Protocol for a parallel group, two-arm, superiority cluster randomised trial to evaluate a community-level complementary-food safety and hygiene and nutrition intervention in Mali:the MaaCiwara study (version 1.3; 10 November 2022)

BACKGROUND: Diarrhoeal disease remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality among the under-fives in many low- and middle-income countries. Changes to food safety practices and feeding methods around the weaning period, alongside improved nutrition, may significantly reduce the risk of disease and improve development for infants. We describe a protocol for a cluster randomised trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a multi-faceted community-based educational intervention that aims to improve food safety and hygiene behaviours and enhance child nutrition. METHODS: We describe a mixed-methods, parallel group, two-arm, superiority cluster randomised controlled trial with baseline measures. One hundred twenty clusters comprising small urban and rural communities will be recruited in equal numbers and randomly allocated in a 1:1 ratio to either treatment or control arms. The community intervention will be focussed around an ideal mother concept involving all community members during campaign days with dramatic arts and pledging, and follow-up home visits. Participants will be mother–child dyads (27 per cluster period) with children aged 6 to 36 months. Data collection will comprise a day of observation and interviews with each participating mother–child pair and will take place at baseline and 4 and 15 months post-intervention. The primary analysis will estimate the effectiveness of the intervention on changes to complementary-food safety and preparation behaviours, food and water contamination, and diarrhoea. Secondary outcomes include maternal autonomy, enteric infection, nutrition, child anthropometry, and development scores. A additional structural equation analysis will be conducted to examine the causal relationships between the different outcomes. Qualitative and health economic analyses including process evaluation will be done. CONCLUSIONS: The trial will provide evidence on the effectiveness of community-based behavioural change interventions designed to reduce the burden of diarrhoeal disease in the under-fives and how effectiveness varies across different contexts. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN14390796. Registration date December 13, 2021 SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13063-022-06984-5

A Review of Minority Stress Related to Employees' Demographics and the Development of an Intersectional Framework for Their Coping Strategies in the Workplace

Every employee embodies manifestations of every demographic that attach to him or her different minority and majority statuses at the same time. As these statuses are often related to organizational hierarchies, employees frequently hold positions of dominance and subordination at the same time. Thus, a given individual's coping strategies (or coping behavior) in terms of minority stress due to organizational processes of hierarchization, marginalization and discrimination, are very often a simultaneous coping in terms of more than one demographic. Research on minority stress mostly focuses on single demographics representing only single facets of workforce diversity. By integrating the demographics of age, disability status, nationality, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, and religion into one framework, the intersectional model proposed in this article broadens the perspective on minorities and related minority stress in the workplace. It is shown that coping with minority stress because of one demographic must always be interpreted in relation to the other demographics. The manifestation of one demographic can limit or broaden one's coping resources for coping with minority stress because of another dimension. Thus the manifestation of one demographic can determine the coping opportunities and coping behavior one applies to situations because of the minority status of another demographic. This coping behavior can include disclosure decisions about invisible demographics. Therefore organizational interventions aiming to create a supportive workplace environment and equal opportunities for every employee (e.g. diversity management approaches) should include more demographics instead of focusing only on few. (author's abstract

Catalytic Transformations of Alkynes via Ruthenium Vinylidene and Allenylidene Intermediates

NOTICE: This is the peer reviewed version of the following book chapter: Varela J. A., González-Rodríguez C., Saá C. (2014). Catalytic Transformations of Alkynes via Ruthenium Vinylidene and Allenylidene Intermediates. In: Dixneuf P., Bruneau C. (eds) Ruthenium in Catalysis. Topics in Organometallic Chemistry, vol 48, pp. 237-287. Springer, Cham. [doi: 10.1007/3418_2014_81]. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Springer Verlag Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.Vinylidenes are high-energy tautomers of terminal alkynes and they can be stabilized by coordination with transition metals. The resulting metal-vinylidene species have interesting chemical properties that make their reactivity different to that of the free and metal π-coordinated alkynes: the carbon α to the metal is electrophilic whereas the β carbon is nucleophilic. Ruthenium is one of the most commonly used transition metals to stabilize vinylidenes and the resulting species can undergo a range of useful transformations. The most remarkable transformations are the regioselective anti-Markovnikov addition of different nucleophiles to catalytic ruthenium vinylidenes and the participation of the π system of catalytic ruthenium vinylidenes in pericyclic reactions. Ruthenium vinylidenes have also been employed as precatalysts in ring closing metathesis (RCM) or ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP). Allenylidenes could be considered as divalent radicals derived from allenes. In a similar way to vinylidenes, allenylidenes can be stabilized by coordination with transition metals and again ruthenium is one of the most widely used metals. Metalallenylidene complexes can be easily obtained from terminal propargylic alcohols by dehydration of the initially formed metal-hydroxyvinylidenes, in which the reactivity of these metal complexes is based on the electrophilic nature of Cα and Cγ, while Cβ is nucleophilic. Catalytic processes based on nucleophilic additions and pericyclic reactions involving the π system of ruthenium allenylidenes afford interesting new structures with high selectivity and atom economy

Effect of Farmyard Manure (FYM) and Zinc Fertilizer Application on Yield Parameters of Common Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Grown on Sandy-clay Loam of Borno State, Nigeria

A Screen House experiment was carried out in University of Maiduguri to study the effects of Farmyard Manure (FYM) and Zinc fertilizer rates on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grain yield, 1000 grain weight, total dry matter weigh and HI on Sandy Clay-loam soil with location; Latitude (11.923100 ON and 11.919042 ON) and Longitude (13.228927 OE and 13.221758 OE) of Jere Local Government Area, Borno state, Nigeria. The study was set out in CRD with 3 replications. Composite 10 kg soil was weighed into 36 pots and treatments applied. Reyna 28 wheat seed obtained from Lake Chad Research Institute (LCRI) Maiduguri was used for the pot experiment. Six (6) wheat seedlings were allowed to grow to maturity from each pot. The pots were kept clean from weeds. Results obtained showed improved wheat yield with 5t/ha FYM + 5ppm Zn and 10t/ha FYM + 0 ppm Zn fertilizer rates leading the best yield for wheat grain and TDMW. 1000 grain weight and harvest index were also significantly increased with FYM and Zn fertilizer application. It was concluded that application of FYM and Zn fertilizer had increased wheat grain and TDMW yield as well as 1000 grain weight and harvest index

Unique factors of best value procurement from the perspective of Nigerian construction professionals

The construction industry is vital to the economic development of any country. It has a major role in providing built infrastructures in an innovative and cost-effective way using an effective procurement approach. In contrast, the most widely used procurement method in Nigeria is the traditional procurement approach which is known for plaguing the industry with the poor working condition and poor performances thus, reducing the sustainability and quality of products and services. For this reason, there is a need for a procurement approach which utilises expertise to minimise the risk of non-performance and create a win-win environment for both client and contractors, while increasing transparency and add value to the project such like, the Best Value Procurement. Against the background, this paper aims to establish the perception of the Nigerian construction professionals on the unique factors of the Best Value Procurement. The paper outlines the following objectives: To identify the unique factors of the Best Value Procurement and, to establish the perception of the Nigerian construction professionals on the Best Value Procurement unique factors. Using a questionnaire survey, data was collected form 314 construction professionals involving Quantity Surveyors, Architects, Builders and Civil Engineers. Kruskal Wallis Test and mean score ranking was used for data analysis. The findings show that the professionals generally agree that the Best Value Procurement unique factors can bring about transparency, accountability, increase project performance and the contractor is the best to control risk and adds value to the project. This paper derives its significance from the need to stabilise the procurement system in Nigeria by transferring the risk and control to contractors who must act in the best interest of the client