Longitudinal associations of physical activity and pubertal development with academic achievement in adolescents

Objective: We sought to investigate the longitudinal associations of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity(MVPA) and pubertal development with academic achievement in adolescents.Methods: A total of 635 adolescents(283 boys, 352 girls) aged 11-13 years participated in the study. MVPA was assessed by the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study questionnaire, and pubertal development was assessed by the Pubertal Development Scale at beginning of the 6 th grade(baseline) and end of the 7 th grade(follow-up). Grade point average(GPA) at the end of Grades 5 and 7 was computed from data acquired from the school registers. The data were analyzed using linear regression and analyses of covariance.Results: In boys, MVPA was positively associated with GPA at baseline after adjustment for age(b = 0.144, 95% confidence interval(CI):0.028-0.260, p = 0.028). In girls, the Pubertal Development Scale was positively associated with GPA at baseline(b = 0.104, 95%CI: -0.004 to0.211, p = 0.058) and follow-up(b = 0.104, 95%CI: -0.002 to 0.211, p = 0.055) after adjustment for age, and these associations strengthened after further adjustment for MVPA(p < 0.05). Adolescents who were inactive at baseline or at baseline and follow-up had lower GPA during followup than their continuously highly active peers(mean difference = -0.301, 95%CI: -0.543 to -0.058, p = 0.009) and all other adolescents(mean difference = -0.247, 95%CI: -0.475 to -0.019, p = 0.029). These differences were greater in girls than in boys.Conclusion: Lower levels of MVPA were associated with lower GPA in boys at baseline. Girls who were continuously inactive had lower GPA over the follow-up period than those who were continuously active. Finally, earlier pubertal development was associated with better academic achievement in girls.

Comparison of Sensory Processing and Semantic Differentiation in Peoples with Schizophrenia, Multiple Sclerosis and Alzheimer’s Disease

Aim: The purpose of this study was comparison of sensory processing and semantic differentiation in patients with schizophrenia, multiple sclerosis (MS) and Alzheimer’s disease. Method: Our research method was causal-comparative. Statistical population were patients with schizophrenia and patients with multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease that are kept by formal caregivers in welfare centers in Guilan or by informal caregivers in families in Rasht city of Guilan province in Iran. 45 persons with MS, Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia (in each group 15 persons) were randomly selected by accessible sampling method in 2014. Then, subjects were asked to response to sensory profile questionnaires to measure of sensory processing and ozgood semantic differentiation questionnaires to measure of semantic differentiation, then raw data were analyzed by multiple analyses of variance with using of spss16 software. Results: P value less than 0.05, namely p 0.05), had the maximum mean in three groups. Discussion and Conclusion: Because sensory processing and semantic differentiation aren’t in a desirable condition in patients with schizophrenia, so it is necessary that the people who are at high risk of developing the disease or the initial stages of the disease, must be acted to improve their sensory processing and semantic differentiation.

A Study of Attitudes toward Pharmaceutical Care during COVID-19 Pandemic in Tbilisi(Georgia)

Background:After the outbreak of COVID-19 in Georgia,the number of patients visiting pharmacies has increased.It became relevant to research the importance of Pharmaceutical Care inprevention of COVID-19.The aim of the study was to understand the attitudes of patients and physicians regarding the involvement of pharmacists in prevention of COVID-19,after the spring and autumn waves of pandemic;also,what role can pharmacists take in the future and whether they can transfer Good Pharmaceutical Practice(GPP)to Georgia.Study also tried to capture overall attitudes towards involving pharmacists in healthcare projects such as population rapid testing and vaccinations.Methods:522 patients,1289 pharmacists,and 200 physicians were surveyed regarding their attitudes toward pharmaceutical care during COVID-19 pandemic.Results:The study found that 82.2%of surveyed patients who visited pharmacy during pandemic bought medication and COVID-19 preventive items(face mask,disinfectants,etc.).Out of the surveyed participants,66.9%of patients and 77.1%of pharmacists believe that recommendations given by pharmacists play an important role in the prevention of COVID-19.Study also revealed that 76.6%of pharmacists and 79.3%of patients agree with the statement,the pharmacist should be able to decide whether to choose over-the-counter medications for a patient or refer the patient to a physician.91.8%of patients and 78.3%of pharmacists believe that during a pandemic pharmacist should provide patients who visit pharmacies with complaints of flu,cold,and fever with Pharmaceutical Care;which is agreed by 41.7%of physicians.63.1%of patients,52%of pharmacists,and 45%of physicians have a positive attitude towards administering rapid testing of COVID-19 by pharmacists.The desire for pharmacists to be involved in vaccination was expressed most in patients(43.6%),followed by pharmacists(38.7%),and physicians(36.7%).Conclusions:The study showed similar attitudes of patients and pharmacists-Pharmaceutical Care plays an important role in pandemic prevention.The attitude of patients and pharmacists is positive regarding administering Pharmaceutical Care for patients who come in pharmacies with symptoms of flu and cold.Physicians had more cautious attitude towards the issue,indicating that they may see risks of spreading the virus and aggravating patients’conditions.Most patients who participated in the study believe that pharmacists should be involved in pandemic prevention activities-COVID-19 tests and vaccinations.It is recommended that Georgian healthcare system develops projects that support collaboration of medical professionals and bring us closer to Good Pharmacy Practice(GPP).Training of pharmacists along with physicians in scope of pandemic prevention projects should be planned.

Impact of Auditory-Verbal Therapy on executive functions in children with Cochlear Implants

Objective: Auditory-Verbal Therapy(AVT) can be considered one of the best practices for children with Cochlear Implants(CIs) who show impairments in cognitive skills such as executive functions. Hence,this research examined the impact of AVT on the executive functions in children with CIs.Methods: This was a randomized case control study with pre-and post-intervention assessments. The participants were 36 children with CIs and their mothers. They were randomly selected from rehabilitation centers and deaf pre-schools, and randomly allocated to a control(n = 18) and a study(n = 18)group. The mean age of the children in the study and control groups was 3.11 ± 0.31 years and 3.20 ± 0.29years, respectively. Participants in the study group received 20 sessions of AVT over 10 weeks at twice a week, while those in the control group did not. All mothers completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function Pre-school Version(BRIEF-P) before and after children in the study group completed their AVT intervention. Data were analyzed by MANCOVA.Results: The results suggest that AVT significantly influenced executive functions and all subscales including shifting, inhibition, emotional control, working memory and organization/planning in children with CIs.Conclusions: These findings suggest that AVT may be effective in resulting in positive outcomes and may play an important role in improving executive functions in children with CIs.

A fuzzy imperialistic competitive algorithm for optimizing convex functions

Purpose–The purpose of this paper is to describe imperialist competitive algorithm(ICA),a novel socio-politically inspired optimization strategy for proposing a fuzzy variant of this algorithm.ICA is a meta-heuristic algorithm for dealing with different optimization tasks.The basis of the algorithm is inspired by imperialistic competition.It attempts to present the social policy of imperialisms(referred to empires)to control more countries(referred to colonies)and use their sources.If one empire loses its power,among the others making a competition to take possession of it.Design/methodology/approach–In fuzzy imperialist competitive algorithm(FICA),the colonies have a degree of belonging to their imperialists and the top imperialist,as in fuzzy logic,rather than belonging completely to just one empire therefore the colonies move toward the superior empire and their relevant empires.Simultaneously for balancing the exploration and exploitation abilities of the ICA.The algorithms are used for optimization have shortcoming to deal with accuracy rate and local optimum trap and they need complex tuning procedures.FICA is proposed a way for optimizing convex function with high accuracy and avoiding to trap in local optima rather than using original ICA algorithm by implementing fuzzy logic on it.Findings–Therefore several solution procedures,including ICA,FICA,genetic algorithm,particle swarm optimization,tabu search and simulated annealing optimization algorithm are considered.Finally numerical experiments are carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of models as well as solution procedures.Test results present the suitability of the proposed fuzzy ICA for convex functions with little fluctuations.Originality/value–The proposed evolutionary algorithm,FICA,can be used in diverse areas of optimization problems where convex functions properties are appeared including,industrial planning,resource allocation,scheduling,decision making,pattern recognition and machine learning(optimization techniques;fuzzy logic;convex functions).