Community Knowledge, Perceptions, and Practices Associated with Urogenital Schistosomiasis among School-Aged Children in Zanzibar, United Republic of Tanzania

Background: On the Zanzibar islands, United Republic of Tanzania, elimination of urogenital schistosomiasis is strived for in the coming years. This qualitative study aimed to better understand community knowledge, perceptions, and practices associated with schistosomiasis among school-aged children on Unguja and Pemba islands, in order to inform the development of behavior change interventions contributing to eliminate urogenital schistosomiasis. Methodology: In 2011, we conducted 35 children’s discussion groups, 41 in-depth interviews with parents and teachers, and 5 focus group discussions with community members in Zanzibar. Using a modified-grounded theory approach, we transcribed and coded the narrative data followed by thematic analysis of the emergent themes. Principal Findings: Urogenital schistosomiasis is a common experience among children in Zanzibar and typically considered a boys’ disease. Children engage in multiple high-risk behaviors for acquiring schistosomiasis because of poor knowledge on disease transmission, lack of understanding on severity of disease-associated consequences, and lack of alternative options for water related activities of daily living and recreational play. Local primary school teachers had little to no training about the disease and no teaching tools or materials for students. Conclusions/Significance: Conducting activities in open natural freshwater contaminated by S. haematobium larvae compromises the health of school-aged children in Zanzibar. The perception of urogenital schistosomiasis as a minor illness rather than a serious threat to a child’s well-being contributes to the spread of disease. Understanding community perceptions of disease along with the barriers and facilitators to risk reduction behaviors among children can inform health promotion activities, campaigns, and programs for the prevention, control, and elimination of urogenital schistosomiasis in Zanzibar

Development and Application of a Nonlinear Optical Characterization Technique

This dissertation reports a sensitive single beam experimental technique for measuring nonlinear refraction and nonlinear absorption in a wide variety of materials. The experimental setup is described and a comprehensive theoretical analysis including cases where nonlinear refraction and nonlinear absorption are also presented

Mitigation of Lightning Hazards at the More Sensitive Points in Wind Farms Using Ant-Colony Optimization Technique

The lightning energy can be very harmfull to the wind turbine farm components. This paper attempts to evaluate the overvoltages at the sensitive points in wind farm, using ATP-EMTP package program. Four cases were performed; a) the transient voltage distribution in the insulating layer of the control line, b) the transient voltage on the control equipment, c) the coupling voltage between the tower and the control, and, d) the transient voltage distribution in the wind turbine WT generator, boast transformers and grid. These cases were performed under different lightning current conditions and at conventional design and proper design of grounding system. The results show that the ground potential rise (GPR) is reduced with using the proper design of wind turbine ground system, but the induced voltage at the control system will not affected. This work determines the optimum location of wind turbine at the areas of maximum lightning incidence. Ant colony optimization (ACO) technique is implemented to find the optimum wind farm location. This work enhances the protection strategy of the wind farms against lightning stroke

Mitigation of Lightning Hazards at the More Sensitive Points in Wind Farms Using Ant-Colony Optimization Technique

The lightning energy can be very harmfull to the wind turbine farm components. This paper attempts to evaluate the overvoltages at the sensitive points in wind farm, using ATP-EMTP package program. Four cases were performed; a) the transient voltage distribution in the insulating layer of the control line, b) the transient voltage on the control equipment, c) the coupling voltage between the tower and the control, and, d) the transient voltage distribution in the wind turbine WT generator, boast transformers and grid. These cases were performed under different lightning current conditions and at conventional design and proper design of grounding system. The results show that the ground potential rise (GPR) is reduced with using the proper design of wind turbine ground system, but the induced voltage at the control system will not affected. This work determines the optimum location of wind turbine at the areas of maximum lightning incidence. Ant colony optimization (ACO) technique is implemented to find the optimum wind farm location. This work enhances the protection strategy of the wind farms against lightning stroke

Performance analysis of a small capacity horizontal axis wind turbine using QBlade

In recent times, wind energy has become one of the leading renewable energy sources for generating electricity in prospective regions around the globe. Nowadays, researchers are conducting different research activities to develop and optimize the existing designs of wind turbines through experimental and diversified computational techniques. Among the computational techniques, one of the popular choices is Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). However, CFD techniques are hardware intensive and computationally expensive. On the other hand, freely available simple tools like QBlade is computationally inexpensive and it can be used for performance and design analyses of horizontal and vertical axis wind turbines. In the present research, an attempt has been made to use QBlade for performance analyses of a smaller capacity horizontal axis wind turbine using selected prospective airfoils. In this study, four airfoils (namely, NACA 4412, SG6043, SD7062 and S833) have been selected and investigated in QBlade. It has been found that the overall power coefficients (CP) of NACA 4412 at different tip speed ratios are superior to the other three airfoils

Reversible and Fast Association Equilibria of a Molecular Chaperone, gp57A, of Bacteriophage T4

The association of a molecular chaperone, gp57A, of bacteriophage T4, which facilitates formation of the long and short tail fibers, was investigated by analytical ultracentrifugation, differential scanning microcalorimetry, and stopped-flow circular dichroism (CD) to establish the association scheme of the protein. Gp57A is an oligomeric α-helix protein with 79 amino acids. Analysis of the sedimentation velocity data by direct boundary modeling with Lamm equation solutions together with a more detailed boundary analysis incorporating association schemes led us to conclude that at least three oligomeric species of gp57A are in reversible and fast association equilibria and that a 3mer-6mer-12mer model described the data best. On the other hand, differential scanning microcalorimetry revealed a highly reversible two-step transition of dissociation/denaturation, both of which accompanied decrease in CD at 222 nm. The melting curve analysis revealed that it is consistent with a 6mer-3mer-1mer model. The refolding/association kinetics of gp57A measured by stopped-flow CD was consistent with the interpretation that the bimolecular reaction from trimer to hexamer was preceded by a fast α-helix formation in the dead-time. Trimer or hexamer is likely the functional oligomeric state of gp57A

Peralatan produksi tradisional dan perkembangannya di Propinsi Daerah Istimewa Aceh

Penelitian ini bertujuan sebagai berikut. Pertama, untuk mengetahui jenis-jenis dan macam peralatan produksi dan distribusi tradisional dalam bidang pertanian yang digunakan masyarakat di Propinsi Daerah Istimewa Aceh, khususnya di wilayah Kabupaten Aceh Besar, dan wilayah Kabupaten Aceh Barat. Kedua. untuk mengetahui bagaimana perkembangan peralatan produksi dan distribusi tradisional di bidang pertanian, sebagai akibat masuknya pengaruh teknologi moderen pada saat sekarang ini. Ketiga, dalam rangka menginventarisastkan peralatan produksi dan distribusi tradisional di bidang pertanian yang terdapat di Propinsi Dacrah lstimewa Aceh. Keempat, agar tersedianya suatu naskah tentang peralatan produksi tradisional dan perkembangannya di Propinsi Daerah Istimewa Aceh, khususnya di Daerah Tingkat II Kabupaten Aceh Besar dan Daerah Tingkat II Kabupaten Aceh Barat

Monolithic optofluidic ring resonator lasers created by femtosecond laser nanofabrication

We designed, fabricated, and characterized a monolithically integrated optofluidic ring resonator laser that is mechanically, thermally, and chemically robust. The entire device, including the ring resonator channel and sample delivery microfluidics, was created in a block of fused-silica glass using a 3-dimensional femtosecond laser writing process. The gain medium, composed of Rhodamine 6G (R6G) dissolved in quinoline, was flowed through the ring resonator. Lasing was achieved at a pump threshold of approximately 15 μJ/mm2. Detailed analysis shows that the Q-factor of the optofluidic ring resonator is 3.3 × 104, which is limited by both solvent absorption and scattering loss. In particular, a Q-factor resulting from the scattering loss can be as high as 4.2 × 104, suggesting the feasibility of using a femtosecond laser to create high quality optical cavities