30 research outputs found
A participatory action research approach to strengthening health managersâ capacity at district level in Eastern Uganda
BACKGROUND: Many approaches to improving health managersâ capacity in poor countries, particularly those pursued
by external agencies, employ non-participatory approaches and often seek to circumvent (rather than strengthen)
weak public management structures. This limits opportunities for strengthening local health managersâ capacity,
improving resource utilisation and enhancing service delivery. This study explored the contribution of a participatory
action research approach to strengthening health managersâ capacity in Eastern Uganda.
METHODS: This was a qualitative study that used open-ended key informant interviews, combined with review of
meeting minutes and observations to collect data. Both inductive and deductive thematic analysis was undertaken.
The Competing Values Framework of organisational management functions guided the deductive process of analysis
and the interpretation of the findings. The framework builds on four earlier models of management and regards them
as complementary rather than conflicting, and identifies four managersâ capacities (collaborate, create, compete and
control) by categorising them along two axes, one contrasting flexibility versus control and the other internal versus
external organisational focus.
RESULTS: The findings indicate that the participatory action research approach enhanced health managersâ capacity to
collaborate with others, be creative, attain goals and review progress. The enablers included expanded interaction spaces,
encouragement of flexibility, empowerment of local managers, and the promotion of reflection and accountability. Tension
and conflict across different management functions was apparent; for example, while there was a need to collaborate,
maintaining control over processes was also needed. These tensions meant that managers needed to learn to
simultaneously draw upon and use different capacities as reflected by the Competing Values Framework in
order to maximise their effectiveness.
CONCLUSIONS: Improved health manager capacity is essential if sustained improvements in health outcomes in lowincome
countries are to be attained. The expansion of interaction spaces, encouragement of flexibility, empowerment of
local managers, and the promotion of reflection and accountability were the key means by which participatory action
research strengthened health managersâ capacity. The participatory approach to implementation therefore
created opportunities to strengthen health managersâ capacity
Abrasive, Silica Phytoliths and the Evolution of Thick Molar Enamel in Primates, with Implications for the Diet of Paranthropus boisei
Background: Primatesâincluding fossil species of apes and homininsâshow variation in their degree of molar enamel thickness, a trait long thought to reflect a diet of hard or tough foods. The early hominins demonstrated molar enamel thickness of moderate to extreme degrees, which suggested to most researchers that they ate hard foods obtained on or near the ground, such as nuts, seeds, tubers, and roots. We propose an alternative hypothesisâthat the amount of phytoliths in foods correlates with the evolution of thick molar enamel in primates, although this effect is constrained by a species â degree of folivory. Methodology/Principal Findings: From a combination of dietary data and evidence for the levels of phytoliths in plant families in the literature, we calculated the percentage of plant foods rich in phytoliths in the diets of twelve extant primates with wide variation in their molar enamel thickness. Additional dietary data from the literature provided the percentage of each primateâs diet made up of plants and of leaves. A statistical analysis of these variables showed that the amount of abrasive silica phytoliths in the diets of our sample primates correlated positively with the thickness of their molar enamel, constrained by the amount of leaves in their diet (R 2 = 0.875; p,.0006). Conclusions/Significance: The need to resist abrasion from phytoliths appears to be a key selective force behind the evolution of thick molar enamel in primates. The extreme molar enamel thickness of the teeth of the East African homini
Position paper: The potential role of optical biopsy in the study and diagnosis of environmental enteric dysfunction
Environmental enteric dysfunction (EED) is a disease of the small intestine affecting children and adults in low and middle income countries. Arising as a consequence of repeated infections, gut inflammation results in impaired intestinal absorptive and barrier function, leading to poor nutrient uptake and ultimately to stunting and other developmental limitations. Progress towards new biomarkers and interventions for EED is hampered by the practical and ethical difficulties of cross-validation with the gold standard of biopsy and histology. Optical biopsy techniques â which can provide minimally invasive or noninvasive alternatives to biopsy â could offer other routes to validation and could potentially be used as point-of-care tests among the general population. This Consensus Statement identifies and reviews the most promising candidate optical biopsy technologies for applications in EED, critically assesses them against criteria identified for successful deployment in developing world settings, and proposes further lines of enquiry. Importantly, many of the techniques discussed could also be adapted to monitor the impaired intestinal barrier in other settings such as IBD, autoimmune enteropathies, coeliac disease, graft-versus-host disease, small intestinal transplantation or critical care
Prospective longitudinal evaluation of emotional and behavioral functioning in pediatric patients with low-grade glioma treated with conformal radiation therapy
Electron conduction associated with the chemical transport of reducing elements in oxide cathode for CRT's application
In the present work, the formation of compounds associated to the diffusion of reducing elements (Mg, Al and W) to the Ni cap surface of oxide cathode has been studied by a new method. This method used two cathodes, one of them is coated and the other is uncoated, to be in an attach-contact mounted in a dummy tube. Different analytical techniques were used for this study: scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and I/V electrical measurements. After oxide cathode plus decomposited and activated, Al and Mg doping elements take place during heating to 810 degrees C (Ni-Br) under a rich controlled Ba/SrO atmosphere through an acceleration life test. It is shown that the chemical transport occurs mainly by a grain boundary mechanism with significant pile-up of Mg compounds. Al and W show a superficial concentrations and distribution. The dc electrical characteristic shows very strong rectifying behaviour through the M-S junction due to the I/V curves, particularly after 144 h acceleration life time. The characteristics are found to be reversible and reproducible, and viewed a rectification ratio (r) of 100. The calculated ideality factor shows a value of n = 9.6, which is evidenced to the tunnelling conduction. The theoretical calculation shows that the interface thickness grows to (similar to 6 mu m) after accelerated the cathode to 1896 h. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Non-graduation after comprehensive school, and early retirement but not unemployment are prominent in childhood cancer survivorsâa Finnish registry-based study
'Joined up' policy making : group decision and negotiation practice
Creating public value is problematic in a world of austerity. Joint private and public, and public-public, projects are now an established way of creating public value. Establishing joint goals within a context of different âown goalsâ is important and difficult. A particular issue facing many organisations in seeking to negotiate joint goals in a collaborative project is that of getting all the key managers from both organisations together over enough of a sequence of meetings for agreements to be meaningful and owned by those who will deliver the project. The development of such goals can be significantly enhanced by i) using a Group Decision Support System (GDSS) and ii) using a powerful conceptualisation of a goals framework comprising: a goals system; âcore goalsâ; âmeta-goalsâ; ânegativeâ goals; and âabove and beyondâ goals. In the case of negotiating joint goals the use of a GDSS has increased productivity to such an extent that powerful negotiated agreements can be achieved with all key managers in the room in as little as one meeting. The combination of high productivity, anonymity, and the structuring of the data has also facilitated the uncovering of ânegative goalsâ, and the development of âmeta-goalsâ and âabove and beyondâ goals. This paper uses three real cases to illustrate the significance of a Group Support Systemâs contribution and to illustrate the different types of goals. In doing so the paper suggests that facilitating such outcomes requires a carefully designed strategic conversation necessarily supported by a Group Decision Support System to enable group decision and negotiation in practice. Two of the cases are from public-public collaboration in the health field, and the other from a private-public setting