Universal health care and equity: evidence of maternal health based on an analysis of demographic and household survey data

INTRODUCTION: The drive toward universal health coverage (UHC) is central to the post 2015 agenda, and is incorporated as a target in the new Sustainable Development Goals. However, it is recognised that an equity dimension needs to be included when progress to this goal is monitored. WHO have developed a monitoring framework which proposes a target of 80 % coverage for all populations regardless of income and place of residence by 2030, and this paper examines the feasibility of this target in relation to antenatal care and skilled care at delivery.METHODOLOGY: We analyse the coverage gap between the poorest and richest groups within the population for antenatal care and presence of a skilled attendant at birth for countries grouped by overall coverage of each maternal health service. Average annual rates of improvement needed for each grouping (disaggregated by wealth quintile and urban/rural residence) to reach the goal are also calculated, alongside rates of progress over the past decades for comparative purposes.FINDINGS: Marked inequities are seen in all groups except in countries where overall coverage is high. As the monitoring framework has an absolute target countries with currently very low coverage are required to make rapid and sustained progress, in particular for the poorest and those living in rural areas. The rate of past progress will need to be accelerated markedly in most countries if the target is to be achieved, although several countries have demonstrated the rate of progress required is feasible both for the population as a whole and for the poorest.CONCLUSIONS: For countries with currently low coverage the target of 80 % essential coverage for all populations will be challenging. Lessons should be drawn from countries who have achieved rapid and equitable progress in the past.<br/

Compactability and mechanical properties of cold recycled mixes prepared with different nominal maximum sizes of RAP

Financiado para publicación en acceso aberto: Universidade da Coruña/CISUG[Abstract:] The use of cold recycled asphalt mixtures (CRM) has been soaring during recent years. Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) is the main component of CRM, and despite the numerous studies on CRM, the impact of different RAP types has not been deeply studied. This study compares the volumetric and several mechanical properties of CRM prepared with RAP from two different sources and with various nominal maximum sizes (NMS). The mix design was fixed, and specimens were prepared using gyratory and impact compactors. Densities were measured before and after accelerated curing. Stiffness of CRM was investigated with Indirect Tensile Stiffness Modulus, tension–compression, and dynamic tests. Additionally, the cracking behavior was evaluated with Indirect Tensile Strength and Semi-Circular Bending tests. The particle size distribution was a key factor in the compactability of the CRMs studied. Together with temperature, the most influential factor on the studied mechanical properties was the air void content, while the differences in NMS showed no clear trends.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación; BIA2016-80317-RMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación; BES-2017-07963

Inducing Visuomotor Adaptation Using Virtual Reality Gaming with a Virtual Shift as a Treatment for Unilateral Spatial Neglect

Unilateral spatial neglect after stroke is characterized by reduced responses to stimuli on the contralesional side, causing significant impairments in self-care and safety. Conventional visuomotor adaptation (VMA) with prisms that cause a lateral shift of the visual scene can decrease neglect symptoms but is not engaging according to patients. Performing VMA within a virtual reality (VR) environment may be more engaging but has never been tested. To determine if VMA can be elicited in a VR environment, healthy subjects (n=7) underwent VMA that was elicited by either wearing prisms that caused an optical shift, or by application of a virtual shift of the hand cursor within the VR environment. A low cost VR system was developed by coupling the Kinect v2 gaming sensor to online games via the Flexible Action and Articulated Skeleton Toolkit (FAAST) software. The adaptation phase of training consisted of a reaching task in online games or in a custom target pointing program. Following the adaptation phase the optical or virtual shift was removed and participants were assessed during the initial portion of the de-adaptation phase for the presence of an after-effect on their reaching movements, with lateral reaching errors indicating the successful induction of VMA. Results show that practicing reaching in a VR environment with a virtual shift lead to a horizontal after-effect similar to conventional prism adaptation. The results demonstrate that VMA can be elicited in a VR environment and suggest that VR gaming therapy could be used to improve recovery from unilateral spatial neglect

Administration of human chorionic gonadotropin at embryo transfer induced ovulation of a first-wave dominant follicle and increased progesterone and transfer pregnancy rates

Beef Cattle Research, 2011 is known as Cattlemen’s Day, 2011Embryo transfer (ET) has become more widespread in recent years as a way to improve cattle genetics. According to the annual statistical survey of the American Embryo Transfer Association, more than 200,000 fresh and frozen bovine embryos were transferred in 2008. But despite advancements in reproductive technologies that have occurred since ET was commercialized in the 1970s, industrywide pregnancy rates are only 62.4 and 56.9% for fresh and frozen-thawed ET, respectively. Using ET helps avoid problems from failed fertilization; however, fertilization failure has been characterized as a relatively unimportant factor of pregnancy loss. Approximately 10% of pregnancy failures resulted from fertilization failure and another 10% from failed embryo development. Approximately 20 to 25% of the pregnancy loss in an ET program could be characterized as early embryonic loss

Particle Motion and Electromagnetic Fields of Rotating Compact Gravitating Objects with Gravitomagnetic Charge

The exact solution for the electromagnetic field occuring when the Kerr-Taub-NUT compact object is immersed (i) in an originally uniform magnetic field aligned along the axis of axial symmetry (ii) in dipolar magnetic field generated by current loop has been investigated. Effective potential of motion of charged test particle around Kerr-Taub-NUT gravitational source immersed in magnetic field with different values of external magnetic field and NUT parameter has been also investigated. In both cases presence of NUT parameter and magnetic field shifts stable circular orbits in the direction of the central gravitating object. Finally we find analytical solutions of Maxwell equations in the external background spacetime of a slowly rotating magnetized NUT star. The star is considered isolated and in vacuum, with monopolar configuration model for the stellar magnetic field.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, new results in section 2 added, section 3 is revised, 3 references are adde

South Atlantic passive margin evolution: a thermochronology case study from the Rio de Janeiro-Três Rios section, SE Brazil

The southeastern Brazilian passive margin records a complex post-rift evolution, with two parallel high-elevation features formed after the opening of the South Atlantic. We applied apatite fission track (AFT) and U-Th/He (AHe) low temperature thermochronology to constrain the thermo-tectonic history of the Serra do Mar escarpment in the area of Rio de Janeiro state. New AFT central ages for basement areas collected from a N-S transect orthogonal to the shoreline between the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Três Rios, range between 98.5 ± 5.3 and 54.1 ± 4.2 Ma, with mean track lengths between 12.34 ± 0.40 and 14.63 ± 0.17 μm. Uncorrected AHe ages lie between 68.1 ± 5.9 and 60.2 ± 7.3 Ma and are consistent with AFT results. Inverse thermal history models constrained by AFT and AHe data imply earliest cooling onset from the Barremian (Early Cretaceous), with steady rates more common for samples closer to coastal areas. Maximum depths of denudation are between 2.5 and 4.5 km. Published thermochronological data from adjacent areas combined with the new results shows a seemingly simpler post-rift evolution for the area, although suggesting structural control of age distribution and exhumation

Non-vanishing Magnetic Flux through the Slightly-charged Kerr Black Hole

In association with the Blanford-Znajek mechanism for rotational energy extraction from Kerr black holes, it is of some interest to explore how much of magnetic flux can actually penetrate the horizon at least in idealized situations. For completely uncharged Kerr hole case, it has been known for some time that the magnetic flux gets entirely expelled when the hole is maximally-rotating. In the mean time, it is known that when the rotating hole is immersed in an originally uniform magnetic field surrounded by an ionized interstellar medium (plasma), which is a more realistic situation, the hole accretes certain amount of electric charge. In the present work, it is demonstrated that as a result of this accretion charge small enough not to disturb the geometry, the magnetic flux through this slightly charged Kerr hole depends not only on the hole's angular momentum but on the hole's charge as well such that it never vanishes for any value of the hole's angular momentum.Comment: 33pages, 1 figure, Revtex, some comments added, typos correcte

Five Dimensional Rotating Black Hole in a Uniform Magnetic Field. The Gyromagnetic Ratio

In four dimensional general relativity, the fact that a Killing vector in a vacuum spacetime serves as a vector potential for a test Maxwell field provides one with an elegant way of describing the behaviour of electromagnetic fields near a rotating Kerr black hole immersed in a uniform magnetic field. We use a similar approach to examine the case of a five dimensional rotating black hole placed in a uniform magnetic field of configuration with bi-azimuthal symmetry, that is aligned with the angular momenta of the Myers-Perry spacetime. Assuming that the black hole may also possess a small electric charge we construct the 5-vector potential of the electromagnetic field in the Myers-Perry metric using its three commuting Killing vector fields. We show that, like its four dimensional counterparts, the five dimensional Myers-Perry black hole rotating in a uniform magnetic field produces an inductive potential difference between the event horizon and an infinitely distant surface. This potential difference is determined by a superposition of two independent Coulomb fields consistent with the two angular momenta of the black hole and two nonvanishing components of the magnetic field. We also show that a weakly charged rotating black hole in five dimensions possesses two independent magnetic dipole moments specified in terms of its electric charge, mass, and angular momentum parameters. We prove that a five dimensional weakly charged Myers-Perry black hole must have the value of the gyromagnetic ratio g=3.Comment: 23 pages, REVTEX, v2: Minor changes, v3: Minor change

Hagedorn transition and chronology protection in string theory

We conjecture chronology is protected in string theory due to the condensation of light winding strings near closed null curves. This condensation triggers a Hagedorn phase transition, whose end-point target space geometry should be chronological. Contrary to conventional arguments, chronology is protected by an infrared effect. We support this conjecture by studying strings in the O-plane orbifold, where we show that some winding string states are unstable and condense in the non-causal region of spacetime. The one-loop string partition function has infrared divergences associated to the condensation of these states.Comment: 40 pages, 11 figures. Expanded discussion on evolution of on-shell modes and added appendi

The role of a disulfide bridge in the stability and folding kinetics of Arabidopsis thaliana cytochrome c6A

Cytochrome c 6A is a eukaryotic member of the Class I cytochrome c family possessing a high structural homology with photosynthetic cytochrome c 6 from cyanobacteria, but structurally and functionally distinct through the presence of a disulfide bond and a heme mid-point redox potential of + 71 mV (vs normal hydrogen electrode). The disulfide bond is part of a loop insertion peptide that forms a cap-like structure on top of the core α-helical fold. We have investigated the contribution of the disulfide bond to thermodynamic stability and (un)folding kinetics in cytochrome c 6A from Arabidopsis thaliana by making comparison with a photosynthetic cytochrome c 6 from Phormidium laminosum and through a mutant in which the Cys residues have been replaced with Ser residues (C67/73S). We find that the disulfide bond makes a significant contribution to overall stability in both the ferric and ferrous heme states. Both cytochromes c 6A and c 6 fold rapidly at neutral pH through an on-pathway intermediate. The unfolding rate for the C67/73S variant is significantly increased indicating that the formation of this region occurs late in the folding pathway. We conclude that the disulfide bridge in cytochrome c 6A acts as a conformational restraint in both the folding intermediate and native state of the protein and that it likely serves a structural rather than a previously proposed catalytic role. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved