Search results for: adult influence

Authors: Salahud Din, Saima Masood, Hafsa Zaneb, Habib-Ur Rehman, Imad Khan, Muqader Shah

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The present study was carried out on the gross anatomy, biometery and radiographic analysis of tarsal bones in twenty specimens of adult chinkara (Gazella bennettii). The desired bones were collected from the graveyards present in the locality of the different safari parks and zoos in Pakistan. To observe the edges and articulations between the bones, the radiographic images were acquired in craniocaudals and mediolateral views of the intact limbs. The gross and radiographic studies of the tarsus of adult Chinkara were carried out in University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan. The tarsus of chinkara comprised of five bones both grossly and radiographically, settled in three transverse rows: tibial and fibular tarsal in the proximal, central and fourth fused tarsal in the middle row, the first, second and third fused tarsal in the distal row. The fibular tarsal was the largest and longest bone of the hock, situated on the lateral side and had a bulbous tuber calcis 'point of the hock' at the proximal extremity which projects upward and backward. The average maximum height and breadth for fibular tarsal was 5.61 ± 0.23 cm and 2.06 ± 0.13 cm, respectively. The tibial tarsal bones were the 2nd largest bone of the proximal row and lie on the medial side of the tarsus bears trochlea at either end. The average maximum height and breadth for tibial tarsal was 2.79 ± 0.05 cm and 1.74 ± 0.01 cm, respectively. The central and the fourth tarsals were fused to form a large bone which extends across the entire width of the tarsus and articulates with all bones of the tarsus. A nutrient foramen was present in the center of the non auricular area, more prominent on the ventral surface. The average maximum height and breadth for central and fourth fused tarsal was 1.51 ± 0.13 cm and 2.08 ± 0.07 cm, respectively. The first tarsal was a quadrilateral piece of bone placed on the poteriomedial surface of the hock. The greatest length and maximum breadth of the first tarsal was 0.94 ± 0.01 cm and 1.01 ± 0.01 cm, respectively. The second and third fused tarsal bone resembles the central but was smaller and triangular in outline. It was situated between the central above and the large metatarsal bone below. The greatest length and maximum breadth of second and third fused tarsal was 0.98 ± 0.01 cm and 1.49 ± 0.01 cm.

Keywords: chinkara, morphometry, radiography, tarsal bone

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Authors: Mark Angelo Maranon, David Endriga

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Objective: The aim of the study is to determine the differences in functional outcome and quality of life of adult patients with Potts disease who have undergone surgical versus non-surgical management. Methods: In this prospective cohort study, 45 patients were followed up for 1 year after undergoing pharmacologic treatment alone versus a combination of anti-Kochs and surgery for Potts disease. Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and Short Form-36 (SF-36) were obtained on initiation of treatment, after three months, six months and one year. Results: ASIA scores from the onset of treatment and after 1 year significantly improved (p<0.001) for both non-surgical and surgical patients. ODI scores significantly improved after 6 months of treatment for both surgical and non-surgical patients. Both surgical and non-surgical patients showed significant improvement in their SF-36 scores, but scores were noted to be higher in patients who underwent surgery. Conclusions: Significant improvement with regards to functional outcome and quality of life was noted from both surgical and non-surgical patients after 1 year of treatment, with earlier improvements and better final scores in SF 36 and ODI in patients who underwent surgery.

Keywords: tuberculosis, spinal, potts disease, functional outcome

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Authors: Mohammad Najmuddin Khan, Mohamad Khaleel Albalwi

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The prevalence of obesity has risen dramatically in past several decades. Hormonal and genetic factors are rarely the cause of childhood obesity. Because obese adult may suffer life-long physical and emotional consequences, it is imperative to discuss prevention with parents during well-child examinations. Purpose of the study was to compare the serum lipid profile of obese and non-obese males. Twenty two male students were selected from Al-Jouf University. Their age ranged from 19 to 29. They were divided into groups. One group (N=15) having more than 20% fat was considered as obese group, another group (N=7) was considered as non-obese group. Fasting blood samples were analysed for blood cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Independent test was applied to compare mean difference. In obese group, significantly higher cholesterol and triglycerides were observed. On the contrary, obese group had significantly lower HDL-C concentration than the non-obese group. The adult obese has relatively larger changes in serum lipids at any given level of obesity. On the average, higher amount of fat makes it more likely for an individual to be dyslipidemic and to express elements of the metabolic syndrome. Increased triglycerides level in obese impaired lipolysis which reduced the HDL-C concentrations.

Keywords: obesity, serum lipid profile, Al-Jouf, HDL, LDL

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Authors: Raja Arslan Ahmad Khan

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Audience feedback and data play an increasingly crucial role, particularly in the digital age. The advent of digital media and the digitalization of news have given rise to novel forms of audience feedback, markedly different from traditional channels. The engagement of online audiences challenges the conventional role of journalists, introducing a dynamic where audiences can wield both direct and indirect influence. This struggle between the audience and journalists is evident in their contributions and interactions. Media professionals are grappling with challenges such as derogatory remarks, hate speech, online harassment, audience hostility, and attacks from online audiences. The influence of online audiences extends to shaping journalists' daily routines and work practices. Consequently, this study seeks to analyze the impact of online audience feedback on journalists at a routine level within the Malaysian context. Employing a Hierarchy of Influence model as a theoretical framework, the study will utilize a quantitative approach with a snowball survey method. The study's findings aim to enhance our understanding of how online audiences influence journalists and their work practices, encompassing aspects like journalists' autonomy and integrity, editorial decision-making, performance and accountability, daily routines, work practices, as well as the psychological and emotional costs they bear. It's important to note that the study has limitations due to the use of the snowball survey method and its focus within the specific context of Malaysia, making it relatively small in scale.

Keywords: online audiences, feedback, influence, journalists, Malaysia

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Authors: Mohamed Adel Ahmed, Warda Youssef Morsy , Hanaa Ali El Feky

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Background: Literature review cited that sleep is absolutely essential for surviving and reclamation of the quality of life. Critically ill patients often have poor sleep quality with prolonged sleep latency, sleep fragmentation, decreased sleep efficiency and frequent arousals. Nurses have a unique role for the early diagnosis of sleep disorders, decreasing stressors levels and providing the necessary environmental regulations to create a therapeutic ambiance. The aim of the study: to assess perceived sleep quality and identify factors affecting sleep quality among adult critically ill patients At El Manial University Hospital. Research Design: A descriptive exploratory design was utilized. Research questions: a) how do adult critically ill patients perceive sleep quality in the Critical Care Department of El Manial University Hospital? b) What are the factors affecting sleep quality among adult critically ill patients at El Manial University Hospital? Setting: selected critical and cardiac care units at El Manial University Hospital. Sample: A samples of convenience consisting of 100 adult male and female patients were included in the study. Tools of data collection: tool 1: Socio-demographic and Medical Data Sheet, tool 2: Modified St Mary's Hospital Sleep Questionnaire tool 3: Factors Affecting Sleep Quality Questionnaire among ICU Patients Results: The current study revealed that 76.0% of the studied sample had lack of sleep disturbance before hospitalization. However, 84 % had sleep disturbances during ICU stay, of these more than two-thirds (67 %) had moderate sleep disturbance. Presence of strange and bad odors, noise, having pain, fear of death and a loud voice produced by the ICU personnel had the most significant negative impact on patients’ sleep in percentage of 52.4, 50, 61.9, 45.2, 52.4, respectively. Conclusion: Sleep disturbances in the ICU are multifactorial, and ICU patients’ perceived degrees of sleep disturbance as a moderate. Recommendations: Based on findings of the present study, the following are recommended to be done by ICU nurses; create a healing ICU environment that should incorporate noise, light and temperature controls; decrease stimuli during night time hours to promote regulation of the circadian rhythm, allow usage of sleeping aids such as relaxing music, eye patches and earplugs into their daily nursing practice; cluster nursing activities and eliminate non-essential treatments during night time hours to allow uninterrupted sleep periods of at least 90 minutes to complete one sleep cycle , and minimize staff conversation, alarm noise and light during the quiet night time hours.

Keywords: sleep quality, critically ill, patients, perception

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Authors: Imane Naboulsi, Mansour Sobeh, Rachid Lamzira, Karim El Fakhouri, Widad Ben Bakrim, Chaimae Ramdani, Rachid Boulamtat, Mustapha El Bouhssini, Jane ward, Abdelaziz Yasri, Aziz Aboulmouhajir

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The wild cochineal Dactylopius opuntiae (Cockerell) (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae) is the major insect pest of the prickly pear Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) in Morocco, which has causedenormous socio-economic and environmental losses to this crop in recent years. This study aimed to investigate the insecticidal potential of six aqueous (100% water), and methanolic (20/80 (v/v) MeOH/H2O) extracts obtained from aromatic and medicinal plants growing in arid and semi-arid regions of Morocco to control nymphs and adult females of D. opuntiae, under laboratory and greenhouse conditions. Under laboratory conditions, the aqueous extracts of Atriplex halimus at 5% caused significant mortality in nymphs with 71% four days after application and 88%on adult females of D. opuntiae8 days post-treatment. Under greenhouse conditions, the aqueous extract of A. halimus combined with black soap at 10 g/L showed the highest mortality rate of nymphs with 100%, 4 days after application. The adult females' mortality increased significantly to reach 83.75%,14 days after the second application of A. halimus aqueous extract at 5%. Phytochemical analysis of the water extract of A. halimus revealed a high content of saponins (24.09 ± 0.71 mg SSE/g DW) compared to other plant extracts, which was confirmed by LC-MS characterization that showed the presence of 36 triterpenoid saponin compounds (derived from oleic-12-en-28-oic acid), in addition to phytoecdysones, simple carboxylic acids, and flavonoids. These findings showed that using the aqueous extract of A. halimus as a biological pesticide could be incorporated into the management package to control the wild cochineal as a safe alternative to chemical insecticides.

Keywords: dactylopius opuntiae, opuntia ficus-indica L., plant extracts, toxicity, atriplex halimus, saponins

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Authors: Aminul Islam

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The issue of aging is now an emerging aspect of all over the world. Both the rural and urban societies of our country are not immune from this problem. This study mainly explored the influence of wealth on the enjoyment of role and status of the elderly in rural Bangladesh. It is based on empirical findings from the four villages of Gopalnagar union of Dhunat upazila of Bogra district. The study depicted that wealth has much influence regarding the enjoyment of role and status. Mixed approach has been given priority in this study. Survey, observation, case study and life history methods and focus group discussion technique have also been used in this study. Data have been collected from both primary and secondary sources. Simple random sampling procedure has also been followed in this study.

Keywords: wealth, role status, elderly

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Authors: Saptiadi Nugroho, A. Nur Muhamad Afif

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Understanding factors that influence employee performance is very important. By finding the significant factors, organization could intervene to improve the employee performance that simultaneously will affect organization itself. In this research, four aspects consist of PCCD training, education level, corrective action, and work location were tested to identify their influence on employee performance. By using correlation analysis and T-Test, it was found that employee performance significantly influenced by PCCD training, work location, and corrective action. Meanwhile the education level did not influence employee performance.

Keywords: employee development, employee performance, performance management system, organization

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Authors: G. E. Okungbowa, H. O. Adams, S. E. Eze

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This study is on the estimation of adult patient doses for Chest X-ray diagnostic examinations of new admitted undergraduate students attending a tertiary institution health centre as part of their routine clearance and check up on admitted into the institution. A total of 531 newly admitted undergraduate students were recruited for this survey in the first quarter of 2016 (January to March, 2016). CALDOSE_X 5.0 software was used to compute the Entrance Surface Dose (ESD) and Effective Dose (ED); while the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.0 was used to carry out the statistical analyses. The basic patients' data and exposure parameters required for the software are age, sex, examination type, projection posture, tube potential and current-time product. The mean Entrance Surface Dose and Effective Doses of the undergraduate students were calculated using the software, and the values were compared with existing literature and internationally established diagnostic reference levels. The mean ESD calculated is 0.29 mGy, and the mean effective dose is 0.04 mSv. The values of ESD and ED obtained are below the internationally established diagnostic reference levels, which could be attributed to good radiographic techniques employed during the chest X-ray procedure for these students.

Keywords: x-ray, dose, examination, chest

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Authors: Idowu J. Diyaolu, Ebenezer O. Obayomi, Taiwo A. Bamidele

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Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been observed to have influence on the lifestyle of youths in general. Dressing styles, fashion consciousness and choice of role model are some of the areas of influence. The study was carried out to examine the perception and influence of ICT on the clothing culture of selected Senior Secondary School Students in Ife-East Local government area of Osun State, Nigeria. Two hundred Senior Secondary School Students from public and private schools were randomly selected. Data was collected using structured questionnaire. The result showed that 79.0% were computer literate, 64.5% have facebook account and 93.5% browse with phones. Based on their perception on the influence of ICT, 74.5% of the respondents agreed that frequent use of ICT has increased their level of fashion consciousness while 60.5% were motivated by the images and dressing pattern in magazines, on TV and the internet. Also, large proportions (60.5%) were influenced by the dressing styles of their friends on social media. Male students were significantly more engaged in ICT related activities than females (t = 1.29, P < 0.05), whereas there is no significant difference in the involvement in ICT activities between private and public school students (t = 0.325, P > 0.05). Since ICT has influence on dressing, appropriate dressing pattern should be encouraged on mass media.

Keywords: dress culture, information and communication technology, fashion trend, role model

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Authors: Meriche Hacene

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Introduction: Allergy to animal hair is hypersensitivity to animal appendages to look for in front of any rhinoconjunctivitis or asthma. An anamnesis associated with the prick-tests makes it possible to guide the diagnosis, which will be supplemented in case of doubt by specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) assays. The objective of our study is to study the characteristics of patients sensitized to animal hair. Patients and methods: Retrospective study conducted on 105 adult patients and 69 children over a period of 3 years, including patients who received a specific IgE assay (respiratory panel and pediatric panel) by immunodot method. Result: 105 adult patients, including 74 women and 31 men, with an average age of 41 years, of which 8.5% had sensitization to animal hair (5 men and 4 women), namely: cat (5%), horse (4.7%) and dog (3.8%). For the 69 children, a slight female predominance was noted (56%), with an average age of 7.5 years, of which (13%) are sensitized to animal hair (5 girls and 4 boys): cat (10%), while awareness of dog and horse hair was less frequent with an identical prevalence of (4.34%). The dominant symptoms are rhinorrhea and sneezing for both categories, respectively (40% and 26.6% in adults and 23% for both symptoms in children). Cross-sensitization was observed in the 2 series: 1 single cat-dog and cat-horse case and 2 dog-horse cases in adults. In children, 100% of patients with sensitization to dog hair had cross-sensitization to cat hair, only 1 case was observed for cat-horse cross-reactivity. Conclusion This work shows that allergy to animal hair is common. Studies on more representative samples are recommended.

Keywords: specific IgE, allergy, cat, fed1

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Authors: Hasan Mahmud Reza

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Extensive studies of the human umbilical cord, both basic and translational, over the last three decades have unveiled a plethora of information. The cord lining harbors at least two phenotypically different multipotent stem cells: mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and cord lining epithelial stem cells (CLECs). These cells exhibit a mixed genetic profiling of both embryonic and adult stem cells, hence display a broader stem features than cells from other sources. We have observed that umbilical cord-derived cells are immunologically privileged and non-tumorigenic by animal study. These cells are ethically acceptable, thus provides a significant advantage over other stem cells. The high proliferative capacity, viability, differentiation potential, and superior harvest of these cells have made them better candidates in comparison to contemporary adult stem cells. Following 30 replication cycles, these cells have been observed to retain their stemness, with their phenotype and karyotype intact. Transplantation of bioengineered CLEC sheets in limbal stem cell-deficient rabbit eyes resulted in regeneration of clear cornea with phenotypic expression of the normal cornea-specific epithelial cytokeratin markers. The striking features of low immunogenicity protecting self along with co-transplanted allografts from rejection largely define the transplantation potential of umbilical cord-derived stem cells.

Keywords: cord lining epithelial stem cells, mesenchymal stem cell, regenerative medicine, umbilical cord

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Authors: K. B. Rajasekarababu, J. Karthik, G. Vinayagamurthy

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This paper is intended to explain the influence of major axis on aerodynamic characteristics of elliptical section. Many engineering applications such as off shore structures, bridge piers, civil structures and pipelines can be modelled as a circular cylinder but flow over complex bodies like, submarines, Elliptical wing, fuselage, missiles, and rotor blades, in which the parameters such as axis ratio can influence the flow characteristics of the wake and nature of separation. Influence of Major axis in Flow characteristics of elliptical sections are examined both experimentally and computationally in this study. For this research, four elliptical models with varying major axis [*AR=1, 4, 6, 10] are analysed. Experimental works have been conducted in a subsonic wind tunnel. Furthermore, flow characteristics on elliptical model are predicted from k-ε turbulence model using the commercial CFD packages by pressure based transient solver with Standard wall conditions.The analysis can be extended to estimation and comparison of Drag coefficient and Fatigue analysis of elliptical sections.

Keywords: elliptical section, major axis, aerodynamic characteristics, k-ε turbulence model

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Authors: Faisal O. Al-Otaibi, Arthur T. Tucker, Richard M. Langford, Stuart Ratcliffe, Atholl Johnston, Terry D. Lee, Kenneth B. Kirby, Chandan A. Alam

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The Transdermal Delivery System (TDS®) is a proprietary liquid formulation that can be applied to intact skin via a metered pump spray to facilitate drug delivery to the circulation. The aim of this study was to assess the ability of the TDS preparation to deliver diazepam systemically, and to characterize the pharmacokinetic profile of the drug in healthy adult subjects. We conducted a randomized, single-dose, two-period, crossover phase I (pharmacokinetic) comparative study in twelve healthy volunteers. All volunteers received both 10 mg TDS-diazepam topically to the upper chest and 10 mg of the rectal diazepam preparation (Diastat®, 10 mg diazepam gel), with a minimum washout of 14 days between dosing episodes. Both formulations were well tolerated in all volunteers. Following topical application of TDS-diazepam, the mean AUC0-72h was 1241 ng/mL.h and the Cmax 34 ng/mL. The values for rectal Diastat were 4109 ng/mL.h and 300 ng/mL respectively. This proof of concept study demonstrates that the TDS preparation successfully delivered diazepam systemically to adults. As expected, the concentration of diazepam following the TDS application was lower and not bioequivalent to rectal gel. Future development of this unique system is required.

Keywords: transdermal delivery system, diazepam, seizure, bioequivalence, pharmacokinetic

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Authors: Fatma H. Galal, Alaaeddeen M. Seufi

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Due to the increasing usage of mobile phone, experiments were designed to investigate ‎the effect of acute dose exposure on the mosquito life cycle. 50 tubes (5 ml size) ‎containing 3 ml water and a first instar larva of the mosquito, Culex univittatus were put ‎between two mobile cell phones switched on talking mode for 4 continuous hours. A ‎control group of tubes (unexposed to radiation) were used. Larval and pupal durations ‎were calculated. Furthermore, adult emergence and sex ratio were observed for both ‎treated and control larvae. Results indicated that the employed dose of radiation reduced ‎total larval duration to about half the value of control. 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th larval ‎durations were reduced significantly by mobile radiation when compared to controls. ‎Meanwhile pupal duration was elongated significantly by mobile radiation when ‎compared to control. Sex ratio was significantly shifted in favor of females in the case of ‎radiated mosquitoes. Successful adult emergence was decreased significantly in the case ‎of radiated insects when compared to controls. Molecular studies to investigate the ‎effects of mobile radiation on insects and other model organisms are going on.‎

Keywords: mosquito, mobilr radiation, larval and pupal durations, sex ratio

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Authors: Qazi Mohammed Ahmed, Osman Sadiq Paracha, Iftikhar Hussain

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The study aims to explore the unaddressed relationship between social capital and consumers’ underlying behavioral intentions. The study postulates that this association is mediated by the role of attitudes and peer influence. The research attains evidence from a usable sample of 673 responses. The majority consists of the young and energetic social media users of Pakistan that utilize virtual communities as a way of life. A variance based structural equation modeling has been applied through SmartPLS 3. The results reveal that social capital exerts a statistically supportive association with both attitudes and peer influence. Contrastingly, this predictor variable shows an insignificant linkage with behavioral intentions but this relationship is fully mediated by consumer attitudes and peer influence. The paper enhances marketing literature with respect to an unexplored society of Pakistan. It also provides a lens for the contemporary advertisers, in terms of supporting their social media campaigns with affiliative and cohesive elements. The study also identifies a series of predictor variables that could further be tested with attitudes, subjective norms and behavioral responses.

Keywords: social capital, consumer attitudes, peer influence, behavioral intentions

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Authors: Jyoti Agrawal

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Introduction: Renal diseases in children and young adult can be difficult to diagnose early as it may present only with few symptoms, tends to have different course than adult and respond variously to different treatment. The pattern of renal disease in children is different from developing countries as compared to developed countries. Methods: This study was a hospital based prospective observational study carried from March, 2014 to February 2015 at BP Koirala institute of health sciences. Patients with renal disease, both inpatient and outpatient from birth to 14 years of age were enrolled in the study. The diagnosis of renal disease was be made on clinical and laboratory criteria. Results: Total of 120 patients were enrolled in our study which contributed to 3.74% % of total admission. The commonest feature of presentation was edema (75%), followed by fever (65%), hypertension (60%), decreased urine output (45%) and hematuria (25%). Most common diagnosis was acute glomerulonephritis (40%) followed by Nephrotic syndrome (25%) and urinary tract infection (25%). Renal biopsy was done for 10% of cases and most of them were steroid dependent nephrotic syndrome. 5% of our cases expired because of multiorgan dysfunction syndrome, sepsis and acute kidney injury. Conclusion: Renal disease contributes to a large part of hospital pediatric admission as well as mortality and morbidity to the children.

Keywords: glomerulonephritis, nephrotic syndrome, renal disease, urinary tract infection

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Authors: Hsin-Hsin Chang, Jann-Tay Wang, Wang-Huei Sheng

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Background: Hospital-associated infections (HAIs) have significant medical and social resource consumption. In view of medical technology change rapidly and the prolonged average life expectancy, the patients' chances of receiving invasive medical devices have also increased. As well as the potential disease of the patients, the aging, and immune dysfunction makes the disease more serious, raising the risk of HAIs. In our adult intensive care units, catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) have an average of 4.6% in 2014, which is much higher than that of the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). Therefore, we started the intervention of CAUTI bundle care. Methods: This 3-year intervention was conducted in adults’ intensive care units (ICUs) during January 2015 to December 2017. The implementation of CAUTI bundle care in order to reduce invasive catheter-associated infections were built on evidence-based infection control measures. Prospective surveillance was performed on all patients admitted to hospital. The four major directions are 'Leader Engagement', 'Educate Personnel', 'Executive Multidisciplinary Teamwork', 'Innovation and Improvement of Tools'. Results: During the intervention period, there were 167,024 patient-days with a total of 508 episodes of CAUTIs in the entire adult ICUs identified. The incidence of CAUTIs in adult ICU was significantly decreased in the intervention period (from 2015 to 2017), from 4.6 to 3.6 per 1000 catheter days (p=0.05). Conclusion: The necessity for the implementation of CAUTI bundle care in the health care system plays an important role in the quality and policy of infection control. Multidisciplinary teamwork, education, a comprehensive checklist and from time to time audit feedback to improve healthcare workers’ compliance are the keys to success.

Keywords: bundle care, hospital-associated infections, leader engagement, multidisciplinary team work

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Authors: Lei Liu

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Since the famous opening up and reform strategy of China, lots of migrants have flowed from rural areas to urban areas. In this paper, the author investigates the rural elderly left behind, which are defined aged people left alone at home while their adult children have to migrant outside. This phenomenon is a quite general and serious social problem that cannot be ignored, accompanied by the process of urbanization and regional transferring of rural labor. The Chinese internal migration not only exerts great influence to China’s economy and urbanization but also obviously reduces the labor and care to rural aged people. Contrary to assumptions in some migration and aging studies, which show the inevitable negative effects of migration upon the old age care, the author highlights unique features in their daily strategies of house holding to integrate into society with the analysis of the conception of social inclusion. Through life history interviews with elderly left behind in one rural village, this article sheds light on three different factors of social inclusion, namely, economic inclusion, social identity and political inclusion and shows its necessaries to fully understand the status of the social wellbeing of rural elderly left behind.

Keywords: labor migration, elderly left behind, social inclusion, rural China

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Authors: Seoi Lee, Dongjoo Chin, Heewon Kim

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Gamification refers to a technique that applies game elements to non-gaming elements, such as education and exercise, to make people more engaged in these behaviors. The purpose of this study was to identify effective elements in gamification for changing human behaviors. In order to accomplish this purpose, a survey based on learning theory was developed, especially for assessing antecedents and consequences of behaviors, and 8 popular and 8 unpopular games were selected for comparison. A total of 407 adult males and females were recruited via crowdsourcing Internet marketplace and completed the survey, which consisted of 19 questions for antecedent and 14 questions for consequences. Results showed no significant differences in consequence questions between popular and unpopular games. For antecedent questions, popular games are superior to unpopular games in character customization, play type selection, a sense of belonging, patch update cycle, and influence or dominance. This study is significant in that it reveals the elements of gamification based on learning theory. Future studies need to empirically validate whether these factors affect behavioral change.

Keywords: gamification, learning theory, antecedent, consequence, behavior change, behaviorism

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Authors: Chloe T. Cohen, Sarah Johnson

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Psychoanalytic literature has traditionally focused on the theoretical explanations of psychological phenomena rather than empirical research to support those ideas. Many clinicians assume a lack of empirical verification of the theories that underpin psychoanalytic treatment disqualifies psychoanalytic psychotherapy as an effective clinical technique. One such theory is Lacan’s ‘Name of the Father’, which extended Freud’s idea of the importance of a successful resolution of the Oedipal problem, situating it even earlier in psychological development. Lacan posited that the Name of the Father construct (establishing psychological structure and preventing psychosis) was best represented in language use, metaphor, and linguistic structure. However, no study to date has empirically examined the Name of the Father construct. The current study attempts to measure Lacan’s ‘Name of the Father’ construct through linguistic structure and metaphor use and to compare it with Freud’s ‘original introject’. We will then investigate whether they relate to adult personality functioning (measured using the Rorschach Inkblot Test). We aim to contribute to the empirical study of psychoanalytic concepts by operationalizing and validating the Name of the Father empirically. We also aim to examine the relationship of the Name of the Father construct to Freud’s concept of the original introject and to adult pathology. We hypothesize that measures of the original introject will mediate the pathway between linguistic indicators of Lacan’s Name of the Father construct and personality functioning.

Keywords: Lacan, Name of the Father, original introject, personality functioning, psychoanalysis

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Authors: Lee Bih Ni, Emily Doreen Lee, Wee Hui Yean

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This paper was prepared to see the perceptions of online lectures regarding collaborative learning, in terms of how lecturers view online collaborative learning in the higher learning institution. The purpose of this study was conducted to determine the perceptions of online lectures about collaborative learning, especially how lecturers see online collaborative learning in the university. Adult learning education enhance collaborative learning culture with the target of involving learners in the learning process to make teaching and learning more effective and open at the university. This will finally make students learning that will assist each other. It is also to cut down the pressure of loneliness and isolation might felt among adult learners. Their ways in collaborative online was also determined. In this paper, researchers collect data using questionnaires instruments. The collected data were analyzed and interpreted. By analyzing the data, researchers report the results according the proof taken from the respondents. Results from the study, it is not only dependent on the lecturer but also a student to shape a good collaborative learning practice. Rational concepts and pattern to achieve these targets be clear right from the beginning and may be good seen by a number of proposals submitted and include how the higher learning institution has trained with ongoing lectures online. Advantages of online collaborative learning show that lecturers should be trained effectively. Studies have seen that the lecturer aware of online collaborative learning. This positive attitude will encourage the higher learning institution to continue to give the knowledge and skills required.

Keywords: collaborative online learning, lecturers’ training, learning, online

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Authors: Gracie Tredget, Raymond McGrath, Karen Ang, Julie Williams, Nick Sevdalis, Fiona Gaughran, Jorge Aria de la Torre, Ioannis Bakolis, Andy Healey, Zarnie Khadjesari, Euan Sadler, Natalia Stepan

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Background: Preventable physical health problems have been found to increase morbidity rates amongst adults living with serious mental illness (SMI). Community mental health clinicians have a role in identifying, and preventing physical health problems worsening, and supporting primary care services to administer routine physical health checks for their patients. However, little is known about how mental health staff perceive and approach their role when providing physical healthcare amongst patients with SMI, or the impact these attitudes have on routine practice. Methods: The present study involves a prospective service evaluation specific to Adult Community Mental Health Services at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM). A qualitative methodology will use semi-structured interviews, focus groups and observations to explore attitudes, perceptions and experiences of staff, patients, and carers (n=64) towards physical healthcare, and barriers or facilitators that impact upon it. 1South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, SE5 8AZ, UK 2 Centre for Implementation Science, King’s College London, London, SE5 8AF, UK 3 Psychosis Studies, King's College London, London, SE5 8AF, UK 4 Department of Biostatistics and Health Informatics, King’s College London, London, SE5 8AF, UK 5 Kings Health Economics, King's College London, London, SE5 8AF, UK 6 Behavioural and Implementation Science (BIS) research group, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK 7 Department of Nursing, Midwifery and Health, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK 8 Mind and Body Programme, King’s Health Partners, Guy’s Hospital, London, SE1 9RT *[email protected] Analysis: Data from across qualitative tasks will be synthesised using Framework Analysis methodologies. Staff, patients, and carers will be invited to participate in co-development of recommendations that can improve routine physical healthcare within Adult Community Mental Health Teams at SLaM. Results: Data collection is underway at present. At the time of the conference, early findings will be available to discuss. Conclusions: An integrated approach to mind and body care is needed to reduce preventable deaths amongst people with SMI. This evaluation will seek to provide a framework that better equips staff to approach physical healthcare within a mental health setting.

Keywords: severe mental illness, physical healthcare, adult community mental health, nursing

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Authors: Halima Akhtar, Abhijeet Chandra

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The paper attempts to analyze the factors that influence the Consumer Behavior to purchase apparel through the internet. The intentions to buy apparels online were based on in terms of user style, orientation, size and reputation of the merchant, social influence, perceived information utility, perceived ease of use, perceived pleasure and attractiveness and perceived trust and risk. The basic framework used was Technology acceptance model to explain apparels acceptance. A survey was conducted to gather the data from 200 people. The measures and hypotheses were analyzed using Correlation testing and would be further validated by the Structural Equation Modelling. The implications of the findings for theory and practice could be used by marketers of online apparel websites. Based on the values obtained, we can conclude that the factors such as social influence, Perceived information utility, attractiveness and trust influence the decision for a user to buy apparels online. The major factors which are found to influence an online apparel buying decision are ease of use, attractiveness that a website can offer and the trust factor which a user shares with the website.

Keywords: E-tailers, consumer behaviour, technology acceptance model, structural modelling

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Authors: Dušica L. Marić, Mirela Erić, Dušan M. Maić, Nebojša T. Milošević, Dragana Radošević, Nikola Vučinić

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The anatomical existence of transforaminal ligaments has been studied widely. The crucial anatomic study of these structures describes the transforaminal ligaments as an anomalous structure. The ligaments associated with the intervertebral foramen were classified in the external, intraforaminal and internal foraminal ligaments. The external ligaments are the most frequently reported type of transforaminal ligaments in adult spine. The purpose of this study was to examine the appearance of the ligaments within the external space of the intervertebral foramen in adult cadavers. External transforaminal ligaments branch out forward from the root of the transverse process toward the vertebral body with superior, transverse and inferior directions. The ligament detected in the study was different from the other reported descriptions of L1 foraminal ligaments. This ligament extends from the root of the pedicle to the inferior border of the vertebral body below the level of the disc and forms the compartment through which pass the ventral root of the spinal nerve and a small branch of the spinal artery. The results of this study show that the external ligaments can be clearly macroscopic visualized, and it is very important to have prior knowledge of the cadaveric specimens, to identify these structures. The presence of these ligaments is clinically important. These ligaments could be the cause of nerve root compression and the low back syndrome.

Keywords: anatomy, ligaments, lumbar spine, spinal nerve roots

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Authors: Ben Nwokenkwo, Michael M. Eze, Felix Ike

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The need to study trends in land values around institutions of higher learning cannot be overemphasized. Numerous studies in Nigeria have investigated the economic, and social influence of the sitting of institutions of higher learning at the micro, meso and macro levels. However, very few studies have evaluated the temporal extent at which such institution influences local land values. Since institutions greatly influence both the physical and environmental aspects of their immediate vicinity, attention must be taken to understand the influence of such changes on land values. This study examines the trend in land values using the Mann-Kendall analysis in order to determine if, between its beginning and end, a monotonic increase, decrease or stability exist in the land values across six institutions of higher learning for the period between 2004 and 2014. Specifically, The analysis was applied to the time series of the price(or value) of the land .The results of this study revealed that land values has either been increasing or remained stabled across all the institution sampled. The study finally recommends measures that can be put in place as counter magnets for land values estimation across institutions of higher learning.

Keywords: influence, land, trend, value

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Authors: Hazel Pettifor, Charlie Wilson, David Mccollum, Oreane Edelenbosch

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Vehicle purchase is a technology adoption decision that will strongly influence future energy and emission outcomes. Global integrated assessment models (IAMs) provide valuable insights into the medium and long terms effects of socio-economic development, technological change and climate policy. In this paper we present a unique and transparent approach for improving the behavioural representation of these models by incorporating social influence effects to more accurately represent consumer choice. This work draws together strong conceptual thinking and robust empirical evidence to introduce heterogeneous and interconnected consumers who vary in their aversion to new technologies. Focussing on vehicle choice, we conduct novel empirical research to parameterise consumer risk aversion and how this is shaped by social and cultural influences. We find robust evidence for social influence effects, and variation between countries as a function of cultural differences. We then formulate an approach to modelling social influence which is implementable in both simulation and optimisation-type models. We use two global integrated assessment models (IMAGE and MESSAGE) to analyse four scenarios that introduce social influence and cultural differences between regions. These scenarios allow us to explore the interactions between consumer preferences and social influence. We find that incorporating social influence effects into global models accelerates the early deployment of electric vehicles and stimulates more widespread deployment across adopter groups. Incorporating cultural variation leads to significant differences in deployment between culturally divergent regions such as the USA and China. Our analysis significantly extends the ability of global integrated assessment models to provide policy-relevant analysis grounded in real-world processes.

Keywords: behavioural realism, electric vehicles, social influence, vehicle choice

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Authors: A. Elmikaty, Z. Thanawarothon, L. Mezeix

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This paper presents a finite element model to simulate the teeth failure of non-circular composite chainring. Model consists of the chainring and a part of the chain. To reduce the size of the model, only the first 11 rollers are simulated. In order to validate the model, it is firstly applied to a circular aluminum chainring and evolution of the stress in the teeth is compared with the literature. Then, effect of the non-circular shape is studied through three different loading positions. Strength of non-circular composite chainring and failure scenario is investigated. Moreover, two composite lay-ups are proposed to observe the influence of the stacking. Results show that composite material can be used but the lay-up has a large influence on the strength. Finally, loading position does not have influence on the first composite failure that always occurs in the first tooth.

Keywords: CFRP, composite failure, FEA, non-circular chainring

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Authors: Inkeri Jääskeläinen

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The purpose of this study is to shed light on what is it like to study in apprenticeship training using Finnish as second language. This study examines the stories and experiences of apprenticeship students learning and studying Finnish as part of their vocational studies. Also, this pilot study examines the effects of learning to pronounce Finnish through body motions and gestures. Many foreign students choose apprenticeships and start vocational training too early, while their language skills in Finnish are still very weak. Both duties at work and school assignments require reasonably good general language skills (B1.1) and, especially at work, language skills are also a safety issue. At work students should be able to simultaneously learn Finnish and do vocational studies in a noisy, demanding, and stressing environment. Learning and understanding new things is very challenging under these circumstances and sometimes students get exhausted and experience a lot of stress - which makes learning even more difficult. Students are different from each other and so are their ways to learn. Thereafter, one of the most important features of apprenticeship training and second language learning is good understanding of adult learners and their needs. Kinaesthetic methods are an effective way to support adult students’ cognitive skills and make learning more relaxing and fun. Empirical findings show that language learning can indeed be supported physical ways, by body motions and gestures. The method used here, named TFFL (Touch and Feel Foreign Languages), was designed to support adult language learning, to correct or prevent language fossilization and to help the student to manage emotions. Finnish is considered as a difficult language to learn, mostly because it is so different from nearly all other languages. Many learners complain that they are lost or confused and there is a need to find a way to simultaneously learn the language and to handle negative emotion which come from Finnish language and the learning process itself. Due to the nature of Finnish language good pronunciation skills are needed just to understand the way the language work. Movements (body movements etc.) are a natural part of many cultures but not Finnish – In Finland students have traditionally been expected to stay still and that is not a natural way for many foreign students. However, kinaesthetic TFFL method proved out to be a useful way to help some L2 students to feel phonemes, rhythm and intonation, to improve their Finnish and, thereby, also to successfully complete their vocational studies.

Keywords: Finnish, fossilization, interference, kinaesthetic method

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Authors: Mohamed Bakry Mohamed Ali, Mohamed Ehab El-Din Mustafa, Joseph Naiem Sabet Aziz, Sarah Mahmoud Ali Kaooh

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Background: Acute lung injury (ALI) is one of the major challenges in intensive care medicine. The most common extrapulmonary cause of ALI is sepsis, accounting more than 30% of the cases in humans. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) has gained wide acceptance as a clinically relevant model of ALI. Lipopolysaccharide is a glycoprotein forming the major constituent of bacterial endotoxin. Losartan is angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptor antagonists. It is widely used for management of hypertension. It was recently suggested that losartan protects against septic ALI. It would thereby prevent LPS-induced ALI. Aim of the work and design of the experiment: This work investigated the injurious effect of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and ALI on adult male albino rat at 24 hours and 14 days of LPS administration and the possible protective role of losartan pretreatment. LPS has deteriorated animal survival and behavior. It increased lung weight and induced lung histological damage. These changes could be much reduced by the losartan pretreatment. Conclusion: Administration of losartan before LPS could largely reduce these LPS/ ALI induced short and long term alterations. It could be recommended that patients susceptible to developing ALI, as in ICU, should receive a protective dose of angitensin II type 1 (AT1) receptor blocker as losartan.

Keywords: acute lung injury (ALI), lipopolysaccharide (LPS), losartan

Procedia PDF Downloads 577