Search results for: basic cardiac life support

Authors: Arash Sepehri Bonab

Abstract:

Techniques to switch cells between development and differentiation, which tend to be commonly exclusive, are utilized in arrange to supply an expansive cell mass that can perform particular separated capacities required for the tissue to develop. Approaches to tissue engineering center on the have to give signals to cell populaces to advance cell multiplication and separation. Current tissue regenerative procedures depend primarily on tissue repair by transplantation of synthetic/natural inserts. In any case, restrictions on the existing procedures have expanded the request for tissue designing approaches. Tissue engineering innovation and stem cell investigation based on tissue building have made awesome advances in overcoming the issues of tissue and organ damage, useful loss, and surgical complications. Bone tissue has the capability to recover itself; in any case, surrenders of a basic estimate anticipate the bone from recovering and require extra support. The advancement of bone tissue building has been utilized to form useful options to recover the bone. This paper primarily portrays current advances in tissue engineering in different fields of bone and talks about the long-term trend of tissue designing innovation in the treatment of complex diseases.

Keywords: tissue engineering, bone, technologies, treatment

Procedia PDF Downloads 87

Authors: Manvar Sagar, Nikul Virpariya

Abstract:

The advancement in data mining techniques plays an important role in many applications. In context of privacy and security issues, the problems caused by association rule mining technique are investigated by many research scholars. It is proved that the misuse of this technique may reveal the database owner’s sensitive and private information to others. Many researchers have put their effort to preserve privacy in Association Rule Mining. Amongst the two basic approaches for privacy preserving data mining, viz. Randomization based and Cryptography based, the later provides high level of privacy but incurs higher computational as well as communication overhead. Hence, it is necessary to explore alternative techniques that improve the over-heads. In this work, we propose an efficient, collusion-resistant cryptography based approach for distributed Association Rule mining using Shamir’s secret sharing scheme. As we show from theoretical and practical analysis, our approach is provably secure and require only one time a trusted third party. We use secret sharing for privately sharing the information and code based identification scheme to add support against malicious adversaries.

Keywords: Privacy, Privacy Preservation in Data Mining (PPDM), horizontally partitioned database, EMHS, MFI, shamir secret sharing

Procedia PDF Downloads 393

Authors: Cindy de Frias, Erum Whyne

Abstract:

Objectives: The current study examined whether the link between stress and health-related quality of life was buffered by protective factors, namely mindfulness, in a sample of middle-aged and older adults. Method: In this cross-sectional study, 134 healthy, community-dwelling adults (aged 50–85 years) were recruited from Dallas, Texas. The participants were screened for depressive symptoms and severity (using the Patient Health Questionnaire [PHQ-9]). All participants completed measures of self-reported health status (i.e., SF-36v2: mental and physical health composites), life stress (using the Elder’s Life Stress Inventory [ELSI]), and trait mindfulness (i.e., Mindful Attention Awareness Scale). Results: Hierarchical regressions (covarying for age, gender, and education) showed that life stress was inversely related to physical and mental health. Mindfulness was positively related to mental health. The negative effect of life stress on mental health was weakened for those individuals with greater trait mindfulness. Discussion: The results suggest that mindfulness is a powerful, adaptive strategy that may protect middle-aged and older adults from the well-known harmful effects of stress on healthy aging.

Keywords: health, stress, mindfulness, aging

Procedia PDF Downloads 456

Authors: Xu Mengyuan, Xu Lei

Abstract:

Behind the rapid development of Chinese city, the contradiction of frequent urban waterlogging and the shortage of water resources is deepening. In order to solve this problem, introduce the low impact development "sponge city" construction mode in the process of the construction of new urbanization in China, make our city " resilience to adapt" environmental change and natural disaster. Firstly this paper analyses the basic reason of urban waterlogging, then introduces the basic connotation and realization approach of “sponge city”. Finally, study on the project in Lishui Guazhou, focuses on the analysis of the "urban ecological corridor" construction strategy and the positive impact on city in the construction of “sponge city”. Meanwhile, we put forward the ”local conditions” and ”sustainable” as the construction ideas, make use of ecological construction leading city development, explore the ecological balance through the city to enhance the regional value, and providing reference and reflection for the development and future of the “sponge city” in China.

Keywords: urban water logging, sponge city, urban ecological corridor, sustainable development, China

Procedia PDF Downloads 629

Authors: Chunying Fang, Haifeng Li, Lin Ma, Mancai Zhang

Abstract:

Speech intelligibility assessment is an important measure to evaluate the functional outcomes of surgical and non-surgical treatment, speech therapy and rehabilitation. The assessment of pathological speech plays an important role in assisting the experts. Pathological speech usually is non-stationary and mutational, in this paper, we describe a multi-granularity combined feature schemes, and which is optimized by hierarchical visual method. First of all, the difference granularity level pathological features are extracted which are BAFS (Basic acoustics feature set), local spectral characteristics MSCC (Mel s-transform cepstrum coefficients) and nonlinear dynamic characteristics based on chaotic analysis. Latterly, radar chart and F-score are proposed to optimize the features by the hierarchical visual fusion. The feature set could be optimized from 526 to 96-dimensions.The experimental results denote that new features by support vector machine (SVM) has the best performance, with a recognition rate of 84.4% on NKI-CCRT corpus. The proposed method is thus approved to be effective and reliable for pathological speech intelligibility evaluation.

Keywords: pathological speech, multi-granularity feature, MSCC (Mel s-transform cepstrum coefficients), F-score, radar chart

Procedia PDF Downloads 272

Authors: Peter Balco, Miriam Filipova

Abstract:

The university education is generally concentrated on acquiring theoretical as well as professional knowledge. The right mix of these knowledges is key in creating innovative as well as inventive solutions. Despite the understanding of their importance by the professional community, these are promoted with problems and misunderstanding. The reason for the failure of many non-traditional, innovative approaches is the ignorance of Leadership in the process of their implementation, ie decision-making. In our paper, we focused on the role of Leadership in the educational process and how this knowledge can support decision-making, the selection of a suitable, optimal solution for practice.

Keywords: leadership, soft skills, innovation, invention, knowledge

Procedia PDF Downloads 178

Authors: Tigist Girma Kedane

Abstract:

The purpose of the current research work is to measure the physical properties of bamboo species in Ethiopia on the impact of age, harvesting seasons and culm height. Three representatives of bamboo plants are harvested in three groups of ages, 2 harvesting months, and 3 regions of Ethiopia. Research has not been done on the physical properties of bamboo species in Ethiopia so far. Moisture content and shrinkage of bamboo culm increase when the culm ages younger and moves from top to bottom position. The harvesting month of November has a higher moisture content and shrinkage compared to February. One year old of Injibara, Kombolcha, and Mekaneselam bamboo culm has 40%, 30%, and 33% higher moisture content, 29%, 24%, and 28% higher radial shrinkage, 32%, 37%, and 32% higher tangential shrinkage compared to 3 years old respectively. The bottom position of Injibara, Kombolcha, and Mekaneselam in November have 45%, 28%, and 25% higher moisture content, 41%, 29%, and 34% radial shrinkage, 29%, 28%, and 42% tangential shrinkage than the top position, respectively. The basic density increases as the age of the bamboo becomes older and moves from the bottom to the top position. November has the lowest basic density compared to February. 3 years old of Injibara, Kombolcha, and Mekaneselam at the age of 3 years have 32%, 50%, and 24% higher basic density compared to 1 year, whereas the top position has 35%, 26%, and 22% higher than the bottom position in February, respectively. The current research proposed that 3 years and February are suited for structural purposes and furniture making, but 1 year and November are suited for fiber extraction in the composite industry. The existence of water in the culm improves an easy extraction of the fibers without damage from the culm.

Keywords: bamboo age, bamboo height, harvesting seasons, physical properties

Procedia PDF Downloads 48

Authors: Mehrnoosh Askarizadeh

Abstract:

Agile manufacturing concept was first coined by Iacocca institute in 1991 as a new manufacturing paradigm in order to provide and ensure competitiveness in the emerging global manufacturing order. Afterward, a considerable number of studies have been conducted in this area. Reviewing these studies reveals that they mostly focus on agile manufacturing drivers, definition and characteristics but few of them propose practical solutions to achieve it. Agile manufacturing is recommended as a successful paradigm after lean for the 21st manufacturing firms. This competitive concept has been developed in response to the continuously changes and uncertainties in today’s business environment. In order to become an agile competitor, a manufacturing firm should focus on enriching its agility capabilities. These agility capabilities can be categorized into seven groups: proactiveness, customer focus, responsiveness, quickness, flexibility, basic competence and partnership. A manufacturing firm which is aiming at achieving agility should first develop its own appropriate agility strategy. This strategy prioritizes required agility capabilities.

Keywords: agile manufacturing, product architecture, customer focus, responsiveness, quickness, flexibility, basic competence

Procedia PDF Downloads 508

Authors: Varsha Pandurang Nagargoje, K. S. James

Abstract:

Background: Social participation is considered as one of the central components of successful and healthy aging. This study aimed to examine the moderating role of marital status and living arrangement in the relationship between social participation and life satisfaction and other potential factors associated with life satisfaction of Indian older adults. Method: For analyses, the nationally representative study sample of 31,464 adults aged ≥60 years old was extracted from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) wave 1, 2017-18. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis have been performed to determine the proportion of life satisfaction. The first set of multivariable linear regression analyses examined Diener’s Satisfaction with Life Scale and its association with various predictor variables, including social participation, marital status, living arrangements, socio-demographic, economic, and health-related variables. Further, the second and third sets of regression investigated the moderating role of marital status and living arrangements respectively in the association of social participation and level of life satisfaction among Indian older adults. Results: Overall, the proportion of life satisfaction among older men was relatively higher than women counterparts in most background characteristics. Regression results stressed the importance of older adults’ involvement in social participation [β = 0.39, p < 0.05], being in marital union [β = 0.68, p < 0.001] and co-residential living arrangements either only with spouse [β = 1.73, p < 0.001] or with other family members [β = 2.18, p < 0.001] for the improvement of life satisfaction. Results also showed that some factors were significant for life satisfaction: in particular, increased age, having a higher level of educational status, MPCE quintile, and caste category. Higher risk of life dissatisfaction found among Indian older adults who were exposed to vulnerabilities like consuming tobacco, poor self-rated health, having difficulty in performing ADL and IADL were of major concern. The interaction effect of social participation with marital status or with living arrangements explained that currently married older individuals, and those older adults who were either co-residing with their spouse only or with other family members irrespective of their involvement in social participation remained an important modifiable factor for life satisfaction. Conclusion: It would be crucial for policymakers and practitioners to advocate social policy programs and service delivery oriented towards meaningful social connections, especially for those Indian older adults who were staying alone or currently not in the marital union to enhance their overall life satisfaction.

Keywords: Indian, older adults, social participation, life satisfaction, marital status, living arrangement

Procedia PDF Downloads 121

Authors: Canga Mimoza, Irene Malagnino, Giulia Malagnino, Vito Malagnino

Abstract:

Aim: This study aims at evaluating the impact of total dust (LGS) and mineral dust (PM10), in the cardio vascular and respiratory systems. Also proving that these air polluters are the cause of several diseases, such as bronchopneumonia, pneumonia, bronchitis, angina pectoris and cardiac insufficiency. Material and Method: The study is concentrated in the cities of Fier and Vlora. This is a clinic-epidemiological study conducted during the time period 2014-2019. Some of the data of LGS and PM10 were obtained from the database of the Institute of Public Health. The formula to measure the mean value of LGS and PM10 is ∆X=X (mean)-Xᵢ. Results: Based on the calculations made, we noticed that: The mean value of LGS in the city of Fieri was 227,33, while the mean value of LGS in the city of Vlora was 177,4. Whereas, the mean value of PM10 in the city of Fieri was 105.5 and the mean value of PM10 in the city of Vlore was 77.5. According to, our statistics the values of LGS were 1.2 times higher in Fier than in Vlora and the PM10 values were 1.36 times higher in Fier than in Vlora. Based on the data, in the city of Fier, the incidence of the bronchopneumonia was 56.53 sick patients/1000 inhabitants, but in Vlora, it was 22 sick patients/1000 inhabitants, so the number of the sick patients was 2.5 times higher in the city of Fieri compared with Vlora city, (P=0.001). The number of the patients with bronchitis, in the city of Fier, was 18 patients/1000 inhabitants, whereas, in Vlora, it was 9 patients/1000 inhabitants, (P=0.005). Based on the data, 8 patients/1000 inhabitants in the city of Fier, suffered from the pneumonia disease, while in Vlora city, were 4 patients/1000 inhabitants, (P=0.005). Another disease taken in consideration was angina pectoris. This study can claim that in the city of Fier, 9.5 patients/1000 inhabitants suffered from this disease, while in Vlora city, were only 4 patients /1000 inhabitants, (P=0.001). Findings of the present study proved that 3.7 patients/1000 inhabitants in the city of Fieri, had cardiac insufficiency, whereas in the city of Vlora, were 1.8 patients/1000 inhabitants, (P=0.05). Conclusions: LGS and PM10 have an influential impact on the cardio vascular and respiratory system; that’s why their levels should be kept under control. The pollution levels are 1.2 and 1.4 times higher in Fier than in Vlora; also the incidences of the diseases are 2 times higher in Fier than in Vlora. Recommendations: In order to prevent the cardio vascular and respiratory diseases, we should avoid places where pollution is higher than the norm. This can be achieved by frequenting places where the air pollution is lower, such as parks, gardens, top floors, etc.

Keywords: impact of total dust, LGS, mineral dust, PM 10, cardio vascular pathologies, respiratory disease

Procedia PDF Downloads 106

Authors: Abdul-Monim Batiha

Abstract:

Aim: The aim of this study were to correlate Jordanian cancer patients’ quality of life and fatigue with selected variables (age, sex, religion, marital status, level of education, type of cancer, number of people living in the same household, type of radiotherapy, dose of radiotherapy, and hemoglobin level). Background: Radiotherapy and chemotherapy remain devastating agents that altered patients’ normal lives. Methods: A correlational design was used in this study to 80 cancer patients and required radiotherapy treatment using a convenience sampling procedure. Results: No significant differences were found in the relationship between quality of life scores and selected variables. A significant negative relationship was found between quality of life scores and the side effects of radiotherapy treatment. Significant positive relationships were found between fatigue scores measured by Piper Fatigue Scale and cancer complications, and radiotherapy side effects. Conclusion: Cancer patients’ quality of life and fatigue are affected by radiotherapy’s side effects and cancer complications. Implications for Nursing: Nurses should try to prevent and manage the negative side effects of radiotherapy and complications of cancer. Such an initiative would serve to design specific nursing interventions that have the potential to help patients enjoy their lives and perform their activities.

Keywords: cancer patients, piper fatigue scale, fatigue, quality of life, radiotherapy

Procedia PDF Downloads 524

Authors: Kamran Yazdanbakhsh, Somayeh Mahmoudi

Abstract:

Multiple sclerosis is the most common chronic disease of the central nervous system associated with demyelination of neurons and several demyelinated parts of the disease encompasses throughout the white matter and affects the sensory and motor function. This study compared the effectiveness of two methods of cognitive therapy and supportive-expressive therapy on the efficacy and quality of life in MS patients. This is an experimental project which has used developed group pretest - posttest and follow-up with 3 groups. The study included all patients with multiple sclerosis in 2013 that were members of the MS Society of Iran in Tehran. The sample included 45 patients with MS that were selected volunteerily of members of the MS society of Iran and randomly divided into three groups and pretest, posttest, and follow-up (three months) for the three groups had been done.The dimensions of quality of life in patients with multiple sclerosis scale, and general self-efficiency scale of Schwarzer and Jerusalem was used for collecting data. The results showed that there was a significant difference between the mean of quality of life scores at pretest, posttest, and follow-up of the experimental groups. There was no significant difference between the mean of quality of life of the experimental groups which means that both groups were effective and had the same effect. There was no significant difference between the mean of self-efficiency scores in control and experimental group in pretest, posttest and follow-up. Thus, by using cognitive and supportive-expressive group therapy we can improve quality of life in MS patients and make great strides in their mental health.

Keywords: cognitive group therapy, life style, MS, self-efficiency, supportive-expressive group therapy

Procedia PDF Downloads 474

Authors: Arne Fagerstrom, Gary Cunningham, Fredrik Hartwig

Abstract:

In this paper, a theory of sustainable enterprises, sustainable enterprise theory (SET), is developed. The sustainable enterprise theory can only be a valid theory if knowledge about life and nature is complete. Knowledge limitations should not stop enterprises from doing business with a goal of better long-term life on earth. Life demands stewardship of the resources used during one’s lifetime. This paper develops a model influenced by (the classical) enterprise theory and resource theory that includes more than money in the business activities of an enterprise. The sustainable enterprise theory is then used in an analysis of accountability and in discussions about sustainable businesses.

Keywords: sustainable business, sustainability reporting, sustainable values, theory of the firm

Procedia PDF Downloads 558

Authors: Elhadji Mamadou Sonko, Ndiogou Sankhare, Jean Birane Gning, Cheikh Diop

Abstract:

In Senegal, small towns have problems of access to water, hygiene, and sanitation. This study aims to assess the situation in Foundiougne. The methodology includes a literature review, semi-structured interviews with stakeholders, surveys of 100 households, and observation. The results show that 35% of households have unimproved water services, 46% have limited service, and 19% have basic service. Regarding sanitation, 77% of households have basic sanitation services, and 23% have limited sanitation services. Manual emptying alone is practiced by 4% of households, while 17% combine it with mechanical emptying. Household wastewater is disposed of in streets, vacant land, and concession yards. The emptied sludge is discharged into the environment without treatment. Hand washing is practiced by 98% of households. These results show that there is real work to be done at the small towns level to close the water and sanitation gap in order to achieve SDG 6 targets in Senegal.

Keywords: foundiougne, SDG 6, senegal, small towns, water sanitation ang hygiene

Procedia PDF Downloads 112

Authors: Marina Shakleina, Konstantin Shaklein, Stanislav Yakiro

Abstract:

The digitalization of modern human life over the last decade has facilitated the acquisition, storage, and processing of data, which are used to detect changes in consumer preferences and to improve the internal efficiency of the production process. This emerging trend has attracted academic interest in the use of big data in research. The study focuses on modeling the social comfort of the Russian population for the period 2010-2021 using big data. Big data provides enormous opportunities for understanding human interactions at the scale of society with plenty of space and time dynamics. One of the most popular big data sources is Google Trends. The methodology for assessing social comfort using big data involves several steps: 1. 574 words were selected based on the Harvard IV-4 Dictionary adjusted to fit the reality of everyday Russian life. The set of keywords was further cleansed by excluding queries consisting of verbs and words with several lexical meanings. 2. Search queries were processed to ensure comparability of results: the transformation of data to a 10-point scale, elimination of popularity peaks, detrending, and deseasoning. The proposed methodology for keyword search and Google Trends processing was implemented in the form of a script in the Python programming language. 3. Block and summary integral indicators of social comfort were constructed using the first modified principal component resulting in weighting coefficients values of block components. According to the study, social comfort is described by 12 blocks: ‘health’, ‘education’, ‘social support’, ‘financial situation’, ‘employment’, ‘housing’, ‘ethical norms’, ‘security’, ‘political stability’, ‘leisure’, ‘environment’, ‘infrastructure’. According to the model, the summary integral indicator increased by 54% and was 4.631 points; the average annual rate was 3.6%, which is higher than the rate of economic growth by 2.7 p.p. The value of the indicator describing social comfort in Russia is determined by 26% by ‘social support’, 24% by ‘education’, 12% by ‘infrastructure’, 10% by ‘leisure’, and the remaining 28% by others. Among 25% of the most popular searches, 85% are of negative nature and are mainly related to the blocks ‘security’, ‘political stability’, ‘health’, for example, ‘crime rate’, ‘vulnerability’. Among the 25% most unpopular queries, 99% of the queries were positive and mostly related to the blocks ‘ethical norms’, ‘education’, ‘employment’, for example, ‘social package’, ‘recycling’. In conclusion, the introduction of the latent category ‘social comfort’ into the scientific vocabulary deepens the theory of the quality of life of the population in terms of the study of the involvement of an individual in the society and expanding the subjective aspect of the measurements of various indicators. Integral assessment of social comfort demonstrates the overall picture of the development of the phenomenon over time and space and quantitatively evaluates ongoing socio-economic policy. The application of big data in the assessment of latent categories gives stable results, which opens up possibilities for their practical implementation.

Keywords: big data, Google trends, integral indicator, social comfort

Procedia PDF Downloads 190

Authors: Orit Shamir Balderman, Shamir Michal

Abstract:

Israel often deals with crisis situations, but most have been characterized as security crises (e.g., war). This is the first time that the Israel has dealt with a health and social emergency as part of a global crisis. The crisis began in January 2020 with the emergence of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19), which was defined as a pandemic (World Health Organization, 2020) and arrived in Israel in early March 2020. This study examined how single mothers by choice (SMBC) experience state anxiety (SA), social support, work–family conflict (WFC), and happiness. This group has not been studied in the context of crises in general or a global crisis. Using a snowball sample, 386 SMBCanswered an online questionnaire. The findings show a negative relationship between income and level of state anxiety. State anxiety was also negatively associated with social support, level of happiness, and WFC. Finally, a stepwise regression analysis indicated that happiness explained 34% of the variance in SA. We also found that most of the women did not turn to formal support agencies such as social workers, other Government Ministries, or municipal welfare. A positive and strong correlations was also found between SA and WFC. The findings of the study reinforce the understanding that although these women made a conscious and informed decision regarding the choice of their family cell, their situation is more complex in the absence of a spouse support. Therefore, this study, as other future studies in the field of SMBC, may contribute to the improvement of their social status and the understanding that they are a unique group. Although SMBC are a growing sector of society in the past few years, there are still special needs and special attention that is needed from the formal and informal supports systems. A comparative study of these two groups and in different countries would shed light on SA among mothers in general, regardless of their relationship status and location.Researchers should expand this study by comparing mothers in relationships and exploring how SMBC coped in other countries. In summary, the findings of the study contribute knowledge on three levels: (a) knowledge about SMBC in general and during crisis situations; (b) examination of social support using tools assessing receipt of assistance and support, some of which were developed for the present study; and (c) insights regarding counseling, accompaniment, and guidance of welfare mechanisms.

Keywords: single mothers by choice, state anxiety, social support, happiness, work–family conflict

Procedia PDF Downloads 75

Authors: Binay Pattanayak

Abstract:

Multilingual state, Jharkhand is home to more than 19 tribal and regional languages. These are used by more than 33 communities in the state. The state has declared 12 of these languages as official languages of the state. However, schools in the state do not recognize any of these community languages even in early grades! Children, who speak in their mother tongues at home, local market and playground, find it very difficult to understand their teacher and textbooks in school. They fail to acquire basic literacy and numeracy skills in early grades. Out of frustration due to lack of comprehension, the majority of children leave school. Jharkhand sees the highest dropout in early grades in India. To address this, the state under the guidance of the author designed a mother tongue based pre-school education programme named Bhasha Puliya and bilingual picture dictionaries in 9 tribal and regional mother tongues of children. This contributed significantly to children’s school readiness in the school. Followed by this, the state designed a mother-tongue based multilingual education programme (MTB-MLE) for multilingual context. The author guided textbook development in 5 tribal (Santhali, Mundari, Ho, Kurukh and Kharia) and two regional (Odia and Bangla) languages. Teachers and community members were trained for MTB-MLE in around 1,000 schools of the concerned language pockets. Community resource groups were constituted along with their academic calendars in each school to promote story-telling, singing, painting, dancing, riddles, etc. with community support. This, on the one hand, created rich learning environments for children. On the other hand, the communities have discovered a great potential in the process of developing a wide variety of learning materials for children in own mother-tongue using their local stories, songs, riddles, paintings, idioms, skits, etc. as a process of their literary, cultural and technical enrichment. The majority of children are acquiring strong early grade reading skills (basic literacy and numeracy) in grades I-II thereby getting well prepared for higher studies. In a phased manner they are learning Hindi and English after 4-5 years of MTB-MLE using the foundational language learning skills. Community members have started designing new books, audio-visual learning materials in their mother-tongues seeing a great potential for their cultural and technological rejuvenation.

Keywords: community resource groups, MTB-MLE, multilingual, socio-linguistic survey, learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 188

Authors: Y. Abdulmumin, K. I. Matazu, A. M. Wudil, A. J. Alhassan, A. A. Imam

Abstract:

Phytochemical analysis of Boswellia papryfera confirms the presence of various phytochemicals such as alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins and cardiac glycosides in its aqueous stem bark extract at different concentration, with tannins being the highest (0.611 ± 0.002 g %). Acute toxicity test (LD50,oral, rat) of the extract showed no mortality at up to 5000 mg/kg and the animals were found active and healthy. The extract was declared as practically non-toxic, this suggest the safety of the extract in traditional medicine.

Keywords: acute toxicity, aqueous extract, boswellia papryfera, phytochemicals, stem bark extract

Procedia PDF Downloads 415

Authors: Mary Ann L. Halliday, Zoengpari Gohain

Abstract:

The stigma associated with HIV-AIDS negatively affect mental health and ability to effectively manage the disease. While the number of People living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) has been increasing day by day in Mizoram (a small north-eastern state in India), research on HIV/AIDS stigma has so far been limited. Despite the potential significance of Internalized HIV Stigma (IHS) in the lives of PLHIV, there has been very limited research in this area. It was therefore, felt necessary to explore the internalized HIV stigma, mental health, coping and perceived social support of PLHIV in Aizawl District, Mizoram. The present study was designed with the objectives to determine the degree of IHS, to study the relationship between the socio-demographic characteristics and level of IHS, to highlight the mental health status, coping strategies and perceived social support of PLHIV and to elucidate the relationship between these psychosocial variables. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, six hypotheses were formulated and statistical analyses conducted accordingly. The sample consisted of 300 PLWHA from Aizawl District, 150 males and 150 females, of the age group 20 to 70 years. Two- way classification of “Gender” (male and female) and three-way classification of “Level of IHS” (High IHS, Moderate IHS, Low IHS) on the dependent variables was employed, to elucidate the relationship between Internalized HIV Stigma, mental health, coping and perceived social support of PLHIV. The overall analysis revealed moderate level of IHS (67.3%) among PLHIV in Aizawl District, with a small proportion of subjects reporting high level of IHS. IHS was found to be significantly different on the basis of disclosure status, with the disclosure status of PLHIV accounting for 9% variability in IHS.  Results also revealed more or less good mental health among the participants, which was assessed by minimal depression (50.3%) and minimal anxiety (45%), with females with high IHS scoring significantly higher in both depression and anxiety (p<.01). Examination of the coping strategies of PLHIV found that the most frequently used coping styles were Acceptance (91%), Religion (84.3%), Planning (74.7%), Active Coping (66%) and Emotional Support (52.7%). High perception of perceived social support (48%) was found in the present study. Correlation analysis revealed significant positive relationships between IHS and depression as well as anxiety (p<.01), thus revealing that IHS negatively affects the mental health of PLHIV. Results however revealed that this effect may be lessened by the use of various coping strategies by PLHIV as well as their perception of social support.

Keywords: Aizawl, anxiety, depression, internalized HIV stigma, HIV/AIDS, mental health, mizoram, perceived social support

Procedia PDF Downloads 251

Authors: Jing (Claire) LI

Abstract:

The topic of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is significant for pharmaceutical companies in China at this current stage. This is because, as a rapid growth industry in China in recent years, the pharmaceutical industry in China has been undergone continuous and terrible incidents relating to CSR. However, there is limited research and practice of CSR in Chinese pharmaceutical companies. Also, there is an urgent call for more research in an international context to understand the implications of corporate life cycle on CSR performance. To respond to the research need and research call, this study examines the relationship between corporate life cycle and CSR performance of Chinese listed companies in pharmaceutical industry. This research studies Chinese listed companies in pharmaceutical industry for the period of 2010-2017, where the data is available in database. Following the literature, this study divides CSR performance with regards to CSR dimensions, including shareholders, creditors, employees, customers, suppliers, the government, and the society. This study uses CSR scores of HEXUN database and financial measures of these CSR dimensions to measure the CSR performance. This study performed regression analysis to examine the relationship between corporate life cycle stages and CSR performance with regards to CSR dimensions for pharmaceutical listed companies in China. Using cash flow pattern as proxy of corporate life cycle to classify corporate life cycle stages, this study found that most (least) pharmaceutical companies in China are in maturity (decline) stage. This study found that CSR performance for most dimensions are highest (lowest) in maturity (decline) stage as well. Among these CSR dimensions, performing responsibilities for shareholder is the most important among all CSR responsibilities for pharmaceutical companies. This study is the first to provide important empirical evidence from Chinese pharmaceutical industry on the association between life cycle and CSR performance, supporting that corporate life cycle is a key factor in CSR performance. The study expands corporate life cycle and CSR literatures and has both empirical and theoretical contributions to the literature. From perspective of empirical contributions, the findings contribute to the argument that whether there is a relationship between CSR performance and various corporate life cycle stages in the literature. This study also provides empirical evidence that companies in different corporate life cycles have difference in CSR performance. From perspective of theoretical contributions, this study relates CSR and stakeholders to corporate life cycle stages and complements the corporate life cycle and CSR literature. This study has important implications for managers and policy makers. First, the results will be helpful for managers to have an understanding in the essence of CSR, and their company’s current and future CSR focus over corporate life cycle. This study provides a reference for their actions and may help them make more wise resources allocation decisions of CSR investment. Second, policy makers (in the government, stock exchanges, and securities commission) may consider corporate life cycle as an important factor in formulating future regulations for companies. Future research can explore the "process-based" differences in CSR performance and more industries.

Keywords: China, corporate life cycle, corporate social responsibility, pharmaceutical industry

Procedia PDF Downloads 94

Authors: Zuwaira Abubakar

Abstract:

Islam is the Divine religion which guides Man ways of leading a prosperous life in this life and the hereafter. This study was conducted in order to investigate the possible relationship between adherence to Islamic principles of success and academic performance of university students. Accordingly, a questionnaire based on Islamized principles of success (referred to as 'Islamic character quotient inventory (ICQi)') was correlated with CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Averages) of 343 students of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto. The empirical testing indicates that the total score on ICQi correlated positively and significantly with academic performance of the respondent. Students with either high or medium adherence have a significantly (P<0.01) higher CGPA than their counterparts with the low-adherence level. However, the result did not show a significant relationship between the CGPA of highly adherent individuals and that of those with medium adherence level. This may suggests that Islam is not for spiritual life only but also relevant and useful for our practical life.

Keywords: academic, Islam, principles, success

Procedia PDF Downloads 225

Authors: Aditya Manna

Abstract:

Introduction: As in any developing countries state of West Bengal in India has a huge burden of cancer patients in advanced stage coming from rural area where awareness regarding the usefulness of palliative care in rather poor. Objective: Our goal is to give a pain free good quality of life in these advanced stage cancer patients. Objective of this study is to identify the main difficulties in achieving the above goal in a rural village setting in India. Method: Advanced cancer patients in need of palliative care in various villages in of rural India were selected for this study. Their symptoms and managements in that rural surroundings were evaluated by an NGO (under the guidance of a senior palliative care specialist) working in that area. An attempt was made to identify the main obstacles in getting proper palliative care in a rural setting. Results: Pain, fatigue are the main symptoms effecting these patients. In most patients pain and other symptoms control were grossly inadequate due to lack of properly trained manpower in the rural India. However regular homecare visits by a group of social workers were of immense help in the last few months of life. NGO team was well guided by a palliative care specialist. Conclusion: There is a wide gap of trained manpower in this filled in rural areas of India. Dedicated groups from rural area itself need encouragement and proper training, so that difficult symptoms can be managed locally along with necessary social and psychological support to these patients.

Keywords: palliative care, NGO, rural India, home care

Procedia PDF Downloads 290

Authors: Pablo M. S. Vallejos

Abstract:

The article aims to analyze the autobiographical practices of users on Instagram, observing the instrumentalization of image resources in the construction of visual narratives that make up that archive and digital diary. Through bibliographical review, discourse exploration and case studies, the research also aims to present a new theoretical perception about everyday records - edited with a collage of filters and aesthetic tools - that permeate that social network, understanding it as a platform fictionalizing and an expansion of life. In this way, therefore, the work reflects on possible futures in the elaboration of representations and identities in the context of digital spaces in the 21st century.

Keywords: visual culture, social media, autobiography, image

Procedia PDF Downloads 67

Authors: Andréanne Gagné, Jo Anni Joncas, Éric Tendon

Abstract:

Teaching in vocational training requires an excellent mastery of the trade being taught, but also solid professional skills in pedagogy. Teachers are typically recruited on the basis of their trade expertise, and they do not necessarily have training or experience in pedagogy. In order to counter this lack, the Ministry of Education (Québec, Canada) requires them to complete a 120-credit university program to obtain their teaching certificate. They must complete this training in addition to their teaching duties. This training was rarely planned in the teacher’s life course, and each teacher approaches it differently: some are enthusiastic, but many feel reluctant discouragement and even frustration at the idea of committing to a training program lasting an average of 10 years to completion. However, Quebec is experiencing an unprecedented shortage of teachers, and the perseverance of vocational teachers in their careers requires special attention because of the conditions of their specific integration conditions. Our research examines the perceptions that vocational teachers in training have of their academic experience in pre-service teaching. It differs from previous research in that it focuses on the influence of the academic experience on the teaching employment experience. The goal is that by better understanding the university experience of teachers in vocational education, we can identify support strategies to support their school experience and their teaching. To do this, the research is based on the theoretical framework of the sociology of experience, which allows us to study the way in which these “teachers-students” give meaning to their university program in articulation with their jobs according to three logics of action. The logic of integration is based on the process of socialization, where the action is preceded by the internalization of values, norms, and cultural models associated with the training context. The logic of strategy refers to the usefulness of this experience where the individual constructs a form of rationality according to his objectives, resources, social position, and situational constraints. The logic of subjectivation refers to reflexivity activities aimed at solving problems and making choices. These logics served as a framework for the development of an online questionnaire. Three hundred respondents, newly enrolled in an undergraduate teaching program (bachelor's degree in vocational education), expressed themselves about their academic experience. This paper relates qualitative data (open-ended questions) subjected to an interpretive repertory analysis approach to descriptive data (closed-ended questions) that emerged. The results shed light on how the respondents perceive themselves as teachers and students, their perceptions of university training and the support offered, and the place that training occupies in their professional path. Indeed, their professional and academic paths are inextricably linked, and it seems essential to take them into account simultaneously to better meet their needs and foster the development of their expertise in pedagogy. The discussion focuses on the strengths and limitations of university training from the perspective of the logic of action. The results also suggest support strategies that can be implemented to better support the integration and retention of student teachers in professional education.

Keywords: teacher, vocational training, pre-service training, academic experience

Procedia PDF Downloads 107

Authors: Okoro Ngozi Priscilla

Abstract:

Education is the bedrock of development in every nation of the world, and it is very useful in ensuring quality of life for every individual and a better world for the people. Education, therefore, is the basic instrument of economic growth and technological advancement in any society. It is in recognition of this fact that the Nigerian government commits immense resources to ensuring that its citizens acquire education and also policies are being made to ensure the accessibility of education, qualitative higher education is highly recognized as a vital driving force for the socio-economic growth and technological development of nations yet the problem of access to University education in the country persists and therefore brought about the introduction of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) which has as its main objective, the attainment of mass literacy and providing opportunities for those who could not gain admission through designated entrance examination agencies as well as those who could not afford to leave their job to attend a full-time educational programme. Open and distance learning seeks to improve skilled manpower and also improve the skills for those already at work.

Keywords: accessibility, open and distant learning programme, fulltime educational programme, distance learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 449

Authors: Mari Carmen Reyes Angeles, Dalia Michel Reyes Villeda, Ana María Herrera González

Abstract:

This work reports the design and synthesis of two composite materials based on physically activated carbon and basic polyelectrolytes useful in the adsorption of textile dyes present in aqueous solutions and wastewater. The synthesis of basic polyelectrolytes poly(2-vinylpyridine) (P2VP) and poly(4-vinylpyridine) (P4VP) was made by means of free radical polymerization. The carbon made from prickly pear peel (CarTunaF) was thermally activated in the presence of combustion gases. Composite materials CarTunaF2VP and CarTunaF4VP were obtained from CarTunaF and polybasic polyelectrolytes P2VP and P4VP with a ratio of 67:33 wt. The structure of each polyelectrolyte, P2VP, and P4VP, was elucidated by means of the FTIR and 1H NMR spectrophotometric techniques. Their thermal stability was evaluated using TGA. The characterization of CarTunaF and composite materials CarTunaF2VP and CarTunaF4VP was made by means of FTIR, TGA, SEM, and N2 adsorption. The adsorptive capacities of the polyelectrolytes and the composite materials were evaluated by adsorption of direct dyes present in aqueous solutions. The polyelectrolytes removed between 90 and 100% of the dyes, and the composite materials removed between 68 and 93% of the dyes. Using the four adsorbents P2VP, P4VP, CarTuna2VP, and CarTuna4VP, it was observed that the dyes studied, Direct Blue 80, Direct Turquoise 86, and Direct Orange 26, were adsorbed in the range between 46.1 and 188.7mg∙g-1 by means of electrostatic interactions between the anionic groups in the dyes with the cationic groups in the adsorbents. By using adsorbent materials in the treatment of wastewater from the textile industry, an improvement in the quality of the water was observed by decreasing its pH, COD, conductivity, and color considerably

Keywords: adsorption, anionic dyes, composite, polyelectrolytes

Procedia PDF Downloads 88

Authors: Sonay Ödemiş

Abstract:

Movement Staff Notation System (MSNS) is a movement transcription, analyzing method, and it's been constantly improved since it was first developed in 2005. This method is based on human anatomy, is being used and applied in the lessons at The Department of Turkish Folk Dances in Istanbul Technical University, nowadays. In this research, it is aimed to discover, how MSNS can help to participants about learning the basic movements of lower extremity. This experiment has six volunteers who were randomly selected. Each volunteer has been graded for their dance backgrounds and all the volunteers have been studied for six weeks. Each week has included different topic and examples such as contacts on foot, jumps, timing, directions and basic symbols of MSNS. Examples have changed from easy to hard. On conclusion, 6 volunteer subjects were tested in final test. The tests were recorded with the camera. In this presentation, it will be explained and detailed the results of the reading test on MSNS. Some of important video records will be watched and interpreted after the test. As a conclusion, all the scores will be interpreted and assessed from different perspectives.

Keywords: dance notation, Turkish dances, reading test, Education

Procedia PDF Downloads 226

Authors: Misun Kim, Beomsoo Park

Abstract:

Korean government has strongly supported SMEs financially and technically. It has also changed R&D manpower management so that SMEs can benefit from the knowledge of highly qualified experts. This study evaluates the impacts of such policy on SMEs and analyzes the factors affecting the growth of the firms. Then we compare the characteristics of high growth companies to general companies. This factors could be use in the future for identifying firms that would significantly benefit from manpower help.

Keywords: dispatch human Ccapital, high growth, science and technology policy, SMEs

Procedia PDF Downloads 298

Authors: Huang Gui

Abstract:

There can be little doubt that our world is inexorably moving towards being execution-free. However, China is still on the way until now, in other words, China is still a retentionist state in the term of capital punishment but it is developing domestic criminal law toward that goal (eventual abolition of the capital punishment). The alternative sanction to capital punishment, which would be imposed on a criminal who should have been sentenced to death by law, is a substitute for execution and it should be provided with the basis of the present criminal punishment structure and with the premise of abolishing capital punishment or limiting its use. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to explore a substitute for capital punishment in China. For the criminal sanction system in China, the death penalty with suspension, naturally, is an execution, so it wouldn’t be the substitute; life sentences without parole is out of the tune with punishment policy that promoting correction and rehabilitation; life-imprisonment, which is one of the most severe punishment measure in the sanction system, should be a suitable substitute for executing but it needs to be improved, including the term of imprisonment, the commutation and parole conditions.

Keywords: alternative sanctions, capital punishment, life imprisonment, life imprisonment without parole, China

Procedia PDF Downloads 281

Authors: Congping Lin

Abstract:

Intracellular transport in fungi has a number of important roles in, e.g., filamentous fungal growth and cellular metabolism. Two basic mechanisms for intracellular transport are motor-driven trafficking along microtubules (MTs) and diffusion. Mathematical modelling has been actively developed to understand such intracellular transport and provide unique insight into cellular complexity. Based on live-cell imaging data in Ustilago hyphal cells, probabilistic models have been developed to study mechanism underlying spatial organization of molecular motors and organelles. In particular, anther mechanism - stochastic motility of dynein motors along MTs has been found to contribute to half of its accumulation at hyphal tip in order to support early endosome (EE) recycling. The EE trafficking not only facilitates the directed motion of peroxisomes but also enhances their diffusive motion. Considering the importance of spatial organization of early endosomes in supporting peroxisome movement, computational and experimental approaches have been combined to a whole-cell level. Results from this interdisciplinary study promise insights into requirements for other membrane trafficking systems (e.g., in neurons), but also may inform future 'synthetic biology' studies.

Keywords: intracellular transport, stochastic process, molecular motors, spatial organization

Procedia PDF Downloads 122