Search results for: comprehensive sleep assessment

Authors: Tuula Heinonen, Wilhelm Gaus

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At present safety, assessment starts with animal tests although their predictivity is often poor. Even after extended human use experimental data are often judged as the core information for risk assessment. However, the best opportunity to generate true evidence is to match all available information. Cross matching methodology combines the different fields of knowledge and types of data (e.g. in-vitro and in-vivo experiments, clinical observations, clinical and epidemiological studies, and daily life observations) and gives adequate weight to individual findings. To achieve a consolidated outcome, the information from all available sources is analysed and compared with each other. If single pieces of information fit together a clear picture becomes visible. If pieces of information are inconsistent or contradictory careful consideration is necessary. 'Cross' can be understood as 'orthographic' in geometry or as 'independent' in mathematics. Results coming from different sources bring independent and; therefore, they result in new information. Independent information gives a larger contribution to evidence than results coming repeatedly from the same source. A successful example of cross matching is the assessment of Ginkgo biloba where we were able to come to the conclusive result: Ginkgo biloba leave extract is well tolerated and safe for humans.

Keywords: cross-matching, human use, safety assessment, Ginkgo biloba leave extract

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Authors: Lateefat Amao, Misagh Faezipour

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Implementing electronic health records (EHR) in healthcare is a pivotal transition aimed at digitizing and optimizing patient health information management. The expectations associated with this transition are high, even towards other health information systems (HIS) and health technology. This multifaceted process involves careful planning and execution to improve the quality and efficiency of patient care, especially as healthcare technology is a sensitive niche. Key considerations include a thorough needs assessment, judicious vendor selection, robust infrastructure development, and training and adaptation of healthcare professionals. Comprehensive training programs, data migration from legacy systems and models, interoperability, as well as security and regulatory compliance are imperative for healthcare staff to navigate EHR systems adeptly. The purpose of this work is to offer a comprehensive review of the literature on EHR implementation. It explores the impact of this health technology on health practices, highlights challenges and barriers to its successful utility, and offers practical strategies that can impact its success in healthcare. This paper provides a thorough review of studies on the adoption of EHRs, emphasizing the wide range of experiences and results connected to EHR use in the medical field, especially across different types of healthcare organizations.

Keywords: healthcare, electronic health records, EHR implementation, patient care, interoperability

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Authors: Ke Qiu, Minzi Mao, Jianjun Ren, Yu Zhao

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Although much has been done to investigate the influence of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) on cognitive function, little attention has been paid to the role which gender differences play in this association. In the present study, we aim to explore the gender-specific association between OSA and cognitive impairment. Participants from UK biobank who have completed at least one of the five baseline cognitive tests (visuospatial memory, prospective memory, fluid intelligence, short numeric memory and reaction time) were included and were further categorized into three groups: (1) OSA, (2) self-reported snoring but without OSA, and (3) healthy controls (without OSA or snoring). Multivariable regression analysis was performed to examine the associations among snoring, OSA and performance of each of the five cognitive domains. A total of 267,889 participants (47% male, mean age: 57 years old) were included in our study. In the multivariable regression analysis, female participants in the OSA group had a higher risk of having poor prospective memory (OR: 1.24, 95% CI: 1.02～1.50, p = 0.03). Meanwhile, among female participants, OSA were inversely associated with the performances of fluid intelligence (β: -0.29, 95% CI: -0.46～-0.13, p < 0.001) and short-numeric memory (β: -0.14, 95% CI: -0.35～0.08, p = 0.02). In contrast, among male participants, no significant association was observed between OSA and impairment of the five cognitive domains. Overall, OSA was significantly associated with cognitive impairment in female participants rather than in male participants, indicating that more special attention and timely interventions should be given to female OSA patients to prevent further cognitive impairment.

Keywords: obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), cognitive impairment, gender-specific association, UK biobank

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Authors: Helen Pluut, Remus Ilies, Nikos Dimotakis, Maral Darouei

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This study aims to examine recovery from work as an important daily activity with implications for workplace behavior. Building on affective events theory and the stressor-detachment model as frameworks, this paper proposes and tests a comprehensive within-individual model that uncovers the role of recovery processes at home in linking workplace demands (e.g., workload) and stressors (e.g., workplace incivility) to next-day organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). Our sample consisted of 126 full-time employees in a large Midwestern University. For a period of 16 working days, these employees were asked to fill out 3 electronic surveys while at work. The first survey (sent out in the morning) measured self-reported sleep quality, recovery experiences the previous day at home, and momentary effect. The second survey (sent out close to the end of the workday) measured job demands and stressors as well as OCBs, while the third survey in the evening assessed job strain. Data were analyzed using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM). Results indicated that job demands and stressors at work made it difficult to unwind properly at home and have a good night’s sleep, which had repercussions for next day’s morning effect, which, in turn, influenced OCBs. It can be concluded that processes of recovery are vital to an individual’s daily effective functioning and behavior at work, but recovery may become impaired after a hard day’s work. Thus, our study sheds light on the potentially persistent nature of strain experienced as a result of work and points to the importance of recovery processes to enable individuals to avoid such cross-day spillover. Our paper will discuss this implication for theory and practice as well as potential directions for future research.

Keywords: affect, job demands, organizational citizenship behavior, recovery, strain

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Authors: Chun-Chuan Yang, Jeng-Yueng Chen, Yi-Ting Mai, Chen-Ming Yang

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In this paper, the design of integrated sleep scheduling for relay nodes and user equipments under a Donor eNB (DeNB) in the mode of Time Division Duplex (TDD) in LTE-A is presented. The idea of virtual time is proposed to deal with the discontinuous pattern of the available radio resource in TDD, and based on the estimation of the traffic load, three power saving schemes in the top-down strategy are presented. Associated mechanisms in each scheme including calculation of the virtual subframe capacity, the algorithm of integrated sleep scheduling, and the mapping mechanisms for the backhaul link and the access link are presented in the paper. Simulation study shows the advantage of the proposed schemes in energy saving over the standard DRX scheme.

Keywords: LTE-A, relay, TDD, power saving

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Authors: Semyachkina-Glushkovskaya Oxana, Fedosov Ivan, Blokhina Inna, Terskov Andrey, Evsukova Arina, Elovenko Daria, Adushkina Viktoria, Dubrovsky Alexander, Jürgen Kurths

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In modern neurobiology, sleep is considered a novel biomarker and a promising therapeutic target for brain diseases. This is due to recent discoveries of the nighttime activation of the brain lymphatic system (BLS), playing an important role in the removal of wastes and toxins from the brain and contributes neuroprotection of the central nervous system (CNS). In our review, we discuss that night stimulation of BLS might be a breakthrough strategy in a new treatment of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, stroke, brain trauma, and oncology. Although this research is in its infancy, however, there are pioneering and promising results suggesting that night transcranial photostimulation (tPBM) stimulates more effectively lymphatic removal of amyloid-beta from mouse brain than daily tPBM that is associated with a greater improvement of the neurological status and recognition memory of animals. In our previous study, we discovered that tPBM modulates the tone and permeability of the lymphatic endothelium by stimulating NO formation, promoting lymphatic clearance of wastes and toxins from the brain tissues. We also demonstrate that tPBM can also lead to angio- and lymphangiogenesis, which is another mechanism underlying tPBM-mediated stimulation of BLS. Thus, photo-augmentation of BLS might be a promising therapeutic target for preventing or delaying brain diseases associated with BLS dysfunction. Here we present pioneering technology for simultaneous tPBM in humans and sleep monitoring for stimulation of BLS to remove toxins from CNS and modulation of brain immunity. The wireless-controlled gadget includes a flexible organic light-emitting diode (LED) source that is controlled directly by a sleep-tracking device via a mobile application. The designed autonomous LED source is capable of providing the required therapeutic dose of light radiation at a certain region of the patient’s head without disturbing of sleeping patient. To minimize patients' discomfort, advanced materials like flexible organic LEDs were used. Acknowledgment: This study was supported by RSF project No. 23-75-30001.

Keywords: brain diseases, brain lymphatic system, phototherapy, sleep

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Authors: Jonggeon Lee, Sungho Tae, Sungjoon Suk, Keunhyeok Yang, George Ford, Michael E. Smith, Omidreza Shoghli

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In recent years, research to reduce carbon emissions through quantitative assessment of building life cycle carbon emissions has been performed as it relates to the construction industry. However, most research efforts related to building carbon emissions assessment have been focused on evaluation during the operational phase of a building’s life span. Few comprehensive studies of the carbon emissions during a building’s construction phase have been performed. The purpose of this study is to propose an assessment method that quantitatively evaluates the carbon emissions of buildings during the construction phase. The study analysed the amount of carbon emissions produced by 17 construction trades, and selected four construction trades that result in high levels of carbon emissions: reinforced concrete work; sheathing work; foundation work; and form work. Building materials, and construction and transport equipment used for the selected construction trades were identified, and carbon emissions produced by the identified materials and equipment were calculated for these four construction trades. The energy consumption of construction and transport equipment was calculated by analysing fuel efficiency and equipment productivity rates. The combination of the expected levels of carbon emissions associated with the utilization of building materials and construction equipment provides means for estimating the quantity of carbon emissions related to the construction phase of a building’s life cycle. The proposed carbon emissions assessment method was validated by case studies.

Keywords: building construction phase, carbon emissions assessment, building life cycle

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Authors: Samira Mahmoudkelayeh, Katayoun Taghizade, Mitra Pourvaziri, Elnaz Asadian

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Over the recent decades, depletion of resources and environmental concerns made researchers and practitioners present sustainable approaches. Since construction process consumes a great deal of both renewable and non-renewable resources, it is of great significance regarding environmental impacts. Choosing sustainable construction materials is a remarkable strategy presented in many researches and has a significant effect on building’s environmental footprint. This paper represents an assessment framework for selecting best sustainable materials for exterior enclosure in the city of Tehran based on sustainability principles (eco-friendly, cost effective and socio-cultural viable solutions). To perform a comprehensive analysis of environmental impacts, life cycle assessment, a cradle to grave approach is used. A questionnaire survey of construction experts has been conducted to determine the relative importance of criteria. Analytic Network Process (ANP) is applied as a multi-criteria decision-making method to choose sustainable material which consider interdependencies of criteria and sub-criteria. Finally, it prioritizes and aggregates relevant criteria into ultimate assessed score.

Keywords: sustainable materials, building, analytic network process, life cycle assessment

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Authors: M. Lesage, G. Raîche, M. Riopel, F. Fortin, D. Sebkhi

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This paper describes a Web server implementation of the hierarchical aggregate assessment process in the field of education. This process describes itself as a field of teamwork assessment where teams can have multiple levels of hierarchy and supervision. This process is applied everywhere and is part of the management, education, assessment and computer science fields. The E-Assessment website named “Cluster” records in its database the students, the course material, the teams and the hierarchical relationships between the students. For the present research, the hierarchical relationships are team member, team leader and group administrator appointments. The group administrators have the responsibility to supervise team leaders. The experimentation of the application has been performed by high school students in geology courses and Canadian army cadets for navigation patrols in teams. This research extends the work of Nance that uses a hierarchical aggregation process similar as the one implemented in the “Cluster” application.

Keywords: e-learning, e-assessment, teamwork assessment, hierarchical aggregate assessment

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Authors: Seyyed Hassan Seyyedrezaei

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The advent of computer and ICT thereafter has introduced many irrevocable changes in learning and teaching. There is substantially growing need for the use of IT and ICT in language learning and teaching. In other words, the integration of Information Technology (IT) into online teaching is of vital importance for education and assessment. Considering the fact that the image of education is undergone drastic changes by the advent of technology, education systems and teachers move beyond the walls of traditional classes and methods in order to join with other educational centers to revitalize education. Given the advent of distance learning, online courses and virtual universities, e-assessment has taken a prominent place in effective teaching and meeting the learners' educational needs. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, scrutinizing e-learning, it discusses how and why e-assessment is becoming widely used by educationalists and administrators worldwide. As a second purpose, a couple of effective strategies for online assessment will be enumerated.

Keywords: e-assessment, e learning, ICT, online assessment

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Authors: Meduranda Marco

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This paper aimed to discuss the Integrative Assessment (IA) initiative of the Schools Division Office - Navotas City. The introduction provided a brief landscape analysis of the current state of education, the context of SDO Navotas, and the rationale for the administration of Integrative Assessment (IA) in schools. The IA methodology, procedure, and implementation activities were also shared. Feedback and reports on IA showed positive results as all schools in the Division were able to operationalize IA and consequently foster academic ease for learners and parents. Challenges met after compliance were also documented and strategies to continuously improve the Integrative Assessment process were proposed.

Keywords: distance learning assessment, integrative assessment, academic ease, learning outcomes evaluation

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Authors: Amel Fayed, Shaden AlSubaih, Nouf Al-Qahtani, Asmaa Gosty, Asma Aljuhaimi

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Introduction: Sleep difficulties are vastly predominant among adults and affect different aspects of their life. Many literatures found out that females are more liable to suffer from sleeping problems. College students are typical example of people dealing with daily pressure and stress to fulfill the daily tasks and responsibilities. In addition to their ultimate goal of achieving excellent academic records which require their full concentration and effort. Consequently, many of them start complaining of sleep deprivations which can undesirably affect their academic achievements. This study was aiming to investigate how prevalent is sleeping disorders among different colleges in the university and its relation their academic achievements. Methods: A cross-sectional study of female university students at Princess Norah Bint Abdulrahman University using self-administered questionnaire was conducted. Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) was used to assess different grades of insomnia. Students were requested to answer the questions evaluating their sleeping habits over the last two weeks. Participants reported their latest Grade Point Average (GPA). According to ISI, insomnia severity is reported as ‘No clinically significant’, ‘Subthreshold ‘,’ Clinical moderate insomnia’ and ‘Clinical severe’. Results: In the current study, 228 students participated; 172(75.4%) from medical colleges and 56 (24.6%) from non-medical colleges. About 80% of them claimed to have never taken any medications to help them sleep while only three students confirmed their regular use of sleep-inducing medications. About 16% of the students drink milk or other hot drinks to help them fall asleep. None of the students was suspected of having obstructive sleep apnea or apparent psychiatric disorder. According to ISI, 182 (79.8%) students suffered from subthreshold insomnia, 37 (16.2%) had clinical insomnia (moderate severity) and 9 (3.9%) of students had sleeping problems of non-clinically significance level. However, none of students was found to have severe clinical insomnia. Clinical moderate insomnia was reported in 15.1% of medical students and 19.6% of non-medical students. Moreover, about 82% of medical students suffered from subthreshold insomnia compared to 73.2% of non-medical students. This difference was not statistically significant (P=0.24). About 63% of medical students and 48% of non-medical students believed that high percentage of their colleagues are suffering from insomnias (p-value 0.08) The association between GPA and insomnia revealed that; 19.5% of low GPA group compared to 9.3% of high GPA group had clinical moderate insomnia. This association was not statistically significant (p=0.15). The correlation between the GPA and the ISI score was negative but not conclusive (r=-0.08, p-value = 0.29). More than 92% of all students agreed that sleeping problems affect their academic achievement to varying degrees. Conclusion: our results suggest that insomnia is commonly prevalent among female university students and might affect the students’ achievement. This study provides preliminary data about the quality of sleep among medical and non-medical university students which may be used to promote the healthy sleeping habits among female students.

Keywords: academic achievement, females, insomnia, university student

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Authors: Isil Cakir, Mustafa Uluhan

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Elevated serum Cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1) and leptin levels are important risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) has been reported to increase the risk of CVDs, too. The aim of this study was to evaluate the concentrations of serum CT-1 and leptin in these patients and whether their possible association with the disease severity. Fifty newly diagnosed patients with OSAS and thirty nonapneic snoring subjects were participated in this study. The mean ages of patients and control groups were 47.40±13.30 and 43.23±10.50 years, respectively (P=0.128). Fasting serum triglyseride, total cholesterol, LDL and HDL cholesterol, also CT-1 and leptin levels were evaluated. A significant difference was found in the serum CT-1 and leptin levels between the patients and the controls:serum median CT-1 levels in patients and control groups, respectively, were 19.47 and 8.23 pg/mL (P < 0.001) and leptin levels were 2.07 and 1.29 ng/mL (P < 0.001). In severe patients group (n=39), serum median CT-1 level was found statistically significantly higher than the median level in mild/moderate patients (n=11) group. Patients CT-1 concentrations were not associated with lipoprotein levels and there was no correlation between patients’ leptin and lipid profile parameters. Two risk factors for CVDs, CT-1 and leptin, have significantly elevated and they were associated with OSAS. Furthermore, CT-1 was associated with the severity of disease. We recommend the use of increased serum CT-1 and leptin concentrations as markers of the presence and severity of OSAS.They can be used as early markers in male OSAS patients without known CVDs.

Keywords: obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, cardiotrophin-1, leptin, cardiovascular disease

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Authors: Yingjie Zhang, Ming Li, Ying Zhang, Jing Zhang, Zuolei Hu

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In the actual start-up process of DC motors, the DC drive system often faces a conflict between energy consumption and acceleration performance. To resolve the conflict, this paper proposes a comprehensive performance index that energy consumption index is added on the basis of classical control performance index in the DC motor starting process. Taking the comprehensive performance index as the cost function, particle swarm optimization algorithm is designed to optimize the comprehensive performance. Then it conducts simulations on the optimization of the comprehensive performance of the DC motor on condition that the weight coefficient of the energy consumption index should be properly designed. The simulation results show that as the weight of energy consumption increased, the energy efficiency was significantly improved at the expense of a slight sacrifice of fastness indicators with the comprehensive performance index method. The energy efficiency was increased from 63.18% to 68.48% and the response time reduced from 0.2875s to 0.1736s simultaneously compared with traditional proportion integrals differential controller in energy saving.

Keywords: comprehensive performance index, energy consumption, acceleration performance, particle swarm optimal control

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Authors: Barzan Hadi Hama Karim

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The topic of formative assessment and its implementation in Iraqi Kurdistan have not attracted the attention of researchers and educators. Teachers’ beliefs about formative assessment as well as their assessment roles have remained unexplored. This paper reports on the research results of our survey which is conducted in 20014 to examine issues relating to formative assessment in the university ESL classroom settings. The paper portrays the findings of a qualitative study on the formative assessment role and beliefs of a group of teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in the departments of English Languages in Iraqi Kurdistan universities. Participants of the study are 25 Kurdish EFL teachers from different departments of English languages. Close-ended and open-ended questionnaire is used to collect teacher’s beliefs and perceptions about the importance of formative assessment to improve the process of teaching and learning English language. The result of the study shows that teachers do not play a significant role in the assessment process because of top-down managerial approaches and educational system. The results prove that the teachers’ assessment beliefs and their key role in assessment should not be neglected. Our research papers pursued the following questions: What is the nature of formative assessment in a second language classroom setting? Do the teacher’s assessment practices reflect what she thinks about formative assessment? What are the teachers’ perceptions regarding the benefits of formative assessment for teaching and learning English language at the university level?

Keywords: formative assessment, teachers’ beliefs and perceptions, assessment, education reform, ESL

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Authors: Katalin Gombos, Bence Gálik, Krisztina Ildikó Kalács, Krisztina Gödöny, Ákos Várnagy, József Bódis, Attila Gyenesei, Gábor L. Kovács

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Although non-invasive pre-implantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (NIPGT-A) is potentially appropriate to assess chromosomal ploidy of the embryo, practical application of it in a routine IVF center has not been started in the absence of a recommendation. We developed a comprehensive workflow for a clinically applicable strategy for NIPGT-A based on next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology. We performed MALBAC whole genome amplification and NGS on spent blastocyst culture media of Day 3 embryos fertilized with intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Spent embryonic culture media of morphologically good quality score embryos were enrolled in further analysis with the blank culture media as background control. Chromosomal abnormalities were identified by an optimized bioinformatics pipeline applying a copy number variation (CNV) detecting algorithm. We demonstrate a comprehensive workflow covering both wet- and dry-lab procedures supporting a clinically applicable strategy for NIPGT-A. It can be carried out within 48 h which is critical for the same-cycle blastocyst transfer, but also suitable for “freeze all” and “elective frozen embryo” strategies. The described integrated approach of non-invasive evaluation of embryonic DNA content of the culture media can potentially supplement existing pre-implantation genetic screening methods.

Keywords: next generation sequencing, in vitro fertilization, embryo assessment, non-invasive pre-implantation genetic testing

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Authors: Lukasz Baka

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Objective. The study aimed to investigate the direct and indirect - mediated through insomnia - effect of coronavirus anxiety on exhaustion from the perspective of Hobfol Conservation of Resources (COR) theory. According to COR theory, critical events (e.g. the coronavirus epidemic) make people fearful of losing their valuable resources. A prolonged state of anxiety may lead to sleep troubles, which over time, results in an increase in exhaustion. Materials and Methods: Data were collected among 440 Polish healthcare providers, including nurses and midwives, doctors, paramedics, medical assistance, and wardens. Three measurements were used: Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS), Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ, sleep trouble subscale) and Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI, exhaustion subscale). Hypotheses were tested by the use of Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Results: The obtained results fully support the hypotheses. Both the direct and indirect relationships between coronavirus anxiety and exhaustion were observed. Specifically, high coronavirus anxiety increased insomnia, which in turn contributed to the development of exhaustion. Conclusion: The results are consistent with the COR theory. Prolonged coronavirus anxiety and sleep problems depleted healthcare providers’ resources and made them feel exhausted. Exhaustion among these workers can have serious consequences not only for themselves but also for the health of their patients, therefore researches into effective ways to deal with coronavirus anxiety are needed.

Keywords: coronavirus anxiety, front-line healt-care workers, insomnia, job burnout

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Authors: Jatuphum Ketchatturat

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Value-added assessment has been used for developing the model of monitoring and evaluation of student's learning achievement. The steps of model development consist of 1) study and analyisis of the school and the district report system of student achievement and progress, 2) collecting the data of student achievement to develop the value added indicator, 3) developing the system of value-added assessment by participatory action research approach, 4) putting the system of value-added assessment into the educational district of secondary school, 5) determining the quality of the developed system of value-added assessment. The components of the developed model consist of 1) the database of value-added assessment of student's learning achievement, 2) the process of monitoring and evaluation the student's learning achievement, and 3) the reporting system of value-added assessment of student's learning achievement.

Keywords: learning achievement, monitoring and evaluation, value-added assessment

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Authors: Ziyu Zhang, Xuanyu Ren, Fei Wu, Qinfei Lu, Yongmei Li, Xinyue Zhi

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Introduction: Adolescents experience a critical period of physical and psychological growth. Few studies focus on the influence of sleep hygiene on psychological health from the high school period to freshmen year. Also, the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic has public health significance. Methods: Totally 698 students from high school and college were included in the manuscript, and a cross-sectional procedure was conducted; the objective was to make the epidemiological comparison of the social phobia/depression prevalence and discuss the effects of potential determinants. Results: Psychological problems, including social phobia and depression, are prevalent, especially among high school students, with gender differences. The current results indicated that the association between sleep status and social phobia is most obvious among high school students, while the higher MMR risk was found both for high school social phobia students and college depressive freshmen. Moreover, the interaction between social phobia and depression was also obvious for both populations. Conclusions: Psychological problems, including social phobia and depression, are more prevalent among high school girls when compared with their male and freshmen peers. Important influenced factors for the risk of psychological problems among the two populations were different, but media multitasking status should be paid attention to for both.

Keywords: adolescence, psychological health, epidemiology, social culture

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Authors: Maxutova I. O., Bulatbayeva A. A.

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In modern conditions, the competitiveness of the military, a special educational institution in the educational market, is determined by the quality of the provision of educational services and the economic efficiency of activities. Improving the quality of educational services of the military, the special educational institution is an urgent socially and economically significant problem. The article shows a possible system for the formation of the competitiveness of military, the special educational institution through an assessment of the quality of the educational process, the problem of the transition of the military, special educational institution to digital support of indicative monitoring of the quality of services provided is raised. Quality monitoring is presented in the form of a program or information system, the work of which is carried out in a military, the special educational institution through highlighted interrelated elements. A result-oriented model of management and assessment of the quality of work of the military, the special educational institution is proposed. The indicative indicators for assessing the quality of the teaching and methodological activity of the teacher are considered and described. The publication was prepared as part of an applied grant study for 2020-2022 commissioned by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the topic "Development of a comprehensive methodology for assessing the quality of education of graduates of military special educational institutions" IRN 00029/GF-20.

Keywords: quality assessment, indicative indicators, monitoring program, educational and methodological activities, professional activities, result

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Authors: Changfeng Fu

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Sustainable urban development has been widely accepted a common sense in the modern urban planning and design. However, the measurement and assessment of urban sustainability, especially the quantitative assessment have been always an issue obsessing planning and design professionals. This paper will present an on-going research on the principles and technologies to develop a quantitative urban sustainability assessment principles and techniques which aim to integrate indicators, geospatial and geo-reference data, and assessment techniques together into a mechanism. It is based on the principles and techniques of geospatial analysis with GIS and statistical analysis methods. The decision-making technologies and methods such as AHP and SMART are also adopted to address overall assessment conclusions. The possible interfaces and presentation of data and quantitative assessment results are also described. This research is based on the knowledge, situations and data sources of UK, but it is potentially adaptable to other countries or regions. The implementation potentials of the mechanism are also discussed.

Keywords: urban sustainability assessment, quantitative analysis, sustainability indicator, geospatial data, big data

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Authors: Yohanes Kristianto

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The objective of this paper is to compose a sustainable supply chain that integrates product, process and networks design. An integrated life cycle assessment and techno-economic optimization is proposed that might deliver more economically feasible operations, minimizes environmental impacts and maximizes social contributions. Closed loop economy of the supply chain is achieved by reusing waste to be raw material of final products. Societal benefit is given by the supply chain by absorbing waste as source of raw material and opening new work opportunities. A case study of ethanol supply chain from rice straws is considered. The modeling results show that optimization within the scope of LCA is capable of minimizing both CO₂ emissions and energy and utility consumptions and thus enhancing raw materials utilization. Furthermore, the supply chain is capable of contributing to local economy through jobs creation. While the model is quite comprehensive, the future research recommendation on energy integration and global sustainability is proposed.

Keywords: life cycle assessment, techno-economic optimization, sustainable supply chains, closed loop economy

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Authors: Michael Adebayo, Saheed Lawal

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The Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) is the multidimensional tool used to assess elderly, frail patients either on admission to hospital care or at a community level in primary care. It is a tool designed with the aim of using a holistic approach to managing patients. A Cochrane review of CGA use in 2011 found that the likelihood of being alive and living in their own home rises by 30% post-discharge. RCTs have also discovered 10–15% reductions in readmission rates and reductions in institutionalization, and resource use and costs. Past audit cycles at King’s College Hospital, Denmark Hill had shown inconsistent evidence of CGA completion inpatient discharge summaries (less than 50%). Junior Doctors in the Health and Ageing (HAU) wards have struggled to sustain the efforts of past audit cycles due to the quick turnover in staff (four-month placements for trainees). This 7th cycle created a multi-faceted approach to solving this problem amongst staff and creating lasting change. Methods: 1. We adopted multidisciplinary team involvement to support Doctors. MDT staff e.g. Nurses, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists and Dieticians, were actively encouraged to fill in the CGA document. 2. We added a CGA Document Pro-forma to “Sunrise EPR” (Trust computer system). These CGAs were to automatically be included the discharge summary. 3. Prior to assessing uptake, we used a spot audit questionnaire to assess staff awareness/knowledge of what a CGA was. 4. We designed and placed posters highlighting domains of CGA and MDT roles suited to each domain on geriatric “Health and Ageing Wards” (HAU) in the hospital. 5. We performed an audit of % discharge summaries which include CGA and MDT role input. 6. We nominated ward champions on each ward from each multidisciplinary specialty to monitor and encourage colleagues to actively complete CGAs. 7. We initiated further education of ward staff on CGA's importance by discussion at board rounds and weekly multidisciplinary meetings. Outcomes: 1. The majority of respondents to our spot audit were aware of what a CGA was, but fewer had used the EPR document to complete one. 2. We found that CGAs were not being commenced for nearly 50% of patients discharged on HAU wards and the Frailty Assessment Unit.

Keywords: comprehensive geriatric assessment, CGA, multidisciplinary team, quality of life, mortality

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Authors: Hyeon-Kyo Lim, Hyunjung Kim, Kune-Woo Lee

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Decommissioning process of nuclear facilities can be said to consist of a sequence of problem solving activities, partly because there may exist working environments contaminated by radiological exposure, and partly because there may also exist industrial hazards such as fire, explosions, toxic materials, and electrical and physical hazards. As for an individual hazard factor, risk assessment techniques are getting known to industrial workers with advance of safety technology, but the way how to integrate those results is not. Furthermore, there are few workers who experienced decommissioning operations a lot in the past. Therefore, not a few countries in the world have been trying to develop appropriate counter techniques in order to guarantee safety and efficiency of the process. In spite of that, there still exists neither domestic nor international standard since nuclear facilities are too diverse and unique. In the consequence, it is quite inevitable to imagine and assess the whole risk in the situation anticipated one by one. This paper aimed to find out an appropriate technique to integrate individual risk assessment results from the viewpoint of experts. Thus, on one hand the whole risk assessment activity for decommissioning operations was modeled as a sequence of individual risk assessment steps, and on the other, a hierarchical risk structure was developed. Then, risk assessment procedure that can elicit individual hazard factors one by one were introduced with reference to the standard operation procedure (SOP) and hierarchical task analysis (HTA). With an assumption of quantification and normalization of individual risks, a technique to estimate relative weight factors was tried by using the conventional Analytic Hierarchical Process (AHP) and its result was reviewed with reference to judgment of experts. Besides, taking the ambiguity of human judgment into consideration, debates based upon fuzzy inference was added with a mathematical case study.

Keywords: decommissioning, risk assessment, analytic hierarchical process (AHP), fuzzy inference

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Authors: C. Fernandez-Plaza, I. Abad, E. Diaz, I. Diaz

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Births occurring before the 37th week of gestation are considered preterm births. A threat of preterm is defined as the beginning of regular uterine contractions, dilation and cervical effacement between 23 and 36 gestation weeks. To author's best knowledge, the factors that determine the beginning of the birth are not completely defined yet. In particular, the incidence of sleep habits on preterm births is weekly studied. The aim of this study is to develop a model to predict the factors affecting premature delivery on pregnancy, based on the above potential risk factors, including those derived from sleep habits and light exposure at night (introduced as 12 variables obtained by a telephone survey using two questionnaires previously used by other authors). Thus, three groups of variables were included in the study (maternal, fetal and sleep habits). The study was approved by Research Ethics Committee of the Principado of Asturias (Spain). An observational, retrospective and descriptive study was performed with 481 births between January 1, 2015 and May 10, 2016 in the University Central Hospital of Asturias (Spain). A statistical analysis using SPSS was carried out to compare qualitative and quantitative variables between preterm and term delivery. Chi-square test qualitative variable and t-test for quantitative variables were applied. Statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) between preterm vs. term births were found for primiparity, multi-parity, kind of conception, place of residence or premature rupture of membranes and interruption during nights. In addition to the statistical analysis, machine learning methods to look for a prediction model were tested. In particular, tree based models were applied as the trade-off between performance and interpretability is especially suitable for this study. C5.0, recursive partitioning, random forest and tree bag models were analysed using caret R-package. Cross validation with 10-folds and parameter tuning to optimize the methods were applied. In addition, different noise reduction methods were applied to the initial data using NoiseFiltersR package. The best performance was obtained by C5.0 method with Accuracy 0.91, Sensitivity 0.93, Specificity 0.89 and Precision 0.91. Some well known preterm birth factors were identified: Cervix Dilation, maternal BMI, Premature rupture of membranes or nuchal translucency analysis in the first trimester. The model also identifies other new factors related to sleep habits such as light through window, bedtime on working days, usage of electronic devices before sleeping from Mondays to Fridays or change of sleeping habits reflected in the number of hours, in the depth of sleep or in the lighting of the room. IF dilation < = 2.95 AND usage of electronic devices before sleeping from Mondays to Friday = YES and change of sleeping habits = YES, then preterm is one of the predicting rules obtained by C5.0. In this work a model for predicting preterm births is developed. It is based on machine learning together with noise reduction techniques. The method maximizing the performance is the one selected. This model shows the influence of variables related to sleep habits in preterm prediction.

Keywords: machine learning, noise reduction, preterm birth, sleep habit

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Authors: Antero J. S. Kivinen, Suvi-Sadetta Kaarakainen

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Digitalization touches every aspect of contemporary society, changing the way we live our everyday life. Contemporary society is sometimes described as knowledge society including unprecedented amount of information people face daily. The tools to manage this information flow are ICT-skills which are both technical skills and reflective skills needed to manage incoming information. Therefore schools are under constant pressure of revision. In the latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) girls have been outperforming boys in all Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries and the gender gap between girls and boys is widest in Finland. This paper presents results of the Comprehensive Schools in the Digital Age project of RUSE, University of Turku. The project is in connection with Finnish Government Analysis, Assessment and Research Activities. First of all, this paper examines gender differences in ICT-skills of Finnish upper comprehensive school students. Secondly, it explores in which way differences are changing when students proceed to upper secondary and vocational education. ICT skills are measured using a performance-based ICT-skill test. Data is collected in 3 phases, January-March 2017 (upper comprehensive schools, n=5455), September-December 2017 (upper secondary and vocational schools, n~3500) and January-March 2018 (Upper comprehensive schools). The age of upper comprehensive school student’s is 15-16 and upper secondary and vocational school 16-18. The test is divided into 6 categories: basic operations, productivity software, social networking and communication, content creation and publishing, applications and requirements for the ICT study programs. Students have filled a survey about their ICT-usage and study materials they use in school and home. Cronbach's alpha was used to estimate the reliability of the ICT skill test. Statistical differences between genders were examined using two-tailed independent samples t-test. Results of first data from upper comprehensive schools show that there is no statistically significant difference in ICT-skill tests total scores between genders (boys 10.24 and girls 10.64, maximum being 36). Although, there were no gender difference in total test scores, there are differences in above mentioned six categories. Girls get better scores on school related and social networking test subjects while boys perform better on more technical oriented subjects. Test scores on basic operations are quite low for both groups. Perhaps these can partly be explained by the fact that the test was made on computers and majority of students ICT-usage consist of smartphones and tablets. Against this background it is important to analyze further the reasons for these differences. In a context of ongoing digitalization of everyday life and especially working life, the significant purpose of this analyses is to find answers how to guarantee the adequate ICT skills for all students.

Keywords: basic education, digitalization, gender differences, ICT-skills, upper comprehensive education, upper secondary education, vocational education

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Authors: Nandu C. Nair, Kamal Bijlani

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This paper proposes a concept-based assessment to track the performance of the students. The idea behind this approach is to map the exam questions with the concepts learned in the course. So at the end of the course, each student will know how well he learned each concept. This system will give a self assessment for the students as well as instructor. By analyzing the score of all students, instructor can decide some concepts need to be teaching again or not. The system’s efficiency is proved using three courses from M-tech program in E-Learning technologies and results show that the concept-wise assessment improved the score in final exam of majority students on various courses.

Keywords: assessment, concept, examination, question, score

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Authors: Maria Korman, Carmit Gal, Ella Gabitov, Avi Karni

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The main question addressed in this study was whether the time-of-day wherein training is afforded is a significant factor for motor skill ('how-to', procedural knowledge) acquisition and consolidation into long term memory in the healthy elderly population. Twenty-nine older adults (60-75 years) practiced an explicitly instructed 5-element key-press sequence by repeatedly generating the sequence ‘as fast and accurately as possible’. Contribution of three parameters to acquisition, 24h post-training consolidation, and 1-week retention gains in motor sequence speed was assessed: (a) time of training (morning vs. evening group) (b) sleep quality (actigraphy) and (c) chronotype. All study participants were moderately morning type, according to the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire score. All participants had sleep patterns typical of age, with average sleep efficiency of ~ 82%, and approximately 6 hours of sleep. Speed of motor sequence performance in both groups improved to a similar extent during training session. Nevertheless, evening group expressed small but significant overnight consolidation phase gains, while morning group showed only maintenance of performance level attained at the end of training. By 1-week retention test, both groups showed similar performance levels with no significant gains or losses with respect to 24h test. Changes in the tapping patterns at 24h and 1-week post-training were assessed based on normalized Pearson correlation coefficients using the Fisher’s z-transformation in reference to the tapping pattern attained at the end of the training. Significant differences between the groups were found: the evening group showed larger changes in tapping patterns across the consolidation and retention windows. Our results show that morning-oriented older adults effectively acquired, consolidated, and maintained a new sequence of finger movements, following both morning and evening practice sessions. However, time-of-training affected the time-course of skill evolution in terms of performance speed, as well as the re-organization of tapping patterns during the consolidation period. These results are in line with the notion that motor training preceding a sleep interval may be beneficial for the long-term memory in the elderly. Evening training should be considered an appropriate time window for motor skill learning in older adults, even in individuals with morning chronotype.

Keywords: time-of-day, elderly, motor learning, memory consolidation, chronotype

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Authors: Sandip Tambare, Revati Ghadge

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Alcohol withdrawal syndrome continue to be concerning health issue worldwide in alcoholics. Many current option for treating alcohol withdrawal signs are habit forming causing dependency of sedatives. The divine science of Ayurveda recommends Nasya for improvement of alcohol withdrawal signs. As per the latest reports 1/3 of the Indian population is using alcohol in an unhealthy manner, the complication being wide and varied among which, the Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome is the dominant one. The presentation varies from mild sleep loss or anxiety to delirium. Ayurveda has given utmost in the context of Madatyaya(Alcoholism). Various protocols based on the identification of the status of tridoshas are explained which includes sodhana, samana and satwavachaya chikitsa. Various medications are being used, with appreciated effects in the clinical practice. As per reports, the panchakarma procedure nasya seems highly effective, in managing of the alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Nasya with Ksheerabala Taila is given for 7 days in the condition of Alcohol Withdrawal syndrome and it was the non Randomized trial with 30 subjects satisfying the DSM V criteria for alcohol withdrawl and the assessment was done using the Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment for Alcohol Scale revised (CIWA-Ar). Conclusion: Among the symptoms which were studied after the interventions, it was found that there was high significant response in almost all the symptoms in the given subjects. The eternal science of Ayurveda is able to answer the existing problem of alcohol and its abuse in the society.

Keywords: nasya, alcohol withdrawal, madatyaya, ksheerabala taila

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Authors: Bulatbayeva A. A., Maxutova I. O., Ergalieva A. N.

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This article presents a study of the practice of self-assessment of the quality of training cadets in a military higher specialized educational institution. The research was carried out by means of a questionnaire survey aimed at identifying the degree of satisfaction of cadets with the organization of the educational process, quality of teaching, the quality of the organization of independent work, and the system of their assessment. In general, the results of the study are of an intermediate nature. Proven tools will be incorporated into the planning and effective management of the learning process. The results of the study can be useful for the administrators and managers of the military education system for teachers of military higher educational institutions for adjusting the content and technologies of training future specialists. The publication was prepared as part of applied grant research for 2020-2022 by order of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the topic "Development of a comprehensive methodology for assessing the quality of education of graduates of military special educational institutions."

Keywords: teaching quality, quality satisfaction, learning management, quality management, process approach, classroom learning, interactive technologies, teaching quality

Procedia PDF Downloads 101