Association Between Vitamin D and Influenza: Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

Background: Vitamin D supplementation improves the immune function of human body and can be a convenient way to prevent influenza. However, evidence on the protective effect of vitamin D supplementation on influenza from Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) is inconclusive.Methods: RCTs regarding the association between vitamin D supplementation and influenza were identified by searching PubMed, Cochrane library, Embase and Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM) from inception until present (last updated on 10 November 2021). Studies that reported dosages and durations of vitamin D supplementation and number of influenza infections could be included. Heterogeneity was assessed using Cochran's Q test and I2 statistics, the meta-analysis was conducted by using a random-effects model, the pooled effects were expressed with risk ratio (RR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI).Results: 10 trials including 4859 individuals were ultimately eligible after scanning. There was no evidence of a significant heterogeneity among studies (I2 = 27%, P = 0.150). Meta-regression analysis finding indicated that country, latitude, average age, economic level, follow-up period and average daily vitamin D intake did not cause the statistical heterogeneity. The study finding indicates that substitution with vitamin D significantly reduces the risk of influenza infections (RR = 0.78, 95% CI:0.64–0.95). No evidence of publication bias was observed. Omission of any single trial had little impact on the pooled risk estimates.Conclusions: The meta-analysis produced a corroboration that vitamin D supplement has a preventive effect on influenza. Strategies for preventing influenza can be optimized by vitamin D supplementation.

Exploring “Intersectoral Collaboration” towards the Integration of Indigenous Knowledge into Adult Education Programs in North Wollo, Ethiopia

Integration of indigenous knowledge into adult education recognizes collaboration based on indigenous frameworks and methodologies and gives more attention to people’s history, politics, cultural beliefs, and philosophical views. The most important beginning phases and tasks in promoting indigenous-based learning are establishing a responsive organizational structure that helps to identify and agree on what roles and responsibilities are played by each concerned stakeholder. Considering this in mind, this study aimed to explore intersectoral coordination and their participation in the integration of indigenous knowledge into adult education. In doing so, a qualitative research approach and a case-study design were employed. The study sample was composed of adult education experts and coordinators. Data was obtained through interviews, FGD, and document analysis. Furthermore, thematic analysis was the centre of this study data analysis. As a result, the study finding revealed that stakeholders’ coordinated effort has been observed that lacks consistency in supporting indigenous-based adult education programs due to their deprived collaboration and the presence of not functional administrative structure. This makes the provision and the integration of indigenous-based knowledge systems into adult education sporadic in its coverage of indigenous learning contents and experiences.

Tornadoes, poverty and race in the USA: A five-decade analysis

PurposeThe study aims to analyze the roles of poverty and African American status in terms of vulnerability to tornado damages and barriers to recovery afterward.Design/methodology/approachUsing five decades of county-level data on tornadoes, the authors test whether economic damages from tornadoes are correlated with vulnerability (proxied by poverty and African American status) and wealth (proxied by median income and educational attainment), controlling for tornado risk. A multinomial logistic difference-in-difference (DID) estimator is used to analyze long-run effects of tornadoes in terms of displacement (reduced proportions of the poor and African Americans), abandonment (increased proportions of those groups) and neither or both.FindingsControlling for tornado risk, poverty and African American status are linked to greater tornado damages, as is wealth. Absent tornadoes, displacement and abandonment are both more likely to occur in urban settings and communities with high levels of vulnerability, while abandonment is more likely to occur in wealthy communities, consistent with on-going forces of segregation. Tornado damages significantly increase abandonment in vulnerable communities, thereby increasing the prevalence of poor African Americans in those communities. Therefore, the authors conclude that tornadoes contribute to on-going processes generating inequality by poverty/race.Originality/valueThe current paper is the first study connecting tornado damages to race and poverty. It is also the first study finding that tornadoes contribute to long-term processes of segregation and inequality.

Impact of Leadership Styles toward Employee Engagement among Malaysian Civil Defence Force

It is a fact that organization’s success and failure heavily depend on employees and employee engagement is found as one of the important indicators to engage work force in any organization. It has been repeatedly discussed by researchers in the past years and it was established that employee engagement is affected by variation in leadership styles. Many drivers regarding employee engagement have been identified, thus making the concept of employee engagement clear and more understandable for the employer. It also impacts employee performance and wellbeing as found by the past researchers. Leadership style also play a significant role in employee engagement. Leadership style is usually associated with the engagement of an employee and became the most important driver that may create culture of employee engagement in the organization. Leadership style also helps to drive optimal level of productivity in an organization and maintain employee trust. This study aims to identify the engagement level of employees in Malaysian Civil Defense Force and its relationship with leadership style. This research used Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) as a research instrument. SPSS software package for social sciences version 22 was used to analyze the data in this study. Finding of this study shows that leadership styles have a significant impact on employee engagement especially transformational leadership has a significant relationship with employee engagement. Therefore, from the findings of this study, it is suggested for the future researchers to use the mix method in collecting data so that the findings will be more accurate and detailed and can be generalized.

COMPUTATIONAL SCREENING AND MOLECULAR DOCKING OF LICHEN SECONDARY METABOLITES AGAINST SEVERE ACUTE RESPIRATORY SYNDROME-COV-2 MAIN PROTEASE AND SPIKE PROTEIN

Objective: At present, the coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 pandemic is increasing global health concerns. This coronavirus outbreak is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV)-2. Since, no specific antiviral for treatment against COVID-19, so identification of new therapeutics is an urgent need. The objective of this study is to the analysis of lichen compounds against main protease and spike protein targets of SARS-CoV-2 using in silico approach. Methods: A total of 108 lichen compounds were subjected to ADMET analysis and 14 compounds were selected based on the ADMET properties and Lipinski’s rule of five. Molecular docking was performed for screening of selected individual lichen metabolites against the main protease and spike proteins of SARS-CoV-2 by Schrodinger Glide module software. Results: Among the lead compounds, fallacinol showed the highest binding energy value of −11.83 kcal/mol against spike protein, 4-O-Demethylbarbatic acid exhibited the highest dock score of −11.67 kcal/mol against main protease. Conclusion: This study finding suggests that lichen substances may be potential inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2.

Assessment and description of phobias among teenagers in schools of selected areas.

Objectives: 1. To assess phobias among teenagers in selected schools. 2. To describe phobias among teenagers in selected schools. 3. To find association between selected demographic variables and study finding. Material and Methods: The research approach adopted in this study is Mixed approach. Quantitative Non-experimental Descriptive Qualitative Phenomenological design was used. The sample were selected by Probability stratified random sampling technique. sample size was 100. Results: 1. According to 8% of the teenagers did not had phobia (score 0-8), 32% of them had mild phobia (score 9-16), 27% of them had moderate phobia (score 17-24), 21% of them had severe phobia (Score 25-32) and12% of them had very severe phobia (Score 33- 40). 2. Summative analysis shows that the most of teenage students are having Fear of Height, Fear of Water, Fear of Flying, Social Phobia, Fear of Animals, Fear of Dog, Fear of blood. Few of having some of having Fear of thunder, Fear of Alone, Fear of Disease, Fear of snakes, Fear of Night, Fear of Pain, Monophobia, Fear of Doctor, Fear of fire. Conclusion: Majority of teenagers having mild phobia, that may be any type for e.g. having Fear of Height, Fear of Water, Fear of Flying, Social Phobia, Fear of Animals, Fear of Dog, Fear of blood. Few of having some of having Fear of thunder, Fear of Alone, Fear of Disease, Fear of snakes, Fear of Night, Fear of Pain, Monophobia, Fear of Doctor, Fear of fire.

Profile of Herpes Zoster Patients with Co-morbidities: Cross-sectional Observation at a Tertiary Level Hospital in Dhaka

Introduction: Herpes zoster (HZ) is characterized by an extremely painful vesicular rash, which may be complicated by secondary infection and post-herpetic neuralgia. To date, multiple risk factors associated with HZ have been established, including endocrine diseases, immunosuppressive conditions, cancers, and other chronic medical conditions. Objectives: To assess the profile of herpes zoster associated with co-morbid condition. Methods and Materials: This cross sectional study was conducted among purposively selected 130 HZ patients in the department of Dermatology and Venereology, Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Dhaka from January 2017 to December 2018. Data were collected through face to face interview using pretested semi-structured questionnaire. Results: Out of 130 patients, majority of the patients were male (69.2%) and mean age was 53.5±9.8 years and majority gave the history of chicken pox 60% and common site of involvement were chest (right and left) 33.1% and 48.5%, upper back (right and left) 30.8% and 43.1% and upper right arm 33.1%. About 66.9% patients gave the history of having co-morbid condition like Diabetes 30.8%, Stroke 9.2%, Hypertension 2.3%, Myocardial infarction 3.8%, Peptic ulcer disease 10.0%, Malignancy 2.3%, Tuberculosis 2.3% and Irritable bowel syndrome 2.3%. Conclusion: Based on our study finding, we can conclude that herpes zoster is a disease that is associated with other co-morbid conditions. If herpes zoster is an early manifestation of undiagnosed co-morbid condition, patients should undergo testing for undiagnosed disease when they present with herpes zoster. JAFMC Bangladesh. Vol 16, No 2 (December) 2020: 40-43

Integrating tea and tourism: a potential sustainable livelihood approach for Indonesia tea producer central area

The social changes within society with regard to tea are widespread in Indonesia and today are experienced as tourism, where a part of many tourist activities, whereby local tea traditions, cultures, services and attractions are experienced. Indonesia as both tea-producing and tea-consuming country has high potential to integrate with tourism to increase the sustainability of community livelihood. This study used a sustainable livelihood approach in a systematic framework to examine the relationships between tea and tourism, as well as enriched the interviews of tourist actors and 203 tourists with experiences of visiting the tea tourism destinations. This study finding that there has been an increase of diversity of livelihoods of the people around the tea plantations where have been developed into tourism. Corporate social responsibility provides a further opportunity in sustainable tea tourism development. Increasing services satisfaction of the tea tourists is one of the most important ways to increase the revisit intention. Creating a mutual partnership synergy can cover the lack of resources and competencies in tea and tourism integration development. For practical implications in the future are the important to enlarge integration between tea and tourism, build partnership, stimulate more local participation, and increase local benefits as their ways of life.

Whey- and Soy Protein Isolates Added to a Carrot-Tomato Juice Alter Carotenoid Bioavailability in Healthy Adults

Recent findings suggested that proteins can differentially affect carotenoid bioaccessibility during gastro-intestinal digestion. In this crossover, randomized human trial, we aimed to confirm that proteins, specifically whey- and soy-protein isolates (WPI/SPI) impact postprandial carotenoid bioavailability. Healthy adults (n = 12 males, n = 12 females) were recruited. After 2-week washout periods, 350 g of a tomato-carrot juice mixture was served in the absence/presence of WPI or SPI (50% of the recommended dietary allowance, RDA ≈ 60 g/d). Absorption kinetics of carotenoids and triacylglycerols (TAGs) were evaluated via the triacylglycerol-rich lipoprotein (TRL) fraction response, at timed intervals up to 10 h after test meal intake, on three occasions separated by 1 week. Maximum TRL-carotenoid concentration (Cmax) and corresponding time (Tmax) were also determined. Considering both genders and carotenoids/TAGs combined, the estimated area under the curve (AUC) for WPI increased by 45% vs. the control (p = 0.018), to 92.0 ± 1.7 nmol × h/L and by 57% vs. SPI (p = 0.006). Test meal effect was significant in males (p = 0.036), but not in females (p = 0.189). In males, significant differences were found for phytoene (p = 0.026), phytofluene (p = 0.004), α-carotene (p = 0.034), and β-carotene (p = 0.031). Cmax for total carotenoids (nmol/L ± SD) was positively influenced by WPI (135.4 ± 38.0), while significantly lowered by SPI (89.6 ± 17.3 nmol/L) vs. the control (119.6 ± 30.9, p < 0.001). Tmax did not change. The results suggest that a well-digestible protein could enhance carotenoid bioavailability, whereas the less digestible SPI results in negative effects. This is, to our knowledge, the first study finding effects of proteins on carotenoid absorption in humans.

Examining employees creativity in commercial bank of Ethiopia Woldia branches

Creativity is the ability to combine unique ideas, identifying new ways, systems and products in the organization. Creative workers in the organization can transform their organization to higher level by inventing new systems. This study tried to examine employees’ creativity in the bank at commercial bank of Ethiopia Woldia branches. The researcher used an institutional-based cross-sectional design and followed a mixed research approach. The researcher applied a census method to participate in respondents from four branches, which were on duty 182 employees in commercial bank of Ethiopia. The collected data were analyzed by using multiple regression method after proving the quality of the data. The study finding revealed that autonomy, supervisors’ support and role ambiguity significantly affects the creativity of employees in the workplace. The remaining variables self-efficacy and job complexity have no statistically significant effect on employees’ creativity in the bank.