Managing Migrationin Southern Africa: Tools for Evaluating Local Government Responsiveness

Southern African cities are on the move. As elsewhere in the global south, populations are continuing to grow, shrink and transform in response to demographic and economic pressures (Crush et al. 2005; Potts 2009). As the foundation of government, local authorities are on the frontlines of managing the transformations of their communities in ways that provide stability and economic opportunities. Through an examination of six South African municipalities and Gaborone, Botswana’s economic and political capital, this report helps us come to terms with local governments’ responses to population mobility. This research suggests that few authorities across Southern Africa are positioned to capitalise on migration’s counter-poverty potential. This is partly due to general difficulties of grappling with structural poverty and their expanded mandates. Authorities also face specific migration-related challenges: the availability and use of data; patterns of budgeting and popular participation; and political resistance to newcomers. If addressed, these concerns would not only enable local authorities to respond more effectively to migration, but also to plan for economic development in a more strategic and sustained manner. This report provides a tool for assessing municipalities’ ability to respond and to help explain capacity variations. Our work identifies six primary indices for evaluating municipalities’ abilities and practices surrounding the management of human mobility and other population dynamics. Each of these includes a series of sub-measures for calculating aggregate and sub-area scores. While the measures outlined within are more indicative than exhaustive, they nonetheless allow for comparative analysis and point to areas for future interventions to improve local government strategies for poverty alleviation.DFI

Computer-controlled in-vitro simulation of multiple dosing regimens

The bactericidal effect of gentarrucin on Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 was investigated in a computer controlled dynamic in-vitro model, which allows the simultaneous simulation of three different dosing regimens for several days. The same total dose reduced cfu-counts of Pseudomonas aeruginosa most effectively, when administered with peak concentrations of 32 mg/l every 32 h, whereas the other dosing regimens with peak concentrations of 16 mg/l every 16 h and 8 mg/l every 8 h were distinctly less effective following the second and subsequent doses. It was shown that the use of a microcomputer facilitates the in-vitro investigation of multiple dosing regimens but counting of cfu cannot be substituted by automatic measurements of turbidity when rapid bactericidal effects occu

Measures of Anxiety in Zebrafish (Danio rerio): Dissociation of Black/White Preference and Novel Tank Test

The effects of wall color stimuli on diving, and the effects of depth stimuli on scototaxis, were assessed in zebrafish. Three groups of fish were confined to a black, a white, or a transparent tank, and tested for depth preference. Two groups of fish were confined to a deep or a shallow tank, and tested for black-white preference. As predicted, fish preferred the deep half of a split-tank over the shallow half, and preferred the black half of a black/white tank over the white half. Results indicated that the tank wall color significantly affected depth preference, with the transparent tank producing the strongest depth preference and the black tank producing the weakest preference. Tank depth, however, did not significantly affect color preference. Additionally, wall color significantly affected shuttling and immobility, while depth significantly affected shuttling and thigmotaxis. These results are consistent with previous indications that the diving response and scototaxis may reflect dissociable mechanisms of behavior. We conclude that the two tests are complementary rather than interchangeable, and that further research on the motivational systems underlying behavior in each of the two tests is needed

Self-cooling of a micro-mirror by radiation pressure

We demonstrate passive feedback cooling of a mechanical resonator based on radiation pressure forces and assisted by photothermal forces in a high-finesse optical cavity. The resonator is a free-standing high-reflectance micro-mirror (of mass m=400ng and mechanical quality factor Q=10^4) that is used as back-mirror in a detuned Fabry-Perot cavity of optical finesse F=500. We observe an increased damping in the dynamics of the mechanical oscillator by a factor of 30 and a corresponding cooling of the oscillator modes below 10 K starting from room temperature. This effect is an important ingredient for recently proposed schemes to prepare quantum entanglement of macroscopic mechanical oscillators.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, minor correction

Campylobacter jejuni strains from patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), an acute demyelinating peripheral neuropathy, may be triggered by an acute infectious illness; infection with Campylobacter jejuni is the most frequently reported antecedent event. In Japan, O:19 is the most common serotype among GBS-associated C. jejuni strains. To determine whether serotype O:19 occurs among GBS-associated strains in the United States and Europe, we serotyped seven such strains and found that two (29%) of seven GBS-associated strains from patients in the United States and Germany were serotype O:19. To determine whether GBS-associated strains may be resistant to killing by normal human serum (NHS), we studied the serum susceptibility of 17 GBS- and 27 enteritis-associated strains (including many O:19 and non-O:19 strains) using C. jejuni antibody positive (pool 1) or negative (pool 2) human serum. Using pool 1 serum we found that one (6%) of 18 serotype O:19 strains compared with 11 (42%) of 26 non-O:19 strains were killed; results using pool 2 serum were nearly identical. Finally, 8 O:19 and 8 non-O:19 strains were not significantly different in their ability to bind complement component C3. Serotype O:19 C. jejuni strains were overrepresented among GBS-associated strains in the United States and Germany and were significantly more serum-resistant than non-O:19 strains. The mechanism of this resistance appears unrelated to C3 binding

Impact of electronic reminders on venous thromboprophylaxis after admissions and transfers

Objective Clinical decision support has the potential to improve prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE). The purpose of this prospective study was to analyze the effect of electronic reminders on thromboprophylaxis rates in wards to which patients were admitted and transferred. The latter was of particular interest since patient handoffs are considered to be critical safety issues. Methods The trial involved two study periods in the six departments of a university hospital, three of which were randomly assigned to the intervention group displaying reminders during the second period. At 6 h after admission or transfer, the algorithm checked for prophylaxis orders within 0-30 h of the patient's arrival, increasing the specificity of the displayed reminders. Results The significant impact of the reminders could be seen by prophylaxis orders placed 6-24 h after admission (increasing from 8.6% (223/2579) to 12% (307/2555); p<0.0001) and transfer (increasing from 2.4% (39/1616) to 3.7% (63/1682); p=0.034). In admission wards, the rate of thromboprophylaxis increased from 62.4% to 67.7% (p<0.0001), and in transfer wards it increased from 80.2% to 84.3% (p=0.0022). Overall, the rate of prophylaxis significantly increased in the intervention group from 69.2% to 74.3% (p<0.0001). No significant changes were observed in the control group. Postponing prophylaxis checks to 6 h after admissions and transfers reduced the number of reminders by 62% and thereby minimized the risk of alert fatigue. Conclusions The reminders improved awareness of VTE prevention in both admission and transfer wards. This approach may contribute to better quality of care and safer patient handoff

Changes of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation of the past 30ka recorded in a depth transect at the Blake Outer Ridge

Oceans and climate are a tightly coupled system interacting with each other in various ways such as storage of carbon dioxide in the deep ocean. Within the global conveyor belt the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) holds a key function, transporting warm salty surface waters from the tropical to the northern Atlantic where deep water formation takes place. Following the continental rise of North America this newly formed deep water propagates southward as Western Boundary Undercurrent (WBUC) ventilating the deep Atlantic. In the past (e.g. the last glacial cycle) strength and geometry of the AMOC have changed significantly. This study aims to provide a better understanding of the temporal and spatial (also depth depended) evolution of the AMOC in the western Atlantic sector since the last glacial (∼30 ka). We have investigated four sediment cores of the Blake Outer Ridge (30°N, 74°W; ODP 1059 to 1062) in a depth transect from 3000 to 4700 m water depth in the main flow path of the WBUC. We measured four down-core profiles of neodymium (εNd) and 231Pa/230Th isotopes for the reconstruction of water mass provenance and circulation strength of the last ∼30 ka. In contrast to published Nd isotope and 231Pa/230Th records from the Blake Ridge area our records are of unprecedented resolution, resolving climate key features of the North Atlantic region: Heinrich Stadials (HS) 1 and 2, the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the Bølling-Allerød and Younger Dryas (YD). Radiogenic Nd isotope signatures during the LGM reveal AABW to be the prevalent water mass in the deep western North Atlantic. The trend to more unradiogenic signatures during the deglaciation point to an increased formation of NADW which was again replaced by AABW during YD. The Holocene shows the most unradiogenic signatures and therefore established NADW. The circulation strength-proxy 231Pa/230Th indicates reduced LGM deep circulation, a pronounced slowdown during HS1 and a strong and deep circulation during the Holocene. Compared to isotopic records from the Bermuda Rise (ODP 1063) we found depth depended geometry changes of the WBUC which have occurred through the last glacial. Here, we focus on how deep northern sourced water has reached during phases of reduced circulation (indicated by increased 231Pa/230Th ratios) and the timing of this southward progradation of lower NADW

Phenomenology of the Equivalence Principle with Light Scalars

Light scalar particles with couplings of sub-gravitational strength, which can generically be called 'dilatons', can produce violations of the equivalence principle. However, in order to understand experimental sensitivities one must know the coupling of these scalars to atomic systems. We report here on a study of the required couplings. We give a general Lagrangian with five independent dilaton parameters and calculate the "dilaton charge" of atomic systems for each of these. Two combinations are particularly important. One is due to the variations in the nuclear binding energy, with a sensitivity scaling with the atomic number as $A^{-1/3}$. The other is due to electromagnetism. We compare limits on the dilaton parameters from existing experiments.Comment: 5 page