OBJECTIVE To estimate the budget impact of using the Kangaroo Method in a municipal health care network. METHODS An analytical decision model was developed to simulate the costs of the Kangaroo Method and Neonatal Intermediate Care Unit in Rio de Janeiro, RJ, in 2011. The reference population was clinically stable newborns, who may receive either of the two types of care. The budget impact fo...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the results of the kangaroo mother method in Brazil. METHODS A prospective cohort study comparing 16 units that have or do not have the second phase of the kangaroo mother method: eight were national centers of excellence for the kangaroo mother method (study group) and eight were part of the Brazilian Neonatal Research Network (control group). A total of 985 newborn inf...

Disturbance is a major factor determining the plant community structure of ecological systems. In particular, small-scale disturbances from animals can increase heterogeneity and species diversity in plant communities. Kangaroo rat (Dipodomys spectabilis) mounds are small-scale disturbances that support unique plant communities compared to surrounding habitats. The seed bank, which is usually a...

: Kangaroo mother care (KMC) is a standardized and protocolized system for low birth weight, based on skin-to-skin contact between the infant mother. The mother's active participation crucial effectively implementing kangaroo services to improve physiological stress parameters neonates.

When predators rely on high-speed movements to capture prey, prey often exhibit traits that result in correspondingly extreme physical performance. Biomechanical studies of these interactions are typically conducted in laboratory settings, thereby eliminating some of the ecological context. We studied how behavioural state, specifically vigilance level, of kangaroo rats affects evasion performa...

Granivorous rodent populations in deserts are primarily regulated through precipitation-driven resource pulses rather than pulses associated with mast-seeding, a pattern more common in mesic habitats. We studied heteromyid responses to mast-seeding in the desert shrub blackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima), a regionally dominant species in the Mojave-Great Basin Desert transition zone. In a 5-year ...

AIMS To characterise the first infants receiving continuous Kangaroo Mother Care from birth to discharge in a Swedish neonatal intensive care unit and to investigate their mothers' experiences of this model of care. BACKGROUND Admission of a newborn infant to a neonatal intensive care unit commonly implies separation of the new mother from her infant. Kangaroo Mother Care is a model of neonat...

Facilitation, when one species enhances the environment or performance of another species, can be highly localized in space. While facilitation in plant communities has been intensely studied, the role of facilitation in shaping animal communities is less well understood. In the Chihuahuan Desert, both kangaroo rats and harvester ants depend on the abundant seeds of annual plants. Kangaroo rats...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the impact of kangaroo care on exclusive breastfeeding in low birth weight newborns until 6 months of life. METHODS Prospective study carried out with 43 newborns (23 allocated in the kangaroo group and 23 in a control group) weighing < 2,000 g and staying in the neonatal unit for at least 7 days. Exclusive breastfeeding rates between the groups were compared until the a...

AIM To develop a conceptual tool to assist healthcare workers and management in the implementation of a kangaroo mother care programme. METHODS A qualitative research approach was followed and methods included on-site observations and informal conversational interviews, as well as unstructured, in-depth interviews with senior managers, doctors and nurses at two large training hospitals in the...