Clinical: Managing depression in children and young people

Key learning points - How to identify the signs and symptoms of depression in children and adolescents - Treatment options for young people experiencing depression - The Nurse (primary care/Health Visitors/School Nurse) role in supporting young people experiencing depressio

Potentials of Moringa oleifera Leaf Extracts as Biostimulant on the Field Performance of Sweetcorn

The potentials of Moringa oleifera Leaf Extract (MLE) as a bio-stimulant have been established in some vegetable crops.  A field experiment was conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm of Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti in 2015 cropping season to study the effects of MLE as bio-stimulant on the performance of two varieties of sweet corn. Treatment consisted of two forms of MLE (dry and fresh), three times of application which are 2 weeks after planting (WAP), 2 and 4 WAP, 2, 4 and 6 WAP and a control. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replicates.  Application of MLE significantly increased plant height; stem girth, number of leaves, cob weight, cob length, kernel row and cob girth of sweet corn. The highest yield in terms of cob weight was observed to be 16.8% and 16.3% higher than the control for dry and fresh methods respectively. The highest cob weight which was 21.15% higher than the control was observed when application was done once. Furthermore, the yellow variety had higher cob weight than white variety with about 2.55%. It is concluded that application of MLE can be used to improve the productivity of sweet corn. Keywords: Sweetcorn, Maize, leaf extract, Moringa olifera, biostimulan

Benefits of emotional intelligence to construction industry: a case of Gauteng region, South Africa

Abstract: Emotional intelligence (EI) is concerned with personal and behavioural attributes that enable individuals or organisations to performup to an acceptable standard. Construction industry is composed of stakeholders of individuals and organisations working towards a common purpose of providing value for clients' money.This study is designed to evaluate the benefit of EI to the performance of construction projects. Using survey approach, primary data was collected by the use of a well-structured questionnaire. Adopting convenience sampling method, copies of questionnaire were distributed to construction project managers (CPM), architects, quantity surveyors (QS), construction managers (CM), facility managers (FM) and engineers in the South African construction industry and the retrieved copies were analysed. From the findings, it can be concluded that EI does not only hold the key to overall improvement of the project, but will also improve communication among construction clients and the entire team members;this will result in improved relationships among construction professionals and other stakeholders for the achievement of better performance of construction projects. It is therefore necessary for professionals and other stakeholders in the construction industry to improve on their intelligence quota by taking intelligence test at various time. Materials such as books, articles andso on on EI shouldalso be consultedfor individual improvement

DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF AN ETAXATION SYSTEM

Tax is any form charge levied on a person or an institution by a governing body or its equivalent such that defaulted payment is punishable by law. The imposition of taxes and the institution of taxing is as old as civilization itself cutting across religion, race and continental borders. Prompt tax payment and reduced tax evasion is always a primary objective of the government in most civilizations that exist today. The issue of tax evasion has proven to be a difficult practice to curb even in nations with a proper database of its citizenry and the current mode of tax payment is redundant and hectic as ascertained through a survey of our case study. Some of the challenges governmental bodies have to overcome in order to encourage the prompt payment of taxes and effectively reduce evasion includes, developing convenient payment methods and having proper records keeping systems. This paper is a concise summary of how the continuous development of computing science and its wide spread ability to be deployed to solve a wide range of problems can be geared towards the development of an electronic taxation system to assist government bodies with convenient tax collection and record keeping. The waterfall methodology was selected for system development. Goals to be achieved by the system are instant access, improved productivity through efficient utilization of resources, database creation and records management, simplification of operations, reduced processing time, user friendliness, portability and flexibility for further enhancement. The E-taxation is not a new system, but a rather local solution to a problem with global purview. This system looks at how tax payment can be encouraged through simplification and increased efficiency in payment processing

DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF AN ETAXATION SYSTEM

Tax is any form charge levied on a person or an institution by a governing body or its equivalent such that defaulted payment is punishable by law. The imposition of taxes and the institution of taxing is as old as civilization itself cutting across religion, race and continental borders. Prompt tax payment and reduced tax evasion is always a primary objective of the government in most civilizations that exist today. The issue of tax evasion has proven to be a difficult practice to curb even in nations with a proper database of its citizenry and the current mode of tax payment is redundant and hectic as ascertained through a survey of our case study. Some of the challenges governmental bodies have to overcome in order to encourage the prompt payment of taxes and effectively reduce evasion includes, developing convenient payment methods and having proper records keeping systems. This paper is a concise summary of how the continuous development of computing science and its wide spread ability to be deployed to solve a wide range of problems can be geared towards the development of an electronic taxation system to assist government bodies with convenient tax collection and record keeping. The waterfall methodology was selected for system development. Goals to be achieved by the system are instant access, improved productivity through efficient utilization of resources, database creation and records management, simplification of operations, reduced processing time, user friendliness, portability and flexibility for further enhancement. The E-taxation is not a new system, but a rather local solution to a problem with global purview. This system looks at how tax payment can be encouraged through simplification and increased efficiency in payment processing

An evaluation of the Support Our Sisters programme : introduced across Greater Manchester

This report presents an evaluation of a number of projects that have been developed under theauspices of the ‘Support Our Sisters’ (SOS) programme, initially funded in 2012 by the Henry SmithCharity and hosted by New Steps for African Communities (NESTAC), a third sector organisation basedin Rochdale, Greater Manchester. While the initial SOS project was funded by the Henry Smith Charity,subsequent funding was secured from Comic Relief, Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA)and Manchester City Council to continue and expand the initial work. This work continues to date. Theevaluation has been carried out by two researchers at the University of Salford; Professor SueMcAndrew and Dr Eunice Ayodeji. The evaluation takes account of six projects; (1) The SOS Clinic (adult service); (2) The Guardian Project(a service aimed at children and young girls); (3) Peer Mentoring Project; (4) Youth Peer MentoringProject; (5) FGM Education; (6) FGM Community Engagement Initiatives; a Health Advocacy Project.The evaluation provides statistical information and qualitative data regarding the experiences of anumber of people involved in the projects: women who have received counselling for FGM and itsimplications; female peer support workers (peer mentors), male peer support workers (peer mentors)and those staff who have been managing the various projects. This evaluative report is divided into eight sections; section 1 offers the reader an overview of FGM;section 2 gives a brief outline of how the evaluation was conducted; section 3 reports on the statisticalevidence emerging from the six projects; section 4 presents vignettes of four of the women who,through the project, have received counselling; section 5 focuses on the experiences of two male peermentors; section 6 reports the experiences of a groups of female peer mentors, and section 7 offersthe lived experience of staff managing the projects. The final section, 8, offers a summary of thestrengths of the projects, makes recommendations based on the evidence presented and considerswhat the future holds in terms of building on what has already been achieved

Knowledge and Acceptability of Human Papillomavirus Vaccination among Women Attending the Gynaecological Outpatient Clinics of a University Teaching Hospital in Lagos, Nigeria

Objectives. This study was aimed at determining the knowledge and acceptability of HPV vaccine among women attending the gynaecology clinics of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). Methods. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study involving 148 consecutively selected women attending the gynaecology clinic of LUTH. Relevant information was obtained from these women using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. The data was analysed and then presented by simple descriptive statistics using tables and charts. Chi-square statistics were used to test the association between the sociodemographical variables and acceptance of HPV vaccination. All significance values were reported at P<0.05. Results. The mean age of the respondents was 35.7±9.7 years. The study showed that 36.5% of the respondents had heard about HPV infection while only 18.9% had knowledge about the existence of HPV vaccines. Overall, 81.8% of the respondents accepted that the vaccines could be administered to their teenage girls with the level of education of the mothers being the major determinant of their acceptability (P=0.013). Conclusions. Awareness of HPV infections and existence of HPV vaccines is low. However, the acceptance of HPV vaccines is generally high. Efforts should be made to increase the awareness about cervical cancer, its aetiologies, and prevention via HPV vaccination

Demonstration of the Antioxidant Potential of Three Newly Isolated Carotenoid-Producing Microscopic Algae from KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa)

Natural carotenoids from green microalgae exhibit beneficial effects in treating health-related diseases, primarily due to their antioxidant capacity. Therefore, carotenoid-producing microalgae were isolated and characterized from aqueous samples in KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) under photoautotrophic conditions. Three isolates were characterized comprehensively using light and electron microscopy. In addition, the growth of the three selected microalgae was evaluated under photoautotrophic and photoheterotrophic conditions. Based on the cytological characteristics, the three strains matched the genera Haematococcus, Parachlorella, and Scenedesmus, the latter two additionally confirmed via analysis of the 18S rRNA gene sequence at the genus level. Light and electron microscopy and UV-Vis spectroscopy confirmed pigment production by all three microalgal strains. Both isolate Parachlorella sp. AA1 and Scenedesmus sp. AA2 showed the highest growth rate when cultured with acetate (25 mM) photoheterotrophically, while the isolate Haematococcus sp. AA3 grew best with glucose (50 mM). In addition, all three isolates utilized salicylate as a carbon source under photoheterotrophic conditions, evidently resulting in increased carotenoid production in strains AA1 and AA3. The 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) antioxidant assay confirmed that methanol extracts of all three isolates contained carotenoids that can scavenge radicals, and thin layer chromatography (TLC) analysis showed that β-carotene and astaxanthin were formed by strain AA3 as main carotenoids

Oxidation Stability of Fatty Acid Methyl Ester under Three Different Conditions

Maintaining fuel stability is one important criterion in sustaining the quality of fuels. This research investigated the production of biodiesel from waste groundnut oil and the oxidation stability of the biodiesel samples stored under three conditions (a vacuum, a fridge and an exposure to atmosphere) by considering their saponification values, percentage of free fatty acid, peroxide values, iodine values and viscosity. Maximum biodiesel yield was obtained at 9 methanol/oil mole ratio, 1.0w/w%Oil KOH catalyst concentration, reaction time of 60 minutes and reaction temperature of 60 0C. The results showed that biodiesel oxidation stability is adversely affected by increase in saponification value, percentage of free fatty acid, peroxide value; and decrease in iodine value and viscosity. Also, the results of these physico-chemical properties shows that vacuum is the most favourable storage condition, compared to freezing and atmospheric conditions. Keywords: Atmosphere, Biodiesel, Refrigerator, Trans-esterification, Vacuu