196,362 research outputs found
Behavioral surveillance during and after the 2014–2016 Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone
No full textBackground: The first documented case of Ebola Virus Disease (Ebola) in Sierra Leone was confirmed in May 2014 in Kailahun district after cases had been reported in Guinea and Liberia. Ebola is transmitted through contact with infected blood, stool, and other bodily fluids. Transmission risk in West Africa was driven by traditional burials involving physical contact with corpses, caring for infected persons without adequate protection, and delaying medical care. Sexual transmission due to viral persistence in the semen of male survivors posed an additional risk. Experimental Ebola vaccine candidates were implemented to curb transmission among health workers and other high–risk individuals. Reporting of all deaths to a national toll–free line (1–1–7 system) was mandated so that burials could be handled by teams trained in infection prevention and control.Aim: To understand trends in population–level Ebola knowledge, attitudes and prevention practices throughout different stages of the outbreak, acceptability of experimental Ebola vaccines at the peak of the outbreak and reporting of deaths after the outbreak ended.Methods: Four cross–sectional household surveys (N=10,603) were conducted using multi– stage cluster sampling in August 2014, October 2014, December 2014, and July 2015 to measure trends in Ebola–related knowledge, attitudes, and prevention practices (KAP). In– depth interviews (N=31) and focus group discussions (N=35) were conducted with health workers, frontline workers, and community members between December 2014 and January 2014 to understand acceptability of Ebola vaccine. Population–level demand for Ebola vaccine was assessed in a national household survey in December 2014 (N=3,540). After the outbreak ended, in 2017, motivations and barriers related to death reporting were assessed through a national telephone survey (N=1,291) and in–depth interviews (N=32). Quantitative data were analyzed using multilevel and ordered logistic regression modeling to examine various associations. Content analysis was used to identify cross–cutting themes in the qualitative data.Results: Ebola–related knowledge, attitudes, and prevention practices improved throughout the outbreak, especially in high–transmission regions. For example, when comparing before and after the peak of the outbreak, avoidance of physical contact with suspected Ebola patients nearly doubled in high–transmission areas (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.9 [95% confidence interval 1.4–2.5]). Acceptability of Ebola vaccine was discouraged by safety related concerns but encouraged by altruistic motivation to help end the outbreak. Nationally, 74% of the public expressed high demand for Ebola vaccine, which was associated with wanting to be the first to get the vaccine compared to wanting politicians to be the first to get the vaccine (aOR 13.0; [7.8–21.6]). The number of deaths reported to the 1–1–7 system nationally in 2017 after the outbreak had ended represented nearly 12% of the expected deaths in the country versus almost 34% in 2016 and as much as 100% in 2015; albeit not accounting for potential duplicate reporting. After the Ebola outbreak, motivation to report deaths was greater if the decedent experienced one or more Ebola–like symptoms compared to none (aOR 2.3 [1.8–2.9]. Barriers to reporting deaths after the outbreak were driven by the lack of awareness to report all deaths, lack of reciprocal benefits linked to reporting, and negative experiences from the outbreak.Conclusions: Ebola prevention practices improved nationally during the outbreak in Sierra Leone, but the magnitude of improvement was greater in high–transmission regions compared to low–transmission regions. Understanding the drivers of Ebola vaccine acceptability and demand was important to inform ethical and cultural considerations in the implementation of experimental Ebola vaccines. While the 1–1–7 system was ramped up to capture nearly all deaths during the outbreak, reporting substantially declined after the outbreak ended. Failure to report deaths after the outbreak was due to lack of awareness to report all deaths and lack of perceived benefits to report in the post–Ebola–outbreak setting. Nevertheless, knowledge and experiences from the Ebola outbreak increasingly motivated people to report deaths that exhibited Ebola–like symptoms. Post–Ebola–outbreak settings offer an opportunity to implement routine mortality surveillance, however, substantial social mobilization efforts may be required to optimize reporting.List of scientific papersI. Jalloh MF, Sengeh P, Bunnell RE, Jalloh MB, Monasch R, Li W, Mermin J, DeLuca N, Brown V, Nur SA, August EM, Ransom RL, Namageyo–Funa A, Clements SA, Dyson M, Hageman K, Pratt SA, Nuriddin A, Carroll DD, Hawk N, Manning C, Hersey S, Marston BJ, Kilmarx PH, Conteh L, Ekström AM, Zeebari Z, Redd JT, Nordenstedt H, Morgan O. Evidence of behaviour change during an Ebola virus disease outbreak, Sierra Leone. Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 2020;98(5):330–340B. https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.19.245803 II. Jalloh MF, Jalloh MB, Albert A, Wolff B, Callis A, Ramakrishnan A, Cramer E, Sengeh P, Pratt SA, Conteh L, Hajjeh R, Bunnell R, Redd JT, Ekström AM, Nordenstedt H. Perceptions and acceptability of an experimental Ebola vaccine among health care workers, frontline staff, and the general public during the 2014–2015 Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone. Vaccine. 2019;37(11):1495–1502. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.01.046 III. Jalloh MF, Wallace A, Bunnell RE, Carter R, Redd JT, Nur SA, Zeebari Z, Ekström AM, Nordenstedt H. Ebola vaccine? Family first! Evidence from using a brief measure on Ebola vaccine demand in a national household survey during the outbreak in Sierra Leone. Vaccine. 2020; 8(22):3854–3861. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.03.044 IV. Jalloh MF, Kaiser R, Diop M, Jambai A, Redd JT, Bunnell RE, Castle E, Alpren C, Hersey S, Ekström AM, Nordenstedt H. National reporting of deaths after enhanced Ebola surveillance in Sierra Leone. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008624 V. Jalloh MF, Kinsman J, Conteh J, Kaiser R, Jambai A, Ekström AM, Bunnell RE, Nordenstedt H. Barriers and facilitators to death reporting following Ebola surveillance in Sierra Leone: Implications for sustainable mortality surveillance. [Submitted]</p
West African agriculture and climate change: A comprehensive analysis
No full textThis book examins the food security threats facing 11 of the countries that make up West Africa - Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo - and explores how climate change will increase the efforts needed to achieve sustainable food security throughout the region. West Africa's population is expected to grow at least through mid-century. The region will also see income growth. Both will put increased pressure on the natural resources needed to produce food, and climate change makes the challenges greater.Overview 1, Abdulai Jalloh, Mbène Dièye Faye, Harold Roy-Macauley, Paco Sérémé, Robert Zougmoré, Timothy S. Thomas, and Gerald C. Nelson;
Methodology 37, Gerald C. Nelson, Amanda Palazzo, Daniel Mason-d’Croz, Richard Robertson, and Timothy S. Thomas;
Benin 53, Agnidé Emmanuel Lawin, P. B. Irénikatché Akponikpè, Abdulai Jalloh, Gerald C. Nelson, and Timothy S. Thomas;
Burkina Faso 79, Léopold Somé, Abdulai Jalloh, Robert Zougmoré, Gerald C. Nelson, and Timothy S. Thomas;
Côte d’Ivoire 111, Kadio Ahossane, Abdulai Jalloh, Gerald C. Nelson, and Timothy S. Thomas;
Ghana 141, Delali Kofi Nutsukpo, Abdulai Jalloh, Robert Zougmoré, Gerald C. Nelson, and Timothy S. Thomas;
Guinea 173, Sidafa Condé, Abdulai Jalloh, Gerald C. Nelson, and Timothy S. Thomas;
Liberia 203, Benjamin S. Karmorh Jr., Abdulai Jalloh, Gerald C. Nelson, and Timothy S. Thomas;
Niger 233, Hassane Yayé, Adamou Danguioua, Abdulai Jalloh, Robert Zougmoré, Gerald C. Nelson, and Timothy S. Thomas;
Nigeria 259, Shuaib M. Hassan, Celestine E. Ikuenobe, Abdulai Jalloh, Gerald C. Nelson, and Timothy S. Thomas;
Senegal 291, Mamadou Khouma, Abdulai Jalloh, Timothy S. Thomas, and Gerald C. Nelson;
Sierra Leone 323, Raymond G. Johnson, Mohamed Kandeh, Abdulai Jalloh, Gerald C. Nelson, and Timothy S. Thomas;
Togo 353, Abiziou Tchinguilou, Abdulai Jalloh, Timothy S. Thomas, and Gerald C. Nelson;
Summary and Conclusions 383, Abdulai Jalloh, Mbène Dièye Faye, Harold Roy-Macauley, Paco Sérémé, Robert Zougmoré, Timothy S. Thomas, and Gerald C. NelsonPRIFPRI1; CRP7; CRP2EPTD; PIMCGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS); CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM
Dr. Duane M. Jackson, Morehouse College, July 2011
No full textThis video is a conversation with Dr. Duane M. Jackson. Dr. Jackson talks about his paper, "Recall and the Serial Position Effect: The Role of Primacy and Recency on Accounting Students' Performance." Jackie Daniel, AUC Woodruff Library, is the interviewer
"Reflections on the subject of Emigration from Europe with a view to Settlement in the United States" By M. Carey.
No full text"Reflections on the subject of Emigration from Europe with a view to Settlement in the United States: containing bried sketches of the moral and political character of those states.
By M. Carey, member of the American philosophical, and of the American Antiquarian Society, and author of The Olive Branch, Cindiciae Hibernicae, essays on banking, on political economy, and on internal improvement.
To which are now added the English editor's comments on the subject; together with Important Advice to Emigrants, and Cautions Against Impositions Practiced in the Outports
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Amicus Curiae Observations of Professors Robinson, deGuzman, Jalloh and Cryer
Get PDFThis is an amicus curiae brief, submitted to the International Criminal Court Appeals Chamber with permission of that chamber, in the case of Prosecutor v Laurent Gbagbo. The brief raises concerns about unnecessarily stringent approaches to crimes against humanity, as was arguably shown in certain aspects of the Gbagbo Adjournment Decision. The brief argues, inter alia, that ‘multiple’ must not be conflated with ‘widespread’, that ‘policy’ must not be conflated with ‘systematic’, that a policy need not be explicit or formally adopted, and that policy can be inferred from the implausibility of the crimes being unconnected individual action. The brief offers national and international jurisprudence highlighting that ‘attack’ and ‘policy’ are not onerous thresholds. The Appeals Chamber decided not to address those issues in that appeal, which was quite plausible and appropriate given its other findings and the scope of the appeal. Happily, many of the concerns raised and solutions proposed in the brief have been addressed and reflected in subsequent ICC cases, including the Katanga trial chamber judgment and the Gbagbo confirmation decision.Temple University. James E. Beasley School of LawCase: The Prosecutor v. Laurent Gbagbo. Situation: Situation in the Republic of Côte d'Ivoir
Dr. Glendon Swarthout
No full textHosted by Roger M. Busfield, MSU Assistant Professor of Speech and Theater, Meet the Author is designed to introduce a general audience to a contemporary author and their work through in-depth interviews. This episode features a conversation between Dr. Glendon Swarthout, prolific author and English professor at MSU, and assistant professors Sam S. Baskett and Theodore B. Strandness
Simulation of thermal plant optimization and hydraulic aspects of thermal distribution loops for large campuses
Get PDFFollowing an introduction, the author describes Texas A&M University and its utilities system. After that, the author presents how to construct simulation models for chilled water and heating hot water distribution systems. The simulation model was used in a $2.3 million Ross Street chilled water pipe replacement project at Texas A&M University. A second project conducted at the University of Texas at San Antonio was used as an example to demonstrate how to identify and design an optimal distribution system by using a simulation model. The author found that the minor losses of these closed loop thermal distribution systems are significantly higher than potable water distribution systems. In the second part of the report, the author presents the latest development of software called the Plant Optimization Program, which can simulate cogeneration plant operation, estimate its operation cost and provide optimized operation suggestions. The author also developed detailed simulation models for a gas turbine and heat recovery steam generator and identified significant potential savings. Finally, the author also used a steam turbine as an example to present a multi-regression method on constructing simulation models by using basic statistics and optimization algorithms. This report presents a survey of the author??s working experience at the Energy Systems Laboratory (ESL) at Texas A&M University during the period of January 2002 through March 2004. The purpose of the above work was to allow the author to become familiar with the practice of engineering. The result is that the author knows how to complete a project from start to finish and understands how both technical and nontechnical aspects of a project need to be considered in order to ensure a quality deliverable and bring a project to successful completion. This report concludes that the objectives of the internship were successfully accomplished and that the requirements for the degree of Degree of Engineering have been satisfied
The Implementation of the Proprio Motu Authority of the Prosecutor in Africa
No full textThe chapter argues that some of the criticism against the use of proprio motu powers is justified, particularly in respect of selectivity, given that other situations outside Africa were not investigated in equal manner. Equally, the evidence by which the Prosecutor initiated proprio motu prosecutions was generally weak and, despite some dissenting voices, it was never turned down by the ICC’s pre-trial chambers. This is particularly interesting if one considers that the situation in Kenya, at least, was politically charged. Although the chapter largely discusses the legal contours of the Prosecutor’s proprio motu powers and their application in the two African situations, it also assesses the impact of these prosecutions on local proceedings and the potential for suffocating the investigated nations’ relations with the ICC. To avoid similar conflicts in the future, the author argues that the politicization of prosecutorial discretion could be assessed by considering comparable situations in which the Prosecutor is not attempting to proceed.</p
Intern experience at CH���M Hill, Inc.: an internship report
Get PDFIncludes author's vita"Submitted to the College of Engineering of Texas A&M University in partial
fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Engineering."Includes bibliographical referencesA review of the author's internship experience with CH���M HILL, Inc.
during the period September 1975 through May 1976 is presented. During this nine month
internship the author worked as an Engineer II in the Industrial Processes discipline of this
large consulting engineering firm... The author's prime responsibility was as one of three
lead design engineers on the design of a large wastewater treatment facility for a pulp mill
in Hoquiam, Washington owned by ITT Rayonier Inc. The work generally consisted of the design
of individual treatment units and associated piping and pumping. The purpose of the project
was to provide wastewater treatment capabilities that would satisfy the effluent limitations
(standards) imposed upon the mill by the State of Washington Department of Ecology and the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The author's assignment also entailed necessary
interaction with the project manager and other CH���M HILL design engineers and support staff
members, the client's representatives, and representatives of two other consulting engineering
firms working on the project. Thus, the internship position at CH���M HILL provided considerable
experience coordinating the author's work with the work of other engineers, guiding the design
and administrative efforts of a support staff, and interacting regularly with the client and
other consulting firms. This broad exposure to a variety of engineering and organizational
problems provided a valuable educational experience
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