Public Awareness, Knowledge of Presbyopia and Compliance to Eye Examination in Jordan

Mera F Haddad,1 Nour Abdo,2 May M Bakkar1 1Department of Allied Medical Sciences, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan; 2Department of Public Health, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, JordanCorrespondence: Mera F Haddad, Department of Allied Medical Sciences, Jordan University of Science and Technology, POBox 3030, Irbid, 22110, Jordan, Tel +962797151304, Email [email protected]: To assess public awareness and knowledge about presbyopia and their compliance to ocular examination in Jordan.Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was designed to interview people in different provinces of Jordan. Socio-demographic data such as age, gender and level of education and region was reported. The first part of the questionnaire assessed awareness of presbyopia in terms of the need for spectacles with age, age of onset, possible causes of presbyopia and methods of presbyopia management. The second part of the questionnaire evaluated compliance of the participants with ocular examination in terms of frequency and motive to do general eye check, intraocular pressure (IOP), fundus exam and visual acuity.Results: A total of 802 participants (232 males, 570 females) with an average age of 28 (± 11.6) completed the questionnaire. Most participants (84.2%) knew that glasses are needed for near vision as age increases, and 62.8% estimated the age at which spectacles are required (40 years or older). Over half understood that presbyopia is correctable and progressive. Age significantly influenced knowledge about the need for near vision spectacles, and whether presbyopia is preventable and progressive (both p < 0.05). Females were more knowledgeable about these aspects. The frequency of eye examinations, particularly fundus exams and IOP tests, was significantly influenced by age but not by education. Gender only significantly affected the frequency of vision checks (p = 0.01), with females being more likely to adhere to them.Conclusion: This study demonstrated a good level of awareness and knowledge about presbyopia among Jordanians, especially those over 40 and females. Regular eye check-ups were more common among young participants and females. Addressing misconceptions about presbyopia’s preventability and promoting regular eye exams are crucial for early diagnosis and management of presbyopia and other serious eye conditions.Keywords: awareness, presbyopia, eye examination, Jorda

Black Brane Viscosity and the Gregory-Laflamme Instability

We study long wavelength perturbations of neutral black p-branes in asymptotically flat space and show that, as anticipated in the blackfold approach, solutions of the relativistic hydrodynamic equations for an effective p+1-dimensional fluid yield solutions to the vacuum Einstein equations in a derivative expansion. Going beyond the perfect fluid approximation, we compute the effective shear and bulk viscosities of the black brane. The values we obtain saturate generic bounds. Sound waves in the effective fluid are unstable, and have been previously related to the Gregory-Laflamme instability of black p-branes. By including the damping effect of the viscosity in the unstable sound waves, we obtain a remarkably good and simple approximation to the dispersion relation of the Gregory-Laflamme modes, whose accuracy increases with the number of transverse dimensions. We propose an exact limiting form as the number of dimensions tends to infinity.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures. v2: minor corrections and refs adde

Pilot study of a culturally adapted psychoeducation (CaPE) intervention for bipolar disorder in Pakistan.

Background: Despite the use of maintenance medication, recurrence rates in bipolar affective disorder (BPAD) are high. To date, there are no clinical trials that have investigated the use of psychological interventions in bipolar disorder in Pakistan. / Aim: The purpose of the study was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a culturally adapted bipolar psychoeducation programme (CaPE) in Pakistan. / Methods: Thirty-four euthymic bipolar I and II outpatients were randomized to either 12 weekly sessions of individual psychoeducation plus Treatment As Usual (Intervention) or Treatment As Usual (TAU) (Control). Outcomes were assessed using the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), EuroQoL (EQ-5D), Bipolar Knowledge and Attitudes and Questionnaire (BKAQ), and a self-reported measure of medication adherence (Morisky Medication Adherence Scale-4 items, MMAS-4). Effect sizes were derived from baseline adjusted standardized regression coefficients. / Results: Retention in the study was good, 80% of patients in the TAU follow-up assessment and 100% of patients in the CaPE group attended all 12 sessions. Patient satisfaction was higher in the CaPE group relative to control (ES = 1.41). Further, there were large effect sizes shown for CaPE versus TAU for medication adherence (MMAS-4: ES = 0.81), knowledge and attitudes towards bipolar (BKAQ: ES = 0.68), mania (YMRS: ES = 1.18), depression (BDI: ES = 1.17) and quality of life measures (EQ-5D: ES ⇒ 0.88). / Conclusions: Culturally adapted psychoeducation intervention is acceptable and feasible, and can be effective in improving mood symptoms and knowledge and attitudes to BPAD when compared with TAU. Larger scale studies are needed to confirm our findings. / Trial registration. Clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT0221039

Molecular complexity determines the number of olfactory notes and the pleasantness of smells

One major unresolved problem in olfaction research is to relate the percept to the molecular structure of stimuli. The present study examined this issue and showed for the first time a quantitative structure-odor relationship in which the more structurally complex a monomolecular odorant, the more numerous the olfactory notes it evokes. Low-complexity odorants were also rated as more aversive, reflecting the fact that low molecular complexity may serve as a warning cue for the olfactory system. Taken together, these findings suggest that molecular complexity provides a framework to explain the subjective experience of smells

Numerical study of radiative Maxwell viscoelastic magnetized flow from a stretching permeable sheet with the Cattaneo–Christov heat flux model

In this article, the Cattaneo-Christov heat flux model is implemented to study non-Fourier heat and mass transfer in the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow of an upper convected Maxwell (UCM) fluid over a permeable stretching sheet under a transverse constant magnetic field. Thermal radiation and chemical reaction effects are also considered. The nonlinear partial differential conservation equations for mass, momentum, energy and species conservation are transformed with appropriate similarity variables into a system of coupled, highly nonlinear ordinary differential equations with appropriate boundary conditions. Numerical solutions have been presented for the influence of elasticity parameter (), magnetic parameter (M2), suction/injection parameter (λ), Prandtl number (Pr), conduction-radiation parameter (Rd), sheet stretching parameter (A), Schmidt number (Sc), chemical reaction parameter (γ_c), modified Deborah number with respect to relaxation time of heat flux (i.e. non-Fourier Deborah number) on velocity components, temperature and concentration profiles using the successive Taylor series linearization method (STSLM) utilizing Chebyshev interpolating polynomials and Gauss-Lobatto collocation. The effects of selected parameters on skin friction coefficient, Nusselt number and Sherwood number are also presented with the help of tables. Verification of the STSLM solutions is achieved with existing published results demonstrating close agreement. Further validation of skin friction coefficient, Nusselt number and Sherwood number values computed with STSLM is included using Mathematica software shooting quadrature

Structural History of Human SRGAP2 Proteins

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Oxford University Press via the DOI in this record.We thank Adam Frost and Eckart Gundelfinger for valuable advice on the manuscript, Michaela Vogel, Lada Gevorkyan-Airapetov, Rinat Vasserman and Tomer Orevi for technical assistance, and Hadar Amartely and Mario Lebendiker for help with SEC-MALS experiments and analysis. Thanks to the staff of beamlines ID14, ID23, and ID29 of ESRF, and the staff of BESSY II BL14.1. This work was supported by funds from the ISF (Grants no. 182/10 and 1425/15 to Y.O.) and BSF (Grant no. 2013310, to Y.O. and Adam Frost) as well as by the DFG grants QU116/6-2 to B.Q. and KE685/4-2 to M.M.K

Efficiency of evolutionary algorithms in water network pipe sizing

The pipe sizing of water networks via evolutionary algorithms is of great interest because it allows the selection of alternative economical solutions that meet a set of design requirements. However, available evolutionary methods are numerous, and methodologies to compare the performance of these methods beyond obtaining a minimal solution for a given problem are currently lacking. A methodology to compare algorithms based on an efficiency rate (E) is presented here and applied to the pipe-sizing problem of four medium-sized benchmark networks (Hanoi, New York Tunnel, GoYang and R-9 Joao Pessoa). E numerically determines the performance of a given algorithm while also considering the quality of the obtained solution and the required computational effort. From the wide range of available evolutionary algorithms, four algorithms were selected to implement the methodology: a PseudoGenetic Algorithm (PGA), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), a Harmony Search and a modified Shuffled Frog Leaping Algorithm (SFLA). After more than 500,000 simulations, a statistical analysis was performed based on the specific parameters each algorithm requires to operate, and finally, E was analyzed for each network and algorithm. The efficiency measure indicated that PGA is the most efficient algorithm for problems of greater complexity and that HS is the most efficient algorithm for less complex problems. However, the main contribution of this work is that the proposed efficiency ratio provides a neutral strategy to compare optimization algorithms and may be useful in the future to select the most appropriate algorithm for different types of optimization problems

Determinants of intra-household food allocation between adults in South Asia - a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Nutrition interventions, often delivered at the household level, could increase their efficiency by channelling resources towards pregnant or lactating women, instead of leaving resources to be disproportionately allocated to traditionally favoured men. However, understanding of how to design targeted nutrition programs is limited by a lack of understanding of the factors affecting the intra-household allocation of food. METHODS: We systematically reviewed literature on the factors affecting the allocation of food to adults in South Asian households (in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) and developed a framework of food allocation determinants. Two reviewers independently searched and filtered results from PubMed, Web of Knowledge and Scopus databases by using pre-defined search terms and hand-searching the references from selected papers. Determinants were extracted, categorised into a framework, and narratively described. We used adapted Downs and Black and Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklists to assess the quality of evidence. RESULTS: Out of 6928 retrieved studies we found 60 relevant results. Recent, high quality evidence was limited and mainly from Bangladesh, India and Nepal. There were no results from Iran, Afghanistan, Maldives, or Bhutan. At the intra-household level, food allocation was determined by relative differences in household members' income, bargaining power, food behaviours, social status, tastes and preferences, and interpersonal relationships. Household-level determinants included wealth, food security, occupation, land ownership, household size, religion / ethnicity / caste, education, and nutrition knowledge. In general, the highest inequity occurred in households experiencing severe or unexpected food insecurity, and also in better-off, high caste households, whereas poorer, low caste but not severely food insecure households were more equitable. Food allocation also varied regionally and seasonally. CONCLUSION: Program benefits may be differentially distributed within households of different socioeconomic status, and targeting of nutrition programs might be improved by influencing determinants that are amenable to change, such as food security, women's employment, or nutrition knowledge. Longitudinal studies in different settings could unravel causal effects. Conclusions are not generalizable to the whole South Asian region, and research is needed in many countries