177 research outputs found
Litigation In The Consumer Interest
The identification of the consumer as a discrete party, entitled to specific legal rights, is a product of the latter half of the twentieth century. Looking back on the last four decades, one can now clearly detect a trend for special legislation protecting the interests of consumers
THE EMERGENCY FOOD ASSISTANCE SYSTEM - FINDINGS FROM THE PROVIDER SURVEY, VOLUME II: FINAL REPORT
Findings of the first comprehensive government study of the Emergency Food Assistance System (EFAS) suggest that public and private food assistance may work in tandem to provide more comprehensive food assistance than either could provide by itself. Five major types of organizations (emergency kitchens, food pantries, food banks, food rescue organizations, and emergency food organizations) operate in the EFAS. About 5,300 emergency kitchens provide more than 173 million meals a year, and 32,700 food pantries distribute about 2.9 billion pounds of food a year, which translates into roughly 2,200 million meals. Despite substantial amounts of food distributed by the system, the EFAS remains much smaller in scale than the Federal programs. This study, which was sponsored by USDAs Economic Research Service, provides detailed information about the systems operations and about each of the five types of organizations. This report presents the study results in detail. For a summary of the results, see The Emergency Food Assistance SystemFindings from the Provider Survey, Volume I: Executive Summary at http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/fanrr16-1. For more information on the survey methodology, see The Emergency Food Assistance SystemFindings from the Provider Survey, Volume III: Survey Methodology at http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/efan01008.Food pantry, emergency kitchen, food bank, food rescue organization, emergency food organization, TEFAP, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty,
An analysis of the affirmative action policies and strategies of Oostenberg Municipality
Masters in Public Administration - MPALocal authorities in the Western Cape have all initiated affirmative action policies to address past discrimination and ethnic inequalities, however ineffectual they may have been up to now. The debate arises; what kind of programme should be adopted to address
issues such as discrimination, economic and social upliftment for disadvantaged groups and individuals? Oostenberg local authority organisation in the Western Cape is a functionary in the socio-economic rejuvenation of the poverty stricken, formerly deprived
and most oppressed people of the Cape Metropolitan area. Transformation has not heralded the implementation of developmental strategies or the initiation of programmes, to address the huge inequalities that exist between black and white communities. This
study argues that Affirmative Action should address holistic transformation of disadvantaged groups and individuals, to utilise the development potential of society to it's maximurn. The racial inequalities that pervade all aspects of life in South Africa are major factors
contributing to racial hatred and civil disobedience. Apartheid has been formally eradicated from the South African Constitution, however, the vast differences between the opulent white minority and the increasing black majority is a reason for concern. Legislation has
been promulgated to ensure that all private and public sector organisation adhere to, and commit themselves to the elimination of unfair discrimination in the workplace, however no amount of legislation can assure peace and harmony in a society filled with hatred.
Affirmative action has been recognised as an agency to eradicate inequalities in income and status and to develop the human potential and ability. Those who benefit from affirmative action policies should be defined in terms of objective socio-economic principles, such as living conditions, education and income levels, to ensure that programmes target the genuinely disadvantaged. The growing feeling of
discontent in the Western Cape is cause for concern and this is fuelled by the incorrect implementation of affirmative action.
This study will utilise statistics, records, documents and interviews to obtain a detailed and descriptive analysis of strategies and policies thus far implemented in the Oostenberg Municipality. It is also the contention of this study that this organisation has applied limited policies and strategies to overcome the corrosive effects of discrimination
Effectively managing headteacher performance:final report.
This document is one of a set of reports about the study of the effective management of headteacher performance in schools in England. This report is the full report, including the executive summary; details about the framework and design of the study; a review of the international literature on performance management of senior leaders in education and related sectors; analysis of empirical data collected for the study; discussion of significant issuesarising from the analysis; and a summary of main findings and implications drawing on the analysis and review of literature.We recommend that you read all the reports to understand the research fully. These documents are available on from gov.uk. The complete set of reports includes the following: Research brief A summary of key areas for consideration by governors and those directly involved in the process of headteacher performance management. Full reportThe full report, including the executive summary; details about the framework and design of the study; a review of the international literature on performance management of senior leaders in education and related sectors; analysis of empirical data collected for the study; discussion of significant issues arising from the analysis; and a summary of main findings and implications drawing on the analysis and review of literature. Case Studies (Annexe A)Ten case studies drawn from the research to illustrate approaches to headteacher performance management in a variety of schools and school groups around England. Vignettes (Annexe B)Twelve examples of important research themes contextualised in specific school settings
Mechanism of selective benzene hydroxylation catalyzed by iron-containing zeolites
A direct, catalytic conversion of benzene to phenol would have wide-reaching economic impacts. Fe zeolites exhibit a remarkable combination of high activity and selectivity in this conversion, leading to their past implementation at the pilot plant level. There were, however, issues related to catalyst deactivation for this process. Mechanistic insight could resolve these issues, and also provide a blueprint for achieving high performance in selective oxidation catalysis. Recently, we demonstrated that the active site of selective hydrocarbon oxidation in Fe zeolites, named α-O, is an unusually reactive Fe(IV)=O species. Here, we apply advanced spectroscopic techniques to determine that the reaction of this Fe(IV)=O intermediate with benzene in fact regenerates the reduced Fe(II) active site, enabling catalytic turnover. At the same time, a small fraction of Fe(III)-phenolate poisoned active sites form, defining a mechanism for catalyst deactivation. Density-functional theory calculations provide further insight into the experimentally defined mechanism. The extreme reactivity of α-O significantly tunes down (eliminates) the rate-limiting barrier for aromatic hydroxylation, leading to a diffusion-limited reaction coordinate. This favors hydroxylation of the rapidly diffusing benzene substrate over the slowly diffusing (but more reactive) oxygenated product, thereby enhancing selectivity. This defines a mechanism to simultaneously attain high activity (conversion) and selectivity, enabling the efficient oxidative upgrading of inert hydrocarbon substrates
Prevalence and risk factors of latent Tuberculosis among adolescents in rural Eastern Uganda
Background: Latent Tuberculosis treatment is a key tuberculosis control
intervention. Adolescents are a high risk group that is not routinely
treated in low income countries. Knowledge of latent Tuberculosis (TB)
burden among adolescents may influence policy. Objectives: We
determined the prevalence and risk factors of latent TB infection among
adolescents in rural Uganda. Methods: We analyzed baseline data from a
study that assessed the prevalence and incidence of Tuberculosis
disease among adolescents. We extracted socio-demographics, medical
assessment information, and tuberculin skin test results and estimated
prevalence ratios (PR) of latent TB infection risk factors by binomial
regression. Results: The prevalence of latent TB was 16.1%, 95% CI
(15.1 \u2013 17.2). Significant risk factors were: a BCG scar, APR
1.29 (95% CI 1.12 \u2013 1.48); male gender, APR 1.37 (95% CI 1.21
\u2013 1.56); age 17 -18 years, APR 1.46 (95% CI 1.24 \u2013 1.71)
and 15-16 years, APR 1.25 (95% CI 1.07 \u2013 1.46) compared to 12-14
years; being out of school, APR 1.31 (95% CI 1.05 \u2013 1.62); and a
known history of household TB contact in last 2 years, APR 1.91 (95% CI
1.55 \u2013 2.35) Conclusion: Targeted routine latent TB treatment
among adolescents out of school may be crucial for TB disease control
in low income countries
Designing a stepped wedge trial: three main designs, carry-over effects and randomisation approaches
Plasma viral loads during early HIV-1 infection are similar in subtype C- and non-subtype C-infected African seroconverters.
Recent data suggest that infection with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) subtype C results in prolonged high-level viremia (>5 log10 copies/mL) during early infection. We examined the relationship between HIV-1 subtype and plasma viremia among 153 African seroconverters. Mean setpoint viral loads were similar for C and non-C subtypes: 4.36 vs 4.42 log10 copies/mL (P = .61). The proportion of subtype C-infected participants with viral loads >5 log10 copies/mL was not greater than the proportion for those with non-C infection. Our data do not support the hypothesis that higher early viral load accounts for the rapid spread of HIV-1 subtype C in southern Africa
Households, fluidity, and HIV service delivery in Zambia and South Africa – an exploratory analysis of longitudinal qualitative data from the HPTN 071 (PopART) trial
CITATION: Hoddinott, G., et al. 2018. Households, fluidity, and HIV service delivery in Zambia and South Africa – an exploratory analysis of longitudinal qualitative data from the HPTN 071 (PopART) trial. Journal of the International AIDS Society, 21(4):e25135, doi:10.1002/jia2.25135.The original publication is available at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.comIntroduction: Population distributions, family and household compositions, and people’s sense of belonging and social stability
in southern Africa have been shaped by tumultuous, continuing large-scale historical disruptions. As a result, many people
experience high levels of geographic and social fluidity, which intersect with individual and population-level migration patterns.
We describe the complexities of household fluidity and HIV service access in South Africa and Zambia to explore implications
for health systems and service delivery in contexts of high household fluidity.
Methods: HPTN 071 (PopART) is a three-arm cluster randomized controlled trial implemented in 21 peri-urban study communities
in Zambia and South Africa between 2013 and 2018. A qualitative cohort nested in the trial included 148 purposively
sampled households. Data collection was informed by ethnographic and participatory research principles. The analysis
process was reflexive and findings are descriptive narrative summaries of emergent ideas.
Results: Households in southern Africa are extremely fluid, with people having a tenuous sense of security in their social networks.
This fluidity intersects with high individual and population mobility. To characterize fluidity, we describe thematic patterns
of household membership and residence. We also identify reasons people give for moving around and shifting social ties,
including economic survival, fostering interpersonal relationships, participating in cultural, traditional, religious, or familial gatherings,
being institutionalized, and maintaining patterns of substance use. High fluidity disrupted HIV service access for some
participants. Despite these challenges, many participants were able to regularly access HIV testing services and participants
living with HIV were especially resourceful in maintaining continuity of antiretroviral therapy (ART). We identify three key features
of health service interactions that facilitated care continuity: disclosure to family members, understanding attitudes
among health services staff including flexibility to accommodate clients’ transient pressures, and participants’ agency in ARTrelated
decisions.
Conclusions: Choices made to manage one’s experiential sense of household fluidity are intentional responses to livelihood
and social support constraints. To enhance retention in care for people living with HIV, policy makers and service providers
should focus on creating responsive, flexible health service delivery systems designed to accommodate many shifts in client
circumstances.https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jia2.25135Publisher's versio
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