Health service delivery and other HIV/AIDS related interventions in the fisheries sector in Sub-Saharan Africa: a literature review

The WorldFish Center and FAO are implementing a regional programme entitled "Fisheries and HIV/AIDS in Africa; investing in sustainable solutions", funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As part of this project, the Overseas Development Group/School of Development Studies was asked to produce a literature review on 'Fisheries and HIV/AIDS in Africa: evidence from social science, medical and policy research'. The task was to collate available data from socio-economic and medical research to identify trends in fishing communities in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper is the first of three parts of the literature review, which covers review of research on health service delivery and other HIV/AIDS related interventions in the fisheries sector in Sub-Saharan Africa.Fisheries, AIDS, Public health, HIV, Nutritive value

Using web-based reflection with video to enhance high fidelity undergraduate nursing clinical skills education

The United States is currently facing a crisis in health care and health professions education. Various studies (Committee on Quality of Health Care in America 2000; 2001; General Accounting Office, 2001) have documented astonishing death rates from medical errors as well as nursing and physician shortages. Thus it is obvious that the traditional “hands on” model historically used to teach and assess clinical judgment competence is or has become inadequate. New advances in simulation and web-based technologies can, if leveraged well, help educators address these challenges. Thus far, high fidelity simulation (HFS) clinical skills education sessions have been primarily conducted and debriefed in real time and the use of any related video recordings has been confined to faculty regarding its review. The goal of this project was to pilot test the impact of providing students the opportunity to review the video of their simulated session while reflecting on their performance within a structured format. The live debriefing that is a part of HFS sessions is also a form of reflection. The guided reflection prompt exercise used in this pilot is a secondary form of reflection. This paper describes the theoretical basis for this exercise, the findings of its initial evaluation and post study research that illuminates its limitations

Survey of the Reduviidae (Heteroptera) of Southern Illinois, Excluding the Phymatinae, With Notes on Biology

A survey of the nonphymatine reduviids of southern Illinois was con­ducted from April 1996 to November 1998. In addition to county distributions, information was collected on times of occurrence of adults and nymphs and associated habitats. These data were supplemented with label information associated with southern Illinois specimens housed in the Southern Illinois University Entomology Collection (SIUEC). Twenty-five species were collected during this survey. An additional six species housed in the SIUEC were collected previously in southern Illinois but not during the survey. Of the 31 species, nine are state records: Ploiaria hirticornis, Rocconota annulicornis, Sinea complexa, Microtornus purcis, Rasahus hamatus, Saica elkinsi, Oncocephalus geniculatus, Pnirontis languida, and Pnirontis modesta

Mortality in England and Wales attributable to current alcohol consumption.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To estimate the number of deaths attributable to current alcohol consumption levels in England and Wales by age and sex. DESIGN: Epidemiological approach using published relative risks and population data. SETTING: England and Wales. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Numbers of deaths by age and sex and years of life lost for alcohol related conditions. RESULTS: Because of the cardioprotective properties of alcohol, it is estimated that there are approximately 2% fewer deaths annually in England and Wales than would be expected in a non-drinking population. This proportion varies greatly by age and sex and only among men aged over 55 years and women aged over 65 years is there likely to be found a net favourable mortality balance. It is also estimated that there were approximately 75 000 premature years of life lost in England and Wales in 1996 attributable to alcohol consumption. The main causes of alcohol attributable mortality among the young include road traffic fatalities, suicide and alcoholic liver disease. CONCLUSIONS: At a population level, current alcohol consumption in England and Wales may marginally reduce mortality. However, the benefit is disproportionately found among the elderly. Estimating alcohol attributable mortality by age and sex may be a useful indicator for developing alcohol strategies. More research into the possible effect modifications of pattern of consumption, beverage type, age and gender will enable these estimates to be improved

A hybrid keyboard-guitar interface using capacitive touch sensing and physical modeling

This paper was presented at the 9th Sound and Music Computing Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark.This paper presents a hybrid interface based on a touch- sensing keyboard which gives detailed expressive control over a physically-modeled guitar. Physical modeling al- lows realistic guitar synthesis incorporating many expres- sive dimensions commonly employed by guitarists, includ- ing pluck strength and location, plectrum type, hand damp- ing and string bending. Often, when a physical model is used in performance, most control dimensions go unused when the interface fails to provide a way to intuitively con- trol them. Techniques as foundational as strumming lack a natural analog on the MIDI keyboard, and few digital controllers provide the independent control of pitch, vol- ume and timbre that even novice guitarists achieve. Our interface combines gestural aspects of keyboard and guitar playing. Most dimensions of guitar technique are control- lable polyphonically, some of them continuously within each note. Mappings are evaluated in a user study of key- boardists and guitarists, and the results demonstrate its playa- bility by performers of both instruments

Artificial neural network prediction of weld distortion rectification using a travelling induction coil

An experimental investigation has been carried out to determine the applicability of an induction heating process with a travelling induction coil for the rectification of angular welding distortion. The results obtained from experimentation have been used to create artificial neural network models with the ability to predict the welding induced distortion and the distortion rectification achieved using a travelling induction coil. The experimental results have shown the ability to reduce the angular distortion for 8 mm and 10 mm thick DH36 steel plate and effectively eliminate the distortion on 6 mm thick plate. Results for 6 mm plate also show the existence of a critical induction coil travel speed at which maximum corrective bending occurs. Artificial neural networks have demonstrated the ability to predict the final distortion of the plate after both welding and induction heating. The models have also been used as a tool to determine the optimum speed to minimise the resulting distortion of steel plate after being subjected to both welding and induction heating processes

'To bring the work to greater perfection': systematising governance in the Church of Scotland, 1696–1800

Following the confirmation of Presbyterian government in the Church of Scotland in 1690, a number of attempts were made to codify the governance practices that were to be followed in the various ruling bodies of the church. A review of these attempts indicates a distinctive approach to governance based on detailed record keeping and the monitoring of activities based on these records. While the church never managed to agree on a complete manual of procedure, a review of responses to the proposals suggests substantial conformance with their main precepts. Not only did these precepts contribute to the consolidation of the Presbyterian settlement of 1690, they also provided a legalistic and systemic cast to organisational structures and practices. This then shaped a distinctive ‘culture of organisation’ which, in conjunction with other institutions such as education, provided to-hand resources for the widely noted Scottish competence in administration. A focus on administrative practices in their cultural and social context provides a basis for assessing claims to Scottish distinctiveness and influence

Ultrahigh harmonics from laser-assisted ion-atom collisions

We present a theoretical analysis of high-order harmonic generation from ion-atom collisions in the presence of linearly polarized intense laser pulses. Photons with frequencies significantly higher than in standard atomic high-harmonic generation are emitted. These harmonics are due to two different mechanisms: (i) collisional electron capture and subsequent laser-driven transfer of an electron between projectile and target atom; (ii) reflection of a laser-driven electron from the projectile leading to recombination at the parent atom.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Design and use of a hackable digital instrument

This paper introduces the D-Box, a new digital musical instrument specifically designed to elicit unexpected creative uses and to support modification by the performer. Rather than taking a modular approach, the D-Box is a hackable instrument which allows for the discovery of novel working configurations through circuit bending techniques. Starting from the concept of appropriation, this paper describes the design, development and evaluation process lasting more than one year and made in collaboration with musicians and hackers.This work was funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council under grant EP/K032046/1 (2013-14)