Development Committee Research Articles

Impact of Community Development Programmes on Leadership Capacity Building of Community Leaders in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

This Study examined Community Development Programmes and Leadership Capacity Building of Community Leaders in Bayelsa State of Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The population of the study comprises the 1,294 Paramount Rulers and Community Development Committee (CDC) Chairmen in the state. The simple random sampling technique was applied to select 200 respondents from each of the senatorial districts that make up Bayelsa State (Bayelsa Central, Bayelsa East and Bayelsa West) to realize a sample size of 600. The instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire. The reliability coefficient index of the instrument was 0.85. Three research questions were posed. They were analyzed using frequencies and weighted mean. The findings revealed amongst others that: cultural education programmes, environment/sanitation education programmes and peace/conflict resolution education programmes build the capacity of Community Leaders on cultural values for peaceful coexistence amongst others. Based on the findings, the Researcher recommended amongst others that: Paramount Rulers and Community Development Committee (CDC) Chairmen should recommend to the state government on adding peace education to the primary and secondary school curriculum as this would bring lasting peace to the various local government areas of Bayelsa State and Nigeria at large.

By-Laws of the Bibliographical Society of America

By-Laws of the Bibliographical Society of America

BSAVA volunteering

As we move into the Autumn and Winter months, the BSAVA Volunteer Development Committee is beginning its recruiting process to call on members to get involved with the BSAVA community and join a network of fellow professionals enjoying the opportunity of developing new skills and experiences to enhance their career development. Here, some of the existing BSAVA volunteers explain the benefits of getting involved, whether you have your sights set on sitting on the Board of Trustees or have just modest amounts of time to commit. The BSAVA encourages equality and diversity and welcomes potential volunteers at whatever stage in their career, to ensure that we are fully representative of the veterinary community.

Orchid Distribution along the Elevation Gradient in Panchase Forest Conservation Area of Gandaki Province, Nepal

The vegetation composition and elevation play a key role in the distribution of plants. Among the flowering plants, orchids are widely distributed beautiful flowers having ornamental and medicinal values. The Panchase Forest Conservation Area is one of the hot spots for the orchids, a threatened group of the flowering plants. The preceding studies on orchids seem usually focused on documentation of the orchid species and their medicinal values showing no works on orchid species distribution along the elevation gradient and aspects. Therefore, this research was concentrated on assessing orchid distribution along the elevation in the forest of the Middle-mountain. The study was conducted in former Chapakot and Bhadaure-Tamagi Village Development Committees that lie in Pokhara Metropolitan City-23 and Annapurna Rural Municipality-4, Kaski District. Chapakot represents south-west (SW) aspect and Bhadaure-Tamagi represents north-west (NW) aspect. For this study, the belt-transect method with 20 m x 20 m quadrat size at an interval of 100 m elevation was used for assessing the orchid richness along elevation and aspects. Altogether, 61 orchid species, with Eria, Dendrobium, Cymbidium and Bulbophyllum as the most common genera, were found. Among the orchid species, Dendrobium gibsonii was not reported in earlier studies from Panchase area. The orchid richness varied along the elevation and aspect. The SW aspect showed fluctuation in orchid richness, whereas the NW aspect showed humped shaped pattern. Further detailed studies on factors causing distribution of orchids and their relationship with host species need to be conducted for the conservation of orchids in the Panchase Forest Conservation Area.

IMPACT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL VARIABLES ON THE COMMUNITYBASED FLOODPLAIN WETLANDS (BEELS) FISHERIES MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

A study was conducted in four wetlands (Beels) of Assam to assess the impact of two psychological predictor variables namely ‘management capabilities of Beel Development Committee, X1 and ‘involvement of NGOs’ X2 on ‘knowledge levels of Beel users’ on community-based fisheries management’Y. The study revealed that both the predictor variables X1 and X2 were significantly (r =0.21** and 0.49** respectively) associated (P<0.01) with knowledge levels of Beel users on community-based fisheries management (Y). Moreover, between these two variables, involvement of NGOs (X2 ) was found to be the most significantly contributing variable on the dependent variable (Y). Key words: Floodplain wetland, Beel, community-based fisheries management, NGO.

Next steps in the evolution of AAV vector characterization technologies

<div class="authors authors-lg"><div class="author"><div class="author-img"><img src="https://bioinsights.blob.core.windows.net/uploads/Eduard_picture copy.jpg" data-image="1"></div><div class="author-det"> <b>Eduard Ayuso</b> is Chief Technology Officer at DiNAQOR (Zürich, Switzerland), a genetic medicine platform company focused on addressing severe inherited cardiac diseases. Dr Ayuso is an expert in the field of gene therapy using viral vector platforms, including adenoviral vectors, helper-dependent adenoviral vectors, and adeno-associated vectors (AAV), as well as their design, manufacture, and purification. With over two decades of academic and industry consulting experience, he has made significant contributions to the field of in vivo gene transfer in small and large animal models of diseases, as well as AAV vector development and analytics. Dr Ayuso previously served as Head of Innovative Vectorology at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), and as the Scientific Director of the Translational Vector Core unit at University of Nantes. Since 2018, he has served as vice president of the French Society for Gene and Cell Therapy. He is also a member of the Translational Science and Drug Product Development committee of the American Society for Gene and Cell Therapy. Dr Ayuso earned his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and his degree in Veterinary Medicine from Autonomous University of Barcelona. </div></div></div>

Fixed Investment and Economic Growth: ARDL and Causality Exploration for SADC Countries

In assessing the short run and the long-run effects of fixed investment and economic growth among Southern Africa countries, we evaluated the economic progress of the SADC (Southern African Development Committee) region. Our objective is to determine how variables (GDP, purchasing power parity, inflation, electricity, balance-of-payments, and unemployment) can be affected by the fixed investment. In determining how fixed investment affects economic activities and policies among the states, the ADRL estimation approach is applied. Using data from 13 countries in the SADC region from the period 1992-2018, we enumerate the variables’ marginal returns against the fixed investment component. The results of diagnostic and other tests show that all statistical procedures are robust. The result proves that the benefits of fixed investment are yielded over a long period rather than short periods. As a result, the cost in the short term cannot be compared to the benefits that will be enjoyed later by an economy as it becomes productive. Furthermore, the lack of consistent fixed investment among countries will eventually lead to insufficient cash flow, which will negatively affect the currency. These results would seem to suggest that the introduction of policies that promote investment will massively contribute to increased productivity and positive economic growth in the region.

Students\u2019 low proficiency in spoken English in private universities in Bangladesh: reasons and remedies

Students of private universities in Bangladesh are often found to be less competent in spoken English. Since the universities have adopted EMI (English medium instruction) policy, the prevailing linguistic condition on the campus is an “English only environment.” In this context, students are required to communicate in English both inside and outside their classroom, but they desperately struggle to cope with this environment. This study attempted to understand and explain this problem; hence, it set three aims: to evaluate students’ current level of proficiency in spoken English, to investigate the reasons, and to offer remedies. Initially, selected students were given an IELTS-style speaking test in order to determine the overall proficiency in spoken English. Then, involving teachers and students, semistructured email interviews were conducted. The findings report that students’ current level of proficiency is around IELTS band score 5. Reasons for low development of spoken English among students include complex nature of speaking, inappropriate application of instructional methods, teachers’ low proficiency in spoken English and controlling behavior, students’ psychological factors, sociocultural factors, students’ inadequate linguistic resources, L1 interference, and large class size. Remedies suggested by the participants entail integrating TBL (task-based learning) and CL (cooperative learning) teaching-learning, making students aware of noticing, learning speaking through listening, teaching collocations, promoting self-regulated learning, and strengthening teacher education. The reasons investigated and the remedies explored have significant implications that might guide the members of the operating trusts of the private universities, members of the curriculum development and revision committees, and the practitioners to adopt practical approaches to ensure effective learning of spoken English by the students.

Strengthening Capacities of Ward Development Committees to Promote Health in Nigeria: A Case Study of Osun State

Unsatisfactory health indices characterize Osun State Nigeria Primary Health Care facilities and poor operational conditions. Residents patronize private health facilities with attendant payment of huge out-of-pocket medical bills. Implementation of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), a mechanism to increase access to quality health care for all its citizens initiated by the state government, commenced in 2018. The study sought to determine the extent to which capacity building/training of Ward development committees (WDC) in BHCPF supported PHCs has contributed to the provision of quality health services in the BHCPF supported facilities. The study was qualitative in design and used three focus group discussions held in three BHCPF implementing LGAs with thirty-five (27males, 8 females) consenting trained WDC members. Prior to the BHCPF training, the majority of the WDCs were not actively involved in the management of their PHCs, as political appointees and were unclear about their roles and responsibilities to the health facilities in their wards. After the training, most of the trained WDCs engaged with their PHC staff to debrief, review the quality improvement plans for their health facilities, identified immediate needs to address, approached influential people in the community, and mobilized local resources to address identified gaps. Electricity and water supply were restored in most of the facilities, hospital beds and basic equipment for were procured for PHCs, building, and equipping of the laboratory were completed. Building the capacity of the WDC on their roles and responsibilities strengthened them to contribute to the provision of quality health services in their communities. Keywords: Access, capacity building, quality improvement, Universal Health Coverage, Ward development committees.

Health Seeking Behaviour among Past and Current Tuberculosis Patients in a Low-Income Country

In Nepal, the estimated incident cases are 0.07 million, of them, 0.03 million people are diagnosed and enrolled in the treatment annually, and numbers of undiagnosed people living with tuberculosis (TB) might be a threat to achieving END TB strategy targets. Understanding health-seeking behaviour and care pathways is crucial to reducing missed cases and decreasing TB transmission. The objective of the study was to identify the health-seeking behavior of TB patients and understand the reasons behind TB diagnostic and treatment delays in Nepal. This was a cross-sectional, population-based survey carried out in 99 clusters of 55 districts (total of 77) of Nepal. Primary Sampling Units were Village Development Committees or Municipalities and wards selected using systematic proportional to population size method. Of the total 54,200 people who attended in the survey, 1,825 had a history of TB and asked their health-seeking practice. 62% and 72% of the TB patients utilised the government health facilities for diagnosis and treatment. 18% of the TB patients said that they received diagnosis services, and 16% of patients took their treatment from outside of the country, especially India, due to fear of stigma and easy access to the services. The majority of the TB patients utilised government health facilities to receive diagnosis and treatment services. Some of the participants sought TB services from private health care providers, and a significant proportion of participants received them from India due to difficulty in accessing local services and fear of stigma and discrimination. Keywords: Community Based Directly Observed Treatment, Health Seeking Behaviour, Prevalence Survey, Tuberculosis.

Prevalence and predictors of institutional delivery in Lumjung, Tanahun and Gorkha district of Nepal: a community-based cross-sectional study

Background: The Maternal mortality rate (MMR) in Nepal had dropped from 444 per 1, 00,000 live births in 2005 to 239 per 1, 00,000 live births in 2016. However, the MMR of Nepal is still highest in the South Asian countries except Afghanistan. Although maternal mortality has declined noticeably in Nepal, there still persists a low proportion of institutional deliveries. The aim of the study was to assess the factors influencing the utilization rate of institutional delivery.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in selected village development committee of Lamjung, Tanahun and Gorkha district using semi-structured interview schedule. A random sample of 1410 married women who gave birth in the last two years were included in the study. Multiple logistic regression analysis was carried out to identify the factors associated with institutional delivery. Results: The prevalence of institutional delivery in three districts was 73.1%, highest in Lamjung (78.8%) and lowest in Gorkha (67.8%). Employed women (aoR=1.7, CI=1.05-2.80), seeking antenatal check-up (aoR=5.8, CI=3.00-11.16), secondary (SLC) or above education (aoR= 3.3, CI=1.93-5.54), more than 20 years of age at marriage (aoR=1.5, CI=1.02-2.04), Kshetri by cast (aoR=1.7, CI=1.11-2.64) were statistically significant and associated with an increased rate of institutional delivery.Conclusions: Occupation, education, antenatal check-up, age at marriage, and ethnicity/cast are major factors for determining institutional delivery. The concerned authorities have to consider the predictors of institutional delivery in formulating the policy and plan for implementing safe motherhood delivery.

Physician and executive collaboration on rapid development of pandemic needs response to support physicians and medical staff during the COVID-19 pandemic in an academic medical center: a descriptive review

ABSTRACT Dialogue on physician well-being was concerning even prior to onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which introduced additional unprecedented strain on healthcare workers compounded by increased personal and family stress. This paper describes our process for a rapid needs assessment and creation of a pandemic resiliency and well-being support infrastructure for physicians and healthcare staff at an academic medical center. In March 2020, executive leadership from our health system and physician group created a Resiliency and Support Steering Committee (RSSC) for rapid development of a pandemic needs response for our healthcare providers. RSSC identified key priorities: psychological care, medical care, basic care, and communication. A brief pandemic-focused needs survey was designed and distributed to healthcare professionals and targeted efforts focused on initiatives prioritized by respondents. A shared drive database allowed initiatives and outcomes to be communicated in real time. A wellness webpage was rapidly built and disseminated. Psychological support initiatives included proactive and reactive support. Providers were offered rapid access scheduling for primary medical care. Vetted resources were shared for regional grab-and-go food, grocery delivery, laundry services, and childcare. Additional resources included personal protective equipment (PPE) supply chain information, PPE guideline updates and training and access to scrubs/scrub laundering. Our pandemic support will fold into ongoing wellness initiatives that will be tailored and intentionally communicated. Multimodal and intentional communication processes will continue with a focus on enhancing bidirectional platform functionality. Cultural awareness of the importance of mitigating distress and supporting well-being will be prioritized through partnership with frontline members and leadership.

Contralateral strength training attenuates muscle performance loss following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction: a randomised-controlled trial.

To investigate the effects of cross-education (CE) exercise on strength and performance at 10 and 24weeks post anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery. Design: randomised controlled trial. N = 44 ACL-reconstruction patients, randomly-allocated into: CE: strength training of the non-operative limb, or CON: sham exercise of upper limb stretching. Each patient underwent standardised ACL rehabilitation, plus 8weeks of thrice weekly CE or CON, commencing at 2weeks post surgery. The primary outcome was quadriceps peak force (QPF) of the ACL-reconstructed limb at 10weeks post surgery. Secondary measures were hamstrings peak force (HPF), rate of force development (RFD) and International Knee Documentation Committee score (IKDC) at 10 and 24weeks; QPF and hop for distance (HOP) at 24weeks post surgery. CE significantly attenuated the decline in QPF of the ACL-reconstructed limb at 10weeks compared to CON (16.6% decrease vs. 32.0%, respectively); that advantage was not retained at 24weeks. A training effect was observed in the trained limb for HPF and QPF, which was retained at 24weeks. No significant differences were observed for IKDC, HOP, RFD, or HPF of the reconstructed limb. Inter-limb symmetry (ILS) ranged from 0.78 to 0.89 and was not significantly different between groups. High-intensity CE strength training attenuated the post-operative decline in QPF and should be considered in early-phase ACL rehabilitation. ILS data showed good symmetry, but it masked significantly inferior performance between groups and should be used with caution. NCT02722876.

Innovative radiation oncology Together\xa0\u2013 Precise,\xa0Personalized,\xa0Human

PurposeScientific and clinical achievements in radiation, medical, and surgical oncology are changing the landscape of interdisciplinary oncology. The German Society for Radiation Oncology (DEGRO) working group of young clinicians and scientists (yDEGRO) and the DEGRO representation of associate and full professors (AKRO) are aware of the essential role of radiation oncology in multidisciplinary treatment approaches. Together, yDEGRO and AKRO endorsed developing a German radiotherapy & radiation oncology vision 2030 to address future challenges in patient care, research, and education. The vision 2030 aims to identify priorities and goals for the next decade in the field of radiation oncology.MethodsThe vision development comprised three phases. During the first phase, areas of interest, objectives, and the process of vision development were defined jointly by the yDEGRO, AKRO, and the DEGRO board. In the second phase, a one-day strategy retreat was held to develop AKRO and yDEGRO representatives’ final vision from medicine, biology, and physics. The third phase was dedicated to vision interpretation and program development by yDEGRO representatives.ResultsThe strategy retreat’s development process resulted in conception of the final vision “Innovative radiation oncology Together – Precise, Personalized, Human.” The first term “Innovative radiation oncology” comprises the promotion of preclinical research and clinical trials and highlights the development of a national committee for strategic development in radiation oncology research. The term “together” underpins collaborations within radiation oncology departments as well as with other partners in the clinical and scientific setting. “Precise” mainly covers technological precision in radiotherapy as well as targeted oncologic therapeutics. “Personalized” emphasizes biology-directed individualization of radiation treatment. Finally, “Human” underlines the patient-centered approach and points towards the need for individual longer-term career curricula for clinicians and researchers in the field.ConclusionThe vision 2030 balances the ambition of physical, technological, and biological innovation as well as a comprehensive, patient-centered, and collaborative approach towards radiotherapy & radiation oncology in Germany.

Characteristics and Success Factors of Rural Community Leadership in Malaysia: A Focus Group Analysis

The leadership aspects of rural leaders in Malaysia are still unclear, and a consensus of the characteristics of credible rural community leaders has not been achieved. In addition, there is still a lack of specific and in-depth research on community leadership in rural areas in Malaysia. Therefore, a study was conducted to deepen understanding of leadership, specifically in the rural community leadership characteristics and success factors. The current study used a qualitative approach via a focus group discussion method involving 15 informants from the Village Development and Security Committee (JPKK) to gain in-depth information. The major themes that emerged from findings include inborn leadership, leadership quality, leadership characteristics, leadership motivation, and leadership training, referred to as leaders’ success factors. The current study hopes that the government can provide focused and comprehensive leadership training programs to ensure leaders perform their duties effectively and efficiently.

Creating an Oncology Practice Plan That Can Change with the Times

In Brief Medical oncologist workflows have changed dramatically in view of precision medicine, new therapeutic agents, and sub-specialization in oncology. Relative value unit (RVU)-based practice plans lack financial incentive for cooperation and sharing of knowledge and patients, which is required for current best practices in cancer care. To improve cooperation and sharing, Aurora Health Care formed a Practice Plan Development Committee of medical oncologists, service line leadership, finance leadership, and a practice plan consultant. The committee established goals that would enhance collaboration, modify physician behavior to meet the needs of the group, allow payment for non-RVU-generating activities, create a more equitable distribution of expertise, facilitate intra-group consultation, and create more evenly developed compensation. A plan was developed to reward non-RVU-generating activities that benefited the cancer program and medical group. This plan included the creation of a pool where a percentage of compensation, above a threshold, was established and equally divided at the end of the calendar year. Citizenship criteria were established to benefit the health system, medical group, and individuals and demonstrably modified behavior. All members of the medical group (physician practice) agreed to move to the new model. It has resulted in continuous improvement of defined goals with reduced variation in income, increased clinical trial volume by 400 percent, and increased sub-specialization within the medical oncology group.

1170Investigation of COVID-19 outbreak in a South West State of Nigeria: Preliminary findings

1170Investigation of COVID-19 outbreak in a South West State of Nigeria: Preliminary findings

Structures and Procedures in Organising College-based Departmentalised Continuous Professional Development Programmes for the Academic Staff of Selected Colleges of Education in the Volta Region of Ghana

Houses are built on sound footing and foundation to make them withstand any hardship in times of storms and other external challenges. The case of continuous professional development is no exception. Continuous professional development programmes that have sound footing prosper throughout their implementation. It is based on this universal fact that this research was conducted into discovering the structures and procedures that would favour the conduct of continuous professional development at the colleges of education. The research was qualitative with case study design and pooled participants from 4 selected colleges of education in the Volta Region of Ghana. Interviews were employed in gathering data from 4 Principals and open-ended questionnaire used for seeking information from 4 Vice Principals and 12 College Tutors. In the findings, the major structures needed for effective organisation of departmentalised continuous professional development at the colleges of education were functional departmental heads, professional development committee, academic planning and quality assurance committee, functional department, academic board, and proactive college management. In respect of infrastructure, faculty development fund, departmental conference hall, and internal policy in the domain. The procedures discovered include general sensitization about the programme, need assessment or skill and knowledge audit of staff, identification of competent resource persons, sourcing for funds, organizing professional development sections with effective supervision of components of the programme and conduct of post reviews for further planning. It was recommended that all colleges should have functional departments and departmental heads including departmental continuous professional development coordinators that would see to organisation of sessions of the continuous professional development.

Endoscopy in patients on antiplatelet or anticoagulant therapy: British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) and European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) guideline update.

This is a collaboration between the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) and the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE), and is a scheduled update of their 2016 guideline on endoscopy in patients on antiplatelet or anticoagulant therapy. The guideline development committee included representatives from the British Society of Haematology, the British Cardiovascular Intervention Society, and two patient representatives from the charities Anticoagulation UK and Thrombosis UK, as well as gastroenterologists. The process conformed to AGREE II principles, and the quality of evidence and strength of recommendations were derived using GRADE methodology. Prior to submission for publication, consultation was made with all member societies of ESGE, including BSG. Evidence-based revisions have been made to the risk categories for endoscopic procedures, and to the categories for risks of thrombosis. In particular a more detailed risk analysis for atrial fibrillation has been employed, and the recommendations for direct oral anticoagulants have been strengthened in light of trial data published since the previous version. A section has been added on the management of patients presenting with acute GI haemorrhage. Important patient considerations are highlighted. Recommendations are based on the risk balance between thrombosis and haemorrhage in given situations.

Predicting Academic Difficulty in Veterinary Medicine: A Case-Control Study.

A veterinary education is costly and time-consuming, so it is in the best interests of applicants and colleges alike that admissions processes be fair and select applicants who are likely to succeed. We employed a case-control study to explore whether any of 28 admissions variables used by a veterinary college located in the Midwest region of the United States predicted which students would encounter academic difficulty in the veterinary curriculum. Participants were selected from the veterinary classes admitted between 2008 and 2017. We defined academic difficulty cases (n = 55) as any students dismissed from the program or placed on academic probation. Controls (n = 220) were selected at random from the same classes, excluding the academic difficulty cases, students with honor code violations, or any who had exited the program early for any reason other than participation in a concurrent program. Admissions variables included gender, citizenship, underrepresented status, state of residence, age, interview scores, GPA (science), GRE scores, undergraduate credits, participation in honors courses, community college credits, repeats/withdrawals of required undergraduate courses, course load, and admissions committee review criteria including work experience, animal/vet experience, references, essays, leadership, personal development, special circumstances, and overall committee score. Zero-order correlations for academic difficulty were significant for underrepresented status, age, GPA (science), verbal and quantitative GRE scores, repeats/withdrawals, and references. When combined in logistic regression, only science GPA, verbal GRE, and references significantly and independently predicted struggler status.