The Economics of Groundwater Governance Institutions Around the Globe

This article provides an economic framework for understanding and evaluating groundwater governance across the globe. We provide an assessment of groundwater management along three dimensions: characteristics of the groundwater resource; externality problems; and governance institutions. We examine 10 basins located on six continents which vary in terms of intensity and type of water demand, hydrogeological properties, climate, and social and institutional traditions via an integrated assessment along three dimensions: characteristics of the groundwater resource; externality problems; and governance institutions. Our framework suggests these characteristics, along with the high cost of governance, have left many basins in a state of de facto open access. However, governance of the highest value water resources suggest that rules can emerge at relatively low costs that partially address externality problems. We identify these conditions and discuss key challenges and opportunities for additional research

Identification of oral clefts as a risk factor for hearing loss during newborn hearing screening

Objective: This study assessed whether children with oral clefts are appropriately classified as at-risk for hearing loss at the time of newborn hearing screening and describes their screening and diagnostic results. Design: Birth certificates were used to identify children with cleft lip and palate or isolated cleft palate born in Washington State from 2008–2013. These were cross-referenced with the state’s Early Hearing Detection, Diagnosis and Intervention (EHDDI) database. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine associations. Results: Birth records identified 235 children with cleft lip and palate and 116 with isolated cleft palate. Six children were listed as having both diagnoses. Only 138 (39%) of these children were designated as having a craniofacial anomaly in the EHDDI database. Children who were misclassified were less likely to have referred on initial hearing screening, OR 0.3, 95% CI [0.2, 0.5]. Misclassification of risk factor status was also associated with delayed hearing screening past 30 days of age or unknown age at screening, OR 4.4, 95% CI [1.5, 13.3], p = 0.008. Of 50 children with diagnostic results; 25 (50%) had hearing loss: 18 conductive, 2 mixed, and 5 unspecified. Conclusion: A majority of children with oral clefts were misclassified regarding risk factor for hearing loss in the EHDDI database

CD4 intragenic SNPs associate with HIV-2 plasma viral load and CD4 count in a community-based study from Guinea-Bissau, West Africa.

OBJECTIVES: The human genetics of HIV-2 infection and disease progression is understudied. Therefore, we studied the effect of variation in 2 genes that encode products critical to HIV pathogenesis and disease progression: CD4 and CD209. DESIGN: This cross-sectional study consisted of 143 HIV-2, 30 HIV-1 + HIV-2 and 29 HIV-1-infected subjects and 194 uninfected controls recruited from rural Guinea-Bissau. METHODS: We genotyped 14 CD4 and 4 CD209 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that were tested for association with HIV infection, HIV-2 plasma viral load (high vs. low), and CD4 T-cell count (high vs. low). RESULTS: The most significant association was between a CD4 haplotype rs11575097-rs10849523 and high viral load [odds ratio (OR): = 2.37, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.35 to 4.19, P = 0.001, corrected for multiple testing], suggesting increased genetic susceptibility to HIV-2 disease progression for individuals carrying the high-risk haplotype. Significant associations were also observed at a CD4 SNP (rs2255301) with HIV-2 infection (OR: = 2.36, 95% CI: 1.19 to 4.65, P = 0.01) and any HIV infection (OR: = 2.50, 95% CI: 1.34 to 4.69, P = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Our results support a role of CD4 polymorphisms in HIV-2 infection, in agreement with recent data showing that CD4 gene variants increase risk to HIV-1 in Kenyan female sex workers. These findings indicate at least some commonality in HIV-1 and HIV-2 susceptibility

A Proposal to Sequence the Genome of a Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)

Here we develop an argument in support of sequencing a garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) genome, and outline a plan to accomplish this. This snake is a common, widespread, nonvenomous North American species that has served as a model for diverse studies in evolutionary biology, physiology, genomics, behavior and coevolution. The anole lizard is currently the only genome sequence available for a non-avian reptile. Thus, the garter snake at this time would be the first available snake genome sequence and as such would provide much needed comparative representation of non-avian reptilian genomes, and would also allow critical new insights for vertebrate comparative genomic studies. We outline the major areas of discovery that the availability of the garter snake genome would enable, and describe a plan for whole-genome sequencing.Organismic and Evolutionary Biolog

Community pharmacy interventions for health promotion: effects on professional practice and health outcomes (Protocol)

This is the protocol for a review and there is no abstract. The objectives are as follows: Primary objective To assess the effectiveness of health promotion interventions in community pharmacy practice settings on pharmacy workers and pharmacy clients (including diagnosed patients) when compared to i) No treatment controls ii) Usual treatment controls iii) Other active intervention Secondary objectives To assess whether there are differences in effectiveness of health promotion interventions in community pharmacy practice settings on i) Pharmacy worker ii) Client (patient) with regard to: i) Ethnicity of patients ii) Country income level (World Bank Group 2009) iii) Extent of adverse health behaviour (defined according to national guidelines where available) iv) Type of pharmacy worker delivering the intervention (e.g. pharmacist versus pharmacist technician) v) Theoretical constructs/components and behaviour change techniques employed in the intervention vi) Costs of health car

AβA\beta alters the connectivity of olfactory neurons in the absence of amyloid plaques in vivo

The amyloid beta peptide aggregates into amyloid plaques at presymptomatic stages of Alzheimer's disease, but the temporal relationship between plaque formation and neuronal dysfunction is poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that the connectivity of the peripheral olfactory neural circuit is perturbed in mice overexpressing human APPsw (Swedish mutation) before the onset of plaques. Expression of human APPsw exclusively in olfactory sensory neurons also perturbs connectivity with associated reductions in odour-evoked gene expression and olfactory acuity. By contrast, olfactory sensory neuron axons project correctly in mice overexpressing wild-type human amyloid precursor protein throughout the brain and in mice overexpressing M671V human APP, a missense mutation that reduces amyloid beta production, exclusively in olfactory sensory neurons. Furthermore, expression of Aβ40 or Aβ42 solely in the olfactory epithelium disrupts the olfactory sensory neuron axon targeting. Our data indicate that altering the structural connectivity and function of highly plastic neural circuits is one of the pleiotropic actions of soluble human amyloid beta

Developing a strategy for the national coordinated soil moisture monitoring network

Soil moisture is a critical land surface variable, affecting a wide variety of climatological, agricultural, and hydrological processes. Determining the current soil moisture status is possible via a variety of methods, including in situ monitoring, remote sensing, and numerical modeling. Although all of these approaches are rapidly evolving, there is no cohesive strategy or framework to integrate these diverse information sources to develop and disseminate coordinated national soil moisture products that will improve our ability to understand climate variability. The National Coordinated Soil Moisture Monitoring Network initiative has developed a national strategy for network coordination with NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System. The strategy is currently in review within NOAA, and work is underway to implement the initial milestones of the strategy. This update reviews the goals and steps being taken to establish this national-scale coordination for soil moisture monitoring in the United States

Co-development and testing of an extended community pharmacy model of service delivery for managing osteoarthritis: protocol for a sequential, multi-methods study (PharmOA)

\ua9 2024, The Author(s). Background: Osteoarthritis is a common, painful and disabling long-term condition. Delivery of high-quality guideline-informed osteoarthritis care that successfully promotes and maintains supported self-management is imperative. However, osteoarthritis care remains inconsistent, including under use of core non-pharmacological approaches of education, exercise and weight loss. Community pharmacies are an accessible healthcare provider. United Kingdom government initiatives are promoting their involvement in a range of long-term conditions, including musculoskeletal conditions. It is not known what an enhanced community pharmacy role for osteoarthritis care should include, what support is needed to deliver such a role, and whether it would be feasible and acceptable to community pharmacy teams. In this (PharmOA) study, we aim to address these gaps, and co-design and test an evidence-based extended community pharmacy model of service delivery for managing osteoarthritis. Methods: Informed by the Theoretical Domains Framework, Normalisation Process Theory, and the Medical Research Council (MRC) framework for developing complex interventions, we will undertake a multi-methods study involving five phases: 1. Systematic review to summarise currently available evidence on community pharmacy roles in supporting adults with osteoarthritis and other chronic (non-cancer) pain. 2. Cross-sectional surveys and one-to-one qualitative interviews with patients, healthcare professionals and pharmacy staff to explore experiences of current, and potential extended community pharmacy roles, in delivering osteoarthritis care. 3. Stakeholder co-design to: a) agree on the extended role of community pharmacies in osteoarthritis care; b) develop a model of osteoarthritis care within which the extended roles could be delivered (PharmOA model of service delivery); and c) refine existing tools to support community pharmacies to deliver extended osteoarthritis care roles (PharmOA tools). 4. Feasibility study to explore the acceptability and feasibility of the PharmOA model of service delivery and PharmOA tools to community pharmacy teams. 5. Final stakeholder workshop to: a) finalise the PharmOA model of service delivery and PharmOA tools, and b) if applicable, prioritise recommendations for its wider future implementation. Discussion: This novel study paves the way to improving access to and availability of high-quality guideline-informed, consistent care for people with osteoarthritis from within community pharmacies

‘Get yourself some nice, neat, matching box files’: research administrators and occupational identity work

To date, qualitative research into occupational groups and cultures within academia has been relatively scarce, with an almost exclusive concentration upon teaching staff within universities and colleges. This article seeks to address this lacuna and applies the interactionist concept of ‘identity work’ in order to examine one specific group to date under-researched: graduate research administrators. This occupational group is of sociological interest as many of its members appear to span the putative divide between ‘academic’ and ‘administrative’ occupational worlds within higher education. An exploratory, qualitative research project was undertaken, based upon interviews with 27 research administrators. The study analyses how research administrators utilise various forms of identity work to sustain credible occupational identities, often in the face of considerable challenge from their academic colleagues