Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders of Odisha Farmers in Selected Agricultural Tasks

In the chapter, there are dual main contributions. In the first phase, based on the extensive review of literature on the application of cuckoo search (CS) methodology, its application for the optimization of agricultural pesticide sprayers for maximum efficiency was suggested. In the second phase of study, 75 farmers of Odisha in India were considered to assess their musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) during seeding, fertilizing, and weeding of crops using a Standardized Nordic Questionnaire with a five point rating scale (i.e., 1 = Very less, 2 =Less, 3 = Nil, 4 = Strong, 5 = Very Strong). Factor analysis was performed for “seeding, fertilizing, and weeding characteristics,” “economical characteristics,” and “tools and equipment characteristics of farmers.” Then Pearson correlation coefficient matrix was generated for the seeding, fertilizing, and weeding characteristics of farmers, followed by regression analysis for the economic characteristics of farmers.

Development and Validation of Perceived Stigmatization in Sports Scale for Female Athletes

The current study aimed to develop an indigenous, valid and reliable perceived stigmatization in sports scale for female athletes (PSSSFA). Eight in-depth, detailed and semi-structured interviews were conducted with female athletes, whereas, the preliminary item pool of twenty items was administered on 125 female university athletes. The age was 18-24 years (M= 21, SD=1.6). The process of scale development depended upon two phases. The first phase was about construct conceptualization through interviews and the second phase consisted of examining factor structure and reliability of the scale. Perceived Stigmatization in Sports Scale for Female Athletes was developed in Urdu. Total 20 items were developed but the final scale included 18 items with five-point rating scale. On the basis of scree plot and Eigen values, three factors were extracted: Family Stigmatization included 6 items and had .82 reliability, Social Stigmatization included 5 items and had .75 reliability and Effect on Performance included 7 items and had .76 reliability. The overall Cronbach alpha value was .88. The findings of the study tended to investigate factors affecting the perceived stigmatization associated with female athletes and these results would help in providing awareness regarding challenges being faced by female athletes in their respective sports.

Parental and Practitioner Views of Telepractice for Pediatric Auditory Verbal Habilitation at a Time of Global Pandemic

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore parents' and therapists' views of the benefits and challenges of telepractice for early intervention for children who are deaf or hard of hearing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: Surveys probed the views of (a) parents and (b) Listening and Spoken Language Specialist (LSLS) Certified Auditory Verbal Therapists (AVTs) in using telepractice to deliver auditory verbal (AV) sessions. The survey for parents covered technology, coaching, communication, learnings for the parent, learnings for the child, and parental preference. The survey for the therapists examined therapy style, technology, relationships with families, and coaching style. Using a convenience sample of 65 families and nine LSLS Certified AVTs, data were collected using Google Forms. Results: A response rate of 42% was achieved for the parents' survey. Families were overwhelmingly confident in the subjective effectiveness of AV sessions delivered by telepractice with modal ratings of 8 and 9 on a 10-point rating scale for telepractice sessions and in-person sessions, respectively. On average, however, parents rated in-person sessions at a significantly higher level. Eighty-five percent opted to continue with either AV delivered solely via telepractice or a blend of telepractice and in-person sessions. Changes in therapists' style included (a) increased interactions with the parent rather than the child and (b) an improvement in coaching techniques. Eight of nine therapists (89%) felt that sessions delivered via telepractice were equally effective as or more effective than in-person sessions. Discussion: The necessary transfer of all AV sessions to telepractice from in-person sessions during the global pandemic of COVID-19 was enacted successfully for the majority of families. Both parents and therapists described benefits and challenges of telepractice for AV intervention. Going forward, the high proportion of families requested either a blended service delivery of telepractice and in-person sessions or therapy via telepractice alone, demonstrating the families' satisfaction with this approach.

Parenting styles and social-emotional development of preschool children

Background: A preschool aged child’s social emotional development can be influenced in many ways; one of which being the early style the parent uses to raise them. Identifying social emotional development in pre-schoolers by behaviours related, but not limited to: play, self-esteem, tantrums, interaction with people, disposition, transitions, are used to assess the child’s social emotional development. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between social emotional development of preschool children and parenting styles.Methods: A non-experimental survey design was adopted for the study. 200 parents having preschool children were selected by purposive sampling technique. Data were collected using a 5-point rating scale for identifying the parenting style. A 3-point rating scale was used to assess the social emotional development of preschool children.Results: Majority (88.5%) of the parents used authoritative parenting style, 8.5% used authoritarian parenting style and 3% used permissive parenting style. Majority of the children had near optimum social emotional development. The present study revealed that the correlation value between Social emotional development of preschool children and authoritative parenting style (r=0.286, p≤0.001) and authoritarian parenting style (r=0.452, p≤0.001) were highly significant at 0.001 level. There was no significant correlation between permissive parenting style and social emotional development of preschool children (r=0.052, p=0.461).Conclusions: The overall finding of the study showed that parenting style influenced the social and emotional development of preschool children. In this study majority of children had near optimum social and emotional development.

Speech-Language Pathologists' Ratings of Speech Accuracy in Children With Speech Sound Disorders

Purpose: Forming accurate and consistent speech judgments can be challenging when working with children with speech sound disorders who produce a large number and varied types of error patterns. Rating scales offer a systematic approach to assessing the whole word rather than individual sounds. Thus, these scales can be an efficient way for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to monitor treatment progress. This study evaluated the interrater reliability of an existing 3-point rating scale using a large group of SLPs as raters. Method: Utilizing an online platform, 30 SLPs completed a brief training and then rated single words produced by children with typical speech patterns and children with speech sound disorders. Words were closely balanced across the three rating categories of the scale. The interrater reliability of the SLPs ratings to a consensus judgment was examined. Results: The majority of SLPs (87%) reached substantial interrater reliability to a consensus judgment using the 3-point rating scale. Correct productions had the highest interrater reliability. Productions with extensive errors had higher agreement than those with minor errors. Certain error types, such as vowel distortions, were especially challenging for SLPs to judge. Conclusions: This study demonstrated substantial interrater reliability to a consensus judgment among a large majority of 30 SLPs using a 3-point rating. The clinical implications of the findings are discussed along with proposed modifications to the training procedure to guide future research.

Risk Factors for Suicidal Ideation and Self-Harm among Undergraduate Students in a Private University in Ogun State, Nigeria

Background: Today, the most prevalent and the leading cause of death among young people is suicide. Worldwide, suicide accounts for an estimated 6% of all deaths among young people. The study examined the various risk factors for suicidal ideation and self-harm amongst Babcock University undergraduates. Method: Descriptive survey research design was utilized with a multistage sampling technique to select 398 undergraduates. The instrument for data collection was a semi-structured questionnaire that sought information on the environmental, social, and intrapersonal factors influencing suicide ideation and self-harm. Results were presented via means and percentages for descriptive statistics; correlation and regression were used to determine the associations between suicidal ideation and the risk factors. Ethical clearance was sought from Babcock University Health Research Ethics Committee. Results: The distribution of participants showed that 46.0% (183) were males while 54.0% (215) were females. Environmental factors influencing suicidal ideation were computed and measured on a 21-point rating scale with a mean ± SD of 13.38±3.458. The respondents' mean ± SD for the social factors measured on a 27-point rating scale was 17.15±5.772. Correlation analysis showed that suicide ideation had a statistically significant relationship with gender (p<0.01), parents' spousal relationship (p<0.01), environmental (p<0.01), social (p<0.01), and intrapersonal factors (p<0.01). Self-harm had a significant relationship with parents' relationship (p<0.01), environmental (p<0.01), social (p<0.01) and intrapersonal factors (p<0.01). However, the practice of self-harm was not different across the two genders (p = 0.170). Conclusion: Suicidal behaviors have been seen to be a serious public health concern. The prevention and intervention programs of suicide and self-harm should consider the particular characteristics of adolescent suicide and self-harm. This should include social transmission and recognition of mental health disorders.

Efficacy of simulation training for beating heart coronary anastomosis using BEAT + YOUCAN simulator

Background We sought to evaluate our distributed practice program developed for training for beating heart anastomosis by employing a novel beating heart simulator. Methods Eleven trainees watched and reviewed instructional video recordings of coronary anastomosis methods with a BEAT + YOUCAN training device, then performed coronary anastomosis procedures under a beating condition. Next, they participated in a four-hour training program developed by faculty surgeons. Ten different anastomosis components were assessed on a five-point rating scale (5, good; 3, average; 1, poor). After finishing the training program, each trainee again performed a coronary anastomosis procedure. Component scores were then compared before and after the training program. Results The mean time to completion of the procedure improved from 1033 ± 424 to 795 ± 201 s (p < 0.05). Assessment scores improved from 1.88 ± 0.41 to 2.57 ± 0.30 (p < 0.05). Improvements in some technical components related to handling of instruments were noted (p < 0.05), whereas no significant improvement was seen with arteriotomy, graft orientation, suture management, or knot tying after finishing the training program. Conclusion Trainees who participated in our four-hour focused training program for coronary anastomosis with a novel beating heart simulator showed improved ability under the beating condition in regard to technical skills related to handling instruments.

Utilization of Information and Communication Technology Based Information Resources in Library User Education Programmes: A Study of Colleges of Education in South-South, Nigeria

The study investigated utilization of information and communication technology-based information resources in library user education programmes in South-South Nigeria. Four research questions and one hypothesis guided the study. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised 1022 respondents which consist of 62 staff and 960 library users. The instrument for data collection was questionnaire of a four-point rating scale and observation checklist. Tools used for data analysis of research questions were frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation; t-test was used to test the null hypothesis at selected probability of 0.05 level significance. The findings revealed that the ICT facilities available are limited for effective utilization of ICT-based information resources in library user education programmes. The study reveals that ICT-based resources listed in the table were utilized to high extent in South-South colleges of education libraries for user education programmes. It also shows that poor funding was the major challenge of utilization of ICT-based resources for user education programmes in colleges of education libraries under study.

Teachers Perceptions about Reward Systems in Classroom

A Reward system is used to influence the people in any organization. In education, teachers are used rewards to influence students learning outcomes. Therefore, the present study was conducted to find out the teacher's perceptions about rewards in the classroom. All the teachers of the public primary school of district Toba Tek Singh were considered for the population of the study. A questionnaire was used as a research tool for collecting the opinion of respondents, including a five-point rating scale. A total of 200 teachers (100 male and 100 female) were selected as a sample from 100 public primary schools in Toba Tek Singh. Data were analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package of Social Sciences) through t-test, mean and standard deviation. It was concluded that most of the teachers agreed that reward encourages the students to move forward. It was also proved that the rewards system was significantly better towards learner’s achievement. It was also confirmed that most teachers improved their performance regarding their rewards system; therefore, it had a positive impact on achieving the targeted objectives.

The Point-Rating Scale for Determining Treatment Tactics in Patients With Adhesive Small Bowel Obstruction

Relevance. The most practiced method of treating patients with acute intestinal obstruction - urgent surgical intervention - does not guarantee remission, contributing to the progression of morphological changes in the abdominal cavity. From this perspective, a shift in emphasis towards the planned surgical treatment of patients with adhesive disease with the use of the existing anti-adhesive methods after conservative resolution of the intestinal passage disorders looks like a promising direction.Aim of the study. Improving the results of patients with acute adhesive intestinal obstruction treatment by developing a point-rating scale that allows to highlight groups of patients who are prone to conservative resolution of intestinal passage disorders episode, and, thereby, reduces the proportion of urgent interventions.Material and methods. The analysis of the 125 patients treatment results (retrospective group) admitted with symptoms of acute adhesive intestinal obstruction was carried out. On this basis, the point-rating scale was developed including a number of factors that have certain value in terms of predicting the probability of conservative therapy success. Subsequently the developed scale was applied in 170 patients (prospective group) as part of treatment tactics implementation aimed at maximally conservative resolution of adhesive intestinal obstruction without negative effect on the immediate results of patients operated in later periods.Results. The developed point-rating scale made it possible to reduce the frequency of urgent interventions among patients with signs of acute adhesive intestinal obstruction (from 79.2% to 57.6%) due to longer conservative measures — 18.1±17.2 and 11,2±8.7 hours in prospective and retrospective groups, respectively). There was no negative impact on the frequency of resection interventions (12.2 and 16.1% in the prospective and retrospective groups) as well as postoperative complications and overall mortality.Conclusions. The developed point-assessment scale made it possible to stratify patients in accordance with the probability of conservative therapy success and to justify its continuation for more than 12 hours in low-risk patients. The obtained results allow us to recommend the proposed scale for use in clinical practice.