Towards a historical ecology of intertidal foraging in the Mafia Archipelago: archaeomalacology and implications for marine resource management

Understanding the timing and nature of human influence on coastal and island ecosystems is becoming a central concern in archaeological research, particularly when investigated within a historical ecology framework. Unfortunately, the coast and islands of eastern Africa have not figured significantly within this growing body of literature, but are important given their historically contingent environmental, social, and political contexts, as well as the considerable threats now posed to marine ecosystems. Here, we begin developing a longer-term understanding of past marine resource use in the Mafia Archipelago (eastern Africa), an area of high ecological importance containing the Mafia Island Marine Park. Focusing on the comparatively less researched marine invertebrates provides a means for initiating discussion on potential past marine ecosystem structure, human foraging and environmental shifts, and the implications for contemporary marine resource management. The available evidence suggests that human-environment interactions over the last 2000 years were complex and dynamic; however, these data raise more questions than answers regarding the specific drivers of changes observed in the archaeomalacological record. This is encouraging as a baseline investigation and emphasizes the need for further engagement with historical ecology by a range of cognate disciplines to enhance our understanding of these complex issues

Determination of concentration of heavy metals in fish from sea port of Zanzibar by energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence (EDXRF)

Seafood is the major source of food for a large number of people residing in the coastal areas of Zanzibar. It has been reported that the seafood are a connecting link for the transfer of toxic heavy metals in human beings. The present study assessed the metal concentration upon sample species of fish along the coast Sea Port of Zanzibar. Fish samples (namely changu, sardine, baracout and tuna fish) were the ideal species for the assessment study on effects of heavy metal contamination in aquatic organisms. They were collected at the Sea Port and the concentrations of the assessed metals were determined using Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF). Concentrations of Fe, Pb, Cr, Ni, As, Cu and Zn were found to be higher in sardine whilst Hg was found to be higher in changu specie. Concentrations of Cd and Mn were found to be below the detection limits in all sample species but higher in mussels. Whereas Hg was only detected in changu species. Comparing the data from this study to data from other studies in other regions, the concentrations of Fe, Cr and As in different species of fishes collected was quite higher than the values reported in the literature. The results of this study indicated that As, Hg and Cr were higher in fish than WHO/FAO (2004).Keywords: EDXRF, X-Rays, Fish, Pollution studies, Environmen

Influence of Training, Experience, and Expertise on Quality of Financial Reporting in Dubai – Mediation of Adoption of International Public Sector Accounting Standards –IPSAS

This study aims to examine the influence of three factors that related to the individual work proficiency on the IPSAS adoption to improve the quality of financial reporting in the public sector of Dubai. The proposed conceptual framework has three independent variables; staff training, knowledge and experience, and availability of expertise; one mediating variable, IPSAS Adoption, to predict the quality of financial reporting. This study is deductive approach, and using quantitative methods. Population of the study is the accountants and internal auditors who are working in the periodic bookkeeping and financial statement reporting based on the IPSAS standards in any of the Dubai public organisations. The total possible respondents are 430 in all the 43 organisations. The target sample size is 203; however, final data size has 232 respondents. Data collection took place during June, July, and August 2022. The results revealed that the respondents’ opinion of all variables is positive agreement. Overall, two hypotheses are not accepted, related to the direct and indirect effect of knowledge and expertise on quality of financial reporting. The three variables have direct impact on the quality of financial reporting. Future studies can replicate the study in different contexts and can examine different dependent variables

Challenges for Malaria Elimination in Zanzibar: Pyrethroid Resistance in Malaria Vectors and Poor Performance of Long-Lasting Insecticide Nets.

Long-lasting insecticide treated nets (LLINs) and indoor residual house spraying (IRS) are the main interventions for the control of malaria vectors in Zanzibar. The aim of the present study was to assess the susceptibility status of malaria vectors against the insecticides used for LLINs and IRS and to determine the durability and efficacy of LLINs on the island. Mosquitoes were sampled from Pemba and Unguja islands in 2010--2011 for use in WHO susceptibility tests. One hundred and fifty LLINs were collected from households on Unguja, their physical state was recorded and then tested for efficacy as well as total insecticide content. Species identification revealed that over 90% of the Anopheles gambiae complex was An. arabiensis with a small number of An. gambiae s.s. and An. merus being present. Susceptibility tests showed that An. arabiensis on Pemba was resistant to the pyrethroids used for LLINs and IRS. Mosquitoes from Unguja Island, however, were fully susceptible to all pyrethroids tested. A physical examination of 150 LLINs showed that two thirds were damaged after only three years in use. All used nets had a significantly lower (p < 0.001) mean permethrin concentration of 791.6 mg/m2 compared with 944.2 mg/m2 for new ones. Their efficacy decreased significantly against both susceptible An. gambiae s.s. colony mosquitoes and wild-type mosquitoes from Pemba after just six washes (p < 0.001). The sustainability of the gains achieved in malaria control in Zanzibar is seriously threatened by the resistance of malaria vectors to pyrethroids and the short-lived efficacy of LLINs. This study has revealed that even in relatively well-resourced and logistically manageable places like Zanzibar, malaria elimination is going to be difficult to achieve with the current control measures

Nonclassicality of induced coherence witnessed by contextuality

Quantum indistinguishability by path identity generates a new way of optical coherence, called ``induced coherence". The phenomenon, originally uncovered by Zou, Wang, and Mandel's experiment, is an emerging notion in modern quantum experiments with a wide range of implications. However, there has been controversy over its true quantum nature and whether the result can be emulated with classical light. We design a suitable contextuality test that can determine the conditions under which the setting produces distinguishing quantum predictions that cannot be described classically, namely, via the noncontextual hidden variable model.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure

Site Diversity Technique Application on Rain Attenuation for Lagos

This paper studied the impact of site diversity (SD) as a fade mitigation technique on rain attenuation at 12 GHz for Lagos. SD is one of the most effective methods to overcome such large fades due to rain attenuation that takes advantage of the usually localized nature of intense rainfall by receiving the satellite downlink signal at two or more earth stations to minimize the prospect of potential diversity stations being simultaneously subjected to significant rain attenuation. One year (January to December 2011) hourly rain gauge data was sourced from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) for three sites (Ikeja, Ikorodu and Marina) in Lagos, Nigeria. Significant improvement in both performance and availability was observed with the application of SD technique; again, separation distance was seen to be responsible for this observed performance improvements

Yield of ultrasound guided FNAC in non resolving lung consolidation in teaching medical college hospital, Tirunelveli.

Pneumonia is a common respiratory disorder,which affects all age groups. It is the of leading cause of mortality especially among children and causing significant morbidity in adults if left untreated. It is leading cause of disability adjusted life years worldwide. Epidemiology of pneumonia differs among children and adults and so understanding causes and risk factors is very essential for proper diagnosis and treatment. Prevalence and incidence of pneumonia vary according to geographical distribution and seasonal pattern also. The burden of pneumonia is well illustrated by the quote of William Osler who described the disease as the CAPTAIN OF THE MEN OF DEATH

Investigating Rain Attenuation Models for Satellite Links in Tropical Nigeria

The analyses of rain models for satellite communication links of Ku and Ka bands in Lagos, Nigeria is the focus of this paper. The choice of these frequency bands was informed by the acknowledged fact that satellite signal fading and outages are predominant at those bands. The ITU-R P. 618-12 is the globally adopted prediction model; temperate, equatorial and tropical regions, inclusive. However, there was need to review the suitability of this model especially as it concerned equatorial and tropical stations. Rainfall data spanning a period of three years were collected from Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET). The ITU-R P. 618-12 model along with some renowned prediction models were analyzed and their performances with the locally recorded measurement data were compared to establish their suitability or otherwise. The results obtained suggested ITU-R P. 618-12 exhibited the overall best performance at 12 GHz while DAH showed best performance at 26 GHz, even as both models underestimated and overestimated the measurement at Ku and Ka bands respectively. Again, at both frequencies, SST presented the worst performances

APLIKASI METODE STEPPING-STONE UNTUK OPTIMASI PERENCANAAN BIAYA PADA SUATU PROYEK KONSTRUKSI (STUDI KASUS: PROYEK PEMELIHARAAN RUAS JALAN DI SENDUK, TINOOR, DAN RATAHAN)

Pengadaan material dalam rangka pelaksanaan suatu proyek lebih dipengaruhi oleh komponen biaya dan waktu dibanding dengan komponen mutunya. Efisiensi Biaya suatu proyek dalam hal pengadaan material, sangat dipengaruhi oleh perencanaan transportasi yang dilakukan. Hal ini disebabkan biaya kegiatan pendistribusian material ke lokasi proyek berhubungan langsung dengan transportasi yang sudah direncanakanOptimasi adalah suatu usaha untuk menentukan solusi yang terbaik dari sejumlah alternatif dengan berbagai kendala yang ada pada suatu model. Optimasi biaya dalam menyelesaikan suatu permasalahan merupakan solusi terbaik yang dapat dilakukan untuk memperoleh biaya termurah. Tujuan evaluasi ini adalah menentukan ada tidaknya rencana pengiriman yang lebih baik. Salah satu metode untuk menyelesaikan suatu model transportasi adalah metode Stepping-stoneUntuk menunjukkan penggunaan metode Stepping-Stone dapat digunakan dalam perencanaan biaya optimum pada proses pendistribusian bahan maka diaplikasikan pada tiga proyek pekerjaan jalan yaitu: Proyek Pemeliharaan Jalan Senduk, Kabupaten Minahasa Selatan; Proyek Pengaspalan Jalan Tinoor, Kabupaten Minahasa Induk, dan Proyek Pemeliharaan Jalan Pangu, Kabupaten Minahasa Tenggara.Dengan menggunakan Metode Stepping-Stone, maka didapat biaya optimum untuk proses distribusi material khususnya kerikil dengan total biaya sebesar Rp. 498.562.675,00. Biaya optimum diperoleh dari perencanaan distribusi material sebagai berikut: Untuk proyek ruas jalan Senduk, jumlah kebutuhan split 1-2 cm yaitu sebesar 319 m3 dan semuanya diambil dari Sumber Material Tateli. Untuk proyek ruas jalan Tinoor, jumlah kebutuhan split 1-2 cm yaitu sebesar 1275 m3 dan suplai diambil dari Sumber Material Kema sebesar 694 m3 dan Sumber Material Tateli sebesar 581 m3. Untuk proyek ruas jalan Pangu, jumlah kebutuhan split 1-2 cm yaitu sebesar 425 m3 dan suplai diambil dari Sumber Material Kema sebesar 156 m3 dan Sumber Material Kinilow sebesar 269 m3.Kata kunci : Stepping Stone, Cost, Supply, Deman