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Journal articles on the topic 'Congdon Foundation'
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1
Kornienko, M. V., and M. R. Ndinga. "The calculation methods for bases and foundations in the Congo Republic (Brazzaville)." USEFUL online journal 2, no. 2 (June 30, 2018): 42–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.32557/useful-2-2-2018-0005.
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Careful consideration is given to the basic methods of calculation in the design of bases and foundations in the Congo. The analysis and comparison of the methodology for the calculation of bases and foundations in the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) is carried out.
2
Wang, Ban. "Nature and Critique of Modernity in Shen Congwen." Prism 16, no. 1 (March 1, 2019): 115–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/25783491-7480349.
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Abstract Contemporary environmental crises have their origin in the anthropocentric view of humans as separable from and superior to the natural world. Anthropocentrism also marks the realist author of modern Chinese fiction. Departing from that human-centered view, Shen Congwen's work evinces a biological perspective and affirms an ecological understanding of life in which the writing self must trace its roots to and reciprocate with other organisms and all-encompassing nature. The animistic language of Shen's writing delves into the ecological and bodily foundation of beauty and arts. Shen's notion of the longue durée of biology and evolution debunks the transient zeitgeist of modern transformation and accelerations, propelled by the human domination of nature and alienation of the human body. Shen's portrayal of sexuality reasserts the reciprocity and entwinement of inner nature with outer nature.
3
SAH, Zéphirin. "Pierre Savorgnan De Brazza, a Life, a Story with the Congo." Randwick International of Social Science Journal 3, no. 4 (October 31, 2022): 910–13. http://dx.doi.org/10.47175/rissj.v3i4.566.
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Savorgnan De Brazza figures prominently .This character marked the history of the Congo through his work which can be summed up in three missions carried out on Congolese soil. To remember the latter, the capital of the Congo bears his name: Brazzaville, the city of De Brazza. Besides this, many other places of memory in the Congo bear his name. This study focuses on the life of Pierre Savorgnan De Brazza, his story in particular, the one that links him with the peoples of the Congo. Pierre Savorgnan De Brazza is the first European to have arrived in the current Congolese Cuvette. It was after the Franceville stage in Gabon that De Brazza took the road to the Congo via the Plateaux which he now knows well to reach the Congo River. From this trip, the elders retain the revelation of the name of the Sovereign Teke, King Makoko whose treaty with De Brazza, later allowed the foundation of Brazzaville. This study is about De Brazza a life, a story. This sends us back to the man, his life and his story.
4
Pritchard, John. "Parallel Lives." Holiness 7, no. 2 (December 1, 2021): 71–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/holiness-2021-0009.
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Abstract A comparative study of William Wadé Harris, 1865–1929, and Apolo Kivebulaya, 1865–1932. The Liberian Harris’s short evangelistic tour of the Ivory Coast and western Gold Coast, 1913–1915, laid the foundations of contemporary Methodism, Catholicism, and the independent Harrist Church in Côte d’Ivoire and Church of the Twelve Apostles and others in Ghana. The Ugandan Anglican priest Kivebulaya ministered in the kingdom of Toro in western Uganda, 1895–1915, and in northeast Congo, 1915–1933, and is acclaimed as the founder of the Anglican Church in the Congo.
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Iyaba, Raoul J. C. Monsembula, and Melanie L. J. Stiassny. "Fishes of the Salonga National Park (Congo basin, central Africa): a list of species collected in the Luilaka, Salonga, and Yenge Rivers (Equateur Province, Democratic Republic of Congo)." Check List 9, no. 2 (April 1, 2013): 246. http://dx.doi.org/10.15560/9.2.246.
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A list of fishes collected in and around the periphery of the Salonga National Park in Equateur Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo is provided. While noteworthy for a wide array of rare and endangered terrestrial vertebrates, the fish fauna of the Salonga National Park, the largest protected area in Africa, is very poorly known. One hundred and fifty two species distributed in 24 families are reported on here; of which 9 represent putatively undescribed taxa currently under investigation. Lack of up-to-date taxonomic and distributional knowledge of African fishes is particularly acute in the central Congo basin and the present report, while undoubtedly incomplete, provides a foundation for much needed further work in the region.
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Schadeberg, Thilo C. "Classificatie van Naamwoorden en Dingen in Het Bantoe (1)." Afrika Focus 1, no. 1-2 (January 12, 1985): 67–85. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2031356x-0010102006.
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Classification of nouns and things in Bantu Is there a semantic foundation for the system of noun classes and genders found in Bantu (and in Niger-Congo-Kordofanian) ? This question has intensely occupied many bantuists for over a century. Fundamentalist, mentalistic, and ethnosemantic approaches were used to construct explanations. The present paper reviews several such approaches, giving particular emphasis to some old and recent Dutch contributions to this field.
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Kamgang, Basile, Theodel A. Wilson-Bahun, Helen Irving, Michael O. Kusimo, Arsene Lenga, and Charles S. Wondji. "Geographical distribution of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) and genetic diversity of invading population of Ae. albopictus in the Republic of the Congo." Wellcome Open Research 3 (June 25, 2018): 79. http://dx.doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.14659.1.
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Background: The arbovirus vector, Aedes albopictus, originating from Asia, has recently invaded African countries, including the Republic of the Congo, where it was associated with a chikungunya outbreak. Up until now, little was known about its distribution in relation to the native Aedes aegypti and how the invasion will modify the epidemiology of arboviral diseases. Here, we assessed the current distribution of Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti in the Republic of the Congo and explored the genetic diversity of the invading species, Ae. albopictus. Methods: Immature stages of Aedes were collected in nine locations in the Republic of the Congo in 2017 following a north-south transect and reared to adult stage. Adults were morphologically identified, counted and grouped according to species and location. Genetic diversity of Ae. albopictus was assessed by analyzing the cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene. Results: Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti were found together across the country in all the locations investigated. The invasive species is predominant over the native species in all locations except Brazzaville, suggesting that Ae. albopictus is displacing Ae. aegypti across Congo. When comparing the species distributions across the two largest cities, Brazzaville and Pointe Noire, Ae. albopictus was more prevalent than Ae. aegypti in the suburbs whereas the opposite situation was reported in the city centre. Mitochondrial DNA analysis revealed very low genetic diversity of Ae. albopictus with only three haplotypes recorded across the country supporting the recent introduction of this species in the Republic of the Congo. Phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that Ae. albopictus from Congo originated from other tropical Asian countries such as China, likely as a result of increasing trade links. Conclusion: These findings are important for the implementation of vector control strategies and can serve as a foundation for further research on these vectors in the country.
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Kamgang, Basile, Theodel A. Wilson-Bahun, Helen Irving, Michael O. Kusimo, Arsene Lenga, and Charles S. Wondji. "Geographical distribution of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) and genetic diversity of invading population of Ae. albopictus in the Republic of the Congo." Wellcome Open Research 3 (August 10, 2018): 79. http://dx.doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.14659.2.
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Background: The arbovirus vector, Aedes albopictus, originating from Asia, has recently invaded African countries, including the Republic of the Congo, where it was associated with a chikungunya outbreak. Up until now, little was known about its distribution in relation to the native Aedes aegypti and how the invasion will modify the epidemiology of arboviral diseases. Here, we assessed the current distribution of Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti in the Republic of the Congo and explored the genetic diversity of the invading species, Ae. albopictus. Methods: Immature stages of Aedes were collected in nine locations in the Republic of the Congo in 2017 following a north-south transect and reared to adult stage. Adults were morphologically identified, counted and grouped according to species and location. Genetic diversity of Ae. albopictus was assessed by analyzing the cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene. Results: Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti were found together across the country in all the locations investigated. The invasive species is predominant over the native species in all locations except Brazzaville, suggesting that Ae. albopictus is displacing Ae. aegypti across Congo. When comparing the species distributions across the two largest cities, Brazzaville and Pointe Noire, Ae. albopictus was more prevalent than Ae. aegypti in the suburbs whereas the opposite situation was reported in the city centre. Mitochondrial DNA analysis revealed very low genetic diversity of Ae. albopictus with only three haplotypes recorded across the country supporting the recent introduction of this species in the Republic of the Congo. Phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that Ae. albopictus from Congo originated from other tropical Asian countries such as China, likely as a result of increasing trade links. Conclusion: These findings are important for the implementation of vector control strategies and can serve as a foundation for further research on these vectors in the country.
9
Kamgang, Basile, Theodel A. Wilson-Bahun, Helen Irving, Michael O. Kusimo, Arsene Lenga, and Charles S. Wondji. "Geographical distribution of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) and genetic diversity of invading population of Ae. albopictus in the Republic of the Congo." Wellcome Open Research 3 (December 28, 2018): 79. http://dx.doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.14659.3.
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Background: The arbovirus vector, Aedes albopictus, originating from Asia, has recently invaded African countries, including the Republic of the Congo, where it was associated with a chikungunya outbreak. Up until now, little was known about its distribution in relation to the native Aedes aegypti and how the invasion will modify the epidemiology of arboviral diseases. Here, we assessed the current distribution of Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti in the Republic of the Congo and explored the genetic diversity of the invading species, Ae. albopictus. Methods: Immature stages of Aedes were collected in nine locations in the Republic of the Congo in 2017 following a north-south transect and reared to adult stage. Adults were morphologically identified, counted and grouped according to species and location. Genetic diversity of Ae. albopictus was assessed by analyzing the cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene. Results: Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti were found together across the country in all the locations investigated. The invasive species is predominant over the native species in all locations except Brazzaville, suggesting that Ae. albopictus is displacing Ae. aegypti across Congo. When comparing the species distributions across the two largest cities, Brazzaville and Pointe Noire, Ae. albopictus was more prevalent than Ae. aegypti in the suburbs whereas the opposite situation was reported in the city centre. Mitochondrial DNA analysis revealed very low genetic diversity of Ae. albopictus with only three haplotypes recorded across the country supporting the recent introduction of this species in the Republic of the Congo. Phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that Ae. albopictus from Congo originated from other tropical Asian countries such as China, likely as a result of increasing trade links. Conclusion: These findings are important for the implementation of vector control strategies and can serve as a foundation for further research on these vectors in the country.
10
Plotkin, Stanley A. "Untruths and consequences: the false hypothesis linking CHAT type 1 polio vaccination to the origin of human immunodeficiency virus." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences 356, no. 1410 (June 29, 2001): 815–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2001.0861.
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A book published in 1999 hypothesized that the scientists who worked with the CHAT type 1 attenuated polio strain tested in the former Belgian Congo in the late 1950s had covertly prepared the vaccine in chimpanzee kidney cells contaminated with a simian immunodeficiency virus, which evolved into HIV–1 group M. This paper summarizes the results of the investigation conducted by the author to determine the legitimacy of the accusation. Testimony by eyewitnesses, documents of the time, epidemiological analysis, and ancillary phylogenetic, virologic and PCR data all concur to reject the hypothesis as false and without factual foundation.
11
Wang, Chao, Yu Zhang, Hong Xia Huang, Mao Bin Chen, and Dong Sheng Li. "Solution Conformation of Konjac Glucomannan Single Helix." Advanced Materials Research 197-198 (February 2011): 96–104. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.197-198.96.
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The possibility of the existence of konjac glucomannan (KGM) single helix in dilute solution was discussed finely by ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer (UV-Vis) with Congo red complex, viscosimetry and circular dichroism (CD). KGM bound to Congo red and the λmaxcharacteristic shifted markedly to longer wavelength (514 nm) in 0.25 M aq NaOH. The shifts of λmaxand intrinsic viscosity were also compared in different mediums, such as different concentrations of KGM, NaOH, urea solutions or temperatures. The results indicated that KGM had an ordered, single-helical conformation in neutral, slight NaOH (<0.15 M) and urea (<3.0 M) solutions or at a moderate temperature (T<55ºС ), while it was transformed disorder, random coils in high NaOH (>0.45 M), urea (>4.0 M) solutions or at a high temperature (T>60ºС ). So it can be conclude that the outside factors play an important role on the stability of the single-helix conformation for KGM solution. The induced CD spectra by Congo red and the CD spectra of KGM in aqueous and urea solution indicated further that KGM had a single-helical structure. The new conclusion laid the foundation of determining helical radius, pitch and length of KGM in the future studies.
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Zelinschi, Carmen Beatrice, Iuliana Stoica, and Dana Ortansa Dorohoi. "Changes in morphology and optical properties of polyvinyl alcohol foils induced by Congo red dye concentration and stretching degree." Journal of Polymer Engineering 34, no. 4 (June 1, 2014): 345–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/polyeng-2013-0189.
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Abstract To establish correlations between the optical and morphological properties of anisotropic polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) foils containing Congo red (CR) dye in various concentrations, characteristics such as degree of crystallinity, dichroic ratio, order parameter, birefringence, surface morphology, and three-dimensional texture parameters were estimated before and after stretching. An increase in morphological and optical anisotropy with the degree of stretching has been evidenced for both pure and CR-containing PVA foils, this behavior being facilitated by the presence of the dye. The study of these properties lays the foundation for understanding the circumstances in which PVA foils containing CR can be used as polarizing filters.
13
Iyaba, Raoul J. C. Monsembula, Tobit Liyandja, and Melanie L. J. Stiassny. "Fishes of the N’sele River (Pool Malebo, Congo basin, Central Africa): a list of species collected in the main channel and affluent tributaries, Kinshasa Province, Democratic Republic of Congo." Check List 9, no. 5 (October 1, 2013): 941. http://dx.doi.org/10.15560/9.5.941.
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A list of fishes collected in the N’sele River, a large affluent tributary of Pool Malebo, in the Democratic Republic of Congo is provided. Sites along the main channel and its affluent tributaries were sampled and 148 species distributed in 27 families are reported. Despite close proximity to the megacity of Kinshasa, the ichthyofauna of the N’sele River has not previously been documented, and in the course of the current study, 19 of the 148 species are recognized as new records for the region. Due to difficulties of access much of the middle reach of the N’sele River remains to be inventoried and, while the present report documents high diversity in this system, the list is likely to be incomplete. Although preliminary, the current report provides a solid foundation for further work in a region that is undergoing rapid environmental degradation.
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Attia, Kader. "Sidewalk’s Cloud (2014)." TDR/The Drama Review 59, no. 1 (March 2015): 2. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/dram_a_00422.
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Kader Attia lives and works in Berlin and Algiers. His first solo exhibition was held in 1996 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2003, he gained international recognition at the 50th Venice Biennale. In 2014, he was awarded the Berlin Art Prize: Jubilee Foundation 1848/1948. Recent exhibitions include Culture, Another Nature Repaired (solo show), Middelheim Museum, Antwerp; Contre Nature (solo show), Beirut Art Center; Continuum of Repair: The Light of Jacob’s Ladder (solo show), Whitechapel Gallery, London; Repair. 5 Acts (solo show), KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin; Construire, Déconstruire, Reconstruire: Le Corps Utopique (solo show), Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; the Biennale of Dakar; dOCUMENTA(13) in Kassel; Performing Histories (1) at MoMA, New York; and Contested Terrains, Tate Modern, London.
15
Dawson, Mark, and Daniel J. Young. "Presidential Tenure and Constitutional Provisions: Recent Evidence from Central Africa." Africa Spectrum 55, no. 3 (December 2020): 272–90. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0002039720980457.
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Constitutions around Africa have been repeatedly tested on the issue of presidential term limits. We explore the four most recent cases of African presidents facing the end of their constitutionally mandated limit, all of which developed in Central Africa. Burundi, Rwanda, the Republic of Congo, and the Democratic Republic of Congo all adopted constitutions limiting presidential tenure to two terms; yet, in 2015, when these limits were approaching, none of the sitting presidents simply stood down. Our analysis focuses on the constitutional provisions meant to protect the two-term limit, the strategies employed by each of the four presidents, and the difficulty they faced in pursuing extended tenure. We find that constitutional provisions do constrain, but not always to the expected degree. Our analysis adds a consideration of a foundational constitutional factor to the growing literature on term limits in Africa, with implications for other regions of newly developing democracies.
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Misilu Eric, Mia Nsokimieno. "Creative Reconstruction: A Systematic Approach to Reinventing Large Cities in Democratic Republic of Congo." JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 8, no. 1 (June 12, 2015): 1485–97. http://dx.doi.org/10.24297/jssr.v8i1.3609.
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The current state of large cities in Democratic Republic of Congo highlights the necessity of reinventing cities. More than fifty years after the independence, these major cities, like Kinshasa the capital city, are in a state of are in a state of disrepair. They are damaged, dysfunctional, and more vulnerable. Today, these legacy cities do not meet the international requirements of livable cities. Democratic Republic of Congo faces the challenge of rebuilding its cities for sustainability. The movement for independence of African countries enabled the shift from colonial cities to legacy cities. It is important to understand the cultural and ideological foundations of colonial city. Commonly, colonial cities served as purpose-built settlements for the extraction and transport of mineral resources toward Europe. What's required is a creative reconstruction to achieve a desired successful urban change. Creative reconstruction tends to ensure urban transformation in relation with urbanization, by making continuous and healthy communities. Creative reconstruction seems appropriate way of building back cities in harmony with cultural values. The article provides a framework for urban regeneration. The study is based on principle of thinking globally and acting locally in building back better cities.
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Golden, Joseph W., Charles J. Shoemaker, Michael E. Lindquist, Xiankun Zeng, Sharon P. Daye, Janice A. Williams, Jun Liu, et al. "GP38-targeting monoclonal antibodies protect adult mice against lethal Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus infection." Science Advances 5, no. 7 (July 2019): eaaw9535. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaw9535.
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Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is an important human pathogen. Limited evidence suggests that antibodies can protect humans against lethal CCHFV disease but the protective efficacy of antibodies has never been evaluated in adult animal models. Here, we used adult mice to investigate the protection provided against CCHFV infection by glycoprotein-targeting neutralizing and non-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). We identified a single non-neutralizing antibody (mAb-13G8) that protected adult type I interferon–deficient mice >90% when treatment was initiated before virus exposure and >60% when administered after virus exposure. Neutralizing antibodies known to protect neonatal mice from lethal CCHFV infection failed to confer protection regardless of immunoglobulin G subclass. The target of mAb-13G8 was identified as GP38, one of multiple proteolytically cleaved glycoproteins derived from the CCHFV glycoprotein precursor polyprotein. This study reveals GP38 as an important antibody target for limiting CCHFV pathogenesis and lays the foundation to develop immunotherapeutics against CCHFV in humans.
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Buzard, David A. "Ethnocentric nationality in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: An analysis under international human rights law." African Human Rights Law Journal 21, no. 2 (December 31, 2021): 1–24. http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/1996-2096/2021/v21n2a39.
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In order to dismantle institutionalised tribalism in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has fostered recurring war and armed conflict, its lynchpin of ethnocentric citizenship must be removed. Due to the Congolese law of nationality by birth being grounded in ethnicity, Congolese nationality has been and remains subject to political manipulation, particularly concerning the Banyamulenge people. In the latter half of the twentieth century the Congolese state has alternatively granted, withdrawn and reinstated their Congolese citizenship. Fundamentally, the basic Congolese nationality law - anchored in the Congolese Constitution - perpetuates a legal framework for racial division which does nothing to hinder but only enables malicious sympathies that tend toward exclusion, persecution, expulsion and genocide. To address this existential flaw, this article describes how the primacy of ethnicity in the Congolese law of nationality by birth violates three international human rights treaties that the DRC has accepted, thus laying a foundation for legal action to change the Constitution and nationality law of the DRC.
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Qian, Xu, Hua Zhou, and Heng Cai. "UDP-Glucose Pyrophosphorylase ugp1 is Required in Heat Stress Response of Saccharomyces cerevisiae." Journal of Biobased Materials and Bioenergy 15, no. 2 (April 1, 2021): 188–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.1166/jbmb.2021.2037.
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UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (UGP1) is an important metabolic enzyme in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In this research, we built a strain with reduced ugp1 level for exploring its biological roles. The survival rate, trehalose, glucan, and the sensitivity to cell wall perturbing agents were tested. Intracellular trehalose and glucan of ugp1 knockdown (ugp1KD) strain showed 37.4% and 56.69% of WT strain at 42 °C. Meanwhile, the survival rate declined to 33.83% after 2 hours and to 8.44% after 8 hours. The cell wall was more susceptible to Congo red, SDS, and Calcofluor white. After complementing ugp1(UGP1C), the resistance to heat-stress and cell wall perturbing agents were rescued markedly. The 1,3-β-D-glucan synthase (FKS1) expression level was affected by knocking down ugp1, as well. Our data suggest that ugp1 is required in the heat stress response of S. cerevisiae by influencing trehalose and glucan, and provides a foundation elucidating the essence of survival under heat stress.
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Xu, Xin, Zhiyi Zhang, Junlong Zhu, Dan Wang, Guoyan Liu, Li Liang, Jixian Zhang, et al. "Whey Protein Isolate Nanofibers Prepared by Subcritical Water Stabilized High Internal Phase Pickering Emulsion to Deliver Curcumin." Foods 11, no. 11 (May 31, 2022): 1625. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/foods11111625.
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This study aimed to design a Pickering emulsion (PE) stabilized by whey protein isolate nanofibers (WPINs) prepared with subcritical water (SW) to encapsulate and prevent curcumin (Cur) degradation. Cur-loaded WPINs–SW stabilized PE (WPINs–SW–PE) and hydrothermally prepared WPINs stabilized PE (WPINs–H–PE) were characterized using the particle size, zeta potential, Congo Red, CD, and TEM. The results indicated that WPINs–SW–PE and WPINs–H–PE showed regular spherical shapes with average lengths of 26.88 ± 1.11 μm and 175.99 ± 2.31 μm, and zeta potential values were −38.00 ± 1.00 mV and −34.60 ± 2.03 mV, respectively. The encapsulation efficiencies of WPINs–SW–PE and WPINs–H–PE for Cur were 96.72 ± 1.05% and 94.07 ± 2.35%. The bio-accessibility of Cur of WPINs–SW–PE and WPINs–H–PE were 57.52 ± 1.24% and 21.94 ± 2.09%. In addition, WPINs–SW–PE had a better loading effect and antioxidant activities compared with WPINs–H–PE. SW could be a potential processing method to prepare a PE, laying the foundation for the subsequent production of functional foods.
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Harb and Abd Alhameed. "ENGINEERING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OF EQUITABLE RESOURCE DISTRIBUTION IN NILE BASIN." International Journal of Research -GRANTHAALAYAH 4, no. 8 (August 31, 2016): 32–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.29121/granthaalayah.v4.i8.2016.2558.
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Uganda, Tanzania, the Sudan, South Sudan, Rwanda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt, DR Congo, and Burundi all make entitlement claims to the ecological system of the Nile Basin. This region is rich in resources, yet prone to interstate conflict, drought, and other vulnerabilities. Water resource conservation systems, alternative purification systems, and rainfall stimulation systems programmed by artificial intelligence can facilitate the establishment of transboundary partnerships that reduce international conflict and serve as a foundation for economic growth and job creation in the Nile Basin region. Water conservation systems using artificial intelligence have been found to increase rainfall capture by an average of 1.5 billion gallons of stormwater per year or enough to provide clean drinking water for 36,000 people per year (O’Neill et. al, 2012). The ecological framework of Nile Basin’s various regions will determine the appropriate artificial intelligence systems that can be implemented to promote the equitable distribution the Nile Basin’s resources. These systems will lessen political conflict that can negatively impact the agricultural practices of Nile Basin farmers and inhabitants who depend on the Nile Basin’s resources for their livelihoods.
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Muluwa, Joseph Koni, and Koen Bostoen. "immediate before the verb focus position in Nsong (Bantu B85d, DR Congo)." ZAS Papers in Linguistics 57 (January 1, 2014): 123–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.21248/zaspil.57.2014.422.
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Nsong is a western Bantu language spoken in the neighbourhood of Kikwit (5°2'28"S 18°48'58"E, Kwilu District, Bandundu Province, DRC) and encoded as B85d in the New Updated Guthrie List (Maho 2009). To this B80 or Tiene-Yanzi group also belongs Mbuun, encoded as B87 by Guthrie (1971: 39) and spoken in the wider vicinity of Idiofa (4°57'35"S 19°35'40", Kwilu District, Bandundu Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo). Both languages are closely related. They share a high percentage of fundamental and other vocabulary as well as several rather atypical phonological innovations (Bostoen & Koni Muluwa 2014; Koni Muluwa 2014; Koni Muluwa & Bostoen 2012). Preliminary elicitation-based research on Mbuun has pointed out that the pre-verbal domain plays a crucial role in the marking of argument focus in Mbuun (Bostoen & Mundeke 2011, 2012). In this paper, we assess whether this is also the case in Nsong on the basis of a text corpus which the first author has been collecting, transcribing and annotating in 2013 and 2014 as part of an endangered language documentation project funded by the DoBeS program of the Volkswagen Foundation through a 3-year grant (2012-2015). More information on the project can be found on http://www.kwilubantu.ugent.be/. This Nsong text corpus exclusively consists of oral discourse and currently counts 48.022 tokens and 11.973 types. The team’s 2013 fieldwork aimed at documenting Nsong speech events in as many different cultural settings as possible. As a result, the corpus comprises different text genres, such as political speeches, historical traditions, folk music, tales, proverbs, hunting language, ceremonial language used during circumcision and twin rites, and popular biological knowledge. In line with previous research on Mbuun, we concentrate here on mono-clausal argument focus constructions, even if preliminary research has pointed out that bi-clausal focus structures are more common in the Nsong corpus.
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d'Ardenne, Patricia, Hanspeter Dorner, James Walugembe, Allen Nakibuuka, James Nsereko, Tom Onen, and Cerdic Hall. "Training in the management of post-traumatic stress disorder in Uganda." International Psychiatry 6, no. 3 (July 2009): 67–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/s174936760000062x.
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The aims of this study were to establish the feasibility and effectiveness of training Ugandan mental health workers in the management of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) based on guidelines from the UK National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). The Butabika Link is a mental health partnership between the East London Foundation NHS Trust (ELFT) and Butabika National Psychiatric Referral Hospital, Kampala, Uganda, supported by the Tropical Health Education Trust (THET), and based on the recommendations of the Crisp report (Crisp, 2007). The Link has worked on the principle that the most effective partnership between high-income and low- or middle-income countries is through organisations already delivering healthcare, that is, through the support of existing services. Butabika Hospital is a centre of excellence, serving an entire nation of 30 million people, many of them recovering from 20 years of armed conflict that took place mainly in the north of Uganda. In addition, Uganda has received refugees from conflicts in neighbouring states, including Congo, Rwanda, Kenya, Sudan and Burundi. The Ugandan Ministry of Health's Strategic Plan (2000) has prioritised post-conflict mental disorders and domestic violence, which is reflected in the vision of the Link's work.
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Betge, David. "Land Governance in Post-Conflict Settings: Interrogating Decision-Making by International Actors." Land 8, no. 2 (February 7, 2019): 31. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/land8020031.
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Humanitarian and development organizations working in conflict-affected settings have a particular responsibility to do no harm and contribute to the wellbeing of the population without bias. The highly complex, politicized realities of work in conflict- and post-conflict settings often require quick, pragmatic and results-oriented decisions, the foundations of which remain frequently implicit. Such decisions might follow an intrinsic logic or situational pragmatism rather than intensive deliberation. This paper reflects on the realities of working on land governance in post-conflict settings shaped by migration, ethnic division, power struggles and limited statehood. Using case examples from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Burundi, this paper reflects on the drivers of decisions around land governance in such contexts in a structured, theoretically informed way. Drawing on the author’s own experience with supporting land rights work and utilizing Giddens’ concept of the Duality of Structure, this article provides an analysis of actors and structures that sheds light on the factors that affect the decision-making of practitioners relating to land rights in post-conflict areas of limited statehood.
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McCausland, Julieta Solano, and Enrique Carnero Rojo. "Developments at the International Criminal Court." Law & Practice of International Courts and Tribunals 9, no. 3 (2010): 495–555. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/157180310x537225.
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AbstractThis column covers the activity of the International Criminal Court during the first four months of 2010. The Court has continued investigating alleged crimes in four situations (the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Darfur/Sudan and the Central African Republic) and has started investigations in a fifth country (Kenya). The judicial activity of the Court has gained momentum, with proceedings against four accused persons, including ongoing trials against three persons. The commencement of the trial of one more person is pending, and an additional six individuals remain subject to warrants of arrest. Several Chambers have confirmed their previous decisions on the way in which trial proceedings must be prepared and conducted, including the scope of victim participation at trial and the legal framework for non-disclosure of information to the Defence as an exceptional measure of protection during trial. Moreover, the first decision on a Prosecutor’s request to open an investigation has been adopted. All in all, during the period of time covered in this column the Court has consolidated the foundations for the conduct of its investigations and trials.
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MacGaffey, Wyatt. "Precolonial Beliefs in God, Nzambi, and Chthonic Beings: Evidence from Kongo Texts." Journal of Religion in Africa 52, no. 1-2 (June 3, 2022): 1–21. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/15700666-12340224.
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Abstract Manuscripts in their own language by indigenous ethnographers at the beginning of the colonial period, not hitherto examined in detail, give unique insight into precolonial beliefs in the Kikongo-speaking region of what was then Belgian Congo, and the transition to Christianity. That transition depended in large part on translation, giving new meanings to old words. The texts suggest that Nzambi, now the Kongo name for the Christian God, was originally a personification of death. The power of life, on the other hand, was credited to bisimbi, chthonic forces that are simultaneously both material and immaterial. Although scholars have generally overlooked this issue, belief in these forces is foundational to what has usually been called traditional religion and its rituals, most of them now extinct. This Kongo configuration exemplifies, on a small scale, one that is found generally in West and Central Africa.
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Liang, Liuke, Haojie Yang, Shan Wei, Shuaibing Zhang, Liang Chen, Yuansen Hu, and Yangyong Lv. "Putative C2H2 Transcription Factor AflZKS3 Regulates Aflatoxin and Pathogenicity in Aspergillus flavus." Toxins 14, no. 12 (December 17, 2022): 883. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxins14120883.
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Aflatoxin is a carcinogenic secondary metabolite that poses a serious threat to human and animal health. Some C2H2 transcription factors are associated with fungal growth and secondary metabolic regulation. In this study, we characterized the role of AflZKS3, a putative C2H2 transcription factor based on genome annotation, in the growth and aflatoxin biosynthesis of A. flavus and explored its possible mechanisms of action. Surprisingly, the protein was found to be located in the cytoplasm, and gene deletion in A. flavus resulted in defective growth and conidia formation, as well as increased sensitivity to the fluorescent brightener Calcofluor white, Congo red, NaCl, and sorbitol stress. Notably, the biosynthesis of aflatoxin B1 was completely inhibited in the ΔAflZKS3 deletion strain, and its ability to infect peanut and corn seeds was also reduced. RNA sequencing showed that differentially expressed genes in the ΔAflZKS3 strain compared with the control and complementation strains were mainly associated with growth, aflatoxin biosynthesis, and oxidative stress. Thus, AflZKS3 likely contributes to growth, cell development, and aflatoxin synthesis in A. flavus. These findings lay the foundation for a deeper understanding of the roles of C2H2 transcription factors in A. flavus and provide a potential biocontrol target for preventing aflatoxin contamination.
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Hamd, Ahmed, Asmaa Ragab Dryaz, Mohamed Shaban, Hamad AlMohamadi, Khulood A. Abu Al-Ola, Nofal Khamis Soliman, and Sayed A. Ahmed. "Fabrication and Application of Zeolite/Acanthophora Spicifera Nanoporous Composite for Adsorption of Congo Red Dye from Wastewater." Nanomaterials 11, no. 9 (September 19, 2021): 2441. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nano11092441.
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Systematic investigations involving laboratory, analytical, and field trials were carried out to obtain the most efficient adsorbent for the removal of congo red (CR) dye from industrial effluent. Modification of the zeolite (Z) by the Acanthophora Spicifera algae (AS; marine algae) was evaluated in terms of adsorption capability of the zeolite to remove CR dye from aqueous solution. The zeolite/algae composite (ZAS) was fabricated using the wet impregnation technique. The AS, Z, and the synthesized ZAS composite were analyzed utilizing various characterization techniques. The newly synthesized ZAS composite has an adsorption capacity that is significantly higher than that of Z and AS, particularly at low CR concentrations. Batch experiments were carried out to explore the effects of different experimental factors, as well as the dye adsorption isotherms and kinetics. Owing to the presence of intermolecular interactions, the computational analysis showed that the adsorption of the CR molecule on zeolite surfaces is exothermic, energetically favorable, and spontaneous. Furthermore, growing the zeolite surface area has no discernible effect on the adsorption energies in all configurations. The ZAS composite may be used as a low-cost substitute adsorbent for the removal of anionic dyes from industrial wastewater at lower dye concentrations, according to the experimental results. Adsorption of CR dye onto Z, AS, and ZAS adsorbents was adequately explained by pseudo-second-order kinetics and the Langmuir isotherm. The sorption mechanism was also evaluated using Weber’s intra-particle diffusion module. Finally, field testing revealed that the newly synthesized adsorbent was 98.0% efficient at extracting dyes from industrial wastewater, proving the foundation of modern eco-friendly materials that aid in the reuse of industrial wastewater.
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Barker, J. Craig, and Matthew Happold. "IV.ProsecutorvThomas Lubanga, Decision of Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court, 29 January 2007." International and Comparative Law Quarterly 56, no. 3 (July 2007): 713–24. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/iclq/lei192.
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On 29 January 2007, Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (the ICC) handed down its decision confirming the charges brought against Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, the first defendant to appear before the Court. In this and earlier decisions in the case, the Chamber has said a number of interesting things about the admissibility of cases before the Court, the elements of the war crime of child recruitment and the modes of liability under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (the Rome Statute).140More generally, however, the Chamber's actions also say much about the role the judges of the ICC see themselves as undertaking in the Court's proceedings.Thomas Lubanga is a national of the Democratic Republic of Congo (the DRC). He describes himself as a politician. It is alleged that from its foundation in 2000 he has been the leader of theUnion des patriots congolais(the UPC) and commander-in-chief of its military wing, theForces patriotiques pour la liberation du Congo(the FPLC). From mid-2002 to the end of 2003, the FPLC was engaged in fighting in the region of Ituri in the DRC. During the conflict, the UPC/FPLC is alleged to have committed numerous atrocities, including the widespread recruitment of children into its ranks.141The DRC had become a party to the Rome Statute on 11 April 2002 and, accordingly, the Statute entered into force for it on 1 July 2002, the date of the Court's establishment. Following strong hints from the Prosecutor,142on 19 April 2004 the President of the DRC referrred to the Court ‘the situation of crimes within the juris- diction of the Court allegedly committed anywhere in the territory of the DRC since the entry into force of the Rome Statute’.143On 23 June 2004, the Prosecutor opened an investigation into the situation, the ICC's first.144On 19 March 2005, Lubanga was arrested and detained by the DRC authorities, and charged with genocide, crimes against humanity, murder, illegal detention and torture in relation to crimes alleged committed between May 2003 and February 2005. On 17 March 2006, Lubanga was transferred from Congolese custody to that of the ICC.
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Staunton, Enda. "The case of Biafra: Ireland and the Nigerian civil war." Irish Historical Studies 31, no. 124 (November 1999): 513–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021121400014395.
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In the 1940s and 1950s, irrespective of the government in power, Irish foreign policy faced strong domestic pressure to remain within parameters defined by religious sentiment, anti-communism and anti-colonialism. Yet two contrasting attitudes, corresponding to party allegiances, were nonetheless discernible: that of Fine Gael, which held constantly to a pro-Western line, and that of Fianna Fáil, which was capable of occasionally departing from it. By the 1960s the two approaches had converged, as Fianna Fáil under Seán Lemass repositioned itself more clearly in the American-led camp, a change most strikingly exemplified by Ireland’s response to the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. Yet before the end of the decade an issue was to arise in which Dublin’s Department of External Affairs was to find itself steering a course independent of forces both within the country and outside it.The war which erupted in Nigeria in the summer of 1967, when its Eastern Region seceded, was to reverberate across the world, causing a response in Ireland unequalled by the reaction to any foreign civil conflict between that of Spain in the 1930s and that of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. It was to bring about the greatest emotional involvement with an African problem since Ireland’s participation in the Congo conflict, leading directly to the foundation of the Africa Concern and Gorta organisations and marking a turning-point in the nature of Irish overseas aid.
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Schmidt-Sane, Megan, Catherine Grant, Santiago Ripoll, Tabitha Hrynick, and Syed Abbas. "Introduction to the Special Issue." Anthropology in Action 29, no. 1 (March 1, 2022): 1–4. http://dx.doi.org/10.3167/aia.2022.290101.
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This special issue of Anthropology in Action presents a collection of articles that reflect on and analyse the role of social science in epidemic response. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed deep social and economic inequalities within and across countries which produce unequal COVID-19 outcomes. Researchers have long noted the connections between socioeconomic inequalities and infections, and there is growing recognition that epidemics are also social and political events (Bardosh et al. 2020). Anthropological and other social science research has contributed to epidemic response, through attention to cultural and politico-economic context, reframing community ‘resistance’, bolstering community engagement in preparedness and response, and informing response activities, including risk communication (Abramowitz 2017; Bardosh et al. 2020). Despite this, much of the work has been ad hoc and not systematically integrated into the systems of epidemic response, with the exception of the Centres d’Analyses des Sciences Sociales (CASS) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This special issue is timely, in that it builds on foundational work in social science and epidemic response, draws on tensions and experience from recent epidemics including COVID-19 and Ebola, and charts a way forward at both a theoretical and a practical level.
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Kamprowski, Rafał. "Polityka surowcowa w wymiarze metali ziem rzadkich. Rwanda – studium przypadku." Polityka i Społeczeństwo 19, no. 1 (2021): 25–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.15584/polispol.2021.1.2.
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The primary goal of a state's raw material policy is to ensure its raw material security. Due to the progressing technological development, rare earth metals play an increasingly important role. For several years, they have become the subject of a political game between the countries that play a dominant role in their market, i.e., the People's Republic of China and the United States. The other countries where the discussed groups of metals are mined were left on the sidelines of the discussion. The aim of the research undertaken in this article is to show the role of rare earth metals in creating raw material security on the example of Rwanda. It is home to some of the largest deposits of niobium and tantalum, key elements used in electronics, in aviation industry, and in the manufacturing of medical equipment. The main result of the research carried out is as follows: extraction of rare earth metals constitutes one of the foundations of the Rwandan economy. In recent years, there has been a significant professionalization of mining practices, bearing in mind the environment, health, and safety. It was also established that the factors that pose the most important threat to Rwanda's raw material policy include the current, uneasy situation on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the largest deposits of the metals in question are located, and the negative effects of the global Sars-Cov-2 pandemic.
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Fitzpatrick, Merry, Shibani Ghosh, Anura Kurpad, Christopher Duggan, and Daniel Maxwell. "Sulfur Amino Acid Dietary Intake Lower in a High Kwashiorkor Prevalence Population." Current Developments in Nutrition 4, Supplement_2 (May 29, 2020): 983. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzaa054_055.
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Abstract Objectives To determine whether children in a population with a high prevalence of kwashiorkor (HPP) have lower dietary intakes of Sulfur Amino Acids (SAAs) than children in a low-prevalence population (LPP). Methods A cross-sectional census survey design of 358 children was used to compare two adjacent populations of children 36 to 59 months old in North Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. One population had a high prevalence of kwashiorkor (4.5%) and the other had a low prevalence (1.7%). Data collected included urinary sulfate and thiocyanate, linamarin in cassava-based food products, recent history of illness, and a 24-hour quantitative diet recall for the child. Results Median intake of SAAs was 32.4 mg/kg for the LPP and 29.6 mg/kg for the HPP (P < 0.05). A higher percentage of children in the HPP were at risk for inadequate intake of SAAs than in the LPP (23.2% versus 13.3%, P < 0.05). Methionine was the first limiting amino acid in both populations, with the highest risk for inadequate intake among children in the HPP (35.1% versus 23.6%, P < 0.05). Conclusions Children in a population with a higher prevalence of kwashiorkor have lower dietary intake of SAAs than children in a population with a lower prevalence. Interventions to reduce incidence of kwashiorkor should consider increasing SAA intake with particular attention to methionine. Funding Sources Private donors, USAID/Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance through Action Against Hunger, Dignitas Foundation through the Feinstein International Center. CD was supported in part by funds from the NIH. SG was supported in part by funds from USAID.
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Cazes, Cécile, Kevin Phelan, Victoire Hubert, Harouna Boubacar, Liévin Izie Bozama, Rodrigue Alitanou, Beatrice Kalenga Tshiala, et al. "Optimising Malnutrition Treatment in Children 6–59 Months-OptiMA-DRC: Primary Outcome of a Randomised Control Trial in Democratic Republic of Congo." Current Developments in Nutrition 5, Supplement_2 (June 2021): 111. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzab035_019.
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Abstract Objectives The main objective was to compare the OptiMA strategy- ie.supplementing with ready-to-use therapeutic food at a gradually reduced doses- with the current national standard protocol. Methods This non-inferiority, individually randomised controlled clinical trial was conducted in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Children 6–59 months with MUAC < 125 mm or weight-for-height Zscore< −3 or oedema and without medical complication were randomized to either OptiMA or standard arm and followed for 6 months. The main outcome was a binary composite indicator at 6-months post inclusion: child alive, not acutely malnourished per the study definition, and without an additional episode of acute malnutrition throughout the observation period. Non-inferiority was shown if the upper-bound of the 95% CI of the difference of proportion of favourable outcome between the two strategies was less than 10% in both intention-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP) analyses. Superiority (upper-bound of the 95% CI of this difference lower than 0%) was considered if non-inferiority was shown. Results Between July 2019 and July 2020, 981 children were enrolled. 896 children were included in the ITT analysis (450 OptiMA and 446 standard), 792 in the PP analysis. All children under OptiMA and 200 children in the standard arm were eligible for RUTF. ITT analysis showed 325 (72·2%) children had a favourable outcome under OptiMA versus 282 (63·2%) in the standard arm (difference: −9·2%, 95% CI: −15·9% to −2·0%). PP analysis was similar. Under OptiMA, weight and MUAC gain were greater (median weight gain, 1700 g versus 1600 g, P = 0·003 and median MUAC gain, 13 mm versus 12 mm, P = 0·012), and RUTF consumption was lower (median of 64 sachets versus 102 sachets, P = 0·018). There was no difference in hospitalization (10% OptiMA, 7% standard, P = 0·228) or mortality rates (0·2% in both arms). Conclusions OptiMA was superior to the DRC standard protocol. It expanded access to RUTF, promoted improved anthropometry with lower RUTF consumption during treatment, and led to better outcomes at 6-months post inclusion. These results suggest benefits in giving smaller rations of RUTF at an earlier stage of malnutrition rather than larger rations only when children become severely malnourished. Funding Sources Innocent Foundation (London) European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (Brussels).
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Purushottam M, Deborah, and Nesepogu Padmaja. "Bacterial isolates and their biofilm formation on contact lenses." IP International Journal of Medical Microbiology and Tropical Diseases 8, no. 1 (February 15, 2022): 10–14. http://dx.doi.org/10.18231/j.ijmmtd.2022.003.
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Using contact lenses without proper care and sterilization measures can lead to eye infection like keratitis and other eye diseases. About 25-30% of cases with corneal ulcers are related to contacts lens use. Microbial agents after their entry, they further invade into corneal layers by their virulence factors and enzymatics secreted by the bacteria. Wearing contact lenses also increase stress on cornea so the cornea has less ability to defend against the bacteria which is invading. Some of the bacteria are also capable of biofilm formation. Biofilms formed on contact lens surfaces has increased resistance to common steriliants used in contact lens care solution. The main aim of this study is to identify the pathogens that can be grown on the contact lenses and contact lens cases, to identify the production of biofilm by the isolates obtained during this study and to bring awareness about proper sterilization of contact lenses and lens cases during their usage to prevent unnecessary eye infections. This cross sectional study was carried from October 2019 to June 2021 on MBBS and BDS students in Konaseema Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Foundation, who are using contact lenses and who are asymptomatic. Written consent from all students participating in this study was taken. The samples are collected using sterile swabs. Swabs from both the lens and lens cases are taken and immediately cultured and related biochemical tests are done to identify the organism. For the study of biofilm formation, the bacterial isolates obtained from the specimen are inoculated on to commercially available Congo red agar (CRA). The data was processed and arranged into distribution tables and cross tables using statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) version 21. Total 200 samples were collected and processed for bacterial culture. Among them 145(72.5%) samples showed positive bacterial culures. The most common organisms obtained are which were 30 (20.6%), next common organism isolated were micrococci 24(16.5%), though ASB’s and micrococci are non pathogenic, these were included because the lens and lens cases are preferably to be sterile. The other organisms isolated are 21 (14.4%), 18 (12.4%), 16 (11.04%), 12 (8.2%), 10 (6.9%), 8 (5.5%) and 6 (4.2%). The isolated bacteria are then again streaked on Congo Red Agar to check for the ability of the bacterial isolates to form biofilms. Among 145 bacterial isolates obtained in this study 98 (67.5%) samples showed positive biofilm formation. The micro organisms can lodge in most of the contact lenses and contact lens cases… which in turn enter into eye due to improper sterilization of lens and lens cases. And most of the bacterial isolates obtained from these contact lenses and contact lens cases are capable of production of biofilm. To avoid infections caused by contact lens users the care of both the contact lenses and lens cases is very important.
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Cazes, Cécile, Kevin Phelan, Victoire Hubert, Harouna Boubacar, Gilbert Tshibangu Sakubu, Liévin Izie Bozama, Norbert Baya, et al. "Optimising Malnutrition Treatment – OptiMA-DRC: Recovery of Severely Wasted Children 6–59 Months in a Randomised Control Trial in Democratic Republic of Congo." Current Developments in Nutrition 5, Supplement_2 (June 2021): 110. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzab035_018.
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Abstract Objectives The main secondary objective of OptiMA-DRC trial was to compare the OptiMA strategy, ie.supplementing with one product, ready-to-use therapeutic food at a gradually reduced doses, with the current national nutritionnal standard protocol in children with uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition (SAM) at inclusion (MUAC < 115 mm or WHZ< −3 or oedema) in both arms. Methods This non-inferiority, individually randomised controlled clinical trial was conducted in Kasai province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between July 2019 and July 2020. Children 6–59 months with MUAC < 115 mm or weight-for-height Zscore (WHZ)< −3 or oedema and without medical complication were randomized to either the OptiMA or standard arm and followed for 6 months.. Recovery was defined as MUAC > 125 mm for OptiMA and MUAC > 125 mm or WHZ >−1.5 for the standard arm, and absence of oedema, for two consecutive weeks in treatment with a 4-week minimum stay, and at any time during 6-months post-inclusion. Non-inferiority was shown if the upper-bound of the 95%CI of the difference of proportion of recovery between the two strategies was less than 10% in both intention-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP) analyses. Superiority (upper-bound of the 95%CI of this difference lower than 0%) was considered if non-inferiority was shown. Results Overall, 482 children with uncomplicated SAM were included in ITT analysis (242 OptiMA, 240 standard). At 6 months, 231 (95·5%) children recovered under OptiMA versus 234 (97·5%) under standard protocol (difference −2·0%, 95%CI: −1·96% to 6·4%). PP analysis was similar. There was no difference in hospitalization (11% OptiMA, 12% standard, P = 0·887) or mortality rates (0·2% both arms). Under OptiMA, weight and MUAC gains in recovered children (N = 465) were greater (median weight gain, 1400g versus 1200g, P< 0·001; median MUAC gain, 14 mm versus 11 mm, P < 0·001) and RUTF consumption (sachets) was lower (median 74 versus 112, P < 0·001). Conclusions Children with uncomplicated SAM recovered as well under OptiMA as under the DRC standard protocol. Gradual RUTF reduction may allow for increased nutrition program coverage by better allocating available resources. Funding Sources Innocent Foundation (London) European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (Brussels).
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Hershberger, Monica A. "Curricular Reform and a Culture of Listening: Lessons from the Rosedale Freedom Project." Journal of the Society for American Music 15, no. 4 (November 2021): 452–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1752196321000328.
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I was formally introduced to antiracist pedagogy in the spring of 2016, several months before I traveled for the first time to the Rosedale Freedom Project (RFP) in Rosedale, Mississippi, to teach a course on music and politics to high school students. Oft romanticized as the place where blues guitarist Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads, Rosedale is a small town in the Delta region. The majority of its population is Black, and consistently, more than half of this population has lived below the poverty line. The RFP seeks to help send its students, the majority of whom are Black and profoundly underserved by the state of Mississippi, to and through college. In preparation for the summer (and at the request of the director of the RFP), I read a number of foundational texts on antiracism and critical pedagogy including Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1968), bell hooks's Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom (1994), and Beverly Daniel Tatum's “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?”: And Other Conversations About Race (1997). As a white woman with no prior experience in Mississippi, I also read Nan Elizabeth Woodruff's history of the Delta region, American Congo: The African American Struggle in the Delta (2003) and Jesmyn Ward's novel Where the Line Bleeds (2008), among other texts, and reflected on how to design a course that would further the RFP's mission of “supporting the Mississippi Delta's young leaders in the development of critical consciousness and the practice of justice.”
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Wu, Congxian, Huilin Chen, Mingyue Yuan, Meiru Zhang, Yakubu Saddeeq Abubakar, Xin Chen, Haoming Zhong, Wenhui Zheng, Huawei Zheng, and Jie Zhou. "FgAP1σ Is Critical for Vegetative Growth, Conidiation, Virulence, and DON Biosynthesis in Fusarium graminearum." Journal of Fungi 9, no. 2 (January 21, 2023): 145. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jof9020145.
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The AP1 complex is a highly conserved clathrin adaptor that plays important roles in regulating cargo protein sorting and intracellular vesicle trafficking in eukaryotes. However, the functions of the AP1 complex in the plant pathogenic fungi including the devastating wheat pathogen Fusarium graminearum are still unclear. In this study, we investigated the biological functions of FgAP1σ, a subunit of the AP1 complex in F. graminearum. Disruption of FgAP1σ causes seriously impaired fungal vegetative growth, conidiogenesis, sexual development, pathogenesis, and deoxynivalenol (DON) production. The ΔFgap1σ mutants were found to be less sensitive to KCl- and sorbitol-induced osmotic stresses but more sensitive to SDS-induced stress than the wild-type PH-1. Although the growth inhibition rate of the ΔFgap1σ mutants was not significantly changed under calcofluor white (CFW) and Congo red (CR) stresses, the protoplasts released from ΔFgap1σ hyphae were decreased compared with the wild-type PH-1, suggesting that FgAP1σ is necessary for cell wall integrity and osmotic stresses in F. graminearum. Subcellular localization assays showed that FgAP1σ was predominantly localized to endosomes and the Golgi apparatus. In addition, FgAP1β-GFP, FgAP1γ-GFP, and FgAP1μ-GFP also localize to the Golgi apparatus. FgAP1β interacts with FgAP1σ, FgAP1γ, and FgAP1μ, while FgAP1σ regulates the expression of FgAP1β, FgAP1γ, and FgAP1μ in F. graminearum. Furthermore, the loss of FgAP1σ blocks the transportation of the v-SNARE protein FgSnc1 from the Golgi to the plasma membrane and delays the internalization of FM4-64 dye into the vacuole. Taken together, our results demonstrate that FgAP1σ plays vital roles in vegetative growth, conidiogenesis, sexual reproduction, DON production, pathogenicity, cell wall integrity, osmotic stress, exocytosis, and endocytosis in F. graminearum. These findings unveil the functions of the AP1 complex in filamentous fungi, most notably in F. graminearum, and lay solid foundations for effective prevention and control of Fusarium head blight (FHB).
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Fernandes, Michelle, Nancy Krebs, Michael Hambidge, Jamie Westcott, Lester Figueroa, Ana Garces, Sumera Ali, et al. "Family Care Indices and Linear Growth Predict INTER-NDA Scores for Child Development at Age 2 Years: Findings From the “Women First” Trial." Current Developments in Nutrition 6, Supplement_1 (June 2022): 643. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzac061.027.
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Abstract Objectives Nutrition during fetal and early postnatal life impacts brain development, however evidence from randomized trials from low-and-middle-income countries (LMIC) is limited. We evaluated effects of maternal nutrition supplementation before and during pregnancy on neurodevelopment and vision in children from 4 LMIC with high rates of stunting, using a simplified assessment tool. Methods Women First was an individually randomized trial comparing the impact of maternal nutrition supplementation initiated preconception vs at ∼12 wk gestation vs no supplement; interventions were discontinued at delivery in trial sites in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guatemala, India, and Pakistan. Neurodevelopment and visual acuity and visual contrast sensitivity were assessed at 24 mo using the INTER-NDA and the Cardiff tests, respectively, in a random sub-set, representing ∼1/3 of infants with valid birth measurements from the WF trial. Anthropometry and Family Care Indicators (FCI) were also obtained at 24 mo. Results 667 and 634 children (91% and 86% of sub-set) were included in INTER-NDA and vision analyses. Arm-proportionate contribution was 32.2–32.8%. Overall, we observed the following percentage of children with delays: 66.6% cognitive; 87.4% fine motor; 91.3% gross motor; and 11.7% language; 25.9% had positive behavior problems; and 26.0% and 21.0% had low acuity and contrast sensitivity scores, respectively. WF intervention arm was not significant for INTER-NDA scores, rates of mild-to-moderate or severe delay (F = 0.004–1.518, p = 0.28–0.99; X2 = 3.81–5.92, p = 0.18–0.42; X2 = 3.81–6.33, p = 0.18–0.43); or for low acuity and contrast sensitivity (X2 = 0.91, p = 0.63 and X2 = 1.64, p = 0.44). LAZ24mo was significantly associated with cognitive, motor, language, and behavior scores; maternal education predicted cognitive, language, and vision; and FCI was significantly associated with fine motor, language, and behavior after adjusting for other covariates (R2 0.33 cognitive; 0.40 language; 0.12 motor; 0.05 positive and 0.11 negative behavior; and 0.31–0.34 for vision models). Conclusions The findings highlight the association between child development, linear growth, and family environment. Funding Sources Thrasher Research Fund, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, NICHD, ODS.
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Glime, Gabrielle, Ana Garces, Lester Figueroa, Antoinette Tshefu, Adrien Lokangaka, Shivaprasad Goudar, Sangappa Dhaded, et al. "Comparison of Toddler Crown Rump Length and Leg Length in Four Low- and Middle-Income Research Sites: The Women First trial." Current Developments in Nutrition 6, Supplement_1 (June 2022): 570. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzac060.028.
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Abstract Objectives Length at 2y of age is a strong indicator of adult height and potential for other adverse effects in adulthood; leg length (LL) is suggested to be the more nutritionally responsive component of height. These analyses examine body proportions- measured as linear crown rump length (CRL), LL, and CRL: LL- among 24 mo old children from four low- and middle-income settings with high stunting rates (average across 4 sites = 65%) participating in the Women First Preconception Maternal Nutrition Trial (WF). Methods The WF study is a nutrition intervention trial of maternal-child pairs in four diverse research sites (Democratic Republic of the Congo [DRC], Guatemala, India, and Pakistan). At 24 mo of age, toddler length and CRL were obtained and subsequently used to calculate LL (length-CRL). ANOVAs with post hoc Tukey HSD for each parameter were performed in JMP Pro 16.0.0. Results No statistical differences were seen by maternal intervention arm, thus anthropometric data from 2,157 children (DRC n = 488, Guatemala n = 540, India n = 531, Pakistan n = 598) were explored by site. While mean (±SD) CRL did not significantly differ between Guatemala and India (48.9 ± 2.18, 48.9 ± 2.30cm), Pakistan and DRC (47.7 ± 2.52, 45.8 ± 2.22cm) had significantly lower mean CRL (p < 0.001), with DRC having the lowest value. Mean LL did not differ significantly between Guatemala and Pakistan (30.6 ± 1.74, 30.5 ± 2.21), nor between DRC and India (32.6 ± 2.28, 32.3 ± 2.01cm); however, DRC and India had significantly longer mean LL vs Guatemala and Pakistan (p < 0.0001). Statistically significant differences in mean CRL: LL (p < 0.0001) were observed among all four sites, with Guatemala exhibiting the largest mean (1.60 ± 0.09), attributable to shorter LL. Conclusions CRL and LL are indicative of proportionality, a measure of impaired growth. These data highlight that among the four research sites in the WF trial, Guatemala, which exhibits the highest rate of maternal stunting, has the least favorable body proportions (largest CRL: LL). The difference in body proportions between sites despite nutritional intervention warrants further examination of genomic and environmental (including nutritional) factors that may have an effect on anthropometrics such as LL, CRL, and CRL: LL. Funding Sources Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, NIH NICHD/ODS.
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Bulaya, Emmanuel, and Ali Mapatano. "Effectiveness of Complementary Food Based on Foodrecipe Locally Produced in Malnutrition Prevention of Child 6–23, Katanga DRC: Randomized Controlled Trial of MASO31 Recipe." Current Developments in Nutrition 6, Supplement_1 (June 2022): 1133. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzac072.005.
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Abstract Objectives This study aims to assess the effectiveness of the local additional food-recipe MASO 31 to increase weight gain (or z-score WHZ, WAZ, HAZ) in preventing malnutrition. The Null Hypothesis: “MASO31” recipe is not effective in preventing malnutrition or the z-score index (WHZ, WAZ, HAZ) gain averages in the two groups (intervention and control groups) are equal. The alternative Hypothesis: the “MASO31” recipe is effective in preventing malnutrition or the z-score index (WHZ, WAZ, HAZ) gain average is increased in the intervention children group than in the comparison children group. Methods In Kapolowe health zone, double-blind RCT is undertaken to assess the effectiveness of the MASO31 recipe to increase z-score (WHZ, WAZ, HAZ) in preventing malnutrition. P-S Power and sample size calculation software version 3.1.2. and the sample size calculation formula n = 2(Zα+Z[1-β])2 × SD2/d2 were used to obtain the sample size, where α = 0.01, Zα = 2.58, β = 0.10, Z(1-β) = 1.28; SD = 1z-score (within each subject group), d(effect size) = 0.55 z-score. So, n = 2(2.58 + 1.28)2 × (1)2/(0.55)2 = 99. Sample size with attrition rate (10%) = NR = n/(1-R) = 99/(1–0,90) = 110 intervention and 110 control children groups 12–20 months old. A total of 220 study children simply randomized are receiving daily 200g of MASO31 or MASO30 porridge-based. Standardized anthropometric equipment, trained investigators, and SPSS 23 are used before and will be used after implementation. A paired t-test will compare matched z-score (WHZ, WAZ, HAZ) averages within each children group. Two-sample t-test will compare the real difference of the difference of z-score (WHZ, WAZ, HAZ) gain averages in intervention and comparison children groups to reject the null hypothesis of the equality of the z-score (WHZ, WAZ, HAZ) gain averages in the two groups. Results The results are not yet available because it is a protocol whose study is being implemented. Conclusions Waiting for the end of the implementation study, we hope that this study will provide evidence about the effectiveness of local complementary food-recipe in DR Congo and serve the Health Ministry to make nutrition policy. Funding Sources Grant application to Nestle Foundation
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Karim, Aliya, Don de Savigny, Jean Serge Ngaima, Daniel Mäusezahl, Daniel Cobos Muñoz, and Antoinette Tshefu. "Assessing Determinants of Programmatic Performance of Community Management of Malaria, Pneumonia, and Diarrhea in Children in Africa: Protocol and Data Collection for a Mixed Methods Evaluation of Integrated Community Case Management." JMIR Research Protocols 11, no. 3 (March 14, 2022): e33076. http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/33076.
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Background Integrated community case management (iCCM) is a child health program designed to provide integrated community-based care for children with pneumonia, malaria, or diarrhea in hard-to-reach areas of low- and middle-income countries. The foundation of the intervention is service delivery by community health workers (CHWs) who depend on reliable provision of drugs and supplies, consistent supervision, comprehensive training, and community acceptance and participation to perform optimally. The effectiveness of the program may also depend on a number of other elements, including an enabling policy environment, financing mechanisms from the national to the local level, data transmission systems, and appropriate monitoring and evaluation. The extent to which these factors act upon each other to influence the effectiveness and viability of iCCM is both variable and challenging to assess, especially across different implementation contexts. Objective In this paper, we describe a mixed methods systems-based study protocol to assess the programmatic components of iCCM that are associated with intervention effectiveness and report preliminary results of data collection. Methods This protocol uses a mixed qualitative and quantitative study design based on a systems thinking approach within four iCCM programs in Malawi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Niger State and Abia State in Nigeria. Routine monitoring data are collected to determine intervention effectiveness, namely testing, treatment, and referral outcomes. Surveys with CHWs, supervisors, and caregivers are performed to collect quantitative data on their demographics, activities, and experiences within the program and how these relate to the areas of intervention effectiveness. Focus group discussions are conducted with these stakeholders as well as local traditional leaders to contextualize these data. Key informant interviews are undertaken with national- and district-level program stakeholders and officers knowledgeable in critical program processes. Results We performed 3836 surveys and 45 focus group discussions of 379 participants with CHWs, supervisors, caregivers, and traditional leaders, as well as 120 key informant interviews with district- and national-level program managers, health officers, and ministry officials. Policy and program documents were additionally collected for review. Conclusions We expect that evidence from this study will inform child health programs and practice in low- and middle-income settings as well as future policy development within the iCCM intervention. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/33076
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Long, Julie, Giovanna Gatica-Domínguez, Jamie Westcott, Gabriela Tejeda, Tshilenge Diba, Shivanand Mastiholi, Umber Khan, et al. "Infant Young Child Feeding Practices From 12 to 24 Months of Age of Offspring From the Women First Trial." Current Developments in Nutrition 5, Supplement_2 (June 2021): 662. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzab045_044.
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Abstract Objectives Evaluate infant young child feeding (IYCF) trends from 12 to 24 mo in four low middle-income countries: Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); Guatemala; India; and Pakistan. Methods 2413 children (570 DRC, 614 Guatemala, 589 India, and 640 Pakistan) born to women from the Women First Trial enrolled. Trained research health workers visited households and assessed children's feeding practices from 12 to 24 mo. Child feeding indicators including the prevalence and longitudinal trends of meeting minimum diet diversity (MDD), minimum meal frequency (MMF), and minimum acceptable diet (MAD) were analyzed using the 2018 IYCF definitions from 12 to 24 mo for all four sites individually and combined. Results MDD significantly increased from 16% at 12 mo to 29% at 24 mo for all sites combined (p < 0.001); by site: 3 to 10 for DRC (p < 0.001), 33 to 42 for Guatemala (p = 0.001), 28 to 63 for India (p < 0.001), and 1 to 2 for Pakistan (not significant). MMF significantly increased from 49% at 12 mo to 68% at 24 mo for all sites (p < 0.001); by site: 22 to 49 for DRC (p < 0.001), 89 to 92 for Guatemala (not significant), 66 to 73 for India (0.012), and 18 to 58 for Pakistan (p < 0.001). MAD significantly increased (p < 0.001) for all sites, and by site for DRC and India only. Food groups least consumed at 24 mo for all sites were nuts/pulses (prevalence 20%), meats/fish/insects (21%), and vitamin A rich fruits & vegetables (38%); compared to grains/roots/tubers which were consumed by 98% of participants. For all sites, milk & dairy and eggs consumption significantly increased from 50 to 60% (p < 0.001) and 26 to 50% (p < 0.001), respectively. Breastfeeding decreased from 94% at 12 mo to 49% at 24 mo for all sites with the lowest prevalence of breastfeeding in Pakistan (23%), whereas the other sites were ∼50%. Conclusions For all sites, the prevalence of participants meeting IYCF recommendations for feeding indicators increased from 12 to 24 mo, but prevalence at 24 mo remained well below recommendations in all sites. Children with low IYCF scores are at risk for low intakes of vital nutrients, protein and vitamin A rich foods, which may negatively impact periods of rapid growth and development in these resource limited populations. Funding Sources Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Eunice Kennedy Shriver NICHD.
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Agbor, Avitus A., and Esther E. Njieassam. "Beyond the Contours of Normally Acceptable Political Violence: Is Cameroon a Conflict/Transitional Society in the Offing?" Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal 22 (May 21, 2019): 1–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2019/v22i0a4961.
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Legal scholars and other social scientists agree that political violence comprising assaults on civil and political liberties may occur in the context of contentious politics. Unfortunately, there have been instances in history where such politics is marked by intermittent attacks against people's rights and freedoms. Such attacks occur when politics has gone sour, and there are times when the violence exceeds the bounds of what is acceptable. From the documented atrocities of Nazi Germany, the horrendous crimes of the regime of Slobodan Milosevic in the former Yugoslavia, the outrageous crimes perpetrated during the genocide in Rwanda, the shameful and despicable inhumanities inflicted on the people of Darfur in the Sudan, and the violence in post-electoral Kenya, to the bloodshed in areas like Mali, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, etc, violent conflict has punctuated world history. Added to this list of countries is Cameroon, which in the last quarter of 2016 degenerated into a hotspot of political violence in the English-speaking regions. The perpetration of political violence in Cameroon has raised serious questions that may be relevant not only to the resolution of the political problem that gave rise to the violence but also to laying the foundations of a post-conflict Cameroon that is united and honours the principles of truth, justice and reconciliation.
This paper describes some of the salient occurrences of political violence in Cameroon and argues that the presence of specific elements elevates this violence to the level of a serious crime in international law. It is argued herein that crimes against humanity may have been committed during the state action against the Anglophones in Cameroon. It is also argued that the political character of the violence, added to the scale of the victimisation and its systematic and protracted nature, qualify Cameroon as a transitional society engaged in conflict that is in need of transitional justice.
Reflecting on the extent of the suffering of the victims of such political violence, this paper discusses the function of the justice system in establishing the truth and holding the perpetrators accountable. Past instances of political violence in Cameroon have been glossed over, but in our opinion, healing a fragmented and disunited Cameroon with its history of grave violations of human rights requires that the perpetrators be held accountable, and that truth and justice should prevail. Such considerations should be factored into the legal and political architecture of a post-conflict, transitional Cameroon.
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Pallares-Renau, Maria, Lorena López-Font, and Susana Miquel-Segarra. "Misión, Visión y Valores. Elementos determinantes en la construcción de un propósito diferenciador para las organizaciones del Tercer Sector." Relaciones Públicas diversas / Diverse Public Relations 12, no. 23 (July 1, 2022): 51–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.5783/rirp-23-2022-04-51-72.
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The Third Sector in Spain is characterized by its high degree of atomization, for which differentiation plays a determining role since the survival of NGOs lies in the identification with the causes that occupy them by public as relevant as the collaborators, partners or donors. For this reason, it is considered essential to make visible how NGOs define themselves and present themselves to their stakeholders through the formulation of the mission, vision and values, as fundamental elements in the communication of their purposes. Consequently, this article, through the qualitative technique of content analysis, focuses on the reports and websites of five of the organizations with the greatest presence in Spain: Cáritas Española, Cruz Roja Española, Fundación OXFAM Intermón, Fundación Save The Children Spain and UNICEF Foundation-Spanish Committee. All of them recognized by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), belonging to the Coordinator of NGDOs (CONGD) and positioned in terms of notoriety among the top ten by the public according to the study prepared by Kantar Millward Brown and the AEFr, which analyzes the evolution of the profile of Spanish donors and their relations with NGOs under the title The collaboration of Spanish with non-profit entities. Donor Profile 2018 (2019). In order to know the level of differentiation and the degree of specificity in the self-definition of each case, this article seeks a comparative analysis that allows locating similarities and differences in the discourse of these organizations. In this context, it is especially important to identify, analyze and compare the rhetoric used to present the mission, vision and values as elements that can be condensed into the purpose and determine the self-definition of NGOs. Together with the descriptive scope of the work regarding these basic elements of corporate identity, this research allows knowing the degree of differentiation with which organizations present themselves and pointing out opportunities for improvement in the formulation and communication of their purposes. The results of the research reveal that, to the detriment of differentiation, the rhetoric used and the discursive strategies of the sample respond to a greater degree to reductionist and little differentiating messages. And the enunciation of the purpose appears disintegrated in various supports, hindering its communicative power. It is also cause for reflection to observe how, despite the diversity of each NGO regarding fields of action, users, beneficiaries, territories in which it operates, etc., they all present their main values around solidarity, integrity and transparency. With what is deduced a lack of depth, even of intention, when it comes to exactly identifying highly differential values. As mediating actors and agents of change, NGOs must make use of creativity not only in their speeches, but also in the design of conversation plans to strengthen their symbolic capital. The evolution of institutional communication must combine the communication plan with the conversation plan. And the entities should establish an "editorial line" guided by their objectives and purpose to produce content associated with their activity, as well as exploit their informative and dialogue-generating capacity to strengthen engagement with their stakeholders.
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Tonen-Wolyec, Serge, Roland Marini Djang’eing’a, Salomon Batina-Agasa, Charles Kayembe Tshilumba, Jérémie Muwonga Masidi, Marie-Pierre Hayette, and Laurent Bélec. "Self-testing for HIV, HBV, and HCV using finger-stick whole-blood multiplex immunochromatographic rapid test: A pilot feasibility study in sub-Saharan Africa." PLOS ONE 16, no. 4 (April 9, 2021): e0249701. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249701.
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Background The burden of HIV, HBV, and HCV infections remains disproportionately high in sub-Saharan Africa, with high rates of co-infections. Multiplex rapid diagnostic tests for HIV, HBV and HCV serological testing with high analytical performances may improve the “cascade of screening” and quite possibly the linkage-to-care with reduced cost. Based on our previous field experience of HIV self-testing, we herein aimed at evaluating the practicability and acceptability of a prototype finger-stick whole-blood Triplex HIV/HCV/HBsAg self-test as a simultaneous serological screening tool for HIV, HBV, and HCV in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Methods A cross-sectional multicentric study consisting of face-to-face, paper-based, and semi-structured questionnaires with a home-based and facility-based recruitment of untrained adult volunteers at risk of HIV, HBV, and HCV infections recruited from the general public was conducted in 2020 in urban and rural areas in the DRC. The practicability of the Triplex self-test was assessed by 3 substudies on the observation of self-test manipulation including the understanding of the instructions for use (IFU), on the interpretation of Triplex self-test results and on its acceptability. Results A total of 251 volunteers (mean age, 28 years; range, 18–49; 154 males) were included, from urban [160 (63.7%)] and rural [91 (36.3%)] areas. Overall, 242 (96.4%) participants performed the Triplex self-test and succeeded in obtaining a valid test result with an overall usability index of 89.2%. The correct use of the Triplex self-test was higher in urban areas than rural areas (51.2% versus 16.5%; aOR: 6.9). The use of video IFU in addition to paper-based IFU increased the correct manipulation and interpretation of the Triplex self-test. A total of 197 (78.5%) participants correctly interpreted the Triplex self-test results, whereas 54 (21.5%) misinterpreted their results, mainly the positive test results harboring low-intensity band (30/251; 12.0%), and preferentially the HBsAg band (12/44; 27.3%). The rates of acceptability of reuse, distribution of the Triplex self-test to third parties (partner, friend, or family member), linkage to the health care facility for confirmation of results and treatment, and confidence in the self-test results were very high, especially among participants from urban areas. Conclusions This pilot study shows evidence for the first time in sub-Saharan Africa on good practicability and high acceptability of a prototype Triplex HIV/HCV/HBsAg self-test for simultaneous diagnosis of three highly prevalent chronic viral infections, providing the rational basis of using self-test harboring four bands of interest, i.e. the control, HIV, HCV, and HBsAg bands. The relatively frequent misinterpretation of the Triplex self-test points however the necessity to improve the delivery of this prototype Triplex self-test probably in a supervised setting. Finally, these observations lay the foundations for the potential large-scale use of the Triplex self-test in populations living in sub-Saharan Africa at high risk for HIV, HBV, and HCV infections.
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Cotgreave, Peter. "NICHOLS, M. AND GOODALL, J. 1999. Brutal Kinship. Aperture Foundation: New York. ISBN 0-89381-806-2 (hard cover) LINDSEY, S. L., GREEN, M. N. AND BENNETT, C. L. 1999. The Okapi. Mysterious animal of Congo-Zaire. University of Texas Press: Austin. ISBN 0-292-74707-1 (soft cover) ZECCHINI, A. 1998. Le Rhinocéros: au nom de la corne. L'Harmattan: Paris. ISBN 2-7384-6677-X (soft cover)." Animal Conservation 3, no. 1 (February 2000): 89. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1367943000210779.
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Bruce, Aisha Aiko, Adrienne D. Witol, Haley Greenslade, Mandeep Plaha, and Mary Anne Venner. "How Do New Immigrant Families (African Continent) with a Child with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) Experience the Western Medical System?" Blood 128, no. 22 (December 2, 2016): 3529. http://dx.doi.org/10.1182/blood.v128.22.3529.3529.
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Abstract INTRODUCTION: New immigrant families from continental Africa account for an increasing proportion of pediatric patients with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) in Canada and North America. As families enter the western medical system they face a myriad of tests and medications as well they encounter language barriers, endless forms and large teams. Previous experiences with healthcare also influence families' expectations and adjustment.There is no published data exploring the experiences of these families to help guide practice. Resources such as the Canadian Pediatric Society guide on immigrant health are not specific to SCD. We set out to examine cultural sensitivity methodologically in order to improve delivery of care. Research Questions: What are newcomer families' experiences with SCD in Canada and their home country?What are the prevailing values and beliefs related to SCD that shape the attitude and behaviors of newcomer families?How do newcomer families perceivethe current delivery of medical care (the barriers and the facilitators)? METHODS: Focused ethnography was used to understand the socio-cultural context in which newcomer families from Africa experience their child's SCD; to explore their perspectives, beliefs, how they manage daily life and experience the western medical system. A sample size of12-15 participants was selected to reach saturation.Participants were selected using purposeful and convenience sampling and semi-structured interviews were held with the primary caregiver(s) with use of aninterpreter if needed. Research Ethics Board approved. RESULTS: Saturation was reached at 10 families and 12 were interviewed due to recruiting methods. Demographics:12 caregivers (N=8 females; N=4 males); most were in their forties and from Congo, Nigeria or Liberia. The majority had 3 or more children, were married and employed. The majority did not have extended family within the region. Languages spoken at home were English, French, Yoruba, Swahili orMoorie. They immigrated to Canada between 2002 and 2015 For themes see table 1. CONCLUSIONS: Participants' attitude, perception and knowledge about SCD were profoundly affected by their experiences in their countries of origin. These mostly negative experiences (seeing children suffering without appropriate medical care; observing social stigma, etc.) were deeply embedded and determined their response to SCD in their children. 1. Practice guideline: Allow for sufficient time and provision oftranslation services to explore the families' experience with stigma within country of residence and origin as well as embedded in the healthcare system and the community. Despite the prevalence of SCD in their home countries the diagnosis was a surprise. The path towards acceptance was slow, emotionally convoluted and not linear. Acceptance of the diagnosis is a process and devastating in the context of previous experiences. 2. Practice guideline: Review diagnostic information early and have easily accessible information about SCD available for parents/family network. This information will also need to be reviewed with the child at key developmental time periods. SCD has a dominant impact on life causing renegotiation of all relationships: spousal, family, community, co-workers and school staff. Managing SCD influenced daily routines imposing structure which was disrupted for hospitalizations. Families were reluctant to leave children unattended in the hospital and thus sacrificed personal and employment goals. Social support is limited and families cope alone.Families tend to seek practical support and deny the desire for emotional support. 3. Practice guideline: 3a)Screen for potential isolation and explore whether other caretakers are aware of diagnosis and disease specific care 3b) Given the tendency to deny emotional support needs, lack of nearby extended family and the stigma in the community setting up networks that provide both practical and instrumental support could be meaningful and more likely utilized resources. The life-long complexity of SCD creates anxiety for the child's life expectancy. Families trust in medical expertise, improvements in medical treatments and their faith/religious beliefs are foundations for hope. 4. Practice guideline: HCP working with families should ensure awareness of clinical advances and develop means to easily share knowledge as it will strengthen hope for the future. Table 1 Table 1. Disclosures Bruce: Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria; Apopharma: Consultancy.
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Schadeberg, Thilo. "Classification of Nouns and Things in Bantu." Afrika Focus 1, no. 1-2 (March 29, 1985). http://dx.doi.org/10.21825/af.v1i1-2.6625.
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Is there a semantic foundation for the system of noun classes and genders found in Bantu (and in Niger-Congo-Kordofanian) ? This question has intensely occupied many bantuists for over a century. Fundamentalist, mentalistic, and ethnosemantic approaches were used to construct explanations. The present paper reviews several such approaches, giving particular emphasis to some old and recent Dutch contributions to this field. KEYWORDS : nominal classification, Bantu, semantics
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Gurhahoza, Ghislaine N., and Frederick Kakwata. "Gender parity: Legal foundations and theological issues in the Democratic Republic of the Congo." In die Skriflig / In Luce Verbi 54, no. 1 (March 30, 2020). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ids.v54i1.2521.
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