223 research outputs found
Evidence Acquisition and Evaluation for Evidence Summit on Enhancing Provision and Use of Maternal Health Services through Financial Incentives
Recognizing the need for evidence to inform US Government and
governments of the low- and middleincome countries on efficient,
effective maternal health policies, strategies, and programmes, the US
Government convened the Evidence Summit on Enhancing Provision and Use
of Maternal Health Services through Financial Incentives in April 2012
in Washington, DC, USA. This paper summarizes the background and
methods for the acquisition and evaluation of the evidence used for
achieving the goals of the Summit. The goal of the Summit was to obtain
multidisciplinary expert review of literature to inform both US
Government and governments of the low- and middle-income countries on
evidence-informed practice, policies, and strategies for financial
incentives. Several steps were undertaken to define the tasks for the
Summit and identify the appropriate evidence for review. The process
began by identifying focal questions intended to inform governments of
the low-and middle-income countries and the US Government about the
efficacy of supply- and demand-side financial incentives for enhanced
provision and use of quality maternal health services. Experts were
selected representing the research and programme communities, academia,
relevant non-governmental organizations, and government agencies and
were assembled into Evidence Review Teams. This was followed by a
systematic process to gather relevant peer-reviewed literature that
would inform the focal questions. Members of the Evidence Review Teams
were invited to add relevant papers not identified in the initial
literature review to complete the bibliography. The Evidence Review
Teams were asked to comply with a specific evaluation framework for
recommendations on practice and policy based on both expert opinion and
the quality of the data. Details of the search processes and methods
used for screening and quality reviews are described
Trends in Soil Science Education and Employment
During the last several decades, members of the SSSA have discussed several trends related to soil science education, including: (i) declining academic programs and course offerings at land grant universities, (ii) decreased enrollments, and (iii) improved employment opportunities for soil science graduates (SSSA, 2006; Ferris et al., 2010). The SSSA Advocacy/Education Task Force met in 2007 and concluded that quantitative survey information was needed to document trends in soil science academic programs, student enrollment, faculty, and job opportunities for graduates. Suggested survey topics included: Has the recognition of soil science as a distinct discipline increased or decreased? How has the job market changed during the past decade, and how will job opportunities for soil scientists change in the future? How have undergraduate and graduate soils curricula changed during the last decade? Has enrollment in soil science degree programs and courses changed during the past decade? Has there been a change in the degree programs of students enrolling in soils courses in the past decade? Have soil science programs been combined with other programs?
Therefore, the objective of the survey was to quantify trends in student enrollment, faculty positions, pertinent educational issues in soil and related sciences, and career or job opportunities and trends. Expected outcomes included a better understanding of current educational practices and trends, and identification of specific opportunities for SSSA to enhance the practice and profession of soil science
Rapid Suppression of the Spin Gap in Zn-doped CuGeO_3 and SrCu_2O_3
The influence of non-magnetic impurities on the spectrum and dynamical spin
structure factor of a model for CuGeO is studied. A simple extension to
Zn-doped is also discussed. Using Exact Diagonalization
techniques and intuitive arguments we show that Zn-doping introduces states in
the Spin-Peierls gap of CuGeO. This effect can beunderstood easily in the
large dimerization limit where doping by Zn creates ``loose'' S=1/2 spins,
which interact with each other through very weak effective antiferromagnetic
couplings. When the dimerization is small, a similar effect is observed but now
with the free S=1/2 spins being the resulting S=1/2 ground state of severed
chains with an odd number of sites. Experimental consequences of these results
are discussed. It is interesting to observe that the spin correlations along
the chains are enhanced by Zn-doping according to the numerical data presented
here. As recent numerical calculations have shown, similar arguments apply to
ladders with non-magnetic impurities simply replacing the tendency to
dimerization in CuGeO by the tendency to form spin-singlets along the rungs
in SrCuO.Comment: 7 pages, 8 postscript figures, revtex, addition of figure 8 and a
section with experimental predictions, submmited to Phys. Rev. B in May 199
Enhancement of Antiferromagnetic Correlations Induced by Nonmagnetic Impurities: Origin and Predictions for NMR Experiments
Spin models that have been proposed to describe dimerized chains, ladders,
two dimensional antiferromagnets, and other compounds are here studied when
some spins are replaced by spinless vacancies, such as it occurs by
doping. A small percentage of vacancies rapidly destroys the spin gap, and
their presence induces enhanced antiferromagnetic correlations near those
vacancies. The study is performed with computational techniques which includes
Lanczos, world-line Monte Carlo, and the Density Matrix Renormalization Group
methods. Since the phenomenon of enhanced antiferromagnetism is found to occur
in several models and cluster geometries, a common simple explanation for its
presence may exist. It is argued that the resonating-valence-bond character of
the spin correlations at short distances of a large variety of models is
responsible for the presence of robust staggered spin correlations near
vacancies and lattice edges. The phenomenon takes place regardless of the long
distance properties of the ground state, and it is caused by a ``pruning'' of
the available spin singlets in the vicinity of the vacancies. The effect
produces a broadening of the low temperature NMR signal for the compounds
analyzed here. This broadening should be experimentally observable in the
structurally dimerized chain systems
, , , and
, in ladder materials such as , in the
spin-Peierls systems and , and in several others since it
is a universal effect common to a wide variety of models and compounds.Comment: 18 pages revtex with 26 figures include
Synthesis and electrochemical behavior of ceramic cation-exchange membranes based on zirconium phosphate
Cation-exchange membranes made exclusively from ceramic materials have been synthesized by means of the impregnation of
microporous ceramic supports with zirconium phosphate. Changes in the pore size distribution and total pore volume of the supports
were provoked by the addition of starch as pore former in the fabrication procedure. This allowed the production of supports with
increased effective electrical conductivities and with larger pores available for the zirconium phosphate deposition. An improved
functionality for the exchange of cations was given to the ceramic membranes by means of their impregnation with the active particles of
zirconium phosphate. The ion-exchange properties of the membranes were increased with further impregnation cycles and the resulting
current voltage curves showed a similar shape to that typical of commercial polymeric ion-exchange membranes. The production of ionexchange
membranes with increased chemical and radiation stability will broaden their applicability for the treatment of specific
industrial waste waters, which are very aggressive for the current commercial ion-exchange membranes.Manuel-Cesar Marti-Calatayud wants to express his gratitude to Universitat Politecnica de Valencia for a postgraduate grant (Ref. 2010-12). S. Sales would like to express her gratitude to Ministerio de Ciencia e Investigacion (Spain) for a postgraduate grant (AP2009-4409). This work was supported by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (Spain) with the project numbers CTQ2008-06750-C02-01/PPQ and CTQ2008-06750-C02-02/PPQ.Martí Calatayud, MC.; García Gabaldón, M.; Pérez-Herranz, V.; Sales, S.; Mestre, S. (2013). Synthesis and electrochemical behavior of ceramic cation-exchange membranes based on zirconium phosphate. Ceramics International. 39(4):4045-4054. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2012.10.255S4045405439
Financial Incentives and Maternal Health: Where Do We Go from Here?
Health financing strategies that incorporate financial incentives are
being applied in many low- and middle-income countries, and improving
maternal and neonatal health is often a central goal. As yet, there
have been few reviews of such programmes and their impact on maternal
health. The US Government Evidence Summit on Enhancing Provision and
use of Maternal Health Services through Financial Incentives was
convened on 24-25 April 2012 to address this gap. This article, the
final in a series assessing the effects of financial
incentives\u2014performance-based incentives (PBIs), insurance, user
fee exemption programmes, conditional cash transfers, and
vouchers\u2014summarizes the evidence and discusses issues of context,
programme design and implementation, cost-effectiveness, and
sustainability. We suggest key areas to consider when designing and
implementing financial incentive programmes for enhancing maternal
health and highlight gaps in evidence that could benefit from
additional research. Although the methodological rigor of studies
varies, the evidence, overall, suggests that financial incentives can
enhance demand for and improve the supply of maternal health services.
Definitive evidence demonstrating a link between incentives and
improved health outcomes is lacking; however, the evidence suggests
that financial incentives can increase the quantity and quality of
maternal health services and address health systems and financial
barriers that prevent women from accessing and providers from
delivering quality, lifesaving maternal healthcare
Phono-spectrographic analysis of heart murmur in children
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens
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