Evaluation of Electronic Management in Administrative Units at the International University of Africa

This was study aimed at evaluating and activating the role of electronic management in the International University of Africa and knowing the fields in which electronic management was applied, and to reveal the difficulties that hindered the application of the electronic management system. A sample of the administrative staff and the statistical packages program (SPSS) were used to analyze the results, and the researcher followed the scientific management theory that aimed to reach an optimal work performance. Considering the results, the study showed that the role of electronic management in the university needed to be activated more because of the shortcomings in its activation in the management of personnel affairs, the university administration and student affairs in varying proportions that did  not achieve the required level represented in the absence of coordination between its units and the lack of knowledge of workers in this technology and it was applied in all areas of the university, and the existence of difficulties impeding the mechanism of its application. The expectations of this study lie in that it will practically contribute to the development of administrative units in Sudanese universities.

Officers’ and Community Members’ Evaluations of Police–Civilian Interactions

Research suggests that civilian characteristics such as race, gender, and age may influence use of force decisions by police. The purpose of the current research is to determine whether these civilian characteristics influence officers’ and community members’ evaluations of police-civilian encounters along dimensions of resistance, disrespect, and the appropriate use of force. It also examines whether perceptions of resistance and disrespect mediate the relationship between civilian characteristics and police use of force. Four-hundred thirty police officers and 571 community members participated in this study. Overall, this study provides the beginning of a much-needed line of research investigating the role of civilian characteristics on perceptions of resistance and disrespect and judgments about use of force. The findings produced here suggest that officers make decisions about the appropriate amount and necessity of force in different ways as a function of varying characteristics such as race, gender, and age, and that the intersection of those different identities has the potential to produce adverse outcomes during police-civilian encounters. The implications of these findings include the need to evaluate current use-of-force training and policies in place within police agencies

Effect of consanguinity on birth weight for gestational age in a developing country.

Consanguinity, the marriage between relatives, has been associated with adverse child health outcomes because it increases homozygosity of recessive alleles. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of consanguinity on the birth weight of newborns in Greater Beirut, Lebanon. Cross-sectional data were collected on 10,289 consecutive liveborn singleton newborns admitted to eight hospitals belonging to the National Collaborative Perinatal Neonatal Network during the years 2000 and 2001. Birth weight was modeled by use of the fetal growth ratio, defined as the ratio of the observed birth weight to the median birth weight for gestational age. A mixed-effect multiple linear regression model was used to predict the net effect of first- and second-cousin marriage on the birth weight for gestational age, accounting for within-hospital clustering of data. After controlling for medical and sociodemographic covariates, the authors found a statistically significant negative association between consanguinity and birth weight at each gestational age. No significant difference was observed in the decrease in birth weight between the first- and second-cousin marriages. Overall, consanguinity was associated with a decrease in birth weight for gestational age by 1.8% (beta = -0.018, 95% confidence interval: -0.027, -0.008). The largest effects on fetal growth were seen with lower parity and smoking during pregnancy

Critical period of weed competition and yield losses of irrigated common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in northern Sudan

   Weeds constitute one of the major biotic constraints that limit production of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in Sudan. A field study was conducted at Hudeiba Research Station Farm, Ed Damer, River Nile State, Sudan, during 1998/99 and 1999/2000 winter seasons, to determine the magnitude of yield losses due to weed competition and identify the critical period of weed competition. Plots were kept weedy for 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks after sowing, while others were maintained weed-free for the same periods. Unrestricted weed growth reduced grain yield by 33 and 51% in seasons 1998/99 and 1999/2000, respectively. The critical period of weed competition varied between seasons. In the first season, the critical period was found to be between 2 and 6 weeks after sowing, whereas in the second season, it was between 4 and 6 weeks after sowing depending on the level of weed infestation and climatic conditions.    تعتبر الحشائش من المعوقات الرئيسية والمحددة لانتاج محصول الفاصوليا في السودان. أجريت هذه التجربة بمزرعة محطة بحوث الحديبة، الدامر، ولاية نهر النيل، خلال موسمي  الشتاء لعامي 1998/1999 و 1999/2000 م بهدف تحديد حجم الفاقد من الانتاج نتيجة التاثير السلبي للحشائش  علي محصول الفاصوليا والتعرف علي الفترة الحرجة لمنافسة ومكافحة الحشائش. أزيلت الحشائش من الاحواض لفترات صفر، 2، 4، 6 و8 أسابيع من الزراعة، بينما تركت الحشائش دون ازالة لنفس الفترات السابقة. أتضح من الدراسة ان الفقد في انتاج البذور لمحصول الفاصوليا قد بلغ  33% و 51% في الموسمين علي التوالي. أما الفترة الحرجة فكانت مختلفة بين الموسمين حيث كانت بين الاسبوع الثاني و السادس من الزراعة في الموسم الاول و بين الاسبوع الرابع  والسادس  في الموسم الثاني وذلك حسب الظروف المناخية السائدة ومستوي الاصابة بالحشائش. &nbsp

Predictors of breast-feeding in a developing country: results of a prospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: Data on the prevalence and predictors of breast-feeding remain scarce in Lebanon. Moreover, no study has previously addressed the effect of the paediatrician's sex on breast-feeding. The present study aimed to assess the prevalence and predictors of breast-feeding at 1 and 4 months of infant age while exploring the potential role of the sex of the paediatrician. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. Predictors of breast-feeding significant at the bivariate level were tested at 1 and 4 months through two stepwise regression models. SETTING: Infants were enrolled through the clinics and dispensaries of 117 paediatricians located in Beirut, Lebanon, and its suburbs. SUBJECTS: A total of 1,320 healthy newborn infants born between August 2001 and February 2002 were prospectively followed during the first year. FINDINGS: Breast-feeding rates at 1 and 4 months were 56.3 % and 24.7 %, respectively. Early discharge, high parity and religion were significantly associated with higher breast-feeding rates at 1 and 4 months of age. Maternal age proved significant only at 1 month, while maternal working status and sex of the paediatrician were significant at 4 months. A novel finding of our study was the positive effect of female paediatricians on breast-feeding continuation until 4 months of age (OR = 1.49; 95 % CI 1.03, 2.15). CONCLUSIONS: Breast-feeding rates are low at 1 and 4 months of infant age in Beirut. Further research to investigate the interactions between female physicians and lactating mothers in maintaining breast-feeding in other populations is warranted. The results constitute the basis for designing interventions targeting policy makers, health professionals and mothers

Human resources for primary health care in sub-Saharan Africa: progress or stagnation?

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization defines a "critical shortage" of health workers as being fewer than 2.28 health workers per 1000 population and failing to attain 80% coverage for deliveries by skilled birth attendants. We aimed to quantify the number of health workers in five African countries and the proportion of these currently working in primary health care facilities, to compare this to estimates of numbers needed and to assess how the situation has changed in recent years. METHODS: This study is a review of published and unpublished "grey" literature on human resources for health in five disparate countries: Mali, Sudan, Uganda, Botswana and South Africa. RESULTS: Health worker density has increased steadily since 2000 in South Africa and Botswana which already meet WHO targets but has not significantly increased since 2004 in Sudan, Mali and Uganda which have a critical shortage of health workers. In all five countries, a minority of doctors, nurses and midwives are working in primary health care, and shortages of qualified staff are greatest in rural areas. In Uganda, shortages are greater in primary health care settings than at higher levels. In Mali, few community health centres have a midwife or a doctor. Even South Africa has a shortage of doctors in primary health care in poorer districts. Although most countries recognize village health workers, traditional healers and traditional birth attendants, there are insufficient data on their numbers. CONCLUSION: There is an "inverse primary health care law" in the countries studied: staffing is inversely related to poverty and level of need, and health worker density is not increasing in the lowest income countries. Unless there is money to recruit and retain staff in these areas, training programmes will not improve health worker density because the trained staff will simply leave to work elsewhere. Information systems need to be improved in a way that informs policy on the health workforce. It may be possible to use existing resources more cost-effectively by involving skilled staff to supervise and support lower level health care workers who currently provide the front line of primary health care in most of Africa

Geochemical Assessment of Potential Sources for Nitrate in the Wasia Aquifer, Al Kharj Area, Central Saudi Arabia

Nitrate (NO3−) represents one of the major groundwater constituents with increasing distribution and concentration in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This study aimed to determine potential sources of nitrate in the Early to Late Cretaceous Wasia aquifer system at the Al Kharj area (Central Saudi Arabia) by an integrative approach using groundwater geochemistry, nitrate isotopes (15N–NO3 and 18O–NO3), and tritium (3H) measurements. The lowest saline groundwater samples (TDS = 1400–2000 mg/L) from the peripheral zone were representative for pristine groundwater from the Wasia aquifer with nitrate concentrations below 20 mg/L and low 18O–NO3 ratios (8.7–20.6‰) but enriched 15N–NO3 values (up to 10.8‰). In contrast, 11 out of 34 analyzed water samples from irrigation wells and cattle watering wells exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) drinking water guideline value for nitrate of 50 mg/L with maximum concentrations of up to 395 mg/L. Nitrate fertilizers and atmospheric deposition are the main sources of nitrate in groundwater in the eastern and northern sections of the study area. The combination of elevated salinities (4940–7330 mg/L), NO3 (111–395 mg/L), boron (516–1430 μg/L), and enriched 18O–NO3 (21.7–25.8‰) ratios with depleted 15N–NO3 (5.7–7.6‰) confirm the local influx of evaporated irrigation water with remnants of dissolved fertilizer into the Wasia groundwater system. There was no evidence for the influx of animal or human wastes from adjacent dairy, poultry, and housing infrastructures. Tritium concentrations below the detection limit of 0.8 TU for most borehole samples implied the absence of recent natural recharge. The estimated annual average N influx of 3.34 to 6.67 kg/ha to the Wasia aquifer requires a combination of atmospheric deposition and anthropogenic sources (mainly nitrate fertilizers) to increase the nitrogen content of the Wasia aquifer