Predicting NOx emissions from wood stoves using detailed chemistry and computational fluid dynamics

-The present paper addresses NOx emissions from wood stoves through a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling approach. The most significant route for NOx formation in traditional biomass combustion applications is the fuel NOx mechanism. The formation of fuel NOx is very complex and sensitive to fuel composition and combustion conditions. Thus, accurate predictions of fuel NOx formation in wood stoves, which constitute a wide range of compositions and states, rely heavily on the use of chemical kinetics with sufficient level of details. In the present work we use CFD together with three gas phase reaction mechanisms; one detailed mechanism consisting of 81 species and 1401 reactions, and two skeletal mechanisms with 49 and 36 species respectively to predict NOx emissions from wood stoves. The results show that; using the detailed mechanism as reference the 49-specie reaction mechanism predict similar results whilst the 36-specie mechanism overpredicts the total amount of fixed nitrogen emissions (NO, NO2, N2O, HCN, NH3) whilst underpredicting NOx emissions. Furthermore, the results indicate that even in these small-scale applications, air staging can be used to reduce the NOx emissions

Striving to promote male involvement in maternal health care in rural and urban settings in Malawi - a qualitative study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Understanding the strategies that health care providers employ in order to invite men to participate in maternal health care is very vital especially in today's dynamic cultural environment. Effective utilization of such strategies is dependent on uncovering the salient issues that facilitate male participation in maternal health care. This paper examines and describes the strategies that were used by different health care facilities to invite husbands to participate in maternal health care in rural and urban settings of southern Malawi.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The data was collected through in-depth interviews from sixteen of the twenty health care providers from five different health facilities in rural and urban settings of Malawi. The health facilities comprised two health centres, one district hospital, one mission hospital, one private hospital and one central hospital. A semi-structured interview guide was used to collect data from health care providers with the aim of understanding strategies they used to invite men to participate in maternal health care.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Four main strategies were used to invite men to participate in maternal health care. The strategies were; health care provider initiative, partner notification, couple initiative and community mobilization. The health care provider initiative and partner notification were at health facility level, while the couple initiative was at family level and community mobilization was at village (community) level. The community mobilization had three sub-themes namely; male peer initiative, use of incentives and community sensitization. The sustainability of each strategy to significantly influence behaviour change for male participation in maternal health care is discussed.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Strategies to invite men to participate in maternal health care were at health facility, family and community levels. The couple strategy was most appropriate but was mostly used by educated and city residents. The male peer strategy was effective and sustainable at community level. There is need for creation of awareness in men so that they sustain their participation in maternal health care activities of their female partners even in the absence of incentives, coercion or invitation.</p

Delivery Practices and Associated Factors among Mothers Seeking Child Welfare Services in Selected Health Facilities in Nyandarua South District, Kenya

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A measure of the proportion of deliveries assisted by skilled attendants is one of the indicators of progress towards achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5, which aims at improving maternal health. This study aimed at establishing delivery practices and associated factors among mothers seeking child welfare services at selected health facilities in Nyandarua South district, Kenya to determine whether mothers were receiving appropriate delivery care.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A hospital-based cross-sectional survey among women who had recently delivered while in the study area was carried out between August and October 2009. Binary Logistic regression was used to identify factors that predicted mothers' delivery practice.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among the 409 mothers who participated in the study, 1170 deliveries were reported. Of all the deliveries reported, 51.8% were attended by unskilled birth attendants. Among the deliveries attended by unskilled birth attendants, 38.6% (452/1170) were by neighbors and/or relatives. Traditional Birth Attendants attended 1.5% (17/1170) of the deliveries while in 11.7% (137/1170) of the deliveries were self administered. Mothers who had unskilled birth attendance were more likely to have <3 years of education (Adjusted Odds ratio [AOR] 19.2, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.7 - 212.8) and with more than three deliveries in a life time (AOR 3.8, 95% CI 2.3 - 6.4). Mothers with perceived similarity in delivery attendance among skilled and unskilled delivery attendants were associated with unsafe delivery practice (AOR 1.9, 95% CI 1.1 - 3.4). Mother's with lower knowledge score on safe delivery (%) were more likely to have unskilled delivery attendance (AOR 36.5, 95% CI 4.3 - 309.3).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Among the mothers interviewed, utilization of skilled delivery attendance services was still low with a high number of deliveries being attended by unqualified lay persons. There is need to implement cost effective and sustainable measures to improve the quality of maternal health services with an aim of promoting safe delivery and hence reducing maternal mortality.</p

Factors Influencing Women's Choice of Place of Delivery in Rural Malawi -An Explorative Study

This explorative study was conducted in the Mangochi area in Malawi with the aim of investigating the individual, community and health facility level factors influencing women's choice of place of delivery. In depth interviews and non-participating observation were the methods used. Three major issues were revealed. First, sub optimal quality of care including communication, attitudes and cooperation within the health care system was identified as a main factor. Secondly, cultural aspects such as influence from decision makers, perceptions of danger signs and traditional views on pregnancy and delivery were important. Finally, an unsatisfactory availability to skilled delivery care in terms of distance, transport and costs was shown. We conclude that the barriers to use of professional obstetric care in Malawi partly can be attributed to the health care system itself, and that a more individualized maternity care is needed. African Journal of Reproductive Health Vol. 10 (2) 2006: pp. 66-7