Recent publications
This Special Issue explores the vital connection between business and public health, highlighting their interdependence in addressing today’s global challenges. First, we demonstrate how firms are both contributors to and recipients of public health outcomes. Second, we examine the complexities business faces in defining its public health responsibilities, particularly when navigating diverse and often ambiguous stakeholders, such as communities. Third, we emphasize the importance of interdisciplinary research in addressing the multifaceted challenges at the intersection of business and public health, calling for a holistic approach that integrates insights from public health, medical research, management, and policy. The contributions affirm that public health is everyone’s business — both a societal concern and a business imperative that demands attention from all sectors. We hope the insights from this Special Issue spark ongoing dialogue and inspire firms to take a more proactive role in shaping a healthier, more sustainable future for all.
Objective
This study investigates the effects of welfare reform in the U.S. on positive parenting‐related outcomes and potential pathways.
Background
The 1996 welfare reform legislation sharply restricted eligibility for benefits with a strong emphasis on employment over cash assistance. The legislation led to dramatic declines in welfare caseloads and increases in employment. Much less is known about the effects of welfare reform on dynamics within families that affect children.
Method
Using data on low‐educated unmarried mothers in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 linked to information on their 10‐ to 14‐year‐old children, we exploit variations in welfare reform implementation across states, over time, and between treatment and comparison groups to identify plausibly causal effects of the legislation on children's reports of activities with parents and closeness of the maternal‐child relationship. The analytic sample includes 3,172–3,737 observations for boys and 3,089–3,619 for girls, depending on outcome.
Results
We find modestly negative effects of welfare reform on children's reports of activities with parents and closeness of the maternal‐child relationship, with stronger effects for boys than girls. We find no evidence that the effects operated through employment. However, we found suggestive evidence that decreases in income play a role.
Conclusion
Welfare reform compromised maternal involvement and engagement with adolescents, particularly boys, which could adversely affect their development and long‐run success.
Healthcare-based social need screening and referral (S&R) among adult populations has produced equivocal results regarding social need resource connection.
Assess the efficacy of S&R on resource connection (primary outcome) and unmet need reduction (secondary outcome).
Intention-to-treat randomized controlled trial. Analyses adjusted for demographics (e.g., age, race), comorbidity (Elixhauser), and VA priority group (PG).
Veterans with and at-risk for cardiovascular disease and one of more (hereafter “ ≥ 1”) social needs receiving healthcare at one of three Veterans Healthcare Administration (VHA) medical facilities.
Study arms represented referral strategies of varying intensity. Arm 1 (control) received generic resource information; Arm 2 (low intensity) received generic and tailored resource information; Arm 3 (high intensity) received all the above plus social work navigation assistance.
Post index surveys at 2-months assessed resource connection (connection to ≥ 1 new resources) and 6-months assessed need reduction (≥ 1 needs at the index screen no longer identified).
A total of 479 Veterans were randomized: 50% were minoritized Veterans, mean age was 64, and 91% were male. Arm 3 was associated with greater resource connection but differences across study arms were not statistically significant. For example, compared to the control arm, participants in Arm 3 had higher but non-statistically significant odds of connecting to ≥ 1 resources (OR = 1.60, CI [.96, 2.67]).
Among VHA-enrolled Veterans, a high-intensity S&R intervention was associated with a non-statistically significant increase in connection to social need resources. Further study needed to establish S&R efficacy.
NCT04977583.
Malvales is a diverse order of flowering plants, economically and ecologically relevant, and it is known for its broad morphological variability. Recent phylogenomic studies have revealed a complex evolutionary history for the order, including localised phylogenetic discordances among nuclear loci. However, since the late 1990s, Malvales classification has largely been neglected. This study aims to address this gap by revisiting the classification of Malvales, with a focus on its largest family, Malvaceae. By integrating phylogenomic and morphological datasets, our primary goals are to provide an updated phylogeny for the order and to map key traits supporting a revised suprageneric classification, while accounting for gene and species tree conflicts. Our molecular dataset included 194 genera and 309 nuclear genes, obtained through target sequence capture using Angiosperms353 probes. This dataset covers approximately half of the known genera in the order, representing all families and subfamilies, as well as nearly all tribes, and all subtribes. A coalescent approach utilising nuclear gene trees was used to infer phylogenetic relationships. A morphological matrix with 50 characters relevant for suprageneric classification was compiled, and character‐state distributions for selected traits were mapped against the phylogenetic tree to identify and discuss diagnostic features for clades. Phylogenetic relationships and the monophyly of most groups aligned closely with previous studies. Morphological traits that define key clades varied significantly across Malvales, with differences observed in growth habit, leaf structure, pollen type, floral features, and fruit/seed morphology. In Malvaceae, we resolved uncertainties in the early Malvoideae lineages, and we describe a new tribe, Pentaplareae tr. nov., which clarifies the taxonomic placement of a previously uncertain genus. Additionally, we propose the recognition of a new subfamily, Matisioideae subfam. nov., elevated from its former status as a tribe, and positioned as the sister group to Malvoideae. This study highlights how taxonomic frameworks can be refined even in the face of conflicting phylogenomic data, demonstrating the importance of integrating molecular and morphological evidence in revising classifications.
Background and aims
Sexual trauma is associated with multiple negative health and social conditions, including compulsive sexual behavior. The present study examined network structures involving sexual trauma history, psychological distress (defined as depression and/or anxiety symptoms), substance use, transactional sex, and compulsive sexual behavior. Prior network analysis work in this area is limited.
Methods
We drew upon two samples of young adults (Sample 1: n = 1,884, 69.3% women; Sample 2: n = 2,337, 69.7% women) recruited from universities in the United States in 2020–2022.
Results
Findings support relationships between sexual trauma and compulsive sexual behavior. Relationships between elements of compulsive sexual behavior, timing of trauma, psychological distress, substance use, engagement in transactional sex, and gender differences were identified. Significant edge strength differences between men and women were observed; distress was a more central node for men, trauma was a more central node for women (Sample 1). When examining elements of CSB, significant gender differences in edge strength were also observed (e.g. connections between dissatisfaction and relapse for men, dissatisfaction and negative consequences for women).
Discussion and conclusions
Specific aspects of CSB closely related to sexual trauma history (e.g., dissatisfaction) and co-occurring psychopathology or clinical concerns (e.g., depression, anxiety, substance use, and engagement in transactional sex) and warrant further attention and study.
We evaluated the efficacy of a brief mindfulness intervention on monetary and in-kind donation decisions. The participants (N = 659) watched either a five-minute meditation video or a neutral video before choosing to donate a portion of their bonus to a charity. They also chose whether to donate an in-kind item to the same charity. We randomly assigned participants to seven need-based scenarios that specified how much (high or low) had already been donated out of how much was needed. The mindfulness meditation video significantly increased monetary donations, a finding that replicates a key result by Iwamoto et al. (2020). The mindfulness video also significantly increased in-kind donation intensity. Two need-based scenarios also significantly influenced in-kind donations. This study adds to the growing body of work that investigates the impact of brief mindfulness induction on prosocial behavior. Our findings suggest that brief mindfulness can elicit altruistic actions with respect to both monetary and in-kind donations.
Objective
The median age of people in rural areas is older than those living in metropolitan areas. Harnessing the potential of the mature‐aged population in rural communities may present a uniquely sustainable approach to strengthening the rural health workforce system. The objective of this study was to map the rural health workforce system in Australia and identify the current and potential role of mature‐aged people in the workforce system.
Setting
Not applicable.
Participants
Not applicable.
Design
Systems thinking, specifically causal loop diagramming.
Results
The causal loop diagram illustrates the interrelated variables in the rural health workforce system. It also illustrates that the potential contribution of mature‐aged people living in rural communities has been overlooked in the strategies to address the rural workforce undersupply.
Conclusion
Health workforces in regional, rural and remote communities in Australia have experienced constant undersupply despite ongoing government and community effort. Novel approaches are required to determine potential strategies to harness the capacity of rural mature‐aged people to strengthen the rural health workforce.
Children mistakenly eating tetrahydrocannabinol‐laced gummies thinking they are Halloween candy. Adults overdosing on seemly innocent and fun‐looking “edibles.” These all‐too‐common occurrences are a serious problem in the growing market for cannabis‐related products. A significant part of the risk stems from the broad acceptance and expectation of parody marketing in the field, which has contributed to these dangerous misunderstandings. Importantly, recent changes to trademark law have limited the commercial use of parodies as marks, strengthening the hand of brand owners to police harmful impersonation while preserving legitimate speech. As a result of the more restrictive environment, trademark law and consumer safety rules are increasingly congruent and a greater array of stakeholders with significant financial resources now possess the power and incentive to reduce the danger. This article uses the above cannabis marketing conflict as a framing tool for exploring the limits of trademark parody in an important yet under‐examined context: when safety concerns clash and arguably supersede speech. The existing literature has typically considered parody in innocuous and often noncommercial applications. Such limited review underappreciates instances when trademark confusion or dilution through parody lead to serious health consequences, particularly for vulnerable audiences such as children. Additionally, to the extent that the literature does address cannabis and trademarks, it has generally focused on cannabis branding issues as opposed to infringing the rights of others. This article bridges the gaps. Moreover, it integrates a consideration of the impact of recent Supreme Court cases, Jack Daniel's Properties, Inc. v. VIP Products LLC and Vidal v. Elster , that reflect a tighter circumscription on speech protections for unauthorized use. It concludes with the observation that not all parodies are equal in terms of balancing speech and safety. And with evolving trademark law, there is increasingly an incentive for various stakeholders to collaborate to enhance consumer safety.
Alongside gradual changes in climate, extreme events such as droughts and heatwaves have increased in frequency globally. Together, chronic change and extreme events have been linked to forest die‐off, as well as larger, more severe wildfires. Increased disturbance frequency inevitably increases the likelihood of compounding effects, highlighting the importance of understanding forest responses and recovery. This study investigated physiological characteristics of the dominant canopy tree species, Eucalyptus marginata , on sites affected by a drought/heatwave event (2011) and five years later by a wildfire (2016) in southwestern Australia. Using a factorial design of drought vulnerability (sites with high and low vulnerability to drought), and sites that had experienced moderate and high fire severity, physiological measurements including pre‐dawn leaf water potential, stomatal conductance, chlorophyll fluorescence, leaf temperature, specific leaf area, and live foliar moisture content were quantified to reveal impacts and potential compound effects on tree function. Measurements were taken during a summer heatwave and typical wet‐winter conditions to span periods of high and low stress. High drought vulnerability/ high severity wildfire sites had significantly lower pre‐dawn leaf water potentials, and stomatal conductance. Although E. marginata is known to be drought and fire tolerant, this forest stand had visible tree death and canopy contractions (via leaf drop) between summer and winter measurements, suggesting low plant available water in summer approached E. marginata 's threshold for survival in high severity fire sites. Trees on high drought vulnerability sites experienced significantly more stress, but fire severity effects primarily manifested within these sites, measured via decreased specific leaf area and chlorophyll fluorescence. These results reveal interactive, contingent nature of multiple disturbances and their implications for future forest recovery. Monitoring forest health and function is central to developing predictive capacity of forest dynamics and tree responses as extreme events increase in frequency, severity, and scale.
This study aimed to assess dietary exposure to steviol glycosides and identify the key contributors to the exposure in the Thai population. In total, 2114 participants were included in this study, and a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire and a photobook of foods and beverages were used to collect their food consumption data. In addition, the body weight data of the participants were recorded, and a survey was conducted to obtain information regarding their consumption of foods and beverages that contain steviol glycosides, including data on the amount consumed and the frequency of intake. The amount of steviol glycosides in the foods and beverages was determined using ultrahigh‐performance liquid chromatography‐electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. We used data on the mean and 97.5th percentile (PCTL) consumption of food or beverages for both the per capita and consumer‐only scenarios to estimate the dietary intake of steviol glycosides from consumption of food and beverages. The risk of steviol glycoside exposure was evaluated using the hazard quotient, which involved a comparison of the estimated dietary intake with the acceptable daily intake (ADI) of steviol equivalents (4 mg/kg BW/day). Children aged 3–9 years had the highest mean and 97.5th PCTL intake per capita, which accounted for 2.35% and 22.95% of the ADI, respectively. The results of this study demonstrate that the estimated intake of steviol glycosides by the Thai population across all scenarios and age groups is below the ADI, indicating that foods and beverages that contain steviol glycosides do not pose a risk to the Thai population. Nevertheless, the top three contributors to the intake of steviol glycosides, which are products in categories 14 (beverages), 11 (sweeteners), and 1 (dairy products and analogues), should be consumed cautiously.
- Toby P. N. Tsang
- A. A. Amado De Santis
- Gabriela Armas
- [...]
- Timothy Bonebrake
Land use change threatens global biodiversity and compromises ecosystem functions, including pollination and food production. Reduced taxonomic α‐diversity is often reported under land use change, yet the impacts could be different at larger spatial scales (i.e., γ‐diversity), either due to reduced β‐diversity amplifying diversity loss or increased β‐diversity dampening diversity loss. Additionally, studies often focus on taxonomic diversity, while other important biodiversity components, including phylogenetic diversity, can exhibit differential responses. Here, we evaluated how agricultural and urban land use alters the taxonomic and phylogenetic α‐, β‐, and γ‐diversity of an important pollinator taxon—bees. Using a multicontinental dataset of 3117 bee assemblages from 157 studies, we found that taxonomic α‐diversity was reduced by 16%–18% in both agricultural and urban habitats relative to natural habitats. Phylogenetic α‐diversity was decreased by 11%–12% in agricultural and urban habitats. Compared with natural habitats, taxonomic and phylogenetic β‐diversity increased by 11% and 6% in urban habitats, respectively, but exhibited no systematic change in agricultural habitats. We detected a 22% decline in taxonomic γ‐diversity and a 17% decline in phylogenetic γ‐diversity in agricultural habitats, but γ‐diversity of urban habitats was not significantly different from natural habitats. These findings highlight the threat of agricultural expansions to large‐scale bee diversity due to systematic γ‐diversity decline. In addition, while both urbanization and agriculture lead to consistent declines in α‐diversity, their impacts on β‐ or γ‐diversity vary, highlighting the need to study the effects of land use change at multiple scales.
Most recent studies of the factors that determine flows of foreign direct investment have focused on bilateral flows of FDI using a wide array of possible variables. Recent studies of the aggregate flows of FDI (flows from all sources) have been limited in the type and number of countries included. This study adds to these results by using a panel data set that includes 74 countries for the period 1980–2008 over a wide-range of countries. An important result of this study is that the relationship between FDI and measures of market size and income is non-linear. To study the effects of country specific characteristics this study looks at the relationship between the average country residual from the panel estimates and various measures of business climate.
The rock band U2, based in Dublin, Ireland, has become one of the most successful touring acts in the history of live music. Treating U2 as a global business enterprise, this paper introduces a gravity approach to understanding performance location selection. A brief descriptive analysis of the band’s tour geography is followed by the presentation of results from linear regression models that evaluate the choice of countries for live performances. Over 33 years, U2 played more than one thousand six hundred concerts at locations in 40 countries. Having completed several world tours with multiple legs, U2 has developed a clear geographical circuit, performing mainly in Europe, North America, and Oceania. Findings from the models indicate that the band is attracted primarily by market size (presence of large urban areas) and market strength (income). In addition, the band’s location choices appear to be governed by cultural proximity. Counter to expectations, neither geographical distance nor country risk appear to play a significant role in the selection of tour destinations, especially in the most recent U2360 tour of 2009–2011. This interdisciplinary paper demonstrates the application of an adapted gravity approach--often employed in economics--to better understand music geography, an area traditionally dominated by cultural geographers.
This paper presents a study of household gambling consumption in Thailand in 2011. We investigate the nonlinear relationships between this behavior and household alcohol expenditure, household gambling expenditure, and demographic factors. We use Treenet to analyze datasets drawn from a socio-economic survey of 42,083 Thai households conducted in 2011. The results show that the five most significant variables in order of importance for predicting the likelihood of household gambling consumption are household income, household region, work status of the household head, religion of the household head, and age of the household head. In summary, the Treenet results suggest that the likelihood of gambling consumption was higher for households with an income of more than 25,000 Bahts per year, a location in the North, a Buddhist head of household, a head with active work status, a head between 35 and 55 years old, with household expenditure spent on alcohol consumed at home of more than 500 Bahts, with household expenditure spent on tobacco of more than 100 Bahts, and a head of household with less education.
The developing research area of digital nudges has garnered increasing attention over the past decade. However, with the acceleration of technological change, there is a need to identify how
digital nudges are evolving with changing digital environments. For example, digital choice architectures can be personalised with algorithms, dark nudges, and real-time data. This paper presents a systematic narrative literature review on the evolution of digital nudges. The investigation for this review uncovered several themes, including subsets of digital nudges such as AI-powered nudges and dark nudges, as well as calls for ethics, transparency, and
accountability when employing digital nudges. The findings provide a basis for a revised definition of digital nudges, a taxonomy wheel that clarifies relationships between digital nudge terminology, and valuable insights for practitioners to consider when designing and
implementing digital nudges.
Camera traps are widely used in wildlife research and monitoring, so it is imperative to understand their strengths, limitations, and potential for increasing impact. We investigated a decade of use of wildlife cameras (2012–2022) with a case study on Australian terrestrial vertebrates using a multifaceted approach.
We (i) synthesised information from a literature review; (ii) conducted an online questionnaire of 132 professionals; (iii) hosted an in-person workshop of 28 leading experts representing academia, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and government; and (iv) mapped camera trap usage based on all sources. We
predicted that the last decade would have shown: (i) exponentially increasing sampling effort, a continuation of camera usage trends up to 2012; (ii) analytics to have shifted from naive presence/absence and capture rates towards hierarchical modelling
that accounts for imperfect detection, thereby improving the quality of outputs and inferences on occupancy, abundance, and density; and (iii) broader research scales in terms of multi-species, multi-site and multi-year studies. However, the results showed
that the sampling effort has reached a plateau, with publication rates increasing only modestly. Users reported reaching a saturation point in terms of images that could be processed by humans and time for complex analyses and academic writing. There were strong taxonomic and geographic biases towards medium–large mammals (>500 g) in forests along Australia’s southeastern coastlines, reflecting proximity to major cities. Regarding analytical choices, bias-prone indices still accounted for 50% of
outputs and this was consistent across user groups.Multi-species,multi-site and multiple-year studies were rare, largely driven by hesitancy around collaboration and data sharing. There is no widely used repository for wildlife camera images and the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) is the dominant repository for sharing tabular occurrence records. However, the ALA is presence-only and thus is unsuitable for creating detection histories with absences, inhibiting hierarchical modelling. Workshop discussions identified a pressing need for collaboration to enhance the efficiency, quality and scale of research and management outcomes, leading to the proposal of a Wildlife Observatory of Australia (WildObs). To encourage data standards and sharing, WildObs should (i) promote a metadata collection app; (ii) create a tagged image repository to facilitate artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) computer vision research in this space; (iii) address the image identification bottleneck via the use of
AI/ML-powered image-processing platforms; (iv) create data commons for detection histories that are suitable for hierarchical modelling; and (v) provide capacity building and tools for hierarchical modelling. Our review highlights that while Australia’s
investments in monitoring biodiversity with cameras position it to be a global leader in this context, realising that potential requires a paradigm shift towards best practices for collecting, curating, sharing and analysing ‘Big Data’. Our findings and framework have broad applicability outside Australia to enhance camera usage to meet conservation and management objectives ranging from local to global scales. This review articulates a country/continental observatory approach that is also suitable for international collaborative wildlife research networks.
Background Healthcare facilities (HCF) are significant producers of healthcare waste (HCW), which includes hazardous materials such as sharps, pharmaceuticals, infectious substances, and chemical agents. Inadequate management of HCW presents serious risks to human health and the environment, especially in low- and middle-income countries, including Nigeria. Despite global guidelines for HCW management, challenges such as insufficient infrastructure, training, and adherence to regulations persist, particularly in regions like the Bwari Area Council, Abuja. This study evaluates healthcare workers' knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding healthcare waste management, compares practices between private and public healthcare facilities, and assesses adherence to national guidelines. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 425 healthcare workers from ten healthcare facilities (five private, five public) in the Bwari Area Council. A random sampling technique was used, and a self-administered questionnaire assessed the participants' knowledge and practices related to healthcare waste management. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 28.0. Results Private healthcare workers demonstrated significantly better knowledge of waste segregation (92.5% vs. 84.9%, p = 0.012) and identifying vaccine containers as medical waste (80.8% vs. 70.8%, p = 0.016) compared to government workers. In practice, a significantly higher proportion of private workers refrained from flushing liquid medical waste into toilets (71% vs. 65%, p = 0.040). In contrast, government workers exhibited more positive attitudes towards waste management, with 99.3% agreeing that medical waste should be properly handled compared to 97.0% in private facilities (p = 0.016). Both private and government workers displayed high knowledge of color coding for medical waste (94.6% vs. 93.5%, p = 0.650), but only 15.1% correctly identified the green color code for general waste. Conclusion Private healthcare workers demonstrated better knowledge of waste segregation, while government workers showed more positive attitudes toward waste handling. Both sectors had similar practices, with gaps in the liquid waste disposal and general waste color coding. Targeted interventions and consistent training are needed to improve waste management practices across both facility types.
It is essential to ensure the effectiveness of current conservation efforts to meet the interconnected
crises of biodiversity loss, habitat degradation, and climate change. In this article, we discuss one
aspect that undermines conservation’s effectiveness while at the same time being underexplored in
the academic and political discourse on conservation: patriarchal norms and structures. We argue that
these norms and structures, which promote male supremacy and inequality, are central to driving
environmental destruction. Many conservation programs unintentionally reinforce patriarchal
thinking, thereby undermining their effectiveness. We provide examples of how patriarchy influences
conservation, such as the precarious position of women (Working Conditions for Women in
Conservation), the treatment of animals (Violence against animals), the suppression of particular forms
of knowledge (Science and knowledge production), militarization trends in conservation
(Securitization and militarization of conservation enforcement), and the financialization of nature (The
monetary valuation of nature). We conclude that patriarchal norms and structures within conservation
must be questioned and dismantled to make conservation more effective and just.
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