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Home management of malaria in children under 5 years in Kassena-Nankana District of upper-east region of Ghana: knowledge, attitude and practices of home caregiversAmeh, Soter Sunday 04 May 2009 (has links)
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION : Malaria remains a serious health burden among children in sub-
Saharan Africa. The Home Management of Malaria (HMM) programme was adopted by
African heads of states in 2000 as a strategy to achieve high coverage of prompt and
effective anti malarial treatment within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms by home
caregivers in areas with poor access to facility based health care. Strategic components of
the programme include communication for behavioural change, training of community
based public-private health service providers and making antimalarials available in
communities[1].
AIM: To determine the impact of HMM strategy in the home treatment of uncomplicated
malaria in children in Kassena-Nankana District (KND) of upper-east region of Ghana.
Specific objectives described the knowledge, attitude and practice and tested the
association between knowledge, attitude and other factors and accurate HMM.
METHOD: Secondary data from a survey on the role of health information recipients in
access and utilization of treatment for malaria management in children under 5 years
(U5s) conducted among 818 women in KND from 2005 to 2006 were analyzed using a
cross sectional study design. A total of 708 Home caregivers (HCGs) aged 15-49 years
who responded to knowledge of the treatment of uncomplicated malaria was obtained
after data cleaning. Knowledge of the treatment of uncomplicated malaria was used as a
proxy for accurate HMM (correct dosage and correct duration of antimalarial) in U5s
because the questionnaire did not contain information on the actual treatment given by
the HCGs. Data analysis was done in STATA 10 using Chi squared test for categorical
variables. Logistic regression models were used to quantify the associations and adjust
for potential confounders and effect modification.
RESULTS: The study found that 59% of the women had good knowledge of the
symptoms of uncomplicated malaria and 25% knew that only mosquitoes transmit
malaria. On treatment seeking attitude (advice and autonomy), the majority (91%) of the
home caregivers received various forms of advice from the older women. Such advice
included: using herbs (77%), buying drugs (41%), visiting Health Clinic (24%), and
visiting the Community Health Officers (19%). On receiving advice, only 15% would
utilize the services of the Community Health Officers (CHOs) who are the main source of
treatment information for the communities. Thirty percent (30%) of the HCGs had
autonomy of health care decision-making in the households. Accurate HMM in children
was 28%.
Knowledge of malaria and treatment seeking attitude were not significantly associated
with accurate HMM (p>0.05). In the multivariate model, the HCGs were more likely to
do accurate HMM in children if they had secondary education (OR = 2.54, 95% CI 1.18 ;
5.60), were of Nankani ethnicity (OR = 3.00, 95% CI 2.08 ; 4.35) and belonged to the
very poor socio-economic status (OR = 2.31, 95% CI 1.25 ; 4.30). A Chi squared analysis
to further identify the differences between the women who gave drugs and those who did
not showed that the women differed significantly in their ethnicity (p<0.001), occupation
(p<0.001) and relationship as the biological mothers to the children (p=0.008).
The major limitation of this study was that knowledge of the treatment of uncomplicated
malaria was used as a proxy for accurate HMM hence the finding is not a true reflection
of the actual malaria treatment practice HCGs give to U5s. Another limitation is that the
study could not measure the promptness of initiating malaria treatment within 24 hours of
the onset of symptoms in children because of the absence of such variable in the data.
CONCLUSION: Although HCGs had good knowledge of the symptoms of
uncomplicated malaria, it did not translate to accurate HMM. The study identified poor
dosage of treatment with Chloroquine (the first line antimalarial at the time of the study)
was responsible for inaccurate HMM. Therefore, HCGs need to receive adequate
information on the dosage of the current first line Artemesinin Combination Therapy
drugs which have replaced Chloroquine in the treatment of malaria. Home caregivers
need to be encouraged to utilize the services of the CHOs as the main source of malaria
related information in the HMM programme. Specific groups to be targeted include the
older women and the HCGs at risk of inaccurate HMM. Further research on the actual
treatment given to children is recommended with particular emphasis on qualitative
technique to unpack culturally related ethnic beliefs associated with HMM in children.
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Teachers’ Perceptions of Support in a Comprehensive Student Support Intervention: A Mixed-Methods AnalysisTheodorakakis, Maria D. January 2018 (has links)
Thesis advisor: Mary E. Walsh / The out-of-school factors that low-income children face can impact their wellbeing and ability to learn (Rothstein, 2010), leading to low academic performance, and, in turn, high levels of stress among their teachers. One of the numerous potential strategies that exist to address this problem is the implementation of systemic student support interventions, which are hypothesized to support teachers in addition to students (Ball & Anderson-Butcher, 2014). Using the City Connects intervention as an example of a comprehensive, systemic student support intervention that has demonstrated positive effects for students, this dissertation study examines the impact of this same intervention on teachers. The study used data obtained from annual surveys administered to all teachers in public schools (across several districts) where the City Connects intervention was implemented. The sample consisted of 656 responses from teachers in Boston Public Schools that were participating in the City Connects intervention during three designated school years (2012-13, 2013-14, and 2015-16). The study implemented a mixed-methods approach that allowed for an in-depth analysis of teachers’ perceptions of support from the City Connects intervention through both quantitative and qualitative data sources. Following exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the survey instrument itself, survey data was analyzed using the Validating Quantitative Data Model (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007), in which quantitative findings were confirmed and expanded upon through analysis of data from a small number of open-ended survey questions. The results of this dissertation study support the continued use of systemic student support interventions in schools, as data confirm that teachers in schools with City Connects report being supported by the intervention. These results hold for veteran teachers who have been teaching for over sixteen years and have participated in the City Connects intervention for over ten years. Ultimately, the findings of this dissertation study suggest that, in addition to leading to positive changes in students’ developmental trajectories, student support interventions can improve the experiences of other members of the school community. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.
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Pressure induced structural transformations of network forming glassesWezka, Kamil January 2013 (has links)
The method of in situ high pressure neutron diffraction was employed to measure reliable diffraction patterns to help illuminate the density-driven structural transformations in GeO2, SiO2, B2O3 and GeSe2 glass. The majority of this neutron diffraction work employed the diffractometer D4c at the ILL with a Paris-Edinburgh press which enabled the pressure range from ambient to 8 GPa to be accessed. In the cases of GeO2 and GeSe2 glass, the neutron diffraction with isotopic substitution (NDIS) protocol was developed to provide benchmark experimental results to test the results obtained from various molecular dynamics simulations using different theoretical schemes. For GeO2 glass, from a combination of neutron diffraction and molecular dynamics results, it was found that the increase in density of the glass initially occurs through a reorganisation of corner-shared GeO4 tetrahedra on an intermediate length scale as the pressure is increased from ambient to 5 GPa. At higher pressures, there is a progression from a tetrahedral to an octahedral glass, via the formation of 5-fold coordinated Ge atoms which have a predominantly square pyramidal geometry. In the work on SiO2 and B2O3 glass the pressure range for the in situ high pressure neutron diffraction results was extended to 14.5 GPa and 17.5 GPa, respectively, by using the PEARL diffractometer at ISIS. For both materials the neutron diffraction results provide complementary information to pressure x-ray diffraction studies helping to elucidate the mechanism of network collapse. In the case of SiO2 glass, densification over the measured pressure range occurs predominantly by a reorganisation of corner shared SiO4 tetrahedra on an intermediate length scale. In the case of B2O3 glass, the B-O coordination number changes from 3 to ∼ 3.9 at the pressure is increased from ∼ 8 to 17.5 GPa. For GeSe2 glass, from a combination of neutron diffraction and molecular dynamics results, it was found that the density increase from ambient pressure up ∼ 8 GPa occurs by a reorganisation of both corner and edge-sharing GeSe4 tetrahedra on an intermediate length scale. Above this pressure, 5- and 6-fold coordinated Ge atoms start to form at a similar density and homopolar bonds play an intimate role in the formation of these higher coordinated polyhedra.
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Paradoxical performance : predictors and mechanisms associated with the yips and chokingClarke, Philip January 2017 (has links)
In sport, the ability to perform under heightened levels of pressure is one of the largest differences between those who are successful and those who are not. There are a number of phenomena associated with breakdowns in an athlete’s performance in high pressure environments, collectively known as paradoxical performances (Baumeister & Showers, 1986). The two most prevalent and researched forms of paradoxical performance are the yips and choking. Although choking has been identified as playing a key role in understanding the yips, to date, no literature has explored these phenomena simultaneously. The current literature highlights potential mechanisms which may explain the yips and choking, such as the Attentional Control Theory (Eysenck & Derekshan, 2011) and the Conscious Processing Hypothesis (Masters, 1992). However, there is limited literature on the potential predictors that may increase the susceptibility of both these paradoxical performances and those which do, focus on golf. There are three aims of this thesis. The first aim was to develop a definition that best encompasses all aspects of the yips. This was achieved by conducting a systematic review of the yips literature which supported the development of a new two dimensional yips model including individuals with both focal dystonia and choking (type-III). The second aim was to investigate potential predictors associated with both the yips and choking that was achieved by completing two studies. The first explored the lived experiences of elite level archers who have experienced both choking and the yips and revealed a number of potential predictors associated with both the yips and choking. The second study tested these predictors using online questionnaires with elite level archers and golfers, and confirmed two discrete predictive models for yips and choking. The final aim of the thesis was to investigate the potential mechanisms associated with performance under pressure. A lab-based study where golfers and archers performed under both high and low pressure found that pressure elicited a range of psychological, physiological and kinematic changes in performance. The proposed two dimensional model from the systematic review received initial support for its application. A number of participants met the criteria for each of the different classifications: type-I, those who experience focal dystonia like symptoms; type-II, those who experience choking like symptoms and; type-III, those who experience both focal dystonia and choking like symptoms. This thesis also highlights the role of social predictors of the yips and choking with perfectionistic self-presentation being the most influential for those susceptible for the yips. These findings will enable practitioners to have a better understanding to effectively classify those who experience choking and the yips. This will allow practitioners to more effectively intervene with those who experience different classifications of the yips. The thesis also highlights the issues in the current literature that surround the measurement and conceptualisation of the yips type-I, type-II and type-III behaviour and provides future directions.
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Maximum margin learning under uncertaintyTzelepis, Christos January 2018 (has links)
In this thesis we study the problem of learning under uncertainty using the statistical learning paradigm. We rst propose a linear maximum margin classi er that deals with uncertainty in data input. More speci cally, we reformulate the standard Support Vector Machine (SVM) framework such that each training example can be modeled by a multi-dimensional Gaussian distribution described by its mean vector and its covariance matrix { the latter modeling the uncertainty. We address the classi cation problem and de ne a cost function that is the expected value of the classical SVM cost when data samples are drawn from the multi-dimensional Gaussian distributions that form the set of the training examples. Our formulation approximates the classical SVM formulation when the training examples are isotropic Gaussians with variance tending to zero. We arrive at a convex optimization problem, which we solve e - ciently in the primal form using a stochastic gradient descent approach. The resulting classi er, which we name SVM with Gaussian Sample Uncertainty (SVM-GSU), is tested on synthetic data and ve publicly available and popular datasets; namely, the MNIST, WDBC, DEAP, TV News Channel Commercial Detection, and TRECVID MED datasets. Experimental results verify the e ectiveness of the proposed method. Next, we extended the aforementioned linear classi er so as to lead to non-linear decision boundaries, using the RBF kernel. This extension, where we use isotropic input uncertainty and we name Kernel SVM with Isotropic Gaussian Sample Uncertainty (KSVM-iGSU), is used in the problems of video event detection and video aesthetic quality assessment. The experimental results show that exploiting input uncertainty, especially in problems where only a limited number of positive training examples are provided, can lead to better classi cation, detection, or retrieval performance. Finally, we present a preliminary study on how the above ideas can be used under the deep convolutional neural networks learning paradigm so as to exploit inherent sources of uncertainty, such as spatial pooling operations, that are usually used in deep networks.
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Preferences and cooperationHarris, Alexander Nicholas Edward January 2019 (has links)
Chapter 1: Evolution of reciprocator preferences when agents can pay for information. A benchmark result in the evolutionary games literature is that a preference for reciprocity will evolve if preferences are observable (at zero cost), since reciprocators can cooperate with each other rather than with materialists, thereby achieving a fitness advantage. I investigate how a preference for reciprocity evolves if individuals can observe an opponent's preferences only by bearing a fitness cost. My main result applies when observing an opponent's type is cheap, but cooperating only gives a modest fitness advantage or the preference for reciprocity is intense. In this case, a preference for reciprocity cannot evolve from a small starting share in the mix of preferences, even if discovering an opponent's preferences is arbitrarily cheap. This is in sharp contrast to the benchmark result. Chapter 2: A theory of conditional cooperation on networks (with Julien Gagnon) Chapter 2 is a study of reciprocity on social networks. We model a group of connected agents who play a one-shot public good game. Some players are materialists and others are reciprocators. We characterise the maximal Nash equilibrium (ME) of this game for any network and a broad class of reciprocal preferences. At the ME, a novel concept, the q-linked set, fully determines the set of players who contribute. We show that influential players are those connected to players who are sufficiently interconnected, but not too much. Finally, we study the decision of a planner faced with an uncertain type profile who designs the network to maximise expected contributions. The ex ante optimal network comprises isolated cliques of degree k*, with k* decreasing with the incidence of materialists. We discuss an important application of our results: the workplace. Chapter 3: Ideological games Chapter 3 is a theory of ideology. I define a preference type to be a set of first-order preferences over the outcomes of a `game of life', together with a set of (`meta-') preferences over all players' first-order preferences. Players can influence each other's preferences via costly investment: if player A invests and B does not, B's preferences becomes those of A. Players may invest for instrumental reasons (i.e. to achieve better outcomes in the game of life) or `ideological' reasons (i.e. they want their opponents to have the same preferences they do). I characterise `strongly ideological', `weakly ideological' and `pragmatic' types. Weakly ideological types wish to preserve their own type, as do strongly ideological types, who also seek to convert others. A pragmatic player, in contrast, is willing to have her type changed if her new type would prefer the resulting equilibrium of the game of life to the status quo. I show that if two players of different ideological types meet, there is an equilibrium investment profile with lower aggregate welfare than the no-invest profile. If at least one type is strongly ideological, there is a unique such equilibrium. Finally, a `perfectly ideological' type is a strongly ideological type which, if held by all players, results in the best outcome of the game of life as judged by that type. If a perfectly ideological player plays a pragmatic player, aggregate welfare is always greater than in the no-invest profile.
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Movement of Atrazine in Soil Under Furrow IrrigationVeerabhadrappa, Jyothi 01 May 1967 (has links)
Movement of atrazine in response to furrow irrigations was studied using the samples of Timpanogos silt loam soil. Distribution in soil profile of surface applied herbicide was determined by drawing samples of water extracts through porous cylinders. Atrazine quantity was determined by spectrophotometer.
It was observed that the herbicide found in the water extracts was an indication of the quantity present in the soil. The herbicide moved readily with the applied water. Irreversible thermodynamic model could not be applied because of the initial and final boundary conditions. The pattern of movement was in conformity with the chromatographic theory.
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Remedies and sanctions against corporate officers for breaches of duties under part 3.2 of the corporations lawLee, Foong Mee, n/a January 1994 (has links)
The subject of sanctions and remedies against corporate officers for breaches of the
provisions in the Corporations Law is an area of the law which has been largely
neglected by the legislature. Although there have been several legislative reforms on
remedies since the Corporations Law came into force, those reforms were ad hoc in
nature and no attempt has been made to carry out a comprehensive review to assess the
effectiveness of the existing sanctions and remedies in context of the needs of
contemporary society. In consequence, there is increasing concern that the remedies
employed in Australia for breaches of the Corporations Law are inadequate, inconsistent,
out-dated and are confined within a narrow range.
This thesis seeks to evaluate the current package of sanctions and remedies provided
under Part 3.2 of the Corporations Law. As part of this exercise, comparative studies
are made with the remedies of other jurisdictions. The provisions for sanctions in Part
3.2 are measured against parallel provisions in the Crimes Act of the Commonwealth and
of New South Wales and Victoria. They are also measured against corresponding
provisions in selected foreign jurisdictions. A further comparison is made between the
traditional civil remedies under the common law and those in the Corporations Law.
The evaluation of the sanctioning regime in Part 3.2 is made against the criteria
appropriateness, adequacy, consistency and accessibility. This thesis discusses the need
for a complete re-assessment of the penalty structure to bring the remedies in line with
community expectations.
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Gorbachev, Yeltsin and Putin: Soviet-Russian Foreign Relations with the United States from 1990 Through the Fall of 2008: A Strategic AnalysisSimmons, Terry W. 01 December 2008 (has links)
Cold War Soviet foreign policy was driven by a strategic competition. A competition-detente cycle based on the superpower rivalry between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, including the Warsaw Pact dependencies, and the United States of America and its respective alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) existed for over forty-five years. Following the dismantling of the Warsaw Pact and the implosion of the USSR, remnant Soviet and subsequent Russian foreign policy, changed dramatically. Though some fragmentary Soviet style vertical controls of the foreign policy of the transitional Gorbachev years and the first years of Yeltsin's first administration were recognizable, their respective foreign relations operated on the defensive realities of a splintered empire in every conceivable manner. This dissertation will track and analyze each president's foreign policy goals within the dependent variables of social, economic and political influences of post Cold War realities. In an absolute sense, each president formulated Russian foreign policy based on domestic considerations. This fact constitutes the independent variable in this analysis. From the bellicosity of the Cold War through the opposition of Russia to America's unilateralist approach to the second Iraqi war, Russia attempted to return as a major player in international relations as a whole and as an interlocutor with the United States in a strategic sense. This engagement has produced the gambit of political polemics, from the strident Soviet "launch on warning" correlation of forces fighting doctrine to the interactive and more personal political good will venue between Bush and Putin. It is this "push-pull" political history that prompts the primary research question: Is the present Russian strategic relationship with the post 9.11 United States the beginning of a new and unique post Cold War international relationship or is it simply a continuation of the familiar confrontation-detente cycle historically endemic to Russian-American relations? Has the American occupation of Iraq, a perennial Russian client state, derailed the post 9.11 accommodation between the two countries?
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Diving In Extreme Environments: : The Scientific Diving ExperienceLang, Michael A. January 2012 (has links)
The scope of extreme-environment diving defined within this work encompasses diving modes outside of the generally accepted no-decompression, open-circuit, compressed-air diving limits on selfcontained underwater breathing apparatus (scuba) in temperate or warmer waters. Extreme-environment diving is scientifically and politically interesting. The scientific diving operational safety and medical framework is the cornerstone from which diving takes place in the scientific community. From this effective baseline, as evidenced by decades of very low DCS incidence rates, the question of whether compressed air is the best breathing medium under pressure was addressed with findings indicating that in certain depth ranges a higher fraction of oxygen (while not exceeding a PC 2 of 1.6 ATA) and a lower fraction of nitrogen result in extended bottom times and a more efficient decompression. Extremeenvironment diving under ice presents a set of physiological. equipment, training and operational challenges beyond regular diving that have also been met through almost 50 years of experience as an underwater research tool. Diving modes such as mixed-gas, surface-supplied diving with helmets may mitigate risk factors that the diver incurs as a result of depth, inert gas narcosis or gas consumption. A close approximation of inert gas loading and decompression status monitoring is a function met by dive computers, a necessity in particular when the diver ventures outside of the single-dive profile into the realm of multi-level, multi-day repetitive diving or decompression diving. The monitoring of decompression status in extreme environments is now done exclusively through the use of dive computers and evaluations of the performance of regulators under ice have determined the characteristics of the next generation of life-support equipment for extreme-environment diving for science. These polar, deep and contaminated water environments require risk assessment that analyzes hazards such as cold stress, hydration, overheating, narcosis, equipment performance and decompression sickness. Scientific diving is a valuable research tool that has become an integral methodology in the pursuit of scientific questions in extreme environments of polar regions, in contaminated waters, and at depth.
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