The EU Water Initiative at 15: Origins, Processes and Assessment

This article examines the activities and achievements of the European Union Water Initiative, a transnational, multi-actor partnership established in 2002 by the European Commission to support water governance reforms around the world. Two regional components of the initiative – (a) Africa and (b) Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia – are studied with a focus on their organizational structures, activities, policies and achievements. The analysis provides evidence for improved regional dialogue and cooperation in the water sector, but also points to persistent weaknesses, in particular a lack of resources, ownership and mutual understanding as to the overall aims of the Initiative

Comprendre la relation entre presque pairs : le point de vue des résidents sur une nouvelle évaluation en milieu de travail dans un contexte de garde

Background: Workplace-based assessment (WBA) is a critical component of competency-based medical education (CBME), though literature on WBA for overnight call is limited. We evaluated a WBA tool completed by supervising subspecialty trainees on paediatric residents during subspecialty overnight call, for usefulness facilitating feedback/coaching in this setting. Methods: Web-based surveys were sent to residents pre- and post-WBA tool implementation monthly for four months (August-December 2018), exploring feedback frequency, Likert-scaled opinions of tool feasibility/usefulness facilitating feedback, and qualitative experiences. Assessor comments were categorized as actionable/non-actionable. Quantitative data was summarized using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data was coded to identify themes.  Results: Total response rates averaged 41% (total 25 responses, average five respondents/12 residents on-call each month). Post-implementation (n = 16 responses), a non-sustained trend of increased Medical Expert feedback was observed. Residents were generally divided or disagreed on tool usefulness facilitating feedback and feasibility. Comments contained actionable feedback in < 10% of completed WBAs. Qualitative analysis revealed barriers to tool-facilitated coaching including: feedback quality and setting/environment, role of senior near-peer as assessor, interpersonal burden in encounters, and tool-specific issues. Conclusions: Increasing frequency of WBA tool completion is not sufficient to achieve CBME goals. Factors impacting feedback/coaching within the resident/near-peer dyad must be addressed.Contexte : Tandis que l’évaluation en milieu de travail (EMT) est une composante essentielle de l’éducation médicale fondée sur les compétences (EMFC), il y a peu de recherches sur l’EMT en contexte de garde de nuit. Nous avons étudié un formulaire d’évaluation en milieu de travail rempli par des résidents en surspécialité supervisant des résidents en pédiatrie pendant la garde de nuit en surspécialité, afin de déterminer s’il facilite la rétroaction avec coaching dans ce contexte. Méthodes : Des questionnaires en ligne ont été envoyés aux résidents avant la mise en œuvre de l’outil d’EMT et à partir de celle-ci, tous les mois pendant quatre mois (d’août à décembre 2018). Ils exploraient la fréquence des rétroactions, les opinions des participants, exprimées sur une échelle de Likert, sur le caractère pratique et l’utilité de l’outil comme facilitateur de la rétroaction et leurs expériences qualitatives. Les commentaires des évaluateurs ont été catégorisés comme étant exploitables ou non exploitables. Les données quantitatives ont été résumées à l’aide de statistiques descriptives. Les données qualitatives ont été codées pour identifier les thèmes. Résultats : Le taux de réponse total était en moyenne de 41 % (total de 25 réponses, moyenne de 5 répondants/12 résidents de garde chaque mois). Après l’introduction de l’outil (n = 16 réponses), une tendance non soutenue à l’augmentation des commentaires des experts médicaux a été observée. Les résidents étaient généralement partagés ou en désaccord quant au caractère pratique de l’outil et à sa capacité à faciliter la rétroaction. Les commentaires contenaient des informations exploitables dans moins de 10 % des EMT remplies. L’analyse qualitative a révélé les obstacles suivants au fonctionnement de l’outil comme facilitateur du coaching : la qualité des commentaires et l’environnement, le rôle du presque pair senior en tant qu’évaluateur, la tension lors des rencontres de coaching et les problèmes spécifiques à l’outil. Conclusion : Pour atteindre les objectifs de l’EMFC, il ne suffit pas de remplir plus souvent l’outil d’EMT. Les facteurs qui influencent la rétroaction avec coaching au sein de la dyade résident-presque pair doivent également être pris en compte

Mathematical modelling of the interaction between cancer cells and an oncolytic virus: insights into the effects of treatment protocols

Oncolytic virotherapy is an experimental cancer treatment that uses genetically engineered viruses to target and kill cancer cells. One major limitation of this treatment is that virus particles are rapidly cleared by the immune system, preventing them from arriving at the tumour site. To improve virus survival and infectivity modified virus particles with the polymer polyethylene glycol (PEG) and the monoclonal antibody herceptin. While PEG modification appeared to improve plasma retention and initial infectivity it also increased the virus particle arrival time. We derive a mathematical model that describes the interaction between tumour cells and an oncolytic virus. We tune our model to represent the experimental data by Kim et al. (2011) and obtain optimised parameters. Our model provides a platform from which predictions may be made about the response of cancer growth to other treatment protocols beyond those in the experiments. Through model simulations we find that the treatment protocol affects the outcome dramatically. We quantify the effects of dosage strategy as a function of tumour cell replication and tumour carrying capacity on the outcome of oncolytic virotherapy as a treatment. The relative significance of the modification of the virus and the crucial role it plays in optimising treatment efficacy is explored.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure

Making sense together: The role of scientists in the coproduction of knowledge for policy making

New forms of knowledge production that actively engage in different types of knowledge in participatory settings have emerged in the last two decades as ‘the right thing to do’. However, the role scientists play in facilitating these processes remains unclear. This article contributes to calls for more deliberate and critical engagement between scholarship and practice of the co-production of knowledge by constructing and testing a conceptual framework based on the literature outlining specific task for scientists in co-production processes. This framework is used to analyze the co-production of knowledge for local food security policy in South Africa, based on documentary analysis and in-depth interviews with scientists, policy makers and stakeholders. It shows that the tasks set out in the conceptual framework provide a useful lens for unpacking, and so better understanding, the role played by scientists in knowledge co-production. Applying the framework also helps to uncover insights into proximate outcomes of co-production, such as increased capacity and power redistribution, as well as critical contextual factors, such as the type of policy problem and the prevailing governance framing. The article concludes that more nuanced and critical understanding of the role of scientists in the co-production process will help over-come the apparent paradox that, although co-production is a ‘buzz word’, researchers often they still adhere to objective and linear knowledge production

Regulatory Impact Assessment: A survey of selected developing and emerging economies

Regulatory impact assessment (RIA) involves a systematic appraisal of the social, economic and environmental impacts of proposed regulations and other kinds of policy instruments before they are adopted. A vast amount of academic literature in the last decade has charted the diffusion of RIA in OECD countries and EU member states. However, relatively little is known about the extent to which RIA has been adopted and implemented in developing countries. The last research attempting to shed light on this issue over a decade ago found that a number of were beginning to apply some form of regulatory assessment but that its development was at an early stage. Since then RIA has become almost universally adopted in OECD and EU member states as well as promoted as a tool for good (regulatory) governance in developing countries by international donors and organizations such as OECD, the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group (IFC). What, then, is the extent of RIA adoption and implementation in these countries today? This working paper addresses this question through a survey of RIA in 14 developing and emerging economies based on documentary analysis as well as semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders. The survey explores topics such as the legal and institutional framework of RIA, organizational capacity, and use of tools and methods (e.g. Cost Benefit Analysis). The results suggest that while an increasing number of developing countries have made efforts to introduce RIA in their decision making processes, these efforts have not yet led to a sustainable RIA system which significantly contributes to the good regulatory governance of these countries

An Observationally-Derived Kick Distribution for Neutron Stars in Binary Systems

Understanding the natal kicks received by neutron stars (NSs) during formation is a critical component of modelling the evolution of massive binaries. Natal kicks are an integral input parameter for population synthesis codes, and have implications for the formation of double NS systems and their subsequent merger rates. However, many of the standard observational kick distributions that are used are obtained from samples created only from isolated NSs. Kick distributions derived in this way overestimate the intrinsic NS kick distribution. For NSs in binaries, we can only directly estimate the effect of the natal kick on the binary system, instead of the natal kick received by the NS itself. Here, for the first time, we present a binary kick distribution for NSs with low-mass companions. We compile a catalogue of 145 NSs in low-mass binaries with the best available constraints on proper motion, distance, and systemic radial velocity. For each binary, we use a three-dimensional approach to estimate its binary kick. We discuss the implications of these kicks on system formation, and provide a parametric model for the overall binary kick distribution, for use in future theoretical modelling work. We compare our results with other work on isolated NSs and NSs in binaries, finding that the NS kick distributions fit using only isolated pulsars underestimate the fraction of NSs that receive low kicks. We discuss the implications of our results on modelling double NS systems, and provide suggestions on how to use our results in future theoretical works.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 28 pages, 19 figures, 8 table

The Role of Platelet Factor 4 in Local and Remote Tissue Damage in a Mouse Model of Mesenteric Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury

The robust inflammatory response that occurs during ischemia reperfusion (IR) injury recruits factors from both the innate and adaptive immune systems. However the contribution of platelets and their products such as Platelet Factor 4 (PF4; CXCL4), during the pathogenesis of IR injury has not been thoroughly investigated. We show that a deficiency in PF4 protects mice from local and remote tissue damage after 30 minutes of mesenteric ischemia and 3 hours of reperfusion in PF4-/- mice compared to control B6 mice. This protection was independent from Ig or complement deposition in the tissues. However, neutrophil and monocyte infiltration were decreased in the lungs of PF4-/- mice compared with B6 control mice. Platelet-depleted B6 mice transfused with platelets from PF4-/- mice displayed reduced tissue damage compared with controls. In contrast, transfusion of B6 platelets into platelet depleted PF4-/- mice reconstituted damage in both intestine and lung tissues. We also show that PF4 may modulate the release of IgA. Interestingly, we show that PF4 expression on intestinal epithelial cells is increased after IR at both the mRNA and protein levels. In conclusion, these findings demonstrate that may PF4 represent an important mediator of local and remote tissue damage