Underwoodbanke0807

Some documents used in this paper were already known to the authors.Results Procurement is highly vulnerable to corruption particularly in the health sector. What is more, corruption in the procurement process does not appear to be limited to any one level of government or type of health system. The better integration of accountability, transparency and anti-corruption mechanisms in the procurement process is needed to reduce the risk of corruption.Conclusions Lessons learned suggest that anti-corruption, transparency and accountability mechanisms in the pharmaceutical procurement process, such as open contracting and integrity pacts are helpful towards reducing the risk of corruption.Background As called for by the Sustainable Development Goals, governments, development partners and civil society are working on anti-corruption, transparency and accountability approaches to control corruption and advance Universal Health Coverage.Objectives The objective of this review is to summarize concepts, frameworks, and approaches used to identify corruption risks and consequences of corruption on health systems and outcomes. We also inventory interventions to fight corruption and increase transparency and accountability.Methods We performed a critical review based on a systematic search of literature in PubMed and Web of Science and reviewed background papers and presentations from two international technical meetings on the topic of anti-corruption and health. We identified concepts, frameworks and approaches and summarized updated evidence of types and causes corruption in the health sector.Results Corruption, or the abuse of power for private gain, in health systems includes bribes and kickbacks, embezzlement, fraud, political influence/nepotism and informal payments, among other behaviors. Drivers of corruption include individual and systems level factors such as financial pressures, poorly managed conflicts of interest, and weak regulatory and enforcement systems. We identify six typologies and frameworks that model relationships influencing the scope and seriousness of corruption, and show how anti-corruption strategies such as transparency, accountability, and civic participation can affect corruption risk. Little research exists on the effectiveness of anti-corruption measures; however, interventions such as community monitoring and insurance fraud control programs show promise.Conclusions Corruption undermines the capacity of health systems to contribute to better health, economic growth and development. Interventions and resources on prevention and control of corruption are essential components of health system strengthening for Universal Health Coverage.Background Congenital portosystemic shunts (CPSS) are vascular anomalies, allowing portal blood to bypass the hepatic parenchyma, thereby accumulating toxic substances such as ammonia in the systemic circulation resulting in hepatic encephalopathy.Aim To evaluate the outcome of non-surgically treated dogs with a CPSS.Methods Case records of 78 dogs with a single congenital CPSS confirmed by ultrasound and/or computed tomography between September 2003 and February 2015 were reviewed. Median age at diagnosis of CPSS in dogs was 10.8 months (range 2-133 months). Non-surgical treatment was started as an adjusted diet (a diet restricted in protein) with or without lactulose. Owners were contacted by telephone to determine survival time and presumed cause of death, if applicable. In addition, a questionnaire was used to retrospectively assess quality of life (QoL) and CPSS scores in 37 dogs before and during non-surgical treatment. Differences between Kaplan-Meier curves were tested by a Log rank test.Results Overall estimated median survival time (EMST) was 38.5 months (range 1 day - 91 months; 78 dogs). No significant differences between EMSTs were found between dogs with extra- (n = 48) or intrahepatic (n = 29) shunts, nor between treatment with only an adjusted diet, or an adjusted diet combined with lactulose. During non-surgical treatment, significant improvement in perceived QoL and CPSS scores were found (P  less then  0.01).Conclusion Our study demonstrated that an overall median EMST of 3.2 years was reached and that owners retrospectively perceived that non-surgical treatment resulted in an improved QoL and clinical performance, irrespective of intrahepatic or extrahepatic CPSS location.In this study, a highly efficient and stable phosphorus-doped Tungsten trioxide (P-WO3) photocatalyst was successfully synthesized using a combination of hydrothermal and post-calcination method. TRP Channel inhibitor The microstructures, morphologies and optical properties of the obtained WO3 and P-WO3 samples were characterized. The results showed that P was uniformly doped into the WO3 lattice in a pentavalent-oxidation state (P5+). The charge carrier traps were also formed, which could accept the photoelectrons. Furthermore, the band gap energy was reduced from 2.4 to 2.33 ev. The photocatalytic performance of the obtained P-WO3 samples with different P concentrations were then tested by photocatalytic degradation of methyl blue (MB). It was found that the 6%-P-WO3 sample exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity, with 96% of MB being able to be degraded within 120 min, which was more than four times higher than that of the pure WO3. The practicality of the prepared P-WO3 was also evaluated using samples from two domestic wastewater treatment plants. The P-WO3 had a high photodegradation performance in treating low concentration of organic matters from real wastewater. The photocatalysis of P-WO3 could be mainly initiated by the production of hydroxyl radical (·OH) and photogenerated hole (h+).Herein, a facile synthesis of heteroatom doped biochar is reported. The material is characterized and analyzed in detail for its application as a low-cost adsorbent for removal of a toxic dye pollutant, Methylene Blue (MB), from aqueous solution. Synthesized material showed enhanced surface area compared to parent biochar (458 to802 m2g-1) The adsorbent's performance is investigated using batch adsorption methods with experiments conducted at varying conditions of adsorbent dosage, initial dye concentration (50-500 mg/L), and pH (3-11). Adsorption of MB onto two different adsorbents such as biochar (BC) and doped BC, is fitted using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms with the experimental data correlating most accurately with Langmuir modelling, indicating chemisorption mechanism of dye onto adsorbent. Maximum monolayer equilibrium adsorption from Langmuir equation is found to be 129.8 and 357.1 mg/g for pure BC and Phosphorus and Nitrogen co-doped BC (PNBC), respectively. Pseudo-first and -second order kinetic models are applied to investigate the adsorption mechanism of PNBC.