The public sector nursing workforce in Kenya: a county-level analysis.

BACKGROUND: Kenya's human resources for health shortage is well documented, yet in line with the new constitution, responsibility for health service delivery will be devolved to 47 new county administrations. This work describes the public sector nursing workforce likely to be inherited by the counties, and examines the relationships between nursing workforce density and key indicators. METHODS: National nursing deployment data linked to nursing supply data were used and analyzed using statistical and geographical analysis software. Data on nurses deployed in national referral hospitals and on nurses deployed in non-public sector facilities were excluded from main analyses. The densities and characteristics of the public sector nurses across the counties were obtained and examined against an index of county remoteness, and the nursing densities were correlated with five key indicators. RESULTS: Of the 16,371 nurses in the public non-tertiary sector, 76% are women and 53% are registered nurses, with 35% of the nurses aged 40 to 49 years. The nursing densities across counties range from 1.2 to 0.08 per 1,000 population. There are statistically significant associations of the nursing densities with a measure of health spending per capita (P value = 0.0028) and immunization rates (P value = 0.0018). A higher county remoteness index is associated with explaining lower female to male ratio of public sector nurses across counties (P value <0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: An overall shortage of nurses (range of 1.2 to 0.08 per 1,000) in the public sector countrywide is complicated by mal-distribution and varying workforce characteristics (for example, age profile) across counties. All stakeholders should support improvements in human resources information systems and help address personnel shortages and mal-distribution if equitable, quality health-care delivery in the counties is to be achieved

The Black Seventh-day Adventist Family in South Africa : a Needs Assessment and Implications for Family Life Education

Problem. Problems have been identified in the African family that is caught up in a cross-cultural situation between the traditional African culture and the Western culture. This study set out to collect and organize information about the changing patterns of African family life and the new structures which have emerged. The magnitude of the problem and the size of the population involved call for a serious attempt to understand the situation and to suggest probable solutions. Method. Six churches were chosen as a sample, three from the Trans-Orange Conference and the other three from the Cape Field. Adult and youth questionnaires were sent to the presidents of the two organizations who administered the questionnaires to the members of the six churches. The responses were tabulated with the aid of the Andrews University Computing Center and the data were analyzed by means of percentages and Chi-squares. Conclusions. The results of the study showed that in the Trans-Orange Conference, the decrease in church marriages was even more marked than that of the general population. Premarital children and uncertainty about how reliable the future spouse might be were seen as the main contributing factors to decreased church marriages. Although the respondents practiced the lobola custom, they were not sure whether or not it violated any Christian principle. A certain section of the constituency is still holding on to initiation schools and they would like to see a greater involvement of church members rather than kinsmen in the custom. The study also revealed that with little kinsmen structure in urban areas and limited pastoral visitation, the marriage union lacks support from important societal groups. The adult respondents indicated that a greater percentage of them disapproved of companionship between opposite sexes and this lead to fifty percent of them having difficulty in guiding their youth in sex matters. Child rearing practices were found to parallel those of the industrialized societies where mothers worked and had little time for children

Professional dietary coaching within a group chat using a smartphone application for weight loss: a randomized controlled trial

Purpose: To test the effectiveness of professional dietary coaching via group chat using a smartphone application (app) for weight loss.Methods: This study was a 12-week, assessor-blind, parallel-group, waitlist-controlled randomized trial that included a 4-week follow-up period (trial registration, UMIN000025340). Data were collected between October 2016 and May 2017 and were analyzed between July 2017 and January 2018. Participants were 112 overweight, obese, or abdominally obese Japanese adults, aged 20 to 64 years, with at least one cardiometabolic risk factor. Participants were randomized to the coaching group (n=75) or control group (n=37), with a ratio of 2:1. The coaching group received a commercial weight loss program characterizing dietary coaching by a certified nutrition professional via group chat delivered on a smartphone app. Participants posted photos of every meal into the group chat, and the certified professional gave immediate direct feedback and encouragement. The primary outcome was an 8-week weight change. Secondary outcomes included 8-week changes in cardiometabolic risk factors. The frequency of meal photo uploads was recorded as a measure of adherence.Results: Of the 112 randomized participants, 93 (83.0%) and 81 (72.3%) completed 8-week and 12-week visits, respectively. Intention-to-treat analysis demonstrated significantly larger 8-week weight loss in the coaching group (−1.4 kg; 95% confidence interval [CI]: −2.0, −0.8 kg) than that in the control group (−0.1 kg; 95% CI: −0.6, 0.4 kg). Significantly larger improvements in triglyceride and glycated hemoglobin A1c levels were also obtained in the coaching group. These benefits, except for the triglyceride level, were maintained until week 12. The frequent upload of meal photos was associated with a larger 8-week weight loss in a dose–response fashion (P-value for trend <0.001).Conclusion: This smartphone-delivered commercial weight loss program characterized as dietary coaching via group chat resulted in modest but significant weight loss. Facilitating participants’ active involvement in the program is necessary to achieve greater health benefits

Virtual Reality Sherlock: A Crime Scene Reconstructor

When an investigation team arrives to the scene, they only have a limited amount of time to gather as much evidence as they can. Evidence can include, but is not limited to: fingerprints, pictures/videos, blood samples, or any other biological evidence. Due to the limited amount of time, a few risks arise; they may not have collected enough evidence, the evidence itself may not have captured the full scope of the scene, and the possibility that the evidence itself may have been damaged or destroyed. Our aim is to develop a low-cost, customizable VR crime scene reconstructor. This software allows CSI as well as the court to revisit a crime scene by inputting only the necessary components of the crime in question based on previously collected data and witness accounts. Rather than using expensive cameras to capture an overly-realistic scene, a solution that is not computationally expensive is required because of not only the amount time it takes to render the setting, but also the requirement of high-end hardware to process the data. We propose a reconstructor that allows the user to construct the scene piece by piece, which lets the user understand the details individually rather than as a whole picture.We believe our VR simulator will be helpful not only in training CSI investigators but also in the courtroom by allowing juries to concentrate on the most pertinent details of a scene

The public sector nursing workforce in Kenya: a county-level analysis

BACKGROUND: Kenya's human resources for health shortage is well documented, yet in line with the new constitution, responsibility for health service delivery will be devolved to 47 new county administrations. This work describes the public sector nursing workforce likely to be inherited by the counties, and examines the relationships between nursing workforce density and key indicators. METHODS: National nursing deployment data linked to nursing supply data were used and analyzed using statistical and geographical analysis software. Data on nurses deployed in national referral hospitals and on nurses deployed in non-public sector facilities were excluded from main analyses. The densities and characteristics of the public sector nurses across the counties were obtained and examined against an index of county remoteness, and the nursing densities were correlated with five key indicators. RESULTS: Of the 16,371 nurses in the public non-tertiary sector, 76% are women and 53% are registered nurses, with 35% of the nurses aged 40 to 49 years. The nursing densities across counties range from 1.2 to 0.08 per 1,000 population. There are statistically significant associations of the nursing densities with a measure of health spending per capita (P value = 0.0028) and immunization rates (P value = 0.0018). A higher county remoteness index is associated with explaining lower female to male ratio of public sector nurses across counties (P value <0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: An overall shortage of nurses (range of 1.2 to 0.08 per 1,000) in the public sector countrywide is complicated by mal-distribution and varying workforce characteristics (for example, age profile) across counties. All stakeholders should support improvements in human resources information systems and help address personnel shortages and mal-distribution if equitable, quality health-care delivery in the counties is to be achieved

A Taxonomy Of Aspect-Oriented Security

Aspect-Oriented Programming is gaining prominence,  particularly in the area of security. There are however no taxonomies available, that classify the proliferation of research done in the area of Aspect-Oriented Security. This paper attempts to categorize research outputs conducted in this area, and evaluate the usability of the aspect-oriented paradigm in terms of software security

数表記知識獲得の基礎としての子どもの数学的理解

書字や描画などの表記活動の発達については, 1990年代以降それぞれ他のシンボル表記体系と広く関連づけながら研究されるようになり, 領域に固有な知識や共通性の解明を目指す「知識」の観点から新たに捉え直されるようになってきた。書字と描画についてはこうした観点からの知見の積み上げがなされつつあるが, 数表記についてはまだ研究が少なく, また領域的知識として子どもが有する数概念, 数学的理解についても研究者間で見解に相違が見られる。そこで, 本稿では, 今後数表記活動の発達を領域的知識から表記活動への写像原理の観点から検討する上で基盤となる, 数概念, あるいは数学的理解に関する見解を整理したい。具体的にはBryant & Nuñes (2011) とTolchinsky (2003) のそれぞれによる数学的理解の発達に関する概観を紹介しながら, 両者の共通点, 相違点を整理し, 数表記知識の獲得と数概念・数学的理解の関係性について考察した

Associations of Objectively Measured Physical Activity and Sleep with Weight Loss Maintenance: A Preliminary Study of Japanese Adults

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