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Customisation of green buildings assessment tools based on climatic zoning and experts judgement using K-means clustering and fuzzy AHP
Get PDFUtilising green building regulations and classifications by using well-known assessment tools such as LEED can be challenging in a country with various climates due mainly to specific sustainability priorities for each climate. This paper presents a new framework to customise assessment tools of green buildings for regions or countries with various climates. The framework comprises K-means method to cluster various climates of the region combined with the silhouette value (SV) for clustering verification and local experts' judgement for local customisation of green building assessment tools. The Fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is used to adjust the regulations for each climatic zone. The proposed methodology is demonstrated by its application to the real-world case study of Iran. The K-means clustering with SV divide the country into four distinct climatic zones each representing with four meteorological parameters (MP, DTR, CDD, and HDD). Results show each climatic zone can take weights for sustainability categories and criteria based on its climate e.g. higher weight for “Water Efficiency” in zones with low rainfall and higher weight for “Energy and Atmosphere” in zones with heating or cooling needs. Results also show the two categories of “Energy and Atmosphere” and “Water Efficiency” take the largest weights in all zones by an average of almost 27 and 26%. These two categories, alongside with “Sustainable Site”, had the most changes in their weights for each climatic zone. The findings of this research reveal the effects of local climates on sustainability priorities of a green building assessment tool
Self-care strategies for children with epilepsy
Get PDFImplications for practice and research
- The impact of epilepsy may symbolize a life-changing event for the affected children and their parents.
- Epilepsy is managed by using both pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches.
- Although, there is evidence to suggest the benefits of non-pharmacological treatment in epilepsy, there is limited study on self-management interventions for children with epilepsy
Under the Radar accompanied by 3 after-show panel discussions
No full textUnder the Radar three week theatre performance followed by three after-show panels on the Wednesday of each week of the run.
(1) 16th March - Gender, Power, Consent and Violence.
(2) 23rd March - Media Ethics: Reporting on Violence.
(3) 30th March - Creative Writing, Narrative and Violence.
Studio Recording:
https://youtu.be/BjzoOdhPfl
An enhanced interface selectivity technique to improve the QoS for the multi-homed node
Get PDFThe user’s hand-off is still an arguable issue that many mobile communication systems face, especially with the exploded growth of users and internet-based applications. Hence, there is a critical need for adequate quality of service (QoS) to meet the stringent requirements. This paper aims to study the overall performance and feasibility of several QoS mechanisms with the single-homed and multi-homed networks/nodes fluctuating resource availability. It investigates the adaptability of multi-interfaced multi-homed techniques to enhance the essential governing parameters, i.e., throughput, end-to-end latency, processing time, and jitter. Moreover, the paper introduces an interface selectivity technique for the multi-homed node to adopt the optimal interface, which offers the best services to explore the enhancements of the overall network performance. The overall results show how the introduced mechanism managed to keep the communication going on the multi-homed node. Furthermore, the results show that site multi-homing provides a better overall end-to-end latency over host multi-homing as it supports the entire network
Effective hospital care delivery model for older people in Nigeria with multimorbidity: recommendations for practice
Get PDFThe importance of developing an effective action-based model of care for multimorbid patients has become common knowledge, but it remains unclear why researchers in Nigeria have not paid attention to the issue. Hence, this study assessed the quality of health services using the Donabedian model and aimed to recommend an effective hospital care delivery model for older people in Nigeria with multimorbidity. A cross-sectional study using face-to-face data was conducted between October 2021 and February 2022. The reported data were collated, checked, coded, and entered into JISC online survey software and then exported to IBM Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 27 for analysis, sourced from the University of West London, London, United Kingdom. The data were collected from the outpatient department of four high-volume public secondary hospitals in Niger State (the largest hospital in the three senatorial zones and that of the state capital). Systematic random sampling was used to select 734 patients with two or more chronic diseases (multimorbidity) aged 60 years and above who presented for routine ambulatory outpatient and consented to participate in the study. A Service Availability and Readiness Assessment (SARA) tool was used to assess the structure, and the process quality was assessed by the patients’ experiences as they navigated the care pathway, whereas the outcome was measured using the patients’ overall satisfaction. Using Spearman’s correlation, no statistically significant association was observed between satisfaction level with the healthcare that was received and the five domains of health facility readiness (Total score Basic Amenities, Total score Basic Equipment, Total score infection control, Total score diagnostic capacity, Total score essential drugs), and the general facility readiness. Finally, the process component superseded the structure as the determinant of the quality of healthcare among multimorbid patients in Niger State. The emphasis of the process should be on improving access to quality of care, improving patient–physician relationships and timing, reducing the financial burden of medical care, and building confidence and trust in medical care. Therefore, these factors should be incorporated into designing the healthcare model for multimorbid patients in Nigeria
The different faces of mental illness stigma: systematic variation of stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination by type of illness
Get PDFMental illness (MI) stigma has been characterized as multi-dimensional including problems of knowledge (stereotypes), attitudes (prejudice) and behavior (discrimination); however, most research practice is predominantly applying unidimensional behavioral measures such as social distance scales. Moreover, specific types of MIs and different forms of discriminatory behaviors are not being differentiated. The Stereotype Content Model predicts that group stereotypes (warmth, competence) are linked with different forms of discriminatory behaviors (harm or facilitation) via emotional prejudices (pity, envy, contempt). The present study sought to establish how differential stereotypic perceptions of MI subgroups elicit distinct forms of behavioral discrimination via emotional prejudices. A community sample (N = 60) was randomly assigned to one of three conditions representing MIs across the warmth-competence stereotype space. Patterns of self-completed measures for stereotypes, emotions and behaviors differed significantly between conditions. The association between stereotypes and behaviors were largely mediated by emotions. Systematic patterns of stereotypic perceptions, emotional prejudices and behavioral discrimination are present for individuals with different types of MIs. Hence, generic measures of discrimination, such as social distance scales, may be misleading. Intervention strategies should consider the systematic variation of the factors involved in stigma, differentiating by type of MI and discriminatory behaviors
A novel technology for in vivo detection of cell type-specific neural connection with AQP1-encoding rAAV2-retro vector and metal-free MRI
Get PDFA mammalian brain contains numerous neurons with distinct cell types for complex neural circuits. Virus-based circuit tracing tools are powerful in tracking the interaction among the different brain regions. However, detecting brain-wide neural networks in vivo remains challenging since most viral tracing systems rely on postmortem optical imaging. We developed a novel approach that enables in vivo detection of brain-wide neural connections based on metal-free magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) with retrograde ability, the rAAV2-retro, encoding the human water channel aquaporin 1 (AQP1) MRI reporter gene was generated to label neural connections. The mouse was micro-injected with the virus at the Caudate Putamen (CPU) region and subjected to detection with Diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI). The prominent structure of the CPU-connected network was clearly defined. In combination with a Cre-loxP system, rAAV2-retro expressing Cre-dependent AQP1 provides a CPU-connected network of specific type neurons. Here, we established a sensitive, metal-free MRI-based strategy for in vivo detection of cell type-specific neural connections in the whole brain, which could visualize the dynamic changes of neural networks in rodents and potentially in non-human primates
Prevalence and correlates of severe under-5 child anthropometric failure measured by the Composite Index of Severe Anthropometric Failure in Bangladesh
Get PDFBackground: Although Bangladesh has made noticeable progress in reducing the prevalence of stunting, wasting, and being underweight among under-5 children, it has not been very successful in reducing overall severe anthropometric failure (SAF) among them. Therefore, the study aims to identify
the prevalence and risk factors of SAF measured by the Composite Index of Severe Anthropometric Failure (CISAF) among under-5 children in Bangladesh.
Methods: Data was drawn from a cross-sectional Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey (BDHS) conducted in 2017–2018. A bivariate analysis (Chi-square test) and logistic regression analysis were used to estimate the unadjusted, and age and sex-adjusted prevalence of SAF. Odds ratio (OR) and confidence interval (CI) were assessed using logistic regression analysis to identify the various risk factor of SAF.
Results: The overall adjusted prevalence of under-5 child SAF was 11.3% (95% CI: 10.6–12.0) and it was highly prevalent among children of uneducated mothers (adjusted, 22%, 95% CI: 17.3–26.8). The key factors associated with
SAF were children in the age group 24–35 months (OR: 2.43, 95% CI: 1.83–3.23), children born with low birth weight (OR: 3.14, 95% CI: 2.24–4.97), children of underweight mothers (OR: 1.82, 95% CI: 1.44–2.29), children of parents with no formal education (OR: 2.28, 95% CI: 1.56–3.31) and children
from lower socio-economic status (OR: 2.25, 95% CI: 1.55–3.26).
Conclusion: Prioritizing and ensuring context-specific interventions addressing individual, community, public policy, and environment level risk factors from policy level to implementation to reduce structural and intermediary determinants of under-5 SAF
The renal system and associated disorders
Get PDFDisorders of the renal system, including the kidneys and urinary tract, are increasingly recognised as a public health concern, accounting for 830 000 deaths worldwide. Patients often have comorbidities, with many presenting with other diseases. Health professionals require good knowledge of the renal system and associated disorders to create holistic care plans to meet individual patients' needs. This article covers the pathophysiology of some of the most common problems, patient assessment and investigations, and considerations in helping patients with self-management