Beyond the state

The Colonial Medical Service was the personnel section of the Colonial Service, employing the doctors who tended to the health of both the colonial staff and the local populations of the British Empire. Although the Service represented the pinnacle of an elite government agency, its reach in practice stretched far beyond the state, with the members of the African service collaborating, formally and informally, with a range of other non-governmental groups. This collection of essays on the Colonial Medical Service of Africa illustrates the diversity and active collaborations to be found in the untidy reality of government medical provision. The authors present important case studies covering former British colonial dependencies in Africa, including Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zanzibar. They reveal many new insights into the enactments of colonial policy and the ways in which colonial doctors negotiated the day-to-day reality during the height of imperial rule in Africa

Waterfall

In order to realize our concept, in the programming phase, we chose a wooden material as our stabilizing structure and a clear container to incapsulate the water and accurately reflect natural elements of a waterfall. Additionally we gathered faux greenery and rocks to create a lush setting for our focal point. During the schematic and design development phase, we sketched and proposed models for the overall construction. We then assembled the wooden structure with nails to provide a stable structure to support our continuation of floating wood stairs. Finally, a water pump inside the clear container of water ushered the waterfall to the top of the stairs and back into the container without assistance.https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/theoryinaction_projects2020/1004/thumbnail.jp

The impact of vitamin D status on hepcidin and iron status in premenopausal females living in Auckland, New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics, Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

Background: Iron deficiency impacts female health, potentially leading to reduced immunity, cognitive function and physical performance. Hepcidin is a hormone that regulates iron homeostasis via the iron export channel ferroportin, subsequently controlling iron absorption, export and recycling. Supplementation of vitamin D has been demonstrated to reduce hepcidin concentration via direct transcription of the hepcidin gene (HAMP gene). However, the role of vitamin D and the impact on hepcidin and iron status has yet to be fully investigated. Aim: To investigate the associations between serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D (s-25(OH)D), hepcidin and iron status in premenopausal females living in Auckland New Zealand (NZ). The secondary aim is to investigate potential determinants of vitamin D status in premenopausal females. Methods: Pre-menopausal females aged 18-45 years, living in Auckland, New Zealand (NZ) participated in this cross-sectional study. Body composition was measured using bioelectrical impedance analysis and included: height, weight and body fat %. S-25(OH)D, inflammatory (CRP and IL-6), and iron biomarkers (serum ferritin, haemoglobin, soluble transferrin receptor and hepcidin) were measured from a venous blood sample. A series of questionnaires were completed to assess demographic and lifestyle factors, including: medical history, skin colour, sun exposure and dietary iron intake. Statistical analysis was undertaken using SPSS statistics 27 for windows (IBM). Results: Of the 160 participants included in the final analysis, 60 were NZ European, 67 South Asian and 33 from ‘other’ ethnicities. South Asians had significantly higher body fat % and IL-6 concentration (38.34% and 1.66 pg·mL⁻¹ respectively) compared to NZ Europeans, (27.49% and 0.63 pg·mL⁻¹ respectively, p3.5nM) hepcidin concentrations, p=0.038. There was no significant association in the ‘other’ ethnicities and no associations between s-25(OH)D and iron status/serum ferritin. Key determinants of s-25(OH)D were ethnicity, age and body fat %. Conclusion: The positive relationship between s-25(OH)D and hepcidin concentration in the South Asian women was unexpected, although possibly explained by higher IL-6 concentration, body fat % and lower s-25(OH)D concentration identified in the South Asian ethnic group, requiring further research

Patient and public involvement in the development of clinical practice guidelines: a scoping review

OBJECTIVES: Organisations that develop clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) encourage involvement of patients and the publics in their development, however, there are no standard methodologies for doing so. To examine how CPGs report patient and public involvement (PPI), we conducted a scoping review of the evidence addressing the following four questions: (1) who are the patients and publics involved in developing the CPG?; (2) from where and how are the patients and publics recruited?; (3) at what stage in the CPG development process are the patients and publics involved? and (4) how do the patients and publics contribute their views? We also extracted data on the use of PPI reporting checklists by the included studies. DESIGN: We used the methodology developed by Arksey and O’Malley and refined by the Joanna Briggs Institute. We searched PubMed, Embase, CINAHL and PsycINFO, websites of national guideline bodies from the UK, Canada, Australia and the USA, and conducted a forward citation search. No language, date or participant demographics restrictions were applied. Data were synthesised narratively. RESULTS: We included 47 studies addressing 1 or more of the 4 questions. All included studies reported who the patient and publics involved (PPI members) were, and several studies reported PPI members from different groups. Patients were reported in 43/47 studies, advocates were reported in 22/47 studies, patients and advocates reported in 17/47 studies, and general public reported in 2/47 studies. Thirty-four studies reported from where the patients and publics were recruited, with patient groups being the most common (20/34). Stage of involvement was reported by 42/47 studies, most commonly at question identification (26/42) and draft review (18/42) stages. Forty-two studies reported how the patients contributed, most commonly via group meetings (18/42) or individual interviews. Ten studies cited or used a reporting checklist to report findings. CONCLUSIONS: Our scoping review has revealed knowledge gaps to inform future research in several ways: replication, terminology and inclusion. First, no standard approach to PPI in CPG development could be inferred from the research. Second, inconsistent terminology to describe patients and publics reduces clarity around which patients and publics have been involved in developing CPGs. Finally, the under-representation of research describing PPI in the development of screening, as opposed to treatment, CPGs warrants further attention

Indiana Probation Officer Professional Development Project: Interview Guide

This guide provides information on the design of a structured interview using behavioral based questions aligned to competencies recognized as essential to an Indiana probation officer. The guide discusses the steps involved in an interview process. It also presents a bank of behavior based questions interviewers may wish to use to evaluate candidates for Indiana Probation officer positions. It is organized scientifically to guide the hiring of the most qualified Indiana probation officers in a legally defensible manner. The intention is not to pose every question in this guide to probation officer candidates. Instead, interviewers from each Indiana County may choose the questions from each section that fits their needs.Indiana Office of Court Services (IOCS

Genetic and Neural Modularity Underlie the Evolution of Schooling Behavior in Threespine Sticklebacks

SummaryAlthough descriptions of striking diversity in animal behavior are plentiful, little is known about the mechanisms by which behaviors change and evolve between groups. To fully understand behavioral evolution, it will be necessary to identify the genetic mechanisms that mediate behavioral change in a natural context [1–3]. Genetic analysis of behavior can also reveal associations between behavior and morphological or neural phenotypes, providing insight into the proximate mechanisms that control behavior. Relatively few studies to date have successfully identified genes or genomic regions that contribute to behavioral variation among natural populations or species [2], particularly in vertebrates [4–8]. Here, we apply genetic approaches to dissect a complex social behavior that has long fascinated biologists, schooling behavior [9–13]. We performed quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis of schooling in an F2 intercross between strongly schooling marine and weakly schooling benthic sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and found that distinct genetic modules control different aspects of schooling behavior. Two key components of the behavior, tendency to school and body position when schooling, are uncorrelated in hybrids and map to different genomic regions. Our results further point to a genetic link between one behavioral component, schooling position, and variation in the neurosensory lateral line

“Bringing you the Best”: John Player & Sons, Cricket, and the Politics of Tobacco Sport Sponsorship in Britain, 1969–1986

This article explores some of the marketing strategies associated with the British tobacco industry's sponsorship of sport during the 1960s and 1970s. It focuses on the British cigarette and tobacco manufacturer John Player & Sons and the firm's pioneering initiative to sponsor one-day cricket, which began with the John Player League in 1969. The league was enormously popular and gained significant broadcast coverage, becoming an invaluable means of increasing public exposure for the company, in the context of the ban of cigarette advertising from British television. At a time when the link between smoking and disease was making headlines, John Player & Sons nimbly deflected attention away from the health issue, and instead consciously repositioned the tobacco company as a generous benefactor of the nation's sport and leisure. Less conspicuously, but even more powerfully, spokespeople for the tobacco industry actively mobilised influential opinion behind the scenes in political circles. We show particularly how Denis Howell, Minister for Sport from 1964 to 1969 and from 1974 to 1979, became a valuable ally, acting as a bulwark against more restrictive government interventions into the sponsorship of sports by the tobacco industry. This alliance exposes changing industry-government relations and presents new historical context to better understand the way British tobacco manufacturers proactively sought to elide restrictions on their advertising activities from the 1980s onward

Visions of colonial Nairobi: William Simpson, health, segregation and the problems of ordering a plural society, 1907-1921

The 1915 Simpson Report made public health recommendations for Nairobi that were heralded as ground-breaking. Of particular interest to the colonial authorities was Professor Simpson’s suggestion to racially segregate Nairobi to prevent diseases said to emanate from its Indian bazaar. Rather than being novel, this article shows that these recommendations were typical of enthusiasm for segregation in other parts of Empire, as well as being in line with earlier health reform proposals for Nairobi. Furthermore, although public health justified racially discriminatory practices for European ends, this was not a predictable story of Indians uniting against segregation and Europeans campaigning for it. Indeed, the debates stimulated by Simpson reveal some disunity amongst Kenyan Indians. Additionally, when segregation plans were dropped in 1921 Indians continued to live in their own sub-communities in Nairobi, indicating that opposition to segregation was as much a symbolic political battle than a cultural necessity