Archives-December 

The aim of the research is to assess the level of awareness of indoor radon gas and its deleterious health effects to the population when accumulated over long periods. 100 questionnaires were distributed among subjects in the study area (Sakumono) out of which 87 were returned. These questionnaires were randomly distributed without recourse to any particular pattern, as the study area was composed of majority elite. The questionnaires sought to elicit information such as; type of house, type of ventilation system practiced, familiarity with radon gas, response to health threats, type of flooring, etc which subjects responded to. 42 out of the 87 respondents were males and 45 were females, which accounted for 48.3% and 51.7% respectively. 82.8% of the respondents had no knowledge of radon gas whereas only about 17.2% responded to having some knowledge of radon gas. By projection, it could be inferred that radon gas awareness in the entire country is shallow, thus this initial survey was intended to extend to cover other parts of the country. Focus group discussions also indicated that, most respondents were concerned about common preventive health behaviours (not smoking, excessive alcohol abuse, cleanliness etc) rather that radon gas preventive attitudes and behaviours. It was therefore concluded that the survey has in a way engendered more concern about health-specific information seeking attitudes among the subjects, not only about radon gas.

The debate about inclusive education has been lessened and the society is trying to digest into the education system in Kenya, the integration of pupils with special needs. Despite all these efforts there are still some challenges that affect inclusive education in our society today. The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers’ perception on the influence of their training on the integration of pupils with special needs classes in an inclusive setting. The study adopted the theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI) (2007); this theory has offered educators a comprehensive framework within which fundamentally different solutions could be implemented. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design to carry out the study since it involves the study of various entities. To ensure adequate representation, a target population of 240 teachers and 40 PTA representatives were used. A sample of 120 teachers and 20 PTA representatives were selected for the study. The survey instrument was pilot tested to improve its validity and relevance to the objectives of the study. The questionnaires and the interview schedules were scrutinized for errors and omissions, ambiguity, legibility and relevance. Data collection instrument used were questionnaires and interview schedules. The data collected was analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative techniques. The reliability of the instruments was piloted in one of the schools in Tinderet sub-county which was not included in the study. Data analysis was done by use of frequency tables and percentages. The study findings indicated that most of the teachers were not trained in special needs education and most of them were not attending in service courses and workshops on special needs education. Further, hearing aids, visual aids, brails and wheelchairs were not available in most of the schools while demonstrations and crutches were available and suitable in most of the schools. The study further indicated that teachers believed that pupils with special needs could not interact with other pupils. Further most of the school administrations rarely support integration of students with special needs by rarely providing the necessary resources, clarification of ways of handling children, motivating teachers of pupils with special needs in support of integration of learners with special needs in regular classrooms.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship among information technology (IT), dissemination of informal knowledge and organizational learning. This article is implemented based on research findings described in firms with business areas of IT, and is formed as an analysis case in Taran Gostar Company. The literature was studied to develop a theoretical framework for the research model and after the library studies and exploratory interviews, investigate the relationship among IT, dissemination of informal knowledge and organizational learning were assessed through research surveys and questionnaires. Reliability and validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by experts and measured with Cronbach's alpha and also the value of 0.85 was obtained. The SPSS software was used to examine the relationships between the components of knowledge. Results showed a direct and significant correlation (positive) between elements of the research topic. Correlation coefficient between IT and informal knowledge is equal to 0.702 and the correlation between IT and organizational learning is equal to 0.804. In this study, the researcher used a questionnaire based on the range of 5 options. 170 questionnaires were distributed among company employees of Taran Gostar and 102 cases of them were applicable.

The use of the gracilis and semitendinosus tendons (STG) is emerging as a method of choice for reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ,to restore knee stability and the results are shown. This retrospective comparative study involves two groups operated in Clinque Judge Marseille in France between January 2011 to December 20, 2012 by four senior surgeons for instability with an ACL injury: Group 1 with 30 patients undergoing extra-articular and Intra-articular ligament with STG. Group 2 with 30 patients undergoing intra-articular ACL reconstruction with STG. The mean IKDC subjective score of the last follow-up was 75.9 (± 9.1) in Group 1 and 67 (± 6.6) in the group 2. The purpose of this study was to compare the results of a series of isolated ACL reconstruction with STG to those of a series of ACL reconstruction with an external reinforcing.

Not many studies have so far quantitatively investigated the role of multiple intelligences (MI) in language teaching and almost research has explored the role of MI in listening proficiency. In this study we worked on them too. The purpose of this research study were to investigate whether there was a relationship between each component of multiple intelligences and listening proficiency among Iranian Damavand university students to find those components of multiple intelligences which act as the predictor of listening proficiency among Damavand university students. In so doing, 30 juniors and 20 sophomores took part. Listening test was used for the purpose of homogenization and organization of the participants. After wards, the participants received the multiple intelligence inventory questionnaire then. All necessary instruction were given to the participants and the data were analyzed and coded in spss. Quantitative results indicated that there was no significant correlation between multiple intelligences and listening proficiency in this study.

Water is one of the most valued natural resource and hence the management of its quality is of special importance. In this study an attempt was made to compare the aquatic ecosystem pollution with particular reference to the upstream and downstream quality of river water. Water samples were collected from Mogral River and analysed for physico-chemical and bacteriological parameters. Healthy fish samples from the river basin were subjected to bacteriological studies. The direct bacterial examination of the histological sections of the fish organ samples were also carried out. Further, the bacterial isolates were taxonomically identified with the aid of MALDI-TOF MS. The physico-chemical parameters monitored exceeded the recommended level for surface water quality in the downstream segment. Results of bacteriological analysis revealed high level of faecal pollution of the river. The isolation of enteric bacteria in fish species in the river also served as an indication of faecal contamination of the water body. Comparatively, higher bacterial density was found in the liver samples of the fish collected from the downstream, than in other organs of the fish collected from the upstream segment. Taxonomical identification revealed the presence of eight pathogenic bacterial strains from the fish samples, all of which represents a potential hazard to humans. The mean bacterial load of the isolates was found to be markedly higher than the recommended public health standard value adopted by the standard prescribed by World Health Organisation (WHO).

The aim of this study was to determine the types and levels of organochlorine pesticide residues in the breast milk of some first birth mothers in Ada, a rural community in the greater Accra region of Ghana. Liquid-liquid extraction procedure was employed and extract clean-up was done using silica gel solid phase extraction. Thirteen different organochlorine pesticides residues namely p,p’-DDT, p,p’-DDE, gamma-HCH, delta-HCH, heptachlor, aldrin, endrin, endrin-ketone, alpha-endosulphan, endosulphan-sulphate, gamma-chlordane, dieldrin, and methoxychlor were identified and quantified in the individual breast milk samples using a Gas Chromatograph (GC) with an Electron Capture detector. The GC recoveries of spiked samples were between 89 to 97%. Gamma-HCH recorded the highest incident ratio of 95.2% and p, p’-DDE, endosulphan sulphate, delta-HCH and dieldrin also recorded incidence ratios of 90.5%, 81.0%, 66.7% and 57.1% respectively in the twenty-one individual human breast milk samples. The mean concentrations of organochlorine pesticide residues in the human breast milk samples ranged from 0.682 to 63.803 µg/kg fats. Endosulphan-sulphate recorded the highest concentration of 63.803 µg/kg fats which is about three times greater than the Australian Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) of 20 µg/kg for milk. The mean concentrations for all the other organochlorines detected were below their respective maximum residue limits.

Chronic prostatitis is a disease with an unknown etiology that affects a large number of men. The optimal management for category III chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) is not codified. Standard treatment usually consists of prolonged courses of antibiotics, even though well-designed clinical trials have failed to demonstrate their efficacy.A review of the literature failed to identify any recognized and validated treatments for CP/CPPS. However, the current approach is multimodal including: antibiotics, alpha-blockers, phytotherapy, acupuncture, physiotherapy and minimally invasive surgery. These therapies can be successful for the majority of patients who present with this difficult condition.

In this world all human beings are equal in the view of god, but society separated them into groups through caste. There are nations which are characterized through social inequality, perhaps the Indian institution of caste is more elaborately constructed through inequality than in other nations. The existence of caste system in India in the modern period has been severely criticized by both Indian and foreign observers. Even though some educated Indians tell the foreigners that caste has been erased or that "none of the Indians pays attention to caste anymore," such statements do not reflect reality. Many people fought for the equality of society in many ways. Anand knows that the pen is the only source which can change anything in this world.

This paper examined the impact of non-performing loans on the profitability of the banking industry of Pakistan. We have taken the Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE) as Total Assets (TA) as profitability measure for the time span of 1998-2010. We have taken the data of Non-Performing Loans from the central bank of Pakistan. By applying the regression analysis, we have concluded that Non-Performing Loans have significant negative impact on the profitability and growth of the Banking sector of Pakistan.