This paper presents hardware architecture for an Interval Type-2 fuzzy processor. The architecture is based on the use of two Type-1 Fuzzy Logic Systems (T1 FLS) and it suggests that the existing techniques for implementing T1 FLS can be employed for realizing Type-2 Fuzzy Logic Systems (T2 FLS). The paper also presents a survey of the various realizations for T1 FLS and summarizes them giving ...

BACKGROUND We hypothesized that in South Africa, with a generalized tuberculosis (TB) epidemic, TB infection is predominantly acquired indoors and transmission potential is determined by the number and duration of social contacts made in locations that are conducive to TB transmission. We therefore quantified time spent and contacts met in indoor locations and public transport by residents of a...

BACKGROUND A community-based randomized control prenatal care trial was performed in a rural county of China during 2000-2003. The purpose of this paper is to describe the trial implementation and the impact of the trial on the utilization of prenatal care and perinatal outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS In the study county, 10 townships (from a total of 55) were each paired with a control (20 s...

Barbed and woven wire fences, common structures across western North America, act as impediments to wildlife movements. In particular, fencing influences pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) daily and seasonal movements, as well as modifying habitat selection. Because of fencing's impacts to pronghorn and other wildlife, it is a potentially important factor in both wildlife movement and habitat se...

A descriptive study on food practice among postnatal mothers in a hilly township in northeastern Nepal was carried out with 50 mothers (aged 20-39 years) of different ethnic groups (Adibasi-Janajati: 46.0%, Bahun/ Chhetri: 34.0% and Dalit 20.0%). Findings show that this township was representative of a rural area in northeastern Nepal in terms of demographic characteristics like mixed ethnic co...

The roll-out of medical male circumcision (MC) is progressing in Southern and Eastern Africa. Little is known about the effect of this roll-out on women. The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge and perceptions of women regarding MC in a setting before and after the roll-out. This study was conducted in the South African township of Orange Farm where MC prevalence among men incre...

Using a political economy framework, this paper explores the tax-farming nature of China’s fiscally decentralized system and examines why the system incurs a particularly heavy financial burden on peasants. It points out that a political hierarchy, financed by a tax-farming system in China, fails to contain the exploitative behavior of local officials. Such a system results in expenditure devol...

In the 1990s, a new ownership form called ‘joint-stock co-operative’ (gufen hezuozhi) became widely adopted in China’s township and village enterprise sector. The promising dynamics and high adaptive ability of the new ownership form is in contradiction with the conclusions suggested by the existing literature on industrial co-operatives and other types of employee ownership. To show the adapti...

BACKGROUND As part of a larger dermatological investigation undertaken in 1999 - 2001 involving the Department of Dermatology, Groote Schuur Hospital (Cape Town, South Africa) and Nottingham University (UK), household pesticide use was investigated among Xhosa-speaking families living in three areas in South Africa (a rural area, an urban township and an informal settlement). OBJECTIVES The a...

Over the past 8 years, the South African government has supported prevention campaigns, expanded voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) sites, and increased the access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) to decrease the burden of the epidemic.3,4 VCT was offered at 87% of primary health care facilities in Limpopo Province in 2003.5 By 2007, 42% of the people in need of ART in South Africa had comm...