Modifiable factors mediating the effects of educational attainment on gestational diabetes mellitus: A two-step Mendelian randomization study

BACKGROUND Although there is currently a wealth of evidence to indicate that maternal educational attainment is associated with gestational diabetes mellitus(GDM),the specific modifiable risk factors that mediate the causal relationship between these two variables have yet to be identified.AIM To identify the specific modifiable risk factors that mediate the causal relationship between the level of maternal education and GDM.METHODS Mendelian randomization(MR)was conducted using data from genome-wide association studies of European populations.We initially performed a two-sample MR analysis using data on genetic variants associated with the duration of education as instruments,and subsequently adopted a two-step MR approach using metabolic and lifestyle factors as mediators to examine the mechanisms underlying the relationship between the level of maternal education and risk of developing GDM.In addition,we calculated the proportions of total causal effects mediated by identified metabolic and lifestyle factors.RESULTS A genetically predicted higher educational attainment was found to be associated with a lower risk of developing GDM(OR:0.71,95%CI:0.60-0.84).Among the metabolic factors assessed,four emerged as potential mediators of the education-GDM association,which,ranked by mediated proportions,were as follows:Waist-to-hip-ratio(31.56%,95%CI:12.38%-50.70%),body mass index(19.20%,95%CI:12.03%-26.42%),high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(12.81%,95%CI:8.65%-17.05%),and apolipoprotein A-1(7.70%,95%CI:4.32%-11.05%).These findings proved to be robust to sensitivity analyses.CONCLUSION Our findings indicate a causal relationship between lower levels of maternal education and the risk of developing GDM can be partly explained by adverse metabolic profiles.

Effect of gamification applications on success of dentistry students

BACKGROUND Gamification,the use of game materials in education,has been used in several scientific fields,and studies have demonstrated its effectiveness in student comprehension.AIM To evaluate whether the success of 4th-and 5th-grade dentistry students increases when using the gamification applications Kahoot!and Mentimeter.METHODS An experimental design was used to measure the effect of gamification applications on students who were taught using the traditional method.For this purpose,Mentimeter and Kahoot!applications were used in this experimental study.Three groups of 4th-and 5th-grade students were formed:Mentimeter,Kahoot!,and control groups.The effect of gamification applications on achievement was evaluated by administering a post-test to these groups after the instructional process.One-way analysis of variance and t-tests were used for statistical analyses.RESULTS A total of 35.5%of the students were in the Mentimeter group,29.8%in the Kahoot!group,and 34.6%in the control group.Of the total number of students,54.8%were female and 45.2%were male,while 52.2%were 5th-grade students and 47.8%were 4th-grade students.The overall grade point average was found to be 66.65(range,24-100).There was a statistically significant difference in average success scores between students of different groups(P=0.003<0.05)and grades(P=0.036<0.05).The average success score was the highest in the Mentimeter group(71.64)and the lowest in the Kahoot!group(62.15).In the control group,this score was 65.41.The average success score was higher for students in the 5thgrade(68.16)and for female students(68.84).CONCLUSION Gamification has a great potential in the education of dentomaxillofacial radiology students.Mentimeter outperformed both the Kahoot!and the traditional method in terms of average student success rates.

The Effectiveness of Concept Mapping as an Educational Nursing Intervention Strategy to Handle Diabetic Foot: Integrative Review

Introduction: Concept map is used as a teaching strategy, where nursing uses this method often to learn more effectively and to be able to apply knowledge when working with diabetic patients. Objective: The aim of this review is to examine all the published articles related to the effectiveness of concept mapping as an educational nursing intervention strategy to handle diabetic foot from 2010-2019. Methodology: Integrative review design in reviewing pertaining literature. Key words related to research were used, database obtained from Cochrane library, MEDLINE, PubMed, Science Direct, Cumulative Index Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), ProQuest and Ovid databases were searched, covering the period 2010 to 2019. Other Studies were included if they were related to the effectiveness of concept mapping as an educational nursing intervention strategy to handle diabetic foot. Results: Reveled that concept mapping is a very crucial education tool for both nurses and patients. It is used by nurses to teach diabetic patients how to prevent diabetic foot ulcer, as well as to understand how to organize information and understand the facts. Conclusion: This review confirmed that there are growing confirming literatures about the application of concept maps as an effective nursing strategy. It that can be used by nurses and other health care professionals, to maintain healthy feet and prevent further complications such as bruises, cuts and sores.

Family Environment Factors to Impact on the Effect of the Smoking Prevention Educational Program for Elementary and Junior High School Students

Smoking is a major health problem in many countries. It has been reported on the effects of education on youth with a reduced smoking rate and developed awareness of avoiding smoking verified as a result of educational intervention. The aim of this study was to verify the relationship between sex, school age, and family smoking and the effectiveness of smoking prevention education program (SPEP) as factors that impact the effectiveness of SPEP in elementary school and junior high school students. The participants in this survey were 6676 students, who attended elementary and junior high schools in Tokushima Prefecture between 2011 and 2015, and attended the SPEP. As factors that influence the effectiveness of the SPEP, we examined school types, sex, smokers in the family. Participants were asked the following questions before and after the SPEP to measure awareness of and attitudes toward smoking: “intention not to smoke cigarettes as adults”, “intention to refuse cigarettes when offered”, “attitude of staying away from smokers”, and “desire that their family will not smoke”. The number of survey collected was 6676, with effective responses from 5974 (90%). Among the 5974, there were 2963 (50%) males and 3011 (50%) females, 5106 elementary school students (86%), and 868 junior high school students (15%). In the case of smoker mother, it was difficult to improve these children’s “intention not to smoke as adults”, “intention to refuse cigarettes when offered”, and smoker father, it was difficult to improve these children’s “attitude of staying away from smokers”, and “desire that their family will not smoke”. Especially, in the case of smoker parents, it was particularly difficult for the SPEP to be effective in improving awareness of and attitudes toward smoking among elementary and junior high school students.

The constructivist educational effectiveness of TM-aided specialized translation

This article evaluated the constructivist pedagogical effectiveness of a TM-aided specialized translation project tested on 16 undergraduates at a technological university using student reflections and the questionnaire for qualitative analysis. The results showed that TMs-students-instructor interaction facilitated the learning of specialized translation strategies, meeting the constructivist educational principle of ＂interaction＂. In addition, students effectively constructed new translation knowledge through the negotiation of the differences between student and professional translators＇ translations, concurring with the constructivist educational principle of ＂conflict resolution＂. Finally, students successfully learned technical skills of the Trados tool through hands-on practice, and cognitively acquired specialized translation knowledge through reflections writing and oral presentations, fitting the constructivist educational principle of ＂active participation＂. Overall, most students＇ positive responses justified the constructive educational effectiveness of TM-aided specialized translation through TMs consultation, peer help and the instructor support in the self-paced and student-centered learning environment.

Effects of drug relief hospital-based AIDS educational methods on drug users

The objective of this study is to explore a potentially effective training method for the hospital professionals to educate drug users and to enhance their knowledge of HIV infection. One hundred and sixty one subjects, who came from 13 different provinces and were admitted in a drug relief hospital in Beijing, were recruited for this study. The average age of these subjects was 35.21±6.24 year old. The average numbers of years for drug addiction were 7 years, and the average numbers of drug relief treatment received in the past was 5.5 times. The level of AIDS knowledge of these subjects, including pathogenic factors, source of infection, route of transmission and preventive measures, were evaluated before and after receiving the AIDS educational training to these drug users. Our results showed that there was a statistically significant increase (P<0.01) in the knowledge of HIV infection and prevention among these subjects. Positive attitude and behavioral tendencies toward HIV prevention were also improved. Therefore, it is imperative for the medical professionals to incorporate AIDS education into drug relief treatment to achieve the maximum effect on the knowledge of AIDS and improvement of positive attitudes and behaviors toward HIV prevention among drug users.

240 nm AlGaN-based deep ultraviolet micro-LEDs:size effect versus edge effect

240 nm AlGaN-based micro-LEDs with different sizes are designed and fabricated.Then,the external quantum efficiency(EQE)and light extraction efficiency(LEE)are systematically investigated by comparing size and edge effects.Here,it is revealed that the peak optical output power increases by 81.83%with the size shrinking from 50.0 to 25.0μm.Thereinto,the LEE increases by 26.21%and the LEE enhancement mainly comes from the sidewall light extraction.Most notably,transversemagnetic(TM)mode light intensifies faster as the size shrinks due to the tilted mesa side-wall and Al reflector design.However,when it turns to 12.5μm sized micro-LEDs,the output power is lower than 25.0μm sized ones.The underlying mechanism is that even though protected by SiO2 passivation,the edge effect which leads to current leakage and Shockley-Read-Hall(SRH)recombination deteriorates rapidly with the size further shrinking.Moreover,the ratio of the p-contact area to mesa area is much lower,which deteriorates the p-type current spreading at the mesa edge.These findings show a role of thumb for the design of high efficiency micro-LEDs with wavelength below 250 nm,which will pave the way for wide applications of deep ultraviolet(DUV)micro-LEDs.

The Need for Music as a Learner＇s Characteristic Affecting the Effects of Educational Films

This paper is about the development of applications for a more specific and therefore more effective teaching and instructional technology usage in classrooms. It investigates the relationship between a lack of music in educational films and its effect on film evaluation and interest gain in educational film topics. Results of the presented study raise the assumption of a need for music as central characteristic of learners related to the effects of educational science films： Basically, it shows that the evaluation of educational films is based on emotional as well as on factual criteria and that both dimensions are positively related to the interest of learners in the film content. Further it shows that learners with need for music, compared to their classmates that do not state a need for music, exhibit a significant worse evaluation on the film factual characteristics and a reduced class performance, as measured by reduced interest in the film topic, the research area and the motivation to carry out follow-up research on the topic. Implications are discussed.

EDUCATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS OF A VIRTUAL DESIGN STUDIO ON ZERO-ENERGY BUILDING DESIGNS:THE CASE OF THE U.S.SOLAR DECATHLON DESIGN CHALLENGE

Ongoing global architectural agendas span climate change,energy,a carbon-neutral society,human comfort,COVID-19,social justice,and sustainability.An architecture studio allows architecture students to learn how to solve complicated environmental issues through integrated thinking and a design process.The U.S.Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon Design Challenge enables them to broaden their analytic perspectives on numerous subjects and strengthen their integrated thinking of environmental impacts,resilience,sustainability,and well-being.However,the unprecedented impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic transformed the physical studio-based design education system into an online-based learning environment.Mandatory social distancing by the global COVID-19 pandemic restricted interactive discussions and face-to-face collaborations for the integrated zero-energy building design process,which requires features of architecture,engineering,market analysis,durability and resilience,embodied environmental quality,integrated performance,occupant experience,comfort and environmental quality,energy performance,and presentation.This study emphasizes the educational effectiveness of virtual design studios as a part of the discourse on architectural pedagogy of zero-energy building(ZEB)design through integrated designs,technological theories,and analytic skills.The survey results of ten contests show educational achievement with over 90%of the highest positive tendency in the categories of embodied environmental quality and comfort and environmental quality,whereas the positive tendency of educational achievement in the categories of integrated performance,energy performance,and presentation were lower than 70%.The reason for the low percentage of simulation utilization and integrated performance was the lack of a proper understanding of and experience with ZEB simulations and evaluations for undergraduate students.Although VDS is not an ideal pedagogical system for the iterative design critique process,it can support the learning of the value of architectural education,including integrative design thinking,problem-solving skills,numerical simulation techniques,and communicable identities through online discussions and feedback during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of Bilingual Educational Programs The Prospects of Pilot Programs in Georgia

Multilingual Education Programs Regulation was adopted and the implementation of bilingual educational reform started in Georgia in 2010. The paper presents research results on readiness of non-Georgian schools to implement multilingual educational programs effectively. The research studied the important factors influencing the effectiveness of bilingual educational programs, specifically （1） type of program, （2） human resources of schools and teachers professional development, （3） bilingual education as shared vision for all school stakeholders, and （4） community and parental involvement in designing and implementation of bilingual educational programs. The following research methods were used during the research： （1） quantitative and qualitative content analysis of bilingual educational programs of 26 non-Georgian schools of Kvemo Kartli and Samtskhe-Javakheti regions of Georgia, （2） quantitative survey of non-Georgian school principals through questionnaires, and （3） quantitative survey of non-Georgian schools＇ teachers of different subjective groups through questionnaire. The study revealed that schools are implementing mostly ＂weak＂ bilingual educational programs. The schools implementing bilingual educational programs do not have sufficient human resources, bilingual education is not a shared vision for all school stakeholders and parents and community are not actively involved in designing and implementation of the programs.

A study evaluating the effect of Educational Needs Assessment Tool (ENAT) focused patient education, on health outcomes in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: Protocol of an ongoing study

Aims and objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of a patient education tool (the ENAT) on self efficacy, patient knowledge, health outcomes and its usability in practice. Background: The effectiveness and value of patient education in rheumatoid arthritis have been questioned. The ENAT was developed to help the nurses to provide more focused, individualized and relevant education. The psychometric properties of the ENAT have been assessed. Design: This study is a single blind randomized controlled trial using both quantitative and qualitative methodology. The primary outcome is patient self efficacy. Secondary outcomes are physical function, psychological status, pain levels, social interaction and patient knowledge of disease. Methods: 130 RA patients will be randomized into an experimental (EG) or control group (CG). The EG patients will complete the ENAT prior to seeing a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) at weeks 0, 16 and 32. The CNS will use the ENAT as a template to meet patients perceived educational needs in addition to the usual care. The CG will receive their usual care from the CNS without the aid of the ENAT. To determine the ENAT’s usability, semi-structured quailtative interviews will take place with the practitioners and a sample of patients once they have completed the quantitative arm of the study. Results: The study commenced in April 2011 and the results are expected to be available after April 2013. Conclusions: It is hypothesized that nurses’ use of the ENAT will lead to increased patient self efficacy, and improved patient knowledge and health outcomes among the patients who used it. Furthermore, it is hypothesized that the ENAT will be easy for staff and patients to use. Relevance to clinical practice: The ENAT was developed to assess the perceived educational needs of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and thus help the nurses to provide more focused, individualised and relevant education.

Spatial Effect Research on Educational Output and Economic Growth in China

This thesis is to study spatial effect of education output on economic growth through the use of spatial measurement technique. According to the study: there’s the presence of spatial spillover effects in human capital, economic growth, and others;in previous years, human capital depended on mainly the employers with junior school education or below;in recent years, with the reduction of employers with junior school education or below, employers with regular higher education can best promote the economic growth. However, it’s very difficult for human capital with vocational education to promote economic growth, especially in recent years. Therefore, from the perspective of long-term economic growth, China should focus on culturing professional talents and put more resources into the development of vocational education while developing the higher education.

Effect of Educational Intervention on Type II Diabetes Mellitus Control

Rural Alabama currently lacks resources to significantly impact the trend of increasing rates of diabetes. Therefore, this pilot study was designed to evaluate the effect of an education intervention on knowledge, motivation, and attitudes of participants with Type II diabetes mellitus. The aim was to improve lifestyle and overall control of diabetes for a rural, vulnerable population. Ten participants (7 with diabetes and 3 with pre-diabetes) attended three class sessions over a two-month period with presentations focused on general diabetes information, diet, exercise, and proper management through glucose measurement and medications. A pre- and post-survey design evaluated participants’ behaviors, knowledge, motivation and attitude towards making lifestyle changes. Responses were compared pre- to post-intervention. While knowledge levels related to diabetes, diet, and exercise increased, the changes were not statistically significant. Similarly, participants expressed increased motivation towards weight loss, healthful eating, exercise and positive lifestyle choices. However, these changes were not statistically significant. This pilot study demonstrates an increase in personal knowledge, motivation, and attitude for a small group of patients with diabetes or pre-diabetes. These group classes are inexpensive and will be easy to replicate with larger groups. They demonstrate the potential to motivate patients towards positive change.

Evaluation of the intracellular lipid-lowering effect of polyphenols extract from highland barley in HepG2 cells

Active ingredients from highland barley have received considerable attention as natural products for developing treatments and dietary supplements against obesity.In practical application,the research of food combinations is more significant than a specific food component.This study investigated the lipid-lowering effect of highland barley polyphenols via lipase assay in vitro and HepG2 cells induced by oleic acid(OA).Five indexes,triglyceride(TG),total cholesterol(T-CHO),low density lipoprotein-cholesterol(LDL-C),aspartate aminotransferase(AST),and alanine aminotransferase(ALT),were used to evaluate the lipidlowering effect of highland barley extract.We also preliminary studied the lipid-lowering mechanism by Realtime fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction(q PCR).The results indicated that highland barley extract contains many components with lipid-lowering effects,such as hyperoside and scoparone.In vitro,the lipase assay showed an 18.4%lipase inhibition rate when the additive contents of highland barley extract were 100μg/m L.The intracellular lipid-lowering effect of highland barley extract was examined using 0.25 mmol/L OA-induced HepG2 cells.The results showed that intracellular TG,LDL-C,and T-CHO content decreased by 34.4%,51.2%,and 18.4%,respectively.ALT and AST decreased by 51.6%and 20.7%compared with the untreated hyperlipidemic HepG2 cells.q PCR results showed that highland barley polyphenols could up-regulation the expression of lipid metabolism-related genes such as PPARγand Fabp4.

Engineering Strategies for Suppressing the Shuttle Effect in Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Lithium–sulfur(Li–S)batteries are supposed to be one of the most potential next-generation batteries owing to their high theoretical capacity and low cost.Nevertheless,the shuttle effect of firm multi-step two-electron reaction between sulfur and lithium in liquid electrolyte makes the capacity much smaller than the theoretical value.Many methods were proposed for inhibiting the shuttle effect of polysulfide,improving corresponding redox kinetics and enhancing the integral performance of Li–S batteries.Here,we will comprehensively and systematically summarize the strategies for inhibiting the shuttle effect from all components of Li–S batteries.First,the electrochemical principles/mechanism and origin of the shuttle effect are described in detail.Moreover,the efficient strategies,including boosting the sulfur conversion rate of sulfur,confining sulfur or lithium polysulfides(LPS)within cathode host,confining LPS in the shield layer,and preventing LPS from contacting the anode,will be discussed to suppress the shuttle effect.Then,recent advances in inhibition of shuttle effect in cathode,electrolyte,separator,and anode with the aforementioned strategies have been summarized to direct the further design of efficient materials for Li–S batteries.Finally,we present prospects for inhibition of the LPS shuttle and potential development directions in Li–S batteries.

Training of health personnel to improve knowledge and skills in taking Pap: Effect of an educational intervention to prevent cervical cancer

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention to improve knowledge and skills in taking Pap smear conducted by health staff implementing the program on Early Detection of Cervical Cancer. Methods: A quasiexperimental, longitudinal and prospective study, held from October 25 2010 to April 11, 2011 at a hospital in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. To select groups applied a non-probabilistic convenience sampling that was composed of 28 people, 15 for the study group and 13 to the control group. The study group received training that was divided into three phases in which assessed the knowledge and skills taking the smear, the control group received conventional training offered by your workplace. Papanicolaou quality was measured before and after the intervention. The reference used international classification system Bethesda 2001. For data analysis we used the Student t test. Results: The study group increased knowledge (t = 8.768, p = 0.000) in the management of official standards, in the anatomy of the lower female genital tract and in the form of testing. Technical skills (t = 8.639, p = 0.000) also increased in the study group after the intervention. The control group showed no significant changes. The quality report of the samples in the study group increased from 60% to 86.7% and in the control group decreased from 92.3% to 84.6%. Conclusions: The training is effective in improving the knowledge and skills in taking Pap. Health staff who received the training improved their performance and showed more interest in providing high quality service to women.

Improving ICU Nurses’ Practices of Physical Restraints in Jordan: Effect of an Educational Program

Background: Physical Restraint (PR) has been widely used in the intensive care units, which aims to protect patients and maintain their safety. With all benefits of PR, there are many complications and risks from improper utilization. Further, no Jordanian studies have found to educate nurses regarding the proper PR utilization. Purpose: To evaluate the impact of an educational program on nurses’ knowledge, attitude and practice regarding PR use in ICUs. Methods: A pre-experiment with one-group pretest-posttest design was used among 40 ICU nurses. A self-administered questionnaire was used to evaluate nurses before the education program and two weeks after its completion. Results: After implementation of the program, nurses demonstrated a significant difference in knowledge scores between pretest (M = 10.35 ± 1.73) and posttest (M = 13.30 ± 1.47) (t = 9.92;df = 39;P = 0.000), attitudes scores (M = 27.90 ± 2.79 vs. M = 30.40 ± 2.32) (t = 4.61;df = 39;P = 0.000), and practice scores (M = 36.85 ± 1.98 vs. M = 40.52 ± 1.60) (t = 11.59;df = 39;P = 0.000). Conclusion: Service-education program can improve ICU nurses’ knowledge, and enhance their attitudes and practices towards physical restraint. Such improvement is expected to be reflected in improving the quality of care delivered to the patients, and decreasing complications of malpractice regarding physical restraint.

Effect of Intervention Educational Programs on Improving Quality of Life among Overweight/Obese University Students in Gaza Strip

Background: Overweight and obesity are among the most frequently encountered multi-factorial disorders in most populations of the world. In addition, to its health impacts, overweight/obesity leads to many health problems which reflect on the university students’ physical, psychological, social and environmental aspects of their quality of life. The study aim was to evaluate the effect of an educational program on improving quality of life of overweight/obese university students in Gaza strip. Materials and Methods: quasi-experimental nonequivalent pretest-posttest control group design utilized in this study 74 and 69 students in the intervention and control group respectively. The study conducted at Islamic university of Gaza and data were collected in two stages before and after five months from the application of the educational program, using interviewing questionnaire and world health organization quality of life-BREF instrument;pre-post test and body mass index were calculated. Results: the study results revealed that overall students’ knowledge for posttest was significantly higher than pretest (p-value ≤ 0.05). Overall, mean score of quality of life after the program was significantly (p-value = 0.001) greater than before and greater than control group for all domains. Conclusion: The study concluded that the health educational intervention program had positive effects on knowledge, practices and attitudes regarding overweight/obesity with improving university students’ mean score of quality of life.

Effect of educational intervention on attitudes toward the concept of criminal responsibility

AIM To evaluate the effect of educational intervention on individuals' knowledge of and attitudes toward forensic mental health.METHODS We conducted a questionnaire regarding attitudes toward various ideas about forensic mental health. The respondents attended a 1-h seminar regarding forensic mental health after answering the questionnaire. On completion of the seminar, the respondents answered another questionnaire containing many of the same questions as contained in the pre-seminar questionnaire.RESULTS A total of 86 individuals attended the seminar, and 78 responded to the questionnaire. Only 13(18.8%) participants were supportive of the concept of criminal responsibility initially, and there was a statistically significant increase in those who became more supportive after the seminar, with 22(33%) being supportive after the seminar(Wilcoxon signed-rank test, P < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis revealed that participants who were skeptical about forensic mental systems and those with fewer opportunities to see media reports regarding psychiatry were likely to become supportive of criminal responsibility after the intervention.CONCLUSION These results suggest that public attitudes toward criminal responsibility and mental health can be influenced via educational interventions.

Experimental study on the effect of water absorption level on rockburst occurrence of sandstone

To investigate the mechanism of rockburst prevention by spraying water onto the surrounding rocks,15 experiments are performed considering different water absorption levels on a single face.High-speed photography and acoustic emission(AE)system are used to monitor the rockburst process.The effect of water on sandstone rockburst and the prevention mechanism of water on sandstone rockburst are analyzed from the perspective of energy and failure mode.The results show that the higher the ab-sorption degree,the lower the intensity of the rockburst after absorbing water on single side of sand-stone.This is reflected in the fact that with the increase in the water absorption level,the ejection velocity of rockburst fragments is smaller,the depth of the rockburst pit is shallower,and the AE energy is smaller.Under the water absorption level of 100%,the magnitude of rockburst intensity changes from medium to slight.The prevention mechanism of water on sandstone rockburst is that water reduces the capacity of sandstone to store strain energy and accelerates the expansion of shear cracks,which is not conducive to the occurrence of plate cracking before rockburst,and destroys the conditions for rockburst incubation.