Impact of Scottish vocational qualifications on residential child care : have they fulfilled the promise?

This article will present findings from a doctoral study exploring the impact of 'SVQ Care: Promoting Independence (level III)' within children's homes. The study focuses on the extent to which SVQs enhance practice and their function within a 'learning society'. A total of 30 staff were selected from seven children's homes in two different local authority social work departments in Scotland. Each member of staff was interviewed on four separate occasions over a period of 9 months. Interviews were structured using a combination of repertory grids and questions. Particular focus was given to the assessment process, the extent to which SVQs enhance practice and the learning experiences of staff. The findings suggest that there are considerable deficiencies both in terms of the SVQ format and the way in which children's homes are structured for the assessment of competence. Rather than address the history of failure within residential care, it appears that SVQs have enabled the status quo to be maintained whilst creating an 'illusion' of change within a learning society

SMART: Unique splitting-while-merging framework for gene clustering

Copyright @ 2014 Fa et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Successful clustering algorithms are highly dependent on parameter settings. The clustering performance degrades significantly unless parameters are properly set, and yet, it is difficult to set these parameters a priori. To address this issue, in this paper, we propose a unique splitting-while-merging clustering framework, named “splitting merging awareness tactics” (SMART), which does not require any a priori knowledge of either the number of clusters or even the possible range of this number. Unlike existing self-splitting algorithms, which over-cluster the dataset to a large number of clusters and then merge some similar clusters, our framework has the ability to split and merge clusters automatically during the process and produces the the most reliable clustering results, by intrinsically integrating many clustering techniques and tasks. The SMART framework is implemented with two distinct clustering paradigms in two algorithms: competitive learning and finite mixture model. Nevertheless, within the proposed SMART framework, many other algorithms can be derived for different clustering paradigms. The minimum message length algorithm is integrated into the framework as the clustering selection criterion. The usefulness of the SMART framework and its algorithms is tested in demonstration datasets and simulated gene expression datasets. Moreover, two real microarray gene expression datasets are studied using this approach. Based on the performance of many metrics, all numerical results show that SMART is superior to compared existing self-splitting algorithms and traditional algorithms. Three main properties of the proposed SMART framework are summarized as: (1) needing no parameters dependent on the respective dataset or a priori knowledge about the datasets, (2) extendible to many different applications, (3) offering superior performance compared with counterpart algorithms.National Institute for Health Researc

The relationship between daily healthy lifestyle and sports activity in pregnant women

The aim of this study was to assess the general health status, daily life-healthy dietary patterns, and sports activity level of pregnant women, and to explore their relationship with the body mass index (BMI) of these women. This cross-sectional study employed descriptive and analytical methods. A total of 198 pregnant women from healthcare centers in Qasabat Al-Tafila participated. A questionnaire was developed consisting of two sections: demographic information, and a second section that included 38 questions distributed across three sub-domains: (1) General Health Status, (2) Daily Life-Healthy Dietary Patterns, and (3) Sports Activity. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (V20). The women’s general health status was rated as high (M=0.69), while both daily life-healthy dietary patterns (M=0.468) and sports activity (M=0.573) were rated as medium. The analysis showed statistically significant positive correlations between general health status, daily life-healthy dietary patterns, and sports activity with BMI (p < 0.01). Further, the results of multiple linear regression analysis indicated that these factors significantly influence BMI (p < 0.05). These findings highlight the important role of general health, daily life-healthy dietary patterns, and physical activity in shaping the BMI of pregnant women in Tafila Governorate. The study emphasizes the importance of promoting and maintaining a balanced and active lifestyle for pregnant women to optimize their health and well-being

The relationship between daily healthy lifestyle and sports activity in pregnant women

The aim of this study was to assess the general health status, daily life-healthy dietary patterns, and sports activity level of pregnant women, and to explore their relationship with the body mass index (BMI) of these women. This cross-sectional study employed descriptive and analytical methods. A total of 198 pregnant women from healthcare centers in Qasabat Al-Tafila participated. A questionnaire was developed consisting of two sections: demographic information, and a second section that included 38 questions distributed across three sub-domains: (1) General Health Status, (2) Daily Life-Healthy Dietary Patterns, and (3) Sports Activity. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (V20). The women’s general health status was rated as high (M=0.69), while both daily life-healthy dietary patterns (M=0.468) and sports activity (M=0.573) were rated as medium. The analysis showed statistically significant positive correlations between general health status, daily life-healthy dietary patterns, and sports activity with BMI (p < 0.01). Further, the results of multiple linear regression analysis indicated that these factors significantly influence BMI (p < 0.05). These findings highlight the important role of general health, daily life-healthy dietary patterns, and physical activity in shaping the BMI of pregnant women in Tafila Governorate. The study emphasizes the importance of promoting and maintaining a balanced and active lifestyle for pregnant women to optimize their health and well-being

Trends in the mortality of non-traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage in Colombia: a 10-year analysis of a nationwide registry

Objective To assess trends in mortality from 1999 to 2008 resulting from non-traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) in the Colombian population. Method This population-based study analyzed all deaths by assuming a Poisson model. Results Subarachnoid hemorrhage-related deaths showed a statistically significant increase of 1.6% per year (p<0.001). The age-standardized analysis demonstrated an increased mortality trend of 3.3% per year (p<0.001) in people older than 70 years, but a decreased mortality trend in people younger than 50. It remained stable in patients 50-69 years old. Conclusion The overall SAH-related mortality rate in Colombia has increased because increased mortality among the elderly has been counterbalanced by reduced mortality rates in younger age groups. These disparities may reflect epidemiologic transition, treatment inequities, or a less favorable comorbid profile

Eating habits and lifestyle during covid-19 lockdown in the united arab emirates: A cross-sectional study

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. The coronavirus disease is still spreading in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with subsequent lockdowns and social distancing measures being enforced by the government. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of the lockdown on eating habits and lifestyle behaviors among residents of the UAE. A cross-sectional study among adults in the UAE was conducted using an online questionnaire between April and May 2020. A total of 1012 subjects participated in the study. During the pandemic, 31% reported weight gain and 72.2% had less than eight cups of water per day. Furthermore, the dietary habits of the participants were distanced from the Mediterranean diet principles and closer to “unhealthy” dietary patterns. Moreover, 38.5% did not engage in physical activity and 36.2% spent over five hours per day on screens for entertainment. A significantly higher percentage of participants reported physical exhaustion, emotional exhaustion, irritability, and tension “all the time” during the pandemic compared to before the pandemic (p \u3c 0.001). Sleep disturbances were prevalent among 60.8% of the participants during the pandemic. Although lockdowns are an important safety measure to protect public health, results indicate that they might cause a variety of lifestyle changes, physical inactivity, and psychological problems among adults in the UAE

Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19) Lockdown on Mental Health and Well-Being in the United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates (UAE) has taken unprecedented precautionary measures including complete lockdowns against COVID-19 to control its spread and ensure the well-being of individuals. This study investigated the impact of COVID-19 and societal lockdown measures on the mental health of adults in the UAE. A cross-sectional study was conducted using an English and Arabic online questionnaire between May and June 2020. The psychological impact was assessed by the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), and the social and family support impact was evaluated using questions from the Perceived Support Scale (PSS). A total of 4,426 participants (3,325 females and 1,101 males) completed the questionnaire. The mean IES-R score was 28.0 ± 14.6, reflecting a mild stressful impact with 27.3% reporting severe psychological impact. Over 36% reported increased stress from work, home and financial matters. Also, 43–63% of the participants felt horrified, apprehensive or helpless due to COVID-19. Females, younger participants, part-timers, and college or University graduates were more likely to have a high IES-R score (p \u3c 0.05). The majority of participants reported receiving increased support from family members, paying more attention to their mental health, and spending more time to rest and relax. The results of this study demonstrate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health among the UAE residents and highlight the need to adopt culturally appropriate interventions for the general population and vulnerable groups, such as females and younger adults

Assessment of Eating Habits and Lifestyle during Coronavirus Pandemic in the MENA region: A Cross-Sectional Study

© The Authors 2020. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has rapidly spread globally, forcing countries to apply lockdowns and strict social distancing measures. The aim of this study was to assess eating habits and lifestyle behaviors among residents of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region during the lockdown. A cross-sectional study among adult residents of the MENA region was conducted using an online questionnaire designed on Google Forms during April 2020. A total of 2970 participants from 18 countries participated in the current study. During the pandemic, over 30% reported weight gain, 6.2% consumed five or more meals per day compared to 2.2% before the pandemic (p\u3c0.001), and 48.8% did not consume fruits on daily basis. Moreover, 39.1% did not engage in physical activity, over 35% spent more than five hours per day on screens. A significant association between the frequency of training during the pandemic and the reported change in weight was found (p \u3c 0.001). A significantly higher percentage of participants reported physical and emotional exhaustion, irritability, and tension either all the time or a large part of the time during the pandemic (p \u3c 0.001). Although a high percentage of participants reported sleeping more hours per night during the pandemic, 63% had sleep disturbances. The study highlights that the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic caused a variety of lifestyle changes, physical inactivity, and psychological problems among adults in the MENA region

Gender and the achievement of skilled status in the workplace: the case of senior women in the UK Fire & Rescue Service

This article presents a qualitative study of a hitherto un-researched group, women leaders within the UK Fire & Rescue Service (FRS). The process of modernising the FRS has increased expectations of workforce diversification and of women more easily entering and progressing within the organisation. Here, however, participants’ commentary testifies to the difficulties women faced in being recognised as skilled workers in this context; achieving recognition for both physical and non-physical skills remained a contested process, and one that was not eased by promotion. Participants identified the heightened visibility that accompanied leadership as especially problematic, following a period of gender dimming and assimilation that many had undergone as marginal workers, and had undergone to maximize the chances of being recognised as skilled workers. The findings suggest that some new elements of the modernising FRS culture are less successful than they might be at supporting senior women