PRIMARY HEALTH CARE AND THE CONTROL OF COMMUNICABLE DISEASES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

ABSTRACT A primary health care Project in India which was successful in the control of communicable diseases is described and the principle factors which led to the success of the Project are identified. The Project is described in the context of a review of the causes of excess child mortality in developing countries and the primary health care approach to disease control outlined at the Alma Ata Conference (1978). The author does not attempt to apply this particular model to primary health care projects in Ethiopia but it is hoped that publication of this review in the Journal will stimulate others to do so

Green infrastructure and ecosystem services - is the devil in the detail?

Background - Green infrastructure is a strategic network of green spaces designed to deliver ecosystem services to human communities. Green infrastructure is a convenient concept for urban policy makers, but the term is used too-generically and with limited understanding of the relative values or benefits of different types of green space and how these complement one another. At a finer scale/more practical level– little consideration is given to the composition of the plant-communities, yet this is what ultimately defines extent of service provision. This paper calls for greater attention to be paid to urban plantings with respect to ecosystem service delivery and for plant science to engage more-fully in identifying those plants that promote various services. Scope - Many urban plantings are designed based on aesthetics alone, with limited thought on how plant choice/composition provides other ecosystem services. Research is beginning to demonstrate, however, that landscape plants provide a range of important services, such as helping mitigate floods and alleviating heat islands, but that not all species are equally effective. The paper reviews a number of important services and demonstrates how genotype choice radically affects service delivery. Conclusions – Although research is in its infancy, data is being generated that relates plant traits to specific services; thereby helping identify genotypes that optimise service delivery. The urban environment, however, will become exceedingly bland if future planting is simply restricted to monocultures of a few ‘functional’ genotypes. Therefore, further information is required on how to design plant communities where the plants identified:- a/ provide more than a single benefit (multi-functionality) b/ complement each other in maximising the range of benefits that can be delivered in one location and c/ continue to maintain public acceptance through diversity. The identification/development of functional landscape plants is an exciting and potentially high impact arena for plant science

Targeting the Microbiota to Address Diet-Induced Obesity: A Time Dependent Challenge

peer-reviewedLinks between the gut microbiota and host metabolism have provided new perspectives on obesity. We previously showed that the link between the microbiota and fat deposition is age- and time-dependent subject to microbial adaptation to diet over time. We also demonstrated reduced weight gain in diet-induced obese (DIO) mice through manipulation of the gut microbiota with vancomycin or with the bacteriocin-producing probiotic Lactobacillus salivarius UCC118 (Bac+), with metabolic improvement achieved in DIO mice in receipt of vancomycin. However, two phases of weight gain were observed with effects most marked early in the intervention phase. Here, we compare the gut microbial populations at the early relative to the late stages of intervention using a high throughput sequencing-based analysis to understand the temporal relationship between the gut microbiota and obesity. This reveals several differences in microbiota composition over the intervening period. Vancomycin dramatically altered the gut microbiota composition, relative to controls, at the early stages of intervention after which time some recovery was evident. It was also revealed that Bac+ treatment initially resulted in the presence of significantly higher proportions of Peptococcaceae and significantly lower proportions of Rikenellaceae and Porphyromonadaceae relative to the gut microbiota of L. salivarius UCC118 bacteriocin negative (Bac-) administered controls. These differences were no longer evident at the later time. The results highlight the resilience of the gut microbiota and suggest that interventions may need to be monitored and continually adjusted to ensure sustained modification of the gut microbiota.The authors are supported in part by Teagasc, Science Foundation Ireland (in the form of a research centre grant to the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre and PI awards to PWOT and PC) and by Alimentary Health Ltd

Effect of quantum nuclear motion on hydrogen bonding

This work considers how the properties of hydrogen bonded complexes, D-H....A, are modified by the quantum motion of the shared proton. Using a simple two-diabatic state model Hamiltonian, the analysis of the symmetric case, where the donor (D) and acceptor (A) have the same proton affinity, is carried out. For quantitative comparisons, a parametrization specific to the O-H....O complexes is used. The vibrational energy levels of the one-dimensional ground state adiabatic potential of the model are used to make quantitative comparisons with a vast body of condensed phase data, spanning a donor-acceptor separation (R) range of about 2.4-3.0 A, i.e., from strong to weak bonds. The position of the proton and its longitudinal vibrational frequency, along with the isotope effects in both are discussed. An analysis of the secondary geometric isotope effects, using a simple extension of the two-state model, yields an improved agreement of the predicted variation with R of frequency isotope effects. The role of the bending modes in also considered: their quantum effects compete with those of the stretching mode for certain ranges of H-bond strengths. In spite of the economy in the parametrization of the model used, it offers key insights into the defining features of H-bonds, and semi-quantitatively captures several experimental trends.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures. Notation clarified. Revised figure including the effect of bending vibrations on secondary geometric isotope effect. Final version, accepted for publication in Journal of Chemical Physic

Independent responsive behaviour and communication in hydrogel objects

In this work, we show the fabrication of soft hydrogel alginate-based objects, namely fibres and beads, that have an individually programmed time delay in their response to a shared environmental stimulus. We utilize the enzyme urease to programme a self-regulated change in pH, which in turn activates the designed response of gel fibre disintegration or a change in gel bead colour. This design allows for independent response behaviour of a collection of bodies in a single closed system, as well as inter-material communication on shorter length scales. The incorporation of responsive time control directly into soft matter objects demonstrates an advance in the field of autonomous materials

UV Imaging Polarimetry of the Seyfert 2 Galaxy Mrk 3

We present UV imaging polarimetry data of the Seyfert 2 galaxy Mrk 3 taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. The polarized flux is found to be extended to ~1 kpc from the nucleus, and the position angles of polarization are centrosymmetric, confirming that the polarization is caused by scattering. We determine the location of the hidden nucleus as the center of this centrosymmetric pattern. From the polarization images taken in two broad bands, we have obtained the color distribution of the polarized flux. Some regions have blue polarized flux, consistent with optically-thin dust scattering, but some bright knots have a color similar to that of Seyfert 1 nucleus. Also, the recent Chandra X-ray observation suggests that the ratio of scattered UV flux to scattered X-ray flux is rather similar to the intrinsic UV/X-ray ratio in a Seyfert 1 nucleus, if the observed extended X-ray continuum is scattered light. While the scattered X-ray would be essentially from electron scattering, the UV slope and UV/X-ray ratio both being similar to Seyfert 1's would lead to two possibilities as to the nature of the UV scatterers. One is that the UV may also be scattered by electrons, in which case the scattering gas is somehow dust-free. The other is that the UV is scattered by dust grains, but the wavelength-independent UV scattering with low efficiency indicated by the UV slope and UV/X-ray ratio would suggest that the grains reside in UV-opaque clouds, or the dust might be mainly composed of large grains and lacks small-grain population.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures (plus 2 color versions of grayscale figures), To appear in ApJ; minor corrections for the proofs of the manuscrip

Negotiation, bargaining, and discounts:generating WoM and local tourism development at the Tabriz bazaar, Iran

This paper examines the effects of negotiation intention, bargaining propensity, and discount satisfaction on word-of-mouth (WoM) behaviours for tourists visiting Tabriz bazaar, Iran. Data from 615-survey respondents highlight that tourists are motivated to conduct WoM behaviour when they are experientially satisfied with the opportunity to negotiate and bargain, and when they are satisfied with the discount they receive. This paper makes theoretical contributions to social exchange theory and presents managerial implications for policy-makers to generate tourism development

Apparent Violation of the Wiedemann-Franz law near a magnetic field tuned metal-antiferromagnetic quantum critical point

The temperature dependence of the interlayer electrical and thermal resistivity in a layered metal are calculated for Fermi liquid quasiparticles which are scattered inelastically by two-dimensional antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations. Both resistivities have a linear temperature dependence over a broad temperature range. Extrapolations to zero temperature made from this linear-$T$ range give values that appear to violate the Wiedemann-Franz law. However, below a low-temperature scale, which becomes small close to the critical point, a recovery of this law occurs. Our results describe recent measurements on CeCoIn$_5$ near a magnetic field-induced quantum phase transition. Hence, the experiments do not necessarily imply a non-Fermi liquid ground state.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; accepted to Phys. Rev. Let