A random cluster sample survey of approximately 18,000 people in 11 villages was performed in Ulanga, a Tanzanian district with a population of approximately 139,000 people. Well-instructed fourth-year medical students and neurologic and psychiatry nurses identified persons with epilepsy using a screening questionnaire and sent them to a neurologist for detailed evaluation. Identified were 207 subjects (88 male, 119 female) with epilepsy; of these, 185 (89.4%) (80 male, 105 female) had active epilepsy. The prevalence of active epilepsy was 10.2 in 1,000. Prevalence among villages varied, ranging from 5.1 to 37.1 in 1,000 (age-adjusted 5.8-37.0). In a 10-year period (1979-1988) 122 subjects living in the 11 villages developed epilepsy, with an annual incidence of 73.3 in 100,000. Generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTCS) accounted for 58% and partial seizures accounted for 31.9%, whereas in 10.1% seizures were unclassifiable. Of the partial seizures, secondarily generalized seizures were the most common. Possible etiologic or associated factors were identifiable in only 25.3% of cases. Febrile convulsions were associated in 13.4 of cases. Other associated factors included unspecified encephalitis (4.7%), cerebral malaria (1.9%), birth injury (1.4%), and other (3%). In 38% of the cases, there was a positive family history of epilepsy.
The value of focus group research is becoming more evident throughout the social sciences, as academicians and practitioners alike search for better ways to investigate and analyze human interactions, beliefs and attitudes in all kinds of business and social situations and contexts. The study of international agricultural development is no exception to this trend. In particular, as agriculture in developing countries evolves and as markets in those countries become affected by industrialization, focus groups provide a credible way for researchers to examine barriers as well as new possibilities regarding relationships between agriculture and new industries. This article demonstrates how focus groups were used to gather information in the U.S. Virgin Islands that helped stakeholders to identify and characterize barriers to developing a stronger relationship between the agriculture industry and the tourism and hospitality industry. The authors wish to acknowledge the assistance of Mr. Carlos Robles and Mr. Dale Morton who organized and conducted the focus group meetings.
This article examines stakeholders' engagement in attaining food security and reducing poverty in the rural areas endowed with water natural resource. The main purpose of the article is to find evidence of appropriate approaches to overcome food insecurity and poverty in areas having abundant natural resources but engulfed with food and income poverty. It reviews the principles of stakeholders' engagement to examine the extent to which Magozi village leadership applies in agricultural transformations. Data were collected using ethnographic techniques of key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and documentary review. Findings from the study show that Magozi village has moved from food-aid dependency to food self-sufficiency by engaging stakeholders in the entire process of problem definition (recurring hunger and poverty), planning, resource mobilization to implementation. The main finding is the success stories of moving from food-aid to food selfsufficiency attributed to the irrigation scheme that came as a result of engaging various stakeholders including the Anglican Church, Tanzania Social Action Fund, Local Government Authority, and the community. The article recommends the adoption and implementation of many irrigation schemes for transforming rural agriculture in Tanzania
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