Improving sanitation in the Niger Delta

Little WASH progress has been made in the Niger Delta. Using the exploratory case study method, including quantitative and qualitative data collection, the authors examined current sanitation practices, efforts made to improve sanitation, the extent to which those efforts have succeeded and what else is needed to improve sanitation sustainably. The results show the immediate need for development of lowcost, durable, and appropriate sanitation technology options, as none currently exist that address consumer needs, high water table and rainfall, shortage of land, and access issues, followed by supply chain development. The only formal behaviour change framework tried in the region is CLTS with limited results, possibly due to the proximity to water. Other frameworks such as the RANAS model (with adaptations of the questionnaires), IBM-WASH and Nudge Theory should be tested. Other recommendations include improved government services, access to capacity building and education about technology options, and opportunities to encourage knowledge-into-practice

Study of Employment Retention Veterans (SERVe): Improving Reintegration of Oregon National Guard and Reserves in the Workplace

This presentation will provide an overview of the recently funded Department of Defense grant (Principal Investigator, Leslie Hammer, Ph.D.). Since 9/11 over 2.8 million United States military personnel have served in and around Iraq and Afghanistan. By 2018, the number of post-9/11 veterans is projected to top 3.1 million. Of these most recent veterans, 18% have difficulty holding a job and many experience family difficulty. Presently, a third or more of these post-9/11 veterans – some 874,728 service members and counting – have deployed to various global hotspots as active-duty reservists of the U.S. armed forces. Unemployment, underemployment and mental health symptoms are trending higher among reservist veterans than active-duty. In addition to facing unique employer perceptions upon their return, reservist veterans, unlike active-duty troops, are reintegrating with less community and social supports such as: free military housing; convenient medical care; accessible quality child care and steady and secure employment. Neurobiological analysis of the effects of high levels of social support reveal discrete physiological mechanisms that can lower PTSD symptoms and increase social bonding. The U.S. military transitions about 160,000 active-duty troops and demobilizes 110,000 reservists annually. With hundreds of thousands of soldiers returning from overseas little focus has been placed on post-deployment efforts of veterans around work-family conflict and job retention. Since maintaining gainful employment is critical to successful reintegration, along with our research partners we plan to develop, implement and evaluate our (V)eteran (S)upportive (S)upervisor (T)raining intervention

Implementation of computers in schools: a case study of five schools in the Makana and Somerset East districts

This case study attempts to explain the implementation of Information Communications Technology (ICT) in primary schools, specifically mentioning the integration of computers into the curriculum. To begin with, the implementation of ICT from an international perspective is explored and subsequently some international and African ICT policies in education are also identified and discussed. Nationally, ICT policies from four provinces in South Africa are examined and analyzed. Provincially, the ICT Projects Coordinator in the Eastern Cape Department of Education (ECDoE) was interviewed to obtain a provincial perspective of ICT in the Eastern Cape. From local schools’ perspective, four primary schools and one secondary school in the Makana and Somerset East Districts were visited and the ICT coordinators at these schools were interviewed. The results reveal that the previously disadvantaged (PD) schools were not utilizing their computers effectively. This is due to a number of factors, including a lack of funds to maintain the computers; unskilled or under skilled teachers in ICT; and under resourced computer facilities. The previously advantaged (PA) schools, on the other hand, have well-resourced computer laboratories, adequate maintenance plans as well as skilled teachers in ICT that enable these schools to effectively integrate the use of computers into the curriculum. Key words: Information communications technology, implementation, integration, previously advantaged, previously disadvantaged, curriculum, primary school, secondary school

Ethnic and Gender differences in Strategies Used by Adolescents when Attempting to Quit or Reduce Smoking

Few adolescent smoking cessation programs have been able to match the success rate found in adult programs. The current study identified smoking cessation strategies used by adolescents and whether strategies differed as a function of ethnic, gender, or individual smoking-level. Participants were 136 high school students who made an attempt to quit or reduce their smoking. Logistic regressions revealed that individuals making an actual quit attempt and African American adolescents used cessation strategies presumed to be more effective. Adolescents are more likely to use informal cessation methods and may need to be provided with more information on effective quit strategies

Bilateral Subclavian Steal Syndrome

Bilateral subclavian steal syndrome is a rare condition. It is usually due to reversal of vertebral blood flow in the setting of bilateral proximal subclavian or left subclavian plus innominate artery severe stenosis or occlusion. This finding may cause cerebral ischemia related to upper extremities exercise. We report a case of bilateral subclavian steal secondary to total occlusion of the innominate and left subclavian arteries in a patient who presented with cardiomyopathy and flow reversal in the right carotid and bilateral vertebral arteries

The Association of Virulent Vibrio Spp. Bacteria on Gafftopsail and Hardhead Catfish in Galveston Bay

Vibrio vulnificus (Vv) and V. parahaemolyticus (Vp) are gram negative, halophilic bacteria that occur naturally in estuarine waters of Galveston Bay. Both bacteria have the potential to cause infections in humans either via consumption or direct contact. Finfish are a potential vector for these bacteria. Previous work by Brinkmeyer determined that these bacteria are present on the benthic dwelling catfish, Ariopsis felis and Bagre marinus, using a conventional microbial method. The present work focused on using Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (QPCR) and Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (T-RFLP) to not only determine presence of these bacteria, but also to quantify them and look at community structure. QPCR was able to detect bacteria presence in 34 percent, 31.6 percent, and 0 percent for V.vulnificus, V.parahaemolyticus. thermolabile hemolysin (tlh) and thermostable direct hemolysin (tdh) genes, respectively. Statistical analysis of the QPCR results found that there was no significant difference between the length of fish, location of catch or species of fish in relation to the abundance of bacteria. T-RFLP was able to detect the presence of bacteria in approximately 70 percent of the samples surveyed. Bands produced from T-RFLP were able to be grouped into five different ranges. The most frequently occurring band fell in the range of 213-219 base pairs, and the most common number of bands per sample was 1 band. This study found that both QPCR and T-RFLP were better assays than conventional microbial methods for detecting the presence of V. vulnificus and V. parahaemolyticus on catfish fins. QPCR proved to be the most rapid detection method. Based on this study, it was determined that these Vibrio spp. bacteria have some type of relationship with A. felis and B. marinus. This information may be useful to the medical community for determining when there is a greater risk of infection via catfish puncture wounds

Anomia Treatment Platform as Behavioral Engine for Use in Research on Physiological Adjuvants to Neurorehabilitation

The purpose of this study was to create a behavioral treatment engine for future use in research on physiological adjuvants in aphasia rehabilitation. We chose the behavioral target anomia, which is a feature displayed by many persons who have aphasia. Further, we wished to saturate the treatment approach with many strategies and cues that have been empirically reported to have a positive influence on aphasia outcome, with the goal being to optimize the potential for positive response in most participants. A single-subject multiple baseline design with replication across eight participants was employed. Four men and four women, with an average age of 62 yr and an average of 63.13 mo poststroke onset, served as participants. Word-retrieval treatment was administered 3 d/wk, 1 h/d for a total of 20 treatment hours (6-7 wk). Positive acquisition effects were evident in all eight participants (d effect size [ES] = 5.40). Treatment effects were maintained 3 mo after treatment termination for five participants (d ES = 2.94). Within and across semantic category, generalization was minimal (d ES = 0.43 within and 1.09 across). This study demonstrates that this behavioral treatment engine provides a solid platform on which to base future studies whereby various treatment conditions are manipulated and pharmacologic support is added

Use of administrative data for the surveillance of mental disorders in 5 provinces

To evaluate the usefulness of administrative data for the surveillance of mental illness in Canada using databases in the following 5 provinces: British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Alberta. We used a population-based record-linkage analysis with data from physician billings, hospital discharge abstracts, and community-based clinics. The following diagnostic codes from the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Edition, were used to define cases: 290 to 319, inclusive. The prevalence of treated psychiatric disorder was similar in Nova Scotia, British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario at about 15%. The prevalence for Quebec was slightly lower at 12%. Findings from the provinces showed remarkable consistency across age and sex, despite variations in data coding. Women tended to show a higher prevalence overall of treated mental disorders than men. Prevalence increased steadily to middle age, declining in the 50s and 60s, and then increasing again after age 70 years. Provincial and territorial administrative data can provide a useful, reliable, and economical source of information for the surveillance of treated mental disorders. Such a surveillance system can provide longitudinal data at little cost to support health service provision and planning

Perceptual Context in Cognitive Hierarchies

Cognition does not only depend on bottom-up sensor feature abstraction, but also relies on contextual information being passed top-down. Context is higher level information that helps to predict belief states at lower levels. The main contribution of this paper is to provide a formalisation of perceptual context and its integration into a new process model for cognitive hierarchies. Several simple instantiations of a cognitive hierarchy are used to illustrate the role of context. Notably, we demonstrate the use context in a novel approach to visually track the pose of rigid objects with just a 2D camera