BACKGROUND Inequity of accessibility to and utilization of reproductive health (RH) services among youths is a global concern, especially in resource-limited areas. The level of inequity also varies by cultural and socio-economic contexts. To tailor RH services to the needs of youths, relevant solutions are required. This study aimed to assess baseline information on access to and utilization o...

Online accessibility and continuous updating of software packages is important for their application and resource-sharing. We evaluated the accessibility and update status of 214 software packages published in Molecular Ecology Resources in the past 15 years (2001–2015) and reported the associated benefits and missed opportunities. Original publications describing these software packages have b...

During 2009, the Hilton M. Briggs Library, South Dakota State University, went live with MetaLib, a federated search engine from Ex Libris. This paper presents the implementation process, addresses resource accessibility issues, and suggests a number of resources that can be consulted about these issues. Readers can apply similar strategies to projects involving federated search systems, as man...

The molecular diversity of viruses complicates the interpretation of viral genomic and proteomic data. To make sense of viral gene functions, investigators must be familiar with the virus host range, replication cycle and virion structure. Our aim is to provide a comprehensive resource bridging together textbook knowledge with genomic and proteomic sequences. ViralZone web resource (www.expasy....

Public participation in environmental management is increasingly common across many natural resource sectors. Environmental policies in the water resources sector, in particular, depend upon both computer-based watershed modeling activities and public participation in watershed management decisions, though the integration of participation in watershed modeling remains uncommon. Case studies of ...

In this study, the recently launched Sentinel-2 (S2) optical satellite and the active radar Sentinel-1 (S1) satellite supported by active fire data from the MODIS sensor were used to detect and monitor forest fires in the Congo Basin. In the context of a very strong El Niño event, an unprecedented outbreak of fires was observed during the first months of 2016 in open forests formations in the n...

The synthesis of existing Persistent Organic Pollutants pollution monitoring databases with epidemiological data is considered for identifying some impacts of Persistent Organic Pollutants on human health. This task requires new, rich, data, services and models discovery capabilities from a multitude of monitoring networks and web resources. The FP7 project TaToo (Tagging Tool based on a Semant...

ii DEDICATION I dedicate this work to ……… To my parents For being great supporters in my journey To my dear wife, Ruba for her encouragement, moral support and understanding and To my beloved daughter, Larissa for her smile  when I was stressed up iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to my research supervisor, Associate Pro...

Recent advancements in technology and computing environments have extended the scope of classification criteria for traditional grids to include wireless, mobile and ad hoc grids based on the criteria of Accessibility. The realization of the benefits of grids to a larger extent is based on the effective discovery of resources (which could be heterogeneous in nature) that are part of the grid. T...