Search results for: Pulmonary Embolism Severity Index (PESI) score

Authors: Cao Yuping, Li Longfei, Zhao Xingfu, Zhang Yalin

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Purpose: This study examined the effects of exposure to domestic physical violence (DPV) on children’s behavior in a community sample. Method: Ninety-three 12-16 year-old adolescents exposed to DPV were matched with 54 adolescents with no exposure to DPV based on age, gender, family composition and parental age and education level. Participation included assessment with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-SF) and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) by the adolescents and their parents respectively. Results: CBCL total score and anxiety/depression, social interaction problems, attention problems, delinquency, aggression and externalizing scores were significantly higher in adolescents exposed to DPV than those in controls (all ps<0.05).The CBCL total score and scores of anxiety/depression, social interaction problems, attention problems, delinquency, aggression and externalizing behaviors of boys were significantly higher in the research group than in the controls (all ps<0.05). Delinquency scores in abused adolescents were significantly higher than in DPV witnessed (p<0.05), but no other scores of CBCL were significant different. Different subtypes of behavioral problems were associated with different types of abuse. Conclusions: DPV exposure is associated with adverse behaviors in children, especially among boys. Children witness DPV alone have similar behavioral scores as the abused children. We recommend that both abused and DPV witness adolescents in Chinese communities need treatment to mitigate the effects on maladjusted behaviors.

Keywords: domestic violence, child, behavior, community, China

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Authors: Sahar Nasr, Lin Li, Edwin Wang

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Bladder cancer (BLCA) is known as the 13th cause of death among cancer patients worldwide, and ~575,000 new BLCA cases are diagnosed each year. Urothelial carcinoma (UC) is the most prevalent subtype among BLCA patients, which can be categorized into muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) and non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). Currently, various therapeutic options are available for UC patients, including (1) transurethral resection followed by intravesical instillation of chemotherapeutics or Bacillus Calmette-Guérin for NMIBC patients, (2) neoadjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy (NAC) plus radical cystectomy is the standard of care for localized MIBC patients, and (3) systematic chemotherapy for metastatic UC. However, conventional treatments may lead to several challenges for treating patients. As an illustration, some patients may suffer from recurrence of the disease after the first line of treatment. Recently, immune checkpoint therapy (ICT) has been introduced as an alternative treatment strategy for the first or second line of treatment in advanced or metastatic BLCA patients. Although ICT showed lucrative results for a fraction of BLCA patients, ~80% of patients were not responsive to it. Therefore, novel treatment methods are required to augment the ICI response rate within BLCA patients. It has been shown that the infiltration of T-cells into the tumor microenvironment (TME) is positively correlated with the response to ICT within cancerous patients. Therefore, the goal of this study is to enhance the infiltration of cytotoxic T-cells into TME through the identification of target genes within the tumor that are responsible for the non-T-cell inflamed TME and their inhibition. BLCA bulk RNA-sequencing data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and immune score for TCGA samples were used to determine the Pearson correlation score between the expression of different genes and immune score for each sample. The genes with strong negative correlations were selected (r < -0.2). Thereafter, the correlation between the expression of each gene and survival in BLCA patients was calculated using the TCGA data and Cox regression method. The genes that are common in both selected gene lists were chosen for further analysis. Afterward, BLCA bulk and single-cell RNA-sequencing data were ranked based on the expression of each selected gene and the top and bottom 25% samples were used for pathway enrichment analysis. If the pathways related to the T-cell infiltration (e.g., antigen presentation, interferon, or chemokine pathways) were enriched within the low-expression group, the gene was included for downstream analysis. Finally, the selected genes will be used to calculate the correlation between their expression and the infiltration rate of the activated CD+8 T-cells, natural killer cells and the activated dendric cells. A list of potential target genes has been identified and ranked based on the above-mentioned analysis and criteria. SUN-1 got the highest score within the gene list and other identified genes in the literature as benchmarks. In conclusion, inhibition of SUN1 may increase the tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and the efficacy of ICI in BLCA patients. BLCA tumor cells with and without SUN-1 CRISPR/Cas9 knockout will be injected into the syngeneic mouse model to validate the predicted SUN-1 effect on increasing tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes.

Keywords: data analysis, gene expression analysis, gene identification, immunoinformatic, functional genomics, transcriptomics

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Authors: Noorhaslinda Kulub Abd. Rashid, Zuraini Anang, Bayu Taufiq Possumah, Suriyani Muhamad, Fauziah Abu Hasan, Hairunnizam Wahid

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Reality of Malaysian lives today, especially the households, are not exempted from using a variety of good products and services that are particularly materialistic. In fact, the pace and sophistication of the technology is seen as a major catalyst to the pattern of community life. In facing the challenges of the current economy, the key role to be played by household is managing the pattern of expenditure, income and loan debts regularly and blessed by Allah. Unfortunately, the world today is witnessing the average household could owe solely to meet their needs with existing spending limits. This study aims to measure the ‘Religious Index of Household Expenditure’ (IKM) and analyze how far the religious influence to the pattern of household expenditure based on the 441 Muslim households. The results showed only a 5-item spending, food, housing, transportation, education, and recreation and entertainment that has a significant relationship with IKM. Therefore, Islamic consumer education is a must to establish sustainable consumptions in order to speed up the internalization of sustainable lifestyle among Malaysians.

Keywords: ‘Religious Index of Household Expenditure’ (IKM), income, sustainable consumptions, household expenditure

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Authors: Jitendra Jain, Cassandra Hidajat, Hansraj Riteesh Bookun

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Graft patency underpins long-term prognosis after coronary artery bypass grafting surgery (CABG). The benefits of the combined use of only the left internal mammary artery and radial artery, referred to as total arterial revascularisation (TAR), on long-term clinical outcomes and quality of life are relatively unknown. The aim of this study was to identify whether there were differences in long term clinical outcomes between recipients of TAR compared to a cohort of mostly arterial revascularization involving the left internal mammary, at least one radial artery and at least one saphenous vein graft. A retrospective analysis was performed on all patients who underwent TAR or were re-vascularized with supplementary saphenous vein graft from February 1996 to December 2004. Telephone surveys were conducted to obtain clinical outcome parameters including major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) and Short Form (SF-36v2) Health Survey responses. A total of 176 patients were successfully contacted to obtain postop follow up results. The mean follow-up length from time of surgery in our study was TAR 12.4±1.8 years and conventional 12.6±2.1. PCS score was TAR 45.9±8.8 vs LIMA/Rad/ SVG 44.9±9.2 (p=0.468) and MCS score was TAR 52.0±8.9 vs LIMA/Rad/SVG 52.5±9.3 (p=0.723). There were no significant differences between groups for NYHA class 3+ TAR 9.4% vs. LIMA/Rad/SVG 6.6%; or CCS 3+ TAR 2.35% vs. LIMA/Rad/SVG 0%.

Keywords: CABG; MACCEs; quality of life; total arterial revascularisation

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Authors: Nagaraju Pendam, C. P. Vardhani

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A simple technology–compatible design of silicon-on-insulator based 1×2 optical power splitter is proposed. For developing large area Opto-electronic Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) devices, the power splitter is a key passive device. The SOI rib- waveguide dimensions (height, width, and etching depth, refractive indices, length of waveguide) leading simultaneously to single mode propagation. In this paper a low loss optical power splitter is designed by using R Soft cad tool and simulated by Beam propagation method, here s-bend waveguides proposed. We concentrate changing the refractive index difference, branching angle, width of the waveguide, free space wavelength of the waveguide and observing transmitted power, effective refractive index in the designed waveguide, and choosing the best simulated results to be fabricated on silicon-on insulator platform. In this design 1550 nm free spacing are used.

Keywords: beam propagation method, insertion loss, optical power splitter, rib waveguide, transmitted power

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Authors: Rebecca A. Deek

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There is evidence that erratic and extreme weather is becoming a common occurrence, and even predictions that this will become even more frequent and more severe. It also appears that the severity of earthquakes is intensifying. Some observers believe that human conduct has given reasons for such change; others attribute this to environmental and geological cycles. However, as some physicists, environmental scientists, politicians, and others continue to debate the connection between weather events, seismic activities, and climate change, other scientists, engineers, and urban planners are exploring how can our habitat become more responsive and resilient to such phenomena. There are a number of recent instances of nature’s destructive events that provide basis for the development of defensive measures.

Keywords: biomimicry, natural disasters, protection of human lives, resilient infrastructures

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Authors: Herjuno Bagus Wicaksono, Emma Almira Fauni, Salma Amelia Dina

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The Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) states that, in an efficient capital market, price fully reflects the information available in the market. This theory has influenced many investors behavior in trading in the stock market. Advanced researches have been conducted to test the efficiency of the stock market in particular countries. Indonesia, as one of the emerging countries, has performed substantial growth in the past years. Hence, this paper aims to examine the efficiency of Islamic stock market in Indonesia in its weak form. The daily stock price data from Indonesia Sharia Stock Index (ISSI) for the period October 2015 to October 2016 were used to do the statistical tests: Run Test and Serial Correlation Test. The results show that there is no serial correlation between the current price with the past prices and the market follows the random walk. This research concludes that Indonesia Islamic stock market is weak form efficient.

Keywords: efficient market hypothesis, Indonesia sharia stock index, random walk, weak form efficiency

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Authors: M. S. V. K. V. Prasad, G. Siva Praveena, P. V. V. Prasada Rao

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It is known that the groundwater quality is very important parameter because it is the main factor determining its suitability for drinking, agricultural and industrial purposes. Water Quality Index (WQI) has been calculated for ground water samples taken from Narsapur-Mogalthur mandals, West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, India, from 10 different locations in the pre-monsoon season as well as post monsoon. The water samples were analyzed for pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Total Hardness (TH), major cations like calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium and anions like chloride, nitrate and sulphate in the laboratory using the standard methods given by the American Public Health Association (APHA). The overall quality of water in the study area is somewhat good for all constituents. Drinking water at almost all the locations was found to be slightly contaminated, except a few locations during the year 2014. It was found that some effective measures are urgently required for water quality management in this region.

Keywords: Water Quality Index, Physico-chemical parameters, Quality rating, monsoon

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Authors: Rasha Ahmadi

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In December 2019, a coronavirus, currently identified as SARS-CoV-2, produced a series of acute atypical respiratory illnesses in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The sickness induced by this virus was named COVID-19. The virus is transmittable between humans and has caused pandemics worldwide. The number of death tolls continues to climb and a huge number of countries have been obliged to perform social isolation and lockdown. Lack of focused therapy continues to be a problem. Epidemiological research showed that senior patients were more susceptible to severe diseases, whereas children tend to have milder symptoms. In this study, we focus on other possible side effects of COVID-19 and more detailed treatment strategies. Using bioinformatics analysis, we first isolated the gene expression profile of patients with severe COVID-19 from the GEO database. Patients' blood samples were used in the GSE183071 dataset. We then categorized the genes with high and low expression. In the next step, we uploaded the genes separately to the Enrichr database and evaluated our data for signs and symptoms as well as related medication regimens. The results showed that 138 genes with high expression and 108 genes with low expression were observed differentially in the severe COVID-19 VS control group. Symptoms and diseases such as embolism and thrombosis of the abdominal aorta, ankylosing spondylitis, suicidal ideation or attempt, regional enteritis were observed in genes with high expression and in genes with low expression of acute and subacute forms of ischemic heart, CNS infection and poliomyelitis, synovitis and tenosynovitis. Following the detection of diseases and possible signs and symptoms, Carmustine, Bithionol, Leflunomide were evaluated more significantly for high-expression genes and Chlorambucil, Ifosfamide, Hydroxyurea, Bisphenol for low-expression genes. In general, examining the different and invisible aspects of COVID-19 and identifying possible treatments can help us significantly in the emergency and hospitalization of patients.

Keywords: phenotypes, drug regimens, gene expression profiles, bioinformatics analysis, severe COVID-19

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Authors: Kingkan Chumjamras

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There are permanent and temporary tracheostomies, and in a permanent tracheostomy, care giver are important persons to know and be able to care for the tracheostomy patient. The objective of this quasi-experimental study was to evaluate outcomes of educating care giver in tracheostomy wound care for discharge planning of tracheostomy patients. The subjects of the study were relatives who directly cared for tracheostomy patients. Thirty subjects were selected according to specified criteria. The research instruments consisted of practice guidelines, manual for relatives in caring for the tracheostomy wound, an assisted model with a tracheostomy wound, a test, an observation form, and a patient’s relative satisfaction questionnaire. The instrument validity was tested by three experts, and the questionnaire reliability was tested with Cronbach’s alpha, and the reliability coefficient was 0.83; the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and paired t-test. The results of the study on educating relatives in tracheostomy wound care for discharge planning of tracheostomy patients revealed that the score for knowledge and ability in caring for the tracheostomy wound before receiving the education was at a low level (M= 19.23, SD= 1.57) compared with the very high score (M= 36.40, SD= 19.23) after receiving the education. The difference was statistically significant (p < .05), and relatives’ satisfaction was at a high level (80 percent). Knowledge and ability in caring for tracheostomy patients among patients’ relatives could cause tracheostomy wound complications for tracheostomy patients. One way to control such complications and returns to hospital from infection, in addition to care by the health care team, is educating relatives in tracheostomy wound care for discharge planning of tracheostomy patients.

Keywords: outcomes, educating, care giver, Tracheostomy Wound Care, discharge planning

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Authors: Wissem Abdaoui, Ilhem Mokhtari, Adel Gouri, Benouareth Djamel Eddine

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Contracted in a health facility, hospital-acquired infections are a major public health problem in recent years. The increase of nosocomial infections is partly related to diagnostic and therapeutic advances in medicine. The aim of our study was to isolate and diagnose some types of bacteria that are circulating in the hospital by performing different samples at two medical services: Pulmonary and Infectious Diseases. The antibiotic susceptibility tests were performed for bacterial isolates. The results have shown that there is a predominance of enterobacteria followed by the staphylococcus with its two species epidermidis ans saprophyticus. The study of the antibiogramme identified that some of these bacteria have a resistant profile against all the tested antibiotics. The fight against nosocomial infections is difficult because it must act on several factors: quality of care, safety of the hospital environment, hygiene, wearing gloves etc. are all areas that should be of heightened vigilance and preventive measures.

Keywords: nosocomial infection, isolation, identification, sensitivity and resistance to antibiotics

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Authors: David Xiaoqian Sun, Khairunnisa Binti Haji Sibah, Jr., Lejak Anak Ambol

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The purpose of the study was to examine the relationships between objectively measured physical activity levels (PALs), enjoyment of physical activity (EPA), and body mass index (BMI) among adolescents. A total of 188 12-14-year-old Bruneian secondary school adolescents (88 boys and 100 girls) voluntarily took part in this study. Subjects wore the RT3 accelerometer for seven consecutive days in order to measure their PALs. Times of students’ engagement in total (TPA), light (LPA), moderate (MPV), and vigorous PA (VPA) were obtained from the accelerometer. Their BMIs were calculated from their body height and weight. Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES) was administrated to obtain their EPA levels. Four key enjoyment factors including fun factors, positive perceptions, unexciting in doing activities, and negative perceptions were identified. Subjects’ social economic status (SES) was provided by school administration. Results show that all the adolescents did not meet the recommended PA guidelines even though boys were engaged in more MVPA than girls. No relationships were found between BMI and all PALs in both boys and girls. BMI was significantly related to the PACES scores (r = -.22, p = 0.01), fun factors (r = -.20, p = 0.05) and positive perceptions (r =-.21, p < 0.05). The PACES scores were significantly related to LPA (r = .18, p = 0.01) but not related to MVPA (r = .04, p > 0.05). After controlling for age and SES, BMI was only significantly related to the PACES scores in girls (r = -.27, p < .01) but boys (r = -.06, p > 0.05). Fun factors were significantly related to LPA and MVPA (p < .01) in girls while negative perceptions were significantly related to LPA and MVPA (p < .01) in boys. This study provides evidence that enjoyment may be a trigger of LPA but MVPA and may be influenced by their BMI status particularly in girls. Based on these findings, physical and health educators are suggested to not only make PA more enjoyable, but also consider gender differences in promoting adolescents' participation in MVPA.

Keywords: accelerometer, body mass index, enjoyment of physical activity, moderate to vigorous physical activity

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Authors: Patria Yunita

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Kuznets’ environmental curve analysis suggests sacrificing economic development to reduce environmental problems. However, we hope to achieve sustainable economic development. In this case, Islamic social finance, especially that of waqf in Indonesia, can be used as a solution to bridge the problem of environmental damage to the sustainability of economic development. The Panel Logit Regression method was used to analyze the probability of increasing economic growth and the role of waqf in the environmental impact of CO₂ emissions. This study uses panel data from 33 Indonesian provinces. The data used were the National Waqf Index, Forest Area, Waqf Land Area, Growth Rate of Regional Gross Domestic Product (YoY), and CO₂ Emissions for 2018-2022. Data were obtained from the Indonesian Waqf Board, Climate World Data, the Ministry of the Environment, and the Bank of Indonesia. The results prove that CO₂ emissions have a negative effect on regional economic growth and that waqf governance in the waqf index has a positive effect on regional economic growth in 33 provinces.

Keywords: waqf, CO₂ emissions, panel logit analysis, sustainable economic development

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Authors: Guo Rui, Cao Xinhu

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In recent decades, the world has endured severe challenges in light of climate change, epidemics, geopolitics, terrorism, economic uncertainties, as well as regional conflicts and rivalries. The appropriate use of critical infrastructures (Cis) is confronted. Ports, as typical Cis cover more than 80% of the global freight movement. Within this context, even the minimal disruption of port operations could cause malfunction of the holistic supply chain network and substantial economic losses. Hence, it is crucial to evaluate port performance from the perspective of resilience. Research on resilience and risk/safety management has been increasing, however, it needs more attention, as it could prevent potential socio-economic losses and inspire decision-makers to make resilience-based decisions to answer the challenges, such as COVID-19. To facilitate better moves from decision-makers, ports need to identify proper factors influencing port resilience. Inappropriately influenced factor selection could have a cascading effect on undesirable port performances. Thus, a systematic evaluation of factors is essential to stimulate the improvement process of port resilience investigation. This study zooms into container ports considering their critical role in international trade and global supply chains. 440 articles are selected after relevance ranking, and consequently, 62 articles are scrutinized after the title and abstract screening. Forty-one articles are included for bibliographic analysis in the end. It is found that there is no standardized index system to measure port resilience. And most studies evaluate port resilience merely in the recovery phase. Only two articles cover absorption, adaption and recovery state. However, no literature involves the prevention state. Hence, a uniform resilience index system is expected with a clear resilience definition. And port safety and security should also be considered while evaluating port resilience.

Keywords: port resilience, port safety and security, literature review, index system, port performance

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Authors: Suryapeta Harini

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Road surface roughness is one of the essential aspects of the road's functional condition, indicating riding comfort in both the transverse and longitudinal directions. The government of India has made maintaining good surface evenness a prerequisite for all highway projects. Pavement distress data was collected with a Network Survey Vehicle (NSV) on a National Highway. It determines the smoothness and frictional qualities of the pavement surface, which are related to driving safety and ease. Based on the data obtained in the field, a regression equation was created with the IRI value and the visual distresses. The suggested system can use wireless acceleration sensors and GPS to gather vehicle status and location data, as well as calculate the international roughness index (IRI). Potholes, raveling, rut depth, cracked area, and repair work are all affected by pavement roughness, according to the current study. The study was carried out in one location. Data collected through using Bump integrator was used for the validation. The bump integrator (BI) obtained using deflection from the network survey vehicle was correlated with the distress parameter to establish an equation.

Keywords: roughness index, network survey vehicle, regression, correlation

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Authors: Waleed Afzal Naveed, Muhammd Dildar Gogi, Muhammad Sufian, Muhammad Amjad Ali, Muhammad Junaid Nisar, Mubashar Iqbal, Amna Jalal, Faisal Munir

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The study was carried out to evaluate the performance of Slow-Released Formulations (SRF) of Methyl eugenol with Lanolin wax in orchard of the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan against fruit flies. Lanolin wax was mixed with methyl eugenol in nine ratios (10:90, 20:80, 30:70, 40:60, 50:50, 60:40, 70:30, 80:20 and 90:10). The results revealed that SRFₗₗ-7 trapped 42.1 flies /day/trap, exhibited an attractancy index (AI) of 51.71%, proved strongly attractive SRFₗₗ for B. zonata and was categorized as Class-III slow-released formulation (AI > 50%). The SRFₗₗ-2, SRFₗₗ-3, SRFₗₗ-4, SRFₗₗ-5, SRFₗₗ-6, SRFₗₗ-8 and SRFₗₗ-9 trapped 17.7, 27.9, 32.3, 23.8, 28.3, 37.8 and 19.9 flies /day/trap, exhibited an attractancy index (AI) of 20.54%, 41.02%, 26.00%, 34.15%, 43.50%, 49.86% and 46.07% AI respectively, proved moderately attractive slow-released formulations for B. zonata and were categorized as Class-II slow-released formulations (AI = 11-50%). However, SRFₗₗ-1 trapped 14.8 flies /day/trap, exhibited 0.71% AI proved little or nonattractive slow-released formulation and was categorized as Class-I slow-released formulation for B. zonata (AI < 11%).

Keywords: Bactrocera zonata, slow-released formulation, lenoline wax, methyl euginol

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Authors: Sulastriningsih Djumingin

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This study has some objectives. It aims at describing the ability of the second-grade students to write review text without applying the Lesson Study model at SMPN 18 Makassar. Second, it seeks to describe the ability of the second-grade students to write review text by applying the Lesson Study model at SMPN 18 Makassar. Third, it aims at testing the effectiveness of the Lesson Study model in writing review text at SMPN 18 Makassar. This research was true experimental design with posttest Only group design involving two groups consisting of one class of the control group and one class of the experimental group. The research populations were all the second-grade students at SMPN 18 Makassar amounted to 250 students consisting of 8 classes. The sampling technique was purposive sampling technique. The control class was VIII2 consisting of 30 students, while the experimental class was VIII8 consisting of 30 students. The research instruments were in the form of observation and tests. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistical techniques and inferential statistical techniques with t-test types processed using SPSS 21 for windows. The results shows that: (1) of 30 students in control class, there are only 14 (47%) students who get the score more than 7.5, categorized as inadequate; (2) in the experimental class, there are 26 (87%) students who obtain the score of 7.5, categorized as adequate; (3) the Lesson Study models is effective to be applied in writing review text. Based on the comparison of the ability of the control class and experimental class, it indicates that the value of t-count is greater than the value of t-table (2.411> 1.667). It means that the alternative hypothesis (H1) proposed by the researcher is accepted.

Keywords: application, lesson study, review text, writing

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Authors: S. S. Sree Sanker, K. N. Madhusoodanan

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Optical biosensors are dominant alternative for traditional analytical methods, because of their small size, simple design and high sensitivity. Photonic sensing method is one of the recent advancing technology for biosensors. It measures the change in refractive index which is induced by the difference in molecular interactions due to the change in concentration of the analyte. Glucose is an aldosic monosaccharide, which is a metabolic source in many of the organisms. The terahertz waves occupies the space between infrared and microwaves in the electromagnetic spectrum. Terahertz waves are expected to be applied to various types of sensors for detecting harmful substances in blood, cancer cells in skin and micro bacteria in vegetables. We have designed glucose sensors using silicon based 1D and 2D photonic crystal pillar arrays in terahertz frequency range. 1D photonic crystal has rectangular pillars with height 100 µm, length 1600 µm and width 50 µm. The array period of the crystal is 500 µm. 2D photonic crystal has 5×5 cylindrical pillar array with an array period of 75 µm. Height and diameter of the pillar array are 160 µm and 100 µm respectively. Two samples considered in the work are blood and glucose solution, which are labelled as sample 1 and sample 2 respectively. The proposed sensor detects the concentration of glucose in the samples from 0 to 100 mg/dL. For this, the crystal was irradiated with 0.3 to 3 THz waves. By analyzing the obtained S parameter, the refractive index of the crystal corresponding to the particular concentration of glucose was measured using the parameter retrieval method. Refractive indices of the two crystals decreased gradually with the increase in concentration of glucose in the sample. For 1D photonic crystals, a gradual decrease in refractive index was observed at 1 THz. 2D photonic crystal showed this behavior at 2 THz. The proposed sensor was simulated using CST Microwave studio. This will enable us to develop a model which can be used to characterize a glucose sensor. The present study is expected to contribute to blood glucose monitoring.

Keywords: CST microwave studio, glucose sensor, photonic crystal, terahertz waves

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Authors: Abdurzag Kerban

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Preservation of semen had a major impact on sheep genetic breeding. The aim of this study was to evaluate the viability of ram spermatozoa after freezing pellet using cold surfaces made from cattle fat and paraffin wax. A pool of three to four ejaculates were pooled from six rams within a period of ten weeks. Semen was diluted in egg yolk-Tris diluent and processed in 0.25 ml straw and 0.1 ml pellets. Motility was evaluated after dilution, before freezing and post-thawing at 0, 1, 2 and 3 hour incubation. Viability index, acrosome integrity and leakage of intracellular enzymes (aspartat aminotransferase and alkline phosphatase) were also evaluated. Spermatozoa exhibited highly significant percentages of motility at 0, 1, 2 and 3 hours incubation after thawing and viability index in 0.25 ml straw and 0.1 ml pellets on cattle fat plate as compared to ram spermatozoa frozen on paraffin wax. In conclusion, cattle fat plate could be used as the cold surface of choice for freezing ram semen in form of pellets. Such form of frozen semen could be used as efficiently as semen frozen in straws. This simple method is economical with little expensive equipment or supplies, and may provide an efficient technique to cryopreserve ram spermatozoa in developing countries.

Keywords: ram semen, freezing, straw, pellet

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Authors: Dehni Abdellatif, Lounis Mourad

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The new approach of applied spatial geostatistics in materials sciences, agriculture accuracy, agricultural statistics, permitted an apprehension of managing and monitoring the water and groundwater qualities in a relationship with salt-affected soil. The anterior experiences concerning data acquisition, spatial-preparation studies on optical and multispectral data has facilitated the integration of correction models of electrical conductivity related with soils temperature (horizons of soils). For tomography apprehension, this physical parameter has been extracted from calibration of the thermal band (LANDSAT ETM+6) with a radiometric correction. Our study area is Oran region (Northern West of Algeria). Different spectral indices are determined such as salinity and sodicity index, the Combined Spectral Reflectance Index (CSRI), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), emissivity, Albedo, and Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR). The approach of geostatistical modeling of electrical conductivity (salinity), appears to be a useful decision support system for estimating corrected electrical resistivity related to the temperature of surface soils, according to the conversion models by substitution, the reference temperature at 25°C (where hydrochemical data are collected with this constraint). The Brightness temperatures extracted from satellite reflectance (LANDSAT ETM+) are used in consistency models to estimate electrical resistivity. The confusions that arise from the effects of salt stress and water stress removed followed by seasonal application of the geostatistical analysis in Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques investigation and monitoring the variation of the electrical conductivity in the alluvial aquifer of Es-Sénia for the salt-affected soil.

Keywords: geostatistical modelling, landsat, brightness temperature, conductivity

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Authors: Ahmed Mohamed Elnady Mohamed Elsafty

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This paper explains a developed applied objective model to measure the culture qualitatively and quantitatively, whether in individuals or in teams, in order to be able to use culture correctly or modify it efficiently. This model provides precise measurements and consistent interpretations by being comprehensive, updateable, and protected from being misled by imitations. Methodically, the provided model divides the culture into seven dimensions (total 43 cultural factors): First dimension is outcome-orientation which consists of five factors and should be highest in leaders. Second dimension is details-orientation which consists of eight factors and should be in highest intelligence members. Third dimension is team-orientation which consists of five factors and should be highest in instructors or coaches. Fourth dimension is change-orientation which consists of five factors and should be highest in soldiers. Fifth dimension is people-orientation which consists of eight factors and should be highest in media members. Sixth dimension is masculinity which consists of seven factors and should be highest in hard workers. Last dimension is stability which consists of seven factors and should be highest in soft workers. In this paper, the details of all cultural factors are explained. Practically, information collection about each cultural factor in the targeted person or team is essential in order to calculate the degrees of all cultural factors using the suggested equation of multiplying 'the score of factor presence' by 'the score of factor strength'. In this paper, the details of how to build each score are explained. Based on the highest degrees - to identify which cultural dimension is the prominent - choosing the tested individual or team in the supposedly right position at the right time will provide a chance to use minimal efforts to make everyone aligned to the organization’s objectives. In other words, making everyone self-motivated by setting him/her at the right source of motivation is the most effective and efficient method to achieve high levels of competency, commitment, and sustainability. Modifying a team culture can be achieved by excluding or including new members with relatively high or low degrees in specific cultural factors. For conclusion, culture is considered as the software of the human beings and it is one of the major compression factors on the managerial discretion. It represents the behaviors, attitudes, and motivations of the human resources which are vital to enhance quality and safety, expanding the market share, and defending against attacks from external environments. Thus, it is tremendously essential and useful to use such a comprehensive model to measure, use, and modify culture.

Keywords: culture dimensions, culture factors, culture measurement, cultural analysis, cultural modification, self-motivation, alignment to objectives, competency, sustainability

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Authors: Shariful Islam, Sharun Akter Khushbu, S. M. Shaqib, Shahriar Sultan Ramit

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In the construction sector, ensuring worker safety is of the utmost significance. In this study, a deep learning-based technique is presented for identifying safety gear worn by construction workers, such as helmets, goggles, jackets, gloves, and footwear. The suggested method precisely locates these safety items by using the YOLO v7 (You Only Look Once) object detection algorithm. The dataset utilized in this work consists of labeled images split into training, testing and validation sets. Each image has bounding box labels that indicate where the safety equipment is located within the image. The model is trained to identify and categorize the safety equipment based on the labeled dataset through an iterative training approach. We used custom dataset to train this model. Our trained model performed admirably well, with good precision, recall, and F1-score for safety equipment recognition. Also, the model's evaluation produced encouraging results, with a [email protected] score of 87.7%. The model performs effectively, making it possible to quickly identify safety equipment violations on building sites. A thorough evaluation of the outcomes reveals the model's advantages and points up potential areas for development. By offering an automatic and trustworthy method for safety equipment detection, this research contributes to the fields of computer vision and workplace safety. The proposed deep learning-based approach will increase safety compliance and reduce the risk of accidents in the construction industry.

Keywords: deep learning, safety equipment detection, YOLOv7, computer vision, workplace safety

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Authors: Anubhav Thakur, Karam Chand Dhiman

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Storage experiment was conducted to study the effect of polymer, fungicides and insecticide on seed quality parameters and storability in wheat. The experimental material consisted of carry over wheat seeds (variety HPW- 155) of rabi 2017 - 18. The observations were recorded bimonthly on parameters viz; germination (%), seedling length (cm), dry weight (g), vigour index - I, vigour - II, speed of germination, field emergence (%), 100 seed weight (g) for 12 months of storage. All parameters declined with the advancement in storage period. The results showed that seeds treated with polymer + vitavax 200 @ 2 g/kg of seed recorded higher germination percentage (95.00 %), seedling length (17.58 cm), seedling dry weight (0.0138 g), vigour index - I (1670) & vigour - II (1.311), speed of germination (19.98), 100 seed weight (5.54 g) and field emergence (87.33 %) which was at par with vitavax 200 @ 2 g/kg of seed, over untreated control (T1). So it can be concluded that for maintain seed quality and enhancing storability, seed of wheat can either be treated with polymer @ 3 ml/kg of seed + vitavax 200 @ 2 g/kg of seed or vitavax 200 @ 2 g/kg of seed.

Keywords: wheat, seed treatment, storability, seed quality

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Authors: Alma Shehu, Majlinda Vasjari, Sonila Duka, Loreta Vallja, Nevila Broli

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Humans consume drinking water from several sources, including tap water, bottled water, natural springs, filtered tap water, etc. The quality of drinking water is crucial for human survival given the fact that the consumption of contaminated drinking water is related to many diseases and deaths all over the world. This study represents the investigation of the quality and health risks of different types of drinking waters being consumed by the population in Albania, arising from heavy metals content. Investigated water included industrialized water, tap water, and spring water. In total, 20 samples were analyzed for the content of Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni, Cu, Fe, Zn, Al, and Mn. Determination of each metal concentration in selected samples was conducted by atomic absorption spectroscopy method with electrothermal atomization, GFAAS. Water quality was evaluated by comparing the obtained metals concentrations with the recommended maximum limits, according to the European Directive (98/83/EC) and Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality (WHO, 2017). Metal Index (MI) was used to assess the overall water quality due to heavy metals content. Health risk assessment was conducted based on the recommendations of the USEPA (1996), human health risk assessment, via ingestion. Results of this investigation showed that Al, Ni, Fe, and Cu were the metals found in higher concentrations while Cd exhibited the lowest concentration. Among the analyzed metals, Al (one sample) and Ni (in five samples) exceeded the maximum allowed limit. Based on the pollution metal index, it was concluded that the overall quality of Glina bottled water can be considered as toxic to humans, while the quality of bottled water (Trebeshina) was classified as moderately toxic. Values of health risk quotient (HQ) varied between 1x10⁻⁶-1.3x10⁻¹, following the order Ni > Cd > Pb > Cu > Al > Fe > Zn > Mn. All the values were lower than 1, which suggests that the analyzed samples exhibit no health risk for humans.

Keywords: drinking water, health risk assessment, heavy metals, pollution index

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Authors: Pangkaj Kumar Mahanta, Md. Rafizul Islam

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The rapid growth of the population causes a substantial amount of increase in household waste all over the world. Waste management is becoming one of the most challenging phenomena in the present day. The most environmentally friendly final disposal process of waste is sanitary landfilling, which is practiced in most developing countries. However, in Southeast Asia, most of the final disposal point is an open dump site. Due to the ignominy of proper management of waste and monitoring, the surrounding environment gets polluted more by the open dump site in comparison with a sanitary landfill. Khulna is 3rd largest metropolitan city in Bangladesh, having a population of around 1.5 million and producing approximately 450 tons per day of Municipal Solid Waste. The Municipal solid waste of Khulna city is disposed of in Rajbandh open dump site. The surrounding air is being polluted by the gas produced in the open dump site. Also, the open dump site produces leachate, which contains various heavy metals like Cadmium (Cd), Chromium (Cr), Lead (Pb), Manganese (Mn), Mercury (Hg), Strontium (Sr), etc. Leachate pollutes the soil as well as the groundwater of the open dump site and also the surrounding area through seepage. Moreover, during the rainy season, the surface water is polluted by leachate runoff. Also, the plastic waste flowing out from the open dump site through various drivers pollutes the nearby environment. The health risk assessment associated with heavy metals was carried out by computing the chronic daily intake (CDI), hazard quotient (HQ), and hazard index (HI) via different exposure pathways following the USEPA guidelines. For ecological risk, potential contamination index (Cp), Contamination factor (CF), contamination load index (PLI), numerical integrated contamination factor (NICF), enrichment factor (EF), ecological risk index (ER), and potential ecological risk index (PERI) were computed. The health risk and ecological risk assessment results reveal that some heavy metals possess strong health and ecological risk. In addition, the child faces higher harmful health risks from several heavy metals than the adult for all the exposure pathways and media. The conversion of an open dump site into a sanitary landfill and a proper management system can reduce the problems associated with an open dump site. In the sanitary landfill, the produced gas will be managed properly to save the surrounding atmosphere from being polluted. The seepage of leachate can be minimized by installing a compacted clay layer (CCL) as a baseline and leachate collection in a sanitary landfill to save the underlying soil layer and surrounding water bodies from leachate. Another important component of a sanitary landfill is the conversion of plastic waste to energy will minimize the plastic pollution in the landfill area and also the surrounding soil and water bodies. Also, in the sanitary landfill, the bio-waste can be used to make compost to reduce the volume of bio-waste and proper utilization of the landfill area.

Keywords: ecological risk, health risk, open dump site, sanitary landfill

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Authors: Tanka Nath Dahal

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Community-based forestry is seen as a promising instrument for sustainable forest management (SFM) through the purposeful involvement of local communities. Globally, forest area managed by local communities is on the rise. However, transferring management responsibilities to forest users alone cannot guarantee the sustainability of forest management. A monitoring tool, that allows the local communities to track the progress of forest management towards the goal of sustainability, is essential. A case study, including six forest user groups (FUGs), two from each three community-based forestry models—community forestry (CF), buffer zone community forestry (BZCF), and collaborative forest management (CFM) representing three different physiographic regions, was conducted in Nepal. The study explores which community-based forest management model (CF, BZCF or CFM) is doing well in terms of sustainable forest management. The study assesses the overall performance of the three models towards SFM using locally developed criteria (four), indicators (26) and verifiers (60). This paper attempts to quantify the sustainability of the models using sustainability index for individual criteria (SIIC), and overall sustainability index (OSI). In addition, rating to the criteria and scoring of the verifiers by the FUGs were done. Among the four criteria, the FUGs ascribed the highest weightage to institutional framework and governance criterion; followed by economic and social benefits, forest management practices, and extent of forest resources. Similarly, the SIIC was found to be the highest for the institutional framework and governance criterion. The average values of OSI for CFM, CF, and BZCF were 0.48, 0.51 and 0.60 respectively; suggesting that buffer zone community forestry is the more sustainable model among the three. The study also suggested that the SIIC and OSI help local communities to quantify the overall progress of their forestry practices towards sustainability. The indices provided a clear picture of forest management practices to indicate the direction where they are heading in terms of sustainability; and informed the users on issues to pay attention to enhancing the sustainability of their forests.

Keywords: community forestry, collaborative management, overall sustainability, sustainability index for individual criteria

Procedia PDF Downloads 246

Authors: Mona Afifi, Yara Al Qahtani, Afnan Al Dosari, Amnah Hamdi

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Background: First aid is the care provided outside the hospital. It is important in saving lives. Delay in helping the victims may result in serious complication or even death. Many people die in Saudi Arabia because they don’t get proper first aid interventions. According to Traffic Safety council in KSA (2012), in the year of 2011 there was 7153 deaths from car accident in KAS. Subjects and method: Quasi-experimental research design was utilized to assess the effect of a structured 45-minute educational session on 82 undergraduate nursing students’ knowledge about first aid. Two tools were developed for the purpose of the current study. First tool containing the sociodemographic data including age, gender, level, and previous participation in a first aid course, and 55 statements specific to different situations that requires first aid. Concept and Knowledge of First Aid has 9 questions, cardiopulmonary resuscitation has 12 questions, Bleeding and Shock have 7 questions, Road Traffic Accidents has 5 questions, Fracture and Trauma have 4 questions, wound has 5 questions, sunstroke has 4 questions, bits and stings has 4 questions and burn has 5 questions. The second tool was to evaluate the campaign session. Result: The overall knowledge score showed significant difference between the pre and post awareness session (59.58 and 93.00 respectively, p=.000). Mean score shows significant difference in pre-tests between third and fourth year nursing students indicating that knowledge of fourth year students is higher compared to third year students with the mean knowledge scores of 69.56 and 60.88 respectively (p=0.006). Conclusion: Results of the current study indicate that the level of the knowledge in the post test session was higher than in the pre session. Also results showed that the fourth year student`s knowledge in pre-test was better compared to previous year.

Keywords: first aid, awareness campaign, undergraduate nursing students, knowledge

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Authors: Shokouh Momeni, Mohammad Reza Salamat, Ali Asghar Rastegari

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Background: Osteoporosis is the most prevalent metabolic bone disease in postmenopausal women associated with reduced bone mass and increased bone fracture. Measuring bone density in the lumbar spine and hip is a reliable measure of bone mass and can therefore specify the risk of fracture. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry(DXA) is an accurate non-invasive system measuring the bone density, with low margin of error and no complications. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between biochemical parameters with bone density in postmenopausal women. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 87 postmenopausal women referred to osteoporosis centers in Isfahan. Bone density was measured in the spine and hip area using DXA system. Serum levels of calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase and magnesium were measured by autoanalyzer and serum levels of vitamin D were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC). Results: The mean parameters of calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, vitamin D and magnesium did not show a significant difference between the two groups(P-value>0.05). In the control group, the relationship between alkaline phosphatase and BMC and BA in the spine was significant with a correlation coefficient of -0.402 and 0.258, respectively(P-value<0.05) and BMD and T-score in the femoral neck area showed a direct and significant relationship with phosphorus(Correlation=0.368; P-value=0.038). There was a significant relationship between the Z-score with calcium(Correlation=0.358; P-value=0.044). Conclusion: There was no significant relationship between the values ​​of calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, vitamin D and magnesium parameters and bone density (spine and hip) in postmenopaus

Keywords: osteoporosis, menopause, bone mineral density, vitamin d, calcium, magnesium, alkaline phosphatase, phosphorus

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Authors: Rajandeep Kaur, Rajeev Gupta

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Background: Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is the most common leukaemia in India. The annual incidence of chronic myeloid leukemia in India was originally reported to be 0.8 to 2.2 per 1,00,000 population. CML is a clonal disorder that is usually easily diagnosed because the leukemic cells of more than 95% of patients have a distinctive cytogenetic abnormality, the Philadelphia chromosome (Ph1). The approval of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), which target BCR-ABL1 kinase activity, has significantly reduced the mortality rate associated with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and revolutionized treatment. Material and Methods: 80 diagnosed cases of CML were taken. Investigations were done. Bone marrow and molecular studies were also done and with EUTOS, patients were stratified into low and high-risk groups and then treatment with Imatinib was given to all patients and the molecular response was evaluated at 6 months and 12 months follow up with BCR-ABL by RT-PCR quantitative assay. Results: In the study population, out of 80 patients in the study population, 40 were females and 40 were males, with M: F is 1:1. Out of total 80 patients’ maximum patients (54) were in 31-60 years age group. Our study showed a most common symptom of presentation is abdominal discomfort followed by fever. Out of the total 80 patients, 25 (31.3%) patients had high EUTOS scores and 55 (68.8%) patients had low EUTOS scores. On 6 months follow up 36.3% of patients had Complete Molecular Response, 16.3% of patients had Major Molecular Response and 47.5% of patients had No Molecular Response but on 12 months follow up 71.3% of patients had Complete Molecular Response, 16.25% of patients had Major Molecular Response and 12.5% patients had No Molecular Response. Conclusion: In this study, we found a significant correlation between EUTOS score and Molecular response at 6 months and 12 months follow up after Imatinib therapy.

Keywords: chronic myeloid leukemia, European treatment and outcome study score, hematological response, molecular response, tyrosine kinase inhibitor

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Authors: Atefeh Abdollahi, Maryam Bahreini, Babak Choobi Anzali, Fatemeh Rasooli

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Introduction: Triage becomes the main part of organization of care in Emergency department (ED)s. It is used to describe the sorting of patients for treatment priority in ED. The accurate triage of injured patients has reduced fatalities and improved resource usage. Besides, the nurses’ knowledge and skill are important factors in triage decision-making. The ability to define an appropriate triage level and their need for intervention is crucial to guide to a safe and effective emergency care. Methods: This is a prospective cross-sectional study designed for emergency nurses working in four public university hospitals. Five triage workshops have been conducted every three months for emergency nurses based on a standard triage Emergency Severity Index (ESI) IV slide set - approved by Iranian Ministry of Health. Most influential items on triage performance were discussed through brainstorming in workshops which then, were peer reviewed by five emergency physicians and two head registered nurses expert panel. These factors that might distract nurse’ attention from proper decisions included patients’ past medical diseases, the natural tricks of triage and system failure. After permission had been taken, emergency nurses participated in the study and were given the structured questionnaire. Data were analysed by SPSS 21.0. Results: 92 emergency nurses enrolled in the study. 30 % of nurses reported the past history of chronic disease as the most influential confounding factor to ascertain triage level, other important factors were the history of prior admission, past history of myocardial infarction and heart failure to be 20, 17 and 11 %, respectively. Regarding the concept of difficulties in triage practice, 54.3 % reported that the discussion with patients and family members was difficult and 8.7 % declared that it is hard to stay in a single triage room whole day. Among the participants, 45.7 and 26.1 % evaluated the triage workshops as moderately and highly effective, respectively. 56.5 % reported overcrowding as the most important system-based difficulty. Nurses were mainly doubtful to differentiate between the triage levels 2 and 3 according to the ESI VI system. No significant correlation was found between the work record of nurses in triage and the uncertainty in determining the triage level and difficulties. Conclusion: The work record of nurses hardly seemed to be effective on the triage problems and issues. To correct the deficits, training workshops should be carried out, followed by continuous refresher training and supportive supervision.

Keywords: assessment, education, nurse, triage

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