Search results for: post purchase

Authors: Alan Berman, Mark Brady

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The phenomenon of homophobia and transphobia in the United States detrimentally impacts the health, wellbeing, and dignity of school students who identify with the LGBTQ+ community. These negative impacts also compromise the participation of LGBTQ+ individuals in the wider life of educational domains and endanger the potential economic, social and cultural contribution this community can make to American society. The recent 6:3 majority decision of the US Supreme Court in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization expressly overruled the 1973 decision in Roe v Wade and the 1992 Planned Parenthood v Casey decision. This study will canvass the bases upon which the court in Dobbs overruled longstanding precedent established in Roe and Casey. It will examine the potential implications for the LGBTQ community of the result in Dobbs. The potential far-reaching consequences of this case are foreshadowed in a concurring opinion by Justice Clarence Thomas, suggesting the Court should revisit all substantive due process cases. This includes notably the Lawrence v Texas case (invalidating sodomy laws criminalizing same-sex relations) and the Obergefellcase (upholding same-sex marriage). Finally, the study will examine the likely impact of the uncertainty brought about by the decision in Doddsfor LGBTQ students in US educational institutions. The actions of several states post-Dobbs, reflects and exacerbates the problems facing LGBTQ+ students and uncovers and highlights societal homophobia and transphobia.

Keywords: human rights, LGBT rights, right to personal dignity and autonomy, substantive due process rights

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Authors: Fangfei Li

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This research was conducted to explore how Chinese overseas students, who rarely received teacher feedback during their undergraduate studies in China, engaged in a different feedback provision context in the UK universities. In particular, this research provides some insights into Chinese students’ perspectives on how they made sense of the teacher feedback they obtained and how they took it on board in their assignments. Research questions in this study are 1) What are Chinese overseas students’ perceptions of teacher feedback on courses in UK higher education? 2) How do they respond to the teacher feedback they obtained? 3) What factors might influence their engagement with teacher feedback? Multiple case studies of five Chinese overseas students in a UK university have been carried out to address the research questions. The main data collection instruments are various types of semi-structured interviews, consisting of background interviews, scenario-based activities, stimulated recall sessions and retrospective interviews. Research findings indicate that student engagement with teacher feedback is a complex learning process incorporating several stages: from initial teacher input to ultimate transformational learning. Apart from students interpreting teachers’ comments/suggestions by themselves, students’ understandings of and responses to teacher feedback could also be influenced by pre-submission guidance, peer discussion, use of exemplars and post-submission discussion with teachers. These are key factors influencing students to make use of teacher feedback. Findings also reveal that the level of students’ reflections on tutor feedback influences the quality of their assignments and even their future learning. To sum up, this paper will discuss the current concepts of teacher feedback in existing studies and research findings of this study from which reconceptualization of teacher feedback has occurred.

Keywords: Chinese students, student engagement, teacher feedback, the UK higher education

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Authors: J. Y. Ijato, A. Adewumi, H. O Yakubu, O. O. Olajide, B. O. Ojo, B. A. Adanikin

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Post-harvest fruit rot pathogens are one of the major factors that are responsible for food security challenges in developing countries like Nigeria. These pathogens also cause fruit food poisoning. Biocidal effects of ethanolic extracts of Khaya grandifoliola, Hyptis suaveolens, Zingiber officinale, Calophyllum inophyllum, Datura stramonium on the mycelia growth of fungal rot pathogens of pineapple fruit was investigated, the ethanolic extracts of these test plants exhibited high significant inhibitory effects on the rot pathogens, the highest ethanolic extract inhibition of Zingiber officinale was on Aspergillus flavus (38.40%) at 1.0g/ml while the least inhibitory effect was on Aspergillus fumigatus (23.10%) at 1.0g/ml, the highest ethanol extract inhibition of Datura stramonium was on Aspergillus tubingensis (24.00%) at 1.0g/ml while the least inhibitory effect was 10.00% on Colletotrichum fruticola at 1.0g/ml, the highest ethanol extract inhibition of Calophyllum inophyllum was on Trichoderma harzianum (18.50%) at 1.0g/ml while the least inhibitory effect was on Aspergillus flavus (15.00%) at 1.0g/ml, the highest ethanol extract inhibition of Hyptis suaveolens was on Aspergillus fumigatus (35.00%) at 1.0g/ml while the least inhibitory effect was on Aspergillus niger (20.00%) at 1.0g/ml, the highest ethanol extract inhibition of Khaya grandifoliola was on Aspergillus flavus (35.00%) at 1.00g/ml while the least inhibitory effect was on Aspergillus fumigates (22.00%) at 1.0g/ml, the antifungal capacity of these test plant extracts on rot causing fungi on pineapple fruit reveals the possibility of their use by farmers and fruit traders as alternative to chemical fungicide that portends great threat to human and environmental health.

Keywords: fruit rot, pathogens, plant extracts, pineapple, food poisoning

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Authors: Michael R. Taber, Kristin Stanec

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This paper presents year-two of a longitudinal study on implementing Possibility Books into undergraduate courses to develop a student's creativity mindset: tolerating ambiguity, willingness to risk failure, curiosity, and openness to embrace possibility thinking through unexpected connections. Courses involved in this research span disciplines in the natural and social sciences and the humanities. Year one of the project developed indices from which baseline data could be analyzed. The two significant indices ( > 0.7) were "creativity mindset" and "intentional interactions." Preliminary qualitative and quantitative data analysis indicated that students found the new pedagogical intervention as a safe space to learn new strategies, recognize patterns, and define structures through innovative notetaking forms. Possibility Books in Natural Science courses were designed to develop students' conceptualization of science and math. Using Possibility Books in all disciplines provided a space for students to practice divergent thinking (i.e.,Possibilities), convergent thinking (i.e., forms that express meaning), and risk-taking (i.e., the vulnerability associated with expression). Qualitative coding of open responses on a post-survey revealed two major themes: 1) Possibility Books provided a mind space for learning about self, and 2) provided a calming opportunity to connect concepts. Quantitative analysis indicated significant correlations between focused headspace and notetaking (r = 0.555, p < 0.001), focused headspace, and connecting with others (r = 0.405, p < 0.001).

Keywords: pedagogy, science education, learning methods, creativity mindsets

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Authors: Eleni Stefania Kalapoda

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Recurring heat waves due to the global climate change emergency pose continuous risks to human health and urban resources. Local and state decision-makers incorporate Heat Vulnerability Indices (HVIs) to quantify and map the relative impact on human health in emergencies. These maps enable government officials to identify the highest-risk districts and to concentrate emergency planning efforts and available resources accordingly (e.g., to reevaluate the location and the number of heat-relief centers). Even though the framework of conducting an HVI is unique per municipality, its accuracy in assessing the heat risk is limited. To resolve this issue, varied housing-related metrics should be included. This paper quantifies and classifies NYC’s single detached housing typology within high-vulnerable NYC districts using detailed energy simulations and post-processing calculations. The results show that the variation in indoor heat risk depends significantly on the dwelling’s design/operation characteristics, concluding that low-ventilated dwellings are the most vulnerable ones. Also, it confirmed that when building-level determinants of exposure are excluded from the assessment, HVI fails to capture important components of heat vulnerability. Lastly, the overall vulnerability ratio of the housing units was calculated between 0.11 to 1.6 indoor heat degrees in terms of ventilation and shading capacity, insulation degree, and other building attributes.

Keywords: heat vulnerability index, energy efficiency, urban heat, resiliency to heat, climate adaptation, climate mitigation, building energy

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Authors: Rebecca Heron, Julie Karsten, Lena Schweikert

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Adverse consequences of stigma towards pedophilia can, among other things, increase dynamic risk factors for sexual offending. Decreasing stigma, therefore, is a plausible approach in the attempt to prevent child sexual abuse. Stigma research suggests that providing direct contact to a stigmatized individual is the most efficient way of reducing stigma. The present study involved an educational intervention, followed by direct contact to a pedophile, to maximize effectiveness. It aimed at finding out whether a dichotomous anti-stigma intervention can change psychology students' attitudes towards pedophiles regarding perceived dangerousness, intentionality, deviance, and punitive attitudes. In a one sample pre-post design, 162 students of the University of Groningen attended a lecture about pedophilia, which was held by a psychology master’s student. Participants learned about child sex offending and pedophilia in addition to the importance of distinguishing between pedophiles and child sex offenders (CSOs). The guest lecturer Gabriel, shared his experiences about growing up, coping, and living with pedophilia. Results of the Wilcoxon signed-rank test revealed significantly diminished negative attitudes towards pedophiles after the intervention. Students perceived pedophiles as less dangerous, having less intent, and being less psychologically deviant. Additionally, students' punitive attitudes towards pedophiles diminished significantly. Also, a thematic analysis revealed that students were highly interested in the topic of pedophilia and greatly appreciative of Gabriel sharing his story. This study was the first to provide direct contact with a pedophile within an anti-stigma intervention.

Keywords: pedophilia, anti-stigma intervention, punitive attitudes, attitude change

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Authors: Yahya Almurtadha, Mukhtar Ghaleb, Ahmed M. Shamsan Saleh

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The world witnessed a fierce attack from the Covid-19 virus, which affected public life socially, economically, healthily and psychologically. The world's governments tried to confront the pandemic by imposing a number of precautionary measures such as general closure, curfews and social distancing. Scientists have also made strenuous efforts to develop an effective vaccine to train the immune system to develop antibodies to combat the virus, thus reducing its symptoms and limiting its spread. Artificial intelligence, along with researchers and medical authorities, has accelerated the vaccine development process through big data processing and simulation. On the other hand, one of the most important negatives of the impact of Covid 19 was the state of anxiety and fear due to the blowout of rumors through social media, which prompted governments to try to reassure the public with the available means. This study aims to proposed using Sentiment Analysis (AKA Opinion Mining) and deep learning as efficient artificial intelligence techniques to work on retrieving the tweets of the public from Twitter and then analyze it automatically to extract their opinions, expression and feelings, negatively or positively, about the symptoms they may feel after vaccination. Sentiment analysis is characterized by its ability to access what the public post in social media within a record time and at a lower cost than traditional means such as questionnaires and interviews, not to mention the accuracy of the information as it comes from what the public expresses voluntarily.

Keywords: deep learning, opinion mining, natural language processing, sentiment analysis

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Authors: Alireza Monzavi Chaleshtari, Mahnaz Aliakbari Dehkordi, Seyedeh Somayeh Amiri, Mozhgan Shakhseniaei, Amin Asadi Hieh

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The purpose of this research was to determine the effectiveness of sexual cognitive behavioral therapy on strategic thinking and communication patterns of couples in colostomy patients. In this study, experimental research was conducted with a pre-test and post-test design with a control group and a follow-up period. The statistical population studied were married female colostomy patients referring to the Iranian Ostomy Association. 30 qualified people were selected by voluntary sampling and randomly divided into two experimental and control groups (15 people in each group). Both groups responded to Goleman's strategic thinking (2007) and the communication patterns of Christensen and Sulawai questionnaires (1984). The results of covariance analysis showed that sexual cognitive behavioral therapy has an effect on improving strategic thinking. Based on the results of this test, sexual cognitive behavioral therapy is effective in improving the strategic thinking of colostomy patients until the follow-up stage. Also, sexual cognitive behavioral therapy has an effect on improving the communication patterns of couples in colostomy patients. Based on the results of this test, sexual cognitive behavioral therapy is effective in improving communication patterns of couples in patients with colostomy until the follow-up stage. Based on the results of this research, sexual cognitive behavioral therapy can be used to improve strategic thinking and communication patterns of couples of colostomy patients.

Keywords: sexual cognitive behavioral therapy, strategic thinking, communication patterns of couples, colostomy

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Authors: Leili Nekounazar

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Since 2009, when the Green movement, Iran’s most significant political uprising in post-Islamic revolution materialized, the term 'soft war' has become an integral part of the Iranian regime’s lexicon when addressing the media propaganda waged by the west and the regime’s so-called 'enemies'. Iran’s authorities describe soft war as a western campaign aiming at undermining the revolutionary values by covert activities, deploying cultural tools and purposeful dissemination of information. With this respect, Internet and in particular, the social media networks, and oppositional radio-television broadcasts have been considered as the west’s soft war conduits. With the rising of the underground fashion industry in the past couple of years that does not conform to the compulsory dress codes prescribed by the state, the Islamic regime expands the soft war narrative to include any undesired fashion-related activities and frames the rising fashion industry as a cultural war intoxicating the Iranian-Islamic identity. Accordingly, fashion products created by the Iranian fashion intermediators have been attributed to the westerners and outsiders and are regarded as the matter of national security. This study examines the reactive and proactive measures deployed by the Iranian regime to control the rise of fashion industry. It further puts under the scrutiny how the state as a part of its proactive measure shapes the narrative of 'soft war' in relation to fashion in Iran and explores how the notion of soft war has been articulated in relation to the modeling and fashion in the state’s political rhetoric. Through conducting a content analysis of the authorities’ statements, it describes how the narrative of soft war assists the state policing the fashion industry.

Keywords: censorship, fashion, Iran, soft war

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Authors: K. H. Oyuntungalag, Scott Kenner, O. Erdenetuya

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The life cycle phases of mining projects are described in this guidance document, and includes initial phases (exploration, feasibility and planning), mine development (construction and operations), closure and reclamation. Initial phases relate to field programs and desktop studies intended to build the data and knowledge base, including the design of water management infrastructure and development during these initial phases. Such a model is essential to demonstrate that the water management plan (WMP) will provide adequate water for the mine operations and sufficient capacity for anticipated flows and volumes, and minimize environmental impacts on the receiving environment. The water and mass balance model must cover the whole mine life cycle, from the start of mine development to a date sufficiently far in the future where the reclaimed landscape is considered self- sustaining following complete closure of the mine (i.e., post- closure). The model simulates the movement of water within the components of the water management infrastructure and project operating areas, and calculates chemical loadings to each mine component. At Erdenet Mining company an initial water balance model reflecting the tailings dam, groundwater seepage and mine process water was developed in collaboration with Dr. Scott Kenner (visiting Fulbright scholar). From this preliminary study the following recommendations were made: 1. Develop a detailed groundwater model to simulate seepage from the tailings dam, 2. Establish an evaporation pan for improving evapotranspiration estimates, and 3. Measure changes in storage of water within the tailings dam and other water storage components within the mine processing.

Keywords: evapotranspiration , monitoring program, Erdenet mining, tailings dam

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Authors: A. Olusegun Egunjobi, Samson Sunday Adekunte

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This study investigated the teachers’ and learners’ ICT-readiness assessment for agricultural science instruction in secondary schools in Ogun State, Nigeria. However, the sample population of 6 and 120 agricultural science teachers and learners were randomly selected respectively from 3 public and 3 private senior secondary schools in Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria. Descriptive survey design of ex post-facto type was adopted for the study. Two structured questionnaires tagged Teachers’ and Learners’ Questionnaires on ICT-Readiness for Agricultural Science Instruction TQICTRASI and LQICTRASI respectively were used for data collection. The two questionnaires were subjected to Cronbach alpha coefficient with the results 0.86 and 0.82 respectively. Five research hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that teachers in private senior secondary school (SSS) were more ready and prepared than their counterparts in public SSS with the result t-value = 4.25 greater than t-critical = 2.77, df = 4 at p<0.05. Also, learners in private SSS were more prepared and ready for the utilisation of ICT-facilities for agricultural science instruction with the result t-value = 3.51 greater than t-critical = 1.98, df = 118 at p<0.05. However, male and female learners in both private and public SSS were equally prepared and ready for the ICT-facilities utilisation for agricultural science instruction, thus, there were no significant differences in their ICT-readiness. Therefore, the study proffered that, both male and female teachers and learners should be more ICT-compliant and always ready to upgrade their skills and knowledge in ICT-facilities, utilisation for agricultural science instruction and even for other school subjects particularly in Ogun State and in generally in Nigeria.

Keywords: ICT-readiness, teachers’ and learners’ assessment, private and public senior secondary schools, agricultural science instruction

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Authors: Jiyeon Kang, Yeon Jin Jeong, Hoon Heo

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Purpose: Bullying in nursing workplace has been a serious problem that increases the turnover of nurses. Few studies have examined the effects of communication training on workplace bullying for nurses, and all used a single-group design and a small sample size. Thus, more rigorous research has been needed to evaluate the effects properly. This research was aimed to identify the effects of the mobile type communication training of responses on bullying behaviors among nurses. Methods: A randomized controlled trial was performed. Subjects were 62 critical care nurses working in university hospitals in Busan, South Korea. We developed a mobile phone application to train nurses to deal with bullying situation. This application includes 6 common bullying situations and appropriate empathetic communication (non-violent communication) samples in the form of webtoons. The experimental group used this application for 4 weeks, and we measured interpersonal relationship, workplace bullying, symptom experience, and intention to leave before, post, and 8 weeks after the intervention from both experimental and control groups. The effect of the intervention was analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA. Results: The mobile type communication training developed in this study was effective for decreasing nurses’ intention to leave workplace (F = 5.11, p = .027). However, it had no effect on interpersonal relationship (F = 2.54, p = .116), workplace bullying (F = 2.99, p = .089) or symptom experience (F = 2.81, p = .099). The beneficial effects on intention to leave lasted at least up to 4 weeks after the training. Conclusion: The mobile type communication training can be utilized as an effective personal coping strategy for workplace bullying among nurses. Further studies on the long-term effects of the communication training are necessary.

Keywords: bullying, communication, mobile applications, nurses, training, workplace

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Authors: Alice Morenike Olagunju, Olufemi A. Fakolade, Abiodun Ezekiel Adesina, Olufemi Akinloye Bolaji, Oriyomi Rabiu

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The use of computer-assisted instruction(CAI) has been suggested as a way out of the problem of Colleges of Education (CoE) in Southwest, Nigeria persistent high failure rate in and negative attitude towards Agricultural Economics (AE).The impacts of this are yet unascertained on high-flyers. This study, therefore, determined the impacts of CAI onhigh-flyers pre-service teachers’ attitude towards AE concepts in Southwest, Nigeria. The study adopted pretest-posttest, control group, quasi-experimental design. Six CoE with e-library facilities were purposively selected. Fourty-nine 200 level Agricultural education students offering introduction to AE course across the six CoE were participants. The participants were assigned to two groups (CAI, 22 and control, 27). Treatment lasted eight weeks. The AE Attitude Scale(r=0.80), Instructional guides and Teacher Performance Assessment Sheets were used for data collection. Data were analysed using t-test. The participants were 62.8% male with mean age of 22 years. Treatment had significant effects on high-flyers pre-service teachers’ attitude (t = 17.44; df = 47, p < .5). Participants in CAI ( =71.03) had higher post attitude mean score compared to those in control ( = 64.92) groups. Gender had no significant effect on attitude (t= 3.06; df= 47, p > .5). The computer assisted instructional mode enhanced students’ attitude towards Agricultural Economics concepts. Therefore, CAI should be adopted for improved attitude towards agricultural economics concepts among high-flyers pre-service teachers.

Keywords: attitude towards agricultural economics concepts, colleges of education in southwest Nigeria, computer-assisted instruction, high-flyers pre-service teachers

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Authors: Hilaire Tegnan

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Land administration has always been a delicate issue in the history of nations, and Indonesia, a country where a significant number of the population lives a pastoral life is not exempt from this reality. This paper discusses land tenure issues in West Sumatra, an Indonesian province which is home to the Minangkabau people with their long existing village management system known as Nagari, established to settle disputes based on adat (custom) principles as well as to protect the rights of the community members. These rights include communal land (referred to as tanahulayat hereafter). Long before the Dutch occupation of Indonesian archipelago, the nagari government was vested with powers to regulate communal land in West Sumatra. However, this authority was constantly overlooked by the then Dutch colonial administration as well as the post-independence governments (both central and regional). To reinforce the Nagari government as the guardian of the customary law (hukumadat) and to specify its jurisdiction, the Regional Government of West Sumatra enacted two laws between 2000 and 2008: Law No. 9/2000 repealed by Law No. 2/2007 and Law No. 6/2008 on communal land tenure. Although these two laws provide legal grounds to address land issues across the region, land conflicts still prevail among West Sumatran populations due to unsynchronized and contradictory regulations. The protests against the army (Korem) in Nagari Kapalo Hilalang, against the oil palm company in Nagari Kinali, and against a cement factory in Nagari Lubuk Kilangan are cited in this paper as case references.

Keywords: local government, Nagari government, Tanah Ulayat, legal pluralism, land administration

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Authors: Akanksha Dogra, Abhilasha Singh

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This paper revolves around the cultural complexities, cultural similarities, and national sentiments of the contemporary period. It deals with the idea of cultural hybridization and the failure of socio-psychological and cultural boundaries to include all the members of society. The writers like Amitav Ghosh and Bapsi Sidhwa have a significant mark to cultural imperialism and diversity which lead to fluid identity in the present society. The paper invokes that partition could have been a solution to social and religious homogeneity. As writers like Amitav Ghosh and Bapsi Sidhwa focus on historical fiction, as they do not indulge in border activities rather exhibits complex cultural complexities. In terms of identity they believe that it is constructed and fragmented which is further shaped by colonialism and displacement. They reflect on culture in relation to the disruptions and transformations experienced by communities. Further, the division not only led to the creation of national boundaries but forced individuals to form identities based on religion. The paper aims at analyzing the contemporary scenario and comprehending the multiplicity of cross-cultural interactions leading to convolutions. It fathoms cultural and political complexities as a result of nation and nation-building as a part of collective consciousness. The paper limits itself by comprehending Amitav Ghosh’s work The Shadow Lines and The Hungry Tide and Bapsi Sidhwa’s work Pakistani Bride and The Crow Eaters through the study of Homi K. Bhabha’s The Location of Culture and Edward Said’s Culture and Imperialism.

Keywords: culture, imperialism, cultural hybridization, nation-building, hybridity

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Authors: Farbod Behnaminia, Saeed Samet

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The COVID-19 pandemic has paralyzed many lives until a vaccine was available, which caused the so-called “new normal.” According to the World Health Organization (WHO), COVID-19 is an infectious disease. It can cause significant illness or death in anyone. Governments and health officials tried to impose rules and regulations to avoid and slow down transmission. Therefore, software engineers worldwide developed applications to trace and track patients’ movements and notify others, mainly using Bluetooth. In this way, everyone could be informed whether they come in close contact with someone who has COVID-19 and takes proper safety precautions. Because most of the applications use technologies that can potentially reveal the user’s identity and location, researchers have debated privacy preservation and how to improve user privacy during such pandemics. Thanks to Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), there have been some proposed methods to develop privacy-preserving Patient Tracking Systems in the last two years. As an instance of the DLT, Blockchain is like a decentralized peer-to-peer database that maintains a record of transactions. Transactions are immutable, transparent, and anonymous in this system. We conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the literature by looking for papers in the relevant field and dividing them into pre- and post-pandemic systems. Additionally, we discussed the many uses of blockchain technology in pandemic control. We found that two major obstacles facing blockchain implementation across many healthcare systems are scalability and privacy. The Polkadot platform is presented, along with a review of its efficacy in tackling current concerns. A more scalable healthcare system is achievable in the near future using Polkadot as well as a much more privacy-preserving environment.

Keywords: blockchain, electronic record management, EHR, privacy-preserving, patient tracking, COVID-19, trust and confidence, Polkadot

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Authors: Tatiana Pratt, Benyamin Hanasabzadeh, Panayiota Courelli

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The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the largest global public health issues of this current century. COVID-19 puts people diagnosed with obesity at higher risk of not only contracting the virus but also being hospitalized and dying, making this a vital time to implement obesity prevention programs. However, COVID-19 is predicted to rapidly increase the obesity rate in the United States due to the mandatory sedentary lifestyle the pandemic demands; this is especially harmful to adolescent-aged children because it creates lifelong unhealthy habits and behaviors. Adolescent obesity prevention programs have been rigorously implemented throughout the last century to help diminish the ever-increasing adolescent obesity rate. Since the pandemic kept adolescents inside and away from in-person school, many programs have now become ineffective due to their in-person participation. Examples of in-person participation programs include school lunch programs, OSNAP and New Moves. Therefore, online programs or remote intervention measures are now more essential. This leads to programs such as Time2bHealthy, HEALTH[e]TEEN, and SWITCH should be looked at with more vitality. Adolescents have intertwined their lives with technology and screen usage. Therefore, online and remote prevention programs will continue to play a large role in the post-pandemic era. This literature review will be reviewing past and current adolescent obesity prevention programs and their effectiveness with the new remote, sedentary lifestyle adolescents. Furthermore, it will suggest new ways to more productively decrease adolescent obesity rates by analyzing the harmful factors that COVID-19 introduced into their lifestyles.

Keywords: adolescent, obesity, overweight, COVID-19, preventative care, public health, public policy, obesity prevention programs, online programs

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Authors: Nisith K. Datta, Rakesh Bharti

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The purpose of the study was to find out the effects of Aquatic and Land plyometric training on selected physical variables in intercollegiate male handball players. To achieve this purpose of the study, forty five handball players of Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat, Gujarat were selected as players at random and their age ranged between 18 to 21 years. The selected players were divided into three equal groups of fifteen players each. Group I underwent Aquatic plyometric training, Group II underwent Land plyometric training and Group III Control group for three days per week for twelve weeks. Control Group did not participate in any special training programme apart from their regular activities as per their curriculum. The following physical fitness variables namely speed; leg explosive power and agility were selected as dependent variables. All the players of three groups were tested on selected dependent variables prior to and immediately after the training programme. The analysis of covariance was used to analyze the significant difference, if any among the groups. Since, three groups were compared, whenever the obtained ‘F’ ratio for adjusted post test was found to be significant, the Scheffe’s test to find out the paired mean differences, if any. The 0.05 level of confidence was fixed as the level of significance to test the ‘F’ ratio obtained by the analysis of covariance, which was considered as an appropriate. The result of the study indicates due to Aquatic and Land plyometric training on speed, explosive power, and agility has been improved significantly.

Keywords: aquatic training, explosive power, plyometric training, speed

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Authors: Selam Mulugeta, Barkot Milkias, Mesfin Araya, Abel Worku, Eyasu Mulugeta

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In Ethiopia, there is inadequate information on non-adherence to antidepressant treatment in patients with depressive disorders. Having awareness of the pattern of adherence is important in future prognosis, quality of life, and functionality in these patients. This hospital-based cross-sectional quantitative study was done on a sample of 216 consecutive outpatients with depressive disorders. Data were collected using questionnaires through in-person and phone call interviews. The 8-item Morisky scale was used to assess the pattern of medication adherence. Other specially developed tools were used to obtain sociodemographic and clinical information from electronic medical records and patient interviews. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Version - 25. Univariate and multivariable analyses were carried out to assess factors associated with non-adherence. 90% of the participants had a primary diagnosis of major depressive disorder. Based on the 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale, the prevalence of non-adherence was found to be 84.7%. Living distance between 11 to 50 km from the hospital (AOR= 11, 95% CI (29,46.6)), post-secondary level of education (AOR= 8.3, 95% CI (1, 64.4)) and taking multiple medications (AOR= 6.1, 95% CI (1, 34.9)) were found to have significantly increased odds of non-adherence. Non-adherence was significantly associated with factors such as increased living distance from the hospital, relatively higher educational level, and polypharmacy. Proper and patient-centered psychoeducation, addressing the communication gap between patients and doctors, adherence to prescribing guidelines, avoiding polypharmacy unless indicated & working on accessibility of treatment is essential to decrease non-adherence.

Keywords: depressive disorders, Ethiopia, medication adherence, Addis Ababa

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Authors: Muhammad Kashif Yar, Muhammad Hayat Jaspal, Muawuz Ijaz, Zafar Hayat, Iftikhar Hussain Badar, Jamal Nasir

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Meat quality characteristics such as ultimate pH (pHu), color, cooking loss and shear force of eight wholesale meat cuts of humped cattle (Bos indicus) and water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) bulls at two age groups were evaluated. A total of 48 animals, 24 of each species and within species 12 from each 18 and 26 months age group were slaughtered. After 24h post-slaughter, eight meat cuts, i.e., tenderloin, sirloin, rump, cube roll, round, topside, silverside and blade were cut from the carcass. The pHu of tenderloin (5.65 vs 5.55), sirloin (5.67 vs 5.60), cube roll (5.68 vs 5.62) and blade (5.88 vs 5.72) was significantly higher (P<0.05) in buffalo than cattle. The tenderloin showed significantly higher (44.63 vs 42.23) and sirloin showed lower (P<0.05) mean L* value (42.28 vs 44.47) in cattle than buffalo whilst the mean L* value of the only tenderloin was affected by animal age. Species had a significant (P<0.05) effect on mean a*, b*, C, and h values of all meat cuts. The shear force of the majority of meat cuts, within species and age groups, varied considerably. The mean shear values of tenderloin, sirloin, cube roll and blade were higher (P<0.05) in buffalo than cattle. The shear values of rump, round, topside and silverside increased significantly (P<0.05) with animal age. In conclusion, primal cuts of cattle showed better meat quality especially tenderness than buffalo. Furthermore, calves should be raised at least up to 26 months of age to maximize profitability by providing better quality meat.

Keywords: buffalo, cattle, meat color, meat quality, slaughtering age, tenderness

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Authors: Saidu Ibrahim, Winston M. W. Shakantu

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The problem of construction material waste remains unresolved, as a significant percentage of the materials delivered to some project sites end up as waste which might result in additional project cost. Cost overrun is a problem which affects 90% of the completed projects in the world. The argument on how to eliminate it has been on-going for the past 70 years, but there is neither substantial improvement nor significant solution for mitigating its detrimental effects. Research evidence has proposed various construction cost overruns and material-waste management approaches; nonetheless, these studies failed to give a clear indication on the framework and the equation for managing construction material waste and cost overruns. Hence, this research aims to develop a conceptual framework and a mathematical equation for managing material waste and cost overrun in the construction industry. The paper adopts the desktop methodological approach. This involves comparing the causes of material waste and those of cost overruns from the literature to determine the possible relationship. The review revealed a relationship between material waste and cost overrun that; increase in material waste would result to a corresponding increase in the amount of cost overrun at both the pre-contract and the post contract stages of a project. It was found from the equation that achieving an effective construction material waste management must ensure a “Good Quality-of-Planning, Estimating, and Design Management” and a “Good Quality- of-Construction, Procurement and Site Management”; a decrease in “Design Complexity” which would reduce “Material Waste” and subsequently reduce the amount of cost overrun by 86.74%. The conceptual framework and the mathematical equation developed in this study are recommended to the professionals of the construction industry.

Keywords: conceptual framework, cost overrun, material waste, project stags

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Authors: Hatem Diaf, Patrice Melinon, Antonio Pereira, Bernard Moine, Nicholas Blanchard, Florent Bourquard, Florence Garrelie, Christophe Donnet

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Glassy carbon exhibits excellent biological compatibility with live tissues meaning it has high potential for applications in life science. Moreover, glassy carbon has interesting properties including 'high temperature resistance', hardness, low density, low electrical resistance, low friction, and low thermal resistance. The structure of glassy carbon has long been a subject of debate. It is now admitted that glassy carbon is 100% sp2. This term is a little bit confusing as long sp2 hybridization defined from quantum chemistry is related to both properties: threefold configuration and pi bonding (parallel pz orbitals). Using plasma laser deposition of carbon clusters combined with pulsed nano/femto laser annealing, we are able to synthesize thin films of glassy carbon of good quality (probed by G band/ D disorder band ratio in Raman spectroscopy) without thermal post annealing. A careful inspecting of Raman signal, plasmon losses and structure performed by HRTEM (High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy) reveals that both properties (threefold and pi orbitals) cannot coexist together. The structure of the films is compared to models including schwarzites based from negatively curved surfaces at the opposite of onions or fullerene-like structures with positively curved surfaces. This study shows that a huge collection of porous carbon named vitreous carbon with different structures can coexist.

Keywords: glassy carbon, cluster deposition, coating, electronic structure

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Authors: Arun C. Gulani, Aaishwariya A. Gulani, Amanda Southall

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Background: Laser Corneoplastique™ as a least interventional, visually promising technique for patients with vision disability from corneal scars of varied causes has been retrospectively reviewed and proves to cause a paradigm shift in mindset and approach towards corneal scars as a Refractive surgery aiming for emmetropic, unaided vision of 20;/20 in most cases. Three decades of work on this technique has been compiled in this 15-year study. Subject and Methods: The objective of this study was to determine the success of Laser Corneoplastique™ surgery as a treatment of corneal scar cases. A survey of corneal scar cases caused by various medical histories that had undergone Laser Corneoplastique™ surgery over the past twenty years by a single surgeon Arun C. Gulani, M.D. were retrospectively reviewed. The details of each of the cases were retrieved from their medical records and analyzed. Each patient had been examined thoroughly at their preoperative appointments for stability of refraction and vision, depth of scar, pachymetry, topography, pattern of the scar and uncorrected and best corrected vision potential, which were all taken into account in the patients' treatment plans. Results: 64 eyes of 53 patients were investigated for scar etiology, keratometry, visual acuity, and complications. There were 25 different etiologies seen, with the most common being a Herpetic scar. The average visual acuity post-op was, on average, 20/23.55 (±7.05). Laser parameters used were depth and pulses. Overall, the mean Laser ablation depth was 30.67 (±19.05), ranging from 2 to 73 µm. Number of Laser pulses averaged 191.85 (±112.02). Conclusion: Refractive Laser Corneoplastique™ surgery, when practiced as an art, can address all levels of ametropia while reversing complex corneas and scars from refractive surgery complications back to 20/20 vision.

Keywords: corneal scar, refractive surgery, corneal transplant, laser corneoplastique

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Authors: Anand Choudhary

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Following the global economic crisis in 2008, businesses and more especially the big multinational conglomerates were increasingly viewed by the people world over as one of the major causes of the economic problems faced by millions globally, in terms of job loss and lifetime savings being wiped out as banks and pension funds went bankrupt and people stared at an insecure financial future. This caused a lot of resentment in the public against big businesses and fueled several protest movements by the people such as “Occupy Wall Street” in different parts of the world. This forced the big businesses to respond to the challenge by adopting more people-centric policies and initiatives for local communities in societies where they operate as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR), in order to regain their social acceptance among the people whilst earning their ‘social license to operate’. The current paper studies many of such large MNCs across the United States of America, India and South Africa, which changed the way they did business earlier, following the global economic crisis in 2008, by incorporating capacity building initiatives for local communities as part of their CSR strategy and explores whether it has contributed to improving their financial performance. It is a conceptual research paper using secondary source data. The findings reveal that there is a positive correlation between the companies’ corporate social performance and corporate financial performance. In addition, the findings also bring to light that the MNCs examined as part of the current paper have improved their image in the eyes of their stakeholders following the change in their CSR strategy and initiatives.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility (CSR), Corporate Social Performance (CSP), Corporate Financial Performance (CFP), local communities

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Authors: Oluwatosin Adetola Arojojoye, Olajumoke Olufunlayo Alao, Philip Odigili

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This study investigated the extent of pollution in Eleyele River in Oyo State, Nigeria by investigating the antioxidant status and malondialdehyde levels (index of lipid peroxidation) in the organs of African Catfish, Clarias gariepinus from the river. Clarias gariepinus weighing between 250g-400g were collected from Eleyele River (a suspected polluted river) and Clarias gariepinus from a clean fish farm (Durantee fisheries) were used as the control. Levels of malondialdehyde, glutathione concentration (GSH) and activities of antioxidant enzymes - superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) were evaluated in the post-mitochondrial fractions of the liver, kidney and gills of the fishes. From the results, there were increases in malondialdehyde level and GSH concentration in the liver, kidney and gills of Clarias gariepinus from Eleyele River when compared with control. Glutathione-S-transferase activity was induced in the liver and kidney of Clarias gariepinus from Eleyele River when compared with control. However, the activity of this enzyme was depleted in the gills of fishes from Eleyele River compared with control. Also there was an induction in SOD activity in the liver of Clarias gariepinus from Eleyele River when compared with control but there was a decrease in the activity of this enzyme in the kidney and gills of fishes from Eleyele River compared with control. Increase in lipid peroxidation and alterations in antioxidant system in Clarias gariepinus from Eleyele River show that the fishes were under oxidative stress. These suggest that the river is polluted probably as a result of industrial, domestic and agricultural wastes frequently discharged into the river. This could pose serious health risks to consumers of water and aquatic organisms from the river.

Keywords: antioxidant, lipid peroxidation, Clarias gariepinus, Eleyele River

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Authors: Suruchi Shukla, Shantanu Prakash, Amita Jain

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Introduction: Arboviral diseases are one of the most common causes of viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF). Of which, Dengue and Chikungunya pose a significant health problem in India. Arbovirus has a tendency to cross the territories and emerge in the new region. Considering the above issues, in the current study active surveillance was conducted among viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) cases reported from Uttar Pradesh (UP), India. We studied the arboviral etiology of VHF; mainly Dengue, Chikungunya, and ZIKA. Methods: Clinical samples of 465 suspected VHF cases referred to tertiary care referral center of UP, India were enrolled in the study during a period from 15th May 2016 to 9th March 2018. Serum specimens were collected and analyzed for the presence of Dengue, Chikungunya, and ZIKA either by serology and/or by molecular assays. Results: Of all tested, 165 (35.4%) cases were positive for either Dengue or Chikungunya. Dengue (21.2%) was found to be the most prevalent, followed by Chikungunya, (6.6%). None of the cases tested positive for ZIKA virus. Serum samples of 35 (7.5%) cases were positive for both Dengue and Chikungunya. DEN-2 serotype was the most predominant serotype. Phylogenetic and sequence analysis of DEN-2 strains showed 100% clustering with the Cosmopolitan genotype strain. Bleeding from several sites, jaundice, abdominal pain, arthralgia, haemoconcentration, and thrombocytopenia were significantly higher in dengue hemorrhagic cases. However, the rash was significantly more common in Chikungunya patients. Most of the Dengue and Chikungunya positive cases (Age group 6-40 years) were seen in post monsoon season (September to November). Conclusion: Only one-third of total VHF cases are positive for either Dengue/Chikungunya or both. This necessitates the screening of other etiologies capable of causing hemorrhagic manifestations.

Keywords: viral hemorrhagic fever, dengue, chikungunya, zika, India

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Authors: Suliman Al Balawi

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Food waste is a significant problem in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). About SR13 billion worth of food is wasted per year in the KSA. From moral, social, and economic perspectives, it is essential to reduce the wastage of food. Although studies have identified the amount of food waste in the KSA, there is a lack of research on why people in the KSA waste food; thus, it is difficult to design efficient intervention programs to reduce food waste. This research investigates the key factors that influence the food waste behavior of the people of the KSA. A food waste behavior model is proposed in this study that has moral disengagement at the center of the model. Following a literature survey, it is hypothesised that religiosity, hedonic value, frugality, and trait cynicism are the antecedents of moral disengagement that are likely to impact the food waste behavior of the people of the KSA. The study further posits that an intervention strategy in the form of a social marketing campaign that focuses on lowering the level of moral disengagement could reduce the food waste behavior of the people of the KSA. This study will apply a pre-test/post-test experimental design (control group). A random sampling method will be used to select participants from the (employees of a chosen firm) in the KSA. The social marketing campaign will be run for six months through the Corporate Social Responsibility Department of the Company, and to analyse the experimental data, structural equation modeling (SEM) will be used. The outcomes of the study will demonstrate the effectiveness of a social marketing campaign for improving the food waste behavior of the people of the KSA and will ultimately lay the foundation for designing efficient intervention programs in the future. This study will contribute to the knowledge on food waste behavior by testing a newly proposed food waste behavior model in the KSA.

Keywords: food waste, social marketing, Saudi Arabia, moral disengagement

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Authors: Edward Ridyard, Vinary Varadarajan

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Background and Aims: The first year as a doctor in any country represents a major career transition in any physician's life. During this period, many physicians concentrate on obtaining clinical skills but may not obtain the important skills necessary to cope with stress. In this study we elucidate stress levels amongst FY1 doctors regarding the transitioning into specialty career choices, working in the NHS and anxiety about future career success. Methods: A prospective single blinded analysis of Foundation Year one (FY1) trainees using a non-mandatory online questionnaire was distributed. No exclusion criteria were applied. The only inclusion criteria was the doctor was in a full-time FY1 post and this was their first job in the UK. A total of n= 22 doctors were included in the study. After data collection, statistical analysis using chi-squared testing was applied. Results: The large majority of FY1 doctors (72.7%) already knew what specialty they wished to pursue (p=0.0001). With regards to their future careers 45.5% of FY1 doctors stated "above average" stress levels. The majority of FY1 doctors (64.3%) stated their stress levels working in the NHS were either "above average" or "high". Finally, 81.8% of respondents know colleagues who have been put off from pursuing specialties due to the stress of competition. Conclusions: A large majority of FY1 doctors already know at this early stage what area they would like to specialise in. With this in mind, a large proportion have above "average" levels of stress with regards to securing this future career path. The most worrying finding is that 64.3% of FY1s stated they had "above average" or "high" stress levels working in the NHS. We therefore recommend formal stress management education to be incorporated into the foundation programme curriculum.

Keywords: stress, anxiety, junior doctor, education

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Authors: Yael Shai, Dror L. Angel, Dror Zurel, Peleg Astrahan, Maxim Rubin-Blum, Eyal Rahav

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The high demand for oil and its by-products is symptomatic of the 21st century and occasionally leads to oil spills and pollution of coastal waters. Marine oil pollution may originate from a variety of sources -urban runoff, tanker cleaning, drilling activities, and oil spills. These events may release large amounts of highly toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and other pollutants to coastal water, thereby threatening local marine life. Here, we investigated the effects of crude oil on the temporal dynamics of phytoplankton and heterotrophic bacteria in Israeli coastal waters. To this end, we added crude oil (500 µm thick layer, with and without additional nutrients; NO₃ and PO₄) to mesocosms (1m³ bags) containing oligotrophic surface coastal water collected near Haifa during summer and winter. Changes in phytoplankton biomass, activity and diversity were monitored daily for 5-6 days. Our results demonstrate that crude oil addition resulted in a pronounced decrease in phytoplankton biomass and production rates, while heterotrophic bacterial production increased significantly. Importantly, a few days post addition we found that the oil-degrading bacteria, Oleibacter sp. and Oleispira sp. appeared in the mesocosms and that the addition of nutrients (along with the crude oil) further increased this trend. This suggests that oil-degrading bacteria may be NO₃ and PO₄ limited in Israeli coastal waters. The results of this study should enable us to establish improved science-based environmental policy with respect to handling crude oil pollution in this region.

Keywords: heterotrophic bacteria, nutrients, mesocosm, oil pollution, oligotrophic, phytoplankton

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Authors: Yang Zhao, Feng Zhang, Xuanchu Duan

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Trans-differentiation of human Tenon fibroblasts (HTFs) to myo-fibroblasts and fibrosis of episcleral tissue are the most common reasons for the failure of glaucoma filtration surgery, with limited treatment options like antimetabolites which always have side-effects such as leakage of filter bulb, infection, hypotony, and endophthalmitis. Rosiglitazone, a specific thiazolidinedione is a synthetic high-affinity ligand for PPAR-r, which has been used in the treatment of type2 diabetes, and found to have pleiotropic functions against inflammatory response, cell proliferation and tissue fibrosis and to benefit to a variety of diseases in animal myocardium models, steatohepatitis models, etc. Here, in vitro we cultured primary HTFs and stimulated with TGF- β to induced myofibrogenic, then treated cells with Rosiglitazone to assess for fibrogenic response. In vivo, we used rabbit glaucoma model to establish the formation of post- trabeculectomy scarring. Then we administered subconjunctival injection with Rosiglitazone beside the filtering bleb, later protein, mRNA and immunofluorescence of fibrogenic markers are checked, and filtering bleb condition was measured. In vitro, we found Rosiglitazone could suppressed proliferation and migration of fibroblasts through macroautophagy via TGF- β /Smad signaling pathway. In vivo, on postoperative day 28, the mean number of fibroblasts in Rosiglitazone injection group was significantly the lowest and had the least collagen content and connective tissue growth factor. Rosiglitazone effectively controlled human and rabbit fibroblasts in vivo and in vitro. Its subconjunctiiva application may represent an effective, new avenue for the prevention of scarring after glaucoma surgery.

Keywords: fibrosis, glaucoma, macroautophagy, rosiglitazone

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