Assessment of food safety practices among cassava processors in selected rural communities of Oyo State, Nigeria

Food safety assessment is an effective means of discovering knowledge and data gaps that limit effective risk analysis and at the same time providing information to develop public policies on food safety management. The study assessed the cassava food safety practices among cassava processors in selected rural communities of Oyo State. Both qualitative and quantitative research designs were used to examine the following parameters: knowledge, attitude, sources of information and constraints to food safety practices. Focus Group Discussion, In-depth Interview, direct observation and interview schedule were the sources of primary data used. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select one hundred and fifty-four (154) men and women involved in cassava processing from four Local Government Areas where there is concentration of cassava production and processing activities in the state, namely: Saki-West, Saki-East, Atisbo and Afijio. Data were analyzed using percentage, mean, Analysis of Variance and Chi square. The findings revealed that the mean income was N20,695, majority of the processors have low knowledge (71.4%) and unfavourable attitude (51.3%) towards cassava safety practices. Public sanitary officers (x̅ = 2.61) and fellow processors (x̅ = 2.11) were ranked as the most used sources of information about cassava safety practices. Constraints to food safety practices include: processing is time consuming, the cumbersome nature of the safety practices and inadequate access to clean water. Inferential analysis of results shows that income contributed significantly to the cassava food safety practices (p = 0.04) and safety practices do significantly differ among cassava processors across the selected cassava processors (p = 0.10). However, no significant relationship between sex (p = 0.42), age (p = 0.48), marital status (p = 0.67), educational level (p =0.53), processing experience (p = 0.92) and safety practices of the respondents. Training and effective monitoring by relevant stakeholders will further boost processors’ knowledge and attitudinal change towards food safety and ultimately safe food for the consumers.Keywords: Assessment, Food, Safety, Practices, Processors, Cassava, Rural, Communit

Assessing the perception and reality of arguments against thermal waste treatment plants in terms of property prices

The thermal processing of waste materials, although considered to be an essential part of waste management, is often sharply contested in the UK. Arguments such as health, depletion of resources, cost, noise, odours, traffic movement and house prices are often cited as reasons against the development of such facilities. This study aims to review the arguments and identify any effect on property prices due to the public perception of the plant. A selection of existing energy from waste (EfW) facilities in the UK, operational for at least 7 years, was selected and property sales data, within 5 km of the sites, was acquired and analysed in detail. The locations of the properties were calculated in relation to the plant using GIS software (ArcGIS) and the distances split into 5 zones ranging from 0 to 5 km from the site. The local property sale prices, normalised against the local house price index, were compared in two time periods, before and after the facility became operational, across each of the 5 zones. In all cases analysed no significant negative effect was observed on property prices at any distance within 5 km from a modern operational incinerator. This indicated that the perceived negative effect of the thermal processing of waste on local property values is negligible

Integrating Pharmacogenetic Decision Support into a Clinical Information System

Pharmacogenetic testing can prevent adverse drug events but has rarely found its way into clinical routine. One reason is the lack of tools for smooth and automatable integration of pharmacogenetic knowledge into existing processes. Especially, electronic medical records (EMR) represent a suitable environment for such tools. We developed a modular service-oriented prototype of a pharmacogenetic decision support system within an EMR system of the Bern University Hospital. Here, we present the component architecture of our system and discuss issues required for generalizing our results

Evaluation of the Colorimetric Performance of Single-Sensor Image Acquisition Systems Employing Colour and Multispectral Filter Array

International audienceSingle-sensor colour imaging systems mostly employ a colour filter array (CFA). This enables the acquisition of a colour image by a single sensor at one exposure at the cost of reduced spatial resolution. The idea of CFA fit itself well with multispectral purposes by incorporating more than three types of filters into the array which results in multispectral filter array (MSFA). In comparison with a CFA, an MSFA trades spatial resolution for spectral resolution. A simulation was performed to evaluate the colorimetric performance of such CFA/MSFA imaging systems and investigate the trade-off between spatial resolution and spectral resolution by comparing CFA and MSFA systems utilising various filter characteristics and demosaicking methods including intra-and inter-channel bilinear interpolation as well as discrete wavelet transformed based techniques. In general, 4-band and 8-band MSFAs provide better or comparable performance than the CFA setup in terms of CIEDE2000 and S-CIELAB colour difference. This indicates that MSFA would be favourable for colorimetric purposes

Components for Material Master Data Management in Swiss Hospitals

The material master data catalogue in large hospitals may well exceed 50'000 articles required at one or another location for patient diagnosis and treatment. Most hospitals use a commercial material management IT system to deal with orders, eProcurement, incoming goods, warehouse management, internal commissioning and distribution. An analysis in three Swiss hospitals (including a hospital chain) demonstrated however, that despite existing standards maintenance of the material master data catalogue is often done manually based on different incoming formats such as csv, mail etc. We present components, which may enable seamless master data update using standardized formats and discuss in detail current barriers within hospital supply to give finally recommendations how to overcome them

Fock space localization, return probability, and conductance of disordered interacting electrons

We numerically simulate the low-energy properties of interacting electrons in a random potential using the Hartree-Fock based exact diagonalization method. In particular, we investigate how the transport properties are influenced by the combined effects of disorder and correlations in the presence of the electron spin. To this end we calculate the participation number of many-particle states in Fock space, the return probability of single-particle excitations, and the Kubo-Greenwood conductance. It turns out that in the strongly localized regime interactions increase the conductance whereas for weak disorder interactions decrease the conductance. In contrast, single-particle excitations in general experience a localizing influence of the interactions.Comment: 4 pages, 4 eps figures, Proc. of the Symposium on Wave Propagation and Electronic Structure in Disordered Systems, FORTH, Heraklion, Crete, Greece (June 2000

Pulsatile Stress in Middle-Aged Patients With Type 1 or Type 2 Diabetes Compared With Nondiabetic Control Subjects

AbstractBackground: Arterial pulse pressure (PP) is considered as an independent cardiovascular risk factor. We compared PP during an active orthostatic test in middle-aged patients with type 1 diabetes and with type 2 diabetes, and corresponding nondiabetic controls. Methods: 40 patients with type 1 diabetes (mean age 50 years, diabetes duration 23 years, BMI 23.0 kg/m(2)) were compared to 40 non hypertensive patients with type 2 diabetes (respectively, 50 years, 8 years, 29.7 kg/m(2)). Patients taking antihypertensive agents or with renal insufficiency were excluded. All patients were evaluated with a continuous noninvasive arterial blood pressure monitoring (Finapres(R)) in standing (1 min), squatting (1 min) and again standing position (1 min). Patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes were compared with two groups of 40 age-, sex- and BMI-matched healthy subjects. Results: Patients with type 1 diabetes and patients with type 2 diabetes showed significantly higher PP, heart rate (HR) and PPxHR double product (type 1 : 5263 vs 4121 mmHg/min, p=0.0004; type 2 : 5359 vs 4321 mmHg, p=0.0023) levels than corresponding controls. There were no significant differences between patients with type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes regarding PP (59 vs 58 mmHg), HR (89 vs 88/min), and PPxHR product (5263 vs 5359 mmHg/min). Conclusion: Patients with type 1 diabetes have comparable increased levels of peripheral PP, an indirect marker of arterial stiffness, and PPxHR, an index of pulsatile stress, as non-hypertensive patients with type 2 diabetes at similar mean age of 50 years

Effect of COVID-19 pandemic on practice in European radiation oncology centers

ESTRO surveyed European radiation oncology department heads to evaluate the impact of COVID-19. Telemedicine was used in 78% of the departments, and 60% reported a decline in patient volume. Use of protective measures was implemented on a large scale, but shortages of personal protective equipment were present in more than half of the departments. (C) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. Radiotherapy and Oncology 150 (2020) 40-42 This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Spatial Patterns and Sequential Sampling Plans for Estimating Densities of Stink Bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in Soybean in the North Central Region of the United States

Stink bugs are an emerging threat to soybean (Fabales: Fabaceae) in the North Central Region of the United States. Consequently, region-specific scouting recommendations for stink bugs are needed. The aim of this study was to characterize the spatial pattern and to develop sampling plans to estimate stink bug population density in soybean fields. In 2016 and 2017, 125 fields distributed across nine states were sampled using sweep nets. Regression analyses were used to determine the effects of stink bug species [Chinavia hilaris (Say) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) and Euschistus spp. (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)], life stages (nymphs and adults), and field locations (edge and interior) on spatial pattern as represented by variance–mean relationships. Results showed that stink bugs were aggregated. Sequential sampling plans were developed for each combination of species, life stage, and location and for all the data combined. Results for required sample size showed that an average of 40–42 sample units (sets of 25 sweeps) would be necessary to achieve a precision of 0.25 for stink bug densities commonly encountered across the region. However, based on the observed geographic gradient of stink bug densities, more practical sample sizes (5–10 sample units) may be sufficient in states in the southeastern part of the region, whereas impractical sample sizes (\u3e100 sample units) may be required in the northwestern part of the region. Our findings provide research-based sampling recommendations for estimating densities of these emerging pests in soybean