Daily Challenges Research Articles

Caregiving for People With Spinal Cord Injury Undergoing Upper Extremity Reconstructive Surgery: A Prospective Exploration of Lived Experiences, Perioperative Care, and Change Across Time.

Nerve transfer (NT) and tendon transfer (TT) surgeries can enhance upper extremity (UE) function and independence in individuals with cervical spinal cord injury (SCI). Caregivers are needed to make this surgery possible, yet caregivers experience their own set of challenges. This comparative study explored the perioperative and nonoperative experiences of caregivers of individuals with cervical SCI, focusing on daily life activities, burden, and mental health. Caregivers of individuals with cervical SCI were recruited and grouped by treatment plan for the person with SCI: (1) no surgery (NS), (2) TT surgery, and (3) NT surgery. Semistructured interviews were conducted at baseline/preoperative, early follow-up/postoperative, and late follow-up/postoperative. Caregivers were asked about their daily life, mental health, and challenges related to caregiving. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using thematic analysis. Quantitative, single-item standardized burden score (0-100) data were collected at each timepoint. Participants included 23 caregivers (18 family members, 4 friends, 1 hired professional). The surgeries often brought hope and motivation for caregivers. Caregivers reported increased burden immediately following surgery (less for the NT compared to TT subgroup) yet no long-term changes in the amount and type of care they provided. NS caregivers discussed social isolation, relationship dysfunction, and everyday challenges. Health care providers should consider the changing needs of SCI caregivers during perioperative rehabilitation. As part of the shared surgical decision-making approach, providers should educate caregivers about the postoperative process and the extent and potential variability of short- and long-term care needs.

Campus Connect - A College Bus Tracking System

Abstract: A variety of technologies is recommending the sophisticated environment more and more often. Modern business practises are frequently improved by the corresponding advancements in technology. The most recent and quickly evolving technology available to all consumers or users in today's industry is called Android. Over the past few years, there has been a significant increase in end-user assent. The proposal is based on the most recent GPS technology using the Internet of Things, allowing college students to monitor the movement of the college buses, keep a timetable, and provide real-time bus positions for users. The seamless running of the bus system and the switching of vehicles are impacted by the exceptional road conditions. Additionally, daily challenges like traffic, unexpected delays, and dispatching events involving damaged vehicles occur. As a result, the student’s schedules are impacted, and they are forced to wait for their specific bus to arrive as well as make an effort to miss it. This application's main goal is to display the precise position of each user's individual buses on Google Maps. It also has the unique feature of alerting the driver if the user is close to the bus stop. It is a real-time system since the latitude and longitude coordinates of the bus's current location are updated every single second and sent to the user's application via the Google Map API. The user can view the estimated arrival time of the bus at their designated stop. This could be particularly useful for students who need to plan their schedules in advance. If the bus is running behind schedule, users could view the delay time to see how long they will need to wait for the bus to arrive. Users could have the option to pay their bus fees directly through the college bus tracking system. This could be done using a variety of payment methods, such as credit card or through Net banking.

Human β-Defensin 2 as a Novel Diagnostic Marker of Iraqi Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disorder of the joints that is characterized by extra-articular involvement in addition to inflammatory arthritis. Joint and periarticular tissue loss brought on by inflammation results in functional impairment. To lessen the significant daily challenges that patients confront and to ensure better outcomes, early detection and treatment are essential. The study's objective was to establish the use of human β-defensin-2 (HBD-2) as a RA diagnostic marker. A total of 60 RA patients and 30 healthy controls participated in the research. The ELISA technique was used to measure serum HBD-2. The following tests were performed: complete blood count (CBC), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), renal function test, and liver function test. In comparison to the healthy control group, the RA group exhibited a substantially higher blood HBD-2 levels (p ≤0.001). Additionally, there was no significant association between serum HBD-2 and urea, creatinine, AST, ALT, and ESR (P>0.05). When RA was distinguished from the group of healthy individuals, the area under the curve (AUC) demonstrated excellent diagnostic accuracy (AUC = 0.990, p = 0.001). (0.9667). As a result, serum HBD-2 may be used as a reliable RA diagnostic marker.

Transcriptome profile in heat resilient Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas families under thermal challenge

Since the introduction of the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas in Baja California Sur, Mexico, its culture has faced environmental challenges, specifically increasing temperatures that result in high mortalities. The inter-tidal zone seawater temperature during a year at the Baja California Peninsula broadly ranges from 7 °C to 39 °C. Therefore, to understand how oysters respond to heat stress during daily temperature oscillations, heat-resistant (RR, father, and mother resistant) and heat-susceptible (SS, both parents susceptible) phenotypes families from a C. gigas breeding program were exposed to a thermal challenge. Based on a laboratory-simulated daily oscillatory thermal challenge (26 to 34 °C) for 30 days, RR phenotype presented differences compared to SS phenotype since the beginning (day 0) of the thermal challenge. Gene expression analyses revealed 1822 differentially expressed up-regulated transcripts in RR, related to functions of metabolic processes, biological regulation, and response to stimulus and signaling. At the end of the experiment (day 30), 2660 differentially expressed up-regulated transcripts were identified in RR. Functional analysis of the genes expressed indicates responses of regulation of biological processes and response to a stimulus. Additionally, 340 genes were differentially expressed among RR vs. SS from the beginning to the end of the thermal challenge, where 170 genes were up-regulated, and 170 were down-regulated. These transcriptomic profiles represent the first report to identify gene expression markers associated with RR phenotypes for the Pacific oyster to the future broodstock selection.

Adult Learner Perspectives on Skill- and Life-Based Outcomes Following Literacy Remediation

Using the situated expectancy value theory (SEVT), we explored self-perceived attainment perspectives of adults with low literacy on skill-based (i.e., reading, writing, listening, speaking) and life-based (i.e., management of day-to-day challenges, use of skills in daily living, confidence) improvements following a literacy-focused remediation program. Participants (N = 103; Canadian, urban adults) completed a remediation program for low literacy via one-on-one tutoring over a period of 1 year. Four to six months into the program, participants completed a survey that asked about their perspectives regarding improvements in skill- and life-based areas of functioning. A series of Chi-Square tests provided evidence for self-perceived improvements in skill-based functioning in reading, writing, listening and speaking. Perceived improvements were not noted in areas not targeted by the remediation, namely, math and computer literacy. Further, there was a significant, positive correlation between self-perceived improvement and (1) self-perceived ability to deal with daily challenges, (2) self-reported use of literacy skills in day-to-day activities, and (3) overall confidence. Together, these findings underscore the importance of including activity- and participation-based outcome measures when evaluating adult literacy remediation. In addition, this work demonstrates an application of SEVT to explore changes over time in continuing adult education.

Dietary Betaine Impacts Metabolic Responses to Moderate Heat Exposure in Sheep.

Dietary betaine supplementation can ameliorate physiological responses to heat exposure (HE) in sheep. This experiment measured metabolic responses to glucose (intravenous glucose tolerance, IVGTT), insulin (insulin tolerance test, ITT), and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) challenges in Merino ewes (n = 36, 39.7 kg) maintained at thermoneutral (TN, 21 °C) or HE (18-43 °C) and supplemented with either 0, 2, or 4 g/day dietary betaine (n = 6 per group). Sheep had ad libitum access to water and were pair-fed such that the intake of the TN sheep mimicked that of the HE sheep. After 21 days of treatment, sheep were fitted with jugular catheters and subjected to consecutive daily challenges (IVGTT, ITT, and ACTH, d 21-23, respectively), followed by skeletal muscle and subcutaneous adipose tissue biopsy collections for gene expression analysis (d 24). The HE-treated sheep had a greater insulin:glucose ratio (p = 0.033), a greater estimated homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMAIR; p = 0.029), and a reduced revised quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (RQUICKI; p = 0.015). Sheep fed betaine (2 + 4 g/day) had a greater basal plasma insulin (p = 0.017) and a reduced basal non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA; p = 0.036) concentration, while the RQUICKI was reduced (p = 0.001) in sheep fed betaine. The results suggested that betaine supplementation alters lipid metabolism by potentially improving insulin signaling, although these responses differ between TN and HE conditions. There was no other impact of temperature or dietary treatments on the tissue gene expressions measured. Our results support the notion that betaine, in part, acts to modify lipid metabolism.

The need to change: Is there a critical role of midlife adaptation in mental health later in life?

Although late-life depression (LLD) is a serious health problem and more common than dementia in people over 60, it is underdiagnosed and undertreated. The cognitive-emotional etiology of LLD is particularly poorly understood. This is in contrast to the now extensive literature from psychology and cognitive neuroscience on the characteristics of emotionally healthy aging. This research consistently shows a change in emotional processing in older adults that is modulated by prefrontal regulation. Lifespan theories explain this change in terms of neurocognitive adaptation to limited opportunities and resources that typically occur in the second half of life. Epidemiological data on an increase in well-being after a low point around age 50 suggest that the majority of people seem quite capable of making this adaptation, even though empirical evidence for a causal modulation of this so called 'paradox of aging' and for the role of the midlife dip is still lacking. Intriguingly, LLD is associated with deficits in emotional, cognitive, and prefrontal functions similar to those shown to be crucial for healthy adaptation. Suspected causes of these deficits, such as white matter lesions or affective instability, become apparent as early as midlife when internal and external changes as well as daily challenges set in. Based on these findings, we propose that some individuals who develop depression at older ages may not have been able to successfully implement self-regulatory adaptation at midlife. Here, we review the current evidence and theories on successful aging, the neurobiology of LLD, and well-being across the lifespan. Drawing on recent advances in lifespan theories, emotion regulation research, and cognitive neuroscience, we propose a model of successful versus unsuccessful adaptation that emphasizes the increasing need for implicit habitual control and resource-based regulatory choice during midlife.

Police Officers Perceived Levels of Organizational Stress, Operational Stress, and Coping Strategies in San Jose, Antique, Philippines

Police service is considered difficult and commonly regarded as a high-stress profession. Police officers deal with numerous complex daily challenges and must make split-second judgments. Thus, it is vital to investigate and assess law enforcement officers' operational stress, organizational stress, and coping strategies, as they are linked to their performance in the police organization. In this research, a descriptive-correlational study was employed using a purposive sampling method with police officers from the Municipal Police Station of San Jose de Buenavista in the Province of Antique, Philippines. The findings revealed that police officers could handle work-related issues caused by various stressors, whether in their operational or organizational functions. Furthermore, police officers can cope moderately with stress, indicating they can manage and deal with it effectively. Additionally, demographic groups perceive similar work stress for operational and organizational functions, including coping strategies. Finally, police officers' coping mechanisms often become influenced by operational and organizational stress. With this, the present study's findings strongly support the notion that operational and organizational stressors are fundamental to policing; as a result, police officers may adopt more effective coping strategies to combat the impacts of stress and enhance their work-related well-being. Police personnel may benefit from interventions and programs to reduce the effects of occupational stress.

IOT-BASED BABY MONITORING SYSTEM

These days the current number of working women and mothers has skyrocketed. As a result, for many families, baby care has become a daily challenge. As a result, the majority of parents leave their children with their grandparents or at child care facilities. Unfortunately, under both regular and exceptional circumstances, the parents are unable to continuously check their child's health. Thus, an Internet of Things- based baby monitoring system (IoT-BBMS) is suggested as an effective and affordable IoT-based system for real-time monitoring. Also, we suggested a new algorithm for our system that is crucial to delivering superior baby care while parents are abroad. The application of technology such as Internet of Things (IoT) modules for sensing temperature and humidity, cry detection systems, and real-time video surveillance. We are able to monitor the temperature, the sound of the infant crying, and the posture of the baby in the cradle live. The infant cradle in the system architecture uses a motor to swing automatically whenever the baby screams. Parents can also remotely monitor their baby's health using an external web camera and turn on the lullaby in the baby cradle. The proposed system prototype is created and tested to demonstrate its effectiveness in terms of cost and simplicity as well as to guarantee safe operation so that parents can have access to their children whenever and wherever they choose over the network. The prototype has shown that the baby monitoring system is effective at keeping track of the infant's situation and its surroundings. Keywords: Arduino UNO , Temperature Sensor, Moisture Sensor, Sound Sensor , LCD Module , Node MCU, DC / Servo Motor , Music Generated Circuit and Speaker , Wireless Camera , 12V Transformer , Voltage Regulators.

Quality of life in glaucoma.

An essential goal of glaucoma management is to prevent a patient's visual impairment that compromises their health-related quality of life (QOL). The disease itself, in addition to the medical or surgical treatment, can have a large impact on one's life. We aim to briefly review and evaluate aspects of QOL in glaucoma. The PubMed database was utilized for the literature examination of this review. Keywords that were searched included glaucoma, quality of life, vision-related QOL (VRQOL), quality of life questionnaire, and glaucoma therapy. The main topics identified and analyzed during the literature review stages include factors affecting VRQOL, the assessment of VRQOL using questionnaires, QOL in early and severe glaucoma, glaucoma and activities of daily living, glaucoma treatments, and new advances in clinically assessing QOL. The study findings indicate a relationship between the deterioration of visual field and the quality of life. The investigation shows that visual loss can result in a range of daily life challenges, which include compromised mental health status and difficulties with driving, reading, and recognizing people. Glaucoma-induced visual field loss can significantly impact different aspects of patients' life, and several methods exist for evaluating changes in quality of life. Quality of life assessments have their limitations as they are subjective. As potential future steps, we suggest exploring technological advancements such as virtual reality to improve patient care and outcomes.

Perioperative Management of Antiplatelet and Anticoagulation Therapy in Vascular Surgery

Treatment of patients taking anticoagulant therapy (ACT) and antiplatelet therapy (APT) is a daily challenge for doctors of all specialities, and a special problem is the adequate care of these patients in the immediate perioperative period during vascular surgical procedures. This paper presents the current findings and recommendations on the perioperative use of ACT and APT and considerations of therapeutic modalities in frequent clinical cases of vascular patients. An overview of the most commonly used anticoagulant and antiplatelet drugs in clinical practice is also presented. Vascular surgical patients represent a population of patients in whom platelet coagulation and aggregation mechanism are dysregulated in many cases. There is still no broad consensus and unequivocal evidence that can direct the physician towards the right modality of therapy. The final decision rests with the physician, who should, based on the individual assessment of each patient, determine the risk and thus determine the modality of anticoagulant and antiplatelet therapy.

PULMONARY TUMOR REVEALED BY A SUSPICION OFSARS-COV-2 INFECTION

The novel Coronavirus, named SARS-CoV-2, responsible of the COVID-19 is now causing a pandemic. Detecting all possible cases and eliminating differential diagnoses in front of any acute respiratory distress has become a daily challenge for doctors around the world. We believe that non-COVID patients are the hidden victims of the actual health problematic.We report from this manuscript the case of a patient with Bronchopulmonary cancer that has been suspected as COVID-19.

Compassion and decision fatigue among healthcare workers during COVID-19 pandemic in a Colombian sample.

Being compassionate and empathic while making rational decisions is expected from healthcare workers across different contexts. But the daily challenges that these workers face, aggravated by the recent COVID-19 crisis, can give rise to compassion and decision fatigue, which affects not only their ability to meet these expectations but has a significant negative impact on their wellbeing. Hence, it is vital to identify factors associated to their exhaustion. Here, we sought to describe levels of compassion and decision fatigue during the pandemic, and to identify factors related to these forms of exhaustion. We collected data using self-reported questionnaires to measure compassion fatigue, decision fatigue, and grit in five intervals from April to November, 2020 (N = 856). Our results showed a negative correlation between grit and compassion and decision fatigue. We also found that under the circumstances studied grit tends to be higher in technicians, nurses, other professionals (psychologists, social workers), and workers at the Emergency Room (ER), and lower in general practitioners. Compassion fatigue tend to be higher for technicians, whereas decision fatigue was lower for specialists, general practitioners, and technicians, and higher for those working at private hospitals.

Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman

The impact of COVID-19 on the standard of living of Chinese food delivery workers in the gig economy1

When the Chinese economy stopped amid the coronavirus pandemic, more than 6 million food delivery workers helped to distribute medicine, daily supplies, and meals becoming the crucial link between individual households and society. In light of the positive media attention and the heightened importance of food delivery workers, the researc her wondered if their living standards have actually been improved during COVID-19. Surveying 227 workers and interviewing 11 workers, the author conducted research on the impact of the pandemic on their compensation, ratings, social status and customer respect. After analyzing both the interview and survey data. This study found that although workers experienced a moderate improvement in their ratings, social status and customer respect, they also suffered a drastic income loss during the pandemic. Furthermore, this research found that the reasons behind those changes were mainly temporary and unique features of the pandemic. As the pandemic failed to make lasting systemic improvements in Chinese food delivery workers living standards, further research is needed to address their daily challenges.

Professional Development and Use of Evidence-Based Practice in Autism Early Intervention

We investigated the experiences of Australian autism early intervention service providers, including the professional development they receive on the job and how they translate research evidence into their practice. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 providers drawn from three locations. Participants described the crucial role of paraprofessionals in early intervention services, and indicated that, within multidisciplinary teams, allied health professionals, and teachers are the ones who select intervention practices and upskill paraprofessionals. Furthermore, participants reported using practices supported by research evidence, but also some emerging and unsupported practices. The use of unsupported practices is examined in light of the daily challenges faced by centers. Results may inform further professional development in early intervention services for children on the autism spectrum, to support the best possible outcomes for this population. The findings highlight the potential need for job-embedded hands-on professional development conducted in real time.

Active Exploration in Physical Education: Strategies for Including Marginalized Students

Physical educators face many daily challenges in their work. Delivering culturally responsive programming that speaks to all students regardless of race, religion, nationality, gender, and motor abilities (Kozub & Hodge, 2014) is one of these challenges. Teachers who build a meaningful physical educational environment with skilled activities can create a motivating and valuable experience for marginalized students resulting in positive feelings toward physical activity (Goodwin & Watkinson, 2000). Learning environments that provide the three basic psychological needs of self-determination theory (SDT) may aid in developing motivation and student engagement within physical education (Deci & Ryan, 2000). Active exploration is an approach used in PE for adapting student movements, building curiosity about new movements with the use of equipment, and being inventive and flexible (Hyndman, 2021). Drawing upon SDT and learner centered teaching styles, the purpose of this paper is to provide three strategies for teaching that promote inclusion for marginalized students in PE settings: (a) active exploration and discovery, (b) culturally relevant curriculum, and (c) assessing student learning within these approaches.

Rag-Pickers and Their Young Children During COVID-19: Exploring Issues in Parenting and Feasible Social Work Response.

Strict lockdown measures and the pandemic brought immense risks and misery to those already living on the margins of society before the COVID-19 crisis even hit the world. The present study was conducted with rag-pickers, one of the marginalized groups living in Jaipur city of India. The lives of these marginalized populations became more complicated during the pandemic. Due to movement restrictions during the lockdown, access to primary resources was further reduced - from water and sanitation to food, health, and employment, impacting the care and protection they could provide their young children. Rag-pickers, one of the most marginalized communities that face social stigma, struggled to cope with daily life challenges. Young children in such families suffered alongside their parents when the families could not continue their livelihood and lost all sources of income. This paper aims to deepen the understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on thenurturing care of children below eightyears of age living in Jaipur, India, accentuating the human rights violations they face right from birth. Many humanitarian relief measures poured in during the lockdown period distributing free food packets and dry rations to the marginalized families. COVID-19increased parenting challengesfor this community. Protection of these families during the ongoing pandemic as well as future pandemics must become a strategic imperative. The paper enumerates feasible social work responses to the issues rag-pickers and their childrenconfront.

'I felt like my senses were under attack': An interpretative phenomenological analysis of experiences of hypersensitivity in autistic individuals.

Research shows that the way autistic individuals perceive and process sensory stimuli differs from those of non-autistic people. However, while current research often focuses on what sensory differences in autism are and which neurocognitive processes may explain these, it often does not explicitly address what it is like to experience the world through the senses of an autistic person. To explore this understudied dimension, we conducted 18 in-depth interviews with autistic individuals in order to better understand how they personally experienced hypersensitivity from a first-person perspective. Participants described hypersensitivity as a feeling of being bombarded by intrusive stimuli that seemed to invade their bodies and from which they had difficulties distancing themselves. They also indicated how due to hypersensitivity they often perceived their (social) environment as invasive, chaotic, unpredictable or threatening. Hypersensitivities were thus not only described as unsettling bodily experiences but also related to challenges in perceiving, understanding and interacting with the (social) world. By focussing on the subjective dimension of sensory processing in autism, our study thus highlights how sensory difficulties are not peripheral features of autism but play an essential part in the daily challenges faced by autistic individuals.

Self-reflexive Anthropomorphism in Cece Bell’s Autobiographical Comics: A Study of the Transgressions of Narrative Levels

Cece Bell released her autobiographical comic El Deafo (2014) in print and digital versions, transposing herself into the anthropomorphic rabbit Cece, who speaks of her hearing loss experience at four after having contracted meningitis. Young Cece wears a hearing aid on her long rabbit ears, showing her animal, human, and technological hybrid body to others. Nevertheless, she assumes the identity of the superhero “El Deafo,” her alter-ego, to cope with her daily challenges in a community composed mostly of hearing individuals, first as an escape to her imaginary world and later for accepting her identity as deaf. This paper aims to analyse El Deafo as an autobiographical comic, considering the representation of deafness through an unstable hybrid body and a transgression of the narrative levels based on the notion of metalepsis, drawn by Genette, Kukkonen, and Ryan in various media.