Search

COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected the education system worldwide; consequently, education has been shifted to remote learning mode. There is still confusion regarding the effectiveness of remote learning compared to in-person education. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the perceived effectiveness and factors affecting emergency remote learning practices by administering online questionnaires. The study selected 254 participants (200 nursing students and 54 faculty) randomly from the five constituent nursing campuses of Tribhuvan University. A structured online questionnaire was developed in a google doc and an electronic link was shared to each of the participants. A self-generated excel sheet was transferred to SPSS Version 20 for the analysis. The result indicates that 46.2% of students used smartphones and almost all faculty used laptops for classes during COVID 19 pandemic. Students and faculty spent 11.45 ±8.43 and 4.26 ±2.05 hours respectively per week in class and >80% of respondents felt that the sessions were overloaded. PowerPoint slides, document sharing, chat, emails, and video conferences were the tools used for class. Most of them faced internet and electricity problems in between. Almost all respondents preferred live classes over recorded classes; 71% students and 59% of faculty were not interested in online classes. The remote learning method of teaching was less effective than face-to-face learning for 33.5% of students and 59.2% of faculty. To conclude, although there has been increased student-teacher communication, cooperation between students and active learning, the overall effectiveness of remote learning is decreased. Hence, there is a crucial need for a strategy to enhance effectiveness.

There are many different methods or approaches that can be applied to the evaluation of complex programmes. This paper describes the use of the Most Significant Change (MSC) participatory technique to monitor and evaluate programmatic effects. The MSC is a form of monitoring because it occurs throughout the programme cycle and provides information to manage it. Further, MSC is an evaluation because it provides stories from which programmes' overall impact can be assessed. However, MSC, a participatory evaluation technique using qualitative approaches, is neglected by many researchers. We hope this study will convince relevant funders and evaluators of the value of the MSC technique and application. This paper offered step-by-step guidelines on how to use the MSC technique when evaluating a large-scale intervention covering perspectives of different beneficiaries within a limited period. The MSC process involves purposively selecting the beneficiaries, collecting the Most Significant (MS) stories, which are then systematically analysed by designated stakeholders and or implemented partners, selected through internal vetting, and external process by involving beneficiaries and stakeholders. The central question focuses on changes in the form of stories such as 'Who did what?'; 'When did the change occur?'; and 'What was the process?' Additionally, it seeks feedback to explain why particular a story was selected as MS and how the selection process was organised. The MSC technique further attempts to verify the validity, significant, relevant, sustainability of the change, and impact on marginalized or Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) groups brought by the programme. Furthermore, the technique seeks verification of the MS story by triangulating comprehensive notes and recordings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Access to safe and sufficient drinking Water, Sanitation, and good Hygiene (WASH) facilities in schools play a crucial role in preventing students from numerous Neglected Tropical Diseases, improving the learning environment in schools, and creating resilient communities living in a healthy environment. This study aims to explore the impact of combining WASH facilities on students' health status, school attendance, and educational achievements. Methods: Four schools, two with improved and two without improved WASH facilities, were selected purposively from Dhanusha and Chitwan districts of Nepal. A total of 24 participants, 16 students, and eight teachers were also purposively selected based on the Theory of Data Saturation. The participants were interviewed face‐to‐face using study guidelines; Key Informants Interview for teachers and In‐depth Interview for students. The data were audio recorded and analyzed thematically using Dedoose 9.0.17 qualitative data management and analysis software. Results: School WASH facilities have a significant impact on students' health and well‐being. Poor school‐WASH facilities hindered students' school attendance, particularly for menstruating girls. School without separate toilets for girls, including menstruation hygiene facilities, lack of water and soap, sanitary pad, and secure toilet's door often have higher rates of absenteeism among girls. Poor teacher and students' relationships, students' low interest in education, household chores, and participation in social customs also contribute to students' absence from school and low educational performance. It is important to note that inadequate WASH facilities affect not only students, but also teachers in the same school. Conclusion: The lack of safe and sufficient drinking water, unimproved sanitation, and poor hygiene facilities were seen by students and teachers as reducing their health and well‐being, school attendance, and academic performance. Thus, schools need prioritize and promote the provision of improved WASH facilities for the betterment of students' health, attendance, and educational proficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scrub typhus is one of the most neglected tropical diseases, a leading cause of acute undifferentiated febrile illness in areas of the 'tsutsugamushi triangle', diagnosed frequently in South Asian countries. The bacteria Orientia tsutsugamushi is the causative agent of the disease, which enters the human body through the bite of trombiculid mites (also known as chiggers) of the genus Leptotrombidium deliense. Diagnosis of the disease is challenging, as its early symptoms mimic other febrile illnesses like dengue, influenza and corona viruses. Lack of rapid, reliable and cost-effective diagnostic methods further complicates the identification process. Northeast India, a mountainous region with a predominantly rural tribal population, has witnessed a resurgence of scrub typhus cases in recent years. Various ecological factors, including rodent populations, habitat characteristics and climatic conditions, influence its prevalence. Entomological investigations have confirmed the abundance of vector mites, highlighting the importance of understanding their distribution and the probability of transmission of scrub typhus in the region. Proper diagnosis, awareness campaigns and behavioural interventions are essential for controlling scrub typhus outbreaks and reducing its impact on public health in Northeast India. Further research and community-based studies are necessary to accurately assess the disease burden and implement effective prevention strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schools with Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) facilities can contribute to the well-being and educational achievements of pupils. The study aims to assess whether introducing WASH facilities in schools influences the educational achievements of pupils in Nepal. This research utilized a controlled before-and-after study with a quantitative, causal-comparative design. The research was conducted among 768 respondents, split between 384 in the schools with improved WASH facilities and 384 in the schools without improved school group. This study applied a stratified random sampling design, and the data were collected using a face-to-face method and administered through the structured survey tool. School WASH facilities have a significant association with educational achievements. Similarly, gender, ethnicity, grade, score, subjective norms, and intention have also significant association with educational achievements as do religion, attitudes, and self-efficacy. Students from improved school WASH facilities are more likely to obtain higher educational achievement (crude Odds Ratio (cOR) = 2.77; 95% confidence intervals (CI): 2.06 to 3.72, p < 0.001), even after adjusting for attitude, subjective norms, self-efficacy, and intention (adjusted OR (aOR) = 2.70; 95% CI: 1.99 to 3.67, p < 0.001), than those who are from the unimproved schools, keeping all socio-demographic characteristics constant. The effect is approximately four times larger (aOR = 8.31; 95% CI: 5.08 to 13.59, p < 0.001) than that exhibited by the above model, after adjusting for all socio-covariates and theory-based variables. In conclusion, improving school WASH facilities may need additional school interventions to overcome low educational achievements among students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents experimental and numerical sensitivity studies to assist injection strategy design for an ongoing CO2 foam field pilot. The aim is to increase the success of in-situ CO2 foam generation and propagation into the reservoir for CO2 mobility control, enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and CO2 storage. Un-steady state in-situ CO2 foam behavior, representative of the near wellbore region, and steady-state foam behavior was evaluated. Multi-cycle surfactant-alternating gas (SAG) provided the highest apparent viscosity foam of 120.2 cP, compared to co-injection (56.0 cP) and single-cycle SAG (18.2 cP) in 100% brine saturated porous media. CO2 foam EOR corefloods at first-contact miscible (FCM) conditions showed that multi-cycle SAG generated the highest apparent foam viscosity in the presence of refined oil (n-Decane). Multi-cycle SAG demonstrated high viscous displacement forces critical in field implementation where gravity effects and reservoir heterogeneities dominate. At multiple-contact miscible (MCM) conditions, no foam was generated with either injection strategy as a result of wettability alteration and foam destabilization in presence of crude oil. In both FCM and MCM corefloods, incremental oil recoveries were on average 30.6% OOIP regardless of injection strategy for CO2 foam and base cases (i.e. no surfactant). CO2 diffusion and miscibility dominated oil recovery at the core-scale resulting in high microscopic CO2 displacement. CO2 storage potential was 9.0% greater for multi-cycle SAGs compared to co-injections at MCM. A validated core-scale simulation model was used for a sensitivity analysis of grid resolution and foam quality. The model was robust in representing the observed foam behavior and will be extended to use in field scale simulations.