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Capacity development is critical to long-term conservation success, yet we lack a robust and rigorous understanding of how well its effects are being evaluated. A comprehensive summary of who is monitoring and evaluating capacity development interventions, what is being evaluated and how, would help in the development of evidence-based guidance to inform design and implementation decisions for future capacity development interventions and evaluations of their effectiveness. We built an evidence map by reviewing peer-reviewed and grey literature published since 2000, to identify case studies evaluating capacity development interventions in biodiversity conservation and natural resource management. We used inductive and deductive approaches to develop a coding strategy for studies that met our criteria, extracting data on the type of capacity development intervention, evaluation methods, data and analysis types, categories of outputs and outcomes assessed, and whether the study had a clear causal model and/or used a systems approach. We found that almost all studies assessed multiple outcome types: most frequent was change in knowledge, followed by behaviour, then attitude. Few studies evaluated conservation outcomes. Less than half included an explicit causal model linking interventions to expected outcomes. Half of the studies considered external factors that could influence the efficacy of the capacity development intervention, and few used an explicit systems approach. We used framework synthesis to situate our evidence map within the broader literature on capacity development evaluation. Our evidence map (including a visual heat map) highlights areas of low and high representation in investment in research on the evaluation of capacity development.
To describe prenatal and postpartum consumption of water, cows’ milk, 100 % juice and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) among women enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) programme in New York City (NYC) and to identify correlates of SSB intake in this population.
Design:
Cross-sectional data were collected from structured questionnaires that included validated beverage frequency questionnaires with the assistance of container samples. The association of maternal and household factors and non-SSB consumption with habitual daily energetic (kJ (kcal)) intake from SSB was assessed by using multivariable median regression.
Setting:
WIC programme in NYC, NY. Data were collected in 2017.
Participants:
388 pregnant or postpartum women (infant aged <2 years) from the NYC First 1000 Days Study.
Results:
Median age was 28 years (interquartile range (IQR) 24–34); 94·1 % were Hispanic/Latina, and 31·4 % were pregnant. Overall, 87·7 % of pregnant and 89·1% of postpartum women consumed SSB ≥ once weekly, contributing to a median daily energetic intake of 410 kJ (98 kcal) (IQR (113–904 kJ) 27–216) and 464 kJ (111 kcal) (IQR (163–1013 kJ) 39–242), respectively. In adjusted analyses, only consumption of 100 % juice was associated with greater median energetic intake from SSB (adjusted β for each additional ounce = 13; 95% CI 8, 31 (3·2; 95 % CI 2·0, 7·3).
Conclusions:
Among pregnant and postpartum women in WIC-enrolled families, interventions to reduce SSB consumption should include reduction of 100 % juice consumption as a co-target of the intervention.
OBJECTIVES/GOALS: In young women, there is significant symptomatic overlap among lower urinary tract conditions, including bladder and pelvic pain, leading to misdiagnosis and delayed care. The epidemiology of pelvic pain suggests a microbial involvement, but previous studies have not definitively identified specific bacteria associated with pain diagnoses. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: We examined urinary bacterial associations with specific symptom clusters, not diagnoses. Catheterized urinary samples were obtained from 78 pre-menopausal controls and cases with bladder and pelvic pain. 16S next-generation sequencing (NGS) characterized urinary microbial populations; validated questionnaires quantified symptom type and severity. K means unsupervised clustering analysis of NGS data assigned subjects to urotypes based on the urinary bacterial community state types. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) confirmed the NGS results and provided objective concentrations for critical taxa. Linear regression analysis confirmed the associations of bacterial concentrations and specific symptoms. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: In a pilot study of 35 reproductive-age women with a variety of complaints NGS revealed four urotypes that correlated with symptomatology. Isolated urgency incontinence was rare; the majority of subjects with symptoms complained of genitourinary pain. Bladder-specific pain (worse with filling, relieved by voiding) was associated with Lactobacillus iners. Asymptomatic patients almost universally had a non-iners, Lactobacillus-predominant microbiota. Vaginal and urethral pain unrelated to voiding correlated with increasing Enterobacteriaceae, primarily Escherichia coli. Detection of these species by qPCR in a validation population (n = 43) was highly predictive of each phenotype (P < 0.00001). Pathologic bacteria were associated with the severity of specific pain symptoms. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Our results implicate a microbial role in genitourinary pain. We describe clinically-useful bacterial biomarkers for specific pelvic and bladder pain phenotypes. This objective, rapid, and inexpensive testing to classify bladder and pelvic pain would allow more accurate diagnosis and improve treatment. CONFLICT OF INTEREST DESCRIPTION: Dr. Anger is an expert witness for Boston Scientific. Dr. Eilber is an investigator and expert witness for Boston Scientific, an investigator for Aquinox, and a consultant for Boston Scientific and Allergan. Dr. Ackerman is an expert witness for Cynosure.
Cities have become critical drivers of global socio-economic, behavioural and environmental changes far beyond urbanised borders; their transformative force was recognised with the endorsement of SDG 11 to ‘make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’. We provide an analysis of SDG 11’s impacts, considering global monitoring efforts and different local priorities linked to diverse urbanisation patterns. We focus particularly on the effects on forests and forest-based livelihoods, and propose a framework to assess synergies and trade-offs between SDG 11 and other SDGs, accounting for a range of city types. In terms of SDG 11 implementation, we found that countries tend to prioritise access to adequate housing and transport, with interlinkages to health, education and employment. Few countries enforce policies to ensure safe, green and accessible public places, or the protection of cultural and natural heritage in and around cities, despite the manifold benefits urban forests can bring. Little attention is given to building strategic social and environmental links between urban and rural areas. A more integrated approach to urban–rural territorial planning could have a positive impact by improving access to ecosystem services and socio-economic benefits generated by forests.
We assessed the impact of personal protective equipment (PPE) doffing errors on healthcare worker (HCW) contamination with multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs).
Design:
Prospective, observational study.
Setting:
The study was conducted at 4 adult ICUs at 1 tertiary-care teaching hospital.
Participants:
HCWs who cared for patients on contact precautions for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococci, or multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacilli were enrolled. Samples were collected from standardized areas of patient body, garb sites, and high-touch environmental surfaces in patient rooms. HCW hands, gloves, PPE, and equipment were sampled before and after patient interaction. Research personnel observed PPE doffing and coded errors based on CDC guidelines.
Results:
We enrolled 125 HCWs; most were nurses (66.4%) or physicians (19.2%). During the study, 95 patients were on contact precautions for MRSA. Among 5,093 cultured sites (HCW, patient, environment), 652 (14.7%) yielded the target MDRO. Moreover, 45 HCWs (36%) were contaminated with the target MDRO after patient interactions, including 4 (3.2%) on hands and 38 (30.4%) on PPE. Overall, 49 HCWs (39.2%) made multiple doffing errors and were more likely to have contaminated clothes following a patient interaction (risk ratio [RR], 4.69; P = .04). All 4 HCWs with hand contamination made doffing errors. The risk of hand contamination was higher when gloves were removed before gowns during PPE doffing (RR, 11.76; P = .025).
Conclusion:
When caring for patients on CP for MDROs, HCWs appear to have differential risk for hand contamination based on their method of doffing PPE. An intervention as simple as reinforcing the preferred order of doffing may reduce HCW contamination with MDROs.
Studies have demonstrated that decreases in slow-wave activity (SWA) predict decreases in depressive symptoms in those with major depressive disorder (MDD), suggesting that there may be a link between SWA and mood. The aim of the present study was to determine if the consequent change in SWA regulation following a mild homeostatic sleep challenge would predict mood disturbance.
Methods
Thirty-seven depressed and fifty-nine healthy adults spent three consecutive nights in the sleep laboratory. On the third night, bedtime was delayed by 3 h, as this procedure has been shown to provoke SWA. The Profile of Mood States questionnaire was administered on the morning following the baseline and sleep delay nights to measure mood disturbance.
Results
Results revealed that following sleep delay, a lower delta sleep ratio, indicative of inadequate dissipation of SWA from the first to the second non-rapid eye movement period, predicted increased mood disturbance in only those with MDD.
Conclusions
These data demonstrate that in the first half of the night, individuals with MDD who have less SWA dissipation as a consequence of impaired SWA regulation have greater mood disturbance, and may suggest that appropriate homeostatic regulation of sleep is an important factor in the disorder.
Anomalous origin of a pulmonary artery from the ascending aorta is a congenital defect that can be complicated by pulmonary arterial hypertension, typically due to vascular disease if the anomaly is left uncorrected past 6 months of age. We describe a unique case of severe pulmonary arterial hypertension with this defect in a 1-month-old infant unexpectedly caused instead by bronchial compression from her dilated left pulmonary artery.
In November and December 2012, 6 patients at a hemodialysis clinic were given a diagnosis of new hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the outbreak to identify risk factors for transmission.
METHODS
A case patient was defined as a patient who was HCV-antibody negative on clinic admission but subsequently was found to be HCV-antibody positive from January 1, 2008, through April 30, 2013. Patient charts were reviewed to identify and describe case patients. The hypervariable region 1 of HCV from infected patients was tested to assess viral genetic relatedness. Infection control practices were evaluated via observations. A forensic chemiluminescent agent was used to identify blood contamination on environmental surfaces after cleaning.
RESULTS
Eighteen case patients were identified at the clinic from January 1, 2008, through April 30, 2013, resulting in an estimated 16.7% attack rate. Analysis of HCV quasispecies identified 4 separate clusters of transmission involving 11 case patients. The case patients and previously infected patients in each cluster were treated in neighboring dialysis stations during the same shift, or at the same dialysis station on 2 consecutive shifts. Lapses in infection control were identified. Visible and invisible blood was identified on multiple surfaces at the clinic.
CONCLUSIONS
Epidemiologic and laboratory data confirmed transmission of HCV among numerous patients at the dialysis clinic over 6 years. Infection control breaches were likely responsible. This outbreak highlights the importance of rigorous adherence to recommended infection control practices in dialysis settings.
Infect. Control Hosp. Epidemiol. 2016;37(2):125–133
With the ongoing expansion of palliative care services throughout the United States, meeting the needs of socioeconomically marginalized populations, as in all domains of healthcare, continues to be a challenge. Our specific aim here was to help meet some of these needs through expanding delivery of pain and palliative care services by establishing a new clinic for underserved patients and collecting descriptive data about its operation.
Method:
In November of 2014, the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center's Pain and Palliative Care Service (PPCS) launched a bimonthly offsite pain and palliative care outpatient clinic in collaboration with Mobile Medical Care Inc. (MobileMed), a private not-for-profit primary care provider in Montgomery County, Maryland, serving underserved area residents since 1968. Staffed by NIH hospice and palliative medicine clinical fellows and faculty, the clinic provides specialty pain and palliative care consultation services to patients referred by their primary care healthcare providers. A patient log was maintained, charts reviewed, and referring providers surveyed on their satisfaction with the service.
Results:
The clinic had 27 patient encounters with 10 patients (6 males, 4 females, aged 23–67) during its first 7 months of operation. The reason for referral for all but one patient was chronic pain of multiple etiologies. Patients had numerous psychosocial stressors and comorbidities. All primary care providers who returned surveys (n = 4) rated their level of satisfaction with the consultation service as “very satisfied” or “extremely satisfied.”
Significance of Results:
This brief descriptive report outlines the steps taken and logistical issues addressed to launch and continue the clinic, the characteristics of patients treated, and the results of quality-improvement projects. Lessons learned are highlighted and future directions suggested for the clinic and others that may come along like it.
This article traces the development of the definition of “investment” under Article 25(1) of the ICSID Convention. It proposes that the definition should act as an outer limit to the usually broad definition of investment (encompassing every kind of asset) in international investment agreements (IIAs). The article discusses the various characteristics (hallmarks) of an investment which should constitute the definition. It argues that the hallmark of “significant contribution to economic development” can be refined to reduce uncertainty while giving effect to the intent of the ICSID contracting states by drawing a distinction between an ordinary commercial transaction and an investment. Recent IIA definitions of investment adopting Salini hallmarks show that states adopt the “every kind of asset” definition of investment in IIAs out of a concern that the form which the investment may take should not be restricted and that states do not necessarily view the Salini hallmarks as unwelcome.
There has been much federal and local health planning for an influenza pandemic in the United States, but little is known about the ability of the clinical community to deal quickly and effectively with a potentially overwhelming surge of pandemic influenza patients.
Problem:
The attitudes and expectations of emergency physicians, emergency nurses, hospital nursing supervisors, hospital administrators, and infection control personnel concerning clinical care in a pandemic were assessed.
Methods:
Key informant structured interviews of 46 respondents from 34 randomly selected emergency receiving hospitals in Los Angeles County were conducted using an Institutional Review Board-approved protocol. The interview asked about supplies/resources, triage, quality of care, and decision-making. At the conclusion of each interview, the informant was asked to provide the contact information for at least two others within their respective professional group. Interviews were transcribed and coded for key themes using qualitative analytical software.
Results:
There was little salience that an influx of variably ill patients with influenza would force stratified healthcare decision-making. There also was a general lack of preparation to address the ethics and practices of triaging patients in the clinical setting of a pandemic.
Conclusions:
Guidelines must be developed in concert with public health, medical society, and legislative authorities to help clinicians define, adopt, and communicate to the public those practice standards that will be followed in a mass population, infectious disease emergency.
In our previous work [1] we investigated the impact of cold-crystallization on the structure of nanocomposites of PVDF with Lucentite STN™ OMS and observed the crossover composition in which the crystallographic beta phase dominated over alpha phase. Here, melt crystallization of PVDF/OMS nanocomposites was studied in the range of 0 to 1.0 wt% of OMS. In crystallization from melt, a decrease in crystallinity index occurs as a result of an increase in OMS. While beta phase fraction increased with an increase of OMS content in the range of interest, the amount of alpha crystals was found to be dominant even at high OMS compositions. At 1.0 wt% of OMS, beta crystals had reached at most 30% of the total crystallinity. Polarizing optical microscopy (POM) studies showed smaller, less birefringent spherulites with higher melting temperature compared to alpha spherulites appeared with OMS addition. Growth rate of these weakly birefringent spherulites is smaller than that of the strongly birefringent alpha spherulites. The increase in size and amount of the weakly birefringent spherulites with an increase of OMS and their higher melting point suggests these spherulites may be in the beta crystallographic phase.
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