New approach for promoting HPV vaccination in college men based on multi-theory model (MTM) of health behavior change

Letter to Edito

Promoting physical activity in upper elementary children using multi-theory model (MTM) of health behavior change

Background: Physical activity and exercise offer numerous benefits to children and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines require that school children engage in at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day.  Unfortunately, up to 30% elementary students do not meet these requirements and 79% elementary schools do not provide students with physical education classes every day. The transition from elementary to secondary school is particularly deleterious for levels of physical activity. Therefore, there is a need to develop educational interventions for upper elementary school children to promote physical activity. A new theory multi-theory model (MTM) of health behavior change can be utilized to develop such interventions.Objectives: The purpose of this article was to develop and introduce an instrument based on MTM for physical activity change in upper elementary school children and propose an approach for changing this behavior among sedentary students.Methods: A review of literature in MEDLINE, CINAHL, Google Scholar, and ERIC databases was conducted for physical activity in upper elementary children and multi-theory model of health behavior change to prepare this article. Results: An instrument with Flesch-Kincaid Grade level of 5.4 and the Flesch Reading Ease of 68 making it suitable for administration with upper elementary school children was developed. An approach utilizing the constructs of participatory dialogue, behavioral confidence and changes in physical environment to initiate physical activity and reifying the constructs of emotional transformation, practice for change and changes in social environment to sustain physical activity in upper elementary school children is presented.Conclusions: MTM offers potential to augment current educational efforts to promote physical activity in upper elementary school children

Maternal anaemia and its effects on neonatal anthropometric parameters in patients attending a tertiary care institute of Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India

Background: Anaemia during pregnancy is a significant concern in India. The consequences of iron deficiency anaemia during pregnancy are often serious and long lasting for both the mother and the foetus. Haematocrit measurement is an acceptable and recommended method for anaemia determination especially in situations where limited resources are available, and the technical support is poor. There is a rough conversion factor of 3 which converts the HCT value to approximate haemoglobin level. Present study desires to know the prevalence of anaemia (with classification into mild, moderate and severe) in 3rd trimester pregnancy, to know effect of anaemia in pregnancy on new-born anthropometric parameters and to assess the validity of the threefold conversion between haemoglobin and haematocrit for the determination of anaemia in pregnancy.Methods: The estimation of haematocrit was done by micro-haematocrit method and estimation of haemoglobin was done by automated blood cell analyzer based on cyanmethemoglobin method. Welch's ANOVA, Post Hoc games Howell test and Bland Altman limits of agreement method were used for statistical analysis.Results: Present study showed that 53.75% women in their 3rd trimester were anaemic (mild, moderate and severe anaemic mothers were 22.25%, 28.25% and 3.25% respectively). The standard 3-fold conversion between the haemoglobin and haematocrit was not found to be valid for the assessment of anaemia in the 3rd trimester pregnancy. Finally, while comparing anthropometric measurements between mild/ no anaemia group with severe anaemia group we found that all measurements were less in severe anaemia group and this difference was statistically significant.Conclusions: This study shows that 53.75% women in their 3rd trimester were anaemic, which closely mimic the WHO data but is about 11% more than the prevalence in Himachal Pradesh. Secondly, the standard 3-fold conversion between the haemoglobin and haematocrit was not found to be valid for the assessment of anaemia in the 3rd trimester pregnancy. Finally, birth weight, height, head circumference, chest circumference and mid-arm circumference were significantly affected by third trimester haemoglobin that too the most in severe anaemia cases

Investigation on Effect of Fiber and Orientation on the Properties of Bio-Fibre Reinforced Laminates

The objective of this work is to investigate the effect of fibre type and fibre orientation tensile and flexural shear properties of woven jute and bamboo fibre reinforced epoxy composites by experimentally. Laminates were fabricated by hand lay-up technique in a mould and cured under light pressure for 60 min followed by curing at room temperature for two days. Jute and bamboo laminates were made with a total of six piles by varying two orientation of fibre as to obtain four different samples. Specimen preparation and testing was carried out as per ASTM standards. The results shows the tensile strength and flexural strengths of the jute and bamboo laminates higher at 0/90? orientation and jute shows the highest in both tensile and bending strength

Gaining Insight into Solar Photovoltaic Power Generation Forecasting Utilizing Explainable Artificial Intelligence Tools

Over the last two decades, Artificial Intelligence (AI) approaches have been applied to various applications of the smart grid, such as demand response, predictive maintenance, and load forecasting. However, AI is still considered to be a ‘‘black-box’’ due to its lack of explainability and transparency, especially for something like solar photovoltaic (PV) forecasts that involves many parameters. Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) has become an emerging research field in the smart grid domain since it addresses this gap and helps understand why the AI system made a forecast decision. This article presents several use cases of solar PV energy forecasting using XAI tools, such as LIME, SHAP, and ELI5, which can contribute to adopting XAI tools for smart grid applications. Understanding the inner workings of a prediction model based on AI can give insights into the application field. Such insight can provide improvements to the solar PV forecasting models and point out relevant parameters

Impact of improved farm technology on pulses production in Karnataka

The current study aimed at evaluating technical efficiency and change in output of pulse crops in Karnataka. Totally 180 farmers were selected for eliciting required information on adoption of A3P technology. The results of the study revealed that majority of the farmers were operating above 80 per cent efficiency levels in both pulses across the farmers of A3P and Non-A3P. Further, more than 53 per cent of farmers' under redgram and 56 per cent under bengalgram have achieved 100 per cent efficiency level in A3P farmers category. Decomposition of the difference in total output between A3P and Non-A3P farmers was 13.23 and 14.86 per cent in redgram and bengalgram crops respectively. The A3P technology has alone contributed to the extent of 29 and 22 per cent to the total change in redgram and bengalgram output indicating output can be increased by about 29 and 22 per cent if the farmers could switch over from traditional practices (Non-A3P) to A3P technology. There is need to educate farmers on optimum use of inputs through conducting intensive trainings on A3P technology by KVK’s and other extension agencies to increase the supply of pulses in the country

A rare case of term viable abdominal pregnancy with review of literature

Abdominal pregnancies are rare types of ectopic pregnancies with high rates of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. Abdominal pregnancy accounts for up to 1.4% of ectopic pregnancies. We report a case of term live abdominal pregnancy without malformation with implantation of the placenta into the uterus and anterior abdominal wall, discovered during a planned obstetric hysterectomy indicated for placenta accreta. Abdominal pregnancy is a serious and potential life-threatening condition. Diagnosis and management can be difficult especially in developing countries. A high index of suspicion is key for timely diagnosis and intervention to prevent life-threatening complications

A Simplified Method for Performance Evaluation of Public Transit Under Reneging Behavior of Passengers

This paper develops a model based on the Markov Chain technique to evaluate performance of a public transport route. The model addresses a special situation where a passenger left behind by a bus leaves the system without any further waiting to make an alternative travel arrangement. Such reneging behavior is indicative of an infinite penalty associated with further waiting from a passenger viewpoint. Apart from the theoretical derivations for the various attributes of interest, numerical examples to analyze the system performance (such as expected number of passengers served, expected number of abandoned passengers, and expected amount of unused space on the transit system) are presented. This provides insights for optimum selection of fleet size and size of vehicle

Non-Traditional and Non-Invasive Approaches in Facial Rejuvenation: A Brief Review

While injectables, lasers, and surgical interventions have traditionally been used to reverse the changes associated with facial aging, other alternative therapies such as facial acupuncture and facial exercises are now being studied for facial rejuvenation. In this paper, we both summarize the concepts of facial acupuncture and facial exercises, and review seven studies that evaluate the efficacy of these modalities. Data from these studies suggest that both facial acupuncture and facial exercises have the potential to improve the skin laxity, wrinkle length, muscle thickness, and pigmentary changes associated with aging. Patients frequently reported improvement and experienced very few side effects. However, further research is necessary before these modalities are widely accepted as effective by the medical community, though the results of these studies may ultimately make providers less hesitant when patients seek out these services