Search results for: measures to prevent

Authors: Oktavian Prasetia Wardana, Martono Tri Utomo, Risa Etika, Kartika Darma Handayani, Dina Angelika, Wurry Ayuningtyas

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Background: Critically ill neonates are newborn babies with high-risk factors that potentially cause disability and/or death. Scoring systems for determining the severity of the disease have been widely developed as well as some designs for use in neonates. The SNAPPE-II method, which has been used as a mortality predictor scoring system in several referral centers, was found to be slow in assessing the outcome of critically ill neonates in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Objective: To analyze the predictive value of MSNS on the outcome of critically ill neonates at the time of arrival up to 24 hours after being admitted to the NICU. Methods: A longitudinal observational analytic study based on medical record data was conducted from January to August 2022. Each sample was recorded from medical record data, including data on gestational age, mode of delivery, APGAR score at birth, resuscitation measures at birth, duration of resuscitation, post-resuscitation ventilation, physical examination at birth (including vital signs and any congenital abnormalities), the results of routine laboratory examinations, as well as the neonatal outcomes. Results: This study involved 105 critically ill neonates who were admitted to the NICU. The outcome of critically ill neonates was 50 (47.6%) neonates died, and 55 (52.4%) neonates lived. There were more males than females (61% vs. 39%). The mean gestational age of the subjects in this study was 33.8 ± 4.28 weeks, with the mean birth weight of the subjects being 1820.31 ± 33.18 g. The mean MSNS score of neonates with a deadly outcome was lower than that of the lived outcome. ROC curve with a cut point MSNS score <10.5 obtained an AUC of 93.5% (95% CI: 88.3-98.6) with a sensitivity value of 84% (95% CI: 80.5-94.9), specificity 80 % (CI 95%: 88.3-98.6), Positive Predictive Value (PPV) 79.2%, Negative Predictive Value (NPV) 84.6%, Risk Ratio (RR) 5.14 with Hosmer & Lemeshow test results p>0.05. Conclusion: The MSNS score has a good predictive value and good calibration of the outcomes of critically ill neonates admitted to the NICU.

Keywords: critically ill neonate, outcome, MSNS, NICU, predictive value

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Authors: O. Elkana, O Heyman, S. Hamdan, M. Franko, J. Vatine

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Objective: To investigate whether a direct link exists between perceived pain (PP) and executive functions (EF), above and beyond the influence of depression symptoms, in the context of medical rehabilitation. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Rehabilitation Hospital. Participants: 125 medical records of hospitalized patients were screened for matching to our inclusion criteria. Only 60 patients were found fit and were asked to participate. 19 decline to participate on personal basis. The 41 neurologically intact patients (mean age 46, SD 14.96) that participated in this study were in their sub-acute stage of recovery, with fluent Hebrew, with intact upper limb (to neutralize influence on psychomotor performances) and without an organic brain damage. Main Outcome Measures: EF were assessed using the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and the Stop-Signal Test (SST). PP was measured using 3 well-known pain questionnaires: Pain Disability Index (PDI), The Short-Form McGill Questionnaire (SF-MPQ) and the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS). Perceived pain index (PPI) was calculated by the mean score composite from the 3 pain questionnaires. Depression symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Results: The results indicate that irrespective of the presence of depression symptoms, PP is directly correlated with response inhibition (SST partial correlation: r=0.5; p=0.001) and mental flexibility (WSCT partial correlation: r=-0.37; p=0.021), suggesting decreased performance in EF as PP severity increases. High correlations were found between the 3 pain measurements: SF-MPQ with PDI (r=0.62, p<0.001), SF-MPQ with PCS (r=0.58, p<0.001) and PDI with PCS (r=0.38, p=0.016) and each questionnaire alone was also significantly associated with EF; thus, no specific questionnaires ‘pulled’ the results obtained by the general index (PPI). Conclusion: Examining the direct association between PP and EF, beyond the contribution of depression symptoms, provides further clinical evidence suggesting that EF and PP share underlying mediating neuronal mechanisms. Clinically, the importance of assessing patients' EF abilities as well as PP severity during rehabilitation is underscored.

Keywords: depression, executive functions, mental-flexibility, neuropsychology, pain perception, perceived pain, response inhibition

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Authors: Giovana Privatte Maciera, Jair Izaías Kappann

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Introduction: The violence against woman is a complex phenomenon that accompanies the woman throughout her life and is a result of a social, cultural, political and religious construction, based on the differences among the genders. Those differences are felt, mainly, because of the patriarchal system that is still present which just naturalize and legitimate the asymmetry of power. As consequence of the women’s lasting historical and collective effort for a legislation against the impunity of violence against women in the national scenery, it was ordained, in 2006, a law known as Maria da Penha. The law was created as a protective measure for women that were victims of violence and consequently for the punishment of the aggressor. Methodology: Analysis of police inquiries is established by the Police Station of Defense of the Woman of Assis city, by formal authorization of the justice, in the period of 2013 to 2015. For the evaluating of the results will be used the content analysis and the theoretical referential of Psychoanalysis. Results and Discussion: The final analysis of the inquiries demonstrated that the violence against women is reproduced by the society and the aggressor, in most cases it is a member of their own family, mainly the current or former-spouse. The most common kinds of aggression were: the threat bodily harm, and the physical violence, that normally happens accompanied by psychological violence, being the most painful for the victims. The biggest part of the aggressors was white, older than the victim, worker and had primary school. But, unlike the expected, the minority of the aggressors were users of alcohol and/or drugs and possessed children in common with the victim. There is a contrast among the number of victims who already admitted have suffered some type of violence earlier by the same aggressor and the number of victims who has registered the occurrence before. The aggressors often use the discourse of denial in their testimony or try to justify their act like the blame was of the victim. It is believed in the interaction of several factors that can influence the aggressor to commit the abuse, including psychological, personal and sociocultural factors. One hypothesis is that the aggressor has a violence history in the family origin. After the aggressor being judged, condemned or not, usually there is no rehabilitation plan or supervision that enable his change. Conclusions: It has noticed the importance of studying the aggressor’s characteristics and the reasons that took him to commit such violence, making possible the implementation of an appropriate treatment to prevent and reduce the aggressions, as well the creation of programs and actions that enable communication and understanding concerning the theme. This is because the recurrence is still high, since the punitive system is not enough and the law is still ineffective and inefficient in certain aspects and in its own functioning. It is perceived a compulsion in repeat so much for the victims as for the aggressors, because they end involving, almost always, in disturbed and violent relationships, with the relation of subordination-dominance as characteristic.

Keywords: aggressors' profile, gender equality, Maria da Penha law, violence against women

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Authors: Rabia Genc, Aysun Eksioglu, Emine Serap Sarican, Sibel Icke

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Today the habit of cigarette smoking is among one of the most important public health concerns because of the health problems it leads to. The most important and hazardous group to use tobacco and tobacco products is adolescents and teenagers. And one of the most effective ways to prevent them from starting to smoke is education. This research is a kind of educational intervention study which was carried out in order to evaluate the effect of peer education on the teenagers' knowledge about smoking. The research was carried out between October 15, 2013 and September 9, 2015 at Ege University Ataturk Vocational Health School. The population of the research comprised of the students that have been studying at Ege University Atatürk Vocational Health School, Midwifery Department (N=390). The peer educator group that would give training on smoking consisted of 10 people, and the peer groups that would be trained were divided into two groups via simple randomization as experimental group (n=185) and control group (n=185). Questionnaire, information evaluation form, and informed consent forms were used as date collection tools. The analysis of the data which were collected in the study was carried out on Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS 15.0). It was found out that 62.5 % of the students who were in peer educator group had smoked in some period of their lives; however, none of them continued to smoke. When they were asked about their reasons to start smoking, 25% said they just wanted to try it, and 25% of them answered that it was because of their friend groups. When the pre-peer education and post-peer education point averages of peer educator group were evaluated, the results showed that there was a significant difference between the point averages (p < 0.05). When the cigarette use of experimental group and the control group were evaluated, it was clear that 18.2% of the experimental group and 24.2%of the control group still smokes. 9.1% of the experimental group and 14.8% of control group stated that they started smoking because of their friend groups. Among the students who smoke 15.9% of the ones who belongs to the experimental group and 21.9% of the ones who belong to the control group stated they are thinking of quitting smoking. It was clear that there is a significant difference between the pre-education and post-education point averages of experimental group statistically (p ≤ 0.05); however, in terms of control group, there were no significant differences between the pre-test post-test averages statistically. Between the pre-test post-test averages of experimental and control groups there were not any statistically significant differences (p > 0.05). It was found out in the study that the peer education programme is not effective on the smoking habit of Vocational Health School students. When the future studies are being planned in order to evaluate the peer education activity, it can be taken into consideration that the peer education takes a long term and the students in the educator group will be more enthusiastic and a kind of leader in their environment.

Keywords: midwifery, peer, peer education, smoking

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Authors: Yi-Hung Ho, Chih-Wei Wang, Chih-Hsien Chen, Chih-Han Chang

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Unilateral laminotomy and bilateral laminotomies were successful decompressions methods for managing spinal stenosis that numerous studies have reported. Thus, unilateral laminotomy was rated technically much more demanding than bilateral laminotomies, whereas the bilateral laminotomies were associated with a positive benefit to reduce more complications. There were including incidental durotomy, increased radicular deficit, and epidural hematoma. However, no relative biomechanical analysis for evaluating spinal instability treated with unilateral and bilateral laminotomies. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the outcomes of different decompressions methods by experimental and finite element analysis. Three porcine lumbar spines were biomechanically evaluated for their range of motion, and the results were compared following unilateral or bilateral laminotomies. The experimental protocol included flexion and extension in the following procedures: intact, unilateral, and bilateral laminotomies (L2–L5). The specimens in this study were tested in flexion (8 Nm) and extension (6 Nm) of pure moment. Spinal segment kinematic data was captured by using the motion tracking system. A 3D finite element lumbar spine model (L1-S1) containing vertebral body, discs, and ligaments were constructed. This model was used to simulate the situation of treating unilateral and bilateral laminotomies at L3-L4 and L4-L5. The bottom surface of S1 vertebral body was fully geometrically constrained in this study. A 10 Nm pure moment also applied on the top surface of L1 vertebral body to drive lumbar doing different motion, such as flexion and extension. The experimental results showed that in the flexion, the ROMs (±standard deviation) of L3–L4 were 1.35±0.23, 1.34±0.67, and 1.66±0.07 degrees of the intact, unilateral, and bilateral laminotomies, respectively. The ROMs of L4–L5 were 4.35±0.29, 4.06±0.87, and 4.2±0.32 degrees, respectively. No statistical significance was observed in these three groups (P>0.05). In the extension, the ROMs of L3–L4 were 0.89±0.16, 1.69±0.08, and 1.73±0.13 degrees, respectively. In the L4-L5, the ROMs were 1.4±0.12, 2.44±0.26, and 2.5±0.29 degrees, respectively. Significant differences were observed among all trials, except between the unilateral and bilateral laminotomy groups. At the simulation results portion, the similar results were discovered with the experiment. No significant differences were found at L4-L5 both flexion and extension in each group. Only 0.02 and 0.04 degrees variation were observed during flexion and extension between the unilateral and bilateral laminotomy groups. In conclusions, the present results by finite element analysis and experimental reveal that no significant differences were observed during flexion and extension between unilateral and bilateral laminotomies in short-term follow-up. From a biomechanical point of view, bilateral laminotomies seem to exhibit a similar stability as unilateral laminotomy. In clinical practice, the bilateral laminotomies are likely to reduce technical difficulties and prevent perioperative complications; this study proved this benefit through biomechanical analysis. The results may provide some recommendations for surgeons to make the final decision.

Keywords: unilateral laminotomy, bilateral laminotomies, spinal stenosis, finite element analysis

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Authors: Uche Lucy Onyekwelu, Uche B. Ugwuanyi

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Suffice to say that socio-economic disruptions of any form is likely to affect the wellbeing of the citizenry. The upsurge of social disequilibrium caused by the incessant disruptive tendencies exhibited by youths and some others in Nigeria are not helping matters. In Nigeria the social unrest has caused different forms of draw backs in Socio Economic Development. This study has empirically evaluated the impact of insecurity and insurgency on the Economic Development of Nigeria. The paper noted that the different forms of insecurity in Nigeria are namely: Insurgency and Banditry as witnessed in Northern Nigeria; Militancy: Niger Delta area and self-determination groups pursuing various forms of agenda such as Sit –at- Home Syndrome in the South Eastern Nigeria and other secessionist movements. All these have in one way or the other hampered Economic development in Nigeria. Data for this study were collected through primary and secondary sources using questionnaire and some existing documentations. Cost of investment in different aspects of security outfits in Nigeria represents the independent variable while the differentials in the Gross Domestic Product(GDP) and Human Development Index(HDI) are the measures of the dependent variable. Descriptive statistics and Simple Linear Regression analytical tool were employed in the data analysis. The result revealed that Insurgency/Insecurity negatively affect the economic development of the different parts of Nigeria. Following the findings, a model to analyse the effect of insecurity and insurgency was developed, named INSECUREDEVNIG. It implies that the economic development of Nigeria will continue to deteriorate if insurgency and insecurity continue. The study therefore recommends that the government should do all it could to nurture its human capital, adequately fund the state security apparatus and employ individuals of high integrity to manage the various security outfits in Nigeria. The government should also as a matter of urgency train the security personnel in intelligence cum Information and Communications Technology to enable them ensure the effectiveness of implementation of security policies needed to sustain Gross Domestic Product and Human Capital Index of Nigeria.

Keywords: insecurity, insurgency, gross domestic product, human development index, Nigeria

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Authors: Xie Xiaobin, Zhang Yan, Shi Yipeng, Sun Wenying, Chen Shuang, Cai Zhipeng, Zhang Hong, Zhang Lixia, Xie Like

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Objective: The objective of this research is to compare the efficacy of the late in-situ surgical revision augmented with continuous infusion and needle revision on failed trabeculectomy blebs. Methods From December 2018 to December 2021, a prospective randomized controlled trial was performed on 44 glaucoma patients with failed bleb ≥ 6months with medically uncontrolled in Eye Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences. They were randomly divided into two groups. 22 eyes of 22 patients underwent the late in-situ surgical revision with continuous anterior chamber infusion in the study group, and 22 of 22 patients were treated with needle revision in the control group. Main outcome measures include preoperative and postoperative intraocular pressure (IOP), the number of anti-glaucoma medicines, the operation success rate, and the postoperative complications. Results The postoperative IOP values decreased significantly from the baseline in both groups (both P<0.05). IOP was significantly lower in the study group than in the control group at one week, 1, and 3 months postoperatively (all P<0.05). IOP reductions in the study group were substantially more prominent than in the control group at all postoperative time points (all P<0.05). The complete success rate in the study group was significantly higher than in the control group (71.4% vs. 33.3%, P<0.05), while the complete failure rate was significantly lower in the study group (0% vs. 28.5%, P<0.05). According to Cox’s proportional hazards regression analysis, high IOP at baseline was independently associated with increased risks of complete failure (adjusted hazard ratio=1.141, 95% confidence interval=1.021-1.276, P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of postoperative complications between the two groups (P>0.05). Conclusion: Both in-situ surgical and needle revision have acceptable success rates and safety for the late failed trabeculectomy blebs, while the former is likely to have a higher level of efficacy over the latter. Needle revision may be insufficient for eyes with low target IOP.

Keywords: glaucoma, trabeculectomy blebs, in-situ surgical revision, needle revision

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Authors: Zeb Hussain, Muhammad Asif Qureshi, Shaheen Sharafat

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Background: Measles is a contagious viral infection common in childhood. Vaccination against measles is included in the expanded program of immunization (EPI). However, and alarmingly, a high mortality rate is observed due to measles infection in Pakistan. Moreover a recent outbreak of measles in various areas of Pakistan further highlights the problem. It is therefore important to investigate measles specific IgG (antibody) levels in our population. Objective: To quantify measles specific IgG antibodies amongst vaccinated children in district Qamber Shahdadkot, Sindh. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Microbiology section of the Dow-Diagnostic-Research-and-Reference-Laboratory (DDRRL), DUHS after Institutional Review Board approval (IRB-516/DUHS/-14) during August-December-2014. A total of 173 participants (residents of district Qamber Shahdadkot, Sindh) aged between 1-5 years were recruited in the study. Blood samples were collected as per standard phlebotomy guidelines. Blood was stored at 4 °C overnight. Samples were subsequently spun at a speed of 10000rpm to separate sera, which were divided into small aliquots to be frozen at -20 °C. Frozen sera were transported to the DDRRL on dry ice. Measles specific IgG (antibody) titers were quantified using enzyme linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA). Results: Blood was collected from a total of 173 individuals ranging between 1-5 years of age. Of these, a total of 88 participants were males and 85 were females. Of the 173 investigated samples, only 53 (30.6%) showed protective IgG titers against measles while 120 (69%) were sero-negative. Measles specific IgG antibodies titers were higher in female participants compared to the males. Conclusion: Our data demonstrate that a substantial percentage of vaccinated children in district Qamber-Shahdadkot did not have protective antibody titres against measles. It is therefore extremely important to investigate measles specific IgG levels in various parts of Pakistan in order to implement appropriate protective measures.

Keywords: sero-surveillance, measles, vaccinated children, Pakistan

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Authors: Mahshid Arabi

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In recent years, remarkable advancements in the fields of artificial intelligence and machine learning have led to the development of facial recognition technologies. These technologies are now employed in a wide range of applications, including security, surveillance, healthcare, and education. In the field of education, the identification of university entrance exam candidates has been one of the fundamental challenges. Traditional methods such as using ID cards and handwritten signatures are not only inefficient and prone to fraud but also susceptible to errors. In this context, utilizing advanced technologies like facial recognition can be an effective and efficient solution to increase the accuracy and reliability of identity verification in entrance exams. This article examines the use of FaceMatch software for recognizing the faces of university entrance exam candidates in Iran. The main objective of this research is to evaluate the efficiency and accuracy of FaceMatch software in identifying university entrance exam candidates to prevent fraud and ensure the authenticity of individuals' identities. Additionally, this research investigates the advantages and challenges of using this technology in Iran's educational systems. This research was conducted using an experimental method and random sampling. In this study, 1000 university entrance exam candidates in Iran were selected as samples. The facial images of these candidates were processed and analyzed using FaceMatch software. The software's accuracy and efficiency were evaluated using various metrics, including accuracy rate, error rate, and processing time. The research results indicated that FaceMatch software could accurately identify candidates with a precision of 98.5%. The software's error rate was less than 1.5%, demonstrating its high efficiency in facial recognition. Additionally, the average processing time for each candidate's image was less than 2 seconds, indicating the software's high efficiency. Statistical evaluation of the results using precise statistical tests, including analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-test, showed that the observed differences were significant, and the software's accuracy in identity verification is high. The findings of this research suggest that FaceMatch software can be effectively used as a tool for identifying university entrance exam candidates in Iran. This technology not only enhances security and prevents fraud but also simplifies and streamlines the exam administration process. However, challenges such as preserving candidates' privacy and the costs of implementation must also be considered. The use of facial recognition technology with FaceMatch software in Iran's educational systems can be an effective solution for preventing fraud and ensuring the authenticity of university entrance exam candidates' identities. Given the promising results of this research, it is recommended that this technology be more widely implemented and utilized in the country's educational systems.

Keywords: facial recognition, FaceMatch software, Iran, university entrance exam

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Authors: Shikhar Shrivastava, Varun Khare

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Background: We are confronted by a society that is becoming more complex, more mobile, and more dysfunctional. Teen pregnancy, suicide, elopement, and the perusal of dangerous drugs have become commonplace. In addition, children do not settle their disputes as they once did. Guns and knives are quotidian. Therefore, it has been an exigent to have a "Juvenile Code" that would provide specific substantive and procedural rules for juveniles in the justice system. However, until the twentieth century, there was little difference between how the justice system treated adults and children. Age was considered only in terms of appropriate punishment and juveniles were eligible for the same punishment as adults. Findings: The increased prevalence and legislative support for specialized courts, Juvenile Justice Boards, including juvenile drug, mental health and truancy court programs, as well as diversion programs and evidence-based approaches into the fabric of juvenile justice are just a few examples of recent advances. In India, various measures were taken to prosecute young offenders who committed violent crimes as adults. But it was argued that equating juveniles with adult criminals was neither scientifically correct nor normatively defensible. It would defeat the very purpose of the justice system. Methodology and Conclusion: This paper attempts to bring forth the results of analytical and descriptive research that examined changing trends in juvenile justice legislation. It covers the investigative and inspective practices of police, the various administrative agencies who have roles in implementing the legislation, the courts, and the detention centers. In this paper we shall discuss about how the juvenile justice system is the dumping ground for many of a youths’ problem. The changing notions of justice, from retributive to restorative and rehabilitative shall be discussed. A comparative study of the Juvenile act in India and that of the U.S has been discussed. Specific social institutions and forces that explain juvenile delinquency are identified. In addition, various influences on juvenile delinquency are noted, such as families, schools, peer groups and communities. The text concludes by addressing socialization, deterrence, imprisonments, alternatives, restitution and preventions.

Keywords: juvenile, justice system, retributive, rehabilitative, delinquency

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Authors: Mark Wiebe

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One of the tasks contemporary analytic philosophers have focused on (e.g., Wolterstorff, Alston, Plantinga, Hasker, and Crisp) is the analysis of certain medieval metaphysical frameworks. This growing body of scholarship has helped clarify and prevent distorted readings of medieval and ancient writers. However, as scholars like Dolezal, Duby, and Brower have pointed out, these analyses have been incomplete or inaccurate in some instances, e.g., with regard to analogical speech or the doctrine of divine simplicity (DDS). Additionally, contributors to this work frequently express opposing claims or fail to note substantial differences between ancient and medieval thinkers. This is the case regarding the comparison between Thomas Aquinas and others. Anton Pegis and Étienne Gilson have argued along this line that Thomas’ metaphysical framework represents a fundamental shift. Gilson describes Thomas’ metaphysics as a turn from a form of “essentialism” to “existentialism.” One should argue that this shift distinguishes Thomas from many Analytic philosophers as well as from other classical defenders of the DDS. Moreover, many of the objections Analytic Philosophers make against Thomas presume the same metaphysical principles undergirding the above-mentioned form of essentialism. This weakens their force against Thomas’ positions. In order to demonstrate these claims, it will be helpful to consider Thomas’ metaphysical outlook alongside that of two other prominent figures: Augustine and Ockham. One area of their thinking which brings their differences to the surface has to do with how each relates to Platonic and Neo-Platonic thought. More specifically, it is illuminating to consider whether and how each distinguishes or conceives essence and existence. It is also useful to see how each approaches the Platonic conflicts between essence and individuality, unity and intelligibility. In both of these areas, Thomas stands out from Augustine and Ockham. Although Augustine and Ockham diverge in many ways, both ultimately identify being with particularity and pit particularity against both unity and intelligibility. Contrastingly, Thomas argues that being is distinct from and prior to essence. Being (i.e., Being in itself) rather than essence or form must therefore serve as the ground and ultimate principle for the existence of everything in which being and essence are distinct. Additionally, since change, movement, and addition improve and give definition to finite being, multitude and distinction are, therefore, principles of being rather than non-being. Consequently, each creature imitates and participates in God’s perfect Being in its own way; the perfection of each genus exists pre-eminently in God without being at odds with God’s simplicity, God has knowledge, power, and will, and these and the many other terms assigned to God refer truly to the being of God without being either meaningless or synonymous. The existentialist outlook at work in these claims distinguishes Thomas in a noteworthy way from his contemporaries and predecessors as much as it does from many of the analytic philosophers who have objected to his thought. This suggests that at least these kinds of objections do not apply to Thomas’ thought.

Keywords: theology, philosophy of religion, metaphysics, philosophy

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Authors: Martins A. Adefisoye, Mpaka Lindelwa, Fadare Folake, Anthony I. Okoh

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Evolution and rapid dissemination of antibiotic resistance from one ecosystem to another has been responsible for wide-scale epidemic and endemic spreads of multi-drug resistance pathogens. This study assessed the prevalence of Enterobacteriaceae in different environmental samples, including river water, hospital effluents, abattoir wastewater, animal rectal swabs and faecal droppings, soil, and vegetables, using standard microbiological procedure. The identity of the isolates were confirmed using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrophotometry (MALDI-TOF) while the isolates were profiled for resistance against a panel of 16 antibiotics using disc diffusion (DD) test, and the occurrence of resistance genes (ARG) was determined by polymerase chain reactions (PCR). Enterobacteriaceae counts in the samples range as follows: river water 4.0 × 101 – 2.0 × 104 cfu/100 ml, hospital effluents 1.5 × 103 – 3.0 × 107 cfu/100 ml, municipal wastewater 2.3 × 103 – 9.2 × 104 cfu/100 ml, faecal droppings 3.0 × 105 – 9.5 × 106 cfu/g, animal rectal swabs 3.0 × 102 – 2.9 × 107 cfu/ml, soil 0 – 1.2 × 105 cfu/g and vegetables 0 – 2.2 × 107 cfu/g. Of the 700 randomly selected presumptive isolates subjected to MALDI-TOF analysis, 129 (18.4%), 68 (9.7%), 67 (9.5%), 41 (5.9%) were E. coli, Klebsiella spp., Enterobacter spp., and Citrobacter spp. respectively while the remaining isolates belong to other genera not targeted in the study. The DD test shows resistance ranging between 91.6% (175/191) for cefuroxime and (15.2%, 29/191) for imipenem The predominant multiple antibiotic resistance phenotypes (MARP), (GM-AUG-AP-CTX-CXM-CIP-NOR-NI-C-NA-TS-T-DXT) occurred in 9 Klebsiella isolates. The multiple antibiotic resistance indices (MARI) the isolates (range 0.17–1.0) generally showed >95% had MARI above the 0.2 thresholds, suggesting that most of the isolates originate from high-risk environments with high antibiotic use and high selective pressure for the emergence of resistance. The associated ARG in the isolates include: bla TEM 61.9 (65), bla SHV 1.9 (2), bla OXA 8.6 (9), CTX-M-2 8.6 (9), CTX-M-9 6.7 (7), sul 2 26.7 (28), tet A 16.2 (17), tet M 17.1 (18), aadA 59.1 (62), strA 34.3 (36), aac(3)A 19.1 (20), (aa2)A 7.6 (8), and aph(3)-1A 10.5 (11). The results underscore the need for preventative measures to curb the proliferation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria including Enterobacteriaceae to protect public health.

Keywords: enterobacteriaceae, antibiotic-resistance, MALDI-TOF, resistance genes, MARP, MARI, public health

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Authors: Anubha Kaushik, Raman Preet

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Distillery wastewater in the form of spent wash is a complex and strong industrial effluent, with high load of organic pollutants that may deplete dissolved oxygen on being discharged into aquatic systems and contaminate groundwater by leaching of pollutants, while untreated spent wash disposed on land acidifies the soil. Stringent legislative measures have therefore been framed in different countries for discharge standards of distillery effluent. Utilising the organic pollutants present in various types of wastes as food by mixed microbial populations is emerging as an eco-friendly approach in the recent years, in which complex organic matter is converted into simpler forms, and simultaneously useful gases are produced as renewable and clean energy sources. In the present study, wastewater from a rice bran based distillery has been used as the substrate in a dark fermenter, and native microbial consortium from the digester sludge has been used as the inoculum to treat the wastewater and produce hydrogen. After optimising the operational conditions in batch reactors, sequential batch mode and continuous flow stirred tank reactors were used to study the best operational conditions for enhanced and sustained hydrogen production and removal of pollutants. Since the rate of hydrogen production by the microbial consortium during dark fermentation is influenced by concentration of organic matter, pH and temperature, these operational conditions were optimised in batch mode studies. Maximum hydrogen production rate (347.87ml/L/d) was attained in 32h dark fermentation while a good proportion of COD also got removed from the wastewater. Slightly acidic initial pH seemed to favor biohydrogen production. In continuous stirred tank reactor, high H₂ production from distillery wastewater was obtained from a relatively shorter substrate retention time (SRT) of 48h and a moderate organic loading rate (OLR) of 172 g/l/d COD.

Keywords: distillery wastewater, hydrogen, microbial consortium, organic pollution, sludge

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Authors: Siswoyo Haryono

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Purpose – The fundamental goal of this research is to see if the integrative organizational behavior model can be used effectively in Islamic boarding schools. This paper also seeks to assess the effect of Islamic organizational culture, leadership, and spiritual intelligence on teachers' organizational commitment to Islamic Boarding schools. The goal of the mediation analysis is to see if the Islamic work ethic has a more significant effect on the instructors' organizational commitment than the direct effects of Islamic organizational culture, leadership, and Islamic spiritual intelligence. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire survey was used to obtain data from teachers at Islamic Boarding Schools. This study used the AMOS technique for structural equation modeling to evaluate the expected direct effect. To test the hypothesized indirect effect, employed Sobel test. Findings – Islamic organizational culture, Islamic leadership, and Islamic spiritual intelligence significantly affect Islamic work ethic. When it comes to Islamic corporate culture, Islamic leadership, Islamic spiritual intelligence, and Islamic work ethics have a significant impact. The findings of the mediation study reveal that Islamic organizational culture, leadership, and spiritual intelligence influences organizational commitment through Islamic work ethic. The total effect analysis shows that the most effective path to increasing teachers’ organizational commitment is Islamic leadership - Islamic work ethic – organizational commitment. Originality/value – This study evaluates the Integrative Model of Organizational Behavior by Colquitt (2016) applied in Islamic Boarding School. The model consists of contemporary leadership and individual characteristic as the antecedent. The mediating variables of the model consist of individual mechanisms such as trust, justice, and ethic. Individual performance and organizational commitment are the model's outcomes. These variables, on the other hand, do not represent the Islamic viewpoint as a whole. As a result, this study aims to assess the role of Islamic principles in the model. The study employs reliability and validity tests to get reliable and valid measures. The findings revealed that the evaluation model is proven to improve organizational commitment at Islamic Boarding School.

Keywords: Islamic leadership, Islamic spiritual intelligence, Islamic work ethic, organizational commitment, Islamic boarding school

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Authors: Aya Tanaka, Mariko Era, Manami Masuda, Yui Okuno, Takayoshi Kawahara, Takahide Kanyama, Hiroshi Morita

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Objectives— Fungi and bacteria are present in a wide range of natural environments. They are breed in the foods such as vegetables and fruit, causing corruption and deterioration of these foods in some cases. Furthermore, some species of fungi and bacteria are known to cause food intoxication or allergic reactions in some individuals. To prevent fungal and bacterial contamination, various fungicides and bactericidal have been developed that inhibit fungal and bacterial growth. Fungicides and bactericides must show high antifungal and antibacterial activity, sustainable activity, and a high degree of safety. Therefore, we focused on the fatty acid salt which is the main component of soap. We focused on especially C10K and C12K. This study aimed to find the effectiveness of the fatty acid salt as antimicrobial agents for food safety. Materials and Methods— Cladosporium cladosporioides NBRC 30314, Penicillium pinophilum NBRC 6345, Aspergillus oryzae (Akita Konno store), Rhizopus oryzae NBRC 4716, Fusarium oxysporum NBRC 31631, Escherichia coli NBRC 3972, Bacillus subtilis NBRC 3335, Staphylococcus aureus NBRC 12732, Pseudomonas aenuginosa NBRC 13275 and Serratia marcescens NBRC 102204 were chosen as tested fungi and bacteria. Hartmannella vermiformis NBRC 50599 and Acanthamoeba castellanii NBRC 30010 were chosen as tested amoeba. Nine fatty acid salts including potassium caprate (C10K) and laurate (C12K) at 350 mM and pH 10.5 were used as antifungal activity. The spore suspension of each fungus (3.0×10⁴ spores/mL) or the bacterial suspension (3.0×10⁵ or 3.0×10⁶ or 3.0×10⁷ CFU/mL) was mixed with each of the fatty acid salts (final concentration of 175 mM). Samples were counted at 0, 10, 60, and 180 min by plating (100 µL) on potato dextrose agar or nutrient agar. Fungal and bacterial colonies were counted after incubation for 1 or 2 days at 30 °C. Results— C10K was antifungal activity of 4 log-unit incubated time for 10 min against fungi other than A. oryzae. C12K was antifungal activity of 4 log-unit incubated time for 10 min against fungi other than P. pinophilum and A. oryzae. C10K and C12K did not show high anti-yeast activity. C10K was antibacterial activity of 6 or 7 log-unit incubated time for 10 min against bacteria other than B. subtilis. C12K was antibacterial activity of 5 to 7 log-unit incubated time for 10 min against bacteria other than S. marcescens. C12K was anti-amoeba activity of 4 log-unit incubated time for 10 min against H. vermiformis. These results suggest C10K and C12K have potential in the field of food safety.

Keywords: food safety, microbes, antimicrobial, fatty acid salts

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Authors: M. S. Raza, A. Kapil, Sonu Tyagi, H. Gautam, S. Mohapatra, R. Chaudhry, S. Sood, V. Goyal, R. Lodha, V. Sreenivas, B. K. Das

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Background: Acute bacterial meningitis remains the major cause of mortality and morbidity. More than half of the survivors develop the significant lifelong neurological abnormalities. Diagnosis of the hospital acquired acute bacterial meningitis (HAABM) is challenging as it appears either in the post operative patients or patients acquire the organisms from the hospital environment. In both the situations, pathogens are exposed to high dose of antibiotics. Chances of getting multidrug resistance organism are very high. We have performed this experiment to find out the etiological agents of HAABM and its antibiotics susceptibility pattern. Methodology: A perspective study was conducted at the Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. From March 2015 to April 2018 total 400 Cerebro spinal fluid samples were collected aseptically. Samples were processed for cell count, Gram staining, and culture. Culture plates were incubated at 37°C for 18-24 hours. Organism grown on blood and MacConkey agar were identified by MALDI-TOF Vitek MS (BioMerieux, France) and antibiotic susceptibility tests were performed by Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method as per CLSI 2015 guideline. Results: Of the 400 CSF samples processed, 43 (10.75%) were culture positive for different bacteria. Out of 43 isolates, the most prevalent Gram-positive organisms were S. aureus 4 (9.30%) followed by E. faecium 3 (6.97%) & CONS 2 (4.65%). Similarly, E. coli 13 (30.23%) was the commonest Gram-negative isolates followed by A. baumannii 12 (27.90%), K. pneumonia 5 (11.62%) and P. aeruginosa 4(9.30%). Most of the antibiotics tested against the Gram-negative isolates were resistance to them. Colistin was most effective followed by Meropenem and Imepenim for all Gram-negative HAABM isolates. Similarly, most of antibiotics tested were susceptible to S. aureus and CONS. However, E. faecium (100%) were only susceptible to vancomycin and teicoplanin. Conclusion: Hospital acquired acute bacterial meningitis (HAABM) is becoming the emerging challenge as most of isolates are showing resistance to commonly used antibiotics. Gram-negative organisms are emerging as the major player of HAABM. Great care needs to be taken especially in tertiary care hospitals. Similarly, antibiotic stewardship should be followed and antibiotic susceptibility test (AST) should be performed regularly to update the antibiotic patter and to prevent from the emergence of resistance. Updated information of the AST will be helpful for the better management of the meningitis patient.

Keywords: CSF, MALDI-TOF, hospital acquired acute bacterial meningitis, AST

Procedia PDF Downloads 133

Authors: Peiyin Hung, Katy Kozhimannil, Michelle Casey, Ira Moscovice

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Background/Objective: The loss of obstetric services has been a pressing concern in urban and rural areas nationwide. This study aims to determine factors that contribute to the loss of obstetric care through closures of a hospital or obstetric unit. Methods: Data from 2002-2013 American Hospital Association annual surveys were used to identify hospitals providing obstetric services. We linked these data to Medicare Healthcare Cost Report Information for hospital financial indicators, the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey for zip-code level characteristics, and Area Health Resource files for county- level clinician supply measures. A discrete-time multinomial logit model was used to determine contributing factors to obstetric unit or hospital closures. Results: Of 3,551 hospitals providing obstetrics services during 2002-2013, 82% kept units open, 12% stopped providing obstetrics services, and 6% closed down completely. State-level variations existed. Factors that significantly increased hospitals’ probability of obstetric unit closures included lower than 250 annual birth volume (adjusted marginal effects [95% confidence interval]=34.1% [28%, 40%]), closer proximity to another hospital with obstetric services (per 10 miles: -1.5% [-2.4, -0.5%]), being in a county with lower family physician supply (-7.8% [-15.0%, -0.6%), being in a zip code with higher percentage of non-white females (per 10%: 10.2% [2.1%, 18.3%]), and with lower income (per $1,000 income: -0.14% [-0.28%, -0.01%]). Conclusions: Over the past 12 years, loss of obstetric services has disproportionately affected areas served by low-volume urban and rural hospitals, non-white and low-income communities, and counties with fewer family physicians, signaling a need to address maternity care access in these communities.

Keywords: access to care, obstetric care, service line discontinuation, hospital, obstetric unit closures

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Authors: Sinan Bilgen, Bekir Ozer Ay, Nilay Sezer Uzol

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After decades of conventional shapes, irregular forms with complex geometries are getting more popular for form generation of tall buildings all over the world. This trend has recently brought out diverse building forms such as twisting tall buildings. This study investigates both the aerodynamic and design features of twisting tall buildings through comparative analyses. Since twisting a tall building give rise to additional complexities related with the form and structural system, lateral load effects become of greater importance on these buildings. The aim of this study is to analyze the inherent characteristics of these iconic forms by comparing the wind loads on twisting tall buildings with those on their prismatic twins. Through a case study research, aerodynamic analyses of an existing twisting tall building and its prismatic counterpart were performed and the results have been compared. The prismatic twin of the original building were generated by removing the progressive rotation of its floors with the same plan area and story height. Performance-based measures under investigation have been evaluated in conjunction with the architectural design. Aerodynamic effects have been analyzed by both wind tunnel tests and computational methods. High frequency base balance tests and pressure measurements on 3D models were performed to evaluate wind load effects on a global and local scale. Comparisons of flat and real surface models were conducted to further evaluate the effects of the twisting form without façade texture contribution. Comparisons highlighted that, the twisting form under investigation shows better aerodynamic behavior both for along wind but particularly for across wind direction. Compared to the prismatic counterpart; twisting model is superior on reducing vortex-shedding dynamic response by disorganizing the wind vortices. Consequently, despite the difficulties arisen from inherent complexity of twisted forms, they could still be feasible and viable with their attractive images in the realm of tall buildings.

Keywords: aerodynamic tests, motivation for twisting, tall buildings, twisted forms, wind excitation

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Authors: Ali Liaghat, Navid Tavanpour, Nima Tavanpour

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An increase in population and prevalence of urbanity have led plan makers and decision makers put effort into sustainable development of cities at national and local levels. One of the important issues in urban development is compliance with safety issues in cities. Despite natural disasters and unexpected events such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, fires, etc., urban development should be regarded as an axiom, or else any form of construction and development is not safe, because it will greatly harm economic growth and development and pose an obstacle to achieving sustainable development, plus a loss to lives and finances of people. Therefore, in line with urban development, it is necessary to identify particular environmental and local issues as determinants and pay attention to them at the top of everything, in that we can call it a good action and factor in urban sustainable developments. Physical structure of each city represents how it has developed or its development shaped and what incidents, changes, natural disasters it has undergone over time. Since any form of development plan should be in accordance with the previous situations of cities, disregarding it, unfortunately, can escalate into uncontrolled urban development, non-resistant and unstable construction against earthquake or invasion of river areas, destruction of agricultural lands or vegetation, periodic floods over time. It has been viewed as serious threats to developing cities, and typically caused destruction of bed and other urban facilities as well as damages to lives and finances. In addition, uncontrolled development has caused cities to look ugly in terms of urban façade, and off and on such unplanned measures caused the country to face countless losses, and it not only vitiates expenses incurred, but it will also impose additional costs of reconstruction, i.e. it is unsustainable development. Thus, in this paper, in addition to a discussion about necessity for a profound attitude toward this subject and making long-term plans, programs for organizing river and its surrounding area, creating open and green urban spaces, retrofitting and flood preventing are presented for sustainable safety and development of cities along with a critique of successful countries.

Keywords: flood, sustainable development, urbanisation, urban management

Procedia PDF Downloads 249

Authors: Mai A. Ibrahim, Mohammed El-Beltagy, Motaz Khorshid

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Emerging Markets return distributions have shown significance departure from normality were they are characterized by fatter tails relative to the normal distribution and exhibit levels of skewness and kurtosis that constitute a significant departure from normality. Therefore, the classical Markowitz Mean-Variance is not applicable for emerging markets since it assumes normally-distributed returns (with zero skewness and kurtosis) and a quadratic utility function. Moreover, the Markowitz mean-variance analysis can be used in cases of moderate non-normality and it still provides a good approximation of the expected utility, but it may be ineffective under large departure from normality. Higher moments models and median models have been suggested in the literature for asset allocation in this case. Higher moments models have been introduced to account for the insufficiency of the description of a portfolio by only its first two moments while the median model has been introduced as a robust statistic which is less affected by outliers than the mean. Tail risk measures such as Value-at Risk (VaR) and Conditional Value-at-Risk (CVaR) have been introduced instead of Variance to capture the effect of risk. In this research, higher moment models including the Mean-Variance-Skewness (MVS) and Mean-Variance-Skewness-Kurtosis (MVSK) are formulated as single-objective non-linear programming problems (NLP) and median models including the Median-Value at Risk (MedVaR) and Median-Mean Absolute Deviation (MedMAD) are formulated as a single-objective mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) problems. The higher moment models and median models are compared to some benchmark portfolios and tested on real financial data in the Egyptian main Index EGX30. The results show that all the median models outperform the higher moment models were they provide higher final wealth for the investor over the entire period of study. In addition, the results have confirmed the inapplicability of the classical Markowitz Mean-Variance to the Egyptian stock market as it resulted in very low realized profits.

Keywords: Egyptian stock exchange, emerging markets, higher moment models, median models, mixed-integer linear programming, non-linear programming

Procedia PDF Downloads 287

Authors: Majed A. Alsalem

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Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is common theme in education across the US and an influential model and framework that enables students in general and particularly students who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) to access the general education curriculum. UDL helps teachers determine how information will be presented to students and how to keep students engaged. Moreover, UDL helps students to express their understanding and knowledge to others. UDL relies on technology to promote students' interaction with content and their communication of knowledge. This study included 120 DHH students who received daily instruction based on UDL principles. This study presents the results of the study and discusses its implications for the integration of UDL in day-to-day practice as well as in the country's education policy. UDL is a Western concept that began and grew in the US, and it has just begun to transfer to other countries such as Saudi Arabia. It will be very important to researchers, practitioners, and educators to see how UDL is being implemented in a new place with a different culture. UDL is a framework that is built to provide multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression that should be part of curricula and lessons for all students. The purpose of this study is to investigate the variables associated with the implementation of UDL in Saudi Arabian schools and identify the barriers that could prevent the implementation of UDL. Therefore, this study used a mixed methods design that use both quantitative and qualitative methods. More insights will be gained by including both quantitative and qualitative rather than using a single method. By having methods that different concepts and approaches, the databases will be enriched. This study uses levels of collecting date through two stages in order to insure that the data comes from multiple ways to mitigate validity threats and establishing trustworthiness in the findings. The rationale and significance of this study is that it will be the first known research that targets UDL in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, it will deal with UDL in depth to set the path for further studies in the Middle East. From a perspective of content, this study considers teachers’ implementation knowledge, skills, and concerns of implementation. This study deals with effective instructional designs that have not been presented in any conferences, workshops, teacher preparation and professional development programs in Saudi Arabia. Specifically, Saudi Arabian schools are challenged to design inclusive schools and practices as well as to support all students’ academic skills development. The total participants in stage one were 336 teachers of DHH students. The results of the intervention indicated significant differences among teachers before and after taking the training sessions associated with their understanding and level of concern. Teachers have indicated interest in knowing more about UDL and adopting it into their practices; they reported that UDL has benefits that will enhance their performance for supporting student learning.

Keywords: deaf and hard of hearing, professional development, Saudi Arabia, universal design for learning

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Authors: Chitsanzo Isaac

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Across the world, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has challenged urban systems and policy frameworks, highlighting societal vulnerabilities and systemic inequities among many communities. Measures of confinement and social distancing to contain the Covid-19 virus have fragmented the physical and social fabric of cities. This has caused urban dwellers to reassess how they engage with their urban surroundings and maintain social ties. Urbanists have presented strategies that would allow communities to survive and even thrive, in extraordinary times of crisis like the pandemic. Tactical Urbanism, particularly the 15-Minute City, has gained popularity. It is considered a resilient approach in the global north, however, it’s transferability to the global south has been called into question. To this end, this paper poses the question: to what extent is the 15-Minute City framework integral sustainable design, and are there processes that make it adoptable by cities in the global south? This paper explores four issues using secondary quantitative data analysis and convergence analysis in the Paris and Blantyre urban regions. First, it questions how the 15-Minute City has been defined and measured, and how it impacts urban dwellers. Second, it examines the extent to which the 15-minute city performs under the lens of frameworks such as Wilber’s integral theory and Fleming’s integral sustainable design theory. Thirdly this work examines the processes that can be transferred to developing cities which foster community resilience through the perspectives of experience, behaviors, cultures, and systems. Finally, it reviews the principal ways in which a multi-perspective reality can be the basis for resilient community design and sustainable urban development. This work will shed a light on the importance of a multi-perspective reality as a means of achieving sustainable urban design goals in developing urban areas.

Keywords: 15-minute city, developing cities, global south, community resilience, integral sustainable design, systems thinking, complexity, tactical urbanism

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Authors: R. Simões, M. Silveirinha

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Driven by the need to understand the results of previous research that clearly shows deep unbalances of the media discourses about women and men in spite of the growing numbers of female journalists, our paper aims to progress from the 'what' to the 'why' of these unbalanced representations. Furthermore, it does so at a time when journalism is undergoing a dramatic change in terms of professional practices and in how media organizations are organized and run, affecting women in particular. While some feminist research points to the fact that female and male journalists evaluate the role of the news and production methods in similar ways feminist theorizing also suggests that thought and knowledge are highly influenced by social identity, which is also inherently affected by the experiences of gender. This is particularly important at a time of deep societal and professional changes. While there are persuasive discussions of gender identities at work in newsrooms in various countries studies on the issue will benefit from cases that focus on the particularities of local contexts. In our paper, we present one such case: the case of Portugal, a country hit hard by austerity measures that have affected all cultural industries including journalism organizations, already feeling the broader impacts of the larger societal changes of the media landscape. Can we gender these changes? How are they felt and understood by female and male journalists? And how are these discourses framed by androcentric, feminist and post-feminist sensibilities? Foregrounding questions of gender, our paper seeks to explore some of the interactions of societal and professional forces, identifying their gendered character and outlining how they shape journalism work in general and the production of unbalanced gender representations in particular. We do so grounded in feminist studies of journalism as well as feminist organizational and work studies, looking at a corpus of 20 in-depth interviews of female and male Portuguese journalists. The research findings illustrate how gender in journalism practices interacts with broader experiences of the cultural and economic contexts and show the ambivalences of these interactions in news organizations.

Keywords: gender, journalism, newsroom culture, Portuguese journalists

Procedia PDF Downloads 372

Authors: Balazs Patczai, Katalin Gocze, Gabriella Kiss, Dorottya Szabo, Tibor Mintal

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Introduction: Running has become increasingly popular on a global scale in the past decades. Amateur athletes are taking their sport to a new level in an attempt to surpass their performance goals. The aim of our study was to assess the musculoskeletal condition of amateur runners and the prevalence of injuries with a special focus on stress fracture risk. Methods: The cross sectional analysis included ankle mobility, hamstring and lower back flexibility, the use of Renne’s test for iliotibial band syndrome, functional tests for trunk and rotary stability, and measurements of bone density. Data was collected at 2 major half-marathon events in Hungary. Results: Participants (n=134) mean age was 41.76±8.57 years (males: 40.67±8.83, females: 42.08±8.56). Measures of hamstring and lower back flexibility fell into the category of good for both genders (males: 7.13±6.83cm, females: 10.17±6.67cm). No side asymmetry nor gender differences were characteristic in the case of ankle mobility. Trunk stability was significantly better for males than in females (p=0.004). Markers of bone health were in the low normal range for females and were significantly better for males (T-score: p=0.003, T-ratio: p=0.014, Z-score: p=0.034, Z-ratio: p=0.011). 5.2% of females had a previous stress fracture and 24.1% experienced irregular menstrual cycles during the past year. As for the knowledge on the possible association of energy deficiency, menstrual disturbances and their effect on bone health, Only 8.6% of females have heard of the female athlete triad either during their studies or from a health professional. Discussion: The overall musculoskeletal state was satisfactory for both genders both physically and functionally. More attention and effort should be placed on primary and secondary prevention of amateur runners. Very few active women are well informed about the effects of low energy availability and menstrual dysfunction and the negative impact these have on bone health.

Keywords: bone health, flexibility, running, stress fracture

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Authors: Paolo Ragazzi, Olivier Peillon, Paul Fauris, Mathias Simon, Raul Navarro, Juan Carlos Martin, Oriol Casasayas, Laura Pacheco, Albert Perez-Bellmunt

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Introduction: The use of stretching techniques in the sports world is frequent and widely used for its many effects. One of the main benefits is the gain in flexibility, range of motion and facilitation of the sporting performance. Recently the use of Roller-Foam (RF) has spread in sports practice both at elite and recreational level for its benefits being similar to those observed in stretching. The objective of the following study is to compare the results of the Roller-Foam with the proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching (PNF) (one of the stretchings with more evidence) on the hamstring muscles. Study design: The design of the study is a single-blind, randomized controlled trial and the participants are 40 healthy volunteers. Intervention: The subjects are distributed randomly in one of the following groups; stretching (PNF) intervention group: 4 repetitions of PNF stretching (5seconds of contraction, 5 second of relaxation, 20 second stretch), Roller-Foam intervention group: 2 minutes of Roller-Foam was realized on the hamstring muscles. Main outcome measures: hamstring muscles flexibility was assessed at the beginning, during (30’’ of intervention) and the end of the session by using the Modified Sit and Reach test (MSR). Results: The baseline results data given in both groups are comparable to each other. The PNF group obtained an increase in flexibility of 3,1 cm at 30 seconds (first series) and of 5,1 cm at 2 minutes (the last of all series). The RF group obtained a 0,6 cm difference at 30 seconds and 2,4 cm after 2 minutes of application of roller foam. The results were statistically significant when comparing intragroups but not intergroups. Conclusions: Despite the fact that the use of roller foam is spreading in the sports and rehabilitation field, the results of the present study suggest that the gain of flexibility on the hamstrings is greater if PNF type stretches are used instead of RF. These results may be due to the fact that the use of roller foam intervened more in the fascial tissue, while the stretches intervene more in the myotendinous unit. Future studies are needed, increasing the sample number and diversifying the types of stretching.

Keywords: hamstring muscle, stretching, neuromuscular facilitation stretching, roller foam

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Authors: Reyhan Özdoğan, Mithat Çelebi, Özgür Ceylan, Mehmet Arif Kaya

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Super absorbent polymers (SAPs) are defined as materials that can absorb huge amount of water or aqueous solution in comparison to their own mass and retain in their lightly cross-linked structure. SAPs were produced from water soluble monomers via polymerization subsequently controlled crosslinking. SAPs are generally used for water absorbing applications such as baby diapers, patient or elder pads and other hygienic product industries. Crosslinking density (CD) of SAP structure is an essential factor for water absortion capacity (WAC). Low internal CD leads to high WAC values and vice versa. However, SAPs have low CD and high swelling capacities and tend to disintegrate when pressure is applied upon them, so SAPs under load cannot absorb liquids effectively. In order to prevent this undesired situation and to obtain suitable SAP structures having high swelling capacity and ability to work under load, surface crosslinking can be the answer. In industry, these superabsorbent gels are mostly produced via solution polymerization and then they need to be dried, grinded, sized, post polymerized and finally surface croslinked (involves spraying of a crosslinking solution onto dried and grinded SAP particles, and then curing by heat). It can easily be seen that these steps are time consuming and should be handled carefully for the desired final product. If we could synthesize desired final SAPs using less processes it will help reducing time and production costs which are very important for any industries. In this study, synthesis of SAPs were achieved successfully by inverse suspension (Pickering type) polymerization and subsequently in-situ surface cross-linking via using proper surfactants in high boiling point solvents. Our one-pot synthesis of surface cross-linked SAPs invovles only one-step for preparation, thus it can be said that this technique exhibits more preferable characteristic for the industry in comparison to conventional methods due to its one-step easy process. Effects of different surface crosslinking agents onto properties of poly(acrylic acid-co-sodium acrylate) based SAPs are investigated. Surface crosslink degrees are evaluated by swelling under load (SUL) test. It was determined water absorption capacities of obtained SAPs decrease with the increasing surface crosslink density while their mechanic properties are improved.

Keywords: inverse suspension polymerization, polyacrylic acid, super absorbent polymers (SAPs), surface crosslinking, sodium polyacrylate

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Authors: D. Castillo T., Luis F. Jimenez

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The compressed earth blocks (CEBs) constitute an alternative as a constructive element for building homes in regions with high levels of poverty and marginalization. Such is the case of Southeastern Mexico, where the population, predominantly indigene, build their houses with feeble materials like wood and palm, vulnerable to extreme weather in the area, because they do not have the financial resources to acquire concrete blocks. There are several advantages that can provide BTCs compared to traditional vibro-compressed concrete blocks, such as the availability of materials, low manufacturing cost and reduced CO2 emissions to the atmosphere for not be subjected to a burning process. However, to improve its mechanical properties and resistance to adverse weather conditions in terms of humidity and temperature of the sub-humid climate zones, it requires the use of a chemical stabilizer; in this case we chose Ca(OH)2. The stabilization method Eades-Grim was employed, according to ASTM C977-03. This method measures the optimum amount of lime required to stabilize the soil, increasing the pH to 12.4 or higher. The minimum amount of lime required in this experiment was 1% and the maximum was 10%. The employed material was clay unconsolidated low to medium plasticity (CL type according to the Unified Soil Classification System). Based on these results, the CEBs manufacturing process was determined. The obtained blocks were from 10x15x30 cm using a mixture of soil, water and lime in different proportions. Later these blocks were put to dry outdoors and subjected to several physical and mechanical tests, such as compressive strength, absorption and drying shrinkage. The results were compared with the limits established by the Mexican Standard NMX-C-404-ONNCCE-2005 for the construction of housing walls. In this manner an alternative and sustainable material was obtained for the construction of rural households in the region, with better security conditions, comfort and cost.

Keywords: calcium hydroxide, chemical stabilization, compressed earth blocks, sub-humid warm weather

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Authors: Henry Kelly, Helena Shaw

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This paper will seek how innovative methods from Health Economics and, to a lesser extent, wellbeing analysis can be applied in the Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) of transport infrastructure and policy interventions. The context for this will focus on the framework articulated by the UK Treasury (finance department) and the English Department for Transport. Both have well-established methods for undertaking CBA, but there is increased policy interest, particularly at a regional level of exploring broader strategic goals beyond those traditionally associated with transport user benefits, productivity gains, and labour market access. Links to different CBA approaches internationally, such as New Zealand, France, and Wales will be referenced. By exploring a complementary method of accessing the impacts of policies through the quantification of health impacts is a fruitful line to explore. In a previous piece of work, 14 impact pathways were identified, mapping the relationship between transport and health. These are wide-ranging, from improved employment prospects, the stress of unreliable journey times, and air quality to isolation and loneliness. Importantly, we will consider these different measures of health from an intersectional point of view to ensure that the basis that remains in the health industry does not get translated across to this work. The objective is to explore how a CBA based on these pathways may, through quantifying forecast impacts in terms of Quality-Adjusted Life Years may, produce different findings than a standard approach. Of particular interest is how a health-based approach may have different distributional impacts on socio-economic groups and may favour distinct types of interventions. Consideration will be given to the degree this approach may double-count impacts or if it is possible to identify additional benefits to the established CBA approach. The investigation will explore a range of schemes, from a high-speed rail link, highway improvements, rural mobility hubs, and coach services to cycle lanes. The conclusions should aid the progression of methods concerning the assessment of publicly funded infrastructure projects.

Keywords: cost-benefit analysis, health, QALYs transport

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Authors: Nemanja Kidzin, Danka Puric

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Recently, the field of personality change has received an increasing amount of attention. Previously under-researched variables, such as the intention to change or taking on new social roles (in a working environment, education, family, etc.), have been shown to be relevant for personality change. Following this line of research, our study aimed to determine whether the process of acting can bring about personality changes in students of acting and, if yes, in which way. We hypothesized that there will be a significant difference between self-reported personality traits of students acting at the beginning and the end of preparing for a role. Additionally, as potential moderator variables, we measured the reported personality traits of the roles the students were acting, as well as empathy, disintegration, and years of formal education. The sample (N = 47) was composed of students of acting from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts (first- to fourth-year) and the Faculty of Modern Arts (first-year students only). Participants' mean age was 20.2 (SD = 1.47), and there were 64% of females. The procedure included two waves of testing (T1 at the beginning and T2 at the end of the semester), and students’ acting exercises and character immersion comprised the pseudo-experimental procedure. Students’ personality traits (HEXACO-60, self-report version), empathy (Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy, QCAE), and disintegration (DELTA9, 10-item version) were measured at both T1 and T2, while the personality of the role (HEXACO-60 observer version) was measured at T2. Responses to all instruments were given on a 5-point Likert scale. A series of repeated-measures T-tests showed significant differences in emotionality (t(46) = 2.56, p = 0.014) and conscientiousness (t(46) = -2.39, p = 0.021) between T1 and T2. Moreover, an index of absolute personality change was significantly different from 0 for all traits (range .53 to .34, t(46) = 4.20, p < .001 for the lowest index. The average test-retest correlation for HEXACO traits was 0.57, which is lower than proposed by other similar researches. As for moderator variables, neither the personality of the role nor empathy or disintegration explained the change in students’ personality traits. The magnitude of personality change was the highest in fourth-year students, with no significant differences between the remaining three years of studying. Overall, our results seem to indicate some personality changes in students of acting. However, these changes cannot be unequivocally related to the process of preparing for a role. Further and methodologically stricter research is needed to unravel the role of acting in personality change.

Keywords: theater, personality change, acting, HEXACO

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Authors: Radwa Elshorbagy, Alaa Elden Balbaa, Khaled Ayad, Waleed Reda

Abstract:

Introduction: Ankle sprain is a common lower limb injury that is complicated by high recurrence rate. The cause of recurrence is not clear; however, changes in motor control have been postulated. Objective: to determine the contribution of proximal hip strategy to dynamic postural control in patients with recurrent ankle sprain. Methods: Fifteen subjects with recurrent ankle sprain (group A) and fifteen healthy control subjects (group B) participated in this study. Abductor-adductors as well as flexor-extensor hip musculatures control was abolished by fatigue using the Biodex Isokinetic System. Dynamic postural control was measured before and after fatigue by the Biodex Balance System. Results: Repeated measures MANOVA was used to compare between and within group differences, in group A fatiguing of hip muscles (flexors-extensors and abductors-adductors) increased overall stability index (OASI), anteroposterior stability index (APSI) and mediolateral stability index (MLSI) significantly (p=0.00) whereas; in group B fatiguing of hip flexors-extensors increased significantly OASI and APSI only (p= 0.017, 0.010; respectively) while fatiguing of hip abductors-adductors has no significant effect on these variables. Moreover, patients with ankle sprain had significantly lower dynamic balance after hip muscles fatigue compared to the control group. Specifically, after hip flexor-extensor fatigue, the OASI, APSI and MLSI were increased significantly than those of the control values (p= 0.002, 0.011, and 0.003, respectively) whereas fatiguing of hip abductors-adductors increased significantly in OASI and APSI only (p=0.012, 0.026, respectively). Conclusion: To maintain dynamic balance, patients with recurrent ankle sprain seem to rely more on the hip strategy. This means that those patients depend on a top to down instead of down to top strategy clinical relevance: patients with recurrent ankle sprain less efficient in maintaining the dynamic postural control due to the change in motor strategies. Indicating that health care providers and rehabilitation specialists should treat CAI as a global/central and not just as a simple local or peripheral injury.

Keywords: hip strategy, ankle strategy, postural control, dynamic balance

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