421 research outputs found
Study on the seroprevalence of small ruminant brucellosis in and around Bahir Dar, North West Ethiopia
A cross sectional study was carried out from October 2008 to April 2009 to determine the sero-prevalence of brucellosis in small ruminants in and around Bahir Dar, northwest Ethiopia. The sampling method used was purposive sampling technique for districts and simple random for the study animals. A total of 500 serum samples (270 from sheep and 230 from goats) were collected from extensive management system with no history of vaccination. All serum samples were initially screened by Rose-Bengal-Plate Test (RBPT) and positive reactors to RBPT (n=6) were further tested by complement fixation test (CFT) for
confirmation. Accordingly, the overall prevalence of brucellosis in small ruminants was 0.4 % (2/500). Rose Bengal Plate Test detected 6 (1.2%) of the samples as seropositive. Up on further testing by CFT only 2 (0.4%) were positive which were
adult goats. The seroprevalence of brucellosis was found higher in females (0.4%) than males (0%). Although seropositive animals are low in number, it was found out that animals more than 1 year of age were more affected than others. The
result of the present study revealed that the seroprevalence of small ruminant brucellosis in the study area was very low. However, the existence of the disease in the study area has possible risk of spread in the future. Accordingly, elimination
of positive seroreactors has been recommended to control the spread of brucellosis in these species of animals
âLived the Pandemic Twiceâ: A Scoping Review of the Unequal Impact of the COVIDâ19 Pandemic on Asylum Seekers and Undocumented Migrants
Background: Emerging evidence suggests that the COVIDâ19 pandemic is widening prepandemic health, social, and economic inequalities between refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers and the general population. This global scoping review examined the impact of the pandemic on communityâbased asylum seekers and undocumented migrants in highâ and upperâmiddleâincome countries. Methods: We conducted a systematic search of peerâreviewed articles in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and ProQuest Central. We applied Katikireddiâs framework of understanding and addressing inequalities to examine the differential impact of the pandemic across exposure, vulnerability to infection, disease consequences, social consequences, effectiveness of control measures, and adverse consequences of control measures. Results: We included 32 articles in the review. The analysis showed that asylum seekers and undocumented migrants experienced greater exposure to the COVIDâ19 virus and higher infection rates. They also experienced differential social consequences in the form of job loss and lost and/or reduced work hours. The effectiveness of pandemic response measures on asylum seekers and undocumented migrants was also affected by preâpandemic social and economic marginalisation, exclusion from pandemicâinduced policy measures, lack of appropriate pandemic communication, and variable trust in governments and authority. Pandemic control measures had greater adverse consequences on asylum seekers and undocumented migrants than the general population, with the majority of studies included in this review reporting worsened mental health and social isolation conditions and reduced access to health care. Conclusions: Asylum seekers and undocumented migrants experienced a disproportionate impact of the COVIDâ19 pandemic across the six thematic areas of comparison. Policies that reduce exposure and vulnerability to the infection, grant equitable access to health and social care, and build capacities and resilience, are critical to enable asylum seekers and undocumented migrants to cope with and recover from preâpandemic and pandemicâinduced inequalities
Married women's decision making power on family planning use and associated factors in Mizan-Aman, South Ethiopia : a cross sectional study
Background: Women's use of family planning service is influenced by many factors, especially by their decision making power. A woman's decision-making power, be it individual or decision made in collaboration with a partner, is the most important factor in the use of family planning in a household. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of women's decision making power on family planning use and its associated factors. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted on married women in the child bearing age. The women who were living in Mizan city were selected using the simple random sampling method. Trained nurses collected the data by interview, using a structured and pre-tested questioner. Bivariable and multivariable binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify the associated factors, and the odds ratio with a 95 % CI was computed to assess the strength of the association. Collinearity was also assessed by looking at standard errors in the final fitted model. Result: Overall, more than two-thirds [67.2 %: 95 % CI (63-71 %)] of the married women were found to be more autonomous to decide family planning use. Secondary education [AOR: 9.04, 95 % CI: (4.50, 18.16)], government employment [AOR: 4.84, 95 % CI: (2.03, 11.52)], being wives of government employed spouses [AOR 2.71, 95 % CI: (1.24, 7.97)], having husbands with college or university education [AOR: 11.29, 95 % CI: (4.66, 27.35)], and being in the younger age [AOR: 0.27, 95 % CI :(0.09, 0.75)] were significantly associated with women's decision-making power on family planning. Conclusions: In this study, women had a high decision making power in family planning use. Age category (34-44-years), formal education, and occupational status had effects on women's decision making power. Promoting parental adult education and engaging women in out of house employment is essential to improve their decision making power in using family planning
Direct approach to the problem of strong local minima in Calculus of Variations
The paper introduces a general strategy for identifying strong local
minimizers of variational functionals. It is based on the idea that any
variation of the integral functional can be evaluated directly in terms of the
appropriate parameterized measures. We demonstrate our approach on a problem of
W^{1,infinity} weak-* local minima--a slight weakening of the classical notion
of strong local minima. We obtain the first quasiconvexity-based set of
sufficient conditions for W^{1,infinity} weak-* local minima.Comment: 26 pages, no figure
Collection and evaluation of pearl millet (Pennisetum americanum) germplasm from Ghana
An expedition to Ghana was undertaken during August 1981 to collect mainly the early-maturing pearl millet, Pennisetum americanum. The collection team travelled extensively in most of the pearl millet-growing areas of the eastern and northern provinces of Ghana. The mission was planned to coincide with harvesting so that early-maturing landraces could be obtained from farmersâ fields. Seed samples of late-maturing pearl millet were also obtained from local markets. Early-maturing pearl millet is traditionally intercropped with groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) or late-maturing pearl millet. Pearl millet grain is used in several traditional food preparations: thick porridge called tĂŽ, a thin, fermented porridge calledkoko, and a deep-fried pancake calledmarsa. Landrace populations grown by the farmers were mixtures of several types. The material collected varied considerably for shapes, sizes and colors of spikes and grains. Of the 284 samples collected, 227 were grown in a uniform nursery at Patancheru: they flowered in 39â140 days, grew 120â315 cm tall, spikes were short (6â53 cm) and conical, grains were large, globular and gray with starchy endosperm. The samples belong to race globosum and serve as a good source of genes for earliness and large-grain siz
Social capital and maternal and child health services uptake in low- and middle-income countries: mixed methods systematic review
Background: Social capital has become an important concept in the field of public health, and is associated with improved health services uptake. This study aimed to systematically review the available literature on the role of social capital on the utilization of maternal and child health services in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods: Mixed-methods research review and synthesis using three databases PubMed, Scopus, and Science Direct for peer-reviewed literature and Google Scholar and Google search engines for gray literature were performed. Both quantitative and qualitative studies conducted in LMICs, published in English and in grey literature were considered. Prior to inclusion in the review methodological quality was assessed using a standardized critical appraisal instrument. Results: A total of 1,545 studies were identified, of which 13 records were included after exclusions of studies due to duplicates, reading titles, abstracts, and full-text reviews. Of these eligible studies, six studies were included for quantitative synthesis, and seven were included for qualitative synthesis. Of the six quantitative studies, five of them addressed the association between social capital and health facility delivery. Women who lived in communities with higher membership in groups that helps to form intergroup bridging ties had higher odds of using antenatal care services. Synthesized qualitative findings revealed that women received some form of emotional, informational, and instrumental support from their network members. Receiving health information from trusted people and socio-cultural factors influenced the use of maternal and child health services. Conclusions: Social capital has a great contribution to improve maternal and child health services. Countries aiming at improving maternal and child health services can be benefited from adapting existing context-specific social networks in the community. This review identified limited available evidence examining the role of social capital on maternal and child health services uptake and future studies may be required for an in-depth understanding of how social capital could improve maternal and child health services.Endalkachew Worku Mengesha, Getu Degu Alene, Desalegne Amare, Yibeltal Assefa, and Gizachew A Tessem
On the variational limits of lattice energies on prestrained elastic bodies
We study the asymptotic behaviour of the discrete elastic energies in
presence of the prestrain metric , assigned on the continuum reference
configuration . When the mesh size of the discrete lattice in
goes to zero, we obtain the variational bounds on the limiting (in the sense of
-limit) energy. In case of the nearest-neighbour and
next-to-nearest-neibghour interactions, we derive a precise asymptotic formula,
and compare it with the non-Euclidean model energy relative to
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