Effect of foliar fertilization using micronutrient fertilizers on the content of nitrates(V), nitrites(III) in potato tubers

The research was based on a 3-year field experiment carried out in south-eastern Poland, in 2013‒2015, on brown, slightly acidic soil. The experiment was established by the randomized subblock method, where the first-order factors were foliar fertilization: (A) Fortis Duotop Zn Mn + Fortis Aminotop, (B) Fortis B Mo + Ferti Agro, (C) Fortis Zn Mn + Fortis B Mo and (0) standard object, without foliar fertilization. The factors of the second order were 4 edible potato cultivars (‘Viviana’, ‘Vineta’, ‘Jelly’ and ‘Agnes’). Foliar application of all fertilizer combinations contributed to the reduction of the content of nitrates and nitrites in potato tubers. However, the response of cultivars to foliar fertilization was varied. The medium late cultivar ‘Jelly’ was characterized by the lowest tendency to accumulate nitrates, while the early cultivar ‘Vineta’ was the highest. The highest content of both nitrates and nitrites in tubers was recorded in the dry year, with a significant shortage of rainfall during the potato growing season, and the lowest in the year, about wet June, and September.

The Validity and Reliability of the Chula COVID-19 Psychosocial Home Isolation Evaluation Tool (CCPHIET)

Background: The cumulative number of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a significant shortage of hospital beds. Many patients may not require hospitalization and can be clinically observed in home settings. However, some psychosocial factors are correlated with unsuccessful home isolation (HI), which might negatively affect the transmission control in the community. Therefore, we developed a new psychosocial screening tool (CCPHIET) for assessing HI suitability and examined its validity and reliability.Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study included COVID-19 patients who were deemed to be medically safe for 14 days of HI. The CCPHIET is comprised of 8 clinical domains pertinent to HI behavioral compliance and risk. We explored its statistical validity and reliability and discussed the potential utility of this tool. Results: A total of 65 COVID-19 patients participated in this study. Most patients (58.5%) were evaluated as good candidates for HI. The CCPHIET has an acceptable content validity (IOC index > 0.5), moderate internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.611) and substantial to excellent inter-rater reliability (Intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.944, Cohen’s kappa= 0.627).Conclusions: To compromise between strict and costly absolute institutional quarantine and the potentially unsuccessful absolute HI, the CCPHIET may help to identify good candidates for HI in mild and asymptomatic COVID-19 patients. This psychosocial information would support the physicians in matching each patient to the most suitable setting. Therefore, safe medical care is provided, unnecessary use of medical resources is spared, and local transmission is contained.

FUTURE TRENDS IN EMPLOYEE REQUIREMENT IN HOTEL AND RESTAURANT SECTOR IN SRI LANKA

This paper aims to forecast future employee requirements in the hotel and restaurant sector in Sri Lanka and identify the correlation between different labour categories with tourist arrivals. The literature illustrates the fact that there is a significant shortage of forecasted data on labour in the hotel and restaurant sector, particularly in Sri Lanka. Therefore, this research fulfilled the empirical gap forecasting the future employee requirements in the hotel and restaurant sector in Sri Lanka. Secondary data were used and analyzed using quantitative techniques. Annual data were obtained from annual statistical reports from 2000 to 2018 published by Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority in Sri Lanka. The linear regression model was used to forecast different employee categories in the hotel and restaurant sector and Karl Pearson’s correlation was used to test the correlation between labour categories (independent variables) and tourist arrivals (dependent variable). Findings indicate that there is a positive and very strong relationship between tourist arrivals and different labour categories since the coefficient of correlation is more than 0.8 in all relationships. The study forecasts that 2.4. million foreign tourists will arrive in Sri Lanka in 2024 and 146105 employees in different categories in the hotel and restaurant sector in Sri Lanka is required. As compared to the required labour force with the existing employees, hotel and restaurant sector in Sri Lanka is required 24898 employees in 2024. Thus, the study provides better insight into future trends of employability requirements of the hotel and restaurant sector which leads to preventing the risk and uncertainties in future manpower planning in the industry.

Digital Pathology in Cameroon

PURPOSE Cancer is becoming increasingly prevalent among the group of treatable diseases in African countries. There is a shortage of clinicians and pathologists available for cancer diagnosis and treatment. These limited resources must be efficiently used to maximize the number of patients treated. One of the critical factors in treatment efficiency is the correct and timely diagnosis of specimens by pathologists. However, there is currently a significant shortage of cancer care clinicians in Africa and an even more considerable shortage of pathologists. This article presents an example in which telepathology was used to mitigate the lack of pathologists in Cameroon. METHODS The telepathology workaround was implemented in a district hospital based in Cameroon's Adamawa region, where a European surgeon provides cancer treatment. A small histology laboratory there is run by one histotechnologist who processes surgical biopsies into histology slides. As there are no pathologists on site, these slides are digitally scanned using a mobile phone and a whole slide imaging (WSI) scanner. The slides are then shared electronically with a volunteering pathologist in Europe who provides a diagnostic report. RESULTS From 2018 to July 2019, specimens for 101 patients were photographed through an iPhone connected to a microscope eyepiece producing several individual images per specimen. From July 2019 to December 2020, slides from 282 patients were scanned using WSI and digitally transmitted. CONCLUSION WSI on hematoxylin and eosin histology slides for remote diagnosis can increase cancer treatment efficacy and reduce overtreatment of tumors clinically suspicious for malignancy in under-resourced countries with a lack of pathologists.

Design and Functioning of Automated Medicine Dispensing Module

In a world where technology has bridged the gap between people communicating to reducing human efforts and improving efficiency, the problem that major hospitals & pharmacies face is i.e. lack of staff & resources. As per the survey conducted by LANCET[1], India faces a significant shortage in medical staff which leads to patients being unattended for several hours. This problem can be solved if the tasks per staff member is reduced and one such way is by reducing their repetitive movement from the patient's room to the pharmacy for giving the medicines to the patient. This effort can be reduced by creating a remotely located machine which can be placed at the right place to dispense medicines automatically. This reduces the extra movements and hence provides them the time to do tasks that are of more importance. Although the concept of an automated medicine dispensing unit is not new, it is something that if built and implemented, can provide aid to patients in developing countries.

‘They want to give our children to white people and Christian people’: Somali perspectives on the shortage of Somali substitute carers

Children from some black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds are routinely placed with substitute carers who do not match their cultural, linguistic, religious and ethnic backgrounds. The shortage of foster carers and adopters of specific backgrounds means that the demand in the care population often outweighs the availability of matched placement options. While the shortages of BME foster carers and adopters are widely recognised, there is virtually no research into the barriers faced by specific BME groups, so there are no informed recruitment strategies to increase the pool of potential matches. This research focuses on Somalis living in a large English city where there is a significant shortage of Somali foster carers and adopters despite people of Somali heritage comprising a sizeable proportion of the care and city population. Findings from the study suggest that there is no lack of motivation among the Somali population to foster or adopt, but participants felt that potential applicants are either rejected or deterred by institutional barriers, social exclusion and negative perceptions of social care, and that these factors are closely interlinked. The study makes practical suggestions for recruitment and assessment practice, but also stresses the importance of cultural competence and community engagement in a wider context of social care if welfare agencies wish to see more disenfranchised communities volunteering to work with them.

The Way to Manage a Lack of NPIR for COVID-19 Patients

The number of COVID-19 infected patients around the world is currently over 9 million already. Some countries have received a sudden and direct hit of COVID-19 and thus lack of medical supplies has occurred in those countries. There is a significant shortage of negative pressure isolation rooms for COVID-19 Patients with the most serious symptoms and because of this, the death rate keeps rising at a fast pace.Until the vaccine or cure for COVID-19 is developed, preventing COVID-19 patients from death is more realistic. The early stages of COVID-19 should be used to secure treatment for COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms as mandatory lower the death rate, also negative pressure isolation room is clearly necessary, otherwise we are likely to see a large second wave of COVID-19.We scrutinized the national medical center of South Korea's database to find a new way to manage the expected shortage of negative pressure isolation room (NPIR).

Evaluating a genomics short course for undergraduate health education students

Background: There is a significant shortage of genomics training curricula targeting health education (HE) students. This study assessed the impact of an online theory-based genomics short course focusing on family health history (FHH) to undergraduate HE students. Materials & methods: Junior and senior HE students (n = 69) at a research-intensive university completed the course and took the pre- and post-course surveys. Results: Participants demonstrated positive improvements in their scores regarding FHH knowledge as well as attitudes, intention and confidence in adopting FHH-based genomics skills into future practice. They also showed satisfaction with the genomics course. Conclusion: Based on the initial success of the results, offering this genomics course to more HE students for further testing is recommended in the future.

Neurosurgical education in Egypt and Africa

OBJECTIVEAfrica still significantly lags in the development of neurosurgery. Egypt, located in North Africa, is well-developed in this specialty, with the largest number of neurosurgeons among all African countries. This article provides insight into neurosurgical training in Egypt, the challenges African neurosurgeons are facing, and the requirements needed to enhance neurosurgical education and build up the required neurosurgical capacity in Africa.METHODSThe information presented in the current work was collected from databases of the Egyptian Society of Neurological Surgeons and the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies.RESULTSThere are two types of neurosurgical certification in Egypt. The first type is granted by the universities (MD), and the second is awarded by the Ministry of Health (Fellow of Neurosurgery). The program in both types ranges from 6 to 9 years. The number of qualified neurosurgeons in Egypt constitutes one-third of the total number of African neurosurgeons. There is a significant shortage of neurological surgeons in Africa, and the distribution is entirely unbalanced, with the majority of neurosurgeons concentrated in the North and South regions. The most important challenge facing neurosurgery in Africa is lack of resources, which is considered to be the main obstacle to the development of neurosurgery. Other challenges include the limited number of neurosurgeons, lack of training programs, and lack of collaboration among the different regions.CONCLUSIONSProper collaboration among the different regions within the African continent regarding neurosurgical education will enhance African neurosurgical capacity and make neurosurgery an independent specialty. The definite functional polarity among different regions, regarding both the number of qualified neurosurgeons and the neurosurgical capacity, is an important factor that could help in the development of neurosurgery in this continent.

Evaluation of physiological preparedness for reproductive function of domesticated beluga females and females grown from eggs in artificial conditions

The article highlights the problem of significant reducing the number of beluga at the beginning of the XXI century, which resulted in restoring its population artificially. The formation of repair and brood stocks is slowing down due to a significant shortage of producers of natural generation. Artificial reproduction of beluga is currently carried out due to domestication of fish, as well as by growing mature individuals on “from eggs to eggs” principle. Producers grown in the hatcheries often have metabolic disturbances, signs of physiological exhaustion, and a modified biochemical composition of oocytes. All these deteriorate the reproductive functions of the producers. There have been presented the results of studying physiological preparedness of beluga producers to spawning campaign carried out by the Caspian branch FSBO “Glavrybvod” at the Sergievsky sturgeon hatchery. The objects of the study were females caught in the natural environment and domesticated in the hatchery, as well as sixteen-eighteen-year-old females from their own broodstock. Physiological readiness for spawning was assessed by a complex of physiological and biochemical parameters of blood and the amount of accumulated plastic and energy substances in oocytes in the form of proteins and lipids. It was revealed that domesticated females were better prepared for pituitary injections than females from the broodstock. This was justified by both physiological and biochemical parameters, as well as by the coefficient of polarization of oocytes. Eggs of females grown in the hatchery conditions are smaller (1.3 times smaller) and the number of triglycerides in them is 4.35 times less than in those of domesticated fish. In addition, the accumulation of protein and lipids by oocytes differs greatly in broodstock female species due to heterogeneity of their functional state.