A logic programming framework for modeling temporal objects

Published versio

Towards a pluralistic understanding of Chinese homeowners: the case of 'ordinary' buyers

In this paper we address ‘ordinary’ Chinese buyers in London’s residential real estate market. We argue that current academic and policy analysis, particularly of elites, has focused on the higher-end of the market and over-emphasised the detached nature of international buyers. In contrast, building on, but departing from, existing analyses of the multiple classes of Chinese investors evident in London (see Glucksberg, 2016), we reveal the tactics and motivations of buyers with budgets of less than £500,000. We show that they are motivated by good schools, easy commutes and use similar technologies to mediate and understand the market to local buyers. Such aims and approaches, we argue, show the ordinariness of many Chinese buyers. Underpinning their aims is an aspirational, class-defined desire based on making sacrifices so their children can have a ‘normal British life’. This becomes an elective belonging, as they integrate into the norms of London’s housing market. In demonstrating how the realities of ordinary buyers contrasts with existing narratives of Chinese investors, we highlight plurality of experiences, strategies and aims of Chinese people buying homes. We argue such an understanding forces us to rethink the form and character of Chinese investment practices in western cities by de-centring London’s prime areas and purchasers when analysing property acquisition’s internationalisation. In turn this evidences the false binary of local and international demand and shows the complexities hidden behind narratives of international capital

Rapid detection of Mycobacterium ulcerans with isothermal recombinase polymerase amplification assay.

Background Access to an accurate diagnostic test for Buruli ulcer (BU) is a research priority according to the World Health Organization. Nucleic acid amplification of insertion sequence IS2404 by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is the most sensitive and specific method to detect Mycobacterium ulcerans (M. ulcerans), the causative agent of BU. However, PCR is not always available in endemic communities in Africa due to its cost and technological sophistication. Isothermal DNA amplification systems such as the recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) have emerged as a molecular diagnostic tool with similar accuracy to PCR but having the advantage of amplifying a template DNA at a constant lower temperature in a shorter time. The aim of this study was to develop RPA for the detection of M. ulcerans and evaluate its use in Buruli ulcer disease. Methodology and principal findings A specific fragment of IS2404 of M. ulcerans was amplified within 15 minutes at a constant 42°C using RPA method. The detection limit was 45 copies of IS2404 molecular DNA standard per reaction. The assay was highly specific as all 7 strains of M. ulcerans tested were detected, and no cross reactivity was observed to other mycobacteria or clinically relevant bacteria species. The clinical performance of the M. ulcerans (Mu-RPA) assay was evaluated using DNA extracted from fine needle aspirates or swabs taken from 67 patients in whom BU was suspected and 12 patients with clinically confirmed non-BU lesions. All results were compared to a highly sensitive real-time PCR. The clinical specificity of the Mu-RPA assay was 100% (95% CI, 84–100), whiles the sensitivity was 88% (95% CI, 77–95). Conclusion The Mu-RPA assay represents an alternative to PCR, especially in areas with limited infrastructure. Author summary Current diagnostic methods to detect M. ulcerans suffer from delayed time-to-results in most endemic countries by the prolonged period of time for the shipment and storage of samples to a distant, centralized laboratory. The M. ulcerans recombinase polymerase amplification assay (Mu-RPA) is a new, rapid diagnostic test developed for the detection of M. ulcerans infection, known commonly as Buruli ulcer, a chronic, debilitating, necrotizing disease of the skin and soft tissues. This assay is suitable for use on a portable detection device, with the potential to be used for quick diagnosis at the point of need, providing timely results to health workers at Buruli ulcer treatment clinics

Sustainable sound waste management startegies in Juja, Kenya

Integrated solid waste management includes source reduction, source separation, recycling and reuse as well as materials recovery. The waste materials that remain should be safely disposed into a sanitary landfill. Up to 2010 when this study was done, no Kenyan city had a sanitary landfill and solid waste piles along inner city streets was a common sight in  Nairobi. This study found that the solid waste in Juja consisted of 80% food and other organic wastes, 10% plastics, 2% metal and glass, and 3% mixed refuse. The waste had a very low level of toxic substances. The majority of the households produced less than 3 kg per day, which translated to less than 0.5 kg/person/day. JKUAT-SWMM, a solid waste management model developed in this study, suggested that if 25% of the population would do composting using household compost digesters of 288 L, the area of a disposal site required for 1 million people would be 16 ha. The identified site was on fallow land that received an annual rainfall of 600-800 mm. A waste disposal facility in Juja Farm could cater for most ofthe towns in the area of interest, including Juja, Mangu, Kimunyu,  Gatundu, Thika, Ruiru and Kahawa. The landfill would be accessible to institutions such as Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Juja, Mount Kenya University in Thika, Kilimambogo Teachers’ College in Kilimambogo, and numerous secondary schools in the area

Malaria treatment in Northern Ghana: What is the treatment cost per case to households?

Although malaria is a major problem in Sub-Saharan African countries including Ghana, there has been little research on its economic impact, particularly the treatment cost at the household level. This study uses data collected from a random sample of 423 households in Kassena-Nankana district (KND) of northern Ghana. Malaria was ascertained through self-reporting of symptoms using a one-month recall period. The paper presents treatment cost analysis of seeking malaria care to households. Direct and indirect costs to households are estimated and examined in terms of location, severity, and wealth. The study shows that indirect cost accounts for 71 percent of total cost of a malaria episode. While cost of malaria care is estimated at 1 percent of the income of the rich, it is 34 percent of the poor households\' income, suggesting that the burden of malaria is higher for poorer households. In order to reduce the cost of malaria to households, we recommend that the training of malaria volunteers to assist households in the communities to take more responsibility of the disease and also to intensify public education to promote the use of insecticide treated nets, as they have been found to be cost-effective in the prevention of malaria. African Journal of Health Sciences Vol. 14 (1-2) 2007: pp. 70-7

Sexual Harassment in Public Medical Schools in Ghana

Objective: This study investigated the prevalence and incidence of Traditional (where a person in a position of power harasses a subordinate) and contra power sexual harassment, (where a subordinate is the harasser of authority figure) in medical schools in Ghana. amongDesign: Cross-sectional studyMethod: Four hundred and nine medical students from four medical schools in Ghana were interviewed. We also considered if academic and financial dependence would predict either traditional or contra power sexual harassment. We further investigated, whether women were more bothered by sexual harassment than men and the correlation between sexual harassment and health.Results: Women were 61% more likely to be sexually harassed than men 39%. Sexual harassment negatively affects the victims’ health outcome. We found that the traditional form of sexual harassment was prevalent in medical schools in Ghana and that academic dependence predicted attacks. In the first and second years, women at these institutions are more likely to be sexually harassed than men.Conclusion: Sexual harassment policies of medical school need to be widely circulated. The various medical schools should provide reporting procedures and counseling for victims. This paper would inform policy and research.Keywords: Sexual Harassment, Health, Medical Schools, Ghan

Roles of counsellors in promoting national integration as viewed by counsellors in Nigeria

In Nigeria, there are issues of insecurity, disintegration, lawlessness and heightened corruption among others. Issues of this nature need the role of counsellors when stakeholders are formulating policies for national integration. Hence, it is on this premise that this study investigated the role of counsellors in promoting National integration in Nigeria. The research design adopted for the study was the descriptive survey type. A multi-stage sampling procedure was adopted in selecting the respondents that participated in the study. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 460 respondents for the study. The instrument used in gathering the required data was a self-developed questionnaire titled “Role of Counsellors in Promoting National Integration Questionnaire” (RCNIQ). Three null hypotheses were generated and tested at 0.05 alpha level of significance using t-test statistical tool. The result obtained revealed that there was significant difference in the role of counsellors in promoting National integration based on gender, educational qualification and length of years in service. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that more school counsellors should enlighten the students on the need for unity and integration among Nigerians.  Seminars and workshops should be organized by counsellors in collaboration with the government, Non-Governmental Organizations and other stakeholders in order to discuss and tackle contemporary issues on National integration and stability. Keywords: Counsellors, National Integration, Stability, Advocac

Scheduling MapReduce Jobs under Multi-Round Precedences

We consider non-preemptive scheduling of MapReduce jobs with multiple tasks in the practical scenario where each job requires several map-reduce rounds. We seek to minimize the average weighted completion time and consider scheduling on identical and unrelated parallel processors. For identical processors, we present LP-based O(1)-approximation algorithms. For unrelated processors, the approximation ratio naturally depends on the maximum number of rounds of any job. Since the number of rounds per job in typical MapReduce algorithms is a small constant, our scheduling algorithms achieve a small approximation ratio in practice. For the single-round case, we substantially improve on previously best known approximation guarantees for both identical and unrelated processors. Moreover, we conduct an experimental analysis and compare the performance of our algorithms against a fast heuristic and a lower bound on the optimal solution, thus demonstrating their promising practical performance

The Academic Outcomes of Working Memory and Metacognitive Strategy Training in Children: A Double-Blind Randomised Controlled Trial

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.Working memory training has been shown to improve performance on untrained working memory tasks in typically developing children, at least when compared to nonadaptive training; however, there is little evidence that it improves academic outcomes. The lack of transfer to academic outcomes may be because children are only learning skills and strategies in a very narrow context, which they are unable to apply to other tasks. Metacognitive strategy interventions, which promote metacognitive awareness and teach children general strategies that can be used on a variety of tasks, may be a crucial missing link in this regard. In this double-blind randomised controlled trial, 95 typically developing children aged 9-14 years were allocated to three cognitive training programmes that were conducted daily after-school. One group received Cogmed working memory training, another group received concurrent Cogmed and metacognitive strategy training, and the control group received adaptive visual search training, which better controls for expectancy and motivation than non-adaptive training. Children were assessed on four working memory tasks, reading comprehension, and mathematical reasoning before, immediately after, and three months after training. Working memory training improved working memory and mathematical reasoning relative to the control group. The improvements in working memory were maintained three months later and these were significantly greater for the group that received metacognitive strategy training, compared to working memory training alone. Working memory training is a potentially effective educational intervention when provided in addition to school; however, future research will need to investigate ways to maintain academic improvements long-term and to optimise metacognitive strategy training to promote fartransfer.Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC

The role of the UPS in cystic fibrosis

CF is an inherited autosomal recessive disease whose lethality arises from malfunction of CFTR, a single chloride (Cl-) ion channel protein. CF patients harbor mutations in the CFTR gene that lead to misfolding of the resulting CFTR protein, rendering it inactive and mislocalized. Hundreds of CF-related mutations have been identified, many of which abrogate CFTR folding in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). More than 70% of patients harbor the ΔF508 CFTR mutation that causes misfolding of the CFTR proteins. Consequently, mutant CFTR is unable to reach the apical plasma membrane of epithelial cells that line the lungs and gut, and is instead targeted for degradation by the UPS. Proteins located in both the cytoplasm and ER membrane are believed to identify misfolded CFTR for UPS-mediated degradation. The aberrantly folded CFTR protein then undergoes polyubiquitylation, carried out by an E1-E2-E3 ubiquitin ligase system, leading to degradation by the 26S proteasome. This ubiquitin-dependent loss of misfolded CFTR protein can be inhibited by the application of ‘corrector’ drugs that aid CFTR folding, shielding it from the UPS machinery. Corrector molecules elevate cellular CFTR protein levels by protecting the protein from degradation and aiding folding, promoting its maturation and localization to the apical plasma membrane. Combinatory application of corrector drugs with activator molecules that enhance CFTR Cl- ion channel activity offers significant potential for treatment of CF patients