An Iconic Pillar of Hope in a Rural Township: The Emergence, Growth and Development of AIC Kapsowar Mission Hospital

The article is about the emergence, growth and development of AIC Kapsowar Mission Hospital, the hospital that was central to the development of Kapsowar town since its establishment in 1934. The hospital was so iconic in the sense that it opened Marakwet District to the rest of the world. The hospital created employment opportunities for Kenyans who flocked the town in their thousands in search of jobs. Kapsowar which was once a frontier town transformed into a medical town making it display many signs of prosperity. However, it was not easy for the Africans living in Kapsowar to let go of their lands. They had to fight back and protect what according to them was given to them by their deity ASIS. Among the Marakwet, land was communally owned and its use was decided by the community elders. Individuals did not own land as the sole owners but the land was in the custody of clans. This factor made it very hard for the missionaries to acquire land to establish the mission hospital when they first arrived at the place. The locals were only convinced after a series of successful surgeries were conducted by the mission doctors and that was when they allowed them to settle in their land. That move marked the beginning of a new civilisation among the Marakwet. Many women began to visit the hospital for child delivery, and child mortality rate reduced drastically owing to the good works of the mission doctors. All the good things brought about by the mission Hospital including the development of the town, employment opportunities, improved infrastructure among others notwithstanding, challenges never seized to hit the Mission hospital and the latest challenge was posed by the outbreak of the novel corona virus in 2020 causing a lot of fear and panic to both the doctors and the patients.

Prior Cesarean Delivery Healthcare Facilities Variations in Pregnancy Outcomes of Placenta Accreta Spectrum with Placenta Previa: A retrospective study from a tertiary transferal center (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The prevalence of Placenta Accreta Spectrum(PAS) is increasing rapidly linked with the cesarean rate increase worldwide, creating a threatening condition from severe postpartum hemorrhage to various maternal morbidities. The socio-economic imbalance, geographical, qualification, and specialty variations of the previous cesarean delivery healthcare facilities resulted in assessment and management difficulties. OBJECTIVE To assess variations of prior cesarean delivery healthcare facilities on pregnancy outcomes on current PAS with Placenta Previa. METHODS This retrospective study was conducted in a tertiary referral center from Nov.2015 to Nov.2020 in central China. Healthcare facilities were classified by geographical, hospital grading, ownership, and specialty variations. The primary outcome was postpartum hemorrhage(PPH), secondary outcomes included Placenta Percreta and maternal-fetal morbidities. RESULTS In total, 252 patients were enrolled, 58(23%) patients had Placenta Accreta, 131(52%) had Placenta Increta and 63(25%) had Placenta Percreta. The overall incidence of PPH was 47.2%(119 out of 252). As the administrative geographical level becoming smaller and more distant, PPH incidence climbed up: province-level(10, 32.3%), prefecture-level(65, 48.5%), county-level(30, 42.3%), and rural township(14, 82.5%), P for trend= 0.019. The odds of PPH in rural township clinics was 5.84(P=0.03, 95%CI 1.18~28.77) compared to the province-level hospitals. Similarly, when hospital grades declined, PPH incidence raised: tertiary(26, 39.4%), secondary(28, 43.8%), primary(14, 38.9%) and unclassified(51, 59.3%), P for trend= 0.047. Unclassified hospitals had 2.16(P= 0.046, 95%CI 1.02~4.61) times odds of PPH compared to tertiary medical centers. PPH showed no statistical significance based on ownership or specialty variations. Also, Placenta Percreta increased when geographical location shifted from urban to rural: three (9.7%) from province-level, 34(25.6%) from prefecture-level, 18(25.4%) from county-level and eight(47.1%) from rural township clinics, P= 0.04, P for trend =0.018. Patients with previous rural township clinics cesarean delivery had a 7.49 times risk((P=0.011, 95%CI 1.59~35.19) of developing Placenta Percreta compared with province-level hospitals. CONCLUSIONS Healthcare facilities variations of the previous cesarean delivery have upcoming impacts on subsequent pregnancy. The tendency of experiencing adverse maternal outcomes is more significant with prior cesarean in the rural township clinics and unclassified hospitals. The findings call for physicians’ alertness, persistent efforts in urban-rural disparity reduction, and measures to achieve equitable management.

When a Pandemic Cancels Pride: An Exploration of How Stakeholders Respond to the Cancellation of a Rural Australian Pride Event

Pride events challenge hegemonic notions of sexuality and gender within places they are held. This is particularly the case in rural communities that are perceived, rightly or wrongly, as prejudices towards individuals with a diverse sexuality or gender identity. However, while academic literature has extensively explored Pride events within an urban context, limited attention has been paid to the rural context, and still little to those in their infancy. This paper examines how stakeholders responded to the cancellation of a Pride event in the Australian rural township of Wagga Wagga due to COVID19. The pandemic, in this context, provided an opportunity to understand attitudes towards the event and its cancellation. Through this process, eight topics were identified as: council funding, cancellation as homophobic, last-minute cancellation, cancellation regretted, cancellation supported, organisers acknowledged, LGBTIQI+, and Pride event. Based on these findings, implications for the cancellation of social contentious events in response to such circumstances are identified. These implications suggest the need for a more considered approach to communicating about the cancellation to prevent allegations of prejudice and demonstrate the value of such events.

Arthur Prior A ‘Young Progressive’ Letters to Ursula Bethell and to Hugh Teague 1936-1941.

Arthur Prior is scarcely a household name in New Zealand, but in some respects his story repeats a narrative we like to think of as quintessentially Kiwi—that of the small town boy who ‘makes it’ on the world stage. Born and raised in the rural township of Masterton in 1914, Prior became a leading philosopher of the 20th century, feted for his invention of tense logic (or temporal logic as it is now called), invited by no less a figure than Gilbert Ryle to deliver the prestigious John Locke lectures in Oxford in 1956, offered a Chair in Philosophy at Manchester in 1958, then a Fellowship at Balliol College, Oxford, in 1966. Tragically, he died at the relatively young age of 54, but he remains one of the central figures in the development of logic in the 20th century.

Agritourism as a Solution to Rural Revitalization: The Case Study of Brock, Ontario

The agricultural and agri-food industry has a prevalent, long-standing history as a successful cornerstone industry in Ontario. This historical prevalence stands true for the central rural township of Brock, Ontario as agriculture and livestock are a driving force in the township’s economy. However, throughout the last three decades, agricultural production in Ontario’s rural townships have been negatively impacted by vertical integration, globalization, and the intensification of land-based activities (Wicks & Merrett, 2003). Therefore, the aim of this research study is to determine if agritourism is a viable solution to aid in revitalizing the rural township of Brock, Ontario. This research is imperative for farm operators in rural Ontario because small family farms are seeking ways to remain economically competitive against the pressures of urbanization and changing global markets. The objectives of this research study necessitate in-depth information-gathering which will be gained from conducting semi-structured interviews with individuals whom are members of the Beaverton Agricultural Society, the Sunderland Agricultural Society, or the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA). This research will provide information about why farmers decided to diversify their farms through agritourism, how agritourism has helped farming businesses (if at all), and what strategies farmers used to implement agritourism into their traditional farming practices. The findings of this research study will be utilized by for farm operators that have integrated agritourism practices into their traditional farming practices and for government programs and policies to support farm operators.

Key Factors Affecting Environmental Protection Values in China

Utilizing a total of 31 non-numerical variables on environmental protection values from 1990–2014 in the World Values Survey (WVS) database (i.e., WVS2, WVS3, WVS4, WVS5 and WVS6), this study analyses the temporal changes of environment protection values in China and identifies the key factors related to these changes. We define indices for the standardized values of action and attitudes to environmental protection after clustering the 31 variables into two categories according to the meanings of their variable labels. Through statistical analysis on the possible impacting variables (e.g., GDP (gross domestic product) per capita, carbon emissions per capita, industrial wastes, and rural township enterprises), we find that the variable rural township enterprises is the main factor that causes obvious changes in action and attitude, coupled with other environmental impacts at home and abroad, such as economic globalization, the financial crisis, and frequent natural disasters. In particular, the significant improvement in action during the period from the late 2000s to early 2010s is mainly due to switching the emphasis from quantity to quality. The structural adjustment and industrial upgrade of township enterprises were promoted as important measures to improve environmental values according to Document No. 1 of the Central Committee of the People’s Republic of China in 2010.

Teething

Misconceptions about the teething process has led to high infant morbidity and mortality, which was recently experienced in Nigeria due to consumption of an adulterated drug used in the prevention and treatment of teething-related illnesses in infants. It is however, unknown if these misconceptions still persist in a rural town in Nigeria despite oral health awareness campaigns targeted at this. The aim of this study is to assess the beliefs and practices of residents in Igbo Ora, a rural township in Nigeria, regarding the teething process. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 393 adults in Igbo Ora using a 33-item, semistructured questionnaire. Symptoms such as diarrhea (80.7%), fever (69.2%), and boils (64.4%) were still considered as a must to accompany teething. Teething powder, teething syrup, and traditional concoctions were commonly recommended by (42.0%), (31.6%), and (48.1%) of the respondents, respectively, to treat and prevent teething symptoms. This study revealed that misconceptions about teething are still highly prevalent among the populace in Igbo Ora, and a structured oral health education intervention at the community level is urgently needed.