Just How Big is the Schism Between the Health Sector and the Water and Sanitation Sector in Developing Countries?

Water, sanitation and hygiene are all key aspects to a healthy environment but often they suffer from a lack of coherence within the sector itself and also a lack of synergy with the health sector. This is not acceptable given one quarter of all child deaths are directly attributable to water-borne disease. This lack of synergy is evident at many different layers including planning, resource allocation and donor commitment. Developing countries must, in consultation with their communities, examine their biggest health risks and allocate resources accordingly. Sustained dialogue and increased in-depth analysis are needed to find consensus and an improved synergy across these vital sectors

Dysregulation of visual motion inhibition in major depression

Individuals with depression show depleted concentrations of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA in occipital (visual) cortex, predicting weakened inhibition within their visual systems. Yet, visual inhibition in depression remains largely unexplored. To fill this gap, we examined the inhibitory process of centersurround suppression (CSS) of visual motion in depressed individuals. Perceptual performance in discriminating the direction of motion was measured as a function of stimulus presentation time and contrast in depressed individuals (n¼27) and controls (n¼22). CSS was operationalized as the accuracy difference between conditions using large (7.5°) and small (1.5°) grating stimuli. Both depressed and control participants displayed the expected advantage in accuracy for small stimuli at high contrast. A significant interaction emerged between subject group, contrast level and presentation time, indicating that alterations of CSS in depression were modulated by stimulus conditions. At high contrast, depressed individuals showed significantly greater CSS than controls at the 66 ms presentation time (where the effect peaked in both groups). The results' specificity and dependence on stimulus features such as contrast, size and presentation time suggest that they arise from changes in early visual processing, and are not the results of a generalized deficit or cognitive bias.Accepted versio

Tunable Resonant Raman Scattering from Singly Resonant Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes

We perform tunable resonant Raman scattering on 17 semiconducting and 7 metallic singly resonant single wall carbon nanotubes. The measured scattering cross-section as a function laser energy provides information about a tube's electronic structure, the lifetime of intermediate states involved in the scattering process and also energies of zone center optical phonons. Recording the scattered Raman signal as a function of tube location in the microscope focal plane allows us to construct two-dimensional spatial maps of singly resonant tubes. We also describe a spectral nanoscale artifact we have coined the "nano-slit effect"

UK-based specialist dental professionals' experiences of working with autistic patients

AIMS: Previous research has demonstrated that autistic individuals often experience difficulties accessing dental care, both as a result of autism specific difficulties and practitioners' attitudes towards autism. However, very little research exists that explores dental professionals' experiences of providing care to their autistic patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the strategies UK-based dental professionals' use when working with autistic patients METHODS AND RESULTS: In this study, dental professionals (n = 16) from a variety of specialty roles (special care, paediatrics, orthodontics) were interviewed. We asked participants to talk through, in depth, specific cases they had encountered in their practice, what sorts of accommodations they had provided, and what concerns had arisen during appointments. Thematic analysis was used to analyses the data and revealed four main themes: the unique dental needs associated with being autistic, effective adaptations to practice, the crucial role of the caregiver, and the importance of specialist knowledge CONCLUSION: Recommendations for how dentists can improve the dental experiences of autistic patients can be drawn from the specialist dentists' responses in this study. These include involving autistic patients in decisions about their treatment and being flexible and willing to work with autistic patients and their caregivers

Assessment of Effects of an Oil Pipeline on Caribou, Rangifer tarandus granti, Use of Riparian Habitats in Arctic Alaska, 2001-2003

Elevated oil field pipelines may alter Caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti) movements and delay or prevent access to insect relief habitat. In an attempt to determine if the 40-km elevated Badami pipeline in northern Alaska changed Caribou use of riparian habitats at the three river crossings where the pipeline is buried, we quantified Caribou habitat use at all three crossings using time-lapse video cameras and aerial distribution surveys over three summers. We compared habitat use, behavior and duration of observations among pipeline and non-pipeline sites. We used a block experimental design with cameras at four sites at the three river crossings to evaluate differences in numbers of Caribou per day at pipeline and non-pipeline sites. At each crossing, four cameras were positioned, with one pair of cameras next to the pipeline (pipeline sites) and one pair of cameras 1.8-3.2 km upstream from the pipeline (non-pipeline sites); where cameras monitored the river bank and channel (river habitat) and the tundra within about 200 m of the river (tundra habitat). Peak numbers of Caribou per day occurred during early July 2003 and mid-July 2001 and 2002. Large numbers of Caribou recorded north of the pipeline during aerial surveys did not usually correspond with increased number per day recorded by cameras suggesting Caribou probably also crossed the pipeline outside of the riparian areas. We assessed local changes in riparian habitat use by comparing the numbers of Caribou per day in river and tundra habitats at pipeline and non-pipeline sites and found no difference. We assessed regional changes in riparian habitat use by comparing numbers of Caribou per day at pipeline sites and at non-pipeline sites and found no difference. Caribou groups spent an average of 1 minute longer at tundra pipeline sites and groups spent 30 seconds longer feeding and trotting at pipeline sites, but these differences were not significant

Collaborative hierarchy maintains cooperation in asymmetric games

The interplay of social structure and cooperative behavior is under much scrutiny lately as behavior in social contexts becomes increasingly relevant for everyday life. Earlier experimental work showed that the existence of a social hierarchy, earned through competition, was detrimental for the evolution of cooperative behaviors. Here, we study the case in which individuals are ranked in a hierarchical structure based on their performance in a collective effort by having them play a Public Goods Game. In the first treatment, participants are ranked according to group earnings while, in the second treatment, their rankings are based on individual earnings. Subsequently, participants play asymmetric Prisoner's Dilemma games where higher-ranked players gain more than lower ones. Our experiments show that there are no detrimental effects of the hierarchy formed based on group performance, yet when ranking is assigned individually we observe a decrease in cooperation. Our results show that different levels of cooperation arise from the fact that subjects are interpreting rankings as a reputation which carries information about which subjects were cooperators in the previous phase. Our results demonstrate that noting the manner in which a hierarchy is established is essential for understanding its effects on cooperation.A.A. gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Swiss National Science Foundation under Grants No. P2LAP1-161864 and P300P1-171537. This work was also supported by the EU through FET-Proactive Project DOLFINS (contract no. 640772, A.S.) and FET-Open Project IBSEN (contract no. 662725, A.S.), and by the Ministerio de Econom a y Competitividad of Spain (grant no. FIS2015-64349-P, A.S.) (MINECO/FEDER, UE)

Variation in oxytocin is related to variation in affiliative behavior in monogamous, pairbonded tamarins

Oxytocin plays an important role in monogamous pairbonded female voles, but not in polygamous voles. Here we examined a socially monogamous cooperatively breeding primate where both sexes share in parental care and territory defense for within species variation in behavior and female and male oxytocin levels in 14 pairs of cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus). In order to obtain a stable chronic assessment of hormones and behavior, we observed behavior and collected urinary hormonal samples across the tamarins’ 3-week ovulatory cycle. We found similar levels of urinary oxytocin in both sexes. However, basal urinary oxytocin levels varied 10-fold across pairs and pair-mates displayed similar oxytocin levels. Affiliative behavior (contact, grooming, sex) also varied greatly across the sample and explained more than half the variance in pair oxytocin levels. The variables accounting for variation in oxytocin levels differed by sex. Mutual contact and grooming explained most of the variance in female oxytocin levels, whereas sexual behavior explained most of the variance in male oxytocin levels. The initiation of contact by males and solicitation of sex by females were related to increased levels of oxytocin in both. This study demonstrates within-species variation in oxytocin that is directly related to levels of affiliative and sexual behavior. However, different behavioral mechanisms influence oxytocin levels in males and females and a strong pair relationship (as indexed by high levels of oxytocin) may require the activation of appropriate mechanisms for both sexes

In Silico Prediction of Organ Level Toxicity: Linking Chemistry to Adverse Effects

In silico methods to predict toxicity include the use of (Quantitative) Structure-Activity Relationships ((Q)SARs as well as grouping (category formation) allowing for read-across. A challenging area for in silico modelling is the prediction of chronic toxicity and the No Observed (Adverse) Effect Level (NO(A)EL) in particular. A proposed solution to the prediction of chronic toxicity is to consider organ level effects, as opposed to modelling the NO(A)EL itself. This study has focussed on the use of structural alerts to identify potential liver toxicants. In silico profilers, or groups of structural alerts, were developed based on mechanisms of action and informed by current knowledge of Adverse Outcome Pathways. These profilers are robust and can be coded computationally to allow for prediction. However, they do not cover all mechanisms or modes of liver toxicity and recommendations for the improvement of these approaches are given

SNS programming environment user's guide

The computing environment is briefly described for the Supercomputing Network Subsystem (SNS) of the Central Scientific Computing Complex of NASA Langley. The major SNS computers are a CRAY-2, a CRAY Y-MP, a CONVEX C-210, and a CONVEX C-220. The software is described that is common to all of these computers, including: the UNIX operating system, computer graphics, networking utilities, mass storage, and mathematical libraries. Also described is file management, validation, SNS configuration, documentation, and customer services