Search results for: disease mapping

Authors: Chin-Yuan Hsieh, Wei-Chun Lu, Yu-Hong Zeng

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The situation of a group of fish die is frequently found due to the fish disease caused by the deterioration of aquaculture water quality. The toxic ammonia is produced by animals as a byproduct of protein. The system is designed by the smart sensor technology and developed by the mathematical model to monitor the water parameters 24 hours a day and predict the relationship among twelve water quality parameters for monitoring the water quality in aquaculture. All data measured are stored in cloud server. In productive ponds, the daytime pH may be high enough to be lethal to the fish. The sudden change of the aquaculture conditions often results in the increase of PH value of water, lack of oxygen dissolving content, water quality deterioration and yield reduction. From the real measurement, the system can send the message to user’s smartphone successfully on the bad conditions of water quality. From the data comparisons between measurement and model simulation in fish aquaculture site, the difference of parameters is less than 2% and the correlation coefficient is at least 98.34%. The solubility rate of oxygen decreases exponentially with the elevation of water temperature. The correlation coefficient is 98.98%.

Keywords: aquaculture, sensor, ammonia, dissolved oxygen

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Authors: Wen-Yu Lin, Yi-Ching Chung, Tzyy-Rong Jinn

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It is well known that enterovirus 71 (EV71) causes recurring outbreaks of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) and encephalitis leading to complications or death in young children. And, several HFMD of EV71 with high mortalities occurred in Asia countries, such as Malaysia (1997), Taiwan (1998) and China (2008). Thus, more effective antiviral drugs are needed to prevent or reduce EV71-related complications. As reported, interferon-α protects mice from lethal EV71 challenge by the modulation of innate immunity and then degrade enterovirus protease 3Cᵖʳᵒ. On the other side, pleconaril by targeting enterovirus VP1 protein and then block virus entry and attachment. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the synergistic antiviral activity of interferon-α and pleconaril against enterovirus 71 infection. In a preliminary study showed that pleconaril at concentrations of 50, 100 and 300 µg/mL reduced EV71-induced CPE to 52.0 ± 2.5%, 40.2 ± 3.5% and 26.5 ± 1.5%, respectively, of that of the EV71-infected RD control cells (taken as 100%). Notably, 1000 IU/mL of interferon-α in combination with pleconaril at concentrations of 50, 100 and 300µg/mL suppressed EV71-induced CPE by 30.2 ± 3.8%, 16.5 ± 1.3% and 2.8 ± 2.0%, respectively, of that of the pleconaril alone treated with the infected RD cells. These results indicated that interferon-α 1000 IU/mL combination with pleconaril (50, 100 and 300µg/mL) inhibited EV71-induced CPE more effectively than treated with pleconaril alone in the infected RD cells.

Keywords: enterovirus 71, interferon-α, pleconaril, RD cells

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Authors: Hailiang Liu, Yan Ni, Jie Zheng, Xiaoyan Jiang, Min Hong

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Allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) is a commonly clinical type IV allergic skin disease, with the pathological features of infiltration by mononuclear cells and tissue necrosis. Traditional Chinese medicine Radix Saposhnikoviae (RS) is traditionally employed to treat exogenous evils, rubella, itching, rheumatism and tetanus. Meanwhile, it is an important component of the commonly used anti-allergy compound. It’s now widely used as an immuno-modulating agent in mixed herbal decoctions to treat inflammation. However, its mechanism of anti-allergy remains unknown. RS was found to reduce ear thickness, as well as the infiltration of eosinophils. The proliferation of T lymphocytes was inhibited significantly by RS, markedly decreased IFN-γ levels in the supernatant of cells cultured and serum were detected with the treatment of RS. RS significantly decreased the amount of DCs in the mouse lymph nodes, and inhibited the expression of CD4 0 and CD86. Meanwhile, T-bet mRNA expression was down remarkably regulated by RS. These results indicate that RS cures Th1-induced allergic skin inflammation by regulating Th1/Th2 balance with decreasing Th1 differentiation, which might be associated with DCs.

Keywords: allergic contact dermatitis, Radix saposhnikoviae, dendritic cells, T-bet, GATA-3, CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+ treg cells

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Authors: Nan Hu, Chao Wang, Xi Li, Xuehai Zhou

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The field-programmable gate array (FPGA) has been widely adopted in the high-performance computing domain. In recent years, the embedded system-on-a-chip (SoC) contains coarse granularity multi-core CPU (central processing unit) and mobile GPU (graphics processing unit) that can be used as general-purpose accelerators. The motivation is that algorithms of various parallel characteristics can be efficiently mapped to the heterogeneous architecture coupled with these three processors. The CPU and GPU offload partial computationally intensive tasks from the FPGA to reduce the resource consumption and lower the overall cost of the system. However, in present common scenarios, the applications always utilize only one type of accelerator because the development approach supporting the collaboration of the heterogeneous processors faces challenges. Therefore, a systematic approach takes advantage of write-once-run-anywhere portability, high execution performance of the modules mapped to various architectures and facilitates the exploration of design space. In this paper, A servant-execution-flow model is proposed for the abstraction of the cooperation of the heterogeneous processors, which supports task partition, communication and synchronization. At its first run, the intermediate language represented by the data flow diagram can generate the executable code of the target processor or can be converted into high-level programming languages. The instantiation parameters efficiently control the relationship between the modules and computational units, including two hierarchical processing units mapping and adjustment of data-level parallelism. An embedded system of a three-dimensional waveform oscilloscope is selected as a case study. The performance of algorithms such as contrast stretching, etc., are analyzed with implementations on various combinations of these processors. The experimental results show that the heterogeneous computing system with less than 35% resources achieves similar performance to the pure FPGA and approximate energy efficiency.

Keywords: FPGA-CPU-GPU collaboration, design space exploration, heterogeneous computing, intermediate language, parameterized instantiation

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Authors: Usiobaifo Agharese Rosemary, Osaseri Roseline Oghogho

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Diabetes is a complex group of disease with a variety of causes; it is a disorder of the body metabolism in the digestion of carbohydrates food. The application of machine learning in the field of medical diagnosis has been the focus of many researchers and the use of recognition and classification model as a decision support tools has help the medical expert in diagnosis of diseases. Considering the large volume of medical data which require special techniques, experience, and high diagnostic skill in the diagnosis of diseases, the application of an artificial intelligent system to assist medical personnel in order to enhance their efficiency and accuracy in diagnosis will be an invaluable tool. In this study will propose a diabetes diagnosis model using rough set and K-nearest Neighbor classifier algorithm. The system consists of two modules: the feature extraction module and predictor module, rough data set is used to preprocess the attributes while K-nearest neighbor classifier is used to classify the given data. The dataset used for this model was taken for University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) database. Half of the data was used in the training while the other half was used in testing the system. The proposed model was able to achieve over 80% accuracy.

Keywords: classifier algorithm, diabetes, diagnostic model, machine learning

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Authors: Adia Fatima, Naila Chand, Rifat Ullah Khan

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The goal of this study was to determine how fennel seed supplementation affected broiler growth, carcass quality, antioxidant status, and antibody titer in heat-stressed broilers. A total of 720 one-day-old broiler chickens were weighed and assigned to 28-floor pens (25 broiler chickens per pen). The broiler chickens were housed in a thermoneutral (TN) environment and were exposed to heat stress (HS). For 23 hours, the broiler chickens were kept under fluorescent lighting. For 35d, HS broiler chickens were fed a control diet and three levels of fennel seeds powder at rates of 15g/kg (Fen-15), 20 g/kg (Fen-20), and 25 g/kg (Fen-25). Overall feed intake, weight gain, and dressing % were considerably greater (P < 0.05) in Fen-25 and TN, but FCR was significantly reduced (P<0.01) in the same groups. When TN, Fen-20, and Fen-25 were compared to the control, malondialdehyde (MDA), paraoxonase (PON1), and antibody titer against New Castle disease (ND) were considerably (P < 0.05) greater. Further, the linear and quadratic response was for feed intake, weight gain, FCR, MDA, PON1, and ND titer. It was concluded that Fen-20 and Fen-25 increased broiler growth, carcass quality, antioxidant status, and immunological response under HS conditions.

Keywords: heat stress, growth, antioxidant, immunity

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Authors: A. Bhattacharya, Sanjay Gupta, S. H. Bodakhe

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HbA1c is form of the haemoglobin that is used to measure the average plasma glucose concentration over prolonged periods of time. It is formed in a non-enzymatic glycation pathway by hemoglobin's exposure to plasma glucose. In diabetes mellitus, higher amounts of glycated hemoglobin, indicating poorer control of blood glucose levels, have been associated with cardiovascular disease, nephropathy, and retinopathy. Guraku’s basic components are nicotine and jaggery, jaggery is made up of sugarcane so can have a diabetogenic potential which is exacerbated in presence of nicotine. This work had done with the aim to find correlation between Diabetic cataract, HbA1c and Guraku. Subjects were enrolled according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. In this study total 75 subjects were included. In the study it was found that people consuming Guraku had a high level of HbA1c thus are more prone to the development of diabetic cataract. Male subjects are the more than female subjects. Most of the subjects belong to the lower socioeconomical class and not very educated. It could be concluded that this type of study could be useful in indentifying number of subjects suffering from diabetic cataract whose condition get worse by use of nicotine product like Guraku and preventive measure to be taken in prevention of this type of diabetic complication.

Keywords: diabetic cataract, HbA1c, Guraku, diabetogenic potential

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Authors: Khatesiree Sripoothon, Usanee Sengpanich, Rattana Sittioum

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The objective of this study is to examine the factors influencing consumer purchasing decisions about healthy food. This model consists of two latent variables: Consumer Perception relating to NCDs and Consumer Perceived Product Value. The study was conducted in the northern provinces of Thailand, which are popular with tourists and have received support from the government for health tourism. A survey was used as the data collection method, and the questionnaire was applied to 385 tourists. An accidental sampling method was used to identify the sample. The statistics of frequency, percentage, mean, and structural equation model were used to analyze the data obtained. Additionally, all factors had a significant positive influence on healthy food purchasing decisions (p<0.01) and were predictive of healthy food purchasing decisions at 46.20 (R2=0.462). Also, these findings seem to underline a supposition that consumer perceptions of NCDs and perceived product value are key variables that strengthens the competitive effects of a healthy-friendly business entrepreneur. Moreover, reduce the country's public health costs for treating patients with the disease of NCDs in Thailand.

Keywords: healthy food, perceived product value, perception of non-communicable diseases, purchasing decisions

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Authors: Michelle Eichinger, Upali Nanda

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Behavior choices during college years can establish the pattern of lifelong healthy living. Nearly 1/3rd of American college students are either overweight (25 < BMI < 30) or obese (BMI > 30). In addition, overweight/obesity contributes to depression, which is a rising epidemic among college students, affecting academic performance and college drop-out rates. Overweight and obesity result in an imbalance of energy consumption (diet) and energy expenditure (physical activity). Overweight/obesity is a significant contributor to heart disease, diabetes, stroke, physical disabilities and some cancers, which are the leading causes of death and disease in the US. There has been a significant increase in obesity and obesity-related disorders such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia among people in their teens and 20s. Historically, the evidence-based interventions for obesity prevention focused on changing the health behavior at the individual level and aimed at increasing awareness and educating people about nutrition and physical activity. However, it became evident that the environmental context of where people live, work and learn was interdependent to healthy behavior change. As a result, a comprehensive approach was required to include altering the social and built environment to support healthy living. College campus provides opportunities to support lifestyle behavior and form a health-promoting culture based on some key point of decisions such as stairs/ elevator, walk/ bike/ car, high-caloric and fast foods/balanced and nutrient-rich foods etc. At each point of decision, design, can help/hinder the healthier choice. For example, stair well design and motivational signage support physical activity; grocery store/market proximity influence healthy eating etc. There is a need to collate the vast information that is in planning and public health domains on a range of successful point of decision prompts, and translate it into architectural guidelines that help define the edge condition for critical point of decision prompts. This research study aims to address healthy behaviors through the built environment with the questions, how can we make the healthy choice an easy choice through the design of critical point of decision prompts? Our hypothesis is that well-designed point of decision prompts in the built environment of college campuses can promote healthier choices by students, which can directly impact mental and physical health related to obesity. This presentation will introduce a combined health and architectural framework aimed to influence healthy behaviors through design applied for college campuses. The premise behind developing our concept, point-of-decision design (PODD), is healthy decision-making can be built into, or afforded by our physical environments. Using effective design intervention strategies at these 'points-of-decision' on college campuses to make the healthy decision the default decision can be instrumental in positively impacting health at the population level. With our model, we aim to advance health research by utilizing point-of-decision design to impact student health via core sectors of influences within college settings, such as campus facilities and transportation. We will demonstrate how these domains influence patterns/trends in healthy eating and active living behaviors among students. how these domains influence patterns/trends in healthy eating and active living behaviors among students.

Keywords: architecture and health promotion, college campus, design strategies, health in built environment

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Authors: Viviana Manzulli, Luigina Serrecchia, Adelia Donatiello, Valeria Rondinone, Sabine Zange, Alina Tscherne, Antonio Parisi, Antonio Fasanella

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Anthrax is a zoonotic disease that affects a wide range of animal species (primarily ruminant herbivores), and can be transmitted to humans through consumption or handling of contaminated animal products. The etiological agent B.anthracis is able to survive in unfavorable environmental conditions by forming endospore which remain viable in the soil for many decades. Furthermore, B.anthracis is considered as one of the most feared agents to be potentially misused as a biological weapon and the importance of the disease and its treatment in humans has been underscored before the bioterrorism events in the United States in 2001. Due to the often fatal outcome of human cases, antimicrobial susceptibility testing plays especially in the management of anthrax infections an important role. In Italy, animal anthrax is endemic (predominantly found in the southern regions and on islands) and is characterized by sporadic outbreaks occurring mainly during summer. Between 2012 and 2017 single human cases of cutaneous anthrax occurred. In this study, 90 diverse strains of B.anthracis, isolated in Italy from 2001 to 2017, were screened to their susceptibility to sixteen clinically relevant antimicrobial agents by using the broth microdilution method. B.anthracis strains selected for this study belong to the strain collection stored at the Anthrax Reference Institute of Italy located inside the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale of Puglia and Basilicata. The strains were isolated at different time points and places from various matrices (human, animal and environmental). All strains are a representative of over fifty distinct MLVA 31 genotypes. The following antibiotics were used for testing: gentamicin, ceftriaxone, streptomycin, penicillin G, clindamycin, chloramphenicol, vancomycin, linezolid, cefotaxime, tetracycline, erythromycin, rifampin, amoxicillin, ciprofloxacin, doxycycline and trimethoprim. A standard concentration of each antibiotic was prepared in a specific diluent, which were then twofold serial diluted. Therefore, each wells contained: bacterial suspension of 1–5x104 CFU/mL in Mueller-Hinton Broth (MHB), the antibiotic to be tested at known concentration and resazurin, an indicator of cell growth. After incubation overnight at 37°C, the wells were screened for color changes caused by the resazurin: a change from purple to pink/colorless indicated cell growth. The lowest concentration of antibiotic that prevented growth represented the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC). This study suggests that B.anthracis remains susceptible in vitro to many antibiotics, in addition to doxycycline (MICs ≤ 0,03 µg/ml), ciprofloxacin (MICs ≤ 0,03 µg/ml) and penicillin G (MICs ≤ 0,06 µg/ml), recommend by CDC for the treatment of human cases and for prophylactic use after exposure to the spores. In fact, the good activity of gentamicin (MICs ≤ 0,25 µg/ml), streptomycin (MICs ≤ 1 µg/ml), clindamycin (MICs ≤ 0,125 µg/ml), chloramphenicol(MICs ≤ 4 µg/ml), vancomycin (MICs ≤ 2 µg/ml), linezolid (MICs ≤ 2 µg/ml), tetracycline (MICs ≤ 0,125 µg/ml), erythromycin (MICs ≤ 0,25 µg/ml), rifampin (MICs ≤ 0,25 µg/ml), amoxicillin (MICs ≤ 0,06 µg/ml), towards all tested B.anthracis strains demonstrates an appropriate alternative choice for prophylaxis and/or treatment. All tested B.anthracis strains showed intermediate susceptibility to the cephalosporins (MICs ≥ 16 µg/ml) and resistance to trimethoprim (MICs ≥ 128 µg/ml).

Keywords: Bacillus anthracis, antibiotic susceptibility, treatment, minimum inhibitory concentration

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Authors: Lisnawati Hutagalung

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Background: Low birth weight (LBW) is one cause of newborn death. Babies with low birth weight tend to have slower cognitive development, growth retardation, more at risk of infectious disease event at risk of death. Objective: Identifying risk factors and dominant factors that influence the incidence of LBW in Indonesia. Method: This research used some database of public health such as Google Scholar, UGM journals, UI journals and UNAND journals in 2012-2015. Data were filtered using keywords ‘Risk Factors’ AND ‘Cause LBW’ with amounts 2757 study. The filtrate obtained 5 public health research that meets the criteria. Results: Risk factors associated with LBW, among other environment factors (exposure to cigarette smoke and residence), social demographics (age and socio-economic) and maternal factors (anemia, placental abnormal, nutritional status of mothers, examinations antenatal, preeclampsia, parity, and complications in pregnancy). Anemia and nutritional status become the dominant factor affecting LBW. Conclusions: The risk factors that affect LBW, most commonly found in the maternal factors. The dominant factors are a big effect on LBW is anemia and nutritional status of the mother during pregnancy.

Keywords: low birth weight, anemia, nutritional status, the dominant factor

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Authors: Jae Woong Sull, Sun Ha Jee

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High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels are associated with decreased risk of coronary artery disease. Several genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for HDL cholesterol levels have implicated cholesterol ester transfer protein (CETP) as possibly causal. We tested for the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in CETP gene and HDL cholesterol levels in Korean population. Subjects were selected from the Korean Metabolic Syndrome Research Initiative study in the Bundang-Gu area. A total of 2,304 individuals from Bundang-Gu were recruited in 2008. Other subjects were selected from the Severance Hospital (N=4,294). SNP rs6499861 in the CETP gene was associated with mean HDL cholesterol levels (effect per allele -2.044 mg/dL, p=7.23×10-7). Subjects with the CG/GG genotype had a 1.46 -fold (range 1.24–1.72-fold) higher risk of having abnormal HDL cholesterol levels (<40 mg/dL) than subjects with the CC genotype. When analyzed by gender, the association of CETP was stronger in women than in men. When analyzed by physical activity behavior, the association with CETP was much stronger in male subjects with low physical activity (OR=1.54, 95% CI: 1.23-1.92, P=0.0001) than in male subjects with high physical activity. This study clearly demonstrates that genetic variants in CETP influence HDL cholesterol levels in Korean adults.

Keywords: CETP, HDL cholesterol, physical activity, polymorphisms

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Authors: Jodie Hughes

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Endometriosis affects 1 in 10 individuals that were born female globally. Endometriosis incidence rates peak between 30-40 year of age, in young women and adolescents it is a rarely suspected and often ill-diagnosed. The average cost of endometriosis is €9,579 per woman. More than 75% of women have reported being absent from work due to endometriosis, with 40% of women becoming unemployed due to the disease. 46% of patients with endometriosis need to have appointments with upward of five doctors to gain a correct diagnosis. Quantitative data were collected by way of an online PSS-10 survey that included demographic questions from two sample groups of females, group 1 was females with endometriosis, group 2 were healthy women. The data were scored using Cohens scoring system, overall scores were input to SPSS. A non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test and ANOVA was used to ascertain any differences between the PSS-10 scores of the two groups. A significance level of P<0.05 was adopted. Four women were invited to take part in a semi structured interview that was recorded, transcribed and coded using interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) using NVivo 12. Results showed that the PSS-10 scores were significantly higher in women with endometriosis compared to healthy women with a p=<0.005. Endometriosis affects all aspects of a patient’s life, to adequately diagnose and treat the condition and improve HRQoL there needs to be better understanding of the clinical symptoms and how they impact the lives of patients.

Keywords: endometriosis, HRQoL, perceived stress, women

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Authors: Mobina Bagherianlemraski, Parastoo Namdar

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Background: The ongoing coronavirus disease has affected most countries. This virus has high transmission power. Due to the closure of most dental clinics, millions of orthodontic patients missed their appointments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A questionnaire was developed and sent to patients receiving orthodontic treatment at a public or private clinic. Results: A total of 200 responses were analyzed: These included 153 women (76.5%) and 47 men (23.5%). The mean and standard deviation of their age was 18.92±7.23 years, with an age range of 8 to 40 years. One hundred eighty-nine patients (94.5%) had fixed appliances, and 11 patients (5.5%) had removable appliances. Of all participants, 35% (70) missed their appointments. The highest and lowest reasons for stopping appointments were concerned about the spread of COVID-19 with 28 cases (40%) and the closure of the clinic with 15 cases (21.4%). Of the 53 patients who contacted their orthodontists, 86.8 % (46) communicated via office phone and 5.7% (3) through social media. Conclusion: This study determined that the coronavirus pandemic and quarantine have had an important impact on orthodontic treatments. The greatest concern of orthodontic patients was increasing in treatment duration. Patients who used fixed appliances reported missing dental appointments more than others. Therefore, during COVID 19 Pandemic, orthodontists should prepare patients to solve their problems linked to orthodontic appliances when possible.

Keywords: orthodontic patients, coronavirus pandemic, appointments, COVID-19

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Authors: Haruna Abdu Usman, J. Mohammed Umar, U. M. Bashir

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Solid waste management continued to be the biggest threat to the sustainability of urban centers of developing countries. Most streets corners of these urban centers are characterized by heaps of uncollected wastes at drains, public spaces and road sides destroying the aesthetic qualities and environmental ecosystems of these cities. Also, harboring disease vectors and rodents putting the health of the populace at risk, thus posing a serious challenge to the municipalities who are in most cases responsible for the solid waste management in these cities. The typical or commonest method adapted by these agencies in dealing with the solid waste management is the conventional approach; focusing mainly on waste collection ,treatment(composting and incineration)and disposal giving little consideration to the 3RS, of waste reduce, re-used and recycled. The resultant consequence being huge budget spending in solid waste management as high as 80% but little collection rate as low as 50%. This paper attempt to analyze the impacts and effects of the conventional solid waste management practices on the stakeholders in solid waste management; the municipal authorities, the communities, formal and informal waste managers, the NGOs and CBOs and suggests appropriate measures that would lessen the effects.

Keywords: conventional waste management, solid waste, waste stakeholders, developing countries

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Authors: Victoria H. Hamilton

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Charles Bonnet Syndrome (CBS) is when a person experiences pseudohallucinations that fill in visual information from any type of sight loss. CBS arises from an epiphenomenal process, with the physical actions of sight resulting in the mental formations of images. These pseudohallucinations—referred to as visions by the CBS community—manifest in a wide range of forms, from complex scenes to simple geometric shapes. To share these unique visual experiences, a remote co-creation website was created where CBS participants communicated their lived experiences. This created a reflexive process, and we worked to produce true representations of these interesting and little-known phenomena. Digital reconstruction of the visions is utilised as it echoes the vivid, experiential movie-like nature of what is being perceived. This paper critically analyses co-creation as a method for making digital assets. The implications of the participants' vision impairments and the application of ethical safeguards are examined in this context. Important to note, this research is of a medical syndrome for a non-medical, practice-based design. CBS research to date is primarily conducted by the ophthalmic, neurological, and psychiatric fields and approached with the primary concerns of these specialties. This research contributes a distinct approach incorporating practice-based digital design, autoethnography, and phenomenology. Autoethnography and phenomenology combine as a foundation, with the first bringing understanding and insights, balanced by the second philosophical, bigger picture, and established approach. With further refining, it is anticipated that the research may be applied to other conditions. Conditions where articulating internal experiences proves challenging and the use of digital methods could aid communication. Both the research and CBS communities will benefit from the insights regarding the relationship between cognitive perceptions and the vision process. This research combines the digital visualising of visions with interest in the link between metaphor, embodied cognition, and image. The argument for a link between CBS visions and metaphor may appear evident due to the cross-category mapping of images that is necessary for comprehension. They both are— CBS visions and metaphors—the experience of picturing images, often with lateral connections and imaginative associations.

Keywords: Charles Bonnet Syndrome, digital design, visual hallucinations, visual perception

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Authors: Elham Abbas Aljaaly, Nahlaa Abdulwahab Khalifa

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The active method of disease prevention is seen as the most affordable and sustainable action to deal with risks of non-communicable diseases such as obesity. This eight-week project aimed to pilot the feasibility and acceptability of a school-based programme, which is proposed to prevent and modify overweight status and possible related risk factors among student girls 'at the intermediate level' in Jeddah city. The programme was conducted through comprehensible approach targeting physical environment and school policies (nutritional/exercise/behavioural approach). The programme was designed to cultivate the personal and environmental awareness in schools for girls. This was applied by promoting healthy eating and physical activity through policies, physical education, healthier options for school canteens, and the creation of school health teams. The prevention programme was applied on 68 students (who agreed to participate) from grades 7th, 8th and 9th. A pre and post assessment questionnaire was employed on 66 students. The questionnaires were designed to obtain information on students' knowledge about health, nutrition and physical activity. Survey questions included information about nutrients, food consumption patterns, food intake and lifestyle. Physical education included training sessions for new opportunities for physical activities to be performed during school or after school hours. A running competition 'to enhance students’ performance for physical activities' was also conducted during the school visit. A visit to the school canteen was conducted to check, observe, record and assess all available food/beverage items and meals. The assessment method was a subjective method for the type of food/beverages if high in saturated fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) or non-HFSS. The school canteen administrators were encouraged to provide healthy food/beverage items and a sample healthy canteen was provided for implementation. Two healthy options were introduced to the school canteen. A follow up for students’ preferences for the introduced options and the purchasing power were assessed. Thirty-eight percent of young girls (n=26) were not participating in any form of physical activities inside or outside school. Skipping breakfast was stated by 42% (n=28) of students with no daily consumption (19%, n=13) for fruit/vegetables. Significant changes were noticed in students’ (n=66) overall responses to the pre and post questions (P value=.001). All students had participated in the conducted running competition sessions and reported satisfaction and enjoyment about the sessions. No absence was reported by the research team for attending physical education and activity sessions throughout the delivered programme. The purchasing power of the introduced healthy options of 'Salad and oatmeal' was increased to 18% in 8 weeks at the school canteen, and slightly affected the purchase for other less healthy options. The piloted programme indorsed better health and nutrition knowledge, healthy eating and lifestyle attitude, which could help young girls to obtain sustainable changes. It is expected that the outcomes of the programme will be a cornerstone for the futuristic national study that will assist policy makers and participants to build a knowledgeable health promotion scenario and make sure that school students have access to healthy foods, physical exercise and healthy lifestyle.

Keywords: adolescents, diet, exercise, behaviours, overweight/obesity, prevention-intervention programme, Saudi Arabia, schoolgirls

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Authors: Yusuf Bulale, Mark Prince, Geoff Tansley, Peter Brett

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Cochlear Implantation (CI) which became a routine procedure for the last decades is an electronic device that provides a sense of sound for patients who are severely and profoundly deaf. Today, cochlear implantation technology uses electrode array (EA) implanted manually into the cochlea. The optimal success of this implantation depends on the electrode technology and deep insertion techniques. However, this manual insertion procedure may cause mechanical trauma which can lead to a severe destruction of the delicate intracochlear structure. Accordingly, future improvement of the cochlear electrode implant insertion needs reduction of the excessive force application during the cochlear implantation which causes tissue damage and trauma. This study is examined tool-tissue interaction of large prototype scale digit embedded with distributive tactile sensor based upon cochlear electrode and large prototype scale cochlea phantom for simulating the human cochlear which could lead to small-scale digit requirements. The digit, distributive tactile sensors embedded with silicon-substrate was inserted into the cochlea phantom to measure any digit/phantom interaction and position of the digit in order to minimize tissue and trauma damage during the electrode cochlear insertion. The digit has provided tactile information from the digit-phantom insertion interaction such as contact status, tip penetration, obstacles, relative shape and location, contact orientation and multiple contacts. The tests demonstrated that even devices of such a relative simple design with low cost have a potential to improve cochlear implant surgery and other lumen mapping applications by providing tactile sensory feedback information and thus controlling the insertion through sensing and control of the tip of the implant during the insertion. In that approach, the surgeon could minimize the tissue damage and potential damage to the delicate structures within the cochlear caused by current manual electrode insertion of the cochlear implantation. This approach also can be applied to other minimally invasive surgery applications as well as diagnosis and path navigation procedures.

Keywords: cochlear electrode insertion, distributive tactile sensory feedback information, flexible digit, minimally invasive surgery, tool/tissue interaction

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Authors: Wenxiao Liu, Kun Zhang, Yongqing Li

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Bovine herpesvirus 1, a member of the genus Variellovirus of the subfamily Alphaherpesvirinae, has caused severe economic cost to the bovine industry. In this study, BoHV-1 glycerol protein gD was expressed in insect cells, and the purified gD was immunized in the Balb/C mice to generate monoclonal antibodies. Based on hybridoma cell fusion techniques, 20 monoclonal antibodies against Bovine herpesvirus 1 have been obtained. Further, mAb 3F8 with neutralizing activity and gD were applied to develop a blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Elisa) for detecting neutralizing antibodies against BoHV-1, which shows a significant correlation between the blocking Elisa and VNT. The sensitivity and specificity of the test were estimated to be 94.59% and 93.42%, respectively. Furthermore, antibody pairing tests revealed that mAb 1B6 conjugated to fluorescence microspheres was used as the capture antibody, and mAb 3F9 was used as the detectable antibody to establish the immunochromatographic assay (ICS). The ICS was conducted to detect BoHV-1 in bovine samples with high sensitivity, specificity, and good stability. Clinical sample testing revealed that the results of ICS and real-time PCR have a coincidence rate of 95.42%. Our research confirmed that the ICS is a rapid and reliable method for the diagnosis of BoHV-1. In conclusion, our results lay a solid foundation for the prevention and control of BoHV-1 infection.

Keywords: bovine disease, BoHV-1, ELISA, ICS assay

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Authors: Joshua Buli, David Pietrowski, Samuel Britton

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Processing SAR data usually requires constraints in extent in the Fourier domain as well as approximations and interpolations onto a planar surface to form an exploitable image. This results in a potential loss of data requires several interpolative techniques, and restricts visualization to two-dimensional plane imagery. The data can be interpolated into a ground plane projection, with or without terrain as a component, all to better view SAR data in an image domain comparable to what a human would view, to ease interpretation. An alternate but computationally heavy method to make use of more of the data is the basis of this research. Pre-processing of the SAR data is completed first (matched-filtering, motion compensation, etc.), the data is then range compressed, and lastly, the contribution from each pulse is determined for each specific point in space by searching the time history data for the reflectivity values for each pulse summed over the entire collection. This results in a per-3D-point reflectivity using the entire collection domain. New advances in GPU processing have finally allowed this rapid projection of acquired SAR data onto any desired reference surface (called backprojection). Mathematically, the computations are fast and easy to implement, despite limitations in SAR phase history data size and 3D-point cloud size. Backprojection processing algorithms are embarrassingly parallel since each 3D point in the scene has the same reflectivity calculation applied for all pulses, independent of all other 3D points and pulse data under consideration. Therefore, given the simplicity of the single backprojection calculation, the work can be spread across thousands of GPU threads allowing for accurate reflectivity representation of a scene. Furthermore, because reflectivity values are associated with individual three-dimensional points, a plane is no longer the sole permissible mapping base; a digital elevation model or even a cloud of points (collected from any sensor capable of measuring ground topography) can be used as a basis for the backprojection technique. This technique minimizes any interpolations and modifications of the raw data, maintaining maximum data integrity. This innovative processing will allow for SAR data to be rapidly brought into a common reference frame for immediate exploitation and data fusion with other three-dimensional data and representations.

Keywords: backprojection, data fusion, exploitation, three-dimensional, visualization

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Authors: Meidesta Pitria, Akiko Okabe

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In high-density informal settlement, extension area at the outside of the houses could primarily happen as a spatial modification response. House extension in high-density informal settlement is not only becoming a physical spatial modification that makes a blur zone between private and public but also supporting the growth and existence of informal economy and other daily activities in both individuals and communities. This research took a case study in an informal settlement named Kampung Cikini, a densely populated area in Central Jakarta. The aim of this study is to identify and clarify house extension as a strategy in dealing with urbanization in an informal settlement. By using the perspective and information from housewives, the analysis is based on the assumption that land ownership transformation and the activities in house extension area influence the different kinds of house extension’s spatial modification and local planning policy in relation with the implementation of house extension strategy. The data collection was done in four sites, two sites are located in outer-wide alley and another two sites are located in inner-narrow alley. In this research, data of 104 housewives in 86 houses were collected through representatives of housewives and local leader of each sites. The research was started from participatory mapping process, deep interview with local leader, and initiated collaboration with housewives community in having a celebration as communal event to cultivate together the issue. This study shows that land ownership, activities, and alley are indispensable in the decision of extension space making. The more permanency status of land ownership the more permanent and various extension could be implemented. However, in some blocks, the existence of origin house or first land owner also has a significant role in coordination and agreement in using and modifying extension space. In outer-wide alley, the existence of more various activities in front area of the houses is significantly related with the chance given by having wider alley, particularly for informal income generating activities. In the inner-narrow alley, limited space in front of the houses affects more negotiations in the community for having more shared spaces, even inside their private space.

Keywords: house extension, housewives, informal settlement, kampung, high density

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Authors: Armaghan Moravej Aleali, Hajieh Shahbazian, Seyed Mahmoud Latifi, Leila Yazdanpanah

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Objective: Metabolic syndrome or insulin resistance syndrome or syndrome X is a collection of abdominal obesity, hypertension, glucose intolerance and lipid abnormalities (elevated triglycerides, elevated LDL, and decrease the amount of HDL). That increases the incidence of diabetes and risk of cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in people over 20 years of Ahvaz according to IDF, ATPIII, Harmonized I and Harmonized II. Material & Methods: A cross-sectional study with a random cluster sampling in six health centers in Ahvaz was done. After obtaining informed consent, questionnaire for each person filled up including demographic data and examinations, including blood pressure in sitting position, weight, height, waist circumference, and waist circumference measurement. Results: From all participating 912 people, (434 (2/47%) male and 478 (2/52%) female) were evaluated. Mean age was 42/27± 14years (44/2±14/26 for male and 40/5±13/5 for female). Prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 22/8%, 28/4%, 30/9% and 16/9% according to ATPIII, IDF, Harmonized I and Harmonized II criteria respectively and increased with age in both sexes. IDF and Harmonized I had most kappa coordination (0/94). Conclusion: The results show a high prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Ahvaz. So, identification of the risk factors should be attempted to prevent metabolic syndrome.

Keywords: metabolic syndrome, IDF, ATP III, prevalence

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Authors: Dilek Ozturk, Narin Ozturk, Zeliha Pala Kara, Engin Kaptan, Serap Sancar Bas, Nurten Ozsoy, Alper Okyar

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Most physiological processes oscillate in a rhythmic manner in mammals including metabolism and energy homeostasis, locomotor activity, hormone secretion, immune and endocrine system functions. Endocrine body rhythms are tightly regulated by the circadian timing system. The hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis is under circadian control at multiple levels from hypothalamus to thyroid gland. Since circadian timing system controls a variety of biological functions in mammals, circadian rhythms of biological functions may modify the drug tolerability/toxicity depending on the dosing time. Selective mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) inhibitor everolimus is an immunosuppressant and anticancer agent that is active against many cancers. It was also found to be active in medullary thyroid cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the dosing time-dependent toxicity of everolimus on the thyroid gland and hormones in mice. Healthy C57BL/6J mice were synchronized with 12h:12h Light-Dark cycle (LD12:12, with Zeitgeber Time 0 – ZT0 – corresponding to Light onset). Everolimus was administered to male (5 mg/kg/day) and female mice (15 mg/kg/day) orally at ZT1-rest period- and ZT13-activity period- for 4 weeks; body weight loss, clinical signs and possible changes in serum thyroid hormone levels (TSH and free T4) were examined. Histological alterations in the thyroid gland were evaluated according to the following criteria: follicular size, colloid density and viscidity, height of the follicular epithelium and the presence of necrotic cells. The statistical significance between differences was analyzed with ANOVA. Study findings included everolimus-related diarrhea, decreased activity, decreased body weight gains, alterations in serum TSH levels, and histopathological changes in thyroid gland. Decreases in mean body weight gains were more evident in mice treated at ZT1 as compared to ZT13 (p < 0.001, for both sexes). Control tissue sections of thyroid glands exhibited well-organized histoarchitecture when compared to everolimus-treated groups. Everolimus caused histopathological alterations in thyroid glands in male (5 mg/kg, slightly) and female mice (15 mg/kg; p < 0.01 for both ZT as compared to their controls) irrespective of dosing-time. TSH levels were slightly decreased upon everolimus treatment at ZT13 in both males and females. Conversely, increases in TSH levels were observed when everolimus treated at ZT1 in both males (5 mg/kg; p < 0.05) and females (15 mg/kg; slightly). No statistically significant alterations in serum free T4 levels were observed. TSH and free T4 is clinically important thyroid hormones since a number of disease states have been linked to alterations in these hormones. Serum free T4 levels within the normal ranges in the presence of abnormal serum TSH levels in everolimus treated mice may suggest subclinical thyroid disease which may have repercussions on the cardiovascular system, as well as on other organs and systems. Our study has revealed the histological damage on thyroid gland induced by subacute everolimus administration, this effect was irrespective of dosing time. However, based on the body weight changes and clinical signs upon everolimus treatment, tolerability for the drug was best following dosing at ZT13 in both male and females. Yet, effects of everolimus on thyroid functions may deserve further studies regarding their clinical importance and chronotoxicity.

Keywords: circadian rhythm, chronotoxicity, everolimus, thyroid gland, thyroid hormones

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Authors: Hua Cao, Laurent Peyrodie, Olivier Agnani, Cecile Donze

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Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease, which affects the central nervous system, and causes balance problem. In clinical, this disorder is usually evaluated using static posturography. Some linear or nonlinear measures, extracted from the posturographic data (i.e. center of pressure, COP) recorded during a balance test, has been used to analyze postural control of MS patients. In this study, the trend (TREND) and the sample entropy (SampEn), two nonlinear parameters were chosen to investigate their relationships with the expanded disability status scale (EDSS) score. Forty volunteers with different EDSS scores participated in our experiments with eyes open (EO) and closed (EC). TREND and two types of SampEn (SampEn1 and SampEn2) were calculated for each combined COP’s position signal. The results have shown that TREND had a weak negative correlation to EDSS while SampEn2 had a strong positive correlation to EDSS. Compared to TREND and SampEn1, SampEn2 showed a better significant correlation to EDSS and an ability to discriminate the MS patients in the EC case. In addition, the outcome of the study suggests that the multi-dimensional nonlinear analysis could provide some information about the impact of disability progression in MS on dynamics of the COP data.

Keywords: balance, multiple sclerosis, nonlinear analysis, postural sway

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Authors: Fateme Hadadian, Behnam Khaledi Paveh, Hosein Feizi

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Background: High number of patients with end-stage renal disease worldwide, and Iran and the patients required hemodialysis, As well as symptoms and treatment process and its impact on quality of life The researcher had to take a step towards solving these problems. Methods: In randomized clinical trial in 60 hemodialysis patients admitted to hospital hemodialysis Imam Reza (AS) were studied. Using questionnaires dialysis patients' QOL, quality of life was measured in patients and controls were divided randomly into two groups. Benson's relaxation method for the experimental group and two months at home, once per day, respectively and the control group received no special action. Immediately after the end of the period with was used for evaluating the quality of life in both the experimental and control groups were survey and data using independent t-test were used for statistical analysis. Results: The general dimensions of quality of life scores before and after intervention, there was significant difference (P=0/001). But this difference was not significant after QOL (P=0/2). Between QOL scores before and after treatment between the two groups was statistically significant (P=0/02). Conclusion: Benson relaxation has the desired effect on quality of life in hemodialysis patients and can be used as a useful method to enhance the quality of life in hemodialysis patients, implementation and training will be given.

Keywords: hemodialysis, quality of life, Benson muscle relaxation, biomedicine

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Authors: Zahra Solgi, Hossein Rassi

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Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a multi-step disease, and chronic gastric infection with H. pylori could play a role in one or more of the steps in this pathogenic process. Polymorphisms in several miRNAs are considered to increase the risk for the development of CRC by controlling proliferation, apoptosis and H. pylori pathogenesis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate miRNA146a rs2910164 polymorphism and Helicobacter pylori infection in CRC. A total of 65 patients with CRC were divided into 2 groups: 28 patients < 50 years of age and 37 patients ≥ 50 years of age. DNA was extracted from all samples by a standard method and H. pylori cagA and miRNA146a rs2910164 genotypes were determined by PCR method. The results show that there was no significant difference in the frequency of H. pylori cagA gene between the two groups but there was a significant difference in the distribution of rs2910164 genotypes in patients < 50 years of age with the p-value of 0.05 and odds ratio equal to 2.69. On other hand, patients < 50 years of age with genotype CC of miRNA146a showed a significant difference in CRC risk. Furthermore, there was a significant correlation between rs2910164 CC genotype with Helicobacter pylori infection in patients < 50 years of age. The present study suggests that the CC genotype of miRNA146a in combination with H. pylori infection can be effective as risk factors and molecular markers for early diagnosis and treatment of CRC.

Keywords: colorectal cancer, Helicobacter pylori, miRNA146a, rs2910164 polymorphism

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Authors: Ayman El Behiry, Rasha Nabil Zahran, Reda Tarabees, Eman Marzouk, Musaad Al-Dubaib

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Mastitis is one of the most economic disease affecting dairy cows worldwide. Its classic diagnosis using bacterial culture and biochemical findings is a difficult and prolonged method. In this research, using of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) permitted identification of different microorganisms with high accuracy and rapidity (only 24 hours for microbial growth and analysis). During the application of MALDI-TOF MS, one hundred twenty strains of Staphylococcus and Streptococcus species isolated from milk of cows affected by clinical and subclinical mastitis were identified, and the results were compared with those obtained by traditional methods as API and VITEK 2 Systems. 37 of totality 39 strains (~95%) of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) were exactly detected by MALDI TOF MS and then confirmed by a nuc-based PCR technique, whereas accurate identification was observed in 100% (50 isolates) of the coagulase negative staphylococci (CNS) and Streptococcus agalactiae (31 isolates). In brief, our results demonstrated that MALDI-TOF MS is a fast and truthful technique which has the capability to replace conventional identification of several bacterial strains usually isolated in clinical laboratories of microbiology.

Keywords: identification, mastitis pathogens, mass spectral, phenotypical

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Authors: Ibrahim Abubakar Alkali, Abubakar Sarkile Kawuwa, Ibrahim Sani Khalil

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The concept of space and function forms the bedrock for spatial configuration in architectural design. Thus, the effectiveness and functionality of an architectural product depends their cordial relationship. This applies to all buildings especially to a hospital ward setting designed to accommodate various complex and diverse functions. Health care facilities design, especially an inpatient setting, is governed by many regulations and technical requirements. It is also affected by many less defined needs, particularly, response to culture and the need to provide for patient families’ presence and participation. The spatial configuration of the hospital ward setting in developing countries has no consideration for the patient’s families despite the significant role they play in promoting recovery. Attempts to integrate facilities for patients’ families have always been challenging, especially in developing countries like Nigeria, where accommodation for inpatients is predominantly in an open ward system. In addition, the situation is compounded by culture, which significantly dictates healthcare practices in Africa. Therefore, achieving such a hospital ward setting that is patient and family-centered requires careful assessment of family care actions and transaction spaces so as to arrive at an evidence based solution. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify how hospital ward spaces can be reconfigured to provide for sustainable family integration. In achieving this aim, a qualitative approach using the principles of behavioral mapping was employed in male and female medical wards of the Federal Teaching Hospital (FTH) Gombe, Nigeria. The data obtained was analysed using classical and comparative content analysis. Patients’ families have been found to be a critical component of hospital ward design that cannot be undermined. Accordingly, bedsides, open yards, corridors and foyers have been identified as patient families’ transaction spaces that require design attention. Arriving at sustainable family integration can be achieved by revisiting the design requirements of the family transaction spaces based on the findings in order to avoid the rowdiness of the wards and uncoordinated sprawl.

Keywords: caregiving, design basics, family integration, hospital ward, sustainability

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Authors: Kaitlyn Deierlein, Janet Lydecker

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Stereotypes surrounding anorexia nervosa are that the illness is commonly perceived as a self-inflicted disorder influenced by controlling parents, vanity, and cultural pressures. According to the authors' best knowledge minimal research has examined interactions with other factors, including gender and racial stereotypes involving this disorder. A common stereotype of this disease is that it mainly only affects Caucasian women and is very rarely seen in any other ethnicity. Previous literature has failed to investigate how visual body image and ethnic stereotypes affect the mental health of different ethnic groups, how various cultures impact the type of anorexia nervosa in the patient, and the different stereotypes associated with their eating disorder. Participants completed a pre-test questionnaire with vignettes, an image exposure portion, and a post-test questionnaire, which will all be evaluated and analyzed by ANOVA t-test and SPSS. Results showed that participants picked Caucasian females as more likely to have anorexia nervosa than those of Asian, Latin American, or African American descent subjects in both picture identification and vignettes. Future research should be conducted to further the results of this study by examining differences between gender stereotypes with anorexia nervosa as well as how sexuality has a role in perception.

Keywords: anorexia nervosa, ethnicity, stereotypes, eating disorders, perception

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Authors: S. Rostampour Yasouri, M. Ghane

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Leptospirosis is one the most important common diseases between human and live stock occurred by different species of Leptospira. This disease has been construed as the native in the northern provinces of Iran and risk of the infection with pathogenic is high. One hundred fifteen samples of water (67), soil (36) and feces of rodents (12) were collected from the rice fields of the suburbs of Tonekabon Township situated in northern part of Iran in 2012. The samples, after passage from membranous filters, were cultured in the liquid and solid EMJH medium and incubated at 30°C for 1 month. Leptospira spp. were isolated using culture technique, and the plates were studied from viewpoint of colony formation, microscopic observations and then identified by phenotyping tests. Finally, the identification of Leptospira genus was verified by PCR technique and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Of 115 samples totally, 55 samples (47.82%) became positive by use of the culture technique which the positive cases included 47 water samples (70.14%) and 8 soil samples (22.22%), while the isolation was not accomplished from the sample of the rodents feces. Overall, according to these data, Leptospira spp. exists with high frequency in North Iran. Hence, based on foregoing evidence environments in the north of Iran are vehicles of Leptospira spp.

Keywords: EMJH Medium, Leptospira, Northern of Iran, rice fields

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