highest and type B the lowest prevalence. Across all blood groups, prevalence in male was significantly higher than in female (all P < 0.001). After adjustment for age and sex, adjusted odds ratios (aORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) indicated higher odds of dyslipidemia for blood group A and lower odds for blood group B compared with group O. However, these comparisons are derived from a retrospective hospital-based dataset and are subject to residual confounding because key lifestyle and clinical factors (e.g., BMI, smoking, comorbidities, and medications) were not available for full adjustment; therefore, the findings should be interpreted as descriptive rather than causal.
This study aimed to develop prediction models for symptoms of poor mental health among Lebanese adults and adult Syrian refugees or migrants residing in a suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, separately. Nested cross-sectional study. Sin-El-Fil, a suburb east of Beirut, Lebanon. Lebanese and Syrian adults residing in low socio-economic status areas of Sin-El-Fil. Primary outcome was having depressive symptoms, ascertained through the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 where a total summative score of 10 or more indicated having depressive symptoms. Secondary outcome was having anxiety symptoms, ascertained through the Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 where a total summative score of 10 or more indicated having anxiety symptoms. Of 1986 participants, 1322 (66.5%) were Lebanese adults, 664 (33.5%) were Syrian refugees or migrants. Among Lebanese adults and adult Syrian refugees or migrants, 324 (25.3%) and 289 (43.9%) had depressive symptoms, respectively. Having pain that impacts usual activity, having debt, not feeling safe at home and having none or one person to count on in difficult times were common predictors of depressive and anxiety symptoms among Lebanese adults and Syrian refugees or migrants. Not having a legal residency permit was also a predictor of depressive symptoms for Syrian refugees or migrants. Prediction models developed for depressive and anxiety symptoms among both nationalities had good performance measures. The predictors of poor mental health included financial, health and social indicators for both Lebanese adults and Syrian refugees or migrants during the concurrent crisis in Lebanon. These models are most applicable in similar urban, crisis-affected and low-resource settings. Findings emphasise the need for social protection and financial support among populations with vulnerabilities.
To develop and validate the Teen Moms Child Feeding Readiness to Change Questionnaire for Sub-Saharan Africa for evaluating the transtheoretical stages of behavioral change related to infant and young child feeding. Cross-sectional study. Communities with populations with low income in rural suburban areas of Abuja, Nigeria. Ten nutrition experts and 156 teenage mothers. Nineteen items were generated on a 5-point Likert scale for responses. Two questions were eliminated after content evaluation by a panel of 10 nutrition experts and comprehensibility assessment by 6 teenage mothers. Unidimensionality and internal consistency reliability of the subscales were determined by factor loadings, Loevinger's scalability coefficient H and Molenaar Sijtsma rho coefficients. Construct validity was established via polytomous item response theory in 150 teenage mothers in rural suburbs of Abuja, Nigeria. The final questionnaire contained 11 questions in 3 subscales. All retained items had factor loadings > 0.4, Loevinger's coefficient H > 0.3, and rho coefficients > 0.6. All items displayed good discrimination (≥ 1) and difficulty parameters. Response characteristic curves indicated that the Likert option neither agree nor disagree was not frequently selected; thus, it was deleted. From scale information curves, it was observed that the contemplation, action, and maintenance subscales precisely estimated information for respondents with average ability to perform the latent construct. The precontemplation subscale contained more information for respondents with less than average abilities. The Teen Moms Child Feeding Readiness to Change Questionnaire for Sub-Saharan Africa demonstrated promising preliminary evidence of validity and reliability for assessing Transtheoretical stages of change in teenage mothers. Further validation in larger and more diverse samples is warranted.
Old Bara was a royal suburb in the metropolis of the Oyo Empire, one of the most important political entities in Africa, ca. 1600-1835. Much of what is known about this town is limited to a few written and oral accounts about its functions as a royal cemetery where the priests and priestesses of the deified kings and other dependents also resided. These limited sources suggest that as a secluded site, Old Bara depended on the palace for its provisions. Archaeological, zooarchaeological, and bioarchaeological research at Old Bara has opened the opportunity to answer new questions about Old Bara's past and to evaluate its identity as a royal site. Here, we use carbon (δ13C), nitrogen (δ15N), sulfur (δ34S), and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotope analysis coupled with zooarchaeology and Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) to investigate animal provisioning, diet, and residential mobility in Old Bara. Our data provide evidence for local management of animal resources, including the first evidence for horse breeding in the Oyo Empire. The study also challenges the historical accounts that Old Bara was home primarily to palace retirees and priests and priestesses who were required to be celibate and relied on the palace for food provisions. The cumulative evidence from the analyses indicates that the royal town was part of the empire's animal resource production and distribution network.
To date, the genus Isotopenola Potapov, Babenko, Fjellberg & Greenslade comprises only five known species. In the present paper, two new species, i.e., Isotopenolachownisp. nov. and Isotopenolahallasae sp. nov., are described from Endeavour Hills, Melbourne, Australia. Isotopenolachownisp. nov. has a markedly large and variable number of tergal sensilla. It is similar to Isotopenola loftyensis (Womersley), but can be distinguished from the latter mainly by having equal sized ocelli and less chaetae on Ant. I and tibiotarsi. Isotopenolahallasae sp. nov. has a moderate number of tergal sensilla. It is similar to I. perterrens Greenslade & Potapov, but can be distinguished from the latter mainly by having less chaetae on Ant. I, tibiotarsi, and dens. A key to all species of Isotopenola is provided.
Urban heat islands (UHIs) pose growing risks to public health, infrastructure, and resilience. While often assumed to intensify with urban growth, dynamic changes in urban expansion and vegetation greenness complicate UHI trajectories, which remain poorly understood. This study investigated the interplay of urban expansion and greenness change on UHI spatial profile across 36 Chinese megacities during 2003-2018 using multiple satellite products. We introduce a framework that classifies urban areas into four dynamic development pathways based on impervious surface area (ISA) and enhanced vegetation index (EVI) trends: urbanized-greening, urbanized-browning, urbanizing-greening (UingG), and urbanizing-browning (UingB). While most urbanized centers exhibited greening driven by targeted initiatives and urbanizing suburbs showed browning due to vegetation loss, about 30% urban areas showed the reverse pattern, revealing overlooked complexity in urban development. Urban expansion and browning strengthened UHI in suburban areas, whereas greening initiatives mitigated UHI in urban center and mitigated UHI enhancement in suburban areas. Slowed warming in urban centers together with accelerated warming in suburban areas flattened the temperature gradient between urban centers and suburbs. This dynamic expanded the spatial extent of elevated temperatures and reshaped the classic urban-to-rural UHI profile into a flatter form. In UingB areas, UHI intensification was jointly driven by increase in ISA, vegetation loss, and their interaction, while in UingG areas, EVI increases and a negative interaction together offset over half of the warming driven by urban expansion. These findings reveal that UHI evolution is not unidirectional but depends on localized urbanization and greening dynamics, offering pathways for strategic heat mitigation.
Against the backdrop of global warming, urban heat island (UHI) are driven by both physical land use change and dynamic functional intensity, yet their independent and interactive effects remain poorly understood. This study deconstructs these dual drivers in Beijing. First, we employed the Logistic-Harmonic model and random forest classifier to conduct fine classification of land use changes, and constructed the Urban Function Intensity Index (IDI) based on nighttime light and NDVI time series, analyzing their individual and combined effects on land surface temperature change (ΔLST). Results reveal distinct spatial patterns: the core area is dominated by intensification, while the suburbs are the primary locus of expansion. The thermal response to IDI is spatially and seasonally heterogeneous, with the suburban areas being most sensitive and winter responses being strongest. In suburban areas, high IDI was +0.27°C higher than low IDI in winter, whereas low IDI was -0.24°C higher than high IDI in summer. Critically, the interaction between IDI and LCintensity reveals unique synergistic warming pathways, such as a ‘low-IDI + high-intensification’ hot spot in the core area driving ΔLST to 0.74°C, and unexpected warming of 0.64°C in suburban areas experiencing ‘medium-low IDI + de-urbanization’ degradation. Collectively, these findings reveal an evolutionary trajectory of thermal environmental responses across the city’s development gradient, providing a new perspective on the "UHI life cycle" in megacities. This study offers a scientific basis for developing targeted, zone-specific thermal regulation strategies.
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) play a crucial role in safeguarding public health, yet their efficiency is highly dependent on spatial accessibility and optimal facility location. Existing research often evaluates EMS spatial accessibility using total population counts, overlooking the heterogeneity of EMS risk across space and age groups. This study aims to improve EMS accessibility measurement and spatial optimization by integrating spatial and demographic variations in EMS risk. An integrated framework combining a modified two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) model and two spatial optimization models-the Maximum Covering Location Problem (MCLP) and the P-median model-were developed. The improved models incorporate spatial and age-based EMS risk derived from 2024 EMS records in Wuhan, China. Comparative analyses were conducted between traditional and risk-integrated models to examine differences in accessibility and optimal station layouts. Findings reveal significant age-related and spatial variations in EMS risk, with older adults populations showing markedly higher risks, and high-risk areas concentrated in central and near-suburban districts. Compared to traditional 2SFCA results, the improved model produced significantly different accessibility distributions, particularly in peri-urban areas. In optimization analyses, risk-integrated MCLP and P-median models located new EMS stations closer to near-urban areas, whereas traditional models favored peripheral suburbs. Incorporating spatial and demographic variations in EMS risk substantially enhances the accuracy of accessibility measurement and optimization outcomes. The results underscore the importance of prioritizing high-risk older adults populations, strengthening EMS capacity in urban cores, and improving coverage in underserved suburbs. This framework offers a transferable tool for developing more efficient and equitable EMS systems in rapidly urbanizing and aging regions.
Histories of British policing in the 1970s focus on the 'inner-city'. These accounts develop a compelling narrative: as economic crisis undermined the authority of the state, it sought to rebuild legitimacy through the production of racialized categories of crime, developing authoritarian methods-often drawn from colonial police playbooks-to coerce and contain working-class residents. Many of these accounts articulate policing to urban policy, revealing how policing was intensified in pockets of abandonment created by deindustrialization and suburbanization. But while urban historians have emphasized the relationality between city and suburb in this period, accounts of suburban policing are few. This article links the policing of cities to British new towns, analysing new police methods which sought greater control over the composition of social class through urban planning. It argues that new towns-developed as quiescent, orderly environments by the state-were later positioned as test sites for new models of 'community policing'. Attention to a hitherto overlooked corpus of archives highlights the unexplored early significance of planning to policing, revealing how the interventionist administration of urban space became increasingly central to the extension of the coercive functions of the state. Through comparative analysis of the policing of new towns designated under the 1946 New Towns Act and the violent administration of an unofficial 'new town' in Kirkby, Merseyside, I show how conceptions of planned suburban order were centred on hierarchical concepts of social class, emphasizing the increasingly authoritarian impulses of the welfare state.
BACKGROUND: Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is a common enteric infectious disease that poses a threat to children’s health. The disease exhibits high epidemic intensity and frequent outbreak clusters in Beijing, the capital of China. However, the spatiotemporal characteristics of these outbreak clusters and their future epidemic trends remain poorly understood. This study aims to fill this gap by analyzing the spatiotemporal epidemiology of HFMD outbreak clusters and developing a forecasting model to inform targeted prevention strategies. METHODS: The present study analyzed data on HFMD outbreak clusters in Beijing from 2019 to 2024. Epidemiological characteristics were described, including demographic features, clinical manifestations, transmission settings, and spatial distribution. Group comparisons were performed using Kruskal-Wallis and chi-squared tests. The spatial distribution of outbreak clusters was visualized and analyzed by geographic region. A Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) model was developed to forecast incidence trends. RESULTS: Beijing reported 4,265 HFMD outbreak clusters (12,396 cases) during 2019–2024, exhibiting a biennial high-incidence pattern. Compared to 2019 (1,206 clusters), the mean annual clusters during 2020–2022 decreased by 74.4% (305/year), rebounding to 1,719 clusters in 2023—42.5% higher than 2019. Most clusters (77.2%) involved < 5 cases. Median age was 5 years (IQR: 4–7), increasing to 6 years in 2023. Males predominated (p < 0.001). School-aged cases rose to 54.4% in 2023, while kindergarten cases declined. Kindergartens predominated overall (52.7%), but schools became the main setting in 2023 (44.9%), 4.2 times the pandemic average (10.6%). Clusters concentrated in near-suburban areas (> 50% in multiple years). CV-A6 was dominant (60.2%), peaking at 90.7% in 2023; EV-A71 was rare (0.12%). Cluster size varied by pathogen (p < 0.001). The SARIMA model forecast a bimodal pattern for 2025, with primary autumn peak (299 clusters) and secondary summer peak (165 clusters). CONCLUSION: HFMD outbreak clusters in Beijing exhibited a biennial pattern, with suppression during 2020–2022 due to COVID-19 NPIs followed by a rebound in 2023 exceeding pre-pandemic levels. Clusters concentrated in near-suburban areas with consistent bimodal seasonality, and the SARIMA model projects a similar pattern for 2025. These findings underscore the need for setting-specific strategies prioritizing schools alongside kindergartens, targeted interventions in high-risk suburbs, and continued pathogen monitoring.
Varicella has been subject to mandatory reporting to the China Information System for Disease Control and Prevention (CISDCP) by health agencies within 24 h of diagnosis since 2019. However, even if two-dose varicella vaccination has been recommended to be administered to children at 1 and 4 years of age in Hangzhou since 2014, emerging evidence of increasing breakthrough varicella cases in outbreaks challenges the present varicella vaccination schedule and its protective effect. We seek to identify hotspot areas and temporal trends of varicella at the township level in Hangzhou in the recent 6 years by using spatiotemporal analysis. Varicella cases diagnosed by medical practitioners from 2019 to 2024, demographic data, and clinical data were extracted from CISDCP. Township-level population figures were estimated using a constant-share proportional allocation method based on the seventh census data in China. Global I statistics and the local index spatial autocorrelation (LISA) method were used to identify global autocorrelation and local autocorrelation, respectively. Retrospective spatial scan statistics were undertaken to explore potential spatiotemporal clusters of varicella. A harmonic regression model was used to quantify seasonality, and an age-specific trend was evaluated through the Cochrane-Armitage test. A continuous decline in reported incidence of varicella in Hangzhou from 2019 to 2024 was observed, with 97.95 per 100,000 and 52.23 per 100,000 in 2019 and 2024, respectively. Seasonality of the bimodal peak was observed, with the first peak of varicella cases observed from May to July, whereas the second peak typically occurs from November to February of the following year. A pronounced reduction in varicella incidence among younger children (5-9) and a relatively slower decline in older pediatric and adolescent groups (10-19) were found. The spatial distribution pattern of varicella in Hangzhou at township levels was non-random, and hotspots tend to be more frequent in the suburbs than in downtown areas. A total of 34 significant varicella spatiotemporal clusters were identified by retrospective space-time scan statistics, the vast majority of which were located in suburban areas. Varicella incidence has dramatically declined over the past 6 years. The 10-19-year-old age band exhibited a slower reduction than the 5-9-year-old age-band. Moreover, the tendency for varicella clusters to appear more frequently in suburban areas reflects disparities in varicella incidence geographically. Specific surveillance and control measures should be undertaken in high-incidence regions in Hangzhou.
While the health benefits of urban green spaces (UGS) are widely recognized, research often isolates the optimization of UGS spatial patterns from the analysis of population exposure effects. To bridge this gap, this study proposes a Subject-Object Integrated (SOI) model that conceptualizes the complete pathway from accessibility to effective exposure. We operationalize it as the 15-15 rule, requiring residents to reach a UGS within a 15-min walk and obtain at least 15 min of effective exposure. Using Shanghai as a case study, we quantified the UGS exposure potential at community level, evaluated supply-demand relationship, and simulated staged UGS construction under 15-15 rule. Our results indicate that approximately 80% of communities and their populations currently meet the 15-15 rule, with compliance rates decreasing from the urban center to the exurban areas. Supply-demand analysis further reveals distinct spatial patterns: the urban center shows high demand-supply consistency but relatively low average UGS provision; suburb face severe supply deficits; and exurban areas possess relatively abundant yet underutilized UGS resources. The staged construction simulation suggests that adding 499 UGS units (693.78 ha), primarily in suburb and exurban zones, would raise the compliance rate to 99.8% in a basic satisfaction stage. Subsequent priorities for quality enhancement diverge. The urban center requires expansion of existing UGS, whereas suburb and exurbs need more newly planned UGS. Collectively, the SOI model and the 15-15 rule provide a theoretically grounded and practically operational approach for environmental management in healthy-city goals.
The nighttime Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI) phenomenon in the metropolis of Tehran poses severe risks to urban climate and sustainability, representing a potential crisis for the entire Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. A critical research gap persists in long-term predictive modeling for rapidly urbanizing arid regions like Tehran, particularly using advanced hybrid artificial intelligence (AI) architectures that integrate spatial and temporal learning. This study addresses this gap by developing and benchmarking a novel ensemble of six hybrid models, including three machine learning (ML) and three deep learning (DL) models to forecast nocturnal SUHI in Tehran through 2030. The methodology leverages a 22-year MODIS Aqua LST time series, processed with a rigorous spatiotemporal gap-filling process, to train models including innovative combinations such as U-Net with Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks. The primary objective is to provide a robust, actionable forecasting framework aligned with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Key findings indicate that parametric normal distribution models suggest temporal land surface temperature (LST) will rise by more than 2°C across four study areas (Tehran, Tehran Downtown, the suburbs, and the combined Tehran–suburbs), a trend further supported by non-parametric approaches, which also show that Tehran Downtown has the highest spatial LST. R-squared (R2), root mean square error (RMSE), and mean absolute error (MAE) were used to assess and compare the three ML and three DL models. The optimal model (U-Net + LSTM) projects a sustained annual SUHI intensity (SUHII) increase of 0.08 °C, potentially reaching a mean of 5.96 °C by 2030—a rise of 0.11–0.39 °C above historical levels. Spatial analyses of SUHI, supported by longitudinal and latitudinal profiles, reveal that Tehran is transitioning toward a “super-nighttime SUHI” state. Moreover, statistical and practical analyses confirm that warming is accelerating and will be disproportionately concentrated in the extreme upper percentiles, significantly amplifying the frequency and severity of hot nights. The broader significance of this work lies in its proof-of-concept for an AI-driven urban climate forecasting framework, which provides urban planners and policymakers with evidence-based insights for targeted mitigation and climate adaptation strategies, thereby supporting the development of resilient urban systems in Tehran and similar metropolitan areas worldwide.
This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of distal symmetrical polyneuropathy (DSPN) among Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients in the suburbs of Shanghai, China, and identify associated risk factors. The screening process consisted of information registration, clinical consultation, and laboratory testing, which included hematological parameters, hepatic and renal function profiles, metabolic markers (glycemic control and lipid profiles), tumor biomarkers, and urinalysis. Additionally, the process involved screening tests for peripheral neuropathy, skin condition assessment, evaluation of toe deformities, and lower extremity vascular examination. The results were initially analyzed using univariate analysis, and variables with statistical significance were subsequently incorporated into logistic regression modeling to evaluate the associated risk factors. The prevalence of DSPN was 45.53%. Univariate analysis found that diabetes duration, cardiovascular disease (CVD), dry skin, callus, dorsalis pedis artery pulsation (DPAP), posterior tibial artery pulsation (PTAP), popliteal artery pulsation (PP), age, red blood cell (RBC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and creatinine (Cr) are statistically significant. The results of the logistic regression showed that age, dry skin, callus, and Cr are statistically significant among the risk factors for DSPN. T2DM patients in suburban areas exhibit a high prevalence of DSPN, with age, dry skin, callus, and elevated Cr levels serving as major risk factors for its development.
With the growing human population, improved access to healthcare, and the increasing burden of disease, the consumption and subsequent disposal of pharmaceuticals is rising. This study assessed and compared household pharmaceutical waste (HPW) storage and disposal, and environmental awareness among residents of Katlehong Township and Lambton Suburb within the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality. A stratified random sampling technique was used to identify and administer a semi-structured questionnaire to 303 respondents (Katlehong = 221; Lambton = 82). Microsoft Excel and IBM SPSS ver.30 were used to generate descriptive statistics and χ 2 tests. The results revealed limited knowledge of what pharmaceutical waste is in Katlehong (39.4%, n = 87) and Lambton (42.7%, n = 35). Despite this, 77% (n = 233) of respondents expressed willingness to adopt proper disposal practices if adequate education and disposal alternatives are provided. Concerning storage, the most frequently adopted method in Katlehong (43.0%, n = 95) and Lambton (53.7%, n = 44) was inside a medicine box. Residents of Katlehong (61.5%, n = 136) and Lambton (72.0%, n = 59) mostly threw away HPW together with household general waste. Generally, higher‑income households (> R300,000/year) significantly adopted safe HPW disposal methods (χ 2 (5, 303) = 20.989, p < 0.001, Φ = 0.118, RR(<R500,000/year) = 0.245 (95% CI: 0.934-24.341)), when compared to lower-income households (< R500,000/year). Moreso, regardless of comparatively lower socio-economic conditions prevailing in the township of Katlehong, the data revealed statistically significant safer pharmaceutical storage practices (χ 2 (5, 303) = 20.989, p < 0.001, Φ = 0.121, RR(Kahlehong) = 0.442 (95% CI: 0.204-0.957), as compared to Lambton. Overall findings revealed poor pharmaceutical storage and HPW disposal, as well as limited awareness in both study areas. However, annual household income and the socio-economic status of the suburb did significantly influence HPW disposal and pharmaceutical storage practices, respectively. This highlights the urgent need for public education and accessible take-back systems to promote safe HPW management across both socioeconomic communities while also incorporating targeted interventions to effect change.
This study investigates how civilians who remained in war-affected suburbs of Kyiv following the 2022 outbreak of war in Ukraine cope with trauma and build resilience under conditions of prolonged insecurity. Using a mixed-methods design, we combine standardized assessments of post-traumatic stress symptoms (PCL-5) with in-depth qualitative interviews conducted in suburbs of Kyiv, a region largely neglected in empirical research. Nineteen interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Two contrasting case vignettes, one with the highest and one with the lowest PTSD symptom load, were selected to show variations in resilience strategies and resources. Guided by Michael Ungar's multisystemic social-ecological framework, the analysis explores how resilience unfolds across micro, meso, macro, and transnational dimensions and complements psychological assessments of trauma with a sociological perspective. Rather than viewing resilience as an individual trait, we highlight its relational, structural, and symbolic dimensions. The findings show how civilians sustain meaning and everyday stability under conditions of ongoing conflict, contributing to research on trauma recovery and resilience in active conflict settings.
Environmental hazards caused by untreated synthetic polymer wastes, which are harmful to the environment after being gradually broken down into microsized particles through a number of processes. Many studies focusing on microplastics (particle sizes ranging from 1 to 5 mm) have been published. Recent discoveries of microplastics in the atmosphere of cities, suburbs, and even remote areas raise the possibility that the atmosphere might carry microplastics over long distances. The tiny size of microplastics, compared with that of macroplastics, makes their detection in environmental samples more difficult and necessitates the requirement of more advanced analytical methods. Microplastics have been detected using a wide range of technologies. This extensive review focuses on the Indian Governmental policies regarding plastic pollution and the origin, classification, detection, marine environmental effects and effective treatment strategies of microplastics. In this study, we also discuss the current approaches, research gaps of previous studies and future challenges. This review suggests that the employment of biological methods of deterioration should be prioritised in order to ensure the continued viability of the ecosystem.