The records of sewer baiting work for three London boroughs were examined to see whether there were locations that exhibited 'rat' (Rattus norvegicus) activity more often than would be expected by chance, a feature we dubbed 'hotspots'. More than 100000 baiting records were checked covering 15 years of the London Borough of Enfield (Enfield) and 5 years each of the London Borough of Barnet (Barnet), and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC). The additional boroughs were included for comparison to see whether any effect observed was confined to Enfield or was a feature that could be found in both inner and outer city locations. Each borough was divided into kilometre squares corresponding with those found both on Ordnance Survey maps and also Thames Water Utilities Asset maps. The number of records per square were logged and then the number of positive records for all the manholes in that square on a year-on-year basis. We examined 350 km2 in Enfield, 377 km2 in Barnet and 66 km2 in RBKC. The data were subjected to a weighted analysis (i.e. allowing for the number of manholes per square and the varying total rat population from year to year). Some areas were shown to exhibit significantly higher amounts of activity than others suggesting that their distribution is not random and that there must be environmental and other factors, which make certain locations attractive to rats. Squares with very high activity, repeating year-on-year, 'hotspots', were found in all three boroughs, suggesting that the phenomena are widespread.
The monitoring of nutritional risk and functional status indicators among participants in the Elderly Nutrition Program can provide unique information to help service providers assist these persons in remaining independent and at home. Using multinomial logit analyses of routinely collected data, this study examines the link between nutritional risk indicators and disability severity among 1,010 home-delivered meal program participants in Wake County, North Carolina. Five nutritional risk indicators were associated with disability severity: social and economic risk with being disabled only in Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL); weight change and difficulty shopping/cooking with being moderately disabled in Activities of Daily Living (ADL); and medication use with both moderate and severe ADL disability. While women were more likely than men to be moderately ADL disabled, the probability for moderate and severe ADL disability increased with the co-occurrence of medication use and weight change. These findings suggest that nutrition policymakers and program planners for the Elderly Nutrition Program consider the link between nutritional risk indicators and disability severity in determining future service needs.
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