scholarly journals AN ANALYSIS OF TYPE I DILEMMA ZONE AT SIGNALISED INTERSECTIONS

Author(s):  
Ali Payıdar AKGÜNGÖR ◽  
Elif Zahide MERCAN

Intersections, for vehicles coming from different directions, are conflict points in road networks. When a driver approaching a signalised intersection encounters the yellow light, he/she is in a dilemma either to safely stop or to pass through the intersection during clearance time. The decision to stop or to pass may change depending on some factors such as duration of yellow light, deceleration and acceleration rate, width of intersection, speed and length of vehicle, etc. This study aims to put forth the effects of some related factors affecting the length of the Type I dilemma zone. To perform this study, five factors including vehicle speed, maximum deceleration rate, perception-reaction time, clearance time, the total intersection width-vehicle length were considered and a total of 648 different traffic cases were investigated. The study results showed that the Type I dilemma zone length increased with the increase of speed, total intersection width-vehicle length and perception-reaction time, but decreased with the increase of clearance time and deceleration rate.


2015 ◽  
pp. 57-60
Author(s):  
Xuan Chuong Tran ◽  
Thi Thanh Hoa Le ◽  
Ngoc Van Nguyen ◽  
Thanh Nguyen

Background: HIV/AIDS is still a dangerous infection in Vietnam and in the world. Studying of HIV infection and related factors in high risk groups, including female massage therapists is therefore very important. Aims: 1. To study the HIV infection in female massage therapists in Quang Ngai province. 2. To fine some related factors to HIV infection. Patients and methods: Female massage therapists working in Quang Ngai province. Cross-sectional, descriptive study. Results: The rate of HIV infection was 0.99%. Group older than 22 years old had higher rate of infection than group under 22 years old (1.80% vs 0.69%). The girls from urban areas or not using condom had higher rate of infection than group from rural or not using condom (1.57% vs 0.47% and 7.32% vs. 0.57%). Most of HIV infected belong to single or divorce groups. Conclusions: The rate of HIV infection in female massage therapists in Quang Ngai province was 0.99%. The HIV infection related factor was not using condom in sexual contact. Keywords: HIV, female massage therapists, Quang Ngai



Author(s):  
Yi-Ping Hsieh ◽  
Cheng-Fang Yen ◽  
Chia-Fen Wu ◽  
Peng-Wei Wang

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of hospital visits and attendance at scheduled appointments have dropped significantly. We used the health belief model (in three dimensions) to examine the determinants of non-attendance of scheduled appointments in outpatient clinics due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants in Taiwan (n = 1954) completed an online survey from 10 April 10 to 23 April 2020, which assessed how people perceived and responded to the outbreak of a fast-spreading infectious disease. We performed both univariate and multivariate logistic regression to examine the roles of cognitive, affective, and behavioral health belief constructs in nonattendance at scheduled appointments. The results indicated that individuals who perceived high confidence in coping with COVID-19 were less likely to miss or cancel their doctor’s appointments, whereas individuals who reported high anxiety and practiced more preventive health behaviors, including avoiding crowded places, washing hands more often, and wearing a mask more often, were more likely to miss or cancel their appointments due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Non-heterosexual participants had a lower rate of nonattendance at scheduled appointments compared with heterosexual ones. The study results increase our understanding of the patients’ cognitive health beliefs, psychological distress, and health behaviors when assessing adherence to medical appointments during a pandemic.



2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-280
Author(s):  
Daniel T.L. Shek ◽  
Daniel W.M. Lung ◽  
Yammy L.Y. Chak

Abstract This paper reports the findings of a case study in which a curriculum-based positive youth development program (Project P.A.T.H.S.) was implemented by the class teachers in a school. School-related factors which contributed to the success of program implementation were identified in the study. Results showed that factors facilitating the program implementation were closely related to the “5Ps” model (i.e., program, people, process, policy and place). While all the above factors contributed to the success of program implementation, the “people” factor was identified as the most crucial factor. Overall, both the students and program implementers perceived the program to be effective in promoting holistic development in the program participants.



2020 ◽  
pp. 26-28
Author(s):  
Jatin Venugopal Kutnikar ◽  
Saravanan Kannan ◽  
Prabhakaran Maduraimuthu

BACKGROUND: Owing to associated neonatal death, morbidity and impairment in later life, preterm birth is a major public health issue. Pregnant ladies presenting to the antenatal clinic were recruited in order to predict spontaneous preterm births bythe novel method of assessing the Fetal Adrenal Gland Volume (FAGV) and Adrenal Fetal ZoneEnlargement(AFZE) and comparing it with Cervical length. MATERIAL AND METHODS:This was a prospective observational study done at a tertiary hospital in Chennai.The formulae,AFZE=Gland length/Central fetal zone length and FAGV=0.523 x length x width x depth. cFAGV=fetal adrenal gland volume/estimated fetal weight =FAGV/EFW, were employed for the purpose of this study.𝛘2 or Fisher’s exact tests,Mann-Whitney or student-t test were calculated for appropriate variables. Pregnant women with uncomplicated pregnancy with gestational age between 21-34 weeks were recruited for this study. RESULTS:70 pregnant women were studied from May2019 to August 2020 and had an average age of 25 years and mean age of gestation being 27.1 weeks.26(37.1%) of these had a preterm delivery of ≤7 days.AFZE emerged as the best predictor among the three metrics with sensitivity of 100% and specificity of ~90 %.cFAGV showed ~80%/~89% sensitivity and specificity.This was in contrast to cervical length of ≤16 mm having just 55% and 60% sensitivity and specificity respectively. SUMMARY:USG estimation of AFZE and cFAGV are more reliable and accurate indicators than CL for spontaneous preterm delivery and can be used in the routine scanning of patients with early symptoms of preterm labour to plan the management more effectively.



2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Angella Nakimera

Abstract Background: A study was carried out to identify the factors influencing the utilization of ultrasound scan services among pregnant mothers at Ndejje Health Centre IV, Wakiso District. Methodology: The study design was descriptive and cross-sectional and it employed both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. A sample size of 30 respondents was selected using a simple random sampling procedure. An interview guide was used to collect data. Results: The study revealed various factors influencing the utilization of ultrasound scan services among pregnant mothers. For example, although all 30 (100%) had ever heard about ultrasound scan services, most 20 (66.7%) had ever used ultrasound scan services once 10 (50%) and 12 (60%) used the services in the 3rd trimester due to factors including 20 (66.7%) of ultrasound scan services, 21 (70%) having fears about using ultrasound scan services including 14 (66.7%) fear that the scan would identify bad conditions on the baby, 18 (60%) lacked partner support. The study results also revealed that respondents faced various health facility factors which influenced the utilization of ultrasound scan services. For example, most 20 (66.7%) respondents reported that Ndejje Health Centre IV was not equipped to provide ultrasound scan services due to 12 (60%) frequent breakdown and poor maintenance of equipment which led to 18 (60%) ultrasound scan services not being readily available, 12 (60%) long waiting time to receive services as most waited more than 2 hours to receive services. Conclusion and recommendations: Respondents faced various and health facility-related factors which influenced their utilization of ultrasound scan services. The key recommendations included ready availability of services through regular and timely maintenance of equipment, improving efficiency, and reducing waiting time as well as improved health education of mothers about the importance of using the services.



2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md. Nure Alam Siddiqi ◽  
Md. Nuruzzaman Haque ◽  
Md. Abdul Goni

Objective: The objectives of this study are to describe the differentials and associated risk factors of malnutrition among under-five children in Bangladesh. Material & Methods: The data extracted from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS)-2007. Basic anthropometric variables were used for finding prevalence of anthropometric indices (stunting, wasting and under weight) to assess child’s nutritional statuses. Chi- Square test and Logistic Regression technique were used to find out the significant factors associated with child’s nutritional status. Results: The study results showed the high prevalence of stunting and underweight, for instance 42% and 40% of under-five children were stunted and underweighted respectively. The analyses of the study also revealed that household economic status, mother’s education, father’s education, mother’s antenatal visit (s), mother’s age at birth and mother’s BMI are the most significant factor /determinant s of child’s malnutrition. Conclusion: The magnitude of the Child’s malnutrition still is of great concern in Bangladesh. Significant association between maternal related factors and child’s nutritional status has been found in this study. For improving the nutritional status of children or for getting healthy babies the intervention program(s) must connect not only children but also newly mothers and prospective mothers. Key Words: Anthropometric measurement; Malnutrition; Stunting; Underweight; Wasting DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ajms.v2i2.3662 Asian Journal of Medical Sciences 2 (2011) 113-119



2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 1901849 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samu Kainulainen ◽  
Brett Duce ◽  
Henri Korkalainen ◽  
Arie Oksenberg ◽  
Akseli Leino ◽  
...  

Current diagnostic parameters estimating obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) severity have a poor connection to the psychomotor vigilance of OSA patients. Thus, we aimed to investigate how the severity of apnoeas, hypopnoeas and intermittent hypoxaemia is associated with impaired vigilance.We retrospectively examined type I polysomnography data and corresponding psychomotor vigilance tasks (PVTs) of 743 consecutive OSA patients (apnoea–hypopnoea index (AHI) ≥5 events·h−1). Conventional diagnostic parameters (e.g. AHI and oxygen desaturation index (ODI)) and novel parameters (e.g. desaturation severity and obstruction severity) incorporating duration of apnoeas and hypopnoeas as well as depth and duration of desaturations were assessed. Patients were grouped into quartiles based on PVT outcome variables. The odds of belonging to the worst-performing quartile were assessed. Analyses were performed for all PVT outcome variables using binomial logistic regression.A relative 10% increase in median depth of desaturations elevated the odds (ORrange 1.20–1.37, p<0.05) of prolonged mean and median reaction times as well as increased lapse count. Similarly, an increase in desaturation severity (ORrange 1.26–1.52, p<0.05) associated with prolonged median reaction time. Female sex (ORrange 2.21–6.02, p<0.01), Epworth Sleepiness Scale score (ORrange 1.05–1.07, p<0.01) and older age (ORrange 1.01–1.05, p<0.05) were significant risk factors in all analyses. In contrast, increases in conventional AHI, ODI and arousal index were not associated with deteriorated PVT performance.These results show that our novel parameters describing the severity of intermittent hypoxaemia are significantly associated with increased risk of impaired PVT performance, whereas conventional OSA severity and sleep fragmentation metrics are not. These results underline the importance of developing the assessment of OSA severity beyond the AHI.



2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Yuanjin Chen ◽  
Rui Bai ◽  
Wenhui Chen ◽  
Shuanglei Li ◽  
Yunxia Jiang

Zhuang-Gu-Fang is a Chinese medicinal compound mixture, which is mainly composed of traditional remedies like the Epimedium Herb, Astragalus, and Eucommia among many others. The study is aimed at investigating the therapeutic effect of Zhuang-Gu-Fang in ovariectomized rats. Fifty six-month-old Wistar rats were randomly selected and divided into 5 groups (n = 10), namely, model group, positive group, low-dose Chinese medicine group, medium-dose group, and high-dose group. Another 10 sham operation Wistar rats were taken as a negative control group. After 3 months of intervention, the bone mineral density (BMD), procollagen type I N-peptide (PINP), beta C-terminal cross-linked telopeptides of type I collagen carboxyl-terminal peptide (β-CTX), Leptin, Ghrelin, and Peptide YY (PYY) of each group were measured. Besides, the ultrastructure of bone structure and osteoblasts was also observed by transmission electron microscopy. Western blot method was used to detect the expression levels of Leptin and Ghrelin in bone tissue, and RT-PCR detected the mRNA expression levels of Leptin and Ghrelin. BMD test indicated that Zhuang-Gu-Fang could effectively prevent the loss of tibia bone in ovariectomized rats. Histomorphology analysis showed that Zhuang-Gu-Fang could preserve trabecular bone structure integrity and improve osteoblast ultrastructure. Notably, the study found out that Zhuang-Gu-Fang worked through balancing the bone metabolism via increasing bone formation/resorption ratio. Additionally, Zhuang-Gu-Fang highlighted the recovery effects in multiple levels of osteogenesis- and osteanagenesis-related factors Leptin, Ghrelin, and PYY. Conclusively, the study proved the therapeutic potential of the Zhuang-Gu-Fang for postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMOP) and further revealed that its therapeutic effect was related to the balance of bone metabolism and the recovery effects of bone-related factors Leptin, Ghrelin, and PYY.



2020 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shimpei Yamagishi ◽  
Shigeto Furukawa

It is often assumed that the reaction time of a saccade toward visual and/or auditory stimuli reflects the sensitivities of our oculomotor-orienting system to stimulus saliency. Endogenous factors, as well as stimulus-related factors, would also affect the saccadic reaction time (SRT). However, it was not clear how these factors interact and to what extent visual and auditory-targeting saccades are accounted for by common mechanisms. The present study examined the effect of, and the interaction between, stimulus saliency and audiovisual spatial congruency on the SRT for visual- and for auditory-target conditions. We also analyzed pre-target pupil size to examine the relationship between saccade preparation and pupil size. Pupil size is considered to reflect arousal states coupling with locus-coeruleus (LC) activity during a cognitive task. The main findings were that (1) the pattern of the examined effects on the SRT varied between visual- and auditory-auditory target conditions, (2) the effect of stimulus saliency was significant for the visual-target condition, but not significant for the auditory-target condition, (3) Pupil velocity, not absolute pupil size, was sensitive to task set (i.e., visual-targeting saccade vs. auditory-targeting saccade), and (4) there was a significant correlation between the pre-saccade absolute pupil size and the SRTs for the visual-target condition but not for the auditory-target condition. The discrepancy between target modalities for the effect of pupil velocity and between the absolute pupil size and pupil velocity for the correlation with SRT may imply that the pupil effect for the visual-target condition was caused by a modality-specific link between pupil size modulation and the SC rather than by the LC-NE (locus coeruleus-norepinephrine) system. These results support the idea that different threshold mechanisms in the SC may be involved in the initiation of saccades toward visual and auditory targets.



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