Investigating the disjoint between education and health policy for infant feeding among teenage mothers in South Africa: a case for intersectoral work

Background Many low-and-middle-income countries, including South Africa, have high rates of teenage pregnancy. Following the World Health Organisation recommendations, South African health policy on infant feeding promotes exclusive breastfeeding until six months of age, with gradual weaning. At the same time, South Africa’s education department, in the interest of learners, promotes adolescents’ early return to school post-partum. Yet infant feeding at school is currently not perceived as a realistic option. Methods Recognising his this policy tension, we aimed to explore how policies are interpreted and implemented by the health and education sectors through interviews with key informants who produce, interpret and implement these policies. Using an interview guide developed for this study, we conducted in-depth interviews with 24 health policy makers, managers in both sectors, school principals and nursing staff who manage adolescent mothers (aged 16-19) and their babies. Data was analysed using thematic analysis. Results Informants from both sectors expressed discomfort at pregnant learners remaining in school late in pregnancy and were uncertain about policy regarding when to return to school and how long to breast-feed. Educators reported that new mothers typically returned to school within a fortnight after delivery and that breastfeeding was not common. While health professionals highlighted the benefits of extended breastfeeding for infants and mothers, they recognised the potential conflict between the need for the mother to return to school and the recommendation for longer breastfeeding. Additionally, the need for ongoing support of young mothers and their families was highlighted. Conclusions Our findings suggest educators should actively encourage school attendance in a healthy pregnant adolescent until delivery with later return to school, and health providers should focus attention on breastfeeding for the initial 4-6 weeks postpartum, followed by guided support of formula-feeding. We encourage the active engagement of adolescents’ mothers and extended families who are often involved in infant feeding and care decisions. Education and health departments must engage to facilitate the interests of both the mother and infant: some exclusive infant feeding together with a supported return to school for the adolescent mother.

Plant-based diets and incident cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality in African Americans: A cohort study

Background Prior studies have documented lower cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk among people with a higher adherence to a plant-based dietary pattern. Non-Hispanic black Americans are an understudied group with high burden of CVD, yet studies of plant-based diets have been limited in this population. Methods and findings We conducted an analysis of prospectively collected data from a community-based cohort of African American adults (n = 3,635) in the Jackson Heart Study (JHS) aged 21–95 years, living in the Jackson, Mississippi, metropolitan area, US, who were followed from 2000 to 2018. Using self-reported dietary data, we assigned scores to participants’ adherence to 3 plant-based dietary patterns: an overall plant-based diet index (PDI), a healthy PDI (hPDI), and an unhealthy PDI (uPDI). Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate associations between plant-based diet scores and CVD incidence and all-cause mortality. Over a median follow-up of 13 and 15 years, there were 293 incident CVD cases and 597 deaths, respectively. After adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics (age, sex, and education) and health behaviors (smoking, alcohol intake, margarine intake, physical activity, and total energy intake), no significant association was observed between plant-based diets and incident CVD for overall PDI (hazard ratio [HR] 1.06, 95% CI 0.78–1.42, p-trend = 0.72), hPDI (HR 1.07, 95% CI 0.80–1.42, p-trend = 0.67), and uPDI (HR 0.95, 95% CI 0.71–1.28, p-trend = 0.76). Corresponding HRs (95% CIs) for all-cause mortality risk with overall PDI, hPDI, and uPDI were 0.96 (0.78–1.18), 0.94 (0.76–1.16), and 1.06 (0.86–1.30), respectively. Corresponding HRs (95% CIs) for incident coronary heart disease with overall PDI, hPDI, and uPDI were 1.09 (0.74–1.61), 1.11 (0.76–1.61), and 0.79 (0.52–1.18), respectively. For incident total stroke, HRs (95% CIs) for overall PDI, hPDI, and uPDI were 1.00 (0.66–1.52), 0.91 (0.61–1.36), and 1.26 (0.84–1.89) (p-trend for all tests > 0.05). Limitations of the study include use of self-reported dietary intake, residual confounding, potential for reverse causation, and that the study did not capture those who exclusively consume plant-derived foods. Conclusions In this study of black Americans, we observed that, unlike in prior studies, greater adherence to a plant-based diet was not associated with CVD or all-cause mortality.

Fear of Medical Staff: The Importance of Stigmatization during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Letter to the Editor

Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic, although hospital staff cared for patients, they were recognized in the community as an asymptomatic carrier and people were afraid and anxious about them. To the extent thateven the families of hospital staff experienced this social stigma, and many people cut off contact with them. In addition to the stigma that medical staff received from people during the COVID-19 pandemic, many people were stigmatized and feared that as an asymptomatic carrier they would endanger the health of their families and those around them. For this reason, they tried to limit social communication and be more present at home and at work. Hospital staff were among the first to deal with the deadly virus and relinquish their physical health. Many nurses and physicians stay awake for long hours to save the lives of patients with COVID-19. Unfortunately, we have seen people fear and avoid the hospital staff, which has led to increased burnout and depression in the medical staff. For this purpose, it is necessary to take measures to socially motivate the medical staff of hospitals by the Ministry of Education and Health.

The Digitalization in the COVID-19 Era

In December 2019, a new viral pneumonia called COVID-19 appeared in Wuhan, China causing a health crisis that then turned into an economic and social crisis. Since then, entire sectors of the economy have been slowing down, forcing them to integrate innovative digital processes to mitigate the negative impact of this crisis. In this regard, the purpose of the chapter is to initiate a reflection on digitization processes based on a review of the literature to help explain the concept. This work allowed spotlighting the existing research on digitalization through practical case studies in business, education, and health systems, and how organizations perceive digitalization during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors analyze how digital platforms can increase the survival rate of businesses in times of crisis and ensure the continuity of customers' access to the various goods and services. The purpose behind this is to serve as a basis for further empirical research for academics and improve the knowledge base by providing insight into the efforts of the sectors studied.

Application of Virtual Reality in Cognitive Rehabilitation

Virtual reality (VR) is defined as a simulation of the real world using computer graphics. The basic components of a VR application or program are interaction and immersion. Human-computer interaction is achieved through multiple sensory channels that allow individuals to explore virtual environments through senses. Immersion is considered the degree to which the individual feels engrossed or enveloped within the virtual environment. Scope of virtual reality is quite wide and varied, including technology, industry, education, and health. In the health sector, it has a significant role in assessment as well as intervention. Specific to human behavior and cognition, virtual reality's (VR) application is for cognitive assessment and rehabilitation. VR offers the potential to develop human testing and training environments that allow for the precise control of complex stimulus presentations in which human cognitive and functional performance can be accurately assessed and rehabilitated.

Socioeconomic conditions on poverty levels a case study: Central Java Province and Yogyakarta in 2016

This study aims to analyze how the influence of infrastructure availability, socioeconomic conditions, and the effect of location on poverty levels. The descriptive analysis is used to give a general description of poverty by using thematic charts and maps. The poverty map is analyzed by spatial autocorrelation of poverty levels by using a Moran Scatterplot and the Local Indicators of Spatial Association (LISA) Map. The results of the study indicate the existence of spatial linkages to poverty. The Increasing of other variables outside the model in neighboring regions will increase the level of poverty in a region. The infrastructures of road extension, clean water infrastructure, economic growth, quality of education, and health have a significant influence on the level of poverty, while the percentage of satisfactory sanitation did not demonstrate to affect the significant effect on poverty. The conclusion is that the level of poverty in the provinces of Central Java and Yogyakarta has an irregular distribution and a clustered spatial pattern.

Should I Play or Should I Go?

A pervasive application of gamification in many areas of everyday life has arguably yet to happen. For instance, despite much commercial interest in and a potentially huge market for successful gamification products in the areas of education and health, much of the excitement is still based on speculation, and reception in parts of the academic community remains sceptical. The chapter aims to collate observations from multiple empirical studies and meta-studies and collect and highlight issues that need to be resolved or mitigated for gamification to progress. Such issues include unclear definitions, a limitation on small sets of elements employed with unclear effects, unintentional side-effects of competition, a confusing variety of operationalizations, the erosion of intrinsic motivation through extrinsic incentives, a disconnect between theoretical understandings and practical realizations, a strong focus on a behaviorist paradigm, studies' mixed, partial, and inconclusive results, a lack of attention to moderating factors, and methodological limitations.

Pengaruh Profitabilitas Dan Ukuran Perusahaan Terhadap Penghindaran Pajak Pada Perusahaan Manufaktur Sub Sektor Otomotif Yang Terdaftar Di Bursa Efek Indonesia

Taxes are a very large source of state revenue which is used to finance government expenditures, such as financing government administration, building infrastructure, providing education and health facilities. Taxes are said to be mandatory because they are already stated in the law and there are even regulations governing taxation. Every taxpayer is required to take part so that the growth and implementation of national development can run well. The type of research used is descriptive quantitative analysis method. This study uses secondary data obtained from the documentation. Quantitative descriptive analysis is done by collecting and classifying according to certain criteria or patterns, the data that has been quantified and the analysis is used to get a systematic picture of the contents of a document. Sources of data used in this study is secondary data sources, namely data obtained from existing documents. So that data in finished form has been collected and then processed by other parties and is usually in the form of publications. The secondary data used is in the form of the annual report of companies listed on the IDX in 2015-2019 related to research variables. The data in this study comes from the Indonesia Stock Exchange website and the company's website. The results of the research and discussion can be concluded. There is a partial negative and significant effect between the profitability variable (ROA) on tax avoidance in manufacturing companies in the automotive sub-sector. There is a positive and partially significant effect between company size variables on tax avoidance in manufacturing companies in the automotive sub-sector. There is a simultaneous significant effect between profitability (ROA) and firm size on tax avoidance in manufacturing companies in the automotive sub-sector.

A View on the Impact of Gamified Services in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The chapter examines the researchers' objective to see how gamification has been investigated in various science disciplines during the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact by grouping the findings into central concerns and core issues. The PRISMA approach is used to narrow down the list of relevant articles. The necessity for gamified interventions in the retail, education, and health domains is deliberated in this chapter. The findings suggest that academicians take the chance to collect empirical data and evaluate it in real-time to better understand the impact of gamification in a variety of professions.

Displacement and Trauma

Rohingya children have become victims of mass displacement, with some of them being internally or externally displaced because of long-standing violence and prejudice in their own country. Currently, a substantial number of them are residing in refugee camps in Bangladesh. They lost all their rights, including the right to retain their native country's nationality. Their basic human rights are violated when they become stateless refugees in the era of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which emphasize equality, equity, and social justice. Rohingya children in refugee camps face adversity and have limited access to informal education and health services. Due to a lack of nutritious food, healthcare services, medicines, and basic sanitation, the health conditions for some of them are exceedingly poor. Children, particularly young girls, are vulnerable to gender-based violence, child marriage, and human trafficking, both for sex and manual labor. This chapter investigates the childhood experiences of displaced Rohingya children living in Bangladeshi refugee camps.