The economic impact of sanctions on the Russian economy

This paper assesses the impact of the EU and NATO sanctions on the Russian economy. An examination of the data revealed that the sanctions have directly impacted on various sectors of the Russian economy. Notable among them were the financial sector which includes the banks, major publicly owned companies in the fuel/energy sector as well as the military and technological equipment. These sanctions severely constrained these sectors as they struggled with lack of funding and investment. The economy also witnessed huge capital flight or outflow at an estimated value of $7.8bn, which was further compounded by gross negative capital inflow in the form of FDI’s (foreign direct investments). In addition to that, the embargo on food imports as well as trade sanctions led to a rise in inflation which further resulted to a rise in commodity prices and by extension loss of confidence in the falling Ruble. The sanctions also led to erratic trade flows and loss of market share. On the contrary, despite the sanctions the Russian economy moved to 45th place in the global competitiveness report. Besides the Russian government continuously offer support to its financial institutions in the form of low interest loans which led to their buoyancy

Factors Affecting Groundnut Exports in The Gambia: The Vector Error Correction Approach

Groundnut, a leguminous oil seed grown in the uplands serve as food and main export crop in The Gambia. Despite a long tradition of groundnut farming, practical knowledge, favorable climatic conditions, and suitable land, recent declines in production and exports have hampered groundnut farming's contribution to poverty reduction, food security, and income generation.  Revitalization of cash crop, such  as groundnut has emerged as a national priority, embraced on a daily basis by rural development actors, particularly famers seeking to improve and secure their income. Thus, groundnut appears to be obvious and necessary, not only for farmers' income security, but also for the country's ability to attract foreign currency, provide livestock feed, and develop national trade. Given the country’s poor performance in groundnut exports, we deem it necessary to identify the key factors influencing that performance and study their effects on groundnut export earnings in order to draft appropriate policies aimed at increasing exports earnings in The Gambia. This paper employs the cointegration approach, with export value serving as the independent variable, to examine the country’s export performance over a 49-year period using time series data (1970-2018). Once a cointegration vector between the variables is discovered, the Vector Error Correction Model is applied. The findings reveal that  nominal exchange rate, producer price are key factors affecting significantly the country’s export performance in short-run. Furthermore, in the long-run exchange rate, production, producer price, and world export price are significant factors determining groundnut export earnings in The Gambia. To increase the country’s market share and export earnings, especially in the long-run, it is recommended to ensure an effective transmission of international prices increments to farmers and to improve the production by raising yields significantly. Keywords: Determinants of Agricultural Exports, Agricultural Exports, Cointegration, Groundnut, The Gambia DOI: 10.7176/DCS/11-8-04 Publication date:October 31st 202

Addressing Tobacco Use with Improved Utilization of 5As Framework in Primary Care

Abstract Identifying and treating tobacco use disorder through screening and evidence-based intervention is necessary to assist all tobacco users to quit and or to decrease typical tobacco-linked health risks. The findings from the literature review suggested that the implementation of the technology-enhanced 5As model (asking, advising, assessing, assisting and arranging for follow up) approach might serve as a reminder to clinicians to assess tobacco use, and improve patient outcomes in tobacco cessation care. The purpose of this DNP project was to improve the treatment of tobacco use disorder among adults in a primary care. The objective of this project was to develop and implement a tobacco cessation program protocol using the Computer Facilitated 5As (CF5As) model in the clinic within 12 weeks. The Readiness for Implementing Change (ORIC) tool was done to assess the organization\u27s readiness for practice change. The Computer Facilitated 5As Model was implemented in primary care clinic after staff education and monitored for 12 weeks. The findings revealed that implementing the Computer Facilitated 5As model increased asking, advising, assessing, assisting, and arranging for follow-up by clinicians to achieve tobacco cessation treatment among adults

Impact of Intrapartum Oral Azithromycin on <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> Colonisation and Staphylococcal Antibiotic Resistance Among Women and Their Babies in The Gambia

Maternal and neonatal infections are a major public health problem leading to high morbidity and mortality in middle and low-income countries. There is a need for effective interventions suitable for these countries to reduce the high burden of disease. Intrapartum azithromycin is a potential intervention to reduce maternal and neonatal infections and their associated deaths. PregnAnZI-1, the first intrapartum oral azithromycin trial was a Phase III, double-blind, placebo controlled randomized clinical trial in which 829 women in labour were randomized to receive either a single dose of 2g of oral azithromycin or placebo (ratio 1:1). The trial was conceived as a pilot study to determine the impact of the intervention on maternal and neonatal bacterial colonization, as a necessary step towards sepsis. Nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS), breast milk (BM) and vaginal swabs (VS) were collected from study women and /or their babies during the first 4 weeks of follow-up (day 0, day 3, day 6, day 8, day 14 and day 28). Additionally, NPS were also collected from study children in a survey conducted 12 months following the trial. During the trial follow up period (birth to day 28), prevalence of carriage of S. aureus, S. pneumoniae and group B Streptococci decreased significantly in the intervention arm, whilst prevalence of azithromycin resistant S. aureus increased among mothers or their babies exposed to azithromycin compared to the placebo group. The aims of my PhD investigations are to determine the long-term impact of such intervention on S. aureus colonisation and antimicrobial resistance; molecular epidemiology of azithromycin resistant S. aureus and the prevalence of nasopharyngeal macrolide resistance genes following intrapartum oral azithromycin intervention. In the survey conducted 12 months following the main trial, a total of 461 NPS were screened for prevalence of carriage and azithromycin resistance for S. aureus and S. pneumoniae. As expected there was no difference in the prevalence of nasopharyngeal carriage of S. pneumoniae or S. aureus between children whose mothers had been exposed to azithromycin during labour and those whose mothers had not (85.0% vs 82.1%; odds ratio [OR], 1.23 [95% confidence interval, .73-2.08] for S. pneumoniae and 21.7% vs 21.3%; OR, 1.02 [95% CI, .64-1.64] for S. aureus). Also, prevalence of azithromycin-resistant S. pneumoniae (1.8% vs 0.9% p= 0.384) and S. aureus (3.1% vs 2.6% p= 0.724) were not different between children from the azithromycin and placebo arms, respectively. The intervention did not induce antibiotic resistance to other antibiotics commonly used in Africa for these two bacteria. A random selection of 7 mothers and 10 babies from both arms of the trial, who carried S. aureus resistant to azithromycin in the nasopharynx at day 3 and day 28 post-intervention were included in the second investigation undertaken as part of this PhD. A total of 66 S. aureus isolates underwent genomic investigation. Seven S. aureus sequence types (STs) were identified. ST5 predominated in the placebo arm (73.0% versus 49.0%, p = 0.039) and ST15 in the azithromycin arm (27.0% versus 6.0%, p = 0.022). Among azithromycin-resistant isolates, msr(A) gene was the main macrolide resistance gene (n = 36, 80%) and was found to be located on a multidrug resistant (MDR) plasmid. The intervention appeared to select for the ermC gene as 36% of resistant S. aureus isolates from mothers and babies exposed to antibiotic carried the gene as oppose to 0% in the placebo arm (p< 0.001). Having established that the genetic determinants for S. aureus macrolide resistance were predominantly msr(A) and 7ermC, I assessed the effect of intrapartum oral azithromycin on these genes in my final PhD investigation as they were found to be located on mobile genetic elements that can transfer horizontally between bacteria. PCRs were performed on 936 NPS from 312 children at three different time points (birth, day 28 and 12 months). At birth, prevalence of msr(A) gene was similar in both arms, higher in the azithromycin arm by day 28 (60.7% vs. 29.9% in the azithromycin and placebo arms, respectively; OR, 3.61 [95% CI, 2.20-5.93]) and again similar between arms at 12 months. Prevalence of ermC followed a similar pattern, with differences between arms only apparent at day 28 (63.9% vs. 45.9% in the azithromycin and placebo arms, respectively; OR, 2.09 [95% CI, 1.29-3.37]). In conclusion, the effectiveness of intrapartum oral azithromycin prophylaxis in decreasing carriage of bacteria associated with both maternal and neonatal infections had been established. Emergence of azithromycin resistant S. aureus shortly (28 days) following oral azithromycin exposure was of concern. However, in the long term (12 months), neither the increased azithromycin resistant S. aureus nor the increased nasopharyngeal macrolide resistance genes observed shortly following the intervention persisted among mothers or their new-borns. Hence, supporting the use of intrapartum oral azithromycin prophylaxis as a means to reduce maternal and neonatal infections in The Gambia and potentially other developing countries worldwide

Dynamic Modeling of Causal Relationship Between CO2 emissions, Economic Growth, Energy Consumption and Foreign Direct Investment in The Gambia

Environmental degradation is a problem in developing countries. The use of non-renewable energy consumption for economic growth causes environmental degradation, but the consequences of environmental degradation cannot be ignored. The aim of the study was to understand relationship between CO2 (Carbon dioxide) emissions, economic growth, energy consumption and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in The Gambia for the period from 1980 to 2019. To investigate the relationship between the variables, cointegration and  granger causality are used. The findings support the existence of long-run equilibrium between the variables. The empirical results reveal that energy consumption positively influences CO2 emissions in short-run. Moreover, in the long-run, energy consumption and FDI  influence CO2 emissions. The results of the study also reveal that there are two-way causalities between CO2 emissions and economic growth, and between energy consumption and economic growth in both short-run and long-run in The Gambia. Therefore, policies aimed at increasing energy efficiency, as well as the adoption and utilization of renewable energy sources to replace old traditional energy sources such as charcoal, firewood, gas, and oil, are critical in reducing CO2 emissions in the country while also sustaining economic development. Keywords: CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions, Economic growth, Energy consumption, Foreign direct investment,  The Gambia DOI: 10.7176/DCS/11-6-03 Publication date:June 30th 2021

Diabetes Shared Medical Appointment: An Evidence-Based Innovation Project

The purpose of the evidence-based practice innovation project (EPIP) is to address uncontrolled diabetes by implementing an evidence-based shared medical appointment (SMA) intervention which based on the body of the evidence will help improve diabetes outcomes. A pilot implementation and retrospective chart review were conducted. Data was collected on outcome indicators such as blood pressure, lipid values, body mass index, A1C, and knowledge. The results of a pilot SMA implementation revealed that patients who participated in the weekly SMA saw an improvement in post-mean values compared to pre-mean values. Mean A1c dropped to 7.0% from 7.11%; systolic blood pressure improved to125 mmHg from 128 mmHg; diastolic blood pressure dropped to 77 mmHg from 84 mmHg; body mass index dropped to 33.63 kg/m2 from 35.44 kg/m2; and, knowledge increased from 52% to 93%. Retrospective chart review findings revealed that the number of patients who were at goal A1C increased from 25% to 38% post intervention. The number of patients at goal for hypertension increased from 65% to 88%, and mean HbA1c dropped from 8.0% to 7.5%. These findings are consistent with those represented in the body of the evidence, suggesting SMA as an effective and feasible intervention to helping diabetes patients to meet glycemic goals and improving diabetes outcomes. Therefore, policy and culture change are warranted to adopt and sustain SMA as the standard of diabetes care. New clinic policies, SMA clinic mentors, and utilization of conceptual models will promote sustainability of SMA

Topology and function of nyctalopin in yeast and in-vitro translation systems.

Congenital stationary night blindness 1 (CSNBl) is a genetic disorder characterized in humans by night blindness, low visual acuity and myopia. CSNB 1 is caused by defects in genes that are involved in signaling between photoreceptors and depolarizing bipolar cells (DBCs). DBCs utilize a metabotropic glutamate receptor-6 (Grm6) cascade that modulates the activity of a non-specific cation channel. CSNBI is diagnosed by a reduced b-wave in the electroretinogram (ERG). A b-wave indicates that DBCs are depolarized in response to a flash of light. In the dark, there is a tonic release of glutamate from the photoreceptors into the synaptic cleft. This glutamate binds to the Grm6 receptor, activating a G-protein signal transduction cascade that closes a nonselective cation channel. The Gregg laboratory has identified this channel as the transient receptor potential melastatin l(Trpml) channel. The focus of my research is to determine how another protein, nyctalopin, which also lacks b-wave causes a loss of the channel\u27s activity. Nyctalopin is an integral membrane protein with the entire leucine rich repeat in the extracellular space. Nyctalopin interacts directly with extracellular loops of Trpml. Although nyctalopin alone is not able to gate or traffic the Trpml channel to the membrane, gene expression profiling and membrane split ubiquitin yeast two hybrid screen suggest that a complex of proteins including nyctalopin are involved in either assembling or trafficking of the Trpm 1 channel to the plasma membrane