161 research outputs found

    Content validity of national post marriage educational program using mixed methods

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    Background: Although the validity of content of program is mostly conducted with qualitative methods, this study used both qualitative and quantitative methods for the validation of content of post marriage training program provid-ed for newly married couples. Content validity is a preliminary step of obtaining authorization required to install the program in country's health care system. Methods: This mixed methodological content validation study carried out in four steps with forming three expert panels. Altogether 24 expert panelists were involved in 3 qualitative and quantitative panels; 6 in the first item devel-opment one; 12 in the reduction kind, 4 of them were common with the first panel, and 10 executive experts in the last one organized to evaluate psychometric properties of CVR and CVI and Face validity of 57 educational objectives. Results: The raw data of post marriage program had been written by professional experts of Ministry of Health, using qualitative expert panel, the content was more developed by generating 3 topics and refining one topic and its respec-tive content. In the second panel, totally six other objectives were deleted, three for being out of agreement cut of point and three on experts' consensus. The validity of all items was above 0.8 and their content validity indices (0.8-1) were completely appropriate in quantitative assessment. Conclusion: This study provided a good evidence for validation and accreditation of national post marriage program planned for newly married couples in health centers of the country in the near future. © 2015, Iranian Journal of Public Health. All right reserved

    Full replacement of fishmeal by poultry by-product meal in rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum, 1972) diet

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    Along the plant ingredients, rendered animal protein sources such as blood meal, meat and bone meal and poultry by-product meal have potential to be replaced by fishmeal in rainbow trout feed. Therefore, the main objective of the present study is to determine the effect of full replacement of fishmeal by poultry by-products meal (PBM) on fish performance, nutrient digestibility and also liver characteristics in rainbow trout. Four experimental diets were formulated to contain graded levels of PBM at 0 (control diet), 33 (PBM33), 66 (PBM66) or 100% (PBM100), respectively. The four treatments were randomly assigned to each of 12 tanks, having three replicates for each treatment. Rainbow trout juveniles with an average initial weight of 50±0.42g were reared for two months. The fish gained lower weight and specific growth rate at PBM 66% and 100%. FCR was recorded larger for rainbow trout feeding on PBM 66% and 100% in comparison to PBM 33% and control diets (p<0.05). The whole exchange of fishmeal by PBM (PBM100%) reduced dry matter, fat and protein digestibility (p<0.05). An increase in PBM content of diet also resulted in larger fat content of the fish liver (p<0.05). Body fat content reduced and moisture content increased by increasing PBM level (p<0.05). In conclusion, PBM can be included in rainbow trout feed as an alternative for fishmeal up to 33%. A larger fat content of liver at PBM 100% may indicate a negative impact of PBM on rainbow trout health at full replacement level

    Aceite de Kilka común y su dinámica oxidativa primaria y secundaria estabilizada por diferentes variantes de aceite esencial de clavo

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    The objective of this study was to investigate the properties of clove essential oil extracted by different microwave-assisted methods and to evaluate its effects on the stability of common Kilka oil. Each of these methods was hypothesized to yield a clove essential oil that would have a distinguishable composition and effect when added to common Kilka oil by maintaining its oxidative stability. The oxidation of common Kilka oil was examined by accelerated oxidation using the active oxygen method and Rancimat test. The clove essential oil extracted by microwave-assisted hydrodistillation showed the highest induction period according to the active oxygen method (16.56 h) and the Rancimat induction period (3.64 h) in common Kilka oil and its antioxidant activity was comparable to that of BHT (16.59 h and 4.34 h, respectively) and tocopheryl acetate (16.30 h and 4.02 h, respectively). Furthermore, the microwaveassisted hydrodistillation method resulted in the amount of eugenol that exhibited the highest antioxidant capacity for preserving PUFA in common Kilka oil. Ultimately, clove essential oil can become an efficient natural antioxidant for the oxidative stability of common Kilka oil.El objetivo de este estudio fue investigar las propiedades de los aceites esenciales de clavo que se extrajeron utilizando diferentes métodos asistidos por microondas y evaluar los efectos de estos aceites esenciales en la estabilidad del aceite de Kilka común. Se hipotetizó que cada uno de los métodos produce un aceite esencial de clavo que tendría una composición y un efecto distintivo cuando se agrega al aceite de Kilka común manteniendo su estabilidad oxidativa. La oxidación del aceite de Kilka común se determinó mediante oxidación acelerada utilizando el método de oxígeno activo y Rancimat. El aceite esencial de clavo extraído por hidrodestilación asistida por microondas logró en el aceite de Kilka común un período de inducción, mediante el método de oxígeno activo, más alto (16,56 h) y un período de inducción mediante Rancimat de 3,64 h y su actividad antioxidante fue comparable a la del BHT (16,59 h y 4,34 h, respectivamente) y a la del acetato de tocoferol (16,30 h y 4,02 h, respectivamente). Además, el método de hidrodestilación asistido por microondas influyó en la cantidad de eugenol que presentó una mayor capacidad antioxidante para preservar los PUFAs del aceite de Kilka común. Por último, el aceite esencial de clavo puede convertirse en un antioxidante natural eficiente para la estabilidad oxidativa del aceite de Kilka común

    Predicting encounter and colocation events

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    Although an extensive literature has been devoted to mine and model mobility features, forecasting where, when and whom people will encounter/colocate still deserve further research effort s. Forecasting people\u2019s encounter and colocation features is the key point for the success of many applications rang- ing from epidemiology to the design of new networking paradigms and services such as delay tolerant and opportunistic networks. While many algorithms which rely on both mobility and social informa- tion have been proposed, we propose a novel encounter and colocation predictive model which predicts user\u2019s encounter and colocation events and their features by exploiting the spatio-temporal regularity in the history of these events. We adopt a weighted features Bayesian predictor and evaluate its accuracy on two large scales WiFi and cellular datasets. Results show that our approach could improve prediction accuracy with respect to standard na\uefve Bayesian and some of the state of the art predictors

    Proposed Lifting Model for Gripper Date Palm Service Machines

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    Many of the cultural operations of date palm tree require the man to climb the tree and work at a considerable height above the ground. This is a dangerous and slow operation further compounded by a severe labor shortage. The objective of this study is to propose an innovative gripper service machine in order to climb the tree and do special operations at the top. Gripper date palm service machine is a machine which connects to the tree trunk and uses it as support. It causes to reduce size and weight of this machine in order to utilize in date palm gardens which has no special planting pattern and palm is cultivated with other trees. This work demonstrates how a gripper climber machine can be applied to service palm trees with the aim of reducing the size, weight and cost. The proposed machine was designed in Solidworks computer software. Finally the maximum weight which the tree can suffer was estimated. According to the results of maximum load which the tree can suffer and safety of the occupant, it is recommended to use this machine as a remote control machine and without occupant

    On the properties of human mobility

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    The current age of increased people mobility calls for a better understanding of how people move: how many places does an individual commonly visit, what are the semantics of these places, and how do people get from one place to another. We show that the number of places visited by each person (Points of Interest - PoIs) is regulated by some properties that are statistically similar among individuals. Subsequently, we present a PoIs classification in terms of their relevance on a per-user basis. In addition to the PoIs relevance, we also investigate the variables that describe the travel rules among PoIs in particular, the spatial and temporal distance. As regards the latter, existing works on mobility are mainly based on spatial distance. Here we argue, rather, that for human mobility the temporal distance and the PoIs relevance are the major driving factors. Moreover, we study the semantic of PoIs. This is useful for deriving statistics on people's habits without breaking their privacy. With the support of different datasets, our paper provides an in-depth analysis of PoIs distribution and semantics; it also shows that our results hold independently of the nature of the dataset in use. We illustrate that our approach is able to effectively extract a rich set of features describing human mobility and we argue that this can be seminal to novel mobility research

    Effect of different levels of Azolla meal on growth performance and digestibility of common carp (Cyprinus carpio)

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    In this study, the effects of different dietary levels of Azolla meal were investigated on growth performance and digestibility of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) fingerlings during 60 days. Five experimental diets approximately iso-protein (30%) and isolipidic (10%), were formulated with different levels of Azolla meal consisting of 0, 15, 25, 35 and 45%, respectively. In each experimental treatment, triplicate groups of common Carp fingerlings (16.5± 0.2 g) were used in a completely randomized design. Twenty fish were assigned to each experimental unit and stocked in 300 L tank. The results showed that the use of Azolla meal up to 15% had no negative effect on growth performance. The growth of fish was reduced significantly with increasing Azolla meal level of more than 15% of diet. Based on results, the apparent digestibility coefficients (ADC) of dry matter decreased with increasing Azolla meal in diets. The highest ADC of protein was observed in control treatment. However, no significant difference was observed between the treatment 2 (diet with 15% Azolla meal) and control (without Azolla meal) for ADC of protein. In general, results of the present study showed that Azolla meal can be used up to 15% in Cyprinus carpio diet

    The frequency of vaginal intercourse during pregnancy: A systematic and meta-analysis study

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    Objectives: Sexual life may change during pregnancy. Due to negative attitudes toward having sex, unpleasant feeling, and fear of several issues, women might avoid vaginal intercourse during pregnancy. Therefore, the present systematic review aimed to investigate the frequency of vaginal intercourse in pregnancy.Materials and Methods: Comprehensive literature review was conducted to find the relevant articles published (from December 1990 to April 2018) on the issue including observational studies (e.g., cross-sectional and cohort studies) that certainly determined the mean frequency of vaginal sex throughout pregnancy. In this regard, online international databases such as ISI, PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, and Google Scholar were independently explored and checked by two authors. Duplicate articles were removed by the EndNote X7 Reference Manager. The results were analyzed using RevMan 5.3 software. The P < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Totally, after excluding the duplicate and irrelevant articles based on having the mean frequency of vaginal intercourse during pregnancy, 13 articles were obtained. The range of vaginal intercourse frequency varied from 6.01 to 21 times every month pre-pregnancy, 3.67-9.87 times monthly in the first trimester, 2.78-7.21 times monthly in the second trimester, and 1.35-5.9 times monthly in the third trimester. Five out of the 13 selected articles reporting the mean and standard deviation were entered the current meta-analysis. The frequency of vaginal intercourse was obtained 7.75 (7.13-8.38) times monthly prior to pregnancy, 4.16 (3.86-4.46) times in the first trimester, 6.37 (5.60-7.14) times monthly in the second trimester, and 1.81 (1.49-2.13) times monthly in the third trimester. Conclusions: Generally, the frequency of vaginal intercourse decreased in the first trimester while increasing in the second trimester. However, a sharp decline was observed between the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. © 2019 The Author (s)

    Effect of <em>Thymus vulgaris</em> and <em>Bunium persicum</em> essential oils on the oxidative stability of virgin olive oil

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    Natural antioxidants are becoming a major focus because natural food ingredients are safer than synthetic types. The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effects of Thymus vulgaris and Bunium persicum essential oils (EO) on the oxidation of virgin olive oil (VOO) during accelerated storage. The antioxidant activities of EOs were compared with those of α-tocopherol and BHT. GC/MS analyses revealed that thymol (28.50%), p-cymene (27.14%), carvacrol (18.36%), and γ-terpinene (4.97%) are the main components of T. vulgaris EO, while cuminaldehyde (32.81%), γ-terpinene (16.02%) and p-cymene (14.07%) are the main components of B. persicum EO. Both EOs provided protection for the VOO, inhibiting the formation of primary and secondary oxidation products although T. vulgaris EO showed greater protection against the oxidation process than B. persicum EO. The effect of T. vulgaris essential oil on the oxidation inhibition of VOO was similar to that of BHT. α-Tocopherol showed no measurable effect on improving the oxidative stability of VOO. This study suggests that T. vulgaris and B. persicum EOs can be used to improve the oxidative stability of VOO

    Wealth stratified inequalities in service utilisation of breast cancer screening across the geographical regions: A pooled decomposition analysis

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    Background Breast cancer is the most commonly occurring cancer among women in low-resourced countries. Reduction of its impacts is achievable with regular screening and early detection. The main aim of the study was to examine the role of wealth stratified inequality in the utilisation breast cancer screening (BCS) services and identified potential factors contribute to the observed inequalities. Methods A population-based cross-sectional multi-country analysis was used to study the utilisation of BCS services. Regression-based decomposition analyses were applied to examine the magnitude of the impact of inequalities on the utilisation of BCS services and to identify potential factors contributing to these outcomes. Observations from 140,974 women aged greater than or equal to 40 years were used in the analysis from 14 low-resource countries from the latest available national-level Demographic and Health Surveys (2008–09 to 2016). Results The population-weighted mean utilisation of BCS services was low at 15.41% (95% CI: 15.22, 15.60), varying from 80.82% in European countries to 25.26% in South American countries, 16.95% in North American countries, 15.06% in Asia and 13.84% in African countries. Women with higher socioeconomic status (SES) had higher utilisation of BCS services (15%) than those with lower SES (9%). A high degree of inequality in accessing and the use of BCS services existed in all study countries across geographical areas. Older women, access to limited mass media communication, being insured, rurality and low wealth score were found to be significantly associated with lower utilisation of BCS services. Together they explained approximately 60% in the total inequality in utilisation of BCS services. Conclusions The level of wealth relates to the inequality in accessing BCS amongst reproductive women in these 14 low-resource countries. The findings may assist policymakers to develop risk-pooling financial mechanisms and design strategies to increase community awareness of BCS services. These strategies may contribute to reducing inequalities associated with achieving higher rates of the utilisation of BCS services
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