The effect of hand hygiene intervention on the knowledge and skills level of school children: A Literature Review

ABSTRACT Background: Hand washing is an alternative, effective and inexpensive method that can be used to prevent infectious diseases. Washing hands with soap can improve children's health. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of hand hygiene intervention on the level of knowledge and skills of elementary school students. The method used to conduct this research is a critical review, namely by reviewing articles from databases such as Google Scholar, Pubmed, Direct, Medline. The search keywords used were: quantitative studies on delivery, intervention, hand hygiene, skills, children, and primary school. The selected articles are articles that meet the standard writing criteria, which were published between 2017-2021, both in English and Indonesian. Based on these evaluation criteria, 20 (twenty) studies were obtained. From the results of a literature search, several studies on the use of intervention strategies to provide hand hygiene health education found that although there were other intervention strategies to improve hand hygiene, there were significant differences in both knowledge and skills after being given the intervention. Keywords: hand hygiene intervention, knowledge, skills

Assessment of consumer VR-headsets’ objective and subjective field of view (FoV) and its feasibility for visual field testing

Virtual reality as a research environment has seen a boost in its popularity during the last decades. Not only the usage fields for this technology have broadened, but also a research niche has appeared as the hardware improved and became more affordable. Experiments in vision research are constructed upon the basis of accurately displaying stimuli with a specific position and size. For classical screen setups, viewing distance and pixel position on the screen define the perceived position for subjects in a relatively precise fashion. However, projection fidelity in HMDs strongly depends on eye and face physiological parameters. This study introduces an inexpensive method to measure the perceived field of view and its dependence upon the eye position and the interpupillary distance, using a super wide angle camera. Measurements of multiple consumer VR headsets show that manufacturers’ claims regarding field of view of their HMDs are mostly unrealistic. Additionally, we performed a “Goldmann” perimetry test in VR to obtain subjective results as a validation of the objective camera measurements. Based on this novel data, the applicability of these devices to test humans’ field of view was evaluated.

Conversion of Food Waste into 2,3-Butanediol via Thermophilic Fermentation: Effects of Carbohydrate Content and Nutrient Supplementation

Fermentation of food waste into 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BDO), a high-value chemical, is environmentally sustainable and an inexpensive method to recycle waste. Compared to traditional mesophilic fermentation, thermophilic fermentation can inhibit the growth of contaminant bacteria, thereby improving the success of food waste fermentation. However, the effects of sugar and nutrient concentrations in thermophilic food waste fermentations are currently unclear. Here, we investigated the effects of sugar and nutrients (yeast extract (YE) and peptone) concentrations on 2,3-BDO production from fermenting glucose and food waste media using the newly isolated thermophilic Bacillus licheniformis YNP5-TSU. When glucose media was used, fermentation was greatly affected by sugar and nutrient concentrations: excessive glucose (>70 g/L) slowed down the fermentation and low nutrients (2 g/L YE and 1 g/L peptone) caused fermentation failure. However, when food waste media were used with low nutrient addition, the bacteria consumed all 57.8 g/L sugars within 24 h and produced 24.2 g/L 2,3-BDO, equivalent to a fermentation yield of 0.42 g/g. An increase in initial sugar content (72.9 g/L) led to a higher 2,3-BDO titer of 36.7 g/L with a nearly theoretical yield of 0.47 g/g. These findings may provide fundamental knowledge for designing cost-effective food waste fermentation to produce 2,3-BDO.

Asian Hornet, Vespa velutina Lepeletier 1836 (Hym.: Vespidae), Venom Obtention Based on an Electric Stimulation Protocol

The yellow-legged Asian hornet (Vespa velutina Lepeletier 1836 (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)) is naturally distributed in China, Southeast Asia, and India; however, recently it has been detected outside of its native area, confirmed as being established in South Korea, Europe, and Japan. Health risks and deaths caused by the invasive Vespa velutina stings have become a public health concern, being the most common cause of anaphylaxis due to hymenopterans in some European regions. This in turn has led to increased demand from medical practitioners and researchers for Vespa velutina venom for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. In this study, a straightforward, quick, and inexpensive method for obtaining Vespa velutina venom by electric stimulation is described. The venom extracts were analyzed by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-NMR). The availability of Vespa velutina venom will lead to improved diagnostic and therapeutic methods, mainly by venom immunotherapy (VIT), in patients allergic to this invasive species.

Porous SiC and SiC/Cf Ceramic Microspheres Derived from Polyhydromethylsiloxane by Carbothermal Reduction

A simple and inexpensive method for the preparation of porous SiC microspheres is presented. Polysiloxane microspheres derived from polyhydromethylsiloxane (PHMS) cross-linked with divinylbenzene (DVB) were ceramized under conditions leading to the removal of oxygen from the material. The content of free carbon (Cf) in highly crystalline silicon carbide (SiC) particles can be controlled by using various proportions of DVB in the synthesis of the pre-ceramic material. The chemical structure of the ceramic microspheres was studied by elemental analysis for carbon and oxygen, 29Si MAS NMR, 13C MAS NMR, SEM/EDS, XRD and Raman spectroscopies, and their morphology by SEM, nitrogen adsorption and mercury intrusion porosimetries. The gaseous products of the thermal reduction processes formed during ceramization created a porous structure of the microspheres. In the SiC/Cf microspheres, meso/micro pores were formed, while in carbon-free SiC, microspheres macroporosity dominated.

Asian Hornet, Vespa velutina Lepeletier 1836 (Hym.: Vespidae), Venom Obtention Based on an Electric Stimulation Protocol

The yellow-legged Asian hornet (Vespa velutina Lepeletier 1836 (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)) is naturally distributed in China, Southeast Asia and India; however it has since detected outside of its native area, confirmed as being established in South Korea, Europe and Japan. Health risks and deaths caused by the invasive Vespa velutina stings have become a public health concern, being the most common cause of anaphylaxis due to hymenopterans in some European regions. This in turn has led to increased demand from medical practitioners and researchers for Vespa velutina venom for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. In this study, a straightforward, quick and inexpensive method for obtaining Vespa velutina venom by electric stimulation is described. The venom extracts were analyzed by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-NMR), confirming the composition of the obtained material. The availability of Vespa velutina venom will lead to improved diagnostic and therapeutic methods, mainly by venom immunotherapy (VIT), in patients allergic to this invasive species.

Inexpensive Binocular Indirect Ophthalmoscopy

We aim to discuss an inexpensive method of conducting binocular indirect ophthalmoscopy without the binocular indirect ophthalmoscope headset. This technique only requires the examiner to hold a light source between their eyes and hold a condensing lens at an arm’s length. This may be particularly valuable in resource-poor settings.

Efficacy of Monocyte Distribution Width in the Early Diagnosis of Sepsis: A Diagnostic Meta-Analysis

Background: Delayed diagnosis of sepsis urgently requires a fast, convenient, and inexpensive method to improve the early diagnosis of sepsis. Increasing evidence showed that monocyte distribution width (MDW) could be used as a non-invasive biomarker with high sensitivity and specificity for the early diagnosis of sepsis. However, the accuracy and reliability of its diagnosis are still controversial in different studies. Method: A meta-analysis of all available studies regarding the association between MDW and the diagnosis of sepsis was performed to systematically evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of MDW in the prediction of sepsis. Results: The estimated results of all eight studies are as follows: sensitivity, 0.84 (95% CI 0.77, 0.90); specificity, 0.68 (95% CI 0.54, 0.80); PLR, 2.7 (95% CI 1.8, 4.1); NLR, 0.23 (95% CI 0.15, 0.35); DOR is 12 (95% CI 5, 25). The corresponding overall area under the curve is 0.85 (95% CI 0.82, 0.88). Conclusion: In conclusion, this meta-analysis demonstrates that MDW has high accuracy in distinguishing patients with sepsis from healthy controls for early diagnosis of sepsis. However, large-scale prospective studies and joint diagnosis with other indicators are urgently required to confirm our findings and their utilization for routine clinical diagnosis in the future.

Green Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles using Vitex Negundo Extracts and their Application in the Effluent Treatment of Cracker Industries

Silver nanoparticles were prepared by green synthesis, which is an eco-friendly and inexpensive method. The synthesis was carried out using Vitex Negundo leaf extract at room temperature. The nanoparticles were encapsulated with Poly Vinyl Alcohol (PVA) matrix to avoid agglomeration. The formation of silver nanoparticles was confirmed by X-ray Diffraction (XRD). The morphology of the nanoparticles was investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM). Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrum (EDX) confirmed the presence of elemental Ag. Adsorption experiments confirmed the removal of toxic cadmium and chromium present in the industrial effluents as analysed by atomic absorption spectroscopy. The silver nanoparticles showed maximum adsorption efficiency for chromium compared to cadmium.

Determination of histamine in fish and fish products: validation of photometric method

Topicality: The content of histamine in high concentrations causes a number of diseases that even lead to death, it is one of the indicators that characterizes the safety of fish and fish products. Therefore, the choice or development of a simple and inexpensive method for the determination of histamine content in fish and fish products is relevant. Objective: We confirmed the effectiveness of photometric method for the determination of histamine in fish and fish products by obtaining and analyzing validation characteristics. Results: Based on the results of validation, it has been substantiated and experimentally proved that the photometric method of quantitative determination of histamine can be correctly reproduced and is suitable for the quality control of measurements. The most acceptable results were obtained for histamine concentrations in the range from 50.0 ± 0.1 to 200.0 ± 0.5 mg/kg. The lower histamine concentrations are characterized by a higher percentage of total uncertainty, although it is also within acceptable values. Conclusions: Evaluation of the obtained validation characteristics indicates that this technique can be used to quantify the content of histamine in fish and fish products and is not inferior in accuracy and correctness to the method of high performance liquid chromatography.