The Role of Training Programs in the Sustainability of Potable Water Projects

In rural regions around the world, 1.7 billion people rely on public taps, hand-pumps, protected wells, protected springs, and rainwater for clean drinking water. Up to the present, there has been little focus on how training programs in communities receiving the water points fit into the overall picture of sustainability. Many factors of sustainability such as financial management and operation, and governance of the water point are dependent on human skill, which are often first exposed to a community through training programs. To understand better how trainings affect the sustainability of water points, I sent surveys to personnel from NGOs who have worked as trainers in water development projects in Senegal, Malawi, Honduras, and India. I also conducted surveys and focus groups with NGO personnel and the community members who went through their trainings in three villages in Senegal. I then compared perspectives of trainers and community members using Grounded Theory, facilitated by using Nvivo 10. The results of all four countries' results from NGO personnel showed that the central themes found in responses were management, community, knowledge, NGO and community relations, and the trainer-learner relationship. Comparing the central themes of the trainers and learners in Senegal, the two groups' responses showed that mutually tied themes were knowledge, management, mechanical, and profits/finances. In order to improve training to make water points more sustainable, I recommend that NGOs consider how people trained will relate to the rest of the community, and furthermore, see how the trainings and information learned will function in the community after the NGO leaves the community

A study of the effectiveness of a phonetic and activity approach to the teaching of spelling in grade four,

Includes appendices. Thesis (M.A.)--Boston Universit

Organic pest control: Two years experience in a commercial apple orchard

An orchard under an organic control program was studied for the incidence of pests during 2 years. Sex pheromone traps were used to control codling moths, Laspeyresia pomonilla (Linnaeus), by removing males. The only pesticides used in the orchard were petroleum oil at the delayed dormant period to suppress the overwintering eggs of the European red mite, Panonychus ulmi (Koch); and Bacillus thuriengiensis to control leafrollers, Archips argyrospilus (Walker), and Archips rosanus (Linnaeus). Leaf and fruit samples were taken for all the major pests which attack apples but the only pests which required treatment were the white apple leafhopper, Typhlocyba pomaria McAtee in 1977 and the codling moth in 1978. The failure to control codling moth may result in the curtailment of the organic program unless supplemental controls can be found

AIPvariant causing familial prolactinoma

Pathogenic variants in the aryl hydrocarbon receptor-interacting protein (AIP) gene are increasingly recognised as a cause of familial isolated pituitary adenoma. AIP-associated tumours are most commonly growth hormone (GH) producing. In our cohort of 175 AIP mutation positive patients representing 93 kindreds, 139 (79%) have GH excess, 19 have prolactinoma (17 familial and 2 sporadic cases) and out of the 17 clinically non-functioning tumours 4 were subsequently operated and found to be GH or GH & prolactin immunopositive adenoma. Here we report a family with an AIP variant, in which multiple family members are affected by prolactinoma, but none with GH excess. To our knowledge this is the first reported family with an AIP pathogenic variant to be affected solely by prolactinoma. These data suggest that prolactinoma families represent a small subset of AIP mutation positive kindreds, and similar to young-onset sporadic prolactinomas, AIP screening would be indicated

Postural assessment of patients with non-conventional knee endoprosthesis

Objective:To investigate the correlation between the sagittal and frontal alignment and possible postural asymmetries found in patients submitted to total knee stent placement for osteosarcoma.Methods:Twenty two individuals were divided into two groups according to tumor location: femur group (13 patients) and tibia group (nine patients), who were evaluated through postural analysis software (SAPO).Results:No statistically significant difference was found between groups, supporting previous result showing that both groups present the same postural asymmetries.Conclusion:We conclude that both groups have the same postural imbalances, especially the knee of the affected limb that presents hyperextension and center of gravity shifted anteriorly and laterally to the non-affected limb, indicating changes in weight bearing and influencing the gait pattern and balance. Level of Evidence II, Prospective Comparative Study.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Instituto de Oncologia PediátricaUNIFESP, Instituto de Oncologia PediátricaSciEL

O18O and C18O observations of rho Oph A

Observations of the (N_J=1_1-1_0) ground state transition of O_2 with the Odin satellite resulted in a about 5 sigma detection toward the dense core rho Oph A. At the frequency of the line, 119 GHz, the Odin telescope has a beam width of 10', larger than the size of the dense core, so that the precise nature of the emitting source and its exact location and extent are unknown. The current investigation is intended to remedy this. Telluric absorption makes ground based O_2 observations essentially impossible and observations had to be done from space. mm-wave telescopes on space platforms were necessarily small, which resulted in large, several arcminutes wide, beam patterns. Although the Earth's atmosphere is entirely opaque to low-lying O_2 transitions, it allows ground based observations of the much rarer O18O in favourable conditions and at much higher angular resolution with larger telescopes. In addition, rho Oph A exhibits both multiple radial velocity systems and considerable velocity gradients. Extensive mapping of the region in the proxy C18O (J=3-2) line can be expected to help identify the O_2 source on the basis of its line shape and Doppler velocity. Line opacities were determined from observations of optically thin 13C18O (J=3-2) at selected positions. During several observing periods, two C18O intensity maxima in rho Oph A were searched for in the 16O18O (2_1-0_1) line at 234 GHz with the 12m APEX telescope. Our observations resulted in an upper limit on the integrated O18O intensity of < 0.01 K km/s (3 sigma) into the 26.5" beam. We conclude that the source of observed O_2 emission is most likely confined to the central regions of the rho Oph A cloud. In this limited area, implied O_2 abundances could thus be higher than previously reported, by up to two orders of magnitude.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures (5 colour), Astronomy & Astrophysic

Mechanisms of Adaptation from a Multiple to a Single Step Recovery Strategy following Repeated Exposure to Forward Loss of Balance in Older Adults

When released from an initial, static, forward lean angle and instructed to recover with a single step, some older adults are able to meet the task requirements, whereas others either stumble or fall. The purpose of the present study was to use the concept of margin of stability (MoS) to investigate balance recovery responses in the anterior-posterior direction exhibited by older single steppers, multiple steppers and those that are able to adapt from multiple to single steps following exposure to repeated forward loss of balance. One hundred and fifty-one healthy, community dwelling, older adults, aged 65–80 years, participated in the study. Participants performed four trials of the balance recovery task from each of three initial lean angles. Balance recovery responses in the anterior-posterior direction were quantified at three events; cable release (CR), toe-off (TO) and foot contact (FC), for trials performed at the intermediate lean angle. MoS was computed as the anterior-posterior distance between the forward boundary of the Base of Support (BoS) and the vertical projection of the velocity adjusted centre of mass position (XCoM). Approximately one-third of participants adapted from a multiple to a single step recovery strategy following repeated exposure to the task. MoS at FC for the single and multiple step trials in the adaptation group were intermediate between the exclusively single step group and the exclusively multiple step group, with the single step trials having a significant, 3.7 times higher MoS at FC than the multiple step trials. Consistent with differences between single and multiple steppers, adaptation from multiple to single steps was attributed to an increased BoS at FC, a reduced XCoM at FC and an increased rate of BoS displacement from TO to FC. Adaptations occurred within a single test session and suggest older adults that are close to the threshold of successful recovery can rapidly improve dynamic stability following repeated exposure to a forward loss of balance