Search results for: carer’s assessment of satisfaction index

Authors: Wan-Ting Liao, Angela K. Tzeng

Abstract:

Empathy has been an important issue in psychology, education, as well as cognitive neuroscience. Empathy has two major components: cognitive and emotional. Cognitive component refers to the ability to understand others’ perspectives, thoughts, and actions, whereas emotional component refers to understand how others feel. Empathy can be induced, attitude can then be changed, and with enough attitude change, helping behavior can occur. This finding leads us to two questions: is attitude change really necessary for prosocial behavior? And, what roles cognitive and affective empathy play? For the second question, participants with different psychopathic personality (PP) traits are critical because high PP people were found to suffer only affective empathy deficit. Their cognitive empathy shows no significant difference from the control group. 132 college students voluntarily participated in the current three-stage study. Stage 1 was to collect basic information including Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R), Attitude Scale, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), and demographic data. Stage two was for empathy induction with three controversial scenarios, namely domestic violence, depression with a suicide attempt, and an ex-offender. Participants read all three stories and then rewrite the stories by one of two perspectives (empathetic vs. objective). They would then complete the VAS and Attitude Scale one more time for their post-attitude and emotional status. Three IVs were introduced for data analysis: PP (High vs. Low), Responsibility (whether or not the character is responsible for what happened), and Perspective-taking (Empathic vs. Objective). Stage 3 was for the action. Participants were instructed to freely use the 17 tokens they received as donations. They were debriefed and interviewed at the end of the experiment. The major findings were people with higher empathy tend to take more action in helping. Attitude change is not necessary for prosocial behavior. The controversy of the scenarios and how familiar participants are towards target groups play very important roles. Finally, people with high PP tend to show more public prosocial behavior due to their affective empathy deficit. Pre-existing value and belief as well as recent dramatic social events seem to have a big impact and possibly reduce the effect of the independent variables (IV) in our paradigm.

Keywords: empathy, cognitive, emotional, psychopathy

Procedia PDF Downloads 120

Authors: Evrim Colak, Andriy E. Serebryannikov, Thore Magath, Ekmel Ozbay

Abstract:

Single beam deflection and unidirectional transmission are examined for oblique incidence in a Photonic Crystal (PC) structure which employs defect layer instead of surface corrugations at the interfaces. In all of the studied cases, the defect layer is placed such that the symmetry is broken. Two types of deflection are observed depending on whether the zeroth order is coupled or not. These two scenarios can be distinguished from each other by considering the simulated field distribution in PC. In the first deflection type, Floquet-Bloch mode enables zeroth order coupling. The energy of the zeroth order is redistributed between the diffraction orders at the defect layer, providing deflection. In the second type, when zeroth order is not coupled, strong diffractions cause blazing and the evanescent waves deliver energy to higher order diffraction modes. Simulated isofrequency contours can be utilized to estimate the coupling behavior. The defect layer is placed at varying rows, preserving the asymmetry of PC while evancescent waves can still couple to higher order modes. Even for deeply buried defect layer, asymmetric transmission and beam deflection are still encountered when the zeroth order is not coupled. We assume ε=11.4 (refractive index close to that of GaAs and Si) for the PC rods. A possible operation wavelength can be within microwave and infrared range. Since the suggested material is low loss, the structure can be scaled down to operate higher frequencies. Thus, a sample operation wavelength is selected as 1.5μm. Although the structure employs no surface corrugations transmission value T≈0.97 can be achieved by means of diffraction order m=-1. Moreover, utilizing an extra line defect, T value can be increased upto 0.99, under oblique incidence even if the line defect layer is deeply embedded in the photonic crystal. The latter configuration can be used to obtain deflection in one frequency range and can also be utilized for the realization of another functionality like defect-mode wave guiding in another frequency range but still using the same structure.

Keywords: asymmetric transmission, beam deflection, blazing, bi-directional splitting, defect layer, dual beam splitting, Floquet-Bloch modes, isofrequency contours, line defect, oblique incidence, photonic crystal, unidirectionality

Procedia PDF Downloads 251

Authors: Said Belaaouad

Abstract:

This study aimed to explore the quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) of 1,2,4-Triazine-3(2H)-one derivative as a potential anticancer agent against breast cancer. The electronic descriptors were obtained using the Density Functional Theory (DFT) method, and a multiple linear regression techniques was employed to construct the QSAR model. The model exhibited favorable statistical parameters, including R2=0.849, R2adj=0.656, MSE=0.056, R2test=0.710, and Q2cv=0.542, indicating its reliability. Among the descriptors analyzed, absolute electronegativity (χ), total energy (TE), number of hydrogen bond donors (NHD), water solubility (LogS), and shape coefficient (I) were identified as influential factors. Furthermore, leveraging the validated QSAR model, new derivatives of 1,2,4-Triazine-3(2H)-one were designed, and their activity and pharmacokinetic properties were estimated. Subsequently, molecular docking (MD) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were employed to assess the binding affinity of the designed molecules. The Tubulin colchicine binding site, which plays a crucial role in cancer treatment, was chosen as the target protein. Through the simulation trajectory spanning 100 ns, the binding affinity was calculated using the MMPBSA script. As a result, fourteen novel Tubulin-colchicine inhibitors with promising pharmacokinetic characteristics were identified. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into the QSAR of 1,2,4-Triazine-3(2H)-one derivative as potential anticancer agent, along with the design of new compounds and their assessment through molecular docking and dynamics simulations targeting the Tubulin-colchicine binding site.

Keywords: QSAR, molecular docking, ADMET, 1, 2, 4-triazin-3(2H)-ones, breast cancer, anticancer, molecular dynamic simulations, MMPBSA calculation

Procedia PDF Downloads 78

Authors: Herke Csongor

Abstract:

The artificial intelligence (AI) has been used in the United States of America in the decisionmaking process of the criminal justice system for decades. In the field of law, including criminal law, AI can provide serious assistance in decision-making in many places. The paper reviews four main areas where AI still plays a role in the criminal justice system and where it is expected to play an increasingly important role. The first area is the predictive policing: a number of algorithms are used to prevent the commission of crimes (by predicting potential crime locations or perpetrators). This may include the so-called linking hot-spot analysis, crime linking and the predictive coding. The second area is the Big Data analysis: huge amounts of data sets are already opaque to human activity and therefore unprocessable. Law is one of the largest producers of digital documents (because not only decisions, but nowadays the entire document material is available digitally), and this volume can only and exclusively be handled with the help of computer programs, which the development of AI systems can have an increasing impact on. The third area is the criminal statistical data analysis. The collection of statistical data using traditional methods required enormous human resources. The AI is a huge step forward in that it can analyze the database itself, based on the requested aspects, a collection according to any aspect can be available in a few seconds, and the AI itself can analyze the database and indicate if it finds an important connection either from the point of view of crime prevention or crime detection. Finally, the use of AI during decision-making in both investigative and judicial fields is analyzed in detail. While some are skeptical about the future role of AI in decision-making, many believe that the question is not whether AI will participate in decision-making, but only when and to what extent it will transform the current decision-making system.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, international criminal cooperation, planning and organizing of the investigation, risk assessment

Procedia PDF Downloads 26

Authors: Yelin Zhao, Xinxiu Li, Martin Smelik, Oleg Sysoev, Firoj Mahmud, Dina Mansour Aly, Mikael Benson

Abstract:

Background: Early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is clinically challenging due to vague, or no symptoms, and lack of biomarkers. Polygenic risk score (PRS) scores may provide a valuable tool to assess increased or decreased risk of PC. This study aimed to develop such PRS by filtering genetic variants identified by GWAS using transcriptional programs identified by single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). Methods: ScRNA-seq data from 24 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tumor samples and 11 normal pancreases were analyzed to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in in tumor and microenvironment cell types compared to healthy tissues. Pathway analysis showed that the DEGs were enriched for hundreds of significant pathways. These were clustered into 40 “programs” based on gene similarity, using the Jaccard index. Published genetic variants associated with PDAC were mapped to each program to generate program PRSs (pPRSs). These pPRSs, along with five previously published PRSs (PGS000083, PGS000725, PGS000663, PGS000159, and PGS002264), were evaluated in a European-origin population from the UK Biobank, consisting of 1,310 PDAC participants and 407,473 non-pancreatic cancer participants. Stepwise Cox regression analysis was performed to determine associations between pPRSs with the development of PC, with adjustments of sex and principal components of genetic ancestry. Results: The PDAC genetic variants were mapped to 23 programs and were used to generate pPRSs for these programs. Four distinct pPRSs (P1, P6, P11, and P16) and two published PRSs (PGS000663 and PGS002264) were significantly associated with an increased risk of developing PC. Among these, P6 exhibited the greatest hazard ratio (adjusted HR[95% CI] = 1.67[1.14-2.45], p = 0.008). In contrast, P10 and P4 were associated with lower risk of developing PC (adjusted HR[95% CI] = 0.58[0.42-0.81], p = 0.001, and adjusted HR[95% CI] = 0.75[0.59-0.96], p = 0.019). By comparison, two of the five published PRS exhibited an association with PDAC onset with HR (PGS000663: adjusted HR[95% CI] = 1.24[1.14-1.35], p < 0.001 and PGS002264: adjusted HR[95% CI] = 1.14[1.07-1.22], p < 0.001). Conclusion: Compared to published PRSs, scRNA-seq-based pPRSs may be used not only to assess increased but also decreased risk of PDAC.

Keywords: cox regression, pancreatic cancer, polygenic risk score, scRNA-seq, UK biobank

Procedia PDF Downloads 88

Authors: Xavier Bertrand, Alexandre Cayrel

Abstract:

The early phase of an aircraft development is instrumental as it really drives the potential of a new concept. Any weakness in the high-level design (wing planform, moveable surfaces layout etc.) will be extremely difficult and expensive to recover later in the aircraft development process. Aerodynamic evaluation in this very early development phase is driven by two main criteria: a short lead-time to allow quick iterations of the geometrical design, and a high quality of the calculations to get an accurate & reliable assessment of the current status. These two criteria are usually quite contradictory. Actually, short lead time of a couple of hours from end-to-end can be obtained with very simple tools (semi-empirical methods for instance) although their accuracy is limited, whereas higher quality calculations require heavier/more complex tools, which obviously need more complex inputs as well, and a significantly longer lead time. At this point, the choice has to be done between accuracy and lead-time. A brand new approach has been developed within Airbus, aiming at obtaining quickly high quality evaluations of the aerodynamic of an aircraft. This methodology is based on a joint use of Surrogate Modelling and a lifting line code. The Surrogate Modelling is used to get the wing sections characteristics (e.g. lift coefficient vs. angle of attack), whatever the airfoil geometry, the status of the moveable surfaces (aileron/spoilers) or the high-lift devices deployment. From these characteristics, the lifting line code is used to get the 3D effects on the wing whatever the flow conditions (low/high Mach numbers etc.). This methodology has been applied successfully to a concept of medium range aircraft.

Keywords: aerodynamics, lifting line, surrogate model, CFD

Procedia PDF Downloads 338

Authors: Asmuddin Natsir, A. Mujnisa, Syahriani Syahrir, Marhamah Nadir, Nurul Purnomo

Abstract:

Bacteria, protozoa, Archaea, and fungi are the dominant microorganisms found in the rumen ecosystem that has an important role in converting feed ingredients into components that can be digested and utilized by the livestock host. This study was conducted to assess the diversity of rumen bacteria of bali cattle raised under traditional farming condition. Three adult bali cattle were used in this experiment. The rumen fluid samples from the three experimental animals were obtained by the Stomach Tube method before the morning feeding. The results of study indicated that the Illumina sequencing was successful in identifying 301,589 sequences, averaging 100,533 sequences, from three rumen fluid samples of three cattle. Furthermore, based on the SILVA taxonomic database, there were 19 kinds of phyla that had been successfully identified. Of the 19 phyla, there were only two dominant groups across the three samples, namely Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes, with an average percentage of 83.68% and 13.43%, respectively. Other groups such as Synergistetes, Spirochaetae, Planctomycetes can also be identified but in relatively small percentage. At the genus level, there were 157 sequences obtained from all three samples. Of this number, the most dominant group was Prevotella 1 with a percentage of 71.82% followed by 6.94% of Christencenellaceae R-7 group. Other groups such as Prevotellaceae UCG-001, Ruminococcaceae NK4A214 group, Sphaerochaeta, Ruminococcus 2, Rikenellaceae RC9 gut group, Quinella were also identified but with very low percentages. The sequencing results were able to detect the presence of 3.06% and 3.92% respectively for uncultured rumen bacterium and uncultured bacterium. In conclusion, the results of this experiment can provide an opportunity for a better understanding of the rumen bacterial diversity of the bali cattle raised under traditional farming condition and insight regarding the uncultured rumen bacterium and uncultured bacterium that need to be further explored.

Keywords: 16S rRNA sequencing, bali cattle, rumen microbial diversity, uncultured rumen bacterium

Procedia PDF Downloads 322

Authors: Linda Frazer

Abstract:

A pluralistic methodology focuses on promoting an understanding that an alternative juridical framework for the regulation of transnational business negotiations (TBN) between private business parties is fundamentally required. This paper deals with the evolving assessment of the doctoral research of the author which demonstrated that due to insufficient juridical tools, negotiations are commonly misunderstood within the complexity of pluralistic and conflicting legal regimes. This inadequacy causes uncertainty in the enforcement of legal remedies, leaving business parties surprised. Consequently, parties cannot sufficiently anticipate when and how legal rights and obligations are created, often counting on oral or incomplete agreements which may lead to the misinterpretation of the extent of their legal rights and obligations. This uncertainty causes threats to business parties for fear of creating unintended legal obligations or, conversely, that law will not enforce intended agreements for failure to pass the tests of contractual validity. A need to find a manner to set default standards of communications and standards of conduct to monitor our evolving global trade would aid law to provide the security, predictability and foreseeability during alternative dispute resolution required by TBN parties. The conclusion of this study includes a proposal of new trade mechanisms, termed 'Bills of Negotiations' (BON) to enhance party autonomy and promote the ability for TBN parties to self-regulate within the boundaries of law. BON will be guided by a secure juridical institutionalized setting that caters to guiding communications during TBN and resolving disputes that arise along the negotiation processes on a fast track basis.

Keywords: alternative resolution disputes, ADR, good faith, good faith, juridical security, legal regulation, trade mechanisms, transnational business negotiations

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: Sanghamitra Roy

Abstract:

In recent times, India has experienced the phenomenal rise in the number of registered vehicles and vehicular trips, particularly intra-city trips in most of its urban areas. The increase in vehicle ownership and use have increased parking demand immensely and accommodating the same is now a matter of big concern. Most cities do not have adequate off-street parking facilities thus forcing people to park on the streets. This has resulted in decreased carrying capacity, decreased traffic speed, increased congestion, and increased environmental problems. While integrated multi-modal transportation system is the answer to such problems, parking issues will continue to exist. In Kolkata, only 6.4% land is devoted for roads. The consequences of this huge crunch in road spaces coupled with increased parking demand are severe particularly in the CBD and major commercial areas, making the role of off-street parking facilities in Kolkata even more critical. To meaningfully address parking issues, it is important to identify the factors that influence parking demand so that it can be assessed and comprehensive parking policies and plans for the city can be formulated. This paper aims at identifying the factors that contribute towards parking demand for offices in Kolkata and their degree of correlation with parking demand. The study is limited to home-to-work trips located within Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) where parking related issues are most pronounced. The data for the study is collected through personal interviews, questionnaires and direct observations from offices across the wards of KMC. SPSS is used for classification of the data and analyses of the same. The findings of this study will help in re-assessment of the parking requirements specified in The Kolkata Municipal Corporation Building Rules as a step towards alleviating parking related issues in the city.

Keywords: building rules, office spaces, parking demand, urbanization

Procedia PDF Downloads 311

Authors: Walelgn Dilnesa Cherie, Fasikaw Atanaw Zimale, Bekalu W. Asres

Abstract:

The most catastrophic condition for agricultural production is a drought event, which is also one of the most hydro-metrological-related hazards. According to the combined susceptibility of plants to meteorological and hydrological conditions, agricultural drought is defined as the magnitude, severity, and duration of a drought that affects crop production. The accurate and timely assessment of agricultural drought can lead to the development of risk management strategies, appropriate proactive mechanisms for the protection of farmers, and the improvement of food security. The evaluation of agricultural drought in the East Gojjam zone was the primary subject of this study. To identify the agricultural drought, soil moisture anomalies, soil moisture deficit indices, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Indices (NDVI) are used. The measured welting point, field capacity, and soil moisture were utilized to validate the soil water deficit indices computed from the satellite data. The soil moisture and soil water deficit indices in 2013 in all woredas were minimum; this makes vegetation stress also in all woredas. The soil moisture content decreased in 2013/2014/2019, and 2021 in Dejen, 2014, and 2019 in Awobel Woreda. The max/ min values of NDVI in 2013 are minimum; it dominantly shows vegetation stress and an observed agricultural drought that happened in all woredas. The validation process of satellite and in-situ soil moisture and soil water deficit indices shows a good agreement with a value of R²=0.87 and 0.56, respectively. The study area becomes drought detected region, so government officials, policymakers, and environmentalists pay attention to the protection of drought effects.

Keywords: NDVI, agricultural drought, SWDI, soil moisture

Procedia PDF Downloads 73

Authors: Yuning Guan

Abstract:

Under the background of rapid urbanization, mountainous counties need to break through mountain barriers for urban expansion due to undulating topography, resulting in ecological problems such as landscape fragmentation and reduced biodiversity. Green infrastructure networks are constructed to alleviate the contradiction between urban expansion and ecological protection, promoting the healthy and sustainable development of urban ecosystems. This study applies the MSPA model, the MCR model and Linkage Mapper Tools to identify eco-sources and eco-corridors in the Shapingba District of Chongqing and combined with landscape connectivity assessment and circuit theory to delineate the importance levels to extract ecological pinch point areas on the corridors. The results show that: (1) 20 ecological sources are identified, with a total area of 126.47 km², accounting for 31.88% of the study area, and showing a pattern of ‘one core, three corridors, multi-point distribution’. (2) 37 ecological corridors are formed in the area, with a total length of 62.52km, with a ‘more in the west, less in the east’ pattern. (3) 42 ecological pinch points are extracted, accounting for 25.85% of the length of the corridors, which are mainly distributed in the eastern new area. Accordingly, this study proposes optimization strategies for sub-area protection of ecological sources, grade-level construction of ecological corridors, and precise restoration of ecological pinch points.

Keywords: green infrastructure network, morphological spatial pattern, minimal cumulative resistance, mountainous counties, circuit theory, shapingba district

Procedia PDF Downloads 32

Authors: Elma C. Sultan

Abstract:

The study concentrated on Vernacular Language Origin and Students’ Accent Neutralization of the College of Arts and Sciences fourth students in Samar State University, Catbalogan City answering respondent’s locale profile, vernacular language origin in terms of local dialect/s and domestic language/s used; the significant relationship between vernacular language origin and accent neutralization of the respondents; and the proposed activities to adopt in neutralizing students’ accent. It utilized the descriptive-correlational method of research determining the significant relationship between vernacular language origin and students’ accent neutralization. The researcher used: (1) questionnaire divided into three parts: the first part identified the students’ locale; the second part determined the respondents’ domestic language/s used while the third part identified their local language/s used, (2) validated accent neutralization assessment tool, (3) statistical treatments in the analysis of data: percentage to determine the profile of the students; chi-square test for independence to determine the significant relationship between vernacular language origin and students’ accent neutralization. Findings of the study showed that vowel and diphthong sound production, domestic and local languages in indigenous, and native dialects are significantly related to accent neutralization. While, slow reading speed has a higher possibility in affecting accent neutralization. These caused designing a 50-hour short-term program for accent neutralization focusing in the correct vowel and diphthong sounds production and appropriate reading speed in preparation for the respondents’ search for BPO employment. This short-term program ran for 5 hours in a day for five days in a week.

Keywords: accent neutralization, dialect, diphthongs, indigenous, language origin, language, native, reading speed, vernacular, vowels

Procedia PDF Downloads 486

Authors: Julio Silva, Lia Hasenclever, Gilson G. Silva Jr.

Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to check possible convergence in health measures (aged-standard rate of morbidity and mortality) for communicable diseases between developed and developing countries, conditional to productive structures features. Understanding the interrelations between health patterns and economic development is particularly important in the context of low- and middle-income countries, where economic development comes along with deep social inequality. Developing countries with less diversified productive structures (measured through complexity index) but high heterogeneous inter-sectorial labor productivity (using as a proxy inter-sectorial coefficient of variation of labor productivity) has on average low health levels in communicable diseases compared to developed countries with high diversified productive structures and low labor market heterogeneity. Structural heterogeneity and productive diversification may have influence on health levels even considering per capita income. We set up a panel data for 139 countries from 1995 to 2015, joining several data about the countries, as economic development, health, and health system coverage, environmental and socioeconomic aspects. This information was obtained from World Bank, International Labour Organization, Atlas of Economic Complexity, United Nation (Development Report) and Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation Database. Econometric panel models evidence shows that the level of communicable diseases has a positive relationship with structural heterogeneity, even considering other factors as per capita income. On the other hand, the recent process of convergence in terms of communicable diseases have been motivated for other reasons not directly related to productive structure, as health system coverage and environmental aspects. These evidences suggest a joint dynamics between the unequal distribution of communicable diseases and countries' productive structure aspects. These set of evidence are quite important to public policy as meet the health aims in Millennium Development Goals. It also highlights the importance of the process of structural change as fundamental to shift the levels of health in terms of communicable diseases and can contribute to the debate between the relation of economic development and health patterns changes.

Keywords: economic development, inequality, population health, structural change

Procedia PDF Downloads 124

Authors: Wen-Te Chang, Yun-Hsin Pai

Abstract:

Purpose: Based on the interdisciplinary of lower grade Elementary School with the integration of STEAM concept, related wooden toy and pedagogy plans were developed and evaluated. The research goal was to benefit elementary school education. Design/methodology/approach: The subjects were teachers from two primary school teachers and students from the department of design of universities in Taipei. Amount of 103participants (Male: 34, Female: 69) were invited to participate in the research. The research tools are “STEAM toy design” and “questionnaire of STEAM toy Pedagogy plan.” The STEAM toy pedagogy plans were evaluated after the activity of “The interdisciplinary literacy discipline guiding study program--STEAM wooden workshop,” Finding/results: The study results: (1) As factors analyzing of the questionnaire indicated the percentage on the major factors were cognition teaching 68.61%, affection 80.18% and technique 80.14%, with α=.936 of validity. The assessment tools were proved to be valid for STEAM pedagogy plan evaluation; (2) The analysis of the questionnaires investigation confirmed that the main effect of the teaching factors was not significant (affection = technique = cognition); however, the interaction between STEAM factors revealed to be significant (F (8, 1164) =5.51, p < .01); (3) The main effect of the six pedagogy plans was significant (climbing toy > bird toy = gondola toy > frog castanets > train toy > balancing toy), and an interactive effect between STEAM factors also reached a significant level, (F (8, 1164) =5.51, p < .01), especially on the artistic (A/ Art) aspect. Originality/value: The main achievement of research: (1) A pedagogy plan evaluation was successfully developed. (2) The interactive effect between the STEAM and the teaching factors reached a significant level. (3) An interactive effect between the STEAM factors and the pedagogy plans reached a significant level too.

Keywords: STEAM, toy design, pedagogy plans, evaluation

Procedia PDF Downloads 269

Authors: Ivanna Shubina

Abstract:

Background/Objectives and Goals: Recent interest in positive psychology is reflected in a plenty of studies conducted on its basic constructs (e.g. self-esteem and happiness) in interrelation with personality features, social rules, business and technology development. The purpose of this study is to investigate the mediating role of self-esteem, exploring the relationships between self-esteem and happiness, self-esteem and locus of control (LOC). It hypothesizes that self-esteem may be interpreted as a predictor of happiness and mediator in the locus of control establishment. A plenty of various empirical studies results have been analyzed in order to collect data for this theoretical study, and some of the analysed results can be considered as arguable or incoherent. However, the majority of results indicate a strong relationship between three considered concepts: self-esteem, happiness, the locus of control. Methods: In particular, this study addresses the following broad research questions: i) Is self-esteem just an index of global happiness? ii) May happiness be possible or realizable without a healthy self-confidence and self-acceptance? iii) To what extent does self-esteem influence on the level of happiness? iv) Is high self-esteem a sufficient condition for happiness? v) Is self-esteem is a strong predictor of internal locus of control maintenance? vi) Is high self-esteem related to internal LOC, while low self-esteem to external LOC? In order to find the answers for listed questions, 60 reliable sources have been analyzed, results of what are discussed more detailed below. Expected Results/Conclusion/Contribution:It is recognized that the relationship between self-esteem, happiness, locus of control is complex: internal LOC is contributing to happiness, but it is not directly related to it; self-esteem is a powerful and important psychological factor in mental health and well-being; the feelings of being worthy and empowered are associated with significant achievements and high self-esteem; strong and appropriate self-esteem (when the discrepancy between “ideal” and “real” self is balanced) is correlated with more internal LOC (when the individual tends to believe that personal achievements depend on possessed features, vigor, and persistence). Despite the special attention paid to happiness, the locus of control and self-esteem, independently, theoretical and empirical equivocations within each literature foreclose many obvious predictions about the nature of their empirical distinction. In terms of theoretical framework, no model has achieved consensus as an ultimate theoretical background for any of the mentioned constructs. To be able to clarify the relationship between self-esteem, happiness, and locus of control more interdisciplinary studies have to take place in order to get data on heterogeneous samples, provided from various countries, cultures, and social groups.

Keywords: happiness, locus of control, self-esteem, mediation

Procedia PDF Downloads 233

Authors: Gwendy Darras, Mattias Desmet

Abstract:

Previous research showed that psychological distress has a negative impact on the disease course of viral infections. For COVID-19, the same association was observed in small samples of specific segments of the population (e.g. health care workers). The present study presents a more refined analysis of this association, measuring a broader spectrum of psychological distress in a large sample (n=3084) of the general Flemish population. Several types of psychological distress (state, trait and health anxiety, depression, intra-, and interpersonal stress) are registered throughout three periods: one year before the contamination, one week before the contamination, and during the contamination. In doing so, validated scales such as DASS-21, IIP-32, and FCV-19S are used. Furthermore, the course of COVID-19 is registered in several ways: number of symptoms, number of days sick leave due to COVID-19, and number of days the symptoms have lasted. Also, different control variables such as vaccination status, medical and psychological history are taken into account. Statistical analysis shows that all types of psychological distress are positively correlated with the severity of the COVID-19 disease course. Anxiety during the contamination shows the strongest correlation, but psychological distress one year before the onset of COVID-19 was still significantly associated with the worsening of the disease course. As the assessment of the latter type of distress happened before the onset of the COVID-19 disease course, retrospective bias resulting in artificial associations between self-reported stress and COVID-19 severity is unlikely to have impacted the observations. In view of possible future pandemics, it is important to focus on general stress and anxiety reduction in the general population as soon as possible. It is also advisable to minimize the use of stress-inducing messages to encourage the population to adhere to the measures issued during a pandemic.

Keywords: anxiety, COVID-19, depression, psychoneuroimmunology, psychological distress, stress

Procedia PDF Downloads 67

Authors: Zerubabel Mihret

Abstract:

Background: Work-related stress is a pattern of reactions to work demands unmatched by worker’s knowledge, skills, or abilities. Healthcare institutions are considered high-risk and intensive work areas for work-related stress. However, there is the nonexistence of clear and strong data about the magnitude of work-related stress on sanitation workers in hospitals in Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to determine the magnitude of work-related stress among sanitation workers in public hospitals during COVID-19 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: Institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2021 to February 2022 among 494 sanitation workers who were selected from 4 hospitals. HSE (Health and Safety Executive of UK) standard data collection tool was used, and an interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data using KOBO collect application. The collected data were cleaned and analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. Both binary and multivariable logistic regression analyses were done to identify important factors having an association with work-related stress. Variables with p-value ≤ 0.25 in the bivariate analysis were entered into the multivariable logistic regression model. A statistically significant level was declared at a p-value ≤ 0.05. Results: This study revealed that the magnitude of work-related stress among sanitation workers was 49.2% (95% CI 45-54). Significant proportions (72.7%) of sanitation workers were dissatisfied with their current job. Sex, age, experience, and chewing khat were significantly associated with work-related stress. Conclusion: Work-related stress is significantly high among sanitation workers. Sex, age, experience, and chewing khat were identified as factors associated with work-related stress. Intervention program focusing on the prevention and control of stress is desired by hospitals.

Keywords: work-related stress, sanitation workers, Likert scale, public hospitals, Ethiopia

Procedia PDF Downloads 67

Authors: Samy A. Khalil, U. Ali Rahoma

Abstract:

The measurements of solar radiation, satellite data has been routinely utilize to estimate solar energy. However, the temporal coverage of satellite data has some limits. The reanalysis, also known as "retrospective analysis" of the atmosphere's parameters, is produce by fusing the output of NWP (Numerical Weather Prediction) models with observation data from a variety of sources, including ground, and satellite, ship, and aircraft observation. The result is a comprehensive record of the parameters affecting weather and climate. The effectiveness of reanalysis datasets (ERA-5) for North Africa was evaluate against high-quality surfaces measured using statistical analysis. Estimating the distribution of global solar radiation (GSR) over five chosen areas in North Africa through ten-years during the period time from 2011 to 2020. To investigate seasonal change in dataset performance, a seasonal statistical analysis was conduct, which showed a considerable difference in mistakes throughout the year. By altering the temporal resolution of the data used for comparison, the performance of the dataset is alter. Better performance is indicate by the data's monthly mean values, but data accuracy is degraded. Solar resource assessment and power estimation are discuses using the ERA-5 solar radiation data. The average values of mean bias error (MBE), root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE) of the reanalysis data of solar radiation vary from 0.079 to 0.222, 0.055 to 0.178, and 0.0145 to 0.198 respectively during the period time in the present research. The correlation coefficient (R2) varies from 0.93 to 99% during the period time in the present research. This research's objective is to provide a reliable representation of the world's solar radiation to aid in the use of solar energy in all sectors.

Keywords: solar energy, ERA-5 analysis data, global solar radiation, North Africa

Procedia PDF Downloads 88

Authors: Chieh-Ning Lan, Tzu-Shin Lin, Kun-Hao Lin

Abstract:

Chinese handwriting skill is one of the basic skills of school-age children in Taiwan, which helps them to learn most academic subjects. Differ from the alphabetic language system, Chinese written language is a logographic script with a complicated 2-dimensional character structure as a morpheme. Visuospatial ability places a great role in Chinese handwriting to maintain good proportion and alignment of these interwoven strokes. In Taiwan, school-age students faced the challenge to recognize and write down Chinese characters, especially in children with written expression difficulties (CWWDs). In this study, we developed an instructional app to help CWWDs practice Chinese handwriting skills, and we aimed to apply the mobile assisted language learning (MALL) system in clinical writing strategies. To understand the feasibility and satisfaction of this auxiliary instructional writing app, we investigated the perceive and value both from school-age students and the clinic therapists, who were the target users and the experts. A group of 8 elementary school children, as well as 8 clinic therapists, were recruited. The school-age students were asked to go through a paper-based instruction and were asked to score the visual expression based on their graphic preference; the clinic therapists were asked to watch an introductive video of this instructional app and complete the online formative questionnaire. In the results of our study, from the perspective of user interface design, school-age students were more attracted to cartoon-liked pictures rather than line drawings or vivid photos. Moreover, compared to text, pictures which have higher semantic transparency were more commonly chosen by children. In terms of the quantitative survey from clinic therapists, they were highly satisfied with this auxiliary instructional writing app, including the concepts such as visual design, teaching contents, and positive reinforcement system. Furthermore, the qualitative results also suggested comprehensive positive feedbacks on the teaching contents and the feasibility of integrating the app into clinical treatments. Interestingly, we found that clinic therapists showed high agreement in approving CWWDs’ writing ability with using orthographic knowledge; however, in the qualitative section, clinic therapists pointed out that CWWDs usually have relative insufficient background knowledge in Chinese character orthographic rules, which because it is not a key-point in conventional handwriting instruction. Also, previous studies indicated that conventional Chinese reading and writing instructions were lacked of utilizing visual-spatial arrangement strategies. Based on the sharing experiences from all participants, we concluded several interesting topics that are worth to dedicate to in the future. In this undergoing app system, improvement and revision will be applied into the system design, and will establish a better and more useful instructional system for CWWDs within their treatments; enlightened by the opinions related to learning content, the importance of orthographic knowledge in Chinese character recognition should be well discussed and involved in CWWDs’ intervention in the future.

Keywords: auxiliary instructional app, children with writing difficulties, Chinese handwriting, orthographic knowledge

Procedia PDF Downloads 163

Authors: Chia-Chen Hsieh, Fei-Hsiu Hsiao

Abstract:

Objective: To examine the effects of supportive care interventions on depressive symptoms in patients with lung cancer. Methods: The databases of Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Ovid EMBASE, PubMed, and Chinese Electronic Periodical Services (CEPS) were searched from their inception until September 2015. We included the studies with randomized controlled trial design that compared standard care with supportive care interventions using psychotherapeutic or exercises approach. The standardized mean differences (SMD) (Cohen’s d) were calculated to estimate the treatment effects. The Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool was used for quality assessment and subgroup analysis was conducted to identify possible sources of heterogeneity. Results: A total of 1472 patients with lung cancer were identified. Compared with standard care, the overall effects of all supportive care interventions significantly reduced depressive symptoms (SMD = -0.74 with 95% CI = -1.07 to -0.41), and the effect was maintained at the 4th, 8th, and 12th weeks of follow-up. Either psychotherapy combined with psychoeducation or exercise alone produced significant improvements in depressive symptoms, while psychoeducation alone did not. The greater improvements in depressive symptoms occurred in lung cancer patients with severe depressive symptoms at baseline, total duration of interventions of less than ten weeks, and intervention provided through face-to-face delivery. Conclusions: Psychotherapy combined with psychoeducation can help patients manage the causes of depressive symptoms, including both symptom distress and psychological trauma due to lung cancer. Exercise can target the impaired respiratory function that is a cause of depressive symptoms in lung cancer patients.

Keywords: supportive care intervention, depressive symptoms, lung cancer, meta-analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 295

Authors: Uttam Kumar Sahoo, K. Lalhmingsangi, J. H. Lalremruati

Abstract:

Non-timber forest resources particularly the high-value, low volume NTFPs has drawn interest as an activity all over the world during the past three decades that could raise standards of living for the rural folks while being compatible with forest conservation. This is particularly true for the people living in and around or fringes of protected areas. However, the economics that plays between resources’ stock and its utilization by the humans is yet to be validated and evaluated logistically. A study was therefore designed to understand the linkages between resource (especially NTFPs) availability and their utilization, existing threats to this biodiversity conservation and the role of NTFPs within the livelihood systems of those households that are most directly involved in creating conservation threats. About 25% of the households were sampled from the two sites ‘resource-rich’ and ‘resource poor’ area of Dampa Tiger Reserve (Western boundary). Our preliminary findings suggest that the collection of relatively high-volume and low value NTFPs such as fuelwood, fodder has caused degradation of forest resources while the low-volume and high-value NTFPs such as wild edible mushrooms, vegetables, other specialty food products, inputs to crafts, medicinal plants have resulted into species promotion/conservation through their domestication in traditional agroforestry systems including home gardens and/or collateral protection of the Tiger Reserve. It is thus suggested that proper assessment of these biodiversities, their direct and indirect valuation, market and non-market profits etc be carried out in greater details which would result in prescribing effective management plans around the park.

Keywords: household economy, livelihood strategies, non-timber forest products, species conservation

Procedia PDF Downloads 182

Authors: Orkan Ozcan, Nebiye Musaoglu, Murat Turkes

Abstract:

Climate change is largely recognized as one of the real, pressing and significant global problems. The concept of ‘climate change vulnerability’ helps us to better comprehend the cause/effect relationships behind climate change and its impact on human societies, socioeconomic sectors, physiographical and ecological systems. In this study, multifactorial spatial modeling was applied to evaluate the vulnerability of a Mediterranean forest ecosystem to climate change. As a result, the geographical distribution of the final Environmental Vulnerability Areas (EVAs) of the forest ecosystem is based on the estimated final Environmental Vulnerability Index (EVI) values. This revealed that at current levels of environmental degradation, physical, geographical, policy enforcement and socioeconomic conditions, the area with a ‘very low’ vulnerability degree covered mainly the town, its surrounding settlements and the agricultural lands found mainly over the low and flat travertine plateau and the plains at the east and southeast of the district. The spatial magnitude of the EVAs over the forest ecosystem under the current environmental degradation was also determined. This revealed that the EVAs classed as ‘very low’ account for 21% of the total area of the forest ecosystem, those classed as ‘low’ account for 36%, those classed as ‘medium’ account for 20%, and those classed as ‘high’ account for 24%. Based on regionally averaged future climate assessments and projected future climate indicators, both the study site and the western Mediterranean sub-region of Turkey will probably become associated with a drier, hotter, more continental and more water-deficient climate. This analysis holds true for all future scenarios, with the exception of RCP4.5 for the period from 2015 to 2030. However, the present dry-sub humid climate dominating this sub-region and the study area shows a potential for change towards more dry climatology and for it to become a semiarid climate in the period between 2031 and 2050 according to the RCP8.5 high emission scenario. All the observed and estimated results and assessments summarized in the study show clearly that the densest forest ecosystem in the southern part of the study site, which is characterized by mainly Mediterranean coniferous and some mixed forest and the maquis vegetation, will very likely be influenced by medium and high degrees of vulnerability to future environmental degradation, climate change and variability.

Keywords: forest ecosystem, Mediterranean climate, RCP scenarios, vulnerability analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 344

Authors: Nigatu Tadesse, Ying Liu, Juan Li, Hong Ming Liu

Abstract:

Gastric carcinogenesis is a lengthy process of histopathological transition from normal to atrophic gastritis (AG) to intestinal metaplasia (GIM), dysplasia toward gastric cancer (GC). The stage of GIM identified as precancerous lesions with resistance to H-pylori eradication and recurrence after endoscopic surgical resection therapies. GIM divided in to two morphologically distinct phenotypes such as complete GIM bearing intestinal type morphology whereas the incomplete type has colonic type morphology. The incomplete type GIM considered to be the greatest risk factor for the development of GC. Studies indicated the expression of the caudal type homeobox 2 (CDX2) gene is responsible for the development of complete GIM but its progressive downregulation from incomplete metaplasia toward advanced GC identified as the risk for IM progression and neoplastic transformation. The downregulation of CDX2 gene have promoted cell growth and proliferation in gastric and colon cancers and ascribed in chemo-treatment inefficacies. CDX2 downregulated through promoter region hypermethylation in which the methylation frequency positively correlated with the dietary history of the patients, suggesting the role of diet as methyl carbon donor sources such as methionine. However, the metabolism of exogenous methionine is yet unclear. Targeting exogenous methionine metabolism has become a promising approach to limits tumor cell growth, proliferation and progression and increase treatment outcome. This review article discusses molecular alterations that could shed light on the potential of exogenous methionine metabolisms, such as gut microbiota alteration as sources of methionine to host cells, metabolic pathway signaling via PI3K/AKt/mTORC1-c-MYC to rewire exogenous methionine and signature of increased gene methylation index, cell growth and proliferation in GIM, with insights to new treatment avenue via targeting methionine metabolism, and the need for future integrated studies on molecular alterations and metabolomics to uncover altered methionine metabolism and characterization of CDX2 methylation in gastric intestinal metaplasia for potential therapeutic exploitation.

Keywords: altered methionine metabolism, Intestinal metaplesia, CDX2 gene, gastric cancer

Procedia PDF Downloads 58

Authors: Santosh Kumar Yadav, Shobha Keswani, Nishat Quddus, Sohrab Ahmad Khan, Zuheb Ahmad Shiddiqui, Varsha Chorsiya

Abstract:

Introduction: Early onset diabetes is more aggressive than the late onset diabetes. Diabetic individual has a greater spectrum of life period to suffer from its damage, complications, and long-term disability. This study aimed at assessing knee joint muscle performance under various durations of diabetes. Method and Materials: A total of 30 diabetic subjects (18 male and 12 females) without diabetic neuropathy were included for the study. They were divided into three groups with 5 years, 10 years and 15 years of duration of disease each. Muscle performance was evaluated through strength and flexibility. Peak torque for quadriceps muscle was measured using isokinetic dynamometer. Flexibility for quadriceps and hamstring muscles were measured through Ducan’s Elys test and 90/90 test. Results: The result showed significant difference in muscle strength (p<0.05), flexibility (p≤0.05) between groups. Discussion: Optimal muscle strength and flexibility are vital for musculoskeletal health and functional independence. Conclusion: The reduced muscle performance and functional impairment in nonneuropathic diabetic patients suggest that other mechanism besides neuropathy that contribute to altered biomechanics. These findings of this study project early management of these altered parameters through disease-specific physical therapy and assessment-based intervention. Clinical Relevance: Managing disability is more costly than managing disease. Prompt and timely identification and management strategy can dramatically reduce the cost of care for diabetic patients.

Keywords: muscle flexibility, muscle performance, muscle torque, type 2 diabetes

Procedia PDF Downloads 317

Authors: Vish Putcha, Chandrasekhar Putcha, Siva Hari

Abstract:

In the current digital era of free trading and pandemic-driven remote work culture, markets worldwide gained momentum for retail investors to trade from anywhere easily. The number of retail traders rose to 24% of the market from 15% at the pre-pandemic level. Most of them are young retail traders with high-risk tolerance compared to the previous generation of retail traders. This trend boosted the growth of subscription-based market predictors and market data vendors. Young traders are betting on these predictors, assuming one of them is correct. However, 90% of retail traders are on the losing end. This paper presents multiple indicators and attempts to derive behavioral patterns from the underlying stocks. The two major indicators that traders and investors follow are technical and fundamental. The famous investor, Warren Buffett, adheres to the “Value Investing” method that is based on a stock’s fundamental Analysis. In this paper, we present multiple indicators from various methods to understand the behavior patterns of stocks. For this research, we picked five stocks with a market capitalization of more than $200M, listed on the exchange for more than 20 years, and from different industry sectors. To study the behavioral pattern over time for these five stocks, a total of 8 indicators are chosen from fundamental, technical, and financial indicators, such as Price to Earning (P/E), Price to Book Value (P/B), Debt to Equity (D/E), Beta, Volatility, Relative Strength Index (RSI), Moving Averages and Dividend yields, followed by detailed mathematical Analysis. This is an interdisciplinary paper between various disciplines of Engineering, Accounting, and Finance. The research takes a new approach to identify clear indicators affecting stocks. Statistical Analysis of the data will be performed in terms of the probabilistic distribution, then follow and then determine the probability of the stock price going over a specific target value. The Chi-square test will be used to determine the validity of the assumed distribution. Preliminary results indicate that this approach is working well. When the complete results are presented in the final paper, they will be beneficial to the community.

Keywords: stock pattern, stock market analysis, stock predictions, trading, investing, fundamental analysis, technical analysis, quantitative trading, financial analysis, behavioral analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 67

Authors: Shamsulhaq Amin

Abstract:

Drought can arise from several hydrometeorological phenomena that result in insufficient precipitation, soil moisture, and surface and groundwater flow, leading to conditions that are considerably drier than the usual water content or availability. Drought is often assessed using indices that are associated with meteorological, agricultural, and hydrological phenomena. In order to effectively handle drought disasters, it is essential to accurately determine the kind, intensity, and extent of the drought using drought characterization. This information is critical for managing the drought before, during, and after the rehabilitation process. Over a hundred drought assessments have been created in literature to evaluate drought disasters, encompassing a range of factors and variables. Some models utilise solely hydrometeorological drivers, while others employ remote sensing technology, and some incorporate a combination of both. Comprehending the entire notion of drought and taking into account drought indices along with their calculation processes are crucial for researchers in this discipline. Examining several drought metrics in different studies requires additional time and concentration. Hence, it is crucial to conduct a thorough examination of approaches used in drought indices in order to identify the most straightforward approach to avoid any discrepancies in numerous scientific studies. In case of practical application in real-world, categorizing indices relative to their usage in meteorological, agricultural, and hydrological phenomena might help researchers maximize their efficiency. Users have the ability to explore different indexes at the same time, allowing them to compare the convenience of use and evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of each. Moreover, certain indices exhibit interdependence, which enhances comprehension of their connections and assists in making informed decisions about their suitability in various scenarios. This study provides a comprehensive assessment of various drought indices, analysing their types and computation methodologies in a detailed and systematic manner.

Keywords: drought classification, drought severity, drought indices, agricultur, hydrological

Procedia PDF Downloads 28

Authors: Sammy Kibor, Filip Huyghe, Marc Kochzius, James Kairo

Abstract:

Goldstripe Sardinella, Sardinella gibbosa, (Bleeker, 1849) is a commercially and ecologically important small pelagic fish common in the Western Indian Ocean region. The present study aimed to assess genetic diversity and population structure of the species in the Kenya-Tanzania transboundary area using mtDNA and msDNA markers. Some 630 bp sequence in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) Cytochrome C Oxidase I (COI) and five polymorphic microsatellite DNA loci were analyzed. Fin clips of 309 individuals from eight locations within the transboundary area were collected between July and December 2018. The S. gibbosa individuals from the different locations were distinguishable from one another based on the mtDNA variation, as demonstrated with a neighbor-joining tree and minimum spanning network analysis. None of the identified 22 haplotypes were shared between Kenya and Tanzania. Gene diversity per locus was relatively high (0.271-0.751), highest Fis was 0.391. The structure analysis, discriminant analysis of Principal component (DAPC) and the pair-wise (FST = 0.136 P < 0.001) values after Bonferroni correction using five microsatellite loci provided clear inference on genetic differentiation and thus evidence of population structure of S. gibbosa along the Kenya-Tanzania coast. This study shows a high level of genetic diversity and the presence of population structure (Φst =0.078 P < 0.001) resulting to the existence of four populations giving a clear indication of minimum gene flow among the population. This information has application in the designing of marine protected areas, an important tool for marine conservation.

Keywords: marine connectivity, microsatellites, population genetics, transboundary

Procedia PDF Downloads 113

Authors: Salah R. Al Zaidee, Ali S. Mahdi

Abstract:

Except for simple problems of statically determinate structures, optimum design problems in structural engineering have implicit objective functions where structural analysis and design are essential within each searching loop. With these implicit functions, the structural engineer is usually enforced to write his/her own computer code for analysis, design, and searching for optimum design among many feasible candidates and cannot take advantage of available software for structural analysis, design, and searching for the optimum solution. The meta-model is a regression model used to transform an implicit objective function into objective one and leads in turn to decouple the structural analysis and design processes from the optimum searching process. With the meta-model, well-known software for structural analysis and design can be used in sequence with optimum searching software. In this paper, the meta-model has been used to develop an explicit objective function for plane steel frames subjected to dead, live, and seismic forces. Frame topology is assumed as predefined based on architectural and functional requirements. Columns and beams sections and different connections details are the main design variables in this study. Columns and beams are grouped to reduce the number of design variables and to make the problem similar to that adopted in engineering practice. Data for the implicit objective function have been generated based on analysis and assessment for many design proposals with CSI SAP software. These data have been used later in SPSS software to develop a pure quadratic nonlinear regression model for the explicit objective function. Good correlations with a coefficient, R², in the range from 0.88 to 0.99 have been noted between the original implicit functions and the corresponding explicit functions generated with meta-model.

Keywords: meta-modal, objective function, steel frames, seismic analysis, design

Procedia PDF Downloads 230

Authors: S. Yeo, M. Mathur

Abstract:

Introduction: Obesity, defined as a Body Mass Index (BMI) of more than or equal to 30kg/m, is associated with an increased risk of complications during pregnancy and delivery. During labour, obese mothers often require greater intervention and have higher rates of caesarean section. Despite a low overall rate of serious complications following caesarean section, a high BMI predisposes to a higher risk of postoperative complications. Our study, therefore, aimed to investigate the impact of antenatal obesity on adverse outcomes following caesarean section, particularly wound-related infections. Materials and Methods: A retrospective cohort study of all caesarean deliveries during the first quarter of a chosen year was undertaken in our hospital, which is a tertiary referral centre with > 12,000 deliveries per year. Patients’ health records and data from our hospital’s electronic labour and delivery database were reviewed. Data analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), and odds ratios plus adjusted odd ratios were calculated with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: A total of 1829 deliveries were reviewed during our study period. Of these, 180 (9.8%) patients were obese. The rate of caesarean delivery was 48.9% in obese patients versus 28.1% in non-obese patients. Post-operatively, 17% of obese patients experienced wound infection versus 0.2% of non-obese patients. Obese patients were also more likely to experience major postpartum haemorrhage (4.6% vs. 0.2%) and postpartum pyrexia (18.2% vs. 5.0%) in comparison to non-obese patients. Conclusions: Obesity is a significant risk factor in the development of postoperative complications following caesarean section. Wound infection remains a major concern for obese patients undergoing major surgery and results in extensive morbidity during the postnatal period. Postpartum infection can prolong recovery and affect maternal mental health, leading to reduced perinatal bonding with long-term implications on breastfeeding and parenting confidence. This study supports the need for the development of standardized protocols specifically for obese patients undergoing caesarean section. Multidisciplinary team care, in conjunction with anaesthesia, family physicians, and plastic surgery counterparts, early on in the antenatal journey, may be beneficial where wound complications are anticipated and to minimize the burden of postoperative infection in obese mothers.

Keywords: pregnancy, obesity, caesarean, infection

Procedia PDF Downloads 67

Authors: Yu-Hsuan Liu, Ying-Fang Wang

Abstract:

The objectives of the present study are to characterize nanoparticles generated from the laser metal deposition (LMD) process and to estimate particle concentrations deposited in the head (H), that the tracheobronchial (TB) and alveolar (A) regions, respectively. The studied LMD chamber (3.6m × 3.8m × 2.9m) is installed with a robot laser metal deposition machine. Direct-reading instrument of a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS, Model 3082, TSI Inc., St. Paul, MN, USA) was used to conduct static sampling inside the chamber for nanoparticle number concentration and particle size distribution measurements. The SMPS obtained particle number concentration at every 3 minutes, the diameter of the SMPS ranged from 11~372 nm when the aerosol and sheath flow rates were set at 0.6 and 6 L / min, respectively. The resultant size distributions were used to predict depositions of nanoparticles at the H, TB, and A regions of the respiratory tract using the UK National Radiological Protection Board’s (NRPB’s) LUDEP Software. Result that the number concentrations of nanoparticles in indoor background and LMD chamber were 4.8×10³ and 4.3×10⁵ # / cm³, respectively. However, the nanoparticles emitted from the LMD process was in the form of the uni-modal with number median diameter (NMD) and geometric standard deviation (GSD) as 142nm and 1.86, respectively. The fractions of the nanoparticles deposited on the alveolar region (A: 69.8%) were higher than the other two regions of the head region (H: 10.9%), tracheobronchial region (TB: 19.3%). This study conducted static sampling to measure the nanoparticles in the LMD process, and the results show that the fraction of particles deposited on the A region was higher than the other two regions. Therefore, applying the characteristics of nanoparticles emitted from LMD process could be provided valuable scientific-based evidence for exposure assessments in the future.

Keywords: exposure assessment, laser metal deposition process, nanoparticle, respiratory region

Procedia PDF Downloads 273