Parental Investment in Childhood and Later Adult Well-Being: Can More Involved Parents Offset the Effects of Socioeconomic Disadvantage?

Parental involvement in their children's lives can have a lasting impact on well-being. More involved parents convey to their children that they are interested in their development, and this in turn signals to the child that their future is valued. However, what happens in socio-economically disadvantaged homes? Can the social capital produced by greater parental involvement counteract some of the harmful effects of less financial capital? These questions are examined on the National Child Development Study; a longitudinal study of children born in Britain in 1958. Results on a sample of children raised in two parent families suggest that parental involvement does matter, but that it depends on when it and poverty are measured, as well as the type of involvement and the gender of the parent. Father interest in education has the strongest impact on earlier poverty, especially at age 11. Meanwhile, both father and mother interest in school at age 16 have the largest direct impact on education. The frequency of outings with mother at age 11 also has a larger direct impact on education than outings with father, however, neither compare with the reduction in the poverty effect as a result of father interest in school.parental involvement, socioeconomic disadvantage, social capital, education, National Child Development Study

Failure of pump systems operating in highly corrosive mine water at Otjihase mine

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Johannesburg, March 2018In the Namibian Otjihase underground mine, water is pumped from natural underground reservoirs to the surface using mild steel pumps that have cast iron valves and shaft sleeves coated with a Ni-Cr-Fe alloy. As these components failed very frequently in the highly corrosive mine water environment, it became necessary to provide recommendations for alternative pump materials. The Ni-Cr-Fe coated, carbon steel shaft sleeves were mechanically worn by abrasion in contact with debris trapped in packing glands. The highly corrosive mine water contained solid soil particles, which contributed to internal erosion-corrosion of the pump components. Once the protective coating was breached, the exposed steel corroded rapidly when reacting with the corrosive mine water, resulting in leakages. The main objective of this work was therefore to characterise the steel and cast iron components used in the pump system, determine methods to improve the tribocorrosion resistance of the pump components and recommend a hardfacing material with improved performance in the tribocorrosive mine environment. To simulate and study the synergistic effect of electrochemical and mechanical interaction between the pump components and highly corrosive mine water, the hardness and electrochemical response in synthetic mine water of the following proposed bulk materials were tested: Hastelloy G30, ULTIMET, Stellite 6B and ToughMet 3. Hastelloy G30 demonstrated good corrosion resistance, but had low hardness and poor abrasion resistance. ToughMet 3 had high hardness, but low corrosion resistance. As ULTIMET and Stellite 6B both had high hardness and good corrosion resistance, they were selected for further investigation to assess sliding abrasive wear and tribocorrosion behaviour in synthetic mine water. The possibility of enhancing the corrosion resistance of ULTIMET and Stellite 6 (not 6B) alloys as protective coatings by adding minor amounts of ruthenium was investigated. ULTIMET and Stellite 6 powders were each mixed with nominal 0.3 wt% Ru and nominal 0.6 wt% Ru additions. The powders with no Ru, nominal 0.3 wt% Ru and nominal 0.6 wt% Ru were then thermally sprayed by the high velocity oxy-fuel flame (HVOF) process onto a carbon steel substrate, and compared to a Cr2O3 coated steel as a benchmark. The powders and the coatings were characterised using optical and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Hardness, sliding abrasive wear, and corrosion and tribocorrosion behaviour of the coatings and the substrate in synthetic mine water were then determined. Comparison of the hardness showed that the nominal 0.3 wt% Ru ULTIMET coating had higher hardness than the same coatings with no Ru and nominal 0.6 wt% Ru, the nominal 0.6 wt% Ru Stellite 6 coating had the highest hardness and overall, the Stellite 6 coatings had higher hardness values than both ULTIMET and Cr2O3 coatings. At pH 6, the ULTIMET and Stellite 6 coatings with and without Ru additions had low corrosion current densities and consequently low corrosion rates in synthetic mine water. For the ULTIMET coatings, the corrosion rates decreased as the Ru content increased. The Stellite 6 coating had slightly lower corrosion current densities and corrosion rates than ULTIMET under all tested conditions. Stellite 6 coatings had lower abrasive wear rates at the tested loads than the other materials. The lowest abrasive wear rates were recorded with additions of nominal 0.3 wt% Ru (5 N), and nominal 0.6 wt% Ru (10 N). As expected, tribocorrosive wear rates increased with increasing load for all alloys. Ruthenium additions to ULTIMET and Stellite 6 coatings decreased the tribocorrosive wear rate. The best tribocorrosion resistance was achieved by the Stellite 6 coatings. Stellite 6B bulk samples and Stellite 6 coatings with Ru had higher hardnesses, lower corrosion rates, lower wear rates and lower tribocorrosion rates than the carbon steel substrate, Cr2O3 coating, and ULTIMET bulk material and coatings. Stellite 6 coating with nominal 0.6 wt% Ru exhibited lower corrosion rates at pH 6 and 3 than the ULTIMET coating. Therefore, the Stellite 6 coating were recommended for use in pump shaft sleeves and the Stellite 6B bulk alloy in valves at Otjihase Underground Mine. The cost saving for using the proposed alternative materials was calculated as US$ 8 546.68 (R 128 200.20) per year. This is a major economic incentive for Otjihase Underground Mine.MT 201

Management of Medical Wastes: Public Awareness and Associated Health Risks

A study was carried out in 49 institutions involved in the provision of health care services in Morogoro Municipality, Tanzania. The aim was to assess the common practices with respect to the management of medical waste. Awareness of workers in the institutions on the public and environmental health risks associated with improper management of medical waste was also assessed. The results showed that the most common types of wastes include sharps, waste blood and fluids, and anatomical and pathological wastes. About 91.8% of the facilities separated medical wastes depending on their types although 77.6% of the facilities did not treat the wastes before disposal. The commonest method for disposal of solid wastes was land filling (57.1%) while for liquid wastes; most facilities drained them into the municipal sewage system (85.7%). Large proportions of interviewed workers were aware of the environmental (59.2%) and public (69.4%) health risks caused by improper management of medical wastes although some of them violated the regulations related to waste management. It can be concluded from this study that although the generation of medical wastes is increasing, there is still lack of health education on proper methods for waste management among workers in health care institutions. This calls for the need of awareness programmes and enforcement of legislation on proper medical waste management in order to prevent hazards and risks to the public and environment.Keywords: medical wastes, environment, public healt

Keelekasutus Eesti mitmekeelses töökeskkonnas

http://www.ester.ee/record=b4599879*es

Further development of subsurface profiling and engineering geology software

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1998.Includes bibliographical references (p. 155-156).by Jennifer Susan Hango.M.S

Utility of medicines information leaflets in hypertensive care in a setting with low health literacy : a cross-sectional study

Introduction: Higher levels of health literacy improve utilization of health information, medication adherence and outcomes. Few studies evaluate the utility of medicines information in hypertensive care in settings with low health literacy. Aim: To determine the level of health literacy and utility of medicines information leaflets (MIL) among hypertensive patients in public health care in Namibia.Methods: A hospital-based survey among hypertensive patients receiving care at a referral hospital in Namibia from the 8th to 29thJune 2018. Patient’s health literacy and utility of MIL were assessed using three literacy tools and a survey questionnaire. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and qualitative thematic content analysis for factors associate with the utility of the MIL. Results: Of the 139 patients, 63% were female and the mean age was 45.7(range: 19.0-84.0) years. Over 85.6% had of low literacy skills (REALM score<44, i.e. unable to read simple health materials), 38.8% had positive SILS scores (≥2, require help to read medicines information) and 66.9% had inadequate skills for comprehension, appraisal and decision-making with regard to health information (HLSI-SF score <70%). The level of access to and utility of MIL were low, 32.4% and 34.6% respectively. The main factors associated with poor utility of the MIL were low patient health literacy, lack of guidelines on the use of MIL and MIL written in non-native languages. Conclusion: Low rates of health literacy and utility of MIL were observed among hypertensive patients in Namibia. The integration of health literacy programmes, and MIL guidelines are needed to promote utility of medicine information and improve medication adherence

Namibian Sign Language to English and Oshiwambo

A group of six deaf black Namibians worked with Gallaudet University linguists, Ruth Morgan and Scott Liddell, to make this dictionary.https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/oerbooks_namibiansign/1000/thumbnail.jp

Availability and use of long-acting insulin analogues including their biosimilars across Africa; findings and implications

Background: Prevalence rates of diabetes mellitus are growing across Africa with an appreciable number likely to be on insulin to manage their condition. This has significant implications on future morbidity and mortality exacerbated by high complication rates. Complication rates in patients requiring insulins are enhanced by hypoglycaemia. Long-acting insulin analogues were developed to reduce hypoglycaemia and improve patient compliance. However, they are typically appreciably more expensive than human and other insulins in Africa, and continuing controversies surrounding their benefits limits their listing on national essential medicine lists (EMLs). Biosimilars can reduce the prices long-acting insulin analogues. This needs assessing. Methods: Mixed methods approach including documentation of insulin utilisation patterns and prices among a range of African countries. In addition, input from senior level government, academic, and healthcare professionals from across Africa on the current situation with long-acting insulin analogues as well as potential changes needed to enhance future funding of long-acting analogue biosimilars. Results: There is variable listing of long-acting insulin analogues on national EMLs across Africa due to their high prices and issues of affordability. Even when listed, utilisation of long-acting insulin analogues is limited by similar issues including affordability. Appreciably lowering the prices of long-acting insulin analogues via biosimilars should enhance future listing on EMLs and use accompanied by educational and other initiatives. However, this will require increased competition to lower prices. Conclusion: There are concerns with value and funding of long-acting insulin analogues across Africa including biosimilars. A number of activities have been identified to improve future funding and listing on EMLs