Search results for: optimum learning outcomes

Authors: Eugene Mashapa

Abstract:

The age of information has witnessed countless unprecedented technological developments, which signal the articulation of succinct technological capabilities that can match these cutting-edge technological trends. These changes have impacted patterns in the production, distribution, and consumption of media content, a space that the Film and Publication Board (FPB) is concerned with. Consequently, the FPB is keen to understand the nature and impact of these technological changes on media content regulation. This exploratory study sought to investigate how content regulators in high and middle-income economies have adapted to the changes in this space, seeking insights into innovations, technological and operational, that facilitate continued relevance during this fast-changing environment. The study is aimed at developing recommendations that could assist and inform the organisation in regulating media content as it evolves. Thus, the overall research strategy in this analysis is applied research, and the analytical model adopted is a mixed research design guided by both qualitative and quantitative research instruments. It was revealed in the study that the FPB was significantly impacted by the unprecedented technological advancements in the media regulation space. Additionally, there exists a need for the FPB to understand the current and future penetrations of 4IR technology in the industry and its impact on media governance and policy implementation. This will range from reskilling officials to align with the technological skills to developing technological innovations as well as adopting co-regulatory or self-regulatory arrangements together with content distributors, where more content is distributed in higher volumes and with increased frequency. Importantly, initiating an interactive learning process for both FPB employees and the general public can assist the regulator and improve FPB’s operational efficiency and effectiveness.

Keywords: media, regulation, technology, film and publications board

Procedia PDF Downloads 106

Authors: Laura Mendez

Abstract:

Tribunals for the prosecution of crimes against humanity have been implemented in recent history via international intervention or imposed by one side of the conflict, as in the cases of Rwanda, Iraq, Argentina, and Chile. However, the creation of a criminal tribunal as the result of a peace agreement between formerly warring parties has been unique to the Colombian peace process. As such, the Colombian Jurisdiction for Peace (SJP), or JEP for its Spanish acronym, is viewed as a site of social contestation where actors shape its design and implementation. This study contributes to the literature of transitional justice by analyzing how the framing of the creation of the Colombian tribunal reveals the parties' interests. The analysis frames the interests of the power-brokers, i.e., the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and the victims in light of the tribunal’s functions. The purpose of this analysis is to understand how the interests of the parties are embedded in the designing of the SJP. This paper argues that the creation of the SJP rests on restorative justice, for which the victim, not the perpetrator, is at the center of prosecution. The SJP’s approach to justice moves from prosecution as punishment to prosecution as sanctions. SJP’s alternative sanctions focused on truth, reparation, and restoration are designed to humanize both the victim and the perpetrator in order to achieve reconciliation. The findings also show that requiring the perpetrator to perform labor to repair the victim as an alternative form of sanction aims to foster relations of reintegration and social learning between victims and perpetrators.

Keywords: transitional justice mechanisms, criminal tribunals, Colombia, Colombian Jurisdiction for Peace, JEP

Procedia PDF Downloads 118

Authors: Javed Mallick

Abstract:

In metropolitan areas, rapid changes in land use and land cover (LULC) have ecological and environmental consequences. Saudi Arabia's cities have experienced tremendous urban growth since the 1990s, resulting in urban heat islands, groundwater depletion, air pollution, loss of ecosystem services, and so on. From 1990 to 2020, this study examines the variance and heterogeneity in land surface temperature (LST) caused by LULC changes in Abha-Khamis Mushyet, Saudi Arabia. LULC was mapped using the support vector machine (SVM). The mono-window algorithm was used to calculate the land surface temperature (LST). To identify LST clusters, the local indicator of spatial associations (LISA) model was applied to spatiotemporal LST maps. In addition, the parallel coordinate (PCP) method was used to investigate the relationship between LST clusters and urban biophysical variables as a proxy for LULC. According to LULC maps, urban areas increased by more than 330% between 1990 and 2018. Between 1990 and 2018, built-up areas had an 83.6% transitional probability. Furthermore, between 1990 and 2020, vegetation and agricultural land were converted into built-up areas at a rate of 17.9% and 21.8%, respectively. Uneven LULC changes in built-up areas result in more LST hotspots. LST hotspots were associated with high NDBI but not NDWI or NDVI. This study could assist policymakers in developing mitigation strategies for urban heat islands

Keywords: land use land cover mapping, land surface temperature, support vector machine, LISA model, parallel coordinate plot

Procedia PDF Downloads 78

Authors: Sandra Mitrovic, Gaurav Singh

Abstract:

In many industries, including telecommunications, churn prediction has been a topic of active research. A lot of attention has been drawn on devising the most informative features, and this area of research has gained even more focus with spread of (social) network analytics. The call detail records (CDRs) have been used to construct customer networks and extract potentially useful features. However, to the best of our knowledge, no studies including network features have yet proposed a generic way of representing network information. Instead, ad-hoc and dataset dependent solutions have been suggested. In this work, we build upon a recently presented method (node2vec) to obtain representations for nodes in observed network. The proposed approach is generic and applicable to any network and domain. Unlike node2vec, which assumes a static network, we consider a dynamic and time-evolving network. To account for this, we propose an approach that constructs the feature representation of each node by generating its node2vec representations at different timestamps, concatenating them and finally compressing using an auto-encoder-like method in order to retain reasonably long and informative feature vectors. We test the proposed method on churn prediction task in telco domain. To predict churners at timestamp ts+1, we construct training and testing datasets consisting of feature vectors from time intervals [t1, ts-1] and [t2, ts] respectively, and use traditional supervised classification models like SVM and Logistic Regression. Observed results show the effectiveness of proposed approach as compared to ad-hoc feature selection based approaches and static node2vec.

Keywords: churn prediction, dynamic networks, node2vec, auto-encoders

Procedia PDF Downloads 314

Authors: Shan-Yu Hsu, Hsin-Shu Huang

Abstract:

The main purpose of this teaching research is to design an interdisciplinary team-assisted teaching method for trainees and interns and review the effectiveness of this teaching method on trainees' understanding of peritoneal dialysis. The teaching research object is the fifth and sixth-grade trainees in a medical center's medical school. The teaching methods include media teaching, demonstration of technical operation, face-to-face communication with patients, special case discussions, and field visits to the peritoneal dialysis room. Evaluate learning effectiveness before, after, and verbally. Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS paired-sample t-test to analyze whether there is a difference in peritoneal dialysis professional cognition before and after teaching intervention. Descriptive statistics show that the average score of the previous test is 74.44, the standard deviation is 9.34, the average score of the post-test is 95.56, and the standard deviation is 5.06. The results of the t-test of the paired samples are shown as p-value = 0.006, showing the peritoneal dialysis professional cognitive test. Significant differences were observed before and after. The interdisciplinary team-assisted teaching method helps trainees and interns to improve their professional awareness of peritoneal dialysis. At the same time, trainee physicians have positive feedback on the inter-professional team-assisted teaching method. This teaching research finds that the clinical ability development education of trainees and interns can provide cross-professional team-assisted teaching methods to assist clinical teaching guidance.

Keywords: monitor quality, patient safety, health promotion objective, cross-professional team-assisted teaching methods

Procedia PDF Downloads 143

Authors: M. A. Zaki Ewiss, S. Afifi

Abstract:

Nahda University (NUB) believes that internationalisation of higher educational is able to provide global society with an education that meets current needs and that can respond efficiently to contemporary demands and challenges, which are characterized by globalisation, interdependence, and multiculturalism. In this paper, we will discuss the the challenges of the Egyptian Higher Education system and the future vision to improve this system> In this report, the following issues will be considered: Increasing knowledge on the development of specialized programs of study at the university. Developing international cooperation programs, which focus on the development of the students and staff skills, and providing academic culture and learning opportunities. Increasing the opportunities for student mobility, and research projects for faculty members. Increased opportunities for staff, faculty and students to continue to learn foreign universities, and to benefit from scholarships in various disciplines. Taking the advantage of the educational experience and modern teaching methods; Providing the opportunities to study abroad without increasing the period of time required for graduation, and through greater integration in the curricula and programs; More cultural interaction through student exchanges.Improving and providing job opportunities for graduates through participation in the global labor market. This document sets out NUB strategy to move towards that vision. We are confident that greater explicit differentiation, greater freedom and greater collaboration are the keys to delivering the further improvement in quality we shall need to retain and strengthen our position as one of the world’s leading higher education systems.

Keywords: technology transfer higher education, knowledge transfer, internationalisation, mobility

Procedia PDF Downloads 439

Authors: Nongcebo Ngcobo

Abstract:

This research explores the importance of including a multitude of voices in the cultural heritage narrative, particularly in South Africa. The Mashishing project is an extension of and builds on the existing ‘Biesje Poort project’ which is a rock art project that was funded by the National Heritage Council in 2010 - 2013. Hence, the Mashishing marking memories project applies comparable Biesje Poort project objectives, though in a different geographical area. The wider project objectives are to transfer skills, promote social cohesion and empowerment, and lastly to add to the knowledge base of the Mashishing region and the repository of the local museum in the Lydenburg museum. This study is located in the Mashishing area, in Mpumalanga, South Africa. In this area, there were no present multi-vocal heritage projects. This research assesses the Mashishing marking memories project through the culture-centered approach for communication for social change, which examines the impact that the diverse participants have on the operations of the Mashishing project and also investigates whether the culturally diverse participants facilitates or hinders effective participation within the project. Key findings of this research uncovered the significance of participation and diverse voices in the cultural heritage field. Furthermore, this study highlights how unequal power relations affect effective participation. As a result, this study encourages the importance of bringing the researcher and the participant in a safe space to facilitate mutual learning. It also encourages an exchange of roles, where the researcher shifts from being an authoritarian figure to being in the role of a listener.

Keywords: culture, heritage, participation, social change

Procedia PDF Downloads 121

Authors: M. Aghili, S. Tabarestani, C. Freytes, M. Shojaie, M. Cabrerizo, A. Barreto, N. Rishe, R. E. Curiel, D. Loewenstein, R. Duara, M. Adjouadi

Abstract:

A major challenge in medical studies, especially those that are longitudinal, is the problem of missing measurements which hinders the effective application of many machine learning algorithms. Furthermore, recent Alzheimer's Disease studies have focused on the delineation of Early Mild Cognitive Impairment (EMCI) and Late Mild Cognitive Impairment (LMCI) from cognitively normal controls (CN) which is essential for developing effective and early treatment methods. To address the aforementioned challenges, this paper explores the potential of using the eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) algorithm in handling missing values in multiclass classification. We seek a generalized classification scheme where all prodromal stages of the disease are considered simultaneously in the classification and decision-making processes. Given the large number of subjects (1631) included in this study and in the presence of almost 28% missing values, we investigated the performance of XGBoost on the classification of the four classes of AD, NC, EMCI, and LMCI. Using 10-fold cross validation technique, XGBoost is shown to outperform other state-of-the-art classification algorithms by 3% in terms of accuracy and F-score. Our model achieved an accuracy of 80.52%, a precision of 80.62% and recall of 80.51%, supporting the more natural and promising multiclass classification.

Keywords: eXtreme gradient boosting, missing data, Alzheimer disease, early mild cognitive impairment, late mild cognitive impair, multiclass classification, ADNI, support vector machine, random forest

Procedia PDF Downloads 188

Authors: Ghazal Faraj, András Micsik

Abstract:

Shapes Constraint Language (SHACL), a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) language, provides well-defined shapes and RDF graphs, named "shape graphs". These shape graphs validate other resource description framework (RDF) graphs which are called "data graphs". The structural features of SHACL permit generating a variety of conditions to evaluate string matching patterns, value type, and other constraints. Moreover, the framework of SHACL supports high-level validation by expressing more complex conditions in languages such as SPARQL protocol and RDF Query Language (SPARQL). SHACL includes two parts: SHACL Core and SHACL-SPARQL. SHACL Core includes all shapes that cover the most frequent constraint components. While SHACL-SPARQL is an extension that allows SHACL to express more complex customized constraints. Validating the efficacy of dataset mapping is an essential component of reconciled data mechanisms, as the enhancement of different datasets linking is a sustainable process. The conventional validation methods are the semantic reasoner and SPARQL queries. The former checks formalization errors and data type inconsistency, while the latter validates the data contradiction. After executing SPARQL queries, the retrieved information needs to be checked manually by an expert. However, this methodology is time-consuming and inaccurate as it does not test the mapping model comprehensively. Therefore, there is a serious need to expose a new methodology that covers the entire validation aspects for linking and mapping diverse datasets. Our goal is to conduct a new approach to achieve optimal validation outcomes. The first step towards this goal is implementing SHACL to validate the mapping between the International Committee for Documentation (CIDOC) conceptual reference model (CRM) and one of its ontologies. To initiate this project successfully, a thorough understanding of both source and target ontologies was required. Subsequently, the proper environment to run SHACL and its shape graphs were determined. As a case study, we performed SHACL over a CIDOC-CRM dataset after running a Pellet reasoner via the Protégé program. The applied validation falls under multiple categories: a) data type validation which constrains whether the source data is mapped to the correct data type. For instance, checking whether a birthdate is assigned to xsd:datetime and linked to Person entity via crm:P82a_begin_of_the_begin property. b) Data integrity validation which detects inconsistent data. For instance, inspecting whether a person's birthdate occurred before any of the linked event creation dates. The expected results of our work are: 1) highlighting validation techniques and categories, 2) selecting the most suitable techniques for those various categories of validation tasks. The next plan is to establish a comprehensive validation model and generate SHACL shapes automatically.

Keywords: SHACL, CIDOC-CRM, SPARQL, validation of ontology mapping

Procedia PDF Downloads 253

Authors: M. Louise Humbert, Karen E. Chad, Natalie E. Houser, Marta E. Erlandson

Abstract:

Physical literacy is the motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge, and understanding to value and takes responsibility for engagement in physical activities for life. In recent years, physical literacy has emerged as a determinant of health, promoting a positive lifelong physical activity trajectory. Physical literacy’s holistic approach and emphasis on the intrinsic valuation of movement provide an encouraging avenue for intervention among children to develop competent and confident movers. Although there is research on physical literacy interventions, no evidence exists on the outcomes of multi-sectoral interventions involving a combination of home, school, and community contexts. Since children interact with and in a wide range of contexts (home, school, community) daily, interventions designed to address a combination of these contexts are critical to the development of physical literacy. Working with school administrators and teachers, sports and recreation leaders, and community members, our team of university and community researchers conducted and evaluated one of the first multi-contextual and multi-sectoral physical literacy interventions in Canada. Schools played a critical role in this multi-sector intervention, and in this project, teachers and administrators focused their actions on developing physical literacy in students 10 to 14 years of age through the instruction of physical literacy-focused physical education lessons. Little is known about the experiences of educators when they work alongside an array of community representatives to develop physical literacy in school-aged children. Given the uniqueness of this intervention, we sought to answer the question, ‘What were the experiences of school-based educators involved in a multi-sectoral partnership focused on creating a physical literacy enriched community intervention?’ A thematic analysis approach was used to analyze data collected from interviews with educators and administrators, informal conversations, documents, and observations at workshops and meetings. Results indicated that schools and educators played the largest role in this multi-sector intervention. Educators initially reported a limited understanding of physical literacy and expressed a need for resources linked to the physical education curriculum. Some anxiety was expressed by the teachers as their students were measured, and educators noted they wanted to increase their understanding and become more involved in the assessment of physical literacy. Teachers reported that the intervention’s focus on physical literacy positively impacted the scheduling and their instruction of physical education. Administrators shared their desire for school and division-level actions targeting physical literacy development like the current focus on numeracy and literacy, treaty education, and safe schools. As this was one of the first multi-contextual and multi-sectoral physical literacy interventions, it was important to document creation and delivery experiences to encourage future growth in the area and develop suggested best practices.

Keywords: physical literacy, multi sector intervention, physical education, teachers

Procedia PDF Downloads 102

Authors: Al. I. Diwedar, Moheb Iskander, Mohamed Yossef, Ahmed ElKut, Noha Fouad, Radwa Fathy, Mustafa M. Almaghraby, Amira Samir, Ahmed Romya, Nourhan Hassan, Asmaa Abo Zed, Bas Reijmerink, Julien Groenenboom

Abstract:

Coastal problems are stressing the coastal environment due to its complexity. The dynamic interaction between the sea and the land results in serious problems that threaten coastal areas worldwide, in addition to human interventions and activities. This makes the coastal environment highly vulnerable to natural processes like flooding, erosion, and the impact of human activities as pollution. Protecting and preserving this vulnerable coastal zone with its valuable ecosystems calls for addressing the coastal problems. This, in the end, will support the sustainability of the coastal communities and maintain the current and future generations. Consequently applying suitable management strategies and sustainable development that consider the unique characteristics of the coastal system is a must. The coastal management philosophy aims to solve the conflicts of interest between human development activities and this dynamic nature. Modeling emerges as a successful tool that provides support to decision-makers, engineers, and researchers for better management practices. Modeling tools proved that it is accurate and reliable in prediction. With its capability to integrate data from various sources such as bathymetric surveys, satellite images, and meteorological data, it offers the possibility for engineers and scientists to understand this complex dynamic system and get in-depth into the interaction between both the natural and human-induced factors. This enables decision-makers to make informed choices and develop effective strategies for sustainable development and risk mitigation of the coastal zone. The application of modeling tools supports the evaluation of various scenarios by affording the possibility to simulate and forecast different coastal processes from the hydrodynamic and wave actions and the resulting flooding and erosion. The state-of-the-art application of modeling tools in coastal management allows for better understanding and predicting coastal processes, optimizing infrastructure planning and design, supporting ecosystem-based approaches, assessing climate change impacts, managing hazards, and finally facilitating stakeholder engagement. This paper emphasizes the role of hydraulic models in enhancing the management of coastal problems by discussing the diverse applications of modeling in coastal management. It highlights the modelling role in understanding complex coastal processes, and predicting outcomes. The importance of informing decision-makers with modeling results which gives technical and scientific support to achieve sustainable coastal development and protection.

Keywords: coastal problems, coastal management, hydraulic model, numerical model, physical model

Procedia PDF Downloads 29

Authors: Shitu Sani

Abstract:

The paper is advanced on the historical background of the effects of excess work load on lecturers in higher institutions of learning which will assess the socio-economic and psychological disposition of lecturers in the realm of quality production. The paper further discusses the significant roles played by excess work load in general transformation of higher education, which will give the management and stake holders input for successful development of higher education. Even though all forms of work and organizational procedures are potential source of stress and stressors. In higher institution of leaning, lecturers perform many responsibilities such as lecturing, carrying out research and engaging in community services. If these multiple roles could not be handle property it would have result in stress which may have negative impact on job performance, and it’s relation with instructional technology. A sample 191 lecturers were randomly selected from the higher institutions in the northern west zone in Nigerian using two instruments i.e. work load stress management question and job performance Approval, data were collected on lecturers of socio-economic and physiological stress and job performances. Findings of the study shows that lecture experienced excess work load in academic activities. Lecturer’s job performance was negatively influences by socio-economic and psychological work stress. Among the recommendation made were the need for organizing regular induction courses for lecturers on stress, and enhance interpersonal relations among the lecturers as well as provision of electronic public address system to reduce the stress.

Keywords: effect, excess, lecturers, workload

Procedia PDF Downloads 352

Authors: Bassma A. Abdelhaleem, Mamdouh A. Abdulrhman, Nagwa I. Mohamed

Abstract:

Malnutrition in children is an increasing problem worldwide which may result in both short and long-term irreversible negative health outcomes. Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) affects more than 18 million children each year, mostly living in low-income settings. SAM contributes to 45% of all deaths in children less than five years of age. Honey is a natural sweetener, containing mainly monosaccharides (up to 80%), disaccharides (3–5%), water (17–20%), and a wide range of minor constituents such as vitamins, minerals, proteins, amino acids, enzymes, and phytochemicals, mainly phenolic acids, and flavonoids. Honey has been used in many cultures around the world due to its known nutritional and medicinal benefits including the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. Despite its use since ancient times yet little is known about its potential benefits for malnourished children. Honey has the potential to be an affordable solution for malnourished low-income children as it is nutrient-dense and calorie dense food, easily absorbed, highly palatable, enhances appetite, and boosts immunity. This study assessed the effect of clover honey supplementation on the anthropometric measurements and lipid profile of malnourished infants and children. A prospective interventional clinical trial was conducted between November 2019 to November 2020, on 40 malnourished infants and children divided into two groups: Group A (20 children; 11 males and 9 females) received honey in a dose of 1.75ml/kg/dose, twice weekly for 12 weeks and Group B (20 children; 6 males and 14 females) received placebo. Written informed consent was obtained for parents/guardians. Patients were recruited from the Pediatric Nutrition Clinic at Ain Shams University. Anthropometric measurements (weight, height, body mass index, head circumference, and mid-arm circumference) and fasting serum cholesterol levels were measured at baseline and after 3 months. The 3-month honey consumption had a statistically highly significant effect on increasing weight, height, and body mass index and lowering fasting serum cholesterol levels in primary malnourished infants and children. Weight, height, body mass index, and fasting serum cholesterol level before honey consumption were (9.49 ± 2.03, 81.45 ± 8.31, 14.24 ± 2.15, 178.00 ± 20.91) and after 3 months of honey consumption were (10.91 ± 2.11, 84.80 ± 8.23, 15.07 ± 2.05, 162.45 ± 19.73) respectively with P-value < 0.01. Our results showed a significant desirable effect of honey consumption on changes in nutritional status based on weight, height, and body mass index, and has a favourable effect on lowering fasting serum cholesterol levels. These results propose the use of honey as an affordable solution to improve malnutrition, particularly in low-income countries. However, further research needs to weigh benefits against potential harms including the risk of botulinum toxin that is historically associated with honey consumption in early childhood.

Keywords: clinical trial, dyslipidemia, honey, malnutrition

Procedia PDF Downloads 108

Authors: Daniel Pinheiro Da Silva Junior, Aline Paes, Daniel De Oliveira, Christiano Lacerda Ghuerren, Marcio Duran

Abstract:

The Courts of Accounts are institutions responsible for overseeing and point out irregularities of Public Administration expenses. They have a high demand for processes to be analyzed, whose decisions must be grounded on severity laws. Despite the existing large amount of processes, there are several cases reporting similar subjects. Thus, previous decisions on already analyzed processes can be a precedent for current processes that refer to similar topics. Identifying similar topics is an open, yet essential task for identifying similarities between several processes. Since the actual amount of topics is considerably large, it is tedious and error-prone to identify topics using a pure manual approach. This paper presents a tool based on Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing to assists in building a labeled dataset. The tool relies on Topic Modelling with Latent Dirichlet Allocation to find the topics underlying a document followed by Jensen Shannon distance metric to generate a probability of similarity between documents pairs. Furthermore, in a case study with a corpus of decisions of the Rio de Janeiro State Court of Accounts, it was noted that data pre-processing plays an essential role in modeling relevant topics. Also, the combination of topic modeling and a calculated distance metric over document represented among generated topics has been proved useful in helping to construct a labeled base of similar and non-similar document pairs.

Keywords: courts of accounts, data labelling, document similarity, topic modeling

Procedia PDF Downloads 179

Authors: Almudena Espin Perez, Tyler Risom, Carl Pelz, Isabel English, Robert M. Angelo, Rosalie Sears, Andrew J. Gentles

Abstract:

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most deadly malignancies. The role of the tumor microenvironment (TME) is gaining significant attention in cancer research. Despite ongoing efforts, the nature of the interactions between tumors, immune cells, and stromal cells remains poorly understood. The cell-intrinsic properties that govern cell lineage plasticity in PDAC and extrinsic influences of immune populations require technically challenging approaches due to the inherently heterogeneous nature of PDAC. Understanding the cell lineage plasticity of PDAC will improve the development of novel strategies that could be translated to the clinic. Members of the team have demonstrated that the acquisition of ductal to neuroendocrine lineage plasticity in PDAC confers therapeutic resistance and is a biomarker of poor outcomes in patients. Our approach combines computational methods for deconvolving bulk transcriptomic cancer data using CIBERSORTx and high-throughput single-cell imaging using Multiplexed Ion Beam Imaging (MIBI) to study lineage plasticity in PDAC and its relationship to the infiltrating immune system. The CIBERSORTx algorithm uses signature matrices from immune cells and stroma from sorted and single-cell data in order to 1) infer the fractions of different immune cell types and stromal cells in bulked gene expression data and 2) impute a representative transcriptome profile for each cell type. We studied a unique set of 300 genomically well-characterized primary PDAC samples with rich clinical annotation. We deconvolved the PDAC transcriptome profiles using CIBERSORTx, leveraging publicly available single-cell RNA-seq data from normal pancreatic tissue and PDAC to estimate cell type proportions in PDAC, and digitally reconstruct cell-specific transcriptional profiles from our study dataset. We built signature matrices and optimized by simulations and comparison to ground truth data. We identified cell-type-specific transcriptional programs that contribute to cancer cell lineage plasticity, especially in the ductal compartment. We also studied cell differentiation hierarchies using CytoTRACE and predict cell lineage trajectories for acinar and ductal cells that we believe are pinpointing relevant information on PDAC progression. Collaborators (Angelo lab, Stanford University) has led the development of the Multiplexed Ion Beam Imaging (MIBI) platform for spatial proteomics. We will use in the very near future MIBI from tissue microarray of 40 PDAC samples to understand the spatial relationship between cancer cell lineage plasticity and stromal cells focused on infiltrating immune cells, using the relevant markers of PDAC plasticity identified from the RNA-seq analysis.

Keywords: deconvolution, imaging, microenvironment, PDAC

Procedia PDF Downloads 128

Authors: Mark R. Skopec, Hamdi M. Issa, Henock B. Taddese, Kate Ippolito, Matthew J. Harris

Abstract:

In peer review, there is a skew toward research from high-income countries, otherwise known as geographic bias. Research from well-known and prestigious institutions is often favored in the peer review process and is more frequently cited in biomedical research. English clinicians have been found to rate research from low-income countries worse compared to the same research presented as if from high-income countries. This entrenched bias, which is rooted in the perceived superiority of academic institutions in high-income countries is damaging in many regards. Crucially, it reinforces colonial roots by strengthening the dominance of knowledge bases in high-income contexts and perpetuates the perceived inferiority of research from low-income settings. We report on the interventions that Imperial College London is conducting to “decolonize” the higher education curriculum – a root and branch review of reading material in the Masters of Public Health course; identification of unconscious bias against low-income country research in faculty and staff; in-depth interviews with faculty members on their experiences and practices with respect to inclusion of low-income country research in their own teaching and learning practice; and exploring issues surrounding entrenched biases and structural impediments for enabling desirable changes. We intend to use these findings to develop frameworks and approaches, including workshops and online resources, to effect sustainable changes to diversify the curriculum at Imperial College London.

Keywords: curriculum design, diversity, geographic bias, higher education, implicit associations, inclusivity

Procedia PDF Downloads 171

Authors: Premalatha B. S., Shenoy A. M.

Abstract:

Background: Rehabilitation of swallowing is as vital as speech in surgically treated head and neck cancer patients to maintain nutritional support, enhance wound healing and improve quality of life. Aspiration following supraglottic laryngectomy is very common, and rehabilitation of the same is crucial which requires involvement of speech therapist in close contact with head and neck surgeon. Objectives: To examine the functions of swallowing outcomes after intensive therapy in supraglottic laryngectomy. Materials: Thirty-nine supra glottic laryngectomees were participated in the study. Of them, 36 subjects were males and 3 were females, in the age range of 32-68 years. Eighteen subjects had undergone standard supra glottis laryngectomy (Group1) for supraglottic lesions where as 21 of them for extended supraglottic laryngectomy (Group 2) for base tongue and lateral pharyngeal wall lesion. Prior to surgery visit by speech pathologist was mandatory to assess the sutability for surgery and rehabilitation. Dysphagia rehabilitation started after decannulation of tracheostoma by focusing on orientation about anatomy, physiological variation before and after surgery, which was tailor made for each individual based on their type and extent of surgery. Supraglottic diet - Soft solid with supraglottic swallow method was advocated to prevent aspiration. The success of intervention was documented as number of sessions taken to swallow different food consistency and also percentage of subjects who achieved satisfactory swallow in terms of number of weeks in both the groups. Results: Statistical data was computed in two ways in both the groups 1) to calculate percentage (%) of subjects who swallowed satisfactorily in the time frame of less than 3 weeks to more than 6 weeks, 2) number of sessions taken to swallow without aspiration as far as food consistency was concerned. The study indicated that in group 1 subjects of standard supraglottic laryngectomy, 61% (n=11) of them were successfully rehabilitated but their swallowing normalcy was delayed by an average 29th post operative day (3-6 weeks). Thirty three percentages (33%) (n=6) of the subjects could swallow satisfactorily without aspiration even before 3 weeks and only 5 % (n=1) of the needed more than 6 weeks to achieve normal swallowing ability. Group 2 subjects of extended SGL only 47 %( n=10) of them could achieved satisfactory swallow by 3-6 weeks and 24% (n=5) of them of them achieved normal swallowing ability before 3 weeks. Around 4% (n=1) needed more than 6 weeks and as high as 24 % (n=5) of them continued to be supplemented with naso gastric feeding even after 8-10 months post operative as they exhibited severe aspiration. As far as type of food consistencies were concerned group 1 subject could able to swallow all types without aspiration much earlier than group 2 subjects. Group 1 needed only 8 swallowing therapy sessions for thickened soft solid and 15 sessions for liquids whereas group 2 required 14 sessions for soft solid and 17 sessions for liquids to achieve swallowing normalcy without aspiration. Conclusion: The study highlights the importance of dysphagia intervention in supraglottic laryngectomees by speech pathologist.

Keywords: dysphagia management, supraglotic diet, supraglottic laryngectomy, supraglottic swallow

Procedia PDF Downloads 231

Authors: A. Almurshedi, M. Atherton, C. Mares, T. Stolarski, M. Miyatake

Abstract:

Transportation and handling of delicate and lightweight objects is currently a significant issue in some industries. Two common contactless movement prototype designs, ultrasonic transducer design and vibrating plate design, are compared. Both designs are based on the method of squeeze-film levitation, and this study aims to identify the limitations, and challenges of each. The designs are evaluated in terms of levitation capabilities, and characteristics. To this end, theoretical and experimental explorations are made. It is demonstrated that the ultrasonic transducer prototype design is better suited to the terms of levitation capabilities. However, the design has some operating and mechanical designing difficulties. For making accurate industrial products in micro-fabrication and nanotechnology contexts, such as semiconductor silicon wafers, micro-components and integrated circuits, non-contact oil-free, ultra-precision and low wear transport along the production line is crucial for enabling. One of the designs (design A) is called the ultrasonic chuck, for which an ultrasonic transducer (Langevin, FBI 28452 HS) comprises the main part. Whereas the other (design B), is a vibrating plate design, which consists of a plain rectangular plate made of Aluminium firmly fastened at both ends. The size of the rectangular plate is 200x100x2 mm. In addition, four rounded piezoelectric actuators of size 28 mm diameter with 0.5 mm thickness are glued to the underside of the plate. The vibrating plate is clamped at both ends in the horizontal plane through a steel supporting structure. In addition, the dynamic of levitation using the designs (A and B) has been investigated based on the squeeze film levitation (SFL). The input apparatus that is used with designs consist of a sine wave signal generator connected to an amplifier type ENP-1-1U (Echo Electronics). The latter has to be utilised to magnify the sine wave voltage that is produced by the signal generator. The measurements of the maximum levitation for three different semiconductor wafers of weights 52, 70 and 88 [g] for design A are 240, 205 and 187 [um], respectively. Whereas the physical results show that the average separation distance for a disk of 5 [g] weight for design B reaches 70 [um]. By using the methodology of squeeze film levitation, it is possible to hold an object in a non-contact manner. The analyses of the investigation outcomes signify that the non-contact levitation of design A provides more improvement than design B. However, design A is more complicated than design B in terms of its manufacturing. In order to identify an adequate non-contact SFL design, a comparison between two common such designs has been adopted for the current investigation. Specifically, the study will involve making comparisons in terms of the following issues: floating component geometries and material type constraints; final created pressure distributions; dangerous interactions with the surrounding space; working environment constraints; and complication and compactness of the mechanical design. Considering all these matters is essential for proficiently distinguish the better SFL design.

Keywords: ANSYS, floating, piezoelectric, squeeze-film

Procedia PDF Downloads 149

Authors: Md. Mahadi Hasan Sany, Mumenunnessa Keya, Sharun Khushbu, Sheikh Abujar

Abstract:

Since the beginning of China's economic reform, trade between the U.S. and China has grown rapidly, and has increased since China's accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001. The US imports more than it exports from China, reducing the trade war between China and the U.S. for the 2019 trade deficit, but in 2020, the opposite happens. In international and U.S. trade, Washington launched a full-scale trade war against China in March 2016, which occurred a catastrophic epidemic. The main goal of our study is to measure and predict trade relations between China and the U.S., before and after the arrival of the COVID epidemic. The ML model uses different data as input but has no time dimension that is present in the time series models and is only able to predict the future from previously observed data. The LSTM (a well-known Recurrent Neural Network) model is applied as the best time series model for trading forecasting. We have been able to create a sustainable forecasting system in trade between China and the US by closely monitoring a dataset published by the State Website NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa from January 1, 2015, to April 30, 2021. Throughout the survey, we provided a 180-day forecast that outlined what would happen to trade between China and the US during COVID-19. In addition, we have illustrated that the LSTM model provides outstanding outcome in time series data analysis rather than RFR and SVR (e.g., both ML models). The study looks at how the current Covid outbreak affects China-US trade. As a comparative study, RMSE transmission rate is calculated for LSTM, RFR and SVR. From our time series analysis, it can be said that the LSTM model has given very favorable thoughts in terms of China-US trade on the future export situation.

Keywords: RFR, China-U.S. trade war, SVR, LSTM, deep learning, Covid-19, export value, forecasting, time series analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 198

Authors: Csilla Marianna Szabó

Abstract:

In Hungary, the society has changes a lot for the past 25 years, and these changes could be detected in educational situations as well. The number and the intensity of conflicts have been increased in most fields of life, as well as at schools. Teachers have difficulties to be able to handle school conflicts. What is more, the new net generation, generation Z has values and behavioural patterns different from those of the previous one, which might generate more serious conflicts at school, especially with teachers who were mainly socialising in a traditional teacher – student relationships. In Hungary, the bill CCIV, 2011 declared the foundation of Institutes of Teacher Training in higher education institutes. One of the tasks of the Institutes is to survey the competences and needs of teachers working in public education and to provide further trainings and services for them according to their needs and requirements. This job is supported by the Social Renewal Operative Programs 4.1.2.B. The Institute of Teacher Training at the College of Dunaújváros, Hungary carried out a questionnaire and surveyed the needs and the requirements of teachers working in the Central Transdanubian region. Based on the results, the professors of the Institute of Teacher Training decided to meet the requirements of teachers and launch short courses in spring 2015. One of the courses is going to focus on school conflict management through mediation. The aim of the pilot course is to provide conflict management techniques for teachers presenting different mediation techniques to them. The theoretical part of the course (5 hours) will enable participants to understand the main points and the advantages of mediation, while the practical part (10 hours) will involve teachers in role plays to learn how to cope with conflict situations applying mediation. We hope if conflicts could be reduced, it would influence school atmosphere in a positive way and the teaching – learning process could be more successful and effective.

Keywords: conflict resolution, generation Z, mediation, teacher training

Procedia PDF Downloads 410

Authors: Alexander Zibenberg, Rima’a Da’As

Abstract:

According to the author’s knowledge, individuals are naturally inclined to classify people as leaders and followers. Individuals utilize cognitive structures or prototypes specifying the traits and abilities that characterize the effective leader (implicit leadership theories) and effective follower in an organization (implicit followership theories). Thus, the present study offers insights into understanding how teachers' personal values (self-enhancement and self-transcendence) explain the preference for styles of effective leader (i.e., principal) and assumptions about the traits and behaviors that characterize effective followers (i.e., student). Beyond the direct effect on perceptions of effective types of leader and follower, the present study argues that values may also interact with organizational and personal contexts in influencing perceptions. Thus authors suggest that teachers' managerial position may moderate the relationships between personal values and perception of the effective leader and follower. Specifically, two key questions are addressed in the present research: (1) Is there a relationship between personal values and perceptions of the effective leader and effective follower? and (2) Are these relationships stable or could they change across different contexts? Two hundred fifty-five Israeli teachers participated in this study, completing questionnaires – about the effective student and effective principal. Results of structural equations modeling (SEM) with maximum likelihood estimation showed: first: the model fit the data well. Second: researchers found a positive relationship between self-enhancement and anti-prototype of the effective principal and anti-prototype of the effective student. The relationship between self-transcendence value and both perceptions were found significant as well. Self-transcendence positively related to the way the teacher perceives the prototype of the effective principal and effective student. Besides, authors found that teachers' managerial position moderates these relationships. The article contributes to the literature both on perceptions and on personal values. Although several earlier studies explored issues of implicit leadership theories and implicit followership theories, personality characteristics (values) have garnered less attention in this matter. This study shows that personal values which are deeply rooted, abstract motivations that guide justify or explain attitudes, norms, opinions and actions explain differences in perception of the effective leader and follower. The results advance the theoretical understanding of the relationship between personal values and individuals’ perceptions in organizations. An additional contribution of this study is the application of the teacher's managerial position to explain a potential boundary condition of the translation of personal values into outcomes. The findings suggest that through the management process in the organization, teachers acquire knowledge and skills which augment their ability (beyond their personal values) to predict perceptions of ideal types of principal and student. The study elucidates the unique role of personal values in understanding an organizational thinking in organization. It seems that personal values might explain the differences in individual preferences of the organizational paradigm (mechanistic vs organic).

Keywords: implicit leadership theories, implicit followership theories, organizational paradigms, personal values

Procedia PDF Downloads 157

Authors: Neerja Ahlawat

Abstract:

In Indian society, women have always been an active part of the production process. Be it agriculture, dairy, or other home-based industries, Indian women have been competent and enterprising engaged in multiple economic activities. In recent times, women across the country have started establishing business enterprise and managing and working very hard. Despite their skills and capabilities, however, women are faced with varied problems and challenges. Women entrepreneurs in Haryana face a double challenge – a gender bias against women denies them the education and the opportunities available to their male counterparts and the lack of such learning and skills development inhibits any entrepreneurial ambitions. In many parts of the state, women venturing out of the household domain face much opposition and criticism. The present paper highlights the various problems and challenges faced by the women entrepreneurs while running the enterprises in the present competitive world in Haryana. An attempt has been made to investigate women entrepreneurs about the specific issues such as working capital, distribution channel, sales promotion, electricity, human resources and competition with other industries. The present empirical study was carried out in Rohtak city of Haryana using Interview schedule and Case study method. The study revealed the nature of problems women entrepreneurs face while dealing with issues of labour, market, and bureaucracy. The study categorically pointed out the difficulties women are confronted with while keeping a balance between domestic responsibilities and workplace challenges. The study concluded that women entrepreneurs are redefining their identities and priorities in the male dominant society.

Keywords: entrepreneur, gender bias, capital, human resource

Procedia PDF Downloads 187

Authors: Fatma Refaat Ahmed, Sally Mohamed Farghaly

Abstract:

Context: Intensive care unit (ICU) nurses often face pressure and constraints in their work, leading to the rationing of care when demands exceed available time and resources. Observations suggest that ICU nurses are frequently distracted from their core nursing roles by non-core tasks. This study aims to provide evidence on ICU nurses' multitasking activities and explore the association between nurses' personal and clinical characteristics and their time allocation. Research Aim: The aim of this study is to quantify the time spent by ICU nurses on multitasking activities and investigate the relationship between their personal and clinical characteristics and time allocation. Methodology: A self-observation form utilizing the "Diary" recording method was used to record the number of tasks performed by ICU nurses and the time allocated to each task category. Nurses also reported on the distractions encountered during their nursing activities. A convenience sample of 60 ICU nurses participated in the study, with each nurse observed for one nursing shift (6 hours), amounting to a total of 360 hours. The study was conducted in two ICUs within a university teaching hospital in Alexandria, Egypt. Findings: The results showed that ICU nurses completed 2,730 direct patient-related tasks and 1,037 indirect tasks during the 360-hour observation period. Nurses spent an average of 33.65 minutes on ventilator care-related tasks, 14.88 minutes on tube care-related tasks, and 10.77 minutes on inpatient care-related tasks. Additionally, nurses spent an average of 17.70 minutes on indirect care tasks per hour. The study identified correlations between nursing time and nurses' personal and clinical characteristics. Theoretical Importance: This study contributes to the existing research on ICU nurses' multitasking activities and their relationship with personal and clinical characteristics. The findings shed light on the significant time spent by ICU nurses on direct care for mechanically ventilated patients and the distractions that require attention from ICU managers. Data Collection: Data were collected using self-observation forms completed by participating ICU nurses. The forms recorded the number of tasks performed, the time allocated to each task category, and any distractions encountered during nursing activities. Analysis Procedures: The collected data were analyzed to quantify the time spent on different tasks by ICU nurses. Correlations were also examined between nursing time and nurses' personal and clinical characteristics. Question Addressed: This study addressed the question of how ICU nurses allocate their time across multitasking activities and whether there is an association between nurses' personal and clinical characteristics and time allocation. Conclusion: The findings of this study emphasize the need for a lean evaluation of ICU nurses' activities to identify and address potential gaps in patient care and distractions. Implementing lean techniques can improve efficiency, safety, clinical outcomes, and satisfaction for both patients and nurses, ultimately enhancing the quality of care and organizational performance in the ICU setting.

Keywords: motion study, ICU nurse, lean, nursing time, multitasking activities

Procedia PDF Downloads 68

Authors: Christopher Leung, Assad Zahid

Abstract:

Mesenteric vasculitis can often mimic abdominal sepsis in a postoperative setting leading to a predicament where steroids could improve mesenteric vasculitis whilst worsening abdominal sepsis. Here this study presents a unique and rare case of perforated sigmoid diverticulitis secondary to systemic vasculitis. A 68-year-old gentleman presented with perforated sigmoid diverticulitis requiring an emergency Hartmann’s procedure. Early in his postoperative course, he had painful and asymmetrical neuropathy that, after a careful history and examination, revealed a patient with mono neuritis multiplex on a background history of longstanding rheumatoid arthritis. On day seven of his postoperative course, he had rising inflammatory markers and a CT abdomen and pelvis showing fluid around the mesentery. Whilst contamination from sigmoid perforation was somewhat congruent with these signs, a diagnosis of polyarteritis nodosa, a common cause of mononeuritis multiplex, is also possible, although involvement of the large bowel in polyarteritis nodosa is extremely rare. The histopathology from the initial Hartmann’s procedure was re-examined, showing medium vessel disease vasculitis. Given his lack of fevers, absence of abdominal pain, and worsening neurology, he was given a provisional diagnosis of polyarteritis nodosa and was treated successfully, not on IV antibiotics but on steroids. Large bowel involvement of polyarteritis nodosa is extremely rare and this is the first case of polyarteritis nodosa causing perforated diverticulitis. The learning point here is to obtain a good clinical picture of a patient to identify mesenteric vasculitis as compared to abdominal sepsis as the treatment of one worsens the other.

Keywords: abdominal sepsis, diverticulitis, mesenteric vasculitis, polyarteritis nodosa

Procedia PDF Downloads 252

Authors: An-Na Li, Ying-Yu Chen, Yu-Lung Lin

Abstract:

Food tourism is one of the growing industries in the tourism industry today. The Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) are aware of the importance of gastronomy to stimulate local and regional economic development. From the heritage and cultural aspects, gastronomy is becoming a more important part of the cultural heritage of the region. Heritage destinations provide culinary heritage, which fits the current interest in traditional food, and cuisine is a part of a general desire for authentic experience. However, few studies have empirically examined antecedents of food tourists’ behavioral intentions. This study examined the effects of cuisine experience; emotions, place attachment and tourists’ revisit behavioral intentions. A total of 408 individuals responded to the on-site survey in the historic town of Lu-Kang in Taiwan. The results indicated that tourists’ cuisine experience include place flavor, media recommendation, local learning, life transfer and interpersonal share. In addition, cuisine experience had significant impacts on emotions and place attachment, emotions had significant effects on place attachment, furthermore, which in turn place attachment had significant effects on tourists’ revisit behavioral intentions. The findings suggested that the cuisine experience is a multi-dimensions construct. On the other hands, the good quality of cuisine experience could evoke tourists’ positive emotions and it could play a significant role in promoting tourist revisit intentions or word of mouth. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Keywords: culinary tourism, cuisine experiences, emotions, revisit intentions

Procedia PDF Downloads 247

Authors: William Gallagher, Harriet Bothwell, Lowri Evans, Kevin Jones

Abstract:

Background: Worldwide, a third of adult deaths are caused by cardiovascular disease, a high proportion occurring in the developing world. Contributing to these poor outcomes are suboptimal assessments, treatments and monitoring of the acutely unwell patient. Successful training in trauma and neonates is recognised in the developing world but there is little literature supporting adult resuscitation. As far as the authors are aware no literature has been published on resuscitation training in Uganda since 2000 when a resuscitation training officer ran sessions in neonatal and paediatric resuscitation. The aim of this project was to offer training in Basic Life Support ( BLS) to staff and healthcare students based at Villa Maria Hospital in the Kalungu District, Central Uganda. This project was undertaken as a student selected component (SSC) offered by Swindon Academy, based at the Great Western Hospital, to medical students in their fourth year of the undergraduate programme. Methods: Semi-structured, informal interviews and focus groups were conducted with different clinicians in the hospital. These interviews were designed to focus on the level of training and understanding of BLS. A training session was devised which focused on BLS (excluding the use of an automatic external defribrillator) involving pre and post-training questionnaires and clinical assessments. Three training sessions were run for different cohorts: a pilot session for 5 Ugandan medical students, a second session for a group of 8 nursing and midwifery students and finally, a third was devised for physicians. The data collected was analysed in excel. Paired T-Tests determined statistical significance between pre and post-test scores and confidence before and after the sessions. Average clinical skill assessment scores were converted to percentages based on the area of BLS being assessed. Results: 27 participants were included in the analysis. 14 received ‘small group training’ whilst 13 received’ large group training’ 88% of all participants had received some form of resuscitation training. Of these, 46% had received theory training, 27% practical training and only 15% received both. 12% had received no training. On average, all participants demonstrated a significant increase of 5.3 in self-assessed confidence (p <0.05). On average, all participants thought the session was very useful. Analysis of qualitative date from clinician interviews in ongoing but identified themes identified include rescue breaths being considered the most important aspect resuscitation and doubts of a ‘good’ outcome from resuscitation. Conclusions: The results of this small study reflect the need for regular formal training in BLS in low resource settings. The active engagement and positive opinions concerning the utility of the training are promising as well as the evidence of improvement in knowledge.

Keywords: basic life support, education, resuscitation, sub-Saharan Africa, training, Uganda

Procedia PDF Downloads 148

Authors: Chettyparambil Lalchand Thejalakshmi, Sonal Sabu Edattukaran

Abstract:

Hair loss is one of the main issues that contemporary society is dealing with. It can be attributable to a wide range of factors, listing from one's genetic composition and the anxiety we experience on a daily basis. Telogen effluvium [TE] is a condition that causes temporary hair loss after a stressor that might shock the body and cause the hair follicles to temporarily rest, leading to hair loss. Most frequently, women are the ones who bring up these difficulties. Extreme illness or trauma, an emotional or important life event, rapid weight loss and crash dieting, a severe scalp skin problem, a new medication, or ceasing hormone therapy are examples of potential causes. Men frequently do not notice hair thinning with time, but women with long hair may be easily identified when shedding, which can occasionally result in bias because women tend to be more concerned with aesthetics and beauty standards of the society, and approach frequently with the concerns .The woman, who formerly possessed a full head of hair, is worried about the hair loss from her scalp . There are several cases of hair loss reported every day, and Telogen effluvium is said to be the most prevalent one of them all without any hereditary risk factors. While the patient has loss in hair volume, baldness is not the result of this problem . The exponentially growing Dermatology and Aesthetic medical division has discovered that this problem is the most common and also the easiest to cure since it is feasible for these people to regrow their hair, unlike those who have scarring alopecia, in which the follicle itself is damaged and non-viable. Telogen effluvium comes in two different forms: acute and chronic. Acute TE occurs in all the age groups with a hair loss of less than three months, while chronic TE is more common in those between the ages of 30 and 60 with a hair loss of more than six months . Both kinds are prevalent throughout all age groups, regardless of the predominance. It takes between three and six months for the lost hair to come back, although this condition is readily reversed by eliminating stresses. After shedding their hair, patients frequently describe having noticeable fringes on their forehead. The current medical treatments for this condition include topical corticosteroids, systemic corticosteroids, minoxidil and finasteride, CNDPA (caffeine, niacinamide, panthenol, dimethicone, and an acrylate polymer) .Individual terminal hair growth was increased by 10% as a result of the innovative intervention CNDPA. Botulinum Toxin A, Scalp Micro Needling, Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy [PRP], and sessions with Multivitamin Mesotherapy Injections are some recently enhanced techniques with partially or completely reversible hair loss. Also, it has been shown that supplements like Nutrafol and Biotin are producing effective outcomes. There is virtually little evidence to support the claim that applying sulfur-rich ingredients to the scalp, such as onion juice, can help TE patients' hair regenerate.

Keywords: dermatology, telogen effluvium, hair loss, modern hair loass treatments

Procedia PDF Downloads 90

Authors: Oli Sophie Meredith, Jacquelyn Osborne, Sarah Verdon, Jane Frawley

Abstract:

PROJECT OVERVIEW AND BACKGROUND: Over one million Australians are affected by ADHD at an economic and social cost of over $20 billion per annum. Despite health outcomes being significantly worse compared with men, women have historically been overlooked in ADHD diagnosis and treatment. While research suggests physical activity and other non-prescription options can help with ADHD symptoms, the frontline response to ADHD remains expensive stimulant medications that can have adverse side effects. By interviewing women with ADHD, this research will examine women’s self-directed approaches to managing symptoms, including alternatives to prescription medications. It will investigate barriers and affordances to potentially helpful approaches and identify any concerning strategies pursued in lieu of diagnosis. SIGNIFICANCE AND INNOVATION: Despite the economic and societal impact of ADHD on women, research investigating how women manage their symptoms is scant. This project is significant because although women’s ADHD symptoms are markedly different to those of men, mainstream treatment has been based on the experiences of men. Further, it is thought that in developing nuanced coping strategies, women may have masked their symptoms. Thus, this project will highlight strategies which women deem effective in ‘thriving’ rather than just ‘hiding’. By investigating the health service use, self-care and physical activity of women with ADHD, this research aligns with a priority research areas as identified by the November 2023 senate ADHD inquiry report. APPROACH AND METHODS: Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with up to 20 women with ADHD. Interviews will be conducted in person and online to capture experience across rural and metropolitan Australia. Participants will be recruited in partnership with the peak representative body, ADHD Australia. The research will use an intersectional framework, and data will be analysed thematically. This project is led by an interdisciplinary and cross-institutional team of women with ADHD. Reflexive interviewing skills will be employed to help interviewees feel more comfortable disclosing their experiences, especially where they share common ground ENGAGEMENT, IMPACT AND BENEFIT: This research will benefit women with ADHD by increasing knowledge of strategies and alternative treatments to prescription medications, reducing the social and economic burden of ADHD on Australia and on individuals. It will also benefit women by identifying risks involved with some self-directed approaches in lieu of medical advice. The project has an accessible impact plan to directly benefit end-users, which includes the development of a podcast and a PDF resource translating findings. The resources will reach a wide audience through ADHD Australia’s extensive national networks. We will collaborate with Charles Sturt’s Accessibility and Inclusion Division of Safety, Security and Well-being to create a targeted resource for students with ADHD.

Keywords: ADHD, women's health, self-directed strategies, health service use, physical activity, public health

Procedia PDF Downloads 72

Authors: Shivakumar M, Leslie Edward S Lewis, Shashikala Devadiga, Sonia Khurana

Abstract:

Introduction: Methylxanthines are used for the treatment of AOP, to facilitate extubation and as a prophylactic agent to prevent apnea. Though the popularity of Caffeine has risen, it is expensive in a resource constrained developing countries like India. Objective: To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of Caffeine compared with Aminophylline treatment for AOP with respect to additional ventilatory resource utilized in different birth weight categorization. Design, Settings and Participants – Single centered, retrospective economic evaluation was done. Participants included preterm newborns with < 34 completed weeks of gestation age that were recruited under an Indian Council of Medical Research funded randomized clinical trial. Per protocol data was included from Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Kasturba Hospital, Manipal, India between April 2012 and December 2014. Exposure: Preterm neonates were randomly allocated to either Caffeine or Aminophylline as per the trial protocol. Outcomes and Measures – We assessed surfactant requirement, duration of Invasive and Non-Invasive Ventilation, Total Methylxanthine cost and additional cost for respiratory support bared by the payers per day during hospital stay. For the purpose of this study Newborns were stratified as Category A – < 1000g, Category B – 1001 to 1500g and Category C – 1501 to 2500g. Results: Total 146 (Caffeine -72 and Aminophylline – 74) babies with Mean ± SD gestation age of 29.63 ± 1.89 weeks were assessed. 32.19% constitute of Category A, 55.48% were B and 12.33% were C. The difference in median duration of additional NIV and IMV support was statistically insignificant. However 60% of neonates who received Caffeine required additional surfactant therapy (p=0.02). The total median (IQR) cost of Caffeine was significantly high with Rs.10535 (Q3-6317.50, Q1-15992.50) where against Aminophylline cost was Rs.352 (Q3-236, Q1-709) (p < 0.001). The additional costs spent on respiratory support per day in neonates on either Methylxanthines were found to be statistically insignificant in the entire weight based category of our study. Whereas in Category B, the median O2 charges per day were found to have more in Caffeine treated newborns (p=0.05) with border line significance. In category A, providing one day NIV or IMV support significantly increases the unit log cost of Caffeine by 13.6% (CI – 95% ranging from 4 to 24; p=0.005) over log cost of Aminophylline. Conclusion: Cost of Caffeine is expensive than Aminophylline. It was found to be equally efficacious in reducing the number duration of NIV or IMV support. However adjusted with the NIV and IMV days of support, neonates fall in category A and category B who were on Caffeine pays excess amount of respiratory charges per day over aminophylline. In perspective of resource poor settings Aminophylline is cost saving and economically approachable.

Keywords: methylxanthines include caffeine and aminophylline, AOP (apnea of prematurity), IMV (invasive mechanical ventilation), NIV (non invasive ventilation), category a – <1000g, category b – 1001 to 1500g and category c – 1501 to 2500g

Procedia PDF Downloads 433

Authors: Abdulwhab Alotaibi, Abdullah Alzahrani, Ziyad Bokhari, Abdulelah Alghamdi

Abstract:

First described in 1975 by Dr. Miller, Medical dressings are uncommon but possible cause of hand digital ischemia due the tourniquet-like effect. The incident of this complication has been reported across wide range of age-groups, yet it seems like that the pediatric population are specifically vulnerable. Multiple dressing types were reported to have caused ischemic injury, such as elastic wrap, tubular gauze, and self-adherent dressings. We present a case of medical dressing induced digital ischemia in patient with Congenital insensitivity to pain and anhidrosis (CIPA), which further challenge the discovery of the condition. An 8-year-old girl known case of CIPA. Brought by her mother to the ER after nail bed injury, which she managed by application of elastic wrap that was left for 24 hours. When the mother found out she immediately removed the elastic band, and noticed the fingertip was black and cold with tense bullae. The color then changed later when she arrived to the ER to dark purple with bluish discoloration on the tip. On examination there was well demarcated tense bullae on the distal right fifth finger. Neurovascular intact, pulse oximetry on distal digit 100%, capillary refill time was delayed. She was seen under Plastic surgery and conservative management recommended, and patient was discharged with safety netting. Two days later the patient came as follow-up visit at which her condition demonstrated significant improvement, the bullae has since ruptured leaving behind sloughed skin, capillary refill and pulse oximetry were both within normal limits, sensory function couldn’t be assessed but her motor function and ROM were normal, topical bacitracin and bandage dressings were applied for the eroded skin. Patient was scheduled for a follow-up in 2 weeks. Preventatively it’s advisable to avoid the commonly implicated dressings such as elastic, tubular gauze or self-adherent wraps in hand or digital injuries when possible, but in cases where the use of these dressings is of necessity the appropriate precautions must be taken, Dr. Makarewich proposed the following 5 measures to help minimize the incidence of the injury: 1-Unwrapping 12 inches of the dressing before rolling the injured finger. 2-Wrapping from distal to proximal with minimal tension to avoid vascular embarrassment. 3-The use of 5-25 inch to overlap the entire wrap. 4-Maintaining light pressure over the wrap to allow adherence of the dressing. 5-Minimization of the number of layers used to wrap the affected digit. Also assessing the capillary refill after the application can help in determining the patency of the supplying blood vessels. It’s also important to selectively determine if the patient is a candidate for conservative management, as tailored approach can help in maximizing the positive outcomes for our patients.

Keywords: congenital insensitivity to pain, digital ischemia, medical dressing, conservative management

Procedia PDF Downloads 64