Prevalence and associated risk factors for mental health problems among young adults in Fiji Island during COVID-19: a cross-sectional study

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on mental health globally. To understand the impact of the pandemic on mental health in Fiji, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence of anxiety disorder and depression among the young adults.MethodAn online survey was conducted to assess the prevalence of anxiety disorder and depression among the general population in Suva, Fiji during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 1,119 Fiji adults participated in the study. The study was conducted between May 20 to June 30, 2022, using a snowball sampling via social media platforms. The Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) scales were used to measure anxiety and depression, respectively. The COVID-19 related stressors was evaluated using the adapted SARS stressors assessment. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the factors influencing mental health among respondents.ResultsThe result shows that a significant portion of individuals experienced each of the stressors, with the highest prevalence seen for hearing information about the severity of COVID-19. The prevalence of anxiety and depression was found to be 45% and 49%, respectively. Being female, having pre-existing illness and COVID-19 stressors were a risk factor to develop anxiety and depression. On the other hand, employed individuals and having high BMI was a protective factor against developing depression during COVID-19 lockdown.ConclusionThese findings highlight the importance of addressing the mental health needs of the Fijian population during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond

Application of the Analytic Hierarchy Process to Riparian Revegetation Policy Options

While riparian vegetation can play a major role in protecting land, water and natural habitat in catchments, there are high costs associated with tree planting and establishment and in diverting land from cropping. The distribution of costs and benefits of riparian revegetation creates conflicts in the objectives of various stakeholder groups, and elicitation of importance weights of objectives and determination of rankings of a number of policy options by these stakeholder groups becomes critical in decision-making. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is a multicriteria analysis technique that provides an appropriate tool to accommodate the conflicting views of various stakeholder groups. The AHP allows the users to assess the relative importance of multiple criteria (or multiple alternatives against a given criterion) in an intuitive manner. This paper presents an application of AHP to obtain preference weights of environmental, social and economic objectives which have been used in ranking riparian revegetation policy options in a small catchment (watershed) in north Queensland, Australia. The preference weights towards environmental, economic and social objectives have been obtained for the various stakeholder groups (landholders, representatives of local sugar mill staff, environmentalists, recreational fishers and the local community). The AHP technique has proved useful in eliciting objectives and ranking policy options as well as in checking for consistency of the statements of stakeholder groups. Implementation of this approach requires a complex data elicitation process

Arab Spring and Democratic Transition in the GCC: Continuity amidst Change

Did the Arab Spring effect democratic transition in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries? What are the implications for institutional transformation? This article focuses on legislative autonomy vis-a-vis the executive branch. The authoritarian regimes have continued their strategy of resistance amidst a modicum of reform, within the twin policies of institutional restructuring and security control, which reveals four trends: institutional preservation, status quo concessions, stalled power-sharing, and repressive countermeasures. There has been a growing sectarian dimension to the opposition. Frustrated and disillusioned, the younger generation has infused energy into the protest movement both in the streets and in cyberspace. With a firm hold on the security services by rulers, incremental policy shifts in the social realm will outpace institutional transformation in the political arena

A study of aerodynamic drag of American footballs

American football is one of the most popular sports in North America. It is enjoyed both by participants and spectators. The centre piece of the games is the oval shaped ball. The flight trajectory of an American football largely depends on its aerodynamic characteristics. Despite the popularity of the game, it appears that scant information on the aerodynamic force experienced by an American football is available in the open literature. Although attempts were made to construct the flight trajectory of the ball, without knowing the aerodynamic drag coefficient, it is hard to build such a model. The shape of an American football is similar to that of an ellipsoid. It has more pointed ends and rough surfaces. The ball used in college level teams possesses a pair of seams at the pointed ends. This makes the airflow around the ball even more complex. The primary purpose of this study is to experimentally measure the aerodynamic forces of American footballs used at professional and college levels under a range of wind speeds and yaw angles. The non-deimensional drag coefficient were estimated and compared. The results indicate that the American footballs possess drag coefficient close to that of other oval shaped balls such as Rugby and Australian rule footballs

A study of baseball aerodynamic drag

The baseball is one of the popular games in North and South America, North Asia and some parts of Europe and Africa. It is enjoyed both by participants and spectators. The games centre piece is the spherical ball. The flight trajectory of a baseball largely depends on its aerodynamic characteristics. Despite the popularity of the game, it appears that scant information on aerodynamic force experienced by a baseball is available in the open literature. Having over 108 curved stitches, complex seams and their orientation, the airflow around the ball is believed to be significantly complex and little understood. The primary objectives of this study were to evaluate aerodynamic performances of a commercially manufactured baseball. The aerodynamic forces and moments were measured experimentally for a range of wind speeds and seam orientations. The aerodynamic forces and their non-dimensional coefficients were analysed. The results indicate that the drag coefficient of a base ball is close to other closely related balls such cricket ball. The findings also indicate that the seam orientation has profound impact on ball's aerodynamic characterisitcs

Short-Term Waterlogging Depresses Early Growth of Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) on Saline Soils with a Shallow Water Table in the Coastal Zone of Bangladesh

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), which is widely grown globally for its high-quality edible oil, is reasonably salt and drought tolerant but it is susceptible to waterlogging. In the saline coastal zone of the Ganges delta, sunflower is often exposed to sudden heavy rainfall during early growth but plant tolerance to such events is not known. Hence, we evaluated the effect of short-term soil inundation (referred to as waterlogging) for 0, 24, 48 and 72 h on sunflower at emergence, 2-leaf, and 4-leaf stages in early- and late-sown crops under field conditions (saline, clay-textured soil, and shallow groundwater). Waterlogging for 24 h did not affect sunflower at any stage but waterlogging for 48 and 72 h suppressed emergence and growth at the 2 and 4-leaf stages. Waterlogging for 72 h completely prevented the emergence for early sowing, whereas emergence was less affected for later sowing. Shoot and root dry weight were most affected at the emergence and 2-leaf stage, not at the 4-leaf stage. In conclusion, waterlogging caused by more than 24 h soil inundation at up to the 4-leaf stage severely depressed emergence and growth, indicating the need for effective drainage at sowing of sunflower in the low-lying coastal saline zone of Bangladesh