Search results for: health economy

Authors: Vita Sterna, Sanita Zute, Inga Jansone, Linda Brunava, Inara Kantane

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Grains, including oats (Avena sativa L.), have been recognized functional foods, because provide beneficial effect on the health of the consumer and decrease the risk of various diseases. Oats are good source of soluble fibre, essential amino acids, unsaturated fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. Oat breeders have developed oat varieties and improved yielding ability potential of oat varieties. Therefore, the aim of investigation was to analyze the composition of perspective oat varieties and breeding lines grains grown in different conditions and evaluate functional properties. In the studied samples content of protein, starch, β-glucans, total dietetic fibre, composition of amino acids and vitamin E were determined. The results of analysis showed that protein content depending of varieties ranged 9.70% to 17.30% total dietary fibre 13.66 g100g-1 to 30.17 g100g-1, content of β-glucans 2.7 g100g-1 to 3.5 g100g-1, amount of vitamin E (α-tocopherol) determined from 4 mgkg-1 to 9.9 mgkg-1. The sums of essential amino acids in oat grain samples were determined from 31.63 gkg-1 to 54.90 gkg-1. It is concluded that amino acids composition of husked and naked oats grown in organic or conventional conditions is close to optimal for human health.

Keywords: Amino acids, β-glucans, dietetic fibre, nutrition value.

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Authors: H. Salonen, E. Castagnoli, C. Vornanen-Winqvist, R. Mikkola, C. Duchaine, L. Morawska, J. Kurnitski

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A wide range of health effects among occupants are associated with the exposure to bioaerosols from fungal sources. Although the accurate role of these aerosols in causing the symptoms and diseases is poorly understood, the important effect of bioaerosol exposure on human health is well recognized. Thus, there is a need to determine all of the contributing factors related to the concentration of fungi in indoor air. In this study, we reviewed and summarized the different factors affecting the concentrations of viable fungi in school buildings. The literature research was conducted using Pubmed and Google Scholar. In addition, we searched the lists of references of selected articles. According to the literature, the main factors influencing the concentration of viable fungi in the school buildings are moisture damage in building structures, the season (temperature and humidity conditions), the type and rate of ventilation, the number and activities of occupants and diurnal variations. This study offers valuable information that can be used in the interpretation of the fungal analysis and to decrease microbial exposure by reducing known sources and/or contributing factors. However, more studies of different local factors contributing to the human microbial exposure in school buildings—as well as other type of buildings and different indoor environments—are needed.

Keywords: Fungi, concentration, indoor, school, contributing factor.

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Authors: Mugabe Nzarama Gabriel

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In Rwanda, many healthcare organizations are still using a paper based patients’ data record system although it still present weaknesses to share health patients’ information across different services when necessary. In developed countries, the EHR has been put in place to revolutionize the paper based record system but still the EHR has some challenges related to privacy, security, or interoperability. The purpose of this research was to assess the existing patients’ data record system in healthcare sector in Rwanda, see what an EHR can improve to the system in place and assess the acceptance of EHR as system which is interoperable, very secure and interoperable and see whether stakeholders are ready to adopt the system. The case based methodology was used and TAM theoretical framework to design the questionnaire for the survey. A judgmental sample across two cases, CHUB and Hopital de Nemba, has been selected and SPSS has been used for descriptive statistics. After a qualitative analysis, the findings showed that the paper based record is useful, gives complete information about the patient, protects the privacy of patients but it is still less secure and less interoperable. The respondents shown that they are ready to use the proposed EHR System and want it secure, capable of enforcing the privacy but still they are not all ready for the interoperability. A conclusion has been formulated; recommendations and further research have been proposed.

Keywords: EHR system, healthcare service, TAM, privacy, interoperability.

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Authors: Christopher C. Anyadubalu

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Biological, psychological and social experiences and perceptions of healthcare services in patients medically diagnosed of coronary heart disease were investigated using a sample of 10 participants whose responses to the in-depth interview questions were analyzed based on inter-and-intra-case analyses. The results obtained revealed that advancing age, single status, divorce and/or death of spouse and the issue of single parenting negatively impacted patients- biopsychosocial experiences. The patients- experiences of physical signs and symptoms, anxiety and depression, past serious medical conditions, use of self-prescribed medications, family history of poor mental/medical or physical health, nutritional problems and insufficient physical activities heightened their risk of coronary attack. Collectivist culture served as a big source of relieve to the patients. Patients- temperament, experience of different chronic life stresses/challenges, mood alteration, regular drinking, smoking/gambling, and family/social impairments compounded their health situation. Patients were satisfied with the biomedical services rendered by the healthcare personnel, whereas their psychological and social needs were not attended to. Effective procedural treatment model, a holistic and multidimensional approach to the treatment of heart disease patients was proposed.

Keywords: Biopsychosocial, Coronary Heart Disease, Experience, Patients, Perception, Perspective.

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Authors: Pelin Demirçivi, Gülhayat Nasün-Saygılı

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Boron minerals are very useful for various industrial activities, such as glass industry and detergent industry, due to its mechanical and chemical properties. During the production of boron compounds, many of these are introduced into the environment in the form of waste. Boron is also an important micro nutrient for the plants to vegetate but if it exists in high concentrations, it could have toxic effects. The maximum boron level in drinking water for human health is given as 0.3 mg/L in World Health Organization (WHO) standards. The toxic effects of boron should be noted especially for dry regions, thus, in recent years, increasing attention has been paid to remove the boron from waste waters. In this study, boron removal is implemented by ion exchange process using Amberlite IRA-743 resin. Amberlite IRA-743 resin is a boron specific resin and it belongs to the polymerizate sorbent group within the aminopolyol functional group. Batch studies were performed to investigate the effects of various experimental parameters, such as adsorbent dose, initial concentration and pH, on the removal of boron. It is found that, when the adsorbent dose increases removal of boron from the liquid phase increases. However, an increase in the initial concentration decreases the removal of boron. The effective pH values for removal of boron are determined between 8.5 and 9. Equilibrium isotherms were also analyzed by Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The Langmuir isotherm is obeyed better than the Freundlich isotherm.

Keywords: Amberlite resin, boron removal, ion exchange, isotherm models.

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Authors: Luedech Girdwichai, Witthaya Mekhum

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This research intended to develop the model of community management for sustainable utilization by investigating on 2 groups of population, the family heads and the community management team. The population of the former group consisted of family heads from 511 families in 12 areas to complete the questionnaires which were returned at 479 sets. The latter group consisted of the community management team of 12 areas with 1 representative from each area to give the interview. The questionnaires for the family heads consisted of 2 main parts; general information such as occupations, etc. in the form of checklist. The second part dealt with the data on self reliance community development based on 4P Framework, i.e., People (human resource) development, Place (area) development, Product (economic and income source) development, and Plan (community plan) development in the form of rating scales. Data in the 1^st part were calculated to find frequency and percentage while those in the 2^nd part were analyzed to find arithmetic mean and SD. Data from the 2^nd group of population or the community management team were derived from focus group to find factors influencing successful management together with the in depth interview which were analyzed by descriptive statistics. The results showed that 479 family heads reported that the aspect on the implementation of community plan to self reliance community activities based on Sufficient Economy Philosophy and the 4P was at the average of 3.28 or moderate level. When considering in details, it was found that the 1^st aspect was on the area development with the mean of 3.71 or high level followed by human resource development with the mean of 3.44 or moderate level, then, economic and source of income development with the mean of 3.09 or moderate level. The last aspect was community plan development with the mean of 2.89. The results from the small group discussion revealed some factors and guidelines for successful community management as follows: 1) on the People (human resource) development aspect, there was a project to support and develop community leaders. 2) On the aspect of Place (area) development, there was a development on conservative tourism areas. 3) On the aspect of Product (economic and source of income) development, the community leaders promoted the setting of occupational group, saving group, and product processing group. 4) On the aspect of Plan (community plan) development, there was a prioritization through public hearing.

Keywords: Model of community management, sustainable utilization.

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Authors: David J. Russell SC

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Widespread use of asbestos over the last century has left a terrible legacy of lung disease. Doctors knew of the health risks long ago, but almost nothing was done to protect workers and the public. Some aspects of nanotechnology may have risks similar to asbestos.

Keywords: Asbestos, causation, nanotechnology.

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Authors: Emine Yilmaz, Ismail Yilmaz, Harun Uran

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Food-borne problems have been placed among the most leading problems of the society especially in recent years. This state arises as a problem which affects the society wholly such as the supply of food stuffs that are necessary for an individual to perform his physiological and biological functions, their amount, compound, their effects on health and distribution by individuals. This study was conducted in order to determine the sensitivities and criteria of people, who have different socio-economic backgrounds and live in Süleymanpasa Town of Tekirdag City, in their preference of food stuffs. The research data were collected by means of Interview Technique with individuals within the scope of the study (300) and applying surveys with convenience sampling. According to the research results, quality appears in the first rank among the factors by which consumers are affected while buying food stuffs. Consumers stated that they try to be careful with not buying food sold outdoors. The most preferred food among the ones being sold outdoor were found to be breakfast food. Also, food stuff which consumers become the most selective for while buying was determined to be meat and meat products. Due to general knowledge about the food stuff consumed in human nutrition may affect their health negatively; consumers expressed that they are very relevant with their diets and this circumstances affects their purchase preferences.  

Keywords: Consumption, food safety, consumer behavior, purchase preferences.

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Authors: Barot Jagruti

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The textile industry plays a major role in the economy of India and on the other side of the coin it is the major source for water pollution. As azo dyes is the largest dye class they are extensively used in many fields such as textile industry, leather tanning industry, paper production, food, color photography, pharmaceuticals and medicine, cosmetic, hair colorings, wood staining, agricultural, biological and chemical research etc. In addition to these, they can have acute and/or chronic effects on organisms depending on their concentration and length of exposure when they discharged as effluent in the environment. The aim of this study was to assess the genotoxic and histotoxic potentials of environmentally relevant concentrations of C. I. Reactive Red 120 (RR 120) on Catla catla, important edible freshwater fingerlings. For this, healthy Catla catla fingerlings were procured from the Government Fish Farm and acclimatized in 100 L capacity and continuously aerated glass aquarium in laboratory for 15 days. According to APHA some physic-chemical parameters were measured and maintained such as temperature, pH, dissolve oxygen, alkalinity, total hardness. Water along with excreta had been changed every 24 hrs. All fingerlings were fed artificial food palates once a day @ body weight. After 15 days fingerlings were grouped in 5 (10 in each) and exposed to various concentrations of RR 120 (Control, 10, 20, 30 and 40 mg.l-1) and samples (peripheral blood and gills, kidney) were collected and analyzed at 96 hrs. All results were compared with the control. Micronuclei (MN), nuclear buds (NB), fragmented-apoptotic (FA) and bi-nucleated (BN) cells in blood smears and in tissues (gills and kidney cells) were observed. Prominent histopathological alterations were noticed in gills such as aneurism, hyperplasia, degenerated central axis, lifting of gill epithelium, curved secondary gill lamellae etc. Similarly kidney showed some detrimental changes like shrunken glomeruli with increased periglomerular space, degenerated renal tubules etc. Both haematological and histopathological changes clearly reveal the toxic potential of RR 120. This work concludes that water pollution assessment can be done by these two biomarkers which provide baseline to the further chromosomal or molecular work.

Keywords: Catla catla, genotoxicity, histopathlogicalchanges, RR 120azo dye.

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Authors: Gemma A. Gruyal

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Plants can contain a wide variety of substances with antioxidative properties which are associated with important health benefits. These positive health effects are of great importance at a time when the environment is laden with many toxic substances. Five selected herbal plants namely, Mimosa pudica, Phyllanthus niruri, Ceiba pentandra, Eleusine polydactyla and Trema amboinensi, were chosen for the experiment to investigate their total phenolics content and antioxidant activities using ABTS radical cation decolorization power, and ferric reducing antioxidant power. The total phenolic content of each herbal plants ranges from 0.84 to 42.59 mg gallic acid equivalent/g. The antioxidant activity in the ABTS radical cation decolorization power varies from 0.005 to 0.362 mg trolox equivalent/g and the FRAP ranges from 0.30 to 28.42 mg gallic acid equivalent/g. Among the five medicinal plants, Mimosa pudica has been an excellent performer in terms of the 3 parameters measured; it is followed by Phyllanthus niruri. The 5 herbal plants do not have equivalent antioxidant power. The relative high values for M. pudica and P. niruri supports the medicinal value of both plants. The total phenolics, ABTS and FRAP correlate strongly with one another.

Keywords: ABTS, FRAP, leaf extracts, phenol.

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Authors: T. Valdbjørn Rasmussen

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Design criteria for achieving an acceptable indoor radon concentration are presented in this paper. The paper suggests three design criteria. These criteria have to be considered at the early stage of the building design phase to meet the latest recommendations from the World Health Organization in most countries. The three design criteria are; first, establishing a radon barrier facing the ground; second, lowering the air pressure in the lower zone of the slab on ground facing downwards; third, diluting the indoor air with outdoor air. The first two criteria can prevent radon from infiltrating from the ground, and the third criteria can dilute the indoor air. By combining these three criteria, the indoor radon concentration can be lowered achieving an acceptable level. In addition, a cheap and reliable method for measuring the radon concentration in the indoor air is described. The provision on radon in the Danish Building Regulations complies with the latest recommendations from the World Health Organization. Radon can cause lung cancer and it is not known whether there is a lower limit for when it is not harmful to human beings. Therefore, it is important to reduce the radon concentration as much as possible in buildings. Airtightness is an important factor when dealing with buildings. It is important to avoid air leakages in the building envelope both facing the atmosphere, e.g. in compliance with energy requirements, but also facing the ground, to meet the requirements to ensure and control the indoor environment. Infiltration of air from the ground underneath a building is the main providing source of radon to the indoor air.

Keywords: Radon, natural radiation, barrier, pressure lowering, ventilation.

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Authors: Porntip Ruengtam

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This article is an extension of previous research presenting the relevant factors related to environmental perceptions, residential community, and the design of a healing environment, which have effects on the well-being and requirements of Thai elderly. Research methodology began with observations and interviews in three case studies in terms of the management processes and environment design of similar existing projects in Thailand. The interview results were taken to summarize with related theories and literature. A questionnaire survey was designed for data collection to confirm the factors of requirements in a residential community intended for the Thai elderly. A structural equation model (SEM) was formulated to explain the cause-effect factors for the requirements of a residential community for Thai elderly. The research revealed that the requirements of a residential community for Thai elderly were classified into three groups when utilizing a technique for exploratory factor analysis. The factors were comprised of (1) requirements for general facilities and activities, (2) requirements for facilities related to health and security, and (3) requirements for facilities related to physical exercise in the residential community. The results from the SEM showed the background of elderly people had a direct effect on their requirements for a residential community from various aspects. The results should lead to the formulation of policies for design and management of residential communities for the elderly in order to enhance quality of life as well as both the physical and mental health of the Thai elderly.

Keywords: Elderly, environmental design, residential community, structural equation modeling.

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Authors: Tero Huhtala, Minna Pikkarainen, Saila Saraniemi

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Information technology has long been used as an enabler of exchange for goods and services. Services are evolving from generic to personalized, and the reverse use of customer data has been discussed in both academia and industry for the past few years. This article presents the results of an empirical case study in the area of preventive health care services. The primary data were gathered in workshops, in which future personal data-based services were conceptualized by analyzing future scenarios from a business perspective. The aim of this study is to understand business model transformation in emerging personal data ecosystems. The work was done as a case study in the context of occupational healthcare. The results have implications to theory and practice, indicating that adopting personal data management principles requires transformation of the business model, which, if successfully managed, may provide access to more resources, potential to offer better value, and additional customer channels. These advantages correlate with the broadening of the business ecosystem. Expanding the scope of this study to include more actors would improve the validity of the research. The results draw from existing literature and are based on findings from a case study and the economic properties of the healthcare industry in Finland.

Keywords: Ecosystem, business model, personal data, preventive healthcare.

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Authors: S. S. Sharma, P. R. Prabhu, K. Jagannath, Achutha Kini U., Gowri Shankar M. C.

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In present global scenario, aluminum alloys are coining the attention of many innovators as competing structural materials for automotive and space applications. Comparing to other challenging alloys, especially, 7xxx series aluminum alloys have been studied seriously because of benefits such as moderate strength; better deforming characteristics and affordable cost. It is expected that substitution of aluminum alloys for steels will result in great improvements in energy economy, durability and recyclability. However, it is necessary to improve the strength and the formability levels at low temperatures in aluminum alloys for still better applications. Aluminum–Zinc–Magnesium with or without other wetting agent denoted as 7XXX series alloys are medium strength heat treatable alloys. In addition to Zn, Mg as major alloying additions, Cu, Mn and Si are the other solute elements which contribute for the improvement in mechanical properties by suitable heat treatment process. Subjecting to suitable treatments like age hardening or cold deformation assisted heat treatments; known as low temperature thermomechanical treatments (LTMT) the challenging properties might be incorporated. T6 is the age hardening or precipitation hardening process with artificial aging cycle whereas T8 comprises of LTMT treatment aged artificially with X% cold deformation. When the cold deformation is provided after solution treatment, there is increase in hardness related properties such as wear resistance, yield and ultimate strength, toughness with the expense of ductility. During precipitation hardening both hardness and strength of the samples are increasing. The hardness value may further improve when room temperature deformation is positively supported with age hardening known as thermomechanical treatment. It is intended to perform heat treatment and evaluate hardness, tensile strength, wear resistance and distribution pattern of reinforcement in the matrix. 2 to 2.5 and 3 to 3.5 times increase in hardness is reported in age hardening and LTMT treatments respectively as compared to as-cast composite. There was better distribution of reinforcements in the matrix, nearly two fold increase in strength levels and up to 5 times increase in wear resistance are also observed in the present study.

Keywords: Reinforcement, precipitation, thermomechanical, dislocation, strain hardening.

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Authors: Inês Boticas, Diana P. Ferreira, Ana Eusébio, Carlos Silva, Pedro Magalhães, Ricardo Silva, Raul Fangueiro

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Since the beginning of the 20^th century, sportswear has a major contribution to the impact of fashion on our lives. Nowadays, the embracing of sportswear fashion/looks is undoubtedly noticeable, as the modern consumer searches for high comfort and linear aesthetics for its clothes. This compromise lead to the arise of the athleisure trend. Athleisure surges as a new style area that combines both wearability and fashion sense, differentiated from the archetypal sportswear, usually associated to “gym clothes”. Additionally, the possibility to functionalize and implement new technologies have shifted and progressively empowers the connection between the concepts of physical activities practice and well-being, allowing clothing to be more interactive and responsive with its surroundings. In this study, a design inspired in retro and urban lifestyle was envisioned, engineering textile structures that can respond to external stimuli. These structures are enhanced to be responsive to heat, water vapor and humidity, integrating shape memory polymers (SMP) to improve the breathability and heat-responsive behavior of the textiles and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) to heighten the surface hydrophobic properties. The best results for hydrophobic exhibited superhydrophobic behavior with water contact angle (WAC) of more than 150 degrees. For the breathability and heat-response properties, SMP-coated samples showed an increase in water vapour permeability values of about 50% when compared with non SMP-coated samples. These innovative technological approaches were endorsed to design innovative clothing, in line with circular economy and eco-design principles, by assigning a substantial degree of mutability and versatility to the clothing. The development of a coat and shirt, in which different parts can be purchased separately to create multiple products, aims to combine the technicality of both the fabrics used and the making of the garments. This concept translates itself into a real constructive mechanism through the symbiosis of high-tech functionalities and the timeless design that follows the athleisure aesthetics.

Keywords: Breathability, sportswear and casual clothing, sustainable design, superhydrophobicity.

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Authors: Hamze Torabian, Mohammad Mehrabioun Mohammadi

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Like many other industries, the payment industry has been affected by digital transformation. The importance of digital transformation in the payment industry is very crucial. Because the payment industry is considered a leading industry in digital and emerging technologies, and the digitalization of other industries such as retail, health, and telecommunication, it also depends on the growth rate of digitalized payment systems. One of the technological innovations in service management is Field Service Management (FSM). Despite the widespread use of FSM in various industries such as petrochemical, health, maintenance, etc., this technology can also be recruited in the payment industry, transforming the payment industry into a more agile and efficient one. Accordingly, the present study pays close attention to the application of FSM in the payment industry. Given the importance of merchants' bargaining power in the payment industry, this study aims to use FSM in the digital transformation initiative with a targeted focus on providing real-time services to merchants. The research method consists of three parts. Firstly, conducting the review of past research, applications of FSM in the payment industry are considered. In the next step, merchants' benefits such as emotional, functional, economic, and social benefits in using FSM are identified using in-depth interviews and content analysis methods. The related business model in helping the payment industry transforming into a more agile and efficient industry is considered in the following step. The results revealed the 10 main pillars required to realize the digital transformation of payment systems using FSM.

Keywords: Digital transformation, field service management, merchant support systems, payment industry.

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Authors: F. O Anugom

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The general functions of the university amongst other things include teaching, research and community service. Universities are recognized as the apex of learning, accumulating and imparting knowledge and skills of all kinds to students to enable them to be productive, earn their living and to make optimum contributions to national development. This is equivalent to the production of human capital in the form of high level manpower needed to administer the educational society, be useful to the society and manage the economy. Quality has become a matter of major importance for university education in Nigeria. Accreditation is the systematic review of educational programs to ensure that acceptable standards of education, scholarship and infrastructure are being maintained. Accreditation ensures that institution maintain quality. The process is designed to determine whether or not an institution has met or exceeded the published standards for accreditation, and whether it is achieving its mission and stated purposes. Ensuring quality assurance in accreditation process falls in the hands of university management which justified the need for this study. This study examined accreditation and quality assurance: the management imperative. Three research questions and three hypotheses guided the study. The design was a correlation survey with a population of 2,893 university administrators out of which 578 Heads of department and Dean of faculties were sampled. The instrument for data collection was titled Programme Accreditation Exercise scale with high levels of reliability. The research questions were answered with Pearson ‘r’ statistics. T-test statistics was used to test the hypotheses. It was found among others that the quality of accredited programme depends on the level of funding of universities in Nigeria. It was also indicated that quality of programme accreditation and physical facilities of universities in Nigeria have high relationship. But it was also revealed that programme accreditation is positively related to staffing in Nigerian universities. Based on the findings of the study, the researcher recommend that academic administrators should be included in the team of those who ensure quality programs in the universities. Private sector partnership should be encouraged to fund programs to ensure quality of programme in the universities. Independent agencies should be engaged to monitor the activities of accreditation teams to avoid bias.

Keywords: Accreditation, quality assurance, NUC, physical facilities, staffing.

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Authors: Lee Boudreau, Ash Kumar Khaitu, Laura A. S. MacDonald

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In April 2015, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Nepal, killing, injuring, and displacing thousands of people. The earthquake also damaged water and sanitation service networks, leading to a high risk of diarrheal disease and the associated negative health impacts. In response to the disaster, the Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO), a Kathmandu-based non-governmental organization, worked with the Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology (CAWST), a Canadian education, training and consulting organization, to develop two training programs to educate volunteers on water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) needs. The first training program was intended for acute response, with the second focusing on longer term recovery. A key focus was to equip the volunteers with the knowledge and skills to formulate useful WASH advice in the unanticipated circumstances they would encounter when working in affected areas. Within the first two weeks of the disaster, a two-day acute response training was developed, which focused on enabling volunteers to educate those affected by the disaster about local WASH issues, their link to health, and their increased importance immediately following emergency situations. Between March and October 2015, a total of 19 training events took place, with over 470 volunteers trained. The trained volunteers distributed hygiene kits and liquid chlorine for household water treatment. They also facilitated health messaging and WASH awareness activities in affected communities. A three-day recovery phase training was also developed and has been delivered to volunteers in Nepal since October 2015. This training focused on WASH issues during the recovery and reconstruction phases. The interventions and recommendations in the recovery phase training focus on long-term WASH solutions, and so form a link between emergency relief strategies and long-term development goals. ENPHO has trained 226 volunteers during the recovery phase, with training ongoing as of April 2016. In the aftermath of the earthquake, ENPHO found that its existing pool of volunteers were more than willing to help those in their communities who were more in need. By training these and new volunteers, ENPHO was able to reach many more communities in the immediate aftermath of the disaster; together they reached 11 of the 14 earthquake-affected districts. The collaboration between ENPHO and CAWST in developing the training materials was a highly collaborative and iterative process, which enabled the training materials to be developed within a short response time. By training volunteers on basic WASH topics during both the immediate response and the recovery phase, ENPHO and CAWST have been able to link immediate emergency relief to long-term developmental goals. While the recovery phase training continues in Nepal, CAWST is planning to decontextualize the training used in both phases so that it can be applied to other emergency situations in the future. The training materials will become part of the open content materials available on CAWST’s WASH Resources website.

Keywords: Water and sanitation, emergency response, education and training, building resilience.

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Authors: Satadal Das, Parthasarathi Sengupta

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With millions of livestock wealth in India including cattle, and buffaloes, the National Animal Disease Control Program targeted a massive Brucella vaccination program. As a part of it in the state of West Bengal Veterinary healthcare assistants participated in the program in 2021. The aim of this study was to elucidate the burden of brucellosis in those healthcare assistants and to pinpoint the main causes of such infection. We contacted the healthcare assistants to find out whether they were infected during the vaccination program. Our findings indicated many Veterinary healthcare assistants who participated in the program developed symptoms and signs suggestive of brucellosis. Laboratory tests indicated many confirmed Brucellosis cases. However, this may not include many asymptomatic cases. Detailed analysis revealed that in most of them there was a history of needle prick injury about a month back during the vaccination program, which was mainly due to ferocious or disturbed animals. Few also complained that they were not properly trained or proper personal protective types of equipment were not provided. All of them were treated in referral hospitals following a standard protocol of the Government Health Department and now they are followed up. Thus we conclude that proper care during the vaccination of animals should be followed, prophylactic treatment for needle prick injuries should be given, and training and supply of personal protective equipment should be monitored.

Keywords: Occupational brucellosis, needle prick injury, brucella vaccination, personal protective equipment.

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Authors: Je-Hoon Michael Oh

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The major source of allergy in home is the house dust mite (Dematophagoides farina, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus) causing allergic symptom include atopic dermatitis, asthma, perennial rhinitis and even infant death syndrome. Control of this mite species is dependent on the use of chemical methods such as fumigation treatments with methylene bromide, spraying with organophosphates such as pirimiphos-methyl, or treatments with repellents such as DEET and benzyl benzoate. Although effective, their repeated use for decades has sometimes resulted in development of resistance and fostered environmental and human health concerns. Both decomposing animal parts and the protein that surrounds mite fecal pellets cause mite allergy. So it is more effective to repel than to kill them because allergen is not living house dust mite but dead body or fecal particles of house dust mite. It is important to find out natural repellent material against house dust mite to control them and reduce the allergic reactions. Plants may be an alternative source for dust mite control because they contain a range of bioactive chemicals. The research objectives of this paper were to verify the acaricidal and repellent effects of cinnamon essential oil and to find out it-s most effective concentrations. We could find that cinnamon bark essential oil was very effective material to control the house dust mite. Furthermore, it could reduce chemical resistance and danger for human health.

Keywords: house dust mite, cinnamon, repellent effect

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Authors: Fardin Boustani, M Hojati , S Ebrahimzadeh

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The Kowsar dam supply water for different usages such as drinking, industrial, agricultural and aquaculture farms usages and located next to the city of Dehdashat in Kohgiluye and Boyerahmad province in southern Iran. There are some towns and villages on the Kowsar dam watersheds, which Dehdasht and Choram are the most important and populated cities in this area. The study was undertaken to assess the status of water quality in the urban areas of the Kowsar dam. A total of 28 water samples were collected from 6 stations on surface water and 1 station from groundwater on the watershed of the Kowsar dam. All the samples were analyzed for Ni concentration using standard procedures. The results were compared with other national and international standards. Among the analyzed samples, as the maximum value of Nickel (0.01 mg/L) was observed on the station 2 at the autumn 2010, all the samples analyzed were within the maximum admissible limits by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, EU, WHO and the Iranian. In general results of the present study have shown that a Ni mean value of station No. 2 with 0.006 mg/L is higher than the other stations. Ni level of all samples and stations have had normal values and this is an indication of pollution potential and hazards because of human activity and waste water of towns in the areas, which can effect on human health implications in future. This research, therefore, recommends the government and other responsible authorities to take suitable improving measures in the Kowsar dam watersheds.

Keywords: Kowsar dam, Drinking water quality, Nickel, Maximum admissible limit, World health organization

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Authors: Farhan Ismaeel Dakheel, Raoof Smko, K. Negrat, Abdelsalam Almarimi

Abstract:

In this paper we used data mining techniques to identify outlier patients who are using large amount of drugs over a long period of time. Any healthcare or health insurance system should deal with the quantities of drugs utilized by chronic diseases patients. In Kingdom of Bahrain, about 20% of health budget is spent on medications. For the managers of healthcare systems, there is no enough information about the ways of drug utilization by chronic diseases patients, is there any misuse or is there outliers patients. In this work, which has been done in cooperation with information department in the Bahrain Defence Force hospital; we select the data for Cardiac patients in the period starting from 1/1/2008 to December 31/12/2008 to be the data for the model in this paper. We used three techniques for finding the drug utilization for cardiac patients. First we applied a clustering technique, followed by measuring of clustering validity, and finally we applied a decision tree as classification algorithm. The clustering results is divided into three clusters according to the drug utilization, for 1603 patients, who received 15,806 prescriptions during this period can be partitioned into three groups, where 23 patients (2.59%) who received 1316 prescriptions (8.32%) are classified to be outliers. The classification algorithm shows that the use of average drug utilization and the age, and the gender of the patient can be considered to be the main predictive factors in the induced model.

Keywords: Data Mining, Clustering, Classification, Drug Utilization..

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Authors: J. Ritonja

Abstract:

The biochemical technology has been developing extremely fast since the middle of the last century. The main reason for such development represents a requirement for large production of high-quality biologically manufactured products such as pharmaceuticals, foods, and beverages. The impact of the biochemical industry on the world economy is enormous. The great importance of this industry also results in intensive development in scientific disciplines relevant to the development of biochemical technology. In addition to developments in the fields of biology and chemistry, which enable to understand complex biochemical processes, development in the field of control theory and applications is also very important. In the paper, the control for the biochemical reactor for the milk fermentation was studied. During the fermentation process, the biophysical quantities must be precisely controlled to obtain the high-quality product. To control these quantities, the bioreactor’s stirring drive and/or heating system can be used. Available commercial biochemical reactors are equipped with open loop or conventional linear closed loop control system. Due to the outstanding parameters variations and the partial nonlinearity of the biochemical process, the results obtained with these control systems are not satisfactory. To improve the fermentation process, the self-tuning adaptive control system was proposed. The use of the self-tuning adaptive control is suggested because the parameters’ variations of the studied biochemical process are very slow in most cases. To determine the linearized mathematical model of the fermentation process, the recursive least square identification method was used. Based on the obtained mathematical model the linear quadratic regulator was tuned. The parameters’ identification and the controller’s synthesis are executed on-line and adapt the controller’s parameters to the fermentation process’ dynamics during the operation. The use of the proposed combination represents the original solution for the control of the milk fermentation process. The purpose of the paper is to contribute to the progress of the control systems for the biochemical reactors. The proposed adaptive control system was tested thoroughly. From the obtained results it is obvious that the proposed adaptive control system assures much better following of the reference signal as a conventional linear control system with fixed control parameters.

Keywords: Adaptive control, biochemical reactor, linear quadratic regulator, recursive least square identification.

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Authors: Ntokozo C. Mthembu

Abstract:

The notion of sustainable chemistry has become significant in the discourse for a global post-colonial era, including South Africa, especially when it comes to access to the general health system and related policies in relation to disease or ease of human life. In view of the stubborn vestiges of coloniality in the daily lives of indigenous African people in general, the fundamentals of present Western medical and traditional medicine systems and related policies in the democratic era were examined in this study. The situation of traditional healers in relation to current policy was also reviewed. The advent of democracy in South Africa brought about a variety of development opportunities and limitations, particularly with respect to indigenous African knowledge systems such as traditional medicine. There were high hopes that the limitations of previous narrow cultural perspectives would be rectified in the democratic era through development interventions, but some sections of society, such as traditional healers, remain marginalised. The Afrocentric perspective was explored in dissecting government interventions related to traditional medicine. This article highlights that multiple medical systems should be adopted and that health policies should be aligned in order to guarantee mutual respect and to address the remnants of colonialism in South Africa, Africa and the broader global community.

Keywords: Traditional healing system, healers, pluralist healthcare system, post-colonial era.

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Authors: B. Karakas, S. Lakestani, C. Guler, B. Guciz Dogan, S. Acar Vaizoglu, A. Taner, B. Sekerel, R. Tıpırdamaz, G. Gullu

Abstract:

Particulate matter (PM) in ambient air is responsible for adverse health effects in adults and children. Relatively little is known about the concentrations, sources and health effects of PM in indoor air. A monitoring study was conducted in Ankara by three campaigns in order to measure PM levels in indoor and outdoor environments to identify and quantify associations between sources and concentrations. Approximately 82 homes (1st campaign for 42, 2nd campaign for 12, and 3rd campaign for 28), three rooms (living room, baby-s room and living room used as a baby-s room) and outdoor ambient at each home were sampled with Grimm Environmental Dust Monitoring (EDM) 107, during different seasonal periods of 2011 and 2012. In this study, the relationship between indoor and outdoor PM levels for particulate matter less than 10 micrometer (.m) (PM10), particulate matter less than 2.5.m (PM2.5) and particulate matter less than 1.0.m (PM1) were investigated. The mean concentration of PM10, PM2.5, and PM1.0 at living room used as baby-s room is higher than living and baby-s room (or bedroom) for three sampling campaigns. It is concluded that the household activities and environmental conditions are very important for PM concentrations in the indoor environments during the sampling periods. The amount of smokers, being near a main street and/or construction activities increased the PM concentration. This study is based on the assessment the relationship between indoor and outdoor PM levels and the household activities and environmental conditions

Keywords: Indoor air quality, particulate matter (PM), PM10, PM2.5, PM1.0.

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Authors: N.E.Galich

Abstract:

We develop new nonlinear methods of immunofluorescence analysis for a sensitive technology of respiratory burst reaction of DNA fluorescence due to oxidative activity in the peripheral blood neutrophils. Histograms in flow cytometry experiments represent a fluorescence flashes frequency as functions of fluorescence intensity. We used the Shannon-Weaver index for definition of neutrophils- biodiversity and Hurst index for definition of fractal-s correlations in immunofluorescence for different donors, as the basic quantitative criteria for medical diagnostics of health status. We analyze frequencies of flashes, information, Shannon entropies and their fractals in immunofluorescence networks due to reduction of histogram range. We found the number of simplest universal correlations for biodiversity, information and Hurst index in diagnostics and classification of pathologies for wide spectra of diseases. In addition is determined the clear criterion of a common immunity and human health status in a form of yes/no answers type. These answers based on peculiarities of information in immunofluorescence networks and biodiversity of neutrophils. Experimental data analysis has shown the existence of homeostasis for information entropy in oxidative activity of DNA in neutrophil nuclei for all donors.

Keywords: blood and cells fluorescence in diagnostics ofdiseases, cytometric histograms, entropy and information in fractalnetworks of oxidative activity of DNA, long-range chromosomalcorrelations in living cells.

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Authors: Simon B. N. Thompson

Abstract:

Cortisol is important to our immune system, regulates our stress response, and is a factor in maintaining brain temperature. Saliva cortisol is a practical and useful non-invasive measurement that signifies the presence of the important hormone. Electrical activity in the jaw muscles typically rises when the muscles are moved during yawning and the electrical level is found to be correlated with the cortisol level. In two studies using identical paradigms, a total of 108 healthy subjects were exposed to yawning-provoking stimuli so that their cortisol levels and electrical nerve impulses from their jaw muscles was recorded. Electrical activity is highly correlated with cortisol levels in healthy people. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Yawning Susceptibility Scale, General Health Questionnaire, demographic, health details were collected and exclusion criteria applied for voluntary recruitment: chronic fatigue, diabetes, fibromyalgia, heart condition, high blood pressure, hormone replacement therapy, multiple sclerosis, and stroke. Significant differences were found between the saliva cortisol samples for the yawners as compared with the non-yawners between rest and post-stimuli. Significant evidence supports the Thompson Cortisol Hypothesis that suggests rises in cortisol levels are associated with yawning. Ethics approval granted and professional code of conduct, confidentiality, and safety issues are approved therein.

Keywords: Cortisol, Diagnosis, Neurological Disease, Thompson Cortisol Hypothesis, Yawning.

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Authors: H. M. Nuralam, Z. Xiao-lan, B. K. Dubey, D. Wen-Chuan

Abstract:

Healthcare waste (HCW) is one of the major concerns in environmental issues due to its infectious and hazardous nature that is requires specific treatment and systematic management prior to final disposal. This study aimed to assess HCW management system in Dhaka City (DC), Bangladesh, by investigating the present practices implemented by the city. In this study, five different healthcare establishments were selected in DC. Field visits and interviews with health personnel and staff who are concerned with the waste management were conducted. The information was gathered through questionnaire focus on the different aspect of HCW management like, waste segregation and collection, storage and transport, awareness as well. The results showed that a total of 7,215 kg/day (7.2 ton/day) of waste were generated, of which 79.36% (5.6 ton/day) was non-hazardous waste and 20.6% (1.5 ton/day) was hazardous waste. The rate of waste generation in these healthcare establishments (HCEs) was 2.6 kg/bed/day. There was no appropriate and systematic management of HCWs except at few private HCEs that segregate their hazardous waste. All the surveyed HCEs dumped their HCW together with the municipal waste, and some staff members were also found to be engaged in improper handling of the generated waste. Furthermore, the used sharp instruments, saline bags, blood bags and test tubes were collected for resale or reuse. Nevertheless, the lack of awareness, appropriate policy, regulation and willingness to act, were responsible for the improper management of HCW in DC. There was lack of practical training of concerned healthcare to handle the waste properly, while the nurses and staff were found to be aware of the health impacts of HCW.

Keywords: Awareness, disposal, Dhaka City, healthcare waste management, waste generation.

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Authors: Fardin Boustani

Abstract:

The Kowsar dam supply water for different usages such as drinking, industrial, agricultural and aquaculture farms usages and located next to the city of Dehdashat in Kohgiluye and Boyerahmad province in southern Iran. There are some towns and villages on the Kowsar dam watersheds, which Dehdasht and Choram are the most important and populated cities in this area. The study was undertaken to assess the status of water quality in the urban areas of the Kowsar dam. A total of 28 water samples were collected from 6 stations on surface water and 1 station from groundwater on the watershed of the Kowsar dam. All the samples were analyzed for Cd concentration using standard procedures. The results were compared with other national and international standards. Among the analyzed samples, as the maximum value of cadmium (1.131 μg/L) was observed on the station 2 at the winter 2009, all the samples analyzed were within the maximum admissible limits by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, EU, WHO, New Zealand , Australian, Iranian, and the Indian standards. In general results of the present study have shown that Cd mean values of stations No. 4, 1 and 2 with 0.5135, 0.0.4733 and 0.4573 μg/L respectively are higher than the other stations . Although Cd level of all samples and stations have had normal values but this is an indication of pollution potential and hazards because of human activity and waste water of towns in the areas, which can effect on human health implications in future. This research, therefore, recommends the government and other responsible authorities to take suitable improving measures in the Kowsar dam watershed-s.

Keywords: Kowsar dam, Drinking water quality, Cadmium, Maximum admissible limit, World health organization,

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Authors: Zs. Csanádi, A. Szabó Nagy, J. Szabó, J. Erdős

Abstract:

Atmospheric aerosols have several important environmental impacts and health effects in point of air quality. Monitoring the PM10-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) could have important environmental significance and health protection aspects. Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) is the most relevant indicator of these PAH compounds. In Hungary, the Hungarian Air Quality Network provides air quality monitoring data for several air pollutants including BaP, but these data show only the annual mean concentrations and maximum values. Seasonal variation of BaP concentrations comparing the heating and non-heating periods could have important role and difference as well. For this reason, the main objective of this study was to assess the annual concentration and seasonal variation of BaP associated with PM10 in the ambient air of Northwestern Hungary seven different sampling sites (six urban and one rural) in the sampling period of 2008–2013. A total of 1475 PM10 aerosol samples were collected in the different sampling sites and analyzed for BaP by gas chromatography method. The BaP concentrations ranged from undetected to 8 ng/m3 with the mean value range of 0.50-0.96 ng/m3 referring to all sampling sites. Relatively higher concentrations of BaP were detected in samples collected in each sampling site in the heating seasons compared with non-heating periods. The annual mean BaP concentrations were comparable with the published data of the other Hungarian sites.

Keywords: Air quality, benzo(a)pyrene, PAHs, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

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