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Accessible SummaryWhat is known on the subjectHealth professionals, including nurses, are shown to have stigmatizing attitudes towards mental illness.For nursing students who are in their formative years of professional development, mental illness stigma can severely impact the care they provide.Little research has investigated multi‐national comparisons of nursing students' attitudes towards mental illness.What this paper adds to existing knowledgeThis study shows that between countries, there were substantial differences amongst nursing students in stigmatizing attitudes towards mental illness.Cultural perspectives may explain some of these differences.What are the implications for practiceRegardless of location, stigmatizing attitudes are present at varying levels. Each nation can take steps to reduce these by acknowledging the presence of stigmatizing attitudes amongst nurses, educating nurses regarding the negative impacts of stigma on patient outcomes, and decrease stigmatizing attitudes by facilitating opportunities for nurses (particularly student nurses) to have direct contact with people with lived experiences of mental illness. Introduction: Stigmatizing attitudes perpetuated by nursing professionals are a pervasive problem for people experiencing mental health issues. This global issue has detrimental consequences; inhibiting one's life chances and help‐seeking behaviours. To date, few studies have compared nursing students' attitudes towards mental illness from a multi‐national perspective. Aim: To compare undergraduate nursing students' attitudes towards mental illness across six countries: Australia, India, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan and USA. Method: In a cross‐sectional design, data were collected from undergraduate nursing students (N = 426) using the Social Distance Scale. A one‐way analysis of variance was used to compare differences between countries. Results: Nursing students' attitudes to mental illness differed between countries. Social Distance Scores were highest amongst nursing students from Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Students from Taiwan and India possessed moderate stigma scores. Social Distance Scores from the USA and Australia were lowest. Discussion: Clear differences in stigmatizing attitudes emerged between countries; these are discussed in relation to possible cultural influences. Implications for Practice: It is suggested that educating nurses, combined with direct contact with people with lived experiences of mental illness, can reduce stigmatizing attitudes regardless of country, location or educational institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aimed to examine determinants of undernutrition among children under 2 years of age. Design and Methods: A matched case‐control study design was conducted to recruit 300 mothers comprising 100 mothers with an undernourished child (case group) and 200 mothers with a healthy child (control group). Measurements consisted of demographic characteristics of children data, mother's data, household data, mother's knowledge of child undernutrition, mother's knowledge of nutrition, complementary feeding practices, and undernutrition parameters of the children. A conditional logistic regression was used to identify determinants of undernutrition. The risk of undernutrition was estimated by odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Statistical significance was defined as any p value of <.05. Results: Findings showed that mother's knowledge of undernutrition (AOR: 0.95; 95% CI: 0.91−0.98), mother's knowledge of nutrition (AOR: 0.90; 95% CI: 0.85−0.96), and mother's knowledge (AOR: 0.78; 95% CI: 0.67−0.91) and behavior of complementary feeding practices (AOR: 0.97; 95% CI: 0.94−0.99) were significant determinants of undernutrition (p <.05). Practice Implications: Mothers with high scores on knowledge of undernutrition, knowledge of nutrition, and knowledge and behaviors of complementary feeding practices would benefit the children under 2 years to reduce the risk of undernutrition. Healthcare professionals (i.e., pediatric nurses and community health nurses) should provide early assessment of knowledge related to undernutrition, nutrition, and complementary feeding practices for mothers with children under 2 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum-secure communication and computation have garnered increasing attention due to their powerful search capabilities for certain complex problems and their ability to provide unconditional security. This indicates that classical cryptography, such as asymmetric ciphers based on complex mathematics, faces a significant threat from quantum algorithms. However, quantum cryptography can detect any attempt to eavesdrop on a channel. As a result, the investigation and implementation of quantum computers and quantum-secure communication networks have become essential objectives for numerous research teams. This paper provides an overview of quantum cryptography, including its development, and focuses on the theoretical aspect of quantum secure direct communication (QSDC). This helps readers understand the theoretical operating principles and gain a better understanding of the entire quantum characteristic and protocol operation in the QSDC field. QSDC enables secure communication without previously shared private keys, making it a crucial topic in quantum cryptography research. This paper provides an overview of several well-known versions of QSDC in theory, discussing their applications, challenges and potential future directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investing in stocks is a common choice for financial management. Technical indicators (TIs) assist investors in determining the best trading time to make a fortune. Moving average (MA) and relative strength index (RSI) are the most common TIs. The proposed hybrid technique maximizes the capabilities of these two indicators. This study utilizes the quantum-inspired algorithm to assist effectively in searching for the optimal solution in the vast solution space. The proposed trading system contains four innovative features. First, the traditional usage restriction of MA and RSI is removed to increase their potential effectiveness and identify the most profitable trading strategy. Second, this research proposes an innovative hybrid indicator (HI) that combines MA and RSI to simultaneously achieve both benefits. HI eliminates the restriction of employing a single indicator at once. Third, an efficient quantum-inspired algorithm, the Global-best-guided Quantum-inspired Tabu Search Algorithm with Quantum NOT Gate (GNQTS), effectively and efficiently explores optimized parameters. Fourth, this study proposes 60 sliding windows to determine the optimal period for training and testing. The investment targets include well-known indices: DJIA, S&P 500, NASDAQ Composite Index, and NYA, as well as high-reputation companies on the US stock market: DJIA components. By removing the restrictions imposed by these two indicators and the use of HI, the experiment results demonstrate that GNQTS can discover optimal parameters to generate higher returns than state-of-the-art methods and buy-and-hold (B&H) strategies. The proposed hybrid strategy provides for the promising prospect of quantum-inspired applications and the utilization of multiple indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Sleep quality and depression during pregnancy often affect women's adaptation to motherhood and are linked with adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes. Using a prospective cohort study comprising 190 pregnant women in central Taiwan, we investigated the trajectories of sleep quality and depressive symptoms and their associated predictors in perinatal women from pregnancy to postpartum. Sleep and depressive symptoms were assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, respectively, from mid‐pregnancy to 3 months postpartum. We used group‐based trajectory modelling and logistic regression modelling to analyse the data collected from the structured questionnaires. Pregnant women (50.5% primipara) with a mean (standard deviation) age of 32.3 (4.1) years were included. We identified three distinctive classes of sleep quality trajectories during the perinatal period: 'stable good' (18.4%), 'increasing poor' (48.9%), and 'stable poor' (32.6%). We further detected three stable trajectories of depressive symptoms: 'stable low' (36.3%), 'stable mild' (42.1%), and 'stable high' (21.6%). A significant association between sleep quality and depression trajectories was evident (p < 0.001). High fatigue symptoms and low social support predicted the high trajectories of poor sleep and depressive symptoms. Distinctive dynamic sleep quality and stable depression trajectories were characterised. Our findings revealed that both the sleep and depression trajectories were closely associated with one another, with common predictors of fatigue symptoms and social support. The early assessment of maternal sleep and depression status is important for identifying at‐risk women and initiating interventions tailored to perinatal women to improve their sleep and mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum secret sharing (QSS) is a significant branch of quantum cryptography and can be widely used in various applications. Quantum secret sharing schemes can be developed by utilizing different features of quantum mechanics, and quantum secure direct communication (QSDC) is an effective way to achieve secret sharing using single qubits. The utilization of QSDC offers certain benefits, such as low cost, high security, and great potential for implementation with current technologies. However, the purpose of QSDC is different from that of QSS, which causes some vulnerabilities, such as dishonest participant attacks. We discover two critical factors that affect the security of traditional protocols. Firstly, they skip a few steps from the QSDC protocol to the QSS protocol. Secondly, the participants have different privileges. This can lead to participants with more privileges engaging in potential attack behavior. In light of these issues, this study proposes a new multiparty QSS scheme to address these vulnerabilities. The proposed protocol ensures the independence of each participant and grants them equal privileges. Analysis results demonstrate that it can defend against malicious attackers, retain the advantages of the QSDC protocol, and further reduce transmission costs. It achieves an excellent balance between security and performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Exclusive breastfeeding to 6 months postpartum has been related to breastfeeding self-efficacy in diverse populations. Globally, this is measured using the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale–Short Form (BSES-SF). Research Aim: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the BSES-SF among women in Malawi; and to examine the relationship between breastfeeding self-efficacy and demographic and health factors. Methods: The study design was a prospective, cross-sectional survey with a 2 week follow-up reliability check. Postpartum women (N = 180) were recruited at a maternity hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi. In addition to the BSES-SF, the World Health Organization's Quality of Life Scale (QoL) was also administered. Furthermore, confirmatory factor analysis, Cronbach's alpha, and Pearson's correlations were used to examine the construct validity, reliability, test-retest reliability, and convergent validity. Results: The confirmatory factor analysis supported a unidimensional structure of the Malawian version of the 12-item BSES-SF. Cronbach's alpha and the intra-class correlation coefficient were 0.79 and 0.75, respectively. BSES-SF scores had significant correlation with QoL domains (physical QoL: r = 0.31, p <.001; and environmental QoL: r = 0.22, p <.01). Participants' age, parity, and mode of delivery were positively correlated with breastfeeding self-efficacy scores. Conclusion: The findings of our study confirmed that the 12-item BSES-SF is a reliable and valid scale for assessing women's breastfeeding self-efficacy in Malawi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The major challenge of high-temperature shape memory alloys (SMAs) is the collocation of phase transition temperatures (TTs: Ms, Mf, As, Af) with the mechanical properties required for application. Previous research has shown that the addition of Hf and Zr into NiTi shape memory alloys (SMAs) increases TTs. Modulating the ratio of Hf and Zr can control the phase transformation temperature, and applying thermal treatments can also achieve the same goal. However, the influence of thermal treatments and precipitates on mechanical properties has not been widely discussed in previous studies. In this study, we prepared two different kinds of shape memory alloys and analyzed their phase transformation temperatures after homogenization. Homogenization successfully eliminated dendrites and inter-dendrites in the as-cast states, resulting in a reduction in the phase transformation temperatures. XRD patterns indicated the presence of B2 peaks in the as-homogenized states, demonstrating a decrease in phase transformation temperatures. Mechanical properties, such as elongation and hardness, were improved due to the uniform microstructures achieved after homogenization. Moreover, we discovered that different additions of Hf and Zr resulted in distinct properties. Alloys with lower Hf and Zr had lower phase transformation temperatures, followed by higher fracture stress and elongation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To test the validity and reliability of the Chichewa Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire (W-DEQ) in Malawian postpartum women.Methods: A cross-sectional study of postnatal women (N= 415) at 1 day after vaginal birth was conducted at a district hospital in Malawi. The W-DEQ, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale were used to measure fear of birth (FOB), depressive symptoms and quality of life (QoL). Principal component analysis (PCA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), Cronbach's alpha, the average variance extracted (AVE) and the composite reliability (CR) and Pearson correlation were used to test the construct validity, reliability, convergent and divergent validity of the Chichewa W-DEQ (CW-DEQ).Results: The participants had a mean age of 28.3 ± 6.7 years. A multidimensional structure containing three factors - a lack of positive feelings, fear and concerns about childbirth - with an appropriate model fit was reported for the CW-DEQ version. The Cronbach's α of the CW-DEQ was 0.87. The AVE and CR values were highly acceptable in lack of positive feelings - 0.17 (0.68), and concerns about childbirth - 0.79 (0.88) factors which proved the convergent validity of each; however, was marginally acceptable in the fear factor - 0.14 (0.53). Low range of correlations between the CW-DEQ constructs (r = 0.27 ∼ 0.42, p < .001), confirmed the divergent validity.Conclusions: In this study, we found the CW-DEQ to be a reliable and valid tool for assessing FOB in postpartum women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale-Short Form (BSES-SF) in Indonesian postpartum women. We conducted a cross-sectional study including 237 postpartum women in Yogyakarta City, Indonesia. Participants completed the BSES-SF, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Construct validity, internal reliability, and divergent validity were examined using confirmatory factor analysis, Cronbach's alpha, and Pearson's correlations. We identified a unidimensional structure through confirmatory factor analysis with an excellent internal consistency by Cronbach's alpha of.90. Divergent validity was evidenced by low correlation of the BSES-SF with the depressive symptoms (EPDS, r = −.21; HADS-D, r = −.17, p <.05) and anxiety symptoms (HADS-A, r = −.15, p =.02). It is concluded that the Indonesian version of BSES-SF is a valid and reliable measurement tool to assess breastfeeding self-efficacy among postpartum women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The study aimed to explore and compare stress, coping, professional identity and work locus of control of new graduate nurses among Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taipei. Background: The transition from a student to a staff nurse role is recognized as a stressful experience and can be a rough journey. Many newly graduated nurses find it challenging to cope with their new roles in their first few months. Methods: A cross‐sectional research was used in the study. This study was completed in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taipei with newly graduated nurses working in hospitals. A total of 591 graduate nurses who had worked within 1 year in hospitals were recruited using convenient sampling. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire, including demographics, the occupational stress scale, the Chinese trait coping style questionnaire, the nurse professional identity scale and the work locus of control scale (Chinese version). Results: The newly graduated nurses in Shanghai had significantly lower (p < 0.05) work stress score (2.65 ± 0.67) compared with their counterparts in Hong Kong (2.99 ± 0.69) and Taipei (2.94 ± 0.60). Newly graduated nurses in Shanghai tended to choose positive coping to deal with stressful situations, whereas those in Hong Kong would be more likely to adopt negative attitudes (p < 0.05). The newly graduated nurses in Taipei had the lowest level of professional identity (3.25 ± 0.55, p < 0.05), and their work control tended to be external (46.13 ± 6.20). In contrast, those in Shanghai (52.75 ± 6.04) and Hong Kong (59.41 ± 7.29) tended to be controlled internally. Conclusions: The study findings revealed the differences among newly graduated nurses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taipei with their level of stress, coping, professional identity and work locus of control. Proper leadership, mentoring for newly graduated nurses, and emphasis on first aid nursing training, emotional management and management of stress in newly graduated nurse transition programmes were suggested. Implications for Nursing Management: By comparing the results in the three regions, we recommend that nursing managers promote the right leadership style. In addition to coaching, nursing managers can assign additional mentors to newly graduated nurses to help them supplement their clinical knowledge and skills with psychological support. These mentors can come from senior nurses or nursing managers working on less demanding tasks. In addition to the existing post transfer training programmes, new graduate nurses should also focus on emergency nursing training, emotional management training and stress management training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Interprofessional collaborative practice is essential for meeting patients' needs and improving their health outcomes; thus, the effectiveness of interprofessional education (IPE) should be clearly identified. There is insufficient evidence in the literature to determine the outcomes of IPE compared to traditional single-profession education (SPE). This study aimed to compare the outcomes of IPE and SPE during a simulation training course. Methods: The study design was a mixed-methods, incorporated cross-over design and a qualitative survey. A total of 54 students including 18 medical students and 36 nursing students were recruited from March to April 2019. The 4-week simulation course was designed based on Kolb's experimental learning theory and Bandura's social learning theory. Participants were evenly divided into group 1 (received IPE-learning followed by SPE-learning), and group 2 (received SPE-learning followed by IPE-learning). Students' medical task performance, team behavior performance, teamwork attitude, and patient safety attitude were collected at pretest, mid-test, and posttest. Descriptive statistics and repeated measures analysis of variance were used. End-of-study qualitative feedback was collected, and content analysis was performed. Results: Both groups demonstrated moderate-to-large within-group improvements for multiple learning outcomes at mid-test. Group 1 students' medical task performance (F = 97.25; P < 0.001) and team behavior performance (F = 31.17; P < 0.001) improved significantly. Group 2 students' medical task performance (F = 77.77; P < 0.001), team behavior performance (F = 40.14; P < 0.001), and patient safety attitude (F = 6.82; P < 0.01) improved significantly. Outcome differences between groups were nonsignificant. Qualitative themes identified included: personal factor, professional factor, interprofessional relationship, and learning. The IPE program provided students with exposure to other professions and revealed differences in expertise and responsibilities. Conclusion: IPE-simulation and SPE-simulation were effective interventions that enabled medical and nursing students to develop critical medical management and team behavior performance. IPE-simulation provided more opportunities for improving competencies in interprofessional collaborative practice. In circumstances with limited teaching resources, SPE-simulation can be an acceptable alternative to IPE-simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Only 61% of Malawian women exclusively breastfeed to the recommended 6 months. Paternal support is predictive of exclusive breastfeeding, and significantly related to paternal breastfeeding self-efficacy, defined as fathers' confidence in their ability to assist mothers with breastfeeding. Research Aims: To (1) examine the psychometric properties of the Paternal Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale-Short Form (BSES-SF) in Malawian fathers, including internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, construct validity using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and convergent validity; and (2) assess the relationship between the BSES-SF and paternal demographic and health factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at a maternity hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi, and 180 fathers whose partners had delivered a singleton infant were included. Participants completed the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale and Quality of Life with confirmatory factor analysis performed to assess the construct validity. The internal consistency reliability and test-retest reliability were evaluated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient and intra-class correlations. Convergent validity was also assessed. Results: A unidimensional factorial structure of the Malawian Paternal BSES-SF was identified using confirmatory factor analysis. The scale had an excellent Cronbach's alpha of.90 and a test-retest reliability of.93. Participants' breastfeeding self-efficacy was significantly correlated with the Quality of Life domains of psychological health (r =.23; p <.01), social relationships (r =.28; p <.001), and environmental health (r =.30; p <.001). Participants who were older, married, and with ≥ two children had significantly higher breastfeeding self-efficacy and were more confident in their ability to support their partner's breastfeeding. Conclusion: The Paternal Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale-Short Form was a valid and reliable measure to assess fathers' confidence in their ability to assist mothers with breastfeeding in Malawi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Breast engorgement and breast pain are the most common reasons for the early cessation of exclusive breastfeeding by mothers. Research Aims: (1) To examine the influence of breastfeeding educational interventions on breast engorgement, breast pain, and exclusive breastfeeding; and (2) to identify effective components for implementing breastfeeding programs. Methods: Randomized controlled trials of breastfeeding educational interventions were searched using five English and five Chinese databases. Eligible studies were independently evaluated for methodological quality, and data were extracted by two investigators. In total, 22 trials were identified, and 3,681 participants were included. A random-effects model was used to pool the results, and a subgroup analysis and meta-regression analysis were conducted. Results: Breastfeeding education had a significant influence on reducing breast engorgement at postpartum 3 days (odds ratio [OR]: 0.27, 95% CI [0.15, 0.48] p <.001), 4 days (OR: 0.16, 95% CI [0.11, 0.22], p <.001), and 5–7 days (OR: 0.24, 95% CI [0.08, 0.74], p =.013) and breast pain (standardized mean difference: −1.33, 95% CI [−2.26, −0.40]) at postpartum 4–14 days. Participants who received interventions had higher odds of exclusive breastfeeding. Breastfeeding educational interventions provided through lecture combined with skills practical effectively reduced breast engorgement (OR: 0.21; 95% CI [0.15, 0.28]; p =.001) and improved exclusive breastfeeding at postpartum 1–6 weeks (OR: 2.16; 95% CI [1.65, 2.83]; p =.001). Conclusions: Breastfeeding educational interventions have been effective in reducing breast engorgement, breast pain, and improved exclusive breastfeeding. A combination of knowledge and skill-based education has been beneficial for sustaining exclusive breastfeeding by mothers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secret sharing is a widely-used security protocol and cryptographic primitive in which all people cooperate to restore encrypted information. The characteristics of a quantum field guarantee the security of information; therefore, many researchers are interested in quantum cryptography and quantum secret sharing (QSS) is an important research topic. However, most traditional QSS methods are complex and difficult to implement. In addition, most traditional QSS schemes share classical information, not quantum information which makes them inefficient to transfer and share information. In a weighted threshold QSS method, each participant has each own weight, but assigning weights usually costs multiple quantum states. Quantum state consumption will therefore increase with the weight. It is inefficient and difficult, and therefore not able to successfully build a suitable agreement. The proposed method is the first attempt to build multiparty weighted threshold QSS method using single quantum particles combine with the Chinese remainder theorem (CRT) and phase shift operation. The proposed scheme allows each participant has its own weight and the dealer can encode a quantum state with the phase shift operation. The dividing and recovery characteristics of CRT offer a simple approach to distribute partial keys. The reversibility of phase shift operation can encode and decode the secret. The proposed weighted threshold QSS scheme presents the security analysis of external attacks and internal attacks. Furthermore, the efficiency analysis shows that our method is more efficient, flexible, and simpler to implement than traditional methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Fear of childbirth is a common health concern for women during pregnancy. The Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire (W-DEQ) is widely used to measure childbirth fear during pregnancy. However, this instrument is yet to be validated in Malawi, Africa. Our study aimed to assess the psychometric properties of the W-DEQ questionnaire in Malawi.Methods: Healthy pregnant women in the third trimester (N = 476) at a district hospital in Malawi were included. Fear of childbirth, depressive symptoms, and quality of life were assessed using the W-DEQ, the Edinburg Postnatal Depression Scale, and the World Health Organization Quality of Life scale, respectively. The construct validity, reliability, and convergent validity of the W-DEQ were examined using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, Cronbach's alpha, and Pearson correlations.Results: The mean age of participants was 28.2 (standard deviation = 6.8) years. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of the Malawian version of the W-DEQ indicated a multidimensional structure with three factors: fear, negative appraisal, and a lack of self-efficacy, with acceptable goodness of model fit. The Malawian version of the W-DEQ showed a satisfactory internal consistency (α = 0.84) and was significantly correlated with depressive symptoms (r = 0.23, p < 0.001) and quality of life (r = - 0.17 ~ -0.26, ps < 0.05).Conclusions: Our findings support the Malawian W-DEQ version being a reliable and valid instrument for measuring childbirth fear in African women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Perceived milk supply is an important modifiable factor for optimal breastfeeding. However, little is known about maternal perception of milk supply or how it impacts breastfeeding practices. The aim of this study was to examine relationships of perceived milk supply, maternal breastfeeding self-efficacy, and skin-to-skin contact with early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding among mothers of infants less than 6 months of age in Indonesia. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in Yogyakarta City, Indonesia between August and October 2015. Maternal perception of milk supply was assessed using the Hill and Humenick Lactation Scale. Data on breastfeeding practices, and maternal and infant factors were collected using a structured questionnaire. Multiple regression and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to obtain estimates of associations. Results: Thirty four percent of mothers had initiated breastfeeding within an hour after birth, and 62.4% of mothers were exclusively breastfeeding. High levels of perceived breast milk supply were reported in mothers who practiced skin-to-skin contact or rooming-in with their infants, experienced positive infant sucking behavior, or had high breastfeeding self-efficacy (p < 0.05). Mothers with a higher level of perceived milk production (Odds Ratio [OR] 3.20; 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 1.76, 5.83) or practicing skin-to-skin contact (OR 2.36; 95% CI 1.13, 4.91) were more likely to exclusively breastfeed, while employed mothers were less likely to breastfeed their infants exclusively (OR 0.47; 95% CI 0.24, 0.93). Conclusions: In this study, skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding self-efficacy are important determinants of perceived milk supply. Higher perception of milk supply was positively linked with exclusive breastfeeding. Our study highlights the importance of the assessment for mother's perception of milk supply, maternal breastfeeding self-efficacy, and skin-to-skin contact in achieving optimal breastfeeding outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The sharing economy is an emerging trend that takes advantage of underused assets and generates enormous amount of economic value. However, little research has been done to understand the factors that drive people to share assets. Design/methodology/approach: This study develops two models, one based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and another based on social capital theory (SCT), to explain why individuals want to share their assets with others. An Internet survey is conducted to collect data and test the proposed models. Most of respondents were members of Airbnb or Uber – accommodation sharing and taxi services. Findings: The results show that the TPB model has greater explanatory power than the SCT model. The individual's motivations, attitude, perceived behavioral control, facilitating technological conditions and identification with the community increase their intention to share assets. Originality/value: This study distinguishes asset suppliers from consumers to clearly understand the factors that influence the intention to provide underused assets. The research findings can help companies participating in the sharing economy to induce people to share. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background High rates of early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding have been reported in Malawi, yet the underlying factors are unknown. Our objective is to examine the determinants of breastfeeding practices for mothers of infants less than 24 months old in Malawi. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted using nationally representative data from the 2010 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used. Results Of 7282 women, 95.4% initiated breastfeeding within 1 hour after birth; thereafter 71.3% of women practiced exclusive breastfeeding, 6.1% predominantly breastfed, and 1.9% chose bottle feeding exclusively. The odds of early initiation were higher among women with frequent antenatal care visits and multiparous mothers. Similarly, frequent antenatal care visits and hospital delivery were positive determinants for exclusive breastfeeding. Infants at 6 months of age were more likely to predominantly breastfeed than they were at 1 month. The odds of bottle feeding were higher among women who were educated, who delivered at a hospital. Conclusions Optimal breastfeeding practices are highly prevalent in Malawi. Health care practice emphasizing frequent antenatal care visits that provide breastfeeding education and breastfeeding support in hospital care after childbirth are important for sustaining breastfeeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the executive function and learning attention in children with internet addiction (IA). Design and Methods: Children aged 10–12 were screened by Chinese Internet Addiction Scale to compose the IA group and internet nonaddiction group. Their executive functions were evaluated by Stroop color and word test, Wisconsin card sorting test, and Wechsler digit span test. Learning attention was evaluated by Chinese concentration questionnaire. Findings: Executive function and learning attention were lower in the IA group than in the internet nonaddiction group. Practice Implications: Executive function and learning attention are compromised by IA in children. Early interventions into the IA should be planned to maintain the normal development of executive function and learning attention in childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, since the adoption of the IEEE 802.11p and IEEE 1609 standards, Vehicular Ad hoc Networks (VANETs) have received a significant amount of attention in Ad hoc Network studies. Vehicular safety applications have thus played an important role in VANETs, and many emergency broadcast systems have been proposed. However, some of these broadcast mechanisms might result in the broadcast storm problem. The emergency broadcast strategy proposed in this paper is that when a car accident occurs, the vehicle’s sensors detect impacts and immediately send emergency messages to inform other vehicles nearby. In addition, we propose a way to eliminate redundant broadcasts and to ensure that emergency messages can be transmitted properly. We propose a stability function to estimate the reliability of the transponder. The backoff procedure of this proposed method assigns appropriate waiting times to different forwarders. The proposed scheme is implemented with NS2 simulator based on WAVE/DSRC standards. Simulation results show that the proposed protocol exhibits outstanding performance in terms of forwarding counts, packet loss rate, and delay time in different environments. In addition, our protocol maintains stability in different vehicle density scenarios so that each vehicle receives emergency messages and holds a low latency to ensure that the driver has adequate safety response time to enhance traffic safety. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: After cesarean section (CS), women may be at great risk for sleep disturbance, but little is known about temporal changes in their sleep patterns and characteristics. We had two aims: 1) to identify distinct classes of sleep-disturbance trajectories in women considering elective CS from third-trimester pregnancy to 6 months post-CS and 2) to examine associations of sleep trajectories with body mass index (BMI), depressive symptoms, and fatigue scores. Methods: We analyzed data from a prospective cohort study of 139 Taiwanese pregnant women who elected CS. Sleep components were assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index in third-trimester pregnancy, 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, and 6 months post-CS. Data were collected on depressive symptoms, fatigue symptoms, and BMI. Sleep-quality trajectories were identified by group-based trajectory modeling. Results: We identified three distinct trajectories: stable poor sleep (50 women, 36.0%), progressively worse sleep (67 women, 48.2%), and persistently poor sleep (22 women, 15.8%). Poor sleep was significantly associated with pre-pregnancy BMI and more baseline (third-trimester pregnancy) depressive and fatigue symptoms. At 6 months post-CS, women classified as progressively worse or persistently poor sleepers showed a trend toward higher BMI (p<0.03), more depressive symptoms (p<0.001), and higher fatigue scores (p<0.001) than those with stable poor sleep. Conclusions: Women had three distinct sleep-disturbance trajectories before and after elective CS. These poor-sleep courses were associated with BMI and psychological well-being. Our findings suggest a need to continuously assess sleep quality among women considering elective CS and up to 6 months post-CS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we propose a novel quantum-inspired evolutionary algorithm (QEA), called quantum inspired Tabu search (QTS). QTS is based on the classical Tabu search and characteristics of quantum computation, such as superposition. The process of qubit measurement is a probability operation that increases diversification; a quantum rotation gate used to searching toward attractive regions will increase intensification. This paper will show how to implement QTS into NP-complete problems such as 0/1 knapsack problems, multiple knapsack problems and the traveling salesman problem. These problems are important to computer science, cryptography and network security. Furthermore, our experimental results on 0/1 knapsack problems are compared with those of other heuristic algorithms, such as a conventional genetic algorithm, a Tabu search algorithm and the original QEA. The final outcomes show that QTS performs much better than other heuristic algorithms without premature convergence and with more efficiency. Also on multiple knapsack problems and the traveling salesman problem QTS verify its effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives To evaluate the effectiveness of an accessibility-enhanced multimedia informational educational programme in reducing anxiety and increasing satisfaction with the information and materials received by patients undergoing cardiac catheterisation. Background Cardiac catheterisation is one of the most anxiety-provoking invasive procedures for patients. However, informational education using multimedia to inform patients undergoing cardiac catheterisation has not been extensively explored. Design A randomised experimental design with three-cohort prospective comparisons. Methods In total, 123 consecutive patients were randomly assigned to one of three groups: regular education; (group 1), accessibility-enhanced multimedia informational education (group 2) and instructional digital videodisc education (group 3). Anxiety was measured with Spielberger's State Anxiety Inventory, which was administered at four time intervals: before education ( T0), immediately after education ( T1), before cardiac catheterisation ( T2) and one day after cardiac catheterisation ( T3). A satisfaction questionnaire was administrated one day after cardiac catheterisation. Data were collected from May 2009- September 2010 and analysed using descriptive statistics, chi-squared tests, one-way analysis of variance, Scheffe's post hoc test and generalised estimating equations. Results All patients experienced moderate anxiety at T0 to low anxiety at T3. Accessibility-enhanced multimedia informational education patients had significantly lower anxiety levels and felt the most satisfied with the information and materials received compared with patients in groups 1 and 3. A statistically significant difference in anxiety levels was only found at T2 among the three groups ( p = 0·004). Conclusions The findings demonstrate that the accessibility-enhanced multimedia informational education was the most effective informational educational module for informing patients about their upcoming cardiac catheterisation, to reduce anxiety and improve satisfaction with the information and materials received compared with the regular education and instructional digital videodisc education. Relevance to clinical practice As the accessibility-enhanced multimedia informational education reduced patient anxiety and improved satisfaction with the information and materials received, it can be adapted to complement patient education in future regular cardiac care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Depression and anxiety are important mood changes in childbearing women. However, changes in depression and anxiety over time in women who undergo an elective cesarean section (CS) have not yet been elucidated. We aimed to characterize the trajectories of depressive and anxiety symptoms, and patterns of co-occurrence, and examined the associated predictors of depression and anxiety courses. Methods: A prospective longitudinal study of childbearing women (N = 139) who underwent a CS was conducted. Depressive and anxiety symptoms were respectively assessed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and State Anxiety Inventory, in the third trimester and at 1 day, 1 week, and 1 and 6 months postpartum. Results: Group-based modeling identified three distinct trajectories of depressive symptoms: group 1 (low, 30.9%), group 2 (mild, 41.7%), and group 3 (high, 27.3%). Four group trajectories of anxiety symptoms were identified: group 1 (low, 19.4%), group 2 (mild, 44.6%), group 3 (high, 28.8%), and group 4 (very high, 7.2%). Mild symptoms of both depression and anxiety were the most common joint trajectory. Depression trajectories were significantly related to anxiety trajectories (p<0.001). Predictors of the joint trajectory included the pre-pregnant body mass index (odds ratio (OR): 2.42, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.1∼6.3) and a poor sleep score (OR: 3.2, 95% CI: 1.4∼7.3) in the third trimester. Conclusions: Distinctive trajectories and co-occurrence patterns of depressive and anxiety symptoms were identified. Our findings suggest a need for greater attention to continuous assessment of psychological well-being among women who undergo an elective CS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Positive schizotypy is associated with non-right-handedness, which includes left- and mixed-handedness. However, because the underlying mechanisms might be different, it is important to examine whether both left- and mixed-handedness are associated with a high incidence of schizotypy. During 2009–2010, we used both the Perceptual Aberration Scale and Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire to assess 1315 undergraduate students in Taiwan for schizotypy and the Annett handedness questionnaire to assess handedness. Among the three-way classifications based on Annett's grouping, the fully left-handed group appeared to have the lowest score of positive schizotypy; next was the fully right-handed group and then the mixed-handed. Among the three-way classifications driven from cluster analysis, mixed-handers showed highest score of positive schizotypy. When handedness was treated continuously, both direction (e.g., Hand Preference Index) and consistency (e.g., Either hand use score) indicators were significantly correlated with schizotypy. The results of regression analyses showed that the quadratic handedness measure were negatively associated with schizotypy. The results remained similar after correcting for social pressure on left-handedness. In conclusion, the relationship between schizotypy and mixed-handedness appears to be cross-cultural. The dichotomous classification of handedness, right- vs. non-right-handedness, appears to be insufficient. Additional studies on the distinct mechanisms of mixed- and left-handedness are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has not been fixed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research proposes the first one-out-of-two quantum oblivious transfer (QOT) scheme that does not have a two-level structure and is not subject to Lo’s no-go theorem. Instead, the proposed scheme is a simple and efficient approach based on nonorthogonal states. The nonorthogonality causes one of a pair of messages to be unable to be measured to achieve the irreversible goal of discarding a message, resulting in a one-out-of-two selection effect. The proposed QOT protocol is therefore built directly on quantum resources rather than on a two-level structure in which two classical keys must first be created using quantum resources (all-or-nothing QOT) and then a one-out-of-two protocol is built from there. Furthermore, the proposed protocol allows Alice and Bob to test each other’s loyalty by comparing measurement results. In addition, the relationship with the no-go theorem is discussed in detail; this relationship is often overlooked in other studies. A security analysis demonstrates that the proposed protocol is secure against both external and internal attacks. In addition, an efficiency analysis shows that the proposed protocol is more efficient than other, two-level-structured protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Childbirth fear is a health concern in women living in high-income countries; however, little is known about childbirth fear among women living in low-income countries like Malawi. In this study, we explored childbirth fear and associated factors among pregnant and postpartum women in Malawi.Methods: A cross-sectional study of 152 pregnant and 153 postpartum women was conducted at a district hospital in Malawi. Participants were assessed for childbirth fear using the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire (WDEQ). Demographic and obstetric variables were collected using a structured questionnaire. The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) was used to measure social support. Using a multinomial logistic regression, factors related to childbirth fears were examined, namely demographic and obstetric characteristics, and social support.Results: The mean age of participants was 26 (standard deviation: 6.4) years. During pregnancy, 39% women reported a low level of fear, 41% reported moderate fear, and 20% reported high fear; while after birth, 49, 41, and 10% women reported low, moderate, and high fear, respectively. Pregnant women who were illiterate (odds ratio (OR): 5.0, p < 0.01) or unemployed (OR: 12.6, p < 0.01) were more likely to report moderate and high fear. Postpartum mothers who were illiterate (OR: 4.2, p < 0.01) or unemployed (OR: 11.8, p < 0.01) were more likely to have moderate and high fear. Furthermore, postpartum women who sustained perineal tears had significantly higher odds of experiencing moderate (OR: 5.3, p < 0.01) or high (OR: 19.9, p < 0.01) fear than their counterparts.Conclusions: Childbirth fear is common in Malawi, and pregnant women are more likely to experience high levels of fear than postpartum women. This study highlighted the connection between childbirth fear with mother's education, employment, and perineal tears during delivery. Identifying and developing interventions for women with these associated characteristics is of clinical importance for the reduction of childbirth fear before and after childbirth in Malawi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]