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At the turn of the century, several major efforts were initiated to combat HIV/AIDS and other major epidemics affecting low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). They were accompanied by initiatives to enable recipient countries to collect and use data to guide their public health programmes. These health information systems (HIS) typify systems in that they have multiple interacting components, and they are embedded within larger systems. Components of a larger system act as the context for all lower-level systems. Their effects can be pervasive, and thus be taken for granted or regarded as unchangeable. We identify four contextual factors that affect efforts to strengthen HIS: hierarchical roles, aid funding, corruption, and competing priorities. We provide examples of each as experienced by those working to strengthen HIS in LMICs. Each of these contextual factors can seriously diminish the effectiveness of HIS strengthening efforts and their long-term sustainability. We propose research questions about each that would enable those engaged in HIS strengthening to work effectively and sustainably. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Proper management of turfgrass systems is critical for reducing the risk of nutrient loss and protecting urban surface waters. In the southern United States, irrigation can be the most significant management practice regulating the biogeochemical and hydrological cycles of turfgrass systems. A turfgrass runoff research facility was used to assess the effects of deficit irrigation and fertilizer applications on turfgrass canopy cover and nitrate-N (NO3-N) exports in runoff from St. Augustinegrass [Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) Kuntze] turf over a 2-yr period. Treatments were arranged as a randomized complete block design having eight combinations of irrigation (100, 75, or 50% of estimated turfgrass water requirements) and fertility level (0, 88, and 176 kg N ha-1 yr-1). Runoff from 31 rainfall events and one irrigation excess event were used to estimate annual and seasonal NO3-N exports. The majority of annual NO3-N exports occurred during the late winter and spring. Deficit irrigation reduced summer and early autumn runoff volumes. Lower summer and autumn runoff volumes (from deficit irrigation) coincided with reduced NO3-N exports from runoff during Year 1. Deficit irrigation combined with fertilizer applications increased runoff [NO3-N] in Year 2, suggesting that the previous year's export reduction contributed to higher N accumulation in the system and thus a higher N loss potential. These findings suggest that deficit irrigation can be a tool for reducing seasonal nutrient exports from St. Augustinegrass lawns so long as fertilizer inputs are moderate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a comparison of commercially available titania nano-particles produced using electric wire explosion with nano-particles manufactured by the authors using a sol-gel synthesis process. For the present study, 20-nm titania was purchased off-the-shelf. It was determined to be rough spheres of 20 nm forming large, micron-sized agglomerates, whereas particles synthesized using the sol-gel process were found to be fundamentally 10 nm but with sub-micron agglomerations thereof. The nano-titania was added to 80% AP monomodal propellants at 0.3% and 1.0% by mass. Additional, 85% bimodal-AP mixtures were made, comparing commercial titania to the laboratory-synthesized particles at 1.0% by mass. Another set of samples compared a method of pre-mixing the synthesized additives directly into the binder material at 0.3% by mass of laboratory titania; two additional pre-mixed titania batches at 0.5% by mass were doped with either Fe or Cu into the nanocrystals. All propellants were tested up to 13.8 MPa at 3.8 MPa increments. Dry powder laboratory additives show a 60-to-100% increase in burning rate over the baseline samples with no catalyst and a 20-to-30% increase over the commercial nano-particles. Pre-mixed additives were found to produce similar burning rate increases but with lower concentrations required. This latest generation of particle synthesis techniques was further demonstrated in this study to have great potential for future propellant catalyst development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, efforts to reduce HIV transmission have begun to incorporate a structural interventions approach, whereby the social, political, and economic environment in which people live is considered an important determinant of individual behaviors. This approach to HIV prevention is reflected in the growing number of programs designed to address insecure or nonexistent property rights for women living in developing countries. Qualitative and anecdotal evidence suggests that property ownership may allow women to mitigate social, economic, and biological effects of HIV for themselves and others through increased food security and income generation. Even so, the relationship between women's property and inheritance rights (WPIR) and HIV transmission behaviors is not well understood. We explored sources of data that could be used to establish quantitative links between WPIR and HIV. Our search for quantitative evidence included (1) a review of peer-reviewed and “gray” literature reporting on quantitative associations between WPIR and HIV, (2) identification and assessment of existing data-sets for their utility in exploring this relationship, and (3) interviews with organizations addressing women's property rights in Kenya and Uganda about the data they collect. We found no quantitative studies linking insecure WPIR to HIV transmission behaviors. Data-sets with relevant variables were scarce, and those with both WPIR and HIV variables could only provide superficial evidence of associations. Organizations addressing WPIR in Kenya and Uganda did not collect data that could shed light on the connection between WPIR and HIV, but the two had data and community networks that could provide a good foundation for a future study that would include the collection of additional information. Collaboration between groups addressing WPIR and HIV transmission could provide the quantitative evidence needed to determine whether and how a WPIR structural intervention could decrease HIV transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]