scholarly journals PERCEPTION OF CORONAVIRUS AS AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT AND CONFORMANCE WITH SOCIAL DISTANCE PROTOCOL

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-26
Author(s):  
R. M. Labe ◽  
A. S. Otene ◽  
P. M. Inunduh ◽  
G. T. Akume

The study assesses perception of coronavirus as an existential and conformance to social distance among citizens in Benue state. A total of 343 participants comprised of 187(54.5%) males and 157(45.8%) females. Participants responded to a self-developed questionnaire which has a Cronbach alpha coefficient was.76. The study was a correlational research design. Results, shows there is a significant positive correlation between conformists’ perception of coronavirus as an existential threat and conformance to social distance, r (343) = .559, p< .0.01 for hypothesis one. There was a negative correlation between oppositional group perceptions of coronavirus as an existential threat and conformance to social distance, r (343) = -.175, p< .0.01 for hypothesis two. Hypothesis three shows there is a significant difference in the perception of coronavirus as an existential threat and conformance to social distance between conformists score (M=12.7360, SD=2.39721) and oppositional score (M=16.0242, = 3.03586), t (341) = -7.012, p< .05). A significant difference was also observed in the perception of coronavirus as an existential threat and conformance to social distance between the male scores of (M=14.3520, SD=4.47642) and female scores of (M=14.5137, SD= 4.84979), t (323) = -3.312, p< .05).  Findings from this study show that, coronavirus is an existential threat to human life. Nevertheless, people differed in their attitude to conformance to social distance protocol. The peoples’ view of coronavirus and response to social distance should help to deepen government and health managers understanding to strengthen health policy and measures on disease control in future outbreaks.

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  

Radiographic Mandibular Indices serve as easy and relatively cheap tools for evaluating bone mineralization. Objectives: To examine the effect of age and gender on three mandibular indices: the panoramic mandibular index (PMI), the mandibular ratio (MR) and the mandibular cortical index (MCI), among Libyan population. Methods: The three indices were measured on 317 digital (OPGs) of adult humans (155 males, 162 females). The sample was divided into six age groups (from 18-25 years through 56-65 years). The measurements were analyzed for interactions with age and sex, using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Studies) software version no. 22. The tests employed were two way ANOVA, the unpaired T-test and chi-square test. Results: The mean PMI fluctuated between 0.37 s.d. 0.012 and 0.38 s.d. 0.012. among the sixth age groups. One-way ANOVA statistical test revealed no significant of age on PMI. On the other hand gender variation has effect on PMI, since independent sample t-test disclosed that the difference between the male and female PMI means statistically significant. ANOVA test showed that the means of MR among age groups showed a negative correlation i.e. MR mean declined from 3.01 in 18-25 age groups to 2.7 in 55-65 age groups. In contrary, the gender showed no effect on MR according two sample t-test at p> 0.05. In regards with MCI, statistical analysis showed that it affected by age that is C1 was decreasing by age while C2 and C3 were increased by age. Using chi square test the result indicated that there is a significant difference among the different age group and the two genders in MCI readings. Conclusion: PMI was influenced significantly by age but minimally by the gender. MR is not affected by gender but has a negative correlation with age. MCI is affected by both age and gender


Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 1061
Author(s):  
Wajdy J. Al-Awaida ◽  
Baker Jawabrah Al Hourani ◽  
Samer Swedan ◽  
Refat Nimer ◽  
Foad Alzoughool ◽  
...  

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has quickly developed into a worldwide pandemic. Mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 genome may affect various aspects of the disease including fatality ratio. In this study, 553,518 SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences isolated from patients from continents for the period 1 December 2020 to 15 March 2021 were comprehensively analyzed and a total of 82 mutations were identified concerning the reference sequence. In addition, associations between the mutations and the case fatality ratio (CFR), cases per million and deaths per million, were examined. The mutations having the highest frequencies among different continents were Spike_D614G and NSP12_P323L. Among the identified mutations, NSP2_T153M, NSP14_I42V and Spike_L18F mutations showed a positive correlation to CFR. While the NSP13_Y541C, NSP3_T73I and NSP3_Q180H mutations demonstrated a negative correlation to CFR. The Spike_D614G and NSP12_P323L mutations showed a positive correlation to deaths per million. The NSP3_T1198K, NS8_L84S and NSP12_A97V mutations showed a significant negative correlation to deaths per million. The NSP12_P323L and Spike_D614G mutations showed a positive correlation to the number of cases per million. In contrast, NS8_L84S and NSP12_A97V mutations showed a negative correlation to the number of cases per million. In addition, among the identified clades, none showed a significant correlation to CFR. The G, GR, GV, S clades showed a significant positive correlation to deaths per million. The GR and S clades showed a positive correlation to number of cases per million. The clades having the highest frequencies among continents were G, followed by GH and GR. These findings should be taken into consideration during epidemiological surveys of the virus and vaccine development.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Foad Alzoughool ◽  
Huda Al Hourani ◽  
Manar Atoum ◽  
Sajedah Bateineh ◽  
Hanan Alsheikh ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND/AIM: The newly described proteins adropin and irisin are a highly conserved polypeptide that plays essential roles in metabolic and energy homeostasis, insulin resistance, and fat browning. The aim of this study is to evaluate the circulating levels of serum adropin and irisin in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients and also to elucidate possible relationships between serum adropin and irisin levels with anthropometric obesity indices and biochemical parameters. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Single-center prospective observational study included 90 T2DM patients referred to the diabetes outpatient clinic. Height, weight, and waist circumference (WC) were measured. Body mass index (BMI) and waist to height ratio (WHtR) were calculated. Fasting blood glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, serum lipids, creatinine, urea, and blood urea nitrogen were evaluated. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was calculated, serum adropin and irisin were evaluated. RESULTS: The results showed a significant positive correlation between adropin and irisin in females but not in males (r = 0.311; P = 0.042). In males’ group, serum adropin levels showed significant negative correlation with serum glucose (–0.423, P = <  0.05), HbA1C (–0.364, P = <  0.05), and GFR (–0.355, P = <  0.05). In contrast, creatinine was showed a significant positive correlation with adropin in males (0.381, P = <  0.05). In females’ group, adropin showed a significant negative correlation with weight (–0.371, P = <  0.05), BMI (–0.349, P = <  0.05), WC (–0.402, P = <  0.01), and WHtR (–0.398, P = <  0.01). Contrary, in males’ group, serum irisin levels showed significant positive correlation with weight (0.338, P = <  0.05), BMI (0.332, P = <  0.05), WC (0.409, P = <  0.01), and WHtR (0.432, P = <  0.01). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that, in T2DM patients, circulating serum adrpoin correlated negatively with anthropometric obesity indices of obesity in females, while serum irisin was positively correlated with anthropometric obesity indices of obesity in males.


1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 857-862 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Rickards ◽  
S. M. Dursun ◽  
G. Farrar ◽  
T. Betts ◽  
J. A. Corbett ◽  
...  

SynopsisFasting plasma levels of tryptophan, kynurenine and the pteridines, neopterin and tetrahydrobiopterin were measured in seven patients with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS) and 10 healthy controls. Plasma kynurenine was significantly elevated in the GTS patients. The lowest patient value was higher than the highest control value. Values for tryptophan, neopterin and tetrahydrobiopterin were similar in TS patients and controls. However, in TS patients only, there was a significant negative correlation between tryptophan and neopterin and a significant positive correlation between kynurenine and neopterin when controlling for tryptophan. This finding indicates that activation of cellular immune processes is a possible explanation for the rise in plasma kynurenine.


1988 ◽  
Vol 102 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Kristensen ◽  
K. Tveteraas ◽  
P. Hein ◽  
H. B. Poulsen ◽  
K. E. Outzen

AbstractThe pain-relieving efficacy of naproxen and acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) in tonsillectomized patients was compared in a double blind parallel clinical trial comprising 83 patients, among whom 42 were treated with naproxen and 41 with ASA. The patients were treated post-operatively for two days with either naproxen suppositories 500 mg. twice, or ASA effervescent tablets 1000 mg. three times, daily.The therapeutic gain was evaluated by recording the intensity of pain, reduced ability to open the mouth (trismus), consumption of supplementary analgesic (parcetamol), and pain-related sleep disturbances.The statistical analysis of the results revealed no differences in pain intensity, consumption of additional analgesics or pain-related sleep disturbances in the two treatment groups. A considerable degree of trismus was demonstrated in most of the tonsillectomized patients. This reduced ability to open the mouth was gradually overcome in the naproxen group while it remained unchanged in the ASA group, however, no statistical significant difference could be demonstrated. Additionally, no significant positive correlation between pain intensity and trismus was proven. The pain-relieving effect, however, was unsatisfactory in both the naproxen and the ASA group, and clinical controlled trial studies of alternative analgetics in tonsillectomized patients are still to be encouraged.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-91
Author(s):  
F Yasmin ◽  
MR Amin ◽  
M Afroz ◽  
MAH Swapon ◽  
MM Hossain

The tropical vegetable, brinjal is cultivated throughout the year in Bangladesh but the crop is infested by a number of insects including jassid. This study investigated the effects of different biophysical and biochemical characteristics of twelve brinjal germplasms on the abundance and infestation of jassid. The experiment was conducted during September 2018 to March 2019 in Gazipur, Bangladesh with twelve brinjal germplasms namely BD-7320, BD-7328, BD-9952, BD-10154, BD-10158, BARI Begun-1, BARI Begun-4, BARI Begun-5, BARI Begun- 6, BARI Begun-7, BARI Begun-8 and BARI Begun-9. The incidence of jassid was recorded from 3rd December to 26th March, and the lowest population was found on BARI Begun- 6. Among the biophysical traits, plant height, number of branch and leaf per plant, and leaf area exerted significant positive correlation; whereas trichome on lower and upper surfaces of leaf, spine per stem and leaf showed significant negative correlation with the abundance of jassid. On the other hand, moisture, reducing sugar, total sugar and protein content of the leaves and fruits, chlorophyll content of the leaves exerts significant positive correlation but ash and pH contents of the leaves and fruits were negatively correlated with the abundance of jassid. Jassids showed the lowest level of leaf infestation on BARI Begun-6, which could be for further analysis to develop jassid resistant brinjal. SAARC J. Agric., 19(1): 81-91 (2021)


2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 639 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jocelyn Toohill ◽  
Emily Callander ◽  
Haylee Fox ◽  
Daniel Lindsay ◽  
Jenny Gamble ◽  
...  

Objective Fear of childbirth is known to increase a woman’s likelihood of having a Caesarean section. Continuity of midwifery care is known to reduce this risk, but less than 8% of women have access to this relationship-based, primary care model. The aims of this study were to determine whether healthcare use and access to continuity models are equal across different indicators of socioeconomic status for women who are fearful of birth. Methods A secondary analysis was conducted of data obtained during a randomised controlled trial of a psychoeducation intervention by trained midwives to minimise childbirth fear (the Birth Emotions and Looking to Improve Expectant Fear (BELIEF) study). In all, 1410 women were screened, with 339 women reporting high levels of fear (Wijma-Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire ≥66). Demographic, obstetric information, birth preference and psychosocial measures were collected at recruitment and at 36 weeks gestation for the 339 fearful women, with the birth method and health service use returned by 183 women at 6 weeks after the birth. Results Univariate analysis revealed no significant difference in the number of general practitioner and midwife visits between women of high and low income and high and low education. However, women with higher levels of education had 2.51-fold greater odds of seeing the same midwife throughout their pregnancy than women with lower education (95% confidence interval 1.25–5.04), after adjusting for age, parity and hospital site. Conclusions Given the known positive outcomes of continuity of midwifery care for women fearful of birth, health policy makers need to provide equity in access to evidence-based models of midwifery care. What is known about this topic? Caseload midwifery care is considered the gold standard care due to the known positive outcomes it has for the mother and baby during the perinatal period. Pregnant women who receive caseload midwifery care are more likely to experience a normal vaginal birth. What does this paper add? There is unequal access to midwifery caseload care for women fearful of birth across socioeconomic boundaries. Midwifery caseload care is not used for all fearful mothers during the perinatal period. What are the implications for practitioners? Health policy makers seeking to provide equity in access to maternity care should be aware of these inequalities in use to target delivery of care at this specific cohort of mothers.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-214
Author(s):  
I Hossain ◽  
MMH Khan ◽  
SMH Jahan

The study was conducted to know the reproductive performance of spiralling whitefly on guava. Number of colony, eggs, 1st instar, 2nd instar, 3rd instar and 4th instar nymphs per five leaves ranged from 6 to 15, 8 to 32, 0 to 44, 0 to 22, 0 to 45 and 0 to 28, respectively. Maximum number of adults and nymphs were found in the month of January. Highest longevity of Aleurodicus dispersus (21.5 days) was recorded in adult while the lowest was in 2nd instar nymph (6.4 days). The number of colony/leaf and number of 3rd and 4th instar nymphs of A. dispersus had significant positive correlation with minimum and maximum temperature while non-significant positive correlation is observed between the number of egg/colony, the number 1st and 2nd instar nymphs with minimum and maximum temperature. A. dispersus showed nonsignificant positive correlation with minimum and maximum relative humidity regarding number of colony/leaf, 2nd instar nymph while nonsignificant negative correlation with 4th instar nymph.SAARC J. Agri., 15(2): 207-214 (2017)


2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 300-308
Author(s):  
Do Young Lee ◽  
Jin Kyoung Park ◽  
Mi Young Choi

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that influence the clinical practice of nursing students and to identify the mediating effects of spiritual well-being in the relation between stress of clinical practice and burnout caused by clinical practice. Methods: Data were collected by self-report questionnaires targeting 420 nursing students in three nursing colleges located in Gyeonggi and Chungnam province. Results: Burnout of clinical practice according to general characteristics of the study subjects showed significant difference in religion (t=1.895, p=.049). Stress of clinical practice and burnout of clinical practice showed positive correlation (r=.42, p<.001), existential spiritual well-being showed negative correlation between stress of clinical practice (r=-.17, p<.001) and burnout of clinical practice (r=-.47, p<.001). In addition, religious spiritual well-being in spiritual well-being showed no mediating effects and existential spiritual well-being showed mediating effects between burnout in clinical practice stress. Conclusion: In order to alleviate the stress of clinical practice for burnout of clinical practice prevention of nursing students, solutions to improve the existential spiritual well-being will be required in the future.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (47) ◽  
pp. 11515-11527
Author(s):  
Shubhashree Dash

COVID-19 pandemic has influenced every aspect of human life including Education and Mental Health of the learners. Thus, the present study was aimed at assessing the status of online learning and mental health of online learners and to investigate the relationship between the two variables. The descriptive survey method was adopted for the present study and the collected data analysed quantitatively. For collection of the data two self-made tools were used namely Status of Online Learning Scale for Learners and Mental Health Assessment Scale for Learners. The tools were administered on 140 students. The tabulated data was analysed through the Mean, Standard Deviation, correlation and t test. The results revealed that learners are moderately active in online learning. Mental health of the online learners is moderately stable. Online learning is negatively affecting the mental health of the online learners and there was no significant difference found between the mental health of online learners in terms of the gender and the locality.


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