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Authors: Oladipo Joseph Ajayi, Yakubu Muhammed, Caleb Galadima

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This study was conducted to examine the income diversification of smallholder farmers in Bosso Local Government area of Niger state, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to examine the socio-economic characteristics of the farmers, identify the sources of income among the farmers, determine the pattern of income diversification and evaluate the determinants of income diversification of farmers in the study area. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 94 respondents for the study. Primary data were used, and these were collected with aid of a well structured interview schedule. Descriptive statistics, diversity index, and Tobit regression model were employed to analyze the data. The mean age of the farmers was 44 years. The average household size was 8 members per household, and the average farming experience was 12 years. 21.27 percent did not have formal education. It was further found that 69.1 percent of the respondents had an income diversity index of 0.3-0.4. This indicated that their level of income diversification was moderately low. The determinants of income diversification in the study area were education, household size, marital status, and primary income. These variables were positively related to income diversification. The study revealed that diversification into various income sources has helped to increase household income to sustain the family demands even though their level of income diversification was low within the study area.

Keywords: diversification, income, households, smallholder farmers

Procedia PDF Downloads 257

Authors: Daphney Nozizwe Conco, Jonathan Levin, Boitumelo Komane, Sharon Fonn

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Background: South Africa is globally renowned for its reproductive rights framework. Despite the progressive abortion legislation, evidence points to limited access to safe abortion due to stigma, provider opposition, and lack of trained providers. Consequently, women resort to informal abortion providers and later present with incomplete abortion (ICA) at public hospitals. 20 years after the passing of the Choice for Termination of Pregnancy Act (CTOPA), we hypothesized that the incidence of ICA and abortion-related morbidity would change, influenced by access to safe abortion care and the availability of medication abortion. The aim was to generate data that could be compared with the results of similar studies conducted in 1994 and 2000. Objectives: The research objectives were to determine the number of women who presented with ICA to public hospitals, to describe their characteristics, to categorize medical complications according to severity, and to describe treatment provided to them at South African public hospitals. Methods: This is a cross-sectional retrospective medical record review study. A stratified random sample of public hospitals was selected. Data was extracted from the medical records of women who presented with incomplete abortions to sampled public hospitals in 2018. Data was captured directly into a REDCap database. To estimate the national prevalence of incomplete abortions, we used population estimates for 2018 comprising 17,199,227 women aged 12-49 years and 1,200,436 live births. Results: We found 913 medical records of women who presented with ICA to the 52 sampled hospitals. The women’s mean age of 27 years, and most had a previous pregnancy. These results were similar in the three studies (2018, 2000, and 1994). A greater proportion of women admitted with a gestation between 0-12 weeks seem to be on the increase, 60.5% in 1994, 67.1% in 2000, and 73.9% in 2024. We found an ICA incidence of 362 (269-455) per 100 000 women aged 12­49 years, which was the same as the 2000 incidence of 362 (282­441) but lower than the incidence of 375 (299­451) in 1994. Signs of infection decreased over time: 79.5% in 1994, 90.1% in 2000, and 92.5% in 2018 had no signs of infection. Similarly, 95.6% in 1994, 97.1% in 2000 and 99.1% in 2018 recorded no organ failure. Conclusion: A trend of lower infection rates was observed, suggesting that women are getting safer abortions, possibly from informal providers. However, the lack of change in ICA incidence indicates that the implementation of CTOPA has failed. It is safe to conclude that the legislation has made no significant impact on women’s health and rights. The implications of such failure are profound, as South Africa has not effectively implemented the act, which has important consequences for women’s health and rights.

Keywords: incomplete abortion, abortion-related morbidity, safe-abortion, South Africa public health, sexual and reproductive health rights, women’s health

Procedia PDF Downloads 17

Authors: Alexander Rych

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Piql Preservation Services (“Piql”) is a turnkey solution designed for secure, migration-free long- term preservation of digital data. Piql sets an open standard for long- term preservation for the future. It consists of equipment and processes needed for writing and retrieving digital data. Exponentially growing amounts of data demand for logistically effective and cost effective processes. Digital storage media (hard disks, magnetic tape) exhibit limited lifetime. Repetitive data migration to overcome rapid obsolescence of hardware and software bears accelerated risk of data loss, data corruption or even manipulation and adds significant repetitive costs for hardware and software investments. Piql stores any kind of data in its digital as well as analog form securely for 500 years. The medium that provides this is a film reel. Using photosensitive film polyester base, a very stable material that is known for its immutability over hundreds of years, secure and cost-effective long- term preservation can be provided. The film reel itself is stored in a packaging capable of protecting the optical storage medium. These components have undergone extensive testing to ensure longevity of up to 500 years. In addition to its durability, film is a true WORM (write once- read many) medium. It therefore is resistant to editing or manipulation. Being able to store any form of data onto the film makes Piql a superior solution for long-term preservation. Paper documents, images, video or audio sequences – all of those file formats and documents can be preserved in its native file structure. In order to restore the encoded digital data, only a film scanner, a digital camera or any appropriate optical reading device will be needed in the future. Every film reel includes an index section describing the data saved on the film. It also contains a content section carrying meta-data, enabling users in the future to rebuild software in order to read and decode the digital information.

Keywords: digital data, long-term preservation, migration-free, photosensitive film

Procedia PDF Downloads 395

Authors: O. Rozita, N. M. Nik Aziz

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High-density planting is usually recommended for a small area of planting in order to increase production. The normal planting distance for cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) in Malaysia is 3 m x 3 m. The study was conducted at Cocoa Research and Development Centre, Malaysia Cocoa Board, Jengka, Pahang with the objectives to evaluate the suitability of seven cocoa clones under four different planting densities and to study the interaction between cocoa clones and planting densities. The study was arranged in the split plot with randomized complete block design and replicated three times. The cocoa clone was assigned as the main plot and planting density was assigned as a subplot. The clones used in this study were PBC 123, PBC 112, MCBC4, MCBC 5, QH 1003, QH 22, and BAL 244. The planting distance were 3 m x 3 m (1000 stands/ha), 3 m x 1.5 m (2000 stands/ha), 3 m x 1 m (3000 stands/ha) and (1.5 m x 1.5 m) x 3 m (3333 stands/ha). Evaluation on yield performance was carried out for seven years. Clones of PBC 123, QH 1003, and QH 22 obtained the higher yield, meanwhile MCBC 4, MCBC 5, and BAL 244 obtained the lowest yield. In general, high-density planting can increase cocoa production with good management practices. Among the cocoa management practices, the selection of suitable clones with small branching habits and moderately vigorous and proper pruning activity were the most important factor in high-density planting.

Keywords: clones, management, planting density, Theobroma cacao, yield

Procedia PDF Downloads 378

Authors: Ugbajah Maryjane

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The study examined the production of grass cutter and the constraints in Anambra state, Nigeria. Specifically, it described socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, determinants of net farm income and constraints to grass cutter production. Multistage and random sampling methods were used to select 50 respondents for this study. Primary data were collected by means of structured questionnaire. Non-parametric and parametric statistical tools including frequency percentage mean ranking counts, cost and returns and returns and multiple regression were deployed for data analysis. Majority 84% produce on small scale, 64 % had formal education 68% had 3-4 years of farming experience hence small scaled production were common. The income (returns) on investment was used as index of profitability, gross margin (#5,972,280), net farm income (#5,327,055.2) net return on investment (2.5) and return on investment 3.1. Net farm income was significantly influence by stock size and years of farming experience. Grass cutter farmers production problem would be ameliorated by the expression of extension education awareness campaigns to discourage unhealthy practices such as indiscriminant bush burning, use of toxic chemicals as baits, and provision of credits to the farmers.

Keywords: socio-economic factors, profitability, awareness, toxic chemicals, credits

Procedia PDF Downloads 418

Authors: Shamim Mushtaq, Moazzam Shahid

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Breast cancer (BC) claims the lives of half a million women every year and is the most common cause of death in the developing world. In 2019, it was estimated that BC alone accounts for 15% of all cancer deaths in younger women (aged < 45 years old) with advanced-stage lung metastasis. According to the World Health Organization & International Union against Cancer, in Asia, a high number of cancer-related deaths will be observed in 2020, whereas the burden will be reduced in Western countries due to awareness about the disease, better health facilities and advanced treatments. In the last 15 years, it has been reported that the incidence of BC has increased by 1.1% among Asian compared to the US population from 2003 to 2012. To date, several BC biological subtypes have been reported so far, which are associated with different treatment responses. The heterogeneity and diversity of BC reflected these different subtypes, including Luminal A (23.7% prevalence) and B (38.8% prevalence) that have pathological estrogen receptor (ER+)-positive tumors, the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) (11.2% prevalence) and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) (25% prevalence). According to Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre – Pakistan, ten years of data showed that among 636 BC patients, 30.5% had TNBC who were <40 years of age, which is an extremely alarming situation. Therefore, there is a dire need to explore and develop therapeutic targets for the treatment of early TNBC. Since the last decade, unfortunately, there has been little success in understanding the complexity of TNBC and in discovering new biological therapeutic targets. However, conventional chemotherapy is the only choice of treatment for TNBC patients. Many investigators revealed advances in multi-omics (multiple "omes", e.g., genome, proteome, transcriptome, epigenome, and microbiome) which were later identified as actionable targets and increased prevalence in TNBC patients. However, various drugs have been identified so far which are related to a particular diagnostic and prognostic biomarker. For example, Epidermal growth factor receptor ( EGFR or ErbB-1), HER-2/neu (ErbB-2), HER-3 (ErbB-3), and HER-4 (ErbB-4). Protein Transglin-2 (TAGLN 2 ) and Profilins-1 (Pfn-1 ) are the ubiquitously expressed large family of proteins present in all eukaryotes, enabling actin cytoskeletal reorganization. It is known that the oncogenic transformation of cells is accompanied by alteration in the actin cytoskeleton. There are causal connections between altered expression of actin cytoskeletal regulators and cancer progression. Our case-control study identified TAGLN-2 and Pfn-1 proteins in TNBC blood by mass spectrometry. Both TAGLN-2 and Pfn-1 proteins are differentially expressed in early and advanced stages of TNBS patients, which could be potential predictors or therapeutic targets for TNBC.

Keywords: TNBC, blood biomarkers, mass spectrometry, qPCR, ELISA

Procedia PDF Downloads 47

Authors: Jihene Bettaieb, Kaouther Ayouni, Ghassen Kharroubi, Rym Mallekh, Walid Hammemi, Afif Ben Salah, Henda Triki

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In Tunisia, the hepatitis A virus (HAV) represents a public health concern. Due to the progress in sanitation and socio-economic conditions, the epidemiology of HAV has shown dynamic changes over the past years. This study aimed to investigate the current seroprevalence of HAV antibodies (anti-HAV) among the residents of Thala, a rural setting in central-west Tunisia, to determine the age-specific seroprevalence for HAV infection and co-infection with hepatitis C and B virus. A total of 1379 subjects (mean age: 25.0 ± 17.3 years, 555 males/ 824 females) were recruited between January and June 2014. The study population included 95 individuals previously known as hepatitis C positive. Serum samples were collected and screened for the detection of IgG anti-HAV, HBsAg, and HBcAb by the Elisa Test. The overall anti- HAV seroprevalence was about 84.7%. There was no statistically significant difference between males and females. On the 1379 tested individual, 219 were positive for HBcAb, and 67 were positive for HBsAg. IgG anti- HAV were positive in 80.6% of HBsAg-positive patients (54 out of 67), 81.3% of HBcAb-positive patients (178 out of 219), and in 95.8% of HCV-positive patients (91 out of 95). HBV infection and HCV infection were statistically associated with a greater risk of positive anti-HAV antibody (p < 0.001). Our study revealed that Thala represents an intermediate endemicity level and that the introduction of vaccination against HAV in this region is recommended, especially for the hepatitis B or C infected person seronegative for HAV.

Keywords: coinfection, hepatitis A, seroprevalence, Tunisia

Procedia PDF Downloads 156

Authors: Athdath Waduge Susantha Janaka Kumara, Xiefei Zhi, Zin Mie Mie Sein

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Understanding the air temperature variability is crucially important for disaster risk reduction and management. In this study, we used 15 synoptic meteorological stations to assess the spatiotemporal variability of air temperature over Sri Lanka during 1972–2021. The empirical orthogonal function (EOF), Principal component analysis (PCA), Mann-Kendall test, power spectrum analysis and correlation coefficient analysis were used to investigate the long-term trends of air temperature and their possible relation to sea surface temperature (SST) over the region. The results indicate that an increasing trend in air temperature was observed with the abrupt climate change noted in the year 1994. The spatial distribution of EOF1 (63.5%) shows the positive and negative loading dipole patterns from south to northeast, while EOF2 (23.4%) explains warmer (colder) in some parts of central (south and east) areas. The power spectrum of PC1 (PC2) indicates that there is a significant period of 3-4 years (quasi-2 years). Moreover, Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) provides a strong positive correlation with the air temperature of Sri Lanka, while the EL Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) presents a weak negative correlation. Therefore, IOD events led to higher temperatures in the region. This study’s findings can help disaster risk reduction and management in the country.

Keywords: air temperature, interannaul variability, ENSO, IOD

Procedia PDF Downloads 105

Authors: Drago Bratkovic, Curtis Gravance, David Ketteridge, Ravi Krishnan, Michael Imperiale

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The mucopolysaccharidoses (MPSs) are a group of lysosomal storage diseases that have a common defect in the catabolism of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). MPS I is the most common of the MPS diseases. Manifestations of MPS I include coarsening of facial features, corneal clouding, developmental delay, short stature, skeletal manifestations, hearing loss, cardiac valve disease, hepatosplenomegaly, and umbilical and inguinal hernias. Treatments for MPS I restore or activate the missing or deficient enzyme in the case of enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) and haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Pentosan polysulfate sodium (PPS) is a potential treatment to improve bone and joint manifestations of MPS I. The mechanisms of action of PPS that are relevant to the treatment of MPS I are the ability to: (i) Reduce systemic and accumulated GAG, (ii) Reduce inflammatory effects via the inhibition of NF-kB, resulting in the reduction in pro-inflammatory mediators. (iii) Reduce the expression of the pain mediator nerve growth factor in osteocytes from degenerating joints. (iv) Inhibit the cartilage degrading enzymes related to joint dysfunction in MPS I. PPS is being evaluated as an adjunctive therapy to ERT and/or HSCT in an open-label, single-centre, phase 2 study. Patients are ≥ 5 years of age with a diagnosis of MPS I and previously received HSCT and/or ERT. Three white, female, patients with MPS I-Hurler, ages 14, 15, and 19 years, and one, white male patient aged 15 years are enrolled. All were diagnosed at ≤2 years of age. All patients received HSCT ≤ 6 months after diagnosis. Two of the patients were treated with ERT prior to HSCT, and 1 patient received ERT commencing 3 months prior to HSCT. Two patients received 0.75mg/kg and 2 patients received 1.5mg/kg of PPS. PPS was well tolerated at doses of 0.75 and 1.5 mg/kg to 47 weeks of continuous dosing. Of the 19 adverse events (AEs), 2 were related to PPS. One AE was moderate (pre-syncope) and 1 was mild (injection site bruising), experienced in the same patient. All AEs were reported as mild or moderate. There have been no SAEs. One subject experienced a COVID-19 infection and PPS was interrupted. The MPS I signature GAG fragments, sulfated disaccharide and UA-HNAc S, tended to decrease in 3 patients from baseline through Week 25. Week 25 GAG data are pending for the 4th patient. Overall, most biomarkers (inflammatory, cartilage degeneration, and bone turnover) evaluated in the 3 patients with 25-week assessments have indicated either no change or a reduction in levels compared to baseline. In 3 patients, there was a trend toward improvement in the 2MWT from baseline to Week 48 with > 100% increase in 1 patient (01-201). In the 3 patients that had Week 48 assessments, patients and proxies reported improvement in PGIC, including “worthwhile difference” (n=1), or “made all the difference” (n=2).

Keywords: MPS I, pentosan polysulfate sodium, clinical study, 2MWT, QoL

Procedia PDF Downloads 116

Authors: Thomas Smith

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Many hackers worldwide would agree that, had it not been for linear-time theory, the refinement of Byzantine fault tolerance might never have occurred. After years of significant research into extreme programming, we validate the refinement of simulated annealing. Maw, our new framework for unstable theory, is the solution to all of these issues.

Keywords: distributed, software engineering, DNS, DHCP

Procedia PDF Downloads 361

Authors: I. Boroňová, J. Bernasovská, J. Kmec, E. Petrejčíková

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Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a severe cardiovascular disorder characterized by progressive systolic dysfunction due to cardiac chamber dilatation and inefficient myocardial contractility often leading to chronic heart failure. Recently, a genome-wide association studies (GWASs) on DCM indicate that the ZBTB17 gene rs10927875 single nucleotide polymorphism is associated with DCM. The aim of the study was to identify the distribution of ZBTB17 gene rs10927875 polymorphism in 50 Slovak patients with DCM and 80 healthy control subjects using the Custom Taqman®SNP Genotyping assays. Risk factors detected at baseline in each group included age, sex, body mass index, smoking status, diabetes and blood pressure. The mean age of patients with DCM was 52.9±6.3 years; the mean age of individuals in control group was 50.3±8.9 years. The distribution of investigated genotypes of rs10927875 polymorphism within ZBTB17 gene in the cohort of Slovak patients with DCM was as follows: CC (38.8%), CT (55.1%), TT (6.1%), in controls: CC (43.8%), CT (51.2%), TT (5.0%). The risk allele T was more common among the patients with dilated cardiomyopathy than in normal controls (33.7% versus 30.6%). The differences in genotype or allele frequencies of ZBTB17 gene rs10927875 polymorphism were not statistically significant (p=0.6908; p=0.6098). The results of this study suggest that ZBTB17 gene rs10927875 polymorphism may be a risk factor for susceptibility to DCM in Slovak patients with DCM. Studies of numerous files and additional functional investigations are needed to fully understand the roles of genetic associations.

Keywords: ZBTB17 gene, rs10927875 polymorphism, dilated cardiomyopathy, cardiovascular disorder

Procedia PDF Downloads 409

Authors: Samaneh Abolli, Kamyar Yaghmaeian, Ali Arab Aradani, Mahmood Alimohammadi

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The main route of fluoride uptake is drinking water. Fluoride absorption in the acceptable range (0.5-1.5 mg L-¹) is suitable for the body, but it's too much consumption can have irreversible health effects. To compare fluoride concentration with the WHO guidelines, 112 water samples were taken from groundwater aquifers in 22 villages of Garmsar County, the central part of Iran, during 2018 to 2019.Fluoride concentration was measured by the SPANDS method, and its non-carcinogenic impacts were calculated using EDI and HQ. The statistical population was divided into four categories of infant, children, teenagers, and adults. Linear regression and Spearman rank correlation coefficient tests were used to investigate the relationships between the well's depth and fluoride concentration in the water samples. The annual mean concentrations of fluoride in 2018 and2019 were 0.75 and 0.64 mg -¹ and, the fluoride mean concentration in the samples classifying the cold and hot seasons of the studied years was 0.709 and 0.689 mg L-¹, respectively. The amount of fluoride in 27% of the samples in both years was less than the acceptable minimum (0.5 mg L-¹). Also, 11% of the samples in2018 (6 samples) had fluoride levels higher than 1.5 mg L-¹. The HQ showed that the children were vulnerable; teenagers and adults were in the next ranks, respectively. Statistical tests showed a reverse and significant correlation (R2 = 0.02, < 0.0001) between well depth and fluoride content. The border between the usefulness/harmfulness of fluoride is very narrow and requires extensive studies.

Keywords: fluoride, groundwater, health risk assessment, hazard quotient, Garmsar

Procedia PDF Downloads 74

Authors: Ika Anisyah, Nety Trisnawaty

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Mechanical brushing can help control plaque and is the first step to control dental caries. The type of toothpaste used is one of the contributing factors in it since the benefits of toothpaste are to reduce plaque formation and strengthen the teeth against dental caries, clean and polish tooth surfaces, eliminate or reduce bad breath, give a fresh taste to the mouth and maintain gingival health. Betel leaf toothpaste has the ability to inhibit the Streptococcus mutans bacteria that can cause the increase of pH saliva. Betel leaf extracts can increase the pH saliva because betel leaf has an anti bacterial characteristic against Streptococcus mutans so that pH saliva increases. This study aims to see the difference between pH saliva before and after brushing teeth with toothpaste containing betel leaf extracts. This type of research is pre-experimental using One Group Pretest-Posttest Design. This study was conducted on 32 subjects taken randomly from the representatives of students aged 11-12 years old in SD Pesanggrahan 03. The result of statistic test using non parametric test showed a value of 0.000. The resulted value being smaller than 0.05 (p < 0.05) means there is a significant salivary pH difference before and after teeth brushing using toothpaste containing betel leaf. The conclusion of this study showed an increase in salivary pH after teeth brushing with toothpaste containing betel leaves extracts in children aged 11-12 years old.

Keywords: pH saliva, brushing teeth, tooth paste, betel leaves extracts

Procedia PDF Downloads 130

Authors: Constance Kirker

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While there is general agreement that food itself can be beautiful, thousands of still-life masterpieces over the years attest to this, depicting the act of eating, actually placing food in one’s mouth and chewing is seemingly taboo. The environment created around consumption -dining rooms, linens, china, flowers- is consciously choreographed to provide a pleasing aesthetic experience. Yet artists, from Roman frescoes painters to contemporary photographers, create images from feasts to solitary subjects that rarely show food or drink touching lips, chewing, or swallowing. Of the countless paintings of the Last Supper, the food remains on the table. Rarely is Adam or Eve shown taking a bite of the apple, initiating Original Sin. In the few examples that do depict food-in-mouth, Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Son, or the ubiquitous photos of the “wedding smash” with brides and grooms pushing wedding cake into each other’s mouths, the images are seemingly intended to be particularly ugly or humorous in a distasteful way. This paper will explore theories that include the rules of etiquette, some determined hundreds of years ago and still followed today, that imply eating is a metaphor for gluttony, implicit sexuality of eating, the distortion of the face while eating and the simple practicality of the difficulty of an artist’s model maintaining a chewing position. If art is a reflection of society, what drives the universal impulse to hide this very human function?

Keywords: aesthetics, senses, taboo, consumption

Procedia PDF Downloads 79

Authors: Neelum Maqsood

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This paper is a study of how institutional structures shape the policy-making activities of female legislators. The literature on this area indicates that if there is an institution created by men to secure elite interests, women will face constraints in legislative activities. This paper will analyze the institutional setting in Pakistan and document the conditions women face that both restrict or enable them from representing the general interests of other women. The main experimental design depends on the variation of international scrutiny that Pakistan faces in two different time periods that will be classified as high international scrutiny and low international scrutiny. A high international scrutiny period is one where Pakistan comes under the international lens because of a domestic event that has international ramifications, for example, in terms of gender equality. The argument is that women parliamentarians receive different treatment in periods of high international scrutiny. As Pakistan comes under scrutiny, women will be more active in their legislative activities than in low international scrutiny, as male parliamentarians will be less likely to influence or restrain women’s activities. Using this variation, the trends in memberships and support functions given to women in these two time periods will be studied. The second variation will comprise the analysis of male and female assignments, training, and funding on general seats across time, which will require data collection over this time of 12-15 years, including the years during the war when Pakistan was under high international scrutiny.

Keywords: female representation, gender equality, democratic institutions, quota seats

Procedia PDF Downloads 89

Authors: M. Zafar-ul Islam

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The Arabian Ostrich Struthio camelus syriacus is a distinct subspecies that became extinct in the wild during the mid-20th century, due to over-hunting and commercial exploitation. The extant of S. c. camelus, a red-necked form that occurs in Northeastern Africa and is considered the most closely related, and possibly the same subspecies as the extinct Arabian form has been chosen for the reintroduction in 1988-89 by obtaining red-necked ostrich from Sudan from a private collection. Few birds were translocated to Mahazat as-Sayd protected area in 25 ha fenced enclosure in 1994. Until now a total of 96 red-necked ostrich have been released in fenced Mahazat as-Sayd, and the estimated population is between 125 to 150 individuals. Since captive flock of ostriches were translocated to Mahazat, their survival rate increased (>41%) by the end of 2000. On an average 22-30 chicks are hatched annually. A total of 137 ostriches recorded dead over the period of 13 years during the drought period. One of the key questions is what proportion of birds makes use of the supplementary food and water provisions, and what happens to those birds that do not use it? Captive-bred and wild-born adult and young ostriches died of starvation and thirst, despite being provisioned with alfalfa and water in several years. The present population of ostrich in Mahazat is more than 300.

Keywords: red-necked ostrich, Struthio camelus camelus, reintroduction, Saudi Arabia, drought

Procedia PDF Downloads 313

Authors: Paul Dankers, Juliet Stoltenkamp, Carolynne Kies

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In May 2005, the University of the Western Cape (UWC) established an eLearning Division (ED) that, over the past 18 years, accelerated into the institutionalization of an efficient eLearning Centre. The initial objective of the ED was to incessantly align itself with emerging technologies caused by digital transformation, which progressively impacted Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) globally. In this paper, we present how the UWC eLearning Division (ED) first evolved into the eLearning Development and Support Unit (EDUS), currently called the ‘Centre for Innovative Education and Communication Technologies (CIECT). CIECT was strategically separated from the Department of Information and Communication Services (ICS) in 2009 and repositioned as an independent structure at UWC. Using a comparative research method, we highlight the transformative eLearning landscape at UWC by doing a detailed account of the shift in practices. Our research method will determine the initial vision and outcomes of institutionalizing an eLearning division. The study aims to compare across space or time the eLearning division’s rate of growth. By comparing the progressive growth of the UWCs eLearning division over the years, we will be able to document the successes and achievements of the eLearning division precisely. This study’s outcomes will act as a reference for novel research subjects on formalising eLearning. More research that delves into the effectiveness of having an eLearning division at HEIs in support of students’ teaching and learning is needed.

Keywords: eLearning, institutionalization, teaching and learning, transformation

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Authors: Wai Sang Wu, Florence Pik Sze Mok

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Introduction: Ageing population is one of the hot topics nowadays in the world and this phenomenon is believed to exacerbate continuously in the future. According to the latest information from World Health Organization (WHO) in 2016, the proportion of people aged more than 60 years is projected to be doubled from 12% in 2015 to 22% in 2050 of the world's population. Similarly, according to figures released by the Census and Statistic Department of Hong Kong in 2015, the contribution of elderly aged more than 65 years olds is projected to increase from 15% in 2014 to 34% in 2064 in local community. On the other hand, falls in elderly is a common problem, and it can bring along many negative consequences among elders, such as reducing their mobility level as well as their quality of life. In addition, it can also increase the caring stress of their family caregivers and as well increase the reliance and burden on the medical care system of Hong Kong. Therefore, appropriate measures should be implemented in order to minimize the risk of fall among elders. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the chair-based exercise programme in affecting the balance of the elderly in Hong Kong. Methods: Thirteen healthy subjects (males = 2; females = 11; mean age: 76.2 ± 7.8 years old) were recruited from an elderly social centre in the community to participate in a structural chair-based exercise programme for 6 weeks (1 session per week; 60-minutes per session). Subjects were being assessed on their balance ability using three commonly used clinical assessments, namely, 1) single leg stance (SLS) test, 2) functional reach test, and 3) 360-degree turn test, before and after their participation in the chair-based exercise programme. Pre and post within-subject comparison was adopted to assess the effectiveness of the programme. Results: There was significant improvement (p < 0.05) in all balance parameters of the subjects after their participation in the exercise programme. Elderly demonstrated significant improvement in SLS (p < 0.012), functional reach (p < 0.030) and 360 degree turn (p < 0.043). Conclusions: This study showed that a community chair-based exercise programme is effective in improving the balance ability of the elders. It seems to be another exercise regime that should be promoted among the elders in order to minimize their risk of falls and its negative consequence.

Keywords: balance, chair-based exercise programme, community, elderly

Procedia PDF Downloads 284

Authors: Sanober Khanum, Barerah Siddiqui, Asim Qidwai

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Objective: To determine the risk factors and frequency of depressive trends in children and adolescents suffering from Beta-Thalassemia. Background: Thalassemia is a chronic disease affecting 10,000 people in 60 countries. Many studies show that prolonged medical conditions cause depression. Due to the invasive procedures and suffering, Beta-Thalassemia cause great psychological distress to both children and their caregivers. The study shows 14-24% prevalence of psychiatric problems in Thalassemic patients. Method: Sample consisted of 195 registered patients of A.M.T.F (Female=95 and Male=100). Based on age range the sample was divided into two groups, Group A = children (4-9 years) and Group B = adolescent (10-16 years). A detailed interview with a self-made screening measure was administered on parents to find out the level of depression in patients. Statistics: Chi-square and t-test was applied in order to analyze the data. Results show high prevalence of depression, depression n= 131(66.83%), no depression n=65(33.16%). Analyses reflect that age influences the level of depression Adolescent (71.05%) and Children (64.16%). The analysis also shows a difference in level of depression between both genders. (t=2.975, p < .05). Conclusion: There is a high possibility of developing depressive trend in children affected with Beta Thalassemia; especially females. Therefore, there is a dire need for psychological screening and appropriate treatment in order to improve physical; as well as mental health.

Keywords: childhood depression, chronic illness, psychopathology, Thalassemia

Procedia PDF Downloads 335

Authors: Mahdi Akbari, Ali Torabi Haghighi

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Hamun Lakes, located in the Helmand Basin, consisting of four water bodies, were the greatest (>8500 km2) freshwater bodies in Iran plateau but have almost entirely desiccated over the last 20 years. The desiccation of the lakes caused dust storm in the region which has huge economic and health consequences on the inhabitants. The flow of the Hirmand (or Helmand) River, the most important feeding river, has decreased from 4 to 1.9 km3 downstream due to anthropogenic activities. In this basin, water is mainly consumed for farming. Due to the lack of in-situ data in the basin, this research utilizes remote-sensing data to show how croplands and consequently consumed water in the agricultural sector have changed. Based on Landsat NDVI, we suggest using a threshold of around 0.35-0.4 to detect croplands in the basin. Croplands of this basin has doubled since 1990, especially in the downstream of the Kajaki Dam (the biggest dam of the basin). Using PML V2 Actual Evapotranspiration (AET) data and considering irrigation efficiency (≈0.3), we estimate that the consumed water (CW) for farming. We found that CW has increased from 2.5 to over 7.5 km3 from 2002 to 2017 in this basin. Also, the annual average Potential Evapotranspiration (PET) of the basin has had a negative trend in the recent years, although the AET over croplands has an increasing trend. In this research, using remote sensing data, we covered lack of data in the studied area and highlighted anthropogenic activities in the upstream which led to the lakes desiccation in the downstream.

Keywords: Afghanistan-Iran transboundary Basin, Iran-Afghanistan water treaty, water use, lake desiccation

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Authors: Richard Lewis

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The following assumptions of the Big Bang theory are challenged and found to be false: the cosmological principle, the assumption that all matter formed at the same time and the assumption regarding the cause of the cosmic microwave background radiation. The evolution of the universe is described based on the conclusion that the universe is finite with a space boundary. This conclusion is reached by ruling out the possibility of an infinite universe or a universe which is finite with no boundary. In a finite universe, the centre of the universe can be located with reference to our home galaxy (The Milky Way) using the speed relative to the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) rest frame and Hubble's law. This places our home galaxy at a distance of approximately 26 million light years from the centre of the universe. Because we are making observations from a point relatively close to the centre of the universe, the universe appears to be isotropic and homogeneous but this is not the case. The CMB is coming from a source located within the event horizon of the universe. There is sufficient mass in the universe to create an event horizon at the Schwarzschild radius. Galaxies form over time due to the energy released by the expansion of space. Conservation of energy must consider total energy which is mass (+ve) plus energy (+ve) plus spacetime curvature (-ve) so that the total energy of the universe is always zero. The predominant position of galaxy formation moves over time from the centre of the universe towards the boundary so that today the majority of new galaxy formation is taking place beyond our horizon of observation at 14 billion light years.

Keywords: cosmology, dark energy, dark matter, evolution of the universe

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Authors: Surinder Deswal, Vineet Verma

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Air Quality Index (AQI) is used as a tool to indicate the level of severity and disseminate the information on air pollution to enable the public to understand the health and environmental impacts of air pollutant concentration levels. The annual and seasonal variation of criteria air pollutants concentration based on the National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Programme has been conducted for a period of nine years (2006-2014) using the AQI system. AQI was calculated using IND-AQI methodology and Maximum Operator Concept is applied. An attempt has been made to quantify the variations in AQI on an annual and seasonal basis over a period of nine years. Further, year-wise frequency of occurrence of AQI in each category for all the five stations is analysed, which presents in depth analysis of trends over the period of study. The best air quality was observed in the Noida residential area, followed by Noida industrial area during the study period; whereas, Bulandshahar industrial area and Faridabad residential area were observed to have the worst air quality. A shift in the worst air quality from winter to summer season has also been observed during the study period. Further, the level of Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter was found to be above permissible limit at all the stations. The present study helps in enhancing public awareness and calls for the need of immediate measures to be taken to counter-effect the cause of the increasing level of air pollution.

Keywords: air quality index, annual trends, criteria pollutants, seasonal variation

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Authors: Sapana Purandare

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The landscape of school leadership is evolving with the changing world of the 21st century. In this era, it is crucial to adapt our approaches to school leadership, with the school leader playing an important role in shaping the educational system. During the implementation of the LEAD project, the volume of 67 practices was impractical for any school leader to effectively incorporate. Consequently, this study aims to address this issue by administering a questionnaire to school leaders, including those from Kotak Education Foundation partner schools and others operating within similar contexts. The goal is to pinpoint the practices that can enhance school leadership and Student Learning Outcomes (SLO) both presently and in the near future. Utilizing the Qualtrics tool, a survey was conducted to identify the top 15 practices that respondents believe will be crucial for improving SLO over the next 10-15 years. Additionally, focus group discussions (FGDs) and interviews were conducted to elucidate the challenges hindering the implementation of these practices within schools. The recommendations derived from the identified top 15 practices will be instrumental in devising scalable models for LEAD and advocating for their adoption at the state level. Practices with higher standard deviations and average scores hold particular significance for future development. Furthermore, demographic factors such as age, gender, and years of service influence individuals' perceptions of these practices and thus warrant consideration in our analysis.

Keywords: exploring top sustainable practices, practice implementation, school leadership, student learning outcomes

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Authors: Narayan Gurung, Fawu Wang, Ranjan Kumar Dahal

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Nepal is highly prone to earthquakes and has witnessed at least one major earthquake in 80 to 90 years interval. The Gorkha earthquake, that measured 7.8 RS in magnitude and struck Nepal on 25th April 2015, after 81 years since Mw 8.3 Nepal Bihar earthquake in 1934, was the largest earthquake after Mw 8.3 Nepal Bihar earthquake. In this paper, an attempt has been made to highlight the lessons learnt from the MwW 7.8 Gorkha (Nepal) earthquake. Several types of damage patterns in buildings were observed for reinforced concrete buildings, as well as for unreinforced masonry and adobe houses in the earthquake of 25 April 2015. Many field visits in the affected areas were conducted, and thus, associated failure and damage patterns were identified and analyzed. Damage patterns in non-engineered buildings, middle and high-rise buildings, commercial complexes, administrative buildings, schools and other critical facilities are also included from the affected districts. For most buildings, the construction and structural deficiencies have been identified as the major causes of failure; however, topography, local soil amplification, foundation settlement, liquefaction associated damages and buildings built in hazard-prone areas were also significantly observed for the failure or damages to buildings and hence are reported. Finally, the lessons learnt from Mw 7.8 Gorkha (Nepal) earthquake are presented in order to mitigate impacts of future earthquakes in Nepal.

Keywords: Gorkha earthquake, reinforced concrete structure, Nepal, lesson learnt

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Authors: Maryam Vaezjalali, Foad Davoodbeglou, Mehrnaz Mesdaghi, Hossein Goudarzi, Fariba Shojaei, Hourieh Aram

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Introduction: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection causes chronic infection in human population, with high mortality. Some people are more susceptible to this infection. One of the high risk communities is mentally retarded children, who are institutionalized. Special conditions in these centers predispose children for HBV infection and transmission to healthy people. In this study our objective was to determine the prevalence of HBV infection among institutionalized mentally retarded children and study its associated risk factors. Materials and methods: In this study, 250 mentally retarded children (younger than 14 years old) were included. They were living in 5 nursing institutions, located in different parts of Tehran. HBsAg was measured in the sera of these patients by ELISA method. Results: Among 250 children, 20 children (8%) were HBsAg positive. HBV infection in girls was more than boys (11% to 5.6%). Among the types of mental retardation, children with cerebral palsy had the highest positive result for HBsAg. The most HBV infection (28.5%) was seen in children with longest duration of being institutionalized (10 to 11 years). Vaccinated children were more HBsAg positive (8.7%) than non-vaccinated children (5.3%). However, no significant relationship was observed between any of these factors and HBsAg positivity. Conclusion: Despite improvement of people’s health condition and implementation of HBV vaccination, the prevalence of HBV infection is high in institutionalized mentally retarded children, which highlights the need for active measures to reduce this infection among this high risk population.

Keywords: hepatitis B virus, HBV vaccine, intellectually disabled children, mentally retarded

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Authors: Barbosa M. L. S., von Ancken A. C. B., Coelho C. P.

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In order to improve the treatment of epileptic dogs, this case report aims toobjective todescribe the use of the homeopathic medicine Cicuta virosa for the treatmentof seizuresin dogs that already use allopathy to control them. Howeach patient presents symptoms individually, the choice of medicationhomeopathic treatment must also be individualized. He was treated in the municipality of RibeirãoPires, São Paulo - Brazil, an animal of the canine species, female, 7 years old, SRD, with a history of seizuregeneralized tonic-clonic for two years, with a variable frequency of 1-2 seizures perday. With no identifiable etiology, the patient used phenobarbital daily, and the dose ofmedication was increased according to the frequency of seizures. The serum concentration of phenobarbital within 12 hours of itsadministration via blood sample was within the range ofreference. The patient experienced weight gain and intermittent sedation. the choice ofhomeopathic medicine Cicuta virosa 6 cH, prepared according to the PharmacopoeiaBrazilian Homeopathic Medicine, occurred due to its characteristic action on the nervous system, especially in epileptic animals that present with seizures, spasmodic contractions of the muscles of the whole body starting from the head, mouth, extremely violent, with rigidity and opisthotonos, extreme agitation, contortionsmultiple. The animal was submitted to treatment with 2 globules orally twicea day for 30 days. The treatment resulted in a clinical cure as there was no moreseizures, being effective to control this symptom.

Keywords: homeopathy, cicuta virosa, epilepsy, veterinary medicine

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Authors: Ronak Mishra, Sachin Kale

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Background: The clinical outcome of a new fixation device (femoral neck system, FNS) for femoral neck fractures is not described properly. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the functional outcome of the patients of femoral neck fractures treated with FNS. Methods: A retrospective study was done among patients aged 60 years or less. On the basis of inclusion and exclusion criteria a final sample size of 30 was considered. Blood loss, type of fracture internal fixation, and length of clinical follow-up were all acquired from patient records. The volume of blood loss was calculated. The mean and standard deviation of continuous variables were reported (with range). Harris Hip score (HHS) And Post op xrays at intervals(6 weeks, 6 months ,12 months ) we used to clinically asses the patient. Results: Out of all 60% were females and 40% were males. The mean age of the patients was. 44.12(+-) years The comparison of functional outcomes of the patients treated with FNS using Harris Hip Score. It showed a highly significant comparison between the patients at post operatively , 6 weeks and 3 months and 12 months . There were no postoperative complications seen among the patients. Conclusion: FNS offers superior biomechanical qualities and greatly improved overall build stability. It allows for a significant reduction in operation time, potentially lowering risks and consequences associated with surgery.

Keywords: FNS, trauma, hip, neck femur fracture, minimally invasive surgery

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Authors: Ly Thi Hai Yen

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The Internet in Vietnam has developed significantly over the last 20 years and made impressive advances, permeating into every part of daily life, changing people's habits as well as the way people's communication. Under this situation, social media have become useful tools for the citizen to get and share information. About 10 years ago, most Vietnamese people got the information through state media, but thanks to the development of the Internet, nowadays, social media have been giving them rich sources of information at any area of society. By using case study research methods, documentary research method and in-depth interviews conducted with social media users, NGO activists, and Vietnamese scholars in 2017, the paper found that social media has been bringing a cyber public sphere to whom wish to discuss social and political issues. And, more importantly, it gives them a chance to connect with the government and policy makers quickly and effectively. Moreover, people use social media to supervise activities in society to prevent social evils and corruption in Vietnam. However, besides these positive points, people also have to cope with the rising situation of fake news which causing consequences for the society, such as pulling off crimes or cheating money and others. The paper concluded that social media plays important roles in the change of Vietnamese society, giving citizens a cyber public sphere unrestrictedly to discuss social and political issues but also bringing many bad risks to citizens.

Keywords: Vietnamese, social media, politics-society

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Authors: Jean Paul M. Milambo

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Purpose: Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) are indicated in the treatment of hormone-receptive breast cancer in postmenopausal women in various settings. Studies have shown cardiovascular events in some developed countries. To date the data is sparce for evidence-based recommendations in African clinical settings due to lack of cancer registries, capacity building and surveillance systems. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the feasibility of HyBeacon® probe genotyping adjunctive to standard care for timely prediction and diagnosis of Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) associated adverse events in breast cancer survivors in Africa. Methods: Cross sectional study was conducted to assess the knowledge of POCT among six African countries using online survey and telephonically contacted. Incremental cost effectiveness ratio (ICER) was calculated, using diagnostic accuracy study. This was based on mathematical modeling. Results: One hundred twenty-six participants were considered for analysis (mean age = 61 years; SD = 7.11 years; 95%CI: 60-62 years). Comparison of genotyping from HyBeacon® probe technology to Sanger sequencing showed that sensitivity was reported at 99% (95% CI: 94.55% to 99.97%), specificity at 89.44% (95% CI: 87.25 to 91.38%), PPV at 51% (95%: 43.77 to 58.26%), and NPV at 99.88% (95% CI: 99.31 to 100.00%). Based on the mathematical model, the assumptions revealed that ICER was R7 044.55. Conclusion: POCT using HyBeacon® probe genotyping for AI-associated adverse events maybe cost effective in many African clinical settings. Integration of preventive measures for early detection and prevention guided by different subtype of breast cancer diagnosis with specific clinical, biomedical and genetic screenings may improve cancer survivorship. Feasibility of POCT was demonstrated but the implementation could be achieved by improving the integration of POCT within primary health cares, referral cancer hospitals with capacity building activities at different level of health systems. This finding is pertinent for a future envisioned implementation and global scale-up of POCT-based initiative as part of risk communication strategies with clear management pathways.

Keywords: breast cancer, diagnosis, point of care, South Africa, aromatase inhibitors

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Authors: Getahun Nigusie

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Background; antiretroviral treatment reduce HIV-related morbidity, and prolonged survival of patients however, there is lack of up-to-date information concerning the treatment long term effect on the survival of HIV positive children especially in the study area. Objective: To assess incidence and predictors of mortality among HIV positive children on ART in public hospitals of Harer town who were enrolled from 2011 to 2021. Methodology: Institution based retrospective cohort study was conducted among 429 HIV positive children enrolled in ART clinic from January 1st 2011 to December30th 2021. Data were collected from medical cards by using a data extraction form, Descriptive analyses were used to Summarized the results, and life table was used to estimate survival probability at specific point of time after introduction of ART. Kaplan Meier survival curve together with log rank test was used to compare survival between different categories of covariates, and Multivariate Cox-proportional hazard regression model was used to estimate adjusted Hazard rate. Variables with p-values ≤0.25 in bivariable analysis were candidates to the multivariable analysis. Finally, variables with p-values < 0.05 were considered as significant variables. Results: The study participants had followed for a total of 2549.6 child-years (30596 child months) with an overall mortality rate of 1.5 (95% CI: 1.1, 2.04) per 100 child-years. Their median survival time was 112 months (95% CI: 101–117). There were 38 children with unknown outcome, 39 deaths, and 55 children transfer out to different facility. The overall survival at 6, 12, 24, 48 months were 98%, 96%, 95%, 94% respectively. being in WHO clinical Stage four (AHR=4.55, 95% CI:1.36, 15.24), having anemia(AHR=2.56, 95% CI:1.11, 5.93), baseline low absolute CD4 count (AHR=2.95, 95% CI: 1.22, 7.12), stunting (AHR=4.1, 95% CI: 1.11, 15.42), wasting (AHR=4.93, 95% CI: 1.31, 18.76), poor adherence to treatment (AHR=3.37, 95% CI: 1.25, 9.11), having TB infection at enrollment (AHR=3.26, 95% CI: 1.25, 8.49),and no history of change their regimen(AHR=7.1, 95% CI: 2.74, 18.24), were independent predictors of death. Conclusion: more than half of death occurs within 2 years. Prevalent tuberculosis, anemia, wasting, and stunting nutritional status, socioeconomic factors, and baseline opportunistic infection were independent predictors of death. Increasing early screening and managing those predictors are required.

Keywords: human immunodeficiency virus-positive children, anti-retroviral therapy, survival, Ethiopia

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