Burn contracture risk factors and measurement in low-middle income countries: A clinical perspective

There is a lack of high-quality published evidence on risk factors for burn contracture formation. The vast majority of research is from High Income Countries (HICs), where many potential risk factors are controlled for by standardised and high-quality healthcare systems. To augment the published literature, burn care professionals with Low Middle Income Countries (LMICs) experience were interviewed for their opinion on risk factors for burn contracture formation. Participants were also asked for their views on identification and measurement of contracture. Seventeen semi-structured interviews were conducted (13 burn surgeons and 4 therapists). The average length of experience in burn-care was 13 years. Participants represented Ghana, Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Nepal, and India. Participants reported ninety risk factors. Risk factors were later collated according to topic: Non burn individual factors (n=13), Burn injury factors (n=14), Family and community factors (n=9), Treatment factors (n=18), Complications (n=2), Healthcare capacity factors (n=19) and Societal and environmental factors (n=12). The top five most frequently cited risk factors were lack of splinting, lack of physiotherapy, lack of early excision and skin grafting, low socioeconomic status and presence of infection. Although participants had no doubts that they could recognise a contracture, none provided a standardised system of measurement or an operational definition of contracture. Burn care professionals have a wealth of experience and untapped knowledge of risk factors for burn contracture formation in their own population base, but many of the risk factors highlighted by participants have not yet been explored in the literature. Variations in clinicians’ diagnosis and measurement of a burn contracture underscores the need for an agreed, standardised, simple and easily reproducible method of diagnosing and classifying burn contracture

Antecedents of memorable heritage tourism experiences: an application of stimuli–organism–response theory

Purpose: Based on stimulus-organism-response theory, this study develops and tests a model of memorable heritage tourism experiences. The model proposes that experiencescape, experience co-creation, education and photography are important antecedents of memorable heritage tourism experiences, which is then a driver of place attachment.Design/methodology/approach: Data for this study were collected using a web-based questionnaire of people aged 18 years and over who had a heritage tourism experience during the previous three months (February–April 2023). The survey was distributed in May 2023 using Amazon Mechanical Turk. A survey link was posted on MTurk, which remained active for the first week of May 2023. Out of the 283 responses received, 272 were valid responses from individuals who met the participation criteria.Findings: Experiencescape, experience co-creation, education and photography were found to be positive drivers of the memorable heritage tourism experience, with a positive relationship between memorable heritage tourism experience and place attachment. Originality: Many studies linked to memorable tourism experience mainly replicate Kim et al.’s (2012) memorable tourism experience scale, regardless of the specific study context. This study offers an alternative framework through which alternative antecedents and outcomes of tourists’ memorable tourism experiences can be identified

Treatment of Emerging Contaminants in Wastewater by Advanced Oxidation Processes

This study evaluated the effectiveness of ozonation and activated carbon for the degradation and removal of three main emerging contaminants (ECs) in wastewater; fluoranthene (FLT), di (2- ethyl hexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and cypermethrin (CYM). The effects of key semi-batch ozonation parameters related to gas-liquid mass transfer and reaction kinetics were identified for all contaminants. The degradation rates were evaluated in solutions of DI water, using concentration change of ozone and EC versus time. With an ozone gas concentration of 20 g/m3 NTP, the change in concentration from an initial concentration of 0.05 mg/L over time was measured using HPLC. To decrease by 75 %, it took less than a minute for FLT, two minutes for DEHP and six minutes for CYM. The adsorption of the emerging contaminants with granulated activated carbon (GAC) were evaluated in solutions of DI water at an initial concentration of 1 mg/L. For the decrease in concentration of 60 %, the time for each contaminant varied. For FLT this was achieved in 5 minutes, DEHP was decreased within 20 minutes, and it took CYM 20 minutes to reach this decrease. The effects of ozonation and adsorption onto GAC were also investigated in samples of final wastewater effluent

Caffeine ingestion compromises thermoregulation and does not improve cycling time to exhaustion in the heat amongst males

Purpose Caffeine is a commonly used ergogenic aid for endurance events; however, its efficacy and safety have been questioned in hot environmental conditions. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of acute caffeine supplementation on cycling time to exhaustion and thermoregulation in the heat. MethodsIn a double-blind, randomised, cross-over trial, 12 healthy caffeine-habituated and unacclimatised males cycled to exhaustion in the heat (35 °C, 40% RH) at an intensity associated with the thermoneutral gas exchange threshold, on two separate occasions, 60 min after ingesting caffeine (5 mg/kg) or placebo (5 mg/kg). ResultsThere was no effect of caffeine supplementation on cycling time to exhaustion (caffeine; 28.5 ± 8.3 min vs. placebo; 29.9 ± 8.8 min, P = 0.251). Caffeine increased pulmonary oxygen uptake by 7.4% (P = 0.003), heat production by 7.9% (P = 0.004), whole-body sweat rate by 21% (P = 0.008), evaporative heat transfer by 16.5% (P = 0.006) and decreased estimated skin blood flow by 14.1% (P 0.05). ConclusionThe greater heat production and storage, as indicated by a sustained increase in core temperature, corroborate previous research showing a thermogenic effect of caffeine ingestion. When exercising at the pre-determined gas exchange threshold in the heat, 5 mg/kg of caffeine did not provide a performance benefit and increased the thermal strain of participants

Working hours and health – key research topics in the past and future

Objective This paper discusses the past and present highlights of working hours and health research and identifies key research needs for the future.Method We analyzed over 220 original articles and reviews on working hours and health in the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health published during the last 50 years. Key publications from other journals were also included.Results The majority of identified articles focussed on the effects of shift and night work, with fewer studying long and reduced working hours and work time control. We observed a transition from small-scale experimental and intensive field studies to large-scale epidemiological studies utilizing precise exposure assessment, reflecting the recent emergence of register-based datasets and the development of analytic methods and alternative study designs for randomized controlled designs. The cumulative findings provide convincing evidence that shift work and long working hours, which are often associated with night work and insufficient recovery, increase the risk of poor sleep and fatigue, sickness absence, occupational injuries, and several chronic health conditions such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer. The observed risks are strongly modified by individual and work-related factors.Conclusions Although the observed health risks of shift work and long working hours are mostly low or moderate, the widespread prevalence of exposure and the hazardousness of the many associated potential outcomes makes such working time arrangements major occupational health risks. Further research is needed to identify exposure–response associations, especially in relation to the chronic health effects, and to elucidate underlying pathways and effective personalized intervention strategies

An Empirical Study on Public Sector versus Third Sector Circular Economy-Oriented Innovations

Extensive research has explored organisational dynamics across various sectors in relation to circular economy (CE) innovation practices. However, a critical gap exists in understanding CE innovation activities in the public sector versus the third sector. This distinction is crucial as the third sector’s role in CE innovation is growing, necessitating tailored policies instead of homogenous integration into public sector-based approaches. We address this gap by focusing on nuanced comparisons between the public and third sectors, delving into the motivations and constraints surrounding CE innovations across these different sectors. Employing an exploratory sequential design, we integrate qualitative insights from 12 interviews with quantitative measures derived from 153 survey responses within CE innovation communities. The findings reveal subtle yet significant disparities in innovation activities between the public and third sectors within a CE innovation community. Notably, cost factor differences related to the availability of finance and knowledge factors associated with the lack of information on technology emerge. This research contributes evidence-based insights, offering practitioners and policymakers a nuanced understanding of the motivations and constraints of circular economy innovation. These findings can be instrumental in steering the transition towards a more sustainable and circular economy, emphasising the need for tailored strategies rather than a one-size-fits-all approach

An integrative review of parent education approaches in sport: Considerations for program planning and evaluation

In recent years, there has been an increase in the delivery and evaluation of parent education programs within youth sport. Subsequently, some recent reviews of these programs have been conducted. However, one consistent issue across many of the programs and associated review papers is the lack of an appropriate evaluation framework to guide the planning or associated reporting of the outcomes of the interventions. This has limited understanding of the overall impact of sport parenting interventions. Thus, the purposes of the current study were: a) to identify commonalities in the reporting and evaluation of parent education programs; b) to identify gaps in the reporting and evaluation of parent education programs; c) draw these insights together to provide suggestions regarding how the RE-AIM could be used to enhance planning and evaluation of evidence-based programs for parent education in sport. Specifically, utilising the RE-AIM framework to provide insights into pertinent evaluation metrics, this integrative review aimed to identify commonalities and gaps in the reporting of parent education programs. The RE-AIM framework considers the essential elements to assess the external and internal validity of interventions through five dimensions: Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (Glasgow et al., 1999). Subsequently, the review aimed to provide suggestions regarding strategies to enhance the planning and evaluation of evidence-based programs for parent education in sport. Overall, the analysis demonstrated that most studies presented some pertinent evaluation information related to the REAIM framework, such as the number of participants and contacts made, the measures used, and the program level. However, the studies also lacked information on participant exclusion criteria, the method used to select the delivery agent (e.g., parents engaged in the program), and cost measures. Overall, the current study identified various areas where programs could be enhanced, specifically related to reporting procedural elements (e.g., program design, target population, costs) pertaining to the implementation of parent education programs

Co-creating experiences through the use of arts in social work education

The inclusion of citizens in social work education was initiated over 30 years ago and continues to travel a ‘long and winding road’. Social work education in the UK faces increasing pressure from a range of stakeholders including citizens who use services, regulatory bodies and the media to demonstrate that newly qualified social workers are competent and uphold public trust. While social work education and practice within England and Wales draw on similar traditions in theory and practice, there are important differences in the national and institutional frameworks within which they operate. This article illustrates some of these differences through a focus on social work education provision in one English and one Welsh university. Drawing on the experience and views of the student participants, we examine the benefits of creative approaches that promote citizen involvement and suggest how European traditions can contribute to this process. We define key terms and summarize the literature, followed by presentation of the results and identification of the key learning. We identify that emancipatory models of education can encourage recognition of learners’ different strengths and can help to assist social work students’ readiness for practice. Finally, we acknowledge the need for cost-benefit outcomes research into if and how citizen coproduction influences subsequent service delivery

Stability Analysis for Nonlinear Neutral Stochastic Functional Differential Equations

IIn this paper, we provide some sufficient conditions for the existence and uniqueness, the stochastic stability for the global solution of nonlinear neutral stochastic functional differential equation. When the drift term and the diffusion term satisfy a locally Lipschitz condition, and the Lyapunov monotonicity condition has a sign-changed time-varying coefficient, the existence and uniqueness of the global solution for such equation will be studied by using the Lyapunov-Krasovskii function and the theory of stochastic analysis. The stability in $p$th($p\geq 2$)-moment, the asymptotical stability in $p$th($p\geq 2$)-moment, and the exponential stability in $p$th($p\geq 2$)-moment will be investigated. Three different characterizations for these three kinds of stochastic stability in moment will be established, which are presented in terms of integration conditions, respectively. These results have seldom been reported in the existing literature. In addition, the almost surely exponential stability for the global solution of such equation is also discussed. Some discussions and comparisons are provided. Two examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results obtained