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Background. Infants with very low birth weight (VLBW) are at increased risk for motor deficits, which may be reduced by early intervention programs. For detection of motor deficits and to monitor intervention, different assessment tools are available. It is important to choose tools that are sensitive to evaluate the efficacy of intervention on motor outcome. Objective. The purpose of this study was to compare the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) and the Psychomotor Developmental Index (PDI) of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-Dutch Second Edition (BSID-II-NL) in their ability to evaluate effects of an early intervention, provided by pediatric physical therapists, on motor development in infants with VLBW at 12 months corrected age (CA). Design. This was a secondary study in which data collected from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) were used. Methods. At 12 months CA, 116 of 176 infants with VLBW participating in an RCT on the effect of the Infant Behavioral Assessment and Intervention Program were assessed with both the AIMS and the PDI. Intervention effects on the AIMS and PDI were compared. Results. Corrected for baseline differences, significant intervention effects were found for AIMS and PDI scores. The highest effect size was for the AIMS subscale sit. A significant reduction of abnormal motor development in the intervention group was found only with the AIMS. Limitations. No Dutch norms are available for the AIMS. Conclusions. The responsiveness of the AIMS to detect intervention effects was better than that of the PDI. Therefore, caution is recommended in monitoring infants with VLBW only with the PDI, and the use of both the AIMS and the Bayley Scales of Infant Development is advised when evaluating intervention effects on motor development at 12 months CA., Infants with very low birth weight (VLBW) have more motor deficits compared with their full-term counterparts, and their motor deficits persist throughout childhood. (1) Some studies have demonstrated poor quality [...]

The Cape Town Water Map is an innovative and somewhat controversial behavior‐modification tool implemented to reduce water use in a drought‐stricken region.

This paper examines the impact of agriculture-related shocks on consumption patterns of rural farming households using 3 years of data from South Africa. We make two key observations. First, agriculture-related shocks reduce households’ consumption. Second, natural resources and informal social capital somewhat counteract this reduction and sustain dietary requirements. In general, our findings suggest the promotion of informal social capital and natural resources as they are cheaper and more accessible coping strategies, in comparison to, for example, insurance, which remains unaffordable in most rural parts of sub-Saharan Africa. However, a lingering concern centres on the sustainability of these less conventional adaptation strategies.

The illegal exploitation of wild abalone in South Africa has been escalating since 1994, despite increased enforcement, leading to collapse in some sections of its range. South Africa banned all wild abalone fishing in 2008 but controversially reopened the fishery in 2010. This paper formulates a poacher’s model, taking into account the realities of the abalone terrain in South Africa – the high-value of abalone, use of recreational drugs, the prevalence of bribery, and corruption – to explore why poaching has not subsided. The paper suggests two additional measures that might help ameliorate the situation: eliminating the demand side through targeted enforcement on organised crime, and ceding the resource to the local coastal communities. However, local communities need to be empowered to deal with organised crime groups. Complementary measures to bring back community patriotism will also be needed given the tattered social fabric of the local coastal communities.

To develop a short and practical scale (SCOPA-SLEEP) that evaluates nighttime sleep and daytime sleepiness. The scale is developed for research in Parkinson disease but may be of value for other somatic diseases.

We calculate the first distributional statistics for municipal water use with 14.9 million monthly billing records for a half million households in Cape Town, South Africa, from 2014 to 2018. These years span a historic drought and a multi‐faceted package of conservation programs that achieved a 50% citywide drop in consumption. We find that the top 10% of households consumed 31% of water before the drought, with the Gini coefficient showing clear seasonal peaks driven by outdoor water use. Matching billing records to fine‐grained census data from 2011, we find that the correlation between income and water use in the winter was 0.08 but rose to 0.36 during outdoor watering seasons. This correlation declines before switching signs by the end of the drought. The city's increasing block tariff implied that the top 10% of users generate 50%–60% of utility revenues. Although before the drought these top users were more likely to be high income, the composition of top water users changed during the drought. Average income of top users during the drought was 35% lower than the average income of top users before the drought. Our results suggest that Cape Town's policy of providing a free allowance of 10.5 kL (m3) per month to qualify indigent households helped protect many, but not all, from multiple steep tariff increases. We calculate the first distributional statistics for municipal water supply deliveries and show how they can inform policyDuring Cape Town's historic drought, we showed that the correlation between income and water changed from positive to negativeThe city's policy of providing a free allowance to indigent households helped protect many, but not all, from steep tariff increases We calculate the first distributional statistics for municipal water supply deliveries and show how they can inform policy During Cape Town's historic drought, we showed that the correlation between income and water changed from positive to negative The city's policy of providing a free allowance to indigent households helped protect many, but not all, from steep tariff increases

•We study how gender attitudes and performance under competitive situations in the lab reflects microenterprise outcomes in the renewable energy sector of Rwanda.•Women operating off-grid microenterprises in Rwanda do not shy away from competition and perform as well as men in the lab.•The gender composition of teams does not influence performance.•Findings from the field corroborate the external validity of lab results

This policy note provides a snapshot of water and sanitation measures implemented by governments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 14 countries in the Global South: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Chile, Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Panama, South Africa, Uganda and Vietnam. We find that many countries have taken action to stop utility disconnections due to non-payment. With the exception of Ghana and Vietnam, few countries are instituting new water subsidy programs, and are instead choosing to defer customers’ bills for future payment, presumably when the pandemic recedes and households will be able to pay their bills. It is easier for the utilities’ COVID-relief policies to target customers with piped connections who regularly receive bills. However, the situation for unconnected households appears more dire. Some countries (e.g., Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda) are attempting to provide unconnected households temporary access to water, but these households remain the most vulnerable. This health crisis has accentuated the importance of strong governance structures and resilient water service providers for dealing with external health, environmental and economic shocks.