Increasing funding for Global Mental Health by drawing lessons from the case of HIV/AIDS

Objective: Global Mental Health (GMH) is the field of global health dealing with the spectrum of mental, neurological and substance use disorders (MNS disorders), often with a focus on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). While MNS disorders constitute a consider-able burden of disease, investments in the field lag behind, creating a severe funding gap. In contrast, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) epidemic has seen unprecedented commitment, especially in terms of funding. Consequently, this paper examines the research question: “How can the increase in global funding for HIV/AIDS over the past three decades serve as an example to draw lessons for increasing GMH funding in LMICs?”.Methods: Based on the ‘Theory of Lesson-drawing’ by Rose (1991) two programs, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund), were analyzed, and a conceptual model cre-ated for each program. The conceptual model, in addition to a comprehensive literature review were the base to draw learnings from the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic and its funding. Learnings from HIV/AIDS were applied to GMH by giving a prospective evalua-tion of the transferability and desirability of the analyzed programs and their outcomes.Results: A concrete next step that should be taken in order to increase funding and imple-mentation of high-quality mental health care in LMICs includes the establishment of a GMH partnership which represents diverse constituencies and expertise. Among other things, emphasis should be put on promoting strong civil-society and community involvement. Ad-ditionally, a multi-facetted advocacy and awareness campaign to increase traditional donor contributions, innovative financing mechanisms and domestic resources for GMH should be launched.Conclusion: Lessons from the increase in global funding for HIV/AIDS and how it was achieved can be drawn in the areas of funding generation, raising political and social com-mitment and multi-stakeholder collaboration. Yet, the analysis has also shown the potential pitfalls when overall health system strengthening efforts and primary health-care integration are not sufficiently addressed.Acknowledgments: This paper was produced as a final thesis to acquire the academic de-gree BSc International Health Sciences at Fulda University of Applied Sciences. I would like to extend my gratitude to Prof. Dr. Dr. Jens Holst for his support throughout my studies and this thesis supervision, together with Prof. Dr. Kai Michelsen. Moreover, I would like to thank Eric Daniel Sander for his invaluable thoughts and input during the writing process, as well as those who supported me with corrections and proof-reading

Novel cargo-binding site in the β and δ subunits of coatomer

Arginine (R)-based ER localization signals are sorting motifs that confer transient ER localization to unassembled subunits of multimeric membrane proteins. The COPI vesicle coat binds R-based signals but the molecular details remain unknown. Here, we use reporter membrane proteins based on the proteolipid Pmp2 fused to GFP and allele swapping of COPI subunits to map the recognition site for R-based signals. We show that two highly conserved stretches—in the β- and δ-COPI subunits—are required to maintain Pmp2GFP reporters exposing R-based signals in the ER. Combining a deletion of 21 residues in δ-COP together with the mutation of three residues in β-COP gave rise to a COPI coat that had lost its ability to recognize R-based signals, whilst the recognition of C-terminal di-lysine signals remained unimpaired. A homology model of the COPI trunk domain illustrates the recognition of R-based signals by COPI

GrassPlot - a database of multi-scale plant diversity in Palaearctic grasslands

GrassPlot is a collaborative vegetation-plot database organised by the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG) and listed in the Global Index of Vegetation-Plot Databases (GIVD ID EU-00-003). GrassPlot collects plot records (releves) from grasslands and other open habitats of the Palaearctic biogeographic realm. It focuses on precisely delimited plots of eight standard grain sizes (0.0001; 0.001;... 1,000 m(2)) and on nested-plot series with at least four different grain sizes. The usage of GrassPlot is regulated through Bylaws that intend to balance the interests of data contributors and data users. The current version (v. 1.00) contains data for approximately 170,000 plots of different sizes and 2,800 nested-plot series. The key components are richness data and metadata. However, most included datasets also encompass compositional data. About 14,000 plots have near-complete records of terricolous bryophytes and lichens in addition to vascular plants. At present, GrassPlot contains data from 36 countries throughout the Palaearctic, spread across elevational gradients and major grassland types. GrassPlot with its multi-scale and multi-taxon focus complements the larger international vegetationplot databases, such as the European Vegetation Archive (EVA) and the global database " sPlot". Its main aim is to facilitate studies on the scale-and taxon-dependency of biodiversity patterns and drivers along macroecological gradients. GrassPlot is a dynamic database and will expand through new data collection coordinated by the elected Governing Board. We invite researchers with suitable data to join GrassPlot. Researchers with project ideas addressable with GrassPlot data are welcome to submit proposals to the Governing Board

Perspectives and Integration in SOLAS Science

Why a chapter on Perspectives and Integration in SOLAS Science in this book? SOLAS science by its nature deals with interactions that occur: across a wide spectrum of time and space scales, involve gases and particles, between the ocean and the atmosphere, across many disciplines including chemistry, biology, optics, physics, mathematics, computing, socio-economics and consequently interactions between many different scientists and across scientific generations. This chapter provides a guide through the remarkable diversity of cross-cutting approaches and tools in the gigantic puzzle of the SOLAS realm. Here we overview the existing prime components of atmospheric and oceanic observing systems, with the acquisition of ocean–atmosphere observables either from in situ or from satellites, the rich hierarchy of models to test our knowledge of Earth System functioning, and the tremendous efforts accomplished over the last decade within the COST Action 735 and SOLAS Integration project frameworks to understand, as best we can, the current physical and biogeochemical state of the atmosphere and ocean commons. A few SOLAS integrative studies illustrate the full meaning of interactions, paving the way for even tighter connections between thematic fields. Ultimately, SOLAS research will also develop with an enhanced consideration of societal demand while preserving fundamental research coherency. The exchange of energy, gases and particles across the air-sea interface is controlled by a variety of biological, chemical and physical processes that operate across broad spatial and temporal scales. These processes influence the composition, biogeochemical and chemical properties of both the oceanic and atmospheric boundary layers and ultimately shape the Earth system response to climate and environmental change, as detailed in the previous four chapters. In this cross-cutting chapter we present some of the SOLAS achievements over the last decade in terms of integration, upscaling observational information from process-oriented studies and expeditionary research with key tools such as remote sensing and modelling. Here we do not pretend to encompass the entire legacy of SOLAS efforts but rather offer a selective view of some of the major integrative SOLAS studies that combined available pieces of the immense jigsaw puzzle. These include, for instance, COST efforts to build up global climatologies of SOLAS relevant parameters such as dimethyl sulphide, interconnection between volcanic ash and ecosystem response in the eastern subarctic North Pacific, optimal strategy to derive basin-scale CO2 uptake with good precision, or significant reduction of the uncertainties in sea-salt aerosol source functions. Predicting the future trajectory of Earth’s climate and habitability is the main task ahead. Some possible routes for the SOLAS scientific community to reach this overarching goal conclude the chapter

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data