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Evaluating the Effectiveness of Reasoned-action Theories (TRA, TPB, IBM) for Explaining Low E-commerce Adoption in a Developing Country: A Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) approach AI trends in digital humanities research
No full textThis paper explains the process of e-commerce adoption through reasoned action theories (theory of reasoned action (TRA), theory of planned behavior (TPB), and integrated behavioral model (IBM)) in a developing country. Owing to a lack of precedent in the study settings, the study first validated empirical scales for measuring psychosocial drivers of behavior using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Subsequently, the study validated the aforementioned models using structural equation modeling, and also integrated sociodemographic characteristics as precursor variables in the model with the greatest predictive power. Results depicted that while TRA and TPB explain behavior well, it is IBM that is the most effective in explaining online consumer behavior, and underlined the importance of using volitional, sociodemographic, and individual-level factors (knowledge of e-commerce and environmental constraints to use e-commerce) to explain online consumer behavior. The study has numerous implications for e-commerce vendors operating in developing countries as the validated scales and models can be used to assess individual perceptions regarding e-commerce and to design effective communication strategies, respectively. </p
On some problems in economic dynamics are solved using reliable computing experiment
No full textIn this brief overview, we give examples of economic dynamics problems with references to works in which such problems are studied using modern computer technologies, as well as to works that provide a theoretical basis for such studies. Following [1, 657], by reliable computing experiment (RCE) we mean such purposeful computer calculations combined with analytical studies that lead to the strict establishment of new facts (theorems). </p
A review and evaluation of multi and many-objective optimization: Methods and algorithms
No full textMost optimization problems naturally have several objectives, usually in conflict with each other. The problems with two or three objective functions are referred to as Multi-Objective Problems (MOP). However, many real-world applications often involve four or more objectives, which are commonly recognized as many-objective optimization problems (MaOP). Multi and many-objective algorithms have a great application in engineering science. This study addresses a complete and updated review of the literature for multi and many-objective problems and discusses 32 more important algorithms in detail. Afterward, the ZDT and DLTZ benchmark problems for multi-objective test problems are reviewed. All methods have been studied under recent state-of-the-art quality measures. Moreover, we discuss the historical roots of multi-objective optimization, the motivation to use evolutionary algorithms, and the most popular techniques currently in use.</p
The resistance of leds to the effects of gamma radiation in various operating modes
No full textThe effect of active and passive power modes on the resistance of the LEDs (LEDs) made of multilayer AlGaAs heterostructures to gamma-quantum irradiation was studied. Three characteristic stages of emission power reduction during irradiation are distinguished for the studied LEDs irrespective of the power supply mode. When irradiating LEDs in the active power supply mode, two differently directed processes of changes in the emission power are observed. The assumption is made that the first process is caused by a decrease in the LED emission power due to the injection of appropriate radiation defects. The second process is caused by a partial recovery of the emission power due to radiation, radiation-thermal, and/or electrostimulated annealing of some of the defects created. The observed recovery of the emission power in the active power mode of the LED during irradiation significantly increases its resistance to gamma-ray irradiation.</p
Efficacy of olfactory training program in conjunction with nasal steroid irrigation in treating persistent smell loss in COVID-19 patients
No full textBackground: Smell loss is a challenging clinical problem. There is still no evidence-based medical intervention to treat patients with persistent smell loss as a result of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The aim is to analyze the efficacy of treating patients with persistent smell loss due to COVID-19 using olfactory training (OT) combined with nasal steroid irrigation. Methods: A cross-sectional study enrolled 196 COVID-19 patients with persistent smell loss were recruited. All patients underwent two testing sessions. At the first session, patients were examined by a history taking followed by an Otorhinolaryngological examination including, a thorough nasal endoscopy. In addition, an olfactory performance assessment was performed to assess the severity of smell loss. All patients were then treated with OT and nasal steroid irrigation with budesonide for 12 weeks. The second session includes an olfactory performance assessment to assess if there is an improvement in olfactory function. Results: Patients after treatment showed improvement in overall Threshold-Detection-Identification (TDI) score, odor detection threshold score, odor discrimination score, and odor identification score, which were higher than before treatment. Statistically significant differences before and after treatment results were very pronounced for the overall TDI score (p = 0.014) and odor detection threshold score (p = 0.003). There was no significant difference in odor discrimination (p = 0.08) or odor identification (p = 0.126) scores before and after treatment. Conclusion: The results of this study support the efficacy of the combination of budesonide nasal irrigation and OT in treating persistent smell loss due to COVID-19 infection.</p
Hyaline vascular-type Castleman’s disease of the retroperitoneum
No full textA 39-year-old man with newly diagnosed and well controlled hypertension was in his usual state of good health. He was diagnosed with a retroperitoneal tumor during a health check-up, which was suspicious of adrenal tumor by abdominal computed tomography.</p
Prevalence of gastric cancer precursor lesions in patients of a secondary care center in a state in south of Brazil
No full textBackground: Atrophy of the gastric mucosa and intestinal metaplasia is considered malignant precursor lesions of gastric cancer, which is considered the fifth most common neoplasm in the world and the third cause of death from cancer. The main risk factor is the infection by Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), which increases up to six times the risk of gastric cancer, through gastritis, atrophy, and hypochlorhydria, consequences of the infection. Other risk factors are also worth noting, like smoking and a family history of gastric cancer.Objective: To investigate the prevalence of malignant precursor lesions and their associated factors in patients who underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy.Methods: A descriptive, observational study was performed based on an analysis of endoscopic gastric biopsies performed in two affiliated private laboratories to the Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde [SUS]) in a city in Paraná state. Patients were assessed for age, sex, active or recent smoking, family history of gastric cancer, and previous treatment for H. pylori. The samples were evaluated for the presence of glandular atrophy, intestinal metaplasia, dysplasia, and H. pylori infection.Results: A total of 1,549 medical records and patient reports were evaluated and 945 were eligible, the average age was 52.2 (±14.3) years old and most patients (73.3%) were female. The prevalence of H. pylori infection was 47.5% (n= 449) and the highest percentage was between 30-39 years (58.7%). Among H. pylori-positive (+) patients who had developed intestinal metaplasia, there is more risk of having incomplete than complete metaplasia (OR: 4.34; 1.1–17.1; 95%CI). Patients who smoke are more increase the risk to developed glandular atrophy (OR: 1.91; 1.09-3.33; 95%CI) and intestinal metaplasia (OR: 1.93; 0.72-5.11; 95%CI). Conclusion: The study reinforces risk factors such as smoking and H. pylori infection as precursors for developing pre-neoplastic lesions in a population in southern Brazil, highlighting the importance of smoking cessation and prevention of H. pylori infection and the treatment of infected patients.</p
Prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection among persons with hepatitis D virus and diabetes mellitus in Pakistan, 2019-2021
No full textIntroduction: The HBV virus has its enveloped protein that surrounds nucleic acid for its protection. Hepatitis B DNA virus belongs to the Hepadnoviridae family and is similar to retroviruses. Globally, HBV infected people approximately 2 billion in the world, about 350 million people were chronic carriers. One million deaths are caused by the HBV virus every year. Each year, 400,000 new cases were reported in Latin America. Among all over the World, Pakistan was considered as one of the largest chronic viral hepatitis infection countries.Methodology: 975 samples were recoded from different districts of south Punjab. The sera of the patient’s sample were examined to analyze the LFTs, HBS serology, HBS ELIZA, anti-HBeAg, AFP, anti- HDV, HBC IgM, and HBV DNA EAL TIME PCR. An anticoagulant sample was used to analyze their prothrombin time, HB level, WBC count, PLT counts, and HBA1C. Data were analyzed by using Microsoft Excel 2019 and SPSS version 14.0. Results: 975 samples were collected from the Multan district of Punjab. Out of which 638(65.43%) patients were detected positive for HBsAg serology, 312(32.84%) were not detected. The HBA1C test values are higher in HBV patients and its normal value is below 6.4%. In 1st group 258 patients out of 638 are HBV PCR DETECTED, bilirubin 2.1+-5.7, ALP 425.1±575.1, AST 119.6±102.6, ALT 62.0±41.6, and albumin 3.5±0.9. in the 2nd group, 149 patients out of 638 are HBV PCR detected, bilirubin 1.4±1.9, ALP 488.1±339.2, AST 143.0±117.4, ALT 78.1±53.4, and albumin 4.4±0.6.Conclusion: The prevalence of HBV in diabetic patients is higher as compared to control diabetic patients. the patients with high serum AFP levels tend to be HBs-Ag-positive, and those who have low AFP levels are associated with cryptogenic cirrhosis. The positive HBc IgM is higher in anti-HDV-negative cases as compared to HDV-positive cases. The value of HBV DNA was higher in anti-HDV-negative cases. The HBsAg correlates with HBV DNA level and it’s a level higher in the IT phase and lowers in the IC phase.</p
Oropharyngeal Pathogenic Bacteria: Carriage, Antimicrobial Susceptibility Pattern and Associated Risk Factors among Febrile Patients
No full textBackground: Pharyngeal and respiratory infections due to bacteria are global concerns especially because of the emergence of multi-drug resistant strains. The Oropharynx is one of the regions of the human body that is heavily colonized by microbial flora. So, the Oropharyngeal carriage is a major risk factor for an invasion and developing the disease. Therefore, this study was aimed at determining the carriage rate of potential pathogenic Oropharyngeal bacteria, associated risk factors, and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns among febrile patients at AHMC.Methods: A Cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2018 to April 2019. A systematic random technique was implemented to collect Oropharyngeal samples from 253 selected febrile patients. Specimen collection and processing were done following standard bacteriological procedures in Adama Public Health, Research, and Referral Laboratory. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was done using the disk diffusion method in accordance with the Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institutes guideline. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: Overall oropharyngeal bacteria carriage rate was 75.1%. A total of 190 bacterial organisms were isolated with 96 Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci (CNS), 55 Streptococcus pyogenes, and 19 Staphylococcus aureus were dominant isolates among gram-positive. Klebsiella pneumoniae, Neisseria meningitides, Moraxella catarrhalis, and Escherichia coli were among gram-negative bacteria isolates. Living in urban, cigarette smoking, and poor oral hygiene was significantly associated with the Oropharyngeal bacterial carriage rate. The majority of CNS, S.aureus, and S. pyogenes were resistant to different classes of antibiotics. Conclusion: Potentially pathogenic Oropharyngeal bacterial colonization rate was high. Place of living and behavioral factors are risk factors that were associated with bacterial colonization of the oropharynx. Several bacterial isolates were resistant to frequently prescribed antibiotic classes. Therefore, determining the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of the isolates is important to intervene and prevent the risk of infection and also the emergence of multiple drug-resistant strains and disease management.</p
Clinical trials cannot provide sufficient accuracy for studying weak factors necessary for curing chronic diseases
No full textChronic diseases are still known as incurable diseases, and we suspect that the medical research model is unfit for characterizing chronic diseases. In this study, we examined accuracy and reliability required for characterizing chronic diseases, reviewed implied presumptions in clinical trials and assumptions used in statistical analysis, examined sources of variances normally encountered in clinical trials, and conducted numeric simulations by using hypothetical data for several theoretical and hypothetical models. We found that the sources of variances attributable to personal differences in clinical trials can distort hypothesis test outcomes, that clinical trials introduce too many errors and too many inaccuracies that tend to hide weak and slow-delivering effects of treatments, and that the means of treatments used in statistical analysis have little or no relevance to specific patients. We further found that a large number of uncontrolled co-causal or interfering factors normally seen in human beings can greatly enlarge the means and the variances or experimental errors, and the use of high rejection criteria (e.g., small p values) further raises the chances of failing to find treatment effects. As a whole, we concluded that the research model using clinical trials is wrong on multiple grounds under any of our realistic theoretical and hypothetical models, and that misuse of statistical analysis is most probably responsible for failure to identify treatment effects for chronic diseases and failure to detect harmful effects of toxic substances in the environment. We proposed alternative experimental models involving the use of single-person or mini optimization trials for studying low-risk weak treatments.</p