Randomised trials relevant to mental health conducted in low and middle-income countries: protocol for a survey of studies published in 1991, 1995 and 2000 and assessment of their relevance

BACKGROUND A substantial proportion of the psychiatric burden of disease falls on the world's poorest nations. Despite this, relatively little is known about the quality and content of clinical research undertaken in these countries, or the relevance of the interventions evaluated and specifically that of randomised trials. This project aims to survey the content, quality and accessibility of a sample of trials relevant to mental health conducted within low and middle-income countries; to compare these with studies conducted in high-income countries; and to assess their relevance for the needs of low and middle-income countries. METHODS An extensive search for all trials, or possible trials, published in 1991, 1995 and 2000 with participants in low and middle-income countries has already been conducted. Studies evaluating prevention or treatment of a mental health problem within these three years will be identified and further searches conducted to assess completeness of the initial search. Data on study quality and characteristics will be extracted from each report. Accessibility will be estimated based on whether each citation is available on MEDLINE. Trials relevant to schizophrenia will be compared with a random sample of schizophrenia trials from high-income countries in the same years. Topics covered by the trials will be compared with the estimated burden of disease. CONCLUSION Trials and systematic reviews of trials are the gold standard of evaluation of care and increasingly provide the basis for recommendations to clinicians, to providers of care and to policy makers. Results from this study will present the first assessment of the scope, quality and accessibility of mental health trials in low and middle-income countries

Workplace Happiness and influencing factors: A review of literature

Abstract Research shows that people who are happy at work perform better and productive than those who are not. The concept of happiness is associated with individual’s subjective well-being. Workplace happiness is decisive for improving productivity in any organization. Happy people are productive people while those who are not may not pay full attention to any assignment. It is allied with positive constructs such as pleasure, satisfaction and well-being. The present paper is about in-depth search for influencing factors on workplace happiness based on the review of literature. It is clearly evident that positive work engagement, work environment. Income, freedom and work-life balance plays a major role in workplace happiness

Conditions for collective action: Understanding factors supporting and constraining community-based fish culture in Bangladesh, Cambodia and Vietnam

Flood-prone ecosystems in South and Southeast Asia are traditionally farmed with deepwater rice followed by post-flood rice culture during the dry season. During the flood season, the same land is inundated, creating an open-access water body subject to multiple uses by multiple users. Fish production in these areas is based on the capture of wild fish. In these seasonal flood plains, fish are trapped in rice fields, reproduce and are harvested by farmerfishers or full-time fishers. These flooded areas cover about 4.5 million hectares in Bangladesh, and 1.2-1.4 million hectares (Catling 1992) is deeply flooded in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam and Cambodia for 4 to 6 months each year. One option to improve access to protein and diversified income for local users and to improve water-use efficiency is to integrate fish culture into this system. A number of studies conducted in the 1980s tested the technical feasibility of culturing fish in seasonally flooded rice fields (Roy et al. 1990, Mukhopadhyay et al. 1992, Rothuis et al. 1998a, Rothuis et al. 1998b, Ali et al. 1998). These studies showed that fish production could be increased by more than 1 ton per hectare per year (t/ha/yr) by stocking fish in flooded rice fields in individual plots. Based on these findings, the WorldFish Center implemented between 1997 and 2000 on-farm experimental trials of community-based fish culture (CBFC) on the Ganges and Meghna floodplains of Bangladesh and the Red River and Mekong deltas in Vietnam (WorldFish 2002). Farms are cultivated individually during the dry season, but during the flood season individual landholding boundaries disappear under the water, and water bodies and flooded rice field resources become common property. The project was based on the premise that production from these water bodies could be enhanced by stocking locally important fish species, providing communities with an additional source of income and an increased supply of affordable fish for sale or consumption (e.g., Dey and Prein 2003, IIRR 2000, Sinhababu et al. 1984). The results showed that fish production can be increased, with an average of 226 kilograms (kg)/ha in Vietnam and 863 kg/ha in Bangladesh, with a significant improvement of the household income (Dey et al. 2005). CBFC was found technically and economically sound and socially acceptable. However, the project concluded that further research was needed to understand how the institutional mechanisms needed to support fish culture differ in a range of different contexts. From 2005 to 2010, the Challenge Program on Water and Food project Communitybased Fish Culture in Seasonal Floodplains developed a series of trials to test this technology under different environmental and socioeconomic conditions. The objective of the project was to test the feasibility of this approach to improve water-use efficiency and provide benefits to the various users of seasonally flooded rice fields. Technical and economic aspects were monitored, and locally appropriate group arrangements for fish culture management, benefit sharing and resource access were tested. Although the technical and environmental aspects of culture-based fisheries in various countries are well documented (De Silva 2003, Nguyen et al. 2001, De Silva etal. 2006), CBFC in seasonal floodplains is a relatively new concept, and the suitability of this approach in different contexts remains under question. The project aimed to address this issue by developing onfarm trials in seasonally flooding areas with otherwise contrasting socioeconomic and natural environments. In this report, we focus on a study designed to understand the factors and conditons that support or constrain the feasibility and uptake of community-based fish culture in seasonal floodplains. The aim of the study is to contribute to knowledge on institutions for collective action, and the feasibility of community-based approaches to resource management, based on lessons learned in this 5-year project. The study also offers useful lessons for project implementation in the field of research-for-development. The report begins with an introduction to the Community-based Fish Culture project and a description of the technical intervention. The second part of the report introduces the study to investigate the conditions for collective action in community-based fish culture, beginning with a presentation of the research approach and methodology. The third section presents the findings of the study. Finally, we present a synthesis of the factors supporing and constraining community-based fish culture, key lessons learned and recommendations

Intervention for reducing human performance gaps at work place caused by apparent and non-apparent indicators.

The human performance in the organizational perspective describes about performance improvement and beyond. The performance improvement aims at enhancing workplace culture. The Intervention for reducing human performance gaps may be discussed with the major focus on the human technology initiatives Establishing a place where people strive for continuous development. Building organizational structures where people can communicate clearly. Creating the work place culture where people can share the ideas freely. Creating the workplace environments where the unique identity of the people is recognized and individual differences are respected. Envisioning a place where the work life is rewarded. Fostering a work place where the quality time is created towards the development of better working environment with fun, pride and intellectual development every day. Nurturing the workable organizational structures where people can share the rewards both financially and emotionally based on their contribution. The present study is dedicated to examine the performance gaps among the women teachers at schools and colleges in the state. The possible intervention mechanism may be developed so that the performance gaps are bridged at the respective work places. The research study is designed with 100 women teachers of 50 each of school and college

Federalism and the Arab League: A theoretical synergy

Abstract. The paper is a theoretical analogy of the Arab league as a regional organization. The paper also discusses the objectives, strengths and weaknesses of the league. By adopting descriptive-historical research from library instrument, findings show that, there is no doubt that the league had recorded some appreciable level of achievements since its inception and there have equally been some challenges along the line. The paper concludes that, the Arab league must find a way to reduce the perpetual tension and violence in Palestine by working towards enthroning a peaceful relationship with Israel while retaining their cultural identity. The paper also recommends that, the Arab league should strengthen their relationship with the non-Arab Nations especially in the face of globalization to reap the benefits therein involved as a league. Arab league must ensure that Arab states stop waging needless wars between and among themselves. The Syria and Yemeni crises among others is a disgrace to the Arab world.Keywords: Arab league, Theoretical, Synergy, Federalism, Integration.JEL. A10, F15

Superconductor strip with transport current: Magneto-optical study of current distribution and its relaxation

The dynamics of magnetic flux distributions across a YBaCuO strip carrying transport current is measured using magneto-optical imaging at 20 K. The current is applied in pulses of 40-5000 ms duration and magnitude close to the critical one, 5.5 A. During the pulse some extra flux usually penetrates the strip, so the local field increases in magnitude. When the strip is initially penetrated by flux, the local field either increases or decreases depending both on the spatial coordinate and the current magnitude. Meanwhile, the current density always tends to redistribute more uniformly. Despite the relaxation, all distributions remain qualitatively similar to the Bean model predictions.Comment: RevTeX, 9 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Supercond. Sci. Technol. Revision: MO image and more refs are adde

Constrictive pericarditis in a post–renal transplant patient: a case report

INTRODUCTION: Constrictive pericarditis is a rare complication in the post–renal transplant period. It poses a diagnostic dilemma even in the modern era. Its incidence is not known and tuberculosis is implicated in some of the cases. CASE PRESENTATION: A 54-year-old Sri Lankan man, in the sixth year of transplant presented with resistant ascites, shortness of breath and elevated creatinine from the baseline. Pre-transplant he was empirically treated for tuberculosis pericarditis and was on isoniazid prophylaxis for 1 year following transplantation. Two-dimensional echocardiography and cardiac catheterization confirmed the diagnosis, and pericardiectomy was performed, which resulted in full resolution of the symptoms as well as the graft function. The histology or bacteriology failed to demonstrate features suggestive of tuberculosis in the surgical specimen. CONCLUSION: In constrictive pericarditis, a causative factor is difficult to find. Isoniazid prophylaxis shows benefit in preventing tuberculosis-associated constrictive pericarditis

Current density inhomogeneity throughout the thickness of superconducting films and its effect on their irreversible magnetic properties

We calculate the distribution of the current density $j$ in superconducting films along the direction of an external field applied perpendicular to the film plane. Our analysis reveals that in the presence of bulk pinning $j$ is inhomogeneous on a length scale of order the inter vortex distance. This inhomogeneity is significantly enhanced in the presence of surface pinning. We introduce new critical state model, which takes into account the current density variations throughout the film thickness, and show how these variations give rise to the experimentally observed thickness dependence of $$ and magnetic relaxation rate.Comment: RevTex, 9 PS figures. To appear in Phys. Rev.