Search results for: positive mindset

Authors: Catelyn Coyle, Helena Kwakwa

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Objective: As novel and better tolerated therapies become available, effective HCV testing and care models become increasingly necessary to not only identify individuals with active infection but also link them to HCV providers for medical evaluation and treatment. Our aim is to describe an effective HCV testing and linkage to care model piloted in a network of five community health centers located in Philadelphia, PA. Methods: In October 2012, National Nursing Centers Consortium piloted a routine opt-out HCV testing model in a network of community health centers, one of which treats HCV, HIV, and co-infected patients. Key aspects of the model were medical assistant initiated testing, the use of laboratory-based reflex test technology, and electronic medical record modifications to prompt, track, report and facilitate payment of test costs. Universal testing on all adult patients was implemented at health centers serving patients at high-risk for HCV. The other sites integrated high-risk based testing, where patients meeting one or more of the CDC testing recommendation risk factors or had a history of homelessness were eligible for HCV testing. Mid-course adjustments included the integration of dual HIV testing, development of a linkage to care coordinator position to facilitate the transition of HIV and/or HCV-positive patients from primary to specialist care, and the transition to universal HCV testing across all testing sites. Results: From October 2012 to June 2015, the health centers performed 7,730 HCV tests and identified 886 (11.5%) patients with a positive HCV-antibody test. Of those with positive HCV-antibody tests, 838 (94.6%) had an HCV-RNA confirmatory test and 590 (70.4%) progressed to current HCV infection (overall prevalence=7.6%); 524 (88.8%) received their RNA-positive test result; 429 (72.7%) were referred to an HCV care specialist and 271 (45.9%) were seen by the HCV care specialist. The best linkage to care results were seen at the test and treat the site, where of the 333 patients were current HCV infection, 175 (52.6%) were seen by an HCV care specialist. Of the patients with active HCV infection, 349 (59.2%) were unaware of their HCV-positive status at the time of diagnosis. Since the integration of dual HCV/HIV testing in September 2013, 9,506 HIV tests were performed, 85 (0.9%) patients had positive HIV tests, 81 (95.3%) received their confirmed HIV test result and 77 (90.6%) were linked to HIV care. Dual HCV/HIV testing increased the number of HCV tests performed by 362 between the 9 months preceding dual testing and first 9 months after dual testing integration, representing a 23.7% increment. Conclusion: Our HCV testing model shows that integrated routine testing and linkage to care is feasible and improved detection and linkage to care in a primary care setting. We found that prevalence of current HCV infection was higher than that seen in locally in Philadelphia and nationwide. Intensive linkage services can increase the number of patients who successfully navigate the HCV treatment cascade. The linkage to care coordinator position is an important position that acts as a trusted intermediary for patients being linked to care.

Keywords: HCV, routine testing, linkage to care, community health centers

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Authors: Shamshiri Mitra, Abedi Rahim

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This paper investigates corporate investment behavior and its relationship with ownership structure and financial leverage for the listed company of Tehran stock exchange during 2008-2012. The results show that the concentration of ownership has s significant positive effect on corporate investment. The results for the kind of major owners show that institutional ownership had a positive significant effect and state and individual ownership had negative significant effects on the corporate investment but the effect of corporate ownership was not significant. Furthermore the effect of financial leverage was negative and significant.

Keywords: corporate investment behavior, financial leverage, ownership structure corporate investment behavior

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Authors: Elnaz Alimi, Keriakoula Andriopoulos, Sam Boyer, Weronika Zuczek

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Occupational therapists can use coaching strategies to guide parents in providing therapy for their children with developmental disabilities. Evidence from various fields has shown increased parental self-efficacy and positive child outcomes as benefits of home and community-based parent coaching models. A literature review was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of parent coaching interventions delivered in home and community settings for children with developmental disabilities ages 0-12, on a variety of parent and child outcomes. CINAHL Plus, PsycINFO, PubMed, OTseeker were used as databases. The inclusion criteria consisted of: children with developmental disabilities ages 0-12 and their parents, parent coaching models conducted in the home and community, and parent and child outcomes. Studies were excluded if they were in a language other than English and published before 2000. Results showed that parent coaching interventions led to more positive therapy outcomes in child behaviors and symptoms related to their diagnosis or disorder. Additionally, coaching strategies had positive effects on parental satisfaction with therapy, parental self-efficacy, and family dynamics. Findings revealed decreased parental stress and improved parent-child relationships. Further research on parent coaching could involve studying the feasibility of coaching within occupational therapy specifically, incorporating cultural elements into coaching, qualitative studies on parental satisfaction with coaching, and measuring the quality of life outcomes for the whole family.

Keywords: coaching model, developmental disabilities, occupational therapy, pediatrics

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Authors: S. Zenia, A. Menasseria, A. E. Kheidous, F. Lariouna, A. Smai, H. Saadi, F. Haddadj, A. Milla, F. Marniche

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The objective of this study was to estimate the correlation ship between different pheasant external egg quality traits. A total of 938 eggs were collected. Egg weight (g), egg length (mm), egg width (mm), volume (cm3), shape index egg, surface area and water loss were measured. The overall mean values obtained for the different variables are respectively 29.2 ± 2,24, 43.01 ± 1,84, 34.05 ± 1,44, 25.63 ± 2.88 cm3, 79.00 ± 3%, 68% and 13%. Concerning studied regressions, it was considered only the most important regressions. Those that show significant links between the different parameters studied. The ANOVA procedure was applied to estimate correlations for the examined traits. The weights of the eggs being observed before incubation and before hatching are linearly correlated with a positive correlation coefficient of order 0.75. Egg length and the weight before incubation had a good and positive correlation with a coefficient r = 0.6. However, density had high and negative correlations with egg height r = -0.78. Shape index had a good linear and negative r= - 0.71 correlation with water loss.

Keywords: correlation, egg, morphometry of eggs, analysis of variance

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Authors: Silke Bustamante, Andrea Pelzeter, Andreas Deckmann, Rudi Ehlscheidt, Franziska Freudenberger

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CSR is associated with a great number of positive effects. This also includes the positive impact of CSR on the commitment of its employees. The internal CSR communication here takes the essential function as a mediator of the CSR performance of a company to the employees. The importance of CSR communication is, therefore, essential. Employees can usually only perceive the CSR efforts of a company if it is also communicated to them. Only if the employees perceive the CSR of their employer positively, the employer-CSR can also have a positive impact on their affective commitment. Therefore, organizational and individual factors are crucial and thus need to consider. This relationship between the organizational and individual factors was investigated in a qualitative case study in six companies of the German service sector. Expert interviews and focus group interviews were conducted and questionnaire-based ratings by company representatives were raised. Among the individual factors, in terms of CSR, the expectations and relevance of its employees, as well as the perception of CSR by the staff, are included. The organizational factors include the actual CSR performance and its communication. Ultimately, the impact of CSR on the commitment is examined with this holistic approach. The results show that the individual CSR perception does not always match the corporate CSR performance and its depiction in internal communication. Furthermore, employees have given suggestions on how CSR should be communicated by their employer. Knowledge memory systems (e.g. wiki) on the on hand and media-based information, on the other hand, were highlighted. Primarily the employee-related CSR is most important for the employees, whereas ecological CSR activities hardly play a role. The findings indicate the importance of CSR communication in the CSR concept as it provides the missing link between CSR performance and appreciation by an increase in commitment. It should only be communicated, what is done. CSR communication should also be carried out in a plausible and transparent way.

Keywords: CSR, employee commitment, employer brand, internal communication

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Authors: Thomas Schalow

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It is commonly recognized that our present curriculum is not preparing students to function in the 21st century. This is particularly true in regard to communication needs across cultures - both human and non-human. In this paper, a comprehensive theory of communication-based on communication with non-human cultures and intelligences is presented to meet the following three imminent contingencies: communicating with sentient biological intelligences, communicating with extraterrestrial intelligences, and communicating with artificial super-intelligences. The paper begins with the argument that we need to become much more serious about communicating with the non-human, intelligent life forms that already exists around us here on Earth. We need to broaden our definition of communication and reach out to other sentient life forms in order to provide humanity with a better perspective of its place within our ecosystem. The paper next examines the science and philosophy behind CETI (communication with extraterrestrial intelligences) and how it could prove useful even in the absence of contact with alien life. However, CETI’s assumptions and methodology need to be revised in accordance with the communication theory being proposed in this paper if we are truly serious about finding and communicating with life beyond Earth. The final theme explored in this paper is communication with non-biological super-intelligences. Humanity has never been truly compelled to converse with other species, and our failure to seriously consider such intercourse has left us largely unprepared to deal with communication in a future that will be mediated and controlled by computer algorithms. Fortunately, our experience dealing with other cultures can provide us with a framework for this communication. The basic concepts behind intercultural communication can be applied to the three types of communication envisioned in this paper if we are willing to recognize that we are in fact dealing with other cultures when we interact with other species, alien life, and artificial super-intelligence. The ideas considered in this paper will require a new mindset for humanity, but a new disposition will yield substantial gains. A curriculum that is truly ready for the 21st century needs to be aligned with this new theory of communication.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, CETI, communication, language

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Authors: Farizy Yunaz, Catur Sasongko

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This research aims to provide the empirical evidence regarding cost stickiness behavior and its determinants on listed manufacturing companies. Hypothesis testing is performed using pooled least square method. The result concludes that there is cost stickiness behavior in selling, general and administrative costs. In term of determinants, firm-specific adjustment costs measured by asset intensity and employee intensity have significant positive impact on the level of cost stickiness. Meanwhile, earnings target and leverage have significant negative impact on the level of cost stickiness. However, the management empire building incentives measured by free cash flow has no significant positive impact.

Keywords: adjustment cost, cost behavior, cost stickiness, earnings target, leverage, management empire building incentive

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Authors: Simone Rondelli, Damiano Rondelli, Bishesh Poudyal, Juan Jose Cabrera-Lazarini

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One of the main obstacles for Social Entrepreneurship is to find a business model that is financially sustainable. In other words, the captured value generates enough cash flow to ensure business continuity and reinvestment for growth. Providing Health Services in poor countries for the uninsured population affected by a high-cost chronical disease is not the exception for this challenge. As a prime example, cancer has become a high impact on a global disease not only because of the high morbidity but also of the financial impact on both the patient family and health services in underdeveloped countries. Therefore, it is relevant to find a Social Entrepreneurship Model that provides affordable treatment for this disease while maintaining healthy finances not only for the patient but also for the organization providing the treatment. Using the methodology of Constructive Research, this paper applied a Positive Theory and four business models of Social Entrepreneurship to a case of a Private Foundation model whose mission is to address the challenge previously described. It was found that the Foundation analyzed, in this case, is organized as an Embedded Business Model and complies with the four propositions of the Positive Theory considered. It is recommended for this Private Foundation to explore implementing the Integrated Business Model to ensure more robust sustainability in the long term. It evolves as a scalable model that can attract investors interested in contributing to expanding this initiative globally.

Keywords: affordable treatment, global healthcare, social entrepreneurship theory, sustainable business model

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Authors: Mohd Jaish Siddiqui

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Laryngeal TB is extremely rare in the pediatric population, accounting for 1% of all cases. Here, we present a case of laryngeal TB with miliary tuberculosis and tuberculous encephalitis, presented with sore throat, hoarseness, severe cough and, acute obstruction the larynx, sputum for AFB was negative, T-SPOT was positive and X-pert was positive, bronchoscopy revealed multiple nodules and edema around the larynx, epiglottis, bilateral arytenopharyngeal folds and vocal cord. Enhanced MRI revealed multiple small nodules in bilateral cerebral hemispheres and right thalamus, however CSF was negative. We reviewed the LTB cases that were published up to 2021. A total of twenty fine cases were identified in English literature. The most common manifestation was hoarseness of voice with 80% followed by stridor 40% of cases. Pulmonary involvement was found in 36% of cases, whereas, 45% of cases had no underlying TB. We did not find any case who developed tuberculous encephalitis in the literature.

Keywords: laryngeal tb, treatment, tuberculous encephalitis, children

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Authors: Kate N. Okeke

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The ever-growing needs of man requiring satisfaction have pushed him strongly towards industrialization which has and is still leaving environmental degradation and its attendant negative impacts in its wake. It is, therefore, not surprising that the enjoyment of fundamental rights like food supply, security of lives and property, freedom of worship, health and education have been drastically affected by such degradation. In recognition of the imperative need to protect the environment and human rights, many global instruments and constitutions have recognized the right to a healthy and sustainable environment. Some environmental advocates and quite a number of literatures on the subject matter call for the recognition of environmental rights via rule of law as a vital means of achieving positive outcomes on the subject matter. However, although there are numerous countries with constitutional environmental provisions, most of them such as Nigeria, have shown poor environmental performance. A notable problem is the fact that the constitution which recognizes environmental rights appears in its other provisions to contradict its provisions by making enforceability of the environmental rights unattainable. While adopting a descriptive, analytical, comparative and explanatory study design in reviewing a successful positive environmental outcome via the rule of law, this article argues that rule of law on a balance of scale, weighs more than just environmental rights recognition and therefore should receive more attention by environmental lawyers and advocates. This is because with rule of law, members of a society are sure of getting the most out of the environmental rights existing in their legal system. Members of Niger-Delta communities of Nigeria will benefit from the environmental rights existing in Nigeria. They are exposed to environmental degradation and pollution with effects such as acidic rainfall, pollution of farmlands and clean water sources. These and many more are consequences of oil and gas exploration. It will also pave way for solving the violence between cattle herdsmen and farmers in the Middle Belt and other regions of Nigeria. Their clashes are over natural resource control. Having seen that environmental rule of law is vital to sustainable development, this paper aims to contribute to discussions on how best the vehicle of rule law can be driven towards achieving positive environmental outcomes. This will be in reliance on other enforceable provisions in the Nigerian Constitution. Other domesticated international instruments will also be considered to attain sustainable environment and development.

Keywords: environment, rule of law, constitution, sustainability

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Authors: Yu Du, Jian-Guo Wang

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Green consumption is a key link to develop the ecological economy, and consumers are vital to carry out green consumption. With environmental awareness gradually being aroused, consumers often fail to turn their positive attitude into actual green consumption behavior. According to behavior reasoning theory, reasons for adoption have a direct (positive) influence on consumers’ attitude while reasons against adoption have a direct (negative) influence on consumers’ adoption intentions, the incongruous coexistence of which leads to the attitude-behavior gap of green consumption. Based on behavior reasoning theory, this research integrates reasons for adoption and reasons against adoption into a proposed model, in which reasons both for and against green consumption mediate the relationship between consumer’ values, attitudes, and behavioral intentions. It not only extends the conventional theory of reasoned action but also provides a reference for the government and enterprises to design the repairing strategy of green consumption attitude-behavior gap.

Keywords: green product, attitude-behavior gap, behavior reasoning theory, green consumption, SEM

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Authors: Maryam Torabi, Habibi, Abdolahi, Mohammadi, Hassanzadeh, Darban Maghami, Baghi

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Sheeppox Virus (SPPV) and goatpox virus (GTPV) are considerable diseases of sheep, and goats, caused by viruses of the Capripoxvirus (CaPV) genus. They are responsible for economic losses. Animal mortality, morbidity, cost of vaccinations, and restrictions in animal products’ trade are the reasons of economic losses. Control and eradication of CaPV depend on early detection of outbreaks so that molecular detection and genetic analysis could be effective to this aim. This study was undertaken to molecularly characterize SPPV and GTPV strains that have been circulating in Iran. 120 skin papules and nodule biopsies were collected from different regions of Iran and were examined for SPPV, GTPV viruses using TaqMan Real -Time PCR. Some of these amplified genes were sequenced, and phylogenetic trees were constructed. Out of the 120 samples analysed, 98 were positive for CaPV by Real- Time PCR (81.6%), and most of them wereSPPV. then 10 positive samples were sequenced and characterized by amplifying the ORF 103CaPV gene. sequencing and phylogenetic analysis for these positive samples revealed a high percentage of identity with SPPV isolated from different countries in Middle East. In conclusions, molecular characterization revealed nearly complete identity with all recent SPPVs strains in local countries that requires further studies to monitor the virus evolution and transmission pathways to better understand the virus pathobiology that will help for SPPV control.

Keywords: molecular epidemiology, Real-Time PCR, phylogenetic analysis, capripoxviruses

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Authors: Vandna Raghuvanshi, Vikrant Thakur, Anupam Jhobta

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Objective: To design HRCT criterion to forecast the threat of pulmonary tuberculosis. Material and methods: This was a prospective study of 69 patients with clinical suspicion of pulmonary tuberculosis. We studied their medical characteristics, numerous separate HRCT-results, and a combination of HRCT findings to foresee the danger for PTB by utilizing univariate and multivariate investigation. Temporary HRCT diagnostic criteria were planned in view of these outcomes to find out the risk of PTB and tested these criteria on our patients. Results: The results of HRCT chest were analyzed, and Rank was given from 1 to 4 according to the HRCT chest findings. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were calculated. Rank 1: Highly suspected PTB. Rank 2: Probable PTB Rank 3: Nonspecific or difficult to differentiate from other diseases Rank 4: Other suspected diseases • Rank 1 (Highly suspected TB) was present in 22 (31.9%) patients, all of them finally diagnosed to have pulmonary tuberculosis. The sensitivity, specificity, and negative likelihood ratio for RANK 1 on HRCT chest was 53.6%, 100%, and 0.43, respectively. • Rank 2 (Probable TB) was present in 13 patients, out of which 12 were tubercular, and 1 was non-tubercular. • The sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, and negative likelihood ratio of the combination of Rank 1 and Rank 2 was 82.9%, 96.4%, 23.22, and 0.18, respectively. • Rank 3 (Non-specific TB) was present in 25 patients, and out of these, 7 were tubercular, and 18 were non-tubercular. • When all these 3 ranks were considered together, the sensitivity approached 100% however, the specificity reduced to 35.7%. The positive likelihood ratio and negative likelihood ratio were 1.56 and 0, respectively. • Rank 4 (Other specific findings) was given to 9 patients, and all of these were non-tubercular. Conclusion: HRCT is useful in selecting individuals with greater chances of pulmonary tuberculosis.

Keywords: pulmonary, tuberculosis, multivariate, HRCT

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Authors: Zeinab Zaremohzzabieh, Syasya Firzana Azmi, Haslinda Abdullah, Soh Kim Geok, Aini Azeqa Ma'rof, Hayrol Azril Mohammed Shaffril

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The escalating prevalence of doping in sports, casting a shadow over both high-performance and recreational settings, has emerged as a formidable concern, particularly within the realm of young athletes. Doping, characterized by the surreptitious use of prohibited substances to gain a competitive edge, underscores the pressing need for comprehensive and efficacious preventive measures. This study aims to address a crucial void in current research by unraveling the motivations that drive clean adolescent athletes to steadfastly abstain from performance-enhancing substances. In navigating this intricate landscape, the study adopts a positive psychology perspective, investigating into the conditions and processes that contribute to the holistic well-being of individuals and communities. At the heart of this exploration lies the application of the PERMA model, a comprehensive positive psychology framework encapsulating positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishments. This model functions as a distinctive lens, dissecting intervention results to offer nuanced insights into the complex dynamics of clean sport behavior. The research is poised to usher in a paradigm shift from conventional anti-doping strategies, predominantly fixated on identifying deficits, towards an innovative approach firmly rooted in positive psychology. The objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of a positive education intervention program tailored to promote clean sport behavior among Malaysian adolescent athletes. Representing unexplored terrain within the landscape of anti-doping efforts, this initiative endeavors to reshape the focus from deficiencies to strengths. The meticulously crafted pilot study engages thirty adolescent athletes, divided into a control group of 15 and an experimental group of 15. The pilot study serves as the crucible to assess the effectiveness of the prepared intervention package, providing indispensable insights that will meticulously guide the finalization of an all-encompassing intervention program for the main study. The main study adopts a pioneering two-arm randomized control trial methodology, actively involving adolescent athletes from diverse Malaysian high schools. This approach aims to address critical lacunae in anti-doping strategies, specifically calibrated to resonate with the unique context of Malaysian schools. The study, cognizant of the imperative to develop preventive measures harmonizing with the cultural and educational milieu of Malaysian adolescent athletes, aspires to cultivate a culture of clean sport. In conclusion, this research aspires to contribute unprecedented insights into the efficacy of positive education interventions firmly rooted in the PERMA model. By unraveling the intricacies of clean sport behavior, particularly within the context of Malaysian adolescent athletes, the study seeks to introduce transformative preventive methods. The adoption of positive psychology as an avant-garde anti-doping tool represents an innovative and promising approach, bridging a conspicuous gap in scholarly research and offering potential panaceas for the sporting community. As this study unfurls its chapters, it carries the promise not only to enrich our understanding of clean sport behavior but also to pave the way for positive metamorphosis within the realm of adolescent sports in Malaysia.

Keywords: positive education interventions, a pilot study, clean sport behavior, adolescent athletes, Malaysia

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Authors: Fateme Afkhami, Mohsen Ehsanpour, Maryam Ehsanpour, Majid Afkhami

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This study was conducted to determine the effects of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on thyroidal hormones of Liza klunzingeri and to monitor marine pollution from northern part of Hormuz strait (Persian Gulf). Results showed the highest total PAHs levels (268.56 µg/kg) were in the fish samples and the lowest are obtained from water samples (3.12 µg/kg). Also, highest of PAHs levels in fish, sediment and water were found in St3. There was a positive correlation between T3 and T4, with PAHs results. T4 had a significant positive correlation (P<0.05).

Keywords: PAHs, thyroidal hormones, Liza klunzingeri, Hormuz Strait, Persian Gulf

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Authors: Sinead Creedon, Anna Trace

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Nurses were the most exposed of all frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mainly female nurses working in the acute hospital sector formed the frontline defence in the Irish health service. They faced it with resilience and courage despite exposure to risk of burnout and threats to their mental health and wellbeing. Gaining an understanding of the nurses’ journey in adapting to this harsh climate could inform positive psychology interventions and / or support staff such as senior hospital managers in an adverse work situation. Furthermore, it would strengthen our insight and theoretical understanding on the use of positive psychology interventions in adverse work conditions. An interpretative phenomenological analysis was carried out to gain insight into how nurses adapted to the changing work environment during the pandemic. Online semi-structured interviews were done with six experienced female nurses who were all redeployed to the frontline from their own roles. The three themes representing the nurses’ journey were the Protection of Sacrificial Self, The Fortifying Effect of Us, and Critical Turning Points & Growth. Nurses revitalised themselves by creating a sense of ‘us’ to help them face a harsh climate against others, which enabled additional critical turning points. This study further enriches our understanding of personal growth and trauma in adverse work conditions by including an exploration of what sacrificial commitment adds to our understanding of physical and moral courage.

Keywords: COVID-19, nurses, positive psychology, resilience, sacrificial commitment, supports

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Authors: Sung-Chun Tsai, Li-Fang Chou, Chun-Jung Tseng

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How relational identity of leader-subordinate relationship affects behavior of both parties is getting more and more attentions in recent years. Different from past studies on leader-subordinate relationship taking viewpoint of self-concept or interaction between categories, we took perspective of social cognitive schema with special focus on the cognition structure and category content of the vertical leader-subordinate relationship. This study firstly clarified the dimensions and contents of cognitive structure of vertical leader-subordinate relationship. By using two dimensions of “equal/unequal” and “close/distant”, the contents of the leader-subordinate relational identity (LSRI) are classified into four categories: communal affection RI (equal and close), instrumental exchange RI (equal but distant), care-repay RI (unequal but close), and authority-obedience RI (unequal and distant). Furthermore, according to the four dimensions of leader-subordinate relational identity, we explored: (1) how a leader’s LSRI leads to paternalistic leadership; and (2) how paternalistic leadership affects subordinate’s LSRI. Using 59 work group as sample (59 leaders and 251 subordinates), the results of HLM and regression analysis showed: (1) leader’s LSRI significantly affects leadership behavior: instrumental exchange RI is positively relates to authoritarian leadership behavior, but significantly has negative relationship with benevolent leadership; care-repay RI has significantly positive relationship with authoritative leadership; authority-obedience RI has significantly positive relationship with authoritarian leadership; (2) paternalistic leadership is significantly related to subordinates’ LSRI: benevolent leadership is positively related to subordinate’s communal affection and care-repay RI; authoritative leadership has significantly positive relationship with care-repay and authority-obedience RI; authoritarian leadership has significantly positive relationship with subordinate’s instrumental exchange RI. Finally, the main findings, contributions and limits, future research directions, and implications were also discussed.

Keywords: relational identity, leader-subordinate relational identity (LSRI), relational schema, paternalistic leadership

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Authors: Lorato Itumeleng Kenosi

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Background: Negative attitudes towards the mentally ill are widespread and a course for concern as they have a detrimental impact on individuals affected by mental illness. A possible avenue for changing attitudes towards mental illness is through mental health literacy. In a college or university setting, an abnormal psychology course may be introduced in an attempt to change student’s attitudes towards the mentally ill. Objective: To determine if and how students’ attitudes towards the mentally ill change as a result of taking a course in abnormal psychology. Methods: Twenty nine (29) students were recruited from an abnormal psychology class at the University of Botswana. Attitude Scale for Mental Illness (ASMI) questionnaire was administered to participants at the beginning and end of the semester. SPSS was employed to analyze data. Pooled means were used to determine whether the student’s attitudes towards mental illness were negative or positive. A mean of 2.5 translated to negative attitude for both total attitude and attitudes in different domains of the scale. Paired sample t-test was then used to assess whether any changes noted in attitudes were statistically significant or not. Statistical significance was assumed at p < 0.05. Results: Students’ general attitude towards mental illness remained positive although the pooled mean value increased from 2.08 to 2.24. The change was not statistically significant. In relation to different sub scales, the values of the pooled means for all the sub scales showed an increase although the changes were not statistically significant except for the Stereotyping sub scale (p = 0.031). The stereotyping domain reflected a statistically significant change in student’s attitude from positive attitude to negative (X² = 2.06 to X² = 2.55). For the pessimistic prediction domain, students consistently showed a negative attitude (X² = 3.34 to X² = 3.55). The other 4 domains indicated that students had positive attitude toward mentally ill throughout. Discussion: Abnormal psychology students have a positive attitude towards the mentally ill generally. This could be attributed to the fact that all students in the abnormal psychology course are majoring in psychology and research has shown that interest in psychology can affect one’s attitude towards mental illness. The students continuously held the view that people with mental illness are unlikely to improve as evidenced by a high score for Pessimistic prediction domain for both pre and post-test. Students initially had no stereotyping attitude towards the mentally ill, but at the end of the course, they were of the opinion that people with mental illness can be defined in a certain behavioural pattern and mental ability. This results could be an indication that students have learnt well how to differentiate abnormal from normal behaviour not necessarily that students had developed a negative attitude. Conclusion: A course in abnormal psychology does have an impact on the students’ attitudes towards the mentally ill. The impact does not solely depend on knowledge of mental illness but also on several other factors such as contact with the mentally ill, interest in psychology, and teaching methods. However, it should be noted that sometimes improved knowledge in mental illness can be misunderstood for a negative attitude. For example, stereotyping attitudes may be a reflection of the ability to differentiate between abnormal and normal behaviour.

Keywords: attitudes, mental illness, psychopathology, students

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Authors: Fan Wei, Tang Yipeng

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The outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020 has been raging around the world, which has severely affected people's work and life. In today's post-pandemic era, although the pandemic has been effectively controlled, people still need to maintain social distancing at all times to prevent the further spread of the virus. Based on this, social distancing in the context of the pandemic has aroused widespread attention from scholars. At present, most studies exploring the influencing factors of social distancing are studying the negative impact of social distancing on the physical and mental state of special groups from the inter-individual level, and their more focus on the forced complete social distancing during the severe period of the pandemic. Few studies have focused on the impact of social distancing on working groups in the post-pandemic era from the within-individual level. In order to explore this problem, this paper constructs a cross-level moderating model based on resource conservation theory from the perspective of psychological resources. A total of 81 subjects were recruited to fill in the three-stage questionnaires each day for 10 working days, and 661valid questionnaires were finally obtained. Through the empirical tests, the following conclusions were finally obtained: (1) At the within-individual level, daily social distancing is positively correlated with the second day’s recovery, and the individual’s low sociability regulates the relationship between social distancing and recovery. The indirect effect of daily social distancing through recovery has positive relationship employees’ work engagement and work-goal progress only when the individual has low sociability. For individuals with high sociability, none of these paths are significant. (2) At the within-individual level, there is a significant relationship between individual's recovery and work engagement and work-goal progress, indicating that the recovery of resources can produce positive work outcomes. According to the results, this study believes that in the post-pandemic era, social distancing can not only effectively prevent and control the pandemic but also have positive impacts. Employees can use the time and energy originally saved for social activities through social distancing to invest in things that can provide resources and help them recover.

Keywords: social distancing, recovery, work engagement, work goal progress, sociability

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Authors: Khadija Mushtaq, Mian Saqib Mehmood

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This paper attempts to determine the impact of leadership style and learning orientation on organizational performance in Pakistan. A sample of 158 middle managers selected from sports and surgical factories from Sialkot. The empirical estimation is based on a multiple linear regression analysis of the relationship between leadership style, learning orientation and organizational performance. Leadership style is measure through transformational leadership and transactional leadership. The transformational leadership has insignificant impact on organizational performance. The transactional leadership has positive and significant relation with organizational performance. Learning orientation also has positive and significant relation with organizational performance. Linear regression used to estimate the relation between dependent and independent variables. This study suggests top manger should prefer continuous process for improvement for any change in system rather radical change.

Keywords: transformational leadership, transactional leadership, learning orientation, organizational performance, Pakistan

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Authors: José María Agugusto-landa, Inmaculada García-Martínez, Lara Checa Domene, Óscar Gavín Chocano

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Self-concept is the perception that a person has of himself, of his abilities, skills, traits, and values. Self-concept is composed of different dimensions, such as academic self-concept, physical self-concept, social self-concept, emotional self-concept, and family self-concept. The relationship between the dimensions of self-concept and mental health and academic performance among future teachers is a topic of interest for educational psychology. Some studies have found that: (i) There is a positive relationship between general self-concept, academic self-concept and academic performance, that is, students who have a more positive image of themselves tend to get better grades and be more motivated to learn. (ii) There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence, physical self-concept and healthy habits, that is, students who regulate and understand their emotions better have a higher satisfaction with their physical appearance and follow a more balanced diet and a higher physical activity. As for gender differences in the dimensions of self-concept among future teachers, some studies have found that: (i) Girls tend to have a higher self-concept in the social, family and verbal dimensions, that is, they perceive themselves as more capable of relating to others, communicating effectively and receiving support from their family. (ii) Boys tend to have a higher self-concept in the physical, emotional and mathematical dimensions, that is, they perceive themselves as more capable of performing physical activities, controlling their emotions and solving mathematical problems. (iii) There are no significant differences between general self-concept and academic self-concept according to gender, that is, both girls and boys have a similar perception of their global worth and academic competence.

Keywords: preservice teachers, self-concept, academic performance, mental wellbeing

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Authors: Wong Hock Tsen

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This study aims to investigate the impact of exchange rate volatility on real export in Malaysia. The moving standard deviation with order three (MSD(3)) is used for the measurement of exchange rate volatility. The conventional and partially asymmetric autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) models are used in the estimations. This study finds exchange rate volatility to have significant impact on real total export and some sub-categories of real total export. Moreover, this study finds that the positive or negative exchange rate volatility tends to have positive or negative impact on real export. Exchange rate volatility can be harmful to export of Malaysia.

Keywords: exchange rate volatility, autoregressive distributed lag, export, Malaysia

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Authors: S. Tebibel, R. L. Bouchouka, C. Mechati, S. Messaoudi

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The stomach cancer or gastric cancer is an aggressive cancer with a significant geographic disparity. The decrease in frequency is attributed to refrigeration, which has several beneficial consequences, increased consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables, reduced consumption of salt, which was widely used as a food preservative, and less contamination of food by carcinogenic compounds. The infection with Helicobacter pylori is responsible for progressive inflammatory changes in the gastric mucosa usually evolving into stomach cancer in 80% of cases. Methodology: This epidemiological and analytical study concerns 65 patients (46 men and 19 women) with gastric adenocarcinomas with an average age of 56.5 years and a male predominance with a sex ratio of 2.4. Results and Discussion: In this series, the clinical symptoms are dominated by epigastralgia (72.31%), vomiting (27,69%), and slimming (24,62%). The FOGD (Oeso-Gastro Duodenal Fibroscopy) performed in the 65 patients revealed a predominance of the antro-pyloric localization in 19 cases (i.e., 29.23%) and anulcerative budding appearance in 33 subjects (50,77%). Histologically, the moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma is found in 30.77% of patients, followed by well differentiated adenocarcinoma with 26.15% of patients. The immunohistochemical study revealed a positive labeling of half of the T cells by anti-CD3 AC, and a positive labeling of anti-CD20 AC in a diffuse and intense manner, with the presence of CD20-positive lymphoepithelial lesions compatible with CD20 a low grade MALT non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Conclusion: This framework of analysis revealed some risk factors for gastric cancer, such as food, hygiene, Helicobacter pylori infection, smoking and family history.

Keywords: cancer, Helicobacter pylori, immunohistochemistry, stomach

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Authors: Shieh Shiow-Fang

Abstract:

Superstitious thoughts or actions often occur during athletic competitions. Often "superstitious rituals" have a positive impact on the performance of competitive athletes. Athletes affirm the many psychological benefits of religious beliefs mostly in a positive way. Method: By snowball sampling, we recruited 10 experienced competitive athletes as participants. We used in-person and online one-to-one in-depth interviews to collect their experiences about sports superstition. The total interview time was 795 minutes. We analyzed the raw data with the grounded theory processes suggested by Strauss and Corbin (1990). Results: The factors affecting athlete performance are ritual beliefs, taboo awareness, learning norms, and spontaneous attribution behaviors. Conclusion: We concluded that sports superstition reflects several psychological implications. The analysis results of this paper can provide another research perspective for the future study of sports superstition behavior.

Keywords: superstition, taboo awarences, competitive athlete, learning norms

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Authors: Bita Mashayekhi, Amin Jahangard, Milad Samavat, Saeid Homayoun

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In the modern competitive business environment, one cannot overstate the importance of corporate social responsibility. The controversial link between the social and financial performance of firms has become a topic of interest for scholars. Hence, this study examines the social and financial performance link by taking into account the mediating role of innovation performance. We conducted the Covariance-based Structural Equation Modeling (CB-SEM) method on an international sample of firms provided by the ASSET4 database. In this research, to explore the black box of the social and financial performance relationship, we first examined the effect of social performance separately on financial performance and innovation; then, we measured the mediation role of innovation in the social and financial performance link. While our results indicate the positive effect of social performance on financial performance and innovation, we cannot document the positive mediating role of innovation. This possibly relates to the long-term nature of benefits from investments in innovation.

Keywords: ESG, financial performance, innovation, social performance, structural equation modeling

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Authors: Umaiza Bashir, Ushna Farukh

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The present study examined the perspective of school students regarding teacher’s behavioral pattern during a teaching in classroom and its influence on the students’ socialization particularly forming peer relationships with the development of emotional, behavioral problems in school children. To study these dimension of teacher-student classroom relationship, 210 school children (105 girls and 105 boys) within the age range of 14 to 18 years were taken from the government, private schools. The cross-sectional research design was used in which stratified random sampling was done. Teacher-student interaction scale was used to assess the teacher-student relationship in the classroom, which had two factors such as positive and negative interaction. Peer relationship scale was administered to investigate the socialization of students, and School Children Problem Scale was also given to the participants to explore their emotional, behavioral issues. The analysis of Pearson correlation showed that there is a significant positive relationship between negative teacher-student interaction and student’s emotional-behavioral as well as social problems. Another analysis of t-test revealed that boys perceived more positive interaction with teachers than girls (p < 0.01). Girls showed more emotional behavioral problems than boys (p < 0.001) Linear regression explained that age, gender, negative teacher’s interaction with students and victimization in social gathering predicts mental health problems in school children. This study suggests and highlights the need for the school counselors for the better mental health of students and teachers.

Keywords: teacher-student interaction, school psychology, student’s emotional behavioral problems

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Authors: Melissa Vang, Raheyma Khan, Haihua Chen

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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic has changed people's lives from all over the world. More people have turned to Twitter to engage online and discuss the COVID-19 vaccine. This study aims to present a text mining approach to identify people's attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine on Twitter. To achieve this purpose, we collected 54,268 COVID-19 vaccine tweets from September 01, 2020, to November 01, 2020, then the BERT model is used for the sentiment and topic analysis. The results show that people had more negative than positive attitudes about the vaccine, and countries with an increasing number of confirmed cases had a higher percentage of negative attitudes. Additionally, the topics discussed in positive and negative tweets are different. The tweet datasets can be helpful to information professionals to inform the public about vaccine-related informational resources. Our findings may have implications for understanding people's cognitions and feelings about the vaccine.

Keywords: BERT, COVID-19 vaccine, sentiment analysis, topic modeling

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Authors: Trisha Malhotra

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Sentiment analysis is a recent field of study that computationally assesses the emotional nature of a body of text. To assess its test-validity, sentiment analysis was carried out on the emotional corpus of text from a personal 15-day mood diary. Self-reported mood scores varied more or less accurately with daily mood evaluation score given by the software. On further assessment, it was found that while sentiment analysis was good at assessing ‘global’ mood, it was not able to ‘locally’ identify and differentially score synonyms of various emotional words. It is further critiqued for treating the intensity of an emotion as universal across cultures. Finally, the software is shown not to account for emotional complexity in sentences by treating emotions as strictly positive or negative. Hence, it is posited that a better output could be two (positive and negative) affect scores for the same body of text.

Keywords: analysis, data, diary, emotions, mood, sentiment

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Authors: Jane E. Souyave, Judith Bower

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This study is an ongoing collaborative project between the University of Central Lancashire and the Alzheimer’s Society to design and test the idea of using interactive tools for a person living with dementia and their carers. It is hoped that the tools will fulfill the possible needs of engagement and interaction as dementia progresses, therefore enhancing wellbeing and improving quality of life for the person with dementia and their carers. The project was informed by Kitwood’s five psychological needs for producing wellbeing and explored evidence that fidgeting is often seen as a form of agitation and a negative symptom of dementia. Although therapy for agitation may be well established, there is a lack of appropriate items aimed at people in the later stage of dementia, that are not childlike or medical in their aesthetic. Individuals may fidget in a particular way and the tools in the Fidget Widget Toolkit have been designed to encourage repetitive movements of the hand, specifically to address the abilities of people with relatively advanced dementia. As an intervention, these tools provided a new approach that had not been tested in dementia care. Prototypes were created through an iterative design process and tested with a number of people with dementia and their carers, using quantitative and qualitative methods. Dementia Care Mapping was used to evaluate the impact of the intervention in group settings. Cohen Mansfield’s Agitation Inventory was used to record the daily use and interest of the intervention for people in their usual place of residence. The results informed the design of a new set of devices to promote safe, stigma free fidgeting as a positive experience, meaningful activity and enhance wellbeing for people in the later stage of dementia. The outcomes addressed the needs of individuals by reducing agitation and restlessness through helping them to connect, engage and act independently, providing the means of doing something for themselves that they were able to do. The next stage will be to explore the commercial feasibility of the Fidget Widget Toolkit so that it can be introduced as good practice and innovation in dementia care. It could be used by care homes, with carers and their families to support wellbeing and lead the way in providing some positive experiences and person-centred approaches that are lacking in the later stage of dementia.

Keywords: dementia, design, fidgeting, healthcare, positive moments, quality of life, wellbeing

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Authors: Hossein Mostafavi

Abstract:

A diversity of biological activities and pharmaceutical uses have been attributed to gallic acid derivatives such as antibacterial, anticancer, anti inflammatory. A series of gallic acid derivatives were synthesized, and their structure was confirmed by FT-IR, HNMR, CNMR, elemental analysis. In vitro biological activity of compounds was determined against Proteus vulgaris ATCC 7829, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, as (Gram-negative) bacteria and bacillus cereus ATCC 11778, Staphylococus aureus ATCC 6538 as (Gram-positive) bacteria. Antibacterial susceptibility tests were done by use of the paper disc diffusion method on Mueller Hinton agar (Merck). Chloramiphenicol, Penicilline, Streptomycin and Tetracycline were standard reference antibiotics. The zone of inhibition against bacteria was measured after 24 hours at 37 °C. Compounds 3, 4, 5 were the main antibacterial compounds against Gram-negative bacteria but not Gram-positive.

Keywords: gallic acid derivatives, antibacterial, antibiotics, inhibition

Procedia PDF Downloads 136