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Quality and safety of iron biofortified bean-silverfish composite instant flour for making sauce
(Wiley Legume science, 2025-02-28) Khadijah, Nakyinsige; Dianah Musabi; Sharon Hoope; Harriet Kebirungi; Eria Gyagenda Maseruka; Geoffrey Ssepuuya; Jason A. Wiesinger; Raymond P. Glahn; Peter Rukundo; Lorraine Weatherspoon; Peter Sonko; Jose Jackson Malete
Beans are the main source of protein in the diet of many Ugandans, especially rural households, the urban poor, schools, and prisons. Beans are mainly utilized following drying with hardly any value addition and require long preparation times. This study evaluated the nutrition quality and safety of instant iron biofortified beans and silverfish composite flour using extrusion cooking. Three varieties of iron biofortified beans (NARO BEAN 1, 2, and 5C) were composited with ground fish in the ratios of 70:30, 80:20, and 90:10. The composite flour was analyzed for proximate composition, selected minerals, iron bioavailability, phytate content, folic acid content, and microbiological safety. The composite flour (50 g) was reconstituted into a gravy-type in-stant sauce with boiling water (100 mL) and subjected to sensory evaluation using a panel of 50 semi trained analysts. Addition of silverfish to the beans enhanced the sensory acceptability of the instant sauce with the sample containing the yellow bean variety NARO BEAN 5C (80:20) being the most preferred. Compositing beans with silverfish significantly increased moisture, protein, calcium, zinc, magnesium, and folic acid content. The combination yielded more bioavailable iron. The product had low levels(< 0.25 ppb) of aflatoxins, which is lower than the FDA's action level for aflatoxins in food/feed of 20–300 ppb and undetectable Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus indicating its safety.
The role of innovative behavior in the relationship between human capital and knowledge worker productivity
(International Journal of Innovation Science, 2025-03-13) Gerald, J. Kintu; Will Kaberuka; Samuel Mafabi; James Kagaari; Susan Watundu; Janet Kyogabiirwe Bagoroza
Purpose
The desire to create new knowledge for the survival of businesses has compelled organizations to shift labor demand from manual to knowledge workers. This has raised a need to scale up the productivity of knowledge workers. The study aim was to investigate the mediating role of innovative behavior in the relationship between human capital and knowledge worker productivity.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a cross-sectional research design, using a questionnaire to collect data from a sample of ICT professionals offering services in various sectors in Uganda. The data was analyzed using the AMOS statistical package.
Findings
Results indicated that innovative behavior significantly mediates partially and positively the relationship between human capital and knowledge worker productivity.
Research limitations/implications
This study was carried out from Uganda, where the knowledge economy is emerging which may limit generalizing results to all countries.
Practical implications
Managers need to align the training they give to knowledge workers to the business context, empowering them with situated knowledge. In addition, managers need to consider the conception, exploration and exploitation of new ideas as a primary role for knowledge workers, which should be supported financially. Furthermore, managers need to foster a culture of tolerance for failure while implementing new ideas.
Originality/value
This study pioneers an examination of the mediating role that innovative behavior plays in explaining the relationship between human capital and knowledge worker productivity, addressing a gap in the existing literature.
Assistive technologies for inclusion of deaf and hard-of hearing (DHH) students and academic staff: a call to action for library and information science professionals in Uganda
(Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries, 2024-12-09) Robinah, K. Namuleme; Denis Ssebuggwawo; Caroline Ilako
Assistive technology (AT) is “any product whose primary purpose is to maintain or improve an individual’s functioning and independence and thereby promote their well-being. For people with disabilities, AT has the potential to improve functioning, reduce activity limitations, promote social inclusion, and increase participation in education. University libraries are mandated to provide assistive technologies, adequate space, resources, and services suitable to support and meet teaching, learning, and research needs for all users, including persons with disabilities. However, it was hitherto unknown how university libraries in Uganda facilitate accessibility to library facilities services to meet the unique needs of deaf or hard-of-hearing students and academic staff. The current paper aimed to generate rich insights into the digital inclusion needs of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) students and academic staff, and to explore how university libraries in Ugandan higher education institutions facilitate the accessibility, adoption, and application of assistive technologies for teaching, learning, and research. Employing a mixed-methods design, the study utilized two semi-structured questionnaires and two interview guides to gather data from DHH students, academic staff, and librarians at four public universities in Uganda. The recruitment of DHH participants was conducted using purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Ethical clearance was granted by the Aids Support Organisation (TASO) Research Ethics Committee on July 27, 2023 (Ethics reference number: TASO-2023-237). Quantitative data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS ver. 21), while qualitative data underwent thematic analysis, with selected verbatim quotations used to corroborate the quantitative findings.
This paper has unearthed digital inclusion needs of DHH Students and Academic Staff, including access to high-speed internet, sufficient bandwidth, university websites with captions, software that translates a signer’s words into text, captioning software, video editing software, multimedia mobile phone applications, LCD Projectors, personal computers, mobile phones, assistive technology technical support, digital and assistive technology training, and sign language interpretation which must be met for them to taking advantage of library resources as services that are available to all other users. In addition, the paper has revealed that Libraries are inaccessible because DHH Students and Academic Staff cannot afford the hardware, software, and peripheral equipment and data required to access technology-supported resources, systems, content, and services; the majority of Libraries did not conduct staff capacity building on basic knowledge of assistive technologies, digital and assistive technology training. Furthermore, the libraries did not train DHH students and academic staff in accessing databases, using Google Suite, and Mendeley, Endnote, and Zotero to manage citations and references. Libraries also did not identify and evaluate the Digital literacy training needs and lacked a clear strategy for meeting the digital literacy needs of DHH academic staff and students. Together these hindered the DHH Students and Academic Staff from effectively adopting and applying these technologies for teaching, learning, and research. Overall, the finding revealed a great mismatch between the existing library-related assistive technology services and resources and the digital inclusion needs of students and staff with hearing impairments. Given the important role of academic libraries in promoting digital inclusion, especially for Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) academic staff and students, the paper recommends that University Libraries prioritize the development of a digital inclusion policy to guide the design and implementation of initiatives that improve access to library resources and services for DHH individuals.
Impact of anthropogenic pollution on the plant species diversity and composition along the riparian ecotones of Goa's Sal and Zuari rivers
(Plant‐Environment Interactions, 2025-02-07) Moses, Musisi; Celly Quadros; Krishnan Sellappan
Anthropogenic pressures are increasingly constraining the health of riparian ecosystems by exposing their remnant vegetation to edge effects. Despite being at the land–water interface, conservation efforts have often overlooked how water pollution may indirectly exacerbate the broader impacts of anthropogenic pressures on riparian vegetation along riparian ecotones. This study therefore examined the impacts of anthropogenic pollution on plant species diversity and composition in riparian ecosystems. Transect and Quadrat methods were used to collect vegetation data. We also measured the physicochemical properties of the water samples. We used partial redundancy analysis (RDA), generalized linear models (GLMs), analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Tukey's HSD test for data analysis using R software version 4.3.2. The study identified 126 plant species from 45 families, with the Shannon–Wiener diversity index ranging from 2.06 to 3.10. Anthropogenic disturbances were generally at the alpha eu-hemerobic level, characterized by strong human impacts. Redundancy analysis showed that the nature of human activities, hemeroby, and turbidity were the dominant explanatory factors affecting plant species composition. GLM regression revealed that anthropogenic disturbances (hemeroby) had a significant negative impact on riparian plant species diversity mediated by water pollution. The findings indicate that anthropogenic disturbances coupled with their detrimental effects on water quality lead to a decrease in plant species richness and the dominance of a select few plant species. This will ultimately lead to a decline in the overall plant species diversity. Our findings show that anthropogenic disturbances negatively impact plant species diversity and composition through altering the water quality and habitat degradation. The findings therefore highlight the critical need for stakeholders to prioritize sustainable practices that mitigate water pollution and reduce direct human disturbances. This will safeguard biodiversity and ecosystem functionality in riparian zones, thus ensuring the long-term stability of environmental services that benefit both nature and human communities.
Experimental comparison of erythritol and erythritol-granite pebble mixtures as heat storage materials for solar cooking
(Green Technology & Innovation, 2025-02-19) Ashmore, Mawire; Oyirwoth P. Abedigamba
In this article, a comparison is presented between a pure latent heat storage system (erythritol) and a mixed storage system consisting of equal mass ratios of erythritol and granite pebbles (5 – 10 mm) for a solar cooking application. Two small black stainless cooking pots with a capacity of 1 L were placed inside two larger 5 L cooking pots to form simple storage cooking pots. The space between the pots was filled with thermal energy storage (TES) material. In the first configuration, the space between the pots was filled with 2 kg of erythritol. In the second configuration, the storage system consisted of 1 kg of erythritol and 1 kg of granite pebbles in the same space. The first experimental tests involved charging the storage cooking pots without any load for 4 h, followed by discharging them using heating loads in insulated wonder bags to evaluate off-sunshine cooking performance for another 4 h. The second experimental test involved simultaneous cooking and heat storage alternating between charging and discharging cycles. Experimental results showed that the mixed storage system achieved higher temperatures than the erythritol storage system during charging without cooking. During discharging cycles, the heat utilization rate was faster for the mixed storage system than for the erythritol storage system. Both storage systems enabled the cooking of multiple meals within an 8-h cooking period. However, at the end of the experiments, the erythritol storage system retained higher temperatures than the mixed storage system. Future work will focus on characterizing the thermophysical properties of the mixed storage system, optimizing the erythritol-to-granite mixing ratio for improved thermal performance, and investigating alternative, locally available TES materials – such as sandstone, marble, limestone, and xylitol – for potential use in mixed storage systems.