Rajesh Varma
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Comparison of two questionnaires (PDQ-39 and SEIQoL) for assessment of the quality of life in idiopathic Parkinson’s disease
No full textParkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system that begins insidiously and progresses over time with a loss of nerve cells in certain brain regions.People with chronic diseases often experience a change in their quality of life. For patients, relatives, and the whole community, a reduced quality of life can pose a significant burden. Therefore, it is imperative to reduce socioeconomic costs to preserve high health quality in patients with neurodegenerative disorders. Parkinson’s disease can cause people to have difficulty performing daily activities such as working or shopping. It is not uncommon for social interaction to be impaired, as patients sometimes struggle to participate in social life due to their symptomatology. The quality of life of Parkinson’s disease patients can be measured in different ways. A distinction can be made between Health-related Quality of Life and Individualised Quality of Life. Several questionnaires and screening tools are investigating the Quality of Life in patients with Parkinson’s disease. However, their validity and practicability are often not extensively analyzed.In this paper, we will investigate whether the two questionnaires, “The Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39)” and “Schedule for the Evaluation of Individual Quality of Life (SEIQoL)”, measure the same quality of life in PD patients. The two questionnaires do not reach the same results, although they both measure the construct “Quality of Life” and should be used complementary to gain deeper insight into patients’ real-life problems.</p
Industrial entrepreneur’s perception of greenhouse gas emission and its impact in Vientiane Capital, Lao PDR
No full textLaos ranked 8th in terms of total greenhouse gas emissions among ASEAN countries, with 17.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) emissions. The energy sector was responsible for the majority of emissions, accounting for about 50% or 8.9 MtCO2e, followed by the agriculture sector at around 35% or 6.3 MtCO2e, and other sectors at approximately 15% or 2.7 MtCO2e (The Global Carbon Atlas reported, 2018). This study investigates greenhouse gas emissions and environmental issues among industrial entrepreneurs in Vientiane Capital, Lao PDR. Data was collected by using questionnaires and face-to-face interviews were conducted with participants from 80 different plants in Vientiane Capital between January 25 and March 20, 2018. It identifies various environmental problems caused by industrial plants, emphasizing the need for specific pollution source mitigation and sustainable waste management. The study reveals significant impacts on health and living conditions, highlighting the urgency for proactive measures. Climate variations, alterations in seasons, and intensified storms are identified as major contributors to violence levels. Strategies proposed by entrepreneurs include accurate measurement methods, pollution treatment systems, improved power efficiency, renewable energy adoption, an environmental protection organization, and efficiency enhancements in logistics and transportation. The study emphasizes the role of government, plant owners, and the general population in addressing CO2 emissions through collective efforts. Overall, it provides valuable insights and calls for proactive measures, stakeholder engagement, and diverse strategies for sustainability in Vientiane Capital and Laos.</p
“Perrotta-Marciano questionnaire on the grade of awareness of one’s deviant and criminal behaviors” (ADCB-Q-2) and the “Criminal Spectrum”: Development, Updates, Regulation, and Validation of a new psychometric instrument
No full textIntroduction: Absent in the literature is the category of “criminal spectre” as a macro container that includes all those deviant, antisocial, and psychopathic behaviors, thereby generating confusion and interpretative distortions, as in the case of antisociality and psychopathy among them considered in some cases as synonyms. Methods: Updated the Perrotta-Marciano Questionnaire on the state of awareness of one’s deviant and criminal behaviors (ADCB-Q), from 30 items to 40 items and with 2 subscales to differentiate deviant from antisocial behaviors (ADCB-Q-2), to make comparisons with the Deviant Behavior Variety Scale (DBVS) and the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). Results: Statistical analysis showed that the second edition of the test has a well-defined and stable construct (R = 0.999; p ≤ 0.001), and is positively correlated with the other 2 compared tests, the DBVS (R = 0.943) and the PCL-R (R = 0.966). A comparison of comparable items returned an R = 0.999 with a 99.9% equal value. Conclusion: Defining the “criminal spectre” as a dysfunctional pattern consisting of a clinically relevant cross-cutting condition in which the subject manifests deviant, borderline, histrionic, narcissistic, antisocial, and psychopathic behaviors, the Perrotta-Marciano Questionnaire on the State of Awareness of One’s Deviant and Criminal Behaviors (ADCB-Q-2) is a valid, efficient, effective and stable psychometric tool to identify in behavioral profiles all the behaviors that fall within the “criminal spectrum”.</p
Are measurements of non-cholesterol sterols in plasma useful in identifying susceptibility to atherosclerosis?
No full textThis review discusses the validity of plasma non-cholesterol sterols precursors of cholesterol synthesis and phytosterols in the identification of human atherosclerosis. There is an insufficient demonstration that these sterols are valid methods of measurement of cholesterol metabolism. All markers, including cholestanol, that derive from cholesterol synthesis may only reflect body retention of sterols and not necessarily increased intestinal absorption. Also, in most studies, conventional risk factors of atherosclerosis, such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, gender, and age were not taken into account. </p
Neural networks are a methodological basis of materials genome
No full textMaterials Genome is an analytical and calculation tool that: contains all relationships between all variables of the object; allows to calculate of the values of one part of variables through others; allows to solve of direct and inverse problems; allows to predict of the characteristics of objects, which have not been investigated experimentally yet; allows to predict technology parameters to obtain an object with desired characteristics as well as allows to execute virtual experiment for conditions which cannot be organized or difficultly to organize. The paper presents the Neural Networks as a methodological Materials Genome basis. Possible areas of Neural Networks use are the development of new materials and their production.</p
Sustainability and property: A legal perspective
No full textProperty and sustainability both represent strongly felt concepts of society but in very different ways. While the protection of the individual property is at the heart of the capitalist system and deeply embedded in our laws, concerns for ecological sustainability feature less prominently and only indirectly impact private property. Critically, the integrity of Earth’s ecological systems is hardly protected at all. Environmental laws in the world over-regulate the use and protection of natural “resources” in a strict instrumental fashion and tend to take the integrity of Earth’s ecological systems for granted. This article explores some of the histories of environmental law, sustainability and property in the European context. It then shows how ecological sustainability can shape the content and scope of the private property using some examples in New Zealand and Germany. The overall thesis is that both concepts can be reconciled on the basis of ecological integrity as a fundamental norm of law.</p
How does traditional chinese medicine treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder-A different understanding and treatment strategy
No full textAttention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder, and the incidence in children is increasing year by year. The modern medical field lacks long-acting drugs for the treatment of ADHD and there is an urgent need to investigate new therapeutic drugs or complementary and alternative therapies. Recent studies have found that Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has the advantages of individualization, precise efficacy and minimal side effects in improving attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. This paper reviews the progress of Chinese medicine in the treatment of ADHD in terms of its understanding of the etiology and pathogenesis of ADHD, treatment according to pattern identification and Chinese medicinal preparations.</p
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on parents seeking dental care for their children
No full textMany changes in routine dental care were implemented to protect dentists and patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pediatric dentists face unique challenges in dealing with parental fears and behavioral changes in pediatric patients. Despite the meticulous infection control protocols that dental offices have implemented during the pandemic, they experienced significant reductions in routine recall. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on parents seeking dental care for their children at the Temple Kornberg School of Dentistry (TUKSoD).Parents who currently have their children treated at the TUKSoD were invited to participate in a questionnaire. One hundred and six parents completed the survey anonymously on paper. The survey focused on parents’ attitude changes towards dental care for their children post-pandemic. Bivariate analysis followed by a Two-way ANOVA test was used to calculate the association between the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on parents of pediatric patients’ decision to seek dental care versus the age of the child. Our results showed that improved dental protocols increased the likelihood of parents bringing their children to the dentist during the COVID pandemic (p < 0.001).The results help pediatric dentists to build trust among their patients during the pandemic. It will also help policymakers understand the pediatric patients’ parents’ concerns and assess their current safety measures. Ultimately, this study will give practitioners more insight into how to handle outbreaks of new COVID-19 variants that may present in the future.</p
Effects of prepubertal to peripubertal exposure of triclosan on the reproductive health of the young male laboratory mice
No full textOver the last few decades, a massive increase in environmental toxicants has played a significant role in causing hindrance in the process of sexual maturity, leading to impaired reproductive health. Several toxicants are existing in the environment because of rapid industrialization, agricultural activities, and urbanization that act as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Triclosan (TCS; 2,4,4’-trichloro-2’-hydroxydiphenyl ether) is one of the EDCs, acts as an antimicrobial chemical, and is used widely in personal care products and several commercial preparations as preservatives. It is found to interfere with normal reproduction and sexual maturity. The present study is therefore, aimed to investigate the impact of prepubertal to peripubertal exposure of TCS (300 and 600 mg/kg BW/day from PND 22 to PND 63) to observe the age of the onset of puberty, weights of the reproductive organs, alterations in the levels of testicular cholesterol, serum testosterone, and histopathology of the testis in the young laboratory mice. TCS exposure caused a significant delay in the age of prepuce separation, an indicator of the onset of puberty. Its exposure from PND 22 to PND 63 resulted in significant reductions in the weights of the testis, epididymis, and seminal vesicle, levels of testicular cholesterol, and serum testosterone in the young mice at PND 64. Testicular histology of such mice also showed regressive changes in the seminiferous tubules, indicating the interference of TCS in the process of spermatogenesis. The findings of the present study, therefore, reveal that TCS delays the age of onset of puberty and interferes with the endocrine functions of the testis. </p
Evaluation of recycled gravel in the concrete mixture for the surface layer of rigid flooring
No full textPaving with recycled aggregates has already been widely carried out in some countries where there is already consolidated knowledge on the subject. This work analyzes in the laboratory the physical and mechanical behavior aspects of recycled aggregate in concrete mixes for rigid pavements. After selective collection at a construction site, the waste undergoes a crushing process, subsequent to granulation and separation into fractions to be used again in the realization of a new mixture with 40 and 100% replacement of natural gravel for recycled with the addition of structural concrete fibers that decrease shrinkage and increase final strength. In the same mix, these mixtures were compared with a conventional mixture that obtained better performance and presented greater compressive strength. The study sought to analyze the technical feasibility of using recycled material, testing the thickness of several concrete slabs for application on the pavement. Thus, it is concluded that the analyzed recycled aggregate is of promising use in hard pavement coating, as it presents a compressive strength superior to 25 MPa.</p