bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Role of Information and Communication Technologies in the Sustainable Clothing and Textile Industry
Authors: Jaiwant Sunanda Vincent , Iyer Anusha Srinivasan
Published: August 2023

Information and communication technology (ICT) has an important role to play in every sector globally. These opportunities will derive from the ability of ICTs to open up parts of the supply chain (other than basic manufacturing and processing) in clothing and textile industry as well. ICT technology is used at various stages of the design process. Presently, it is rapidly changing the textile industry. Employee attendance (clocking in) to shipment dispatching are dependent on information technology. The garment industry is fully depended on IT or ERP. This chapter presents the latest trends of companies that have successfully used ICTs to move, for example, into higher-value activities such as design and logistics, or to access niche markets. The study aims to investigate the uses of information and communication technology in the clothing and textile industry and examine the recent trends of ICT usage in companies within the textile industry and identify the factors to be considered by companies in the textile industry before investing in ICT.
Role of Social Media Influencers in Fashion and Clothing
Authors: Agarwal Anshu , Jaiwant Sunanda Vincent
Published: August 2023

This study provides an overview of the influence of social media influencers in the fashion and clothing industry. With the increasing presence of social media in people's lives, individuals are easily influenced by what they see online, leading to the adoption of trends promoted by influencers. Influencers, who have established their personal brand and gained a substantial following, play a key role in shaping consumer preferences and driving sales. Social media platforms allow fashion brands to connect with their audience, democratizing fashion shows and enabling direct interaction. The rise of fast fashion and the influence of fashion influencers have contributed to the growth of the clothing industry. Businesses are now utilizing AI-powered analytics and dedicated platforms to enhance their influencer marketing strategies. In summary, social media influencers have a significant impact on consumer behavior, driving sales and shaping trends in the fashion and clothing industry.
How Social Media Affects Consumer Behavior in the Fashion Industry
Authors: Tarnanidis Theodore K. , Papachristou Evridiki (Eurydice) , Karypidis Michail , Ismyrlis Vasileios
Published: August 2023

Social media is experiencing unprecedented success in terms of usage levels. They cause significant changes in the way people connect and communicate with each other, in the way they express themselves and share ideas, and even in the way they engage with products, brands, and organizations/companies. This research attempts to answer the following useful questions, all by examining the fashion industry and its presence on social media. To what extent does social media influence consumer purchasing behavior? Which social media is used the most? To what extent do so-called influencers influence purchasing decisions? How powerful and decisive is electronic word of mouth (eWOM) in influencing a consumer either positively or negatively? The conclusions will be drawn from the secondary research conducted.
Intelligent Healthcare Recommender Systems for Advanced Healthcare Informatics
Authors: Karthick G. S. , Sridhar M.
Published: August 2023

Recommender systems (RS) are an important filtering tool for discovering services in a personalized way to guide users from the large space of possible options. Over the past decades, recommendation systems in healthcare application have become popular due to the exponential increase in health data available on various platforms. The chapter begins with an overview of recommender systems, discussing the purpose, functionality, and key components. It highlights the significance of recommender systems in healthcare, where the abundance of data and the complexity of medical decisions necessitate personalized recommendations to enhance the quality of care. Additionally, it introduces the concept of big data and its relevance in healthcare recommender systems, emphasizing the wealth of information available from various sources such as electronic health records, wearable devices, and social media. Moreover, the chapter addresses the challenges associated with the implementation of recommender systems in the healthcare domain.
An Enhancement in the Efficiency of Disease Prediction Using Feature Extraction and Feature Selection
Authors: Kapila Ramdas , Saleti Sumalatha
Published: August 2023

Cardiovascular diseases constitute one of the most dangerous and fatal illnesses. According to statistics, in 2019, 17.9 million deaths are reported from cardiovascular diseases. As a result, it is essential to detect the sickness early on to minimize the death rate. To handle data efficiently and precisely forecast the symptoms of illness, data mining and machine learning approaches may be applied. This study intends to employ seven supervised machine learning (ML) techniques to anticipate heart disease. The adoption of ML algorithms is the study's main objective and to investigate how feature extraction (FE) and feature selection (FS) methods might increase the effectiveness of ML models. The experimental results indicate that models with feature selection and extraction techniques outperformed the model with the entire features from the dataset. As a case study, the authors considered three additional datasets, namely Parkinson's, diabetes, and lung cancer, in addition to the Cleveland Heart Disease dataset. However, the main focus of this study is on predicting heart disease.
Impact of Blockchain on the Security and Privacy of IoT-Empowered Healthcare Systems
Authors: Makinde Ayodeji Samuel , Omaji Samuel , Agbeyangi Abayomi O. , Alade Mayowa Samuel
Published: August 2023

Today, the internet of things (IoT) enables the network of all physical things or objects that are embedded in sensors to be efficiently operated and maintained. The sensed data can be used for the purposes of disease analysis and diagnosis. Furthermore, the sensed data can be exchanged with other devices in the network. However, several factors can limit the adoption and implementation of IoT. These factors include the cost of operations and maintenance, reliability and hardware, connectivity, ease of integration, quality control, and skills development. Firstly, this study focuses on the security challenges of IoT; hence, a blockchain is employed as a way of ensuring the security of devices in the network. Furthermore, the impact of blockchain on IoMT is studied. Afterwards, this study also highlights the current state of blockchain for healthcare systems; IoT in healthcare and use cases; ethical and regulatory considerations of IoT in healthcare. Finally, IoT and blockchain implications and recommendations for future research in healthcare are discussed.
Transforming Healthcare Informatics Through Big Data Analytics
Authors: Kaur Paramjeet , Sharma Manish
Published: August 2023

With the ever-evolving landscape of healthcare, the use of big data is becoming increasingly prevalent in providing personalized care to patients. This capter presents a comprehensive analysis of the utilization of big data in the healthcare industry for improving patient outcomes, reducing expenses, and enhancing the patient experience. The study highlights the potential of systems biology, wearable devices, electronic health records, structural MRI, and mobile/web applications for healthcare while also exploring the challenges and limitations concerning big data. The chapter emphasizes the need for healthcare providers to invest in technical infrastructure, data governance, and training and education to fully leverage the potential of big data in healthcare by prioritizing patient privacy and security to improve the lives of patients around the world. The chapter identifies promising opportunities in precision medicine, predictive analytics, population health management, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and patient engagement.
Integrating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Effectiveness Metrics Into Recruitment Analytics
Authors: Arunima K. V. , Bolar Kartikeya
Published: August 2023

The proposed book chapter aims to integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) metrics into recruitment analytics of the hiring process of a data science start-up company. A CRISP-DM (cross-industry standard process for data mining) methodology is used to develop a predictive model that can accurately predict whether a candidate will be hired based on the available data to identify the best features highly correlated to hiring. HR metrics focusing on DEI would be integrated into the model to help build a more diverse and inclusive team. The proposed chapter contributes to the growing research on integrating DEI metrics into recruitment analytics. It provides a practical example of achieving this in a real-world setting. Integrating DEI metrics into recruitment analytics provides insights to organizations to build more diverse and inclusive teams, leading to better decision-making, and increased productivity.
Exploring the Other Side of the Coin
Authors: Malhotra Snigdha , Dikshit Shuchi , Agarwal Vernika
Published: August 2023

Human resource analytics (HRA) has the power to revolutionize how businesses find, develop, oversee, and manage their employees. It is imperative to pay attention to the idiosyncrasies and negative implications that HRA creates leading to commotion and failing to generate value for the organizations. The chapter discusses the challenges faced in the implementation of HRA in diverse businesses. For this analysis, the authors conducted an extant literature review and later interviewed HR professionals to derive factors contributing to the dark side of HRA. The interviews were transcribed, and five themes were derived representing the experiences of the respondents with HRA implementation. This chapter gives a comprehensive understanding of the challenges faced in the implementation of HR Analytics and suggests ways to overcome these challenges as well.
Investigating the Cause and Effect of Employee Engagement Through the Lens of HR Analytics
Authors: Kumar Puneet
Published: August 2023

This study synthesizes the various studies on the construct of employee engagement and HR analytics. This is a theoretical and methodological study substantiating the factors identified from the literature causing employee engagement and its effect on organizational performance indicators. This chapter is descriptive at first as it defines the employee engagement and HR analytics construct. Secondly, this study has the feature of being diagnostic to identify the cause and effect of employee engagement. Lastly, the study has the characteristic of being a prescriptive study to suggest solutions based on data derived through HR analytics to enhance the engagement level of employees. Thus, this three-fold study (descriptive, diagnostic, and prescriptive) is a readymade solution kit for management to investigate the low level of employee engagement through the lens of HR Analytics.
Geopolitical Perspective of the EU's Post-Pandemic Public Diplomacy Prospects and Challenges
Authors: Bharti Mukesh Shankar , Goswami Arindam
Published: August 2023

Public diplomacy has gained a significant position in global politics as the central source of soft power. The EU's public diplomacy has been pioneering and justifying its supranational identity within Europe and outside of the EU's boundary as well. The time of the 2007 recession and the refugee crisis are core issues where the EU is struggling to make itself a supranational identity and global player. This chapter is trying to discuss how the EU's public diplomacy achieved positive outcomes after the recurring shocks and how the post-pandemic EU continues to focus on strengthening its inter-continental connectivity towards the Indo-Pacific, Africa, Australia, the Caribbean, Latin America, and other regions of the world. This research explains how the EU's public diplomacy works to accelerate its geopolitical agenda across the world.
Digitalization of Public Diplomacy
Authors: Petlach Martin
Published: August 2023

How do the countries of Southeast Asia capitalize on digitalization of public diplomacy in terms of nation branding? This chapter elaborates on the theoretical concept of public diplomacy and applies it to the context of member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is a swath of 10 very heterogeneous and yet under-researched countries. The objective of this chapter is to characterize sundry approaches to public diplomacy through the concept of nation branding as the main tool in connection to the use of social media. The results of this chapter exemplify the most distinctive differences so that the countries could be classified and further divided into two main groups, one symbolized by a high degree of development and use of digitalization versus a group of latecomers. Vietnam and the Philippines represent boundary examples due to its slowdown or improvement, respectively of public diplomacy and digitalization. None of the examined Southeast Asian countries, however, has fully expanded on the concept of nation branding on social media.
Public Diplomacy and Security
Authors: Upadhayay Varsha , Prathapagiri Vasantha Gouri
Published: August 2023

Nations across the world have been struggling to gather foreign support for their indigenous policies and programmes. This happens through display of effective public diplomacy by the host countries in the international media. Public diplomacy eventually increases the scope for military and financial support from different foreign countries to the host country. It is a well-known fact that the whole world is reduced to a global village due to information communication and technological advancements, and similarly, means of public diplomacy also have been fast improving. Effective display of public diplomacy increases the socio-economic and military security of a country. Hence, to improve its image and in the security aspects, India has been resorting to effective methods of public diplomacy for years. Despite many obstacles, India has been able to effectively convey to the world its love for liberty, equality, and fraternity.
Modeling the Factors That Drive the Need for Inter-Facility Transfers to Downstream Services in US Emergency Departments
Authors: Shockley Jeff , Turner Tobin
Published: August 2023

Improving emergency department (ED) care coordination requires analytics-based models that can integrate large patient-level and hospital databases to help formulate better transfer processes and policies across different hospital settings. This study develops a new empirical model to analyze over one million heart attack emergency department (ED) encounters between 2006-2014 to understand the factors that drive the need for inter-facility transfers (IFT) in different hospital settings. The resulting model has proven helpful for deriving public policy insights from this information. For instance, while we find that while healthcare IFT inequities and inconsistencies persist with ED discharge decisions because of some specific patient and hospital resource factors, these have been reduced significantly in the more recent post-reform period. We conclude by discussing the implications of using this empirical modeling approach for developing smarter policies and procedures for managing and benchmarking downstream healthcare operations practices in this disease area.
A Lightweight Method of Knowledge Graph Convolution Network for Collaborative Filtering
Authors: Zhang Xin , Kuang Shaohua
Published: August 2023

In recent years, knowledge-aware recommendation systems have gained popularity as a solution to address the challenges of data sparsity and cold start in collaborative filtering. However, traditional knowledge graph convolutional networks impose significant computational burdens during training, demanding substantial resources and increasing the cost of recommendations. To address this issue, this article proposes a lightweight knowledge graph convolutional network for collaborative filtering (LKGCF). LKGCF eliminates the feature transformation and nonlinear activation components, by focusing on essential elements such as neighborhood aggregation and layer combination. LKGCF captures the user's long-distance personalized interests on the knowledge graph by sampling from neighborhood information and constructing a weighted sum of item embeddings. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed model is easy to train and implement due to its coherence and simplicity. Furthermore, notable improvements in recommendation performance are observed compared to strong baselines.
Accountability em relação ao gasto público com saúde: comparação entre países da América Latina e da África Subsaariana
Authors: Juaniha Alcido Manuel , Lima Filho Saulo Silva , Severo Peixe Blênio Cezar
Published: August 2023

O estudo analisa a relação entre os gastos públicos em saúde com proxies de accountability no setor público em países da América Latina e da África Subsaariana, no período de 2000 a 2019. Assume-se que o empoderamento social advindo do exercício de accountability permite que os recursos públicos tenham destinação alinhada com os interesses da sociedade, no ambiente de fragilidade socioeconômica de países considerados subdesenvolvidos ou em desenvolvimento. Para execução da pesquisa foram levantados dados do Banco Mundial de 74 países, nos dois continentes estudados. Trata-se de pesquisa descritiva, exploratória, documental e com abordagem quantitativa em relação ao problema de pesquisa por meio da análise dos dados. As análises foram realizadas por meio de uma estrutura de dados em painel balanceado. Os resultados se mostraram consoantes à literatura revisada e reforçam a relação das práticas de accountability na destinação das políticas públicas, visto que o modelo proposto se mostrou significativo, embora com poder explicativo abaixo do esperado o que não diminui a contribuição prática dos achados da pesquisa. Esse ambiente reforça a importância das práticas de accountability, em cenário de construção social e econômica desfavorável.
Transparência nas fundações estaduais de amparo à pesquisa brasileiras: um estudo a partir da lei de acesso à informação
Authors: Dos Santos Jorge Fernanda , Batista de Lucena de Souza Romina , Vendruscolo Maria Ivanice
Published: August 2023

O objetivo deste estudo é verificar o grau de transparência das informações disponibilizadas nos portais eletrônicos pelas Fundações Estaduais de Amparo à Pesquisa (FAPs) brasileiras, com base na Lei 12.527/2011, denominada Lei de Acesso à Informação (LAI). A partir da análise aprofundada dos requisitos de transparência estipulados na LAI e aporte teórico de estudos anteriores sobre o tema, a pesquisa se desenvolve apoiada pela estruturação e aplicação de um protocolo de pesquisa com 17 itens distribuídos em quatro categorias de análise: i) Objetivos da Entidade e informações para contato; ii). Destinação dos recursos públicos; iii) Usabilidade do portal eletrônico; e iv) Tempestividade das informações, possibilitando atribuir o grau de transparência. A pesquisa é qualitativa-quantitativa, descritiva e documental, tendo por amostra 22 FAPs. Os resultados apontam um baixo grau de transparência quanto à divulgação de informações referentes à destinação dos recursos públicos, assim como, baixo índice de tempestividade dos dados e deficiências na interface dos portais com os usuários, demonstrando que as fundações precisam aperfeiçoar o conteúdo e o formato das informações divulgadas, visando o atendimento integral do que é estabelecido pela LAI. A contribuição teórica do estudo se dá pela ampliação das discussões relacionadas à assimetria de informação existente entre a sociedade e às instituições de caráter público, demonstrada empiricamente pela necessidade de revisão dos conteúdos disponibilizados nos portais das FAPs, com vias a atender integralmente os preceitos da LAI e a prestação de contas à sociedade sobre o cumprimento das finalidades institucionais das FAP para a pesquisa científica nacional.
Bedside Clinician’s Guide to Pulmonary Artery Catheters
Authors: Fox W. Everett , Marshall Michael , Walters Susan M. , Mangunta Venkat R. , Ragosta Michael , Kleiman Amanda M. , McNeil John S.
Published: August 2023

Background

Pulmonary artery catheters provide important information about cardiac function, mixed venous oxygenation, and right-sided pressures and potentially provide temporary pacing ability.

Objective

To provide bedside clinicians with guidance for techniques to insert right heart monitors and devices, describe risk factors for difficult insertion and contraindications to placement, and provide updates on new technologies that may be encountered in the intensive care unit.

Methods

An extensive literature review was performed. Experienced clinicians were asked to identify topics not addressed in the literature.

Results

Advanced imaging techniques such as transesophageal echocardiography or fluoroscopy can supplement traditional pressure waveform–guided insertion when needed, and several other techniques can be used to facilitate passage into the pulmonary artery. Caution is warranted when attempting insertion in patients with right-sided masses or preexisting conduction abnormalities. New technologies include a pacing catheter that anchors to the right ventricle and a remote monitoring device that is implanted in the pulmonary artery.

Discussion

Bedside clinicians should be aware of risk factors such as atrial fibrillation with dilated atria, decreased ventricular function, pulmonary hypertension, and right-sided structural abnormalities that can make pulmonary artery catheter insertion challenging. Clinicians should be familiar with advanced techniques and imaging options to facilitate placement.

Conclusion

The overall risk of serious complications with right heart catheter placement and manipulation is low and often outweighed by its benefits, specifically pressure monitoring and pacing.
Experiences of Parents of Children With Medical Complexity in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: A Scoping Review
Authors: Gallegos Cara , Cacchillo Natalie
Published: August 2023

Background

Medical advances and decreased mortality rates in the pediatric intensive care unit have increased the number of children surviving illnesses they may not have survived previously. The term child with medical complexity is poorly defined.

Objectives

The purposes of this scoping review were to examine the experiences of parents of children with medical complexity in the pediatric intensive care unit and describe strategies to help support these parents.

Results

Eight studies were eligible for inclusion. All were published from 2009 through 2021. One study was a quantitative observational study, 2 were mixed-methods studies, and 5 had a qualitative design. Parents experienced significant stress and depression. Sources of stress were parenting a child with complex chronic illness in the pediatric intensive care unit, uncertainty, communication between family members and clinicians, and lack of subspecialty communication. Strategies to assist parents included respecting parents’ expertise and providing consistent and clear communication with family members and among subspecialty clinicians.

Conclusion

This review is the first to examine the experiences of parents of children with medical complexity in the pediatric intensive care unit. The study was limited by lack of available research and lack of consensus for the definition of child with medical complexity. However, this review describes strategies that nurses may find useful when caring for parents of children with medical complexity.
The burdens faced by parents of preschoolers with type 1 diabetes mellitus: an integrative review
Authors: Choi Sunyeob , Shin Hyewon
Published: August 2023

Purpose: This study examined the literature concerning the burdens of parents of preschool-aged children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes mellitus.Methods: We employed an integrative review methodology based on Whittemore and Knafl's framework. The literature search was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines across four electronic databases: PubMed, Web of Science, the Cumulative Index to Nursing Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and PsycINFO. Ultimately, 18 articles were included in the review.Results: The review yielded four themes: (1) parental burdens, (2) factors related to the burdens, (3) coping strategies, and (4) implications for clinical practice. Parents experienced psychological, physical, and social burdens due to the diabetes care of their children. Several factors influenced burdens, including child-related characteristics such as age, severity of diabetes, and hospitalization experience, as well as parental factors like family income, race, and residential area. Parents initially felt burdened when their child was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, but over time, they often adapted to the situation through support and sharing of responsibilities. Parents desired education and interventions reflecting the unique characteristics of preschoolers.Conclusion: This integrative literature review revealed that parents experience numerous burdens when their child is diagnosed with diabetes. Future research should focus on developing interventions to address parents' psychological difficulties, including tracking parental psychological changes over time. Tailored nursing interventions should also be provided to parents of preschool-aged children, as opposed to the more generic nursing interventions traditionally applied across all age groups of children in clinical settings.
The perceptions and performance of family-centered care among pediatric nurses at a children's hospital in South Korea: a descriptive study
Authors: Lim Suk-Jin , Bang Kyung-Sook
Published: August 2023

Purpose: This study aimed to examine pediatric hospital nurses' perceptions and performance of family-centered care. Methods: A descriptive study design was used. This study surveyed 162 nurses who worked at a single tertiary children's hospital in South Korea. The modified Family-Centered Care Scale was used to assess nurses' perceptions and performance of family-centered care. Barriers to the implementation of family-centered care were described in an open-ended format. Results: Pediatric hospital nurses had a higher score for perceptions (mean score=4.07) than for performance (mean score=3.77). The collaboration subscale had the lowest scores for both perceptions and performance. The perceptions of family-centered care differed significantly according to the nurses’ clinical career in the pediatric unit and familiarity with family-centered care, while performance differed according to clinical career only. Perceptions and performance were positively correlated (r=.594, p<.001). Barriers to implementation included a shortage of nursing personnel, a lack of time, and the absence of a family-centered care system. Conclusion: To improve the performance of family-centered care, nurses’ perceptions of family-centered care should be improved by offering education programs and active support, including sufficient staffing, and establishing systems within hospitals.
Clinical characteristics and nursing diagnoses of pediatric patients hospitalized with inflammatory bowel disease: a single-center retrospective study in South Korea
Authors: Jo Sung-Yoon , Bang Kyung-Sook
Published: August 2023

Purpose: This study aimed to identify clinical characteristics of South Korean pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in a children's hospital over the past 5 years, with a specific focus on comparing the features observed between Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Additionally, it aimed to examine the nursing diagnoses given to patients.Methods: This retrospective study analyzed the medical records of Korean pediatric patients under 18 years of age who were diagnosed with IBD and hospitalized at a children's hospital in Seoul, South Korea, from January 2017 to December 2021.Results: The number of pediatric patients diagnosed with IBD steadily increased. This finding was particularly prominent for CD patients, the majority of whom were male. Pediatric patients with CD had significantly higher rates of abdominal pain and perianal lesions, while pediatric patients with UC had a higher rate of bloody stool. Laboratory findings indicated that CD patients had higher levels of inflammatory markers and lower albumin levels than UC patients. The nursing diagnoses given during hospitalization mostly related to safety and protection, physical comfort, and gastrointestinal function.Conclusion: This study provides insights into Korean pediatric IBD patients, enabling early detection and the development of nursing intervention strategies. From a comprehensive perspective, nursing care should not only address patients' physical needs but also their psychosocial needs.
Comparison of glaucomatous from non-glaucomatous optic neuropathy using Bruch’s membrane opening minimum rim width optical coherence tomography measurements
Authors: Gosalia Hirika , Kumar Karthik M , Karan AK , Saravanan Veerappan R , Shah Virna M
Published: August 2023

Purpose:

To compare glaucomatous from non-glaucomatous optic atrophy using optical coherence tomography (OCT) based on the measurement values of Bruch’s membrane opening minimum rim width (BMO-MRW), which is a difficult task otherwise due to their varied course of disease progression, treatment protocols, and systemic association to visual impairment.

Methods:

This study was conducted in 40 eyes, comprising 20 eyes with non-glaucomatous optic neuropathy (NGON) and 20 eyes with glaucomatous optic neuropathy (GON). All patients underwent a complete ophthalmic examination followed by an OCT optic disc scan to calculate the measurement of BMO-MRW.

Results:

The 5-fold cross-validated area under the curve for GON versus NGON from logistic regression models was 0.95 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.86–1.00) using BMO-MRW values from all sectors. The results revealed that the measurements were significantly lesser in GON than in NGON patients.

Conclusion:

Hence, OCT-based BMO-MRW values could be used as an additional test to compare glaucomatous with non-glaucomatous optic neuropathy patients, especially in cases of high clinical suspicion.
Assessment of Handgrip Strength in Healthy African Subjects: Establishing Age and Gender Stratified Reference Values
Authors: Essien UAI , Amechi KU , Madu KA , Ede O , Iyidobi EC , Anyaehie UE , Obadaseraye OR , Ogbonnaya IS , Ogbu DC , Ngwangwa CL
Published: August 2023

ABSTRACT

Background:

The handgrip strength assesses hand function in traumatic and non-traumatic upper extremity conditions. It is also a surrogate marker for other systemic diseases unrelated to the upper limb. Various reference values have been established in different world regions, with few studies in our population.

Aim:

To determine the average handgrip strength by gender and age categories among healthy subjects in Nigeria.

Materials and Methods:

It was a cross-sectional study assessing handgrip strength by age category (ten-year bin width), gender, and handedness in 210 healthy persons aged 10 to 79 in Nigeria. Its relationship with age, height, weight, mid-arm circumference, triceps skinfold thickness, and mid-arm muscle area was evaluated using multiple linear regression.

Results:

The mean handgrip strength in the dominant and non-dominant hands was 31.09 kg and 28.45 kg, respectively, P < 0.001. Males have higher values than females in all age categories. The grip strength peaked in the 30–39-year age group in both genders and declined afterward. Age exhibited a nonlinear pattern but had an overall negative relationship, while height was positively related to grip strength in both genders. In contrast, mid-arm circumference and mid-arm muscle area predicted handgrip strength only in males. Triceps skinfold thickness was excluded from the model because of multicollinearity with the mid-arm muscle area, while weight did not predict grip strength in either gender.

Conclusion:

The handgrip strength in this study is less than that in western literature. Hence, test interpretation should reference the values from this study.
Histologic Comparison of Formocresol, Platelet-Rich Fibrin, and Hesperidin in Pulpotomy: A Randomized Trial in Dogs
Authors: Metwally NI , Mohamed EAR , Ahmed NA , Zaghloul SA
Published: August 2023

ABSTRACT

Aims:

To histologically assess and compare formocresol (FC), platelet-rich fibrin (PRF), and hesperidin (HPN) as pulpotomy agents in dogs.

Materials and Methods:

Pulpotomy was attempted from the buccal surface (class V) of 48 teeth in three mongrel dogs (Canis Lupus). Cavities were randomly allocated for three groups (n = 16) according to the pulpotomy agent used; (group I: FC (control), group II: PRF, and group III: HPN). All cavities were then sealed with zinc oxide eugenol followed by resin-modified glass ionomer restoration. Two months later, dogs were euthanized; the specimens were obtained and prepared for histological assessment followed by statistical analysis.

Results:

HPN specimens showed the best dentin bridge formation and the least inflammatory signs and pulp disorganization. Followed without statistically significant difference by PRF (P ≥ 0.05). Both of HPN and PRF, however, showed a significant difference statistically (P ≤ 0.05) to FC that showed no dentin bridging with more pronounced inflammation, necrosis, and pulp disorganization.

Conclusions:

For pulpotomy, HPN and PRF seemed histologically to be good substitutes for FC in the dog model.
The Effect of Training on Women with Postpartum Sexual Dysfunction: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Bolsoy N , Sen S , Sezer G , Cakıl M
Published: August 2023

ABSTRACT

Background:

In the postpartum period, changes including pain during intercourse, lack of sexual desire, vaginal dryness, and failure to reach orgasm can affect a woman’s sexual response cycle.

Aim:

This research aimed to determine the effect of midwifery training on postpartum sexual dysfunction among primiparous women.

Subjects and Methods:

This research using a single-blind randomized controlled experimental and follow-up design. The sample consisted of 70 women, divided equally into training and control groups. Research data were collected using an information form, the Female Sexual Function Index and the Arizona Sexual Experience Scale. In the first phase of our study, 306 primiparous women were interviewed.

Results:

The mean Female Sexual Function Index score of the women was 25.18 ± 5.47 and 40.2% reported sexual dysfunction. When comparing the training and control groups before training, the total score average of the ASEX was 10.48 ± 2.13 in the training group and 11.06 ± 3.86 in the control group. The average score in the post-training was higher in the group given education (22.45 ± 2.17) than in the control group (17.08 ± 3.92) and this difference was significant (p = 0.000). It was determined that 42% of the change in the third follow-up scores of pregnant women in the training group could be explained by the education session they received.

Conclusion:

Our data showed a positive change in the sexual dysfunction scores of women, suggesting the education program was successful.
Can the Monocyte-To-HDL Ratio be Used as an Inflammation Marker in Patients with Fibromyalgia Syndrome?
Authors: Erden E , Turk AC , Erden E
Published: August 2023

ABSTRACT

Background and Aim:

The monocyte-to-high-density lipoprotein (HDL) ratio (MHR) may be used as a marker of inflammation and oxidative stress. This study aimed to evaluate the use of MHR and platelet markers in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) and demonstrate MHR’s relationship with inflammation, the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), and quality of life.

Materials and Methods:

Ninety FMS patients and 90 healthy controls, whose clinical and laboratory evaluations were performed simultaneously, were included in the study. The monocyte, platelet, HDL, MHR, C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), mean platelet volume (MPV), and platelet distribution width (PDW) values of all patients were evaluated. The quality of life of the participants was assessed using the FIQ and their general health using the health assessment questionnaire (HAQ).

Results:

Age, body mass index (BMI), and marital status distribution were similar in both groups. The FMS patients had a mean disease duration of 11.29 ± 2.62 months. The median monocyte, platelet, MPV, visual analog scale (VAS), FIQ, and HAQ values and the mean MHR of the FMS patients were significantly higher than the control group, while the mean HDL level was significantly lower (P < 0.05). There was a weak negative correlation between the MPV and HAQ score and the PDW and HAQ score (rs = −0.225, P = 0.042 and rs = −0.249, P = 0.024, respectively), whereas no correlation was detected between the MHR and the FIQ and HAQ scores in FMS patients. According to the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, MHR had prediction of FMS (P = 0.002; sensitivity = 0.63, specificity = 0.50, cut-off point ≥8.4).

Conclusions:

Our results suggest that the monocyte, platelet, HDL, MHR, and MPV parameters can be used in the evaluation of inflammation in FMS patients.
An Energy Efficient Particle Swarm Optimization based VM Allocation for Cloud Data Centre: EEVMPSO
Authors: Pandey Abhishek Kumar , Singh Sarvpal
Published: August 2023

Virtual Machine (VM) allocation are the crucial problems because cloud computing enables the rapid growth of data centres and compute centres. Power consumption and network expenses have increased as cloud computing becomes more and more prevalent. System instability may result from repeated requests for computing resources. One of the most important and difficulties facing virtualization technology is finding the best way to stack virtual machines on top of physical machines in cloud data centres. The host must move virtual machines from overloaded to underloaded hosts as part of load balancing, which has an impact on energy consumption. The proposed energy efficient particle swarm optimization algorithm (EEVMPSO) for Virtual Machine allocation to maximize the load balancing. System resources including CPU, storage, and memory are optimized using EEVMPSO. This research article suggests energy-aware virtual machine migration using the Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm for dynamic VMs placement, energy efficient cloud data centres as a solution to this issue. The experimental result shown in the proposed method, consumption energy in comparison to the PAPSO, KHA, EALBPSO, and RACC-MDT algorithm by 10.86%, 18.22%, 25.8%, and 31.34% respectively, it demonstrated the improvements in the energy service level agreements violation 5.77%, 15.3%, 26.19%, and 30.4%, as well as the average CPU utilization 2.2%, 24%, 22.6%, and 14.6%.
Investigation of Sustainable Technology Options: Wind, Pumped-hydro-storage and Solar potential to Electrify Isolated Ziway Islanders in Ethiopia
Authors: Gizaw Mintesnot , Bekele Getachew
Published: August 2023

This research at supplying electricity to Ziway lake islanders in Ethiopia, through studying the wind, pumped hydro-storage (PHS), and solar energy potentials. A wind mast is erected, and measurements at 10,50, and 70m heights are taken for a year long. The wind is of class-4 with wind speeds of 7m/s at 50m, and 7.87m/s. The energy density is 318.8 kWh/m2 (50m). GIS-based 3D digital elevation model (DEM) is used to investigate the PHS, with the lake as lower-reservoir and a dried-out crater pond of an extinct volcano as upper reservoir. The head is extracted using optical remote sensing technology, DEM(LiDAR) 12.5m. Constraints considered are topography, area, head, and slope. Twelve upper reservoirs are identified within head range of 50-250,50-200, and 50-100m. The results showed a PHS capacity of  5976 KWh at head of 60m can be developed. The solar energy potential is 6.1KWh/m2 /day. The finding proved the viability of electricity supply to the community.
Associations of cumulative average dietary total antioxidant capacity and intake of antioxidants with metabolic syndrome risk in Korean adults aged 40 years and older: a prospective cohort study (KoGES_CAVAS)
Authors: Kong Ji-Sook , Lee Jiseon , Kim Youngjun , Woo Hye Won , Shin Min-Ho , Koh Sang Baek , Kim Hyeon Chang , Kim Yu-Mi , Kim Mi Kyung
Published: August 2023

OBJECTIVES: Limited and inconsistent prospective evidence exists regarding the relationship of dietary total antioxidant capacity (dTAC) and antioxidant intake with metabolic syndrome (MetS) risk. We evaluated the associations of the cumulative averages of dTAC and antioxidant intake (in 5 classes: retinol, vitamin C, vitamin E, carotenoids, and flavonoids, as well as 7 flavonoid subclasses) with the risk of MetS.METHODS: This study included 11,379 participants without MetS, drawn from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study_CArdioVascular disease Association Study (KoGES_CAVAS). The cumulative average consumption was calculated using repeated food frequency questionnaires. Incidence rate ratios were estimated using a modified Poisson regression model with a robust error estimator.RESULTS: The median follow-up period was 5.16 years, and 2,416 cases of MetS were recorded over 58,750 person-years. In men, significant inverse associations were observed in all 5 antioxidant classes, except for the highest quartile of dTAC. In women, dTAC and total flavonoids were not significantly associated with MetS; however, significant L-shaped associations were found for the remaining 4 antioxidant classes. Of the 7 flavonoid subclasses, only flavones in the highest quartile for men and flavan-3-ols in women lacked significant associations with MetS. The inverse associations were not sex-specific, but they were particularly pronounced among participants with a body mass index (BMI) of 23 kg/m2 or higher.CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that most antioxidant classes and flavonoid subclasses, unlike dTAC, exhibit a clear beneficial association with MetS in an L-shaped pattern in both men and women, particularly those with a high BMI.
Attractors. Then and now
Authors: Zelik Sergey Vital'evich
Published: August 2023

This survey is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Mark Iosifovich Vishik
and is based on a number of mini-courses taught by the author at the University
of Surrey (UK) and Lanzhou University (China). It discusses the classical
and modern results of the theory of attractors for dissipative PDEs,
including attractors for autonomous and non-autonomous equations,
dynamical systems in general topological spaces, various types of trajectory,
pullback and random attractors, exponential attractors,
determining functionals and inertial manifolds, as well as the dimension theory
for the classes of attractors mentioned above. The theoretical results
are illustrated by a number of clarifying examples and counterexamples.
Bibliography: 248 titles.
Religious Harmony Forum: Ideal Religious Moderation in the Frame of Building Tolerance in Medan City, Indonesia
Authors: Hati Lila Pelita , al-Mujtahid Nazil Mumtaz , Kholil Syukur , Sahfutra Suryo Adi , Ginting Lestari Dara Cinta Utami , Fahreza Imam
Published: August 2023

This article aims to analyze the development communication model of the Religious Harmony Forum (FKUB) in increasing the intensity of religious moderation in Medan City. Intolerance is a vital problem that damages the social order, especially in Medan City, one of the most intolerant cities in Indonesia. The urgency of this research is to find alternative solutions for a heterogeneous society to degrade intolerance. The Religious Harmony Forum has a vital role in accommodating the interests of heterogeneous communities in order to create a harmonious social space. This research uses a qualitative method with a sociological-communicative approach. The data techniques used in this research are interviews, observation, and documentation that rely on two source types, namely primary data and secondary data. This article uses analytical interpretation and content analysis techniques to process raw data and create constructive solutions. The results show that the Religious Harmony Forum of Medan City is working on various programs with three periodizations. This program is implemented through linear communication and participatory communication models. The dynamics of intolerance in Medan City have not been fully degraded, considering that there are still several programs that still need to be implemented. This program aims to encourage harmonious social intensity according to the guidance of the Qur'an, a society that puts aside religious subjectivity and is oriented toward humanity.
The Dipopantunu Bai Tradition in Tana Toraja and its Relevance to Calvin’s Teachings about Atonement
Authors: Agustinus  , Rouw Randy Frank , Camerling Yosua Feliciano , Wijaya Hengki
Published: August 2023

This paper aims to explain the tradition of dipopantunu bai in Tana Toraja and its relevance to Calvin’s teaching on atonement. This writing is motivated by the existence of traditions in Toraja society that encounter the church, and more especially Calvin’s teachings. This is an essential matter because tradition or culture and the church are two things that cannot be separated. Therefore, in order to provide a correct understanding of the dipopantunu bai tradition, it is necessary to be relevant in terms of Calvin’s teaching on atonement. The method used in this study is a qualitative research method with an ethnographic approach that seeks to explore dipopantunu bai culture and atonement in the teaching of Calvinism. The results of this study show that Calvinists no longer view and prioritize the guilt of atonement in receiving forgiveness or salvation from God because the salvation received by humans is grace. However, the dipopantunu bai tradition in a Calvinist perspective can be used as a means to realize mistakes or sins in order to return to the grace given by God.
Дослідження регулярного теплового режиму в рідинному середовищі обмеженого тонкостінним металевим циліндром
Authors: Власенко Ольга , Ткаченко Станіслав , Ткачук Владислав
Published: August 2023

Проведено експериментальні дослідження інтенсивності теплообміну від вертикальної металевої циліндричної стінки до дослідних рідинних середовищ з відомою інформацією про теплофізичні властивості.

Експерименти проведені на стенді, який входить в експеримен6тально-розрахунковий метод. Складається із зовнішньої металевої посудини, яка має циліндричну форму, внутрішньої металевої циліндричної посудини, ізольованої ззовні металевої кришки, термопар, пристрою збирання інформації з термопар та її передавання на портативний комп’ютер.

В процесі дослідження встановлено, що для дослідної систем витримується співвідношення надлишкової температури ln(υ) = f(τ), яке характерне для регулярного теплового режиму твердих тіл.