Charge and spin fractionalization in strongly correlated topological insulators

We construct an effective topological Landau-Ginzburg theory that describes general SU(2) incompressible quantum liquids of strongly correlated particles in two spatial dimensions. This theory characterizes the fractionalization of quasiparticle quantum numbers and statistics in relation to the topological ground-state symmetries, and generalizes the Chern-Simons, BF and hierarchical effective gauge theories to an arbitrary representation of the SU(2) symmetry group. Our main focus are fractional topological insulators with time-reversal symmetry, which are treated as generalizations of the SU(2) quantum Hall effect.Comment: 8 pages, published versio

Towards domestic financing of national HIV responses lessons learnt from Serbia

This report highlights the efforts of Serbia to continue funding and implementation of the national HIV response which had been significantly supported by the GF from 2003 to 2014 and resulted in an intensified communication and consultation between governmental and NGO sector. Serbia has a long tradition in national HIV programming. There is clear evidence that the most effective programmes are those in which civil society's role, engagement in providing prevention, care and support services for key populations and PLHIV and established partnership with other relevant stakeholders are strongest and equitable. Moreover, interventions should be supported by enabling legal and policy frameworks. This includes measures to increase availability and access to different services and to minimize law enforcement and other structural barriers. Constant advocacy work with relevant stakeholders and standardization of services is also recognized as very important.sch_iihpub4571pu

Introduction of the European Union case definitions to primary care physicians has improved the quality of communicable diseases notification in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Aim: The Public Health Reform II project was implemented in Bosnia and Herzegovina from December 2011 to December 2013 and was funded by the European Union Aid schema. The principal aim of the project was to strengthen public health services in the country through improved control of public health threats. Workshops for primary care physicians were provided to improve the situation and increase communicable diseases notification rates in eight selected primary care centres. They were followed with visits from the project’s implementing team to verify the effects of trainings. Methods: The quality of notifications from physicians in Tuzla region was compared before and after the workshop. The timeliness was used as an indicator of quality. Medians of timeliness before and after the training were compared by use of Wilcoxon test, whereas the averages of timeliness were compared by use of the t-test. Results: There were 980 reported cases, 80% before the training and 20% after the training. A lower median of timeliness for all the reported cases after the training was statistically significant compared to the median value before the training. A similar picture was revealed for specific diseases i.e. tuberculosis and enteritis, not so for scarlet fever and scabies. Conclusion: The significant reduction in time response between the first symptoms and disease diagnosis indicates the positive impact of the training program in Tuzla. Hence, primary care physicians provided better quality of reported data after the training course

Delivery of integrated infectious disease control services under the new antenatal care guidelines: A service availability and readiness assessment of health facilities in Tanzania

Duric, Predrag - ORCID 0000-0001-5770-7224 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5770-7224Correction to article deposited 2021-07-12.BACKGROUND:Tanzania remains among the countries with the highest burden of infectious diseases (notably HIV, Malaria and Tuberculosis) during pregnancy. In response, the country adopted World Health Organization's (WHO) latest antenatal care (ANC) guidelines which recommend comprehensive services including diagnostic screening and treatment for pregnant women during antenatal. However, as Tanzania makes efforts to scale up these services under the existing health system resources, it is crucial to understand its capacity to deliver these services in an integrated fashion. Using the WHO's service availability and readiness assessment(SARA) framework, this study assesses the capacity of the Tanzanian Health System to provide integrated Malaria, Tuberculosis and HIV services.METHODS:Composite indicators of the five components of integration were constructed from primary datasets of the Tanzanian Service Provision Assessments (SPA) under the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) programs. Chi-squared analysis, T test and ANOVA were conducted to determine the associations of each of the defined components and background characteristics of facilities/health workers. A logistic regression model was further used to explore strength of relationships between availability of service readiness components and a pregnant women's receipt of HIV, Malaria and TB services by reporting adjusted odds ratios.RESULTS:Generally, capacity to integrate malaria services was significantly higher (72.3 95% CI 70.3-74.4 p = 0.02) compared to Tuberculosis (48.9 95% CI 48.4-50.7) and HIV (54.8 95% CI 53.1-56.9) services. Diagnostic capacity was generally higher than treatment commodities. Regarding the components of SARA integration, logistic regression found that the adjusted odds ratio of having all five components of integration and receiving integrated care was 1.9 (95% CI 0.8-2.7). Among these components, the strongest determinant (predictor) to pregnant women's receipt of integrated care was having trained staff on site (AOR 2.6 95% CI 0.6-4.5).CONCLUSION:Toward a successful integration of these services under the new WHO guidelines in Tanzania, efforts should be channelled into strengthening infectious disease care especially HIV and TB. Channelling investments into training of health workers (the strongest determinant to integrated care) is likely to result in positive outcomes for the pregnant woman and unborn child.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-019-3990-819pubpu

COMPARISON BETWEEN TRAFFIC INJURIES RELATED DEATHS AMONG CHILDREN IN CROATIA AND SERBIA

Objective - To compare trends in traffic injury-related deaths among children in Croatia and Serbia from 1995 to 2010. Participants and methods - We used vital statistics mortality data from the Republic of Croatia Central Bureau of Statistics prepared by the Croatian National Institute of Public Health. Population estimates were provided by the Republic of Croatia Central Bureau of Statistics, which is responsible for 10-year census counts and inter census annual estimates. For Serbia we used the data from the Statistical office of the Republic of Serbia, including population estimates. Results - Significant decrease in child traffic injuries mortality rates was achieved in both countries in the analyzed period, Serbia generally having lower rates in the whole period. In both countries the age group between 15 and 19 years was recognized as the most vulnerable population, especially males. Conclusions - Because many actions were launched after the analyzed period the further decrease could be expected that could additionally narrow the gap in mortality rates between Croatia and Serbia, and the most developed countries.sch_iih11pub4596pub

NGO social contracting fact sheet Montenegro

HIV epidemiology in brief Montenegro has a concentrated HIV epidemic, with 134 officially registered people living with HIV (PLHIV), which is 29% of the estimated number1. In 2014, 83 people living with HIV were receiving antiretroviral therapy (coverage 18% of the estimated and 62% of the registered number of people living with HIV). More than 90% of new HIV infections in recent years were caused by sexual transmission, mainly among men who have sex with men (MSM).sch_iihpub4586pu

NGO social contracting fact sheet fYR Macedonia

HIV epidemiology in brief The former Yugoslav Republic (fYR) of Macedonia has a low level HIV epidemic, with 161 people living with HIV officially registered and 96 of them receiving antiretroviral therapy (coverage 60%) in 2014.sch_iihpub4584pu

NGO social contracting fact sheet Tajikistan

HIV epidemiology in brief Tajikistan has a concentrated HIV epidemic, with 5,242 people living with HIV officially registered (33% of the estimated number), and 2,167 of them receiving antiretroviral therapy (coverage 14% of the estimated and 41% of the registered number of people living with HIV) in 2014. Next to heterosexual transmission, injecting drug use is the most common way of HIV transmission.sch_iihpub4588pu

NGO social contracting fact sheet Kyrgyzstan

HIV epidemiology in brief Kyrgyzstan has a concentrated HIV epidemic, with 6,095 people living with HIV officially registered (65% of the estimated number)1, and 1,900 of them receiving antiretroviral therapy (coverage 20% of the estimated and 31% of the registered number of people living with HIV) in 2014. More than 60% of HIV infections in recent years were caused by sexual transmission.sch_iihpub4583pu

NGO social contracting fact sheet Ukraine

HIV epidemic in Ukraine in brief Ukraine has a concentrated HIV epidemic, with 137,390 officially registered people living with HIV, which is 62% of the estimated number of people living with HIV in the country. In 2014, 66,409 people living with HIV were receiving antiretroviral therapy (coverage of 30% of the estimated number of people living with HIV and 48% of the registered people living with HIV).sch_iihpub4589pu