Search results for: coping responses subtypes

Authors: Saekil Yun, Sib Sankar Giri, Jin Woo Jun, Hyoun Joong Kim, Sang Guen Kim, Sang Wha Kim, Jung Woo Kang, Se Jin Han, Se Chang Park

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In aquaculture, vaccination is important to control and prevent diseases. In the study, we utilized poly D,L-lactide-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) microparticles (MPs) for encapsulating formalin-killed Aeromonas hydrophila cells. To assess the innate and adaptive immune responses, carps and loaches were used for the experiments. Fish were divided into three groups (A, B, C). Total antigen of 0.1 ml vaccine was adjusted by 2 x 108 CFU and injected via intraperitoneal route. Group A was vaccinated with 0.1 ml of PLGA vaccine, group B was with 0.1 ml of FKC vaccine and group C was with 0.1 ml of sterile PBS. All three groups were challenged with A. hydrophila and challenge dose was lethal dose (LD50). Loaches and carp were then challenged with A. hydrophila at 12 and 20 weeks post vaccination (wpv), and 10 and 14 wpv, respectively, and relative survival rates were calculated. For both fish species, the curve of antibody titer over time was shallower in the PLGA group than the FKC group and the PLGA groups demonstrated higher survival rates at all time-points. In the groups of PLGA-MP, relative mRNA levels of IL-1β, TNF-α, lysozyme C and IgM were significantly upregulated than FKC treated groups. Biodegradable PLGA microparticle vaccine could induce longer immune responses than original FKC vaccines to protect from A. hydrophila infection.

Keywords: PLGA, microparticles, Aeromonas hydrophila, vaccine

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Authors: Damian Janecki, Anna Jaskólska, Jarosław Marusiak, Artur Jaskólski

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The aim of this study was to assess double to single twitch ratio after two bouts of eccentric exercise of the elbow flexors. Maximal isometric torque, single and double twitch responses and low-frequency fatigue were assessed on the elbow flexors in 19 untrained male volunteers before, immediately after, 24 and 48 hours following two bouts of eccentric exercise consisted of 30 repetitions of lowering a dumbbell adjusted to ~75% of each individual's maximal isometric torque. Maximal isometric torque and electrically evoked responses decreased significantly in all measurements after the first bout of eccentric exercise (P<0.05). In measurements performed at 24 and 48 hours after the second bout both maximal voluntary isometric torque and electrically evoked contractions were significantly higher than in measurements performed after the fist bout (P<0.05). Although low-frequency fatigue significantly increased up to 48 hours after each bout of eccentric exercise, its values at 24 and 48 hours after the second bout were significantly lower than at respective time points after the first bout (P<0.05). Smaller changes in double to single twitch ratio at 24 and 48 hours after the second bout of eccentric exercise reflects repeated bout effect that confers protection against subsequent exercise-induced muscle damage.

Keywords: biceps brachii, electrical stimulation, lenghtening contractions, repeated bout effect

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Authors: Ayman Mohammed, Abdul Raffay Ilyas, Syeda Rohma Sadia, Zuha Durrani, Fareeha Kamal, Shaheryar Syed, Arshiya Shareef, Mukarram Zaidi

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On June 16, 2019, Coalition Avenir de Québec (CAQ) passed Bill 21, a controversial bill impacting many Canadians. The Bill prohibits workers in the Quebec provincial sector from wearing any form of religious articles. While the Bill claims to treat all religious symbols equally, those with distinctive items of dress such as hijabs, kippahs, and turbans become targets of the discriminatory nature of the Bill. With the rise in xenophobic behaviour across Canada and the West, Think For Actions conducted a study of Bill 21. The study included responses from Indigenous, Muslims, Sikhs and Jewish people residing in Calgary. The focus was on the recent passing of Bill 21, their opinions on the perceived attitudes of intolerance, and the perceptions of common stereotypes. The data collection and analysis happened over 9 weeks. The method of data collection was semi-structured interviews held in focus groups in different religious institutions and cultural/community centres in Calgary. The focus groups generated unanimously negative responses to the Bill. Participants described the Bill as “hateful” and one which “targets minority religions”. The participants had hopes that the Bill would be defeated and Quebec residents would be protected by their basic rights to practice their religion.

Keywords: Bill 21, Islamophobia, Quebec, minorities, discrimination

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Authors: Ana Rahma Yuniarti, Ki Moo Lim

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Slowed myocardial conduction velocity (CV) and shortened action potential duration (APD) due to some reason are associated with an increased risk of re-entrant excitation, predisposing to cardiac arrhythmia. That is because both of CV reduction and APD shortening induces shortening of wavelength. In this study, we investigated quantitatively the cardiac mechanical responses under various CV and APD using multi-scale computational model of the heart. The model consisted of electrical model coupled with the mechanical contraction model together with a lumped model of the circulatory system. The electrical model consisted of 149.344 numbers of nodes and 183.993 numbers of elements of tetrahedral mesh, whereas the mechanical model consisted of 356 numbers of nodes and 172 numbers of elements of hexahedral mesh with hermite basis. We performed the electrical simulation with two scenarios: 1) by varying the CV values with constant APD and 2) by varying the APD values with constant CV. Then, we compared the electrical and mechanical responses for both scenarios. Our simulation showed that faster CV and longer APD induced largest resultants wavelength and generated better cardiac pumping efficacy by increasing the cardiac output and consuming less energy. This is due to the long wave propagation and faster conduction generated more synchronous contraction of whole ventricle.

Keywords: conduction velocity, action potential duration, mechanical contraction model, circulatory model

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Authors: Sevinj Asgarova

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Within the last few decades, major advances in the field of prenatal testing have transpired yet little research regarding the experiences of mothers who chose to continue their pregnancies after prenatally receiving a diagnosis of Down Syndrome (DS) has been undertaken. Using social constructionism and interpretive description, this retrospective research study explores this topic from the point of view of the mothers involved and provides insight as to how the experience could be improved. Using purposive sampling, 23 mothers were recruited from British Columbia (n=11) and Ontario (n=12) in Canada. Data retrieved through semi-structured in-depth interviews were analyzed using inductive, constant comparative analysis, the major analytical techniques of interpretive description. Four primary phases emerged from the data analysis 1) healthcare professional-mothers communications, 2) initial emotional response, 3) subsequent decision-making and 4) an adjustment and reorganization of lifestyle to the preparation for the birth of the child. This study validates the individualized and contextualized nature of mothers’ decisions as influenced by multiple factors, with moral values/spiritual beliefs being significant. The mothers’ ability to cope was affected by the information communicated to them about their unborn baby’s diagnosis and the manner in which that information was delivered to them. Mothers used emotional coping strategies, dependent upon support from partners, family, and friends, as well as from other families who have children with DS. Additionally, they employed practical coping strategies, such as engaging in healthcare planning, seeking relevant information, and reimagining and reorganizing their lifestyle. Over time many families gained a sense of control over their situation and readjusted to the preparation for the birth of the child. Many mothers expressed the importance of maintaining positivity and hopefulness with respect to positive outcomes and opportunities for their children. The comprehensive information generated through this study will also provide healthcare professionals with relevant information to assist them in understanding the informational and emotional needs of these mothers. This should lead to an improvement in their practice and enhance their ability to intervene appropriately and effectively, better offering improved support to parents dealing with a diagnosis of DS for their child.

Keywords: continuing affected pregnancy, decision making, disability, down syndrome, eugenic social attitudes, inequalities, life change events, prenatal care, prenatal testing, qualitative research, social change, social justice

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Authors: Raveendranath Veeramani, Parkash Chand, H. Y. Suma, A. Umamageswari

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Background and Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate students’ perception of Integrated Learning Program[ILP]. Settings and Design: A questionnaire was used to survey and evaluate the perceptions of 1styear MBBS students at the Department of Anatomy at our medical college in India. Materials and Methods: The first MBBS Students of Anatomy were involved in the ILP on the Liver and extra hepatic biliary apparatus integrating the Departments of Anatomy, Biochemistry and Hepato-biliary Surgery. The evaluation of the ILP was done by two sets of short questionnaire that had ten items using the Likert five-point grading scale. The data involved both the students’ responses and their grading. Results: A majority of students felt that the ILP was better in as compared to the traditional lecture method of teaching.The integrated teaching method was better at fulfilling learning objectives (128 students, 83%), enabled better understanding (students, 94%), were more interesting (140 students, 90%), ensured that they could score better in exams (115 students, 77%) and involved greater interaction (100 students, 66%), as compared to traditional teaching methods. Most of the students (142 students, 95%) opined that more such sessions should be organized in the future. Conclusions: Responses from students show that the integrated learning session should be incorporated even at first phase of MBBS for selected topics so as to create interest in the medical sciences at the entry level and to make them understand the importance of basic science.

Keywords: integrated learning, students response, vertical integration, horizontal integration

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Authors: Neringa Bagdonaite

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Study Aims: The current study aimed to systematically analyse various research done in the area of female post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol abuse, and to critically review these results on the basis of theoretical models as well as answer following questions: (I) What is the reciprocal relationship between PTSD and problem alcohol use among females; (II) What are the moderating/mediating factors of this relationship? Methods: The computer bibliographic databases Ebsco, Scopus, Springer, Web of Science, Medline, Science Direct were used to search for scientific articles. Systematic analyses sample consisted of peer-reviewed, English written articles addressing mixed gender and female PTSD and alcohol abuse issues from Jan 2012 to May 2017. Results: Total of 1011 articles were found in scientific databases related to searched keywords of which 29 met the selection criteria and were analysed. The results of longitudinal studies indicate that (I) various trauma, especially interpersonal trauma exposure in childhood is linked with increased risk of revictimization in later life and problem alcohol use; (II) revictimization in adolescence or adulthood, rather than victimization in childhood has a greater impact on the onset and progression of problematic alcohol use in adulthood. Cross-sectional and epidemiological studies also support significant relationships between female PTSD and problem alcohol use. Regards to the negative impact of alcohol use on PTSD symptoms results are yet controversial; some evidence suggests that alcohol does not exacerbate symptoms of PTSD over time, while others argue that problem alcohol use worsens PTSD symptoms and is linked to chronicity of both disorders, especially among women with previous alcohol use problems. Analysis of moderating/mediating factors of PTSD and problem alcohol use revealed, that higher motives/expectancies, specifically distress coping motives for alcohol use significantly moderates the relationship between PTSD and problematic alcohol use. Whereas negative affective states mediate relationship between symptoms of PTSD and alcohol use, but only among woman with alcohol use problems already developed. Conclusions: Interpersonal trauma experience, especially in childhood and its reappearance in lifetime is linked with PTSD symptoms and problem drinking among women. Moreover, problem alcohol use can be both a cause and a consequence of trauma and PTSD, and if used for coping it, increases the likelihood of chronicity of both disorders. In order to effectively treat both disorders, it’s worthwhile taking into account this dynamic interplay of women's PTSD symptoms and problem drinking.

Keywords: female, trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, problem alcohol use, systemic analysis

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Authors: Triana Fitriastuti, Pipiet Larasatie, Alex Vanderstraten

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Many scholars have demonstrated the negative impacts of the perception of organizational politics on organizational outcomes. The model proposed in this study analyzes the impact of the perception of organizational politics on job satisfaction. In the same way, ingratiation as a moderator variable is tested. We applied regression analysis to test the hypothesis. The findings of the current research, which was conducted with 240 employees in the public sector in Indonesia, show that the perception of organizational politics has a negative effect on job satisfaction. In contrast, ingratiation plays a role that fully moderates the relationship between organizational politics and organizational outcomes and changes the correlation between the perception of organizational politics on job satisfaction. Employees who use ingratiation as a coping mechanism tend to do so when they perceive a high degree of organizational politics.

Keywords: ingratiation, impression management, job satisfaction, perception of organizational politics

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Authors: Kristof Grätz

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Background: Coping with crisis situations (e.g., the identity crisis in adolescence) is omnipresent in today's socialization and should be encouraged as a child. For this reason, students should be given the opportunity to create, endure and manage these crisis situations in a sporting context within the project “Herausforderung.” They should prove themselves by working on a self-assigned task, accompanied by ‚coaches’ in a place outside of their hometown. The aim of the project is to observe this process from a resource-oriented perspective. Health promotion, as called for by the WHO in the Ottawa Charter since 1986, includes strengthening psychosocial resources. These include cognitive, emotional, and social potentials that contribute to improving the quality of life, provide favourable conditions for coping with health burdens and enable people to influence their physical performance and well-being self-confidently and actively. A systematic strengthening of psychosocial resources leads to an improvement in mental health and contributes decisively to the regular implementation and long-term maintenance of this health behavior. Previous studies have already shown significant increases in self-concept following experiential educational measures [Fengler, 2007; Eberle & Fengler, 2018] and positive effects of experience-based school trips on the social competence of students [Reuker, 2009]. Method: The research project examines the influence of the project “Herausforderung” on psychosocial resources such as self-efficacy, self-concept, social support, and group cohesion. The students participating in the project will be tested in a pre-post design in the context of the challenge. This test includes specific questions to capture the different psychosocial resources. For the measurement, modifications of existing scales with good item selectivity and reliability are used to a large extent, so that acceptable item and scale values can be expected. If necessary, the scales were adapted or shortened to the specific context in order to ensure a balanced relationship between reliability and test economy. Specifically, these are already tested scales such as FRKJ 8-16, FSKN, GEQ, and F-SozU. The aim is to achieve a sample size of n ≥ 100. Conclusion: The project will be reviewed with regard to its effectiveness, and implications for a resource-enhancing application in sports settings will be given. Conclusions are drawn as to which extent to specific experiential educational content in physical education can have a health-promoting effect on the participants.

Keywords: children, education, health promotion, psychosocial resources

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Authors: Mark Kwaku Mensah Obeng

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In the late 1990s and early 2000s, nationals of sub-Saharan Africa who had initially settled in the Middle East and other parts of south east Asia moved to Guangzhou in response to the 1997/8 Asian financial crisis in numbers never witnessed. They were later joined by many more as the Chinese economy improved and as the economic relationship between China and Africa improved. This paper tells the story of identifiable sets of Ghanaians in Guangzhou, China in the 21st century. It details out their respective characteristics and their activities in China, their migratory trajectories and the motivations for travelling to China. Also analyzed is how they are coping with life in the unknown destination. It finally attempt predicting the future of the Ghanaian community in China in terms of their level of community participation and integration.

Keywords: Africa in China, Ghana, motivation, Guangzhou

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Authors: Jorge Rodriguez-Guerra, Carlos Calleja, Aron Pujana, Ana Maria Macarulla

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Hydraulic-press commissioning consumes a great amount of man-hours, due to the fact that it takes place several miles away from where it has been designed. This factor became exacerbated due to control designers’ lack of knowledge about which will be the final controller gains before they start working with it. Virtual commissioning has been postulated as an optimal solution to deal with this lack of knowledge. Here, a case study is presented in which a controller is set up against a real-time model based on a hydraulic-press. The press model is designed following manufacturer specifications and it is embedded in a real-time simulator. This methodology ensures that the model achieves similar responses as the real machine that would be placed on the industry. A deterministic communication protocol is in charge of the bidirectional information transmission between the real-time model and the controller. This platform allows the engineer to test and verify the final control responses with exactly the same hardware that is going to be installed in the hydraulic-press, in other words, realize a virtual commissioning of the electro-hydraulic actuator. The Hardware in the Loop (HiL) platform validates in laboratory conditions and harmless for the machine the control algorithms designed, which allows embedding them afterwards in the industrial environment without further modifications.

Keywords: deterministic communication protocol, electro-hydraulic actuator, hardware in the loop, real-time, virtual commissioning

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Authors: Y. J. Zhou, G. Lu

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In this paper, an analytical study is made for the dynamic behavior of human brain tissue under transient loading. In this analytical model the Mooney-Rivlin constitutive law is coupled with visco-elastic constitutive equations to take into account both the nonlinear and time-dependent mechanical behavior of brain tissue. Five ordinary differential equations representing the relationships of five main parameters (radial stress, circumferential stress, radial strain, circumferential strain, and particle velocity) are obtained by using the characteristic method to transform five partial differential equations (two continuity equations, one motion equation, and two constitutive equations). Analytical expressions of the attenuation properties for spherical wave in brain tissue are analytically derived. Numerical results are obtained based on the five ordinary differential equations. The mechanical responses (particle velocity and stress) of brain are compared at different radii including 5, 6, 10, 15 and 25 mm under four different input conditions. The results illustrate that loading curves types of the particle velocity significantly influences the stress in brain tissue. The understanding of the influence by the input loading cures can be used to reduce the potentially injury to brain under head impact by designing protective structures to control the loading curves types.

Keywords: analytical method, mechanical responses, spherical wave propagation, traumatic brain injury

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Authors: Anna Bak-Klimek, Emily Spencer, Siew Lee, Karen Campbell, Wendy McInally

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Background & Significance: Over half of Teenagers and Young Adults (TYAs) say that they experience psychological distress after cancer diagnosis and TYAs with cancer are at higher risk of developing distress compared to other age groups. Despite this there are no age-appropriate interventions to help TYAs manage distress and there is a lack of conceptual understanding of what causes distress in this population group. This makes it difficult to design a targeted, developmentally appropriate intervention. This review aims to identify the key determinants of distress in TYAs affected by cancer and to propose an integrative model of cancer-related distress for TYAs. Method: A literature search was performed in Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, EMBASE and PsycArticles in May-June, 2022. Quantitative literature was systematically reviewed on the relationship between psychological distress experienced by TYAs affected by cancer and a wide range of factors i.e. individual (demographic, psychological, developmental, and clinical factors) and contextual (social/environmental) factors. Evidence was synthesized and correlates were categorized using the Biopsychosocial Model. The full protocol is available from PROSPERO (CRD42022322069) Results: Thirty eligible quantitative studies met criteria for the review. A total of twenty-six studies were cross-sectional, three were longitudinal and one study was a case control study. The evidence on the relationship between the socio-demographic, illness and treatment-related factors and psychological distress is inconsistent and unclear. There is however consistent evidence on the link between psychological factors and psychological distress. For instance, the use of cognitive and defence coping, negative meta-cognitive beliefs, less optimism, a lack of sense of meaning and lower resilience levels were significantly associated with higher psychological distress. Furthermore, developmental factors such as poor self-image, identity issues and perceived conflict were strongly associated with higher distress levels. Conclusions: The current review suggests that psychological and developmental factors such as ineffective coping strategies, poor self-image and identity issues may play a key role in the development of psychological distress in TYAs affected by cancer. The review proposes a Positive Developmental Psychology Model of Distress for Teenagers and Young Adults affected by cancer. The review highlights that implementation of psychological interventions that foster optimism, improve resilience and address self-image may result in reduced distress in TYA’s with cancer.

Keywords: cancer, determinant, psychological distress, teenager and young adult, theoretical model

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Authors: Fernanda T. Orsati, Julie Causton

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Discursive practices enacted by educators in kindergarten create a blueprint for how the educational trajectories of students with disabilities are constructed. This two-year ethnographic case study critically examine educators’ relationships with students considered to present challenging behaviors in one kindergarten classroom located in a predominantly White middle-class school district in the Northeast of the United States. Focusing on the language and practices used by one special education teacher and three teaching assistants, this paper analyzes how teacher responses to students’ behaviors constructs and positions students over one year of kindergarten education. Using a critical discourse analysis, it shows that educators understand students’ behaviors as a deficit and needing consequences. This study highlights how educators’ responses reflect students' individual characteristics including family background, socioeconomics and ability status. This paper offers in-depth analysis of two students’ stories, which evidenced that the language used by educators amplifies the social positioning of students within the classroom and creates a foundation for who they are constructed to be. Through exploring routine language and practices, this paper demonstrates that educators outlined a blueprint of kindergartners, which positioned students as learners in ways that became the ground for either a limited or a promising educational pathway for them.

Keywords: behavior, early education, special education, critical discourse analysis

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Authors: Kristen Emory, Jerry Flores

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Purpose: We explore the unique and underrepresented experiences of Indigenous women living in Toronto, Canada, during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study is to better document the impacts of COVID-19 on the mental health and well-being of Indigenous women in Toronto, Canada, in order to better understand unmet needs, as well as lay the groundwork for more targeted research and potential interventions based on these needs. Background: It has been fairly well documented that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased mental health concerns among various populations globally. There have also been numerous studies indicating increases in substance use and abuse in response to the stress of the pandemic. There is also evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted a variety of historically marginalized populations in Canada, the US, and globally, including Indigenous populations. While these studies provide some insight into how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting the global population, much less is known about the lived experiences of Indigenous populations during the time of COVID-19. Better understanding these experiences will allow public health professionals, governments, and non-governmental organizations better combat health inequities related to the pandemic. Methods: In-depth qualitative semi-structured virtual (due to COVID-19) interviews with 13 Indigenous women were conducted during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020). Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed by team members using Dedoose qualitative analysis software. Findings: COVID-19 negatively affected Indigenous females identifying participants’ mental health and corresponding reported increases in substance use. In addition to the daily stress of the unpredictability of life in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, participants cited job loss, economic concerns, homeschooling, and lack of access to medical resources as primary factors in increasing their stress and decreasing mental health and wellbeing. In response to these stressors, a majority of participants cited coping mechanisms such as increased substance use to help deal with the uncertainty. In particular, alcohol and tobacco emerged as coping mechanisms to help participants cope with stress related to the pandemic (as well as its social and economic toll on respondents' lives). We will present qualitative data to be presented, including participant direct quotes, explaining their experiences with COVID-19, mental health, and increased substance use, as well as analysis and synthesis with the existing scientific evidence base. Conclusion: This research is among the good studies to our knowledge that scientifically explore the impact of COVID-19 on mental health and well-being and corresponding increases in reported substance use.

Keywords: mental health, covid-19, indigenous, inequity, anxiety, depression, stress

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Authors: Ping-Lun Jiang, Hung-Jun Lin, Shen-Fu Lin, Mei-Yin Chien, Ting-Wei Li, Chun-Han Lin, Der-Zen Liu

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Mucosal vaccine induces both mucosal (secretory IgA) and systemic immune responses and it is considered an ideal vaccination strategy for prevention of infectious diseases. One important point to be considered in mucosal vaccination is effective antigen delivery system which can manage effective delivery of antigen to antigen-presenting cells (APCs) of mucosal. In the present study, cationic gelatin nanoparticles were prepared as ideal carriers for more efficient antigen delivery. The average diameter of cationic gelatin nanoparticle was approximate 190 nm, and the zeta potential was about +45 mV, then ovalbumin (OVA) was physically absorbed onto cationic gelatin nanoparticle. The OVA absorption rate was near 95% the zeta potential was about +20 mV. We show that cationic gelatin nanoparticle effectively facilitated antigen uptake by mice bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (mBMDCs) and RAW264.7 cells and induced higher levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. C57BL/6 mice twice immunized intranasally with OVA-absorbed cationic gelatin nanoparticle induced high levels of OVA-specific IgG in the serum and IgA in their in the nasal and lung wash fluid. These results indicate that nasal administration of cationic gelatin nanoparticles induced both mucosal and systemic immune responses and cationic gelatin nanoparticles might be a potential antigen delivery carrier for further clinical applications.

Keywords: antigen delivery, antigen-presenting cells, gelatin nanoparticle, mucosal vaccine

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Authors: Irene Kretchy, Frances Owusu-Daaku, Samuel Danquah

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Hypertension is the leading risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, and a major cause of death and disability worldwide. This study examined whether psychosocial variables influenced patients’ perception and experience of side effects of their medicines, how they coped with these experiences and the impact on mental health and medication adherence to conventional hypertension therapies. Methods: A hospital-based mixed methods study, using quantitative and qualitative approaches was conducted on hypertensive patients. Participants were asked about side effects, medication adherence, common psychological symptoms, and coping mechanisms with the aid of standard questionnaires. Information from the quantitative phase was analyzed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. The interviews from the qualitative study were audio-taped with a digital audio recorder, manually transcribed and analyzed using thematic content analysis. The themes originated from participant interviews a posteriori. Results: The experiences of side effects – such as palpitations, frequent urination, recurrent bouts of hunger, erectile dysfunction, dizziness, cough, physical exhaustion - were categorized as no/low (39.75%), moderate (53.0%) and high (7.25%). Significant relationships between depression (x 2 = 24.21, P < 0.0001), anxiety (x 2 = 42.33, P < 0.0001), stress (x 2 = 39.73, P < 0.0001) and side effects were observed. A logistic regression model using the adjusted results for this association are reported – depression [OR = 1.9 (1.03 – 3.57), p = 0.04], anxiety [OR = 1.5 (1.22 – 1.77), p = < 0.001], and stress [OR = 1.3 (1.02 – 1.71), p = 0.04]. Side effects significantly increased the probability of individuals to be non-adherent [OR = 4.84 (95% CI 1.07 – 1.85), p = 0.04] with social factors, media influences and attitudes of primary caregivers further explaining this relationship. The personal adoption of medication modifying strategies, espousing the use of complementary and alternative treatments, and interventions made by clinicians were the main forms of coping with side effects. Conclusions: Results from this study show that contrary to a biomedical approach, the experience of side effects has biological, social and psychological interrelations. The result offers more support for the need for a multi-disciplinary approach to healthcare where all forms of expertise are incorporated into health provision and patient care. Additionally, medication side effects should be considered as a possible cause of non-adherence among hypertensive patients, thus addressing this problem from a Biopsychosocial perspective in any intervention may improve adherence and invariably control blood pressure.

Keywords: biopsychosocial, hypertension, medication adherence, psychological disorders

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Authors: Saleh Mohamed, Mohamed El-Shal, Taha Kumosani, Ahmad Mal, Youssri Ahmed, Yasser Almulaiky

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The marine environment of the Jeddah southern red sea shore is subjected to increasing anthropogenic activities as sewage sludge draining and desalting processes. The objective of this study is to compare the quantitative responses of enzymatic biomarkers in fish from polluted area with the responses of organism from reference area. Enzymatic biomarkers as neurotoxic, antioxidant and detoxifying enzymes were evaluated in the brain and liver from Variola louti as a sentinel species sampled from both polluted and reference sites in the Jeddah southern red sea shore during four months January, April, July and October in 2014 and 2015. In brain of V. louti, the activity of acetylcholinestease (AChE) collected from reference area significantly increased 8.8 and 10.5 folds than that from polluted area in 2014 and 2015, respectively. The activities of catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) from liver of V. louti in polluted area significantly increased 1.4, 1.27 and 3, 4.5 and 4.37, 2 and 5, 4.5 folds than that from reference area in 2014 and 2015, respectively. The levels of examined enzymes are approximately similar in the four seasons detected in 2014 and 2015 indicating that the similar components of sewage were draining in red sea. In conclusion, these findings suggest the important of enzymatic biomarkers in monitoring the pollution in Jeddah red sea shore.

Keywords: Variola louti, enzymatic biomarkers, pollution, Red sea

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Authors: Anjali Bansal

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Reproductive preferences mainly deal with two questions: when a couple wants children and how many they want. Questions related to these desires are often included in the fertility surveys as they can provide relevant information on the subsequent behavior. The aim of the study is to observe whether respondent’s response to these questions changed over time or not. We also tried to identify socio- economic and demographic factors associated with the stability (or instability) of fertility preferences. For this purpose, we used IHDS1 (2004-05) and follow up survey IHDS2 (2011-12) data and applied bivariate, multivariate and multilevel repeated measure analysis to it to find the consistency between responses. From the analysis, we found that preferences of women changes over the course of time as from the bivariate analysis we have found that 52% of women are not consistent in their desired family size and huge inconsistency are found in desire to continue childbearing. To get a better overlook of these inconsistencies, we have computed Intra Class Correlation (ICC) which tries to explain the consistency between individuals on their fertility responses at two time periods. We also explored that husband’s desire for additional child specifically male offspring contribute to these variations. Our findings lead us to a cessation that in India, individuals fertility preferences changed over a seven-year time period as the Intra Class correlation comes out to be very small which explains the variations among individuals. Concerted efforts should be made, therefore, to educate people, and conduct motivational programs to promote family planning for family welfare.

Keywords: change, consistency, preferences, over time

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Authors: Fabianna Bacil, Zenathan Hasannundin, Clovis Freire

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The green transition opens green windows of opportunity – temporary moments in which there are lower barriers and shorter learning periods for developing countries to enter emerging technologies and catch-up. However, taking advantage of these windows requires capabilities in national sectoral systems to adopt and develop technologies linked to green sectors as well as strong responses to build the required knowledge, skills, and infrastructure and foster the growth of targeted sectors. This paper uses UNCTAD’s frontier technology readiness index to analyse the current position of Latin America and the Caribbean to use, adopt, and adapt frontier technologies, examining the preconditions in the region to take up windows of opportunity that arise with the green transition. The index highlights the inequality across countries in the region, as well as gaps in capabilities dimensions, especially in terms of R&D. Moving to responses, it highlights industrial policies implemented to foster the growth of green technologies, emphasising the essential role played by the state to build and strengthen capabilities and provide infant industry protection that enables the growth of these sectors. Overall, while there are exceptions, especially in the Brazilian case, countries in Latin America and the Caribbean should focus on strengthening their capabilities to be better positioned, especially in terms of knowledge creation, infrastructure, and financing availability.

Keywords: Green technologies, Industrial policy, Latin America, windows of opportunity

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Authors: Kyu Jin Kim, Byung Kwan Oh, Hyo Seon Park

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The seismic responses-based structural health monitoring system has been performed to reduce seismic damage. The inter-story drift ratio which is the major index of the seismic capacity assessment is employed for estimating the seismic damage of buildings. Meanwhile, seismic response analysis to estimate the structural responses of building demands significantly high computational cost due to increasing number of high-rise and large buildings. To estimate the inter-story drift ratio of buildings from the earthquake efficiently, this paper suggests the estimation method of inter-story drift for buildings using an artificial neural network (ANN). In the method, the radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) is integrated with optimization algorithm to optimize the variable through evolutionary learning that refers to evolutionary radial basis function neural network (ERBFNN). The estimation method estimates the inter-story drift without seismic response analysis when the new earthquakes are subjected to buildings. The effectiveness of the estimation method is verified through a simulation using multi-degree of freedom system.

Keywords: structural health monitoring, inter-story drift ratio, artificial neural network, radial basis function neural network, genetic algorithm

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Authors: Nattapong Techarattanased

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The purposes of this research are to make comparisons in respect of the behaviors on the use of the services of metered taxi classified by the demographic factor and to study the influence of the recognition on service quality having the effect on usage behaviors of metered taxi services of consumers in Bangkok Metropolitan Areas. The samples used in this research are 400 metered taxi service users in Bangkok Metropolitan Areas and use a questionnaire as the tool for collecting the data. Analysis statistics is mean and multiple regression analysis. Results of the research revealed that the consumers recognize the overall quality of services in each aspect include tangible aspects of the service, responses to customers, assurance on the confidence, understanding and knowing of customers which is rated at the moderate level except the aspect of the assurance on the confidence and trustworthiness which are rated at a high level. For the result of a hypothetical test, it is found that the quality in providing the services on the aspect of the assurance given to the customers has the effect on the usage behaviors of metered taxi services and the aspect of the frequency on the use of the services per month which in this connection. Such variable can forecast at one point nine percent (1.9%). In addition, quality in providing the services and the aspect of the responses to customers have the effect on the behaviors on the use of metered taxi services on the aspect of the expenses on the use of services per month which in this connection, such variable can forecast at two point one percent (2.1%).

Keywords: consumer behavior, metered taxi service, satisfaction, service quality

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Authors: John Monro, Suman Mishra

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Choosing foods for health benefits requires information that accurately represents the relative effectiveness of foods with respect to specific health end points, or with respect to responses leading to health outcomes. At present consumers must rely on nutrient composition data, and on health claims to guide them to healthy food choices. Nutrient information may be of limited usefulness because it does not reflect the effect of food structure and food component interactions – that is, whole food effects. Health claims demand stringent criteria that exclude most foods, even though most foods have properties through which they may contribute to positive health outcomes in a diet. In this presentation, we show how the functional efficacy of foods may be expressed in the same format as nutrients, with weight units, as virtual food components that allow a nutrition information panel to show not only what a food is, but also what it does. In the presentation, two body responses linked to well-being are considered – glycaemic response and colonic bulk – in order to illustrate the concept. We show how the nutrient information on available carbohydrates and dietary fibre values obtained by food analysis methods fail to provide information of the glycaemic potency or the colonic bulking potential of foods, because of failings in the methods and approach taken to food analysis. It is concluded that a category of food values that represent the functional efficacy of foods is required to accurately guide food choices for health.

Keywords: dietary fibre, glycaemic response, food values, food effects, health

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Authors: Noora Al Muftah, Reda Rawi, Richard Thompson, Halima Bensmail

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Clinical responses to anticancer therapies are often restricted to a subset of patients. In some cases, mutated cancer genes are potent biomarkers of response to targeted agents. There is an urgent need to identify biomarkers that predict which patients with are most likely to respond to treatment. Systematic efforts to correlate tumor mutational data with biologic dependencies may facilitate the translation of somatic mutation catalogs into meaningful biomarkers for patient stratification. To identify genomic features associated with drug sensitivity and uncover new biomarkers of sensitivity and resistance to cancer therapeutics, we have screened and integrated a panel of several hundred cancer cell lines from different databases, mutation, DNA copy number, and gene expression data for hundreds of cell lines with their responses to targeted and cytotoxic therapies with drugs under clinical and preclinical investigation. We found mutated cancer genes were associated with cellular response to most currently available Glioma cancer drugs and some frequently mutated genes were associated with sensitivity to a broad range of therapeutic agents. By linking drug activity to the functional complexity of cancer genomes, systematic pharmacogenomic profiling in cancer cell lines provides a powerful biomarker discovery platform to guide rational cancer therapeutic strategies.

Keywords: cancer, gene network, Lasso, penalized regression, P-values, unbiased estimator

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Authors: Chao Sima, Shanaz Ghandhi, Sally A. Amundson, Michael L. Bittner, David J. Brenner

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In a large-scale radiologic emergency, potentially affected population need to be triaged efficiently using various biomarkers where personal dosimeters are not likely worn by the individuals. It has long been established that radiation injury can be estimated effectively using panels of genetic biomarkers. Furthermore, the rate of radiation, in addition to dose of radiation, plays a major role in determining biological responses. Therefore, a better and more accurate triage involves estimating both the dose level of the exposure and the length of time of that exposure. To that end, a large in vivo study was carried out on mice with internal emitter caesium-137 (¹³⁷Cs). Four different injection doses of ¹³⁷Cs were used: 157.5 μCi, 191 μCi, 214.5μCi, and 259 μCi. Cohorts of 6~7 mice from the control arm and each of the dose levels were sacrificed, and blood was collected 2, 3, 5, 7 and 14 days after injection for microarray RNA gene expression analysis. Using a generalized linear model with penalized maximum likelihood, a panel of 244 genes was established and both the doses of injection and the number of days after injection were accurately predicted for all 155 subjects using this panel. This has proven that microarray gene expression can be used effectively in radiation biodosimetry in predicting both the dose levels and the length of exposure time, which provides a more holistic view on radiation exposure and helps improving radiation damage assessment and treatment.

Keywords: caesium-137, gene expression microarray, multivariate responses prediction, radiation biodosimetry

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Authors: Ofelia Loani Elvir Lazo, Roya Yumul, Sevan Komshian, Ruby Wang, Jun Tang

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Background: Monitoring the anti-nociceptive drug effect is useful because a sudden and strong nociceptive stimulus may result in untoward autonomic responses and muscular reflex movements. Monitoring the anti-nociceptive effects of perioperative medications has long been desiredas a way to provide anesthesiologists information regarding a patient’s level of antinociception and preclude any untoward autonomic responses and reflexive muscular movements from painful stimuli intraoperatively.To this end, electroencephalogram (EEG) based tools includingBIS and qCON were designed to provide information about the depth of sedation whileqNOXwas produced to informon the degree of antinociception.The goal of this study was to compare the reliability of qCON/qNOX to BIS asspecific indicators of response to nociceptive stimulation. Methods: Sixty-two patients undergoing general anesthesia with LMA were included in this study. Institutional Review Board(IRB) approval was obtained, and informed consent was acquired prior to patient enrollment. Inclusion criteria included American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class I-III, 18 to 80 years of age, and either gender. Exclusion criteria included the inability to consent. Withdrawal criteria included conversion to endotracheal tube and EEG malfunction. BIS and qCON/qNOX electrodes were simultaneously placed o62n all patientsprior to induction of anesthesia and were monitored throughout the case, along with other perioperative data, including patient response to noxious stimuli. All intraoperative decisions were made by the primary anesthesiologist without influence from qCON/qNOX. Student’s t-distribution, prediction probability (PK), and ANOVA were used to statistically compare the relative ability to detect nociceptive stimuli for each index. Twenty patients were included for the preliminary analysis. Results: A comparison of overall intraoperative BIS, qCON and qNOX indices demonstrated no significant difference between the three measures (N=62, p> 0.05). Meanwhile, index values for qNOX (62±18) were significantly higher than those for BIS (46±14) and qCON (54±19) immediately preceding patient responses to nociceptive stimulation in a preliminary analysis (N=20, * p= 0.0408). Notably, certain hemodynamic measurements demonstrated a significant increase in response to painful stimuli (MAP increased from74±13 mm Hg at baseline to 84± 18 mm Hg during noxious stimuli [p= 0.032] and HR from 76±12 BPM at baseline to 80±13BPM during noxious stimuli[p=0.078] respectively). Conclusion: In this observational study, BIS and qCON/qNOX provided comparable information on patients’ level of sedation throughout the course of an anesthetic. Meanwhile, increases in qNOX values demonstrated a superior correlation to an imminent response to stimulation relative to all other indices.

Keywords: antinociception, bispectral index (BIS), general anesthesia, laryngeal mask airway, qCON/qNOX

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Authors: Lindsey Carruthers, Alexandra Willis, Rory MacLean

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Introduction: It has been proposed that distractibility, a key diagnostic criterion of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), may be associated with higher creativity levels in some individuals. Anecdotal and empirical evidence has shown that ADHD is therefore beneficial to creative problem-solving, and the generation of new ideas and products. Previous studies have only used one or two measures of attention, which is insufficient given that it is a complex cognitive process. The current study aimed to determine in which ways performance on creative problem-solving tasks and a range of attention tests may be related, and if performance differs between adults with and without ADHD. Methods: 150 adults, 47 males and 103 females (mean age=28.81 years, S.D.=12.05 years), were tested at Edinburgh Napier University. Of this set, 50 participants had ADHD, and 100 did not, forming the control group. Each participant completed seven attention tasks, assessing focussed, sustained, selective, and divided attention. Creative problem-solving was measured using divergent thinking tasks, which require multiple original solutions for one given problem. Two types of divergent thinking task were used: verbal (requires written responses) and figural (requires drawn responses). Each task is scored for idea originality, with higher scores indicating more creative responses. Correlational analyses were used to explore relationships between attention and creative problem-solving, and t-tests were used to study the between group differences. Results: The control group scored higher on originality for figural divergent thinking (t(148)= 3.187, p< .01), whereas the ADHD group had more original ideas for the verbal divergent thinking task (t(148)= -2.490, p < .05). Within the control group, figural divergent thinking scores were significantly related to both selective (r= -.295 to -.285, p < .01) and divided attention (r= .206 to .290, p < .05). Alternatively, within the ADHD group, both selective (r= -.390 to -.356, p < .05) and divided (r= .328 to .347, p < .05) attention are related to verbal divergent thinking. Conclusions: Selective and divided attention are both related to divergent thinking, however the performance patterns are different between each group, which may point to cognitive variance in the processing of these problems and how they are managed. The creative differences previously found between those with and without ADHD may be dependent on task type, which to the author’s knowledge, has not been distinguished previously. It appears that ADHD does not specifically lead to higher creativity, but may provide explanation for creative differences when compared to those without the disorder.

Keywords: ADHD, attention, creativity, problem-solving

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Authors: Jay Neil Garciso Verano, Peter Rosales Bobiles

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This study tried to integrate RA 9262 in literature through the use of film. It identified RA 9262 provisions reflected in the students’ concepts in their oral participation and written outputs and pointed out different attitudes toward violence against women and respect to women as shaped by the film through their responses. Four Literature 121 (World Literature) classes with more or less similar characteristics participated in this study. The discussion of Paulette Kelly’s I Got Flowers Today took place during the first session while the viewing of the film Enough and discussion of the film followed to enrich and bolster students’ concepts and awareness on violence against women and to introduce RA 9262 provisions. The students’ attitudes toward violence against women and respect to women were lifted from the students’ oral and written responses. The film Enough presented eight provisions from RA 9262 reflected in students’ concepts which centered on the acts of violence against women tarnishing women’s rights and dignity. There were 25 attitudes toward violence against women and respect to women which surfaced, 11 of which are what initiate the acts, seven tell about the results from or effects of violence against women, and another seven exemplify respect to women. With the findings, it can be viewed that RA 9262 can be integrated in a literature course to awaken students’ minds on the prevalent issues on violating women’s rights and dignity. The discussion of Paulette Kelly’s I Got Flowers Today reinforced by the viewing of Enough deduced issues on the violation of women’s rights and dignity, attitudes toward violence against women, and students’ perception with regard respect to women.

Keywords: anti-violence against women, literature, film, enough, feminism

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Authors: Matt Stichter

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Moral development requires learning from one’s failures, but that turnsout to be especially challenging when dealing with moral failures. The distress prompted by moral failure can cause responses ofdefensiveness or disengagement rather than attempts to make amends and work on self-change. The most potentially distressing response to moral failure is a shame. However, there appears to be two different senses of “shame” that are conflated in the literature, depending on whether the failure is appraised as the result of a global and unalterable self-defect, or a local and alterable self-defect. One of these forms of shame does prompt self-improvement in response to moral failure. This occurs if one views the failure as indicating only a specific (local) defect in one’s identity, where that’s something repairable, rather than asanoverall(orglobal)defectinyouridentity that can’t be fixed. So, if the whole of one’s identity as a morally good person isn’t being called into question, but only a part, then that is something one could work on to improve. Shame, in this sense, provides motivation for self-improvement to fix this part oftheselfinthe long run, and this would be important for moral development. One factor that looks to affect these different self-attributions in the wake of moral failure can be found in mindset theory, as reactions to moral failure in these two forms of shame are similar to how those with a fixed or growth mindset of their own abilities, such as intelligence, react to failure. People fall along a continuum with respect to how they view abilities – it is more of a fixed entity that you cannot do much to change, or it is malleable such that you can train to improve it. These two mindsets, ‘fixed’ versus ‘growth’, have different consequences for how we react to failure – a fixed mindset leads to maladaptive responses because of feelings of helplessness to do better; whereas a growth mindset leads to adaptive responses where a person puts forth effort to learn how to act better the next time. Here we can see the parallels between a fixed mindset of one’s own (im)morality, as the way people respond to shame when viewed as indicating a global and unalterable self-defect parallels the reactions people have to failure when they have a fixed mindset. In addition, it looks like there may be a similar structure to pride. Pride is, like shame, a self-conscious emotion that arises from internal attributions about the self as being the cause of some event. There are also paradoxical results from research on pride, where pride was found to motivate pro-social behavior in some cases but aggression in other cases. Research suggests that there may be two forms of pride, authentic and hubristic, that are also connected to different self-attributions, depending on whether one is feeling proud about a particular (local) aspect of the self versus feeling proud about the whole of oneself (global).

Keywords: emotion, mindset, moral development, moral psychology, pride, shame, self-regulation

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Authors: B. Güney, Ç. Teke

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In recent years, rapid and correct decision making is crucial for both people and enterprises. However, uncertainty makes decision-making difficult. Fuzzy logic is used for coping with this situation. Thus, fuzzy linear programming models are developed in order to handle uncertainty in objective function and the constraints. In this study, a problem of a factory in food industry is investigated, required data is obtained and the problem is figured out as a fuzzy linear programming model. The model is solved using Zimmerman approach which is one of the approaches for fuzzy linear programming. As a result, the solution gives the amount of production for each product type in order to gain maximum profit.

Keywords: food industry, fuzzy linear programming, fuzzy logic, linear programming

Procedia PDF Downloads 654