Nitrates for the Management of Acute Heart Failure Syndromes, A Systematic Review

© The Author(s) 2016Intravenous nitrates are widely used in the management of acute heart failure syndrome (AHFS) yet with lack of robust evidence to support their use. We therefore sought to analyze all randomized studies that evaluated the effects of nitrates on clinical outcomes in patients with AHFS. In total, 15 relevant trials comparing nitrates and alternative interventions in 1824 patients were identified. All but 3 were conducted before 1998. No trials demonstrated a beneficial effect on mortality, apart from 1 trial reporting a reduction in mortality, which was related to the time of treatment. Retrospective review suggests that there is a lack of data to draw any firm conclusions concerning the use of nitrates in patients with AHFS. More studies are needed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of these agents in the modern era of guideline-directed use of heart failure therapy.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Seeking Optimum System Settings for Physical Activity Recognition on Smartwatches

Physical activity recognition (PAR) using wearable devices can provide valued information regarding an individual's degree of functional ability and lifestyle. In this regards, smartphone-based physical activity recognition is a well-studied area. Research on smartwatch-based PAR, on the other hand, is still in its infancy. Through a large-scale exploratory study, this work aims to investigate the smartwatch-based PAR domain. A detailed analysis of various feature banks and classification methods are carried out to find the optimum system settings for the best performance of any smartwatch-based PAR system for both personal and impersonal models. To further validate our hypothesis for both personal (The classifier is built using the data only from one specific user) and impersonal (The classifier is built using the data from every user except the one under study) models, we tested single subject validation process for smartwatch-based activity recognition.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures, Accepted in CVC'1

Systematic Collective e-Cheating in a Saudi Arabian Higher Education Context: A Case Study

Objectives: The primary purpose was to investigate organized group cheating in a Middle Eastern institution during the shift to e-learning brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019. Method: The study explores the personal experiences of ten Saudi Arabian English as a Foreign Language program graduates in a higher education institution through in-depth interviews via qualitative interpretative phenomenological analysis. The study was guided by Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior. Results: A novel type of misconduct coined systematic collective e-cheating was identified and discussed. In addition, insights on the causes and types of e-cheating in a Middle Eastern context were provided. Conclusions: Academic misconduct was directly influenced by a rapid transition to e-learning, societal culture, and subjective norms, all of which jointly contributed to shifts in ethical perceptions leading to increased reports of cheating. Objectives: The primary purpose was to investigate organized group cheating in a Middle Eastern institution during the shift to e-learning brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019. Method: The study explores the personal experiences of ten Saudi Arabian English as a Foreign Language program graduates in a higher education institution through in-depth interviews via qualitative interpretative phenomenological analysis. The study was guided by Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior. Results: A novel type of misconduct coined systematic collective e-cheating was identified and discussed. In addition, insights on the causes and types of e-cheating in a Middle Eastern context were provided. Conclusions: Academic misconduct was directly influenced by a rapid transition to e-learning, societal culture, and subjective norms, all of which jointly contributed to shifts in ethical perceptions leading to increased reports of cheating. Implication for Theory and/or Practice: Education professionals need to be aware of underlying issues related to unethical behavior and encourage students to understand and address negative ideologies regarding ethics on a societal level. Efforts must also be made to raise instructor awareness of academic misconduct in e-learning through comprehensive professional development programs. Furthermore, with the increased use of technology in education, if the social, cultural, and perceptional factors are not addressed, educational systems will be impacted, affecting the credibility and value of academic degrees should cheating become the norm

Reconsidering the seawater-density parameter in hydrodynamic flow transport equations for coastal boulders

© 2020 The Royal Society of New Zealand. Existing hydrodynamic flow transport equations for coastal boulder transport are useful for estimating post-event the characteristics of extreme storm waves and tsunamis. However, the effect of suspended sediment concentration (SSC) on seawater density is normally ignored. This is unrealistic given that turbulent runup flows easily entrain available fine sediment. Proper consideration of SSC can be encouraged by including a mixed-fluid density coefficient (Cρ) as a multiplier for clear-seawater density, where elevated sediment content can be assumed and estimated. Minimum flow velocities required for boulder transport are shown to reduce as sediment concentrations increase

Linguistic Human Rights of Minorities and Language Policy: A Case Study of Balochi Language in Education in Lyari, Karachi, Pakistan

Most of the neo-colonial nation-states in South America, Africa and Asia have historically remained multilingual. Particularly, subcontinent, being the part of Indus Civilization, successfully maintained the legacy of religious and cultural diversity. Pre-colonial lingo-cultural diversity in subcontinent was discouraged and displaced by new linguistic hierarchy during colonial times. In the milieu of WW-II and national liberation movements throughout the world, classical colonial structure was largely weakened at global level and paved the way for internal colonialism. Political leadership of newly formed multiethnic states principally preferred to govern their people as colonial subjects rather than free citizens. European model of ‘one language, one culture and one state’ has hitherto resulted in many ethno-linguistic movements in different neo-colonial states. Neo-colonial forms of knowledge, categories and instruments of oppression; particularly language policy; is still prevailing in such (in)dependent states where Pakistan is not an exception. Since 1947, language policy in Pakistan has been mainly shaped by and still continues to be overshadowed by its colonial past. This article critically investigates promise(s) and practice(s) of national language policy and the status of linguistic human rights of minorities in education in Lyari, Karachi, Pakistan. The data was collected from various (inter)national public policy documents/declarations along with semi-structured interviews from four different groups of participants i.e. academics, cultural activists, teachers and parents. Findings reveal two diametrically opposed orientations in terms of the use of mother tongue in classroom. School teachers stridently advocated assimilationist language ideology and viewed multilingualism in classroom as a problem to be solved, whereas, cultural activists and academics consider the same as a cultural resource to be properly utilized and the right of the child to be respected. Parents’ views are also considered in order to explore the tension between the language of schooling and the language of early socialization of children at home. Moreover, Language Rights model is applied in order to explore (re)production of linguistic injustice through language policy in education. Keywords: language policy, language rights, internal linguistic colonialism, Linguistic justice, Multilingualism Indigenous/minoritised languages in early education DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/83-06 Publication date: November 30th 202

Categorizations of the interface of evolution and religion

This piece responds to the article by Arif Rachmatullah, Soonhye Park, and Minsu Ha “Crossing borders between science and religion: Muslim Indonesian biology teachers\u27 perceptions of teaching the theory of evolution,” in which the authors are among the first researchers to explore the views of Indonesian science teachers regarding evolution instruction. This new context is important for furthering a global perspective on evolution education. However, the authors use preexisting taxonomies for their analyses that were developed in studies executed in mostly Christian contexts. In this response, we argue that investigations into new geographical and religious milieus, such as the teachers in the study by Rachmatullah and colleagues, could instead be used to develop more attuned categorizations for the burgeoning research area of the interaction of Islam, Judaism, and other traditions with evolution. We reflect upon experiences from our own work in studying Jewish and Muslim views of evolution, as well as on alternative taxonomies developed regarding Islam and evolution; we close with a brief rationale for a current initiative to create a researchers’ network for those who study the interface of science, religion, and society in the Middle East and North Africa

Three-Dimensional Flow of a Second Grade Fluid along an Infinite Horizontal Plane Wall with Periodic Suction

In this paper, three-dimensional flow of a second grade fluid along a horizontal infinite plate which is subjected to a transverse sinusoidal suction velocity distribution is studied. Due to variable suction velocity distribution the flow becomes three-dimensional and for constant suction the problem becomes two-dimensional. The free stream velocity is uniform and for small perturbation approximation, analytic technique is applied to obtain the expressions for velocity field and components of skin friction. The effect of second-grade parameter, Reynolds number and suction parameter on the velocity in the direction of main flow and on the stress components is investigated with the help of graphs. The existence of backflow is observed and it is noted that the Reynolds number and suction parameter are controlling parameters for the backflow

GIS-Based Analytical Hierarchy Process for Identifying Groundwater Potential Zones in Punjab, Pakistan

The quality and level of groundwater tables have rapidly declined because of intensive pumping in Punjab (Pakistan). For sustainable groundwater supplies, there is a need for better management practices. So, the identification of potential groundwater recharge zones is crucial for developing effective management systems. The current research is based on integrating seven contributing factors, including geology, soil map, land cover/land use, lineament density, drainage density, slope, and rainfall to categorize the area into various groundwater recharge potential zones using remote sensing, geographic information system (GIS), and analytical hierarchical process (AHP) for Punjab, Pakistan. The weights (for various thematic layers) and rating values (for sub-classes) in the overlay analysis were assigned for thematic layers and then modified and normalized using the AHP. The result indicates that about 17.88% of the area falls under the category of very high groundwater potential zones (GWPZs). It was found that only 12.27% of the area falls under the category of very low GWPZs. The results showed that spatial technologies like remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS), when combined with AHP technique, provide a robust platform for studying GWPZs. This will help the public and government sectors to understand the potential zone for sustainable groundwater management