Students’ Static Activities in relation to Campus Quad Design and Layout: Exploring Gender-based Differences

This study explores the relationships of campus quad design and layout with students’ static activities focusing on gender differences. Students’ static activities were observed at 8914 locations during 390 rounds of observation in six campus quads of a Middle Eastern university. The design and layout data of the quads were collected in the field, and using various techniques of “space syntax”. The relationships of static activities’ with the design and layout features of the quads were investigated using descriptive and correlational statistics. The results of the study indicate that different design and layout features had different relationships with different static activities; that students’ static activities had stronger relationships with natural design features than manmade design features; and that male students’ and female students’ static activities were affected differently by different design and layout features. The significance of these findings and the future directions of research are discussed

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING YOUTUBE VIDEO ON EFL IRAQI COLLEGE STUDENTS' PERFORMANCE IN GRAMMAR AT MISSAN UNIVERSITY

YouTube is a social media platform that was launched in 2005 that allows billions of individuals to discover watch and share original user created videos. YouTube is a powerful educational and motivational tool that is being used in the EFL classroom (Duffy, 2007:173). This study aims to identify and classify the effectiveness of using YouTube Video on EFL Iraqi college students' Performance in Grammar at Missan University. The study is restricted to students (males and females) of the third year EFL Iraqi College students during the academic year 2014-2015. A questionnaire for students and a grammar test have been constructed to be the main instruments used. The result shows that there is a statistically significant difference between the pre and post administration of the questionnaire and in favour of the post administration of the questionnaire

Assessment of behavioral factors associated with dental caries in pre-school children of high socioeconomic status families

Background: Many Iraqi children of high socioeconomic status (SES) families attend dental clinics presenting predominantly cavitated and painful multiple carious lesions. The factors responsible for dental caries within this sector of society need to be identified. Purpose: The aim of this study is to assess the dental care behavior of mothers and its relationship with the prevalence of dental caries in pre-school age children drawn from high SES families in northern Iraq. Methods: A study was conducted to assess the prevalence of dental caries and its relationship to oral hygiene habits in 440 pre-schoolers living in Erbil, northern Iraq. An oral hygiene questionnaire was distributed among the families. Dental examination of the children was performed to calculate the dependent factor of decayed, missing and filled teeth due to caries (dmf). All data was analyzed by means of the SPSS Microsoft statistical system using descriptive tables to identify the relationship between the dependent and independent variable dmf indexes. In order to find the significances, a Chi-square test, a Fisher’s exact test and a likelihood ratio test were used at level of p<0.05. Results: 67% of the children in the sample had dental caries (mean dmf=3.25±3.77) with 5-year-olds being more affected by dental caries (74%) than 4-year-olds (60%). A strong correlation was found in this study between the dependent factor, dmf, and the following independent factors: frequency of snack consumption, the need to assist the child during brushing, maternal caries and the mother’s education. Conclusion: Despite being members of high SES families, the children examined were significantly subject to dental caries, a fact directly correlated with inappropriate behavior on the part of their caregivers in relation to the essential aspects of oral health care

Comparison of Single vs Multiple Doses of Antibiotic Prophylaxis in Reduction Post-Caesarean Section Infection Morbidity

AbstractObjective: This study aimed to compare single vs multiple doses of antibiotic prophylaxis in patientsundergoing caesarean section to reduce morbidity linked with infection.Methodology: A quasi-experimental study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics andGynaecology, Services Hospital, Lahore from 07-09-2019 to 06-03-2020 after approval from the ethicalreview committee. A total of 240 patients (120 in each group) were included in the study. Group Areceived a single dose of antibiotic prophylaxis and Group B was administered multiple doses ofprophylactic antibiotics.Results: Patients booked in the study had a mean age of 27.93±3.62 and 28.80±3.54 years in group-Aand B, respectively. In group A, the mean gestational age was 39.21±0.70 and in group B, 39.27±0.69weeks. In group A, 9 patients (7.5%) and in group B, 11 patients (9.2%) were primigravida while 111patients (92.5%) in group A and 109 patients (90.8%) in group B were multigravida. Febrile morbiditywas found in 8 patients (6.7%) in group-A and 6 patients (5.0%) in group B. (p=0.582). Postoperativewound infection was observed in 11 patients (9.2%) of the group and 8 patients (6.7%) of group B(p=0.473).Conclusion: The study concluded that there was no statistically significant difference between thetwo groups, single and multiple doses, in terms of their effectiveness in reducing infections after aCaesarean section.Keywords: Elective caesarean section, Febrile morbidity, postoperative wound infection

Media Consumption and National Identity Formation of Adolescents in Pakistan

The study explores relationship between media consumptionpatterns of adolescents,with other intervening variables, andformation of national identity. The research proposes a model ofpolitical socialization to understand the relationship amongadolescents' demographics (gender, age, school), mass mediaconsumption (electronic, and print media), and place of discussionwith interpersonal agents (parents, peers, relatives and teachers) forthe formation of national identity. Adolescents from private, publicand madrassa (religious) schools of Lahore city are the populationof the research. The sub-constructs of national identity; nationalattachment, symbolic patriotism, constructive patriotism, uncriticalpatriotism, national pride, and nationalism are tested by CronbachAlpha. Findings show that in outer loading factors school, printmedia consumption, and the place of media discussion with parentsare the most significant factors in formation of national identity

Prospective comparison of point-of-care device and standard analyzer for monitoring of international normalized ratio in outpatient oral anticoagulant clinic

Point-of-care testing (POCT) coagulometers are increasingly being used in the hospital setting and patients’ self-testing. We determined the agreement of prothrombin time international normalized ratio (INR) results by POCT coagulometer and laboratory instrument through a comparative analysis and investigated whether the results of POCT coagulometer can reliably be used without being confirmed by standard laboratory analyzer. A total of 200 INR measurements by POCT coagulometer (CoaguChek XS Pro) and laboratory analyzer (Sysmex CS2000i) were compared using Passing-Bablok regression analysis and Bland-Altman plot. Agreement of the INR measurement was further analyzed in relation to dosing decision. The correlation of INR measurements between CoaguChek XS Pro and Sysmex CS2000i was excellent (correlation coefficient ¼ 0.973). The overall mean difference was 0.21 INR + 0.32 (range: 1.7-0.44). The mean difference was found to get increased as INR results increased and was 0.09 in the subtherapeutic range (1.9 INR), 0.29 INR in the therapeutic range (2.0-3.0 INR), while 0.4 INR in the supratherapeutic range (\u3e3.0 INR). The overall agreement was excellent (k ¼ 0.916) and overall 11 (5.5%) of 200 INR measurements showed a difference in dosing decision between the 2 instruments. The positive bias of POC-INR is evident in the supratherapeutic range which could affect the dosing decision requiring confirmation with the laboratory INR measurement

Stigma towards people with mental illness and community mental health ideology among university students: A comparative study

The study examines the difference between the stigma among psychology and non-psychology students towards people with mental illness and to find out their ideology towards community mental health services. A cross-sectional study was conducted among university students. All together (N= 300) participants were recruited through the quota convenient sampling. CAMI (Community Attitude towards the Mentally Ill) scale was used in this research, assess four types of attitudes towards mental illness (i.e., Authoritarianism, Benevolence, Social restrictiveness, and Community mental health ideology). The findings of this study show a significant difference between the attitudes of psychology and non-psychology students. Both the subscales, authoritarianism and social restrictiveness conclude that non-psychology students showed more authoritative and restrictive behavior towards mentally ill people and are less oriented towards community mental health ideology as compared to psychology students. However, psychology students showed less benevolence as compared to non-psychology students towards mentally ill people. Additional findings indicated that the level of authoritarianism, social restrictiveness, and benevolence is high among males as compared to females. The study highlights the need for society to develop a plan and action to change stigma attached to mental illness at both institutional and community levels

Effectiveness of life review on depression among elderly: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction:&nbsp;depression is considered one of the most common obstacles to daily life activities and quality of life in the elderly. Evidence is accumulating regarding the effectiveness of reminiscence and life review interventions in reducing depression and raising well-being in the elderly. The aim of this review was to determine the effects of life review interventions on depression outcomes among the elderly. Methods:&nbsp;a search of the literature was performed through 11 electronic databases to identify all randomized controlled trials studies that examine life review effects on depression among the elderly. For each study, the effect size (Cohen's d) between groups (life review vs. control) differences in depression scores for post-intervention and follow-up intervention were computed. Results:&nbsp;in total, 15 studies were met the inclusion criteria and was evaluated by meta-analysis. Results showed that the life review group has a large effect on reducing depression level than the control group on post-intervention and follow-up. After conducted sensitivity analysis, a moderate effect (effect size=-0.54; 95% CI=-0.71 to -0.36; p&lt;0.05) and small effect (effect size=-0.20; 95% CI=-0.41 to -0.01; p&lt;0.05) were found on post-intervention and follow-up, respectively. Conclusion:&nbsp;through this systematic review and meta-analysis, the overall results showed a moderate effect to reducing depression levels among the elderly in the life review group after carrying out post-intervention measurements, while in the follow-up the effect was small. This review indicates that life review intervention is one of the options likely to be of benefit for elderly in primary care settings, but further research can be focused on intervention and follow-up durations to obtain long-term effects

Which is a better marker for overweight: waist height ratio or waist circumference?

Background: The global prevalence of obesity has been increasing. Body mass index, waist circumference and waist height ratio have been widely used for nutritional assessment. Waist height ratio has the advantage of taking into account abdominal obesity as well as height associated with body fat accumulation or distribution. The objective of this study was to suggest cut off points for waist circumference and waist height ratio to identify overweight in Omani adults.Methods: Weight, height, waist circumference and waist height ratio were measured for all participants. Pearson’s correlation was used to determine correlation of BMI with waist circumference and waist height ratio. ROC curve was used to identify AUC and specific cut off point for anthropometric indicators.Results: The largest proportion of overweight was picked up by waist height ratio across both the genders. Correlation of BMI with waist height ratio was stronger (r=0.699) than correlation with waist circumference (r=0.589) for both the genders. Maximum AUC was for waist height ratio in males (AUC=0.833, 95% CI=0.791-0.875). The specific cut off point for waist circumference in males and females was 89.5cm and 87.6cm respectively. The specific cut off point for waist height ratio in males and females was 0.53 and 0.57 respectively.Conclusions: Maximum participants were found overweight by waist height ratio followed by waist circumference and the least by BMI. The higher cut off points should be used in this population for identifying overweight people

Practice of Restorative Dentistry in Iraq Causes of Replacement of Composite Restorations Northern Iraq

Aims: To investigate the reasons for replacement of composite restorations northern Iraq. Method: Seventy general dental practitioners (GDP) were recruited by personal contact, and asked to provide data on consecutive composite restorations they replaced for adult patients (ranged from 14-year-old to 60 years) over an eight-month period. In addition, a cross-sectional survey was carried out over eight months at the undergraduate student clinics of a University Dental Hospital (DS). The data was analyzed using SPSS software with significance set at p≤0.05. Results: Of the performed 1,338 restoration replacements. The types of restorative materials were 395 (30%) were amalgam, 929 (69%) were composite and 14 (1%) were glass ionomers (GIC). Secondary caries was the most diagnosed failure reason for the replacement of composite restorations (32%), which were more in class II cavities (47%). Conclusion: The study exposed different features of the restorative practice in the north of Iraq. The evidences are of importance that the everyday restorative practice will be analyzed by academics to make a progression in the dental services in Iraq