3,955 research outputs found
Scoping a public health impact assessment of aquaculture with particular reference to tilapia in the UK
Background. The paper explores shaping public health impact assessment tools for tilapia, a novel emergent aquaculture sector in the UK. This Research Council’s UK Rural Economy and Land Use project embraces technical, public health, and marketing perspectives scoping tools to assess possible impacts of the activity. Globally, aquaculture produced over 65 million tonnes of food in 2008 and will grow significantly requiring apposite global public health impact assessment tools.<p></p>
Methods. Quantitative and qualitative methods incorporated data from a tridisciplinary literature. Holistic tools scoped tilapia farming impact assessments. Laboratory-based tilapia production generated data on impacts in UK and Thailand along with 11 UK focus groups involving 90 consumers, 30 interviews and site visits, 9 visits to UK tilapia growers and 2 in The Netherlands.<p></p>
Results. The feasibility, challenges, strengths, and weaknesses of creating a tilapia Public Health Impact Assessment are analysed. Occupational and environmental health benefits and risks attached to tilapia production were identified.<p></p>
Conclusions. Scoping public health impacts of tilapia production is possible at different levels and forms for producers, retailers, consumers, civil society and governmental bodies that may contribute to complex and interrelated public health assessments of aquaculture projects. Our assessment framework constitutes an innovatory perspective in the field
A comparison of coyote ecology after 25 years: 1978 versus 2003
Most ecological studies of coyotes are of short duration and studies are generally never repeated, thus the opportunity to compare changes in coyote (Canis latrans Say, 1823) ecology over time is rare. We compared coyote home ranges, activity patterns, age, and diet at the Welder Wildlife Refuge in south Texas between 1978-1979 and 2003-2004 (25 years later). The Minta index of overlap between 1978 and 2003 home ranges was 51.7 ± 7.0 (n = 7), much greater than the Minta index value based on randomized tests (28.7 ± 8.6), indicating similar spatial patterns between time periods. The Minta index was 12.3 ± 6.2 (n = 7) for core areas, whereas the Minta index value based on randomized tests was 4.0 ± 3.0. Although overall diets were similar between 1978 and 2003, we detected some differences in prey species consumed. Activity patterns were similar between the two study periods, with peaks in movement occurring around sunrise and sunset. There was no difference in the mean age between the two populations (P = 0.44, n = 68, t [66] = 2.00). Our findings suggest that population features, such as home-range position and age structure, are similar between extended time periods, while individual-level patterns, such as the prey species consumed and distribution of locations within a home range, are dynamic and may reflect changes in the local environment
A comparison of coyote ecology after 25 years: 1978 versus 2003
Most ecological studies of coyotes are of short duration and studies are generally never repeated, thus the opportunity to compare changes in coyote (Canis latrans Say, 1823) ecology over time is rare. We compared coyote home ranges, activity patterns, age, and diet at the Welder Wildlife Refuge in south Texas between 1978-1979 and 2003-2004 (25 years later). The Minta index of overlap between 1978 and 2003 home ranges was 51.7 ± 7.0 (n = 7), much greater than the Minta index value based on randomized tests (28.7 ± 8.6), indicating similar spatial patterns between time periods. The Minta index was 12.3 ± 6.2 (n = 7) for core areas, whereas the Minta index value based on randomized tests was 4.0 ± 3.0. Although overall diets were similar between 1978 and 2003, we detected some differences in prey species consumed. Activity patterns were similar between the two study periods, with peaks in movement occurring around sunrise and sunset. There was no difference in the mean age between the two populations (P = 0.44, n = 68, t [66] = 2.00). Our findings suggest that population features, such as home-range position and age structure, are similar between extended time periods, while individual-level patterns, such as the prey species consumed and distribution of locations within a home range, are dynamic and may reflect changes in the local environment
Assessing the Feasibility of Public-Private Partnerships in Health in the Philippines
The government has decided to utilize the public-private partnership (PPP) program to help improve access to quality hospitals and health care facilities. This paper looks into the feasibility of implementing PPPs in the health sector. Review of literature, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions were conducted for the study. The Philippine hospital system was reviewed using five performance criteria, namely, improved health care access, equity, and quality, operating with maximum efficiency, and ensuring sustainability followed by the development of an assessment framework; the application of the said framework; and policy and program implementation recommendations for health PPPs.In order to improve the feasibility of PPPs in the health sector, it is recommended that the government use public-private investment partnerships as the definition for health PPPs, encourage public policy discussions on PPP and its relation to socioeconomic development, and develop a comprehensive communications program for PPPs. It needs to rectify shortcomings in previous PPPs and ensure absolute transparency and accountability in the entire PPP process. There is a need to amend the legal framework to ensure coherence of health PPPs. It should conduct joint capacity-building initiatives and develop and enforce an evidence-based decisionmaking process for PPPs. It needs to strengthen implementation of monitoring and evaluation and utilize the health system indicators in evaluation of PPPs. Finally, it should ensure universal PhilHealth membership to attract private sector
Structure and dynamics of the interface between a binary hard-sphere crystal of NaCl type and its coexisting binary fluid
Molecular dynamics simulations are performed to study the [100] and [111]
orientations of the crystal-melt interface between an ordered two-component
hard sphere with a NaCl structure and its coexisting binary hard-sphere fluid.
The diameter ratio of the two types of hard spheres making up the mixture is
taken to be 0.414. This work complements our earlier interface simulations [J.
Chem. Phys.116, 3410] for the same diameter ratio at lower pressures where the
smaller component is immiscible in the solid and the fluid mixture coexists
with a pure FCC crystal of large particles. Density profiles and diffusion
coefficient profiles are presented for the AB interfacial system. We find that
for this system, the transition from crystal-like to fluid-like behavior of
both the density and diffusion constant profiles occurs over a narrower region
than that seen in our previous studies [J. Chem. Phys. 116, 3410] of the
FCC/binary fluid system. But similar to what was found in the FCC/binary fluid
interface the transition region for the large particle diffusion constant is
shifted about the size of the large particles toward the fluid phase relative
to that for the small particles.Comment: 8 page
The Effect of Pravastatin on Intima Media Thickness of the Carotid Artery in Patients with Normal Cholesterol
AbstractObjectiveCarotid intima media thickness (IMT) is a good indicator of the severity of atherosclerotic disease. Statins have been found to reduce carotid IMT in patients with hypercholesterolaemia. The aim of this study was to investigate if pravastatin is effective in reducing IMT in normocholesterolaemic patients with carotid artery disease.MethodsPatients with carotid artery stenosis and normal cholesterol levels who were not on a statin, were recruited. Patients were randomised to receive pravastatin or placebo daily. Serum concentration of cholesterol and IMT of common carotid arteries were measured before randomisation and at 3 monthly intervals thereafter, for 9 months. IMT was analysed to give the mean of a standardised 2cm of the common carotid artery (CCA). Results are expressed as median (IQR) and comparison made using the Wilcoxon signed ranks test.ResultsFifty-four patients were examined. Twenty-eight patients were randomised to active treatment. There was no difference in demographic details and co-morbid states between the two groups. A significant reduction in cholesterol concentration was observed from 3 months in patients randomised to the pravastatin group [5.14(4.72–5.88) vs. 4.11(3.44–5.33), p<0.05], while there was also a significant decrease in combined IMT form 6 months [1.53(1.36–1.87) vs. 1.41 (1.33–1.78), p<0.05].ConclusionsThe results demonstrate that pravastatin reduces intima media thickness of the common carotid artery in normocholesterolaemic patients with moderate carotid stenosis
The two-dimensional random-bond Ising model, free fermions and the network model
We develop a recently-proposed mapping of the two-dimensional Ising model
with random exchange (RBIM), via the transfer matrix, to a network model for a
disordered system of non-interacting fermions. The RBIM transforms in this way
to a localisation problem belonging to one of a set of non-standard symmetry
classes, known as class D; the transition between paramagnet and ferromagnet is
equivalent to a delocalisation transition between an insulator and a quantum
Hall conductor. We establish the mapping as an exact and efficient tool for
numerical analysis: using it, the computational effort required to study a
system of width is proportional to , and not exponential in as
with conventional algorithms. We show how the approach may be used to calculate
for the RBIM: the free energy; typical correlation lengths in quasi-one
dimension for both the spin and the disorder operators; even powers of
spin-spin correlation functions and their disorder-averages. We examine in
detail the square-lattice, nearest-neighbour RBIM, in which bonds are
independently antiferromagnetic with probability , and ferromagnetic with
probability . Studying temperatures , we obtain precise
coordinates in the plane for points on the phase boundary between
ferromagnet and paramagnet, and for the multicritical (Nishimori) point. We
demonstrate scaling flow towards the pure Ising fixed point at small , and
determine critical exponents at the multicritical point.Comment: 20 pages, 25 figures, figures correcte
Nonlocal charges of T-dual strings
We obtain sets of infinite number of conserved nonlocal charges of strings in
a flat space and pp-wave backgrounds, and compare them before and after
T-duality transformation. In the flat background the set of nonlocal charges is
the same before and after the T-duality transformation with interchanging odd
and even-order charges. In the IIB pp-wave background an infinite number of
nonlocal charges are independent, contrast to that in a flat background only
the zero-th and first order charges are independent. In the IIA pp-wave
background, which is the T-dualized compactified IIB pp-wave background, the
zero-th order charges are included as a part of the set of nonlocal charges in
the IIB background. To make this correspondence complete a variable conjugate
to the winding number is introduced as a Lagrange multiplier in the IIB action
a la Buscher's transformation.Comment: 23 pages, 1 figur
Thin-Film Metamaterials called Sculptured Thin Films
Morphology and performance are conjointed attributes of metamaterials, of
which sculptured thin films (STFs) are examples. STFs are assemblies of
nanowires that can be fabricated from many different materials, typically via
physical vapor deposition onto rotating substrates. The curvilinear--nanowire
morphology of STFs is determined by the substrate motions during fabrication.
The optical properties, especially, can be tailored by varying the morphology
of STFs. In many cases prototype devices have been fabricated for various
optical, thermal, chemical, and biological applications.Comment: to be published in Proc. ICTP School on Metamaterials (Augsut 2009,
Sibiu, Romania
Basal topographic controls on rapid retreat of Humboldt Glacier, northern Greenland
Discharge from marine-terminating outlet glaciers accounts for up to half the recent mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet, yet the causal factors are not fully understood. Here we assess the factors controlling the behaviour of Humboldt Glacier (HG), allowing us to evaluate the influence of basal topography on outlet glacier response to external forcing since part of HG’s terminus occupies a large overdeepening. HG’s retreat accelerated dramatically after 1999, coinciding with summer atmospheric warming of up to 0.19°C a–1 and sea-ice decline. Retreat was an order of magnitude greater in the northern section of the terminus, underlain by a major basal trough, than in the southern section, where the bedrock is comparatively shallow. Velocity change following retreat was spatially non-uniform, potentially due to a pinning point near HG’s northern lateral margin. Consistent with observations, numerical modelling demonstrates an order-of-magnitude greater sensitivity to sea-ice buttressing and crevasse depth (used as a proxy for atmospheric warming) in the northern section. The trough extends up to 72 km inland, so it is likely to facilitate sustained retreat and ice loss from HG during the 21st century
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