Search results for: refugee status determination

Authors: Olawuyi Sikiru Owolabi

Abstract:

A research was carried out to assess the biochemical effects of crude oil contaminated cat fish on selected rat kidney function tests. Thirty-six (36) albino rats (rattus novergicus) were grouped into six (6) of (6) in each group. The rats in group one served as control and they were placed on feed formulated with catfish cultured in borehole water while those ones from group 2 to group 6 were placed on feed formulated with catfish exposed to various concentrations of crude oil (0.1%,0.25%,0.5%,0.75% and 1% respectively).The results obtained showed that there was a significant increase in serum concentration of creatinine, Urea, sodium and potassium ions in the kidney of experimental rats when compared with the control. This may be interpreted to mean possible adverse effects on the kidney. Several studies have been done especially on the biological effects of crude oil in fish. These include Direct Lethal Toxicity, Sub-Lethal disruption of physiological and behavioral activities, interference with feeding and reproduction, direct coating or tainting of fish, effect of entry of hydrocarbons into the food web as well as alteration of biological habitat. The present study attempts to assess the effects of crude oil contaminated diet on rat kidney by carrying out some kidney function tests like determination of serum sodium and potassium ions by flame photometry method, determination of serum urea and determination of serum creatinine.

Keywords: crude oil, serum urea, creatinine, wistar rats

Procedia PDF Downloads 249

Authors: Fakunle Egbo, Kammalchukwu A., Akinremi T.

Abstract:

Physical activity and nutritional status influence the health status and cognition of young adults. Lack of physical activity increases the likelihood of developing obesity which leads to the risk of heart diseases and other risk factors like high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, diabetes etc. The study employed a cross-sectional study design. The study used a multi stage sampling technique multi- stage sampling technique; Purposive, for the selection of colleges that would be used, stratified random sampling for stratifying the colleges into departments and the simple random sampling for the selection of each respondent from the departments. Structured questionnaires were used to obtain data from the respondents and pre-tested anthropometric instruments were used to get the weight and height of the respondents and statistically analyzed using SPSS version 22.0 and the TDA (Total dietary allowance) software which was used to analyze the nutrient intake of the respondents. This study showed that they comprised of 50.1% males and 40.9% females. Slightly above average 51.8% were between ages of 15-19 with mean age being 19.57 years; ages 20-24 were slightly below average at 45.7%. The male students 58.7% had vigorous physical activity, whereas majority of females 76.5% had light physical activity level. 39.1% of the male students carried out physical activity 2-3 times per week while One third of the female students (38.3%) carried out physical activity 6-7 times per week. Majority of the respondents had Inadequate Protein- 63.8%, Carbohydrate- 60.2%, and Dietary fiber- 88.8. 36% eat rice 4-6 times per week. Majority of the respondents had inadequate fruit and vegetables (Efo, Banana,) at 47.7%, 40.6% respectively. Using Body mass index, (63.2%) have normal weight. 22.9% are overweight, 6.8% are underweight, 5.4% have grade 1 obesity and 1.6% have grade II obesity. There was a statistically significant association between the physical activity of the respondents with their nutritional status (p=0.037), physical activity and sex (p=0.000), nutritional status and amount spent on food daily (p=0.007). The study concluded that the physical activity level of the respondents, most especially the females were low; One third of the students were malnourished therefore, there should be an urgent need for improving the overall health status of students by providing the students with well-equipped gyms and other sporting equipment’s that would make them participate actively and keep fit.

Keywords: physical activity, nutritional status, undergraduates, dietary pattern

Procedia PDF Downloads 71

Authors: Vinti Davar

Abstract:

India is one among the many countries where child malnutrition is severe and also a major underlying cause of child mortality. The Mid Day Meal (MDM) program was launched to improve the nutritional status of children, attendance, and retention in schools. It was based on one meal provided to the children, who are attending elementary school (primary school). The objective of present study was to evaluate the impact of mid-day meal on the nutritional status of primary school children in Haryana, India. The present work was carried out on 1200 children between 6-11years of age, studying in primary schools in Haryana, India. Out of these 960 students as, the experimental group was selected from schools where mid-day meal is supplied by the government, and 240 students as control group where mid-day meal is not supplied. The mean height, weight, and BMI of children of both the groups were found to be significantly low as compared to NCHS standards. Stunting was found in 56.40% MDMB (Mid-day meal beneficiaries) and 62.50 % NMDMC (non- mid-day meal children).The weight of almost all subjects were low according to age indicating thinness. Anemia was more prevalent in MDMB as compared to NMDMC may be because school meals did not include vegetables. The consumption of energy, proteins, fat, calcium, iron, vitamins was significantly low (P ≤ .01) in both groups especially in girls of NMDM. The consumption of various food groups except vegetables was better in MDMB compared to NMDMC. It is concluded that with certain improvements, mid-meal can be beneficial in meeting everyday requirements of school going children.

Keywords: foods, meals, nutritional status, school going children

Procedia PDF Downloads 310

Authors: Oyebade K. Oyedotun

Abstract:

The cardiotocogram is a technical recording of the heartbeat rate and uterine contractions of a fetus during pregnancy. During pregnancy, several complications can occur to both the mother and the fetus; hence it is very crucial that medical experts are able to find technical means to check the healthiness of the mother and especially the fetus. It is very important that the fetus develops as expected in stages during the pregnancy period; however, the task of monitoring the health status of the fetus is not that which is easily achieved as the fetus is not wholly physically available to medical experts for inspection. Hence, doctors have to resort to some other tests that can give an indication of the status of the fetus. One of such diagnostic test is to obtain cardiotocograms of the fetus. From the analysis of the cardiotocograms, medical experts can determine the status of the fetus, and therefore necessary medical interventions. Generally, medical experts classify examined cardiotocograms into ‘normal’, ‘suspect’, or ‘pathological’. This work presents an artificial neural network based decision support system which can filter cardiotocograms data, producing the corresponding statuses of the fetuses. The capability of artificial neural network to explore the cardiotocogram data and learn features that distinguish one class from the others has been exploited in this research. In this research, feedforward and radial basis neural networks were trained on a publicly available database to classify the processed cardiotocogram data into one of the three classes: ‘normal’, ‘suspect’, or ‘pathological’. Classification accuracies of 87.8% and 89.2% were achieved during the test phase of the trained network for the feedforward and radial basis neural networks respectively. It is the hope that while the system described in this work may not be a complete replacement for a medical expert in fetus status evaluation, it can significantly reinforce the confidence in medical diagnosis reached by experts.

Keywords: decision support, cardiotocogram, classification, neural networks

Procedia PDF Downloads 339

Authors: Arezou Ghadi, Nasrollah Vahedi, Azam Sinkakarimi

Abstract:

For determination of antibiotic residues in slaughtered cow carcasses of Amol city in Iran, sampling has done from 100 heads of cow. For this purpose, the microbiological F.P.T (Four-Plate Test) method was used. Basis of this method, a clear zone is creating around the leachate on the plate that already has cultured a uniform layer of under test bacteria on agar plate. In this study from 100 heads of cow carcasses, at least 75 cases (75%) in one of the tested organs (muscle-liver-kidney) have been antibiotic residues. Also, it has been found that kidney have the most positive cases (60%) than other organs (liver and muscle), then the liver (58%) and finally are muscles (51%).

Keywords: antibiotic residues, agar plate test, cow carcass

Procedia PDF Downloads 460

Authors: B. Safsaf, M. Tlidjane, B. Mamache, M. A. Dehimi, H. Boukrous, Aly A. Hassan

Abstract:

The aim of this study is to determine the effect of age and physiological status on progesterone and energy metabolism of Ouled Djellal (O.D) breed ewes. 40 healthy ewes were divided into two groups, primiparous and multiparous, with 20 ewes in each group. The body weights (BW) (kg) were 46.6 ± 4.20 and 59.2 ± 3.02, and consuming less 25 to 30% of their basal energetic requirements. The values of serum glucose, triglycerides and cholesterol were lower in pregnant than in non-pregnant ewes. The high to very high significant differences were found during the 15th week of pregnancy for glycaemia and triglyceridemia respectively. Concerning serum progesterone, a very highly significant difference (p < 0.001) was noted in the pregnant group, and the values were higher in MP than in PP. After lambing, the triglyceridemia values were slightly lower in primiparous than in multiparous pregnant ewes. In order to prevent imbalance during critical periods of reproduction, we can use the serum metabolic profile.

Keywords: age, energy metabolites, ouled djellal breed ewes, physiologic status, progesterone

Procedia PDF Downloads 582

Authors: Bernard Vaernes

Abstract:

Creativity is thought to be of importance for educational success. Educational institutions vary greatly in regard to socioeconomic status (SES) and curricular emphasis on creativity. Research is needed to clarify the effects of age and SES on creativity. The objective of this study will be to compare the creative performance of children with different SES, low or high, and age. It is hypothesized that younger children will score higher than older children, independent of their SES. Children aged 15, 12, and 9 from four different junior and secondary schools in Warsaw, Poland, will participate in the study. The schools will differ in terms of socioeconomic, geographic localization. To assess creative performance, a Polish adaptation of the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) will be used. In order to select low and high SES individuals for SES grouping, a Polish adaptation of the MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status will be given to all participants. To control for individual differences in personality traits, a Polish adaptation of the Big Five Questionnaire for Children (BFQ-C) will be used. These measures will allow to compare the creative performance of children with different age and SES and eliminate confound variables. It is predicted that younger children, as well as high SES children, will score higher on the TTCT than older children, and low SES children. The findings of this study may provide useful insight into socioeconomic and age differences in creativity, as well as facilitating teacher’s adjustment of learning styles and emphasis on creativity in relation to the SES and age of their students.

Keywords: big five questionnaire for children, children, creativity, socioeconomic status, Torrance test of creative thinking, TTCT

Procedia PDF Downloads 146

Authors: Abrar Almutairi, Alyaa Farouk, Amal Gouda

Abstract:

Background: Social capital is a factor that helps in bonding in a social network. The individual and the neighborhood social capital affect the health status of members of a particular society. In addition, to the influence of social health on the health of the population, social health has a significant effect on women, especially those with pregnancy. Study objective was to assess the impact of the social capital on the health status of pregnant women Design: A descriptive crosssectional correlational design was utilized in this study. Methods: A convenient sample of 210 pregnant women who attended the outpatient antenatal clinicsfor follow-up in King Fahad hospital (Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs/Riyadh) and King Abdullah bin Abdelaziz University Hospital (KAAUH, Ministry of Education /Riyadh) were included in the study. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire that was developed by the researchers based on the “World Bank Social Capital Assessment Tool” and SF-36 questionnaire (Short Form Health Survey). The questionnaire consists of 4 parts to collect information regarding socio-demographic data, obstetric and gynecological history, general scale of health status and social activity during pregnancy and the social capital of the study participants, with different types of questions such as multiple-choice questions, polar questions, and Likert scales. Data analysis was carried out by using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 23. Descriptive statistic as frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation was used to describe the sample characteristics, and the simple linear regression test was used to assess the relationship between the different variables, with level of significance P≤0.005. Result: This study revealed that only 31.1% of the study participants perceived that they have good general health status. About two thirds (62.8%) of the participants have moderate social capital, more than one ten (11.2٪) have high social capital and more than a quarter (26%) of them have low social capital. All dimensions of social capital except for empowerment and political action had positive significant correlations with the health status of pregnant women with P value ranging from 0.001 to 0.010in all dimensions. In general, the social capital showed high statistically significant association with the health status of the pregnant (P=0.002). Conclusion: Less than one third of the study participants had good perceived health status, and the majority of the study participants have moderate social capital, with only about one ten of them perceived that they have high social capital. Finally, neighborhood residency area, family size, sufficiency of income, past medical and surgical history and parity of the study participants were all significantly impacting the assessed health domains of the pregnant women.

Keywords: impact, social capital, health status, pregnant women

Procedia PDF Downloads 62

Authors: Sabri Serkan Gulluoglu

Abstract:

It is possible with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) that the information about all natural and artificial resources on the earth is obtained taking advantage of satellite images are obtained by remote sensing techniques. However, determination of unknown sources, mapping of the distribution and efficient evaluation of resources are defined may not be possible with the original image. For this reasons, some process steps are needed like transformation, pre-processing, image enhancement and classification to provide the most accurate assessment numerically and visually. Many studies which present the phases of obtaining and processing of the satellite images have examined in the literature study. The research showed that the determination of the process steps may be followed at this subject with the existence of a common whole may provide to progress the process rapidly for the necessary and possible studies which will be.

Keywords: remote sensing, satellite imaging, gis, computer science, information

Procedia PDF Downloads 322

Authors: Farshad Kalantari

Abstract:

Tourism industry has gained a progressive trend within the past years, which affect the cultural exchange among different nations. It is obvious that each country has its own culture, heritage and history, which can be manifested in the population lifestyle and pattern of living. the lifestyle can be considered as an indicator for health status, as the culture may affect way of living, which known as lifestyle and its components, including dietary pattern, physical activity status and other social behaviours. As a result, it seems that each culture can transfer the lifestyle to other societies by international communications. Moreover, different regions and countries may benefit from natural resources, which can be a leading cause for tourist attraction, in the other words, natural resources and culture, can affect the tourist turnover in a region, and as a result, it can be hypothesised that it may affect the exchange of lifestyle including dietary pattern and physical activity. In the positive way, this can make a region to health pole for other nationalities to gain benefit from that culture in order to improve their quality of life and health status. In this paper has aimed to assess the effect of culture and heritage on tourism rate and the effect of natural resources along with cultural lifestyle on public health and international exchange between other regions. It was hypothesised that by using culture in a positive manner, positive aspect of lifestyle, including ancient physical activity patter, can be transfer and exchange with other regions, which can improve health status as a result. Moreover, it was focused on how to design and recruit strategies to improve the way of gaining benefits from resources and lifestyle in order to improve tourism industry and its rate, which may bring beneficial outcomes, including financial, cultural and health outcomes.

Keywords: toursim, health, culture, sport, lifestyle

Procedia PDF Downloads 70

Authors: Cynthia Zgheib, Yonna Sacre

Abstract:

Pregnancy, this particular moment in the life of a woman, requires monitoring of eating behavior changes. However, the food choices during pregnancy should be varied and healthy, including the consumption of different food groups. Nutritional status is the process of acquisition and consumption of food. Therefore, a varied diet is associated with good nutritional status. This is why the nutrition education is a strategy commonly applied to improve maternal nutrition during pregnancy. Thus, it is crucial to assess 'The eating behavior and nutritional status of pregnant women living in Keserwan Lebanon.' In order to evaluate the association of different persona, socioeconomic and sociodemographic factors with the eating behavior and nutrition in the concerned study category, a cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on a sample of 150 pregnant women aging between 18 and 40 years randomly selected from the hospitals and clinics located in Keserwan area and equally distributed between different cities and villages of the area according to altitude. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the eating behavior of the concerned population and to compare it to the recommendation of the food guide pyramid, their level of food awareness and finally to analyze their blood tests in order to detect any nutrients deficiency that they may face during the course of their pregnancy. Sociodemographic, lifestyle, eating behaviour, health, eating patterns, awareness, and food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) were collected through a validated questionnaire specifically adapted for the purpose of the study. Statistical analysis was carried out, and multivariate models were used in order to evaluate the association between several independent variables and the eating behaviour and nutritional status of Lebanese pregnant women The final analysis has shown that 48.7% of pregnant women were aged between 30 and 40 years old, 56% had a normal BMI between 18.5 and 24.9, thus age affects the eating behavior, so the older are the pregnant women, and the healthier is their eating behavior. In fact, 80.7% had acceptable food behavior which is based on an equilibrium between both quantity and quality of food, although the recommended foods are foods found in the food pyramid and available in the Lebanese diet. In addition, 68% had an acceptable level of awareness concerning the health importance of good eating habits, therefore, it is positively affecting their food choices. Moreover, 50 % have an acceptable nutritional status which is confirmed by their biological tests. Future governmental or national studies and programs could be settled aiming to increase the awareness about the good eating behaviors and nutritional status of Lebanese pregnant women.

Keywords: eating behavior, nutritional status, level of awareness, pregnant woman

Procedia PDF Downloads 259

Authors: Abu Bakr Ahmed Shater

Abstract:

Hypocenters of 250 earthquakes recorded by more than 5 stations from the Egyptian seismic network around the Gulf of Suez were relocated and the seismic stations correction for the P-wave is estimated, using the modified joint hypocenter method determination. Five stations TR1, SHR, GRB, ZAF and ZET have minus signs in the station P-wave travel time corrections and their values are -0.235, -0.366, -0.288, -0.366 and -0.058, respectively. It is possible to assume that, the underground model in this area has a particular characteristic of high velocity structure in which the other stations TR2, RDS, SUZ, HRG and ZNM have positive signs and their values are 0.024, 0.187, 0.314, 0.645 and 0.145, respectively. It is possible to assume that, the underground model in this area has particular characteristic of low velocity structure. The hypocenteral location determined by the Modified joint hypocenter method is more precise than those determined by the other routine work program. This method simultaneously solves the earthquake locations and station corrections. The station corrections reflect, not only the different crustal conditions in the vicinity of the stations, but also the difference between the actual and modeled seismic velocities along each of the earthquake - station ray paths. The stations correction obtained is correlated with the major surface geological features in the study area. As a result of the relocation, the low velocity area appears in the northeastern and southwestern sides of the Gulf of Suez, while the southeastern and northwestern parts are of high velocity area.

Keywords: gulf of Suez, seismicity, relocation of hypocenter, joint hypocenter determination

Procedia PDF Downloads 361

Authors: Mohammad Ali Karimi, Hossein Tavallali, Abdolhamid Hatefi-Mehrjardi

Abstract:

In this study, an electrochemical sensor based on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) functionalized improved graphene (AuNPs-IGE) was fabricated for selective determination of L-dopa in the presence of ascorbic acid by a novel self-assembly method. The AuNP IGE modified carbon paste electrode (AuNPs-IGE/CPE) utilized for investigation of the electrochemical behavior of L-dopa in phosphate buffer solution. Compared to bare CPE, AuNPs-IGE/CPE shows novel properties towards the electrochemical redox of levodopa (L-dopa) in phosphate buffer solution at pH 4.0. The oxidation potential of L-dopa shows a significant decrease at the AuNPs-IGE/CPE. The oxidation current of L-dopa is higher than that of the unmodified CPE. AuNPs-IG/CPE shows excellent electrocatalytic activity for the oxidation of ascorbic acid (AA). Using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) method, the oxidation current is well linear with L-dopa concentration in the range of 0.4–50 µmol L-1, with a detection limit of about 1.41 nmol L-1 (S/N = 3). Therefore, it was applied to measure L-dopa from real samples that recoveries are 94.6-106.2%. The proposed electrode can also effectively avoid the interference of ascorbic acid, making the proposed sensor suitable for the accurate determination of L-dopa in both pharmaceutical preparations and human body fluids.

Keywords: gold nanoparticles, improved graphene, L-dopa, self-assembly

Procedia PDF Downloads 224

Authors: Sapan Bhatnagar, Danish Akhtar, Salman Ahmed, Asif Ekbal, Gufran Beig

Abstract:

Particulates are the solid and liquid droplets present in the atmosphere, they have serious negative effects on human health and environment. PM10 and PM2.5 are so small that they can penetrate deep into our lungs through the respiratory system. Determination of the amount of particulates present in the atmosphere per cubic meter is necessary to monitor, regulate and model atmospheric particulate levels. Air Quality Index is an index tells us how clean or polluted our air is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for us. The AQI focuses on health affects you may experience within a few hours or days after breathing polluted air. The quality rating for each pollutant was calculated. The geometric mean of these quality ratings gives the Air Quality Index. The existing concentrations of pollutants were compared with ambient air quality standards.

Keywords: air quality index, particulate, respirable dust sampler, dust sampler

Procedia PDF Downloads 577

Authors: Weiju Zhou, Alex Hopkins, Ruoling Chen

Abstract:

Background: China has increased the gap in income between richer and poorer over the past 40 years, and the number of deaths from people with angina has been rising. It is unclear whether socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with increased mortality in older people with angina. Methods: Data from a cohort study of 2,380 participants aged ≥ 65 years, who were randomly recruited from 5-province urban communities were examined in China. The cohort members were interviewed to record socio-demographic and risk factors and document doctor-diagnosed angina at baseline and were followed them up in 3-10 years, including monitoring vital status. Multivariate Cox regression models were employed to examine all-cause mortality in relation to low SES. Results: The cohort follow-up identified 373 deaths occurred; 41 deaths in 208 angina patients. Compared to participants without angina (n=2,172), patients with angina had increased mortality (multivariate adjusted hazard ratio (HR) was 1.41, 95% CI 1.01-1.97). Within angina patients, the risk of mortality increased with low satisfactory income (2.51, 1.08-5.85) and having financial problem (4.00, 1.07-15.00), but significantly with levels of education and occupation. In non-angina participants, none of these four SES indicators were associated with mortality. There was a significant interaction effect between angina and low satisfactory income on mortality. Conclusions: In China, having low income and financial problem increase mortality in older people with angina. Strategies to improve economic circumstances in older people could help reduce inequality in angina survival.

Keywords: angina, mortality, older people, socio-economic status

Procedia PDF Downloads 121

Authors: Saba Javed, Abdul Majeed Nadeem, Imran Qaiser, Muhammad Asif Kamran, Azka Amin

Abstract:

This study is designed to determine the poverty status and determinants of income diversification in rural areas of Pakistan using cross sectional data of Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) for 2010-2011. The variables used for measuring income diversification are demographic indicators, poverty status, and income of households. Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT) poverty measures show that 43.1% poor and 56.9% non-poor resided in rural areas of Pakistan. A Tobit model was employed to examine the determinants of livelihood diversification among households. The result showed that age, gender, marital status, household size and province have significant impact on income diversification. The data show that non-poor and female headed household with higher family size diversify more as compared to poor, male headed household with small size of family members. The place of residence (province used as proxy for place) also plays important role for income diversification as Sindh Province was found more diversified as compared to Punjab and Khyber Pakhtoon Kha (KPK). It is recommended to improve the ways of income diversification among rural household to reduce poverty among them. This can be done by more investment in education with universal access for poor and remote localities households.

Keywords: poverty, income diversification, rural Pakistan, Tobit regression model, FGT

Procedia PDF Downloads 358

Authors: Hanan, S. Siam, Safaa A. Mahmoud, A. S. Taalab

Abstract:

A pot experiment was conducted in greenhouse of NRC, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt to study the response of wheat plants to different levels of superphosphate at (60kg P2O5 or 30 kg P2O5) with or without potassium silicate or chicken compost (2.5 ton/fed.) on growth yield and nutrients status especially, and phosphorus and silica availability. Data reveal that the addition either chicken or compost increased significantly affected on all the growth and yield parameters as well as nutrients status and protein of the different parts of wheat plants if compared with control (60kg P2O5 or 30 kg P2O5). Data also reveal that the highest mean values were obtained when potassium silicate with was added to 60 kg P2O5, while the lowest values of the previous parameters were obtained when 30 kg P2O5 alone was added to plants. Furthermore, data indicated that the highest mean values of all mentioned parameters were obtained when chicken compost was applied with any rate of P as compared with silica addition at the same rates of P. According to the results, the highest values of all mentioned parameters were obtained when addition of chicken compost and potassium silicate including the high rate of P at (60 kg P2O5) while the lowest values of the previous parameters were obtained when plants received of phosphorus (30 kg P2O5) alone.

Keywords: wheat, yield, chicken compost, potassium, phosphorus, silicate, nutrients status

Procedia PDF Downloads 278

Authors: Zahrah Thamer Althagafi, Mohamed I. Awad

Abstract:

A simple method for the fabrication of Au (111)-like electrode via controlled reductive desorption of a pre-adsorbed cysteine monolayer onto polycrystalline gold (poly-Au) electrode is introduced. Then, the voltammetric behaviour of dopamine (DA) and ascorbic acid (AA) on the thus modified electrode is investigated. Electrochemical characterization of the modified electrode is achieved using cyclic voltammetry and square wave voltammetry. For the binary mixture of DA and AA, the results showed that Au (111)-like electrode exhibits excellent electrocatalytic activity towards the oxidation of DA and AA. This allows highly selective and simultaneous determination of DA and AA. The effect of various experimental parameters on the voltammetric responses of DA and AA was investigated. The enrichment of the Au (111) facet of the poly-Au electrode is thought to be behind the electrocatalytic activity.

Keywords: gold electrode, electroanalysis, electrocatalysis, monolayers, self-assembly, cysteine, dopamine, ascorbic acid

Procedia PDF Downloads 200

Authors: Robert C. Pritchett, Elizabeth Broad, Kelly L. Pritchett

Abstract:

Individuals a with spinal cord injuries have been suggested to be at risk for a 25(OH)D insufficiency. However, little is known regarding the relationship between seasonal Vitamin D status and performance in a spinally injured athletic population. Purpose: The purpose of this study was: 1) to examine the seasonal change in 25(OH)D concentrations and 2) to determine whether 25(OH)D status impacts athletic performance in US Paralympic athletes. Methods: 25 (OH)D concentrations were measured in 11 outdoor track athletes ( 5 men/6 females), between fall (October/November) and winter(February). Dietary intake and lifestyle habits were assessed via questionnaire, and performance measurements were assessed using a 20meter sprint test. 25(OH)D concentrations were assessed using a blood spot method (ZRT Laboratory). Results: There was no significant change in 25 (OH) D concentrations across seasons (P=0.505; 31 + 6.35 ng/mL, 29 + 8.72 ng/mL (mean + SD) for Fall and Winter, respectively. In the Fall,42% of the athletes had sufficient levels (>32ng/mL), and 58% were insufficient. (20ng/mL -31ng/mL) where as the winter levels dropped with 33% being sufficient and 58% being insufficient and 1% being deficient (<20ng/mL). There was a weak but significant correlation between a change in 25(OH)D concentrations, and change in 20m sprint time (p<0.05; r=0.408). Conclusion: A substantial proportion of elite athletes with an SCI have low vitamin D status. However, results suggest there was little seasonal variation in 25(OH)D status in elite track athletes with an SCI. Furthermore, any change that was observed demonstrated a very weak relationship with a change in performance.

Keywords: 25(oh)d, performance, spinal cord injuries, elite, sprint, concentration

Procedia PDF Downloads 555

Authors: James Bassey Ejue, Dorn Cklaimz Enamhe, Helen Francis Ejue

Abstract:

The study examined the influence of personal variables such as sex, type of school, and parental socio-economic status on secondary school students’ perception of school security. To guide the study, three null hypotheses were formulated. The research design adopted was the survey design, and a 20-item instrument was constructed and validated by the researchers through a test-retest procedure. The sample size for the study comprised 2,198 students made up of male and female students selected through a stratified random sampling technique. This was drawn from a study population of 21,988, made up of 12,635 students and 9353 students from public and private secondary schools, respectively. Data were analyzed using an independent t-test statistical tool. The findings showed that female students were more fearful in their perception of school security; the students in private schools perceived school to be more insecure than those in public schools; and the students from high parental socio-economic status are more associated with the perception of school as insecure than the ones from low parental socio-economic status. Based on these findings, it was recommended that, among others, more reassuring measures be put in place to check school security for females, for those in private schools, and for those from high parental socio-economic status. School counsellors should also be guided accordingly in designing intervention strategies.

Keywords: personal variables, students, perception, school security

Procedia PDF Downloads 82

Authors: A. M. Maruthesh, B. M. Anandakumar, O. Kumara, Akshatha Gombi, S. R. Rajini

Abstract:

Women play a vital role in ensuring proper development and growth of children. They also contribute significantly towards income generation, food preparation and health. Nutritional status reflects the health of a person and is influenced by the quality of foods eaten and the ability of the body to utilize these foods to meet its needs it is affected by various socio-economic factors including income, family size, occupation and educational status of the people. The study was undertaken on nutritional status of rural women in Heggadehalli of Doddaballapurtaluk and Venkathalli of Devanahallitaluk in Bengaluru rural district with the sample size of 200 respondents. The prevalence of symptoms of malnutrition in a community is in turn a reflection of dietary consumption of its members. Mean anthropometric measurement of rural women were 153.8 cm of height, 46.8 kg of weight. In comparison with the mean BMI standards, it was observed that 20 percent of women were under nourished, 64 percent of women were normal and 16 percent women were obese. In comparison with the mean waist/hip ratio with standards, it was observed that 84 percent were in normal category and 16 percent were obese. Education, land holding, income and age had significant positive association with anthropometric measurements of rural women. The deficient level of haemoglobin existed in 53 percent of rural women, low in 20 percent and only 27 percent had acceptable level. The occurrence of morbidity symptoms was higher in rural women, its illness reported among women in the study were pain in hands and legs, backache, headache, pain in abdomen, fever, weakness, cold and cough and acidity. This may be due to considerable amount of workload on women who spend 8 to 9 hours at work and after returning continue their day’s work at home also.

Keywords: anthrometry, body index, hemoglobin, nutrient deficiency, rural women, nutritional status

Procedia PDF Downloads 269

Authors: Zelalem Bitew, Adane Kassa, Beyene Misgan

Abstract:

In this study, a sensitive and selective voltammetric method based on poly(diphenylamine-4-sulfonic acid) modified glassy carbon electrode (poly(DPASA)/GCE) was developed for determination of gallic acid. Appearance of an irreversible oxidative peak at both bare GCE and poly(DPASA)/GCE for gallic acid with about three folds current enhancement and much reduced potential at poly(DPASA)/GCE showed catalytic property of the modifier towards oxidation of gallic acid. Under optimized conditions, Adsorptive stripping square wave voltammetric peak current response of the poly(DPASA)/GCE showed linear dependence with gallic acid concentration in the range 5.00 × 10-7 − 3.00 × 10-4 mol L-1 with limit of detection of 4.35 × 10-9. Spike recovery results between 94.62-99.63, 95.00-99.80 and 97.25-103.20% of gallic acid in honey, raw peanut, and commercial peanut butter samples respectively, interference recovery results with less than 4.11% error in the presence of uric acid and ascorbic acid, lower LOD and relatively wider dynamic range than most of the previously reported methods validated the potential applicability of the method based on poly(DPASA)/GCE for determination of gallic acid real samples including in honey and peanut samples.

Keywords: gallic acid, diphenyl amine sulfonic acid, adsorptive anodic striping square wave voltammetry, honey, peanut

Procedia PDF Downloads 82

Authors: Santoshi Halder, Ranjini Ghosh

Abstract:

Research on educational stratification suggests that inequality in education between different social strata continues and sometimes even widens in spite of educational growth. The backward classes are the most suppressed classes in society. In India, the Scheduled Castes are found as one of the backward classes. After independence there a lot of provisions were made for their uplift. Still they are facing a lot of problems in perusing education, getting jobs, choosing life style independently etc. The present study was conducted to explore the educational disparities in education with respect to caste. Sample consisted of 1020 students (540 scheduled caste and 540 general caste) from three different universities of West Bengal. Tools selected were General Information Schedule (GIS), socioeconomic status (SES), Achievement motivation scale. Findings indicated significant differences for the selected variables under the study with respect to caste. Findings have significant implication for the advocates, policy makers and educationists and sociologists for appropriate intervention.

Keywords: scheduled caste, educational barriers, achievement motivation, socioeconomic status

Procedia PDF Downloads 421

Authors: Murat İskender Aktaş, Selma Söyük

Abstract:

The aim of this work is to specify the levels of organizational cynicism health workers. Organizational cynicism concept is evaluated in three sub-branches and these are cognitive, affective, and behavioral. The main objective of the work is to answer the questions about the relationship of demographic characteristics like sub-branches of cynicism and age, marital status, education level, total working hours, occupational groups and income levels. As works in our country are analyzed, there have been studies about cynicism in health and other sectors. However, there were no master’s thesis or organizational cynicism research found about the public health professionals. This is why the aim was chosen as to specify the levels of organizational cynicism of public health professionals. The average of the answers of the health workers to the questions about cynicism levels are 2.86. As organizational cynicism is evaluated according to the sub-branches, cognitive subscale average score is 3.21 affective subscale average score is 2.68 and behavioral subscale average score is counted as 2.67. As the results are analyzed, it is seen that the behavioral subscale has the highest average. This shows that the workers are often criticizing the internal complaints and organizational information with their friends out of the organization.

Keywords: cynicism, organizational cynicism, health care workers

Procedia PDF Downloads 344

Authors: Hassan M. Albishri, Fatimah Al-Shehri, Deia Abd El-Hady

Abstract:

Among the analytical techniques, reverse phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) is currently used in pharmaceutical industry. Ecofriendly analytical chemistry offers the advantages of decreasing the environmental impact with the advantage of increasing operator safety which constituted a topic of industrial interest. Recently, ionic liquids have been successfully used to reduce or eliminate the conventional organic toxic solvents. In the current work, a simple and ecofriendly ionic liquid modified RPLC (IL-RPLC) method has been firstly developed and compared with RPLC under acidic and neutral mobile phase conditions for simultaneous determination of atorvastatin-calcium, rosuvastatin and simvastatin. Several chromatographic effective parameters have been changed in a systematic way. Adequate results have been achieved by mixing ILs with ethanol as a mobile phase under neutral conditions at 1 mL/min flow rate on C18 column. The developed IL-RPLC method has been validated for the quantitative determination of drugs in pharmaceutical formulations. The method showed excellent linearity for analytes in a wide range of concentrations with acceptable precise and accurate data. The current IL-RPLC technique could have vast applications particularly under neutral conditions for simple and greener (bio)analytical applications of pharmaceuticals.

Keywords: ionic liquid, RPLC, anti-hyperlipidemic drugs, ecofriendly

Procedia PDF Downloads 262

Authors: Nareemarn Neelapaichit, Sookfong Wongsathapat, Noppawan Piaseu

Abstract:

Body image plays an important role in adolescents. Thai adolescents put high concern on their body image result in unsatisfied their body shapes. Therefore, inappropriate weight management methods have been used. This study examined the body image perception and the nutritional status of Thai adolescents. Body mass index screening was done on 181 nursing students of Ramathibodi School of Nursing to categorized obesity, overweight, normal weight and underweight respondents by using recommended body-mass index (BMI) cut-off points for Asian populations. Self report questionnaire on demographics and body image perception were completed. Results showed that the respondents were mainly female (93.4%) and their mean age were 19.2 years. The prevalence of obesity, overweight, normal weight and underweight of the nursing students were 5.5%, 7.2%, 55.2% and 32.0%, respectively. Of all the respondents, 57.5% correctly perceived themselves, with 37.0% overestimating and 5.5% underestimating their weight status. Of those in the obesity category, 20.0% correctly perceived themselves and 80.0% perceived themselves as overweight. For overweight category, total respondents correctly perceived themselves. Fifty two percent of the normal weight respondents perceived themselves as overweight and 2.0% perceived themselves as obesity. Of the underweight respondents, 77.6% correctly perceived themselves and 20.7% perceived themselves as normal weight. These findings show high occurrence of body image misperception among Thai adolescents. Being concerned with this situation can promote adolescents for healthy weight and practice appropriate weight management methods.

Keywords: nutritional status, body image perception, Thai adolescents, body-mass index (BMI)

Procedia PDF Downloads 400

Authors: Rafooneh Mokhtarshahi Sani

Abstract:

This study explores how the residents of a conserved urban area have used goods and ideas as resources to maintain an enviable architectural identity. Whereas conserved urban quarters are seen as role model for maintaining architectural identity, the article describes how their residents try to give a contemporary modern image to their homes. It is argued that despite the efforts of authorities and decision makers to keep and preserve the traditional architectural identity in conserved urban areas, people have already moved on and have adjusted their homes with their preferred architectural taste. Being through such conflict of interests, have put the future of architectural identity in such places at risk. The thesis is that, on the one hand, such struggle over a desirable symbolic status in identity formation is taking place, and, on the other, it is continuously widening the gap between the real and ideal identity in the built environment. The study then analytically connects the concept of symbolic status to current identity debates. As an empirical research, this study uses systematic social and physical observation methods to describe and categorize the characteristics of settlements in Walled City of Famagusta, which symbolically represent the modern houses. The Walled City is a cultural heritage site, which most of its urban context has been conserved. Traditional houses in this area demonstrate the identity of North Cyprus architecture. The conserved residential buildings, however, either has been abandoned or went through changes by their users to present the ideal image of contemporary life. In the concluding section, the article discusses the differences between the symbolic status of people and authorities in defining a culturally valuable contemporary home. And raises the question of whether we can talk at all about architectural identity in terms of conserving the traditional style, and how we may do so on the basis of dynamic nature of identity and the necessity of its acceptance by the users.

Keywords: symbolic status, architectural identity, conservation, facades, Famagusta walled city

Procedia PDF Downloads 360

Authors: Hamzeh Dodeen

Abstract:

This study aims at examining the effects of item wording effects on the factor structure of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale: gender, age, and marital status differences. A total of 2374 persons from the UAE participated, representing six different populations (teenagers/elderly, males/females, and married/unmarried). The results of the exploratory factor analysis using principal axis factoring with (oblique) rotation revealed that two factors were extracted from the 20 items of the scale. The nine positively worded items were highly loaded on the first factor, while 10 out of the 11 negatively worded items were highly loaded on the second factor. The two-factor solution was confirmed on the six different populations based on age, gender, and marital status. It has been concluded that the rating of the UCLA scale is affected by a response style related to the item wording.

Keywords: UCLA Loneliness Scale, loneliness, positively worded items, factor structure, negatively worded items

Procedia PDF Downloads 356

Authors: Samina Nazli, Nadia Qamar, Quratulain, Akasha, Saman Jamal

Abstract:

Objective: The objective is to determine the frequency of iron deficiency anemia among children having febrile seizures. A descriptive Cross-Sectional Study was done in the Pediatric Unit of Allama Iqbal Memorial Teaching Hospital Sialkot from September 2020 to February 2021. Material & Methods: A total of 70 children were studied aged six months to 10 years, with either gender presenting with febrile seizures. All data of the patients was documented, including demographic data like age, gender, residential area, educational status, socioeconomic status and clinical findings at the time of presentation like fever, fits and duration of symptoms etc. Blood hemoglobin and ferritin levels were tested for each patient to evaluate iron deficiency anemia. Results: There were 65.7% male and 34.3% female cases in this study. The age range of the patients was 6 months to 10 years, with a mean age of 4.36 ± 2.71 years. Most of the children (60%) were below three years of age. Most children belonged to low and middle socioeconomic status with a frequency of 42.8% and 45.7%, respectively. Iron deficiency anemia was found in 38.6% of cases. The majority of the mothers were illiterate (65%). There were 44.3% cases from rural areas and 55.7% from urban areas. Conclusion: Iron deficiency anemia is a common problem among children with febrile seizures, younger than 03 years and belonging to rural areas. Illiterate mothers are an important risk factor for iron deficiency anemia in their children.

Keywords: febrile seizure, iron deficiency anemia, illetrate mother, low scioeconomic status, febrile siezure

Procedia PDF Downloads 81

Authors: Zeina Bourhane, Anders Lanzen, Christine Cagnon, Olfa Ben Said, Cristiana Cravo-Laureau, Robert Duran

Abstract:

The anthropogenic pressure in coastal areas increases dramatically with the exploitation of environmental resources. Biomonitoring coastal areas are crucial to determine the impact of pollutants on bacterial communities in soils and sediments since they provide important ecosystem services. However, relevant biomonitoring tools allowing fast determination of the ecological status are yet to be defined. Microbial ecology approaches provide useful information for developing such microbial monitoring tools reporting on the effect of environmental stressors. Chemical and microbial molecular approaches were combined in order to determine microbial bioindicators for assessing the ecological status of soil and river ecosystems around the Ichkeul Lake (Tunisia), an area highly impacted by human activities. Samples were collected along soil/river/lake continuums in three stations around the Ichkeul Lake influenced by different human activities at two seasons (summer and winter). Contaminant pressure indexes (PI), including PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), alkanes, and OCPs (Organochlorine pesticides) contents, showed significant differences in the contamination level between the stations with seasonal variation. Bacterial communities were characterized by 16S ribosomal RNAs (rRNA) gene metabarcoding. Although microgAMBI indexes, determined from the sequencing data, were in accordance with contaminant contents, they were not sufficient to fully explain the PI. Therefore, further microbial indicators are still to be defined. The comparison of bacterial communities revealed the specific microbial assemblage for soil, river, and lake sediments, which were significantly correlated with contaminant contents and PI. Such observation offers the possibility to define a relevant set of bioindicators for reporting the effects of human activities on the microbial community structure. Such bioindicators might constitute useful monitoring tools for the management of microbial communities in coastal areas.

Keywords: bacterial communities, biomonitoring, contamination, human impacts, microbial bioindicators

Procedia PDF Downloads 169