Abstract: Client expectations and preferences about therapy
represent an important area of investigation as research shows they
are linked to engagement in therapy and therapy outcomes. Studies
examining young people-s expectations and preferences of therapy
remain a neglected area of research. The present study explored what
expectations and preferences young people seeking professional help
held regarding: their role as a client, their therapist-s role, their
therapeutic outcomes, and the processes of therapy. Gender and age
differences were also examined. Participants included 188 young
people aged 12-25 who completed a survey while attending their
initial session at a youth mental health service. Data were analysed
using quantitative methods. Results found the young people held
significantly more pessimistic expectations around therapy when
compared to what they had wanted therapy to be like. Few age and
gender differences were found. Results highlight the importance of a
collaborative therapy approach when working with young people.
Abstract: Biological, psychological and social experiences and
perceptions of healthcare services in patients medically diagnosed of
coronary heart disease were investigated using a sample of 10
participants whose responses to the in-depth interview questions
were analyzed based on inter-and-intra-case analyses. The results
obtained revealed that advancing age, single status, divorce and/or
death of spouse and the issue of single parenting negatively impacted
patients- biopsychosocial experiences. The patients- experiences of
physical signs and symptoms, anxiety and depression, past serious
medical conditions, use of self-prescribed medications, family
history of poor mental/medical or physical health, nutritional
problems and insufficient physical activities heightened their risk of
coronary attack. Collectivist culture served as a big source of relieve
to the patients. Patients- temperament, experience of different
chronic life stresses/challenges, mood alteration, regular drinking,
smoking/gambling, and family/social impairments compounded their
health situation. Patients were satisfied with the biomedical services
rendered by the healthcare personnel, whereas their psychological
and social needs were not attended to. Effective procedural treatment
model, a holistic and multidimensional approach to the treatment of
heart disease patients was proposed.
Abstract: A good green building design project, designers should consider not only energy consumption, but also healthy and comfortable needs of inhabitants. In recent years, the Taiwan government paid attentions on both carbon reduction and indoor air quality issues, which be presented in the legislation of Building Codes and other regulations. Taiwan located in hot and humid climates, dampness in buildings leads to significant microbial pollution and building damage. This means that the high temperature and humidity present a serious indoor air quality issue. The interactions between vapor transfers and energy fluxes are essential for the whole building Heat Air and Moisture (HAM) response. However, a simulation tool with short calculation time, property accuracy and interface is needed for practical building design processes. In this research, we consider the vapor transfer phenomenon of building materials as well as temperature and humidity and energy consumption in a building space. The simulation bases on the EMPD method, which was performed by EnergyPlus, a simulation tool developed by DOE, to simulate the indoor moisture variation in a one-zone residential unit based on the Effective Moisture Penetration Depth Method, which is more suitable for practical building design processes.
Abstract: This paper aims at overviewing the topics of a research project (CARDIOSENSOR) on the field of health sciences (biomaterials and biomedical engineering). The project has focused on the development of a nanosensor for the assessment of the risk of cardiovascular diseases by the monitoring of C-reactive protein (CRP), which has been currently considered as the best validated inflammatory biomarker associated to cardiovascular diseases. The project involves tasks such as: 1) the development of sensor devices based on field effect transistors (FET): assembly, optimization and validation; 2) application of sensors to the detection of CRP in standard solutions and comparison with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA); and 3) application of sensors to real samples such as blood and saliva and evaluation of their ability to predict the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Abstract: Mental health professionals views about mental illness
is an important issue which has not received enough attention. The
negative stigma associated with mental illness can have many
negative consequences. Unfortunately, health professionals working
with the mentally ill can also exhibit stigma. It has been suggested
that causal explanations or beliefs around the causes of mental illness
may influence stigma. This study aims to gain a greater insight into
stigma through examining stigma among potential mental health
professionals. Firstly, results found that potential mental health
professionals had relatively low social distance t(205) = -3.62, p
Abstract: The main objective of our study is to collect data
about the profile of the asthmatic patients in Assam and thereby have
a comprehensive knowledge of the factors influencing the asthmatic
patients of the state and their medication pattern. We developed a
search strategy to find any publication about the community based
survey asthma related and used. These to search the MEDLINE
(1996 to current literature) CINAHL DOAJ pubmed databases using
the key phrases, Asthma, Respiratory disorders, Drug therapy of
Asthma, database decision support system and asthma. The
appropriate literature was printed out from the online source and
library (Journal) source. The study was conducted through a set of
structured and non-structured questionnaires targeted on the
asthmatic patients belonging to the rural and urban areas of Assam,
during the month of Dec 2006 to July 2007, 138 cases were studied
in Gauwathi Medical College & Hospital located in Bhangagarh,
Assam in India. The demographic characteristics a factor in 138
patients with asthma with allergic rhinitis (cases) gives the detail
profile of asthmatic patient-s distribution of Assam as classified on
the basis of age and sex. It is evident from the study that male
populations (66%) are more prone to asthma as compared to the
females (34%).Another striking features that emerged from this
survey is the maximum prevalence of asthma in the age group of 20-
30 years followed by infants belonging to the age group of 7 (0.05%)
0-10years among both male and female populations of Assam. The
high incidence of asthma in the age group of 20-30 years may
probably be due to the allergy arising out of sudden exposure to dust
and pollen which the children face while playing and going to the
school. The rural females in the age group of 30-40 years are more
prone to asthma than urban females in the same age group may be
due to sex differentiation among the tribal population of the state.
Pharmacists should educate the asthmatics how to use inhalers
considering growing menace of asthma in the state. Safer drugs
should be produced in the form of aerosol so that easy administration
by the asthmatic patients and physicians of the state is possible for
curing asthma. The health centers should be more equipped with the
medicines to cure asthma in the state like Assam.
Abstract: The problem of agricultural-soil pollution is closely
linked to the production of ecologically pure foodstuffs and to human health. An important task, therefore, is to rehabilitate agricultural
soils with the help of state-of-the-art biotechnologies, based on the use of metal-accumulating plants. In this work, on the basis of
literature data and the results of prior research from this laboratory, plants were selected for which the growing technology is well
developed and which are widespread locally: sugar sorghum (Sorghum saccharatum), sudangrass (Sorghum sudanense (Piper.)
Stapf.), and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). I report on laboratory
experiments designed to study the influence of synthetic indole-3-
acetic acid and the extracellular indole-3-acetic acid released by the
plant-growth-promoting rhizobacterium Azospirillum brasilense Sp245 on growth of and arsenic accumulation by these plants.
Abstract: Thailand-s health system is challenged by the rising
number of patients and decreasing ratio of medical
practitioners/patients, especially in rural areas. This may tempt
inexperienced GPs to rush through the process of anamnesis with the
risk of incorrect diagnosis. Patients have to travel far to the hospital
and wait for a long time presenting their case. Many patients try to
cure themselves with traditional Thai medicine. Many countries are
making use of the Internet for medical information gathering,
distribution and storage. Telemedicine applications are a relatively
new field of study in Thailand; the infrastructure of ICT had
hampered widespread use of the Internet for using medical
information. With recent improvements made health and technology
professionals can work out novel applications and systems to help
advance telemedicine for the benefit of the people. Here we explore
the use of telemedicine for people with health problems in rural areas
in Thailand and present a Telemedicine Diagnosis System for Rural
Thailand (TEDIST) for diagnosing certain conditions that people
with Internet access can use to establish contact with Community
Health Centers, e.g. by mobile phone. The system uses a Web-based
input method for individual patients- symptoms, which are taken by
an expert system for the analysis of conditions and appropriate
diseases. The analysis harnesses a knowledge base and a backward
chaining component to find out, which health professionals should be
presented with the case. Doctors have the opportunity to exchange
emails or chat with the patients they are responsible for or other
specialists. Patients- data are then stored in a Personal Health Record.
Abstract: This paper presents a large scale, quantitative investigation of the impact of discipline differences on the student experience of using an online learning environment (OLE). Based on a representative sample of 2526 respondents, a number of significant differences in the mean rating by broad discipline area of the importance of, and satisfaction with, a range of elements of an OLE were found. Broadly speaking, the Arts and Science and Technology discipline areas reported the lowest importance and satisfaction ratings for the OLE, while the Health and Behavioural Sciences area was the most satisfied with the OLE. A number of specific, systematic discipline differences are reported and discussed. Compared to the observed significant differences in mean importance ratings, there were fewer significant differences in mean satisfaction ratings, and those that were observed were less systematic than for importance ratings.
Abstract: Visible Light Communication (VLC) offers advantages of low energy consumption, licence free and RF interference free operation. One application area for VLC is in the provision of health centred services circumventing issues of interference with any biomedical device within the environment. VLC performamce is affected by natural light restricting systems avilability and relibility. The paper presents an analysis of the performance of VLC systems under different meteorological conditions. The evaluation considered the impact of natural light as a function of different reflection surfaces in different room sizes.
Abstract: Residues are produced in all stages of human activities
in terms of composition and volume which vary according to
consumption practices and to production methods. Forms of
significant harm to the environment are associated to volume of
generated material as well as to improper disposal of solid wastes,
whose negative effects are noticed more frequently in the long term.
The solution to this problem constitutes a challenge to the
government, industry and society, because they involve economic,
social, environmental and, especially, awareness of the population in
general. The main concerns are focused on the impact it can have on
human health and on the environment (soil, water, air and sights).
The hazardous waste produced mainly by industry, are particularly
worrisome because, when improperly managed, they become a
serious threat to the environment. In view of this issue, this study
aimed to evaluate the management system of solid waste of a coprocessing
industrial waste company, to propose improvements to the
rejects generation management in a specific step of the Blending
production process.
Abstract: This study was conducted to investigate the incidence
of pathogenic bacteria: Salmonella, Shigella, Escherichia coli O157
and Staphylococcus aureus in cakes and tarts collected from thirtyfive
confectionery producing and selling premises located within
Tripoli city, Libya. The results revealed an incidence of S. aureus
with 94.4 and 48.0 %, E. coli O157 with 14.7 and 4.0 % and Salmonella
sp. with 5.9 and 8.0 % in cakes and tarts samples respectively;
while Shigella was not detected in all samples. In order to determine
the source of these pathogenic bacteria, cotton swabs were taken
from the hands of workers on the production line, the surfaces of
preparation tables and cream whipping instruments. The results
showed that the cotton swabs obtained from the hands of workers
contained S. aureus and Salmonella sp. with an incidence of 42.9 and
2.9 %, the cotton swabs obtained from the surfaces of preparation
tables 22.9 and 2.9 % and the cotton swabs obtained from the cream
whipping instruments 14.3 and 0.0 % respectively; while E. coli
O157 and Shigella sp. were not detected in all swabs. Additionally,
other bacteria were isolated from the hands of workers and the Surfaces
of producing equipments included: Aeromonas sp., Pseudomonas
sp., E. coli, Klebsiella sp., Enterobacter sp., Citrobacter sp.,
Proteus sp., Serratia sp. and Acinetobacter sp. These results indicate
that some of the cakes and tarts might pose threat to consumer's
health. Meanwhile, occurrences of pathogenic bacteria on the hands
of those who are working in production line and the surfaces of
equipments reflect poor hygienic practices at most confectionery
premises examined in this study. Thus, firm and continuous surveillance
of these premises is needed to insure the consumer's health and
safety.
Abstract: This study analyzed environmental health risks and
people-s perceptions of risks related to waste management in poor
settlements of Abidjan, to develop integrated solutions for health and
well-being improvement. The trans-disciplinary approach used relied
on remote sensing, a geographic information system (GIS),
qualitative and quantitative methods such as interviews and a
household survey (n=1800). Mitigating strategies were then
developed using an integrated participatory stakeholder workshop.
Waste management deficiencies resulting in lack of drainage and
uncontrolled solid and liquid waste disposal in the poor settlements
lead to severe environmental health risks. Health problems were
caused by direct handling of waste, as well as through broader
exposure of the population. People in poor settlements had little
awareness of health risks related to waste management in their
community and a general lack of knowledge pertaining to sanitation
systems. This unfortunate combination was the key determinant
affecting the health and vulnerability. For example, an increased
prevalence of malaria (47.1%) and diarrhoea (19.2%) was observed
in the rainy season when compared to the dry season (32.3% and
14.3%). Concerted and adapted solutions that suited all the
stakeholders concerned were developed in a participatory workshop
to allow for improvement of health and well-being.
Abstract: This paper presents the study of parameters affecting
the environment protection in the printing industry. The paper has
also compared LCA studies performed within the printing industry in
order to identify common practices, limitations, areas for
improvement, and opportunities for standardization. This comparison
is focused on the data sources and methodologies used in the printing
pollutants register. The presented concepts, methodology and results
represent the contribution to the sustainable development
management. Furthermore, the paper analyzes the result of the
quantitative identification of hazardous substances emitted in printing
industry of Novi Sad.
Abstract: Risk of infectious disease outbreaks is related to the
hygiene among the population. To assess the actual risks and modify
the relevant emergency procedures if necessary, a hygiene survey
was conducted among undergraduate students on the Rhodes
University campus. Soap was available to 10.5% and only 26.8% of
the study participants followed proper hygiene in relation to food
consumption. This combination increases the risk of infectious
disease outbreaks at the campus. Around 83.6% were willing to wash
their hands if soap was provided. Procurement and availability of
soap in undergraduate residences on campus should be improved, as
the total cost is estimated at only 2000 USD per annum. Awareness
campaigns about food-related hygiene and the need for regular handwashing
with soap should be run among Rhodes University students.
If successful, rates of respiratory and hygiene-related diseases will be
decreased and emergency health management simplified.
Abstract: Lycopene, which can be extracted from plants and is
very popular for fruit intake, is restricted for healthy food development
due to its high price. On the other hand, it will get great safety
concerns, especially in the food or cosmetic application, if the raw
material of lycopene is produced by chemical synthesis. In this
project, we provide a key technology to bridge the limitation as
mentioned above. Based on the abundant bioresources of BCRC
(Bioresource Collection and Research Center, Taiwan), a promising
lycopene output will be anticipated by the introduction of fermentation
technology along with industry-related core energy. Our results
showed that addition of tween 80(0.2%) and span 20 produced higher
amount of lycopene. And piperidine, when was added at 48hr to the
cultivation medium, could promote lycopene excretion effectively
also.
Abstract: Maintenance costs incurred on building differs. The
difference can be as results of the types, functions, age, building
health index, size, form height, location and complexity of the
building. These are contributing to the difficulty in maintenance
development of deterministic maintenance cost model. This paper is
concerns with reporting the preliminary findings on the creation of
building maintenance cost distributions for universities in Malaysia.
This study is triggered by the need to provide guides on maintenance
costs distributions for decision making. For this purpose, a survey
questionnaire was conducted to investigate the distribution of
maintenance costs in the universities. Altogether, responses were
received from twenty universities comprising both private and
publicly owned. The research found that engineering services,
roofing and finishes were the elements contributing the larger
segment of the maintenance costs. Furthermore, the study indicates
the significance of maintenance cost distribution as decision making
tool towards maintenance management.
Abstract: Trihalomethanes (THMs) were among the first
disinfection byproducts to be discovered in chlorinated water. The
substances form during a reaction between chlorine and organic
matter in the water. Trihalomethanes are suspected to have negative
effects on birth such as, low birth weight, intrauterine growth
retardation in term births, as well as gestational age and preterm
delivery. There are also some evidences showing these by-products to
be mutagenic and carcinogenic, the greatest amount of evidence being
related to the bladder cancer. However, there exist inconsistencies
regarding such effects of THMs as different studies have provided
different results in this regard. The aim of the present study is to
provide a review of the related researches about the above mentioned
health effects of THMs.
Abstract: Due to the emergence of “Humanized Healthcare"
introduced by Professor Dr. Prawase Wasi in 2003[1], the
development of this paradigm tends to be widely implemented. The
organizations included Healthcare Accreditation Institute (public
organization), National Health Foundation, Mahidol University in
cooperation with Thai Health Promotion Foundation, and National
Health Security Office (Thailand) have selected the hospitals or
infirmaries that are qualified for humanized healthcare since 2008-
2010 and 35 of them are chosen to be the outstandingly navigating
organizations for the development of humanized healthcare,
humanized healthcare award [2].
The research aims to study the current issue, characteristics and
patterns of hospital administration contributing to humanized
healthcare system in Thailand. The selected case studies are from
four hospitals including Dansai Crown Prince Hospital, Leoi;
Ubolrattana Hospital, Khon Kaen; Kapho Hospital, Pattani; and
Prathai Hospital, Nakhonrachasima. The methodology is in-depth
interviewing with 10 staffs working as hospital executive directors,
and representatives from leader groups including directors,
multidisciplinary hospital committees, personnel development
committees, physicians and nurses in each hospital. (Total=40) In
addition, focus group discussions between hospital staffs and general
people (including patients and their relatives, the community leader,
and other people) are held by means of setting 4 groups including 8
people within each group. (Total=128) The observation on the
working in each hospital is also implemented. The findings of the
study reveal that there are five important aspects found in each
hospital including (1) the quality improvement under the mental and
spiritual development policy from the chief executives and lead
teams, leaders as Role model and they have visionary leadership; (2)
the participation hospital administration system focusing on learning
process and stakeholder- needs, spiritual human resource
management and development; (3) the relationship among people
especially staffs, team work skills, mutual understanding, effective
communication and personal inner-development; (4) organization
culture relevant to the awareness of patients- rights as well as the
participation policy including spiritual growth achieving to the same
goals, sharing vision, developing public mind, and caring; and (5)
healing structures or environment providing warmth and convenience
for hospital staffs, patients and their relatives and visitors.
Abstract: The Kowsar dam supply water for different usages
such as drinking, industrial, agricultural and aquaculture farms
usages and located next to the city of Dehdashat in Kohgiluye and
Boyerahmad province in southern Iran. There are some towns and
villages on the Kowsar dam watersheds, which Dehdasht and
Choram are the most important and populated cities in this area. The
study was undertaken to assess the status of water quality in the
urban areas of the Kowsar dam. A total of 28 water samples were
collected from 6 stations on surface water and 1 station from
groundwater on the watershed of the Kowsar dam. All the samples
were analyzed for Cd concentration using standard procedures. The
results were compared with other national and international
standards. Among the analyzed samples, as the maximum value of
cadmium (1.131 μg/L) was observed on the station 2 at the winter
2009, all the samples analyzed were within the maximum admissible
limits by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, EU,
WHO, New Zealand , Australian, Iranian, and the Indian standards.
In general results of the present study have shown that Cd mean
values of stations No. 4, 1 and 2 with 0.5135, 0.0.4733 and 0.4573
μg/L respectively are higher than the other stations . Although Cd
level of all samples and stations have had normal values but this is
an indication of pollution potential and hazards because of human
activity and waste water of towns in the areas, which can effect on
human health implications in future. This research, therefore,
recommends the government and other responsible authorities to take
suitable improving measures in the Kowsar dam watershed-s.