Bullying, Safe Schools and Public Health: An Overview in Connecticut Private Schools

Introduction: As evident in the literature, bullying is frequently reported as a public health issue which affects the health and well-being of its victims. Bullying can also negatively impact student academic performance, leading to failure in school as evidenced by high and unacceptable drop-out rates and withdrawals.Objective: This research aimed to examine the issue of bullying from a public health point of view and to assess the issue in a specific region of Connecticut’s private school network. Furthermore, the study will assess the role of a Safe School Climate Coordinator in developing and implementing programs in schoolsthat can serve as effective policy measures to improve school safety with the goal of reducing or eliminating bullying activities in the school environment.Methods: The research employed the qualitative methodology from which six key themes emerged: mental health support; resource constraints; impact and influence of technology and social media; clear definition and distinction of bullying, harassment, and teasing; parental involvement and support; and importance and significance of the network’s culture. Nine participants from seven private schools in Connecticut took part in semi-structured interviews that were specially designed and conducted by the researchers. The nature of the interviews allowed participants to provide useful insights into the role they played in enhancing school climate by carefully developing and implementing policies and programs that reject violence and promote a school environment that is safe and conducive to learning.Findings: All participants expressed concerns over to the limited mental health services and support that is available within the private school system. All cited the possibility that students are under extreme pressure, and that students are often negatively affected by their home and living environments. These exposures can increase the urge to “act out” while they are in school. Due to the network’s strict policy on bullying and any related behavior, there is ongoing monitoring to ensure there is adherence to the requirements. One administrator noted that the individual who was responsible for the Newtown incident had mental health issues.Another administrator opined that recently more referrals have been made to the Department of Children and Families than ever before. There are genuine concerns about what is going on and home environment. When students come into the school environment, they should have a positive outlook and willingness to learn. The message that is conveyed through the interviews is that there is great worry about the future of some students. Mental health support would be helpful in elevating some of the problems that they see in the school environment and work hard to prevent.Conclusion: Where bullying is concerned, the public health toll is great and can have physical and emotional effects throughout the life of those who participate or are targeted. All efforts made to mitigate these deleterious effects in the early years of child and adolescence development is paramount in supporting the psychological well-being of the students

Development and assessment of a locally designed fish smoking kiln using insulating materials

The origin of fish smoking dates back to antiquity. In ancient times, fish was hung over a fire which helped to reduce its moisture content. Further advancement was made traditionally by the erection of mud, bricks or corrugated iron angle bar. The gas smoking kiln has been developed using locally available materials in the study area towards improving the existing fish smoking kiln techniques. The objective of this work is to improve the quality of smoked fish in Kainji Lake Basin Area in Nigeria at minimum production cost. The preliminary test performance of the kiln has been conducted using Clarias gariepinus, known generally as catfish. The result obtained shows that the kiln is less labour intensive and can handle different sizes of fish faster with better appearance of the end product than the conventional smoking methods

Evolutionary History of Rabies in Ghana

Rabies virus (RABV) is enzootic throughout Africa, with the domestic dog (Canis familiaris) being the principal vector. Dog rabies is estimated to cause 24,000 human deaths per year in Africa, however, this estimate is still considered to be conservative. Two sub-Saharan African RABV lineages have been detected in West Africa. Lineage 2 is present throughout West Africa, whereas Africa 1a dominates in northern and eastern Africa, but has been detected in Nigeria and Gabon, and Africa 1b was previously absent from West Africa. We confirmed the presence of RABV in a cohort of 76 brain samples obtained from rabid animals in Ghana collected over an eighteen-month period (2007–2009). Phylogenetic analysis of the sequences obtained confirmed all viruses to be RABV, belonging to lineages previously detected in sub-Saharan Africa. However, unlike earlier reported studies that suggested a single lineage (Africa 2) circulates in West Africa, we identified viruses belonging to the Africa 2 lineage and both Africa 1 (a and b) sub-lineages. Phylogeographic Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo analysis of a 405 bp fragment of the RABV nucleoprotein gene from the 76 new sequences derived from Ghanaian animals suggest that within the Africa 2 lineage three clades co-circulate with their origins in other West African countries. Africa 1a is probably a western extension of a clade circulating in central Africa and the Africa 1b virus a probable recent introduction from eastern Africa. We also developed and tested a novel reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay for the detection of RABV in African laboratories. This RT-LAMP was shown to detect both Africa 1 and 2 viruses, including its adaptation to a lateral flow device format for product visualization. These data suggest that RABV epidemiology is more complex than previously thought in West Africa and that there have been repeated introductions of RABV into Ghana. This analysis highlights the potential problems of individual developing nations implementing rabies control programmes in the absence of a regional programme

Design and construction of a locally designed fish smoking kiln powered by bio-gas

The origin of fish smoking dates back to antiquity. It is thought that the process was started by hanging the fish product over a fire which was used to reduce the moisture content of the product. Further advancement was made traditionally by the erection of mud, bricks or corrugated iron angle bar. The gas smoking kiln has been developed using locally available materials in the study area towards improving the existing fish smoking kiln techniques. The objective of this work is to improve the quality of smoked fish in Kainji Lake Basin in Nigeria at minimum production cost. The preliminary test performance of the kiln has been conducted using Clarias gariepinus. The result obtained shows that the kiln is less labour intensive and can handle different sizes of fish faster with better appearance of the end product than the conventional smoking methods.</jats:p

Design and fabrication of a DC pump evaporative cooling system

The design, fabrication and evaluation of an evaporative cooling system was carried out. The system was cabinet was constructed with 1 mm thick aluminum sheets and jute wetted by water flowing by gravity through a series of perforated 25mm diameter pipes from a 60-liter capacity reservoir located at the top of the storage system. The cooler has 4 trays. A 0.5 horse power pump was installed for pumping water to the overhead reservoir. As evaporation took place, the temperature in the system dropped drastically from 24.6 to 30.5°C and the relative humidity in the cooling chamber increased to 97.5% compared to ambient relative humidity value of 58.9%. However, the testing of the evaporative cooling system shows that the tomatoes can be stored for an average of five (5) days with negligible changes in weight, color, firmness and rotting as compared to ambient condition which started rotting after four (4) days. The average cooling efficiency was 87.6%.</jats:p