Suchergebnisse

The diet of nestling rainbow bee-eaters, Merops ornatus, was determined by analysis of droppings and
regurgitated pellets collected at one site on Rottnest I., W.A. in the summer of 1982/83, and five sites
in the summer of 1983/84. In total, 2187 insects from 10 families were identified. These comprised:
Hymenoptera (95%), including Scoliidae (14%), Tiphiidae (38%), Sphecidae (l8.5%), Apoidea (1%),
Formicoidea (7.5%) and undetermined Hymenoptera (16%); Coleoptera, Buprestidae (1.5%); Diptera,
Muscidae (<1%); Hemiptera (3%); Odonata (<1%); and Orthoptera (<1%). The relative proportions
of the different prey types varied significantly between sites and between different sampling times at
the same site. There were also site-related differences in the mean length of nestling prey and at three
sites nestlings were fed different sizes of prep during their development. Estimates of prey length based
on wing remains were significantly smaller than those based on head remains at four of the six sites,
and shapes of prey length distributions based on wings and heads were significantly different at all
six sites.

The effect of rabbit control methods on rabbit populations and subsequent changes in vegetation were
assessed over 2 years on a calcareous shrubby grassland in central Australia. Warren ripping and
fumigating decreased mean population levels to four rabbits per kilometre of spotlight transect, and
1080 poisoning decreased mean levels to 9 km-1, compared to the untreated levels of 20 km-l. Release
of European rabbit fleas did not have any significant effect on rabbit populations. In the untreated rabbit
populations, 68% of the fluctuation in numbers was accounted for by total rainfalls in the previous
summer and the previous winter, and by a forage greenness rating. Experimental control of rabbits
combined with exclosures indicated that grazing by high numbers of rabbits reduced the frequency of
Enneapogon spp. at one site whereas levels rose in all other sites during the two years of good rainfall.
The frequency of several species, such as Chenopodium cristatum, Phyllanthus rhytidospermus and
Portulaca oleracea, was highly correlated with rabbit density in the previous year, suggesting that rabbit
grazing promotes their increase. Grazing'by rabbits alone depressed standing biomass in the following
season by 300 kg ha-1 from a maximum 1200 kg ha-1 within the exclosures. Cattle grazing further
decreased biomass by 150 kg ha-1. Seedlings of Acacia kempeana were almost absent in those areas
open to rabbit grazing, but they were reasonably dense where rabbits were excluded. However, the
vegetation response over the 2 years of experiment was due mainly to seasonal changes rather than
rabbit control, and does not justify the expense of rabbit control at this stage. Substantial improvement
in vegetation composition over the longer term may alter this conclusion.

Local and regional governments in the U.S. rely increasingly on voter-approved local option sales taxes (LOSTs) to fund transportation capital investments, maintenance, and operations. LOSTs typically present voters with lists of local transportation projects and programs to be funded by a ¼ to 1 percent sales tax increase. Most research on LOSTs are case studies, which make generalizations about LOSTs difficult. We conducted a comprehensive, multi-jurisdictional analysis of LOST measures in California, the U.S. state with the greatest number of LOST measures. We examined 76 LOST measures put to voters between 1976 and 2016 to assess factors associated with voter support. LOSTs in California are enacted by counties, which we examined in addition to smaller intra-county geographies using both regression models and case studies. We tested several explanatory variables for association with voter support including macroeconomic and political context, planned measure expenditures, voter characteristics, and spatial distribution of proposed projects. We found that funding dedicated to public transit and returned to local jurisdictions predicts support at the county level, and that LOSTs that create new taxes—as opposed to extending or renewing existing taxes—are less popular with voters, all else equal. Our analyses of sub-county geographies revealed that political party affiliation is the strongest predictor of local voter support for LOSTs and that voters living adjacent to funded projects tended to be more supportive of LOSTs.

12/05/15 NM ; In the UK, there are policy and regulatory concerns regarding the governance of care homes and healthcare provision within these homes. From a public health perspective, these issues can pose significant challenges to the provision of safe and quality medication use services to care home residents. The objective of this paper is to highlight an important and neglected issue for the growing population of institutionalized older adults. We reviewed relevant literature for the years 2000 to present and identified recent efforts undertaken to improve medication safety standards in UK care homes. We consider the limitations and reasons for the National Health Services restricted role and lack of leadership in providing medical services for this institutionalized population. The efforts taken by the Department of Health and other healthcare authorities targeting medication safety in care homes are also highlighted. In order to improve the quality of healthcare, specifically in areas related to medication safety and quality use of medicines, interventions need to be taken by the national government and similarly by local authorities and NHS commissioners.

The health and nutritional status of a population of the hairy-nosed wombat Lasiorhinus latifrons
inhabiting the Blanche Town region of South Australia was assessed over a period of 18 months, 12 of
which were during a drought. Measurements were made of body morphology, haematological and
biochemical constituents and vitamin and trace element status of animals in the field: these were
examined in relation to the chemical composition of stomach contents and of faeces. During the study
period, changes in body weight, body condition and selected haematological and chemical constituents
were closely associated with changes in the quantity and quality of food, as measured by faecal nitrogen
and organic matter and by a plant growth index. It appears that wombats in the Blanche Town region
survived a drought of 12 months duration with minimal loss of body tissues and maintained
physiological functions.

Background: Dengue is an emerging public health problem in Tarai Region of Nepal. The most affected are among the poorest populations living in remote, rural areas and urban slums who have even no access for medical treatment. This study was carried out with the objective of the determining the serodiagnosis of dengue in symptomatic individuals and comparing it to IgM ELISA. Methods: One hundred eighty three samples were collected from the suspected cases having clinical symptoms of dengue in the Tarai region of Nepal during September to October 2007. Particle Agglutination (PA) assays was performed and it was compared with IgM capture ELISA. Results: Out of the total of 183 serum samples that 55(30%) samples were positive by PA assay. When compared with IgM-capture ELISA, a 50 of 55 were positive (sensitivity of 98% and specificity of 96%; a positive prediction value of 90% and negative prediction value of 99%). Conclusions: The finding of this study showed that dengue is firmly established in low endemic Tarai region of Nepal. The sensitivity and specificity of PA assay is acceptably high and will be useful in rural areas of Nepal. Key words: Dengue, Tarai region, Particle agglutination test, IgM capture ELISA DOI: 10.3126/jnhrc.v7i1.2276 Journal of Nepal Health Research Council Vol. 7, No. 1, 2009 April 29-32

Whilst it is increasingly recognised that socio-political contexts shape climate change adaptation decisions and actions at all scales, current modes of development typically fail to recognise or adequately challenge these contexts where they constrain capacity to adapt. To address this failing, we consider how a rights-based approach broadens understanding of adaptive capacity while directing attention towards causes of exclusion and marginalisation. Drawing on human rights principles and lessons from rights-based practice, we develop a novel analytical tool for use with communities that considers adaptive capacity through examination of equality, transparency, accountability and empowerment. We apply this to the illustrative case of aquatic agricultural systems in Timor-Leste. This approach yields a qualitative analysis that unpacks the formal and informal institutions and actors that structure opportunities and barriers to adaptive actions. The rights framing exposes the processes of marginalisation and exclusion that lead to differentiation in adaptive capacity, but at the same time helps identify concrete actions that can be taken as part of a rights-based approach to development support for adaptive capacity. The tool and empirical illustration support an emerging body of thought that adaptive capacity requires development actors to engage not only with the technical challenges of responding to climate change, but also with the social and political context that determines the distribution of costs and benefits.

Throughout this internship, I, Abhi Pasupula, have worked with my internship mentor, Barry Federici, in order to help him start up a new service. This service is targeted specifically towards veterans and their paths in their lives after they retire from the military. The service is split up into two categories, those being Jobs and Veteran Benefits. Jobs entailed creating and implement a job board into our website for retired veterans to search for. Veteran benefits showcase a list of benefits that veterans are eligible for, divided up by Federal Benefits, State Benefits, Local Benefits, and a page for all available benefits. For the Job Board page on the website, we got into contact with a job board service known as Hiring Opps and spent many days working through the features and seeing which features would serve us the best for the website. In addition, we set up a Sandbox so that we could physically see the service in action. The benefits required more menial work, such as compiling the list of total benefits and categorizing them into states with links that lead to the state Veteran Benefits commission for more information. Once organized, the benefits were organized into 4 sections, each section having its own page on the website. Both of these websites were connected back to the original website, which served as a homepage for all the services. The homepage also had services to meet with my mentor, Mr. Federici. Working on both of these websites and services really opened my eyes to the professional world of Software Development, where there was so much more apart from just programming. Similar to this internship, the real world will require me to be able to voice my thoughts as well as put them down on paper and be able to explain them well to others, something that I believe this internship set me up for very well. ; https://digitalcommons.imsa.edu/intern_reports_2021/1004/thumbnail.jpg

Background Most countries have endorsed WHO non-communicable disease (NCD) best buy policies, but we know very little about global implementation patterns and about the geopolitical factors affecting implementation. We aimed to assess global implementation based on analysis of multiple geopolitical datasets. Methods We used the 2015 and 2017 WHO NCD progress monitor reports to calculate aggregate implementation scores for 151 countries, based on their implementation of 18 WHO-recommended NCD policies. We ranked all countries and used descriptive statistics to analyse global trends. We used linear regression to assess the associations between policy implementation and World Bank geographic region, risk of premature NCD mortality, percentage of all deaths caused by NCDs, World Bank income group, human capital index, democracy index, and tax burden. Findings In 2017, the mean NCD policy implementation score was 49·3% (SD 18·4%). Costa Rica and Iran had the joint-highest implementation scores (86·1% of all WHO-recommended policies). Scores were lowest in Haiti and South Sudan (5·5%). Between 2015 and 2017, aggregate implementation scores rose in 109 countries and regressed in 32 countries. Mean implementation rose for all of the 18 policies except for those targeting alcohol and physical activity. The most commonly implemented policies were clinical guidelines, graphic warnings on tobacco packaging, and NCD risk factor surveys. Our multiple linear regression model explained 61·1% of the variance in 2017 aggregate scores (p<0·0001), but we found evidence of a high degree of collinearity between the explanatory variables. Interpretation Implementation of WHO-recommended NCD policies is increasing over time. On average, countries implemented just under half of the NCD policies recommended by WHO in 2017. Nutrition-related policies saw gains, while those related to alcohol and physical activity were the most likely to have been dropped. Aggregate implementation scores tended to be highest in high-income countries ...

© 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Coastal environments are increasingly under threat from multiple stressors and pressure from human activities across the land-sea interface. Managing these pressures from people requires, more than ever, understanding what is at stake in terms of the benefits and values associated with coastal waters. This article presents the results of a choice experiment which was designed to elicit society's willingness to pay in the context of economic and environmental trade-offs people to improve coastal water quality. The study site is a coastal Australian city, Adelaide, South Australia. The city discharges a large proportion of its stormwater and treated wastewater to the coastal waters of Gulf St Vincent. Willingness to pay for a package of improvements to urban water management is considerable. A mix of projects that restores 25 days per year of water clarity, seagrass area from 60% to 70% of the original area and five reef areas is worth $AUS67.1. M to households in the Adelaide metropolitan area. The results can inform public policy discussions including the cost-benefit analysis of different water management strategies including investments in urban infrastructure.