scholarly journals A new model of inexpensive portable homemade PERC Mentor (IPHOM) and its validation

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhishek Shukla ◽  
Gurwinder Sethi ◽  
Ananya Dutta ◽  
Puneet Aggarwal ◽  
Ayon Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Ball Bearings ◽  
Expert Group ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Expert And Novice ◽  
Hospital Wastes ◽  
Complex Surgery ◽  
At Home

Abstract Background Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is a complex surgery and has a flat learning curve. Due to this and the ethical issues, trainees do not get enough hands on exposure. Virtual simulator is very expensive and bulky. Animal model requires legal clearance. This inexpensive portable homemade PERC Mentor (IPHOM) teaches all the major aspects of PCNL surgery. This article has shown the way to make this model and its validation study. Methods IPHOM can be made at home with carton box, ball bearings, LED torch and some hospital wastes. After a short demonstration of IPHOM, 14 residents and 4 urologists were given 8 tasks to perform on it followed by 15-min supervised practice exercise on day 0 and day 1. Their performance was reassessed on day 2 and 3. Response to 17 feedback points was recorded on a seven-point Likert scale. Results There was significant difference between the performance of expert and novice on day 0. Expert completed all the tasks in less time and no. of attempts. The time for tract dilatation and duration of radiation exposure were significantly less in the expert group. The performance of both expert and novice improved on day 2 and 3, but the improvement was significantly more in novice. Response to the feedback points showed no difference between expert and novice (p > .05). Conclusions We have found that training on IPHOM has improved the concept and skills of PCNL in residents. The simplicity and low cost of the model make it constructible at home.

scholarly journals Activities on reflection of light based on low-cost materials at eighth grade

2021 ◽  
Vol 2145 (1) ◽  
pp. 012069
Author(s):  
A Kittiravechote ◽  
N Thinarat
Keyword(s):  
Science Teachers ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Posttest Score ◽  
Eighth Grade ◽  
Light Reflection ◽  
School Students ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Eighth Grade Students

Abstract Studying science through hands-on activities within the context of teaching and learning using local environments and resources has been recognized as a fundamental prerequisite of school curriculum in many developing countries, including Thailand. Accordingly, we are interested in implementing such a concept in designing science teaching and learning for middle school students that emphasizes student participation in the provision of materials and equipment for scientific activities. The purposes of this study are to design hands-on activities for eighth grade students on the topic of light reflection using low-cost materials, and then to examine the results after they are implemented. The experimental group consisted of 30 eighth grade students who were chosen at random in one room. The instruments used in the experiment were two types of achievement tests that were administered as pretests and posttests on the topics of light reflection on smooth and curved surfaces. The paired sample t-test was performed after the collection of data to determine students’ conceptual understanding. Our result displays a highly significant difference (p <.01) between the pretest score (39.7%) and posttest score (83.3%), indicating that students actively participated in hands-on activities and learned light reflection knowledge and skills through interaction and discussion with their classmates. We highlight the advantages of our study for science teachers in rural schools in ensuring students develop 21st Century Skills, which is an important part of STEM education.

scholarly journals Indigenous Inexpensive Practice Models for Skill Development in Neuroendoscopy

2017 ◽  
Vol 08 (02) ◽  
pp. 170-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jitin Bajaj ◽  
Yad Ram Yadav ◽  
Anurag Pateriya ◽  
Vijay Parihar ◽  
Shailendra Ratre ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Animal Models ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Ligamentum Flavum ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Fellowship Program ◽  
Practice Models ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Hand Eye Coordination ◽  
Keyhole Concept

ABSTRACT Introduction: Neurosurgery is a branch having a tough learning curve. Residents generally get very less hands-on exposure for advanced procedures like neuroendoscopy. With the limited number of cadavers available and ethical issues associated with animal models, practice models, and simulators are becoming the able alternative. Most of these simulators are very costly. We tried to build indigenous inexpensive practice models that can help in developing most of the skills of neuroendoscopy. Materials and Methods: Models were built for learning hand-eye coordination, dexterity, instrument manipulation, cutting, fine dissection, keyhole concept, drilling, and simulation of laminectomy and ligamentum flavum resection. These were shown in the neuroendoscopic fellowship program conducted in authors’ institute, and trainees’ responses were recorded. Results: Both novice and experienced neuroendoscopic surgeons validated the models. There was no significant difference between their responses (P = 0.791). Conclusion: Indigenous innovative models can be used to learn and teach neuroendoscopic skills. The presented models were reliable, valid, eco-friendly, highly cost-effective, portable, easily made and can be kept in one’s chamber for practicing.

scholarly journals School Pantry Cook-Off: An Approach to Educate Youth on Food Insecurity

2021 ◽  
Vol 59 (Autumn 2021) ◽  
Author(s):  
Siew Guan Lee ◽  
Gretchen Manker ◽  
Nav Ghimire ◽  
Laura Frost ◽  
Julie Buck
Keyword(s):  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Nutrition Education ◽  
Confidence Level ◽  
Food Preparation ◽  
Healthy Foods ◽  
Extension Educators ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Education Strategy ◽  
At Home

The “School Pantry: Mystery Food Box Cook-Off” is a program designed to increase awareness of food insecurity among youth and teach strategies to prepare healthy foods on a budget. A pre-and-post survey showed a statistically significant difference in participants’ overall knowledge, skills, and confidence level after the program compared to before the program. Findings revealed a hands-on nutrition education strategy via cook-off could educate youth on food insecurity and increase their knowledge and confidence to make healthy and affordable meals at home. Other Extension educators seeking to address food insecurity and food preparation skills among youth can replicate this program.

scholarly journals Transdisciplinary AI Observatory—Retrospective Analyses and Future-Oriented Contradistinctions

Philosophies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 6
Author(s):  
Nadisha-Marie Aliman ◽  
Leon Kester ◽  
Roman Yampolskiy
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Research Direction ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Safety Critical ◽  
Safety Research ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Near Term ◽  
Ai Safety

In the last years, artificial intelligence (AI) safety gained international recognition in the light of heterogeneous safety-critical and ethical issues that risk overshadowing the broad beneficial impacts of AI. In this context, the implementation of AI observatory endeavors represents one key research direction. This paper motivates the need for an inherently transdisciplinary AI observatory approach integrating diverse retrospective and counterfactual views. We delineate aims and limitations while providing hands-on-advice utilizing concrete practical examples. Distinguishing between unintentionally and intentionally triggered AI risks with diverse socio-psycho-technological impacts, we exemplify a retrospective descriptive analysis followed by a retrospective counterfactual risk analysis. Building on these AI observatory tools, we present near-term transdisciplinary guidelines for AI safety. As further contribution, we discuss differentiated and tailored long-term directions through the lens of two disparate modern AI safety paradigms. For simplicity, we refer to these two different paradigms with the terms artificial stupidity (AS) and eternal creativity (EC) respectively. While both AS and EC acknowledge the need for a hybrid cognitive-affective approach to AI safety and overlap with regard to many short-term considerations, they differ fundamentally in the nature of multiple envisaged long-term solution patterns. By compiling relevant underlying contradistinctions, we aim to provide future-oriented incentives for constructive dialectics in practical and theoretical AI safety research.

scholarly journals The Effect of Loneliness on Death Anxiety in the Elderly During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 003022282110105
Author(s):  
Türkan Akyol Guner ◽  
Zeynep Erdogan ◽  
Isa Demir
Keyword(s):  
Death Anxiety ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Average Score ◽  
City Center ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
North West ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Scale Scores ◽  
Education Status ◽  
At Home

The aim of the study is to determine the effect on death anxiety of loneliness in the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The population of this study that is descriptive and cross-sectional type consist of 354 elderly who meet the inclusion criteria from three different associations operating for charitable purposes in a city center located in north-west Turkey. The average score of Loneliness Scale of Elderly (LSE) of the elderly was determined as 11.39 ± 5.31, and the average score of Death Anxiety Scale (DAS) of the elderly was determined as 8.54 ± 4.82. According to these results, it was found that the elderly experienced acceptable levels of loneliness and moderate death anxiety. A statistically significant difference was found in the LSE and DAS scores of the elderly according to their age, marital status, education status, chronic illness status and living at home with relatives. In addition, during the COVID-19 epidemic, the scale scores of the elderly who have increased worries, who have a hobby at home, and who communicate with their relatives via social media/mobile phones were found to be statistically significant (p < 0.05).

scholarly journals Quantification and Classification of Diclofenac Sodium Content in Dispersed Commercially Available Tablets by Attenuated Total Reflection Infrared Spectroscopy and Multivariate Data Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 440
Author(s):  
Eirini Siozou ◽  
Vasilios Sakkas ◽  
Nikolaos Kourkoumelis
Keyword(s):  
Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Diclofenac Sodium ◽  
Reference Method ◽  
Sodium Content ◽  
Attenuated Total Reflection ◽  
Accuracy And Precision ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Ft Ir

A new methodology, based on Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy equipped with an attenuated total reflectance accessory (ATR FT-IR), was developed for the determination of diclofenac sodium (DS) in dispersed commercially available tablets using chemometric tools such as partial least squares (PLS) coupled with discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). The results of PLS-DA depicted a perfect classification of the tablets into three different groups based on their DS concentrations, while the developed model with PLS had a sufficiently low root mean square error (RMSE) for the prediction of the samples’ concentration (~5%) and therefore can be practically used for any tablet with an unknown concentration of DS. Comparison with ultraviolet/visible (UV/Vis) spectrophotometry as the reference method revealed no significant difference between the two methods. The proposed methodology exhibited satisfactory results in terms of both accuracy and precision while being rapid, simple and of low cost.

scholarly journals Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on athletes with disabilities preparing for the Paralympic Games in Tokyo

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Urbański ◽  
Łukasz Szeliga ◽  
Tomasz Tasiemski
Keyword(s):  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Training Time ◽  
Weekly Training ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Athletes With Disabilities ◽  
Sport Facilities ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Paralympic Games ◽  
At Home

Abstract Objective The main aim of the study was to assess the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on athletes preparing for the Tokyo 2021 Paralympic Games during 1 month of lockdown in Poland. The study involved 166 athletes (106 male, 66 female), members of either the Polish Paralympic Committee or the Polish Sports Association for the Disabled’Start’, two organizations responsible for managing and regulating sports played by persons with disabilities in Poland. Results Athletes with disabilities have been strongly affected by the pandemic and the resultant lockdown. The majority of respondents reported that they trained at home (88.6%), whereas 60.2% of athletes trained outdoors, and 12% suspended their training regimens altogether. Only 5.4% of athletes had some access to sport facilities. The athletes reduced their weekly training time by almost half (9.4 h/week vs. 5.3 h/week), a statistically significant difference (t = 16.261, p < 0.001).

scholarly journals Can Hematological Parameters Play a Role in the Differential Diagnosis of Adrenal Tumors?

Uro ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-44
Author(s):  
Mehmet Gürkan Arıkan ◽  
Göktan Altuğ Öz ◽  
Nur Gülce İşkan ◽  
Necdet Süt ◽  
İlkan Yüksel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Differential Diagnosis ◽  
Inflammatory Markers ◽  
Blood Count ◽  
Complete Blood Count ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
Adrenal Tumors ◽  
Tumor Diameter ◽  
Lymphocyte Ratio ◽  
Significant Difference

There have been few studies reported with conflicting results in the use of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), redcell-distribution-width (RDW), etc. for predicting prognosis and differential diagnosis of adrenal tumors. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of inflammatory markers through a complete blood count, which is an easy access low-cost method, for the differential diagnosis of adrenocortical adenoma (ACA), adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC), and pheochromocytoma. The data of patients who underwent adrenalectomy between the years of 2010–2020 were retrospectively analyzed. Systemic hematologic inflammatory markers based on a complete blood count such as neutrophil ratio (NR), lymphocyte ratio (LR), NLR, PLR, RDW, mean platelet volume (MPV), and maximum tumor diameter (MTD) were compared between the groups. A statistically significant difference was found between the three groups in terms of PLR, RDW, and MTD. With post-hoc tests, a statistically significant difference was found in PLR and MTD between the ACA and ACC groups. A statistically significant difference was found between the ACA and pheochromocytoma groups in PLR and RDW values. In conclusion, it could be possible to plan a more accurate medical and surgical approach using PLR and RDW, which are easily calculated through an easy access low-cost method such as a complete blood count, together with MTD in the differential diagnosis of ACC, ACA, and pheochromocytoma.

scholarly journals Ethical issues relating to qualitative research

2005 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Jelsma ◽  
S. Clow
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Health Research ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Ethical Principles ◽  
Ethical Review ◽  
Paper Briefly ◽  
Ethical Problems ◽  
Scientific Rigour ◽  
Hands On

Qualitative research or naturalistic research has moved from the sidelines into the mainstream of health research and an increasing number of qualitative research proposals are being presented for ethical review Qualitative research presents ethical problems that which are unique to the intensive hands-on paradigm which characterises naturalistic research. This paper briefly outlines the most common methodologies used in this research. The four ethical principles of benevolence, non-maleficence, autonomy and justice will be used as a framework to explore specific ethical issues related to this form of inquiry. The need for scientific rigour will also be explored as research that is scientifically unsound can never be ethical.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document