Health Sciences

Along with environmental pollutions, urban planning has been connected to public health. The research indicates that the quality of built environments plays an important role in reducing mental disorders and overall health. The structure and shape of the city are considered as one of the factors influencing happiness and health in urban communities and the type of the daily activities of citizens. The aim of this study was to promote physical activity in the main structure of the city via urban (...) design in a way that the main form and morphology of the city can encourage citizens to move around and have physical activity within the city. Functional, physical, cultural- social, and perceptual-visual features are regarded as the most important and effective criteria in increasing physical activities in urban spaces based on literature review. The environmental quality of urban spaces and their role in the physical activities of citizens in urban spaces were assessed by using the questionnaire tool and analytical network process (ANP) of structural equation modeling. Further, the space syntax method was utilized to evaluate the role of the spatial integration of urban spaces on improving physical activities. Based on the results, the consideration of functional diversity, spatial flexibility and integration, security, and the aesthetic and visual quality of urban spaces plays an important role in improving the physical health of citizens in urban spaces. Further, more physical activities, including motivation for walking and consequently, the sense of public health and happiness, were observed in the streets having higher linkage and space syntax indexes with their surrounding texture. (shrink)

What is it to be mentally healthy? In the ongoing movement to promote mental health, to reduce stigma and to establish parity between mental and physical health, there is a clear enthusiasm about this concept and a recognition of its value in human life. However, it is often unclear what mental health means in all these efforts and whether there is a single concept underlying them. Sometimes the initiatives for the sake of mental health are aimed just at reducing mental (...) illness, thus implicitly identifying mental health with the absence of diagnosable psychiatric disease. More ambitiously, there are high-profile proposals to adopt a positive definition, identifying mental health with psychic or even overall wellbeing. We argue against both: a definition of mental health as mere absence of mental illness is too thin, too undemanding, and too closely linked to psychiatric value judgments, while the definition in terms of wellbeing is too demanding and potentially oppressive. As a compromise we sketch out a middle position. On this view mental health is a primary good, that is the psychological preconditions of pursuing any conception of the good life, including wellbeing, without being identical to wellbeing. (shrink)

In the global fight against the rapid spread of COVID-19, a variety of unprecedented preventive measures have been implemented across the globe, as well as in Vietnam. How Vietnamese people respond to threats to their health and life remains unclear. For this reason, the current study aims to examine Vietnamese people’s protective behavior and its factors. Based on 1,798 online survey respondents’ data collected on the last three days of the nationwide social distancing campaign in mid-April, it is found that (...) gender, knowledge of COVID-19 and preventive measures, and attitudes towards the COVID-19 prevention policies are the three main factors of participants’ protective behaviors. We also find that males are less likely than females to adopt precautionary measures. People who are knowledgeable about COVID-19 may have inappropriate practices towards it. Further research is needed to examine other determinants of protective behaviors to provide more useful information for authorities, public health policy-makers, and healthcare workers to deliver the best practices to control COVID-19 in our country. (shrink)

Coronavirus is a viral irresistible sickness brought about by SARS- COV2. Its clinical signs and side effects are on an expansive range going from asymptomatic to serious confusions like multi-organ disappointment, thromboembolism, and extreme pneumonia with respiratory disappointment. More awful results and higher death rates have been accounted for in the old, individuals with co-morbidities, and malnourished people. Sustenance is central to acceptable wellbeing and safe capacity. It frames an essential segment of therapy modalities for different intense and persistent infections, (...) particularly where a causative therapy isn't yet perceived. Despite the fact that reviews tending to the part of explicit supplements in COVID-19 are still at a beginning phase, accessible proof recommends that addressing the necessities of a variety of large scale and miniature supplements (energy, proteins, fats, nutrients A, D, E, C, B nutrients, iron, selenium, zinc, and so forth) Additionally, supplements are Immune System Might Promote Recovery for Mild COVID-19 Patients Impact of Coronavirus on Education in India Review 466 determinants of the sythesis of the gut microbiota that thusly impacts the attributes of safe reactions in the body. (shrink)

Introduction: Agricultural workers perform intense labor outside in direct sunlight and in humid environmental conditions exposing them to a high risk of heat-related illness (HRI). To implement effective cooling interventions in occupational settings, it is important to consider workers’ perceptions. To date, an analysis of agricultural workers’ experience and perception of cooling devices used in the field while working has not been published. -/- Methods: Qualitatively data from 61 agricultural workers provided details of their perceptions and experiences with cooling interventions. (...) -/- Results: The participants in the bandana group reported the bandana was practical to use at work and did not interfere with their work routine. Cooling vest group participants agreed that the vest was effective at cooling them, but the practicality of using the vest at work was met with mixed reviews. -/- Conclusion: The findings of this qualitative study support and extend existing research regarding personal cooling and heat prevention research interventions with vulnerable occupational groups. Personal cooling gear was well received and utilized by the agricultural workers. Sustainable heat prevention studies and governmental protection strategies for occupational heat stress are urgently needed to reduce the risk of heat-related morbidity, mortality, and projected climate change health impacts on outdoor workers. (shrink)

The public discussion on artificial intelligence for public health often revolves around future applications like drug discovery or personalized medicine. But already deployed artificial intelligence for content recommendation, especially on social networks, arguably plays a far greater role. After all, such algorithms are used on a daily basis by billions of users worldwide. In this paper, we argue that, left unchecked, this enormous influence of recommendation algorithms poses serious risks for public health, e.g., in terms of misinformation and mental health. (...) But more importantly, we argue that this enormous influence also yields a fabulous opportunity to provide quality information and to encourage healthier habits at scale. We also discuss the philosophical, technical and socio-economical challenges to seize this immense opportunity, and sketch the outlines of potential solutions. In particular, we argue that it would be extremely helpful if public and private institutions could publicly take a stand, as this may then generate the necessary social, economical and political pressure to massively invest in the research, development and deployment of the potential solutions. (shrink)

Malnutrition is a serious problem for every single person around the world. However, it is a lot more serious when children are the ones suffering from it and especially when they are less than five years old because it affects not only all their posterior physical, but also their psychological development. Nevertheless, it is even worse when we see that malnutrition happens in hospitals which are supposed to be the places where patients are safe, receive health care and hopefully recover (...) from their illnesses. Unfortunately, this is a problem that is not uncommon in low- and middle-income countries. In order to give some solutions to this problem, hospitals in different countries have made great effort assuring quality of service in hospitals. On this occasion we are going to describe how participatory research through the lens of health care workers have improved conditions in rural hospitals in South Africa. (shrink)

Taiwan and Vietnam have taken successful measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 at the early stages. Many authors attributed the successful policies to the lessons learned by these countries during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) pandemic in 2002.(Ohara, 2004) This manuscript provides a summary of recent early-stage policies that were successful in mitigating the spread and creating resilience against the negative consequences of COVID-19 in Taiwan and Vietnam. Crucially, these policies go beyond and complement social isolation. As social (...) isolation is expected to have a negative socio-economic impact on the population and adherence is likely to decrease with time(Armitage and Nellums, 2020; Weems et al., 2020), it is important to consider a broad range of policies to promote a steady control of the COVID-19 spread. Initially, we provide a brief introduction to some general concepts related to COVID-19. Thereafter, we introduce a concise review of policies and their dates relative to the first detection case in Taiwan and Vietnam as well as doing a comparative analysis. (shrink)

Background: In the first few months of 2020, information and news reports about the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were rapidly published and shared on social media and social networking sites. While the field of infodemiology has studied information patterns on the Web and in social media for at least 18 years, the COVID-19 pandemic has been referred to as the first social media infodemic. However, there is limited evidence about whether and how the social media infodemic has spread panic and affected (...) the mental health of social media users. Objective: The aim of this study is to determine how social media affects self-reported mental health and the spread of panic about COVID-19 in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Methods: To carry out this study, an online questionnaire was prepared and conducted in Iraqi Kurdistan, and a total of 516 social media users were sampled. This study deployed a content analysis method for data analysis. Correspondingly, data were analyzed using SPSS software. Results: Participants reported that social media has a significant impact on spreading fear and panic related to the COVID-19 outbreak in Iraqi Kurdistan, with a potential negative influence on people’s mental health and psychological well-being. Facebook was the most used social media network for spreading panic about the COVID-19 outbreak in Iraq. We found a significant positive statistical correlation between self-reported social media use and the spread of panic related to COVID-19 (R=.8701). Our results showed that the majority of youths aged 18-35 years are facing psychological anxiety. Conclusions: During lockdown, people are using social media platforms to gain information about COVID-19. The nature of the impact of social media panic among people varies depending on an individual's gender, age, and level of education. Social media has played a key role in spreading anxiety about the COVID-19 outbreak in Iraqi Kurdistan. (shrink)

Breast cancer is the leading cause of death among women with cancer. Computer-aided diagnosis is an efficient method for assisting medical experts in early diagnosis, improving the chance of recovery. Employing artificial intelligence (AI) in the medical area is very crucial due to the sensitivity of this field. This means that the low accuracy of the classification methods used for cancer detection is a critical issue. This problem is accentuated when it comes to blurry mammogram images. In this paper, convolutional (...) neural networks (CNNs) are employed to present the traditional convolutional neural network (TCNN) and supported convolutional neural network (SCNN) approaches. The TCNN and SCNN approaches contribute by overcoming the shift and scaling problems included in blurry mammogram images. In addition, the flipped rotation-based approach (FRbA) is proposed to enhance the accuracy of the prediction process (classification of the type of cancerous mass) by taking into account the different directions of the cancerous mass to extract effective features to form the map of the tumour. The proposed approaches are implemented on the MIAS medical dataset using 200 mammogram breast images. Compared to similar approaches based on KNN and RF, the proposed approaches show better performance in terms of accuracy, sensitivity, spasticity, precision, recall, time of performance, and quality of image metrics. (shrink)

The COVID -19 is one of the most contagious and fatal diseases known today, which had spread in communities very fast. This deadly virus affecting the lives of many people and causing fatalities. Besides the strong practice of praying and putting trust in Allah for the cure of disease, Islam also recommends taking medications and adopt sufficient precautions for the safety and well-being of the community. Before 1400 years ago, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon Him) introduced the quarantining and (...) hygiene practice, at a time there was very little known to combat the contagious diseases. Currently, modern societies are emphasizing on hand hygiene, social distancing, quarantining, and social isolation to combat COVOD-19. Islam has superseded modern societies by establishing the idea of quarantines and hygienic practice for contagious and fatal diseases. The commandments to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by worldwide public health organizations are almost in line with the teachings of Islam. (shrink)

This volume considers forms of information manipulation and restriction in contemporary society, paying special attention to contemporary paternalistic practices in big data and scientific research, as the way in which the flow of information or knowledge might be curtailed by the manipulations of a small body of experts or algorithms.

Aim Excellent organization of the internal processes is essential for a well-functioning health care system. Particularly, the process of treatment and interaction with the patients is important because the perception of treatment and interaction has a direct relation to the patients’ satisfaction. The latter has a strong influence on the recovery of the patients. The impact of the maturity level of the treatment and interaction process on patient orientation is investigated at the example of an extensive survey of hospital managers (...) in Ukraine. -/- Method The analysis is based on an empirical data collection conducted with hospital managers and their deputies in a large Ukrainian city, which is acknowledged as a ‘model city’ with regard to a comprehensive health care reform in the country. By means of the Business Process Maturity Model (BPMM) we have tested our hypothesis that a high level of process maturity leads to a high level of patient orientation. For this purpose, we have developed a scale for measuring the level of process maturity and have checked the method on validity and reliability. A total of 79 hospital managers and deputies, who represent all public health care facilities of the city (hospitals, primary care clinics, etc.), participated in the study. -/- Results The study reveals a clear relationship between the level of maturity of the treatment and interaction process and the level of patient orientation of the respective health care facility. The variance, which is explained by the independent variable process maturity level, is 16.3 %. All formative dimensions have a strong significant influence on the construct “patient orientation”. Likewise the maturity level of the treatment and interaction process shows a strong significant influence on patient orientation. -/- Conclusion For health care facilities it is of great importance to achieve a high maturity level of the treatment and interaction process to live up to the claim of being patient oriented. The maturity of the process can be tested using the questionnaire developed in the course of our study. (shrink)

Background The health care sector is experiencing a drastic transition all over the world. This has an impact not only on the way hospitals, clinics, special-care homes etc. are organized, but also on patients, personnel and other stakeholders involved. The consequences of changes for both physicians and patients are investigated using a comprehensive health care reform in Ukraine as an example. -/- Methods The analysis is based on empirical data collected from general physicians in 2 Ukrainian cities. Based on the (...) Job Demands-Resources Model, we developed a set of hypotheses and tested them using the structural equation modelling technique. A total of 178 general physicians (81% of the approached population) participated in the study. -/- Results Our investigation reveals a clear relationship between the organizational job demands (additional tasks, structural changes, new processes) and their psychological effects (e. g., burnout). The latter have a negative impact on cooperation of physicians in hospitals leading to lower patient satisfaction. -/- Discussion and Conclusions Change in health care is inevitable. The example of Ukraine shows that openness of hospitals towards change reduces the probability of physicians’ burnout and, eventually, increases patient satisfaction. We strongly suggest applying the process management approach in order to increase openness to change, especially in turbulent times. (shrink)

Les recherches scientifiques sur la COVID-19 sont à la fois menées et diffusées à une cadence effrénée. Bien qu’il soit inspirant de voir la communauté de la recherche répondre avec autant de vigueur à la crise causée par la pandémie, toute cette activité a par ailleurs engendré un chaos de mauvaises données, de résultats contradictoires et de manchettes exagérées. Alors que la polarisation, la déformation et la médiatisation des résultats scientifiques s’intensifient chaque jour, les inquiétudes se font de plus en (...) plus sentir quant à la perspective que la science pertinente soit présentée au public d’une manière qui puisse causer de la confusion, créer de fausses attentes et éroder la confiance du public. Dans cette note, nous explorons les principaux enjeux associés à la présentation de la science dans le contexte de la pandémie de la COVID-19. Plusieurs de ces enjeux ne sont pas nouveaux. Mais la pandémie de la COVID-19 a braqué les projecteurs sur le processus de la recherche biomédicale et a amplifié les ramifications néfastes des problèmes de communication publique. Nous devons faire mieux. À ce titre, nous conclurons ce rapport en formulant dix recommandations qui s’adressent aux acteurs clés qui interviennent dans la communication de la science sur la COVID-19, notamment les gouvernements, les bailleurs de fonds, les universités, les éditeurs, les médias et les communautés de recherche. (shrink)

COVID science is being both done and circulated at a furious pace. While it is inspiring to see the research community responding so vigorously to the pandemic crisis, all this activity has also created a churning sea of bad data, conflicting results, and exaggerated headlines. With representations of science becoming increasingly polarized, twisted and hyped, there is growing concern that the relevant science is being represented to the public in a manner that may cause confusion, inappropriate expectations, and the erosion (...) of public trust. Here we explore some of the key issues associated with the representations of science in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these issues are not new. But the COVID-19 pandemic has placed a spotlight on the biomedical research process and amplified the adverse ramifications of poor public communication. We need to do better. As such, we conclude with ten recommendations aimed at key actors involved in the communication of COVID-19 science, including government, funders, universities, publishers, media and the research communities. (shrink)

Background The purpose of this systematic review is to examine cooling intervention research in outdoor occupations, evaluate the effectiveness of such interventions, and offer recommendations for future studies. This review focuses on outdoor occupational studies conducted at worksites or simulated occupational tasks in climatic chambers. -/- Methods This systematic review was performed in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science were searched to identify original research on intervention studies published (...) in peer‐reviewed journals that aimed at reducing heat stress or heat‐related illness from January 2000 to August 2020. -/- Results A systematic search yielded a total of 1042 articles, of which 21 met the inclusion criteria. Occupations with cooling intervention studies included agriculture (n = 5), construction (n = 5), industrial workers (n = 4), and firefighters (n = 7). The studies focused on multiple types of cooling interventions cooling gear (vest, bandanas, cooling shirts, or head‐cooling gel pack), enhanced heat dissipation clothing, forearm or lower body immersion in cold water, water dousing, ingestion of a crushed ice slush drink, electrolyte liquid hydration, and modified Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommendations of drinking water and resting in the shade. -/- Conclusion Current evidence indicates that using multiple cooling gears along with rest cycles may be the most effective method to reduce heat‐related illness. Occupational heat‐related illnesses and death may be mitigated by targeted cooling intervention and workplace controls among workers of vulnerable occupational groups and industries. (shrink)

Since the “last day” of 2019, a new virus emerged in Asia, which in Feb./2020 was called by the World Health Organization (WHO, 2020) as Coronavirus disease (Covid-19). Due to its fast transmission, after eight months since the first global official case, at 23:59 (GMT) on August 31, 2020, the world has accounted for about 25,620,737 new confirmed cases with 854,222 deaths and 17,921,063 recovered cases (WORLDOMETERS, 2020). The pandemic is the newest challenge for all nations, most of them eager (...) to learn from countries that are successful against the virus. However, until now, no methodology was developed to identify them by taking into account a holistic approach with international rankings concerned to health, innovation, sustainability, image, and competitiveness, as well as the estimated real number of fatal cases by one million population during the first 180 days of facing the pandemic. Thus, the main objective is to develop a holistic methodology to identify twenty benchmark countries that are saving people's lives against Covid-19. The research is applied, as its results and recommendations are useful for academy, government policymakers and authorities. It is descriptive, with a qualitative and quantitative approach, based on bibliographic and documentary research, involving the study of official sites, articles, reports, manuals, and other technical documents related to 13 international rankings. As a result, the fifteen phases of the methodology, far from perfect, shows that among 108 well-evaluated countries, the top six benchmark countries are from Asia (1) Vietnam; 2) Taiwan; 3) Thailand; 4) China; 5) Malaysia; 6) Singapore), which suffered from fatal cases from first SARS-CoV in 2002/2003, followed by 7) South Korea; 8) New Zealand; 9) Australia; 10) Japan; 11) Hong Kong; 12) Cyprus; 13) Greece; 14) Latvia; 15) Iceland; 16) the United Arab Emirates; 17) Czech; 18) Lithuania; 19) Norway, and 20) Estonia. (shrink)

This chapter presents a reflection on the main findings of the research performed for this thesis, and the conclusions drawn from the results. The research was guided by the following main research question: How can the complex field of mental health problems among adolescents in Vietnam be understood and addressed with sustainable and accessible developments at the secondary school level?

The main research question for this thesis is: How can the complex field of mental health problems among adolescents in Vietnam be understood and addressed with sustainable and accessible developments at the school-level?

Post-mortem reproduction is a complex and contested matter attracting attention from a diverse group of scholars and resulting in various responses from a range of countries. Vietnam has been reluctant to deal directly with this matter and has, accordingly, permitted post-mortem reproduction implicitly. First, by analysing Vietnam’s post-mortem reproduction cases, this paper reflects on the manner in which Vietnamese authorities have handled each case in the context of the contemporary legal framework, and it reveals the moral questions arising therefrom. The (...) article then offers an account of Vietnamese social norms as an explanation for the tendency to conduct post-mortem reproduction. In arguing that a deeper and more thorough examination of the moral and ethical reasoning is required, the paper advocates in favour of supportive post-mortem reproduction regulation. In doing so, the paper seeks to reconcile the Vietnamese legal framework and post-mortem reproduction experiences of other countries. The article concludes that Vietnam and countries sharing the similar cultural traits should permit post-mortem reproduction explicitly. This would require full engagement with the ethical and legal issues arising, and careful promulgation of regulations and guidelines based on comparative experiences of a range of countries in handling this matter. (shrink)

The Global Burden of Disease Study is one of the largest-scale research collaborations in global health, producing critical data for researchers, policy-makers, and health workers about more than 350 diseases, injuries, and risk factors. Such an undertaking is, of course, extremely complex from an empirical perspective. But it also raises complex ethical and philosophical questions. In this volume, a group of leading philosophers, economists, epidemiologists, and policy scholars identify and discuss these philosophical questions. Better appreciating the philosophical dimensions of a (...) study like the GBD can make possible a more sophisticated interpretation of its results, and it can improve epidemiological studies in the future, so that they are better suited to produce results that help us to improve global health. (shrink)

Pressure and influences on school leaders as school policy makers during COVID-19 have made the task of interpreting, translating and implementing guidance more a complex and essential operation. School leaders need to prioritise and balance ever-changing government policy advice, against limitations of school buildings, the welfare of students and staff as well as the needs of the communities their schools serve. By surveying and interviewing headteachers, senior leaders and governors, this paper identifies the inputs school leaders have had to react (...) and respond to when creating policy in the context of COVID-19. The paper addresses the nature of, and factors affecting, pressures school leaders feel in authoring policy. The considerable challenges school-based policy makers face in implementing social distancing policy are non-trivial and increase tension to what is already highly stressful work. The report draws on data collected from a randomised, stratified sample of primary and secondary school leaders from across England in early June 2020, during the time of social distancing and school closure for most students. Findings suggest quality, quantity and frequency of top-down communication have contributed to school leader stress, while horizontal communication and collaboration between school leaders and across school communities helped to support leaders during rapid change. We recommend government and the education sector address communication, collaboration and change, to harness the challenges and opportunities identified by school leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic. (shrink)

Background: All research has room for improvement, but authors do not always clearly acknowledge the limitations of their work. In this brief report, we sought to identify the prevalence of limitations statements in the medRxiv COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 dataset. Methods: We combined automated methods with manual review to analyse manuscripts for the presence, or absence, either of a defined limitations section in the text, or as part of the general discussion. Results: We identified a structured limitations statement in 28% of the (...) manuscripts, and overall 52% contained at least one mention of a study limitation. Over one-third of manuscripts contained none of the terms that might typically be associated with reporting of limitations. Overall our method performed with precision of 0.97 and recall of 0.91. Conclusion: The presence or absence of limitations statements can be identified with reasonable confidence using automated tools. We suggest that it might be beneficial to require a defined, structured statement about study limitations, either as part of the submission process, or clearly delineated within the manuscript. (shrink)

Catch up on the status of the more than 135 vaccines in development against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, ponder the biology and physics of free will and learn how scientists helped win the battle over evolution in US classrooms.

Health development is faced with a variety of important issues including health status disparities; double burden of disease; quality, equity and affordability of health services; community protection in the field of medicine and food; and clean and healthy life behavior. Methods: The method used in this short communication is descriptive-comparative where we review Safety Culture in Indonesian Health Services in five aspects, namely Health Services for the Poor, nutritional problems that are never complete, Extraordinary Events of Communicable Diseases, Poor health (...) in Disaster areas, and finally the number of health workers still lacking and comparing the problem of Human Resources Health problems in Indonesia according to WHO (2011) and the Indonesian Ministry of Health (2009). Results: The results obtained in this brief communication are that we get new information in the form of problems encountered in Safety Culture in Indonesian Health Services, examples of cases that occur, policies taken by the government in handling them and the results obtained after the implementation of the policy. All of these are reviewed in five aspects. Conclusion: The conclusion we can take in this brief communication is that health problems that occur in Indonesia have not been resolved even though the government has implemented policies related to these problems but has not been resolved to date. (shrink)

A recent study by Vietnamese social scientists looked into the initial success of Vietnam’s response to COVID-19.

Transhumanism is a movement that seeks to transcend certain limits inherent in the human condition as we know it. However, does it justify leaving aside the dignity of current human beings to fulfill the desire to increase human potential and improve the human being as such to obtain other human beings? Does it justify passing over the dignity of women in order to obtain new human beings through fertilization? To answer these questions we have made a sweep over the ideas (...) of transhumanism that drives this type of techniques, to later understand the vision that women have in the use of in vitro fertilization, the hidden discrimination under these procedures and the clarification of the true emancipation and restoration of women’s rights in rela- tion to the use of in vitro fertilization. -/- El transhumanismo es un movimiento que busca trascender ciertos límites inherentes a la condición humana como la conocemos. Sin embargo, ¿justifica dejar de lado la dignidad de los seres humanos actuales por cumplir el deseo de aumentar el potencial humano y mejorar al ser humano como tal para obtener otros seres humanos?, ¿justifica pasar por encima de la dignidad de una mujer para obtener nuevos seres humanos a través de la fertilización in vitro? Para responder a estas preguntas hemos hecho un barrido sobre las ideas del transhumanismo que impulsa este tipo de técnicas, para luego comprender la visión que se tiene de la mujer en el uso de la fertilización in vitro, la discriminación oculta bajo estos procedimientos y la aclaración de la verdadera emancipación y restablecimiento de los derechos de la mujer en relación con el uso de la fertilización in vitro. (shrink)

Being a parent advocate of the rights of children with autism, I have witnessed how the Vietnamese news media perpetuate misrepresentation, misinformation and disinformation about autism. As the first media study of its kind in Vietnam, this thesis set out to describe, interpret and explain the issue of misrepresentation, misinformation and disinformation about autism in the Vietnamese online news media between 2006 and 2016.

Using the metaphors body and voice and drawing on critical contributions on biopolitics, this article interrogates children’s participation rights in a knowledge culture of ‘evidencing’. With child welfare and protection practice as an empirical example, I analyse written assessment reports from a Swedish child welfare agency, all exemplifying how social workers evidence needs for protection and reasons for removing children from the home. I discuss how ‘evidencing’ equals a knowledge culture of seeing-believing and predicting-believing and the search for visibly damaged (...) bodies and underdeveloped minds. I furthermore problematise how such conceptualisation of evidencing foregrounds children’s ‘speaking’ bodies while silencing their voices. By showing these manifestations of evidencing, this critical contribution discusses some wider epistemic concerns for fields influenced by the knowledge cultures of ‘the evidence-based’. (shrink)

Introduction: Universal health coverage (UHC) was introduced in Iran in 2014. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usage rate of health services by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients after UHC implementation. Material and methods: In 2018, in a cross-sectional study, we evaluated the outpatients’ needs (within its previous month) and inpatients’ needs (within its previous 6 months) of HIV/AIDS patients in Isfahan province (the center of Iran). Concurrently, we estimated the essential health care services (...) that HIV/AIDS patients have to receive regularly, including vaccination for hepatitis B, measurement of CD4, tuberculosis (TB) assessments and TB treatment, anti-retroviral therapy, examination of viral load, treatment approach, and drug side effects counseling. Two checklists were used for assessing the utilization of health services and essential health cares for HIV/AIDS patients, validated by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran. Data were analyzed by χ2 test, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and Spearman’s correlation test. Results: Two hundred and thirteen HIV/AIDS patients completed the questionnaires. The mean age of participants was 41.14 ± 9.23. The outpatient service utilization rate was 31.94% in the previous month and the rate of hospitalization was 126 per 1,000 HIV/AIDS patients in the previous 6 months. The majority of HIV/AIDS patients received essential health services more often than the national standard goals estimation. Conclusions: After UHC implementation, the utilization rate of outpatients and inpatients services in HIV/AIDS patients was more than similar indices in the general population. In addition, HIV/AIDS patients received essential health services adequately. (shrink)

This chapter suggests that descriptive epidemiological studies like the Global Burden of Disease Study can usefully be divided into four tasks: describing individuals’ health states over time, assessing their health states under a range of counterfactual scenarios, summarizing the information collected, and then packaging it for presentation. The authors show that each of these tasks raises important and challenging ethical questions. They comment on some of the philosophical issues involved in measuring health states, attributing causes to health outcomes, choosing the (...) counterfactual against which to assess causes, aggregating and summarizing complex information across multiple domains, discounting, age-weighting, handling fetal deaths, measuring health inequalities, representing uncertainty, and assessing personal responsibility for health outcomes. (shrink)

Being dubbed as an authoritarian government (The Economist, 2019), Vietnam Is under suspicion of hiding the real data about COVID-19 real data about COVID-19 (Dan Tri, 2020). The doubt is based on the monopoly of the Communist Party in controlling the data, which is similar to China (BBC, 2020). Despite this conspiracy, Vietnam’s success is widely recognised for its handling of the pandemic by the international community (IMF, 2020).

• A number of reasons have been offered for Vietnam’s success in containing the COVID-19 pandemic during the first four months of 2020, including Vietnam’s experience in fighting epidemics and its single-party system which allows for timely and aggressive infection control. • Contentions that Vietnam’s measures, being dependent on its particular political and social structures, are not replicable elsewhere is incomplete, if not outright wrong. • Vietnam’s successful pandemic control required a high level of preparedness and a host of coordinated (...) efforts to provide accurate and credible information to the public about epidemic risks and ongoing infection control measures. • A proactive communication strategy was in place from the very beginning, utilizing various platforms such as online news sites, low-cost text messaging, user-friendly apps, local community loudspeakers, and pandemic awareness campaigns. • Open communication ensured public understanding of and support for the government response, thereby facilitating effective government-citizen cooperation. This is a lesson for other countries as much as for Vietnam in the post-pandemic period. (shrink)

Tightened border controls, agile health departments, tech platforms, and a hand-washing song that went viral have added up to a frugal but highly effective response to the threat of COVID-19. The country's success provides a model that other developing and emerging economies should follow.

The COVID-19 pandemic is considered a global disaster that affects all areas of the world; however, it is also seen as a motivation for domestic and foreign scientists to focus on researching solutions to reduce its damage. This article aims to explore the correlation of scientific publications of countries in Southeast Asia, among research fields in Vietnam and among topics published by Vietnamese educational institutions in the context of a pandemic. 1392 Southeast Asian countries’ publications related to COVID-19 were referenced (...) from the Scopus database, including 123 articles from Vietnam (up to August 27th, 2020). Statistics show that Vietnam ranks fifth in the number of scientific publications with research cooperation of researchers from 20 different countries. Regarding the research fields of Vietnam, medicine is the main research topic, social science ranks third following environmental science. In the field of social science, articles focus on four key topics: epidemic prevention, reduction of pandemic effects on life and socioeconomics, factors related to online learning of students, healthcare for the elderly. From the analysis results, the authors recommend that researchers should pay attention to other topics in the social sciences that have not been published, such as psychological effects of infected or suspected nCovi, the impact of COVID-19 to disadvantaged groups in society... (shrink)

This paper studies the connection between social media addiction and mental disorder from the existing investigation among undergraduate students. A comprehensive document search was conducted by using six electronic databases, including PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, JSTOR, ProQuest Education to identify articles published before November 21st, 2019. All collected papers focused on studying social media addiction and psychosis. Two reviewers individualistically evaluated the quality of the study by using the Joanna Briggs Institute’s approach. Five articles were filtered out through (...) the screening process and included in the review. The high prevalence of social addiction among college students (9.7% ~ 41%) has been clarified. The association between social media addiction and mental disorders is positive for student health. This article contributes to raising awareness and finding solutions to these risk problems. The study also confirms the connection between online shopping addiction and eating disorders among social addicts. We also discuss the causes and harms of social media addiction. (shrink)

Outbreaks of novel influenza viruses are continually occurring on many places on our planet, with the ultimate and most extreme consequence being a full-scale pandemic. Modern communication technology is widely used for risk communication regarding recommended change in behavior patterns and other precautions in order to mitigate the transmission. However, the assumption and bias that modern communication technology constitutes the norm causes vulnerable groups to be at possible risk of systematic exclusion to correct and updated information. Through conducting a literature- (...) and case analysis, the aim of this study is to identify insufficient or inadequate risk communication efforts in South Korea and Vietnam during influenza outbreaks, especially with concern of vulnerable groups. Further, to analyze how national influenza preparedness plans observe or ignore these insufficiencies. Results show that vulnerable groups are explicitly recognized in the preparedness plan of Vietnam. However, the South Korean preparedness plan show a more homogenous approach. Both South Korea and Vietnam showed a broad variety of channels used in their risk communication strategies which could be positive in terms of a broad outreach to a heterogenous population, including vulnerable groups. Four key factors that moderate the outcomes of risk communication were identified: Channels, Messages, Transparency and Trust. (shrink)

Background: Pandemics are challenging for clinical and public health agencies and policymakers because of the scientific and medical uncertainty that accompanies novel viruses like COVID-19 makes an increase of morbidity and mortality prominent. Consequently, there is a need to evaluate the public perception of social distancing, lockdown obligatory, and response satisfactory during the pandemic. Methods: This cross-sectional survey used an anonymous online google based questionnaire to collect data from respondents via social media platforms. The online survey was conducted among social (...) media users from 1st to 30th April 2020. A snowball sampling technique was employed to recruit respondents for the survey. A total of 1,131 respondents responded across the country. Results: Nine out of every ten respondents believed that social distancing is an effective measure to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Also, 8 out of every ten respondents agreed with the lockdown measures. However, just 36.8% think their government is doing enough to stop the outbreak, and only 25% of the respondents were satisfied with the country’s response to the worldwide epidemic. The age of respondents was found to be significantly associated with satisfaction with emergency response during pandemics. Conclusion: It could be concluded that Nigerian public accepted social distancing as an effective way of curbing the spread of COVID-19 and general acceptance on lockdown obligatory; however, more than half of respondents expressed non-satisfactory with government and other agencies responses during the pandemics. (shrink)

Vietnam, with a geographical proximity and a high volume of trade with China, was the first country to record an outbreak of the new Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 or SARS-CoV-2. While the country was expected to have a high risk of transmission, as of April 4, 2020—in comparison to attempts to contain the disease around the world—responses from Vietnam are being seen as prompt and effective in protecting the interests of its citizens, (...) with 239 confirmed cases and no fatalities. This study analyzes the situation in terms of Vietnam’s policy response, social media and science journalism. A self-made web crawl engine was used to scan and collect official media news related to COVID-19 between the beginning of January and April 4, yielding a comprehensive dataset of 14,952 news items. The findings shed light on how Vietnam—despite being under-resourced—has demonstrated political readiness to combat the emerging pandemic since the earliest days. Timely communication on any developments of the outbreak from the government and the media, combined with up-to-date research on the new virus by the Vietnamese science community, have altogether provided reliable sources of information. By emphasizing the need for immediate and genuine cooperation between government, civil society and private individuals, the case study offers valuable lessons for other nations concerning not only the concurrent fight against the COVID-19 pandemic but also the overall responses to a public health crisis. (shrink)

Die Wiederaufnahme unterbrochener Handlungen nach der Aussetzung der Maßnahmen zur Eindämmung von CoVid19 veranschaulicht Unveränderlichkeit und Unvergänglichkeit regressives Zustandes, in dem sich weite Teile der Bevölkerung befinden. Nach kurzer Unterbrechung kommt alles in gewöhnten Kreis alltäglicher Routine und Gedankenlosigkeit, mit denen solche Aufgaben erledigt werden. Nichts, aber gar nichts änderte sich nach dem Unglück, das eigentlich, wie in meisten solchen Fällen, die Gelegenheit bietet, über sich selbst und die Welt nachzudenken.

E-learning has taken it full fudged emergence with regards to Covid Scenario. Also, the lockdown of schools and playgrounds, the restriction of outdoor activities, physical and social isolation leads to the behavioural change among school children. Students are more attached to their schools, teachers and friends. But Covid 19 has changed the entire situation changed and they were held in their home itself. Students were not able to meet their friends and teachers, they especially miss their school and class environment. (...) It is to be noted that maintaining social isolation and following “Stay at Home” plays a very high impact among school students. Also, the lockdown created for families and children sit inside their homes. Which ,We cannot leave children’s education as it is. In order to continue their education, Indian Government has taken many efforts .Even schools are doing their best to bridge the gap between teachers and students by providing online education because of the absence of regular classroom education. Because of the introduction of online class by schools, on the one side students are not missing the education, on the other side students and parents faces a lot of problems (Physical and mental. It also puts them at the risk of unsupervised access to websites and other unwanted sites in internet. (shrink)

On the basis of PM2.5 data of the national air quality monitoring sites, local population data, and baseline all-cause mortality rate, PM2.5-related health economic benefits of the Air Improvement Action Plan implemented in Wuhan in 2013–2017 were investigated using health-impact and valuation functions. Annual avoided premature deaths driven by the average concentration of PM2.5 decrease were evaluated, and the economic benefits were computed by using the value of statistical life (VSL) method. Results showed that the number of avoided premature deaths (...) in Wuhan are 21,384 (95% confidence interval (CI): 15,004 to 27,255) during 2013–2017, due to the implementation of the Air Improvement Action Plan. According to the VSL method, the obtained economic benefits of Huangpi, Wuchang, Hongshan, Xinzhou, Jiang’an, Hanyang, Jiangxia, Qiaokou, Jianghan, Qingshan, Caidian, Dongxihu, and Hannan District were 8.55, 8.19, 8.04, 7.39, 5.78, 4.84, 4.37, 4.04, 3.90, 3.30, 2.87, 2.42, and 0.66 billion RMB (1 RMB = 0.1417 USD On 14 October 2019), respectively. These economic benefits added up to 64.35 billion RMB (95% CI: 45.15 to 82.02 billion RMB), accounting for 4.80% (95% CI: 3.37% to 6.12%) of the total GDP of Wuhan in 2017. Therefore, in the process of formulating a regional air quality improvement scheme, apart from establishing hierarchical emission-reduction standards and policies, policy makers should give integrated consideration to the relationship between regional economic development, environmental protection and residents’ health benefits. Furthermore, for improving air quality, air quality compensation mechanisms can be established on the basis of the status quo and trends of air quality, population distribution, and economic development factors. (shrink)

Human rights protect the conditions of a minimally decent life of which mental health is an indispensable element. Adequate care for mental health is thus recognized as part of the human right to health. However, for populations living far from urban centers, adequate in-person (mental) health care is often extremely costly and thus not provided. Digital mental health care options have become an effective alternative to in-person treatment. Benefitting from these new digital opportunities, though, requires sufficient access to the internet. (...) Because everyone has a human right to adequate health care, and digital mental health care is now an effective option for progressively realizing this human right for people who live in remote regions, these people also have to be understood to have a right to access to the internet. This right to internet access creates duties for public authorities and the international community to create the required digital infrastructure and (where needed) to cover the costs of internet access where this is the only feasible way of delivering, or progressively realizing, the mental health care that is indispensable for having the opportunity to lead minimally decent lives. (shrink)

Resilience. The Science of mastering life's greatest challenges es el título del libro que conjuntamente escribieron los profesores Steven Southwick y Dennis Charney. En esta obra los autores exponen qué es la resiliencia, pero sobre todo se concentran en desarrollar diez factores fundamentales para ser resilientes ante situaciones traumáticas que cualquier persona puede experimentar en su vida como lo es la pérdida de un ser querido, el secuestro, la enfermedad, la pérdida del trabajo o incluso el descalabro económico. De manera (...) muy organizada y sistemática, los autores logran profundizar en cada uno de esos diez factores, manteniendo siempre un sólido hilo conductor y exponiendo ejemplos que ayudan a clarificar conceptos y a hacer más amena y llevadera la lectura del libro. (shrink)

Featuring the questionable transparency of some COVID-19 data, retraction notices and clinical trial results, what COVID-19 has taught us about open access, a centralized archive of COVID-19 preprints, and how the pandemic may affect the public’s trust in science.

Опубліковано результати наукових досліджень, викладені на Всеукраїнській науково-практичній інтернет-конференції «Глобальні та регіональні аспекти розвитку туризму та гостинності» 22.05.2020 р. Тези доповідей друкуються методом прямого відтворення тексту, представленого авторами, які несуть повну відповідальність за його форму і зміст. Узагальнено дослідження стану розвитку світової індустрії туризму та гостинності й визначено форми адаптації економічних суб’єктів України до міжнародних тенденцій. Учасники конференції звернули свою увагу на такі аспекти, як: глобальні імперативи розвитку туризму та гостинності; стан і тенденції розвитку туризму та гостинності у країнах світу; (...) розвиток туристичної індустрії в Україні; регіональні аспекти розвитку туризму в Україні. Призначено для науковців, молодих вчених і студентів. (shrink)