Attitudes, Perceptions and Intimate Partner Violence: A Study of the Nigerian Context

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major public health issue affecting many women around the world. It is a topic that has attracted a great deal of research over the years, but the dynamics of the issue in some parts of the world, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, is still very vague, necessitating more research in the region. This study uses a cross-sectional population-based survey to explore attitudes of women towards gender roles in a Sub-Saharan African country – Nigeria, as this is one of the factors that is likely to influence IPV occurrence. The results show that attitudes towards gender roles in Nigeria are more supportive of male dominance and women being subservient to their husband/partner, and also suggest that addressing such attitudes may be an important strand of action in tackling IPV issues in the country

Effects of Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields on Breast Cancer Cell Line MCF 7 Using Absorption Spectroscopy

We present an analysis of the effects of pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF) with 3.3 MHz carrier frequency and modulated by audio resonant frequencies on MCF-7 breast cancer cell line in vitro using absorption spectroscopy. This involves a fluorescence dye called PrestoBlue™ Cell Viability Reagent and a spectrophotometry to test the viability of MCF-7 breast cancer cells under different PEMF treatment conditions in terms of the cell’s absorption values. The DNA molecule of the MCF-7 breast cancer cells has an electric dipole property that renders it sensitive and reactive to applied electromagnetic fields. Resonant frequencies derived from four genes mutated in MCF-7 breast cancer cells [rapamycin-insensitive companion of mammalian target of rapamycin (RICTOR), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPARG), Nijmegen breakage syndrome 1 (NBN) and checkpoint kinase 2 (CHEK2)] were applied in generating square pulsed electromagnetic waves. Effects were monitored through measurement of absorption of the samples with PrestoBlue™, and the significance of the treatment was determined using the t-test. There was a significant effect on MCF-7 cells after treatment with PEMF at the resonant frequencies of the following genes for specific durations of exposure: RICTOR for 10 minutes, PPARG for 10 minutes, NBN for 15 minutes, and CHEK2 for 5 minutes

Impact of COVID-19 on Air Quality in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Vietnam has had one of the fastest growing economies in Asia over the years. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be a major hindrance to this growth as the country’s GDP plummeted significantly. Air pollution can further amplify the impact of the pandemic since residents exposed to high levels of pollution are likely to increasingly suffer from respiratory illnesses, such as asthma. This paper investigates the impact of COVID-19 on air quality and how air quality can influence the spread of the virus. Finally, the paper proposes suitable machine learning practices for predicting air quality, based on historical trends, using spatial and temporal data

Neural Analyses Validate and Emphasise the Role of Progesterone Receptor in Breast Cancer Progression and Prognosis

Oestrogen receptor (ER) expression is routinely measured in breast cancer management, but the clinical merits of measuring progesterone receptor (PR) expression have remained controversial. Hence the major objective here was to assess the potential of PR as a predictor of response to endocrine therapy. We report analyses of the relative importance of ER and PR for predicting prognosis using robust multilayer perceptron artificial neural networks. Receptor determinations use immunohistochemical (IHC) methods or radioactive ligand binding assays (LBA). In view of the heterogeneity of intratumoral receptor distribution, we examined the relative merits of the IHC and LBA methods. Our analyses reveal a more significant correlation of IHC-determined PR than ER with both nodal status and 5-year disease-free survival (DFS). In LBA, PR displayed higher correlation with survival and ER with nodal status. There was concordance of correlation of PR with DFS by both IHC and LBA. This study suggests a clear distinction between PR and ER, with PR displaying greater correlation than ER with disease progression and prognosis, and emphasises the marked superiority of the IHC method over LBA. These findings may be valuable in the management of patients with breast cancer

The long-term effects of CVDs on economic development: the case of Bangalore

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the economic and health burden of Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in the context of Bangalore during the period 2010-2013. A data set containing in excess of 1 million historic records corresponding to all-cause mortality was obtained from the central repository data register. After a data quality assessment, a dataset of n=183,893 was obtained. Spatial analysis was carried out to highlight the hotspots of CVD. Potential Years of Life Lost due to CVD and Present Value of Lifetime Earnings were computed. CVDs were responsible for 25% of the total of potential years of life lost. The potential value of lifetime earnings highlighted a loss in excess of 8 billion INR over the four years. CVD poses a tremendous challenge for socio-economic development, and there is an urgent need for a strategic action to promote CVD prevention and enable a sustainable development for the economy

A GIS–Integrated Wireless Sensors Network Tool for Water Risk Monitoring – Case of Khanh Hoa Water Supply and Sewerage Company, Vietnam

This paper investigates the feasibility of deploying a wireless sensor network (WSN) to monitor raw water quality at 2 major water treatment plants (WTPs) sites, operated by the The Khanh Hoa Water Supply and Sewerage Company (KHAWASSCO) in Vietnam: Canh Vo and Xuan Canh on the Cai River. The main aim is to propose a WSN for both WTPs which includes 2 clusters of sensors with 4 nodes each in order to monitor various parameters of water quality. Data management is integrated with a geographical information system (GIS) tool in order to provide a comprehensive spatio-temporal database in real time. This will assist decision makers in improving the management of the raw water quality at Cai River

Real-Time Evaluation of Breast Self-Examination Using Computer Vision

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide and breast self-examination (BSE) is considered as the most cost-effective approach for early breast cancer detection. The general objective of this paper is to design and develop a computer vision algorithm to evaluate the BSE performance in real-time. The first stage of the algorithm presents a method for detecting and tracking the nipples in frames while a woman performs BSE; the second stage presents amethod for localizing the breast region and blocks of pixels related to palpation of the breast, and the third stage focuses on detecting the palpated blocks in the breast region. The palpated blocks are highlighted at the time of BSE performance. In a correct BSE performance, all blocks must be palpated, checked, and highlighted, respectively. If any abnormality, such as masses, is detected, then this must be reported to a doctor to confirm the presence of this abnormality and proceed to perform other confirmatory tests. The experimental results have shown that the BSE evaluation algorithm presented in this paper provides robust performance

Identification of Crisis Management Influencing Factors in the Abu Dhabi Police Force, United Arab Emirates

Through various disasters, due to both anthropological and natural causes, the development of effective crisis management (CM) mechanisms has become inevitably critical in order to reduce not only various types of losses, but also the potential magnitude of future calamities (Sahin, 2009). Although a number of researchers examined effective CM in organisations located in and/or managed by Western countries (Adams and Stewart, 2014), little has been conducted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In fact, to date, there has been no such research applied to any UAE police department. Thus, this study aims to review CM within the General Headquarters (GHQ) of Abu Dhabi Police in order to identify potential influencing factors contributing to effective CM in the organisation, and eventually develop a holistic framework based on global benchmarking

Real-Time Evaluation of Breast Self-Examination Using Computer Vision

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide and breast self-examination (BSE) is considered as the most cost-effective approach for early breast cancer detection. The general objective of this paper is to design and develop a computer vision algorithm to evaluate the BSE performance in real-time. The first stage of the algorithm presents a method for detecting and tracking the nipples in frames while a woman performs BSE; the second stage presents amethod for localizing the breast region and blocks of pixels related to palpation of the breast, and the third stage focuses on detecting the palpated blocks in the breast region. The palpated blocks are highlighted at the time of BSE performance. In a correct BSE performance, all blocks must be palpated, checked, and highlighted, respectively. If any abnormality, such as masses, is detected, then this must be reported to a doctor to confirm the presence of this abnormality and proceed to perform other confirmatory tests. The experimental results have shown that the BSE evaluation algorithm presented in this paper provides robust performance

Gender-Based Violence in Nigeria: A Cross-Sectional Study of the Magnitude, Likely Risk Factors and Attitudes Towards Intimate Partner Violence Against Women

Globally, a common manifestation of Gender-Based abuse is Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) against women. IPV is a serious public health problem that comes with a debilitating toll on women, their families and the immediate environment in which they reside. Research, mostly conducted in developed countries, has identified some likely factors responsible for violence and has also explored attitudes that could be supportive of abuse. However, developing countries around the world, especially those in Africa, are still far behind in making tangible impact on exploring these issues. Considering this paucity of information and with the aim of contributing to the IPV knowledge base in the developing world, a cross-sectional population-based survey involving 719 Nigerian women (aged 18 years and above, currently or previously in cohabiting or non-cohabiting relationships) was conducted using a detailed pretested questionnaire to solicit data on demographics, socioeconomic, attitudinal and behavioral characteristics, as well as those pertaining to experiences of IPV. On performing relevant descriptive statistical analyses on the data collected, the results show that life-time and current prevalence of IPV are 25.5% and 16.7%, respectively. There is also an indication that women across urban and rural areas have a relatively high level of acceptance towards IPV (wife-beating). Results from logistic regression analysis to identify the predictors of violence show that factors such as women’s and partners’ educational attainments, partnership age and educational disparities, partnership discord, among others, are predictive of violence