9 May 2008 - Signature of the Protocol to the co-operation agreement dated 21 January 2006 between King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) on behalf of the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by M. I. Al-Suwaiyel and the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), represented by R. Aymar, concerning the further development of scientific and technical co-operation in high-energy physics

CERN Multimedia

Maximilien Brice

2008-01-01

9 May 2008 - Signature of the Protocol to the co-operation agreement dated 21 January 2006 between King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) on behalf of the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by M. I. Al-Suwaiyel and the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), represented by R. Aymar, concerning the further development of scientific and technical co-operation in high-energy physics

Patients’ Knowledge and Attitude toward the Disposal of Medications

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Aeshah AlAzmi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Safe disposal of medications is of high concern as malpractice may lead to harmful consequences such as undesirable effects, prescription drug abuse, overstocking, self-medication, accidental overdose, and even death. There is a lack of uniform and nationwide guidance on how patients should safely dispose their leftover medications. This study aims to assess patients’ knowledge and attitude regarding the disposal of medications. Method. This research is a cross-sectional study. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from various outpatient pharmaceutical services in King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC, Jeddah. Results. The study revealed that 73% of the respondents throw the medications in the trash, 14% return the medications to a pharmacy, 5% never dispose them, and 3% donate the medications to a friend or charity centers. More than 80% of the respondents never received any information or advice from healthcare providers about safe and proper disposal of medications. Conclusion. Our findings suggest that there is an immediate requirement for the establishment of collaborative and uniform guidelines for the safe disposal of leftover medications. A policy for drug donation needs to be included in routine patient education as well as educational and collective programs for the public.

Self-medication with antibiotics in Sana'a City, Yemen

African Journals Online (AJOL)

*For correspondence: Email: profyahaya@gmail.com; Tel: +60195515611 ... Conclusion: Self-medication with antibiotics is high among consumers in Sana'a City, ... UiTM university, health office in Sana'a City and ... safety of antibiotics. .... laws and policies in Yemen [18]. .... the authors named in this article and all liabilities.

Violence against health workers in Family Medicine Centers

OpenAIRE

Al-Turki, Nouf; Afify, Ayman AM; AlAteeq, Mohammed

2016-01-01

Nouf Al-Turki,1 Ayman AM Afify,1 Mohammed AlAteeq2 1Family Medicine Department, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, 2Department of Family Medicine and PHC, King Abdul-Aziz Medical City, National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Background: Health care violence is a significant worldwide problem with negative consequences on both the safety and well-being of health care workers as well as workplace activities. Reports examining health care violence in Saudi Arabia are lim...

[Species composition and distribution of medical mollusca in Shanghai City].

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Yun-hai; Lv, Shan; Gu, Wen-biao; Liu, He-xiang; Wu, Ying; Zhang, Yi

2015-02-01

To investigate the species diversity and distribution of medical mollusca in Shanghai City. From August 2012 to October 2013, all kinds of habitats in 8 districts and counties in Shanghai City, namely Jiading, Qingpu, Baoshan, Minhang, Songjiang, Jinshan, Chongming, Pudong, were selected for the field survey according to the distribution characteristics of the river system, and all the specimens of medical mollusca in the investigation sites were collected and classified by morphological identification. Meanwhile, the species composition, habitats as well as the fauna of the medical mollusca collected were analyzed. A total of 5,211 specimens were collected, which belonged to 2 classes, 14 families, 18 genera and 25 species, including Oncomelania hupensis hupensis, Pomacea canaliculata, Parafossarulus striatulus, Alocinma longicornis, Physa acuta, Galba pervia, Hippeutis cantori, etc. The species numbers of medical mollusca in Chongming, Jinshan, Pudong new area and Qingpu districts (counties) were 22, 22, 21 and 20, respectively, which were more than those of other areas. The habitat analysis suggested that the species numbers in the river and wetland were the most, both of which were 14 species. The main faunas of the medical mollusca in Shanghai were the cosmopolitan and oriental species. The freshwater gastropod species are paucity in Shanghai City, but almost of them can be served as the intermediate hosts of certain parasites to transmit snail-related parasitic diseases, so the surveillance of medical mollusca should be strengthened.

Comparing antibiotic self-medication in two socio-economic groups in Guatemala City: a descriptive cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramay, Brooke M; Lambour, Paola; Cerón, Alejandro

2015-04-27

Self-medication with antibiotics may result in antimicrobial resistance and its high prevalence is of particular concern in Low to Middle Income Countries (LMIC) like Guatemala. A better understanding of self-medication with antibiotics may represent an opportunity to develop interventions guiding the rational use of antibiotics. We aimed to compare the magnitude of antibiotic self-medication and the characteristics of those who self-medicate in two pharmacies serving disparate socio-economic communities in Guatemala City. We conducted a descriptive, cross-sectional study in one Suburban pharmacy and one City Center pharmacy in Guatemala City. We used a questionnaire to gather information about frequency of self-medication, income and education of those who self-medicate. We compared proportions between the two pharmacies, using two-sample z-test as appropriate. Four hundred and eighteen respondents completed the survey (221 in the Suburban pharmacy and 197 in the City Center pharmacy). Most respondents in both pharmacies were female (70%). The reported monthly income in the suburban pharmacy was between $1,250.00-$2,500.00, the city-center pharmacy reported a monthly income between $125.00- $625.00 (p Guatemala City. Additionally, self-medicating respondents were most often women and most commonly self-medicated with amoxicillin. Our findings support future public health interventions centered on the regulation of antibiotic sales and on the potential role of the pharmacist in guiding prescription with antibiotics in Guatemala.

Concerns and Professional Development Needs of Faculty at King Abdul-Aziz University in Saudi Arabia in Adopting Online Teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Kamal, Bakor

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate concerns regarding the adoption of online teaching as expressed by faculty and instructors in six departments in the College of Arts and Humanities at King Abdulaziz University. Additionally, it investigated faculty professional development needs in adopting online teaching. The data in this study were…

Health education during antenatal care: the need for more

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Al-Ateeq MA

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Mohammed A Al-Ateeq,1 Amal A Al-Rusaiess21College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdul-Aziz University for Health Sciences, 2Department of Family Medicine and Primary Health Care, King Abdul-Aziz Medical City, National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Abstract: The aim of health education during ante natal is to provide advice, education, ­reassurance and support, to address and treat the minor problems of pregnancy, and to provide effective screening during the pregnancy. Exploring current practices in this regard revealed the need for more organized educational activities to ensure high quality and clients satisfaction. Keywords: antenatal care, health education, pregnant women, postpartum, misconceptions

Assisting the integration of social media in problem-based learning sessions in the Faculty of Medicine at King Abdulaziz University.

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Awan, Zuhier A; Awan, Almuatazbellah A; Alshawwa, Lana; Tekian, Ara; Park, Yoon Soo

2018-05-07

Issues related to traditional Problem-Based Learning (PBL) at King Abdulaziz University Faculty of Medicine (KAU-FOM), including lack of student interaction between sessions and outdated instructional materials have led to the examining the use of social media. This study examines factors affecting the implementation of social media into PBL sessions Methods: Mentored social media activities were incorporated between PBL sessions to third year medical students. Ground rules were set, and students were kept on track with learning objectives and authentic references. An online survey consisting of 18 questions were administered to measure the impact of the social media model embedded between PBL sessions. Feedback showed major improvements in students' learning process as well as identifying areas for improvement. The highest ratings were in participation and communication, knowledge and information gathering, and cooperation and team-building. This paper indicates that incorporating social media could facilitate learning between PBL sessions. Furthermore, guidelines are proposed to help educators implement a social media model into their PBL sessions.

Exploring factors affecting undergraduate medical students' study strategies in the clinical years: a qualitative study.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Al Kadri, H.M.; Al-Moamary, M.S.; Elzubair, M.; Magzoub, M.E.; AlMutairi, A.; Roberts, C.; Vleuten, C.P.M. van der

2011-01-01

The aim of this study is to explore the effects of clinical supervision, and assessment characteristics on the study strategies used by undergraduate medical students during their clinical rotations. We conducted a qualitative phenomenological study at King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health

The Academic, Administrative, Economic, Social, and Psychological Problems Faced by Students of Textile and Clothing Major at King Abdul-Aziz University

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Alsubyani, Noor Abdulhadi

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate the academic, administrative, economic, social, and psychological problems faced by students of Textile and fabric major at King Abdul-Aziz University. To achieve this purpose, a questionnaire was designed and distributed to a sample of students in the Textile and fabric major, after the use of…

Attitudes toward medical and genetic confidentiality in the Saudi research biobank: An exploratory survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Alahmad, Ghiath; Hifnawy, Tamer; Abbasi, Badaruddin; Dierickx, Kris

2016-03-01

Achieving a balance between giving access to information and respecting donors' confidentiality is a crucial issue for any biobank, with its large number of samples and associated information. Despite the existence of much empirical literature on confidentiality, there are too few surveys in the Middle East about the topic, particularly in the Saudi context. A survey was conducted of 200 respondents at King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, among 5 groups of equal size, comprised of researchers, physicians, medical students, donors and laypersons, respectively. The majority of participants agreed that confidentiality is an important issue and that it is well protected in the Saudi biobank. All 5 groups showed different attitudes toward disclosing information to various third parties. They were in favor of allowing treating physicians, and to a certain extent family members, to have access to medical and genetic results from research. No significant differences were found between views on medical and genetic confidentiality. The majority of respondents agreed that confidentiality might be breached in cases with specific justified reasons. Even considering differences in religion, culture and other factors, the results of the study were consistent with those reported in the literature and research conducted in other countries. We therefore place emphasis on the importance of protecting and promoting patient/donor confidentiality and privacy. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Radiation protection in medical diagnostic radiology in the city of Sobral, Brazil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Menezes, F.L.; Paschoal, C.M.M.; Ferreira, F.C.L.; Alcantara, M.C.

2015-01-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate the suitability to radiation protection of four diagnostic radiology medical services in the city of Sobral-CE, Northeast of Brazil, and to analyze results of the literature for the cities of Rio Branco-AC, North of Brazil, and Rio de Janeiro-RJ, South-east of Brazil. In Sobral-CE, it was performed interviews and direct observations with reference to Brazilian law, the National Ordinance No.453/1998 of the Ministry of Health that regulates the operation of medical and odontological diagnostic radiology services. The results show the occurrence of many items in disagreement with the standard. The technical and operational infractions have basically due to unfamiliarity with the legislation, the lack of investment in training and/or professional development courses. (authors)

Pattern of medical waste management: existing scenario in Dhaka City, Bangladesh

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Rahman K Anisur

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Medical waste is infectious and hazardous. It poses serious threats to environmental health and requires specific treatment and management prior to its final disposal. The problem is growing with an ever-increasing number of hospitals, clinics, and diagnostic laboratories in Dhaka City, Bangladesh. However, research on this critical issue has been very limited, and there is a serious dearth of information for planning. This paper seeks to document the handling practice of waste (e.g. collection, storage, transportation and disposal along with the types and amount of wastes generated by Health Care Establishments (HCE. A total of 60 out of the existing 68 HCE in the study areas provided us with relevant information. Methods The methodology for this paper includes empirical field observation and field-level data collection through inventory, questionnaire survey and formal and informal interviews. A structured questionnaire was designed to collect information addressing the generation of different medical wastes according to amount and sources from different HCE. A number of in-depth interviews were arranged to enhance our understanding of previous and existing management practice of medical wastes. A number of specific questions were asked of nurses, hospital managers, doctors, and cleaners to elicit their knowledge. The collected data with the questionnaire survey were analysed, mainly with simple descriptive statistics; while the qualitative mode of analysis is mainly in narrative form. Results The paper shows that the surveyed HCE generate a total of 5,562 kg/day of wastes, of which about 77.4 per cent are non-hazardous and about 22.6 per cent are hazardous. The average waste generation rate for the surveyed HCE is 1.9 kg/bed/day or 0.5 kg/patient/day. The study reveals that there is no proper, systematic management of medical waste except in a few private HCE that segregate their infectious wastes. Some cleaners were found

Integrating Mobile Phones into the EFL Foundation Year Classroom in King Abdulaziz University/KSA: Effects on Achievement in General English and Students' Attitudes

Science.gov (United States)

Khrisat, Abdulhafeth A.; Mahmoud, Salameh Saleem

2013-01-01

This study investigates the effect of ten teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) oriented features of mobile phones in the English language classroom on the achievement of foundation-year students in King Abdulaziz University (KAU) in General English. The study also explores students' attitudes towards this new method of teaching. The study…

Patterns of psychotropic medication use in inpatient and outpatient psychiatric settings in Saudi Arabia

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Alosaimi FD

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Fahad D Alosaimi,1 Abdulhadi Alhabbad,2 Mohammed F Abalhassan,3 Ebtihaj O Fallata,4 Nasser M Alzain,5 Mohammad Zayed Alassiry,6 Bander Abdullah Haddad71Department of Psychiatry, King Saud University, Riyadh, 2Department of Psychiatry, Prince Mohammed Medical City, Aljouf, 3Department of Medicine, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj, 4Department of Psychiatry, Mental Health Hospital, Jeddah, 5Department of Psychiatry, Al-Amal Complex for Mental Health, Dammam, 6Medical Services Department, Abha Psychiatric Hospital, Abha, 7Department of Medicine, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaObjective: To study the pattern of psychotropic medication use and compare this pattern between inpatient and outpatient psychiatric settings in Saudi Arabia.Method: This cross-sectional observational study was conducted between July 2012 and June 2014 on patients seeking psychiatric advice at major hospitals in five main regions of Saudi Arabia. Male (n=651 and female (n=594 patients who signed the informed consent form and were currently or had been previously using psychotropic medications, irrespective of the patient’s type of psychiatric diagnosis and duration of the disease, were included. A total of 1,246 patients were found to be suitable in the inclusion criteria of whom 464 were inpatients while 782 were outpatients.Results: Several studied demographic factors have shown that compared with outpatients, inpatients were more likely to be male (P=0.004, unmarried (P<0.001, have less number of children (1–3; P=0.002, unemployed (P=0.001, have a lower family income (<3,000 SR; P<0.001, live in rural communities (P<0.001, have a lower body mass index (P=0.001, and are smokers (P<0.001; however, there were no differences with regard to age or educational levels. The current frequency of use of psychotropic medications in overall patients was antipsychotics (76.6%, antidepressants (41.4%, mood stabilizers

Said Ali Hassan El-Quliti1* and Neyara Radwan2 1 Prof., Department of Industrial Engineering, King Abdulaziz University

OpenAIRE

El-Quliti, Said Ali Hassan; Radwan, Neyara

2016-01-01

Faculty of Engineering at King Abdulaziz University plans to redesign its undergraduate courses, which is required for students in 14 different programs. These courses have an annual enrolment of about 2,500 students each year. The Operations Research Teaching Area in the Department of Industrial Engineering will be presented as a case study. This area involves two core and three elective courses.The course redesign involves preparing students for the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam req...

Quantitative assessment of medical waste generation in the capital city of Bangladesh

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patwary, Masum A.; O'Hare, William Thomas; Street, Graham; Maudood Elahi, K.; Hossain, Syed Shahadat; Sarker, Mosharraf H.

2009-01-01

There is a concern that mismanagement of medical waste in developing countries may be a significant risk factor for disease transmission. Quantitative estimation of medical waste generation is needed to estimate the potential risk and as a basis for any waste management plan. Dhaka City, the capital of Bangladesh, is an example of a major city in a developing country where there has been no rigorous estimation of medical waste generation based upon a thorough scientific study. These estimates were obtained by stringent weighing of waste in a carefully chosen, representative, sample of HCEs, including non-residential diagnostic centres. This study used a statistically designed sampling of waste generation in a broad range of Health Care Establishments (HCEs) to indicate that the amount of waste produced in Dhaka can be estimated to be 37 ± 5 ton per day. The proportion of this waste that would be classified as hazardous waste by World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines was found to be approximately 21%. The amount of waste, and the proportion of hazardous waste, was found to vary significantly with the size and type of HCE.

Emergency medical services key performance measurement in Asian cities.

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman, Nik Hisamuddin; Tanaka, Hideharu; Shin, Sang Do; Ng, Yih Yng; Piyasuwankul, Thammapad; Lin, Chih-Hao; Ong, Marcus Eng Hock

2015-01-01

One of the key principles in the recommended standards is that emergency medical service (EMS) providers should continuously monitor the quality and safety of their services. This requires service providers to implement performance monitoring using appropriate and relevant measures including key performance indicators. In Asia, EMS systems are at different developmental phases and maturity. This will create difficultly in benchmarking or assessing the quality of EMS performance across the region. An attempt was made to compare the EMS performance index based on the structure, process, and outcome analysis. The data was collected from the Pan-Asian Resuscitation Outcome Study (PAROS) data among few Asian cities, namely, Tokyo, Osaka, Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Taipei, and Seoul. The parameters of inclusions were broadly divided into structure, process, and outcome measurements. The data was collected by the site investigators from each city and keyed into the electronic web-based data form which is secured strictly by username and passwords. Generally, there seems to be a more uniformity for EMS performance parameters among the more developed EMS systems. The major problem with the EMS agencies in the cities of developing countries like Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur is inadequate or unavailable data pertaining to EMS performance. There is non-uniformity in the EMS performance measurement across the Asian cities. This creates difficulty for EMS performance index comparison and benchmarking. Hopefully, in the future, collaborative efforts such as the PAROS networking group will further enhance the standardization in EMS performance reporting across the region.

Self-Efficacy and Its Relationship with Social Skills and the Quality of Decision-Making among the Students of Prince Sattam Bin Abdul-Aziz University

Science.gov (United States)

Al-mehsin, Salama Aqeel

2017-01-01

The present study aimed to reveal the self-efficacy and social skills and their relationship to the quality of decision-making at Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University students, and determine the extent of the contribution of self-efficacy and social skills to the quality of decision-making. To achieve this, a questionnaire was built to identify…

NUMBER AND STRUCTURE OF MEDICAL STAFF IN THE SIBERIAN CITIES IN THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR OF 1941-1945

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Yuliya A. Davidova

2013-01-01

Full Text Available A dynamics of the number of medical personnel Siberian cities in the Great Patriotic war is analyzed in the article. The author studies quantity and structure of senior and low-grade medical personnel of healthcare institutions, shows its impact on medical and sanitarian anti-epidemic work, as well as considers methods of decision of personnel problem in the region. The study is based on analysis of documents of the State Archive of the Russian Federation, the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History, the Russian State Archive of Economy and the Regional Archives of the Siberian cities.

Early experience with the da Vinci® surgical system robot in gynecological surgery at King Abdulaziz University Hospital

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Sait KH

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Khalid H SaitObstetrics and Gynecology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Gynecology Oncology Unit, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaBackground: The purpose of this study was to review our experience and the challenges of using the da Vinci® surgical system robot during gynecological surgery at King Abdulaziz University Hospital.Methods: A retrospective study was conducted to review all cases of robot-assisted gynecologic surgery performed at our institution between January 2008 and December 2010. The patients were reviewed for indications, complications, length of hospital stay, and conversion rate, as well as console and docking times.Results: Over the three-year period, we operated on 35 patients with benign or malignant conditions using the robot for a total of 62 surgical procedures. The docking times averaged seven minutes. The mean console times for simple hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, and bilateral pelvic lymphadenectomy were 125, 47, and 62 minutes, respectively. In four patients, laparoscopic procedures were converted to open procedures, giving a conversion rate of 6.5%. All of the conversions were among the first 15 procedures performed. The average hospital stay was 3 days. Complications occurred in five patients (14%, and none were directly related to the robotic system.Conclusion: Our early experience with the robot show that with proper training of the robotic team, technical difficulty with the robotic system is limited. There is definitely a learning curve that requires performance of gynecological surgical procedures using the robot.Keywords: da Vinci robot, gynecological surgery, laparoscopy

Competency-structured case discussion in the morning meeting: enhancing CanMEDS integration in daily practice

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Hassan IS

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Imad Salah Hassan, Hadi Kuriry, Lina Al Ansari, Ali Al-Khathami, Mohammed Al Qahtani, Thari Al Anazi, Mahfooz Farooqui, Hamdan Al Jahdali Department of Medicine 1443, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Abstract: Outcome-focused, competency-based educational curricula have become the norm in residency training programs. The Canadian Medical Education Directives for Specialists (CanMEDS framework is one example of such a curriculum. However, models for incorporating all the competencies in everyday clinical practice have been difficult to accomplish. In this manuscript, a CanMEDS, competency-structured, acute case discussion in a regular morning meeting was undertaken. All the diagnostic and therapeutic interventions were explicitly organized and discussed under their respective CanMEDS competency headings. Post exercise, the majority of residents felt that they were more competent in all the competencies and indicated their willingness to continue having similarly structured acute case discussions in the future. Keywords: CanMEDS roles, residents, morning meeting

Medical Geography and Topography Works: the first environmental studies in a specific city

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Angela Lúcia de Araújo Ferreira

2012-02-01

Full Text Available The natural environment and the geographical circumstances set the basis for the development of an hygiene-oriented thinking and led physicians to investigate and diagnose the regional and urban space between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. These ideas were systematically compiled in works known as Medical Geography and Topography Works which, when known throughout the world, ended up becoming precise descriptions of the cities' territory, providing a spatial account of diseases and identifying their nature, evolution and treatment. Besides recovering the origin of these treaties and stressing their importance as amongst the first "geographical" investigations of urban space, this work aims to include Brazil, and specifically the city of Natal (in northeast Brazil within the context of these analyses, with special emphasis on the work entitled Topography of Natal and its Medical Geography authored by doctor Januário Cicco in 1920.

Gender performativity, medicalization and health in transsexual women in Mexico City

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José Arturo Granados Cosme

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The World Health Organization and the American Psychological Association consider transsexuality a pathology and suggest sex-gender reassignment for the biopsychic adjustment of trans people. Through the discursive analysis of experience, this study describes the processes of medicalization and gender performativity in relation to the health of a group of trans women from Mexico City. For this purpose, a qualitative study was conducted in which 10 semi-structured interviews were carried out in 2015. As part of medicalization, the pathologization of transsexuality generated psychic suffering; on the other hand, sex-gender reassignment also entailed additional risks. It is possible to conclude that in trans women, violence and exclusion constitute the primary experiences explaining their foremost health problems. Therefore, it is suggested that it is necessary for discrimination be reduced and for advancements to be made in safer medical interventions.

[Gender performativity, medicalization and health in transsexual women in Mexico City].

Science.gov (United States)

Cosme, José Arturo Granados; Ramírez, Pedro Alberto Hernández; Muñoz, Omar Alejandro Olvera

2017-01-01

The World Health Organization and the American Psychological Association consider transsexuality a pathology and suggest sex-gender reassignment for the biopsychic adjustment of trans people. Through the discursive analysis of experience, this study describes the processes of medicalization and gender performativity in relation to the health of a group of trans women from Mexico City. For this purpose, a qualitative study was conducted in which 10 semi-structured interviews were carried out in 2015. As part of medicalization, the pathologization of transsexuality generated psychic suffering; on the other hand, sex-gender reassignment also entailed additional risks. It is possible to conclude that in trans women, violence and exclusion constitute the primary experiences explaining their foremost health problems. Therefore, it is suggested that it is necessary for discrimination be reduced and for advancements to be made in safer medical interventions.

Standardization of spedalized medical care to patients with shin fractures in multifield city hospital

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R. M. Tikhilov

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of the investigation was development of science-based recommendations for increasing efficiency of operative treatment of adult patients with shin fractures in multiprofile city hospital. Investigation was made in Saint-Petersburg Alexandrovskiy City Hospital. Clinical material was presented by official hospital reports, individual medical documentation and results of direct survey of patients treated in this hospital in period 1999-2010 years. All patients had follow up treatment in outpatient department of this hospital. Information was completed following federal and local laws. Recommendations for standardization of modern specialized medical care of patients with shin fractures, based on methods of internal fixation, were performed. We took into consideration possibilities of conventional and minimally invasive fixation of closed and open fractures including politrauma injuries. Models of patients with shin fractures depending on method of internal fixation and list of basic diagnostic procedures and treatment were formed. Operations classifier of internal shin fractures fixation was developed. This classifier includes calculation of hospital costs in process of specialized medical care considering actual correction coefficients. Calculation of each surgical procedure component was performed. List and composition of instrument sets and expense materials for such operations were formed. Analisis of organizational, medico-technological, economica aspect and expert evaluation of clinical results of different methods of long bones fractures fixation have provided conceptual approach to treatment standardization. On this base we have developed medico-economical standards of long bones fractures treatment in city multiprofile hospital.

Irritable bowel syndrome among nurses working in King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

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Nahla Khamis Ibrahim

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS is a highly prevalent gastrointestinal disorder that can cause disability and economic burden. Nurses are a vital part of the medical team and their well-being is an important issue. Yet, few studies have been done concerning IBS among nurses. Objectives: To determine the prevalence, severity, and predictors of IBS among nurses working at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 229 nurses who fulfilled the eligibility criteria. They were selected by stratified random sampling during 2014–2015. A validated, confidential, self-administered data collection sheet was used for collection of personal and sociodemographic data. Rome III Criteria, IBS Severity Scoring System (IBS-SSS, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI were included. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were done. A multiple logistic regression analysis was done to determine the predictors of IBS. Results: The prevalence of IBS among nurses was 14.4%, and IBS-Mixed type was the commonest variety (54.5%. Positive family history of IBS, working in outpatient clinics, having day shift, poor sleep quality, and high anxiety and depression scale scores were significantly associated with IBS. After controlling for confounding factors in regression analysis, the predictors of IBS were food hypersensitivity (aOR=4.52; 95% CI: 1.80−11.33, morbid anxiety (aOR=4.34; 95% CI: 1.49–12.67, and positive family history of IBS (aOR=3.38; 95% CI: 1.12–13.23. Conclusion: The prevalence of IBS was 14.4%. Food hypersensitivity, morbid anxiety, and family history were the predictors of IBS. Screening and management of IBS, food hypersensitivity, and psychological problems among nurses are recommended.

Medication non-adherence in the homeless population in an Intermountain West city

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Elizabeth J. Unni

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Homelessness happens when people or household are unable to acquire and/or maintain housing they can afford. Approximately 17% of homeless individuals are also chronically ill. Studies have often not objectively measured medication non- adherence among the homeless population, probably due to lack of consistent pharmacy records. This study proposed to objectively estimate medication non-adherence to chronic medications among the homeless population in Salt Lake City, Utah. Methods: A retrospective study design was used based on the pharmacy records from the Fourth Street Pharmacy based on four classes of chronic medications - asthma, diabetes, statins, and psychiatric medications. Data was collected between November 1, 2010 and February 28, 2011 on the variables: date of original prescription, number of refills on the original prescription, date of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th fills, age, gender, and race. Primary non-adherence and medication refill non-adherence based on Continuous Measure of Medication Gaps were calculated. Results: The medication refill non-adherence rate was 38.8% with asthma medications, 38.5% with diabetic medications, 27.2% with statins, and 47.1% with psychiatric medications. The primary non-adherence rate varied from zero percent to 20%. Conclusion: The study concluded that this population has comparable non-adherence rates with asthma, diabetes, cholesterol lowering, and certain psychiatric medications than the general population.   Type: Original Research

LISREL Model Medical Solid Infectious Waste Hazardous Hospital Management In Medan City

Science.gov (United States)

Simarmata, Verawaty; Siahaan, Ungkap; Pandia, Setiaty; Mawengkang, Herman

2018-01-01

Hazardous and toxic waste resulting from activities at most hospitals contain various elements of medical solid waste ranging from heavy metals that have the nature of accumulative toxic which are harmful to human health. Medical waste in the form of gas, liquid or solid generally include the category or the nature of the hazard and toxicity waste. The operational in activities of the hospital aims to improve the health and well-being, but it also produces waste as an environmental pollutant waters, soil and gas. From the description of the background of the above in mind that the management of solid waste pollution control medical hospital, is one of the fundamental problems in the city of Medan and application supervision is the main business licensing and control alternatives in accordance with applicable regulations.

[Medical service to patients with stroke at the prehospital stage in different cities of the Russian Federation].

Science.gov (United States)

Stakhovskaia, L V; Shekhovtsova, K V; Rozhkova, T I; Bodykhov, M K; Tsurikova, V E; Cher, I Sun; Surzha, T I; Bidenko, M A; Skvortsova, V I

2010-01-01

We have conducted a comparative analysis of medical service quality to stroke patients at the pre-hospital stage in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and Irkutsk. Periods of hospitalization, including periods of referral of patients (or their relatives) for medical care, arrival of ambulance personnel (AP), time spent by AP on the primary medical care and transportation of patients have been analyzed. We have analyzed periods of referral of people for medical care and assessed the volume and quality of pre-hospital therapy. The high percentage of hospitalization during the period of "therapeutic window" has been found in both cities with the significant prevalence in Irkutsk. The delay in hospitalization was caused by late referral of patients, low level of population awareness on importance of referral for urgent medical care besides the referral to AP. The number of patients transported to a hospital during the time interval (30-40 min) recommended by the WHO did not exceed 30-40% in both cities. Although the volume of medical care at the pre-hospital stage was larger in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, the quality of pharmacotherapy used by AP in Irkutsk was more in line with modern standards.

Mentoring Clinical-Year Medical Students: Factors Contributing to Effective Mentoring

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Fallatah, Hind I; Soo Park, Yoon; Farsi, Jamila; Tekian, Ara

2018-01-01

Theory: Academic mentoring is an effective method of enhancing undergraduate medical student academic performance, research productivity, career planning, and overall satisfaction. Hypotheses: This study investigates the relationship between mentor characteristics and mentee academic performance, with an emphasis on identifying students who need special support. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among fourth-year medical students at King Abdulaziz University Faculty of Medicine undertaking the clinical skills module (CSM) rotation. Mentors included senior and junior faculty members from the Department of Internal Medicine and the Department of Family Medicine. King Abdulaziz University Faculty of Medicine assigned 1 mentor for every 10 medical students. We organized our mentoring program in the following format: (1) an initial group meeting (mentor with all 10 medical students) and (2) subsequent one-on-one meetings (mentor with each mentee alone). We assessed mentor characteristics, student academic performance and satisfaction, and the rate of mentees referred for special support. Results: A total of 184 students completed the CSM rotation. Among these, 90 students responded to the preprogram survey, with 83% reporting that mentoring was important to them. Group meetings and one-on-one meetings were attended by 60% and 49% of all students, respectively. The most frequent type of support required by the participating students was psychological support (12% of mentees). Participation in the mentoring program had no significant effect on student academic performance. Mentor seniority (P = .024) and motivation (P = .002) were significantly associated with the rate of student referral for special support. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that academic mentoring can be effective in enhancing student outcomes and promoting special support for students. Moreover, mentor and mentee motivation were found to be essential elements of a successful

Detection of Entamoeba histolytica/dispar in stool specimens by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in the population of Jeddah City, Saudi Arabia.

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Barnawi, Abdulaziz B M; Tonkal, Abulkader M; Fouad, Mahmoud A H; Al-Braiken, Faten A

2007-04-01

This study determined the prevalence of intestinal parasites, particularly pathogenic Entamoeba sp. (E. histolytica), in patients attending three hospitals in Jeddah City, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, King Abdulaziz Hospital and King Fahad Hospital for gastro-intestinal troubles. 186 stool specimens were examined microscopically for parasites and by ELISA kit (E. histolytica II) for true E. histolytica. 83 samples (44.6%) were positive by microscopy for at least one parasite. Of which, 23 (12.4%) showed two parasites and 15 (8.1%) three parasites. Eight different parasite species were identified. The most prevalent were E. histolytica/dispar (n = 26, 31.3%) and Giardia lamblia (n = 13, 15.7%). Others were Blastocytosis hominis (n = 12, 14.5%), Entamoeba coli (n = 11, 13.3%), Trichuris trichuria (n = 8, 9.6%), Endolymax nana (n = 6, 7.2%), Hymenolepes nana (n = 4, 4.8%) and Chilomastix mesnili (n = 3, 3.6%). Only five stool samples (19%) from those identified by microscopy to contain E. histolytica/dispar, were E. histolytica positive by E. histolytica II ELISA. For the first time to the authors' knowledge the true prevalence of E. histolytica in Saudi Arabia was 2.7%. E. histolytica II ELISA proved to be a highly useful technique to differentiate pathogenic E. histolytica from non pathogenic E. dispar.

Knowledge and Awareness of Colorectal Cancer among Undergraduate Students at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: a Survey-Based Study.

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Imran, Muhammad; Sayedalamin, Zaid; Alsulami, Salhah S; Atta, Magdi; Baig, Mukhtiar

2016-01-01

This study explored the knowledge and awareness about colorectal cancer (CRC) among undergraduate students of one of the leading universities in Saudi Arabia, along with the mode of information access. The present cross-sectional study was conducted at the King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, among students of different faculties. The study questionnaire, containing 28 items, was adapted from surveys identified in the relevant literature. The CRC awareness questionnaire consisted of an awareness section (early CRC signs and symptoms, and risk factors) and a knowledge section. The data were analyzed using the SPSS version 21.0. A total of 525 undergraduate students participated in the study. The majority were females (63.0%) and approximately half (56.8%) were medical students. The majority of the students (82.3%) were aware of CRC, and 68% thought that CRC is a preventable disease. Regarding colorectal cancer screening tests, only one-third of students (33%) had actual knowledge, while the majority of the students (77.0%) thought that there are tests which help in early detection. Only 4% of the participants had a family history of CRC. The majority of the participants (84%) thought that CRC is a disease that can be cured. Almost 50-60% participants had good awareness level regarding risk factors, and signs and symptoms. Regarding knowledge, participant responses varied for family history (52%), age (59%), chronic infection of the colon (72%), obesity and lack of exercise (66%). More than one-third of the students had received information material regarding CRC from their curriculum followed by social media (20.4%), and nearly 40% from other sources such as TV, hospital and mass media. Female participants had significantly better awareness in a few questions regarding CRC awareness as compared to their male counterparts. There was a significant difference observed between medical and non-medical students (knowledge about CRC while no significant

Knowledge, attitude and practice of pediatricians and pharmacists in Riyadh City toward the use of sugar free medications.

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Bawazir, Omar A; Alsuwayt, Bandar; Alqahtani, Waleed; Al-Dhafiri, Ahmad; Al-Shamrani, Mosleh

2014-11-01

This study was intended to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of pediatricians and pharmacists about sugar free medications (SFMs) and their impact on oral health. Self-administered close ended questionnaire was handed out to all pediatricians and pharmacists in five tertiary hospitals in Riyadh (King Khalid University Hospital, King Saud Medical City, King Fahad Medical City, Prince Sultan Medical Military City, Security Forces Hospital) to investigate the knowledge, attitude and practice concerning SFMs. Eighty-five pediatricians and 77 pharmacists participated in this study. The results showed that pediatricians and pharmacists have a good knowledge, but negative attitude toward SFMs. Only (5.9%) of pediatricians had formal undergraduate training which is significantly lower than pharmacists (15.6%) (p = 0.04). One-third of pediatricans and pharmacists prescribe or dispense SFMs. The most influencing factors toward prescription (pediatrician) of SFMs was the medical status of the patient (70.6%), while the most influencing factor of dispensing (pharmacists) SFMs was the availability in the pharmacy (64.9%). Two-third of pediatricians (67%) guide the parents about the risk associated with sugar-containing medications (SCMs) which is significantly higher than pharmacists (p < 0.0001). Also, 53% of pediatricians recommend oral hygiene instructions when prescribing SCMs which is also significantly higher than pharmacists (p = 0.0 02). There is a considerable knowledge about SFMs and its impact on dental caries, among pediatricians and pharmacists participated in this study. However, their attitude toward prescribing or dispensing SFMs was not positive and may be linked to the gap in knowledge. Further training and education of healthcare providers regarding the use of SFMs and its negative impact on dental caries has to be reiterated.

SEM Model Medical Solid Waste Hospital Management In Medan City

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Simarmata, Verawaty; Pandia, Setiaty; Mawengkang, Herman

2018-01-01

In daily activities, hospitals, as one of the important health care unit, generate both medical solid waste and non-medical solid waste. The occurrence of medical solid waste could be from the results of treatment activities, such as, in the treatment room for a hospital inpatient, general clinic, a dental clinic, a mother and child clinic, laboratories and pharmacies. Most of the medical solid waste contains infectious and hazardous materials. Therefore it should be managed properly, otherwise it could be a source of new infectious for the community around the hospital as well as for health workers themselves. Efforts surveillance of various environmental factors need to be applied in accordance with the principles of sanitation focuses on environmental cleanliness. One of the efforts that need to be done in improving the quality of the environment is to undertake waste management activities, because with proper waste management is the most important in order to achieve an optimal degree of human health. Health development in Indonesian aims to achieve a future in which the Indonesian people live in a healthy environment, its people behave clean and healthy, able to reach quality health services, fair and equitable, so as to have optimal health status, health development paradigm anchored to the healthy. The healthy condition of the individual and society can be influenced by the environment. Poor environmental quality is a cause of various health problems. Efforts surveillance of various environmental factors need to be applied in accordance with the principles of sanitation focuses on environmental cleanliness. This paper proposes a model for managing the medical solid waste in hospitals in Medan city, in order to create healthy environment around hospitals.

Evaluation of the Assessment Plan for Undergraduate Clerkship in Obstetrics and Gynecology, King Abdulaziz University

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Ahmad M.S. Almrstani

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Background The standards set by accreditation bodies for student assessment during higher education, such as those of the National Commission for Academic Accreditation & Assessment (NCAAA, are necessary in formulating educational programs. These serve as a benchmark for how colleges or universities are assessed and reflect students' learning. Following the implementation of these guidelines, the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, within the Faculty of Medicine in King Abdulaziz University (KAU, established assessment strategies appropriate to their curriculum, which were valid and reliable, thus enabling students to be fairly assessed throughout their undergraduate course. Since KAU is currently preparing for accreditation by the NCAAA, this study was a necessary undertaking to ensure that the assessment strategies designed by the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology are aligned and conform to the NCAAA student assessment guidelines, thereby outlining the standard of expected performance and learning outcomes for students. Objectives This study aimed to evaluate the assessment plan of the obstetrics and gynecology clerkship for undergraduate medical students within the Faculty of Medicine, KAU, in comparison to the standard criteria for student assessment as implemented by the NCAAA. Materials and Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted, which employed two questionnaires containing questions based on the NCAAA guidelines. The surveys were distributed among the teaching staff and students rotating for 12 weeks within the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, KAU, from September to November 2013. In total, 100/116 (86.2% students and 26/36 (81.25% teaching staff participated in the study. Results Two sets of results were obtained regarding the student assessment practices in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, KAU, one from fifth-year medical students and the second from the teaching staff. The results showed that

Serratia marcescens-contaminated baby shampoo causing an outbreak among newborns at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

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Madani, T A; Alsaedi, S; James, L; Eldeek, B S; Jiman-Fatani, A A; Alawi, M M; Marwan, D; Cudal, M; Macapagal, M; Bahlas, R; Farouq, M

2011-05-01

During November 2008 to January 2009, 11 babies in the neonatal intensive care (NICU) and three babies in the nursery were infected with Serratia marcescens at King Abdulaziz University Hospital in Saudi Arabia. Overall, fifteen infections were identified among 11 newborns in the NICU: septicaemia (five cases), purulent conjunctivitis (three), urinary tract infection (two), meningitis (two) and cellulitis (one). Three newborns in the nursery had three infections: purulent conjunctivitis (two cases) and omphalitis (one). Thirteen of 14 babies recovered fully but one died from S. marcescens meningitis and septicaemia. All infections were traced to intrinsically contaminated baby shampoo introduced to the units five days before the first reported case. The outbreak terminated following withdrawal of the shampoo product. Copyright © 2011 The Healthcare Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tobacco and alcohol use among male dental and medical students studying in Davangere city: A cross-sectional survey

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M G Inderjit

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Background: The cross-sectional survey was conducted to assess and compare tobacco and alcohol usage among male medical and dental students among students belonging to dental and medical colleges in Davangere city. Materials and Methods: A self-designed questionnaire containing 20 close-ended questions was prepared to collect the required and relevant information pertaining to tobacco and alcohol consumption. The questionnaire was distributed among 400 students belonging to dental and medical colleges in Davangere city. Results: Among the 400 respondents, 48.5% were smokers and 45.75% of students were alcoholics. Among smokers, 55.70% were house surgeon students and 23.07% were 1 st year. Significant difference was found in the percentage of tobacco consumption among medical and dental house surgeon students. The main reason for smoking was examination preparation and workload. Among alcoholics, 51.67% were house surgeon students and 21.9% were 1 st year. The main reason for alcohol consumption was to get relief from tensions. Conclusions: Final year students and house surgeons had more influence of tobacco and alcohol consumption habits when compared to 1 st year students in both dental as well in medical college. Academic demand, work pressure, examination stress, and anxiety were found to be significantly influencing tobacco and alcohol habits among both medical and dental students.

Working environment and specialty of choice chosen by the dental students at Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study.

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Sam, George; Alghmlas, Abdullah Saud; Alrashed, Muath I; Alaskar, Ziyad A

2016-04-01

This cross-sectional study was conducted to explore the specialty chosen by the dental students for postgraduate studies and the future aspirations of students in a Saudi Arabia dental college. Of the total number of 120 questionnaires that were distributed, 107 subjects responded with selective responses and a response rate of 89%. A descriptive survey was conducted using one of the questionnaires among the students of dentistry at the dental college, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj among male students (men's college) for a period of 2 months. The data were analyzed using the statistical software program, predictive analytics software Statistics version 22.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). A hundred and seven of the 120 students took part in the study. A passion for orthodontics (42.9%) was reported to be the most important factor that influenced the decision to pursue specialty training in orthodontics followed by intellectual stimulation/challenge (25%). The decision to pursue orthodontics was made by 32.1% of the respondents while in dental school; 35.7% took the decision after completing dental school during private practice and 14.3% during a dental residency, whereas 3.6% had already decided before initiating their dental school studies. Working in a private practice environment was preferred by 11 residents (39.3%). Only four residents indicated that they would most likely be practicing in an academic setting while 10 were undecided. The zest for nonclinical specialties is less among students at Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University's dental college, Saudi Arabia.

Acute renal failure and severe rhabdomyolysis in a patient with resistant thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura

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Al Qahtani S

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Saad Al Qahtani Intensive Care Department, Critical Care Response Team, King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC, National Guard Health Affairs; King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, College of Medicine, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Abstract: Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP is a rare, life-threatening disorder. This paper describes the case of a 39-year-old Sudanese male who presented to the emergency room with fever, jaundice, decreased level of consciousness, and worsening kidney function for 7 days, a high lactate dehydrogenase level (1947, severe thrombocytopenia (platelets 8, and numerous schistocytes in the peripheral blood smear. The patient was admitted with a diagnosis of TTP for plasma exchange. Fourteen days later, his creatinine kinase (CK level rose to >50,000 IU; rhabdomyolysis was suggested. Continuous venovenous hemodialysis (CVVHD was started. The patient's CK level remained high, despite CVVHD, until the 6th day, after which this parameter gradually started to decrease. This report highlights a resistant case of TTP that presented with concomitant severe rhabdomyolysis, which demanded aggressive, continuous intervention. Keywords: TTP, CVVHD, continuous venovenous hemodialysis

Medical students’ logbook case loads do not predict final exam scores in surgery clerkship

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Alabbad J

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Jasim Alabbad,1,2 Fawaz Abdul Raheem,2 Ahmad Almusaileem,1 Sulaiman Almusaileem,1 Saba Alsaddah,2 Abdulaziz Almubarak2 1Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait; 2Department of Surgery, Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital, Jabriya, Kuwait Purpose: To investigate the reliability of medical student logbook data in assessing student performance and predicting outcomes in an objective standardized clinical exam and a multiple-choice exam during surgery rotation. In addition, we examined the relationship between exam performance and the number of clinical tutors per student.Materials and methods: A retrospective review of the logbooks of first and third clinical year medical students at the Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University, was undertaken during their surgery rotation during the academic year 2012–2013.Results: Logbooks of 184 students were reviewed and analyzed. There were 92 and 93 students in the first and third clinical years, respectively. We did not identify any correlation between the number of clinical encounters and clinical exam or multiple-choice exam scores; however, there was an inverse relationship between the number of clinical tutors encountered during a rotation and clinical exam scores.Conclusion: Overall, there was no correlation between the volume of self-reported clinical encounters and exam scores. Furthermore, an inverse correlation between the number of clinical tutors encountered and clinical exam scores was detected. These findings indicate a need for reevaluation of the way logbook data are entered and used as an assessment tool. Keywords: OSCE, assessment, Kuwait, universities, rotation

Detecting Postpartum Depression in Referents to Medical and Health Centers in Hamadan City

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F. Shobeiri

2007-10-01

Full Text Available Introduction & Objective: Pregnancy and childbirth are significant developmental excitable for most women. Physical, intrapersonal and relational adaptations are needed to adjust successfully to pregnancy and delivery. Postpartum depression is a serious psychiatric disorder and the adverse impact on infants has been noted. The purpose of this study was to detect postpartum depression in referents to medical and health centers in Hamadan city.Materials & Methods: A descriptive and cross-sectional study involving 400 women completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI within 2-8 weeks of delivery was conducted in urban health centers in Hamadan city, Iran. Data were collected through interviews with women in the clinics in the health centers. Data processing and statistical analysis were performed using SPSS 10.0.Results: The results revealed that majority of women (68.0% were considered normal. Depression was detected in 32.0% of women. Out of these 19.0, 4.0 and 9.0% were mild, moderate and severe depression, respectively. There were statistically significant differences between postpartum depression and age, number of delivery, education, job and husband's job (P=0.000.Conclusion: Nearly 32.0% of selected women had depression. Therefore, it is important for medical personnel to be well versed in the course and treatment of postpartum depression. Post partum depression should be screened and treated as early as possible for several reasons. It can cause significant suffering for the woman who experiences it, and it can have deleterious consequences for the newborn.

Impact of a diabetic foot care education program on lower limb amputation rate

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Abdullah M Al-Wahbi

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Abdullah M Al-WahbiDepartment of Surgery, King Abdulaziz Medical City and King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyahd, Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaBackground: Diabetic foot complications are a leading cause of lower extremity amputation. With the increasing incidence of diabetes mellitus in the Arab world, specifically in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the rate of amputation will rise significantly. A diabetic foot care program was implemented at King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2002. The program was directed at health care staff and patients to increase their awareness about diabetic foot care and prevention of complications. The purpose of this study was to perform a primary evaluation of the program’s impact on the rate of lower extremity amputation due to diabetic foot complications.Method: This pilot study was the first analysis of the diabetic foot care program and examined two groups of participants for comparison, ie, a “before” group having had diabetic foot ulcers managed between 1983, when the hospital was first established, and 2002 when the program began and an “after group” having had foot ulcers managed between 2002 and 2004, in the program’s initial phase. A total of 41 charts were randomly chosen retrospectively. A data sheet containing age, gender, medical data, and the presentation, management, and outcome of diabetic foot cases was used for the analysis.Results: The before group contained 20 patients (17 males and the after group contained 21 patients (16 males. There was no difference between the two groups with regard to age and comorbidities. The rate of amputation was 70% in the before group and 61.9% in the after group. There was a decrease in the percentage of toe amputation in the after group and an increase in the percentage of below-knee amputation in the before group. However, these changes were not significant.Conclusion: The program, although evaluated at an early

Assessment of medication adherence among type 2 diabetic patients in Quetta city, Pakistan.

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Iqbal, Qaiser; Bashir, Sajid; Iqbal, Javeid; Iftikhar, Shehla; Godman, Brian

2017-08-01

Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is a growing burden among all countries including Pakistan, with medication adherence very important to improve care. However, little is known about medication adherence in Pakistan and potential predictors among T2DM patients to provide future guidance. This needs to be addressed. Consequently, the present study sought to assess medication adherence among type 2 diabetic patients in Quetta city, Pakistan. Questionnaire based, descriptive study among 300 Pakistani patients attending public and private hospitals aged 18 years and above, having a confirmed diagnosis of T2DM, without additional co-morbidities were targeted. Descriptive statistics were used to describe demographic and disease characteristics. The association between socio-demographic data and study variables was compared through the Mann Whitney/Kruskal Wallis test (where applicable). The factors that were significantly associated with medication adherence were further assessed by logistic regression analysis. 55.6% of patients had high adherence although overall patients reported moderate adherence. Age, gender, education, diabetes-related knowledge and treatment satisfaction were significantly associated with medication adherence. Older males with only primary education and with poor diabetes-related knowledge had the lowest adherence. This study presents a model that is associated with medication adherence among T2DM patients, with disease-related knowledge as a significant predictor of likely adherence. Results of the current study revealed that improved diabetes related knowledge plays a significant role in improving medication adherence. Healthcare practitioners and the system should formalize and acknowledge patient education as a key component to treat patients with T2DM. This should include a greater role for pharmacists and other professionals.

The Sociology of the Deceased Harvard Medical Unit at Boston City Hospital.

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Tishler, Peter V

2015-12-01

Many graduates of the Harvard Medical Unit (HMU) at Boston City Hospital, in either the clinical training/residency program or the research program at the Thorndike Memorial Laboratory, contributed in major ways to the HMU and constantly relived their HMU experiences. The HMU staff physicians, descending from founder and mentor physicians Francis W. Peabody, Soma Weiss, and George R. Minot, were dedicated to the teaching, development, and leadership of its clinical and research trainees, whose confidence and dedication to patient care as a result of their mentorship led many to lifelong achievements as clinicians, teachers, and mentors. Their experience also led to a lifelong love of the HMU (despite its loss), camaraderie, happiness, and intense friendships with their associates.

International Space Station Aeromedical Support in Star City, Russia

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Cole, Richard; Chamberlin, Blake; Dowell, Gene; Castleberry, Tarah; Savage, Scott

2010-01-01

The Space Medicine Division at Johnson Space Center works with the International Space Station s international partners (IP) to accomplish assigned health care tasks. Each IP may assign a flight surgeon to support their assigned crewmembers during all phases of training, in-flight operations, and postflight activities. Because of the extensive amount of astronaut training conducted in Star City; NASA, in collaboration with its IPs, has elected to keep a flight surgeon assigned to NASA s Star City office to provide support to the U.S., Canadian, Japanese, and European astronauts during hazardous training activities and provide support for any contingency landings of Soyuz spacecraft in Kazakhstan. The physician also provides support as necessary to the Mission Control Center in Moscow for non-Russian crew-related activities. In addition, the physician in Star City provides ambulatory medical care to the non-Russian-assigned personnel in Star City and visiting dependents. Additional work involves all medical supplies, administration, and inventory. The Star City physician assists in medical evacuation and/or in obtaining support from western clinics in Moscow when required care exceeds local resources. Overall, the Russians are responsible for operations and the medical care of the entire crew when training in Star City and during launch/landing operations. However, they allow international partner flight surgeons to care for their crewmembers as agreed to in the ISS Medical Operations Requirements Document. Medical support focuses on pressurized, monitored, and other hazardous training activities. One of the most important jobs is to act as a medical advocate for the astronauts and to reduce the threat that these hazardous activities pose. Although the Russians have a robust medical system, evacuation may be needed to facilitate ongoing medical care. There are several international medical evacuation companies that provide this care.

The prevalence and association of stress with sleep quality among medical students.

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Almojali, Abdullah I; Almalki, Sami A; Alothman, Ali S; Masuadi, Emad M; Alaqeel, Meshal K

2017-09-01

Medical students tend to reduce their sleep, in an effort to adjust and cope with their workload and stressful environment. This study estimated the prevalence of and the relationship between poor sleep quality and stress among medical students. This cross-sectional study was conducted using a stratified random sample of male and female medical students in King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to assess sleep quality using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and the stress level by using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale. A high prevalence of poor sleep quality (76%) and stress (53%) were found, with a statistically significant association (pstress are less likely to have poor sleep quality (OR=0.28, pstress and poor sleep quality. A recommendation for the management of medical college is to establish academic counseling centers focusing in promoting good sleep hygiene and strengthening students' study skills and coping with their stressful environment. Copyright © 2017 Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Patterns of self-medication in customers of a community pharmacy in the Antofagasta city

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Alejandrina Alucema

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Context: Self-medication is the use of unprescribed drugs; this means that people obtain drugs on their own initiative and without the assistance of health professionals. This is an increasingly common practice among the population that can cause numerous problems, becoming a public health problem. Aims: To determine the patterns of self-medication in customers who frequented a community pharmacy in the city of Antofagasta. Methods: A survey was conducted to 297 users over 18 years and with adequate mental and communicative power to answer the questions, and attending the pharmacy to buy a drug without a prescription. Results: The study revealed that of the 297 people who practiced self-medication, 41% do it with a frequency of at least once a month. The woman practiced in 64% and the men in 36%. The range of age of the studied group was between 31-50 years. The main reason to practice the self medication was to recognize symptoms (33%, within the most notable was the headache (11%. The therapeutic group of the most requested medicines was the NSAIDs (20%, and of them the paracetamol was the most used. Conclusions: The results reveal that a high percentage of customers surveyed self-medicate, which shows this practice as a real problem, so it is necessary to educate people.

Ensuring safe access to medication for palliative care while preventing prescription drug abuse: innovations for American inner cities, rural areas, and communities overwhelmed by addiction

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Francoeur RB

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Richard B FrancoeurSchool of Social Work, Adelphi University, Garden City, NY, USA; Center for the Psychosocial Study of Health and Illness, Columbia University, New York, NY, USAAbstract: This article proposes and develops novel components of community-oriented programs for creating and affording access to safe medication dispensing centers in existing retail pharmacies and in permanent or travelling pharmacy clinics that are guarded by assigned or off-duty police officers. Pharmacists at these centers would work with police, medical providers, social workers, hospital administrators, and other professionals in: planning and overseeing the safe storage of controlled substance medications in off-site community safe-deposit boxes; strengthening communication and cooperation with the prescribing medical provider; assisting the prescribing medical provider in patient monitoring (checking the state prescription registry, providing pill counts and urine samples; expanding access to lower-cost, and in some cases, abuse-resistant formulations of controlled substance medications; improving transportation access for underserved patients and caregivers to obtain prescriptions; and integrating community agencies and social networks as resources for patient support and monitoring. Novel components of two related community-oriented programs, which may be hosted outside of safe medication dispensing centers, are also suggested and described: (1 developing medication purchasing cooperatives (ie, to help patients, families, and health institutions afford the costs of medications, including tamper- or abuse-resistant/deterrent drug formulations; and (2 expanding the role of inner-city methadone maintenance treatment programs in palliative care (ie, to provide additional patient monitoring from a second treatment team focusing on narcotics addiction, and potentially, to serve as an untapped source of opioid medication for pain that is less subject to abuse

The Sociology of the Deceased Harvard Medical Unit at Boston City Hospital

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Tishler, Peter V.

2015-01-01

Many graduates of the Harvard Medical Unit (HMU) at Boston City Hospital, in either the clinical training/residency program or the research program at the Thorndike Memorial Laboratory, contributed in major ways to the HMU and constantly relived their HMU experiences. The HMU staff physicians, descending from founder and mentor physicians Francis W. Peabody, Soma Weiss, and George R. Minot, were dedicated to the teaching, development, and leadership of its clinical and research trainees, whose confidence and dedication to patient care as a result of their mentorship led many to lifelong achievements as clinicians, teachers, and mentors. Their experience also led to a lifelong love of the HMU (despite its loss), camaraderie, happiness, and intense friendships with their associates. PMID:26604868

Maternal and neonatal risk factors for early-onset group B streptococcal disease: a case control study

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Al-Kadri HM

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Hanan M Al-Kadri,1 Samira S Bamuhair,2 Sameera M Al Johani,3 Namsha A Al-Buriki,1 Hani M Tamim4 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2Department of Basic Medical Sciences, 3Microbiology Division, 4Department of Medical Education, College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Objectives: To identify the prominent maternal and neonatal risk factors associated with early-onset group B streptococcus (EOGBS disease in neonates and to determine their importance by comparing them with a control group. Setting: Neonatal unit at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Patients: Cases were infants <7 days of age with invasive group B streptococcus (GBS disease diagnosed between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2009. Controls were healthy infants born in the same hospital during the same period having the same birth weight and gestational age category. Main outcome measures: Maternal risk factors for developing EOGBS disease, feto–maternal and neonatal clinical data, their morbidities, mortalities, and length of hospital stay. Results: A total of 99 cases and 200 controls were included. The majority of cases presented in the first 72 hours of life (62/99 [63.9%], of which 87/99 (89.7% had at least one clinical risk factor for the development of EOGBS disease. Mothers of neonates with EOGBS disease were more likely to have GBS bacteriuria (odds ratio [OR] 10.76, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.24–93.42, infection in the peripartum period (OR 8.92, CI 2.87–27.68, and temperature ≥38°C (OR 7.10, CI 2.50–20.17. GBS disease was associated with premature rupture of membranes and fetal tachycardia (P<0.01 for both. Neonates with EOGBS disease were more likely to have respiratory distress disease and convulsions, require tube feeding, and have longer hospital stays compared with the controls (P<0.01 for all. Stepwise multiple logistic

[Abortion and physicians in training: the opinion of medical students in Mexico City

Science.gov (United States)

González De León Aguirre D; Salinas Urbina AA

1997-04-01

This research project explores doctors' views regarding induced abortion. Abortion's penalization in Mexico greatly conditions its relevance as a social and public health problem. Physicians constitute a professional sector that can play an important role in reforming current laws on abortion. As a professional group, they have taken a conservative stance towards abortion. Their attitudes are to a great extent influenced by the medical training they receive. In this article we present results from a survey of 96 medical students from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Xochimilco, in Mexico City. Data were processed with the SPSS program. Simple frequencies show that students have limited knowledge concerning the legal status of abortion and that they tolerate it with restrictions and in limited situations. Women students apparently take a more conservative stance, but statistical analysis with the c-square test did not show significant differences by gender. The article poses the need to modify doctors' training in the reproductive health field, allowing future doctors to acquire a broader view of health problems related to sexuality and reproduction. In the long run, this should also promote a kind of comprehensive health care practice in medical services, thus responding more satisfactorily to women's needs.

Quality of life, job satisfaction and their related factors among nurses working in king Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Ibrahim, Nahla Khamis; Alzahrani, Nujood Abdulwahed; Batwie, Afnan Ateeg; Abushal, Razan Abdulaziz; Almogati, Ghazwa Ghazzay; Sattam, Munirah Abdulrahman; Hussin, Bodour Khalid

2016-08-01

To assess Quality of Life, job satisfaction and their related factors among nurses working in King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 268 nurses, 2014/2015. A validated, confidential data collection sheet was utilized. It contained the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF), and Job Descriptive Index/Job in General (JDI/JIG) scales. The majority of nurses (83.5%) perceived their general QOL as very good and good. Age, marital status, having children, nationality, income, education, residence, working experience, department and shift time were associated with QOL domains (p income, shifts, working in inpatient and surgical departments were associated with job satisfaction. Positive correlations were found between job satisfaction and different QOL domains, and between different JDI/JIG subscales together. Improvement of the modifiable factors as nurses' income and shift time is needed for better QOL and job satisfaction.

Knowledge about missed contraceptive pills among married women at King Abdulaziz University Hospital

Science.gov (United States)

Iftikhar, Rahila; Aba Al Khail, Bahaa Abdulrahman

2015-01-01

Background Oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) are one of the most reliable methods of contraception. However, lack of knowledge about oral contraceptive use and inconsistent pill-taking might result in decreased efficacy. The study reported here aimed to explore women’s knowledge about oral contraceptive use and assess the factors associated with knowledge about OCPs among users. Methods This cross-sectional survey was conducted at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia between April and June 2014. We included married, non-pregnant women >18 years old who had used a combined 21-day OCP for at least 3 months prior to recruitment. A questionnaire was used to collect the participants’ demographic information. It also assessed their knowledge about OCPs. Data were entered into and analyzed using SPSS software. Results A total of 357 women were recruited. Of these, 57.7% reported they knew what to do after missing one or two pills, but only 18.3% knew exactly what to do after missing more than two pills consecutively. Postgraduate women had a significantly higher knowledge score than illiterate women (P=0.002) and those who had completed at least primary education (P=0.001). Conversely, there was no difference in knowledge scores between Saudi and expatriate women (P=0.2). Monthly incomes (P=0.2) and mode of OCP selection (P=0.2) were also not significantly associated with knowledge scores. Conclusion Women had poor knowledge about OCP use. Appropriate measures should be taken to educate women about proper oral contraceptive use. PMID:25792813

Factors influencing medical students' choice of emergency medicine as a career specialty-a descriptive study of Saudi medical students.

Science.gov (United States)

Alkhaneen, Hadeel; Alhusain, Faisal; Alshahri, Khalid; Al Jerian, Nawfal

2018-03-07

Choosing a medical specialty is a poorly understood process. Although studies conducted around the world have attempted to identify the factors that affect medical students' choice of specialty, data is scarce on the factors that influence the choice of specialty of Saudi Arabian medical students, in particular those planning a career in emergency medicine (EM). In this study, we investigated whether Saudi medical students choosing EM are influenced by different factors to those choosing other specialties. A cross-sectional survey was conducted at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAUHS), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire distributed among all undergraduate and postgraduate medical students of both sexes in the second and third phases (57% were males and 43% were females). A total of 436 students answered the questionnaire, a response rate of 53.4%. EM group was most influenced by hospital orientation and lifestyle and least influenced by social orientation and prestige provided by their specialty. Unlike controllable lifestyle (CL) group and primary care (PC) group, EM reported lesser influence of social orientation on their career choice. When compared with students primarily interested in the surgical subspecialties (SS), EM group were less likely to report prestige as an important influence. Moreover, students interested in SS reported a leaser influence of medical lifestyle in comparison to EM group. When compared with CL group, EM group reported more interest in medical lifestyle. We found that students primarily interested in EM had different values and career expectations to other specialty groups. The trends in specialty choice should be appraised to meet future needs.

Treadmill walking exercise modulates bone mineral status and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz. University ... maintenance therapy in the management of asthma19. Obesity is ..... decreases circulating interleukin-6 in lean and obese men.

The impact of work-related stress on medication errors in Eastern Region Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Salam, Abdul; Segal, David M; Abu-Helalah, Munir Ahmad; Gutierrez, Mary Lou; Joosub, Imran; Ahmed, Wasim; Bibi, Rubina; Clarke, Elizabeth; Qarni, Ali Ahmed Al

2018-05-07

To examine the relationship between overall level and source-specific work-related stressors on medication errors rate. A cross-sectional study examined the relationship between overall levels of stress, 25 source-specific work-related stressors and medication error rate based on documented incident reports in Saudi Arabia (SA) hospital, using secondary databases. King Abdulaziz Hospital in Al-Ahsa, Eastern Region, SA. Two hundred and sixty-nine healthcare professionals (HCPs). The odds ratio (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) for HCPs documented incident report medication errors and self-reported sources of Job Stress Survey. Multiple logistic regression analysis identified source-specific work-related stress as significantly associated with HCPs who made at least one medication error per month (P stress were two times more likely to make at least one medication error per month than non-stressed HCPs (OR: 1.95, P = 0.081). This is the first study to use documented incident reports for medication errors rather than self-report to evaluate the level of stress-related medication errors in SA HCPs. Job demands, such as social stressors (home life disruption, difficulties with colleagues), time pressures, structural determinants (compulsory night/weekend call duties) and higher income, were significantly associated with medication errors whereas overall stress revealed a 2-fold higher trend.

Stress management in dental students: a systematic review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alzahem AM

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Abdullah M Alzahem,1 Henk T Van der Molen,2 Arwa H Alaujan,3 Benjamin J De Boer4 1King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 2Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; 3Dental Services, Central Region, King Abdulaziz Medical City, National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 4Clinical Psychology, Princess Nora University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Abstract: This study compared the effectiveness of stress management programs in dental education by systematic review of the literature. The number of studies concerning stress management programs for dental students is limited compared with studies discussing sources of stress. Several types of programs for stress management have been reported, and differ in their duration, content, and outcomes. Two main strategies have been used to help stressed students, ie, decreasing the number of stressors and increasing the ability to cope with stress. The first strategy includes several components, such as reducing fear of failure and workload pressure due to examinations and requirements. The second strategy includes coping techniques, such as deep breathing exercises. Although positive effects have been reported for most of the programs, these have mainly been evaluated using subjective self-report measures. There is a need for more research to identify the most effective stress management program. Keywords: students, dentistry, education, management, stress

An experiment to use medical I-131 as tracer in a city sewer system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ulbrich, Susanne; Fischer, Helmut W. [University of Bremen, Institute of Environmental Physics, Otto-Hahn-Allee 1, D-28359 Bremen (Germany)

2014-07-01

City sewer systems have to reliably carry residential and industrial wastewater to treatment plants, often mixed with rainwater. Transport in the sewer system is regularly modelled in order to predict sewerage levels, transport velocities and volume discharges. Radioisotopes would be interesting tracers, as they can be detected quickly and without the need of applying wet chemistry. Medical isotopes are released in large quantities (many MBq) by excretion from patients either at the location of administration or from elsewhere, most probably the patient's home. Depending on diagnostic or treatment modality, isotopes of different physical characteristics are used, often bound to compounds of specific metabolic behaviour. Routine environmental surveillance regularly detects the most common diagnostic ({sup 99m}Tc) and therapeutic ({sup 131}I) isotopes in city wastewater samples. Except for {sup 131}I in the case of a nuclear emergency, no contributions from sources other than medical are expected. Medical isotopes therefore might be used for tracing purposes, provided individual inputs can be identified and separated. A field experiment has been designed involving {sup 131}I releases from a single patient who had undergone radioiodine thyroid ablation therapy. This modality is applied after thyroid cancer surgery in order to destroy residual thyroid tissue. Activities up to 5 GBq of {sup 131}I are used which are excreted within few days, as no iodine-retaining thyroid tissue remains. In Germany, about 20,000 of these treatments are performed yearly. For a sewer system of 500,000 inhabitants, about 150 cases would be expected per year, making it quite improbable to have interference between individual patient releases in the same region of the city sewer system. Practically, the radiometric laboratory was informed of the expected release of an (anonymous) patient from the collaborating radiotherapy unit several days in advance, plus the approximate location of

Seroprevalence of fascioliasis, toxocariasis, strongyloidiasis and cysticercosis in blood samples diagnosed in Medic Medical Center Laboratory, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in 2012.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Toan; Cheong, Fei Wen; Liew, Jonathan Wee Kent; Lau, Yee Ling

2016-09-05

Despite the global effort against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), developing countries with middle to low income are still burdened by them. Vietnam has been undergoing substantial economic growth and urbanization, but underprivileged people living in rural and suburban areas are still having little access to public health infrastructure and proper sanitation. Hitherto, limited information is available for seroprevalence and risk factors of several parasitic diseases in Vietnam. A retrospective study was performed on diagnostic results of Fasciola spp., Toxocara spp., Strongyloides stercoralis and Taenia solium IgG ELISA tests from Medic Medical Center Laboratory, Ho Chi Minh City in 2012. The data were first stratified before statistical analyses were performed. Seroprevalence of fascioliasis, toxocariasis, strongyloidiasis and cysticercosis was determined and the age and gender risk factors were evaluated. Seroprevalence of fascioliasis, toxocariasis, strongyloidiasis and cysticercosis was 5.9 % (590/10,084; 95 % CI: 5.44-6.36), 45.2 % (34,995/77,356; 95 % CI: 44.85-45.55), 7.4 % (3,174/42,920; 95 % CI: 7.15-7.65) and 4.9 % (713/14,601; 95 % CI: 4.55-5.25), respectively. Co-exposure to multiple parasites was detected in 890 males (45.7 %; 95 % CI: 43.49-47.91) and 1,059 females (54.3 %; 95 % CI: 52.09-56.51). Social structure and differences in behavioural factors caused the gender factor to have a significant effect on the prevalence of all the diseases, while the seropositivity for fascioliasis and strongyloidiasis were age group-related. The seroprevalence of fascioliasis, toxocariasis, strongyloidiasis and cysticercosis in the blood samples diagnosed in Medic Medical Center Laboratory, Ho Chi Minh City, in year 2012 were comparatively high. The Vietnamese customs and cultures, dietary habits and agricultural practices exposed them to high risk of contracting NTDs. Despite the possibility of false positive results due to antigenic cross

Genome Sequence of a Multidrug-Resistant Strain of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia with Carbapenem Resistance, Isolated from King Abdullah Medical City, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

KAUST Repository

Abdel-Haleem, Alyaa M.; Rchiad, ‍ Zineb; Khan, Babar Khalid; Abdallah, Abdallah; Naeem, Raeece; Nikhat Sheerin, Shalam; Solovyev, Victor; Ahmed, Abdalla; Pain, Arnab

2015-01-01

The emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria have been regarded as major challenges among health care-associated infections worldwide. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of an MDR Stenotrophomonas maltophilia strain isolated in 2014 from King Abdulla Medical City, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.

Genome Sequence of a Multidrug-Resistant Strain of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia with Carbapenem Resistance, Isolated from King Abdullah Medical City, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

KAUST Repository

Abdel-Haleem, Alyaa M.

2015-10-15

The emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria have been regarded as major challenges among health care-associated infections worldwide. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of an MDR Stenotrophomonas maltophilia strain isolated in 2014 from King Abdulla Medical City, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.

Barriers to Prescription Medication Adherence Among Homeless and Vulnerably Housed Adults in Three Canadian Cities.

Science.gov (United States)

Hunter, Charlotte E; Palepu, Anita; Farrell, Susan; Gogosis, Evie; O'Brien, Kristen; Hwang, Stephen W

2015-07-01

Medication adherence is an important determinant of successful medical treatment. Marginalized populations, such as homeless and vulnerably housed individuals, may face substantial barriers to medication adherence. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of, reasons for, and factors associated with medication nonadherence among homeless and vulnerably housed individuals. Additionally, we examined the association between medication nonadherence and subsequent emergency department utilization during a 1-year follow-up period. Data were collected as part of the Health and Housing in Transition study, a prospective cohort study tracking the health and housing status of 595 homeless and 596 vulnerably housed individuals in 3 Canadian cities. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with medication nonadherence, as well as the association between medication nonadherence at baseline and subsequent emergency department utilization. Among 716 participants who had been prescribed a medication, 189 (26%) reported nonadherence. Being ≥40 years old was associated with decreased likelihood of nonadherence (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.59; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.41-0.84), as was having a primary care provider (AOR = 0.49; 95% CI = 0.34-0.71). Having a positive screen on the AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test; an indication of harmful or hazardous drinking) was associated with increased likelihood of nonadherence (AOR = 1.86; 95% CI = 1.31-2.63). Common reasons for nonadherence included side effects, cost, and lack of access to a physician. Self-reported nonadherence at baseline was significantly associated with frequent emergency department use (≥3 visits) over the follow-up period at the bivariate level (OR = 1.55; 95% CI = 1.02-2.35) but was not significant in a multivariate model (AOR = 1.49; 95% CI = 0.96-2.32). Homeless and vulnerably housed individuals face significant barriers to medication adherence. Health care

Medical students' knowledge of ionizing radiation and radiation protection.

Science.gov (United States)

Hagi, Sarah K; Khafaji, Mawya A

2011-05-01

To assess the knowledge of fourth-year medical students in ionizing radiation, and to study the effect of a 3-hour lecture in correcting their misconceptions. A cohort study was conducted on fourth-year medical students at King Abdul-Aziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the academic year 2009-2010. A 7-question multiple choice test-type questionnaire administered before, and after a 3-hour didactic lecture was used to assess their knowledge. The data was collected from December 2009 to February 2010. The lecture was given to 333 (72%) participants, out of the total of 459 fourth-year medical students. It covered topics in ionizing radiation and radiation protection. The questionnaire was validated and analyzed by 6 content experts. Of the 333 who attended the lecture, only 253 (76%) students completed the pre- and post questionnaire, and were included in this study. The average student score improved from 47-78% representing a gain of 31% in knowledge (p=0.01). The results indicated that the fourth-year medical students' knowledge regarding ionizing radiation and radiation protection is inadequate. Additional lectures in radiation protection significantly improved their knowledge of the topic, and correct their current misunderstanding. This study has shown that even with one dedicated lecture, students can learn, and absorb general principles regarding ionizing radiation.

Determination of the frequency of the most immunogenic Rhesus antigens among Saudi donors in King Abdulaziz Medical City ? Riyadh

OpenAIRE

Elsayid, Mohieldin; Al Qahtani, Faris Saeed; Al Qarni, Abdulaziz Mohammed; Almajed, Faisal; Al Saqri, Faisal; Qureshi, Shoeb

2017-01-01

Background: The Rhesus (Rh) blood group system is one of the most polymorphic and immunogenic systems known in humans, because of its immunogenicity along with ABO grouping, RhD antigen testing was made mandatory before issuing a compatible blood. At present, there are five major antigens, i.e., D, C, E, c, and e in Rh blood group system. Aims: The aim of this study is to provide essential data about the distribution of the major Rh antigens and the most common phenotype among the Saudi popul...

Burden of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus pneumonia among hospitalized patients in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Althaqafi AO

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Abdulhakeem O Althaqafi,1 Madonna J Matar,2 Rima Moghnieh,3 Adel F Alothman,4 Thamer H Alenazi,5 Fayssal Farahat,1 Shelby Corman,6 Caitlyn T Solem,6 Nirvana Raghubir,7 Cynthia Macahilig,8 Seema Haider,9 Jennifer M Stephens6 1Department of Infection Prevention and Control, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, King Saud bin AbdulAziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Infectious Disease, Notre Dame de Secours University Hospital, Byblos, 3Makassed General Hospital, Beirut, Lebanese Republic; 4Department of Medicine, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Central Region, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, 5Infection Prevention & Control Department, King Abdulaziz Medical City-Riyadh (KAMC, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 6Real World Evidence: Data Analytics Center of Excellence, Pharmerit International, Bethesda, MD, 7Medical Affairs, Pfizer, New York, NY, 8Medical Data Analytics, Parsippany, NJ, 9Outcomes & Evidence, Global Health and Value, Pfizer, Groton, CT, USA Objectives: The objective of this study is to describe the real-world treatment patterns and burden of suspected or confirmed methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA pneumonia in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. Methods: A retrospective chart review study evaluated 2011–2012 data from hospitals in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. Patients were included if they had been discharged with a diagnosis of MRSA pneumonia, which was culture proven or suspected based on clinical criteria. Hospital data were abstracted for a random sample of patients to capture demographics (eg, age and comorbidities, treatment patterns (eg, timing and use of antimicrobials, hospital resource utilization (eg, length of stay, and clinical outcomes (eg, clinical status at discharge and mortality. Descriptive results were reported using frequencies or proportions for categorical variables and mean and standard deviation for continuous variables. Results: Chart

Leg ischemia post-varicocelectomy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Al-Wahbi AM

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Abdullah M Al-Wahbi1, Shaza Elmoukaied2 1Division of Vascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Surgery, Dr Sulaiman Al Habib Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Abstract: Varicocelectomy is the most commonly performed operation for the treatment of male infertility. Many surgical approaches are used as each of them has advantages over the other and is preferred by surgeons. Vascular injury has never been reported as a complication of varicocelectomy apart from testicular artery injury. We present a 36-year-old male who developed leg ischemia post-varicocelectomy due to common femoral artery injury. He was successfully treated by using a vein graft. Keywords: varicocele, varicocelectomy, complications, vascular injuries

Dynamic Network Model for Smart City Data-Loss Resilience Case Study: City-to-City Network for Crime Analytics.

Science.gov (United States)

Kotevska, Olivera; Kusne, A Gilad; Samarov, Daniel V; Lbath, Ahmed; Battou, Abdella

2017-01-01

Today's cities generate tremendous amounts of data, thanks to a boom in affordable smart devices and sensors. The resulting big data creates opportunities to develop diverse sets of context-aware services and systems, ensuring smart city services are optimized to the dynamic city environment. Critical resources in these smart cities will be more rapidly deployed to regions in need, and those regions predicted to have an imminent or prospective need. For example, crime data analytics may be used to optimize the distribution of police, medical, and emergency services. However, as smart city services become dependent on data, they also become susceptible to disruptions in data streams, such as data loss due to signal quality reduction or due to power loss during data collection. This paper presents a dynamic network model for improving service resilience to data loss. The network model identifies statistically significant shared temporal trends across multivariate spatiotemporal data streams and utilizes these trends to improve data prediction performance in the case of data loss. Dynamics also allow the system to respond to changes in the data streams such as the loss or addition of new information flows. The network model is demonstrated by city-based crime rates reported in Montgomery County, MD, USA. A resilient network is developed utilizing shared temporal trends between cities to provide improved crime rate prediction and robustness to data loss, compared with the use of single city-based auto-regression. A maximum improvement in performance of 7.8% for Silver Spring is found and an average improvement of 5.6% among cities with high crime rates. The model also correctly identifies all the optimal network connections, according to prediction error minimization. City-to-city distance is designated as a predictor of shared temporal trends in crime and weather is shown to be a strong predictor of crime in Montgomery County.

Dynamic Network Model for Smart City Data-Loss Resilience Case Study: City-to-City Network for Crime Analytics

Science.gov (United States)

Kotevska, Olivera; Kusne, A. Gilad; Samarov, Daniel V.; Lbath, Ahmed; Battou, Abdella

2017-01-01

Today’s cities generate tremendous amounts of data, thanks to a boom in affordable smart devices and sensors. The resulting big data creates opportunities to develop diverse sets of context-aware services and systems, ensuring smart city services are optimized to the dynamic city environment. Critical resources in these smart cities will be more rapidly deployed to regions in need, and those regions predicted to have an imminent or prospective need. For example, crime data analytics may be used to optimize the distribution of police, medical, and emergency services. However, as smart city services become dependent on data, they also become susceptible to disruptions in data streams, such as data loss due to signal quality reduction or due to power loss during data collection. This paper presents a dynamic network model for improving service resilience to data loss. The network model identifies statistically significant shared temporal trends across multivariate spatiotemporal data streams and utilizes these trends to improve data prediction performance in the case of data loss. Dynamics also allow the system to respond to changes in the data streams such as the loss or addition of new information flows. The network model is demonstrated by city-based crime rates reported in Montgomery County, MD, USA. A resilient network is developed utilizing shared temporal trends between cities to provide improved crime rate prediction and robustness to data loss, compared with the use of single city-based auto-regression. A maximum improvement in performance of 7.8% for Silver Spring is found and an average improvement of 5.6% among cities with high crime rates. The model also correctly identifies all the optimal network connections, according to prediction error minimization. City-to-city distance is designated as a predictor of shared temporal trends in crime and weather is shown to be a strong predictor of crime in Montgomery County. PMID:29250476

Characterization of Staphylococcus aureus Isolates That Colonize Medical Students in a Hospital of the City of Cali, Colombia

OpenAIRE

Collazos Marín, Luis Fernando; Estupiñan Arciniegas, Gina; Chavez Vivas, Monica

2015-01-01

Introduction. Nasal carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) represents a risk for the spread of bacteria. This study characterized the S. aureus isolated from medical students, who were in their clinical rotation at a hospital in the city of Cali. Materials and Methods. 216 students participated in the study and 63 isolates of S. aureus were evaluated for susceptibility and PCR amplification of agr and mecA genes. The origin of MRSA isolates was established by analyzing...

[Factors associated with the regular use of sources of information by medical students from four cities of Peru].

Science.gov (United States)

Mejía, Christian R; Valladares-Garrido, Mario J; Luyo-Rivas, Aldo; Valladares-Garrido, Danai; Talledo-Ulfe, Lincolth; Vilela-Estrada, Martín A; Araujo Chumacero, Mary M

2015-01-01

Objetives. To determine the factors associated with regular use of sources of information by medical students in four cities in Peru. In this cross-sectional study, medical students were surveyed in four cities of Peru, gathering information on the use of 14 sources of information and other educational and computer variables. Frequent use of the information source was defined if the respondent reported that they access an information source at least once a week. P values were obtained by generalized linear models adjusted for each respondent site. 2,300 students were surveyed. The median age was 21 years and 53% were women. Having received training in the use of sources increased the use in twelve of the consulted bases, not in SciELO (p=0.053) or in the university library (p=0.509).When adjusting for owning a laptop/netbook, these associations remained. After also adjusting for owning a smartphone the association was lost with the BVS Peru database (p=0.067). The association was also lost after making the final adjustment, if the respondent had carried out any research activities. The frequent use of sources of information is associated with having received training, conducting research and use of information technologies and communication. This should be taken into account in training programs and continuous improvement in undergraduate education.

Monitoring of radioactivity in foodstuffs: experience gained and recommendations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mamoon, A.M.; Abdulfattah, A.F.; Abulfaraj, W.H.; Abdul-Majid, S.; Al-Johani, M.; Abubakar, K.M.

1988-01-01

The Chernobyl reactor accident released large amounts of radioactivity that was carried by winds across international boundaries. Soils and surface waters as well as vegetation and grazing animals in neighbouring countries to the Soviet Union were subject to radioactive contamination in various degrees. Saudi Arabia imports much of its foodstuffs from European countries and about 75% of the imported foodstuffs come through western ports of the country. Hence the Government of Saudi Arabia took appropriate measures to ensure safety of imported foodstuffs. King Abdulaziz University (KAU) was directed by the government at about mid-June 1986, to carry out radioactivity inspections of food items reaching Jeddah, Yanbu and Jizan seaports as well as food arrivals at King Abdulaziz International Airport at Jeddah. Parallel responsibilities were assigned to other universities and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, for radioactivity inspections of imported foodstuffs reaching ports or inlets in their respective areas. In applying the measures and controls enacted by the government against importation of radioactively contaminated foodstuffs, much management experience was acquired and some of it is rather unique to Saudi Arabia

Occupational Radiation Dose for Medical Workers at a University Hospital

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M.H. Nassef

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Occupational radiation doses for medical workers from the departments of diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine, and radiotherapy at the university hospital of King Abdul-Aziz University (KAU were measured and analysed. A total of 100 medical radiation workers were monitored to determine the status of their average annual effective dose. The analysis and the calibration procedures of this study were carried out at the Center for Radiation Protection and Training-KAU. The monitored workers were classified into subgroups, namely, medical staff/supervisors, technicians, and nurses, according to their responsibilities and specialties. The doses were measured using thermo luminescence dosimeters (TLD-100 (LiF:Mg,Ti placed over the lead apron at the chest level in all types of workers except for those in the cath lab, for whom the TLD was placed at the thyroid protective collar. For nuclear medicine, a hand dosimeter was used to measure the hand dose distribution. The annual average effective doses for diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine, and radiotherapy workers were found to be 0.66, 1.56, and 0.28 mSv, respectively. The results of the measured annual dose were well below the international recommended dose limit of 20 mSv. Keywords: Occupational radiation dose, radiation workers, TLD, radiation protection

Innovative Information Systems in the Intensive Care Unit, King Saud Medical City in Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Al Saleem, Nouf; Al Harthy, Abdulrahman

2015-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the experience of implementing innovative information technology to improve the quality of services in one of the largest Intensive Care Units in Saudi Arabia. The Intensive Care Units in King Saud Medical City (ICU-KSMC) is the main ICU in the kingdom that represents the Ministry of Health. KSMC's ICU is also considered one of the largest ICU in the world as it consists of six units with 129 beds. Leaders in KSMC's ICU have introduced and integrated three information technologies to produce powerful, accurate, and timely information systems to overcome the challenges of the ICU nature and improve the quality of service to ensure patients' safety. By 2015, ICU in KSMC has noticed a remarkable improvement in: beds' occupation and utilization, staff communication, reduced medical errors, and improved departmental work flow, which created a healthy professional work environment. Yet, ICU in KSMC has ongoing improvement projects that include future plans for more innovative information technologies' implementation in the department.

Prevalence of malnutrition and associated factors among hospitalized elderly patients in King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Alzahrani, Sami H; Alamri, Sultan H

2017-07-03

Malnutrition is a nutritional disorder that adversely affects the body from a functional or clinical perspective. It is very often observed in the elderly population. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of malnutrition among hospitalized elderly patients and its associated factors and outcomes in terms of length of stay and mortality in King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In a cross-sectional study, we evaluated the nutritional status of hospitalized elderly patients using the most recent version of the short form of Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA-SF). A total of 248 hospitalized patients were included (70.0 ± 7.7 years; 60% female). According to the MNA-SF, a total of 76.6% patients were either malnourished or at risk of malnutrition. Malnourished patients had significantly lower levels of serum albumin (28.2 ± 7.7), hemoglobin (10.5 ± 1.8), and lymphocyte (1.7 ± 0.91). They had increased tendency to stay in the hospital for longer durations (IQR, 5-11 days; median = 7 days) and had a mortality rate of 6.9%. Malnutrition was highly prevalent among hospitalized elderly and was associated with increased length of stay and mortality.

Effect of course coordinator behavior and motivation on students' achievement: Results from five curriculum blocks of two undergraduate student cohorts at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University of Health Sciences.

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Al-Alwan, Ibrahim; Baig, Lubna Ansari; Badri, Motasim; Magzoub, Mohi Eldin; Alyousif, Sarah

2015-01-01

The purpose of the study was to assess the relationship between students' perception of course/block coordinators performance and attributes with students' assessment scores in respective courses. This retrospective data based study was conducted at the College of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University of Health Sciences (KSAU-HS). It was started in March 2013 and completed in June 2013 after the graduation of the fourth cohort. Exam score of 3(rd) and 4(th) cohort of students from the courses taught in the last two years of medical school were correlated with faculty and block evaluation done by the students. Scores from mid-block MCQs, portfolio scores, OSCEs and end-of-block MCQs were obtained. The Mean scores of all the assessments for all five blocks were not significantly different for both batches. There was significant difference between block coordinators for students' score on portfolio, midterm exam and the final written exam. The students' Score in OSCE had significantly strong correlation with quality of station monitors, coverage of content and flow between stations. Student's perception of the commitment and motivation of the coordinator was strongly correlated with block organization, availability of clinical cases, performance of block coordinator, cooperation with students, and organization of clinical activities. Block coordinator's motivation and commitment affects quality of block organization and student`s success. Faculty training programs should include block management competencies and components identified through self-determination theory for improving the intrinsic motivation for students success.

Plasma inflammatory biomarkers response to aerobic versus ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University. Abstract. Background: Chronic ... beneficial effects in correction of the adverse effects of COPD. Objective: This study aimed to ... exercise training for 3 months and group (B) received resisted exercise training.

Medically indigent women seeking abortion prior to legalization: New York City, 1969-1970.

Science.gov (United States)

Belsky, J E

1992-01-01

If the efforts now underway to limit access to abortion services in the United States are successful, their greatest impact will be on women who lack the funds to obtain abortions elsewhere. There is little published information, however, about the experience of medically indigent women who sought abortions under the old, restrictive state laws. This article details the psychiatric evaluation of 199 women requesting a therapeutic abortion at a large municipal hospital in New York City under a restrictive abortion law. Thirty-nine percent had tried to abort the pregnancy. Fifty-seven percent had concrete evidence of serious psychiatric disorder. Forty-eight percent had been traumatized by severe family disruption, gross emotional deprivation or abuse during childhood. Seventy-nine percent lacked emotional support from the man responsible for the pregnancy, and the majority were experiencing overwhelming stress from the interplay of multiple problems exacerbated by their unwanted pregnancy.

MO-DE-BRA-03: The Ottawa Medical Physics Institute (OMPI): A Practical Model for Academic Program Collaboration in a Multi-Centre City

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McEwen, M [National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada); Rogers, D [Carleton University, Ottawa, ON (Canada); Johns, P

2016-06-15

Purpose: To build a world-class medical physics educational program that capitalizes on expertise distributed over several clinical, government, and academic centres. Few if any of these centres would have the critical mass to solely resource a program. Methods: In order to enable an academic program, stakeholders from five institutions made a proposal to Carleton University for a) a research network with defined membership requirements and a process for accepting new members, and b) a graduate specialization (MSc and PhD) in medical physics. Both proposals were accepted and the program has grown steadily. Our courses are taught by medical physicists from across the collaboration. Our students have access to physicists in: clinical radiotherapy (the Ottawa Cancer Centre treats 4500 new patients/y), radiology, cardiology and nuclear medicine, Canada’s primary standards dosimetry laboratory, radiobiology, and university-based medical physics research. Our graduate courses emphasize the foundational physics plus applied aspects of imaging, radiotherapy, and radiobiology. Active researchers in the city-wide volunteer-run network are appointed as adjunct professors by Physics, giving them access to national funding competitions and partial student funding through teaching assistantships while opening up facilities in their institutions for student thesis research. Results: The medical physics network has grown to ∼40 members from eight institutions and includes five full-time faculty in Physics and 17 adjunct research professors. The graduate student population is ∼20. Our graduates have proceeded to a spectrum of careers. Our alumni list includes a CCPM Past-President, the current COMP President, many clinical physicists, and the heads of at least three major clinical medical physics departments. Our PhD was Ontario’s first CAMPEP-accredited program. Conclusion: A self-governing volunteer network is the foundational element that enables an MSc/PhD medical

MO-DE-BRA-03: The Ottawa Medical Physics Institute (OMPI): A Practical Model for Academic Program Collaboration in a Multi-Centre City

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McEwen, M; Rogers, D; Johns, P

2016-01-01

Purpose: To build a world-class medical physics educational program that capitalizes on expertise distributed over several clinical, government, and academic centres. Few if any of these centres would have the critical mass to solely resource a program. Methods: In order to enable an academic program, stakeholders from five institutions made a proposal to Carleton University for a) a research network with defined membership requirements and a process for accepting new members, and b) a graduate specialization (MSc and PhD) in medical physics. Both proposals were accepted and the program has grown steadily. Our courses are taught by medical physicists from across the collaboration. Our students have access to physicists in: clinical radiotherapy (the Ottawa Cancer Centre treats 4500 new patients/y), radiology, cardiology and nuclear medicine, Canada’s primary standards dosimetry laboratory, radiobiology, and university-based medical physics research. Our graduate courses emphasize the foundational physics plus applied aspects of imaging, radiotherapy, and radiobiology. Active researchers in the city-wide volunteer-run network are appointed as adjunct professors by Physics, giving them access to national funding competitions and partial student funding through teaching assistantships while opening up facilities in their institutions for student thesis research. Results: The medical physics network has grown to ∼40 members from eight institutions and includes five full-time faculty in Physics and 17 adjunct research professors. The graduate student population is ∼20. Our graduates have proceeded to a spectrum of careers. Our alumni list includes a CCPM Past-President, the current COMP President, many clinical physicists, and the heads of at least three major clinical medical physics departments. Our PhD was Ontario’s first CAMPEP-accredited program. Conclusion: A self-governing volunteer network is the foundational element that enables an MSc/PhD medical

Increased cesarean section rate in Central Saudi Arabia: a change in practice or different maternal characteristics

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Al-Kadri HM

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Hanan M Al-Kadri,1 Sultana A Al-Anazi,1 Hani M Tamim21Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, King Abdulaziz Medical City, 2College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaBackground: Cesarean section (CS rate has shown creepy increase. We aimed in this work to identify factors contributing to increasing rate of CS in central Saudi Arabia.Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted at King Abdulaziz Medical City. Two groups of women were included (G1 and G2. G1 had delivered by CS during the year 2002 (CS rate 12%, and G2 had delivered by CS during the year 2009 (CS rate 20%. We compared the included women’s characteristics, neonates, CS indications, and complications. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 15 program. Odds ratios and confidence intervals were calculated to report precision of categorical data results. A P-value of ≤0.05 was considered significant.Results: A total of 198 women were included in G1 and 200 in G2. Both groups had comparable maternal and fetal characteristics; however, absence of antenatal care has resulted in 70% increase in CS deliveries for G2, P=0.008, OR =0.30, CI 0.12–0.76. Previous vaginal surgeries have contributed to tenfold increase in CS deliveries for G2, P=0.006, OR =10.37, CI 1.32–81.78. G2 had eight times increased CS deliveries than G1 due to intrauterine growth restriction, P=0.02, OR =8.21, CI 1.02–66.25, and 80% increased risk of CS was based on maternal demand, P=0.02, OR =0.20, CI 0.02–1.71. Decision taken by less-experienced staff was associated with 2.5-fold increase in CS deliveries for G2, P=0.002, OR =2.62, CI 1.39–4.93. There was a significant increase in CS deliveries under regional analgesia and shorter duration of hospital stay for G2, P=0.0001 and P=0.001, respectively. G2 women had 2.75-fold increase in neonatal intensive care unit admission, P=0.03, OR =2.75, CI 1.06–7.15.Conclusion: CS delivery rate

Comparison of outpatient medically attended and community-level influenza-like illness-New York City, 2013-2015.

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Russell, Kate E; Fowlkes, Ashley; Stockwell, Melissa S; Vargas, Celibell Y; Saiman, Lisa; Larson, Elaine L; LaRussa, Philip; Di Lonardo, Steve; Popowich, Michael; St George, Kirsten; Steffens, Andrea; Reed, Carrie

2018-05-01

Surveillance of influenza-like illness (ILI) in the United States is primarily conducted through medical settings despite a significant burden of non-medically attended ILI. To assess consistency between surveillance for respiratory viruses in outpatient and community settings using ILI surveillance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Influenza Incidence Surveillance Project (IISP) and the Mobile Surveillance for Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) and Influenza-Like Illness in the Community (MoSAIC) Study. The Influenza Incidence Surveillance Project conducts ILI surveillance in 3 primary care clinics in New York City, and MoSAIC conducts community-based ILI/ARI surveillance through text messaging among a cohort of New York City residents. Both systems obtain respiratory specimens from participants with ILI/ARI and test for multiple pathogens. We conducted a retrospective review of ILI cases in IISP and MoSAIC from January 2013 to May 2015 with descriptive analyses of clinical and laboratory data. Five-hundred twelve MoSAIC and 669 IISP participants met an ILI criteria (fever with cough or sore throat) and were included. Forty percent of MoSAIC participants sought care; the majority primary care. Pathogens were detected in 63% of MoSAIC and 70% of IISP cases. The relative distribution of influenza and other respiratory viruses detected was similar; however, there were statistically significant differences in the frequency that were not explained by care seeking. Outpatient and community-based surveillance in the one found similar timing and relative distribution of respiratory viruses, but community surveillance in a single neighborhood may not fully capture the variations in ILI etiology that occur more broadly. Published 2018. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A learning skills course for the 1st year medical students: an experience at a Saudi medical school

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Siddiqui IA

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Imran A Siddiqui,1 Khalid A Bin Abdulrahman,2 Mohammed A Alsultan3 1Department of Medical Education and Postgraduate Studies, Saudi Commission for Health Specialties, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 2College of Medicine, Al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 3College of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Background: Every year nearly 1,500 students enter into medical program after passing high school and national aptitude exams. However, many students experience frustration, failure, and psychological morbidities like stress, depression, and anxiety because they are not aware of their learning styles or do not have effective learning skills and strategies. The College of Medicine of Al-Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University has adopted the outcome based, community oriented, Spiral Curriculum. Although the curriculum is innovative, on the other hand, it is very demanding. Objective: The purpose of this paper is to share educational structure and evaluation results of the course on effective learning and study skills for the 1st year medical students. Methods: To prepare our students in order to cope with this demanding but promising curriculum, we conducted an effective and comprehensive learning skills course for 16 weeks in the first semester of year 1 in the medical program. Performance of each student was assessed and the course evaluation was done by students at the end of the course. Results: The attendance of the students throughout the course was over 90%. The average performance of students in the summative assessment was 78% and the course was generally liked by the students. Discussion: Students overall had a positive attitude toward the learning skills course. Majority of the students showed interest in attending the sessions regularly and realized the significance of this course to improve their learning skills. Keywords: medical students, learning

Continuous professional training of medical laboratory scientists in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background. Training and re-training of healthcare workers is pivotal to improved service delivery. Objective. To determine the proportion of practising medical laboratory scientists with in-service training in Benin City, Nigeria and areas covered by these programmes. Methods. Medical laboratory scientists from Benin City ...

Characterization of Staphylococcus aureus Isolates That Colonize Medical Students in a Hospital of the City of Cali, Colombia

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Luis Fernando Collazos Marín

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Nasal carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA represents a risk for the spread of bacteria. This study characterized the S. aureus isolated from medical students, who were in their clinical rotation at a hospital in the city of Cali. Materials and Methods. 216 students participated in the study and 63 isolates of S. aureus were evaluated for susceptibility and PCR amplification of agr and mecA genes. The origin of MRSA isolates was established by analyzing agr polymorphisms. Results. A total of 29.2% of students were colonized by S. aureus and nasal carriage rate was 23.6% and 14.3% MRSA. Three agr groups (agr II, and agr III were identified; the agr I group was the most common, with a 35% prevalence; this group is from community origin. Conclusion. The present study demonstrates that medical students carry S. aureus strains, with the threat of spreading them both to community and hospital environments.

Eco2 Cities : Ecological Cities as Economic Cities

OpenAIRE

Suzuki, Hiroaki; Dastur, Arish; Moffatt, Sebastian; Yabuki, Nanae; Maruyama, Hinako

2010-01-01

This book provides an overview of the World Bank's Eco2 cities : ecological cities as economic cities initiative. The objective of the Eco2 cities initiative is to help cities in developing countries achieve a greater degree of ecological and economic sustainability. The book is divided into three parts. Part one describes the Eco2 cities initiative framework. It describes the approach, be...

Identification and Characterization of Linezolid-Resistant cfr-Positive Staphylococcus aureus USA300 Isolates from a New York City Medical Center

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Zuill, Douglas E.; Scharn, Caitlyn R.; Deane, Jennifer; Sahm, Daniel F.; Goering, Richard V.; Jenkins, Stephen G.; Shaw, Karen J.

2014-01-01

The cfr gene was identified in three linezolid-resistant USA300 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates collected over a 3-day period at a New York City medical center in 2011 as part of a routine surveillance program. Each isolate possessed a plasmid containing a pSCFS3-like cfr gene environment. Transformation of the cfr-bearing plasmids into the S. aureus ATCC 29213 background recapitulated the expected Cfr antibiogram, including resistance to linezolid, tiamulin, clindamycin, and florfenicol and susceptibility to tedizolid. PMID:25136008

Estimation of effective collective doses to population of Balti city with health risk assessment by means of medical radiodiagnostic irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chislari, V.

2009-01-01

In this work the equivalent of effective collective dose, average annual of radio diagnostic researches in medicine for one habitant Belti city during 2006-2008 and a tendency was exposed to multiplying a dose due to multiplying the number of radiological researches was calculated. As compared to indexes for Republic of Moldova annual equivalent of effective dose is increased in 3 times. A potential risk of a medical radiation makes in 2006 - 7 cases of cancer, in 2007 - 8 cases and in 2009 - 9 cases. (author)

Knowledge, attitude, and practices of infertility among Saudi couples

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Abolfotouh MA

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Mostafa A Abolfotouh,1 Abdullah A Alabdrabalnabi,2 Rehab B Albacker,3 Umar A Al-Jughaiman,4 Samar N Hassan5 1King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 2University of Dammam, College of Medicine, Dammam, Saudi Arabia; 3King Saud University, College of Medicine, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 4King Faisal University, College of Medicine, Dammam, Saudi Arabia; 5Division of Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Introduction: Infertility places a huge psychological burden on infertile couples, especially for women. Greater knowledge of the factors affecting fertility may help to decrease the incidence of infertility by allowing couples to avoid certain risk factors. The aim of our study was (1 to assess the knowledge and attitudes of infertile and fertile Saudi participants on infertility, possible risk factors, and social consequences; and (2 to determine the practices of infertile Saudi couples to promote their fertility before having them attend an in vitro fertilization (IVF clinic. Methods and materials: We conducted a cross-sectional study on 277 fertile participants from outpatient clinics and 104 infertile patients from the IVF clinic at King Abdulaziz Medical City between June 24, 2012 and July 4, 2012, using a previously validated interview questionnaire. Descriptive and analytical statistics were applied with a significance threshold of P ≤ 0.05. Results: A generally poor level of knowledge (59% and a neutral attitude (76% toward infertility were reported by participants. Mistaken beliefs commonly held by the study participants regarding the causes of infertility were Djinns and supernatural causes (58.8%, black magic (67.5%, intrauterine devices (71.3%, and contraceptive pills (42.9%. The healer/Sheikh was reported as the primary and secondary preference for infertility

Libyan Journal of Medicine - Vol 8, No 1 (2013)

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Letter to Editor: Simple steps to avoid plagiarism and improve scientific writing ... bowel syndrome among medical students and interns in King Abdulaziz University, ... A combination of plasma DAO and citrulline levels as a potential marker for ...

Feminization of the medical workforce in low-income settings; findings from surveys in three African capital cities.

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Russo, Giuliano; Gonçalves, Luzia; Craveiro, Isabel; Dussault, Gilles

2015-07-31

Women represent an increasingly growing share of the medical workforce in high-income countries, with abundant research focusing on reasons and implications of the phenomenon. Little evidence is available from low- and middle-income countries, which is odd given the possible repercussion this may have for the local supply of medical services and, ultimately, for attaining universal health coverage. Drawing from secondary analysis of primary survey data, this paper analyses the proportion and characteristics of female physicians in Bissau, Maputo and Praia, with the objective of gaining insights on the extent and features of the feminization of the medical workforce in low- and middle-income settings. We used descriptive statistics, parametric and non-parametric test to compare groups and explore associations between different variables. Zero-inflated and generalized linear models were employed to analyse the number of hours worked in the private and public sector by male and female physicians. We show that although female physicians do not represent yet the majority of the medical workforce, feminization of the profession is under way in the three locations analysed, as women are presently over-represented in younger age groups. Female doctors distribute unevenly across medical specialties in the three cities and are absent from traditionally male-dominated ones such as surgery, orthopaedics and stomatology. Our data also show that they engage as much as their male peers in private practice, although overall they dedicate fewer hours to the profession, particularly in the public sector. While more research is needed to understand how this phenomenon affects rural areas in a broader range of locations, our work shows the value of exploring the differences between female and male physicians' engagement with the profession in order to anticipate the impact of such feminization on national health systems and workforces in low- and middle-income countries.

A questionnaire survey of medical cooperation by the Iwaki medical association

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Midorikawa, Yasuhiko

2013-01-01

It has been pointed out that currently, Iwaki City faces an insufficiency of doctors working at hospitals, compared with before. Such an insufficiency became more remarkable after the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Fukushima Nuclear Disaster, as about 30,000 people relocated to Iwaki City from the evacuation areas. In this regard, the Iwaki Medical Association conducted a questionnaire survey to investigate the problems of medical cooperation and utilize the data to improve medical cooperation within hospitals and clinics. A total of 159 doctors answered the questionnaires: 64% were community physicians, 36% were doctors working at hospitals, and 42% were physicians. About 60% of the doctors were satisfied with the present medical cooperation. Home health care was performed by 25% of the doctors working at hospitals and 45% of the community physicians. Approximately 80% of the doctors felt the need for additional physicians to perform home health care, although more than half of the doctors answered that they do not perform it. Various problems exist in the context of medical cooperation, but many doctors still hope for its improvement, according to the answers in the questionnaires. Efforts have to be exerted further in order to enhance medical cooperation among the health care team. (author)

[A questionnaire survey of medical cooperation by the Iwaki Medical Association].

Science.gov (United States)

Midorikawa, Yasuhiko

2013-12-01

It has been pointed out that currently, Iwaki City faces an insufficiency of doctors working at hospitals, compared with before. Such an insufficiency became more remarkable after the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Fukushima Nuclear Disaster, as about 30,000 people relocated to Iwaki City from the evacuation areas. In this regard, the Iwaki Medical Association conducted a questionnaire survey to investigate the problems of medical cooperation and utilize the data to improve medical cooperation within hospitals and clinics. A total of 159 doctors answered the questionnaires: 64% were community physicians, 36% were doctors working at hospitals, and 42% were physicians. About 60% of the doctors were satisfied with the present medical cooperation. Home health care was performed by 25% of the doctors working at hospitals and 45% of the community physicians. Approximately 80% of the doctors felt the need for additional physicians to perform home health care, although more than half of the doctors answered that they do not perform it. Various problems exist in the context of medical cooperation, but many doctors still hope for its improvement, according to the answers in the questionnaires. Efforts have to be exerted further in order to enhance medical cooperation among the health care team.

Burden and treatment patterns of invasive fungal infections in hospitalized patients in the Middle East: real-world data from Saudi Arabia and Lebanon

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Alothman AF

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Adel F Alothman,1 Abdulhakeem O Althaqafi,2 Madonna J Matar,3 Rima Moghnieh,4 Thamer H Alenazi,1 Fayssal M Farahat,2 Shelby Corman,5 Caitlyn T Solem,5 Nirvana Raghubir,6 Cynthia Macahilig,7 Claudie Charbonneau,8 Jennifer M Stephens5 1College of Medicine, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Infection Prevention and Control, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, King Saud bin AbdulAziz University for Health Sciences, King AbdulAziz Medical City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 3Department of Infectious Disease, Notre Dame de Secours University Hospital, Byblos, Lebanon; 4Department of Internal Medicine, Makassed General Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon; 5Real-world Evidence/Data Analytics Center of Excellence, Pharmerit International, Bethesda, MD, USA; 6Pfizer, New York, NY, 7Medical Data Analytics, Parsippany, NJ, USA; 8Pfizer International Operation, Paris, France Objectives: The objective of this study was to document the burden and treatment patterns associated with invasive fungal infections (IFIs due to Candida and Aspergillus species in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. Methods: A retrospective chart review study was conducted using data recorded from 2011 to 2012 from hospitals in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. Patients were included if they had been discharged with a diagnosis of IFI due to Candida or Aspergillus, which was culture proven or suspected based on clinical criteria. Hospital data were abstracted for a random sample of patients to capture demographics, treatment patterns, hospital resource utilization, and clinical outcomes. Descriptive results were reported. Results: Five hospitals participated and provided data on 102 patients with IFI (51 from Lebanon and 51 from Saudi Arabia. The mean age of the patients was 55 years, and 55% were males. Comorbidities included diabetes (41%, coronary artery disease (24%, leukemia (19%, moderate

An educational program about premarital screening for unmarried female students in King Abdul-Aziz University, Jeddah

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Nahla Khamis Ragab Ibrahim

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Summary: The present study was conducted to assess knowledge and attitude of unmarried female students in King Abdul-Aziz University (KAU towards premarital screening (PMS program, to determine predictors of high students’ knowledge scores and to improve their knowledge about PMS through conduction of an educational campaign. Multi-stage stratified random sample method was used with recruitment of 1563 students from all faculties of KAU, during the educational year 2008–2009. The Pre-test included 30 knowledge items and 14 attitude statements with student's response through a 5-point Likert scale. Health education was conducted using audiovisual aids through pre-designed educational materials. Statistical analysis was done by SPSS version 16. Results: Students’ knowledge about the program was generally low before the educational campaign. The predictors of high knowledge scores were being a health science student (aOR = 4.15; 95% CI: 2.97–5.81, age ≥20 years (aOR = 2.78; 95% CI: 2.01–3.85, family history of hereditary diseases and income ≥10,000 SR/month. Regarding attitude, almost all students (99.0% agreed on the importance of PMS. After the educational program, students’ knowledge about PMS was markedly improved. The mean students’ knowledge score was 9.85 ± 5.36 in Pre-test and improved to 18.45 ± 4.96 in Post-test, with a highly statistical significant difference (paired t = 25.40, p < 0.000. Conclusion and recommendations: The educational program was successful in improving students’ knowledge about the PMS. Conduction of similar educational programs and adding PMS in the curriculum of secondary and university education are recommended. Keywords: Premarital, Screening, University students, Educational program, Jeddah, KSA

Antidepressants and Youth Suicide in New York City, 1999-2002

Science.gov (United States)

Leon, Andrew C.; Marzuk, Peter M.; Tardiff, Kenneth; Bucciarelli, Angela; Piper, Tinka Markham; Galea, Sandro

2006-01-01

Objective: To determine the proportion of youth suicides in New York City from 1999 to 2002 in which antidepressants were detected at autopsy. Method: This is a medical examiner surveillance study of suicides in New York City among those younger than 18 years of age. The outcome measure is serum toxicology for antidepressants. Results: From 1999…

Smart City for a Sustainable Future: Is Delhi Ready?

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Anindita Roy Saha

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Cities are the geographic nodes around which people gather for their livelihood activities. Various factors like resources, technology, education, medical innovations and environmental developments have shaped modern cities. However, with rapid urbanization and population growth, many cities are facing the problems of degradation, pollution, diseases and a poor quality of life. The major challenges before the urban growth centers have necessitated the formation of smart cities. Sustainable future of a city lies in the development of transport, infrastructure, environment, energy, ICT and people with a sustainability approach. The Government of India has launched a scheme to create hundred smart cities across the country, among which the National Capital of Delhi is a frontrunner. This paper attempts to study the existing infrastructure and facilities in Delhi in order to assess its readiness to be a smart city. It also attempts to analyze the citizens’ perception about Delhi as a smart city through a primary survey. Although there are limitations in the current scenario of economic and environmental performances and people’s perceptions, Delhi makes a strong case for becoming a smart city.

Treatment patterns, resource utilization, and outcomes among hospitalized patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus complicated skin and soft tissue infections in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia

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Matar MJ

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Madonna J Matar,1 Rima Moghnieh,2 Adel F Alothman,3 Abdulhakeem O Althaqafi,4 Thamer H Alenazi,3 Fayssal M Farahat,4 Shelby Corman,5 Caitlyn T Solem,5 Nirvana Raghubir,6 Cynthia Macahilig,7 Seema Haider,8 Jennifer M Stephens5 1Department of Infectious Diseases, Notre Dame des Secours University Hospital, Jbeil, Lebanon; 2Department of Internal Medicine, Makassed General Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon; 3College of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 4King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Infection Prevention and Control, King AbdulAziz Medical City, King Saud bin AbdulAziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 5Pharmerit International, Real-World Evidence/Data Analytics, Bethesda, MD, 6Pfizer, New York, NY, 7Medical Data Analytics, Parsippany, NJ, 8Pfizer, Groton, CT, USA Objectives: To describe treatment patterns and medical resource use for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA complicated skin and soft tissue infections (cSSTI in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon in terms of drug selection against the infecting pathogen as well as hospital resource utilization and clinical outcomes among patients with these infections. Methods: This retrospective chart review study evaluated 2011–2012 data from five hospitals in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. Patients were included if they had been discharged with a diagnosis of MRSA cSSTI, which was culture-proven or suspected based on clinical criteria. Hospital data were abstracted for a random sample of patients with each infection type to capture demographics, treatment patterns, hospital resource utilization, and clinical outcomes. Statistical analysis was descriptive. Results: Data were abstracted from medical records of 87 patients with MRSA cSSTI; mean age 52.4±25.9 years and 61% male. Only 64% of patients received an MRSA active initial therapy, with 56% of first

in Beirut City

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D. El Khoury

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The use of nutritional supplements among exercisers in gyms has been never investigated in the Middle East. The aim of the current study was to assess the prevalence intake of nutritional supplements and the potential influencing factors among people exercising in gyms in Beirut city. In this cross-sectional study, 512 exercisers, aged between 20 and 50 years, were randomly selected from gyms. The intake of nutritional supplements was reported among 36.3% (95% confidence interval 32.2–40.5 of participants, with a weak presence of medical supervision. Patterns of supplement use differed by gender and age. Men and younger exercisers were found to focus on supplements associated with performance enhancement and muscle building, while women and older exercisers were more concerned with health-promoting products such as vitamins, minerals, and herbal supplements. An appropriate dissemination of accurate and scientifically sound information regarding the benefits and side effects of nutritional supplements is highly recommended in the sports environment in Beirut city.

Consumption patterns and levels among households with HIV positive members and economic impoverishment due to medical spending in Pune city, India.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Varun; Krishnaswamy, Divya; Mulay, Sanjeevanee

2015-01-01

HIV infection poses a serious threat to the economy of a household. Out of pocket (OOP) health spending can be prohibitive and can drag households below poverty level. Based on the data collected from a cross-sectional survey of 401 households with HIV+ members in Pune city, India, this paper examines the consumption levels and patterns among households, and comments on the economic impoverishment resulting from OOP medical spending. Analysis reveals that households with HIV members spend a major portion of their monthly consumption expenditure on food items. Medical expenditure constitutes a large portion of their total consumption spending. Expenditure on children's education constitutes a minor proportion of total monthly spending. A high proportion of medical expenditure has a bearing on the economic condition of households with HIV members. Poverty increases by 20% among the studied HIV households when OOP health spending is adjusted. It increases 18% among male-headed households and 26% among female-headed households. The results reiterate the need of greater support from the government in terms of accessibility and affordability of health care to save households with HIV members from economic catastrophe.

Knowledge, attitude and anxiety pertaining to basic life support and medical emergencies among dental interns in Mangalore City, India.

Science.gov (United States)

Somaraj, Vinej; Shenoy, Rekha P; Panchmal, Ganesh Shenoy; Jodalli, Praveen S; Sonde, Laxminarayan; Karkal, Ravichandra

2017-01-01

This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and anxiety pertaining to basic life support (BLS) and medical emergencies among interns in dental colleges of Mangalore city, Karnataka, India. The study subjects comprised of interns who volunteered from the four dental colleges. The knowledge and attitude of interns were assessed using a 30-item questionnaire prepared based on the Basic Life Support Manual from American Heart Association and the anxiety of interns pertaining to BLS and medical emergencies were assessed using a State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) Questionnaire. Chi-square test was performed on SPSS 21.0 (IBM Statistics, 2012) to determine statistically significant differences ( P <0.05) between assessed knowledge and anxiety. Out of 183 interns, 39.89% had below average knowledge. A total of 123 (67.21%) reported unavailability of professional training. The majority (180, 98.36%) felt the urgent need of training in basic life support procedures. Assessment of stress showed a total of 27.1% participants to be above high-stress level. Comparison of assessed knowledge and stress was found to be insignificant ( P =0.983). There was an evident lack of knowledge pertaining to the management of medical emergencies among the interns. As oral health care providers moving out to the society, a focus should be placed on the training of dental interns with respect to Basic Life Support procedures.

Epidemiology profile of renal cell carcinoma: A 10-year patients' experience at King Abdulaziz Medical City, National Guard Health Affairs, Saudi Arabia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah Z Mahasin

2018-01-01

Conclusion: In the past 10 years, there are more patients diagnosed incidentally with RCC, which is in line with the global trend. Patients were more likely to be male and middle aged. We recommend further population-based studies in this area to establish a national epidemiological data for this common type of cancer.

City-Level Adult Stroke Prevalence in Relation to Remote Sensing Derived PM2.5 Adjusting for Unhealthy Behaviors and Medical Risk Factors

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Z.

2018-04-01

This research explores the use of PM2.5 gird derived from remote sensing for assessing the effect of long-term exposure to PM2.5 (ambient air pollution of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 μm or less) on stroke, adjusting for unhealthy behaviors and medical risk factors. Health data was obtained from the newly published CDC "500 Cities Project" which provides city- and census tract-level small area estimates for chronic disease risk factors, and clinical preventive service use for the largest 500 cities in the United States. PM2.5 data was acquired from the "The Global Annual PM2.5 Grids from MODIS, MISR and SeaWiFS Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD), V1 (1998-2012)" datasets. Average PM2.5 were calculated for each city using a GIS zonal statistics function. Map data visualization and pattern comparison, univariate linear regression, and a multivariate linear regression model fitted using a generalized linear model via penalized maximum likelihood found that long-term exposure to ambient PM2.5 may increase the risk of stroke. Increasing physical activity, reducing smoking and body weight, enough sleeping, controlling diseases such as blood pressure, coronary heart disease, diabetes, and cholesterol, may mitigate the effect. PM2.5 grids derived from moderate resolution satellite remote sensing imagery may offer a unique opportunity to fill the data gap due to limited ground monitoring at broader scales. The evidence of raised stroke prevalence risk in high PM2.5 areas would support targeting of policy interventions on such areas to reduce pollution levels and protect human health.

CITY-LEVEL ADULT STROKE PREVALENCE IN RELATION TO REMOTE SENSING DERIVED PM2.5 ADJUSTING FOR UNHEALTHY BEHAVIORS AND MEDICAL RISK FACTORS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Z. Hu

2018-04-01

Full Text Available This research explores the use of PM2.5 gird derived from remote sensing for assessing the effect of long-term exposure to PM2.5 (ambient air pollution of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 μm or less on stroke, adjusting for unhealthy behaviors and medical risk factors. Health data was obtained from the newly published CDC “500 Cities Project” which provides city- and census tract-level small area estimates for chronic disease risk factors, and clinical preventive service use for the largest 500 cities in the United States. PM2.5 data was acquired from the “The Global Annual PM2.5 Grids from MODIS, MISR and SeaWiFS Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD, V1 (1998–2012” datasets. Average PM2.5 were calculated for each city using a GIS zonal statistics function. Map data visualization and pattern comparison, univariate linear regression, and a multivariate linear regression model fitted using a generalized linear model via penalized maximum likelihood found that long-term exposure to ambient PM2.5 may increase the risk of stroke. Increasing physical activity, reducing smoking and body weight, enough sleeping, controlling diseases such as blood pressure, coronary heart disease, diabetes, and cholesterol, may mitigate the effect. PM2.5 grids derived from moderate resolution satellite remote sensing imagery may offer a unique opportunity to fill the data gap due to limited ground monitoring at broader scales. The evidence of raised stroke prevalence risk in high PM2.5 areas would support targeting of policy interventions on such areas to reduce pollution levels and protect human health.

Self-Medication in University Students from the City of Mansoura, Egypt.

Science.gov (United States)

Helal, R M; Abou-ElWafa, H S

2017-01-01

Background . Self-medication is a common practice in developed and developing countries. Objectives . To explore the prevalence of self-medication practices among university students, probable reasons, symptoms requiring self-medication, and sources of advice. Methods . A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in Mansoura University, Egypt, and included 1st and last year students of both medical and nonmedical faculties. Results . Prevalence of self-medication was 62.9%. Younger age, female, medical, and ever-married students and those having home pharmacy tended to self-medicate more than their peers with significant difference between them. Being medical student, being from urban area, having good current health condition, being careless about health, and having drugs stored at home pharmacy were independently associated with the likelihood of self-medicating. Conclusion . Prevalence of self-medication among university students is high which constitutes a health problem that needs intervention.

Establishing a general medical outpatient clinic for cancer survivors in a public city hospital setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Goytia, Elliott J; Lounsbury, David W; McCabe, Mary S; Weiss, Elisa; Newcomer, Meghan; Nelson, Deena J; Brennessel, Debra; Rapkin, Bruce D; Kemeny, M Margaret

2009-11-01

Many cancer centers and community hospitals are developing novel models of survivorship care. However, few are specifically focused on services for socio-economically disadvantaged cancer survivors. To describe a new model of survivorship care serving culturally diverse, urban adult cancer patients and to present findings from a feasibility evaluation. Adult cancer patients treated at a public city hospital cancer center. The clinic provides comprehensive medical and psychosocial services for patients within a public hospital cancer center where they receive their oncology care. Longitudinal data collected over a 3-year period were used to describe patient demographics, patient needs, and services delivered. Since inception, 410 cancer patients have been served. Demand for services has grown steadily. Hypertension was the most frequent comorbid condition treated. Pain, depression, cardiovascular disease, hyperlipidemia, and bowel dysfunction were the most common post-treatment problems experienced by the patients. Financial counseling was an important patient resource. This new clinical service has been well-integrated into its public urban hospital setting and constitutes an innovative model of health-care delivery for socio-economically challenged, culturally diverse adult cancer survivors.

Ensuring safe access to medication for palliative care while preventing prescription drug abuse: innovations for American inner cities, rural areas, and communities overwhelmed by addiction.

Science.gov (United States)

Francoeur, Richard B

2011-01-01

This article proposes and develops novel components of community-oriented programs for creating and affording access to safe medication dispensing centers in existing retail pharmacies and in permanent or travelling pharmacy clinics that are guarded by assigned or off-duty police officers. Pharmacists at these centers would work with police, medical providers, social workers, hospital administrators, and other professionals in: planning and overseeing the safe storage of controlled substance medications in off-site community safe-deposit boxes; strengthening communication and cooperation with the prescribing medical provider; assisting the prescribing medical provider in patient monitoring (checking the state prescription registry, providing pill counts and urine samples); expanding access to lower-cost, and in some cases, abuse-resistant formulations of controlled substance medications; improving transportation access for underserved patients and caregivers to obtain prescriptions; and integrating community agencies and social networks as resources for patient support and monitoring. Novel components of two related community-oriented programs, which may be hosted outside of safe medication dispensing centers, are also suggested and described: (1) developing medication purchasing cooperatives (ie, to help patients, families, and health institutions afford the costs of medications, including tamper-or abuse-resistant/deterrent drug formulations); and (2) expanding the role of inner-city methadone maintenance treatment programs in palliative care (ie, to provide additional patient monitoring from a second treatment team focusing on narcotics addiction, and potentially, to serve as an untapped source of opioid medication for pain that is less subject to abuse, misuse, or diversion).

Aljohani., Afr J Tradit Complement Altern Med. (2017) 14(1):288-301 ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, KSA.3 Microbial Biotechnology Dep., Genetic ... Maximum amylase production was observed, when B. subtilis cultured in medium containing starch at .... To monitor the rate of digestion of potato starch by B. subtilis , 1% potato starch granules was added.

Workplace-based assessment and students' approaches to learning: a qualitative inquiry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Al-Kadri, H.M.; Al-Kadi, M.T.; Vleuten, C.P.M. van der

2013-01-01

BACKGROUND: We have performed this research to assess the effect of work-place based assessment (WBA) practice on medical students' learning approaches. METHODS: The research was conducted at the King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, College of Medicine from 1 March to 31 July

Browse Title Index

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Items 201 - 250 of 318 ... Vol 5, No 1 (2010), Misidentification of methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in hospitals in Tripoli, Libya, Abstract PDF .... Vol 8, No 1 (2013), Prevalence and predictors of irritable bowel syndrome among medical students and interns in King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Abstract PDF.

Evaluation of a communication skills training course for medical students using peer role-play.

Science.gov (United States)

Ayuob, Nasra Naeim; Qadi, Mahdi Ali; El Deek, Basem Salama; Boker, Abdulaziz Mohamed

2017-05-01

To evaluate the effect of using peer role-playing in learning the communication skills as a step in the development of the communication skills training course delivered to pre-clinical medical students. This study was conducted at the King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, between September 2014 and February 2015 and comprised medical students. Mixed methods design was used to evaluate the developed communication skills training course. Tests were conducted before and after the communication skills training course to assess the students' self-reported communication. After the course, the students completed a satisfaction survey. Focus groups were conducted to assess the behavioural and organisational changes induced by the course. SPSS 16 was used for data analysis.. Of the293 respondents, 246(84%) were satisfied with the course. Overall, 169(58%) subjects chose the lectures as the most helpful methods for learning the communication skills while 124(42%) considered practical sessions as the most helpful method. Besides, 237(81%) respondents reported that the role-play was beneficial for their learning, while 219(75%) perceived the video-taped role-play as an appropriate method for assessing the communication skills. Peer role-play was found to be a feasible and well-perceived alternative method in facilitating the acquisition of communication skills..

Self-medication in Central Saudi Arabia. Community pharmacy consumers' perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Aljadhey, Hisham; Assiri, Ghada A; Mahmoud, Mansour A; Al-Aqeel, Sinaa; Murray, Michael

2015-03-01

To determine the prevalence of self-medication and assess the knowledge, attitudes, and perception of consumers toward self-medication. This cross-sectional survey was conducted over 4 weeks in May 2011 in Riyadh city, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Community pharmacies within 5 areas of the city (North, South, West, East, and Middle) were randomly selected for the study. All consumers were approached to participate in the study, with the exception of those buying cosmetic and medicinal equipments. A validated self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. A total of 538 out of 707 consumers attending community pharmacies in Riyadh city, agreed to participate in the study. Most responders were male (73%), 23-33 years old (35%), and college graduates (42%). A total of 285 medications were bought without a prescription. Of these, 149 (49%) medications should be dispensed by prescription only, and 155 (51%) were over the counter medications. The most common prescription medications dispensed without prescriptions were antibiotics (22%) and analgesics/antipyretics (19%). The most common reasons for buying medications without a prescription were that the symptoms were too minor to visit a doctor (54%), time saving (40%), and minor illnesses for which the participants knew the required treatment (40%). Overall, most participants had poor knowledge, and negative perceptions regarding self-medication. More than 68% of participants did not know whether the medicine they bought is a prescription-only or over the counter medication. Irresponsible self-medication is common in Saudi Arabia. Future studies should focus on improving the consumers' awareness of self-medication and the proper use of medications.

The training and expectations of medical students in Mozambique

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Gonçalves Luzia

2007-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background This paper describes the socio-economic profile of medical students in the 1998/99 academic year at the Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (UEM Medical Faculty in Maputo. It aims to identify their social and geographical origins in addition to their expectations and difficulties regarding their education and professional future. Methods The data were collected through a questionnaire administered to all medical students at the faculty. Results Although most medical students were from outside Maputo City and Maputo Province, expectations of getting into medical school were already associated with a migration from the periphery to the capital city, even before entering medical education. This lays the basis for the concentration of physicians in the capital city once their term of compulsory rural employment as junior doctors is completed. The decision to become a doctor was taken at an early age. Close relatives, or family friends seem to have been an especially important variable in encouraging, reinforcing and promoting the desire to be a doctor. The academic performance of medical students was dismal. This seems to be related to several difficulties such as lack of library facilities, inadequate financial support, as well as poor high school preparation. Only one fifth of the students reported receiving financial support from the Mozambican government to subsidize their medical studies. Conclusion Medical students seem to know that they will be needed in the public sector, and that this represents an opportunity to contribute to the public's welfare. Nevertheless, their expectations are, already as medical students, to combine their public sector practice with private medical work in order to improve their earnings.

Are there any differences in medical emergency team interventions between rural and urban areas? A single-centre cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Aftyka, Anna; Rybojad, Beata; Rudnicka-Drozak, Ewa

2014-10-01

To compare interventions of medical emergency teams in urban and rural areas with particular emphasis on response time and on-site medical rescue activities. A retrospective analysis of ambulance call reports from two emergency medical service substations: one in the city and the other in a rural area. Two emergency medical service substations: one in the city and the other in a rural area. Medical emergency teams. Interventions in the city were associated with a substantially shorter response time in comparison to rural areas. In the city, the distances were generally less than 10 km. In the rural area, however, such short distances accounted for only 7.2% of events, while 33.8% were over 30 km. Medical emergency teams more often acted exclusively on-site or ceased any interventions in rural areas. Compared with the city, actions in the rural setting were associated with significantly increased use of cervical collars and decreased use of intravenous access. The presence of a physician in the team raised the probability of pharmacotherapy. The relationship between medical emergency teams activities and the location of intervention shows the real diversity of the functioning of emergency medical service within a city and rural areas. Further research should aim to improve the generalisability of these findings. © 2014 National Rural Health Alliance Inc.

Safety of radiation sources and the security of radioactive materials in Saudi Arabia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alarfaj, A.M.

1998-01-01

The present status of the safety of radiation sources and the security of radioactive materials in Saudi Arabia is reviewed in details. Hazards and potential threat, material control and responsible parties, in addition to management and the technical requirements, are the main topics that are discussed. Some interest is given to the responsibilities of the regulatory authority, with special emphasis on the role of King Abdulaziz city for Science and Technology as a national competent authority. (author)

Dense and porous glass and glass ceramics from natural and waste raw materials

OpenAIRE

Marangoni, Mauro

2016-01-01

The main goal of the herewith presented research activities was to develop innovative processes and materials for building applications adapted to the needs of Saudi Arabia according to the information exchanged with the partners from KACST (King Abdulaziz City of Science and Technology). The research activity focused on the development of a wide range of ceramic components via sinter-crystallization of glasses produced from waste (fly ash, slag, sludge) with or without the addition of vit...

Lessons learned from solar energy projects in Saudi Arabia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huraib, F.S.; Hasnain, S.M.; Alawaji, S.H.

1996-01-01

This paper describes the lessons learned from the major RD and D activities at Energy Research Institute (ERI), King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) in the field of solar energy. Photovoltaic, solar thermal dishes, solar water heating, solar water pumping and desalination, solar hydrogen production and utilization are some of the areas studied for solar energy applications. Recommendations and guidelines for future solar energy research, development, demonstration and dissemination in Saudi Arabia are also given. (Author)

Smart City: Adding to the Complexity of Cities

OpenAIRE

Thompson, Emine Mine

2016-01-01

This paper seeks to further the state-of-the-art knowledge on what a smart city is by analysing the smart cities across the world. It also seeks to find out how different approaches to smart city creation influence the city. This work is based on the ongoing review on Smart Cities that was started in 2014 and is structured as follows: first, definitions of "smart city" are reviewed, then typologies of smart cities are generated by analysing the different types of smart cities across the world...

Wasted? Managing Decline and Marketing Difference in Third Tier Cities

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Tara BRABAZON

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Third-tier cities are neglected in the research literature. Global and second-tier cities provide the positive, proactive applications of city imaging and creative industries strategies. However, small cities – particularly those who reached their height and notoriety through the industrial revolution – reveal few strategies for stability, let alone growth. This study investigates an unusual third-tier city: Oshawa in Ontario Canada. Known as the home of General Motors, its recent economic and social development has been tethered to the arrival of a new institution of higher education: the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. Yet this article confirms that simply opening a university is not enough to commence regeneration or renewal, particularly if an institution is imposed on unwilling residents. Therefore, an alternative strategy – involving geosocial networking – offers a way for local businesses and organizations to attract customers and provide a digital medication to analogue injustice and decay.

Self-medication in university students from the city of Rio Grande, Brazil

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background Self-medication is the use of medication without prescription, orientation, or supervision of a physician or dentist. Self-medication might become a serious health problem. The purpose of this study was to identify the prevalence and factors associated with self-medication among first and last-year students enrolled in healthcare and non-healthcare programs. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG), state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Of 830 students in the sample, 95% answered the questionnaire – 789 students enrolled in 10 undergraduate programs. Mean age was 22 ± 6.17 years. The students answered a questionnaire covering socio-economic and demographic variables, use of medication, and medication knowledge. Information was collected on the conditions treated with medication, the medications used, and attitude towards self-medication. Results Of 789 students, 86.4% self-medicated (88.5% of 446 healthcare students). There were no significant differences in self-medication between healthcare and non-healthcare students, nor between first and last-year students. Bivariate and multivariate analyses showed a significant association between self-medication and having children (p = 0.01), having a home pharmacy (p Illicit drug use was significantly associated with self-medication in the multivariate analysis. Conclusion The fact that being a healthcare student was associated with higher medication knowledge, but not with less self-medication, suggests that medication knowledge might contribute to increase self-medication. This should be taken into account when designing educational interventions relating to self-medication. PMID:22568959

Medical and dental radiological trends in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takeshita, Kenji; Kihara, Takuji; Sawada, Shozo

1978-01-01

Yearly trends in radiologic practice in Japan were estimated on the basis of annual dampling surveys of medical and dental examinations and treatments covered by Government-Managed Health Insurance, modified by (1) the ratio of all insurance-covered medical care to that covered by this insurance, and (2) the ratio of insured plus privately purchased medical care to insured medical care alone. All radiographic and fluoroscopic examinations, x-ray films consumed, radiation treatments, and dental x-ray examinations, increased during the 10 years prior to this study. In 1970, numbers of examinations or treatments per capita were 1.2 for radiography, 0.1 for fluoroscopy, 0.06 for radiation treatments, and 0.3 for dental radiography, respectively. The dental radiography data were interpolated to Hiroshima and Nagasaki Cities and compared with those submitted by institutions in both cities in October 1970. The Reports of Annual Medical Care Survey, the Fund Office's Annual Reports, and the Annual Reports of the National Health Insurance were main sources for this estimate and provided more than 90% of the necessary information. (auth.)

Self-medication in university students from the city of Rio Grande, Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Corrêa da Silva Marília

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Self-medication is the use of medication without prescription, orientation, or supervision of a physician or dentist. Self-medication might become a serious health problem. The purpose of this study was to identify the prevalence and factors associated with self-medication among first and last-year students enrolled in healthcare and non-healthcare programs. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Of 830 students in the sample, 95% answered the questionnaire – 789 students enrolled in 10 undergraduate programs. Mean age was 22 ± 6.17 years. The students answered a questionnaire covering socio-economic and demographic variables, use of medication, and medication knowledge. Information was collected on the conditions treated with medication, the medications used, and attitude towards self-medication. Results Of 789 students, 86.4% self-medicated (88.5% of 446 healthcare students. There were no significant differences in self-medication between healthcare and non-healthcare students, nor between first and last-year students. Bivariate and multivariate analyses showed a significant association between self-medication and having children (p = 0.01, having a home pharmacy (p p = 0.01. The most frequently used active ingredients were acetaminophen (paracetamol, dipyrone, aspirin, phytotherapic compounds, and tea. Illicit drug use was significantly associated with self-medication in the multivariate analysis. Conclusion The fact that being a healthcare student was associated with higher medication knowledge, but not with less self-medication, suggests that medication knowledge might contribute to increase self-medication. This should be taken into account when designing educational interventions relating to self-medication.

Burnout and its association with extracurricular activities among medical students in Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Almalki, Sami A; Almojali, Abdullah I; Alothman, Ali S; Masuadi, Emad M; Alaqeel, Meshal K

2017-04-26

To assess levels of burnout in medical students, and to explore the influence of extracurricular activities on burnout at a medical school in Saudi Arabia. This cross-sectional study was conducted with first to fourth year medical students at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Socio-demographic, burnout level (the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey, MBI-SS) and participation in extracurricular activities data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Statistical analyses were performed using the Pearson's chi-square test and binary logistic regression. From the 306 medical students approached, 249 (81.4%) completed the questionnaire. The level of high burnout was 67.1% (n=167). The study revealed that the majority (62.3%, n=155) of students had high levels of cynicism, 58.6% (n=146) had high levels of emotional exhaustion, and 60.2% (n=150) had low levels of professional efficacy. Most of the students (73.5%, n=183) participated in extracurricular activities, and 112 (45%) students were organizers of extracurricular activities. No significant association was found between burnout levels and the frequency of involvement in extracurricular activities (χ 2 =2.2, df=2, p=0.333). However, students who were organizing extracurricular activities were less likely to have low professional efficacy (OR=0.51, 95% CI: 0.27- 0.96). High levels of burnout were reported at this medical school. Although the burnout level is not significantly associated with the frequency of involvement in extracurricular activities, leading and organizing extracurricular activities might result in lower levels of burnout. Therefore, improving the students' leadership skills should be considered in curriculum planning, and greater emphasis should be placed on the quality of involvement in extracurricular activities rather than the quantity.

Research

African Journals Online (AJOL)

abp

2015-06-24

Jun 24, 2015 ... 1Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Department of Medicine 1443, King ... PO Box 22490, Riyadh 11426, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2Medical Officer, .... food of whom 6 implicated Aubergines as a precipitant Table 1. .... Figure 1: Effect of budesonide/formoterol on fev1 after reversibility.

Usher syndrome in the city of Birmingham—prevalence and clinical classification

OpenAIRE

Hope, C; Bundey, S; Proops, D; Fielder, A

1997-01-01

AIMS—To estimate the prevalence of Usher syndrome in the city of Birmingham, and to establish a database of patients who have been classified into different clinical subtypes essential for future gene mutation analysis.
METHODS—Symptomatic cases of Usher syndrome (US) resident in the city of Birmingham in June 1994 were ascertained through multiple sources. Ophthalmic and audiological reassessment together with examination of medical records and patient questionnaires allowed classification o...

Awareness and Knowledge of Ergonomics Among Medical ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Aim: This cross‑sectional descriptive study aimed at assessing the level of awareness and knowledge of the science of ergonomics among Medical Laboratory Scientists in Benin City, Nigeria. Subjects and Methods: A total of 106 medical laboratory scientists comprising 64 and 42 in public and private laboratories, ...

Learning Cities as Healthy Green Cities: Building Sustainable Opportunity Cities

Science.gov (United States)

Kearns, Peter

2012-01-01

This paper discusses a new generation of learning cities we have called EcCoWell cities (Economy, Community, Well-being). The paper was prepared for the PASCAL International Exchanges (PIE) and is based on international experiences with PIE and developments in some cities. The paper argues for more holistic and integrated development so that…

Y2K medical disaster preparedness in New York City: confidence of emergency department directors in their ability to respond.

Science.gov (United States)

Silber, S H; Oster, N; Simmons, B; Garrett, C

2001-01-01

To study the preparedness New York City for large scale medical disasters using the Year 2000 (Y2K) New Years Eve weekend as a model. Surveys were sent to the directors of 51 of the 9-1-1-receiving hospitals in New York City before and after the Y2K weekend. Inquiries were made regarding hospital activities, contingencies, protocols, and confidence levels in the ability to manage critical incidents, including weapons of mass destruction (WMD) events. Additional information was collected from New York City governmental agencies regarding their coordination and preparedness. The pre-Y2K survey identified that 97.8% had contingencies for loss of essential services, 87.0% instituted their disaster plan in advance, 90.0% utilized an Incident Command System, and 73.9% had a live, mock Y2K drill. Potential terrorism influenced Y2K preparedness in 84.8%. The post-Y2K survey indicated that the threat of terrorism influenced future preparedness in 73.3%; 73.3% had specific protocols for chemical; 62.2% for biological events; 51.1% were not or only slightly confident in their ability to manage any potential WMD incidents; and 62.2% felt very or moderately confident in their ability to manage victims of a chemical event, but only 35.6% felt similarly about victims of a biological incident. Moreover, 80% felt there should be government standards for hospital preparedness for events involving WMD, and 84% felt there should be government standards for personal protective and DECON equipment. In addition, 82.2% would require a moderate to significant amount of funding to effect the standards. Citywide disaster management was coordinated through the Mayor's Office of Emergency Management. Although hospitals were on a heightened state of alert, emergency department directors were not confident in their ability to evaluate and manage victims of WMD incidents, especially biological exposures. The New York City experience is an example for the rest of the nation to underscore the need

Theme city or gated community - images of future cities

OpenAIRE

Helenius-Mäki, Leena

2002-01-01

The future of the cities has been under discussion since the first city. It has been typical in every civilisation and era to hope for a better city. Creek philosopher Platon created image of future city where all men were equal and the city was ruled by philosophers minds. Many philosopher or later social scientist have ended up to similar "hope to be city". The form and type of the better city has depended from creators of those future city images. The creators have had their future city im...

500 Cities: City Boundaries

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — This city boundary shapefile was extracted from Esri Data and Maps for ArcGIS 2014 - U.S. Populated Place Areas. This shapefile can be joined to 500 Cities...

The prehospital emergency care system in Mexico City: a system's performance evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Peralta, Luis Mauricio Pinet

2006-01-01

Mexico City has one of the highest mortality rates in Mexico, with non-intentional injuries as a leading cause of death among persons 1-44 years of age. Emergency medical services (EMS) in Mexico can achieve high levels of efficiency by offering high quality medical care at a low cost through adequate system design. The objective of this study was to determine whether the prehospital EMS system in Mexico City meets the criteria standards established by the American Ambulance Association Guide for Contracting Emergency Medical Services (AAA Guide) for highly efficient EMS systems. This retrospective, descriptive study, evaluated the structure of Mexico City's EMS system and analyzed EMS response times, clinical capacity, economic efficiency, and customer satisfaction. These results were compared with the AAA guide, according to the soc ial, economic, and political context in Mexico. This paper describes the healthcare system structure in Mexico, followed by a description of the basic structure of EMS in Mexico City, and of each tenet described in the AAA guide. The p aper includesdata obtained from official documents and databases of government agencies, and operative and administrative data from public and private EMS providers. The quality of the data for response times (RT) were insufficient and widely varied among providers, with a minimum RT of 6.79 minutes (min) and a maximum RT of 61 min. Providers did not define RT clearly, and measured it with averages, which can hide potentially poor performance practices. Training institutions are not required to follow a standardized curriculum. Certifications are the responsibility of the individual training centers and have no government regulation. There was no evidence of active medical control involvement in direct patient care, and providers did not report that quality assurance programs were in place. There also are limited career advancement opportunities for EMS personnel. Small economies of scale may not allow

Assessment of junior doctors? admission notes: do they follow what they learn?

OpenAIRE

Barnawi, Rashid A.; Ghurab, Abdulaziz M.; Balubaid, Hassan K.; Alfaer, Sultan S.; Hanbazazah, Kamal A.; Bukhari, Mohammed F.; Hamed, Omayma A.; Bakhsh, Talal M.

2017-01-01

Objectives To assess the completeness of history-taking and physical-examination notes of junior doctors at King Abdulaziz University Hospital per the approach they learned in medical school. Methods In this retrospective study, we reviewed 860 admission notes written by 269 junior doctors (interns and residents) in an academic tertiary-care medical centre in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, over a two-month period. Notes were evaluated for completeness using a checklist developed with reference to rele...

Aerospace Medical Support in Russia

Science.gov (United States)

Castleberry, Tara; Chamberlin, Blake; Cole, Richard; Dowell, Gene; Savage, Scott

2011-01-01

This slide presentation reviews the role of the flight surgeon in support of aerospace medical support operations at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC), also known as Star City, in Russia. The flight surgeon in this role is the medical advocate for non-russian astronauts, and also provides medical care for illness and injury for astronauts, family members, and guests as well as civil servants and contractors. The flight surgeon also provides support for hazardous training. There are various photos of the area, and the office, and some of the equipment that is used.

The study of diagnosis status and, transfer time of stroke patients transferred by pre-hospital emergency medical system (EMS to Vali-Asr hospital in Arak City

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saiedeh Bahrampouri

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Stroke is main cause of death and disability in worldwide and emergency care can decrease complications. Emergency Medical System transferred half of stroke patients to hospital, so improve accuracy of diagnosis may accelerated treatment. This study aimed to determine diagnosis status and, transfer time of stroke patients transferred by prehospital Emergency Medical System to hospital in Arak City. Methods: This study was descriptive -analytic study and all 43 patient’s records with a diagnosis of stroke that transferred by Emergency Medical System to hospital in Arak City was selected. The study Checklist was contained information about age, sex, type of accident prehospital, response time, scene time, transfer time and total time from inpatients records and Emergency Center statistics .Regarding data analysis,SPSS19 software and descriptive statistical tests were used. Results: Mean (SD of age all patients were 73/7±3/8 and 51/2% were women. Ambulance paramedics' stroke diagnosis was correct in 15 (34/9%,20(46/5%of false and 8(18/6% not diagnosed for stroke patients who initially presented to them. The most common non stroke conditions were confusion. Mean response time and scene time, transfer time and total time were 6/9,16/9,9/1 and 35/3 minutes, respectively. In patients with correct diagnose stroke, mean response, scene, transfer and total time were 7,17/1,3/9 and 35/7 minutes. The people with the wrong diagnosis or no diagnosis of stroke by emergency medical personnel were taken to hospital, Mean response, scene, transfer and total time were 6/9, 16/8,9/7 and 33/5 minutes. Conclusions: The results of this study showed that, the correct diagnosis by EMS personnel could be resulted faster transferring patient to definite treatment center.It is recommended to develop prehospital diagnosis tool of stroke, which is contextually adapted and appropriate to facilitate diagnose of strokes and improve the quality of care.

Cities and Health: A Response to the Recent Commentaries

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Michael K. Gusmano

2015-10-01

Full Text Available We are grateful to our many colleagues who took the time to respond to our analysis of Shanghai’s declining “avoidable mortality.”1 The range of their perspectives across 5 recent commentaries reassures us that the topic is worthy of sustained study. Indeed, the presumption behind our comparative research on healthcare in world cities 2 is that the city is a strategic unit of analysis for understanding the health sector and that world cities share a host of important characteristics. Contrary to Cheng’s 3 comment that we compared“disparate cities whose only common characteristic is that they are of mega-size,” we have relied on a “most similar systems” approach to comparative analysis.4 World cities are characterized by high population size and density, similar commuting patterns between their outer rings and urban cores, and similar functions in the realms of international finance, culture, media, and provision of tertiary and quaternary medical care. Likewise, they exhibit flagrant socioeconomic inequalities, share many of the same strengths and weaknesses, but exist within nations with strikingly different health policies.

Knowledge level of primary care physicians who works in Denizli city center and interns in Pamukkale University medical faculty about alzheimer disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmet Ergin

2015-04-01

Full Text Available AIM: Many communities in the world are rapidly ageing, with aging dementia seen in the elderly, incidence and prevalence of Alzheimer and #8217;s disease which is the most common cause of dementia is also increasing. Therefore, primary care physicians will need to play a more significant role on the diagnosis and management of Alzheimer diseases in near future. The aim of this study was to determine the level of awareness on Alzheimers disease among primary care physicians who works in Denizli city center and interns in the Medical Faculty in Pamukkale University. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on primary care physicians who works in Denizli city center and interns in the Medical Faculty in Pamukkale University. 93 (60.4% family physicians and 65 (89.0% interns, a total of 158 (69.6% people participated in the study. The University of Alabama Alzheimers Disease Knowledge Test which consists of 12 questions was used to determine Alzheimers disease knowledge score. Data are evaluated by descriptive statistics, and either Mann-Whitney U test or Kruskal-Wallis test was used to determine the statistical differences between numeric variables. RESULTS: The mean of Alzheimers disease knowledge score of family physicians and interns were 5.16+/-1.83 and 7.34+/-1.85, respectively (p <0.001. Interns who previously took any course on Alzheimers disease had a higher average score of 8.41+/-1.67 than that of those who did not take any course 5.07+/-1.95, (p=0.04. Previous course among family physicians did not make any difference (p=0.568. CONCLUSION: Alzheimers disease knowledge among primary care physicians and interns is insufficient. Authorities should take the necessary actions to improve this situatio [TAF Prev Med Bull 2015; 14(2.000: 131-136

CityGML - Interoperable semantic 3D city models

Science.gov (United States)

Gröger, Gerhard; Plümer, Lutz

2012-07-01

CityGML is the international standard of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) for the representation and exchange of 3D city models. It defines the three-dimensional geometry, topology, semantics and appearance of the most relevant topographic objects in urban or regional contexts. These definitions are provided in different, well-defined Levels-of-Detail (multiresolution model). The focus of CityGML is on the semantical aspects of 3D city models, its structures, taxonomies and aggregations, allowing users to employ virtual 3D city models for advanced analysis and visualization tasks in a variety of application domains such as urban planning, indoor/outdoor pedestrian navigation, environmental simulations, cultural heritage, or facility management. This is in contrast to purely geometrical/graphical models such as KML, VRML, or X3D, which do not provide sufficient semantics. CityGML is based on the Geography Markup Language (GML), which provides a standardized geometry model. Due to this model and its well-defined semantics and structures, CityGML facilitates interoperable data exchange in the context of geo web services and spatial data infrastructures. Since its standardization in 2008, CityGML has become used on a worldwide scale: tools from notable companies in the geospatial field provide CityGML interfaces. Many applications and projects use this standard. CityGML is also having a strong impact on science: numerous approaches use CityGML, particularly its semantics, for disaster management, emergency responses, or energy-related applications as well as for visualizations, or they contribute to CityGML, improving its consistency and validity, or use CityGML, particularly its different Levels-of-Detail, as a source or target for generalizations. This paper gives an overview of CityGML, its underlying concepts, its Levels-of-Detail, how to extend it, its applications, its likely future development, and the role it plays in scientific research. Furthermore, its

A six step approach for developing computer based assessment in medical education.

Science.gov (United States)

Hassanien, Mohammed Ahmed; Al-Hayani, Abdulmoneam; Abu-Kamer, Rasha; Almazrooa, Adnan

2013-01-01

Assessment, which entails the systematic evaluation of student learning, is an integral part of any educational process. Computer-based assessment (CBA) techniques provide a valuable resource to students seeking to evaluate their academic progress through instantaneous, personalized feedback. CBA reduces examination, grading and reviewing workloads and facilitates training. This paper describes a six step approach for developing CBA in higher education and evaluates student perceptions of computer-based summative assessment at the College of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University. A set of questionnaires were distributed to 341 third year medical students (161 female and 180 male) immediately after examinations in order to assess the adequacy of the system for the exam program. The respondents expressed high satisfaction with the first Saudi experience of CBA for final examinations. However, about 50% of them preferred the use of a pilot CBA before its formal application; hence, many did not recommend its use for future examinations. Both male and female respondents reported that the range of advantages offered by CBA outweighed any disadvantages. Further studies are required to monitor the extended employment of CBA technology for larger classes and for a variety of subjects at universities.

Casino-related deaths in Atlantic City, New Jersey 1982-1986.

Science.gov (United States)

Jason, D R; Taff, M L; Boglioli, L R

1990-06-01

The first legalized casino-hotel opened in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1978. Annually, more than 30 million people visit the "Gambling Capitol of the East Coast." As a result of this growing influx of people, the Atlantic County Medical Examiner's Office began compiling statistics in 1982 of casino-related deaths. Data on 398 casino-related deaths occurring in 1982-1986 were collected and analyzed: 83% of the total number of fatalities were sudden cardiac deaths. Most of the victims were elderly white retired men who had previously diagnosed medical conditions. Many of the victims' underlying medical problems are of a type known to be associated with compulsive gambling. The majority of deaths occurred during the afternoon hours on weekends in October, January, and May. Of the victims, 86% were from New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. For Atlantic City, a gambling community known to have a relatively high rate of crime and drug-trafficking, only 1% of all deaths were homicides. We speculate that the stress of gambling activities may induce sudden cardiac death. We therefore recommend that communities planning to legalize casino gambling mandate that gambling establishments provide emergency health care services for their patrons.

Guidelines for acute management of hyperammonemia in the Middle East region

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Alfadhel M

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Majid Alfadhel,1,2 Fuad Al Mutairi,1,2 Nawal Makhseed,3 Fatma Al Jasmi,4 Khalid Al-Thihli,5 Emtithal Al-Jishi,6 Moeenaldeen AlSayed,7 Zuhair N Al-Hassnan,7,8 Fathiya Al-Murshedi,5 Johannes Häberle,9 Tawfeg Ben-Omran10 Middle East Hyperammonemia and Urea Cycle Disorders Scientific Group (MHUSG 1Department of Pediatrics, Division of Genetics, 2King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 3Department of Pediatrics, Jahra Hospital, Ministry of Health, Jahra City, Kuwait; 4Department of Pediatric, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates; 5Genetic and Developmental Medicine Clinic, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman; 6Salmaniya Medical Complex, Arabian Gulf University, Manama, Bahrain; 7Department of Medical Genetics, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center, 8The National Newborn Screening Program, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 9Department of Pediatrics, Division of Metabolism and Children’s Research Center, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; 10Division of Clinical and Metabolic Genetics, Department of Pediatrics, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar Background: Hyperammonemia is a life-threatening event that can occur at any age. If treated, the early symptoms in all age groups could be reversible. If untreated, hyperammonemia could be toxic and cause irreversible brain damage to the developing brain.Objective: There are major challenges that worsen the outcome of hyperammonemic individuals in the Middle East. These include: lack of awareness among emergency department physicians about proper management of hyperammonemia, strained communication between physicians at primary, secondary, and tertiary hospitals, and shortage of the medications used in the acute management of hyperammonemia. Therefore, the urge to develop regional guidelines is

Cities within Cities: An Urbanization Approach in the Gulf Countries

OpenAIRE

Bamakhrama, Salim Salah

2015-01-01

Within Dubai, nineteen out of the original 112 mega-projects carried the word city in their names, a phenomenon that is common in Gulf cities such as Dubai, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. To further explore this phenomenon, this thesis focuses on three aspects that affect the dynamic relationship between the primary city and the cities within cities (sub-cities) in the Gulf region with special emphasis on Dubai. First, the naming problem of the sub-city illustrates why the tension between competing id...

Playable cities the city as a digital playground

CERN Document Server

2017-01-01

This book addresses the topic of playable cities, which use the ‘smartness’ of digital cities to offer their citizens playful events and activities. The contributions presented here examine various aspects of playable cities, including developments in pervasive and urban games, the use of urban data to design games and playful applications, architecture design and playability, and mischief and humor in playable cities. The smartness of digital cities can be found in the sensors and actuators that are embedded in their environment. This smartness allows them to monitor, anticipate and support our activities and increases the efficiency of the cities and our activities. These urban smart technologies can offer citizens playful interactions with streets, buildings, street furniture, traffic, public art and entertainment, large public displays and public events.

Medical Evacuation from Vietnam of an Elderly with Tuberculosis Spondylitis

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Ying-Hua Shieh

2007-09-01

Full Text Available Despite the growth in economy in Vietnam, the infrastructure of dependable medical care is still lacking. Therefore, aeromedical evacuation of patients to other countries for further medical interventions has become an important medical service in the region. We report a case where an elderly man who was aeromedically evacuated from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to Taipei Medical University–Municipal Wan Fang Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan. The patient developed a sudden onset of quadriplegia because of an epidural abscess at the cervical spine C6–C7. Antituberculous medication was prescribed for suspected tuberculous spondylitis, because his cerebral spinal fluid showed elevated white blood cells with a predominance of lymphocytes, and mildly elevated total protein. However, whole body tumor scan (67Ga mCi and whole body bone scan (99mTc methylene diphosphonate, 25 mCi did not reveal any specific results. Surgical intervention was arranged because of cervical spine instability and the need for a diagnostic biopsy. Adenocarcinoma of the prostate was found incidentally and was treated with bilateral orchiectomy and radiation therapy. This was the first medical evacuation by the Family Medical Practice group in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to Taiwan.

Influence of exposure differences on city-to-city heterogeneity ...

Science.gov (United States)

Multi-city population-based epidemiological studies have observed heterogeneity between city-specific fine particulate matter (PM2.5)-mortality effect estimates. These studies typically use ambient monitoring data as a surrogate for exposure leading to potential exposure misclassification. The level of exposure misclassification can differ by city affecting the observed health effect estimate. The objective of this analysis is to evaluate whether previously developed residential infiltration-based city clusters can explain city-to-city heterogeneity in PM2.5 mortality risk estimates. In a prior paper 94 cities were clustered based on residential infiltration factors (e.g. home age/size, prevalence of air conditioning (AC)), resulting in 5 clusters. For this analysis, the association between PM2.5 and all-cause mortality was first determined in 77 cities across the United States for 2001–2005. Next, a second stage analysis was conducted evaluating the influence of cluster assignment on heterogeneity in the risk estimates. Associations between a 2-day (lag 0–1 days) moving average of PM2.5 concentrations and non-accidental mortality were determined for each city. Estimated effects ranged from −3.2 to 5.1% with a pooled estimate of 0.33% (95% CI: 0.13, 0.53) increase in mortality per 10 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5. The second stage analysis determined that cluster assignment was marginally significant in explaining the city-to-city heterogeneity. The health effe

Smart city – future city? smart city 20 as a livable city and future market

CERN Document Server

Etezadzadeh, Chirine

2016-01-01

The concept of a livable smart city presented in this book highlights the relevance of the functionality and integrated resilience of viable cities of the future. It critically examines the progressive digitalization that is taking place and identifies the revolutionized energy sector as the basis of urban life. The concept is based on people and their natural environment, resulting in a broader definition of sustainability and an expanded product theory. Smart City 2.0 offers its residents many opportunities and is an attractive future market for innovative products and services. However, it presents numerous challenges for stakeholders and product developers.

Image city

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2003-01-01

Image city exhibition explores a condition of mediation, through a focus on image and sound narratives with a point of departure on a number of Asian cities.......Image city exhibition explores a condition of mediation, through a focus on image and sound narratives with a point of departure on a number of Asian cities....

A cross-sectional observational study to assess inhaler technique in Saudi hospitalized patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Science.gov (United States)

Ammari, Maha Al; Sultana, Khizra; Yunus, Faisal; Ghobain, Mohammed Al; Halwan, Shatha M. Al

2016-01-01

Objectives: To assess the proportion of critical errors committed while demonstrating the inhaler technique in hospitalized patients diagnosed with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods: This cross-sectional observational study was conducted in 47 asthmatic and COPD patients using inhaler devices. The study took place at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between September and December 2013. Two pharmacists independently assessed inhaler technique with a validated checklist. Results: Seventy percent of patients made at least one critical error while demonstrating their inhaler technique, and the mean number of critical errors per patient was 1.6. Most patients used metered dose inhaler (MDI), and 73% of MDI users and 92% of dry powder inhaler users committed at least one critical error. Conclusion: Inhaler technique in hospitalized Saudi patients was inadequate. Health care professionals should understand the importance of reassessing and educating patients on a regular basis for inhaler technique, recommend the use of a spacer when needed, and regularly assess and update their own inhaler technique skills. PMID:27146622

Neurobrucellosis: Challenges for Therapy

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Adel Alothman

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Background Brucellosis is a common zoonotic infection throughout the world, and is endemic in Saudi Arabia. Neurobrucellosis is a rare, severe form of systemic brucella infection. Treatment of neurobrucellosis continues to be variable, depending on the location of diagnosis. Methods A retrospective patient chart review was undertaken from 1995 to 2010 at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, to identify cases of neurobrucellosis following a proposed case definition. Follow-up visits were evaluated to determine response to treatment. Results A total of 22 cases of neurobrucellosis were identified from a total of 517 cases of brucellosis. The mean patient age was 42.5 years with a male to female ratio of 1:1. Most antibiotic combinations included doxycycline, rifampin, and cotrimoxazole (36%. Three patients received ciprofloxacin in combination with other antibiotics and showed a satisfactory response. Conclusion Combination of antibrucella antibiotics is recommended, but there are no clear guidelines regarding antibiotic selection and duration of therapy. The use of ciprofloxacin in cases of neurobrucellosis should be evaluated.

Stage 4S neuroblastoma, a disseminated tumor with excellent outcome

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elimam, Najla A.; Atra, Ayad A.; Fayea, Najwa Y.; Al-Asaad, Tareq G.; Khattab, Taha M.; Al-Sulami, Ganadeel A.; Felimban, Sami K.

2006-01-01

To review the clinical features and outcome of all cases of stage 4S neuroblastoma treated at our center. We retrospectively reviewed the files of all patients (n=75) with neuroblastoma treated at King Abdul-Aziz Medical City, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between 1986 and 2005. We studied the clinical features and outcome of patients with stage 4S neuroblastoma. Six patients (8%) were confirmed to have stage 4S neuroblastoma. Three were boys with a median age at diagnosis of 4.5 months (range 28 days-11 moths). Four patients required no intervention. The remaining 2 patients were treated chemotherapy due to progressive hepatomegaly and respiratory distress. No patient required radiotherapy or surgical intervention. With a median follow up of four years (range 9 months --- 15.5 years), all patients are alive and well. Two patients continue to have a residual abdominal mass, while complete resolution occurred in the others. Stage 4S neuroblastoma is special tumor that carries excellent prognosis. Spontaneous regression may occur and intervention is only required in symptomatic patients. (author)

[How are consumers, service and market factors related to customer loyalty in medical service? Targeting the medical consumer in a city].

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sunhee; Kim, Hyunmi; Kim, Juhye; Ha, Gwiyeom

2008-09-01

This study was performed to explore customer loyalty and the related factors. 900 households (a 1% sample) were randomly selected from the total population of K city located in Kangwon province. An interview survey was performed with using a structured questionnaire for the subjects (923 persons) who had used medical service during the year before the survey, and the survey was done September, 2002. When comparing the relating factors related with customer loyalty according to the sociodemographic characteristics, the older group showed a significantly higher level of recognition for service quality, service reputation, internal customers.attitudes and switching cost. The lower income group showed a higher level of recognition for service quality, service image and switching cost. The lower educated group showed a higher level of recognition for service reputation, service image and internal customers.attitudes. The higher educated group showed a higher level of recognition for perceived risk, and seeking variety. In addition, the expert group or the service and manufacturing workers group showed a higher level of recognition for service involvement. On multiple regression analysis, internal customers' attitudes, service image, service reputation, service quality, switching cost, and substitutability showed significant relations with customer loyalty. This study showed that customer loyalty was significantly influenced by service factors like internal customers' attitudes, service image, service reputation, and service quality, and by market factors like switching cost, and substitutability. The results of this study can be used as a baseline for developing strategies to create and keep customers with high loyalty.

[A survey of the level of AIDS knowledge among people concerned in Nanjing City].

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Ze-Yu; Zhu, Ning; Li, Ping; Fang, Qun; Chen, Hui-Ling; Tang, Xiao-Ning; Yu, Hong-Bo; Wei, Zhong-Qing; Xu, Zhi-Peng

2003-10-01

To investigate the level of AIDS knowledge among people concerned in Nanjing city in order to provide scientific evidence and constructive suggestions for the government to formulate relevant policies for AIDS control. Three sets of questionnaires on AIDS knowledge were designed, the scores calculated, and the results evaluated. Of the 2,500 questionnaires issued to 4 different groups of people, 2,436 were collected back with effective answers, 991 from medical and health-related workers with the mean score of 58, 473 from college students with the mean score of 39.9, 524 from common city residents with the mean score of 42.3, and 448 from those working in high risk environment with the mean score of 47. The level of AIDS knowledge among people concerned in Nanjing city was far below the requirement of the nation, especially among medical and health-related workers. Efforts must be made to raise the level of AIDS knowledge of people concerned so as to enhance the prevention and treatment of the disease.

[Medical theories and urban management: Fortaleza's 1877-79 drought].

Science.gov (United States)

Costa, Maria Clélia Lustosa

2004-01-01

Down through the nineteenth century, new medical theories on the origin of disease influenced the norms and regulations that controlled the population's behavior and the urban space. The present study discusses the ideas, medical practices , and administrative initiatives adopted during the 1877-79 drought in Fortaleza, capital of Ceará province. The drought was accompanied by a smallpox epidemic, along with the increased migration of sertão dwellers to the capitol. The city lacked a public service network capable of meeting the needs of this new population, which took up lodgings on the city and periphery. The municipal administration endeavored to implement the recommendations of physicians based on modern principles of hygienization. Through an analysis of reports by the provincial presidents and by public health inspectors, the study intends to show how these medical theories influenced the practices of urban reorganization at a moment of public emergency.

City personification as problem solving to strengthen the wholeness of the city: study case in Serui city, Papua

Science.gov (United States)

Hardine, Y. R. I.; Herlily

2018-03-01

Serui City in Papua Province has many unique characters and must be maintained for the sake of the continuity of its identity. However, this city still lacks the facility and depend on other areas. Accordingly, it becomes vulnerable. The wholeness of the city is not just by having strong character but also having strength regarding vitality. The loss of it can affect the character and even eliminate it. Cities and people have many similarities regarding character and vitality. Therefore, there is a chance to solve the problems in the city using the similar approach to treat the human. We called city personification methods as problem-solving to the city. It means that we treat the city as a human being so that the problem can be solved as the human’s treatment. The personification of this city is conducted because of the many treatments that have proven effective in humans and may also be powerful to manifest in city. The personification makes the design will only focus on the particular networks and not on the whole “body,” remain in the hope for strengthening (maintain and improve) the quality of wholeness (character and vitality) city which in this case is Serui.

Medical prescription adherence among patient visiting gynecology department

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rafique, M.; Arshad, H.; Tabassum, H.; Khan, N. U. S.; Qamar, K.

2017-01-01

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the level of Medical prescription adherence among gynecological patients of Pakistan. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in Punjab province and data were collected from June 2015 to April 2016. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in main cities of Punjab province of Pakistan; Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad and Sheikhupura. The survey data was collected from different location of cities. Patients visiting the gynecological and going to chemists for getting the prescribed medicine were selected through probability based random sampling for this study. The questionnaire consisted on the extent to which they adhere to time, dose, frequency and procedure prescribed from their doctors. The questions were asked in native language (Urdu). The data analysis was performed by using SPSS software (Ver.21). Results: Results of this study, based on sample from four big cities of Punjab province of Pakistan, showed that the level of medical prescription was associated with the age, qualification and background of the patients. Adherence level of patients reporting with rural background was observed higher than the adherence level of patients from urban areas. Conclusion: Over all the patient require counseling regarding adherence to medical prescription irrespective of the nature of the disease. (author)

Box City Curriculum.

Science.gov (United States)

Center for Understanding the Built Environment, Prairie Village, KS.

This curriculum packet contains two lesson plans about cities and architecture intended for use with students in upper elementary grades and middle schools. The first lesson plan, "City People, City Stories" (Jan Ham), states that understanding architecture and cities must begin with an understanding of the people of the city. The children create…

Branding Cities, Changing Societies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ooi, Can-Seng

Societal changes are seldom discussed in the literature on city branding. The time element is important because it highlights the fluctuating reality of society. The city brand message freezes the place but in fact, the city branding exercise is a continuous process. Society emerges too. City...... brands are supposed to accentuate the uniqueness of the city, be built from the bottom-up and reflect the city's identity. This paper highlights three paradoxes, pointing out that city branding processes can also make cities more alike, bring about societal changes and forge new city identities. A city...... branding campaign does not just present the city, it may change the city. The relationships between the branding exercise and the city are intertwined in the evolution of the place....

Rethinking GIS Towards The Vision Of Smart Cities Through CityGML

Science.gov (United States)

Guney, C.

2016-10-01

Smart cities present a substantial growth opportunity in the coming years. The role of GIS in the smart city ecosystem is to integrate different data acquired by sensors in real time and provide better decisions, more efficiency and improved collaboration. Semantically enriched vision of GIS will help evolve smart cities into tomorrow's much smarter cities since geospatial/location data and applications may be recognized as a key ingredient of smart city vision. However, it is need for the Geospatial Information communities to debate on "Is 3D Web and mobile GIS technology ready for smart cities?" This research places an emphasis on the challenges of virtual 3D city models on the road to smarter cities.

City marketing: online communication plan for the city of Lisbon

OpenAIRE

Altrichter, Benjamin

2011-01-01

Mestrado em Marketing City Marketing represents marketing efforts of cities in order to attract more visitors. Today, we are confronted everyday with marketing campaigns in all different communication media promoting countries, cities or events. Cities are competing for visitors on a global scale, forcing them to adapt successful marketing strategies for gaining and retaining costumers. Yet, City Marketing still remains an unknown chapter for a big part of the general public an...

Smart City project

KAUST Repository

Al Harbi, Ayman

2018-01-24

A \\'smart city\\' is an urban region that is highly advanced in terms of overall infrastructure, sustainable real estate, communications and market viability. It is a city where information technology is the principal infrastructure and the basis for providing essential services to residents. Yanbu Industrial City- Smart City Project - First large scale smart city in The kingdom.

Value of systematic intervention for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in a regional Japanese city based on case detection rate and medical cost

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tawara Y

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Yuichi Tawara,1 Hideaki Senjyu,1 Kenichiro Tanaka,1 Takako Tanaka,1 Masaharu Asai,1 Ryo Kozu,2 Mitsuru Tabusadani,3 Sumihisa Honda,1 Terumitsu Sawai1 1Department of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Science, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan; 2Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Nagasaki University Hospital, Nagasaki, Japan; 3Center for Industry, University and Government Cooperation, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan Objective: We established a COPD taskforce for early detection, diagnosis, treatment, and intervention. We implemented a pilot intervention with a prospective and longitudinal design in a regional city. This study evaluates the usefulness of the COPD taskforce and intervention based on COPD case detection rate and per capita medical costs.Method: We distributed a questionnaire to all 8,878 inhabitants aged 50–89 years, resident in Matsuura, Nagasaki Prefecture in 2006. Potentially COPD-positive persons received a pulmonary function test and diagnosis. We implemented ongoing detection, examination, education, and treatment interventions, performed follow-up examinations or respiratory lessons yearly, and supported the health maintenance of each patient. We compared COPD medical costs in Matsuura and in the rest of Nagasaki Prefecture using data from 2004 to 2013 recorded by the association of Nagasaki National Health Insurance Organization, assessing 10-year means and annual change.Results: As of 2014, 256 people have received a definitive diagnosis of COPD; representing 31% of the estimated total number of COPD patients. Of the cases detected, 87.5% were mild or moderate in severity. COPD medical costs per patient in Matsuura were significantly lower than the rest of Nagasaki Prefecture, as was rate of increase in cost over time.Conclusion: The COPD program in Matsuura enabled early detection and treatment of COPD patients and helped to lower the associated burden of medical costs. The

Opportunity for Collaboration Between Radiation Injury Treatment Network Centers and Medical Toxicology Specialists.

Science.gov (United States)

Davlantes, Elizabeth; Shartar, Samuel; Venero, Jennifer; Steck, Alaina; Langston, Amelia; Kazzi, Ziad N

2017-08-01

The Radiation Injury Treatment Network (RITN) comprises >50 centers across the United States that are poised to care for victims of a radiation emergency. The network is organized around bone marrow transplant centers because these facilities excel in both radiation medicine and the care of patients with severe bone marrow depression. A radiation emergency may cause not only irradiation from an external source but also internal contamination with radioactive material. Because medical toxicologists are trained in radiation injury management and have expertise in the management of internal contamination, RITN centers may benefit from partnerships with medical toxicology resources, which may be located at academic medical centers, hospital inpatient clinical services, outpatient clinics, or poison control centers. We determined the locations of existing RITN centers and assessed their proximity to various medical toxicology resources, including medical toxicology fellowship programs, inpatient toxicology services, outpatient toxicology clinics, and poison control centers. Data were derived from publicly available Internet sources in March 2015. The majority of RITN centers do not have a medical toxicology fellowship, an inpatient toxicology service, or an outpatient toxicology clinic within the same institution. Fifty-seven percent of RITN centers have at least one of these resources located in the same city, however, and 73% of centers have at least one of these resources or a poison control center within the same city. Ninety-five percent of RITN centers have at least one medical toxicology resource within the state. Most RITN centers are located in the same city as at least one medical toxicology resource. Establishing relationships between RITN centers and medical toxicologists needs to be explored further.

Medan City: Informality and the Historical Global City

Science.gov (United States)

Sudarmadji, N.; Tyaghita, B.; Astuti, P. T.; Etleen, D.

2018-05-01

As projected by UN that two-thirds of Indonesia’s population will live in urban areas by 2050, rapid urbanization is happening in Indonesian cities. Initial research on eight Indonesian Cities (which includes Medan, Jatinegara, Bandung, Surakarta, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Balikpapan, and Manado) by Tunas Nusa Foundation since 2012 shows that urbanization of each city has happened throughout history creating cultural, economic, and environmental networks that are distinct from one city to another. While the networks remain until today and continuously shapes the urban agglomeration pattern, not all parts of the city could undergo subsequent development that confirms the existing pattern, leading to the creation informality. Nor could it make future planning that comprehends the nature of its integrated urban dynamic beyond its current administrative authority. In this paper, we would like to share our study for Medan, North Sumatra as it shows a portrait of a city with a long relationship to a global network since the Maritime trade era. Medan has become home to many ethnic groups which have sailed and migrated as part of a global economic agenda creating a strong economic network between port cities along the Malacca Strait. The city has kept its role in the global economic network until today, to name a few, becoming the frontier for the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle. While we celebrate Medan’s potential to become a global city with major infrastructure development as well as cultural assets as its advantage in the future, we argue that microscale cohesion supported by government policy in agreed planning documents are fundamental for the city to thrive amidst the challenges it is facing. Yet, these cultural assets, as well as micro scale cohesion in Medan City today, are still undermined. Thus, informality in Medan exists as result of ignorance and marginalization of certain socio-cultural groups, abandoning places and identity, as well as the

Shrinking Cities and the Need for a Reinvented Understanding of the City

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Laursen, Lea Louise holst

the contemporary city and maybe the understanding of the city needs to be updated in some areas, before we are able to do so. In this paper, the focus will be directed towards two themes which become present with the Shrinking Cities phenomenon and therefore seems important to discuss in order to understand...... the concept of Shrinking Cities. These two themes may affect the understanding of the existing city theory. The first theme is concerned with the physical understanding of the city where the traditional assumption about the city as a high density area, with buildings as the dominant structure, is questioned....... Here the concept of the city as an urban landscape will be introduced. The second theme points to the need for a discussion regarding the object of our planning when developing the cities. Previously, the purpose of city development has been growth and expansion, but with the Shrinking Cities...

Characterization of medical waste from hospitals in Tabriz, Iran

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taghipour, Hassan; Mosaferi, Mohammad

2009-01-01

Medical waste has not received enough attention in recent decades in Iran, as is the case in most economically developing countries. Medical waste is still handled and disposed of together with domestic waste, creating great health risks to health-care stuff, municipal workers, the public, and the environment. A fundamental prerequisite for the successful implementation of any medical waste management plan is the availability of sufficient and accurate information about the quantities and composition of the waste generated. The objectives of this study were to determine the quantity, generation rate, quality, and composition of medial waste generated in the major city northwest of Iran in Tabriz. Among the 25 active hospitals in the city, 10 hospitals of different size, specializations, and categories (i.e., governmental, educational, university, private, non-governmental organization (NGO), and military) were selected to participate in the survey. Each hospital was analyzed for a week to capture the daily variations of quantity and quality. The results indicated that the average (weighted mean) of total medical waste, hazardous-infectious waste, and general waste generation rates in Tabriz city is 3.48, 1.039 and, 2.439 kg/bed-day, respectively. In the hospital waste studied, 70.11% consisted of general waste, 29.44% of hazardous-infectious waste, and 0.45% of sharps waste (total hazardous-infectious waste 29.89%). Of the maximum average daily medical waste, hazardous-infectious waste, and general waste were associated with N.G.O and private hospitals, respectively. The average composition of hazardous-infectious waste was determined to be 35.72% plastics, 20.84% textiles, 16.70% liquids, 11.36% paper/cardboard, 7.17% glass, 1.35% sharps, and 6.86% others. The average composition of general waste was determined to be 46.87% food waste, 16.40% plastics, 13.33% paper/cardboard, 7.65% liquids, 6.05% textiles, 2.60% glass, 0.92% metals, and 6.18% others. The average

City PLANTastic

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

, any attempt to create a green city is motivated by certain ecological, political and esthetical perspectives. Therefore the role of plants in tomorrows cities is everything but straightforward. Rather, a broad range of possibilities unfolds. City PLANTastic is the title of the 8th World in Denmark...

Medication Adherence Amongst Diabetic Patients in a Tertiary ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2014-03-22

Mar 22, 2014 ... Pharmacotherapy Group, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Benin, Benin City, 300001 Nigeria. All rights reserved. ... ambulatory care is an important link between medical ... the outpatient clinic of the endocrine unit of the.

The City on Screen: A Methodological Approach on Cinematic City Studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sertaç Timur Demir

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The city has a strong memory and it never forgets its own experiences. The past, the present and the future of the city can be read in its streets, buildings, sounds, myths, rhythms and stories. More importantly, if the city is portrayed through a camera, it becomes as fictional and designable as films. At this stage, there is no difference between watching a film and seeing a city. Also, cinema itself turns into a paradigm that belongs to the city. This parallelism between the city and film is like an inevitable destiny so much so that they constitute and develop each other. Accordingly, those who attempt to understand the notion of the city should consult the films made about them and vice versa; hence, this paper deals with the question of how the city is cinematized, but this question involves another question: how does the cinematic imagination fictionalize itself in the city?

Visual representation of medical information: the importance of considering the end-user in the design of medical illustrations.

Science.gov (United States)

Scheltema, Emma; Reay, Stephen; Piper, Greg

2018-01-01

This practice led research project explored visual representation through illustrations designed to communicate often complex medical information for different users within Auckland City Hospital, New Zealand. Media and tools were manipulated to affect varying degrees of naturalism or abstraction from reality in the creation of illustrations for a variety of real-life clinical projects, and user feedback on illustration preference gathered from both medical professionals and patients. While all users preferred the most realistic representations of medical information from the illustrations presented, patients often favoured illustrations that depicted a greater amount of information than professionals suggested was necessary.

Cross-infection and infection control in dentistry: Knowledge, attitude and practice of patients attended dental clinics in King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nahla K. Ibrahim

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The objective of the study was to determine the level of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP of patients attended dental clinics at King Abdulaziz University Hospital (KAUH regarding cross infections and infection control in dentistry. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 225 patients who attended the dental clinics of KAUH, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 2014. A standardized, confidential, anonymous, interviewing questionnaire was used. Knowledge about dental infections was assessed by 12 MCQs. The attitudes were assessed through answering seven statements on a three- point Likert scale. Patients’ self reported practices were also evaluated. Descriptive and inferential statistics were done.Results of the study revealed that 39.5%, 38.7% and 21.8% of the participants obtained poor, fair and satisfactory level of knowledge about infections and infection control in dentistry, respectively. Social media was the commonest source of information about dental infection. Participant's educational level was significantly associated with the level of knowledge about dental infection. Patients had positive attitudes towards infection control in dentistry. Regarding self-reported practice, only few participants would ask dentists about sterilization of dental instruments (9.3%, wearing face mask (13.3% and gloves (16.4% if they don’t do so. In conclusion, our participants had good attitudes towards infection control in dentistry. However, their knowledge and practice need improvements. Conduction of educational programs is needed through social media, mass media, schools and public places. These programs involve both patients and providers. Keywords: Patient safety, Cross infection, Dental infection, Infection control, Emerging diseases, KAP

75 FR 11580 - Florida Power Corporation, City of Alachua, City of Bushnell, City of Gainesville, City of...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-11

..., City of Ocala, Orlando Utilities Commission and City of Orlando, Seminole Electric Cooperative, Inc... building not only meet but exceed its original design basis as delineated in the FSAR. The PRB discussed the petitioner's request during internal meetings and made the initial PRB recommendation. The PRB's...

Dangerous dining: health and safety in the New York City restaurant industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Jayaraman, Saru; Dropkin, Jonathan; Siby, Sekou; Alston, Laine Romero; Markowitz, Steven

2011-12-01

We characterized the health and safety conditions of New York City restaurant workers, a population comprising largely of immigrants and people of color. We conducted an anonymous questionnaire survey of 502 New York City restaurant workers, addressing working conditions, benefits, demographic factors, psychosocial exposures, and medical symptoms and conditions. Restaurant workers reported fast-paced, repetitive, and physically demanding jobs that sometimes involve chemical exposures. Despite their youth, they experience a high prevalence of musculoskeletal and traumatic injuries. Few receive job benefits despite significant symptoms. Job-related injuries are positively associated with practices that pose a danger to consumers. New York City restaurant workers have stressful jobs, experience significant injury, and illness but receive few job benefits. A healthier work organization and greater access to benefits for restaurant workers would improve their health and public health.

The problem of fuzzy cause-specific death rates in mortality context analysis: the case of Panama City.

Science.gov (United States)

Bock, S; Gans, P

1993-05-01

In studies of mortality, small and fluctuating numbers of deaths are problems which are caused by infrequent reporting and small spatial unit reporting. To use Panama City as an example, the paper will introduce a Monte Carlo simulation which allows for the analysis of mortality even with small absolute numbers. In addition, Panama City will be used as an example where good medical care is available in every city district, so that social class differences between the districts have a negligible effect on most cause-specific death rates and infant mortality.

Outcomes of medical management of thyrotoxicosis in Benin City ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The frequency of symptoms were anterior neck mass 68.57%, weight loss 60%, palpitation 60%, heat intolerance 37.14%, bulging eyes 31.43%, hyperdefaecation 31.45%, and tremors of the hands 19.99%. Goiter was found in 27(77.14%), proptosis 16 (45.71%) and onycholysis 3(8.57%). Goiters persisted despite medical ...

INSTANT CITY

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marling, Gitte; Kiib, Hans

2013-01-01

of an experimental and social en- gaged city environment? The analysis shows that the specific city life at the instant city, Roskilde Festival, can be characterized by being ‘open minded’, ‘playful’ and ‘inclusive’, but also by ‘a culture of laughter’ that penetrates the aesthetics and the urban scenography....

City Marketing : Case: Moscow

OpenAIRE

Kuzina, Irina

2017-01-01

Nowadays cities compete with each other for attracting investments and people, which make them implement new city marketing and city branding strategies. There are many factors that can influence city image and its perception in customers’ minds. The purpose of this thesis is to realize how a well-selected city marketing strategy benefits the city and gain a deeper understanding of city marketing possibilities. The final goal is to offer suggestions for the city of Moscow, which can help to i...

Hackable Cities : From Subversive City Making to Systemic Change

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Lange, M.L.; de Waal, Martijn; Foth, Marcus; Verhoeff, Nanna; Martin, Brynskov

2015-01-01

The DC9 workshop takes place on June 27, 2015 in Limerick, Ireland and is titled "Hackable Cities: From Subversive City Making to Systemic Change". The notion of "hacking" originates from the world of media technologies but is increasingly often being used for creative ideals and practices of city

Medical Waste Management in Community Health Centers.

Science.gov (United States)

Tabrizi, Jafar Sadegh; Rezapour, Ramin; Saadati, Mohammad; Seifi, Samira; Amini, Behnam; Varmazyar, Farahnaz

2018-02-01

Non-standard management of medical waste leads to irreparable side effects. This issue is of double importance in health care centers in a city which are the most extensive system for providing Primary Health Care (PHC) across Iran cities. This study investigated the medical waste management standards observation in Tabriz community health care centers, northwestern Iran. In this triangulated cross-sectional study (qualitative-quantitative), data collecting tool was a valid checklist of waste management process developed based on Iranian medical waste management standards. The data were collected in 2015 through process observation and interviews with the health center's staff. The average rate of waste management standards observance in Tabriz community health centers, Tabriz, Iran was 29.8%. This case was 22.8% in dimension of management and training, 27.3% in separating and collecting, 31.2% in transport and temporary storage, and 42.9% in sterilization and disposal. Lack of principal separation of wastes, inappropriate collecting and disposal cycle of waste and disregarding safety tips (fertilizer device performance monitoring, microbial cultures and so on) were among the observed defects in health care centers supported by quantitative data. Medical waste management was not in a desirable situation in Tabriz community health centers. The expansion of community health centers in different regions and non-observance of standards could predispose to incidence the risks resulted from medical wastes. So it is necessary to adopt appropriate policies to promote waste management situation.

Visiting Holocaust-Related Sites with Medical Students as an Aid in Teaching Medical Ethics.

Science.gov (United States)

González-López, Esteban; Ríos-Cortés, Rosa

2016-05-01

During the Nazi period numerous doctors and nurses played a nefarious role. In Germany they were responsible for the sterilization and killing of disabled persons. Furthermore, the Nazi doctors used concentration camp inmates as guinea pigs in medical experiments for military or racial purposes. A study of the collaboration of doctors with National Socialism exemplifies behavior that must be avoided. Combining medical teaching with lessons from the Holocaust could be a way to transmit Medical Ethics to doctors, nurses and students. The authors describe a study tour with medical students to Poland, to the largest Nazi extermination camp, Auschwitz, and to the city of Krakow. The tour is the final component of a formal course entitled: "The Holocaust, a Reflection from Medicine" at the Autónoma University of Madrid, Spain. Visiting sites related to the Holocaust, the killing centers and the sites where medical experiments were conducted has a singular meaning for medical students. Tolerance, non-discrimination, and the value of human life can be both learnt and taught at the very place where such values were utterly absent.

Detection of viral hepatitis B markers by radioimmunoassay in medical personnel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marievskij, V.F.; Lejbenzon, A.S.

1990-01-01

Results of revealing B markers of viral hepatitis (VHB) in medical personnel in the city of Zaporozhe by radioimmunoassay method are presented. By the frequency of revealing two markers (HB s Ag and anti-HB s ) risk groups are indicated depending on the profession, age (length of service) of medical personnel

Influence of perceived city brand image on emotional attachment to the city

OpenAIRE

Manyiwa, Simon; Priporas, Constantinos-Vasilios; Wang, Xuan Lorna

2018-01-01

Purpose - This study examines the influence of perceived city brand image on emotional attachment to the city. The study also compares the effects of perceived brand image of the city on the emotional attachment to the city across two groups: residents and visitors. \\ud \\ud Design/methodology - A total of 207 usable questionnaires were collected from 107 residents of the city of Bratislava, Slovakia, and 100 visitors to the city. Partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) me...

Influence of perceived city brand image on emotional attachment to the city

OpenAIRE

Manyiwa, Simon; Priporas, Constantinos-Vasilios; Wang, Xuan Lorna

2018-01-01

Purpose - This study examines the influence of perceived city brand image on emotional attachment to the city. The study also compares the effects of perceived brand image of the city on the emotional attachment to the city across two groups: residents and visitors. Design/methodology - A total of 207 usable questionnaires were collected from 107 residents of the city of Bratislava, Slovakia, and 100 visitors to the city. Partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) met...

FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR POTASSIUM IODIDE (KI) DISTRIBUTION IN NEW YORK CITY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MOSS, STEVEN

2005-01-01

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), Bureau of Environmental Science and Engineering, Office of Radiological Health (ORH) [as the primary local technical consultant in the event of a radiological or nuclear incident within the boundaries of New York City] requested the assistance of Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) with the development of a Feasibility Study for Potassium Iodide (KI) distribution in the unlikely event of a significant release of radioactive iodine in or near New York City. Brookhaven National Laboratory had previously provided support for New York City with the development of the radiological/nuclear portions of its All Hazards Emergency Response Plans. The work is funded by Medical and Health Research Association (MHRA) of New York City, Inc., under a work grant by the Federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for Public Health Preparedness and Response for Bioterrorism. This report is part of the result of that effort. The conclusions of this report are that: (1) There is no credible radiological scenario that would prompt the need for large segments of the general population of New York City to take KI as a result of a projected plume exposure to radioiodine reaching even the lowest threshold of 5 rem to the thyroid; and (2) KI should be stockpiled in amounts and locations sufficient for use by first responders/emergency responders in response to any localized release of radioiodine

FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR POTASSIUM IODIDE (KI) DISTRIBUTION IN NEW YORK CITY.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

MOSS, STEVEN

2005-04-29

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), Bureau of Environmental Science and Engineering, Office of Radiological Health (ORH) [as the primary local technical consultant in the event of a radiological or nuclear incident within the boundaries of New York City] requested the assistance of Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) with the development of a Feasibility Study for Potassium Iodide (KI) distribution in the unlikely event of a significant release of radioactive iodine in or near New York City. Brookhaven National Laboratory had previously provided support for New York City with the development of the radiological/nuclear portions of its All Hazards Emergency Response Plans. The work is funded by Medical and Health Research Association (MHRA) of New York City, Inc., under a work grant by the Federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for Public Health Preparedness and Response for Bioterrorism. This report is part of the result of that effort. The conclusions of this report are that: (1) There is no credible radiological scenario that would prompt the need for large segments of the general population of New York City to take KI as a result of a projected plume exposure to radioiodine reaching even the lowest threshold of 5 rem to the thyroid; and (2) KI should be stockpiled in amounts and locations sufficient for use by first responders/emergency responders in response to any localized release of radioiodine.

Different Creative Cities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lorenzen, Mark; Vaarst Andersen, Kristina

2012-01-01

and exhibits a tendency of congregating in major cities with diverse service and cultural offers and tolerance to non-mainstream lifestyles. However, we find that a range of smaller Danish cities also attract the creative class. Second, we undertake qualitative interviews that facilitate theory building. We...... suggest that many creatives are attracted by the smaller cities' cost advantages, specialized job offers, attractive work/life balances, and authenticity and sense of community. The article synthesizes its results into four stylized types of creative cities, and concludes by discussing the policy...... challenges associated with these different cities....

Experience of Sponge City Master Plan: A Case Study of Nanning City

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Zhang Wei; Wang Jiazhuo; Che Han; Wang Chen; Zhang Chunyang; Shi Lian; Fan Jin; Li Caige

2017-01-01

As a new urban development pattern, the construction of sponge cities has been deeply integrated into the new urbanization and water safety strategy. Nanning City, as one of the first batch of experimental sponge cities in China, has undertaken exploration and practice on sponge city planning, construction, and management. The sponge city master plan of Nanning City establishes an urban ecological spatial pattern in order to protect the security of the sponge base. The sponge city construction strategy has also proposed an overall construction strategy of a sponge city in line with urban development features. Through the systematic analysis and planning, a “23+10+202” pattern of sponge city construction has been formed. “23” represents 23 drainage basins, in which major sponge facilities such as storage facilities, waterfront buffer zones, wetland parks, ecological rainwater corridor and sponge parks are allocated. “10” represents 10 sponge functional zones, which provide important reference for the establishment of sponge city construction index system. “202” represents 202 management units, which decomposes the general objective and provides technical support not only for sponge city construction and management, but also for the implementation of general objectives in the regulatory plan as well.

A history of medical student debt: observations and implications for the future of medical education.

Science.gov (United States)

Greysen, S Ryan; Chen, Candice; Mullan, Fitzhugh

2011-07-01

Over the last 50 years, medical student debt has become a problem of national importance, and obtaining medical education in the United States has become a loan-dependent, individual investment. Although this phenomenon must be understood in the general context of U.S. higher education as well as economic and social trends in late-20th-century America, the historical problem of medical student debt requires specific attention for several reasons. First, current mechanisms for students' educational financing may not withstand debt levels above a certain ceiling which is rapidly approaching. Second, there are no standards for costs of medical school attendance, and these can vary dramatically between different schools even within a single city. Third, there is no consensus on the true cost of educating a medical student, which limits accountability to students and society for these costs. Fourth, policy efforts to improve physician workforce diversity and mitigate shortages in the primary care workforce are inhibited by rising levels of medical student indebtedness. Fortunately, the current effort to expand the U.S. physician workforce presents a unique opportunity to confront the unsustainable growth of medical student debt and explore new approaches to the financing of medical students' education.

Quantum lithography beyond the diffraction limit via Rabi-oscillations

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, Zeyang; Al-Amri, Mohammad; Zubairy, M. Suhail

2011-03-01

We propose a quantum optical method to do the sub-wavelength lithography. Our method is similar to the traditional lithography but adding a critical step before dissociating the chemical bound of the photoresist. The subwavelength pattern is achieved by inducing the multi-Rabi-oscillation between the two atomic levels. The proposed method does not require multiphoton absorption and the entanglement of photons. This method is expected to be realizable using current technology. This work is supported by a grant from the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) under the NPRP project and a grant from the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST).

Clean Cities Fact Sheet

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2004-01-01

This fact sheet explains the Clean Cities Program and provides contact information for all coalitions and regional offices. It answers key questions such as: What is the Clean Cities Program? What are alternative fuels? How does the Clean Cities Program work? What sort of assistance does Clean Cities offer? What has Clean Cities accomplished? What is Clean Cities International? and Where can I find more information?

Within city limits: nature and children's books about nature in the city

Science.gov (United States)

Leonard S. Marcus

1977-01-01

Many children's books give the impression that we must leave the city to be "in nature.'' This is a review of children's books about nature found within city limits. The books include a natural history of New York City; a guide to city wildflowers and other weeds; a book about city trees; a delightful inquiry into the true nature of the roach;...

Focus Cities : Urban Waste Management in the City of Cochabamba ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Focus Cities : Urban Waste Management in the City of Cochabamba (Bolivia). The city of ... Project status. Closed ... Studies. Inclusión social y económica de los recicladores en la gestión integrada de los residuos sólidos urbanos. 49088.

Tourism and City. Reflections about Tourist Dimension of Smart City

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosa Anna La Rocca

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The city of the future seems to be necessarily “intelligent” both in its physical and in functional features.This paper starts from the consideration that the diffusion of new communication technologies (ICTs is significantly changing the urban supply system of tourist services giving rise to new ways of enjoying the city.As tourism can be assumed as an urban activity, by a town planning point of view, the study of tourism is meaningful to identify development trajectories of the present cities targeted to sustainable and smarter models.As a matter of fact, almost all the projects to get a “smart city” are based on the idea of joining the potentialities of ICTs and the needs of urban management through people living or using the city.In such a vision, “tourist dimension” of the city becomes fundamental in promoting urban image as well as in improving efficiency of the city. This efficiency also depends on the capability of each city to share historical and cultural heritage as “common good”.As tourist demand has deeply changed also driven by technological development, this paper tries to investigate how the urban supply will change in order to meet the rising demand of quality and efficiency. The transition to smart tourist destination currently seems to be strongly connected with the number and the variety of apps to improve the “experiential component”. A lack of interest there seems to be in finding strategies and policies oriented to plan the urban supply of services tourist or not.This consideration, if shared, opens up new perspectives for research and experimentation in which city planning could have a key-role also in proposing an holistic approach to city development towards smart city.

City Car = The City Car / Andres Sevtshuk

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Sevtshuk, Andres, 1981-

2008-01-01

Massachusettsi Tehnoloogiainstituudi (MIT) meedialaboratooriumi juures tegutseva Targa Linna Grupi (Smart City Group) ja General Motorsi koostööna sündinud kaheistmelisest linnasõbralikust elektriautost City Car. Nimetatud töögrupi liikmed (juht William J. Mitchell, töögruppi kuulus A. Sevtshuk Eestist)

Pittsburgh City Facilities

Data.gov (United States)

Allegheny County / City of Pittsburgh / Western PA Regional Data Center — Pittsburgh City FacilitiesIncludes: City Administrative Buildings, Police Stations, Fire Stations, EMS Stations, DPW Sites, Senior Centers, Recreation Centers, Pool...

Mental health status among Japanese medical students: a cross-sectional survey of 20 universities.

Science.gov (United States)

Ohtsu, Tadahiro; Kaneita, Yoshitaka; Osaki, Yoneatsu; Kokaze, Akatsuki; Ochiai, Hirotaka; Shirasawa, Takako; Nanri, Hinako; Ohida, Takashi

2014-12-01

The purposes of this study were to evaluate the mental health status of Japanese medical students and to examine differences based on gender, as well as on university type and location, using the results of a nationwide survey. Between December 2006 and March 2007, we conducted a questionnaire survey among fourth-year medical students at 20 randomly selected medical schools in Japan. The data from 1,619 students (response rate: 90.6%; male: 1,074; female: 545) were analyzed. We used the Japanese version of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) to measure mental health status. Poor mental health status (GHQ-12 score of 4 points or higher) was observed in 36.6% and 48.8% of the male and female medical students, respectively. The ratio of the age-adjusted prevalence of poor mental health status in female versus male medical students was 1.33 (95% confidence interval: 1.10-1.62). The universities were categorized into two groups based on the university type (national/public: 15 vs. private: 5) or location (in a large city: 7 vs. in a local city: 13 cities). The prevalence of poor mental health status in both men and women differed between these groups, although not significantly. The GHQ-12 scores in men significantly differed between the categorized groups of universities. These results suggest that adequate attention must be paid to the mental health of medical students, especially females, and that a system for providing mental health care for medical students must be established in the context of actual conditions at each university.

Perception of illegal practice of medicine by Brazilian medical students.

Science.gov (United States)

Lins, Liliane; Herbas, Suzana; Lisboa, Larissa; Damasceno, Hannah; Menezes, Marta

2014-06-01

Illegal practice of medicine by medical students is a worldwide problem. In Brazil, information about this issue is scarce. To describe the perception of illegal practice of medicine by medical students. A cross-sectional study in a stratified random sample of 130 medical students in the 6th to 12th semesters from a private faculty of medicine in Salvador, State of Bahia, Brazil, from September to October 2011. Students responded to a standardised questionnaire about the illegal practice of medicine by medical students. Knowing medical students who practised medical activities without supervision was reported by 86% of the respondents, and 93.8% had heard about someone who performed such practices. Medical specialties most often associated with illegal practice were general medicine (78.8%) and occupational health (55.9%). Illegal practice of medicine was more common in peripheral cities/towns (83.9%) than in the State capital, Salvador City (52.4%). Only 10.5% of illegal activities were reported to the authorities. Unsupervised medical practice was more often reported in the 8th-9th semester (56.8%) and 10th-11th semester (54.4%) of medical school. Illegal practice of medicine was commonly reported by the medical students questioned. The high frequency of reported illegal practice for financial reasons highlights the need for greater availability of paid internships for medical students. Educational institutions represent the social control responsible for supervising the activities of academics. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Drone City

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Ole B.

2016-01-01

for a new urban condition where cities are networked and connected (as well as disconnected) from the local block to global digital spheres. In the midst of many of the well-known data-creating devices (e.g. Bluetooth, radio-frequency identification (RFID), GPS, smartphone applications) there is a “new kid......This paper address the phenomenon of drones and their potential relationship with the city from the point of view of the so-called “mobilities turn”. This is done in such a way that turns attention to a recent redevelopment of the “turn” towards design; so the emerging perspective of “mobilities...... design” will be used as a background perspective to reflect upon the future of drones in cities. The other perspective used to frame the phenomenon is the emerging discourse of the “smart city”. A city of proliferating digital information and data communication may be termed a smart city as shorthand...

Effects of prevailing conditions during second Palestinian uprising on solid waste management system in Nablus city in Palestine.

Science.gov (United States)

Arafat, Hassan A; Al-Khatib, Issam A; Zahra, Abdulsalam Abu

2006-08-01

Since the start of the second Palestinian uprising (Al-Aqsa Intifada), and due to the Israeli activities, curfews, closures, and military checkpoints imposed since 2000, the quality of social services rendered by Nablus city has been gradually deteriorating. Solid waste management in Nablus city was badly affected by these conditions, and this situation is negatively affecting health and damaging the environment. Most of these cases were due to reasons beyond the capability of the municipality with its limited resources. This study revealed that some of the important municipal solid waste (MSW) equipment had been damaged during the uprising. The workforce in the MSW system was reduced and certain MSW-related development projects and activities have been frozen due to the current conditions. The city's medical waste incinerator had been phased out and the number of special medical containers had been reduced from 16 to 10. Some MSW compressing trucks had been out of use with no substitute. Another important figure is the number of waste collection workers which decreased from 420 to 301, although the city is growing in premises as well as population. The created unsanitary solid waste transfer station is now a pollution source on its own, causing an ugly scene at the eastern entrance of Nablus city. There should be a comprehensive and urgent solution for this problem and the needed resources should be invested.

Women in Cities.

Science.gov (United States)

Hurst, Liz

1982-01-01

Suggesting that women are at a disadvantage in cities and towns, discusses experiences of women at home, working women, women traveling, shopping, and growing old in cities. Includes suggestions for studying women in cities. (JN)

The Synergy between City Human Resources and City Economy Development Based on the City Marketing: The Case of Chengdu

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bo Pu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available City human resources and the city economic development have a synergistic effect to attract high-quality talent and to encourage the sustainable development of the urban economy in the city marketing. Based on synergetics, we find out the evaluation indexes between the city human resources subsystem and urban economic development subsystem and constructed the evaluation system and model, and then used the yearbook data of Chengdu human resources and economic development from 2002 to 2012 and carried on empirical research. The results show that the level of coordinated development is weak between city human resources and city economic development at Chengdu, but it keeps rising slowly. The strong policy support shall be provided to Chengdu human resources and economic development by Chengdu government.

Automedicação em idosos na cidade de Salgueiro-PE Self-medication in the elderly of the city of Salgueiro, State of Pernambuco

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mirivaldo Barros e Sá

2007-03-01

Full Text Available OBJETIVOS: identificar os determinantes associados ao perfil da automedicação na população de idosos de 60 anos e mais, no município de Salgueiro/Pernambuco/Brasil. MÉTODO: Estudo de corte transversal realizado na zona urbana no município de Salgueiro - PE. Entre 01/05 a 10/06/2004, foram aplicados questionários em uma amostra de 355 indivíduos da população de 60 anos e mais. Os dados foram processados e analisados no EPIINFO 6.04 após digitação em dupla entrada e validação. RESULTADOS: 44,9% dos entrevistados encontravam-se na faixa etária de 60-70 anos, 247 (69,8% eram do sexo feminino, 188 (53,1% eram analfabetos e 145 (40,7% tinham o primeiro grau incompleto, sendo 276 (77,7% aposentados. Entre os que faziam uso de medicamentos sem receita médica houve predomínio de analgésicos (30% e antipiréticos (29%. Entre os motivos mais freqüentes apresentados, e que levavam os indivíduos a tomar remédios por conta própria, a dor tem o maior índice (38,3%, seguida de febre (24,4%, diarréia (8,0%, pressão alta (8,0% e tosse (5,2%. Houve associação entre a ausência de atividade física e automedicação (x² =14,44, p=0,001. CONCLUSÃO: existe grande prevalência da automedicação neste grupo, sendo os analgésicos e os antipiréticos os mais utilizados; a dor é o sintoma que mais leva à automedicação; os idosos sedentários se automedicam mais que os praticantes de atividade física.OBJECTIVES: to identify the determinants associated with the practice of self-medication in the 60-year-old or older population in the city of Salgueiro/Pernambuco/Brazil. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out in the urban zone in the city of Salgueiro - PE; questionnaires were handed out between May/01/2004 and June/06/2004 in a sample population of 355 persons aged 60 years or more. Data were processed and analyzed using EPIINFO 6.04 software after a double entry and validated. RESULTS: The sample was comprised of 44.9% (159

[Healthy Cities projects].

Science.gov (United States)

Takano, Takehito

2002-05-01

This is a review article on "Healthy Cities". The Healthy Cities programme has been developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to tackle urban health and environmental issues in a broad way. It is a kind of comprehensive policy package to carry out individual projects and activities effectively and efficiently. Its key aspects include healthy public policy, vision sharing, high political commitment, establishment of structural organization, strategic health planning, intersectoral collaboration, community participation, setting approach, development of supportive environment for health, formation of city health profile, national and international networking, participatory research, periodic monitoring and evaluation, and mechanisms for sustainability of projects. The present paper covered the Healthy Cities concept and approaches, rapid urbanization in the world, developments of WHO Healthy Cities, Healthy Cities developments in the Western Pacific Region, the health promotion viewpoint, and roles of research.

Medication adherence among adult patients on hemodialysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdulmalik M Alkatheri

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Medication adherence was assessed in 89 patients on hemodialysis (HD at the King Abdul Aziz Medical City using an Arabic version of the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MASS-8. The results of the study revealed that 31.46% and 40.45% of the participants showed low and medium adherence, respectively, while 28.09% showed high medication adherence. Accordingly, 71.91% of the patients visiting the dialysis unit were considered medication non-adherent. While being of older age (P = 0.012, being married (P = 0.012 increased the level of adherence, being of medium level of education (P = 0.024 decreased adherence levels. On the other hand, gender, presence of a care-giver, number of members in the household and employment status seems to have no effect on the level of medication adherence. These results call upon the practitioners in HD units to develop intervention programs that can increase the level of medication adherence.

Jerusalem: City of Dreams, City of Sorrows

Science.gov (United States)

Ricks, Thomas

2011-01-01

Jerusalem is more than an intriguing global historical city; it is a classroom for liberal learning and international understanding. It had never been a city of one language, one religion and one culture. Looking at the origins of Jerusalem's name indicates its international and multicultural nature. While Israelis designate Jerusalem as their…

Centralization vs. Decentralization in Medical School Libraries

Science.gov (United States)

Crawford, Helen

1966-01-01

Does the medical school library in the United States operate more commonly under the university library or the medical school administration? University-connected medical school libraries were asked to indicate (a) the source of their budgets, whether from the central library or the medical school, and (b) the responsibility for their acquisitions and cataloging. Returns received from sixtyeight of the seventy eligible institutions showed decentralization to be much the most common: 71 percent of the libraries are funded by their medical schools; 79 percent are responsible for their own acquisitions and processing. The factor most often associated with centralization of both budget and operation is public ownership. Decentralization is associated with service to one or two rather than three or more professional schools. Location of the medical school in a different city from the university is highly favorable to autonomy. Other factors associated with these trends are discussed. PMID:5945568

Centralization vs. decentralization in medical school libraries.

Science.gov (United States)

Crawford, H

1966-07-01

Does the medical school library in the United States operate more commonly under the university library or the medical school administration? University-connected medical school libraries were asked to indicate (a) the source of their budgets, whether from the central library or the medical school, and (b) the responsibility for their acquisitions and cataloging. Returns received from sixtyeight of the seventy eligible institutions showed decentralization to be much the most common: 71 percent of the libraries are funded by their medical schools; 79 percent are responsible for their own acquisitions and processing. The factor most often associated with centralization of both budget and operation is public ownership. Decentralization is associated with service to one or two rather than three or more professional schools. Location of the medical school in a different city from the university is highly favorable to autonomy. Other factors associated with these trends are discussed.

77 FR 29932 - Safety Zone; Nautical City Festival Air Show, Rogers City, MI

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-21

...-AA00 Safety Zone; Nautical City Festival Air Show, Rogers City, MI AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. ACTION... City Festival will be celebrating Calcite's 100th Anniversary. As part of that celebration, an air show... posed by the Nautical City Festival air show near Rogers City, MI, the Captain of the Port Sault Sainte...

77 FR 40798 - Safety Zone; Nautical City Festival Air Show, Rogers City MI

Science.gov (United States)

2012-07-11

...-AA00 Safety Zone; Nautical City Festival Air Show, Rogers City MI AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. ACTION...; Nautical City Festival Air Show, Rogers City MI; in the Federal Register (77 FR 29932). We received no... Nautical City Festival will be celebrating Calcite's 100th Anniversary. As part of that celebration, an air...

Determinants of Increasing Trend of Self-Medication in a Pakistani ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Pharmacotherapy Group, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Benin, Benin City, 300001 Nigeria. All rights reserved. ... self-medication for rapid relief of indications only when health care ... hospitals, and other healthcare units. Data analysis.

For a Safer City. A Friendlier City. And a More Beautiful City.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roberto Busi

2010-04-01

Full Text Available The issue of the safety of mobility in the urban environment has been emerging as a primary social topic for some time now due to the number of casualties and, more generally, due to the impact on living conditions in the city. If correctly formulated, in fact, this subject has implications primarily and fundamentally with regard to the quality of urban life, as the citizen, and the vulnerable road user in particular, is severely restricted in their use of urban public paces. Consequently, an increasingly greater focus is being placed on acquiring methods, techniques and strategies for addressing the issue of planning, constructing and managing roads, squares and urban green spaces (and above all, applying the logic of reclaiming the historic and consolidated city in order that the city can be used to its full potential by the citizen. The subject itself therefore presents an opportunity to re-establish urban planning regulations (and, more generally, city regulations in accordance with the renewed interest in public spaces. The article discusses this matter and includes supporting elements and examples, also referring to the implications on the urban landscape.

The City Intelligence Quotient (City IQ Evaluation System: Conception and Evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhiqiang Wu

2016-06-01

Full Text Available After a systematic review of 38 current intelligent city evaluation systems (ICESs from around the world, this research analyzes the secondary and tertiary indicators of these 38 ICESs from the perspectives of scale structuring, approaches and indicator selection, and determines their common base. From this base, the fundamentals of the City Intelligence Quotient (City IQ Evaluation System are developed and five dimensions are selected after a clustering analysis. The basic version, City IQ Evaluation System 1.0, involves 275 experts from 14 high-end research institutions, which include the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Science and Engineering (Germany, the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, the Planning Management Center of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of China, and the Development Research Center of the State Council of China. City IQ Evaluation System 2.0 is further developed, with improvements in its universality, openness, and dynamic adjustment capability. After employing deviation evaluation methods in the IQ assessment, City IQ Evaluation System 3.0 was conceived. The research team has conducted a repeated assessment of 41 intelligent cities around the world using City IQ Evaluation System 3.0. The results have proved that the City IQ Evaluation System, developed on the basis of intelligent life, features more rational indicators selected from data sources that can offer better universality, openness, and dynamics, and is more sensitive and precise.

33 CFR 100.919 - International Bay City River Roar, Bay City, MI.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false International Bay City River Roar, Bay City, MI. 100.919 Section 100.919 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF... Bay City River Roar, Bay City, MI. (a) Regulated Area. A regulated area is established to include all...

Potentially inappropriate medication use in a city of Southeast Brazil

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Mauro Cunha Xavier Pinto

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Potentially inappropriate medication use by the Diamantina (Minas Gerais State population was investigated by analyzing medicine consumption, self-medication, polypharmacy and drug interactions of medicines prescribed among those interviewed. Level of knowledge about rational drug use and its relationship to socio-economic variables was also evaluated using a semi-structured questionnaire. This survey was based on stratified sampling of 423 individuals selected randomly. The prevalence of prescription drug consumption was 42.32% (n=179 and cardiovascular drugs were the most prescribed. Drug interactions were found in 45.81% (n=82 of prescriptions and 92.68% (n=76 of these interactions were moderate, with co-administration of cardiovascular drugs occurring in more than half of the cases. The inappropriate use of medication, according to Beers criteria, occurred in 44.73% of prescriptions to the elderly. The prevalence of self-medication was 63.34% (n=268 while 21.99% (n=91 of individuals administered medications to their children without formal prescriptions, where this practice was associated to analgesic/antipyretic consumption. The population showed a high prevalence of inappropriate use of drugs across all strata of society, representing an issue requiring effective actions to promote rational use of medicines.O consumo inapropriado de medicamentos pela população de Diamantina-MG foi investigado através da análise do consumo de medicamentos, automedicação, polifarmácia e interações medicamentosas prescritas aos entrevistados. Também foi avaliado o nível de conhecimento sobre uso racional de medicamentos e sua relação com variáveis sócio-econômicas através de um questionário semi-estruturado. Este estudo transversal foi baseado em amostragem estratificada e contou com a participação de 423 indivíduos selecionados aleatoriamente. A prevalência do consumo de medicamentos prescritos foi de 42,32% (n=179, sendo os

@City: technologising Barcelona

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Rojas, Jesús

2007-05-01

Full Text Available This article is about the concept of the contemporary city - the influence that technology has when one thinks about, plans and lives in a city. The conjunction of technology and city reformulates customs and social practices; it can even determine the way one constitutes one's own identity. One can see how close the relation is between technology (specifically, TICS and the structures of the city in a wide variety of situations: in social interactions on the street, in transport, and in ways of buying, of working and entertainment. "@City" is a concept that very well reflects the emergent properties of a current city, that is, the coexistence of a physical and a virtual urban space. The "22@Barcelona" project attempts to bring together different types of spaces. By combining the physical with the virtual, 22@Barcelona, as a neighborhood of @City, creates an uncertain and blurred border between both spaces.The article also examines the impact that these spaces have on the psycho-social processes involved in the daily life of a traditionally working-class neighborhood, now strongly limited by technological boundaries.

Creation / accumulation city

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Doevendans, C.H.; Schram, A.L.

2005-01-01

A distinction between basic archetypes of urban form was made by Bruno Fortier: the accumulation city as opposed to the creation city. These archetypes derive from archaeology - being based on the Roman and the Egyptian city - but are interpreted as morphological paradigms, as a set of assumptions

City Carbon Footprint Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guangwu Chen

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Progressive cities worldwide have demonstrated political leadership by initiating meaningful strategies and actions to tackle climate change. However, the lack of knowledge concerning embodied greenhouse gas (GHG emissions of cities has hampered effective mitigation. We analyse trans-boundary GHG emission transfers between five Australian cities and their trading partners, with embodied emission flows broken down into major economic sectors. We examine intercity carbon footprint (CF networks and disclose a hierarchy of responsibility for emissions between cities and regions. Allocations of emissions to households, businesses and government and the carbon efficiency of expenditure have been analysed to inform mitigation policies. Our findings indicate that final demand in the five largest cities in Australia accounts for more than half of the nation’s CF. City households are responsible for about two thirds of the cities’ CFs; the rest can be attributed to government and business consumption and investment. The city network flows highlight that over half of emissions embodied in imports (EEI to the five cities occur overseas. However, a hierarchy of GHG emissions reveals that overseas regions also outsource emissions to Australian cities such as Perth. We finally discuss the implications of our findings on carbon neutrality, low-carbon city concepts and strategies and allocation of subnational GHG responsibility.

Tales of two cities: political capitals and economic centres in the world city network.

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Peter J. Taylor

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The majority of major cities in the world city network are capital cities. Between primacy and political specialization there are examples of countries where the capital city and a second city remain as major rival cities in contemporary globalization. In this paper we focus upon situations where the capital city is less important in global economic capacity: Rome and Milan, Berlin and Frankfurt, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Delhi and Mumbai, Islamabad and Karachi. This is an exercise in double comparisons: between cities in each pairing and between the pairings. Despite the massive differences – economic, cultural and political – amongst our chosen pairs of cities we have found communalities relating to the specific circumstance we are investigating. First, there is some evidence that economic centres are more global and less local than their capital cities. Second, more particularly, we have shown that in terms of global economic connections there is a very consistent pattern: economic centres have a much more coherent and telling integration into the world city network.

Searching for Silver Linings: Is Perceived Medical Discrimination Weaker in Segregated Areas?

Science.gov (United States)

Gibbons, Joseph; Yang, Tse-Chuan

2018-03-01

An ongoing obstacle in dealing with minority health disparities is discriminatory behavior from healthcare practitioners, also known as medical discrimination. It is not clear, however, if the effects of medical discriminations onto health are constant across space. For example, there is evidence to suspect minorities in racially segregated neighborhoods suffer less from discrimination compared to those living elsewhere. To determine the presence of spatial heterogeneity underlying medical discrimination, we implement logistic geographically weighted regression (GWR) using individual data in the city of Philadelphia from the 2006 and 2008 Public Health Management Corporation's Southeastern Pennsylvania Household Health Surveys. Evaluating the potential role residential segregation has in offsetting medical discrimination, we compare the GWR results to tract data from the 2005-2009 American Community Survey. Through this comparison, we find that the effects of medical discrimination on self-rated health are weaker in magnitude in areas that are mostly minority. However, evidence of direct health benefits for minorities in segregated communities is inconclusive. Thus, while we cannot say living in segregated neighborhoods leads to better minority health, the sting of medical discrimination can be weaker in these places. These results emphasize the importance of local variation, even within a city like Philadelphia, challenging the aspatial one-model-fits-all approach normally found in population studies.

Water changed the cities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Elle, Morten; Jensen, Marina Bergen

An improvement in water infrastructure and cleaning up the waters changed many harbour cities in Denmark at the beginning of the 90s. The harbour cities changed from drity, run-down industrial harbours to clean and attractive harbour dwelling creating new city centres and vital city areas...

[The community-oriented experience of early intervention services in Taipei City].

Science.gov (United States)

Chu, Feng-Ying

2007-10-01

The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the importance of early intervention. The purpose of early intervention in Taipei City is to help child development, promote parenting skills, and reduce educational and social costs. In order to meet these goals, parenting groups and Taipei City Council have made great efforts to make early intervention work in Taipei City. In April 1995, Taipei City Government started planning and setting up the service network. To date, Taipei City has set up one reporting and referral center?, ?six community resources centers, 22 medical assessment and intervention clinics, 12 child development centers, one early intervention training center, three non-profit foundations and more than 300 inclusion schools, such as kindergartens and day care centers. With parent participation, professional devotion and Taipei City Government's commitment, the number of assisted children has increased from 98 to 2,523 /year. By the end of 2006, Taipei had already funded 25,277 children. We estimate Taipei City early intervention services to have affected at least 75,000 persons, including development-delayed and disabled children, their parents?, ?grandparents and siblings. We found that early intervention services help the children to build up self esteem, grow their potential, learn how to socialize, and receive an education, while the most important aim is to help them to reduce their level of disability or to prevent them from getting worse. At the same time, their families get support and a diverse range of services. An integrated early intervention program should include children, families, and multidisciplinary professionals. The system should therefore be more "family-centered" and "community-oriented" to provide appropriate services to children and families through a positive and aggressive attitude.

Integrating world cities into production networks : the case of port cities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jacobs, W.; Ducruet, C.; Langen, de P.W.

2010-01-01

In this article we analyse the location patterns of firms that provide specialized advanced producer services (APS) to international commodity chains that move through seaports. Such activities can take place in world cities or in port cities. The analysis of APS location patterns in port cities

Cities as development drivers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johnson, Bjørn; Poulsen, Tjalfe; Hansen, Jens Aage

2011-01-01

There is a strong connection between economic growth and development of cities. Economic growth tends to stimulate city growth, and city economies have often shaped innovative environments that in turn support economic growth. Simultaneously, social and environmental problems related to city growth...... can be serious threats to the realization of the socio-economic contributions that cities can make. However, as a result of considerable diversity of competences combined with interactive learning and innovation, cities may also solve these problems. The ‘urban order’ may form a platform...... for innovative problem solving and potential spill-over effects, which may stimulate further economic growth and development. This paper discusses how waste problems of cities can be transformed to become part of new, more sustainable solutions. Two cases are explored: Aalborg in Denmark and Malmö in Sweden...

City 2020+

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, C.; Buttstädt, M.; Merbitz, H.; Sachsen, T.; Ketzler, G.; Michael, S.; Klemme, M.; Dott, W.; Selle, K.; Hofmeister, H.

2010-09-01

This research initiative CITY 2020+ assesses the risks and opportunities for residents in urban built environments under projected demographic and climate change for the year 2020 and beyond, using the City of Aachen as a case study. CITY 2020+ develops scenarios, options and tools for planning and developing sustainable future city structures. We investigate how urban environment, political structure and residential behavior can best be adapted, with attention to the interactions among structural, political, and sociological configurations and with their consequences on human health. Demographers project that in the EU-25-States by 2050, approximately 30% of the population will be over age 65. Also by 2050, average tem¬peratures are projected to rise by 1 to 2 K. Combined, Europe can expect enhanced thermal stress and higher levels of particulate matter. CITY 2020+ amongst other sub-projects includes research project dealing with (1) a micro-scale assessment of blockages to low-level cold-air drainage flow into the city centre by vegetation and building structures, (2) a detailed analysis of the change of probability density functions related to the occurrence of heat waves during summer and the spatial and temporal structure of the urban heat island (UHI) (3) a meso-scale analysis of particulate matter (PM) concentrations depending on topography, local meteorological conditions and synoptic-scale weather patterns. First results will be presented specifically from sub-projects related to vegetation barriers within cold air drainage, the assessment of the UHI and the temporal and spatial pattern of PM loadings in the city centre. The analysis of the cold air drainage flow is investigated in two consecutive years with a clearing of vegetation stands in the beginning of the second year early in 2010. The spatial pattern of the UHI and its possible enhancement by climate change is addressed employing a unique setup using GPS devices and temperature probes fixed to

Lighting the city. First poetic representations of Mexico City

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudia Kerik

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The first impressions that caused the changes made in Mexico City in its process of transformation into a modern city were captured by its poets drawing attention to different aspects of life in the capital. While from the popular poetry the record of the entrance of the electricity in the public road was left, from the official poetry was tried to witness the new cosmopolitan status of the Mexico City in the Porfirian era, through the fashion and the customs that were revealed in one of the main streets of the city. Comparing these poems allows us to know the initial strategies of poetic figuration of urban space that will continue to develop along different paths throughout the twentieth century until we reach our days.

On the Internet of Things, smart cities and the WHO Healthy Cities

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

This article gives a brief overview of the Internet of Things (IoT) for cities, offering examples of IoT-powered 21st century smart cities, including the experience of the Spanish city of Barcelona in implementing its own IoT-driven services to improve the quality of life of its people through measures that promote an eco-friendly, sustainable environment. The potential benefits as well as the challenges associated with IoT for cities are discussed. Much of the 'big data' that are continuously generated by IoT sensors, devices, systems and services are geo-tagged or geo-located. The importance of having robust, intelligent geospatial analytics systems in place to process and make sense of such data in real time cannot therefore be overestimated. The authors argue that IoT-powered smart cities stand better chances of becoming healthier cities. The World Health Organization (WHO) Healthy Cities Network and associated national networks have hundreds of member cities around the world that could benefit from, and harness the power of, IoT to improve the health and well-being of their local populations. PMID:24669838

On the Internet of Things, smart cities and the WHO Healthy Cities.

Science.gov (United States)

Kamel Boulos, Maged N; Al-Shorbaji, Najeeb M

2014-03-27

This article gives a brief overview of the Internet of Things (IoT) for cities, offering examples of IoT-powered 21st century smart cities, including the experience of the Spanish city of Barcelona in implementing its own IoT-driven services to improve the quality of life of its people through measures that promote an eco-friendly, sustainable environment. The potential benefits as well as the challenges associated with IoT for cities are discussed. Much of the 'big data' that are continuously generated by IoT sensors, devices, systems and services are geo-tagged or geo-located. The importance of having robust, intelligent geospatial analytics systems in place to process and make sense of such data in real time cannot therefore be overestimated. The authors argue that IoT-powered smart cities stand better chances of becoming healthier cities. The World Health Organization (WHO) Healthy Cities Network and associated national networks have hundreds of member cities around the world that could benefit from, and harness the power of, IoT to improve the health and well-being of their local populations.

City Hub : a cloud based IoT platform for Smart Cities

OpenAIRE

Lea, Rodger; Blackstock, Michael

2014-01-01

Cloud based Smart City hubs are an attractive approach to addressing some of the complex issues faced when deploying PaaS infrastructure for Smart Cities. In this paper we introduce the general notion of IoT hubs and then discusses our work to generalize our IoT hub as a Smart City PaaS. Two key issues are identified, support for hybrid public/private cloud and interoperability. We briefly describe our approach to these issues and discuss our experiences deploying two cloud-based Smart City h...

For the Smarter Good of Cities? On Cities, Complexity and Slippages in the Smart City Discourse’

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Steiner, Henriette; Veel, Kristin

2013-01-01

Summary: Cities for Smart Environmental and Energy Futures presents works written by eminent international experts from a variety of disciplines including architecture, engineering and related fields. Due to the ever-increasing focus on sustainable technologies, alternative energy sources......, and global social and urban issues, interest in the energy systems for cities of the future has grown in a wealth of disciplines. Some of the special features of this book include new findings on the city of the future from the macro to the micro level. These range from urban sustainability to indoor...... urbanism, and from strategies for cities and global climate change to material properties. The book is intended for graduate students and researchers active in architecture, engineering, the social and computational sciences, building physics and related fields....

Flying Cities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ciger, Jan

2006-01-01

The Flying Cities artistic installation brings to life imaginary cities made from the speech input of visitors. In this article we describe the original interactive process generating real time 3D graphics from spectators' vocal inputs. This example of cross-modal interaction has the nice property....... As the feedback we have received when presenting Flying Cities was very positive, our objective now is to cross the bridge between art and the potential applications to the rehabilitation of people with reduced mobility or for the treatment of language impairments....

Flying Cities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Herbelin, Bruno; Lasserre, Sebastien; Ciger, Jan

2008-01-01

Flying Cities is an artistic installation which generates imaginary cities from the speech of its visitors. Thanks to an original interactive process analyzing people's vocal input to create 3D graphics, a tangible correspondence between speech and visuals opens new possibilities of interaction....... This cross-modal interaction not only supports our artistic messages, but also aims at providing anyone with a pleasant and stimulating feedback from her/his speech activity. As the feedback we have received when presenting Flying Cities was very positive, our objective is now to cross the bridge between art...

Acceptance of induced abortion amongst medical students and physicians in Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

Lisker, Rubén; Carnevale, Alessandra; Villa, Antonio R

2006-01-01

Abortion is illegal in most of Mexico, except in the case of rape or physical risk to the mother, but there are several indicators that suggest that at least in Mexico City, society would like to have a more liberal law. The present study was performed to learn what several groups of physicians and medical students residing outside of Mexico City think in this regard. Seven colleagues working in different cities agreed to apply a questionnaire to physicians and or medical students available to them, to learn their opinions regarding the acceptability of induced abortion in several scenarios. Questions one to tree inquires if abortion is acceptable up to week 20 of pregnancy at the simple request of the parents, if the fetus has a severe malformation or anencephaly. Questions four to six personalize the situations by supposing that the physician or spouse have a high risk of having a malformed child. Question seven asks if they would offer prenatal diagnosis to a mother who would abort a malformed fetus. Statistical procedure includes multivariate analysis. The inter-city physicians-students composition was very heterogeneous. The majority of respondents disagreed with abortion on demand of the parents, but clearly agrees to it in the presence of severe malformations. In general males, above 30 years old physicians and less religious individuals, are more in favor to abortion than their respective counterparts. The proportion of acceptance is over 70% in most cases. We believe that this work shows a preliminary indication of a national trend amongst physicians and medical students favoring induced early abortion if the fetus has a severe malformation.

From City-States to Global Cities: the role of Cities in Global Governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Domingos Martins Vaz

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Global governance has altered institutional architecture and the systemic and institutional conditions under which power is exercised, as well as the characteristics of the political system, the form of government, and the system of intermediation of interests. However, although it has surpassed the State’s dimension of power, it created new interstate dimensions and new relations between powers, particularly at the level of cities. Cities have helped to solve common problems in a more efficient and effective way by facilitating the exchange of knowledge, sharing of solutions and resources, and building capacity to implement and monitor progress in order to achieve collectively agreed goals, in a bottom-up approach. Cities have the virtue of securing the most direct social and political contract between societies and the notion of authority. This study, therefore, aims to reflect on this emerging, less hierarchical and rigid governance and address complex global challenges such as climate and demographic change; increasing crime rates; disruptive technology; and pressures on resources, infrastructure and energy. As a global/local interface, cities can ensure effective solutions to current challenges and act together in areas where the global agenda has stalled.

Towards Credible City Branding Practices: How Do Iran’s Largest Cities Face Ecological Modernization?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Negar Noori

2018-04-01

Full Text Available City branding is not only increasingly practiced in cities in established economies, but also among municipal governments in countries, until quite recently, rather closed off from the outside world. One country with a strong drive to engage in urban (redevelopment in the post-oil era through enhancing its ‘ecological modernization’ is Iran. Megacities in Iran have all begun to venture into making profiles of what they think they are or would like to be. However, some of the adopted city branding strategies lack sophistication. In this article, the authors examine what indicators can be used for evaluating the credibility of city brands and apply these to Iran’s 15 megacities. After offering brief descriptions of the generic features of each of these cities, they map their use of city brand identities and popular city labels related to ecological modernization and analyze the credibility of their city branding practices. Based on their findings, the authors distinguish five types of cities and explain what makes some types more credible in their use of brands than others. Generally speaking, compared to cities in other nations, Iranian cities pay special attention to historical, natural, cultural, and religious aspects.

Smart City Planning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ekman, Ulrik

2018-01-01

This article reflects on the challenges for urban planning posed by the emergence of smart cities in network societies. In particular, it reflects on reductionist tendencies in existing smart city planning. Here the concern is with the implications of prior reductions of complexity which have been...... undertaken by placing primacy in planning on information technology, economical profit, and top-down political government. Rather than pointing urban planning towards a different ordering of these reductions, this article argues in favor of approaches to smart city planning via complexity theory....... Specifically, this article argues in favor of approaching smart city plans holistically as topologies of organized complexity. Here, smart city planning is seen as a theory and practice engaging with a complex adaptive urban system which continuously operates on its potential. The actualizations in the face...

Dose evaluation due to the effluent liberation by medical installations at city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shu, Jane; Rochedo, Elaine R.R.; Heilbron, Paulo F.L.; Crispim, Verginia R.

2011-01-01

This paper, the city of Rio de Janeiro was taken as a case study. It was processed deterministic and probabilistic simulations vor evaluation of the dose in two exposure sceneries, one of them referring to public members exposure and the other relative to exposure of sewage sanitary treatment plant workers. The results showed that at present the doses for inhabitants of the city and operators of treatment station are lower to dose limit established for the public, the approach presently in use in Brazil is not sufficient to accomplish whit international requirements and the regulation should be revised to be adopted specific values for each radionuclide

Medical Aid for Russian Soldiers During the First World War (on the Materials of Tsaritsyn

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lepkova Elena

2014-11-01

Full Text Available he article discusses the activity of medical institutions in Tsaritsyn, Saratov province, on assisting the wounded during the First World War. The author emphasizes that the problem of evacuating the wounded on the territory of the Saratov province were primarily associated with the irrational distribution of medical beds between the rear and front hospitals. The additional complications arose due to the lack of transport for evacuation and insufficient length of railways. The considerable distance from the front contributed to quite successful organization of medical aid to the wounded, despite the lack of qualified medical staff and the necessary medical equipment. The article contains the data on the number of medical institutions in the city and on the organization of hospitals and infirmaries functioning in Tsaritsyn during the war. The care quality in Tsaritsyn infirmaries was at a high level, as evidenced by a significant percentage of recovery of the wounded and sick. Emerging issues were often dealt with by means of different charitable organizations, primarily the Tsaritsyn Red Cross Society. Its initial task was to provide medical equipment for the hospitals. However, the activity of the Tsaritsyn Red Cross Society is not limited thereto, and the city was provided with modern medical equipment, including X-ray room. In the future, it gave a great impetus to the development of the health system in Tsaritsyn. The author emphasizes the special role of the big industrialists, merchants and patrons of Tsaritsyn, who made large donations to the Ladies’ Committee and the Committee of the Red Cross, thus contributing to the support of charitable organizations of the city during the war. The author concludes that in the provincial cities, including Tsaritsyn, the conditions for the rehabilitation of a large number of wounded and sick soldiers were created in a short time period. The charitable organizations and individuals established

Why Are Cities Becoming Alike When Each City Is Branded as Different?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ooi, Can-Seng

Cities are becoming alike. As a result, there is a rise of “copy-cat” cities. There are many reasons for this, and this paper looks from the perspective of city branding: how does place branding lead to the homogenization of cities? Using the case of Singapore, and with references to Chinese cities......, this paper highlights a number of accreditation tactics in place branding campaigns. Accreditation is necessary because the brand needs to seek credibility for the messages it sends. The types of accreditation used must also be globally understood, so as to reach out to diverse world audiences....

A liveable city:

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sommerlund, Julie

2014-01-01

is increas- ingly based in and on cities rather than nations, and cities compete for businesses, branding, tourists and talent. In the western world, urbanisation has happened simultane- ously to de-industrialisation, which has opened industrial neighbourhoods and harbours for new uses – often focus- ing......There are over 20 cities world-wide with a population of over 10 million people. We have entered ‘The Millennium of the City’. The growth of urban populations has been accompanied by profound changes of the cities’ economic and social profile and of the cities themselves. The world economy...

Awareness of Consumer Protection Act among Doctors in Udaipur City, India.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, K; Shetty, S; Bhat, N; Sharda, A; Agrawal, A; Chaudhary, H

2010-01-01

To compare the awareness of provisions of consumer protection act among dental and medical professionals in Udaipur city, Rajasthan, India. In a cross sectional study, a total of 448 professionals (253 males, 195 females) belonging to dental (222) and medical (226) categories were surveyed using a self administered structured questionnaire. The questionnaire comprised of 22 questions about the awareness of consumer protection art (CPA) and whether these professionals were following the recommendations of CPA. The student's t-test, ANOVA test, and Scheffe's test were used as tests of significance. The awareness scores were significantly higher for medical professionals compared with those of dental professionals. Similarly, postgraduates showed more awareness in both the professions and it was found that private practitioners significantly have more awareness than the academic sector. Though medical professionals have more awareness of CPA compared to dental professionals, considering the present scenario, better knowledge of CPA is necessary for both professionals in order to be on the safer side.

Governing the City

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kornberger, Martin

2012-01-01

cities. This theoretical curiosity is reflected in the rising interest in urban strategy from practice. For instance, the World Bank regularly organizes an Urban Strategy Speaker Series, while the powerful network CEOs for Cities lobbies for a strategic approach to urban development. Critical scholars......Strategy frames the contemporary epistemological space of urbanism: major cities across the globe such as New York, London and Sydney invest time, energy and resources to craft urban strategies. Extensive empirical research projects have proposed a shift towards a strategic framework to manage...... such as Zukin diagnose not a shift in but a shift to strategic thinking in the contemporary city. This article poses the question: what makes strategy such an attractive ‘thought style’ in relation to imagining and managing cities? How can we understand the practice of urban strategy? And what are its intended...

Needed: Global Collaboration for Comparative Research on Cities and Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Gusmano, Michael K; Rodwin, Victor G

2016-04-16

Over half of the world's population lives in cities and United Nations (UN) demographers project an increase of 2.5 billion more urban dwellers by 2050. Yet there is too little systematic comparative research on the practice of urban health policy and management (HPAM), particularly in the megacities of middle-income and developing nations. We make a case for creating a global database on cities, population health and healthcare systems. The expenses involved in data collection would be difficult to justify without some review of previous work, some agreement on indicators worth measuring, conceptual and methodological considerations to guide the construction of the global database, and a set of research questions and hypotheses to test. We, therefore, address these issues in a manner that we hope will stimulate further discussion and collaboration. © 2016 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

Transnational city carbon footprint networks – Exploring carbon links between Australian and Chinese cities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Guangwu; Wiedmann, Thomas; Wang, Yafei; Hadjikakou, Michalis

2016-01-01

Highlights: • A trans-national, multi-region input-output analysis for cities is presented. • We examine the carbon footprint network of ten cities. • The balance of emissions embodied in trade discloses a hierarchy of responsibility. • We model how emissions reductions spread through the city carbon networks. • Implications on the Chinese and Australian carbon trading schemes are discussed. - Abstract: Cities are leading actions against climate change through global networks. More than 360 global cities announced during the 2015 Paris Climate Conference that the collective impact of their commitments will deliver over half of the world’s urban greenhouse gas emissions reductions by 2020. Previous studies on multi-city carbon footprint networks using sub-national, multi-region input-output (MRIO) modelling have identified additional opportunities for addressing the negative impacts of climate change through joint actions between cities within a country. However, similar links between city carbon footprints have not yet been studied across countries. In this study we focus on inter-city and inter-country carbon flows between two trading partners in a first attempt to address this gap. We construct a multi-scale, global MRIO model to describe a transnational city carbon footprint network among five Chinese megacities and the five largest Australian capital cities. First, we quantify city carbon footprints by sectors and regions. Based on the carbon map concept we show how local emissions reductions influence other regions’ carbon footprints. We then present a city emissions ’outsourcing hierarchy’ based on the balance of emissions embodied in intercity and international trade. The differences between cities and their position in the hierarchy emphasize the need for a bespoke treatment of their responsibilities towards climate change mitigation. Finally, we evaluate and discuss the potentially significant benefits of harmonising and aligning China�

An analysis of Emergency Medical Services demand: Time of day, day of the week, and location in the city.

Science.gov (United States)

Sariyer, Gorkem; Ataman, Mustafa Gokalp; Akay, Serhat; Sofuoglu, Turhan; Sofuoglu, Zeynep

2017-06-01

Effective planning of Emergency Medical Services (EMS), which is highly dependent on the analysis of past data trends, is important in reducing response time. Thus, we aimed to analyze demand for these services based on time and location trends to inform planning for an effective EMS. Data for this retrospective study were obtained from the Izmir EMS 112 system. All calls reaching these services during first six months of 2013 were descriptively analyzed, based on time and location trends as a heat-map form. The analyses showed that demand for EMS varied within different time periods of day, and according to day of the week. For the night period, demand was higher at the weekend compared to weekdays, whereas for daytime hours, demand was higher during the week. For weekdays, a statistically significant relation was observed between the call distribution of morning and evening periods. It was also observed that the percentage of demand changed according to location. Among 30 locations, the five most frequent destinations for ambulances, which are also correlated with high population densities, accounted for 55.66% of the total. The results of this study shed valuable light on the areas of call center planning and optimal ambulance locations of Izmir, which can also be served as an archetype for other cities.

From smart city to smart destination. The case of three Canadian cities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

François Bédard

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Several cities around the world are self-proclaimed "smart" by integrating, in varying degrees, new technologies in the different spheres of the city. Nevertheless, despite this effervescence around the smart city, the concept requires more conceptualization from the researchers. This is even more important when it comes time to distinguishing between smart city and smart destination. The relationship between these two concepts is blurred and the transition from the smart city to the smart destination is not automatic. This situation is explained by the fact that the intrinsic characteristics of their respective target populations, being the citizens and the tourists, are different. This article compares three Canadian cities in the province of Quebec with the aim of demonstrating that the realization of a smart destination project requires the adaptation of governance structure and the involvement of all the stakeholders and more particularly in tourism.

City Revenues and Expenses

Data.gov (United States)

Allegheny County / City of Pittsburgh / Western PA Regional Data Center — City Revenues and Expenses from the Operating Budget from 2012 to Present, updated every night from the City's JD Edwards ledger.

Preparing for terrorism: tools for evaluating the Metropolitan Medical Response System Program

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Manning, Frederick J; Goldfrank, Lewis R

2002-01-01

...) provides funds to major U. S. cities to help them develop plans for coping with the health and medical consequences of a terrorist attack with chemical, biological, or radiological (CBR) agents...

Quality of life declines in big and growing cities. Poverty in cities.

Science.gov (United States)

Harel, K

1997-01-01

The quality of life in developing countries during the first couple of decades after the Second World War was higher in cities than in small towns and villages. However, the relative advantage of city dwellers in developing countries has declined since the 1970s, with high-growth rate cities experiencing a more severe decline. Infant mortality levels in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa in the 1990s are as high in large cities as in the smallest towns and villages. In most developing regions, big city residents are increasingly disadvantaged, such that researchers and policymakers can no longer assume that the quality of life in urban areas is better than in rural areas. The urban transformation of the developing world is similar to the 19th century urbanization of now-developed countries, but today many more people are crowding into far bigger cities. Using survey information from 43 countries representing 63% of the developing world's urban population outside of China and India, Martin Brockerhoff of the Population Council and Ellen Brennan of the UN Population Division found that rapid population growth and big size have overwhelmed the capacity of cities to provide essential goods and services.

Interoperability in Smart Cities - Urban IoT and designing new city services

OpenAIRE

Gabrielsen, Kristin Rovik

2017-01-01

Abstract: Within the scope of a Master Thesis I explored the communities and movements surrounding the concept of Smart City. By conducting multiple interviews and workshops I was able to highlight the lack of user-involvement in today s city planning. The research was based in Trondheim. I used this insight to create the concept for an emerging role, the Smart City Manager and created the fundament of a platform that helps bridging the gap between the citizens, and the smart city ini...

Heritage conservation for city marketing: The imaging of the historic city of Georgetown, Penang

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sumarni Ismail ,

2008-12-01

Full Text Available The process of imaging for city marketing purposes has the implication on culture, conservation and heritage. City marketing, especially in the European context, has been examined in interdisciplinary literature with special focus on imaging for tourism. Little is reported about the imaging of those cities' ex-colonies in the East. The Historic City of Georgetown in Penang, dubbed 'the City of Living Culture', has been gearing her development towards living up to the image. This paper examines the imaging of the Historic City of Georgetown for heritage tourism and city marketing tool by the public agencies involved. A short introduction to city marketing, imaging and heritage tourism is offered due to sparse literature in the built environment literature and to serve as a foundation to the main discourse of this paper. The bulk of this paper discusses the conservation of heritage as image dimensions in the marketing of Georgetown. We submitted that Georgetown has successfully utilised and capitalised on its cultural diversity and tangible heritage based on its colonial legacy to promote the city as evidenced by its recent inscription into UNESCO's World Heritage Site list. Nonetheless, building and maintaining the synergy between the government, the private sector and the people is essential for the city's heritage tourism industry.

Eating Cities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mikkelsen, Bent Egberg; Fisker, Anna Marie; Clausen, Katja Seerup

2016-01-01

This paper analyzed the development of a city based sustainable food strategy for the city of Aalborg. It’s based on 3 cases of food service: food for the elderly as operated by the Municipality, food the hospital patients as operated by the region and food for defense staff as operated...

Deaths in New York City Jails, 2001–2009

Science.gov (United States)

Brittain, Joan; Axelrod, George

2013-01-01

Approximately 90 000 inmates are admitted annually to the New York City jail system, many of whom require a high level of medical or mental health services. According to our analysis of deaths in custody from 2001 to 2009, crude death rates have dropped significantly despite the increasing age of the population. Falling HIV-related mortality appears to contribute to this change. Other observations include low rates of suicide across all 9 years and increasing age of the population in recent years. PMID:23409900

EU Smart City Governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carmela Gargiulo

2013-11-01

Full Text Available In recent years European Commission has developed a set of documents for Members States tracing, directly or indirectly, recommendations for the transformation of the European city. The paper wants to outline which future EU draws for the city, through an integrated and contextual reading of addresses and strategies contained in the last documents, a future often suggested as Smart City. Although the three main documents (Cohesion Policy 2014-2020 of European Community, Digital Agenda for Europe and European Urban Agenda face the issue of the future development of European cities from different points of view, which are respectively cohesion social, ICT and urban dimension, each of them pays particular attention to urban and territorial dimension, identified by the name of Smart City. In other words, the paper aims at drawing the scenario of evolution of Smart Cities that can be delineated through the contextual reading of the three documents. To this end, the paper is divided into three parts: the first part briefly describes the general contents of the three European economic plan tools; the second part illustrates the scenarios for the future of the European city contained in each document; the third part seeks to trace the evolution of the Smart Cities issue developed by the set of the three instruments, in order to provide the framework of European Community for the near future of our cities. 

Medical students' exposure to pharmaceutical industry marketing: a survey at one U.S. medical school.

Science.gov (United States)

Bellin, Melena; McCarthy, Susan; Drevlow, Laurel; Pierach, Claus

2004-11-01

While much is known about the interactions between the pharmaceutical industry and physicians, very little is known about pharmaceutical marketing directed toward medical students. This study sought to characterize the extent and forms of medical students' exposure to pharmaceutical industry marketing. In 2001-02, an anonymous, 17-item questionnaire was distributed to 165 preclinical and 116 clinical students at the University of Minnesota Medical School-Twin Cities. The main outcome measures were the number and forms of exposures to pharmaceutical industry marketing reported by medical students and whether students had discussed these exposures with teachers or advisors. Preclinical and clinical students were compared using chi(2) analysis (p marketing. Seventy-six (71.7%) clinical students compared to 38 (33.3%) preclinical students recalled over 20 exposures (p textbook (p marketing with an instructor or advisor; 59 (55.7%) clinical students as compared to 87 (80.6%) preclinical students recalled no such discussion (p marketing during their early years of training. Given existing evidence that such exposure influences physicians' practice and prescribing patterns, the authors propose that medical school curricula include formal instruction to prepare students to critically assess these contacts.

75. King Abdulla Medical City – Makkah (KAMC echocardiography service experience & challenges during hajj season (pilgrimage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H.M. Ali

2016-07-01

Full Text Available 2–4 million Muslims attend Hajj each year over last 4–5 years. Umra visitors are seen all along most the year. This creates high demand on all services provided specially the medical. The majority of Hajjes are elderly with co morbidities. They are subject to intense emotional, spiritual & physical endurance during the short period of Hajj season. For the last 4 years King Abdulla Medical City (KAMC is the centre of care for almost all cardiac services provided in Makkah. Echocardiography is a pivotal & integral part of any cardiology service, providing important information about morphology, function & possible etiology in many cases. There is an increasing demand on echo service in KAMC especially during Hajj season. Our service model is unique to meet this increasing demand during Hajj season. To report: we report the service set up. The volume of cases done our experience & challenges met during last four years. The service is provided between first & 15th of Dhul Haja each year. The service is 24 h divided into 12 h shifts. The two shifts are adequately covered by well trained echocardiographers & experienced non-invasive consultant cardiologists. This staff is distributed within the various cardiology clinical areas, to insure rapid response. The studies are done Philips (i30, Epic7 machines. Data acquired is transmitted by special ports/WiFi to our echo lab (Xcelera system where the data is stored & available for viewing & reporting. Reports are created by the responsible consultants using a number of dedicated stations. Viewing stations are well distributed over the whole hospital. The results of this abstract are analyzed using simple Microsoft office tools. Between years 2011 and 2015 there is exponential increase of echo studies done in KAMC, with similar increase in the number of studies done among Hajjes. There was an increase in the number of echo machines, echocardiographers & consultants (See Tables and Graphs attached

LOCAL IDENTITY MEETING WITH CITY: CITTASLOW-SLOW CITIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tugba Ustun Topal

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Cities are characterised by local identities, which have been shaped by natural and cultural values. Constituting elements of local identity are settlement pattern bearing the traces of past, local music, traditional taste, handicrafts and life story. Besides, there has been a fast pace of life owing to globalization, and globally standardized cities, where local identities are ignored, have been emerged in planning-design-implementation process. From this viewpoint, Cittaslow movement has become a major turning point for liveable and sustainable cities that emphasize the local character. In this context, in the study, it is aimed to raise awareness about Cittaslow which is an example of an urban model for sustainability. In line with this purpose, the importance of Cittaslow approach and the criteria that are needed to be met for being a member of the Association of Cittaslow have been revealed. In line with these criteria Cittaslow cities in Turkey were discussed comparatively in terms of their features were considered. Examples from our country have been evaluated together with the international Cittaslow examples. In addition, proposals have been made by developing strategies in planning- designing and implementation process for the Cittaslow approach.

Who killed Rambhor?: The state of emergency medical services in India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rajesh H Garg

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In India, the healthcare delivery system starts up from the sub-center at the village level and reaches up to super specialty medical centers providing state of the art emergency medical services (EMS. These highest centers, located in big cities, are considered the last referral points for the patients from nearby cities and states. As the incidents of rail and road accidents have increased in recent years, the role of EMS becomes critical in saving precious lives. But when the facilities and management of these emergency centers succumbs before the patient, then the question arises regarding the adequate availability and quality of EMS. The death of an unknown common man, Rambhor, for want of EMS in three big hospitals in the national capital of India put a big question on the "health" of the emergency health services in India. The emergency services infrastructure seems inadequate and quality and timely provision of EMS to critical patients appears unsatisfactory. There is lack of emergency medicine (EM specialists in India and also the postgraduation courses in EM have not gained foot in our medical education system. Creation of a Centralized Medical Emergency Body, implementation of management techniques, modification of medical curriculum, and fixing accountability are some of the few steps which are required to improve the EMS in India.

Melanoma and medical education: knowledge and sun safety practices amongst medical students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicolina Smith

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Melanoma has become a public health problem; however, with proper education and the use of sun safety techniques, most cases can be prevented. The purpose of this study is to determine if medical students have safer sun practices than the general population. Material and Methods: An online survey was sent to all students enrolled in the three medical schools in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Surveys were sent to 1200 medical students with a 39.25% response rate (n=471. Results: Most of the student population (n=436; 92.6% indicated that over the past year they had used one or more forms of sun protection. Of the respondents, 60.7% (n=286 indicated they had, to this point in their medical training, been educated counseling patients about the risk factors for prevention of skin cancer. Respondents who indicated that they had been educated on the steps/procedures of a complete skin exam were significantly more likely to indicate they had used sun protective equipment in the past year (P=.024. Conclusions: The general population is in need of dermatologic education on the basic risk factors of skin cancer as well as ways to prevent skin cancer. As education increases in the general population one would anticipate that these individuals would engage in safe sun practices as seen in the medical student community.

City Placement: A New Element in the Strategy of Integrated Marketing Communication of Cities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrzej Szromnik

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Explanation of the essence and features of the “city placement” strategy, while observing the changes in “classic” forms of marketing communications used by cities and regions, including main pros and implementation procedures.Methodology: This paper is conceptual and relies on diagnosis and analysis of “city placement” strategy implementation in a chosen Polish city as well as on the author’s professional experiences. Analysis of scarce existing marketing literature, including the notion of “product placement,” allowed us to present model structures, variations, and rules that explain the role and pros of the “city placement” strategy in the promotion mix of places.Conclusions: This paper comprises not only a set of notions and models structuring the “city placement” phenomenon but also many operational concepts related to the implementation of this strategy, which makes this paper a valuable point in the discussion on innovative changes in the “promotion mix” of cities and regions.Originality: “city placement” is a novelty in promotion strategies of cities and regions. In the existing literaturę on place marketing, there are no in-depth conceptual works explaining the role, features, and forms of “city placement.” This paper is a new approach suggested by the author and is an attempt to explain the process.

Onsite medical rounds and fact-finding activities conducted by Nippon Medical School in Miyagi prefecture after the Great East Japan Earthquake 2011.

Science.gov (United States)

Fuse, Akira; Igarashi, Yutaka; Tanaka, Toshihiko; Kim, Shiei; Tsujii, Atsuko; Kawai, Makoto; Yokota, Hiroyuki

2011-01-01

This report describes our onsite medical rounds and fact-finding activities conducted in the acute phase and medical relief work conducted in the subacute phase in Miyagi prefecture following the Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent tsunami that occurred off northeastern Honshu on March 11, 2011. As part of the All-Japan Hospital Association medical team deployed to the disaster area, a Nippon Medical School team conducted fact-finding and onsite medical rounds and evaluated basic life and medical needs in the affected areas of Shiogama and Tagajo. We performed triage for more than 2,000 casualties, but in our medical rounds of hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes, we found no severely injured person but did find 1 case of hyperglycemia. We conducted medical rounds at evacuation shelters in Kesennuma City during the subacute phase of the disaster, from March 17 through June 1, as part of the Tokyo Medical Association medical teams deployed. Sixty-seven staff members (17 teams), including 46 physicians, 11 nurses, 3 pharmacists, and 1 clinical psychotherapist, joined this mission. Most patients complained of a worsening of symptoms of preexisting conditions, such as hypertension, respiratory problems, and diabetes, rather than of medical problems specifically related to the tsunami. In the acute phase of the disaster, the information infrastructure was decimated and we could not obtain enough information about conditions in the affected areas, such as how many persons were severely injured, how severely lifeline services had been damaged, and what was lacking. To start obtaining this information, we conducted medical rounds. This proved to be a good decision, as we found many injured persons in evacuation shelters without medication, communication devices, or transportation. Also, basic necessities for life, such as water and food, were lacking. We were able to evaluate these basic needs and inform local disaster headquarters of them. In Kesennuma City, we

Physician 'defiance' towards hand hygiene compliance: Is there a theory-practice-ethics gap?

Science.gov (United States)

Mortell, Manfred; Balkhy, Hanan H; Tannous, Elias B; Jong, Mei Thiee

2013-07-01

The theory-practice gap has always existed [1,2]. This gap is often cited as a culmination of theory being idealistic and impractical, even if practical and beneficial, is often ignored. Most of the evidence relating to the non-integration of theory and practice assumes that environmental factors are responsible and will affect learning and practice outcomes, hence the gap. Therefore, the author believes that to 'bridge the gap' between theory and practice, an additional dimension is required: ethics. A moral duty and obligation ensuring theory and practice integrate. In order to effectively implement new practices, one must deem these practices as worthy and relevant to their role as healthcare providers (HCP). Hence, this introduces a new concept which the author refers to as the theory-practice-ethics gap. This theory-practice-ethics gap must be considered when reviewing some of the unacceptable outcomes in healthcare practice [3]. The literature suggests that there is a crisis of ethics where theory and practice integrate, and healthcare providers are failing to fulfill our duty as patient advocates. Physician hand hygiene practices and compliance at King Abdulaziz Cardiac Centre (KACC) are consistent with those of other physicians in the global healthcare arena. That is one of noncompliance to King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC) organizational expectations and the World Health Organization (WHO) requirements? An observational study was conducted on the compliance of cardiac surgeons, cardiologists and nurses in the authors' cardiac center from January 2010 to December 2011. The hand hygiene (HH) compliance elements that were evaluated pertained to the WHO's five moments of HH recommendations. The data was obtained through direct observation by KAMC infection prevention and control practitioners. Physician hand hygiene compliance at KACC was consistently less than 60%, with nurses regularly encouraging physicians to be diligent with hand hygiene practices in the

Energy sustainable cities. From eco villages, eco districts towards zero carbon cities

Science.gov (United States)

Zaręba, Anna; Krzemińska, Alicja; Łach, Janusz

2017-11-01

Minimizing energy consumption is the effect of sustainable design technics as among many others: designing buildings with solar access and natural ventilation, using climate responsive design materials and effective insulation. Contemporary examples of zero-carbon cities: Masdar City, United Arab Emirates and Dongtan, China, confirm technical feasibility of renewable energy by implementation of solar PV and wind technologies. The ecological city - medium or high density urban settlement separated by greenspace causes the smallest possible ecological footprint on the surrounding countryside through efficient use of land and its resources, recycling used materials and converting waste to energy. This paper investigates the concept of energy sustainable cities, examines, how urban settlements might affect building energy design in eco-villages, eco-districts (e.g. Vauban, Freiburg in Germany, Bo01 Malmo in Sweden), and discuss the strategies for achieving Zero Emission Cities principles in densely populated areas. It is focused on low energy architectural design solutions which could be incorporated into urban settlements to create ecological villages, districts and cities, designed with consideration of environmental impact, required minimal inputs of energy, water, food, waste and pollution.

Big data, smart cities and city planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Batty, Michael

2013-11-01

I define big data with respect to its size but pay particular attention to the fact that the data I am referring to is urban data, that is, data for cities that are invariably tagged to space and time. I argue that this sort of data are largely being streamed from sensors, and this represents a sea change in the kinds of data that we have about what happens where and when in cities. I describe how the growth of big data is shifting the emphasis from longer term strategic planning to short-term thinking about how cities function and can be managed, although with the possibility that over much longer periods of time, this kind of big data will become a source for information about every time horizon. By way of conclusion, I illustrate the need for new theory and analysis with respect to 6 months of smart travel card data of individual trips on Greater London's public transport systems.

The Emergence of City Logistics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gammelgaard, Britta

2015-01-01

is therefore to increase understanding of how city logistics emerge, and secondarily, to investigate whether such processes can be managed at all. Design/methodology/approach: – A paradigm shift in urban planning creates new ways of involving stakeholders in new sustainability measures such as city logistics...... dialectic forces were at play. City logistics schemes are still in an innovation phase. The biggest challenge in managing a process toward city logistics is to convince the many public and private stakeholders of their mutual interest and goals. Research limitations/implications: – Urban goods transport...... city logistics projects may fail. Thereby, cities become more environmentally and socially sustainable. Originality/value: – Insights into a city logistics project from a change management perspective has not previously been reported in literature....

Smart mobility in smart cities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baucells, Aleta N.

2016-07-01

Cities are currently undergoing a transformation into the Smart concept, like Smartphones or SmartTV. Many initiatives are being developed in the framework of the Smart Cities projects, however, there is a lack of consistent indicators and methodologies to assess, finance, prioritize and implement this kind of projects. Smart Cities projects are classified according to six axes: Government, Mobility, Environment, Economy, People and Living. (Giffinger, 2007). The main objective of this research is to develop an evaluation model in relation to the mobility concept as one of the six axes of the Smart City classification and apply it to the Spanish cities. The evaluation was carried out in the 62 cities that made up in September 2015 the Spanish Network of Smart Cities (RECI- Red Española de Ciudades Inteligentes). This research is part of a larger project about Smart Cities’ evaluation (+CITIES), the project evaluates RECI’s cities in all the axes. The analysis was carried out taking into account sociodemographic indicators such as the size of the city or the municipal budget per inhabitant. The mobility’s evaluation in those cities has been focused in: sustainability mobility urban plans and measures to reduce the number of vehicles. The 62 cities from the RECI have been evaluated according to their degree of progress in several Smart Cities’ initiatives related to smart mobility. The applied methodology has been specifically made for this project. The grading scale has different ranks depending on the deployment level of smart cities’ initiatives. (Author)

Improving admission medication reconciliation compliance using the electronic tool in admitted medical patients

Science.gov (United States)

Taha, Haytham; abdulhay, dana; Luqman, Neama; Ellahham, Samer

2016-01-01

Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) in Abu Dhabi is the main tertiary care referral hospital in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with 560 bed capacity that is fully occupied most of the time. SKMC senior management has made a commitment to make quality and patient safety a top priority. Our governing body Abu Dhabi Health Services Company has identified medication reconciliation as a critical patient safety measure and key performance indicator (KPI). The medication reconciliation electronic form a computerized decision support tool was introduced to improve medication reconciliation compliance on transition of care at admission, transfer and discharge of patients both in the inpatient and outpatient settings. In order to improve medication reconciliation compliance a multidisciplinary task force team was formed and led this quality improvement project. The purpose of this publication is to indicate the quality improvement interventions implemented to enhance compliance with admission medication reconciliation and the outcomes of those interventions. We chose to conduct the pilot study in general medicine as it is the busiest department in the hospital, with an average of 390 patients admitted per month during the study period. The study period was from April 2014 till October 2015 and a total of 8576 patients were evaluated. The lessons learned were disseminated throughout the hospital. Our aim was to improve admission medication reconciliation compliance using the electronic form in order to ensure patient safety and reduce preventable harm in terms of medication errors. Admission medication reconciliation compliance improved in general medicine from 40% to above 85%, and this improvement was sustained for the last four months of the study period. PMID:27822371

Constructing an Urban Population Model for Medical Insurance Scheme Using Microsimulation Techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Linping Xiong

2012-01-01

Full Text Available China launched a pilot project of medical insurance reform in 79 cities in 2007 to cover urban nonworking residents. An urban population model was created in this paper for China’s medical insurance scheme using microsimulation model techniques. The model made it clear for the policy makers the population distributions of different groups of people, the potential urban residents entering the medical insurance scheme. The income trends of units of individuals and families were also obtained. These factors are essential in making the challenging policy decisions when considering to balance the long-term financial sustainability of the medical insurance scheme.

Securing water for the cities.

Science.gov (United States)

Satterthwaite, D

1993-01-01

Many cities in developing countries have grown so much that they can no longer provide adequate, sustainable water. Over pumping in Dakar and Mexico City has forced those cities to obtain water from ever more distant sources. In Dakar, the result has been saltwater intrusion. Overpumping has caused Mexico City to sink, in some areas by as much as 9 m, resulting in serious damage to buildings and sewage and drainage pipes. Other cities facing similar water problems are coastal cities in Peru (e.g., Lima), La Rioja and Catamarca in Argentina, cities in Northern Mexico, and cities in dry areas of Africa. For some cities, the problem is not so much ever more distant water supplies but insufficient funds to expand supplies. Bangkok and Jakarta both face saltwater intrusion into their overdrawn aquifers. Even through agriculture is the dominant user of water in most countries, demand concentrated in a small area exhausts local and regional sources and pollutes rivers, lakes, and coasts with untreated human and industrial waste. Most cities in Africa and Asia do not have a sewerage system. Further, most cities do not have the drains to deal with storm water and external floodwater, causing frequent, seasonal flooding. The resulting stagnant water provides breeding grounds for insect vectors of diseases (e.g., malaria). The problems in most cities are a result of poor management, not lack of water. Reducing leaks in existing piped distribution systems from the usual 60% loss of water to leaks to 12% would increase the available water 2-fold. Another way to address water shortages would be commercial, industrial, and recreational use of minimally treated waste water, such as is the case in Madras and Mexico City. Political solutions are needed to resolve inadequate water supply and waste management.

From city marketing to city branding : An interdisciplinary analysis with reference to Amsterdam, Budapest and Athens

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kavaratzis, M.

2008-01-01

This thesis deals with the theory and practice of city marketing. It describes the transition from city marketing to city branding by identifying the roots of city marketing in general marketing theory, by adapting the concept of corporate-level marketing for the needs of cities and by analysing in

Time-variable medical education innovation in context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stamy CD

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Christopher D Stamy,1 Christine C Schwartz,1 Danielle A Phillips,2 Aparna S Ajjarapu,3 Kristi J Ferguson,4,5 Debra A Schwinn6–8 1University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, 2Des Moines University Osteopathic Medical Center, Des Moines, 3University of Iowa, 4Office of Consultation & Research in Medical Education, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, 5Department of Internal Medicine, 6Department of Anesthesia, 7Department of Biochemistry, 8Department of Pharmacology, University of Iowa Health Care, Iowa City, IA, USA Background: Medical education is undergoing robust curricular reform with several innovative models emerging. In this study, we examined current trends in 3-year Doctor of Medicine (MD education and place these programs in context. Methods: A survey was conducted among Deans of U.S. allopathic medical schools using structured phone interview regarding current availability of a 3-year MD pathway, and/or other variations in curricular innovation, within their institution. Those with 3-year programs answered additional questions. Results: Data from 107 institutions were obtained (75% survey response rate. The most common variation in length of medical education today is the accelerated 3-year pathway. Since 2010, 9 medical schools have introduced parallel 3-year MD programs and another 4 are actively developing such programs. However, the total number of students in 3-year MD tracks remains small (n=199 students, or 0.2% total medical students. Family medicine and general internal medicine are the most common residency programs selected. Benefits of 3-year MD programs generally include reduction in student debt, stability of guaranteed residency positions, and potential for increasing physician numbers in rural/underserved areas. Drawbacks include concern about fatigue/burnout, difficulty in providing guaranteed residency positions, and additional expense in teaching 2 parallel curricula. Four vignettes of

City-Level Energy Decision Making. Data Use in Energy Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation in U.S. Cities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aznar, Alexandra [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Day, Megan [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Doris, Elizabeth [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Mathur, Shivani [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Donohoo-Vallett, Paul [U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC (United States)

2015-07-08

The Cities-LEAP technical report, City-Level Energy Decision Making: Data Use in Energy Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation in U.S. Cities, explores how a sample of cities incorporates data into making energy-related decisions. This report provides the foundation for forthcoming components of the Cities-LEAP project that will help cities improve energy decision making by mapping specific city energy or climate policies and actions to measurable impacts and results.

Smart cities of the future

Science.gov (United States)

Batty, M.; Axhausen, K. W.; Giannotti, F.; Pozdnoukhov, A.; Bazzani, A.; Wachowicz, M.; Ouzounis, G.; Portugali, Y.

2012-11-01

Here we sketch the rudiments of what constitutes a smart city which we define as a city in which ICT is merged with traditional infrastructures, coordinated and integrated using new digital technologies. We first sketch our vision defining seven goals which concern: developing a new understanding of urban problems; effective and feasible ways to coordinate urban technologies; models and methods for using urban data across spatial and temporal scales; developing new technologies for communication and dissemination; developing new forms of urban governance and organisation; defining critical problems relating to cities, transport, and energy; and identifying risk, uncertainty, and hazards in the smart city. To this, we add six research challenges: to relate the infrastructure of smart cities to their operational functioning and planning through management, control and optimisation; to explore the notion of the city as a laboratory for innovation; to provide portfolios of urban simulation which inform future designs; to develop technologies that ensure equity, fairness and realise a better quality of city life; to develop technologies that ensure informed participation and create shared knowledge for democratic city governance; and to ensure greater and more effective mobility and access to opportunities for urban populations. We begin by defining the state of the art, explaining the science of smart cities. We define six scenarios based on new cities badging themselves as smart, older cities regenerating themselves as smart, the development of science parks, tech cities, and technopoles focused on high technologies, the development of urban services using contemporary ICT, the use of ICT to develop new urban intelligence functions, and the development of online and mobile forms of participation. Seven project areas are then proposed: Integrated Databases for the Smart City, Sensing, Networking and the Impact of New Social Media, Modelling Network Performance

Strategic Planning Approaches for Creating Resilient Cities: A Case Study on Hangzhou City

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Liu; Dan; Hua; Chen

2015-01-01

In the twenty-first century, the population in China will be increasingly urbanized – focusing the sustainability challenge on cities and raising new challenges to address the urban resilience capacity. During the past two decades, China’s urban policies are state institution-directed, growth-oriented, and land-based, imposing unprecedented challenges on sustainability. Strengthening the capacity of cities to manage resilience appears to be a key factor for cities to effectively pursue sustainable development. The aim of this paper is to explore strategic planning approaches for creating resilient cities in China through a study on Hangzhou City in an integrated framework. Firstly, the paper gives a systematic insight into the structure of Hangzhou City. Secondly, the development trajectory of the urban system is analyzed to understand how the past has shaped the present and to get a broader perspective on its evolution. Thirdly, scenario planning is conducted to explore the adaptive capacity of Hangzhou City under different future conditions. At last, having analyzed the past, present, and future of the urban system, the paper discusses the strategies for resilient planning, which helps to identify factors and trends that might enhance or inhabit the adaptability.

Influence of exposure differences on city-to-city heterogeneity in PM2.5-mortality associations in US cities

Science.gov (United States)

Multi-city population-based epidemiological studies have observed heterogeneity between city-specific fine particulate matter (PM2.5)-mortality effect estimates. These studies typically use ambient monitoring data as a surrogate for exposure leading to potential exposure misclass...

SmartCityWare

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mohamed, Nader; Al-Jaroodi, Jameela; Jawhar, Imad

2017-01-01

Smart cities are becoming a reality. Various aspects of modern cities are being automated and integrated with information and communication technologies to achieve higher functionality, optimized resources utilization, and management, and improved quality of life for the residents. Smart cities...... rely heavily on utilizing various software, hardware, and communication technologies to improve the operations in areas, such as healthcare, transportation, energy, education, logistics, and many others, while reducing costs and resources consumption. One of the promising technologies to support...... technology is Fog Computing, which extends the traditional Cloud Computing paradigm to the edge of the network to enable localized and real-time support for operating-enhanced smart city services. However, proper integration and efficient utilization of CoT and Fog Computing is not an easy task. This paper...

EPR pilot study on the population of Stepnogorsk city living in the vicinity of a uranium processing plant

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhumadilov, Kassym; Akilbekov, Abdirash; Morzabayev, Aidar [L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana (Kazakhstan); Ivannikov, Alexander; Stepanenko, Valeriy [Medical Radiological Research Center, Obninsk (Russian Federation); Abralina, Sholpan; Sadvokasova, Lyazzat; Rakhypbekov, Tolebay [Semey State Medical University, Semey (Kazakhstan); Hoshi, Masaharu [Hiroshima University, Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine, Hiroshima (Japan)

2015-03-15

The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate possible doses in teeth received by workers of a uranium processing plant, in excess to the natural background dose. For this, the electron paramagnetic resonance dosimetry method was applied. Absorbed doses in teeth from the workers were compared with those measured in teeth from the Stepnogorsk city population and a control pool population from Astana city. The measured tooth samples were extracted according to medical indications. In total, 32 tooth enamel samples were analyzed, 5 from Astana city, Kazakhstan (control population), 21 from the residents of Stepnogorsk city (180 km from Astana city), and 6 from the workers of a uranium processing plant. The estimated doses in tooth enamel from the uranium processing plant workers were not significantly different to those measured in enamel from the control population. In teeth from the workers, the maximum dose in excess to background dose was 33 mGy. In two teeth from residents of Stepnogorsk city, however, somewhat larger doses were measured. The results of this pilot study encourage further investigations in an effort to receiving a final conclusion on the exposure situation of the uranium processing plant workers and the residents of Stepnogorsk city. (orig.)

Cities of tomorrow: low energy cities with a high quality of life for all

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Magnin, Gerard

2010-11-01

Just as hard as describing the city of today, describing the city of tomorrow represents a real challenge. Energy Cities is active at both local and European levels, therefore we will only address the European-type cities in our reflection. Central to the vision of Energy Cities is of course the (sustainable and livable) energy issue. Therefore, our starting point is the consideration of energy issue as an essential component of urban and regional development as well as an excellent scanner of how the city and its periphery/region are organised. In 2050, cities will not look that much different than those of the beginning of the century. However, a lot of invisible radical changes will have occurred. These changes are already underway in an increasing number of cities, especially some which are committed with the Covenant of Mayors. These are 'weak signals' that pave the way for tomorrow. This paper aims at understanding these logics and at showing up paths of improvement in the domains of energy supply, urban form, buildings, mobility, public space, economy, consumption, governance, local authorities, multilevel governance and Territorial cohesion, quality of Life, peace and security

Smart Sustainable Cities

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

important part of city planning is also learning from other cities, e.g., through the bench-learning, defining ..... Integrated semantics service platform ...... order to provide the best services to customers, their different needs and preferences ...

Futures of cities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bogen dokumenterer resultater fra den internationale kongres Futures of Cities arrangeret af IFHP International Federation of Housing and Planning, Realdania, Kunstakademiets Arkitektskole og City of Copenhagen. Kongressen blev afholdt i september 2007 i Øksnehallen og på Kunstakademiets...... Arkitektskole. Bogen  har 3 dele. Principles: Copenhagen Agenda for Sustainable Living, 10 principper udviklet af Ugebrevet Mandag Morgen illustreret af arkitektstuderende. Congress: Futures of Cities, Emerging Urbanisms- Emerging Practices, oplæg fra unge tegnestuer til temaet fremlagt på Student Congress...

[A million football fans in a city of 120,000 inhabitants--a nightmare for emergency medicine and disaster management? Euro 2008 and the "Orange wonder of Berne"].

Science.gov (United States)

Martinolli, L; Tanyeli, E; Hasler, R M; Burkhardt, P; Bähler, H; Neff, F; Rupp, P; Zimmermann, H; Exadaktylos, A K

2011-01-01

The 2008 European Football Championship 2008 (Euro 08) is the largest sporting event ever organized in Switzerland. One million visitors came to the city of Berne during the event and the local airport in Bern/Belp registered 261 extra flights. For each football game there were 33,000 fans in the stadium and 100,000 fans in the public viewing zones.The ambulance corps and the Department of Emergency Medicine (ED) at Inselspital, University Hospital Berne, were responsible for basic medical care and emergency medical management. Injuries and illnesses were analyzed by a standardized score (NACA score). The preparation strategy as well as costs and patient numbers are presented in detail.A total of 30 additional ambulance vehicles were used, 4,723 additional working days (one-third medical professionals) were accumulated, 662 ambulance calls were registered and 240 persons needed medical care (62% Swiss, 28% Dutch and 10% other nationalities). Among those needing treatment 51 were treated in 1 of the 4 city hospitals. No injuries with NACA grades VI and VII occurred (NACA I: 4, NACA II: 17, NACA III: 16, NACA IV: 10 and NACA V: 4 patients). The city of Berne compensated the Inselspital Bern with a total of 112,603 Euros for extra medical care costs. The largest amount was spent on security measures (50,300 Euros) and medical staff (medical doctors 22,600 Euros, nurses 29,000 Euros). Because of the poor weather and the exemplary behavior of the fans, the course of events was rather peaceful.

Smart City project

KAUST Repository

Al Harbi, Ayman

2018-01-01

A 'smart city' is an urban region that is highly advanced in terms of overall infrastructure, sustainable real estate, communications and market viability. It is a city where information technology is the principal infrastructure and the basis

Lost Cities, Recovered Cities: Technology in the Service of the Past

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Antonio Fernández Ruiz

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Cities are living entities that change almost daily but its people are aware of it. They forget the state before the great changes and people become accustomed to the new urban image. In a hundred years a city can completely change its appearance and even its essence. This is the case of Granada, where its historic center was heavily modified during the nineteenth century. These changes have been studied by a project analyzing and virtually rebuilding the historic city. The work ranges from the Rey Chico, below the Alhambra palace, to Puerta Real, restoring the image of the city around 1831, based on the engravings and descriptions of romantic travelers, on the previous alignments and transformations in old pictures.

Health insurance coverage and impact: a survey in three cities in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, Kuangnan; Shia, BenChang; Ma, Shuangge

2012-01-01

China has one of the world's largest health insurance systems, composed of government-run basic health insurance and commercial health insurance. The basic health insurance has undergone system-wide reform in recent years. Meanwhile, there is also significant development in the commercial health insurance sector. A phone call survey was conducted in three major cities in China in July and August, 2011. The goal was to provide an updated description of the effect of health insurance on the population covered. Of special interest were insurance coverage, gross and out-of-pocket medical cost and coping strategies. Records on 5,097 households were collected. Analysis showed that smaller households, higher income, lower expense, presence of at least one inpatient treatment and living in rural areas were significantly associated with a lower overall coverage rate. In the separate analysis of basic and commercial health insurance, similar factors were found to have significant associations. Higher income, presence of chronic disease, presence of inpatient treatment, higher coverage rates and living in urban areas were significantly associated with higher gross medical cost. A similar set of factors were significantly associated with higher out-of-pocket cost. Households with lower income, inpatient treatment, higher commercial insurance coverage, and living in rural areas were significantly more likely to pursue coping strategies other than salary. The surveyed cities and surrounding rural areas had socioeconomic status far above China's average. However, there was still a need to further improve coverage. Even for households with coverage, there was considerable out-of-pocket medical cost, particularly for households with inpatient treatments and/or chronic diseases. A small percentage of households were unable to self-finance out-of-pocket medical cost. Such observations suggest possible targets for further improving the health insurance system.

The educational environment of the undergraduate medical curriculum at Kuwait University

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karim J

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Jumanah Karim,1 Becher Al-Halabi,2 Yousef Marwan,3 Hussain Sadeq,4 Ahmed Dawas,5 Dalia Al-Abdulrazzaq5 1Department of Pediatrics, Al-Amiri Hospital, Kuwait City, Kuwait; 2Department of Surgery, Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital, Kuwait City, Kuwait; 3Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Al-Razi Orthopaedic Hospital, Kuwait City, Kuwait; 4Department of Pediatrics, Al-Adan Hospital, Kuwait City, Kuwait; 5Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Health Sciences Center, Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait Background: Educational environment of an institution affects the quality of learning. We aim to assess the educational environment of the undergraduate curriculum of Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University (FOMKU. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out during April 2014. The validated Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM questionnaire was e-mailed to 607 students. Mean scores of the main domains of the questionnaire, and for each item, were calculated, and their association with the students’ background information was measured using Student’s t-test (P-value of ≤0.05 was considered as the cut-off level of significance. Results: Of 607 students, 117 (19.3% completed the questionnaire. The total mean score for DREEM was 108.7/200 (54.3%. The mean score for students’ perception of teaching, perception of teachers, academic self-perception, perception of atmosphere, and social self-perception were 25.2/48 (52.5%, 24.6/44 (55.9%, 18.4/32 (57.5%, 26.2/48 (54.5%, and 14.3/28 (51.0%, respectively. The highest mean score for an item of DREEM questionnaire was for “my accommodation is pleasant” (3.48±0.75, while the lowest was for “there is a good support system for students who get stressed” (0.88±0.86. The total mean score was not significantly different between the two phases of the curriculum, or among males and females; however, few significant differences among the main domains and items were noted. Conclusion

[WHO Healthy City Initiative in Japan].

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshizawa, Kazuko

2013-01-01

City environmental conditions are associated with health outcomes in people living there. World Health Organization (WHO) initiated Healthy City in 1986. To promote the networking, Alliance for Healthy Cities (AFHC) was launched in 2003 with local offices including AFHC Japan. As of 2010, 26 cities are members of AFHC Japan. A questionnaire was sent to those member cities. It includes questions on why they became an AFHC member, which section is in charge of the initiatives, what factors are important for promotion, and others. Out of the 26 cities, 13 cities returned the completed questionnaire. As for factors important for promoting the initiatives, 10 (77%) out of the 13 cities answered "consciousness of residents", while five (38%) chose "budget". This result suggests that community participation is a more important factor than budget for promoting and succeeding in the initiatives. Aging is a problem in any of the member cities, and six cities out the 13 falls under the category of superaged society, which is defined as a society with the proportion of aged people cities (85%) agreed that bicycles are an alternative means of transportation to cars; however, infrastructure for ensuring safety needs further improvement. In the promotion of Healthy City, networking among the member cities in Japan and worldwide should be promoted. Community participation with empowerment from the planning stage should lead to sustainable initiatives. The function of AFHC in collaboration among the members should be strengthened to cope with the rapidly changing city environment.

Schizophrenia and city life.

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, G; David, A; Andréasson, S; Allebeck, P

1992-07-18

Prevalence of schizophrenia and rates of first admission to hospital for this disorder are higher in most modern industrialised cities, and in urban compared with rural areas. The "geographical drift" hypothesis (ie, most schizophrenics tend to drift into city areas because of their illness or its prodrome) has remained largely unchallenged. We have investigated the association between place of upbringing and the incidence of schizophrenia with data from a cohort of 49,191 male Swedish conscripts linked to the Swedish National Register of Psychiatric Care. The incidence of schizophrenia was 1.65 times higher (95% confidence interval 1.19-2.28) among men brought up in cities than in those who had had a rural upbringing. The association persisted despite adjustment for other factors associated with city life such as cannabis use, parental divorce, and family history of psychiatric disorder. This finding cannot be explained by the widely held notion that people with schizophrenia drift into cities at the beginning of their illness. We conclude that undetermined environmental factors found in cities increase the risk of schizophrenia.

[Itinerant physicians, the art of healing and doctors in national history (Mexico City, 1877-1911)].

Science.gov (United States)

Agostoni, Claudia

2008-01-01

The uncertainty and mistrust towards the presence and activities of academic medical practitioners in Mexico City during the Porfirio Díaz government (1877-1911) convinced these professionals that is was essential to create, strengthen and transmit a respectable, competent and homogeneous image of the profession. To this purpose they recovered, recreated and adapted the ethical maxims of the occidental medical culture to their professional work, and rescued eminent medical figures of Mexico's convulse nineteenth century from being lost in the oblivion of history. Their goal - as it will be expounded in the following pages - was to respond, oppose and neutralize the criticism and disbelief expressed by the public against their professional performance.

75 FR 18778 - Safety Zone; Ocean City Air Show 2010, Atlantic Ocean, Ocean City, MD

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-13

...-AA00 Safety Zone; Ocean City Air Show 2010, Atlantic Ocean, Ocean City, MD AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS... zone on the Atlantic Ocean in the vicinity of Ocean City, Maryland to support the Ocean City Air Show. This action is intended to restrict vessel traffic movement on the Atlantic Ocean to protect mariners...

[Croatian Medical Association--Branch Zagreb].

Science.gov (United States)

Kaić, Zvonimir; Sain, Snjezana; Gulić, Mirjana; Mahovlić, Vjekoslav; Krznarić, Zeljko

2014-01-01

inevitably reflected in their overall function. The Branch Zagreb supports the harmonious development of health care throughout the territory of the Republic of Croatia. Cities of Zagreb and Mainz, are cities--friends and the CMA Branch Zagreb works together and exchanges visits with mem- bers of the Medical Society of Mainz for years. Next year professional and scientific cooperation between the Branch Za- greb of CMA and the Medical Society of Mainz will mark four decades.

Extremely elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate. Etiology at a tertiary care center in Saudi Arabia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muhammad Yousuf; Javed Akhter; Khalid Al-Khairy; Mohammed A. Al-Saadan; Salih Bin-Salih

2010-01-01

To evaluate the etiology of extremely elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) in adolescents and adults at a tertiary care center. This retrospective, cross-sectional, observational study was carried out at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia using the Westergren method of determining ESR in adolescents and adults aged >/=12 years. The patients included inpatients and outpatients with medical, surgical, and gynecological problems. During a period from June 2007 to October 2008, consecutive, non-repetitive patients with ESR >/=100 mm/hour were evaluated for possible etiology by checking the electronic and paper data file of each patient. During the study period, out of the 44,366 ESR tests carried out at this center, 1864 (4.2%) had an ESR >/=100 mm/hour belonging to 567 patients. Out of 508 patients fulfilling the study criteria, the main associated causes included: infections (38.6%), autoimmune diseases (15.9%), malignancy (15.4%), miscellaneous causes (10.2%), ischemic tissue injury or trauma (8.7%), and renal diseases (8.4%). Ten common individual causes included: rheumatoid arthritis (7.3%), osteomyelitis (6.9%), tuberculosis (5.5%), trauma (5.3%), lymphoma and sepsis of unknown origin (5.1%) each, urinary tract infection (4.7%), septic arthritis (3.1%), abscesses (2.8%), and pregnancy (2.2%). Fourteen (2.4%) patients had no known cause. Most of the patients with extreme ESR elevation have an underlying cause and a focused evaluation of such patients needs to be carried out to reach a diagnosis.

Clinical presentation and etiology of osteomalacia/rickets in adolescents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad A Hazzazi

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This study was conducted to determine the causes and clinical presentations of osteomalacia/rickets in adolescents seen at the King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC, Riyadh. Because osteomalacia and rickets constitute the same entity, the term osteomalacia will be used for future discussion. A retrospective file review was performed on all adolescents (10-16 years with osteomalacia, defined as alkaline phosphatase levels ≥500 IU/L, seen at the KAMC, Riyadh, from 2000 to 2006. We recorded the signs and symptoms, dietary history and amount of sun exposure at presentation. A total of 135 patients were found to fit the inclusion criteria for the study. Of them, 57 had nutritional causes, with a mean age of 13.2 years, and included 32 females. At diagnosis, 22 patients were found to have bone pain, 10 had bone deformities, eight had pathological fractures and 17 were asymptomatic. Secondary causes for osteomalacia were found in 59 cases who had liver and renal disease and in 19 other patients who were on medications such as anticonvulsants and steroids, which are known to cause osteomalacia. Our study indicates that osteomalacia is a significant health burden that deserves special attention. Bone pain is the most common presenting symptom at diagnosis. Because of the high risk of osteomalacia associated with the use of anticonvulsants and steroids, it is advised that all patients on these drugs should be routinely screened for secondary osteomalacia.

Clinical presentation and etiology of osteomalacia/rickets in adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Hazzazi, Mohammad A; Alzeer, Ibrahim; Tamimi, Waleed; Al Atawi, Mohsen; Al Alwan, Ibrahim

2013-09-01

This study was conducted to determine the causes and clinical presentations of osteomalacia/rickets in adolescents seen at the King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC), Riyadh. Because osteomalacia and rickets constitute the same entity, the term osteomalacia will be used for future discussion. A retrospective file review was performed on all adolescents (10-16 years) with osteomalacia, defined as alkaline phosphatase levels ≥500 IU/L, seen at the KAMC, Riyadh, from 2000 to 2006. We recorded the signs and symptoms, dietary history and amount of sun exposure at presentation. A total of 135 patients were found to fit the inclusion criteria for the study. Of them, 57 had nutritional causes, with a mean age of 13.2 years, and included 32 females. At diagnosis, 22 patients were found to have bone pain, 10 had bone deformities, eight had pathological fractures and 17 were asymptomatic. Secondary causes for osteomalacia were found in 59 cases who had liver and renal disease and in 19 other patients who were on medications such as anticonvulsants and steroids, which are known to cause osteomalacia. Our study indicates that osteomalacia is a significant health burden that deserves special attention. Bone pain is the most common presenting symptom at diagnosis. Because of the high risk of osteomalacia associated with the use of anticonvulsants and steroids, it is advised that all patients on these drugs should be routinely screened for secondary osteomalacia.

Estimating the prevalence of illicit opioid use in New York City using multiple data sources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

McNeely Jennifer

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Despite concerns about its health and social consequences, little is known about the prevalence of illicit opioid use in New York City. Individuals who misuse heroin and prescription opioids are known to bear a disproportionate burden of morbidity and mortality. Service providers and public health authorities are challenged to provide appropriate interventions in the absence of basic knowledge about the size and characteristics of this population. While illicit drug users are underrepresented in population-based surveys, they may be identified in multiple administrative data sources. Methods We analyzed large datasets tracking hospital inpatient and emergency room admissions as well as drug treatment and detoxification services utilization. These were applied in combination with findings from a large general population survey and administrative records tracking prescriptions, drug overdose deaths, and correctional health services, to estimate the prevalence of heroin and non-medical prescription opioid use among New York City residents in 2006. These data were further applied to a descriptive analysis of opioid users entering drug treatment and hospital-based medical care. Results These data sources identified 126,681 cases of opioid use among New York City residents in 2006. After applying adjustment scenarios to account for potential overlap between data sources, we estimated over 92,000 individual opioid users. By contrast, just 21,600 opioid users initiated drug treatment in 2006. Opioid users represented 4 % of all individuals hospitalized, and over 44,000 hospitalizations during the calendar year. Conclusions Our findings suggest that innovative approaches are needed to provide adequate services to this sizeable population of opioid users. Given the observed high rates of hospital services utilization, greater integration of drug services into medical settings could be one component of an effective approach to

Magical Landscapes and Designed Cities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Raahauge, Kirsten Marie

2008-01-01

with “something special,” a feel-good, (almost spiritual) healing power (just moments away from the bustling city). In Melanesia, such a spiritual force goes by the name of “mana”. Århus’ mana landscapes are only invested with this huge, floating quality because they are near the city. Furthermore, they are seen...... from the point of view of the city, where order, design, planning and commerce are important cityscape qualities. The article deals with the way in which these two parts of the city, landscape and brandscape are complementary parts of the city-web. Analytical points made by Mauss, Lévi......-Strauss and Greimas are discussed in connection with the empirical setting of the city of Århus...

From the Garden City to the Smart City

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephan Hügel

2017-08-01

Full Text Available It has been a century since the first Garden Cities at Welwyn and Letchworth were founded and, in the eyes of many, we have entered the age of the Smart City. This commentary briefly reflects upon the origins of Ebenezer Howard’s vision in the slums of overcrowded, filthy London and the fire-traps of early 20th century Chicago before outlining some of the main contributing factors to its ultimate failure as an approach: the lack of a robust theory underpinning his ideas, a finance model which was unacceptable to the banks—leading to a compromise which robbed the more idealistic participants of any real power over their schemes—and finally, a dilution of Howard’s vision by architects who were more focused on population density than on social reform. A parallel is then drawn between the weaknesses which afflicted the Garden City vision, and those which afflict current Smart City visions, a loose agglomeration of ahistorical techno-utopian imaginaries, whose aims almost invariably include optimising various measures of efficiency using large-scale deployments of networked sensors and cameras, linked to monolithic control rooms from which our shared urban existence is overseen. The evolution (or perhaps more accurately: alteration of these concepts in response to criticism is then detailed, before some of the less well-known ideas which are now emerging are briefly discussed.

Ma quanto è brutta questa "Smart City"! / But how bad this "Smart City"!

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Umberto Cao

2015-07-01

Full Text Available La Smart City è una macchina, una sorta di città-computer nella quale l'hardware è costituito dagli edifici e dalle infrastrutture e il software dalla gestione digitale integrata delle comunicazioni immateriali. Insomma una città efficiente nel senso pieno della parola. Il problema si pone quando queste caratteristiche vengono considerate sufficienti a restituire qualità alla città. Una qualità urbana che discende meccanicamente dalla “efficienza” farebbe pensare più alla distopia della Metropolis di Fritz Lang che alla utopia della Città nuova di Sant'Elia. / The Smart City is a machine, a sort of city-computer, where the hardware is made by buildings and infrastructures and the software by integrated digital networks. So an efficient city in absolute sense. The problem is when these goals and these procedures are considered able to generate an architectural form, or when considered sufficient to return quality to the city. An urban quality that derives from "efficiency" makes think more about dystopia of Fritz Lang's Metropolis that utopia of the New City of Sant'Elia.

Economic within the City network. Nexans; Wirtschaftlich im City-Netz. Nexans

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anon.

2015-07-01

Within the project ''AmpaCity'' prove the partners Nexans Germany and RWE that superconducting cables are technically mature and have to offer economic advantages: By changing the distribution networks in metropolitan areas of high voltage copper cables to medium voltage superconductors could not not only be multiplied the ampacity and power losses minimized, but it could also make disappear substations in downtown and make valuable city land freely. [German] Im Rahmen des Projekts ''AmpaCity'' beweisen die Partner Nexans Deutschland und RWE, dass Supraleiterkabel technisch ausgereift sind und wirtschaftliche Vorteile zu bieten haben: Durch Umstellen der Verteilnetze in Ballungszentren von Hochspannungskupferkabeln auf Mittelspannungssupraleiter liessen sich nicht nur die Stromtragfaehigkeit (Englisch: ampacity) vervielfachen und Leistungsverluste minimieren, sondern es koennten auch Umspannstationen in der Innenstadt wegfallen und wertvolle City-Grundstuecke frei machen.

Characteristics of stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients in the pulmonology clinics of seven Asian cities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oh YM

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Yeon-Mok Oh,1 Arvind B Bhome,2 Watchara Boonsawat,3 Kirthi Dias Gunasekera,4 Dushantha Madegedara,5 Luisito Idolor,6 Camilo Roa,6 Woo Jin Kim,7 Han-Pin Kuo,8 Chun-Hua Wang,8 Le Thi Tuyet Lan,9 Li-Cher Loh,10 Choo-Khoon Ong,10 Alan Ng,11 Masaharu Nishimura,12 Hironi Makita,12 Edwin K Silverman,13 Jae Seung Lee,1 Ting Yang,14 Yingxiang Lin,14 Chen Wang,14 Sang-Do Lee1  1Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and Clinical Research Center for Chronic Obstructive Airway Diseases, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea; 2Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care, "Friends of the Breathless" Foundation, Pune, India; 3Department of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand; 4Central Chest Clinic, Colombo and National Hospital of Sri Lanka; 5Respiratory Disease Treatment Unit and Teaching Hospital Kandy, Sri Lanka; 6Section of Respiratory Services and Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Lung Center of the Philippines, Quezon City, Philippines; 7Department of Internal Medicine, Kangwon National University, Kang Won, Korea; 8Department of Thoracic Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; 9Respiratory Care Center, University Medical Center Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; 10Department of Medicine, Penang Medical College, Penang, Malaysia; 11Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore; 12Division of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Hokkaido University Hospital, Sapporo, Japan; 13Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; 14Beijing Institute of Respiratory Medicine, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, ChinaAll authors made an equal contribution to this studyBackground and objectives: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD is responsible for significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. We evaluated the characteristics of stable COPD patients in

Towards what kind of city?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mario Coletta

2013-02-01

Full Text Available The virtual city exists in “time” whereas the real city exists in “space”. The first one is an expression of our imagination, the second one of our ability to create. Time has articulated the images of cities as artisan philosophers, historians, artists, dreamers and even poets have given it to us. Space has generated cities which have been worked upon by geographers, geologists, surveyors, and finally urban planners. Space and time however live together in both cities, even if with alternating states of subordination. The culture of thinking, of decision making and of working is the unifying center of both the cities; it is the generating element both of the crises and the prosperity of the cities and it works towards an overcoming of the first and for the pursuit of the second (prosperity using the experience of the past for the making of a better future.

Low-Carbon City Policy Databook: 72 Policy Recommendations for Chinese Cities from the Benchmarking and Energy Savings Tool for Low Carbon Cities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Price, Lynn [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Technologies Area. Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division. China Energy Group; Zhou, Nan [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Technologies Area. Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division. China Energy Group; Fridley, David [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Technologies Area. Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division. China Energy Group; Ohshita, Stephanie [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Technologies Area. Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division. China Energy Group; Khanna, Nina [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Technologies Area. Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division. China Energy Group; Lu, Hongyou [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Technologies Area. Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division. China Energy Group; Hong, Lixuan [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Technologies Area. Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division. China Energy Group; He, Gang [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Technologies Area. Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division. China Energy Group; Romankiewicz, John [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Technologies Area. Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division. China Energy Group; Min, Hu [Energy Foundation China, Beijing (China)

2016-07-01

This report is designed to help city authorities evaluate and prioritize more than 70 different policy strategies that can reduce their city’s energy use and carbon-based greenhouse gas emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄). Local government officials, researchers, and planners can utilize the report to identify policies most relevant to local circumstances and to develop a low carbon city action plan that can be implemented in phases, over a multi-year timeframe. The policies cover nine city sectors: industry, public and commercial buildings, residential buildings, transportation, power and heat, street lighting, water & wastewater, solid waste, and urban green space. See Table 1 for a listing of the policies. Recognizing the prominence of urban industry in the energy and carbon inventories of Chinese cities, this report includes low carbon city policies for the industrial sector. The policies gathered here have proven effective in multiple locations around the world and have the potential to achieve future energy and carbon savings in Chinese cities.

Restructuring the Ikeda City school urinary screening system: report of a screening survey

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background Annual urinary screening is conducted at municipal kindergartens, elementary schools, and junior high schools in Ikeda City, Osaka, Japan (Ikeda City School System), and the results are reviewed by a general physician, but standards for when to recommend specialist referral have not been clear. Methods In all children attending the Ikeda City School System in 2012, dipstick urinalysis of a first-morning urine specimen was recommended once or twice, and if a second urinalysis showed proteinuria (≥1+), the urinary protein/creatinine ratio was measured. If this showed ≥0.2 g/g of creatinine (g/gCr), it was recommended that the child be evaluated by a specialist at Ikeda City Hospital. Results Urinary screening was performed in about 20% (388) of kindergarten, about 90% (5363) of elementary school, and about 86% (2523) of junior high school children living in Ikeda City. Urine samples were obtained from 387, 5349, and 2476 children, respectively. The urinary protein/creatinine ratio was ≥0.2 g/gCr in 13 children, including 1 elementary and 12 junior high children. In these 13 children, chronic nephritic syndrome (CNS) was suspected in 6 junior high school children, and of these, this was a new finding in 5, and renal biopsy was indicated in 3. In Ikeda City, the prevalence of CNS in elementary school children was junior high school children was 0.29%, and a renal biopsy was indicated in 0.14%. By eliminating the costs associated with assessment of the results by the Ikeda Medical Association, and by directly contracting with the testing company, the expenses paid by Ikeda City for the system itself decreased from 2,508,619 yen to 966,157 yen. Conclusions Incorporating the urinary protein/creatinine ratio into the school urinary screening system in the Ikeda City School System and clarifying standards for specialist referral has enabled restructuring of the system so that is efficient and its effectiveness can be assessed. PMID:24330222

Energy-Smart Cities-DK

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fertner, Christian; Groth, Niels Boje

In this report we present some overall results and the methodology behind the Energy-Smart Cities-DK model, a benchmark of the energy situation of Danish municipalities. The analysis was conducted by researchers at the University of Copenhagen, based on work by researchers at the Vienna University...... in exploring the operationalization of the smart city, a term which is widely used in current city development strategies. There are various definitions for that concept – we think the most important characteristic of a smart city is that it can activate and use the resources and capital available in a most...... efficient way – also in the long run, that means in a sustainable way.A key issue for smart city development is energy, mainly related to two future urban challenges: Climate change and resource scarcity (Droege, 2011; European Commission, 2010). At this background, the University of Copenhagen, Department...

Expanding cities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller-Jensen, Lasse

A number of cities in Africa experience very rapid spatial growth without the benefit of a systematic process of planning and implementation of planning decisions. This process has challenged the road and transport system, created high levels of congestion, and hampered mobility and accessibility...... to both central and new peripheral areas. This paper reports on studies carried out in Accra and Dar es Salaam to address and link 1) mobility practices of residents, 2) local strategies for ‘post-settlement’ network extension, and 3) the city-wide performance of the transport system. The studies draw...... in advance. However, such solutions are often impeded by costly and cumbersome land-acquisition processes, and because of the reactive and often piecemeal approach to infrastructure extensions, the development will often be more costly. Moreover, the lack of compliance to a city-wide development plan...

Vatican City.

Science.gov (United States)

1984-11-01

Vatican City, the administrative and spiritual capital of the Roman catholic Church, has a population of 1000. Citizenship is generally accorded only to those who reside in Vatican City for reasons of office of employment. Supreme legislative, executive, and judicial power is currentily exercised by Pope John Paul II, the 1st non-italian pope in 5 centuries. The State of Vatican City is recognized by many nations as an independent sovereign state under the temporal jurisdiction of the Pope. By 1984, 108 countries had established diplomatic relations with the Holy See, most of which are not Roman Catholic. Third World countries comprise a large proportion of countries that have recently established relations with the Holy See. The US re-established relations with the Vatican in 1984 and there is frequent contact and consultation between the 2 states on key international issues.

Smart city planning and development shortcomings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Margarita Angelidou

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This paper explores smart city planning and development shortcomings. In particular, it investigates eleven cases of smart city strategies and the shortcomings that were observed during their planning and implementation stages. The cases include: Barcelona Smart City, PlanlT Valley, Stockholm Smart City, Cyberjaya, King Abdullah Economic City, Masdar City, Skolkovo, Songdo International Business District, Chicago Smart City, Rio de Janeiro Smart City, and Konza Technology City. The paper proceeds with the synthesis of the findings and their critical appraisal. Shortcomings are classified into economic and budget shortages, bureaucratic and organizational challenges, challenges in the development and layout of digital services, poor physical planning, struggle to attract investment and support the development of new businesses, low performance in attracting and engaging users, and stakeholder resistance. In turn, the shortcomings are clustered in two distinct groups and analyzed in terms of causes and effects. The paper closes with mitigation propositions, accounting for past experience and novel approaches to this end.

Research Students' Satisfaction in Jamshoro Education City

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jagul Huma Lashari

2014-10-01

Full Text Available This study is performed to identify and examine research students? satisfaction in three universities; SU (University of Sindh, MUET (Mehran University of Engineering & Technology and LUMHS (Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences at Jamshoro Education City. Different service factors required for research students are identified and examined by using a triangulation technique (interviews and quantitative (survey questionnaire. Data is analyzed by using descriptive analysis and chi-square test to obtain the required results. In total, 27 service factors related to research students? satisfaction, identified by interviews & literature review have been organized under three clusters: ?University policies?; ?University Services? and ?Role of Supervisor?. The survey analysis revealed that all identified factors are positively related to research students? satisfaction. Result identifies difference in the research students? experiences with respect to their characteristics including (enrolled university, financial resources, employment status. The comparison of different service factors also shows differences in three clusters within the universities. The satisfaction of research students associated with ?role of supervisor? were identified as most satisfying experience in comparison to ?university policies? and ?university services? of Jamshoro Education City. In the end, research has derived a new framework of SDC (Satisfaction for Degree Completion framework to identify and examine the research students satisfaction

The Ubiquitous-Eco-City of Songdo: An Urban Systems Perspective on South Korea's Green City Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul D. Mullins

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Since the 1980s, within the broader context of studies on smart cities, there has been a growing body of academic research on networked cities and “computable cities” by authors including Manuel Castells (Castells, 1989; Castells & Cardoso, 2005, William Mitchell (1995, Michael Batty (2005, 2013, and Rob Kitchin (2011. Over the last decade, governments in Asia have displayed an appetite and commitment to construct large scale city developments from scratch—one of the most infamous being the smart entrepreneurial city of Songdo, South Korea. Using Songdo as a case study, this paper will examine, from an urban systems perspective, some of the challenges of using a green-city model led by networked technology. More specifically, this study intends to add to the growing body of smart city literature by using an external global event—the global financial crisis in 2008—to reveal what is missing from the smart city narrative in Songdo. The paper will use the definition of an urban system and internal subsystems by Bertuglia et al. (1987 and Bertuglia, Clarke and Wilson (1994 to reveal the sensitivity and resilience of a predetermined smart city narrative. For instance, what happens if the vision moves from the originally intended international-orientated population towards remarketing the city to attract a domestic middle-class population. The lens of the financial crisis in 2008 revealed that the inherent inflexibility of a closed-system approach in Songdo was not sufficiently resilient to external shocks. The shift towards a domestic middle-class population revealed the inequality in accessing the city services in a system designed with formalized and rigid inputs and outputs. By focusing predominantly on technology, the social dimensions of the city were not part of Songdo’s smart city vocabulary. Therefore, in adopting a technologically deterministic approach (Mullins & Shwayri, 2016 to achieving efficiency and combating environmental

Social Smart City: Introducing Digital and Social Strategies for Participatory Governance in Smart Cities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Effing, Robin; Groot, Bert P.; Scholl, Hans Jochen; Glassey, Olivier; Janssen, Marijn; Klievink, Bram; Lindgren, Ida; Parycek, Peter; Tambouris, Efthimios; Wimmer, Maria A.; Janowski, Tomasz; Sa Soares, Delfina

2016-01-01

Cities increasingly face challenges regarding participatory governance in order to become a “smart city”. The world’s best cities to live in are not the ones with the most advanced technological layers but cities that create an atmosphere where citizens, companies and government together build a

2008 City of Baltimore Lidar

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — In the spring of 2008, the City of Baltimore expressed an interest to upgrade the City GIS Database with mapping quality airborne LiDAR data. The City of Baltimore...

Advancing adolescent health and health services in Saudi Arabia: exploring health-care providers' training, interest, and perceptions of the health-care needs of young people

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

AlBuhairan FS

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Fadia S AlBuhairan,1–3 Tina M Olsson3,4 1Department of Pediatrics, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 2King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 3King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 4School of Social Work, Lund University, Lund, Sweden Background: Adolescent health is regarded as central to global health goals. Investments made in adolescent health and health services protect the improvements witnessed in child health. Though Saudi Arabia has a large adolescent population, adolescent health-care only began to emerge in recent years, yet widespread uptake has been very limited. Health-care providers are key in addressing and providing the necessary health-care services for adolescents, and so this study was conducted with the aim of identifying opportunities for the advancement of knowledge transfer for adolescent health services in Saudi Arabia. Methods: This Web-based, cross-sectional study was carried out at four hospitals in Saudi Arabia. Physicians and nurses were invited to participate in an online survey addressing their contact with adolescent patients, and training, knowledge, and attitudes towards adolescent health-care. Results: A total of 232 professionals participated. The majority (82.3% reported sometimes or always coming into contact with adolescent patients. Less than half (44%, however, had received any sort of training on adolescent health during their undergraduate or postgraduate education, and only 53.9% reported having adequate knowledge about the health-care needs of adolescents. Nurses perceived themselves as having more knowledge in the health-care needs of adolescents and reported feeling more comfortable in communicating with adolescents as compared with physicians. The majority of participants were interested in gaining further skills and knowledge in adolescent health-care and agreed or strongly agreed that adolescents have

Clumsy City by Design : A Theory for Jane Jacobs’ Imperfect Cities?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schmitt, Sarah-Maria; Hartmann, T.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/343441349

2016-01-01

How do different concepts of justice correspond with the principles of diversity in cities introduced by Jane Jacobs? This contribution connects Jane Jacobs’ ideas on the diverse city with Mary Douglas’ Cultural Theory and its concept of clumsy solutions. According to Douglas’ Cultural Theory, every

Green City Branding in Perspective d

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gulsrud, Natalie Marie

2014-01-01

their competitive advantage as an increasingly global economy has led to fierce competition between cities at a national and international level. Cities are actively competing for talent, innovation, and creativity to boost their economies. One way cities achieve a competitive image is through green place branding......From Sydney, Australia’s “Sustainable Sydney 2030” campaign, to Vancouver, Canada’s “Greenest City 2020” vision, green city brands have become a global tool for municipal leaders to promise a better quality of life, promote sustainable development, and increase their competitive advantage. In Asia......, various green city schemes and rankings exist. They include Siemen’s Asian Green City Index, assessed by The Economist Intelligence Unit, based on a city’s environmental performance in a wide range of categories (Economist Intelligence Unit 2011). These green city brands provide a vision of health...

3PL Services in City Logistics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aastrup, Jesper; Gammelgaard, Britta; Prockl, Günter

2012-01-01

The purpose of this paper is 1) to develop an overview of activities and services that can add value for users and consignees in city logistics schemes based on Urban Consolidation Centre, and 2) to understand and analyze the perceived value for users and consignees from using such services....... The paper will be based on studies of the city logistics literature and existing city logistics schemes, as well as survey and interview findings from studies of potential users (retailers) in Copenhagen inner city and interviews with existing users (retailers) of existing city logistics services...... in the cities of Maastricht, Netherlands, and Hasselt, Belgium. The paper provides an overview and classification of possible third party logistics services in city logistics schemes. Also, findings about value perceived by current users as well as potential users are presented. Literature on city logistics has...

The impact of the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) multicenter, multidimensional hand hygiene approach in two cities of India.

Science.gov (United States)

Chakravarthy, Murali; Myatra, Sheila Nainan; Rosenthal, Victor D; Udwadia, F E; Gokul, B N; Divatia, J V; Poojary, Aruna; Sukanya, R; Kelkar, Rohini; Koppikar, Geeta; Pushparaj, Leema; Biswas, Sanjay; Bhandarkar, Lata; Raut, Sandhya; Jadhav, Shital; Sampat, Sulochana; Chavan, Neeraj; Bahirune, Shweta; Durgad, Shilpa

2015-01-01

The fundamental tool for preventing and controlling healthcare-acquired infections is hand hygiene (HH). Nonetheless, adherence to HH guidelines is often low. Our goal was to assess the effect of the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) Multidimensional Hand Hygiene Approach (IMHHA) in three intensive care units of three INICC member hospitals in two cities of India and to analyze the predictors of compliance with HH. From August 2004 to July 2011, we carried out an observational, prospective, interventional study to evaluate the implementation of the IMHHA, which included the following elements: (1) administrative support, (2) supplies availability, (3) education and training, (4) reminders in the workplace, (5) process surveillance and (6) performance feedback. The practices of health care workers were monitored during randomly selected 30-min periods. We observed 3612 opportunities for HH. Overall adherence to HH increased from 36.9% to 82% (95% CI 79.3-84.5; P=0.0001). Multivariate analysis indicated that certain variables were significantly associated with poor HH adherence: nurses vs. physicians (70.5% vs. 74%; 95% CI 0.62-0.96; P=0.018), ancillary staff vs. physicians (43.6% vs. 74.0%; 95% CI 0.48-0.72; P<0.001), ancillary staff vs. nurses (43.6% vs. 70.5%; 95% CI 0.51-0.75; P<0.001) and private vs. academic hospitals (74.2% vs. 66.3%; 95% CI 0.83-0.97; P<0.001). It is worth noticing that in India, the HH compliance of physicians is higher than in nurses. Adherence to HH was significantly increased by implementing the IMHHA. Programs targeted at improving HH are warranted to identify predictors of poor compliance. Copyright © 2014 King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Flickering Global City

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eric Slater

2015-08-01

Full Text Available This article explores new dimensions of the global city in light of the correlation between hegemonic transition and the prominence of financial centers. It counterposes Braudel’s historical sequence of dominant cities to extant approaches in the literature, shifting the emphasis from a convergence of form and function to variations in history and structure. The marked increase of finance in the composition of London, New York and Tokyo has paralleled each city’s occupation of a distinct niche in world financial markets: London is the principal center of currency exchange, New York is the primary equities market, and Tokyo is the leader in international banking. This division expresses the progression of world-economies since the nineteenth century and unfolds in the context of the present hegemonic transition. By combining world-historical and city-centered approaches, the article seeks to reframe the global city and overcome the limits inherent in the paradigm of globalization.

Japan's Four Major Smart Cities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2012-11-15

A brief overview is given of initiatives, developments, projects, investment, incentives and business opportunities for Dutch companies in Japan with regard to smart cities. The four major smart cities are Yokohama City, Toyota City, Keihanna City (Kyoto Prefecture's Kansai Science Park), and Kitakyushu City.

The strategic bombing of German cities during World War II and its impact on city growth

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brakman, Steven; Garretsen, Harry; Schramm, Marc

2002-01-01

It is a stylized fact that city size distributions are rather stable over time. Explanations for city growth and the resulting city-size distributions fall into two broad groups. On the one hand there are theories that assume city growth to be a random process and this process can result in a stable

Medical prescription of heroin to treatment resistant heroin addicts: two randomised controlled trials

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Brink, Wim; Hendriks, Vincent M.; Blanken, Peter; Koeter, Maarten W. J.; van Zwieten, Barbara J.; van Ree, Jan M.

2003-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether supervised medical prescription of heroin can successfully treat addicts who do not sufficiently benefit from methadone maintenance treatment. DESIGN: Two open label randomised controlled trials. SETTING: Methadone maintenance programmes in six cities in the

City sewer collectors biocorrosion

Science.gov (United States)

Ksiażek, Mariusz

2014-12-01

This paper presents the biocorrosion of city sewer collectors impregnated with special polymer sulphur binders, polymerized sulphur, which is applied as the industrial waste material. The city sewer collectors are settled with a colony of soil bacteria which have corrosive effects on its structure. Chemoautotrophic nitrifying bacteria utilize the residues of halites (carbamide) which migrate in the city sewer collectors, due to the damaged dampproofing of the roadway and produce nitrogen salts. Chemoorganotrophic bacteria utilize the traces of organic substrates and produce a number of organic acids (formic, acetic, propionic, citric, oxalic and other). The activity of microorganisms so enables the origination of primary and secondary salts which affect physical properties of concretes in city sewer collectors unfavourably.

Low-Energy City Policy Handbook. Part A: The city of the future, the future of the city; Part B: Lost in (energy) transition? Methods and tools

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2014-01-01

Energy Cities started the IMAGINE initiative in 2006 to bring together cities and various stakeholders involved in urban energy issues. IMAGINE focuses on long-term perspectives and visioning approaches to energy and territory. Although an increasing number of cities are committing to achieving the EU objectives, notably through the Covenant of Mayors, they are also facing several obstacles. One of them is the difficulty for cities, their citizens and stakeholders to imagine, evaluate and accept the changes that are needed. Helping cities overcome such obstacles is the objective of the IMAGINE initiative. It is a platform for foresight, collaboration and exchanges, leading to action and change. Between 2012 and 2014, IMAGINE benefited from the support of the INTERREG IV program through a project called 'IMAGINE... low energy cities'. This project gathered 10 partners: Energy Cities - coordinator, Hafen City University - academic partner, and 8 pilot cities: Bistrita (Romania), Dobrich (Bulgaria), Figueres (Spain), Lille (France), Milton Keynes (United Kingdom), Modena (Italy), Munich (Germany), Odense (Denmark). These local authorities have committed to involving local stakeholders in co-building their cities' Local Energy Road-maps 2050 thanks to participatory approaches. Final publication from the 'IMAGINE low energy cities' project, this handbook is aimed at decision makers in European local authorities searching for new ways to work towards achieving low energy cities. It is intended to give inspiration and practical advice to elected political leaders as well as civil servants to run their own energy transition process at the local level. There are two ways to read this handbook. In Part A, it explains the way local authorities organise themselves to start and run a political and organisational process to set sustainable energy policies. This part of the handbook presents the results of the development of Local Energy Road-maps 2050 in the eight IMAGINE pilot

CO2 emission inventories for Chinese cities in highly urbanized areas compared with European cities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu Wei; Pagani, Roberto; Huang Lei

2012-01-01

The international literature has paid significant attention to presenting China as the largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the world, despite having much lower per-capita emissions than the global average. In fact, the imbalance of economic development leads to diversity in GHG emissions profiles in different areas of China. This paper employs a common methodology, consistent with the Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) approved by the Covenant of Mayors (CoM), to estimate CO 2 emissions of four Chinese cities in highly urbanized areas from 2004 to 2010. The results show that the CO 2 emissions of all four cities are still rising and that secondary industries emit the most CO 2 in these cities. By comparing these data with the inventory results of two European cities, this paper further reveals that Chinese cities in highly urbanized areas contribute much higher per-capita emissions than their European competitors. Furthermore, the per-capita CO 2 emissions of the residential sector and private transport in these Chinese cities are growing rapidly, some of them approaching the levels of European cities. According to these findings, several policy suggestions considering regional disparities are provided that aim to reduce the CO 2 emissions of highly urbanized areas in China. - Highlights: ► An exemplary study of GHG emission inventory for Chinese cities. ► Estimate CO 2 emissions of Chinese city in highly urbanized areas from 2004 to 2010. ► The studied Chinese cities contribute higher per-capita emissions than European’s. ► Emissions of residential sector and private transport in China are growing rapidly. ► Several policy suggestions considering regional disparities are provided.

The Informal Working in Fortaleza City: Between Urban Sanitation, Public Policy and Philosophy (1880-1910

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Camurça Correia

2016-06-01

Full Text Available With this papper we aim to analyze the ways in which some people as self-employed, workers of the streets, such as porters, sellers and beggars, articulated his days in the city of Fortaleza, in the end of nineteenth century, between the political and regulatory joints of Ceará province. Despite of several attempts by the political, medical and establish intellectual high society discourses and practices against the massive presence of this kind of sel-employed, the disjointed work and the sick body of the popular, these, increasingly, were present through the work carried out, whether in times of drought, is the period of the belle époque of Fortaleza. Through the analysis of the sources, discusses to typify poor and informal workers, at the time when the economic elite of Fortaleza wanted to establish commercial modernity in this city. For the development of this article, we used literature and bibliographical research. Was performed in addition to the survey data of the time as another primary sources (Acting Secretary of the Business of Interior of Ceará Province Report, Match Proceedings of the Municipal Stewardship of Fortaleza, Corres- pondence Minutes of city Hall of Fortaleza; and secondary sources (Postures Code of the City of Fortaleza; and chronic books and besides memories of the city of Fortaleza.

Family profile of victims of child abuse and neglect in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Almuneef, Maha A; Alghamdi, Linah A; Saleheen, Hassan N

2016-08-01

To describe the family profile of child abuse and neglect (CAN) subjects in Saudi Arabia. Data were collected retrospectively between July 2009 and December 2013 from patients' files, which were obtained from the Child Protection Centre (CPC) based in King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Four main sets of variables were examined: demographics of victim, family profile, parental information, and information on perpetrator and forms of abuse.  The charts of 220 CAN cases were retrospectively reviewed. Physical abuse was the most common form of abuse (42%), followed by neglect (39%), sexual abuse (14%), and emotional abuse (4%). Children with unemployed fathers were 2.8 times as likely to experience physical abuse. Children living in single/step-parent households were 4 times as likely to experience physical abuse. Regarding neglect children living in larger households (≥6) were 1.5 times as likely to be neglected by their parents as were children living in smaller households (less than 6). Regarding sexual abuse, male children were 2.9 times as likely to be abused as were female children.  The recent acknowledgment of CAN as a public health problem in Saudi Arabia suggests that time will be needed to employ effective and culturally sensitive prevention strategies based on family risk factors.

From Learning to Decision-Making: A Cross-Sectional Survey of a Clinical Pharmacist-Steered Journal Club

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sherine Ismail

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Journal clubs have been traditionally incorporated into academic training programs to enhance competency in the interpretation of literature. We designed a structured journal club (JC to improve skills in the interpretation of literature; however, we were not aware of how learners (interns, residents, clinical pharmacists, etc. would perceive it. We aimed to assess the perception of learners at different levels of pharmacy training. A cross-sectional design was used. A self-administered online survey was emailed to JC attendees from 2010–2014 at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The survey questions included: introduction sessions, topic selection, JC layout, interaction with the moderator, and decision-making skills by clinical pharmacists. The response rate was 58/89 (65%; 52/54 (96% respondents believed that JC adds to their knowledge in interpreting literature. Topic selection met the core curriculum requirements for credentials exams for 16/36 (44.4%, while 16/22 (73% presenters had good to excellent interaction with the moderator. JC facilitated decision-making for 10/12 (83% of clinical pharmacists. The results suggest that clinical pharmacist-steered JC may serve as an effective tool to empower learners at different levels of pharmacy practice, with evidence-based principles for interpretation of literature and guide informed decision-making.

Autoamputation of diabetic toe with dry gangrene: a myth or a fact?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Al Wahbi A

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Abdullah Al Wahbi Division of Vascular Surgery, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Abstract: Diabetes is associated with various complications and reduced quality of life. Of the many complications, some are life-threatening. Among these, foot complications remain an important concern. The major foot complications include foot ulceration, cellulitis, abscess, wet gangrene, dry gangrene, and necrotizing fasciitis, with different pathophysiological concepts behind each of them. Gangrene occurs due to reduced blood supply in the body tissues that leads to necrosis. This condition may arise because of an injury, infection, or other health conditions, majorly diabetes. Gangrene is classified as dry, wet, and gas gangrene. In case of wet and gas gangrene, surgical amputation is usually performed to prevent the spread of infection to other tissues. In dry gangrene, due to the presence of clear demarcation, autoamputation is preferred in certain parts of the globe. The present review aims to analyze the mode of dry gangrene management in diabetic patients based on previous evidence and plans to highlight various management strategies available for dry gangrene and the advantages/disadvantages of different treatments with special consideration to autoamputation. Keywords: dry gangrene, amputation, surgical amputation, diabetic foot, diabetic toe, foot care

Cities and Refugees

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Katz, Bruce; Noring, Luise; Garrelts, Nantke

Centennial Scholar Initiative and the Foreign Policy program, with key research led by the Copenhagen Business School. It aims to show the extent to which cities are at the vanguard of this crisis and to deepen our understanding of the role and capacity of city governments and local networks in resettlement...

Implementing the Green City Policy in Municipal Spatial Planning: The Case of Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abongile Dlani

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The term “eco-city,” and similar concepts such as “green” and “sustainable” cities, has evolved overtime concurrent to the development of the understanding of social change and mankind’s impact on environmental and economic health. With the advent of climate change impacts, modern economies developed the green city policy to create sustainable urban development, low emission, and environmentally friendly cities. In South Africa municipalities, including Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM have been tasked to and implement the green city policy. However, BCMM is yet to develop the green city policy that clearly articulate how the municipality will combat climate change and reduce its Green House Gases (GHG emissions in its spatial planning designs. Against this background, this article reviews and analyses green policy landscape in Metropolitan Municipalities. It is envisaged that the research will provide the basis for the development of a comprehensive green policy strategies and programmes for the local transition to action in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, in the Eastern Cape Province.

Exploring Brand Experience Dimensions for Cities and Investigating Their Effects on Loyalty to a City

OpenAIRE

Ipek Kazançoğlu; Taşkın Dirsehan

2014-01-01

The competitive environment in terms of tourists and investment attraction requires the strategic management of cities. The marketing literature in this topic relates to different dimensions, most importantly, the image, identity, and branding of a city, satisfaction, and the degree of loyalty that the city inspires. This study, as the major contribution to literature, aims to introduce a new competitive tool, ‘brand experience’ dimension to the city marketing literature based on Schmitt’s (1...

Income Inequality and Risk of Suicide in New York City Neighborhoods: A Multilevel Case-Control Study

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Jeffrey R.; Piper, Tinka Markham; Ahern, Jennifer; Tracy, Melissa; Tardiff, Kenneth J.; Vlahov, David; Galea, Sandro

2005-01-01

Evidence on the relationship between income inequality and suicide is inconsistent. Data from the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for all fatal injuries was collected to conduct a multilevel case-control study. In multilevel models, suicide decedents (n = 374) were more likely than accident controls (n = 453) to reside in…

Patterns of Self-Medication Behavior for Oral Health Problems Among Adults Living in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arwa Aldeeri

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract: Self-medication is a widespread behavior worldwide. It is defined as the practice of self-diagnosis and drug prescription without proper professional consultation. Aim: To determine the prevalence and predictors of self-medication for oral health problems among adults living in Riyadh city. Methods: A cross-sectional study based on a structured close-ended questionnaire was distributed among adults visiting shopping malls in all different five regions of Riyadh. A two-stage sampling technique was used: cluster and simple random sampling. The questionnaire was composed of two main sections: demographic characteristics and questions assessing the behavior of self-medication. Results: The prevalence of self-medication was found to be 63.25%, with a higher prevalence among females than males. Gender and nationality were significantly associated with self-medication. Salt in hot water locally (52.57% and acetaminophen (47.43%, a type of an analgesic, were, systemically, the most frequently used. Pharmacy shops were the main source of these medicaments (66.01%. Similarly, the advice for using them was mainly given by pharmacists (53.36%. Lack of time was claimed to be the main reason for practicing self-medication (54.55% with abscess, toothache, and gingival bleeding being the main predictors. Conclusions: Self-medication was found to be a common practice among the population of Riyadh city.

Cultural Heritage in Smart City Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Angelidou, M.; Karachaliou, E.; Angelidou, T.; Stylianidis, E.

2017-08-01

This paper investigates how the historical and cultural heritage of cities is and can be underpinned by means of smart city tools, solutions and applications. Smart cities stand for a conceptual technology-and-innovation driven urban development model. By becoming `smart', cities seek to achieve prosperity, effectiveness and competitiveness on multiple socio-economic levels. Although cultural heritage is one of the many issues addressed by existing smart city strategies, and despite the documented bilateral benefits, our research about the positioning of urban cultural heritage within three smart city strategies (Barcelona, Amsterdam, and London) reveals fragmented approaches. Our findings suggest that the objective of cultural heritage promotion is not substantially addressed in the investigated smart city strategies. Nevertheless, we observe that cultural heritage management can be incorporated in several different strategic areas of the smart city, reflecting different lines of thinking and serving an array of goals, depending on the case. We conclude that although potential applications and approaches abound, cultural heritage currently stands for a mostly unexploited asset, presenting multiple integration opportunities within smart city contexts. We prompt for further research into bridging the two disciplines and exploiting a variety of use cases with the purpose of enriching the current knowledge base at the intersection of cultural heritage and smart cities.

E-CITY KNOWWARE: KNOWLEDGE MIDDLEWARE FOR COORDINATED MANAGEMENT OF SUSTAINABLE CITIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tamer E. El-Diraby

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The realization of e-city is a necessary component for achieving the green city. This paper outlines a vision for an e-city platform that is based on knowledge brokerage in the green city. The proposed platform will be a venue for creating dynamic virtual organizations to harness collective intelligence of knowledge hubs to analyze and manage sustainability knowledge in urban areas. Knowledge assets of participating organizations will be presented in three dimensions: process structures, human profile and software systems. These three facets of knowledge will be accessible and viewable through a self-describing mechanism. Cities can post their geospatial and real-time data on the net. Relevant environmental and energy-use data will be extracted using topic maps and data extraction services. Local decision makers can synchronize work processes (from participating hubs to create an integrated workflow for a new ad hoc virtual organization to collaboratively analyze the multifaceted nature of sustainable decision making. An e-city platform is envisioned in this paper that will be realized through intelligent, agent-like, domain-specific middleware (KnowWare. Through triangulation between people, software and processes, these KnowWare will discover, negotiate, integrate, reason and communicate knowledge (related to energy and environment from across organizations to the right person at the right time. KnowWare is fundamentally, a portal of social semantic services that resides on a cloud computing infrastructure. Knowware exploits thee main tools: 1 existing ontologies to represent knowledge in a semantic manner, 2 topic maps to profile sources of knowledge and match these to the complex needs of sustainability analysis, 3 domain-specific middleware for knowledge integration and reasoning.

The Emergence of City Logistics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gammelgaard, Britta; Aastrup, Jesper

2014-01-01

Purpose: Many city logistics projects in Europe have failed. The purpose of this article is to increase understanding of how city logistics emerge. A better understanding of the complex organizational processes with many actors and stakeholders in city logistics projects may prevent further failu...

Nocardia abscessus brain abscess in an immunocompetent host.

Science.gov (United States)

Al Tawfiq, Jaffar A; Mayman, Talal; Memish, Ziad A

2013-06-01

Nocardia brain abscesses typically occur in immunocompromised patients. Most cases of nocardiosis are caused by the Nocardia asteroides complex and Nocardia brasiliensis. Here, we present a patient with a Nocardia abscessus brain abscess. The diagnosis was confirmed by DNA sequencing, and the organism was susceptible to linezolid, clarithromycin, ceftriaxone, imipenem, tobramycin, amikacin, minocycline and sulfamethoxazole. The patient was successfully treated medically in combination with surgical excision. Copyright © 2013 King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Smoking cessation medications and cigarettes in Guatemala pharmacies.

Science.gov (United States)

Viteri, Ernesto; Barnoya, Joaquin; Hudmon, Karen Suchanek; Solorzano, Pedro J

2012-09-01

Guatemala, a party to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), is obliged to promote the wider availability of smoking cessation treatment and to restrict tobacco advertising. Pharmacies are fundamental in providing smoking cessation medications but also might increase the availability of cigarettes. To assess availability of cessation medications and cigarettes and their corresponding advertising in Guatemala pharmacies. In Guatemala City a representative sample was selected from a list of registered pharmacies classified by type (non-profit, chain, independent). In addition, all pharmacies in the neighbouring town of Antigua were included for comparison. Trained surveyors used a checklist to characterise each pharmacy with respect to availability and advertising of cessation medications and cigarettes. A total of 505 pharmacies were evaluated. Cessation medications were available in 115 (22.8%), while cigarettes were available in 29 (5.7%) pharmacies. When available, medications were advertised in 1.7% (2) and cigarettes in 72.4% (21) of pharmacies. Chain pharmacies were significantly more likely to sell cessation medications and cigarettes, and to advertise cigarettes than were non-profit and independent pharmacies. Most pharmacies in Guatemala do not stock cessation medications or cigarettes. Cigarette advertising was more prevalent than advertising for cessation medications. FCTC provisions have not been implemented in Guatemala pharmacies.

Smart City trends and ambitions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Wijs, Lisanne; Witte, P.A.; de Klerk, Daniel; Geertman, S.C.M.

2017-01-01

Research into smart city projects and applications has been increasing in recent years (Meijer & Bolivar, 2015). The smart city concept is mostly considered from a technology-oriented perspective that stresses the usage of data technologies, big data and ICT to ‘smarten up’ cities. In contrast,

Funding Sustainable Cities in China

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhan, C.

2018-01-01

Currently, more and more people live in cities, and this leads to an enormous increase in global GHG emissions. Cities are blamed for the cause of environmental problems. Therefore, countries over the world aim to approach these problems by launching sustainable city programs. On April 22, 2016,

The Carbon City Index (CCI)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boyd, Britta; Straatman, Bas; Mangalagiu, Diana

This paper presents a consumption-based Carbon City Index for CO2 emissions in a city. The index is derived from regional consumption and not from regional production. It includes imports and exports of emissions, factual emission developments, green investments as well as low carbon city...

Access to the city

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andreasen, Manja Hoppe; Møller-Jensen, Lasse

2017-01-01

This paper is concerned with access to the city for urban residents living in the periphery of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The paper presents an analysis of the mobility practices of residents and investigates the mobility constraints they experience in relation to the limited accessibility provided...... mobility and access to the city for residents in the periphery. Regular mobility is an ingrained part of residents' livelihood strategies. The majority of households rely on one or more members regularly travelling to central parts of the city in relation to their livelihood activities. The analysis...... by road and traffic conditions and highlights how accessibility problems of peripheral settlements are not easily understood separately from the general dysfunctions of the overall mobility system of city....

Towards Intelligently - Sustainable Cities?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luca Salvati

2013-04-01

Full Text Available In the quest for achieving sustainable cities, Intelligent and Knowledge City Programmes (ICPs and KCPs represent cost-efficient strategies for improving the overall performance of urban systems. However, even though nobody argues on the desirability of making cities “smarter”, the fundamental questions of how and to what extent can ICPs and KCPs contribute to the achievement of urban sustainability lack a precise answer. In the attempt of providing a structured answer to these interrogatives, this paper presents a methodology developed for investigating the modalities through which ICPs and KCPs contribute to the achievement or urban sustainability. Results suggest that ICPs and KCPs efficacy lies in supporting cities achieve a sustainable urban metabolism through optimization, innovation and behavior changes.

City Marketing: Towards an Integrated Approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

E. Braun (Erik)

2008-01-01

textabstractThis PhD thesis deals with city marketing: cities making use of marketing ideas, concepts and tools. Marketing has proved its value in the business environment, but what about applying marketing in the context of cities? How can cities make effective use of the potential of marketing?

Zaire program expands to cover high-risk groups in two cities.

Science.gov (United States)

1989-01-01

This article announces the expansion of Zaire's social marketing program for condoms to high-risk groups in the cities of Goma and Matadi. The program will use proven marketing techniques from Kinshasha, printed materials, and direct marketing to retail outlets, emphasizing hotels, bars, and other areas frequented by prostitutes, migrants, and other travelers. In addition to retail outlets such as pharmacies, 50 taxis will be tested as additional retail sources for Prudence condoms. Once under way, this effort could reach as many as 96,000 people/day. 5 new AIDS information spots are being televised, and an anti-AIDS song and jingle are on the air. Condom social marketing representatives report a 357% increase in condom sales through March, 1989, over 1988, and that products are now available in 85% of Kinshasha pharmacies. Medical center coverage has increased to 14 from 9 zones, while products reach 11 additional cities and 5 interior provinces.

City project and public space

CERN Document Server

2013-01-01

The book aims at nurturing theoretic reflection on the city and the territory and working out and applying methods and techniques for improving our physical and social landscapes. The main issue is developed around the projectual dimension, with the objective of visualising both the city and the territory from a particular viewpoint, which singles out the territorial dimension as the city’s space of communication and negotiation. Issues that characterise the dynamics of city development will be faced, such as the new, fresh relations between urban societies and physical space, the right to the city, urban equity, the project for the physical city as a means to reveal civitas, signs of new social cohesiveness, the sense of contemporary public space and the sustainability of urban development. Authors have been invited to explore topics that feature a pluralism of disciplinary contributions studying formal and informal practices on the project for the city and seeking conceptual and operative categories capab...

The City Blueprint Approach: Urban Water Management and Governance in Cities in the U.S.

Science.gov (United States)

Feingold, Daniel; Koop, Stef; van Leeuwen, Kees

2018-01-01

In this paper, we assess the challenges of water, waste and climate change in six cities across the U.S.: New York City, Boston, Milwaukee, Phoenix, Portland and Los Angeles. We apply the City Blueprint ® Approach which consists of three indicator assessments: (1) the Trends and Pressures Framework (TPF), (2) the City Blueprint Framework (CBF) and (3) the water Governance Capacity Framework (GCF). The TPF summarizes the main social, environmental and financial pressures that may impede water management. The CBF provides an integrated overview of the management performances within the urban watercycle. Finally, the GCF provides a framework to identify key barriers and opportunities to develop governance capacity. The GCF has only been applied in NYC. Results show that all cities face pressures from heat risk. The management performances regarding resource efficiency and resource recovery from wastewater and solid waste show considerable room for improvement. Moreover, stormwater separation, infrastructure maintenance and green space require improvement in order to achieve a resilient urban watercycle. Finally, in New York City, the GCF results show that learning through smart monitoring, evaluation and cross-stakeholder learning is a limiting condition that needs to be addressed. We conclude that the City Blueprint Approach has large potential to assist cities in their strategic planning and exchange of knowledge, experiences and lessons. Because the methodology is well-structured, easy to understand, and concise, it may bridge the gap between science, policy and practice. It could therefore enable other cities to address their challenges of water, waste and climate change.

The City Blueprint Approach: Urban Water Management and Governance in Cities in the U.S.

Science.gov (United States)

Feingold, Daniel; Koop, Stef; van Leeuwen, Kees

2018-01-01

In this paper, we assess the challenges of water, waste and climate change in six cities across the U.S.: New York City, Boston, Milwaukee, Phoenix, Portland and Los Angeles. We apply the City Blueprint® Approach which consists of three indicator assessments: (1) the Trends and Pressures Framework (TPF), (2) the City Blueprint Framework (CBF) and (3) the water Governance Capacity Framework (GCF). The TPF summarizes the main social, environmental and financial pressures that may impede water management. The CBF provides an integrated overview of the management performances within the urban watercycle. Finally, the GCF provides a framework to identify key barriers and opportunities to develop governance capacity. The GCF has only been applied in NYC. Results show that all cities face pressures from heat risk. The management performances regarding resource efficiency and resource recovery from wastewater and solid waste show considerable room for improvement. Moreover, stormwater separation, infrastructure maintenance and green space require improvement in order to achieve a resilient urban watercycle. Finally, in New York City, the GCF results show that learning through smart monitoring, evaluation and cross-stakeholder learning is a limiting condition that needs to be addressed. We conclude that the City Blueprint Approach has large potential to assist cities in their strategic planning and exchange of knowledge, experiences and lessons. Because the methodology is well-structured, easy to understand, and concise, it may bridge the gap between science, policy and practice. It could therefore enable other cities to address their challenges of water, waste and climate change.

Social factors affecting education quality of Iranian medical & dental students.

Science.gov (United States)

Zafarmand, A Hamid; Sabour, Siamak

2014-09-01

Positive social behavior of student is an important factor in the integrity of educational quality. Unbalanced behavior can disrupt the progress of students in learning. The present study evaluates the effect of social factors on education quality of dental and medical students. This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 227 randomly selected students (109 dental and 118 medical). The questionnaire contained three domains of cultural collectivism, self-concept, and social adjustment adapted from California Test of Personality. It also included demographic questions like; field of study, gender and home city of residence. Data was analyzed using SPSS (version#19) software. Pearsons' correlation coefficient and independent t-test were used at the P-value of 0.05. Generally, girl students showed higher cultural collectivism (P=0.028) and social adjustment (P=0.04). On the contrary, boys were better in self-concept behavior (P=0.34). Home city of residence evidenced with no significant effect on any aspects of social attitudes of subjects. Pearsons' correlation coefficient test showed a weak correlation between cultural collectivism and self-concept (r=0.134, P=0.04) and between cultural collectivism and social adjustment, as well. (r=0.252, P=0.001) Independent t-test showed a significant difference between male and female students concerning cultural collectivism and social adjustment. Reliability of cultural collectivism, self-concept and social adjustment scales ranged from very good to moderate, α=0.83, α=0.63, and α=0.54 respectively. The results of this study indicated that female students show better cultural collectivism and social adjustment skills. It also proved that home city of residence has no significant effect upon social behavior of either medical or dental students.

Leptin, not adiponectin, predicts hypertension in the Copenhagen City Heart Study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Asferg, Camilla Lundegaard; Møgelvang, Rasmus; Flyvbjerg, Allan

2010-01-01

of hypertension have been directly compared. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationships between plasma levels of leptin and adiponectin and new-onset hypertension in the Copenhagen City Heart Study (CCHS). METHODS: In a prospective study design, we examined new-onset hypertension in 620...... blood pressure (DBP) > or = 90 mm Hg, or use of antihypertensive medication. Using logistic regression analysis, adjusting for age, sex, estimated glomerular filtration rate, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), fibrinogen, and glucose, and with leptin and adiponectin included...

Architecture and Stages of the Experience City

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

This book presents more than 41 articles on ‘Architecture and Stages of the Experience City'. The aim of the book is to investigate current challenges related to architecture, art and city life in the ‘Experience City' and it is presenting cutting edge knowledge and experiences within the following...... themes: Experience City Making Digital Architecture Stages in the Experience City The City as a Learning Lab Experience City Architecture Performative Architecture Art and Performance Urban Catalyst and Temporary Use...

City model enrichment

Science.gov (United States)

Smart, Philip D.; Quinn, Jonathan A.; Jones, Christopher B.

The combination of mobile communication technology with location and orientation aware digital cameras has introduced increasing interest in the exploitation of 3D city models for applications such as augmented reality and automated image captioning. The effectiveness of such applications is, at present, severely limited by the often poor quality of semantic annotation of the 3D models. In this paper, we show how freely available sources of georeferenced Web 2.0 information can be used for automated enrichment of 3D city models. Point referenced names of prominent buildings and landmarks mined from Wikipedia articles and from the OpenStreetMaps digital map and Geonames gazetteer have been matched to the 2D ground plan geometry of a 3D city model. In order to address the ambiguities that arise in the associations between these sources and the city model, we present procedures to merge potentially related buildings and implement fuzzy matching between reference points and building polygons. An experimental evaluation demonstrates the effectiveness of the presented methods.

Landscape planning for a safe city

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Ishikawa

2002-06-01

Full Text Available To create a safe city free from natural disasters has been one of the important criteria in city planning. Since large cities have suffered from large fires caused by earthquakes, the planning of open spaces to prevent the spread of fires is part of the basic structure of city planning in Japan. Even in the feudal city of Edo, the former name of Tokyo, there had been open spaces to prevent fire disasters along canals and rivers. This paper discusses the historical evolution of open space planning, that we call landscape planning, through the experiences in Tokyo, and clarifies the characteristics and problems for achieving a safe city.

The Promise and Perils of the Island City of George Town (Penang as a Creative City

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suet Leng Khoo

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The peripheral and semi-peripheral roles of islands are being challenged and contested as contemporary island cities assume positions as engines of growth and become centres of progress for driving economic development. Notably, island cities around the globe have become instrumental in shaping and influencing the dynamics of urban development as cities now compete with each other to strategically position themselves in today’s competitive global economy that leverages creativity and innovation. Particularly in a creative economy, the availability, quantity, and quality of unique cultures; creative talents; and creative/cultural industries within a city are differentiating and determining factors that can boost a city’s position and subsequently spur economic growth and progress. Against this backdrop, this paper explores the position of the island city of George Town (Penang en route to becoming a Creative City. This paper highlights the island’s urban dynamics as well as discusses the promise and perils of transforming George Town into a Creative City in its own right.

Chromosomal aberrations in peripheral lymphocytes from A-bomb survivors who entered the city early after A-bombing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koguma, Nobuo; Kamada, Nanao

1992-01-01

It has been thought that A-bomb survivors who entered the city early after A-bombing were exposed to residual A-bomb radiation both externally and internally (through inhalation, food, drink or skin). This paper summarizes the data on estimated radiation doses in A-bomb survivors who entered Hiroshima within 3 days after A-bombing based on the chromosome staining analysis of lymphocytes of peripheral blood taken from A-bomb survivors. The subjects were 40 A-bomb survivors; according to a stay period and a history of medical irradiation, they were divided into four: group A with a long stay, group B with a long stay + medical irradiation, group C with a short stay, and group D with a short stay + medical irradiation. A mean estimated radiation dose was 4.8 rad (one rad or less to 13.5 rad) in group A, 13.9 rad (one rad or less to 71.2 rad) in group B, one rad or less in group C, and 1.9 rad (one rad or less to 21.2 rad) in group D. The highest rate of chromosomal aberrations was 3.1% in group B, followed by 2.1% in group A, 0.83% in group D, and 0.73% in group C. The frequency of chromosomal aberrations was coincident with the duration of stay in the city. Furthermore, medical irradiation seemed to have contributed to the additional effects of A-bomb radiation. (N.K.)

City Marketing: Towards an Integrated Approach

OpenAIRE

Braun, Erik

2008-01-01

textabstractThis PhD thesis deals with city marketing: cities making use of marketing ideas, concepts and tools. Marketing has proved its value in the business environment, but what about applying marketing in the context of cities? How can cities make effective use of the potential of marketing? The first contribution of this study is the development of a clear concept of city marketing that is based on a customer-oriented perspective, acknowledges the important of perceptions of places in t...

Sleep quality in medical students: a comparison across the various phases of the medical course

Science.gov (United States)

Corrêa, Camila de Castro; de Oliveira, Felipe Kazan; Pizzamiglio, Diego Scherlon; Ortolan, Erika Veruska Paiva; Weber, Silke Anna Theresa

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate and compare subjective sleep quality in medical students across the various phases of the medical course. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving medical undergraduates at one medical school in the city of Botucatu, Brazil. All first- to sixth-year students were invited to complete the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, which has been validated for use in Brazil. Participants were divided into three groups according to the phase of the medical course: group A (first- and second-years); group B (third- and fourth-years); and group C (fifth- and sixth-years). The results obtained for the instrument components were analyzed for the total sample and for the groups. Results: Of the 540 students invited to participate, 372 completed the instrument fully. Of those, 147 (39.5%) reported their sleep quality to be either very or fairly bad; 110 (29.5%) reported taking more than 30 min to fall asleep; 253 (68.0%) reported sleeping 6-7 h per night; 327 (87.9%) reported adequate sleep efficiency; 315 (84.6%) reported no sleep disturbances; 32 (8.6%) reported using sleeping medication; and 137 (36.9%) reported difficulty staying awake during the day at least once a week. Group comparison revealed that students in group A had worse subjective sleep quality and greater daytime dysfunction than did those in groups B and C. Conclusions: Medical students seem to be more exposed to sleep disturbance than other university students, and first- and second-years are more affected than those in other class years because they have worse subjective sleep quality. Active interventions should be implemented to improve sleep hygiene in medical students. PMID:29365004

Example from Ilorin City, Nigeria

African Journals Online (AJOL)

First Lady

2013-01-28

Jan 28, 2013 ... Abstract. Ilorin is one of the major cities in Nigeria today and its growing strength in ... any city growth and development. ... The study area ... road network resulting in the city enveloping many of the smaller settlements .... Emerging Communities: A case of a Local Government Area of ... Regional Planning.

Brazilian city planners, American city planning? New perspectives on urban planning in Rio de Janeiro, 1930-1945.

Science.gov (United States)

Rezende, Vera F

2010-01-01

This article analyses the connections between the ideas and principles of American city planning from 1920 with those articulated by Brazilian city planners in the 1930s and implemented by the administration of the City of Rio de Janeiro, then the capital of Brazil, notably during the period of the Estado Novo [The New State] from 1937 to 1945. In a period characterized by the centralization of political power and the concentration of decision-making in the hands of the president and the state, the City of Rio de Janeiro undertook a series of restructuring projects which utilized new forms of administration and organization. This article explores the links between urban planning in Brazil and the USA that were a notable feature of these projects. It examines particular requirements set down in city plans, city planning commissions and funding for urban activities, such as 'excess condemnation', by focusing upon articles and books written by four Brazilian engineers and proposals put forward by the American City Planning Institute, detailed in the proceedings of the National Conference on City Planning, in the periodical, City Planning and works by affiliated authors.

Gamification in the context of smart cities

Science.gov (United States)

Zica, M. R.; Ionica, A. C.; Leba, M.

2018-01-01

The recent emergence of smart cities is highly supported by the development of IT and IoT technologies. Nevertheless, a smart city needs to be built to meet the needs and requirements of its citizens. In order to build a smart city it is necessary to understand the benefits of such a city. A smart city is, beyond technology, populated by people. A smart city can be raised by its citizens’ contribution, and gamification is the means to motivate them. In this paper we included gamification techniques in the stage of capturing the citizens’ requirements for building a smart city. The system proposed in the paper is to create an application that allows the building of a virtual smart city customized by each user. From this virtual city, the most relevant features are extracted.

Comments on Environmental and Sanitary Aspects of the Scorpionism by Tityus trivittatus in Buenos Aires City, Argentina

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adolfo Rafael de Roodt

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Deaths by venomous animals are medical emergencies that can lead to death and thus constitute sanitary problems in some regions of the world. In the South of America, the accidents by these animals are a common sanitary problem especially in warm, tropical or subtropical regions, related with rural work in several countries. Argentina is located in the extreme South of South America and a minor part of the continental surface is in tropical or subtropical regions, where most of the accidents by venomous animals happen. However, in the big cities in the center and South of the country, with no relation to rural work, scorpionism, mostly due to the synanthropic and facultative parthenogenetic scorpion Tityus trivittatus, has become a sanitary problem in the last few decades. This scorpion is present in the biggest cities of Argentina and in the last decades has killed over 20 children in provinces of the center and north of the country, mostly in big cities. In addition, it seems that this species is growing and spreading in new regions of the cities. In this revision, some characteristics of this scorpion regarding its habitat, spreading in Buenos Aires city, combat measures and available treatments are discussed.

Proceedings of the Second Congress of Radiochemotherapy and Brachytherapy and the Fifth Meeting of Medical Physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zunino, Silvia; Venencia, Daniel; Martinez, Monica; Garrigo, Edgardo

2009-01-01

The Marie Curie Foundation in the city of Cordoba in Argentina, has organized the Second Congress of radiochemotherapy and brachytherapy and the Fifth Meeting of Medical Physics in order to collaborate with the scientific growth of radiation oncology and medical physics. The main topics covered were: patient's radioprotection, brachytherapy with iodine, radiation protection regulatory issues in Argentina, risk analysis in radiotherapy, medical radiation therapy, EPID dosimetry (Electronic Portal Image Device), accidents in radiotherapy, among others. [es

Lip prints- A study of its uniqueness among students of MediCiti Medical College.

Science.gov (United States)

Alzapur, Archana; Nagothu, Rajani S; Nalluri, Hima B

2017-01-01

"Cheiloscopy" is a technique that deals with lip prints. The pattern of fine creases on the lips are unique to the individual. They are similar to finger prints and useful in crime investigation. To study the uniqueness, prevalence, and gender significance of lip print patterns in human subjects. The study was conducted on 100 randomly selected male and female undergraduate medical students. The lip print of each subject was obtained and its pattern was analyzed according to Suzuki and Tsuchihashi classification. The study showed that Type I lip pattern was the commonest. Our study has added to confirmation of the distinctiveness of cheiloscopy, which can be used as an additional tool for identification. Studies on lip prints being very scanty, our findings add significantly to the meager literature on this subject. Further in-depth studies to establish prevalence of patterns in lip prints will certainly help as useful evidence in forensic investigations.

Are autonomous cities our urban future?

Science.gov (United States)

Norman, Barbara

2018-05-29

Cities are rapidly expanding in size, wealth and power, with some now larger than nation states. Smart city solutions and strong global urban networks are developing to manage massive urban growth. However, cities exist within a wider system and it may take more than technological advances, innovation and city autonomy to develop a sustainable urban future.

Urban greenspace for resilient city in the future: Case study of Yogyakarta City

Science.gov (United States)

Ni'mah, N. M.; Lenonb, S.

2017-06-01

The capacity of adaptation is essential elements towards urban resilience. One adaptation that can be done is to consider the provision of open space and public space in the city. Yogyakarta City development which focused on the built area and negates the open space has blurred the characteristics of the city. Efforts in increasing the availability of public space is one of the seven priorities of the programs included in the environmental and the utilization of space in Yogyakarta City. An understanding of the provision of public green open spaces in Yogyakarta is important because the products and processes that take place in a development will determine the successful implementation of the development plan. The objectives of this study are as follows: (1) to identify the provision green space in Yogyakarta City from the aspects of product and procedure; and (2) to identify the role of green space to build resilient city. This study is used descriptive qualitative approach with in-depth interview, literature review, and triangulation as the method for data collection. Yogyakarta has had instruments for public green open spaces provision called Masterplan Ruang Terbuka Hijau (RTH) Up-Scaling Yogyakarta 2013-2032 which govern the typologies and criteria for green open space development in the city.Public green open spaces development mechanism can be grouped into the planning phase, the utilization phase, and the control phase of each consisting of legal and regulatory aspects, institutional aspects, financial aspects, and technical aspects. The mechanism of green open space provision should regard the need of advocacy for “urban green commons” (UGCs) development as a systematic approach of collective-participatory for urban land management.

City of Pittsburgh Trees

Data.gov (United States)

Allegheny County / City of Pittsburgh / Western PA Regional Data Center — Trees cared for and managed by the City of Pittsburgh Department of Public Works Forestry Division. Tree Benefits are calculated using the National Tree Benefit...

Sustainable Cities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Georg, Susse; Garza de Linde, Gabriela Lucía

Judging from the number of communities and cities striving or claiming to be sustainable and how often eco-development is invoked as the means for urban regeneration, it appears that sustainable and eco-development have become “the leading paradigm within urban development” (Whitehead 2003....../assessment tool. The context for our study is urban regeneration in one Danish city, which had been suffering from industrial decline and which is currently investing in establishing a “sustainable city”. Based on this case study we explore how the insights and inspiration evoked in working with the tool...

The 3D-city model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holmgren, Steen; Rüdiger, Bjarne; Tournay, Bruno

2001-01-01

We have worked with the construction and use of 3D city models for about ten years. This work has given us valuable experience concerning model methodology. In addition to this collection of knowledge, our perception of the concept of city models has changed radically. In order to explain...... of 3D city models....

The Green City Car. A holistic approach for NVH abatement of city cars

OpenAIRE

Bein, Thilo; Mayer, Dirk; Elliott, Steve; Ferrali, Leonardo; Casella, Mauro; Saemann, Ernst-Ulrich; Kropp, Wolfgang; Nielsen, Finn Kryger; Meschke, Jens; Pisano, Emanuel

2014-01-01

Pursuing the different passive and active concepts in a holistic approach, the FP7 project Green City Car demonstrates the feasibility of applying active systems to NVH-related problems light city cars from a system point-of view. During the project, a city car equipped with a small engine has been considered equipped with the latest technology in terms of safety aspects related to pedestrian’s impact and car-to-car compatibility, which are of major importance in an urban environment. The noi...

Evaluation Model for Sentient Cities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mª Florencia Fergnani Brion

2016-11-01

Full Text Available In this article we made a research about the Sentient Cities and produced an assessment model to analyse if a city is or could be potentially considered one. It can be used to evaluate the current situation of a city before introducing urban policies based on citizen participation in hybrid environments (physical and digital. To that effect, we've developed evaluation grids with the main elements that form a Sentient City and their measurement values. The Sentient City is a variation of the Smart City, also based on technology progress and innovation, but where the citizens are the principal agent. In this model, governments aim to have a participatory and sustainable system for achieving the Knowledge Society and Collective Intelligence development, as well as the city’s efficiency. Also, they increase communication channels between the Administration and citizens. In this new context, citizens are empowered because they have the opportunity to create a Local Identity and transform their surroundings through open and horizontal initiatives.

The city of the divine king

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barnow, Niels Finn

2001-01-01

The City of the Divine King deals with urban systems and urban architecture in the river kingdoms of the Near East and the agrarian societies of the Orient. The book is part of a larger work comprising studies of the antique Greek world and the Roman Empire and the later developments of cities...... and villages in medieval Europe. The City of the Divine King is followed by volume 2: The City of the Landowner, about the Greco-Roman World, and volume 3: The City of the Merchant, about the medieval urban development in Europe....

European and Italian experience of Smart Cities: A model for the smart planning of city built

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Starlight Vattano

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The construction of the city through smart measures is now a frontier reached from many cities in the world. The built environment requires smart planning able to relate urban realities that are relegated to a marginal change. But how does the smart cities can create a relationship between sustainable cities of the future and their heritage? The article highlights the way of smart urban transformation of reality European and Italian proposing critical comparisons from which to infer smart parameters most used and easy to apply for the sustainable construction of these smart cities focusing on the urban sources of intelligent retrieval for quality their historical and cultural heritage.

Urban Environmental Planning in Greek Cities - The response of medium sized Greek cities, the case of Volos

OpenAIRE

Antoniou, Eftychia

2005-01-01

The city is a vital sum of functions, of human actions, of resources and of a built and physical environment. The sustainability of cities is relatively a new area of interest, especially for the Greek cities. Only in the last decade was sustainability introduced to the Greek planning process. Unfortunately, the Greek cities do not follow the Local Agenda 21, an instrument that is trying to promote sustainability issues for the built environment. The city of Volos in Greece seems to be more s...

Investigations on medical film processing in the city of Berlin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pape, U.

1986-01-01

An investigation on the methods of film processing in diagnostic radialogy departments can for instance be understood as a mere statistical representation of number and type of processing apparatus and film types, chemical methods and processing time, or it can be done as an attempt to objectively compare the film processing methods by means of a densitometric evaluation of equally exposed films of current usage within a given department. Such a comparative evaluation has been suggested by the diagnostics experts of the Berlin association of medical physicists, who presented their proposals within the course of project planning talks for a planned field test with a phantom for X-ray diagnostics, to be carried out in Berlin. (orig.) [de

Hellenistic Cities in the Levant

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mortensen, Eva

2011-01-01

By far the most of our knowledge on the Hellenistic cities of the Levant comes from the written sources - often combined with numismatic evidence - whereas archaeological discoveries of the Hellenistic layers of the cities are scarce. However, in Beirut excavations have shown interesting results...... in the last decades, for which reason this city is examined further in the article....

Endotypes of difficult-to-control asthma in inner-city African American children.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K R Brown

Full Text Available African Americans have higher rates of asthma prevalence, morbidity, and mortality in comparison with other racial groups. We sought to characterize endotypes of childhood asthma severity in African American patients in an inner-city pediatric asthma population. Baseline blood neutrophils, blood eosinophils, and 38 serum cytokine levels were measured in a sample of 235 asthmatic children (6-17 years enrolled in the NIAID (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases-sponsored Asthma Phenotypes in the Inner City (APIC study (ICAC (Inner City Asthma Consortium-19. Cytokines were quantified using a MILLIPLEX panel and analyzed on a Luminex analyzer. Patients were classified as Easy-to-Control or Difficult-to-Control based on the required dose of controller medications over one year of prospective management. A multivariate variable selection procedure was used to select cytokines associated with Difficult-to-Control versus Easy-to-Control asthma, adjusting for age, sex, blood eosinophils, and blood neutrophils. In inner-city African American children, 12 cytokines were significant predictors of Difficult-to-Control asthma (n = 235. CXCL-1, IL-5, IL-8, and IL-17A were positively associated with Difficult-to-Control asthma, while IL-4 and IL-13 were positively associated with Easy-to-Control asthma. Using likelihood ratio testing, it was observed that in addition to blood eosinophils and neutrophils, serum cytokines improved the fit of the model. In an inner-city pediatric population, serum cytokines significantly contributed to the definition of Difficult-to-Control asthma endotypes in African American children. Mixed responses characterized by TH2 (IL-5 and TH17-associated cytokines were associated with Difficult-to-Control asthma. Collectively, these data may contribute to risk stratification of Difficult-to-Control asthma in the African American population.

Cities spearhead climate action

Science.gov (United States)

Watts, Mark

2017-08-01

Following President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, cities worldwide have pledged support to combat climate change. Along with a growing coalition of businesses and institutions, cities represent a beacon of hope for carbon reduction in politically tumultuous times.

City-Level Energy Decision Making: Data Use in Energy Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation in U.S. Cities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aznar, Alexandra [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Day, Megan [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Doris, Elizabeth [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Mathur, Shivani [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Donohoo-Vallett, Paul [US Dept. of Energy, Washington, DC (United States)

2015-07-01

The report analyzes and presents information learned from a sample of 20 cities across the United States, from New York City to Park City, Utah, including a diverse sample of population size, utility type, region, annual greenhouse gas reduction targets, vehicle use, and median household income. The report compares climate, sustainability, and energy plans to better understand where cities are taking energy-related actions and how they are measuring impacts. Some common energy-related goals focus on reducing city-wide carbon emissions, improving energy efficiency across sectors, increasing renewable energy, and increasing biking and walking.

[The clinico-epidemiological characteristics of cholera patients in Mexico City].

Science.gov (United States)

Vilchis-Guizar, A E; Uribe-Márquez, S; Pérez-Sánchez, P L

1999-01-01

To compare the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of cholera patients and patients with diarrhea of different etiology (controls), treated at Mexican Institute of Social Security medical units in northeast Mexico City, from 1995 to 1998. Cross-sectional analytical study design. Data were collected using the official form "Immediate Notification of Cholera Cases" that each medical unit reports to the Coordination of Community Health. Statistical analysis consisted of comparisons of means and proportions between both groups. In 4,952 notifications, there were 588 cholera cases and 4,364 controls. The age range of cases was 39 to 51 years and 54% were females. During 1995 and 1997 (years with higher proportion of cases) patients with cholera had a greater frequency of watery evacuations than controls (97% vs. 73%), "rice water" appearance (31% vs. 13%), vomiting (72% vs. 63%), muscular spasms (49% vs. 26%), dehydration (83% vs. 71%), hypovolemic shock (10% vs. 1%) and death (0.85% vs. 0.25%). These differences were statistically significant. Cholera presents a biannual cyclic behavior; greater frequencies are associated with greater severity and complications. It is necessary to increase epidemiologic surveillance and medical efforts for opportune diagnosis and treatment.

Do women in major cities experience better health? A comparison of chronic conditions and their risk factors between women living in major cities and other cities in Indonesia.

Science.gov (United States)

Christiani, Yodi; Byles, Julie E; Tavener, Meredith; Dugdale, Paul

2015-01-01

Inhabitants of rural areas can be tempted to migrate to urban areas for the type and range of facilities available. Although urban inhabitants may benefit from greater access to human and social services, living in a big city can also bring disadvantages to some residents due to changes in social and physical environments. We analysed data from 4,208 women aged >15 years old participating in the fourth wave of the Indonesia Family Life Survey. Chronic condition risk factors - systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP), body mass index (BMI), and tobacco use - among women in four major cities in Indonesia (Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, and Bandung) were compared against other cities. Fractional polynomial regression models were applied to examine the association between living in the major cities and SBP, DBP, BMI, and tobacco use. The models were also adjusted for age, education, employment status, migration status, ethnic groups, and religion. The patterns of SBP, DBP, and BMI were plotted and contrasted between groups of cities. Chronic condition prevalence was higher for women in major cities than in contrasting cities (p<0.005). Living in major cities increased the risk of having higher SBP, DBP, BMI and being a current smoker. Chronic disease risk factors in major cities were evident from younger ages. Women residing in Indonesia's major cities have a higher risk of developing chronic conditions, starting at younger ages. The findings highlight the challenges inherent in providing long-term healthcare with its associated cost within major Indonesian cities and the importance of chronic disease prevention programmes targeting women at an early age.

Do women in major cities experience better health? A comparison of chronic conditions and their risk factors between women living in major cities and other cities in Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yodi Christiani

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Inhabitants of rural areas can be tempted to migrate to urban areas for the type and range of facilities available. Although urban inhabitants may benefit from greater access to human and social services, living in a big city can also bring disadvantages to some residents due to changes in social and physical environments. Design: We analysed data from 4,208 women aged >15 years old participating in the fourth wave of the Indonesia Family Life Survey. Chronic condition risk factors – systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP, body mass index (BMI, and tobacco use – among women in four major cities in Indonesia (Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, and Bandung were compared against other cities. Fractional polynomial regression models were applied to examine the association between living in the major cities and SBP, DBP, BMI, and tobacco use. The models were also adjusted for age, education, employment status, migration status, ethnic groups, and religion. The patterns of SBP, DBP, and BMI were plotted and contrasted between groups of cities. Results: Chronic condition prevalence was higher for women in major cities than in contrasting cities (p<0.005. Living in major cities increased the risk of having higher SBP, DBP, BMI and being a current smoker. Chronic disease risk factors in major cities were evident from younger ages. Conclusions: Women residing in Indonesia's major cities have a higher risk of developing chronic conditions, starting at younger ages. The findings highlight the challenges inherent in providing long-term healthcare with its associated cost within major Indonesian cities and the importance of chronic disease prevention programmes targeting women at an early age.

A Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness in America's Cities, 2000: A 25-City Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Lowe, Eugene T.

To assess the status of hunger and homelessness in U.S. cities during the year 2000, the U.S. Conference of Mayors surveyed 25 major cities whose mayors were members of its Task Force on Hunger and Homelessness. The survey sought information and estimates from each city on emergency food supplies and services, the causes of hunger and…

From the sanitary city to the sustainable city: challenges to institutionalising biogenic (nature's services) infrastructure

Science.gov (United States)

Stephanie Pincetl

2010-01-01

Much has been made of the need for cities to become more sustainable, particularly since for the first time in human history over half of the world's population are urban dwellers. Cities concentrate human activities in an exceptionally powerful manner, and this includes resource use and the generation of pollution. Attention has turned towards cities for their...

78 FR 42999 - City of Pickens, S.C. and City of Easley, S.C.-Acquisition Exemption-Pickens Railway Company

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-18

....C. and City of Easley, S.C.--Acquisition Exemption--Pickens Railway Company The City of Pickens, S.C., and the City of Easley, S.C. (collectively, the Cities or Petitioners), both noncarrier political..., 16 U.S.C. 1247(d), and 49 CFR 1152.29 to permit the Cities to negotiate with Pickens Railway to...

Factors associated with positive attitude towards blood donation among medical students.

Science.gov (United States)

Gazibara, Tatjana; Kovacevic, Nikolina; Maric, Gorica; Kurtagic, Ilma; Nurkovic, Selmina; Kisic-Tepavcevic, Darija; Pekmezovic, Tatjana

2015-12-01

The aim of this study was to assess attitudes and practice of blood donation among medical students. Medical students were recruited at Medical Faculty, University of Belgrade, Serbia. Of 973 students, 38.4% of freshmen and 41.4% of final year students have donated blood (χ(2) = 0.918, p = 0.186). Blood donors had significantly more positive attitude towards some aspects of blood donation. Being female, residing in a city other than the capital and previous blood donation experience were independent predictors of positive attitude towards being a blood donor to an unknown person. Efforts are required to augment blood donor pool among future physicians. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

2015 Resident Survey (City and County)

Data.gov (United States)

City and County of Durham, North Carolina — The purpose of the annual City/County survey: To objectively assess citizen satisfaction with the delivery of City/County servicesTo set a baseline for future...

2016 Resident Survey (City and County)

Data.gov (United States)

City and County of Durham, North Carolina — The purpose of the annual City/County survey: To objectively assess citizen satisfaction with the delivery of City/County servicesTo set a baseline for future...

Design of high-rise dwelling houses for Ho Chi Minh City within the framework of the "smart city" concept

Science.gov (United States)

Loan, Nguyen Hong; Van Tin, Nguyen

2018-03-01

There are differences in the concepts of smart cities, which are reflected in many ideas and solutions. Globally one of the similarities of the goals for achieving smart cities is sustainable developmentwith the provision of best living conditions for people beingthe first priority. Ho Chi Minh City is not out of trend, taking the planning steps for the goal of becoming a smart city. It is necessary that design and construction of high-rise dwelling houses meet the criteria of "smart city" concept. This paper explores the design of high-rise dwelling houses forHo Chi Minh City with regards tothe framework of "smart city" concept. Methods used in the paper includedata collection, analytical - synthetical and modeling method.In order to proposedesign tasks and solutions of high-rise dwelling houses forHo Chi Minh Cityinthe concept "smart city"in the current period and near future, we present new approach, whichcan alsobe applied in practice for different cities in Vietnam.Moveover, it can also establishinformation resources, which areuseful in connecting and promotingfurther development for the success of a "smart city" program.

"Gray murder": characteristics of elderly compared with nonelderly homicide victims in New York City.

Science.gov (United States)

Abrams, Robert C; Leon, Andrew C; Tardiff, Kenneth; Marzuk, Peter M; Sutherland, Kari

2007-09-01

We compared characteristics of homicides among New York City residents aged 18 years and older from 1990 to 1998 to determine differences in demographics, cause and place of death, and presence of illicit drugs and alcohol in the deceased's system. All medical examiner-certified homicides among New York City residents aged 18 years and older from 1990 to 1998 were studied (n = 11,850). Nonelderly (aged 18 to 64 years) and elderly (aged 65 years and older) victims were compared by gender, race/ethnicity, cause of death, place of death, and presence of illicit drugs or alcohol. Population-based homicide rates stratified by age, gender, and race were also calculated. Nonelderly homicide victims were significantly more likely to be male, non-White, to have been shot in the city streets, and to have evidence of illicit drug or alcohol use. Elderly victims were more likely to be female, White, to have been killed by nonfirearm injuries, and to have been killed in their own homes. The gender and race differences between age groups remained but were attenuated when population-based rates were compared. The characteristics of homicide in nonelderly adults do not apply to elderly adults in New York City. Demographic factors and vulnerabilities of the elderly may underlie these differences, pointing to the need for oversight of isolated or homebound elderly persons and for protective interventions.

Burden and Risk Factors for Cold-Related Illness and Death in New York City

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kathryn Lane

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Exposure to cold weather can cause cold-related illness and death, which are preventable. To understand the current burden, risk factors, and circumstances of exposure for illness and death directly attributed to cold, we examined hospital discharge, death certificate, and medical examiner data during the cold season from 2005 to 2014 in New York City (NYC, the largest city in the United States. On average each year, there were 180 treat-and-release emergency department visits (average annual rate of 21.6 per million and 240 hospital admissions (29.6 per million for cold-related illness, and 15 cold-related deaths (1.8 per million. Seventy-five percent of decedents were exposed outdoors. About half of those exposed outdoors were homeless or suspected to be homeless. Of the 25% of decedents exposed indoors, none had home heat and nearly all were living in single-family or row homes. The majority of deaths and illnesses occurred outside of periods of extreme cold. Unsheltered homeless individuals, people who use substances and become incapacitated outdoors, and older adults with medical and psychiatric conditions without home heat are most at risk. This information can inform public health prevention strategies and interventions.

An Appraisal of Asia-Pacific Cities as Control and Command Centres Embedded in World City Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Z. Li

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Since the globalization trend is proliferating at a staggering rate, world cities have emerged as the most dominant vanguard incorporated into global economy. Control and command function is one of the robust integral parts of world city formation, which is closely associated with the corporate headquarter status of some dominant multinational companies. Previous research works on this topic tend to concentrate on the Western Europe and North American arenas neglecting the Asia-Pacific region. Hence, the objective of this paper is to explore control and command functions of Asia-Pacific cities with reference to headquarters’ locations of multinational companies. The methodology will utilize the Forbes global 2000 dataset from the seminal study of GaWC research group, and apply the control and command center model and the interlocking city network model to discover the control and command index, as well as network connectivity of Asia-Pacific cities. Based upon the empirical study of this research, we could identify the hierarchical structure and spatial structure of Asia-Pacific world cities to emerge as some control and command centers embedded in world city network.

[The movement to establish a Christian medical school proposed by medical missionary "John C. Berry"].

Science.gov (United States)

Fuseda, Tetsuya

2014-12-01

John C. Berry (1847-1936) came to Japan in 1872, worked as a medical missionary for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM . He attempted to influence Japanese medical education toward a more Christian-influenced approach. In early Meiji, the Japanese government adopted the German language and principles for its national medical program. This promoted a tendency towards the adoption of German concepts in Japanese medical education. The director of of Doshisha, Niijima, was concerned about such a tendency, which he considered rather science-oriented or skeptical and atheistic, according to his writings. The tradition of corruption among Japanese doctors also deeply disappointed him. Niijima sought the type of medical institution in which the students would learn Western medicine based on a moral base of Christianity, presumably in Kyoto, to take advantage of the foundation of Doshisha, which had already been built. Missionaries in Japan, especially Berry, supported Niijima's intentions. During his visit to the U.S. he promoted a mission statement in support of Niijima's idea in order to raise funds among Christian communities. This project produced a resolution among the Christian community in Philadelphia to establish an interdenominational foundation for establishing such a medical institution and it encouraged other cities to follow. However, the American Board of Missionaries in Japan disagreed with the idea of its being interdenominational, and then, along with other struggles such as the lack of funding in light of the economic slowdown, and the widespread social rejection of Christianity in Japan, the project fell apart and was suspended.

Cities and Climate - What Visions?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haentjens, Jean

2015-01-01

Given the difficulty of achieving a global agreement to cope with the challenges of climate change or even a national resilience programme, an increasing number of initiatives are coming up from the local level for preemptively implementing policies to adapt to climate change or combat it. There are several towns and cities across the world that have taken this line (Copenhagen, Totnes, Vaexjoe, Bristol, etc.) but, as Jean Haentjens shows here, an effective response to climate change requires the development of a genuine strategic vision capable of mobilizing all the actors concerned. For the moment, the towns and cities that have managed to come up with such a vision are few and far between. After a -largely historical- review of the importance of vision in changes of urban paradigm, Jean Haentjens stresses how much twenty-first century eco-urbanism broadens the range of possible solutions to the many issues facing our towns and cities today. But, though digital innovations in fact offer new opportunities at the local level, we should nonetheless be wary of 'technological solutionism': the new technologies are tools which towns and cities can use to their advantage, but to become really 'smart' they have to develop a vision. After presenting a series of established or emerging urban models (the frugal city, the creative city, the leisure city and the eco-metropolis), along with the values and imaginative conceptions that underpin them, this article shows - without being unaware of the potential obstacles - how a town or city can produce and renew its strategic vision to reinvent itself and meet the challenges of today

The mini climatic city a dedicated space for technological innovations devoted to Sustainable City

Science.gov (United States)

Derkx, François; Lebental, Bérengère; Merliot, Erick; Dumoulin, Jean; Bourquin, Frédéric

2015-04-01

Our cities, from megalopolis to rural commune, are systems of an extraordinary technological and human complexity. Their balance is threatened by the growing population and rarefaction of resources. Massive urbanization endanges the environment, while global climate change, through natural hazards generated (climatic, hydrological and geological), threats people and goods. Connect the city, that is to say, design and spread systems able to route, between multiple actors, a very large amount of heterogeneous information natures and analyzed for various purposes, is at the heart of the hopes to make our cities more sustainable: climate-resilient, energy efficient and actresses of the energy transition, attractive to individuals and companies, health and environment friendly. If multiple players are already aware of this need, progress is slow because, beyond the only connectivity, it is the urban intelligence that will create the sustainable city, through coordinated capabilities of Perception, Decision and Action: to measure phenomena; to analyze their impact on urban sustainability in order to define strategies for improvement; to effectively act on the cause of the phenomenon. In this very active context with a strong societal impact, the Sense-City project aims to accelerate research and innovation in the field of sustainable city, particularly in the field of micro and nanosensors. The project is centered around a "mini climatic City", a unique mobile environmental chamber in Europe of 400m² that can accommodate realistic models of city main components, namely buildings, infrastructures, distribution networks or basements. This R&D test place, available in draft form from January 2015 and in finalized version in 2016, will allow to validate, in realistic conditions, innovative technologies performances for the sustainable city, especially micro- and nano-sensors, at the end of their development laboratory and upstream of industrialization. R & D platform

Sustainability and Cities as Systems of Innovation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johnson, Bjørn; Lehmann, Martin

Cities often constitute relevant environments for interactive learning and innovation potentially capable of tackling sustainability problems. In this paper we ask if the concept of systems of innovation can increase our understanding of city dynamics and help promoting the sustainable development...... of cities. Through a combination of the innovation system approach and the perspective of creative cities, we argue that a slightly modified concept – sustainable city systems of innovation – may be helpful in this context. To underline this, we discuss certain ‘city-traits’ of sustainability and conclude...

Intake of Nutritional Supplements among People Exercising in Gyms in Beirut City

Science.gov (United States)

El Khoury, D.; Antoine-Jonville, S.

2012-01-01

The use of nutritional supplements among exercisers in gyms has been never investigated in the Middle East. The aim of the current study was to assess the prevalence intake of nutritional supplements and the potential influencing factors among people exercising in gyms in Beirut city. In this cross-sectional study, 512 exercisers, aged between 20 and 50 years, were randomly selected from gyms. The intake of nutritional supplements was reported among 36.3% (95% confidence interval 32.2–40.5) of participants, with a weak presence of medical supervision. Patterns of supplement use differed by gender and age. Men and younger exercisers were found to focus on supplements associated with performance enhancement and muscle building, while women and older exercisers were more concerned with health-promoting products such as vitamins, minerals, and herbal supplements. An appropriate dissemination of accurate and scientifically sound information regarding the benefits and side effects of nutritional supplements is highly recommended in the sports environment in Beirut city. PMID:22506105

Intake of Nutritional Supplements among People Exercising in Gyms in Beirut City.

Science.gov (United States)

El Khoury, D; Antoine-Jonville, S

2012-01-01

The use of nutritional supplements among exercisers in gyms has been never investigated in the Middle East. The aim of the current study was to assess the prevalence intake of nutritional supplements and the potential influencing factors among people exercising in gyms in Beirut city. In this cross-sectional study, 512 exercisers, aged between 20 and 50 years, were randomly selected from gyms. The intake of nutritional supplements was reported among 36.3% (95% confidence interval 32.2-40.5) of participants, with a weak presence of medical supervision. Patterns of supplement use differed by gender and age. Men and younger exercisers were found to focus on supplements associated with performance enhancement and muscle building, while women and older exercisers were more concerned with health-promoting products such as vitamins, minerals, and herbal supplements. An appropriate dissemination of accurate and scientifically sound information regarding the benefits and side effects of nutritional supplements is highly recommended in the sports environment in Beirut city.

Low-carbon infrastructure strategies for cities

Science.gov (United States)

Kennedy, C. A.; Ibrahim, N.; Hoornweg, D.

2014-05-01

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions to avert potentially disastrous global climate change requires substantial redevelopment of infrastructure systems. Cities are recognized as key actors for leading such climate change mitigation efforts. We have studied the greenhouse gas inventories and underlying characteristics of 22 global cities. These cities differ in terms of their climates, income, levels of industrial activity, urban form and existing carbon intensity of electricity supply. Here we show how these differences in city characteristics lead to wide variations in the type of strategies that can be used for reducing emissions. Cities experiencing greater than ~1,500 heating degree days (below an 18 °C base), for example, will review building construction and retrofitting for cold climates. Electrification of infrastructure technologies is effective for cities where the carbon intensity of the grid is lower than ~600 tCO2e GWh-1 whereas transportation strategies will differ between low urban density (~6,000 persons km-2) cities. As nation states negotiate targets and develop policies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, attention to the specific characteristics of their cities will broaden and improve their suite of options. Beyond carbon pricing, markets and taxation, governments may develop policies and target spending towards low-carbon urban infrastructure.

Utility-driven evidence for healthy cities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

de Leeuw, Evelyne; Skovgaard, Thomas

2005-01-01

The question whether the WHO Healthy Cities project 'works' has been asked ever since a number of novel ideas and actions related to community health, health promotion and healthy public policy in the mid 1980s came together in the Healthy Cities Movement initiated by the World Health Organization....... The question, however, has become more urgent since we have entered an era in which the drive for 'evidence' seems all-pervasive. The article explores the nature of evidence, review available evidence on Healthy Cities accomplishments, and discusses whether enough evidence has been accumulated on different...... performances within the realm of Healthy Cities. A main point of reference is the European Healthy Cities Project (E-HCP). Building on the information gathered through documentary research on the topic, it is concluded that there is fair evidence that Healthy Cities works. However, the future holds great...

Visions of the City

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pinder, David

in informing understandings and imaginings of the modern city. The author critically examines influential traditions in western Europe associated with such figures as Ebenezer Howard and Le Corbusier, uncovering the political interests, desires and anxieties that lay behind their ideal cities, and drawing out...

Global Cities and Liability of Foreignness

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wernicke, Georg; Mehlsen, Kristian

2016-01-01

In this paper, we combine the concepts of location, liability of foreignness (LoF), and their relation to factors that drive multinational enterprises (MNEs) towards, or away from, global cities. We argue that three interrelated characteristics of global cities - cosmopolitanism, availability...... indicate that MNEs have a stronger propensity to locate in global cities than in metropolitan or peripheral areas, and that these locational choices are affected by institutional distance and industrial characteristics. The results provide empirical support for our argument that locating in a global city...... can reduce the liability of foreignness suffered by MNEs, and that global cities play a central role in the process of globalisation....

Hamilton : the electric city

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gilbert, R [Richard Gilbert Consultant, Toronto, ON (Canada)

2006-04-13

The City of Hamilton has launched an extensive energy planning exercise that examines the possibility of steep increases in oil and natural gas prices. This report examined and illustrated the issue of oil and gas price points. The report also examined and presented the city's role in an era of energy constraints, focusing on the city's transit system and its vehicle fleet. In addition, in response to City Council's direction, the report presented the aerotropolis proposal and discussed freight transport issues. Specific topics of discussion included oil and natural gas prospects; prospects for high oil and natural gas prices; impacts of fuel price increases; strategic planning objectives for energy constraints; reducing energy use by Hamilton's transport and in buildings; and land-use planning for energy constraints. Energy production opportunities involve the use of solar energy; wind energy; deep lake water cooling (DLWC); hydro-electric power; energy from waste; biogas production; district energy; and local food production. Economic and social development through preparing for energy constraints and matters raised by city council were also presented. The report also demonstrated how an energy-based strategy could be paid for and its components approved. The next steps for Hamilton were also identified. refs., tabs., figs.

Hamilton : the electric city

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gilbert, R.

2006-01-01

The City of Hamilton has launched an extensive energy planning exercise that examines the possibility of steep increases in oil and natural gas prices. This report examined and illustrated the issue of oil and gas price points. The report also examined and presented the city's role in an era of energy constraints, focusing on the city's transit system and its vehicle fleet. In addition, in response to City Council's direction, the report presented the aerotropolis proposal and discussed freight transport issues. Specific topics of discussion included oil and natural gas prospects; prospects for high oil and natural gas prices; impacts of fuel price increases; strategic planning objectives for energy constraints; reducing energy use by Hamilton's transport and in buildings; and land-use planning for energy constraints. Energy production opportunities involve the use of solar energy; wind energy; deep lake water cooling (DLWC); hydro-electric power; energy from waste; biogas production; district energy; and local food production. Economic and social development through preparing for energy constraints and matters raised by city council were also presented. The report also demonstrated how an energy-based strategy could be paid for and its components approved. The next steps for Hamilton were also identified. refs., tabs., figs

Evaluation of partnership working in cities in phase IV of the WHO Healthy Cities Network.

Science.gov (United States)

Lipp, Alistair; Winters, Tim; de Leeuw, Evelyne

2013-10-01

An intersectoral partnership for health improvement is a requirement of the WHO European Healthy Cities Network of municipalities. A review was undertaken in 59 cities based on responses to a structured questionnaire covering phase IV of the network (2003-2008). Cities usually combined formal and informal working partnerships in a pattern seen in previous phases. However, these encompassed more sectors than previously and achieved greater degrees of collaborative planning and implementation. Additional WHO technical support and networking in phase IV significantly enhanced collaboration with the urban planning sector. Critical success factors were high-level political commitment and a well-organized Healthy City office. Partnerships remain a successful component of Healthy City working. The core principles, purpose and intellectual rationale for intersectoral partnerships remain valid and fit for purpose. This applied to long-established phase III cities as well as newcomers to phase IV. The network, and in particular the WHO brand, is well regarded and encourages political and organizational engagement and is a source of support and technical expertise. A key challenge is to apply a more rigorous analytical framework and theory-informed approach to reviewing partnership and collaboration parameters.

Tourism and City. Reflections about Tourist Dimension of Smart City

OpenAIRE

Rosa Anna La Rocca

2013-01-01

The city of the future seems to be necessarily “intelligent” both in its physical and in functional features.This paper starts from the consideration that the diffusion of new communication technologies (ICTs) is significantly changing the urban supply system of tourist services giving rise to new ways of enjoying the city.As tourism can be assumed as an urban activity, by a town planning point of view, the study of tourism is meaningful to identify development trajectories of the present cit...

The guide to greening cities

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Johnston, Sadhu Aufochs

2013-01-01

... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 CHAPTER 3. Leading in the Community: Using City Assets, Policy, Partnerships, and Persuasion . . Case in Point: Returning to Green City Roots and Loving El...

Analysis of medical institutions with various organizational forms of rehabilitation treatment and outpatient departments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shapovalenko T.V.

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The study aimed organization of the analysis of activity of two medical institutions rendering services in rehabilitation and recovery treatment to adult population, having various organizational forms. Material and Methods. For five years there had been studied practical experience of rendering medical care on recovery treatment and rehabilitation to adult population on the basis of medico-statistical processing of reporting documentation of the Medicine Recovery Center and the rehabilitation, Ministry of Health of Russia functioning on the basis of the "Medical and Rehabilitation Center" — large versatile medical center and the interdistrict center of recovery treatment on the basis of city policlinic of St. Petersburg. Results. As a result it had been established an advisability of rendering this type of specialized medical care by medical institutions with different organizational forms. Conclusion. The interdistrict centers of rehabilitation functioning as a part of city policlinics, are undoubtedly necessary, as the closest medical setting for patients' homes, however such functions as diagnostics of a functional condition of an organism and an objective assessment of a state of health of patients with use of screening techniques; inspection of the organized collectives and groups of the population for the purpose of identification of groups of risk, establishment of extent of influence of environmental factors on a state of health, active supervision over persons with factors of the increased risk of diseases and correction of the revealed functional violations, etc. can be performed only in the centers organized on the basis of modern versatile treatment-and-prophylactic establishments, equipped with the modern diagnostic devices, allowing to supplement traditional methods of drug therapy with new effective techniques of treatment.

Preface (to Playable Cities)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Unknown, [Unknown; Nijholt, A.; Nijholt, Antinus

In this book, we address the issue of playfulness and playability in intelligent and smart cities. Playful technology can be introduced and authorized by city authorities. This can be compared and is similar to the introduction of smart technology in theme and recreational parks. However, smart

Marriage and the City

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gautier, Pieter; Svarer, Michael; Teulings, Coen

Do people move to cities because of marriage market considerations? In cities singles can meet more potential partners than in rural areas. Singles are therefore prepared to pay a premium in terms of higher housing prices. Once married, the marriage market benefits disappear while the housing...

Cities at Play

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Magnussen, Rikke; Elming, Anna

2015-01-01

This paper presents a community-driven science gaming project where students in collaboration with urban planners and youth project workers in the City of Copenhagen used Minecreaft to redesign their neighbourhood to generate solutions to problems in their local area. The project involved 25...... administrated by the City of Copenhagen. Resources were allocated for one of these projects to recondition the subsidized housing for this area. A community-driven science gaming process was designed in which overall challenges for redesign, defined by urban planners, were given to the students to highlight...... for redesigning the neighbourhood in Minecraft and LEGO. These were presented to City of Copenhagen architects and urban planners as well as the head of the Department of Transport, Technology and Environment. Overall the study showed that tasks focused on solving local living problems through neighbourhood...

The Meat City

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thelle, Mikkel

2017-01-01

This article investigates the emergence of the Copenhagen slaughterhouse, called the Meat City, during the late nineteenth century. This slaughterhouse was a product of a number of heterogeneous components: industrialization and new infrastructures were important, but hygiene and the significance...... of Danish bacon exports also played a key role. In the Meat City, this created a distinction between rising production and consumption on the one hand, and the isolation and closure of the slaughtering facility on the other. This friction mirrored an ambivalent attitude towards meat in the urban space: one...... where consumers demanded more meat than ever before, while animals were being removed from the public eye. These contradictions, it is argued, illustrate and underline the change of the city towards a ‘post-domestic’ culture. The article employs a variety of sources, but primarily the Copenhagen...

Personality traits associated with intrinsic academic motivation in medical students.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanaka, Masaaki; Mizuno, Kei; Fukuda, Sanae; Tajima, Seiki; Watanabe, Yasuyoshi

2009-04-01

Motivation is one of the most important psychological concepts in education and is related to academic outcomes in medical students. In this study, the relationships between personality traits and intrinsic academic motivation were examined in medical students. The study group consisted of 119 Year 2 medical students at Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine. They completed questionnaires dealing with intrinsic academic motivation (the Intrinsic Motivation Scale toward Learning) and personality (the Temperament and Character Inventory [TCI]). On simple regression analyses, the TCI dimensions of persistence, self-directedness, co-operativeness and self-transcendence were positively associated with intrinsic academic motivation. On multiple regression analysis adjusted for age and gender, the TCI dimensions of persistence, self-directedness and self-transcendence were positively associated with intrinsic academic motivation. The temperament dimension of persistence and the character dimensions of self-directedness and self-transcendence are associated with intrinsic academic motivation in medical students.

Unravelling the Global City Debate: Economic Inequality and Ethnocentrism in Contemporary Dutch Cities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J. van der Waal (Jeroen)

2010-01-01

textabstractIt is hard to overestimate the scholarly impact of Saskia Sassen’s global city theoretical framework, which revolves around the impact of economic globalization on the social, economic, and political reality of cities in advanced economies. Yet, more than two decades of research

Smart Cities Will Need Chemistry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandru WOINAROSCHY

2016-06-01

Full Text Available A smart city is a sustainable and efficient urban centre that provides a high quality of life to its inhabitants through optimal management of its resources. Chemical industry has a key role to play in the sustainable evolution of the smart cities. Additionally, chemistry is at the heart of all modern industries, including electronics, information technology, biotechnology and nano-technology. Chemistry can make the smart cities project more sustainable, more energy efficient and more cost effective. There are six broad critical elements of any smart city: water management systems; infrastructure; transportation; energy; waste management and raw materials consumption. In all these elements chemistry and chemical engineering are deeply involved.

A New City.

OpenAIRE

Clay, Allyson

1990-01-01

Allyson Clay’s "Traces of a City in the Spaces Between Some People" is a series of twenty diptychs contrasting fabricated faux finishing with expressionist painting and text. The fabricated paint applications evoke city surfaces like concrete and granite; they also evoke modernist painting.  Unlike modernist painting, however, the faux surfaces are decorative and mechanically painted. The choice to have the surfaces fabricated serves to disrupt the egoism of modern abstraction and the im...

Medical and agricultural entomology in Brazil: a historical approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Benchimol, J L

2008-12-01

Medical Entomology emerged in Brazil in the late nineteenth century, through the initiative of a group of physicians dedicated to researching microorganisms related to diseases of public health importance, especially yellow fever and malaria. They led the institutionalization of Bacteriology and Tropical Medicine in southeast Brazil and the sanitation of coastal cities and, subsequently, rural areas. Medical Entomology provided the professionals who would undertake campaigns against agricultural plagues, as well as the institutionalization of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine. In the present article, I intend to show how relations between the professionals who gave life to Medical Entomology in Brazil were interwoven and to illustrate their relations with entomologists in other countries. I will also present an overview of the research problems faced by Brazilian entomologists at the turn of the nineteenth century and early decades of the twentieth.

Mischief Humor in Smart and Playable Cities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijholt, Anton; Nijholt, Anton

2017-01-01

In smart cities we can expect to witness human behavior that is not be different from human behavior in present-day cities. There will be demonstrations, flash mobs, and organized events to provoke the smart city establishment. Smart cities will have bugs that can be exploited by hackers. Smart

Politics for cities, cities for the political. About possibility (and necessity of radical urban politics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wiktor Marzec

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Essay faces the problem of determinacy of global capitalism processes for the reality of urban political life. The city is naturally communitarian form of human life and seems to be the place where radical pro-community politics could be undertaken. Already existing and operating forms of power could fruitfully influence the city social relations. Values and norms of conduct are broadly delegated on the urban space and materiality, thus conscious shaping of city space has severe consequences for community life. If a crisis of the political partly has its roots in metamorphoses of the cities, then also remedies, rising from the urban materiality and reestablishing political subjects, could be thought. City, as most real place of political life could be either reduced to the aggregate of consumers or reestablished as a political community. Due to this is the place where undesired course of action could be stopped, hence precisely here the radical democratic politics can emerge.

Toward a healthier city: nutrition standards for New York City government.

Science.gov (United States)

Lederer, Ashley; Curtis, Christine J; Silver, Lynn D; Angell, Sonia Y

2014-04-01

Poor diet is a leading cause of disability, death, and rising health care costs. Government agencies can have a large impact on population nutrition by adopting healthy food purchasing policies. In 2007, New York City (NYC) began developing a nutrition policy for all foods purchased, served, or contracted for by City agencies. A Food Procurement Workgroup was created with representatives from all City agencies that engaged in food purchasing or service, and the NYC Health Department served as technical advisor. The NYC Standards for Meals/Snacks Purchased and Served (Standards) became a citywide policy in 2008. The first of its kind, the Standards apply to more than 3,000 programs run by 12 City agencies. This paper describes the development process and initial implementation of the Standards. With more than 260 million meals and snacks per year covered, the Standards increase demand for healthier products, model healthy eating, and may also affect clients' food choices beyond the institutional environment. Our experience suggests that implementation of nutrition standards across a wide range of diverse agencies is feasible, especially when high-level support is established and technical assistance is available. Healthy procurement policies can ensure that food purchased by a jurisdiction supports its public health efforts. Published by Elsevier Inc.

What do beginning students, in a rurally focused medical course, think about rural practice?

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Louise; Lindsay, Daniel B; Ray, Robin A

2016-12-07

found for positive views of the rural doctor role and negative views of rural practice. Participants from a capital city background reported a significantly higher percentage of responses related to negative views of rural practice than their regional and rural counterparts. Students from capital city areas had significantly more negative views about the rural doctor role, especially related to workload, limited resources and isolation than students from rural and regional areas. Students entering medical school already have both positive and negative views about the life and work of a rural doctor. Those students from capital city areas have significantly more negative views despite being selected to enter a medical course with a rural focus based on their expressed rural perceptions. Further work is required to refine selection criteria and the year level experiences and learning opportunities which may positively influence student perceptions about rural medical practice to overcome early negative perceptions at the beginning of medical school.

Digital romance in the Indian city

NARCIS (Netherlands)

P.A. Arora (Payal); A. Rangaswamy (Arvind)

2015-01-01

markdownabstract__Abstract__ The Indian city is no Paris. Far from being a city of love, it spells of crowds, chaos and confusion. Within desperately strained urban infrastructures lie grey zones, grey markets, and grey practices. In Mumbai alone, the most populous city in India of 30 million,

New ways of inhabiting the city: Aerotropolis and Generic City. The case of Quito

OpenAIRE

Rosero Añazco, Verónica

2015-01-01

Is the contemporary city like the contemporary airport- “all the same”? This hypothesis in "The Generic City" (Koolhaas, 1997) is even more controversial with the following scenario: what happens when a territory is planned based on an airport, a "non-place", as qualified by Marc Augé? (Augé, 1993) The "aerotropolis" is an urban model that has been applied in various cities around the world in general terms, despite the obvious differences that may exist in cultural, geographical, economic, i...

Crowd-based city logistics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sampaio Oliveira, A.H.; Savelsbergh, M.W.P.; Veelenturf, L.P.; van Woensel, T.

2017-01-01

Cities are drivers of economic development, providing infrastructure to support countless activities and services. Today, the world’s 750 biggest cities account for more than 57% of the global GDP and this number is expected to increase to 61% by 2030. More than half of the world’s population lives

MANAGING THE IMAGE OF CITIES IN THE “GLOBAL VILLAGE:” City Branding As An Opportunity Against Globalization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gözdem Çelikkanat Aysu

2013-07-01

Full Text Available In this article the strong effect of forming a corporate identity in city branding is  studied. It is emphasized that by strong identity and image acquisition cities distinguish by their unique branding elements rather than global city imposition  hat is carried out by globalization pressure. According to the opinions that perceive globalization as an absolute fact, cities like Istanbul have to articulate  to this new system. In this way of thinking, it is inevitable to suffer in McLuhan’s  “global village”. However creating strategies for powerful image and branding of a city can be a leading factor against global city imposition. Keeping up with the same method of creating a “corporate” identity, the image of the cities has to be managed by the symmetric communication with all the actors. By this way  globalization can be used as an opportunity instead of threat.

Indoor radon measurements in Mexico City

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Espinosa, G. [Instituto de Fisica, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Apartado Postal 20364, 01000 Mexico, D.F. (Mexico)], E-mail: espinosa@fisica.unam.mx; Golzarri, J.I. [Instituto de Fisica, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Apartado Postal 20364, 01000 Mexico, D.F. (Mexico); Bogard, J. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory, PO Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6480 (United States); Gaso, I. [Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares, Apartado Postal 18-1027, 11801 Mexico, D.F. (Mexico); Ponciano, G. [Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510 Mexico, D.F. (Mexico); Mena, M.; Segovia, N. [Instituto de Geofisica, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510 Mexico, D.F. (Mexico)

2008-08-15

Mexico City is one of the most populated cities in the world with almost 22 million inhabitants, located at an altitude of 2200 m. The old city was founded on an ancient lake and the zone is known by its high seismicity; indoor radon determination is an important public health issue. In this paper the data of indoor radon levels in Mexico City, measured independently by two research groups, both using Nuclear Track Detector systems but different methodologies, are correlated. The measurements were done during similar exposure periods of time, at family houses from the political administrative regions of the city. The results indicate a correlation coefficient between the two sets of data of R=0.886. Most of the differences between the two sets of data are inherent to houses having extreme (very high or very low indoor radon) included in the statistics of each group. The total average indoor radon found in Mexico City considering the two methods was 87Bqm{sup -3}.

Examining the relationship between marijuana use, medical marijuana dispensaries, and abusive and neglectful parenting.

Science.gov (United States)

Freisthler, Bridget; Gruenewald, Paul J; Wolf, Jennifer Price

2015-10-01

The current study extends previous research by examining whether and how current marijuana use and the physical availability of marijuana are related to child physical abuse, supervisory neglect, or physical neglect by parents while controlling for child, caregiver, and family characteristics in a general population survey in California. Individual level data on marijuana use and abusive and neglectful parenting were collected during a telephone survey of 3,023 respondents living in 50 mid-size cities in California. Medical marijuana dispensaries and delivery services data were obtained via six websites and official city lists. Data were analyzed using negative binomial and linear mixed effects multilevel models with individuals nested within cities. Current marijuana use was positively related to frequency of child physical abuse and negatively related to physical neglect. There was no relationship between supervisory neglect and marijuana use. Density of medical marijuana dispensaries and delivery services was positively related to frequency of physical abuse. As marijuana use becomes more prevalent, those who work with families, including child welfare workers must screen for how marijuana use may affect a parent's ability to provide for care for their children, particularly related to physical abuse. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Household out-of-pocket medical and dental expenses among residents of Modinagar city: A crossectional questionnaire study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khushboo Singh

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Out-of-pocket (OOP payments are the principal source of health care finance in most Asian countries, and India is no exception. Availability and accessibility of the health care are important for the overall health status of any community. Aim: To assess the proportion of monthly family income spent on medical and dental expenses. Materials and Methods: A door to door survey was conducted in Govinpuri ward of Modinagar using dual stage random sampling. A 14-item open-ended questionnaire was used, which was filled by the investigator by interviewing the head of the family. Data were entered into Microsoft excel and analyzed using SPSS version 19 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA. Results: A total of 101 families were included in the study. The major amount of the monthly family income was spent on medical treatment as compared to dental treatment. The average OOP expenditure on the dental and medical treatment was 2135.94 ± 656.8 international normalized ratio (INR and 8771.28 ± 1056.43 INR (P = 0.038, respectively. Medical insurance formed a substantial proportion of the monthly family expenditure as compared to dental insurance (P = 0.023. The total medical expenses were 13.21%, and dental expenses were 8.84% of family income. Conclusion: The present study revealed that the family expenditure on medical and dental treatments differs significantly among the peri-urban population of Modinagar. The average three-month expenditure on the dental treatment was found to be rather depressing when compared to that on medical discourse. There was also a pronounced difference in the dental and medical insurance utilization among the study population.

Consumption-based emission accounting for Chinese cities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

mi, zhifu; Zhang, Yunkun; Guan, Dabo

2016-01-01

Most of China’s CO2 emissions are related to energy consumption in its cities. Thus, cities are critical for implementing China’s carbon emissions mitigation policies. In this study, we employ an input-output model to calculate consumption-based CO2 emissions for thirteen Chinese cities and find......-based emissions exceed consumption-based emissions, whereas eight are consumption-based cities, with the opposite emissions pattern. Moreover, production-based cities tend to become consumption-based as they undergo socioeconomic development....

Towards a framework of smart city diplomacy

Science.gov (United States)

Mursitama, T. N.; Lee, L.

2018-03-01

This article addresses the impact of globalization on the contemporary society, particularly the role of the city that is becoming increasingly important. Three distinct yet intertwine aspects such as decentralization, technology, and para diplomacy become antecedent of competitiveness of the city. A city has more power and authority in creating wealth and prosperity of the society by utilizing technology. The smart city, in addition to the importance of technology as enabler, we argue that possessing the sophisticated technology and apply it towards the matter is not enough. The smart city needs to build smart diplomacy at the sub-national level. In this article, we extend the discussion about smart city by proposing a new framework of smart city diplomacy as one way to integrate information technology, public policy and international relations which will be the main contribution to literature and practice.

Sustainability for Shrinking Cities | Science Inventory | US EPA

Science.gov (United States)

Shrinking cities are widespread throughout the world despite the rapidly increasing global urban population. These cities are attempting to transition to sustainable trajectories to improve the health and well-being of urban residents, to build their capacity to adapt to changing conditions and to cope with major events. The dynamics of shrinking cities are different than the dynamics of growing cities, and therefore intentional research and planning around creating sustainable cities is needed for shrinking cities. We propose research that can be applied to shrinking cities by identifying parallel challenges in growing cities and translating urban research and planning that is specific to each city’s dynamics. In addition, we offer applications of panarchy concepts to this problem. The contributions to this Special Issue take on this forward-looking planning task through drawing lessons for urban sustainability from shrinking cities, or translating general lessons from urban research to the context of shrinking cities. Humans are rapidly becoming an urban species, with greater populations in urban areas, increasing size of these urban areas, and increasing number of very large urban areas. As a consequence, much of what we know about cities is focused on how they grow and take shape, the strains that their growth puts on city infrastructure, the consequences for human and nonhuman inhabitants of these cities and their surroundings, and the policies which can

Effects of social intervention on detection and efficacy of treatment for arterial hypertension. Main results of the Polish Four Cities Programme.

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Zdrojewski, Tomasz; Głuszek, Jerzy; Posadzy-Małaczyńska, Anna; Drygas, Wojciech; Ornoch-Tabedzka, Małgorzata; Januszko, Wiktor; Tykarski, Andrzej; Dylewicz, Piotr; Kwaśniewska, Magdalena; Krupa-Wojciechowska, Barbara; Wyrzykowski, Bogdan

2004-12-01

Cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of death in the adult Polish population. Beside lipid disorders and cigarette smoking, hypertension represents the most important risk factor leading to cardiovascular complications. Representative studies conducted in Poland in 1994-2002 showed that in 2002 the number of respondents in the survey who stated they knew their own blood pressure values dropped by 3.5 million, compared with 1994. This decrease was predominantly seen in small towns and in the countryside. Preventive programmes should therefore be addressed mainly to the most vulnerable communities. Modern methods of social marketing may play a substantial role in the creation of a healthy lifestyle. The aim of the Polish Four Cities Programme (PP4M), conducted in 2000-2001, was to develop the most effective methods of detection of and improvement in treatment for hypertension among the residents of small towns and rural areas. One of the programme tasks was to compare the effectiveness of a standard medical screening intervention with a similar approach combined with the use of social marketing methods.Methods. The programme was conducted by an interdisciplinary team in three small Polish towns -- Kartuzy, Oborniki Wlkp. and Braniewo, as well as in one of the districts of a large city Łódź -- Olechów. Medical intervention combined with social marketing (community intervention) took place in Oborniki Wlkp. whereas the residents of Kartuzy and Łódź were subjected only to the traditional medical intervention. Braniewo served as a control location -- neither medical nor community intervention was implemented. Community intervention with elements of social marketing consisted of a three-month, intensive education and information campaign, initiated four weeks prior to the start of medical intervention. Epidemiological situation was assessed in all the four cities before and after the completion of the preventive interventions (screening), using representative

Global cities and cultural experimentation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rojas Gaviria, Pilar; Emontspool, Julie

2015-01-01

Purpose: Studying the cultural dynamics of expatriate amateur theater in Brussels, this paper investigates multicultural marketplace development in contemporary global cities. Design/methodology/approach: The paper performs an interpretive analysis of the expatriate amateur scene in Brussels from...... an ethnographic perspective, combining observations of rehearsals and performances, in-depth interviews with actors, directors and audience, and secondary data. Findings: The fluidity of global cities allows their inhabitants to engage in collective creative processes of cultural experimentation, performing...... to the important role of global cities for cultural experimentation. Such cities are not only an interesting market for culturally diverse products, but also learning hubs. Managers willing to address multicultural marketplaces might target these markets with dynamic cultural offers that ensure a balance between...

City of Zagreb Spatial Data Infrastructure

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