Preliminary assessment of the computer-based Taenia solium educational program ‘The Vicious Worm’ on knowledge uptake in primary school students in rural areas in eastern Zambia

Objective: The zoonotic helminth Taenia solium is endemic in Zambia, causing human (taeniasis and (neuro)cysticercosis) and pig (porcine cysticercosis) diseases with high health, social and economic burdens. We aimed to evaluate the impact of a health educational program intended to lead to powerful and cumulative improvements in knowledge, attitudes and practices that decrease parasite transmission and disease occurrence. Methods: Half-day health education workshops were conducted in three primary schools in the highly endemic Eastern Province of Zambia, using the computer-based T. solium educational program The Vicious Worm'. Questionnaires were administered before and after the educational component to determine the program's impact on knowledge uptake in primary school students. Results: In total, 99 students participated: 38 males and 61 females, with a median age of 14 years (range 10-18 years). Baseline general knowledge of T. solium, including awareness of the different human and pig disease states, and disease diagnosis, treatment and prevention, was quite high (average score 62%) and consistent across all three study areas. Participants' knowledge had significantly increased after the educational component, particularly regarding parasite transmission and disease prevention. Conclusion: Preliminary assessment of The Vicious Worm' indicates it is an effective tool for the short-term T. solium education of primary school students in Zambia. Follow-up studies are planned to assess the longer term impact of the program on knowledge uptake in the study neighbourhoods. Inclusion of tailored The Vicious Worm' educational workshops should be considered in integrated cysticercosis control programs in endemic areas of sub-Saharan Africa

The Family of MapReduce and Large Scale Data Processing Systems

In the last two decades, the continuous increase of computational power has produced an overwhelming flow of data which has called for a paradigm shift in the computing architecture and large scale data processing mechanisms. MapReduce is a simple and powerful programming model that enables easy development of scalable parallel applications to process vast amounts of data on large clusters of commodity machines. It isolates the application from the details of running a distributed program such as issues on data distribution, scheduling and fault tolerance. However, the original implementation of the MapReduce framework had some limitations that have been tackled by many research efforts in several followup works after its introduction. This article provides a comprehensive survey for a family of approaches and mechanisms of large scale data processing mechanisms that have been implemented based on the original idea of the MapReduce framework and are currently gaining a lot of momentum in both research and industrial communities. We also cover a set of introduced systems that have been implemented to provide declarative programming interfaces on top of the MapReduce framework. In addition, we review several large scale data processing systems that resemble some of the ideas of the MapReduce framework for different purposes and application scenarios. Finally, we discuss some of the future research directions for implementing the next generation of MapReduce-like solutions.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1105.4252 by other author

ASSET FUNCTIONS AND LIVELIHOOD STRATEGIES: A FRAMEWORK FOR PRO-POOR ANALYSIS, POLICY AND PRACTICE

Building upon the current emphasis on the importance of assets in increasing the productivity and reducing the vulnerability of poor peoples' livelihoods, a conceptual framework is developed that relates the functions and attributes of poor peoples' assets to their livelihood status and strategies. The framework promotes more integrated consideration of different assets held by the poor, and hence facilitates analysis for policy, capacity building and technological interventions to expand livelihood opportunities for the poor. The application of the conceptual framework is illustrated with preliminary analysis of small livestock keeping by campesinos in south east Mexico.Food Security and Poverty, Labor and Human Capital,

Who is Patrick? – Answers from the Saint Patrick's Confessio HyperStack. Supporting Digital Humanities, Copenhagen 17 - 18 November 2011, Conference Proceedings

Not everyone realizes that there are two Latin works, still surviving, that can definitely be attributed to Saint Patrick’s own authorship. On 14th September 2011 the Royal Irish Academy published his writings in a freely accessible form on line, both in the original Latin and in a variety of modern languages (including Irish). Designed to be of interest to the general public as well as to academic researchers, the Saint Patrick’s Confessio Hypertext Stack includes such features as digital images of the medieval manuscripts involved, a specially commissioned historical reconstruction that evocatively describes life in pre-Viking Ireland, articles, audio presentations, and some ten thousand internal and external digital links that make it truly a resource to be explored

Forest industries in South American countries

This paper analyzes the performance of forest industries in South American countries. Special attention is given to the relationships that exist between the evolution of forest industries and the exploitation of natural and planted forest as well as on the role of national governments in stimulating that kind of industries. South America has large natural forest areas and excellent natural conditions for planting trees. However, forest industries have not grown in a way that permit sustainable exploitation of natural forests and improve the Gross National Product and Trade Balance of South America's countries. This paper suggests how the latter can be done better.