Enterprise Internal Control Based on Risk Management with Moutai Group as an Example

Focusing on the two themes of"internal control"and"risk management",this paper makes an in-depth analysis of the current situation of risk management and internal control of Moutai Group.It analyzes the current situation of risk management and internal control of Moutai Group.It is found that the risk management of Moutai Group is not perfect,the information exchange is not smooth,and the internal control assessment is not perfect.Finally,it puts forward some corresponding countermeasures,including establishing an effective information communication mechanism,perfecting the risk assessment system,and strengthening the construction of the professional talent team.

Current molecular methods for the detection of hepatitis C virus in high risk group population:A systematic review

Hepatitis C virus(HCV) is an emerging infection worldwide and the numbers of persons infected are increasing every year. Poor blood transfusion methods along with unsafe injection practices are potential sources for the rapid spread of infection. Early detection of HCV is the need of the hour especially in high riskgroup population as these individuals are severely immunocompromised. Enzyme Immunoassays are the most common detection techniques but they provide no evidence of active viremia or identification of infected individuals in the antibody-negative phase and their efficacy is limited in individuals within high risk group population. Molecular virological techniques have an important role in detecting active infection with utmost specificity and sensitivity. Technologies for assessment of HCV antibody and RNA levels have improved remarkably, as well as our understanding of how to best use these tests in patient management. This review aims to give an overview of the different serological and molecular methods employed in detecting HCV infection used nowadays. Additionally, the review gives an insight in the new molecular techniques that are being developed to improve the detection techniques particularly in High Risk Group population who are severely immunocompromised.

Correlation between X-ray cross-complementing group 1 polymorphisms and the onset risk of glioma A meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE： To evaluate the association of X-ray cross-complementing group 1 （XRCC1） Arg399GIn, Arg194Trp and Arg280His polymorphisms with the risk of glioma. DATA SOURCES： A systematic literature search of papers published from January 2000 to August 2012 in PubMed, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure database, and Wanfang da- tabase was performed. The key words used were ＂glioma＂, ＂polymorphism＂, and ＂XRCC1 or X-ray repair cross-complementing group 1＂. References cited in the retrieved articles were screened manually to identify additional eligible studies. STUDY SELECTION： Studies were identified according to the following inclusion criteria： case-control design was based on unrelated individuals; and genotype frequency was available to estimate an odds ratio （OR） and 95% confidence interval （CI）. Meta-analysis was performed for the selected studies after strict screening. Dominant and recessive genetic models were used and the relationship between homozygous mutant genotype frequencies and mutant gene frequency and glioma incidence was investigated. We chose the fixed or random effect model according to the heterogeneity to calculate OR and 95%CI, and sensitivity analyses were conducted. Publication bias was examined using the inverted funnel plot and the Egger＇s test using Stata 12.0 software. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： Association of XRCC1 Arg399GIn, Arg194Trp, and Arg280His polymorphisms with the risk of glioma, and subgroup analyses were performed according to differ- ent ethnicities of the subjects.RESULTS： Twelve articles were included in the meta-analysis. Eleven of the articles were concerned with the Arg399GIn polymorphism and glioma onset risk. Significantly increased glioma risks were found only in the dominant model （Gin/Gin ＋ GIn/Arg versus Arg/Arg： OR = 1.26, 95%CI= 1.03-1.54, P = 0.02）. In the subgroup analysis by ethnicity, significantly increased risk was found in Asian subjects in the recessive （OR = 1.46, 95%CI= 1.04-2.45, P = 0.03） and dominant models （OR = 1.40, 95%CI= 1.10-1.78, P = 0.007）, and homozygote contrast （OR = 1.69, 95%CI= 1.17-2.45, P = 0.005）, but not in Caucasian sub- jects. For association of the Arg194Trp （eight studies） and Arg280His （four studies） polymorphisms with glioma risk, the meta-analysis did not reveal a significant effect in the allele contrast, the recessive genetic model, the dominant genetic model, or homozygote contrast. CONCLUSION： The XRCC1 Arg399GIn polymorphism may be a biomarker of glioma susceptibility, espe- cially in Asian populations. The Arg194Trp and Arg280His polymorphisms were not associated with overall glioma risk.

Seroprevalence of <i>Brucella</i>Antibodies and Risk Factors Associated with Human Brucellosis in High-Risk Occupational Groups of the Noun Division in the West Region of Cameroon

Brucellosis is an anthropozoonotic disease with an important public health impact. Although the transmission of Brucella from animals to humans can occur in different epidemiological settings of sub-Saharan African countries, little data has been published on human brucellosis. This study aimed to detect Brucella antibodies and the risk factors associated to brucellosis among high-risk occupational groups of people in the Noun Division of Cameroon. For this study, a structured questionnaire was used to assess risk factors associated with human brucellosis. Thereafter, blood samples were collected from high-risk occupational groups of people in four villages. Plasma was extracted from each sample and Brucella antibodies were detected using Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT) and indirect Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (i-ELISA). Of the 273 participants enrolled, the overall seroprevalence of Brucella antibodies was 12.45% with RBPT and 10.26% with i-ELISA test. This seroprevalence was significantly (P = 0.04;X2 = 9.73) higher among livestock herdsmen (15.8%), slaughterhouse workers (9.8%), butchers (4.8%), participants having no educational level (14.3%) and those experiencing above 5 years of risky activity (15%). Raw milk consumption (OR: 4.8;P = 0.001), no formal education (OR: 6.4;P = 0.03) and assistance of animal during parturition (OR: 7.2;P < 0.0001) appeared as factors that may increase the risk of Brucella infections. The detection of Brucella antibodies indicates the risk of human brucellosis in some groups of people of the Noun division. Consuming unpasteurized milk, participating in parturition and lacking knowledge on brucellosis appeared as risk factors associated with human brucellosis in western Cameroon. It raises the need of developing and implementing control measures for human and animal brucellosis.

Ritual Immersion in a Mikveh Is Associated with Increased Risk of Group B Streptococcal Carrier State in Israeli Parturient Women

Purpose: Group B Streptococcus (GBS) infection is a major cause of neonatal sepsis. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence and risk factors for GBS carriership among parturient women in Jerusalem. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 436 parturient Jewish women at Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Mount Scopus. The study included patient interview and vagino-rectal swab for culture. Main outcome measures were the prevalence of GBS carriership among study population. Results: Of the 436 participants, 77 had a positive culture for GBS, giving a carrier rate of 17.7%. No differences were found between carriers and non-carriers in age, BMI or parity. Orthodox Jewish women had a significantly higher carrier rate compared with secular Jewish women (20.6% vs. 12.8% respectively), yielding an age, education and BMI adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 1.9 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.06 - 3.40). Similarly, ritual immersion was associated with increased risk of carrier state with an adjusted OR of 2.01 (95% CI: 1.03 - 3.92, P = 0.039). Conclusions: Our study suggests an association between ritual immersion in the Mikveh and GBS carriership.

Group Living on Trees Does Not Elevate Inbreeding Risk in Shedao Pit Vipers Gloydius shedaoensis

Group living has increasingly been emphasized due to its potential consequence on inbreeding, nevertheless, the relationship between group living and inbreeding risk is largely unknown. The endangered snake species, Shedao pit viper(Gloydius shedaoensis) inhabiting mostly on Shedao Island(meaning "snake island" in Chinese), provides an excellent model system for research on group living and inbreeding risk. Small island area, high population density and extreme seasonal foraging opportunity prompt many individuals to live on the same tree, which likely increase the potential mating among relatives. To confirm this probability, we used genotypes from 13 microsatellites DNA markers and examined the genetic relationships between pair of individuals lived on the same tree. The results showed that snakes on the same tree did not show closer relationships compared with individuals from different trees. The group constructions based on scenarios of parental-offspring, full-sibling, half-sibling as well as cousin were not consistent with tree-based group living. In addition, we did not find significant correlation between pair of individual genetic distance and geographic distance going beyond trees, suggesting group living on trees might not elevate inbreeding risk.

Group Risk Parity Strategies for ETFs Portfolios

This research aims to compare different strategies that a non-professional investor in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) could employ to reach a good performance both from profits and from a risk perspective. In recent years, especially after the 2008 crisis, a new technique to evaluate the risk has become more popular, the so-called risk parity, which seeks to equalise the contributions to risk of the portfolio constituents. Our study analyses 17 variants of risk parity portfolio design for groups with the minimum variance strategy and equally weighted portfolio over a pool of 56 ETFs—listed on the Italian Stock Exchange—of eight different categories of specialisation. Empirical results confirm the usefulness of the group risk parity strategies in improving outcomes regarding diversification of risks among classes with good out-of-sample performance with respects to the target models.

Level of Acceptance of COVID-19 Vaccine and Its Determinants among High Risk Groups for Severe COVID-19 Infection Living in Mogadishu Somalia

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, which is widely referred to as “COVID-19”, has been infecting more than 5.5 million over 144 countries. A vaccine is considered to be the most awaiting intervention and hundreds of global R&D institutions engaged in unprecedented speed to develop the vaccine. The availability of COVID-19 vaccines may not translate into its uptake. Although governments will provide the vaccines, their uptake is voluntary. Objective: This study was carried out to evaluate the level of acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine and it’s determinants among high risk groups for severe COVID-19 infection living in Mogadishu Somalia. Methods: The study was cross-sectional, descriptive analysis conducted to obtain reliable information about the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine and it is determinants among high-risk groups living in Mogadishu, Somalia. The calculated sample size was 404 using Cochran’s formula = Z2p(1 − p)/d2 and addition of 5% non-respondent rate. According to PESS population estimate in 2020, there are 17 districts. We grouped them into 2 strata and through simple random sampling one district was selected from each strata. After randomly selecting the two districts, three sub districts were randomly selected from each and then every second house (1, 3, 5) in the main roads will be selected. If target population were not found in the second selected house, the next house will be taken until sample size is obtained. Results: 59.4% of respondents were willing to accept and take vaccination while 40.6% of them were not accepting the vaccination. Being afraid of the side effect was the most common reason for not accepting the vaccine Conclusion: More than one third of respondents (40.6%) were not willing to accept the vaccination, knowledge towards COVID-19 was strongly associated with acceptance level of COVID-19 vaccine. Recommendation: Multi-sector organized awareness campaigns involving FMH as well as local authorities and civil society to enhance level of knowledge of community towards COVID-19.

Risk Factors for Group B <i>Streptococcus</i>Colonization and Drugs Sensitivity Pattern in a Nigerian Obstetric Population

Background: Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a major cause of bacterial infections in the perinatal period, of which colonization prevalence among Northern-Nigerian pregnant women is scarce. We attempted to determine 1) its prevalence, 2) risk factors for GBS colonization and 3) drugs-susceptibility. Methodology: This cross-sectional study involved 185 pregnant women between 35 - 37 weeks of gestation at tertiary health center of Sokoto, Nigeria. Vaginal/rectal swabs were collected, were cultured for GBS and tested for drug-susceptibilities. The study was conducted between December, 2017 and April, 2018. Results: One hundred and eighty five (185) pregnant women participated in this study. GBS vaginal-colonization-rate was 3.8% (7/185). A significance relationship was observed between GBS-colonization and socio-economic class, as 57.10% (4/7) of the GBS positive women were of low-socio economic class (p 0.035). No associations were observed between GBS-colonization and the followings: maternal age, parity, poor obstetric outcome-history. All the 7 GBS positive cultures were sensitive to Clindamycin. One was sensitive to both Clindamycin and Ceftriaxone. None was sensitive to Penicillin. Conclusion: The prevalence of GBS colonization was low in this area. Maternal socio-economic class is found to be a risk of GBS-colonization.

An epidemiology study of bronchial asthma in the Li ethnic group in China

Objective:To investigate the prevalence and risk factors of bronchial asthma in the Li ethnic group in Hainan,China.Methods:This study employed a stratified random sample design using custom-designed questionnaires.Subjects with asthma-like symptoms were first identified by two rounds of surveys and then confirmed by respiratory physicians using pulmonary function test,bronchial dilation test and challenge test.Demographic data,information on family history of asthma,history of allergies,smoking habits,domestic cooking fuel and other potential risk factors were collected.Logistic regression was performed to evaluate risk factors for asthma.Results: The prevalence of asthma in the Li ethnic group was 3.38%,much higher than the national average level in China.Aging,agriculture industry(the rubber industry in particular),rural residence,family history of asthma,history of allergies,cold air,inhalation of dust and irritant gases,smoking,domestic cooking fuel and living environment were associated with increased risk of asthma.Conclusions:The high prevalence of asthma in the Li ethnic group highlights the importance of asthma prevention and treatment in this population.Risk factors indentified in this study warrant special attention.Elevating public awareness about asthma in local communities will benefit the prevention of the disease.

Significant association between ABO blood group and pancreatic cancer

AIM:To evaluate whether the ABO blood group is related to pancreatic cancer risk in the general population of the United States.METHODS:Using the University of Pittsburgh's clinicalpancreatic cancer registry,the blood donor database from our local blood bank (Central Blood Bank),and the blood product recipient database from the regional transfusion service (Centralized Transfusion Service) in Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania,we identified 274 pancreatic cancer patients with previously determined serological ABO blood group information.The ABO blood group frequency was compared between these patients and 708842 individual,community-based blood donors who had made donations to Pittsburgh's Central Blood Bank between 1979 and 2009.RESULTS:The frequency of blood group A was statistically significantly higher amongst pancreatic cancer patients compared to its frequency amongst the regional blood donors [47.63% vs 39.10%,odds ratio (OR)=1.43,P=0.004].Conversely,the frequency of blood group O was significantly lower amongst pancreatic cancer patients relative to the community blood donors (32.12% vs 43.99%,OR=0.60,P=0.00007).There were limited blood group B (n=38) and AB (n=17) pancreatic cancer patients;the overall P trend value comparing patient to donor blood groups was 0.001.CONCLUSION:The ABO blood group is associated with pancreatic cancer risk.Future studies should examine the mechanism linking pancreatic cancer risk to ABO blood group.

Post-traumatic stress disorder status in a rescue group after the Wenchuan earthquake relief

Previous studies have suggested that the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder in earthquake rescue workers is relatively high. Risk factors for this disorder include demographic characteristics, earthquake-related high-risk factors, risk factors in the rescue process, personality, social support and coping style. This study examined the current status of a unit of 1 040 rescue workers who participated in earthquake relief for the Wenchuan earthquake that occurred on May 12th, 2008. Post-traumatic stress disorder was diagnosed primarily using the Clinician-Administered Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Scale during structured interviews. Univariate and multivariate sta-tistical analyses were used to examine major risk factors that contributed to the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder. Results revealed that the incidence of this disorder in the rescue group was 5.96%. The impact factors in univariate analysis included death of family members, contact with corpses or witnessing of the deceased or seriously injured, near-death experience, severe injury or mental trauma in the rescue process and working at the epicenter of the earthquake. Correlation analysis suggested that post-traumatic stress disorder was positively correlated with psychotic and neurotic personalities, negative coping and low social support. Impact factors in mul-tivariate logistic regression analysis included near-death experience, severe injury or mental trauma, working in the epicenter of the rescue, neurotic personality, negative coping and low social support, among which low social support had the largest odds ratio of 20.42. Findings showed that the oc-currence of post-traumatic stress disorder was the result of the interaction of multiple factors.

Polymorphisms of UGT1A7 and XRCC1 are Associated with an Increased Risk of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Northeast China

Objective： Hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC） is a complex disease which associates with both environmental and genetic factors. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the genetic polymorphisms of UDP-glucuronosyltransferase（UGT1A7）, an important phase II biotransformation enzyme, and X-ray repair cross-complementing group 1（XRCC1）, a pivotal DNA-repair gene, were related to the risk of HCC in Northeast China. Methods： One hundred and thirty six HCC patients and one hundred and thirty six frequency-matched controls were included in this hospital-based case-control study. Genotypes of UGT1A7 and XRCC1 were determined using allele-specific polymerase chain reaction （AS-PCR） and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism （RFLP）, and for which the odds ratio （OR） with 95% confidence interval （95% CI） were calculated. Results： The proportion of UGT1A7 low enzymatic allele （＊2 or ＊3） was higher in HCC patients than those in controls. The UGT1A7＊1/＊2 and ＊3/＊3 genotypes were associated with higher HCC risk （OR=2.09, 95%CI： 1.10-3.97; OR=5.67, 95%CI： 1.76-18.30, respectively）. The XRCC1 codon 399 Arg/Gln genotype could also elevate HCC risk （OR=2.16, 95% CI 1.29-3.61）. In addition to polymorphisms of UGT1A7 and XRCC1, multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that other significant independent factors associated with HCC were HBV infection （OR=68.07, 95%CI： 28.03-165.26）, HCV infection （OR=30.97, 95%CI： 8.06-118.94） and family history of HCC （OR=10.62, 95%CI： 2.22-50.77）. Conclusion： The study shows that the polymorphisms of UGT1A7 and XRCC1 are associated with HCC risk. Determination of the polymorphisms of UGT1A7 and XRCC1 may provide an important clue to preventive measure against HCC.

Group Decision Making With Consistency of Intuitionistic Fuzzy Preference Relations Under Uncertainty

Intuitionistic fuzzy preference relation(IFPR) is a suitable technique to express fuzzy preference information by decision makers(DMs). This paper aims to provide a group decision making method where DMs use the IFPRs to indicate their preferences with uncertain weights. To begin with, a model to derive weight vectors of alternatives from IFPRs based on multiplicative consistency is presented. Specifically, for any IFPR,by minimizing its absolute deviation from the corresponding consistent IFPR, the weight vectors are generated. Secondly,a method to determine relative weights of DMs depending on preference information is developed. After that we prioritize alternatives based on the obtained weights considering the risk preference of DMs. Finally, this approach is applied to the problem of technical risks assessment of armored equipment to illustrate the applicability and superiority of the proposed method.

Hepatitis C risk assessment,testing and referral for treatment in urban primary care:Role of race and ethnicity

AIM: To determine rates of hepatitis C (HCV) risk factor ascertainment, testing, and referral in urban primary care practices, with particular attention to the effect of race and ethnicity. METHODS: Retrospective chart review from four primary care sites in Philadelphia; two academic primary care practices and two community clinics was performed. Demographics, HCV risk factors, and other risk exposure information were collected. RESULTS: Four thousand four hundred and seven charts were reviewed. Providers documented histories of injection drug use (IDU) and transfusion for less than 20% and 5% of patients, respectively. Only 55% of patients who admitted IDU were tested for HCV. Overall, minorities were more likely to have information regarding a risk factor documented than their white counterparts (79% vs 68%, P < 0.0001). Hispanics were less likely to have a risk factor history documented, compared to blacks and whites (P < 0.0001). Overall, minorities were less likely to be tested for HCV than whites in the presence of a known risk factor (23% vs 35%, P = 0.004). Among patients without documentation of risk factors, blacks and Hispanics were more likely to be tested than whites (20% and 24%, vs 13%, P < 0.005, respectively). CONCLUSION: (1) Documentation of an HCV risk factor history in urban primary care is uncommon, (2)Racial differences exist with respect to HCV risk factor ascertainment and testing, (3) Minority patients, positive for HCV, are less likely to be referred for subspecialty care and treatment. Overall, minorities are less likely to be tested for HCV than whites in the presence of a known risk factor.

XPC Lys939Gln polymorphism, smoking and risk of sporadic colorectal cancer among Malaysians

AIM: To investigate the risk association of xeroderma pigmentosum group C (XPC ) Lys939Gln polymorphism alone and in combination with cigarette smoking on colorectal cancer (CRC) predisposition. METHODS: Peripheral blood samples of 510 study subjects (255 CRC patients, 255 controls)were collected. DNA was extracted and genotyping was performed using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. The association between polymorphic genotype and CRC predisposition was determined using the OR and 95%CI. RESULTS: The frequency of the homozygous variant (Gln/Gln) genotype was significantly higher in cases compared with controls (16.0% vs 10.2%, P = 0.049). The Gln/Gln genotype of XPC showed a significantly higher association with the risk of CRC (OR = 1.884; 95%CI: 1.082-3.277; P = 0.025). In the case of allele frequencies, variant allele C was associated with a significantly increased risk of CRC (OR = 1.375; 95%CI: 1.050-1.802; P = 0.020). Moreover, the risk was markedly higher for those who were carriers of the Gln/Gln variant genotype and were also cigarette smokers (OR = 3.409; 95%CI: 1.061-10.949; P = 0.032). CONCLUSION: The XPC Gln/Gln genotype alone and in combination with smoking increases the risk of CRC among Malaysians.

Pancreatic cancer risk variant ABO rs505922 in patients with cholangiocarcinoma

The aim of this study was to investigate an association between the development of cholangiocarcinoma(CCA)and the ABO variant rs505922(known to increase pan-creatic cancer risk)in a large cohort of European individuals with CCA.In total,180 individuals with CCA and 350 CCA-free controls were included.The ABO variant rs505922 was genotyped using a polymerase chain reaction-based assay.Association between this single nucleotide polymorphism(SNP)and CCA was tested in contingency tables.Neither allele distributions nor association tests and regression analysis provided evidence for an increased risk of CCA among carriers of the ABO variant(all P > 0.05).Nevertheless,we documented a deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in the entire CCA cohort(P = 0.028)and for patients with intrahe-patic(P = 0.037)but not extrahepatic tumor localization(P > 0.05).The association tests did not provide evidence for a prominent role of the investigated SNP in the genetic risk of CCA.However,Hardy-Weinberg disequilibrium in the entire cohort and the intrahepatic CCA subgroup warrants future studies investigating a potential CCA risk modulation by individual blood groups.

A Simulation Model for the Risk of Fetal Exposure Originated by the Zika Virus (VIZK)

It is set and analyzed a simulation model based on non-linear ordinary differential equations to interpret the dynamics of the microcephaly incidence caused by the Zika virus in a risk group of pregnant women. This one is induced by a population of men in a reproductive age. Also, some parameters of the model were estimated for an average temperature of 23℃ and by using the adjusted functions from references [1] [2]. All system simulations were done with the Maple software and parameters values obtained from several sources (estimated, hypothetic, and form literature). It has been found that the application of contraceptive measures impacts the population of sexually active women. As result, the exposure to congenital abnormalities increases, particularly, microcephaly.

Development and Validation of an Objective Risk Scoring System for Assessing the Likelihood of Virus Introduction in Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus-Free Sow Farms in the US

The lack of validated tools to predict how long sow farms will remain PRRS virus-free following successful elimination of the virus has deterred veterinarians and producers from attempting to eliminate the PRRS virus from sow farms. The aim of this study was to use the database of PRRS Risk Assessments for the Breeding Herd in PADRAP to develop and validate an objective risk scoring system for predicting the likelihood of virus introduction in PRRS virus-free sow farms in the US. To overcome the challenges of dealing with a large number of variables, group lasso for logistic regression (GLLR) was applied to a retrospective dataset of PRRS Risk Assessment for the Breeding Herd surveys completed for 704 farms to develop the risk scoring system. The validity of the GLLR risk scoring system was then evaluated by testing its predictive ability on a dataset from a long-term prospective study of 196 sow farms to assess risk factors associated with how long PRRS virus-free sow farms remained PRRS virus-free. Receiver operator characteristic(ROC) curves were estimated to compare the performance of the GLLR risk scoring system to the risk scoring system based on expert opinion (EO), currently used in the PRRS Risk Assessment for the Breeding Herd, for predicting whether herds remained PRRS virus-free for 130 weeks. The GLLR risk scoring system (AUC, 0.76;95% CI, 0.67 - 0.84) performed significantly better than the EO risk scoring system (AUC, 0.36;95% CI, 0.27 - 0.46) for predicting whether to sow farms in the prospective study survived for 130 weeks (p 0.001). Dividing farms into 3 risk groups (low, medium and high) using a low and high cutoff values for the GLLR risk score was informative as the differences in the KM survival curves for the 3 groups were both clinically meaningful and statistically significant. The GLLR risk scoring system used in conjunction with the PRRS Risk Assessment for the Breeding Herd survey delivered through PADRAP appears to have the potential to help veterinarians predict the likelihood of virus introduction in PRRS virus-free sow farms in the US.

Repercussions of Improved Municipal Solid Waste Management on Flood Risk Reduction: The Case of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Indisputably, flooding is one of the predicaments that have plagued many countries throughout the world. Consequently, Improvement of Municipal Solid Waste Management-(MSWM) has recently become one of the ways that is believed to help in reducing the impact of flooding. Following the fact that Dar es Salaam, the commercial capital, has nearly 5 million inhabitants and several of the wards are in flood-prone areas, the City authorities introduced new models of MSWM by incorporating public-private partnership as a deliberate action envisioned to improve MSWM. Nevertheless, the extent to which the strategy is effective in minimizing flood risks had not been adequately researched, which prompted a need to conduct a study. Specifically, the study sought to: assess the current practice of SWM in the settlement;examine the extent to which flood risk had been reduced given the application of the new models of SWM. This is primarily a case study which used Keko Machungwa in Dar es Salaam as the study area. Different forms of data collections tools were used for instance interviews of households and officials, photographs, spatial data etc. The findings indicated that Jukwaa la Wanawake in Keko Machungwa, a newly emerged community-driven organization was doing a fairly good job in handling SWM. This social entity was capable of collecting 40 tons of solid wastes per week and arranged for transportation. Overall, there was a marked decrease in haphazard dumping within the settlement. Despite the improvement, however, flooding was still persistent and was an alarming challenge. To that effect, this study recommends that improving solid waste collection could help overcome the problem of flooding particularly if integrated with other initiatives which include 1) Investment in robust flood control structures;2) Adherence to Urban planning and disaster management policies which prohibit development in hazardous areas, an instance of which being demolishing the existing building structures located in the water way in Keko Machungwa and;3) Initiate large scale flood risk reduction settlement schemes.