2,051 research outputs found

    Reciprocity, Fairness and the Financial Burden of Undertaking COVID-19 Hotel Quarantine in Australia

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    In late March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia introduced mandatory 14-day supervised quarantine at hotels and other designated facilities for all international arrivals. From July 2020, most states and territories introduced a fixed charge for quarantine of up to $3220 per adult. The introduction of the fee was rationalised on the basis that Australians had been allowed sufficient time to return and there was a need to recover some of the cost associated with administering the program. Drawing on an empirical study of 58 returned Australian citizens and residents quarantined between March 2020 and January 2021, this paper aims to explore how people experienced paying for hotel quarantine, particularly with respect to fairness and relatedly, the principle of reciprocity. Reciprocity requires that the state has an obligation to assist individuals in discharging their duty to comply with public health measures and avoid disproportionate burdens accruing to populations or individuals. Though participants had varying opinions on whether they thought it fair to be charged for their quarantine, for many, the fee constituted a significant burden and source of stress. Given the undertaking of quarantine is primarily for the benefit of the public good, we argue the financial cost imposed on individuals does not meet the demands of reciprocity. It is imperative that future quarantine and isolation arrangements consider seriously the need to minimise burdens of individuals subject to such measures, and that fees do not become a new norm in public health and infectious disease control

    The inaugural Plaatje festival, Mahikeng: A watershed event

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    The first Sol Plaatje festival, Mahikeng, November 5 and 6, 2010, planned by the Sol Plaatje Educational Trust of Kimberley and hosted by the North West Department of Sports, Arts and Culture and Department of Education, drew learners from a local secondary school, young and aspiring performance poets, interested citizens, language practitioners, Plaatje scholars, and importantly, Sol Plaatje and Modiri Molema family members. Together attendees, numbering around 200, from as far as Botswana, Limpopo, North West, Northern Cape and Gauteng, paid tribute to Plaatje, learned more and carried forward his legacy. As participants and “next generation” Plaatje scholars, we share a few reflections on the festival as marking a watershed moment in Plaatje scholarship

    Ethical considerations in determining standard of prevention packages for HIV prevention trials: Examining PrEP

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    The successful demonstration that antiretroviral (ARV) drugs can be used in diverse ways to reduce HIV acquisition or transmission risks – either taken as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) by those who are uninfected or as early treatment for prevention (T4P) by those living with HIV – expands the armamentarium of existing HIV prevention tools. These findings have implications for the design of future HIV prevention research trials. With the advent of multiple effective HIV prevention tools, discussions about the ethics and the feasibility of future HIV prevention trial designs have intensified. This article outlines arguments concerning the inclusion of newly established ARV-based HIV prevention interventions as standard of prevention in HIV prevention trials from multiple perspectives. Ultimately, there is a clear need to incorporate stakeholders in a robust discussion to determine the appropriate trial design for each study population

    Evaluating changeability to improve fruit and vegetable intake among school aged children

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    BACKGROUND: The purposes of this paper are two fold. First, to describe an approach used to identify fruits and vegetables to target for a child focused dietary change intervention. Second, to evaluate the concept of fruit and vegetable changeability and feasibility of applying it in a community setting. METHODS: Steps for identifying changeable fruits and vegetables include (1) identifying a dietary database (2) defining geographic and (3) personal demographics that characterize the food environment and (4) determining which fruits and vegetables are likely to improve during an intervention. The validity of these methods are evaluated for credibility using data collected from quasi-experimental, controlled design among 7–9 year old children (n = 304) participating in a tutoring or mentoring program in St. Louis, MO. Using a 28-item food frequency questionnaire, parents were asked to recall for their child how often foods were eaten the past 7 days. This questionnaire was repeated eight months later (response rate 84%). T-test analyses are used to determine mean serving differences from baseline to post test. RESULTS: The mean serving differences from baseline to post test were significant for moderately eaten fruits (p < .001), however, not for vegetables (p = .312). Among the intervention group, significantly more children ate grapes (p < .001), peaches (p = .022), cantaloupe (p < .001), and spinach (p = .044) at post testing – all identified as changeable with information tailored to participants. CONCLUSION: Data driven, food focused interventions directed at a priority population are feasible and practical. An empirical evaluation of the assumptions associated with these methods supports this novel approach. However, results may indicate that these methods may be more relevant to fruits than vegetables. This process can be applied to diverse populations for many dietary outcomes. Intervention strategies that target only those changeable fruits and vegetables are innovative and warrant further study

    Sophisticated collective foraging with minimalist agents: a swarm robotics test

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    How groups of cooperative foragers can achieve efficient and robust collective foraging is of interest both to biologists studying social insects and engineers designing swarm robotics systems. Of particular interest are distance-quality trade-offs and swarm-size-dependent foraging strategies. Here we present a collective foraging system based on virtual pheromones, tested in simulation and in swarms of up to 200 physical robots. Our individual agent controllers are highly simplified, as they are based on binary pheromone sensors. Despite being simple, our individual controllers are able to reproduce classical foraging experiments conducted with more capable real ants that sense pheromone concentration and follow its gradient. One key feature of our controllers is a control parameter which balances the trade-off between distance selectivity and quality selectivity of individual foragers. We construct an optimal foraging theory model that accounts for distance and quality of resources, as well as overcrowding, and predicts a swarmsize-dependent strategy. We test swarms implementing our controllers against our optimality model and find that, for moderate swarm sizes, they can be parameterised to approximate the optimal foraging strategy. This study demonstrates the sufficiency of simple individual agent rules to generate sophisticated collective foraging behaviour

    Influence of radiation damage and isochronal annealing on the magnetic susceptibility of Pu(1-x)Am(x) alloys

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    Results of radiation damage in Pu and Pu{sub 1-x}Am{sub x} alloys studied with magnetic susceptibility, {chi}(T), and resistivity are presented. Damage accumulated at low temperatures increases {chi}(T) for all measured alloys, with the trend generally enhanced as the lattice expands. There is a trend towards saturation observable in the damage induced magnetic susceptibility data, that is not evident in similar damage induced resistivity data taken on the same specimen. A comparison of isochronal annealing curves measured by both resistivity and magnetic susceptibility on a 4.3at% Ga stabilized {delta}-Pu specimen show that Stage I annealing, where interstitials begin to move, is largely transparent to the magnetic measurement. This indicates that interstitials have little impact on the damage induced increase in the magnetic susceptibility. The isochronal annealing curves of the Pu{sub 1-x}Am{sub x} alloys do not show distinct annealing stages as expected for alloys. However, samples near 20% Am concentration show an unexpected increase in magnetization beginning when specimens are annealed to 35K. This behavior is also reflected in a time dependent increase in the magnetic susceptibility of damaged specimens indicative of first order kinetics. These results suggest there may be a metastable phase induced by radiation damage and annealing in Pu{sub 1-x}Am{sub x} alloys

    Deconstructing interventions: approaches to studying behavior change techniques across obesity interventions

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    Deconstructing interventions into the specific techniques that are used to change behavior represents a new frontier in behavioral intervention research. This paper considers opportunities and challenges in employing the Behavior Change Techniques Taxonomy (BCTTv1) developed by Michie and colleagues, to code the behavior change techniques (BCTs) across multiple interventions addressing obesity and capture dose received at the technique level. Numerous advantages were recognized for using a shared framework for intervention description. Coding interventions at levels of the social ecological framework beyond the individual level, separate coding for behavior change initiation vs. maintenance, fidelity of BCT delivery, accounting for BCTs mode of delivery, and tailoring BCTs, present both challenges and opportunities. Deconstructing interventions and identifying the dose required to positively impact health-related outcomes could enable important gains in intervention science
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