Pneumonia is a major cause of childhood mortality and morbidity approximately 1.6 million deaths and 150 million episodes occur annually in children <5 years. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) may be responsible for up to 25% of cases and 12% of deaths making it an important potential vaccine target, although data from South East Asia is scarce.We followed a birth cohort of Burmese refugee children, born over a one year period, for two years. Pneumonia episodes were diagnosed using WHO criteria. A chest radiograph, nasopharyngeal aspirate and non-specific markers of infection were taken during each episode.The incidence of RSV-associated pneumonia was 0.24 (95% CI 0.22-0.26) episodes per child year. All children with pneumonia received antibiotic treatment, following WHO guidelines. The highest incidence was in the 2-12 month age group. The commonest diagnosis in a child with RSV-associated pneumonia was non-severe pneumonia (239/362:66.0%), however the incidence of RSV-associated severe or very severe pneumonia was 0.08 (95% CI 0.01-0.10) episodes per child year. Birth in the wet season increased the risk of severe disease in children who had their first episode of RSV-associated pneumonia aged 2-11 months (OR 28.7, 95% CI 6.6-125.0, p<0.001). RSV episodes were highly seasonal being responsible for 80.0% of all the pneumonia episodes occurring each October and November over the study period.There was a high incidence of RSV associated pneumonia in this refugee population. Interventions to prevent RSV infection have the potential to reduce the incidence of clinically diagnosed pneumonia and hence unnecessary antibiotic usage in this population.
Preface Abbreviations and Acronyms Introduction: Dependence, Interdependence and Disengagement in the Malaysian Context 'Neo-colonialism' Re-visited The Survival and Revival of British Business in Post-Colonial Malaysia British Business and the British State: the Pursuit of 'Informal Empire' 'Disengagement' Chapter 1. The Making and Unmaking of 'Greater Malaysia' A Neo-Colonialist Plot? The Lure of 'Greater Malaysia' Official Policy and 'Greater Malaysia' Frustrations with 'Greater Malaysia' Conclusion Chapter 2. Political Business: Politics and Economic Nationalism in the Post-Colonial State Bolstering the Alliance Eternal Pessimism Building the National Economy The Beginnings of 'Crony Capitalism' Frustration with Federation Conclusion Chapter 3. The Years of Living Dangerously: Instability and Insecurity in the Post-Colonial State Lawlessness and the End of the Emergency Konfrontasi The Military Withdrawal from 'East of Suez' Inter-Communal Violence Conclusion Chapter 4. Looking After the Old Staples: Rubber and Tin in the Post-Colonial Era The Ongoing Reigns of Raja Rubber and Tengku Tin 'What Goes Up Must Come Down': Rubber and the Global Economy Research, Replanting and Marketing: Rubber Development in Malaysia The Limits of Commodity Agreements: Tin and the Global Economy Land Alienation and Taxation: Tin Development in Malaysia Conclusion Chapter 5. Oil Palms and Factories: Diversifying the Post-Colonial Economy British Prominence, British Dominance? Palm Oil Industrialising Malaysia Conclusion Glossary Select Who's Who Bibliography
No abstract is provided for this article.
In many mammals, breeding females are intolerant of each other and seldom associate closely but, in some, they aggregate in groups that vary in size, stability, and kinship structure. Aggregation frequently increases competition for food, and interspecific differences in female sociality among mammals are commonly attributed to contrasts in ecological parameters, including variation in activity timing, the distribution of resources, as well as the risk of predation. However, there is increasing indication that differences in female sociality are also associated with phylogenetic relationships and with contrasts in life-history parameters. We show here that evolutionary transitions from systems where breeding females usually occupy separate ranges ("singular breeding") to systems where breeding females usually aggregate ("plural breeding") have occurred more frequently in monotocous lineages where females produce single young than in polytocous ones where they produce litters. A likely explanation of this association is that competition between breeding females for resources is reduced where they produce single young and is more intense where they produce litters. Our findings reinforce evidence that variation in life-history parameters plays an important role in shaping the evolution of social behavior.
No abstract is provided for this article.
While many populations of large mammals are stable from year to year, some show persistent oscillations associated with high mortality. This article investigates the causes of variation in population stability in ungulates by comparing the contrasting dynamics of two naturally regulated island populations: the Soay sheep population of Hirta (St. Kilda), where numbers fluctuate by 60%-70% every 3 or 4 yr as a result of overcompensatory winter mortality, and the red deer population of the North Block of Rum, where numbers have been stable for over a decade. We suggest that the contrasting dynamics of these two populations are caused by differences in fecundity and maturation rate. Red deer show relatively low fecundity and slow maturation, and increases in population density depress both fecundity and juvenile survival. In contrast, the relatively rapid development of Soay sheep allows them to evade densitydependent effects on reproduction and survival until the population exceeds winter carrying capacity by a substantial margin, subsequently triggering overcompensatory mortality in late winter in all age classes.
