A Survey of Undiagnosed Hypertension among Market Traders in Suva, Fiji Islands

Routine check and optimal control of blood pressure have been recommended to reduce the high cardiovascular disease burden in the Southern Pacific. As demographic profile in the Pacific Island countries continues to transition, the burden of cardiovascular disease is importunately affecting more younger and high stress population. In collaboration with the Healthy Setting Initiative of the Ministry of health, we conducted a survey of blood pressure among market traders in Suva City Central and Nasouri markets of Fiji Islands.  Following ethical approval and informed consent, we obtained socio-demographic data, and measured anthropometric indices and blood pressure of asymptomatic adult market traders of Suva City and Nasouri market using standard procedures.   Participants comprised of 189 traders (52% females); with mean body mass index of 30kg/m2, weight of 82kg and waist circumference of 101cm. Overall, 152(80%) had sub-optimal blood pressure: elevated 23(12%), stage I: 70(37%), stage II: 57(30) and hypertensive crisis 2(1%). Of these, 30(20%) reported being compliant with medication, 62(41%) non-compliant and 60(39%) were previously unaware of their blood pressure status. Percent body fat (OR: 1.07; 95% CI: 1.02-1.13) and diastolic blood pressure (OR: 1.34; 95% CI: 1.21-1.48) were independently associated with hypertension. Burden of hypertension is high (80%) among study participants, with 39% of these being undiagnosed. There are issues with suboptimal blood pressure control and non-compliance with medication among study participants. There is need for health education, routine screening and sustainable intervention to reduce this burden among this populatio

A critical review of a 21st-century Yoruba-English dictionary

Traballo Fin de Master Erasmus Mundus en Lexicografía. Curso 2022-2023Since the publication of the first dictionary of the Yoruba language, A Dictionary of Yoruba in 1843, a handful of other dictionaries have appeared with varying degrees of commercial success. One of them is the Yoruba Modern Practical Dictionary (YMPD) by Kayode J. Fakinlede, which was first published in 2003. It takes pride in its comprehensiveness, claiming to contain over 26,000 dictionary articles and extensive outer texts that cover scientific measurements and rudimentary mathematical terminology. This thesis reviews this widely acclaimed dictionary in an attempt to evaluate its strengths, weaknesses, unique features and its position in relation to earlier Yoruba dictionaries from the 19th and 20th centuries. In doing this, this thesis draws inspiration from the criteria for dictionary criticism proposed by Svensen (2009) and Hütsch (2017), as well as other relevant scholarly contributions to dictionary criticism. There is a shortage of academic reviews of Yoruba dictionaries. While David Olmsted’s (1959) and Robert G. Armstrong’s (1959) reviews of the Dictionary of Modern Yoruba (1958), as well as E. C. Rowlands’ (1971) review of A Dictionary of Yoruba Monosyllabic Verbs (1969) stand out, they are brief, typically not longer than three pages and focused on isolated areas of criticism. Fagborun (1992) albeit belatedly takes a more holistic approach to review the Dictionary of Modern Yoruba (1958). Furthermore, Adetoyese (2020) also reviews two pioneering Yoruba dictionaries, namely, A Dictionary of the Yoruba Language (1913) and Dictionary of Modern Yoruba (1958) - both from the 20th century respectively. Thus, it appears that in spite of the general shortage of academic reviews of Yoruba dictionaries, there seems to be a common tendency among reviewers to opt for reviewing the Dictionary of Modern Yoruba (1958), while neglecting other dictionaries. However, Adetoyese reviews the aforementioned in light of their roles and influence as pioneering dictionaries in their epochs. This motivates the author of this thesis to examine a Yoruba dictionary which, firstly is an influential work, secondly, belongs to a different period, and thirdly, also suffers from the lack of substantial academic review. Thus, the YPMD (2003) is reviewed in this thesis in terms of its contents and features and as a Yoruba dictionary for 21st-century users. In order to provide ample background knowledge on the object of this thesis, the opening chapter reflects on the Yoruba language and Yoruba lexicography. The second chapter introduces the dictionary in focus, the YPMD. The third chapter reviews the existing literature on dictionary criticism and highlights the methods of dictionary criticism to be used in the thesis. The fourth chapter criticises the lexicographical aspects of the YPMD, namely macrostructure, microstructure, mediostructure, frame structure and typographical presentation. The fifth chapter gives an overall assessment of the dictionary and some recommendations for possible revision and improvement, while the sixth chapter concludes the thesis

Seasonal and spatial patterns of rainfall trends on the Canadian prairie

Non-Peer ReviewedWe used regression analysis to establish linear trends of annual and seasonal rainfall amounts and number of events at 140 stations with 40 years of record from 1956 to 1995 across the Canadian Prairie. There has been a significant increase in the rainfall amounts and number of events. Increase in annual rainfall was 51 mm or about 16% of the 40 yr mean while the number of rainfall events increased by 17 or about 29%. Spring (January to April) experienced proportionately the largest increase, with amount and number increasing by 46% and 64%, respectively. This may be related to the conversion of snow to rain as a result of climatic warming during this period. The increase in rainfall amount and number of events during summer (May to August) were similar to the annual patterns. There was no significant increase in rainfall amount and number of events during the fall season (September to December). The increases in rainfall amount and number of events were not uniform across the prairies, with the least increase in rainfall amount and number of events in southern Manitoba, and the largest increase in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Little or no change in amounts occurred in the northern portion of the prairie provinces. The results confirmed that the prairies are not getting drier, however, there are seasonal and spatial differences in rainfall trends

Precipitation trends on the Canadian prairie

Non-Peer ReviewedThe amount and timing of precipitation on the Canadian Prairie is critical to grain production. Information on the precipitation trend is therefore vital to this region. Regression analysis was used to establish linear trends of precipitation amounts and number of precipitation events at 37 stations with 75 years of record (prior to and including 1995) across the Canadian Prairie. There has been a significant increase in the number of precipitation events mainly due to an increase in the number of low-intensity events. As such precipitation events are not getting more intense. From 1921 to 1995 on the Canadian Prairie, the number of precipitation events (excluding events that are 0.5 mm or less) has increased by 16 events, and precipitation and rainfall amounts have increased by 0.62 mm and 0.60 mm per annum, respectively. During the period from 1921 to 1960 the trends in precipitation, rainfall and snowfall were not statistically different from zero. However, from 1961 to 1995, snowfall has declined by 0.95 mm per year. The trends in the most recent period (1961 to 1995) were also significantly different from those in the 1921 to 1960 period for snowfall. The difference in trends between the two periods for snowfall, combined with the inverse relationship in the rainfall-snowfall trends suggest that these trends may be related to climate change

Synthesis and Spectroscopic Study of Naphtholic and Phenolic Azo Dyes

Azo dyes are extremely important in variety of industries for variety of technical purposes. Hence, a series of naphtholic azo dyes 1-9 were synthesized via diazotization of substituted aniline derivatives followed by azo coupling with 2-naphthol. In similar manner, diazotization followed by azo coupling with phenol afforded phenolic azo dyes 10-17 in excellent yields. The chemical structures of all synthesized compounds were confirmed using analytical data and spectroscopic technique which include Uv-visible, IR, Mass spectra, 1H- and 13C-NMR

Simulating nitrate leaching under dryland conditions: model validation for water and solute movement

Non-Peer ReviewedThere is an increased awareness of the possible leakage of nitrate out of agricultural systems and its potential to contaminate underground and surface water. This has led to the use of simulation mode s for studying the dynamics and movement of nitrate-nitrogen within and beyond the root zone of crops. Before these models can be applied to field situations they need to be tested and validated against realistic field conditions. We tested the water flow and solute movement portion of LEACHM (Leaching Estimation And CHemistry Model), and validated it with respect to moisture and chloride changes of a prairie soil under fallow conditions during the growing season. The retentivity and conductivity functions proposed by Campbell (1974), as used in the original version of the model behaved poorly for our soil. We modified the model using the Van Genuchten function and used this to simulate water content changes during the 1975 and 1976 growing seasons. The "pan coefficient" was used as an optimization factor to calibrate the 1976 moisture data. A pan coefficient of 0.4-0.5 was found to be appropriate under fallow while a value of 0.7 was used for wheat crop. Moisture distribution with depth, and changes with time, were well simulated by the model. The distribution of 171 kg/ha of chloride applied as KCl at a depth of 10 em was simulated using LEACHM. There was good agreement between the predicted and measured chloride distribution in 1975 and 1976

Field-aged phosphate impacts on glyphosate and phosphorus sorption patterns in two prairie soils

Non-Peer ReviewedThis research measured field-aged phosphate concentrations in sandy clay-loam, clay-loam soils and utilized samples in batch equilibrium studies to quantify adsorption maximum of phosphate and glyphosate retention. Soil samples were collected in 2013 from two research sites that had received annual applications of mono ammonium phosphate at different rates from 2002 to 2009. The effect of fresh phosphate addition on glyphosate sorption in soil was also determined. Measured parameters were the glyphosate sorption distribution constant, Kd, as well as the Langmuir adsorption constants, b (phosphorus adsorption maximum), and k (affinity constant). Glyphosate Kd values significantly decreased with increasing phosphate level in soils, regardless of the background liquid (CaCl2 and KCl) used in the batch equilibrium experiment. Applications of potassium dihydrogen phosphate in the laboratory with glyphosate reduced the available sorption sites to retain glyphosate in soil. Field-aged phosphate did not significantly influence the adsorption maximum (b), but b was significantly higher with CaCl2 than KCl as background liquid. The affinity constant was significantly greater in soils with lower field-aged phosphate concentrations, suggesting that these soils had more readily-available sorption sites for phosphate than soils with higher phosphate concentrations

Spatial Disparities in SME Productivity: Evidence from the Service Sector in England

This paper identifies the key determinants of spatial variability of productivity, focusing on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the service sector across England. Due to the hierarchically structured data, multilevel analysis is applied to distinguish the effects of a firm's internal variables and (sub)regional factors on productivity. Using cross-sectional data for 10,400 SMEs from the UK government's Small Business Survey, 2015, the results show that firm-specific determinants significantly influence productivity. The findings also indicate that location, local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) and where firms operate play a pivotal role in determining SME productivity. In particular, at the LEP level, increasing labour supply, promoting local funding and improving broadband speed potentially enhance firm productivity

Sensory characteristics and sterilization value of unpeeled whole tomato in juice

Makanjuola Solomon Akinremi1, Akanbi Charles Taiwo1, Enujiugha Victor Ndigwe2(1. Department of Food Science and Technology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria; 2. Department of Food Science and Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria) Abstract: The sensory quality of unpeeled whole tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum var. Roma VF) packed in tomato juice with or without calcium chloride (CaCl2) was investigated.  Thermal process lethality for unpeeled whole tomato in CaCl2 juice was also determined.  Hermetically packaged tomatoes in tomato juice containing CaCl2 were preferred (P < 0.05) in terms of aroma and appearance.  Results revealed that D-value of Bacillus coagulans at 100℃ in jars of whole tomato in juice was 2.8 min and a lethal treatment equivalent to IS11.5100 = 12.7 min was safe from a spoilage standpoint for the unpeeled whole tomatoes in CaCl2 tomato juice (with a pH of 4.1 or less) in the ratio of 7:9.  Converted to experimental times, this lethality was achieved with a 22 minutes thermal processing in steam at 100℃ for a 370 mL jar used in this investigation.Keywords: unpeeled whole tomato, sensory quality, calcium chloride, thermal process lethality, integrated sterilization value Citation: Makanjuola Solomon Akinremi,  Akanbi Charles Taiwo, Enujiugha Victor Ndigwe.  Sensory characteristics and sterilization value of unpeeled whole tomato in juice.  Agric Eng Int: CIGR Journal, 2010, 12(2): 117-123. &nbsp

International palliative care research in the context of global development: a systematic mapping review.

CONTEXT: An increasing amount of health policy is formulated at global level. At this global level, palliative care has attracted support primarily from normative institutions (WHO), not funding agencies. To attract greater global attention from policymakers, it has been argued that an international approach to research is required. However, the extent to which an international approach is being undertaken is unknown. OBJECTIVES: To systematically identify and thematically synthesise all international palliative care research, defined as research involving two or more countries, or focused on the global level. METHODS: Five bibliographic databases (CINAHL, Cochrane Library, ASSIA, Web of Knowledge, Psychinfo) were searched for journal articles relevant to international and global palliative care and end-of-life care. Data were extracted using a piloted extraction form and findings were synthesised. RESULTS: 184 studies were included, published across 75 different academic journals. Research emanates from and focuses on all world regions and there is increasing focus on the global level. Thematically, there is a high focus on Evaluation (n=53) and views of Stakeholders (n=38). The review revealed a predominantly observational research approach and few interventional studies were identified. CONCLUSIONS: International palliative care research is a relatively new, but growing field. However, many gaps in the evidence base remain and palliative care research continues to take place outside broader discourses of international development. The relative absence of interventional research demonstrating the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of palliative care risks limiting the tools with which advocates can engage with international policymakers on this topic