Ecological Drivers of Community Cohesion

What Effect Did COVID-19 Have on Adolescent Food Insufficiency in Africa and Asia? Evidence From the Global Early Adolescent Study

PURPOSE

This paper aims to explore the effect of COVID-19 and the roles of COVID-19-induced economic and community factors on adolescent food insufficiency across five urban poor settings in Africa and Asia.

METHODS

The analysis included respondents who completed a COVID-19 quantitative module as part of the longitudinal Global Early Adolescent Study. Data were divided into pre- and mid-COVID-19 periods to examine whether food insufficiency increased and modified by the pandemic and sociodemographical characteristics through longitudinal logistic regression. The roles of COVID-19-induced economic and community factors in food insufficiency were explored using multivariate logistic regression.

RESULTS

During COVID-19, food insufficiency among adolescents increased by 6.7% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.4%-8.9%) in Shanghai, 26.6% (95% CI: 13.3%-40.0%) in Kinshasa, 20.3% (95% CI: 8.0%-32.7%) in Denpasar, 6.9% (95% CI: -4.7% to 17.9%) in Semarang, and 24.2% (95% CI: 21.5%-27.0%) in Blantyre. We detected the impact of COVID-19 on food insufficiency was modified by gender, family wealth, caregiver type, and neighborhood safety in Blantyre. Food insufficiency during the pandemic was consistently associated with affordability challenges and positively linked to perceptions of anger toward distancing rules in three Asian sites.

DISCUSSION

This study reveals the increased trends of food insufficiency among adolescents living in urban poor settings following the onset of COVID-19. It expands our understanding of community factors associated with adolescent food insufficiency in Asia and Africa. Comprehensive strategies are needed to tackle economic and community disparities for adolescents at risk of food insufficiency.

Stepwise degradation of organic matters driven by microbial interactions in China΄s coastal wetlands: Evidence from carbon isotope analysis

The microbial "unseen majority" as drivers of carbon cycle represent a significant source of uncertain climate change. To comprehend the resilience of life forms on Earth to climate change, it is crucial to incorporate knowledge of intricate microbial interactions and their impact to carbon transformation. Combined with carbon stable isotope analysis and high-throughput sequencing technology, the underlying mechanism of microbial interactions for organic carbon degradation has been elucidated. Niche differentiation enabled archaea to coexist with bacteria mainly in a cooperative manner. Bacteria composed of specialists preferred to degrade lighter carbon, while archaea were capable of utilizing heavier carbon. Microbial resource-dependent interactions drove stepwise degradation of organic matter. Bacterial cooperation directly facilitated the degradation of algae-dominated particulate organic carbon, while competitive feeding of archaea caused by resource scarcity significantly promoted the mineralization of heavier particulate organic carbon and then the release of dissolved inorganic carbon. Meanwhile, archaea functioned as a primary decomposer and collaborated with bacteria in the gradual degradation of dissolved organic carbon. This study emphasized microbial interactions driving carbon cycle and provided new perspectives for incorporating microorganisms into carbon biogeochemical models.