Digital Commons Network^™

Dermal Uptake Directly From Air Under Transient Conditions: Advances In Modeling And Comparisons With Experimental Results For Human Subjects, G. C. Morrison, C. J. Weschler, G. Bekö

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

To better understand the dermal exposure pathway, we enhance an existing mechanistic model of transdermal uptake by including skin surface lipids (SSL) and consider the impact of clothing. Addition of SSL increases the overall resistance to uptake of SVOCs from air but also allows for rapid transfer of SVOCs to sinks like clothing or clean air. We test the model by simulating di-ethyl phthalate (DEP) and di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP) exposures of six bare-skinned (Weschler et al. 2015, Environ. Health Perspect., 123, 928) and one clothed participant (Morrison et al. 2016, J. Expo. Sci. Environ. Epidemiol., 26, 113). The model predicts …

Fine-Grained Multitask Allocation For Participatory Sensing With A Shared Budget, Jiangtao Wang, Yasha Wang, Daqing Zhang, Leye Wang, Haoyi Xiong, Abdelsalam Helal, Yuanduo He, Feng Wang

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

For participatory sensing, task allocation is a crucial research problem that embodies a tradeoff between sensing quality and cost. An organizer usually publishes and manages multiple tasks utilizing one shared budget. Allocating multiple tasks to participants, with the objective of maximizing the overall data quality under the shared budget constraint, is an emerging and important research problem. We propose a fine-grained multitask allocation framework (MTPS), which assigns a subset of tasks to each participant in each cycle. Specifically, considering the user burden of switching among varying sensing tasks, MTPS operates on an attention-compensated incentive model where, in addition to the …

Enhancing Identity Development At Senior Service Colleges, Thomas P. Galvin Dr.

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

Identity development is touted as an important leader development need, but it often gets short shrift in professional military education (PME) environments, including the Senior Service Colleges (SSC). The inculcation of professional values, resiliency, and critical and reflective thought are essential to properly operationalizing the skills and knowledge learned in an SSC, but they are highly subjective, difficult to measure, and therefore difficult to develop educational activities around. New policies for officer and civilian professional education include provisions for developing leaders, such as the recent inclusion of six Desired Leader Attributes (DLAs) in the Joint officer PME continuum, but it …

Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques In The Diagnosis Of Infectious Diseases: The Way Forward, K N Brahmadathan

Manipal Journal of Medical Sciences

Nucleic acid amplification-based tests as laboratory diagnostic tools have attracted a lot of attention in the past several years. From the discovery of polymerase chain reaction in 1983 to the human genome sequencing in 2001, these tests have come into prominence as major tools for rapid diagnosis of infectious diseases, identification of microbes directly from clinical samples, and their genotyping for epidemiological studies. Identification of fastidious or uncultivable microbes, hitherto unrecognized microorganisms, and rapid identification of multidrug resistance have been made possible by refining many of these techniques. Several modifications are now available, which make them more accessible to a …

Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders Or Irritable Bowel Syndrome, George Kurian

Manipal Journal of Medical Sciences

No abstract provided.

Medical Education: Can We Dare To Change?, Yeshwanth Rao

Manipal Journal of Medical Sciences

No abstract provided.

Methylxanthine Induced Cardiotoxicity And Its Mechanisms: An Experimental Study, Md Shamsuzzaman, Gulati Kavita, Ray Arunabha

Manipal Journal of Medical Sciences

Background: Methylxanthines like theophylline are re-emerging as effective adjuncts in the treatment of obstructive airway disease and several newer mechanisms have been proposed. In view of its effectiveness, pharmacoeconomic viability, and easy availability, it could rationalize the drug treatment in bronchial asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorders (COPD) – but its narrow therapeutic index and resultant safety concerns need to be aggressively addressed, particularly in developing countries. Cardiotoxicity and neurotoxicity are amongst the most noted adverse effects associated with its clinical use. The present study evaluated the possible mechanisms involved in aminophylline (water-soluble ethylene diamine salt of theophylline) on potential …

A Prospective Observational Study Ofthe Disease Profile Ofthe Muslim Patients Attending The Outpatient Department Of Internal Medicine During The Ramadan Fasting Season, Sadananda B. Naik, Krishna Mohan Prabhu, Harish P. Nayak

Manipal Journal of Medical Sciences

Background: Ramadan is the fasting month of the Muslim calendar. There is a paucity of data on the prevalence of morbidity among those who visit the outpatient department of the hospital while observing the Ramadan fasting. Materials and Methods: The clinical profile of 61 Muslim patients who visited the outpatient department of the internal medicine of the specialty hospital during the holy Ramadan fasting season at Moodabidri, South India was collected. The diagnosis of all the medical conditions were classified according to the International Classification of Disease (ICD-10) coding system and the demographic profile and clinical data were analyzed. Analysis …

Standardized Viva-Voce Examination: Year 1 Medical Degree Programme In An Integrated Undergraduate Medical Curriculum In A Malaysian University, Urban John Arnold D’Souza, Ahmad Faris Abdullah, Zainal Arifin Mustapha

Manipal Journal of Medical Sciences

Background: Viva voce examinations play an important evaluation process in the medical degree course in most of the Universities around the World. They mainly assess the cognitive domain and if well structured, become an important process of evaluation. Traditionally, a conventional non-structured oral examination was a practice and still remains as an evaluation process in a few countries. Over the years, different medical schools have evolved on such examinations and have come out with structured, standardized viva voce examinations. The research studies on such examinations have positive impact. Among the faculty of Medicine, an integrated curriculum is in practice and …

Usefulness Of Geographic Information Systems (Gis) In Mental Health Research, Ramya Walsan, Nagesh Pai, Kerry Dawes

Manipal Journal of Medical Sciences

Role of environment on mental health cannot be ignored. Computer based mapping technology called Geographical Information Systems (GIS) has presented mental health researchers with many new possibilities to explore these relationships. The main aim of this literature review is to identify the emerging applications of GIS in mental health research. The use of GIS in mental health has faltered compared to other health care sectors and has started gaining momentum only in the recent years. There is great scope for GIS to be applied in mental health epidemiology, evaluating inequalities in health care access, determining spatial variation in service utilisation …

Stem Cell Derived Cosmetic Products: An Overview, Muthukumar Amirthalingam, Raviraja N. Seetharam

Manipal Journal of Medical Sciences

In the modern society we live in, people prefer to look well-groomed and presentable. Although, this is completely based on the individual taste and personality, the beauty products help this cause in a great way and enhance the external appearance. There are many natural and synthetic cosmetic ingredients in beauty products, providing the aesthetic effect to the person. As the society and science advances, the search for newer cosmetic ingredients, which offer renewed hope to the growing beauty industry and consumers. Conditioned media has emerged as one of the disruptive innovations of recent times in cosmetic ingredients, which may provide …

Promethazine Induced Acute Dystonia: A Case Report, Jyothi C H, Rudraiah H. Gm, Vidya H K, Shashikala G

Manipal Journal of Medical Sciences

Promethazine is a first generation antihistaminic belonging to phenothiazine family. Because of its strong anticholinergic property, it is used for the treatment of drug-induced dystonia, which is characterized by sustained or repetitive involuntary muscle contractions associated with twisting or repetitive movements with abnormal postures. Promethazine, which is used to treat dystonia, can itself rarely cause dystonia as an adverse effect. Here, we present a rare case of promethazine induced acute dystonia

Religiosity Among Muslims: A Scale Development And Validation Study, Nor Diana Mohd Mahudin, Noraini Mohd Noor, Mariam Adawiah Dzulkifli, Nazariah Shari’E Janon

Makara Human Behavior Studies in Asia

While religiosity as a field of inquiry has been gaining research interest in recent years, a central issue about its conceptualisation, measurement, and relationships with work outcomes remains unresolved. The aims of this paper are: (1) to introduce a new scale designed to measure religiosity among Muslims, based on an Islamic perspective that centres on the bodily action or human activity (Islam), the mind or understanding of God (iman), and the spirit or actualisation of virtue and goodness (ihsan); and (2) to demonstrate how religiosity relates to various work outcomes. We followed a rigorous multi-steps scale development procedure using four …

Role Of Values And Environmental Concerns For The Sustainable Purchasing Behavior: Evidence From Pakistan, Fareeha Naz, Masood Ul Hassan, Saiful Amin

Makara Human Behavior Studies in Asia

Sustainable purchasing is an attempt to purchase greener, healthier, and more economical items from greener, more sustainable organizations. It is based on the idea that each and every buy has shrouded human wellbeing through natural and social effects and that it is possible to decrease unfavourable effects by purchasing better items. The motive of the present study was to identify the role of values and environmental concerns for sustainable purchasing behaviour of buyers in the Pakistani green market. With the help of reliable and valid Likert type self-administered questionnaires, data was collected from the sample of the people who claim …

Investigating The Effectiveness Of Digital-Based Concept Mapping On Teaching Educational Technology For Undergraduate Students, Abdelrahman Ahmed, Ahmed Abdelraheem

Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of using digital-based concept mapping as strategy on students’ achievements and attitudes. Data was collected from 58 students enrolled in the course of ”Introduction to Educational Technology” in Instructional and Teaching Technologies Department at Sultan Qaboos University. Two sections out of four sections were selected randomly as the sample of the study. One of the sections was randomly chosen as experimental group (n = 27) and the other was control group (n = 31). Both pre- and post- achievement tests were used. The results of the study revealed that students …

What Is The Status Of Omani Parents On Their Children’S Healthy Lifestyle?, Hashem Kilani, Ibrahim A. Al-Qaryouti

Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies

The purpose of this study was to document the significance of the practices employed by parents that contribute to children’s healthy lifestyle in Oman. Those practices encompassed the physical activity and inactivity, sedentary behaviour, nutritional knowledge, and its reflection on their children at early childhood class. Subjects consisted of 237 male and female parents of kindergarten children in the Sultanate of Oman. The researchers developed a twenty-three and a twenty-item questionnaire intended to measure the degree of parent involvement in their children's impact at acceptable levels of validity and reliability. (Amazingly, it was found that parents’ healthy lifestyle were low …

Factorial Validity And Reliability Of Self-Regulation Learning Questionnaire Among Undergraduate Students At University Of Dammam In Saudi Arabia, Malek Jdaitawi

Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies

The aim of the study was to examine the factor structure of the short-version of the self-regulated learning questionnaire in a group of undergraduate students at the University of Dammam. Four factors were assumed to represent the self-regulation: concentration, time management, self-testing and study aids. Testing reliability and validity of the constructs was another aim of this study. The study sample comprised 209 students (89 females and 120 males). Stu- dent age ranged from 18-21 years. The scale had 32 items with eight items for each of the four subscales. The research examined the factorial validity and reliability for the …

The Relationship Between Students’ Perceptions Of Parenting Styles And Their University Life Adjustment, Said Aldhafri

Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies

The current study examines the association between university students’ perceptions of parenting styles and their university life adjustment. Data were collected from Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) in Oman. The sample consisted of 2562 undergraduate students (59% were females) from different colleges and study years. The participants responded to two questionnaires. The first questionnaire examined students’ perceptions of three parenting styles: authoritative (7 items), authoritarian (7 items), and permissive (6 items). The university life adjustment was examined by a questionnaire that focused on psychological (10 items) and non-psychological (5 items) problems that students face during university years. Both measures were found …

Southern Foresters' Perceptions Of Climate Change: Implications For Educational Program Development, Leslie Boby, William Hubbard, Mark Megalos, Hilary L.C. Morris, Barbara Brody, Maureen Hosty, Shanna Northway

Journal of Extension

An understanding of foresters' perceptions of climate change is important for developing effective educational programs on adaptive forest management. We surveyed 1,398 foresters in the southern United States regarding their perceptions of climate change, observations and concerns about climatic and forest conditions, and knowledge of and interest in resilient forest management techniques and climate science. A majority (61%) agreed that climate change is occurring, and 14% agreed that it is caused by humans. Most respondents were interested in learning more about forest resilience and related concepts. Development of programming focused on managing for forest resilience in a changing climate is …

The Internet Of Things And Big Data: A Litmus Test For Extension?, Paul Hill, Jeff Hino

Journal of Extension

The Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data are radically changing the face of human activity, from driving our cars to preparing our food to managing our health. Billions of connections between machines and people will be directly tied to areas of life skills that Extension cares about. Can Extension gauge the impact of IoT and Big Data? How will Extension respond to the challenge of these technologies? What new skills should be included in Extension position descriptions? What organizational policies, support, and infrastructure will be needed? Will Extension proactively develop new organizational skills and programming relevant to digitally connected …

Dietary Nitrate Acutely And Markedly Increased Exhaled Nitric Oxide In A Cystic Fibrosis Case, Conor Kerley, Emma Kilbride, Peter Greally, Basil Elnazir

Articles

Airway nitric oxide (NO) is a ubiquitous signaling molecule with bronchoprotective, antiinflammatory and anti-infective roles. Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a chronic lung condition associated with deceased exhaled NO. Strategies to increase exhaled NO in CF have yielded inconsistent results. A potential new method of increasing systemic NO involves ingestion of dietary, inorganic nitrate which is reduced to nitrite and NO. We present the case of a 12 year-old, athletic male with CF who demonstrated acute but marked increases in exhaled NO following dietary nitrate consumption compared to placebo.

The 2016 Academic Emergency Medicine Consensus Conference, "Shared Decision Making In The Emergency Department: Development Of A Policy-Relevant Patient-Centered Research Agenda" Diagnostic Testing Breakout Session Report., Tyler W. Barrett, Kristin L. Rising, M. Fernanda Bellolio, M. Kennedy Hall, Aaron Brody, Kenneth W. Dodd, Mira Grieser, Phillip D. Levy, Ali S. Raja, Wesley H. Self, Gail Weingarten, Erik P. Hess, Judd Hollander

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

Diagnostic testing is an integral component of patient evaluation in the emergency department (ED). Emergency clinicians frequently use diagnostic testing to more confidently exclude "worst-case" diagnoses rather than to determine the most likely etiology for a presenting complaint. Increased utilization of diagnostic testing has not been associated with reductions in disease-related mortality but has led to increased overall healthcare costs and other unintended consequences (e.g., incidental findings requiring further workup, unnecessary exposure to ionizing radiation or potentially nephrotoxic contrast). Shared decision making (SDM) presents an opportunity for clinicians to discuss the benefits and harms associated with diagnostic testing with patients …

Inter-Rater Reliability Of Post-Arrest Cerebral Performance Category (Cpc) Scores., Anne V. Grossestreuer, Benjamin S. Abella, Kelsey R. Sheak, Marisa J. Cinousis, Sarah M. Perman, Marion Leary, Douglas J. Wiebe, David F. Gaieski

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

PURPOSE: Cerebral Performance Category (CPC) scores are often an outcome measure for post-arrest neurologic function, collected worldwide to compare performance, evaluate therapies, and formulate recommendations. At most institutions, no formal training is offered in their determination, potentially leading to misclassification.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We identified 171 patients at 2 hospitals between 5/10/2005 and 8/31/2012 with two CPC scores at hospital discharge recorded independently - in an in-house quality improvement database and as part of a national registry. Scores were abstracted retrospectively from the same electronic medical record by two separate non-clinical researchers. These scores were compared to assess inter-rater reliability …

The Association Between Hemoglobin Concentration And Neurologic Outcome After Cardiac Arrest., Nicholas J. Johnson, Babette Rosselot, Sarah M. Perman, Kalani Dodampahala, Munish Goyal, David F. Gaieski, Anne V. Grossestreuer

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study is to determine the association between hemoglobin concentration (Hgb) and neurologic outcome in postarrest patients.

METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the Penn Alliance for Therapeutic Hypothermia (PATH) cardiac arrest registry. Inclusion criteria were resuscitated cardiac arrest (inhospital or out of hospital) and an Hgb value recorded within 24 hours of return of spontaneous circulation. The primary outcome was favorable neurologic status at hospital discharge. Survival to hospital discharge was a secondary outcome.

RESULTS: There were 598 eligible patients from 21 hospitals. Patients with favorable neurologic outcome had significantly higher median Hgb …

The Nature Of God: Perceptions Of God With Exposure To Nature And Natural Events, Holly Ann Kolberg

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research studies have shown that the sense of awe evoked by natural settings may be associated with transcendental thinking about God. Similarly, other researchers have suggested that people attribute events to God when they cannot develop a sufficient naturalistic explanation for a phenomenon. People appear to prefer attributing events to a benevolent God but will modify their beliefs to assume that God is punitive if event outcomes do not appear to favor their well-being or religious attributions do not accommodate a situation. In the current study, the goal was to evaluate how exposure to photographs of different environments influenced beliefs …

Consensus Paper: Cerebellar Development, K Leto, M Arancillo, Ebe Becker, A Chiang, Et Al.

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The development of the mammalian cerebellum is orchestrated by both cell-autonomous programs and inductive environmental influences. Here, we describe the main processes of cerebellar ontogenesis, highlighting the neurogenic strategies used by developing progenitors, the genetic programs involved in cell fate specification, the progressive changes of structural organization, and some of the better-known abnormalities associated with developmental disorders of the cerebellum.

Juvenile Competency And Pretrial Due Process: A Call For Greater Protections In Massachusetts For Juveniles Residing In Procedural Purgatory, Mark Rapisarda, Wendy J. Kaplan

Faculty Scholarship

While juvenile courts continue to balance and reevaluate the dual goals of community safety and rehabilitation of youth, juveniles who are not competent to stand trial have been left without sufficient procedural protections. This paper examines Massachusetts’ approach to juvenile competency, due process, and pretrial procedure, within a national context. The inadequacies of the Massachusetts juvenile competency laws are not unique. Currently there are nineteen states that either entirely lack juvenile-specific competency legislation or merely incorporate inapposite adult criminal statutes and standards into the juvenile context—making it difficult or impossible for those juvenile courts to dismiss or divert a delinquency …

E-Government In Amarah: Challenges And Recommendations For Future Implementation, Reem Jabbar Abdulbaqi

Theses

The growth and changes in the 21st century in the sectors of economics, politics, and technology mean that governments must provide all the services that can serve the demands of their citizens. One way for governments to facilitate this is by implementing e-government. E-government migrates services previously implemented by government employees to internet connected systems accessible by citizens from wherever they are at whatever time they are needed. This system can connect citizens to the government ministries via rule-based systems. Amarah, a city in the south of Iraq, started to integrate electronic systems into the facilities of the city in …

Multi-Robot Task Allocation Using Agglomerative Clustering, Maria Shoaib

Theses

The main objective of this thesis is to solve the problem of balancing tasks in the Multi-robot Task Allocation problem domain. When allocating a large number of tasks to a multi-robot system, it is important to balance the load effectively across the robots in the system. In this thesis an algorithm is proposed in which tasks are allocated through clustering, investigating the effectiveness of agglomerative hierarchical clustering as compared to K-means clustering. Once the tasks are clustered, each agent claims a cluster through a greedy self-assignment. This thesis investigates the performance both when all tasks are known ahead of time …

Intelligent Lighting System For Health, Qunxi Huang

Theses

Lighting affects not only the way people seeing things, but also the way they feel. This thesis project surveys people’s health problems and needs related to environmental lighting changes, and aims to explore a product design solution to these problems. The outcomes of the project are a residential lighting system called INSIGHT, a mobile app interface and a key product as an example of a smart lighting system. INSIGHT helps users to control, interact with and program their home lighting in an easy way to meet their own daily needs as well as improve their visual health and emotional health. …