What is Same but Different and why does it matter?

A detailed outline of the Same but Different Desert Art forums held in Alice Springs in 2012 and 2013, and an introduction to the essays, interviews, films and images that make up the 'Same but Different' section of this issue of CSR

COMPARING THE HYDROLOGIC PERFORMANCE OF INTENSIVE AND EXTENSIVE GREEN ROOFS IN ATLANTA, GA USA

High concentrations of impervious surfaces are synonymous with urbanization. A heavy presence of impervious surfaces cause stormwater buildup and excessive runoff. Green roofs are designed to reduce stormwater runoff from roofs and reduce peak outflow. The range of stormwater retention in green roofs is wide, ranging from 40-80%, due to differences in soil depth, vegetation type, and local weather patterns. This study compared two green roofs located in downtown Atlanta, GA, USA, one extensive and one intensive. The extensive roof was found to reach 20% volumetric water capacity, while the intensive reached 25% for the highest capacity event, over a prolonged wetting period. The volume of outflow was higher in an intensive roof due to higher soil volume (23.27 m3) when compared to an extensive roof (10.25m3). A determination of superior retention amongst soil depths was not made due to variable initial soil moisture, with a regularly irrigated extensive roof kept at 10% volumetric capacity for the duration of the study

Investigating the Influence of Land Use, Water Chemistry, Invasive Species, and Spatial Patterns on the Production of Algae Along the South-East Shoreline of Lake Huron

In Lake Huron, oligotrophication of the offshore waters and periodic algal blooms in the nearshore have raised questions as to the relative importance of recent changes in land use and the introduction of invasive species on water quality and algae production. Our project examines the influence of water chemistry, land use, spatial patterns, and invasive species on nearshore algae production in Lake Huron using extensive surveys collected by the Ontario Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. We found that local lake nutrient levels, shoreline development, watershed land use, and invasive dreissenid mussels explain the most variation in algae production. Our results were consistent with the nearshore shunt hypothesis, stressing the role that dreissenid mussels are playing in the growth of benthic algae in Lake Huron. Our findings highlight the need to incorporate spatial patterns and invasive dreissenid mussels in water quality and benthic algae production modelling

What is the evidence for giving chemoprophylaxis to children or students attending the same preschool, school or college as a case of meningococcal disease?

We performed a systematic literature review to assess the effectiveness of chemoprophylaxis for contacts of sporadic cases of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) in educational settings. No studies directly compared IMD risk in contacts with/without chemoprophylaxis. However, compared to the background incidence, an elevated IMD risk was identified in settings without a general recommendation for chemoprophylaxis in pre-schools [pooled risk difference (RD) 58·2/10⁵, 95% confidence interval (CI) 27·3-89·0] and primary schools (pooled RD 4·9/10⁵, 95% CI 2·9-6·9) in the ~30 days after contact with a sporadic IMD case, but not in other educational settings. Thus, limited but consistent evidence suggests the risk of IMD in pre-school contacts of sporadic IMD cases is significantly increased above the background risk, but lower than in household contacts (pooled RD for household contacts with no chemoprophylaxis vs. background incidence: 480·1/10⁵, 95% CI 321·5-639·9). We recommend chemoprophylaxis for pre-school contacts depending on an assessment of duration and closeness of contact

Increasing children's participation in therapy: combining understanding of children's experiences of therapy with evidence-based practice

This thesis examined children's experiences of therapy and used grounded theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1998) to develop a theory that may explain this. Eighteen children aged 7-14 years who had attended therapy at a child and adolescent mental health service or school-based therapy service participated in an individual interview. The study found that therapy is a process for children and identified sub-processes and activities that work to affect children's experiences of therapy. The professional practice component is a case study describing the use of cognitive behaviour therapy with a thirteen-year-old girl presenting with symptoms of anxiety. The literature review component is a critical review of the empirical literature on the use of motivational interviewing with children

Strong Public Health Recommendations from Weak Evidence? Lessons Learned in Developing Guidance on the Public Health Management of Meningococcal Disease.

The evidence underpinning public health policy is often of low quality, leading to inconsistencies in recommended interventions. One example is the divergence in national policies across Europe for managing contacts of invasive meningococcal disease. Aiming to develop consistent guidance at the European level, a group of experts reviewed the literature and formulated recommendations. The group defined eight priority research questions, searched the literature, and formulated recommendations using GRADE methodology. Five of the research questions are discussed in this paper. After taking into account quality of evidence, benefit, harm, value, preference, burden on patient of the intervention, and resource implications, we made four strong recommendations and five weak recommendations for intervention. Strong recommendations related not only to one question with very low quality of evidence as well as to two questions with moderate to high quality of evidence. The weak recommendations related to two questions with low and very low quality of evidence but also to one question with moderate quality of evidence. GRADE methodology ensures a transparent process and explicit recognition of additional factors that should be considered when making recommendations for policy. This approach can be usefully applied to many areas of public health policy where evidence quality is often low

Target the fence-sitters

Past waves of vaccine rejection in industrialized nations have a lot to teach us about preventing future ones