Search results for: Alex Sessions

Authors: Setareh Gerayeli

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The present study tries to determine the effectiveness of dialectical behavior therapy in reducing the psychopathic deviance of employed criminals released from prison. The experimental method was used in this study, and the statistical population included employed criminals released from prison in Mashhad. Thirty offenders were selected randomly as the samples of the study. The MMPI-2 was used to collect data in the pre-test and post-test stages. The behavioral therapy was conducted on the experimental group during fourteen two and a half hour sessions, while the control group did not receive any intervention. Data analysis was conducted by using covariance. The results showed there is a significant difference between the post-test mean scores of the two groups. The findings suggest that dialectical behavior therapy is effective in reducing psychopathic deviance.

Keywords: criminals, dialectical behavior therapy, psychopathic deviance, prison

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Authors: Bae Yu been, Choi Sung won, Lee Ju yeon, Yang Dan Bi

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The purpose of this study is to develop a self-help therapy program for bipolar disorder (BD). Psychosocial treatment is adjunct to pharmacotherapy for BD, however, it is limited and they demand high costs. Therefore, the objective of the study is to overcome these limitations by developing the self-treatment for BD. The study was examined the efficacy of the self-treatment program for BD. A randomized controlled trial compared the self-help therapy (ST) intervention with a treatment as usual (TAU) group. ST group has conducted the program for 8 weeks (16 sessions). Mood chart, Quality of Life in Bipolar Disorder Questionnaire, Attitudes toward seeking professional help Scale, BIS, CERQ, YMRS, MADRS were used by pre, post, and follow up. The efficacy of the self-help therapy was analyzed by using mixed ANOVAs. There were significant differences in the rate of occurrence of mania or depression between the two groups. ST group reported stable moods on mood chart, and reductions in mood symptoms and improvements in quality of life and treatment adherence. This study was confirmed applicable to BD to the self-help therapy for patients with BD conducted first in Korea.

Keywords: self help therapy, bipolar disorder, self help, self therapy

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Authors: Alex Arghya Adhikari

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Gaming and esports industry is one of the biggest and fastest growing industries in the world. Globally people have started investing more in this industry since now people believe just like traditional sports, esports can also sustain their future. Last year in the month of December, the Indian government also recognised esports as an official sport but there has not been any positive initiative by the government in encouraging people to enter esports. This is a problem which cannot be overlooked since we are already in the digital age and gaming and esports is the future industry. There is a need for multiple effective marketing strategies by the game publishers to stabilize the esports in the country. Purpose: To observe the marketing-communication strategies that are implemented by Riot Games’ Valorant and how those strategies influence the consumer behavior and the esports of the game. Methodology: Activities over the internet related to the game like livestreams, discord chats, Instagram posts and YouTube videos over a period of two months have been collected through the Digital Ethnography. To support and validate the observations of the data collected, in-depth online interviews have been conducted which includes streamers, journalists, LAN experienced players and casual players. Findings: The game publisher through its Dynamic Competitive Gaming Experience and Community-Engaged Ecosystem succeeded in making the game a Recreational activity and a Community which goes beyond the In-game experiences which helped in understanding the impact of audience engagement on esports and the loopholes and setbacks of Indian esports. Conclusion: The study provides a comprehensive analysis of how Valorant's successful marketing and community engagement strategies have contributed to its global popularity and competitive esports environment. It highlights the various strategies employed by Riot Games to keep players engaged and connected, and also the challenges in the Indian esports landscape which differentiates it from the global competition.

Keywords: esports, valorant, marketing, consumer behaviour

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Authors: Sultana Razia

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of early therapeutic intervention on children with an autism spectrum disorder. Participants were 140 children with autism spectrum disorder from Autism Corner in a selected rehabilitation center of Bangladesh. This study included children who are at aged of 18-month to 36-month and who were taking occupational therapy and speech and language therapy from the autism center. They were primarily screened using M-CHAT; however, children with other physical disabilities or medical conditions were excluded. 3-months interventions of 6 sessions per week are a minimum of 45-minutes long per session, one to one interaction followed by parent-led structured home-based therapy were provided. The results indicated that early intensive therapeutic intervention improves understanding, social skills and sensory skills. It can be concluded that therapeutic early intervention has a positive effect on diminishing symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Keywords: autism, m-chat, reciprocal social behavior, CRP

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Authors: G. Kloudova, S. Kozlova, M. Stehlik

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Pilots are operating in a high-risk environment rich in potential stressors, which negatively affect aviation safety and the mental health of pilots. In the research conducted, the pilots were offered mental training biofeedback therapy. Biofeedback is an objective tool to measure physiological responses to stress. After only six sessions, all of the pilots tested showed significant differences between their initial condition and their condition after therapy. The biggest improvement was found in decreased heart rate (in 83.3% of tested pilots) and respiration rate (66.7%), which are the best indicators of anxiety states and panic attacks. To incorporate all of the variables, we correlated the measured physiological state of the pilots with their personality traits. Surprisingly, we found a high correlation with peripheral temperature and confidence (0.98) and with heart rate and aggressiveness (0.97). A retest made after a one-year interval showed that in majority of the subjects tested their acquired self-regulation ability had been internalized.

Keywords: aviation, biofeedback, mental workload, performance psychology

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Authors: Orestis Kasinopoulos, Maria Karekla, Vasilis Vasiliou, Evangelos Karademas

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Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an empirically supported intervention for treating Chronic Pain Patients, yet its effectiveness for some chronic conditions or when adapted to other languages, has not been explored. An ACT group intervention was designed to explore the effectiveness of treating a Greek speaking heterogeneous sample of Chronic Pain patients with the aim of increasing quality of life, acceptance of pain and functionality. Sixty-nine patients were assessed and randomly assigned to an ACT or control group (relaxation techniques) for eight, 90-minute, sessions. Results are currently being analysed and follow-ups (6 and 12 month) are being completed. Low adherence rates and high attrition rates observed in the study, however point to the direction of future modified interventions. Such modifications may include web-based and smartphone interventions and their benefits in being implemented in chronic pain patients.

Keywords: chronic pain, ACT, internet-delivered, digitalised intervention, adherence, attrition

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Authors: Riaz A. Agha, Ishani Barai, Shivanchan Rajmohan, Seon Lee, Mohammed O. Anwar, Alex J. Fowler, Dennis P. Orgill, Douglas G. Altman

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Introduction: Medical knowledge is growing fast. Evidence-based medicine works best if the evidence is reported well. Past studies have shown reporting quality to be lacking in the field of surgery. Reporting guidelines are an important tool for authors to optimize the reporting of their research. The objective of this study was to analyse the frequency and strength of recommendation for such reporting guidelines within surgical journals. Methods: A systematic review of the 198 journals within the Journal Citation Report 2014 (surgery category) published by Thomson Reuters was undertaken. The online guide for authors for each journal was screened by two independent groups and results were compared. Data regarding the presence and strength of recommendation to use reporting guidelines was extracted. Results: 193 journals were included (as five appeared twice having changed their name). These had a median impact factor of 1.526 (range 0.047 to 8.327), with a median of 145 articles published per journal (range 29-659), with 34,036 articles published in total over the two-year window 2012-2013. The majority (62%) of surgical journals made no mention of reporting guidelines within their guidelines for authors. Of the journals (38%) that did mention them, only 14% (10/73) required the use of all relevant reporting guidelines. The most frequently mentioned reporting guideline was CONSORT (46 journals). Conclusion: The mention of reporting guidelines within the guide for authors of surgical journals needs improvement. Authors, reviewers and editors should work to ensure that research is reported in line with the relevant reporting guidelines. Journals should consider hard-wiring adherence to them. This will allow peer-reviewers to focus on what is present, not what is missing, raising the level of scholarly discourse between authors and the scientific community and reducing frustration amongst readers.

Keywords: CONSORT, guide for authors, PRISMA, reporting guidelines, journal impact factor, citation analysis

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Authors: Reza Vakili, Xiaolei Fan, Alex Walton

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The first near ambient pressure (NAP)-XPS study of CO oxidation over Pt nanoparticles (NPs) incorporated into Zr-based UiO (UiO for Universitetet i Oslo) MOFs was carried out. For this purpose, the MOF-based Catalysts were prepared by wetness impregnation (WI-PtNPs@UiO-67) and linker design (LD-PtNPs@UiO-67) methods along with PtNPs@ZrO₂ as the control catalyst. Firstly, the as-synthesized catalysts were reduced in situ prior to the operando XPS analysis. The existence of Pt(II) species was proved in UiO-67 by observing Pt 4f core level peaks at a high binding energy of 72.6 ± 0.1 eV. However, by heating the WI-PtNPs@UiO-67 catalyst in situ to 200 °C under vacuum, the higher BE components disappear, leaving only the metallic Pt 4f doublet, confirming the formation of Pt NPs. The complete reduction of LD-PtNPs@UiO-67 is achieved at 250 °C and 1 mbar H₂. To understand the chemical state of Pt NPs in UiO-67 during catalytic turnover, we analyzed the Pt 4f region using operando NAP-XPS in the temperature-programmed measurements (100-260 °C) with reference to PtNPs@ZrO₂ catalyst. CO conversion during NAP-XPS experiments with the stoichiometric mixture shows that LD-PtNPs@UiO-67 has a better CO turnover frequency (TOF, 0.066 s⁻¹ at 260 °C) than the other two (ca. 0.055 s⁻¹). Pt 4f peaks only show one chemical species present at all temperatures, but the core level BE shifts change as a function of reaction temperature, i.e., Pt 4f peak from 71.8 eV at T < 200 °C to 71.2 eV at T > 200 °C. As this higher BE state of 71.8 eV was not observed after in situ reductions of the catalysts and only once the CO/O₂ mixture was introduced, we attribute it to the surface saturation of Pt NPs with adsorbed CO. In general, the quantitative analysis of Pt 4f data from the operando NAP-XPS experiments shows that the surface chemistry of the Pt active phase in the two PtNPs@UiO-67 catalysts is the same, comparable to that of PtNPs@ZrO₂. The observed difference in the catalytic activity can be attributed to the particle sizes of Pt NPs, as well as the dispersion of active phase in the support, which are different in the three catalysts.

Keywords: CO oxidation, heterogeneous catalysis, MOFs, Metal Organic Frameworks, NAP-XPS, Near Ambient Pressure X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy

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Authors: Michael Wendland

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This paper presents a framework to teach a methodical design approach by the help of using a mixture of game-based learning, design challenges and competitions as forms of direct assessment. In today’s world, developing products is more complex than ever. Conflicting goals of product cost and quality with limited time as well as post-pandemic part shortages increase the difficulty. Common design approaches for mechatronic products mitigate some of these effects by helping the users with their methodical framework. Due to the inherent complexity of these products, the number of involved resources and the comprehensive design processes, students very rarely have enough time or motivation to experience a complete approach in one semester course. But, for students to be successful in the industrial world, it is crucial to know these methodical frameworks and to gain first-hand experience. Therefore, it is necessary to teach these design approaches in a real-world setting and keep the motivation high as well as learning to manage upcoming problems. This is achieved by using a game-based approach and a set of design challenges that are given to the students. In order to mimic industrial collaboration, they work in teams of up to six participants and are given the main development target to design a remote-controlled robot that can manipulate a specified object. By setting this clear goal without a given solution path, a constricted time-frame and limited maximal cost, the students are subjected to similar boundary conditions as in the real world. They must follow the methodical approach steps by specifying requirements, conceptualizing their ideas, drafting, designing, manufacturing and building a prototype using rapid prototyping. At the end of the course, the prototypes will be entered into a contest against the other teams. The complete design process is accompanied by theoretical input via lectures which is immediately transferred by the students to their own design problem in practical sessions. To increase motivation in these sessions, a playful learning approach has been chosen, i.e. designing the first concepts is supported by using lego construction kits. After each challenge, mandatory online quizzes help to deepen the acquired knowledge of the students and badges are awarded to those who complete a quiz, resulting in higher motivation and a level-up on a fictional leaderboard. The final contest is held in presence and involves all teams with their functional prototypes that now need to contest against each other. Prices for the best mechanical design, the most innovative approach and for the winner of the robotic contest are awarded. Each robot design gets evaluated with regards to the specified requirements and partial grades are derived from the results. This paper concludes with a critical review of the proposed framework, the game-based approach for the designed prototypes, the reality of the boundary conditions, the problems that occurred during the design and manufacturing process, the experiences and feedback of the students and the effectiveness of their collaboration as well as a discussion of the potential transfer to other educational areas.

Keywords: design challenges, game-based learning, playful learning, methodical framework, mechatronics, student assessment, constructive alignment

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Authors: Susana F. Casla

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Talent Gaming is an innovative methodology based on a large research done for years about how table board games can be used to empower teams. This methodology was developed thinking about the efficiency of facilitating team coaching sessions and the importance of bringing out the best of individuals when working as a team. The fact that more senses are involved in playing a board game, linked with the psychological element of space and “permission to play”, help us travel to earlier stages of our life when our authenticity was at its heights. By being focused on playing the board game, the individual does not direct their consciousness in a particular way and is rather focused in winning the board game. By doing this, his or her inner talents and authenticity surfaces and the fact that all the senses are involved impacts enormously his behaviors and attitudes. All of this combined results in an arena where our talents show up and our decision making process is not impacted by other elements, such as appearances, status or hierarchy.

Keywords: talent, team, board game, business psychology, coaching teams at work

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Authors: Emma Worley, Mhairi De Sainte Croix, Savneet Lochab, Christopher Roberts, Mark Stroud, Mo Salehan, Kevin Jones

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Awareness about the importance of teaching about diversity at medical school is growing. In the realm of diversity includes discussion around the LGBTQ+ community. At Bristol, diversity is taught in first or second year. However, echoing and expanding that teaching throughout the curriculum is needed. This feeds into the spiral curriculum but also highlights the relevance of the topic. It is well known that some people in the LGBTQ+ community struggle the access healthcare due to previous negative experiences. In 2019, 1 in 7 LGBTQ+ people avoided seeking medical care due to fears about discrimination. If people have fears about seeking medical help, then seeking help from Palliative care when they are at their most vulnerable situation can be even harder. To improve positive healthcare situations for people who identify as LGBTQ+ needs to start with talking. Along with some of our CTAs (clinical teaching assistants) we created a teaching session to explore the barriers faced by LGBTQ+ and incorporated communication stations into this. Our plan is to run this session as a three-hour session first discussing different topics: ethnical diversity, ‘coming out’, LGBTQ+ in the older generation, transgender. This will be followed by looking more closely at the barriers to accessing the hospice. The next part of the session will encompass two or three communication scenarios hopefully prompting further discussion and reflection on ways to improve our communication. The first scenario outline is a gay man/lesbian woman with lung cancer discussing options around the hospice. The second scenario is a transgender person with female genitalia who now has cervical cancer (as was not followed up on pap smears after the change of name). The third scenario is a HIV homosexual male patient who has been admitted with dementia. He has a partner but is not married. His next of kin is down as his parents but his parents do not know about his sexuality and HIV status. It allows discussion around confidentiality as well as broaching the meaning of ‘family’ in the LGBTQ+ community. We have chosen to pitch this teaching session to Bristol Year 4 students. They will be currently doing their 6-week Palliative care block, which fits in well. Each session will have four students attend. We have been lucky enough to have two CTAs (clinical teaching assistants) who identify as LGBTQ+ offer their experiences and help. They have been able to help us with the preparation and delivery of the session. Given anecdotal evidence and stories helps to highlight the importance and relevance of this session. The aim is to increase awareness of some factors that may contribute to people who identify as LGBTQ+ having a negative healthcare experience. By starting to talk about it allows awareness and only then will we be able to start to change and improve. Our aim, if the sessions run well, is to expand these sessions to different academy hospitals. Therefore, all Bristol 4th year students would have the opportunity to take part in the teaching session. We would like to expand our portfolio of case scenarios, to address so tricker topics such as a transgender person with dementia who reverts back to a different gender. We would also like to recruit a diverse range of actors, ideally people who identify as the patient in the scenario does. For example, a transgender person acts the transgender scenario. This would give authenticity and enhance the student’s learning experience.

Keywords: communication skills, healthcare barriers, LGBTQ+, palliative care

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Authors: Cristina Galván-Fernández, Elena Barberà, Jingjing Zhang

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In recent years, MOOCs have been in the spotlight for its high drop-out rates, which potentially impact on the quality of the learning experience. This study attempts to explore how learning support can be used to keep student retention, and in turn to improve the quality of learning in MOOCs. In this study, the patterns of learning support were identified from a total of 4202592 units of video sessions, clickstream data of 25600 students, and 382 threads generated in 10 forums (optional and mandatory) in five different types of MOOCs (e.g. conventional MOOCs, professional MOOCs, and informal MOOCs). The results of this study have shown a clear correlation between the types of MOOCs, the design framework of the MOOCs, and the learning support. The patterns of tutor-peer interaction are identified, and are found to be highly correlated with student retention in all five types of MOOCs. In addition, different patterns of ‘good’ students were identified, which could potentially inform the instruction design of MOOCs.

Keywords: higher education, learning support, MOOC, retention

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Authors: J. L. Andrade-Pineda, J.M. León-Blanco, M. Calle, P. L. González-R

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The enrollment in current Master's degree programs usually pursues gaining the expertise required in real-life workplaces. The experience we present here concerns the learning process of "Project Management Methodology (PMM)", around a cooperative/collaborative mechanism aimed at affording students measurable learning goals and providing the teacher with the ability of focusing on the weaknesses detected. We have designed a mixed summative/formative evaluation, which assures curriculum engage while enriches the comprehension of PMM key concepts. In this experience we converted the students into active actors in the evaluation process itself and we endowed ourselves as teachers with a flexible process in which along with qualifications (score), other attitudinal feedback arises. Despite the high level of self-affirmation on their discussion within the interactive assessment sessions, they ultimately have exhibited a great ability to review and correct the wrong reasoning when that was the case.

Keywords: cooperative-collaborative learning, educational management, formative-summative assessment, leadership training

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Authors: Josiah O. Carter, Charlotte Hayden, Elizabeth Arthurs

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Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital management policies have changed frequently and rapidly. This has created novel challenges in keeping the workforce abreast of these changes to enable them to deliver safe and effective care. Traditional communication methods, e.g. email, do not keep pace with the rapidly changing environment in the hospital, resulting in inaccurate, irrelevant, or outdated information being communicated, resulting in inefficiencies in patient care. Methods: The creation of a WhatsApp messaging group within the medical division at the Bristol Royal Infirmary has enabled senior clinicians and the hospital management team to update the medical workforce in real-time. It has two primary functions: (1) To enable dissemination of a concise, important operational summary. This comprises information on bed status and infection control procedural changes. It is fed directly from a daily critical incident briefing (2) To facilitate a monthly scheduled question and answer (Q&A) session for junior doctors to clarify issues with clinical directors, rota, and management staff. Additional ad-hoc updates are sent out for time-critical information; otherwise, it mainly functions as a broadcast-only group to prevent important information from being lost amongst other communication. All junior doctors within the medical division were invited to join the group. At present, the group comprises 131 participants, of which 10 are administrative staff (rota coordinators, management staff & clinical directors); the remaining 121 are junior clinicians working within the medical division. An electronic survey via Microsoft forms was sent out to junior doctors via the WhatsApp group and via email to assess its utilisation and effectiveness with the aim of quality improvements. Results: Of the 121 group participants, 19 completed the questionnaire (response rate 15.7%). Of these, 16/19 (84.2%) used it regularly, and 12/19 (63.2%) rated it as the most useful source for reliable updates relating to the hospital response to the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas only 2/19 (10.5%) found the trust intranet and the trust COVID-19 operational email update most useful. Respondents rated the WhatsApp group more useful as an information source (mean score 7.7/10) than as a means of providing feedback to management staff (mean score 6.3/10). Qualitative feedback suggested information around ward closures and changes to COVID cohorting, along with updates on staffing issues, were most useful. Respondents also noted the Q&A sessions were an efficient way of relaying feedback about management decisions but that it would be preferable if these sessions could be delivered more frequently. Discussion: During the current global COVID-19 pandemic, there is an increased need for rapid dissemination of critical information within NHS trusts; this includes communication between junior doctors, managers, and senior clinicians. The versatility of WhatsApp permits a variety of functions allowing for regular updates, the dissemination of time-critical information, and enables conversing and feedback. The project has demonstrated that reserved and well-managed use of a WhatsApp group is a welcome, efficient and practical means of communication between the senior management team and the junior medical workforce.

Keywords: communication, COVID-19, hospital management, WhatsApp

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Authors: Bipul Krishna Saha, Basab Chakraborty, Ashish Alex Sam, Parthasarathi Ghosh

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The demand for energy is cumulatively increasing with time.  Since the availability of conventional energy resources is dying out gradually, significant interest is being laid on searching for alternate energy resources and minimizing the wastage of energy in various fields.  In such perspective, low-grade waste heat from several industrial sources can be reused to generate electricity. The present work is to further the adoption of the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) technology in Indian industrial sector.  The present paper focuses on extending the previously reported idea to the next level through a comparative review with three different working fluids using practical data from an Indian industrial plant. For comprehensive study in the simulation platform of Aspen Hysys^®, v8.6, the waste heat data has been collected from a current coke oven gas plant in India.  A parametric analysis of non-regenerative ORC and regenerative ORC is executed using the working fluids R-123, R-11 and R-21 for subcritical ORC system.  The primary goal is to determine the optimal working fluid considering various system parameters like turbine work output, obtained system efficiency, irreversibility rate and second law efficiency under applied multiple heat source temperature (160 °C- 180 °C).  Selection of the turbo-expanders is one of the most crucial tasks for low-temperature applications in ORC system. The present work is an attempt to make suitable recommendation for the appropriate configuration of the turbine. In a nutshell, this study justifies the proficiency of integrating the ORC technology in Indian perspective and also finds the appropriate parameter of all components integrated in ORC system for building up an ORC prototype.

Keywords: organic Rankine cycle, regenerative organic Rankine cycle, waste heat recovery, Indian industry

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Authors: Julius Lenaerts, Ahmed Elsaadawy, Mohammed Bashir

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Background Sedated and paralyzed patients have an impaired blink reflex leading to ophthalmic complications such as conjunctivitis, epithelial defects, bacterial keratitis, and more. These are entirely preventable complications through regular eye care. Methods Patients at level 3 or above (intubated/paralyzed) care in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) were reviewed between February and April. Data was pulled from Metavision and adherence was compared to Royal College of Ophthalmology (RCOphth) recommendations[4]. Using a multi-pronged approach through posters, individual teaching sessions and faculty teaching, we aimed to educate staff about eye care in the ICU. Patients were reaudited in the period July to August. Results Out of 40 patients, only 23% were assessed for eye care needs on admission compared to 77% after teaching; eye care was only delivered 59% of the time it was due, compared to 61%; 2.5% of patients had eyedrops prescribed compared to 41%. This shows an overall increase in meeting RCOphth standards. Key messages Eye care is an overlooked aspect of patient care in the ICU, associated with avoidable ocular complications. Healthcare staff need further rigorous education on the provision and importance of eye care to reduce avoidable complications.

Keywords: ICU, eye care, risk, QIP

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Authors: Khaleel Bader Bataineh

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Past studies have maintained that the Arab learners' beliefs about language learning hold vital effects on their performance. Thus, this study was carried out to investigate the language learning beliefs of Irbid National University students. It aimed at identifying the language learning beliefs according to gender. This study is a descriptive design that employed survey questionnaire of Language Learning Beliefs Inventory (BALLI). The data were elicited from 83 English major students during the class sessions. The data were analyzed using an SPSS program in which frequency analysis and t-test were performed to examine the students’ responses. Thus, the major findings of this research indicated that there is a variation in responses with regards to the subjects’ beliefs about English learning. Also, the findings show significant differences in four questionnaire items according to gender. It is hoped that the findings provide valuable insights to educators about the learners’ beliefs which assist them to develop the teaching and learning English language process in Jordan universities.

Keywords: foreign language, students’ beliefs, language learning, Arab students

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Authors: S. Khoshemehry, M. J. Pourvaghar

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Inflammatory markers are known as the main predictors of cardiovascular diseases. This study aimed at determining the effect of 8 weeks of interval endurance training on hs-CRP level and some anthropometric parameters in overweight men. Following the call for participation in research project in Kashan, 73 volunteers participated in it and constituted the statistical population of the study. Then, 28 overweight young men from the age of 22 to 25 years old were randomly assigned into two groups of experimental and control group (n=14). Anthropometric and the blood sample was collected before and after the termination of the program for measuring hs-CRP. The interval endurance program was performed at 60 to 75% of maximum heart rate in 2 sessions per week for 8 weeks. Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to test whether two samples come from the same distribution and T-test was used to assess the difference of two groups which were statistically significant at the level of 0.05. The result indicated that there was a significant difference between the hs-RP, weight, BMI and W/H ratio of overweight men in posttest in the exercise group (P≤0.05) but not in the control group. Interval endurance training program causes decrease in hs-CRP level and anthropometric parameters.

Keywords: interval endurance training program, HS-CRP, overweight, anthropometric

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Authors: Rizwana Amin, Afshan Afroze Bhatti

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The study was a quasi-experimental pre-post test design including two groups. Data was collected from 127 students through non-probability random sampling from Bahaudin Zakariya University Multan. The groups were given pre-test using perceived stress scale and information about academic achievement was taken by self-report. After screening, 27 participants didn’t meet the criterion. Remaining 100 participants were divided into two groups (experimental and control). Further, 4 students of experimental group denied taking intervention. Then 46 understudies were separated into three subgroups (16, 15 and 15 in each) for training. The experimental groups were given the stress management training, each of experimental group attended one 3-hour training sessions separately while the control group was only given pre-post assessment. The data were analyzed using ANCOVA method (analysis of covariance) t–test. Results of the study indicate that stress training will lead to increased emotional intelligence and academic achievement of students.

Keywords: stress, stress management, academic achievement, students

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Authors: Kasra Afsahi, Maryam Soheilifar

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COVID-19 has been associated with stroke and neurological complications. The patient was a 59-year- old male who presented with sudden left hemiparesis and diplopia due to cavernous sinus thrombosis (CST) on 28/03/2020. The COVID-19 test was positive. Multislice CT (MSCT) showed ischemic infarction. He underwent surgical sinectomy 9 days after admission. Physiotherapy began for him in August 2020. Our game-based virtual reality (VR) technology developed for stroke patients was based on upper extremity exercises and function for stroke. After 6 weeks of VR therapy plus conventional physiotherapy exercises (18 sessions, three times per week, 60 minutes each session), there were significant improvements in Brunnstrom Motor Recovery Stage (from “4” to “5”), Fugl-Meyer Scale score of upper extremity section (from 49 to 54), and Modified Barthel Index (from15 to 18). There were no adverse effects. This case with stroke post-COVID-19 due to the CST showed the usefulness of VR therapy used as an adjunct to conventional physiotherapy in improving affected upper extremity.

Keywords: COVID-19, stroke, virtual reality, rehabilitation

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Authors: Olivier Mills, Bernard McDonell, Laura A. S. MacDonald

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The increasing availability and quality of internet access throughout the developing world provides an opportunity to utilize online spaces to disseminate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) knowledge to practitioners. Since 2001, CAWST has provided in-person education, training and consulting services to thousands of WASH practitioners all over the world, supporting them to start, troubleshoot, improve and expand their WASH projects. As CAWST continues to grow, the organization faces challenges in meeting demand from clients and in providing consistent, timely technical support. In 2012, CAWST began utilizing online spaces to expand its reach by developing a series of resources websites and webinars. CAWST has developed a WASH Education and Training resources website, a Biosand Filter (BSF) Knowledge Base, a Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage Knowledge Base, a mobile app for offline users, a live chat support tool, a WASH e-library, and a series of webinar-style online training sessions to complement its in-person capacity development services. In order to determine the preliminary outcomes of providing these online services, CAWST has monitored and analyzed registration to the online spaces, downloads of the educational materials, and webinar attendance; as well as conducted user surveys. The purpose of this analysis was to find out who was using the online spaces, where users came from, and how the resources were being used. CAWST’s WASH Resources website has served over 5,800 registered users from 3,000 organizations in 183 countries. Additionally, the BSF Knowledge Base has served over 1000 registered users from 68 countries, and over 540 people from 73 countries have attended CAWST’s online training sessions. This indicates that the online spaces are effectively reaching a large numbers of users, from a range of countries. A 2016 survey of the Biosand Filter Knowledge Base showed that approximately 61% of users are practitioners, and 39% are either researchers or students. Of the respondents, 46% reported using the BSF Knowledge Base to initiate a BSF project and 43% reported using the information to train BSF technicians. Finally, 61% indicated they would like even greater support from CAWST’s Technical Advisors going forward. The analysis has provided an encouraging indication that CAWST’s online spaces are contributing to its objective of engaging and supporting WASH practitioners to start, improve and expand their initiatives. CAWST has learned several lessons during the development of these online spaces, in particular related to the resources needed to create and maintain the spaces, and respond to the demand created. CAWST plans to continue expanding its online spaces, improving user experience of the sites, and involving new contributors and content types. Through the use of online spaces, CAWST has been able to increase its global reach and impact without significantly increasing its human resources by connecting WASH practitioners with the information they most need, in a practical and accessible manner. This paper presents on CAWST’s use of online spaces through the CAWST-developed platforms discussed above and the analysis of the use of these platforms.

Keywords: education and training, knowledge sharing, online resources, water and sanitation

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Authors: Janet Wing-Chong Wai, Alex Chiu-Wing Lee, Hailey Hoi-Ching Tsang, Jeffrey Chiu, Kwok-Wing Tang

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Background: Mammography has limited sensitivity and specificity though it is the primary imaging technique for detection of early breast cancer. Ultrasound imaging and contrast-enhanced MRI are useful adjunct tools to mammography. The advantage of breast MRI is high sensitivity for invasive breast cancer. Therefore, indications for and use of breast magnetic resonance imaging have increased over the past decade. Objectives: 1. Cases demonstration on different indications for breast MR imaging. 2. To review of the common artifacts and pitfalls in breast MR imaging. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study including all patients underwent dynamic contrast-enhanced breast MRI examination in our centre, performed from Jan 2011 to Dec 2017. The clinical data and radiological images were retrieved from the EPR (electronic patient record), RIS (Radiology Information System) and PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System). Results and Discussion: Cases including (1) Screening of the contralateral breast in patient with a new breast malignancy (2) Breast augmentation with free injection of unknown foreign materials (3) Finding of axillary adenopathy with an unknown site of primary malignancy (4) Neo-adjuvant chemotherapy: before, during, and after chemotherapy to evaluate treatment response and extent of residual disease prior to operation. Relevant images will be included and illustrated in the presentation. As with other types of MR imaging, there are different artifacts and pitfalls that can potentially limit interpretation of the images. Because of the coils and software specific to breast MR imaging, there are some other technical considerations that are unique to MR imaging of breast regions. Case demonstration images will be available in presentation. Conclusion: Breast MR imaging is a highly sensitive and reasonably specific method for the detection of breast cancer. Adherent to appropriate clinical indications and technical optimization are crucial for achieving satisfactory images for interpretation.

Keywords: MRI, breast, clinical, cancer

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Authors: Pinna Beatrice., Laini Alex, Negro Giovanni, Burgazzi Gemma, Viaroli Pierluigi, Vezza Paolo

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Habitat models rarely consider macroinvertebrates as ecological targets in rivers. Available approaches mainly focus on single macroinvertebrate species, not addressing the ecological needs and functionality of the entire community. This research aimed to provide an approach to model the habitat of the macroinvertebrate community. The approach is based on the recently developed Flow-T index, together with a Random Forest (RF) regression, which is employed to apply the Flow-T index at the meso-habitat scale. Using different datasets gathered from both field data collection and 2D hydrodynamic simulations, the model has been calibrated in the Trebbia river (2019 campaign), and then validated in the Trebbia, Taro, and Enza rivers (2020 campaign). The three rivers are characterized by a braiding morphology, gravel riverbeds, and summer low flows. The RF model selected 12 mesohabitat descriptors as important for the macroinvertebrate community. These descriptors belong to different frequency classes of water depth, flow velocity, substrate grain size, and connectivity to the main river channel. The cross-validation R² coefficient (R²𝒸ᵥ) of the training dataset is 0.71 for the Trebbia River (2019), whereas the R² coefficient for the validation datasets (Trebbia, Taro, and Enza Rivers 2020) is 0.63. The agreement between the simulated results and the experimental data shows sufficient accuracy and reliability. The outcomes of the study reveal that the model can identify the ecological response of the macroinvertebrate community to possible flow regime alterations and to possible river morphological modifications. Lastly, the proposed approach allows extending the MesoHABSIM methodology, widely used for the fish habitat assessment, to a different ecological target community. Further applications of the approach can be related to flow design in both perennial and non-perennial rivers, including river reaches in which fish fauna is absent.

Keywords: ecological flows, macroinvertebrate community, mesohabitat, river habitat modeling

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Authors: Prajakta Patil, Yash Huzurbazar, Abhijeet Shinde

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Aim: To develop a treatment protocol for the management of tinnitus through multi-modality brain stimulation. Methodology: Present study included 33 adults with unilateral (31 subjects) and bilateral (2 subjects) chronic tinnitus with and/or without hearing loss independent of their etiology. The Treatment protocol included 5 consecutive sessions with follow-up of 6 months. Each session was divided into 3 parts: • Pre-treatment: a) Informed consent b) Pitch and loudness matching. • Treatment: Bimanual paper pen task with tinnitus masking for 30 minutes. • Post-treatment: a) Pitch and loudness matching b) Directive counseling and obtaining feedback. Paper-pen task is to be performed bimanually that included carrying out two different writing activities in different context. The level of difficulty of the activities was increased in successive sessions. Narrowband noise of a frequency same as that of tinnitus was presented at 10 dBSL of tinnitus for 30 minutes simultaneously in the ear with tinnitus. Result: The perception of tinnitus was no longer present in 4 subjects while in remaining subjects it reduced to an intensity that its perception no longer troubled them without causing residual facilitation. In all subjects, the intensity of tinnitus decreased by an extent of 45 dB at an average. However, in few subjects, the intensity of tinnitus also decreased by more than 45 dB. The approach resulted in statistically significant reductions in Tinnitus Functional Index and Tinnitus Handicap Inventory scores. The results correlate with pre and post treatment score of Tinnitus Handicap Inventory that dropped from 90% to 0%. Discussion: Brain mapping(qEEG) Studies report that there is multiple parallel overlapping of neural subnetworks in the non-auditory areas of the brain which exhibits abnormal, constant and spontaneous neural activity involved in the perception of tinnitus with each subnetwork and area reflecting a specific aspect of tinnitus percept. The paper pen task and directive counseling are designed and delivered respectively in a way that is assumed to induce normal, rhythmically constant and premeditated neural activity and mask the abnormal, constant and spontaneous neural activity in the above-mentioned subnetworks and the specific non-auditory area. Counseling was focused on breaking the vicious cycle causing and maintaining the presence of tinnitus. Diverting auditory attention alone is insufficient to reduce the perception of tinnitus. Conscious awareness of tinnitus can be suppressed when individuals engage in cognitively demanding tasks of non-auditory nature as the paper pen task used in the present study. To carry out this task selective, divided, sustained, simultaneous and split attention act cumulatively. Bimanual paper pen task represents a top-down activity which underlies brain’s ability to selectively attend to the bimanual written activity as a relevant stimulus and to ignore tinnitus that is the irrelevant stimuli in the present study. Conclusion: The study suggests that this novel treatment approach is cost effective, time saving and efficient to vanish the tinnitus or to reduce the intensity of tinnitus to a negligible level and thereby eliminating the negative reactions towards tinnitus.

Keywords: multi-modality brain stimulation, neural subnetworks, non-auditory areas, paper-pen task, top-down activity

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Authors: Shilpa Murthy, Hazlina Binti Abu Bakar, Juliet Mathew, Chandrashekhar Thummala Hlly Sreerama Reddy, Pathiyil Ravi Shankar

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Simulation is defined as a technique that replaces or expands real experiences with guided experiences that interactively imitate real-world processes or systems. Simulation enables learners to train in a safe and non-threatening environment. For decades, simulation has been considered an integral part of clinical teaching and learning strategy in medical education. The several types of simulation used in medical education and the clinical environment can be applied to several models, including full-body mannequins, task trainers, standardized simulated patients, virtual or computer-generated simulation, or Hybrid simulation that can be used to facilitate learning. Simulation allows healthcare practitioners to acquire skills and experience while taking care of patient safety. The recent COVID pandemic has also led to an increase in simulation use, as there were limitations on medical student placements in hospitals and clinics. The learning is tailored according to the educational needs of students to make the learning experience more valuable. Simulation in the pre-clinical years has challenges with resource constraints, effective curricular integration, student engagement and motivation, and evidence of educational impact, to mention a few. As instructors, we may have more reliance on the use of simulation for pre-clinical students while the students’ confidence levels and perceived competence are to be evaluated. Our research question was whether the implementation of simulation-based learning positively influences preclinical medical students' confidence levels and perceived competence. This study was done to align the teaching activities with the student’s learning experience to introduce more low-fidelity simulation-based teaching sessions for pre-clinical years and to obtain students’ input into the curriculum development as part of inclusivity. The study was carried out at International Medical University, involving pre-clinical year (Medical) students who were started with low-fidelity simulation-based medical education from their first semester and were gradually introduced to medium fidelity, too. The Student Satisfaction and Self-Confidence in Learning Scale questionnaire from the National League of Nursing was employed to collect the responses. The internal consistency reliability for the survey items was tested with Cronbach’s alpha using an Excel file. IBM SPSS for Windows version 28.0 was used to analyze the data. Spearman’s rank correlation was used to analyze the correlation between students’ satisfaction and self-confidence in learning. The significance level was set at p value less than 0.05. The results from this study have prompted the researchers to undertake a larger-scale evaluation, which is currently underway. The current results show that 70% of students agreed that the teaching methods used in the simulation were helpful and effective. The sessions are dependent on the learning materials that are provided and how the facilitators engage the students and make the session more enjoyable. The feedback provided inputs on the following areas to focus on while designing simulations for pre-clinical students. There are quality learning materials, an interactive environment, motivating content, skills and knowledge of the facilitator, and effective feedback.

Keywords: low-fidelity simulation, pre-clinical simulation, students satisfaction, self-confidence

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Authors: Sijia Guo

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The development of new technologies and the falling cost of high-speed Internet access have made it easier for institutes and language teachers to opt different ways to communicate with students at distance. The emergence of web-conferencing applications, which integrate text, chat, audio / video and graphic facilities, offers great opportunities for language learning to through the multimodal environment. This paper reports on data elicited from a Ph.D. study of using web-conferencing in the teaching of first-year Chinese class in order to promote learners’ collaborative learning. Firstly, a comparison of four desktop videoconferencing (DVC) tools was conducted to determine the pedagogical value of the videoconferencing tool-Blackboard Collaborate. Secondly, the evaluation of 14 campus-based Chinese learners who conducted five one-hour online sessions via the multimodal environment reveals the users’ choice of modes and their learning preference. The findings show that the tasks designed for the web-conferencing environment contributed to the learners’ collaborative learning and second language acquisition.

Keywords: computer-mediated communication (CMC), CALL evaluation, TBLT, web-conferencing, online Chinese teaching

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Authors: Soheily Shahram, Banaeifar Abdolali, Yadegari Elham

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Vascular adhesion molecules-1 (VCAM-1) is one of the factors associating obesity and inflammatory lesions like atherosclerosis. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of endurance training on serum concentration of VCAM-1 in overweight women. Thirty female overweight (BMI ≥ 25) voluntarily participated in our study. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of two groups: Endurance training or control group. Training group exercised for 12 weeks, three sessions a week with definite intensity and distance. Pre and post 12 weeks of endurance training blood samples were taken (5cc) in fasting state from all subjects. Data was analyzed via independent t test (p≤0.05). The results showed that endurance training had significant effect on VCAM, body weight, fat percentage, BMI and maximum oxygen consumption (p ≤ 0.05). This study demonstrates that endurance training caused a decrease in the adhesion molecules level and decreasing inflammation, endurance training may perhaps play an effective role in atherosclerosis.

Keywords: endurance training, vascular cell adhesion molecules, overweight women, serum concentration

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Authors: Sharon Harel, Rachel Kizony, Yoram Feldman, Gabi Zeilig, Mordechai Shani

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Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a neurological disease that may cause restriction in participation in daily activities of young adults. Main symptoms include fatigue, weakness and cognitive decline. The appearance of symptoms, their severity and deterioration rate, change between patients. The challenge of health services is to provide long-term rehabilitation services to people with MS. The objective of this presentation is to describe a course of tele-rehabilitation service of a woman with MS. Methods; R is a 48 years-old woman, diagnosed with MS when she was 22. She started to suffer from weakness of her non-dominant left upper extremity about ten years after the diagnosis. She was referred to the tele-rehabilitation service by her rehabilitation team, 16 years after diagnosis. Her goals were to improve ability to use her affected upper extremity in daily activities. On admission her score in the Mini-Mental State Exam was 30/30. Her Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) score of the left upper extremity was 48/60, indicating mild weakness and she had a limitation of her shoulder abduction (90 degrees). In addition, she reported little use of her arm in daily activities as shown in her responses to the Motor Activity Log (MAL) that were equal to 1.25/5 in amount and 1.37 in quality of use. R. received two 30 minutes on-line sessions per week in the tele-rehabilitation service, with the CogniMotion system. These were complemented by self-practice with the system. The CogniMotion system provides a hybrid (synchronous-asynchronous), the home-based tele-rehabilitation program to improve the motor, cognitive and functional status of people with neurological deficits. The system consists of a computer, large monitor, and the Microsoft’s Kinect 3D sensor. This equipment is located in the client’s home and connected to a clinician’s computer setup in a remote clinic via WiFi. The client sits in front of the monitor and uses his body movements to interact with games and tasks presented on the monitor. The system provides feedback in the form of ‘knowledge of results’ (e.g., the success of a game) and ‘knowledge of performance’ (e.g., alerts for compensatory movements) to enhance motor learning. The games and tasks were adapted for R. motor abilities and level of difficulty was gradually increased according to her abilities. The results of her second assessment (after 35 on-line sessions) showed improvement in her FMA score to 52 and shoulder abduction to 140 degrees. Moreover, her responses to the MAL indicated an increased amount (2.4) and quality (2.2) of use of her left upper extremity in daily activities. She reported high level of enjoyment from the treatments (5/5), specifically the combination of cognitive challenges while moving her body. In addition, she found the system easy to use as reflected by her responses to the System Usability Scale (85/100). To-date, R. continues to receive treatments in the tele-rehabilitation service. To conclude, this case report shows the potential of using tele-rehabilitation for people with MS to provide strategies to enhance the use of the upper extremity in daily activities as well as for maintaining motor function.

Keywords: motor function, multiple-sclerosis, tele-rehabilitation, daily activities

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Authors: Hitalo Silva

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The most famous corruption scandals in the past four years were taken in Latin America, especially in Brazil, but besides the stain that these countries suffered in an international field, there was a huge effort to create or modernize its national anti-corruption laws. Also, the countries are implementing new standards for investigations and corporate compliance programs, in order to combat corruption and prevent the money laundering. But here is the following question: is here an invisible uniformization/transnationalization of the anti-corruption systems in Latin America? This new scenario reflects the impacts of the corruption investigations conducted in Latin America countries, such as Car Wash Operation in Brazil, Pretelt Case in Colombia, Gasoducto Sur Peruano case and the Mr. Alex Kouri’s case both in Peru. Legal and institutional pro-transparency reforms were made recently, the companies are trying to implement new standards of conduct and investing in their compliance department. In this sense, there is a huge homogeneity in Latin America concerning the structuring of corporate compliance programs, a truly transnationalization not only of laws but also corporate standards among these countries. Although legislative initiatives vary among the countries, there is a tendency to impose rigid liability standards for the companies being investigated for corruption, not only the personal punishments of their executives, which demonstrate the power of authorities to strength the investigative tools. Also, instruments such as leniency agreements and plea bargain are essential to put a central role in enforcement activities in Latin America. In other words, in a region where six former Presidents were convicted for acts of corruption, and, companies such as Odebrecht that is accused of offering bribes to politicians from Argentina to México, passing through Ecuador, Colombia, Guatemala and Panama, this demonstrates the necessity to increase strength of their legal framework in a sense that unify transnational goals. All things considered, this paper will show how anti-corruption regulators are cooperating in Latin America jurisdictions in order to unify their laws and how the private sector is dealing with this new scenario of corporate culture change.

Keywords: compliance, corruption, investigations, Latin America, transnational

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Authors: G. Alex Ambrose, Melissa Paulsen, Abrar Fitwi, Masud Akbari

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In 2016, a U.S. business college was awarded a sub grant to work with FHI360, a nonprofit human development organization, to support a university in Afghanistan funded by the State Department’s U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). A newly designed Master’s Degree in Finance and Accounting is being implemented to support Afghanistan’s goal of 20% females in higher education and industry by 2020 and to use finance and accounting international standards to attract capital investment for economic development. This paper will present a case study to describe the co-construction of an approach to an International Flipped Faculty Development Model grounded in blended learning theory. Like education in general, faculty development is also evolving from the traditional face to face environment and interactions to the fully online and now to a best of both blends. Flipped faculty development is both a means and a model for careful integration of the strengths of the synchronous and asynchronous dynamics and technologies with the combination of intentional sequencing to pre-online interactions that prepares and enhances the face to face faculty development and mentorship residencies with follow-up post-online support. Initial benefits from this model include giving the Afghan faculty an opportunity to experience and apply modern teaching and learning strategies with technology in their own classroom. Furthermore, beyond the technological and pedagogical affordances, the reciprocal benefits gained from the mentor-mentee, face-to-face relationship will be explored. Evidence to support this model includes: empirical findings from pre- and post-Faculty Mentor/ Mentee survey results, Faculty Mentorship group debriefs, Faculty Mentorship contact logs, and student early/end of semester feedback. In addition to presenting and evaluating this model, practical challenges and recommendations for replicating international flipped faculty development partnerships will be provided.

Keywords: educational development, faculty development, international development, flipped learning

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