Food deprivation and drinking in two African rodents, Mastomys natalensis and Rhabdomys pumilio

Mastomys natalensis and Rhabdomys pumilio from the moist Natal Midlands, South Africa, were deprived of food in the laboratory. Both species exhibited hypodipsia while fasting and, in terms of a hypothesis proposed by Wright (1976), therefore appear to be primarily mesophilic. R. pumilio tolerated up to five days without food and M. natalensis up to three days. R. pumilio appears adapted to occupy drier microhabitats than M. natalensis, and pre-adapted to colonize arid regions.S. Afr. J. Zool.1987, 22(3

Use of progression criteria to support monitoring and commissioning decision making of public health services: : lessons from Better Start Bradford

BACKGROUND:Commissioning and monitoring of community-based interventions is a challenge due to the complex nature of the environment and the lack of any explicit cut-offs to guide decision making. At what point, for example, is participant enrolment to interventions, course completion or satisfaction deemed to be acceptable or sufficient for continued funding? We aimed to identify and quantify key progression criteria for fourteen early years interventions by (1) agreeing the top three criteria for monitoring of successful implementation and progress; and (2) agreeing boundaries to categorise interventions as 'meeting anticipated target' (green); 'falling short of targets' (amber) and 'targets not being met' (red). METHODS:We ran three workshops in partnership with the UK's Big Lottery Fund commissioned programme 'Better Start Bradford' (implementing more than 20 interventions to improve the health, wellbeing and development of children aged 0-3) to support decision making by agreeing progression criteria for the interventions being delivered. Workshops included 72 participants, representing a range of professional groups including intervention delivery teams, commissioners, intervention-monitoring teams, academics and community representatives. After discussion and activities, final decisions were submitted using electronic voting devices. All participants were invited to reconsider their responses via a post-workshop questionnaire. RESULTS:Three key progression criteria were assigned to each of the 14 interventions. Overall, criteria that participants most commonly voted for were recruitment, implementation and reach, but these differed according to each intervention. Cut-off values used to indicate when an intervention moved to 'red' varied by criteria; the lowest being for recruitment, where participants agreed that meeting less than 65% of the targeted recruitment would be deemed as 'red' (falling short of target). CONCLUSIONS:Our methodology for monitoring the progression of interventions has resulted in a clear pathway which will support commissioners and intervention teams in local decision making within the Better Start Bradford programme and beyond. This work can support others wishing to implement a formal system for monitoring the progression of public health interventions

Risk factors for early language delay in children within a minority ethnic, bilingual, deprived environment (Born in Bradford’s Better Start): a UK community birth cohort study

Background: Preschool language skills and language delay predict academic and socioemotional outcomes. Children from deprived environments are at a higher risk of language delay, and both minority ethnic and bilingual children can experience a gap in language skills at school entry. However, research that examines late talking (preschool language delay) in an ethnically diverse, bilingual, deprived environment at age 2 is scarce. Methods: Data from Born in Bradford’s Better Start birth cohort were used to identify rates of late talking (≤10th percentile on the Oxford-Communicative Development Inventory: Short) in 2-year-old children within an ethnically diverse, predominantly bilingual, deprived UK region (N=712). The relations between known demographic, maternal, distal and proximal child risk factors, and language skills and language delay were tested using hierarchical linear and logistic regression. Results: A total of 24.86% of children were classified as late talkers. Maternal demographic factors (ethnicity, born in UK, education, financial security, employment, household size, age) predicted 3.12% of the variance in children’s expressive vocabulary. Adding maternal language factors (maternal native language, home languages) and perinatal factors (birth weight, gestation) to the model predicted 3.76% of the variance. Adding distal child factors (child sex, child age) predicted 11.06%, and adding proximal child factors (receptive vocabulary, hearing concerns) predicted 49.51%. Significant risk factors for late talking were male sex (OR 2.07, 95% CI 1.38 to 3.09), receptive vocabulary delay (OR 8.40, 95% CI 4.99 to 14.11) and parent-reported hearing concerns (OR 7.85, 95% CI 1.90 to 32.47). Protective factors were increased household size (OR 0.85, 95% CI 0.77 to 0.95) and age (OR 0.82, 95% CI 0.70 to 0.96). Conclusions: Almost one in four children living in an ethnically diverse and deprived UK area have early language delay. Demographic factors explained little variance in early vocabulary, whereas proximal child factors held more predictive value. The results indicate further research on early language delay is warranted for vulnerable groups

Transport, Growth Mechanisms, and Material Quality in GaN Epitaxial Lateral Overgrowth

Growth kinetics, mechanisms, and material quality in GaN epitaxial lateral over-growth (ELO) were examined using a single mask of systematically varied patterns. A 2-D gas phase reaction/diffusion model describes how transport of the Ga precursor to the growth surface enhances the lateral rate in the early stages of growth. In agreement with SEM studies of truncated growth runs, the model also predicts the dramatic decrease in the lateral rate that occurs as GaN over-growth reduces the exposed area of the mask. At the point of convergence, a step-flow coalescence mechanism is observed to fill in the area between lateral growth-fronts. This alternative growth mode in which a secondary growth of GaN is nucleated along a single convergence line, may be responsible for producing smooth films observed to have uniform cathodoluminescence (CL) when using 1{micro}m nucleation zones. Although emission is comprised of both UV ({approximately}365nm) and yellow ({approximately}550nm) components, the spectra suggest these films have reduced concentrations of threading dislocations normally associated with non-radiative recombination centers and defects known to accompany growth-front convergence lines

Evidence-informed urban health and sustainability governance in two Chinese cities

Sustainable development is best supported by intersectoral policies informed by a range of evidence and knowledge types (e.g. scientific and lay). Given China’s rapid urbanisation, scale and global importance in climate mitigation, this study investigates how evidence is perceived and used to inform urban health and sustainability policies at central and local levels. Well-informed senior professionals in government/scientific agencies (12 in Beijing and 11 in Ningbo) were interviewed. A thematic analysis is presented using deductive and inductive coding. Government agency participants described formal remits and processes determining the scope and use of evidence by different tiers of government. Academic evidence was influential when commissioned by government departments. Public opinion and economic priorities were two factors that also influenced the use or weight of evidence in policymaking. This study shows that scientific evidence produced or commissioned by government was routinely used to inform urban health and sustainability policy. Extensive and routine data collection is regularly used to inform cyclical policy processes, which improves adaptive capacity. This study contributes to knowledge on the ‘cultures of evidence use’. Environmental governance can be further improved through increased data-sharing and use of diverse knowledge types

Why interventions to prevent intimate partner violence and HIV have failed young women in southern Africa

INTRODUCTION: Adolescent girls and young women aged 15 to 24 years have some of the highest HIV incidence rates globally, with girls two to four times more likely to be living with HIV than their male peers. High levels of intimate partner violence (IPV) experienced by this age group is a significant risk factor for HIV acquisition. While behavioural interventions to prevent IPV and HIV in southern Africa have seen some success in reducing self-reported experiences of IPV, these interventions have largely failed to achieve similar outcomes for young women. DISCUSSION: We identify three main reasons for the failure of IPV/HIV interventions for many young women in southern Africa. First, interventions are usually developed without the meaningful involvement of both young women and young men. Youth input into research design is largely focused on user testing or consultation of targeted groups, involving relatively low levels of participation. Second, interventions are focused on addressing individual risk factors rather than broader social and structural contexts of being a young woman. "Risk factor" interventions, rather than supporting women's agency, can pose a major barrier for supporting changes in behaviour among young women because they often fail to dislodge well-entrenched gender and age-related inequalities. Third, current intervention models have not adequately accounted for changes in gender norms and relationships across southern Africa. Individuals are getting married later in life (or not at all), new technologies are transforming romantic interactions and opening new opportunities for violence, and discussions about women's rights are both challenging gender inequalities and reinforcing them. CONCLUSIONS: In order to move beyond the status quo of current approaches, and to support real innovation, IPV/HIV prevention interventions need to be co-developed with youth as part of a meaningful participatory process of research, intervention design, youth involvement in development and implementation. This process of co-development needs to be radical and break with the current focus on adapting existing interventions to meet the needs of young people, which are not well understood and often do not directly reflect their priorities. Broader social contexts and compound lenses are needed to avoid narrow approaches and to accommodate evolving norms

Using the Incremental Net Benefit Framework for Quantitative Benefit–Risk Analysis in Regulatory Decision-Making—A Case Study of Alosetron in Irritable Bowel Syndrome

AbstractObjectiveThere is consensus that a more transparent, explicit, and rigorous approach to benefit–risk evaluation is required. The objective of this study is to evaluate the incremental net benefit (INB) framework for undertaking quantitative benefit–risk assessment by performing a quantitative benefit–risk analysis of alosetron for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome from the patients’ perspective.MethodsA discrete event simulation model was developed to determine the INB of alosetron relative to placebo, calculated as “relative value-adjusted life-years (RVALYs).”ResultsIn the base case analysis, alosetron resulted in a mean INB of 34.1 RVALYs per 1000 patients treated relative to placebo over 52 weeks of treatment. Incorporating parameter uncertainty into the model, probabilistic sensitivity analysis revealed a mean INB of 30.4 (95% confidence interval 15.9–45.4) RVALYs per 1000 patients treated relative to placebo over 52 weeks of treatment. Overall, there was >99% chance that both the incremental benefit and incremental risk associated with alosetron are greater than placebo. As hypothesized, the INB of alosetron was greatest in patients with the worst quality of life experienced at baseline. The mean INB associated with alosetron in patients with mild, moderate, and severe symptoms at baseline was 17.97 (−0.55 to 36.23), 29.98 (17.05–43.37), and 35.98 (23.49–48.77) RVALYs per 1000 patients treated, respectively.ConclusionsThis study demonstrates the potential utility of applying the INB framework to real-life decision-making, and the ability to use simulation modeling incorporating outcomes data from different sources as a benefit–risk decision aid