Evaluation of distribution models for household water treatment products in Kenya

Marketing trials for ceramic filters and other HWTS products were carried out in Kenya over 16 months. Community education trainings and sales models were set up at four different sites with local entrepreneurs, Community Health Workers of the Public Health system, Community-based Organizations and staff of NGOs. Selling filters through the water utility, a community-based enterprise, was the most successful retail model, followed by sales done by Community Health Workers. Evidence showed that community-based organizations need to be equipped with adequate management and marketing skills to successfully sell products. Community education through household visits (independent of the stakeholder carrying out the activity) was an effective marketing strategy. Emotional attributes, social norms, if people think it is important to treat the water and education level had the highest influence on the frequency of household water treatment in households

Risk attribution of Campylobacter infection by age group using exposure modelling

Knowledge on the relative importance of alternative sources of human campylobacteriosis is important in order to implement effective disease prevention measures. The objective of this study was to assess the relative importance of three key exposure pathways (travelling abroad, poultry meat, pet contact) for different patient age groups in Switzerland. With a stochastic exposure model data on Campylobacter incidence for the years 2002-2007 were linked with data for the three exposure pathways and the results of a case-control study. Mean values for the population attributable fractions (PAF) over all age groups and years were 27% (95% CI 17-39) for poultry consumption, 27% (95% CI 22-32) for travelling abroad, 8% (95% CI 6-9) for pet contact and 39% (95% CI 25-50) for other risk factors. This model provided robust results when using data available for Switzerland, but the uncertainties remained high. The output of the model could be improved if more accurate input data are available to estimate the infection rate per exposure. In particular, the relatively high proportion of cases attributed to ‘other risk factors' requires further attentio

Antinociceptive and Cardiorespiratory Effects of a Single Dose of Dexmedetomidine in Laboratory Mice Subjected to Craniotomy under General Anaesthesia with Isoflurane and Carprofen or Meloxicam

Pain refinement represents an important aspect of animal welfare in laboratory animals. Refining analgesia regimens in mice undergoing craniotomy has been sparsely investigated. Here, we sought to investigate the effect of dexmedetomidine in combination with other analgesic drugs on intraoperative anti-nociceptive effects and cardiorespiratory stability. All mice were anaesthetised with isoflurane and received local lidocaine infiltration at the surgical site. Mice were randomised into treatment groups consisting of either carprofen 5 mg kg−1 or meloxicam 5 mg kg−1 with or without dexmedetomidine 0.1 mg kg−1 administered subcutaneously. Intra-anaesthetic heart rates, breathing rates, isoflurane requirements, and arterial oxygen saturations were continuously monitored. We found that administration of dexmedetomidine significantly improved heart and breathing rate stability during two of four noxious stimuli (skin incision and whisker stimulation) compared to non-dexmedetomidine-treated mice and lowered isoflurane requirements throughout anaesthesia by 5–6%. No significant differences were found between carprofen and meloxicam. These results demonstrate that dexmedetomidine reduces nociception and provides intra-anaesthetic haemodynamic and respiratory stability in mice. In conclusion, the addition of dexmedetomidine to anaesthetic regimes for craniotomy offers a refinement over current practice for laboratory mice

Comparing the demonstration of freedom from Trichinella infection of domestic pigs by traditional and risk-based surveillance

Traditionally, the routine artificial digestion test is applied to assess the presence of Trichinella larvae in pigs. However, this diagnostic method has a low sensitivity compared to serological tests. The results from artificial digestion tests in Switzerland were evaluated over a time period of 15 years to determine by when freedom from infection based on these data could be confirmed. Freedom was defined as a 95% probability that the prevalence of infection was below 0·0001%. Freedom was demonstrated after 12 years at the latest. A new risk-based surveillance approach was then developed based on serology. Risk-based surveillance was also assessed over 15 years, starting in 2010. It was shown that by using this design, the sample size could be reduced by at least a factor of 4 when compared with the traditional testing regimen, without lowering the level of confidence in the Trichinella-free status of the pig populatio

Zoonotic pathogens and antimicrobial resistance in ‘animal-friendly’ pig production systems in Switzerland

In a cross-sectional study, the impact of ‘animal-friendly’ housing systems on the prevalence of Salmonella species, Campylobacter species, and Yersinia enterocolitica in finishing pigs and pork was investigated. Furthermore, antimicrobial resistance patterns of isolated campylobacter strains were analysed. In faecal samples of two out of 88 fattening pig farms salmonellae were isolated. All 865 samples of pork were found to be negative. Campylobacter was isolated on 98.9 % of the farms but only from 0.2 % of the pork samples. Yersiniae were found in samples of 63.3 % of the farms and in 15.4 % of pork samples. For all three bacteria, there was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence between conventional and ‘animal-friendly’ housing systems. In ‘animal-friendly’ farms, antimicrobial resistance of campylobacter isolates to fluoroquinolones and streptomycin was significantly less frequent than in conventional farms. Furthermore, fewer isolates had resistance to three or more antimicrobials in ‘animal-friendly’ farms

Methods Used to Manage Urinary Incontinence by Older Adults in the Community

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111237/1/j.1532-5415.1989.tb05502.x.pd

Designing Digital Voting Systems for Citizens: Achieving Fairness and Legitimacy in Digital Participatory Budgeting

Digital Participatory Budgeting (PB) has become a key democratic tool for resource allocation in cities. Enabled by digital platforms, new voting input formats and aggregation have been utilised. Yet, challenges in achieving fairness and legitimacy persist. This study investigates the trade-offs in various voting and aggregation methods within digital PB. Through behavioural experiments, we identified favourable voting design combinations in terms of cognitive load, proportionality, and perceived legitimacy. The research reveals how design choices profoundly influence collective decision-making, citizen perceptions, and outcome fairness. Our findings offer actionable insights for human-computer interaction, mechanism design, and computational social choice, contributing to the development of fairer and more transparent digital PB systems and multi-winner collective decision-making process for citizens.Comment: Submitted to ACM Digital Government: Research and Practic

Relationship between use of diureticsand continence status in the elderly

Although diuretics have been implicated as a cause of urinary incontinence, no evidence has been presented prior to this report to confirm such a relationship. Our epidemiologic survey of 1,956 respondents sixty years of age and older in Washtenaw County, Michigan, revealed 24.6 percent of men and 36.9 percent of women were current users of a diuretic medication. Comparisons between users and non-users of diuretics and continence and incontinence status revealed no significant difference in the prevalence of incontinence in either gender. However, when male respondents who had cystometric examinations were analyzed, it was found that diuretic users who have uninhibited detrusor contractions (UDC) had a significantly higher prevalence of urinary incontinence (85.7%) when compared with non-users with UDC (25 %) (p = 0.009). Among men who did not have UDC, use or non-use of diuretics showed a similar relationship but did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.085). There were too few female respondents with UDC to make meaningful analysis in this group.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/29233/1/0000288.pd

Cough transmission pressure to the bladder and urethra among continent and incontinent elderly women

Although cough transmission pressures to the bladder and urethra are now being measured as part of the evaluation of an incontinent woman, there has not been a comprehensive study specifically focused among continent and incontinent non-institutionalized elderly women in order to understand the meaning of such measurements. To determine the characteristics and significance of the cough transmission pressures to the bladder and urethra, measurements were obtained from 69 continent and 100 incontinent elderly female respondents as part of an extensive urodynamic testing. Results showed that during coughing in the standing position, the increase in bladder pressure is significantly stronger among stress incontinent respondents than among continent and non-stress incontinent respondents (p = 0.0022). The increase in urethral pressure in the same group is marginally significant (p = 0.066). The mean transmission pressure ratio (urethral pressure ÷ bladder pressure) is less than 100% in all groups. They were higher among continent respondents (90%) and non-stress incontinent respondents (97%) than stress incontinent respondents (83%); however, the mean values between the 3 groups were not significantly different. The mean cough transmission pressures were significantly higher among chronic coughers than non-chronic coughers. When controlled for chronic coughing, the stress incontinent respondents have a significantly higher bladder pressure than continent and non-stress incontinent respondents. Significance of these findings in relation to the mechanisms of female geriatric incontinence are presented.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/42823/1/10715_2004_Article_BF00451858.pd