Dynamic conductivity of semiconducting manganites approaching the metal-insulator transition

We report the frequency-dependent conductivity of the manganite system La1-xSrxMnO3 (x <= 0.2) when approaching the metal-insulator transition from the insulating side. Results from low-frequency dielectric measurements are combined with spectra in the infrared region. For low doping levels the behavior is dominated by hopping transport of localized charge carriers at low frequencies and by phononic and electronic excitations in the infrared region. For the higher Sr contents the approach of the metallic state is accompanied by the successive suppression of the hopping contribution at low frequencies and by the development of polaronic excitations in the infrared region, which finally become superimposed by a strong Drude contribution in the fully metallic state.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Effectiveness of a home-environmental intervention package and an early child development intervention on child health and development in high-altitude rural communities in the Peruvian Andes: a cluster-randomised controlled trial

Unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation and hygiene, exposure to household air pollution and low cognitive and socio-emotional stimulation are risk factors affecting children in low- and middle-income countries. We implemented an integrated home-environmental intervention package (IHIP), comprising a kitchen sink, hygiene education and a certified improved biomass cookstove, and an early child development (ECD) programme to improve children´s health and developmental outcomes in the rural high-altitude Andes of Peru

Metabolic syndrome in rural Peruvian adults living at high altitudes using different cookstoves

This study determined the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in open fire stoves and improved cookstoves users (ICS) in the rural Peruvian Andes. Participants answered a socioeconomic questionnaire, one 24-hour food recall and underwent a physical examination. We analysed data from 385 participants, 190 (112 women and 78 men) were ICS users and 195 (123 women and 72 men) were open fire stove users. The prevalence of MetS was 21.3, 26.4% in women and 13.3% in men. We found no statistically significant association between the type of cookstove and MetS. Body mass index and altitude were important determinants of MetS. Research on cardiometabolic diseases and open fire stove use contributes to understanding the effect of household air pollution on health in high altitude populations

Improving household air, drinking water and hygiene in rural Peru : a community-randomized-controlled trial of an integrated environmental home-based intervention package to improve child health

Diarrhoea and acute lower respiratory infections are leading causes of childhood morbidity and mortality, which can be prevented by simple low-cost interventions. Integrated strategies can provide additional benefits by addressing multiple health burdens simultaneously.; We conducted a community-randomized-controlled trial in 51 rural communities in Peru to evaluate whether an environmental home-based intervention package, consisting of improved solid-fuel stoves, kitchen sinks, solar disinfection of drinking water and hygiene promotion, reduces lower respiratory infections, diarrhoeal disease and improves growth in children younger than 36 months. The attention control group received an early child stimulation programme.; We recorded 24 647 child-days of observation from 250 households in the intervention and 253 in the attention control group during 12-month follow-up. Mean diarrhoea incidence was 2.8 episodes per child-year in the intervention compared with 3.1 episodes in the control arm. This corresponds to a relative rate of 0.78 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.58-1.05] for diarrhoea incidence and an odds ratio of 0.71 (95% CI: 0.47-1.06) for diarrhoea prevalence. No effects on acute lower respiratory infections or children's growth rates were observed.; Combined home-based environmental interventions slightly reduced childhood diarrhoea, but the confidence interval included unity. Effects on growth and respiratory outcomes were not observed, despite high user compliance of the interventions. The absent effect on respiratory health might be due to insufficient household air quality improvements of the improved stoves and additional time needed to achieve attitudinal and behaviour change when providing composite interventions

Polaronic excitations in CMR manganite films

In the colossal magnetoresistance manganites polarons have been proposed as the charge carrier state which localizes across the metal-insulator transition. The character of the polarons is still under debate. We present an assessment of measurements which identify polarons in the metallic state of La{2/3}Sr{1/3}MnO{3} (LSMO) and La{2/3}Ca{1/3}MnO{3} (LCMO) thin films. We focus on optical spectroscopy in these films which displays a pronounced resonance in the mid-infrared. The temperature dependent resonance has been previously assigned to polaron excitations. These polaronic resonances are qualitatively distinct in LSMO and LCMO and we discuss large and small polaron scenarios which have been proposed so far. There is evidence for a large polaron excitation in LSMO and small polarons in LCMO. These scenarios are examined with respect to further experimental probes, specifically charge carrier mobility (Hall-effect measurements) and high-temperature dc-resistivity.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figure

Household-level risk factors for water contamination and antimicrobial resistance in drinking water among households with children under 5 in rural San Marcos, Cajamarca, Peru

Household water contamination at point of use depends on human, animal and environmental factors embodying all aspects of a One Health approach. This study investigated the association between household factors, the presence of thermotolerant coliform, and the presence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in drinking water among 314 households with children under 5 in Cajamarca, Peru. This study analysed data from a baseline sampling of a randomized controlled trial, including household surveys covering household water management and factors such as household animals, as well as microbiological data from samples collected from drinking water. Data were analysed using generalized linear models. Drinking water samples collected from narrow-mouthed containers were less likely to be contaminated than samples collected from the faucet (OR = 0.55, p = 0.030) or wide mouthed containers. The presence of thermotolerant coliform was associated with owning farm birds, which increased the proportion of contamination from 42.2% to 59.1% (OR = 1.98, p = 0.017) and with animal waste observed in the kitchen area, which increased the prevalence of contamination from 51.4% to 65.6% (OR = 1.80, p = 0.024). Resistance to any antibiotic was higher among pig owners at 60%, relative to non-pig owners at 36.4% (OR = 1.97, p = 0.012) as well as households with free-roaming animals in the kitchen area at 59.6% compared to households without free-roaming animals at 39.7% (OR = 2.24, p = 0.035). Recent child antibiotic use increased the prevalence of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole resistance among E. coli isolates to 22.3% relative to 16.7% (OR = 3.00, p = 0.037). Overall, these findings suggest that water storage in a secure container to protect from in-home contamination is likely to be important in providing safe drinking water at point of use. In addition, transmission of thermotolerant coliform and AMR between domestic animals and human drinking water supplies is likely. Further research should explore transmission pathways and methods to support safe drinking water access in multi-species households

Direct observations of a surface eigenmode of the dayside magnetopause

The abrupt boundary between a magnetosphere and the surrounding plasma, the magnetopause, has long been known to support surface waves. It was proposed that impulses acting on the boundary might lead to a trapping of these waves on the dayside by the ionosphere, resulting in a standing wave or eigenmode of the magnetopause surface. No direct observational evidence of this has been found to date and searches for indirect evidence have proved inconclusive, leading to speculation that this mechanism might not occur. By using fortuitous multipoint spacecraft observations during a rare isolated fast plasma jet impinging on the boundary, here we show that the resulting magnetopause motion and magnetospheric ultra-low frequency waves at well-defined frequencies are in agreement with and can only be explained by the magnetopause surface eigenmode. We therefore show through direct observations that this mechanism, which should impact upon the magnetospheric system globally, does in fact occur

Acceptance and uptake of improved biomass cookstoves in Peru: learning from system level approaches to transform large-scale cooking interventions

Improved biomass cookstoves (ICS) are cooking technologies that increase wellbeing and reduce household air pollution. With the goal of identifying factors influencing ICS acceptance and uptake at five system levels (intrapersonal, interpersonal, community, institutional, and policy), we carried out a qualitative study in three regions in Peru. We conducted 32 focus group discussions (243 ICS users) and 26 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, applying a combination of two system-level frameworks for analysis: the socio-ecological model and the ICS adoption domain. Enabling and impeding factors at each level were closely related to each other. Decisions made by policy makers - often centralised and not considering local/regional realities - strongly influenced acceptance and barriers at lower levels. ICS acceptance and uptake tended to be low when ICS users were not involved from the start. Most ICS programmes focused on stove distribution outputs, without considering community needs, such as training on ICS building, maintenance and repair, or issues related to spare part availability, which is a strong barrier to sustained uptake of ICS. Using a combination of models that allows one to examine facilitators and barriers at multiple levels, as well as the interactions of those levels, was useful in assessing potential improvements to intervention design, facilitating programme success, preventing unforeseen programme adaptations, and improving cost-effectiveness of interventions

Simultaneous traveling convection vortex events and Pc1 wave bursts at cusp latitudes observed in Arctic Canada and Svalbard

Traveling convection vortices (TCVs), which appear in ground magnetometer records at near‐cusp latitudes as solitary ~5 mHz pulses, are a signature of dynamical processes in the ion foreshock upstream of the Earth's bow shock that can stimulate transient compressions of the dayside magnetosphere. These compressions can also increase the growth rate of electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves, which appear in ground records at these same latitudes as bursts of Pc1 pulsations. In this study we have identified TCVs and simultaneous Pc1 burst events in two regions, Eastern Arctic Canada and Svalbard, using a combination of fluxgate magnetometers and search coil magnetometers in each region. By looking for the presence of TCVs and Pc1 bursts in two different sequences, we have found that the distribution of Pc1 bursts was more tightly clustered near local noon than that of TCV events, that neither TCVs nor Pc1 bursts were always associated with the other, and even when they occurred simultaneously their amplitudes showed little correlation. Magnetometer data from GOES‐12 were also used to characterize the strength of the magnetic compressions at geosynchronous orbit near the magnetic equator. Compressions > 2 nT at GOES‐12 occurred during 57% of the Canadian TCV events, but during ~85% of the simultaneous TCV/Pc1 burst events. There was again little evident correlation between TCV and GOES‐12 compression amplitudes. We have also documented unusually low EMIC wave activity during this deep solar minimum interval, and we attribute the low occurrence percentage of combined events in this study to this minimum. Key Points TCVs and Pc1 bursts often occur together in high‐latitude magnetometer data Pc1 events were more tightly clustered near local noon than TCV events Pc1 activity was unusually low during the solar activity minimum in 2008–2010.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/101826/1/jgra50604.pd

Antimicrobial resistance in humans, animals, water and household environs in rural Andean Peru: exploring dissemination pathways through the One Health lens

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global public health threat, especially for low and middle-income countries (LMIC) where the threat has not been fully identified. Our study aims to describe E. coli AMR in rural communities to expand our knowledge on AMR bacterial contamination. Specifically, we aim to identify and describe potential dissemination routes of AMR-carrying bacteria in humans (children's stools), community water sources (reservoirs and household sources), household environments (yard soil) and domestic animals of subsistence farmers in rural Andean areas. Our cross-sectional study was conducted in rural households in the region of Cajamarca, Peru. A total of 266 samples were collected. Thirty-four point six percent of reservoir water and 45% of household water source samples were positive for thermotolerant coliforms. Of the reservoir water samples, 92.8% were positive for E. coli, and 30.8% displayed resistance to at least one antibiotic, with the highest resistance to tetracycline. E. coli was found in 57.1% of the household water sources, 18.6% of these isolates were multidrug-resistant, and displayed the highest resistance to tetracycline (31.3%). Among samples from the children's drinking water source, 32.5% were positive for thermotolerant coliforms, and 57.1% of them were E. coli. One third of E. coli isolates were multidrug-resistant and displayed the highest AMR to tetracycline (41.6%) and ampicillin (25%). Thermotolerant coliforms were found in all the soil samples, 43.3% of the isolates were positive for E. coli, 34.3% of the E. coli isolates displayed AMR to at least one antibiotic, and displayed the highest AMR to tetracycline (25.7%). We determined thermotolerant coliforms in 97.5% of the child feces samples; 45.3% of them were E. coli, 15.9% displayed multidrug resistance, and displayed the highest resistance to ampicillin (34.1%). We identified thermotolerant coliforms in 67.5% of the animal feces samples. Of those, 38.7% were E. coli, and 37.7% were resistant to at least one antibiotic. For all the samples, the prevalence of resistance to at least one antibiotic in the E. coli and Klebsiella spp. isolates was almost 43% and the prevalence of MDR in the same isolates was nearly 9%, yet the latter nearly doubled (15.9%) in children's stools. Our results provide preliminary evidence for critical pathways and the interconnectedness of animal, human and environmental transmission but molecular analysis is needed to track dissemination routes properly