Individual Practices Research Articles

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Oral Health among The Local Population of Lahore

Objective: To assess oral health-related awareness of knowledge, attitudes, and practices among the local population in Lahore. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted over six months with a sample of 345 individuals (139 males, 206 females) using a convenience sampling technique. Aself-administered questionnaire comprised 17 questions divided into five parameters: self-perception, knowledge, attitudes, practices, and eating habits. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the results. Results: The study revealed that most of the participants(46%) had satisfactory self-perception of oral health. The assessment of knowledge of oral health stated that 315 individuals(91.3%) were aware of the prevention of caries through teeth brushing. The practices of individuals showed that 238(69%) of them brushed their teeth twice a day. Atotal of 206(59.7%) participants used mouthwash as an additional oral cleaning aid. 189(54.8%) individuals consumed sweetened foods and drinks daily. Conclusion: The awareness related to oral health knowledge and attitude in the local population of Lahore was considered to be adequate. Individual practices however do not reflect this knowledge as unhealthy lifestyle still prevailed. Keywords: Attitude, Knowledge, Oral hygiene, Practice

A Survey on Surgical Site Infections Prevention Guidelines Knowledge and Implementation Level of Trauma Centre Healthcare Professionals

Aims/Background Surgical site infections (SSIs) significantly influence patient safety and healthcare quality, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where the burden is most evident. This manuscript aims to evaluate the awareness and adherence to SSI prevention guidelines among healthcare providers at a tertiary trauma centre situated in Tirana, Albania. Methods This cross-sectional survey was conducted among practising surgeons, residents and nurses of Trauma University Hospital, Tirana. The questionnaire explores awareness, attitudes and practices towards SSI prevention in preoperative, perioperative and postoperative phases. Results The participants demonstrated a high level of patient education about SSI risks (91.9%), but lower adherence to individual prevention practices. Conclusion Despite adequate knowledge, there remains a significant gap in the implementation of SSI prevention guidelines. Strengthening continuous medical education is crucial to addressing systemic barriers, improving compliance with guidelines, and decreasing SSI rates.

Assessing veterinarians' opinions of antimicrobial stewardship initiative acceptability for farm practice in Wales.

Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) initiatives are imperative to safeguard antimicrobials and reduce resistance. Across the UK, AMS relies in part on the self-regulation of the veterinary profession, particularly in farm animal practice, alongside voluntary schemes and quality assurance systems. In Europe, AMS initiatives are often statutory and require responsibility from several sectors. Consideration of broader AMS initiatives, potentially unfamiliar to the Welsh veterinary profession, could optimise future policy and align it with the requirements of Welsh veterinarians. AMS initiatives were collated from nations with long-standing low antimicrobial use. A survey was constructed permitting veterinarians'evaluation of initiative feasibility and effectiveness (collectively, 'acceptability') within Welsh farm animal practice. Veterinarian-directed AMS initiatives, particularly those implemented within individual practices, were considered most acceptable. Initiatives that demanded cooperation from entities outside practices, or those regarded as punitive, were less acceptable. The findings of this voluntary survey may be biased towards particularly motivated respondents in the veterinary sector. Additionally, the cause or effect of the recorded professional behaviour is not known in this study. Future antimicrobial policy should consider AMS acceptability by veterinarians, alongside farmers and other stakeholders, to promote compliance and attainment. The study data suggest that veterinarians may perceive continuous professional development/knowledge exchange as being most acceptable, alongside activities allied to a strong veterinarian‒client prescribing relationship. Continued support should focus on expanding these areas. Decoupling (ie, abolishing the professional licence for veterinarians to both prescribe and dispense medicines) was viewed as least acceptable by veterinarians in this study.

CTNI-01. INTERVENTION OUTCOMES OF ENHANCED RECOVERY AFTER SURGERY PROTOCOL VERSUS STANDARD CARE FOR GLIOMA PATIENTS IN SELECTED HOSPITALS IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO: RANDOMIZATION AND STRATIFICATION OF PROVIDERS AND HOSPITALS

Abstract BACKGROUND Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) protocols have shown promise in improving perioperative care and patient outcomes in various surgical specialties. Aim: This study will aim to assess the efficacy of ERAS compared to the current standard of care (SOC) for glioma patients in DRC hospitals. METHODS A pragmatic, multicenter, randomized controlled trial will be designed to evaluate the outcomes of glioma patients treated with ERAS protocols versus SOC in selected hospitals in DRC. EXPECTED RESULTS A total of 100 glioma patients will be included in this study, with 50 patients in the ERAS group and 50 in the SOC group. The primary analysis will reveal that the ERAS group will have significantly fewer post-operative complications (p < 0.05) and a shorter length of hospital stay (p < 0.05) compare to the SOC group. Patient satisfaction scores will also higher in the ERAS group. Subgroup analyses by hospital center will indicate consistent trends in favor of the ERAS protocol. Randomization of providers and stratification by hospital will aim to mitigate the influence of individual provider practices and hospital-specific factors on the study outcomes. This approach will be expected to enhance the validity of the results and ensure equitable representation across hospitals. CONCLUSIONS The unique design of randomizing providers and stratifying by hospital will be a critical component of this multicenter trial, which seeks to provide valuable insights into the potential benefits of ERAS protocols for glioma patients in DRC. The findings will guide clinical practice and healthcare policy in resource-constrained settings, ultimately improving the care and outcomes of glioma patients

The New Media Art world in Turkey: Boundary-work in action

In an age marked by the Post-media condition, the term ‘New Media Art’ remains in use in reference to a professional territory not autonomous, but also different from the territory of Contemporary Art, and its members use various rhetorical tactics to maintain and expand their professional authority. This study aims at analyzing the professional ideology of the New Media Art territory in Turkey using Thomas F. Gieryn’s concept of the ‘boundary-work’. The data obtained via semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted with a purposively sampled population of artists, curators and producers are used to assess whether a common cultural repertoire exists in this territory and whether it conforms to or contradicts its global counterpart. The study finds that since the mid-1990s, the professional ideology of the New Media Art territory in Turkey has developed in parallel with the world, but not monolithically. The curators/producers’ ideology is defined by potential for democratization, intersections of art, science and technology, interaction/interactivity and interdisciplinary collaboration. However, they exhibit two repertoire variants positively correlated with the subjects’ career orientations. The artists’ common ideology is similar to the curators’/producers’, but their cultural repertoires are more flexible thanks to the variety of their individual practices. The study concludes that this duality emerges due to the limited funding sources in Turkey.

The Search for Paxlovid: Medication Acquisition as Anticipation Work After China's Zero-COVID Policy

In early December 2022, China's zero-COVID policy came to an end. For Chinese citizens, an imaginary of safety predicated on collective action and state care was replaced with a general focus on individualized responsibility for maintaining one's health. This expedited policy reversal had the unintended effect of infecting around 80% of China's population in one month, leading to a period of confusion, anxiety, and infection. One way of obtaining safety in a precarious time was to acquire medical resources. Through an online ethnographic investigation, we trace the acquisition of Paxlovid, an antiviral medication that had its distribution within China complicated by geopolitical tension and supply issues. By attending to the precarity of Chinese citizens at home and abroad, we show how Paxlovid was desired in both the present tense for the presently ill and in the future tense as an anticipatory form of safety. We use the analytical lens of anticipation work to unpack individual, collective, and state anticipatory practices supported by various social media platforms within and across borders. In doing so, we highlight moments of friction between and among various actors to argue that attending to affect, precarity, and practices in moments of conflict is critical to understanding the complexities of computer-supported cooperative work.

Musical creation laboratory as an environment for free expression: An ethnographic observation of creative dynamics

This ethnographic study investigates creative dynamics in a musical creation laboratory at the University of Rio Grande, Brazil. Data collection was obtained through semi-structured interviews conducted after the accomplishment of free improvisation activities. The research focused on the testimonies of 10 volunteer musicians, emphasizing the expectations, transformations, and reflections present in their narratives. The findings highlight how emotional experiences shape musical expression, revealing the transformative role of creativity in both individual and collective artistic practices. The study revealed that the process of creative freedom was deeply influenced by the participants’ emotions. These emotions, when experienced and expressed, reflected meanings and reinterpretations in how they perceived and positioned themselves both artistically and socially.

Culturally Tailored Lifestyle Modification Strategies for Hypertension Management: A Narrative Review.

Hypertension (HTN) is a significant global health challenge affecting billions of individuals worldwide. The prevalence of HTN varies considerably across the globe due to diverse factors, such as lifestyle influenced by culture, genetics, health care access, and socioeconomic conditions. Lifestyle modification has a substantial impact on blood pressure management; however, some cultural practices and behaviors affect recommended lifestyle modification strategies for HTN management. The purpose of this review was to explore lifestyle modification strategies for HTN management from a cultural perspective. Lifestyle modification, including physical activity, stress reduction, changes in dietary patterns (adopting a low-sodium diet and intake of fruit and vegetables), and weight management, provide an effective non-pharmacologic intervention for the management of hypertension. Individual's cultural practices have the potential to determine their diet, physical activity levels, knowledge, and perception about HTN, adherence to treatment and medications, and the use of local herbal preparations for HTN management. Culture focuses on individuals' belief, practices and how these beliefs and practices influence their lifestyle behaviors for HTN management. It is important to consider patients' cultural beliefs before recommending lifestyle behaviors for HTN management.

A case study of Japanese teachers’ self-reflection on elementary English lessons

Since 2020, English has become a compulsory subject in Japanese elementary schools, and grade three to six teachers need to teach English despite their limited knowledge of English teaching. Most teacher training programs are transmitting styles and do not always meet the difficulties of individual teachers in English teaching. This research focuses on teacher self-reflection as an alternative to support teachers’ self-development in addition to training programs. Two Japanese elementary school teachers reflected their English lessons and how their possible selves shaped their future lessons. They recorded and reflected six lessons from a textbook unit and recorded another six lessons from a different unit. The recorded lessons were transcribed, and the reflections were coded to generate theories that revealed their possible selves. Their explanations for reflection and validation were obtained from interviews. One teacher’s Ought-to self shaped his future team-teaching practices with the assistant language teacher. The other teacher’s Ideal self modified her routine activities to meet her ideal duration for the activities. The teacher participants’ self-reflection revealed their possible selves, which served as a basis to modify their future English lessons to meet their ideals. This study recommends that this mechanism of individual reflective practice be encouraged as part of the teacher development program in addition to the existing teacher training.

Principles for secondary traumatic stress-responsive practice: An expert consensus approach.

Though research on secondary traumatic stress (STS) has greatly increased in the past decade, to date the field lacks a coherent set of guiding principles for practice that behavioral health providers and organizations can use to mitigate the occurrence and impact of STS. As such it is important to identify effective strategies, grounded in research and professional experience, to reduce the occurrence and impact of STS among behavioral health professionals and organizations. We conducted a four-stage modified Delphi survey. Thirty-one international STS experts were invited to participate, with a minimum of 19 responding in each round. Thematic analysis was conducted on qualitative data, which was incorporated into revisions of the principles. Consensus was achieved on 14 principles, seven targeted at individual professionals, and seven targeted at organizations. This is the first effort to delineate principles for practice intended to reduce the occurrence and impact of STS in individual and organizational practice in behavioral health services. The principles are intended to inform best practices for individuals and organizations providing services to persons and communities who have experienced trauma and thereby improve the quality and effectiveness of services to traumatized populations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Differentiating Seborrheic Keratosis from Melanoma Among Lesions Exhibiting Blue-White Veil: A Retrospective Study

Differentiating melanoma (MM) from seborrheic keratosis (SK) containing a blue-white veil (BWV) remains challenging. Identify dermoscopic features that can improve upon the differentiation between MMs and SKs exhibiting BWV. Images from 110 MMs and 121 SKs containing BWV were aggregated, and 91 MMs and 62 SKs from this dataset had complete agreement on the presence of BWV according to 3 expert dermoscopists. Independent readers recorded the presence or absence of dermoscopic structures using a web-based data collection instrument. Odds ratios were used to evaluate the association between features and diagnosis, and Fisher's exact test was used to determine significance of associations. The combination of milia-like cysts and/or comedo-like openings (MCCO) within the BWV and BWV encompassing the entire lesion occurred in 56% of SKs and 0% of MM. All MMs had at least one MM-specific structure other than BWV or lacked MCCO. Agreement on dermoscopic feature prevalence was variable. The subset of lesions with complete agreement on the presence of BWV may not be representative of lesions encountered in an individual clinician's practice. Lesions exhibiting BWV with MCCO and no additional MM-specific features suggests a benign diagnosis, as was not seen in any cases of MM.

‘Shooting in the dark’: implications of the research–practice gap for enhancing research use in adult social care

Background: Despite calls for greater use of research and an appetite to do so within adult social care, a gap persists between research and practice. Aims and objectives: To explore views of adult social care staff about research and its application to everyday practice. To understand how these might impact upon research use capacity-building initiatives within adult social care organisations. Methods: Thematic analysis of semi-structured qualitative interviews with 25 staff members working within the adult social care departments of three English local authorities. Findings: Participants characterised research as feeling separate from practice. They reflected on their use of it in relation to pressures affecting adult social care and identified a lack of relevant research. Research benefiting service users, supporting individual practice or informing organisational decision-making was considered useful. However, research could also be viewed as a luxury where its findings were felt to represent an ‘ideal’ rather than real world of practice or did not accord with practice knowledge or local experience. Discussion and conclusions: While participants feel positively towards research, there remains a gap between these perceptions and its use in practice. There remains a need to improve research relevance and accessibility and to clarify its role in decision-making in social care, including where there is no evidence, where evidence challenges existing practice, or where the evidence base is growing. Collaborative partnerships between adult social care organisations, researchers and service users could help to narrow the research–practice gap and support the routine translation of research to practice.

Learning Developers as scholars: raising our voice

This mini-keynote encouraged attendees to consider their stance towards LD scholarship, including current enablers and barriers to engagement. Like many other third space professionals, learning developers’ participation in scholarship is somewhat constrained, due to the lack of contractual requirements to engage in such endeavours. Despite this, we view the development of LD’s pedagogical and theoretical knowledge base as a vehicle which will allow LD to disseminate its values and principles, beyond the confines of learning developers’ individual practice. Thus, this mini-keynote drew on key principles from the LD Scholarship Manifesto recently published (Bishopp-Martin and Johnson, 2023), a manifesto which has captured the voices of the LD community. The following questions acted as provocations for participants to consider what encourages or prevents them from joining the call to expand this growing field’s knowledge base: As learning developers, we are committed to student education and disseminating best practice beyond our field. How can scholarship support this commitment? Engagement with scholarship is endemic to the ALDinHE values, which have come to help us identify as a professional group. Thus, do you believe that practising according to those values, including an on-going commitment to our professional development is essential? If so, what may be holding you back? If Learning developers sit alongside students and other HE colleagues invested in academic literacies development, arguably our praxis can only be truly enacted if we are ourselves immersed in such development. To what extent is LD scholarship rooted in Academic Literacies? If not, what else underpins it and why?

유아교육현장에서 교육과정평가 실행 지원방안 탐색: 함께 응답하며 나아가기

This study aims to explore support strategies for implementing curriculum assessment in the field of early childhood education. Whereas curriculum focus has continuously shifted towards learner-centered, learning-centered, and competency-based approaches, evaluation practices remain rooted in approaches that emphasize educational content and subject knowledge, relying on empirical evidence and objective facts. To this end, this study conducted multiple mini-interviews (MMI) with teachers, administrators, and supervisors to identify challenges in implementing curriculum assessments and to collaboratively find solutions. The collected data were analyzed in six phases following the thematic analysis method proposed by Braun and Clarke(2006). The findings were categorized into three themes: ‘knotting early childhood curriculum and assessment,’ ‘opening the possibilities for practicing curriculum assessment,’ and ‘going along with children and parents in curriculum assessment.’ First, several years after the implementation of the 2019 revised Nuri Curriculum, the questions emerging in the field of early childhood education concern the connections of the essence of early childhood education, curriculum literacy, and curriculum assessment and implementation, which are the complex and entangled ‘knots’. Second, for assessment to be integrated into curriculum implementation, it is essential to go beyond individual teacher practices and explore the possibilities within the relational context, including the cultural and structural atmosphere of the school. Third, if implementing the curriculum in educational settings is a long process of ‘correspondence’ with all beings, it is crucial to seek ways for children and parents as the subjects of curriculum assessment to move forward together in harmony. Based on the diverse educational experiences, current positions, and educational philosophies of the participants, this study offers academic and practical implications for implementing curriculum assessment that lightens the burden of evaluation and refocuses on ‘our classrooms, children, teachers, and communities.’

Features of labour education of students in modern social and educational environments

Introduction. The article presents the results of investigating the problem of labor education in the context of current changes in the social and educational environments. The purpose of the article is to identify the features of labor education in modern social and educational spheres from the standpoint of continuity of the tasks of its implementation at various levels of education and consistency with the tasks of general education. Materials and Methods. The theoretical research methods include sources analysis and analysis of educational programs for different levels of education. Empirical research methods used in the study include exploration of teaching experience and a questionnaire. The survey involved: 8,850 preschool teachers from 53 regions of the Russian Federation; 317,166 parents (legal representatives) of preschool-age children from 87 regions of the country; 4,913 deputy directors of comprehensive schools, representing 61 regions; 190,080 parents of school-age students, representing 88 regions. Results. The conducted research revealed: insufficient formalization of theoretical provisions; disunity of existing individual practices of labor education, their insufficient continuity at different levels of education and consistency with the tasks of general education; low activity of parents in the implementation of tasks of labor education as the child develops, vagueness of parents’ ideas about the significance and content of labor education at different levels of education. Methodological bases and conditions for the implementation of labor education in modern social and educational environments are formulated. Conclusions. The identified features of labor education at the present stage reflect the insufficient development of theoretical and methodological foundations for organizing labor education of students and actualize the need for further study of the problem, as well as the development of a model of labor education taking into account continuity at various levels of education and consistency with the priority tasks of general, secondary vocational education and model (federal) educational programs.

EXaminaTion of cRitical cAre PHArmacist pRoductivity MetricS (EXTRA‐PHARMS): The clinical pharmacist's perspective

AbstractBackgroundCritical care pharmacists are well‐established, valuable members of the intensive care unit interprofessional team with unique skills to perform comprehensive medication management in complex critically ill patients. However, standardized and consequential productivity metrics for critical care pharmacists have not been established.ObjectiveTo characterize the utilization and perception of contemporary critical care pharmacy productivity metrics utilized among individual institutions.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsAn electronic survey was distributed to critical care pharmacist members of the Society of Critical Care Medicine Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology Section and the American College of Clinical Pharmacy Critical Care Practice and Research Network.Main Outcomes and MeasuresThe survey included 23 questions to assess institution demographics, individual respondent demographics, institution practices, and individual respondent perceptions about the value of critical care pharmacist productivity metrics.ResultsA total of 204 critical care pharmacists, largely from the United States, responded to the survey between July and November 2022. Institutional metrics captured by more than 50% of the respondents' institutions included order verification rate/number of orders verified (60%), number of clinical interventions (57%), and intravenous to enteral product interchanges (52%). Of these metrics, critical care pharmacists only agreed with the value of the number of clinical interventions, were indifferent to the value of intravenous to oral product interchanges, and disagreed with the value of order verification rate/number of orders verified.ConclusionsSignificant discrepancies exist between institutional productivity metric practices and their perceived value and utility among critical care pharmacists.

Integrating mechanical and cultural methods for weed control in organic chickpea

Abstract The Northern Great Plains of the United States is a major production region for organic pulse crops that are prone to yield losses due to weeds. Weed management in organic systems relies on the integration of several tactics to stack additive effects and for redundancy to deal with variable efficacy of individual weed management practices. To address the need for effective, integrated weed management, we conducted a 2-yr trial that evaluated the effects of planting date, seeding rate, and preemergent weed control practices (shallow tillage and flame weeding) on weed biomass, crop density, and yield in organically managed chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) in Montana. Stacking weed management practices increased yields. Early planting had the largest effects on yields, increasing them by 1.8- to 3.6-fold compared with planting 10 to 14 d later. Increasing the seeding rate from the standard rate (43 viable seeds m−2) by 50% increased yields by 47% from 889 to 1,304 kg ha−1. Both preemergent weed control practices increased yields by 40% to 50 % relative to the non-weeded controls. By integrating all three practices, yields of organic chickpea increased greater than 6-fold from 318 kg ha−1 in the controls to 2,006 kg ha−1. The effects of weed control treatments on midseason weed biomass were complex and variable. Although efficacy of the cultural (seeding rate and planting date) and physical (preemergent) treatments on weed biomass varied between years and when combined with other treatments, their full integration, that is, early planted, at higher seeding rate, and preemergent weed control, produced consistently lower weed biomass (84% reduction on average) compared with the standard grower practice (later planting, standard seeding rate, no preemergent weed control). The results lend support to the concept of integrating multiple weed management practices to achieve weed control and high yields in organically managed crops.

The shifting forms of livelihood strategies of platform workers in China

ABSTRACT Empirical research has found that platform workers have adopted both collective actions and informal practices to address unfavorable working conditions. However, the “small-scale geographies” of platform work as well as the inter-linkage of shifting forms of resistance is under-explored. This paper aims to broaden and deepen our understanding of resistance from platform workers, through a case study of app-based delivery drivers in Shanghai, China. As responses to precarity, drivers have resorted to both open, collective actions and more hidden everyday practices. Because of surveillance by the Chinese state and the close managerial control of workers, collective protests have been rarely seen and of limited effectiveness; more individual and quiet practices such as dissimulating data are favored by drivers in their everyday resistance. We argue that the intention to resist on the part of drivers echoes and expands Bayat’s observations on the survival techniques of the urban poor, and differs from the “political act” argued by Scott. It is hard to conclude that the drivers’ everyday resistance can provoke dramatic confrontation in China as Scott’s arguments would lead us to suppose. Our study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the platform economy by highlighting the unique modalities and strategies of delivery drivers in China, which differs significantly from those in Western contexts that are often addressed in the existing literature. It sheds light on the specific forms of struggle against the asymmetric power of platforms and provides new insights into the mechanisms of resistance.

Measuring the transition to regenerative agriculture in the UK with a co-designed experiment: design, methods and expected outcomes

Abstract Regenerative agriculture is promoted as a farming system that can improve agricultural sustainability, address soil degradation, and provide ecosystem service benefits. However, there remains limited evidence for the quantifiable benefits of a widespread transition to regenerative agriculture on soil, biodiversity, and crop quality, particularly at the landscape scale, and poor integration of findings across disciplines. Social and cultural aspects of the transition, such as the positioning of regenerative agriculture as a grassroots movement, farmers’ perspectives on defining regenerative practices, and social or political barriers to implementation, are harder to quantify and often overlooked in evidence-based approaches. 
Here, we present the detailed methodology for our interdisciplinary, co-designed landscape-scale experiment measuring changes in soil health, biodiversity, yield, and grain quality, as well as social and political dimensions of the implementation of regenerative practices. Our unique approach, through the co-production process, the landscape-scale, and the focus on a systemic transition instead of individual practices, will bring strong evidence of the benefits of regenerative agriculture for sustained agricultural productivity, the mitigation of climate change and biodiversity depletion in agroecosystems. Our research aims to guide future studies transforming theoretical ecology into testable hypotheses in real-world systems and provide actionable evidence to inform agricultural policies in the UK and beyond.

Bodies in motion: exploring transformations of students’ embodied practices through middle school years

ABSTRACT This paper explores embodied practices and relations of students’ ‘hexis’, the bodily part of habitus, during middle school years in a Danish state school setting, focusing on how these practices are shaped by classroom dynamics and grade level. Drawing on field notes and vignettes from 12 visits across 3 grade levels in 2 state schools – fifth grade (ages 11–12), seventh grade (ages 13–14), and ninth grade (ages 15–16) – the study reveals distinct patterns of body practices. Fifth graders exhibit a collective hexis in flux, seventh graders express more still and individual practices, and ninth graders demonstrate a complex mix characterised by individual stillness and collective in-flux. Notable gender differences emerge in the incorporation of school norms at seventh and ninth grades, with girls more likely to embody and take advantage of doxic orders of stillness. Highlighting the significant role of institutional and social contexts in shaping students’ embodied practices, this study offers a nuanced understanding of the interplay between body, time, and space in educational settings.