Characterization and analysis of municipal solid waste generated in the semi-urban region of Thanamandi, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), India: a basis for developing a suitable waste management approach.

Population growth, urbanization, lifestyle changes, and consumption patterns increase waste management problems in Thanamandi town. The waste generation rate in Thanamandi town is expanding, and there is a need for adequate waste segregation, recycling programs, and sorting facilities. Therefore, this study aims to estimate the municipal solid waste (MSW) generation rate in Thanamandi town, including an analysis of its composition.

A randomised evaluation of low-dose cytosine arabinoside plus lenalidomide versus single-agent low-dose cytosine arabinoside in older patients with acute myeloid leukaemia: Results from the LI-1 trial.

Improving outcomes for older patients with acute myeloid leukaemia remains an unmet need. As part of the LI-1 trial, we evaluated lenalidomide (LEN) in combination with low-dose cytosine arabinoside (LDAC) in patients aged >60 years unfit for intensive therapy and compared this to LDAC alone. Two hundred and two patients, randomised 1:1, were evaluable.

IoMT Meets Machine Learning: From Edge to Cloud Chronic Diseases Diagnosis System.

In conventional healthcare, real-time monitoring of patient records and information mining for timely diagnosis of chronic diseases under certain health conditions is a crucial process. Chronic diseases, if not diagnosed in time, may result in patients' death. In modern medical and healthcare systems, Internet of Things (IoT) driven ecosystems use autonomous sensors to sense and track patients' medical conditions and suggest appropriate actions.

Design and Development of Robust, Daylight-Activated, and Rechargeable Biocidal Polymeric Films as Promising Active Food Packaging Materials.

The emerging infectious diseases have created one of the major practical needs to develop active packaging materials with durable antibacterial and antiviral properties for the food industry. To meet this demand, the development of new technologies applicable to food contact surfaces is highly desired but challenging. The recent discovery of the photoactive properties of vitamin K (VK) derivatives has raised great expectations as promising candidates in functional film development due to the generation of biocidal reactive oxygen species (ROS) by these compounds.

Meta-evaluation of a whole systems programme, ActEarly: A study protocol.

Introduction: Living in an area with high levels of child poverty predisposes children to poorer mental and physical health. ActEarly is a 5-year research programme that comprises a large number of interventions (>20) with citizen science and co-production embedded. It aims to improve the health and well-being of children and families living in two areas of the UK with high levels of deprivation; Bradford in West Yorkshire, and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

People powered research: what do communities identify as important for happy and healthy children and young people? A multi-disciplinary community research priority setting exercise in the City of Bradford, United Kingdom (UK).

Background: Involving communities in research priority setting can increase the relevance and efficiency of research, leading to better health outcomes. However these exercises often lack clarity in how communities are involved and the extent to which priorities are acted upon is unclear. Seldom-heard groups, for example ethnic minorities may experience barriers to participation.

Unravelling diversity, drivers, and indicators of soil microbiome of Trillium govanianum, an endangered plant species of the Himalaya.

In an era of global environmental change, conservation of threatened biodiversity and ecosystem restoration are formidable ecological challenges. The forest understory strata and the belowground soil environment including rhizospheric microbial communities, which are crucial for ecosystem functioning and overall forest biodiversity maintenance, have remained understudied. Here, we investigate the soil microbiome of Trillium govanianum - an endangered Himalayan Forest herb, to unravel the underground diversity, drivers, and potential indicators of the microbial community.

Nothing about us without us: A co-production strategy for communities, researchers and stakeholders to identify ways of improving health and reducing inequalities.

Introduction: Co-production with communities is increasingly seen as best practice that can improve the quality, relevance and effectiveness of research and service delivery. Despite this promising position, there remains uncertainty around definitions of co-production and how to operationalize it. The current paper describes the development of a co-production strategy to guide the work of the ActEarly multistakeholder preventative research programme to improve children's health in Bradford and Tower Hamlets, UK.

Applying the community readiness model to identify and address inequity in end-of-life care in South Asian communities.

Background: Individuals from minoritised ethnic backgrounds are less likely than individuals from the dominant ethnic group to access palliative care services and to have documented Advance Care Plans. They are more likely to be admitted to hospital in the last months of life.

Aim: To use the Community Readiness Model to identify the barriers that influence how South Asian communities access and use two new palliative care services.

Study Protocol. Evaluating the life-course health impact of a city-wide system approach to improve air quality in Bradford, UK: A quasi-experimental study with implementation and process evaluation.

Background: Air quality is a major public health threat linked to poor birth outcomes, respiratory and cardiovascular disease, and premature mortality. Deprived groups and children are disproportionately affected. Bradford will implement a Clean Air Zone (CAZ) as part of the Bradford Clean Air Plan (B-CAP) in 2022 to reduce pollution, providing a natural experiment.

Properties of galactomannans and their textile-related applications-A concise review.

Galactomannans are reserve carbohydrates in legume plants and are primarily extracted from their seeds. They contain galactose side chains throughout the mannose backbone and have unique features such as emulsifying, thickening, and gelling together with biodegradability, biocompatibility, and non-toxicity, which make them an appealing material. Guar gum and locust bean gum mainly are used in all galactomannan needed applications.

Compliant citizens, defiant rebels or neither? Exploring change and complexity in COVID-19 vaccine attitudes and decisions in Bradford, UK: Findings from a follow-up qualitative study.

Background: COVID-19 vaccines have been the central pillar of the public health response to the pandemic, intended to enable us to 'live with Covid'. It is important to understand change and complexity of COVID-19 vaccines attitudes and decisions to maximize uptake through an empathetic lens.

Objective: To explore the factors that influenced people's COVID-19 vaccines decisions and how their complex attitudes towards the vaccines had changed in an eventful year.

Exploring the Interactions between Housing and Neighbourhood Environments for Enhanced Child Wellbeing: The Lived Experience of Parents Living in Areas of High Child Poverty in England, UK.

Children's health can be affected by the interrelated characteristics of the physical and social environment where they live, including housing quality, neighbourhood characteristics and the local community. Following a systems-based approach, this exploratory project sought to understand how the needs and aspirations associated with the home environment can work in synergy with, or be exacerbated by, other aspects of the local area. The study recruited parents of children aged 2-12 years old from two local authorities in England with high levels of child poverty: Tower Hamlets in East London, and Bradford District in West Yorkshire.

The art of Patient and Public Involvement: exploring ways to research and reduce air pollution through art-based community workshops - a reflective paper.

In this reflective paper we outline and discuss our art-based Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) approach.  This exercise held two broad objectives. Firstly, to assist policy makers in understanding the types of interventions communities will find acceptable to address the problem of poor air quality, and secondly, to ascertain community views about our research plans to explore the impact of the planned interventions on neighbourhoods.

The role of plant-associated rhizobacteria in plant growth, biocontrol and abiotic stress management.

The rhizosphere is the region around the plant roots where maximum microbial activities occur. In the rhizosphere, microorganisms' beneficial and harmful activities affect plant growth and development. The mutualistic rhizospheric bacteria which improve plant growth and health are known as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR).

Nothing about us, without us: is for us.

Background: Public Participation Involvement Engagement (PPIE) is now strongly encouraged across health policy and research. Coproduction, although linked to PPIE is a way of working that can be applied to work collaboratively with participants in health. However, a lack of definition which leads to interchangeable terminology, limited guidance and examples of good practice on how to facilitate the process impedes progress.

Measuring the Built Environment in Studies of Child Health-A Meta-Narrative Review of Associations.

Although the built environment (BE) is important for children's health, there is little consensus about which features are most important due to differences in measurement and outcomes across disciplines. This meta-narrative review was undertaken by a multi-disciplinary team of researchers to summarise ways in which the BE is measured, and how this links to children's health. A structured search of four databases across the relevant disciplines retrieved 108 relevant references.

Taking a deep breath: a qualitative study exploring acceptability and perceived unintended consequences of charging clean air zones and air quality improvement initiatives amongst low-income, multi-ethnic communities in Bradford, UK.

Background: Poor air quality is the one of the biggest causes of early death and illness across the lifespan. In the UK, 28 local authorities with illegal pollution levels have been mandated by the Government to develop plans to rapidly reduce pollution to legal limits. These plans include consideration of implementing one of four of charging 'Clean Air Zone' (CAZ) classes in areas of high pollution which would charge older polluting vehicles a daily charge to enter.

Lichens as a repository of bioactive compounds: an open window for green therapy against diverse cancers.

Lichens, algae and fungi-based symbiotic associations, are sources of many important secondary metabolites, such as antibiotics, anti-inflammatory, antioxidants, and anticancer agents. Wide range of experiments based on in vivo and in vitro studies revealed that lichens are a rich treasure of anti-cancer compounds. Lichen extracts and isolated lichen compounds can interact with all biological entities currently identified to be responsible for tumor development.

Understanding COVID-19 misinformation and vaccine hesitancy in context: Findings from a qualitative study involving citizens in Bradford, UK.

Background: COVID-19 vaccines can offer a route out of the pandemic, yet initial research suggests that many are unwilling to be vaccinated. A rise in the spread of misinformation is thought to have played a significant role in vaccine hesitancy. To maximize uptake, it is important to understand why misinformation has been able to take hold at this time and why it may pose a more significant problem within certain contexts.

The Born in Bradford COVID-19 Research Study: Protocol for an adaptive mixed methods research study to gather actionable intelligence on the impact of COVID-19 on health inequalities amongst families living in Bradford.

The UK COVID-19 lockdown has included restricting social movement and interaction to slow the spread of disease and reduce demand on NHS acute services. It is likely that the impacts of restrictions will hit the least advantaged disproportionately and will worsen existing structural inequalities amongst deprived and ethnic minority groups. The aim of this study is to deliver rapid intelligence to enable an effective COVID-19 response, including co-production of interventions, that address key issues in the City of Bradford, UK, and nationally.

An annotated and critical glossary of the terminology of inclusion in healthcare and health research.

The importance of including members of the public has been accorded a significant position in health planning, service delivery and research. But this position masks a lack of clarity about terms that are used. This paper identifies terms that are in common use in the lexicon of community based involvement and engagement in health with the intention of clarifying meaning and thus reducing ambiguity.

Assessing community readiness for early intervention programmes to promote social and emotional health in children.

Objective: Evidence for early intervention and prevention-based approaches for improving social and emotional health in young children is robust. However, rates of participation in programmes are low. We explored the dynamics which affect levels of community readiness to address the issues of social and emotional health for pregnant women, young children (0-4 years) and their mothers.

Not a level playing field: A qualitative study exploring structural, community and individual determinants of greenspace use amongst low-income multi-ethnic families.

Greenspace is important for physical and mental health. Low-income, multi-ethnic populations in deprived urban areas experience several barriers to using greenspace. This may exacerbate health inequalities.