Prevalence and intensity of soil-transmitted helminthiasis in the city of Portoviejo (Ecuador)

We studied the stool samples of 151 school children in a district of the city of Portoviejo (Ecuador) in order to determine the prevalence and intensity of soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH) and their relationships with anthropometric indices. The samples were analyzed with the semiquantitative Kato-Katz technique and the intensity of infections was categorized as light, moderate or high according to the thresholds set by the World Health Organization. Prevalence of soil transmitted helmintiasis was 65% (92 out of 141 collected samples), Ascaris lumbricoides was the most common STH (63%) followed by Trichuris trichiura (10%) and hookworm (1.4%). Heavy intensity infections were found in 8.5% of the stool samples, with T. trichiura showing higher worm burdens than A. lumbricoides. Sixteen percent of the children were below the third percentile for weight (wasted), while 27% were below the third percentile for height (stunted). A significant relationship was found between the worm burden and the degree of stunting. This study suggests that the periodic administration of an antihelminthic drug should be targeted to preschool and school children to allow a normal growth spurt and prevent stunting.

Equality Implications of Policies (PDF 192KB)

The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS), in response to the statutory equality obligations placed on it by the Northern Ireland Act 1998, produced a draft Equality Scheme, and following an 8 week consultation in April and May, formally submitted a revised Equality Scheme to the Equality Commission on 30 June 2000. In submitting the Scheme to the Commission, the Department undertook to consult again on the screening of its policies for equality of opportunity implications and its proposals for a programme of equality impact assessments. åÊ

Healthy Ageing in Ireland, Policies, Practice and Evaluation

Healthy Ageing in Ireland, Policies, Practice and Evaluation The National Council on Ageing and Older People (NCAOP) is pleased to present this report, which provides a comprehensive overview of current practice in the promotion of healthy ageing in Ireland. The Council considers â?~healthy ageingâ?T to be a positive concept relating to personal development and the exercise of personal choice. Healthy ageing therefore includes activities that influence social and environmental changes, which promote health, well-being and activities that prevent illness. Click here to download PDF 515kb

Healthy Ageing in Ireland, Policies, Practice and Evaluation

Click here to download PDF This is a publication of The National Council on Ageing and Older People

Interplay between wheat cultivars, biocontrol pseudomonads, and soil.

There is a significant potential to improve the plant-beneficial effects of root-colonizing pseudomonads by breeding wheat genotypes with a greater capacity to sustain interactions with these bacteria. However, the interaction between pseudomonads and crop plants at the cultivar level, as well as the conditions which favor the accumulation of beneficial microorganisms in the wheat rhizosphere, is largely unknown. Therefore, we characterized the three Swiss winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) cultivars Arina, Zinal, and Cimetta for their ability to accumulate naturally occurring plant-beneficial pseudomonads in the rhizosphere. Cultivar performance was measured also by the ability to select for specific genotypes of 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol (DAPG) producers in two different soils. Cultivar-specific differences were found; however, these were strongly influenced by the soil type. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis of fragments of the DAPG biosynthetic gene phlD amplified from natural Pseudomonas rhizosphere populations revealed that phlD diversity substantially varied between the two soils and that there was a cultivar-specific accumulation of certain phlD genotypes in one soil but not in the other. Furthermore, the three cultivars were tested for their ability to benefit from Pseudomonas inoculants. Interestingly, Arina, which was best protected against Pythium ultimum infection by inoculation with Pseudomonas fluorescens biocontrol strain CHA0, was the cultivar which profited the least from the bacterial inoculant in terms of plant growth promotion in the absence of the pathogen. Knowledge gained of the interactions between wheat cultivars, beneficial pseudomonads, and soil types allows us to optimize cultivar-soil combinations for the promotion of growth through beneficial pseudomonads. Additionally, this information can be implemented by breeders into a new and unique breeding strategy for low-input and organic conditions.

Adolescent drinking patterns across countries: associations with alcohol policies.

Early consumption of full servings of alcohol and early experience of drunkenness have been linked with alcohol-related harmful effects in adolescence, as well as adult health and social problems. On the basis of secondary analysis of county-level prevalence data, the present study explored the current pattern of drinking and drunkenness among 15- and 16-year-old adolescents in 40 European and North American countries. Data from the 2006 Health Behavior in School Children survey and the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and other Drugs were used. The potential role of alcohol control and policy measures in explaining variance in drinking patterns across countries was also examined. Policy measures and data on adult consumption patterns were taken from the WHO Global Information System on Alcohol and Health, Eurostat and the indicator of alcohol control policy strength developed by Brand DA, Saisana M, Rynn LA et al. [(2007) Comparative analysis of alcohol control policies in 30 countries. PLoS Med 4:e151.]. We found that a non-significant trend existed whereby higher prices and stronger alcohol controls were associated with a lower proportion of weekly drinking but a higher proportion of drunkenness. It is important that future research explores the causal relationships between alcohol policy measures and alcohol consumption patterns to determine whether strict policies do in fact have any beneficial effect on drinking patterns, or rather, lead to rebellion and an increased prevalence of binge drinking.

The Efficacy of Minimum Unit Pricing, Fiscal and other Pricing Public Policies for Alcohol

This report was commissioned from CJP Consultants Limited by the Department of Health. It sets out the issues relating to hazardous and harmful consumption of alcohol in Ireland. It looks at the international experience and policy response;and makes recommendations about how the problems caused by hazardous alcohol consumption can and should be tackled in Ireland. Click here to download Report on The Efficacy of Minimum Unit Pricing, Fiscal and other Pricing Public Policies for Alcohol PDF 1MB

Trace element differentiation in ferruginous accumulation soil patterns under tropical rainforest of southern Cameroon, the role of climatic change

Regions under tropical rainforest cover, such as central Africa and Brazil are characterised by degradation and dismantling of old ferricrete structures. In southern Cameroon, these processes are relayed by present-day ferruginous accumulation soil facies, situated on the middle and the lower part of hill slopes. These facies become progressively harder towards the surface, containing from bottom to top, mainly kaolinite, kaolinite-goethite and Al-rich goethite-hematite, and are discontinuous to the relictic hematite-dominated ferricrete that exist in the upper part of the hill slope. These features were investigated in terms of geochemical differentiation of trace elements. It appears that, in contrast to the old ferricrete facies, the current ferruginous accumulations are enriched in transitional trace elements (V, Cr, Co, Y, Sc) and Ph, while alkali-earth elements are less differentiated. This recent chemical accumulation is controlled both by intense weathering of the granodiorite bedrock and by mobilisation of elements previously accumulated in the old ferricrete. The observed processes are clearly linked to the present-day humid climate with rising groundwater tables. They slowly replace the old ferricretes formed during Cretaceous time under more seasonal climatic conditions, representing an instructive case of continuos global change. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Attitudes of the public towards policies to address obesity

Key points Obesity and the related health burden is a growing problem in Ireland. Understanding public attitudes to policy interventions is important, as it provides a key indicator of the potential effectiveness of interventions and the readiness of the general public for policy implementation. The present research aimed to determine public acceptance of a range of policies to address obesity in Ireland. To this end, a survey of attitudes towards obesity-oriented policies among a nationally representative sample of the population of Irish adults was conducted. Strikingly high levels of public support were evident for a wide range of obesity-oriented interventions. The findings support prior research on behaviour change in key policy areas such as diet and smoking which demonstrates that support for interventions tends to decrease as the intrusiveness of interventions increases. Consistent with previous research, socio-demographic factors only explain a small portion (2 - 6%) of the variance in policy support. Overall, the findings indicate substantial public readiness for addressing obesity in Ireland, particularly through child-focused policies, informational measures, subsidies for healthy foods and co-operation between government and the food industry. - See more at: http://www.safefood.eu/Publications/Research-reports/Attitudes-of-the-public-towards-policies-to-addres