Colonastrup1278

ations.BACKGROUND  Life expectancy at birth (LEB), one of the main indicators of human longevity, has often been used to characterise the health status of a population. Understanding its relationships with the deprivation is key to develop policies and evaluate interventions that are aimed at reducing health inequalities. However, methodological challenges in the analysis of LEB data arise from the fact that different Government agencies often provide spatially aggregated information on LEB and the index of multiple deprivation (IMD) at different spatial scales. Our objective is to develop a geostatistical framework that, unlike existing methods of inference, allows to carry out spatially continuous prediction while dealing with spatial misalignment of the areal-level data. METHODS  We developed a model-based geostatistical approach for the joint analysis of LEB and IMD, when these are available over different partitions of the study region. We model the spatial correlation in LEB and IMD across the areal units usinnuous inferences using spatially aggregated data; (2) it can be applied to any form of misalignment with information provided at a range of spatial scales, from areal-level to pixel-level.BACKGROUND Obesity is an important equine welfare issue. Whilst dietary restriction is the most effective weight-loss tool, individual animals range in their weight-loss propensity. Gastrointestinal-derived bacteria play a fundamental role in host-health and have been associated with obesity and weight-loss in other species. This study evaluated the faecal microbiome (next-generation sequencing of 16S rRNA genes) of 15 obese Welsh Mountain pony mares, in the same 11-week period across 2 years (n = 8 Year 1; n = 7 Year 2). Following a 4-week acclimation period (pre-diet phase) during which time individuals were fed the same hay to maintenance (2% body mass (BM) as daily dry matter (DM) intake), animals underwent a 7-week period of dietary restriction (1% BM hay as daily DM intake). Faeces were sampled on the final 3 days of the pre-diet phase and the final 3 days of the dietary restriction phase. Bacterial communities were determined using Next Generation Sequencing of amplified V1-V2 hypervariable regions of n ponies and provide a baseline for research evaluating elements of the faecal microbiome in predicting weight-loss success in larger cohorts.BACKGROUND Insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) are one of the most cost-effective measures for preventing malaria. The World Health Organization recommends both large-scale mass distribution campaigns and continuous distributions (CD) as part of a multifaceted strategy to achieve and sustain universal access to ITNs. A combination of these strategies has been effective for scaling up ITN access. For policy makers to make informed decisions on how to efficiently implement CD or combined strategies, information on the costs and cost-effectiveness of these delivery systems is necessary, but relatively few published studies of the cost continuous distribution systems exist. METHODS To address the gap in continuous distribution cost data, four types of delivery systems-CD through antenatal care services (ANC) and the expanded programme on immunization (EPI) (Ghana, Mali, and mainland Tanzania), CD through schools (Ghana and mainland Tanzania), and a combined community/health facility-based distribution (Zanzibar, TanzCD relied more extensively on domestic resource contributions. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that CD strategies can continue to deliver nets at a comparable cost to mass distributions, especially from the perspective of the donor.BACKGROUND 5-Ketofructose (5-KF) has recently been identified as a promising non-nutritive natural sweetener. Gluconobacter oxydans strains have been developed that allow efficient production of 5-KF from fructose by plasmid-based expression of the fructose dehydrogenase genes fdhSCL of Gluconobacter japonicus. As plasmid-free strains are preferred for industrial production of food additives, we aimed at the construction of efficient 5-KF production strains with the fdhSCL genes chromosomally integrated. RESULTS For plasmid-free 5-KF production, we selected four sites in the genome of G. oxydans IK003.1 and inserted the fdhSCL genes under control of the strong P264 promoter into each of these sites. All four recombinant strains expressed fdhSCL and oxidized fructose to 5-KF, but site-specific differences were observed suggesting that the genomic vicinity influenced gene expression. For further improvement, a second copy of the fdhSCL genes under control of P264 was inserted into the second-best insertion site to obtain strain IK003.1fdhSCL2. The 5-KF production rate and the 5-KF yield obtained with this double-integration strain were considerably higher than for the single integration strains and approached the values of IK003.1 with plasmid-based fdhSCL expression. CONCLUSION We identified four sites in the genome of G. oxydans suitable for expression of heterologous genes and constructed a strain with two genomic copies of the fdhSCL genes enabling efficient plasmid-free 5-KF production. This strain will serve as basis for further metabolic engineering strategies aiming at the use of alternative carbon sources for 5-KF production and for bioprocess optimization.BACKGROUND Pregnancy provides an opportunity to promote healthy lifestyle behaviors. This study's aim was to explore the perspectives of pregnant and postpartum women and obstetric providers around behavioral lifestyle changes in pregnancy and postpartum. METHODS We conducted a qualitative study with pregnant and postpartum patients recruited from 2 prenatal care clinics at an urban, academic hospital in the United States. In-depth interviews with 23 pregnant or postpartum women and 11 obstetric providers were completed between October 2015-April 2016. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. We coded transcripts for thematic content and applied the PRECEDE-PROCEED framework for results to directly inform program development. this website RESULTS Six themes highlighted the predisposing, enabling and reinforcing factors that enable and sustain health behavior changes in pregnancy and postpartum 1) "Motivation to have a healthy baby" during pregnancy and to "have my body back" after delivery, 2) Pre-pregnancy knowledge and experiences about pregnancy and the postpartum period, 3) Prioritizing wellness during pregnancy and postpartum, 4) The power of social support, 5) Accountability, 6) Integration with technology to reinforce behavior change.