Search results for: school choice

Authors: Katie E. Jennings

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The interactions between family dynamics and environmental factors with mental health vulnerability in individuals are well known and are a theme for on-going research and debate. The impact upon mental health issues and forensic issues on family dynamics, experience, and emotional wellbeing cannot be over-Emphasised. For forensic patients with diagnosed mental disorders, these relationships and environments may have also been functionally linked to the development and maintenance of those disorders; with significant adverse childhood experiences being a common feature of many Patient’s histories. Mental health hospitals remove the patient from their home environments and provide treatment outside of these relationships and often outside of the home area. There is, therefore, a major focus on Services ensuring that patients are able to build and maintain relationships with family and friends, requiring services to involve families in Patients' care and treatment wherever possible. There are standards set by Government and clinical bodies that require absolute demonstration of the inclusion of family and friends in all aspects of the care and treatment of forensic patients. For some patients and family members, this push to take on a “role” in care can be unhelpful, extremely stressful, and has constant implications for the potential delicate reparation of relationships. Based on work undertaken for over 20 years in forensic mental health settings, this paper explores the positive psychology approach to a dimensional model to family inclusion in mental health care that learns from family court work and allows for the maintenance of relationships to be at both proximal and Distil levels; to prevent the replication of abuse, decrease the need for falsehoods and assist the recovery of all. The model is based on allowing families to choose to not be involved or be involved in different ways if this is seen to be more helpful. It also allows patients to choose the level of potential involvement that they would find helpful, and for this to be reviewed at a timeframe agreed by all parties, rather than when the next survey is due or the patient has a significant care meeting. This paper is significant as there is a lack of research to support services to use a positive psychology approach to work in this area, the assumption that being asked to be involved must be positive for all seems naïve at best for this patient group. Work relating to the psychology of family can significantly contribute to the development of knowledge in this area. The development of a dimensional model will support choice within families and assist in the development of more honest and open relationships.

Keywords: family dynamics, forensic, mental disorder, positive psychology

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Authors: Philippa Hunter

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How might history education support teachers and students to see the past as a provocation, be open to possible futures, and act differently? As teacher educators in an age of diversity and uncertainty, we need to question history’s curriculum nature, pedagogy, and policy intent. The cultural politics of history’s identity in the senior secondary curriculum influences educational socialization (disciplinary, professional, research) and engagement with curriculum decision-making. This paper reflects on curriculum disturbance that shaped a critical pedagogy stance to problematize school history’s certainties. The context is situated in an Aotearoa New Zealand university-based initial teacher education programme. A pedagogic innovation was activated whereby problematized history pedagogy [PHP] was conceptualized as the phenomenon and method of inquiry and storied in doctoral work. The PHP was a reciprocal research process involving history class’ participants and the teacher as researcher, in fashioning teaching identities, identifying with, and thinking critically about history pedagogy. PHP findings revealed evocative discourses of embodiment, nostalgia, and connectedness about living ‘inside the past’. Participants expressed certainty about their abilities as teachers living ‘outside the past’ to interpret historical perspectives. However, discomfort was evident in relation to ‘difficult knowledge’ or unfamiliar contexts of the past that exposed exclusion, powerlessness, or silenced voices. Participants identified history programmes as strongly masculine and conflict-focused. A normalized inquiry-transmission approach to history pedagogy was identified and critiqued. Individuals’ reflexive accounts of PHP implemented whilst on practicum indicate possibilities of history pedagogy as; inclusive and democratic, social and ethical reconstruction, and as a critical project. The PHP sought to reimagine history curriculum and identify spaces of possibility in secondary postgraduate teacher education.

Keywords: curriculum, pedagogy, problematise, reciprocal

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Authors: Shahram Naghizadeh Raeisi, Ali Alghooneh

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The application of whey protein in drink industry to enhance the nutritional value of the products is important. Furthermore, the gelification of protein during thermal treatment and shelf life makes some limitations in its application. So, the main goal of this research is manufacturing of high concentrate whey protein orange drink with appropriate shelf life. In this way, whey protein was 5 to 30% hydrolyzed ( in 5 percent intervals at six stages), then thermal stability of samples with 10% concentration of protein was tested in acidic condition (T= 90 °C, pH=4.2, 5 minutes ) and neutral condition (T=120° C, pH:6.7, 20 minutes.) Furthermore, to study the shelf life of heat treated samples in 4 months at 4 and 24 °C, the time sweep rheological test were done. At neutral conditions, 5 to 20% hydrolyzed sample showed gelling during thermal treatment, whereas at acidic condition, was happened only in 5 to 10 percent hydrolyzed samples. This phenomenon could be related to the difference in hydrodynamic radius and zeta potential of samples with different level of hydrolyzation at acidic and neutral conditions. To study the gelification of heat resistant protein solutions during shelf life, for 4 months with 7 days intervals, the time sweep analysis were performed. Cross over was observed for all heat resistant neutral samples at both storage temperature, while in heat resistant acidic samples with degree of hydrolysis, 25 and 30 percentage at 4 and 20 °C, it was not seen. It could be concluded that the former sample was stable during heat treatment and 4 months storage, which made them a good choice for manufacturing high protein drinks. The Scheffe polynomial model and numerical optimization were employed for modeling and high protein orange drink formula optimization. Scheffe model significantly predicted the overal acceptance index (Pvalue<0.05) of sensorial analysis. The coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.94, the adjusted coefficient of determination (R2Adj) of 0.90, insignificance of the lack-of-fit test and F value of 64.21 showed the accuracy of the model. Moreover, the coefficient of variable (C.V) was 6.8% which suggested the replicability of the experimental data. The desirability function had been achieved to be 0.89, which indicates the high accuracy of optimization. The optimum formulation was found as following: Modified whey protein solution (65.30%), natural orange juice (33.50%), stevia sweetener (0.05%), orange peel oil (0.15%) and citric acid (1 %), respectively. Its worth mentioning that this study made an appropriate model for application of whey protein in drink industry without bitter flavor and gelification during heat treatment and shelf life.

Keywords: croos over, orange beverage, protein modification, optimization

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Authors: Gonul Kurt, Semra Aciksoz

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All types of interventions that increase the knowledge and awareness of youths about Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) are considered to be important for safe sex life and sexual health. The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge levels of nursing students about STD and evaluate the effectiveness of peer education and brochure methods to increase the knowledge and awareness about STD. This interventional study was carried out by participation of nursing students attending the first and second grade in a school of nursing on February–May 2015. The study participants were 200 undergraduate nursing student volunteers. The students were given education by peer trainers and brochure methods. First-grade students were divided into five groups with block randomization method and each group were given education by five peer trainers. Second-grade students were given education with brochure by the researchers. The knowledge level of study groups was evaluated before and after educational intervention. The data were collected using the “Data Collection Form” and “Sexually Transmitted Diseases Information Form”. The questionnaire forms developed by the researchers after the literature review. The SPSS 15.0 package software was used for the evaluation of the data obtained from the study. Data were analyzed by Mann-Whitney-U-Test, Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test and Mc Nemar Test. A p value of <0.05 was regarded as statistically significant. All of participants in the study were female nursing students. The mean age of students was 18.99±0.32 years old in the peer education group and 20.04±0.37 in the brochure education group. There was no statistically significant difference between knowledge levels of the students in both groups before the education (p>0.05). It was determined that an increase in knowledge levels of the students in both groups after the education. This increase was statistically significant (p<0.05). It was determined that knowledge level of the students about STD in brochure group was higher than the peer education group (p<0.001). The results of this study indicate that brochure education method was more effective than the peer education method in both increasing knowledge and awareness about STD.

Keywords: education method, knowledge, nursing students, sexually transmitted diseases

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Authors: Namekong Fokeng Armand

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Background: Zoonoses are nowadays a serious public health problem in both developing and developed countries. They contribute to increase the economic burden. In case of emergence, rural populations are the most affected, hence the need to investigate risk practices in rural households of Penka-Michel (West Cameroon). Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from October to November 2021 among 200 heads of households living in the Penka-Michel health district (West Cameroon). It was done using a pre-tested and validated questionnaire, allowing to obtain socio-demographic, economic data, and data on zoonotic risk practices. Results: The participants [women (56%), men (44%)] worked mainly in the informal private sector (53%) and practiced agriculture secondarily (90%). Their highest level of education, for the most part, was a secondary school (50%); the average household size was 06 persons with a monthly income > 36270 FCFA (72%). 74% of household heads thought that animals can transmit diseases, and 17% had heard about zoonotic diseases through the media (65%). Rats caught in households (60%) were consumed there (74%), as was bush meat (61%) or dog meat (18%). For family food (90%), animals were slaughtered within the household (97%), rarely preceded by a veterinary inspection (6%). 87% of households practiced traditional rites with animal blood, 65% shared the same habitat as their animals, 41% did not systematically wash their hands after handling animals. More than 50% of households owned one or more dogs, usually strays (41%) and 48% of which were vaccinated (rabies). Many households had at least one: poultry (98%); pig (50%); dog (57%), cat (52%). 25% of households slaughtered sick animals for consumption, and 27% ate dead animals. Conclusion: This study identified numerous zoonotic risk practices in households in the Penka-Michel health district (West Cameroon). Concerted, multisectoral communication / awareness-raising actions are needed to break with these practices.

Keywords: zoonoses, risky practices, rural households, penka-michel, cameroon

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Authors: Vito M. Manghisi, Michele Gattullo, Alessandro Evangelista, Enricoandrea Laviola

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In this work, we compared two solutions for displaying a demo version of an Augmented Reality (AR) manual when the real product is not available, opting to replace it with its computer-aided design (CAD) model. AR has been proved to be effective in maintenance and assembly operations by many studies in the literature. However, most of them present solutions for existing products, usually converting old, printed manuals into AR manuals. In this case, authoring consists of defining how to convey existing instructions through AR. It is not a simple choice, and demo versions are created to test the design goodness. However, this becomes impossible when the product is not physically available, as for new products. A solution could be creating an entirely virtual environment with the product and the instructions. However, in this way, user interaction is completely different from that in the real application, then it would be hard testing the usability of the AR manual. This work aims to propose and compare two different solutions for the displaying of a demo version of an AR manual to support authoring in case of a product that is not physically available. We used as a case study that of an innovative semi-hermetic compressor that has not yet been produced. The applications were developed for a handheld device, using Unity 3D. The main issue was how to show the compressor and attach instructions on it. In one approach, we used Vuforia natural feature tracking to attach a CAD model of the compressor to a 2D image that is a drawing in scale 1:1 of the top-view of the CAD model. In this way, during the AR manual demonstration, the 3D model of the compressor is displayed on the user's device in place of the real compressor, and all the virtual instructions are attached to it. In the other approach, we first created a support application that shows the CAD model of the compressor on a marker. Then, we registered a video of this application, moving around the marker, obtaining a video that shows the CAD model from every point of view. For the AR manual, we used the Vuforia model target (360° option) to track the CAD model of the compressor, as it was the real compressor. Then, during the demonstration, the video is shown on a fixed large screen, and instructions are displayed attached to it in the AR manual. The first solution presents the main drawback to keeping the printed image with everyone working on the authoring of the AR manual, but allows to show the product in a real scale and interaction during the demonstration is very simple. The second one does not need a printed marker during the demonstration but a screen. Still, the compressor model is resized, and interaction is awkward since the user has to play the video on the screen to rotate the compressor. The two solutions were evaluated together with the company, and the preferred was the first one due to a more natural interaction.

Keywords: augmented reality, human computer interaction, operating instructions, maintenance, assembly

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Authors: Hanouf A. S. Al Nuwaysir, Nadine Moubayed, Abir Ben Bacha, Islem Abid

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Consumption of waste water continues to cause significant problems for human health in both developed and developing countries. Many regulations have been implied by different world authorities controlling water quality for the presence of coliforms used as standard indicators of water quality deterioration and historically leading health protection concept. In this study, the European directive for the detection of Escherichia coli, ISO 9308-1, was applied to examine and monitor coliforms in water samples collected from Wadi Hanifa and neighboring wells, Riyadh governorate, kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is used for irrigation and industrial purposes. Samples were taken from different locations for 8 months consecutively, chlorine concentration ranging from 0.1- 0.4 mg/l, was determined using the DPD FREE CHLORINE HACH kit. Water samples were then analyzed following the ISO protocol which relies on the membrane filtration technique (0.45µm, pore size membrane filter) and a chromogenic medium TTC, a lactose based medium used for the detection and enumeration of total coliforms and E.coli. Data showed that the number of bacterial isolates ranged from 60 to 300 colonies/100ml for well and surface water samples respectively; where higher numbers were attributed to the surface samples. Organisms which apparently ferment lactose on TTC agar plates, appearing as orange colonies, were selected and additionally cultured on EMB and MacConkey agar for a further differentiation among E.coli and coliform bacteria. Two additional biochemical tests (Cytochrome oxidase and indole from tryptophan) were also investigated to detect and differentiate the presence of E.coli from other coliforms, E. coli was identified in an average of 5 to 7colonies among 25 selected colonies.On the other hand, a more rapid, specific and sensitive analytical molecular detection namely single colony PCR was also performed targeting hha gene to sensitively detect E.coli, giving more accurate and time consuming identification of colonies considered presumptively as E.coli. Comparative methodologies, such as ultrafiltration and direct DNA extraction from membrane filters (MoBio, Grermany) were also applied; however, results were not as accurate as the membrane filtration, making it a technique of choice for the detection and enumeration of water coliforms, followed by sufficiently specific enzymatic confirmatory stage.

Keywords: coliform, cytochrome oxidase, hha primer, membrane filtration, single colony PCR

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Authors: Y. Abdul Aziz, E. L. K. Osafo, S. O. Apori, A. Osman

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A sixteen week trial was conducted at the Research Farm (Technology Village) of the Department of Animal Science, School of Agriculture, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana. This study sought to investigate the effects of Probiotic (RE3) on growth performance, diarrhea incidence and blood parameters of N’dama calves. Sixteen N’dama calves aged 3 months of an average initial weight of 44.2 kg were randomly assigned to one of four dietary treatments according to their body weight, age, and sex. Treatment 1 (T1) serve as a control animal (No RE3 supplementation). Treatment 2 (T2) receives 0.03 ml RE3 per kg body weight. Treatment 3 (T3) receives 0.06 ml RE3 per kg body weight, and Treatment 4 (T4) also receives 0.09 ml RE3 per kg body weight in a Completely Randomize Design (CRD). There were 4 replicates per treatment. The calves were allowed access to feed and water ad libitum. The body weight of the calves was recorded at the start of the experiment and thereafter regularly at two weeks interval. Weighing was done early morning before the calves are allowed to access feed and water and were also observed in their pens for occurrence of diarrhea and faecal scores recorded. Blood samples were obtained from each calf at the end of the study through jugular vein puncture. Supplementation of RE3 to calves had showed a beneficial effect by reducing the incidence of diarrhea. The highest faecal score was recorded in T1 and the least faecal score was recorded in T3. There was significant difference (P < 0.05) in the faecal score between the treatment group and the control after two weeks of the experiment. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in the average daily gain of the animals. Hematological and biochemical indices of calves were all within the normal range except in treatments (1, 3 and 4) which recorded high White Blood Cell (WBC) count with no significant difference (P > 0.05).

Keywords: probiotics (RE3), diarrhea incidence, blood parameters, N’dama calves

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Authors: Maria I. Nuñez-Hernández, Maria L. Riesco

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Background: Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) up to 6 months old infant have been considered one of the most important factors in the overall development of children. Nevertheless, as resources are scarce, it is essential to identify the most vulnerable groups that have major risk of EBF abandonment, in order to deliver the best strategies. Children of adolescent mothers are within these groups. Aims: To determine the EBF abandonment rate among adolescent mothers and to analyze the associated factors. Methods: Prospective cohort study of adolescent mothers in the southern area of Santiago, Chile, conducted in primary care services of public health system. The cohort was established from 2014 to 2015, with a sample of 105 adolescent mothers and their children at 2 months of life. The inclusion criteria were: adolescent mother from 14 to 19 years old; not twin babies; mother and baby leaving the hospital together after birthchild; correct attachment of the baby to the breast; no difficulty understanding the Spanish language or communicating. Follow-up was performed at 4 and 6 months old infant. Data were collected by interviews, considering EBF as breastfeeding only, without adding other milk, tea, juice, water or other product that not breast milk, except drugs. Data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics, by Kaplan-Meier estimator and Log-Rank test, admitting the probability of occurrence of type I error of 5% (p-value = 0.05). Results: The cumulative EBF abandonment rate at 2, 4 and 6 months was 33.3%, 52.2% and 63.8%, respectively. Factors associated with EBF abandonment were maternal perception of the quality of milk as poor (p < 0.001), maternal perception that the child was not satisfied after breastfeeding (p < 0.001), use of pacifier (p < 0.001), maternal consumption of illicit drugs after delivery (p < 0.001), mother return to school (p = 0.040) and presence of nipple trauma (p = 0.045). Conclusion: EBF abandonment rate was higher in the first 4 months of life and is superior to the population of women who breastfeed. Among the EBF abandonment factors, one of them is related to the adolescent condition, and two are related to the maternal subjective perception.

Keywords: adolescent, breastfeeding, midwifery, nursing

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Authors: Cledinaldo A. Dias, Isabela C. Santos, Marcus V. S. Siqueira

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In the contemporary globalization, the competitiveness generated in the search of new markets aiming at the growth of productivity and, consequently, of profits, implies the redefinition of productive processes and new forms of work organization. As a result of this structuring, unemployment, labor force turnover and the increase in outsourcing and informal work occur. Considering the different relationships and working conditions of outsourced employees, this study aims to identify the most present stressors among outsourced service providers from a Federal Institution of Higher Education in Brazil. To reach this objective, a descriptive exploratory study with a quantitative approach was carried out. The qualitative approach was chosen to provide an in-depth analysis of the occupational conditions of outsourced workers since this method seeks to focus on the social as a world of investigated meanings and the language or speech of each subject as the object of this approach. The survey was conducted in the city of Montes Claros - Minas Gerais (Brazil) and involved eighty workers from companies hired by the institution, including armed security guards, porters, cleaners, drivers, gardeners, and administrative assistants. The choice of professionals obeyed non-probabilistic criteria for convenience or accessibility. Data collection was performed by means of a structured questionnaire composed of sixty questions, in a Likert-type frequency interval scale format, in order to identify potential organizational stressors. The results obtained evidence that the stress factors pointed out by the workers are, in most cases, a determining factor due to the low productive performance at work. Amongst the factors associated with stress, the ones that stood out most were those related to organizational communication failures, the incentive to competition, lack of expectations of professional growth, insecurity and job instability. Based on the results, the need for greater concern and organizational responsibility with the well-being and mental health of the outsourced worker and the recognition of their physical and psychological limitations, and care that goes beyond the functional capacity for the work. Specifically for the preservation of mental health, physical and quality of life, it is concluded that it is necessary for the professional to be inserted in the external world that favors it internally since this set is complemented so that the individual remains in balance and obtain satisfaction in your work.

Keywords: occupational health, outsourced, organizational studies, stressors

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Authors: Yusuf U. Datti

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It is becoming increasingly clear that the consumption of resources now enjoyed in the developed nations will be impossible to be sustained worldwide. While developing countries still have the advantage of low consumption and a smaller ecological footprint per person, they cannot simply develop in the same way as other western cities have developed in the past. The severe reality of population and consumption inequalities makes it contentious whether studies done in developed countries can be translated and applied to developing countries. Additional to this disparities, there are few or no metabolism of energy studies in Nigeria. Rather more contentious majority of energy metabolism studies have been done only in developed countries. While researches in Nigeria concentrate on other aspects/principles of sustainability such as water supply, sewage disposal, energy supply, energy efficiency, waste disposal, etc., which will not accurately capture the environmental impact of energy flow in Nigeria, this research will set itself apart by examining the flow of energy in Nigeria and the impact that the flow will have on the environment. The aim of the study is to examine and quantify the metabolic flows of energy in Nigeria and its corresponding environmental impact. The study will quantify the level and pattern of energy inflow and the outflow of greenhouse emissions in Nigeria. This study will describe measures to address the impact of existing energy sources and suggest alternative renewable energy sources in Nigeria that will lower the emission of greenhouse gas emissions. This study will investigate the metabolism of energy in Nigeria through a three-part methodology. The first step involved selecting and defining the study area and some variables that would affect the output of the energy (time of the year, stability of the country, income level, literacy rate and population). The second step involves analyzing, categorizing and quantifying the amount of energy generated by the various energy sources in the country. The third step involves analyzing what effect the variables would have on the environment. To ensure a representative sample of the study area, Africa’s most populous country, with economy that is the second biggest and that is among the top largest oil producing countries in the world is selected. This is due to the understanding that countries with large economy and dense populations are ideal places to examine sustainability strategies; hence, the choice of Nigeria for the study. National data will be utilized unless where such data cannot be found, then local data will be employed which will be aggregated to reflect the national situation. The outcome of the study will help policy-makers better target energy conservation and efficiency programs and enables early identification and mitigation of any negative effects in the environment.

Keywords: built environment, energy metabolism, environmental impact, greenhouse gas emissions and sustainability

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Authors: Hayat Omar

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Languages provide speakers with a wide range of linguistic units to organize and deliver information. There are several ways to verbally express the mental representations of events. According to the linguistic tools they have acquired, speakers select the one that brings out the most communicative effect to convey their message. Our study focuses on two markers, -mm and dämmo, in Amharic (Ethiopian Semitic language). Our aim is to examine, from a developmental perspective, how they are used by speakers. We seek to distinguish the communicative and pragmatic functions indicated by means of these markers. To do so, we created a corpus of sixty narrative productions of children from 5-6, 7-8 to 10-12 years old and adult Amharic speakers. The experimental material we used to collect our data is a series of pictures without text 'Frog, Where are you?'. Although -mm and dämmo are each used in specific contexts, they are sometimes analyzed as being interchangeable. The suffix -mm is complex and multifunctional. It marks the end of the negative verbal structure, it is found in the relative structure of the imperfect, it creates new words such as adverbials or pronouns, it also serves to coordinate words, sentences and to mark the link between macro-propositions within a larger textual unit. -mm was analyzed as marker of insistence, topic shift marker, element of concatenation, contrastive focus marker, 'bisyndetic' coordinator. On the other hand, dämmo has limited function and did not attract the attention of many authors. The only approach we could find analyzes it in terms of 'monosyndetic' coordinator. The paralleling of these two elements made it possible to understand their distinctive functions and refine their description. When it comes to marking a referent, the choice of -mm or dämmo is not neutral, depending on whether the tagged argument is newly introduced, maintained, promoted or reintroduced. The presence of these morphemes explains the inter-phrastic link. The information is seized by anaphora or presupposition: -mm goes upstream while dämmo arrows downstream, the latter requires new information. The speaker uses -mm or dämmo according to what he assumes to be known to his interlocutors. The results show that -mm and dämmo, although all the speakers use them both, do not always have the same scope according to the speaker and vary according to the age. dämmo is mainly used to mark a contrastive topic to signal the concomitance of events. It is more commonly used in young children’s narratives (F(3,56) = 3,82, p < .01). Some values of -mm (additive) are acquired very early while others are rather late and increase with age (F(3,56) = 3,2, p < .03). The difficulty is due not only because of its synthetic structure but primarily because it is multi-purpose and requires a memory work. It highlights the constituent on which it operates to clarify how the message should be interpreted.

Keywords: acquisition, cohesion, connection, contrastive topic, contrastive focus, discourse marker, pragmatics

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Authors: Neeraj Vij, Christian Leber, Kenneth Schmidt

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Introduction: Total knee arthroplasty is a common procedure. It is well known that the biomechanics of the knee do not fully return to their normal state. Motion analysis has been used to study the biomechanics of the knee after total knee arthroplasty. The purpose of this scoping review is to summarize the current use of gait analysis in total knee arthroplasty and to identify the preoperative motion analysis parameters for which a systematic review aimed at determining the reliability and validity may be warranted. Materials and Methods: This IRB-exempt scoping review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist strictly. Five search engines were searched for a total of 279 articles. Articles underwent a title and abstract screening process followed by full-text screening. Included articles were placed in the following sections: the role of gait analysis as a research tool for operative decisions, other research applications for motion analysis in total knee arthroplasty, gait analysis as a tool in predicting radiologic outcomes, gait analysis as a tool in predicting clinical outcomes. Results: Eleven articles studied gait analysis as a research tool in studying operative decisions. Motion analysis is currently used to study surgical approaches, surgical techniques, and implant choice. Five articles studied other research applications for motion analysis in total knee arthroplasty. Other research applications for motion analysis currently include studying the role of the unicompartmental knee arthroplasty and novel physical therapy protocols aimed at optimizing post-operative care. Two articles studied motion analysis as a tool for predicting radiographic outcomes. Preoperative gait analysis has identified parameters than can predict postoperative tibial component migration. 15 articles studied motion analysis in conjunction with clinical scores. Conclusions: There is a broad range of applications within the research domain of total knee arthroplasty. The potential application is likely larger. However, the current literature is limited by vague definitions of ‘gait analysis’ or ‘motion analysis’ and a limited number of articles with preoperative and postoperative functional and clinical measures. Knee adduction moment, knee adduction impulse, total knee range of motion, varus angle, cadence, stride length, and velocity have the potential for integration into composite clinical scores. A systematic review aimed at determining the validity, reliability, sensitivities, and specificities of these variables is warranted.

Keywords: motion analysis, joint replacement, patient-reported outcomes, knee surgery

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Authors: Abebe Tibebu

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This study investigates the quality of training factors in Ethiopian Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges and their impact on declining enrollment rates. Employing a descriptive survey design, both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from diverse stakeholders, including Grade 12 graduates, current TVET trainees, trainers, college deans, community members, high school directors, teachers, and officials from TVET government agencies. The sample included 20 TVET centers from various Ethiopian regions. Secondary data were obtained from college and government documents, while primary data were gathered through questionnaires, interviews, focus group discussions, and observations. Analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics with SPSS, capturing response frequencies and percentages. The study's findings highlight several key factors affecting TVET enrollment: limited infrastructure capacity, insufficient trainer competency, misaligned curriculum, low-quality training delivery particularly in cooperative training implementation and industry partnership and low success rates on Certification of Competency (CoC) exams. Many TVET institutions lack qualified trainers, adequate machinery, and timely provision of materials for practical skills training. Based on these findings, the study recommends enhanced infrastructure investment, professional development for trainers, curriculum adjustments to better align with industry needs, and standardized assessment practices. Addressing these areas through collaborative efforts with government bodies and industry stakeholders is essential to improving the quality and appeal of Ethiopian TVET programs, ultimately strengthening enrollment and outcomes.

Keywords: TVET, quality factors, enrollment, potentially enrolled

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Authors: Gilberto Goracci, Fabio Curti

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This work presents a robust, light, and inexpensive algorithm to perform autonomous orbit determination using onboard magnetometer data in real-time. Magnetometers are low-cost and reliable sensors typically available on a spacecraft for attitude determination purposes, thus representing an interesting choice to perform real-time orbit determination without the need to add additional sensors to the spacecraft itself. Magnetic field measurements can be exploited by Extended/Unscented Kalman Filters (EKF/UKF) for orbit determination purposes to make up for GPS outages, yielding errors of a few kilometers and tens of meters per second in the position and velocity of a spacecraft, respectively. While this level of accuracy shows that Kalman filtering represents a solid baseline for autonomous orbit determination, it is not enough to provide a reliable state estimation in the absence of GPS signals. This work combines the solidity and reliability of the EKF with the versatility of a Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) architecture to further increase the precision of the state estimation. Deep learning models, in fact, can grasp nonlinear relations between the inputs, in this case, the magnetometer data and the EKF state estimations, and the targets, namely the true position, and velocity of the spacecraft. The model has been pre-trained on Sun-Synchronous orbits (SSO) up to 2126 kilometers of altitude with different initial conditions and levels of noise to cover a wide range of possible real-case scenarios. The orbits have been propagated considering J2-level dynamics, and the geomagnetic field has been modeled using the International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) coefficients up to the 13th order. The training of the module can be completed offline using the expected orbit of the spacecraft to heavily reduce the onboard computational burden. Once the spacecraft is launched, the model can use the GPS signal, if available, to fine-tune the parameters on the actual orbit onboard in real-time and work autonomously during GPS outages. In this way, the provided module shows versatility, as it can be applied to any mission operating in SSO, but at the same time, the training is completed and eventually fine-tuned, on the specific orbit, increasing performances and reliability. The results provided by this study show an increase of one order of magnitude in the precision of state estimate with respect to the use of the EKF alone. Tests on simulated and real data will be shown.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, extended Kalman filter, orbit determination, magnetic field

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Authors: Sriranjani Srinivasan

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To appreciate Indian art and architecture by studying it in India alone will only lead to partial understanding of the whole story and the variety of the statement has been amply proved by subsequent decades of patient research. The results of the work of the Archaeological Survey of India forms only one half of the picture, the other half emerges with the studies of the archaeology and art of the Far East that progressed almost simultaneously under the Archaeological Survey of the Dutch East Indies, the École française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO), or French School of Asian Studies, and allied institutions. The conclusions arrived at have only rendered the assertion that India produced her ultimate master pieces only through foreign influences and in foreign lands (the South-Eastern peninsular and archipelagic regions) almost axiomatic. Angkor in Cambodia and Borobudur in Java, undoubtedly the two greatest architectural marvels of Indian genius, for in content and spirit these (and other monuments of varying magnitudes), are purely Indian, would well illustrate the statement mentioned earlier. Stimulated research followed the discoveries and among the many studies and publications of such pioneers like Coedes, Parmentier, Coomaraswamy and many others in Dutch, French and English made growing contributions to the subject. This paper will discuss in detail the impact of India on the architecture of South East Asia by detailed comparison of architectural styles, elements, and construction materials of a few specific architectural master pieces, in both India and South East Asian countries. It will also analyze the reasoning behind the influence of India on South East Asian countries in spite of them being exposed to the equally culturally rich and civilized kingdoms of China. The intention of this paper is to understand that, conquest by war is not always the only reason for architectural influences and impacts.

Keywords: architectural influence, Buddhist architecture, Indian architecture, Southeast Asian architecture

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Authors: Babatunde Joel Todowede

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It is a public knowledge that lack of quality and qualitative education breeds problems besetting Nigeria as a nation today. This paper entitled “Quality and Qualitative Education for all, panacea for insecurity and political unrest in Nigeria” seeks to explore how quality and qualitative education for all will tends to put an end to insecurity and political unrest in Nigeria as a Nation. It may be pertinent to note at this juncture that the development of any modern society or nation is primarily hinged on the functionality of its educational system. There is no developed nation in the world today, which does not owe its advancement to quality and qualitative education. In other words, Education is a vital instrument in the nation’s economic competitiveness, in its people, and in its communities. Hence, Education is not luxury to be cut in difficult economic times – it is an essential element of growth. In fact, education is the bedrock of any society that hopes to be numbered among the developed economies in the world. Nigeria, as a nation, has made continual efforts to assume its rightful place in education on the African continent, but has not been quite lucky. Interestingly however, Quality and Qualitative Education for all will come about if all stakeholders in the Education Sector perform their roles with skill and efficiency. Education is a very sensitive area, hence, needs to be passionate about education, and focused on building a future for the sector.” Quality and qualitative education instill significant core values in every student, which shape them into mature, caring and independent individuals. These values include commitment, collaboration, integrity, responsibility and respect. By imbibing these values in every aspect of their life, they are able to contribute their skills and talents while supporting each other in attaining their lifelong goals. This paper identified lack of proper education as the bane of insecurity and political unrest in the Country and urged the government to review the policy in a way that there will be quality and standard to check insurgency in the Country. More so, until the fallen standard of education in Nigeria is fixed to engage out of school children, the incessant attack on innocent Nigerians, particularly in the North East may get worse.

Keywords: quality and qualitative education, panacea, insecurity, political unrest

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Authors: Mirzaii Khadigeh

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

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

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Authors: Uwizera Egide

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Introduction: Dermatological conditions are one of the most burdensome diseases in our health system. Global studies suggest that around 1 in 3 people gets a skin disease at a certain point in their life, though this does not necessarily guarantee the urge to consult. For a high-ranking disease, it is surprising how there is not enough data to support its effect on the economy and the general health system impact. It is for that reason that this study’s aim is to identify the burden of dermatological conditions in Rwanda so as to have a general picture of what our population is going through in regards to dermatological conditions. Methods: We used a cross sectional retrospective study. Data were obtained from patient’s information recorded in an open clinic at CHUB in a period of six months from July to December of the year 2021. Results: The study had a total of 4600 patients who attended dermatology service in a period of six months from July to December of the year 2021. We found a list of 102 dermatological diseases that presented at variable rates. The most prevalent disease was atopic dermatitis, at a rate of 23%. About 90% of presented conditions had only one choice of treatment from the hospital pharmacy. Most patients who presented were between 18-35 years old and with a predominance of the female gender; the level of education was either secondary or University Degree in our study, 65.4% of patients who presented were female; the majority, around 45% were between 18-35 years old, mostly being single 56%. The majority came from Southern province as it is the location of the hospital. The insurance mostly used was community-based health insurance with 63.8%, followed by RSSB with 18.5%, MS/UR, and other private insurances. The frequency of group drugs prescribed among all dermatological medications, steroids were the most commonly given medications at a rate of 39%, followed by emollients, antibiotics, and antifungal. The drugs prescribed were mostly available in the pharmacy of CHUB, with 60% and 40% being found in pharmacies outside the hospital. Conclusion: Dermatological conditions are prevalent in all age groups and distributed through all socioeconomic classes. About 9.2% of patient who consulted CHUB in 2021 presented one Dermatological condition of which 40 % of prescribed medications is never found in Hospital urging a need to buy medication in private pharmacies with more expenses and a risk of not complying on prescribed medication if in case they can’t afford paying them outside the CHUB. This finding urges a need to avail all essential dermatological drugs in hospital pharmacies to allow our patients to get them for the proper compliance of prescribed drugs in the management of skin diseases.

Keywords: atopic dermatitis, CHUB (centre hopitalier univerisitaire de butare), dermatological condition, fungal infections

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Authors: Alonge Isaac Olusola

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Taking a cue from countries such as China and Japan, there is no doubt that the teaching and learning of Mother Tongue ( MT) or Language of Immediate Environment (LIE) is a potential source of development in every country. The engine of economic, scientific, technological and political advancement would be more functional when the language of instruction for teaching and learning in schools is in the child’s mother tongue. The purpose of this paper therefore, is to delve into the genesis of the official recognition given to the teaching and learning of Nigerian languages at national level with special focus on Yoruba language. Yoruba language and other Nigerian languages were placed on a national pedestal by a Nigerian Educational Minister, Late Professor Babatunde Fafunwa, who served under the government of General Ibrahim Babangida (1985 – 1993). Through his laudable effort, the teaching and learning of Nigerian languages in schools all over the nation was incorporated officially in the national policy of education. Among all the Nigerian languages, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba were given foremost priorities because of the large population of their speakers. Since the Fafunwa era, Yoruba language has become a national subject taught in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in Nigeria. However, like every new policy, its implementation has suffered several forms of criticisms and impediments from governments, policy makers, curriculum developers, school administrators, teachers and learners. This paper has been able to arrive at certain findings through oral interviews, questionnaires and evaluation of pupils/students enrolment and performances in Yoruba language with special focus on the South-west and North central regions of Nigeria. From the research carried out, some factors have been found to be responsible for the successful implementation or otherwise of Yoruba language instruction policy in some schools, colleges and higher institutions in Nigeria. In conclusion, the paper made recommendations on how the National Policy of Education would be implemented to enhance the teaching and learning of Yoruba language in all Nigerian schools.

Keywords: language of immediate environment, mother tongue, national policy of education, yoruba language

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Authors: Jou-An Chung

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The purpose of this study is to investigate the verb bias of the Mandarin verbs in children’s reading materials and provide the criteria for categorization. Verb bias varies cross-linguistically. As Mandarin and English are typological different, this study hopes to shed light on Mandarin verb bias with the use of corpus and provide thorough and detailed criteria for analysis. Moreover, this study focuses on children’s reading materials since it is a significant issue in understanding children’s sentence processing. Therefore, investigating verb bias of Mandarin verbs in children’s reading materials is also an important issue and can provide further insights into children’s sentence processing. The small corpus is built up for this study. The corpus consists of the collection of school textbooks and Mandarin Daily News for children. The files are then segmented and POS tagged by JiebaR (Chinese segmentation with R). For the ease of analysis, the one-word character verbs and intransitive verbs are excluded beforehand. The total of 20 high frequency verbs are hand-coded and are further categorized into one of the three types, namely DO type, SC type and other category. If the frequency of taking Other Type exceeds the threshold of 25%, the verb is excluded from the study. The results show that 10 verbs are direct object bias verbs, and six verbs are sentential complement bias verbs. The paired T-test was done to assure the statistical significance (p = 0.0001062 for DO bias verb, p=0.001149 for SC bias verb). The result has shown that in children’s reading materials, the DO biased verbs are used more than the SC bias verbs since the simplest structure of sentences is easier for children’s sentence comprehension or processing. In sum, this study not only discussed verb bias in child's reading materials but also provided basic coding criteria for verb bias analysis in Mandarin and underscored the role of context. Sentences are easier for children’s sentence comprehension or processing. In sum, this study not only discussed verb bias in child corpus, but also provided basic coding criteria for verb bias analysis in Mandarin and underscored the role of context.

Keywords: corpus linguistics, verb bias, child language, psycholinguistics

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Authors: Henriette Jarild-Koblanck, Monica Moro

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The research has been implemented at the Kalmar University now LNU Linnaeus University inside the Design Program (Designprogrammet) for several years. The Work Book tool was created using the framework of the Bologna declaration. The project concerns primarily pedagogy and design methodology, focusing on how we evaluate artistic work processes and projects and on how we can develop the preconditions for cross-disciplinary work. The original idea of the Work Book springs from the steady habit of the Swedish researcher and now retired full professor and dean Henriette Koblanck to put images, things and colours in a notebook, right from her childhood, writing down impressions and reflections. On this preliminary thought of making use of a work book, in a form freely chosen by the user, she began to develop the Design Program (Designprogrammet) that was applied at the Kalmar University now LNU Linnaeus University, where she called a number of professionals to collaborate, among them Monica Moro an Italian designer, researcher, and teacher in the field of colour and shape. The educational intention is that the Work Book should become a tool that is both inspirational for the process of thinking and intuitional creating, and personal support for both rational and technical thinking. The students were to use the Work Book not only to visually and graphically document their results from investigations, experiments and thoughts but also as a tool to present their works to others, -students, tutors and teachers, or to other stakeholders they discussed the proceedings with. To help the students a number of matrixes were developed oriented to evaluate the projects in elaboration, based on the Bologna Declaration. In conclusion, the feedback from the students is excellent; many are still using the Work Book as a professional tool as in their words they consider it a rather accurate representation of their working process, and furthermore of themselves, so much that many of them have used it as a portfolio when applying for jobs.

Keywords: academic program, art, assessment of student’s progress, Bologna Declaration, design, learning, self-assessment

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Authors: Reem Alsager, James Milton

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Coxhead’s (2000) Academic Word List (AWL) believed to be essential for students pursuing higher education and helps differentiate English for Academic Purposes (EAP) from General English as a course of study, and it is thought to be important for comprehending English academic texts. It has been described that AWL is an infrequent, discrete set of vocabulary items unreachable from general language. On the other hand, it has been known for a period of time that general vocabulary knowledge is a good predictor of academic achievement. This study, however, is an attempt to measure and compare the contribution of academic knowledge and general vocabulary knowledge to learners’ GPA and examine what knowledge is a better predictor of academic achievement and investigate whether AWL as a specialised list of infrequent words relates to the frequency effect. The participants were comprised of 44 international postgraduate students in Swansea University, all from the School of Management, following the taught MSc (Master of Science). The study employed the Academic Vocabulary Size Test (AVST) and the XK_Lex vocabulary size test. The findings indicate that AWL is a list based on word frequency rather than a discrete and unique word list and that the AWL performs the same function as general vocabulary, with tests of each found to measure largely the same quality of knowledge. The findings also suggest that the contribution that AWL knowledge provides for academic success is not sufficient and that general vocabulary knowledge is better in predicting academic achievement. Furthermore, the contribution that academic knowledge added above the contribution of general vocabulary knowledge when combined is really small and noteworthy. This study’s results are in line with the argument and suggest that it is the development of general vocabulary size is an essential quality for academic success and acquiring the words of the AWL will form part of this process. The AWL by itself does not provide sufficient coverage, and is probably not specialised enough, for knowledge of this list to influence this general process. It can be concluded that AWL as an academic word list epitomizes only a fraction of words that are actually needed for academic success in English and that knowledge of academic vocabulary combined with general vocabulary knowledge above the most frequent 3000 words is what matters most to ultimate academic success.

Keywords: academic achievement, academic vocabulary, general vocabulary, vocabulary size

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Authors: Amandeep Kaur

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All religions enlighten truth which provides spiritual tranquility. But, the language of these holy books is not easy to understand because these have divine language. That's why hermeneutical Study is necessary to understand these Scriptures. There is a separate theoretical framework to study all the disciplines of language, literature, religion etc. Similarly the discipline of interpretation has its own theoretical framework known as hermeneutics. It is a science of interpretation that put forward the best ways and methods of interpretation. But in this modern world, hermeneutics is considered as a theoretical-cum-philosophical discipline. It is vast study of understanding texts. Hermeneutics is especially related to the study of religious scriptures like the Bible, the Qur'an, the Vedas and the Shri Guru Granth Sahib and many more. It is mainly the Western concept which has a great old tradition because it used the Bible as the foremost holy scripture for definition and interpretation. The Discipline of the Indian hermeneutics was led by Mimamsa School. The reference of the word hermeneutics in works of Ancient Greek philosophers indicates towards the antiquity of this word. Shri Guru Granth Sahib's schools of interpretation like Udasi, Nirmala, Sevapanthi and Gyani came into existence to interpret the discourse of Shri Guru Granth Sahib. These are sects of Sikhism and have great contribution to interpret and preach Guru Granth Sahib's revelation. This research paper will represent the comparative study of these sects methods, tools and styles of interpreting the meaning of this holy book. Interpretation is basically textual based process. So, all these schools have chosen Guru Granth Sahib for textual study. Some of the schools have done a whole interpretation of Guru Granth Sahib. But, some of them have done only interpretation of prominent banies i.e Japuji Sahib, Anand Sahib, Assa-di-war etc. This study will also throw lights on sect's historical background and contribution. At last conclusion of this paper is that all the schools have done gurbani interpretation according to their own philosophical and theological point of view. These schools have many similarities and differences among their way of interpretation. It will be discussed briefly.

Keywords: Gyani, hermeneutics, Mimamsa, Nirmala, Sevapanthi, Udasi

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Authors: Carlos M. Goncalves, Luisa Duarte, Teresa Cartaxo

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The aim of this work was to understand the reasons behind the underutilization of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in the younger population and raise possible solutions. We conducted a non-systematic review of literature throughout a search on PubMed, using the terms ‘children’, ‘adolescents’ and ‘electroconvulsive’, ‘therapy’. Candidate articles written in languages other than English were excluded. Articles were selected according to title and/or abstract’s content relevance, resulting in a total of 5 articles. ECT is a recognized effective treatment in adults for several psychiatric conditions. As in adults, ECT in children and adolescents is proven most beneficial in the treatment of severe mood disorders, catatonia, and, to a lesser extent, schizophrenia. ECT in adults has also been used to treat autism’s self-injurious behaviours, Tourette’s syndrome and resistant first-episode schizophrenia disorder. Despite growing evidence on its safety and effectiveness in children and adolescents, like those found in adults, ECT remains a controversial and underused treatment in patients this age, even when it is clearly indicated. There are various possible reasons to this; limited awareness among professionals (lack of knowledge and experience among child psychiatrists), stigmatic public opinion (despite positive feedback from patients and families, there is an unfavourable and inaccurate representation in the media, contributing to a negative public opinion), legal restrictions and ethical controversies (restrictive regulations such as a minimum age for administration), lack of randomized trials (the currently available studies are retrospective, with small size samples, and most of the publications are either case reports or case series). This shows the need to raise awareness and knowledge, not only for mental health professionals, but also to the general population, through the media, regarding indications, methods and safety of ECT in order to provide reliable information to the patient and families. Large-scale longitudinal studies are also useful to further demonstrate the efficacy and safety of ECT and can aid in the formulation of algorithms and guidelines as without these changes, the availability of ECT to the younger population will remain restricted by regulations and social stigma. In conclusion, these results highlight that lack of adequate knowledge and accurate information are the most important factors behind the underutilization of ECT in younger population. Mental healthcare professionals occupy a cornerstone position; if data is given by a well-informed healthcare professional instead of the media, general population (including patients and their families) will probably regard the procedure in a more favourable way. So, the starting point should be to improve health care professional’s knowledge and experience on this choice of treatment.

Keywords: adolescents, children, electroconvulsive, therapy

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Authors: Christopher R. Triggle, Hong Ding, Khaled Machaca, Gnanapragasam Arunachalam

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The antidiabetic drug, metformin, has been in clinical use for over 50 years and remains the first choice drug for the treatment of type two diabetes. In addition to its effectiveness as an oral anti-hyperglycaemic drug metformin also possesses vasculoprotective effects that are assumed to be secondary to its ability to reduce insulin resistance and control glycated hemoglobin levels; however, recent data from our laboratory indicate that metformin also has direct vasoprotective effects that are mediated, at least in part, via the anti-ageing gene, SIRT1. Diabetes is a major risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and it is also well established that tobacco use further enhances the risk of CVD; however, it is not known whether treatment with metformin can offset the negative effects of diabetes and tobacco use on cardiac function. The current study was therefore designed to investigate 1: the effects of hyperglycaemia (HG) either alone or in the presence of elevated fatty acids (palmitate) and nicotine on the protein expression levels of the deacetylase sirtuin 1 (the protein product of SIRT1), anti-apoptotic Bcl-2, pro-apoptotic BIM and the pro-apoptotic, tumour suppressor protein, acetylated p53 in cardiomyocytes. 2: the ability of metformin to prevent the detrimental effects of HG, palmitate and nicotine on cardiomyocyte survival. Cell culture protocols were designed using a rat cardiomyocyte cell line, H9c2, either under normal glycaemic (NG) conditions of 5.5mM glucose, or hyperglycaemic conditions (HG) of 25mM glucose with, or without, added palmitate (250μM) or nicotine (1.0mM) for 24h. Immuno-blotting was used to detect the expression of sirtuin 1, Bcl-2, BIM, acetylated (Ac)-p53, p53 with β-actin used as the reference protein. Exposure to HG, palmitate, or nicotine alone significantly reduced expression of sirtuin1, Bcl-2 and raised the expression levels of acetylated p53 and BIM; however, the combination of HG, palmitate and nicotine had a synergistic effect to significantly suppress the expression levels of sirtuin 1 and Bcl-2, but further enhanced the expression of Ac-p53, and BIM. The inclusion of 1000μM, but not 50μM, metformin in the H9c2 cell culture protocol prevented the effects of HG, palmitate and nicotine on the pro-apoptotic pathways. Collectively these data indicate that metformin, in addition to its anti-hyperglycaemic and vasculoprotective properties, also has direct cardioprotective actions that offset the negative effects of hyerglycaemia, elevated free fatty acids and nicotine on cardiac cell survival. These data are of particular significance for the treatment of patients with diabetes who are also smokers as the inclusion of metformin in their therapeutic treatment plan should help reduce cardiac-related morbidity and mortality.

Keywords: apoptosis, cardiac muscle, diabetes, metformin, nicotine

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Authors: Monalisha Ghosh, Asit Mohanty

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The lack of sanitation increases living costs, decreases spend on education and nutrition, lowers income earning potential, and threatens safety and welfare. This is especially true for rural India. Only 32% of rural households have their own toilets and that less than half of Indian households have a toilet at home. Of the estimated billion people in the world who defecate in the open, more than half reside in rural India. It is empirically established that poor sanitation leads to high infant mortality rate and low income generation in rural India. In India, 1,600 children die every day before reaching their fifth birthday and 24% of girls drop out of school as the lack of basic sanitation. Above all, lack of sanitation is not a symptom of poverty but a major contributing factor. According to census 2011, 67.3% of the rural households in the country still did not have access to sanitation facilities. India’s sanitation deficit leads to losses worth roughly 6% of its gross domestic product (GDP) according to World Bank estimates by raising the disease burden in the country. The dropout rate for girl child is thirty percent in schools in rural areas because of lack of sanitation facilities for girl students. The productivity loss per skilled labors during a year is calculated at Rs.44, 160 in Odisha. The performance of the state of Odisha has not been satisfactory in improving sanitation facilities. The biggest challenge is triggering behavior change in vast section of rural population regarding need to use toilets. Another major challenge is funding and implementation for improvement of sanitation facility. In an environment of constrained economic resources, Public Private Partnership in form of performance based management or maintenance contract will be all the more relevant to improve the sanitation status in rural sector.

Keywords: rural sanitation, infant mortality rate, income, granger causality, pooled OLS method test public private partnership

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Authors: Pouriya Darabiyan, Hadis Nazari, Kourosh Zarea, Saeed Ghanbari, Zeinab Raiesifar, Morteza Khafaie, Hanna Tuvesson

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Introduction Since the beginning of mobile phone addiction, alexithymia, depression, anxiety and stress have been stated as risk factors for Internet addiction, so this study was conducted with the aim of investigating the relationship between Alexithymia and Mobile phone addiction along with the mediating role of anxiety, stress and depression. Materials and methods In this descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study in 2022, 412 students School of Nursing & Midwifery of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences were included in the study using available sampling method. Data collection tools were: Demographic Information Questionnaire, Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale (DASS-21) and Mobile Phone Addiction Index (MPAI). Frequency, Pearson correlation coefficient test and linear regression were used to describe and analyze the data. Also, structural equation models and path analysis method were used to investigate the direct and indirect effects as well as the total effect of each dimension of Alexithymia on Mobile phone addiction with the mediating role of stress, depression and anxiety. Statistical analysis was done by SPSS version 22 and Amos version 16 software. Results Alexithymia was a predictive factor for mobile phone addiction. Also, Alexithymia had a positive and significant effect on depression, anxiety and stress. Depression, anxiety and stress had a positive and significant effect on mobile phone addiction. Depression, anxiety and stress variables played the role of a relative mediating variable between Alexithymia and mobile phone addiction. Alexithymia through depression, anxiety and stress also has an indirect effect on Internet addiction. Conclusion Alexithymia is a predictive factor for mobile phone addiction; And the variables of depression, anxiety and stress play the role of a relative mediating variable between Alexithymia and mobile phone addiction.

Keywords: alexithymia, mobile phone, depression, anxiety, stress

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Authors: Vassilis Argyropoulos, Magda Nikolaraizi, Maria Papazafiri

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This study describes a series of learning workshops, which took place within CUIDAR project. The workshops aimed to empower children to share their experiences and views in relation to natural hazards and disasters. The participants in the workshops were ten primary school students who had severe visual impairments or multiple disabilities and visual impairments (MDVI). The main objectives of the workshops were: a) to promote access of the children through the use of appropriate educational material such as texts in braille, enlarged text, tactile maps and the implementation of differentiated instruction, b) to make children aware regarding their rights to have access to information and to participate in planning and decision-making especially in relation to disaster education programs, and c) to encourage children to have an active role during the workshops through child-led and experiential learning activities. The children expressed their views regarding the meaning of hazards and disasters. Following, they discussed their experiences and emotions regarding natural hazards and disasters, and they chose to place the emphasis on a hazard, which was more pertinent to them, their community and their region, namely fires. Therefore, they recalled fires that have caused major disasters, and they discussed about the impact that these fires had on their community or on their country. Furthermore, they were encouraged to become aware regarding their own role and responsibility to prevent a fire or get prepared and know how to behave if a fire occurs. They realized that prevention and preparation are a matter of personal responsibility. They also felt the responsibility to inform their own families. Finally, they met important people involved in fire protection such as rescuers and firefighters and had the opportunity to carry dialogues. In conclusion, through child led workshops, experiential and accessible activities, the students had the opportunity to share their own experiences, to express their views and their questions, to broaden their knowledge and to realize their personal responsibility in disaster risk reduction, specifically in relation to fires.

Keywords: accessibility, children, disasters, visual impairment

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Authors: Gihan Thilakarathna, Fernando Ishara, Rathnayake Yasith, Bandara A. M. R. Y.

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E-learning is a crucial component of intelligent education. Even in the midst of a pandemic, E-learning is becoming increasingly important in the educational system. Several e-learning programs are accessible for students. Here, we decided to create an e-learning framework for children. We've found a few issues that teachers are having with their online classes. When there are numerous students in an online classroom, how does a teacher recognize a student's focus on academics and below-the-surface behaviors? Some kids are not paying attention in class, and others are napping. The teacher is unable to keep track of each and every student. Key challenge in e-learning is online exams. Because students can cheat easily during online exams. Hence there is need of exam proctoring is occurred. In here we propose an automated online exam cheating detection method using a web camera. The purpose of this project is to present an E-learning platform for math education and include games for kids as an alternative teaching method for math students. The game will be accessible via a web browser. The imagery in the game is drawn in a cartoonish style. This will help students learn math through games. Everything in this day and age is moving towards automation. However, automatic answer evaluation is only available for MCQ-based questions. As a result, the checker has a difficult time evaluating the theory solution. The current system requires more manpower and takes a long time to evaluate responses. It's also possible to mark two identical responses differently and receive two different grades. As a result, this application employs machine learning techniques to provide an automatic evaluation of subjective responses based on the keyword provided to the computer as student input, resulting in a fair distribution of marks. In addition, it will save time and manpower. We used deep learning, machine learning, image processing and natural language technologies to develop these research components.

Keywords: math, education games, e-learning platform, artificial intelligence

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