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Introduction: Tanzania aims for 95% of persons living with HIV (PLHIV) to know their serostatus by 2023. Methods: An uncontrolled before-after study design was conducted between March 2018 (pre-intervention phase) and July 2018 (post-intervention phase). A total of 183 participants (males=89; females=94) were recruited for this study. Data were collected at baseline and at the one-month and three-month follow-ups using a pre-and post-test semi-structured questionnaire. Descriptive data are presented using measures of central tendency and their respective measures of dispersion. No comparative statistical analysis was performed.

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The results obtained from heavy metal pollution assessment of River Ureje using Heavy Pollution Index (HPI) and Contamination Index (Cd ). HPI values at upstream and downstream point of the river, Cd, Pb, Cr had high pollution load that exceeded threshold value of 100 while Mn, Cu, Zn, Ni had low pollution index which are below threshold value. This indicated that high pollution status of Cd, Pb, Cr were observed because they compete with other essential metallic cations for binding sites and inhibits enzyme activity while there is no pollution presence of Zn, Mn, Ni, Cu. Cd value results in both upstream and downstream point revealed that Zn, Cd, Cu, Pb had a low contamination index below <1 contamination value and tends to show no effect on aquatic environment and drinking water quality. However, Cr, Ni had medium contamination compared to (Cd=1-3) Cd value, this indicates slight contamination of these heavy metals and have slight effect on drinking water quality and aquatic life present while Manganese had high Cd value compared to (Cd>3) Cd value which to tends have high effect on drinking water quality and aquatic system. In conclusions, this study revealed that High level of HPI above critical index value was observed for Cd, Cr, Pb while Mn shows high Cd far above contamination index value.

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Water is a compound and may occur in a liquid form or in a solid form or in a gaseous form. All these three forms of water are extremely useful to all, providing the luxuries and comforts, in addition to fulfilling basic necessities of life. The present study aims to determine the ground water quality in Lalgudi Taluk. Water samples were collected from fifteen samplings points.

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Background: Dengue virus (DENV) infection is highly endemic in Sri Lanka with frequent epidemics. Knowledge on DENV serotype distribution will provide important information on impending epidemics. Understanding the disease burden of DENV infection during COVID-19 pandemic is highly important. Objective: To analyze the incidence of DENV infection and serotype distribution among clinically suspected patients with DENV infection during COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka. Study Design: This retrospective study analyzed 1796 plasma samples from patients with clinically suspected DENV infection received at Medical Research Institute (MRI), for testing of DENV RNA, from May 2019 to April 2021. Detection of viraemia and serotypes was performed using a commercially-validated serotyping real-time Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). Demographic and clinical details were recruited from accompanying request forms. Results were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi square testing. Results: Of the samples 69.2% (n=1243) became positive for DENV RNA with 55.34% (n=688) belonging to patients under 16 years and 20.99%(n=261) to patients with severe infection. The vireamic rate ranged from 31.9% to 80.12% during different quarters of the study period. DENV-2 was detected in 40.2% (n=500) followed by DENV-3(37.97%,n=472) and DENV-1(15.44%,n=192) while co-infection with two different serotypes was observed in 5.79%(n=72). DENV3(47.5%,n=124) and DENV-2(39.46%, n=103) exhibited high percentage of positivity among patients with severe infection. Conclusions: Incidence of Dengue virus infection in Sri Lanka showed a noticeable decrease during study period. DENV2 and DENV-3 exhibited dominance with re-emergence of DENV-1 and co-infection with multiple serotypes. DENV-2 and DENV-3 were detected with severe infection predominantly.

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There are several energy drinks available in the market such as Red Bull, Sting, Rebound, Power Up! Triple X Energy Drink, and so on. After the Red Bull drink was introduced in the market in1990s, Energy drinks started to gain popularity and afterwards it became a common name especially among teenagers and young adults [1]. Most energy drinks are caffeinated nonindulgent beverages that are professed to give an additional increase in energy for day-by-day work, increase alertness, and improve athletic performance and mood. There are even certain shreds of evidence present to substantiate these claims, but the effects of these drinks on mental and physical health cannot be neglected. There are reports of adverse events such as insomnia, anxiety, cardiovascular events, seizures, tachycardia, type-2 diabetes, and even death are associated with the consumption of these drinks [2]. This review will focus on energy drinks, their ingredients, health risks associated with these drinks, and will also suggest some recommendations such as changes in marketing, providing education to children regarding adverse effects of these drinks, and further research should be carried out in this domain.

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A lot of evidence has been left by the criminals while commencing offenses. Fraud in the banks is easier due to less knowledge of banking documents. Cheques serve to be the most valuable evidence that can provide a lot of crucial information and therefore acts as a forensic tool. Cheques from different banks can be distinguished with the help of certain features present in them such as bank logo, watermarks, design and pattern of cheque, etc. Every cheque was different from each other with respect to the features like position and number of watermarks, fluorescence, voids pattern, micro lettering, size and dimensions of the cheques. Security features are the vital line of defence against cheque fraud.

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Home water treatment is considered an effective intervention in reducing the burden of waterborne diseases in developing countries. This study aims to study the factors associated with the appropriate treatment of water in the semi-urban area of Dakar in Senegal.

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This paper was written to understand if there is a way to identify bullet manufacturer based solely on the shape and characteristics of the bullet. Traditional methods of bullet identification are to use a bullet comparison microscope and look for tool marks and rifling to link it to one particular gun. Cartridge case identification is a lot easier to link to the manufacturer being that there is already some identifying information of the breech face such as the bullet size (9mm), the gun manufacturer (SW-Smith and Wesson), and the trigger pin impression. This research is being done to find an alternative method of bullet identification in the event there are no cartridges left at a crime scene nor does the bullet have sufficient tool marks or rifling to link to a specific gun.

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Morocco applied the Goals testing model, projecting alternative testing scale-up scenarios, varying coverage targets for 13 adult populations. The model was calibrated using program service delivery, spending and surveillance data (2015-2019), integrated bio-behavioural surveys, and national HIV estimates. It projects annual diagnoses by target group from undiagnosed prevalence and testing coverage, allowing for HIV-infected people self-selecting for testing, retesting and transitions between groups. Scenarios were evaluated for knowledge status improvement and cost, focusing on 2023-2025.

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To assess the level of job satisfaction and to identify factors affecting job satisfaction in the practice of Dermatologists in the United Arab Emirates

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Developmental delay (DD) / intellectual disability (ID) is considered one of the most genetically heterogeneous human diseases. Herein, we described a Chinese boy affected by DD/ID with 3-methylcrotonyl-CoA carboxylase deficiency (MCCD) and 3-hydroxy3-methylglutaric aciduria (3-HMG), which associated with a novel missense hemizygous mutation, c.4442C>T, within the acidic domain of HCFC1 gene identified by whole exon sequencing (WES) and validated by Sanger sequencing.

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In feeding premature babies, the first choice is the fresh milk from mother and if this is not possible, the donated milk from the HMBs (Human Milk Bank). The support to the donation of the human milk (HM) have proved to be an efficient method of promotion to the breastfeeding.

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Imitation is considered as a platform for interdisciplinary studies where social sciences, cognitive psychology, neurobiology and neurocybernetics interact, as well as clinical psychology. It is often used to explore various and several scientific fields but few works have investigated a series of linked successive motor actions. The current work aimed to study and expand the findings regarding which information subjects of different populations selected and included for reproducing demonstrated model ’actions. 120 children of 6 age groups divided between 3 years and 8 years, associated to autistic and deficient children were tested in this present study. This developmental scale completed, should provide a baseline for understanding in what type of constraints the autistic child would be specifically deficient in the management of his imitation. The comparison with mentally deficient children also seemed indispensable. The children’s imitative responses were videotaped, coded in dichotomy data, and then put into percentage. Our expected goal is to characterize the traits of autistic motor skills in reference to normal and mentally deficient development.

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Colostrum-derived transfer factors are among the highest potential natural immunostimulatory food supplements. In our study, we evaluated the possible effects of supplementation with various compositions that included transfer factors in phagocytosis, TNF-α and IL-2 secretion, antibody formation and NK cells activity. We found significant improvements of all these immune reactions after 7 days of supplementation.

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The results are presented of obtaining anodic aluminum oxide with an ordered pore arrangement by employing two anodizing modes - galvanostatic mode and combined (galvanostatic + potentiostatic) mode, at high values of the current density and voltage. Use has been made of an oxalate electrolyte and a complex electrolyte comprising oxalic acid and phosphoric acid. Scanning electron microscopy has been used to investigate the surface morphology of the barrier and porous layers and to determine pore sizes and inter-pore distance.

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Vertical Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) nanowire arrays have been synthesized via two-step electroplating method into anodized aluminum oxide template. For deposition of CZTS nanowires, anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) was used as the growth mask for the growth of the nanowires. AAO templates with hole sizes of 70 nm in diameter were used in the experiments.

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