Burns in Tanzania: Morbidity and Mortality, Causes and Risk Factors: A Review.

Burn injuries in low and middle income countries still remain a significant health problem, even though numbers of burn injuries in high income countries have decreased showing that such events are not "accidents" but are usually preventable. WHO states that the vast majority (over 95%) of fire-related burns occur in low and middle income countries. Burn injuries are a major cause of prolonged hospital stays, disfigurement, disability, and death in Africa Region. Evidence shows that prevention strategies can work. However prevention strategies need to be tailored to the specific environment taking into account local risk factors and available resources. An examination of the patterns and causes of burns should allow site specific recommendations for interventions. This literature review, specific to the United Republic of Tanzania, was conducted by researching PubMed, SafetyLit, and African Journals on Line data bases for primary sources using key words <Tanzania> plus <burns, suicide, homicide, injury mortality, injury morbidity>. Two sets of student data collected as part of Bachelor's degree final dissertations at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences were used. In all, twenty two primary sources were found. Risk factors for burn morbidity in Tanzania are: 1/ a young age, especially years 1-3, 2/ home environment, especially around cooking fires, 3/ epilepsy, during seizures, and 4/ perceived inevitability of the incident. It was expected that ground level cooking fires would be found to be a risk factor, but several studies have shown non-significant results about raised cooking fires, types of fuel used, and cooking appliances. Risk factors for burn mortality are: being male, between 20-30 years of age, and being punished for alleged thieving by community mobs. An important factor in reducing burn morbidity, especially in children, is to educate people that burns are preventable in most cases and that most burns occur in the home around cooking fires. Children need to be kept away from fires. Epileptics should be monitored for medication and kept away from cooking fires as well. Community members need to be encouraged to bring wrong doers to the police

On the Study of Ruin at Two Sided Risk Renewal Processes

Since the introduction of Two sided movements of risk reserves in the renewal risk theory scenario, the concept has been the major area of analysis for many researchers. Under some elementary assumptions, on approximating appropriate distributions to inter time claim occurrence, the explicit expressions for ruin theory components in the literature could be generated. In this work, we examine probability density of the time of ruin, surplus immediately before ruin and deficit at ruin respectively under two sided risk process using some fundamental assumptions. Explicit expressions for distribution of interest are also being derived

Cotton: From Farm to Market - Bringing Ag into Elementary

As a rural Elementary School striving for STEM certification in South Georgia, we bring real-life and real-world experiences into our instruction. Being from Colquitt County, where farming is the largest industry and home of the Ag EXPO, we decided to incorporate Agriculture into our classrooms in all subject areas. Our students attend Ag as one of their connection times each week. Each grade has some form of continual agricultural project contributing to our long term STEM project of providing food to our local senior center. In this session, we plan to share how we bring Agriculture to Elementary school and engage our audience by giving them a small glimpse of an Agricultural STEM activity called “Cotton: From Farm to Market.

iAt Book Club: How to Think

This book club series features the book, How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds, by Alan Jacobs. Various voices have contributed to the series as they interacted with one another and responded to the book. Series contributors are Erin Olson, Mary Nickel, Myles Werntz, and Justin Bailey. Access at publisher\u27s site: https://inallthings.org/iat-book-club-how-to-think-round-table-2

Microbiological Assessment of Commercially Available\ud Quinine Syrup and Water for Injections in Dar Es\ud Salaam, Tanzania

To conduct microbiological assessment of commercially available quinine syrups and water for injection in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. This was a cross-sectional study conducted in Dar es Salaam Region. Samples of quinine syrups (QNSs) and water for injection (WFI) of different batches were randomly purchased. Each QNS was inspected for label disclosure, and physicochemical properties were examined by the use of sense of organs and pH meter. Isolation and quantification of microbial contaminants from each sample was preceded by 24 - 48 h incubation at 37 ºC, and the microbial contaminants were expressed as colony forming unit per millilitre (cfu/ml). Microbiological identification of contaminants was performed by examination of colony morphologies and growth characteristics. Gram staining technique, as well as biochemical and serological tests were also conducted for further identification. Albino rabbits were used for the pyrogen test to determine the presence of microbial contamination in WFI. Twenty-four samples of QNS underwent label disclosure, physical-chemical and microbiological assessments. All QNS samples complied with the guidelines and microbial limits as per United States Pharmacopoeia (USP). All batches of WFI were found to be microbiologically contaminated, revealing average microbial counts of 87, 94 and 100 cfu/ml, and this was buttressed by pyrogen test, with the animals showing temperature rise of 1.0, 2.2 and 2.4 ºC, respectively. The QNS products available in the Dar es Salaam market were of good microbial quality. However, WFI products were microbiologically contaminated. We recommend that regulatory authorities in Tanzania should diligently enforce regulatory control of the products to assure consumer safety.\u

An Introduction to the Integrated Community-Engaged Learning and Ethical Reflection Framework (I-CELER)

Cultivating ethical Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics researchers and practitioners requires movement beyond reducing ethical instruction to the rational exploration of moral quandaries via case studies and into the complexity of the ethical issues that students will encounter within their careers. We designed the Integrated Community-Engaged Learning and Ethical Reflection (I-CELER) framework as a means to promote the ethical becoming of future STEM practitioners. This paper provides a synthesis of and rationale for I-CELER for promoting ethical becoming based on scholarly literature from various social science fields, including social anthropology, moral development, and psychology. This paper proceeds in five parts. First, we introduce the state of the art of engineering ethics instruction; argue for the need of a lens that we describe as ethical becoming; and then detail the Specific Aims of the I-CELER approach. Second, we outline the three interrelated components of the project intervention. Third, we detail our convergent mixed methods research design, including its qualitative and quantitative counterparts. Fourth, we provide a brief description of what a course modified to the I-CELER approach might look like. Finally, we close by detailing the potential impact of this study in light of existing ethics education research within STEM

MODELING AND SUPERVISION OF SMART TRAFFIC LIGHT CONTROLLER USING AT89C51 MICROCONTROLLER

Abstract Traffic light control systems are widely used to monitor and control the flow of vehicles through the junction of many roads. They aim to realise smooth motion of cars in the transportation routes. However, the synchronisation of multiple traffic light systems at adjacent intersections is a complicated problem given the various parameters involved. Conventional systems do not handle variable flows approaching the junctions. In addition, the mutual interference between adjacent traffic light systems, the disparity of cars flow with time, the accidents, the passage of emergency vehicles, and the pedestrian crossing are not implemented in the existing traffic system. This leads to traffic jam and congestion. We propose a system based on AT89C51 microcontroller that evaluates the traffic density using IR sensors and accomplishes dynamic timing slots with different levels

Local Production of Pharmaceuticals in Africa and Access to Essential Medicines: 'Urban bias' in Access to Imported Medicines in Tanzania and its Policy Implications.

\ud International policy towards access to essential medicines in Africa has focused until recently on international procurement of large volumes of medicines, mainly from Indian manufacturers, and their import and distribution. This emphasis is now being challenged by renewed policy interest in the potential benefits of local pharmaceutical production and supply. However, there is a shortage of evidence on the role of locally produced medicines in African markets, and on potential benefits of local production for access to medicines. This article contributes to filling that gap. This article uses WHO/HAI data from Tanzania for 2006 and 2009 on prices and sources of a set of tracer essential medicines. It employs innovative graphical methods of analysis alongside conventional statistical testing. Medicines produced in Tanzania were equally likely to be found in rural and in urban areas. Imported medicines, especially those imported from countries other than Kenya (mainly from India) displayed 'urban bias': that is, they were significantly more likely to be available in urban than in rural areas. This finding holds across the range of sample medicines studied, and cannot be explained by price differences alone. While different private distribution networks for essential medicines may provide part of the explanation, this cannot explain why the urban bias in availability of imported medicines is also found in the public sector. The findings suggest that enhanced local production may improve rural access to medicines. The potential benefits of local production and scope for their improvement are an important field for further research, and indicate a key policy area in which economic development and health care objectives may reinforce each other.\u