The impact of a school-based water supply and treatment, hygiene, and sanitation programme on pupil diarrhoea: a cluster-randomized trial.

The impact of improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) access on mitigating illness is well documented, although impact of school-based WASH on school-aged children has not been rigorously explored. We conducted a cluster-randomized trial in Nyanza Province, Kenya to assess the impact of a school-based WASH intervention on diarrhoeal disease in primary-school pupils. Two study populations were used: schools with a nearby dry season water source and those without. Pupils attending 'water-available' schools that received hygiene promotion and water treatment (HP&WT) and sanitation improvements showed no difference in period prevalence or duration of illness compared to pupils attending control schools. Those pupils in schools that received only the HP&WT showed similar results. Pupils in 'water-scarce' schools that received a water-supply improvement, HP&WT and sanitation showed a reduction in diarrhoea incidence and days of illness. Our study revealed mixed results on the impact of improvements to school WASH improvements on pupil diarrhoea

Evaluation of Artificial Neural Network for determining distribution pattern of ascid family (Acari: Mesostigmata) in Damghan

In this study, the artificial neural network methods were used to estimate the distribution of ascid family (Acari: Mesostigmata). For this aim, latitude, longitude and elevation from the sea level of 137 points were defined as inputs and output of method was number of species of this family on those points and Perceptron with propagation algorithm was evaluated in artificial neural network method. To evaluate the ability of neural networks used to predict dispersion, statistical comparison of parameters such as variance, statistical distribution and mean of spatial predicted values by neural network and their actual values were used. The results showed that there was no significant difference (p> 0.4) in the training and test phases between the values of the statistical characteristics of variance, the statistical distribution and the mean of real and predicted spatial data of this family by the neural network. It can be concluded that the artificial neural network method was able to predict the dispersion of this family with proper precision by integrating three factors of latitude and longitude and elevation from the sea level. ;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family:"B Lotus";mso-bidi-language:FA'>p> 0.4). در مجموع می­توان چنین نتیجه گرفت که روش شبکه عصبی مصنوعی با تلفیق سه عامل طول و عرض جغرافیایی و ارتفاع از سطح دریا، قادر به پیش­بینی پراکندگی این خانواده با دقت مناسب بود

An investigation on resistance of 19 common bean genotypes to two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae), in three regions of Iran

Two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, is one of the important pests of common bean that causes serious damage to agricultural crops. In this study, nineteen common bean genotypes were evaluated for resistance to the two-spotted spider mite. The trial was carried out at field conditions of Karaj, Brojerd and Khomein. One week after mite infestation, the total number of female and eggs were counted for two times. Also, mite damage feeding was evaluated with a 1-6 scale. Khomein had the fewest infested mean and relative resistance of many genotypes was failed in comparison to susceptible standard genotype (Akhtar) at Khomein. So they should be eliminated in alternative breeding programs. Nevertheless, only Ks41128 that had good relative resistance at other regions had the most relative resistance at Khomein. Subsequently, we propose Ks41128 as the most resistance and also the most stable genotypes

Fault-tolerant Cooperative Tasking for Multi-agent Systems

A natural way for cooperative tasking in multi-agent systems is through a top-down design by decomposing a global task into sub-tasks for each individual agent such that the accomplishments of these sub-tasks will guarantee the achievement of the global task. In our previous works [1], [2] we presented necessary and sufficient conditions on the decomposability of a global task automaton between cooperative agents. As a follow-up work, this paper deals with the robustness issues of the proposed top-down design approach with respect to event failures in the multi-agent systems. The main concern under event failure is whether a previously decomposable task can still be achieved collectively by the agents, and if not, we would like to investigate that under what conditions the global task could be robustly accomplished. This is actually the fault-tolerance issue of the top-down design, and the results provide designers with hints on which events are fragile with respect to failures, and whether redundancies are needed. The main objective of this paper is to identify necessary and sufficient conditions on failed events under which a decomposable global task can still be achieved successfully. For such a purpose, a notion called passivity is introduced to characterize the type of event failures. The passivity is found to reflect the redundancy of communication links over shared events, based on which necessary and sufficient conditions for the reliability of cooperative tasking under event failures are derived, followed by illustrative examples and remarks for the derived conditions.Comment: Preprint, Submitted for publicatio

Synthesis and characterization of hypoxia-mimicking bioactive glasses for skeletal regeneration

The cellular response to hypoxia (low oxygen pressure) is vital for skeletal tissue development and regeneration. Numerous processes, including progenitor cell recruitment, differentiation and angiogenesis, are activated via the hypoxia pathway. Novel materials-based strategies designed to activate the hypoxia pathway are therefore of great interest for orthopaedic tissue engineering. Resorbable bioactive glasses (BGs) were developed to activate the hypoxia pathway by the controlled release of cobalt ions (at physiological relevant concentrations) whilst controlling BG apatite-forming ability. Two series of soda-lime-phosphosilicate glasses were synthesised with increasing concentrations of cobalt. Compositions were calculated to maintain constant network connectivity (2.13) by considering that cobalt is taking part in the network in the first series, and is acting as a network modifier in the second series. Mg2+ and Zn2+ were added to one of the Co2+-containing glasses to inhibit HCA formation. The presence of HCA formation is undesirable for the use of BG in soft tissues e. g. cartilage. Cobalt was present in both the silicate and phosphate phases of the BG. In addition, evidence was found that it plays a dual role in the silicate phase, entering the network as well as disrupting it as a network modifying oxide. Consistent with this dual role, the presence of cobalt in the BG was shown to decrease ion release. HCA formation was delayed with cobalt addition as well as incorporation of Mg2+ and Zn2+ into the BGs. Importantly, cobalt release was found to be proportional to cobalt content of the BGs enabling the controlled delivery of cobalt in therapeutically active doses

Survey of CT radiation doses and iodinated contrast medium administration: an international multicentric study

ObjectiveTo assess the relationship between intravenous iodinated contrast media (ICM) administration usage and radiation doses for contrast-enhanced (CE) CT of head, chest, and abdomen-pelvis (AP) in international, multicenter settings. MethodsOur international (n = 16 countries), multicenter (n = 43 sites), and cross-sectional (ConRad) study had two parts. Part 1: Redcap survey with questions on information related to CT and ICM manufacturer/brand and respective protocols. Part 2: Information on 3,258 patients (18-96 years; M:F 1654:1604) who underwent CECT for a routine head (n = 456), chest (n = 528), AP (n = 599), head CT angiography (n = 539), pulmonary embolism (n = 599), and liver CT examinations (n = 537) at 43 sites across five continents. The following information was recorded: hospital name, patient age, gender, body mass index [BMI], clinical indications, scan parameters (number of scan phases, kV), IV-contrast information (concentration, volume, flow rate, and delay), and dose indices (CTDIvol and DLP). ResultsMost routine chest (58.4%) and AP (68.7%) CECT exams were performed with 2-4 scan phases with fixed scan delay (chest 71.4%; AP 79.8%, liver CECT 50.7%) following ICM administration. Most sites did not change kV across different patients and scan phases; most CECT protocols were performed at 120-140 kV (83%, 1979/2685). There were no significant differences between radiation doses for non-contrast (CTDIvol 24 [16-30] mGy; DLP 633 [414-702] mGycm) and post-contrast phases (22 [19-27] mGy; 648 [392-694] mGycm) (p = 0.142). Sites that used bolus tracking for chest and AP CECT had lower CTDIvol than sites with fixed scan delays (p < 0.001). There was no correlation between BMI and CTDIvol (r2 <= - 0.1 to 0.1, p = 0.931). ConclusionOur study demonstrates up to ten-fold variability in ICM injection protocols and radiation doses across different CT protocols. The study emphasizes the need for optimizing CT scanning and contrast protocols to reduce unnecessary contrast and radiation exposure to patients. Clinical relevance statementThe wide variability and lack of standardization of ICM media and radiation doses in CT protocols suggest the need for education and optimization of contrast usage and scan factors for optimizing image quality in CECT

Aquaporins: relevance to cerebrospinal fluid physiology and therapeutic potential in hydrocephalus

The discovery of a family of membrane water channel proteins called aquaporins, and the finding that aquaporin 1 was located in the choroid plexus, has prompted interest in the role of aquaporins in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) production and consequently hydrocephalus. While the role of aquaporin 1 in choroidal CSF production has been demonstrated, the relevance of aquaporin 1 to the pathophysiology of hydrocephalus remains debated. This has been further hampered by the lack of a non-toxic specific pharmacological blocking agent for aquaporin 1. In recent times aquaporin 4, the most abundant aquaporin within the brain itself, which has also been shown to have a role in brain water physiology and relevance to brain oedema in trauma and tumours, has become an alternative focus of attention for hydrocephalus research. This review summarises current knowledge and concepts in relation to aquaporins, specifically aquaporin 1 and 4, and hydrocephalus. It also examines the relevance of aquaporins as potential therapeutic targets in hydrocephalus and other CSF circulation disorders