Social sciences research in neglected tropical diseases 3: Investment in social science research in neglected diseases of poverty: a case study of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.BACKGROUND: The level of funding provides a good proxy for the level of commitment or prioritisation given to a particular issue. While the need for research relevant to social, economic, cultural and behavioural aspects of neglected tropical diseases (NTD) control has been acknowledged, there is limited data on the level of funding that supports NTD social science research. METHOD: A case study was carried out in which the spending of a major independent funder, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) - was analysed. A total of 67 projects funded between October 1998 and November 2008 were identified from the BMGF database. With the help of keywords within the titles of 67 grantees, they were categorised as social science or non-social science research based on available definition of social science. A descriptive analysis was conducted. RESULTS: Of 67 projects analysed, 26 projects (39%) were social science related while 41 projects (61%) were basic science or other translational research including drug development. A total of US$697 million was spent to fund the projects, of which 35$ 241 million) went to social science research. Although the level of funding for social science research has generally been lower than that for non-social science research over 10 year period, social science research attracted more funding in 2004 and 2008. CONCLUSION: The evidence presented in this case study indicates that funding on NTD social science research compared to basic and translational research is not as low as it is perceived to be. However, as there is the acute need for improved delivery and utilisation of current NTD drugs/technologies, informed by research from social science approaches, funding priorities need to reflect the need to invest significantly more in NTD social science research

Prolactin and hostility in hospitalised patients and healthy women: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to assess any difference in the self-ratings of hostility in mentally healthy women with different levels of prolactin (PRL). Electronic databases (PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library) were searched up to 2nd July 2012 for published literature comparing hostility levels in women with different levels of PRL. Keyword pairs ('prolactin' and 'aggression', 'prolactin' and 'hostil*', 'prolactin' and 'anger', and 'prolactin' and 'angry') were entered simultaneously. From 1065 resulting titles, and one unpublished study, 214 articles underwent full-text review by authors JB and EM. Studies were selected based on clinical relevance. Eight comparative studies consisting of 242 female patients with high PRL levels, 207 female patients with normal PRL levels and 127 healthy controls with normal PRL levels were included. Data were analysed using the inverse variance method with a random-effects model. Analysis revealed significantly higher hostility in patients with high PRL compared with that in healthy control women (Z = 1.94, p < 0.05; Hedges' g = 0.72; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.01-1.45), significantly higher hostility in patient controls compared with that in healthy controls (Z = 1.94, p < 0.05; Hedges' g = 0.47; 95% CI: 0.00-0.94) and non-significantly higher hostility levels in patients with high PRL compared with that in patients with normal PRL levels (Z = 1.45, p < 0.15; Hedges' g = 0.38; 95% CI: -0.13-0.89). In this meta-analysis, hostility appears to be accounted for partly by PRL levels and also partly by patient status, perhaps due to the stress of being a patient. Methodological considerations and implications for patient care are discussed

Prolactin and aggression in women with fertility problems

This study tested the hypothesis that women with higher prolactin feel more hostility, anger and aggression. A total of 66 women with moderate fertility problems were grouped into the 50% who had the highest and the 50% who had the lowest levels of prolactin. Levels of hostility, aggression and anger were compared. Women with higher prolactin levels did not report significantly increased hostility. After Bonferroni correction, women with lower prolactin showed non-significantly increased scores on two measures of state anger, and on a measure of trait temper. When comparing those with the highest and lowest 20% of prolactin levels, those with lower prolactin had non-significantly higher scores on trait temper and outward expression of anger, and non-significantly lower scores for control of anger. Although non-significant, these findings run counter to those of earlier studies on this topic. Implications for future research and patient care are discussed

Functional response of U.S. grasslands to the early 21st-century drought

Grasslands across the United States play a key role in regional livelihood and national food security. Yet, it is still unclear how this important resource will respond to the prolonged warm droughts and more intense rainfall events predicted with climate change. The early 21st-century drought in the southwestern United States resulted in hydroclimatic conditions that are similar to those expected with future climate change. We investigated the impact of the early 21st-century drought on aboveground net primary production (ANPP) of six desert and plains grasslands dominated by C4 (warm season) grasses in terms of significant deviations between observed and expected ANPP. In desert grasslands, drought-induced grass mortality led to shifts in the functional response to annual total precipitation (PT), and in some cases, new species assemblages occurred that included invasive species. In contrast, the ANPP in plains grasslands exhibited a strong linear function of the current-year PT and the previous-year ANPP, despite prolonged warm drought. We used these results to disentangle the impacts of interannual total precipitation, intra-annual precipitation patterns, and grassland abundance on ANPP, and thus generalize the functional response of C4 grasslands to predicted climate change. This will allow managers to plan for predictable shifts in resources associated with climate change related to fire risk, loss of forage, and ecosystem services. © 2014 by the Ecological Society of America

Propagation of an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection in three dimensions

Solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are the most significant drivers of adverse space weather at Earth, but the physics governing their propagation through the heliosphere is not well understood. While stereoscopic imaging of CMEs with the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) has provided some insight into their three-dimensional (3D) propagation, the mechanisms governing their evolution remain unclear due to difficulties in reconstructing their true 3D structure. Here we use a new elliptical tie-pointing technique to reconstruct a full CME front in 3D, enabling us to quantify its deflected trajectory from high latitudes along the ecliptic, and measure its increasing angular width and propagation from 2-46 solar radii (approximately 0.2 AU). Beyond 7 solar radii, we show that its motion is determined by an aerodynamic drag in the solar wind and, using our reconstruction as input for a 3D magnetohydrodynamic simulation, we determine an accurate arrival time at the Lagrangian L1 point near Earth.Comment: 5 figures, 2 supplementary movie

Item-level analysis of mental health symptom trajectories during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK: Associations with age, sex and pre-existing psychiatric conditions

Background There is widespread concern regarding how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected mental health. Emerging meta-analyses suggest that the impact on anxiety/depression may have been transient, but much of the included literature has major methodological limitations. Addressing this topic rigorously requires longitudinal data of sufficient scope and scale, controlling for contextual variables, with baseline data immediately pre-pandemic. Aims To analyse self-report of symptom frequency from two largely UK-based longitudinal cohorts: Cohort 1 (N = 10,475, two time-points: winter pre-pandemic to UK first winter resurgence), and Cohort 2 (N = 10,391, two time-points, peak first wave to UK first winter resurgence). Method Multinomial logistic regression applied at the item level identified sub-populations with greater probability of change in mental health symptoms. Permutation analyses characterised changes in symptom frequency distributions. Cross group differences in symptom stability were evaluated via entropy of response transitions. Results Anxiety was the most affected aspect of mental health. The profiles of change in mood symptoms was less favourable for females and older adults. Those with pre-existing psychiatric diagnoses showed substantially higher probability of very frequent symptoms pre-pandemic and elevated risk of transitioning to the highest levels of symptoms during the pandemic. Elevated mental health symptoms were evident across intra-COVID timepoints in Cohort 2. Conclusions These findings suggest that mental health has been negatively affected by the pandemic, including in a sustained fashion beyond the first UK lockdown into the first winter resurgence. Women, and older adults, were more affected relative to their own baselines. Those with diagnoses of psychiatric conditions were more likely to experience transition to the highest levels of symptom frequency