Good Practice Research Articles

Well-being at work factors perceived by social work professionals during COVID-19: reflections for the generation of Healthy Organisations

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 crisis brought with it many questions and highlighted the shortcomings of the different social protection systems, including the Social Services, with the consequent impact on their professionals in the form of stress, burnout, fatigue, etc., which do not emerge as a result of the pandemic, but are exacerbated by the fact that they are already present. For this article, 22 semi-structured interviews were carried out with social workers (as a reference professional in Social Services) in Spain, with the aim of finding out their perceptions and experiences derived from the changes in work organisation during the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to extract strategies and good practices specifically identified by social workers, and for their specific professional field, that lead to an improvement in the quality of working life and well-being in their organisations. The results made it possible to identify some specific practices that could be incorporated into the praxis of these professionals for the construction of Healthy Organisations that could have a positive impact on their working conditions, which could also mean an improvement in the services provided by these professionals to the public.

Knowledge, attitude, and practice toward photoaging in the Chinese population: a cross-sectional study

To investigate the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of photoaging in the Chinese population. This web-based cross-sectional study was conducted between January 2023 and March 2023 among the Chinese population aged 18–80 years old. Participants’ knowledge, attitude, and practice toward photoaging were collected through a self-administered questionnaire. A total of 830 questionnaires were collected, with 826 valid questionnaires and an efficiency rate of 99.52%. There were 274 (33.17%) males and 532 (64.41%) aged 31–51 years old. The average knowledge, attitude, and practice scores were 7 (4, 9) (possible range 0–12), 31.5 (28, 34) (possible range 8–40), and 33 (24, 42) (possible range 11–55), respectively, indicating poor knowledge, good attitude, and moderate practice. Spearman correlation analysis showed that knowledge was negatively correlated with attitude (r = − 0.111, P < 0.05) and practice (r = − 0.113, P < 0.05), and attitude was positively correlated with practice (r = 0.992, P < 0.05). The multivariable linear regression model showed that for each point increase in attitude score, the practice score increased by 2.96 points (β = 2.96, 95% CI 2.91–3.01, P < 0.001). The Chinese population has poor knowledge, good attitude, and moderate practice toward photoaging. A good attitude toward photoaging would lead to good practice, and more outreach and education for the Chinese population might be needed.

Assessment of abattoir workers and livestock keepers’ knowledge and practices regarding bovine tuberculosis in Senegal

Background and Aim: Tuberculosis (TB) is a major zoonosis in Senegal, accounting for 33% of all zoonotic disease reports in 2019. The aim of this study was to assess bovine TB knowledge and practices of abattoir workers in Dakar and livestock farmers in Pout. Materials and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study on knowledge and practices of Dakar abattoir workers (butchers, transporters, sellers, and animal health workers) and Pout livestock farmers regarding bovine tuberculosis. R 3.2.6 was used for descriptive statistics, Chi-square, and Fischer’s exact tests, and STATA 13 was used for univariate and multivariate logistic regressions. Results: A total of 274 abattoir workers and livestock farmers were interviewed: 103 (37.6%) from Dakar abattoir and 171 (62.4%) from Pout farms. Respondents were predominantly male (75.2%), aged 30–59 years (67.5%), and had at least 10 years of experience (51.8%). The majority (98.2%) were aware of TB, but only 31.4% knew that it was zoonotic. Only 2.5% (7/274) of participants had satisfactory TB knowledge, which differed according to study area, experience, profession, and good practice (p = 0.05). Abattoir workers were 11 times more likely than farmers to have good TB knowledge (odds ratio [OR] = 11.2; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.1–114.3). Respondents with 5–10 years of experience were 16.9 times more likely to have good knowledge of TB (OR = 16.9; 95% CI = 1.7–163.4). The majority of participants preferred raw milk (83.6%) and undercooked meat (83.6%). Only 29.6% of participants had good practices, which differed with respect to study area, gender, marital status, age, occupation, and knowledge of TB (p = 0.05). Age (OR = 3.3; 95% CI, 1.3–8.3) was identified as a good practice adoption predictor. Conclusion: Globally, there was a low level of good knowledge and practices regarding TB among respondents. There is a need for mass education through multi-sectoral collaboration between health professionals (humans and animals) using a One Health approach. Keywords: animal, human, public health, tuberculosis, zoonosis.

FloripaSat-2: An Open-Source Platform for CubeSats

This paper presents the FloripaSat-2 platform, an open-source service platform already on its second version, including, but not limited to, On-Board Data Handling (OBDH), Telemetry, Tracking and Command (TTC), and Electrical Power System (EPS) modules. The platform is conceived to be general-purpose, i.e., easily adaptable for missions with different payloads and requirements. In this context, an overview of the generic nanosatellite architecture, along with the ongoing missions in which it is being employed, is discussed, including the embedded systems, functionalities, and components. Also, the relevant source code is available in an online repository and can be used and expanded to different kinds of CubeSat missions. Finally, good practices regarding the development and a FlatSat proposal for faster testing of the subsystems are presented to aid engineers in testing and adapting the systems to their mission requirements.

Learning from reflection – good practice in handover with neurodiverse clients

This article details the reflection process that arose as a result of our recent experiences with client handover within a national, specialist, adult neurodevelopmental psychology service, following one clinician leaving the service. The departing clinician and the team used this ‘learningfrom experience’ opportunity to collectively reflect on handover with neurodiverse clients, thinking about what went well with the whole process, what could have been done differently and to consider the adaptations that this population may require in order to make handovers as smooth as possible. We have summarised the learning points from these reflections into ‘good practice guidance’ for our own service. Literature on best handover practice is limited, especially with respect to neurodiversity, and given the increasing number of neurodiverse clients accessing local or secondary care services, we are sharing our first-hand experiences in the hope that this may be relevant, helpful and/or stimulate discussion for other services experiencing similar situations.

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Regarding Use of Local Anaesthetics Among Non-Anaesthesia Healthcare Professionals at Mulago National Referral Hospital.

Local anaesthetics (LA) are commonly used in dental and surgical emergency wards by both anaesthesia professionals and non-anaesthesia professionals. Anecdotal evidence shows that non-anaesthesia health-care professionals do not monitor vital signs during the use of local anaesthesia, and there are no standard hospital guidelines on the use of LA and management of LA toxicity by non-anaesthesia professionals. This study sought to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding local anaesthetic use among non-anaesthesia health-care professionals at Mulago National Referral Hospital. This was a cross-sectional study that utilized a quantitative research approach. The sample size of the study was 43 non-anaesthesia healthcare professionals from the casualty and surgical outpatient wards and Mulago dental ward. Data was collected using a questionnaire and analyzed using STATA 15. Overall, 66.67% of the Specialist, 76.47% of the senior house officers, 100% of medical officers, and 80% of the clinical orthopedic house officers had unsatisfactory levels of knowledge in Mulago casualty and surgical outpatient wards. 20% of the specialist and 16.67% of the senior house officers had unsatisfactory levels of knowledge in Mulago dental ward. 87.5% of the non-anaesthesia health-care professionals do not give a test dose on a routine basis in Mulago casualty and surgical outpatient wards. A total of 63.64% of the non-anaesthesia healthcare professionals in Mulago dental ward do not sterilize the site of injection. Non-anaesthesia health-care professionals had unsatisfactory levels of knowledge, somewhat good practices, and negative attitudes toward LA use.

Sustainability of the Food Industry: Ecological Efficiency and Influencing Mechanism of Carbon Emissions Trading Policy in China

As an important factor affecting ecological sustainability, the food industry’s ecological efficiency (EE) deserves great attention and control. In 2013, China implemented a carbon emissions trading policy (CETP) to limit carbon emissions from various industries to promote the optimization of the ecological environment. To explore the ecological sustainability of China’s food industry, identify the factors affecting the EE of the food industry, and study the influence heterogeneity and influencing mechanisms, the impact of the CETP on the food industry, which emits high volumes of greenhouse gasses, requires evaluation. Many scholars have studied the policy’s effect from the perspective of EE, but they have ignored the food industry, which is the main carbon emitting sector, and there is a lack of heterogeneity analyses of the influencing factors. This study reviewed the implementation process and characteristics of the CETP in the past decades. Using provincial panel data from 2003 to 2019, this study measured the EE in the food industry through the difference-in-difference model, evaluated the emission reduction and economic effects of the CETP on the food industry, characterized the heterogeneity of the policy’s effectiveness, and analysed its mechanism using three-stage mediating regression. The results showed that (1) the CETP significantly affected the food industry’s EE, which increased by 38.3% on average in experimental provinces compared with non-experimental provinces. (2) For the food industry, the policy’s effect was most significant in the food manufacturing and tobacco subsectors, and these subsectors in the experimental provinces increased by 66.0% and 39.7%, respectively; meanwhile, the policy’s effect was not significant in agriculture and subsidiary food processing and beverage manufacturing. By industrial area, the policy’s effects were significantly higher in the eastern region compared with the central and western regions. The influence on the food industry’s EE in the eastern region was close to 150%, while in the central and western regions, it was not significant. (3) The CETP promoted the food industry’s EE by improving energy consumption structure and technological innovation. The proportion of coal consumption decreased by 6.34% on average, and the technological innovation level increased by 25.1% on average in the experimental provinces’ food industries. The research findings indicate that the CEPT is a good practice and worth spreading. For food industry enterprises with high carbon emissions, attention should be paid to low-carbon transformation through technological upgrading and management optimization. For policymakers, targeted policies are needed to establish a national unified carbon trading market so that the national carbon emissions can be controlled, and the gap between regional carbon emissions can be narrowed.

Knowledge, attitude and practice on ovarian reserve function among women of childbearing age: a prospective cross-sectional study in Chongqing and surrounding regions

ObjectivesTo evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and practice (KAP) on ovarian reserve function among women of childbearing age in Chongqing and surrounding regions, China.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingChongqing and surrounding regions, China.ParticipantsWomen of childbearing...

Prevalence of Rotavirus antigen in children with gastroenteritis in Auchi Etsako West Local Government Area, Edo State, Nigeria.

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of rotavirus infection among children in Auchi, Edo State, Nigeria, and its association with selected demographic factors. Rotavirus infections are a major cause of viral gastroenteritis in children globally, and despite the availability of vaccines, they continue to pose a significant health burden. The study population consisted of 200 children aged 2-15 years, with data collected through a questionnaire and stool samples analysed using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) kits (Abbexa, UK) following the manufacturer's instructions. The overall prevalence of rotavirus infection was found to be 6%, which was relatively low compared to previous studies in Nigeria and other countries. The study revealed that children in the age group of 6-10 years had the highest prevalence of rotavirus infection, while the prevalence was lower among nursery and secondary school children. There was no significant association between any of the participant's demographic factors and rotavirus infection. However, living in rural areas was associated with a higher risk of rotavirus infection compared to semi-urban and urban areas. The study emphasizes the importance of rotavirus vaccination, promoting good hygiene practices, and raising awareness among parents, caregivers, and healthcare professionals. Further investigation is needed to explore additional risk factors and improve understanding of rotavirus infection in this population.

Recommendations of the Spanish-Portuguese Internal Medicine services in the fight against climate change and environmental degradation.

Facing the severity of the impact of climate change and environmental degradation on human health, 32 Internal Medicine societies, colleges, and associations of 29 Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries issue a consensus document in which they call for the implication of doctors and all health professionals in the global fight against the causes of these changes. This commitment requires the cooperation of health-related organizations, elaboration and implementation of good environmental sustainability practices, greater awareness of professionals and population, promotion of education and research in this area, increasing climate resilience and environmental sustainability of health systems, combating inequalities and protecting the most vulnerable populations, adopting behaviors that protect the environment, and claiming Internal Medicine as a core specialty for empowerment of the health system to respond to these challenges.

Formula omitted]piler: Compilers in search of compilations

Compilers pose significant challenges in their development as software products. Language developers face the complexities of ensuring efficiency, adhering to good design practices, and maintaining the overall codebase. These factors make it difficult to predict the unexpected impact of updates on existing software built on the current compiler stack. Furthermore, software created for a specific compiler often lacks reusability for other compiler environments. In this study, we propose a comprehensive framework for the uniform development of compilers that addresses these issues. Our approach involves developing compilers as a collection of small transpilation units, referred to as deltas. The transpilation infrastructure takes source code written in a particular source language and searches for a path of deltas to generate equivalent source code in the target language. By adopting this methodology, language developers can easily update their languages by introducing new deltas into the system. Existing code remains unaffected as old transpilation paths remain available. To support this framework, we have devised a metric space for efficient delta search. This metric space enables us to define a non-overestimating heuristic function, which proves valuable in solving the search problem. Leveraging the A* search algorithm, we can efficiently transpile programs from a source language to the target language. To evaluate the effectiveness of our approach, we conducted a benchmark comparison between the A* search algorithm and the simpler breadth-first search (BFS) algorithm. The benchmark consisted of over 100 transpilation searches, providing valuable insights into the performance and capabilities of this framework.

ANMCO Position paper: States General 2023 - Role of ANMCO in the setting of clinical research in Cardiology in Italy: current state and future perspectives

For over 40 years, clinical research has been one of the most important aims of the Italian Association of Hospital Cardiologists (ANMCO), being an essential tool in pursuing promotion and fulfillment of good clinical practices in prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of cardiovascular diseases. Since 1992, with the creation of the Research Center (now part of the Heart Care Foundation), ANMCO is capable of independently and professionally managing all the aspects related to planning, management, and publication of the results of clinical studies. The other strength of ANMCO is the network built in Cardiology Departments on the whole territory of Italy, a human capital that allows ANMCO to deal with the new scientific challenges, in a context of profound changes in the social, economic, technological, and methodological setting. This document is based on the debate about the state of clinical research in Italy and the role of ANMCO in this setting that took place during the 2023 ANMCO States General.

Implementation of good manufacturing practices (GMP) to improve the quality of smoked fish (Scombercolias)

For several years, fish smoking has been the widely adopted processing method among artisanal fish smokers located along the coastal zones in many parts of West Africa including Ghana. However, several issues pertaining to biochemical and microbiological contaminants still remain, mainly because of the suboptimal, unhygienic fish handling during the processing. To help curtail the problem, we developed and implemented a simple good manufacturing practice (GMP) system for experimentation at two local fish smoking facilities (Facility A, FA; Facility B, FB) to assess the effectiveness for improving the quality of smoked fish. The implementation of GMP did not affect the physical properties of the smoked fish but improved the peroxide value, total volatile base nitrogen, polyaromantic hydrocarbons and histamine levels. The total aerobic counts decreased from 3.96 ± 0.12 cfu/g to 1.52 ± 0.28 cfu/g (FA) or from 4.10 ± 0.2 cfu/g to 1.85 ± 0.85 cfu/g, (FB). The coliforms and Escherichia coli decreased respectively from 1.69 ± 0.12 cfu/g and 1.15 ± 0.21 cfu/g (FA) and from 1.74 ± 0.37 cfu/g and 1.24 ± 0.37 cfu/g, (FB) to below detection (no observed colony) after introducing the single use of potable water, use of smoking oven and fish core temperature of 108.1 ± 7.5 °C and 82.5 ± 3.9 °C, respectively for 2 h, wearing of safety apparels, drying and cooling of smoked fish under nets, and the use of waste disposal bins. The results show that sensitization and training of fish smokers in GMP may be relevant for improving the microbial and overall quality of smoked fish.

Comparing blastocyst euploid rates between the progestin-primed and gonadotrophin-releasing hormone antagonist protocols in aneuploidy genetic testing: a randomised trial protocol

IntroductionProgestin can inhibit the pituitary luteinising hormone (LH) surge during ovarian stimulation for in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and studies show progestin-primed ovarian stimulation (PPOS) is effective in blocking the LH...

Multicentre randomised trial of screening with sFlt1/PlGF and planned delivery to prevent pre-eclampsia at term: protocol of the PE37 study

IntroductionPre-eclampsia affects ~5%–7% of pregnancies. Although improved obstetric care has significantly diminished its associated maternal mortality, it remains a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in the world. Term...

Cocoa Producers’ Decision on Fermenting Beans in Jembrana Regency, Bali Province, Indonesia

Cocoa bean has an important role in the agricultural economy of Indonesia for its foreign earnings. Demand for high quality of cocoa beans is increasing fast due to the expansion of global cocoa and chocolate market. Bali Province also plays an important role in Indonesia’s cocoa production and export where the main cocoa plantation lies in Jembrana Regency cultivated by small-scale farmers. Chocolate industry requests for high quality cocoa beans from fermented cocoa for high prices, however farmers are still reluctant to do fermentation. This study aims at analyzing probability of farmer’s decision to ferment cocoa beans at Jembrana Regency, Bali Province, Indonesia. Logit regression was utilized where the dependent variable is in binary, which is the change in probability of a cocoa producer choosing to ferment their cocoa beans, given the independent variables included farm size, production and other occupation of farmers. The result from the average marginal effect shows that only production variable is significant to increase the probability of the cocoa farmers to ferment their cocoa beans. Result from the analysis indicates that on average for one kilogram increase in cocoa production per month, the probability of observing increases fermentation by approximately 0.26 percentage point. In other words, higher production volume increases the probability of the cocoa producers to ferment their cocoa beans. It is suggested to multi stakehonders in cocoa industry to further improve production through the implementation of good agricultural practices (GAP) and extending training for cocoa farmers.

KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, AND PRACTICE OF ANTIBIOTIC USE AND ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE AMONG THE GENERAL POPULATION OF MALAYSIA

Introduction: Globally, antibiotic resistance is a serious issue. Recognizing the impact and importance of antibiotic resistance is the first step in preventing its progression. This study aimed to evaluate knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding antibiotic use among the general population of Malaysia. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 177 respondents. Methods: Convenience sampling was applied, and we used an online questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive analysis and multiple linear regression. Results: A sum of 177 respondents were polled, with 121 (68.4%) being female and 130 (73.4%) falling between the ages of 18 and 29. In the previous year, forty-five point eight percent (81) had used antibiotics more than once. Seventy-six point four percent (136) were found to have good knowledge of antibiotic use and practice. However, more than half of respondents believe that antibiotics help them to recover quickly from fever. More than half of the respondents (59.88%) thought that or were not sure that Antibiotic resistance affects only those who take antibiotics regularly. Additionally, almost half (49.7%) of the respondents never discard their remaining antibiotics. We found that good practice of antibiotic use is associated with increasing age (p=0.046), good knowledge (p=0.050), and good attitude (p&lt;0.001) towards antibiotic use and its resistance. Conclusion: Despite the generally favorable results, more interventional measures should be taken into consideration for the future improvement of the general public's understanding of antibiotic usage and practice, especially in schools, colleges, and universities.

Barriers and facilitators to use of digital health tools by healthcare practitioners and their patients, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a multimethods study

ObjectivesTo explore how healthcare practitioners (HCPs) made decisions about the implementation of digital health technologies (DHTs) in their clinical practice before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.DesignA multimethods study, comprising semistructured...

Smouldering multiple myeloma: To seek or not to seek? To treat or not to treat. That is the question.

In this issue, the British Society for Haematology presents guidelines for the diagnosis and management of patients with smouldering multiple myeloma (SMM). The authors provide a practical, evidence-based approach to managing these patients. Key questions remain yet unsolved. Commentary on: Hughes etal. Diagnosis and management of smouldering myeloma: A British Society for Haematology Good Practice Paper. Br J Haematol 2024;204:1193-1206.

Implementasi Pendekatan Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) melalui Pembelajaran Berdiferensiasi untuk Siswa SD Kelas II

The diverse learning needs and understanding levels of students require teachers to be creative in crafting learning experiences. The realization of student-centered and empowering learning is one solution to the diverse needs and levels of understanding of students. Differentiated learning is a learning effort based on the needs, characteristics and learning styles of learners. Learning by implementing the Teaching at The Right Level approach can accommodate the learning needs of diverse students. This study aims to provide an overview of the implementation of the Teaching at The Right Level (TaRL) approach in differentiated learning in grade II of SD Negeri Kalicari 01. The research methodology used is descriptive qualitative. The data sources used are the implementation of learning itself and field notes obtained during the research. Data collection techniques include interviews, observations, and document analysis. The results of the study show that the application of the TaRL approach in differentiated learning can be done by grouping students based on their level of understanding, designing learning plans, and implementing learning according to the plan that has been prepared. Differentiated learning with the TaRL approach is a positive good practice because it can accommodate the needs and skills of students in grade II SD Negeri Kalicari 01.