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Dynamics of a diffusive vaccination model with therapeutic impact and non-linear incidence in epidemiology
No full textIn this paper, we study a more general diffusive spatially dependent vaccination model for infectious disease. In our diffusive vaccination model, we consider both therapeutic impact and nonlinear incidence rate. Also, in this model, the number of compartments of susceptible, vaccinated and infectious individuals are considered to be functions of both time and location, where the set of locations (equivalently, spatial habitats) is a subset of Rn with a smooth boundary. Both local and global stability of the model are studied. Our study shows that if the threshold level R0≤1, the disease-free equilibrium E0 is globally asymptotically stable. On the other hand, if R0>1 then there exists a unique stable disease equilibrium E∗. The existence of solutions of the model and uniform persistence results are studied. Finally, using finite difference scheme, we present a number of numerical examples to verify our analytical results. Our results indicate that the global dynamics of the model are completely determined by the threshold value R0.University Grants Commission of Banglades
Antisocial cognition as a mediator of the peer influence effect and peer selection effect in antisocial adolescents
No full textThe peer influence and peer selection effects are two widely replicated findings in the criminological literature that refer to the predictive relationship between antisocial behaviour and delinquent peer association as well as between delinquent peer association and antisocial behaviour, respectively. Research suggests that antisocial cognition might constitute a causal mechanism underlying part of these effects. This study investigated the extent that the peer influence and peer selection effects are mediated by one key aspect of antisocial cognition—beliefs and attitudes supporting peer conflict. This study examined whether beliefs and attitudes supporting peer conflict mediated the relationship between delinquent peer association and volume of self-reported antisocial behaviour and vice-versa, across a 1-year follow-up period, in 683 (433 male, 250 female) British adolescents (mean age: 13.8 years) with a history of serious antisocial behaviour. Participants completed measures at baseline and 6, 12 and 18 months thereafter. Findings indicated that beliefs and attitudes supporting peer conflict partially mediated the peer influence and peer selection effects, explaining a substantial proportion of the total effect in the peer influence (i.e., 26%) and peer selection (i.e., 17%) models. These results suggest that beliefs and attitudes supporting peer conflict could explain part of the mechanism underlying the peer influence and peer selection effects in adolescents with a history of serious antisocial behaviour
Just the facts: Pediatric dental and oral injuries
No full textA 16-month-old presents to the emergency department (ED) after a fall while running at home. Her mother noted some blood in the child's mouth and believed there was a tear in the skin above the front teeth
Multistage cooling and freezing of a saline spherical water droplet
No full textIn this paper, the thermal behaviour of a saline water droplet during flight over a marine vessel in cold weather conditions is investigated by analytical and semi-analytical techniques. To predict and analyze the droplet cooling and freezing processes, three stages are employed: a liquid cooling stage, a solidification stage, and a solid cooling stage. The theoretical model considers heat transfer via conduction inside the droplet as well as convection, evaporation (just for the liquid cooling stage), and radiation heat transfer from the droplet's surface to the ambient air. A novel semi-analytical solution technique is developed to analyze the inward moving boundary problem for the solidification stage. The results show that the liquid cooling stage is very short, and the temperature at the droplet's center remains close to the initial droplet temperature. During the solidification stage, the velocity of the inward freezing front within the droplet is approximately constant, and the temperature variations are linear when the temperature inside the droplet reaches the freezing temperature. The solid cooling stage is much longer than the other stages, and the temperature changes are non-linear. For a case study, theoretical predictions show that the average temperature of a droplet with a diameter of 1 mm at the moment of impact on the deck is approximately −1.95°C. Moreover, there is an ice shell with a thickness of 0.06 mm on the surface of the water droplet at the moment of impact.Statoil (Norway)Research and Development Corporation of Newfoundland and Labrador (RDC)MITACSPetroleum Research of Newfoundland & Labrador (PRNL)American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)NSERC Discovery Grant progra
Sero-prevalence and risk factors of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus (type 1) in Meru County, Kenya [Epub ahead of print]
No full textThe influence of active and passive sampling techniques on the sampling of bold and shy zebrafish in a laboratory based study
No full textOne of the most cited behavioural type indices in animal studies is the bold and shy index. Bolder animals are observed to be more exploratory, have a higher propensity to take risks, and are more dominant than their shyer counterparts. These bold and shy behavioural types are varied between individuals amongst a population; therefore, allowing for a diverse range of these behavioural types. All studies aiming to address a specific issue on a population
have to sample from the population. The hope is that the sample will represent the diversity and individual variation seen in the population. This is done using an essence of randomization in the sampling. However, these behavioural types can affect different types of sampling techniques — overrepresenting and creating systematic trapping bias. This study examined the idea that passive sampling methods may sample bolder animals, and that animals that are
consistently bolder and more exploratory will be more likely to be sampled by methods that require voluntary inspection of the trap. This study addressed the possible oversampling of bolder zebrafish by passive sampling methods in a laboratory setting by sampling animals from a home tank using two active sampling methods and two passive sampling methods. All the fish sampled were tested using the Novel Tank Test to test anxiety and exploratory behaviour, and the Emergence Test to test for boldness. Thus, allowing for an assessment of the possible sampling bias caused by passive sampling methods as well as a test for behavioural correlates. There was no significant difference in the occurrence of bold vs shy fish number trapped by either passive or sampling methods. Thus, in this paradigm, each of the sampling methods sampled a diverse range of both bold and shy behavioural traits
Computation of Evapotranspiration with Artificial Intelligence for Precision Water Resource Management
No full textAccurate estimation of reference evapotranspiration (ETo) provides useful information for water resource management and sustainable agriculture. This study estimates ETo with recurrent neural networks (RNNs), namely long short-term memory (LSTM) and bidirectional LSTM. Four representative meteorological sites (North Cape, Summerside, Harrington, and Saint Peters) were selected across Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada to form a PEI dataset from mean values of the four sites’ climatic variables for capturing climatic variability from all parts of the province. Based on subset regression analysis, the highest contributing climatic variables, namely maximum air temperature and relative humidity, were selected as input variables for RNNs’ training (2011–2015) and testing (2016–2017) runs. The results suggested that the LSTM and bidirectional LSTM are suitable methods to accurately (R2 > 0.90) estimate ETo for all sites except Harrington. Testing period (2016–2017) root mean square errors were recorded in range of 0.38–0.58 mm/day for all sites. No major differences were observed in accuracy of LSTM and bidirectional LSTM. Another objective of this study was to highlight the potential gap between ETO and rainfall for assessing agriculture sustainability in Prince Edward Island. Analyses of the data highlighted that the cumulative ETo surpassed the cumulative rainfall potentially affecting yield of major crops in the island. Therefore, agriculture sustainability requires viable options such as supplemental irrigation to replenish the crop water requirements as and when needed
Adolescent patients’ management of postoperative pain after discharge: A qualitative study
No full textBackground
Adolescents are typically admitted for a short period of time after inpatient surgery, leaving much of their recovery to occur at home. Pain, and thus pain management, is a major component of recovery at home. Research among pediatric outpatient surgical patients has found that pain experienced in the community setting after discharge is often severe and is related to knowledge deficits resulting in inadequate pain management. However, there is little research on community pain management after inpatient surgery.
Aim
This study aimed to explore the pain experiences of seven adolescents who underwent inpatient surgery.
Design
This study used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis as a methodology.
Setting
This study took place at a pediatric tertiary care hospital in Canada.
Participants
7 adolescents participated, all of whom underwent inpatient surgery with admission between 2-14 days in length.
Methods
Semi-structured interviews were conducted 2 to 6 weeks post-discharge.
Results
Three themes were identified that described their experiences, including managing severe pain at home with minimal preparation, changes in the parent–child relationship, and difficulties returning to school and regular activities.
Conclusions
Involving adolescents directly in discharge education, particularly with the use of novel interventions and coaching, may improve outcomes
Acute non‐ambulatory tetraparesis in a 6‐month‐old Standardbred weanling caused by a cervical vertebral epidural haematoma
No full textA 6‐month‐old Standardbred weanling presented with acute non‐ambulatory tetraparesis. Cranial nerve examination was normal and neuroanatomic localisation suggested there was a focal C1‐C5 spinal cord lesion. Post‐mortem examination identified a cervical vertebral epidural haematoma at the level of C2‐C3 causing spinal cord compression and neurological deficits. Histological examination determined the haematoma was several weeks old making the lesion chronic. Since the clinical progression was acute, this suggests an acute on chronic pathophysiology. Even with no history of trauma, an epidural haematoma should be on the differential list in young horses with acute tetraparesis