640 research outputs found
A public health approach to hepatitis C control in low- and middle-income countries.
No full textIn light of new treatment regimens for hepatitis C, Amitabh Suthar and Anthony Harries outline a wider public health approach for tackling the disease
sj-pdf-1-crd-10.1177_14799731211063231 – Supplemental Material for Risk of obstructive sleep apnea among taxi–motorbike drivers in Parakou city in West Africa and associated factors with road traffic accidents
No full textSupplemental Material, sj-pdf-1-crd-10.1177_14799731211063231 for Risk of obstructive sleep apnea among taxi–motorbike drivers in Parakou city in West Africa and associated factors with road traffic accidents by Serge Ade, Marius C Flatin, Prudence A Wachinou, Abdel-Samad Badirou, Ibrahim Mama Cissé, Mênonli Adjobimey, Gildas Agodokpessi and Anthony D Harries in Chronic Respiratory Disease</p
E(6) inspired SUSY benchmarks, dark matter relic density anda125 GeV Higgs
No full textWe explore the relic density of dark matter and the particle spectrum within a constrained version of an E₆ inspired SUSY model with an extra U(1)N gauge symmetry. In this model a single exact custodial symmetry forbids tree-level flavor-changing transitions and the most dangerous baryon and lepton number violating operators. We present a set of benchmark points showing scenarios that have a SM-like Higgs mass of 125 GeV and sparticle masses above the LHC limits. They lead to striking new physics signatures which may be observed during run II of the LHC and can distinguish this model from the simplest SUSY extensions of the SM. At the same time these benchmark scenarios are consistent with the measured dark matter abundance and necessarily lead to large dark matter direct detection cross sections close to current limits and observable soon at the XENON1T experiment.Peter Athron, Dylan Harries, Roman Nevzorov, Anthony G.William
Research that influences policy and practice - characteristics of operational research to improve malaria control in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa.
No full textBACKGROUND: Much communicable disease control research has had little impact on local control programme policy and practice for want of an operational component. The operational research model - the systematic search for knowledge on interventions, tools or strategies that enhance programme effectiveness - is gaining recognition as an appropriate method for addressing perplexing questions within public health programmes. METHODS: A series of operational research studies were conducted to refine malaria diagnosis in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa between 1995 and 1999. The grounded theory approach was used with groups of experienced Masters of Public Health students in South Africa and Australia to analyse a compilation of these studies for determining positive and negative attributes of operational research that affect its ability to influence communicable disease control policy and practice. RESULTS: The principal positive attributes of the operational research studies were high local relevance, greater ability to convince local decision-makers, relatively short lag-time before implementation of findings, and the cost-effective nature of this form of research. Potential negative features elicited included opportunities forfeited by using scarce resources to conduct research and the need to adequately train local health staff in research methodology to ensure valid results and accurate interpretation of findings. CONCLUSIONS: Operational research effectively influenced disease control policy and practice in rural South Africa, by providing relevant answers to local questions and engaging policy-makers. This resulted in accelerated inclusion of appropriate measures into a local communicable disease control programme
Detection and prevention of financial abuse against elders
No full textThis article is made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund. Copyright @ The Authors. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 3.0) licence. Anyone
may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both
commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication
and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/
by/3.0/legalcode.Purpose – This paper reports on banking and finance professionals' decision making in the context of elder financial abuse. The aim was to identify the case features that influence when abuse is identified and when action is taken.
Design/methodology/approach – Banking and finance professionals (n=70) were shown 35 financial abuse case scenarios and were asked to judge how certain they were that the older person was being abused and the likelihood of taking action.
Findings – Three case features significantly influenced certainty of financial abuse: the nature of the financial problem presented, the older person's level of mental capacity and who was in charge of the client's money. In cases where the older person was more confused and forgetful, there was increased suspicion that financial abuse was taking place. Finance professionals were less certain that financial abuse was occurring if the older person was in charge of his or her own finances.
Originality/value – The research findings have been used to develop freely available online training resources to promote professionals' decision making capacity (www.elderfinancialabuse.co.uk). The resources have been advocated for use by Building Societies Association as well as CIFAS, the UK's Fraud Prevention Service.The research reported here was funded by the UK cross council New Dynamicsof Ageing Programme, ESRC Reference No. RES-352-25-0026, with Mary L.M. Gilhooly asPrincipal Investigator. Web-based training tools, developed from the research findings, weresubsequently funded by the ESRC follow-on fund ES/J001155/1 with Priscilla A. Harries asPrincipal Investigator
Adapting the DOTS framework for tuberculosis control to the management of non-communicable diseases in sub-Saharan Africa
No full textResearch needs for an improved primary care response to chronic non-communicable diseases in Africa.
No full textWith non-communicable diseases (NCDs) projected to become leading causes of morbidity and mortality in developing countries, research is needed to improve the primary care response, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. This region has a particularly high double burden of communicable diseases and NCDs and the least resources for an effective response. There is a lack of good quality epidemiological data from diverse settings on chronic NCD burden in sub-Saharan Africa, and the approach to primary care of people with chronic NCDs is currently often unstructured. The main primary care research needs are therefore firstly, epidemiological research to document the burden of chronic NCDs, and secondly, health system research to deliver the structured, programmatic, public health approach that has been proposed for the primary care of people with chronic NCDs. Documentation of the burden and trends of chronic NCDs and associated risk factors in different settings and different population groups is needed to enable health system planning for an improved primary care response. Key research issues in implementing the programmatic framework for an improved primary care response are how to (i) integrate screening and prevention within health delivery; (ii) validate the use of standard diagnostic protocols for NCD case-finding among patients presenting to the local health facilities; (iii) improve the procurement and provision of standardised treatment and (iv) develop and implement a data collection system for standardised monitoring and evaluation of patient outcomes. Important research considerations include the following: selection of research sites and the particular NCDs targeted; research methodology; local research capacity; research collaborations; ethical issues; translating research findings into policy and practice and funding. Meeting the research needs for an improved health system response is crucial to deliver effective, affordable and equitable care for the millions of people with chronic NCDs in developing countries in Africa
HIV testing and antiretroviral therapy in government and mission hospitals in Malawi: 2002-2007.
No full textHIV testing and antiretroviral therapy (ART) has scaled up tremendously in Malawi in the last 5 years. We analyzed trends of HIV testing uptake in the course of ART scale-up in 25 government and mission hospitals, which were selected because they do not receive support from non-governmental organizations. Data on numbers of clients HIV tested and on cumulative ART registrations were collected from annual country-wide situational analyses and from quarterly ART supervisory visits from 2002 to 2007. In the period before ART scale up, the quarterly number of clients HIV tested increased from 2609 in 2002 to 8197 in 2004, equivalent to an average quarterly increase of 559 tests. During ART scale up, the quarterly number of clients HIV tested increased from 17977 in early 2005 to 35344 in the second quarter of 2007, equivalent to an average quarterly increase of 2171 tests. During this time, the cumulative number of patients started on ART increased from 2441 to 29756. There has been a rapid acceleration of HIV testing uptake and ART in government and mission hospitals. ART may facilitate the decision of clients to have an HIV test and therefore contribute in this way to HIV prevention efforts
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