Metadata enrichment for digital heritage: users as co-creators

This paper espouses the concept of metadata enrichment through an expert and user-focused approach to metadata creation and management. To this end, it is argued the Web 2.0 paradigm enables users to be proactive metadata creators. As Shirky (2008, p.47) argues Web 2.0’s social tools enable “action by loosely structured groups, operating without managerial direction and outside the profit motive”. Lagoze (2010, p. 37) advises, “the participatory nature of Web 2.0 should not be dismissed as just a popular phenomenon [or fad]”. Carletti (2016) proposes a participatory digital cultural heritage approach where Web 2.0 approaches such as crowdsourcing can be sued to enrich digital cultural objects. It is argued that “heritage crowdsourcing, community-centred projects or other forms of public participation”. On the other hand, the new collaborative approaches of Web 2.0 neither negate nor replace contemporary standards-based metadata approaches. Hence, this paper proposes a mixed metadata approach where user created metadata augments expert-created metadata and vice versa. The metadata creation process no longer remains to be the sole prerogative of the metadata expert. The Web 2.0 collaborative environment would now allow users to participate in both adding and re-using metadata. The case of expert-created (standards-based, top-down) and user-generated metadata (socially-constructed, bottom-up) approach to metadata are complementary rather than mutually-exclusive. The two approaches are often mistakenly considered as dichotomies, albeit incorrectly (Gruber, 2007; Wright, 2007) . This paper espouses the importance of enriching digital information objects with descriptions pertaining the about-ness of information objects. Such richness and diversity of description, it is argued, could chiefly be achieved by involving users in the metadata creation process. This paper presents the importance of the paradigm of metadata enriching and metadata filtering for the cultural heritage domain. Metadata enriching states that a priori metadata that is instantiated and granularly structured by metadata experts is continually enriched through socially-constructed (post-hoc) metadata, whereby users are pro-actively engaged in co-creating metadata. The principle also states that metadata that is enriched is also contextually and semantically linked and openly accessible. In addition, metadata filtering states that metadata resulting from implementing the principle of enriching should be displayed for users in line with their needs and convenience. In both enriching and filtering, users should be considered as prosumers, resulting in what is called collective metadata intelligence

Asymptomatic Malaria Infection and Associated Factors among Blood Donors Attending Arba Minch Blood Bank, Southwest Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: It is well known that malaria can be transmitted via blood transfusion. However, it is not documented in the national donor screening protocol. Magnitude of asymptomatic malaria among donors would be the key to decide on the need of donor screening. Despite this, there is lack of such data in Ethiopia. The aim of this study was thus to estimate the prevalence of asymptomatic malaria and associated factors among blood donors.METHODS: An institution basedcross-sectional study was conducted in Arba Minch blood bank from February to June, 2015. Data was collected from donors who passed the clinical donor selection criteria and recruited by systematic random sampling technique. A structured questionnaire was used to capture data on socio-demographic characteristics. Giemsa stained blood films were examined for plasmodium parasites. Magnitude of asymptomatic malaria was calculated and association of factors with malaria was assessed by multivariable logistic regressions using SPSS version 20.0.RESULTS: A total of 416 donors participated in the study. The proportion of infected donors was 4.1% (17/416). Eight donors were infected with Plasmodium falciparum while 9 donors were infected with Plasmodium vivax. Most positive blood films (13/17) were with parasite loads ranging from 100 - 500 parasites/μl. Donors with blood group O were more susceptible to malaria parasitemia compared to all other ABO blood groups together (AOR=6.899, 95%CI=1.951-24.391, p=0.003).CONCLUSION: Magnitude of malaria parasitemia in the present study was high as compared to the national malaria prevalence. Hence, in malaria endemic areas of Ethiopia, blood should be screened before donation.KEYWORDS: Blood transfusion, malaria prevalence, blood dono

Prevalence of opportunistic intestinal parasites and associated factors among HIV patients while receiving ART at Arba Minch Hospital in southern Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

Background: Opportunistic Intestinal Parasites (OIPs) commonly cause morbidity in HIV/AIDS patients due to the decline of CD4+ T-cells. The burden of Opportunistic Intestinal Parasitic Infections (OIPIs) in Ethiopia is expected to be high due to poor sanitation and co-pandemicity of HIV/AIDs. Therefore, frequent assessment of the magnitude and associated factors for intestinal parasitosis is essential for the management of HIV/AIDS patients.Methods: A hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted among patients attending Arba Minch Hospital Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Clinic from March to June 2016. Stool specimens were processed for parasitological examination using direct wet mount, formol-ether sedimentation and modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining techniques. CD4+ T-cell count data were taken from patients’ medical records. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-demographic characteristics and possible associated factors for OIPIs. All the data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.Results: Two hundred and twenty ART patients participated in the study. The overall prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections was 28.18% while that of OIPIs alone was 17.72%. Among identified intestinal parasites, Cryptosporidium species accounts for the highest frequency (19/220, 8.63%), followed by Cyclospora species (13/220, 5.90%). Presence of domestic animals (AOR=2.07, 95%CI:1.07-8.40, P= 0.032) and CD4+ T-cell count <500cell/μl (AOR=4.66, 95%CI:1.17-5.35, P= 0.001) were significantly associated with OIPIs.Conclusion: The study indicated that co-infection rate of OIPs is high among ART patients. It also found that contact with domestic animals and having CD4+ count <500 cell/μl predict for the presence of OIPs.Keywords: Opportunistic intestinal parasites, ART patients, CD4 statu

Maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity of uterine rupture and its association with prolonged duration of operation in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Uterine rupture is the leading cause of maternal and perinatal morbidity and it accounts for 36% of the maternal mortality in Ethiopia. The maternal and perinatal outcomes of uterine rupture were inconclusive for the country. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the pooled maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity of uterine rupture and its association with prolonged duration of operation. METHODS: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses checklist was used for this systematic review and meta-analysis. We systematically used PubMed, Cochrane Library, and African Journals online databases for searching. The Newcastle- Ottawa quality assessment scale was used for critical appraisal. Egger's test and I2 statistic used to assess the check for publication bias and heterogeneity. The random-effect model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence and odds ratios with 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: The pooled maternal mortality and morbidity due to uterine rupture in Ethiopia was 7.75% (95% CI: 4.14, 11.36) and 37.1% (95% CI: 8.44, 65.8), respectively. The highest maternal mortality occurred in Southern region (8.91%) and shock was the commonest maternal morbidity (24.43%) due to uterine rupture. The pooled perinatal death associated with uterine rupture was 86.1% (95% CI: 83.4, 89.9). The highest prevalence of perinatal death was observed in Amhara region (91.36%) and the lowest occurred in Tigray region (78.25%). Prolonged duration of operation was a significant predictor of maternal morbidity (OR = 1.39; 95% CI: 1.06, 1.81). CONCLUSIONS: The percentage of maternal and perinatal deaths due to uterine rupture was high in Ethiopia. Uterine rupture was associated with maternal morbidity and prolonged duration of the operation was found to be associated with maternal morbidities. Therefore, birth preparedness and complication readiness plan, early referral and improving the duration of operation are recommended to improve maternal and perinatal outcomes of uterine rupture