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As the discourse around societal cohesion grows and policy makers increasingly turn their attention towards improving cohesion, understanding its role for the lives of individuals becomes ever more important. Our study examines whether the social cohesion of the immediate living context is related to the strength of Big Five personality traits among individuals. Using data from a community survey of 6252 adults living in 30 rural sub‐districts in the Kyrgyz Republic, where social cohesion is a sizable policy concern, we conduct a multilevel analysis of the relationship between sub‐district cohesion and individual personality. Results indicate that higher levels of cohesion are significantly related to higher individual levels of agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness. However, no relationship is found with extraversion or neuroticism. Thus, where a social entity has higher cohesion, this entity will also have inhabitants with a greater prosocial and communal orientation towards others, greater conscientiousness and more openness to experience. These findings imply that social cohesion may be one geographical social indicator related to variation in personality traits. Moreover, the findings suggest that understanding social cohesion requires both macro‐ and micro‐perspectives and that its connection to these particular personality traits should be taken into consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents views of the author on economic and social conditions in Iraq. According to the author, the political situation in Iraq is still highly unstable. Iraq needs political, military and institutional stability, and at present these can only come from outside. Help of this kind would be most meaningful as a package, in the form of a 'Marshall Plan' involving the G7 countries. A Marshall Plan for Iraq put together and embracing ways of securing peace, reducing debt, reconstruction and institutional stability is the quickest way to achieve peace and prosperity in the region. Apart from oil, Iraq has few resources available to finance its own reconstruction. With around 24 million inhabitants it is one of the biggest countries in the Middle East. Iraq will gradually be able to increase its oil output to about 3.4 million barrels per day by 2005, but this will require safe investment conditions and long-term investment in the oil production facilities from private firms and the state of Iraq. Iraq has suffered from decades of dictatorship and it needs a much wider infrastructure concept. Germany's experience after two world wars has shown that a Marshall Plan is needed for successful reconstruction.

Background: High ambient air temperatures in Africa pose significant health and behavioral challenges in populations with limited access to cooling adaptations. The built environment can exacerbate heat exposure, making passive home cooling adaptations a potential method for protecting occupants against indoor heat exposure. Methods: We are conducting a 2-year community-based stratified cluster randomized controlled trial (cRCT) implementing sunlight-reflecting roof coatings, known as "cool roofs," as a climate change adaptation intervention for passive indoor home cooling. Our primary research objective is to investigate the effects of cool roofs on health, indoor climate, economic, and behavioral outcomes in rural Burkina Faso. This cRCT is nested in the Nouna Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS), a population-based dynamic cohort study of all people living in a geographically contiguous area covering 59 villages, 14305 households and 28610 individuals. We recruited 1200 participants, one woman and one man, each in 600 households in 25 villages in the Nouna HDSS. We stratified our sample by (i) village and (ii) two prevalent roof types in this area of Burkina Faso: mud brick and tin. We randomized the same number of people (12) and homes (6) in each stratum 1:1 to receiving vs. not receiving the cool roof. We are collecting outcome data on one primary endpoint - heart rate, (a measure of heat stress) and 22 secondary outcomes encompassing indoor climate parameters, blood pressure, body temperature, heat-related outcomes, blood glucose, sleep, cognition, mental health, health facility utilization, economic and productivity outcomes, mosquito count, life satisfaction, gender-based violence, and food consumption. We followed all participants for 2 years, conducting monthly home visits to collect objective and subjective outcomes. Approximately 12% of participants (n = 152) used smartwatches to continuously measure endpoints including heart rate, sleep and activity. Discussion: Our study demonstrates the potential of large-scale cRCTs to evaluate novel climate change adaptation interventions and provide evidence supporting investments in heat resilience in sub-Saharan Africa. By conducting this research, we will contribute to better policies and interventions to help climate-vulnerable populations ward off the detrimental effects of extreme indoor heat on health. Trial registration: German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS) DRKS00023207. Registered on April 19, 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of refugees into host countries' formal labor markets is increasingly recommended as a durable solution to forced migration. Yet, this policy response is a contentious political topic with little empirical evidence, especially in low- and middle-income host countries available to support policy. This article examines the impacts of integrating Syrian refugees into Jordan's formal labor market. We use robust greedy one-to-one propensity score matching on comprehensive high-quality data from almost 75,000 Syrian refugee households collected between 2017 and 2019 to generate novel evidence on the socio-economic benefits of refugee labor market integration. Our findings show that the ability to access formal jobs, reflected by holding a work permit, is significantly associated with increased refugee income, strengthens food security, and reduces protection needs and child labor. These findings contribute to a better and knowledge-based understanding of a prominent policy response for forced migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We use aggregate country data as well as individual level survey to uncover, for the first time, the effect of extreme events such as natural disasters and terrorist attacks on entrepreneurial activity. We find that natural disasters and terrorist attacks influence individual perceptions of the rewards to entrepreneurship and, more surprisingly, extreme events affect entrepreneurship rates positively in a robust and significant way. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The authors comment on differences between sports and science. With Olympic competition as a backdrop, they note that honors are bestowed on young athletes based on merit, while science awards and recognition tend to be granted to senior scientists. The authors note, however, the creation of a Global Young Academy (GYA) for young scientists and other national young academies that encourage and empower young scientists.

African indigenous vegetables (AIV) have high densities of important micronutrients but qualitative and quantitative food losses along the value chains could threaten their nutritional potential in Africa. We conduct a systematic review of the estimations of food quality losses of AIV along their value chains. Our review reveals that there is generally limited evidence on food quality losses along AIV value chains. In addition, existing studies are often of low quality and have inadequate experimental descriptions. For our final analysis, we consider the yields and malnutrition-relevant nutrients for two major AIV, vegetable amaranth (Amaranthus ssp) and African nightshade (Solanum nigrum and Solanum scarbrum). We observe a consistent and substantial decrease in carotenoids and iron contents starting from selecting appropriate seed material to processing practices. Losses are particularly severe at seed selection and production. Almost half of the original potential is lost after cultivation for the reviewed nutrients. While qualitative losses appear to be significant during post-harvest, processing by consumers leads to comparatively small reductions. While our results suggest that the current value chains need to be improved to supply nutrient-rich foods to urban and peri-urban areas, better data are also needed to conduct more comprehensive assessments of nutrition-sensitive AIV value chains and to derive evidence-based interventions to reduce nutrient losses for AIV along the value chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The effects of early life exposure to cold winter, drought, and excessive rainfall shocks on stunting probabilities of children under five are analyzed with panel data from Kyrgyzstan. • Stunting in the youngest age group increases with exposure to all types of shocks, and the effects are driven by boys. • The effect of exposure to cold shocks is driven by households using electricity for heating. • Seasonal differences in the effects of exposure to weather shocks are found. • Sensitivity analyses show that stunting effects occur even at low weather shock magnitudes. It has been shown consistently in the literature that early life exposure to extreme weather events affects children's nutritional status and related long-term health and well-being outcomes. The effects of weather shocks other than rainfall, as well as heterogeneous effects among population subgroups and moderators of this relationship, however, are less well understood. By combining a rich three-wave representative household panel dataset from Kyrgyzstan, a country where weather extremes such as droughts, floods but also cold spells are predicted to increase in frequency and severity due to climate change in the near future, with location-matched weather data, this paper analyzes how different weather shocks (cold winter, drought, excessive rainfall) affect the probability of stunting of children under five. Using fixed effects regression models, we find that children under 20 months are most severely affected by all three types of early life weather shocks. Most notably, we find that cold shocks experienced in winter increase the probability of stunting, and that this effect is particularly pronounced for households that mainly rely on electricity for indoor heating, potentially due to frequent power cuts occurring in winter. We do not find rural/urban differences, but we find some seasonal effects of shock exposure. Overall, effects are driven by boys, even though we do not find statistically significant gender differences. Identifying the geographical and sociodemographic subgroups of children most vulnerable to extreme weather events can support the design of targeted policies addressing child malnutrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calculating the consequences of global public bads such as climate change or pandemics helps uncover the scale, distribution and structure of their economic burdens. As violent conflict affects billions of people worldwide, whether directly or indirectly, this article sets out to estimate its global macro-economic repercussions. Using a novel methodology that accounts for multiple dimensions of war, the article finds that, in the absence of violent conflict since 1970, the level of global GDP in 2014 would have been, on average, 12% higher. When disaggregating these results by conflict type, civil conflicts are estimated to have been the costliest by far. Income growth is found to be altered up to four years following the end of a conflict, although the direction of this relationship depends on the intensity and type of conflict. Countries also suffer significantly from fighting in neighbouring countries, thereby showing the importance of mitigating spillovers rapidly. The largest absolute losses associated with violence emanate from Asia, while many high-income economies are found to benefit economically from participating in conflicts on foreign soil. This analysis thus shows that, despite some evidence of a faster post-conflict growth and possible benefits for external participants, violent conflict leads to net global losses that linger long after peace is achieved, reducing the peace dividend. The article concludes by discussing public policy options to strengthen the benefits of peace as a global public good. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food systems in many countries are experiencing a shift from traditional foods toward processed foods high in sugar, fat and salt, but low in dietary fiber and micronutrients. There is an urgent need to better understand drivers of changing food behavior, particularly for lower-income countries. This study analyzes drivers of food choice among children and parents in rural Nepal. It uses qualitative data collected through key informant interviews and focus group discussions with school children, parents and teachers. The study reveals substantial changes in food behavior during the past decade with increased consumption of rice, meat, and highly processed snack foods while an increased consumption of fruit and vegetables is not evident. It identifies cash availability is the main driver of increased rice, meat and snack food consumption. The second driver is the 2015 Nepal earthquake, which accelerated the transition from homegrown food to purchased food as people got habituated to eating more meat and snack foods while reconstruction tripled local wages and changed the food environment. This shows how humanitarian assistance in the wake of extreme shocks can unintentionally contribute to unhealthy eating habits. An integrated school and home garden intervention appears to contribute to healthier diets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global crisis affecting everyone. Yet, its challenges and countermeasures vary significantly over time and space. Individual experiences of the pandemic are highly heterogeneous and its impacts span and interlink multiple dimensions, such as health, economic, social and political impacts. Therefore, there is a need to disaggregate "the pandemic": analysing experiences, behaviours and impacts at the micro level and from multiple disciplinary perspectives. Such analyses require multi-topic pan-national survey data that are collected continuously and can be matched with other datasets, such as disease statistics or information on countermeasures. To this end, we introduce a new dataset that matches these desirable properties - the Life with Corona (LwC) survey - and perform illustrative analyses to show the importance of such micro data to understand how the pandemic and its countermeasures shape lives and societies over time. • New Life with Corona survey collects data across domains, time and SARS-CoV-2 rates. • Analysis of data reveals multidimensional challenges and inequalities in the pandemic. • The LwC survey also helps to grasp the societal impacts created by countermeasures. • Results show need for joined-up thinking in how impacts of the pandemic are analyzed. • Results show need for data structured in a way that supports this joined-up thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite beneficial cardiovascular effects, substantial long-term modulation of food pattern could only be achieved in a limited number of participants. The impact of attitude towards healthy nutrition (ATHN) on successful modulation of dietary behavior is unclear, especially in the elderly. We aimed to analyze whether the personal ATHN influences 12-month adherence to two different dietary intervention regimes within a 36-month randomized controlled trial., Methods: 502 subjects were randomized to an intervention group (IG; dietary pattern focused on high intake of unsaturated fatty acids (UFA), plant protein and fiber) or control group (CG; dietary recommendation in accordance with the German Society of Nutrition) within a 36-month dietary intervention trial. Sum scores for effectiveness, appreciation and practice of healthy nutrition were assessed using ATHN questionnaire during the trial ( n = 344). Linear regression models were used to investigate associations between ATHN and dietary patterns at baseline and at month 12., Results: Retirement, higher education level, age and lower body mass index (BMI) were associated with higher ATHN sum scores. ATHN was similar in CG and IG. Higher baseline intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and fiber as well as lower intake in saturated fatty acids (SFA) were associated with higher scores in practice in both groups. The intervention resulted in a stronger increase of UFA, protein and fiber in the IG after 12 months, while intake of SFA declined ( p < 0.01). Higher scores in appreciation were significantly associated with higher intake of fiber and lower intake of SFA in the CG at month 12, whereas no associations between ATHN and macronutrient intake were observed in the IG after 12 months., Conclusions: While ATHN appeared to play a role in general dietary behavior, ATHN did not affect the success of the specific dietary intervention in the IG at month 12. Thus, the dietary intervention achieved a substantial modification of dietary pattern in the IG and was effective to override the impact of the individual ATHN on dietary behavior., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Complex humanitarian emergencies are a main driver of food and nutritional insecurity. Agricultural interventions are key to improving nutrition and food security, and their positive impacts are well-documented in stable developing countries. However, it is unclear if their positive effects on food security hold in complex emergency settings, too. In this paper, we systematically review empirical articles that apply rigorous designs to assess the causal impacts of agricultural interventions on food security, nutrition, or health outcomes in complex humanitarian emergencies. We only find six articles matching these criteria, which have mixed results on dietary diversity and food security, and little evidence on child nutrition. Our review underscores the need for more rigorous research on the impacts of agricultural interventions in complex humanitarian emergency settings., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Objective: Providing country-level estimates for prevalence rates of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), COVID-19 exposure and food insecurity (FI) and assessing the role of persistent threats to survival-exemplified by exposure to COVID-19 and FI-for the mental health crisis in Africa. Methods: Original phone-based survey data from Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Uganda (12 consecutive cross-sections in 2021; n = 23,943) were analyzed to estimate prevalence rates of GAD. Logistic regression models and mediation analysis using structural equation models identify risk and protective factors. Results: The overall prevalence of GAD in 2021 was 23.3%; 40.2% in Mozambique, 17.0% in Sierra Leone, 18.0% in Tanzania, and 19.1% in Uganda. Both COVID-19 exposure (OR adj. 1.4; CI 1.3-1.6) and FI (OR adj 3.2; CI 2.7-3.8) are independent and significant predictors of GAD. Thus, the impact of FI on GAD was considerably stronger than that of COVID-19 exposure. Conclusion: Persistent threats to survival play a substantial role for mental health, specifically GAD. High anxiety prevalence in the population requires programs to reduce violence and enhance social support. Even during a pandemic, addressing FI as a key driver of GAD should be prioritized by policymakers., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they do not have any conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Beck, Koebach, Abreu, Regassa, Hoeffler, Stojetz and Brück.)

Background: Integrated school and home garden interventions can improve health outcomes in low-income countries, but rigorous evidence remains scarce, particularly for school-aged children and to reduce anemia., Objective: We test if an integrated school and home garden intervention, implemented at pilot stage, improves hemoglobin levels among school children (aged 9-13 years) in a rural district in the mid-hills of Nepal., Methods: We use a cluster randomized controlled trial with 15 schools each in the control and treatment groups (n = 680 school children). To test if nutritional improvements translate into a reduction of anemia prevalence, hemoglobin data were collected 6 months after intervention support had ended. Using structural equation modeling, we estimate the direct and indirect effects of the treatment through several pathways, including nutritional knowledge, good food and hygiene practices, and dietary diversity., Results: The integrated school and home garden intervention did not lead to a direct significant reduction in anemia. Causal positive changes of the treatment on nutritional outcomes, although significant, are not strong enough to impact hemoglobin levels. The program improved hemoglobin levels indirectly for children below 12 by increasing the use of good food and hygiene practices at home. These practices are associated with higher hemoglobin levels, particularly for girls, young children, and in households where caregivers are literate., Conclusions: Even integrated school and home garden interventions are not sufficient to reduce anemia among school children. Incorporating behavioral change components around food and hygiene practices into integrated garden interventions is important to unlocking their health impacts.

We survey efforts that track food security in Africa using phone surveys during the COVID-19 pandemic. Phone surveys are concentrated in a few countries mostly focusing on a narrow theme. Only a few allow heterogeneous analyses across socioeconomic, spatial, and intertemporal dimensions across countries, leaving important issues inadequately enumerated. We recommend that the scientific community focuses on countries (and regions and groups within countries) where the evidence base is thin, and that policymakers in less researched areas attract more research by improving their statistical capacity, openness, and governance., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors declared that they have no conflict of interest., (© The Author(s) 2022.)

How does ethnic inequality shape victimization in violent conflicts? Our case study of the 2010 conflict in Kyrgyzstan tests whether communities with higher ethnic inequalities in education experienced more intense displacement. We find that local inequality in education between Kyrgyzstan's ethnic majority and its largest minority robustly predicts patterns of forced displacement, controlling for alternative approaches like ethnic spatial segregation or polarization. By decomposing inequality, we observe that local educational advantage towards the other ethnic group is associated with a lower likelihood of displacement. Ethnic Uzbeks with low education levels relative to Kyrgyz in their area have the highest displacement rate., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Gender differences (GD) in mental health have come under renewed scrutiny during the COVID-19 pandemic. While rapidly emerging evidence indicates a deterioration of mental health in general, it remains unknown whether the pandemic will have an impact on GD in mental health. To this end, we investigate the association of the pandemic and its countermeasures affecting everyday life, labor, and households with changes in GD in aggression, anxiety, depression, and the somatic symptom burden. We analyze cross-sectional data from 10,979 individuals who live in Germany and who responded to the online survey "Life with Corona" between October 1, 2020 and February 28, 2021. We estimate interaction effects from generalized linear models. The analyses reveal no pre-existing GD in aggression but exposure to COVID-19 and COVID-19 countermeasures is associated with sharper increases in aggression in men than in women. GD in anxiety decreased among participants with children in the household (with men becoming more anxious). We also observe pre-existing and increasing GD with regards to the severity of depression, with women presenting a larger increase in symptoms during the hard lockdown or with increasing stringency. In contrast to anxiety, GD in depression increased among participants who lived without children (women > men), but decreased for individuals who lived with children; here, men converged to the levels of depression presented by women. Finally, GD in somatic symptoms decreased during the hard lockdown (but not with higher stringency), with men showing a sharper increase in symptoms, especially when they lived with children or alone. Taken together, the findings indicate an increase in GD in mental health as the pandemic unfolded in Germany, with rising female vulnerability to depression and increasing male aggression. The combination of these two trends further suggests a worrying mental health situation for singles and families. Our results have important policy implications for the German health system and public health policy. This public health challenge requires addressing the rising burden of pandemic-related mental health challenges and the distribution of this burden between women and men, within families and for individuals who live alone., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Abreu, Koebach, Díaz, Carleial, Hoeffler, Stojetz, Freudenreich, Justino and Brück.)

Our study analyzes the fertility effects of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. We study the effects of violence on both the duration time to the first birth in the early post-genocide period and on the total number of post-genocide births per woman up to 15 years following the conflict. We use individual-level data from Demographic and Health Surveys, estimating survival and count data models. This article contributes to the literature on the demographic effects of violent conflict by testing two channels through which conflict influences fertility: (1) the type of violence exposure as measured by the death of a child or sibling, and (2) the conflict-induced change in local demographic conditions as captured by the change in the district-level sex ratio. Results indicate the genocide had heterogeneous effects on fertility, depending on the type of violence experienced by the woman, her age cohort, parity, and the time horizon (5, 10, and 15 years after the genocide). There is strong evidence of a child replacement effect. Having experienced the death of a child during the genocide increases both the hazard of having a child in the five years following the genocide and the total number of post-genocide births. Experiencing sibling death during the genocide significantly lowers post-genocide fertility in both the short-run and the long-run. Finally, a reduction in the local sex ratio negatively impacts the hazard of having a child in the five years following the genocide, especially for older women.