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Born too soon: progress and priorities for respectful and rights-based preterm birth care
No full textProgress: Human rights related to preterm birth encompass access to respectful, evidence-based care; informed consent; protection from discrimination, detention, and unnecessary separation of mother and newborn; and broader social entitlements, such as parental leave and early disability support. Since the 2012 Born Too Soon report, global recognition of these rights has expanded through international treaties, global guidelines, national legal reforms, and social movements. Demand for respectful care, including respectful maternity care and family centred care, has led to its incorporation into global guidelines and policies and a greater evidence-base. However, persistent challenges, such as workforce shortages, discriminatory policies, and the erosion of sexual and reproductive rights, continue to threaten progress. Programmatic Priorities: Ensuring respectful and rights-based preterm birth care requires coordinated action across the continuum of care and across sectors, with the mother–baby dyad at the centre. Programmatic priorities at the individual level include implementing respectful maternity care and family-centred care. Ensuring high-quality, respectful care demands that providers themselves are supported, protected, and empowered to deliver such care. Their well-being is a critical enabler of the rights of patients and an essential component of effective, compassionate service delivery. At the facility-level, health systems must be purposefully designed to safeguard the fundamental human rights of the individuals with them, both care seekers and care providers. Implementing respectful, rights-based care relating to preterm birth requires structural and social changes, as well as robust data systems for accountability. Multi-stakeholder action requires strengthening accountability mechanisms at all levels and partnering with those affected by preterm birth—particularly women, families and healthcare providers—in policy processes, and the design, implementation and monitoring of care
Expatriate adjustment to cross-cultural learning and development among assignees in Nigeria
No full textOrientation: One of the reasons for expatriates’ failure is their inability, as well as that of their families, to adapt and adjust to the host country’s cultural and communication patterns. Research purpose: Most of the multinational corporations (MNCs) struggled with adaptation and ached from cultural astonishment, which usually resulted in repatriation, leaving the company to lose substantial business opportunities. Motivation for the study: As a result, this study examines the influence of cross-cultural training on expatriate adjustment concerning assignees in Nigeria. Research approach/design and method: The study was primarily a survey design using a qualitative method for gathering data through in-depth interviews (IDIs) with expatriates working in companies across Nigeria Southwest. However, a suitable sample size of selected eight assignees was adopted based on the recommendation of the literature. The retrieved data were subjected to thematic analysis using NVIVO Mind analysis. Main findings: Over time, most expatriates could adjust and adapt accordingly because of their longer stays. It was also found that expatriates adjusted more to Nigeria’s communication styles because it is considered a critical aspect needed to thrive and be effective in the workspace. The study enumerated specific challenges such as raising voices while speaking and introducing cultural languages. Practical/managerial implications: Based on constructive research, effective cross-cultural training and support systems are essential for helping expatriates navigate differences and improve their experience in a foreign environment. The MNCs should implement comprehensive cultural awareness training with a manual for expatriates before relocating them. Contribution/value-add: This study analysed how nurturing cross-cultural learning and development for expatriates’ adjustment enhances their willingness to stay abroad
Intercropping the halophyte Tetragonia decumbens Mill. with salt-sensitive Spinacia oleracea L. mitigated salinity stress by enhancing the physiological, biochemical, and nutritional quality of the salt-sensitive species under saline cultivation
No full textIncreasing soil salinity is already having a significant effect on production losses of commercial vegetables around the globe. Thus, the implementation of innovative techniques is crucial to cultivate these vegetables amidst these unfavourable conditions. Halophytes are potential plants for resilient agricultural systems, such as intercropping with glycophytes, to enhance their productivity in saline soils. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the intercropping potential of the halophyte Tetragonia decumbens in alleviating the damaging effects of salinity stress on spinach (Spinacia oleracea). Spinach seedlings were grown alone and in consociation with the halophyte under various salt stresses (50, 100, 150 and 200 mM NaCl). Results showed that increasing salinity reduced crop growth, relative water content, chlorophyll, and nutritional quality of spinach in monocultured system. Similarly, high salinity treatment induced severe oxidative stress depicted by high amounts of superoxide, malondialdehyde and the upregulation of superoxide dismutase, catalase, peroxidase, polyphenols, and flavonoids. Interestingly, intercropped spinach irrigated with 50 and 100 mM revealed a substantial enhancement in crop performance, reduction in oxidative stress and had improved nutritional quality depicted by high amounts of minerals, proximate constituents, and vitamins. These results support the introduction of T. decumbens in vegetable farming systems and highlights its positive impact on improving the overall crop performance of salt sensitive vegetables under saline condition
Votescapes’: Linguistic landscape and party language policy during the 2019 South African election
No full textThis study aims to investigate the use and visibility of languages on election posters through the concept of Linguistic Landscapes (LL). Hence, the following research question was the core of this study: What languages were used during the 2019 national election, and how linguistically inclusive are the election posters? Linguistic Landscapes is not only a purely linguistic phenomenon but rather reflects the reciprocal relationship between Linguistic Landscapes and the surrounding communities, their language usage, and society at large. Data collection took place in three provinces of South Africa: the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, and North West, resulting in 218 photographs of election posters. Two provinces with a clear dominance of one African Language and one very multilingual province were chosen. Within those three provinces, a more rural and semi-urban research site in the North West and in the Eastern Cape were selected, and a few residential areas in the metropolitan area of Johannesburg. Political parties differed significantly in their ‘votescape’, their linguistic landscape and their party language policies during their 2019 national election campaigns. The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), frequently used African languages and ran an inclusive campaign, considering regional language concentrations despite their vague party language policy. By contrast, another opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), used an exclusively English approach. This was quite surprising, as this party aims to portray itself as ‘grounded’ and can be seen as a nationalist party. Further, their political agenda favours African languages in their party programme. The African National Congress’ (ANC) strategy also included African Languages in their campaign, and those became visible in the ‘Votescape’ the election Linguistic Landscapes on the election posters. Linguistic and cultural hybridity did occur but only appeared on isolated election posters. Overall, most parties mainly used English, and the VF PLUS mainly used Afrikaans. The only party visibility score with a more balanced language distribution was that of the DA. African languages were under-represented, and there were significant geographical differences and between the competing parties. With North West Setswana was very visible on election posters and some isiXhosa was visible on the Votescape in Eastern Cape, but far more different African Languages were visible in the multilingual province of Gauteng
In search of truth: In memory of Balraj Singh
No full textBorn in Punjab (India) in December 1941, Balraj Singh is not only the single most prolific nuclear data evaluator and disseminator of nuclear structure and decay data with 148 evaluations in Nuclear Data Sheets — 85 as the first and often only author — plus other journals, but his upmost curiosity and dedication brought him to be one of the finest nuclear physicists, with an everlasting influence on many of us. Balraj passed away about a year ago on 9 October 2023 in Ottawa, Ontario (Canada) at the age of 81, and at Atomic Data and Nuclear Data Tables we would like to commemorate some of his scientific achievements
Assessment for sustainable water utilization from the Huixian karst wetland in Guilin of China
No full textKarst wetland as a special type of the inland wetland has significant ecological functions and associates socio-economic values. Huixian karst wetland located in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the southwest of China providesthe irreplaceable goods and services for local development, as the focus of the study in this thesis. With the urbanization in terms of population growth and housing construction, however, Huixian wetland was kept in change in land use practices and increase in local use of water resources over time, especially in the past 40 years. The wetland suffers from shrinkage in size at an alarm rate and serious degradation of ecological functioning. It takes much negative effects on local residential livelihood and economic development. This thesis focuses on the core area of Huixian wetland as the study area aiming to assess its water utilization while maintaining the currently ecological health. Considering the complex hydrogeologic regimes of the wetland itself and the lack of historical monitoring data on hydrology locally, a methodology consisting of multimethods and techniques were reviewed and adapted at a macro scale of the problem, including field surveys, water balance, remote sensing (RS), geographic information system (GIS), ecological water requirement and numerical simulation. At the beginning of the study, the dedicated field geomorphological investigations for many times were carried out, which assisted for understanding of the relationship of each component and the water circulation paths of the study area and paved the way for the follow-up methods. The application of the RS and GIS were used to extract the spatial and temporal https://uwcscholar.uwc.ac.za/home 2 change of the hydrological regimes, land use and growth condition of aquatic vegetations over the study area during long-term period, which were used to patch up the absence of long-term monitoring data. Based on the analysis results, ecological water requirement of wetland was determined in terms of selected the indicator of the aquatic vegetation for limiting factor to control the water utilization, in order to avoid continued loss of the wetland function further more. And then, a hydrogeological conceptual model was built to simulate the groundwater flow regime. A zone of mobile groundwater divides within the wetland catchment between Lake Mudong and Fenshui Pond was conceptualized and verified as opposed to a postulated single fixed line of a watershed. The zone or belt of drifting divides occurred, whereas a crucial role of Lake Mudong it the belt formulation was analyzed. Based on this study, it was concluded that the impact of the supply water scenario of less than 20% withdrawal of groundwater recharge for meeting sustainable water utilization of local community was the acceptable margin of the fluctuation in order to maintain the current wetland integrity and health without getting further degradation
Exploring on- and off-site waste management practices of informal dwellers in South Africa
No full textHousehold waste is a major contributor to environmental pollution and health issues. This article explores waste management practices at the household level in low-income informal housing areas in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. The data collection consisted of a waste baseline assessment of household waste management and mapping and analysing illegal dumping spots in the immediate vicinity of the informal areas. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics 29. None of the municipalities in the study provides outside bins to households in informal areas. Approximately eighty-four percent (83.8%) of households in the study area receive some form of refuse removal, but illegal dumping was found in all areas. The results show that weekly collection of waste is not sufficient due to the limited space available to informal dwellers. Engagement with communities is important to collaboratively co-design locally appropriate ways of managing waste
French military intervention in the Sahel: assessing the prospects of lasting security through the use of military force in Mali since 2013.
No full textIn 2012 the northern based Tuareg rebels launched a rebellion against the Malian government in which they sought to establish an Azawad state in northern Mali. The Tuareg uprising was later joined by Islamists whose aim was to establish Sharia law in the country. As the Tuareg and Islamists advanced towards Bamako, the capital of Mali, the government requested the assistance of the French government help to repel the attacks and secure the territorial integrity of Mali. This research examines the French military involvement in Mali since 2013 when the country almost fell to jihadists, assessing the French military’s ability to help the Malian government to achieve lasting security for its people as it was one of the main reasons for the intervention. This study mainly focused on Mali’s security situation at the advent of the French military operation, throughout the intervention and comparing it to the insecurity observed by the time the French withdrew its forces. The central question to be investigated in this study is ‘what are the reasons for the lack of improved security in Mali since the French military intervention in 2013?’. At the initial stage of the operation, there was optimism and praise for the French forces but by the date of the withdrawal of French forces, Mali’s insecurity had increased, and the relief and optimism that was once held disappeared. The security situation in the whole country has worsened. The objective of the study is to explore the complexities around the conflict, mainly the historical root causes, and how they have contributed to the failure of the French forces in improving the security of Mali and to demonstrate the need to address the root causes of the conflict
Effects of acidic and alkaline electrolyzed water treatments on the volatilomics and proteomics changes in fresh-cut apple during storage
No full textElectrolyzed water (EW) has shown potential to decontaminate and maintain the quality of fresh-cut apple; however, the underlying response of the product to this treatment remains unclear. Thus, this study aims to identify the possible quality regulation mechanisms of acidic electrolyzed water (AEW) and alkaline electrolyzed water (ALEW) treatments on fresh-cut ‘Granny Smith’ apples via volatile organic compound (VOC) and qualitative proteomics analysis during storage at 2 °C for 10 days. The results identified 43 VOCs, including 10 esters, 9 alcohols, 9 alkanes, 8 carboxylic acids, 6 ketones, and 1 aldehyde. The distribution of VOCs was significantly affected by the pretreatment conditions; fresh-cut apple treated with AEW was characterised by the highest number of esters, alcohols, and carboxylic acids, whereas samples treated with ALEW exhibited predominantly carboxylic acids, alcohols, and alkanes in comparison to control (untreated) samples. Ethyl dodecanoate, which was identified only in the ALEW samples on each sampling day, had the highest concentration among all the individual VOCs. The proteomics results showed that a total of 3434, 3401, and 3313 proteins were identified on day 3, 6, and 10, respectively, across all samples. Until day 6 of storage, no significant differences were observed among the samples. Notably, on day 6, “M16C_associated domain-containing protein” was shown to be unique to the control samples. KH type-2 domain-containing protein, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), and 1,4-alpha-glucan branching enzyme were unique proteins identified after AEW treatment at day 6 and 10 of storage. No unique protein was identified for the ALEW samples. These results provide the first report of the proteomic and volatilomic changes associated with EW-treated fresh-cut apple during storage
Asymmetrical curcumin derivative: synthesis, structural exploration, hirshfeld surface analysis, and computational study
No full textCurcumin derivatives are bioactive compounds with a linear structure and an α,β-unsaturated β-diketone moiety. the chemical reaction of 3-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzaldehyde and cinnamaldehyde in dmf in the presence of acetylacetone and boric oxide mixture resulted in the synthesis of a curcumin derivative named as (1e,4z,6e,8e)-5-hydroxy-1-(4-hydroxy-3- methoxyphenyl)-9-phenylnona-1,4,6,8-tetraen-3-one (hpto). the compound was characterized by ft-ir, ms, 1h-, and 13c-nmr. moreover, crystal structure was determined by single crystal xrd analysis, which displayed the presence of a solvent molecule along with the main molecule (hpto). the geometry of the main molecule was stabilized by intramolecular o–h···o bonding. the molecule adopted a non-planar conformation with a dihedral angle between phenyl rings of 35.1 (1)°. the supramolecular assembly was stabilized by numerous intermolecular interactions that were explored by hirshfeld surface analysis. interaction energy calculations were carried out at b3lyp/6-31 g(d,p) electron density level to support the experimental fndings. void analysis was performed in order to predict the response of the crystal to the applied stress. the compound was studied using the dft method, employing the 6-311 g(d,p) basis set, to evaluate its electronic and quantum chemical properties. frontier molecular orbitals and density of states analyses revealed an energy gap of 3.08 ev. this fnding indicates the compound’s signifcant chemical reactivity and potential for notable biological activity. molecular docking studies were performed to evaluate the compound’s potential as a cancer treatment medication candidate. by employing a multidisciplinary methodology, this research provides a thorough understanding of the compound’s structural features, chemical properties, and prospective pharmaceutical applications, paving the way for its development in cancer treatment