Search results for: People who Use Drugs

Authors: Raimo P. Hämäläinen, Juha Törmänen, Esa Saarinen

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Systems thinking has been acknowledged as an important approach in the strategy and management literature ever since the seminal works of Ackhoff in the 1970´s and Senge in the 1990´s. The early literature was very much focused on structures and organizational dynamics. Understanding systems is important but making improvements also needs ways to understand human behavior in systems. Peter Senge´s book The Fifth Discipline gave the inspiration to the development of the concept of Systems Intelligence. The concept integrates the concepts of personal mastery and systems thinking. SI refers to intelligent behavior in the context of complex systems involving interaction and feedback. It is a competence related to the skills needed in strategy and the environment of modern industrial engineering and management where people skills and systems are in an increasingly important role. The eight factors of Systems Intelligence have been identified from extensive surveys and the factors relate to perceiving, attitude, thinking and acting. The personal self-evaluation test developed consists of 32 items which can also be applied in a peer evaluation mode. The concept and test extend to organizations too. One can talk about organizational systems intelligence. This paper reports the results of an extensive survey based on peer evaluation. The results show that systems intelligence correlates positively with professional performance. People in a managerial role score higher in SI than others. Age improves the SI score but there is no gender difference. Top organizations score higher in all SI factors than lower ranked ones. The SI-tests can also be used as leadership and management development tools helping self-reflection and learning. Finding ways of enhancing learning organizational development is important. Today gamification is a new promising approach. The items in the SI test have been used to develop an interactive card game following the Topaasia game approach. It is an easy way of engaging people in a process which both helps participants see and approach problems in their organization. It also helps individuals in identifying challenges in their own behavior and in improving in their SI.

Keywords: gamification, management competence, organizational learning, systems thinking

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Authors: Lauren McGillivray, Michelle Torok, Alison Calear

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Suicide is the leading cause of death for Australians aged 15-24 years, with rates increasing over the past decade. As young people can be particularly vulnerable to mental health problems and suicidal behavior, they are an essential and obvious target for suicide prevention efforts. This study investigates the effectiveness of the universal mental health promotion and suicide prevention program, Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM), to reduce suicidal ideation and attempts and increase help-seeking in young people. This trial took place in Australian schools across four regions in New South Wales that form part of LifeSpan, a larger multilevel suicide prevention research trial. The YAM program was delivered to Year 9 students in up to 78 schools over two years (from January 2017 to December 2019). All schools were invited to participate in YAM's evaluation, which included completing a student questionnaire at three time-points: baseline, 3-month post-intervention, and 6-month follow-up. The primary outcome is suicidal ideation severity. Secondary outcomes are new reports of suicide attempts, stigma towards suicide, knowledge about suicide, help-seeking intentions and behaviors, and depressive symptoms. Results from pre-post and follow-up data will be presented. These research findings are promising and will contribute to the evidence-based for YAM and suicide prevention programs in Australian schools. These findings are also expected to promote YAM's value and sustainability to be more widely delivered in Australian secondary schools.

Keywords: adolescent mental health, suicidal ideation, suicide prevention, universal program

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Authors: Tina Abrefa-Gyan

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Background: In Ghana and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, HIV/AIDS is a public health threat and also causes medical crises for many who are infected with the virus. Objective: This study tested a social care intervention developed to help improve the quality of life of those living with HIV/AIDS in Ghana. Method: Adult respondents (N = 248) were assigned to receive the intervention or usual care for six weeks. Results: Results of the study revealed significant differences between the treatment and control groups in their reports of quality of life. Respondents reported better quality of life upon receiving the intervention. Implication: This study sheds light on the positive relationship between the intervention and quality of life among those living with HIV/AIDS in Ghana. Conclusion: The intervention is innovative and novel in the setting. It will, therefore, help to reduce the risks such as depression, low cognitive functioning, and low physical functioning associated with low quality of life among people living with HIV/AIDS in Ghana in specific, and in sub-Saharan Africa in general.

Keywords: social care intervention, HIV/AIDS, Ghana, quality of life

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Authors: Piotr Podlipniak

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Social consolidation has often been indicated as an adaptive function of music which led to the evolution of music faculty. According to many scholars this function is possible thanks to musical rhythm that enables sensorimotor synchronization to a musical beat. The ability to synchronize to music allows performing music collectively which enhances social cohesion. However, the collective performance of music consists also in spectral synchronization that depends on musical pitch structure. Similarly to rhythmic synchronization, spectral synchronization is a result of ‘brain states alignment’ between people who collectively listen to or perform music. In order to successfully synchronize pitches performers have to adequately expect the pitch structure. The most common form of music which predominates among all human societies is tonal music. In fact tonality understood in the broadest sense as such an organization of musical pitches in which some pitch is more important than others is the only kind of musical pitch structure that has been observed in all currently known musical cultures. The perception of such a musical pitch structure elicits specific emotional reactions which are often described as tensions and relaxations. These facts provoke some important questions. What is the evolutionary reason that people use pitch structure as a form of vocal communication? Why different pitch structures elicit different emotional states independent of extra-musical context? It is proposed in the current presentation that in the course of evolution pitch structure became a human specific tool of communication the function of which is to induce emotional states such as uncertainty and cohesion. By the means of eliciting these emotions during collective music performance people are able to unconsciously give cues concerning social acceptance. This is probably one of the reasons why in all cultures people collectively perform tonal music. It is also suggested that tonal pitch structure had been invented socially before it became an evolutionary innovation of Homo sapiens. It means that a predisposition to tonally organize pitches evolved by the means of ‘Baldwin effect’ – a process in which natural selection transforms the learned response of an organism into the instinctive response. The hypothetical evolutionary scenario of the emergence of tonal pitch structure will be proposed. In this scenario social forces such as a need for closer cooperation play the crucial role.

Keywords: emotion, evolution, tonality, social consolidation

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Authors: Ratih Indraswari

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As it occupies a new status in international relations, Indonesia needs to re-organize its resources in projecting the preferred image internationally. Attractiveness becomes crucial as Indonesia needs to maintain its posture as a reliable contributor to the world. This paper tries to scrutinize the un-tap potential of ideational powers Indonesia possesses. Herein the ideational power is assumed to be translated into a soft power, intangible and rely on its influential degree to persuade and attract other countries, through its public diplomacy activities. A specific correlation will be dedicated to the effort of Indonesia public diplomacy on international education. It is believed that international education progresses mutual understanding in disseminating Indonesia values and engages public audience. As a result these exchanges and engagements support the attainment of Indonesia’s interests and forwarding Indonesia’s foreign policies. A case study on KNB (Kemitraan Negara berkembang) scholarship scheme will be provided and its impact towards building people-to-people connections.

Keywords: Indonesia, international education, KNB (Kemitraan Negara Berkembang), public diplomacy

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Authors: Rekha Vijayvergia

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Around seven percent of tribal population of India lives in Rajasthan. Rajasthan has rich cultural diversity and biodiversity. Ethno-botany can be defined as the total natural and traditional relationship and the interactions between man and his surrounding plant wealth from times immemorial, due to sheer, necessity, intuition, observation, and experimentation. Medicinal plants are valuable and are used for the production of various drugs. These plants produce a high diversity of natural products or secondary metabolites like Mahanimbicine, Andrographine, murrayaline, lupeol, and limonin etc. with a prominent function in the protection against diseases like diabetes, kidney stones, osteoporosis, tumours, opthalmia, leucorrhoea, bronchial asthma, diarrhea, cancer, etc. The present report gives an account of traditional medicinal uses of common medicinal plants of Rajasthan. A total of 18 plant species belonging to 13 families are reported, that are being used for various purposes.

Keywords: ethno botany, Rajasthan, secondary metabolites, traditional medicines

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Authors: Peshawa Jalal Mohammed

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Following the recent political conflict in the Middle East, the number of refugees and internally displaced people increased in the last decades. The flood of displaced people became a big issue for the host communities in the neighbouring countries and Europe. The need for research about the education and integration of the refugees became urgent. After the appearance of the Islamic State and displacing millions of Syrian people, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq became a safe shelter for hundreds of thousands of Syrians and international organisations helping the refugees. This study focuses on the factors of parental involvement among the host community and refugee parents and its role in the academic success of children. The setting is the three provinces of Iraqi Kurdistan (Erbil, Sulaimani, and Dohuk), including the refugee camps in the three provinces. Based on the purpose of the study, the study was designed as a descriptive survey study with a mixed approach, qualitative (open-ended), and quantitative (questionnaire) questions and both forms of data were integrated and analysed. The current study participants were 8th and 9th graders at the basic school level, studying at public schools and their parents. The sampling design was the selection of local schools and schools in the refugee camps in the region's three provinces. The number of participants for each of the two groups was 250 students and 250 parents. The results showed that parents' socioeconomic status, gender, and place of residency have significant roles in students' parental involvement and academic success of their students. The results also show the characteristics of parental inspiration to their children's future and their expectations from education.

Keywords: refugee, education, parental involvement, socioeconomic

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Authors: Eman Simbawa, Budur Alasmri, Hanan Munahir, Hanin Munahir

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Solar energy has become currently the subject of attention around the world and is undergoing many researches and studies. Using solar energy, which is a renewable energy, is aligned with the Saudi Vision 2030. People are more aware of it and are starting to use it more for environmental and economical reasons. A questionnaire was conducted in this paper to measure the awareness of people in Saudi Arabia regarding solar energy and their attitude towards it. Then, two kinds of air conditioners (one powered by electricity only and one powered by solar panels and electricity) are compared in terms of their cost over a period of 20 years. This will help the users to decide which kind of device to use depending on its cost. The result shows that as the electricity tariffs in Saudi Arabia increases, depending on the sector, the solar air conditioner is cheaper. In fact, if the tariff in the future increases to reach 50 Halalah/kWh, the solar air conditioner is more economical. This will influence users to buy more solar powered devices, and it will decrease the consumption of electricity. Therefore, the dependence on oil will decrease.

Keywords: Airconditioner, solar energy, photovoltaic cells, present value

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Authors: Hisham Arab Alkabeya, A. M. Hughes, J. Adams

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Background: People with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) continue to experience problems with hand function despite new drug advances and targeted medical treatment. Consequently, it is important to identify the factors that influence the impact of RA disease on hand function. This systematic review identified observational studies that reported factors that influenced the impact of RA on hand function. Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAL, AMED, PsychINFO, and Web of Science database were searched from January 1990 up to March 2017. Full-text articles published in English that described factors related to hand functional disability in people with RA were selected following predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Pertinent data were thoroughly extracted and documented using a pre-designed data extraction form by the lead author, and cross-checked by the review team for completion and accuracy. Factors related to hand function were classified under the domains of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) framework and health-related factors. Three reviewers independently assessed the methodological quality of the included articles using the quality of cross-sectional studies (AXIS) tool. Factors related to hand function that was investigated in two or more studies were explored using a best-evidence synthesis. Results: Twenty articles form 19 studies met the inclusion criteria from 1,271 citations; all presented cross-sectional data (five high quality and 15 low quality studies), resulting in at best limited evidence in the best-evidence synthesis. For the factors classified under the ICF domains, the best-evidence synthesis indicates that there was a range of body structure and function factors that were related with hand functional disability. However, key factors were hand strength, disease activity, and pain intensity. Low functional status (physical, emotional and social) level was found to be related with limited hand function. For personal factors, there is limited evidence that gender is not related with hand function; whereas, conflicting evidence was found regarding the relationship between age and hand function. In the domain of environmental factors, there was limited evidence that work activity was not related with hand function. Regarding health-related factors, there was limited evidence that the level of the rheumatoid factor (RF) was not related to hand function. Finally, conflicting evidence was found regarding the relationship between hand function and disease duration and general health status. Conclusion: Studies focused on body structure and function factors, highlighting a lack of investigation into personal and environmental factors when considering the impact of RA on hand function. The level of evidence which exists was limited, but identified that modifiable factors such as grip or pinch strength, disease activity and pain are the most influential factors on hand function in people with RA. The review findings suggest that important personal and environmental factors that impact on hand function in people with RA are not yet considered or reported in clinical research. Well-designed longitudinal, preferably cohort, studies are now needed to better understand the causality between personal and environmental factors and hand functional disability in people with RA.

Keywords: factors, hand function, rheumatoid arthritis, systematic review

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Authors: Jose L. Diego, Antonio Berlanga, Gregorio López, Diana López

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The Rayuela method is a success story, as it is part of a project selected by the European Commission to face the challenge launched by itself for achieving a better understanding of human factors, as well as social and organisational aspects that are able to solve issues in fighting against crime. Rayuela's method specifically focuses on the drivers of cyber criminality, including approaches to prevent, investigate, and mitigate cybercriminal behavior. As the internet has become an integral part of young people’s lives, they are the key target of the Rayuela method because they (as a victim or as a perpetrator) are the most vulnerable link of the chain. Considering the increased time spent online and the control of their internet usage and the low level of awareness of cyber threats and their potential impact, it is understandable the proliferation of incidents due to human mistakes. 51% of Europeans feel not well informed about cyber threats, and 86% believe that the risk of becoming a victim of cybercrime is rapidly increasing. On the other hand, Law enforcement has noted that more and more young people are increasingly committing cybercrimes. This is an international problem that has considerable cost implications; it is estimated that crimes in cyberspace will cost the global economy $445B annually. Understanding all these phenomena drives to the necessity of a shift in focus from sanctions to deterrence and prevention. As a research project, Rayuela aims to bring together law enforcement agencies (LEAs), sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, legal experts, computer scientists, and engineers, to develop novel methodologies that allow better understanding the factors affecting online behavior related to new ways of cyber criminality, as well as promoting the potential of these young talents for cybersecurity and technologies. Rayuela’s main goal is to better understand the drivers and human factors affecting certain relevant ways of cyber criminality, as well as empower and educate young people in the benefits, risks, and threats intrinsically linked to the use of the Internet by playing, thus preventing and mitigating cybercriminal behavior. In order to reach that goal it´s necessary an interdisciplinary consortium (formed by 17 international partners) carries out researches and actions like Profiling and case studies of cybercriminals and victims, risk assessments, studies on Internet of Things and its vulnerabilities, development of a serious gaming environment, training activities, data analysis and interpretation using Artificial intelligence, testing and piloting, etc. For facilitating the real implementation of the Rayuela method, as a community policing strategy, is crucial to count on a Police Force with a solid background in trust-building and community policing in order to do the piloting, specifically with young people. In this sense, Valencia Local Police is a pioneer Police Force working with young people in conflict solving, through providing police mediation and peer mediation services and advice. As an example, it is an official mediation institution, so agreements signed by their police mediators have once signed by the parties, the value of a judicial decision.

Keywords: fight against crime and insecurity, avert and prepare young people against aggression, ICT, serious gaming and artificial intelligence against cybercrime, conflict solving and mediation with young people

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Authors: Giga Rahmah An-Nafisah, Lailatus Syifa Kamilah

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Agriculture today, especially in Indonesia have globally improved. Since the election of the new president, who in the program of work priority the food self-sufficiency. Many ways and attempts have been planned carefully. All this is done to maximize agricultural production for the future. But if we look from another side, there is something missing. Yes! Improvement of life safety of the farmers, useless we fix all agricultural processing systems to maximize agricultural output, but the Hero of agriculture itself it does not change towards a better life. Yes, broker or middleman system agriculture results. Broker system or middleman this is the real problem facing farmers for their welfare. How come? As much as agriculture result, but if farmers were sell into middlemen with very low prices, then there will be no progress for their welfare. Broker system who do the actual middlemen should not happen in the current agricultural system, because the agriculture condition currently being concern, they would still be able to reap a profit as much as possible, no matter how miserable farmers manage the farm and currently face import competition this cannot be avoided anymore. This phenomenon is already visible plain sight all, who see it. Why? Because farmers those who fell victim cannot do anything to change this system. It is true, if only these middlemen who want to receive it for the sale of agricultural products, or arguably the only system that is the bridge realtor economic life of the farmers. The problem is that we should strive for the welfare of the heroes of our food. A golden bridge that could save them that, are the government. Why? Because the government can more easily with the powers to stop this broker system compared to other parties. The government supposed to be a bridge connecting the farmers with consumers or the people themselves. Yes, with improved broker system becomes: buy agricultural produce with highest prices to farmers and selling of agricultural products with lowest price to the consumer or the people themselves. And then the next question about the fate of middlemen? The system indirectly realtor is like system corruption. Why? Because the definition of corruption is an activity that is detrimental to the victim without being noticed by anyone continue to enrich himself and his victim's life miserable. Government may transfer performance of the middlemen into the idea of a new bridge that is done by the government itself. The government could lift them into this new bridge system employs them to remain a distributor of agricultural products themselves, but under the new policy made by the government to keep improving the welfare of farmers. This idea is made is not going to have much effect would improve the welfare of farmers, but most/least this idea will bring around many people for helping conscience farmers to the government, through the daily chatter, as well as celebrity gossip can quickly know too many people.

Keywords: broker system, farmers live, government, agricultural economics

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Authors: Menghzheng Yao

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Generalized social trust among Chinese has been declining in the past few decades, making the search for its causes necessary. Drawing on the symbolic interaction theory and the 2012 Chinese General Social Survey data, this research investigated the impact of people’s socialization preferences and frequencies on their perceptions of generalized social trust in China. This research also took a preliminary step towards understanding the spatial differences of the generalized social trust using the ArcGIS software. The results show that respondents who interacted with their neighbors more frequently were more likely to have higher levels of perceptions of generalized social trust. Several demographics were also significantly related to perception of generalized social trust. Elderly and better educated Chinese and people with higher self-perceived social status were associated with greater levels of generalized social trust perception, while urban dwellers and religious respondents expressed lower levels of such perception. Implications for future research and policy are discussed.

Keywords: China, generalized social trust, symbolic interaction, ArcGIS

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Authors: Shashank Tiwari, S. P. Mahapatra

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The aim of this technique is to reduce the steps of process scales up, save time & cost of the industries. This technique will minimise the steps of process scale up. The new steps are, Novel Lab Scale, Novel Lab Scale Trials, Novel Trial Batches, Novel Exhibit Batches, Novel Validation Batches. In these steps, it is not divided to validation batches in three parts but the data of trials batches, Exhibit Batches and Validation batches are use and compile for production and used for validation. It also increases the batch size of the trial, exhibit batches. The new size of trials batches is not less than fifty Thousand, the exhibit batches increase up to two lack and the validation batches up to five lack. After preparing the batches all their data & drugs use for stability & maintain the validation record and compile data for the technology transfer in production department for preparing the marketed size batches.

Keywords: batches, technique, preparation, scale up, validation

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Authors: Fai-Ho E. Choi, Wing-Tung Au

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This study investigated the effects of embodiment on conflict management. As shown in the research literature, the physiological (i.e. bodily postures) can affect the emotional and cognitive proceedings of human beings, but little has been shown on whether such effects would have ramifications in decision-making related to other individuals. In this study, conflict is defined as when two parties have seemingly incompatible goals, and the two have to deal with each other in order to maximize one’s own gain. In a matched-gender experiment, university undergraduate students were randomly assigned to either the high power condition or the low power condition, with participants in each condition instructed to perform a fix set of bodily postures that would either embody them with a high sense of power or a low sense of power. One high-power participant would pair up with a low-power participant to engage in an integrative bargaining task and a dictator game. Participants also filled out a pre-trial questionnaire and a post-trial questionnaire measuring general sense of power, self-esteem and self-efficacy. Personality was controlled for. Results are expected to support our hypotheses that people who are embodied with power will be more unyielding in a conflict management situation, and that people who are dealing with another person embodied with power will be more yielding in a conflict management situation. As conflicts arise frequently both within and between organizations, a better understanding of how human beings function in conflicts is important. This study should provide evidence that bodily postures can influence the perceived sense of power of the parties involved and hence influence the conflict outcomes. Future research needs to be conducted to investigate further how people perceive themselves and how they perceive their opponents in conflicts, such that we can come up with a behavioral theory of conflict management.

Keywords: conflict management, embodiment, negotiation, perception

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Authors: Nsubuga Bright Titus

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The resource curse is an unavoidable phenomenon among oil producing states in Africa. There is no oil production currently in Uganda although exploration projections set 2020 as the year of initial production. But as the exploration proceeds and Production Sharing Agreements (PSA) are negotiated, so does the anticipation for oil revenues. The Indigenous people of Bunyoro are claiming the right to their indigenous lands through the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) of the African Union. They urge the commission to investigate the government of Uganda on violations of their human rights. In this paper, oil as a resource curse is examined through the Dutch disease. Regional and global entanglements, as well as the contestation between the indigenous Bunyoro group and the oil industry in Uganda is explored. The paper also demonstrates that oil as a local possibility and national reality has propelled anxiety about oil revenues among various, local actors, State actors, regional and global actors.

Keywords: Entanglements, Extractive resources, Framing, web of relations

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Authors: Shivani Yadav

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The paper illustrates dynamics of nuclear resistance movements in India and how peoples’ power rises in response to subversion of justice and suppression of human rights. The need for democratizing nuclear policy runs implicit through the demands of the people protesting against nuclear programmes. The paper analyses the rationale behind developing nuclear energy according to the mainstream development model adopted by the state. Whether the prevalent nuclear discourse includes people’s ambitions and addresses local concerns or not is discussed. Primarily, the nuclear movements across India comprise of two types of actors i.e. the local population as well as the urban interlocutors. The first type of actor is the local population comprising of the people who are residing in the vicinity of the nuclear site and are affected by its construction, presence and operation. They have very immediate concerns against nuclear energy projects but also have an ideological stand against producing nuclear energy. The other types of actors are the urban interlocutors, who are the intellectuals and nuclear activists who have a principled stand against nuclear energy and help to aggregate the aims and goals of the movement on various platforms. The paper focuses on the nuclear resistance movements at five sites in India- Koodankulam (Tamil Nadu), Jaitapur (Maharashtra), Haripur (West Bengal), Mithivirdi (Gujrat) and Gorakhpur (Haryana). The origin, development, role of major actors and mass media coverage of all these movements are discussed in depth. Major observations from the Indian case include: first, nuclear policy discussions in India are confined to elite circles; secondly, concepts like national security and national interest are used to suppress dissent against mainstream policies; and thirdly, India’s energy policies focus on economic concerns while ignoring the human implications of such policies. In conclusion, the paper observes that the anti-nuclear movements question not just the feasibility of nuclear power but also its exclusionary nature when it comes to people’s participation in policy making, endangering the ecology, violation of human rights, etc. The character of these protests is non-violent with an aim to produce more inclusive policy debates and democratic dialogues.

Keywords: anti-nuclear movements, Koodankulam nuclear power plant, non-violent resistance, nuclear resistance movements, social movements

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Authors: Wolfram Karg

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The Occupy-Movement came into in 2011 existence in the US as a reaction to one of the worst economic crisis since World War II. With cuts in benefits and social services, with people being evicted from their homes on the one hand and high bonuses granted to their managers of the very same companies, a strong feeling of injustice besieged people in the US and caused them to voice their anger peacefully in social media and on the streets. Due to the world-wide-web, users all around the world read about this movement and recognized the same injustice in their own countries, making Occupy a global movement. The vast array of topics covered by Occupy offers a unique chance to carry out a corpus-based discourse analysis based on the DIMEAN-Model. The focus on this paper is limited to two aspects of DIMEAN: intertextual references and the use of connectors in texts. Because the discourse is to a large extent carried out via posts in blogs, online-articles and comments, the paper also analyses, in how far modern (i.e. computer-based media) there is a correlation between the use of connectors in different communicative types used by the Occupy-Movement.

Keywords: discourse, new media, occupy, corpus analysis

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Authors: I. Gokasar, G. Bakioglu

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With the unprecedented rates of technological improvements, people start to solve their problems with the help of technological tools. According to application stores and websites in which people evaluate and comment on the traffic apps, there are more than 100 traffic applications which have different features with respect to their purpose of usage ranging from the features of traffic apps for public transit modes to the features of traffic apps for private cars. This study focuses on the top 30 traffic applications which were chosen with respect to their download counts. All data about the traffic applications were obtained from related websites. The purpose of this study is to analyze traffic applications in terms of their categorical attributes with the help of developing a regression model. The analysis results suggest that negative interpretations (e.g., being deficient) does not lead to lower star ratings of the applications. However, those negative interpretations result in a smaller increase in star rate. In addition, women use higher star rates than men for the evaluation of traffic applications.

Keywords: traffic app, real–time information, traffic congestion, regression analysis, dummy variables

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Authors: Sarika Gupta, Harshika Khanna, Ajay K Verma, Surya Kant

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Background: Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) is a growing health challenge to global TB control efforts. Pediatric DR-TB is one of the neglected infectious diseases. In our previously published report, we have notified an increased prevalence of DR-TB in the pediatric population at a tertiary health care centre in North India which was estimated as 17.4%, 15.1%, 18.4%, and 20.3% in (%) in the year 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. Limited evidence exists about a pattern of drug resistance, side effect profile and programmatic outcomes of Paediatric DR-TB treatment. Therefore, this study was done to find out the pattern of resistance, side effect profile and treatment outcome. Methodology: This was a prospective cohort study conducted at the nodal drug-resistant tuberculosis centre of a tertiary care hospital in North India from January 2021 to December 2022. Subjects included children aged between 0-18 years of age with a diagnosis of DR-TB, on the basis of GeneXpert (rifampicin [RIF] resistance detected), line probe assay and drug sensitivity testing (DST) of M. tuberculosis (MTB) grown on a culture of body fluids. Children were classified as monoresistant TB, polyresistant TB (resistance to more than 1 first-line anti-TB drug, other than both INH and RIF), MDR-TB, pre-XDR-TB and XDR-TB, as per the WHO classification. All the patients were prescribed DR TB treatment as per the standard guidelines, either shorter oral DR-TB regimen or a longer all-oral MDR/XDR-TB regimen (age below five years needed modification). All the patients were followed up for side effects of treatment once per month. The patient outcomes were categorized as good outcomes if they had completed treatment and cured or were improving during the course of treatment, while bad outcomes included death or not improving during the course of treatment. Results: Of the 50 pediatric patients included in the study, 34 were females (66.7%) and 16 were male (31.4%). Around 33 patients (64.7%) were suffering from pulmonary TB, while 17 (33.3%) were suffering from extrapulmonary TB. The proportions of monoresistant TB, polyresistant TB, MDR-TB, pre-XDR-TB and XDR-TB were 2.0%, 0%, 50.0%, 30.0% and 18.0%, respectively. Good outcome was reported in 40 patients (80.0%). The 10 bad outcomes were 7 deaths (14%) and 3 (6.0%) children who were not improving. Adverse events (single or multiple) were reported in all the patients, most of which were mild in nature. The most common adverse events were metallic taste 16(31.4%), rash and allergic reaction 15(29.4%), nausea and vomiting 13(26.0%), arthralgia 11 (21.6%) and alopecia 11 (21.6%). Serious adverse event of QTc prolongation was reported in 4 cases (7.8%), but neither arrhythmias nor symptomatic cardiac side effects occurred. Vestibular toxicity was reported in 2(3.9%), and psychotic symptoms in 4(7.8%). Hepatotoxicity, hypothyroidism, peripheral neuropathy, gynaecomastia, and amenorrhea were reported in 2 (4.0%), 4 (7.8%), 2 (3.9%), 1(2.0%), and 2 (3.9%) respectively. None of the drugs needed to be withdrawn due to uncontrolled adverse events. Conclusion: Paediatric DR TB treatment achieved favorable outcomes in a large proportion of children. DR TB treatment regimen drugs were overall well tolerated in this cohort.

Keywords: pediatric, drug-resistant, tuberculosis, adverse events, treatment

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Authors: Silsila Sherzad, Hazrat Ali Khan, Tabasum Sherzad, Hazratullah, Sanaullah

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Objective: To study the prevalence of common Mental health disorders among forcibly displaced people and to compare with the common mental health disorders among host community members. Study design: Analytical Study. Place of study: Balochistan institute of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Quetta, Baluchistan, Pakistan. Methodology: Data from the Outpatient department were analyzed to numerate both the host community and refugees. Out of 4120, 354 refugee patients were identified using their proof registration (POR) card and for 3776 of the host community using their computerized national identity card (CNIC), data was analyzed for the prevalence of mental health disorders among them. Results: This study states that Afghan Refugees presented to OPD services of Balochistan institute of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, 47% were diagnosed as Major depressive disorder with/without psychosis, 19% with Generalized anxiety disorder, 5% were diagnosed as Bipolar Affective disorder, 5% With schizophrenia, 4% as Post-traumatic stress disorder, 3% as migraine, 3% conversion disorder, 2% Obsessive-compulsive disorder, 1% somatoform disorder and 10% of them presented with other psychiatric disorders, while in host community 21% were diagnosed as Major depressive disorder with/without psychosis, 24% as Generalized anxiety disorder, 12% as somatoform disorder, 10% as Obsessive-compulsive disorder, 8% as migraine, 7% as conversion disorder, 4% as Bipolar Affective disorder, 3% as schizophrenia, 3% as Mental and behavioral disorder due to substance misuse and rest of 7% presented with other psychiatric disorders. Conclusion: The conclusion of this study states that mental health disorders are more common among refugees than in other populations. The result of this study shows that there is a big difference in the prevalence of mental health disorders among displaced people and the rest of the population. Some Mental health disorders are present in a higher percentage among displaced people rather than among the host community, while some other disorders are present in a lower percentage among displaced people rather than among the host community. This study also highlights that further studies are needed to determine risk and protective factors within the host community.

Keywords: forced displacement, mental health, Afghan refugees, depression

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Authors: Sayed Abdul Rahman Sadaat, Nsenda Lukumwena

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Traffic congestion is a worldwide issue, especially in developing countries. This is also the case of Afghanistan, especially in Kabul-the capital city, whose rapid population growth makes it the fifth fastest growing city in the world. Traffic congestion affects not only the mobility of people and goods but also the air quality that leads to numerous deaths (3000 people) every year. There are many factors that contribute to traffic congestion. The insufficiency and inefficiency of public transportation system along with the increase of private vehicles can be considered among the most important contributing factors. This paper addresses the traffic congestion and attempts to suggest possible solutions that can help improve the current public transportation system in Kabul. To this end, the methodology used in this paper includes field work conducted in Kabul city and literature review. The outcome suggests that improving the public transportation system is likely to contribute to the reduction of traffic congestion and the improvement of air quality, thereby reducing the number of death related to air quality.

Keywords: air quality, Kabul, Afghanistan, public transportation system, improvements, traffic congestion

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Authors: Ming-Dong Wang, Abigail F. Ruby, Michelle E. Ross

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Methylphenidate is a first-line treatment drug for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a common mental health disorder in children and adolescents. Over the last several decades, the rate of children and adolescents using ADHD medication has been increasing in many countries. A recent study found that the prevalence of ADHD medication use among children aged 3-18 years increased in 13 different world regions between 2001 and 2015, where the absolute increase ranged from 0.02 to 0.26% per year. The goal of this study was to examine the use of methylphenidate in Canadian children and its associated adverse reactions. Methylphenidate use information among young Canadians aged 0-14 years was extracted from IQVIA data on prescriptions dispensed by pharmacies between April 2014 and June 2020. The adverse reaction information associated with methylphenidate use was extracted from the Canada Vigilance database for the same time period. Methylphenidate use trends were analyzed based on sex, age group (0-4 years, 5-9 years, and 10-14 years), and geographical location (province). The common classes of adverse reactions associated with methylphenidate use were sorted, and the relative risks associated with methylphenidate use as compared with two second-line amphetamine medications for ADHD were estimated. This study revealed that among Canadians aged 0-14 years, every 100 people used about 25 prescriptions (or 23,000 mg) of methylphenidate per year during the study period, and the use increased with time. Boys used almost three times more methylphenidate than girls. The amount of drug used was inversely associated with age: Canadians aged 10-14 years used nearly three times as many drugs compared to those aged 5-9 years. Seasonal methylphenidate use patterns were apparent among young Canadians, but the seasonal trends differed among the three age groups. Methylphenidate use varied from region to region, and the highest methylphenidate use was observed in Quebec, where the use of methylphenidate was at least double that of any other province. During the study period, Health Canada received 304 adverse reaction reports associated with the use of methylphenidate for Canadians aged 0-14 years. The number of adverse reaction reports received for boys was 3.5 times higher than that for girls. The three most common adverse reaction classes were psychiatric disorders, nervous system disorders and injury, poisoning procedural complications. The number one commonly reported adverse reaction for boys was aggression (11.2%), while for girls, it was a tremor (9.6%). The safety profile in terms of adverse reaction classes associated with methylphenidate use was similar to that of the selected control products. Methylphenidate is a commonly used pharmaceutical product in young Canadians, particularly in the province of Quebec. Boys used approximately three times more of this product as compared to girls. Future investigation is needed to determine what factors are associated with the observed geographic variations in Canada.

Keywords: adverse reaction risk, methylphenidate, prescription trend, use variation

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Authors: Stephanie M. De Oliveira

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For a long time, migrations are characterized as a difficult problem to solve. Various phenomena throughout human history caused personnel migrations, whether by the free will of migrants or not. Nowadays, governments that seek to give these people protection and dignity, either to asylum or to build a new life in a different country, make refugee protection. At present, a large amount of people, have been crossing their country's borders by land, air or sea, becoming refugees and seeking a new life away from fear, threat or violence they suffered in their country of origin. It is known that some countries have already instituted rights and rules for refugees who wish to become citizens in the country to which they immigrated, even though this is not what happens in most cases. The article will be based on research made with UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) material as well as will analyze the interaction of the Turkish government with the European Union. Since Turkey is not part of the Union, it will be understood how the interaction was made, as well as the search for consensus, and not only humanitarian but also financial aid. The treatment of refugees and the defense of human rights within the country will also be considered.

Keywords: refugees, Turkey, asylum seekers, United Nations

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Authors: Zhenzhong Yang

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Herbal medicines are important supplements to chemical drugs and usually consist of a complex mixture of constituents. The current quality control strategy of herbal medicines is mainly based on chemical markers, which largely failed to owe to the markers, not reflecting the herbal medicines’ multiple mechanisms of action. Herein, a bioactive chemical markers based strategy was proposed and applied to the quality assessment and control of herbal medicines. This strategy mainly includes the comprehensive chemical characterization of herbal medicines, bioactive chemical markers identification, and related quantitative analysis methods development. As a proof-of-concept, this strategy was applied to a Panax notoginseng derived herbal medicine. The bioactive chemical markers based strategy offers a rational approach for quality assessment and control of herbal medicines.

Keywords: bioactive chemical markers, herbal medicines, quality assessment, quality control

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Authors: Adandé Belarmain Fandohan

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Climate change has become a major concern globally, particularly in rural communities that have to find rapid coping solutions. Several vulnerability assessment approaches have been developed in the last decades. This comes along with a higher risk for different methods to result in different conclusions, thereby making comparisons difficult and decision-making non-consistent across areas. The effect of methods and computational approaches on estimates of people’s vulnerability was assessed using data collected from the Gambia. Twenty-four indicators reflecting vulnerability components: (exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity) were selected for this purpose. Data were collected through household surveys and key informant interviews. One hundred and fifteen respondents were surveyed across six communities and two administrative districts. Results were compared over three computational approaches: the maximum value transformation normalization, the z-score transformation normalization, and simple averaging. Regardless of the approaches used, communities that have high exposure to climate change and extreme events were the most vulnerable. Furthermore, the vulnerability was strongly related to the socio-economic characteristics of farmers. The survey evidenced variability in vulnerability among communities and administrative districts. Comparing output across approaches, overall, people in the study area were found to be highly vulnerable using the simple average and maximum value transformation, whereas they were only moderately vulnerable using the z-score transformation approach. It is suggested that assessment approach-induced discrepancies be accounted for in international debates to harmonize/standardize assessment approaches to the end of making outputs comparable across regions. This will also likely increase the relevance of decision-making for adaptation policies.

Keywords: maximum value transformation, simple averaging, vulnerability assessment, West Africa, z-score transformation

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Authors: Destin Kurniawati

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Asthma is one of the deadly diseases in the world. According to the World Health Organization in 2012, 300 million people suffer from asthma of different races and classes. An estimated 250,000 people die because of asthma annually.As well as more than 57% of children and 51% of adults with asthma. There two risk factors for asthma. That risk factors are the host and environmental. One of the environmental factors that can bring asthma is allergens. When an allergen enters the body, the allergen binds to IgE and cause cell granulat- issued several mediators such as histamine, leukotrienes, bradykinin or something like that. This will cause localized edema effect on bronchial walls of small, thick mucous secretions in the bronchioles, and bronchial smooth muscle spasm. Then there will be inflammation of the airways. Methodology this research is by literature. Therefore, to anticipate and cope with asthma is to control environmental factors that serve to minimize allergens and controlling one's intake in the form of antioxidant-rich foods. Foods rich in antioxidants serve to improve lung function and decrease symptoms of the disease of the respiratory tract.

Keywords: asthma, deadly disease, allergen, environmental and food control

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Authors: V. Bezverbny

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The actuality of the project deals with stable growing of deviant behavior’ statistics among Moscow citizens. During the recent years the socioeconomic health, wealth and life expectation of Moscow residents is regularly growing up, but the limits of crime and drug addiction have grown up seriously. Another serious Moscow problem has been economical stratification of population. The cost of identical residential areas differs at 2.5 times. The project is aimed at complex research and the development of methodology for main factors and reasons evaluation of deviant behavior growing in Moscow. The main project objective is finding out the links between the urban environment quality and dynamics of citizens’ deviant behavior in regional and municipal aspect using the statistical research methods and GIS modeling. The conducted research allowed: 1) to evaluate the dynamics of deviant behavior in Moscow different administrative districts; 2) to describe the reasons of crime increasing, drugs addiction, alcoholism, suicides tendencies among the city population; 3) to develop the city districts classification based on the level of the crime rate; 4) to create the statistical database containing the main indicators of Moscow population deviant behavior in 2010-2015 including information regarding crime level, alcoholism, drug addiction, suicides; 5) to present statistical indicators that characterize the dynamics of Moscow population deviant behavior in condition of expanding the city territory; 6) to analyze the main sociological theories and factors of deviant behavior for concretization the deviation types; 7) to consider the main theoretical statements of the city sociology devoted to the reasons for deviant behavior in megalopolis conditions. To explore the level of deviant behavior’ factors differentiation, the questionnaire was worked out, and sociological survey involved more than 1000 people from different districts of the city was conducted. Sociological survey allowed to study the socio-economical and psychological factors of deviant behavior. It also included the Moscow residents’ open-ended answers regarding the most actual problems in their districts and reasons of wish to leave their place. The results of sociological survey lead to the conclusion that the main factors of deviant behavior in Moscow are high level of social inequality, large number of illegal migrants and bums, nearness of large transport hubs and stations on the territory, ineffective work of police, alcohol availability and drug accessibility, low level of psychological comfort for Moscow citizens, large number of building projects.

Keywords: deviant behavior, megapolis, Moscow, urban environment, social stratification

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Authors: Pooree Sakot, Marndarath Suksanga

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Organizations are under increasing pressure to improve performance and maximize the contribution of every employee. Employee engagement has become an attractive business proposition. The triple bottom line consists of three Ps: profit, people and planet. It aims to measure the financial, social and environmental performance of the corporation over a period of time. People are the most important asset of every organization. Most of the studies suggest that employee engagement improves the bottom line in almost every instance and it is well worth all organizational efforts to actively engage employees. Engaged employees have an impact on productivity and financial performance. Efficient leadership and effective management can take place if emerging paradigm like employee engagement is appropriately understood and put into practice. Employee engagement starts at the first step i.e. recruitment of an employee to the last step i.e. retirement .The HR Practices of an organization play the most major role in helping the employees walk the extra mile. Effective employee engagement is the key component for improved organizational performance.

Keywords: employee engagement, higher education, tool, success

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Authors: Samia Dahmani

Abstract:

The research investigated the process and outcomes of an ongoing project “Den Grønne Rute”: a network of recreational rooms to be implemented throughout a former vulnerable neighborhood: Trekanten in the city of Holstebro in Denmark. The aim of the project is to better integrate Trekanten in the city and which initiated reflections upon the (dis)connection and the integration in relation to urban planning and city management, as well as the extent to which the project considers diversity since Holstebro is a growing multicultural city. With this research, it was first verified if Trekanten is splintered from Holstebro city, and secondly if planning for diversity, by engaging people in the process via place-making approaches, can help redress the disconnection between the neighborhood and the rest of the city. More specifically, the paper aims at exploring the role of place-making “Den Grønne Rute” in Trekanten in promoting planning for diversity and reassembling the splintering in the city. The theoretical and conceptual framework served to analyze the relationship between the splintering urbanism concept and the community involvement’s role in an inclusive process. The field study examines the detachment between Trekanten and Holstebro and the extent to which the project can overcome the disconnection. Methodologically a mix-methods approach was adopted where two semi-structured interviews, a focus group, and an online survey were conducted. Contrary to prior assumptions, the results showed that not only is Trekanten splintered from the city, but also the city is greatly disconnected from Trekanten, and hence Holstebro is a splintered city. The surprise was that Trekanten is moreover inner-splintered. The splintering urbanism accordingly has different dimensions. Even though the project’s design seemed to incorporate diverse ages and groups of people, its process lacks an understanding of the diversity’s relevance in promoting inclusiveness. In fact, the analysis revealed socio-cultural and psychological splintering. Since place-making, as a collaborative approach in planning, is itself an expression of diversity (since it brings differences into play), reconsidering diversity within the process by engaging people at the early stages of planning was recommended. Another suggestion was not to limit the project to a destination but more as an experience to remember and a story to tell. Only by bringing people together in re-imagining the place can Trekanten reassemble with Holstebro and vice versa. The aim of the research was to add a new perspective to the splintering urbanism and planning for diversity so to advance place-making as an approach in promoting the latter and redressing the former.

Keywords: the splintering urbanism, place-making, planning for diversity, Den Grønne Rute, Trekanten, Holstebro

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Authors: Weiam Daear, Patrick Lai, Elmar Prenner

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The human body offers many avenues that could be used for drug delivery. The pulmonary route, which is delivered through the lungs, presents many advantages that have sparked interested in the field. These advantages include; 1) direct access to the lungs and the large surface area it provides, and 2) close proximity to the blood circulation. The air-blood barrier of the alveoli is about 500 nm thick. The air-blood barrier consist of a monolayer of lipids and few proteins called the lung surfactant and cells. This monolayer consists of ~90% lipids and ~10% proteins that are produced by the alveolar epithelial cells. The two major lipid classes constitutes of various saturation and chain length of phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylglycerol (PG) representing 80% of total lipid component. The major role of the lung surfactant monolayer is to reduce surface tension experienced during breathing cycles in order to prevent lung collapse. In terms of the pulmonary drug delivery route, drugs pass through various parts of the respiratory system before reaching the alveoli. It is at this location that the lung surfactant functions as the air-blood barrier for drugs. As the field of nanomedicine advances, the use of nanoparticles (NPs) as drug delivery vehicles is becoming very important. This is due to the advantages NPs provide with their large surface area and potential specific targeting. Therefore, studying the interaction of NPs with lung surfactant and whether they affect its stability becomes very essential. The aim of this research is to develop a biomimetic model of the human lung surfactant followed by a biophysical analysis of the interaction of polymeric NPs. This biomimetic model will function as a fast initial mode of testing for whether NPs affect the stability of the human lung surfactant. The model developed thus far is an 8-component lipid system that contains major PC and PG lipids. Recently, a custom made 16:0/16:1 PC and PG lipids were added to the model system. In the human lung surfactant, these lipids constitute 16% of the total lipid component. According to the author’s knowledge, there is not much monolayer data on the biophysical analysis of the 16:0/16:1 lipids, therefore more analysis will be discussed here. Biophysical techniques such as the Langmuir Trough is used for stability measurements which monitors changes to a monolayer's surface pressure upon NP interaction. Furthermore, Brewster Angle Microscopy (BAM) employed to visualize changes to the lateral domain organization. Results show preferential interactions of NPs with different lipid groups that is also dependent on the monolayer fluidity. Furthermore, results show that the film stability upon compression is unaffected, but there are significant changes in the lateral domain organization of the lung surfactant upon NP addition. This research is significant in the field of pulmonary drug delivery. It is shown that NPs within a certain size range are safe for the pulmonary route, but little is known about the mode of interaction of those polymeric NPs. Moreover, this work will provide additional information about the nanotoxicology of NPs tested.

Keywords: Brewster angle microscopy, lipids, lung surfactant, nanoparticles

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