Results Of Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test Research Articles

Changes in Sleep Across Different Phases of Life of Medical Students and Impact of Home Confinement on Sleep during COVID-19 Lockdown

Introduction: Sleep is indispensable. The sleep habits changes with age and is influenced by external factors. The nationwide enforcement of complete lockdown lead to home confinement of all the students as classes in colleges were suspended on orders of the Government of India. Aim: To find out changes in the sleep pattern and quality in different phases of life of the students namely from school days, to college days and during the period of home confinement during COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire in the form of online form was shared with the students of MBBS first year in four Government medical colleges of Madhya Pradesh during nationwide lockdown on 1st May, 2020. The information about sleep pattern, usual bed time, average duration of sleep, sleep quality and student’s perception about adequate sleep during college days and during lockdown period was recorded. The statistical analysis was done by Wilcoxon signed rank test, and Chi-squaretest. Thesatisfaction with sleep quality was recorded on a five point Likert’s scale as very dissatisfied, dissatisfied, neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, satisfied and very satisfied. Results: A total 760 students participated in the present study. During usual college days among all participants, majority 373 (49.1%) of them had night owl type of sleep pattern. Maximum number of students 358 (47.10%) had morning lark type of sleep pattern during school days. The highest percentage of students 271 (35.7%) with no fixed pattern of sleep was observed during the period of home confinement due to lockdown. A total of 383 (50.4%) students reported that their average duration of night sleep during usual college days was six to seven hours per day. A total of 698 (91.8%) students reported that they are able to take adequate sleep at home during lockdown period. A statistically significant association was found between sleep pattern during college days and gender of participants (p-value <0.01). Wilcoxon signed rank test results showed statistically significant (p<0.001) change in number of students whose bed time changed during college days as compared to school days and during lockdown as compared to bed time during college days. Conclusion: In majority of the participants, sleep pattern changed to night owl type during college days from morning lark type during school days. The home confinement in lockdown period due to global viral pandemic has positively impacted sleep of students in terms of bed time, sleep quality and quantity.

Interactive conceptual instruction model assisted by PhET simulations on the improvement of physics multiple representations

This study aims to determine the effect of Interactive Conceptual Instruction (ICI) models aided by PhET Simulations on improving the ability of multiple representations of student’s physics. The research method used was Pre-Experimental Design with One Group Pretest-Posttest design. Fifteen multiple-choice assessment instruments in the pre-test and post-test were given to 31 students of class 10th in SMA Negeri 1 Banguntapan. The results of the analysis state that there is an influence of interactive conceptual instruction models aided by PhET Simulations on improving the ability of multiple representations of student’s physics. The improvement is shown by the Wilcoxon Sign Rank Test results. The results show that the significant value is smaller than the significant level (α), which is 0.000 <0.05. The mean value of the post-test is higher than the mean value of the pre-test shown in the descriptive analysis, and there is a shift in the range of values from 46-80 to 66-91. This research shows that interactive conceptual instruction models assisted by PhET Simulations can improve the ability of multiple representations of students physics.

Dampak Perubahan Tick Size Terhadap Likuiditas Saham (Studi Empiris Pada Bursa Efek Indonesia Berdasarkan Tick Size 6 Januari 2014)

The objective of the research was to find out and to analyze the influence of the change in tick size on stock liquidity and the factors which influenced stock liquidity. Tick size which became the research object in this evet study was the tick size on January 6, 2014. The sources of data were secondary data from BEI and Yahoo Finance. The samples were 147 stocks before the change in tick size and 147 stocks after the change in tick size, using purposive sampling technique.The data were analyzed by using Wilcoxon signed-rank test and regression analysis with an SPSS software program. The result of the research showed that spread and depth decreased significantly after the change in tick size. Lower spread and depth had contradictory implication on stock liquidity. Based on the dimension of immediacy cost and width, lower spread indicated that stock liquidity increased, while based on the dimension of market depth, lower depth indicated that stock liquidity decreased. In order to settlethis contradiction, the researcher used depth to spread ratio. Intuitively, this ratio measured whether the decrease in depthwas bigger or smaller that the decrease in spread. The result of Wilcoxon signed-rank test indicated that depth to spread ratio increased significantly which indicated that the decrease in depth was smaller than in spread so that it was concluded that stock liquidity increased after the change in tick size. The result of F-test showed that stock price, stock return volatility, and stock trading frequency simultaneously had significant influence on spread and depth. The result of t-test also indicated that stock price, stock return volatility, and stock trading frequency partially had significant influence on spread and depth.

Efektivitas Air Rebusan Daun Sirih Merah terhadap Penurunan Kadar Gula Darah pada Pasien Diabetes Melitus di Wilayah Kerja Puskesmas Saling 2018

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease that occurs due to the pancreas not being able to produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin. The purpose of this study was to study the effectiveness of the provision of red betel leaf boiled water on reducing blood sugar levels of Diabetes Mellitus patients in the Saling Puskesmas District of Four Lawang in 2018. The design of this study was an experimental Quasy using The One Group Pretest - Postest Design, technique data collection using primary and secondary data. The population of this study were all Diabetes Mellitus patients in the Saling Community Health Center in July-August 2018, amounting to 16 people, sampling was done by accidental sampling. The results of the study, from 16 patients with diabetes mellitus there are 9 people (56.2%) with blood sugar levels less than 200 mg / dl. Wilcoxon Sign Rank test results obtained value Z = -3.517 with p = 0.000 0.05 means significant. So the two variables have different medians, there are differences in the GDS levels of Diabetes Mellitus patients before and after administration of red betel leaf decoction water. Conclusion, Red betel leaf decoction water is significantly effective in reducing blood sugar levels in patients with diabetes mellitus. It is expected that Puskesmas staff can increase public knowledge by counseling about red betel leaves as a Non-Pharmacological drug for patients with Diabetes Mellitus who do not experience complications. Keywords: Red Betel Leaf Decoction Water, Diabetes Mellitus, Blood Sugar Levels

Penyangga Bantal Di Sisi Kanan Ibu Hamil Terhadap Kejadian Supine Hypotension Pada Ibu Hamil Trimester III

Latar Belakang: Supine hypotension terjadi pada trimester kedua dan trimester ketiga yaitu penurunan tekanan darah sistol &gt;30 mmHg sampai 80 mmHg pada posisi supine. Tujuan: Mengetahui hubungan penyangga bantal disisi kanan wanita hamil dengan kejadian supine hypotension pada wanita hamil trimester ketiga di wilayah kerja Puskesmas Tigaraksa. Metode Penelitian: Eksperimental dengan rancangan one group pretest posttest. Sampel penelitian ini adalah 30 teknik purposive sampling. Data diperoleh dengan pengukuran tekanan darah dengan sphygmomanometer dan detak jantung janin dengan menggunakan fetal doppler. Hasil: Analisa data yang digunakan adalah Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test hasil data yang diperoleh pretest penyangga bantal terhadap pretest supine hypotension nilai p value 0,001 &lt; 0,05, pretest penyangga bantal terhadap posttest supine hypotension nilai p value 0,000 &lt; 0,05, posttest penyangga bantal terhadap pretest supine hypotension nilai p value 0,000 &lt; 0,05, pretest penyangga bantal terhadap posttest supine hypotension nilai p value 0,000 &lt; 0,05, Kesimpulan: Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa ada hubungan yang signifikan antara penyangga bantal disisi kanan ibu hamil dengan kejadian supine hypotension pada wanita hamil trimester ketiga. Saran: Untuk wanita hamil trimester ketiga untuk menggunakan penyangga bantal disisi kanan untuk mengurangi kejadian supine hypotension.

Effects of Different Glaze Treatments on the Optical Properties and Roughness of Lithium Disilicate Ceramics

Objectives: To investigate effects of different glaze procedures on the colour, translucency, and roughness of lithium disilicate (LDS) ceramics after short-term ageing.Materials and Methods: Eighteen LDS specimens (thickness: 0.6 mm) were divided into three groups (paste (EP), spray (ES), and powder–liquid glaze (EL)) based on the type of glaze treatment (n=6). After glaze firings, specimens were thermally aged (5000 cycles). Before and after thermocycling, the colour, translucency, and roughness values of the specimens were measured. Before and after thermocycling, the translucency and roughness data were analysed using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and compared using a Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Changes in colour, translucency, and roughness data were analysed using one-way ANOVA, and the correlations between them were analysed using Spearman’s correlation analysis (p=.05).Results: The EL group showed the highest and clinically unacceptable colour change value (p≤.005). Before and after ageing, the EL group exhibited higher translucency than the other groups (p&amp;lt;.001), and the EL and EP groups exhibited higher roughness values than the ES group (p≤.001). Wilcoxon signed-rank test results showed that although a significant difference between the initial and final translucency values was observed in the EL group (p=.028), no significant differences between the initial and final roughness values were observed in each group. Only in the EL group, a significant correlation was found between the colour and translucency change values (r=0.943, p=.005).Conclusions: After short-term ageing, based on the evaluation of the LDS ceramics' colour and translucency changes, ES and EP treatments are preferable for glazing. When dentists select a material (EP, EL, ES) for glazing LDS ceramics, they should consider the effects of this material on the optical properties and surface roughness of LDS ceramics.

KOMBINASI PULSED SHORTWAVE THERAPY DAN NEURODYNAMIC MOBILIZATION LEBIH EFEKTIF MENURUNKAN DISABILITAS PUNGGUNG DIBANDINGKAN KOMBINASI PULSED SHORTWAVE THERAPY DAN LUMBAR SPINE STABILIZATION EXERCISE PADA PASIEN HERNIA NUKLEUS PULPOSUS LUMBOSAKRAL

ABTSRACT Introduction: Herniated Nucleus Pulposus (HNP) is a pathological condition in which there is protrusion of the annulus fibrosus and nucleus pulposus into the lumen of the vertebral canal. Objective: The goal of this study is to determine the effectiveness of combination of pulsed shortwave therapy and lumbar spine stabilization exercise with combination of pulsed shortwave therapy and neurodynamic mobilization in decreasing low back disability in lumbosacral herniated nucleus pulposus patients at Denpasar and Badung Physiotherapy Clinic. Methods: The study used was an experimental method. Pre-test and post-test control group design is the design of this study. This study used 28 subjects were divided into two groups. The control group consist of 14 subjects received a combination of pulsed shortwave therapy and lumbar spine stabilization exercise while the treatment group consist of 14 subjects received a combination of pulsed shortwave therapy and neurodynamic mobilization. Intervention is given 2 times a week for 4 weeks. Sampling methods used in this study was simple random sampling. The low back disability is measured by a modified oswestry disability index. Result: The normality test of the data was tested using Saphiro-Wilk Test and homogeneity test of the data was tested with Levene's Test. Wilcoxon sign rank test results obtained significant differences in the control group with the value of p = 0.001, as well as in the treatment group found a significant difference with the value of p = 0.001. Post-test results with mann-whitney u-test showed a significant difference between the control group and the treatment group where p = 0.044 with the percentage of 48.53% in the control group and 54.88% in the treatment group. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study it can be concluded that the combination of pulsed shortwave therapy and neurodynamic mobilization is more effective than the combination of pulsed shortwave therapy and lumbar spine stabilization exercise in reducing low back disability in patients with lumbosacral herniated nucleus pulposus at the Denpasar and Badung Physiotherapy Clinic.Keywords: lumbosacral herniated nucleus pulposus, low back disability, pulsed shortwave therapy, neurodynamic mobilization, lumbar spine stabilization exercise

Imbalanced learning based on adaptive weighting and Gaussian function synthesizing with an application on Android malware detection

The existence of imbalanced classes can considerably degrade the performance of most standard learning algorithms. This paper presents a new imbalanced learning method called AWGSENN to address this problem on data level. In AWGSENN, each minority instance is firstly weighted based on the number of majority class neighbors and the distance of the minority instance to its neighbors. Then, a Gaussian distribution probability density function is designed to generate new instances nonlinearly. Finally, the edited nearest neighbor rule is used as a data cleaning technique to remove overlapping and noisy instances. The proposed method is evaluated in extensive experiments by comparing it with five over-sampling and two hybrid sampling methods on 37 data sets from the KEEL data repository. Empirical study results show that our approach can achieve significant performance improvement on G-mean and the area under curve metrics. Wilcoxon signed-rank test results show that our approach is superior to other resampling approaches. We apply the proposed method for Android malware detection, and the results further demonstrate the promising performance of our approach.

The Effects of Eight-Week Regular Training in Amateur Amputee Football Team Athletes' Body Composition

The purpose of this study is to observe the effects of the 8 week regular training program on body composition of the amateur amputee sports club athletes. 12 amateur amputee athletes in the Malatya Ay Yildiz Amateur Amputee Football Team with ages ranging from 16 to 33 (X age: 24.33 ± 5.71 years, X length: 1.74 ± 8.07 meters, X weight: 75.09 ± 15.16 kg) voluntarily participated in this study. The training program consists of strength, strength, agility, speed, technique, tactics, coordination and flexibility. Body length, body weight, heart rate measurements, skin fold thickness of three different parts and body mass index (BMI) were measured before and after the 8 week training period to evaluate body composition. Densities were calculated using the Jackson and Pollock (1978) formula, taking into account the skin fold thickness measurements made. Percent body fat is calculated using Siri's formula. The body mass index is determined by the World Health Organization (WHO) formula. A statistically significant difference was found in the comparison of the athletes' weight, resting heart rate, body mass index and body fat percentage in the first and last week measurements according to Wilcoxon signed rank test results (p<0.05). As a result, in this study; The 8-week training program which includes strength, strength, speed, agility, coordination, technique and flexibility enhancing exercises showed significant changes in parameters of body composition of Ay Yıldız Spor Kulubu ampute athletes.

Uncovering a Role for Electronic Personal Health Records in Reducing Disparities in Sexually Transmitted Infection Rates Among Students at a Predominantly African American University: Mixed-Methods Study.

BackgroundBlack youth continue to bear an overwhelming proportion of the United States sexually transmitted infection (STI) burden, including HIV. Several studies on web-based and mobile health (mHealth) STI interventions have focused on characterizing strategies to improve HIV-related prevention and treatment interventions, risk communication, and stigma among men who have sex with men (MSM), people who use substances, and adolescent populations. The Electronic Sexual Health Information Notification and Education (eSHINE) Study was an exploratory mixed-methods study among students at a historically black university exploring perceptions on facilitating STI testing conversations with partners using electronic personal health records (PHRs).ObjectiveThe purpose of this paper is to use eSHINE Study results to describe perceived impacts of electronic PHRs on facilitating STI testing discussions between sexual partners.MethodsSemistructured focus groups and individual in-depth interviews were conducted on a heterogeneous sample of students (n=35) between May and July 2014. Qualitative phase findings guided development of an online survey instrument for quantitative phase data collection. Online surveys were conducted using a convenience sample of students (n=354) between January and May 2015. Online survey items collected demographic information, sexual behaviors, beliefs and practices surrounding STI testing communication between partners, and beliefs about the impact of electronic PHR access on facilitating these discussions with partners. Chi-square analysis was performed to assess gender differences across quantitative measures. A Wilcoxon signed rank sum test was used to test the null hypothesis that electronic PHRs are believed to have no effect on the timing of dyadic STI health communication.ResultsParticipants described multiple individual and dyadic-level factors that inhibit initiating discussions about STI testing and test results with partners. Electronic PHRs were believed to improve ability to initiate conversations and confidence in STI screening information shared by partners. Among online survey participants, men were more likely to believe electronic PHRs make it easier to facilitate STI talks with potential partners (59.9% vs 51.9%; χ2=3.93, P=.05). The Wilcoxon signed-rank test results indicate significant increases in perceived discussion timing before sex with electronic PHR access (61.0% vs 40.4%; P<.001).ConclusionsFindings suggest that electronic PHR access in STI screening settings among similar populations of Black youth may improve both motivation and personal agency for initiating dyadic STI health communication. Results from this study will likely inform novel interventions that use access to electronic PHRs to stimulate important health-related discussions between sexual partners. Moving forward requires studying strategies for implementing interventions that leverage electronic PHRs to create new sexual health communication channels with providers, peers, and family among black youth.

Determining the in vitro susceptibility of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates from 8 cities in Guangdong Province through an improved microdilution method

A microdilution method for the antibiotic susceptibility testing of Neisseria gonorrhoeae was established and improved, and the antibiotic resistance of N. gonorrhoeae samples isolated from 8 cities of Guangdong in 2016 was determined. The improved microdilution method was compared with the agar dilution method recommend by the World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Region by testing the susceptibility of 100 clinical N. gonorrhoeae isolates. The essential agreement (EA), categorical agreement (CA), very major error (VME), major error (ME), and minor error (MIE) levels of the two methods were analyzed; the acceptable performance rates were measured as follows: ≥90% for EA or CA, ≤3% for VME or ME, and ≤7% for MIE. The EA, CA, VME, ME, and MIE of each method for 7 antibiotics, penicillin, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, spectinomycin, ceftriaxone, cefixime, and azithromycin, were 96%–100%, 94%–100%, 0%–3%, 0%–2%, and 0%–6%, respectively. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test results indicated 94%–100% agreement between the 2 methods after excluding off-scale values (P > 0.05). The susceptibility of 634 N. gonorrhoeae strains to the 7 antibiotics above were tested through the microdilution method. The resistant rates of the isolates against ciprofloxacin, tetracycline, penicillin, and azithromycin were 99.8%, 88.3%, 53.8%, and 11%, and the percentages of the isolates with decreased susceptibility to ceftriaxone (minimum inhibitory concentration [MIC] ≥0.125 μg/mL) and cefixime (MIC ≥0.25 μg/mL) were 2.1% and 12%, respectively, in Guangdong. Among 8 cities, Shenzhen had the highest rates of resistance against penicillin (77.8%) and decreased susceptibility against ceftriaxone (5.6%). Zhuhai had the highest rates of decreased susceptibility against cefixime (30.1%), and Jiangmen had the highest azithromycin-resistant isolates (16.8%). The findings from this study indicated that the improved microdilution method is an alternative for testing the antimicrobial susceptibility of N. gonorrhoeae. The resistance rates of N. gonorrhoeae against penicillin, tetracycline, and ciprofloxacin were high. While ceftriaxone, cefixime, and spectinomycin remained effective against N. gonorrhoeae, their effectiveness seemed to be decreasing over time. Azithromycin therapy requires timely susceptibility test results.

F13. Concordant EEG signals recorded with conventional and Ceribell EEG systems

Introduction Rapidly obtaining EEG signals in the emergency departments and ICU for high-risk patients can enhance diagnosis accuracy and speed, while cutting down time until treatment. Currently the use of EEGs in emergency settings is limited by technologist availability and lengthy setup time ( ∼ 30 min). Ceribell, a startup company based in Mountain View, California, has developed a portable EEG data recorder and electrode headset with rapid setup ( ∼ 5 min) technology designed to overcome the inaccessibility of EEG in urgent situations when non-convulsive and subclinical seizures are suspected. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the signal quality and performance of the Ceribell system compared to a reputable clinical EEG system. Methods We collected EEG samples both in the laboratory and as part of an ongoing clinical pilot study at Stanford University Medical Center. Laboratory collections on healthy volunteers included simultaneous collection of EEG using Ceribell and Nihon Kohden systems, as well as a split signal that recorded the EEG to both data recorders from the same set of electrodes. For these setups since the recordings were simultaneous, the signals were expected to be very similar in the time domain. In the clinical setting, EEG data was first recorded with the Ceribell system in the ICU on 22 patients and subsequently with the clinical EEG system on the same patients. The data was pre-processed with a [1 Hz, 70 Hz] band-pass filter. The following metrics were used to characterize signal concordance: Hjorth Activity, Hjorth Mobility, Hjorth Complexity, artifact count per unit of time, (defined as # of samples outside of mean ± 6 standard deviation), baseline wander, power of 60 Hz noise, and Kurtosis. At the end, Wilcoxon signed-rank test was run on each metric pair (Ceribell vs. NK) to assess whether the metrics calculated for Ceribell data are significantly different from the metrics calculated for NK data. Results Our findings confirmed that for simultaneous recordings, time domain signals obtained from Ceribell and Nihon Kohden systems closely match each other. For non-simultaneous recordings, results of Wilcoxon signed-rank test confirmed a lack of difference (p > 0.05) in all except one metric. The p-values for different measures were as follows: Hjorth Activity: 0.4264; Hjorth Mobility: 0.0883; Hjorth Complexity: 0.4264; artifact count: 0.2912; baseline wander: 0.1579; power of 60 Hz noise: 0.0005; and Kurtosis: 0.4455. For power of 60 Hz noise, NK recordings have significantly higher 60-Hz noise. For reference, the average power of 60 Hz noise across all subjects and all channels on NK recordings is 764.98 compared to 16.55 for Ceribell recordings. Conclusion Our results indicate that the signal quality of the Ceribell system is similar, and superior in the amount of 60 Hz noise to the Nihon Kohden system.

PENGARUH BAWANG MERAH TERHADAP PENURUNAN KADAR GULA DARAH PADA PENDERITA DIABETES MELLITUS DI DESA SIDORAHARJO KECAMATAN KEDAMEAN KABUPATEN GRESIK

People living in Desa Sidoraharjo were more familiar with oral medication to control glucose level ini the blood, namely oral anti-diabetic drugs (OADs) than herbal medicine onion. The purpose of this study was to know the effect of onion toward decrease blood glucose levels in people with Diabetes Mellitus. The study using preexperimental one group pretest-posttest involved population taken from all people found with Diabetes Mellitus, totaling 15 patients. The samples chosen using simple random sampling technique were 14 patients in total. The independent variable was onions, whereas the dependent variable was blood glucose level. The instrument used in this study was autocheck self-monitoring of capillary blood glucose. Moreover, the data were analyzed using Wilcoxon signed-rank test with level of significance α = 0,05. The result of study showed that blood glucose level on average before consuming onions was 278,93 mg/dL, whereas after onions treatment, the average blood glucose level decreased to 251,64 mg/dL. The result of Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed that the level significance ρ=(0,001&lt;α) so that the use of onions brought effects to the decrease of blood glucose level. The use of onions as herbal medication can decrease blood glucose level as another alternative intervention to control blood glucose level of the patients with Diabetes Mellitus. besides consuming onions, those patients are also expected to visit medical workers periodically to prevent hypoglycemia. Keywords: Diabetes Mellitus, blood glucose level, onion&gt; &lt;α) so that the use of onions brought effects to the decrease of blood glucose level. The use of onions as herbal medication can decrease blood glucose level as another alternative intervention to control blood glucose level of the patients with Diabetes Mellitus. Besides consuming onions, those patients are also expected to visit medical workers periodically to prevent hypoglycemia.

A Preliminary Study Investigating the Effectiveness of the Caring for Body and Mind in Pregnancy (CBMP) in Reducing Perinatal Depression, Anxiety and Stress

Prenatal mental illness is a significant public health issue with intergenerational consequences. Caring for Body and Mind in Pregnancy (CBMP) is an Australian, 8-week mindful parenting program. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of CBMP in reducing pregnant women’s levels of depression, anxiety, perinatal depression, perinatal anxiety and stress. The sample consisted of 109 pregnant women at-risk for perinatal depression and anxiety. The mean age of the sample was 33.52 years (SD = 4.90), ranging from 21 to 45 years. A within group, pre-post research design was used to examine whether CBMP improves participants’ scores on outcome measures. Wilcoxon Signed Rank test results indicated that CBMP significantly reduced depression, anxiety, perinatal depression, perinatal anxiety and general stress scores, while significantly increasing self-compassion and mindfulness with moderate to strong effect sizes. The double mediation hypothesis was supported with self-compassion t (71) = −2.23, p < 03, b2 = −1.96, SE = 88, 95% CI = −3.71, −.20, having a stronger influence in reducing perinatal depression than mindfulness t (71) = −2.68, p < .01, b3 = −.07, SE = .03, 95% CI = −.13, −.02. Further research, using a randomized controlled design with appropriate control conditions, is needed to establish the effectiveness of CBMP in reducing psychological distress amongst pregnant women at risk of developing depression, anxiety or stress.

A Decomposition-Based Many-Objective Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm.

In this paper, a decomposition-based artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm is proposed to handle many-objective optimization problems (MaOPs). In the proposed algorithm, an MaOP is converted into a number of subproblems which are simultaneously optimized by a modified ABC algorithm. The hybrid of the decomposition-based algorithm and the ABC algorithm can make full use of the advantages of both algorithms. The former, with the help of a set of weight vectors, is able to maintain a good diversity among solutions, while the latter, with a fast convergence speed, is highly effective when solving a scalar optimization problem. Therefore, the convergence and diversity would be well balanced in the new algorithm. Moreover, subproblems in the proposed algorithm are handled unequally, and computational resources are dynamically allocated through specially designed onlooker bees and scout bees. The proposed algorithm is compared with five state-of-the-art many-objective evolutionary algorithms on 13 test problems with up to 50 objectives. It is shown by the experimental results that the proposed algorithm performs better than or comparably to other algorithms in terms of both quality of the final solution set and efficiency of the algorithms. Finally, as shown by the Wilcoxon signed-rank test results, the onlooker bees and scout bees indeed contribute to performance improvements of the algorithm. Given the high quality of solutions and the rapid running speed, the proposed algorithm could be a promising tool when approximating a set of well-converged and properly distributed nondominated solutions for MaOPs.

Effect of Micro-Agricultural Financial Institutions of South Africa financial services on livelihood capital of beneficiaries in North West Province South Africa

BackgroundThis paper examined the effect of Micro-Agricultural Financial Institutions of South Africa financial services on livelihood capital of beneficiaries in North West Province South Africa. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 280 respondents from a total of 344 beneficiaries. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from November 2015 to March 2016, which was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) with frequencies, percentages and Wilcoxon signed-rank test.ResultsThe results of the study show that there has been a significant change on livelihood assets after MAFISA support. The proportion of access and ownership of livelihood assets increased for most of the indicators of the assets by at least 90% after MAFISA support. Wilcoxon signed-rank test results revealed that access to financial capital from banks improved substantially (Z scores = 15.556; p value = 0.000) and cooperatives (Z score = −11.305; p value = 0.000). Respondents are now able to associate and form some networks with others (Z score = −15.875; p value = 0.000), network with government (Z score = −15.811; p value = 0.000) and network with the private sector (Z score = −15.363; p value = 0.000).ConclusionsThe study concludes that access to microfinance leads to significant changes in financial, social, natural, human, physical and social livelihood assets after MAFISA support. The proportion of access and ownership of livelihood assets increased for most of the indicators of the assets by at least 90% after MAFISA support. Statistical significant differences confirmed the changes in the proportion of beneficiaries before and after MAFISA support such as access to financial capital from banks improved substantially and cooperatives, networking with others, network with government and network with the private sector as well as increasing their skills and competencies as well as their physical asset accumulation.

Enterprise stent in recanalizing non-acute atherosclerotic intracranial internal carotid artery occlusion

ObjectiveTo investigate the safety and effectiveness of recanalization in non-acute occlusion of intracranial internal carotid arteries using the flexible Enterprise self-expanding stent. Patients and methodsFrom June 2014 to June 2016, 12 consecutive patients with non-acute occlusion of intracranial internal carotid arteries received endovascular recanalization with Enterprise stenting. All patients received medication for anti-platelet aggregation therapy before and after the operation. The perioperative complications and recanalization efficacy were evaluated with the modified Rankin scoring system and digital subtraction angiography (DSA) follow-up, respectively. ResultsEndovascular recanalization was successfully performed in 10 out of 12 patients with Enterprise stenting. Stent implantation following balloon dilatation failed in one patient because the lumen diameter was too small. Another recanalization failed because the guide wire could not pass through the occlusion. No perioperative mortality was observed. One case of acute thrombosis and one case of intraoperative carotid spasm occurred, but these were resolved with thrombolytic therapy by microcatheter exposure treatment and antispasmodic medications, respectively. DSA follow-up in seven patients revealed no re-occlusion. One stroke event occurred in the 10 patients who completed the follow-up. A meaningful improvement in the modified Rankin score during follow-up was suggested by Wilcoxon signed-rank test results. ConclusionThe Enterprise stent was shown to be safe and efficient in recanalizing non-acute atherosclerotic intracranial internal carotid artery occlusion. However, the long-term outcomes need to be further investigated.

Differences in the number of bacteria colony in saliva before and after pit and fissure sealant application

The level of oral health is strongly influenced by the level of bacterial colonies in saliva. One of the diseases in the oral cavity that can occur as a result of bacterial growth is dental caries. One of the precautions to prevent caries is by using the application of pit and fissure sealant. The effective material as a pit and fissure sealant is Bis-GMA. The purpose of this study was to determine differences in the number of salivary bacterial colonies before and after application of pit and fissure sealant. The research was a quasi experimental study. The study design used is pre and post test with control group design using the research subject pediatric patients age 6-12 years old in one of the dental clinic in Makassar and the subject meet the criteria. The process of saliva gathering is done before and after the application of pit and fissure sealant from 15 pediatric patients which was bred to 30 salivary bacterial colonies in the laboratory of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Hasanuddin University. Salivary bacterial colonies that have been bred consisted of 15 salivary bacterial colonies before treatment and 15 salivary bacterial colonies after treatment. Calculation of the number of salivary bacterial colonies is done by using the CFU / ml counting method. Statistical analysis was performed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test in SPSS. The results of Wilcoxon signed-rank test to see the difference in the number of salivary bacterial colonies before and after application of pit and fissure sealant obtained a significant result (p<0.05). There is a significant difference in the number of bacterial colonies in saliva before and after application of pit and fissure sealant that is visible from the decrease in the number of bacterial colonies in saliva after the application of pit and fissure sealant.

The Effect of Exergaming on Eye-Hand Coordination among Primary School Children: A Pilot Study

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of exergaming on improving Eye-Hand Coordination (EHC) among primary school children. Eighteen student volunteers joined this study who were arranged to play exergaming for thirty minutes three times a week during three months intervention. The result of Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test showed a significant decrease in time spent on Mirror Tracing Test (MTT), indicating a positive impact of exergaming on EHC among primary school children. In conclusion, it offers an alternative for education professionals in the school setting to integrate exergaming as an effective means to enhance students’ EHC.

PERBEDAAN PENYIMPANGAN PENGELOLAAN KEUANGAN NEGARA SEBELUM DAN SESUDAH DILAKUKANNYA PENILAIAN INISIATIF ANTI KORUPSI PADA KEMENTERIAN XYZ

This study was conducted to compare and obtain empirical evidence of differences in state financial management irregularities before and after the assessment of anti-corruption initiative of the Ministry of XYZ in 2005 - 2014. The hypothesis was tested that irregularities in the financial management of the state prior to the assessment of anti-corruption initiatives differ significantly than after the assessment of anti-corruption initiatives.Design research is comparative quantitative research, the variable is assessment of anti-corruption initiatives and irregularities in the management of state finances. The sample in this study using nine of the 10 Echelon Unit in the Ministry XYZ conducted an audit by the Inspectorate General of the Ministry of XYZ from 2005 through 2014. Statistical tests performed using Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks Test with significance level used was 0.05.Results of Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks Test can be delivered as follows: 1) the average value of the state's financial findings before assessment of anti-corruption initiatives greater than after assessment of anti-corruption initiatives; 2) the difference between the findings of state finances after assessment of anti-corruption initiatives and before assessment of anti-corruption initiatives negative value, means the value of the state's financial findings after doing assessment of anti-corruption initiatives smaller than before assessment of anti-corruption initiatives; and 3) irregularities in financial management of state prior to assessment of anti-corruption initiatives significantly different than after assessment of anti-corruption initiatives.