Impact of soft drinks to health and economy: a critical review

Aims To provide information regarding the different types of soft drinks and critically reviewing their risk on the dental and general health of children and adolescents, as well as the cost associated with such drinks. Methods The literature was reviewed using electronic databases, Medline, Embase, Cochrane library, and was complemented by cross-referencing using published references list from reviewed articles. Search words; soft drinks, juices, carbonated drinks, sports and energy drinks, soft drink and dental diseases, soft drink and health, cost of soft drinks, soft drink advertising, sugar tax on soft drinks were used for this review. In total, 104 papers were reviewed by both authors; of these, 62 papers were found to have relevant information. Results The consumption of soft drinks was found to have increased dramatically over the past several decades. The greatest increase in soft drink consumption has been among children and adolescents. Some commercial soft drinks are high in sugar content and acidity. In addition, they supply energy only and are of little nutritional benefit and lack micro-nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Soft drink consumption can contribute to detrimental oral and general health. Efforts have been made by manufacturers and government agencies to reduce the potential harmful effects of sugar-containing soft drinks on teeth and general health. These include banning the sale of soft drinks in schools, restricting soft drinks advertising, modifying the composition of soft drinks and introducing tax on sugar-containing soft drinks. Conclusions The consumption of soft drinks with high sugar content and acidity can contribute to detrimental oral health and may also affect general health. Therefore, it is necessary to educate patients about the harmful effects of different types of soft drinks as it is not always easy for individuals to identify from drink labelling the ingredients which they contain

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS: APPLICATION CASE FROM THE MIDDLE EAST

Universities represent a vital body part of any societies. Universities nowadays are faced with new environment and challenges that necessitate the need to be independent from governmental and state support. The changing environment in which universities function and the challenges that higher education has been facing were identified as: mass expansion of higher education; decrease of state expenditure and support for universities; diversification of financial resources; internationalization; commercialization; changes brought by IC&T development, the adaptation of curricula to accommodate and capitalize on labour market requirements. These changes and challenges will have their impact on the quality of education, university autonomy, academic freedom, its changing focus and responsibilities towards society. This highlight that universities are moving toward corporatization which calls for them to be a good corporate citizen and the best approach for universities to achieve that is by adapting the concept of Social Responsibility. This paper aims to discuss how universities could achieve development, sustainability, and competitiveness through applying University social Responsibility USR concepts. Also this paper will present the case of The Hashemite University as a socially responsible university. In conclusion applying social responsibility to universities will help them facing the rapidly changing environment and challenges. University social responsibility can be used effectively by universities as presented in the case of Hashemite University to ensure development and sustainability for the university and society

Children and carer's experience and satisfaction of two local anaesthetic techniques; for treatment of carious mandibular primary molars in children

Background: Local anaesthesia (LA) forms the backbone of pain control techniques in dentistry and has a major role in dentistry for children. Inferior Dental Nerve Block (IDNB) has been the LA technique of choice for treatment of carious mandibular primary molars in children. However, several disadvantages have been associated with the IDNB. Buccal Infiltration (BI) with 4% Articaine have been proposed as more comfortable and pleasant alternative LA techniques to IDNB which became widely used in paediatric dentistry especially for the treatment of carious mandibular primary molars in children above the age of 4 years. Aim: To explore children and carer`s experience and satisfaction of their child’s dental treatment under LA and compare their acceptance of two LA techniques; BI with 4% Articaine and IDNB with 2% lidocaine for the treatment of mandibular carious primary molars in children under ten years of age. Method: A prospective study design was used to explore patient and carer`s acceptance of the two local anaesthetic techniques. 96 patients aged 5-9 years and their carer`s completed two questionnaires on treatment acceptance. Result: A total of 49 (50%) participants received BI with 4% Articaine and 49 (50%) had IDNB with 2% lidocaine. Two patients had IDNB but no dental treatment was performed as patients could not cope with dental treatment, thus these participants did not complete the questionnaires. The majority of the children (84.7%) and their carers (91%) were happy with their experience at the dentist including the administration of the LA (61.5% for BI and 64% for IDNB), delivery of the dental treatment (87.8% for BI and 81.6% for IDNB) and dentist management including dental teamwork (over 90%). Conclusion: Both local anaesthetic techniques; BI with 4% articaine and IDNB with 2% lignocaine were accepted among patients and carers. Dental team attitude can significantly impact the treatment outcome in children. Establishing a clear communication between the dentist, the child patient and his/her carer as well as implementing good behaviour management techniques contribute significantly to treatment acceptance among children and carers

Cracking of RC School Building Due to Soil Expansion

The geotechnical investigations, the structural analyses and the remedial measures of a cracked reinforced concrete school building are presented in this paper. The building is located in Irbid, Jordan, where the soil is highly expansive and the volume change of the soil causes major destruction in the buildings in the area. Field and laboratory tests were performed on the foundation soil of the building to determine its swell potential and other engineering properties. The school building is modeled as a 3-D finite element model using Sap2000 code. The model is built based on results of geotechnical investigation. The results revealed structural deficiencies in building members (columns, beams and footings) due to the swelling gradient. Remedial measures were proposed and implemented to rehabilitate and strengthen the overstressed members. The repaired school has been under service since 2003. The school building performance is being under monitoring since then and has shown reliable performance

An unusual presentation of erythema multiforme in a paediatric patient

Background: Erythema multiforme (EM) is an acute, vesiculobullous disease of skin and mucous membranes with symptoms ranging from mild to severe. A complex interaction of different factors has been implicated the condition; the majority with a preceding herpes simplex infection. This report describes an unusual presentation of erythema multiforme affecting the lips and oral mucosa of a healthy 7-year-old boy in the form of lip adherence. Case report: Two weeks following eruption of oral ulcerations, a 7-year-old healthy boy developed severe erosive ulceration of both lips, causing complete lip adherence. This was accompanied by marked bilateral submandibular and cervical lymphadenopathy, tremor and sweating. Clinical and laboratory investigations led to a diagnosis of erythema multiforme. The patient was treated initially with gentle application of Vaseline between the lips using cotton buds in an attempt to release lip adhesion, followed by surgical release of the lips under general anaesthesia. Analgesics and topical steroid mouthwash were provided. Follow-up: Seven months later, the patient presented with a recurrence of his EM which included lesions on the skin. The patient was treated with antivirals, topical and systematic steroids to suppress the recurrent attacks of EM. Eighteen months following the initial presentation the patient and parent reported considerable decrease in the frequency, severity and duration of the occurrence of intra-oral ulcers, with no major episode of target lesions on the skin. Conclusion: Erythema multiforme is rare in children, however it should be considered in the differential diagnosis of recurrent erosive oral ulcerative lesions especially when the oral lesions resemble those of primary herpetic gingivostomatitis

Durability Assessment of Sustainable Mortar by Incorporating the Combination of Solid Wastes: An Experimental Study

The excessive mining of high-quality river sand for cement sand mortar resulted in environmental impacts and ecological imbalances. The present study aims to produce sustainable mortar by combining solid waste such as desert sand, stone dust, and crumb rubber to fully replace river sand. In addition, replacing cement with silica fume helps reduce the environmental carbon footprint. The present research prepared three types of mortar mixes: natural dune sand mortar (M1), natural dune sand stone dust crumb rubber mortar (M2), and natural dune sand stone dust crumb rubber silica fume mortar (M3). The developed mortar samples were examined at ambient and elevated temperatures of 100°C, 200°C, and 300°C for 120 minutes. Furthermore, 3 cycles of 12 hours each at freezing temperature (-10° ± 2°C) and crushed ice cooling (0° to -5°C) were also tested. Results of the study showed an increment in compressive strength values in M1, M2, and M3 mortar mixes (up to 200°C). Later, an abrupt drop in the compressive strength was noticed at 300°C in all mixes M1, M2, and M3, respectively. The mix M3 combinations resist heating impacts and perform significantly better than other mixes M1 and M2. Also, M3 combinations resist the cooling effect better than M1 and M2. It can be concluded that the mortar mix M3 with desert sand, stone dust, crumb rubber, and silica fume combination is considered the best mix for both heating and cooling resistance. Hence, the developed sustainable mortar M3 combination can be utilized in all adverse weather conditions. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2023-09-11-09 Full Text: PD

THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF KNOWLEDGE VALIDATION OF ERP TO LOW TECH SMES

Abstract: Knowledge Validation is a challenge in Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs), as most of the available information is held in people's minds as tacit knowledge, or saved on each employees PC without sharing or common validation. This case study is based on a company in Leicester who installed an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system after two previous failed trials with different type of software. The underlying reasons for the problems were due to the distributed and tacitly held knowledge where the assumptions in one part of the company were inconsistent with other parts. The research goes through three years of ERP implementation and analyses the main problem of validating knowledge in more detail and identifies the consequences of failing to do this. It also describes the potential economic benefits for installing enterprise resource planning system in SMEs and investigates the claim of ERP vendors that their ERP solutions increase the performance of their customers, increase profitability and efficiency of work processes. It discusses the effects of ER

Effect of Depth of Total Intravenous General Anesthesia on Intraoperative Electrically Evoked Compound Action Potentials in Cochlear Implantation Surgery.

PURPOSE: This study aims to compare the effect of the depth of total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) on intraoperative electrically evoked compound action potential (e-ECAP) thresholds in cochlear implant operations. METHODS: Prospectively, a total of 39 patients aged between 1 and 48 years who were scheduled to undergo cochlear implantation surgeries were enrolled in this study. Every patient received both light and deep TIVA during the cochlear implant surgery. The e-ECAP thresholds were obtained during the light and deep TIVA. RESULTS: After comparing the e-ECAP means for each electrode (lead) between the light and deep anesthesia, no significant differences were detected between the light and deep anesthesia. CONCLUSION: The depth of TIVA may have no significant influence on the e-ECAP thresholds as there was no statistical difference between the light and deep anesthesia