Search results for: electronic health questionnaire

Authors: Maria Barbano Acevedo-Gomez, Elena Sonsoles Rodriguez-Lopez, Sofia Olivia Calvo-Moreno, Angel Basas-Garcia, Cristophe Ramirez

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Introduction: Urinary incontinence (UI) is defined as the involuntary leakage of urine. In persons who practice sport, its prevalence is 36.1% (95% CI 26.5%-46.8%) and varies as it seems to depend on the intensity of exercise, movements, and impact on the ground. Such high impact sports are likely to generate higher intra-abdominal pressures and leading to pelvic floor muscle weakness. Even though the emphasis of this research is on female athletes, all women should perform pelvic floor muscle exercises as a part of their general physical exercise. Pelvic floor exercises are generally considered the first treatment against urinary incontinence. Objective: The main objective of the present study was to determine the knowledge of the pelvic floor and of the UI in elite athletes and know if they incorporate pelvic floor strengthening in their training. Methods: This was an observational study conducted on 754 elite athletes. After collecting questions about the pelvic floor, UI, and sport-related data, participants completed the questionnaire International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-UI Short-Form (ICIQ-SF). Results: 57.3% of the athletes reflect not having knowledge of their pelvic floor, 48.3% do not know what strengthening exercises are, and around 90% have never practiced them. 78.1% (n=589) of all elite athletes do not include pelvic floor exercises in their training. Of the elite athletes surveyed, 33% had UI according to ICIQ-SF (mean age 23.75 ± 7.74 years). In response to the question 'Do you think you have or have had UI?', Only 9% of the 754 elite athletes admitted they presently had UI, and 13.3% indicated they had had UI at some time. However, 22.7% (n=171) reported they had experienced urine leakage while training. Of the athletes who indicated they did not have UI in the ICIQ-SF, 25.7% stated they did experience urine leakage during training (χ² [1] = 265.56; p < 0.001). Further, 12.3% of the athletes who considered they did not have UI and 60% of those who admitted they had had UI on some occasion stated they had suffered some urine leakage in the past 3 months (χ² [1] = 287.59; p < 0.001). Conclusions: There is a lack of knowledge about UI in sport. Through the use of validated questionnaires, we observed a UI prevalence of 33%, and 22.7% reported they experienced urine leakage while training. These figures contrast with only 9% of athletes who reported they had or had in the past had UI. This discrepancy could reflect the great lack of knowledge about UI in sports and that sometimes an athlete may consider that urine leakage is normal and a consequence of the demands of training. These data support the idea that coaches, physiotherapists, and other professionals involved in maximizing the performance of athletes should include pelvic floor muscle exercises in their training programs. Measures such as this could help to prevent UI during training and could be a starting point for future studies designed to develop adequate prevention and treatment strategies for this embarrassing problem affecting young athletes, both male and female.

Keywords: athletes, pelvic floor, performance, prevalence, sport, training, urinary incontinence

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Authors: Isaac Kofi Mensah, Mi Jianing

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The lack of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) infrastructure in African countries is hampering the successful adoption, development and implementation of e-government in Africa. Electronic government is the use of ICTs to modernize government public administration processes and to provide government services to citizens with a purpose to enhance efficiency, accountability, and transparency in government’s interaction with the citizenry. ICT application in public administration has the potential to modernize and create smarter government and improvement in public service delivery. China’s Internet Plus policy and One Belt One Road strategy present a golden opportunity for countries in Africa to attract the huge financial investment through Chinese IT companies to develop and close Africa’s ICT infrastructure gap. This study recommends the establishment of One Belt One Road ICT Infrastructure Fund for Africa (OBOR ICT Fund for Africa) to enable countries in Africa to source solely for the purpose of ICT infrastructure development in the public sector/government machinery which would in turn promote the adoption and development of e-government in the public sectors of respective countries in Africa.

Keywords: e-government, public service delivery, internet plus, one belt one road initiative, China, Africa

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Authors: Netalie Shloim, Brian Brown, Siobhan Hugh-Jones, Jane Plastow, Diana Setiyawati, Anna Madill

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In June 2021, the World Health Organization launched its guidance and technical packages on community mental health services, stressing a human rights-based approach to care. This initiative stems from an increasing acknowledgment of the role mental health plays in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Nevertheless, mental health remains a relatively neglected research area and the estimates for untreated mental disorders in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) are as high as 78% for adults. Moreover, the development sector and research programs too often side-line mental health as a privilege in the face of often immediate threats to life and livelihood. As a way of addressing this problem, this study aimed to examine past or ongoing GCRF projects to see if there were opportunities where mental health impact could have been achieved without compromising a study's main aim and without overburdening a project. Projects funded by the UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) were analyzed. This program was initiated in 2015 to support cutting-edge research that addresses the challenges faced by developing countries. By the end of May 2020, a total of 15,279 projects were funded of which only 3% had an explicit mental health focus. A sample of 36 non-mental-health-focused projects was then sampled for diversity across research council, challenge portfolio and world region. Each of these 36 projects was coded by two coders for opportunities to embed mental health impact. To facilitate coding, the literature was inspected for dimensions relevant to LMIC settings. Three main psychological and three main social dimensions were identified: promote a positive sense of self; promote positive emotions, safe expression and regulation of challenging emotions, coping strategies, and help-seeking; facilitate skills development; and facilitate community-building; preserve sociocultural identity; support community mobilization. Coding agreement was strong on missed opportunities for mental health impact on the three social dimensions: support community mobilization (92%), facilitate community building (83%), preserve socio-cultural identity (70%). Coding agreement was reasonably strong on missed opportunities for mental health impact on the three psychological dimensions: promote positive emotions (67%), facilitate skills development (61%), positive sense of self (58%). In order of frequency, the agreed perceived opportunities from the highest to lowest are: support community mobilization, facilitate community building, facilitate skills development, promote a positive sense of self, promote positive emotions, preserve sociocultural identity. All projects were considered to have an opportunity to support community mobilization and to facilitate skills development by at least one coder. Findings provided support that there were opportunities to embed mental health impact in research across the range of development sectors and identifies what kind of missed opportunities are most frequent. Hence, mainstreaming mental health has huge potential to tackle the lack of priority and funding it has attracted traditionally. The next steps are to understand the barriers to mainstreaming mental health and to work together to overcome them.

Keywords: GCRF, mental health, psychosocial wellbeing, LMIC

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Authors: Belinda Crissman

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Serious mental disorder is greatly overrepresented in prisoners compared to the general community, with consequences for prison management, recidivism and the prisoners themselves. Incarcerated individuals with psychotic disorders experience insufficient detection and treatment and higher rates of suicide in custody. However direct evidence to explain the overrepresentation of individuals with psychosis in prisons is sparse. The current study aimed to use a life course criminology perspective to answer two key questions: 1) What is the temporal relationship between psychosis and offending (does first mental health contact precede first recorded offence, or does the offending precede the mental health diagnosis)? 2) Are there key temporal points or system contacts prior to incarceration that could be identified as opportunities for early intervention? Data from the innovative Queensland Linkage project was used to link individuals with their corrections, health and relevant social service systems to answer these questions.

Keywords: mental disorder, crime, life course criminology, prevention

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Authors: Mercy Marimirofa, Farai Machinga, Alfred Zvoushe, Tsitsidzaishe Musvosvi

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The Government of Zimbabwe embarked on integrating family planning with Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) services in May 2020 with support from the World Health Organization (WHO). There was high HIV prevalence, incidence rates and STI infections among women attending FP clinics. Spilhaus is a specialized center of excellence clinic which offers a range of sexual reproductive health services. HIV services were limited to testing only, and clients were referred to other facilities for further management. Integration of services requires that all the services be available at one point so that clients will access them during their visit to the facility. Objectives: The study was conducted to assess the impact the one-stop-shop model has made in accessing integrated Family Planning services and sexual reproductive health services compared to the supermarket approach. It also assessed the relationship family planning services have with other sexual reproductive health services. Methods: A secondary data analysis was conducted at Spilhaus clinic in Harare using family planning registers and HIV services registers comparing years 2019 and 2021. A 2 sample t-test was used to determine the difference in clients accessing the services under the two models. A Spearman’s rank correlation was used to determine if accessing family planning services has a relationship with other sexual reproductive health services. Results: In 2019, 7,548 clients visited the Spilhaus clinic compared to 8,265 during the period January to December 2021. The median age for all clients accessing services was 32 years. An increase of 69% in the number of services accessed was recorded from 2019 to 2021. More services were accessed in 2021. There was no difference in the number of clients accessing family planning services cervical cancer, and HIV services. A difference was found in the number of clients who were offered STI screening services. There was also a relationship between accessing family planning services and STI screening services (ρ = 0.729, p-value=0.006). Conclusion: Programming towards SRH services was a great achievement, the use of an integrated approach proved to be cost-effective as it minimised the required resources for separate programs. Clients accessed important health needs at once. The integration of these services provided an opportunity to offer comprehensive information which addressed an individual’s sexual reproductive health needs.

Keywords: intergration, one stop shop, family planning, reproductive health

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Authors: Ying Chern Yeoh, Mark J. Forshaw

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Although hypnosis has been widely endorsed in Europe since 1950s, it was still viewed as a typically new therapy in Asia. There are very little findings regarding hypnosis in Asian countries, especially in culturally diverse countries such as Malaysia. The knowledge of the beneficial effects of hypnosis was not widespread to the public, however knowledge of the negative effects was frequently being highlighted. Therefore, the acceptance of hypnosis as a new effective health treatment can be a challenge in Malaysia. Recognising Malaysian’s perception, belief and attitude towards hypnosis could increase the public awareness of hypnosis, which in turn will alter their misconception and increase acceptance of hypnosis as an effective therapy. Eight individuals (N = 8) from the general public with different background, ethnicity (Malays, Chinese and Indians) and religion (Islamic, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Christianity, free-thinker) and two local experienced practitioners with minimum of five years experiences (N = 2) were being interviewed to determine their views, beliefs and level of acceptance towards hypnosis. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, transcribed with pseudonyms and analyzed by using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The three emergent themes were illustrated under the captions of ‘traditional vs mainstream’, ‘myths vs truth’, and ‘dissemination and public awareness’. The finding suggested that individual knowledge and personal experience primarily influenced people’s level of acceptance towards hypnosis as a beneficial health treatment, rather than the diversity of cultural and religious background. Subsequent findings regarding hypnosis and the effort of promoting it will provide the society an opportunity to increase public education and health awareness. Several associations had started to advance its development by organizing conferences and setting up therapeutic centers. However, health promotion on hypnosis is yet to be conducted to raise public awareness of its beneficial effects. By requesting for hypnosis to be included as a subject in medical education and psychology curriculum and formatting it under Ministry of Health’s legislation body might enhance the knowledge of hypnosis for Malaysian as one of the health intervention in the future.

Keywords: awareness, hypnosis, intervention, Malaysian, promotion

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Authors: Mehdi Brahimi, Kamal Medjaher, Noureddine Zerhouni, Mohammed Leouatni

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The Prognostics and Health Management is a system engineering discipline which provides solutions and models to the implantation of a predictive maintenance. The approach is based on extracting useful information from monitoring data to assess the “health” state of an industrial equipment or an asset. In this paper, we examine multiple extracted features from Pantograph-Catenary contact force in order to select the most relevant ones to achieve a diagnostics function. The feature extraction methodology is based on simulation data generated thanks to a Pantograph-Catenary simulation software called INPAC and measurement data. The feature extraction method is based on both statistical and signal processing analyses. The feature selection method is based on statistical criteria.

Keywords: catenary/pantograph interaction, diagnostics, Prognostics and Health Management (PHM), quality of current collection

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Authors: Ramón Aparicio-García, Gustavo Juárez Gracia, Jesús Álvarez Cedillo

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A research line of the computer science that involve the study of the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), which search to recognize and interpret the user intent by the storage and the subsequent analysis of the electrical signals of the brain, for using them in the control of electronic devices. On the other hand, the affective computing research applies the human emotions in the HCI process helping to reduce the user frustration. This paper shows the results obtained during the hardware and software development of a Brain Computer Interface (BCI) capable of recognizing the human emotions through the association of the brain electrical activity patterns. The hardware involves the sensing stage and analogical-digital conversion. The interface software involves algorithms for pre-processing of the signal in time and frequency analysis and the classification of patterns associated with the electrical brain activity. The methods used for the analysis and classification of the signal have been tested separately, by using a database that is accessible to the public, besides to a comparison among classifiers in order to know the best performing.

Keywords: affective computing, interface, brain, intelligent interaction

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Authors: Soraya Hoornam, Zeinab Sanaee

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Lithium-ion batteries are widely used for providing energy for mobile electronic devices. Graphite is a traditional anode material that was used in almost all commercialized lithium-ion batteries. It gives a specific capacity of 372 mAh/g for lithium storage. But there are multiple better choices for storing lithium that propose significantly higher specific capacities. As an example, silicon-based materials can be mentioned. In this regard, SiO₂ material can offer a huge specific capacity of 1965 mAh/g. Due to this high lithium storage ability, large volume change occurs in this electrode material during insertion and extraction of lithium, which may lead to cracking and destruction of the electrode. The use of nanomaterials instead of bulk material can significantly solve this problem. In addition, if we insert lithium in the active material of the battery before its cycling, which is called pre-lithiation, a further enhancement in the performance is expected. Here, we have fabricated an anode electrode of the battery using SiO₂ nanomaterial mixed with Graphite and assembled a lithium-ion battery half-cell with this electrode. Next, a pre-lithiation was performed on the SiO₂ nanoparticle-containing electrode, and the resulting anode material was investigated. This electrode has great potential for high-performance lithium-ion batteries.

Keywords: SiO₂ nanoparticles, lithium-ion battery, pre-lithiation, anode material

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Authors: B. A. A. Paixão, J. V. B. Gomide

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This work aims to analyze the locative structure used by the locative games of the company Niantic. To fulfill this objective, a literature review on the representation and simulation of cities was developed; interviews with Ingress players and playing Ingress. Relating these data, it was possible to deepen the relationship between the virtual and the real to create the simulation of cities and their cultural objects in locative games. Cities representation associates geo-location provided by the Global Positioning System (GPS), with augmented reality and digital image, and provides a new paradigm in the city interaction with its parts and real and virtual world elements, homeomorphic to real world. Bibliographic review of papers related to the representation and simulation study and their application in locative games was carried out and is presented in the present paper. The cities representation and simulation concepts in locative games, and how this setting enables the flow and immersion in urban space, are analyzed. Some examples of games are discussed for this new setting development, which is a mix of real and virtual world. Finally, it was proposed a Locative Structure for electronic games using the concepts of heterotrophic representations and isotropic representations conjoined with immediacy and hypermediacy.

Keywords: cities representation, cities simulation, games simulation, immersion, locative games

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Authors: Harini Atturu, Divyani Byagari, Bindhu Rani Thumkunta, Sahitya Bammidi, Manasa Badveli

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Introduction: Biological, psychological and social domains influence the outcomes of pregnancy. The COVID19 pandemic had a significant effect on the psychological and social domains of pregnant women all over the world. Everyone has inherent coping mechanisms which ultimately determine the actual impact of such external stimulus on outcomes of pregnancy. This study aims to understand the coping strategies used by pregnant women to overcome the psychological impact of the first wave of the COVID 19 pandemic. Methods: Institutional ethics permission was sought. All pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in the institution during September 2020 were included in the study. Brief-COPE, a self-rated questionnaire, was provided to understand the coping strategies used by them. The Questionnaire consists of 28 questions that fall into 14 themes. These 14 themes were mapped into four domains consisting of Approaching coping (APC) styles, Avoidant Coping (AVC) styles, Humor and Religion. The results were analyzed using univariate and multivariate analysis. Factor analysis was performed to identify themes that are most frequently used. Results: 162 pregnant women were included in the study. The majority of the women were aged between 18 and 30 (90.1%). 60.9% of the respondents were having their first pregnancy and were in the 2nd trimester (59.6%). The majority of them were living in the city (74%), belonged to the middle class (77.6%) and were not working (70.1%). 56 respondents (34.6%) reported that they had contact with suspected or Covid positive patients. Many were worried that their pregnancy might be complicated (43%), their baby may contract COVID (45%) and their family members could get COVID during the hospital visits for antenatal check-ups. 33.6% of women admitted missing their regular antenatal check-ups because of the above concerns. All respondents used various coping strategies to overcome the psychological impact of COVID 19. Out of the 4 coping strategies, participants scored high on Religion with a mean of 5.471.45 followed by Approaching Coping (APC) styles (5.131.25), Humor (4.592.07) and Avoidant Coping (AVC) styles (4.130.88). Religion as a coping strategy scored high for all respondents irrespective of age, parity, trimester, social and employment status. Exploratory Factor analysis revealed two cluster groups that explained 68% of the variance, with Component 1 contributing to 58.9% and component 2 contributing 9.13% of the variance. Humor, Acceptance, Planning, and Religion were the top 4 factors that showed strong loadings. Conclusion: Most of the pregnant women were worried about the negative impact of COVID 19 on the outcomes of their pregnancy. Religion and Approaching coping styles seem to be the predominant coping strategies used by them. Interventionists and policymakers should consider these factors while providing support to such women.

Keywords: coping strategies, pregnancy, COVID-19, brief-COPE

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Authors: Golnoush Rostami, Farzam Kharvari

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In recent years, developments in the field of architectural education have resulted in a shift from conventional teaching methods to alternative state-of-the-art approaches in teaching methods and strategies. Criticism in architecture has been a key player both in the profession and education, but it has been mostly offered by renowned individuals. Hence, not only students or other professionals but also critics themselves may not have the option to experience buildings and rely on available 2D materials, such as images and plans, that may not result in a holistic understanding and evaluation of buildings. On the other hand, immersive environments provide students and professionals the opportunity to experience buildings virtually and reflect their evaluation by experiencing rather than judging based on 2D materials. Therefore, the aim of this study is to compare the effect of experiencing buildings in immersive environments and 2D drawings, including images and plans, on architecture criticism and architectural education. As a result, three buildings that have parametric brick facades were studied through 2D materials and in Unreal Engine v. 24 as an immersive environment among 22 architecture students that were selected using convenient sampling and were divided into two equal groups using simple random sampling. This study used mixed methods, including quantitative and qualitative methods; the quantitative section was carried out by a questionnaire, and deep interviews were used for the qualitative section. A questionnaire was developed for measuring three constructs, including privacy regulation based on Altman’s theory, the sufficiency of illuminance levels in the building, and the visual status of the view (visually appealing views based on obstructions that may have been caused by facades). Furthermore, participants had the opportunity to reflect their understanding and evaluation of the buildings in individual interviews. Accordingly, the collected data from the questionnaires were analyzed using independent t-test and descriptive analyses in IBM SPSS Statistics v. 26, and interviews were analyzed using the content analysis method. The results of the interviews showed that the participants who experienced the buildings in the immersive environment were able to have a thorough and more precise evaluation of the buildings in comparison to those who studied them through 2D materials. Moreover, the analyses of the respondents’ questionnaires revealed that there were statistically significant differences between measured constructs among the two groups. The outcome of this study suggests that integrating immersive environments into the profession and architectural education as an effective and efficient tool for architecture criticism is vital since these environments allow users to have a holistic evaluation of buildings for vigorous and sound criticism.

Keywords: immersive environments, architecture criticism, architectural education, occupant-centric evaluation, pre-occupancy evaluation

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Authors: Omar Baissane and, Hassan Zaid

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The purpose of this study was to determine whether self-efficacy, task value, and metacognitive self-regulation predict students’ English language achievement among Vietnamese high school students. In this non-experimental quantitative study, 403 Vietnamese random participants were required to fill out the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire to measure self-efficacy, task value and metacognitive self-regulation. Criterion for English language achievement was the final grade that students themselves reported. The results revealed that, unlike metacognitive self-regulation, self-efficacy and task value were significantly correlated with language achievement. Moreover, the findings showed that self-efficacy was the only significant predictor of language achievement.

Keywords: language achievement, metacognitive self-regulation, predictor, self-efficacy, task value

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Authors: Inaam Khalaf, Nadin M. Abdel Razeq, Hamza Alduraidi, Suhaila Halasa, Omayyah S. Nassar, Eman Al-Horani, Jumana Shehadeh, Anna Talal

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Background: Nursing researchers are responsible for generating knowledge that corresponds to national and global research priorities in order to promote, restore, and maintain the health of individuals and societies. The objectives of this scoping review of Jordanian literature are to assess the existing research on pediatric nursing in terms of evolution, authorship and collaborations, funding sources, methodologies, topics of research, and pediatric subjects' age groups so as to identify gaps in research. Methodology: A search was conducted using related keywords obtained from national and international databases. The reviewed literature included pediatric health articles published through December 2019 in English and Arabic, authored by nursing researchers. The investigators assessed the retrieved studies and extracted data using a data-mining checklist. Results: The review included 265 articles authored by Jordanian nursing researchers concerning children's health, published between 1987 and 2019; 95% were published between 2009 and 2019. The most commonly applied research methodology was the descriptive non-experimental method (76%). The main generic topics were health promotion and disease prevention (23%), chronic physical conditions (19%), mental health, behavioral disorders, and forensic issues (16%). Conclusion: The review findings identified a grave shortage of evidence concerning nursing care issues for children below five years of age, especially those between ages two and five years. The research priorities identified in this review resonate with those identified in international reports. Implications: Nursing researchers are encouraged to conduct more research targeting topics of national-level importance in collaboration with clinically involved nurses and international scholars.

Keywords: Jordan, scoping review, children health nursing, pediatric, adolescents

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Authors: K. M. Ngbea, F. Ugwu, J. M. Uwouku, P. Atsehe, A. Ucho, P. N. Achakpa-Ikyo, P. Azende

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This study examined occupational stress, perceived fairness and organizational citizenship behavior among bank workers. The participants were 198 (118) males and (80) female's bank employees from selected banks within Makurdi metropolis and questionnaire were used for data collection. Three hypotheses were tested and it was found that employees with high perception of occupational stress differ significantly from their counterparts at perceived fairness also influenced organizational citizenship behavior.On the other hand, there is no interaction effect of occupational stress and perceived fairness on organizational citizenship behavior. The implication of findings, limitations, recommendations and conclusions were discussed.

Keywords: occupational stress, perceived fairness, organizational citizenship, behavior

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Authors: Banu Ozturk Kurtaslan, Ruhugul Ozge Ocak

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In this study, educational problems related to landscape design education which is an important study area of landscape architecture discipline. It is important to research about the problems in S.U. Agriculture Faculty Landscape Architecture Department which is a new department, started its B.Sc. education in 2011; and developing some suggestions on this issue in terms of future of the department. In the context of the study a questionnaire has been developed to conduct to the B.Sc. students. The questions has been prepared under the topics of education program, instructor, student, physical infrastructure and other problems.

Keywords: landscape design, landscape design education, problems, Selcuk University Landscape Architecture Department

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Authors: Abel Olayinka Ogbungbemi, I. A. Omunagbe, O. R. King, O. H. Akingbade

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This study examined the influence of environmental factors on the academic performance of students in Lagos State Polytechnic. One hundred and thirty-eight students (138) questionnaire was randomly administered among 2,600 students in the 6 departments in the school of environmental studies, Lagos state Polytechnic. The result of the study established that the school environment affects learning. Hence, improper maintenance of fixtures led to lower than average student’s performance. Based on this, the school should endeavour to sustain the school facilities and dull colour points should not be used for painting, interactions between teachers and students should be encouraged, and teachers should relate to all the students irrespective of their age, level of study, department of study and gender.

Keywords: environment, learning, responsiveness, school effect

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Authors: Suhrita Saha

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Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy company Mattel Inc and it made debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York in 9 March 1959. From being a fashion doll to a symbol of fetishistic commodification, Barbie has come a long way. A Barbie doll is sold every three seconds across the world, which makes the billion dollar brand the world’s most popular doll for the girls. The 11.5 inch moulded plastic doll has a height of 5 feet 9 inches at 1/6 scale. Her vital statistics have been estimated at 36 inches (chest), 18 inches (waist) and 33 inches (hips). Her weight is permanently set at 110 pounds which would be 35 pounds underweight. Ruth Handler, the creator of Barbie wanted a doll that represented adulthood and allowed children to imagine themselves as teenagers or adults. While Barbie might have been intended to be independent, imaginative and innovative, the physical uniqueness does not confine the doll to the status of a play thing. It is a cultural icon but with far reaching critical implications. The doll is a commodity bearing more social value than practical use value. The way Barbie is produced represents industrialization and commodification of the process of symbolic production. And this symbolic production and consumption is a standardized planned one that produce stereotypical ‘pseudo-individuality’ and suppresses cultural alternatives. Children are being subject to and also arise as subjects in this consumer context. A very gendered, physiologically dissected sexually charged symbolism is imposed upon children (both male and female), childhood, their social worlds, identity, and relationship formation. Barbie is also very popular among Indian children. While the doll is essentially an imaginative representation of the West, it is internalized by the Indian sensibilities. Through observation and questionnaire-based interview within a sample population of adolescent children (primarily female, a few male) and parents (primarily mothers) in Kolkata, an Indian metropolis, the paper puts forth findings of sociological relevance. 1. Barbie creates, recreates, and accentuates already existing divides between the binaries like male- female, fat- thin, sexy- nonsexy, beauty- brain and more. 2. The Indian girl child in her associative process with Barbie wants to be like her and commodifies her own self. The male child also readily accepts this standardized commodification. Definition of beauty is thus based on prejudice and stereotype. 3. Not being able to become Barbie creates health issues both psychological and physiological varying from anorexia to obesity as well as personality disorder. 4. From being a plaything Barbie becomes the game maker. Barbie along with many other forms of simulation further creates a consumer culture and market for all kind of fitness related hyper enchantment and subsequent disillusionment. The construct becomes the reality and the real gets lost in the play world. The paper would thus argue that Barbie from being an innocuous doll transports itself into becoming social construct with long term and irreversible adverse impact.

Keywords: barbie, commodification, personality disorder, sterotype

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Authors: Bethany Leake, Samantha Caton, Paul Norman, Jill Edmondson

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With the majority of the UK population residing in urban areas and with the pressures both environmentally and socially on rural agriculture, the role of urban food production, particularly urban horticulture (UH), is increasingly important in the future of UK food security. UH has the potential to provide an important contribution to urban diets and to provide additional benefits to human health and well-being. While allotments are the traditional focus of UH and play an important role, as access to this type of land is limited and unequal across cities, other forms of UH space, such as domestic growing, will need to be utilized to provide a significant contribution to urban diets. It is theorized that this smaller scale of growing may also be a more accessible way of engaging novice growers in UH. A collaborative research project, Urban Harvest, was designed between the University of Sheffield and Sheffield-based food organizations, which aimed to engage inexperienced gardeners in UH by providing them with home food-growing kits (Grow-Kits). Grow-Kits were provided to 189 participants across Sheffield in 2022, 48% of whom had never grown food before. Data collected through surveys and interviews will help us to evaluate the effect of small-scale food growing on health and wellbeing and the potential of this type of scheme to encourage future UH engagement. This data and increasing evidence on the co-benefits of UH have important implications not only for local food security but also for urban health inequalities and the potential use of this activity for preventative healthcare.

Keywords: urban horticulture, health and wellbeing, food security, nutrition

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Authors: Lindy Van Vliet, Saloni Phadke, Anthea Nelson, Ann Gallant

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Comprehensive and compassionate palliative care and support requires an integrated system of care that draws on formal health and social service providers working together with community and informal networks to ensure that patients and families have access to the care they need. The objective of this study is to further explore and understand the community supports, services, and informal networks that health care professionals and social service providers rely on to allow their patients to die in their homes and communities. Drawing on an interpretivist, exploratory, qualitative design, our multidisciplinary research team (medicine, nursing and social work) conducted interviews with 15 health care and social service providers in the Ottawa region. Interview data was audio-recorded, transcribed and analyzed using a reflexive thematic analysis approach. The data deepens our understandings of the facilitators and barriers that arise as health care and social service providers attempt to build networks of care for patients with life limiting illnesses and families. Three main findings emerged: First, the variability that arises due to systemic barriers in accessing and providing care; second, the exceptionally challenging workload that providers are facing as they work to address complex social care needs (housing, disability, food security), along with escalating palliative care needs; and, finally, the lack of structural support that providers and informal care networks receive. Conclusion: These findings will facilitate and build stronger person-centred/relationship-centred principles and practices between providers, patients, community, and informal care networks by highlighting the systemic barriers to accessing and providing person-centred care. Further, they will have important implications for future partnerships in integrated care delivery programs and initiatives, community policies, education programs, and provincial and national palliative care strategies.

Keywords: public health palliative care, palliative care nursing, care networks, informal care, integrated health care

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Authors: Ellen Dahl Gundersen, Berit Johannessen

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Introduction: Dementia and depression are common mental disorders of nursing home residents. The care of these residents consists of providing both physical, social and mental care. Too often, the physical needs are given priority, and municipal health services are urged to focus more on the patients mental and social needs. The presence of dogs may have positive impact on the mental health of nursing home residents by improving mood, social interaction and enjoyment of the visits. The voluntary organization Red Cross, has given priority to this subject by training and certifying dogs and owners (equipages), committed for regular visits at local nursing homes. Focus of this study: How do the dog owners and employees experience the presence of a dog equipage concerning the mental health of nursing home residents? Method: Individual interviews with 8-10 certified dog owners who are volunteers from Red Cross, contributing with regular visits at local nursing homes. Focus group interviews with 10 employees working in two different nursing homes. Preliminary results: Five to seven residents and one or two employees attended weekly dog equipage visits during a period of six months. The presence of an equipage seems to have made the residents calm and more social orientated with a lighter mood and better verbal expression. Some of the residents with dementia remembered the name of the dog from one week to another. The informants also reported positive outcome for the residents by their opportunity to give and get close through physical contact with a dog. Further, the presence of an equipage affected the atmosphere at the nursing home positively by promoting joy and initiating conversations about dogs. A conscious approach by the dog owners towards the residents seems to be of significance to this matter. The positive attitude and support from employees also seem to be of crucial importance for the maintenance of these visits. Conclusion: The presence of trained dog equipages in nursing homes seems to have had an overall positive impact on the mental health of residents. A conscious approach from the dog owners as well as positive support from employees seems to have a crucial impact on the success and maintenance of the visits. These findings correspond well to former research and can thereby give implications for more extended use of dogs as a mental health promoting initiative towards geriatric consumers of municipal health care services. Further research through larger studies is needed.

Keywords: animal assisted intervention, geriatric mental health, nursing home, resident

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Authors: G. Yoga Sairam Teja, K. Harsha Vardhan, A. Vinay Kumar, K. Nithish Kumar, Ch. Shanthi Priyag

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The emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) has facilitated better device control and monitoring in the modern world. The constant monitoring of a patient would be drastically altered by the usage of IoT in healthcare. As we've seen in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, it's important to keep oneself untouched while continuously checking on the patient's heart rate and temperature. Additionally, patients with paralysis should be closely watched, especially if they are elderly and in need of special care. Our "IoT BASED PATIENT HEALTH MONITORING SYSTEM" project uses IoT to track patient health conditions in an effort to address these issues. In this project, the main board is an 8051 microcontroller that connects a number of sensors, including a heart rate sensor, a temperature sensor (LM-35), and a saline water measuring circuit. These sensors are connected via an ESP832 (WiFi) module, which enables the sending of recorded data directly to the cloud so that the patient's health status can be regularly monitored. An LCD is used to monitor the data in offline mode, and a buzzer will sound if any variation from the regular readings occurs. The data in the cloud may be viewed as a graph, making it simple for a user to spot any unusual conditions.

Keywords: IoT, ESP8266, 8051 microcontrollers, sensors

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Authors: Tahera Begum, Sabina Yeasmin, Jalal Uddin

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Ten slums of ten wards of Chittagong city corporation of Bangladesh were conveniently selected to know about modern contraceptive use by the slum dwellers. Total 300 family heads or their wives were interviewed with a questionnaire in February 2014. Family size was 4.62. Among 300 families 248 eligible couples were found. 57% eligible couples use different modern contraceptive measures. Remaining 43% eligible couples do not use modern contraceptive measures. Among the users 58% use oral pill, 30% injectables, 8% use condom, 3% were found with ligation and only 1% with vasectomy. Contraceptive prevalence rate has been increased and pattern as changed. A discussion is made with literature review.

Keywords: conraceptive, Bangladesh, family, pill

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Authors: Sookbin Im, Myounglyun Heo

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This study aims at analyzing composition and effects of the preliminary intervention to promote resiliency of children whose parents suffer mental illness, and considerations according to the program, and developing the resiliency promotion program for children of psychiatric patients. For participants of preliminary intervention, they were recruited through a community mental health and social welfare center in a city, and there were 10 children (eight girls and two boys) who are from second to five graders in elementary school, and whose parents suffer schizophrenia, depression, or alcoholism, etc. The program was conducted in the seminar room of the community mental illness and social welfare center from October to December 2015 and from July to September 2016. The elements of resiliency were figured out by reviewing the literature. And therapeutic activities to promote resiliency was composed, and total twice, 8 sessions(two hours, once a week) were applied. Each session consisted of playgroup activities, art activities, and role-playing with feedback for achieving goals to promote self-awareness, self-efficacy, positive outlook, ability to solve problems, empathy for others, peer group acceptance, having goals and aspirations, and assertiveness. In addition, auxiliary managers as many as children played a role as mentor and role model, and children's behaviors were collected by participatory observation. As a result of the study, four children quit the program because the schedules of their own school programs were overlapped with it. Therefore, six children completed the program. Children who completed it became active, positive, decreased compulsive actions, and increased self-expressions. The participants reacted the 8-session program is too short and regretted about it. However, recruiting the participants were difficult, and too distracting children caused negative influences in the group activities. Based on the results, the program was developed as follows: The program would consist of total 11 sessions, and the first eight sessions would be made of plays, art activities, role-plays, and presentations for promoting self-understanding, improving positiveness, providing meaning for experiences, emotional control, and interpersonal relations. In order to balance various contents, methods such as structuring environments, storytelling, emotional coaching, and group feedback would be applied, and the ninth to eleventh sessions would be booster sessions consisting of optional activities for children. This program is for children who attend school with active linguistic communications and interactions with peers. Especially, considering that effective development starts at around 10 years old, it would be for children who are third and fourth graders in elementary school. These result showed that this program was useful for improving the key elements of resiliency such as positive thinking or impulse control. It is suggested the necessary of resiliency promoting program model and practical guidance with comprehensive measuring methods(narratives, drawing, self-reported questionnaire, behavioral observation). Also, it is necessary to make a training program for the coaches or leaders to operate this program to spread out for child health.

Keywords: children, mental, parents, resilience

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Authors: Rebecca S. Hock, Cyralene P. Bryce, Kevin Williams, Arielle G. Rabinowitz, Janina R. Galler

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Background: Findings have been mixed regarding whether offspring of parents who were abused or neglected as children have a greater risk of experiencing abuse or neglect themselves. In addition, many studies on this topic are restricted to physical abuse and take place in a limited number of countries, representing a small segment of the world's population. Methods: We examined relationships between childhood maltreatment history assessed in a subset (N=68) of the original longitudinal birth cohort (G1) of the Barbados Nutrition Study and their now-adult offspring (G2) (N=111) using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF). We used Pearson correlations to assess relationships between parent and offspring CTQ-SF total and subscale scores (physical, emotional, and sexual abuse; physical and emotional neglect). Next, we ran multiple regression analyses, using the parental CTQ-SF total score and the parental Sexual Abuse score as primary predictors separately in our models of G2 CTQ-SF (total and subscale scores). Results: G1 total CTQ-SF scores were correlated with G2 offspring Emotional Neglect and total scores. G1 Sexual Abuse history was significantly correlated with G2 Emotional Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Emotional Neglect, and Total Score. In fully-adjusted regression models, parental (G1) total CTQ-SF scores remained significantly associated with G2 offspring reports of Emotional Neglect, and parental (G1) Sexual Abuse was associated with offspring (G2) reports of Emotional Abuse, Physical Abuse, Emotional Neglect, and overall CTQ-SF scores. Conclusions: Our findings support a link between parental exposure to childhood maltreatment and their offspring's self-reported exposure to childhood maltreatment. Of note, there was not an exact correspondence between the subcategory of maltreatment experienced from one generation to the next. Compared with other subcategories, G1 Sexual Abuse history was the most likely to predict G2 offspring maltreatment. Further studies are needed to delineate underlying mechanisms and to develop intervention strategies aimed at preventing intergenerational transmission.

Keywords: trauma, family, adolescents, intergenerational trauma, child abuse, child neglect, global mental health, North America

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Authors: Marina Diković

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By giving personal opinions, suggestions and criticism through e-democracy, young people can reinforce the adoption of decisions which they have an impact on. The purpose of this research was to examine the opinion of university students about the possibility of their decision-making by using information and communication technology (ICT). The questionnaire examined young people's values and behaviour associated with e-democracy and the related decision-making. Students are most active online when it comes to finding information connected with their academic responsibilities, but less frequently take part in democratic processes in society, both at the national and local level. E-democracy as a tool can be learned in programmes of Human Rights Education and Citizenship Education. 

Keywords: active citizens, e-democracy, information and communication technology (ICT), university students

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Authors: Kunyanuth Kularbphettong, Cholticha Tongsiri

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This paper aims to create the model for student in choosing an emphasized track of student majoring in computer science at Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University. The objective of this research is to develop the suggested system using data mining technique to analyze knowledge and conduct decision rules. Such relationships can be used to demonstrate the reasonableness of student choosing a track as well as to support his/her decision and the system is verified by experts in the field. The sampling is from student of computer science based on the system and the questionnaire to see the satisfaction. The system result is found to be satisfactory by both experts and student as well.

Keywords: data mining technique, the decision support system, knowledge and decision rules, education

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Authors: Jiawei Chen, Jia Qu, Dianwei Ju

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316L stainless steel has good mechanical and technological properties, has been widely used in shipbuilding and aerospace manufacturing. In order to understand the effect of strain rate on the yield limit of 316L stainless steel and the constitutive relationship of the materials at different strain rates, this paper used the INSTRON-4505 electronic universal testing machine to study the mechanical properties of the tensile specimen under quasi-static conditions. Meanwhile, the Zwick-Roell RKP450 intelligent oscillometric impact tester was used to test the tensile specimens at different strain rates. Through the above two kinds of experimental researches, the relationship between the true stress-strain and the engineering stress-strain at different strain rates is obtained. The result shows that the tensile yield point of 316L stainless steel increases with the increase of strain rate, and the real stress-strain curve of the 316L stainless steel has a better normalization than that of the engineering stress-strain curve. The real stress-strain curves can be used in the practical engineering of impact stretch to improve its safety.

Keywords: impact stretch, 316L stainless steel, strain rate, real stress-strain, normalization

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Authors: Kalpana Rajouriya, Ajay Taneja

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Particulates are ubiquitous in the air environment and cause serious threats to human beings, such as lung cancer, COPD, and Asthma. Particulates mainly arise from industrial effluent, vehicular emission, and other anthropogenic activities. In the glass industrial city Firozabad, real-time monitoring of size segregated Particulate Matter (PM) and black carbon was done by Aerosol Black Carbon Detector (ABCD) and GRIMM portable aerosol Spectrometer at two different sites in which one site is urban and another is rural. The average mass concentration of size segregated PM during the study period (March & April 2022) was recorded as PM10 (223.73 g/m⁻³), PM5.0 (44.955 g/m⁻³), PM2.5 (59.275 g/m⁻³), PM1.0 (33.02 g/m⁻³), PM0.5 (2.05 g/m⁻³), and PM0.25 (2.99 g/m⁻³). The highest concentration of BC was found in Urban due to the emissions from diesel engines and wood burning, while NO2 was highest at the rural sites. The average concentrations of PM10 (6.08 and 2.73 times) PM2.5 exceeded the NAAQS and WHO guidelines. Particulate Matter deposition and health risk assessment was done by MPPD and USEPA model to know about the particulate matter toxicity in industrial residents. Health risk assessment results showed that Children are most likely to be affected by exposure of PM10 and PM2.5 and may have various non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic diseases. Deposition results inferred that the sensitive exposed population, especially 9 years old children, have high PM deposition as well as visualization and may be at risk of developing health-related problems from exposure to size-segregated PM. They will be discussed during presentation.

Keywords: particulate matter, black carbon, NO2, deposition of PM, health risk

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Authors: Chick Loveline Ayoh Epse Ndi

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Our cultural stance has deep implications for the psychological and physical well-being of the old. Cameroon is still rooted on the traditional belief that stipulates that; the aged are best catered for in the family setting where the children and grandchildren are supposed to give in return for services invested on them by the former. This is why up till date, there are no “Rest Homes” or “Convalescent hospitals” despite the rising challenges faced by the aged in this context. Beside the special measure set aside to cater for the aged, such as “Rest Homes” for the healthy, “Convalescent hospitals” are created set to cater for the health of the aged in the Western context with other facilities such as geriatric units. The health care practitioners are aware of aging diseases and have trained human resources like Gerontologists to cater for the aged and aging diseases. Meanwhile, in Africa and Cameroon in particular, such infrastructural and human resources are still to be considered in the health care system. It can be assumed that the aged and aging diseases are still to be considered in the health care system in this context. This is why we talk of therapeutic nihilism, where the aged are mixed up with other categories of patients with no special attention given to them. This qualitative study carried out in the Yaounde, the capital city of Cameroon, with their best referent hospitals, reveal that; the aged and aging diseases are still a myth in this context. Data collected in both private and public health institutions show that there is only one public institution in Cameroon that has a geriatric unit with no specialists. Patients who aretreated in this unit are considered as aged with terminal diseases that need palliative care and not intensive care. Cameroon is still lacking in terms of health care to the aged and ageing diseases. Like other patients, the aged are treated with a lot of laxity and no value. There is an emergency to create special health care units for geriatrics and and train gerontologist. Mentally or physically ill aged faced medical rational with psychodynamic treatment considered as waste of time. The aged are less likely to be regarded salvageable when they enter a hospital in serious conditions due to the lack of specialists and geriatric units for them. The implication of this study is to sensitization the stake holders for an urgent need to extend special care units for the aged and aging diseases in this context.

Keywords: challeng, therapy, agtng, diseases cameroon

Procedia PDF Downloads 78