An analysis of the impact of Newcastle disease vaccination and husbandry practice on smallholder chicken productivity in Uganda.

A number of studies have demonstrated the clear beneficial impact that vaccinating against Newcastle disease (ND) can have on reducing the frequency and severity of ND outbreaks. Here we go one step further and analyse the additional benefits in terms of improved production that result from vaccination. Data were collected from a cross sectional survey in Uganda of 593 chicken-rearing smallholders (for the purpose of this study this was defined as a farm with fewer than 75 chickens). Consenting participants were administered a detailed questionnaire covering a range of aspects of chicken production and management. These data were subsequently analysed in a generalised linear model framework with negative binomial error structure and the total offtake over the previous 12 months (chicken sales + chicken consumption + chickens gifted) was included as the dependent variable. Different measures of flock size were tested as independent variables and the model was also offered the district of the flock, ND vaccine adoption, use of poultry housing, provision of supplementary feed and use of dewormers as potential independent variables. We also developed an analogous model for the offtake of eggs (sale and consumption). The total size of the flock (counting chickens of all ages) was the measure of flock size that had the strongest association with offtake and was a significant but weak effect with an incidence rate ratio (IRR) of 1.011 (95 % Confidence intervals (CIs) = 1.007-1.015). ND vaccine adoption had a strong significant positive effect on offtake with an IRR of 1.571 (95 % CIs = 1.363-1.808). Use of a poultry house also had a significant effect (IRR = 1.365, 95 % CIs = 1.193-1.560). In the model of egg production, the number of hens was the demographic determinant with the lowest Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) (IRR = 1.094, 95 % CIs = 1.056-1.136) and ND vaccine adoption had a strong positive effect on egg offtake (IRR = 1.801, 95 % CIs = 1.343-2.412). Vaccinating against ND has a clear beneficial impact on the productivity of the flock, and the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.

Society for Acute Medicine Benchmarking Audit 2015: The Patient Perspective.

INTRODUCTION: The Society for Acute Medicine Benchmarking Audit (SAMBA) is an annual national audit in the UK. METHODS: In SAMBA 2015 patient feedback questionnaires were introduced to help measure the quality of patient experience on Acute Medical Units (AMUs) over a 24-hour period on 25th June 2015. RESULTS: 55 AMUs submitted data on 945 patients, of these 824 (87.2%) would be extremely likely or likely to recommend the AMU. Patients below the age of 50 were less likely to recommend the admitting unit (p<0.013). Positive comments were three times more common than critical comments (976 vs 323). Categories of staff attitude, quality of communication, timeliness of care and catering were dominant themes. CONCLUSION: This survey has identified key themes for patients being managed on an AMU that can be used to guide future innovations.

High-triplet-energy dendrons: enhancing the luminescence of deep blue phosphorescent iridium(III) complexes.

Solution-processable blue phosphorescent emitters with high luminescence efficiency are highly desirable for large-area displays and lighting applications. This report shows that when a fac-tris[1-methyl-5-(4-fluorophenyl)-3-n-propyl-1H-[1,2,4]triazolyl]iridium(III) complex core is encapsulated by rigid high-triplet-energy dendrons, both the physical and photophysical properties can be optimized. The high-triplet-energy and rigid dendrons were composed of twisted biphenyl dendrons with the twisting arising from the use of tetrasubstituted branching phenyl rings. The blue phosphorescent dendrimer was synthesized using a convergent approach and was found to be solution-processable and to possess a high glass transition temperature of 148 degrees C. The dendrimer had an exceptionally high solution photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of 94%, which was more than three times that of the simple parent core complex (27%). The rigid and high-triplet-energy dendrons were also found to control the intermolecular interactions that lead to the quenching of the luminescence in the solid state, and the film PLQY was found to be 60% with the emission having Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage coordinates of (0.16, 0.16). The results demonstrate that dendronization of simple chromophores can enhance their properties. Single layer neat dendrimer organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) had an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 0.4% at 100 cd/m(2). Bilayer devices with an electron transport layer gave improved EQEs of up to 3.9%. Time-resolved luminescence measurements suggest that quenching of triplets by the electron transport layer used in the bilayer OLEDs limits performance.