Community-Led Assessment of Risk from Exposure to Mercury by Native Amerindian Wayana in Southeast Suriname

This study was a collaboration between Western public health researchers and Suriname indigenous communities. The question asked was “how can Western researchers effectively engage traditional indigenous communities in Suriname, South America, in public health research”. The approach used a combination of Participatory Action Research methods in which “Western” researchers became participating observers in an indigenous-led research initiative. The Wayana communities of Puleowime (Apetina) and Kawemhakan (Anapayke) defined a single objective: determine for themselves whether they are at risk from exposure to mercury (Hg) contamination. Community members collected hair samples for analysis. Hair samples were analyzed using a portable Hg analyzer. Individual, community and hazard quotient indices were used to quantify risk. Results showed the Wayana were at a high lifetime risk of adverse effects from exposure to Hg. This study showed that the community-led approach is an effective way Westerners can engage indigenous communities and address serious public health threats. While factors that appealed to indigenous communities were identified, obstacles inherent to Western research methodology were also encountered

Bureaucratic politics: blind spots and opportunities in political science

Bureaucracy is everywhere. Unelected bureaucrats are a key link between government and citizens, between policy and implementation. Bureaucratic politics constitutes a growing share of research in political science. But the way bureaucracy is studied varies widely, permitting theoretical and empirical blind spots as well as opportunities for innovation. Scholars of American politics tend to focus on bureaucratic policy making at the national level, while comparativists often home in on local implementation by street-level bureaucrats. Data availability and professional incentives have reinforced these subfield-specific blind spots over time.We highlight these divides in three prominent research areas: the selection and retention of bureaucratic personnel, oversight of bureaucratic activities, and opportunities for influence by actors external to the bureaucracy. Our survey reveals how scholars from the American and comparative politics traditions can learn from one another

Indigenous Methodology in Practice: Starting a Community-Based Research Center on the Yakama Reservation

In our paper, we examine the process, possibilities, and tensions of building a new community-based research center at a small liberal arts college on the Yakama Reservation. We view our work with the Center for Native Health & Culture as an example of human rights-based educational transformation, as our work is about honoring indigenous land, community, and values. This mission stands at odds with Western educational approaches, which typically view indigenous peoples, cultures, and well-being as a side note to frequently marginalized campus diversity initiatives. Our work to establish the new research center takes up the challenge of placing indigenous peoples’ health and culture at the center of the academic enterprise. We, as academics engaging in this work on traditional Yakama homeland, are uniquely situated to analyze and articulate this form of academic decolonization work. We draw from the interwoven liberation model proposed by Falcón and Jacob to critically examine our center’s work process and product to articulate our indigenous methodology in practice. Our indigenous methodology is guided by three principles: (a) understanding the importance of partnerships; (b) viewing our work in terms of building on existing strengths within campus and local tribal communities; (c) engaging in work that promotes a vision of academic excellence that has a “good spirit” and inspires all parties involved. We conclude by discussing some of the challenges faced in doing decolonizing work, and affirm the urgent need to further indigenize the academy

Directing the Fall of Darwin’s “Grain in the Balance”: Manipulation of Hydraulic Flushing as a Potential Control of Phytoplankton Dynamics

Foodweb interactions, such as competition for limiting resources, are inherently non-linear. Consequently, they can give rise to chaotic, or undeterminable, population dynamics. Population dynamics are not always undeterminable, however, sometimes they are quite predictable. What conditions cause one behavior to prevail over the other? Here we focus on aquatic environments, specifically plankton ecosystems, and show numerically and experimentally that when the magnitude and periodicity of hydraulic flushing and nutrient loading are large chaotic behavior, as described by chaos theory, is replaced by determinable dynamics. In other words, the system only responded to manipulation in a predictable manor when the disturbance to the system was large. It may be that management efforts aimed at maintaining ecosystem health in aquatic systems, e.g., enhancing biodiversity, controlling eutrophication, preventing harmful algal blooms, etc., may require large-scale, controlled manipulations of flushing periodicity and magnitude

Effect of Ethanol Extract of Calotropis procera Root Bark on Carbon Tetrachloride-Induced Hepatonephrotoxicity in Female Rats

Abstract Calotropis procera root is used in traditional medical practice for the treatment of various ailments. The possible hepatoprotective and nephroprotective activities of the ethanolic extract of C. procera root in female rats were investigated. Carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 ) was used to induce hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity with significant (P < 0.05) increase in the level of serum enzyme markers of hepatotoxicity and nonenzyme markers of nephrotoxicity. Administration of 150 and 300 mg/kg body weight (bw) of the ethanolic extract of C. procera root did not protect the liver and kidney from CCl 4 -induced toxicity. Pretreatment with the extract rather potentiated the toxicity induced by CCl 4 . This research result did not support the reported hepatoprotective activity of the extract. It is advised strongly that caution should be taken when ingesting alcoholic preparations of C. procera root

Is there a renoprotective value to leukodepletion during heart valve surgery? A randomized controlled trial (ROLO)

Background: Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) adversely affects outcomes after cardiac surgery. A major mediator of AKI is the activation of leukocytes through exposure to the cardiopulmonary bypass circuit. We evaluate the use of leukodepletion filters throughout bypass to protect against post-operative AKI by removing activated leukocytes during cardiac surgery. Methods: This is a single-centre, double-blind, randomized controlled trial comparing the use of leukodepletion versus a standard arterial filter throughout bypass. Elective adult patients undergoing heart valve surgery with or without concomitant procedures were investigated. The primary clinical outcome measured was the development of AKI according to the KDIGO criteria. Secondary measures included biomarkers of renal tubular damage (urinary Retinol Binding Protein and Kidney Injury Molecule-1), glomerular kidney injury (urinary Micro Albumin and serum Cystatin C) and urinary Neutrophil Gelatinase Associated Lipocalin, as well as the length of hospital stay and quality of life measures through EQ-5D-5L questionnaires. Results: The ROLO trial randomized 64 participants with a rate of recruitment higher than anticipated (57% achieved, 40% anticipated). The incidence of AKI was greater in the leukodepletion filter group (44% versus 23%, risk difference 21, 95% CI − 2 to 44%). This clinical finding was supported by biomarker levels especially by a tendency toward glomerular insult at 48 h, demonstrated by a raised serum Cystatin C (mean difference 0.11, 95% CI 0.00 to 0.23, p = 0.068) in the leukodepleted group. There was however no clear association between the incidence or severity of AKI and length of hospital stay. On average, health related quality of life returned to pre-operative levels in both groups within 3 months of surgery. Conclusions: Leukocyte depletion during cardiopulmonary bypass does not significantly reduce the incidence of AKI after valvular heart surgery. Other methods to ameliorate renal dysfunction after cardiac surgery need to be investigated. Trial registration: The trial was registered by the International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number Registry ISRCTN42121335. Registered on the 18 February 2014. The trial was run by the Bristol Clinical Trials and Evaluation Unit. This trial was financially supported by the National Institute of Health Research (Research for Patient Benefit), award ID: PB-PG-0711-25,090

Energy-transfer dynamics of high-pressure rovibrationally excited molecular H 2

The energy-transfer dynamics of high-pressure molecular H 2 gas initially prepared in the ͉X 1 ⌺ g + , v =1,J =1͘ state using stimulated Raman pumping are probed with rotational Raman scattering. A computer simulation that incorporates the effects of collision-induced vibrational energy transfer is described and used to fit the experimental Raman scattering results obtained as a function of the pump/probe delay time. The 4.78ϫ 10 −14 ± 3.85ϫ 10 −16 cm 3 s −1 molecule −1 vibrational energy-transfer rate for decay from the ͉X 1 ⌺ g + , v =1,J =1͘ state compares well with other lower-pressure studies

Evaluating the potential for the environmentally sustainable control of foot and mouth disease in Sub-Saharan Africa

Strategies to control transboundary diseases have in the past generated unintended negative consequences for both the environment and local human populations. Integrating perspectives from across disciplines, including livestock, veterinary and conservation sectors, is necessary for identifying disease control strategies that optimise environmental goods and services at the wildlife-livestock interface. Prompted by the recent development of a global strategy for the control and elimination of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), this paper seeks insight into the consequences of, and rational options for potential FMD control measures in relation to environmental, conservation and human poverty considerations in Africa. We suggest a more environmentally nuanced process of FMD control that safe-guards the integrity of wild populations and the ecosystem dynamics on which human livelihoods depend while simultaneously improving socio-economic conditions of rural people. In particular, we outline five major issues that need to be considered: 1) improved understanding of the different FMD viral strains and how they circulate between domestic and wildlife populations; 2) an appreciation for the economic value of wildlife for many African countries whose presence might preclude the country from ever achieving an FMD-free status; 3) exploring ways in which livestock production can be improved without compromising wildlife such as implementing commodity-based trading schemes; 4) introducing a participatory approach involving local farmers and the national veterinary services in the control of FMD; and 5) finally the possibility that transfrontier conservation might offer new hope of integrating decision-making at the wildlife-livestock interface