Search results for: professional efficacy

Authors: Jay Ananth

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The drug discovery process currently requires numerous years of clinical testing as well as money just for a single drug to earn FDA approval. For drugs that even make it this far in the process, there is a very slim chance of receiving FDA approval, resulting in detrimental hurdles to drug accessibility. To minimize these inefficiencies, numerous studies have implemented computational methods, although few computational investigations have focused on a crucial feature of drugs: lipophilicity. Lipophilicity is a physical attribute of a compound that measures its solubility in lipids and is a determinant of drug efficacy. This project leverages Artificial Intelligence to predict the impact of a drug’s lipophilicity on its performance by accounting for factors such as binding affinity and toxicity. The model predicted lipophilicity and binding affinity in the validation set with very high R² scores of 0.921 and 0.788, respectively, while also being applicable to a variety of target receptors. The results expressed a strong positive correlation between lipophilicity and both binding affinity and toxicity. The model helps in both drug development and discovery, providing every pharmaceutical company with recommended lipophilicity levels for drug candidates as well as a rapid assessment of early-stage drugs prior to any testing, eliminating significant amounts of time and resources currently restricting drug accessibility.

Keywords: drug discovery, lipophilicity, ligand-receptor interactions, machine learning, drug development

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Authors: Jian-You Wang, Feng Yi Hsu, Chieh-Hsi Wu

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Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is an androgen-dependent disorder caused by excess testosterone in blood capillaries or excess enzyme activity of 5α- reductase in hair follicles. Plants, alone or in combination, have been widely used for hair growth promotion since ancient times in Asia. In this study, the efficacy of a traditional Chinese herbal formula, Shen-Ying-Yang-Zhen-Dan (SYYZD) with different kinds of extract solvents, facilitating hair regrowth in testosterone-induced hair loss have been determined. The study was performed by treating with either 95 % ethanol aqueous extracts, 50% ethanol aqueous extracts or deionized water extracts orally in four-week-old male S.D. rats that experienced hair regrowth interruption induced by testosterone treatment. The 50% ethanol aqueous extracts group showed better hair regrowth promotion activities than either 95% ethanol aqueous extracts or deionized water extracts groups in 14 days treatment. In conclusion, our results suggest that 50% ethanol aqueous SYYZD extracts have hair growth promoting potential and may be beneficial as an alternative medicine for androgenetic alopecia treatment.

Keywords: Shen-Ying-Yang-Zhen-Dan, androgenic alopecia, hair loss, hair growth promotion, hair regrowth effect

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Authors: Saeedeh Shafiee Nahrkhalaji

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Metacognitive knowledge increases EFL students’ ability to be successful learners. Although this relationship has been investigated by a number of scholars, EFL teachers’ explicit awareness of their cognitive knowledge has not been sufficiently explored. The aim of this study was to examine the role of EFL teachers’ metacognitive knowledge in their pedagogical performance. Furthermore, the role played by years of their academic education and teaching experience was also studied. Fifty female EFL teachers were selected. They completed Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) that assessed six components of metacognition including procedural knowledge, declarative knowledge, conditional knowledge, planning, evaluating, and management strategies. Near the end of the academic semester, the students of each class filled in ‘the Language Teacher Characteristics Questionnaire’ to evaluate their teachers’ pedagogical performance. Four elements of MAI, declarative knowledge, planning, evaluating, and management strategies were found to be significantly correlated with EFL teachers’ pedagogical success. Significant correlation was also established between metacognitive knowledge and EFL teachers’ years of academic education and teaching experience. The findings obtained from this research have contributing implication for EFL teacher educators. The discussion concludes by setting out directions for future research.

Keywords: metacognotive knowledge, pedagogical performance, language teacher characteristics questionnaire, metacognitive awareness inventory

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Authors: Handie Pramana Putra, Ani Dijah Rahajoe

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The proliferation of smart devices and advancements in mobile communication technologies have permeated various facets of life with the widespread influence of e-commerce. Detecting abnormal transactions holds paramount significance in this realm due to the potential for substantial financial losses. Moreover, the fusion of data flow and control flow assumes a critical role in the exploration of process modeling and data analysis, contributing significantly to the accuracy and security of business processes. This paper introduces an alternative approach to identify abnormal transactions through a model that integrates both data and control flows. Referred to as the Extended Data Petri net (DPNE), our model encapsulates the entire process, encompassing user login to the e-commerce platform and concluding with the payment stage, including the mobile transaction process. We scrutinize the model's structure, formulate an algorithm for detecting anomalies in pertinent data, and elucidate the rationale and efficacy of the comprehensive system model. A case study validates the responsive performance of each system component, demonstrating the system's adeptness in evaluating every activity within mobile transactions. Ultimately, the results of anomaly detection are derived through a thorough and comprehensive analysis.

Keywords: database, data analysis, DPNE, extended data flow, e-commerce

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Authors: Sankalp Devanand, Prateek Agasimani, Shamith V. S., Rohith Neeraje

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Machine translation has witnessed significant advancements in recent years, but the translation of languages with distinct linguistic characteristics, such as English and Sanskrit, remains a challenging task. This research presents the development of a dedicated English-to-Sanskrit machine translation model, aiming to bridge the linguistic and cultural gap between these two languages. Using a variety of natural language processing (NLP) approaches, including FastText embeddings, this research proposes a thorough method to improve word meaning retrieval. Data preparation, part-of-speech tagging, dictionary searches, and transliteration are all included in the methodology. The study also addresses the implementation of an interpreter pattern and uses a word similarity task to assess the quality of word embeddings. The experimental outcomes show how the suggested approach may be used to enhance word meaning retrieval tasks with greater efficacy, accuracy, and adaptability. Evaluation of the model's performance is conducted through rigorous testing, comparing its output against existing machine translation systems. The assessment includes quantitative metrics such as BLEU scores, METEOR scores, Jaccard Similarity, etc.

Keywords: machine translation, English to Sanskrit, natural language processing, word meaning retrieval, fastText embeddings

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Authors: Sihem Benaouda

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English is gaining an international identity as it affects every academic and professional field in the world. Without increasing their cultural understanding, it would obviously be difficult to completely educate learners for communication in a globalised environment. The concept of culture is intricate and needs to be elucidated, especially in an English language teaching (ELT) context. The study focuses on the investigation of the cultural studies integrated into the different types of English for specific purposes (ESP) materials, as opposed to English for general purposes (EGP) textbooks. A qualitative methodology based on a triangulation of techniques was conducted through materials analysis of five textbooks in both advanced EGP and three types of ESP. In addition to a semi-structured interview conducted with Algerian ESP practitioners, data analysis results revealed that culture in ESP textbooks is not overtly isolated into chapters and that cultural studies are predominantly present in business and economics materials, namely English for hotel and catering staff, tourism, and flight attendants. However, implicit cultural instruction is signalled in the social sciences and is negligible in science and technology sources. In terms of content, cultural studies in EGP are more related to generic topics, whereas, in some ESP materials, the topics are rather oriented to the specific field they belong to. Furthermore, the respondents’ answers showed an unawareness of the importance of culture in ESP teaching, besides some disregard for culture teaching per se in ESP contexts.

Keywords: ESP, EGP, cultural studies, textbooks, teaching, materials

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Authors: Panupong Chanplin, Kathaleeya Chanda., Wilailuk Mepracha

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The aims of this research were twofold: 1) to brand identity design of Creative Agriculture Community Enterprise, Bang Khonthi District, Samut Songkhram Province and 2) to study the level of tourist satisfaction towards brand identity design of Creative Agriculture Community Enterprise, Bang Khonthi District, Samut Songkhram Province. tourist satisfaction was measured using six criteria: clear brand positioning, likeable brand personality, memorable logo, attractive color palette, professional typography and on-brand supporting graphics. The researcher utilized a probability sampling method via simple random sampling. The sample consisted of 30 tourists in the Creative Agriculture Community Enterprise. Statistics utilized for data analysis were percentage, mean, and standard deviation. The results suggest that tourist had high levels of satisfaction towards all six criteria of the brand identity design that was designed to target them. This study proposes that specifically brand identity designed of Creative Agriculture Community Enterprise could also be implemented with other real media already available on the market.

Keywords: satisfaction, brand identity, logo, creative agriculture community enterprise

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Authors: H. Soltani, Kevin Laugero

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Obesity is becoming an increasingly critical issue in the United States due to the steady and substantial increase in prevalence over the last 30 years. Existing interventions have been able to help participants achieve short-term weight loss, but have failed to show long-term results. The complex nature of behavioral change remains one of the most difficult barriers in promoting sustainable weight-loss in overweight individuals. Research suggests that the 'intention-behavior gap' can be explained by a person’s ability to regulate higher-order thinking, or Executive Function (EF). A review of 63 research articles was completed in fall of 2017 to identify the role of EF in regulating eating behavior and to identify whether there is a potential for improving dietary quality by enhancing EF. Results showed that poor EF is positively associated with obesogenic behavior, namely increased consumption of highly palatable foods, eating in the absence of hunger, high saturated fat intake and low fruit and vegetable consumption. Recent research has indicated that interventions targeting an improvement in EF can be successful in helping promote healthy behaviors. Furthermore, interventions of longer duration have a more lasting and versatile effect on weight loss and maintenance. This may present an opportunity for the increasingly ubiquitous use of mobile application technology.

Keywords: eating behavior, executive function, nutrition, obesity, weight-loss

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Authors: Lourdes Hanna, Edward Poluyi, Chibuikem Ikwuegbuenyi, Eghosa Morgan, Grace Imaguezegie

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Background: Degeneration of the central nervous system (CNS), also known as neurodegeneration, describes an age-associated progressive loss of the structure and function of neuronal materials, leading to functional and mental impairments. Main body: Neuroinflammation contributes to the continuous worsening of neurodegenerative states which are characterised by functional and mental impairments due to the progressive loss of the structure and function of neu-ronal materials. Some of the most common neurodegenerative diseases include Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Whilst neuroinflammation is a key contributor to the progression of such disease states, it is not the single cause as there are multiple factors which contribute. Theoretically, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have potential to target neuroinflammation to reduce the severity of disease states. Whilst some animal models investigating the effects of NSAIDs on the risk of neurodegenerative diseases have shown a beneficial effect, this is not the same finding. Conclusion: Further investigation using more advanced research methods is required to better understand neuroinflammatory pathways and understand if there is still a potential window for NSAID efficacy.

Keywords: intervention, central nervous system, neurodegeneration, neuroinflammation

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Authors: Davut Uysal

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Turkish higher education system has experienced some structural changes in recent decades, which resulted in the concentration on English language teaching as a foreign language at high education institutions. However, the number of studies examining the relationship between organizational culture and job satisfaction among language teachers at higher education institutions, who are the key elements of the teaching process, is very limited in the country. The main objective of this study is to find out the perceptions of English language instructors regarding organizational culture and its impact on their job satisfaction at School of Foreign Language, Anadolu University in Turkey. Questionnaire technique was used in data collection, and the collected data was analysed with the help of SPSS data analysis program. The findings of the study revealed that the respondents of the study had positive perceptions regarding current organizational culture indicating satisfaction with co-worker relations and administration, supervision support and the work itself, as well as their satisfaction with the available professional development opportunities provided by their institution. A significant relationship between overall organizational culture and job satisfaction was found in the study. This study also presents some key elements to increase the job satisfaction levels of the language teachers by managing corporate communication and to improve the organisational culture based on the findings of the study as they are two interrelated issues.

Keywords: corporate communication, English teacher, organizational culture, job satisfaction

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Authors: Salim Cerig, Fatime Geyikoglu, Murat Bakir, Suat Colak, Merve Sonmez, Kubra Koc

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Cisplatin (CIS) is one of the most effective an anticancer drug and also toxic to cells by activating oxidative stress. Oleuropein (OLE) has key role against oxidative stress in mammalian cells, but the role of this antioxidant in the toxicity of CIS remains unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate the efficacy of OLE on CIS-induced liver damages in male rats. With this aim, male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned to one of eight groups: Control group; the group treated with 7 mg/kg/day CIS; the groups treated with 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg/day OLE (i.p.); and the groups treated with OLE for three days starting at 24 h following CIS injection. After 4 days of injections, serum was provided to assess the blood AST, ALT and LDH values. The liver tissues were removed for histological, biochemical (TAC, TOS and MDA) and genotoxic evaluations. In the CIS treated group, the whole liver tissue showed significant histological changes. Also, CIS significantly increased both the incidence of oxidative stress and the induction of 8-hydroxy-deoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG). Moreover, the rats taking CIS have abnormal results on liver function tests. However, these parameters reached to the normal range after administration of OLE for 3 days. Finally, OLE demonstrated an acceptable high potential and was effective in attenuating CIS-induced liver injury. In this trial, the 200 mg/kg dose of OLE firstly appeared to induce the most optimal protective response.

Keywords: antioxidant response, cisplatin, histology, liver, oleuropein, 8-OhdG

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Authors: Zain Ul Abideen

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The study examines the potentially dark and bright parts of behavioral biases in investors’ investment decisions in the Pakistani equity market. These biases, directly and indirectly, play a comprehensive role in controlling and deciding the investor’s investment decisions. Stock market anomalies are used as a mediator, while financial literacy is used as a moderator to check the mentioned relationship. The sample consisted of investors who have trading experience of more than two years in the stock market. The result indicates that calendar anomalies do not mediate between overconfidence bias and investment decisions. However, the study investigates the mediating role of fundamental and technical anomalies between overconfidence bias and investment decisions. Furthermore, calendar anomalies play a significant role between the disposition effect and investment decisions. Calendar anomalies also mediate between herding bias and investment decisions. Financial literacy significantly moderates between behavioral biases and stock market anomalies. This research would be beneficial for individual and professional investors in their investment decisions. They should be financially literate, consequently less biased and have no market anomalies. Investors in emerging and developed economies can make optimal decisions in their respective stock markets.

Keywords: behavioral biases, financial literacy, stock market anomalies, investment decision

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Authors: M. Chafi, S. Akazdam, C. Asrir, L. Sebbahi, B. Gourich, N. Barka, M. Essahli

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Fixed bed adsorption has become a frequently used industrial application in wastewater treatment processes. Various low cost adsorbents have been studied for their applicability in treatment of different types of effluents. In this work, the intention of the study was to explore the efficacy and feasibility for azo dye, Acid Orange 7 (AO7) adsorption onto fixed bed column of NaOH Treated eggshell (TES). The effect of various parameters like flow rate, initial dye concentration, and bed height were exploited in this study. The studies confirmed that the breakthrough curves were dependent on flow rate, initial dye concentration solution of AO7 and bed depth. The Thomas, Yoon–Nelson, and Adams and Bohart models were analysed to evaluate the column adsorption performance. The adsorption capacity, rate constant and correlation coefficient associated to each model for column adsorption was calculated and mentioned. The column experimental data were fitted well with Thomas model with coefficients of correlation R2 ≥0.93 at different conditions but the Yoon–Nelson, BDST and Bohart–Adams model (R2=0.911), predicted poor performance of fixed-bed column. The (TES) was shown to be suitable adsorbent for adsorption of AO7 using fixed-bed adsorption column.

Keywords: adsorption models, acid orange 7, bed depth, breakthrough, dye adsorption, fixed-bed column, treated eggshell

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Authors: Aisha Abdulkarim Aliyu, Alice Sabrina Ismail, Fadhlina Binti Ahmad

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The study's main goal is to improve Afrocentric cultural approaches in Nigerian residential environments (Kano) in terms of physical, aesthetical, and socio-cultural factors. Kano's fast-changing residential settings and city image have been subjected to a significant neoliberal restructuring process in recent decades. Architects have evolved in lockstep with the society they serve, first as an art form, then as a science, and finally as a business that designs structures. Design values have always emphasized a certain building style throughout history. Architects and architectural critics have a different perspective on them than the general public. In fact, a popular style among the general public was taken into consideration. When it comes to the current design, this study examines the values and viewpoints of architects on the usage of an Afrocentric cultural approach to housing. The qualitative data analysis of surveys conducted with Kano housing and planning professionals is used to determine the criteria for using an Afrocentric cultural approach in housing development in order to preserve and restore our cultural heritage, as well as to rank these criteria according to their importance. The professional lens on this subject differs insignificantly across Nigeria, although they do vary to some amount based on the sector of the housing industry, according to the study.

Keywords: architects lens, Afrocentric culture, housing, northern Nigeria

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Authors: Majid Shahbazi

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Subclavian artery stenosis (SAS) is a common vascular disease that can cause a range of symptoms, from arm fatigue and weakness to ischemic stroke. Revascularization procedures, such as percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stenting, are widely used to treat SAS and improve blood flow to the affected arm. However, the optimal management of patients with SAS is still unclear, and further research is needed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of different treatment options. This study aims to investigate the characteristics of patients with SAS who underwent revascularization procedures in Latvia (Specifically RAKUS). The research part of this paper aims to describe and analyze the demographics, comorbidities, diagnostic methods, types of revascularization procedures, and antiaggregant therapy used. The goal of this study is to provide insights into the current clinical practice in Latvia and help future treatment decision-makers. To achieve this aim, a retrospective study of 76 patients with SAS who underwent revascularization procedures was performed. After statistical analysis of the data, the study provided insights into the characteristics and management of patients with SAS in Latvia, highlighting the most observed comorbidities in these patients, the preferred diagnostic methods, and the most performed procedures. These findings can inform clinical decision-making and may have implications for the management of patients with subclavian artery stenosis in Latvia.

Keywords: subclavian artery stenosis, revascularization, characteristics of patients, comorbidities, retrospective analysis

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Authors: Milda Istiqomah

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Deradicalization program has long been the subject of investigation. There is a steadily growing interest in examining the results on how Islamist terrorists agree to abandon violence and leave radicalism; however, it is argued that de-radicalization program on terrorism in many countries is still questionable for its effectiveness. This article aims to provide an overview of the deradicalization program specifically related to the victim-centred approach conducted by the Indonesian government and investigates critical issues surrounding the analysis of their effectiveness and outcomes. This research employs several case studies of a victim-centred approach conducted by the Indonesian Witness and Victim Protection Agency as well as the Indonesian Counter-terrorism Agency. This paper argues that the victim-centred approach to de-radicalize former terrorist prisoners faces several implemental challenges; however, the initiative may offer promise for future successful de-radicalization program. Furthermore, until more data surrounding the efficacy of this initiative available, the victim-centred approach may also constitute a significant and essential component of disengagement, de-radicalisation, and reintegration of terrorist prisoners. In conclusion, this paper suggests that further empirical research concerning prevention policies and disengagement interventions related to victim-centred approach need to be explored to give more inputs to the Indonesian government to achieve the effectiveness of de-radicalization program.

Keywords: terrorism, victim-centred approach, de-radicalization, Islamist extremism

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Authors: Mao Ju

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The system of general counsel (GC) is an important governance structure designed for the construction of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) under the rule of law. This article is based on the setting of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and takes the efficiency of M&As to examine the implementation effect of the system of GC for SOEs. Research has found that: (1) companies implementing the system of GC for SOEs have higher efficiency in M&As, manifested in better operational and market performance, and this effect depends on the professional ability and power of the GC. This indicates that the GC of SOEs has played a positive role in the decision-making process of M&As, which helps to improve the efficiency of M&As. (2) The impact of the GC of SOEs on the efficiency of M&As is heterogeneous, and this positive effect is mainly reflected in local and commercial SOEs. (3) The path of this impact is that the GC of SOEs can help reduce ineffective M&As in advance, enhance the ability to integrate M&As after the fact and reduce the risk of goodwill impairment and bankruptcy. This article reveals the impact of the construction of SOEs under the rule of law with the system of GC as the core of M&As activities, providing intuitive evidence for the implementation effect of the GC of SOEs. The research conclusion has important practical guiding value for comprehensively deepening the construction of the rule of SOEs under the rule of law and writing a good chapter on the Chinese path to modernization of SOEs.

Keywords: the system of general counsel, merger and acquisition efficiency, state-owned enterprises, mergers and acquisitions

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Authors: Eloise C. Tredenick, Troy W. Farrell, W. Alison Forster, Steven T. P. Psaltis

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The agriculture industry requires improved efficacy of sprays being applied to crops. More efficacious sprays provide many environmental and financial benefits. The plant leaf cuticle is known to be the main barrier to diffusion of agrochemicals within the leaf. The importance of a mathematical model to simulate uptake of agrochemicals in plant cuticles has been noted, as the results of each uptake experiments are specific to each formulation of active ingredient and plant species. In this work we develop a mathematical model and numerical simulation for the uptake of ionic agrochemicals through aqueous pores in plant cuticles. We propose a nonlinear porous diffusion model of ionic agrochemicals in isolated cuticles, which provides additions to a simple diffusion model through the incorporation of parameters capable of simulating plant species' variations, evaporation of surface droplet solutions and swelling of the aqueous pores with water. The model could feasibly be adapted to other ionic active ingredients diffusing through other plant species' cuticles. We validate our theoretical results against appropriate experimental data, discuss the key sensitivities in the model and relate theoretical predictions to appropriate physical mechanisms.

Keywords: aqueous pores, ionic active ingredient, mathematical model, plant cuticle, porous diffusion

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Authors: V. Durmus, M. Uydaci

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In order to prevent overburdened courts, rising costs of litigation, and lengthy trial resolutions, the Law on Mediation for Civil Disputes was enacted, which was aimed at defining the procedure and guiding principles for dispute resolutions under Civil Law, in 2012. This “Mediation Code” also applies for civil healthcare disputes in Turkey. Aside from mediation, reconciliation, governed by Articles 253-255 of Criminal Procedure Law, has emerged as an alternative way to resolve criminal medical disputes, but the difference between mediation and conciliation is mostly procedural. This article deals with mediation in Turkish health law and aspect of medical malpractice mediation in Turkey. In addition, this study examines the issue of mediation in health law from both a legal and normative point of view, including codes of mediation which regulate both the structural and professional practice of mediation providers. As a result, although there is not official record about success rate of medical malpractice litigations and malpractice mediation in Turkey, it is widely accepted that the success rate for medical malpractice cases is relatively low compared to other personal injury cases even if it is generally considered that medical malpractice case filings have gradually increased recently. According to the Justice Ministry’s Department of Mediation in Turkey, 719 civil disputes have referred to mediators since 2013 (when the first mediation law came into force) with a 98% success rate.

Keywords: malpractice mediation, medical disputes, reconciliation, health litigation, Turkish health law

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Authors: Abdullah Tahir

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The omission of regular medications in surgical patients poses a significant challenge in healthcare settings and is associated with increased morbidity during hospital stays. Human factors such as high workload, poor communication, and emotional stress are known to contribute to these omissions, particularly evident in the surgical assessment unit (SAU) due to its high patient burden and long wait times. This study aimed to quantify and address the issue by implementing targeted interventions to enhance compliance in prescribing regular medications for surgical patients at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, United Kingdom. Data were collected on 14 spontaneous days between April and May 2023, and the frequency of prescription omissions was recorded using a tally chart. Subsequently, informative posters were introduced in the SAU, and presentations were given to the surgical team to emphasize the importance of compliance in this area. The interventions were assessed using a second data collection cycle, again over 14 spontaneous days in May 2023. Results demonstrated an improvement from 40% (60 out of 150) to 74% (93 out of 126) of patients having regular medications prescribed at the point of clerking. These findings highlight the efficacy of frequent prompts and awareness-raising interventions in increasing workforce compliance and addressing the issue of prescription omissions in the SAU.

Keywords: prescription omissions, quality improvement, regular medication, surgical assessment unit

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Authors: Khansa Hayat

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Organizational stress is one of the vital phenomena which is having its roots deep down in has deep roots in management, psychology, and organizational behavior research. In the meanwhile, keeping its focus on the positive strength of humans rather than the traditional negativity oriented research, positive psychology has emerged as a separate branch of organizational behavior. The current study investigates the interactive effects of Challenge and hindrance stressors and core Self Evaluations (CSE’s) of the individual on job performances including the in-role performance and extra role performances. The study also aims to investigate the supporting/buffering role of the human dispositions (i.e., self esteem, self efficacy, locus of control and emotional stability). The results show that Challenge stressors have a significant positive effect on in role performance and extra role performance of the individual. The findings of the study indicate that Core Self evaluations strengthen the relationship between challenge stressors and in role performance of the individual. In case of Hindrance Stressors the Core self Evaluations lessen the negative impact of Hindrance stressors and they let the individual perform at a better and normal position even when the Hindrance stressors are high. The relationship and implication of conservation of resource theory are also discussed. The limitations, future research directions and implications of the study are also discussed.

Keywords: challenge-hindrance stressors, core self evaluations, in-role performance, extra-role performance

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Authors: Hassan Hamidi, Fereshteh Zarei

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In this study, we compared amount of compete motivation between young and adult volleyball players. Compete motivation has three sections: success achieves score, defeat avoiding score and ability score. For measuring motivation, we used sports attitude inventory of Willis and Layne. The statistical population was elite's men volleyball players in range of young and adult and the study subjects were randomly selected from participant teams in volleyball professional league. In total, 65 adult and 75 young were selected. For collecting the required information, the research inventories were distributed in practice's locations and then were collected after being completed by players. For analyzing the data, we used descriptive statistics including mean, standard deviation and frequency tables. We also used conceptual statistics such as independent sample t-student and Pierson correlation. The results showed a significant difference between young and adult volleyball players in success achieve score and ability score. However, there was no significant difference between young and adult volleyball players in defeat avoiding score and compete motivation. In addition, there was not significant relationship between the length of activities and motivations' sections in adult and young volleyball player. The application of this study to other sports will be discussed.

Keywords: compete motivation, volleyball player, statistical analysis, sport psychology

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Authors: García López

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The Government Departments of Health have the task of informing and educating citizens about public health issues. For this, they use channels like Twitter, key in the search for health information and the propagation of content. The tweets, important in the virality of the content, may contain emotions that influence the contagion and exchange of knowledge. The goal of this study is to perform an analysis of the emotional projection of health information shared on Twitter by official American accounts: the disease control account CDCgov, National Institutes of Health, NIH, the government agency HHSGov, and the professional organization PublicHealth. For this, we used Tone Analyzer, an International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) tool specialized in emotion detection in text, corresponding to the categorical model of emotion representation. For 15 days, all tweets from these accounts were analyzed with the emotional analysis tool in text. The results showed that their tweets contain an important emotional load, a determining factor in the success of their communications. This exposes that official accounts also use subjective language and contain emotions. The predominance of emotion joy over sadness and the strong presence of emotions in their tweets stimulate the virality of content, a key in the work of informing that government health departments have.

Keywords: emotions in tweets, emotion detection in the text, health information on Twitter, American health official accounts, emotions on Twitter, emotions and content

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Authors: Asefa Kenefergib, Dawit Amogne, Yinager Teklesellassie

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A study investigated the effects of text modifications on reading comprehension and motivation among Ethiopian secondary school students. A total of 120 students participated, initially taking a reading comprehension pretest and completing a reading motivation questionnaire. Afterward, they were divided into three groups: control, simplified, and elaborated. Each group then took part in a reading comprehension posttest and another reading motivation questionnaire following an eight-week instructional intervention. Despite initial differences, both the simplified and elaborated text groups showed comparable levels of reading motivation and comprehension. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 25, with a one-way ANOVA used to assess the effectiveness of the modified texts in enhancing reading comprehension. The results indicated that the experimental groups performed significantly better on the posttest compared to the control group, suggesting that text modifications can positively influence students' comprehension skills. Furthermore, the impact of text modifications on student reading motivation was assessed using a one-way ANOVA. The findings revealed that both the elaborated and simplified text groups scored higher than the control group in various dimensions of reading motivation, including reading efficacy, curiosity, challenge, compliance, and reading work avoidance. However, the control and simplified groups had nearly similar mean scores in the dimension of reading competition. These results clearly demonstrate that modifying texts can enhance EFL learners' reading motivation and comprehension.

Keywords: simplification, elaboration, reading motivation, reading comprehension

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Authors: Blerim Olluri

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A forensic science laboratory in Kosovo has never been organized at the level of most modern forensic science laboratories. This was made possible after the war of 1999 with the help and support from the United States. The United States Government/ICITAP provided 9.5 million dollars to support this project, this support have greatly benefitted law enforcement in Kosovo. With the establishment of Operative Procedures of Work and the law for Kosovo Agency of Forensic, the accreditation with ISO/IEC 17025 of the KAF labs it becomes mandatory. Since 2012 Laboratory’s DNA/Serology and Narcotics has begun reviewing and harmonizing their procedures according to ISO/IEC 17025. The focus of this work was to create quality manuals, procedures, work instructions, quality documentation and quality records. Furthermore, during this time is done the validation of work methods from scientific qualified personnel of KAF, without any help from other foreign agencies or accreditation body.In October 2014 we had the first evaluation based on ISO 17025 standards. According to the initial report of this assessment we have non conformity in test and Calibration methods method’s, and accommodation and environmental conditions. We identified several issues that are of extreme importance to KAF. One the most important issue is to create a professional group with experts of KAF, which will work in all the obligations, requested from ISO/IEC 17025. As conclusions that we earn in this path of accreditation, are that laboratory’s need to take corrective action, and all nonconformance’s must be addressed and corrective action taken before accreditation can be granted.

Keywords: accreditation, assessment, narcotics, DNA

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Authors: Chandan Deep Singh, Jaimal Singh Khamba, Harleen Kaur

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Eminence, charge, deliverance, modernism, and awareness underlie most manufacturing strategic plan today. Firms have traditionally pursued the above tasks through the implementation of advanced technologies and manufacturing practices, such as Reverse Engineering, Value Engineering, worker empowerment, etc. Recent developments in industry suggest the materialization of another route to manufacturing brilliance, that is, there is an increasing focus by industry regulators and professional bodies on the need to stimulate innovation in a broad range of manufacturing competencies. By ‘competencies’ we mean the methods, equipment and expertise that can be developed as a leading capability in one market sector or application and have real potential to be applied successfully across other sectors or applications as well. Further, competencies are the ability to apply or use a set of related knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform 'critical work functions' or tasks in a defined work setting. Competencies often serve as the basis for skill standards that specify the level of knowledge, skills, and abilities required for success in the workplace as well as potential measurement criteria for assessing competency attainment. The present research is so designed to come up to the level of the expectations of the industrialists, policy makers, designers of the competencies, specially, the manufacturing competencies upon which the whole strategic success of the industry depends.

Keywords: manufacturing competency, strategic success, manufacturing excellence, competitive strategy

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Authors: S. H. Atef, N. H. Mahmoud, S. Abdrahman, A. Fattoh

Abstract:

Background: The aim of the study is to assess the diagnostic value of fibrotest and hyaluronic acid in discriminate between insignificant and significant fibrosis. Also, to find out if these parameters could replace liver biopsy which is currently used for selection of chronic hepatitis C patients eligible for antiviral therapy. Study design: This study was conducted on 52 patients with HCV RNA detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) who had undergone liver biopsy and attending the internal medicine clinic at Ain Shams University Hospital. Liver fibrosis was evaluated according to the METAVIR scoring system on a scale of F0 to F4. Biochemical markers assessed were: alpha-2 macroglobulin (α2-MG), apolipoprotein A1 (Apo-A1), haptoglobin, gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), total bilirubin (TB) and hyaluronic acid (HA). The fibrotest score was computed after adjusting for age and gender. Predictive values and ROC curves were used to assess the accuracy of fibrotest and HA results. Results: For fibrotest, the observed area under curve for the discrimination between minimal or no fibrosis (F0-F1) and significant fibrosis (F2-F4) was 0.6736 for cutoff value 0.19 with sensitivity of 84.2% and specificity of 85.7%. For HA, the sensitivity was 89.5% and specificity was 85.7% and area under curve was 0.540 at the best cutoff value 71 mg/dL. Multi-use of both parameters, HA at 71 mg/dL with fibrotest score at 0.22 give a sensitivity 89.5%, specificity 100 and efficacy 92.3% (AUC 0.895). Conclusion: The use of both fibrotest score and HA could be as alternative to biopsy in most patients with chronic hepaitis C putting in consideration some limitations of the proposed markers in evaluating liver fibrosis.

Keywords: fibrotest, liver fibrosis, HCV RNA, biochemical markers

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Authors: SunWoo Lee, TaeBum Lee, YoonHwa Park, YooJeong Kim

Abstract:

Solar lentigines appear predominantly on chronically sun-exposed areas of skin, such as the face and the back of the hands. Among the several ways to lentigines treatment, quality-switched lasers are well-known effective treatment for removing solar lentigines. The present pilot study was therefore designed to assess the efficacy of quality-switched ruby laser treatment of such lentigines compare between pretreatment and posttreatment of skin brightness. Twenty-two adults with chronic sun-damaged skin (mean age 52.8 years, range 37–74 years) were treated at the Korean site. A 694 nm Q-switched ruby laser was used, with the energy density set from 1.4 to 12.5 J/cm2, to treat solar lentigines. Average brightness of skin color before ruby laser treatment was 137.3 and its skin color was brightened after ruby laser treatment by 150.5. Also, standard deviation of skin color was decreased from 17.8 to 16.4. Regarding the multivariate model, age and energy were identified as significant factors for skin color brightness change in lentigo depigmentation by ruby laser treatment. Their respective odds ratios were 1.082 (95% CI, 1.007–1.163), and 1.431 (95% CI, 1.051–1.946). Lentigo depigmentation treatment using ruby lasers resulted in a high performance in skin color brightness. Among the relative factors involve with ruby laser treatment, age and energy were the most effective factors which skin color change to brighter than pretreatment.

Keywords: depigmentation, lentigine, quality switched ruby laser, skin color

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Authors: Laura C. Solzbacher, Caja Thimm

Abstract:

Journalists worldwide have been confronted with a variety of ethical challenges over the last years. Because of massive changes in media technology and the public sphere, especially online journalism has trouble to uphold the fundamental values of journalism. In particular, the increasing amount of fake news and hate speech puts journalists under more and more pressure. In order to understand better how journalists judge this development and how they adapt in their daily work, a survey with journalists in Germany was carried out. 303 professional journalists participated in an online questionnaire. Results show that 65% underline that economic pressure grows and nearly the same number describe a change in the role of journalists in society. Furthermore, 61% agree that they put more time into research to secure their work against accusations of fabricating fake news. Interestingly, over 60% see a change in the role of journalists in society. The majority (85%) confirms that print journalism has to give way for online platforms and that the influence of social media for journalism grows (75%). Half of the surveyed advocate for more personalized public activism on part of journalists, such as appearance in talk shows and public talks. The results of the study will be discussed in light of the ongoing debate on ethical standards as a condition for a sustainable and trustworthy digital public sphere.

Keywords: ethics, fake news, journalism, public sphere

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Authors: Bushra Nabi, Saleha Rehman, Sanjula Baboota, Javed Ali

Abstract:

Aim: The objective of research undertaken is analytical method validation (HPLC method) of an anti-HIV drug Elvitegravir (EVG). Additionally carrying out the forced degradation studies of the drug under different stress conditions to determine its stability. It is envisaged in order to determine the suitable technique for drug estimation, which would be employed in further research. Furthermore, comparative pharmacokinetic profile of the drug from lipid architectonics and drug suspension would be obtained post oral administration. Method: Lipid Architectonics (LA) of EVR was formulated using probe sonication technique and optimized using QbD (Box-Behnken design). For the estimation of drug during further analysis HPLC method has been validation on the parameters (Linearity, Precision, Accuracy, Robustness) and Limit of Detection (LOD) and Limit of Quantification (LOQ) has been determined. Furthermore, HPLC quantification of forced degradation studies was carried out under different stress conditions (acid induced, base induced, oxidative, photolytic and thermal). For pharmacokinetic (PK) study, Albino Wistar rats were used weighing between 200-250g. Different formulations were given per oral route, and blood was collected at designated time intervals. A plasma concentration profile over time was plotted from which the following parameters were determined:

Keywords: AIDS, Elvitegravir, HPLC, nanostructured lipid carriers, pharmacokinetics

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