The development of a new accountability measurement framework and tool for global health initiatives

The Global Strategy for Women's Children's and Adolescents' Health emphasizes accountability as essential to ensure that decision-makers have the information required to meet the health needs of their populations and stresses the importance of tracking resources, results, and rights to see 'what works, what needs improvement and what requires increased attention'. However, results from accountability initiatives are mixed and there is a lack of broadly applicable, validated tools for planning, monitoring and evaluating accountability interventions. This article documents an effort to transform accountability markers-including political will, leadership and the monitor-review-act cycle-into a measurement tool that can be used prospectively or retrospectively to plan, monitor and evaluate accountability initiatives. It describes the development process behind the tool including the literature review, framework development and subsequent building of the measurement tool itself. It also examines feedback on the tool from a panel of global experts and the results of a pilot test conducted in Bauchi and Gombe states in Nigeria. The results demonstrate that the tool is an effective aid for accountability initiatives to reflect on their own progress and provides a useful structure for future planning, monitoring and evaluation. The tool can be applied and adapted to other accountability mechanisms working in global health

A Finite Element Computation of the Gravitational Radiation emitted by a Point-like object orbiting a Non-rotating Black Hole

The description of extreme-mass-ratio binary systems in the inspiral phase is a challenging problem in gravitational wave physics with significant relevance for the space interferometer LISA. The main difficulty lies in the evaluation of the effects of the small body's gravitational field on itself. To that end, an accurate computation of the perturbations produced by the small body with respect the background geometry of the large object, a massive black hole, is required. In this paper we present a new computational approach based on Finite Element Methods to solve the master equations describing perturbations of non-rotating black holes due to an orbiting point-like object. The numerical computations are carried out in the time domain by using evolution algorithms for wave-type equations. We show the accuracy of the method by comparing our calculations with previous results in the literature. Finally, we discuss the relevance of this method for achieving accurate descriptions of extreme-mass-ratio binaries.Comment: RevTeX 4. 18 pages, 8 figure

Predicting the effects of biochar on volatile petroleum hydrocarbon biodegradation and emanation from soil: a bacterial community finger-print analysis inferred modelling approach

We investigated the response of the dominant bacterial taxa in gravelly sand to the addition of biochar and/or mixtures of volatile petroleum hydrocarbons (VPHs) using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and sequencing of cut bands. Biochar addition alone had only weak effects on the soil bacterial community composition in batch study samples, while VPH addition had strong effects. Indirect effects of biochar on soil bacterial communities were apparent in column study samples, where biochar-enhanced sorption affected VPH spreading. Following VPH addition, cell abundance increased by no more than a factor of 2 and several Pseudomonas spp. became dominant in soil with and without biochar. We present a VPH fate model that considers soil bacterial biomass dynamics and a nutrient limited soil biomass carrying capacity. The model simulates an apparent lag phase before the onset of a brief period of intensive VPH biodegradation and biomass growth, which is followed by substantially slower VPH biodegradation, when nitrogen needs to be recycled between decaying and newly formed biomass. If biomass growth is limited by a factor other than the organic pollutant bioavailability, biochar amendment may enhance VPH attenuation in between a VPH source below ground and the atmosphere by reducing the risk of overloading the soil's biodegradation capacity

Interaction effects at the magnetic-field induced metal-insulator transition in Si/SiGe superlattices

A metal-insulator transition was induced by in-plane magnetic fields up to 27 T in homogeneously Sb-doped Si/SiGe superlattice structures. The localisation is not observed for perpendicular magnetic fields. A comparison with magnetoconductivity investigations in the weakly localised regime shows that the delocalising effect originates from the interaction-induced spin-triplet term in the particle-hole diffusion channel. It is expected that this term, possibly together with the singlet particle-particle contribution, is of general importance in disordered n-type Si bulk and heterostructures.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, Solid State Communications, in prin

A hysteretic multiscale formulation for nonlinear dynamic analysis of composite materials

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.A new multiscale finite element formulation is presented for nonlinear dynamic analysis of heterogeneous structures. The proposed multiscale approach utilizes the hysteretic finite element method to model the microstructure. Using the proposed computational scheme, the micro-basis functions, that are used to map the microdisplacement components to the coarse mesh, are only evaluated once and remain constant throughout the analysis procedure. This is accomplished by treating inelasticity at the micro-elemental level through properly defined hysteretic evolution equations. Two types of imposed boundary conditions are considered for the derivation of the multiscale basis functions, namely the linear and periodic boundary conditions. The validity of the proposed formulation as well as its computational efficiency are verified through illustrative numerical experiments

Geographical distribution of fertility rates in 70 low-income, lower-middle-income, and upper-middle-income countries, 2010–16: a subnational analysis of cross-sectional surveys

Background Understanding subnational variation in age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) and total fertility rates (TFRs), and geographical clustering of high fertility and its determinants in low-income and middle-income countries, is increasingly needed for geographical targeting and prioritising of policy. We aimed to identify variation in fertility rates, to describe patterns of key selected fertility determinants in areas of high fertility. Methods We did a subnational analysis of ASFRs and TFRs from the most recent publicly available and nationally representative cross-sectional Demographic and Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys collected between 2010 and 2016 for 70 low-income, lower-middle-income, and upper-middle-income countries, across 932 administrative units. We assessed the degree of global spatial autocorrelation by using Moran's I statistic and did a spatial cluster analysis using the Getis-Ord Gi* local statistic to examine the geographical clustering of fertility and key selected fertility determinants. Descriptive analysis was used to investigate the distribution of ASFRs and of selected determinants in each cluster. Findings TFR varied from below replacement (2·1 children per women) in 36 of the 932 subnational regions (mainly located in India, Myanmar, Colombia, and Armenia), to rates of 8 and higher in 14 subnational regions, located in sub-Saharan Africa and Afghanistan. Areas with high-fertility clusters were mostly associated with areas of low prevalence of women with secondary or higher education, low use of contraception, and high unmet needs for family planning, although exceptions existed. Interpretation Substantial within-country variation in the distribution of fertility rates highlights the need for tailored programmes and strategies in high-fertility cluster areas to increase the use of contraception and access to secondary education, and to reduce unmet need for family planning. Funding Wellcome Trust, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation