Tool kits for the Sustainable Management of Ghana’s Riverine Biodiversity: an Overveiw

The Darwin Initiative funded project Tool kits for the Sustainable Management of Ghana’s Riverine Biodiversity was a collaboration between the Centre for African Wetlands at the University of Ghana, various units of the University of Ghana and the Ghana Wildlife Society. The project also involved collaborators from Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo and Benin. The project aimed to address the impediments that remain for Ghana (and its neighbouring countries) in applying the Ecosystem Approach (EA) to riverine wetland management and the delivery of the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD). Priority needs were identified as taxonomic capacity building, a contemporary assessment of the status of aquatic biodiversity in Ghana, the development of practical management tools for rivers and increased engagement of stakeholders in decision-making together with an enhanced environmental awareness throughout Ghanaian society. These were addressed in this project by regional and local staff training, reporting on the current status of aquatic communities, the production of educational and taxonomic resources for a range of users, the development of a set of nested indicators of ecosystem health adapted for use at various levels, and the production of a policy document outlining the means of applying the EA in the management of Ghana’s rivers

The holistic phase model of early adult crisis

The objective of the current study was to explore the structural, temporal and experiential manifestations of crisis episodes in early adulthood, using a holistic-systemic theoretical framework. Based on an analysis of 50 interviews with individuals about a crisis episode between the ages of 25 and 35, a holistic model was developed. The model comprises four phases: (1) Locked-in, (2) Separation/Time-out, (3) Exploration and (4) Rebuilding, which in turn have characteristic features at four levels—person-in-environment, identity, motivation and affect-cognition. A crisis starts out with a commitment at work or home that has been made but is no longer desired, and this is followed by an emotionally volatile period of change as that commitment is terminated. The positive trajectory of crisis involves movement through an exploratory period towards active rebuilding of a new commitment, but ‘fast-forward’ and ‘relapse’ loops can interrupt Phases 3 and 4 and make a positive resolution of the episode less likely. The model shows conceptual links with life stage theories of emerging adulthood and early adulthood, and it extends current understandings of the transitional developmental challenges that young adults encounter

Protocol for the Foot in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis trial (FiJIA): a randomised controlled trial of an integrated foot care programme for foot problems in JIA

<b>Background</b>: Foot and ankle problems are a common but relatively neglected manifestation of juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Studies of medical and non-medical interventions have shown that clinical outcome measures can be improved. However existing data has been drawn from small non-randomised clinical studies of single interventions that appear to under-represent the adult population suffering from juvenile idiopathic arthritis. To date, no evidence of combined therapies or integrated care for juvenile idiopathic arthritis patients with foot and ankle problems exists. <b>Methods/design</b>: An exploratory phase II non-pharmacological randomised controlled trial where patients including young children, adolescents and adults with juvenile idiopathic arthritis and associated foot/ankle problems will be randomised to receive integrated podiatric care via a new foot care programme, or to receive standard podiatry care. Sixty patients (30 in each arm) including children, adolescents and adults diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis who satisfy the inclusion and exclusion criteria will be recruited from 2 outpatient centres of paediatric and adult rheumatology respectively. Participants will be randomised by process of minimisation using the Minim software package. The primary outcome measure is the foot related impairment measured by the Juvenile Arthritis Disability Index questionnaire's impairment domain at 6 and 12 months, with secondary outcomes including disease activity score, foot deformity score, active/limited foot joint counts, spatio-temporal and plantar-pressure gait parameters, health related quality of life and semi-quantitative ultrasonography score for inflammatory foot lesions. The new foot care programme will comprise rapid assessment and investigation, targeted treatment, with detailed outcome assessment and follow-up at minimum intervals of 3 months. Data will be collected at baseline, 6 months and 12 months from baseline. Intention to treat data analysis will be conducted. A full health economic evaluation will be conducted alongside the trial and will evaluate the cost effectiveness of the intervention. This will consider the cost per improvement in Juvenile Arthritis Disability Index, and cost per quality adjusted life year gained. In addition, a discrete choice experiment will elicit willingness to pay values and a cost benefit analysis will also be undertaken

Time course of airway remodelling after an acute chlorine gas exposure in mice

Accidental chlorine (Cl2) gas inhalation is a common cause of acute airway injury. However, little is known about the kinetics of airway injury and repair after Cl2 exposure. We investigated the time course of airway epithelial damage and repair in mice after a single exposure to a high concentration of Cl2 gas. Mice were exposed to 800 ppm Cl2 gas for 5 minutes and studied from 12 hrs to 10 days post-exposure. The acute injury phase after Cl2 exposure (≤ 24 hrs post-exposure) was characterized by airway epithelial cell apoptosis (increased TUNEL staining) and sloughing, elevated protein in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and a modest increase in airway responses to methacholine. The repair phase after Cl2 exposure was characterized by increased airway epithelial cell proliferation, measured by immunoreactive proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), with maximal proliferation occurring 5 days after Cl2 exposure. At 10 days after Cl2 exposure the airway smooth muscle mass was increased relative to controls, suggestive of airway smooth muscle hyperplasia and there was evidence of airway fibrosis. No increase in goblet cells occurred at any time point. We conclude that a single exposure of mice to Cl2 gas causes acute changes in lung function, including pulmonary responsiveness to methacholine challenge, associated with airway damage, followed by subsequent repair and airway remodelling

Hygiene inspections on passenger ships in Europe - an overview

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hygiene inspections on passenger ships are important for the prevention of communicable diseases. The European Union (EU) countries conduct hygiene inspections on passenger ships in order to ensure that appropriate measures have been taken to eliminate potential sources of contamination which could lead to the spread of communicable diseases. This study was implemented within the framework of the EU SHIPSAN project and it investigates the legislation applied and practices of hygiene inspections of passenger ships in the EU Member States (MS) and European Free Trade Association countries.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Two questionnaires were composed and disseminated to 28 countries. A total of 92 questionnaires were completed by competent authorities responsible for hygiene inspections (n = 48) and the creation of legislation (n = 44); response rates were 96%, and 75.9%, respectively.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Out of the 48 responding authorities responsible for hygiene inspections, a routine programme was used by 19 (39.6%) of these to conduct inspections of ships on national voyages and by 26 (54.2%) for ships on international voyages. Standardised inspection forms are used by 59.1% of the authorities. A scoring inspection system is applied by five (11.6%) of the 43 responding authorities. Environmental sampling is conducted by 84.1% of the authorities (37 out of 44). The inspection results are collected and analysed by 54.5% (24 out of 44) of the authorities, while 9 authorities (20.5%) declared that they publish the results. Inspections are conducted during outbreak investigations by 75% and 70.8% of the authorities, on ships on national and international voyages, respectively. A total of 31 (64.6%) and 39 (81.3%) authorities conducted inspections during complaint investigations on ships on international and on national voyages, respectively. Port-to-port communication between the national port authorities was reported by 35.4% (17 out of 48) of the responding authorities and 20.8% (10 out of 48) of the port authorities of other countries.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study revealed a diversity of approaches and practices in the conduct of inspections, differences in the qualifications/knowledge/experience of inspectors, the legislation applied during inspections, and the lack of communication and training among many EU countries. An integrated European inspection programme involving competent expert inspectors in each EU Member States and special training for ship hygiene delivered to crew members and inspectors would help to minimize the risk of communicable diseases. Common inspection tools at a European level for hygiene inspection practices and port-to-port communication are needed.</p

Compilation of basal metabolic and blood perfusion rates in various multi-compartment, whole-body thermoregulation models

The assignments of basal metabolic rates (BMR), basal cardiac outputs (BCO) and basal blood perfusion rates (BBPR) were compared in nine multi-compartment, whole body thermoregulation models. The data are presented at three levels of detail: total body, specific body regions and regional body tissue layers. Differences in the assignment of these quantities among the compared models increased with the level of detail, in the above order. The ranges of variability in the total body BMR was 6.5% relative to the lowest value, with a mean of 84.3±2 Watts, and in the BCO it was 8% with a mean of 4.70±0.13 l/min. The least variability among the body regions is seen in the combined torso (shoulders, thorax and abdomen: ±7.8% BMR and ±5.9% BBPR) and in the combined head (head, face, and neck: ±9.9% BMR and ±10.9% BBPR), determined by the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean. Much more variability is apparent in the extremities with the most showing in the BMR of the feet (±117%), followed by the BBPR in the arms (±61.3%). In the tissue layers, most of the bone layers were assigned zero BMR and BBPR, except in the shoulders and in the extremities that were assigned non-zero values in a number of models. The next lowest values were assigned to the fat layers, with occasional zero values. Skin basal values were invariably non-zero but involved very low values in certain models, e.g., BBPR in the feet and the hands. Muscle layers were invariably assigned high values with the highest found in the thorax, abdomen and legs. The brain, lung and viscera layers were assigned the highest of all values of both basal quantities with those of the brain layers showing rather tight ranges of variability in both basal quantities.Average basal values of the "time-seasoned" models presented in this study could be useful as a first step in future modeling efforts, subject to appropriate adjustment of values to conform to most recently available and reliable data

A mathematical and computational review of Hartree-Fock SCF methods in Quantum Chemistry

We present here a review of the fundamental topics of Hartree-Fock theory in Quantum Chemistry. From the molecular Hamiltonian, using and discussing the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, we arrive to the Hartree and Hartree-Fock equations for the electronic problem. Special emphasis is placed in the most relevant mathematical aspects of the theoretical derivation of the final equations, as well as in the results regarding the existence and uniqueness of their solutions. All Hartree-Fock versions with different spin restrictions are systematically extracted from the general case, thus providing a unifying framework. Then, the discretization of the one-electron orbitals space is reviewed and the Roothaan-Hall formalism introduced. This leads to a exposition of the basic underlying concepts related to the construction and selection of Gaussian basis sets, focusing in algorithmic efficiency issues. Finally, we close the review with a section in which the most relevant modern developments (specially those related to the design of linear-scaling methods) are commented and linked to the issues discussed. The whole work is intentionally introductory and rather self-contained, so that it may be useful for non experts that aim to use quantum chemical methods in interdisciplinary applications. Moreover, much material that is found scattered in the literature has been put together here to facilitate comprehension and to serve as a handy reference.Comment: 64 pages, 3 figures, tMPH2e.cls style file, doublesp, mathbbol and subeqn package

Social marketing and healthy eating : Findings from young people in Greece

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12208-013-0112-xGreece has high rates of obesity and non-communicable diseases owing to poor dietary choices. This research provides lessons for social marketing to tackle the severe nutrition-related problems in this country by obtaining insight into the eating behaviour of young adults aged 18–23. Also, the main behavioural theories used to inform the research are critically discussed. The research was conducted in Athens. Nine focus groups with young adults from eight educational institutions were conducted and fifty-nine participants’ views towards eating habits, healthy eating and the factors that affect their food choices were explored. The study found that the participants adopted unhealthier nutritional habits after enrolment. Motivations for healthy eating were good health, appearance and psychological consequences, while barriers included lack of time, fast-food availability and taste, peer pressure, lack of knowledge and lack of family support. Participants reported lack of supportive environments when deciding on food choices. Based on the findings, recommendations about the development of the basic 4Ps of the marketing mix, as well as of a fifth P, for Policy are proposedPeer reviewe

Lack of effect of lowering LDL cholesterol on cancer: meta-analysis of individual data from 175,000 people in 27 randomised trials of statin therapy

&lt;p&gt;Background: Statin therapy reduces the risk of occlusive vascular events, but uncertainty remains about potential effects on cancer. We sought to provide a detailed assessment of any effects on cancer of lowering LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) with a statin using individual patient records from 175,000 patients in 27 large-scale statin trials.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Methods and Findings: Individual records of 134,537 participants in 22 randomised trials of statin versus control (median duration 4.8 years) and 39,612 participants in 5 trials of more intensive versus less intensive statin therapy (median duration 5.1 years) were obtained. Reducing LDL-C with a statin for about 5 years had no effect on newly diagnosed cancer or on death from such cancers in either the trials of statin versus control (cancer incidence: 3755 [1.4% per year [py]] versus 3738 [1.4% py], RR 1.00 [95% CI 0.96-1.05]; cancer mortality: 1365 [0.5% py] versus 1358 [0.5% py], RR 1.00 [95% CI 0.93–1.08]) or in the trials of more versus less statin (cancer incidence: 1466 [1.6% py] vs 1472 [1.6% py], RR 1.00 [95% CI 0.93–1.07]; cancer mortality: 447 [0.5% py] versus 481 [0.5% py], RR 0.93 [95% CI 0.82–1.06]). Moreover, there was no evidence of any effect of reducing LDL-C with statin therapy on cancer incidence or mortality at any of 23 individual categories of sites, with increasing years of treatment, for any individual statin, or in any given subgroup. In particular, among individuals with low baseline LDL-C (&#60;2 mmol/L), there was no evidence that further LDL-C reduction (from about 1.7 to 1.3 mmol/L) increased cancer risk (381 [1.6% py] versus 408 [1.7% py]; RR 0.92 [99% CI 0.76–1.10]).&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Conclusions: In 27 randomised trials, a median of five years of statin therapy had no effect on the incidence of, or mortality from, any type of cancer (or the aggregate of all cancer).&lt;/p&gt

Impaction bone grafting of the acetabulum at hip revision using a mix of bone chips and a biphasic porous ceramic bone graft substitute: Good outcome in 43 patients followed for a mean of 2 years

Background and purpose One of the greatest problems of revision hip arthroplasty is dealing with lost bone stock. Good results have been obtained with impaction grafting of allograft bone. However, there have been problems of infection, reproducibility, antigenicity, stability, availability of bone, and cost. Thus, alternatives to allograft have been sought. BoneSave is a biphasic porous ceramic specifically designed for use in impaction grafting. BoneSave is 80% tricalcium phosphate and 20% hydroxyapatite. Previous in vitro and in vivo studies have yielded good results using mixtures of allograft and BoneSave, when compared with allograft alone. This study is the first reported human clinical trial of BoneSave in impaction grafting