Large Amplitude Free Vibrations of Plates Resting on a Pasternak Type Elastic Foundation

In this paper following Berger's approximate plate theory for large deflections, large amplitude free vibrations of Rectangular Plate, isosceles right-angled triangular plate, Equilateral triangular plate and circular plate resting on a Pasternak-type elastic foundation have been discussed

Integrating serological and genetic data to quantify cross-species transmission: brucellosis as a case study

Epidemiological data are often fragmented, partial, and/or ambiguous and unable to yield the desired level of understanding of infectious disease dynamics to adequately inform control measures. Here, we show how the information contained in widely available serology data can be enhanced by integration with less common type-specific data, to improve the understanding of the transmission dynamics of complex multi-species pathogens and host communities. Using brucellosis in Northern Tanzania as a case-study, we developed a latent process model based on serology data obtained from the field, to reconstruct Brucella transmission dynamics. We were able to identify sheep and goats as a more likely source of human and animal infection than cattle; however, the highly cross-reactive nature of Brucella spp. meant that it was not possible to determine which Brucella species (B. abortus or B. melitensis) is responsible for human infection. We extended our model to integrate simulated serology and typing data, and show that although serology alone can identify the host source of human infection under certain restrictive conditions, the integration of even small amounts (5%) of typing data can improve understanding of complex epidemiological dynamics. We show that data integration will often be essential when more than one pathogen is present and when the distinction between exposed and infectious individuals is not clear from serology data. With increasing epidemiological complexity, serology data become less informative. However, we show how this weakness can be mitigated by integrating such data with typing data, thereby enhancing the inference from these data and improving understanding of the underlying dynamics

Perceptions of tuberculosis and treatment seeking behaviour in Ilala and Kinondoni Municipalities in Tanzania

This study was carried out in Ilala and Kinondoni Municipalities in Tanzania to explore the perceptions of Tuberculosis (TB), and treatment seeking behaviour, among patients attending healthcare facilities. The study was conducted in four randomly selected health facilities providing directly observed treatment (DOT). Exit interviews were administered to 69 randomly selected TB patients. The mean age of the respondents was 33.2 years (range= 11-72 years). Forty-six (66.7%) of the patients had primary school education. Fifty-nine (84.1%) patients had good knowledge on the transmission of TB. Majority (75%) of the respondents were of the opinion that the incidence of TB was on the increase and this was mainly associated with HIV/AIDS epidemic. All respondents knew that TB was a curable disease if one complies with the treatment. Sixty-four (60%) respondents had good knowledge on the correct duration of tuberculosis treatment. The median duration before seeking treatment from a health facility was 1.5 months. The majority of the patients 47 (68%) visited public health facilities for treatment as their fi rst action. Overall, 83.8% (57/68) respondents said females comply better with treatment than male patients. The majority of the respondents lived within a walking distance to a healthcare facility. Only 18.8% (13/69) had to spend an average of US$ 0.2-0.3 as travel costs to the healthcare facility. Most of the respondents (57.8%) said they were well attended by service providers. Half (21/42) and 59.3% (16/27) of the males and females, respectively, mentioned good patient-service provider relationship as an important reason for satisfaction of the service (χ2 =0.57, df=1, P>0.005). Twenty-nine (42%) of respondents were of the opinion that female TB patients conformed better to treatment than males and a similar number thought that both of them equally conformed to treatment. Findings from this study indicate that a large population in urban settings are aware that health facilities play a major role in TB treatment. In conclusion, there is a need to further explore how this information could potentially be used to enhance early seeking of appropriate services among TB patients in the era of rapid urbanization. Strategies in the control of TB and other diseases should focus on advocacy in seeking appropriate care. Keywords: tuberculosis, perceptions, gender, treatment, behaviour, Tanzania Tanzania Journal of Health Research Vol. 10 (2) 2008: pp. 89-9

Long term mortality and disability in Cryptococcal Meningitis: a systematic literature review.

Cryptococcal meningitis (CM) is the primary cause of meningitis in HIV-infected adults and an emerging disease in HIV-seronegative individuals. No literature review has studied the long-term outcome of CM. We performed a systematic review on the long-term (≥3 months) impact of CM (C. neoformans and C. gattii) on mortality and disability in HIV-infected and non-HIV-infected adults. Though the quality of current evidence is limited, the long-term impact of CM on survival and disability appears to be high. One-year mortality ranged from 13% in an Australian non-HIV C.gattii infected cohort to 78% in a Malawian HIV-infected cohort treated with fluconazole monotherapy. One-year impairment proportions among survivors ranged from 19% in an Australian C.gattii cohort to more than 70% in a Taiwanese non-HIV and HIV-infected cohorts. Ongoing early therapeutic interventions, early detection of impairments and access to rehabilitation services may significantly improve patients' survival and quality of life

Quantifying the burden of rhodesiense sleeping sickness in Urambo district, Tanzania

Sleeping sickness (human African trypanosomiasis - HAT) is a disease transmitted by tsetse flies and is always fatal if left untreated. The disease occurs in foci affecting poor communities with limited access to health service provision and as such the disease is often left undiagnosed, mistaken for more common afflictions. Even if diagnosed, sleeping sickness is costly to treat, both for health services and patients and their families in terms of costs of diagnosis, transport, hospital care, and the prolonged period of convalescence. Here we estimate the health burden of the acute form T. b. rhodesiense sleeping sickness in Urambo District, Tanzania in terms of Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), the yardstick commonly used by policy makers to prioritize disease management practices, representing a year of healthy life lost to disease. In this single district, the burden of the disease over one year was estimated at 979 DALYs and the estimated monetary costs to health services for the 143 treated patients at US$11,841 and to the patients themselves at US$ 3,673 for direct medical costs and US$ 9,781 for indirect non-medical costs. Sleeping sickness thus places a considerable burden on the affected rural communities and health services

Preparing to work: dramaturgy, cynicism and normative ‘remote’ control in the socialization of graduate recruits in management consulting

online) This paper examines the socialization of graduate recruits into a knowledge intensive labour process and organizational culture. Theoretically the paper draws upon the idea of ‘preparing for work’ to position this early socialization as a crucial moment in the production of subjectivities suited (and booted) for the labour process of management consulting. Empirically the paper reports on a two-day induction session for new graduate recruits joining a global management consultancy and their responses to this training. Particular attention is given to the use of role-play and a dramaturgical workshop used in part of the training process. The paper argues that the utilization of dramaturgy in training is consistent with the overall approach to control developed in the firm in response to the fact that the labour process of consulting is often conducted on client sites, away from any direct supervisory gaze. As such, the consultants were subjected to a form of cultural control that was designed to function independently of direct supervision. This control did not operate directly upon the new employees professed values, however, but at one step removed so that a ‘cynical distance’ from the content of the organization’s culture was accepted so long as a professional ‘ethic of behaviour’ was established. By focusing on an ‘ethic of behaviour’ these young professionals were encouraged to internalize a self-control akin to that of an actor, rather than internalizing the corporate values entirely

Prevalence and ergonomic risk factors of work-related musculoskeletal injuries amongst underground mine workers in Zambia

Work-related musculoskeletal injuries (WMSIs) are common in both developed and third world countries. Most researchers agree that exposure to ergonomic risk factors is a major contributor to these injuries. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of and ergonomic risk factors associated with WMSIs amongst underground mine workers in Kitwe, Zambia. Methods: A cross-sectional quantitative study was conducted using a sample size of 500 workers. A stratified random sampling method according to mining work activity type was used to obtain the sample. Data was collected by means of a structured questionnaire, and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze data using descriptive and inferential statistical methods. Results were significant at 5%. Results: A response rate of 40.4% (202) was obtained. The 12-month prevalence of WMSIs was 42.6%. The mean age of the workers was 40.31 years (SD +/− 8.57 years). Electricians and mechanics reported the highest injury frequencies. The back was the most affected body part. Ergonomic risk factors consistently reported by workers included poor postures and heavy lifting. There were significant (p=0.020) associations between working with the back bent and sustaining a back injury. Significant (p=0.049) associations were also found between injuries of the wrists/hands and grasping an unsupported object(s). Conclusions: This study revealed significant associations between WMSIs and ergonomic risk factors like working with the back bent and grasping object.Web of Scienc

What are communities of practice? A comparative review of four seminal works

This paper is a comparative review of four seminal works on communities of practice. It is argued that the ambiguities of the terms community and practice are a source of the concept's reusability allowing it to be reappropriated for different purposes, academic and practical. However, it is potentially confusing that the works differ so markedly in their conceptualizations of community, learning, power and change, diversity and informality. The three earlier works are underpinned by a common epistemological view, but Lave and Wenger's 1991 short monograph is often read as primarily about the socialization of newcomers into knowledge by a form of apprenticeship, while the focus in Brown and Duguid's article of the same year is, in contrast, on improvising new knowledge in an interstitial group that forms in resistance to management. Wenger's 1998 book treats communities of practice as the informal relations and understandings that develop in mutual engagement on an appropriated joint enterprise, but his focus is the impact on individual identity. The applicability of the concept to the heavily individualized and tightly managed work of the twenty-first century is questionable. The most recent work by Wenger – this time with McDermott and Snyder as coauthors – marks a distinct shift towards a managerialist stance. The proposition that managers should foster informal horizontal groups across organizational boundaries is in fact a fundamental redefinition of the concept. However it does identify a plausible, if limited, knowledge management (KM) tool. This paper discusses different interpretations of the idea of 'co-ordinating' communities of practice as a management ideology of empowerment

Communitarian perspectives on social enterprise

Concepts of social enterprise have been debated repeatedly, and continue to cause confusion. In this paper, a meta-theoretical framework is developed through discussion of individualist and communitarian philosophy. Philosophers from both traditions build social theories that emphasise either consensus (a unitarist outlook) or diversity (a pluralist outlook). The various discourses in corporate governance reflect these assumptions and create four distinct approaches that impact on the relationship between capital and labour. In rejecting the traditional discourse of private enterprise, social enterprises have adopted other approaches to tackle social exclusion, each derived from different underlying beliefs about the purpose of enterprise and the nature of governance. The theoretical framework offers a way to understand the diversity found within the sector, including the newly constituted Community Interest Company (CIC).</p

Emotions in business-to-business service relationships

Emotion in business-to-business service relationships regarding cargo services is explored. The service relationship is characterised by mutual trust and cooperation. Contact is mainly via telephone or e-mail with some face-to-face interactions and participants providing a complex, multi-skilled seamless service. Experience rather than training plays a vital role with long-term service relationships built up and maintained. Emotional sensitivity is acquired partly by experience and a repeat customer base but mainly through a genuine desire to help and get to know others. In contrast to the view of emotional labour bringing managerial control or adverse affects to service staff, the emotion engendered by this work is authentic expression bringing personal satisfaction