Search results for: digital health interoperability

Authors: Bagweneza Vedaste, Rugema Joselyne, Twagirayezu Innocent, Nikuze Bellancille, Nyirazigama Alice, Ishimwe Bazakare Marie Laetitia, Kaberuka Gerard, Mukeshimana Madeleine

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Background: Teen pregnancies have dramatically increased across the country in the past few years. Teen mothers usually face difficulties accessing the reproductive health (RH) services due to different reasons that include fear of getting discriminated or seen by other people. Some teen mothers do not also know their rights regarding the RH services, and they sometimes get discriminated. Little is known in Rwanda regarding how these teen mothers access the RH services compared to the general population, and views of teen mothers on their rights to access these services have not been clearly documented in the country. Specific Aims: To explore baseline information about SRH services among teen mothers; to explore factors that contribute to the use of SRH services among teen mothers; to identify strategies to increase awareness on SRHR (Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights) among teen mothers in targeted area; and to explore views of teen mothers on rights for SRH services. Research design/Methodology: The qualitative exploratory descriptive research will be used among the teen mothers in five selected health centers of Rwamagana district. The study will use the qualitative descriptive study design. Setting: The study will be conducted in five selected health centers of Rwamagana district, which has been chosen due to a higher number of adolescent pregnancies in Eastern Province according to the DHS 2019-2020. Participants: The participants in this study will be teenage mothers who conceived after turning 11 but have delivered before turning 19. As the upper age for teenage is 19 years, this means that the researchers anticipated that those conceiving at 19 years may deliver in their twenties, which was the upper age limit in this study. Data collection measures: A semi-structured interview guide will be used to gather information from the respondents in focus group discussions. Significance: The findings of this study will provide a picture regarding the access of teen mothers to SRHS and their rights to SRH services. They will increase their awareness regarding SRH services and rights. Finally, the findings may help to address barriers faced by teen mothers to reach, pay and utilize SRHS.

Keywords: sexual and reproductive health services, inclusiveness, qualitative study, adolescent mothers

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Authors: Antonella Falanga, Armando Cartenì

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Today, an unprecedented amount of data coming from several sources, including mobile devices, sensors, tracking systems, and online platforms, characterizes our lives. The term “big data” not only refers to the quantity of data but also to the variety and speed of data generation. These data hold valuable insights that, when extracted and analyzed, facilitate informed decision-making. The 4Vs of big data - velocity, volume, variety, and value - highlight essential aspects, showcasing the rapid generation, vast quantities, diverse sources, and potential value addition of these kinds of data. This surge of information has revolutionized many sectors, such as business for improving decision-making processes, healthcare for clinical record analysis and medical research, education for enhancing teaching methodologies, agriculture for optimizing crop management, finance for risk assessment and fraud detection, media and entertainment for personalized content recommendations, emergency for a real-time response during crisis/events, and also mobility for the urban planning and for the design/management of public and private transport services. Big data's pervasive impact enhances societal aspects, elevating the quality of life, service efficiency, and problem-solving capacities. However, during this transformative era, new challenges arise, including data quality, privacy, data security, cybersecurity, interoperability, the need for advanced infrastructures, and staff training. Within the transportation sector (the one investigated in this research), applications span planning, designing, and managing systems and mobility services. Among the most common big data applications within the transport sector are, for example, real-time traffic monitoring, bus/freight vehicle route optimization, vehicle maintenance, road safety and all the autonomous and connected vehicles applications. Benefits include a reduction in travel times, road accidents and pollutant emissions. Within these issues, the proper transport demand estimation is crucial for sustainable transportation planning. Evaluating the impact of sustainable mobility policies starts with a quantitative analysis of travel demand. Achieving transportation decarbonization goals hinges on precise estimations of demand for individual transport modes. Emerging technologies, offering substantial big data at lower costs than traditional methods, play a pivotal role in this context. Starting from these considerations, this study explores the usefulness impact of big data within transport demand estimation. This research focuses on leveraging (big) data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic to estimate the evolution of the mobility demand in Italy. Estimation results reveal in the post-COVID-19 era, more than 96 million national daily trips, about 2.6 trips per capita, with a mobile population of more than 37.6 million Italian travelers per day. Overall, this research allows us to conclude that big data better enhances rational decision-making for mobility demand estimation, which is imperative for adeptly planning and allocating investments in transportation infrastructures and services.

Keywords: big data, cloud computing, decision-making, mobility demand, transportation

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Authors: Ethan Shafer, Timothy Graziano

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This research seeks to answer whether first-year courses at institutions of higher learning can impact STEM major selection. Unlike many universities, an entry-level technology course (often referred to as CS0) is required for all United States Military Academy (USMA) students–regardless of major–in their first year of attendance. Students at the academy choose their major at the end of their first year of studies. Through student responses to a multi-semester survey, this paper identifies a number of factors that potentially influence STEM major selection. Student demographic data, pre-existing exposure and access to technology, perceptions of STEM subjects, and initial desire for a STEM major are captured before and after taking a CS0 course. An analysis of factors that contribute to student perception of STEM and major selection are presented. This work provides recommendations and suggestions for institutions currently providing or looking to provide CS0-like courses to their students.

Keywords: education, STEM, pedagogy, digital literacy

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Authors: K. Krishna Milan Rao, Nelvin Joseph, Praveen Dwarakanath

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Augmented and Virtual Realties is quickly becoming a hotbed of activity with millions of dollars being spent on R & D and companies such as Google and Microsoft rushing to stake their claim. Augmented reality (AR) is however marching ahead due to the spread of the ideal AR device – the smartphone. Despite its potential, there remains a deep digital divide between the Developed and Developing Countries. The Technological Acceptance Model (TAM) and Hofstede cultural dimensions also predict the behaviour intention to uptake AR in India will be large. This paper takes a quantified approach by collecting 340 survey responses to AR scenarios and analyzing them through statistics. The Survey responses show that the Intention to Use, Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Enjoyment dimensions are high among the urban population in India. This along with the exponential smartphone indicates that India is on the cusp of a boom in the AR sector.

Keywords: mobile augmented reality, technology acceptance model, Hofstede, cultural dimensions, India

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Authors: Mili Dutta, Lokender Prashad

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Introduction: Population ageing is a phenomenon that can be observed around the globe. The health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is a measurement of health status of an individual, and it describes the effect of physical and mental health disorders on the well-being of a person. The present study is aimed to describe the influence of socio-economic characteristics of elderly on their health-related quality of life in India. Methods: EQ-5D instrument and population-based EQ-5D index score has been measured to access the HRQOL among elderly. Present study utilized the Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) data which was conducted in 2007 in India. Multiple Logistic Regression model and Multivariate Linear Regression model has been employed. Result: In the present study, it was found that the female are more likely to have problems in mobility (OR=1.41, 95% Cl: 1.14 to 1.74), self-care (OR=1.26, 95% Cl: 1.01 to 1.56) and pain or discomfort (OR=1.50, 95% Cl: 1.16 to 1.94). Elderly residing in rural area are more likely to have problems in pain/discomfort (OR=1.28, 95% Cl: 1.01 to 1.62). More older and non-working elderly are more likely whereas higher educated and highest wealth quintile elderly are less likely to have problems in all the dimensions of EQ-5D viz. mobility, self-care, usual activity, pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression. The present study has also shown that oldest old people, residing in rural area and currently not working elderly are more likely to report low EQ-5D index score whereas elderly with high education level and high wealth quintile are more likely to report high EQ-5D index score than their counterparts. Conclusion: The present study has found EQ-5D instrument as the valid measure for assessing the HRQOL of elderly in India. The study indicates socio-economic characteristics of elderly such as female, more older people, residing in rural area, non-educated, poor and currently non-working as the major risk groups of having poor HRQOL in India. Findings of the study will be helpful for the programmes and policy makers, researchers, academician and social workers who are working in the field of ageing.

Keywords: ageing, HRQOL, India, EQ-5D, SAGE, socio-economic characteristics

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Authors: Loubna Tani, Nabih Elouzzani

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Crosstalk among interconnects and printed-circuit board (PCB) traces is a major limiting factor of signal quality in high-speed digital and communication equipments especially when fast data buses are involved. Such a bus is considered as a planar multiconductor transmission line. This paper will demonstrate how the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method provides an exact solution of the transmission-line equations to analyze the near end and the far end crosstalk. In addition, this study makes it possible to analyze the rise time effect on the near and far end voltages of the victim conductor. The paper also discusses a statistical analysis, based upon a set of several simulations. Such analysis leads to a better understanding of the phenomenon and yields useful information.

Keywords: multiconductor transmission line, crosstalk, finite difference time domain (FDTD), printed-circuit board (PCB), rise time, statistical analysis

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Authors: Stacia E. H. Sitohang, S.Mn., Socrates Rudy Sirait

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The first movie theater in Indonesia was established in December 1900. The movie industry started with international movie penetration. After a while, local movie producers started to rise and created local Indonesian movies. The industry is growing through ups and downs in Indonesia. In 2008, Visinema was founded in Jakarta, Indonesia, by AnggaDwimasSasongko, one of the most respected movie director in Indonesia. After getting achievements and recognition, Visinema chose to grow the company horizontally as opposed to only grow vertically and gain another similar achievement. Visinemachose to build the ecosystem that enables them to obtain many more opportunities and generatebusiness sustainability. The company proceed as an agile company. They created several business subsidiaries to support the company’s Intellectual Property (IP) development. This research was done through interview with the key persons in the company and questionnaire to get market insights regarding Visinema. The is able to transform their IP that initially started from movies to different kinds of business model. Interestingly, Angga chose to use the start up approach to create Visinema. In 2019, the company successfully gained Series A funding from Intudo Ventures and got other various investment schemes to support the business. In early 2020, Covid-19 pandemic negatively impacted many industries in Indonesia, especially the entertainment and leisure businesses. Fortunately, Visinema did not face any significant problem regarding survival during the pandemic, there were nolay-offs nor work hour reductions. Instead, they were thinking of much bigger opportunities and problems. While other companies suffer during the pandemic, Visinema created the first focused Transactional Video On Demand (TVOD) in Indonesia named Bioskop Online. The platform was created to keep the company innovating and adapting with the new online market as the result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Other than a digital platform, Visinemainvested heavily in animation to target kids and family business. They believed that penetrating the technology and animation market is going to be the biggest opportunity in Visinema’s road map. Besides huge opportunities, Visinema is also facing problems. The first is company brand positioning. Angga, as the founder, felt the need to detach his name from the brand image of Visinema to create system sustainability and scalability. Second, the company has to create a strategy to refocus in a particular business area to maintain and improve the competitive advantages. The third problem, IP piracy is a huge structural problem in Indonesia, the company considers IP thieves as their biggest competitors as opposed to other production company. As the recommendation, we suggest a set of branding and management strategy to detach the founder’s name from Visinema’s brand and improve the competitive advantages. We also suggest Visinema invest in system building to prevent IP piracy in the entertainment industry, which later can be another business subsidiary of Visinema.

Keywords: business ecosystem, agile, sustainability, scalability, start Up, intellectual property, digital platform

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Authors: Sultana Ismet Jerin, Md. Waseq Ur Rahman

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Artworks of hacker artists are one of the new trends in the field of new media arts. When someone hears a name of hacker or anything related to hacking, what comes to one’s mind is usually not connected to art due to its divisive meaning. While it is fascinating that every year a number of hacker summits and hacker art fest are being organized among the respective community, it is at the same time true that people are yet to understand what hacker art really is. However, this new phenomenon of artwork under the title ‘hacker art’ has little been studied. Understanding this new form of art is important as the artists of hacker art belong to the era of digital revolution which is a very significant part of our history. Therefore, it is important to find out the challenges in defining them and find out solutions to preserve them. In this paper, the key question that has been addressed is why artworks of hacker artists are facing the complicacies to be defined or categorized. Content analysis of the hacker manifesto (a short historical essay written by a hacker) and two hacker art projects has been conducted to find out the issues surrounding the key research questions. The paper ends with discussing the findings and possible solutions to the challenges hacker artists facing.

Keywords: media art, hacker art, hacker artist, new media

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Authors: Dwarika P. Shrestha, Dipendra Gurung, Rushma Shrestha, Inger Rosdahl

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Introduction: Skin diseases are one of the most common health problems in Nepal. The objectives of this study are to determine the prevalence of skin diseases and impact on quality of life in rural areas in Nepal. Materials and methods: A house-to-house survey was conducted, to obtain socio-demographic data and identify individuals with skin diseases, followed by health camps, where the villagers were examined. A pilot study was conducted in one village, which was then extended to 10 villages in 4 districts. To assess the impact on quality of life, the villagers were interviewed with Skin Disease Disability Index. This is a questionnaire developed and validated by the authors for use in Nepal. Results: In the pilot study, the overall prevalence of skin diseases was 20.1% (645/3207). In the additional 10 villages with 7348 (3651/3787 m/f) inhabitants, 1862 (721/1141 m/f, mean age 31.4 years) had one or more skin diseases. The overall prevalence of skin diseases was 25%. The most common skin disease categories were eczemas (13.7%, percentage among all inhabitants) pigment disorders (6.8%), fungal infections (4.9%), nevi (3.7%) and urticaria (2.9%). These five most common skin disease categories comprise 71% of all skin diseases seen in the study. The mean skin disease disability index score was 13.7, indicating very large impact on the quality of life. Conclusions: This population-based study shows that skin diseases are very common in the rural areas of Nepal and have significant impact on quality of life. Targeted intervention at the primary health care level should help to reduce the health burden due to skin diseases.

Keywords: prevalence and pattern of skin diseases, impact on quality of life, rural Nepal, interventions

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Authors: Maya de Vries Kedem, Abir Jubran, Diana Baron

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Employment in Israel offers Palestinian workers an income double what they can earn in the West Bank. The need to support their families leads many educated Palestinians to forgo finding work in their profession in the Palestinian Authority and instead look for employment in those sectors open to them in Israel, particularly the construction, agriculture, and industry sectors. The International Labor Organization estimated that about 1,200 workers in Israel die every year because of occupational diseases (diseases caused by working conditions). Construction workers in Israel are constantly exposed to dust, noise, chemical materials, and work in awkward postures, which require prolonged bending, repetitive motion, and other risk factors that can lead to illnesses and death. Occupational health is vastly neglected in Israel and construction workers are particularly at risk . As of June 2022, the Israeli quota in the construction sector for Palestinian workers stood at 80,000. Kav LaOved released a new study on the state of occupational health among Palestinian workers employed in construction in Israel. The study Roadmap to Health: Palestinian Workers in Israel's Construction Sector reviews the extent to which the health of Palestinian workers is protected at work in Israel. The report includes analysis of a survey administered to 256 workers as well as interviews with 10 workers and with 5 Israeli occupational health experts. Report highlights: • Among survey respondents, 63.9% stated that safety procedures to protect their health are rarely followed in their workplace (e.g., taking breaks, using protective gear, following restrictions on lifting heavy items, and having inspectors regularly on site to monitor safety). • All 256 Palestinian workers who participated to the survey said that their health has been directly or indirectly harmed by working in Israel and reported suffering from the following problems: orthopedic problems such as joint, hand, leg or knee problems (100%); headaches (75%); back problems (36.3%); eye problems (23.8%); breathing problems (17.6%); chronic pain (14.8%); heart problems (7.8%); and skin problems (3.5%). • Workers who are injured or do not feel well often continue working for fear of losing their payment for that day. About half of the 256 survey respondents reported that they pay brokerage fees to find an employer with a work permit, often paying between 2,000 and 3,000 NIS per month. “I have an obligation—I pay about NIS 120 a day for my permit, [and] I have to pay for it whether I work or not" a worker said. • Most Palestinian construction workers suffer from stress and mental health problems. Workers pointed to several issues that greatly affect their mood and mental state: daily crossings at crowded checkpoints where workers stand for hours; lack of sleep due to leaving home daily at 3:00-3:30 am; commuting two to four hours to work in each direction; and abusive work environments. A worker told KLO that the sight of thousands of workers standing together at the checkpoint causes “high blood pressure and the feeling that you are going to be squeezed.” Another said, “I felt that my bones would break.” In the survey workers reported suffering from insomnia (70.1%), breathing difficulties (35.8%), chest pressure (27.6%), or rapid pulse rate (12.2%).

Keywords: construction sector, palestinian workers, occupational health, Israel, occupation

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Authors: Payal Abichandani, Rishi Prakash, Paras Nath Barwal, B. K. Murthy

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Information generated from various computerization processes is a potential rich source of knowledge for its designated community. To pass this information from generation to generation without modifying the meaning is a challenging activity. To preserve and archive the data for future generations it’s very essential to prove the authenticity of the data. It can be achieved by extracting the metadata from the data which can prove the authenticity and create trust on the archived data. Subsequent challenge is the technology obsolescence. Metadata extraction and standardization can be effectively used to resolve and tackle this problem. Metadata can be categorized at two levels i.e. Technical and Domain level broadly. Technical metadata will provide the information that can be used to understand and interpret the data record, but only this level of metadata isn’t sufficient to create trustworthiness. We have developed a tool which will extract and standardize the technical as well as domain level metadata. This paper is about the different features of the tool and how we have developed this.

Keywords: digital preservation, metadata, OAIS, PDI, XML

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Authors: Peris Wanjiku

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The objective of this paper is to describe the development and implications of a national nursing workforce analytical system in Kenya. Findings: Creating a national electronic nursing workforce analytical system provides more reliable information on nurses ‘national demographics, migration patterns, and workforce capacity and efficiency. Data analysis is most useful for human resources for health (HRH) planning when workforce capacity data can be linked to worksite staffing requirements. As a result of establishing this database, the Kenya Ministry of Health has improved its capability to assess its nursing workforce and document important workforce trends, such as out-migration. Current data identify the United States as the leading recipient country of Kenyan nurses. The overwhelming majority of Kenyan nurses who decide to out-migrate are amongst Kenya’s most qualified. Conclusions: The Kenya nursing database is a first step toward facilitating evidence-based decision-making in HRH. This database is unique to developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Establishing an electronic workforce database requires long-term investment and sustained support by national and global stakeholders.

Keywords: analytical, information, health, migration

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Authors: M. F. Haroun, T. A. Gulliver

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In this paper, an encryption algorithm is proposed for real-time image encryption. The scheme employs a dual chaotic generator based on a three dimensional (3D) discrete Lorenz attractor. Encryption is achieved using non-autonomous modulation where the data is injected into the dynamics of the master chaotic generator. The second generator is used to permute the dynamics of the master generator using the same approach. Since the data stream can be regarded as a random source, the resulting permutations of the generator dynamics greatly increase the security of the transmitted signal. In addition, a technique is proposed to mitigate the error propagation due to the finite precision arithmetic of digital hardware. In particular, truncation and rounding errors are eliminated by employing an integer representation of the data which can easily be implemented. The simple hardware architecture of the algorithm makes it suitable for secure real-time applications.

Keywords: chaotic systems, image encryption, non-autonomous modulation, FPGA

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Authors: Dirk Bruland, Paulo Pinheiro, Ullrich Bauer

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Introduction: Over 3 million children, about one quarter of all students, experience at least one parent with mental disorder in Germany every year. Children of mentally-ill parents are at considerably higher risk of developing serious mental health problems. The different burden patterns and coping attempts often become manifest in children's school lives. In this context, schools can have an important protective function, but can also create risk potentials. In reference to Jorm, pupil-related teachers’ mental health literacy (Teacher-MHL) includes the ability to recognize change behaviour, the knowledge of risk factors, the implementation of first aid intervention, and seeking professional help (teacher as gatekeeper). Although teachers’ knowledge and increased awareness of this topic is essential, the literature provides little information on the extent of teachers' abilities. As part of a German-wide research consortium on health literacy, this project, launched in March for 3 years, will conduct evidence-based mental health literacy research. The primary objective is to measure Teacher-MHL in the context of pupil-related psychosocial factors at primary and secondary schools (grades 5 & 6), while also focussing on children’s social living conditions. Methods: (1) A systematic literature review in different databases to identify papers with regard to Teacher-MHL (completed). (2) Based on these results, an interview guide was developed. This research step includes a qualitative pre-study to inductively survey the general profiles of teachers (n=24). The evaluation will be presented on the conference. (3) These findings will be translated into a quantitative teacher survey (n=2500) in order to assess the extent of socio-analytical skills of teachers as well as in relation to institutional and individual characteristics. (4) Based on results 1 – 3, developing a training program for teachers. Results: The review highlights a lack of information for Teacher-MHL and their skills, especially related to high-risk-groups like children of mentally ill parents. The literature is limited to a few studies only. According to these, teacher are not good at identifying burdened children and if they identify those children they do not know how to handle the situations in school. They are not sufficiently trained to deal with these children, especially there are great uncertainties in dealing with the teaching situation. Institutional means and resources are missing as well. Such a mismatch can result in insufficient support and use of opportunities for children at risk. First impressions from the interviews confirm these results and allow a greater insight in the everyday school-life according to critical life events in families. Conclusions: For the first time schools will be addressed as a setting where children are especially "accessible" for measures of health promotion. Addressing Teacher-MHL gives reason to expect high effectiveness. Targeting professionals' abilities for dealing with this high-risk-group leads to a discharge for teacher themselves to handle those situations and increases school health promotion. In view of the fact that only 10-30% of such high-risk families accept offers of therapy and assistance, this will be the first primary preventive and health-promoting approach to protect the health of a yet unaffected, but particularly burdened, high-risk group.

Keywords: children of mentally ill parents, health promotion, mental health literacy, school

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Authors: Ivan Orozco

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Introduction: Forced contraception constitutes part of an effort to control the life and reproductive capacity of women through public health institutions. This phenomenon has affected many Mexican women historically and still persists nowadays. The notion of reproductive governmentality refers to the mechanisms through which different historical configurations of social actors (state institutions, churches, donor agents, NGOs, etc.) use legislative controls, economic incentives, moral mandates, direct coercion, and ethical incitements, to produce, monitor and control reproductive behaviors and practices. This research focuses on the use of these mechanisms by the Mexican State to control women's contraceptive practices in a public hospital. Method: An Institutional Ethnography was carried out, with the objective of knowing women's experiences from their own perspective, as they occur in their daily lives, but at the same time, discovering the structural elements that shape the discourses that promote women's contraception, even against their will. The fieldwork consisted in an observation of the dynamics between different participants within a public hospital and the conduction of interviews with the medical and nursing staff in charge of family planning services, as well as women attending the family planning office. Results: Public health institutions in Mexico are state tools to control and regulate reproduction. There are several strategies that are used for this purpose, for example, health personnel provide insufficient or misleading information to ensure that women agree to use contraceptives; health institutions provide economic incentives to the members of the health staff who reach certain goals in terms of contraceptive placement; young women are forced to go to the family planning service, regardless of the reason they went to the clinic; health campaigns are carried out, consisting of the application of contraceptives outside the health facilities, directly in the communities of people who visit the hospital less frequently. All these mechanisms seek for women to use contraceptives, from the women’s perspective; however, the reception of these discourses is ambiguous. While, for some women, the strategies become coercive mechanisms to use contraceptives against their will, for others, they represent an opportunity to take control over their reproductive lives. Conclusion: Since 1974, the Mexican government has implemented campaigns for the promotion of family planning methods as a means to control population growth. Although it is established in several legislations that the counselling must be carried out with a gender and human rights perspective, always respecting the autonomy of people, these research testify that health personnel uses different strategies to force some women to use contraceptive methods, thereby violating their reproductive rights.

Keywords: feminist research, forced contraception, institutional ethnography, reproductive. governmentality

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Authors: Tarek Taha Kandil

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In higher education, the use of automated grading systems is on the rise, automating the assessment of students' work and providing practical feedback. Sustainable Grader Scope addresses the environmental impact of these computational tasks. This system uses an AI-powered algorithm and is designed to minimize grading process emissions. It reduces carbon emissions through energy-efficient computing and carbon-conscious scheduling. Students submit their computational workloads to the system, which evaluates submissions using containers and a distributed infrastructure. A carbon-conscious scheduler manages workloads across global campuses, optimizing emissions using real-time carbon intensity data. This ensures the university stays within government-set emission limits while tracking and reducing its carbon footprint.

Keywords: sustainability, green graders, digital sustainable grader scope, environmental responsibility; higher education.

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Authors: Zuk Nechemia Turbovich

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This paper introduces DoD, a contextual spiral model that describes the lifecycle of products intended for manufacturing using Personal 3D Printers (P3DP). The study is based on a review of the desktop P3DPs market that shows that the combination of digital connectivity, coupled with the potential ownership of P3DP by home users, is radically changing the form of the product lifecycle, comparatively to familiar lifecycle paradigms. The paper presents the change in the design process, considering the characterization of product types in the P3DP market and the possibility of having a direct dialogue between end-user and product designers. The model, as an updated paradigm, provides a strategic perspective on product design and tools for success, understanding that design is subject to rapid and continuous improvement and that products are subject to repair, update, and customization. The paper will include a review of real cases.

Keywords: lifecycle, mass-customization, personal 3d-printing, user involvement

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Authors: Afifa Aslam, Muhammad Ibrahim, Abid Mahmood, Muhammad Usman Alvi, Fariha Jabeen, Umara Tabassum

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Many factors cause air pollution in Pakistan, which poses a significant threat to human health. Diesel fuel and gasoline motor vehicles, as well as industrial companies, pollute the air in Pakistan's cities. The study's goal is to determine the level of air pollution in a Pakistani industrial city and to establish risk levels for the health of the population. We measured the intensity of air pollution by chemical characterization and examination of air samples collected at stationary remark sites. The PM10 levels observed at all sampling sites, including residential, commercial, high-traffic, and industrial areas were well above the limits imposed by Pakistan EPA, the United States EPA, and WHO. We assessed the health risk via chemical factors using a methodology approved for risk assessment. All Igeo index values greater than one were considered moderately contaminated or moderately to severely contaminated. Heavy metals have a substantial risk of acute adverse effects. In Faisalabad, Pakistan, there was an enormously high risk of chronic effects produced by a heavy metal acquaintance. Concerning specified toxic metals, intolerable levels of carcinogenic risks have been determined for the entire population. As a result, in most of the investigated areas of Faisalabad, the indices and hazard quotients for chronic and acute exposure exceeded the permissible level of 1.0. In the current study, re-suspended roadside mineral dust, anthropogenic exhaust emissions from traffic and industry, and industrial dust were identified as major emission sources of elemental particulate contents. Because of the unacceptable levels of risk in the research area, it is strongly suggested that a comprehensive study of the population's health status as a result of air pollution should be conducted for policies to be developed against these risks.

Keywords: elemental composition, particulate pollution, Igeo index, health risk assessment, hazard quotient

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Authors: Shireen Ibish

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Physical inactivity and unhealthy diets have contributed to a global burden of disease with increased relation to non-communicable diseases, increased risk of colon and breast cancer, high prevalence of depression, reduced quality of life and early death. The World Health Organisation’s facts on Obesity show a tripling in prevalence across the European Region since the 1980s. This has lead to a huge public health burden, being responsible for and 10-13% of deaths (fourth largest cause of global mortality) and 2-8% of health costs in the Region. In the UK alone, the present cost of physical inactivity has been estimated to be £8.2 billion. In 2002 a paper published in the International Journal of Epidemiology on ‘sedentary’ lifestyle, put into figures the increasingly worrying statistics across European countries. “Percentages of sedentary lifestyles across European countries ranged between 43.3% (Sweden) and 87.8% (Portugal)”. This was especially so amongst obese subjects, less- educated people, and smokers. While in the UK’s “50% of adult population in the UK is predicted to be obese by 2050.” Sports and Exercise Medicine, as a specialty, has a lot to offer in targeting this globally increasing epidemic. The worrying figures and the increasing knowledge of combating and preventing this issue have lead to increased awareness amongst the medical profession and more targeted interventions to reduce the burden of disease. “The public health element of the specialty is critical – this is not simply a specialty for the management of elite athletes’ medical conditions – it is central to the promotion of exercise as a means of disease prevention, to enhance well-being and in the management of disease.” WHO advised on creating National policies, encouraging and providing opportunities for greater physical activity, and improve the affordability, availability and accessibility of healthy foods. In the UK various different movements have been established to target this problem. The Motivate2Move, Move Eat Treat and guidelines advising specialties on targeting and encouraging exercise in the population (Sport and Exercise Medicine A Fresh Approach).

Keywords: sedentary lifestyle, obesity, public health burden, medicine

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Authors: Vanita Singh

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In developing countries, there are conflicting political agendas; policy makers have to prioritize issues from a list of issues competing for the limited resources. Thus, it is imperative to understand how some issues gain attention, and others lose in the policy circles. Multiple-Streams Theory of Kingdon (1984) is among the influential theories that help to understand the public policy process and is utilitarian for health policy makers to understand how certain health issues emerge on the policy agendas. The issue of maternal mortality was long standing in India and was linked with high birth rate thus the focus of maternal health policy was on family planning since India’s independence. However, a paradigm shift was noted in the maternal health policy in the year 1992 with the launch of Safe Motherhood Programme and then in the year 2005, when the agenda of maternal health policy became universalizing institutional deliveries and phasing-out of Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) from the health system. There were many solutions proposed by policy communities other than universalizing of institutional deliveries, including training of TBAs and improving socio-economic conditions of pregnant women. However, Government of India favored medical community, which was advocating for the policy of universalizing institutional delivery, and neglected the solutions proposed by other policy communities. It took almost 15 years for the advocates of institutional delivery to transform their proposed solution into a program - the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), a safe-motherhood program promoting institutional delivery through cash incentives to pregnant women. Thus, the case of safe motherhood policy in India is worth studying to understand how certain issues/problems gain political attention and how advocacy work in policy circles. This paper attempts to understand the factors that favored the agenda of safe-motherhood in the policy circle in India, using John Kingdon’s Multiple-Stream model of agenda-setting. Through document analysis and literature review, the paper traces the evolution of safe motherhood program and maternal health policy. The study has used open source documents available on the website of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, media reports (Times of India Archive) and related research papers. The documents analyzed include National health policy-1983, National Health Policy-2002, written reports of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Department, National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) document, documents related to Janani Suraksha Yojana and research articles related to maternal health programme in India. The study finds that focusing events and credible indicators coupled with media attention has the potential to recognize a problem. The political elites favor clearly defined and well-accepted solutions. The trans-national organizations affect the agenda-setting process in a country through conditional resource provision. The closely-knit policy communities and political entrepreneurship are required for advocating solutions high on agendas. The study has implications for health policy makers in identifying factors that have the potential to affect the agenda-setting process for a desired policy agenda and identify the challenges in generating political priorities.

Keywords: agenda-setting, focusing events, Kingdon’s model, safe motherhood program India

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Authors: Caroline Picton, Lorna Moxham, Christopher Patterson, Dana Perlman, Ellie Taylor, Renee Brighton

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The purpose of this study was to extrapolate the meaning for people living with a mental illness of their participation in a therapeutic recreation experience. The study’s participants engaged in a five-day adventure camp, known as Recovery Camp, alongside undergraduate health care students. An interpretive phenomenological approach was used as an exploratory method to interview 25 participants (n=25). Van Kaam’s structured analytical framework guided the analysis of the transcribed narratives. The findings provide insight into using therapeutic recreation to enhance personal mental health recovery. Recovery Camp was viewed by participants as having a transformational effect on forming positive social connectedness and improving their self-identity. Participants perceived the Recovery Camp experience as one that gave them a sense of purpose and increased their motivation to undertake further activities. The insights gained of the benefits of therapeutic recreation for people living with a mental illness can be used to promote purposeful community engagement.

Keywords: interpretive phenomenology, lived experience, mental illness, personal mental health recovery

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Authors: Maryam Nakhaei, Hamid Reza Khankeh, Mitra Moodi, Leila Daddoust

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Although individuals (men and women) experience disasters in different ways, because of important women’s roles in the family, we aim to shed more light on their issues in doing family. In this report, we present an overview of the main qualitative and quantitative findings of different projects have been conducted in the regions affected by disaster in Iran. This paper explores women’s needs and experiences after disaster at the family level in 'disaster response behavior', 'personal health' including reproductive health and needs of pregnant women, 'livelihood responsibilities', and 'marital relationships'. This clarification can help not only to ensure that their needs are adequately addressed but also to plan family based strategies which consider their strengths.

Keywords: disaster, family, women, Iran

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Authors: Gramza-Michalowska Anna, Skrety Joanna, Anna Zywica, Kobus-Cisowska Joanna, Kmiecik Dominik, Korczak Jozef

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Background: Modern consumer highly appreciates the positive influence of consumed products on well-being and overall health. High acceptance of new food is a result of intensified research showing many proofs confirming that food offers significant prophylactic and therapeutic potential, next to its basic nutritional function. Objective: Proposition of the technology of unsweetened oat drinks enriched with plant extracts for pro-health oriented individuals. We investigated the effects of selected plant extracts addition on antioxidative capacity and consumer’s acceptance of drinks as representative of all day diet product. Methods: The analysis of the basic composition and antioxidant properties of the drinking product was conducted. Basic composition included protein, lipids and fiber content. Antioxidant capacity of drink was evaluated with use radical scavenging methods (DPPH, ABTS), ORAC value and FRAP. Proposed drink as new product was also characterized with sensory analysis, which included color, aroma, taste, consistency and overall acceptance. Results: Results showed that addition of plant extracts into a oat drink allowed to enhance its antioxidant potential and influenced significantly its sensory values. The preferred composition and properties of designed beverage permit claim that it can have a positive impact on the health of the consumers. Conclusion: Designed oat drink would be an answer for pro-healthy life style of the consumers. Results showed that product with plant extracts addition would be accepted by the consumers and because of its antioxidative potential could be an important factor in prevention of free radicals influence on human organism.

Keywords: phytonutrients, pro-health, well-being, antioxidant potential, sensory value

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Authors: Serdar Öge, Pinar Ertürk

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The main objective of this research is to describe the relationship between organizational climate and organizational citizenship behavior. In order to examine this relationship, a research is intended to be carried out in relevant institutions and organizations operating in the health sector in Turkey. It will be found whether there is a statistically significant relationship between organizational climate and organizational citizenship behavior through elated scientific research methods and statistical analysis. In addition, elationships between the dimensions of organizational climate and organizational citizenship behavior subscales will be questioned statistically.

Keywords: organizational climate, organizational citizenship, organizational citizenship behavior, climate

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Authors: Kaavya Chandrasekar

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Healthy eating is essential to maintain good health and stable mental status regardless of age. WHO describes that a healthy diet consists of incorporating more fruits and vegetables and reducing the consumption of sugary and salty foods into a regularly scheduled healthy diet. Although this attitude is rather uncommon among all age groups, it is notably uncommon among the teens being a very vulnerable state in a man’s life. Faulty dietary habits, in the long run, interfere with health, leading to obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and mental instability. This study collates a discussion on the barriers prevailing among adolescents, to inculcate healthy eating practices by means of the socioecological model. The studies consisted of teens aged 13 to 19 years from schools and colleges of both sexes. The socio-ecological model emphasizes the interplay and interconnectedness of elements at all levels of health behavior, acknowledging that the majority of public health issues are just too complicated to be solved from a single-level perspective. As a result, it necessitates that people are not considered in isolation from bigger social groups. According to the studies retrieved from ten articles studies conducted globally, more than five articles suggest that socioeconomic class, lack of adult supervision and easy access to fast food stores and schools affect their decision of healthy eating. Awareness via personalized intervention has been tried and found successful. Future research is still needed to address various dimensions of the issue.

Keywords: socio ecological model, healthy eating, adolescents, fast food consumption, interventions.

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Authors: Chia-Yi Wu, Jung-Chen Chang, Wen-Yu Hu, Ming-Been Lee

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In nearly all physical health conditions, suicide risk is increased compared to healthy people even after adjustment for age, gender, mental health, and substance use diagnoses. In order to highlight the importance of suicide risk assessment for the inpatients and early identification and engagement for inpatients’ mental health problems, a study was designed aiming at developing a comprehensive psychosomatic nursing engagement (PSNE) model with standardized operation procedures informing how nurses communicate, assess, and engage with the inpatients with emotional distress. The purpose of the study was to promote the gatekeeping role of clinical nurses in performing brief assessment and interventions to detect depression and anxiety symptoms among the inpatients, particularly in non-psychiatric wards. The study will be carried out in a 2000-bed university hospital in Northern Taiwan in 2019. We will select a ward for trial and develop feasible procedures and in-job training course for the nurses to offer mental health care, which will also be validated through professional consensus meeting. The significance of the study includes the following three points: (1) The study targets at an important but less-researched area of PSNE model in the cultural background of Taiwan, where hospital service is highly accessible, but mental health and suicide risk assessment are hardly provided by non-psychiatric healthcare personnel. (2) The issue of PSNE could be efficient and cost-effective in the identification of suicide risks at an early stage to prevent inpatient suicide or to reduce future suicide risk by early treatment of mental illnesses among the high-risk group of hospitalized patients who are more than three-times lethal to suicide. (3) Utilizing a brief tool with its established APP ('The Five-item Brief Symptom Rating Scale, BSRS-5'), we will invent the standardized procedure of PSNE and referral steps in collaboration with the medical teams across the study hospital. New technological tools nested within nursing assessment/intervention will concurrently be invented to facilitate better care quality. The major outcome measurements will include tools for early identification of common mental distress and suicide risks, i.e., the BSRS-5, revised BSRS-5, and the 9-item Concise Mental Health Checklist (CMHC-9). The main purpose of using the CMHC-9 in clinical suicide risk assessment is mainly to provide care and build-up therapeutic relationship with the client, so it will also be used to nursing training highlighting the skills of supportive care. Through early identification of the inpatients’ depressive symptoms or other mental health care needs such as insomnia, anxiety, or suicide risk, the majority of the nursing clinicians would be able to engage in critical interventions that alleviate the inpatients’ suffering from mental health problems, given a feasible nursing input.

Keywords: mental health care, clinical outcome improvement, clinical nurses, suicide prevention, psychosomatic nursing

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Authors: Nagaveni Hegde, Priya Sharma, Anitha M.

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A vital network of two-way communication between the central nervous system (CNS) and the gastrointestinal tract, the gut-brain axis has a major impact on both health and illness. This axis revolves around the gut microbiota, a complex ecology of microbes that is essential for controlling brain activity and influencing mood, cognitive activities, and pain perception. Chronic pain and neuroinflammation are caused by microglia, the CNS's resident macrophages, which are impacted by signals from the stomach and the central nervous system. Mechanisms including immune system modulation, vagus nerve pathways, neurotransmitter modulation, and microbial metabolites further mediate this interaction. Numerous neurological problems, such as mood disorders (depression, bipolar disorder), neurodevelopmental issues (schizophrenia, autism), and neurodegenerative diseases, have been linked to dysbiosis, an imbalance in the gut microbiota. The mechanics of gut-brain communication, the factors influencing the composition of the gut microbiome, and the effects of dysbiosis on neurological health are all examined in this review. Furthermore, we discuss state-of-the-art developments in microbiome research that present promising paths for the creation of new treatments for neurological and psychiatric disorders, including microbial profiling, microbiota transplantation, and tailored therapeutics. Knowing how the stomach and brain interact dynamically creates new opportunities for tailored microbiome-based therapies that improve mental health and wellbeing.

Keywords: gut-brain axis, microbiota, dysbiosis, neurological disorders, microglia

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Authors: Balasaheb Bansode

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Diabetes is a very important component in non-communicable diseases. Diabetes ailment is a route of the multi-morbidities ailments. The South Indian states are almost completing the demographic transition in India. The study objectives present the prevalence of diabetes and its association with co-morbidities among the south Indian women. The study based on National Family Health Survey fourth round (NFHS) 4 conducted in 2015-16. The univariate, bivariate and multivariate analyses techniques have been used to find the association of risk factors and comorbidities with diabetics. The result reveals that the prevalence of diabetes is high among South Indian women. The study shows the women with diabetics have more chances to diagnose with hypertension and anemia comorbidities. The factors responsible for co-morbidities are changing the demographic situation, socioeconomic status, overweight and addict with substance use in South India. The awareness about diabetes prevention and management should be increased through health education, disease management programmes, trained peers and community health workers and community-based programmes.

Keywords: diabetes, risk factors, comorbidities, women

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Authors: Mirzaii Khadigeh

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Background and objectives: Sexual health education is an important part of health promotion services. The major role of sex education is on mothers’ shoulders. So, they have to be equipped with enough knowledge, attitude and self-efficacy for teens’ education. The present study aimed to determine the effect of team-learning and multimedia software on mothers’ knowledge, attitudes and self-efficacy in sexual health education to 12-14-year-old sons in Mashhad in 1395. Materials and methods: In this research, two experimental and one control group were employed using random sampling, which was done on 132 mothers of high school pupils. They were randomly assigned into experimental and control groups. The data were collected using demographic information and a researcher-constructed questionnaire to investigate the mothers’ knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy and DASS21(The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale). They were run after confirming their reliability and validity. Intervention for the multimedia group was in the form of four CDs- each for 45 minutes- that were given to the mothers each week. At the end of the fourth week, a question-and-answer session was administered for 60 minutes. The team-learning group received intervention once a week (totally four weeks). Two weeks later, the data were collected and analyzed via Chi-square, Fisher, Kruskal-Wallis and ANOVA. Findings: Knowledge, attitude and self-efficacy of mothers in sexual health before the intervention did not have any significant differences (p >0.05). At the end of the study, the difference between the scores of the knowledge, attitude and self-efficacy in the three groups was meaningfully different (p < 0/001), but the difference between the two groups of multimedia and team-learning was not significant (p> 0.05 ). Discussion and conclusion: The result reported the efficacy of both team-leaning and multimedia software, which implies that the multimedia software training method was as effective as team-learning training one on the knowledge, attitude and self-efficacy of mothers. But, the multimedia training method is highly advised due to its availability, flexibility, and interest.

Keywords: training one on the knowledge, attitude, self-efficacy of mothers, boys

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Authors: Sudheer Kumar Gundati, Umasankar Patro

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Carbon nanotube (CNT) – polymer composites have been extensively studied due to their exceptional electrical and mechanical properties. In the present study, poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) – multi-walled CNT composites were prepared by melt-blending technique using pristine (ufCNT) and a modified dilute nitric acid-treated CNTs (fCNT). Due to this dilute acid-treatment, the fCNTs were found to show significantly improved dispersion and retained their electrical property. The fCNT showed an electrical percolation threshold (PT) of 0.15 wt% in the PVDF matrix as against 0.35 wt% for ufCNT. The composites were made into films of thickness ~0.3 mm by compression-molding and the resulting composite films were subjected to various property evaluations. It was found that the water contact angle (WCA) of the films increased with CNT weight content in composites and the composite film surface became hydrophobic (e.g., WCA ~104° for 4 wt% ufCNT and 111.5° for 0.5 wt% fCNT composites) in nature; while the neat PVDF film showed hydrophilic behavior (WCA ~68°). Significant enhancements in the mechanical properties were observed upon CNT incorporation and there is a progressive increase in the tensile strength and modulus with increase in CNT weight fraction in composites. The composite films were tested for strain-sensing applications. For this, a simple and non-destructive method was developed to demonstrate the strain-sensing properties of the composites films. In this method, the change in electrical resistance was measured using a digital multimeter by applying bending strain by oscillation. It was found that by applying dynamic bending strain, there is a systematic change in resistance and the films showed piezo-resistive behavior. Due to the high flexibility of these composite films, the change in resistance was reversible and found to be marginally affected, when large number of tests were performed using a single specimen. It is interesting to note that the composites with CNT content notwithstanding their type near the percolation threshold (PT) showed better strain-sensing properties as compared to the composites with CNT contents well-above the PT. On account of the excellent combination of the various properties, the composite films offer a great promise as strain-sensors for structural health-monitoring.

Keywords: carbon nanotubes, electrical percolation threshold, mechanical properties, poly(vinylidene fluoride), strain-sensor, water contact angle

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