Legal priorities for prevention of non-communicable diseases: innovations from WHO's Eastern Mediterranean region.

OBJECTIVES: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of death globally and in the World Health Organization's (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean region (EMR). This paper reports on a research collaboration between the WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Office (EMRO) and the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University that aims to identify (1) regionally relevant, cost-effective and affordable legal interventions to prevent NCDs, and (2) methods to strengthen implementation and enforcement. STUDY DESIGN: Comparative analysis of >200 international, regional and domestic interventions addressing key NCD risk factors, including tobacco, alcohol, diet and physical inactivity. METHODS: Researchers searched legal and policy databases including the WHO Nutrition, Obesity and Physical Activity Database and drew upon academic commentary and 'grey' literature. Measures included evidence of impact; evidence of cost-effectiveness; and monitoring and enforcement mechanisms. RESULTS: Researchers identified many examples of legal interventions effectively reducing NCD risk factors. Key enabling factors for effective NCD-related laws include regulatory capacity; governance mechanisms promoting multisectoral collaboration and accountability; and tailoring interventions to local legal, economic and social contexts. CONCLUSIONS: In the EMR, and globally, law can be a cost-effective and affordable means of curbing underlying drivers of the NCD pandemic, such as rampant junk food marketing. Building upon this research, together with international and regional experts, EMRO has identified 10 priority interventions in the areas of tobacco control, unhealthy diets and NCD governance. The EMRO/O'Neill Institute partnership will develop guidance tools and capacity building initiatives to support Member States to harness the power of law to achieve population health improvements.

Tolerance of Bradyrhizobium sp. (Lupini) strains to salinity, pH, CaCO3 and antibiotics.

AIMS: Ten rhizobial isolates obtained from different locations in Egypt were examined for their ability to survive under stress conditions and their growth response to increasing levels of NaCl (1-8% w/v), pH (4-10), CaCO3 (1-10% w/v) and 12 antibiotics. METHODS AND RESULTS: All the rhizobial isolates tolerated a NaCl concentration up to 5% and were divided into two groups with respect to NaCl tolerance. The rhizobial isolates from group two showed significantly (P < 0.05) better survival under high NaCl concentration. All the tested isolates survived acidic (pH 4-5) and alkaline conditions (pH 9-10) and CaCO3 (up to 10% w/v) in liqued YEM medium. CONCLUSION: Antibiotic resistance patterns did not correlate to NaCl, pH or CaCO3 tolerance. Variations among different strains showed that there is potential to improve strain performance under stress conditions. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The results suggest that selection of adapted strains under stress conditions is possible and can be used as inoculants for successful lupin growth.

Laterality of auditory hallucinations in psychiatric patients.

Twenty-nine of 54 subjects with auditory hallucinations were able, when asked, to localize the voices to the left or right ear. Subjects who heard voices on the right were found to be significantly more depressed than the others.