Does a bursary scheme for students in low- to middle-income countries influence outcomes in a master’s programme in Public Health?

Introduction The People’s Open Access Education Initiative (Peoples-uni) provides online education for health professionals in Public Health at the master’s level. Although fees are low due to the use of volunteers and Open Educational Resources, a bursary scheme is provided to waive all or some of the fees. This study tests the hypothesis that student outcomes of completing and passing modules are higher among those given a bursary than others. Methods Data were retrieved for all students enrolling between 2009-2017, including demographics and module outcomes, where available. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with a successful bursary application, as well as to elicit whether a successful bursary application was associated with ever completing, or ever passing, a module. Results Data were obtained from 1499 students. Of these, 624 (42%) had ever completed a module, and 513 (34%) had ever passed a module. 503 students (34%) had applied for a bursary, of whom 285 (57%) were successful. After adjusting for demographic variables, employment status and education level, students who were given a bursary were more likely to ever pass a module (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.3, 95% CI 1.7,3.3), as were those who applied for a bursary but were unsuccessful (aOR 1.9, 95% CI 1.3,2.8), compared with students who had not applied for a bursary. Similar results were obtained for the outcome of completing a module. Conclusions Students who were successful in gaining a bursary, as well as those who were not but still able to enroll, were more likely to complete or pass a module than those who did not apply. These results point to the success of the bursary scheme and give us confidence to continue to offer bursaries, in order to sustain the mission of improving population health through capacity building in low resource settings

Knowledge about E-Cigarettes and tobacco harm reduction among public health residents in Europe

Introduction: Although electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and other tobacco-related products are becoming widely popular as alternatives to tobacco, little has been published on the knowledge of healthcare workers about their use. Thus, the aim of this study was to elicit the current knowledge and perceptions about e-cigarettes and tobacco harm reduction (THR) among medical residents in public health (MRPH). Material and Methods: A Europe-wide cross-sectional study was carried out amongst MRPH from the countries associated with the European Network of MRPH from April to October 2018 using an online questionnaire. Results: 256 MRPHs agreed to participate in the survey. Approximately half the participants were women (57.4%), with a median age of 30 years, and were mainly Italian (26.7%), Spanish (16.9%) and Portuguese (16.5%). Smoking prevalence was 12.9%. Overall, risk scores significantly differed for each investigated smoking product when compared with e-cigarettes; with tobacco cigarettes and snus perceived as more risky, and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and non-NRT oral medications seen as less risky (p 0.01 for all). Regarding the effects of nicotine on health, the vast majority of MRPHs associated nicotine with all smoking-related diseases. Knowledge of THR was low throughout the whole sample. Conclusions: European MRPH showed a suboptimal level of knowledge about e-cigarettes and THR. Training programs for public health and preventive medicine trainees should address this gap

Fabrication and characterization of multiscale electrospun scaffolds for cartilage regeneration

Recently, scaffolds for tissue regeneration purposes have been observed to utilize nanoscale features in an effort to reap the cellular benefits of scaffold features resembling extracellular matrix (ECM) components. However, one complication surrounding electrospun nanofibers is limited cellular infiltration. One method to ameliorate this negative effect is by incorporating nanofibers into microfibrous scaffolds. This study shows that it is feasible to fabricate electrospun scaffolds containing two differently scaled fibers interspersed evenly throughout the entire construct as well as scaffolds containing fibers composed of two discrete materials, specifically fibrin and poly(?-caprolactone). In order to accomplish this, multiscale fibrous scaffolds of different compositions were generated using a dual extrusion electrospinning setup with a rotating mandrel. These scaffolds were then characterized for fiber diameter, porosity and pore size and seeded with human mesenchymal stem cells to assess the influence of scaffold architecture and composition on cellular responses as determined by cellularity, histology and glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content. Analysis revealed that nanofibers within a microfiber mesh function to maintain scaffold cellularity under serum-free conditions as well as aid the deposition of GAGs. This supports the hypothesis that scaffolds with constituents more closely resembling native ECM components may be beneficial for cartilage regeneration

Coronary Artery-Bypass-Graft Surgery Increases the Plasma Concentration of Exosomes Carrying a Cargo of Cardiac MicroRNAs: An Example of Exosome Trafficking Out of the Human Heart with Potential for Cardiac Biomarker Discovery

Introduction Exosome nanoparticles carry a composite cargo, including microRNAs (miRs). Cultured cardiovascular cells release miR-containing exosomes. The exosomal trafficking of miRNAs from the heart is largely unexplored. Working on clinical samples from coronary-artery by-pass graft (CABG) surgery, we investigated if: 1) exosomes containing cardiac miRs and hence putatively released by cardiac cells increase in the circulation after surgery; 2) circulating exosomes and exosomal cardiac miRs correlate with cardiac troponin (cTn), the current “gold standard” surrogate biomarker of myocardial damage. Methods and Results The concentration of exosome-sized nanoparticles was determined in serial plasma samples. Cardiac-expressed (miR-1, miR-24, miR-133a/b, miR-208a/b, miR-210), non-cardiovascular (miR-122) and quality control miRs were measured in whole plasma and in plasma exosomes. Linear regression analyses were employed to establish the extent to which the circulating individual miRs, exosomes and exosomal cardiac miR correlated with cTn-I. Cardiac-expressed miRs and the nanoparticle number increased in the plasma on completion of surgery for up to 48 hours. The exosomal concentration of cardiac miRs also increased after CABG. Cardiac miRs in the whole plasma did not correlate significantly with cTn-I. By contrast cTn-I was positively correlated with the plasma exosome level and the exosomal cardiac miRs. Conclusions The plasma concentrations of exosomes and their cargo of cardiac miRs increased in patients undergoing CABG and were positively correlated with hs-cTnI. These data provide evidence that CABG induces the trafficking of exosomes from the heart to the peripheral circulation. Future studies are necessary to investigate the potential of circulating exosomes as clinical biomarkers in cardiac patients

STUDENTS WITH GOOD EXERCISE HABITS HAVE BETTER STUDY HABITS AND ALSO SPEND MORE TIME WITH THEIR FAMILIES

The present paper is a quantitative, descriptive, synchronic, and comparative study, which investigated the exercise habits, the positive impacts of doing regular exercise, sports and other sports-related physical activities on senior high school and college students’ study habits and the time they spent with their families. For this purpose, a self-designed survey questionnaire consisting of 3 multiple-choice questions was distributed among 324 senior high school and college students from three different schools in New Taipei City, Taiwan. Results: First, in general in Taiwan, 29% of senior high school and college students did exercise and sports-related physical activities 3 times or above per week. The percentage, however, came down to 24% if those 21 student-athletes were excluded from the data analysis. Second, in general, 25% of students studied 3 times or more per week after school. Third, the physically active students had better study habits compared to the physically inactive students. Among the physically active students, 40% of them studied 3 times or more per week, compared to only 8% among the physically inactive students. Fourth, it was also found that physically active students spent more time with their families compared to physically inactive students. Among the physically active students, 45% of them spent 5 hours or more with their families per day, compared to only 16% among the physically inactive students. Discussion: The research findings clearly show that students who have good habits of doing regular exercise, sports and sports-related physical activities have better study habits, better academic performance, and spend more time with their families than those students who are not involved in such physical activities.  Article visualizations

Application of Cox's Proportional Hazard Model and Construction of Life Table for Under-Five

A primary data of 836 eligible women in the age group of 15-49 years is used to determine the causal effects of covariates on under-five mortality. The eight covariates viz., number of family members (NHM), type of toilet facility (TTF), total children ever born (TCB), parity (PAR), duration of breastfeeding (DBF), use contraceptive (CMT), DPT and ideal number of girl (ING) are considered as covariates of the study. By applying Cox's regression analysis, six covariates viz., TTF, NHM, CMT, DBF, DPT and ING have substantially and significantly effect on under-five mortality. Further, a life table of under-five children under study is constructed using the estimate of survival function obtained from Cox's regression model

PARENTS’ ROLE IN STUDENTS’ EXERCISE HABITS AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

In the last more than six decades, through research, experiments, scholarly articles, thesis, and dissertations, it has been well known that sports and physical activities are closely associated with children’s growth, physical fitness, mental fitness, health, academic performance, and overall personal development. To fully provide all the benefits exercise, sports, and sports-related physical activities contribute, parents play a very important role. It would be wrong to expect children to grow up physically and mentally fit and be successful in life leaving them alone without parents’ support, encouragement, and time. Thus, parents need to be children’s role models and need to encourage and support them constantly, at least until they enter the adult stage. This is very true, especially in instilling good exercise habits, study habits, and behavior among children and adolescents. Despite all the benefits regular exercise and sports activities contribute, only a very small portion of parents and students (children) are involved in sports and physical activities in Taiwan. The present study is a quantitative, synchronic, and descriptive study that investigated the impacts and influences parents give to their children’s exercise habits, study habits, and overall academic performance based on their (parents’) exercise habits and asking habits their children to do exercise. Data were collected through self-designed survey questionnaires from 303 senior high school and college students who were studying in three different educational institutes located in New Taipei City, Taiwan. Results: A very low percentage of parents were found to be role models to their children who were doing regular exercise and willing to spend time with their children. In general, out of 303 students surveyed, 21% of parents (either father or mother) did regular exercise (3 times and above per week). Among the 303 students surveyed, only 23% of students did regular exercise. Sharp differences in exercise habits were found between the students whose parents did regular exercise and those students whose parents never did any exercise. Among students whose parents did regular exercise, 40% of them did regular exercise compared to 13% among students whose parents never did exercise. In general, 59% of parents never asked their children to exercise, while only 14% of parents asked frequently. Parents who did regular exercise asked their children to do exercise far more (35% of parents) compared to (6% of parents) those parents who never did exercise. It was found that those students whose parents did regular exercise and asked them (children) to do the same also had better exercise habits and better study habits than those students whose parents never did exercise nor asked their children to do exercise.  Article visualizations

The CH fraction of Carbon stars at high Galactic latitudes

CH stars form a distinct class of objects with characteristic properties like iron deficiency, enrichment of carbon and overabundance in heavy elements. These properties can provide strong observational constraints for theoretical computation of nucleosynthesis at low-metallicity. An important question is the relative surface density of CH stars which can provide valuable inputs to our understanding on the role of low to intermediate-mass stars in the early Galactic chemical evolution. Spectroscopic characterization provides an effective way of identifying CH stars. The present analysis is aimed at a quantitative assessment of the fraction of CH stars in a sample of stars using a set of spectral classification criteria. The sample consists of 92 objects selected from a collection of candidate Faint High Latitude Carbon stars from the Hamburg/ESO survey. Medium resolution (R ~ 1300) spectra for these objects were obtained using OMR at VBO, Kavalur and HFOSC at HCT, IAO, Hanle, during 2007 - 2009 spanning a wavelength range 3800 - 6800 A. Spectral analysis shows 36 of the 92 objects to be potential CH stars; combined with our earlier studies (Goswami 2005, Goswami et al. 2007) this implies ~ 37% (of 243) objects as the CH fraction. We present spectral descriptions of the newly identified CH star candidates. Estimated effective temperatures, 12C/13C isotopic ratios and their locations on the two colour J-H vs H-K plot are used to support their identification.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures,Accepted for publication in MNRA

Canagliflozin, dapagliflozin and empagliflozin monotherapy for treating type 2 diabetes : systematic review and economic evaluation

Background Most people with type 2 diabetes are overweight, so initial treatment is aimed at reducing weight and increasing physical activity. Even modest weight loss can improve control of blood glucose. If drug treatment is necessary, the drug of first choice is metformin. However, some people cannot tolerate metformin, which causes diarrhoea in about 10%, and it cannot be used in people with renal impairment. This review appraises three of the newest class of drugs for monotherapy when metformin cannot be used, the sodium–glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors. Objective To review the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of dapagliflozin (Farxiga, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Luton, UK), canagliflozin (Invokana, Janssen, High Wycombe, UK) and empagliflozin (Jardiance, Merck & Co., Darmstadt, Germany), in monotherapy in people who cannot take metformin. Sources MEDLINE (1946 to February 2015) and EMBASE (1974 to February 2015) for randomised controlled trials lasting 24 weeks or more. For adverse events, a wider range of studies was used. Three manufacturers provided submissions. Methods Systematic review and economic evaluation. A network meta-analysis was carried out involving the three SGLT2 inhibitors and key comparators. Critical appraisal of submissions from three manufacturers. Results We included three trials of dapagliflozin and two each for canagliflozin and empagliflozin. The trials were of good quality. The canagliflozin and dapagliflozin trials compared them with placebo, but the two empagliflozin trials included active comparators. All three drugs were shown to be effective in improving glycaemic control, promoting weight loss and lowering blood pressure (B

PERCEIVED FACTORS KEEPING STUDENTS IN OR AWAY FROM DOING SPORTS AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES IN TAIWAN REGION

In the last six or so decades, researchers have investigated, proved and shown the benefits of sports and physical activities on students’ physical and mental health, academic performance and overall personal development. However, many researchers found that more and more students were staying away from sports and physical activities. Today, more than 80% of adolescent and 40-50% of college students globally did not meet the current physical activity per day recommended by the World Health Organization, thus keeping them unhealthy and unfit. This led researchers around the world to investigate the perceived facilitators and barriers that keep students away from these healthy activities. But, so far Taiwan region is concerned, no internationally published study has been done on this topic. To fill up the gap, the present quantitative, descriptive cross-sectional study investigated what perceived benefits and barriers keep in or away Taiwanese students from doing sports and physical activities. 9 self-designed multiple-choice paper survey questionnaires were administered among 199 students of different age groups, studying at different class levels at three educational institutes in New Taipei City, Taiwan during the six months, April to October, 2021. The collected data was then analyzed using Microsoft Excel Pivot table. Results: 82% of students knew doing physical activities could keep them physically and mentally healthy, but only 28% did enough exercise. Main responsible factors were: too much school works, part-time jobs, not enough social encouragements, lack of interest, no self-confidence in sports, and lack of knowledge respectively. 最近六年或者說幾十年來，研究人員經由調查，求證，展示出運動競技和體能活動對於學生們的身心健康、學業成績和全人發展的助益。但是，許多研究人員也發現，有愈來愈多的學生選擇了疏遠運動競賽和體能活動。今日全球有超過 80% 的青少年和 40-50% 的大學生並沒有達到世界衛生組織當前每日體育的訓練量，導致他們不健康和不良的體態。世界各地的研究人員想要利用調研，找出學生保持或遠離運動與體能活動所感知的有利的與障礙因素。但是，有關於台灣地區，目前國際上還沒有發表過相關研究。為了填補這一空白，目前的定量、描述性橫斷面研究調查了台灣學生進行運動競技和體能活動所感知的好處和障礙因素。 2021 年 4 月至 10 月的六個月期間，筆者在新北市三所教育機構的不同班級學習的 199 名不同年齡組學生中進行了自行設計的9題複選的問卷調查。然後對收集的數據進行了分析使用 Microsoft Excel 數據透視表。結果 有 82% 的學生知道從事體能鍛煉可以保持身心健康，卻只有 28% 學生的訓練是足夠的，其主要因素分別為：學校作業過多、兼職工作過多、社會鼓勵不足、缺乏興趣、對運動缺乏自信、知識匱乏。  Article visualizations