Search results for: health information exchanges

Authors: Yessenia Parrado, Ana Barbosa, Daniela Mahe, Sebastian Toro, Jhon Garcia

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Public innovation has gained strength in recent years in response to the need to find new strategies or mechanisms to interact between government entities and citizens. In this way, the Colombian government has been promoting policies aimed at strengthening innovation as a fundamental aspect in the work of public entities. However, in order to potentiate the capacities of public servants and therefore of the institutions and organizations to which they belong, it is necessary to be able to understand the context under which they operate in their daily work. This article aims to compile the work developed by the laboratory of innovation, creativity, and new technologies LAB101 of the National University of Colombia for the National Department of Planning. A case study was developed in the central region of Colombia made up of five departments, through the construction of instruments based on quantitative techniques in response to the item combined with qualitative analysis through semi-structured interviews to understand the perception of possible barriers to innovation and the obstacles that have prevented the acceleration of transformation within public organizations. From the information collected, different analyzes are carried out that allows a more robust explanation to be given to the results obtained, and a set of categories are established to group different characteristics associated with possible difficulties that officials perceive to innovate and that are later conceived as barriers. Finally, a proposal for an indicator was built to measure the degree of innovation within public entities in order to be able to carry a metric in future opportunities. The main findings of this study show three key components to be strengthened in public entities and organizations: governance, knowledge management, and the promotion of collaborative workspaces.

Keywords: barriers, enablers, management, public innovation

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Authors: Mangala M. Pai, B. V. Murlimanju, Latha V. Prabhu, P. J. Jiji , Vandana Blossom

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Background:To study the morphological parameters of the axis vertebra in anatomical specimens. Methods: The present study was designed to obtain the morphometric data of axis vertebra. The superior and inferior articular facets of the axis were macroscopically observed for their shapes and the different parameters were measured using the digital Vernier caliper. It included 20 dried axis bones, which were obtained from the anatomy laboratory. Results: The morphometric data obtained in the present study are represented in the tables. The side wise comparison of the length and width of the articular facets of the axis vertebra were done. The present study observed that, there is no statistically significant difference observed among the parameters of right and left side articular facets (p>0.05). The superior and inferior articular facets were observed to have variable shapes. The frequencies of different shapes of superior and inferior articular facets are represented in figures. All the shapes of the inferior and superior articular facets were symmetrical over the right and left sides. Among the superior articular facets, the constrictions were absent in 13 cases (65%), 2 (10%) exhibited a single constriction, 3 (15%) had 2 constrictions and 2 (10%) were having 3 constrictions. The constrictions were absent in 11 (55%) of the inferior articular facets, 3 (15%) of them had 1 constriction, 3 (15%) were having 2 constrictions, 2 (10%) exhibited 3 constrictions and 1 (5%) of them had 4 constrictions. The constrictions of the inferior and superior articular facets were symmetrical over the right and left sides. Conclusion: We believe that the present study has provided additional information on the morphometric data of the axis vertebra. The data are important to the neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons and radiologists. The preoperative assessment of the axis vertebra may prevent dangerous complications like spinal cord and nerve root compression during the surgical intervention.

Keywords: axis, articular facet, morphology, morphometry

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Authors: Farah Naja, Romy Abi Fadel, Yasmin Aridi, Aya Zarif, Dania Hariri, Mohammad Alameddine, Anas Mugharbel, Maya Khalil, Zeina Nahleh, Arafat Tfayli

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The objective of this study is to assess the prevalence and determinants of CAM use among breast cancer patients in Beirut, Lebanon. A secondary objective is to evaluate the association between CAM use and quality of life (QOL). A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 180 breast cancer patients recruited from two major referral centers in Beirut. In a face to face interview, participants completed a questionnaire comprised of three sections: socio-demographic and lifestyle characteristics, breast cancer condition, and CAM use. The assessment of QOL was carried using the FACT-B Arabic version. Prevalence of CAM use since diagnosis was 40%. CAM use was negatively associated with age, treatment at a philanthropic hospital and positively associated with having an advanced stage of disease. The most commonly used CAM was ‘Special food’ followed by ‘Herbal teas’. Only 4% of CAM users cited health care professionals as influencing their choice of CAM. One in four patients disclosed CAM use to their treating physician. There was no significant association between CAM use and QOL. The use of CAM therapies among breast cancer patients is prevalent in Lebanon. Efforts should be dedicated at educating physicians to discuss CAM use with their patients and advising patients to disclose of their use with their physicians.

Keywords: breast cancer , complementary medicine, alternative medicine, lebanon , quality of life

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Authors: Tianyue Wan

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Building a child-friendly city (CFC) contributes to improving the quality of urbanization. It also forms a local system committed to fulfilling children's rights and development. Yet, the work related to CFC is still at the initial stage in China. Therefore, taking Wuhan, the most populous city in central China, as the pilot city would offer some reference for other cities. Based on the analysis of theories and practice examples, this study puts forward the challenges of building a child-friendly city under the particularity of China's national conditions. To handle these challenges, this study uses four methods to collect status data: literature research, site observation, research inquiry, and semantic differential (SD). And it adopts three data analysis methods: case analysis, geographic information system (GIS) analysis, and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method. Through data analysis, this study identifies the evaluation system and appraises the current situation of Wuhan. According to the status of Wuhan's child-friendly city, this study proposes three strategies: 1) construct the evaluation system; 2) establish a child-friendly space system integrating 'point-line-surface'; 3) build a digitalized service platform. At the same time, this study suggests building a long-term mechanism for children's participation and multi-subject supervision from laws, medical treatment, education, safety protection, social welfare, and other aspects. Finally, some conclusions of strategies about CFC are tried to be drawn to promote the highest quality of life for all citizens in Wuhan.

Keywords: action plan, child friendly city, construction strategy, urban space

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Authors: Claire Stafford, Charles Golden, Daniel Amen, Kristen Willeumier

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The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the administration of the Conners Continuous Performance Test (CPT-3) on cerebral blood flow (CBF) in adults with ADHD. The data for this study was derived from a large SPECT database. Participants in the ADHD group (n=81, Mage=37.97) were similar to those in the healthy control group (n=8503, Mage=41.86). All participants were assessed for cerebral blood flow levels before and after CPT-3 administration. Both age and gender were considered covariates. Multiple 2-by-2 ANCOVAs with repeated measures were conducted with sphericity assumed. The main effects of CPT-3 administration on CBF levels were significant in the left and right side of the frontal and occipital, and right temporal lobe. The main effects of ADHD diagnosis were significant in all brain areas assessed. The interaction between CPT-3 administration and ADHD diagnosis was significant in the left and right side of the limbic system, basal ganglia, the frontal lobe, and occipital lobe. Post hoc tests with a Bonferroni adjustment revealed that CBF levels increased following CPT-3 administration but less so in the ADHD group. Individuals had higher levels of CBF following the administration of CPT-3. Due to a significant interaction, we can infer that ADHD diagnosis changes the effect of CPT-3 administration on CBF levels. This is consistent with our hypothesis considering that CPT-3 is a test of sustained attention, a common challenge for children with ADHD. The aforementioned interaction was not found to be significant in the parietal lobe. This may be due to the nature of CPT- 3 which does not require an integration of sensory information.

Keywords: SPECT, ADHD, conners continuous performance test, cerebral blood flow

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Authors: Magali Mari, Fabrice Clement

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The present study investigated the influence of implicit stereotypes on adults’ visual information processing, using an eye-tracking device. Implicit stereotyping is an automatic and implicit process; it happens relatively quickly, outside of awareness. In the presence of a member of a social group, a set of expectations about the characteristics of this social group appears automatically in people’s minds. The study aimed to shed light on the cognitive processes involved in stereotyping and to further investigate the use of eye movements to measure implicit stereotypes. With an eye-tracking device, the eye movements of participants were analyzed, while they viewed everyday scenes depicting women and men in congruent or incongruent gender role activities (e.g., a woman ironing or a man ironing). The settings of these scenes had to be analyzed to infer the character’s role. Also, participants completed an implicit association test that combined the concept of gender with attributes of occupation (home/work), while measuring reaction times to assess participants’ implicit stereotypes about gender. The results showed that implicit stereotypes do influence people’s visual attention; within a fraction of a second, the number of returns, between stereotypical and counter-stereotypical scenes, differed significantly, meaning that participants interpreted the scene itself as a whole before identifying the character. They predicted that, in such a situation, the character was supposed to be a woman or a man. Also, the study showed that eye movements could be used as a fast and reliable supplement for traditional implicit association tests to measure implicit stereotypes. Altogether, this research provides further understanding of implicit stereotypes processing as well as a natural method to study implicit stereotypes.

Keywords: eye-tracking, implicit stereotypes, social cognition, visual attention

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Authors: Michael Dimmer, Holger Flederer

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The basis of realizing a construction project is a technically flawless concept which satisfies conditions regarding environment and costs, as well as static-constructional terms. The presented software system actively supports civil engineers during the setup of optimal designs, by giving advice regarding durability, life-cycle costs, sustainability and much more. A major part of the surrounding conditions of a design process is gathered and assimilated by experienced engineers subconsciously. It is a question about eligible building techniques and their practicability by considering emerging costs. Planning engineers have acquired many of this experience during their professional life and use them for their daily work. Occasionally, the planning engineer should disassociate himself from his experience to be open for new and better solutions which meet the functional demands, as well. The developed expert system gives planning engineers recommendations for preferred design options of new constructions as well as for existing bridge constructions. It is possible to analyze construction elements and techniques regarding sustainability and life-cycle costs. This way the software provides recommendations for future constructions. Furthermore, there is an option to design existing road bridges especially for heavy duty transport. This implies a route planning tool to get quick and reliable information as to whether the bridge support structures of a transport route have been measured sufficiently for a certain heavy duty transport. The use of this expert system in bridge planning companies and building authorities will save costs massively for new and existent bridge constructions. This is achieved by consequently considering parameters like life-cycle costs and sustainability for its planning recommendations.

Keywords: expert system, planning process, road bridges, software system

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Authors: ChunYi Peng, Wei Hsuan CHeng, Shyh Kuang Ueng

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This study focuses on the application of self-organizing maps (SOM) technology in analyzing credit card transaction data, aiming to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of fraud detection. Som, as an artificial neural network, is particularly suited for pattern recognition and data classification, making it highly effective for the complex and variable nature of credit card transaction data. By analyzing transaction characteristics with SOM, the research identifies abnormal transaction patterns that could indicate potentially fraudulent activities. Moreover, this study has developed a specialized visualization tool to intuitively present the relationships between SOM analysis outcomes and transaction data, aiding financial institution personnel in quickly identifying and responding to potential fraud, thereby reducing financial losses. Additionally, the research explores the integration of SOM technology with composite intelligent system technologies (including finite state machines, fuzzy logic, and decision trees) to further improve fraud detection accuracy. This multimodal approach provides a comprehensive perspective for identifying and understanding various types of fraud within credit card transactions. In summary, by integrating SOM technology with visualization tools and composite intelligent system technologies, this research offers a more effective method of fraud detection for the financial industry, not only enhancing detection accuracy but also deepening the overall understanding of fraudulent activities.

Keywords: self-organizing map technology, fraud detection, information visualization, data analysis, composite intelligent system technologies, decision support technologies

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Authors: Khalid Bashir, Hammad Zahid

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Most of the investors consider that economic and financial information is the most important at the time of making investment decisions. But it is not true, as in the past two decades, the Behavioral aspects and the behavioral biases have gained an important place in the decision-making process of an investor. This study is basically conducted on this fact. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of behavioral factors on the decision-making of the individual real estate investor in Pakistan. Some important behavioral factors like overconfidence, anchoring, gambler’s fallacy, home bias, loss aversion, regret aversion, mental accounting, herding and representativeness are used in this study to find their impact on the psychology of individual investors. The targeted population is the real estate investor of Pakistan, and a sample of 650 investors is selected on the basis of convenience sampling technique. The data is collected through the questionnaire with a response rate of 46.15 %. Descriptive statistical techniques and SEM are used to analyze the data by using statistical software. The results revealed the fact that some behavioral factors have a significant impact on the decision-making of investors. Among all the behavioral biases, overconfidence, anchoring, gambler’s fallacy, loss aversion and representativeness have a significant positive impact on the decision-making of the individual investor, while the rest of biases like home bias, regret aversion, mental accounting, herding have less impact on the decision-making process of an individual.

Keywords: behavioral finance, anchoring, gambler’s fallacy, loss aversion

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Authors: Ly Nguyen, Vidit Munshi

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During the Covid-19 recession, the United States government has implemented several instruments to mitigate the impacts and revitalize the economy. This paper explores the effects of the various government policy decisions on stock returns, housing prices, and investor psychology during the pandemic in the United States. A numerous previous literature studies on this subject, yet very few focus on the context similar to what we are currently experiencing. Our monthly data covering the period from January 2019 through July 2021 were collected from Datastream. Utilizing the VAR model, we document a dynamic relationship between the market and policy actions throughout the period. In particular, the movements of Unemployment, Stock returns, and Housing prices are strongly sensitive to changes in government policies. Our results also indicate that changes in production level, stock returns, and interest rates decisions influence how investors perceived future market risk and expectations. We do not find any significant nexus between monetary and fiscal policy. Our findings imply that information on government policy and stock market performance provide useful feedback to one another in order to make better decisions in the current and future pandemic. Understanding how the market responds to a shift in government practices has important implications for authorities in implementing policy to avoid assets bubbles and market overreactions. The paper also provides useful implications for investors in evaluating the effectiveness of different policies and diversifying portfolios to minimize systematic risk and maximize returns.

Keywords: Covid-19 recession, United States, government policies, investor psychology, housing prices, stock market returns

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Authors: Rogelio Omar Corona-Núñez, Alma Mendoza-Ponce

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The Tropical Dry Forest not only is one of the most important tropical ecosystems in terms of area, but also it is one of the most degraded ecosystems. However, little is known about the degradation impacts on carbon stocks, therefore in carbon emissions. There are different studies which explain its deforestation dynamics, but there is still a lack of understanding of how they correlate to carbon losses. Recently different authors have built current biomass maps for the tropics and Mexico. However, it is not clear how well they predict at the local scale, and how they can be used to estimate carbon emissions. This study quantifies the forest net carbon losses by comparing the potential carbon stocks and the different current biomass maps in the Southern Pacific coast in Oaxaca, Mexico. The results show important differences in the current biomass estimates with not a clear agreement. However, by the aggregation of the information, it is possible to infer the general patterns of biomass distribution and it can identify the driving forces of the carbon emissions. This study estimated that currently ~44% of the potential carbon stock estimated for the region is still present. A total of 6,764 GgC has been emitted due to deforestation and degradation of the forest at a rate of above ground biomass loss of 66.4 Mg ha-1. Which, ~62% of the total carbon emissions can be regarded as being due to forest degradation. Most of carbon losses were identified in places suitable for agriculture, close to rural areas and to roads while the lowest losses were accounted in places with high water stress and within the boundaries of the National Protected Area. Moreover, places not suitable for agriculture, but close to the coast showed carbon losses as a result of urban settlements.

Keywords: above ground biomass, deforestation, degradation, driving forces, tropical deciduous forest

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Authors: Saima Nasreen, Uzaira Rafique, Shery Ehrman, Muhammad Aqeel Ashraf

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The release of heavy metals into the environment is a potential threat to water and soil quality as well as to plant, animal and human health. In current research work, organically functionalized mesoporous silicates (MSU-H) were prepared by the co-condensation between sodium silicate and oregano alkoxysilanes in the presence of the nonionic surfactant triblock copolymer P104. The surfactant was used as a template for improving the porosity of the hybrid gels. Synthesized materials were characterized by TEM, FT-IR, SEM/EDX, TG, surface area analysis. The surface morphology and textural properties of such materials varied with various kinds of groups in the channels. In this study, removal of some heavy metals ions from aqueous solution by adsorption process was investigated. Batch adsorption studies show that the adsorption capacity of metal ions on the functionalized silicates is more than that on pure MSU-H. Data shows adsorption on synthesized materials is a time efficient process, suggesting adsorption on external surface as well as the mesoporous process. Adsorption models of Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin depicted equal goodness for all adsorbents, whereas pseudo 2nd order kinetics is in best agreement with experimental data.

Keywords: heavy metals, mesoporous silica, hybrid, adsorption, freundlich, langmuir, temkin

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Authors: A. Latif Karimi, M. K. Shrimali

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Seismic design is a critical stage in the process of design and construction of a building. It includes strategies for designing earthquake-resistant buildings to ensure health, safety, and security of the building occupants and assets. Hence, it becomes very important to understand the behavior of structural members precisely, for construction of buildings that can yield a better response to seismic forces. This paper investigates the behavior of a typical structure when subjected to ground motion. The corresponding mode shapes and modal frequencies are studied to interpret the response of an actual structure using different fabricated models and 3D visual models. In this study, three different structural configurations are subjected to horizontal ground motion, and the effect of “stiffness eccentricity” and placement of infill walls are checked to determine how each parameter contributes in a building’s response to dynamic forces. The deformation data from lab experiments and the analysis on SAP2000 software are reviewed to obtain the results. This study revealed that seismic response in a building can be improved by introducing higher deformation capacity in the building. Also, proper design of infill walls and maintaining a symmetrical configuration in a building are the key factors in building stability during the earthquake.

Keywords: eccentricity, seismic response, mode shape, building configuration, building dynamics

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Authors: Adam Al-Harbi, Chanel Powell, Katelyn Ward

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In the age of social media and online body forums, the perception of body image among teenagers is constantly evolving. Growing up in an era of instant comparison facilitated by the internet, adolescents often struggle with self-identity, comparing their lives and bodies to countless others online. This environment has made it easier for them to access information on restrictive diets and fasting, contributing to the unfortunate glamorization of eating disorders. Although beauty standards have existed for centuries, social media amplifies these pressures. Platforms such as Instagram and TikTok have created spaces where teens are constantly exposed to idealized body types and beauty standards. This exposure often leads to harmful comparisons, fostering feelings of inadequacy and negative self-worth. Research indicates that adolescents, especially young girls, are at heightened risk for developing eating disorders like anorexia nervosa as they internalize these unrealistic standards. Anorexia nervosa, which has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder, is particularly alarming, with one in five anorexia deaths resulting from suicide. Young individuals with anorexia are twelve times more likely to die than their peers without the disorder. This paper aims to summarize the current state of literature comparing cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and family-based therapy (FBT) in reducing morbidity, and mortality, and preventing symptom recurrence among adolescents with anorexia. CBT is a widely used treatment for eating disorders, particularly anorexia nervosa, while FBT is notable for its involvement of family members, which is crucial for developing teens and adolescents.

Keywords: psychology, CBT, FBT, eating disorders, anorexia, therapeutic modalities

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Authors: Wendu Admasu, Assefa Sintayehu, Alemu Gezahgne, Zewdu Terefework

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Eucalyptus is the most widely planted forest tree species in the world. In Ethiopia, pathogenic fungi pose an increasing threat to Eucalyptus species. Due to limited research, there is insufficient information on the associated diseases and pathogens. This study investigated Eucalyptus diseases, the extent of their damage, and the causal fungal pathogens. A Eucalyptus disease survey was conducted in the Eucalyptus forestry areas of Ethiopia during the growth years 2019/20 and 2020/21. Disease assessment and sampling were carried out in eighteen plantations at nine locations. E. camaldulensis was the most dominant species planted in the surveyed areas. The field study shows a high incidence and severity of canker diseases. Diseased stem and branch samples were collected, cultured on malt extract agar media and studied. The results of morphological and ITS sequence analysis confirmed that the fungal species Neofusicoccum parvum, Lasiodiplodia theobromae, and Aplosporella hesperidica caused the observed canker symptoms. This is the first report of Lasiodiplodia theobromae and Aplosporella hesperidica causing diseases in Eucalyptus plants in Ethiopia. Changes in global climate and environmental factors, such as altitude, are believed to have a strong impact on the susceptibility of Eucalyptus plants to diseases. Strict quarantine practices and continuous monitoring of pathogenic and endophytic fungal species associated with Eucalyptus trees are issued to be prioritized to effectively control and manage the disease.

Keywords: Neofusicoccum, Lasiodiplodia, Aplosporella, pathogenicity, phylogeny, severity

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Authors: Qinglin Liu, Zhiyong Lin, Zongheng Wei, Jianfeng Wen, Congming Yi, Hai Liu

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The multi-channel blind rendezvous problem in distributed cognitive radio networks (DCRNs) refers to how users in the network can hop to the same channel at the same time slot without any prior knowledge (i.e., each user is unaware of other users' information). The channel hopping (CH) technique is a typical solution to this blind rendezvous problem. In this paper, we propose a quinary coding and matrix structure-based CH algorithm called QCMS-CH. The QCMS-CH algorithm can guarantee the rendezvous of users using only one cognitive radio in the scenario of the asynchronous clock (i.e., arbitrary time drift between the users), heterogeneous channels (i.e., the available channel sets of users are distinct), and symmetric role (i.e., all users play a same role). The QCMS-CH algorithm first represents a randomly selected channel (denoted by R) as a fixed-length quaternary number. Then it encodes the quaternary number into a quinary bootstrapping sequence according to a carefully designed quaternary-quinary coding table with the prefix "R00". Finally, it builds a CH matrix column by column according to the bootstrapping sequence and six different types of elaborately generated subsequences. The user can access the CH matrix row by row and accordingly perform its channel, hoping to attempt rendezvous with other users. We prove the correctness of QCMS-CH and derive an upper bound on its Maximum Time-to-Rendezvous (MTTR). Simulation results show that the QCMS-CH algorithm outperforms the state-of-the-art in terms of the MTTR and the Expected Time-to-Rendezvous (ETTR).

Keywords: channel hopping, blind rendezvous, cognitive radio networks, quaternary-quinary coding

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Authors: Christian Perrin, Nicholas Blagden, Louise Allen, Sarah Impey

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Social workers in the UK and professionals globally are faced with a particular challenge when dealing with allegations of child sexual abuse (CSA) in the community. In the absence of a conviction or incontestable evidence, staff can often find themselves unable to take decisive action to remove a child from harm, even though there may be a credible threat to their welfare. Conversely, practitioners may over-calculate risk through fear of being accountable for harm. This is, in part, due to the absence of a structured and evidence-based risk assessment tool which can predict the likelihood of a person committing child sexual abuse. Such assessments are often conducted by forensic professionals who utilise offence-specific data and personal history information to calculate risk. In situations where only allegations underpin a case, this mode of assessment is not viable. There are further ethical issues surrounding the assessment of risk in this area which require expert consideration and sensitive planning. This paper explores this entangled problem extant in the wider call to prevent sexual and child sexual abuse in the community. To this end, 32 qualitative interviews were undertaken with social workers dealing with CSA cases. Results were analysed using thematic analysis and operationalised to formulate a risk and protection protocol for use in case management. This paper reports on the early findings associated with the initial indications of protocol reliability. Implications for further research and practice are discussed.

Keywords: sexual offending, child sexual offence, offender rehabilitation, risk assessment, offence prevention

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Authors: Dawid Jakimiuk, Krzysztof Mitura, Leszek Szpakowski, Sławomir Pilip, Daniel Celiński

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The Emergency Medical Teams (EMS) of the Ambulance Service in Siedlce serve the population living in the Mazowieckie Voivodeship (the area of eastern Poland with approximately 550,000 inhabitants). They provide health services at the pre-hospital stage to all life-threatening patients. The analysis covered the interventions of emergency medical teams in cases of suicide attempts that occurred in the years 2015-2018. The study was retrospective. The data was obtained on the basis of digital medical records of completed call-outs. When defining the disease entity, the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Health Problems ICD-10 prepared by WHO was used. The relationship between selected disease entities and the area of EMT intervention, the patient's sex and age, and the time of occurrence of the event were investigated. Non-urban area was defined as the area inhabited by a population below 10,000 residents. Statistical analysis was performed using Pearson's Chi ^ 2 test and presenting the percentage of cases in the study group. Of all the suicide attempts, drug abuse cases were the most frequent, including: X60 (Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to nonopioid analgesics, antipyretics and antirheumatics); X61 (Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to antiepileptic, sedative-hypnotic, antiparkinsonian and psychotropic drugs, not elsewhere classified); X62 (Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to narcotics and psycholeptics [hallucinogens], not elsewhere classified); X63 (Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to other drugs acting on the autonomic nervous system); X64 (Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to other and unspecified drugs, medicaments and biological substance) oraz X70 (Intentional self-harm by hanging, strangulation and suffocation). In total, they accounted for 69.4% of all interventions to suicide attempts in the studied period. Statistical analysis shows significant differences (χ2 = 39.30239, p <0.0001, n = 561) between the area of EMT intervention and the type of suicide attempt. In non-urban areas, a higher percentage of X70 diagnoses was recorded (55.67%), while in urban areas, X60-X64 (72.53%). In non-urban areas, a higher proportion of patients attempting suicide was observed compared to patients living in urban areas. For X70 and X60 - X64 in total, the incidence rates in non-urban areas were 80.8% and 56%, respectively. Significant differences were found (χ2 = 119.3304, p <0.0001, n = 561) depending on the method of attempting suicide in relation to the patient's sex. The percentage of women diagnosed with X60-X64 versus X70 was 87.50%, which was the largest number of patients (n = 154) as compared to men. In the case of X70 in relation to X60-X64, the percentage of men was 62.08%, which was the largest number of patients (n = 239) as compared to women (n = 22). In the case of X70, the percentage of men compared to women was as high as 92%. Significant differences were observed (χ2 = 14.94848, p <0.01058) between the hour of EMT intervention and the type of suicide attempt. The highest percentage of X70 occurred between 04:01 - 08:00 (64.44%), while X60-X64 between 00:01 - 04:00 (70.45%). The largest number of cases of all tested suicide attempts was recorded between 16:01 - 20:00 for X70 (n = 62), X60 - X64 (n = 82), respectively. The highest percentage of patients undertaking all suicide attempts studied at work was observed in the age range of 18-30 (31.5%), while the lowest was in the age group over 60 years of age. (11%). There was no significant correlation between the day of the week or individual months of the year and the type of suicide attempt - respectively (χ2 = 6.281729, p <0.39238, n = 561) and (χ2 = 3.348913, p <0.9857, n = 561). There were also no significant differences in the incidence of suicide attempts for each year in the study period (χ2 = 3.348913, p <0.9857 n = 561). The obtained results suggest the necessity to undertake preventive measures in order to minimize the number of suicide attempts. Such activities should be directed especially at young patients living in non-urban areas.

Keywords: emergency med, emergency medical team, attempted suicide, pre-hospital

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Authors: A. D. Susanti, W. B. Sediawan, S. K. Wirawan, Budhijanto, Ritmaleni

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Rice bran oil contains significant amounts of oryzanol, a natural antioxidant that considered has higher antioxidant activity than vitamin E (tocopherol). Oryzanol reviewed has several health properties and interested in pharmacy, nutrition, and cosmetics. For practical usage, isolation and purification would be necessary due to the low concentration of oryzanol in crude rice bran oil (0.9-2.9%). Batch chromatography has proved as a promising process for the oryzanol recovery, but productivity was still low and scale-up processes of industrial interest have not yet been described. In order to improve productivity of batch chromatography, a continuous chromatography design namely Simulated Moving Bed (SMB) concept have been proposed. The SMB concept has interested for continuous commercial scale separation of binary system (oryzanol and rice bran oil), and rice bran oil still obtained as side product. Design of SMB chromatography for oryzanol separation requires quantification of its equilibrium. In this study, equilibrium of oryzanol separation conducted in batch adsorption using silica as the adsorbent and n-hexane/acetone (9:1) as the eluent. Three isotherm models, namely the Henry, Langmuir, and Freundlich equations, have been applied and modified for the experimental data to establish appropriate correlation for each sample. It turned out that the model quantitatively describe the equilibrium experimental data and will directed for design of SMB chromatography.

Keywords: adsorption, equilibrium, oryzanol, rice bran oil, simulated moving bed

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Authors: Warda L. Panondi, Norihiro Izumi

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Sedimentation is a significant threat to the sustainability of reservoirs and their watershed. In the Philippines, the Pulangi watershed experienced a high sediment loss mainly due to land conversions and plantations that showed critical erosion rates beyond the tolerable limit of -10 ton/ha/yr in all of its sub-basin. From this event, the prediction of runoff volume and sediment yield is essential to examine using the country's soil conservation techniques realistically. In this research, the Pulangi watershed was modeled using the soil water assessment tool (SWAT) to predict its watershed basin's annual runoff and sediment yield. For the calibration and validation of the model, the SWAT-CUP was utilized. The model was calibrated with monthly discharge data for 1990-1993 and validated for 1994-1997. Simultaneously, the sediment yield was calibrated in 2014 and validated in 2015 because of limited observed datasets. Uncertainty analysis and calculation of efficiency indexes were accomplished through the SUFI-2 algorithm. According to the coefficient of determination (R2), Nash Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE), King-Gupta efficiency (KGE), and PBIAS, the calculation of streamflow indicates a good performance for both calibration and validation periods while the sediment yield resulted in a satisfactory performance for both calibration and validation. Therefore, this study was able to identify the most critical sub-basin and severe needs of soil conservation. Furthermore, this study will provide baseline information to prevent floods and landslides and serve as a useful reference for land-use policies and watershed management and sustainability in the Pulangi watershed.

Keywords: Pulangi watershed, sediment yield, streamflow, SWAT model

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Authors: Lydia Andrade, Kumar M. R. Bhat

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Heavy metals, especially lead, is considered to be a multi-organ toxicant. However, such heavy metals, are used in the preparation of traditional medicines. Nagabhasma is one of the traditional medicines. Lead is the metal used in its preparation. Lead is converted into a health beneficial, organometallic compound, when subjected to various traditional methods of purification. Therefore, this study is designed to evaluate the effect of such processed lead in various stages of traditionally prepared Nagabhasma on the histological structure of kidneys. Using the human equivalent doses of Nagabhasma, various stages of its preparation were fed orally for 30 days and 60 days (short term and long term). The treated and untreated rats were then sacrificed for the collection of kidneys. The kidneys were processed for histopathological study. The results show severe changes in the histological structure of kidneys. The animals treated with lead acetate showed changes in the epithelial cells lining the bowman’s capsule. The proximal and distal convoluted tubules were dilated leading to atrophy of their epithelial cells. The amount of inflammatory infiltrates was more in this group. A few groups also showed pockets of inter-tubular hemorrhage. These changes, however, were minimized as the stages progressed form stages 1 to 4 of Nagabhasma preparation. Therefore, it is necessary to stringently monitor the processing of lead acetate during the preparation of Nagabhasma.

Keywords: heavy metals, kidneys, lead acetate, Nagabhasma

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Authors: Xuguo Zhang, Jimmy Fung, Kenneth Leung, Alexis Lau

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Fine particulate matter concentrations have been decreasing in the past few years while the ozone concentrations are posing an increasing trend in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) of China. A series of control policies have been released to mitigate the country-wide air pollution, however, how to effectively evaluate the exercised control measures and efficiently reveal potential projected mitigation pathways are still limited. By refining an enhanced air-quality-modeling system, this study provides an account of the air quality assessments from 2019 to 2025 to appraise the air quality results and improvement under designed scenarios for assessing the optimum scope for tightening the Air Quality Objectives (AQOs). The results show that it is doable to tighten the 24-hour AQO for SO2 from the World Health Objective air quality guidelines Interim Targets Level-1 (IT-1) (125μg/m3) to IT-2 level (50μg/m3) with the current number of exceedance allowed (three) remains unchanged. It is also possible to tighten the annual AQO for PM2.5 from IT-1 (35 μg/m3) to IT 2 (25 μg/m3), and its 24-hr AQO from IT-1 (75 μg/m3) to IT 2 (50 μg/m3) with the number of exceedances allowed increased from current nine to 35. Regional cooperation under the development of the GBA cooperation are still needed to be focused and strengthen due to the cross-boundary transport characteristics of the air pollution.

Keywords: air quality attainment, Hong Kong, mitigation policy, chemical transport modeling, sensitivity analysis

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Authors: Vinodd Nayak

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10th & 12th are the most crucial period in a student’s life. It is the time when he or she has to make vital career choices and get the relevant professional education. Unfortunately most students are not aware of the multitudes of career options available to them. This leads to affect our social fabric of the society with issues like unemployment, stress etc. We have planned a guidance program for the youth in Maharashtra state which has 4 components; creating awareness about different career options, proper guidance and motivation, counseling for parents, and information on financial aid for unemployed youth we are conducting skill development programs. Currently we are conducting programs under 4 categories Uneducated Youth: Skill Development programs for unemployed youth in construction field (Carpentry/Masoning/Wlder/Electrician/Tiling etc..) in association with L&T Construction Training Institute Educated Youth: Il&FS: Training and Job Placement in the field of Finance and Customer Service NIS Sparta: Training and Job Placement in the field of Sales and Marketing Apeejay Inst. of Hotel Management: Training and Job Placement in the field of hospitality industry Skill India: Training and Job Placement in the field of IT Results: The results were really overwhelming. We were able to cater to approx. 10,000 students a year and the list is growing. Earlier we were only catering to schools and colleges, now we have started receiving invitations from other community organizations to conduct such programs for their communities Implications for Social Work and Social Development practice: It is a high time that Social work organisations need to get into such work as this will enhance people to improve their financial condition. We always believed that it is better to teach a man to fish than feed him.

Keywords: youth education, career guidance, skill development, parental guidance

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Authors: H. Merhni, A. Sbiti, I. Ratbi, A. Sefiani

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The proximal spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a group of neuromuscular disorders characterized by progressive muscle weakness due to the degeneration and loss of anterior motor neurons of the spinal cord. Depending on the age of onset of symptoms and their evolution, four types of SMA, varying in severity, result in a mutations of the SMN gene (survival of Motor neuron). We have analyzed the DNA of 295 patients referred to our genetic counseling; since January 1996 until October 2014; for suspected SMA. The homozygous deletion of exon 7 of the SMN gene was found in 133 patients; of which, 40.6% were born to consanguineous parents. In countries like Morocco, where the frequency of heterozygotes for SMA is high, genetic testing should be offered as first-line and, after careful clinical assessment, especially in newborns and infants with congenital hypotonia unexplained and prognosis compromise. The molecular diagnosis of SMA allows a quick and certainly diagnosis, provide adequate genetic counseling for families at risk and suggest, for couples who want prenatal diagnosis. The analysis of the SMN gene is a perfect example of genetic testing with an excellent cost/benefit ratio that can be of great interest in public health, especially in low-income countries. We emphasize in this work for the benefit of the generalization of molecular diagnosis of SMA by the technique of PCR-enzymatic digestion in other centers in Morocco.

Keywords: Exon7, PCR-digestion, SMA, SMN gene

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Authors: Salma Ainine, Colin Ritchie, Tracey McFee

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Background: The societal impact of antibiotic resistance is a major public health concern. The increase in the incidence of resistant bacteria can ultimately be fatal. Objective: To analyse the appropriateness of antibiotic prescribing in Dundee Dental Hospital, ultimately improving the safety and quality of patient care. Methods: Two examiners independently cross-checked approximately fifty consecutive prescriptions, and corresponding patient case notes, for three data collection cycles between August 2014–September 2015. The Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Program (SDCEP) Drug Prescribing for Dentistry guidelines was the standard utilised. The criteria: clinical justification, regime justification, and review arrangements was measured, and compared to the standard. Results: Cycle one revealed 42% of antibiotic prescriptions were appropriate. Interventions included: multiple staff meetings, an introduction of a checklist attached to the prescription pack, and production of patient leaflets explaining indications for antibiotics. Cycle two and three revealed 44%, and 30% compliance, respectively. Conclusion: The results of the audit have yet to meet target standards set out in prescribing guidelines. However, steps are being taken and change has occurred on a cultural level.

Keywords: antibiotic resistance, antibiotic stewardship, dental infection, hygiene standards

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Authors: Shriya Shukla, Lachin Fernando

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Pneumonia, a leading cause of mortality in young children globally, presents significant diagnostic challenges, particularly in resource-limited settings. This study presents an approach to diagnosing pediatric pneumonia using Chest X-Ray (CXR) images, employing a lightweight MobileNetV2 model enhanced with synthetic data augmentation. Addressing the challenge of dataset scarcity and imbalance, the study used a Variational Autoencoder-Generative Adversarial Network (VAE-GAN) to generate synthetic CXR images, improving the representation of normal cases in the pediatric dataset. This approach not only addresses the issues of data imbalance and scarcity prevalent in medical imaging but also provides a more accessible and reliable diagnostic tool for early pneumonia detection. The augmented data improved the model’s accuracy and generalization, achieving an overall accuracy of 95% in pneumonia detection. These findings highlight the efficacy of the MobileNetV2 model, offering a computationally efficient yet robust solution well-suited for resource-constrained environments such as mobile health applications. This study demonstrates the potential of synthetic data augmentation in enhancing medical image analysis for critical conditions like pediatric pneumonia.

Keywords: pneumonia, MobileNetV2, image classification, GAN, VAE, deep learning

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Authors: K. Shaloom Mbambu, M. Pascal Tshimbalanga, K. Ruth Mutala, K. Roger Kabuya, N. Dieudonné Kabeya, Y. L. Kabeya Mukeba

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In this article, the authors examine the even more worrying situation of girls in sub-Saharan Africa. Two-girls on five are private of Global Education, which represents a real loss to the development of communities and countries. Cultural traditions, poverty, violence, early and forced marriages, early pregnancies, and many other gender inequalities were the causes of this cancer development. Namely, "it is no more efficient development tool that is educating girls." The non-schooling of girls and their lack of supervision by liberal professions have serious consequences for the life of each of them. To improve the conditions of their inferior status, girls to men introduce poverty and health risks. Raising awareness among parents and communities on the importance of girls' education, improving children's access to school, girl-boy equality with their rights, creating income, and generating activities for girls, girls, and girls learning of liberal trades to make them self-sufficient. Organizations such as the United Nations Organization can save the children. ASEAD and the AEDA group are predicting the impact of this cancer on the development of a nation's future generation must be preserved.

Keywords: young girl, Sub-Saharan Africa, higher and vocational education, development, society, environment

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Authors: Syahidah N. Zulkifli, Herlina A. Rahim, Nurul A. M. Subha

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Sustaining water quality is critical in order to avoid any harmful health consequences for end-user consumers. The detection of microbial impurities at the household level is the foundation of water security. Water quality is now monitored only at water utilities or infrastructure, such as water treatment facilities or reservoirs. This research provides a first-hand scientific understanding of microbial composition presence in Malaysia’s household point-of-use (POUs) water supply influenced by seasonal fluctuations, standstill periods, and flow dynamics by using the NIR-Raman spectroscopic technique. According to the findings, 20% of water samples were contaminated by pathogenic bacteria, which are Legionella and Salmonella cells. A comparison of the spectra reveals significant signature peaks (420 cm⁻¹ to 1800 cm⁻¹), including species-specific bands. This demonstrates the importance of regularly monitoring POUs water quality to provide a safe and clean water supply to homeowners. Conventional Raman spectroscopy, up-to-date, is no longer suited for real-time monitoring. Therefore, this study introduced an alternative micro-spectrometer to give a rapid and sustainable way of monitoring POUs water quality. Assessing microbiological threats in water supply becomes more reliable and efficient by leveraging IoT protocol.

Keywords: microbial contaminants, water quality, water monitoring, Raman spectroscopy

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Authors: Setareh Shayanfar

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Given the increasing importance of peer relationships during adolescence, the present study aimed to examine peer interactions that facilitate or hinder adolescents’ regulation of negative emotions. Using the Enhanced Critical Incident Technique, 1-hour semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 junior high school adolescents. Participants were asked to recall situations when they experienced strong negative emotions during the past school year, indicate the peer interactions that helped or hindered their emotion regulation, and identify prospective interactions with the potential to help regulate their emotions. Data analysis extracted 182 critical incidents, including 109 helping incidents, 45 hindering incidents, and 28 wish list items, which generated 10 categories nested within four overarching themes: Positive Personal Support included (a) supportive presence, (b) expressing concern, (c) empathizing, and (d) encouraging and cheering up; while Strategy Transmission included (e) sharing perspective, and (f) giving advice; Activated Support included (g) taking action, and (h) distracting; while Negative Personal Interactions included (i) withdrawing and (j) punishing. Implications for mental health and service providers, as well as recommendations for future research, are presented.

Keywords: adolescence, emotion regulation, enhanced critical incident technique, peers

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Authors: K. M. Wong

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Engineering education is crucial to technological innovation and advancement worldwide by generating young talents who are able to integrate scientific principles and design practical solutions for real-world problems. Graduates of engineering curriculums are expected to demonstrate an extensive set of learning outcomes as required in international accreditation agreements for engineering academic qualifications, such as the Washington Accord and the Sydney Accord. On the other hand, students have different learning preferences of receiving, processing and internalizing knowledge and skills. If the learning environment is advantageous to the learning styles of the students, there is a higher chance that the students can achieve the intended learning outcomes. With proper identification of the learning styles of the students, corresponding teaching strategies can then be developed for more effective learning. This research was an investigation of learning styles of tertiary students studying higher diploma programmes in Hong Kong. Data from over 200 students in engineering programmes were collected and analysed to identify the learning characteristics of students. A small-scale longitudinal study was then started to gather academic results of the students throughout their two-year engineering studies. Preliminary results suggested that the sample students were reflective, sensing, visual, and sequential learners. Observations from the analysed data not only provided valuable information for teachers to design more effective teaching strategies, but also provided data for further analysis with the students’ academic results. The results generated from the longitudinal study shed light on areas of improvement for more effective engineering curriculum design for better teaching and learning.

Keywords: learning styles, learning characteristics, engineering education, vocational education, Hong Kong

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