From urban waste to urban farmers: Can we close the agriculture loop within the city bounds?

As urbanisation intensifies in Brazilian cities, life quality in urban centres becomes a challenge for policymakers, and transitioning urban systems to sustainability is required. Circular economy concepts may contribute to face them, especially those owing to municipal solid waste (MSW) management. Curitiba, a Brazilian municipality known for its innovative initiatives towards sustainability. Despite a long tradition in recycling inert waste, MSW system struggles to promote composting even considering a decade in force national law. Decentralised composting through the Urban Agriculture Program (UAP) is the city's strategy to tackle this struggle. This strategy faces difficulties as, even if urban agriculture facilities seem to be a promising context, closing the agricultural loop within the city bounds was not possible in the 24 urban farmers communities trained in composting techniques. The literature has shown difficulties in government experiments to promote practices in the long run and several experiences in Brazil are already described. This study reveals cultural barriers that influence adoption of domestic composting, by following a secondary data review on past experiences with interviewing and observing participatively urban farms communities. From the fieldwork, cultural perspectives from four different relevant actor roles in the UAP were elaborated and conflicts between them revealed cultural barriers hindering composting practices adoption. Recommendations based on these barriers argue for bottom-up approaches for transition experiments and recognising the sense material and technical support makes to practitioners.

Creencias tradicionales mexicanas y su relación con la aceptación de la autotoma vaginal para la detección del VPH / Traditional Mexican beliefs and their relationship with the acceptance of vaginal self-sampling for HPV detection

Resumen OBJETIVO: Conocer el grado de aceptación de la autotoma vaginal y su relación con variables psicosocioculturales que prevalecen en México. MATERIALES Y MÉTODOS: Estudio observacional, prospectivo, transversal y descriptivo, efectuado entre 2017 y 2018 en mujeres del estado de Guanajuato. Se aplicaron cuestionarios y entrevistas antes y después de la toma de la muestra mediante la autotoma. El análisis estadístico incluyó medidas de tendencia central, medidas de dispersión, frecuencias y proporciones. Las diferencias entre grupos se analizaron con las pruebas de Wilcoxon y t de Student. RESULTADOS: Se estudiaron 85 mujeres con edad promedio de 37.82 años (± 9.82). Si bien 75 participantes declararon no conocer el procedimiento, 80 accedieron a practicarlo. Se encontró que la mayoría de las mujeres prefiere la autotoma a la inspección ginecológica tradicional. Se observaron dos perfiles sociopsicológicos opuestos entre las mujeres que prefieren la autotoma por "pena" y las que optan por ella por su "facilidad". CONCLUSIONES: La autotoma fue un método de muestreo completamente viable en el contexto en el que se llevó a cabo esta investigación. Si bien se observaron barreras psicosocioculturales, la autotoma se prefirió entre las mujeres que informaron acudir menos al ginecólogo, por lo que puede constituir una estrategia para las mujeres con baja vigilancia médica.

Abstract OBJECTIVE: To know the degree of acceptance of vaginal autotomy and its relationship with psychosocial-cultural variables prevailing in Mexico. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Observational, prospective, cross-sectional and descriptive study, carried out between 2017 and 2018 in women in the state of Guanajuato. Questionnaires and interviews were applied before and after sampling by autotoma. Statistical analysis included measures of central tendency, measures of dispersion, frequencies and proportions. Differences between groups were analyzed with Wilcoxon and Student's t-tests. RESULTS: Eighty-five women with a mean age of 37.82 years (± 9.82) were studied. Although 75 participants stated that they were unaware of the procedure, 80 agreed to undergo it. It was found that the majority of women preferred autotoma to traditional gynecological inspection. Two opposite socio-psychological profiles were observed between women who prefer autotomy for "embarrassment" and those who opt for it because of its "ease". CONCLUSIONS: Autotomography was a completely feasible sampling method in the context in which this research was conducted. Although psychosocio-cultural barriers were observed, autotoma was preferred among women who reported less frequent visits to the gynecologist, so it may be a strategy for women with low medical vigilance.

Experiences in the Gulf of Mexico: Overcoming Obstacles for Commercial Fishing Occupational Safety and Health Research.

Researchers involved in community-based participatory research often face challenges due to numerous dynamic factors, including the physical location of the study population, willingness to participate, language barriers, cultural norms, social stigmas, and unpredictable weather and other disasters. Investigators who work with commercial fishermen are all too familiar with these potential obstacles and barriers to performing occupational safety and health research. Such has been the case along the Texas and Louisiana gulf coasts, where the burden of occupational fatalities in the shrimp fishery remains high. Moreover, the need for strategic community, regulatory agency, and research partnerships in order to explore solutions that can help to reduce this burden is ongoing. The IFISH 5 conference and the panel session described in this brief report offered a venue to acknowledge and create awareness of these barriers and opportunities for developing sustainable solutions that can have an impact on this loss of life. The approach taken was to explore the perspectives of a panel of regional collaborators including two researchers, an outreach community liaison, and a marine safety and health official from the U. S. Coast Guard. Key barriers emerging from the panel fell into four themes, each emphasized by one of the four panel members, allowing for discussion of potential solutions. The themes included: (1) language gap; (2) cultural influences and use of personal flotation devices; (3) relationships with the community; and (4) enforcement agency role as a trusted opinion leader. This panel session can readily serve as a model to promote similar exploration of barriers and solutions in commercial fishing across other regions of the US and internationally as well.