Quality Assurance of Cross-border Construction Logistics and Supply Chain during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from the Hong Kong–Mainland China links

This study examines the quality assurance (QA) practices of cross-border construction logistics and supply chain (Cb-CLSC) amid the pandemic by adopting an embedded mixed-method design involving a comprehensive desk literature review and experts across the Hong Kong–Mainland China links. The study revealed 10 critical QA practices, with the top three critical practices comprising 'understanding requirements, norms, and standards of quality', 'assigning clear responsibilities to qualified workers' and 'recording and documenting work processes, project routine, and seamless implementations'. This attained a relatively good percentage agreement of 55% between the industry and academia. Sentiment analysis denoted the impacts of the pandemic to be largely neutral, i.e. the created opportunities neutralise the negative impacts. This study deepens the understanding of the subject matter to help practitioners, researchers and policymakers develop innovative approaches and make operational decisions to position QA adequately for the post-pandemic era and endure the risks of future pandemics

Sickle cell disease: reappraisal of the role of foetal haemoglobin levels in the frequency of vaso-occlusive crisis

Background: Foetal haemoglobin has been implicated in the modulation of sickle cell crisis. Its level is generally inversely proportional to the severity of sickle cell disease (SCD) for a given sickle cell phenotypes. The main aim of therapy for vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC), which is the hallmark of SCD, is to reduce the chances of sickling through the prevention of polymerization of HbS. One way of preventing this polymerization is by increasing foetal haemoglobin levels.Objectives: To determine the relationship between HbF levels and the frequency of crisis in SCD patients in Ghana.Method: A longitudinal retrospective survey covering a period of 30 months was carried out on adult SCD patients at the Sickle Cell Clinic of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.Results: Eighty-three adults aged 15 to 65 years made up of 40 males and 43 femalea were studied. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) gave significant results in Hb and HbF levels. Higher HbF levels were positively related to less frequent crisis and were significantly high in SCD patients than in controls. HbF effects on the clinical manifestations on SCD were variable.Conclusion: Threshold values of HbF play a role in reducing the frequency of vaso-occlusive crisis in SCD patients and this finding contributes to the body of available literature on SCD severity. However our work does not give the apparent threshold level of helpful HBF Level in SCD.Keywords: Haemoglobin F, Frequency of crisis, sickle cell disease

Persistence of onchocerciasis and associated dermatologic and ophthalmic pathologies after 27 years of ivermectin mass drug administration in the middle belt of Ghana

Objectives: There is a pressing need to regularly evaluate the progress of onchocerciasis elimination programmes to timely identify and mitigate potential risks hindering the reaching of the 2030 targets proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in its roadmap on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). We determined the prevalence of onchocerciasis and associated dermatological and ophthalmological manifestations in six endemic communities in the Bono Region of Ghana after 27 years of ivermectin mass treatment. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 564 participants aged ≥5 years were enrolled (49.1% females), with a median age of 26 (range: 5–89) years. In 54% and 47%, skin-snip microscopy and Ov16 rapid diagnostic tests were performed, respectively. Skin disease was determined using the WHO Skin NTD App. Visual function assessments included tests of visual acuity. Results: The overall microfilarial prevalence was 12.5% (38/305) and Ov16 seroprevalence was 24.2% (64/265). Severe itching was recorded in 24.3%, acute papular onchodermatitis in 52.8%, chronic papular onchodermatitis in 12.5%, lichenified onchodermatitis in 0.7%, skin atrophy in 11.3%, depigmentation in 1.7% and palpable nodules in 5.3%. Of the 301 persons in which visual acuity was examined, 17% were visually impaired and 5.3% were blind and 47.3% presented with cataract. Chronic papular onchodermatitis, lichenified onchodermatitis, depigmentation and visual impairment were significantly associated with the presence of skin microfilariae and Ov16 seropositivity. Conclusions: The persistence of Onchocerca volvulus infection and onchocerciasis-associated dermatological and ophthalmological pathologies after prolonged treatment is of concern. There is a need to include morbidity management in onchocerciasis elimination programmes and understand better patterns of treatment coverage, adherence and actual intake of ivermectin

Sexual Relationships in Hispanic Countries: a Literature Review

This is a pre-print of an article published in Current Sexual Health Reports. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11930-020-00272-6Purpose of Review: Sexuality is a complex dimension for which culture seems to play an important role, particularly in countries that are more traditional. This review summarizes the knowledge about sexual relationships in Hispanic countries, considering sexual debut, attitudes, behaviors, and satisfaction. Recent Findings: In line with the literature reviewed, the sexual double standard seems to be continuing to influence sexual relationships. Some countries show more open expressions of sexuality based on the level of gender inequality or sexualized context, and within countries, variables such as religious commitment, family characteristics, and access to resources may play important roles in sexuality. Summary: Future research, policies, and interventions should consider these specific characteristics, including these forms of expression of sexuality, in the adjustment of cross-cultural and cross-national strategies

Is the meiofauna a good indicator for climate change and anthropogenic impacts?

Our planet is changing, and one of the most pressing challenges facing the scientific community revolves around understanding how ecological communities respond to global changes. From coastal to deep-sea ecosystems, ecologists are exploring new areas of research to find model organisms that help predict the future of life on our planet. Among the different categories of organisms, meiofauna offer several advantages for the study of marine benthic ecosystems. This paper reviews the advances in the study of meiofauna with regard to climate change and anthropogenic impacts. Four taxonomic groups are valuable for predicting global changes: foraminifers (especially calcareous forms), nematodes, copepods and ostracods. Environmental variables are fundamental in the interpretation of meiofaunal patterns and multistressor experiments are more informative than single stressor ones, revealing complex ecological and biological interactions. Global change has a general negative effect on meiofauna, with important consequences on benthic food webs. However, some meiofaunal species can be favoured by the extreme conditions induced by global change, as they can exhibit remarkable physiological adaptations. This review highlights the need to incorporate studies on taxonomy, genetics and function of meiofaunal taxa into global change impact research

Historic droughts inventory of references from agricultural media 2018

The agricultural drought inventory for the UK is a subset of data from the UK Drought Inventory. This dataset contains qualitative drought data related to UK agriculture based on an extensive review of two weekly farming magazines in the UK: Farmers Weekly and Farmers Guardian for the 2018 summer drought. This inventory is a complement of the existing Historic droughts inventory of references from agricultural media 1975-2012 (Rey et al., 2019), also available in ReShare (see Related Resources). This dataset contains a total of 1,098 references. The inventory follows a standard format (based on the European Drought Impact Report Inventory, EDII), common to the other sectoral collection of references, that allows their combination for drought analysis and characterisation. Thus, it stores information on the start and end dates of the event and their location (local and regional based on NUTS regions) to characterise the temporal and spatial extents of the cited event. The events/entries are categorised as drivers, impacts, responses and includes a sample of text from the source. Entries for years different from 2018 are related to content about a previous drought (e.g., 1976) that is mentioned in 2018.Historic Droughts was a four year (2014-2018), £1.5m project funded by the UK Research Councils, aiming to develop a cross-disciplinary understanding of past drought episodes that have affected the United Kingdom (UK), with a view to developing improved tools for managing droughts in future. Drought and water scarcity (DWS) events are significant threats to livelihoods and wellbeing in many countries, including the UK. Parts of the UK are already water-stressed and are facing a wide range of pressures, including an expanding population and intensifying exploitation of increasingly limited water resources. In addition, many regions may become significantly drier in future due to environmental changes, all of which implies major challenges to water resource management. However, DWS events are not simply natural hazards. There are also a range of socio-economic and regulatory factors that may influence the course of droughts, such as water consumption practices and abstraction licensing regimes. Consequently, if DWS events are to be better managed, there is a need for a more detailed understanding of the links between hydrometeorological and social systems during droughts. With this research gap in mind, the Historic Droughts project aimed to develop an interdisciplinary understanding of drought from a range of different perspectives. Based on an analysis of information from a wide range of sectors (hydrometeorological, environmental, agricultural, regulatory, social and cultural), the project characterised and quantified the history of drought and water scarcity events since the late 19th century. The Historic Droughts project involved eight institutions across the UK: the British Geological Survey the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Cranfield University, the University of Exeter, HR Wallingford, Lancaster University, the Met Office, and the University of Oxford.</p

Prevalence of myocilin mutations in adults with primary open-angle glaucoma in Ghana, West Africa

Investigators have noted that primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) in West Africa has an earlier age of onset and appears to be more clinically severe than in the United States and Europe. Primary open-angle glaucoma patients with mutations in myocilin have a similar phenotype. Therefore, we investigated the role of mutations in myocilin in patients with POAG in a West African population. Patients seen at the Emmanuel Eye Clinic in Accra, Ghana, were recruited for this study. Informed consent was obtained from all study patients. Glaucoma specialists from the sponsoring institution (PC, LWH, or RRA) ascertained all POAG and control patients. Age-matched unaffected controls were obtained in patients with an IOP < 22 mm Hg and normal-appearing optic nerves. PCR amplification of each of the three myocilin exons was performed. Denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (Transgenomics Corp.) was used to detect allelic differences and samples demonstrating a mobility shift were sequenced in both directions. Ninety unrelated affecteds with POAG and 76 control patients were recruited. Four individuals with severe POAG were found to have novel missense mutations in exon 3. Two exhibit an Asp380Asn mutation and two an Arg342Lys mutation. These changes were not detected in 152 ethnically matched control chromosomes. Fourteen affected individuals and eight controls exhibit a translationally silent polymorphism in codon 325 (Thr325Thr). A total of 4.4% of patients with POAG have novel disease-associated mutations in myocilin. Mutations in myocilin appear to play a limited role in the pathogenesis of POAG in this region of West Africa