scholarly journals Evaluation of the Appropriateness of the Current Sugarcane Out-grower Support Programs towards Improving Yields in the Lowveld of Zimbabwe

2020 ◽  
pp. 20-40
Author(s):  
Shirichena Kudakwashe ◽  
Mavondo Greanious Alfred ◽  
Moyo Obadiah ◽  
Chikuse Francis Farai ◽  
Mkwanazi Blessing Nkazimulo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Interest Rates ◽  
Land Reform ◽  
Sugar Industry ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Internal Validity ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Sugar Production ◽  
Validity And Reliability

Problem: Sugar production has drastically reduced over the years due to several reasons. The effects of the Land Redistribution Program (LRP) on agriculture, price controls, associated inflationary economic conditions, and hostile international foreign policies have formatted years of economical upheavals affecting sugarcane production. The infrastructure which had been developed to the point of being among the most sophisticated irrigation systems in the world, is threatened with collapse. Approximately 872 out-grower farmers, largely beneficiaries of the Fast Track Land Reform and Redistribution Program, have acquired sizable tract of land hoping to build the sugar industry but numerous problems beset the sector players. Objectives: To find solutions to the sugar production through investigating and looking into the appropriateness of the out-grower support for this end. Methods: Out-growers, beneficiaries of the Land Reform program and targeted sugar producers were observed to be the best source of information on how best to revitalize sugar production in Zimbabwe. Probability random sampling technique to select the out-growers was used. A list of all the out-growers was drawn and using the Kth term every eighth name was picked until a sample of 100 was reached. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from the participants. Five-point Likert scale close-ended questions were used in the questionnaire followed by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient analysis for internal validity and reliability testing. GraphPad InStat Software (version 5, GraphPad Software, San Diego, California USA) was used for relative statistical comparisons between estimates with. P values of 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: The population age groups of out-grower farmers were mixed with majority of them falling between 46 to 55 years with the majority of the farmers having 10 to 19 years of experience in sugarcane farming business. Most out-growers were educated holding at Ordinary (O) level of education. Out-growers who did ordinary level and above proved to be following the standard sugarcane procedures. A relatively high proportion of respondents followed the standard sugarcane growing procedures although the farmers did not possess enough business managerial skills. There was a notable difference in production between farmers that had formal sugarcane growing training than those that did not have. A significant proportion of lending institutions charged rather exorbitant interest rates and lacked flexibility required by the farmers. Conclusion: The general business operating environment for out-grower farmers was rather hostile with short loan repayment periods, reduced yields per hectare and low profit margins. The sugarcane out-growers were not keen to form syndicates for buying inputs or repairing infrastructures. Main recommendation: Out-growers should be provided with funding and training to allow them to utilize resources adequately to generate incomes that will allow them to support the agricultural activities efficiently without relying on input support from commercial plantation owners. Out-growers need to be encouraged to form partnerships for to enable them to advantages in reducing production costs.

scholarly journals Development of indicators for the sustainability of the sugar industry

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 22-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Alberto García-Bustamante ◽  
Noé Aguilar-Rivera ◽  
Manuel Zepeda-Pirrón ◽  
Cynthia Armendáriz-Arnez
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Sugar Industry ◽  
Irrigation Management ◽  
Quantitative Information ◽  
Environmental Indicators ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Sugar Production

AbstractSustainable development has been highlighted widely in productive sectors such as the sugar industry with new paradigms and trends such restructuring of sugar mills in biorefineries and development of green chemical from byproducts, considering issues such as technology adoption towards sustainability, circular economy, climate change, value chain, sustainability assessment and decision making. Production of cane sugar is one of Mexico’s main agro-industries; it conveys numerous positive socio-economic impacts and presents opportunities for productive diversification and enhanced profitability and competiveness. The sugar industry faces sustainability challenges due to the management of natural resources like soil, water, fossil fuels and agrochemicals, as well as the impacts of its greenhouse gas emissions and socio-economic constraints. However, sustainability of cane and sugar production cannot be assessed due to a lack of methodological frameworks for integrating economic and environmental indicators. We propose an index for Mexico’s sugar agro-industry that facilitates the identification of those system components that impact sustainability. This index is based on a reduced number of indicators aggregated through a multi-criteria evaluation using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). We apply this index to evaluate four sugar production systems in Mexico: producers of raw, refined, muscovado sugar and ethanol. Results show that systems with a high agro-industrial yield present better sustainability performance. This study is relevant because it provides quantitative information for decision makers towards a sustainable sugarcane agro-industry, based on the indicators used to build the sustainability index, to address actions as increase productive diversification by-products based, improve access to credit, irrigation, management practices and raw material quality reducing production costs, eliminate fossil fuel use in factories, make fertilizer application more efficient and reduce the area that is burned for manual harvest.

Nurse’s knowledge and Awareness Regarding Cervical Cancer and its Prevention in Different Hospitals of Quetta, Pakistan

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 436-441
Author(s):  
Saba Haider ◽  
Noman Ul Haq ◽  
Sohail Riaz ◽  
Aqeel Nasim ◽  
Muhammad Saood ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cervical Cancer ◽  
Family History ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Knowledge Score ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Adequate Knowledge ◽  
Current Area ◽  
One Year

Objective: This study aimed to assess the knowledge and awareness regarding cervical cancer and its prevention among nurses working in different hospitals of Quetta, Pakistan. Methodology: The cross sectional, descriptive study was conducted by using structured questionnaire in different hospitals of Quetta from January to September 2016. Convenient sampling technique was applied by targeting all the nurses working in different hospitals of Quetta city. Study questionnaire was developed and tested for validity and reliability. Descriptive and inferential statistics (Mann Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis tests, p<0.05) were used to assess the significance among study variables and were performed by using IBM SPSS v.20. Results: Out of 415 distributed questionnaires 324 were returned (response rate of 78%). The mean Age of respondents was 28.18 ±9.5 years. Majority (n=127, 43.3%) of participants were interns and had no or less than one year of experience (n=128, 43.7%) with negative family history of any cancer (n=275, 93.9%). Mean knowledge score was 18.52±4.84with majority (n=258, 88.1%) had adequate knowledge regarding cervical cancer. Respondent sage, current area of practice, qualification, Institute of degree and past family history were contributing factors (p > 0.05) in adequate knowledge in this study. The results also reviled that not only 68.3% (n=200) and 65.5% (n=192) respondents knew that cervical cancer is vaccine preventable and availability of the vaccine for it. Conclusions: Nurses working in different hospitals of Quetta city had better understanding of the disease cervical cancer and its prevention. Yet many of the respondent are not aware of it vaccine and its availability.

CONTROL IN REAL TIME THE DENSITY OF PRODUCT AT VARIOUS STAGES OF THE TECHNOLOGICAL PROCESS OF SUGAR PRODUCTION

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.B. Kudryashev ◽  
◽  
N.S. Assev ◽  
R.D. Belashov ◽  
V.A. Naumenko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Technological Process ◽  
Sugar Industry ◽  
Sugar Production ◽  
Production Processes ◽  
Quality Of Products

The article is devoted to solving one of the most important problems of the development of the sugar industry in Russia – the modernization of sugar production processes. Today, sugar production is actively being modernized, shifting most of its processes to the path of avomatization and optimization to improve the quality of products. This article describes one of the main ways to obtain information about the concentration of sucrose in syrup in the production of sugar.

Clara Ng: A Brief Journey of A Remarkable Female for Our Time

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adib Rifqi Setiawan
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Methods ◽  
Publishing Industry ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
External Audit ◽  
Narrative Approaches ◽  
Career Opportunities ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Interviewing Techniques

This work examines what it has been and continues to be like for Clara Ng to be a home mother and an author in the publishing industry. Our exploration uses qualitative methods of narrative approaches in the form of biographical studies. Participants as data sources were selected using a purposive sampling technique which was collected based on retrospective interviewing techniques and then checked for validity and reliability using external audit. It gained that Clara Ng is a remarkable female whose synthesizes the difference between home mother and author’s career in the publishing industry. She did not seek fame nor did she seek self aggrandizement, her whole life was one of service to humanity, an indefatigable work ethic, and humility. Clara Ng’s journey offers insights offers examples of many ways in which home mothers can, and should, work to improve the career opportunities available to those who follow in their footsteps.

GAMBARAN PENYAKIT PERIODONTAL PADA PENDERITA DIABETES MELITUS DI RUMAH SAKIT UMUM PUSAT PROF. DR. R. D KANDOU MANADO

e-GIGI ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ezra G. R. Tambunan ◽  
Karel Pandelaki ◽  
Christy N. Mintjelungan
Keyword(s):  
Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
Periodontal Disease ◽  
Metabolic Diseases ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Evaluation Criteria ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Oral Health Problem ◽  
Result Show ◽  
Patients With Diabetes ◽  
Diabetes Melitus

Abstract: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a group of metabolic diseases with characteristic hyperglycemia that occurs due to insulin secretion, insulin action or both. This disease affects many societies and continuously growing in Indonesia. Periodontal disease is an oral health problem which has a relatively high prevalence in the community where periodontal disease in all age groups in Indonesia.The purpose of this study was to determine the periodontal disease in patients with diabetesmellitus in RSUP Prof. dr. R. D. Kandou Manado. This descriptive study has 68 sample taken with total sampling technique. The sample is examined using evaluation criteria gingival index and CPITN index. The result show that subjects with periodontitis with a score of 4 is the highest as many as 18 people (44%) and subject with a score of 2 is that at least as many as 8 people (19.5%). And subjects with bad gingivitis is the highest as many as 10 people (52.6%) and subject with the good gingivitis is the at least as many as 5 people (26.3%). Based on the result of this study, periodontal disease in patients with diabetes mellitus in RSUP Prof. Dr. R. D. Kandou most that periodontitis with the number of 41 people (68.3%) compared to gingivitis which is just as many as 19 people (31.7%)Keywords: diabetes mellitus, periodontitis, gingivitis, periodontalAbstrak:Diabetes Melitus (DM) merupakan suatu kelompok penyakit metabolik dengan karakteristik hiperglikemia yang terjadi karena sekresi insulin, kerja insulin atau kedua-duanya. Penyakit ini merupakan penyakit yang banyak diderita kalangan masyarakat dan terus berkembang di Indonesia. Penyakit periodontal merupakan masalah kesehatan gigi dan mulut yang memiliki prevalensi cukup tinggi di masyarakat dimana penyakit periodontal pada semua kelompok umur di Indonesia.Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui penyakit periodontal pada penderita diabetes mellitus di RSUP Prof. dr. R. D. Kandou Manado. Jenis penelitian ini adalah penelitian deskriptif dengan jumlah sampel 60 orang yang diambil dengan teknik total sampling. Sampel diperiksa dengan menggunakan kriteria penilaian indeks gingiva dan indeks CPITN. Hasil menunjukkan bahwa yang mengalami periodontitis dengan skor 4 adalah yang paling tinggi yaitu sebanyak 18 orang (44%), dan subjek yang mengalami skor 2 adalah yang yang paling sedikit yaitu sebanyak 8 orang (19.5%). Sedangkan yang mengalami gingivitis yang paling tinggi yaitu gingivitis buruk sebanyak 10 orang (52.6%) dan yang paling sedikit adalah yang mengalami gingivitis ringan yaitu sebanyak 5 orang (26.3%). Berdasarkan hasil penelitian ini dapat disimpulkan bahwa penyakit periodontal yang paling banyak ditemui pada penderita diabetes melitus di RSUP Prof. Dr. R. D. Kandou Manado adalah penyakit periodontitis yaitu sebanyak 41 orang (68.3%) dan yang paling sedikit adalah gingivitis yaitu sebanyak 19 orang (31.7%)Kata kunci: diabetes melitus, periodontitis, gingivitis, periodontal

Technical accounting: sugar extraction and losses

2020 ◽  
pp. 712-721
Author(s):  
Jan Maarten de Bruijn de Bruijn
Keyword(s):  
Process Improvement ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Continuous Process ◽  
Extraction Yield ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Sugar Production ◽  
Cost Leadership ◽  
Sugar Extraction ◽  
White Sugar

The bought sugar in the processed raw material (either beet or cane) comprises a high financial value and may contribute to somewhere around 50% of the white sugar production costs. It is therefore of the utmost importance to minimize sugar losses along the process and produce as much white sugar as possible from the raw material. This paper explains the principle of technical accounting as tool to control sugar extraction and losses in beet sugar manufacture. The sugar mass balance used to calculate the overall sugar extraction yield, as well as several simple calculations proposed for estimating the different sugar losses (like e.g. extraction (diffusion) losses, infection losses, sugar losses in molasses, etc.) in the subsequent process steps will be explained in detail. Proper technical accounting is considered indispensable for continuous process control and process improvement in pursuit of best-practice operation and cost-leadership.

scholarly journals Nutritional psychiatry: the present state of the evidence

2017 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 427-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Marx ◽  
Genevieve Moseley ◽  
Michael Berk ◽  
Felice Jacka
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Diet Quality ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Behavioural Therapy ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Reverse Causality ◽  
Dietary Interventions ◽  
Cognitive Behavioural

Mental illness, including depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder, accounts for a significant proportion of global disability and poses a substantial social, economic and heath burden. Treatment is presently dominated by pharmacotherapy, such as antidepressants, and psychotherapy, such as cognitive behavioural therapy; however, such treatments avert less than half of the disease burden, suggesting that additional strategies are needed to prevent and treat mental disorders. There are now consistent mechanistic, observational and interventional data to suggest diet quality may be a modifiable risk factor for mental illness. This review provides an overview of the nutritional psychiatry field. It includes a discussion of the neurobiological mechanisms likely modulated by diet, the use of dietary and nutraceutical interventions in mental disorders, and recommendations for further research. Potential biological pathways related to mental disorders include inflammation, oxidative stress, the gut microbiome, epigenetic modifications and neuroplasticity. Consistent epidemiological evidence, particularly for depression, suggests an association between measures of diet quality and mental health, across multiple populations and age groups; these do not appear to be explained by other demographic, lifestyle factors or reverse causality. Our recently published intervention trial provides preliminary clinical evidence that dietary interventions in clinically diagnosed populations are feasible and can provide significant clinical benefit. Furthermore, nutraceuticals including n-3 fatty acids, folate, S-adenosylmethionine, N-acetyl cysteine and probiotics, among others, are promising avenues for future research. Continued research is now required to investigate the efficacy of intervention studies in large cohorts and within clinically relevant populations, particularly in patients with schizophrenia, bipolar and anxiety disorders.

scholarly journals Validity and reliability of the Self-Care Activities Screening Scale (SASS-14) during COVID-19 lockdown

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martín Martínez ◽  
Elkin O. Luis ◽  
Edwin Yair Oliveros ◽  
Pablo Fernández-Berrocal ◽  
Ainize Sarrionandia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
General Population ◽  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Convergent Validity ◽  
Self Care ◽  
Internal Validity ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Good Reliability ◽  
Confirmatory Factor Analyses ◽  
Health Consciousness

Abstract Background In a context where there is no treatment for the current COVID-19 virus, the combination of self-care behaviours together with confinement, are strategies to decrease the risk of contagion and remain healthy. However, there are no self-care measures to screen self-care activities in general population and which, could be briefly in a lockdown situation. This research aims to build and validate a psychometric tool to screen self-care activities in general population. Methods Firstly, an exploratory factor analysis was performed in a sample of 226 participants to discover the underlying factorial structure and to reduce the number of items in the original tool into a significant pool of items related to self-care. Later a confirmatory factor analyses were performed in a new sample of 261 participants to test for the fit and goodness of factor solutions. Internal validity, reliability, and convergent validity between its score with perceived stress and psychological well-being measures were examined on this sample. Results The exploratory analyses suggested a four-factor solution, corresponding to health consciousness, nutrition and physical activity, sleep, and intra-personal and inter-personal coping skills (14 items). Then, the four-factor structure was confirmed as the best model fit for self-care activities. The tool demonstrated good reliability, predictive validity of individuals’ perception of coping with COVID-19 lockdown, and convergent validity with well-being and perceived stress. Conclusions This screening tool could be helpful to address future evaluations and interventions to promote healthy behaviours. Likewise, this tool can be targeted to specific population self-care’s needs during a scalable situation.

scholarly journals Development and Validation of the Yonsei Lifestyle Profile-Satisfaction (YLP-S) Using the Rasch Measurement Model

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 004695802110176
Author(s):  
Kang-Hyun Park ◽  
Ickpyo Hong ◽  
Ji-Hyuk Park
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Rasch Analysis ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Internal Validity ◽  
Measurement Model ◽  
Limited Evidence ◽  
Fit Statistics ◽  
Item Functioning ◽  
Development And Validation ◽  
The Rasch Model

Lifestyle plays an important role in determining health and vitality among older adults. However, there is limited evidence regarding lifestyle assessment. This study examined the psychometric properties of the Yonsei Lifestyle Profile-Satisfaction (YLP-S). The participants in the study included 156 older adults. Rasch analysis was used to test unidimensionality, fit statistics, and the precision of the YLP-S. The YLP-S demonstrated a unidimensional measurement construct, and 18 items fit the Rasch model. The YLP-S illustrated reasonable precision (person strata = 5.37). Only 4 items showed differential item functioning by sex or age groups. The findings indicate that the YLP-S demonstrated sound internal validity and can be used by health professionals to measure the multifaceted lifestyle of older adults.

Validity and reliability of a wearable-controlled serious game and goniometer for telemonitoring of wrist fracture rehabilitation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henriëtte A. W. Meijer ◽  
Maurits Graafland ◽  
Miryam C. Obdeijn ◽  
Marlies P. Schijven ◽  
J. Carel Goslings
Keyword(s):  
Range Of Motion ◽  
Intraclass Correlation ◽  
Internal Validity ◽  
Wrist Fracture ◽  
Serious Game ◽  
Reference Standard ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Good Reliability ◽  
Rater Reliability ◽  
Flexion Extension

Abstract Purpose To determine the validity of wrist range of motion (ROM) measurements by the wearable-controlled ReValidate! wrist-rehabilitation game, which simultaneously acts as a digital goniometer. Furthermore, to establish the reliability of the game by contrasting ROM measurements to those found by medical experts using a universal goniometer. Methods As the universal goniometer is considered the reference standard, inter-rater reliability between surgeons was first determined. Internal validity of the game ROM measurements was determined in a test–retest setting with healthy volunteers. The reliability of the game was tested in 34 patients with a restricted range of motion, in whom the ROM was measured by experts as well as digitally. Intraclass-correlation coefficients (ICCs) were determined and outcomes were analyzed using Bland–Altman plots. Results Inter-rater reliability between experts using a universal goniometer was poor, with ICCs of 0.002, 0.160 and 0.520. Internal validity testing of the game found ICCs of − 0.693, 0.376 and 0.863, thus ranging from poor to good. Reliability testing of the game compared to medical expert measurements, found that mean differences were small for the flexion–extension arc and the radial deviation-ulnar deviation arc. Conclusion The ReValidate! game is a reliable home-monitoring device digitally measuring ROM in the wrist. Interestingly, the test–retest reliability of the serious game was found to be considerably higher than the inter-rater reliability of the reference standard, being healthcare professionals using a universal goniometer. Trial registration number (internal hospital registration only) MEC-AMC W17_003 #17.015.

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