A Systematic Literature Review of The Importance of Sustainable Business Strategy

This study undertakes a systematic review of the literature concerning the importance of a sustainable business strategy for any business. While systematic reviews are a vital source of information and are widely utilized in the health sciences, they are seldom employed in sustainability research. Systematic reviews are a type of scientific research that aims to integrate the results of empirical studies objectively and systematically to determine the status of the question in its field of study. This study provides a brief survey of literature reviews in sustainability in business and proposes a systematic review as a method of recovering, analyzing, evaluating, and appraising relevant literature on sustainability in business. This systematic review of the literature suggests that interest in sustainable business practices has increased in recent years. It discusses the subject of sustainability in the perspective of business.

Psychosocial Factors in the Experience of Epilepsy: A Qualitative Analysis of Narratives

Introduction. Epilepsy is a complex disease. The consequences of epilepsy are varied and manifested in all aspects of people with epilepsy’s (PWE) lives. The purpose of this study was to define individual experiences of epilepsy, expressed in narratives, and to find the stem of each narrative—a core event in the PWE’s experience of the disease around which they structure their overall narrative. Method. A qualitative, phenomenological research method was used. We conducted semistructured interviews with 22 PWE and analysed the content using a combination of inductive and deductive methods, based on which we determined the stem narratives. Results. The stem narrative of the epilepsy narrative is an important life experience of PWE. We divided the stem narratives into four groups: lifestyle changes, relationship changes, the consequences of the inciting incident, and the limitations of the disease. In our study, we found that the stem narrative was, in all but one case, a secondary (psychosocial) factor resulting from epilepsy, but not its symptom (epileptic seizure). The stem narrative, where aspects of life with epilepsy are exposed, points to a fundamental loss felt by PWE. Conclusion. The narrative of the experience of epilepsy has proven to be an important source of information about the disease and life of PWE and also about the aspects at the forefront of life with epilepsy. The secondary epilepsy factors that we identified in the stem narratives were the greatest burden for PWE in all cases but one.

Community-Based Survey Exploring Use of the Dietary Supplement Creatine by Adult Non-Athletes

Creatine is classified as a “sports supplement”, but it also has health benefits. The purpose of this study was to assess use of creatine as a dietary supplement in adult non-athletes. Three hundred ninety-nine adults (19–89 years) completed an online survey. Among the respondents, 77% (n = 307) were regularly active, including participation in weightlifting (34%), running (34%), and cycling (21%). Twenty-eight percent (n = 111) reported use of creatine with an average dose of 6.4 ± 4.5 g. Daily creatine use was reported by 45%, and 38% reported using creatine 2–6 times weekly. Primary sources of information about creatine were trainers/coaches (29%), friends/family (32%), and internet (28%). Forty percent (n = 44) of creatine users were female. When compared by age, 46% of young, 32% of midlife, and 6% of old respondents reported creatine use with no differences in dose or frequency. Young and midlife respondents reported primarily trainers/coaches, friends/family, and internet as sources of information about creatine, but old respondents limited their sources to friends/family and fitness magazines. Although creatine is widely used by adult non-athletes who regularly exercise, dietitians and other healthcare providers are not the primary source of information. Fitness trainers can appropriately provide guidance and education regarding safe and effective use of creatine.

Using Ground Penetrating Radar and Resistivity Methods to Locate Unmarked Graves: A Review

The location of unmarked graves in forensic and archaeological investigations is legally and culturally important. In a forensic context, locating covert burials of missing persons can provide closure to the family, as well as facilitating the successful prosecution of the individual(s) responsible. Archaeologically, burials provide an important source of information about health, diet, physical anthropology, and culture. Despite the importance of these features, the location of unmarked graves with conventional archaeological and forensic techniques, such as excavation, is difficult and expensive. As a result, geophysical techniques have been widely applied to the location of unmarked graves as they are non-invasive, cost and time effective, and avoid the unnecessary disturbance of human remains. This article brings together the literature on ground penetrating radar (GPR), and two resistivity methods, electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and fixed probe resistivity (FPR), on their ability to locate burials and reviews their use in forensic and archaeological investigations. This paper aims to provide law enforcement personnel, archaeologists, geophysicists, and interested academics with an overview of how these techniques work, how they have been previously applied to grave detection, and the strengths and weakness of these methods.

Exploring predictive frameworks for malaria in Burundi

Malaria is a major public health concern in Burundi. The infection has been increasing in the last decade despite efforts to increase access to health services, and the deployment of several intervention programs. The use of different data sources can help to build predictive models of malaria cases in different sub-populations. We built predictive frameworks using generalized linear model (GLM), and artificial neural network to predict malaria cases in four sub-populations (pregnant women and children under 5 years, pregnant women, children between 0 and 11 months, children between 12 and 59 months), and the overall general population. The results showed that almost half malaria infections are observed in pregnant women and children under 5 years, but children between 12 and 59 months carry the highest burden. Neural network model performed better in predicting total cases compared to GLM. But the latter provided information on the e ect of predictors, which is an important source of information to mainstream target interventions. Early prediction of cases can provide timely information needed to be proactive for intervention strategies, and it can help to mitigate the epidemics and reduce its impact on populations and the economy.

Forester Preferences on Revising Silvics of North America—a Survey of Registered Foresters in Four States

Silvics of North America (SNA) is a widely used silvicultural manual. However, the last SNA was published in 1990. Therefore, 2,589 registered foresters were surveyed across four US states to answer two broad questions: (1) Should SNA be updated? And (2) would an updated SNA still be a useful tool for forest management? Most respondents indicated that the type and extent of content contained in the previous version of SNA was still desirable today. Aside from updating all sections with recent research findings, expansion was suggested for ecosystem services provided by species. An update to maps provided in SNA, through changes to natural ranges of tree species and other aesthetic improvement, was suggested by most survey respondents. These findings support the conclusion that the SNA would still be an essential source of information if 21st-century issues such as climate change impacts and adaptation measures were included in the update. Study Implications: There have been major changes in the environment and forest science over the past 30 years, but SNA has not been revised to reflect these changes. The results of this survey indicate that an update to SNA is warranted. The results presented here can serve as a guide for a future update of SNA.

“What Do Our Boys Know about Sex?” Preliminary Data of a New Questionnaire for the Evaluation of the Knowledge of Sexuality among Adolescents

Background: The sexual health of young people is an especially important issue for national health policies. Adolescents, in fact, are at elevated risk for adverse sexual and reproductive health outcomes relative to their habits, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), sexual behaviour and teenage pregnancy. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge about sexuality of students under the age of 18. Moreover, we aimed to explore the influence of sex education on sexual knowledge and behaviour. Methods: The participants were enrolled during a cultural exchange project in September 2019. After completing the questionnaire, all students took part in a sex education course performed by an urologist with expertise in sociology and psychology. The adolescents repeated the same survey in a web form in September 2020, one year after the course. Results: Analyzing the data, sex education lessons helped to improve students’ confidence in approaching all the issues of the questionnaire. Moreover, we observed a significant increase in the role of school as main source of information, while the role of the internet, media and family remained stable. Conclusions: This study encouraged the introduction of school-based sexual education policies, pointing to opportunities for structural early intervention programs.

AWARENESS OF DRUG USE OF OUTPATIENTS AT THONG NHAT HOSPITAL

Objective: To survey outpatient awareness of drug use at Thong Nhat Hospital.Subjects and methods: cross-sectional descriptive study on 120 patients who were given health insurance drugs waiting to take drugs, before entering the counseling room from September 1st, 2020 to December 1st, 2020 at the Thong Nhat hospital.Results: Patients based on reference of the drug name in the prescription at 51.15% and take drugs each time according to the prescription when being prescribed many drugs at the same time (57.50%). Using refresh water to take medicine accounted for 68.33%. There were 59.16% of patients taking the whole pill. Some patients took medicine following the other way such as breaking the pill before taking it (11.67%); Dissolve the drug in water (7.5%). Most of the patients (89.17%) learned about drug instructions. Doctors were the source of information for patients (61.67%) and the majority ofpatients (57.5%) heard counseling on drug use.Conclusion: The proportion of patients based on reference of the drug name in the prescription and taking each time according to the prescription when being prescribed many drugs at the sametime was moderate. Most patients used refresh water to take medicine and take whole pill. Most patients learned about medication instructions. Physicians were the primary source of informationfor patients and the majority of patients heard advice about drug use.

The Triadic Approach to Cash Management: Communication, Advocacy, and Legal Aspects

The article deals with the study of the ability of cash to be a multifunctional instrument of economic policy, propaganda and legalization of proceeds of crime. Based on the cash analysis of the Republic of Belarus, Georgia and Ukraine, the most common signs and images that increase the confidence of the population and form convictions about the stability of the currency have been identified. Cash has been found to be an instrument for promoting national history and achievements of the country for a long time, considerable territory and one-sided influence. The efficiency of using cash to reliably convey information and maximize its absorption by the population has been proved. The reasons, features and consequences of using cash as a tool for money laundering were investigated. The effect of the volume of cash in circulation on the level of the shadow economy on the example of different countries has been estimated. In the article, the authors argue that money is a useful tool for propaganda. They are a significant source of information about a particular country. Money can be used by the authorities of a particular country to create the necessary political narratives. This tool has a long period of influence, which is purposeful. The authors note that it is necessary to take into account inflation in the country in order to understand how long the population will use a particular denomination of money. The authors concluded that there is a different relationship between the level of shadowing of the economy and indicators of the state of money circulation. For most indicators, this relationship was linear. Calculations showed the absence of an asymmetric relationship between the indicators. For some countries (Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Switzerland, Japan), the calculations showed a nonlinear relationship between the level of shadowing of the economy and the functioning of the domestic foreign exchange market.

Students, Medicines and Performance Consumption: The Online as a Source of Information and Sharing

We aim to reflect on the online as a space to be taken into account in the analysis of sources of information about medicines, as a means of transmitting knowledge and practices among students, by presenting results of a content analysis based on material collected from blogs and internet forums. We conclude that sharing experiences is central to the validation of and willingness to use these resources. Considering the consequences that may arise from widespread use of the online as a source of information for therapeutic or performance purposes is important.