Efficacy of Transport Mikron Against Nuisance Ants When Applied Around Structures, 2015

Ants are nuisance pests around the homes and other structures. Insecticide baits and sprays are commonly used for controlling ants. The research was conducted to determine efficacy of Transport Mikron and Temprid SC against these nuisance ants. The trial was conducted around two buildings on East Campus, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE. A total of 20 experimental plots were established with 3 ft buffer zone between individual plots. The dimension of each experimental plot consists of 20 ft lengthx10 ft width + 3 ft high on foundation wall (260 ft2). Each treatment was replicated four times yielding 1040 ft2. Four plots were randomly assigned to one of the five treatments. The experimental design was a completely randomized design (CRD). Pretreatment ant population was monitored by placing four ant baittube traps made of cylindrical plastic tube (17x100mm (VWR, Chicago, IL)) in each experimental unit on 20 Aug. Peanut butter (0.5 inch diam) on paper was used as a bait in each. Foraging nuisance ant populations were pooled across species, counted, and used as a baseline for calculating the percent reduction in ant populations resulting from treatments. All insecticide treatments were applied using a 1-gallon B&G Compressed Air Sprayer (Jackson, GA) on 25 Aug. Ants were monitored at 1, 7, 14, and 31 days after insecticide treatment (DAT) using the same techniques used for pretreatment assessment. The percent reduction trends were evaluated using pre- and post-treatment nuisance ant population counts. Data were analyzed as repeated measures ANOVA (P\u3c0.05) using PROC GLIMMIX (SAS 9.4. SAS institute, NC). Means were analyzed/sorted by time with significant differences being collection interval specific

Efficacy of Transport Mikron Against Nuisance Ants When Applied Around Structures, 2015

Ants are nuisance pests around the homes and other structures. Insecticide baits and sprays are commonly used for controlling ants. The research was conducted to determine efficacy of Transport Mikron and Temprid SC against these nuisance ants. The trial was conducted around two buildings on East Campus, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE. A total of 20 experimental plots were established with 3 ft buffer zone between individual plots. The dimension of each experimental plot consists of 20 ft lengthx10 ft width + 3 ft high on foundation wall (260 ft2). Each treatment was replicated four times yielding 1040 ft2. Four plots were randomly assigned to one of the five treatments. The experimental design was a completely randomized design (CRD). Pretreatment ant population was monitored by placing four ant baittube traps made of cylindrical plastic tube (17x100mm (VWR, Chicago, IL)) in each experimental unit on 20 Aug. Peanut butter (0.5 inch diam) on paper was used as a bait in each. Foraging nuisance ant populations were pooled across species, counted, and used as a baseline for calculating the percent reduction in ant populations resulting from treatments. All insecticide treatments were applied using a 1-gallon B&G Compressed Air Sprayer (Jackson, GA) on 25 Aug. Ants were monitored at 1, 7, 14, and 31 days after insecticide treatment (DAT) using the same techniques used for pretreatment assessment. The percent reduction trends were evaluated using pre- and post-treatment nuisance ant population counts. Data were analyzed as repeated measures ANOVA (P\u3c0.05) using PROC GLIMMIX (SAS 9.4. SAS institute, NC). Means were analyzed/sorted by time with significant differences being collection interval specific

Disabled women’s attendance at community women’s groups in rural Nepal

There is strong evidence that participatory approaches to health and participatory women’s groups hold great potential to improve the health of women and children in resource poor settings. It is important to consider if interventions are reaching the most marginalized, and therefore we examined disabled women’s participation in women’s groups and other community groups in rural Nepal. People with disabilities constitute 15% of the world’s population and face high levels of poverty, stigma, social marginalization and unequal access to health resources, and therefore their access to women’s groups is particularly important. We used a mixed methods approach to describe attendance in groups among disabled and non-disabled women, considering different types and severities of disability. We found no significant differences in the percentage of women that had ever attended at least one of our women’s groups, between non-disabled and disabled women. This was true for women with all severities and types of disability, except physically disabled women who were slightly less likely to have attended. Barriers such as poverty, lack of family support, lack of self-confidence and attendance in many groups prevented women from attending groups. Our findings are particularly significant because disabled people’s participation in broader community groups, not focused on disability, has been little studied. We conclude that women’s groups are an important way to reach disabled women in resource poor communities. We recommend that disabled persons organizations help to increase awareness of disability issues among organizations running community groups to further increase their effectiveness in reaching disabled women

Compliance with the smoke-free public places legislation in Nepal: A cross-sectional study from Biratnagar Metropolitan City

Background Smoke-free legislation banning tobacco smoking in public places was implemented across Nepal in 2014 with the ambition to reduce the impact of second-hand smoking. As part of a comprehensive policy package on tobacco control, the implementation of the legislation has seen a marked reduction in tobacco consumption. Yet there remains uncertainty about the level of compliance with smoke-free public places. Objectives This study assesses the compliance with smoke-free laws in public places and the factors associated with active smoking in public places in Biratnagar Metropolitan City, Nepal. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Biratnagar metropolitan city in Province 1 of Nepal from July to December 2019. A total of 725 public places within the metropolitan city were surveyed using a structured survey tool. Active smoking was the primary outcome of the study which was defined as smoking by any person during the data collection time at the designated public place. Results The overall compliance with smoke-free legislation was 56.4%. The highest compliance (75.0%) was observed in Government office buildings. The lowest compliance was observed in eateries, entertainment, and shopping venues (26.3%). There was a statistically significant association between active smoking and the presence of ‘no smoking’ notices appended at the entrance and the odds of active smoking in eateries, entertainment, hospitality, shopping venues, transportations and transits was higher compared to education and health care institutions. None of the ‘no smoking’ notices displayed fully adhered to the contents as prescribed by the law. Conclusion As more than half of the public places complied with the requirements of the legislation, there was satisfactory overall compliance with the smoke-free public places law in this study. The public venues (eateries, shopping venues and transportations) that are more frequently visited and have a high turnover of the public have lower compliance with the legislation. The content of the message in the ‘no smoking’ notices needs close attention to adhere to the legal requirements

Swift trust and commitment: the missing links for humanitarian supply chain coordination?

Coordination among actors in a humanitarian relief supply chain decides whether a relief operation can be or successful or not. In humanitarian supply chains, due to the urgency and importance of the situation combined with scarce resources, actors have to coordinate and trust each other in order to achieve joint goals. This paper investigated empirically the role of swift trust as mediating variable for achieving supply chain coordination. Based on commitment-trust theory we explore enablers of swift-trust and how swift trust translates into coordination through commitment. Based on a path analytic model we test data from the National Disaster Management Authority of India. Our study is the first testing commitment-trust theory (CTT) in the humanitarian context, highlighting the importance of swift trust and commitment for much thought after coordination. Furthermore, the study shows that information sharing and behavioral uncertainty reduction act as enablers for swift trust. The study findings offer practical guidance and suggest that swift trust is a missing link for the success of humanitarian supply chains

Stress factors and stress management interventions: the heuristic of “bottom up” an update from a systematic review

Organizations have increasingly sought to adopt innovative interventions to prevent stress-related issues. In the field of manufacturing, however, the effectiveness of these interventions remains unclear because a systematic and specific review of existing primary evidence has not been undertaken. The present systematic literature review sought to address the foregoing limitation in the literature by summarizing the main source of stress and effectiveness of stress management interventions as grounded in the context of manufacturing. Our review was limited to only randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and quasi-experimental studies and concerned employees from the manufacturing sector. Twenty-two studies on primary, secondary and tertiary interventions across four continents (Asia, Europe, USA and South America) were selected and analyzed in terms of stress factors, methodological properties and outcomes. Most of these were RCT studies (68% Vs 32%) with a majority of secondary interventions (N = 11, 50%), followed by primary (N = 5, 22%), tertiary (N = 3, 13%), and two (9%) mixed interventions. The main outcomes included an improvement of psychological wellbeing, decreased stress reactivity and an increment of general health. There was a predominance of interventions utilizing skills programs and/or cognitive-behavioral techniques. The main source of stress reported related to professional identity, organizational deficiencies, interpersonal conflicts, physical complaints and poor work environment. Taken together, the findings provide important theoretical and practical implications for advancing the study of stress factors and the use of stress management interventions in the workplace. The prerequisite for a successful intervention is to address the real problems experienced by professionals and help them to cope with their difficult situations. The strategy of “bottom-up” offers a potential means of enhancing employees’ health and well-being; however, the most effective means of implementing these interventions needs to be understood better

Assembling a global database of child pneumonia studies to inform WHO pneumonia management algorithm: methodology and applications

BACKGROUND: The existing World Health Organization (WHO) pneumonia case management guidelines rely on clinical symptoms and signs for identifying, classifying, and treating pneumonia in children up to 5 years old. We aimed to collate an individual patient-level data set from large, high-quality pre-existing studies on pneumonia in children to identify a set of signs and symptoms with greater validity in the diagnosis, prognosis, and possible treatment of childhood pneumonia for the improvement of current pneumonia case management guidelines. METHODS: Using data from a published systematic review and expert knowledge, we identified studies meeting our eligibility criteria and invited investigators to share individual-level patient data. We collected data on demographic information, general medical history, and current illness episode, including history, clinical presentation, chest radiograph findings when available, treatment, and outcome. Data were gathered separately from hospital-based and community-based cases. We performed a narrative synthesis to describe the final data set. RESULTS: Forty-one separate data sets were included in the Pneumonia Research Partnership to Assess WHO Recommendations (PREPARE) database, 26 of which were hospital-based and 15 were community-based. The PREPARE database includes 285 839 children with pneumonia (244 323 in the hospital and 41 516 in the community), with detailed descriptions of clinical presentation, clinical progression, and outcome. Of 9185 pneumonia-related deaths, 6836 (74%) occurred in children <1 year of age and 1317 (14%) in children aged 1-2 years. Of the 285 839 episodes, 280 998 occurred in children 0-59 months old, of which 129 584 (46%) were 2-11 months of age and 152 730 (54%) were males. CONCLUSIONS: This data set could identify an improved specific, sensitive set of criteria for diagnosing clinical pneumonia and help identify sick children in need of referral to a higher level of care or a change of therapy. Field studies could be designed based on insights from PREPARE analyses to validate a potential revised pneumonia algorithm. The PREPARE methodology can also act as a model for disease database assembly

First Measurement of the EMC Effect in 10^{10}B and 11^{11}B

The nuclear dependence of the inclusive inelastic electron scattering cross section (the EMC effect) has been measured for the first time in $^{10}$B and $^{11}$B. Previous measurements of the EMC effect in $A \leq 12$ nuclei showed an unexpected nuclear dependence; $^{10}$B and $^{11}$B were measured to explore the EMC effect in this region in more detail. Results are presented for $^9$Be, $^{10}$B, $^{11}$B, and $^{12}$C at an incident beam energy of 10.6~GeV. The EMC effect in the boron isotopes was found to be similar to that for $^9$Be and $^{12}$C, yielding almost no nuclear dependence in the EMC effect in the range $A=4-12$. This represents important, new data supporting the hypothesis that the EMC effect depends primarily on the local nuclear environment due to the cluster structure of these nuclei.Comment: Submitted to PR