1,091 research outputs found
Globalization and health equity: The impact of structural adjustment programs on developing countries
Abstract Among the many drivers of health inequities, this article focuses on important, yet insufficiently understood, international-level determinants: economic globalization and the organizations that spread market-oriented policies to the developing world. One such organization is the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which provides financial assistance to countries in economic trouble in exchange for policy reforms. Through its 'structural adjustment programs,' countries around the world have liberalized and deregulated their economies. We examine how policy reforms prescribed in structural adjustment programs explain variation in health equity between nations—approximated by health system access and neonatal mortality. Our empirical analysis uses an original dataset of IMF-mandated policy reforms for a panel of up to 137 developing countries between 1980 and 2014. We employ regression analysis to evaluate the relationship between these reforms and health equity, taking into account the non-random selection and design of IMF programs. We find that structural adjustment reforms lower health system access and increase neonatal mortality. Additional analyses show that labor market reforms drive these deleterious effects. Overall, our evidence suggests that structural adjustment programs endanger the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals in developing countries
Diagnostik und Therapie der Harnleitersteinkolik
Summary: Acute ureteral colic presents with a complex of acute and characteristic flank pain that usually indicates the presence of a stone in the urinary tract. Diagnosis and management of renal colic have undergone considerable evolution and advancement in recent years. The application of noncontrast helical computed tomography (CT) in patients with suspected ureteral colic is one major advance in the primary diagnostic process. The superior sensitivity and specificity of helical CT allow ureterolithiasis to be diagnosed without the potential side effects of contrast media. Initial management is based on three key concepts: (A) rational and fast diagnostic process (B) effective pain control (C) and understanding of the impact of stone location and size on the natural course of the disease and definitive urologic management. These concepts are discussed in this review with reference to contemporary literatur
Nonanalytic behavior of the spin susceptibility in clean Fermi systems
The wavevector and temperature dependent static spin susceptibility,
\chi_s(Q,T), of clean interacting Fermi systems is considered in dimensions
1\leq d \leq 3. We show that at zero temperature \chi_s is a nonanalytic
function of |Q|, with the leading nonanalyticity being |Q|^{d-1} for 1<d<3, and
Q^2\ln|Q| for d=3. For the homogeneous spin susceptibility we find a
nonanalytic temperature dependence T^{d-1} for 1<d<3. We give qualitative
mode-mode coupling arguments to that effect, and corroborate these arguments by
a perturbative calculation to second order in the electron-electron interaction
amplitude. The implications of this, in particular for itinerant
ferromagnetism, are discussed. We also point out the relation between our
findings and established perturbative results for 1-d systems, as well as for
the temperature dependence of \chi_s(Q=0) in d=3.Comment: 12pp., REVTeX, 5 eps figures, final version as publishe
Capturing health and eating status through a nutritional perception screening questionnaire (NPSQ9) in a randomised internet-based personalised nutrition intervention : the Food4Me study
BACKGROUND: National guidelines emphasize healthy eating to promote wellbeing and prevention of non-communicable diseases. The perceived healthiness of food is determined by many factors affecting food intake. A positive perception of healthy eating has been shown to be associated with greater diet quality. Internet-based methodologies allow contact with large populations. Our present study aims to design and evaluate a short nutritional perception questionnaire, to be used as a screening tool for assessing nutritional status, and to predict an optimal level of personalisation in nutritional advice delivered via the Internet. METHODS: Data from all participants who were screened and then enrolled into the Food4Me proof-of-principle study (n = 2369) were used to determine the optimal items for inclusion in a novel screening tool, the Nutritional Perception Screening Questionnaire-9 (NPSQ9). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed on anthropometric and biochemical data and on dietary indices acquired from participants who had completed the Food4Me dietary intervention (n = 1153). Baseline and intervention data were analysed using linear regression and linear mixed regression, respectively. RESULTS: A final model with 9 NPSQ items was validated against the dietary intervention data. NPSQ9 scores were inversely associated with BMI (β = -0.181, p < 0.001) and waist circumference (Β = -0.155, p < 0.001), and positively associated with total carotenoids (β = 0.198, p < 0.001), omega-3 fatty acid index (β = 0.155, p < 0.001), Healthy Eating Index (HEI) (β = 0.299, p < 0.001) and Mediterranean Diet Score (MDS) (β = 0. 279, p < 0.001). Findings from the longitudinal intervention study showed a greater reduction in BMI and improved dietary indices among participants with lower NPSQ9 scores. CONCLUSIONS: Healthy eating perceptions and dietary habits captured by the NPSQ9 score, based on nine questionnaire items, were associated with reduced body weight and improved diet quality. Likewise, participants with a lower score achieved greater health improvements than those with higher scores, in response to personalised advice, suggesting that NPSQ9 may be used for early evaluation of nutritional status and to tailor nutritional advice. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT01530139 .Peer reviewedFinal Published versio
IR and UV Galaxies at z=0.6 -- Evolution of Dust Attenuation and Stellar Mass as Revealed by SWIRE and GALEX
We study dust attenuation and stellar mass of star-forming
galaxies using new SWIRE observations in IR and GALEX observations in UV. Two
samples are selected from the SWIRE and GALEX source catalogs in the
SWIRE/GALEX field ELAIS-N1-00 ( deg). The UV selected sample
has 600 galaxies with photometric redshift (hereafter photo-z) and NUV (corresponding to \rm L_{FUV} \geq 10^{9.6} L_\sun).
The IR selected sample contains 430 galaxies with mJy
(\rm L_{dust} \geq 10^{10.8} L_\sun) in the same photo-z range. It is found
that the mean ratios of the z=0.6 UV galaxies are
consistent with that of their z=0 counterparts of the same . For
IR galaxies, the mean ratios of the z=0.6 LIRGs (\rm
L_{dust} \sim 10^{11} L_\sun) are about a factor of 2 lower than local LIRGs,
whereas z=0.6 ULIRGs (\rm L_{dust} \sim 10^{12} L_\sun) have the same mean
ratios as their local counterparts. This is consistent
with the hypothesis that the dominant component of LIRG population has changed
from large, gas rich spirals at z to major-mergers at z=0. The stellar
mass of z=0.6 UV galaxies of \rm L_{FUV} \leq 10^{10.2} L_\sun is about a
factor 2 less than their local counterparts of the same luminosity, indicating
growth of these galaxies. The mass of z=0.6 UV lunmous galaxies (UVLGs: \rm
L_{FUV} > 10^{10.2} L_\sun) and IR selected galaxies, which are nearly
exclusively LIRGs and ULIRGs, is the same as their local counterparts.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures, to be published in the Astrophysical Journal
Supplement series dedicated to GALEX result
Disorder-Induced Depinning Transition
The competition in the pinning of a directed polymer by a columnar pin and a
background of random point impurities is investigated systematically using the
renormalization group method. With the aid of the mapping to the noisy-Burgers'
equation and the use of the mode-coupling method, the directed polymer is shown
to be marginally localized to an arbitrary weak columnar pin in 1+1 dimensions.
This weak localization effect is attributed to the existence of large scale,
nearly degenerate optimal paths of the randomly pinned directed polymer. The
critical behavior of the depinning transition above 1+1 dimensions is obtained
via an -expansion.Comment: 47 pages in revtex; postscript files of 6 figures include
Strong-Segregation Theory of Bicontinuous Phases in Block Copolymers
We compute phase diagrams for starblock copolymers in the
strong-segregation regime as a function of volume fraction , including
bicontinuous phases related to minimal surfaces (G, D, and P surfaces) as
candidate structures. We present the details of a general method to compute
free energies in the strong segregation limit, and demonstrate that the gyroid
G phase is the most nearly stable among the bicontinuous phases considered. We
explore some effects of conformational asymmetry on the topology of the phase
diagram.Comment: 14 pages, latex, 21 figures, to appear in Macromolecule
RX J2217.9--5941: A highly X-ray variable Narrow-Line Seyfert1 galaxy
We report the discovery of a highly X-ray variable AGN, RX J2217.9-5941. This
object was bright during the ROSAT All-Sky Survey (RASS), during which a
decrease in the count rate by a factor of 12 was observed. It was found to be
much fainter in follow-up HRI observations and is therefore an X-ray transient
AGN candidate. On long time scales of years, its count rate decreased by a
factor of about 30 between the RASS and the ROSAT HRI and ASCA observations in
1998. Analysis of the ASCA data, complicated by source confusion and poor
statistics, tentatively indicates a steep spectrum in the faint state. There is
no evidence for variability among 5 optical observations of the object obtained
between 1992 and 1998. We discuss the variability of RX J2217.9-5941 and its
possible X-ray transient nature.Comment: 10 pages (including 7 Figures), accepted for A&A, also available at
http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/~dgrupe/research/refereed.htm
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