OJS (University of Applied Sciences Velika Gorica)
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ADJUSTING ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH INSPECTIONS POST COVID
No full textBackground: The profession of environmental health (EH) is grounded in 18th Century practice and policy. This has to change. Post COVID EH professionals need to look to redefine the role and function of EH, bringing prevention into the policy and political arena and provide the modern tools, practices and leadership to sustain change in EH across the globe.
Aim: This study considers how artificial intelligence (AI), augmentation and digital devices can be used to improve information gathering to allow hazard identification, risk assessment and prioritization to be used to enhance and drive efficiency and improvements in the practice of environmental health
Methods: A review of available literature was carried out and a number of hypothesis were considered to determine possible and likely enhancements. The study then considered emerging technologies including AI and augmentation which could be adapted and utilized in the ‘future’.
Results: This presentation will share the results in an entertaining and provocative style ensuring the audience is well informed and can see the future benefits to the profession, public and policy makers alike
Conclusion(s): AI and augmentation bring the profession into the new century and help produce the evidence base needed to implement risk reducing strategies to improve safety, welfare and wellbeing without excessive cost.
Presenter e-mail: [email protected]
GOING BEYOND: INCORPORATING INTERNATIONAL FIELD TRIPS INTO ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH CURRICULA - AN AUSTRALIAN PERSPECTIVE
No full textBackground: The role and value of fieldtrips in environmental health curricula is under-researched. This is despite the need to consolidate key domains of knowledge and applied skills in students, to equipt them to undertake field-based investigations. Local excursions serve a purpose in exposing students to environmental health practices. However, with increasing globalisation and the risk-multiplying effects of climate change, the importance of providing students with first-hand experiences with issues that transcend national boundaries such as refugees, bio and food security, plastic and e-waste and pandemics, is elevated. The added value of experiential learning in different geographical and cultural settings is intuitive; they enable students to apply and challenge theories taught within classrooms and to reflect on new educational and social experiences These generic benefits are recognised by funding schemes, but the tightening of resources available to support fieldtrips, it is important to examine and document how they add value to the education journey of environmental health students.
Aim: To explore students’ learning through participation in international field trips in South East Asia, focussing on environmental health learning outcomes
Methods: This study adopted a naturalistic inquiry approach and utilised narratives recorded in reflective journals and through post field trip recollections by both student and staff participants. Thematic analysis was used to explore anticipated and lived learning experiences, challenges and the extent of transformational learning.
Results: Students reflected on both amazing and confronting experiences that challenged their preconceptions and broadened their worldviews. Longer lasting impacts were varied. The key recollections by staff included the administrative burden of planning the fieldtrips and the rewards associated with unplanned teachable moments and witnessing sudden insights by students.
Conclusion(s): International field trips have the potential to facilitate transformative learning in environmental health students. Managing team dynamics and student engagement and optimising learning opportunities was demanding for staff but considered worthwhile. The most challenging aspects were associated with securing funding, filling sponsored places, pivoting in response to unforeseen incidents and the administrative burden.
Presenter e-mail: [email protected]
THE ROLE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH IN PREVENTING ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE IN LOW- AND MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES
No full textAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) is increasingly becoming a threat to global public health. AMR leads to longer treatment for illnesses, use of higher generation drugs, more expenditure on antimicrobials, and increased death due to treatable diseases. Some of the major causes of AMR include misuse and overuse of antimicrobials in both humans and animals, unnecessary use of antimicrobials in animals as growth promoters, and lack of awareness among the public on how to protect antimicrobials. In addition to these concerns, Environmental Health has a crucial role to play in preventing AMR including reducing transmission of resistant microorganisms particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The Environmental Health measures that contribute to preventing AMR include: adequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); proper disposal of solid waste particularly antimicrobials; proper wastewater management; and ensuring food hygiene and safety. Achieving proper WASH through consumption of safe water, suitable disposal of human excreta, and good personal hygiene practices such as washing hands with soap at critical times for example after toilet use and before eating food are crucial to prevent the spread of resistant microorganisms. Proper disposal of unused and expired antimicrobials is important to prevent their unnecessary exposure to microorganisms in the environment hence contributing to preventing emergence of resistant organisms. Sufficient management of wastewater including from homes, communities and health facilities (which many times contain resistant microorganisms as well as antimicrobial residues) including proper treatment is important to prevent transmission of resistant organisms hence proliferation of AMR. Ensuring adequate food hygiene and safety practices such as consumption of products from animals in which adequate antimicrobial withdrawal periods have been observed, and vegetables from unpolluted fields reduces the consumption of antimicrobial residues. The reduction in occurrence of Environmental Health related diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid particularly in LMICs also minimises the need for antimicrobials hence contributing to safeguarding them. Environmental Health, specifically WASH, solid and wastewater management, as well as food hygiene and safety, are key in preventing the spread of antimicrobial-resistant microorganisms and ingestion of antimicrobial residues especially in LMICs hence contributing to reduction in AMR.
Presenter e-mail: [email protected]
EVALUATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF BEE POLLEN EXTRACT
No full textBackground: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), bacterial resistance to antibiotics poses a major threat worldwide and hinders the treatment of infectious diseases (World Health Organization, 2020), with an estimated 70 percent bacteria that cause infectious diseases in hospitals are resistant to at least one of the antibiotics used to treat infections. This situation has led to the search for natural antimicrobials. Branch, etc. (2017) found that bee pollen extract has antimicrobial activity against gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis), gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Enterobacter cloacae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) bacteria and Candida genes human pathogens.
Aim: Determine the antimicrobial activity of different quantities of bee pollen.
Methods: The antimicrobial activity of bee pollen collected from five Lithuanian farms against reference bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 12228, Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Klebsiella pneumoniae PCC, ATCC 6633, Bacillus cereus ATCC 11778) and cultures of the fungus Candida albicans ATCC 10231. Bee pollen was extracted into 96% ethanol (5 g of bee pollen in 20 ml of ethanol) for 14 days. The antimicrobial activity of the bee pollen extract was determined on Mueller-Hinton II Agar (BBL, Cockeysville, USA). 0.1 ml, 0.25 ml, 0.5 ml, 0.75 ml or 1 ml of the prepared bee pollen extract was added to Petri dishes containing 15 ml of Mueller-Hinton agar.
Results: Bee pollen extract 0.06 ml/1 ml agar had antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus vulgaris, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, Candida albicans. As the amount of bee pollen extract decreased, the antimicrobial activity of 1 ml of agar decreased. Staphylococcus epidermidis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacillus cereus were antimicrobial against 0.03 ml/1 ml agar of bee pollen extract. Bee pollen extract at an amount of 0.006 ml/1 ml agar had antimicrobial activity only against Bacillus cereus.
Conclusion(s): The bee pollen extract was treated with all test bacterial and fungal reference cultures at 0.06 ml/1 ml agar. As its concentration on agar decreased, its antimicrobial activity against the tested microorganisms decreased.
Presenter e-mail: [email protected]
Improving Image Transmission by Using Polar Codes and Successive Cancellation List Decoding
No full textThis paper investigates the transmission of grey scale images encoded with polar codes and de-coded with successive cancellation list (SCL) decoders in the presence of additive white Gaussian noise. Po-lar codes seem a natural choice for this application be-cause of their error-correction efficiency combined with fast decoding. Computer simulations are carried out for evaluating the influence of different code block lengths in the quality of the decoded images. At the encoder a default polar code construction is used in combination with binary phase shift keying modulation. The results are compared with those obtained by using the clas-sic successive cancellation (SC) decoding introduced by Arikan. The quality of the reconstructed images is assessed by using peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) and the structural similarity (SSIM) index. Curves of PSNR and SSIM versus code block length are presented il-lustrating the improvement in performance of SCL in comparison with SC
Artificial Neural Networks for Airport Runway Safety Systems
No full textThis paper presents the analysis of the existing approaches to ensuring the safety of aircraft`s takeoff and landing at airport runways using video surveillance systems. The subject area is formalized, and security threats and measures to prevent them are assessed. Optional architecture of the system designed for detection and classification of moving objects in the airport runway area is presented. The architecture is based on Neural Networks with AI elements. Also the original method of runway objects’ trajectory tracking is proposed. And finally, the research results of the applicability of the proposed architecture are presented
The Model for Assessing the Security Level of Instant Messaging Information Systems
No full textThe analysis of existing information systems for transmitting multimedia messages is carried out, a generalized conceptual definition for describing the architectures of such systems is proposed. The classification of messaging systems and their architectures is given. The key threats that should be considered when developing messaging systems in various application domains are identified. Based on the analysis of threats, a set of criteria has been determined for assessing the architectures of information systems for transmitting messages. A model which allows to make an assessment of parameters affecting the security of instant messaging information systems based on the characteristics of its elements is proposed
Perception of Weapon Availability and New Sources for Weapon Knowledge in a Convenient Sample of Croatian Youth
Get PDFThe aim of this research is to examine the perception of weapon availability and new sources for weapon knowledge of young people from Croatia. The last research about weapons (attitudes, availability, knowledge) in Croatia was conducted 12 years ago and there has been no significant research since so there is a serious gap of information in this field. 82 students (59% males and 41% females) in the age between 18 to 24 from the University of Applied Sciences Velika Gorica participated in this survey. The questionnaire included the introductory instructions and questions about sociodemographic data, questions about the weapons perception and knowledge. The results show that 88% of young people find it easy to get a weapon in the time interval of 2-7 days (30.9%). In the real environment, weapons are most easily reachable in specialized gun stores (82%), in the streets (72%) and in schools (44.1%). Results of online availability of weapons show that 68.3% of participants believe that it is possible to obtain weapons through online shopping and 61% through online forums. The largest source of knowledge about weapons is Internet (71.5%). Almost half of the students perceives that firearms are available in schools and almost third that it is available in colleges. It seems that firearms are more accessible in the real physical environment than online but students learn more about guns through the Internet and media than in the physical environment. Our results may indicate possible weapons availability to young people in Croatia
Cyber-physical Threat Detection Platform Designed for Healthcare Systems
No full textHospitals are responsible for delivering healthcare services to patients in need. These services are large and complex and get affected by multiple interacting actors, such as doctors, nurses, patients, citizens, medical suppliers, health insurance providers. Lately, hospitals around the world are one of the main targets when it comes to terrorist attacks, the cyber realm being the principal source. The healthcare sector is particularly vulnerable due to heavy involvement in patient personal and health information, time constraints, and complex day-to-day operations. In addition to cyber-threats, physical threats are increasingly growing and even healthcare facilities are not immune to them. Malicious intended people created cyber threatening attacks with the purpose to systematically collect evidence against the healthcare system, to advocate for the end of such attacks, and to endanger people's lives or to use the stolen personal data for bad intended actions. Henceforth it is necessary to build a platform that will get alerts and incidents at a fast pace in real-time to prevent any casualties at low cost. SAFECARE project aims to offer protection to hospitals and increase the compliance for the European regulations and security regarding ethics and privacy for health services. This paper presents a solution that will enhance security in hospitals. The primary platform will be built based on a BTMS (Building Threat Monitoring System) where events, incidents, and alerts will be transmitted by sensors from hospital rooms in real-time. Several scenarios were thought to simulate different types of attacks against hospitals and according to the scenarios, various prototypes will be built for assuring the security of the personal and patients from various hospitals
Business Continuity for Critical Infrastructure Operators
No full textCritical infrastructures often lack resilience and easily lose critical functionalities if hit by adverse events. Continuity management strategies for critical infrastructure operators and the networks that they form, rely also on the functionality of other interrelated networks. Disruptions in operations may affect society and for this reason, securing the operations of critical infrastructure operators is important. The technological impacts of CPS become evident to the resilience of all fields of critical infrastructure, but there is also human elements to take into account. The research question of this study is: How to enhance business continuity of critical infrastructure? This case study research uses qualitative methods collected by conducting interviews of resilience and continuity professionals who work with Finnish critical infrastructure. Resilience and continuity management are key for critical infrastructure operators. Important factors identified were identifying risks, critical activities, key personnel, creating guidelines and procedures, and open communication, which themes were recognised as important to improve resilience and manage continuity