Virginia International University

L’UNION AFRICAINE ET LA LUTTE CONTRE LES PANDÉMIES EN AFRIQUE : DU VIH/SIDA AU COVID-19 | Congo-Afrique - Revue Congo-Afrique, la référence en matière d'économie, politique, vie sociale et culture en RDC et en Afrique

Infant growth is recognized to vary over the short term, with periods of greater and lesser linear growth velocity. Our objectives were to (1) examine the potential differences in overall growth profiles between children who experienced cumulative growth faltering in the first year of life consistent with that seen by many children living in poverty in low- and middle-income countries, versus children without growth faltering and (2) test whether biological factors were associated with the timing of magnitude of growth saltations. Thrice-weekly measurements of length were recorded for n = 61 Peruvian infants (28 boys and 33 girls) enrolled from birth to 1 year. A total of 6040 measurements were analyzed. We tested for the evidence of saltatory growth and used hurdle models to test whether the timing and magnitude of saltations varied between children with greater or lesser growth faltering. There were no differences in the duration of stasis periods or magnitude of growth saltations between children who were stunted at 1 year old (N = 18) versus those who were not stunted (N = 43). Children who experienced greater declines in LAZ in the first year of life trended toward longer periods between saltations than those with less of a decline (14.5 days vs. 13.4 days, p = .0512). A 1-unit increase in mid upper arm circumference for age Z-score in the 21 days prior was associated with 35% greater odds of a saltation occurring (p < .001), and a 0.128 cm greater saltation (p < .001). After characterizing infant growth into periods of saltation and stasis, our results suggest that increases in weight preceded increases in length.

Abstract Introduction: The city of Bney Brak, Israel, (population 210,000 mostly ultra-orthodox Jews) tops Israel list of COVID-19 infection rate and mortality. In mid-September before the Jewish New Year (an intensive two day gathering for prayers) PCR positivity rates were 17.6% and those climbed to 28.1% two weeks later Taffix - is an innovative nasal powder inhaler that creates a protective gel layer over the nasal mucosa and effectively blocks viruses from infecting the nasal cells. Taffix is approved for use in Europe and Israel. In vitro studies demonstrated that Taffix blocks viruses (including SARS- CoV-2) from infecting human cells (&lt;99% ). It is well established that the nose is the main gateway of SARS- CoV-2 to the body. Taffix™ was developed as an additional virus protective tool beyond the currently recommended preventive measures. Methods: In a prospective users survey, 243 members of a Jewish ultra-orthodox synagogue community in Bney Brak that participated in the two days holidays prayers (7 hours spent daily in the synagogue) were followed up for the following 14 days to measure the effect of Taffix in this potentially “super spread” ( post mass gathering) event . 83 collected and used Taffix throughout Rosh Hashana prayers and for the following two weeks (intention to treat group, ITT) . 81 of them used it regularly as instructed ( per protocol, PP) while two used it rarely if at all. The remaining 160 did not use Taffix . Results: At the end of the two weeks follow up - in the ITT population, 2/83 (2.4%) of the Taffix users and 16/160 (10%) of the Taffix non users were infected. The odds ratio for SARS-CoV-2 infection in Taffix users were 0.22 (0.05-0.99, Mid P exact =0.028), a reduction of 78% (95%CI 1%-95%) in odds of infection. No side effects were reported. Conclusion: We suggest that Taffix can be an additional powerful tool against COVID19 spread. To our knowledge this is the first time that any measure to prevent infection in SARS-CoV-2 virus, beyond the use of masks. was proven effective.

Today, community colleges seek to internationalize amid an environment of widespread internal budget cuts and restricted resources. It has become increasingly common for community colleges to incorporate a global mission into their strategic plan despite current economic realities dictating that funding get allocated to priority projects such as student enrollment and academics before they reach international activities. A common misperception is that international education is a costly endeavor that has the potential to put a strain on the institutional budget. In reality, international education operations can be set up to be self-supporting and generate revenue for the institution through strategic study abroad pricing models. This chapter constructs a scenario to explore how community colleges can do more with less to expand their international agenda while navigating a climate of internal budget constraints and institutional downsizing.

Satellite-to-earth links are subject to several propagation effects in the troposphere, being rain attenuation the impairment that can cause the deepest fades. In this paper, the duration of both fades and the intervals between consecutive fades (interfade intervals) are characterized on the basis of the results of a long-term slant-path Ka-band propagation experiment carried out in Madrid, Spain. The experimental and statistical results included in this paper correspond to seven complete years of measurements, a period large enough to characterize not only the average-year statistics of fade dynamics but also their variability, which is assessed on the basis of annual statistics of durations. The obtained average-year statistics of fade durations are in many cases close to the predictions made by the International Telecommunication Union-Radiocommunications and Communications Research Center Canada models, although the predictions could be improved with a better selection of the parameters of the distributions used in the models. Interfade duration statistics are also presented and related to recent modeling efforts. The interannual variability of statistics, such as the relative number of fades, is quantified and found to be low, except for the higher attenuation thresholds or the highest durations considered in this paper.

A high-resolution realistic human head model for the human exposure assessment of the specific absorption rate (SAR) is presented in this article. To our best knowledge, this model is the first Chinese electromagnetic (EM) human head model (CMODEL). The model is built using the first Chinese Visible Human (CVH) data set containing 3,640 serial axial anatomical images. In particular, the model has a voxel resolution of 0.16 ? 0.16 ? 0.25 mm3 for the head part and 0.16 ? 0.16 ? 0.5 mm3 for the shoulder part. Such a high-resolution model allows for an accurate simulation of 49 different tissues and organs for the SAR assessment. A numerical investigation concerning the detailed SAR distribution of the standard specific anthropomorphic mannequin (SAM) model, the popular but low-resolution HUGO model, and this CMODEL is conducted and involves exposing the three models to radiation from the same dual-band antenna, and this investigation demonstrates the usefulness of a high-resolution EM human head model. For the sake of comparison, the eye models that are extracted from the CMODEL and HUGO models, which are illuminated by a one-half wavelength dipole antenna, are employed to demonstrate the advantage of the CMODEL for the SAR assessment.

A compact coplanar waveguide (CPW)-fed circular slot ultrawideband (UWB) antenna with dual-band filtering characteristic is presented in this article. The dual-band filtering characteristic is achieved by inserting an arc-rectangle-shaped stepped impedance resonator in the circular ring radiation patch and etching a spiral stepped impedance resonator in the CPW-fed transmission line. The numerical and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed antenna can operate on a frequency band between 2.7 and 12 GHz with voltage standing wave ratio less than 2, except for that two filtering bands between 4.8 and 6 GHz and between 7.6 and 8.6 GHz are used to prevent the potential interference from WLAN band and X-band. In addition, the proposed antenna has a compact size and omnidirectional radiation pattern, which is suitable for UWB communication applications. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 56:925–929, 2014

This study examined whether characteristics of a positive school climate were associated with lower student risk behavior in a sample of 3,687 high school students who completed the School Climate Bullying Survey and questions about risk behavior from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (YRBS). Confirmatory factor analyses established fit for 20 items with three hypothesized school climate scales measuring (1) prevalence of bullying and teasing; (2) aggressive attitudes; and (3) student willingness to seek help. Structural equation modeling established the relationship of these measures with student reports of risk behavior. Multigroup analyses identified differential effects across gender and race. A positive school climate could be an important protective factor in preventing student risk behavior.