The Contribution of Diaspora on Household Poverty Alleviation: Zanzibar Urban West Region

The main objective of this study was to examine the contributions of Diaspora on household poverty alleviation in Unguja Urban West Region Zanzibar. The results indicate that the people living in Diaspora contribute greatly to their household members in terms of improving their income. The Diaspora brought to the home population between TZS 1, 000,000 up to TZS 5,000,000 which mark 64% of the income. About 44% of the total income brought by Diaspora is coming in the holy month of Ramadan. While 33.3% of the income is coming in the holydays and only 23% of the funds are coming in other months when needed by household members. Furthermore, the results show the positive effect on the contribution of Diaspora on supporting social services to the household members. Whereas 59% of the income brought for social services from the Diaspora is being used for education development,  26% is being used for the development of health and15% is for other services like paying for electricity and water bills. Zanzibaris in Diaspora are increasingly making contributions to the establishment of investments. The statistics on investment by Diaspora show that investment in car ranks top (28.2% ) followed by investment in running shops (18%) building schools (15.3%), establishing stationary, (15.3%)  opening dispensary (13%) and 10.2% are invested in other areas. General findings reveal that members living in Diaspora established Information Technology Centre and Education Centres in Unguja Ukuu which help the member of households and other people in the society in Unguja. The study conclude that Diaspora is important in the poverty reduction to the extent that their contribution in improving peoples income, provision of social services like education and health services are the major indicators in the improvement of living standards to the people. It is recommended therefore that the Zanzibar government should increasingly recognize the contribution they make in poverty alleviation and economic development of their home country and has to take some positive steps to engage in Diaspora. Also the government is recommended to know where Diaspora lives, their numbers, level of education and their occupation the case that will be easily to utilize them in their country of origi

Assessment of Marine and Coastal Pollution a long the Eastern Coast, United Arab Emirates (UAE)

The present study aims to quantifying and assessing the orgasmic and Inorganic pollutants extents along eastern side of the United Arab Emirates UAE offshore on the Gulf of Oman, which consist of Fujairah, Khor Fakkan and Kalba. Rapid development and the highly usage of the coastal region for industrial activities, sewage disposal and marine transportation has led to obvious changes in sediments quality of the marine environment. Twelve coastal sampling stations were selected to cover the maximum area of the eastern side, three sampling stations were selected from marine sediments and six sampling collected from spilled oil near investigated area. Sediments samples were subjected to a variety of analyses including mechanical, total organic carbon (TOC), total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH), total kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), twenty congeners of polychlorinated biphenyl\u27s (PCBs ), sixteen different polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (P AHs) and heavy metals analyses The grain size analysis showed that about 42 % of the studied stations are covered by medium sand and 33% covered by fine sand, which reflected trend of increasing the organic and inorganic pollutants by decreasing grain size. The average TOC % analyzed in the study area is 0.6 % which higher value than other regional studies. The average TPH in study area is around 156 mg/kg. The total concentration of TKN in ranged between 83.8 mg/kg to 1443 mg/kg. This study indicates positive correlation between TKN and TOC, which may be related to land pollution such as industrial areas and agricultural pollution. The distribution maps of TOC and TPH shows trend of an increasing toward the northern part of study area whereas, TKN showed a trend of increasing toward the southern part of study area. The total concentration of PCBs in the study area was found to range between 0.06 mg/kg to 0.145 mg/kg. The distribution maps of TPCBs show increasing toward the northern part of study area KhorFakkan. The total PAHs concentration in sediment samples ranges between 0.07 mg/kg to 0.28 mg/kg, in contrast the total concentration of PAHs from oil sample was between 44.28 mg/kg to 299.3 mg/kg. The distribution maps for each of compounds show two trend of increasing, in which one toward the southern and another toward northeast of study area. Nine heavy metals elements have been analyzed in this study i.e. Cd, Cr, Cu, Co, Mn, Ni, Ph, V, and Zn. The highest detected concentrations are Ni and Mn with average of 398.4 mg/kg and 191.4 mg/kg respectively. The lowest determined concentration is Cd with average of 0.24 mg/kg. In general, the heavy metals concentrations in the study area are low compared to previous studies in the region

Assessing the Contribution of Inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the Creation of Employment Opportunities to the People in Zanzibar: A Case of Tourism Sector

The main objective of this study is assessing the contribution of inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the creation of employment opportunities to the people in Zanzibar: Tourism sector being a case study. The methods used in the study was descriptive case study design, where by questionnaires were distributed to the 50 respondents, among them were people at Nungwi village, officials from Zanzibar Investment Promotion Agency (ZIPA) and managers from hotels in Zanzibar, also documentation and observation methods were used in the collection of data. The results show that 62% were benefited being employed in the tourism sector and their income have up for 60%, whereby before employment their income were lower for 80%. The report concludes that FDI inflow especially in the tourism sector has brought much positive impact in the creation of employment opportunities to the people in Zanzibar. In that case it is recommended that Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar should improve and promote policies guiding tourism sector investment in the country so as fully provide more employment opportunities and improve the countries’ economic development for the purposes of poverty reduction.

The Role of Islamic Institutions in Preventing the Youth from Engaging in Violent Extremism: The Case of the Kilindi District in Tanzania.

International relations and globalpeace and security are faced by a rather inescapably serious challengeof increasing radicalization, violent extremism, and terrorism. Tanzania is not an exception as youths, mainly Moslem, appear to increasingly join or support terror groups. This study examines the role of Islamic institutions in preventing the youth from engaging in violent extremism. Guided by the Derealization theory and the Vulnerability theory, the study identifiesthe reasons for increased radicalization, the effects of engaging in violent extremism, the various solutions employed in fighting violent extremism and the role that Islamic institutions play in preventing the youth from joining or supporting the terror groups. This is a qualitative study that takes a case of Kilindi District. Data was collected from fifty (50) participants from the various Islamic institutions in Kilindi using interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs). It was found out that youths engage in violent jihadi or support terrorism due to persistent derealization through historical injustices and discrimination, political dissatisfaction, violation of human rights and the vulnerability resulting from insolvable poverty, lack of education, distorted religious teachings, unchecked youth associations and peer pressure. Even so, the apparent benefits of engaging in violent extremism are outweighed by the negative effects of doing so, such as the risk of death. While there are a few working strategies for prevention, such as providing employment and education to the youth, some other strategies as arbitrary arrests and harsh punishments were found to spark more radicalization. Even when Islamic institutions have played a significant role in deradicalization, many more youths seem to join and support terror groups. The study concludes that– although highly significant – the effort of Islamic institutions is not solely sufficient in fightingterrorism and violent extremism. Together with rehabilitation centers, proper religious teachings, employment and educating the youth, the study recommends that unanimous efforts of the government, security agencies, the private sector – including religious and non-religious institutions – must work together

Evaluating Self-Care Practices of Children with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus in Northern West Bank: A controlled Randomized Study Utilizing Orem- Self Care Theory

Background: Diabetes mellitus, a non-communicable disease and a major public health problem. It is a chronic disorder of metabolism characterized by partial or complete deficiency of the insulin hormone. Diabetes, which historically has been a phenomenon in older people, has now crept into the lives of young children. Self– cared diabetes involves a complex set of tasks and the key to successful management of diabetes is adherence to these tasks. Diabetes self-care education is a critical element of care for all people with diabetes and necessary to improve patient outcomes. Design: Quasi-experimental design utilized in the current study. Sample, include176 patients attending diabetic clinics of primary health care centers in Northern West Bank districts (Nablus, Tulkarem, Jenin, Tubas, Salfit, and Qalqellia). Research instrument: Two tools developed by the researchers, a structured questionnaire for participants and an observational performance checklist. First tool: A structured questionnaire developed to assess participants’ knowledge and self-care practices. Second Tool: An Observational self-care practices checklist developed by the researchers to observe self-care practices of diabetic children. Aim of the study: to assess specific knowledge of diabetes mellitus and self-care practices accompanied with observational self-care practices checklist by researchers among children with type 1 diabetes mellitus, based on Orem self-care theory a health education program was developed and administered in the targeted clinics. Procedure: the study was conducted in two phases; phase I pre-test for both the intervention and control groups. The intervention group attended health education program and the control group received routine care. After 3 months from intervention program, phase II post-test with the same tool applied for both the intervention and control groups. Results: The mean scores of diabetic knowledge in the intervention group at post-test was higher than pre-test 1.94&1.619respectively. For self-care practices was 3.53 in post-test and 2.73 in pre-test. For observational self- care practices checklist in insulin injection technique was 3.45 in post-test and 2.56 in pre-test. For blood glucose test was 3.68 in post-test and 2.84 in pre- test. For urine test for glucose and ?or ketones was 3.39 in post-test and 2.07 in pre-test. In addition, for hygiene care was 1.89 in post- test and 1.54 in pre-test at P. value 0.05.Conclusions: The current study indicate that the intervention program utilizing Orem's self care theory is effective in transferring diabetic children from wholly or partly compensatory to educative ? supportive system to accomplish self care practices. Keywords: Type1 diabetes mellitus, Self-care practices, Children

Pyrimidine salvage and metabolism in kinetoplastid parasites

Pyrimidine uptake has previously been investigated in Trypanosoma brucei procyclics and partly investigated in promastigotes of Leishmania major; however, no such study has been performed using bloodstream forms of Trypanosoma or promastigotes of Leishmania. Here we report a comprehensive study of pyrimidine salvage and metabolism in bloodstream forms of Trypanosoma and promastigotes of Leishmania species. In T. b. brucei bloodstream forms, the uptake of 3H-uracil and 3H-tymidine each appeared to be mediated by a single transporter, designated TbU3 and TbT1, respectively. The procyclic uracil transporter,TbU1, has a high affinity for uracil, with a Km value of 0.46 ± 0.09 μM and Vmax of 0.65 ± 0.008 pmol (107cell)-1 s-1. These values were similar for TbU3 (Km = 0.54 ± 0.11 µM; Vmax = 0.14 ± 0.03), but the main differences between TbU1 and TbU3 are their sensitivity to uridine and 4-thiouracil. Thymidine uptake is detectable at 10 μM over a period from 5 to 30 minutes. This uptake was not inhibited by uracil which indicates that TbT1 is a novel thymidine transporter. The uptake of other pyrimidines, including uridine and 2’-deoxyuridine, by BSF are investigated here but these substrates were also transported by TbU3, and no additional pyrimidine transport activities were found. In L. mexicana and L. major, the uptake of 3H-uracil and 3H-uridine was mediated by separate transporters, designated as follows; for uracil uptake LmexU1, LmajU1; and for uridine uptake LmexNT1, LmajNT1 and LmajNT2, respectively. LmexU1 is a uracil transporter with high affinity to uridine and 2’deoxyuridine, and the LmexNT1 is a nucleoside transporter with broad specificity for purine and pyrimidine nucleosides. L. major uracil transporter (LmajU1) has already been reported by others; and here we report that there are also two distinct uridine transporters expressed in L. major. LmajNT1 is a high affinity uridine transporter which is also inhibited by uracil, inosine and adenine; LmajNT2 is low affinity uridine transporter, with very poor affinity for uracil, inosine and adenine. However, both transporters are inhibited by 2’-deoxyuridine, thymidine and adenosine. Several fluorinated pyrimidine analogues were assessed against kinetoplastid cells, the most effective compounds, which displayed EC50 values at micromolar level, are 5-FU, 5F-2’dUrd, 5-FOA (only against T. brucei BSF) and 5F-Urd (only against L. major). We induced resistance to 5-FU, 5-F2’dUrd and 5-FOA by in vitro exposure of Tbb-BSF and promastigotes of L. mexicana and L. major. The resistance was performed by stepwise increase concentration of the drugs. For T. b. brucei BSF, the resistance factors of clonal lines were 131, 825, and 83-fold, respectively. For L. mexicana and L. major, the resistance factor for 5-FU were 147 and 17-fold, and for 5F-2’dUrd were >3500 and 381-fold, respectively. We also measured 3H–pyrimidine uptake in these cell lines; the resistant bloodstream form strains showed no changes in pyrimidine uptake, with one exception, which is a 76% reduction in 5-FU uptake. In contrast, each resistant strain of Leishmania spp had lost its natural pyrimidine transporter. For example, Leishmania cells resistant to 5-FU had lost uracil transport activity, and cells that were resistant to 5F-2’dUrd had lost uridine transport activity. In addition, we identified kinetoplastid genes that appeared to be associated with resistance to fluorinated pyrimidines. Based on these findings, metabolomic analysis of fluorinated pyrimidines in T. b. brucei resistant cell lines was performed in comparison with parental wild-type; for Leishmania species we only investigated the metabolism of fluorinated pyrimidine in wild type cells, as the fluorinated analogues were simply not taken up in the resistant clones. The metabolomic analysis data showed that, in T. b. brucei, 5-fluorouracil and 5-fluoro orotate are incorporated into a large number of metabolites, but likely act through incorporation into RNA. 5F-2’dUrd and 5F-2’dCtd are not incorporated into nucleic acids but act as prodrugs by inhibiting thymidylate synthase after conversion to 5F-dUMP. Cells treated with 5-fluoro-2’deoxyuridine showed an increase of dUMP, which suggest a block in thymidylate synthase or possibly thymidylate kinase. We also present the most complete model of pyrimidine salvage in T. brucei to date, supported by genome-wide profiling of the predicted pyrimidine biosynthesis and conversion enzymes. The effect of fluorinated pyrimidine analogues in the two Leishmania species was almost identical. Each of the tested drugs (5-FU, 5F-2’dUrd and 5F-Urd) produced a limited number of fluorinated metabolites, and their common mode of action was inhibition in thymidylate synthase by 5F-dUMP and thymidine kinase by 5F-2’dUrd. Interestingly, we found that the cause of L. mexicana resistance to 5F-Urd was due to the absence of the 5F-2’dUrd metabolite, as a result of the rapid conversion of 5F-2’dUrd to 5F-dUMP; also we suggest that, in L. mexicana, but not in L. major the high affinity salvage of thymidine is sufficient to provide the cells with thymidine deoxynucleotides. It has been found that pyrimidine salvage is not an essential function for Leishmania cells in vitro conditions. However, it is not known whether either, pyrimidine salvage or biosynthesis, or both of these systems are essential to the trypanosomes in vitro and in vivo study. As T. b. brucei bloodstream forms grew unimpeded in vitro in the complete absence of pyrimidines, uptake is clearly not essential. Disruption of the pyrimidine biosynthesis pathway by deletion of the OMPDCase/OPRTase gene resulted in pyrimidine auxotrophic trypanosomes that were unable to grow in the absence of added pyrimidines. The phenotype was rescued by addition of uracil, and to a lesser extent by some pyrimidine nucleosides. Pyrimidine starvation led rapidly to DNA fragmentation. Adaptations to low pyrimidine availability included upregulation of uracil transport capacity and of uridine phosphorylase expression. However, pyrimidine auxotrophic T. brucei were able to establish a high parasitemia in mice. We therefore conclude that pyrimidine salvage was not an essential function for bloodstream T. b. brucei. However, trypanosomes lacking de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis are completely dependent on an extracellular pyrimidine source, strongly preferring uracil, and display reduced infectivity and strongly increased sensitivity to fluorinated pyrimidines. As T. brucei are able to salvage sufficient pyrimidines from the host environment, the pyrimidine biosynthesis pathway is not a viable drug target, although any interruption of pyrimidine supply was lethal

Using the kurtosis correction method to design quality control limits for asymmetrical distributions: A comparative study in Kirkuk city

In this paper, the limits of the mean and the range are constructed when the normal distribution condition is not available for the measured quality (relative humidity in Kirkuk city). By using kurtosis correction as well as Johnson's transform to convert the data to normal distribution, it is appeared to be subjected to the smallest extreme value distribution and then compared the new charts with Shewhart chart using process capability. The results show that the new charts are more efficient and sensitive to changes in the production process, which makes the proposed method of dealing with asymmetric data more benefit

A critical evaluation on combating child sexual abuse and the limitations of international law: a case study of United Arab Emirates

Child sexual abuse is a heinous crime. It consists of a variety of pernicious practices which include, but are not limited to, online child pornography, rape and incest. Globally, an estimated 15 million female adolescents have been coerced into sex during their lifetime, whilst the figure for boys is unknown.1 In many instances, this crime is perpetrated by those who are closest to the victims. Child victims may be severely traumatised and as a result become dysfunctional members of society. Child sexual abuse harms the very fabric of society and society thus pays a heavy price for continuing to tolerate this crime. As such, as this crime predominantly takes place behind closed doors and victims only very rarely report cases,2 a comprehensive legislative and policy approach must be adopted in order to effectively combat child sexual abuse. Legislators around the world as well as the international community must therefore make combating child sexual abuse a priority. However, the question arises whether there exist difficulties and weaknesses within international law which contribute to the persistent problem of child sexual abuse. Accordingly, this research probes whether international law accords adequate protection to the rights of the children and, if not, whether it fails to adequately protect children from sexual abuse. For this purpose, a detailed examination of relevant UAE laws is undertaken in the form of a case study. It is argued that international law has failed to clearly establish norms and also lacks enforcement mechanisms. The main international instrument, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, fails to determine the age of the child. Instead, it empowers domestic law to do this. Other shortcomings also limit the effectiveness of international law, particularly implementation issues. In the context of the UAE, the fundamental problem is that cultural values entrenched in Islamic criminal and family law have not shown an understanding of the child sexual abuse paradigm. Instead, the honour ideology has been reinforced

The trade-off between usability and security in the context of eGovernment

Electronic government (e-government) implements a wide range of online services that are supported by the latest information communication technology (ICT) and accessible by devices that have great mobility in delivering services to citizens. The ongoing rapid advancements of these portable devices make user centred service design more challenging and complex as citizens’ demands, needs and preferences are varied and become more complicated over time. Also, existing research reveals that e-government still experiencing the challenge of creating better users’ interaction in terms of accessing online information and using electronic services. Among a variety of reasons for this challenge, usability and security have been recognised in previous research to be the main reasons in users’ decisions to use e-government services and need to be investigated. In addition, to the limited attention given to users’ preferences and human-centred design guidelines, creates more unusable and unsecure services. This research attempts to investigate the trade-off between usability and security from a user perspective, in order to understand how users, perceive the usability and security of e-government services by focusing on three elements of e-government. The research investigates three aspects related to e-government services, when new service being introduced, new devices being integrated, and new technology adopted. Each research study examines one of these aspects to explore how users or citizens perceive them in term of usability and security. By conducting these three studies, the researcher seeks a clear and comprehensive picture of users’ attitudes, opinions and preferences, and a rich insight into users’ needs. This research tries to explain user requirements for new services, devices and technology implemented in e-government settings, in terms of usability and security features. A mixed methods strategy, using quantitative and qualitative methods, is used capture users’ experiences and attitudes to the use of e-government services in terms of usability and security. These methods help us understand the three, related, aspects of e-government through the eyes of the participants rather than in categories predetermined by the researcher. Therefore, a questionnaire survey is used, with open-ended questions, and focus group research. A broader landscape view on the present state of users’ perception and attitudes about the trade-off between usability and security was studied and reported according to the findings from the three studies. The three studies findings and the literature review help the researcher to propose a set of usability and security guidelines to improve e-government services, which in turn would improve e-services usability and security aspects. The proposed set of guidelines complement the general usability guidelines or heuristics by considering user concerns and insights. The author presented some recommendation based on the findings of each study. These guidelines can be useful to guide designers to develop a usable and more secure e-services that match with users’ requirements

Computerization of Medical Analysis Laboratories in the Sudan between Reality and Expectations

The rapid development of the techniques used in laboratories led generating massive amounts of data in record time, which put scientists on the front line not only with the interpretation of this data to vital information but with the store this data in databases organization in a good way that allows retrieved easily, and this what led to the emergence of science bioinformatics, which applies computer technology to the management of these bioinformatics, as has this science developed several algorithms and software for analyzing the genome ( after becoming exposed in front of us) and comparing with DNA sequences and chains of proteins with each other or matching new strings with previously undiscovered chains in order to gain access to information about the functions of the new strings without having to use laboratory experiments (which may take month). A medical information services are one of the important pillars of the researchers, but this information becomes worthless or useful if it does not reach in a timely manner and to the extent appropriate. Medical information is considered substrate upon which the medical research in the various fields in Sudan, and so had to be interest in release of its information statement and its role in various fields. There are in the state of Khartoum multiple institutions of medical information in its institutions of medical universities and, have noted the researcher that the institutions of medical information are deficient in human cadre and technical, and there is a decline in the information services provided by these institutions have been given all these and other reasons, the researcher of the study Systems Division Medical Information and Documentation Centre information(SDMIDCI). The study has pursued the study of the case in the institutions of the information, has been used to study a number of scientific disciplines represented in the curriculum, both descriptive and analytical survey, while the study used to collect the data of the following tools: resolution as a key tool in data collection, interview and observation. Questionnaire was distributed to beneficiaries researchers and graduate students and university students of specialty medical laboratory databases of global and local at the Center for Documentation and Information at the National Center for Research. In Conclusion search accept the proposal of information systems in the laboratories of medical tests Sudanese, and the reality of the application of these systems in Sudan and accept results and recommendations is the most important weakness of human resources and lack of uses of modern technologies to reach the medical information in a timely manner, which is the infrastructure in the institutions of medical information then the low information services in those institutions. The researcher recommended that the state give precedence maximum support and medical information sector at the policy level and work to provide medical information to non-traditional fit with the nature of the specialized medical institutions. Keywords: SDMIDCI, DNA, Questionnaire, science bioinformatic