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Waste Management & Research : the... Aug 2023All countries recognize the importance of enhancing circular resource utilization and promoting zero waste in order to achieve a circular economy. This study focuses on...
All countries recognize the importance of enhancing circular resource utilization and promoting zero waste in order to achieve a circular economy. This study focuses on 22 counties (cities) in Taiwan and analyses the relationship between changes in resource recovery efficiency and productivity over an 8-year period (2011-2018) using the super efficiency directional distance function and total factor productivity. The results indicate that the average total efficiency of resource recovery in the 22 counties (cities) is 1.3951, with 17 counties (cities) exceeding 1. The average gross productivity of resource recovery is 1.0417, and only four counties have a gross productivity of less than 1. Despite having more administrative resources, municipalities directly under the central government have a slightly lower average total efficiency of resource recovery (1.1464) than non-municipalities (1.4885). To improve efficiency, the government should allocate resources rationally and upgrade technology. The study's findings can serve as a reference for the 22 counties (cities) in Taiwan and provide guidance for municipal governments worldwide in developing policies related to resource recovery.
PubMed: 37606303
DOI: 10.1177/0734242X231191973 -
Health Promotion Perspectives 2023Adolescents' sleep deteriorated over the last decades, urging the need to develop effective interventions. Using participatory action research (PAR) is a promising and...
BACKGROUND
Adolescents' sleep deteriorated over the last decades, urging the need to develop effective interventions. Using participatory action research (PAR) is a promising and unique approach to target adolescents' sleep. This study aims to describe the process and results of combining PAR and intervention mapping (IM) to guide future researchers on developing and planning of the implementation and evaluation of interventions promoting healthy sleep in adolescents.
METHODS
In each of three intervention schools (two with general and technical education and one with technical and vocational education), an action team including adolescents (age 13- 15 years, n=max. 12) and a researcher was composed to develop and plan the intervention. During weekly sessions (n=ranging from 23 to 34 per school), the action team went through the six steps of IM. A short PAR was performed with parents (n=7) to develop parental intervention components.
RESULTS
Combining PAR and IM resulted in interventions focusing on the importance of healthy sleep, regular sleep patterns and associated behaviors: screen behaviors, physical activity, dietary behavior and relaxation. Several differences in the participatory process (i.e. more guidance needed during brainstorms in the vocational/technical school) and developed intervention (i.e. less intrusive intervention components in the vocational/technical school) were observed between schools.
CONCLUSION
Combining PAR with IM resulted in more extensive interventions than other existing school-based sleep interventions. Future studies should investigate whether a participatory developed sleep intervention could be transferred to another setting using a shorter participatory process.
PubMed: 38235009
DOI: 10.34172/hpp.2023.37 -
Turkish Journal of Pharmaceutical... Nov 2023Chemical neurotransmission, managed by neurotransmitters, has a crucial role in brain processes such as fear, memory, learning, and pain, or neuropathology such as...
OBJECTIVES
Chemical neurotransmission, managed by neurotransmitters, has a crucial role in brain processes such as fear, memory, learning, and pain, or neuropathology such as schizophrenia, epilepsy, anxiety/depression, and Parkinson's disease. The measurement of these compounds is used to elucidate the disease mechanisms and evaluate the outcomes of therapeutic interventions. However, this can be quite difficult because of various matrix effects and the problems of chromatographic separation of analysts. In the current study; for the first time, an optimized and fully validated high-performance liquid chromatography-electrochemical detection (HPLC-EC) method according to Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency Bioanalytical Validation Guidance was developed for the simultaneous analysis of nine neurotransmitter compounds, namely dopamine, homovanilic acid, vanilmandelic acid, serotonin (SER), 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenylglycol, norepinephrine, 3,4 dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, and 3-methoxytyramine and simultaneously determined in rat brain samples.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Separation was achieved with 150 mm x 4.6 mm, 2.6 μm Kinetex F5 (Phenomenex, USA) column isocratically, and analysis was carried out by HPLC equipped with a DECADE II EC detector.
RESULTS
The method exhibited good selectivity, and the correlation coefficient values for each analyte's calibration curves were > 0.99. The detection and quantification limits ranged from 0.01 to 0.03 ng/mL and 3.04 to 9.13 ng/mL, respectively. The stability of the analyses and method robustness were also examined in detail in the study, and the obtained results are presented statistically.
CONCLUSION
The developed and fully validated method has been successfully applied to actual rat brain samples, and important results have been obtained. In the rat brain sample analysis, the lowest number of SER and the highest amount of noradrenaline were found.
PubMed: 37933822
DOI: 10.4274/tjps.galenos.2022.06606 -
Current Oncology (Toronto, Ont.) Jul 2023Cancer is a rapidly rising cause of morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. Cervical cancer, in particular, is still one of the leading causes of mortality for...
BACKGROUND
Cancer is a rapidly rising cause of morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. Cervical cancer, in particular, is still one of the leading causes of mortality for women in this setting. The uptake of healthcare services is in part influenced by patients' belief systems. We sought to better understand the perception of cancer in the Kom tribe of Northwest Cameroon.
METHODS
A qualitative research study was completed using a semi-structured interview guide and one-on-one interviews with 45 parents of girls aged 9-14 years. These girls were candidates for free HPV vaccination to prevent cervical cancer. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using ATLAS.ti 9.
RESULTS
Thirty-five mothers and ten fathers with a median age of 42 yo were interviewed from Mbingo, Belo, Njinikom, and Fundong. Half of the parents were farmers, with three being herbalists or traditional medicine doctors. Seventy-seven percent had either no or only primary school education. None had had cancer. All knew at least one person with cancer. The most common word for cancer in the Kom language is "". It can refer to a bad infection or cancer. The occurrence of is the result of either a curse placed on you, ancestral retribution, or transgressing the (snail shell spoken over and usually placed in a garden). The implications are that treatment of must involve the traditional doctor who determines the spiritual issue and prescribes a remedy (like a herb or tea) and/or an incantation. Within the context of cancer, this can lead to a delay in diagnosis until the disease is no longer curable by conventional therapies.
CONCLUSION
Ways to bridge biomedical healthcare services and traditional medicine are needed, especially in tribal contexts where the latter is an integral part of daily life.
Topics: Humans; Adolescent; Female; Nuclear Family; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms; Cameroon; Parents
PubMed: 37623000
DOI: 10.3390/curroncol30080519 -
BMC Health Services Research Sep 2023This study aimed to explore the experiences and needs of (ex-)welfare benefit recipients from a large urban municipality in the Netherlands regarding their...
BACKGROUND
This study aimed to explore the experiences and needs of (ex-)welfare benefit recipients from a large urban municipality in the Netherlands regarding their welfare-to-work services and their case workers.
METHODS
Quantitative data from a client satisfaction survey that was filled out by 213 people (response rate 11%) who received welfare-to-work services was combined with results from four group interviews with a total of 15 people receiving welfare-to-work services. Verbatim transcripts from the interviews were analysed using inductive thematic analysis.
RESULTS
The survey results showed that most clients were reasonably satisfied with the welfare-to-work services they received. Four main themes emerged from the interviews: (1) experiences and needs related to the interactions between case workers and benefit recipients; (2) the need for tailored services; (3) the complicating role of the system the case workers operate within; and (4) the existence of differences between case workers regarding how strict they followed the rules and to what extent they connected with their clients on a personal level.
CONCLUSIONS
Our findings show that clients were reasonably satisfied with the welfare-to-work services provided by their municipality but that there is still room for improvement. Case workers should have good social skills to build a trusting relationship with the client, welfare-to-work services should be tailored to the individual, and clear concise information should be given to welfare benefit recipients, especially with regard to what benefit recipients can expect of the municipality and the case workers, given their dual role in supporting (re-)integration to work and monitoring benefit eligibility.
Topics: Humans; Netherlands; Patient Satisfaction; Trust; Vulnerable Populations
PubMed: 37710259
DOI: 10.1186/s12913-023-09954-y -
Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of... Jul 2023Bamboo fiber-reinforced composites (BFRC) have gradually attracted the interest of researchers due to their excellent mechanical properties. However, the age factor can...
Bamboo fiber-reinforced composites (BFRC) have gradually attracted the interest of researchers due to their excellent mechanical properties. However, the age factor can affect these composites' mechanical properties and weaken them. This study aims to explore the mechanical properties of BFRC subjected different aging tests. First, the BFRC is prepared from raw bamboo through a series of technological processes. Second, the BFRC sheets are processed into tensile and compressive samples with different directions. Third, the samples are treated with a cold-hot test and a UV dry-wet test, respectively. Finally, quasi-static experiments are carried out to study the mechanical properties of aged BFRC. The results reveal that the BFRC has significant anisotropy. The tensile strength of BFRC parallel with the axis of the reinforcing fiber is as high as 148.53 MPa. It is 26.47 times greater than the tensile strength of BFRC perpendicular to the axis of the reinforcing fiber. The mechanical responses and SEM images show that the UV dry-wet test significantly affects on the BFRC compared to the cold-hot test. It dramatically reduces the mechanical properties of the BFRC. The SEM images further indicate that cracks occur on the surface of BFRC samples under the UV dry-wet test. In addition, two aging tests have an interactive effect on BFRC, which can reduce the sensitivity of BFRC to a UV dry-wet environment. These results are expected to deepen the understanding of the mechanical properties of BFRC and provide guidance for its applicable conditions.
Topics: Stress, Mechanical; Materials Testing; Surface Properties; Tensile Strength
PubMed: 37150136
DOI: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2023.105869 -
Journal of the College of Physicians... Jun 2024Null.
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Topics: Humans; Career Choice; Vocational Guidance; Dentistry
PubMed: 38840367
DOI: 10.29271/jcpsp.2024.06.745 -
Nutrition, Metabolism, and... Sep 2023The involvement of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-2 (IGFBP-2) following acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is rarely...
BACKGROUND AND AIM
The involvement of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-2 (IGFBP-2) following acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is rarely studied in clinical practice. Therefore, we sought to evaluate the relationship between IGF-1 and IGFBP-2 concentrations at admission and risk stratification based on the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) risk score in patients with ACS.
METHODS AND RESULTS
In all, 304 patients diagnosed with ACS were included in this study. Plasma IGF-1 and IGFBP-2 were measured using commercially available ELISA kits. The TIMI risk score was calculated and the study population was stratified into high (n = 65), medium (n = 138), and low (n = 101) risk groups. Levels of IGF-1 and IGFBP-2 were analyzed for their predictive ability of risk stratification based on the TIMI risk scores. Correlation analysis showed that IGF-1 levels were negatively correlated with TIMI risk levels (r = -0.144, p = 0.012), while IGFBP-2 levels were significantly and positively correlated with TIMI risk levels (r = 0.309, p < 0.001). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, IGF-1 (odds ratio [OR]: 0.995; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.990-1.000; p = 0.043) and IGFBP-2 (OR: 1.002; 95%CI: 1.001-1.003; p < 0.001) were independent predictors of high TIMI risk levels. In receiver operating characteristic curves, the area under the curve values for IGF-1 and IGFBP-2 in the prediction of high TIMI risk levels were 0.605 and 0.723, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS
IGF-1 and IGFBP-2 levels are excellent biomarkers for risk stratification in patients with ACS, which provides further guidance for clinicians to identify patients at high risk and to lower their risk.
Topics: Humans; Acute Coronary Syndrome; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; Prospective Studies; Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 2; Biomarkers; Myocardial Infarction; Risk Assessment
PubMed: 37414657
DOI: 10.1016/j.numecd.2023.05.030 -
BMJ Open Oct 2023This study investigated the experiences of front-line healthcare workers who had been in close contact with COVID-19 patients and had been quarantined in order to...
BACKGROUND
This study investigated the experiences of front-line healthcare workers who had been in close contact with COVID-19 patients and had been quarantined in order to provide guidance on quarantine measures with more humanistic care when dealing with future public health emergencies.
METHODS
We conducted a qualitative study using semistructured, qualitative, in-depth interviews between April and June 2022. The interviews were recorded and transcribed, followed by a thematic analysis. The study followed the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research.
RESULTS
This study identified the following four themes: (1) personal psychological changes, (2) increased reflection on life and work during quarantine, (3) the important role of others' support and (4) different types of demands during quarantine and isolation. Each theme is supported by several subthemes that further illustrate the participants' experiences.
CONCLUSIONS
Quarantine of close contacts is necessary to prevent outbreaks. Front-line doctors and nurses are at a greater risk of COVID-19 infection than others. The results showed the psychological reactions of ordinary close contacts, and the unique feelings and experiences of doctors and nurses during the epidemic. Therefore, future research should cooperate with multiple departments to assess their needs, provide them with individualised care and love and give them incentives in order to reduce their psychological burden, improve their quality of life and allow them to engage in healthcare with a healthy mind.
Topics: Humans; COVID-19; Quarantine; Quality of Life; Health Personnel; Qualitative Research
PubMed: 37865408
DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-073868 -
Journal of Dental Education May 2024Dental faculty enter academia, after a career in practice or directly from school, without any formal education training. Faculty development programs have been designed...
PURPOSE
Dental faculty enter academia, after a career in practice or directly from school, without any formal education training. Faculty development programs have been designed based on survey needs assessments, but not on in-depth descriptions of junior faculty transition experiences. The purpose of this research project is to describe the transition experiences of dental faculty from clinician to educator within the last 5 years.
METHODS
A qualitative multiple case study approach from an emic perspective was used. An emic approach is an analysis from the perspective of one who participates in the group being studied. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 12 junior dental faculty. Thematic analysis identified common themes in the data through the lens of the social cognitive career theory.
RESULTS
Three salient themes were extracted from the data: guidance, job satisfaction, and motivating factors. Guidance was the main theme with participants revealing their need for more formal preparation regarding teaching, formal mentorship, and career progression goals. Participants find academia highly rewarding, and a unique finding was that physical injury was a major factor to entering academia.
CONCLUSION
This study reveals that junior dental faculty members feel unprepared for their teaching role and highlights the benefits of mentorship in helping them develop their vocational goals and advance their careers. This study illuminates why clinicians choose to leave clinical practice, the preparation they receive, the areas in which they feel unprepared, and how they develop their teaching skills. These insights can help academic institutions better support their faculty and improve student learning outcomes.
PubMed: 38795324
DOI: 10.1002/jdd.13587