Understanding effective elements on increasing meaning levels received by students and their relationship with their ideal condition

Background and Objectives: Educational spaces, which take up a large part of students' daily time, are not created merely to meet educational needs, but should include the various aspects of student interaction and the physical environment that give rise to a sense of belonging to the school. This feeling will connect the person with the place. Students who are studying in these educational environments can understand the meaning of it, they can communicate better with that environment. Today, the study of the sense of belonging in schools has received less attention and mostly the educational needs of students have been taken into account. Addressing this special issue and examining it among high school students is very important because of their awared behavior. At the present, the relationship between students and the school environment is very important; therefore, the purpose of this article is understanding the effective components of the environment. It seems that one of the factors influencing this relationship is the meaning of the environment. Methods:The data collection was don based on a survey method, using both questionnaires and direct observation and mapping observations. The research method according to open-ended questions is a combination of consecutive ones. The analysis stage also relies on the results of the questionnaire to identify their relationship with the characteristics of space. Findings: Data collection was done through survey and open and closed questionnaires and direct students’ behavior observation. The questionnaire was developed and analyzed in 6 qualitative sections. Conclusion: The results of the research indicate that the effect of form-spatial school features on student's belongingness is higher than other environmental factors, due to semantic capabilities. In other words, in various levels of environment’s meanings, the fourth and fifth levels of meaning, which are considered to be the symbolic meaning, are more important than other levels of meaning for students, and its cause is largely rooted in the value and emotional meanings of space. In fact, there is, a completely direct relationship between the semantic levels of changed function of non-profit school space and the ideal situation of students in educational spaces. In other words, the emotional and perceptual components of the school environment can better communicate with the student's mental state if they use the symbolic levels of meaning in space.   ===================================================================================== COPYRIGHTS  ©2020 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.  ====================================================================================

In vitro and In vivo wound healing studies of methanolic fraction of Centella asiatica extract

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Asiaticoside is claimed as a bioactive compound capable of wound healing. In order to ensure that the pharmacological activity of the extract is traceable and measurable, the present study attempted to evaluate the bioactivity of rich fractionated extract of asiaticoside. Aim of the study: The current study evaluates the wound healing efficacy via in vitro scratch assay and in vivo circular wound excision model. Materials and methods: The ethanol extract was fractionated into seven fractions via vacuum liquid chromatography. The compound of interest in the fractions was qualitatively identified using thin layer chromatography and the positive fraction containing asiaticoside was further quantified using reverse-phase HPLC. The asiaticoside-rich fraction was subjected to (i) colorimetric MTT (methylthiazoltetrazolium) cytotoxicity assay following incubation with human dermal fibroblast (HDF) and human dermal keratinocyte (HaCaT); (ii) in vitro 12-well plate scratch assay (using HDF and HaCaT cells) and (iii) topically apply (40%, 10% and 2.5%, w/w) on in vivo circular wound excision of rabbits. Data on wound contraction, epithelisation period, hydroxyproline content and histophatological analysis was collected from in vivo study. Results: The results showed that the methanol fraction of the extract contained about 2.4% asiaticoside. Based on the results of colorimetric MTT (methylthiazoltetrazolium) cytotoxicity assay, both HDF and HaCaT showed significant stimulation upon application of the methanolic fraction of extract at concentrations of 100 μg/mL and 0.19 μg/mL. The methanol fraction showed almost no toxicity effect at the concentrations tested since their IC50 could not be determined in concentrations ranging from 100 μg/mL to 0.19 μg/mL. Since all the concentrations tested allowed for more than 90% cell viability, the concentrations chosen for the scratch assay were randomly chosen and designated as highest (100 μg/mL), medium (6 μg/mL) and lowest (0.2 μg/mL) concentrations. In the scratch assay, methanol fraction of extract with concentration of 0.2 μg/mL and 100 μg/mL showed significant effect on HDF and HaCaT compared to the positive control (p < 0.05). In vivo, it was shown that the methanol fraction of the extract induced collagen synthesis. Histopathology data also concluded that dose-dependent effect of the tested extract as a wound healer was present. Conclusions: Taken together, recent findings suggest that methanol fraction of C. asiatica demonstrated remarkable polyvalent activity, and thus has potential as an effective wound healer. In conclusion, the claim of the presence of wound healing properties in C. asiatica had been well supported based on the results obtained in this study

The impact of clothing style on bone mineral density among post menopausal women in Morocco: a case-control study

BACKGROUND: The clothing style is an important factor that influences vitamin D production and thus bone mineral density. We performed a case-control study in order to evaluate the effect of veil wearing (concealing clothing) on bone mineral density in Moroccan post menopausal women. METHODS: The cases were osteoporotic women whose disease was assessed by bone mineral density measurement. Each patient was matched with a non osteoporotic woman for age, and body mass index. All our patients were without secondary causes or medications that might affect bone density. The veil was defined as a concealing clothing which covered most of the body including the arms, the legs and the head. This definition is this of the usual Moroccan traditional clothing style. RESULTS: 178 post menopausal osteoporotic patients and 178 controls were studied. The mean age of the cases and the controls was 63.2 years (SD 7) and the mean body mass index was 32.1 (SD 8). The results of crude Odds Ratios analyses indicated that wearing a veil was associated with a high risk of osteoporosis: OR 2.29 (95% CI, 1.38–3.82). Multiparity or a history of familial peripheral osteoporotic fractures had also a significant effect on increasing the osteoporosis risk (ORs: 1.87 (95% CI, 1.05–3.49) and 2.01 (95% CI, 1.20–3.38)). After a multiple regression analysis, wearing the veil and a history of familial osteoporotic fractures remained the both independent factors that increased the osteoporosis risk (ORs: 2.20 (95% CI, 1.22–3.9) and 2.19 (95% CI, 1.12–4.29) respectively). CONCLUSION: our study suggested that in Moroccan post menopausal women, wearing a traditional concealing clothing covering arms, legs and head increased the risk of osteoporosis. Further studies are required to evaluate the clinical impact of the above findings and to clarify the status of vitamin D among veiled women in Morocco

Vitamin D Levels in Asymptomatic Adults-A Population Survey in Karachi, Pakistan

Background: It is well established that low levels of 25(OH) Vitamin D (/dL) are a common finding world over, affecting over a billion of the global population. Our primary objective was to determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency in the asymptomatic adult population of Karachi, Pakistan and the demographic, nutritional and co-morbidity characteristics associated with serum vitamin D levels. Methods: A cross-sectional population survey was conducted at two spaced out densely populated areas of the city. Serum levels of 25OH vitamin D were measured and GFR as renal function was assessed by using 4 variable MDRD formula. Results: Our sample of 300 had a median age of 48(interquartile range 38-55) years. The median level of serum vitamin D was 18.8 (IQ range 12.65-24.62) ng/dL. A total of 253 (84.3%) respondents had low levels (/dL) of 25OH vitamin D. Serum PTH and vitamin D were negatively correlated (r = -0.176, p = 0.001). The median PTH in the vitamin D sufficiency group was 38.4 (IQ range28.0-48.8)pg/mL compared with 44.4 (IQ range 34.3-56.8) pg/mL in the deficiency group (p = 0.011).The median serum calcium level in the sample was 9.46(IQ range 9.18-9.68) ng/dL. Low serum levels of vitamin D were not associated with hypertension (p = 0.771) or with an elevated spot blood pressure (p = 0.164).In our sample 75(26%) respondents had an eGFR corresponding to stage 2 and stage 3 CKD. There was no significant correlation between levels of vitamin D and eGFR (r = -0.127, p-value = 0.277). Respondents using daily vitamin D supplements had higher 25 OH vitamin D levels (p-value = 0.021). Conclusion: We observed a high proportion of the asymptomatic adult population having low levels of vitamin D and subclinical deterioration of eGFR. The specific cause(s) for this observed high prevalence of low 25OH vitamin D levels are not clear and need to be investigated further upon

Parental educational level and cardiovascular disease risk factors in schoolchildren in large urban areas of Turkey: Directions for public health policy

BACKGROUND: It is widely accepted that the development of atherosclerosis starts at an early age. However, there are very few studies evaluating the prevalence of the common clinical and behavioral cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors among children, especially in developing countries. The aim of the present cross-sectional survey was to evaluate the distribution of blood lipid profile and various behavioral (i.e. dietary habits, physical activity status) factors related to CVD risk and its relationships to paternal (PEL) and maternal educational level (MEL) among primary schoolchildren in Turkey. METHODS: In three major metropolises in Turkey (Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir), a random sample of 1044 children aged 12 and 13 years old was examined. ANOVA was applied to evaluate the tested hypothesis, after correcting for multiple comparisons (Tukey correction). RESULTS: After controlling for energy and fat intake, physical activity status and Body Mass Index (BMI), it was found that mostly PEL had a significant positive effect for most of the subgroups examined (Lower vs. Higher and Medium vs. Higher) on TC and HDL-cholesterol and a negative effect on TC/HDL ratio for both genders. Furthermore, both boys and girls with higher PEL and MEL were found to have higher energy intake derived from fat and protein than their counterparts with Medium and Lower PEL and MEL, while the opposite was observed for the percentage of energy derived from carbohydrates. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides indications for a possible association between an adverse lipid profile, certain dietary patterns and Higher PEL and MEL among schoolchildren in Turkey. These findings underline the possible role of social status, indicated by the degree of education of both parents, in developing certain health behaviors and health indices among Turkish children and provide some guidance for Public Health Policy