Search results for: hospital service

Authors: Yenisleidy Martinez Martinez, Yannay Casas-Ledon, Jo Dewulf

Abstract:

The ecosystem services (ES) concept has contributed to draw attention to the benefits ecosystems generate for people and how necessary natural resources are for human well-being. The identification and prioritization of the ES constitute the first steps to undertake conservation and valuation initiatives on behalf of people. Additionally, mapping the supply of ES is a powerful tool to support decision making regarding the sustainable management of landscape and natural resources. In this context, the present study aimed to identify, prioritize and map the primary ES in Biobio and Nuble regions using a methodology that combines expert judgment, multi-attribute evaluation methods, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Firstly, scores about the capacity of different land use/cover types to supply ES and the importance attributed to each service were obtained from experts and stakeholders via an online survey. Afterward, the ES assessment matrix was constructed, and the weighted linear combination (WLC) method was applied to mapping the overall capacity of supply of provisioning, regulating and maintenance, and cultural services. Finally, prioritized ES for the study area were selected and mapped. The results suggest that native forests, wetlands, and water bodies have the highest supply capacities of ES, while urban and industrial areas and bare areas have a very low supply of services. On the other hand, fourteen out of twenty-nine services were selected by experts and stakeholders as the most relevant for the regions. The spatial distribution of ES has shown that the Andean Range and part of the Coastal Range have the highest ES supply capacity, mostly regulation and maintenance and cultural ES. This performance is related to the presence of native forests, water bodies, and wetlands in those zones. This study provides specific information about the most relevant ES in Biobio and Nuble according to the opinion of local stakeholders and the spatial identification of areas with a high capacity to provide services. These findings could be helpful as a reference by planners and policymakers to develop landscape management strategies oriented to preserve the supply of services in both regions.

Keywords: ecosystem services, expert judgment, mapping, multi-criteria decision making, prioritization

Procedia PDF Downloads 110

Authors: Aleksandr Kalinenko, Igor Vysotskiy, Sergey Malopheyev, Sergey Mironov, Rustam Kaibyshev

Abstract:

From a thermo-mechanical standpoint, friction-stir welding (FSW) represents a unique combination of very large strains, high temperature and relatively high strain rate. The material behavior under such extreme deformation conditions is not studied well and thus, the microstructural examinations of the friction-stir welded materials represent an essential academic interest. Moreover, a clear understanding of the microstructural mechanisms operating during FSW should improve our understanding of the microstructure-properties relationship in the FSWed materials and thus enables us to optimize their service characteristics. Despite extensive research in this field, the microstructural behavior of some important structural materials remains not completely clear. In order to contribute to this important work, the present study was undertaken to examine the grain structure evolution during the FSW of 6061-T6 aluminum alloy. To provide an in-depth insight into this process, the electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) technique was employed for this purpose. Microstructural observations were conducted by using an FEI Quanta 450 Nova field-emission-gun scanning electron microscope equipped with TSL OIMTM software. A suitable surface finish for EBSD was obtained by electro-polishing in a solution of 25% nitric acid in methanol. A 15° criterion was employed to differentiate low-angle boundaries (LABs) from high-angle boundaries (HABs). In the entire range of the studied FSW regimes, the grain structure evolved in the stir zone was found to be dominated by nearly-equiaxed grains with a relatively high fraction of low-angle boundaries and the moderate-strength B/-B {112}<110> simple-shear texture. In all cases, the grain-structure development was found to be dictated by an extensive formation of deformation-induced boundaries, their gradual transformation to the high-angle grain boundaries. Accordingly, the grain subdivision was concluded to the key microstructural mechanism. Remarkably, a gradual suppression of this mechanism has been observed at relatively high welding temperatures. This surprising result has been attributed to the reduction of dislocation density due to the annihilation phenomena.

Keywords: electron backscatter diffraction, friction-stir welding, heat-treatable aluminum alloys, microstructure

Procedia PDF Downloads 218

Authors: E. Nigris, F. Passalacqua

Abstract:

Relating to the recent researches in the field of faculty development, this paper aims to present a pilot training programme realized at the University of Milano-Bicocca to improve teaching skills of faculty members. A total of 57 professors (both full professors and associate professors) were trained during the pilot programme in three editions of the workshop, focused on promoting skills for teaching large classes. The study takes into account: 1) the theoretical framework of the programme which combines the recent tradition about professional development and the research on in-service training of school teachers; 2) the structure and the content of the training programme, organized in a 12 hours-full immersion workshop and in individual consultations; 3) the educational specificity of the training programme which is based on the relation between 'general didactic' (active learning metholodies; didactic communication) and 'disciplinary didactics' (didactic transposition and reconstruction); 4) results about the impact of the training programme, both related to the workshop and the individual consultations. This study aims to provide insights mainly on two levels of the training program’s impact ('behaviour change' and 'transfer') and for this reason learning outcomes are evaluated by different instruments: a questionnaire filled out by all 57 participants; 12 in-depth interviews; 3 focus groups; conversation transcriptions of workshop activities. Data analysis is based on a descriptive qualitative approach and it is conducted through thematic analysis of the transcripts using analytical categories derived principally from the didactic transposition theory. The results show that the training programme developed effectively three major skills regarding different stages of the 'didactic transposition' process: a) the content selection; a more accurated selection and reduction of the 'scholarly knowledge', conforming to the first stage of the didactic transposition process; b) the consideration of students’ prior knowledge and misconceptions within the lesson design, in order to connect effectively the 'scholarly knowledge' to the 'knowledge to be taught' (second stage of the didactic transposition process); c) the way of asking questions and managing discussion in large classrooms, in line with the transformation of the 'knowledge to be taught' in 'taught knowledge' (third stage of the didactic transposition process).

Keywords: didactic communication, didactic transposition, instructional development, teaching large classroom

Procedia PDF Downloads 123

Authors: Yenisleidy Martínez-Martínez, Yannay Casas-Ledón, Jo Dewulf

Abstract:

Wind power constitutes a cleaner energy source with smaller unfavorable impacts on the environment than fossil fuels. Its development could be an alternative to fight climate change while meeting energy demands. However, wind energy development requires first determining the existing potential and areas with aptitude. Also, potential socio-economic and environmental impacts should be analyzed to prevent social rejection of this technology. In this context, this work performs a suitability assessment on a GIS environment to locate suitable areas for wind energy expansion in South-Central Chile. In addition, suitable areas were characterized in terms of potential goods and services to be produced as a proxy for analyzing potential impacts and trade-offs. First, layers of annual wind speed were generated as they represent the resource potential, and layer representing previously defined territorial constraints were created. Zones depicting territorial constraints were removed from resource measurement layers to identify suitable sites. Then, the appropriation of the primary production in suitable sites was determined to measure potential ecosystem services derived from human interventions in those areas. Results show that approximately 52% of the total surface of the study area has a good aptitude to install wind farms. In this area, provisioning services like food crops production, timber, and other forest resources like firewood play a key role in the regional economy and thus are the main cause of human interventions. This is reflected by human appropriation of the primary production values of 0.71 KgC/m².yr, 0.36 KgC/m².yr, and 0.14 KgC/m².yr, respectively. In this sense, wind energy development could be compatible with croplands, which is the predominant land use in suitable areas, and provide farmers with cheaper energy and extra income. Also, studies have reported changes in local temperature associated with wind turbines, which could be beneficial to crop growth. The results obtained in this study prove to be useful for identifying available areas for wind development, which could be very useful in decision-making processes related to energy planning.

Keywords: net primary productivity, provisioning services, suitability assessment, wind energy

Procedia PDF Downloads 140

Authors: Marwa Abida, Florian Gehring, Jamel Mars, Alexandre Vivet, Fakhreddine Dammak, Mohamed Haddar

Abstract:

The demand for bio-based materials in semi-structural and structural applications is constantly growing to conform to new environmental policies. Among them, Plant Fiber Reinforced Composites (PFRC) are attractive for the scientific community as well as the industrial world. Due to their relatively low densities and low environmental impact, vegetal fibers appear to be suitable as reinforcing materials for polymers. However, the major issue of plant fibers and PFRC in general is their hydrophilic behavior (high affinity to water molecules). Indeed, when absorbed, water causes fiber swelling and a loss of mechanical properties. Thus, the environmental loadings (moisture, temperature, UV) can strongly affect their mechanical properties and therefore play a critical role in the service life of PFRC. In order to analyze the influence of conditioning at relative humidity on the behavior of flax fiber reinforced composites, a preliminary study on flax fabrics has been conducted. The conditioning of the fabrics in different humid atmospheres made it possible to study the influence of the water content on the hygro-mechanical behavior of flax reinforcement through mechanical tensile tests. This work shows that increasing the relative humidity of the atmosphere induces an increase of the water content in the samples. It also brings up the significant influence of water content on the stiffness and elongation at break of the fabric, while no significant change of the breaking load is detected. Non-linear decrease of flax fabric rigidity and increase of its elongation at maximal force with the increase of water content are observed. It is concluded that water molecules act as a softening agent on flax fabrics. Two kinds of typical tensile curves are identified. Most of the tensile curves of samples show one unique linear region where the behavior appears to be linear prior to the first yarn failure. For some samples in which water content is between 2.7 % and 3.7 % (regardless the conditioning atmosphere), the emergence of a two-linear region behavior is pointed out. This phenomenon could be explained by local heterogeneities of water content which could induce premature local plasticity in some regions of the flax fabric sample behavior.

Keywords: hygro-mechanical behavior, hygroscopy, flax fabric, relative humidity, mechanical properties

Procedia PDF Downloads 174

Authors: Laura Simmer, Maria Kalt, Oliver Schauer

Abstract:

Freight transport is growing fast, but many vehicles are empty or just partially loaded. The vision and concepts of the Physical Internet (PI) proposes to eliminate these inefficiencies. Aiming for a radical sustainability improvement, the PI – inspired by the Digital Internet – is a hyperconnected global logistic system, enabling seamless asset sharing and flow consolidation. The implementation of a PI in its full expression will be a huge challenge: the industry needs innovation and implementation support including change management approaches, awareness creation and good practices diffusion, legislative actions to remove antitrust and international commerce barriers, standardization and public incentives policies. In order to take a step closer to this future the project ‘Atropine - Fast Track to the Physical Internet’ funded under the Strategic Economic and Research Program ‘Innovative Upper Austria 2020’ was set up. The two-year research project unites several research partners in this field, but also industrial partners and logistics service providers. With Atropine, the consortium wants to actively shape the mobility landscape in Upper Austria and make an innovative contribution to an energy-efficient, environmentally sound and sustainable development in the transport area. This paper should, on the one hand, clarify the questions what the project Atropine is about and, on the other hand, how a proof of concept will be reached. Awareness building plays an important role in the project as the PI requires a reorganization of the supply chain and the design of completely new forms of inter-company co-operation. New business models have to be developed and should be verified by simulation. After the simulation process one of these business models will be chosen and tested in real life with the partner companies. The developed results - simulation model and demonstrator - are used to determine how the concept of the PI can be applied in Upper Austria. Atropine shall pave the way for a full-scale development of the PI vision in the next few decades and provide the basis for pushing the industry toward a new level of co-operation with more shared resources and increased standardization.

Keywords: Atropine, inter-company co-operation, Physical Internet, shared resources, sustainable logistics

Procedia PDF Downloads 205

Authors: Lucksini Raveendran

Abstract:

Introduction: This mixed-methods study focuses on the experiences of ethnocultural youth and families in Canada, identifying key barriers and opportunities to inform service programming and policies that can better meet their mental health needs during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Methods: Mental Health Commission of Canada's Headstrong initiative administered the youth survey (April – June 2020) and family survey (June – August 2020) with a total sample size of 137 and 481 respondents, respectively. Thematic analysis was conducted to identify key challenges faced, coping strategies used, and help-seeking behaviours. A similar approach was also applied to the family survey data, but instead, a representative sample was collated to analyze geographically variable and ethnically diverse subgroups. Results and analysis: Multiple challenges have impacted families, including increased feelings of loneliness and distress from border travel restrictions, especially among those navigating pregnancy alone or managing children with developmental needs, which is often understudied. Also, marginalized groups were disproportionately affected by inequitable access to communication technologies, further deepening the digital divide. Some reported living in congregated homes with regular conflicts, thus leading to increased anxiety and exposure to violence. For many families, urbanicity and ethnicity played a key role in how families reported coping with feelings of uncertainty while managing work commitments, navigating community resources, fulfilling care responsibilities, and homeschooling children of all ages. Despite these challenges, there was evidence of post-traumatic growth and building community resiliency. Conclusions and implications for policy, practice, or additional research: There is a need to foster opportunities to promote and sustain mental health, wellness, and resilience for families through social connections. Also, intersectionality must be embedded in the collection, analysis, and application of data to improve equitable access to evidence-based and recovery-oriented mental health supports among diverse families in Canada. Lastly, address future research on the long-term COVID-19 impacts of travel border restrictions on family wellness.

Keywords: mental health, youth mental health, family wellness, health equity

Procedia PDF Downloads 77

Authors: Sumiti Saharan, Pallav Patankar, Lily W. Lee

Abstract:

Understanding the health-seeking behaviors and attitudes of women towards maternal health in the context of gender roles and family dynamics is tremendously crucial for designing effective and impactful interventions aimed at improving maternal and child health outcomes. Further, as the digital world becomes more accessible and affordable, it is imperative to scope the potential of digital technology in enabling access to maternal health information in different socio-economic groups (SEGs). In the summer of 2017, we conducted a study with 500 women across different SEGs in urban India who were pregnant or had had a delivery in the last year. The study was undertaken to assess their maternal health information seeking behavior with a particular focus on probing their use of digital technology for health-related information. The study also measured women's decision-making autonomy in the context of maternal health, awareness of their rights to quality and respectful maternal healthcare, and agency to voice their rights. We probed the impact of key variables including education, age, and socioeconomic status on all outcome variables. In terms of health-seeking behaviors, we found that women heavily relied on medical professionals and/or their mothers and mothers-in-law for all maternal health advice. Digital adoption was found to be high across all SEGs, with around 70% of women from all populations using the internet several times a week. On the other hand, use of the internet for both accessing maternal health information and choosing maternity hospitals were both significantly dependent on SEG. The key reasons reported for not using the internet for health purposes were lack of awareness and lack of trust on content accuracy. Decisions around health practices and type of delivery were found to be jointly made by women and other family members. Almost all women reported their husbands to play a key role in all maternal health decisions and for decisions with a clear financial implication like choice of hospital for delivery, husbands were reported to be the sole decision maker by a majority of women. The agency of women was also found to be low in interactions with maternal healthcare providers with a third of respondents not comfortable with voicing their opinions and preferences to their doctors. Interestingly, we find that this relatively low agency was prominent in both lower middle class and middle-class SEGs. Recognition of the sociocultural determinants of behavior is the first step in developing actionable strategies for improving maternal health outcomes. Our study quantifies the agency and autonomy of women in urban India and the variables that impact them. Our findings emphasize the value of gender normative approaches that factor in the key role husbands play in guiding maternal health decisions. They also highlight the power of digital approaches for catalyzing access to maternal health information. These insights into the attitude and behaviors of mothers in context of their sociocultural environments—and their relationship with digital technology—can help pave the way towards designing effective, scalable maternal and child health programs in developing nations like India.

Keywords: access to healthcare information, behavior, digital health, maternal health

Procedia PDF Downloads 122

Authors: Leena Inamdar, David Allen, Sushma Acquilla, James Gore

Abstract:

Health systems globally are facing increasingly complex challenges. Emerging health threats, changing population demographics and increasing health inequalities, globalisation, economic constraints on government spending are some of the most critical ones. These challenges demand not only innovative funding and cross-sectoral approaches, but also require a multidisciplinary public health workforce equipped with skills and expertise to meet the future challenges of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We aim to outline an approach to assessing the feasibility of establishing a competency-based public health training at a country level. Although the SDGs provide an enabling impetus for change and promote positive developments, public health training and education still lag behind. Large gaps are apparent in both the numbers of trained professionals and the options for high quality training. Public health training in most Low-Middle Income Countries is still largely characterized by a traditional and limited public health focus. There is a pressing need to review and develop core and emerging competences for a well-equipped workforce fit for the future. This includes the important role of national Health and Human Resource Ministries in determining these competences. Public health has long been recognised as a multidisciplinary field, with need for professionals from a wider range of disciplines such as management, health promotion, health economics, law. Leadership and communication skills are also critical to achieve the successes in meeting public health outcomes. Such skills and competences need to be translated into competency-based training and education, to prepare current public health professionals with the skills required in today’s competitive job market. Integration of academic and service based public-health training, flexible accredited programmes to support existing mid-career professionals, continuous professional development need to be explored. In the current global climate of austerity and increasing demands on health systems, the need for stepping up public health training and education is more important than ever. By using a case study, we demonstrate the process of assessing the in-county capacity to establish a competency based public health training programme that will help to develop a stronger, more versatile and much needed public health workforce to meet the SDGs.

Keywords: public health training, competency-based, assessment, SDGs

Procedia PDF Downloads 179

Authors: Seyed Reza Aghili, Tahereh Shokohi, Shirin Sadat Hashemi Fesharaki, Mohammad Ali Boroumand, Bahar Salmanian

Abstract:

Introduction: Intravenous catheter-associated fungal infection as nosocomial infection continue to be a deep problem among hospitalized patients, decreasing quality of life and adding healthcare costs. The capacity of catheters in the spread of candidemia in heart failure patients is obvious. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and genetic identification of Candida species in heart disorder patients. Material and Methods: This study was conducted in Tehran Hospital of Cardiology Center (Tehran, Iran, 2014) during 1.5 years on the patients hospitalized for at least 7 days and who had central or peripheral vein catheter. Culture of catheters, blood and skin of the location of catheter insertion were applied for detecting Candida colonies in 223 patients. Identification of Candida species was made on the basis of a combination of various phenotypic methods and confirmed by sequencing the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region amplified from the genomic DNA using PCR and the NCBI BLAST. Results: Of the 223 patients samples tested, we identified totally 15 Candida isolates obtained from 9 (4.04%) catheter cultures, 3 (1.35%) blood cultures and 2 (0.90%) skin cultures of the catheter insertion areas. On the base of ITS region sequencing, out of nine Candida isolates from catheter, 5(55.6%) C. albicans, 2(22.2%) C. glabrata, 1(11.1%) C. membranifiaciens and 1 (11.1%) C. tropicalis were identified. Among three Candida isolates from blood culture, C. tropicalis, C. carpophila and C. membranifiaciens were identified. Non-candida yeast isolated from one blood culture was Cryptococcus albidus. One case of C. glabrata and one case of Candida albicans were isolated from skin culture of the catheter insertion areas in patients with positive catheter culture. In these patients, ITS region of rDNA sequence showed a similarity between Candida isolated from the skin and catheter. However, the blood samples of these patients were negative for fungal growth. We report two cases of catheter-related candidemia caused by C. membranifiaciens and C. tropicalis on the base of genetic similarity of species isolated from blood and catheter which were treated successfully with intravenous fluconazole and catheter removal. In phenotypic identification methods, we could only identify C. albicans and C. tropicalis and other yeast isolates were diagnosed as Candida sp. Discussion: Although more than 200 species of Candida have been identified, only a few cause diseases in humans. There is some evidence that non-albicans infections are increasing. Many risk factors, including prior antibiotic therapy, use of a central venous catheter, surgery, and parenteral nutrition are considered to be associated with candidemia in hospitalized heart failure patients. Identifying the route of infection in candidemia is difficult. Non-albicans candida as the cause of candidemia is increasing dramatically. By using conventional method, many non-albicans isolates remain unidentified. So, using more sensitive and specific molecular genetic sequencing to clarify the aspects of epidemiology of the unknown candida species infections is essential. The positive blood and catheter cultures for candida isolates and high percentage of similarity of their ITS region of rDNA sequence in these two patients confirmed the diagnosis of intravenous catheter-associated candidemia.

Keywords: catheter-associated infections, heart failure patient, molecular genetic sequencing, ITS region of rDNA, Candidemia

Procedia PDF Downloads 307

Authors: Dahna Alkahtani, Faryal Suraya, Fadah Alanazi

Abstract:

Background: Buccal mucosal graft for urethral augmentation has surpassed other grafting options, and is now considered the standard of choice for substitution Urethroplasty. The graft has gained its popularity due to its excellent short and long-term results, easy harvesting as well as its ability in withstanding wet environments. However, although Buccal mucosal grafts are an excellent option, it is not free of complications, potential intraoral complications are bleeding, pain, swelling, injury to the nerve resulting in numbness, lip deviation or retraction. Objectives: The current study aims to evaluate the intraoral complications of buccal mucosa grafts harvested from one cheek, and used in Augmentation Urethroplasty. Methodology: The study was conducted retrospectively using the medical records of patients who underwent open augmentation urethroplasty with a buccal mucosa graft at King Khalid University Hospital, Saudi Arabia. Data collection of demographics included the type of graft used, presence or absence of strictures and its etiological factors. Pre-operative and post-operative evaluations were carried out on the subjects including the medical history, physical examination, uroflowmetry, retrograde urethrography, voiding cystourethrography and urine cultures were also noted. Further, the quality of life and complications of the procedure including the presence or occurrence of bleeding within 3-days post-procedure, the severity of pain, oral swelling after grafting, length of return to normal daily diet, painful surgical site, intake of painkillers, presence or absence of speech disturbance, numbness in the cheeks and lips were documented. Results: Thirty-two male subjects with ages ranging from 15 years to 72 years were included in the current study. Following the procedure, a hundred percent of the subjects returned to their normal daily diet by the sixth postoperative day. Further, the majority of the patients reported experiencing mild pain accounting for 61.3%, and 90.3% of the subjects reported using painkillers to control the pain. Surgical wound Pain was reportedly more common at the perineal site as 48.4% of the subjects experienced it; on the other hand, 41.9% of the patients experienced pain in the oral mucosa. The presence of speech disorders, as assessed through medical history, was found to be present in 3.2% of patients. The presence of numbness in the cheeks and lips was found in 3.2% of patients. Other complications such as parotid duct injury, delayed wound healing, non-healing wound and suture granuloma were rare as 90.3% of the subjects denied experiencing any of them, there were nonetheless reports of parotid duct injury by 6.5% of the patients, and non-healing wound by the 3.2% of patients. Conclusion: Buccal Mucosa Graft in Augmentation Urethroplasty is an ideal source of allograft, although not entirely painless; it is considerably safe with minimal intra-oral complication and undetectable strain on the patients’ quality of life.

Keywords: augmentation, buccal, graft, oral

Procedia PDF Downloads 157

Authors: Christabel Ihedike, John Mooney, Monica Price

Abstract:

Summary: This study aims to critically evaluate effect of photochemical smog on respiratory health in Nigeria. Cohort of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients was recruited from two large hospitals in Abuja Nigeria. Respiratory health questionnaires, daily diaries, dyspnoea scale and lung function measurement were used to obtain health data and investigate the relationship with air quality data (principally ozone, NOx and particulate pollution). Concentrations of air pollutants were higher than WHO and Nigerian air quality standard. The result suggests a correlation between measured air quality and exacerbation of respiratory illness. Introduction: Photochemical smog is a significant health challenge in most cities and its effect on respiratory health is well acknowledged. This type of pollution is most harmful to the elderly, children and those with underlying respiratory disease. This study aims to investigate impact of increasing temperature and photo-chemically generated secondary air pollutants on respiratory health in Abuja Nigeria. Method and Result: Health data was collected using spirometry to measure lung function on routine attendance at the clinic, daily diaries kept by patients and information obtained using respiratory questionnaire. Questionnaire responses (obtained using an adapted and internally validated version of St George’s Hospital Respiratory Questionnaire), shows that ‘time of wheeze’ showed an association with participants activities: 30% had worse wheeze in the morning: 10% cannot shop, 15% take long-time to get washed, 25% walk slower, 15% if hurry have to stop and 5% cannot take-bath. There was also a decrease in Forced expiratory volume in the first second and Forced Vital Capacity, and daily change in the afternoon–morning may be associated with the concentration level of pollutants. Also, dyspnoea symptoms recorded that 60% of patients were on grade 3, 25% grade 2 and 15% grade 1. Daily frequency of the number of patients in the cohort that cough /brought sputum is 78%. Air pollution in the city is higher than Nigerian and WHO standards with NOx and PM10 concentrations of 693.59ug/m-3 and 748ugm-3 being measured respectively. The result shows that air pollution may increase occurrence and exacerbation of respiratory disease. Conclusion: High temperature and local climatic conditions in urban Nigeria encourages formation of Ozone, the major constituent of photochemical smog, resulting also in the formation of secondary air pollutants associated with health challenges. In this study we confirm the likely potency of the pattern of secondary air pollution in exacerbating COPD symptoms in vulnerable patient group in urban Nigeria. There is need for better regulation and measures to reduce ozone, particularly when local climatic conditions favour development of photochemical smog in such settings. Climate change and likely increasing temperatures add impetus and urgency for better air quality standards and measures (traffic-restrictions and emissions standards) in developing world settings such as Nigeria.

Keywords: Abuja-Nigeria, effect, photochemical smog, respiratory health

Procedia PDF Downloads 203

Authors: Rupali Bhatia, Deepthi Nair, Geetika Khanna, Seema Singhal

Abstract:

Introduction: Genital tract tuberculosis is a chronic disease (caused by reactivation of organisms from systemic distribution of Mycobacterium tuberculosis) that often presents with low grade symptoms and non-specific complaints. Patients with genital tuberculosis are usually young women seeking workup and treatment for infertility. Infertility is the commonest presentation due to involvement of the fallopian tubes, endometrium and ovarian damage with poor ovarian volume and reserve. The diagnosis of genital tuberculosis is difficult because of the fact that it is a silent invader of genital tract. Since tissue cannot be obtained from fallopian tubes, the diagnosis is made by isolation of bacilli from endometrial tissue obtained by endometrial biopsy curettage and/or aspiration. Problems are associated with sampling technique as well as diagnostic modality due to lack of adequate sample volumes and the segregation of the sample for various diagnostic tests resulting in non-uniform distribution of microorganisms. Moreover, lack of an efficient sampling technique universally applicable for all specific diagnostic tests contributes to the diagnostic challenges. Endometrial sampling plays a key role in accurate diagnosis of female genital tuberculosis. It may be done by 2 methods viz. endometrial curettage and endometrial aspiration. Both endometrial curettage and aspirate have their own limitations as curettage picks up strip of the endometrium from one of the walls of the uterine cavity including tubal osteal areas whereas aspirate obtains total tissue with exfoliated cells present in the secretory fluid of the endometrial cavity. Further, sparse and uneven distribution of the bacilli remains a major factor contributing to the limitations of the techniques. The sample that is obtained by either technique is subjected to histopathological examination, AFB staining, culture and PCR. Aim: Comparison of the sampling techniques viz. endometrial biopsy curettage and endometrial aspiration using different laboratory methods of histopathology, cytology, microbiology and molecular biology. Method: In a hospital based observational study, 75 Indian females suspected of genital tuberculosis were selected on the basis of inclusion criteria. The women underwent endometrial tissue sampling using Novaks biopsy curette and Karmans cannula. One part of the specimen obtained was sent in formalin solution for histopathological testing and another part was sent in normal saline for acid fast bacilli smear, culture and polymerase chain reaction. The results so obtained were correlated using coefficient of correlation and chi square test. Result: Concordance of results showed moderate agreement between both the sampling techniques. Among HPE, AFB and PCR, maximum sensitivity was observed for PCR, though the specificity was not as high as other techniques. Conclusion: Statistically no significant difference was observed between the results obtained by the two sampling techniques. Therefore, one may use either EA or EB to obtain endometrial samples and avoid multiple sampling as both the techniques are equally efficient in diagnosing genital tuberculosis by HPE, AFB, culture or PCR.

Keywords: acid fast bacilli (AFB), histopatholgy examination (HPE), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), endometrial biopsy curettage

Procedia PDF Downloads 311

Authors: Varsha Pandurang Nagargoje, K. S. James

Abstract:

Background: Social participation is considered as one of the central components of successful and healthy aging. This study aimed to examine the moderating role of marital status and living arrangement in the relationship between social participation and life satisfaction and other potential factors associated with life satisfaction of Indian older adults. Method: For analyses, the nationally representative study sample of 31,464 adults aged ≥60 years old was extracted from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) wave 1, 2017-18. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis have been performed to determine the proportion of life satisfaction. The first set of multivariable linear regression analyses examined Diener’s Satisfaction with Life Scale and its association with various predictor variables, including social participation, marital status, living arrangements, socio-demographic, economic, and health-related variables. Further, the second and third sets of regression investigated the moderating role of marital status and living arrangements respectively in the association of social participation and level of life satisfaction among Indian older adults. Results: Overall, the proportion of life satisfaction among older men was relatively higher than women counterparts in most background characteristics. Regression results stressed the importance of older adults’ involvement in social participation [β = 0.39, p < 0.05], being in marital union [β = 0.68, p < 0.001] and co-residential living arrangements either only with spouse [β = 1.73, p < 0.001] or with other family members [β = 2.18, p < 0.001] for the improvement of life satisfaction. Results also showed that some factors were significant for life satisfaction: in particular, increased age, having a higher level of educational status, MPCE quintile, and caste category. Higher risk of life dissatisfaction found among Indian older adults who were exposed to vulnerabilities like consuming tobacco, poor self-rated health, having difficulty in performing ADL and IADL were of major concern. The interaction effect of social participation with marital status or with living arrangements explained that currently married older individuals, and those older adults who were either co-residing with their spouse only or with other family members irrespective of their involvement in social participation remained an important modifiable factor for life satisfaction. Conclusion: It would be crucial for policymakers and practitioners to advocate social policy programs and service delivery oriented towards meaningful social connections, especially for those Indian older adults who were staying alone or currently not in the marital union to enhance their overall life satisfaction.

Keywords: Indian, older adults, social participation, life satisfaction, marital status, living arrangement

Procedia PDF Downloads 116

Authors: Stella Laletas, Andrea Reupert, Melinda Goodyear, Bradley Morgan

Abstract:

Background: Many people with a mental illness have young children. Research has shown that early childhood is a particularly vulnerable time for children whose parents have a mental illness. Moreover, repeated research has demonstrated the effectiveness of a multiagency approach to family focused practice for improving parental functioning and preventing adverse outcomes in children whose parents have a mental illness, particularly in the early years of a child’s life. However, there is a paucity of professional development resources for professionals who work with families where a parent has a mental illness and has young children. Significance of the study: This study will make a contribution to addressing knowledge gaps around resource development and workforce needs for early childhood and mental health professionals working with young children where a parent has a mental illness. Objective: This presentation describes a newly developed resource, 'Pathways of Care', specifically designed for early childhood educators and mental health workers, alongside pilot evaluation data regarding its effectiveness. ‘Pathways of Care’ aims to promote collaborative practice and present early identification and referral processes for workers in this sector. The resource was developed by the Children of Parents with a Mental Illness (COPMI) National Initiative which is funded by the Australian Government. Method: Using a mixed method design, the effectiveness of the training resource is also presented. Fifteen workers completed the Family Focus Mental Health Practice Questionnaire pre and post using the resource, to measure confidence and practice change; semi-structured interviews were also conducted with eight of these same workers to further explore the utility of the resource. Findings: The findings indicated the resource was effective in increasing knowledge and confidence, particularly for new and/or inexperienced staff. Examples of how the resource was used in practice by various professions emerged from the interview data. Conclusions: Collaborative practice, early identification and intervention in early childhood can potentially play a key role in altering the life trajectory of children who are at risk. This information has important implications for workforce development and staff training in both the early childhood and mental health sectors. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.

Keywords: parents with mental ilnesses, early intervention, evaluation, preschool children

Procedia PDF Downloads 429

Authors: Carmen W. H. Chan, Helen Y. L. Chan, Kai Chow Choi, Ka Ming Chow, Cecilia W. M. Kwan, Nancy H. Y. Ng, Jackie Robinson

Abstract:

Introduction: In Hong Kong, a significant number of deaths occur in acute care wards, which requires nurses in these settings to provide end-of-life care and lead ACP implementation. However, nurses in these settings, in fact, have very low-level involvement in ACP discussions because of limited training in ACP conversations. Objective: This study aims to assess the impact of a multi-media experiential ACP (MEACP) training program, which is guided by the experiential learning model and theory of planned behaviour, on nurses' knowledge and confidence in assisting patients with ACP. Methodology: The study utilizes a cluster randomized controlled trial with a 12-week follow-up. Eligible nurses working in acute care hospital wards are randomly assigned at the ward level, in a 1:1 ratio, to either the control group (no ACP education) or the intervention group (4-week MEACP training program). The training programme includes training through a webpage and mobile application, as well as a face-to-face training workshop with enhanced lectures and role play, which is based on the Theory of Planned Behavior and Kolb's Experiential Learning Model. Questionnaires were distributed to assess nurses' knowledge (a 10-item true/false questionnaire) and level of confidence (five-point Likert scale) in ACP at baseline (T0), four weeks after the baseline assessment (T1), and 12 weeks after T1 (T2). In this interim report, data analysis was mainly descriptive in nature. Result: The interim report focuses on the preliminary results of 165 nurses at T0 (Control: 74, Intervention: 91) over a 5-month period, 69 nurses from the control group who completed the 4-week follow-up and 65 nurses from the intervention group who completed the 4-week MEACP training program at T1. The preliminary attrition rate is 6.8% and 28.6% for the control and intervention groups, respectively, as some nurses did not complete the whole set of online modules. At baseline, the two groups were generally homogeneous in terms of their years of nursing practice, weekly working hours, working title, and level of education, as well as ACP knowledge and confidence levels. The proportion of nurses who answered all ten knowledge questions correctly increased from 13.8% (T0) to 66.2% (T1) for the intervention group and from 13% (T0) to 20.3% (T1) for the control group. The nurses in the intervention group answered an average of 7.57 and 9.43 questions correctly at T0 and T1, respectively. They showed a greater improvement in the knowledge assessment at T1 with respect to T0 when compared with their counterparts in the control group (mean difference of change score, Δ=1.22). They also exhibited a greater gain in level of confidence at T1 compared to their colleagues in the control group (Δ=0.91). T2 data is yet available. Conclusion: The prevalence of nurses engaging in ACP and their level of knowledge about ACP in Hong Kong is low. The MEACP training program can enrich nurses by providing them with more knowledge about ACP and increasing their confidence in conducting ACP.

Keywords: advance directive, advance care planning, confidence, knowledge, multi-media experiential, randomised control trial

Procedia PDF Downloads 62

Authors: Amna B. Medani, M. A. Elbadwi Samia, Hassan A. Khalid

Abstract:

In our study, nine Nubian goat kids were obtained, allotted into three groups, and healthily adapted in pens within the premises of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, University of Khartoum to be given the oral doses of the dried herb shoots at daily doses of 1 and 5 gm/kg/day with drinking water, while the kids of the control group were left undosed. All goats were slaughtered,if not died, after 35 days. S. argel at the given doses caused signs of arched posture, ruffled hair, shivering and paralysis of limbs. On post mortem, lesions were seen to be hepatic fatty changes, renal necrosis, congested lungs and inflamed intestines. Serum chemistry investigations revealed significant increase (P< 0.05-0.01) in the activities of ALP(alkaline phosphates) and AST( aspartate-aminotransferase) in goats dosed with 5 gm /kg/ day. Also observed were significant increases in inorganic phosphorus and urea concentrations (P < 0.05-0.01) in both dosed goat groups. .Other investigations including the activity of GGT( gamma glutamyltransferase), creatinine, calcium, total protein and albumin illustrated no significant difference from that of the undosed controls. On haematological evaluation , the goat kids dosed with 5 gm/kg/dayshowed a decrease in haemoglobin concentration and red blood cells count of (P < 0.05-0.01).Both groups of dosed goats showed a higher packed cell volume values of (P < 0.05) when compared to the control goats .Mean corpuscular haemoglobin values were not different from those of the control kids. S. argel at the given doses caused signs of arched posture, ruffled hair, shivering and paralysis of limbs. On post mortem, lesions were seen to be hepatic fatty changes, renal necrosis, congested lungs and inflamed intestines. Serum chemistry investigations revealed significant increase (P < 0.05-0.01) in the activities of ALP(alkaline phosphates) and AST( aspartate-aminotransferase) in goats dosed with 5 gm /kg/ day. Also observed were significant increases in inorganic phosphorus and urea concentrations (P < 0.05-0.01) in both dosed goat groups. .Other investigations including the activity of GGT( gamma-glutamyltransferase), creatinine, calcium, total protein and albumin illustrated no significant difference from that of the undosed controls. calcium, total protein and albumin illustrated no significant difference from that of the undosed controls. On haematological evaluation , the goat kids dosed with 5 gm/kg/dayshowed a decrease in haemoglobin concentration and red blood cells count of (P < 0.05-0.01).Both groups of dosed goats showed a higher packed cell volume values of (P < 0.05) when compared to the control goats .Mean corpuscular haemoglobin values were not different from those of the control kids. Data obtained were then discussed to find S. argel irritable to intestines , toxic to the kidney and liver and a haematological mild toxin.Suggestions for future were forwarded.

Keywords: hargal, nubian goats, solenstemma argel, toxicity

Procedia PDF Downloads 301

Authors: Kuo-Kai Lin, Po-Lun Chang

Abstract:

Research Background and Purpose: Following the development of the Internet and multimedia, the Internet and information technology have become crucial avenues of modern communication and knowledge acquisition. The advantages of using mobile devices for learning include making learning borderless and accessible. Mobile learning has become a trend in disease management and health promotion in recent years. End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is an irreversible chronic disease, and patients who do not receive kidney transplants can only rely on hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis to survive. Due to the complexities in caregiving for patients with ESRD that stem from their advanced age and other comorbidities, the patients’ incapacity of self-care leads to an increase in the need to rely on their families or primary caregivers, although whether the primary caregivers adequately understand and implement patient care is a topic of concern. Therefore, this study explored whether primary caregivers’ health care provisions can be improved through the intervention of an automatic speech intelligent system, thereby improving the objective health outcomes of patients undergoing long-term dialysis. Method: This study developed an automatic speech intelligent system with healthcare functions such as health information voice prompt, two-way feedback, real-time push notification, and health information delivery. Convenience sampling was adopted to recruit eligible patients from a hemodialysis center at a regional teaching hospital as research participants. A one-group pretest-posttest design was adopted. Descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated from the demographic information collected from questionnaires answered by patients and primary caregivers, and from a medical record review, a health care scale (recorded six months before and after the implementation of intervention measures), a subjective health assessment, and a report of objective physiological indicators. The changes in health care behaviors, subjective health status, and physiological indicators before and after the intervention of the proposed automatic speech intelligent system were then compared. Conclusion and Discussion: The preliminary automatic speech intelligent system developed in this study was tested with 20 pretest patients at the recruitment location, and their health care capacity scores improved from 59.1 to 72.8; comparisons through a nonparametric test indicated a significant difference (p < .01). The average score for their subjective health assessment rose from 2.8 to 3.3. A survey of their objective physiological indicators discovered that the compliance rate for the blood potassium level was the most significant indicator; its average compliance rate increased from 81% to 94%. The results demonstrated that this automatic speech intelligent system yielded a higher efficacy for chronic disease care than did conventional health education delivered by nurses. Therefore, future efforts will continue to increase the number of recruited patients and to refine the intelligent system. Future improvements to the intelligent system can be expected to enhance its effectiveness even further.

Keywords: automatic speech intelligent system for health care, primary caregiver, long-term hemodialysis, health care capabilities, health outcomes

Procedia PDF Downloads 99

Authors: Liang Zhao, Chongquan Zhong

Abstract:

Introduction: According to statistics, people spend 80% to 90% of time indoor, so indoor air quality, either at home or in the office, greatly impacts the quality of life, health and work efficiency. Therefore, indoor air quality is very important to human activities. With the acceleration of urbanization, people are spending more time in indoor activity. The time in indoor environment, the living space, and the frequency interior decoration are all increasingly increased. However, housing decoration materials contain formaldehyde and other harmful substances, causing environmental and air quality problems, which have brought serious damage to countless families and attracted growing attention. According to World Health Organization statistics, the indoor environments in more than 30% of buildings in China are polluted by poisonous and harmful gases. Indoor pollution has caused various health problems, and these widespread public health problems can lead to respiratory diseases. Long-term inhalation of low-concentration formaldehyde would cause persistent headache, insomnia, weakness, palpitation, weight loss and vomiting, which are serious impacts on human health and safety. On the other hand, as for offices, some surveys show that good indoor air quality helps to enthuse the staff and improve the work efficiency by 2%-16%. Therefore, people need to further understand the living and working environments. There is a need for easy-to-use indoor environment monitoring instruments, with which users only have to power up and monitor the environmental parameters. The corresponding real-time data can be displayed on the screen for analysis. Environment monitoring should have the sensitive signal alarm function and send alarm when harmful gases such as formaldehyde, CO, SO2, are excessive to human body. System design: According to the monitoring requirements of various gases, temperature and humidity, we designed a portable, light, real-time and accurate monitor for various environmental parameters, including temperature, humidity, formaldehyde, methane, and CO. This monitor will generate an alarm signal when a target is beyond the standard. It can conveniently measure a variety of harmful gases and provide the alarm function. It also has the advantages of small volume, convenience to carry and use. It has a real-time display function, outputting the parameters on the LCD screen, and a real-time alarm function. Conclusions: This study is focused on the research and development of a portable parameter monitoring instrument for indoor environment. On the platform of an STM32 development board, the monitored data are collected through an external sensor. The STM32 platform is for data acquisition and processing procedures, and successfully monitors the real-time temperature, humidity, formaldehyde, CO, methane and other environmental parameters. Real-time data are displayed on the LCD screen. The system is stable and can be used in different indoor places such as family, hospital, and office. Meanwhile, the system adopts the idea of modular design and is superior in transplanting. The scheme is slightly modified and can be used similarly as the function of a monitoring system. This monitor has very high research and application values.

Keywords: indoor air quality, gas concentration detection, embedded system, sensor

Procedia PDF Downloads 229

Authors: Noah Wayne, Andrea Tuka, Adrian Norbash, Bryan Garber, Paul Ritvo

Abstract:

Program/Intervention Description: The Canadian Armed Forces(CAF) Mental Health Clinicstreat a full spectrum of mental disorder, addictions, and psychosocial issues that include Major Depressive Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and other diagnoses. We evaluated the feasibility of an online health coach interventiondelivering mindfulness based cognitive behavioral therapy (M-CBT) and behaviour changesupport for individuals receiving treatment at CAF Clinics. Participants were provided accounts on NexJ Connected Wellness, a digital health platform, and 16 weeks of phone-based health coaching,emphasizingmild to moderate aerobic exercise, a healthy diet, and M-CBT content. The primary objective was to assess the feasibility of the online deliverywith CAF members. Evaluation Methods: Feasibility was evaluated in terms of recruitment, engagement, and program satisfaction. Weadditionallyevaluatedhealth behavior change, program completion, and mental health symptoms (i.e. PHQ-9, GAD-7, PCL-5) at three time points. Results: Service members were referred from Vancouver, Esquimalt, and Edmonton CAF bases between August 2020 and January 2021. N=106 CAF personnel were referred, and n=77 consented.N=66 participated, and n=44 completed 4-month and follow-up measures. The platform received a mean rating of76.5 on the System Usability Scale, and health coaching was judged the most helpful program feature (95.2% endorsement), while reminders (53.7%), secure messaging (51.2%), and notifications (51.2%) were also identified. Improvements in mental health status during active interventions were observed on the PHQ-9 (-5.4, p<0.001), GAD-7 (-4.0, p<0.001), and PCL-5 (-4.1, p<0.05). Conclusion: Online health coaching was well-received amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdowns. Uptake and engagement were positively reported. Participants valuedcontacts and reported strong therapeutic alliances with coaches. Healthy diet, regular exercise, and mindfulness practice are important for physical and mental health. Engagements in these behaviors are associated with reduced symptoms. An online health coach program appears feasible for assisting Canadian Armed Forces personnel.

Keywords: coaching, CBT, military, depression, mental health, digital

Procedia PDF Downloads 140

Authors: Pelin Atav, Gözen Güner Aktaş, Nur Ayalp

Abstract:

Today’s world has started to develop design process within an interdisciplinary working environment. There is an aim of creating the most permanent design for the future. While satisfying people’s needs, environment and people relationships should be considered. When this relationship was considered for the future, the sustainability term comes to mind. The term Sustainability has been adapted very well by designer and architects. It is also one of the main and significant parts of the design process. As the education process cultivates the future professionals, the awareness of those concepts in the education process has a vital importance. The question is stated as thus: Are the 3rd and 4th year design studio students, familiar and sensitive to the concept of sustainability in the TOBB ETU University Interior Design Studio. Design studios and the instructors should be taken into consideration while this sustainability term is taught. The term "Sustainability" can not be learned without making any application in the actual real world. While students make this study, They can have the chance to search the topic of sustainability step by step. Due to having various extent, sustainability term becomes quite a comprehensive issue. In order not to create negative consequences, designers and architects work by adapting this term. In terms of material, construction process, lighting, building service, furniture, systems that are used, energy consumption issues that are considered and creating positive drawbacks for the future are aimed. This research is aimed at how university education shapes designer’s works in terms of sustainability. By giving a project that is a main interest in the field of sustainability, students are expected to reach well-thought-of results and analysis. Project process were conducted with instructor and student studies together. According to critics from their instructors, students try to product well- designed results. TOBB University was choosen as a research area situated in Ankara in Turkey. Third and fourth class (interior designer/architect department) students who are from the Faculty of Fine Arts Design and Architecture are the subject group selected for this study. Aim of this study is demonstrating sustainability as a term having application in design studio. Thus, awareness of sustainability terms will be evaluated and its development process in the university education will be observed. Consequently, results that are expected is how sustainability term is conducted in project and for the sustainability term awareness in design studios and their projects have been sufficient or not.

Keywords: design education, design process, interior design studios, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 269

Authors: Wenhao Li, Shijun Guo

Abstract:

Carbon fibre reinforced composites are progressively replacing metal structures in modern civil aircraft. This is because composite materials have large potential of weight saving compared with metal. However, the achievement to date of weight saving in composite structure is far less than the theoretical potential due to many uncertainties in structural integrity and safety concern. Unlike the conventional metallic structure, composite components are bonded together along the joints where structural integrity is a major concern. To ensure the safety, metal fasteners are used to reinforce the composite bonded joints. One of the solutions for a significant weight saving of composite structure is to develop an effective technology of on-board Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) System. By monitoring the real-life stress status of composite structures during service, the safety margin set in the structure design can be reduced with confidence. It provides a means of safeguard to minimize the need for programmed inspections and allow for maintenance to be need-driven, rather than usage-driven. The aim of this paper is to develop smart composite joint. The key technology is a multifunctional thermoplastic composite fastener (MTCF). The MTCF will replace some of the existing metallic fasteners in the most concerned locations distributed over the aircraft composite structures to reinforce the joints and form an on-board SHM network system. Each of the MTCFs will work as a unit of the AU and AE technology. The proposed MTCF technology has been patented and developed by Prof. Guo in Cranfield University, UK in the past a few years. The manufactured MTCF has been successfully employed in the composite SLJ (Single-Lap Joint). In terms of the structure integrity, the hybrid SLJ reinforced by MTCF achieves 19.1% improvement in the ultimate failure strength in comparison to the bonded SLJ. By increasing the diameter or rearranging the lay-up sequence of MTCF, the hybrid SLJ reinforced by MTCF is able to achieve the equivalent ultimate strength as that reinforced by titanium fastener. The predicted ultimate strength in simulation is in good agreement with the test results. In terms of the structural health monitoring, a signal from the MTCF was measured well before the load of mechanical failure. This signal provides a warning of initial crack in the joint which could not be detected by the strain gauge until the final failure.

Keywords: composite single-lap joint, crack propagation, multifunctional composite fastener, structural health monitoring

Procedia PDF Downloads 149

Authors: Charles A. Khamala

Abstract:

In 2003, constrained by an absent “rule of law culture” and negative economic growth, the new Kenyan government chose to pursue incremental judicial reforms rather than comprehensive constitutional reforms. President Mwai Kibaki’s first administration’s judicial reform strategy was two pronged. First, to implement unprecedented “radical surgery,” he appointed a new Chief Justice who instrumentally recommended that half the purportedly-corrupt judiciary should be removed by Presidential tribunals of inquiry. Second, the replacement High Court judges, initially, instrumentally-endorsed the “radical surgery’s” administrative decisions removing their corrupt predecessors. Meanwhile, retention of the welfare-reducing Constitution perpetuated declining public confidence in judicial institutions culminating in refusal by the dissatisfied opposition party to petition the disputed 2007 presidential election results, alleging biased and corrupt courts. Fatefully, widespread post-election violence ensued. Consequently, the international community prompted the second Kibaki administration to concede to a new Constitution. Suddenly, the High Court then adopted a non-instrumental interpretation to reject the 2003 “radical surgery.” This paper therefore critically analyzes whether the Kenyan court’s inconsistent interpretations–pertaining to the constitutionality of the 2003 “radical surgery” removing corruption from Kenya’s courts–was predicated on political expediency or human rights principles. If justice “must also seen to be done,” then pursuit of the CJ’s, Judicial Service Commission’s and president’s political or economic interests must be limited by respect for the suspected judges and magistrates’ due process rights. The separation of powers doctrine demands that the dismissed judges should have a right of appeal which entails impartial review by a special independent oversight mechanism. Instead, ignoring fundamental rights, Kenya’s new Supreme Court’s interpretation of another round of vetting under the new 2010 Constitution, ousts the High Court’s judicial review jurisdiction altogether, since removal of judicial corruption is “a constitutional imperative, akin to a national duty upon every judicial officer to pave way for judicial realignment and reformulation.”

Keywords: administrative decisions, corruption, fair hearing, judicial review, (non) instrumental

Procedia PDF Downloads 456

Authors: Chenyao Shen, Jie Shen

Abstract:

The rating system provides an effective framework for assessing building environmental performance and integrating sustainable development into building and construction processes; as it can be used as a design tool by developing appropriate sustainable design strategies and determining performance measures to guide the sustainable design and decision-making processes. Healthcare buildings are resource (water, energy, etc.) intensive. To maintain high-cost operations and complex medical facilities, they require a great deal of hazardous and non-hazardous materials, stringent control of environmental parameters, and are responsible for producing polluting emission. Compared with other types of buildings, the impact of healthcare buildings on the full cycle of the environment is particularly large. With broad recognition among designers and operators that energy use can be reduced substantially, many countries have set up their own green rating systems for healthcare buildings. There are four main green healthcare building evaluation systems widely acknowledged in the world - Green Guide for Health Care (GGHC), which was jointly organized by the United States HCWH and CMPBS in 2003; BREEAM Healthcare, issued by the British Academy of Building Research (BRE) in 2008; the Green Star-Healthcare v1 tool, released by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) in 2009; and LEED Healthcare 2009, released by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) in 2011. In addition, the German Association of Sustainable Building (DGNB) has also been developing the German Sustainable Building Evaluation Criteria (DGNB HC). In China, more and more scholars and policy makers have recognized the importance of assessment of sustainable development, and have adapted some tools and frameworks. China’s first comprehensive assessment standard for green building (the GBTs) was issued in 2006 (lately updated in 2014), promoting sustainability in the built-environment and raise awareness of environmental issues among architects, engineers, contractors as well as the public. However, healthcare building was not involved in the evaluation system of GBTs because of its complex medical procedures, strict requirements of indoor/outdoor environment and energy consumption of various functional rooms. Learn from advanced experience of GGHC, BREEAM, and LEED HC above, China’s first assessment criteria for green hospital/healthcare buildings was finally released in December 2015. Combined with both quantitative and qualitative assessment criteria, the standard highlight the differences between healthcare and other public buildings in meeting the functional needs for medical facilities and special groups. This paper has focused on the assessment criteria framework for sustainable healthcare buildings, for which the comparison of different rating systems is rather essential. Descriptive analysis is conducted together with the cross-matrix analysis to reveal rich information on green assessment criteria in a coherent manner. The research intends to know whether the green elements for healthcare buildings in China are different from those conducted in other countries, and how to improve its assessment criteria framework.

Keywords: assessment criteria framework, green building design, healthcare building, building performance rating tool

Procedia PDF Downloads 131

Authors: S. Murr, S. Phillips

Abstract:

One of the biggest challenges entering a market with a carsharing or any other shared mobility (SM) service is sound investment decision-making. To support this process, the authors think that a city index evaluating different criteria is necessary. The goal of such an index is to benchmark cities along a set of external measures to answer the main two challenges: financially viability and the understanding of its specific requirements. The authors have consulted several shared mobility projects and industry experts to create such a Shared Mobility City Index (SMCI). The current proposal of the SMCI consists of 11 individual index measures: general data (demographics, geography, climate and city culture), shared mobility landscape (current SM providers, public transit options, commuting patterns and driving culture) and political vision and goals (vision of the Mayor, sustainability plan, bylaws/tenders supporting SM). To evaluate the suitability of the index, 16 cities on the East Coast of North America were selected and secondary research was conducted. The main sources of this study were census data, organisational records, independent press releases and informational websites. Only non-academic sources where used because the relevant data for the chosen cities is not published in academia. Applying the index measures to the selected cities resulted in three major findings. Firstly, density (city area divided by number of inhabitants) is not an indicator for the number of SM services offered: the city with the lowest density has five bike and carsharing options. Secondly, there is a direct correlation between commuting patterns and how many shared mobility services are offered. New York, Toronto and Washington DC have the highest public transit ridership and the most shared mobility providers. Lastly, except one, all surveyed cities support shared mobility with their sustainability plan. The current version of the shared mobility index is proving a practical tool to evaluate cities, and to understand functional, political, social and environmental considerations. More cities will have to be evaluated to refine the criteria further. However, the current version of the index can be used to assess cities on their suitability for shared mobility services and will assist investors deciding which city is a financially viable market.

Keywords: carsharing, transportation, urban planning, shared mobility city index

Procedia PDF Downloads 286

Authors: Yasemin Ilkay

Abstract:

Urban spatial pattern interacts with the minds and bodies of citizens and influences their perception and attitudes, which leads to a two-folded map of the same space: physical and Psychogeographic maps. Psychogeography is a field of inquiry (rooted in literature and fiction) investigating how the environment affects the feelings and behaviors of individuals. This term was posed by Situationist International Movement in the 1950s by Guy Debord; in the course of time, the artistic framework evolved into a political issue, especially with the term Dérive, which indicates ‘deviation’ and ‘resistance’ to the existing spatial reality. The term Dérive appeared on the track of Flânéur after one hundred years; and turned out to be a political tool to transform everyday urban life. The three main concepts of psychogeography [walking, dérive, and palimpsest] construct the epistemological framework for a psychogeographic spatial analysis. Mental representations investigating this framework would provide a designer to capture the invisible layers of the gap between ‘how a space is conceived’ and ‘how the same space is perceived and experienced.’ This gap is a neglected but critical issue to discuss in the planning discipline, and psychogeography provides methodological inputs to cover the interrelation among top-down designs of urban patterning and bottom-up reproductions of ‘the soul’ of urban space at the intersection of geography and psychology. City centers and university campuses exemplify opposite poles of spatial organization and walking practice, which may result in differentiated spatial appropriation forms. There is a traditional city center in Van, located at the core of the city with a dense population and several activities, but not connected to Van Lake, which is the largest lake in the country. On the other hand, the university campus is located at the periphery, and although it has a promenade along the lake’s coast and a regional hospital, it presents a limited walking experience with ambiguous forms of spatial appropriation. The city center draws a vivid urban everyday life; however, the campus presents a relatively natural life far away from the center. This paper aims to reveal the differentiated psychogeographic maps of spatial appropriation at the city center vs. the university campus, which is located at the periphery of the city and along the coast of the largest lake in Turkey. The main question of the paper is, “how do the psychogeographic maps of spatial appropriation differentiate at the city center and university campus in Van within the walking experience with reference to the two-folded map assumption.” The experiential maps of a core group of 15 planning students will be created with the techniques of mental mapping, photographing, and narratives through attentive walks conducted together on selected routes; in addition to these attentive walks, 30 more in-depth interviews will be conducted by the core group. The narrative of psychogeographic mapping of spatial appropriation at the two spatial poles would display the conflicting soul of the city with reference to sub-behavioural regions of walking, differentiated forms of derive and layers of palimpsest.

Keywords: attentive walk, body, cognitive geography, derive, experiential maps, psychogeography, Van, Turkey

Procedia PDF Downloads 62

Authors: Zichun Chu

Abstract:

The issue of tribal poverty has always attracted attentions. Due to social and economic difficulties, the indigenous people's personal development and tribal development have been greatly restricted. Past studies have pointed out that poverty may come from a lack of education. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) also stated that if we are to solve the poverty problem, providing education widely is an important key. According to the theory of intellectual capital adaptation, “being capable” and “willing to do” are the keys of development. Therefore, we can say that the "ability" and "will" of tribal residents for their tribal development is the core concern of the tribal development. This research was designed to investigate the career choice development model of indigenous tribe people by investigating the current status of human capital, social capital, and cultural capital of tribal residents. This study collected 327 questionnaires (70% of total households) from Truku tribe to answer the research question: Did education help them for job choosing decisions from the aspects of human capital, social capital, and cultural capital in tribal status. This project highlighted the ‘single tribal research approach’ to gain an in-depth understanding of the human capital formed under the unique culture of the tribe (Truku tribe). The results show that the education level of most research participants was high school, very few high school graduates chose to further their education to college level; due to the lack of education of their parents, the social capital was limited to support them for jobs choice, most of them work for labor and service industries; however, their culture capital was comparably rich for works, the sharing culture of Taiwanese indigenous people made their work status stable. The results suggested that we should emphasize more on the development of vocational education based on the tribe’s location and resources. The self-advocacy of indigenous people should be developed so that they would gain more power on making career decisions. This research project is part of a pilot project called “INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, POVERTY, AND DEVELOPMENT,” sponsored by the National Science and Technology Council of Taiwan. If this paper were accepted to present in the 2023 ICIP, it would be lovely if a panel is formed for me and other co-researchers (Chuanju Cheng, Chih-Yuan Weng, and YiXuan Chen), for the audience will be able to get a full picture of this pilot project.

Keywords: career choices, career model, indegenous career development, indigenous education, tribe

Procedia PDF Downloads 63

Authors: Reinaldo Biscaro, Luciano R. Ferreira, Leonardo C. Biscaro, Raphael C. Biscaro, Isabela S. Vasconcelos, Laura C. R. Ferreira, Cristiano M. Galhardi, Erica P. Baciuk

Abstract:

Introduction: The present study had the objective to present the profile of workers with shoulder disorders related to labor lawsuits in Brazil. The study analyzed the association between the worker’s health and the actions performed by the companies related to injured professional. The research method performed a retrospective, cross-sectional and quantitative database analysis. The documents of labor lawsuits with shoulder injury registered at the Regional Labor Court in the 15^th region (Campinas - São Paulo) were submitted to the medical examination and evaluated during the period from 2012 until 2015. The data collected were age, gender, onset of symptoms, length of service, current occupation, type of shoulder injury, referred complaints, type of acromion, associated or related diseases, company actions as CAT (workplace accident communication), compliance of NR7 by the organization (Environmental Risk Prevention Program - PPRA and Medical Coordination Program in Occupational Health - PCMSO). Results: From the 93 workers evaluated, there was a prevalence of men (58.1%), with a mean age of 42.6 y-o, and 54.8% were included in the age group 35-49 years. Regarding the length of work time in the company, 66.7% have worked for more than 5 years. There was an association between gender and current occupational status (p < 0.005), with predominance of women in household occupation (13 vs. 2) and predominance of unemployed men in job search situation (24 vs. 10) and reintegrated to work by judicial decision (8 vs. 2). There was also a correlation between pain and functional limitation (p < 0.01). There was a positive association of PPRA with the complaint of functional limitation and negative association with pain (p < 0.04). There was also a correlation between the sedentary lifestyle and the presence of PCMSO and PPRA (p < 0.04), and the absence of CAT in the companies (p < 0.001). It was concluded that the appearance or aggravation of osseous and articular shoulder pathologies in workers who have undertaken labor law suits seem to be associated with individual habits or inadequate labor practices. These data can help preventing the occurrence of these lesions by implementing local health promotion policies at work.

Keywords: work-related accidents, cross-sectional study, shoulder lesions, labor lawsuits

Procedia PDF Downloads 195

Authors: Rupinder Kaler, Faith Ndebele, Nadia Saleem, Hafsa Sheikh

Abstract:

Background: Workplace related violence and aggression seems to be considered an acceptable occupational hazard for staff in mental health services. There is literature evidence that healthcare workers in mental health settings are at higher risk from aggression from patients. Aggressive behaviours pose a physical and psychological threat to the psychiatric staff and can result in stress, burnout, sickness, and exhaustion. Further evidence informs that health professionals are the most exposed to psychological disorders such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Fear that results from working in a dangerous environment and exhaustion can have a damaging impact on patient care and healthcare relationship. Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence and impact of aggressive behaviour on staff working at Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust. Methodology: The study methodology included carrying out a manual, anonymised, multi-disciplinary cross-sectional survey questionnaire across all clinical and non-clinical staff at CWPT from both inpatient and community settings. Findings: The unsurprising finding was that of higher prevalence of aggressive behaviours in in-patients in comparison to community staff. Conclusion: There is a high rate of verbal and physical aggression at work and this has a negative impact on the staff emotional and physical well- being. There is also a higher reliance on colleagues for support on an informal basis than formal organisational support systems. Recommendations: A workforce that is well and functioning is the biggest resource for an organisation. Staff safety during working hours is everyone's responsibility and sits with both individual staff members and the organisation. Post-incident organisational support needs to be consolidated, and hands-on, timely support offered to help maintain emotionally well staff on CWPT. The authors recommend development of preventative and practical protocols for aggression with patient and carer involvement. Post-incident organisational support needs to be consolidated, and hands-on, timely support offered to help maintain emotionally well staff on CWPT.

Keywords: safer staff, survey of staff experiences, violence and aggression, mental health

Procedia PDF Downloads 186

Authors: Giorgi Sulashvili, Vladimer Kekenadze, Olga Khutsishvili, Bela Khotenashvili, Tsiuri Phkhakadze, Besarion Tsikhelashvili

Abstract:

The article dealt with the South Caucasus is a complex economic policy, which consists of strands: The process of deepening economic integration in the South Caucasus region; deepening economic integration with the EU in the framework of "Neighbourhood policy with Europe" and in line with the Maastricht criteria; the development of bilateral trade and economic relations with many countries of the world community; the development of sufficient conditions for the integration of the South Caucasus region in the world to enter the market. According to the author, to determine the place of Georgia in the regional policy of the South Caucasus, it is necessary to consider two views about Georgia: The first is the view of Georgia, as a part of global economic and political processes and the second look at Georgia, as a country located in the geo-economic and geopolitical space of the South Caucasus. Such approaches reveal the place of Georgia in two dimensions; in the global and regional economies. In the countries of South Caucasus, the tourism has been developing fast and has a great social and economic importance. Tourism influences deeply on the social and economic growth of the regions of the country. Tourism development formulates thousand new jobs, fixes the positions of small and middle businesses, ensures the development of the education and culture of the population. In the countries of South Caucasus, the Tourist Industry can be specified as the intersectoral complex, which consists of travel transport and it’s technical service network, tourist enterprises which are specialized in various types, wide network services. Tourists have a chance to enjoy all of these services. At the transitional stage of shifting to the market economy, tourism is among the priorities in the development of the national economy of our country. It is true that the Georgian tourism faces a range of problems at present, but its recognition and the necessity for its development may be considered as a fact. Besides, we would underline that the revitalization of the Georgian tourism is not only the question of time. This area can bring a lot of benefits as to private firms, as to specific countries. It also has many negative effects were conducted fundamental research and studies to consider both, positive and negative impacts of tourism. In the future such decisions will be taken that will bring, the maximum benefit at minimum cost, in order for tourism to take its place in Georgia it is necessary to understand the role of the tourism sector in the economic structure.

Keywords: transitional stage, national economy, Georgian tourism, positive and negative impacts

Procedia PDF Downloads 377