III-V-on-silicon anti-colliding pulse-type mode-locked laser

An anti-colliding pulse-type III–V-on-silicon passively mode-locked laser is presented for the first time based on a III–V-on-silicon distributed Bragg reflector as outcoupling mirror implemented partially underneath the III–V saturable absorber. Passive mode-locking at 4.83 GHz repetition rate generating 3 ps pulses is demonstrated. The generated fundamental RF tone shows a 1.7 kHz 3 dB linewidth. Over 9 mW waveguide coupled output power is demonstrated

Accountability, Strategy, and International Non-Governmental Organizations

Increased prominence and greater influence expose international non-governmental development and environmental organizations (INGOs) to increased demands for accountability from a wide variety of stakeholdersdonors, beneficiaries, staffs, and partners among others. This paper focuses on developing the concept of INGO accountability, first as an abstract concept and then as a strategic idea with very different implications for different INGO strategies. We examine those implications for INGOs that emphasize service delivery, capacity-building, and policy influence. We propose that INGOs committed to service delivery may owe more accountability to donors and service regulators; capacity-building INGOs may be particularly obligated to clients whose capacities are being enhanced; and policy influence INGOs may be especially accountable to political constituencies and to influence targets. INGOs that are expanding their activities to include new initiatives may need to reorganize their accountability systems to implement their strategies effectively. This publication is Hauser Center Working Paper No. 7. The Hauser Center Working Paper Series was launched during the summer of 2000. The Series enables the Hauser Center to share with a broad audience important works-in-progress written by Hauser Center scholars and researchers

‘Scaling up’ educational change: some musings on misrecognition and doxic challenges

Educational policy-makers around the world are strongly committed to the notion of ‘scaling up’. This can mean anything from encouraging more teachers to take up a pedagogical innovation, all the way through to system-wide efforts to implement ‘what works’ across all schools. In this paper, I use Bourdieu’s notions of misrecognition to consider the current orthodoxies of scaling up. I argue that the focus on ‘process’ and ‘implementation problems’: (1) both obscures and legitimates the ways in which the field logics of practice actually work and, (2) produces/reproduces the inequitable distribution of educational benefits (capitals and life opportunities). I suggest that the notion of misrecognition might provide a useful lens through which to examine reform initiatives and explanations of their success/failure

Scaling up community mobilisation through women's groups for maternal and neonatal health: experiences from rural Bangladesh

Background: Program coverage is likely to be an important determinant of the effectiveness of community interventions to reduce neonatal mortality. Rigorous examination and documentation of methods to scale-up interventions and measure coverage are scarce, however. To address this knowledge gap, this paper describes the process and measurement of scaling-up coverage of a community mobilisation intervention for maternal, child and neonatal health in rural Bangladesh and critiques this real-life experience in relation to available literature on scaling-up.Methods: Scale-up activities took place in nine unions in rural Bangladesh. Recruitment and training of those who deliver the intervention, communication and engagement with the community and other stakeholders and active dissemination of intervention activities are described. Process evaluation and population survey data are presented and used to measure coverage and the success of scale-up.Results: The intervention was scaled-up from 162 women's groups to 810, representing a five-fold increase in population coverage. The proportion of women of reproductive age and pregnant women who were engaged in the intervention increased from 9% and 3%, respectively, to 23% and 29%.Conclusions: Examination and documentation of how scaling-up was successfully initiated, led, managed and monitored in rural Bangladesh provide a deeper knowledge base and valuable lessons.Strong operational capabilities and institutional knowledge o

Association of Atopobium vaginae, a recently described metronidazole resistant anaerobe, with bacterial vaginosis

BACKGROUND: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a polymicrobial syndrome characterized by a change in vaginal flora away from predominantly Lactobacillus species. The cause of BV is unknown, but the condition has been implicated in diverse medical outcomes. The bacterium Atopobium vaginae has been recognized only recently. It is not readily identified by commercial diagnostic kits. Its clinical significance is unknown but it has recently been isolated from a tuboovarian abcess. METHODS: Nucleotide sequencing of PCR amplified 16S rRNA gene segments, that were separated into bands within lanes on polyacrylamide gels by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), was used to examine bacterial vaginal flora in 46 patients clinically described as having normal (Lactobacillus spp. predominant; Nugent score ≤ 3) and abnormal flora (Nugent score ≥ 4). These women ranged in age from 14 to 48 and 82% were African American. RESULTS: The DGGE banding patterns of normal and BV-positive patients were recognizably distinct. Those of normal patients contained 1 to 4 bands that were focused in the centre region of the gel lane, while those of BV positive patients contained bands that were not all focused in the center region of the gel lane. More detailed analysis of patterns revealed that bands identified as Atopobium vaginae were present in a majority (12/22) of BV positive patients, while corresponding bands were rare (2/24) in normal patients. (P < 0.001) Two A. vaginae isolates were cultivated from two patients whose DGGE analyses indicated the presence of this organism. Two A. vaginae 16S rRNA gene sequences were identified among the clinical isolates. The same two sequences were obtained from DGGE bands of the corresponding vaginal flora. The sequences differed by one nucleotide over the short (~300 bp) segment used for DGGE analysis and migrated to slightly different points in denaturing gradient gels. Both isolates were strict anaerobes and highly metronidazole resistant. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that A. vaginae may be an important component of the complex bacterial ecology that constitutes abnormal vaginal flora. This organism could play a role in treatment failure if further studies confirm it is consistently metronidozole resistant

Correlates of HIV-1 Genital Shedding in Tanzanian Women

BACKGROUND: Understanding the correlates of HIV shedding is important to inform strategies to reduce HIV infectiousness. We examined correlates of genital HIV-1 RNA in women who were seropositive for both herpes simplex virus (HSV)-2 and HIV-1 and who were enrolled in a randomised controlled trial of HSV suppressive therapy (aciclovir 400 mg b.i.d vs. placebo) in Tanzania. METHODOLOGY: Samples, including a cervico-vaginal lavage, were collected and tested for genital HIV-1 and HSV and reproductive tract infections (RTIs) at randomisation and 6, 12 and 24 months follow-up. Data from all women at randomisation and women in the placebo arm during follow-up were analysed using generalised estimating equations to determine the correlates of cervico-vaginal HIV-1 RNA detection and load. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Cervico-vaginal HIV-1 RNA was detected at 52.0% of 971 visits among 482 women, and was independently associated with plasma viral load, presence of genital ulcers, pregnancy, bloody cervical or vaginal discharge, abnormal vaginal discharge, cervical ectopy, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, Trichomonas vaginalis, an intermediate bacterial vaginosis score and HSV DNA detection. Similar factors were associated with genital HIV-1 RNA load. CONCLUSIONS: RTIs were associated with increased presence and quantity of genital HIV-1 RNA in this population. These results highlight the importance of integrating effective RTI treatment into HIV care services