Assessment of perception and knowledge of occupational chemical hazards, in the Kumasi metropolitan spray painting industry, Ghana

The hazardous particulates or vapours found in informal small scale auto body and furniture manufacturing industries come from the solvent, lacquer, paint and hardener systems used in the spray painting processes. The health implications of workers’ exposure in this industry arewell established. The purpose of the study was to assess the occupational chemical hazards perceptions, safety practices and their enforcement in the Kumasi Metropolitan automobile, furniture and coffin spray painting industry. One hundred and fifty (150) randomly sampled paintsprayers at eighty-three (83) spraying workshops in nine (9) suburbs in Kumasi Metropolitan Area were selected for the study. A combination of questionnaires and purposive interviews were used to collect data for analysis. There was high level of self-reported exposure to sprayingfumes, because only 0.7 percent of respondents reported always using the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), during the spray painting process. Virtually all the workers were aware of the manifest health hazards; coughing, throat irritation, headache and breathing problembut did not know the extent to which these hazards could be dangerous to their health. Respondents rated Law enforcement concerning safety practices as low; EPA and DFI officials attributed this to lack of adequate logistics and personnel to carry out the task effectively. Lack of Chemical education and enforcement of safety practices in the metropolis are major contributing factors of the occupational chemical hazard exposure in the paint spraying industry. Mandatory training for initial certification to work and operate a paint spraying workshop and refresher training every two years by the government is therefore recommended

The Structure Of Labour Market And Demand For Hired Labour For Oil Palm Production In The Western Region Of Ghana

The study uses cross sectional data from randomly selected oil palm famers to describe the struc-ture of the labour market and estimate the factors which influence oil palm farmers’ demand for hired labour in the Western Region. Descriptive statistics and the ordinary least square regres-sion techniques have been applied in the analysis. The results suggest that the structure of la-bour for oil palm production typifies a small-scale agricultural production, with some farmers using contract labour (14 percent), salaried labour (11 percent) and fertilizer (30 percent) in production. The estimated regression results show that the value of investment in other inputs (e.g. fertilizer), village wage rate, size of oil palm farm and higher educational attainment have significant and positive influences on oil palm farmers’ demand for hired labour. The distance of the farm from home has a negative and significant influence. The estimated hired labour de-mand elasticities for farm size, value of other inputs, village wage rate and distance are inelastic. It is noted that issues on labour requirement of farmers should be based on economic considera-tions such as the structure of labour of the farmers, farm size, village wage rate and cost of other productive inputs. For oil palm production, carrying of fresh fruit bunches and slashing are two main activities that could be mechanized, but may lead to retrenchment of female and male hired labour, respectively.Keywords: structure of labour, hired labour, oil palm production, demand elasticitie

Resource Allocation Algorithm for MU-MIMO Systems with Double-Objective Optimization under the Existence of the Rank Deficient Channel Matrix

© 2013 IEEE. This paper proposes a double-objective optimization resource allocation algorithm for the multi-user multiple-input/multiple-output (MU-MIMO) system in the general wireless environment and demonstrates the maximum number of simultaneously supportable users and the achievable bit rates of users in the general wireless environment with full rank and rank-deficient channels. The double-objective joint optimization algorithm proposed in this paper simultaneously optimizes energy efficiency and system throughput by user selection and power allocation. On this basis, the proposed algorithm guarantees the different QoS requirements of various services, including rate requirements and delay requirements

Impurity incorporation in solution crystallization: diagnosis, prevention, and control

Despite their widespread use for purification, our current methods for the development of solution crystallization processes lack a sufficient understanding on how impurities incorporate in growing crystals. This is, in part, due to the large number of mechanisms often encountered for impurity incorporation, and due to limitations in our methods for diagnosis of those mechanisms. These limitations propagate into largely empirical process development strategies, which are still based on trial and error and centered on solvent selection. This manuscript highlights recent developments in the diagnosis, prevention, and control of impurity incorporation during batch and continuous crystallization. The goal is to provide process development scientists with an updated toolkit for understanding how specific impurities are retained in the solid product, and to review recent prevention and control strategies that may be used to improve crystal purity in industrial crystallization processes

Resonances in nitrobenzene probed by the electron attachment to neutral and by the photodetachment from anion

We probe resonances (transient anions) in nitrobenzene with the focus on the electron emission from these. Experimentally, we populate resonances in two ways: either by the impact of free electrons on the neutral molecule or by the photoexcitation of the bound molecular anion. These two excitation means lead to transient anions in different initial geometries. In both cases, the anions decay by electron emission and we record the electron spectra. Several types of emission are recognized, differing by the way in which the resulting molecule is vibrationally excited. In the excitation of specific vibrational modes, distinctly different modes are visible in electron collision and photodetachment experiments. The unspecific vibrational excitation, which leads to the emission of thermal electrons following the internal vibrational redistribution, shows similar features in both experiments. A model for the thermal emission based on a detailed balance principle agrees with the experimental findings very well. Finally, a similar behavior in the two experiments is also observed for a third type of electron emission, the vibrational autodetachment, which yields electrons with constant final energies over a broad range of excitation energies. The entrance channels for the vibrational autodetachment are examined in detail, and they point to a new mechanism involving a reverse valence to non-valence internal conversion

The Costs of Implementing Vaccination With the RTS,S Malaria Vaccine in Five Sub-Saharan African Countries.

Background. The World Health Organization has recommended pilot implementation of a candidate vaccine against malaria (RTS,S/AS01) in selected sub-Saharan African countries. This exploratory study aimed to estimate the costs of implementing RTS,S in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, and Tanzania. Methods. Key informants of the expanded program on immunization at all levels in each country were interviewed on the resources required for implementing RTS,S for routine vaccination. Unit prices were derived from the same sources or from international price lists. Incremental costs in 2015 US dollars were aggregated per fully vaccinated child (FVC). It was assumed the four vaccine doses were either all delivered at health facilities or the fourth dose was delivered in an outreach setting. Results. The costs per FVC ranged from US$25 (Burkina Faso) to US$37 (Kenya) assuming a vaccine price of US$5 per dose. Across countries, recurrent costs represented the largest share dominated by vaccines (including wastage) and supply costs. Non-recurrent costs varied substantially across countries, mainly because of differences in needs for hiring personnel, in wages, in cold-room space, and equipment. Recent vaccine introductions in the countries may have had an impact on resource availability for a new vaccine implementation. Delivering the fourth dose in outreach settings raised the costs, mostly fuel, per FVC by less than US$1 regardless of the country. Conclusions. This study provides relevant information for donors and decision makers about the cost of implementing RTS,S. Variations within and across countries are important and the unknown future price per dose and wastage rate for this candidate vaccine adds substantially to the uncertainty about the actual costs of implementation

Leukocyte counts in urine reflect the risk of concomitant sepsis in bacteriuric infants: A retrospective cohort study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>When urine infections are missed in febrile young infants with normal urinalysis, clinicians may worry about the risk – hitherto unverified – of concomitant invasion of blood and cerebrospinal fluid by uropathogens. In this study, we determine the extent of this risk.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In a retrospective cohort study of febrile 0–89 day old infants evaluated for sepsis in an urban academic pediatric emergency department (1993–1999), we estimated rates of bacteriuric sepsis (urinary tract infections complicated by sepsis) after stratifying infants by urine leukocyte counts higher, or lower than 10 cells/hpf. We compared the global accuracy of leukocytes in urine, leukocytes in peripheral blood, body temperature, and age for predicting bacteruric sepsis. The global accuracy of each test was estimated by calculating the area under its receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Chi-square and Fisher exact tests compared count data. Medians for data not normally distributed were compared by the Kruskal-Wallis test.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Two thousand two hundred forty-nine young infants had a normal screening dipstick. None of these developed bacteremia or meningitis despite positive urine culture in 41 (1.8%). Of 1516 additional urine specimens sent for formal urinalysis, 1279 had 0–9 leukocytes/hpf. Urine pathogens were isolated less commonly (6% vs. 76%) and at lower concentrations in infants with few, compared to many urine leukocytes. Urine leukocytes (AUC: 0.94) were the most accurate predictors of bacteruric sepsis. Infants with urinary leukocytes < 10 cells/hpf were significantly less likely (0%; CI:0–0.3%) than those with higher leukocyte counts (5%; CI:2.6–8.7%) to have urinary tract infections complicated by bacteremia (N = 11) or bacterial meningitis (N = 1) – relative risk, 0 (CI:0–0.06) [RR, 0 (CI: 0–0.02), when including infants with negative dipstick]. Bands in peripheral blood had modest value for detecting bacteriuric sepsis (AUC: 0.78). Cases of sepsis without concomitant bacteriuria were comparatively rare (0.8%) and equally common in febrile young infants with low and high concentrations of urine leukocytes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In young infants evaluated for fever, leukocytes in urine reflect the likelihood of bacteriuric sepsis. Infants with urinary tract infections missed because of few leukocytes in urine are at relatively low risk of invasive bacterial sepsis by pathogens isolated from urine.</p

TIME Impact - a new user-friendly tuberculosis (TB) model to inform TB policy decisions.

Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death from infectious disease worldwide, predominantly affecting low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where resources are limited. As such, countries need to be able to choose the most efficient interventions for their respective setting. Mathematical models can be valuable tools to inform rational policy decisions and improve resource allocation, but are often unavailable or inaccessible for LMICs, particularly in TB. We developed TIME Impact, a user-friendly TB model that enables local capacity building and strengthens country-specific policy discussions to inform support funding applications at the (sub-)national level (e.g. Ministry of Finance) or to international donors (e.g. the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria).TIME Impact is an epidemiological transmission model nested in TIME, a set of TB modelling tools available for free download within the widely-used Spectrum software. The TIME Impact model reflects key aspects of the natural history of TB, with additional structure for HIV/ART, drug resistance, treatment history and age. TIME Impact enables national TB programmes (NTPs) and other TB policymakers to better understand their own TB epidemic, plan their response, apply for funding and evaluate the implementation of the response.The explicit aim of TIME Impact's user-friendly interface is to enable training of local and international TB experts towards independent use. During application of TIME Impact, close involvement of the NTPs and other local partners also builds critical understanding of the modelling methods, assumptions and limitations inherent to modelling. This is essential to generate broad country-level ownership of the modelling data inputs and results. In turn, it stimulates discussions and a review of the current evidence and assumptions, strengthening the decision-making process in general.TIME Impact has been effectively applied in a variety of settings. In South Africa, it informed the first South African HIV and TB Investment Cases and successfully leveraged additional resources from the National Treasury at a time of austerity. In Ghana, a long-term TIME model-centred interaction with the NTP provided new insights into the local epidemiology and guided resource allocation decisions to improve impact