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Summary: Background: Two international Conventions from the International Labor Organization (ILO; C162 Asbestos Convention) and the UN (Basel Convention) offer governments guidelines for achieving a total asbestos ban policy, but the long-term effect of these Conventions on policy implementation, and the role of government effectiveness, remains unknown. We aimed to investigate associations between government ratification of the ILO and UN international Conventions, government effectiveness, and implementation of a national total asbestos ban. Methods: We obtained data for year of a national asbestos ban, year of ratification of one or both international Conventions, and World Bank government effectiveness scores for 108 countries that ever used asbestos. We did a survival analysis for countries with data in the follow-up period (March 22, 1989, to Feb 2, 2018) to assess whether ratification of the international Conventions and greater government effectiveness were associated with time of implementation of a national total asbestos ban. Findings: Of 108 countries with data for asbestos consumption, nine were excluded because they implemented an asbestos ban before 1989. Therefore, 99 countries were included in the survival analysis. 26 countries ratified both international Conventions and 73 ratified either one or no Convention. Countries that ratified both Conventions had a shorter time to adoption of a total asbestos ban (mean 8·9 [SD 6·4] years) than did countries that ratified one or no Conventions (16·9 [6·1] years). After controlling for government effectiveness, countries that ratified both Conventions had a significantly higher conditional probability of banning asbestos than did those ratifying one or no Convention (hazard ratio [HR] 41·8, 95% CI 4·5–383·3; p=0·0010). For every 1 point increment in government effectiveness, the percentage change in HR for persistent asbestos consumption significantly increased by 127% (95% CI 13–354; p=0·021). Interpretation: This study confirms that adoption of both the C162 Asbestos Convention and the Basel Convention facilitates countries in moving towards a total asbestos ban. The effect was reinforced by government effectiveness. Both international programmes and new agreements towards total asbestos bans and government commitments are needed. Funding: China Medical University, and the Ministry of Science and Technology (Taiwan).

Dengue fever is one of the most widespread vector-borne diseases and has caused more than 50 million infections annually over the world. For the purposes of disease prevention and climate change health impact assessment, it is crucial to understand the weather-disease associations for dengue fever. This study investigated the nonlinear delayed impact of meteorological conditions on the spatiotemporal variations of dengue fever in southern Taiwan during 1998–2011. We present a novel integration of a distributed lag nonlinear model and Markov random fields to assess the nonlinear lagged effects of weather variables on temporal dynamics of dengue fever and to account for the geographical heterogeneity. This study identified the most significant meteorological measures to dengue fever variations, i.e., weekly minimum temperature, and the weekly maximum 24-hour rainfall, by obtaining the relative risk (RR) with respect to disease counts and a continuous 20-week lagged time. Results show that RR increased as minimum temperature increased, especially for the lagged period 5–18 weeks, and also suggest that the time to high disease risks can be decreased. Once the occurrence of maximum 24-hour rainfall is >50 mm, an associated increased RR lasted for up to 15 weeks. A temporary one-month decrease in the RR of dengue fever is noted following the extreme rain. In addition, the elevated incidence risk is identified in highly populated areas. Our results highlight the high nonlinearity of temporal lagged effects and magnitudes of temperature and rainfall on dengue fever epidemics. The results can be a practical reference for the early warning of dengue fever. Keywords: Dengue fever, Temporal delayed effect, Spatiotemporal modeling, Distributed lag nonlinear effects, Climatic effect

Introduction: Pedestrian crashes are not equitably distributed; people of color and males are overburdened. The aim of this study was to examine if driver yielding behavior differed based on gender and skin color of the pedestrian, and the estimated car cost at two midblock crosswalks in the Las Vegas metropolitan area., Methods: One white and one black female and one white and one black male crossed the intersection in a similar, prescribed manner. Crossings were video recorded. Driver yielding behavior was documented. The cost of car was estimated by cross referencing manufacturing websites and averaging the high and low values of estimated private sale. Generalized linear mixed model was applied, nesting within crossing attempt and within streets., Results: Of 461 cars, 27.98% yielded to pedestrians. Cars yielded more frequently for females (31.33%) and whites (31.17%) compared to males (24.06%) and non-whites (24.78%). Cost of car was a significant predictor of driver yielding (OR = 0.97; p = 0.0307); odds of yielding decreased 3% per $1000 increase., Discussion: Driver yielding differed by cost of cars. Given previous findings, future research is needed to further examine gender and racial disparities in pedestrian crashes. Findings are significant for public health and pedestrian safety, especially given the upward trend in crash rates., Competing Interests: Declarations of interest: none