Community-based initiatives in response to the OVC crisis in North Central Uganda

In response to the orphan crisis, a number of community initiatives have proliferated to enhance service delivery to OVCs (Orphans and other Vulnerable Children). Part of the literature paints a bleak and pessimistic picture: it believes that community based support interventions anchored on the family are faltering under the weight of increasing number of orphans; while others argue that communities are innovative and resilient to the extent that they have devised new coping strategies. The paper shows how OVC community responses in Northern Uganda are under severe pressure from a range of factors; but how these community initiatives are not collapsing – as the ‘social rupture’ thesis predicts. Instead, these community initiatives are dynamic and constantly evolving through various mechanisms to respond to the challenges of meeting the needs of the orphans. The paper shows how some of these initiatives are more successful than others in doing so.

Effect of Organic Matter on Swell and Undrained Shear Strength of Treated Soils

This paper presents a laboratory and statistical study on swell and undrained shear strength of cemented organic clays blended with eco-friendly (by-product) cementitious materials such as ground granulated blast slag (GGBS) and cement kiln dust (CKD). The presence of organic matter in soils can be very problematic especially during construction of infrastructures such as roads and foundations. Therefore, experimental and statistical investigations are crucial to further understand the effect of organic matter on swell and strength performance of soils treated with by-product materials (GGBS and CKD). Five artificially synthesised organic clays with 0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% organic matters were mixed with 20% cement during the first phase of mixing. In the second phase, cement content was reduced to 4% and blended with 12% GGBS and 4% CKD respectively. All mixed samples were cured up to 56days and subjected to undrained triaxial test and one-dimensional oedometer swell test. The undrained shear strength of the untreated soils decreases from 22.47kPa to 15.6kPa upon increase in organic matter from 0-20%. While the swell increases from 1.17% to 3.83% for the same range of 0-20% organic matter. The results also show improvement on strength and swell upon addition of 20% cement for all investigated samples. For samples treated with 4% cement and inclusion of 12% GGBS and 4% CKD, the treated soils showed better performance in terms of swell potential due to reduction in plasticity compared to the plasticity of soils treated with 20% cement. Undrained shear strength increases from 632kPa to 804.9kPa and from 549.8kPa to 724.4kPa with reduction in organic matter upon addition of 20% CEM and 4% CEM: 12% GGBS: 4% CKD after 56days. The results obtained show that the inclusion of GGBS and CKD reduced swell and increases undrained shear strength irrespective of the percentage of organic materials due to cementation effect. However, results of the statistical studies show that the presence of organic matter influences the extent of performance of the cement, GGBS and CKD treated soils. <br/

Effect of Mergers and Acquisitions on the Determinants of Dividend Payout in Nigeria

The effect of merger and acquisition on the determinants of dividend payout in Nigeria banks is examined in this paper. Dividend paid between 2007 and 2013 was considered in quoted banks and analysed using panel data regression technique. Determinants considered include: liquidity, growth, leverage, profitability (ROA &amp; ROE), firm size and previous year dividend. Results showed a positive relationship between dividend paid and the following variables: liquidity, return on asset (ROA), firm size and previous year dividend. However, growth, leverage and return on equity (ROE) showed a negative relationship with dividend paid. The results are the same for banks involved in merger and acquisition and those not involved. We can therefore conclude that merger and acquisition has no effect on the determinants of dividend payout in Nigeria banks. It is therefore recommended that managers and directors should not be bothered about the effect that merger or acquisition will have on their dividend policy instead the determinants examined should be taking into consideration Keywords: Determinants, Dividend Payout, Mergers and Acquisition

Magnitude and factors associated with post-cesarean surgical site infection at Hawassa University Teaching and referral hospital, southern Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

Background: Surgical site infection (SSI) after cesarean section (CS) increases maternal morbidity, hospital stay and medical cost. However, in Ethiopia, limited evidence exists regarding the magnitude and risk factors of post-CS wound infection. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of – and factors associated with the problem among mothers who gave birth in Hawassa University Teaching and Referral Hospital, Southern Ethiopia.Methods: Hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted based on the medical records of 592 women who underwent CS from June 2012 to May 2013. Data on the occurrence and factors associated with SSIs were extracted. Factors associated with SSI were identified using multivariate logistic regression analysis. The output of the analysis is presented using adjusted odds ratio (OR) with the corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI).Results: The prevalence of SSI was 11.0% (95% CI: 8.6-13.8%). Mothers with prolonged labor (6.78, 95% CI: 2.54-18.00) and prolonged rupture of membrane (5.83, 95% CI: 2.14-15.89) had significantly increased odds of SSI. Compared to mothers who had no digital vaginal examination, those who had 1-4 and 5 or more examinations were at higher risk with OR of 2.91 (95% CI: 1.21-6.99) and 8.59 (95% CI: 1.74-42.23), respectively. Prolonged duration of surgery (12.32, 95% CI: 5.46-27.77), wound contamination class III (9.61, 95% CI: 1.84-50.06) and postoperative anemia (2.62, 95% CI: 1.21-5.69) were also significant predictors. CS conducted by junior practitioners is likely to be followed by infection.Conclusion: Post-CS SSI is relatively common in the hospital. Thus, it should be averted by implementing infection prevention techniques.Keywords: Surgical wound infection, Cesarean section, Southern Ethiopi

Residential Satisfaction and the Organised Private Sector Housing in Nigeria

Level of residential satisfaction has become one major user-end means of evaluating the success or failure of any housing project, programme or policy.  The increasing shift towards expanding the role of the market in the social and public policy delivery system of nations call for such evaluation in the housing delivered by profit-driven organized private sector in Nigeria.  This study therefore is an evaluation of residential satisfaction of residents of organized private sector housing in Nigeria.  The study, which was based on structured questionnaire administered on 1,950 beneficiaries of organized private sector housing estates, covered two states with the prevalence of organized private sector housing developers (OPSHD) in each of the six geo-political zones of Nigeria. Ten percent (1,950) households were randomly selected from the occupied houses (19,500) in the selected estates.  The structured questionnaire asked residents to rate their level of satisfaction with their housing in three broad areas of dwelling components, in-house services and neighbourhood infrastructure/facilities on Likert Scale of between 1 and 3; where “Very satisfied”, “Just satisfied” and Not satisfied” were given the weight  of 3, 2 and 1 respectively.  The data collected from the residents’ rating of their level of satisfaction were analyzed using the Residents’ Satisfaction Index (RSI) technique.  The overall level of residents’ satisfaction expressed as RSI was 2.31 while 11 of 13 attributes of the housing rated have RSI of greater than 2, with only two of the attributes having RSI of less than 2.   This study revealed that residents of organized private sector housing estates in Nigeria have high level of satisfaction with most of their building components, in-house-services and neighbourhood infrastructure/facilities as reflected in the overall residents’ satisfaction index of 2.31.  However, developers of these estates should improve electricity supply and fire service to enhance the level of satisfaction of residents of estates of organized private sector housing delivery in Nigeria. Keywords: Residents Satisfaction Index, Organized Private Sector Housing, Residential Satisfactio

(2R,5S)-theaspirane identified as the kairomone for the banana weevil, Cosmopolites sordidus, from attractive senesced leaves of the host banana, Musa spp.

The principal active component produced by highly attractive senesced host banana leaves, Musa spp., for the banana weevil, Cosmopolites sordidus, is shown by coupled gas chromatography‐electroantennography (GC‐EAG), coupled GC‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS), chemical synthesis and coupled enantioselective (chiral) GC‐EAG to be (2R,5S)‐theaspirane. In laboratory behaviour tests, the synthetic compound is as attractive as natural host leaf material and presents a new opportunity for pest control

First radial velocity results from the MINiature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array (MINERVA)

The MINiature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array (MINERVA) is a dedicated observatory of four 0.7m robotic telescopes fiber-fed to a KiwiSpec spectrograph. The MINERVA mission is to discover super-Earths in the habitable zones of nearby stars. This can be accomplished with MINERVA's unique combination of high precision and high cadence over long time periods. In this work, we detail changes to the MINERVA facility that have occurred since our previous paper. We then describe MINERVA's robotic control software, the process by which we perform 1D spectral extraction, and our forward modeling Doppler pipeline. In the process of improving our forward modeling procedure, we found that our spectrograph's intrinsic instrumental profile is stable for at least nine months. Because of that, we characterized our instrumental profile with a time-independent, cubic spline function based on the profile in the cross dispersion direction, with which we achieved a radial velocity precision similar to using a conventional "sum-of-Gaussians" instrumental profile: 1.8 m s$^{-1}$ over 1.5 months on the RV standard star HD 122064. Therefore, we conclude that the instrumental profile need not be perfectly accurate as long as it is stable. In addition, we observed 51 Peg and our results are consistent with the literature, confirming our spectrograph and Doppler pipeline are producing accurate and precise radial velocities.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures, submitted to PASP, Peer-Reviewed and Accepte