10 research outputs found
Seroprevalence of contagious caprine pleuropneumonia in Kefta Humera, Alamata (Tigray) and Aba-‘ala (Afar), Northern Ethiopia
No full textA cross sectional study was conducted to determine the sero-prevalence of contagious caprine pleuroneumonia in three districts of Tigray and Afar regions of Ethiopia namely; Kefta Humera, Alamata and Aba-‘alla. Proportions and chi-square test statistics were used to analyze the data. From a total of 863 goats and 137 sheep tested, 282 (32.68%) and 25 (18.25%) were positive for antibodies of Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae respectively using complement fixation test (CFT). The seroprevalence of CCPP in goats among the three districts was statistically significant (x2 = 76.00, p < 0.001). In this study there was no statistical significant variation in the seroprevalence of CCPP in both sexes (x2 = 3.619, p = 0.0571) and age (x2 = 0.990, p = 0.095) groups. The finding of high seroprevalence of CCPP in sheep (18.25%) could indicate that sheep are potential carriers of Mccp.Ethiopian Science and Technology Agency (ESTA
Factors Affecting the Job Satisfaction of Female Employees in Karachi
No full textPakistan is a developing country where the corporate sector is experiencing the increasing trend of female employees in organizations so, it is very important for organizations to determine the factors which enhance the female’s job satisfaction. The study aims to measure the relationship of work life balance amongst female employee with the diversity management, the career advancement and leadership style on female employee job satisfaction in Karachi. A total of 185 female employees from different industries of Karachi participated in this study. The results of the regression analysis for the overall model indicates that the predictors work life balance, diversity management, career advancement and leadership style with job satisfaction explain 57% of the variance (R2=0.567, F (4, 185) =59.046, p<.05), which according to Cohen(1998) is a large effect. The results displayed that work life balance; diversity management and leadership style have positive and significant impact on female employees’ job satisfaction while career advancement has no impact on job satisfaction of females in Karachi. This study is helpful for managers and regulatory authorities to devise policies and procedures to enhance the level of satisfaction for their work force and eventually improve the performance of organizations.Keywords: career advancement,diversity management, job satisfaction, leadership style, work life balanc
Antecedents to Employee Engagement and Moderating Role of Climate for Innovation and Mediating Role of Employee Psychological Wellbeing
No full textEmployee engagement is necessary for the growth and sustainability of firms. Many past studies have used different antecedents of employee engagement, including commitment, psychological well-being, and other organizational-related outcomes. However, a few studies have examined the moderating effect of climate for innovation on ESMU and EE. Given its importance, we have developed a conceptual framework that examines the impact of ESMU, EPWB, and EC on EE and the effect of ESMU on EPW. The study also examined the moderating effect of CFI on ESMU and EE. The study has focused on Pakistan's textile sector; employment generation and contribution towards GDP are significantly higher than in other industries. Based on the data collected from the targeted textile sector and using smart PLS, we found the study supports all the hypotheses, aligning with the past literature. The study also documents employee SMU, EPWB, and EC promote EE. Employee SMU promotes EPWB. EPWB mediates ESMU and EE. CFI moderates ESMU and EE. The study increased the generalizability of Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory (1977), as our results support all the proposed hypotheses. We recommend firms must focus on creating an innovative environment. Employees suggest new ideas about new business processes and innovation in such an environment. New ideas may not always result in innovative products but may increase employee involvement and engagement. Many leading firms have made a policy in which all the employees have to give new ideas perpetually, producing good results. Textile firms in Pakistan may adopt and implement this policy. Therefore, we recommend firms must focus on creating an innovative environment. Employees suggest new ideas about new business processes and innovation in such an environment.
Trying to make sense of the chaos: Clinical psychologists' experiences and perceptions of clients with borderline personality disorder'
No full textBackground Evidence of negative perceptions of clients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) in mental health professionals has been well documented. However, few researchers have focused upon perspectives of clinical psychologists on this client group. The aim of the present research was to explore clinical psychologists' experiences and perceptions of clients with BPD. Method Sixteen female clinical psychologists (including trainees and qualified staff) participated in focus groups, 12 of whom had direct clinical experience with this client group. All four groups' audio recordings were transcribed verbatim and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (Smith, 1996). Results The following eight superordinate themes emerged from the analysis: negative perceptions of the client, undesirable feelings in the psychologist, positive perceptions of the client, desirable feelings in the psychologist, awareness of negativity, trying to make sense of the chaos, working in contrast to the system and improving our role. Discussion Implications include concerns regarding negativity, yet also the suggestion of hope and optimism in working with this client group. Copyright (C) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.</p
Sesame Plant Disease Classification Using Deep Convolution Neural Networks
No full textMonitoring sesame plant health and detecting disease early are essential to reducing disease spread and facilitate effective management practices. In this research, we developed an image classification model to detect bacterial blight-infected, phyllody-infected, and healthy sesame crops. Since images were necessary to carry out this study, we collected 2300 images at the Gondar and Humera Agriculture Research Centers and directly from the field in Metema. Since the collected images were limited, to increase the number of images in the dataset, we used image augmentation with different variations. In the image preprocessing step, we used a median filter for noise filtering, and contrast stretching techniques were used for image contrast and brightness enhancement. SegNet semantic segmentation, which is deep convolution neural network-based architecture, was used to segment the leaf part of the image from the background. In the feature extraction and classification steps, a deep convolutional neural network was used. Finally, we evaluated the proposed model and compared it with two recent deep convolution neural network models, namely, Xception and InceptionV3. The proposed model for the classification of sesame diseases achieved better accuracy, with 96.67% testing accuracy, 97.78% validation accuracy, and 98% training accuracy
Sesame (Sesame indicum L.) Crop Production in Ethiopia: Trends, Challenges and Future Prospects Keywords: Sesame Production Trend Oil Content Challenges Opportunities *Corresponding Author
No full textAbstract Article Information The Aim of this paper is to review the importance of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) oil crop, production status in Ethiopia, constraints, potentials and future opportunities. Sesame is one of the most important high value oil crops in Ethiopia contributing high foreign currency. Sesame oil is useful edible oil and has wide applications. Different reports indicate that the sesame production is increasing from year to year which is mainly driven by high current market demand and suitability of environmental factors. For instance, the recent five years data indicated that the production is growing at the rate of about 54% in parallel with an increased area coverage of about 45% during the same years indicating a yield gain from extensive farming system. The production is concentrated in South western and north western parts of Ethiopian. The three commonly used sesame commercial varieties in these areas are known by their brand name as Humera, Gondar and Wollega types. The presence of genetic diversity in sesame genetic resources, proximity of Ethiopia to the international market, an increased demand for Ethiopian sesame, the presence of relatively high oil content of sesame cultivars and suitability of environmental condition for sesame growth will give high opportunity for Ethiopia to improve the crop. Therefore, to increase yield potential and quality of sesame crop and achieve better profit requires the collaborative efforts of all stake holders in capacity building on sesame crop improvement and post harvest handling of the crop, development of high yielding widely adapted cultivars with better resistance to diseases and pests, development of improved agronomic and managemental practices, environmental clustering for high oil quality and creating a capacity to process the sesame and/or oil seeds in the country
Megadrypta Sciaky & Anichtchenko 2020, nov. gen.
No full textMegadrypta nov. gen. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: C761E2C3-27BD-441E-9A38-125 A36679 AD0 Type species Megadrypta mirabilis sp. n. by monotypy. Etymology. Prefix “ Mega -“ refers to the unusual large size of the only known species, and Drypta to the nominotypical genus of the tribe. Diagnosis. This new genus can be easily distinguished from all the other known genera by the combination of: pronotal lateral bead well marked (fig. 12), tarsal claws smooth, completely reduced humera and hind wings, smooth stylomere (fig. 4) and presence of 7 to 8 periscutellar pores on elytra; pronotum very elongate, constricted near anterior margin and near base, with elevated median part along median line, antennae rather short, with antennomere 1 nearly as long as the sum of antennomeres 2–7 together. Systematic notes. The systematic position of this genus is in our opinion near the genera Nesiodrypta and Prionodrypta. These three genera, in fact, share two important characters, namely the lateral margins of pronotum completely beaded and the stylomere much longer and more curved, with at most one small setae on each side, beyond the claws completely smooth. The occurrence of these two characters seem to us to suggest a true relationship among these three genera. Jeannel alone (1949) had noticed the relationship between Nesiodrypta and Prionodrypta, not followed by any subsequent author. The discovery of Megadrypta is certainly unexpected, but this genus seems to fit into the group, possibly of Gondwanian origin, including the other two above-mentioned genera.Published as part of Sciaky, Riccardo & Anichtchenko, Alexander, 2020, Taxonomic notes on the tribe Dryptini Bonelli, 1810 with description of a new genus and species from China (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Dryptini), pp. 522-530 in Zootaxa 4731 (4) on page 525, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4731.4.5, http://zenodo.org/record/366198
Effect of ellagic acid on growth and physiology of canola (Brassica napus L.) under saline conditions
No full textSalinity stress is limiting growth and productivity of plants in many areas of the world. Plants adopted different strategies to minimize the effect of salt stress. A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the morphological and physiological changes produced in Canola (Brassica napus) by exogenous application of ellagic acid (EA) under saline conditions. EA is an antioxidant, expected to reduce the effect of salinity stress. The seeds of two canola cultivars, Rainbow and Oscar, were soaked for 6 h with different concentrations of EA (0, 55 and 110 µg/ml). The soaked seeds were sown in small pots. Salt stress was imposed on the plants by applying NaCl solutions of different concentrations (0, 60 and 120 mM) and the duration of stress was for four weeks. Salinity stress reduced seed germination and disturbed the morphological and physiological attributes of B. napus. Application of EA as seed soaking reduced the effect of salinity and enhanced the growth of plants. Overall, we could confirm a significant role of EA by inducing salinity tolerance in B. napus.© 2017 The Author(s
A worked example of initial theory-building: PARTNERS2 collaborative care for people who have experienced psychosis in England
No full textThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this record.In this paper we present an exemplar of the initial theory-building phase of Theory-driven Evaluation (TDE) for the PARTNERS2 project, a collaborative care intervention for people with experience of psychosis in England. Initial theory-building involved analysis of literature, interviews with key leaders, and focus groups with service users. The initial programme theory (IPT) was developed from these sources in an iterative process between researchers and stakeholders (service users, practitioners, commissioners) involving four activities: articulation of 442 explanatory statements systematically developed using realist methods; debate and consensus; communication; interrogation. We refute two criticisms of TDE of complex interventions. We demonstrate how the process of initial theory-building made a meaningful contribution to our complex intervention in five ways. Although time consuming, it allowed us to develop an internally coherent and well documented intervention. This study and the lessons learnt provide a detailed resource for other researchers wishing to build theory for TDE.National Institute for Health Research (NIHR
The effectiveness of a primary care based collaborative care model to improve quality of life in people with severe mental illness: the PARTNERS2 cluster randomised controlled trial
No full textThis is the final version. Available on open access from Cambridge University Press via the DOI in this recordData Availability and Governance Statement:
Anonymised data may be made available by request to corresponding author. The study protocol has been
published and a link to statistical analysis plan is included in the paper. CONSORT 2010 guidelines were
followed in the reporting of this trial.
Several authors had full access to all the data in the study and had final responsibility for the decision to submit
for publication.
Changes from the original funding proposal include, following pilot work, a funded extension for a full trial
(rather than an external pilot trial as originally funded), which is described in the published protocol, trial
registry and statistical analysis plan.
The discrepancies from the published protocol included provision of top up training for existing practitioners
during the trial, changes made in response to COVID-19 included online delivery and remote data collection.
The study protocol and statistical analysis plan have been publishedBackground
Individuals living with severe mental illness can have significant emotional, physical and social challenges.
Collaborative Care combines clinical and organisational components.
Aim
We tested whether a primary care-based Collaborative Care model (PARTNERS) would improve quality of life
for people with diagnoses of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or other psychoses compared to usual care.
Methods
A general practice-based cluster randomised controlled superiority trial (ISRCTN 95702682). Practices were
recruited from four English regions and allocated (1:1) to intervention or control. Individuals receiving limited
input in secondary care or who were under primary care only were eligible. The 12-month PARTNERS
intervention incorporated person centred coaching support and liaison work. The primary outcome was change
in Manchester Short Assessment of Quality of Life (MANSA).
Results
We allocated 39 general practices, with 198 participants, to the PARTNERS intervention (20 practices; 116
participants) or control (19 practices; 82 participants). Primary outcome data were available for 99 (85.3%)
intervention and 71 (86.6%) control participants. Mean change in overall MANSA score did not differ between
the groups (0.25 (s.d. 0.73) for intervention vs 0.21 (s.d. 0.86) for control); estimated fully adjusted between group difference 0.03, 95% CI -0.25 to 0.31; p=0.819. Acute mental health episodes (safety outcome) included
three crises among those receiving the intervention and four among those not.
Conclusion
There was no evidence of a difference in quality of life, as measured with the MANSA, between those receiving
the PARTNERS intervention and usual care. Shifting care to primary care was not associated with increased
adverse outcomesNational Institute for Health Research (NIHR
