Background: In recognition of the critical shortage of human resources within health services, community health workers have been trained and deployed to provide primary health care in developing countries. However, very few studies have investigated whether these health workers can provide good quality of care. This study investigated the knowledge and performance of health extension workers ...

The aims of this study were to determine the frequency of dialysis and kidney transplantation and to estimate the regularity of comprehensive conservative management (CCM) for patients with kidney failure in Europe. This study uses data from the ERA-EDTA Registry. Additionally, our study included supplemental data from Armenia, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Kosovo, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, ...

A polarised radiative transfer model (POMEROL) has been developed to compute the polarisation measured by a virtual instrument in a given nocturnal environment. This single-scattering model recreates real-world conditions (among them atmospheric and aerosol profiles, light sources with complex geometries at the ground and in the sky, terrain obstructions). It has been successfully tested at mid-latitudes ...

In this study, U–Pb ages and Hf isotopic composition of detrital zircons from the Precambrian metasedimentary autochthon of the Brunovistulian Domain in the eastern Bohemian Massif were investigated to understand the pre-collisional evolution of the eastern periphery of the European Variscan belt. Detrital zircons of the Tonian sequences have mostly Paleoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic ages (c. 2.1–0.9 ...

We see from information published elsewhere that Gold OA is on the increase globally. The OA Diamond study indicates that Diamond OA is an important component of scholarly communications, with an estimated 8–9% of the total global scholarly output. These numbers, however, are on a global scale and are not necessarily representative of any given country; country case studies are needed to find this ...

Background: Echocardiographic reference ranges are important to identify abnormalities of cardiac dimensions. Reference ranges for children in sub-Saharan Africa have not been established. The aim of this study was to establish echocardiographic z-score references for Black children in sub-Saharan Africa.<p> <p>Methods: 282 healthy subjects aged 6–16 years (143 [51%] males) with no known history ...

Tidewater glacier calving provides the most direct mechanism of ice transfer from land to the ocean. However, the physical melt processes influencing calving remain challenging to constrain. In this study we focus on calving rates at Kongsbreen, a tidewater glacier in Svalbard, due to three mechanisms of submarine melt: (1) free convection, (2) horizontal fjord circulation, and (3) meltwater ...

Background: Individuals suffering from schizophrenia have a reduced life expectancy with cardiovascular disease (CVD) as a major contributor. Low educational attainment is associated with schizophrenia, as well as with all-cause and CVD mortality. However, it is unknown to what extent low educational attainment can explain the increased mortality in individuals with schizophrenia.<p> <p>Aim: Here, ...

The Earth’s atmosphere and the Earth’s magnetic field protects local life by shielding us against Solar particle flows, just like the sun’s magnetic field deflects cosmic particle radiation. Generally, magnetic fields can affect terrestrial life such as migrating animals. Thus, terrestrial life is connected to astronomical interrelations between different magnetic fields, particle flows and ...