Search results for: disaster nursing

Authors: Yu-Wen Lin, Li-Ni Liu

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Introduction: Fatigue is the most common symptoms experienced by cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Patients receiving anticancer therapies develop a higher proportion of fatigue compared with patients who do not receive anticancer therapies. Fatigue has significant impacts on quality of life, daily activities, mood status, and social behaviors. A warm-water footbath (WWF) at 41℃ promotes circulation and removes metabolites resulting in improving sleep and relieving fatigue. The aim of this study is to determine the effectiveness of WWF for relieving fatigue with cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Materials and Methods: This is a single-center, prospective, quasi-experimental design study in the oncology ward in Taiwan. Participants in this study were assigned to WWF group as experimental group and standard care group as a control group by purposive sampling. In the WWF group, the participants were asked to soak their feet in 42-43℃ water 15 minutes for consecutive 6 days at one day before chemotherapy. Each participant was evaluated for fatigue level by the Taiwanese version of the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI-T). BFI-T was completed for consecutive 8 days of the study. The primary outcome was compared the BFI-T score of WWF group to the standard care group. Results: There were 60 participants enrolled in this study. Thirty participants were assigned to WWF group and 30 participants were assigned to standard care group. Both groups have comparable characteristic. The BFI-T scores of both groups were increased associated with the days of chemotherapy. The highest BFI-T scores of both groups were on the day 4 of chemotherapy. The BFI-T scores of both groups were decreased since day 5 and significantly decreased in WWF group on day 5 compared to standard care group (4.17 vs. 5.7, P ＜ .05). At the end of the study the fatigue at its worse were significantly decreased in WWF group (2.33 vs. 4.37, P ＜ .001). There was no adverse event reported in this study. Conclusion: WWF is an easy, safe, non-invasive, and relatively inexpensive nursing intervention for improving fatigue of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. In summary, this study shows the WWF is a simple complementary care method, and it is effective for improving and relieving fatigue in a short time. Through improving fatigue is a way to enhance the quality of life which is important for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Larger prospective randomized controlled trial and long-term effectiveness and outcomes of WWF should be performed to confirm this study.

Keywords: chemotherapy, warm-water footbath, fatigue, Taiwanese version of the brief fatigue inventory

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Authors: Zohra Mhedhbi, Meheret Gaston, Sinda Haoues-Jouve, Julia Hidalgo, Pierre Mazzega

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In the current context of climate change, supporting national and local stakeholders to make climate-smart decisions is necessary but still underdeveloped in many countries. To overcome this problem, the Global Frameworks for Climate Services (GFCS), implemented under the aegis of the United Nations in 2012, has initiated many programs in different countries. The GFCS contributes to the development of Climate Services, an instrument based on the production and transfer of scientific climate knowledge for specific users such as citizens, urban planning actors, or agricultural professionals. As cities concentrate on economic, social and environmental issues that make them more vulnerable to climate change, the New Urban Agenda (NUA), adopted at Habitat III in October 2016, highlights the importance of paying particular attention to disaster risk management, climate and environmental sustainability and urban resilience. In order to support the implementation of the NUA, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has identified the urban dimension as one of its priorities and has proposed a new tool, the Integrated Urban Services (IUS), for more sustainable and resilient cities. In the southern countries, there’s a lack of development of climate services, which can be partially explained by problems related to their economic financing. In addition, it is often difficult to make climate change a priority in urban planning, given the more traditional urban challenges these countries face, such as massive poverty, high population growth, etc. Climate services and Integrated Urban Services, particularly in African cities, are expected to contribute to the sustainable development of cities. These tools will help promoting the acquisition of meteorological and socio-ecological data on their transformations, encouraging coordination between national or local institutions providing various sectoral urban services, and should contribute to the achievement of the objectives defined by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) or the Paris Agreement, and the Sustainable Development Goals. To assess the state of the art on these various points, the Web of Science metadatabase is queried. With a query combining the keywords "climate*" and "urban*", more than 24,000 articles are identified, source of more than 40,000 distinct keywords (but including synonyms and acronyms) which finely mesh the conceptual field of research. The occurrence of one or more names of the 514 African cities of more than 100,000 inhabitants or countries, reduces this base to a smaller corpus of about 1410 articles (2990 keywords). 41 countries and 136 African cities are cited. The lexicometric analysis of the metadata of the articles and the analysis of the structural indicators (various centralities) of the networks induced by the co-occurrence of expressions related more specifically to climate services show the development potential of these services, identify the gaps which remain to be filled for their implementation and allow to compare the diversity of national and regional situations with regard to these services.

Keywords: African cities, climate change, climate services, integrated urban services, lexicometry, networks, urban planning, web of science

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Authors: Frank Fan

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PharmD (Doctor of Pharmacy) education has confronted an increasing challenge — curricular overload, a phenomenon resulting from the expansion of curricular requirements, as PharmD education strives to produce graduates who are practice-ready. The aftermath of the global pandemic has amplified the need for healthcare professionals, leading to a growing trend of assigning more responsibilities to them to address the global healthcare shortage. For instance, the pharmacist’s role has expanded to include not only compounding and distributing medication but also providing clinical services, including minor ailments management, patient counselling and vaccination. Consequently, PharmD programs have responded by continually expanding their curricula adding more requirements. While these changes aim to enhance the education and training of future professionals, they have also led to unintended consequences, including curricular overload, student burnout, and a potential decrease in program quality. To address the issue and ensure program quality, there is a growing need for evidence-based curriculum reforms. My research seeks to integrate Cognitive Load Theory, emerging machine learning algorithms within artificial intelligence (AI), and statistical approaches to develop a quantitative framework for optimizing curriculum design within the PharmD program at the University of Toronto, the largest PharmD program within Canada, to provide quantification and measurement of issues that currently are only discussed in terms of anecdote rather than data. This research will serve as a guide for curriculum planners, administrators, and educators, aiding in the comprehension of how the pharmacy degree program compares to others within and beyond the field of pharmacy. It will also shed light on opportunities to reduce the curricular load while maintaining its quality and rigor. Given that pharmacists constitute the third-largest healthcare workforce, their education shares similarities and challenges with other health education programs. Therefore, my evidence-based, data-driven curriculum analysis framework holds significant potential for training programs in other healthcare professions, including medicine, nursing, and physiotherapy.

Keywords: curriculum, curriculum analysis, health professions education, reflective writing, machine learning

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Authors: Asegid Belay Kebede, Getachew Biru Worku

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The Earth and its inhabitants have faced an existential threat as a result of severe manmade actions. Global warming and climate change have been the most apparent manifestations of this threat throughout the world, with increasingly intense heat waves, temperature rises, flooding, sea-level rise, ice sheet melting, and so on. One of the major contributors to this disaster is the ever-increasing production and consumption of energy, which is still primarily fossil-based and emits billions of tons of hazardous GHG. The transportation industry is recognized as the biggest actor in terms of emissions, accounting for 24% of direct CO2 emissions and being one of the few worldwide sectors where CO2 emissions are still growing. Rail transportation, which includes all from light rail transit to high-speed rail services, is regarded as one of the most efficient modes of transportation, accounting for 9% of total passenger travel and 7% of total freight transit. Nonetheless, there is still room for improvement in the transportation sector, which might be done by incorporating alternative and/or renewable energy sources. As a result of these rapidly changing global energy situations and rapidly dwindling fossil fuel supplies, we were driven to analyze the possibility of renewable energy sources for traction applications. Even a small achievement in energy conservation or harnessing might significantly influence the total railway system and have the potential to transform the railway sector like never before. As a result, the paper begins by assessing the potential for photovoltaic (PV) power generation on train rooftops and existing infrastructure such as railway depots, passenger stations, traction substation rooftops, and accessible land along rail lines. As a result, a method based on a Google Earth system (using Helioscopes software) is developed to assess the PV potential along rail lines and on train station roofs. As an example, the Addis Ababa light rail transit system (AA-LRTS) is utilized. The case study examines the electricity-generating potential and economic performance of photovoltaics installed on AALRTS. As a consequence, the overall capacity of solar systems on all stations, including train rooftops, reaches 72.6 MWh per day, with an annual power output of 10.6 GWh. Throughout a 25-year lifespan, the overall CO2 emission reduction and total profit from PV-AA-LRTS can reach 180,000 tons and 892 million Ethiopian birrs, respectively. The PV-AA-LRTS has a 200% return on investment. All PV stations have a payback time of less than 13 years, and the price of solar-generated power is less than $0.08/kWh, which can compete with the benchmark price of coal-fired electricity. Our findings indicate that PV-AA-LRTS has tremendous potential, with both energy and economic advantages.

Keywords: sustainable development, global warming, energy crisis, photovoltaic energy conversion, techno-economic analysis, transportation system, light rail transit

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Authors: Liaquat Ali, Khurshid Natasha

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Low resource countries are not usually equipped with the organizational tools to implement health care for chronic diseases, and thus, providing effective diabetes care in such countries is a challenging task. Diabetic Association of Bangladesh (BADAS in Bengali acronym) has created a stimulating example to meet this challenge. Starting its journey in 1956 with 39 patients in a small tin shed clinic BADAS, and its affiliated associations now operate 90 hospitals and health centres all over the country. Together, these facilities provide integrated health care to about 1.5 million registered diabetic patients which constitute about 20% of the estimated diabetic population in the country. BADAS has also become a pioneer in health manpower generation in Bangladesh. Along with its affiliates, it now runs 3 Medical Colleges (to generate graduate physicians), 2 Nursing Institutes, and 2 Postgraduate Institutes which conduct 25 postgraduate courses (under the University of Dhaka) in various basic, clinical and public health disciplines. BADAS gives great emphasis on research, which encompasses basic, clinical as well as public health areas. BADAS is an ideal example of public-private partnership in health as most of its infrastructure has been created through government support but it is almost self-reliant in managing its revenue budget which approached approximately 40 million US dollar during 2010. BADAS raises resources by providing high-quality services to the people, both diabetic and non-diabetic. At the same time, BADAS has developed a cross financing model, to support diabetic patients in general and poor diabetic patients (identified through a social welfare network) in particular, through redistribution of the resources. Along with financial sustainability BADAS ensure organizational sustainability through a process of decentralization, community ownership, and democratic management. Presently a large scale pilot project (named as a Health Care Development Project or HCDP) is under implementation under BADAS umbrella with an objective to transform the diabetes care model to a health care model in general. It is expected to create further evidence on providing sustainable (with social safety net) health care delivery for diabetes, and other chronic illnesses as an integral part of general health care delivery in a resource constrained setting.

Keywords: Bangladesh, self sustain, health care, constrain

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Authors: Georgios Boustras, Cleo Varianou Mikellidou, Christos Argyropoulos

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Summer 2021 was marked by a number of prolific fires in the EU (Greece, Cyprus, France) as well as outside the EU (USA, Turkey, Israel). This series of dramatic events have stretched national civil protection systems and first responders in particular. Despite the introduction of National, Regional and International frameworks (e.g. rescEU), a number of challenges have arisen, not only related to climate change. RESPOND-A (funded by the European Commission by Horizon 2020, Contract Number 883371) introduces a unique five-tier project architectural structure for best associating modern telecommunications technology with novel practices for First Responders of saving lives, while safeguarding themselves, more effectively and efficiently. The introduced architecture includes Perception, Network, Processing, Comprehension, and User Interface layers, which can be flexibly elaborated to support multiple levels and types of customization, so, the intended technologies and practices can adapt to any European Environment Agency (EEA)-type disaster scenario. During the preparation of the RESPOND-A proposal, some of our First Responder Partners expressed the need for an information management system that could boost existing emergency response tools, while some others envisioned a complete end-to-end network management system that would offer high Situational Awareness, Early Warning and Risk Mitigation capabilities. The intuition behind these needs and visions sits on the long-term experience of these Responders, as well, their smoldering worry that the evolving threat of climate change and the consequences of industrial accidents will become more frequent and severe. Three large-scale pilot studies are planned in order to illustrate the capabilities of the RESPOND-A system. The first pilot study will focus on the deployment and operation of all available technologies for continuous communications, enhanced Situational Awareness and improved health and safety conditions for First Responders, according to a big fire scenario in a Wildland Urban Interface zone (WUI). An important issue will be examined during the second pilot study. Unobstructed communication in the form of the flow of information is severely affected during a crisis; the flow of information between the wider public, from the first responders to the public and vice versa. Call centers are flooded with requests and communication is compromised or it breaks down on many occasions, which affects in turn – the effort to build a common operations picture for all firstr esponders. At the same time the information that reaches from the public to the operational centers is scarce, especially in the aftermath of an incident. Understandably traffic if disrupted leaves no other way to observe but only via aerial means, in order to perform rapid area surveys. Results and work in progress will be presented in detail and challenges in relation to civil protection will be discussed.

Keywords: first responders, safety, civil protection, new technologies

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Authors: Muhammad Karim Ahmadzai

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Floods are natural phenomena and are an integral part of the water cycle. The majority of them are the result of climatic conditions, but are also affected by the geology and geomorphology of the area, topography and hydrology, the water permeability of the soil and the vegetation cover, as well as by all kinds of human activities and structures. However, from the moment that human lives are at risk and significant economic impact is recorded, this natural phenomenon becomes a natural disaster. Flood management is now a key issue at regional and local levels around the world, affecting human lives and activities. The majority of floods are unlikely to be fully predicted, but it is feasible to reduce their risks through appropriate management plans and constructions. The aim of this Case Study is to identify, and map areas of flood risk in the Khinch District of Panjshir Province, Afghanistan specifically in the area of Peshghore, causing numerous damages. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the contribution of remote sensing technology and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in assessing the susceptibility of this region to flood events. Panjsher is facing Seasonal floods and human interventions on streams caused floods. The beds of which have been trampled to build houses and hotels or have been converted into roads, are causing flooding after every heavy rainfall. The streams crossing settlements and areas with high touristic development have been intensively modified by humans, as the pressure for real estate development land is growing. In particular, several areas in Khinch are facing a high risk of extensive flood occurrence. This study concentrates on the construction of a flood susceptibility map, of the study area, by combining vulnerability elements, using the Analytical Hierarchy Process/ AHP. The Analytic Hierarchy Process, normally called AHP, is a powerful yet simple method for making decisions. It is commonly used for project prioritization and selection. AHP lets you capture your strategic goals as a set of weighted criteria that you then use to score projects. This method is used to provide weights for each criterion which Contributes to the Flood Event. After processing of a digital elevation model (DEM), important secondary data were extracted, such as the slope map, the flow direction and the flow accumulation. Together with additional thematic information (Landuse and Landcover, topographic wetness index, precipitation, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, Elevation, River Density, Distance from River, Distance to Road, Slope), these led to the final Flood Risk Map. Finally, according to this map, the Priority Protection Areas and Villages and the structural and nonstructural measures were demonstrated to Minimize the Impacts of Floods on residential and Agricultural areas.

Keywords: flood hazard, flood risk map, flood mitigation measures, AHP analysis

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Authors: Chalise Kiran

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The prime idea of inclusive education is to mainstream every child in education. However, it will be challenging for implementation when there are policy and practice gaps. It will be even more challenging when children have disabilities. Generally, the focus will be on the policy gap, but the problem may not always be with policy. The proper practice could be a challenge in the countries like Nepal. In determining practice, the teachers’ perceptions toward inclusive will play a vital role. Nepal has categorized disability in 7 types (physical, visual, hearing, vision/hearing, speech, mental, and multiple). Out of these, hearing impairment is the study realm. In the context of a limited number of researches on children with disabilities and rare researches on CWHI and their education in Nepal, this study is a pioneering effort in knowing basically the problems and challenges of CWHI focused on inclusive education in the schools including gaps and barriers in its proper implementation. Philosophically, the paradigm of the study is post-positivism. In the post-positivist worldview, the quantitative approach with the description of the situation and inferential relationship are revealed out in the study. This is related to the natural model of objective reality. The data were collected from an individual survey with the teachers and head teachers of 35 schools in Nepal. The survey questionnaire was prepared and filled by the respondents from the schools where the CWHI study in 7 provincial 20 districts of Nepal. Through these considerations, the perceptions of CWHI focused inclusive education were explored in the study. The data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential tools on which the Likert scale-based analysis was done for descriptive analysis, and chi-square mathematical tool was used to know the significant relationship between dependent variables and independent variables. The descriptive analysis showed that the majority of teachers have positive perceptions toward implementing CWHI focused inclusive education, and the majority of them have positive perceptions toward CWHI focused inclusive education, though there are some problems and challenges. The study has found out the major challenges and problems categorically. Some of them are: a large number of students in a single class; availability of generic textbooks for CWHI and no availability of textbooks to all students; less opportunity for teachers to acquire knowledge on CWHI; not adequate teachers in the schools; no flexibility in the curriculum; less information system in schools; no availability of educational consular; disaster-prone students; no child abuse control strategy; no disabled-friendly schools; no free health check-up facility; no participation of the students in school activities and in child clubs and so on. By and large, it is found that teachers’ age, gender, years of experience, position, employment status, and disability with him or her show no statistically significant relation to successfully implement CWHI focused inclusive education and perceptions to CWHI focused inclusive education in schools. However, in some of the cases, the set null hypothesis was rejected, and some are completely retained. The study has suggested policy implications, implications for educational authority, and implications for teachers and parents categorically.

Keywords: children with hearing impairment, disability, inclusive education, perception

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Authors: Ayesha Akbar

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Public service delivery has witnessed a significant improvement with the integration of information communication technology (ICT). It not only improves management structure with advanced technology for surveillance of service delivery but also provides evidence for informed decisions and policy. Pakistan’s public sector organizations have not been able to produce some good results to ensure service delivery. Notwithstanding, some of the public sector organizations in Pakistan has diffused modern technology and proved their credence by providing better service delivery standards. These good indicators provide sound basis to integrate technology in public sector organizations and shift of policy towards evidence based policy making. Rescue-1122 is a public sector organization which provides emergency services and proved to be a successful model for the provision of service delivery to save human lives and to ensure human development in Pakistan. The information about the organization has been received by employing qualitative research methodology. The information is broadly based on primary and secondary sources which includes Rescue-1122 website, official reports of organizations; UNDP (United Nation Development Program), WHO (World Health Organization) and by conducting 10 in-depth interviews with the high administrative staff of organizations who work in the Lahore offices. The information received has been incorporated with the study for the better understanding of the organization and their management procedures. Rescue-1122 represents a successful model in delivering the services in an efficient way to deal with the disaster management. The management of Rescue has strategized the policies and procedures in such a way to develop a comprehensive model with the integration of technology. This model provides efficient service delivery as well as maintains the standards of the organization. The service delivery model of rescue-1122 works on two fronts; front-office interface and the back-office interface. Back-office defines the procedures of operations and assures the compliance of the staff whereas, front-office equipped with the latest technology and good infrastructure handles the emergency calls. Both ends are integrated with satellite based vehicle tracking, wireless system, fleet monitoring system and IP camera which monitors every move of the staff to provide better services and to pinpoint the distortions in the services. The standard time of reaching to the emergency spot is 7 minutes, and during entertaining the case; driver‘s behavior, traffic volume and the technical assistance being provided to the emergency case is being monitored by front-office. Then the whole information get uploaded to the main dashboard of Lahore headquarter from the provincial offices. The latest technology is being materialized by Rescue-1122 for delivering the efficient services, investigating the flaws; if found, and to develop data to make informed decision making. The other public sector organizations of Pakistan can also develop such models to integrate technology for improving service delivery and to develop evidence for informed decisions and policy making.

Keywords: data, e-governance, evidence, policy

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Authors: Mariola Głowacka

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Aim: The aim of this study was to present the assessment of dyspnea and anxiety in seniors staying in the hospice in the context of the nurse's tasks. Materials and methods: The presented research was carried out at the "Hospicjum Płockie" Association of St. Urszula Ledóchowska in Płock, in a stationary ward, for adults. The research group consisted of 100 people, women, and men. In the study described in this paper, the method of diagnostic survey, the method of estimation and analysis of patient records were used, and the research tools were the numerical scale of the NRS assessment, the modified Borg scale to assess dyspnea, the Trait Anxiety scale to test the intensity of anxiety and the sociodemographic assessment of the respondent. Results: Among the patients, the greatest number were people without dyspnoea (38 people) and with average levels of dyspnoea (26 people). People with lung cancer had a higher level of breathlessness than people with other cancers. Half of the patients included in the study felt anxiety at a low level. On average, men had a higher level of anxiety than women. Conclusion: 1) Patients staying in the hospice require comprehensive nursing care due to the underlying disease, comorbidities, and a wide range of medications taken, which aggravate the feeling of dyspnea and anxiety. 2) The study showed that in patients staying in the hospice, the level of dyspnea was of varying severity. The greatest number of people were without dyspnea (38) and patients with a low level of dyspnea (34). There were 12 people experiencing an average level of dyspnea and a high level of dyspnea 15. 3) The main factor influencing the severity of dyspnea in patients was the location of cancer. There was no significant relationship between the intensity of dyspnea and the age, gender of the patient, and time from diagnosis. 4) The study showed that in patients staying in the hospice, the level of anxiety was of varying severity. Most people experience a low level of anxiety (51). There were 16 people with a high level of anxiety, while there were 33 people experiencing anxiety at an average level. 5) The patient's gender was the main factor influencing the increase in anxiety intensity. Men had higher levels of anxiety than women. There was no significant correlation between the intensity of anxiety and the age of the respondents, as well as the type of cancer and time since diagnosis. 6) The intensity of dyspnea depended on the type of cancer the subjects had. People with lung cancer had a higher level of breathlessness than those with breast cancer and bowel cancer. It was not found that the anxiety increased depending on the type of cancer and comorbidities of the examined person.

Keywords: cancer, shortness of breath, anxiety, senior, hospice

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Authors: Dewan Ali Ahsan

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Hilsa (Tenualosa ilisha) is one of the most important anadromous fish species of the trans-boundary ecosystem of Bangladesh, India and Myanmar. Hilsa is not only an economically important species specially for Bangladesh and India, but also for the integral part of the culture of the Bangladesh and India. This flag-ship species in Bangladesh contributed alone of 10.82% of the total fish production of the country and about 75% of world’s total catch of hilsa comes from Bangladesh alone. As hilsa is an anadromous fish, it migrates from the Bay of Bengal to rivers for spawning, nursing and growing and for all of these purposes hilsa needs freshwaters. Ripe broods prefer turbid, fast flowing freshwater for spawning but young prefer clear and slow flowing freshwater. Climate change (salinity intrusion, sea level rise, temperature rise, impact of fresh water flow), unplanned developmental activities and other anthropogenic activities all together are severely damaging the hilsa stock and its habitats. So, climate change and human interferences are predicted to have a range of direct and indirect impacts on marine and freshwater hilsa fishery, with implications for fisheries-dependent economies, coastal communities and fisherfolk. The present study identified that salinity intrusion, siltation in river bed, decrease water flow from upstream, fragmentation of river in dry season, over exploitation, use of small mesh nets are the major reasons to affect the upstream migration of hilsa and its sustainable management. It has been also noticed that Bangladesh government has taken some actions for hilsa management. Government is trying to increase hilsa production not only by conserving jatka (juvenile hilsa) but also protecting the brood hilsa during the breeding seasons by imposing seasonal ban on fishing, restricted mesh size etc. Unfortunately, no such management plans are available for Indian and Myanmar territory. As hilsa is a highly migratory trans-boundary fish in the Bay of Bengal (and all of these countries share the same stock), it is essential to adopt a joint management policy (by Bangladesh-India-Myanmar) for the sustainable management for the hilsa stock.

Keywords: hilsa, climate change, south-east Asia, fishery management

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Authors: Malika Turganova, Aigul Abduldayeva

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Modern conditions require nursing innovations at the primary ambulatory stage in the health system of Kazakhstan. There is a growing need for nurses involved in before-doctor attendance for preventive interview with a female population about reproductive health. We conducted questionnaire survey of the population of Astana in 2015. Questionnaires were drawn up according to the criteria of sexual health of World Health Organization. 3593 respondents out of 8000 questionnaires agreed to answer the questions anonymously, mM=±2,1. The average age of women comprised 37,4±11,2, Ме=31,7 years of age. Analysis of awareness about marriage hygiene revealed that 72,7% of respondents did not receive information about marriage hygiene and 89,1% respondents consider it more advisable before marriage. 45,9% of respondents specified the internet as a source of information on marriage hygiene issues, 24,5% of respondents pointed out friends, and 21,5% specified doctor. Comparing female age groups under and after 40 years old we see that proportion of cases when parents provide information about marriage hygiene issues comprises 4.3% (χ2 =9.8, p<0.05). The most important factor of preservation of women reproductive health is handling a problem of unwanted pregnancy. The responsibility lies equally in men and women. Data analysis of contraceptive methods by ranking showed three most frequently used methods: contraception sheath – 29.3%, then coitus interruptus – 18.7% and hormonal preparations – 16.9%. The most important factor of women's reproductive health preservation is a solving of the problem of unwanted pregnancy, and in this respect, the responsibility lies equally in men and women. Analyzing obtained data on contraceptive methods by ranking three of the most frequently used methods are condoms – 29,3%, then coitus interruptus – 18,7% and hormonal preparations – 16,9%. Additional oral survey of the population showed a low level of informational support of female population by family physicians, health care professionals of educational organizations (schools, universities, and colleges) about hormonal contraceptive. Females of both age groups used to think that hormonal contraceptives cause collateral damage such as blastoma, cancer, increased body weight, varix dilatation of lower limbs. Satisfaction with the frequency of sexual relations of the respondents comprised 57,6%. At that, women under 40 years of age are the most satisfied women among age groups (χ2 =5,8, p<0,05).

Keywords: nurse, public health service of Kazakhstan, reproductive and sexual health, trust of population

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Authors: Maria L. G. Lourenço, Keylla H. N. P. Pereira, Viviane Y. Hibaru, Fabiana F. Souza, João C. P. Ferreira, Simone B. Chiacchio, Luiz H. A. Machado

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Orphaned is a risk factor for mortality in newborns since it is a condition with total or partial absence of maternal care that is essential for neonatal survival, including nursing (nutrition, the transference of passive immunity and hydration), warmth, urination, and defecation stimuli, and protection. The most common causes of mortality in orphans are related to lack of assistance, handling mistakes and infections. This study aims to describe the orphans rates in neonatal puppies, the main causes, and the mortality rates. The study included 735 neonates admitted to the Sao Paulo State University (UNESP) Veterinary Hospital, Botucatu, Sao Paulo, Brazil, between January 2018 and November 2019. The orphans rate was 43.4% (319/735) of all neonates included, and the main causes for orphaned were related to maternal agalactia/hypogalactia (23.5%, 75/319); numerous litter (15.7%, 50/319), toxic milk syndrome due to maternal mastitis (14.4%, 46/319), absence of suction/weak neonate (12.2%, 39/319), maternal disease (9.4%, 30/319), cleft palate/lip (6.3%, 20/319), maternal death (5.9%, 19/319), prematurity (5.3%, 17/319), rejection/failure in maternal instinct (3.8%, 12/319) and abandonment by the owner/separation of mother and neonate (3.5%, 11/319). The main consequences of orphaned observed in the admitted neonates were hypoglycemia, hypothermia, dehydration, aspiration pneumonia, wasting syndrome, failure in the transference of passive immunity, infections and sepsis, which happened due to failure of identifying the problem early, lack of adequate assistance, negligence and handling mistakes by the owner. The total neonatal mortality rate was 8% (59/735) and the neonatal mortality rate among orphans was 18.5% (59/319). The orphaned and mortality rates were considered high, but even higher rates may be observed in locations without adequate neonatal assistance and owner orientation. The survival of these patients is related to constant monitoring of the litter, early diagnosis and assistance, and the implementation of effective handling for orphans. Understanding the correct handling for neonates and instructing the owners regarding proper handling are essential to minimize the consequences of orphaned and the mortality rates.

Keywords: orphans, neonatal care, puppies, newborn dogs

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Authors: Rajasekar Elangopandian, Anand Shanmugam

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Now-a-days for surveillances unmanned aerial vehicle plays a vital role. Not only for surveillances, aerial photography disaster management and the notice of earth behavior UAV1s envisages meticulously. To reduce the maintenance and fuel nuclear powered Vehicles are greater support. The design consideration is much important for the UAV manufacturing industry and Research and development agency. Eventually design is looking like a pentagon shaped fuselage and black rubber coated paint in order to escape from the enemy radar and other targets. The pentagon shape fuselage has large space to keep the mini nuclear reactor inside and the material is carbon – carbon fiber specially designed by the software called cosmol and hyper mesh 14.2. So the weight consideration will produce the positive result for productivity. The walls of the fuselage are coated with lead and protective shield. A double layer of W/Bi sheet is proposed for radiation protection at the energy range of 70 Kev to 90 Kev. The designed W/bi sheet, only 0.14 mm thick and is 36% light. The properties of the fillers were determined from zeta potential and particle size measurements. The Exposes of the radiation can be attenuated by 3 ways such as minimizing exposure time, Maximizing distance from the radiation source and shielding the whole vehicle. The inside reactor will be switched ON when the UAV starts its cruise. The moderators and the control rods can be inserted by automation technique by newly developed software. The heat generated by the reactor will be used to run the turbine which is fixed inside the UAV called mini turbine with natural rubber composite Shaft radiation shield. Cooling system will be in two mode such as liquid and air cooled. Liquid coolant for the heat regeneration is ordinary water, liquid sodium, helium and the walls are made up of regenerative and radiation protective material. The other components like camera and arms bay will be located at the bottom of the UAV high are specially made products in order to escape from the radiation. They are coated with lead Pb and natural rubber composite material. This technique provides the long rang and endurance for eternal flight mission until we need any changeability of parts or product. This UAV has the special advantage of ` land on String` means it`ll land at electric line to charge the automated electronics. Then the fuel is enriched uranium (< 5% U - 235) contains hundreds of fuel pins. This technique provides eternal duty for surveillances and aerial photography. The landing of the vehicle is ease of operation likewise the takeoff is also easier than any other mechanism which present in nowadays. This UAV gives great immense and immaculate technology for surveillance and target detecting and smashing the target.

Keywords: mini turbine, liquid coolant for the heat regeneration, in order to escape from the radiation, eternal flight mission, it`ll land at electric line

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Authors: Teresa Carlone, Matteo Mannocchi

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In the last decade, a growing number of International Organizations are pushing toward green solutions for adaptation to climate change. This is particularly true in the field of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and land planning, where Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) had been sponsored through funding programs and planning tools. Stakeholder engagement and co-creation of NBS is growing as a practice and research field in environmental projects, fostering the consolidation of a multidisciplinary socio-ecological approach in addressing hydro-meteorological risk. Even thou research and financial interests are constantly spread, the NBS mainstreaming process is still at an early stage as innovative concepts and practices make it difficult to be fully accepted and adopted by a multitude of different actors to produce wide scale societal change. The monitoring and impact evaluation of stakeholders’ participation in these processes represent a crucial aspect and should be seen as a continuous and integral element of the co-creation approach. However, setting up a fit for purpose-monitoring strategy for different contexts is not an easy task, and multiple challenges emerge. In this scenario, the Horizon 2020 OPERANDUM project, designed to address the major hydro-meteorological risks that negatively affect European rural and natural territories through the co-design, co-deployment, and assessment of Nature-based Solution, represents a valid case study to test a monitoring strategy from which set a broader, general and scalable monitoring framework. Applying a participative monitoring methodology, based on selected indicators list that combines quantitative and qualitative data developed within the activity of the project, the paper proposes an experimental in-depth analysis of the stakeholder engagement impact in the co-creation process of NBS. The main focus will be to spot and analyze which factors increase knowledge, social acceptance, and mainstreaming of NBS, promoting also a base-experience guideline to could be integrated with the stakeholder engagement strategy in current and future similar strongly collaborative approach-based environmental projects, such as OPERANDUM. Measurement will be carried out through survey submitted at a different timescale to the same sample (stakeholder: policy makers, business, researchers, interest groups). Changes will be recorded and analyzed through focus groups in order to highlight causal explanation and to assess the proposed list of indicators to steer the conduction of similar activities in other projects and/or contexts. The idea of the paper is to contribute to the construction of a more structured and shared corpus of indicators that can support the evaluation of the activities of involvement and participation of various levels of stakeholders in the co-production, planning, and implementation of NBS to address climate change challenges.

Keywords: co-creation and collaborative planning, monitoring, nature-based solution, participation & inclusion, stakeholder engagement

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Authors: Jane Oliver, Angeline Ferdinand, Jessica Kaufman, Peta Edler, Nicole Allard, Margie Danchin, Katherine B. Gibney

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Background: The cohealth Health Concierge program operated in Melbourne, Australia, from July 2020 to 30 June 2022. The program was designed to provide place-based peer-to-peer COVID-19 education and support to culturally and linguistically diverse residents of high-rise public housing estates. During this time, the COVID-19 public health response changed frequently. We conducted a mixed-methods evaluation to determine the program’s impact on residents’ trust, engagement and communication with health services and public health activities. Methods: The RE-AIM model was used to assess program reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation and maintenance and the evaluation was informed by a Project Reference Group including end-users. Data were collected between March and May 2022 in four estates where the program operated. We surveyed 301 residents, conducted qualitative interviews with 32 stakeholders and analyzed data from 20,901 forms reporting interactions between Health Concierges and residents collected from August 2021 to May 2022. These forms outlined the support provided by Health Concierges during each interaction. Results: Overall, the program was effective in guiding residents to testing and vaccination services and facilitating COVID-19 safe practices. Nearly two-thirds (191; 63.5%) of the 301 surveyed participants reported speaking with a Health Concierge in the previous six months, and some described having meaningful conversations with them. Despite this, many of the interactions residents described having with Health Concierges were superficial. When considering surveyed participants’ responses to the adapted Public Health Disaster Trust Scale, the mean score across all estates was 2.3 (or slightly more than ‘somewhat confident’) in public health authorities’ ability to respond to a localized infectious disease outbreak. While the program was valued during the rapidly changing public health response, many felt it had failed to evolve in the ‘living with COVID’ phase. Some residents expressed frustration with Health Concierges’ having perceived inactive, passive roles - although other residents felt Health Concierges were helpful and appreciated them. A perception that the true impact of Health Concierges’ work was underrecognized was widely voiced by health staff. All 20,901 Interaction Forms identified COVID-19-related supports provided to residents; almost all included provision of facemasks and/or hand sanitiser and 78% identified additional supports that were also provided, most frequently provision of other health information. Conclusions: The program disseminated up-to-date information to a diverse population within a rapidly changing public health setting. Health Concierges were able promote COVID-19-safe behaviours, including vaccine uptake, and link residents with support services. We recommend the program be revised and continued. New programs that draw on the Health Concierge model may be valuable in supporting future pandemic responses and should be considered in preparedness planning.

Keywords: community health, COVID-19 pandemic, infectious diseases, public health, community health workers

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Authors: Thippharat Wongsilarat, Parichat tuntilanon, Chonlakan Prataksitorn

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Recurrent adverse drug reactions are harmful to patients with mild to fatal illnesses, and affect not only patients but also their relatives, and organizations. To compare safe use of medicine among patients before and after using the recurrent adverse drug reaction prevention program . Quasi-experimental research with the target population of 598 patients with drug allergy history. Data were collected through an observation form tested for its validity by three experts (IOC = 0.87), and analyzed with a descriptive statistic (percentage). The research was conducted jointly with a multidisciplinary team to analyze and determine the weak points and strong points in the recurrent adverse drug reaction prevention system during the past three years, and 546, 329, and 498 incidences, respectively, were found. Of these, 379, 279, and 302 incidences, or 69.4; 84.80; and 60.64 percent of the patients with drug allergy history, respectively, were found to have caused by incomplete warning system. In addition, differences in practice in caring for patients with drug allergy history were found that did not cover all the steps of the patient care process, especially a lack of repeated checking, and a lack of communication between the multidisciplinary team members. Therefore, the recurrent adverse drug reaction prevention program was developed with complete warning points in the information technology system, the repeated checking step, and communication among related multidisciplinary team members starting from the hospital identity card room, patient history recording officers, nurses, physicians who prescribe the drugs, and pharmacists. Including in the system were surveillance, nursing, recording, and linking the data to referring units. There were also training concerning adverse drug reactions by pharmacists, monthly meetings to explain the process to practice personnel, creating safety culture, random checking of practice, motivational encouragement, supervising, controlling, following up, and evaluating the practice. The rate of prescribing drugs to which patients were allergic per 1,000 prescriptions was 0.08, and the incidence rate of recurrent drug reaction per 1,000 prescriptions was 0. Surveillance of recurrent adverse drug reactions covering all service providing points can ensure safe use of medicine for patients.

Keywords: recurrent drug, adverse reaction, safety, use of medicine

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Authors: Handan Alan, Ulkü Baykal

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Personal characteristics help people understand and recognize both themselves and other people. They are also known to have direct effects on managerial behaviors. Managers’ personalities indicate how they think, perceive reality and relate to others, and affect their decision-making and problem-solving methods. This descriptive study aims to determine the personal characteristics of nurse managers and the personal and professional factors that affect them since sufficient data does not exist on personal characteristics despite the focus on the leadership and managerial characteristics in nursing. The study population consisted of nurses working in administrative positions at hospitals affiliated with the public hospitals union, research and practice hospitals affiliated with universities and private hospitals in cities in the Marmara Region. The study sample consisted of nurse managers working in the hospitals that permitted conducting the study (excluding private branch hospitals). The data were collected after obtaining the approval of the Clinical Research Ethics Committee of Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University (Approval date: 1.7.2015, Decision No: 2015-01) and written official permissions from the administrations of the hospitals included in the study. The data analysis was carried out using means and standard deviations (SD) as descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance for inter-group comparisons and the independent samples t-test for paired group comparisons. A significance threshold of p < 0.05 was used to evaluate the findings. The data were collected using the Five Factor Personality Inventory. The study included 900 nurse managers, who obtained the highest mean score on the conscientiousness dimension (X=4.22 ±0.35). This dimension was followed by their mean scores on the agreeableness (X=4.06±0.40), intelligence (X=4.05±0.37), extroversion (X=3.50±0.43), and emotional instability (X=2.07±0.53) dimensions. Statistically significant differences were found between the independent variables of age, gender, marital status, education level, work institution, professional experience, institutional experience, managerial experience, administrative position, work unit and managerial education when compared using the five factor personality inventory (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the nurse managers described themselves having high conscientiousness. Statistically significant differences were found between the five factor personality inventory mean scores and their personal and professional characteristics.

Keywords: nurse manager, personality, personal characteristics, professional characteristics

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Authors: Arzu K. Harmanci Seren, Burcu Alacam, Serap Altuntas, Ulku Baykal

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Organizational justice has been evaluated as a concept related to rules developed with regards to distributing gains and making decisions of distribution such as duty, goods, service, reward, punishment, fee, organizational position, opportunity or role among those working in that organization, and to social norms on which these rules are based. Studies of organizational justice are crucial for analyzing the organizational life. It is considered that organization justice will be positively influential upon organizational behaviours such as employees’ level of work satisfaction, their performance, and behaviours of organization citizenship, management by values perception, tendency towards cooperation, and towards quitting their jobs. However, when the literature related to health and nurse management is examined, authors could not reach enough findings related to the influence of nurses’ perception of organizational justice upon the perception of management and the intention of quitting in accordance with the values. For that reason, this study has been carried out with the purpose of determining the influence of nurses’ perception of organizational justice upon the perception of management and the intention of quitting in accordance with the values. The study has been carried out with 176 nurses working in a university hospital in Istanbul and a private hospital who accepted to take part in the study, and it is definitive and relation-seeking. Before the data has been collected, ethics committee approval and institutional permissions have been taken, Organizational Justice Scale, Management by Values, Intention to Leave Scale with a questionnaire including 8 questions that aims at defining the personal and professional characteristics of the nurses have been used as a means of data collection. The data collected between 1 May and 20 June 2016 have been evaluated by the researchers in a computer via definitive, relation-seeking and psychometric statistic. As a result of the study, it has been determined that most of the nurses are working in a university hospital (70.5%), that they are 30 and over (49.4%), women (91.5%), single (52.8%) and have a Bachelor’s Degree (48.3%), working in a surgery unit (17.6), have 5 year or less institutional experience (44.9%), 11 year or more professional experience. Cronbach alpha values of the scales used in this study are .94, .95 and .56. Nurses’ average scores of Organizational Justice Scale is M= 3.35±.96, Management by Values Scale is M=3.30±.74, Intention to Leave Scale is M=8.36±3.14. As a result of the analysis carried out in order to determine the influence of nurses’ perception of organizational justice upon the perception of management and the intention of quitting in accordance with the values, it has been pointed out that the Perception of Organizational Justice influenced the perception of Management by Values positively, Intention to Leave negatively.

Keywords: intention to leave, management by values, nursing, organizational justice

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Authors: Sara Nosari

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In the research field on adult education, the learning development project followed different itineraries: recently it has promoted adult transformation by practices focused on the reflexive oriented interaction. This perspective, that connects life stories and life-based methods, characterizes a transformative space between formal and informal education. Within this framework, in the Nursing Degree Courses of Turin University, it has been discussed and realized a formal reflexive path on the care work professional identity through group practices. This path compared the future care professionals with possible experiences staged by texts used with the function of a pre-tests: these texts, setting up real or believable professional situations, had the task to start a reflection on the different 'elements' of care work professional life (relationship, educational character of relationship, relationship between different care roles; or even human identity, aims and ultimate aim of care, …). The learning transformative aspect of this kind of experience-test is that it is impossible to anticipate the process or the conclusion of reflexion because they depend on two main conditions: the personal sensitivity and the specific situation. The narrated experience is not a device, it does not include any tricks to understand the answering advance; the text is not aimed at deepening the knowledge, but at being an active and creative force which takes the group to compare with problematic figures. In fact, the experience-text does not have the purpose to explain but to problematize: it creates a space of suspension to live for questioning, for discussing, for researching, for deciding. It creates a space 'open' and 'in connection' where each one, in comparing with others, has the possibility to build his/her position. In this space, everyone has to possibility to expose his/her own argumentations and to be aware of the others emerged points of view, aiming to research and find the own personal position. However, to define his/her position, it is necessary to learn to exercise character skills (conscientiousness, motivation, creativity, critical thinking, …): if these not-cognitive skills have an undisputed evidence, less evident is how to value them. The paper will reflect on the epistemological limits and possibility to 'measure' character skills, suggesting some evaluation criteria.

Keywords: transformative learning, educational role, formal/informal education, character-skills

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Authors: Ashik Sarder

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Bangladesh is a disaster-prone and one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. The country has a long coastal area which is frequently being affected by several types of natural disasters due to climate change. The disasters have impacts on the life and livelihood of different natural resources depending on communities living in the coastal areas. The Malo is a Hindu religious traditional fishing community living at Sarafpur Union of Dumuria Upazila of Khulna district of south-west coastal Bangladesh. Fishing is the only means of their livelihood and the community has been engaged in fishing practices inherently in rivers, estuaries, and sea for more than 300 years. and they are totally dependent on this traditional occupation. But, in recent year’s climate change has negative impacts on their only livelihood option. The study aims to examine the impacts of climate change on the livelihood of Malo fishing community in south-west coastal Bangladesh, identify the adaptation strategies undertaken and practiced by Malo fishing community to cope with climate change and sustain their livelihood and explore the changing adaptation strategies undertaken by Malo fishing community and others. The study has been conducted from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives. Data has been collected from both primary and secondary sources. The primary data has been collected in the participatory observation approach following both qualitative and quantitative method. The primary source of data includes village census, face-to-face interview and in-depth case studies using structured questionnaire. The secondary source of the literature includes different national and international documents, policy papers, books and articles; related websites and peer-viewed documents on climate change, vulnerability, adaptation, livelihood, and fisheries. The study has identified different practices of adaption to climate change by Malo fishing community and others in the selected area. Three types of adaption practices have been identified. Firstly, the indigenous adaptation practices by Malo fishing community to cope with climate change have been identified. These identified adaptation practices by Malo fishing community include; ensuring drinking water and sanitation facilities, planting trees to tackle impacts of cyclone, excavating dumps to preserve the valuable assets, growing vegetables and rearing domestic livestock to earn surplus money, taking loans for ensuring continuation of present livelihood and migrating to near city or towns for better livelihood options. Secondly, adaptation initiatives undertaken by the government have provided limited facility to this vulnerable fishing community and made them benefited. And thirdly, some adaptation initiatives commenced by few non-government and community-based organizations have also made the Malo fishing community as beneficiaries. The study has suggested recommendations for Malo fishing community to overcome the challenges and impacts of climate change for retaining their traditional fishing livelihood. The accumulated recommendations would be very useful for the researchers, academicians, policy-makers of Government and non-government organizations to conduct more researches and take initiatives for Malo fishing community to make them more capable to sustain their fishing livelihood.

Keywords: climate change, livelihood, adaptation, anthropology, vulnerability

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Authors: Shu-Ling Wang

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Background: Multiple studies showed early skin-to-skin contact (SSC) with mothers was beneficial to newborns such as breastfeeding and maternal childcare. In cases of newborns unable to have early SSC with mothers, fathers’ involvement could let early SSC continue without interruption. However, few studies had explored the effects of early SSC by fathers in comparison to early SSC with mothers. Paternal involvement of early SSC should be equally important in term of childcare and breastfeeding. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of early SSC by fathers in particular in their support of breastfeeding. Methods: A quasi-experimental design was employed by the study. One hundred and forty-four father-infant pairs had participated the study, in which infants were assigned either to SSC with their fathers (n = 72) or to routine care (n = 72) as the control group. The study was conducted at a regional hospital in northern Taiwan. Participants included parents of both vaginal delivery (VD) and caesarean section birth (CS) infants. To be eligible for inclusion, infants must be over 37-week gestational ages. Data were collected twice: as pretest upon admission and as posttest with online questionnaire during first, second, and third postpartum months. The questionnaire included items for Breastfeeding Social Support, methods of feeding, and the mother-infant 24-hour rooming-in rate. The efficacy of early SSC with fathers was evaluated using the generalized estimating equation (GEE) modeling. Research Result: The primary finding was that SSC with fathers had positive impact on fathers’ support of breastfeeding. Analysis of the online questionnaire indicated that early SSC with fathers improved the support of breastfeeding than the control group (VD: t = -4.98, p < .001; CS: t = -2.37, p = .02). Analysis of mother-infant 24-hour rooming-in rate showed that SSC with fathers after CS had a positive impact on the rooming-in rate (χ² = 5.79, p = .02); however, with VD the difference between early SSC with fathers and the control group was insignificant (χ² = .23, p = .63). Analysis of the rate of exclusive breastfeeding indicated that early SSC with fathers had a higher rate than the control group during first three postpartum months for both delivery methods (VD: χ² = 12.51, p < .001 on 1st postpartum month, χ² = 8.13, p < .05 on 2nd postpartum month, χ² = 4.43, p < .05 on 3rd postpartum month; CS: χ² = 6.92, p < .05 on 1st postpartum month, χ² = 7.41, p < .05 on 2nd postpartum month, χ² = 6.24, p < .05 on 3rd postpartum month). No significant difference was found on the rate of exclusive breastfeeding with both methods of delivery between two groups during hospitalization. (VD: χ² =2 .00, p = .16; CS: χ² = .73, p = .39). Conclusion: Implementing early SSC with fathers has many benefits to both parents. The result of this study showed increasing fathers’ support of breastfeeding. This encourages our nursing personnel to focus the needs of father during breastfeeding, therefore further enhancing the quality of parental care, the rate and duration of breastfeeding.

Keywords: breastfeeding, skin-to-skin contact, support of breastfeeding, rooming-in

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Authors: Amir Shouri, Fereshteh Tabe

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Master planning and urban infrastructure’s thoughtful and sequential design strategies will play the major role in reducing the damages of natural disasters, war and or social/population related conflicts for cities. Defensive strategies have been revised during the history of mankind after having damages from natural depressions, war experiences and terrorist attacks on cities. Lessons learnt from Earthquakes, from 2 world war casualties in 20th century and terrorist activities of all times. Particularly, after Hurricane Sandy of New York in 2012 and September 11th attack on New York’s World Trade Centre (WTC) in 21st century, there have been series of serious collaborations between law making authorities, urban planners and architects and defence related organizations to firstly, getting prepared and/or prevent such activities and secondly, reduce the human loss and economic damages to minimum. This study will work on developing a model of planning for New York City, where its citizens will get minimum impacts in threat-full time with minimum economic damages to the city after the stress is passed. The main discussion in this proposal will focus on pre-hazard, hazard-time and post-hazard transformative policies and strategies that will reduce the “Life casualties” and will ease “Economic Recovery” in post-hazard conditions. This proposal is going to scrutinize that one of the key solutions in this path might be focusing on all overlaying possibilities on architectural platforms of three fundamental infrastructures, the transportation, the power related sources and defensive abilities on a dynamic-transformative framework that will provide maximum safety, high level of flexibility and fastest action-reaction opportunities in stressful periods of time. “Planning Fore Stress” is going to be done in an analytical, qualitative and quantitative work frame, where it will study cases from all over the world. Technology, Organic Design, Materiality, Urban forms, city politics and sustainability will be discussed in deferent cases in international scale. From the modern strategies of Copenhagen for living friendly with nature to traditional approaches of Indonesian old urban planning patterns, the “Iron Dome” of Israel to “Tunnels” in Gaza, from “Ultra-high-performance quartz-infused concrete” of Iran to peaceful and nature-friendly strategies of Switzerland, from “Urban Geopolitics” in cities, war and terrorism to “Design of Sustainable Cities” in the world, will all be studied with references and detailed look to analysis of each case in order to propose the most resourceful, practical and realistic solutions to questions on “New City Divisions”, “New City Planning and social activities” and “New Strategic Architecture for Safe Cities”. This study is a developed version of a proposal that was announced as winner at MoMA in 2013 in call for ideas for Rockaway after Sandy Hurricane took place.

Keywords: urban scale, city safety, natural disaster, war and terrorism, city divisions, architecture for safe cities

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Authors: Ursula Das, Manavjit Singh Dhindsa, Kshirasagar Naik, Marzia Zaman, Richard Purcell, Srinivas Sampalli, Abdul Mutakabbir, Chung-Horng Lung, Thambirajah Ravichandran

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Wildland fires, also known as forest fires or wildfires, are exhibiting an alarming surge in frequency in recent times, further adding to its perennial global concern. Forest fires often lead to devastating consequences ranging from loss of healthy forest foliage and wildlife to substantial economic losses and the tragic loss of human lives. Despite the existence of substantial literature on the detection of active forest fires, numerous potential research avenues in forest fire management, such as preventative measures and ancillary effects of forest fires, remain largely underexplored. This paper undertakes a systematic review of these underexplored areas in forest fire research, meticulously categorizing them into distinct phases, namely pre-fire, during-fire, and post-fire stages. The pre-fire phase encompasses the assessment of fire risk, analysis of fuel properties, and other activities aimed at preventing or reducing the risk of forest fires. The during-fire phase includes activities aimed at reducing the impact of active forest fires, such as the detection and localization of active fires, optimization of wildfire suppression methods, and prediction of the behavior of active fires. The post-fire phase involves analyzing the impact of forest fires on various aspects, such as the extent of damage in forest areas, post-fire regeneration of forests, impact on wildlife, economic losses, and health impacts from byproducts produced during burning. A comprehensive understanding of the three stages is imperative for effective forest fire management and mitigation of the impact of forest fires on both ecological systems and human well-being. Artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) methods have garnered much attention in the cyber-physical systems domain in recent times leading to their adoption in decision-making in diverse applications including disaster management. This paper explores the current state of AI/ML applications for managing the activities in the aforementioned phases of forest fire. While conventional machine learning and deep learning methods have been extensively explored for the prevention, detection, and management of forest fires, a systematic classification of these methods into distinct AI research domains is conspicuously absent. This paper gives a comprehensive overview of the state of forest fire research across more recent and prominent AI/ML disciplines, including big data, classical machine learning, computer vision, explainable AI, generative AI, natural language processing, optimization algorithms, and time series forecasting. By providing a detailed overview of the potential areas of research and identifying the diverse ways AI/ML can be employed in forest fire research, this paper aims to serve as a roadmap for future investigations in this domain.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, computer vision, deep learning, during-fire activities, forest fire management, machine learning, pre-fire activities, post-fire activities

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Authors: Lu-Chiu Huang, Pei-Pei Chen, Li-Chin Yu, Chiao-Wen Kuo, Tsui-Tao Liu, Rung-Chuang Feng

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Purpose: People put increasing emphasis on demands of medical quality and protecting their interests. Patients' or family's dissatisfaction with medical care may easily lead to medical dispute. Physician-family communication plays an essential role in medical care. A sound communication cannot only strengthen patients' belief in the medical team but make patient have definite insight into treatment course of the disease. A family meeting provides an effective platform for communication between clinical staff, patients and family. Decisions and consensuses formed in family meetings can promote patients' or family's satisfaction with medical care. Clinical staff's attitudes toward family meeting may determine behavioral intentions to hold family meeting. This study aims to explore clinical staff's difficulties in holding family meeting and evaluate how their attitudes and behavior influence the effect of family meetings. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. It was conducted at a regional teaching hospital in Taipei city. The research team developed its own structural questionnaires, whose expert validity was checked by the nursing experts. Participants filled in the questionnaires online. Data were collected by convenience sampling. A total of 568 participants were invited. They included doctors, nurses, social workers, and so on. Results: 1) The average score of ‘clinical staff’s attitudes to family meetings’ was 5.15 (SD=0.898). It fell between ‘somewhat agree’ and ‘mostly agree’ on the 7-point likert scale. It indicated that clinical staff had positive attitudes toward family meetings, 2) The average score of ‘clinical staff’s behavior to family meetings’ was 5.61 (SD=0.937). It fell between ‘somewhat agree’ and ‘mostly agree’ on the 7-point likert scale. It meant clinical staff tended to have positive behavior at the family meeting, and 3) The average score of ‘Difficulty in conducting family meetings’ was 5.15 (SD=0.897). It fell between ‘somewhat agree’ and ‘mostly agree’ on the 7-point likert scale. The higher the score was, the less difficulty the clinical staff felt. It demonstrated clinical staff felt less difficulty in conducting family meetings. Clinical staff's identification with family meetings brought favored effects. Persistent and active promotion for family meetings can bring patients and family more benefits. Implications for practice: Understanding clinical staff's difficulty in participating family meeting and exploring their attitudes or behavior toward physician-family communication are helpful to develop modes of interaction. Consequently, quality and satisfaction of physician-family communication can be increased.

Keywords: clinical staff, communication, family meeting, physician-family

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Authors: Mengestie Mulugeta Belay, Serebe Abay Gebrie, Biruk Lambbiso Wamisho, Amare Worku

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Background: Low back pain (LBP) related to nursing profession, is a very common public health problem throughout the world. Various risk factors have been implicated in the etiology and LBP is assumed to be of multi-factorial origin as individual, work-related and psychosocial factors can contribute to its development. Objectives: To determine the prevalence and to identify risk factors of LBP among nurses working in Addis Ababa City Public Hospitals, Ethiopia, in the year 2015. Settings: Addis Ababa University, Black-Lion (‘Tikur Anbessa’) Hospital-BLH, is the country’s highest tertiary level referral and teaching Hospital. The three departments in connection with this study: Radiology, Pathology and Orthopedics, run undergraduate and residency programs and receive referred patients from all over the country. Methods: A cross-sectional study with internal comparison was conducted throughout the period October-December, 2015. Sample was chosen by simple random sampling technique by taken the lists of nurses from human resource departments as a sampling frame. A well-structured, pre-tested and self-administered questionnaire was used to collect quantifiable information. The questionnaire included socio-demographic, back pain features, consequences of back pain, work-related and psychosocial factors. The collected data was entered into EpiInfo version 3.5.4 and was analyzed by SPSS. A probability level of 0.05 or less and 95% confidence level was used to indicate statistical significance. Ethical clearance was obtained from all respected administrative bodies, Hospitals and study participants. Results: The study included 395 nurses and gave a response rate of 91.9%. The mean age was 30.6 (±8.4) years. Majority of the respondents were female (285, 72.2%). Nearly half of the participants (n=181, 45.8% (95% CI (40.8%- 50.6%))) were complained low back pain. There was statistical significant association between low back pain and working shift, physical activities at work; sleep disturbance and felt little pleasure by doing things. Conclusion: A high prevalence of low back pain was found among nurses working in Addis Ababa Public Hospitals. Recognition and preventive measures like providing resting periods should be taken to reduce the risk of low back pain in nurses working in Public hospitals.

Keywords: low back pain, risk factors, nurses, public hospitals

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Authors: Gabrielle Brand, Christopher Etherton-Beer

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The learning landscape of higher education environment is changing, with an increased focus over the past decade on how educators might begin to cultivate reflective skills in health professions students. In addition, changing professional requirements demand that health professionals are adequately prepared to practice in today’s complex Australian health care systems, including responding to changing demographics of population ageing. To counteract a widespread perception of health professions students’ disinterest in caring for older persons, the authors will report on an exploratory, mixed method research study that used photographs, narrative and small group work to enhance medical and nursing students’ reflective learning experience. An innovative photo-elicitation technique and reflective questioning prompts were used to increase engagement, and challenge students to consider new perspectives (around ageing) by constructing shared storylines in small groups. The qualitative themes revealed how photographs, narratives and small group work created learning spaces for reflection whereby students could safely explore their own personal and professional values, beliefs and perspectives around ageing. By providing the space for reflection, the students reported how they found connection and meaning in their own learning through a process of self-exploration that often challenged their assumptions of both older people and themselves as future health professionals. By integrating cognitive and affective elements into the learning process, this research demonstrates the importance of embedding visual methodologies that enhance reflection and transformative learning. The findings highlight the importance of integrating the arts into predominantly empirically driven health professional curricula and can be used as a catalyst for individual and/or collective reflection which can potentially enhance empathy, insight and understanding of the lived experiences of older patients. Based on these findings, the authors have developed ‘Depth of Field: Exploring Ageing’ an innovative, interprofessional, digital reflective learning resource that uses Prezi Inc. software (storytelling tool that presents ideas on a virtual canvas) to enhance students’ reflective capacity in the higher education environment.

Keywords: narrative, photo-elicitation, reflective learning, qualitative research

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Authors: Muhammad Abu-Khaizaran, Ahmad Faza’, Tariq Othman, Yahia Yousef

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This paper presents a study to provide sufficient and reliable information about constructing a Photovoltaic energy profile of the Birzeit University campus (BZU) based on the weather forecast. The developed Photovoltaic energy profile helps to predict the energy yield of the Photovoltaic systems based on the weather forecast and hence helps planning energy production and consumption. Two models will be developed in this paper; a Clear Sky Irradiance model and a Cloud-Cover Radiation model to predict the irradiance for a clear sky day and a cloudy day, respectively. The adopted procedure for developing such models takes into consideration two levels of abstraction. First, irradiance and weather data were acquired by a sensory (measurement) system installed on the rooftop of the Information Technology College building at Birzeit University campus. Second, power readings of a fully operational 51kW commercial Photovoltaic system installed in the University at the rooftop of the adjacent College of Pharmacy-Nursing and Health Professions building are used to validate the output of a simulation model and to help refine its structure. Based on a comparison between a mathematical model, which calculates Clear Sky Irradiance for the University location and two sets of accumulated measured data, it is found that the simulation system offers an accurate resemblance to the installed PV power station on clear sky days. However, these comparisons show a divergence between the expected energy yield and actual energy yield in extreme weather conditions, including clouding and soiling effects. Therefore, a more accurate prediction model for irradiance that takes into consideration weather factors, such as relative humidity and cloudiness, which affect irradiance, was developed; Cloud-Cover Radiation Model (CRM). The equivalent mathematical formulas implement corrections to provide more accurate inputs to the simulation system. The results of the CRM show a very good match with the actual measured irradiance during a cloudy day. The developed Photovoltaic profile helps in predicting the output energy yield of the Photovoltaic system installed at the University campus based on the predicted weather conditions. The simulation and practical results for both models are in a very good match.

Keywords: clear-sky irradiance model, cloud-cover radiation model, photovoltaic, weather forecast

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Authors: Hasan Al Banna, Nazmus Sakib, Anjan Roy

Abstract:

From the perspective of the underdeveloped countries such as Bangladesh, health issue can readily be pointed out as the most demanding but the least promoted concern due to lack of initiatives from both government and NGOs. Furthermore an worldwide scenario is that most death and suffering from various pathogenic and non-pathogenic diseases occur due to delay diagnosis, and this happen for the lacking of regular health check-up facility or tradition. In this epistle, an innovative proposal on social business can be introduced to ensure the one-stop medical facility to the door-step of the rural society and create jobs for the educated rural youths to serve their own people. To illustrate the policy, this newly proposed organization will work as a health club which will offer a life-time membership to villagers within a very affordable fee of 250 BDT (2.63 Euro) per month. In this package the members will get the facility of tri-monthly full health check-up by specialist doctors, a health record book and computerized health database for each member and anytime medical consultancy for the members only. We will also organize free medical campaign and workshops on nutrition, sanitation, adulteration, pregnancy-care, child-health etc with the assistance of different sponsors. Among other services that will be provided on payment include emergency ambulance facility in low rents, quality diagnostic lab and 24-hour dispensary facility. Likewise, this policy will involve local educated people by recruiting them after providing intensive courses on nursing and other medical instrumental skills. Henceforth, the engagement of local youth will make the program more acceptable to the rural community. In the later part of this paper, a survey report on Daragram union of Manikganj district, Bangladesh, having population above 25000, will be presented to delineate the scenario how this policy can repay the initial capital expense of BDT 7 million (around 73381 Euro) within 5 years and how I can realistically earn handsome revenue from the first month of business. To recapitulate, this policy is very promising to enlighten the underprivileged community by providing health assurance, and alleviating unemployment besides the investor’s financial profit.

Keywords: create job for the rural people, handsome financial profit, quality health services, underprivileged areas of underdeveloped countries

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Authors: Yogesh Kumar Singh, T. S. Murugesh Prabhu, Upasana Dutta, Girishchandra Yendargaye, Rahul Yadav, Rohini Gopinath Kale, Binay Kumar, Manoj Khare

Abstract:

The Indian subcontinent is severely affected by floods that cause intense irreversible devastation to crops and livelihoods. With increased incidences of floods and their related catastrophes, an Early Warning System for Flood Prediction and an efficient Flood Management System for the river basins of India is a must. Accurately modeled hydrological conditions and a web-based early warning system may significantly reduce economic losses incurred due to floods and enable end users to issue advisories with better lead time. This study describes the design and development of an EWS-FP using advanced computational tools/methods, viz. High-Performance Computing (HPC), Remote Sensing, GIS technologies, and open-source tools for the Mahanadi River Basin of India. The flood prediction is based on a robust 2D hydrodynamic model, which solves shallow water equations using the finite volume method. Considering the complexity of the hydrological modeling and the size of the basins in India, it is always a tug of war between better forecast lead time and optimal resolution at which the simulations are to be run. High-performance computing technology provides a good computational means to overcome this issue for the construction of national-level or basin-level flash flood warning systems having a high resolution at local-level warning analysis with a better lead time. High-performance computers with capacities at the order of teraflops and petaflops prove useful while running simulations on such big areas at optimum resolutions. In this study, a free and open-source, HPC-based 2-D hydrodynamic model, with the capability to simulate rainfall run-off, river routing, and tidal forcing, is used. The model was tested for a part of the Mahanadi River Basin (Mahanadi Delta) with actual and predicted discharge, rainfall, and tide data. The simulation time was reduced from 8 hrs to 3 hrs by increasing CPU nodes from 45 to 135, which shows good scalability and performance enhancement. The simulated flood inundation spread and stage were compared with SAR data and CWC Observed Gauge data, respectively. The system shows good accuracy and better lead time suitable for flood forecasting in near-real-time. To disseminate warning to the end user, a network-enabled solution is developed using open-source software. The system has query-based flood damage assessment modules with outputs in the form of spatial maps and statistical databases. System effectively facilitates the management of post-disaster activities caused due to floods, like displaying spatial maps of the area affected, inundated roads, etc., and maintains a steady flow of information at all levels with different access rights depending upon the criticality of the information. It is designed to facilitate users in managing information related to flooding during critical flood seasons and analyzing the extent of the damage.

Keywords: flood, modeling, HPC, FOSS

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