Hydro-institutional mapping in the Steelpoort River Basin, South Africa

River basins / Institutions / Organizations / Private sector / Public sector / Local government / Mapping / Water resource management / Water policy / Legislation / Rural women / Constraints / Groundwater / Surface water / Water quality / Water use / Water users / Dams / Reservoirs / Large-scale systems / Irrigation management / Industrialization / Case studies / Operations / Maintenance / Canals / Conflict / Farmer-agency interactions / Policy / Water supply / Rural development

Using a multi-level tailored design process to develop a customer satisfaction survey for university evaluation

A multi-level procedure is described in order to develop a total quality management survey tool in the field of engineering academia. As a first step a review of available evaluation tools for universities is conducted, resulting in over 150 items used for evaluation purposes. Secondly all dimensions of educational evaluation used in previous research are summarized, resulting in 15 dimensions. In a third step, items are assigned to the dimensions, overlapping items were combined or removed, and item content and dimensions were adjusted to the specific conditions of the target faculty. Fourthly, the resulting twelve dimensions were used in first, investigative interviews in the target population. Results indicate that eleven dimensions sufficiently mapped all aspects of evaluation. After revising the items to improve understanding in a fifth step cognitive pretests were conducted. The final revision resulted in 83 items assigned to eleven dimensions

Cancer Among Arab Americans in the Metropolitan Detroit Area

Detroit is home to one of the largest populations of Arab Americans outside of the Middle East, yet little is known about the cancer distribution in this ethnic group. The authors of this study created an Arab/Chaldean surname list and matched it with the Detroit SEER Registry to identify cancer cases of probable Arabic descent. We then determined proportional incidence ratios (PIR) for specific cancer sites among metropolitan Detroit Arab Americans as compared to non-Arab Whites, and contrasted the results with Middle Eastern data. Arab/Chaldean men had greater proportions of leukemia (29%), multiple myeloma (46%), liver (64%), kidney (33%), and urinary bladder (26%) cancers. Arab/Chaldean women had greater proportions of leukemia (23%), thyroid (57%), and brain (35%) cancers as compared with non-Arab White men and women. The cancers with significantly increased PIRs in the Detroit Arab/Chaldean population also are frequently diagnosed in Middle Eastern countries

Work ethics climate in relation to nurses’ commitment in a South African hospital

Orientation: Commitment, well-being and employer loyalty affect nurse retention. Literature shows that nurses are leaving the workforce at an alarming rate and that various factors are causing them to leave their employers. Research purpose: The main aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the ethical work climate in the organisation on nurses’ commitment. Motivation for the study: The health sector is essential in promoting mental, physical and emotional health but faces a shortage of skilled workers. The work ethics climate (WEC) can play a crucial role in retaining skills. Research approach/design and method: A quantitative research approach was adopted in a non-probability convenience sample of 208 permanent nurses from a South African public hospital. Participants completed self-assessments on an ethical climate questionnaire and an organisational commitment scale (OCS), and regression analysis was used to analyse the data. Main findings: Work ethics climate correlated with nurses’ affective, continuance and normative commitment. In addition, the results indicated that WEC predicted nurses’ commitment. Practical/managerial implications: Public hospitals in South Africa should create policies, laws and procedures that encourage ethical behaviour characterised by honesty, justice and dignity to boost nurse commitment. Thus, the South African hospital should foster an ethical workplace and implement an ethical code. Contribution/value add: This study contributes to the theory of ethical work climate and ethical behaviour by suggesting that nurses who positively perceive policies, rules and hospitals that have clear regulations are more likely to engage

Correction to "Influence of Dust and Black Carbon on the Snow Albedo in the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System Version 5 Land Surface Model"

The website information describing the forcing meteorological data used for the land surface model (LSM) simulation, which were observed at an Automated Meteorological Station CAWS) at the Sapporo District Meteorological Observatory maintained by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), was missing from the text. The 1-hourly data were obtained from the website of Kisyoutoukeijouhou (Information for available JMA-observed meteorological data in the past) on the website of JMA (in Japanese) (available at: http://www.jma.go.jpijmaimenulreport.html). The measurement height information of 59.5 m for the anemometer at the Sapporo Observatory was also obtained from the website of JMA (in Japanese) (available at: http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/menu/report.html). In addition, the converted 10-m wind speed, based on the AWS/JMA data, was further converted to a 2-m wind speed prior to its use with the land model as a usual treatment of off-line Catchment simulation. Please ignore the ice absorption data on the website mentioned in paragraph [15] which was not used for our calculations (but the data on the website was mostly the same as the estimated ice absorption coefficients by the following method because they partially used the same data by Warren [1984]). We calculated the ice absorption coefficients with the method mentioned in the same paragraph, for which some of the refractive index data by Warren [1984] were used and then interpolated between wavelengths, and also mentioned in paragraph [20] for the visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR) ranges. The optical data we used were interpolated between wavelengths as necessary

Gut microbiota and microbiota-derived metabolites promotes endometriosis

Endometriosis is a pathological condition of the female reproductive tract characterized by the existence of endometrium-like tissue at ectopic sites, affecting 10% of women between the age 15 and 49 in the USA. However, currently there is no reliable non-invasive method to detect the presence of endometriosis without surgery and many women find hormonal therapy and surgery as ineffective in avoiding the recurrences. There is a lack of knowledge on the etiology and the factors that contribute to the development of endometriosis. A growing body of recent evidence suggests an association between gut microbiota and endometriosis pathophysiology. However, the direct impact of microbiota and microbiota-derived metabolites on the endometriosis disease progression is largely unknown. To understand the causal role of gut microbiota and endometriosis, we have implemented a novel model using antibiotic-induced microbiota-depleted (MD) mice to investigate the endometriosis disease progression. Interestingly, we found that MD mice showed reduced endometriotic lesion growth and, the transplantation of gut microbiota by oral gavage of feces from mice with endometriosis rescued the endometriotic lesion growth. Additionally, using germ-free donor mice, we indicated that the uterine microbiota is dispensable for endometriotic lesion growth in mice. Furthermore, we showed that gut microbiota modulates immune cell populations in the peritoneum of lesions-bearing mice. Finally, we found a novel signature of microbiota-derived metabolites that were significantly altered in feces of mice with endometriosis. Finally, we found one the altered metabolite, quinic acid promoted the survival of endometriotic epithelial cells in vitro and lesion growth in vivo, suggesting the disease-promoting potential of microbiota-derived metabolites. In summary, these data suggest that gut microbiota and microbiota-derived metabolome contribute to lesion growth in mice, possibly through immune cell adaptations. Of translational significance, these findings will aid in designing non-invasive diagnostics using stool metabolites for endometriosis

Validation of a new three-dimensional imaging system using comparative craniofacial anthropometry

Abstract Background The aim of this study is to validate a new three-dimensional craniofacial stereophotogrammetry imaging system (3dMDface) through comparison with manual facial surface anthropometry. The null hypothesis was that there is no difference between craniofacial measurements using anthropometry vs. the 3dMDface system. Methods Facial images using the new 3dMDface system were taken from six randomly selected subjects, sitting in natural head position, on six separate occasions each 1 week apart, repeated twice at each sitting. Exclusion criteria were excess facial hair, facial piercings and undergoing current dentofacial treatment. 3dMDvultus software allowed facial landmarks to be marked and measurements recorded. The same measurements were taken using manual anthropometry, using soluble eyeliner to pinpoint landmarks, and sliding and spreading callipers and measuring tape to measure distances. The setting for the investigation was a dental teaching hospital and regional (secondary and tertiary care) cleft centre. The main outcome measure was comparison of the craniofacial measurements using the two aforementioned techniques. Results The results showed good agreement between craniofacial measurements using the 3dMDface system compared with manual anthropometry. For all measurements, except chin height and labial fissure width, there was a greater variability with the manual method compared to 3D assessment. Overall, there was a significantly greater variability in manual compared with 3D assessments (p < 0.02). Conclusions The 3dMDface system is validated for craniofacial measurements