Integration of water, sanitation, and hygiene for the prevention and control of neglected tropical diseases: a rationale for inter-sectoral collaboration.

Improvements of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure and appropriate health-seeking behavior are necessary for achieving sustained control, elimination, or eradication of many neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Indeed, the global strategies to fight NTDs include provision of WASH, but few programs have specific WASH targets and approaches. Collaboration between disease control programs and stakeholders in WASH is a critical next step. A group of stakeholders from the NTD control, child health, and WASH sectors convened in late 2012 to discuss opportunities for, and barriers to, collaboration. The group agreed on a common vision, namely "Disease-free communities that have adequate and equitable access to water and sanitation, and that practice good hygiene." Four key areas of collaboration were identified, including (i) advocacy, policy, and communication; (ii) capacity building and training; (iii) mapping, data collection, and monitoring; and (iv) research. We discuss strategic opportunities and ways forward for enhanced collaboration between the WASH and the NTD sectors

Dissemination of Drinking Water Contamination Data to Consumers: A Systematic Review of Impact on Consumer Behaviors

Drinking water contaminated by chemicals or pathogens is a major public health threat in the developing world. Responses to this threat often require water consumers (households or communities) to improve their own management or treatment of water. One approach hypothesized to increase such positive behaviors is increasing knowledge of the risks of unsafe water through the dissemination of water contamination data. This paper reviews the evidence for this approach in changing behavior and subsequent health outcomes.A systematic review was conducted for studies where results of tests for contaminants in drinking water were disseminated to populations whose water supply posed a known health risk. Studies of any design were included where data were available from a contemporaneous comparison or control group. Using multiple sources >14,000 documents were located. Six studies met inclusion criteria (four of arsenic contamination and two of microbiological contamination). Meta-analysis was not possible in most cases due to heterogeneity of outcomes and study designs. Outcomes included water quality, change of water source, treatment of water, knowledge of contamination, and urinary arsenic. Source switching was most frequently reported: of 5 reporting studies 4 report significantly higher rates of switching (26–72%) among those who received a positive test result and a pooled risk difference was calculate for 2 studies (RD = 0.43 [CI0.4.0–0.46] 6–12 months post intervention) suggesting 43% more of those with unsafe wells switched source compared to those with safe wells. Strength of evidence is low since the comparison is between non-equivalent groups. Two studies concerning fecal contamination reported non-significant increases in point-of-use water treatment.Despite the publication of some large cohort studies and some encouraging results the evidence base to support dissemination of contamination data to improve water management is currently equivocal. Rigorous studies on this topic are needed, ideally using common outcome measures

The implications of three major new trials for the effect of water, sanitation and hygiene on childhood diarrhea and stunting: a consensus statement

BACKGROUND: Three large new trials of unprecedented scale and cost, which included novel factorial designs, have found no effect of basic water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions on childhood stunting, and only mixed effects on childhood diarrhea. Arriving at the inception of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, and the bold new target of safely managed water, sanitation and hygiene for all by 2030, these results warrant the attention of researchers, policy-makers and practitioners. MAIN BODY: Here we report the conclusions of an expert meeting convened by the World Health Organization and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to discuss these findings, and present five key consensus messages as a basis for wider discussion and debate in the WASH and nutrition sectors. We judge these trials to have high internal validity, constituting good evidence that these specific interventions had no effect on childhood linear growth, and mixed effects on childhood diarrhea. These results suggest that, in settings such as these, more comprehensive or ambitious WASH interventions may be needed to achieve a major impact on child health. CONCLUSION: These results are important because such basic interventions are often deployed in low-income rural settings with the expectation of improving child health, although this is rarely the sole justification. Our view is that these three new trials do not show that WASH in general cannot influence child linear growth, but they do demonstrate that these specific interventions had no influence in settings where stunting remains an important public health challenge. We support a call for transformative WASH, in so much as it encapsulates the guiding principle that - in any context - a comprehensive package of WASH interventions is needed that is tailored to address the local exposure landscape and enteric disease burden

Workshops of the Sixth International Brain–Computer Interface Meeting: brain–computer interfaces past, present, and future

Brain–computer interfaces (BCI) (also referred to as brain–machine interfaces; BMI) are, by definition, an interface between the human brain and a technological application. Brain activity for interpretation by the BCI can be acquired with either invasive or non-invasive methods. The key point is that the signals that are interpreted come directly from the brain, bypassing sensorimotor output channels that may or may not have impaired function. This paper provides a concise glimpse of the breadth of BCI research and development topics covered by the workshops of the 6th International Brain–Computer Interface Meeting

Synthesis of Cyclic (Ethylene Furanoate) Oligomers via Cyclodepolymerization

High molecular weight polyethylene furanoate (PEF) is a potential replacement for polyethylene terephthalate. Ring-opening-polymerization of PEF can represent a viable alternative to the classical polycondensation process, provided that a synthesis route is available to supply high purity cycles in high yields. In this work, cyclic oligomers of PEF are produced by cyclodepolymerization (CDP). Reactions are performed in different high boiling solvents and 2-methylnaphthalene (2-MN) is chosen as a favorable reaction solvent for a detailed analysis of the reaction equilibrium behavior of cyclic and linear PEF. Such equilibrium can be described by the well-known model of Jacobson and Stockmayer. The corresponding equilibrium constants are first determined by fitting a set of equilibrium data. Based on this description of the reaction, a kinetic model is then developed and validated by comparison with experimental data. Finally, selective precipitation is shortly explored as a practical purification method which, together with CDP, can enable a large scale process for the production of high purity cyclic PEF oligomers for ring-opening-polymerization

Reaction kinetics and simulations of ring-opening polymerization for the synthesis of polybutylene terephthalate

Cyclic polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) was polymerized with 2-ethylhexanoic acid tin(II) salt activated by 1-dodecanol in order to study the reaction mechanisms dominant in ring-opening polymerization (ROP) for polyester synthesis. Initiator-to-monomer content and temperatures were varied from 0.05% to 0.5% and 190 °C to 250 °C, respectively. The living-like character of ROP was confirmed by the characteristic effect of initiator content on cyclic oligomer conversion, along with the linear dependence of the number-average molecular weight upon conversion. The molecular weight distribution is mainly a function of the interplay between chain transfer and transesterification reactions. Since the PBT macrocycles appear in different sizes from 2 to 7 repeat units, each carbonyl group theoretically contributes to ring reactivity, where in this system both size-dependent and size-independent approaches to simulate propagation deliver appreciable results. The corresponding rate constants have been determined and, in contrast to other polymer systems, the proximity of these values to those of chain transfer and transesterification is significant

Finite element model for intermediate crack debonding in RC beams strengthened with externally bonded FRP reinforcement

Department of Civil and Environmental EngineeringRefereed conference pape