Search results for: occupational health management

Authors: Ayesha Aihetasham, Najma Arshad, Sobia Khan

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Damage causes by subterranean termites are of major concern today. Termites majorly treated with pesticides resulted in several problems related to health and environment. For this reason, plant-derived natural products specifically essential oils have been evaluated in order to control termites. The aim of the present study was to investigate the antitermitic potential of six essential oils on Heterotermes indicola subterranean termite. No-choice bioassay was used to assess the termiticidal action of essential oils. Further, gut from each set of treated termite group was extracted and analyzed for reduction in number of protozoa and bacteria by protozoal count method using haemocytometer and viable bacterial plate count (dilution method) respectively. In no-choice bioassay it was found that Foeniculum vulgare oil causes high degree of mortality 90 % average mortality at 10 mg oil concentration (10mg/0.42g weight of filter paper). Least mortality appeared to be due to Citrus sinensis oil (43.33 % average mortality at 10 mg/0.42g). The highest activity verified to be of Foeniculum vulgare followed by Eruca sativa, Trigonella foenum-graecum, Peganum harmala, Syzygium cumini and Citrus sinensis. The essential oil which caused maximum reduction in number of protozoa was P. harmala followed by T. foenum-graecum and E. sativa. In case of bacterial count E. sativa oil indicated maximum decrease in bacterial number (6.4×10⁹ CFU/ml). It is concluded that F. vulgare, E. sativa and P. harmala essential oils are highly effective against H. indicola termite and its gut microflora.

Keywords: bacterial count, essential oils, Heterotermes indicola, protozoal count

Procedia PDF Downloads 233

Authors: Zahra Asgharpour, Eric Renteria, Sebastian De Boodt

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There is a growing trend towards personalization of medical care, as evidenced by the emphasis on outcomes based medicine, the latest developments in CT and MR imaging and personalized treatment in a variety of surgical disciplines. 3D Printing has been introduced and applied in the medical field since 2000. The first applications were in the field of dental implants and custom prosthetics. According to recent publications, 3D printing in the medical field has been used in a wide range of applications which can be organized into several categories including implants, prosthetics, anatomical models and tissue bioprinting. Some of these categories are still in their infancy stage of the concept of proof while others are in application phase such as the design and manufacturing of customized implants and prosthesis. The approach of 3D printing in this category has been successfully used in the health care sector to make both standard and complex implants within a reasonable amount of time. In this study, some of the clinical applications of 3D printing in design and manufacturing of a patient-specific hip implant would be explained. In cases where patients have complex bone geometries or are undergoing a complex revision on hip replacement, the traditional surgical methods are not efficient, and hence these patients require patient-specific approaches. There are major advantages in using this new technology for medical applications, however, in order to get this technology widely accepted in medical device industry, there is a need for gaining more acceptance from the medical device regulatory offices. This is a challenge that is moving onward and will help the technology find its way at the end as an accepted manufacturing method for medical device industry in an international scale. The discussion will conclude with some examples describing the future directions of 3D Medical Printing.

Keywords: CT/MRI, image processing, 3D printing, medical devices, patient specific implants

Procedia PDF Downloads 285

Authors: Andrej Kocjan

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Introduction: Mobility has been shown to play an important role of health and quality of life among older adults. Falls, which are often related to decreased mobility, as well as to neuromuscular deficits, represent the most common injury among older adults. Fall risk has been shown to increase with reduced lower extremity flexibility. The aim of the paper is to assess the importance of flexibility training on joint range of motion and functional performance among elderly population. Methods: We performed literature research on PubMed and evaluated articles published until 2000. The articles found in the search strategy were also added. The population of interest included older adults (≥ 65 years of age). Results: Flexibility training programs still represent an important part of several rehabilitation programs. Static stretching and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation are the most frequently used techniques to improve the length of the muscle-tendon complex. Although the effectiveness of type of stretching seems to be related to age and gender, static stretching is a more appropriate technique to enhance shoulder, hip, and ankle range of motion in older adults. Stretching should be performed in multiple sets with holds of more than 60 seconds for a single muscle group. Conclusion: The literature suggests that flexibility training is an effective method to increase joint range of motion in older adults. In the light of increased functional outcome, activities such as strengthening, balance, and aerobic exercises should be incorporated into a training program for older people. Due to relatively little published literature, it is still not possible to prescribe detailed recommendations regarding flexibility training for older adults.

Keywords: elderly, exercise, flexibility, falls

Procedia PDF Downloads 170

Authors: Dileep Kumar Verma, Sunil Kumar Lal

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Influenza still remains one of the most challenging diseases posing significant threat to public health causing seasonal epidemics and pandemics. Influenza A Virus (IAV) surface protein hemagglutinin is known to play an important role in viral attachment to the host sialic acid receptors and concentrate in lipid rafts for efficient viral fusion. Selective nature of Influenza A virus to utilize rafts micro-domain for efficient virus assembly and budding has been explored in depth. However, the detailed mechanism of IAV binding to host cell membrane and entry into the host remains elusive. In the present study we investigated the role of lipid rafts in early life cycle events of IAV. Role of host lipid rafts was studied using raft disruption method by extraction of cholesterol by Methyl-β-Cyclodextrin. Using GM1, a well-known lipid raft marker, we were able to observe co-localization of IAV on lipid rafts on the host cell membrane. This experiment suggests a direct involvement of lipid rafts in the initiation of the IAV life cycle. Upon disruption of lipid rafts by Methyl-b-cyclodextrin, we observed a significant reduction in IAV binding on the host cell surface indicating a significant decrease in virus attachment to coherent membrane rafts. Our results provide proof that host lipid rafts and their constituents play an important role in the adsorption of IAV. This study opens a new avenues in IAV virus-host interactions to combat infection at a very early steps of the viral lifecycle.

Keywords: lipid raft, adsorption, cholesterol, methyl-β-cyclodextrin, GM1

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Authors: Meng-Huan Wu, Wei-Er Wang, Tsu-Nai Wang, Wei-Jian Hsu, Vincent Chin-Hung Chen

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Objective: Studies have reported a strong link between asthma and bipolar disorder. We conducted a 17-year community-based large cohort study to examine the relationship between asthma, early smoking initiation, and bipolar disorder during adolescence and early adulthood. Methods: A total of 162,766 participants aged 11–16 years were categorized into asthma and non-asthma groups at baseline and compared within the observation period. Covariates during late childhood or adolescence included parental education, cigarette smoking by family members of participants, and participant’s gender, age, alcohol consumption, smoking, and exercise habits. Data for urbanicity, prednisone use, allergic comorbidity, and Charlson comorbidity index were acquired from the National Health Insurance Research Database. The Cox proportional-hazards model was used to evaluate the association between asthma and bipolar disorder. Results: Our findings revealed that asthma increased the risk of bipolar disorder after adjustment for key confounders in the Cox proportional hazard regression model (adjusted HR: 1.31, 95% CI: 1.12-1.53). Hospitalizations or visits to the emergency department for asthma exhibited a dose–response effect on bipolar disorder (adjusted HR: 1.59, 95% CI: 1.22-2.06). Patients with asthma with onset before 20 years of age who smoked during late childhood or adolescence had the greatest risk for bipolar disorder (adjusted HR: 3.10, 95% CI: 1.29-7.44). Conclusions: Patients newly diagnosed with asthma had a 1.3 times higher risk of developing bipolar disorder. Smoking during late childhood or adolescence increases the risk of developing bipolar disorder in patients with asthma.

Keywords: adolescence, asthma, smoking, bipolar disorder, early adulthood

Procedia PDF Downloads 318

Authors: Josée Charette

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The academic and educational success of immigrant students is a current issue in education, especially in western societies such in the province of Quebec, in Canada. For people who immigrate with school-age children, the success of the family’s migratory project is often measured by the benefits drawn by children from the educational institutions of their host society. In order to support the academic achievement of their children, immigrant parents try to develop practices that derive from their representations of school and related challenges inspired by the socio-cultural context of their country of origin. These findings lead us to the following question: How does strategies implemented by immigrant parents to manage the representational distance between school of their country of origin and school of the host society support or not the academic and educational success of their child? In the context of a qualitative exploratory approach, we have made interviews in the French-, English- and Spanish-languages with 32 newly immigrated parents and 10 of their children. Parents were invited to complete a network of free associations about «School in Quebec» as a premise for the interview. The objective of this communication is to present strategies implemented by immigrant parents to manage the distance between their representations of schools in their country of origin and in the host society, and to explore the influence of this management on their child’s academic and educational trajectories. Data analysis led us to develop various types of strategies, such as continuity, adaptation, resources mobilization, compensation and "return to basics" strategies. These strategies seem to be part of a continuum from oppositional-conflict scenario, in which parental strategies act as a risk factor, to conciliator-integrator scenario, in which parental strategies act as a protective factor for immigrant students’ academic and educational success. In conclusion, we believe that our research helps in providing a more efficient support to immigrant parents and contributes to develop a wider portrait of immigrant students’ academic achievement. In addition, we think that by improving the experience of immigrant families in Quebec schools, a greater number of migratory projects will be effective.

Keywords: immigrant students, family’s migratory project, school of origin and school of host society, immigrants parental strategies

Procedia PDF Downloads 433

Authors: A. Ibovi Mouondayi, S. Zaher, R. Assadi, K. Erraoui, S. Sboul, J. Daoudim, S. Bousselham, K. Nassar, S. Janani

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INTRODUCTION: Neuropathic pain (NP) caused by damage to the somatosensory nervous system has a significant impact on quality of life and is associated with a high economic burden on the individual and society. The treatment of neuropathic pain consists of the use of a wide range of therapeutic agents, including gabapentin, which is used in the treatment of neuropathic pain. OBJECTIF: The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerance of gabapentin in the treatment of neuropathic pain. MATERIAL AND METHOD: This is a monocentric, cross-sectional, descriptive, retrospective study conducted in our department over a period of 19 months from October 2020 to April 2022. The missing parameters were collected during phone calls of the patients concerned. The diagnostic tool adopted was the DN4 questionnaire in the dialectal Arabic version. The impact of NP was assessed by the visual analog scale (VAS) on pain, sleep, and function. The impact of PN on mood was assessed by the "Hospital anxiety, and depression scale HAD" score in the validated Arabic version. The exclusion criteria were patients followed up for depression and other psychiatric pathologies. RESULTS: A total of 67 patients' data were collected. The average age was 64 years (+/- 15 years), with extremes ranging from 26 years to 94 years. 58 women and 9 men with an M/F sex ratio of 0.15. Cervical radiculopathy was found in 21% of this population, and lumbosacral radiculopathy in 61%. Gabapentin was introduced in doses ranging from 300 to 1800 mg per day with an average dose of 864 mg (+/- 346) per day for an average duration of 12.6 months. Before treatment, 93% of patients had a non-restorative sleep quality (VAS>3). 54% of patients had a pain VAS greater than 5. The function was normal in only 9% of patients. The mean anxiety score was 3.25 (standard deviation: 2.70), and the mean HAD depression score was 3.79 (standard deviation: 1.79). After treatment, all patients had improved the quality of their sleep (p<0.0001). A significant difference was noted in pain VAS, function, as well as anxiety and depression, and HAD score. Gabapentin was stopped for side effects (dizziness and drowsiness) and/or unsatisfactory response. CONCLUSION: Our data demonstrate a favorable effect of gabapentin on the management of neuropathic pain with a significant difference before and after treatment on the quality of life of patients associated with an acceptable tolerance profile.

Keywords: neuropathic pain, chronic pain, treatment, gabapentin

Procedia PDF Downloads 86

Authors: Pedro P. Drumond, Priscilla M. Moura, Marcia M. L. P. Coelho

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The purpose of On-site Stormwater Detention (OSD) system is to promote the detention of addition stormwater runoff caused by impervious areas, in order to maintain the peak flow the same as the pre-urbanization condition. In recent decades, these systems have been built in many cities around the world. However, its real efficiency continues to be unknown due to the lack of research, especially with regard to monitoring its real performance. Thus, this study aims to compare the water level monitoring data of an OSD built in Belo Horizonte/Brazil with the results of theoretical methods simulations, usually adopted in OSD design. There were made two theoretical simulations, one using the Rational Method and Modified Puls method and another using the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) method and Modified Puls method. The monitoring data were obtained with a water level sensor, installed inside the reservoir and connected to a data logger. The comparison of OSD performance was made for 48 rainfall events recorded from April/2015 to March/2017. The comparison of maximum water levels in the OSD showed that the results of the simulations with Rational/Puls and SCS/Puls methods were, on average 33% and 73%, respectively, lower than those monitored. The Rational/Puls results were significantly higher than the SCS/Puls results, only in the events with greater frequency. In the events with average recurrence interval of 5, 10 and 200 years, the maximum water heights were similar in both simulations. Also, the results showed that the duration of rainfall events was close to the duration of monitored hydrograph. The rising time and recession time of the hydrographs calculated with the Rational Method represented better the monitored hydrograph than SCS Method. The comparison indicates that the real discharge coefficient value could be higher than 0.61, adopted in Puls simulations. New researches evaluating OSD real performance should be developed. In order to verify the peak flow damping efficiency and the value of the discharge coefficient is necessary to monitor the inflow and outflow of an OSD, in addition to monitor the water level inside it.

Keywords: best management practices, on-site stormwater detention, source control, urban drainage

Procedia PDF Downloads 170

Authors: Vladyslav Povoroznyuk, Tetiana Orlуk, Nataliia Dzerovych

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Introduction: Back pain is an extremely common health care problem worldwide. Many studies show a link between an obesity and risk of lower back pain. The aim is to study correlation and peculiarities of vertebral pain in women of different age depending on their anthropometric indicators. Materials: 1886 women aged 25-89 years were examined. The patients were divided into groups according to age (25-44, 45-59, 60-74, 75-89 years old) and body mass index (BMI: to 18.4 kg/m2 (underweight), 18.5-24.9 kg/m2 (normal), 25-30 kg/m2 (overweight) and more than 30.1 kg/m2 (obese). Methods: The presence and intensity of pain was evaluated in the thoracic and lumbar spine using a visual analogue scale (VAS). BMI is calculated by the standard formula based on body weight and height measurements. Statistical analysis was performed using parametric and nonparametric methods. Significant changes were considered as p <0.05. Results: The intensity of pain in the thoracic spine was significantly higher in the underweight women in the age groups of 25-44 years (p = 0.04) and 60-74 years (p=0.005). The intensity of pain in the lumbar spine was significantly higher in the women of 45-59 years (p = 0.001) and 60-74 years (p = 0.0003) with obesity. In the women of 45-74 years BMI was significantly positively correlated with the level of pain in the lumbar spine. Obesity significantly increases the relative risk of pain in the lumbar region (RR=0.07 (95% CI: 1.03-1.12; p=0.002)), while underweight significantly increases the risk of pain in the thoracic region (RR=1.21 (95% CI: 1.00-1.46; p=0.05)). Conclusion: In women, vertebral pain syndrome may be related to the anthropometric characteristics (e.g., BMI). Underweight may indirectly influence the development of pain in the thoracic spine and increase the risk of pain in this part by 1.21 times. Obesity influences the development of pain in the lumbar spine increasing the risk by 1.07 times.

Keywords: body mass index, age, pain in thoracic and lumbar spine, women

Procedia PDF Downloads 354

Authors: Mohanad Al-Behadili, Xiang Song, Djamila Ouelhadj, Alex Fraess-Ehrfeld

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In off-shore wind farms, turbine blade inspection accessibility under various sea states is very challenging and greatly affects the downtime of wind turbines. Maintenance of any offshore system is not an easy task due to the restricted logistics and accessibility. The multirotor unmanned helicopter is of increasing interest in inspection applications due to its manoeuvrability and payload capacity. These advantages increase when many of them are deployed simultaneously in a swarm. Hence this paper proposes a drone swarm framework for inspecting offshore wind turbine blades and nacelles so as to reduce downtime. One of the big challenges of this task is that when operating a drone swarm, an individual drone may not have enough power to fly and communicate during missions and it has no capability of refueling due to its small size. Once the drone power is drained, there are no signals transmitted and the links become intermittent. Vessels equipped with 5G masts and small power units are utilised as platforms for drones to recharge/swap batteries. The research work aims at designing a smart energy management system, which provides automated vessel and drone routing and recharging plans. To achieve this goal, a novel mathematical optimisation model is developed with the main objective of minimising the number of drones and vessels, which carry the charging stations, and the downtime of the wind turbines. There are a number of constraints to be considered, such as each wind turbine must be inspected once and only once by one drone; each drone can inspect at most one wind turbine after recharging, then fly back to the charging station; collision should be avoided during the drone flying; all wind turbines in the wind farm should be inspected within the given time window. We have developed a real-time Ant Colony Optimisation (ACO) algorithm to generate real-time and near-optimal solutions to the drone swarm routing problem. The schedule will generate efficient and real-time solutions to indicate the inspection tasks, time windows, and the optimal routes of the drones to access the turbines. Experiments are conducted to evaluate the quality of the solutions generated by ACO.

Keywords: drone swarm, routing, scheduling, optimisation model, ant colony optimisation

Procedia PDF Downloads 241

Authors: Aziz Rezapour, Abdosaleh Jafari, Marziye Hadian, Elaheh Mazaheri

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Introduction: Cardiac rehabilitation is an accurate educational and sporting program designed to help heart patients to increase their physical activities and reduce the risk factors that make their health worse and help to a healthier lifestyle so that they can return to their families and society with a better spirit. The aim of this study was to examine the cost-effectiveness and cost-utility of cardiac rehabilitation programs for patients with cardiovascular diseases. Methods: In the present review study, published articles related to cost-effectiveness and cost-utility of cardiac rehabilitation programs for patients with cardiovascular diseases within the time interval between 2004 and 2019 were searched using electronic databases. The methodological quality of the structure of articles was examined by Drummond’s standard checklist. Results: The results of reviewing studies showed that most of the studies related to the economic evaluation of cardiac rehabilitation programs in patients with cardiovascular disease were flawed in Drummond’s criteria, and only one study adhered to Drummond’s criteria. The results of the present study indicated use of cardiac rehabilitation programs in patients with cardiovascular disease was cost-effective. Conclusion: The results of this review study showed that although the results of the studies were different in terms of a number of aspects, such as the study perspective, the time horizons, and the costs of rehabilitation programs, they achieved a similar conclusion, they concluded that the use of cardiac rehabilitation programs in patients with cardiovascular diseases, leading to higher quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and lower costs.

Keywords: economic evaluation, systematic review, cardiac rehabilitation, Drummond’s checklist

Procedia PDF Downloads 127

Authors: Laura Salvia Diaz Silvarrey, Anh Phan

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Municipal Plastic Waste (MPW) comprises a mixture of thermoplastics such as high and low density polyethylene (HDPE and LDPE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Recycling rate of these plastics is low, e.g. only 27% in 2013. The remains were incinerated or disposed in landfills. As MPW generation increases approximately 5% per annum, MPW management technologies have to be developed to comply with legislation . Pyrolysis, thermochemical decomposition, provides an excellent alternative to convert MPW into valuable resources like fuels and chemicals. Most studies on waste plastic kinetics only focused on HDPE and LDPE with a simple assumption of first order decomposition, which is not the real reaction mechanism. The aim of this study was to develop a kinetic study for each of the polymers in the MPW mixture using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) over a range of heating rates (5, 10, 20 and 40°C/min) in N2 atmosphere and sample size of 1 – 4mm. A model-free kinetic method was applied to quantify the activation energy at each level of conversion. Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose (KAS) and Flynn–Wall–Ozawa (FWO) equations jointly with Master Plots confirmed that the activation energy was not constant along all the reaction for all the five plastic studied, showing that MPW decomposed through a complex mechanism and not by first-order kinetics. Master plots confirmed that MPW decomposed following a random scission mechanism at conversions above 40%. According to the random scission mechanism, different radicals are formed along the backbone producing the cleavage of bonds by chain scission into molecules of different lengths. The cleavage of bonds during random scission follows first-order kinetics and it is related with the conversion. When a bond is broken one part of the initial molecule becomes an unsaturated one and the other a terminal free radical. The latter can react with hydrogen from and adjacent carbon releasing another free radical and a saturated molecule or reacting with another free radical and forming an alkane. Not every time a bonds is broken a molecule is evaporated. At early stages of the reaction (conversion and temperature below 40% and 300°C), most products are not short enough to evaporate. Only at higher degrees of conversion most of cleavage of bonds releases molecules small enough to evaporate.

Keywords: kinetic, municipal plastic waste, pyrolysis, random scission

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Authors: Azziz Assoumani, Francois Lestremau, Celine Ferret, Benedicte Lepot, Morgane Salomon, Helene Budzinski, Marie-Helene Devier, Pierre Labadie, Karyn Le Menach, Patrick Pardon, Laure Wiest, Emmanuelle Vulliet, Pierre-Francois Staub

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Seven French wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) were monitored for 53 contaminants of emerging concern within a nation-wide monitoring campaign in surface waters, which took place in 2018. The overall objective of the 2018 campaign was to provide the exercise of prioritization of emerging substances, which is being carried out in 2021, with monitoring data. This exercise should make it possible to update the list of relevant substances to be monitored (SPAS) as part of future water framework directive monitoring programmes, which will be implemented in the next water body management cycle (2022). One sampling campaign was performed in October 2018 in the seven WWTP, where affluent and sludge samples were collected. Surface water samples were collected in September 2018 at three to five sites upstream and downstream the point of effluent discharge of each WWTP. The contaminants (36 biocides and 17 surfactants, selected by the Prioritization Experts Committee) were determined in the seven WWTP effluent and sludge samples and in surface water samples by liquid or gas chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry, depending on the contaminant. Nine surfactants and three biocides were quantified at least in one WWTP effluent sample. Linear alkylbenzene sulfonic acids (LAS) and fipronil were quantified in all samples; the LAS were quantified at the highest median concentrations. Twelve surfactants and 13 biocides were quantified in at least one sludge sample. The LAS and didecyldimethylammonium were quantified in all samples and at the highest median concentrations. Higher concentration levels of the substances quantified in WWTP effluent samples were observed in the surface water samples collected downstream the effluents discharge points, compared with the samples collected upstream, suggesting a contribution of the WWTP effluents in the contamination of surface waters.

Keywords: contaminants of emerging concern, effluent, monitoring, river water, sludge

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Authors: Aleksandr Medvedev, Zakhar Slukovsii

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Waterbodies, which are located either within urban areas or nearby towns, permanently undergo anthropogenic load. The extent of the load can be determined via investigations of chemical composition of both water and sediments. Lakes, as a rule, are considered as a landscape depressions, hence they are capable of natural material accumulating, which has been delivered from the catchment area through rivers as well as temporary flows. As a result, lacustrine sediments (especially closed-basin lakes sediments) are considered as perfect archives, which are served for reconstructing past sedimentation process, assessment of the modern contamination level, and prognostication of possible ways of changing in the future. The purposes of the survey are to define a heavy metals content in lake sediments cores, which were retrieved from four urban lakes located in the southern part of Karelia Republic, and to ascertain the main sources of heavy metals input to these waterbodies. It is really crucial to be aware of heavy metals content in environment, because chemical composition of a landscape may have a significant effect on living organisms and people’s health. Sediment columns were sampled in a field with 2-cm intervals by a gravitational corer called «Limnos». The sediment samples were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma spectrometry (ICP MS) for 8 chemical elements (Pb, Cd, Zn, Cr, Ni, Cu, Mn, V). The highest concentrations of trace elements were established in the upper and middle layers of the cores. It has also been ascertained that the extent of contamination mostly depends on a remoteness of a lake from various pollution sources and features of the sources.

Keywords: bottom sediments, environmental pollution, heavy metals, lakes

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Authors: Avi Shrivastava

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Title 42, an emergency health decree, has forced the federal authorities to turn away asylum seekers and all other border crossers since last year. When Title 42 was first deployed in immigration detention centers, where many migrants are held when they arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border, the Trump administration embraced it as a strategy. Expulsions Policy and New Border Challenges will be examined in regard to Title 42 concerns. Humanitarian measures for refugees arriving at the US-Mexico border are the focus of this article. To a large extent, this article addresses the implications of the United States' use of Title 42 in expelling refugees and the possible ramifications of doing away with it. A secondary data collecting strategy was used to gather the information for this study, allowing researchers to examine a large number of previously collected data sets. Information about Title 42 may be found in a variety of places, such as scholarly publications, newspapers, books, and the internet. The inquiry employed qualitative and explanatory research approaches. The claim that 1.7 million individuals were forced to leave the country as a result of it was withdrawn. Since CBP and ICE were limited in their ability to process deportees, it employed a very random patchwork technique in selecting the expelled individuals. As a consequence, repeat offenders, particularly those who were single, got a reduced punishment. The government will be compelled to focus on long-overdue but vital border enhancements if expulsions are halted. Title 42 provisions may help expedite the processing of asylum and other types of humanitarian relief. The government is prepared for an increase in arrivals, but ending the program would lead to a return to arrival levels seen during the Title 42 period.

Keywords: migrants, refugees, title 42, medical, trump administration

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Authors: Siddhartha Khare, Suyash Khare

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Phenology, a crucial discipline in ecology, offers insights into the seasonal dynamics of organisms within natural ecosystems and the underlying environmental triggers. Leveraging the potent capabilities of digital repeat photography, PhenoCams capture invaluable data on the phenology of crops, plants, and trees. These cameras yield digital imagery in Red Green Blue (RGB) color channels, and some advanced systems even incorporate Near Infrared (NIR) bands. This study presents compelling case studies employing PhenoCam technology to unravel the phenology of black spruce trees. Through the analysis of RGB color channels, a range of essential color metrics including red chromatic coordinate (RCC), green chromatic coordinate (GCC), blue chromatic coordinate (BCC), vegetation contrast index (VCI), and excess green index (ExGI) are derived. These metrics illuminate variations in canopy color across seasons, shedding light on bud and leaf development. This, in turn, facilitates a deeper understanding of phenological events and aids in delineating the growth periods of trees and plants. The initial phase of this study addresses critical questions surrounding the fidelity of continuous canopy greenness records in representing bud developmental phases. Additionally, it discerns which color-based index most accurately tracks the seasonal variations in tree phenology within evergreen forest ecosystems. The subsequent section of this study delves into the transition dates of black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) phenology. This is achieved through a fortnightly comparative analysis of the MODIS normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the enhanced vegetation index (EVI). By employing PhenoCam technology and leveraging advanced color metrics, this study significantly advances our comprehension of black spruce tree phenology, offering valuable insights for ecological research and management.

Keywords: phenology, remote sensing, phenocam, color metrics, NDVI, GCC

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Authors: Henry Lau, Dilupa Nakandala, Li Zhao

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All along the length of the supply chain, fresh food firms face the challenge of managing both product quality, due to the perishable nature of the products, and product cost. This paper develops a method to assist logistics managers upstream in the fresh food supply chain in making cost optimized decisions regarding transportation, with the objective of minimizing the total cost while maintaining the quality of food products above acceptable levels. Considering the case of multiple fresh food products collected from multiple farms being transported to a warehouse or a retailer, this study develops a total cost model that includes various costs incurred during transportation. The practical application of the model is illustrated by using several computational intelligence approaches including Genetic Algorithms (GA), Fuzzy Genetic Algorithms (FGA) as well as an improved Simulated Annealing (SA) procedure applied with a repair mechanism for efficiency benchmarking. We demonstrate the practical viability of these approaches by using a simulation study based on pertinent data and evaluate the simulation outcomes. The application of the proposed total cost model was demonstrated using three approaches of GA, FGA and SA with a repair mechanism. All three approaches are adoptable; however, based on the performance evaluation, it was evident that the FGA is more likely to produce a better performance than the other two approaches of GA and SA. This study provides a pragmatic approach for supporting logistics and supply chain practitioners in fresh food industry in making important decisions on the arrangements and procedures related to the transportation of multiple fresh food products to a warehouse from multiple farms in a cost-effective way without compromising product quality. This study extends the literature on cold supply chain management by investigating cost and quality optimization in a multi-product scenario from farms to a retailer and, minimizing cost by managing the quality above expected quality levels at delivery. The scalability of the proposed generic function enables the application to alternative situations in practice such as different storage environments and transportation conditions.

Keywords: cost optimization, food supply chain, fuzzy sets, genetic algorithms, product quality, transportation

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Authors: Tamara Zappaterra

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The Learning Difficulties have an evolutionary nature. The international research has focused its analysis on the characteristics of Learning Difficulties in childhood, but we are still far from a thorough understanding of the nature of such disorders in adolescence and adulthood. Such issues become even more urgent in the university context. Spelling, meaning, and appropriate use of the specific vocabulary of the various disciplines represent an additional challenge for the dyslexic student. This paper explores the characteristics of Learning Difficulties in adulthood and the impact with the university teaching. It presents the results of an interdisciplinary project (educational, medical and engineering area) at University of Florence. The purpose of project is to design of a protocol for usability of teaching and individual study at university level. The project, after a first reconnaissance of user needs that have been reached with the participation of the very same protagonists, is at the stage of guidelines drafting for inclusion and education, to be used by teachers, students and administrative staff. The methodologies used are a questionnaire built on purpose and a series of focus groups with users. For collecting data during the focus groups it was decided to use a method typical of the Quality Function Deployment, a tool originally used for quality management, whose versatility makes it easy to use in a number of different context. The paper presents furthermore the findings of the project, the most significant elements of the guidelines for teaching, i.e. the section for teachers, whose aim is to implement a Learning Difficulties-friendly teaching, even at the university level, in compliance with italian Law 170/2010. The Guidelines for the didactic and inclusion of Learning Difficulties students of the University of Florence are articulated around a global and systemic plan of action, meant to accompany and protect the students during their study career, even before enrolling at the University, with different declination: the logistical, relational, educational, and didactic levels have been considered. These guidelines in Italy received the endorsement of the CNUDD. It is a systemic intervention plan for Learning Difficulties students, which roused and keeps rousing the interest of all the university system, with a radical consideration on academic teaching. Since while we try to provide the best Learning Difficulties-friendly didactic in compliance with the rules, no one can be exempted from a wider consideration on the nature and the quality of university teaching offered to all students.

Keywords: didactic tools, learning difficulties, special and inclusive education, university teaching

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Authors: Pampita Chakraborty, Sukumar Mukherjee

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People with diabetes mellitus are more susceptible to developing infections, as high blood sugar levels can weaken the patient's immune system defences. People with diabetes are more adversely affected when they get an infection than someone without the disease, because you have weakened immune defences in diabetes. People who have minimally elevated blood sugar levels experience worse outcomes with infections. Diabetic patients in hospitals do not necessarily have a higher mortality rate due to infections, but they do face longer hospitalisation and recovery times. A study was done in a tertiary care unit in eastern India. Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus infection were recruited in the study. A total of 520 cases of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus were recorded out of which 200 infectious cases was included in the study. All subjects underwent detailed history & clinical examination. Microbiological samples were collected from respective site of the infection for microbial culture and antibiotic sensitivity test. Out of the 200 infectious cases urinary tract infection(UTI) was found in majority of the cases followed by diabetic foot ulcer (DFU), respiratory tract infection(RTI) and sepsis. It was observed that Escherichia coli was the most commonest pathogen isolated from UTI cases and Staphylococcus aureus was predominant in foot ulcers followed by other organisms. Klebsiella pneumonia was the major organism isolated from RTI and Enterobacter aerogenes was commonly observed in patients with sepsis. Isolated bacteria showed differential sensitivity pattern against commonly used antibiotics. The majority of the isolates were resistant to several antibiotics that are usually prescribed on an empirical basis. These observations are important, especially for patient management and the development of antibiotic treatment guidelines. It is recommended that diabetic patients receive pneumococcal and influenza vaccine annually to reduce morbidity and mortality. Appropriate usage of antibiotics based on local antibiogram pattern can certainly help the clinician in reducing the burden of infections.

Keywords: antimicrobial resistance, diabetic foot ulcer, respiratory tract infection, urinary tract infection

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Authors: Cangir Uyarlar, E. Eren Gultepe, I. Sadi Cetingul, Ismail Bayram

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This study was conducted to investigate the effect of humic acid (Potassium Humate) at different levels on rations on the effects of both maternal and offspring health, metabolic parameters and immunity levels in transition dairy cows. For this purpose, 50 Holstein dairy cows divided 5 trial groups. Experimental groups were designed as follows: A) Control (0% Humas); B) 0.5 Humas (0,5% in concentrated diet); C) 1 Humas (1% in concentrated diet), D) 1,5 Humas (1,5% in concentrated diet), E) 2 Humas (2% in concentrated diet), respectively. The study lasted from the first day of the dry period to postpartum 30th day. Diets were prepared as isocaloric and isonitrogenic. In the experiment, the day on which the animals gave birth was accepted as ‘0 (zero)’ and blood was taken from tail vein (v. coccygea) at -60, -53, -46, -39, -32, -25, -18, -11, -4, 0, ; Colostrum samples were taken on days 0, 1 and 2; Blood samples were taken on days 0, 1, 2, 15 and 30 from the juguler vein (v. jugularis) of the new born calves. Total blood leukocyte, Lymphocyte, Monocyte, granulocytes, Hemoglobin, Hematocrit, MCV, MCH, MWC, RDW, PLT, MPV, PDW, PCT, NEFA, BHBA, Glucose, Total Cholesterol , Triglyceride, LDL, HDL, VLDL, ALT, AST, ALP, GGT and Total IgG levels and colostrum IgG levels were determined in this experiment. The results suggest that although the supplementation of humic acid at 2% level adversely affected to production parameters, the addition of humic acid (potassium humate) to the concentrate mix during the dry period (particularly 0.5 and 1% levels) may provide an increasing on mother and the offspring immunity, some improving on serum metabolism parameters and enhancing the milk production.

Keywords: humic acid, dairy cow, calf, immunity

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Authors: Aklilu Getahun Sulito

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Land Use and Land Cover change dynamics is a result of complex interactions betweenseveral bio- physical and socio-economic conditions. The impacts of the landcoverchange on stream flow and sediment yield were analyzed statistically usingthehydrological model, SWAT. Genale Dawa Dam III watershed is highly af ectedbydeforestation, over grazing, and agricultural land expansion. This study was aimedusingSWAT model for the assessment of impacts of land use land cover change on sediment yield, evaluating stream flow on wet &dry seasons and spatial distribution sediment yieldfrom sub-basins of the Genale Dawa Dam III watershed. Land use land cover maps(LULC) of 2000, 2008 and 2016 were used with same corresponding climate data. During the study period most parts of the forest, dense forest evergreen and grass landchanged to cultivated land. The cultivated land increased by 26.2%but forest land, forest evergreen lands and grass lands decreased by 21.33%, 11.59 % and 7.28 %respectively, following that the mean annual sediment yield of watershed increased by 7.37ton/haover16 years period (2000 – 2016). The analysis of stream flow for wet and dry seasonsshowed that the steam flow increased by 25.5% during wet season, but decreasedby29.6% in the dry season. The result an average annual spatial distribution of sediment yield increased by 7.73ton/ha yr -1 from (2000_2016). The calibration results for bothstream flow and sediment yield showed good agreement between observed and simulateddata with the coef icient of determination of 0.87 and 0.84, Nash-Sutclif e ef iciencyequality to 0.83 and 0.78 and percentage bias of -7.39% and -10.90%respectively. Andthe result for validation for both stream flow and sediment showed good result withCoef icient of determination equality to 0.83 and 0.80, Nash-Sutclif e ef iciency of 0.78and 0.75 and percentage bias of 7.09% and 3.95%. The result obtained fromthe model based on the above method was the mean annual sediment load at Genale DawaDamIIIwatershed increase from 2000 to 2016 for the reason that of the land uses change. Sotouse the Genale Dawa Dam III the land use management practices are neededinthefuture to prevent further increase of sediment yield of the watershed.

Keywords: Genale Dawa Dam III watershed, land use land cover change, SWAT, spatial distribution, sediment yield, stream flow

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Authors: Claire Stafford, John Lewis, Ashley Stripling

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The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between both the independent effects and intersection between COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement simultaneously to investigate how the two events have coincided with impacting race-based traumatic stress in Black Americans. Four groups will be surveyed: Black Americans who participated in BLM-related activism, Black Americans who did not participate in BLM-related activism, White Americans who participated in BLM-related activism, and White Americans who did not participate in BLM-related activism. Participants are between the ages of 30 and 50. All participants will be administered a Brief Trauma Questionnaire with an additional question asking whether or not they have ever tested positive for COVID-19. Based on prior findings, it is expected that Black Americans will have significantly higher levels of COVID-19 contraction, with Black Americans who participated in BLM-related activism having the highest levels of contractions. Additionally, Black Americans who participated in BLM-related activism will likely have the highest self-reported rates of traumatic experiences due to the compounding effect of both the pandemic and the BLM movement. With the development of the COVID-19 pandemic, stark racial disparities between Black and White Americans have become more defined. Compared to White Americans, Black Americans have more COVID-19-related cases and hospitalizations. Researchers must investigate and attempt to mitigate these disparities while simultaneously critically questioning the structure of our national health care system and how it serves our marginalized communities. Further, a critical gaze must be directed at the geopolitical climate of the United States in order to holistically look at how both the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement have interacted and impacted race-based stress and trauma in African Americans.

Keywords: COVID-19, black lives matter movement, race-based traumatic stress, activism

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Authors: A. Abdullah, N. Faghih Mirzaei, S. Hany Haron

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Neighbourhood environment walkability on reported physical activity (PA) levels of students of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Malaysia. Compared with previous generations, today’s young people spend less time playing outdoors and have lower participation rates in PA. Research suggests that negative perceptions of neighbourhood walkability may be a potential barrier to adolescents’ PA. The sample consisted of 200 USM students (to 24 years old) who live outside of the main campus and engage in PA in sport halls and sport fields of USM. The data were analysed using the t-test, binary logistic regression, and discriminant analysis techniques. The present study found that youth PA was affected by neighbourhood environment walkability factors, including neighbourhood infrastructures, neighbourhood safety (crime), and recreation facilities, as well as street characteristics and neighbourhood design variables such as facades of sidewalks, roadside trees, green spaces, and aesthetics. The finding also illustrated that active students were influenced by street connectivity, neighbourhood infrastructures, recreation facilities, facades of sidewalks, and aesthetics, whereas students in the less active group were affected by access to destinations, neighbourhood safety (crime), and roadside trees and green spaces for their PAs. These results report which factors of built environments have more effect on youth PA and they message to the public to create more awareness about the benefits of PA on youth health.

Keywords: fear of crime, neighbourhood built environment, physical activities, street characteristics design

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Authors: Saima Batool, Saima Rafique

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Background and Objective: Pandemics like COVID-19 adversely affect children’s behavior and psychological development by disrupting routine life activities. Children of healthcare workers are exposed additionally due to the fear of parental exposure to the virus. The objective of this study was to assess the perception of frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) regarding the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their children. We also sought to identify the difference in the psychological impact on children of male and female healthcare workers. Methods: A survey questionnaire was developed comprising 10 questions about the perception of HCWs regarding the psychological impact of COVID-19 on their children. It was distributed both online and face-to-face among 150 healthcare professionals working in training and non-training posts in 4 public and 5 nongovernment hospitals in Pakistan. The mean and standard deviation were calculated for each survey item using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 26.0. Results: The response rate was 71.3%, and the majority (64.2%) of the healthcare professionals were ≥30 years of age. Ninety-two HCWs (85.98%) either agreed or strongly agreed that parental separation from their kids for long hours during the pandemic had a negative psychological impact on their children. There was a significant difference in the perceived psychological impact of COVID-19 on the children of male and female HCWs, with a mean survey score of 2.29 ± 1.82 and 1.69 ± 0.79, respectively (t = 2.29, p-value = 0.024). Conclusion: Children of healthcare workers experience more stress and anxiety because of long duty hours and working in high-risk settings. Continuous psychological support and counseling services may be adopted formally to prevent unforeseen adverse events or any long-term negative impact on their physical and mental health.

Keywords: healthcare workers, pandemic, COVID-19, anxiety, psychological

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Authors: Joana Gato, Ahmed Abotabekh, Panayoti Bachkangi

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Introduction: Oestrogen is an essential gonadal hormone that plays a vital role in the reproductive system of women1. The average age of menopause in the UK is 512. Women who go through premature menopause should be offered Hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Similarly, women who undergo surgical menopause should be offered HRT, unless contraindicated, depending on the indication of their surgery2,3. Aim: To assess if the patients in our department are counselled regarding HRT after surgical treatment and if HRT was prescribed. Methodology: A retrospective audit in a busy district hospital, examining all the patients who had a hysterectomy. The audit examined if HRT was discussed pre-operatively, prescribed on discharge and if a follow up was arranged. For women with contraindication to HRT, the audit assessed if the reasons were discussed pre-operatively and communicated to the Inclusion criteria: woman having a total or subtotal hysterectomy, with or without bilateral salpingo-ophorectomy (BSO), between April and September 2022. Exclusion criteria: woman having a vaginal hysterectomy. Results: 40 patients in total had hysterectomy; 27 (68%) were under the age of 51. 15 out of 27 patients bad BSO. 9 women were prescribed HRT, but 8 were offered HRT immediately, and 1 of them were offered a follow up. Of women who underwent surgical menopause, 7 were not given any HRT. The HRT choice was diverse, however, the majority was prescribed oral HRT. 40% of women undergoing surgical menopause did not have a discussion about HRT prior to their surgery. In postmenopausal women (n=13; 33%), still two were given HRT for preexisting menopausal symptoms. Discussion: Only 59% of the pre-menopausal patients had oophorectomy, therefore undergoing surgical menopause. Of these, 44% were not given any HRT, and 40% had no discussion about HRT prior to surgery. Interestingly, the majority of these women have no obvious contraindication to HRT. The choice of HRT was diverse, but the majority was commenced on oral HRT. Our unit is still working towards meeting all the NICE guidance standards of offering HRT and information prior to surgery to women planning to undergo surgical menopause. Conclusion: Starting HRT at the onset of menopause has been shown to improve quality of life and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and osteoporotic fractures4. Our unit still has scope for improvement to comply with the current NICE guidance. All pre-menopausal women undergoing surgical menopause should have a discussion regarding HRT prior to surgery and be offered it if there are no contraindications. This discussion should be clearly documented in the notes. At the time of this report, some of the patients have not yet had a follow up, which we recognize as a limitation to our audit.

Keywords: hormone replacement therapy, menopause, premature ovarian insufficiency, surgical management

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Authors: Ayse Inel Manav, Saliha Bozdogan Yesilot, Pinar Yesil Demirci, Gursel Oztunc

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Introduction: This study was conducted with a view to evaluating cognitive function level, depression, and quality of life of elderly people living in a nursing home. Methods: This study, which is cross-sectional and descriptive in nature, was conducted in the Nursing and Rehabilitation Center for the Elderly in Adana/Turkey between 1st of May and 1st of August, 2016. The participants included 118 elderly people who were chosen using simple random sampling method. The data were collected using the Personal Information Form, the Standardized Mini Mental State Exam (SMMSE), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-OLD (WHOQOL-OLD) module. The data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 22 (IBM, SPSS, Turkey) program. Results: Of all the participants, 36,4% (n=43) were female, 63,6% (n=75) were male, and average age was 74,08 ± 8,23 years. The participants’ SMMSE mean score was found 20,37 ± 7,08, GDS mean score was 14,92 ± 4,29, and WHOQOL-OLD module mean score was 69,76 ± 11,54. There was a negative, significant relationship between SMMSE and GDS scores, a positive relationship between WHOQOL-OLD module total scores and a negative, significant relationship between GDS scores and WHOQOL-OLD module total scores. Discussıon and Conclusion: Results showed that more than half of the elderly people living in the nursing home experienced cognitive deterioration and depression; and cognitive state, depression, and quality of life were found to be significantly related to each other.

Keywords: depression, cognitive function level, quality of life

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Authors: Ashwini Bhosale, Yogesh Patil

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Urban areas are extremely complicated environmental settings, where health and well-being of an individual and population are governed by a large number of bio-physical, socio-economical, and inclusive aspects. Although poverty and slums are the prime issues under UN-HABITAT agenda of environmental sustainability, slums, the inevitable part of urban environment, have not accounted for inclusive city planning. Developing nations, where about 60 % of world slum population resides, are increasingly under pressure to uplift the urban poor, particularly slum dwellers. From a point of advantage, these new slum redevelopment projects have succeeded in providing legitimized and more permanent and stable shelter for the low income people, as well as individualized sanitation and water supply. However, they unfortunately follow the “one type fits all" approach and exhibit no response to the climatic design needs on Mumbai. The thesis focuses on the study of environmental perspectives in the context of Daylight, natural ventilation and social aspects in the design process of Slum-Rehabilitation schemes (SRS) – case of Mumbai. It attempts to investigate into Indian approaches about SRS and concludes upon strategies to be incorporated in SRS to improve the overall SRS environment. The main objectives of this work have been to identify and study the spatial configuration and possibilities of daylight and natural ventilation in Slum Rehabilitated buildings. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated by comparison with the daylight luminance simulated by lighting software, namely ECOTECT, and with measurements under real skies whereas for the ventilation study purpose, software named FLOW DESIGN was used.

Keywords: urban environment, slum-rehabilitation, daylight, natural-ventilation, architectural consequences

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Authors: Simona Pileviciene

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On 24th January 2014, Lithuania notified two primary cases of African swine fever (ASF) in wild boars. The animals were tested positive for ASF virus (ASFV) genome by real-time PCR at the National Reference Laboratory for ASF in Lithuania (NRL), results were confirmed by the European Union Reference Laboratory for African swine fever (CISA-INIA). Intensive wild and domestic animal monitoring program was started. During the period of 2014-2017 ASF was confirmed in two large commercial pig holding with the highest biosecurity. Pigs were killed and destroyed. Since 2014 ASF outbreak territory from east and south has expanded to the middle of Lithuania. Diagnosis by PCR is one of the highly recommended diagnostic methods by World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) for diagnosis of ASF. The aim of the present study was to compare singleplex real-time PCR assays to a duplex assay allowing the identification of ASF and internal control in a single PCR tube and to compare primers, that target the p72 gene (ASF 250 bp and ASF 75 bp) effectivity. Multiplex real-time PCR assays prove to be less time consuming and cost-efficient and therefore have a high potential to be applied in the routine analysis. It is important to have effective and fast method that allows virus detection at the beginning of disease for wild boar population and in outbreaks for domestic pigs. For experiments, we used reference samples (INIA, Spain), and positive samples from infected animals in Lithuania. Results show 100% sensitivity and specificity.

Keywords: African swine fewer, real-time PCR, wild boar, domestic pig

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Authors: Janani Selvaraj, M. Prashanthi Devi, P. B. Harathi

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Epidemiologic studies conducted over several decades have provided evidence to suggest that long-term exposure to elevated ambient levels of particulate air pollution is associated with increased mortality. Air quality risk management is significant in developing countries and it highlights the need to understand the role of ecologic covariates in the association between air pollution and mortality. Several new methods show promise in exploring the geographical distribution of disease and the identification of high risk areas using epidemiological maps. However, the addition of the temporal attribute would further give us an in depth idea of the disease burden with respect to forecasting measures. In recent years, new methods developed in the reanalysis were useful for exploring the spatial structure of the data and the impact of spatial autocorrelation on estimates of risk associated with exposure to air pollution. Based on this, our present study aims to explore the spatial and temporal distribution of the lung cancer cases in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu in relation to air pollution risk areas. A spatio temporal moving average method was computed using the CrimeStat software and visualized in ArcGIS 10.1 to document the spatio temporal movement of the disease in the study region. The random walk analysis performed showed the progress of the peak cancer incidences in the intersection regions of the Coimbatore North and South taluks that include major commercial and residential regions like Gandhipuram, Peelamedu, Ganapathy, etc. Our study shows evidence that daily exposure to high air pollutant concentration zones may lead to the risk of lung cancer. The observations from the present study will be useful in delineating high risk zones of environmental exposure that contribute to the increase of cancer among daily commuters. Through our study we suggest that spatially resolved exposure models in relevant time frames will produce higher risks zones rather than solely on statistical theory about the impact of measurement error and the empirical findings.

Keywords: air pollution, cancer, spatio-temporal analysis, India

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Authors: Dany I. Doughan, Nizam S. Najd

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Different governments in today’s global pandemic are approaching the challenging and complex issue of mitigating the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus differently while simultaneously considering their national economic and operational bottom lines. One of the most notable successes has been Taiwan's multifaceted virus containment approach, which resulted in a substantially lower incidence rate compared to Sweden’s chief mitigation tactic of herd immunity. From a classic Swiss Cheese Model perspective, integrating more fail-safe layers of defense against the virus in Taiwan’s approach compared to Sweden’s meant that in Taiwan, the government did not have to resort to extreme measures like the national lockdown Sweden is currently contemplating. From an optimized virus spread mitigation solution development standpoint using the Solutions Principle, the Taiwanese and Swedish solutions were desirable economically by businesses that remained open and non-economically or socially by individuals who enjoyed fewer disruptions from what they considered normal before the pandemic. Out of the two, the Taiwanese approach was more feasible long-term from a workforce management and quality control perspective for healthcare facilities and their professionals who were able to provide better, longer, more attentive care to the fewer new positive COVID-19 cases. Furthermore, the Taiwanese approach was more applicable as an overall model to emulate thanks in part to its short-term and long-term multilayered approach, which allows for the kind of flexibility needed by other governments to fully or partially adapt or adopt said, model. The Swedish approach, on the other hand, ignored the biochemical nature of the virus and relied heavily on short-term personal behavioral adjustments and conduct modifications, which are not as reliable as establishing required societal norms and awareness programs. The available international data on COVID-19 cases and the published governmental approaches to control the spread of the coronavirus support a better fit into the Solutions Principle of Taiwan’s Swiss Cheese Model success story compared to Sweden’s.

Keywords: coronavirus containment and mitigation, solutions principle, Swiss Cheese Model, viral mutation

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