Aid Strategies Research Articles

Applications and research advance of genome shuffling for industrial microbial strains improvement.

Genome shuffling, an efficient and practical strain improvement technology via recursive protoplasts fusion, can break through the limits of species even genus to accelerate the directed evolution of microbial strains, without requiring the comprehensively cognized genetic background and operable genetic system. Hence this technology has been widely used for many important strains to obtain the desirable industrial phenotypes. In this review, we introduce the procedure of genome shuffling, discuss the new aid strategies of genome shuffling, summarize the applications of genome shuffling for increasing metabolite yield, improving strain tolerance, enhancing substrate utilization, and put forward the outlook to the future development of this technology.

Venom Ophthalmia and Ocular Complications Caused by Snake Venom.

Little is known about the detailed clinical description, pathophysiology, and efficacy of treatments for ocular envenoming (venom ophthalmia) caused by venom of the spitting elapid and other snakes, as well as ocular complications caused by snake venom injection. In this paper, we review clinical information of case reports regarding venom ophthalmia and snake venom injection with associated ocular injuries in Asia, Africa, and the United States. We also review the literature of snake venom such as their compositions, properties, and toxic effects. Based on the available clinical information and animal studies, we further discuss possible mechanisms of venom ophthalmia derived from two different routes (Duvernoy’s gland in the mouth and nuchal gland in the dorsal neck) and the pathophysiology of snake venom injection induced ocular complications, including corneal edema, corneal erosion, cataract, ocular inflammation, retinal hemorrhage, acute angle closure glaucoma, as well as ptosis, diplopia, and photophobia. Finally, we discuss the appropriate first aid and novel strategies for treating venom ophthalmia and snake envenoming.

Everyday visual demands of people with low vision: A mixed methods real-life recording study.

Research has demonstrated that low vison aids (LVAs) can have a positive impact on the functional sight of those living with sight loss. Step changes in technology are now enabling new wearable LVAs with greater potential than those available previously. For these novel devices to receive increased acceptance and therefore adoption by those with sight loss, visual task demands have to be understood more clearly in order to enable better alignment between device design and user requirements. The aim of this study was to quantify these requirements. Thirty-two participants aged 18 to 87 wore a spectacle-mounted video camera to capture and narrate all everyday situations in which they would use a “perfect” sight aid during 1 week. Captured scenes were analyzed through categorization and computational image analysis. Results showed large variation in activities and lifestyles. Participants reported no available sight aid or coping strategy for 57% of the recorded activities. Reading made up 49% of all recorded tasks, the other half comprising non-textual information. Overall, 75% of captured activities were performed ad hoc (duration of 0–5 minutes), 78% occurred indoors, 58% occurred at home, 48% were lit by natural light, 68% included the object of interest within reach, and 69% required a single focus plane only. Around half of captured objects of interest had a size of 2 degrees visual angle (2.08 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution [logMAR]) or smaller. This study highlights the need for a sight aid that can make both textual and non-textual scenes accessible while offering flexibility to accommodate individual lifestyles.

Solidarity Not Charity

This article argues that, in the face of worsening conditions from climate change, enhanced border enforcement, a growing wealth gap, housing crises, and policing, social movements should focus on expanding mutual aid strategies. Mutual aid projects directly address survival needs, mobilize large numbers of people to participate in movements actively rather than solely participating online or through voting, and offer spaces to practice new social relations. The article looks at examples from efforts for migrant justice, police and prison abolition, disaster relief, and other contemporary struggles and discusses potential pitfalls of mutual aid strategies, such as supplementing and therefore stabilizing existing systems of maldistribution and adopting principles and practices from the charity frameworks that proliferate in capitalism.

The risk and consequences of multiple breadbasket failures: an integrated copula and multilayer agent-based modeling approach

Climate shocks to food systems have been thoroughly researched in terms of food security and supply chain management. However, sparse research exists on the dependent nature of climate shocks on food-producing breadbasket regions and their subsequent cascading impacts. In this paper, we propose that a copula approach, combined with a multilayer network and an agent-based model, can give important insights on how tail-dependent shocks can impact food systems. We show how such shocks can potentially cascade within a region through the behavioral interactions of various layers. Based on our suggested framework, we set up a model for India and show that risks due to drought events multiply if tail dependencies during extremes drought is explicitly taken into account. We further demonstrate that the risk is exacerbated if displacement also takes place. In order to quantify the spatial–temporal evolution of climate risks, we introduce a new measure of multilayer vulnerability that we term Vulnerability Rank or VRank. We find that with higher food production losses, the number of agents that are affected increases nonlinearly due to cascading effects in different network layers. These effects spread to the unaffected regions via large-scale displacement causing sudden changes in production, employment and consumption decisions. Thus, demand shifts also force supply-side adjustments of food networks in the months following the climate shock. We suggest that our framework can provide a more accurate picture of food security-related systemic risks caused by multiple breadbasket failures which, in turn, can better inform risk management and humanitarian aid strategies.

Anatomy of the Republic of Korea’s Niche Strategic Engagement in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS): ROK’s Tailor-Made Strategy and its Security Policy Implication

Republic of Korea’s engagement in Southeast Asia could be generally understood as its Official Development Aid (ODA) strategy in most academic interpretation. Nonetheless, this article examines not only Korea’s traditional ODA approach toward Southeast Asia but also Korea’s uniquely tailor-made strategy toward Indo-China Peninsula in particular as well as what is to be done. In other words, this article intends to take further step beyond ODA interpretation of this particular subject over this region. This study specifically provides with multi-dimensional analysis of Republic of Korea’s involvement in Mekong River Sub-region as well as its regional and global security policy implication. The main thesis of this study is that Korea had no choice but to pursue Niche diplomacy toward the region because Korea did not possess full capacity enough to compete against Japan or China. In this sense, Korea’s own development experience is very unique and perhaps the only experience that no other country in the world has possessed. This article contends that Korea’s knowledge based capacity building projects toward Greater Mekong Sub-region such as KSP, CIAT, special Master’s degree training projects, local capacity building process, and etc. will continue to increase and diversify in terms of scale and contents. Again, based upon Knowledge based capacity building projects, Korea is in the process of producing a wide range of its unique tailor- made ODA programs for each member states of GMS. Unlike Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Korea also tends to put more emphasis on creating exclusive Master’s degree Training Program which is centered on trainees of ODA Recipient countries. In this regard, Korea’s approach is aiming at strengthening discrimination by introducing a systemic evaluation system for training projects. This program will also turn out linchpin of ROK’s new strategy toward Mekong River area.

Mapping disparities in education across low- and middle-income countries

Educational attainment is an important social determinant of maternal, newborn, and child health1–3. As a tool for promoting gender equity, it has gained increasing traction in popular media, international aid strategies, and global agenda-setting4–6. The global health agenda is increasingly focused on evidence of precision public health, which illustrates the subnational distribution of disease and illness7,8; however, an agenda focused on future equity must integrate comparable evidence on the distribution of social determinants of health9–11. Here we expand on the available precision SDG evidence by estimating the subnational distribution of educational attainment, including the proportions of individuals who have completed key levels of schooling, across all low- and middle-income countries from 2000 to 2017. Previous analyses have focused on geographical disparities in average attainment across Africa or for specific countries, but—to our knowledge—no analysis has examined the subnational proportions of individuals who completed specific levels of education across all low- and middle-income countries12–14. By geolocating subnational data for more than 184 million person-years across 528 data sources, we precisely identify inequalities across geography as well as within populations.

Are we on the right path to achieve the sustainable development goals?

Abstract The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call upon all countries to achieve 17 broad development goals by 2030. The SDGs are a central component of many national development plans and foreign aid strategies. While the SDGs have become a central aspect of development planning, how achievable are they under present conditions? This paper explores a dynamic “middle-of-the-road” baseline global development scenario (Shared Socio-economic Pathway 2) using an integrated assessment model (International Futures) to evaluate progress toward target values on nine indicators related to six human development SDGs. We find that, between 2015 and 30, the world will make only limited progress towards achieving those SDGs with our current set of policy priorities. Our study finds that across the variables explored here (nine indicators for 186 countries = 1674 country-indicators), 43 percent had already reached target values by 2015. By 2030, target values are projected to be achieved for 53 percent of country-variables. This paper highlights special difficulty in achieving targets on some SDG indicators (access to safe sanitation, upper secondary school completion, and underweight children) representing persistent development issues that will not be solved without a significant shift in domestic and international aid policies and prioritization. In addition, we highlight 28 particularly vulnerable countries that are not projected to achieve any of the nine human development related target values in a middle-of-the-road scenario. These most vulnerable countries (MVCs) must be the focus of international assistance.

Language-specific strategy for programming hearing aids―A double-blind randomized controlled crossover study

Language-specific strategy for programming hearing aids―A double-blind randomized controlled crossover study

Psychosocial vulnerability and demographic characteristics in extreme flash floods: The case of Mandra 2017 flood in Greece

Floods are among the most frequent phenomena leading to disastrous, long term social and economic impacts globally. On November 15, 2017, 24 people were killed and hundreds were left homeless in the vicinities of the towns of Mandra and Nea Peramos in Attica region, Greece, as a result of a catastrophic flash flood triggered by extreme rainfall. The impact of such events has been the focus of studies for years consistently indicating adverse effects ranging from short to long term, on post-disaster physical and psychological health. This paper explores the initial impact of extreme flash floods on communities in terms of psychological and physical health, by means of a self-report questionnaire. Findings are investigated in relation to demographic variables and vulnerability predictors. Self-reports differed prior and after the flash flood, with negative changes in both domains. Results indicated significant differences in both physical and physiological health by gender, age, marital and occupational status. According to Spearman's correlation coefficient, physical and psychological effects showed moderately positive correlations for most independent variables. Results indicate a need to align prevention, aid and intervention strategies in the recovery phase and address issues such as public awareness, information provision and post disaster coping strategies.

Design Guidelines for Feedforward Cancellation of the Occlusion-Effect in Hearing Aids.

The occlusion-effect is described as an unsatisfactory quality of the hearing-aid user's own voice that sounds hollow or boomy. Some fixed and adaptive feedback controllers have been suggested in order to reduce the occlusion-effect. More recently, a feedforward adaptive active-noise-control based strategy for unvented hearing aids was proposed. This paper presents a theoretical analysis of the convergence conditions for this canceller. This allows explicit analytical determination of its stability limits, providing an adequate setup of the algorithm parameters to achieve a priori performance requirements, such as convergence speed and sound quality. Design examples are presented, which validate the theoretical analysis and illustrate its practical application.

Подходы ведущих стран-доноров к внедрению ЦУР в национальные стратегии устойчивого развития

The Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 25 September 2015, cover a wide range of challenges faced by developing and developed countries alike. The Agenda 2030 is focused on fighting poverty in all its manifestations through the implementation of strategies for sustainable economic growth.The SDGs are relevant on both international and national levels. This article discusses the policy of the six major foreign aid donors in achieving the SDGs both domestically and abroad. The countries selected for the analysis include three major developed donors: Germany, Canada, and Japan, as well as three new developing donors: Brazil, India, and China.The comparative analysis was based on such aspects of the national policy aimed at achieving the SDGs as: a) SDGs inclusion into national conceptual and strategic documents; b) institutional organization and social partners engagement; c) integration of the SDG priorities into foreign aid strategies; d) official ODA motivation; e) and the quality of communication policy on the SDGs implementation.Based on a review of the aforementioned countries’ experience in localizing the SDGs, the author makes recommendations to advance this agenda in the Russian Federation.

The Influence of Reading Strategies on EFL Students’ Comprehension Skill at Al Balqa University in Jordan

This research investigated the effect of reading strategies of Jordanian EFL students’ comprehension skill at Al Balqa University in Jordan / Al Karak Branch. The Survey of Reading Strategies Questionnaire that is adopted and adapted from Mokhtari and Sheory (2002) was administered to 30 male and female participants during the second semester of the academic year 2017/2018. The data was analyzed through descriptive statistics to reveal the frequency and type of strategies utilized by the sample participants. The results then were illustrated and discussed in forms of frequencies and percentages concerning the use of the reading strategies by Jordanian English Language and Literature at the University of Jordan. The findings of the study showed that 87% agreed they enjoyed using these four reading strategies , while 82% agreed that these reading strategies facilitated them completely and more accurately in achieving their reading comprehension tasks than the conventional reading comprehension method they generally practice (technical aid strategies, clarification and simplification strategies, coherence detection strategies and monitoring strategies).Then, recommendations were provided for further research studies of this kind in order to achieve a deeper understanding of Jordanian English Language and Literature students’ reading strategies use. Keywords : Reading, Strategies, Comprehension, Reading Comprehension Achievement. DOI : 10.7176/JLLL/54-05 Publication date :March 31 st 2019

Effect of age and hearing loss on sentence perception in noise using temporal envelope and temporal fine structure cues

Purpose: The perception of speech is affected by many physical, physiological and pathological factors related to the stimuli and the listener. Researchers have addressed the effect of each of these factors independently on the perception of speech. In everyday situations, these factors do not occur in isolation but they may occur simultaneously and affect the overall perception of speech. The information on the extent to which each of these factors affect the speech perception is seldom being investigated.Methods: The present study explored the role of temporal envelope and temporal fine structures in the perception of sentences in noise by normal hearing young & older adults; and young & older adults with hearing loss. The envelope and fine structures of the sentences were extracted based on Hilbert transformation using Matlab software. The effect of noise was estimated by processing the sentences in quiet and at 0 dB and -5 dB SNR. The sentences were also filtered using 4, 8, 16 and 32 frequency channels to assess the role of frequency filtering on speech perception.Results: The envelope was more important for speech perception in both quiet and noise. The perception of speech was inversely proportional to age, hearing loss and noise levels, whereas it was directly proportional to the number of frequency channels.Conclusion: These findings indicate that the temporal envelope is important for speech perception in noise. The research findings may help in designing new signal processing strategies for hearing aids and cochlear implants based on the envelope cues.

Cuban Strategy and Medical Cooperation to Combat Ebola, 2014-2016.

The Ebola virus is a pathogen that causes high morbidity and mortality in epidemic events during which health personnel are frequently infected. Such an epidemic occurred in West Africa, prompting WHO to issue a call in 2014 for health personnel to be dispatched to affected countries. Cuba responded and signed an assistance agreement under which 265 Cuban health professionals, members of the Henry Reeve Emergency Medical Contingent, volunteered their services in the Republic of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. This article presents Cuba's strategy of medical aid and organization of the three medical teams formed; refers to the teams' contribution to epidemic control in treatment centers where they worked alongside other personnel; and describes measures taken in Cuba to prevent the virus from entering the country through returning volunteers or other means. In the centers where Cuban medical teams worked with other health professionals in West Africa, case fatality decreased from 80%-90% to 24%, contributing to control of the epidemic; no Ebola outbreaks occurred in Cuba. During the epidemic, two Cuban health professionals died of malaria and one physician fell ill with Ebola. This paper includes an overview of the treatment and evolution of the latter case, a doctor who contracted the disease in Sierra Leone and was treated in Geneva and Havana. KEYWORDS Ebola virus, treatment, strategy, followup, medical collaboration, Republic of Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cuba.

Causes and Prevalence of Factors Causing Infertility in a Public Health Facility.

Background:Infertility causes change according to local demographics. There is thus the need to find the causes of infertility in context to local population to aid and direct management strategies accordingly.Aims:The aims were to study the causes of infertility and to calculate the proportion of the individual factors contributing to it in the population coming to a tertiary level public health facility. Setting and Design: This cross-sectional, observational study was done in an infertility clinic in a medical college and government hospital.Materials and Methods:The study comprised 120 couples who came for infertility evaluation and treatment. Cause of infertility in the couple was assigned on the basis of history and examination findings. The prevalence of each cause was evaluated.Statistical Analysis:Results were tabulated, and the prevalence of individual factors was calculated. Intratable analysis was done using SPSS 16.0.Results:Primary infertility (57.5%) was more prevalent than secondary infertility (42.5%). Female factor accounted for 46.6% of the cases with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) being the leading cause (46%). Infertility was seen equally in lean and obese PCOS cases. Infectious causes such as pelvic inflammatory disease and tuberculosis were significantly associated with tubal factor infertility (P = 0.001). Infertility causes changed as the age of marriage increased. In couples married for less than 5 years, PCOS was the main cause whereas later,male factor and unexplained infertility were the most common causes seen. Male factor contributed to 20% of the cases of infertility, and both tobacco and alcohol consumption were significantly associated with abnormal semen reports (P = 0.001).Conclusion:Causes of infertility vary according to the age of the couples and age of marriage. Although PCOS remains the main cause, infections are a major cause of tubal factor infertility, and tobacco and alcohol worsen the male factor. One-third of the cases still remain unexplained.

Recognition of and first aid strategies for depression in a close friend among Japanese university students

Recognition of and first aid strategies for depression in a close friend among Japanese university students

Selected Cognitive Factors Associated with Individual Variability in Clinical Measures of Speech Recognition in Noise Amplified by Fast-Acting Compression Among Hearing Aid Users.

Objective:Previous work examining speech recognition in more challenging listening environments has revealed a large variability in both persons with normal and hearing impairments. Although this is clinically very important, up to now, no consensus has been reached about which factors may provide better explanation for the existing individual variability in speech recognition ability among hearing aid users, when speech signal is degraded. This study aimed to examine hearing-sensitivity skills and cognitive ability differences between listeners with good and poor speech recognition abilities.Materials and Methods:A total of 195 experienced hearing aid users (33–80 years) were grouped by higher or lower speech recognition ability based on their performance on the Hagerman sentences task in multi-talker babble using fast-acting compression algorithm. They completed a battery of cognitive abilities tests, hearing-in-noise and the auditory thresholds test.Results:The results showed that the two groups did differ significantly overall on cognitive abilities tests like working memory, cognitive processing speed and attentional shifting, but not on the attentional inhibitory test and non-verbal intelligence test.Conclusions:Listeners with poor compared to those with better speech recognition abilities exhibit poorer cognitive abilities, which place them in a disadvantaged position, and /or more susceptible to signal modifications (as a result of fast-acting compression signal processing), resulting in limited benefits from hearing aids strategies. The findings may have implications for hearing aid signal processing strategies selection in rehabilitations.

Nutrition, hydration and ergogenic aids strategies in ultraendurance mountain events.

The purpose of the present research was to analyze nutrition, hydration and ergogenic aids strategies in ultraendurance mountain events. A total of 386 ultraendurance mountain races finishers were analyzed. They were divided into three groups according to their race distance: G1, distance less than 45 km (N.=250); G2, distances between 45 and 90 km (N.=71); G3, distances longer than 90 km (N.=65). The ergogenic, nutritional and hydration strategies were quantified after each race by a questionnaire. We found a higher ingestion of (0.56±0.95), caffeine (G3 203.8±211.5 mg), water (G3 7.1±3.7 l) and portion of sandwich (nutrition 5.3±7.4) nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) in longer distance probes. Higher performance runners in low and medium distances consumed a significantly (P>0.05) lower quantity of gels (higher 0.76±0.98 vs. lower 1.38±1.38), and muesli bar (higher 1.09±1.13 vs. lower 2.04±1.94), and in long distances higher performance consumed more water (M±SD; higher 8.23±3.92 vs. lower 6.12±3.28) than lower performance ones. They also could maintain a higher rated of perceived exertion than lower performance (G3 M±SD; higher 16.7±2.28 vs. lower 18.2±1.71). Higher distance presented higher nutritional, caffeine and NSAIDs ingestion than lower distances, also, higher performance athletes of higher distance presenter higher water and nutritional ingestion than lower performance ones. In lower distance probes, higher performance athletes presented lower hydration and nutritional ingestion than lower performance athletes.

Two-Stage Composition of Probabilistic Preferences

A strategy of multicriteria decision aid in which initial acceptance of all the alternatives is followed by an automatic classification of them is here proposed. This classification is used in the next step to limit to the alternatives in the upper class the comparisons employed to choose the best alternative. A procedure to perform the classification through successive divisions is proposed. It is also studied the replacement, in the calculation of the preference score according to each criterion, which is a central step in the Composition of Probabilistic Preferences, of the probability of being preferable simultaneously to all alternatives by the average of the probabilities of being preferable to each one. Another development brought is the calculation of preference probabilities based on empirical cumulative distributions, derived from the observed preference counts. Procedures for effectively bringing to practice each of these proposals are presented and the results of applying them to different practical situations are discussed.