Temperature and Salinity Sensitivity of Respiration, Grazing, and Excretion Rates in the Estuarine Eelgrass Sea Hare, Phyllaplysia taylori

Highly dynamic environments such as estuaries are home to organisms accustomed to wide fluctuations in environmental conditions. However, estuarine temperature and salinity conditions are expected to shift with climate change, potentially altering plant and animal physiology and consequently their ecological interactions. Phyllaplysia taylori, a sea hare that lives exclusively in nearshore eelgrass beds in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, is a positive ecological interactor with eelgrass by increasing eelgrass productivity through grazing removal of photosynthesis-blocking epiphytes. The central aim of our study is to understand how increasing temperature and salinity are likely to alter that ecological interaction. First, we determined salinity thresholds for survival of P. taylori at 20 °C (typical summer temperature) for 2 weeks, and found that significant mortality occurs at salinity below 25 ppt. Then, we determined respiration rate, grazing rate, and defecation rate of P. taylori following a crossed 2-week acclimation at typical summer low- and high temperatures (18 and 22 °C) and salinities (27 and 33 ppt). P. taylori respiration and grazing rates were elevated under low salinity and high temperature. To determine how P. taylori responds to very warm and extreme summer temperatures, we measured respiration rates at higher temperatures (26 °C—very warm summer and 30 °C—heat shock) and feeding rates following exposure to the 30 °C heat shock. Irrespective of acclimation salinity, P. taylori acclimated to 18 °C were more sensitive to heat shock, as they had a larger increase in respiration rate at 30 °C, and had reduced feeding rates following the 30 °C exposure, whereas there was no reduction in feeding rate in 22 °C acclimated specimens. This study provides the first data on the salinity and temperature sensitivity and metabolic physiology of P. taylori with relevance to their trophic position in the context of eelgrass ecosystems

Electrical and Magnetic Properties of High Temperature Superconductors Using Varying forms of Data Acquisition

High temperature superconductors (HTS) are materials that display superconducting properties at temperatures above that of liquid nitrogen. Possible applications and ease of use in a typical physics laboratory make them interesting systems to study. In this experiment we measured the critical temperatures of two samples made of different HTS materials. We also devised a method that makes taking data automated

Disclosure bias for group versus individual reporting of violence amongst conflict-affected adolescent girls in DRC and Ethiopia

Methodologies to measure gender-based violence (GBV) have received inadequate attention, especially in humanitarian contexts where vulnerabilities to violence are exacerbated. This paper compares the results from individual audio computer-assisted self-administered (ACASI) survey interviews with results from participatory social mapping activities, employed with the same sample in two different post-conflict contexts. Eighty-seven internally displaced adolescent girls from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and 78 Sudanese girls living in Ethiopian refugee camps were interviewed using the two methodologies. Results revealed that the group-based qualitative method elicited narratives of violence focusing on events perpetrated by strangers or members of the community more distantly connected to girls. In contrast, ACASI interviews revealed violence predominantly perpetrated by family members and intimate partners. These findings suggest that group-based methods of information gathering frequently used in the field may be more susceptible to socially accepted narratives. Specifically, our findings suggest group-based methods may produce results showing that sexual violence perpetrated by strangers (e.g., from armed groups in the conflict) is more prevalent than violence perpetrated by family and intimate partners. To the extent this finding is true, it may lead to a skewed perception that adolescent GBV involving strangers is a more pressing issue than intimate partner and family-based sexual violence, when in fact, both are of great concern

Implementation of Audio-Computer Assisted Self-Interview (ACASI) among adolescent girls in humanitarian settings:Feasibility, acceptability, and lessons learned

Audio-Computer Assisted Self- Interview (ACASI) is a method of data collection in which participants listen to pre-recorded questions through headphones and respond to questions by selecting their answers on a touch screen or keypad, and is seen as advantageous for gathering data on sensitive topics such as experiences of violence. This paper seeks to explore the feasibility and acceptability of using ACASI with adolescent girls and to document the implementation of such an approach in two humanitarian settings: conflict-affected communities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and refugee camps along the Sudan-Ethiopia border.This paper evaluates the feasibility and acceptability of implementing ACASI, based on the experiences of using this tool in baseline data collections for COMPASS (Creating Opportunities through Mentorship, Parental involvement, and Safe Spaces) impact evaluations in DRC (N = 868) and Ethiopia (N = 919) among adolescent girls. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression models were generated to examine associations between understanding of the survey and selected demographics in both countries.Overall, nearly 90 % of girls in the DRC felt that the questions were easy to understand as compared to approximately 75 % in Ethiopia. Level of education, but not age, was associated with understanding of the survey in both countries.Financial and time investment to ready ACASI was substantial in order to properly contextualize the approach to these specific humanitarian settings, including piloting of images, language assessments, and checking both written translations and corresponding verbal recordings. Despite challenges, we conclude that ACASI proved feasible and acceptable to participants and to data collection teams in two diverse humanitarian settings

Socially Just Triple-Wins? A Framework for Evaluating the Social Justice Implications of Climate Compatible Development

Climate compatible development (CCD) aims to help people improve their lives in the face of climate threats without exacerbating these threats for current and future generations. It is proving an attractive concept to both academics and practitioners. However, the social justice implications of CCD have not yet been comprehensively explored and an absence of adequate evaluation frameworks has led to multiple, legitimate cross-scalar social justice claims being marginalised. This article develops a framework to guide holistic social justice evaluation of CCD initiatives across levels and scales. Underpinning this framework is a social justice approach that embraces particularism, pluralism and procedural justice. Drawing on existing research, the framework is used to explore the implications of the Clean Development Mechanism for recognition, participation and distribution in the Least Developed Countries. Findings show that achieving social justice through CCD is not a given; rather, the social justice implications of CCD differ within and between levels and scales. We conclude by suggesting ways in which our framework can be applied to augment knowledge on CCD. Understanding the processes through which social justices and injustices are created is integral to considerations of whether and how CCD should be used to underpin a new development landscape

Spatial effects of mosquito bednets on child mortality

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Insecticide treated nets (ITN) have been proven to be an effective tool in reducing the burden of malaria. Few randomized clinical trials examined the spatial effect of ITNs on child mortality at a high coverage level, hence it is essential to better understand these effects in real-life situation with varying levels of coverage. We analyzed for the first time data from a large follow-up study in an area of high perennial malaria transmission in southern Tanzania to describe the spatial effects of bednets on all-cause child mortality.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study was carried out between October 2001 and September 2003 in 25 villages in Kilombero Valley, southern Tanzania. Bayesian geostatistical models were fitted to assess the effect of different bednet density measures on child mortality adjusting for possible confounders.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the multivariate model addressing potential confounding, the only measure significantly associated with child mortality was the bed net density at household level; we failed to observe additional community effect benefit from bed net coverage in the community.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In this multiyear, 25 village assessment, despite substantial known inadequate insecticide-treatment for bed nets, the density of household bed net ownership was significantly associated with all cause child mortality reduction. The absence of community effect of bednets in our study area might be explained by (1) the small proportion of nets which are treated with insecticide, and (2) the relative homogeneity of coverage with nets in the area. To reduce malaria transmission for both users and non-users it is important to increase the ITNs and long-lasting nets coverage to at least the present untreated nets coverage.</p

Utilisation of an operative difficulty grading scale for laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background A reliable system for grading operative difficulty of laparoscopic cholecystectomy would standardise description of findings and reporting of outcomes. The aim of this study was to validate a difficulty grading system (Nassar scale), testing its applicability and consistency in two large prospective datasets. Methods Patient and disease-related variables and 30-day outcomes were identified in two prospective cholecystectomy databases: the multi-centre prospective cohort of 8820 patients from the recent CholeS Study and the single-surgeon series containing 4089 patients. Operative data and patient outcomes were correlated with Nassar operative difficultly scale, using Kendall’s tau for dichotomous variables, or Jonckheere–Terpstra tests for continuous variables. A ROC curve analysis was performed, to quantify the predictive accuracy of the scale for each outcome, with continuous outcomes dichotomised, prior to analysis. Results A higher operative difficulty grade was consistently associated with worse outcomes for the patients in both the reference and CholeS cohorts. The median length of stay increased from 0 to 4 days, and the 30-day complication rate from 7.6 to 24.4% as the difficulty grade increased from 1 to 4/5 (both p < 0.001). In the CholeS cohort, a higher difficulty grade was found to be most strongly associated with conversion to open and 30-day mortality (AUROC = 0.903, 0.822, respectively). On multivariable analysis, the Nassar operative difficultly scale was found to be a significant independent predictor of operative duration, conversion to open surgery, 30-day complications and 30-day reintervention (all p < 0.001). Conclusion We have shown that an operative difficulty scale can standardise the description of operative findings by multiple grades of surgeons to facilitate audit, training assessment and research. It provides a tool for reporting operative findings, disease severity and technical difficulty and can be utilised in future research to reliably compare outcomes according to case mix and intra-operative difficulty

Children of Low Socioeconomic Status Show Accelerated Linear Growth in Early Childhood; Results from the Generation R Study

Objectives: People of low socioeconomic status are shorter than those of high socioeconomic status. The first two years of life being critical for height development, we hypothesized that a low socioeconomic status is associated with a slower linear growth in early childhood. We studied maternal educational level (high, mid-high, mid-low, and low) as a measure of socioeconomic status and its association with repeatedly measured height in children aged 0-2 years, and also examined to what extent known determinants of postnatal growth contribute to this association. Methods: This study was based on data from 2972 mothers with a Dutch ethnicity, and their children participating in The Generation R Study, a population-based cohort study in Rotterdam, the Netherlands (participation rate 61%). All children were born between April 2002 and January 2006. Height was measured at 2 months (mid-90% range 1.0-3.9), 6 months (mid-90% range 5.6-11.4), 14 months (mid-90% range 13.7-17.9) and 25 months of age (mid-90% range 23.6-29.6). Results: At 2 months, children in the lowest educational subgroup were shorter than those in the highest (difference: -0.87 cm; 95% CI: -1.16, -0.58). Between 1 and 18 months, they grew faster than their counterparts. By 14 months, children in the lowest educational subgroup were taller than those in the highest (difference at 14 months: 0.40 cm; 95% CI: 0.08,0.72). Adjustment for other determinants of postnatal growth did not explain the taller height. On the contrary, the differences became even larger (difference at 14 months: 0.61 cm; 95% CI: 0.26,0.95; and at 25 months: 1.00 cm; 95% CI: 0.57,1.43) Conclusions: Compared with children of high socioeconomic status, those of low socioeconomic status show an accelerated linear growth until the18th month of life, leading to an overcompensation of their initial height deficit. The long-term consequences of these findings remain unclear and require further study

Combining indoor residual spraying and insecticide-treated nets for malaria control in Africa: a review of possible outcomes and an outline of suggestions for the future

Insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS) are currently the preferred methods of malaria vector control. In many cases, these methods are used together in the same households, especially to suppress transmission in holoendemic and hyperendemic scenarios. Though widespread, there has been limited evidence suggesting that such co-application confers greater protective benefits than either ITNs or IRS when used alone. Since both methods are insecticide-based and intradomicilliary, this article hypothesises that outcomes of their combination would depend on effects of the candidate active ingredients on mosquitoes that enter or those that attempt to enter houses. It is suggested here that enhanced household level protection can be achieved if the ITNs and IRS have divergent yet complementary properties, e.g. highly deterrent IRS compounds coupled with highly toxic ITNs. To ensure that the problem of insecticide resistance is avoided, the ITNs and IRS products should preferably be of different insecticide classes, e.g. pyrethroid-based nets combined with organophosphate or carbamate based IRS. The overall community benefits would however depend also on other factors such as proportion of people covered by the interventions and the behaviour of vector species. This article concludes by emphasizing the need for basic and operational research, including mathematical modelling to evaluate IRS/ITN combinations in comparison to IRS alone or ITNs alone