Sexual Reproductive Health: Improving Child Survival Initiatives in Botswana

Improving maternal and child survival it’s an important integral part of health care. A large number of deaths in Africa emanate from preventable diseases and largely in the first month of life. Majority of deaths were from preventable causes such as pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria and all accounting to 14.9%, 9.2% and 7.3% respectively. In an endeavour to the prevent and promote healthcare system, the government of Botswana came up with a special programme geared toward protecting the locals against common diseases. The government of Botswana, through the Ministry of Health (MoH), introduced the Accelerated Child Survival and Development (ACSD) strategic plan intervention with a specific focus on reducing the ‘under five mortality rate’ (U5MR). One of the high-impact interventions for reducing the U5MR is the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) strategy. The strategic goal of IMCI is to reduce death, illness, and disability and to promote improved growth and development among children under 5 years of age. Child welfare clinic and Nutrition has been discovered as one of the strategy to promote child’s growth and development. This strategy can be effective if it is implemented with IMCI and Immunisation.

Article 6: The Rights to Life, Survival, and Development

Abstract‘A minimum income for every family with children should be secured by the government and reports should be available about its provision.’ (Eastern Europe)

Research on Students' Participation Right in Internal Governance of Universities

The state is vigorously promoting the modernization of educational governance ability and governance level and building a high-level university. Students are the basis for the survival and development of the university. Paying attention to students' participation right is the need to adapt to the development of democratic society and promote the modernization of internal governance of the university. The development history of students' participation right has experienced a long process. It is also a key point of the internal reform of colleges and universities and a legal right allocation to balance various stakeholders. Today, with the popularization of higher education, we should pay attention to students' participation right and promote the modernization of university governance system and governance ability.

Effects of Microalgal Food Quantity on Several Productivity-Related Parameters of the Calanoid Copepod Bestiolina similis (Calanoida: Paracalanidae)

The optimization of copepod feeding protocol is paramount to improve culture productivity and to maintain favorable water quality parameters overtime, as well as saving operational costs by preventing the production of unnecessary quantities of microalgae. The influence of microalgal feeding concentration on major parameters related to culture productivity of the calanoid copepod Bestiolina similis (Paracalanidae) was investigated in a series of laboratory experiments. B. similis was fed eight different concentrations (0, 150, 300, 600, 900, 1,200, 1,500 and 1,800 μgC l–1) of a mixed microalgal diet consisting of Tahitian strain of Isochrysis species, Pavalova 50 and Tetraselmis chuii at 1:1:1 carbon ratio. The results indicate that female daily and cumulative egg production over lifespan, egg hatching rate, naupliar and copepodite survival and development, adult female life expectancy, population growth and fecal pellet production rate (FPPR) were all significantly affected by microalgae feeding ration. Conversely, no significant influence could be established between microalgae food concentration and egg diameter or adult sex ratio. Feeding rations as low as 150 μgC l–1 led to lower egg hatching rates, survival and development, adult female life expectancy and population growth compared with the higher microalgae rations tested. Feeding concentration ≤ 900 μgC l–1 significantly limited female daily egg and fecal pellet production rate, as well as their cumulative egg production over lifespan, when compared to a level of 900 μgC l–1. Bestiolina similis fed with 1,200 μgC l–1 significantly improved female egg and fecal pellet production when compared to the lower treatments and was responsible for the highest female lifespan egg production and population growth observed among all treatments. Feeding rations as high as 1,500 μgC l–1 and 1,800 μgC l–1 did not lead to significant improvement in any of the parameters measured. This is likely due to a saturation effect at high food concentration which is known to decrease calanoid copepods feeding efficiency. Finally, B. similis FPPR, used as a proxy for ingestion, was found to saturate at a microalgae concentration of 783.4 μgC l–1 using a non-linear Michael-Menton (2 parameters), indicating that CVI female ingestion did not increase significantly above this concentration. Based on the above results it is recommended that B. similis cultures should be fed at a concentration of 1,200 μgC l–1, and not above, as rations > 1,200 μgC l–1 will not significantly improve any of the productivity-related parameters observed in this study. Feeding rations should never be below 783.40 μgC l–1 as this is the threshold level below which adult female ingestion rates become limiting.

Longitudinal Study of Maternal Beliefs About Infant Crying During the Postpartum Period: Interplay With Infant’s Temperament

Infant crying is an important signal for their survival and development, and maternal beliefs about crying predict responsiveness to crying. Most studies have considered caregivers’ reactions to crying to be fixed, and it is unclear how they change with their caregiving experience. Additionally, it has recently been suggested that there is a bidirectional relationship between changes in mothers’ beliefs about crying and infants’ temperament. This study examined that relationship using a longitudinal study design. Maternal beliefs about crying and infant temperament of 339 Asian first-time mothers (mean age = 28.7 years, SD = 4.1) were measured at 1-month intervals over 4 months. There were 289 participants in Wave 2, 240 in Wave 3, and 164 in Wave 4. Prior to the main survey, we conducted a pre-survey to confirm the reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Infant Crying Questionnaire. The results showed that parent-oriented beliefs, which focus on the caregiver rather than the crying infant, increased in mothers who had infants aged 3 months or older at Wave 1. We also found that the process of change in maternal beliefs was not uniform, and that infants high on surgency predicted changes in maternal beliefs about infant crying. Longitudinal studies of caregivers’ changes, such as the present study, are expected to contribute to understanding the co-development of caregivers and infants.

Identification of Genes Associated with Nitrogen Stress Responses in Apple Leaves

Nitrogen (N) is an essential macronutrient that regulates diverse physiological processes for plant survival and development. In apple orchards, inappropriate N conditions can cause imbalanced growth and subsequent physiological disorders in trees. In order to investigate the molecular basis underlying the physiological signals for N stress responses, we examined the metabolic signals responsive to contrasting N stress conditions (deficient/excessive) in apple leaves using transcriptome approaches. The clustering of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) showed the expression dynamics of genes associated with each N stress group. Functional analyses of gene ontology and pathway enrichments revealed the potential candidates of metabolic signals responsible for N-deficient/excessive stress responses. The functional interactions of DEGs in each cluster were further explored by protein–protein interaction network analysis. Our results provided a comprehensive insight into molecular signals responsive to N stress conditions, and will be useful in future research to enhance the nutrition tolerance of tree crops.

Ectoparasitic fungi of Myrmica ants alter the success of parasitic butterflies

Exploitation of organisms by multiple parasite species is common in nature, but interactions among parasites have rarely been studied. Myrmica ants are rich in parasites. Among others, the ectoparasitic Rickia wasmannii fungus and the parasitic caterpillars of myrmecophilous Phengaris butterflies often infect the same Myrmica colonies. In this study, we examined the effects of R. wasmannii on the adoption, long-term development, and survival of P. alcon. In laboratory conditions, caterpillars introduced into nests of Myrmica scabrinodis uninfected with R. wasmannii survived significantly longer compared to caterpillars introduced into infected nests. In the field, joint infection was less common than expected if both parasites exploited M. scabrinodis colonies independently. Pre-pupal caterpillars of P. alcon were somewhat larger in nests infected with R. wasmannii than those found in uninfected nests. Based on these results it seems that R. wasmannii infection of M. scabrinodis affects the survival and development of P. alcon caterpillars, suggesting competition between these two ant parasites.

TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION, SUPPLY CHAIN RISK AND DIGITAL MARKETING TOWARDS BUSINESS PERFORMANCE. A CONCEPTUAL STUDY IN LIVESTOCK INDUSTRY IN MALAYSIA

The livestock industry has become the most dynamic market globally. This is being driven largely by demand due to growth in purchasing power and modern technology. With the constant improvement of the degree of livestock products trade, the market operation and structure of livestock products are also transformed. The survival and development of the livestock industry are dependent on the comprehensive strength of the whole industry chain, therefore, the study of the technology innovation, supply chain risk, and digital marketing towards the business performance of the livestock industry in Malaysia is required. Hence, the ability to conceptualize, observe and give due recognition to the possible relation amongst these variables in question by the livestock industry, perhaps could bring about an insightful engagement for the betterment of the livestock business performance. This paper does not attempt to provide a comprehensive overview of livestock markets and trends in Malaysia or elsewhere in developing countries. On the basis of this, the relationship between technology innovation, supply chain risk, digital marketing, and livestock industry performance is used in this paper, which improves the whole performance of the livestock industry and enhances international competitiveness.