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Policing and public health interventions into sex workers’ lives: necropolitical assemblages and alternative visions of social justice
Get PDFExternal article: This article reports on one component of the research award A participatory mixed-method evaluation on how removing enforcement could affect sex workers’ safety, health and access to services, in East London. For more information about this research please view the award page https://fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/15/55/58While extensive literature documents how criminalisation harms sex workers’ health and rights, limited research has critically examined how interactions between criminal-justice, health, and other systems shape support and justice for and by people who sell sex. We attend to this question by drawing on participatory, qualitative research with a diverse group of sex workers and other stakeholders in East London, UK. In addition to directly and structurally-violent enforcement practices, we identified wider, necropolitical assemblages and practices – across police, local and immigration authorities, health and social services – that disciplined sex workers’ lives, responsibilised them for their health, and defunded specialist services grounded in lived realities, amid tensions over sex-work governance. These effects – grounded in notions of community and vulnerability that often privileged residents’ concerns over threats to sex workers’ safety and health – impacted marginalised and minoritised cis and trans women the most. Those who worked on the street and used drugs, were migrants, and/or women of colour were particularly targeted for enforcement, discounted when reporting violence and impacted by service cuts. Yet participants’ appeals for redirection of funds from enforcement towards respectful, peer-led services reflected claims to social justice on their own terms. We recommend (re)commissioning health and support services that respond to sex workers’ diverse realities, with and by them, alongside concerted efforts to end policies and practices that criminalise, punish, and blame. This would help to alleviate the health and social harms that we document, in support of inclusive participation in health and broader social justice goals.This publication was funded by the Public Health Research programme as a part of award number 15/55/58
Effect of police enforcement and extreme social inequalities on violence and mental health among women who sell sex: findings from a cohort study in London, UK
Get PDFExternal Article: This article reports on one component of the research award A participatory mixed-method evaluation on how removing enforcement could affect sex workers’ safety, health and access to services, in East London. For more information about this research please view the award page [https://fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/15/55/58].Objectives:
To examine legal and social determinants of violence, anxiety/depression among sex workers.
Methods:
A participatory prospective cohort study among women (inclusive of transgender) ≥18 years, selling sex in the last 3 months in London between 2018 and 2019. We used logistic generalised estimating equation models to measure associations between structural factors on recent (6 months) violence from clients or others (local residents, strangers), depression/anxiety (Patient Health Questionnaire-4).
Results:
197 sex workers were recruited (96% cisgender-women; 46% street-based; 54% off-street) and 60% completed a follow-up questionnaire. Street-based sex workers experienced greater inequalities compared with off-street in relation to recent violence from clients (73% vs 36%); police (42% vs 7%); intimate partner violence (IPV) (56% vs 18%) and others (67% vs 17%), as well as homelessness (65% vs 7%) and recent law enforcement (87% vs 9%). Prevalence of any STI was 17.5% (17/97). For street-based sex workers, recent arrest was associated with violence from others (adjusted OR (aOR) 2.77; 95% CI 1.11 to 6.94) and displacement by police was associated with client violence (aOR 4.35; 95% CI 1.36 to 13.90). Financial difficulties were also associated with client violence (aOR 4.66; 95% CI 1.64 to 13.24). Disability (aOR 3.85; 95% CI 1.49 to 9.95) and client violence (aOR 2.55; 95% CI 1.10 to 5.91) were associated with anxiety/depression. For off-street sex workers, financial difficulties (aOR 3.66; 95% CI 1.64 to 8.18), unstable residency (aOR 3.19; 95% CI 1.36 to 7.49), IPV (aOR 3.77; 95% CI 1.30 to 11.00) and alcohol/drug use were associated with client violence (aOR 3.16; 95% CI 1.26 to 7.92), while always screening and refusing clients was protective (aOR 0.36; 95% CI 0.15 to 0.87). Disability (aOR 5.83; 95% CI 2.34 to 14.51), unmet mental health needs (aOR 3.08; 95% CI 1.15 to 8.23) and past eviction (aOR 3.99; 95% CI 1.23 to 12.92) were associated with anxiety/depression.
Conclusions:
Violence, anxiety/depression are linked to poverty, unstable housing and police enforcement. We need to modify laws to allow sex workers to work safely and increase availability of housing and mental health services.This publication was funded by the Public Health Research programme as a part of award number 15/55/58
The efficiency of the Estr overnight index swap market
Get PDFJEL classification: G12; G13.Data availability:
Data will be made available on request.This paper studies the profitability of market-neutral delta-hedged strategies trading the mispricing of Euro Short Term Rate Overnight Index Swaps (Estr OIS) signalled by standard affine term structure models. Calibrating these models produces pricing errors that signal mispricing and the deltas to hedge market risk. The paper presents simple-to-compute portfolio weights that maximise the OIS arbitrage portfolio information ratio subject to market-neutral delta-hedge constraints and subject to bid–ask spreads. The empirical evidence shows that only investors who can “split” the bid–ask spread can profitably exploit the pricings errors signalled by these models. Investors who can only ever trade at the bid or at the ask cannot profit. Pricing errors are strongly positively auto-correlated, which hampers the profitability of trades that expect the correction of such errors. These results imply that the Estr OIS market is quite efficient and are robust to a number of models and strategies. Four and five factor models are more profitable than three factor ones. Assuming that some OIS rates are observed without error reduces the profitability of models and strategies
Living well with dementia: An exploratory matched analysis of minority ethnic and white people with dementia and carers participating in the IDEAL programme
Get PDFData Availability Statement:
IDEAL data were deposited with the UK data archive in April 2020. Details of how to access the data can be found here: https://reshare.ukdataservice.ac.uk/854317/.Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Objectives:
The increasing heterogeneity of the population of older people is reflected in an increasing number of people with dementia and carers drawn from minority ethnic groups. Data from the IDEAL study are used to compare indices of ‘living well’ among people with dementia and carers from ethnic minority groups with matched white peers.
Methods:
We used an exploratory cross-sectional case-control design to compare ‘living well’ for people with dementia and carers from minority ethnic and white groups. Measures for both groups were quality of life, life satisfaction, wellbeing, loneliness, and social isolation and, for carers, stress, relationship quality, role captivity and caring competence.
Results:
The sample of people with dementia consisted of 20 minority ethnic and 60 white participants and for carers 15 and 45 respectively. People with dementia from minority ethnic groups had poorer quality of life (−4.74, 95% CI: −7.98 to −1.50) and higher loneliness (1.72, 95% CI: 0.78–2.66) whilst minority ethnic carers had higher stress (8.17, 95% CI: 1.72–14.63) and role captivity (2.00, 95% CI: 0.43–3.57) and lower relationship quality (−9.86, 95% CI: −14.24 to −5.48) than their white peers.
Conclusion:
Our exploratory study suggests that people with dementia from minority ethnic groups experience lower quality of life and carers experience higher stress and role captivity and lower relationship quality than their white peers. Confirmatory research with larger samples is required to facilitate analysis of the experiences of specific minority ethnic groups and examine the factors contributing to these disadvantages.Economic and Social Research Council;
National Institute for Health and Care Research. Grant Number: ES/L001853/
Low-Power and Low-Latency Hardware Implementation of Approximate Hyperbolic and Exponential Functions for Embedded System Applications
Get PDFThe hyperbolic and exponential functions are widely used in various applications in engineering fields such as machine learning, Internet of Things (IOT), signal processing, etc. To fulfill the needs of future applications effectively, this paper proposes a low-latency, low-power, acceptable accuracy, and low-cost architecture for computing the approximate exponential function e±z and the hyperbolic functions sinh(z) and cosh(z) using a table-driven algorithm named Approximate Composited-Stair Function (ApproxCSF). By adopting a FPGA, the proposed design is realized and demonstrates significant improvements in terms of latency, hardware cost, power consumption, and MSE by 91%, 96%, 74%, and 99%, respectively, compared to the state-of-the-art. Xilinx Virtex-5/7 FPGAs have been employed throughout the functional verification and prototype processes. Compared to related works, it shows that the proposed architectures are much better for low-cost and low-latency computations of exponential and hyperbolic functions than CORDIC, stochastic computation, and the Look-up Table approaches. The source code is publicly available online https://github.com/AyadMDalloo/ApproxCSF
Measuring research quality in a more inclusive way: Evidence from the UK Research Excellence Framework
Get PDFJEL: I23, J16Supplementary data are available online at: https://academic.oup.com/rev/advance-article/doi/10.1093/reseval/rvae013/7642424?login=false#446370268 .The HESA data analysed in this paper are the copyright of the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Limited. Neither HESA nor HESA Services Limited are responsible for any inferences or conclusions derived from the data or other information supplied by HESA Limited or HESA Services Limited.Evidence suggests that common metrics of research quality—e.g. journal publications and citations—are systematically biased against certain groups. But does relying solely on them to evaluate quality lead to lower diversity in academia? In this paper, we start to answer this question by analysing data from the UK’s nationwide research assessment exercise, the Research Excellence Framework. We find that narrowly focussed output-based measures of departmental research quality do indeed negatively correlate with the diversity of departmental staff, while measures of research impact and of the quality of the research environment correlate positively. An aggregate measure that incorporates all three components is therefore likely to better promote staff diversity compared to more narrowly defined output-focused measures. More generally, our results suggest that comprehensive definitions of research quality may be more effective at promoting diversity in academia compared to narrower measures. We further argue that funding decisions informed by broader measures result in more efficient resource allocations across the higher education sector.European Research Council through the PARENTIME project, Consolidator Grant (CoG), SH3, ERC-2017-COG
Sociodemographic and environmental factors associated with mask use during the COVID-19 pandemic
Get PDFResumen:
FUNDAMENTOS // Durante la pandemia de la COVID-19 se implementaron medidas de prevención con el propósito de reducir su transmisión comunitaria. El grado de cumplimiento con estas medidas estuvo influenciado por diversos factores sociodemográficos y ambientales. Sin embargo, existe escasa literatura científica que aborde el cumplimiento de las medidas preventivas en la población general. El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar la asociación entre factores sociodemográficos y ambientales, así como la adhesión al uso de mascarillas en contactos estrechos.
MÉTODOS // Se realizó un estudio transversal con 1.778 individuos, identificados mediante el rastreo de contactos estrechos de personas con SARS-CoV-2 por la Central de Coordinación de la COVID-19 de Mallorca, entre febrero y junio de 2021. Se realizó un análisis descriptivo y se utilizó un modelo de regresión logística para determinar los factores asociados al incumplimiento del uso de mascarillas.
RESULTADOS // La edad media de los participantes fue de 42,8±17,4 años (53,6% de mujeres). El 60,8% (IC 95%: 57,8-62,3) de los contactos estrechos no utilizó mascarilla durante su contacto. No se observaron diferencias estadísticamente significativas en función del sexo o grupo etario (p=0,497 y p=0,536, respectivamente). Las situaciones de mayor incumplimiento con el uso de mascarillas se dieron en el entorno domiciliario, espacios cerrados sin ventilación y al mantener distancias cortas (p<0,001).
CONCLUSIONES // Nuestros hallazgos indican una menor adhesión al uso de mascarillas en escenarios de mayor riesgo. Frente a futuras situaciones de crisis sanitaria, se deberían diseñar intervenciones que realcen la conciencia sobre los riesgos y que promuevan una mayor adhesión a medidas de prevención y control.Official College of Nurses of the Balearic Islands (Ref.: 2021-0564); The Florence Nightingale scholarship program, from the Doctoral School of the University of the Balearic Islands and the Official College of Nurses and Nurses of the Balearic Islands (COIBA)
Remote pulmonary rehabilitation for interstitial lung disease: developing the model using experience-based codesign
Get PDFData availability statement: Data are available on reasonable request.Supplementary Data: This web only file has been produced by the BMJ Publishing Group from an electronic file supplied by the author(s) and has not been edited for content : https://bmjopenrespres.bmj.com/content/bmjresp/suppl/2024/02/21/11.1.e002061.DC1/bmjresp-2023-002061supp001_data_supplement.pdf .Background Remote delivery may improve access to pulmonary rehabilitation (PR). Existing studies are largely limited to individuals with COPD, and the interventions have lacked codesign elements to reflect the needs and experiences of people with chronic respiratory disease, their carers/families and healthcare professionals. The aim of this study was, using experience-based codesign (EBCD), to collaborate with people with interstitial lung disease (ILD), their carers/families and healthcare professionals, to codesign a remote PR programme ready for testing in a future study.
Methods EBCD comprises interviews, stakeholder workshops and codesign meetings. One-to-one videorecorded interviews with purposively selected people with ILD with experience of PR, their carers/families and healthcare professionals, were edited into a 20 min film. The film was shown at three audiorecorded stakeholder feedback events to identify key themes and touchpoints, and short-list key programme components. The programme was finalised at two further codesign workshops.
Results Ten people with ILD, four carers/families and seven healthcare professionals were interviewed. Participants in the codesign workshops included service-user group: n=14 and healthcare professional group: n=11; joint event: n=21. Final refinements were made with small codesign teams, one comprising three people with ILD and one carer/family member, one with five healthcare professionals. The final codesigned model is a group based, supervised programme delivered by videoconference. Key elements of programme specific to ILD include recommendations to ensure participant safety in the context of desaturation risk, dedicated time for peer support and adaption of the education programme for ILD needs, including signposting to palliative care.
Conclusion In this EBCD project, a remote PR programme for people with ILD was codesigned by service-users, their carers/families and multidisciplinary healthcare professionals. Future research should explore the feasibility and acceptability of this intervention.Royal Brompton and Harefield Charity Research Management Fun
A Scoping Review of Tobacco Control Health Communication in Africa: Moving towards Involving Young People
Get PDFData Availability Statement:
Data are available in a publicly accessible repository that does not issue DOIs. Publicly available datasets were analyzed in this study. This data can be found here: https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/gho-tobacco-control-anti-tobacco-mass-media-campaigns (accessed 16 June 2023).Health communication has been highlighted as a cost-effective preventive intervention in Africa, where the prevalence of tobacco use is still relatively low compared to other World Health Organization (WHO) regions. This scoping review aimed to examine tobacco control health communication interventions in Africa. The review was guided by the PRISMA-ScR checklist. Data was extracted from 20 peer-reviewed papers, WHO Global Health Observatory on anti-tobacco mass-media campaigns for 54 African countries, and 6 WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control reports on Article 12. Data extraction informed by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) data-extraction questions was used for peer-reviewed studies while a pre-determined template was used for the other sources. Narrative data synthesis informed by the JBI manual for evidence synthesis was employed. A lack of research that comprehensively addresses all areas of health communication and inconsistent use of health communication campaigns were identified. Only an average of 6 countries had ever implemented high-quality national mass-media campaigns in a decade, while an average of 33 countries consistently failed to conduct campaigns that lasted more than 3 weeks. Although the involvement of key populations was clearly vital to ensure content relevance and message clarity, a lack of health communication informed by young people was observed, as they rarely participated in key decision-making despite reportedly being the targets of interventions. Clear health communication for tobacco-use prevention informed by young people is lacking in African countries. Active participation of young people in developing targeted campaigns is needed to facilitate content relevance and comprehension to ultimately contribute to tobacco-use prevention.Studies reviewed in this paper were funded by the authors and grant awarding bodies—International Development Research Centre, Bloomberg Global Tobacco Initiative, International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Institute for Global Tobacco Control, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Pfizer Independent Grants for Learning and Change, Global Bridges Network, Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health, National Institutes of Health, Association of Physicians of Great Britain and Ireland, School of Public Health, University of the Western Cape, Vlaamse Interuniversitaire Raad (VLIR), Belgium and Bloomberg Philanthropies. The scoping review is part of the research towards the award of Doctor of Philosophy in public health and health promotion research for C.A-A. C.A-A’s doctorate degree is funded by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC) United Kingdom (NGCS/2020/454)
The Design of a Photonic Crystal Fiber for Hydrogen Cyanide Gas Detection
Get PDFData Availability Statement:
Data are contained within the article.Hydrogen cyanide gas is a dangerous and fatal gas that is one of the causes of air pollution in the environment. A small percentage of this gas causes poisoning and eventually death. In this paper, a new PCF is designed that offers high sensitivity and low confinement loss in the absorption wavelength of hydrogen cyanide gas. The proposed structure consists of circular layers that are located around the core, which is also composed of circular microstructures. The finite element method (FEM) is used to simulate the results. According to the results, the PCF gives a high relative sensitivity of 65.13% and a low confinement loss of 1.5 × 10−3 dB/m at a wavelength of 1.533 µm. The impact of increasing the concentration of hydrogen cyanide gas on the relative sensitivity and confinement loss is investigated. The high sensitivity and low confinement losses of the designed PCF show that this optical structure could be a good candidate for the detection of this gas in industrial and medical environments.This research received no external funding
Data sources:
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