Age in Relation to Diversity

Diversity is a growing issue in our society. However, little is known about how people make judgments about and define “diversity”, which is a broad term. The aim of this research was to help us understand how people define diversity— for example, whether a person narrows down the definition of diversity versus having an ambiguous definition of diversity. We hypothesized that there would be an association between age and definitions of diversity, such that older people define diversity differently than younger people.https://digitalcommons.snc.edu/collaborative_presentations/1070/thumbnail.jp

The Prevalence of Malaria Parasitaemia and Predisposition of ABO Blood Groups to Plasmodium falciparum Malaria among Blood Donors at a Ghanaian Hospital

There is increasing evidence that Plasmodium falciparum malaria is influenced by ABO blood group but the extent of association between the two is yet to be well defined. This study was sought to determine if certain individuals are predisposed to P. falcipa-rum malaria parasite infection by virtue of their ABO blood group, and the malaria parasitaemia prevalence rate among presumably healthy donors. A total of 437 blood samples were examined following best practices. Thick and thin blood films were made from each sample and ABO blood groups determined by a standard tube agglutination technique. Of the 437 samples examined, 13% had malaria parasite in their blood, all of which was identified as P. falcipurum. Most of the donors, 70.5% (308) were females, while 29.5% (129) were males. Of the 129 male donors, 19.4% had malaria parasites in their blood, while 10.4% of the 308 females had malaria parasites. The infection per-centage was significantly higher in the males compared to the females. The respective infective rates were 14.3, 11.1, 13.9 and 0.00% for the blood groups A, B, O and AB. The difference in infection percentage between the various blood groups was, however, not statistically significant. The malaria prevalence rate of 13.0% among the donors in this study is an indication of asymptomatic parasitaemia among blood donors and thus poses a great risk to blood recipients

A survey on depression among infertile women in Ghana

BACKGROUND: The desire of many young women to become parents may be influenced by the premium placed on children by society. In Africa, children are highly valued for social, cultural and economic reasons. Infertile and childless women in Africa are therefore confronted with a series of societal discrimination and stigmatization which may lead to psychological disorders such as anxiety and depression. Even though some research has been done on the prevalence of infertility in Ghana, very little is known about the psychological impact of childlessness among infertile women. The present study aimed to examine prevalence and severity of depression in relation to age, type of infertility and duration of infertility in Ghanaian infertile women. METHODS: A total of 100 infertile women who met the selection criteria and had agreed to participate in the study were interviewed using the Beck Depression Inventory questionnaire from December 2012 to April 2013 at the Tamale Teaching Hospital, Tamale/Ghana. Data concerning socio-demographic characteristics such as age, monthly income, duration of infertility, marital status, educational level, number of previous conception, number of previous children, religion, as well as occupation of the respondents were recorded. RESULTS: The prevalence of depression among the women was 62.0% with the level of depression showing a significant positive correlation with age of the women and the duration of infertility. The level of depression was significantly higher among subjects with low or no formal education and among the unemployed. Women with primary infertility also presented with high depression scores as measured by BDI. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the prevalence of depression among the infertile women is high, especially among infertile women age 26 and above, those who are less educated, those with primary infertility, as well as those who have been diagnosed as infertile for more than 3 years. Interventions to decrease and prevent the development of severe depression among these patients should be considered

Художник в городе: Валерий Кондаков

This article is about activity of Valery Kondakov, Siberian artist and writer, who lives on the shore of Lake Baikal. In search for his own identity he uses the Neo-Archaic style, while emphasizing the importance of ethno-cultural heritage. However, the regional/territorial identity and freedom are more important for the artist than simple ethnicity.Эта статья – о творчестве сибирского художника и писателя Валерия Кондакова, живущего на берегах Байкала. В поисках собственной идентичности он обратился к стилю неоархаики, подчеркивая важность этнокультурного наследия. И все же для художника региональная/территориальная идентичность и свобода творчества важнее, чем этничность как таковая

Люди и город. Заметки об идентичности сибирских городов

The article reveals a complex and multicomponent identity of a Siberian city. Special attention is paid to the history of foundation of Siberian cities and ethnic identity of citizens. Like other forms of identity, ethnicity remains in the city space, while acquiring new forms of presentation, especially in the capitals of Siberian republics. Though there are regional features, referring to which we can speak about common features of formation of Siberian cities, there are no Siberian cities with similar image and history.В статье речь идет о сложной и многокомпонентной идентичности сибирского города. Сделан акцент на историю возникновения сибирских городов и этническую идентичность горожан. Этничность, как и другие формы идентичности, не уходит из городского пространства, приобретая новые формы презентации, особенно в столицах сибирских республик. Хотя существуют региональные черты, позволяющие говорить об общих чертах в формировании сибирских городов, в Сибири нет ни одного города с похожим образом и судьбой

Eating patterns and food choices of latvian infants during their first year of life

Publisher Copyright: © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Introduction: Pregnancy, infancy, and early childhood are periods of rapid growth and development. The role of nutrition is very important during these critical growth and development periods. The aim of the study was to investigate infant feeding practices through the first year of life in Latvia, and to compare feeding practices with nutritional guidelines in Latvia and other European countries. Methods: We analysed cross-sectional study data from food frequency questionnaires with additional questions on breastfeeding and complementary feeding introduction. A total of 266 infants from all Latvian regions from birth to 1-year-old were included in the study. Breastfeeding rates were assessed by month of age. Complementary feeding was assessed using three age groups (0-3.9 months, 4-6.9 months, and 7-12.9 months), whereas two groups were used to assess food frequency and portion sizes (0-5.9 months and 6-12.9 months). Results: The breastfeeding rate during the first month of life was 89%. At 6 months, 68% of infants received breast milk, but by 12 months, only 45% still received breast milk. Complementary foods were introduced at a mean age of 5 months (standard deviation = 1). Before 4 months of age, 9% of infants were receiving complementary food, the majority (85%) between 4 and 6 months of age. There were 6% of infants who were introduced to complementary foods after 7 months of age. First complementary food choices were mainly porridge (64%), vegetables (21%), and fruits (10%). After 6 months of age, foods from almost all food groups were present in each infant diet at least once per day, such as vegetables (85%), potatoes (85%), fruits (81%), dairy (78%), and meat (73%), less than once per day—grains (88%), fats (73%), cow’s milk (66%), eggs (45%), fish (36%), and legumes (28%). Conclusion: Breastfeeding rate during first months of life is high in Latvia. Breastfeeding was sustained at the age of 6 months, in the highest rate among Baltic countries. However, only 45% continued breastfeeding at the age of 12 months, in accordance with WHO recommendations. A guideline on complementary feeding is followed by the majority of parents. There are deviations from guidelines in inclusion of some foods in the diet and frequency of consumption.publishersversionPeer reviewe

The interplay between Pseudomonas aeruginosa and human macrophages and neutrophils

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) is an opportunistic pathogen that can cause infections in patients with compromised immunity including patients with neutropenia, HIV infection, burns, cancer, organ transplant surgery or in intensive care as well as Cystic Fibrosis (CF) patients. CF patients may have a T-helper (Th)-2 and Th-17-biased immune response which suggest that, either the absence of Th-1 and/or enhanced Th-17 responses may contribute to chronic PA infection with a deterioration of lung function in CF. A previous study in our laboratory showed that interferon (IFN)-γ production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from CF patients positively correlates with lung function, particularly in patients chronically infected with PA. In contrast, IL-17A levels correlated negatively with lung function especially in patients chronically infected with PA. These results agreed with the notion that IFN-γ and IL-17A play protective and detrimental roles, respectively, in CF disease. To explore the protective effect of IFN-γ in CF, the effect of IFN-γ alone or in combination with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), on the ability of human macrophages to control PA growth, resist the cytotoxicity induced by PA or promote inflammation was investigated previously in our laboratory. Treatment of macrophages with IFN-γ, in the presence and absence of GM-CSF did not alter bacterial growth or macrophage survival upon PA infection, but made the macrophages more pro-inflammatory. As neutrophils have been reported to be the key effector cells for the clearance of PA, there was therefore the need to include neutrophils in the macrophage cultures so as to determine how inflammatory conditions affect PA clearance. Although neutrophils are essential for protection against extracellular bacteria, neutrophil-dominated inflammation can compromise organ function by causing tissue damage. Optimal anti-bacterial immunity should harness the microbicidal activity of neutrophils while minimising their potential for causing injury. However, neutrophils do not act in isolation, they respond to cues provided by other cells such as macrophages, which influence their activation and life span. In vivo models have dominated the study of anti-bacterial immunity and there is a need of human models for the dissection of macrophage/neutrophil communication during bacterial infection. This work describes the development of a human macrophage/neutrophil infection assay and its use to model Th-1 (IFN-γ) - and Th-17 (IL-17A)-driven microbicidal activity and inflammatory potential upon infection. Results show that IFN-γ and IL-17A have opposite effects on the killing ability of macrophages and neutrophils co-cultures; bacterial killing was reduced by IFN-γ and promoted by IL-17A. In addition, macrophages and neutrophils specifically collaborated for the production of IL-1β and IL-1α and IFN-γ-treated co-cultures generated significantly less IL-1β and IL-1α compared to those treated with IL-17A. This effect was not observed with other cytokines such as TNF-α, IL-6, MIP-1α and MCP-1. Also, there was increased production of IL-1β upon addition of neutrophils to infected macrophage cultures and this depended on caspase-1 activity. Thus phagocyte co-cultures provide a suitable model of human anti-microbial immunity and unveil an unappreciated collaboration between macrophages and neutrophils in the promotion of IL-1-mediated inflammation. The reduction of inflammation in the presence of IFN-γ highlights the potential of IFN-γ as a therapeutic strategy in extracellular bacterial infections such as infections with PA

RESULTS PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF THE DUPLICATING WAY "WSEM-PC" FOR THE NOTIFICATION OF PEOPLE AT FIRE IN OFFICE BUILDINGS OF JSC RUSSIAN RAILWAYS

The results of the natural observation of evacuation of office buildings workers of JSC "Russian Railways" with application of various notification ways are presented in the article and the time of their response to a signal is defined. Confidential level of the possibility of use of the considered mathematical laws of distribution for the time of response description of the «Fire» signal depending on the notification way is determined. Based on the chosen law of distribution comparative assessment of efficiency of the notification at the fire depending on a notification way in comparison with standard values, and also the existing traditional ways of the notification has been conducted. The data analysis and check of the possibility of the application of the considered laws of distribution to the results of the pilot study allows to make a conclusion that for the description of time to make a decision begin evacuation it is possible to use the exponential law of distribution

APPLICATION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES IN INTERNATIONAL CARGO CARRIAGE

Railway carriage is the main type of long-haul traffic in international carriage, thus, the key part of cargo turnover accounts for railway traffic. This makes it relevant to develop and actualize the Russian export potential by means of consolidating railway traffic and other participants of the transport production system and integrating it with international transport&logistics systems. The article considers cargo export and transit issues in Russia in the framework of international cargo carriage. Particular attention is paid to the search of a new way of the efficient development of the railway transport system in the market sector of international cargo carriage. The key idea is to consolidate high-technology information systems of both the future and existing carriage participants from the railway and other transport infrastructures. The authors developed and suggested introducing an automated system of informing cargo owners on the expiring certificate of fumigation. Such system improves the operational efficiency by means of avoiding long periods of rolling stock downtime at border railway stations. This provides for their better capacity, automated processing and transfer of the information on the cargo condition and carriage documents from the transporting agents to the transport service consumers