Managing housing needs in post conflict housing reconstruction in Sri Lanka: gaps versus recommendations

Addressing housing needs in post conflict housing reconstruction leads to successful housing reconstruction. As part of a study of investigating how the housing needs can be effectively addressed in post conflict housing reconstruction, this paper identifies the gaps in managing housing needs in post conflict housing reconstruction within the context of Sri Lanka and presents the recommendations to minimise such gaps. Data was collected through un-structured interviews conducted with 37 participants, comprising policy makers, practitioners, academics and beneficiaries who engaged in post conflict housing reconstruction in Sri Lanka. Gaps were mainly found in conflict sensitivity, measures related to physical housing, performance of implementing agencies, policy and practice issues. On the job training, application of ‘do no harm’ principles, enhanced beneficiary participation, enhanced accountability, effective monitoring, enhanced knowledge sharing, adequate drinking water facilities, irrigation development and initiatives for material manufacturing were suggested as recommendations to minimise these gaps. Identification of gaps in managing housing needs in post conflict housing reconstruction and recommendations to minimise them inform policy makers to address the housing needs effectively through incorporating these aspects into the related policies. This in turn enhances the sustainability in housing development after conflicts

Factors associated with compliance among users of solar water disinfection in rural Bolivia

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Diarrhoea is the second leading cause of childhood mortality, with an estimated 1.3 million deaths per year. Promotion of Solar Water Disinfection (SODIS) has been suggested as a strategy for reducing the global burden of diarrhoea by improving the microbiological quality of drinking water. Despite increasing support for the large-scale dissemination of SODIS, there are few reports describing the effectiveness of its implementation. It is, therefore, important to identify and understand the mechanisms that lead to adoption and regular use of SODIS. METHODS: We investigated the behaviours associated with SODIS adoption among households assigned to receive SODIS promotion during a cluster-randomized trial in rural Bolivia. Distinct groups of SODIS-users were identified on the basis of six compliance indicators using principal components and cluster analysis. The probability of adopting SODIS as a function of campaign exposure and household characteristics was evaluated using ordinal logistic regression models. RESULTS: Standardised, community-level SODIS-implementation in a rural Bolivian setting was associated with a median SODIS use of 32% (IQR: 17-50). Households that were more likely to use SODIS were those that participated more frequently in SODIS promotional events (OR = 1.07, 95%CI: 1.01-1.13), included women (OR = 1.18, 95%CI: 1.07-1.30), owned latrines (OR = 3.38, 95%CI: 1.07-10.70), and had severely wasted children living in the home (OR = 2.17, 95%CI: 1.34-3.49). CONCLUSIONS: Most of the observed household characteristics showed limited potential to predict compliance with a comprehensive, year-long SODIS-promotion campaign; this finding reflects the complexity of behaviour change in the context of household water treatment. However, our findings also suggest that the motivation to adopt new water treatment habits and to acquire new knowledge about drinking water treatment is associated with prior engagements in sanitary hygien and with the experience of contemporary family health concerns.Household-level factors like the ownership of a latrine, a large proportion of females and the presence of a malnourished child living in a home are easily assessable indicators that SODIS-programme managers could use to identify early adopters in SODIS promotion campaigns. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT0073149

Solar oxidation and removal of arsenic at circumneutral pH in iron containing waters

An estimated 30-50 million people in Bangladesh consume groundwater with arsenic contents far above accepted limits. A better understanding of arsenic redox kinetics and simple water treatment procedures are urgently needed. We have studied thermal and photochemical As(III) oxidation in the laboratory, on a time scale of hours, in water containing 500 mug/L As(III), 0.06-5 mg/L Fe(II,III), and 4-6 mM bicarbonate at pH 6.5-8.0. As(V) was measured colorimetrically, and As(III) and As(tot) were measured by As(III)/As(tot)-specific hydride-generation AAS. Dissolved oxygen and micromolar hydrogenperoxide did not oxidize As(III) on a time scale of hours. As(III) was partly oxidized in the dark by addition of Fe(II) to aerated water, presumably by reactive intermediates formed in the reduction of oxygen by Fe(ll). In solutions containing 0.06-5 mg/L Fe(II,III), over 90% of As(III) could be oxidized photochemically within 2-3 h by illumination with 90 W/m(2) UV-A light. Citrate, by forming Fe(III) citrate complexes that are photolyzed With high quantum yields, strongly accelerated As(lll) oxidation. The photoproduct of citrate (3-oxoglutaric acid) induced rapid flocculation and precipitation of Fe(III). in laboratory/tests, 80-90% of total arsenic was removed after addition of 50 muM citrate or 100-200 muL (4-8 drops) of lemon juice/L, illumination for 2-3 h, and precipitation. The same procedure was able to remove 45-78% of total arsenic in first field trials in Bangladesh

Contents

A class of Gaussian latent-variable models for cross-covariance is specified, and the set of distributions over the observed variables to which they correspond is precisely characterized. In this class the observed variables, or indicators, are divided into two blocks, X and Y. A pair of latent variables is postulated, one for each block, ξ for X and ω for Y. The indicators are linear functions of their respective latent variables plus error, and errors for the X block are uncorrelated with those of the Y block. This latent-variable model differs from the well-known exploratory factor model in that the within-block covariances of the errors are unconstrained. Any variance-covariance matrix over the indicators with rank(ΣXY) = 1 can be fit exactly by the latent-variable model. Although the model is underidentified, the linear coefficient vectors a, linking ξ to X, and b, linking ω to Y, are identified up to sign and scale. Cor (ξ, ω) = 1 is always feasible, and |Cor (ξ, ω) | is bounded below. When |Cor (ξ, ω) | attains its minimum, the scales of a and b are maximized and withinblock errors are minimized. Subject to the constraint that |Cor (ξ, ω) | is at its minimum, the model is identified up to sign

Comparing Three Different Techniques for Magnetic Resonance Imaging-targeted Prostate Biopsies: A Systematic Review of In-bore versus Magnetic Resonance Imaging-transrectal Ultrasound fusion versus Cognitive Registration. Is There a Preferred Technique?

Contains fulltext : 191365.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)CONTEXT: The introduction of magnetic resonance imaging-guided biopsies (MRI-GB) has changed the paradigm concerning prostate biopsies. Three techniques of MRI-GB are available: (1) in-bore MRI target biopsy (MRI-TB), (2) MRI-transrectal ultrasound fusion (FUS-TB), and (3) cognitive registration (COG-TB). OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether MRI-GB has increased detection rates of (clinically significant) prostate cancer (PCa) compared with transrectal ultrasound-guided biopsy (TRUS-GB) in patients at risk for PCa, and which technique of MRI-GB has the highest detection rate of (clinically significant) PCa. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: We performed a literature search in PubMed, Embase, and CENTRAL databases. Studies were evaluated using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 checklist and START recommendations. The initial search identified 2562 studies and 43 were included in the meta-analysis. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Among the included studies 11 used MRI-TB, 17 used FUS-TB, 11 used COG-TB, and four used a combination of techniques. In 34 studies concurrent TRUS-GB was performed. There was no significant difference between MRI-GB (all techniques combined) and TRUS-GB for overall PCa detection (relative risk [RR] 0.97 [0.90-1.07]). MRI-GB had higher detection rates of clinically significant PCa (csPCa) compared with TRUS-GB (RR 1.16 [1.02-1.32]), and a lower yield of insignificant PCa (RR 0.47 [0.35-0.63]). There was a significant advantage (p = 0.02) of MRI-TB compared with COG-TB for overall PCa detection. For overall PCa detection there was no significant advantage of MRI-TB compared with FUS-TB (p=0.13), and neither for FUS-TB compared with COG-TB (p=0.11). For csPCa detection there was no significant advantage of any one technique of MRI-GB. The impact of lesion characteristics such as size and localisation could not be assessed. CONCLUSIONS: MRI-GB had similar overall PCa detection rates compared with TRUS-GB, increased rates of csPCa, and decreased rates of insignificant PCa. MRI-TB has a superior overall PCa detection compared with COG-TB. FUS-TB and MRI-TB appear to have similar detection rates. Head-to-head comparisons of MRI-GB techniques are limited and are needed to confirm our findings. PATIENT SUMMARY: Our review shows that magnetic resonance imaging-guided biopsy detects more clinically significant prostate cancer (PCa) and less insignificant PCa compared with systematic biopsy in men at risk for PCa