Panel data evidence on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on livelihoods in urban Côte d'Ivoire.

In early March 2020, a few cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed in Abidjan, the capital city of Côte d'Ivoire. To combat the spread of the disease, large restrictions to mobility and gatherings were introduced between mid-March and late May 2020. We collected panel survey data on over 2,500 individuals from poorer neighborhoods of the Greater Abidjan area over the period immediately before and after the start of the pandemic.

The effects of India's COVID-19 lockdown on critical non-COVID health care and outcomes: Evidence from dialysis patients.

India's COVID-19 lockdown, one of the most severe in the world, is widely believed to have disrupted critical non-COVID health services. However, linking these disruptions to effects on health outcomes has been difficult due to the lack of reliable, up-to-date health outcomes data. We identified all dialysis patients under a statewide health insurance program in Rajasthan, India (N = 2110), and conducted surveys to examine the effects of the lockdown on non-COVID care access and health outcomes.

COVID-19 related immunization disruptions in Rajasthan, India: A retrospective observational study.

Introduction: Governments around the world suspended immunization outreach to control COVID-19 spread. Many have since resumed services with an emphasis on catch-up vaccinations. This paper evaluated immunization disruptions during India's March-May 2020 lockdown and the extent to which subsequent catch-up efforts reversed them in Rajasthan, India.

Decentralization and efficiency of subsidy targeting: Evidence from chiefs in rural Malawi.

Lower-income countries spend vast sums on subsidies. Beneficiaries are typically selected via either a proxy-means test (PMT) or through a decentralized identification process led by local leaders. A decentralized allocation may offer informational advantages, but may be prone to elite capture.

HIV prevention among youth: A randomized controlled trial of voluntary counseling and testing for HIV and male condom distribution in rural Kenya.

Objective: Voluntary Counseling and Testing for HIV (VCT) and increasing access to male condoms are common strategies to respond to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Using biological and behavioral outcomes, we compared programs to increase access to VCT, male condoms or both among youth in Western Kenya with the standard available HIV prevention services within this setting.

Design: A four arm, unblinded randomized controlled trial.

Osmolality of a fortified human preterm milk: The effect of fortifier dosage, gestational age, lactation stage, and hospital practices.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the dose-dependent effect of human milk fortifier (HMF) on the osmolality of various preterm human milks (PHMs) at different gestational and lactation stages, and with different storage and treatment conditions that are routinely used in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs).

Study Design: Twenty-four mothers who had given birth to their baby before 28 or between 29 and 31 weeks of pregnancy participated in the study after 1-2 weeks or 3-4 weeks breastfeeding after delivery. The study was a prospective, multicenter, comparative, and noninterventional study.

Governance and the effectiveness of public health subsidies: Evidence from Ghana, Kenya and Uganda.

Distributing subsidized health products through existing health infrastructure could substantially and cost-effectively improve health in sub-Saharan Africa. There is, however, widespread concern that poor governance - in particular, limited health worker accountability - seriously undermines the effectiveness of subsidy programs. We audit targeted bednet distribution programs to quantify the extent of agency problems.

Supply and Demand for Improved Sanitation: Results from Randomized Pricing Experiments in Rural Tanzania.

Improving access to sanitation is a global public health priority. Sufficient consumer demand is required for sanitation coverage to expand through private provision. To measure consumer demand for hygienic latrine platform products in rural Tanzania, we conducted a randomized, voucher-based real-money sales trial with 1638 households with unimproved latrines.

Targeting health subsidies through a nonprice mechanism: A randomized controlled trial in Kenya.

Free provision of preventive health products can markedly increase access in low-income countries. A cost concern about free provision is that some recipients may not use the product, wasting resources (overinclusion). Yet, charging a price to screen out nonusers may screen out poor people who need and would use the product (overexclusion).

Education, HIV, and Early Fertility: Experimental Evidence from Kenya.

A seven-year randomized evaluation suggests education subsidies reduce adolescent girls' dropout, pregnancy, and marriage but not sexually transmitted infection (STI). The government's HIV curriculum, which stresses abstinence until marriage, does not reduce pregnancy or STI. Both programs combined reduce STI more, but cut dropout and pregnancy less, than education subsidies alone.

SHORT-RUN SUBSIDIES AND LONG-RUN ADOPTION OF NEW HEALTH PRODUCTS: EVIDENCE FROM A FIELD EXPERIMENT.

Short-run subsidies for health products are common in poor countries. How do they affect long-run adoption? A common fear among development practitioners is that one-off subsidies may negatively affect long-run adoption through reference-dependence: People might anchor around the subsidized price and be unwilling to pay more for the product later. But for experience goods, one-off subsidies could also boost long-run adoption through learning.

Getting essential health products to their end users: subsidize, but how much?

Although coverage rates and health outcomes are improving, many poor people around the world still do not benefit from essential health products. An estimated two-thirds of child deaths could be prevented with increased coverage of products such as vaccines, point-of-use water treatment, iron fortification, and insecticide-treated bednets. What limits the flow of products from the producer's laboratory bench to the end users, and what can be done about it? Recent empirical research suggests a crucial role for heavy subsidies.

Why Don’t the Poor Save More? Evidence from Health Savings Experiments.

Using data from a field experiment in Kenya, we document that providing individuals with simple informal savings technologies can substantially increase investment in preventative health and reduce vulnerability to health shocks. Simply providing a safe place to keep money was sufficient to increase health savings by 66 percent. Adding an earmarking feature was only helpful when funds were put toward emergencies, or for individuals that are frequently taxed by friends and relatives.

The lateral pterygoid muscle, a heterogeneous unit implicated in temporomandibular disorder: a literature review.

Based on its anatomical relationships, the lateral pterygoid muscle is strongly linked with the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). It plays a major role in mastication. Embryological, histological, and anatomical knowledge define the lateral pterygoid muscle as a single muscle with a penniform structure.

[Raman spectrometry applied to calcified tissue and calcium-phosphorus biomaterials].

The rigid part of the human body consists essentially of carbonated apatite (calcium phosphate). Biologists don't have any tools to study this "mineral" phase, though its origin is organic. A new approach of some compounds like enamel or bone is obtained with the Raman micro-characterisation by a very fine analysis of chemical bonds in a micrometric scale.

Centric relation and programming semiadjustable articulators with the universal jig. Part II: Experiments.

The "universal jig" described in a previous article was tested on 10 patients to check for reliability. The recording of centric relation by this method was compared with Lucia's method of recording centric relation. The results of three series of three recordings were analyzed.

Centric relation and programming semiadjustable articulators with the universal jig. Part I: Technique.

To obtain centric relation and program recordings, a universal jig was made to be molded after adjustment to the upper incisors by means of dental plaster. The jig can be produced by means of an autopolymerizing resin mold based on the wax model. Once the jig is in position, the patient is asked to produce left and right lateral movements until muscular relaxation is obtained.

[Arthrography of the temporomandibular joint].

In 1989, opaque contrast arthrography of temporomandibular joint is still seldom used. A brief historical review of the procedure is presented here, and the technique of puncturing the menisco-condylar and menisco-temporal compartments is discussed. The value of injecting opaque contrast material into the lower compartment and carrying out kinetic and tomographic studies as well as bilateral examinations is stressed.

[A proposed prototype for recording and analysis of mandibular movement: the Cinétic].

The investigation of means of recording mandibular movement has aroused the interest of a considerable number of researchers. Their own devices, increasingly ingenious, all display certain advantages and shortcomings. The need for a device more appropriate to the needs of day-to-day odontological use has been felt for some time.

Effect of clutch surface changes on the computerized pantographic reproducibility index and the Fischer angle.

This study of eight patients compared the pantographic numeric data obtained with a concave clutch with those obtained with a flat clutch. The slight alterations that resulted were insignificant and varied with each patient. The only difference between Depoorter's study and this one is the manual calculation of the EPRI compared with the computerized calculation of CPRI.