Background: The goal of preconception care is to improve the outcome of a mother’s pregnancy and childbirth. Nevertheless, in most developing nations;Zambia included, there are still issues with implementation of pre...Background: The goal of preconception care is to improve the outcome of a mother’s pregnancy and childbirth. Nevertheless, in most developing nations;Zambia included, there are still issues with implementation of preconception care. Therefore, the aim of this study was to establish the provision of preconception care by midwives, nurses and doctors at Ndola Teaching Hospital in Zambia. Methods: A concurrent embedded mixed methodology utilising a descriptive explorative study design, where 107 respondents were randomly selected using the lottery technique for quantitative part and two focused group discussions for qualitative part of the study was used. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data and a focus group discussion guide was used for the focus group discussions. Statistical Package of Social Sciences version 26 with significance set at 0.05 and at 95% confidence level and thematic analysis were used for data analysis. Results: 75% of the respondents in this study were not providing preconception care and only 25% of respondents were providing preconception care;however, this was provided randomly because there were no guidelines to follow. Among the respondents, 81.3% had medium knowledge, 70.1% had good practices and 92.5% had positive attitudes towards preconception care. Further analysis showed that the association between preconception care and knowledge, practices and attitudes was not statistically significant (p = values 0.336;0.344;1.000 respectively). Multivariate logistic regression revealed that participants with high knowledge were five times more likely to provide preconception care (OR = 5.00, CI = 0.42 - 59.7, P = 0.203). Generally, all the participants acknowledged that preconception care was an important package that could prevent maternal and child morbidities and mortalities. Conclusions: The study revealed that most of the respondents were not providing preconception care. Provision of preconception was done by a small fraction of the respondents and it was done in an unorderly manner due to lack of set standards and guidelines. Despite medium levels of knowledge and generally good practices and positive attitudes towards preconception care, its random provision indicates a need for established standards to enhance maternal and child health outcomes.展开更多
Provisional prosthetic restoration materials are exposed to oral cavity producing on the surface biofilm where different factors such as surface roughness and porosity can condition their formation and organization an...Provisional prosthetic restoration materials are exposed to oral cavity producing on the surface biofilm where different factors such as surface roughness and porosity can condition their formation and organization and can create stagnation areas that promote the bonding of organic particles, thus facilitating the formation and maturation of the biofilm. The purpose of this study was to compare surface roughness of two provisional prosthetic restorations materials and their bacterial susceptibility. In this study, two provisional restoration materials were used in two groups, A polymethyl methacrylate acrylic (NicTone MDC DENTAL) and B bis-acryl resin (Protemp 4 ESPE 3M). A total of 80 samples (40 samples of each material) were in thick plates of 10 × 10 mm and 2 mm high. 20 samples of each material were polished, while 20 were left unpolished. Subsequently, the samples were observed by Atomic Force Microscopy for their evaluation of surface roughness. The values were analyzed with t-test, Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis test. The samples were microbiologically inoculated with the strains obtained and identified from a provisional polymethyl methacrylate acrylic restoration in a patient, in order to observe bacterial adhesion using a Scanning Electron Microscope. Two strains, Enterococcus faecalis and Pseudomona luteola, were identified. The presence of the microorganisms was observed on the surface of both materials, either polished or unpolished, with a lower level of microorganism adhesion found on the bis-acrylic resin. There was a significant difference about surface roughness in the groups A and B with p -8). We found that the polished bis-acrylic resin showed lower surface roughness and bacterial adhesion in comparison with the polymethyl methacrylate.展开更多
With a view to encouraging foreigninvestors to in vest in China, andimporting overseas advanced technologyand management, expertise, foreigninvestors are permitted to run in vestment-nature companies (hereinafter refe...With a view to encouraging foreigninvestors to in vest in China, andimporting overseas advanced technologyand management, expertise, foreigninvestors are permitted to run in vestment-nature companies (hereinafter referred toas investment co.)in China in accordancewith the Chinese related foreigninvestment laws, decrees rules and theRegulations.Article 1 In the Regulations, the investmentco. is that the foreign investors useexclusive capital or joint capital with theChinese investors to run a company inChina engaged in direct in vestment.展开更多
Article 1 These regulations are formulated according to the rules of the State Law on foreign investment and the requirements of industrial policies to direct foreign investment, ensuring that it adapts to the program...Article 1 These regulations are formulated according to the rules of the State Law on foreign investment and the requirements of industrial policies to direct foreign investment, ensuring that it adapts to the programmes of China’s national economy and social development and protecting the legal rights and interests of investors.展开更多
1.Aims,The provision of low carbon energy to our society is a key issue at the heart of sustainable development of global energy supply.The Global Energy Interconnection(GEI)publishes original research on theories and...1.Aims,The provision of low carbon energy to our society is a key issue at the heart of sustainable development of global energy supply.The Global Energy Interconnection(GEI)publishes original research on theories and developments as well practical applications on principles of large scale low carbon energy generation,transmission,distribution&storage technologies,global energy interconnection&system developments,global energy policy and energy market operations,global climate changes&environmental impacts,global energy transition strategies and global energy governance.展开更多
1.Aims The provision of low carbon energy to our society is a key issue at the heart of sustainable development of global energy supply.The Global Energy Interconnection(GEI)publishes original research on theories and...1.Aims The provision of low carbon energy to our society is a key issue at the heart of sustainable development of global energy supply.The Global Energy Interconnection(GEI)publishes original research on theories and developments as well practical applications on principles of large scale low carbon energy generation,transmission,distribution&storage technologies,global energy interconnection&system developments,global energy policy and energy market operations,global climate changes&environmental impacts,global energy transition strategies and global energy governance.展开更多
The evolution of the current network has challenges of programmability, maintainability and manageability, due to network ossification. This challenge led to the concept of software-defined networking (SDN), to decoup...The evolution of the current network has challenges of programmability, maintainability and manageability, due to network ossification. This challenge led to the concept of software-defined networking (SDN), to decouple the control system from the infrastructure plane caused by ossification. The innovation created a problem with controller placement. That is how to effectively place controllers within a network topology to manage the network of data plane devices from the control plane. The study was designed to empirically evaluate and compare the functionalities of two controller placement algorithms: the POCO and MOCO. The methodology adopted in the study is the explorative and comparative investigation techniques. The study evaluated the performances of the Pareto optimal combination (POCO) and multi-objective combination (MOCO) algorithms in relation to calibrated positions of the controller within a software-defined network. The network environment and measurement metrics were held constant for both the POCO and MOCO models during the evaluation. The strengths and weaknesses of the POCO and MOCO models were justified. The results showed that the latencies of the two algorithms in relation to the GoodNet network are 3100 ms and 2500 ms for POCO and MOCO respectively. In Switch to Controller Average Case latency, the performance gives 2598 ms and 2769 ms for POCO and MOCO respectively. In Worst Case Switch to Controller latency, the performance shows 2776 ms and 2987 ms for POCO and MOCO respectively. The latencies of the two algorithms evaluated in relation to the Savvis network, compared as follows: 2912 ms and 2784 ms for POCO and MOCO respectively in Switch to Controller Average Case latency, 3129 ms and 3017 ms for POCO and MOCO respectively in Worst Case Switch to Controller latency, 2789 ms and 2693 ms for POCO and MOCO respectively in Average Case Controller to Controller latency, and 2873 ms and 2756 ms for POCO and MOCO in Worst Case Switch to Controller latency respectively. The latencies of the two algorithms evaluated in relation to the AARNet, network compared as follows: 2473 ms and 2129 ms for POCO and MOCO respectively, in Switch to Controller Average Case latency, 2198 ms and 2268 ms for POCO and MOCO respectively, in Worst Case Switch to Controller latency, 2598 ms and 2471 ms for POCO and MOCO respectively, in Average Case Controller to Controller latency, 2689 ms and 2814 ms for POCO and MOCO respectively Worst Case Controller to Controller latency. The Average Case and Worst-Case latencies for Switch to Controller and Controller to Controller are minimal, and favourable to the POCO model as against the MOCO model when evaluated in the Goodnet, Savvis, and the Aanet networks. This simply indicates that the POCO model has a speed advantage as against the MOCO model, which appears to be more resilient than the POCO model.展开更多
Corporate sustainability reporting has become increasingly important in recent years.However,conventional approaches reach their limits when it comes to quantifying and measuring the actual sustainability performance ...Corporate sustainability reporting has become increasingly important in recent years.However,conventional approaches reach their limits when it comes to quantifying and measuring the actual sustainability performance of a company.This article presents a new approach:Sustainable Performance Accounting(SPA),which is based on an extension of bookkeeping by including ESG bookkeeping.SPA enables companies to systematically measure and manage their sustainability performance.The article provides an overview of the basics of SPA methodology and uses a comprehensive example showing how SPA can be implemented in practice.The article is aimed at interested readers from science and practice as well as decision-makers who are interested in future-oriented sustainability reporting.展开更多
With the wide application of condition based maintenance(CBM) in aircraft maintenance practice, the joint optimization of maintenance and inventory management, which can take full advantage of CBM and reduce the aircr...With the wide application of condition based maintenance(CBM) in aircraft maintenance practice, the joint optimization of maintenance and inventory management, which can take full advantage of CBM and reduce the aircraft operational cost, is receiving increasing attention. In order to optimize the inspection interval, maintenance decision and spare provisioning together for aircraft deteriorating parts, firstly, a joint inventory management strategy is presented, then, a joint optimization of maintenance inspection and spare provisioning for aircraft parts subject to the Wiener degradation process is proposed based on the strategy.Secondly, a combination of the genetic algorithm(GA) and the Monte Carol method is developed to minimize the total cost rate.Finally, a case study is conducted and the proposed joint optimization model is compared with the existing optimization model and the airline real case. The results demonstrate that the proposed model is more beneficial and effective. In addition, the sensitivity analysis of the proposed model shows that the lead time has higher influence on the optimal results than the urgent order cost and the corrective maintenance cost, which is consistent with the actual situation of aircraft maintenance practices and inventory management.展开更多
In late 2019,reports arose of a new respiratory disease in China,identified as a novel coronavirus,severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.The World Health Organisation named the disease caused by the virus‘c...In late 2019,reports arose of a new respiratory disease in China,identified as a novel coronavirus,severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.The World Health Organisation named the disease caused by the virus‘coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)’.It was declared a pandemic in early 2020,after the disease rapidly spread across the world.COVID-19 has not only resulted in substantial morbidity and mortality but also significantly impacted healthcare service provision and training across all medical specialties with gastroenterology and Hepatology services being no exception.Internationally,most,if not all‘nonurgent’services have been placed on hold during surges of infections.As a result there have been delayed diagnoses,procedures,and surgeries which will undoubtedly result in increased morbidity and mortality.Outpatient services have been converted to remote consultations where possible in many countries.Trainees have been redeployed to help care for COVID-19 patients in other settings,resulting in disruption to their training-particularly endoscopy and outpatient clinics.This has led to significant anxiety amongst trainees,and risks prolongation of training.It is of the utmost importance to develop strategies that continue to support COVID-19-related service provision,whilst also supporting existing and future gastroenterology and Hepatology services and training.Changes to healthcare provision during the pandemic have generated new and improved frameworks of service and training delivery,which can be adopted in the post-COVID-19 world,leading to enhanced patient care.展开更多
Global climate change and increased human consumption have aggravated the uneven spatiotemporal distribution of watershed water resources, affecting the water provision supply and demand state. However, this problem h...Global climate change and increased human consumption have aggravated the uneven spatiotemporal distribution of watershed water resources, affecting the water provision supply and demand state. However, this problem has often been ignored. The present study used the Xiangjiang River basin(XRB) as the study area, and the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs(InVEST) model, demand quantification model,supply–demand ratio, and water flow formula were applied to explore the spatial heterogeneity, flow, and equilibrium between water supply and demand. The results demonstrated significant spatial heterogeneity in the upstream, midstream, and downstream regions.The areas of water shortage were mainly located the downstream of the Changsha–Zhuzhou–Xiangtan urban agglomeration, and the Hengyang basin was the most scarcity area. Affected by terrain gradients and human needs, water flow varied from-16.33 × 10^(8) m^(3) to 13.69 × 10^(8) m^(3)from the upstream to the downstream area, which provided a possibility to reduce spatial heterogeneity. In the future, measures such as strengthening water resource system control,sponge city construction, and dynamic monitoring technology should be taken to balance the supply and demand of water in different river sections of the basin. This study can provide references for regulating water resources allocation in different reaches of the basin.展开更多
文摘Background: The goal of preconception care is to improve the outcome of a mother’s pregnancy and childbirth. Nevertheless, in most developing nations;Zambia included, there are still issues with implementation of preconception care. Therefore, the aim of this study was to establish the provision of preconception care by midwives, nurses and doctors at Ndola Teaching Hospital in Zambia. Methods: A concurrent embedded mixed methodology utilising a descriptive explorative study design, where 107 respondents were randomly selected using the lottery technique for quantitative part and two focused group discussions for qualitative part of the study was used. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data and a focus group discussion guide was used for the focus group discussions. Statistical Package of Social Sciences version 26 with significance set at 0.05 and at 95% confidence level and thematic analysis were used for data analysis. Results: 75% of the respondents in this study were not providing preconception care and only 25% of respondents were providing preconception care;however, this was provided randomly because there were no guidelines to follow. Among the respondents, 81.3% had medium knowledge, 70.1% had good practices and 92.5% had positive attitudes towards preconception care. Further analysis showed that the association between preconception care and knowledge, practices and attitudes was not statistically significant (p = values 0.336;0.344;1.000 respectively). Multivariate logistic regression revealed that participants with high knowledge were five times more likely to provide preconception care (OR = 5.00, CI = 0.42 - 59.7, P = 0.203). Generally, all the participants acknowledged that preconception care was an important package that could prevent maternal and child morbidities and mortalities. Conclusions: The study revealed that most of the respondents were not providing preconception care. Provision of preconception was done by a small fraction of the respondents and it was done in an unorderly manner due to lack of set standards and guidelines. Despite medium levels of knowledge and generally good practices and positive attitudes towards preconception care, its random provision indicates a need for established standards to enhance maternal and child health outcomes.
文摘Provisional prosthetic restoration materials are exposed to oral cavity producing on the surface biofilm where different factors such as surface roughness and porosity can condition their formation and organization and can create stagnation areas that promote the bonding of organic particles, thus facilitating the formation and maturation of the biofilm. The purpose of this study was to compare surface roughness of two provisional prosthetic restorations materials and their bacterial susceptibility. In this study, two provisional restoration materials were used in two groups, A polymethyl methacrylate acrylic (NicTone MDC DENTAL) and B bis-acryl resin (Protemp 4 ESPE 3M). A total of 80 samples (40 samples of each material) were in thick plates of 10 × 10 mm and 2 mm high. 20 samples of each material were polished, while 20 were left unpolished. Subsequently, the samples were observed by Atomic Force Microscopy for their evaluation of surface roughness. The values were analyzed with t-test, Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis test. The samples were microbiologically inoculated with the strains obtained and identified from a provisional polymethyl methacrylate acrylic restoration in a patient, in order to observe bacterial adhesion using a Scanning Electron Microscope. Two strains, Enterococcus faecalis and Pseudomona luteola, were identified. The presence of the microorganisms was observed on the surface of both materials, either polished or unpolished, with a lower level of microorganism adhesion found on the bis-acrylic resin. There was a significant difference about surface roughness in the groups A and B with p -8). We found that the polished bis-acrylic resin showed lower surface roughness and bacterial adhesion in comparison with the polymethyl methacrylate.
文摘With a view to encouraging foreigninvestors to in vest in China, andimporting overseas advanced technologyand management, expertise, foreigninvestors are permitted to run in vestment-nature companies (hereinafter referred toas investment co.)in China in accordancewith the Chinese related foreigninvestment laws, decrees rules and theRegulations.Article 1 In the Regulations, the investmentco. is that the foreign investors useexclusive capital or joint capital with theChinese investors to run a company inChina engaged in direct in vestment.
文摘Article 1 These regulations are formulated according to the rules of the State Law on foreign investment and the requirements of industrial policies to direct foreign investment, ensuring that it adapts to the programmes of China’s national economy and social development and protecting the legal rights and interests of investors.
文摘1.Aims,The provision of low carbon energy to our society is a key issue at the heart of sustainable development of global energy supply.The Global Energy Interconnection(GEI)publishes original research on theories and developments as well practical applications on principles of large scale low carbon energy generation,transmission,distribution&storage technologies,global energy interconnection&system developments,global energy policy and energy market operations,global climate changes&environmental impacts,global energy transition strategies and global energy governance.
文摘1.Aims The provision of low carbon energy to our society is a key issue at the heart of sustainable development of global energy supply.The Global Energy Interconnection(GEI)publishes original research on theories and developments as well practical applications on principles of large scale low carbon energy generation,transmission,distribution&storage technologies,global energy interconnection&system developments,global energy policy and energy market operations,global climate changes&environmental impacts,global energy transition strategies and global energy governance.
文摘The evolution of the current network has challenges of programmability, maintainability and manageability, due to network ossification. This challenge led to the concept of software-defined networking (SDN), to decouple the control system from the infrastructure plane caused by ossification. The innovation created a problem with controller placement. That is how to effectively place controllers within a network topology to manage the network of data plane devices from the control plane. The study was designed to empirically evaluate and compare the functionalities of two controller placement algorithms: the POCO and MOCO. The methodology adopted in the study is the explorative and comparative investigation techniques. The study evaluated the performances of the Pareto optimal combination (POCO) and multi-objective combination (MOCO) algorithms in relation to calibrated positions of the controller within a software-defined network. The network environment and measurement metrics were held constant for both the POCO and MOCO models during the evaluation. The strengths and weaknesses of the POCO and MOCO models were justified. The results showed that the latencies of the two algorithms in relation to the GoodNet network are 3100 ms and 2500 ms for POCO and MOCO respectively. In Switch to Controller Average Case latency, the performance gives 2598 ms and 2769 ms for POCO and MOCO respectively. In Worst Case Switch to Controller latency, the performance shows 2776 ms and 2987 ms for POCO and MOCO respectively. The latencies of the two algorithms evaluated in relation to the Savvis network, compared as follows: 2912 ms and 2784 ms for POCO and MOCO respectively in Switch to Controller Average Case latency, 3129 ms and 3017 ms for POCO and MOCO respectively in Worst Case Switch to Controller latency, 2789 ms and 2693 ms for POCO and MOCO respectively in Average Case Controller to Controller latency, and 2873 ms and 2756 ms for POCO and MOCO in Worst Case Switch to Controller latency respectively. The latencies of the two algorithms evaluated in relation to the AARNet, network compared as follows: 2473 ms and 2129 ms for POCO and MOCO respectively, in Switch to Controller Average Case latency, 2198 ms and 2268 ms for POCO and MOCO respectively, in Worst Case Switch to Controller latency, 2598 ms and 2471 ms for POCO and MOCO respectively, in Average Case Controller to Controller latency, 2689 ms and 2814 ms for POCO and MOCO respectively Worst Case Controller to Controller latency. The Average Case and Worst-Case latencies for Switch to Controller and Controller to Controller are minimal, and favourable to the POCO model as against the MOCO model when evaluated in the Goodnet, Savvis, and the Aanet networks. This simply indicates that the POCO model has a speed advantage as against the MOCO model, which appears to be more resilient than the POCO model.
文摘Corporate sustainability reporting has become increasingly important in recent years.However,conventional approaches reach their limits when it comes to quantifying and measuring the actual sustainability performance of a company.This article presents a new approach:Sustainable Performance Accounting(SPA),which is based on an extension of bookkeeping by including ESG bookkeeping.SPA enables companies to systematically measure and manage their sustainability performance.The article provides an overview of the basics of SPA methodology and uses a comprehensive example showing how SPA can be implemented in practice.The article is aimed at interested readers from science and practice as well as decision-makers who are interested in future-oriented sustainability reporting.
基金supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(NS2015072)
文摘With the wide application of condition based maintenance(CBM) in aircraft maintenance practice, the joint optimization of maintenance and inventory management, which can take full advantage of CBM and reduce the aircraft operational cost, is receiving increasing attention. In order to optimize the inspection interval, maintenance decision and spare provisioning together for aircraft deteriorating parts, firstly, a joint inventory management strategy is presented, then, a joint optimization of maintenance inspection and spare provisioning for aircraft parts subject to the Wiener degradation process is proposed based on the strategy.Secondly, a combination of the genetic algorithm(GA) and the Monte Carol method is developed to minimize the total cost rate.Finally, a case study is conducted and the proposed joint optimization model is compared with the existing optimization model and the airline real case. The results demonstrate that the proposed model is more beneficial and effective. In addition, the sensitivity analysis of the proposed model shows that the lead time has higher influence on the optimal results than the urgent order cost and the corrective maintenance cost, which is consistent with the actual situation of aircraft maintenance practices and inventory management.
文摘In late 2019,reports arose of a new respiratory disease in China,identified as a novel coronavirus,severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.The World Health Organisation named the disease caused by the virus‘coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)’.It was declared a pandemic in early 2020,after the disease rapidly spread across the world.COVID-19 has not only resulted in substantial morbidity and mortality but also significantly impacted healthcare service provision and training across all medical specialties with gastroenterology and Hepatology services being no exception.Internationally,most,if not all‘nonurgent’services have been placed on hold during surges of infections.As a result there have been delayed diagnoses,procedures,and surgeries which will undoubtedly result in increased morbidity and mortality.Outpatient services have been converted to remote consultations where possible in many countries.Trainees have been redeployed to help care for COVID-19 patients in other settings,resulting in disruption to their training-particularly endoscopy and outpatient clinics.This has led to significant anxiety amongst trainees,and risks prolongation of training.It is of the utmost importance to develop strategies that continue to support COVID-19-related service provision,whilst also supporting existing and future gastroenterology and Hepatology services and training.Changes to healthcare provision during the pandemic have generated new and improved frameworks of service and training delivery,which can be adopted in the post-COVID-19 world,leading to enhanced patient care.
基金supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(grant number 42171258,41877084)Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province(grant number 2021JJ30448)。
文摘Global climate change and increased human consumption have aggravated the uneven spatiotemporal distribution of watershed water resources, affecting the water provision supply and demand state. However, this problem has often been ignored. The present study used the Xiangjiang River basin(XRB) as the study area, and the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs(InVEST) model, demand quantification model,supply–demand ratio, and water flow formula were applied to explore the spatial heterogeneity, flow, and equilibrium between water supply and demand. The results demonstrated significant spatial heterogeneity in the upstream, midstream, and downstream regions.The areas of water shortage were mainly located the downstream of the Changsha–Zhuzhou–Xiangtan urban agglomeration, and the Hengyang basin was the most scarcity area. Affected by terrain gradients and human needs, water flow varied from-16.33 × 10^(8) m^(3) to 13.69 × 10^(8) m^(3)from the upstream to the downstream area, which provided a possibility to reduce spatial heterogeneity. In the future, measures such as strengthening water resource system control,sponge city construction, and dynamic monitoring technology should be taken to balance the supply and demand of water in different river sections of the basin. This study can provide references for regulating water resources allocation in different reaches of the basin.
