464 research outputs found
Aspirin and glyceryl trinitrate effects on polyamine uptake and smooth muscle cell growth
This paper looks at aspirin and glyceryl trinitrate effects on polyamine uptake and smooth muscle cell growt
Stakeholder narratives on trypanosomiasis, their effect on policy and the scope for One Health
Background
This paper explores the framings of trypanosomiasis, a widespread and potentially fatal zoonotic disease transmitted by tsetse flies (Glossina species) affecting both humans and livestock. This is a country case study focusing on the political economy of knowledge in Zambia. It is a pertinent time to examine this issue as human population growth and other factors have led to migration into tsetse-inhabited areas with little historical influence from livestock. Disease transmission in new human-wildlife interfaces such as these is a greater risk, and opinions on the best way to manage this are deeply divided.
Methods
A qualitative case study method was used to examine the narratives on trypanosomiasis in the Zambian policy context through a series of key informant interviews. Interviewees included key actors from international organisations, research organisations and local activists from a variety of perspectives acknowledging the need to explore the relationships between the human, animal and environmental sectors.
Principal Findings
Diverse framings are held by key actors looking from, variously, the perspectives of wildlife and environmental protection, agricultural development, poverty alleviation, and veterinary and public health. From these viewpoints, four narratives about trypanosomiasis policy were identified, focused around four different beliefs: that trypanosomiasis is protecting the environment, is causing poverty, is not a major problem, and finally, that it is a Zambian rather than international issue to contend with. Within these narratives there are also conflicting views on the best control methods to use and different reasoning behind the pathways of response. These are based on apparently incompatible priorities of people, land, animals, the economy and the environment. The extent to which a One Health approach has been embraced and the potential usefulness of this as a way of reconciling the aims of these framings and narratives is considered throughout the paper.
Conclusions/Significance
While there has historically been a lack of One Health working in this context, the complex, interacting factors that impact the disease show the need for cross-sector, interdisciplinary decision making to stop rival narratives leading to competing actions. Additional recommendations include implementing: surveillance to assess under-reporting of disease and consequential under-estimation of disease risk; evidence-based decision making; increased and structurally managed funding across countries; and focus on interactions between disease drivers, disease incidence at the community level, and poverty and equity impacts
The mental health of university students in the United Kingdom
There are increasing concerns globally about the mental health of students (Kadison,& Digeronimo, 2004). In the UK, the actual incidence of mental disturbance is unknown, although university counselling services report increased referrals (Association of University & College Counselling, 2011). This study assesses the levels of mental illness in undergraduate students to examine whether widening participation in education has resulted in increases as hypothesized by the UK Royal College of Psychiatrists (2003, 2011). Patterns of disturbance across years are compared to identify where problems arise. Students (N = 1197) completed the General Health Questionnaire-28 either on day one at university or midway through the academic year for first, second and third year students. Rates of mental illness in students equalled those of the general population but only 5.1% were currently receiving treatment. Second year students reported the most significant increases in psychiatric symptoms. Factors contributing to the problem are discussed
Groups and individuals: conformity and diversity in the performance of gendered identities
The nature and role of social groups is a central tension in sociology. On the one hand, the idea of a group enables sociologists to locate and describe individuals in terms of characteristics that are shared with others. On the other, emphasizing the fluidity of categories such as gender or ethnicity undermines their legitimacy as ways of classifying people and, by extension, the legitimacy of categorization as a goal of sociological research. In this paper, we use a new research method known as the Imitation Game to defend the social group as a sociological concept. We show that, despite the diversity of practices that may be consistent with selfâidentified membership of a group, there are also shared normative expectations â typically narrower in nature than the diversity displayed by individual group members â that shape the ways in which category membership can be discussed with, and performed to, others. Two claims follow from this. First, the Imitation Game provides a way of simultaneously revealing both the diversity and âgroupishnessâ of social groups. Second, that the social group, in the quasiâDurkheimian sense of something that transcends the individual, remains an important concept for sociology
Formation of superdense hadronic matter in high energy heavy-ion collisions
We present the detail of a newly developed relativistic transport model (ART
1.0) for high energy heavy-ion collisions. Using this model, we first study the
general collision dynamics between heavy ions at the AGS energies. We then show
that in central collisions there exists a large volume of sufficiently
long-lived superdense hadronic matter whose local baryon and energy densities
exceed the critical densities for the hadronic matter to quark-gluon plasma
transition. The size and lifetime of this matter are found to depend strongly
on the equation of state. We also investigate the degree and time scale of
thermalization as well as the radial flow during the expansion of the
superdense hadronic matter. The flow velocity profile and the temperature of
the hadronic matter at freeze-out are extracted. The transverse momentum and
rapidity distributions of protons, pions and kaons calculated with and without
the mean field are compared with each other and also with the preliminary data
from the E866/E802 collaboration to search for experimental observables that
are sensitive to the equation of state. It is found that these inclusive,
single particle observables depend weakly on the equation of state. The
difference between results obtained with and without the nuclear mean field is
only about 20\%. The baryon transverse collective flow in the reaction plane is
also analyzed. It is shown that both the flow parameter and the strength of the
``bounce-off'' effect are very sensitive to the equation of state. In
particular, a soft equation of state with a compressibility of 200 MeV results
in an increase of the flow parameter by a factor of 2.5 compared to the cascade
case without the mean field. This large effect makes it possible to distinguish
the predictions from different theoretical models and to detect the signaturesComment: 55 pages, latex, + 39 figures available upon reques
Everything you ever wanted to know about sweetpotato, Topic 4: Nutrition and orange-fleshed sweetpotato
Spatial rigid-multi-body systems with lubricated spherical clearance joints : modeling and simulation
The dynamic modeling and simulation of spatial rigid-multi-body systems with lubricated spherical joints is the main purpose of the present work. This issue is of paramount importance in the analysis and design of realistic multibody mechanical systems undergoing spatial motion. When the spherical clearance joint is modeled as dry contact; i.e., when there is no lubricant between the mechanical elements which constitute the joint, a body-to-body (typically metal-to-metal) contact takes place. The joint reaction forces in this case are evaluated through a Hertzian-based contact law. A hysteretic damping factor is included in the dry contact force model to account for the energy dissipation during the contact process. The presence of a fluid lubricant avoids the direct metal-to-metal contact. In this situation, the squeeze film action, due to the relative approaching motion between the mechanical joint elements, is considered utilizing the lubrication theory associated with the spherical bearings. In both cases, the intra-joint reaction forces are evaluated as functions of the geometrical, kinematical and physical characteristics of the spherical joint. These forces are then incorporated into a standard formulation of the systemâs governing equations of motion as generalized external forces. A spatial four bar mechanism that includes a spherical clearance joint is considered here as example. The computational simulations are carried out with and without the fluid lubricant, and the results are compared with those obtained when the system is modeled with perfect joints only. From the general results it is observed that the systemâs performance with lubricant effect presents fewer peaks in the kinematic and dynamic outputs, when compared with those from the dry contact joint model.Fundação para a CiĂȘncia e a Tecnologia (FCT
Dissolution profile evaluation of solid pharmaceutical forms containing chloramphenicol marketed in Brazil
Archiving primary data: solutions for long-term studies
The recent trend for journals to require open access to primary data included in publications has been embraced by many biologists, but has caused apprehension amongst researchers engaged in long-term ecological and evolutionary studies. A worldwide survey of 73 principal investigators (Pls) with long-term studies revealed positive attitudes towards sharing data with the agreement or involvement of the PI, and 93% of PIs have historically shared data. Only 8% were in favor of uncontrolled, open access to primary data while 63% expressed serious concern. We present here their viewpoint on an issue that can have non-trivial scientific consequences. We discuss potential costs of public data archiving and provide possible solutions to meet the needs of journals and researchers
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