This study is based on a voluntary organization in the Kingdom of Bahrain (subsequently referred to as Bahrain) and explores the human resource development (HRD) practices adopted by not‐for‐profit ...organizations and their transferability. Gaps are identified in the existing literature about HRD for voluntary organizations in scrutinizing HRD processes and practices. In‐depth interviews were carried out with volunteers working for a voluntary organization in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Verbatim transcripts of the interviews were then analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis and thematic analysis. The results of this study found that HRD practices in for‐profit organizations are transferable and compatible with the HRD practices for not‐for‐profit organizations nongovernmental organizations in Bahrain.
In countries where malaria is endemic, routine blood slide examinations remain the major source of data for the public health surveillance system. This approach has become inadequate, however, as the ...public health emphasis has changed from surveillance of laboratory-confirmed malaria infections to the early detection and treatment of the disease. As a result, it has been advocated that the information collected about malaria be changed radically and should include the monitoring of morbidity and mortality, clinical practice and quality of care. To improve the early diagnosis and prompt treatment (EDPT) of malaria patients, three malaria case definitions (MCDs) were developed, with treatment and reporting guidelines, and used in all static health facilities of Cox's Bazar district, Bangladesh (population 1.5 million). The three MCDs were: uncomplicated malaria (UM); treatment failure malaria (TFM); and severe malaria (SM). The number of malaria deaths was also reported. This paper reviews the rationale and need for MCDs in malaria control programmes and presents an analysis of the integrated surveillance information collected during the three-year period, 1995-97. The combined analysis of slide-based and clinical data and their related indicators shows that blood slide analysis is no longer used to document fever episodes but to support EDPT, with priority given to SM and TFM patients. Data indicate a decrease in the overall positive predictive value of the three MCDs as malaria prevalence decreases. Hence the data quantify the extent to which the mainly clinical diagnosis of UM leads to over-diagnosis and over-treatment in changing epidemiological conditions. Also the new surveillance data show: a halving in the case fatality rate among SM cases (from 6% to 3.1%) attributable to improved quality of care, and a stable proportion of TFM cases (around 7%) against a defined population denominator. Changes implemented in the EDPT of malaria patients and in the surveillance system were based on existing staff capacity and routine reporting structures.
In a sample of 9.66x10(6)B pairs collected with the CLEO detector we make the first observation of B decays to an eta(c) and a kaon. We measure branching fractions B(B+-->eta(c)K+) = ...(0.69(+0.26)(-0.21)+/-0.08+/-0.20)x10(-3) and B(B degrees -->eta(c)K degrees ) = (1.09(+0.55)(-0.42)+/-0.12+/-0.31)x10(-3), where the first error is statistical, the second is systematic, and the third is from the eta(c) branching fraction uncertainty. From these we extract the eta(c) decay constant in the factorization approximation, f(eta(c)) = 335+/-75 MeV. We also search for B decays to a chi(c0) and a kaon. No evidence for a signal is found and we set 90% C.L. upper limits: B(B+-->chi(c0)K+)<4.8x10(-4) and B(B degrees -->chi(c0)K degrees )<5.0x10(-4).
This paper addresses solitons in nonlinear directional couplers in non-Kerr law media, with spatio-temporal dispersion. Both twin-core couplers as well as multiple-core couplers are studied. The ...nonlinearities studied are Kerr law, power law, parabolic law, dual-power law and log law. Bright, dark and singular soliton solutions of the governing equation are studied.
During the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, different technologies, including telehealth, are maximised to mitigate the risks and consequences of the disease. Telehealth has been widely ...utilised because of its usability and safety in providing healthcare services during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a systematic literature review which provides extensive evidence on the impact of COVID-19 through telehealth and which covers multiple directions in a large-scale research remains lacking. This study aims to review telehealth literature comprehensively since the pandemic started. It also aims to map the research landscape into a coherent taxonomy and characterise this emerging field in terms of motivations, open challenges and recommendations. Articles related to telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic were systematically searched in the WOS, IEEE, Science Direct, Springer and Scopus databases. The final set included (n = 86) articles discussing telehealth applications with respect to (i) control (n = 25), (ii) technology (n = 14) and (iii) medical procedure (n = 47). Since the beginning of the pandemic, telehealth has been presented in diverse cases. However, it still warrants further attention. Regardless of category, the articles focused on the challenges which hinder the maximisation of telehealth in such times and how to address them. With the rapid increase in the utilization of telehealth in different specialised hospitals and clinics, a potential framework which reflects the authors’ implications of the future application and opportunities of telehealth has been established. This article improves our understanding and reveals the full potential of telehealth during these difficult times and beyond.
•State-of-the-art Literature Categorization for Telehealth utilization during COVID-19.•Challenges, motivations and recommended solutions are identified for Telehealth during COVID-19.•Different Applications of Telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Arsenic concentrations above acceptable standards for drinking water have been detected in many countries and this should therefore is a global issue. The presence of arsenic in subsurface aquifers ...and drinking water systems is a potentially serious human health hazard. The current population growth in Pakistan and other developing countries will have direct bearing on the water sector for meeting the domestic, industrial and agricultural needs. Pakistan is about to exhaust its available water resources and is on the verge of becoming a water deficit country. Water pollution is a serious menace in Pakistan, as almost 70% of its surface waters as well as its groundwater reserves have contaminated by biological, organic and inorganic pollutants. In some areas of Pakistan, a number of shallow aquifers and tube wells are contaminated with arsenic at levels which are above the recommended USEPA arsenic level of 10
ppb (10
μg
L
−1). Adverse health effects including human mortality from drinking water are well documented and can be attributed to arsenic contamination. The present paper reviews appropriate and low cost methods for the elimination of arsenic from drinking waters. It is recommended that a combination of low cost chemical treatment like ion exchange, filtration and adsorption along with bioremediation may be useful option for arsenic removal from drinking water.
•A new real-time sign recognition system based wearable sensory glove.•Utilized 17 sensors with 65 channels to capture static sign data of the Malaysian sign language.•Four groups of sensors were ...tested to capture fingers and hand information.•Used 3D printed humanoid arm to validate the sensor mounted on the glove.•Designed DataGlove benchmarking dataset of 75 sign includes alphabet, numbers, and words.
This study proposes a new real-time sign recognition system based on a wearable sensory glove, which has 17 sensors with 65 channels. We introduce the DataGlove to recognize various, possibly complex hand gestures of the Malaysian Sign Language (MSL). With 65 data channels, DataGlove can satisfy the requirement suggested by the analysis of hand anatomy, kinematic and gestures. Four groups of sensors were tested to select the optimal sensors that can capture hand gesture information. Also, a 3D-printed humanoid arm is used to validate the sensor mounted on the glove. In an extensive set of experiments to test our system, five well-known MSL participants were chosen to perform 75 gestures, all taken from the MSL numbers, alphabet, and words. The error rate was used to check system performance. Discussion confirms that the proposed system competes well with an advanced benchmark of previous works is up 100% based on 14 criteria in term of the type of captured signals, recognised gestures, and solved issues. Results show that our system is capable of recognizing the wide range of gestures with recognition accuracies of 99%, 96% and 93.4% for numbers, alphabet letters and words of MSL, respectively. This research contributes to enhancing the lifestyle of people with disabilities, and bridge the gap between people with hearing impairment and ordinary people.
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