Search results for: mobile health monitoring

Authors: Aicha Beya Mammeria, Idir Bitam

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Our study focuses on the distribution of the white stork "Ciconia ciconia L. 1758" in the wetlands of El Tarf (North eastern of Algeria): recognized by its remarkable number of breeding pairs, monitoring of nesting, using a GPS has been performed in an attempt to explain the functioning of populations and population strategies for an overall design of its distribution, which has not so far been investigated in this region. Between 2012 and 2013, the number of breeding pairs has increased considerably from 174 in 1996 to 475 in 2007 and 968 in 2013. It should be noted that in the distribution of breeding pairs between 1996 and 2011, there is a significant development since the density of nests increased from 25.22 in 1996 to 84.16 couples/100 km² in 2013. More endemic bread apears in the region, this fluctuation is related to climatic change and changing season. Changes related to local climatic conditions might induce binding conditions for the development of this species.

Keywords: white stork, Ciconia ciconia, wetland El Tarf, northeast Algeria, climatic changing, density

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Authors: Seyedeh Belin Tavakoly Sany, H. Rosli, R. Majid, S. Aishah

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In this study, water monitoring was performed from Nov. 2012 to Oct. 2013 to assess water quality and evaluate the spatial and temporal distribution of physicochemical and biological variables in water. Water samples were collected from 10 coastal water stations of West Port. In the case of water-quality assessment, multi-metric indices and operational indicators have been proposed to classify the trophic status at different stations. The trophic level of West Port coastal water ranges from eutrophic to hypertrophic. Chl-a concentration was used to estimate the biological response of phytoplankton biomass and indicated eutrophic conditions in West Port and mesotrophic conditions at the control site. During the study period, no eutrophication events or secondary symptoms occurred, which may be related to hydrodynamic turbulence and water exchange, which prevent the development of eutrophic conditions in the West Port.

Keywords: water quality, multi-metric indices, operational indicator, Malaysia, West Port

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Authors: Jia Guo, Qinyuan Huang, Qinyi Zhong, Yanjing Zeng, Yimeng Li, James Wiley, Kin Cheung, Jyu-Lin Chen

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Context: Mothers with abdominal obesity, particularly in China, face challenges in managing their health due to family responsibilities. Existing diabetes prevention programs do not cater specifically to this demographic. Research Aim: To assess the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of an mHealth-based diabetes prevention program tailored for Chinese mothers with abdominal obesity in reducing weight-related variables and diabetes risk. Methodology: A randomized controlled trial was conducted in Changsha, China, where the mHealth group received personalized modules and health messages, while the control group received general health education. Data were collected at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. Findings: The mHealth intervention significantly improved waist circumference, modifiable diabetes risk scores, daily steps, self-efficacy for physical activity, social support for physical activity, and physical health satisfaction compared to the control group. However, no differences were found in BMI and certain other variables. Theoretical Importance: The study demonstrates the feasibility and efficacy of a tailored mHealth intervention for Chinese mothers with abdominal obesity, emphasizing the potential for such programs to improve health outcomes in this population. Data Collection: Data on various variables including weight-related measures, diabetes risk scores, behavioral and psychological factors were collected at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months from participants in the mHealth and control groups. Analysis Procedures: Generalized estimating equations were used to analyze the data collected from the mHealth and control groups at different time points during the study period. Question Addressed: The study addressed the effectiveness of an mHealth-based diabetes prevention program tailored for Chinese mothers with abdominal obesity in improving various health outcomes compared to traditional general health education approaches. Conclusion: The tailored mHealth intervention proved to be feasible and effective in improving weight-related variables, physical activity, and physical health satisfaction among Chinese mothers with abdominal obesity, highlighting its potential for delivering diabetes prevention programs to this population.

Keywords: type 2 diabetes, mHealth, obesity, prevention, mothers

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Authors: Dr.Vasundhra Misra, Prof. Praveen Vashist

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Purpose: Vitamin A deficiency prevention programmes are at varying stages of development and implementation in all countries. Vitamin A deficiency has been recognized as a public health issue in developing countries like India. Despite achieving a lot of success a load of blindness due to Vitamin A deficiencies is still high. In this regard, a study was conducted to assess the awareness and health-seeking practices about Vitamin A deficiency diseases among the urban slum population of Delhi, India. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the 5 slum clusters from the urban population of South Delhi. A specially designed pre-tested questionnaire schedule was administered. The study sample was comprised of 1552 inhabitants. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 34 ± 12.1 years. A total of 1003 (64.6%) participants out of 1552, had heard of night blindness. Awareness of night blindness was more in the elderly age group and also found significant (p < 0.001). Only 31 (3.1%) knew that night blindness is caused due to deficiency of vitamin A. The awareness of vitamin A prophylaxis programme was significantly higher among elder age (p < 0.05) and females (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The findings highlighted that even though many of the respondents have heard of night blindness but the awareness about causes and treatment was found low in the community. There is a need for efforts directed to enhance community-level counseling and educational programmes.

Keywords: awareness, health-seeking practices, night blindness, vitamin-A deficiency diseases

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Authors: Rahbel Rahman, Rogério Meireles Pinto, Margareth Santos Zanchetta

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Background: Existing shortcomings of current health-service delivery include poor teamwork, competencies that do not address consumer needs, and episodic rather than continuous care. Brazil’s Sistema Único de Saúde (Unified Health System, UHS) is acknowledged worldwide as a model for delivering community-based care through Estratégia Saúde da Família (FHS; Family Health Strategy) interdisciplinary teams, comprised of Community Health Agents (in Portuguese, Agentes Comunitário de Saude, ACS), nurses, and physicians. FHS teams are mandated to collectively offer clinical care, disease prevention services, vector control, health surveillance and social services. Our study compares medical providers (nurses and physicians) and community-based providers (ACS) on their perceptions of work environment, professional skills, cognitive capacities and job context. Global health administrators and policy makers can leverage on similarities and differences across care providers to develop interprofessional training for community-based primary care. Methods: Cross-sectional data were collected from 168 ACS, 62 nurses and 32 physicians in Brazil. We compared providers’ demographic characteristics (age, race, and gender) and job context variables (caseload, work experience, work proximity to community, the length of commute, and familiarity with the community). Providers perceptions were compared to their work environment (work conditions and work resources), professional skills (consumer-input, interdisciplinary collaboration, efficacy of FHS teams, work-methods and decision-making autonomy), and cognitive capacities (knowledge and skills, skill variety, confidence and perseverance). Descriptive and bi-variate analysis, such as Pearson Chi-square and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) F-tests, were performed to draw comparisons across providers. Results: Majority of participants were ACS (64%); 24% nurses; and 12% physicians. Majority of nurses and ACS identified as mixed races (ACS, n=85; nurses, n=27); most physicians identified as males (n=16; 52%), and white (n=18; 58%). Physicians were less likely to incorporate consumer-input and demonstrated greater decision-making autonomy than nurses and ACS. ACS reported the highest levels of knowledge and skills but the least confidence compared to nurses and physicians. ACS, nurses, and physicians were efficacious that FHS teams improved the quality of health in their catchment areas, though nurses tend to disagree that interdisciplinary collaboration facilitated their work. Conclusion: To our knowledge, there has been no study comparing key demographic and cognitive variables across ACS, nurses and physicians in the context of their work environment and professional training. We suggest that global health systems can leverage upon the diverse perspectives of providers to implement a community-based primary care model grounded in interprofessional training. Our study underscores the need for in-service trainings to instill reflective skills of providers, improve communication skills of medical providers and curative skills of ACS. Greater autonomy needs to be extended to community based providers to offer care integral to addressing consumer and community needs.

Keywords: global health systems, interdisciplinary health teams, community health agents, community-based care

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Authors: Amir Mohammad Fathollahi Fard, Mostafa Hajiaghaei-Keshteli, Mohammad Mahdi Paydar

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With increasing life expectancy in developed countries, the role of home care services is highlighted by both academia and industrial contributors in Home Health Care Supply Chain (HHCSC) companies. The main decisions in such supply chain systems are the location of pharmacies, the allocation of patients to these pharmacies and also the routing and scheduling decisions of nurses to visit their patients. In this study, for the first time, an integrated model is proposed to consist of all preliminary and necessary decisions in these companies, namely, location-allocation-routing model. This model is a type of NP-hard one. Therefore, an Imperialist Competitive Algorithm (ICA) is utilized to solve the model, especially in large sizes. Results confirm the efficiency of the developed model for HHCSC companies as well as the performance of employed ICA.

Keywords: home health care supply chain, location-allocation-routing problem, imperialist competitive algorithm, optimization

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Authors: Muhammad Yasir Babar, Ebrahim Panah

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Over the past 20 years, internet has seen continual advancement and with the advent of online technology, various types of web-based games have been developed. Games are frequently being used among different age groups from baby boomers to generation Z. Games are not only used for entertainment but also utilized as a learning approach transmitting education to a level that is more interesting and effective for students. One of the popular web-based education games is Kahoot with growing popularity and usage, which is being used in different fields of studies. However, little knowledge is available on university students’ perception of Kahoot environment and application for learning subjects. Hence, the objective of the current study is to investigate students’ perceptions of Kahoot application and environment as a learning tool. The study employed a survey approach by distributing Google Forms –created questionnaire, with high level of reliability index, to 62 students (11 males and 51 females). The findings show that students have positive attitudes towards Kahoot application and its environment for learning. Regarding Kahoot application, it was indicated that activities created using Kahoot are more interesting for students, Kahoot is useful for collaborative learning, and Kahoot enhances interest in learning lesson. In terms of Kahoot environment, it was found that using this application through mobile is easy for students, its design is simple and useful, Kahoot-created activities can easily be shared, and the application can easily be used on any platform. The findings of the study have implications for instructors, policymakers and curriculum developers.

Keywords: application, environment, Kahoot, learning tool

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Authors: Faris Alkhalil, Rana Bitar, Amer Azaz, Hisham Natour, Noora Almeraikhi, Mohamad Miqdady

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Background: Children with liver transplantation are achieving very good survival and so there is now a need to concentrate on achieving good health in these patients and preventing disease. Immunosuppressive medications have side effects that need to be monitored and if possible avoided. Glucocorticoids and calcineurin inhibitors are detrimental to bone and mineral homeostasis in addition steroids can also affect linear growth. Steroid sparing regimes in renal transplant children has shown to improve children’s height. Aim: We aim to review the growth and bone health of children post liver transplant by measuring bone mineral density (BMD) using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan and assessing if there is a clear link between poor growth and impaired bone health and use of long term steroids. Subjects and Methods: This is a single centre retrospective Cohort study, we reviewed the medical notes of children (0-16 years) who underwent a liver transplantation between November 2000 to November 2016 and currently being followed at our centre. Results: 39 patients were identified (25 males and 14 females), the median transplant age was 2 years (range 9 months - 16 years), and the median follow up was 6 years. Four patients received a combined transplant, 2 kidney and liver transplant and 2 received a liver and small bowel transplant. The indications for transplant included, Biliary Atresia (31%), Acute Liver failure (18%), Progressive Familial Intrahepatic Cholestasis (15%), transplantable metabolic disease (10%), TPN related liver disease (8%), Primary Hyperoxaluria (5%), Hepatocellular carcinoma (3%) and other causes (10%). 36 patients (95%) were on a calcineurin inhibitor (34 patients were on Tacrolimus and 2 on Cyclosporin). The other three patients were on Sirolimus. Low dose long-term steroids was used in 21% of the patients. A considerable proportion of the patients had poor growth. 15% were below the 3rd centile for weight for age and 21% were below the 3rd centile for height for age. Most of our patients with poor growth were not on long term steroids. 49% of patients had a DEXA scan post transplantation. 21% of these children had low bone mineral density, one patient had met osteoporosis criteria with a vertebral fracture. Most of our patients with impaired bone health were not on long term steroids. 20% of the patients who did not undergo a DEXA scan developed long bone fractures and 50% of them were on long term steroid use which may suggest impaired bone health in these patients. Summary and Conclusion: The incidence of impaired bone health, although studied in limited number of patients; was high. Early recognition and treatment should be instituted to avoid fractures and improve bone health. Many of the patients were below the 3rd centile for weight and height however there was no clear relationship between steroid use and impaired bone health, reduced weight and reduced linear height.

Keywords: bone, growth, pediatric, liver, transplantation

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Authors: Lucie Cote, Sonia McFadden

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Mental health problems in the workplace are currently one of the main causes of absences. Research work has highlighted the importance of a collaborative process involving the stakeholders in the return-to-work process and has established the best management practices to ensure a successful return-to-work. However, very few studies have specifically explored the combination of various management models and determined whether they could satisfy the needs of the stakeholders. The objective of this study is to analyze two models for managing the return to work: the ‘medical-administrative’ and the ‘support of the worker’ in order to understand the actions and actors involved in these models. The study also aims to explore whether these models meet the needs of the actors involved in the management of the return to work. A qualitative case study was conducted in a Canadian federal organization. An abundant internal documentation and semi-directed interviews with six managers, six workers and four human resources professionals involved in the management of records of employees returning to work after a mental health problem resulted in a complete picture of the return to work management practices used in this organization. The triangulation of this data facilitated the examination of the benefits and limitations of each approach. The results suggest that the actions of management for employee return to work from both models of management ‘support of the worker’ and ‘medical-administrative’ are compatible and can meet the needs of the actors involved in the return to work. More research is needed to develop a structured model integrating best practices of the two approaches to ensure the success of the return to work.

Keywords: return to work, mental health, management models, organizations

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Authors: Çiğdem Bakır, Mecit Yüzkat

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With the increasing emphasis on water quality worldwide, the search for and expanding the market for new and intelligent monitoring systems has increased. The current method is the laboratory process, where samples are taken from bodies of water, and tests are carried out in laboratories. This method is time-consuming, a waste of manpower, and uneconomical. To solve this problem, we used machine learning methods to detect water pollution in our study. We created decision trees with the Orange3 software we used in our study and tried to determine all the factors that cause water pollution. An automatic prediction model based on water quality was developed by taking many model inputs such as water temperature, pH, transparency, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, and ammonia nitrogen with machine learning methods. The proposed approach consists of three stages: preprocessing of the data used, feature detection, and classification. We tried to determine the success of our study with different accuracy metrics and the results. We presented it comparatively. In addition, we achieved approximately 98% success with the decision tree.

Keywords: decision tree, water quality, water pollution, machine learning

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Authors: Heribert R. Kaijage, Samuel N. A. Codjoe, Simon H. D. Mamuya, Mangi J. Ezekiel

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There is strong evidence that climate has changed significantly affecting various sectors including public health. The recommended feasible solution is adopting development trajectories which combine both mitigation and adaptation measures for improving resilience pathways. This approach demands a consideration for complex interactions between climate and social-ecological systems. While other sectors such as agriculture and water have developed climate resilience indices, the public health sector in Tanzania is still lagging behind. The aim of this study was to find out how can we use Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) linked with Remote Sensing (RS) technology and metrological information as tools to inform climate change resilient development and evaluation for the health sector. Methodological review was conducted whereby a number of studies were content analyzed to find appropriate indicators and indices for climate resilience household and their integration approach. These indicators were critically reviewed, listed, filtered and their sources determined. Preliminary identification and ranking of indicators were conducted using participatory approach of pairwise weighting by selected national stakeholders from meeting/conferences on human health and climate change sciences in Tanzania. DHS datasets were retrieved from Measure Evaluation project, processed and critically analyzed for possible climate change indicators. Other sources for indicators of climate change exposure were also identified. For the purpose of preliminary reporting, operationalization of selected indicators was discussed to produce methodological approach to be used in resilience comparative analysis study. It was found that household climate resilient index depends on the combination of three indices namely Household Adaptive and Mitigation Capacity (HC), Household Health Sensitivity (HHS) and Household Exposure Status (HES). It was also found that, DHS alone cannot complement resilient evaluation unless integrated with other data sources notably flooding data as a measure of vulnerability, remote sensing image of Normalized Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Metrological data (deviation from rainfall pattern). It can be concluded that if these indices retrieved from DHS data sets are computed and scientifically integrated can produce single climate resilience index and resilience maps could be generated at different spatial and time scales to enhance targeted interventions for climate resilient development and evaluations. However, further studies are need to test for the sensitivity of index in resilience comparative analysis among selected regions.

Keywords: climate change, resilience, remote sensing, demographic and health surveys

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Authors: Yousif Mohamed Y. Abdallah

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This is an experimental study deals with detection, measurement and analysis of the periodic physiological organ motion during external beam radiotherapy; to improve the accuracy of the radiation field placement, and to reduce the exposure of healthy tissue during radiation treatments. The importance of this study is to detect the maximum path of the mobile structures during radiotherapy delivery, to define the planning target volume (PTV) and irradiated volume during both inspiration and expiration period and to verify the target volume. In addition to its role to highlight the importance of the application of Intense Guided Radiotherapy (IGRT) methods in the field of radiotherapy. The results showed (body contour was equally (3.17 + 0.23 mm), for left lung displacement reading (2.56 + 0.99 mm) and right lung is (2.42 + 0.77 mm) which the radiation oncologist to take suitable countermeasures in case of significant errors. In addition, the use of the image registration technique for automatic position control is predicted potential motion. The motion ranged between 2.13 mm and 12.2 mm (low and high). In conclusion, individualized assessment of tumor mobility can improve the accuracy of target areas definition in patients undergo Sterostatic RT for stage I, II and III lung cancer (NSCLC). Definition of the target volume based on a single CT scan with a margin of 10 mm is clearly inappropriate.

Keywords: respiratory motion, external beam radiotherapy, image processing, lung

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Authors: Bahdja Guerfi, N. Hadhoum, I. Azouz, M. Bendoumia, S. Bouafia, F. Z. Hadjadj Aoul

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Background: 'Penicillin V' is a narrow, bactericidal antibiotic of the beta-lactam family of the naturally occurring penicillin group. It is limited to infections due to the germs defined as sensitive. The objective of this work was to identify and to characterize Penicillin V acid and its related compounds by High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Methods: Firstly phenoxymethylpenicillin was identified by an infrared absorption. The organoleptic characteristics, pH, and determination of water content were also studied. The dosage of Penicillin V acid active substance and the determination of its related compounds were carried on waters HPLC, equipped with a UV detector at 254 nm and Discovery HS C18 column (250 mm X 4.6 mm X 5 µm) which is maintained at room temperature. The flow rate was about 1 ml per min. A mixture of water, acetonitrile and acetic acid (65:35:01) was used as mobile phase for phenoxyacetic acid ‘impurity B' and a mixture of water, acetonitrile and acetic acid (650:150:5.75) for the assay and 4-hydroxypenicillin V 'impurity D'. Results: The identification of Penicillin V acid active substance and the evaluation of its chemical quality showed conformity with USP 35th edition. The Penicillin V acid content in the raw material is equal to 1692.22 UI/mg. The percentage content of phenoxyacetic acid and 4-hydroxypenicillin V was respectively: 0.035% and 0.323%. Conclusion: Through these results, we can conclude that the Penicillin V acid active substance tested is of good physicochemical quality.

Keywords: characterization, HPLC, Penicillin V acid, related substances

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Authors: Marina Paula Carreira Rolim

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In order to have ELLs take responsibility for their own learning, it is important that they develop skills to work their studies strategically. The less they rely on the instructor as the content provider, the more they become active learners and have a higher sense of self-regulation and confidence in the learning process. This e-poster proposes a new teacher-student relationship that encourages learners to reflect, think critically, and act upon their realities. It also suggests the implementation of different autonomy-supportive teaching tools, such as portfolios, written journals, problem-solving activities, and strategy-based discussions in class. These teaching tools enable ELLs to develop awareness of learning strategies, learning styles, study plans, and available learning resources as means to foster their creative power of learning outside of classroom. In the role of a learning advisor, the teacher is no longer the content provider but a facilitator that introduces skills such as ‘elaborating’, ‘planning’, ‘monitoring’, and ‘evaluating’. The teacher acts as an educator and promotes the use of lifelong metacognitive skills to develop learner autonomy in the ESL/EFL context.

Keywords: autonomy, metacognitive skills, self-regulation, learning strategies, reflection

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Authors: Dhananjay W. Bansod, Santosh Phad

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Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) are major contributing factors to the disease burden in the world as well as in India. With a growing proportion of older persons in India gives rise to several challenges. With the advancement of age, elderly is exposed to various kinds of health problems more specifically NCDs. Therefore, an effort has been made to examine the prevalence of NCDs among older persons and its treatment-seeking behaviour, also it is tried to explore the association between the NCDs and its effect on the overall wellbeing of older persons. Data used from “Building Knowledge Base of Population Ageing Survey” conducted in 2011 in seven states of India. Six chronic diseases used (non-communicable diseases) namely Arthritis, Hypertension, Cataract, Diabetes, Asthma and Heart diseases to understand the issues related to NCDs. Also seen the effect of NCDs on the wellbeing of the elderly, the subjective well-being consists of nine questions from which SUBI score generated for mental health status, which ranges from 9 to 27. This Index indicates that lower the score better is the mental health status. Further, this index modified and generated three categories of Better (9-15), Average (16-20) and Worse (21-27). The reliability analysis is carried out with the coefficient (Cronbach’s alpha) of the scale was 0.8884. The result shows that Orthopedic / musculoskeletal ailments involving arthritis, rheumatism and osteoarthritis are the most common type of ailment followed by hypertension. Two-thirds of the elderly reported suffering from at least one chronic ailment. Most chronic illness conditions received some form of treatment and mainly depend on public health facilities. Financial insecurity is the primary obstruction in seeking treatment for most of the chronic ailments which typically require a longer duration of medication and repeated medical consultations, both having significant economic implications. According to SUBI index, only 15 per cent of the elderly are in Better mental health status, and one-third of the elderly are with the worse score. Elderly with the ailments like Cataract, Asthma and Arthritis have worse mental health. It depicts that the burden of disease is more among the elderly and it is directly affecting the overall wellbeing of older persons.

Keywords: NCD, well-being, older person, India

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Authors: Amit Kumar, Amanpreet Chander, Ashish Sahani

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This paper presents our recent work on real-time human activity detection based on the media pipe pipeline and machine learning algorithms. The proposed system can detect human activities, including running, jumping, squatting, bending to the left or right, and standing still. This is a robust solution for developing a yoga, dance, metaverse, and fitness application that checks for the correction of the pose without having any additional monitor like a personal trainer. MediaPipe solution offers an open-source cross-platform which utilizes a two-step detector-tracker ML pipeline for live detection of key landmarks on our body which can be used for motion data collection. The prediction of real-time poses uses a variety of machine learning techniques and different types of analysis. Without primarily relying on powerful desktop environments for inference, our method achieves real-time performance on the majority of contemporary mobile phones, desktops/laptops, Python, or even the web. Experimental results show that our method outperforms the existing method in terms of accuracy and real-time capability, achieving an accuracy of 99.92% on testing datasets.

Keywords: human activity detection, media pipe, machine learning, metaverse applications

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Authors: Marilyn Painagan

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This study was conducted to predict the potential geographical distribution of the banana aphid (Pentalonia negronervosa) in North Cotabato through climate envelope approach of DIVA-GIS, a software for analyzing the distribution of organisms to elucidate geographic and ecological patterns. A WorldClim database that was based on weather conditions recorded last 1950 to 2000 with a spatial resolution of approximately 1x1 km. was used in the bioclimatic modelling, this database includes temperature, precipitation, evapotranspiration and bioclimatic variables which was measured at many different locations, a bioclimatic modelling was done in the study. The study revealed that the western part of Magpet and Arakan and the municipality of Antipas are at high potential risk of occurrence of banana aphid while it is not likely to occur in the municipalities of Aleosan, Midsayap, Pikit, M’lang and Tulunan. The result of this study can help developed strategies for monitoring and managing this serious pest of banana and to prepare a mitigation measures on those areas that are potential for future infestation.

Keywords: banana aphid, bioclimatic model, bunchy top, climatic envelope approach

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Authors: Mukesh Ravi Raushan

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Despite consideration of obesity as a deadly public health issue contributing 2.6 million deaths worldwide every year developing country like India is facing malnutrition and it is more common than in Sub-Saharan Africa. About one in every three malnourished children in the world lives in India. The paper assess the nutritional health among children using data from total number of 43737 infant and young children aged 0-59 months (µ = 29.54; SD = 17.21) of the selected households by National Family Health Survey, 2005-06. The wasting was measured by a Z-score of standardized weight-for-height according to the WHO child growth standards. The impact of education with place of residence was found to be significantly associated with the complementary food diversity score (CFDS) in India. The education of mother was positively associated with the CFDS but the degree of performance was lower in rural India than their counterpart from urban. The result of binary logistic regression on wasting with WHO seven types of recommended food for children in India suggest that child who consumed the milk product food (OR: 0.87, p<0.0001) were less likely to be malnourished than their counterparts who did not consume, whereas, in case of other food items as the child who consumed food product of seed (OR: 0.75, p<0.0001) were less likely to be malnourished than those who did not. The nutritional status among children were negatively associated with the protein containing complementary food given the child as those child who received pulse in last 24 hour were less likely to be wasted (OR: 0.87, p<0.00001) as compared to the reference categories. The frequency to feed the indexed child increases by 10 per cent the expected change in child health outcome in terms of wasting decreases by 2 per cent in India when place of residence, education, religion, and birth order were controlled. The index gets improved as the risk for malnutrition among children in India decreases.

Keywords: CFDS, food diversity index, India, logistic regression

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Authors: Murat Iskender Aktaş, Sadi Ergin, Rasime Acar Aktaş

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In the light of fast-paced changes and developments in the health sector, the Ministry of Health started a new structuring with decree law numbered 663 within the scope of the Project of Transformation in Health. Accordingly, hospitals should ensure patient satisfaction through more efficient, more effective use of resources and sustainable finance by placing patients in the centre and should operate to increase efficiency to its maximum level while doing these. Within this study, in order to find out how efficient the hospitals were in terms of medical waste management between the years 2011-2014, the data from six hospitals of Amasya Public Hospitals Union were evaluated separately through Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method. First of all, input variables were determined. Input variables were the number of patients admitted to polyclinics, the number of inpatients in clinics, the number of patients who were operated and the number of patients who applied to the laboratory. Output variable was the cost of medical wastes in Turkish liras. Each hospital’s total medical waste level before and after public hospitals union; the amounts of average medical waste per patient admitted to polyclinics, per inpatient in clinics, per patient admitted to laboratory and per operated patient were compared within each group. In addition, average medical waste levels and costs were compared for Turkey in general and Europe in general. Paired samples t-test was used to find out whether the changes (increase-decrease) after public hospitals union were statistically significant. The health facilities that were unsuccessful in terms of medical waste management before and after public hospital union and the factors that caused this failure were determined. Based on the results, for each health facility that was ineffective in terms of medical waste management, the level of improvement required for each input was determined. The results of the study showed that there was an improvement in medical waste management applications after the health facilities became a member of public hospitals union; their medical waste levels were lower than the average of Turkey and Europe while the averages of cost of disposal were the highest.

Keywords: medical waste management, cost of medical waste, public hospitals, data envelopment analysis

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Authors: Longtao He, Han Wu

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Summary: As the need for elder care increases in China due to a growing aging population and, in particular, rising cancer rates, it becomes increasingly important to also support family caregivers, who are often the main source of care. We used a qualitative meta-synthesis to systematically evaluate and integrate the caregiving experiences of family caregivers of elderly cancer patients as revealed by articles published in Chinese journals. Findings: Nine studies are included in the final analysis. The caregiver experiences they describe are synthesized into three primary themes: care needs, care burden, and care gains, with numerous secondary themes. Besides the findings that seem to align with other findings across cultures, we have highlighted three main discoveries from the synthesis that may be quite specific to the Chinese context: 1. more sub-themes related to specific caregiving skills caregivers of cancer patients; 2. a call for health professionals to improve their communication skills with family caregivers; 3. the important role of filial piety. Applications: Our findings can be used to help health social workers and relevant policymakers in China support family caregivers by identifying the education and training required for caregivers, ways to make the most of potential care gains, and ways to ease care burdens.

Keywords: cancer, Chinese family caregivers, caregiving skills, care burden, care gains, health social work

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Authors: Maria Terezinha Santos Leite Neta, Mônica Silva de Jesus, Hannah Caroline Santos Araujo, Rafael Donizete Dutra Sandes, Raquel Anne Ribeiro Dos Santos, Narendra Narain

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Mango is one of the most consumed and appreciated fruits in the world, mainly due to its peculiar and characteristic aroma. Since the fruit is perishable, it requires conservation methods to prolong its shelf life. Mango cubes were dehydrated at 40°C, 50°C and 60°C and by lyophilization, and the effect of these processes was investigated on the physicochemical characteristics (color and texture) of the products and monitoring of the main volatile compounds for the mango aroma. Volatile compounds were extracted by the SPME technique and analyzed in GC-MS system. Drying temperature at 60°C and lyophilization showed higher efficiency in retention of main volatile compounds, being 63.93% and 60.32% of the total concentration present in the fresh pulp, respectively. The freeze-drying process also presented features closer to the fresh mango in relation to color and texture, which contributes to greater acceptability.

Keywords: mango, freeze drying, convection drying, aroma, GC-MS

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Authors: Ahmad Hashim, Zarizi Ab Rahman

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Measurement of body composition via a field method has the most popular instruments which are used to estimate the percentage of body fat. Among the instruments used are the Body Mass Index, Bio Impedance Analysis and Skinfold Test. All three of these instruments do not involve high costs, do not require high technical skills, are mobile, save time, and are suitable for use in large populations. Because all three instruments can estimate the percentage of body fat, but it is important to identify the most appropriate instruments and have high reliability. Hence, this study was conducted to determine the reliability and convergent validity of the instruments. A total of 40 students, males and females aged between 13 and 14 years participated in this study. The study found that the test retest and Pearson correlation coefficient of reliability for the three instruments is very high, r = .99. While the inter class reliability also are at high level with r = .99 for Body Mass Index and Bio Impedance Analysis, r = .96 for Skin fold test. Intra class reliability coefficient for these three instruments is too high for Body Mass Index r = .99, Bio Impedance Analysis r = .97, and Skin fold Test r = .90. However, Standard Error of Measurement value for all three instruments indicates the Body Mass Index is the most appropriate instrument with a mean value of .000672 compared with other instruments. The findings show that the Body Mass Index is an instrument which is the most accurate and reliable in estimating body fat percentage for the population studied.

Keywords: reliability, validity, body mass index, bio impedance analysis and skinfold test

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Authors: Gerges Samaan Henin Abdalla

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Ultra-secured methods of banking services have been introduced to the customer, such as online banking. Banks have begun to consider electronic banking (e-banking) as a way to replace some traditional branch functions by using the Internet as a distribution channel. Some consumers have at least one account at multiple banks and access these accounts through online banking. To check their current net worth, clients need to log into each of their accounts, get detailed information, and work toward consolidation. Not only is it time consuming, but it is also a repeatable activity with a certain frequency. To solve this problem, the concept of account aggregation was added as a solution. Account consolidation in e-banking as a form of electronic banking appears to build a stronger relationship with customers. An account linking service is generally referred to as a service that allows customers to manage their bank accounts held at different institutions via a common online banking platform that places a high priority on security and data protection. Consumers have at least one account at multiple banks and access these accounts through online banking. To check their current net worth, clients need to log into each of their accounts, get detailed information, and work toward consolidation. The article provides an overview of the account aggregation approach in e-banking as a new service in the area of e-banking.

Keywords: compatibility, complexity, mobile banking, observation, risk banking technology, Internet banks, modernization of banks, banks, account aggregation, security, enterprise development

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Authors: Mina Fawzy Ishak Gad Elsaid

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There is a strong link between technology and development. Architecture as a profession is a call to service and society. Maybe next to soldiers, engineers and patriots. However, unlike soldiers, they always remain employees of society under all circumstances. Despite the construction profession's role in society, there appears to be a lack of respect as some projects fail. This paper focuses on the need to improve development engineering performance in developing countries, using engineering education in Nigerian universities as a tool for discussion. A purposeful survey, interviews and focus group discussions were conducted on one hundred and twenty (120) prominent companies in Nigeria. The subject is approached through a large number of projects that companies have been involved in from the planning stage, some of which have been completed and even reached the maintenance and monitoring stage. It has been found that certain factors beyond the control of engineers are hindering the full development and success of the construction sector in developing countries. The main culprit is corruption and its eradication will put the country on a stable path to develop construction and combat poverty.

Keywords: decision analysis, industrial engineering, direct vs. indirect values, engineering management

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Authors: Haneen Joseph Habib Yeldoka

Abstract:

There is a strong link between technology and development. Architecture as a profession is a call to service and society. Maybe next to soldiers, engineers and patriots. However, unlike soldiers, they always remain employees of society under all circumstances. Despite the construction profession's role in society, there appears to be a lack of respect as some projects fail. This paper focuses on the need to improve development engineering performance in developing countries, using engineering education in Nigerian universities as a tool for discussion. A purposeful survey, interviews and focus group discussions were conducted on one hundred and twenty (120) prominent companies in Nigeria. The subject is approached through a large number of projects that companies have been involved in from the planning stage, some of which have been completed and even reached the maintenance and monitoring stage. It has been found that certain factors beyond the control of engineers are hindering the full development and success of the construction sector in developing countries. The main culprit is corruption and its eradication will put the country on a stable path to develop construction and combat poverty.

Keywords: decision analysis, industrial engineering, direct vs. indirect values, engineering management

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Authors: Salih Akkemik

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User Experience has a characterized perspective based on two fundamentals: the usage process and the product. Digital games can be considered as a special interactive system. This system has a very specific purpose and this is to make the player feel good while playing. At this point, Player Experience (PX) and User Experience (UX) are similar. UX focuses on the user feels good, PX focuses on the player feels good. The most important difference between the two is the action taken. These are actions of using and playing. In this study, the player experience will be examined primarily. PX may differ on different platforms. Nowadays, companies are releasing the successful and high-income games that they have developed with cross-platform support. Cross-platform is the most common expression that an application can run on different operating systems, in other words, be developed to support different operating systems. In terms of digital games, cross-platform support means that a game can be played on a computer, console or mobile device environment, more specifically, the game developed is designed and programmed to be played in the same way on at least two different platforms, such as Windows, MacOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Orbis OS or Xbox OS. Different platforms also accommodate different player groups, profiles and preferences. This study aims to examine these different player profiles in terms of player experience and to determine the effects of cross-platform support on player experience.

Keywords: cross-platform, digital games, player experience, user experience

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Authors: Alison C. Essary, Victor Trastek

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Introduction: The current state of the health care system in the U.S. is characterized by an unprecedented number of people living with multiple chronic conditions, unsustainable rise in health care costs, inadequate access to care, and wide variation in health outcomes throughout the country. An estimated two-thirds of Americans are living with two or more chronic conditions, contributing to 75% of all health care spending. In 2013, the School for the Science of Health Care Delivery (SHCD) was charged with redesigning the health care system through education and research. Faculty in business, law, and public policy, and thought leaders in health care delivery, administration, public health and health IT created undergraduate, graduate, and executive academic programs to address this pressing need. Faculty and students work across disciplines, and with community partners and employers to improve care delivery and increase value for patients. Methods: Curricula apply content in health care administration and operations within the clinical context. Graduate modules are team-taught by faculty across academic units to model team-based practice. Seminars, team-based assignments, faculty mentoring, and applied projects are integral to student success. Cohort-driven models enhance networking and collaboration. This observational study evaluated two years of admissions data, and one year of graduate data to assess program outcomes and inform the current graduate-level curricula. Descriptive statistics includes means, percentages. Results: Fall 2013, the program received 51 applications. The mean GPA of the entering class of 37 students was 3.38. Ninety-seven percent of the fall 2013 cohort successfully completed the program (n=35). Sixty-six percent are currently employed in the health care industry (n=23). Of the remaining 12 graduates, two successfully matriculated to medical school; one works in the original field of study; four await results on the MCAT or DAT, and five were lost to follow up. Attrition of one student was attributed to non-academic reasons. Fall 2014, the program expanded to include both on-ground and online cohorts. Applications were evenly distributed between on-ground (n=70) and online (n=68). Thirty-eight students enrolled in the on-ground program. The mean GPA was 3.95. Ninety-five percent of students successfully completed the program (n=36). Thirty-six students enrolled in the online program. The mean GPA was 3.85. Graduate outcomes are pending. Discussion: Challenges include demographic variability between online and on-ground students; yet, both profiles are similar in that students intend to become change agents in the health care system. In the past two years, on-ground applications increased by 31%, persistence to graduation is > 95%, mean GPA is 3.67, graduates report admission to six U.S. medical schools, the Mayo Medical School integrates SHCD content within their curricula, and there is national interest in collaborating on industry and academic partnerships. This places SHCD at the forefront of developing innovative curricula in order to improve high-value, patient-centered care.

Keywords: delivery science, education, health care delivery, high-value care, innovation in education, patient-centered

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Authors: Sneha Leslie

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The current situation in the cyber world is that crimes performed by Botnets are increasing and the masterminds (botmaster) are not detectable easily. The botmaster in the botnet compromises the legitimate host machines in the network and make them bots or zombies to initiate the cyber-attacks. This paper will focus on the live detection of the botmaster in the network by using the strong framework 'metasploit', when distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack is performed by the botnet. The affected victim machine will be continuously monitoring its incoming packets. Once the victim machine gets to know about the excessive count of packets from any IP, that particular IP is noted and details of the noted systems are gathered. Using the vulnerabilities present in the zombie machines (already compromised by botmaster), the victim machine will compromise them. By gaining access to the compromised systems, applications are run remotely. By analyzing the incoming packets of the zombies, the victim comes to know the address of the botmaster. This is an effective and a simple system where no specific features of communication protocol are considered.

Keywords: bonet, DDoS attack, network security, detection system, metasploit framework

Procedia PDF Downloads 250

Authors: Uwera Monique, Bagweneza Vedaste, Rugema Joselyne, Lakshmi Rajeswaran

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Background: Malnutrition contributes significantly to childhood morbidity and mortality. Nurses usually exhibit inadequate knowledge of childhood malnutrition management. Nurses require appropriate knowledge and skills to manage malnutrition using appropriate protocols. Objectives: The general objective of this study was to assess Nurses’ knowledge and practice in the management of childhood malnutrition in selected health centers in Rwanda. The specific objectives were to assess the level of nurses’ knowledge in the management of childhood malnutrition, to determine the level of practice in the management of childhood malnutrition in selected health centers in Rwanda, and to establish the relationship between the demographic profile and nurses’ knowledge in the management of childhood malnutrition in selected health centers in Rwanda. Methods: The study used a descriptive cross-sectional study design and quantitative approach among 196 nurses from 24 health centers in one district. A questionnaire was used to collect data on knowledge and practice towards childhood malnutrition management. The entire population was used, and SPSS version 25 helped to analyze data. Descriptive statistics helped to produce the frequencies and percentages, while chi-square helped to determine the relationship between demographic variables and knowledge and practice scores. Results: The study findings showed that of 196 participants, 48% had a high level of knowledge about malnutrition management with more than 75% score, and 17% and 35% had low and moderate levels of knowledge, respectively. 61% of them had a high level of practice in malnutrition management, as the acceptable score was 75%. 13% had a low level, while 26% had a moderate level of practice. Most socio-demographic characteristics have shown a statistical relationship with the level of knowledge. Conclusion: The study findings revealed that almost half of the nurses had good knowledge of childhood malnutrition management, and this was associated with many socio-demographic data, while more than half had good practice in that aspect. However, some nurses who still have gaps in knowledge and practice require necessary measures to boost these components.

Keywords: nurse, knowledge, practice, childhood malnutrition

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

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Background: Recent research presented many evidences confirming that food besides its basic nutritional function, possess significant therapeutic and prophylactic potential. Conscious consumer is aware of diet habits and well being lifestyle influencing a proper functioning that is why there is a need of new pro-health products. Objective: Proposition of the technology of unsweetened almond drinks enriched with plant extracts for pro-health oriented individuals. Research investigated the influence of selected plant extracts addition on antioxidative activity and consumer’s acceptance of drinks as all day diet product representatives. Methods: The analysis of the basic composition and antioxidant properties of the almond drink was conducted. Research included analysis of basic composition (protein, lipids and fiber content) and antioxidant capacity of drink (DPPH, ABTS, ORAC value, and FRAP). Proposed drink was also characterized with sensory analysis, including color, aroma, taste, consistency, and overall acceptance. Results: Results showed that addition of plant extracts into an almond drink allowed to improve its antioxidant capacity and sensory value of the drinks. Profitable composition and pro-health properties of designed drink permits offering healthy product for all day consumption. Conclusion: Designed almond drink would be a significant supplement for pro-healthy life style of the consumers. Results showed that plant extracts enriched almond drink would be a good source of antioxidants and accepted by the consumers.

Keywords: phytonutrients, pro-health, almond, wellbeing, antioxidant potential, sensory value

Procedia PDF Downloads 468