A Multi-Criteria Sustainability Assessment of Mediterranean Rainfed Farming Systems using the IDEA Method: A Moroccan Case Study

Sustainable agriculture in arid and semi-arid regions faces unique challenges that require targeted assessment and intervention. Addressing the knowledge gap in this context, the current study evaluates the sustainability performance of 50 rainfed farms in the Zaër Region of northwestern Morocco using the innovative Indicateurs de Durabilité des Exploitations Agricoles/IDEA method (indicators of farming systems sustainability), which encompasses agro-ecological, social and economic criteria to assess the three pillars of sustainability. Customized assessment criteria and a tailored scoring system, specific to the region’s context, are employed, resulting in a comprehensive grid with 18 indicators across nine components. Data analysis and visualization were facilitated using statistical methods and an Excel macro. The findings reveal limitations in the sustainability of the surveyed farms. Socio-territorial factors, including issues with product quality, insufficient farmer training, limited workforce mobilization and low social involvement, contribute to the overall sustainability challenges. Agroecologically, low crop diversification, inadequate space management, and excessive reliance on chemical inputs are identified as areas of concern. On the economic scale, low specialization levels hinder economic viability despite some financial autonomy. The study emphasizes the need for interventions to enhance sustainability in rainfed agrosystems. Recommendations are provided to address socio-territorial constraints, improve agricultural practices, and promote economic viability. The findings have implications for policymakers, farmers and stakeholders, offering valuable insights for prioritizing strategies and actions to achieve sustainable agriculture in arid and semi-arid regions

A Flow-based Distributed Intrusion Detection System Using Mobile Agents

In recent decade, computer networks have grown in popularity. So, network security measures become highly critical to protect networks against different kind of cyber attacks. One of the security measures is using intrusion detection system (IDS). An IDS aims to detect behaviors that compromise network integrity, availability and confidentiality, by continuously capturing and analyzing events occurring in the network. A challenging problem for current IDSs is that their performance decreases in today’s high speed and large scale networks. A centralize IDS cannot process such high volume of data and there is a high possibility that it discards some attacks. In this paper we propose a flow-based distributed IDS using mobile agents (MA), which performs both data capturing and data analyzing in a distributed fashion. Our distributed IDS provides a framework for deployment of a scalable and high performance IDS, which by using a grouping mechanism and help of mobile agents, effective collaboration can be established between all network members. We simulated our method in NS2. Then we compared our proposed system with a general network-based IDS and a distributed IDS. Experimental results showed its superiority using several metrics of network load, detection rate and flow loss rate.DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/ijece.v3i6.393

Efficacy of Management Skills Group Training for Mothers on Self-Esteem and Anxiety of Their Children With Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder

Background: Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has a profound impact on lives of thousands of children and their families. Objectives: Aim of this study was to determine effectiveness of training for mothers, on these children. Materials and Methods: In this quasi-experimental research, 30 mothers were randomly divided into control and experimental groups and the experimental group received Barkley management skills training in 9 sessions. Results: Findings showed that anxiety in children of trained mothers was decreased and self-esteem was increased. Conclusions: The training program for mothers can be an effective method for treatment of psychological disorders in children with ADHD

Comparing the Results of two Cost Sharing Approaches in Calculating the Cost of Hospital Services: a case study

Background & Objectives: Calculation of hospital services costs, especially the allocated costs, is a complicated process due to the great number of hospital services, as well as the interdependence between different centers. Considering the interrelationships between all departments in the hospital, cost analysis is possible only through the mutul sharing approach, which can provide more accurate information for researchers and managers in order to decide on a costs analysis. Methods: The present study was a descriptive study that was conducted in 2017 in a selected educational hospital affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences. Data collection was done through observation, interview and investigating financial documents. After identifying the active centers and the appropriate cost drivers, the cost of important services in final sectors was calculated by using two methods of one-way sharing and mutual sharing through simultaneous equations. Results: In comparison of one-way and mutaul sharing approach, all overhead, intermediate and total costs showed deviation. The greatest deviation between these two approaches was found in the parturition and ophthalmology departments and related to the cesarean with 16 million rials and the lacrimal duct cathetering with 13 million rials, respectively. Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that if hospitals managers calculate their services costs by activity-based cost and through mutual cost sharing approach, they can benefit from the correct costreportings and by having a clear image can make management decisions appropriately. Key¬words: Activity-based costing, One-way sharing, Mutual sharing, Teaching hospital Citation: Alipour V , Rezapour A , Meshkani Z, Farabi H, Mazdaki A, Hakimi N. Comparing the Results of two Cost Sharing Approaches in Calculating the Cost of Hospital Services: a case study. Journal of Health Based Research 2018; 4(3): 273-87. [In Persian

Actual Costs of Residency Training in Teaching Hospitals: A Case of Iran

Background: There was a challenge for teaching hospitals to accept residents for educational goals due to their training costs. Objectives: The present study aimed to estimate the actual costs of residency training in hospitals for policymaking, budgetary impact, and negotiation. Methods: This retrospective study was performed in eight teaching hospitals affiliated with the Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, in 2018. Two scenarios were designed to estimate the costs of education per resident. All of the resources used by residents in the hospitals were identified. Cost items attributed to the training goals were allocated to the internal medicine and surgical fields; however, for cost items that were used for treatment and education, such as disposables and consumables and equipment, the cost drivers were used. Therefore, the difference between the scenarios was related to the cost drivers. Results: Overall, the selected hospitals had spent $586,720.35 and$ 572,358.10 based on scenarios 1 and 2, respectively. The residency training per surgical resident in the hospitals was about 1.2 times higher than an internal medicine resident. Surgery, neurology, urology, and anesthesiology were the f ields with the highest costs in the hospitals. Conclusion: Although residency training accounts for a large proportion of hospital costs, employing residents reduces the costs of human resources. Monitoring and controlling costs, as well as resource quotas for resident training, can be a way to reduce educational course costs in hospitals. Universities can cover some parts of the educational costs to motivate hospitals to make an appropriate setting for residents. Keywords: Cost Analyses, Academic Medical Centers, Internship and Residenc

Repositioning of the global epicentre of non-optimal cholesterol

High blood cholesterol is typically considered a feature of wealthy western countries(1,2). However, dietary and behavioural determinants of blood cholesterol are changing rapidly throughout the world(3) and countries are using lipid-lowering medications at varying rates. These changes can have distinct effects on the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol, which have different effects on human health(4,5). However, the trends of HDL and non-HDL cholesterol levels over time have not been previously reported in a global analysis. Here we pooled 1,127 population-based studies that measured blood lipids in 102.6 million individuals aged 18 years and older to estimate trends from 1980 to 2018 in mean total, non-HDL and HDL cholesterol levels for 200 countries. Globally, there was little change in total or non-HDL cholesterol from 1980 to 2018. This was a net effect of increases in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreases in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe. As a result, countries with the highest level of non-HDL cholesterol-which is a marker of cardiovascular riskchanged from those in western Europe such as Belgium, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Malta in 1980 to those in Asia and the Pacific, such as Tokelau, Malaysia, The Philippines and Thailand. In 2017, high non-HDL cholesterol was responsible for an estimated 3.9 million (95% credible interval 3.7 million-4.2 million) worldwide deaths, half of which occurred in east, southeast and south Asia. The global repositioning of lipid-related risk, with non-optimal cholesterol shifting from a distinct feature of high-income countries in northwestern Europe, north America and Australasia to one that affects countries in east and southeast Asia and Oceania should motivate the use of population-based policies and personal interventions to improve nutrition and enhance access to treatment throughout the world.Peer reviewe

Global variation in diabetes diagnosis and prevalence based on fasting glucose and hemoglobin A1c

Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) are both used to diagnose diabetes, but these measurements can identify different people as having diabetes. We used data from 117 population-based studies and quantified, in different world regions, the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes, and whether those who were previously undiagnosed and detected as having diabetes in survey screening, had elevated FPG, HbA1c or both. We developed prediction equations for estimating the probability that a person without previously diagnosed diabetes, and at a specific level of FPG, had elevated HbA1c, and vice versa. The age-standardized proportion of diabetes that was previously undiagnosed and detected in survey screening ranged from 30% in the high-income western region to 66% in south Asia. Among those with screen-detected diabetes with either test, the age-standardized proportion who had elevated levels of both FPG and HbA1c was 29-39% across regions; the remainder had discordant elevation of FPG or HbA1c. In most low- and middle-income regions, isolated elevated HbA1c was more common than isolated elevated FPG. In these regions, the use of FPG alone may delay diabetes diagnosis and underestimate diabetes prevalence. Our prediction equations help allocate finite resources for measuring HbA1c to reduce the global shortfall in diabetes diagnosis and surveillance

Height and body-mass index trajectories of school-aged children and adolescents from 1985 to 2019 in 200 countries and territories: a pooled analysis of 2181 population-based studies with 65 million participants

Summary Background Comparable global data on health and nutrition of school-aged children and adolescents are scarce. We aimed to estimate age trajectories and time trends in mean height and mean body-mass index (BMI), which measures weight gain beyond what is expected from height gain, for school-aged children and adolescents. Methods For this pooled analysis, we used a database of cardiometabolic risk factors collated by the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1985 to 2019 in mean height and mean BMI in 1-year age groups for ages 5–19 years. The model allowed for non-linear changes over time in mean height and mean BMI and for non-linear changes with age of children and adolescents, including periods of rapid growth during adolescence. Findings We pooled data from 2181 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in 65 million participants in 200 countries and territories. In 2019, we estimated a difference of 20 cm or higher in mean height of 19-year-old adolescents between countries with the tallest populations (the Netherlands, Montenegro, Estonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina for boys; and the Netherlands, Montenegro, Denmark, and Iceland for girls) and those with the shortest populations (Timor-Leste, Laos, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea for boys; and Guatemala, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Timor-Leste for girls). In the same year, the difference between the highest mean BMI (in Pacific island countries, Kuwait, Bahrain, The Bahamas, Chile, the USA, and New Zealand for both boys and girls and in South Africa for girls) and lowest mean BMI (in India, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, and Chad for boys and girls; and in Japan and Romania for girls) was approximately 9–10 kg/m2. In some countries, children aged 5 years started with healthier height or BMI than the global median and, in some cases, as healthy as the best performing countries, but they became progressively less healthy compared with their comparators as they grew older by not growing as tall (eg, boys in Austria and Barbados, and girls in Belgium and Puerto Rico) or gaining too much weight for their height (eg, girls and boys in Kuwait, Bahrain, Fiji, Jamaica, and Mexico; and girls in South Africa and New Zealand). In other countries, growing children overtook the height of their comparators (eg, Latvia, Czech Republic, Morocco, and Iran) or curbed their weight gain (eg, Italy, France, and Croatia) in late childhood and adolescence. When changes in both height and BMI were considered, girls in South Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and some central Asian countries (eg, Armenia and Azerbaijan), and boys in central and western Europe (eg, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, and Montenegro) had the healthiest changes in anthropometric status over the past 3·5 decades because, compared with children and adolescents in other countries, they had a much larger gain in height than they did in BMI. The unhealthiest changes—gaining too little height, too much weight for their height compared with children in other countries, or both—occurred in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, New Zealand, and the USA for boys and girls; in Malaysia and some Pacific island nations for boys; and in Mexico for girls. Interpretation The height and BMI trajectories over age and time of school-aged children and adolescents are highly variable across countries, which indicates heterogeneous nutritional quality and lifelong health advantages and risks