Poor Slaughterhouse Waste Management: Empirical Evidences from Nigeria and Implications on Achieving Millennium Development Goals

The compounding contribution of slaughterhouse wastes to waste management problems in developing countries is likely to continue into the future considering the growing quest for animal protein. Adequate knowledge and practice of waste management among slaughterhouse workers can help limit the associated effects of poor disposal on access to safe water, environmental sustainability and quality of life which are core areas of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Data on knowledge, attitudes and practices of waste management of 390 randomly selected slaughterhouse workers in Nigeria were collected and analyzed using multiple regression statistics. The results reveal that the majority of the respondents had poor attitudes (75.6%) and practices (97.4%) of proper waste management, though 51.5% demonstrated good knowledge. While 51.3% knew that slaughterhouse wastes are related to diseases, 75.4% were unconcerned that poor management could be major public health and environmental hazards and 74.4% discharged slaughterhouse wastewater into surrounding streams. Gender, education and work experience were significantly associated with good knowledge (p <0.05). These poor attitudes and practices have negative implications on environmental health conditions, access to safe water and quality of life. Therefore, addressing poor slaughterhouse waste management issues in developing countriesbecomes imperative to making achieving the MDGs a reality.Key words: Environment, Health, Slaughterhouse waste, Millennium Development Goals, Nigeri

What Happens in Project-based Learning?

There is an accumulating literature over the last decade on collaborative learning in various types of settings, from more focussed learning tasks to open enquiry to problem-based projects. Project-based teamwork was valued as students were required to work together for knowledge sharing, knowledge building and problem-solving, and thus provide them with opportunities to be acculturated as members of a knowledge community. Over the last couple of years, it has also become extremely popular in Hong Kong schools to assign group projects to students. This was often justified on the grounds that project work promotes the information retrieval and self-directed learning abilities of students; collaborative learning is good and students should learn to collaborate with each other. However, as a pedagogical strategy, very little is known about the actual impact of group projects on learning in Hong Kong and whether the assumed advantages and expected learning outcomes do come about. Is group-based projects the panacea for the evils of teacher-centred delivery? This paper explores the question “what happens in project-based learning?” based on the observations made during the SLITS (Self-directed Learning with Information Technology Scheme) project. The project involved 40 groups of students working on projects of their own choice, each group being facilitated by a teacher. There were several key findings from this study: 1. Participation in such a project may not necessarily lead to deep learning; 2. Learning to collaborate in a group is in itself an important part of the problem-solving process; 3. There are different models of collaboration and only those models which engage the students continuously in interactive decision making during the learning process would lead to collaborative knowledge building; 4. Effective collaboration is in itself crucial for sustaining motivation and interest in the learning process; and 5. Facilitation is required for guiding both the collaborative as well as the enquiry processes. This paper will report on these findings as well as describe the key features of good collaboration and good facilitation identified through the study.published_or_final_versionCentre for Information Technology in Education, University of Hong Kon

Development of a new curriculum in a positive youth development program: The project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong

The design of a new curriculum in a positive youth development program (Project P.A.T.H.S.) in Hong Kong is outlined. The Tier 1 Program of the original phase of the Project P.A.T.H.S. is a universal positive youth development program for students in Secondary 1 to Secondary 3 with the curricula developed by a research team comprising scholars in different disciplines (e.g., social work, psychology, and education). The 120 teaching units are designed with reference to 15 positive youth development constructs identified in the successful positive youth development programs. In the extension phase of the project, a new curriculum with 60 teaching units is developed in accordance with these 15 constructs with specific reference to five major adolescent developmental issues. These issues include substance abuse, sexuality issue, Internet addiction, bullying, and money and success issues. The principles underlying the program development and implementation strategies are outlined. Copyright © 2011 Daniel T. L. Shek et al.published_or_final_versio

Effect of pre-treatment on fouling propensity of feed as depicted by the modified fouling index (MFI) and cross-flow sampler-modified fouling index (CFS-MFI)

The effectiveness of different pretreatment on the fouling propensity of the feed was studied using synthetic wastewater. The fouling potential of the feed was characterized by the standard modified fouling index (MFI) and cross-flow sampler modified fouling index (CFS-MFI). In CFS-MFI, a cross-flow sampler was used to simulate the condition of a cross-flow filtration. The results indicated that the pretreatment such as flocculation with an optimum dose of 68 mg/l FeCl3 substantially reduced the fouling propensity of the feed. The standard MFI of flocculated wastewater was reduced by around 99% compared to that of the untreated wastewater. Similarly, the adsorption with powdered activated carbon (PAC) of 1 g/l reduced the standard MFI value to more than 99% compared to that of the untreated wastewater. The CFS-MFI values were lower than the standard MFI values for both treated and untreated wastewater, suggesting that the standard MFI was overestimated. The overestimation of the standard MFI compared to that of the CFS-MFI value was more than 99%. The effect of molecular weight distribution (MWD) of the foulants in the wastewater on the fouling propensity of the feed was investigated. The MWD was correlated with the MFI and CFS-MFI indices. It yielded useful insights in understanding the effect of MW on MFI and CFS-MFI and fouling propensity of the feed. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Extrinsic information modification in the turbo decoder by exploiting source redundancies for HEVC video transmitted over a mobile channel

An iterative turbo decoder-based cross layer error recovery scheme for compressed video is presented in this paper. The soft information exchanged between two convolutional decoders is reinforced both by channel coded parity and video compression syntactical information. An algorithm to identify the video frame boundaries in corrupted compressed sequences is formulated. This paper continues to propose algorithms to deduce the correct values for selected fields in the compressed stream. Modifying the turbo extrinsic information using these corrections acts as reinforcements in the turbo decoding iterative process. The optimal number of turbo iterations suitable for the proposed system model is derived using EXIT charts. Simulation results reveal that a transmission power saving of 2.28% can be achieved using the proposed methodology. Contrary to typical joint cross layer decoding schemes, the additional resource requirement is minimal, since the proposed decoding cycle does not involve the decompression function

Trehalose, an mTOR Independent Autophagy Inducer, Alleviates Human Podocyte Injury after Puromycin Aminonucleoside Treatment

published_or_final_versio

The effects of pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG) injection a day prior or at controlled intravaginal drug-releasing (CIDR) removal on multiple births in Afshari ewes

According to the importance of lambing rate to profitability of sheep holders, this trial investigated the effects of pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG) injection a day prior or at controlled intravaginal drug-releasing device (CIDR) removal on multiple births in synchronized Afshari ewes. 16 cycling, multiparous fat-tailed Iranian Afshari ewes, weighing 66.5±2.5 kg, were used in the trial. The ewes were randomly allocated in equal numbers (n = 8) to two treatment groups. The estrous cycles were synchronized using CIDR’s inserted for a period of 14 days. In a group (PMSG/ d -1) of ewes, PMSG (300 IU) intramuscularly (IM) was injected a day (day = -1) prior to CIDR removal (day 0 = day of CIDR removal) and another group (PMSG/ d 0) received PMSG at CIDR removal (day 0). 48 following CIDR removal (day 1), GnRH (50 μg) was administered to half of each group of ewes and ewes were mated with the proven rams. Ovarian follicular activity was monitored with the aid of transrectal ultrasonograpy: on the day of CIDR removal (day 0) and a day later (at estrus, day 1). Pregnancy was diagnosed with the aid of transabdominal ultrasonograpy 30 days after mating. Following PMSG (day  = -1) treatment, the mean number of large follicles on both ovaries increased from CIDR removal to estrus (1.50±0.61 vs. 2.78±0.69) (P < 0.05). Lambing rate in PMSG/ d -1+GnRH, PMSG/ d -1 noGnRH, PMSG/ d0+GnRH and PMSG/ d0 noGnRH groups was 175, 125, 175 and 150% respectively. The results show that PMSG injection a day prior or at CIDR removal, caused large follicles development, but no significant difference was seen between the two treatment lambing rates and also, the lambing rate increased in group treated with GnRH.Key words: Pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG), gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), Afshari ewes, lambing

Subjective outcome evaluation of a positive youth development program in Hong Kong : profiles and correlates

2009-2010 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Editorial: Evaluation of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong : are the findings replicable across different populations?

2009-2010 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

A timely computer-aided detection system for acute ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke on CT in an emergency environment

Standalone Presentations: no. LL-IN1105BACKGROUND: When a patient is accepted in the emergency room suspected of stroke, time is of the most importance. The infarct brain area suffers irreparable damage as soon as three hours after the onset of stroke symptoms. Non-contrast CT scan is the standard first line of investigation used to identify hemorrhagic stroke cases. However, CT brain images do not show hyperacute ischemia and small hemorrhage clearly and thus may be missed by emergency physicians. We reported a timely computer-aided detection (CAD) system for small hemorrhages on CT that has been successfully developed as an aid to ER physicians to help improve detection for Acute Intracranial Hemorrhage (AIH). This CAD system has been enhanced for diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke in addition to hemorrhagic stroke, which becomes a more complete and clinically useful tool for assisting emergency physicians and radiologists. In the detection algorithm, brain matter is first segmented, realigned, and left-right brain symmetry is evaluated. As in the AIH system, the system confirms hemorrhagic stroke by detecting blood presence with anatomical and medical knowledge-based criteria. For detecting ischemia, signs such as regional hypodensity, blurring of grey and white matter differentiation, effacement of cerebral sulci, and hyperdensity in middle cerebral artery, are evaluated …published_or_final_versio