Search results for: urban health

Authors: Witri Pratiwi, Shopa Nur Fauzah, Dini Norviatin

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WHO recommends breastfeeding exclusively for infants aged 0 to 6 months because breast milk is the best nutrition. There are several factors associated with the success of exclusive breastfeeding. This study aims to determine the factors associated with the success of exclusive breastfeeding. A cross-sectional study was conducted at 6 community health centers in Cirebon City, Indonesia. Primary data were obtained from a validated questionnaire given to mothers who have children aged 6 to 24 months. A total of 326 mothers participated in this study. Two hundred and eighteen (66.9%) mothers gave exclusive breastfeeding to their babies, and 108 (33.1%) did not give exclusive breastfeeding. The baby gender (p=0.240), birth weight (p=0.436), and place of birth (0.137) were not related to exclusive breastfeeding. Mode of delivery (p=0.029) and early initiation of breastfeeding (p=0.001) were significantly associated with exclusive breastfeeding. Infants with early initiation of breastfeeding are three times more likely to get exclusive breastfeeding compared to those who do not get breastfeeding early (p=0.001; OR=3.696 [95% CI 1.764 – 7.746]). Early initiation of breastfeeding is the most important factor in determining the success of exclusive breastfeeding. Promotion and education on the importance of early breastfeeding initiation to prospective mothers, families, and health workers are expected to be improved.

Keywords: early initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding, mode of delivery, Indonesia

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Authors: Zhou Yang, Heli Sun, Jianbin Huang, Jizhong Zhao, Shaojie Qiao

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Traffic prediction is essential in a multitude of ways in modern urban life. The researchers of earlier work in this domain carry out the investigation chiefly with two major focuses: (1) the accurate forecast of future values in multiple time series and (2) knowledge extraction from spatial-temporal correlations. However, two key considerations for traffic prediction are often missed: the completeness of raw data and the full context of the prediction timestamp. Concentrating on the two drawbacks of earlier work, we devise an approach that can address these issues in a two-phase framework. First, we utilize the raw trajectories to a greater extent through building a VLA table and data compression. We obtain the intra-trajectory features with graph-based encoding and the intertrajectory ones with a grid-based model and the technique of back projection that restore their surrounding high-resolution spatial-temporal environment. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to study direct feature extraction from raw trajectories for traffic prediction and attempt the use of raw data with the least degree of reduction. In the prediction phase, we provide a broader context for the prediction timestamp by taking into account the information that are around it in the training dataset. Extensive experiments on several well-known datasets have verified the effectiveness of our solution that combines the strength of raw trajectory data and prediction context. In terms of performance, our approach surpasses several state-of-the-art methods for traffic prediction.

Keywords: traffic prediction, raw data utilization, context building, data reduction

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Authors: Lawong Damian Bernsah

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Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are most predominant among the poor and rural populations and are endemic in 149 countries. These diseases are the most prevalent and responsible for infecting 1.4 billion people worldwide. There are 17 neglected tropical diseases recognized by WHO that constitute the fourth largest disease health and economic burden of all communicable diseases. Five of these 17 diseases are considered for the cost analysis of this paper: lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, trachoma, schistosomiasis, and soil transmitted helminth infections. WHO has proposed a roadmap for eradication and elimination by 2020 and treatments have been donated through the London Declaration by pharmaceutical manufacturers. The paper estimates the cost of NTD control programme and elimination for each NTD disease and total in Nigeria. This is necessary as it forms the bases upon which programme budget and expenditure could be based. Again, given the opportunity cost the resources for NTD face it is necessary to estimate the cost so as to provide bases for comparison. Cost of NTDs control and elimination programme is estimated using the population at risk for each NTD diseases and for the total. The population at risk is gotten from the national master plan for the 2015 - 2020, while the cost per person was gotten for similar studies conducted in similar settings and ranges from US$0.1 to US$0.5 for Mass Administration of Medicine (MAM) and between US$1 to US$1.5 for each NTD disease. The combined cost for all the NTDs was estimated to be US$634.88 million for the period 2015-2020 and US$1.9 billion for each NTD disease for the same period. For the purpose of sensitivity analysis and for robustness of the analysis the cost per person was varied and all were still high. Given that health expenditure for Nigeria (% of GDP) averages 3.5% for the period 1995-2014, it is very clear that efforts have to be made to improve allocation to the health sector in general which is hoped could trickle to NTDs control and elimination. Thus, the government and the donor partners would need to step-up budgetary allocation and also to be aware of the costs of NTD control and elimination programme since they have alternative uses. Key Words: Neglected Tropical Disease, Cost Analysis, NTD Programme Control and Elimination, Cost per Person

Keywords: Neglected Tropical Disease, Cost Analysis, Neglected Tropical Disease Programme Control and Elimination, Cost per Person

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Authors: Emmanuel Iyamuremye

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Extreme rainfall events have caused significant damage to agriculture, ecology, and infrastructure, disruption of human activities, injury, and loss of life. They also have significant social, economic, and environmental consequences because they considerably damage urban as well as rural areas. Early detection of extreme maximum rainfall helps to implement strategies and measures, before they occur, hence mitigating the consequences. Extreme value theory has been used widely in modeling extreme rainfall and in various disciplines, such as financial markets, the insurance industry, failure cases. Climatic extremes have been analyzed by using either generalized extreme value (GEV) or generalized Pareto (GP) distributions, which provides evidence of the importance of modeling extreme rainfall from different regions of the world. In this paper, we focused on Peak Over Thresholds approach, where the Poisson-generalized Pareto distribution is considered as the proper distribution for the study of the exceedances. This research also considers the use of the generalized Pareto (GP) distribution with a Poisson model for arrivals to describe peaks over a threshold. The research used statistical techniques to fit models that used to predict extreme rainfall in Kigali. The results indicate that the proposed Poisson-GP distribution provides a better fit to maximum monthly rainfall data. Further, the Poisson-GP models are able to estimate various return levels. The research also found a slow increase in return levels for maximum monthly rainfall for higher return periods, and further, the intervals are increasingly wider as the return period is increasing.

Keywords: exceedances, extreme value theory, generalized Pareto distribution, Poisson generalized Pareto distribution

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Authors: Mustafa Abdul Rahman, Maisarah Abdullah, Nurfarahin Azizan, Mohd-Azlan Jayasilan, Andrew Alek Tuen

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Common myna (Acridotheres tristis) and Javan myna (A. javanicus) belong to the family Sturnidae. These two species range from Iran, Afghanistan, and east through the Indian subcontinent to south China, Indochina and the mainland Southeast Asia. It was introduced to Sarawak in 1980’s and since then the population has increased tremendously. A study to determine the density of these two species was conducted in the Kuching and Samarahan Districts, Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo between November 2013 and January 2014. In Kuching City a total of 12 transect lines of 500 m each were established totaling 6 km. In Samarahan District, six 500 m transect lines were established both within Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) campus and in Serian Town totaling 6 km. The results showed that the density of Javan myna in Kuching City (east) was 13.9 birds/ha, Kuching City (center) was 21.3 birds/ha and Kuching City (west) was 43.1 birds/ha. The density of common myna at UNIMAS campus was 20.3 birds/ha and Serian Town was 13.2 birds/ha. The density of human population probably plays an important role in determining the density of mynas in an area as it is associated with the availability of food sources, roosting and nesting places originating from human activity.

Keywords: density, myna, transect, invasive, Sarawak, Borneo

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Authors: Ki-seok Kwon, Dong-woo Ryu, Heung-Youl Kim

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Although high-strength concrete has many advantages over generic concrete at normal temperatures (around 20℃), it undergoes spalling at high temperatures, which constitutes its structurally fatal drawback. In this study, fire resistance tests were conducted for 3 hours in accordance with ASTM E119 on bearing wall specimens which were 3,000mm x 3,000mm x 300mm in dimensions to investigate the influence the type of admixtures would exert on the fire resistance performance of high-strength concrete. Portland cement, blast furnace slag, fly ash and silica fume were used as admixtures, among which 2 or 3 components were combined to make 7 types of mixtures. In 56MPa specimens, the severity of spalling was in order of SF5 > F25 > S65SF5 > S50. Specimen S50 where an admixture consisting of 2 components was added did not undergo spalling. In 70MPa specimens, the severity of spalling was in order of SF5 > F25SF5 > S45SF5 and the result was similar to that observed in 56MPa specimens. Acknowledgements— This study was conducted by the support of the project, “Development of performance-based fire safety design of the building and improvement of fire safety” (18AUDP-B100356-04) which is under the management of Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement as part of the urban architecture research project for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, for which we extend our deep thanks.

Keywords: high strength concrete, mineral admixture, fire resistance, social disaster

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Authors: Shiva Kumar G.

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The present study is to know the level of noises emanated from vehicles in intersections located in urban areas using Sound Level Meter and the possibility of reducing noise levels through traffic flow optimization. The main objective is to study traffic noise level of the Intersections located at on-going metro construction activities and which are away from metro construction activities. To compare traffic noise level between stop phase, go phase and drive phase at the Intersections. To study the effect of traffic noise level of directional movement of traffic and variation in noise level during day and night times. The range of Noise level observed at intersections is between 60 to 105 decibel. The noise level of stop and drive phases were minimum and almost same where go phase had maximum noise level. By comparing noise level of directional movement of traffic, it has been noticed that Vijayanagar intersection has no significant difference in their noise level and all other intersection has a significant difference in their noise level. By comparing noise level of stop, go and drive phase it has been noticed that there was a significant difference in noise level during peak hours compared to off-peak hour. By comparing noise level between Metro and Non-Metro construction activity intersections it has been noticed that there was a significant difference in noise level. By comparing noise level during day and night times, significant differences in noise level were observed at all intersections.

Keywords: noise, metro and non-metro intersections, traffic flow optimization, stop-go and drive phase

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Authors: Rosa L. Figueroa, Joselyn A. Hernández

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During the last couple of years, the Ministry of Health have been developing new health policies in order to regulate and improve in benefit of the patient the pharmaceutical system in our country. However, there are still some deficiencies in how medicines have been accessed, distributed, and sold. Therefore, it is necessary to empower the patient by offering new instances to improve access to drug information. This work introduces ‘the bioequivalent’ a medical drug search tool created to increase both diffusion and getting information about the therapeutic equivalence of medicines for the patient. The development of the search tool started with a study on the availability of sources of drug information accessible to the patient where advantages and disadvantages were analyzed. The information obtained was used to feed the functional design of the new tool. The design of the new tool shows an external interface that includes a header, body, sidebar and footer. The header has a menu containing ‘Home,’ ‘Who we are,’ and ‘Mission and vision.’ The Body contains the medical drug search tool, and the Sidebar is for the user logging in. It could be anonym, registered user, as well as, administrator. Anonym user could only use the tool. Registered users could add some information on existing medicines in the database; however, adding information will be restricted and limited to specific items and subject to administrator approval because the information added must be endorsed by the Chilean Public Health Institute. On the other hand, the administrator will have all the privileges, including creating or deleting drugs or information about them. The Bioequivalent was tested on different mobile devices, and no fails have been found. Moreover, a small survey was answered by ten people who tested the tool, and all of them agree that the tool was useful to get information about bioequivalent drugs, and they would recommend the tool to others. Nevertheless, an 80% of people who tested the tool says it was easy to use, and a 70% indicates that additional help is not required. These results are evidence that ‘the Bioequivalent’ may contribute to the knowledge about the therapeutic bioequivalence and bioequivalent drugs existing in Chile. As future work, the tool will be developed to make it available to the public for a first testing stage in a more massive scenario.

Keywords: collaborative database, bioequivalent drugs, search tool, web platform

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Authors: Farzaneh Askari, Jila Ganji, Sedigheh Hasani Moghadam

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Background and Aim: Endometriosis has been reported as one of the most common chronic gynecological conditions characterized by physical and psychological complications. Given that the impact of this disease on marital relationships and quality of life is multidimensional, the present review study aimed to reflect on the effect of psychosomatic aspects of endometriosis on marital relationships and quality of life. Materials and Methods: A narrative review methodology using keywords determined by the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) thesaurus was adopted in this study. For this purpose, the databases of ScienceDirect, Scientific Information Database (SID), Google Scholar, and PubMed were searched by means of key terms including endometriosis, marital relationships, physical complications, psychological complications, and quality of life in English and Persian from 2005 to 2020. At the end of the search, 38 articles were retrieved, and ultimately a total number of 16 studies were recruited for this review. Results: A review of the selected articles demonstrated that endometriosis could affect marital relationships and quality of life among couples featuring in three different categories, i.e. “category I: physical health dimension” (chronic pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea, cramps but not period, reduction and loss of fertility), “category II: sexual health dimension” (no sexual intercourse, dyspareunia, lack of sexual satisfaction), and “category III: psychosocial health dimension” (negative self-esteem, low energy, sense of loneliness, depression, social isolation, insufficient sleep, marital distress, divorce and marriage breakdown, inability to work and socialize). Conclusion: In general, it is suggested to pay particular attention to psychosomatic aspects of marital problems in patients affected with endometriosis. Accordingly, implementing educational and counseling strategies to minimize the complications of this disease can provide the grounds for improving marital relationships and maintaining the quality of life in these patients.

Keywords: Endometriosis, marital relationships, psychosomatic complications, quality of life

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Authors: Ghazala Yasmeen, Zahid Yousaf

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Frequent social media use has significantly changed people's life and communication styles during the last two decades. Social media use has multiple dimensions, and there are nuanced relationships between it and how it affects different societal subgroups. With the increased popularity and rapid growth of social networking sites, people are experiencing potential social media addiction, which causes severe mental health problems. How social media is dramatically influencing the lives and mental health of its users, and particularly of the students, creating psychological issues, e.g., isolation, depression, and anxiety, will be the primary objective of this study. This research will address the problems confronted by many students who are regular social media users and can undergo mental distress. This study aims to explore how social media use can lead to isolation, depression, and anxiety. This research will also investigate the effects of cyber-bullying on social, emotional, and psychological wellbeing. For this purpose, the researcher will use the survey technique as a method of inquiry. Ryff's theory of Psychological wellbeing will be used as a theoretical framework to explore the association between social media addiction and psychological effects among users. For data collection, the researcher will use the quantitative research method through a survey questionnaire from three universities in Pakistan from the public and private sectors. This study will imply a two-stage random sampling technique. At first, the researcher will select 20% of students from universities. In the second stage, 20% of students using different social networking sites will be chosen, and draw a representative sample from these will be. The intended study will use questionnaires comprising two portions. The first section will consist of social media engagement by the students, following impacts on their mental health and reported attitude towards psychological wellbeing. This study will spotlight the considerations of parents, educationists, and policymakers to take measures against the devastating effects of cyber-crimes on young adults.

Keywords: anxiety, depression, isolation, social media, wellbeing

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Authors: Villiam Ambong, Kevin Banawag, Wynne Shane Bugatan, Mark Alvin Jay Carpio, Hwan Hee Choi, Moises Kevin Chungalao

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This survey research investigated the perception of primary school teachers on the efficacy of MTB-MLE in SLU-LES, Baguio City. SLU-LES has a total of 21 primary school teachers who served as respondents of this study in an attempt to answer the major questions regarding the efficacy of MTB-MLE among primary school teachers. A questionnaire was used in collecting the data which were analyzed using weighted mean and ANOVA. The questionnaire was validated by a statistician and it was administered to a school which does not differ from the intended respondents for further validation of the items. Findings revealed from the intended respondents that they perceive MTB-MLE as effective; however, they do not prefer the use of Mother Tongue as a medium of instruction. A research on the same topic was conducted in Ibadan, Nigeria by Dr. David O. Fakeye and although his respondents were students; the results came out that the respondents do perceive MTB-MLE to be efficacious. The results of this study also showed that years of teaching experience and the number of languages spoken by the teachers have no bearing on the preference of the respondents between MT medium and English medium gave that the respondents are in melting pot community. Comparative studies between rural and urban schools are encouraged. Future researchers should include questions that elicit reasons of the respondents on the efficacy of mother tongue as well as their preference between mother tongue medium and English.

Keywords: mother tongue, primary teachers, perception, multilingual education

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Authors: Mark Linden, Rachel Leonard, Trisha Forbes, Michael Brown, Lynne Marsh, Stuart Todd, Nathan Hughes, Maria Truesdale

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Background: Current interventions which aim to improve the mental health of family carers are often face to face, which can create barriers to full participation. Online interventions can offer flexibility in delivery compared to face to face approaches. The primary objective of this study is to determine the feasibility of delivering the Carers-ID online intervention, while the secondary outcome is to improve the mental health of family carers of people with intellectual disabilities. Methods: Family carers (n = 120) will be randomised to receive the intervention (n=60) or assigned to a wait-list control (n=60) group. The intervention (www.Carers-ID.com) consists of fourteen modules which cover topics including promoting resilience, providing peer support, reducing anxiety, managing stress, accessing local supports, managing family conflict and information for siblings who are carers. Primary outcomes for this study include acceptability and feasibility of the outcome measures, recruitment, participation and retention rates and effect sizes. Secondary outcomes will be completed at three time points (baseline, following intervention completion and three months after completion). Secondary outcomes include, depression, anxiety, stress, well-being , resilience and social connectedness. Participants (n=12) who have taken part in the intervention arm of the research will be invited to participate in semi-structured interviews as part of the process evaluation. Discussion: To determine whether a full-scale randomised controlled effectiveness trial is warranted, feasibility testing of the intervention and trial procedures is a necessary first step. The Carers-ID intervention provides an accessible resource for family carers to support their mental health and well-being.

Keywords: intellectual disability, family carer, feasibility trial, online intervention

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Authors: Ghulam Mustafa Halepota, Zaib Dahar

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Background: Low acceptance of FP services, particularly in hard to reach areas where geographic, economic, or social barriers limit-service uptake. Moreover, limited resources appeared to be a reflection of dismal contraceptive use in Pakistan. People’s Primary Health Care Initiative (PPHI) is a Public Private Partnership Program of Government of Sindh which aims to improve maternal child health through accessible family planning services in far flung areas. In 2015 PPHI launched special family planning camps to have achieved a rapid improvement in CPR. On quarterly basis, these camps focus on Long Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARC). These camps are arranged at 250 BHU Plus (24/7 MCHCs). The Organization manages 1140 primary health care facilities all over Sindh province and focuses on maternal, newborn and child health which includes antenatal care, labor/delivery, postnatal care, family planning, immunization, nutrition, BEmONC, CEmONC, diagnostic laboratories, ambulance services. Under the FPRH program, the organization launched special family planning camps in far flung areas to achieve a rapid improvement in CPR-committed to FP 2020 goal. Objective: To assess the performance of special FP camps for the improvement of long acting reversible contraceptive in hard to reach areas. Methodology: Outreach camps are organized on quarterly basis in 250 BHUs and maternal and child health centers (available-24/7). Using observational study design, the study reports 2 years data of special FP camps conducted in 23 various districts of Sindh during April 2015-April 2017. These special camps served a range of modern contraceptive methods including IUCDs, implants, condoms, pills, and injections. Moreover, 125 male medical officers are trained across Sindh in LARC and 554 female have been trained in implants and IUCD insertions. MSI Impact calculator was used to determine health and demographic impact of services. Results: This intervention has brought exceptional results, and the response has been overwhelming in time. Total 2048 special camps during 2015 till April 2017 have been carried out. 231796 MWRAs visited camps 91% opted modern FP, of which 45% opted Implants, 6% selected IUCDs from LARC (long term reversible contraceptive) from short term, 17% opted injectable 18% choose pills, and 12% used condoms. This intervention created a high contraceptive impact in rural Sindh an estimated 125048 FP users have been created, of this 111846 LARC users and 13498 are SARC users, through this intervention an estimated 55774 unintended pregnancies, 36299 live births, 9394, 80 maternal deaths, 926 and 6077 unsafe abortion have been averted. Moreover, the intervention created an economic impact and saved 2,409,563 direct health expenditure on each woman with reproductive age. Conclusion: Special FP Camps along with routine services is an effective and acceptable model for increase in provision of long-acting and permanent methods in hard to reach areas. This innovative approach by PHHI-Sindh has also been adopted in other provinces of Pakistan.

Keywords: inequalities, special camps, family planning services, hard to reach areas

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Authors: Raju Singh, Shikha Singh

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This article is note for managing Autistic Child during the Corona time line. It becomes very critical for the primary caregiver as corona pandemic poses new challenges and completely variety of threats to line of treatment, growth, socialization, mental health for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and, so for the family of the children. It is a highly distressful situation, where the line of treatment has shrunken, physical contact has reduced and therapies footprints reduced in several parts of the world. As children with ASD already face socialization challenges, isolation rules imposed by individuals (or social groups), government agencies have only made the situation worse for the children with ASD and their family. This note will try to touch the basics on understanding the ASD and related development disorders, challenges, impact, and suggest approaches to deal with such situation. This document also covers data analysis, deep dive into the increasing impact of ASD on children. This document can also act as a baseline for many researchers, psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists to view the problem statement and measure its impact.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, mental health, applied behavior therapy, occupational therapy, social anxiety

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Authors: Xue Wu

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Since the 1980s, a series of policies and practices have been implemented in China in response to the unprecedented rate of ageing population. The paper provides a detailed narrative of what later-life learning policy discourses have been advocated and gives a description on relevant practical issues during the past three decades. The research process based on the discourse approach with a systematic review of the government-issued documents. It finds that the main practices taken by central government at various levels were making University of the Aged (UA) available in all urban and rural regions to consolidate the newly student enrollments; focusing social-recreational, leisure and cultural activities on 55-75 age group; and utilizing various methods including voluntary works and tourism to improve older adults’ physical and mental wellness. Although there were greater achievements with 30 years of development, many problems still exist. Finding reveals that the curriculum should be modified to meet the needs of the local development, to promote older adults’ contact and contribution to the community, and to enhance technical competences of those in rural areas involving in agricultural production. Central government should also integrate resources from all sectors of the society for further developing later-life learning in China. The result of this paper highlights the value to promote community-based later-life learning for building a society for active ageing and ageing in place.

Keywords: ageing population, China, later-life learning, policy, University of the Aged

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Authors: Villiam C. Ambong, Kevin G. Banawag, Wynne Shane B. Bugatan, Mark Alvin Jay R. Carpio, Hwan Hee Choi, Moses Kevin L. Chungalao

Abstract:

This survey research investigated the perception of primary school teachers on the efficacy of MTB-MLE in SLU-LES, Baguio City. SLU-LES has a total of 21 primary school teachers who served as the respondents of this study in an attempt to answer three major questions regarding the efficacy of MTB-MLE among primary school teachers. A questionnaire was used in collecting the data which were analyzed using weighted mean and ANOVA. The questionnaire was validated by a statistician and it was administered to a school which does not differ from the intended respondents for further validation of the items. Findings revealed from the intended respondents that they perceive MTB-MLE as effective; however, they do not prefer the use of Mother Tongue as medium of instruction. A research of the same topic was conducted in Ibadan, Nigeria by Dr. David O. Fakeye and although his respondents were students; the results came out that the respondents do perceive MTB-MLE to be efficacious. The results of this study also showed that years of teaching experience and number of languages spoken by the teachers have no bearing on the preference of the respondents between MT medium and English medium given that the respondents are in a melting pot community. Comparative studies between rural schools and urban schools are encouraged. Future researches should include questions that elicit reasons of the respondents on the efficacy of mother tongue as well as their preference between mother tongue medium and English.

Keywords: mother tongue, primary teachers, perception, multilingual education

Procedia PDF Downloads 444

Authors: Farzaneh Yazdani, Nastaran Yazdani, Laya Nobakht

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The aim of this study was to explore the changes that may happen in students attitudes regarding disability after attending the module ‘Disability: theories, nature and experiences’ designed around reflective self-awareness exercises. Literature indicates enhanced knowledge does not automatically lead to changes in attitude. Health care professionals are the most significant people to instil hope in their clients to pursue a happy life. As an advocate for people with disability, health care professionals need to believe themselves in people with disability being able to pursue a happy life as an abled body does. Researchers aimed to explore the impact of the ‘Disability’ module using discussion and reflective exercises, on students’ way of thinking and possible changes in attitude towards disability. Students were asked to write stories from the beginning and after completing the module. A thematic analysis was applied to identify the students’ way of communicating their thoughts and feelings about disable-bodied /disability before and after the module. Three major themes were identified to represent the differences before and after attending the module as: problem /solution oriented approach towards perceived problems, separating/ integrating disable/able-bodied, passive/ active role of disable-bodied and society.

Keywords: qualitative study, reflection, rehabilitation, thematic analysis

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Authors: Brenda R. Berca, Jessica S. Vieira, Lucas G. Candido, Matheus C. Ferreira, Paulo S. A. Lopes Filho, Rafaella O. Baracho

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This study aims to estimate the economic value environmental services sustained by Flamboyant Lourival Louza Municipal Park in Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil. The Flamboyant Park is one of the most relevant urban parks, and it is located near a stadium, a shopping center, and two supercenters. In order to define the methods used for the valuation of Flamboyant Park, the first step was carrying out bibliographical research with the view to better understand which method is most feasible to valuate the Park. Thus, the following direct methods were selected: travel cost, hedonic pricing, and contingent valuation. In addition, an indirect method (replacement cost) was applied at Flamboyant Park. The second step was creating and applying two surveys. The first survey aimed at the visitors of the park, addressing socio-economic issues, the use of the Park, as well as its importance and the willingness the visitors, had to pay for its existence. The second survey was destined to the existing trade in the Park, in order to collect data regarding the profits obtained by them. In the end, the characterization of the profile of the visitors and the application of the methods of contingent valuation, travel cost, replacement cost and hedonic pricing were obtained, thus monetarily valuing the various ecosystem services sustained by the park. Some services were not valued due to difficulties encountered during the process.

Keywords: contingent valuation, ecosystem services, economic environmental valuation, hedonic pricing, travel cost

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Authors: K. Sunitra, T. Srisuda

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Centella asiatica, asiatic pennywort is a medicinal herb plant used widely which held in herbal health care group. The problem of asiatic pennywort production is the outbreak of Sclerotium rolfsii causing a damp-off disease which caused plant stem turn yellowish, finally they begin to die and result in extremely damaging to growers. Therefore, the studies were caried out to control damping off with Trichoderma sp., Bacillus subtilis and fermented banana as compared to the control to suppress with bi-culture under the laboratory condition. It was found that Trichoderma harzianum showed the highest percentage of inbihition, 69.44%. The pot experiments in greenhouse condition showed that chemical had minimum of damping-off (31.54%) and highest yield (1.20 tons/rai) and following by Trichoderma harzianum and Bacillus subtilis treatment. Due to the chemical usage leaving toxic residues on plants and affect the human bodies. Trichoderma harzianum and Bacillus subtilis should be considered as alternatives which have percent of damp-off disease and yields as follows: 45.50 and 43.75%, and 1.12 and 1.09 tons/rai, respectively. These two products are known that they have no health risk for growers and consumers in the future.

Keywords: Centella asiatica, Sclerotium rolfsii, Trichoderma harzianum, Bacillus subtilis

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Authors: Mario Sergio de Andrade Zago, Javier Mazariegos Pablos, Eduvaldo Paulo Sichieri

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This research project accomplished a study on the technical feasibility of recycling industrial solid waste generated by the discharge of casting sand agglomeration with clay, blast furnace slag and sugar cane bagasse ash. For this, the plan proposed a methodology that initially establishes a process of solid waste encapsulation, by using solidification/stabilization technique on Portland cement matrices, in which the residuals act as small and large aggregates on the composition of concrete, and later it presents the possibility of using this concrete in the manufacture of concrete pieces (concrete blocks) for paving. The results obtained in this research achieved the objective set with great success, regarding the manufacturing of concrete pieces (blocks) for paving urban roads, whenever there is special vehicle traffic or demands capable of producing accentuated abrasion effects (surpassing the 50 MPa required by the regulation), which probes the technical practicability of using waste from sand casting agglomeration with clay and blast furnace slag used in this study, unlocking usage possibilities for construction.

Keywords: industrial solid waste, solidification/stabilization, Portland cement, reuse, bagasse ash in the sugar cane, concrete

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Authors: Jen-Te Pai, Jao-Heng Liu, Shin-En Pai

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The impact of climate change has intensified in recent years, causing Taiwan to face higher frequency and serious natural disasters. Therefore, it is imperative for industrial parks manufacturers to promote adaptation policies in response to climate change. On the other hand, with the rise of the international anti-terrorism situation, once a terrorist attack occurs, it will attract domestic and international media attention, especially the strategic and economic status of the science park. Thus, it is necessary to formulate adaptation and mitigation strategies under climate change and social economic disasters. After reviewed the literature about climate change, urban disaster prevention, vulnerability assessment, and risk communication, the study selected 62 industrial parks compiled by the Industrial Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs of Taiwan as the research object. This study explored the vulnerability and disaster prevention and disaster relief functional assessment of these industrial parks facing of natural and socio-economic disasters. Furthermore, this study explored planned adaptation of industrial parks management section and autonomous adaptation of corporate institutions in the park. The conclusion of this study is that Taiwan industrial parks with a higher vulnerability to natural and socio-economic disasters should employ positive adaptive behaviours.

Keywords: adaptive behaviours, analytic network process, vulnerability, industrial parks

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Authors: Benyan Jiang, Dawei Xia, Yong Li

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Compact city construction is considered as an effective measure to reduce carbon emission in city lives. Toyama City started its compact city strategy in 2000 and was selected as a Japanese Environmental Model City in 2008 for its achievement. This paper takes Toyama as a study case, aiming to find how city polices affected people’s life styles and reduced carbon emission. The main materials used in this study are first-hand documents, like urban planning materials, government annual report and statistic data from transportation association. It is found that the main measures taken by Toyama City include the construction of light rail transit, increasing the frequency of buses, building park and ride parking lots. In addition to hardware facilities, it also offers flexible policies like passengers' coupons for the senior citizens and free use of parking lots by buying shopping vouchers. Besides, Toyama City encourages citizens to live within 500 meters of public transportation. People who buy an apartment near public transportation will receive 500,000 Japanese Yen. These measures have proven to their effects. Compared with 2005, in 2014, the transportation sector reduced emissions of 2.35 million tons of CO₂, 13.6%. This aspect is related to the increase in the number of cars in public transport and also related to fuel improvement.

Keywords: Toyama, compact city, public transportation, CO₂ reduction

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Authors: Karen Chad, Louise Humbert, Kenzie Friesen, Dave Sandomirsky

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Background: The pandemic of COVID-19 presented many historical challenges to the sporting community. For organizations and individuals, sport was put on hold resulting in social, economic, physical, and mental health consequences for all involved. High school sports are seen as an effective and accessible pathway for students to receive health, social, and academic benefits. Studies examining sport cessation due to COVID-19 found substantial negative outcomes on the physical and mental well-being of participants in the high school setting. However, the pandemic afforded an opportunity to examine sport participation and the value people place upon their engagement in high school sport. Study objectives: (1) Examine the experiences of students, parents, administrators, officials, and coaches during a year without high school sports; (2) Understand why participants are involved in high school sports; and (3) Learn what supports are needed for future involvement. Methodology: A mixed method design was used, including semi-structured interviews and a survey (SurveyMonkey software), which was disseminated electronically to high school students, coaches, school administrators, parents, and officials. Results: 1222 respondents completed the survey. Findings showed: (1) 100% of students participate in high school sports to improve their mental health, with >95% said it keeps them active and healthy, helps them make friends and teaches teamwork, builds confidence and positive self-perceptions, teaches resiliency, enhances connectivity to their school, and supports academic learning; (2) Top three reasons teachers coach is their desire to make a difference in the lives of students, enjoyment, and love of the sport, and to give back. Teachers said what they enjoy most is contributing to and watching athletes develop, direct involvement with student sport success, and the competitiveatmosphere; (3) 90% of parents believe playing sports is a valuable experience for their child, 95% said it enriches student academic learning and educational experiences, and 97% encouraged their child to play school sports; (4) Officials participate because of their enjoyment and love of the sport, experience, and expertise, desire to make a difference in the lives of children, the competitive/sporting atmosphere and growing the sport. 4% of officials said it was financially motivated; (5) 100% of administrators said high school sports are important for everyone. 80% believed the pandemic will decrease teachers coaching and increase student mental health and well-being. When there was no sport, many athletes got a part-time job and tried to stay active, with limited success. Coaches, officials, and parents spent more time with family. All participants did little physical activity, were bored; and struggled with mental health and poor physical health. Respondents recommended better communication, promotion, and branding of high school sport benefits, equitable funding for all sports, athlete development, compensation and recognition for coaching, and simple processes to strengthen the high school sport model. Conclusions: High school sport is an effective vehicle for athletes, parents, coaches, administrators, and officials to derive many positive outcomes. When it is taken away, serious consequences prevail. Paying attention to important success factors will be important for the effectiveness of high school sports.

Keywords: physical activity, high school, sports, pandemic

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Authors: Ghada Elshafei, A. Elazim Negm

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Recently, Green architecture becomes a significant way to a sustainable future. Green building designs involve finding the balance between comfortable homebuilding and sustainable environment. Moreover, the utilization of the new technologies such as artificial intelligence techniques are used to complement current practices in creating greener structures to keep the built environment more sustainable. The most common objectives are green buildings should be designed to minimize the overall impact of the built environment on ecosystems in general and particularly on human health and on the natural environment. This will lead to protecting occupant health, improving employee productivity, reducing pollution and sustaining the environmental. In green building design, multiple parameters which may be interrelated, contradicting, vague and of qualitative/quantitative nature are broaden to use. This paper presents a comprehensive critical state of art review of current practices based on fuzzy and its combination techniques. Also, presented how green architecture/building can be improved using the technologies that been used for analysis to seek optimal green solutions strategies and models to assist in making the best possible decision out of different alternatives.

Keywords: green architecture/building, technologies, optimization, strategies, fuzzy techniques, models

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Authors: Yali Liu, Maria Avello Iturriagagoitia

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Background: Fitness applications (apps) are one of the most popular mobile health (mHealth) apps. These apps can help prevent/control health issues such as obesity, which is one of the most serious public health challenges in the developed world in recent decades. Compared with the traditional intervention like face-to-face treatment, it is cheaper and more convenient to use fitness apps to interfere with physical activities and healthy behaviors. Nevertheless, fitness applications apps tend to have high abandonment rates and low levels of user engagement. Therefore, maintaining the endurance of users' usage is challenging. In fact, previous research shows a variety of strategies -goal-setting, self-monitoring, coaching, etc.- for promoting fitness and health behavior change. These strategies can influence the users’ perseverance and self-monitoring of the program as well as favoring their adherence to routines that involve a long-term behavioral change. However, commercial fitness apps rarely incorporate these strategies into their design, thus leading to a lack of engagement with the apps. Most of today’s mobile services and brands engage their users proactively via push notifications. Push notifications. These notifications are visual or auditory alerts to inform mobile users about a wide range of topics that entails an effective and personal mean of communication between the app and the user. One of the research purposes of this article is to implement the application of behavior change strategies through push notifications. Proposes: This study aims to better understand the influence that effective use of push notifications combined with the behavioral change strategies will have on users’ engagement with the fitness app. And the secondary objectives are 1) to discuss the sociodemographic differences in utilization of push notifications of fitness apps; 2) to determine the impact of each strategy in customer engagement. Methods: The study uses a combination of the Consumer Engagement Theory and UTAUT2 based model to conduct an online survey among current users of fitness apps. The questionnaire assessed attitudes to each behavioral change strategy, and sociodemographic variables. Findings: Results show the positive effect of push notifications in the generation of consumer engagement and the different impacts of each strategy among different groups of population in customer engagement. Conclusions: Fitness apps with behavior change strategies have a positive impact on increasing users’ usage time and customer engagement. Theoretical experts can participate in designing fitness applications, along with technical designers.

Keywords: behavioral change, customer engagement, fitness app, push notification, UTAUT2

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Authors: Espinosa Carlos, Nobrega Doris

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Children are at high risk for lead (Pb) exposure. The objective of this study was to identify risk factors that contribute to high blood lead (PbB) levels in Venezuelan children. The concentration of PbB was determined in 60 children (ages 4-9 years old), coming from the Michelena sector, Valencia District, Carabobo State. The relationship between these concentrations and socio-economical parameters (A: high quality life; B: fair quality life; C: critic poverty), Pb levels of faucet water (Pb-water) and dust Pb levels of floor (Pb-dust) of their houses, was established. Living areas were classified according to sectors and socio-economical status. Forty [40=66.7%] children resulted with PbB levels above the permissible concentration (LAPC). Average PbB was not significantly higher than the permissible levels. Odds ratio proved that children from status C are 7.28 times more likely to have LAPC of PbB than the ones coming from A or B. Thirty-four percent (34%) of the children with LAPC come from status C which could be considered the most critical status from the exposure risk point of view. The 76,3% of the sampled houses reported VSLP of Pb-water, being the Pb-water average in 35 ± 25.5 ug/L. This average significantly went superior to the permissible limit established by Venezuela and international organisms (10 ug/L). When grouping the results of PbB and Pb-water by sex, were that 50,8% of the children who presented/displayed VSLP of Pb-water and PbB. Was a significant relation (p ≤ 0.05), between masculine sex and the VSLP of PbB and Pb-water (x² = 3,672). In relation to the Pb-Dust analyses, were not statistically significant differences with respect to their permissible limit value (40 ug/pie²). This study shows that by correlating geographical and health data, we can identify 'high risk' areas, leading to a proactive public health action. The results of this study are excellent, in order to take preventive measures for the care from the health. Later studies are suggested predicting main to determine of more conclusive form of levels elevated of PbB in the investigated population.

Keywords: demographic, lead, risk, socio-economical status

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Authors: Abdessamad Dali-Ali, Houaria Beldjillali, Fouzia Agag, Asmaa Oukebdane, Ramzi Tidjani, Arslane Bettayeb, Khadidja Meddeber, Radia Dali-Yahia, Nori Midoun

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Healthcare-associated infections are a real public health problem, especially in intensive care units. The aim of our study was to describe the epidemiological profile and to estimate the incidence of these infections at the intensive care unit of our teaching hospital. A prospective study was conducted, from June 2012 to December 2013. During this period, 305 patients having a duration of hospitalization equal or more than 48 hours were included in the study. In terms of the incidence of healthcare associated infections, nosocomial pneumonia occupied the first position with a cumulative incidence rate of 20.0%, followed by bacteremia (5.6%), central venous catheter infections (4%), and urinary tract infections (3%). In the case of isolated microorganisms, Gram-negative bacilli not enterobacteriaceae occupied the first place with 48.5%, followed by enterobacteria (32.1%). Acinetobacter baumannii was the most common germ (27.6%). Our study showed that the rate of health-care-associated infections was relatively high in the intensive care unit. A control program to reduce all infections is a priority for the Infection Control Associated Committee.

Keywords: epidemiological profile, healthcare associated infections, intensive care units, teaching hospital of Oran, Algeria

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Authors: Daniella Kucsma

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The examination of the Privat Service Organization’s performance evaluation includes several steps that help Public organizations to develop a more efficient system. Public sector organizations have different characteristics than the competitive sector, so it can be stated that other/new elements become more important in their performance processes. The literature in this area is diverse, so highlighting an indicator system can be useful for introducing a system, but it is also worthwhile to measure the specific elements of the organization. In the case of a public service organization, due to the service obligation, it is usually possible to talk about a high number of users, so compliance is more difficult. For the organization, it is an important target to place great emphasis on the increase of service standards and the development of related processes. In this research, the health sector is given a prominent role, as it is a sensitive area where both organizational and individual performance is important for all participants. As a primary step, the content of the strategy is decisive, as this is important for the efficient structure of the process. When designing any system, it is important to review the expectations of the stakeholders, as this is primary when considering the design. The goal of this paper is to build the foundations of a performance management and indexing framework that can help a hospital to provide effective feedback and a direction that is important in assessing and developing a service and can become a management philosophy.

Keywords: health sector, public sector, performance management, strategy

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Authors: Dusanee Suwankhong, Pranee Liamputtong

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Mothers living with HIV tend to experience stigma and discrimination which has an impact on their psychological and social well-being and their human rights. This paper explores the lived experience of Thai mothers with HIV in their family. In-depth interviewing and drawing methods were employed to gain a deep understanding on the experience of 30 HIV-positive mothers in the southern community of Thailand. The data was analyzed using thematic analysis method. We found that the majority of HIV-positive mothers learned about their HIV status through blood test services during their antenatal care, but some decided to visit a doctor when their partner became chronically frail and showed some signs indicating HIV/AIDS. Learning about their HIV gave them a great shock, and they could not believe that they were infected with HIV/AIDS. They feared that their illness would be disclosed and hence attempted to keep their HIV secret. This was due to the fact that people in their community would blame and labeled them as a ‘disgusting person’. Besides, they would be separated from social contacts and networks, their individual rights would be disregarded, and their potential roles would be restricted. Although participants suggested that people had more positive view on HIV-infected person nowadays, all still wanted to keep it secret because of fear of stigma and discrimination. Thai health care has provided various kinds of support programs, but many mothers chose not to participate due to the fear of disclosure. However, the women attempted to seek some strategies to live a life which would be more acceptable by the community. We conclude that HIV is still seen as a stigmatised disease in rural community of southern Thailand. Local health care providers and relevant sectors in the locality should create suitable programs to enhance self-worth among those HIV-positive mothers because this could increase a quality of life of this vulnerable mothers. Providing sufficient and appropriate supports for better emotional wellbeing is an essential role of health professionals so that the feeling of isolation among these women could be eliminated and positive social justice can be achieved.

Keywords: HIV-positive mothers, lived experience, southern Thailand, stigma and discrimination

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Authors: Priyanka Kumari

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Menstrual hygiene is an important aspect in the life of young girls. Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) is defined as ‘Women and adolescent girls using a clean material to absorb or collect menstrual blood that can be changed in privacy as often as necessary for the duration of the menstruation period, using soap and water for washing the body as required and having access to facilities to dispose of used menstrual management materials. This paper aims to investigate the prevalence of hygienic menstrual practices and socio-demographic correlates of hygienic menstrual practices among women aged 15-24 in India. Data from the 2015–2016 National Family Health Survey–4 for 244,500 menstruating women aged 15–24 were used. The methods have been categorized into two, women who use sanitary napkins, locally prepared napkins and tampons considered as a hygienic method and those who use cloth, any other method and nothing used at all during menstruation considered as an unhygienic method. Women’s age, year of schooling, religion, place of residence, caste/tribe, marital status, wealth index, type of toilet facility used, region, the structure of the house and exposure to mass media are taken as an independent variables. Bivariate analysis was carried out with selected background characteristics to analyze the socio-economic and demographic factors associated with the use of hygienic methods during menstruation. The odds for the use of the hygienic method were computed by employing binary logistic regression. Almost 60% of the women use cloth as an absorbent during menstruation to prevent blood stains from becoming evident. The hygienic method, which includes the use of locally prepared napkins, sanitary napkins and tampons, is 16.27%, 41.8% and 2.4%. The proportion of women who used hygienic methods to prevent blood stains from becoming evident was 57.58%. Multivariate analyses reveal that education of women, wealth and marital status are found to be the most important positive factors of hygienic menstrual practices. The structure of the house and exposure to mass media also have a positive impact on the use of menstrual hygiene practices. In contrast, women residing in rural areas belonging to scheduled tribes are less likely to use hygienic methods during their menstruation. Geographical regions are also statistically significant with the use of hygienic methods during menstruation. This study reveals that menstrual hygiene is not satisfactory among a large proportion of adolescent girls. They need more education about menstrual hygiene. A variety of factors affect menstrual behaviors; amongst these, the most influential is economic status, educational status and residential status, whether urban or rural. It is essential to design a mechanism to address and access healthy menstrual knowledge. It is important to encourage policies and quality standards that promote safe and affordable options and dynamic markets for menstrual products. Materials that are culturally acceptable, contextually available and affordable. Promotion of sustainable, environmentally friendly menstrual products and their disposal as it is a very important aspect of sustainable development goals. We also need to educate the girls about the services which are provided by the government, like a free supply of sanitary napkins to overcome reproductive tract infections. Awareness regarding the need for information on healthy menstrual practices is very important. It is essential to design a mechanism to address and access healthy menstrual practices. Emphasis should be given to the education of young girls about the importance of maintaining hygiene during menstruation to prevent the risk of reproductive tract infections.

Keywords: adolescent, menstruation, menstrual hygiene management, menstrual hygiene

Procedia PDF Downloads 135