The Swahili Manuscripts Project at SOAS

Researchers in the field of Swahili studies have noted the need for a comprehensive, detailed catalogue of the Swahili manuscripts at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS, University of London). They have had occasion to make this recommendation in print (see, for example, Omar and Frankl 1994 and Frankl 1999) and - presumably many more times, and to no specified audience - in life, as they pored over unitemised or inaccurately labelled files of eminent scholars in the field. It is precisely this need for a comprehensive, widely accessible catalogue that the Swahili Manuscripts Project at SOAS was established, in October 2001, to address. In this article, the present authors undertake to describe the catalogue being created and to discuss problems they have encountered and observations they have had opportunity to make in the course of their work

Shairi la washona-nguo wa mombasa

This lively poem, one of several hundred collected in Mombasa at the end of the nineteenth century by W.E T AYLOR thanks to Mwalimu SIKUJUWA bin ABDALLAH ai-BAIAWI (Frankl, 1993), is preserved in Volume Ill of the Taylor Papers, now in the library of the School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS) in London.. lt consists of two versions - both in Arabic script (SOAS MS 47754); the first (Section X, page 4) is probably in the hand of ABDALLAH bin RASHID and has fifteen stanzas, while the second (Section Z, page 161) is in the hand of Mwalimu SIKUJUWA (one of T AYLOR\''s two Swahili teachers) and has twenty-one stanzas .. The entire text of version X is to be found in Z, although not in the same order. Version Z has thus six additional stanzas, and we have had no hesitation in selecting it as the text for this article (the manuscript having been most probably commissioned by TAYLOR)

Mashairi ya waadhi `verses of admonition`:

Aliyetunga kasiga hii, Sheikh Abgallah al-Husni, alikuwa ni mtu maarufu sana Mombasa .. Kwa muda wa myaka arobaini takriban alikuwa akisomesha elimu za gini, msikiti wa Anisa, Mjuwakale; piya alikuwa akitoa waadhi msikiti huu na mahali pengine .. Antunga kasiga mbili za waadhi, moja katika hizo ndiyo hii tuliyoishereheya katika makala haya .. W akati wa kutungwa waadhi huu - 1368 (mwaka 1948 wa milagi) - Mombasa ilikuwa ikali mji wa kiSawahili, yaani mji wa kilsilamu; lakini kulikuwa kuna mabadiliko makubwa yaanza, mabadiliko ambayo mwisho yanaondowa sura za uSawahili katika Mombasa na pwani nzima ya Afrika ya mashariki

Penggunaan aplikasi augmented reality dalam topik litar asas elektronik

Penggunaan aplikasi Augmented Reality dalam bidang pendidikan semakin mendapat perhatian disebabkan oleh potensi teknologi ini dalam menjadikan proses pembelajaran lebih mudah difahami dan menarik perhatian pelajar. Teknologi ini juga semakin dikenali dan digunakan dalam kalangan guru dan pensyarah bagi memudahkan mereka menyampaikan maklumat dengan lebih berkesan. Justeru, kajian ini dijalankan bagi mengenalpasti persepsi pensyarah mengenai penggunaan aplikasi Augmented Reality dalam pengajaran topik litar asas elektronik. Kajian ini menggunakan kaedah kuantitatif dimana pengkaji menggunakan soal selidik bagi mendapatkan persepsi pensyarah yang mengajar topik litar asas elektronik. Hasil dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa pensyarah memberikan pandangan yang positif terhadap penggunaaan aplikasi Augmented Reality. Justeru, perlunya lebih penekanan dan pendedahan mengenai aplikasi Augmented Reality dalam kalangan pensyarah dan tenaga pengajar

Image Enhancement Background for High Damage Malay Manuscripts using Adaptive Threshold Binarization

Jawi Manuscripts handwritten which are kept at Malaysia National Library (MNL), has aged over decades. Regardless of the intensive sustainable process conducted by MNL, these manuscripts are still not maintained in good quality, and neither can easily be read nor better view. Even thought, many states of the art methods have developed for image enhancement, none of them can solve extremely bad quality manuscripts. The quality of old Malay Manuscripts can be categorize into three types, namely: the background image is uneven, image effects and image effects expand patch. The aim of this paper is to discuss the methods used to value add the quality of the manuscript.  Our propose methods consist of several main methods, such as: Local Adaptive Equalization, Image Intensity Values, Automatic Threshold PP, and Adaptive Threshold Filtering. This paper is intend to achieve a better view image that geared to ease reading. Error Bit Phase achievement (TKB) has a smaller error value for proposed method (Adaptive Threshold Filtering Process / PAM) namely 0.0316 compared with Otsu’s Threshold Method / MNAO, Binary Threshold Value Method / MNAP, and Automatic Local Threshold Value Method / MNATA. The precision achievement (namely on ink bleed images) is using a proposed method more than 95% is compared with the state of the art methods MNAO, MNAP, MNATA and their performances are 75.82%, 90.68%, and 91.2% subsequently.  However, this paper’s achievement is using a proposed method / PAM, MNAO, MNAP, and MNATA for correspondingly the image of ink bleed case are 45.74%, 54.80%, 53.23% and 46.02%.  Conclusion, the proposed method produces a better character shape in comparison to other methods

Kasha langu: A popular song from Mombasa

Kasha langu ilianza kuimbwa Mambasa takriban myaka arbaini iliyopita, na leo nyimbo hii ikali ikipengeza tangu Mambasa mpaka Unguja, na hata Maskati pia. Na kupengeza huku si kwa sababu ya maneno yake tuu, bali ni kwa sababu hayo maneno yantukuana na mahadhi yake sawa sawa, na ndiyo ikawa haisahauliki kwa utamu wake. Sehemu ya kwanza ya makala haya inahusu ule wimbo wenyewe, yaani mtungaji, utungo wake, matini, tarjuma yake kwa kiIngereza, na maelezo ya maneno magumu; sehemu ya pili inahusu mambo yaliofungamana na hayo mahadhi

A Predictive model for liver disease progression based on logistic regression algorithm

Liver disease counts to be one of the most prevalent diseases in the worldwide. Therefore, this paper is aim to address the problem of predicting liver disease progression. As the existing predictive models focus on predicting the label of disease; the probability of developing the disease is still obscure. This paper, therefore, has proposed a model to predict the probability occurrence of liver diseases. The proposed predictive model used logistic regression abilities to predict the probability of liver disease occurrence. ILPD dataset was used to analyze the performance of the model. The predictive model has shown outstanding performance with a prediction accuracy rate of 72.4%, the sensitivity of 90.3%, the specificity of 78.3 %, Type I Error of 9.7 %, Type II Error of 21.7 %, and ROC of 0.758%. The model has furthermore confirmed the feasibility of the laboratory tests such as as (Age; Direct Bilirubin (DB), Alamine_Aminotransferase (SGPT), Total_Protiens (TP), Albumin (ALB)) to predict the disease progression. The predictive model will be helpful to patients and doctors to realize the progression of the disease and make a suitable timely intervention

A successful chronic care program in Al Ain-United Arab Emirates

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The cost effective provision of quality care for chronic diseases is a major challenge for health care systems. We describe a project to improve the care of patients with the highly prevalent disorders of diabetes and hypertension, conducted in one of the major cities of the United Arab Emirates.</p> <p>Settings and Methods</p> <p>The project, using the principles of quality assurance cycles, was conducted in 4 stages.</p> <p>The assessment stage consisted of a community survey and an audit of the health care system, with particular emphasis on chronic disease care. The information gleaned from this stage provided feedback to the staff of participating health centers. In the second stage, deficiencies in health care were identified and interventions were developed for improvements, including topics for continuing professional development.</p> <p>In the third stage, these strategies were piloted in a single health centre for one year and the outcomes evaluated. In the still ongoing fourth stage, the project was rolled out to all the health centers in the area, with continuing evaluation. The intervention consisted of changes to establish a structured care model based on the predicted needs of this group of patients utilizing dedicated chronic disease clinics inside the existing primary health care system. These clinics incorporated decision-making tools, including evidence-based guidelines, patient education and ongoing professional education.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The intervention was successfully implemented in all the health centers. The health care quality indicators that showed the greatest improvement were the documentation of patient history (e.g. smoking status and physical activity); improvement in recording physical signs (e.g. body mass index (BMI)); and an improvement in the requesting of appropriate investigations, such as HbA1c and microalbuminurea. There was also improvement in those parameters reflecting outcomes of care, which included HbA1c, blood pressure and lipid profiles. Indicators related to lifestyle changes, such as smoking cessation and BMI, failed to improve.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Chronic disease care is a joint commitment by health care providers and patients. This combined approach proved successful in most areas of the project, but the area of patient self management requires further improvement.</p

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London

Validation of the Short Version (TLS-15) of the Triangular Love Scale (TLS-45) Across 37 Languages

Love is a phenomenon that occurs across the world and affects many aspects of human life, including the choice of, and process of bonding with, a romantic partner. Thus, developing a reliable and valid measure of love experiences is crucial. One of the most popular tools to quantify love is Sternberg’s 45-item Triangular Love Scale (TLS-45), which measures three love components: intimacy, passion, and commitment. However, our literature review reveals that most studies (64%) use a broad variety of shortened versions of the TLS-45. Here, aiming to achieve scientific consensus and improve the reliability, comparability, and generalizability of results across studies, we developed a short version of the scale—the TLS-15—comprised of 15 items with 5-point, rather than 9-point, response scales. In Study 1 (N = 7,332), we re-analyzed secondary data from a large-scale multinational study that validated the original TLS-45 to establish whether the scale could be truncated. In Study 2 (N = 307), we provided evidence for the three-factor structure of the TLS-15 and its reliability. Study 3 (N = 413) confirmed convergent validity and test–retest stability of the TLS-15. Study 4 (N = 60,311) presented a large-scale validation across 37 linguistic versions of the TLS-15 on a cross-cultural sample spanning every continent of the globe. The overall results provide support for the reliability, validity, and cross-cultural invariance of the TLS-15, which can be used as a measure of love components—either separately or jointly as a three-factor measure