Effects of the MotivAider and Self-Monitoring to Increase On-Task Behavior for Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

The following study compared the use of the MotivAider as a self-monitoring tactile device between an elementary age student with ADHD and his teacher to increase ontask behavior. The design of this study was an alternating treatments design, which helped to determine the more effective condition. The results of this study indicated that the use of the MotivAider by the student was more effective than the use of the device by the teacher

Saudi Teachers’ Attitudes towards the Inclusion of Students with Special Needs in Regular Classes

The ongoing transition towards greater implementation of inclusive education in mainstream schools in Saudi Arabia has meant that general education teachers are increasingly responsible for ensuring that the academic and social needs of students with special needs are met in their classrooms. Notwithstanding the positive intent of inclusive policies, little is understood about Saudi teachers’ attitudes, beliefs, and intentions to implement inclusive education. Further understanding in this area is vital to improve inclusive policy as well as the ability of staff to implement these policies and support implementation of the academic and social benefits of inclusive education for students with special needs. With this in mind, this study explored Saudi general education teachers’ attitudes and beliefs regarding the inclusion of students with special needs in mainstream classrooms. The theory of planned behaviour was used as a framework through which to explore the connections between mainstream teachers’ attitudes and beliefs, self-efficacy, and intentions regarding the inclusion of students with special needs. An explanatory, sequential, mixed-methods design was adopted to gain more understanding of teachers’ attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions about the inclusion of students with special needs in mainstream classrooms. Three hundred and sixty mainstream teachers in Saudi Arabia completed an initial survey consisting of Likert-scale and open-ended questions. Following analysis of the survey data, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a subset of 15 teachers to gain insight into the nuances of teachers’ beliefs about the inclusion of students with special needs in mainstream classrooms and the factors influencing these beliefs. A number of key findings emerged from the triangulation of the three data sets in this study. Saudi teachers believed that the inclusion of students with special needs in mainstream classes was forced and not feasible. Teachers believed that they did not have a choice in the implementation process and that students with special needs were just placed in their classrooms without adequate preparation, which included lack of training, perceived lack of knowledge about students with special needs and inclusive education, and lack of access to resources. Participants also felt overwhelmed by others’ expectations, including system pressure and demands put on them in their classrooms such as dealing with large class sizes, extra workload, and rigid curricula. Participants who did express positive intentions toward the inclusion of students with special needs in mainstream classrooms were found to be significantly influenced by two factors: previous experience with individuals with special needs and their own religious beliefs. Participants’ attitudes and feelings of self-efficacy related to their intentions and actions in teaching students with special needs. The findings revealed that they provided simplified lessons, tried different teaching methods, and modified the curricula to support students with special needs in their classrooms. The current study offers two unique and innovative contributions to the research field on inclusive education, specifically in Saudi Arabia. First, the findings enabled the researcher to expand on the theory of planned behaviour by adding external influences such as previous experiences with individuals with special needs and religious beliefs. Second, adopting a mixed-methods approach provided more insights into the systematic factors that influenced teachers’ attitudes and intentions regarding inclusive practice

A Structural Review on Disaster Management Models and Their Contributions

This qualitative study aimed to undertake a critical examination of the models by thematic analysis to determine their contribution to disaster management. A review and analysis of the literature were used. The models were studied to explore their contribution to disaster management and to identify any significant constraints or challenges which could limit the ability of the models to carry out appropriate disaster risk reduction actions. The study found that such models are indispensable because they simplify and improve disaster management. Additionally, they may support planners, managers, and practitioners in reaching proper decisions, making them valuable and necessary decision-making support tools. The study also found that the four key phases of disaster management – mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery – constitute the basis of the majority of models. The study also showed that each model has an advantage that distinguishes it from the other models. The findings also confirmed the doubts raised about the limitations and concerns associated with the models. Concerns included future disasters’ unpredictability, the models’ prescriptive nature, and the impact on businesses. The findings also indicated that certain planners, managers, and practitioners had a limited understanding of the use of models in disaster management. As such, they appear to have overlooked the use of models while dealing with disasters. Hence, the study recommends that the models should be employed in all disaster management phases. The study also recommends that the findings are utilized as a basis for further research into the potential use of disaster management models

Fuzzy Controllers for a Gantry Crane System with Experimental Verifications

The control problem of gantry cranes has attracted the attention of many researchers because of the various applications of these cranes in the industry. In this paper we propose two fuzzy controllers to control the position of the cart of a gantry crane while suppressing the swing angle of the payload. Firstly, we propose a dual PD fuzzy controller where the parameters of each PD controller change as the cart moves toward its desired position, while maintaining a small swing angle of the payload. This controller uses two fuzzy subsystems. Then, we propose a fuzzy controller which is based on heuristics. The rules of this controller are obtained taking into account the knowledge of an experienced crane operator. This controller is unique in that it uses only one fuzzy system to achieve the control objective. The validity of the designed controllers is tested through extensive MATLAB simulations as well as experimental results on a laboratory gantry crane apparatus. The simulation results as well as the experimental results indicate that the proposed fuzzy controllers work well. Moreover, the simulation and the experimental results demonstrate the robustness of the proposed control schemes against output disturbances as well as against uncertainty in some of the parameters of the crane

The Need for Emergency Management Models

Emergency agencies can use emergency management models to enable them to better prepare for and respond to emergencies. This qualitative study aims to undertake a critical examination of emergency management models by thematic analysis to determine their significance to emergency management. A review and analysis of the existing literature were used in the study. The models were studied to explore their role in emergency management and to identify any significant constraints or challenges which could limit the ability of the emergency management model to carry out appropriate actions. The study found that such models are indispensable because they simplify and improve emergency management. Additionally, they may support planners, managers, and practitioners in reaching proper decisions, making them a valuable and necessary decision-making support tool. The study also showed that each model has an advantage that distinguishes it from the other models. Consequently, a comprehensive emergency management model should be designed to suit all cases and circumstances. The findings also confirmed the doubts raised about the limitations and concerns associated with the models. Concerns included future events’ unpredictability, the models’ prescriptive nature, the event’s cultural context, and the impact on businesses. The findings also indicated that certain planners, managers, and practitioners had a limited understanding of the use of models in emergency management. As such, they appear to have overlooked the use of models while dealing with emergencies. Hence, the study recommends that the models should be employed in all emergency management activities. The study also recommends that the findings are utilized as a basis for further research into the potential use of emergency management models

A Structural Review on Disaster Management Models and Their Contributions

This qualitative study aimed to undertake a critical examination of the models by thematic analysis to determine their contribution to disaster management. A review and analysis of the literature were used. The models were studied to explore their contribution to disaster management and to identify any significant constraints or challenges which could limit the ability of the models to carry out appropriate disaster risk reduction actions. The study found that such models are indispensable because they simplify and improve disaster management. Additionally, they may support planners, managers, and practitioners in reaching proper decisions, making them valuable and necessary decision-making support tools. The study also found that the four key phases of disaster management – mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery – constitute the basis of the majority of models. The study also showed that each model has an advantage that distinguishes it from the other models. The findings also confirmed the doubts raised about the limitations and concerns associated with the models. Concerns included future disasters’ unpredictability, the models’ prescriptive nature, and the impact on businesses. The findings also indicated that certain planners, managers, and practitioners had a limited understanding of the use of models in disaster management. As such, they appear to have overlooked the use of models while dealing with disasters. Hence, the study recommends that the models should be employed in all disaster management phases. The study also recommends that the findings are utilized as a basis for further research into the potential use of disaster management models

Patient going for PRK treatment for refractive error in Al-Jouf region, Saudi Arabia

Introduction: Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) has been widely used as an efficient, secure, and cost-effective method for treating patients with low to moderate myopia. This study was aimed to evaluate the prevalence of accepted and rejected reasons candidates going for PRK treatment for refractive error in Aljouf region, Saudi Arabia. Material and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted among 255 candidates going for PRK treatment for refractive in the department of ophthalmology at tertiary care hospital in Aljouf region, Saudi Arabia from August 2023 to October 2023.The following measurements of eye were noted for the enrolled patients in the study: visual acuity (VA) sine correction (SC) Visual acuity cum correction (CC), refractive error (RE) Central corneal thickness (CCT), Pentacam Astigmatism, keratometry (K1 and K2), spherical, cylindrical, and axis power in diopters, cycloplegic refraction, and pupillary diameter in normal daytime illumination in a room. Results: Total 255 patients were included in this study among them 119 (46.67%) male and 136 (53.33%) female with average age of 26 in both male and female. Total 160 were fit and 95 were not fit. Visual acuity cum correction (CC) ocular dexter (OD) and Visual acuity cum correction (CC) ocular sinister (OS) reported both statistically significant with p value <0.001. Both K Max OS and K Max OD are statistically significant. The dry eye was evaluated by using Schimer test with mean of 15.00 and 10.00 with p value <0.001 were found significant. Conclusion:  This study concluded that 62.74% were reported fit and 37.26% were not fit for PRK treatment for refractive error because of the dry eye, Keratoconus, rocotane, amblyopia, hyperopia, diabetics and pregnancy in Aljouf region, Saudi Arabia. The Pentacam Astigmatism and dry eye was found statistically significant in both fit and unfit group

The relationship between diet soda soft drinks, artificial sweeteners, and diabetic retinopathy

BackgroundThe relationship between diabetic retinopathy and diet-drink (soft soda), non-nutritive sweeteners have not been fully determined. We here attempted to determine it.AimsThe study aimed to assess the association between soda soft drinks, non-nutritive sweeteners, and diabetic retinopathy.Methods A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at a diabetes center in Tabuk city, Saudi Arabia from September 2019 to April 2020: 174 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) were interviewed using a structured questionnaire: demographic data, the DM duration, the lifestyles (exercise, smoking, and diet), and the medications. The weekly amount of diet soda and daily consumption of non-nutritive sweeteners were assessed. These were analysed with association with retinopathy.Results The glycated haemoglobin per cent was 8.50±1.60, the diet soda and artificial sweeteners consumptions were 1.18±1.57 cans/week and 0.89±1.26 sachets/day, respectively. No association was found between artificial sweeteners, diet soda, and diabetic retinopathy (Wald, 1.251, and 0.213, P-values, 0.263, and 0.644, 95 per cent CI, 0.583–7.204, and 0.190–2.793 respectively). Retinopathy incidence was associated with the DM duration (Wald, 8.095, P-value, 0.004, and 95 per cent CI, 0.766–0.952).ConclusionDiet soda and non-nutritive sweeteners were not associated with diabetic retinopathy, irrespective of gender or body mass index. Diabetic retinopathy was associated with the duration of DM after its first diagnosis

TRUE LEFT SIDED GALL BLADDER: A SURGICAL SURPRISE

INTRODUCTION: Left sided gallbladder is a rare anomaly & several variants exist. The condition cannot be diagnosed pre-operatively by most of the radiological modalities and it can take the operating surgeon, by surprise. CASE PRESENTATION: A young lady with symptomatic gallstones was unexpectedly found to have a left sided gallbladder during laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Though, her routine preoperative work up did not show anything abnormal, as is usual in such anatomical variation. She was successfully managed by laparoscopic cholecystectomy by modifying the camera angle & the dissection technique.  CONCLUSION: The anatomical knowledge of the various structures & to timely recognize the variations is very important to avoid injury in such cases. The operating technique may need to be modified for a safe & successful outcome