Willingness to Pay for Improved Milk Sensory Characteristics and Assurances in Northern Kenya Using Experimental Auctions

Pastoralists in northern Kenya may be able to diversify income by selling milk in nearby towns and cities. However, milk sold in open-air markets in communities in northern Kenya is often of low quality in terms of its sensory characteristics. The milk is also often adulterated before sale. These markets are characterized by poor consumers who need to make choices about milk quality with virtually no information other than their own sensory perceptions. These conditions are similar in many parts of the world for many different commodities and products. An examination was undertaken using experimental auctions to determine if consumers in the border town of Moyale, Kenya are willing to pay for enhanced milk sensory characteristics and assurances. The results suggest that even poor consumers are willing to pay for enhanced sensory characteristics and assurances if these can be communicated in a trusted manner. Older, relatively well-informed women are the group most willing to pay the highest prices for milk quality.willingness-to-pay, milk, Kenya, Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Q10, Q14,

Scaling up antiretroviral therapy in Malawi-implications for managing other chronic diseases in resource-limited countries.

The national scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Malawi is based on the public health approach, with principles and practices borrowed from the successful DOTS (directly observed treatment, short course) tuberculosis control framework. The key principles include political commitment, free care, and standardized systems for case finding, treatment, recording and reporting, and drug procurement. Scale-up of ART started in June 2004, and by December 2008, 223,437 patients were registered for treatment within a health system that is severely underresourced. The Malawi model for delivering lifelong ART can be adapted and used for managing patients with chronic noncommunicable diseases, the burden of which is already high and continues to grow in low-income and middle-income countries. This article discusses how the principles behind the successful Malawi model of ART delivery can be applied to the management of other chronic diseases in resource-limited settings and how this paradigm can be used for health systems strengthening

Economic evaluation of short treatment for multidrugresistant tuberculosis, Ethiopia and South Africa : the STREAM trial

OBJECTIVE STREAM was a phase-III non-inferiority randomised controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate a shortened regimen for multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), and included the first-ever within-trial economic evaluation of such regimens, reported here. METHODS We compared the costs of ‘Long’ (20-22 months) and ‘Short’ (9-11 months) regimens in Ethiopia and South Africa. Cost data were collected from trial participants, and health system costs estimated using ‘bottom-up’ and ‘top-down’ costing approaches. A cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted with the trial primary outcome as the measure of effectiveness, including a probabilistic sensitivity analysis (PSA) to illustrate decision uncertainty. FINDINGS The Short-regimen reduced healthcare costs per case by 21% in South Africa (US$8,341 Long vs US$6,619 Short) and 25% in Ethiopia (US$6,097 Long vs US$4,552 Short). The largest component of this saving was medication in South Africa (67%) and social support in Ethiopia (35%). In Ethiopia, participants on the Short-regimen reported reductions in dietary supplementation expenditure (US$225 per case (95$13 (95%CI 11-14), South Africa US$64 (95$19,000 (Ethiopia) or <US$14,500 (South Africa). CONCLUSION The Short-regimen provided substantial health system cost savings and reduced financial burden on participants. Shorter regimens are likely to be cost-effective in most settings, and an effective strategy to support the WHO goal of eliminating catastrophic costs in T

Stochastic quantization and holographic Wilsonian renormalization group

We study relation between stochastic quantization and holographic Wilsonian renormalization group flow. Considering stochastic quantization of the boundary on-shell actions with the Dirichlet boundary condition for certain $AdS$ bulk gravity theories, we find that the radial flows of double trace deformations in the boundary effective actions are completely captured by stochastic time evolution with identification of the $AdS$ radial coordinate `$r$' with the stochastic time '$t$' as $r=t$. More precisely, we investigate Langevin dynamics and find an exact relation between radial flow of the double trace couplings and 2-point correlation functions in stochastic quantization. We also show that the radial evolution of double trace deformations in the boundary effective action and the stochastic time evolution of the Fokker-Planck action are the same. We demonstrate this relation with a couple of examples: (minimally coupled)massless scalar fields in $AdS_2$ and U(1) vector fields in $AdS_4$.Comment: 1+30 pages, a new subsection is added, references are adde

D2 receptor occupancy of olanzapine pamoate depot using positron emission tomography : an open-label study in patients with schizophrenia

A long-acting depot formulation of olanzapine that sustains plasma olanzapine concentrations for over a month after a single injection is currently under development. This multicenter, open-label study explored D2 receptor occupancy of a fixed dose of olanzapine pamoate (OP) depot given every 4 weeks. Patients (nine male, five female) with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder previously stabilized on oral olanzapine were switched to OP depot 300 mg by intramuscular injection every 4 weeks for 6 months. No visitwise within-group significant changes were found in Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale Total or Clinical Global Impressions-Severity of Illness scores, although seven patients received oral olanzapine supplementation during the first four injection cycles. To minimize impact on D2 occupancy, positron emission tomography (PET) scans were not completed during injection cycles that required supplemental oral olanzapine. Two patients reported transient injection site adverse events, which did not result in discontinuation. The most frequently reported treatment-emergent adverse events were insomnia, aggravated psychosis, and anxiety. Mean striatal D2 receptor occupancy, as measured by [11C]-raclopride PET, was 69% on oral olanzapine (5–20 mg/day) and 50% (trough) on OP depot at steady state. Following an initial decline, occupancy returned to 84% of baseline oral olanzapine occupancy after six injections. Over the study period, D2 receptor occupancy and plasma olanzapine concentrations were significantly correlated (r=0.76, Pless than or equal to0.001). OP depot resulted in mean D2 receptor occupancy of approximately 60% or higher at the end of the 6-month study period, a level consistent with antipsychotic efficacy and found during treatment with oral olanzapine. However, supplemental oral olanzapine or another dosing strategy may be necessary to maintain adequate therapeutic response during the first few injection cycles.peer-reviewe

Quarkonium dissociation by anisotropy

We compute the screening length for quarkonium mesons moving through an anisotropic, strongly coupled N=4 super Yang-Mills plasma by means of its gravity dual. We present the results for arbitrary velocities and orientations of the mesons, as well as for arbitrary values of the anisotropy. The anisotropic screening length can be larger or smaller than the isotropic one, and this depends on whether the comparison is made at equal temperatures or at equal entropy densities. For generic motion we find that: (i) mesons dissociate above a certain critical value of the anisotropy, even at zero temperature; (ii) there is a limiting velocity for mesons in the plasma, even at zero temperature; (iii) in the ultra-relativistic limit the screening length scales as $(1-v^2)^\epsilon$ with \epsilon =1/2, in contrast with the isotropic result \epsilon =1/4.Comment: 39 pages, 26 figures; v2: minor changes, added reference

Soil nutrient maps of Sub-Saharan Africa: assessment of soil nutrient content at 250 m spatial resolution using machine learning

Spatial predictions of soil macro and micro-nutrient content across Sub-Saharan Africa at 250 m spatial resolution and for 0–30 cm depth interval are presented. Predictions were produced for 15 target nutrients: organic carbon (C) and total (organic) nitrogen (N), total phosphorus (P), and extractable—phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sulfur (S), sodium (Na), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), aluminum (Al) and boron (B). Model training was performed using soil samples from ca. 59,000 locations (a compilation of soil samples from the AfSIS, EthioSIS, One Acre Fund, VitalSigns and legacy soil data) and an extensive stack of remote sensing covariates in addition to landform, lithologic and land cover maps. An ensemble model was then created for each nutrient from two machine learning algorithms

Holographic RG flow of the shear viscosity to entropy density ratio in strongly coupled anisotropic plasma

We study holographic RG flow of the shear viscosity tensor of anisotropic, strongly coupled N=4 super-Yang-Mills plasma by using its type IIB supergravity dual in anisotropic bulk spacetime. We find that the shear viscosity tensor has three independent components in the anisotropic bulk spacetime away from the boundary, and one of the components has a non-trivial RG flow while the other two have a trivial one. For the component of the shear viscosity tensor with non-trivial RG flow, we derive its RG flow equation, and solve the equation analytically to second order in the anisotropy parameter 'a'. We derive the RG equation using the equation of motion, holographic Wilsonian RG method, and Kubo's formula. All methods give the same result. Solving the equation, we find that the ratio of the component of the shear viscosity tensor to entropy density 'eta/s' flows from above '1/4pi' at the horizon (IR) to below '1/4pi' at the boundary (UV) where it violates the holographic shear viscosity (Kovtun-Son-Starinets) bound and where it agrees with the other longitudinal component.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures, slight change on the title, more background material added, references added, accepted for publication in JHE

Pathophysiological and immunological studies of bovine trypanosomiasis

No abstract available. General introduction on p. 1-10

A systematic review of primary care models for non-communicable disease interventions in Sub-Saharan Africa

Background Chronic diseases, primarily cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, diabetes and cancer, are the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where communicable disease prevalence still outweighs that of non-communicable disease (NCDs), rates of NCDs are rapidly rising and evidence for primary healthcare approaches for these emerging NCDs is needed. Methods A systematic review and evidence synthesis of primary care approaches for chronic disease in SSA. Quantitative and qualitative primary research studies were included that focused on priority NCDs interventions. The method used was best-fit framework synthesis. Results Three conceptual models of care for NCDs in low- and middle-income countries were identified and used to develop an a priori framework for the synthesis. The literature search for relevant primary research studies generated 3759 unique citations of which 12 satisfied the inclusion criteria. Eleven studies were quantitative and one used mixed methods. Three higher-level themes of screening, prevention and management of disease were derived. This synthesis permitted the development of a new evidence-based conceptual model of care for priority NCDs in SSA. Conclusions For this review there was a near-consensus that passive rather than active case-finding approaches are suitable in resource-poor settings. Modifying risk factors among existing patients through advice on diet and lifestyle was a common element of healthcare approaches. The priorities for disease management in primary care were identified as: availability of essential diagnostic tools and medications at local primary healthcare clinics and the use of standardized protocols for diagnosis, treatment, monitoring and referral to specialist care