Changes in Health Behaviors By Gender During a Global Pandemic

As we emerge from Covid-19 pandemic, many people struggle to return to normal, leading us to ask what changes have occurred as a result of the virus and social distancing. We have observed 471 million people suffer with Covid-19, lost 6.08 million lives to the virus, and learned how the virus works as well as how to fight it, yet very little is known about the impact of the virus and its countermeasures on our health habits. PURPOSE: To examine the effect of gender on changes in health behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Eight hundred and sixty-six subjects (70.8% female; age= 45±3.4) were surveyed with 129 questions regarding their health behaviors either 1) prior to the pandemic, 2) after the pandemic (current), 3) or the changes in these behaviors they have perceived. The questionnaire utilized a dual set of questions regarding behaviors prior to the pandemic and currently which examined dietary structure, physical activity (using questions from the global physical activity questionnaire (GPAQ), and mental health. For the remaining questions regarding perceived changes, scales were used to indicate the degree of change and whether the behaviors improved or not. The data was analyzed using SPSS 20.0. When analyzing data, first calculated a change score for the pre-pandemic and post-pandemic reported behaviors. These change scores were then used to run independent sample t-tests to identify the differences in changes between males and females, described by means with the accompanying standard deviations. RESULTS: Analysis of the data found that overall, individuals struggled with increased stress, consuming the proper amounts of healthy foods observed (i.e. fruits and vegetables), and with maintaining physical activity levels. When male and female responses were compared, several significant trends emerged. Firstly, females reported a higher increase in anxiety and depression. Secondly, there was little difference found between the changes in nutritional habits and physical activity of men and women. Finally, while observing the data, another trend demonstrated that individuals with children and college students also reported significant increases in stress and a difficulty to maintain nutritional and exercise habits. CONCLUSION: From these findings, it can be concluded that the Covid-19 Pandemic has caused a deficit in health behaviors across the board. It can also be concluded that as a society, we must do more to meet the needs of females, parents, and college students, especially during such a crisis, to help facilitate the maintenance of these behaviors and ensure overall quality of life is an equal opportunity. Further research should explore the identified trends found in parents, college students, and females, as well as underrepresented populations to determine how their needs are not being met, or why they were more likely to suffer as a result of the pandemic.https://collected.jcu.edu/celebration_2022/1007/thumbnail.jp

Development of a Digitally Controlled Inductive Power Transfer System with Post-Regulation for Variable Load Demand

none6noInductive Power Transfer (IPT) is an emerging technology enabling a contactless charging process in manifold applications such as electric vehicles, wearable and portable devices, or biomedical applications. Such technology can be profitably used to develop enhanced electronic solutions in the framework of smart cities, homes and smart workplaces. This paper presents the development and realization of a series–series compensated IPT System (IPTS) followed by a post-regulator implemented by means of a DC–DC converter. Such a system is modeled through a first harmonic approximation method, and a sensitivity analysis of the IPTS performance is carried out with respect to the variations of the primary inverter switching frequency and phase-shift angle. As an element of novelty of this work, the bias points are determined which allow the efficiency maximization while ensuring system controllability. An enhanced dynamic modeling of the system is then performed by means of a coupled mode theory, including the inverter phase-shift modulation and extending its validity to whatever operating frequency. A digital control of the post-regulator is implemented by means of a commercial low-cost microcontroller enabling the output voltage regulation under both fixed and variable load conditions through a voltage mode control technique. An IPTS prototype is eventually realized, which is able to correctly perform the output voltage regulation at the desired nominal value of 12 V for static resistive loads in the range [5, 24] W, yielding the output power in the range [6, 28.8]Wand the experimental efficiencies going from 72.1% (for 24 W) to 91.7% (for 5 W). The developed system can also be effectively used to deliver up to 35Woutput power to variable loads, as demonstrated during the battery charging test. Finally, an excellent output voltage regulation is ascertained for load transients between 5 W and 24 W, with limited over- and undershoot amplitudes (less than 3% of the nominal output voltage), thus enabling the use of the proposed system for both fixed and variable loads in the framework of smart homes and workplaces applications.openKateryna Stoyka, Antonio Vitale, Massimo Costarella, Alfonso Avella, Mario Pucciarelli, Paolo ViscontiStoyka, Kateryna; Vitale, Antonio; Costarella, Massimo; Avella, Alfonso; Pucciarelli, Mario; Visconti, Paol

Can Clinical and Surgical Parameters Be Combined to Predict How Long It Will Take a Tibia Fracture to Heal? A Prospective Multicentre Observational Study: The FRACTING Study

Background. Healing of tibia fractures occurs over a wide time range of months, with a number of risk factors contributing to prolonged healing. In this prospective, multicentre, observational study, we investigated the capability of FRACTING (tibia FRACTure prediction healING days) score, calculated soon after tibia fracture treatment, to predict healing time. Methods. The study included 363 patients. Information on patient health, fracture morphology, and surgical treatment adopted were combined to calculate the FRACTING score. Fractures were considered healed when the patient was able to fully weight-bear without pain. Results. 319 fractures (88%) healed within 12 months from treatment. Forty-four fractures healed after 12 months or underwent a second surgery. FRACTING score positively correlated with days to healing: r = 0.63 (p < 0.0001). Average score value was 7.3 \ub1 2.5; ROC analysis showed strong reliability of the score in separating patients healing before versus after 6 months: AUC = 0.823. Conclusions. This study shows that the FRACTING score can be employed both to predict months needed for fracture healing and to identify immediately after treatment patients at risk of prolonged healing. In patients with high score values, new pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments to enhance osteogenesis could be tested selectively, which may finally result in reduced disability time and health cost savings

The severity of pandemic H1N1 influenza in the United States, from April to July 2009: A Bayesian analysis

Background: Accurate measures of the severity of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza (pH1N1) are needed to assess the likely impact of an anticipated resurgence in the autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. Severity has been difficult to measure because jurisdictions with large numbers of deaths and other severe outcomes have had too many cases to assess the total number with confidence. Also, detection of severe cases may be more likely, resulting in overestimation of the severity of an average case. We sought to estimate the probabilities that symptomatic infection would lead to hospitalization, ICU admission, and death by combining data from multiple sources. Methods and Findings: We used complementary data from two US cities: Milwaukee attempted to identify cases of medically attended infection whether or not they required hospitalization, while New York City focused on the identification of hospitalizations, intensive care admission or mechanical ventilation (hereafter, ICU), and deaths. New York data were used to estimate numerators for ICU and death, and two sources of data - medically attended cases in Milwaukee or self-reported influenza-like illness (ILI) in New York - were used to estimate ratios of symptomatic cases to hospitalizations. Combining these data with estimates of the fraction detected for each level of severity, we estimated the proportion of symptomatic patients who died (symptomatic case-fatality ratio, sCFR), required ICU (sCIR), and required hospitalization (sCHR), overall and by age category. Evidence, prior information, and associated uncertainty were analyzed in a Bayesian evidence synthesis framework. Using medically attended cases and estimates of the proportion of symptomatic cases medically attended, we estimated an sCFR of 0.048% (95% credible interval [CI] 0.026%-0.096%), sCIR of 0.239% (0.134%-0.458%), and sCHR of 1.44% (0.83%-2.64%). Using self-reported ILI, we obtained estimates approximately 7-96lower. sCFR and sCIR appear to be highest in persons aged 18 y and older, and lowest in children aged 5-17 y. sCHR appears to be lowest in persons aged 5-17; our data were too sparse to allow us to determine the group in which it was the highest. Conclusions: These estimates suggest that an autumn-winter pandemic wave of pH1N1 with comparable severity per case could lead to a number of deaths in the range from considerably below that associated with seasonal influenza to slightly higher, but with the greatest impact in children aged 0-4 and adults 18-64. These estimates of impact depend on assumptions about total incidence of infection and would be larger if incidence of symptomatic infection were higher or shifted toward adults, if viral virulence increased, or if suboptimal treatment resulted from stress on the health care system; numbers would decrease if the total proportion of the population symptomatically infected were lower than assumed.published_or_final_versio

Le complexe annulaire alcalin de Combeynot (massifs cristallins externes, Alpes francaises), temoin d'un magmatisme en regime distensif : petrogeochimie et signification geodynamique

SIGLECNRS T Bordereau / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueFRFranc

Le complexe annulaire alcalin de Combeynot ( Massifs cristallins externes, Alpes françaises), témoin d'un magmatisme en régime distensif. Pétrogéochimie et signification géodynamique.

The Combeynot massif, located on the north-eastern edge of the Haut-Dauphiné massif (external cristalline massifs, French Alps) is basically composed of two units : (1) a metamorphic and mylonitic basement including a migmatitic group and an ortho-augengneiss ; this basement is related to the formations of the core of the Haut-Dauphiné massif, (2) an intrusive subvolcanic ring complex, consisting of volcanic and volcano-detritic formations, of a dense microgranitic and rhyolitic vein pattern, of two concentrically arranged granitic units and of late doleritic veins which end the magmatic cycle. A comparative study of the petrography, the structure, the zircon typology, the geochemistry of major, trace (Y, Nb, Zr, Rb, Sr, U, Th, Hf, Sc, Cs and Ta), and rare earth elements, of the Combeynot complex made it possible to review the magmatic history of the cycle and to test his geodynamic implication. The magmatism of Combeynot is of alkaline within-plate nature and reflects a distensive geotectonic environment. It originates from the mantle where several subcontemporaneous magmas appear under the effect of various degres of partial melting and lead to acid units by crystal fractionation. Their subsurface setting in a fluid-rich orogenic region,wieh is still unconsolidated and the activity of the juvenile fluid phase and/or the meteoric water control the petrographie nature - acidic, oversaturated and subsolvus of the granitic units of the complexe and the postand tardi-magmatic hydrothermal alteration processes.Le massif de Combeynot, sur la bordure nord-orientale du massif du Haut-Dauphiné (massifs cristallins externes, Alpes Françaises) est constitué de deux unités fondamentales (1) un socle, déformé et métamorphisé, représenté par un ensemble migmatitique et un orthogneiss oeillé ; ce socle se rattache aux formations du noyau du massif du Haut-Dauphiné, (2) un complexe annulaire subvolcanique, intrusif dans le socle, composé de formations volcaniques et volcano-détritiques, d'un réseau filonien microgranitique et rhyolitique très dense, de deux unités granitiques disposées de manière concentrique et de filons doléritiques tardifs terminant l'épisode magmatique. Une étude comparative sur la pétrographie, la structure, la typologie des zircons et la géochimie des éléments majeurs, en traces (Y, Nb, Zr, Rb, Sr, U, Th, Hf, Sc, Cs et Ta) et Terres Rares du complexe de Combeynot ont permis de retracer l'histoire magmatique de la série et de tester sa signification géodynamique. Le magmatisme de Combeynot est de nature alcaline intraplaque et traduit un environnement géotectonique de distension. Il trouve son origine dans le manteau à partir duquel plusieurs magmas subcontemporains s'individualisent par des taux de fusion partielle différents et conduisent aux unités acides par cristallisation fractionnée. Leur mise en place superficielle dans une zone orogénique encore non consolidée, riche en fluides et la participation des phases fluides juvéniles et/ou des eaux météoriques conditionnent la nature pétrographique acide, sursaturée et subsolvus des unités granitiques du complexe ainsi que les processus d'altération hydrothermale post- et tardi- magmatiques

L’enseignement de la grammaire au lycée : problématique de mise en œuvre

This dissertation presents the account of a period of teaching during which the author endeavoured to establish learning sessions on grammar that benefit high school students. First it gives an outline of the different methods of teaching grammar that have been successively devised since the early XXth century and mentions today’s pedagogical trends in both official instructions and textbooks. The second part of this dissertation is about the assessment of the need of students with regard to grammar. The third part is focused on the various obstacles the author encountered as he established the teaching of grammar, while the fourth and last part is devoted both to the attempts the author made to overcome those obstacles and to the results he obtained.Ce mémoire présente le compte rendu d’une période d’enseignement durant laquelle l’auteur s’est efforcé d’instaurer un travail de la grammaire qui profite aux élèves de lycée. Il donne dans un premier temps un aperçu des différentes méthodes d’enseignement de la grammaire qui se sont succédée depuis le début du XIXe siècle et évoque les axes pédagogiques actuels dans les textes officiels et les manuels scolaires. La deuxième partie de ce mémoire porte sur l’évaluation du besoin qu’ont les élèves en grammaire. La troisième partie est quant à elle consacrée aux divers obstacles rencontrés par l’auteur dans sa mise en place de l’enseignement de la grammaire, tandis que la quatrième et dernière partie traite des tentatives que l’auteur à faites pour contourner ces obstacles ainsi que des résultats qu’il a obtenus

Changes of psychical and physical conditions in the elderly after a four-year follow-up

The elderly show a loss of both the intellectual functions and of motion ability. This happens also without particular pathologies; possible tests to highlight this loss are the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), and the Functional Reach (FR)-test. During 2004-2005 winter 50 healthy subjects were analyzed; the subjects were divided into three age-groups: from 55 to 64 years; from 65 to 74 years; over 75 years of age. The test results showed a significant decline of MMSE and FR from the first group to the other two groups, a same behavior of male and female subjects, a greater decline of physical characteristics compared to psychic characteristics. During 2008-2009 winter several subjects (34 of 50) were again analyzed, and a more accurate facility was used to measure the FR. The aim of the new test has been the exam of the cognitive conditions and of the physical performances after the 4 year follow-up. The results of the new tests confirm the previous results, both with regard to the decline of the psychophysical characteristics from the first age-group to the others but the decrease is not as significant as the previous, and with regard to the greater physical decline. What is surprising is that the decline of both the psychic and the physical characteristics concerns only the first age-group, not the other two. Maybe healthy subjects, without particular pathologies reach a stabilization of the above-mentioned characteristics; some hypothesis is given to explain what happens. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

Decline of physical and cognitive conditions in the elderly measured through the functional reach test and the mini-mental state examination

There are several tests used to evaluate the psychophysical characteristics of the elderly and, of these, the most suitable are the functional reach (FR) test, an index of the aptitude to maintain balance in an upright position, and the mini-mental state examination (MMSE), a global index of cognitive abilities. The sample of elderly people we analyzed involved 50 healthy subjects divided into three age-groups (15 subjects from 55 to 64 years, 19 from 65 to 74 years, and 16 over 75 years of age); they underwent an FR test, which consists first in the measurement of the anthropometric characteristics, then in the execution of the test itself, and finally in the study of the upright posture by the analysis of the center of pressure (COP) trend; they underwent an MMSE as well to evaluate the main areas of the cognitive function concerning space-time orientation, short-term memory, attention ability, calculation ability and constructive praxis. The results of these tests show, according to the age of the subject, a loss of physical performance (FR, FR related to height, and COP displacement), as well as a loss of cognitive abilities; however, in all cases the only significant changes are those between the first and the other two age-groups. Finally, a comparison between FR and MMSE shows a more rapid decline of physical performance compared to cognitive performance. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved