“Fox Tots Attack Shock”: Urban Foxes,Mass Media and Boundary-Breaching

This paper offers a brief comment/analysis of an abridged version of America's Best Idea that was produced and distributed by Earth Ministry (with WETA's approval). There were two versions (one for Christian audiences and the other for "everyone else," i.e. interfaith) that were distributed, along with a study guide, that use Ken Burns' film to teach about/endorse creation care. This paper discusses the ways in which the film is edited to highlight its already salient "God and country" themes and to suggest that this version of the film should prompt critics to reconsider the entirety of (the original) America's Best Idea as a more complex statement of faith/nationalism and to consider the extent to which both of these films suggest a privatized, personal environmental agenda. In other words, the broader discourses of creation care threaten to move environmental concerns out of the realm of policy/public/governance (unless articulated publicly to faith-based justifications) and into the realm of the individual's relationship with God first…and others (family, community, nation, world, and various assemblages, i.e. capitalism) second.     

Needle stick and sharps injuries among health care workers in Gondar city, Ethiopia

Background

All employees in health care settings handling needles or other sharps are at risk for needle stick and sharps injuries (NSSIs). Health care workers in under developed countries are at greater risk of infection from blood borne pathogens because of the lack of safety devices and the high prevalence of these pathogens.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of NSSIs and associated factors among health care workers in government health institutions in Gondar city, Ethiopia.

Methods

Institution based cross sectional study was conducted from May-December, 2010. The study included 344 health care workers who were selected from the source population using simple random sampling technique. Data were collected through interviews using structured and pre-tested questionnaire and the collected data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 16.0.

Results

The prevalence of NSSIs among health care workers in the preceding 12 months was 106 (30.8%), of which 58 (54.7%) was reported by females. Lack of training on occupational health and safety, working more than 48 h/week, dissatisfaction with work environment and work culture, greater than 10 years of work experience and having low and moderate perception of risk were found to be significantly associated with NSSIs.

Conclusion

The study found high prevalence of NSSIs among health care workers. Effective training, ongoing awareness on the risk of hazards, preventive measures such as engineering control, and post-exposure prophylaxis following NSSIs are essential to reduce the risk of such injuries.     

三亚市水体中PPCPs的污染水平、分布特征及生态风险评价

环境中药物和个人护理用品（PPCPs）污染已引起全球性的关注,为了解热带滨海旅游城市三亚市的河流及主要海湾中PPCPs的污染水平、空间分布特征及其潜在环境风险,采用固相萃取和高效液相色谱串联质谱测定了三亚市主要河流和海湾中的11种典型PPCPs类物质.结果表明,由于三亚市在冬季和夏季接待旅游人数和降雨量的季节性变化,以及在冬季大量涌入以老年人为主的"候鸟"人口,使得三亚市主要河流中PPCPs浓度的季节性差异显著.冬季11种PPCPs检出率为100%,咖啡因（CFI）检出浓度最高为1449.10 ng·L^-1,其次为美托洛尔（MTP）检出浓度最高为427.06 ng·L^-1和罗红霉素（RTM）检出浓度最高为311.59 ng·L^-1;夏季除磺胺甲唑（SMX）、磺胺噻唑（STZ）、泰乐菌素（TYL）、MTP和卡马西平（CBZ）的检出率在87.5%~93.75%,其余检出率为100%,CFI、MTP、RTM、红霉素（ETM）和氧氟沙星（OFL）浓度较高.主要海湾近岸海水中11种PPCPs均有检出,其中SMX、MTP和CBZ的检出率分别为85.7%、57.1%和71.4%,其余PPCPs检出率均为100%.CFI检出浓度最高,最大浓度为220.78 ng·L^-1.运用风险商值模型（RQ）评价11种PPCPs在三亚市河流生态环境中的潜在风险,发现冬季STZ在月川桥采样点和RTM在凤凰路采样点,由于附近的医院以及污水处理厂出水排入,RQ值均>l,对水体的生态环境存在高风险.在夏季STZ在三亚大桥采样点、RTM在红沙码头采样点的RQ值介于0.1~1之间,对水体的生态环境具有潜在的中风险.     

Using evidence to improve reproductive health quality along the Thailand-Burma border

The Mae Tao Clinic, located on the Thailand-Burma border, has provided health services for illegal migrant workers in Thailand and internally displaced people from Burma since 1989. In 2001, the clinic launched a project with the primary aim of improving reproductive health services and the secondary aim of building clinic capacity in monitoring and evaluation (M&E). This paper first presents the project's methods and key results. The team used observation of antenatal care and family-planning sessions and client exit interviews at baseline and follow-up, approximately 13 months apart, to assess performance on six elements of quality of care. Findings indicated that improving programme readiness contributed to some improvement in the quality of services, though inconsistencies in findings across the methods require further research. The paper then identifies lessons learned from introducing M&E in a resource-constrained setting. One key lesson was that a participatory approach to M&E increased people's feelings of ownership of the project and motivated staff to collect and use data for programme decision-making to improve quality.     

Training obstetricians and midwives to present screening tests: Evaluation of two brief interventions

The objective of this study was to assess the effects of two brief training interventions to improve obstetricians' and midwives' explanations to patients of a routine prenatal screening test. Health professionals were randomly allocated to one of two intervention groups or a control group. Information-giving about the test and communication skills were assessed at baseline, post-training and 3-month follow-up from audiotaped consultations. Both intervention groups received a 1-h training session involving small group discussions focused around a video. In addition, one group received individual feedback on their baseline and post-training consultations. Twenty-six midwives and nine obstetricians completed the study according to the protocol. Changes between baseline and post-training, and between baseline and follow-up, were computed. Information-giving and communication skills improved significantly in subjects receiving training and feedback on their performance, with the greatest improvements occurring before feedback was given. Those receiving training without feedback significantly improved their communication skills and showed some improvement in information-giving. These results show that modest improvements in communication can be made with relatively brief training. Greater and more sustained improvements may be found if all staff were trained, and trained on a regular basis.     

Ultrasonographic scanning of placental thickness and the prenatal diagnosis of homozygous alpha-thalassaemia 1 in the second trimester

In order to evaluate the association between placental thickness (PT) and fetal homozygous alpha-thalassaemia 1 before the appearance of classic ultrasound findings of haemoglobin (Hb) Bart's hydrops fetalis, a total of 473 pregnancies were collected. The control group included 422 normal pregnancies with a gestational age from 14 to 23 weeks and the study group included 51 affected fetuses in the same gestational period. Fetal biparietal diameter (BPD) and PT were measured by high-resolution ultrasound. PT was evaluated against BPD. In the control group, the PT generally increased in parallel with the advancement of gestational age. All PT measurements in the study group were above the mean PT of their respective gestational week in the control group. Forty-six (90 per cent) of the pregnancies in the study group had PT larger than the mean plus two standard deviations of the control group. This study suggests that ultrasound measurement of PT may be a useful aid in the prenatal diagnosis of Hb Bart's hydrops fetalis before its classic findings become apparent in the late second trimester or third trimester.     

Costs and benefits of brood desertion in female kentish plovers,Charadrius alexandrinus

Female kentish plovers Charadrius alexandrinus typically desert their broods after the chicks hatch, i.e. 1–4 weeks before the chicks fledge or become independent. In this paper we investigate the costs and benefits of desertion for females. Desertion incurs a cost for females: following desertion chick survival in broods is lower (0.95 +- 0.02 day^–1) than before the female deserts (0.98 +- 0.01 day^–1). We investigated several possible causes for reduced brood survival by comparing characteristics of broods before and after desertion (controlling for differences in brood age). After desertion males increased the time they spent foraging and they tended to reduce time spent brooding chicks. Increased mortality of chicks may occur in deserted broods because following desertion (1) males spend less time alert in vigilance behaviour than before desertion, (2) they attend the chicks from greater distances, and (3) they show greater distraction display distances (in response to human intruders). Growth or development of chicks, measured by weight gain and tarsus length, was not different before and after desertion. Females gain two potential benefits from desertion: (1) they may remate and produce a second brood within the same breeding season or (2) they may enhance their probability of surviving to breed in a subsequent season. At least 27% of female kentish plovers that deserted remated and renested in the same season in this study. In contrast, we found no evidence that brood desertion increased the survival of females: there was no difference in local survival rate (return rate) for females deserting before or after 6 days brood age. These results clearly demonstrate that female kentish plovers that desert their offspring prior to fledging incur costs, but we suggest that there is a trade-off with the potential benefits gained by remating and making a second breeding attempt in the same season.