4254 research outputs found
Sort by
Assessment of growth monitoring among children younger than five years at early childhood development (ECD) centres in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa
No full textIntroductionEarly childhood development (ECD) centres are important community hubs in South Africa and act as sites for community detection of childhood nutrition problems. This study aimed to assess the ability of trained ECD practitioners with optimal support to correctly classify the nutritional status of infants and young children at ECD centres in the Nelson Mandela Bay.MethodsA descriptive, cross-sectional study was used to collect data from 1645 infants and children at 88 ECD centres. Anthropometric measurements were taken by trained fieldworkers and growth monitoring and promotion infrastructure was audited at ECD centres.ResultsOf the sample, 4.4% (n = 72) were underweight by weight for age Z-score (WAZ < −2) and 0.8% (n = 13) were severely underweight (WAZ < −3). Results showed that 13.1% (n = 214) were stunted by height for age Z-score (HAZ < −2) and 4.5% (n = 74) were severely stunted (HAZ < −3). The prevalence of moderate acute malnutrition was 1.2% and severe acute malnutrition was 0.5%, while the prevalence of overweight was 9.2% and the prevalence of obesity was 4%. A significant level of agreement between the correct interpretation and the ECD practitioners' interpretation was observed across all the anthropometric indicators investigated. The true positive wasting cases had a mean mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) of 14.6 cm, which may explain the high false negative rate found in terms of children identified with wasting, where ECD practitioners fail to use the weight for height Z-score (WHZ) interpretation for screening.ConclusionBy using ECD centres as hub to screen for malnutrition, it may contribute to the early identification of failure to thrive among young children. Although it was concerning that trained ECD practitioners are missing some children with an unacceptably high false negative rate, it may have been due to the fact that wasting in older children cannot be identified with MUAC alone and that accurate WFH plotting is needed. Onsite mentorship by governmental health workers may provide ECD practitioners with more confidence to screen children for growth failure based on regular WFH measurements. Moreover, ECD practitioners will be more confident to monitor the Road to Health booklets for missed vaccinations, vitamin A and deworming opportunities
Intellectual Capital and Competitiveness Improvement among Micro-Small-Medium Enterprises:A Resource Orchestration View
Full text linkPurposeThe study aims to test the framework that proposes the role of resources (intellectual capital) in mobilizing entrepreneurial orientation that influences the competitiveness improvement of micro-small-medium enterprises (MSMEs) under the lens of resource orchestration theory.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, 347 respondents from the MSMEs participated through a structured questionnaire. For the data analysis purpose, the structural equation modeling technique was employed using SmartPLS software.FindingsThe results suggest human, structural, and relational capital are significant antecedents of entrepreneurial orientation, which leads to competitiveness improvement. The findings also indicate the mediation role of entrepreneurial orientation between intellectual capital and competitiveness improvement.Practical implicationsThe current study presumably will supplement the promising research effort to progress the research orchestration theory and also could be a strategic guideline for the managers/owners of the MSMEs.Originality/valueThis study is possibly a novel attempt to divulge the association between intellectual capital (tripartite model) and competitiveness improvement of firms under the lens of resource orchestration theory
More than metrics: The role of socio- environmental factors in determining the success of athlete monitoring
Full text linkThe perceived value of athlete monitoring systems (AMS) has recently been questioned. Poor perceptions of AMS are important, because where practitioners lack confidence in monitoring their ability to influence programming, and performance is likely diminished. To address this, researchers have primarily sought to improve factors related to monitoring metrics, e.g., validity rather than socio-environmental factors, e.g., buy-in. Seventy-five practitioners (response rate: n = 30) working with Olympic and Paralympic athletes were invited to take part in a survey about their perceptions of AMS value. Fifty-two per cent (n = 13) was confident in the sensitivity of their athlete self-report measures, but only 64% (n = 16), indicated their monitoring was underpinned by scientific evidence. A scientific base was associated with improved athlete feedback (r S (23) = 0.487, p =0.014*) and feedback correlated with athlete monitoring adherence (r S (22) = 0.675, p = <0.001**). If athletes did not complete their monitoring, 52% (n = 13) of respondents felt performance might be compromised. However, most respondents 56% (n = 14), had worked with internationally successful athlete(s) who did not complete their monitoring. While AMS can be a useful tool to aid performance optimisation, its potential value is not always realised. Addressing socio-environmental factors alongside metric-factors may improve AMS efficacy. </p
Forensic Expert Evidence: Research Approaches to Judicial, Juror and Lawyer Decision-Making
No full textIn the United States, forensic science is vital for solving crimes, with forensic experts routinely testifying in legal proceedings. In doing so, forensic experts interact with key legal actors. Judges will determine the admissibility of the expert’s evidence, deliver jury instructions, and decide appeals. Lawyers will present and challenge the expert evidence, and jurors will weigh the evidence as part of determining a verdict. In this space, advances in DNA testing have led to concerns about the reliability of expert opinions concerning forensic comparison techniques like fingerprint and firearm analysis, which have served the criminal justice system for decades. The National Academy of Sciences has reported on these concerns, including the limitations of judges, lawyers, and jurors when it comes to understanding forensic science evidence. Against this backdrop, this chapter shares three research approaches developed by the authors to deepen understanding of judicial, juror, and lawyer decision-making about forensic science in context. It concludes with ideas for future research, including the relevance of these approaches to legal debates in England and Wales, Canada, and Australia
SHACL2FOL: An FOL Toolkit for SHACL Decision Problems
Full text linkRecent studies on the Shapes Constraint Language (SHACL), a W3C specification for validating RDF graphs, rely on translating the language into first-order logic in order to provide formally-grounded solutions to the validation, containment and satisfiability decision problems. Continuing on this line of research, we introduce SHACL2FOL, the first automatic tool that (i) translates SHACL documents into FOL sentences and (ii) computes the answer to the two static analysis problems of satisfiability and containment; it also allow to test the validity of a graph with respect to a set of constraints. By integrating with existing theorem provers, such as E and Vampire, the tool computes the answer to the aforementioned decision problems and outputs the corresponding first-order logic theories in the standard TPTP format. We believe this tool can contribute to further theoretical studies of SHACL, by providing an automatic first-order logic interpretation of its semantics, while also benefiting SHACL practitioners, by supplying static analysis capabilities to help the creation and management of SHACL constraints
Realising Multiphase Archaeological Reconstruction Models:3D Printing the Old Minster, Winchester
No full textThis article presents an exploration of the processes used in the development of a 3D printed model of an early medieval church building, Winchester's Old Minster (c.640-1093), establishing a process for the representation of multi-phase buildings in both digital and 3D-printed media. The multi-phase case study lends to itself to enhancing pedagogical methods as well as academic uses such as comparative analysis and scrutinising architectural categorisation. Through the pursuit of this process, it is found that the further publication of reconstructed elevation heights for archaeological is needed. The purpose of the exercise was to test the applicability of 3D printing for the purposes of the representation of heritage assets and develop methodologies
