Assessment of Public Capital Expenditure Financing in Zanzibar

This study conducted an assessment of public capital expenditure financing in Zanzibar for the period from 1990/91 to 2019/20. Descriptive analysis was used to investigate the type of public capital expenditure undertakings by the RoGZ and major sources of capital expenditure financing while a chi-square test was used to assess performance of public capital expenditure financing in Zanzibar. Findings demonstrated that, development strategies (ZPRP and ZSGRP I-III) put into focus public capital expenditure financing in Zanzibar. It also revealed that, foreign fund and domestic revenue are the major sources of public capital expenditure financing in Zanzibar. The study concludes that Domestic Source, mostly represented by tax revenue in Zanzibar has significantly improved. However, donor funding still heavily dominated public capital expenditure financing in term of estimates. It is further, concluded that, performance of public capital expenditure financing in term of expected values and observed values was not good. Based on the study results, it is recommended that, there is a need for the RGoZ to strengthen its effort in the tax collection and ensure larger share of the tax collected is allocated for public capital expenditure financing in order to reduce over dependency on foreign source for financing capital expenditure in Zanzibar. Keywords: Public Capital Expenditure, Domestic revenue, Foreign revenue, Chi-square DOI: 10.7176/JESD/12-2-06 Publication date: January 31st 2021

Adoption Human Resource Management System (HRMS) in an Effort to Support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Manufacturing in Malaysia

Considering the need for small and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) to exchange real time information has grown as a result to the adoption of information technology ,moreover SMEs have to tap the power of IT and an adopt IT systems to stay competitive and customer oriented,towards achieving this goal this research project is initiated to design human resources management system (HRMS) Framework for SMEs manufacturing sectors in Malaysia, as a purpose of assisting the SMEs manufacturing to reduced total throughput time and overhead cost of manage the staff, This will materialize by the adopt of an human resources management system (HRMS) that focuses on streamlined work flow processes and improving productivity

Strategy Control effect on Project Success

Purpose: This study was done to examine the effect of Project Management (PM) and Strategy Control (SC) on Project Success (PS). Moreover, the paper established an explanation of how the project success can be enhanced by implementing strategy control and project management.Design/methodology/approach: a survey questionnaire design was developed to examine the model of the research. 157 respondents were collected from Sharjah Construction Companies and analyzed with SmartPLS and SPSS.Findings: Based on statistical analysis, results reported positive and significant effect of Strategy control and Project management on Project success was confirmed. Practical implications: The study introduces a framework to align project management with business strategy. It will also help stakeholder, managers and other decision makers to have a comprehensive overview when implementing Strategy. Originality/value: This study is considered as one of the few empirical studies that examine the collective effect of Strategy Control and Project Management on Project Success. Keywords: Strategy Control (SC), Project Management (PM), Project Success (PS)

The effect of government expenditure on economic growth: The case of Tanzania using VECM approach

The purpose of this paper is to observe empirically the effect of the government spending annex economic growth in Tanzania for the period covered 1990 to 2015 using VECM approach. The results revealed the existence of long-run cointegration among all our variables. Also, the results showed that government expenditure, foreign direct investment inflows, gross capital formation and inflation have positive and significant associations with Tanzania economic growth in the long-run and short-run as well. However, the government and policy-makers must become stable the variation of the inflation rate of commodities to persuade economic growth of Tanzania. Finally, the study suggests that government expenditure promotes economic growth in Tanzania and the paper recommends that more of government's resources should highly allocate to capital expenditure. Keywords: Government Expenditure, Economic Growth, VECM, and Tanzania

Network Coding For Star and Mesh Networks

This thesis introduces new network coding techniques to improve the file sharing and video streaming performance of wireless star and mesh networks. In this thesis we propose a new XOR based scheduling algorithm for network coding in cooperative local repair. The proposed algorithm commences in three phases. In the first phase, nodes exchange packets availability vectors. These vectors are functions of the probability of correct packet reception over the channel. This is followed by a short period of distributed scheduling where the nodes execute the processing algorithm which tries to minimize the total transmission time. In the third phase, nodes transmit the encoded packets as per the decision of the scheduling algorithm. Simulation results show improvement in system throughput and processing delay for the proposed algorithm. We also study the trade-offs between file sizes, processing delays, number of users and packet availability. In the sequel we display the favorable effects of file segmentation on the performance of the proposed scheduling algorithm. Furthermore, the upper bound on the performance and the analysis of the proposed scheduling algorithm are derived. Also, in this thesis, the effects of random network coding on code division multiple access/time division duplex (CDMA/TDD) platforms for wireless mesh networks are studied and evaluated. A multi-hop mesh network with single source and multiple receiving nodes is assumed. For reliable data transfer, a Selective Repeat ARQ protocol is used. Two scenarios are evaluated for their efficiency. In scenario 1, but not in scenario 2, random network coding is applied to CDMA/TDD wireless mesh networks. The delay and delay jitter for both scenarios are computed. The study also focuses on the effects of uncontrolled parameters such as the minimum number of neighbors and the network connectivity, and of controlled parameters such as Galois Field (GF) size, packet size, number of Walsh functions employed at each node and the Processing Gain. The analysis and simulation results show that applying random network coding to CDMA/TDD systems in wireless mesh networks could provide a noticeable improvement in overall efficiency. We also propose a cross layer approach for the Random Network coded-Code Division Multiple Access/Time Division Duplex (RNC-CDMA/TDD) wireless mesh networks. The proposed algorithm selects the number of assigned Walsh functions depending on the network topology. Two strategies of Walsh function assignments are proposed. In the first, nodes determine the number of their assigned Walsh functions depending on the neighbor with the maximum number of neighbors, which we call the worst case assignment. In the second, nodes determine the number of their assigned Walsh functions depending on the need for each transmission. Simulation results show the possible achievable improvement in the system performance, delay and delay jitter due to cross layer design

Evaluation of integrated interventions layered on mass drug administration for urogenital schistosomiasis elimination: a cluster-randomised trial

Elimination of schistosomiasis as a public health problem and interruption of transmission in selected areas are targets set by WHO for 2025. Our aim was to assess biannual mass drug administration (MDA) applied alone or with complementary snail control or behaviour change interventions for the reduction of Schistosoma haematobium prevalence and infection intensity in children from Zanzibar and to compare the effect between the clusters.; In a 5-year repeated cross-sectional cluster-randomised trial, 90 shehias (small administrative regions; clusters) in Zanzibar eligible owing to available natural open freshwater bodies and public primary schools were randomly allocated (ratio 1:1:1) to receive one of three interventions: biannual MDA with praziquantel alone (arm 1) or in combination with snail control (arm 2), or behaviour change activities (arm 3). Neither participants nor field or laboratory personnel were blinded to the intervention arms. From 2012 to 2017, annually, a single urine sample was collected from approximately 100 children aged 9-12 years in the main public primary school of each shehia. The primary outcome was S haematobium infection prevalence and intensity in 9-12-year-old children after 5 years of follow-up. This study is completed and was registered with the ISRCTN, number 48837681.; The trial was done from Nov 1, 2011, through to Dec 31, 2017 and recruitment took place from Nov 2, 2011, until May 17, 2017. At baseline we enrolled 8278 participants, of whom 2899 (35%) were randomly allocated to arm 1, 2741 (33%) to arm 2, and 2638 (32%) to arm 3. 120 (4·2%) of 2853 in arm 1, 209 (7·8%) of 2688 in arm 2, and 167 (6·4%) of 2613 in arm 3 had S haematobium infections at baseline. Heavy infections (≥50 eggs per 10 mL of urine) were found in 126 (1·6%) of 8073 children at baseline. At the 5-year endline survey, 46 (1·4%) of 3184 in arm 1, 56 (1·7%) of 3217 (odds ratio [OR] 1·2 [95% CI 0·6-2·7] vs arm 1) in arm 2, and 58 (1·9%) of 3080 (1·3 [0·6-2·9]) in arm 3 had S haematobium infections. Heavy infections were detected in 33 (0·3%) of 9462 children.; Biannual MDA substantially reduced the S haematobium prevalence and infection intensity but was insufficient to interrupt transmission. Although snail control or behaviour change activities did not significantly boost the effect of MDA in our study, they might enhance interruption of transmission when tailored to focal endemicity and applied for a longer period. It is now necessary to focus on reducing prevalence in remaining hotspot areas and to introduce new methods of surveillance and public health response so that the important gains can be maintained and advanced.; University of Georgia Research Foundation Inc and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

A Google Earth-based database management for schistosomiasis control in Zanzibar

Schistosomiasis remains a serious health problem in Africa. Although a strong, coordinated agenda for research on this disease has been in place for the last 50 years in Zanzibar, data storage, retrieval of survey data and management remain problem areas. We investigated the use of Google Earth (GE) in conjunction with a hand-held, global positioning system as a pilot project for managing schistosomiasis control. In this way, risk areas can be surveyed and followed up by visualizing both the distribution of human infections and that of the intermediate snail host together with environmental information. A platform with three spatial databases was created: i) Distribution of infected humans; ii) Distribution of the intermediate snail host in ponds (infected and not infected specimens); iii) Distribution of the intermediate snail host in streams (infected and non-infected specimens). The GE spatial database increased the efficiency of follow-up case treatment as well as snail control and contributed also to the discovery of previously unknown areas in need of snail control. We conclude that this platform is advantageous not only by being useful for management and visualization of spatial data, but also because it is easy to operate and available free of charge

Maternal mortality and morbidity burden in the Eastern Mediterranean region : findings from the Global Burden of Disease 2015 study

Assessing the burden of maternal mortality is important for tracking progress and identifying public health gaps. This paper provides an overview of the burden of maternal mortality in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) by underlying cause and age from 1990 to 2015. We used the results of the Global Burden of Disease 2015 study to explore maternal mortality in the EMR countries. The maternal mortality ratio in the EMR decreased 16.3% from 283 (241-328) maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 237 (188-293) in 2015. Maternal mortality ratio was strongly correlated with socio-demographic status, where the lowest-income countries contributed the most to the burden of maternal mortality in the region. Progress in reducing maternal mortality in the EMR has accelerated in the past 15 years, but the burden remains high. Coordinated and rigorous efforts are needed to make sure that adequate and timely services and interventions are available for women at each stage of reproductive life

Global, regional, and national disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) for 333 diseases and injuries and healthy life expectancy (HALE) for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016

BACKGROUND: Measurement of changes in health across locations is useful to compare and contrast changing epidemiological patterns against health system performance and identify specific needs for resource allocation in research, policy development, and programme decision making. Using the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016, we drew from two widely used summary measures to monitor such changes in population health: disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) and healthy life expectancy (HALE). We used these measures to track trends and benchmark progress compared with expected trends on the basis of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI). METHODS: We used results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016 for all-cause mortality, cause-specific mortality, and non-fatal disease burden to derive HALE and DALYs by sex for 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2016. We calculated DALYs by summing years of life lost and years of life lived with disability for each location, age group, sex, and year. We estimated HALE using age-specific death rates and years of life lived with disability per capita. We explored how DALYs and HALE differed from expected trends when compared with the SDI: the geometric mean of income per person, educational attainment in the population older than age 15 years, and total fertility rate. FINDINGS: The highest globally observed HALE at birth for both women and men was in Singapore, at 75·2 years (95% uncertainty interval 71·9-78·6) for females and 72·0 years (68·8-75·1) for males. The lowest for females was in the Central African Republic (45·6 years [42·0-49·5]) and for males was in Lesotho (41·5 years [39·0-44·0]). From 1990 to 2016, global HALE increased by an average of 6·24 years (5·97-6·48) for both sexes combined. Global HALE increased by 6·04 years (5·74-6·27) for males and 6·49 years (6·08-6·77) for females, whereas HALE at age 65 years increased by 1·78 years (1·61-1·93) for males and 1·96 years (1·69-2·13) for females. Total global DALYs remained largely unchanged from 1990 to 2016 (-2·3% [-5·9 to 0·9]), with decreases in communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional (CMNN) disease DALYs offset by increased DALYs due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The exemplars, calculated as the five lowest ratios of observed to expected age-standardised DALY rates in 2016, were Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Maldives, Peru, and Israel. The leading three causes of DALYs globally were ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and lower respiratory infections, comprising 16·1% of all DALYs. Total DALYs and age-standardised DALY rates due to most CMNN causes decreased from 1990 to 2016. Conversely, the total DALY burden rose for most NCDs; however, age-standardised DALY rates due to NCDs declined globally. INTERPRETATION: At a global level, DALYs and HALE continue to show improvements. At the same time, we observe that many populations are facing growing functional health loss. Rising SDI was associated with increases in cumulative years of life lived with disability and decreases in CMNN DALYs offset by increased NCD DALYs. Relative compression of morbidity highlights the importance of continued health interventions, which has changed in most locations in pace with the gross domestic product per person, education, and family planning. The analysis of DALYs and HALE and their relationship to SDI represents a robust framework with which to benchmark location-specific health performance. Country-specific drivers of disease burden, particularly for causes with higher-than-expected DALYs, should inform health policies, health system improvement initiatives, targeted prevention efforts, and development assistance for health, including financial and research investments for all countries, regardless of their level of sociodemographic development. The presence of countries that substantially outperform others suggests the need for increased scrutiny for proven examples of best practices, which can help to extend gains, whereas the presence of underperforming countries suggests the need for devotion of extra attention to health systems that need more robust support. FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation