Articles

This study was carried out to investigate the rotational structure of even-even 166Hf isotopes using the phenomenological fitting, Sood’s semi-empirical formula. The rotational energies from the calculated values were compared to the experimental spectrum. The result shows that in 166Hf, calculated energies fit the experimental values to a remarkable degree of accuracy.

Introduction: Contact of health care workers and patient at health facility lead to the transmission of pathogenic organisms to each other. Hospital acquired infection prevention is standardized guide lines contain multitude protocols needed to be implemented by health care workers to reduce hospital acquired infections. Objective: To assess health care workers knowledge, attitude and practice towards hospital acquired infection prevention at Dessie referral hospital. Method: Institutional based cross sectional study was conducted among health care workers. The subjects were selected by proportional allocation in each respective department and simple random sampling method was employed. Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze the data and presented in frequency tables and graph. Results: 191 study subjects were participated in the study which gives a response rate of 90.5% from 211 total sample sizes. The study subjects had given their response according to self-administered questioner. The result indicates that 86.4%, 76.4% and 77% of respondents had good knowledge and favorable attitude and poor practice towards hospital acquired infection prevention respectively. Conclusion: Even though the majority of the health care workers had good knowledge and favorable attitude, more than two third of them had poor practice towards hospital acquired infection prevention. Therefore health workers should strictly follow hospital acquired infection prevention guidelines. Improving sustainable supplies like personal protective equipment, water supply and hand washing facilities at patient care site is vital to correct the poor practice of infection prevention.

The measurement of the natural ionizing radiation in the Federal University of Technology Owerri, Nigeria was carried out using a well calibrated Digital Geiger Muller counter models GCA – 04w. Measurements were taken randomly in thirty (30) diff erent locations outside the building and thirty (30) locations inside diff erent buildings in the University. Results obtained for outdoor Dose rate ranges from 0.07 μSv/hr to 0.23 μSv/hr with a mean value of 0.144 μSv/hr. While the result for the indoor dose rate ranges from 0.08 μSv/hr to 0.21 μSv/hr with a mean of 0.14 μSv/hr. The highest value recorded for the outdoor radiation is from the university front gate which is .023μSv/hr. While the highest value recorded inside the buildings is from the School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology (SAAT) which is 0.21 μSv/hr. All these values are lower than the world safely limits of 0.247 μSv/hr. This shows that the risk of ionizing radiation on the staff and students of the Federal University of Technology is minimal.

Background: The argument on whether extracorporeal shock-wave therapy (ESWT) is beneficial in short- term intervention in adults with plantar fasciitis. It is important and necessary to conduct a meta-analysis to make a comparatively more reliable and overall assessment of the outcomes of ESWT in the less than 6 months. Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized control trials from MEDLINE, EMBASE and CINAHL databases from 2000 to 2020. Randomized trials that evaluated extracorporeal shock wave therapy used to treat plantar heel pain were included. Trials comparing an extra corporeal shock wave therapy with control/placebo were considered for inclusion in the review. We independently applied the inclusion and exclusion criteria to each identified randomized controlled trial, extracted data and assessed the methodological quality of each trial. Results: Four studies involving 645 patients were included. 3 RCTs (n = 605) permitted a pooled estimate of effectiveness based on overall success rate and composite score of visual analogue scales for pain at follow-up 1 (12 weeks). The pooled data showed no significant heterogeneity at the three-month follow-up (p - value of chi-square = 0.61, p = 0.74 and I2 = 0%). The shock wave group had a better success rate than the control group at the three-month follow-up (OR = 2.26, 95% CI = 1.62-3.15, p - < 0.00001). For reduction of pain the pooled data showed no significant heterogeneity (p - value of chi-Square 0.28 and I2 22%). There were significant differences between the ESWT and control groups for all follow-up visits (random-effect model, three trials, MD = 15.14, 95% CI = 13.86 to 16.42, < 0.00001 at three-month). Conclusion: A meta-analysis of data from three randomized-controlled trials that included a total of 605 patients was statistically significant in favor of extracorporeal shock wave therapy at follow-up 1(12 weeks).

Introduction: A patient satisfaction is considered as one of the desire outcomes of health care and it is directly related with utilization of health services. However, its level is falls at the fundamental level in developing countries including Ethiopia. Objective: To assess the level of patients’ satisfaction and its associated factors at Dessie Referral Hospital, Northeast Ethiopia Methods and Materials: An institutional based cross-sectional study design was employed from May 1 to June 1 2019. A total of 374 patients were selected by using systematic sampling technique and interviewer administer structured questionnaire was used to collect data. After data collection, the data were checked for its completeness and entered into Epi data version 3.1. The data were presented in frequency distribution tables and graphs. Both bivariable and multivariable logistic regression were applied to identify factors at a p < 0.05. Result: Among total study participants, 220 (58.8%) patients were satisfied with nursing care service. Patients who had particular nurse for nursing care were more likely satisfied than those who didn’t have particular nurse for nursing care (AOR = 2.01, 95% CI: 1.212 - 3.334). Patients who had other diseases in addition to current health problem were more likely satisfied (AOR = 0.45 & 95% CI: 0.196 - 1.031) compared with patients who had not. Conclusion: In this finding, the level of patients’ satisfaction towards nursing care was low. Having specific or particular nurse and presence of comorbid disease were factors associated with patients’ satisfaction towards nursing care. Health institutions should assign particular nurses for patients to improve their satisfaction and quality of care. In addition, nurses should give great attention to their patients who have co-morbid illnesses.

The effect of the intrinsic lutetium radioactivity on the detection performances of a LYSO based in-beam PET-like prototype used for quality control of hadrontherapy treatments is studied. This radioactivity leads to a background that degrades the measurement of the β+ signal. In particular, it prevents the measurement of faint signals originating from low activity β+ sources. This paper presents a method to estimate the minimum β+ activity that can be measured for any acquisition time taking into account the non-extensible dead time of the detector. This method is illustrated with experimental data collected with the in-beam PET-like prototype. The results presented in this paper are therefore specific to this detector. The method can however be applied in other contexts, either to other lutetium based PET detectors or even to non-PET detectors affected by lutetium radioactivity. The dead time correction formalism can also be used generally to scale signal and background yields in any non-paralizable detector, even those in which the background is not due to the presence of intrinsic radioactivity.

The Uranium extraction and processing plant of INB (Brazilian Nuclear Industries) is in Caetité, a city located in a region hosting the largest Uranium reserve of the country. The degree of Uranium contamination in the Caetité population was investigated before using teeth as bioindicator, where a quite high Uranium concentration was measured in this region, about 160 times higher than the world-wide average. Radiobiological risks are here evaluated from Uranium burdens in organs as skeleton, kidneys, liver, tissues and blood, which were estimated from transfer coefficients and effective internal doses. This was accomplished by means of calculations with the use of the STATFLUX/ICRP approach, plus a set of Uranium transfer rate parameters as function of individual’s age assuming an uninterrupted exposure over a period of 60 years. It was found that U ingestion rates by residents of Caetité are three orders of magnitude higher than worldwide average, indicating that food and water would exhibit high levels of contamination. Calculated effective internal doses range from a minimum of one to a maximum of three orders of magnitude higher than background doses, for blood and bones respectively. The likelihood that this circumstance could lead to serious health problems as e.g. neoplasia is addressed. The methodology presented in this work offers subsidies for further studies on environmental pollution by radionuclides.

Clinical physicians believe they are drowning . . . because they are! Between complying with an ever-changing landscape of time-wasting federal regulations, avoiding Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act violations, plus the entire billing process, who can keep up with the literature, study a patient’s medical history, or even talk with a patient?!? 

Nurses play a vital role in acute care hospitals and health care delivery. The purpose of this research study is to identify the nurse’s perception of the Clinical Ladder Program at their hospital and the correlation it has on the nurse’s job satisfaction and their professional development. A quantitative study will be conducted using two convenience samples from Alexian Brothers Hospital and Saint Anthony’s hospital with a total of 52 nurses who are currently participating in the clinical ladder program.

The purpose of this study was to differentiate between muscular activity of three different types of belt squats (SquatMax-MD, Pit Shark and Monster Rhino) and the muscle activation of the rectus femoris, vastus medialis oblique, gluteus maximus, and gluteus medius. Fourteen healthy, male athletes, over the age of 18 years, performed 2 sets of 5 repetitions on each of the three belt squat machines with a weight equivalent to each participant’s body weight. Athletes were given at least 2 minutes of rest between each set and condition. Electromyographic data were collected from four muscles: rectus femoris, vastus medialis oblique, gluteus maximus, and gluteus medius muscles. ANOVA revealed the SquatMax-MD belt squat resulted in the highest muscle activation in every muscle, with significantly higher activity in the rectus femoris, vastus medialis oblique, and gluteus medius muscles. The Monster Rhino belt squat produced the second highest muscle activation with the Pit Shark belt squat creating the lowest muscle activation. In totality, the SquatMax-MD produced 38.7% greater muscle activation than the Monster Rhino and 12.2% greater activation than the Pit Shark. The belt squat can be an advantageous exercise because it can effectively load the lower body while de-loading the spine and upper body. The difference in activation between the SquatMax-MD and other belt squats may be due, in part, to the design of the machines. The additional activation produced by the SquatMax-MD belt squat may be useful for individuals seeking hypertrophy, strength, or a reduction in injury risk.