Getting accepted – Successful writing for scientific publication: a Research Primer for low- and middle-income countries

Clear and precise writing is a vital skill for healthcare providers and those involved in global emergency care research. It allows one to publish in scientific literature and present oral and written summaries of their work. However, writing skills for publishing are rarely part of the curriculum in the healthcare education system. This review gives you a step-by-step guide on how to successfully write for scientific publication following the IMRaD principle (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion) with every part supporting the key message. There are specific benefits of writing for publication that justify the extra work involved. Any lessons learned about improving global emergency care delivery can be useful to emergency clinicians. The end result can lead to changing others\u27 practice and pave the way for further research

Technical-Economic Prefeasibility Assessment of an off-grid Mini-Hydro Power Plant for an Agribusiness Resort in Kaduna Nigeria

Clean energy technologies are beginning to receive attention in Nigeria to offset the increasing greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions are associated to the wide use of small-scale fossil-fuel-powered generators by about 55% of its 180-million people yet to be connected to the grid. While a large hydropower potential exists in Nigeria, even above the total electricity demand of the country, by 2013 this technology only accounted for about 32% of the total installed generation capacity connected to the grid. Previous studies have limited results in terms of technical, economic and environmental evidences that can drive choices towards small hydro and other clean energy projects for users and technology providers in Nigeria. This study uses the RETScreen Software to analyse the technical, economic and environmental aspects of a proposed mini-hydro power plant on the Tuwan River, to supply part of the energy needs of Tuwan Agribusiness Resort (TAR) located in Madakiya district, a rural community in Kaduna State, Nigeria. The volumetric flow and gross head of the chosen river were measured and the power generation system design yielded a 21kW power output, capable to partially offset the present use of diesel generators and achieve a 307.4 tCO2 equivalent GHG emission reduction. The financial analysis showed an attractive Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 68.1% and NPV of 568,178 USD (11% discount rate), owing to the high potential of the project to attract grants and tax rebates, which were put into consideration in the financial analysis. This study is important for Tuwan Agribusiness Resort, an agribusiness service provision outfit with a potential to create over 1000 jobs when fully operationa

Technical-Economic Prefeasibility Assessment of an off-grid Mini-Hydro Power Plant for an Agribusiness Resort in Kaduna Nigeria

Clean energy technologies are beginning to receive attention in Nigeria to offset the increasing greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions are associated to the wide use of small-scale fossil-fuel-powered generators by about 55% of its 180-million people yet to be connected to the grid. While a large hydropower potential exists in Nigeria, even above the total electricity demand of the country, by 2013 this technology only accounted for about 32% of the total installed generation capacity connected to the grid. Previous studies have limited results in terms of technical, economic and environmental evidences that can drive choices towards small hydro and other clean energy projects for users and technology providers in Nigeria. This study uses the RETScreen Software to analyse the technical, economic and environmental aspects of a proposed mini-hydro power plant on the Tuwan River, to supply part of the energy needs of Tuwan Agribusiness Resort (TAR) located in Madakiya district, a rural community in Kaduna State, Nigeria. The volumetric flow and gross head of the chosen river were measured and the power generation system design yielded a 21kW power output, capable to partially offset the present use of diesel generators and achieve a 307.4 tCO2 equivalent GHG emission reduction. The financial analysis showed an attractive Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 68.1% and NPV of 568,178 USD (11% discount rate), owing to the high potential of the project to attract grants and tax rebates, which were put into consideration in the financial analysis. This study is important for Tuwan Agribusiness Resort, an agribusiness service provision outfit with a potential to create over 1000 jobs when fully operationa

Afriflu2—Second international workshop on influenza vaccination in the African continent—8 November 2012, Cape Town (South Africa)

AbstractThe second meeting of the Afriflu conferences took place in Cape Town, South Africa, with over 60 participants from 15 countries in Africa and also outside the continent. Significant progress in surveillance has been made in better understanding the illness burden of influenza on the continent, which limited evidence suggests is greater than that in the developed world. In southern Africa HIV and TB coinfections play a major role in increasing hospitalisation and mortality, while elsewhere in Africa other cofactors still need to be determined.There is currently no indigenous vaccine production in sub-Saharan Africa and only one facility, based in South Africa, capable of filling imported bulk. Innovative vaccine strategies will need to be explored, such as maternal immunisation, and also the possibility of other influenza vaccine options, such as live attenuated influenza vaccine for young children. Sustained indigenous vaccine production is essential for the continent to have vaccine security in the event of a pandemic even though establishing local production faces considerable challenges especially ensuring adequate markets on the continent. There is an urgent need to develop effective communication messages for decision makers as well as healthcare workers addressing the importance of influenza even in the face of the major competing health burdens of the continent

Capability in the digital: institutional media management and its dis/contents

This paper explores how social media spaces are occupied, utilized and negotiated by the British Military in relation to the Ministry of Defence’s concerns and conceptualizations of risk. It draws on data from the DUN Project to investigate the content and form of social media about defence through the lens of ‘capability’, a term that captures and describes the meaning behind multiple representations of the military institution. But ‘capability’ is also a term that we hijack and extend here, not only in relation to the dominant presence of ‘capability’ as a representational trope and the extent to which it is revealing of a particular management of social media spaces, but also in relation to what our research reveals for the wider digital media landscape and ‘capable’ digital methods. What emerges from our analysis is the existence of powerful, successful and critically long-standing media and reputation management strategies occurring within the techno-economic online structures where the exercising of ‘control’ over the individual – as opposed to the technology – is highly effective. These findings raise critical questions regarding the extent to which ‘control’ and management of social media – both within and beyond the defence sector – may be determined as much by cultural, social, institutional and political influence and infrastructure as the technological economies. At a key moment in social media analysis, then, when attention is turning to the affordances, criticisms and possibilities of data, our research is a pertinent reminder that we should not forget the active management of content that is being similarly, if not equally, effective

Urban Flood Extent Segmentation and Evaluation from Real-World Surveillance Camera Images Using Deep Convolutional Neural Network

This study explores the use of Deep Convolutional Neural Network (DCNN) for semantic segmentation of flood images. Imagery datasets of urban flooding were used to train two DCNN-based models, and camera images were used to test the application of the models with real-world data. Validation results show that both models extracted flood extent with a mean F1-score over 0.9. The factors that affected the performance included still water surface with specular reflection, wet road surface, and low illumination. In testing, reduced visibility during a storm and raindrops on surveillance cameras were major problems that affected the segmentation of flood extent. High-definition web cameras can be an alternative tool with the models trained on the data it collected. In conclusion, DCNN-based models can extract flood extent from camera images of urban flooding. The challenges with using these models on real-world data identified through this research present opportunities for future research

Concurrent Acquisition of a Single Nucleotide Polymorphism in Diverse Influenza H5N1 Clade 2.2 Sub-clades

Highly pathogenic Influenza A H5N1 was first identified in Guangdong Province in 1996, followed by human cases in Hong Kong in 1997. The number of confirmed human cases now exceeds 300, and the associated Case Fatality Rate exceeds 60%. The genetic diversity of the serotype continues to increase. Four distinct clades or sub-clades have been linked to human cases. The gradual genetic changes identified in the sub-clades have been attributed to copy errors by viral encoded polymerases that lack an editing function, thereby resulting in antigenic drift. We report here the concurrent acquisition of the same polymorphism by multiple, genetically distinct, clade 2.2 sub-clades in Egypt, Russia, and Ghana. These changes are not easily explained by the current theory of “random mutation” through copy error, and are more easily explained by recombination with a common source. This conclusion is supported by additional polymorphisms shared by clade 2.2 isolates in Egypt and Germany

Aggregation of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in a Human H5N1 Clade 2.2 Hemagglutinin

The evolution of H5N1 has attracted significant interest 1-4 due to linkages with avian 5,6 and human infections 7,8. The basic tenets of influenza genetics 9 attribute genetic drift to replication errors caused by a polymerase complex that lacks a proof reading function. However, recent analysis 10 of swine influenza genes identifies regions copied with absolute fidelity for more than 25 years. In addition, polymorphism tracing of clade 2.2 H5N1 single nucleotide polymorphisms identify concurrent acquisition 11 of the same polymorphism onto multiple genetic backgrounds in widely dispersed geographical locations. Here we show the aggregation of regional clade 2.2 polymorphisms from Germany, Egypt, and sub-Sahara Africa onto a human Nigerian H5N1 hemagglutinin (HA), implicating recombination in the dispersal and aggregation of single nucleotide polymorphisms from closely related genomes

Aggregation of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in a Human H5N1 Clade 2.2 Hemagglutinin

The rapid evolution of the H5N1 serotype of avian influenza has been explained by a mechanism involving the selection of single nucleotide polymorphisms generated by copy errors. The recent emergence of H5N1 Clade 2.2 in fifty countries, offered a unique opportunity to view the acquisition of new polymorphism in these evolving genomes. We analyzed the H5N1 hemagglutinin gene from a fatal human case from Nigeria in 2007. The newly emerged polymorphisms were present in diverse H5N1 isolates from the previous year. The aggregation of these polymorphisms from clade 2.2 sub-clades was not supported by recent random mutations, and was most easily explained by recombination between closely related sequences

Within-Compound Versus Public Latrine Access and Child Feces Disposal Practices in Low-Income Neighborhoods of Accra, Ghana.

In crowded urban settlements in low-income countries, many households rely on shared sanitation facilities. Shared facilities are not currently considered "improved sanitation" because of concerns about whether hygiene conditions sufficiently protect users from the feces of others. Prevention of fecal exposure at a latrine is only one aspect of sanitary safety. Ensuring consistent use of latrines for feces disposal, especially child feces, is required to reduce fecal contamination in households and communities. Household crowding and shared latrine access are correlated in these settings, rendering latrine use by neighbors sharing communal living areas as critically important for protecting one's own household. This study in Accra, Ghana, found that household access to a within-compound basic latrine was associated with higher latrine use by children of ages 5-12 years and for disposal of feces of children < 5 years, compared with households using public latrines. However, within-compound access was not associated with improved child feces disposal by other caregivers in the compound. Feces was rarely observed in household compounds but was observed more often in compounds with latrines versus compounds relying on public latrines. Escherichia coli and human adenovirus were detected frequently on household surfaces, but concentrations did not differ when compared by latrine access or usage practices. The differences in latrine use for households sharing within-compound versus public latrines in Accra suggest that disaggregated shared sanitation categories may be useful in monitoring global progress in sanitation coverage. However, compound access did not completely ensure that households were protected from feces and microbial contamination