Sierra Leone is blessed with abundant natural resources but yet prone to environmental degradation due to the mining operations. Most often, the mining communities are faced with social tensions, as a result of the possible trade-off between the expected employment impact and the cost of mining operations to the environment. Over the past decades, the contribution of the mining sector to the de...

In this article, two different systems subject to shocks occurring based on a non-homogeneous Poisson process (NHPP) are analyzed. Type –I system is consisted of a single unit and type –II system is consisted of two parallel units in which both units operate identically and simultaneously. In type –I system occurrence of a shock causes system stopping and consequently will be received minimal r...

In a principal-agent environment with moral hazard, when contracting occurs after the principal receives information about her technology, the principal cannot insure against the possibility that the technology is less informative. From an ex ante perspective, we show that: (i) the principal is worse off by acquiring private information if the agent will know that she is informed; (ii) the valu...

The relationship between normal aging and regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) computed as initial slope index (ISI) by Fourier method was investigated in 105 right-handed healthy volunteers (132 measurements) by Xe-133 inhalation method, and age-matched normal values were calculated. Mean brain ISI values showed significant negative correlation with advancing age (r = 0.70, p less than 0.001), ...

BACKGROUND In developed countries, perinatal death is known to cause major emotional and social effects on mothers. However, little is known about these effects in low income countries which bear the brunt of perinatal mortality burden. This paper reports the impact of perinatal death on psychological status and social consequences among mothers in a rural area of Bangladesh. METHODS A total ...

The purpose of this study was to assess a health impact assessment (HIA) tool to determine the perceived health impact by the public of a public park. The authors conducted a cross-sectional study from March to April, 2011, using this HIA questionnaire to collect data and through focus group discussions. We also assessed community concerns about the park and obtained recommendations of how to m...

BACKGROUND Nonverbal communication is a critical feature of successful social interaction and interpersonal rapport. Social exclusion is a feature of schizophrenia. This experimental study investigated if the undisclosed presence of a patient with schizophrenia in interaction changes nonverbal communication (ie, speaker gesture and listener nodding). METHOD 3D motion-capture techniques record...