bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Design of Compact Dual Band Circular Polarized Micro-strip Antenna for High Efficiency WLAN 802.11ax-2019
Authors: Ali Syed Muhammad
Published: April 2019

Design of antennas for the latest upcoming standards of WLANs is considered as a key challenge in the science of Mobile Communication Engineering. Micro strip antennas are supposed to have some quality features in mobile and wireless network systems. Their weight and size are reduced and they are capable of having low power capacity. All these interesting features enabled these type of antennas suitable for the communication of IEEE 802.11ax-2019 high speed WLANs. Shape of these antennas can be designed in an efficient manner to achieve required gain and bandwidth. In this paper the concept of circular polarization has been introduced along with compact design of antennas in order to achieve return loss and axial ratio of less than -10 dB and 3dB respectively. Antenna has been designed and simulated on CST MW studio software and usage of dual bands 2.4 and 5.2GHz having circular polarization is properly elucidated for 802.11ax-2019.
Addressing Latency Issues in 2D to 3D Conversion: Deploying Available Synthetic Database
Authors: Manasa N. L.
Published: April 2019

Conventional 2D to 3D rendering techniques involve a sequential process of grouping of the input images based on edge information and predictive algorithms to assign depth values to pixels with same hue. The iterative calculations and volume of data under scrutiny to assign ‘real-time’ values raise latency issues and cost considerations. For commercial consumption, where speed and accuracy define the viability of a product, there is a need to reorient the approach used in the present methodologies. In predictive methodologies one of the core interests is achieving the initial approximation as close to the ‘real’ value as possible. In this work, ‘synthetic’ database is used to provide the first approximation through comparison techniques and fed to the predictive tool. It is believed that this work will provide a basis for developing an efficient 2D to 3D conversion methodology.
Development of Algorithm for Preservation of Heritage Murals and Painting Using Image Processing
Authors: Lalithakumari S. , R Pandian
Published: April 2019

Image archiving and preservation finds extensive application in culture heritage murals. The study of cultural heritage is of the extreme importance at national and international levels. Not only global organizations like UNESCO but also museums, libraries, culture, temples and private initiatives are working in these directions. During the last three decades, researchers in the field of imaging discipline have started to contribute an increasing set of algorithms for cultural heritage; in that way providing indispensable support to these efforts. A better comparison of the different compression methods presented in this proposed work for culture Heritage mural images. Compression methods usually applied some method to reduce the number of components within each spectrum. The effectiveness of mural image archiving and preservation is analyzed based on 2-D wavelets filtering. The optimum algorithm is also found based on the results.
A novel sketch-based 3D model retrieval approach based on skeleton
Authors: Zhang Jing , Kang Bao Sheng , Jiang Bo , Zhang Di
Published: April 2019

Since the skeleton represents the topology structure of the query sketch and 2D views of 3D model, this paper proposes a novel sketch-based 3D model retrieval algorithm which utilizes skeleton characteristics as the features to describe the object shape. Firstly, we propose advanced skeleton strength map (ASSM) algorithm to create the skeleton which computes the skeleton strength map by isotropic diffusion on the gradient vector field, selects critical points from the skeleton strength map and connects them by Kruskal's algorithm. Then, we propose histogram feature comparison algorithm which adopts the radii of the disks at skeleton points and the lengths of skeleton branches to extract the histogram feature, and compare the similarity between two skeletons using the histogram feature matrix of skeleton endpoints. Experiment results demonstrate that our approach which combines these two algorithms significantly outperforms several leading sketch-based retrieval approaches.
Security in wireless sensor networks
Authors: Abidi Bahae , Jilbab Abdelillah , El Haziti Mohamed
Published: April 2019

Even in difficult places to reach, the new networking technique allows the easy deployment of sensor networks, although these wireless sensor networks confront a lot of constraints. The major constraint is related to the quality of information sent by the network. The wireless sensor networks use different methods to achieve data to the base station. Data aggregation is an important one, used by these wireless sensor networks. But this aggregated data can be subject to several types of attacks and provides security is necessary to resist against malicious attacks, secure communication between severely resource constrained sensor nodes while maintaining the flexibility of the topology changes. Recently, several secure data aggregation schemes have been proposed for wireless sensor networks, it provides better security compared with traditional aggregation. In this paper, we try to focus on giving a brief statement of the various approaches used for the purpose of secure data aggregation in wireless sensor networks.
Enabling social WEB for IoT inducing ontologies from social tagging
Authors: Alruqimi Mohammed , Aknin Noura
Published: April 2019

Semantic domain ontologies are increasingly seen as the key for enabling interoperability across heterogeneous systems and sensor-based applications. The ontologies deployed in these systems and applications are developed by restricted groups of domain experts and not by semantic web experts. Lately, folksonomies are increasingly exploited in developing ontologies. The “collective intelligence”, which emerge from collaborative tagging can be seen as an alternative for the current effort at semantic web ontologies. However, the uncontrolled nature of social tagging systems leads to many kinds of noisy annotations, such as misspellings, imprecision and ambiguity. Thus, the construction of formal ontologies from social tagging data remains a real challenge. Most of researches have focused on how to discover relatedness between tags rather than producing ontologies, much less domain ontologies. This paper proposed an algorithm that utilises tags in social tagging systems to automatically generate up-to-date specific-domain ontologies. The evaluation of the algorithm, using a dataset extracted from BibSonomy, demonstrated that the algorithm could effectively learn a domain terminology, and identify more meaningful semantic information for the domain terminology. Furthermore, the proposed algorithm introduced a simple and effective method for disambiguating tags.Semantic domain ontologies are increasingly seen as the key for enabling interoperability across heterogeneous systems and sensor-based applications. The ontologies deployed in these systems and applications are developed by restricted groups of domain experts and not by semantic web experts. Lately, folksonomies are increasingly exploited in developing ontologies. The “collective intelligence”, which emerge from collaborative tagging can be seen as an alternative for the current effort at semantic web ontologies. However, the uncontrolled nature of social tagging systems leads to many kinds of noisy annotations, such as misspellings, imprecision and ambiguity. Thus, the construction of formal ontologies from social tagging data remains a real challenge. Most of researches have focused on how to discover relatedness between tags rather than producing ontologies, much less domain ontologies. This paper proposed an algorithm that utilises tags in social tagging systems to automatically generate up-to-date specific-domain ontologies. The evaluation of the algorithm, using a dataset extracted from BibSonomy, demonstrated that the algorithm could effectively learn a domain terminology, and identify more meaningful semantic information for the domain terminology. Furthermore, the proposed algorithm introduced a simple and effective method for disambiguating tags.
A survey of arabic text classification models
Authors: Al Sbou Ahed M. F.
Published: April 2019

There is a huge content of Arabic text available over online that requires an organization of these texts. As result, here are many applications of natural languages processing (NLP) that concerns with text organization. One of the is text classification (TC). TC helps to make dealing with unorganized text. However, it is easier to classify them into suitable class or labels. This paper is a survey of Arabic text classification. Also, it presents comparison among different methods in the classification of Arabic texts, where Arabic text is represented a complex text due to its vocabularies. Arabic language is one of the richest languages in the world, where it has many linguistic bases. The research in Arabic language processing is very few compared to English. As a result, these problems represent challenges in the classification, and organization of specific Arabic text. Text classification (TC) helps to access the most documents, or information that has already classified into specific classes, or categories to one or more classes or categories. In addition, classification of documents facilitate search engine to decrease the amount of document to, and then to become easier to search and matching with queries.
A new complexity reduction methods of V-BLAST MIMO system in a communication channel
Authors: Panda Sunita , Samantaray Rosalin , Mohapatra Pradyumna Ku. , Panda R.N. , Sahu Padma
Published: April 2019

To design most reliable wireless communication system we need an efficient method which can be proposed in this paper is V-BLAST technique which is most powerful tool in MIMO system. To improve the channel capacity and data rate efficiently we need manifold antennas together with the transmitter and receiver. In this paper we have analyzed different equalizers performance using V-BLAST algorithm. We have proposed two methods i.e. low complexity QR algorithm and another is consecutive iterations reduction method. This methods compare with traditional finding methods such as ZF, MMSE, SIC and ML. The proposed algorithm shows that it not only reduce the computational complexity but we can achieve significant bit error rate (BER) and probability error compared to traditional VBLAST techniques.
Recent trends in big data using hadoop
Authors: Kaushal Chetna , Koundal Deepika
Published: April 2019

Big data refers to huge set of data which is very common these days due to the increase of internet utilities. Data generated from social media is a very common example for the same. This paper depicts the summary on big data and ways in which it has been utilized in all aspects. Data mining is radically a mode of deriving the indispensable knowledge from extensively vast fractions of data which is quite challenging to be interpreted by conventional methods. The paper mainly focuses on the issues related to the clustering techniques in big data. For the classification purpose of the big data, the existing classification algorithms are concisely acknowledged and after that, k-nearest neighbor algorithm is discreetly chosen among them and described along with an example. 
Randomized scheduling algorithm for virtual output queuing switch at the presence of non-uniform traffic
Authors: Ghiasian Ali , Jamali Majid
Published: April 2019

Virtual Output Queuing (VOQ) is a well-known queuing discipline in data switch architecture that eliminates Head Of Line (HOL) blocking issue. In VOQ scheme, for each output port, a separate FIFO is maintained by each input port. Consequently, a scheduling algorithm is required to determine the order of service to virtual queues at each time slot. Maximum Weight Matching (MWM) is a well-known scheduling algorithm that achieves the entire throughput region. Despite of outstanding attainable throughput, high complexity of MWM makes it an impractical algorithm for implementation in high-speed switches. To overcome this challenge, a number of randomized algorithms have been proposed in the literature. But they commonly perform poorly when input traffic does not uniformly select output ports. In this paper, we propose two randomized algorithms that outperform the well-known formerly proposed solutions. We exploit a method to keep a parametric number of heavy edges from the last time matching and mix it by randomly generated matching to produce a new schedule. Simulation results confirm the superior performance of the proposed algorithms.
Predicting heart ailment in patients with varying number of features using data mining techniques
Authors: Mary T R Stella , Sebastian Shoney
Published: April 2019

Data mining can be defined as a process of extracting unknown, verifiable and possibly helpful data from information. Among the various ailments, heart ailment is one of the primary reason behind death of individuals around the globe, hence in order to curb this, a detailed analysis is done using Data Mining. Many a times we limit ourselves with minimal attributes that are required to predict a patient with heart disease. By doing so we are missing on a lot of important attributes that are main causes for heart diseases. Hence, this research aims at considering almost all the important features affecting heart disease and performs the analysis step by step with minimal to maximum set of attributes using Data Mining techniques to predict heart ailments. The various classification methods used are Naïve Bayes classifier, Random Forest and Random Tree which are applied on three datasets with different number of attributes but with a common class label. From the analysis performed, it shows that there is a gradual increase in prediction accuracies with the increase in the attributes irrespective of the classifiers used and Naïve Bayes and Random Forest algorithms comparatively outperforms with these sets of data.
Morbidity Pattern among Out-Patients Attending Urban Health Training Centre in Srinagar
Authors: Kumar Santosh , Ali Haroon , Singh Amit Kumar , Raj Abhishek
Published: April 2019

The current study was designed to identify the morbidity pattern of out-patients attending Urban Health Training Centre in an urban area of a medical college in Srinagar, Pauri Garhwal district, Uttarakhand, North India. The present study record-based retrospective study was conducted among the out-patients attending the regular clinic at the Urban Health Training Centre, of a medical college in Srinagar city of Uttarakhand State of North India during the study period of one year in 2014. Data was retrieved from the OPD registers maintained at the clinic. Data was collected pertaining to socio-demographic profile, morbidity details and treatment pattern. Diseases were identified using the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) code. Descriptive analysis was done.  During the study period, a total of 9343 subjects attended the OPD. Among them, majority of them (60%) were females. More than half (56 %) belonged to the age group of 35-65 year age-group. The association of disease classification was found to be statistically significant with respect to gender. The leading morbidity of communicable disease was found to be certain infectious and parasitic diseases especially Typhoid whereas musculoskeletal system and connective tissue disorders were the most common cause among morbidity due to NCDs. Out of all, typhoid was found to cause maximum of morbidity among the subjects. The present study highlights the morbidity pattern of communicable and NCDs among the population of hilly areas of Garhwal, Uttarakhand India. Priority should be preferred for the regular tracking of diseases in terms of preventive and promotive aspects. Morbidity in the out- door clinics reflects the emerging trend of mixed disease spectrum burden comprising communicable and non-communicable diseases.
Dietary Nutrient Intake and Obesity Prevalence among Native American Adolescents
Authors: Dai Hanchu , Song Randy , Barth Margaret , Zheng Shasha
Published: April 2019

The prevalence of obesity among adolescent minority populations has been long recognized, but little research has been done on Native Americans adolescents. Using anthropometric measurements and dietary assessments, the findings within each study have shown to obtain baseline measures to determine the prevalence of obesity within the Sherman Indian High School’s Native American adolescent population. Data of each assessment appear to be of use for predicting obesity and creating effective future interventions. Compiling data using the Harvard School of Public Health Youth/Adolescent Questionnaire (HSPH YAQ), a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire allowed significant data to be found between normal and obese weight students. Utilizing each finding allows more effective ways of targeting and reversing the inclining rate of obesity among Native American adolescents. Results show that antioxidants being examined on such as vitamin E and lycopene are beneficial in lowering the obesity rate among Native American adolescents. Levels of fiber, thiamin and folate consumption was significantly lower among the obese population in Sherman Indian High School’s Native American adolescents. Moreover, dietary mineral intake was shown to be lower among obese Native American adolescents comparing with the normal weight group. The results suggested that dietary consumption of these nutrients might correlate and predict obesity and lead to the development of effective interventions for Native Americans. This study also found the effects of total fiber and vitamin B in diets with lifestyle intervention in prediabetic adults, showing that total fiber intake among the normal weight students is significantly higher than obese students, indicating that fiber and vitamin profile could be important determinants of the effect of dietary intervention.
Patient Safety Culture Status and Its Predictors among Healthcare Workers
Authors: Mitiku Mengistu , Aregay Alemseged , Hailu Tesfay
Published: April 2019

Good patient safety culture of healthcare professionals brings about fine consequences for patients. This study, therefore, aimed in evaluating the current status and predictors of safety culture among healthcare workers in Mekelle Zone hospitals, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 325 healthcare workers in three hospitals of Mekelle city from February to May, 2017. Simple random sampling technique was employed to select study subjects. Data was analyzed using SPSS. Logistic regression was used to determine the predictors of patient safety culture among healthcare workers at 95% confidence level and 5% level of significance. Statistical significance was set at p <0.05. Of the 325 Healthcare workers, 21.6% rated the culture of patient safety as satisfactory and 78.4% rated as unsatisfactory. Old aged healthcare workers (AOR=21.9, 95% of CI: 2.51-61.69) and ‘hospital management support for patient safety’ (AOR=2.68, 95% CI=1.06-6.79) were strong predictor of satisfactory patient safety culture. Satisfactory patient safety culture grade obtained was only 21.6%, indicating that health care professionals are not delivering patient centered service and there is a lot of work to be done in the hospitals to improve culture of patient safety among healthcare workers. 
Sustainability Capacity of HIV Programs in National Capital Region, Philippines
Authors: B. Cawaling Euris John , Cunanan Dennise U. , Bernarte Racidon P.
Published: April 2019

Across all the regions in the Philippines, the National Capital Region (NCR) got the highest percentage (37%) for HIV newly diagnosed cases based from  the July-August 2017 HIV/AIDS and ART Registry of the Philippines’ report. The National HIV, AIDS, and STI Prevention and Control Program (NASPCP) of the Department of Health (DOH) lead the different health services in the prevention of HIV transmission. Anchored with the NASPCP, different HIV programs of DOH’s selected partner institutions and organizations within NCR continuously exist. However, due to the increase on the number of newly diagnosed HIV cases in the country, ensuring its sustainability through assessing the different domains of their program was in need to be studied. This article was based from an undergraduate thesis study which aimed to assess the sustainability capacity of HIV programs among DOH’s selected partner institutions and organizations within NCR, Philippines, scoping the eight domains specifically the environmental support, funding stability, partnerships, organizational capacity, program evaluation, program adaptation, communications, and strategic planning. The study used a quantitative approach; 17 government institutions specifically city health offices and 13 non-government HIV-related organizations for a total of 30 respondents. Survey method was utilized using the standardized Program Sustainability Assessment Tool adapted from the Washington University in St. Louis. Based from the results and findings of the study, generally, all the domains were leaning either in great and greater extent as verbally interpreted. From the conclusion, all the domains of the HIV programs of the respondents were sustainable. However, the study recommended to the DOH and all the HIV program implementers the developed and proposed narrative-type action plan. By that means, future researchers can assess again and see if the NCR achieved the vision of the Health Sector Plan for HIV and STI for the year 2015-2020 to have zero new infections, zero discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths.
The Effect of Kangaroo Mother Care Method toward Weight Gain and Length of Stay among Low Birth Weight Baby
Authors: Muliani Muliani , Lisnawati Lisnawati
Published: April 2019

Infant mortality needs to get serious attention. Special efforts are relatively easy and inexpensive in the handling and care is through treatment methods can improve the stability ofKangaroo Mother Care(KMC) for babies and breastfeeding.The effort hopefully will contribute to weight gain which take effect on the duration of treatment. The study design was Quasi Experiment with Prepost one group design. Samples were mothers with a history of low birth weight deliveries, with sample selection technique in consecutive sampling and sample number 36 babies. The samples criteria were infants birth weight between 1,000-2,100 gr, weight of infant when KMC was started between 900-2,100 gr, weight of infants post KMC were
 1,300-2,500 gr, babies born with premature or small period of pregnancy. KMC method has the potential to improve the Weight on Low Birth Weight (LBW).Duration of KMC has no effect on weight gain but can accelerate the length of LBW in hospital. The longer do KMC, the shorter duration of hospital LBW in hospital. LBW should be treated KMC to accelerate weight gain and reducing the length of hospitalization. 
Trajectory and Determinant of Functional Independence among Patient with Traumatic and Non-Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury
Authors: Sakti Yudha Mathan , Ferdiana Astri , Putramega Dananjaya , Lanodiyu Zikrina A. , Sakadewa Galih Prasetya , Magetsari Rahadyan
Published: April 2019

The level of functional independence was directly proportional to life satisfaction and quality of life in patients with spinal cord injury. By knowing the determinants that predict changes in functional independence, medical treatment and rehabilitation can be better planned to improve the patient’s quality of life. We conducted a prospective cohort study on 49 patients with spinal cord injury at Dr. Sardjito general hospital Yogyakarta from April to June 2016. The data were taken before patient underwent surgery, before discharged from the hospital, and 3 months after underwent surgery. We found that most common spinal cord injury was at the level of lumbar vertebra with 28 patients (58%). There was a positive trajectory of the patients with spinal cord injury with ASIA grade B-E classification. However, patients with spinal cord injury with ASIA classification grade A have a neutral trajectory.We conclude there was a positive trajectory between functional independence and traumatic or non-traumatic spinal cord injury except in patients with ASIA grade A classification spinal cord injury. The determinants that affected the trajectory of patients with spinal cord injury were the level of the injured vertebra and severity of the neurological deficit. 
The Role of Mindfulness and Self Compassion toward Depression among Pregnant Women
Authors: Fourianalistyawati Endang , Uswatunnisa Aisyah , Chairunnisa Alfira
Published: April 2019

Pregnant women tend to experience depression during pregnancy. This can affect mothers and babies’ health widely. Previous research has found that mindfulness and self-compassion can reduce depression in pregnant women in abroad, but it still no specific research on it in Indonesia. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to see the relationship and also the role of mindfulness and self-compassion toward depression in pregnant women. Participants in this study were 121 pregnant women who lived in the area of Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi. This study used Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) to measure mindfulness, Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) to measure self-compassion, and Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) to measure depression in pregnant women. The results of this study showed that three dimensions of mindfulness (describing, acting with awareness, and non-judging) and self-compassion as a whole had a significant relationship with depression. Then the results of multiple regression tests conducted to get results that describing dimensions of mindfulness and self-compassion have a role to depression in pregnant women.
Black Cumin Seed Oil Antidiabetogenic by Increasing Pancreatic P53 Expression
Authors: Akrom Akrom , Nurfadjrin Rizma , Darmawan Endang , Hidayati Titiek
Published: April 2019

Black cumin seed oil (BCSO) contains many thymoquinone and unsaturated fatty acids that act as antioxidants. Thymoquinone was thought to inhibit pancreatic damage and prevent hyperglycemia by involving p53. The study aimed to determine the BCSO effect on Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and p53 expression of pancreatic tissues in alloxan-induced Sprague Dawley (SD) rats. This study used Pre and Post Test with Control Group Design with 49 male Sprague Dawley rats aged 30 days weighing 150 - 300 gram. Rats were divided into 7 groups: Group I, the normal control group receiving standard feeding and drinking; Group II, the negative control group receiving alloxan; Group III & IV, the treatment groups, receiving BCSO with a dose of 6.9 mg/KgBW (BCSO6.8) and 68 mg/KgBW (BCSO68 group); Group V, the positive control 1 group receiving simvastatin 10 mg/KgBW; Group VI, the positive control 2 group receiving vitamin C 18 mg/200mgBW; Group VII, the solvent control receiving DMSO. The treatment groups received two different doses per day for 9 days orally. Blood MDA and glucose levels were determined by spectrophotometry and p53 expression of pancreas tissues were read by a pathologist. The results show that the BCSO68 group had a decreased activity of MDA and glucose but a higher expression of p53 in pancreatic tissues compared to the BCSO6.8 group. Decreased Malondialdehyde levels in the BCSO68 group were similar to those in the vitamin C group but lower than those in the simvastatin group (p<0.05). It can be concluded that the BCSO administration of 68 mg/KgBW per day can decrease blood Malondialdehyde and glucose levels and increase p53 expression. 
Quality of Care Received by Children from 1 to 23 Months: Realities in The City of Antananarivo
Authors: Randriatsarafara Fidiniaina Mamy , Rakotovao-Ravahatra Domoina Zafindrasoa , Ravaoarisoa Lantonirina , Faramalalatiana Rafanomezantsoa Ando , Marie Rakotomanga Jean De Dieu , Dieudonné Randrianarimanana Vahiniarison
Published: April 2019

Children's health depends on the proper care they receive from their mothers. This study aims to describe the quality of care received by children from 1 to 23 months in the city of Antananarivo. This is a cross-sectional and analytical study for a period from December 2016 to April 2017 in the city of Antananarivo which is the capital of Madagascar. The study population was made up of 420 mother-child dyads living in the city of Antananarivo. Regarding the care received by children, 47.6%, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) [42.8–52.4] benefit from quality nutrition care, 92.3%, 95% CI [89.8-94.8], have a social care and 45.5%, 95% CI [40.9–50.5] receive health care. The hygiene of life 66.4%, 95% CI [61.6–70.6] and the body hygiene 35.3%, 95% CI [30.6–39.8] improve as the child grows up. The care received by children was complete for the five types in 7.6%, 95% CI [5.1–10.1].  With regard to the profile of the mother, mothers under the age of 18 (OR=3.25, 95% CI [1.07-9.46]) and those who are single (OR=3.47, 95% CI [1.24-9.35]) offer more acceptable care to their infants. Infant care depends on the socio-economic and demographic profile of the mother. Thus, it is important to strengthen the communication strategy on infant first aid gestures and mothers' education on childcare.
Mercury or Mercury Free Restorations in Oral Cavity
Authors: Yadav Rakesh Kumar , Verma Umesh Pratap , Tiwari Rini , Chaurasia Akhilanand
Published: April 2019

Amalgam is basically a concoction of metals that has been used as a potent filling material in dentistry for the last 150 years. Amalgam usually consists of silver, mercury, tin and copper. Dental amalgam is a material used to fill cavities of tooth. Over the years, amalgam has become a topic of concern because it contains mercury. Mercury is a naturally occurring metal in the environment. Mercury exists as a liquid in room temperature but when heated, it becomes a gas. Flexibility of amalgam as a filling material is due Mercury. An alloy powder, a compound that is soft in nature when mixed with mercury makes it enough to mix and condense into the tooth. It hardens quickly and offers strong resistance to the forces of biting and chewing. There are studies reported on the safety of amalgam fillings. In 2005, European Union launched a comprehensive mercury strategy to reduce use of mercury. In 2008, countries like Norway and Denmark restricted the use of dental amalgam containing mercury. In 2009, this research was evaluated by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and found no rationale to limit the use of amalgam.  There are certain restorative materials that are available commercially that are mercury free in nature like Gold, Porcelain, Gallium alloys, Composite resin restoratives etc. They offer many advantages over amalgams containing mercury like: seals the dentin from future decay, reinforces remaining tooth structure, provides smooth and bonded margins, conservative and it blends naturally.
Acceptance of Health Information System for Public Health Centre in North Borneo, Indonesia
Authors: Kusumawati Nurul Irma , Sulistyawati Sulistyawati
Published: April 2019

This study sought the factor associated with own acceptance of HIS for PHC by using the modification of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in the Sebengkok PHC, Central Tarakan Subdistrict, Tarakan City, North Borneo, Indonesia. A cross-sectional approach was conducted through a survey on the 37 of PHC’s user. A set of questionnaires which was adopted from the previous research was used to collect the information from the participant. The model was developed by involving job relevance, output quality, result demonstrability, screen design, terminology, facilitating condition, perceived of usefulness, perceived ease of use, intention to use and system use (actual usage) as the construct. According to the hypothesis testing, perceived usefulness predicted by terminology, perceived ease of use is significantly predicted by screen design and terminology, perceived usefulness significantly predicts the intention of use and perceived ease of use, while system use which predicted considerably by the intention of use and facilitating condition. This study may have a contribution to the future improvement of HIS for PHC and guide the next coming research to dig the difference acceptance among the user. 
Role of Curcuma longa in the Management of Gingivitis
Authors: Verma Umesh Pratap , Abhaya Gupta , Disha Sharma
Published: April 2019

The most prevalent form of periodontal disease is gingivitis. The bleeding on probing, erythema, edema and ulceration are important signs of gingivitis. Previously conventional periodontal therapy has relied almost exclusively upon mechanical debridement of tooth surface. But as of today conventional periodontal therapy alone is not sufficient because pathogenic bacteria has been demonstrated not only in gingival tissue but even up to the crest of alveolar bone itself. Because of the side effect of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, the use of medicinal plants for treatment of this disease was advocated. Amongst the herbs, Curcuma longa belonges to family Zingiberaceae, commonly available in India and used in various domestic affairs popular as Haldi. The present study has been conducted with aims to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effect of extract of Curcuma longa as topical and irrigant in various concentrations (0.5&1%) on inflamed gingival tissue of patient with gingivitis.  All the subjects were divided into two groups.  Group one was control, Group two (Test Group) was further subdivided in to IIa and IIb. Results revealed the extract of Curcuma longa play a significant role in reducing the inflammatory response of the gingiva like reduced gingival score, bleeding on probing and probing depth.

 
Estimating Health Care Costs among Fragile and Conflict Affected States: An Elastic Net-Risk Measures Approach
Authors: Wunderlich Kevin , Thompson Emmanuel
Published: April 2019

Fragile and conflict affected states (FCAS) are those in which the government lacks the political will and/or capacity to provide the basic functions necessary for poverty reduction, economic development, and the security of human rights of their populations.Until recent history, unfortunately, the majority of research conducted and universal health care debates have been centered around middle income and emerging economies. As a result, FCAS have been neglected from many global discussions and decisions. Due to this neglect, many FCAS do not have proper vaccinations and antibiotics. Seemingly, well estimated health care costs are a necessary stepping stone in improving the health of citizens among FCAS. Fortunately, developments in statistical learning theory combined with data obtained by the WBG and Transparency International make it possible to accurately model health care cost among FCAS. The data used in this paper consisted of 35 countries and 89 variables. Of these 89 variables, health care expenditure (HCE) was the only response variable. With 88 predictor variables, there was expected to be multicollinearity, which occurs when multiple variables share relatively large absolute correlation. Since multicollinearity is expected and the number of variables is far greater than the number of observations, this paper adopts Zou and Hastie’s method of regularization via elastic net (ENET). In order to accurately estimate the maximum and expected maximum HCE among FCAS, well-known risk measures, such as Value at Risk and Conditional Value at Risk, and related quantities were obtained via Monte Carlo simulations. This paper obtained risk measures at 95 security level.
Compliance of Healthcare Workers with Hand Hygiene Practices in the Northeast of Iran: An Overt Observation
Authors: Nezhad Reza Vafaei , Yaghoubi Atieh , Ghazvini Kiarash
Published: April 2019

Hand hygiene (HH) is one of the most effective methods to prevent transmission and spread of microorganisms from one patient to another, also, it used to reduce the spread of pathogens in clinical settings and to help control outbreaks but compliance is usually poor. The purpose of this study was to analyze the compliance of hand hygiene and affecting factors among healthcare workers (HCWs) of northeast hospitals in Iran. This study was conducted based on observation method for the compliance of hand hygiene according to the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. HCWs were observed during routine patient care in different shifts, also the technique of hand hygiene was assessed through hand washing with alcohol-based disinfectant. Data were collected during 1 year, from June 2014 to July 2015 by the infection control teams in the northeast hospital of Iran. By direct observation, we evaluated a total of 92518 hand hygiene opportunities from 29 hospitals in the northeast of Iran during 1 year, with overall compliance rates in these hospitals were 43.42%. Compliance rates differed by role: nurses43%, doctors 19 % and other health workers 29%. In this observational study, we identified that adherence to hand hygiene practice and use of alcohol-based disinfectant was very low in this hospitals, so effective intervention programs to promote adherence to hand hygiene and use of disinfectants could be effective to increase compliance.
Knowledge and Attitudes on Fetal Anomalies among Pregnant Women in Teaching Hospital Mahamodara, Galle
Authors: Kanchana K.T.G. , Youhasan P.
Published: April 2019

Fetal anomalies significantly contribute towards neonatal mortality worldwide. In Sri Lanka major cause for neonatal deaths is fetal anomalies 41%. A Descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Antenatal clinic, Teaching Hospital, Mahamodara. An interviewer-administered, pretested questionnaire was used. Hundred and fifty pregnant women participated in this study. Majority; 105 (70%) were found in the age of below 30 years, and 80 (53.3%) educated up to G.C.E. Ordinary Level. 83 (53.3%) were multigravida and 93(62%) were planned pregnancies. Higher proportion of the participants; 92(61%) , 88(56.7%) and 123(82%) had good knowledge on the risk factors, pre conception care and on preventive actions related to birth defects respectively. Significant proportion (26.7%) had poor knowledge regarding birth defects. There are 143 (95.3%) of the participants interested to know more information on birth defects, 72% believed birth defects were due to evil spirits. Even though 52% of women did not want to terminate their pregnancy if they had a fetus with anomalies, 80.7% of them opined that the termination of pregnancy with birth defected should be legalized. The educational level, parity and planning of current pregnancy of the participants were significantly correlated (p < 0.05) with their knowledge on pre conception care, preventive actions, knowledge on risk factors on birth defects.
Risk Factors of Drug Abuse among Adolescence
Authors: Sofiana Liena , Musvita Ayu Suci , Wibowo Marsiana , Gustina Erni , Muhtori Satriawan Jaohandhy
Published: April 2019

Yogyakarta City, which is known as the center of education is a potential place for drug abuser to distribute illegal substance to the youth. It is evident in the great number of drug users in Yogyakarta City, in which 50% of them are adolescents and university students. The research aimed to know the relationships predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors and the drug abuse among adolescents in Yogyakarta City. The research employed cross sectional design. The samples were taken using multistage random cluster sampling. The data were taken through questionnaire given to 481 youth, at the age of 15-19 years in 18 senior high school and the equals in Yogyakarta City. The data were then analyzed using Chi Square test. Attitude, self-confidence, family role, and peer’s role are related to drug abuse. Knowledge, information sources, and teacher’s role are not related to drug abuse. 
Factors Influencing Utilization of Cervical Cancer Screening Services in Kenya: The Case of Nyeri County
Authors: Wangeci Gichogo Agnes , Macharia David
Published: April 2019

Globally, cervical cancer continues to be a major cause of mortality and morbidity among women with developing countries accounting for more than 86% of the deaths from the disease. In Kenya, cervical cancer ranks as the second most frequent cancer among women: regrettably, with 80% of the cases presented during the late stages of the disease when the scope of successful treatment is limited. An opportunity to prevent occurrence of cervical cancer exists through cervical cancer screening for early detection and treatment of precancerous lesions before these develop to cancer. However, only a negligible proportion of women benefit from cervical cancer screening services in developing countries, including Kenya. The purpose of this descriptive survey study was to determine the factors influencing utilization of cervical cancer screening services; and focused on the women seeking maternal and family planning services at Central Provincial General Hospital, Kenya. The study established that, as in most developing countries, utilization of cervical cancer screening services was low, regardless of the women’s education level, autonomy in decision making and even good family support. The low level of awareness on the need for screening services and the long waiting time at the clinic for those seeking the services were identified as the two key issues that negatively influenced the utilization of the screening services, It is therefore recommended that the Ministry of Health and other agencies, including individuals of good will, collaborate in designing and implementing awareness campaigns through the media and other appropriate avenues, including one-to-one encounters, targeting both men and women in the communities. It is also recommended that the male partners support their women in accessing this vital life-saving service.
Predicting Smoking Behaviors among Junior High School Students in Ghana
Authors: Thompson Emmanuel , Sofo Seidu
Published: April 2019

Despite the rising rate of smoking in sub-Sahara African countries, measures to control the tobacco epidemic have been limited to developed countries. The purpose of the present study was to recommend predictive models for determining predictors of smoking tendencies among junior high school students in Ghana. The 2009 Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) served as the data source. The GYTS is a school-based survey designed to enhance the ability of countries to monitor tobacco use among youth and to guide the implementation and evaluation of tobacco control and prevention programs. Logit model and forward selection were used to choose predictive variables for smoking tendencies and behaviors. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve, Area under the curve (AUC) and C-Index were validation tools used to assess the predictive power of recommended models. Results showed promising potential for different predictive models: where students smoked, having friends who smoked, having people smoke in their presence, chewing tobacco products, and a student’s sex significantly predicted their smoking tendencies. 
Parasitism by Nematopsis sp. (Apicomplexa: Eugregarinida) in Mytella guyanensis at the Marine Extractive Reserve Baía do Iguape, Bahia, Brazil
Authors: Camilo Valéria Macedo Almeida , Souza Jamille Da Conceição , Freitas Fernanda De , Miranda Felipe Silva de , Campiolo Sofia , Boehs Guisla
Published: April 2019

Several studies show the presence of protozoa of the genus Nematopsis Schneider, 1892, in many species of bivalves. The pathogenicity of this Apicomplexa is still much debated, which is possibly related to the parasitism degree and host habitat. In this context, this study investigated parasitism by Nematopsis sp. in Mytella guyanensis (Bivalvia: Mytilidae) in a mangrove of the Marine Extractive Reserve Baía do Iguape, Bahia, Brazil. The collections were made monthly, from March 2014 to March 2015, consisting of 30 adults with shell height above 40 mm per month, totaling 360 specimens. The specimens were measured, weighed, opened, and macroscopically examined for identifying parasites and/or signs of morphological changes. After that, they were fixed in Davidson’s solution and processed according to classical histological techniques, with inclusion in paraffin, obtaining 5 μm-thick sections by microtomy, and stained by Harris’ Hematoxylin and Eosin (HE). The water temperature ranged from 25.5 to 33.6 ºC and the salinity from 21.1 to 34.3 Practical Salinity Units (PSU). The specimens measured between 41.1 and 68.6 mm and had an average weight of 7.24 g. Macroscopically, there was no presence of the parasite or any morphological changes related its presence. The frequency percentage of Nematopsis sp. was 99.45%. The mantle was the organ with the highest frequency of infection (46.26%), followed by the gonads (18.36%). Among the analyzed organs, all presented the parasite and, in a few severely infected cases, microscopical changes were observed in the mantle conformation. The infection intensity for most of the sessions analyzed was 1 to 3 oocysts/phagocyte; however, in one of the sessions, 9 oocysts/phagocytes were recorded. The parasite had a negative correlation with salinity. The high frequency of Nematopsis sp. should be considered for the sustainability of natural stocks, especially if such parasitism occurs simultaneously with other pathogens and stressful environmental conditions.
Dor, Dort e doenças cardiovasculares em profissionais do SAMU 192 de Porto Alegre/RS
Authors: Chaise Fabiana de Oliveira , Furlanetto Tássia Silveira , Candotti Cláudia Tarragô , Kasten Ana Paula , Vieira Adriane , Paiva Luciana Laureano
Published: April 2019

Objetivo: identificar a prevalência de dor musculoesquelética, distúrbios osteomusculares relacionadas ao trabalho (Dort), doenças cardiovasculares (DCV) e fatores associados em profissionais do SAMU 192 em Porto Alegre/RS. Métodos: 113 trabalhadores (37% da equipe do SAMU de Porto Alegre) responderam a um questionário de hábitos relacionados ao trabalho, riscos ocupacionais e aparecimento de DCV e Dort. A análise estatística foi realizada com tabelas de frequência, teste qui-quadrado e razões de prevalência – intervalo de confiança de 95% (IC 95%) – por meio de análise multivariável (modelo de regressão de Poisson), com α=0,05. Resultados: Todos os participantes estavam na condição de sobrepeso e apresentavam alta prevalência de dor (92,9%) e Dort (50,4%) e baixa prevalência de DCV (8,8%). A idade contribuiu para o aumento no risco de aparecimento da dor. Os fatores associados ao aparecimento da Dort foram exposição a frio, calor e vibrações, esforço físico, ausência de pausa nas atividades, profissão, regime de trabalho e estresse. A ligação entre os fatores associados e DCV não foi possível devido à baixa prevalência de DCV entre os trabalhadores. Conclusão: os profissionais do SAMU apresentaram alta prevalência de dor e Dort e baixa prevalência de DCV.