Perception and satisfaction level of students regarding the teaching practices during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic caused an unanticipated shift in the way classes were delivered. Institutions moved towards online teaching as the only way to provide lectures and laboratory work. Both instructors and students had to quickly adapt to this challenging change. The objective of this study was to examine students’ perspectives and levels of satisfaction in food-related majors regarding the teaching practices adopted. A questionnaire was created and distributed through professional networks and universities that offer food-related degrees worldwide. Participants were asked to rate their degree of satisfaction with virtual classes through a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 «strongly disagree», 2 «disagree», 3 «neither agree nor disagree», 4 «agree» to 5 «strongly agree». Out of 388 student participants, about 49% were satisfied with the general formats of their online classes. Completing a discipline remotely took more effort than if it was taught in a face-to-face modality was felt by 66% of participants, and 56% were not motivated to attend the online classes. About 34% believed that remote learning would negatively affect their professional future, whilst 24% alleged the opposite. Additionally, about 52% of students shared that it would be better for some disciplines to be remotely taught in the future.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Emerging issues and key focus areas in food science, technology, and engineering higher education

Food studies is an interdisciplinary field involving food production, distribution, consumption, and social, economic, and environmental impacts. Food science, technology, and engineering have undergone a significant transformation over the past few decades. Moreover, the food industry faces numerous critical challenges ranging from food safety, sustainability, health, and nutrition to changing consumer preferences and global food security. The food industry needs a workforce prepared for the most recent technical developments and also highly skilled. Working group 1.2, on Emerging Issued, Key Focus Areas, of IUFoST (International Union of Food Science and Technology) activities address education materials and methods on topics such as sustainability of food systems, emerging technologies, food safety, food insecurity, ethical considerations, among others. The working group organizes webinars series on teaching methods and methodologies, current critical topics in food studies, and, more recently, is opening an international web forum. This forum will promote effective communication and sharing of information in the field. It will cover topics such as curricula development, education in specific world regions, opportunities of collaboration, research education-related topics, and industry collaborations. Working group 1.2 of IUFoST is also a key element for networking with several other organizations working towards a new generation of food science, technology, and engineering professionals with the skills and knowledge required to drive innovation and reshape the industry.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Waste minimization and pollution prevention in D&D operations at the Argonne National Laboratory-East site

Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) is implementing waste minimization and pollution prevention activities into its conduct of decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) projects. Many of these activities are rather straight forward and simple approaches, yet they are often overlooked and not implemented as often as they should or could be. Specific activities involving recycling and reuse of materials and structures, which have proven useful in lowering decommissioning and disposal costs on D&D projects at ANL are presented

Efforts to secure universal access to HIV/AIDS treatment: A comparison of BRICS countries

This article illustrates how the BRICS countries have been building their focused leadership, making important high level commitment and national policy changes, and improving their health systems, in addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemics in respective settings. Specific aspects are focused on efforts of creating public provisions to secure universal access to ARVs from the aspects of active responsive system and national program, health system strengthening, fostering local production of ARVs, supply chain management, and information system strengthening. Challenges in each BRICS country are analyzed respectively. The most important contributors to the success of response to HIV/AIDS include: creating legal basis for healthcare as a fundamental human right; political commitment to necessary funding for universal access and concrete actions to secure equal quality care; comprehensive system to secure demands that all people in need are capable of accessing prevention, treatment and care; active community involvement; decentralization of the management system considering the local settings; integration of treatment and prevention; taking horizontal approach to strengthen health systems; fully use of the TRIPS flexibility; and regular monitoring and evaluation to serve evidence based decision making. © 2013 Chinese Cochrane Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd

Linking Physical Activity to Breast Cancer via Sex Steroid Hormones, Part 2:The Effect of Sex Steroid Hormones on Breast Cancer Risk

We undertook a systematic review and appraised the evidence for an effect of circulating sex steroid hormones and sex hormone–binding globulin (SHBG) on breast cancer risk in pre- and postmenopausal women. Systematic searches identified prospective studies relevant to this review. Meta-analyses estimated breast cancer risk for women with the highest compared with the lowest level of sex hormones, and the DRMETA Stata package was used to graphically represent the shape of these associations. The ROBINS-E tool assessed risk of bias, and the GRADE system appraised the strength of evidence. In premenopausal women, there was little evidence that estrogens, progesterone, or SHBG were associated with breast cancer risk, whereas androgens showed a positive association. In postmenopausal women, higher estrogens and androgens were associated with an increase in breast cancer risk, whereas higher SHBG was inversely associated with risk. The strength of the evidence quality ranged from low to high for each hormone. Dose–response relationships between sex steroid hormone concentrations and breast cancer risk were most notable for post-menopausal women. These data support the plausibility of a role for sex steroid hormones in mediating the causal relationship between physical activity and the risk of breast cancer. See related reviews by Lynch et al., p. 11 and Swain et al., p. 1

A study of a couple with type 2 diabetes: dyadic adjustment and psychological morbidity

Objective: this study assessed dyadic adjustment and psychological morbidity in type 2 diabetic patients and their partners, focusing on the role of gender. Methods: 214 diabetic patients and their partners participated in the cross-sectional study and were assessed on psychological morbidity (HADS) and marital adjustment (RDAS). Data was analyzed using dyadic analysis, a statistical process that studies the patient/partner dyads simultaneously. Results: results revealed that the negative relationship between dyadic adjustment and psychological morbidity in female patients was stronger than in male diabetic patients or in partners of male diabetic patients. On the other hand, the relationship between dyadic adjustment and psychological morbidity in partners of diabetic men was stronger than the same relationship in partners of diabetic women. Conclusion: since gender is a moderator, it is important to attend to the different needs of female and male patients and the education of diabetic patients should be centered on the patient/partner dyad.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Relationship between alcohol-attributable disease and socioeconomic status, and the role of alcohol consumption in this relationship: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Studies show that alcohol consumption appears to have a disproportionate impact on people of low socioeconomic status. Further exploration of the relationship between alcohol consumption, socioeconomic status and the development of chronic alcohol-attributable diseases is therefore important to inform the development of effective public health programmes. Methods: We used systematic review methodology to identify published studies of the association between socioeconomic factors and mortality and morbidity for alcohol-attributable conditions. To attempt to quantify differences in the impact of alcohol consumption for each condition, stratified by SES, we (i) investigated the relationship between SES and risk of mortality or morbidity for each alcohol-attributable condition, and (ii) where, feasible explored alcohol consumption as a mediating or interacting variable in this relationship. Results: We identified differing relationships between a range of alcohol-attributable conditions and socioeconomic indicators. Pooled analyses showed that low, relative to high socioeconomic status, was associated with an increased risk of head and neck cancer and stroke, and in individual studies, with hypertension and liver disease. Conversely, risk of female breast cancer tended to be associated with higher socioeconomic status. These findings were attenuated but held when adjusted for a number of known risk factors and other potential confounding factors. A key finding was the lack of studies that have explored the interaction between alcohol-attributable disease, socioeconomic status and alcohol use. Conclusions: Despite some limitations to our review, we have described relationships between socioeconomic status and a range of alcohol-attributable conditions, and explored the mediating and interacting effects of alcohol consumption where feasible. However, further research is needed to better characterise the relationship between socioeconomic status alcohol consumption and alcohol-attributable disease risk so as to gain a greater understanding of the mechanisms and pathways that influence the differential risk in harm between people of low and high socioeconomic status

Predictor variables and screening protocol for depressive and anxiety disorders in cancer outpatients

Background Cancer patients are at increased risk of persistent depressive and anxiety symptoms and disorders compared to the general population. However, these issues are not always identified, which may worsen the prognosis and increase morbidity and mortality. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to identify predictor variables (demographic and clinical) for the development of mood and anxiety disorders in cancer outpatients and to propose a probabilistic screening protocol considering these variables and certain standardized screening instruments. Methods A total of 1,385 adults, of both genders, receiving outpatient cancer care were evaluated using a questionnaire and screening instruments. Thereafter, 400 of these subjects responded to the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (SCID-IV) by telephone to confirm or rule out the presence of a Current Major Depressive Episode (CMDE) or Anxiety Disorder (AD). Results Of the patients surveyed, 64% met the criteria for CMDE and 41% for AD. Female gender was found to be a risk factor for both disorders, and the presence of previous psychiatric history and marital status (divorced and widowed) were risk factors for anxiety disorders. When scoring above the recommended cutoff score, the screening instruments also indicated a risk of the studied disorders. Based on these findings, a screening protocol and nomograms were created for the quantification, combination and probabilistic estimate of risk, with accuracy indicators >0.68. Conclusion The prevalence rates for the disorders under study are extremely high in cancer patients. The use of the proposed protocol and nomogram can facilitate rapid and wide screening, thus refining triage and supporting the establishment of criteria for referral to mental health professionals, so that patients can be properly diagnosed and treated.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio