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Inspired by the positive impact of serious games on science understanding and motivated by personal interests in scientific outreach, we developed "Bacttle," an easy-to-play microbiology board game with adaptive difficulty, targeting any player from 7 years old onward. Bacttle addresses both the lay public and teachers for use in classrooms as a way of introducing microbiology concepts. The layout of the game and its mechanism are the result of multiple rounds of trial, feedback, and re-design. The final version consists of a deck of cards, a 3D-printed board, and tokens (with a paper-based alternative), with all digital content open source. Players in Bacttle take on the character of a bacterial species. The aim for each species is to proliferate under the environmental conditions of the board and the interactions with the board and with other players, which vary as the play evolves. Players start with a given number of lives that will increase or decrease based on the traits they play for different environmental scenarios. Such bacterial traits come in the form of cards that can be deployed strategically. To assess the impact of the game on microbiological knowledge, we scored differences in the understanding of general concepts before and after playing the game. We assessed a total of 169 visitors at two different university open-day science fairs. Players were asked to fill out a brief survey before and after the game with questions targeting conceptual advances. Results show that Bacttle increases general microbiology knowledge on players as young as 5 years old and with the highest impact on those who have no "a priori" microbiology comprehension.

The condition and health of large oil-immersed power transformers' insulation have a direct impact on the safety and stability of the power grid. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate the aging characteristics of oil–paper insulation in power transformers. In this study, we developed a computational model for reclosing current calculation and multiphysics coupling models for magnetic-circuit-force, electrostatic field, and temperature field simulations. The calculated aging resulted in a mechanical stress of 8.71 MPa, an electric field strength of 2.26 × 106 V/m, and a temperature of 113.7 °C. We conducted combined electrical–thermal–mechanical aging tests on the oil–paper insulation and measured various insulating paper performance parameters at different aging stages. Our study revealed that both the mechanical and electrical properties of the insulating paper deteriorated in both aging groups. However, the changes were more pronounced in the electrical–thermal–mechanical aging group compared to the electrical–thermal aging group, indicating that mechanical stress accelerated the aging process of the insulating paper. In the early stages of aging, the rate of performance changes in the electrical–thermal aging group was similar to that in the electrical–thermal–mechanical aging group. However, as the aging time increased, the degradation of performance induced by mechanical aging became more significant. This suggests that the insulating paper's resistance to mechanical damage, specifically short-circuit resistance, noticeably decreased after prolonged aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children frequently respond differently to therapies compared to adults. Differences also exist between paediatric age groups for pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in both efficacy and safety. Paediatric pharmacovigilance requires an understanding of the unique aspects of children with regard to, for example, drug response, growth and development, clinical presentation of adverse drug reactions (ADRs), how they can be detected and population‐specific factors (e.g., more frequent use of off‐label/unlicensed drugs). In recognition of these challenges, a group of experts has been formed in the context of the conect4children (c4c) project to support paediatric drug development. This expert group collaborated to develop methodological considerations for paediatric drug safety and pharmacovigilance throughout the life‐cycle of medicinal products which are described in this article. These considerations include practical points to consider for the development of the paediatric section of the risk management plan (RMP), safety in paediatric protocol development, safety data collection and analysis. Furthermore, they describe the specific details of post‐marketing pharmacovigilance in children using, for example, spontaneous reports, electronic health care records, registries and record‐linkage, as well as the use of paediatric pharmacoepidemiology studies for risk characterisation. Next the details of the assessment of benefit–risk and challenges related to medicinal product formulation in the context of a Paediatric Investigation Plan (PIP) are presented. Finally, practical issues in paediatric signal detection and evaluation are included. This paper provides practical points to consider for paediatric pharmacovigilance throughout the life‐cycle of medicinal products for RMPs, protocol development, safety data collection and analysis and PIPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improved global access to novel age‐appropriate formulations for paediatric subsets, either of new chemical entities or existing drugs, is a priority to ensure that medicines meet the needs of these patients. However, despite regulatory incentives, the introduction to the market of paediatric formulations still lags behind adult products. This is mainly caused by additional complexities associated with the development of acceptable age‐appropriate paediatric medicines. This position paper recommends the use of a paediatric Quality Target Product Profile as an efficient tool to facilitate early planning and decision making across all teams involved in paediatric formulation development during the children‐centric formulation design for new chemical entities, or to repurpose/reformulate off‐patent drugs. Essential key attributes of a paediatric formulation are suggested and described. Moreover, greater collaboration between formulation experts and clinical colleagues, including healthcare professionals, is advocated to lead to safe and effective, age‐appropriate medicinal products. Acceptability testing should be a secondary endpoint in paediatric clinical trials to ensure postmarketing adherence is not compromised by a lack of acceptability. Not knowing the indications and the related age groups and potential dosing regimens early enough is still a major hurdle for efficient paediatric formulation development; however, the proposed paediatric Quality Target Product Profile could be a valuable collaborative tool for planning and decision making to expedite paediatric product development, particularly for those with limited experience in developing a paediatric product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzed Scratch projects developed by undergraduate students. The sample consisted of 22 child development students (18 women and four men) in the 2018-2019 academic year. The study adopted an action research design within the scope of a course titled "Teaching Science and Mathematics in Preschool Education." The research was conducted within 14 weeks. In the first four weeks, we provided participants with training on why and how to use Scratch in science and mathematics teaching. In the following ten weeks, participants designed Scratch projects every week based on age groups, topics, and learning outcomes of their choice. Participants evaluated their projects themselves and also received feedback from peers and academics. Each participant designed ten Scratch projects (five for math and five for science). The data consisted of 220 Scratch projects and design logs. The study included a thematic content analysis. In the first weeks, participants knew little about the content of Scratch and used one or two characters and mostly control and look blocks. In the following weeks, they learned more about Scratch and used different blocks.

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the career aspirations of individuals belonging to the Gen Z cohort, i.e. born between 1995 and 2012. Design/methodology/approach: This paper is a systematic review of the literature. The authors accessed four databases to collect literature for review. The databases included were Academic Search Ultimate, Business Source Ultimate, ERIC and Google Scholar. Keywords used to conduct the search process were as follows: career development, career aspiration, generation Z, Gen Z and iGen. The authors imported all articles to RefWorks, read article abstracts and decided on whether to include or exclude the article in the review. Findings: Based on this systematic review, the authors found that intrinsic and extrinsic factors determine Gen Z's career aspirations. Further, based on past studies' predictions, the authors concluded that Gen Z has well-defined career expectations and career development plans. Research limitations/implications: Gen Z is the newest generation to enter the workforce. With limited research on this cohort, this study synthesized the existing knowledge of Gen Z students' career aspirations and their future employers' expectations. All research around Gen Z is currently focused on students, and hence, it is challenging to predict their workplace behavior. In this work, the authors provided organizations and practitioners guidelines to be prepared with Gen Z's expectations as they enter the workplace. Originality/value: This systematic literature review synthesizes empirical research from around the world on career aspirations related to Gen Z.

Language education evolves and is shaped by the needs of the generations as well as the contemporary realities of the world. Today, humanity faces with rapid developments and innovations in technology and science. These realities shape the society and each community in the world. In this regard, the term Generation Z (Gen Z) has emerged. Gen Z has its own dynamics and realities which, in turn, entails new issues in learning and teaching. It is not possible to implement classical and obsolete techniques and ways while teaching English to Gen Z. Current paper is an attempt to investigate the theoretical and practical issues of teaching English to Gen Z.

The rising costs of recruiting and hiring workers and the seismic shift of age demographics in the United States workforce has created much stir around the concept of generational cohorts. Although much has been done by researchers and practitioners alike to attempt a better understanding of each generational group's leadership preferences, confusing and contradictory results has attracted much criticism. This critique has inspired efforts to look at the concept of leadership and followership preference through an alternative lifespan developmental lens. Because leadership influences are inherently social influences, a person's overall lifespan development level may potentially provide a deeper perspicacity of the phenomenon than examining it from the more conventional generational cohort perspective. However, specific research into this area is lacking. This paper adds to the literature by uncovering what we are missing in research and practice when we look at age-related leadership phenomena solely from a generational cohort perspective. A review of the contradicting literature on generational cohorts and leadership is offered. Next, specific lifespan developmental theories are examined, and propositions and implications of such research are extended.

The study assessed the significance of difference of consumers' perception towards various factors (Risk, Delivery time, Convenience, Charges, Offer, and Privacy) of online shopping on the basis of consumer attributes such as age group, educational qualification, and monthly income. The primary data collected with the help of questionnaires. Researchers circulate 500 questionnaires in the selected area during stipulated time. In these 500 questionnaires researcher did not reject any Questionnaires on the basis of the incompleteness of data. Finally researcher gets 500 questionnaires for completing his research part. Data from Books, Websites, Reports, Journals, Conference papers, Audit reports, Magazines and other published and unpublished data from government and nongovernment sector was utilized for the research. The study indicates that there is no significant difference in consumers' perception towards various factors of online shopping on the basis of age group of consumers and educational qualification of the consumers. It stated that the respondents whether they belong within the age group or between the age group his perception towards online shopping is same. It stated that the respondents whether they belong within the educational qualification or between the educational qualification his perception towards online shopping is same. The study further indicates that there is a significant difference in consumers' perception towards various factors of online shopping on the basis of monthly income of consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To compare and evaluate the occlusal variability/discrepancy recorded using qualitative (articulating paper) and quantitative (T-scan) techniques in partially edentulous implant-supported restorations. Materials and Methods: A total of 20 patients in the age group of 25-61 yrs participated in this study. All the patients had more than one tooth replaced with implant-supported prosthesis. After three months of restoration, occlusion reevaluated was carried out using qualitative (articulating paper) and quantitative (T-scan). T-scan data were used to measure implant occlusion time, occlusion time, and the relative occlusal force (ROFs) on implant prosthesis. And the data were statistically evaluated. Results: The T-scan values showed high points on the implants in most of the patients, which could not be evaluated by that of articulating paper outcomes. Conclusion: The occlusal harmony achieved from using qualitative analysis of articulating paper was not supported by the finding of the quantitative analysis (T-scan). Also the T-scan provided the time interval of occlusion of the implant-supported restorations, which would help in better defining the implant-protected occlusal. Clinical Relevance: The T-scan occlusal analysis system provides ROF and time intervals of occlusal contact. This allows accurate occlusal equilibration of implant-supported restoration according to implant protected occlusal concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Snowsports education is crucial to the sustainability of the snowsports industry as it connects the participants to the sport through formal instruction. Investing in the development of snowsports education professionals who have the skills and knowledge can contribute to creating lifelong participants. The purpose of this study is to understand what is known about snowsports education in an effort to guide future research toward a more thorough theoretical, practical, and interdisciplinary understanding. Through a scoping review, this paper summarizes the current body of knowledge and identifies gaps in extant literature. Primary findings suggest snowsports education programs and instructors have significant impacts on a participant's attitude toward snowsports and toward their skill acquisition. A notable gap is that while researchers have suggested instructor-participant interactions are valuable to the snowsports education experience, few studies have explicitly explored such interaction. Guided by the current knowledge and existing gaps, potential research opportunities are discussed.

Purpose: Employee engagement literature pertaining to professional salespeople has revealed several antecedents and consequences that lead to greater performance and turnover reduction. However, engagement literature in the field of human resource development (HRD) does not account for Generation Z (Gen Z), the latest in the workforce who has been noted to be vastly different from previous generations. This study aims to explore how to engage Gen Z in the context of professional selling by identifying the antecedents and consequences of employee engagement based on individual characteristics and organizational needs of this group. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic literature review was conducted. In total, 21 papers relevant to employee engagement, professional selling and Gen Z were critically analyzed. Findings: Findings indicate that Gen Z's organizational need for mentoring and their individual characteristic of wanting job control and ownership are vital antecedents that could increase employee engagement. In addition, competitive rewards are important consequences that could improve individual sales performance. Practical implications: HRD practitioners and organizational leaders must understand the unique characteristics of Gen Z to effectively engage them in the workplace. For sales organizations, there is a critical need to offer mentoring opportunities and competitive rewards from the start of Gen Z salespeople's employment. Originality/value: This research expands current engagement literature by addressing an emerging, under-explored issue -- how to engage the newest workforce, Gen Z, in the context of professional selling.

The market power of monopolies can severely restrict citizens' freedom of choice. In the case of utilities, often portrayed as natural monopolies, such power may result in high prices and unreliable or absent services, especially in marginalized communities such as low-income neighborhoods or remote rural villages. While government regulation has been the traditional remedy to curb natural monopolies' power, in this paper, we address a different solution: monopoly bypassing through collective action. We present two types of monopoly bypassing—partial and complete—through the lens of civic wealth creation (CWC): the generation of social, economic, and communal endowments that benefit communities. Through our analysis of three water and sanitation utility services cases, we demonstrate how CWC is used to catalyze the collective action of engaged citizens to effectively bypass monopoly power. The cases highlight the three stakeholder categories involved in CWC initiatives—communities, enterprises, and regimes of support—and illustrate how they act collectively to provide credible market-based solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is an editorial titled "Youth vulnerabilities in European cities" published in the journal Frontiers in Sustainable Cities. The editorial discusses the multifaceted landscape of youth vulnerabilities in European cities and the correlation between social and spatial inequalities. The editorial highlights the importance of examining local circumstances, policy responses, and youth participation in addressing these vulnerabilities. It also mentions specific papers included in the research topic that delve into these issues. The document emphasizes the need for comprehensive approaches to tackle youth vulnerabilities and create more sustainable and equitable cities. [Extracted from the article]

The global impact of drug shortages on healthcare systems is a concerning issue that needs urgent attention. These shortages not only jeopardize patient care, public health, and healthcare delivery but also pose distinct challenges for pediatric populations due to their specific medication requirements and vulnerabilities. It is imperative to address this issue to safeguard the health and wellbeing of this specific age group. This review Gaimed to conduct a systematic analysis of strategies for addressing drug shortages in pediatric care from 2014 to 2024. The search included five databases: PubMed, Reaxys, Embase, Scopus, and Science Direct, using the keywords "drug shortage" and "pediatric". The final protocol was developed following the guidelines outlined in the " The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews". In total, 234 publications were identified. After screening the search results and applying inclusion and exclusion measures, a total of 27 original research papers were included. The primary finding indicates that a comprehensive approach rooted in risk management can significantly mitigate drug shortages in pediatric settings. This approach should address underlying causes such as manufacturer and delivery challenges and focus on prevention through enhanced forecasting and vigilant shortage monitoring. The most prevalent response involved seeking alternative treatment options. It is imperative to implement institutional and national guidelines, foster communication, and provider education, and minimize waste to effectively mitigate drug shortages in pediatric settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic presented the unique challenge of having to deliver novel vaccines during a public health crisis. For pediatric patients, it was further complicated by the delayed timeline for authorizing the vaccine and the differences in dosing/products depending on the patient's age. This paper investigates the relationship between the spatial accessibility and uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine in King County, WA, USA. Public data for COVID-19 vaccine sites were used to calculate spatial accessibility using an enhanced two-step floating catchment area (E2SFCA) technique. Spatial regression analyses were performed to look at the relationship between spatial accessibility and ZIP-code-level vaccination rates. The relationships of these data with other socioeconomic and demographic variables were calculated as well. Higher rates of vaccine accessibility and vaccine coverage were found in adolescent (12- to 17-year-old) individuals relative to school-age (5- to 11-year-old) individuals. Vaccine accessibility was positively associated with coverage in both age groups in the univariable analysis. This relationship was affected by neighborhood educational attainment. This paper demonstrates how measures such as E2SFCA can be used to calculate the accessibility of the COVID-19 vaccine in a region and provides insight into some of the ecological factors that affect COVID-19 vaccination rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human postural control is commonly assessed by center of pressure (CoP) displacement analysis. However, traditional linear parameters do not provide a complete picture of postural control, so a number of nonlinear analyses have been introduced. One of these is recurrence quantification analysis (RQA), which is used to determine the number and duration of repeated states in a dynamic system. This review aimed to show how the RQA measures look in different groups of subjects when assessing postural stability during quiet standing and how the authors interpret them. Therefore, a systematic review was conducted of papers published from 2000 to February 2023. Searched databases were PubMed, ScienceDirect, and EBSCO. Twenty-eight publications were included in this review. The RQA parameters most commonly found in papers are %DET (determinism), ENT (Shannon entropy), %REC (recurrence), and %LAM (laminarity). %LAM is the most sensitive factor in determining differences in CoP position between different age groups, as it describes motion fluidity. The vision affects the deterministic structure of CoP motions. When the sensory organization test conditions became difficult, CoP variability increased, while the %DET decreased. It was concluded that traditional and nonlinear methods provide complementary and not redundant information for assessing age- and health-related changes in standing balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foreign bodies (FBs) in the nasal cavity are commonly encountered in otorhinolaryngology. This retrospective study was conducted between January 2009 and December 2020. The nasal FB frequencies were investigated according to age and sex. The type, shape, and location of the FBs, onset, and clinical features were obtained. In a total of 1228 cases, the average age was 3.9 ± 5.7 years. We found a higher incidence in patients 2–4 years old. The most frequent nasal FBs were beads (24.0%), toys/plastics (17.8%), and beans/corn (15.8%). However, there were some differences in the nasal FB types according to the age group. There was no difference in the location of the nasal FBs according to age group, but nasal FBs were found more frequently in the right nasal cavity in the 1–3-years-old groups. Most patients (97.5%) visited the hospital the same day when the nasal FB insertion was suspected, and most were asymptomatic. After the removal of the nasal FBs, most patients were free of complications. Of the nine cases involving button batteries, septal perforation was observed in two patients who visited the hospital one or two days after the FB insertion. There were specific age-based characteristics of the nasal FBs that may serve as a basis for specific precautions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: ADHD is recognized as one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders. The worldwide prevalence of ADHD is estimated at 5.3%; however, estimates vary as a function of a number of factors, including diagnostic methods, age, sex and geographical location. A review of studies is needed to clarify the epidemiology of ADHD in Canada. (2) Methods: A search strategy was created in PubMed and adapted for MEDLINE and PsycINFO. Papers were included if they examined diagnosed ADHD prevalence and/or incidence rates in any region of Canada, age group and gender. A snowball technique was used to identify additional papers from reference lists, and experts in the field were consulted. (3) Results: Ten papers included in this review reported on prevalence, and one reported on incidence. One study provided an overall prevalence estimate across provinces for adults of 2.9%, and one study provided an overall estimate across five provinces for children and youth of 8.6%. Across age groups (1 to 24 years), incidence estimates ranged from 0.4% to 1.2%, depending on province. Estimates varied by age, gender, province, region and time. (4) Conclusions: The overall Canadian ADHD prevalence estimate is similar to worldwide estimates for adults. Most studies reported on prevalence rather than incidence. Differences in estimates across provinces may reflect the varying number of practitioners available to diagnose and prescribe medication for ADHD across provinces. To achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the epidemiology of ADHD in Canada, a study is needed that includes all provinces and territories, and that considers estimates in relation to age, gender, ethnicity, geographical region, socioeconomic status and access to mental healthcare coverage. Incidence rates need further examination to be determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper was to identify and evaluate differences in the attitudes to using FinTech products and services in Poland adopted by two study cohorts–one comprised of young customers, born no earlier than in 1990, and the other comprised of other adults. The main motivation for our research was to answer the question if young people growing up in the market economy will behave differently in the use of FinTech than older generations living in the former political and economic system. We also wanted to find the factors that determine the perception and willingness to use FinTech in the mentioned age groups. The data discussed in the paper were provided by the CAWI survey that was conducted in 2020 and covered a sample of 1,153 adult Poles. To achieve our goal, we used nonparametric statistical testing and the backward stepwise logistic regression models. The research demonstrated that young customers showed considerably more interest in all the aspects of the use of FinTech within the framework of our study than the other adults. Regarding the experience of using FinTech, such determinants as the male gender, the larger household in which a given respondent lives, and the possibility of making financial decisions independently exerted more impact on the young customers cohort than on the other adults. Irrespective of their opinion about FinTech, the persons under 30 years of age are more likely to use FinTech beyond average than the other adults whereas the persons over 30 years of age will do so only if they evaluate FinTech very well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To appraise and synthesize qualitative studies examining older Asian people’s experiences of suicidal ideation. Design: Qualitative review and meta-aggregation. Data sources: Four databases were accessed to retrieve papers published between 1990 and 2022 including the grey literature, hand-searching of reference lists of retrieved papers and key journals. The phenomenon of interest included participants older than 60  years old, must have experienced a form of suicidal ideation and/or an unsuccessful attempt, had actively thought about harming themselves and be of Asian ethnicity. Review methods: This review was conducted according to Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research and the Joanna Briggs Institute’s System for the Unified Management of the Assessment and Review of Information. Results: Of the 289 potential studies, seven papers met the inclusion criteria. Two synthesized findings resulted from this review–The Suffering Situation: A Life without Meaning in Older Age and The Healing Situation: A Life Worth Living. The experiences of older Asian people varied from feelings of loneliness, despair and isolation to wanting to live a fruitful life into old age. Conclusion: Suicidal ideation in the older person is a growing concern especially with the rise in suicide in this age group. Rising health care costs and erosion of traditional family values means that the older person views themselves as a burden. However, because of the limited number of qualitative studies from an Asian perspective it is difficult to ascertain the full extent of the issues surrounding suicide in older people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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With the continuous development and progress of society, age estimation based on deep learning has gradually become a key link in human-computer interaction. Widely combined with other fields of application, this paper performs a gradient division of human fall behavior according to the age estimation of the human body, a complete priority detection of the key population, and a phased single aggregation backbone network VoVNetv4 was proposed for feature extraction. At the same time, the regional single aggregation module ROSA module was constructed to encapsulate the feature module regionally. The adaptive stage module was used for feature smoothing. Consistent predictions for each task were made using the CORAL framework as a classifier and tasks were divided in binary. At the same time, a gradient two-node fall detection framework combined with age estimation was designed. The detection was divided into a primary node and a secondary node. In the first-level node, the age estimation algorithm based on VoVNetv4 was used to classify the population of different age groups. A face tracking algorithm was constructed by combining the key point matrices of humans, and the body processed by OpenPose with the central coordinates of the human face. In the secondary node, human age gradient information was used to detect human falls based on the AT-MLP model. The experimental results show that compared with Resnet-34, the MAE value of the proposed method decreased by 0.41. Compared with curriculum learning and the CORAL-CNN method, MAE value decreased by 0.17 relative to the RMSE value. Compared with other methods, the method in this paper was significantly lower, with a biggest drop of 0.51. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses the Romanian wine consumer behaviour and expectations in 2021, based on a questionnaire administered online to a representative number of people, including 166 men and 97 women. The analysis is taking into account the gender, age groups and income groups, to point out the segments of consumers who are more interested in wine consumption and to find the most appropriate ways to stay informed and engaged, as well as offer some additional informal education. Evaluated aspects included the wine consumption frequency as a part of the diet, the preference for certain types of wines, the self-assessment of the level of basic knowledge of viticulture and winemaking and the interest to participate to organized wine events. The main findings show that 40.6% of the men and 18.6% of the women drink wine several times a week, most of those drinking wine several times a week being men in the age group of 40-49 years old (23.5%) and with a monthly income of over 5,000 RON. Also, it was observed that men tend to prefer dry red wines, dry white wines, semi-dry whites and semi-dry reds, while the women tend to favour sparkling wines, semi-dry rose wines, semi-dry aromatic wines, dry red wines and sweet white wines. Compared to women, men tend to be more confident around wine, especially those having faculty or master degrees declaring that they have average to above average knowledge on viticultural and winemaking practices. People interested and very willing to participate at wine events are men aged 40-49 and women aged 30-49. The study shows the particularities of the Romanian wine consumers, with implications for the wine market and event organisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Despite increasing evidence of high psychopathological vulnerability in people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and/or Intellectual disability (ID), comprehensive data on prevalence and presentation of psychiatric disorders (PD) in people with significant cognitive and communication impairment are lacking. The extent to which PD can present with behavioral/observable symptoms and include Problem Behaviors (PB) has also been scarcely evaluated through population-based studies. The paper presents the protocol of a cross-sectional study aimed at filling these gaps, referred to a large multicentric Italian population-based sample of adolescents and adults. Methods: A battery of validated scales, SPAIDD, DASH-II, DiBAS-R, and STA-DI, is used to support and control for clinical diagnoses of PD. Study population is stratified according to different independent variables such as the severity of ID and ASD, gender, age group, and source of recruitment. A network analysis will be carried out to identify the most central behavioral symptoms for the various PD and their relationship with PB. Overlap between psychiatric symptoms and ASD and ID phenotypes is also addressed. Results and Conclusion: This study should provide valuable insight into better diagnostic accuracy, leading to well-informed interventions to improve the quality of life of people with ASD and/or ID. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diarrheal disease remains a significant cause of preventable morbidity and mortality in the pediatric population, particularly among children below five years of age. Although the occurrence of diarrheal episodes is on the decline, its impact continues to escalate at a concerning rate among children under the age of five, especially in developing countries. The objective of this paper is to investigate the factors associated with diarrhea in Yemeni children younger than five years, drawing on data from the latest edition of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) Yemen conducted in 2022–2023. To identify factors associated with the prevalence of childhood diarrhea, bivariate analysis and multivariable logistic regression were utilized. The findings of this study suggest that age group 6–23, unimproved sanitation, and low-income households are associated with high risk of diarrhea in children under five years of age in Yemen. The study contributes additional evidence regarding factors that should be prioritized in public health strategies geared towards reducing diarrheal prevalence among Yemeni children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attracting and retaining the attention of users, or motivating them to use the particular product being the main task of designers in graphic design for all materials, from printed to digital media. It is crucial to select colors that are more appealing to the target audience. The aim of this paper is to explore the differences in color preferences depending on age groups in a nationally representative sample of the Republic of Croatia consisting of 1,000 research participants. For this purpose, a questionnaire was created to collect information on the color preferences of participants, and as a result of this research, it was determined that there are statistically significant differences in the preferences for certain colors depending on the age groups of the participants. It has also been shown that there are both increasing and stable or decreasing trends in color preferences depending on age groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proportions and canons of the human body have always been an area of research mainly through art, architecture, or construction, and today, they have a significant application in product design. Research confirms that body height in most cases corresponds to the canon (head–body ratio) of 7.5 to 8 head lengths. This paper investigates the ratio of the head length (HL) to the total body height (BH, stature) of kindergarten and school-aged children, aiming to define the children's canon inspired by the idea of the harmonic circle theory and the biomechanical model. The data were collected from 1307 children (male 676, female 631) aged 2 to 16 years in the cities of Zagreb (Croatia), Sofia (Bulgaria), and Skopje (North Macedonia). A generalized ESD test (alpha-level 0.10) and Turkey's 1977 test were used in order to detect outliers in distributions of heights and in the distribution of ratios. Statistical significance was set at 0.05, all p values were two-sided, and the MedCalc statistical tool (version 20.110) was used. The results confirm that canonical changes follow the historical research of artists throughout the centuries, but that they change according to contemporary secular trends in children's growth and cover HL/BH canons from 5.59 and 5.72 (2-year-old girls and boys) to 7.50 and 7.60 (15-year-old boys and girls) depending on age and gender. HL/BH ratio was significantly higher among female examinees in all age groups where difference was significant (Student's t test, p < 0.02). In conclusion, such a calculation based on the canon is important for interdisciplinary professions. Creating an anthropological–biomechanical model based on canons, instead of time-consuming measurement, could significantly simplify the long-term collection of anthropometric data used for designing children's products. Future detailed research is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European population is ageing. Food Supplements (FSs) are foods with particular characteristics, consumed by elderly people for various purposes, including combating nutritional deficits. Their consumption in this age group, associated with a high prevalence of polypharmacy, can enhance interactions. Potential drug-food (or food supplements), drug-drug interactions and polypharmacy are common health issues among older adults. The prevalence of polypharmacy is high, and preliminary data also indicate that there is significant FS use, increasing the risk of the duplication of therapies and various adverse reactions as well as drug–FS and FS-FS interactions. Therefore, the intervention of health professionals in mitigating these risks is essential. This review highlights and discusses the association between FSs, polypharmacy, and adverse reactions due to the risk of potential interactions between these products. Moreover, it also provides current scientific evidence regarding the use of FSs by the elderly. A review of the challenges, advantages, and risks of using FSs in elderly people who are malnourished and/or polymedicated, focusing on the good practises needed to support healthy ageing, is presented. In this regard, this paper aims to help health professionals better deal with the issue of the use of multiple FSs and polypharmacy, overcome the malnutrition problem, and improve the health and well-being of older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Randomised, cluster-based study designs in schools are commonly used to evaluate children's physical activity interventions. Sample size estimation relies on accurate estimation of the intra-cluster correlation coefficient (ICC), but published estimates, especially using accelerometry-measured physical activity, are few and vary depending on physical activity outcome and participant age. Less commonly-used cluster-based designs, such as stepped wedge designs, also need to account for correlations over time, e.g. cluster autocorrelation (CAC) and individual autocorrelation (IAC), but no estimates are currently available. This paper estimates the school-level ICC, CAC and IAC for England children's accelerometer-measured physical activity outcomes by age group and gender, to inform the design of future school-based cluster trials. Methods: Data were pooled from seven large English datasets of accelerometer-measured physical activity data between 2002–18 (> 13,500 pupils, 540 primary and secondary schools). Linear mixed effect models estimated ICCs for weekday and whole week for minutes spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and being sedentary for different age groups, stratified by gender. The CAC (1,252 schools) and IAC (34,923 pupils) were estimated by length of follow-up from pooled longitudinal data. Results: School-level ICCs for weekday MVPA were higher in primary schools (from 0.07 (95% CI: 0.05, 0.10) to 0.08 (95% CI: 0.06, 0.11)) compared to secondary (from 0.04 (95% CI: 0.03, 0.07) to (95% CI: 0.04, 0.10)). Girls' ICCs were similar for primary and secondary schools, but boys' were lower in secondary. For all ages, combined the CAC was 0.60 (95% CI: 0.44–0.72), and the IAC was 0.46 (95% CI: 0.42–0.49), irrespective of follow-up time. Estimates were higher for MVPA vs sedentary time, and for weekdays vs the whole week. Conclusions: Adequately powered studies are important to evidence effective physical activity strategies. Our estimates of the ICC, CAC and IAC may be used to plan future school-based physical activity evaluations and were fairly consistent across a range of ages and settings, suggesting that results may be applied to other high income countries with similar school physical activity provision. It is important to use estimates appropriate to the study design, and that match the intended study population as closely as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we summarize the current knowledge on refractive surgery performed in the myopic pediatric population. We describe the main concerns about refractive surgery in myopic children and the indications for refractive surgery in this age group. We present a range of surgical procedures that are being used for the management of unilateral/bilateral myopia in children: corneal refractive surgery (PRK, LASEK, LASIK, FS-LASIK and SMILE) and intraocular refractive surgery (phakic intraocular lens implantation, refractive lens exchange or clear lens extraction), with both their advantages and drawbacks. We also describe the various complications and measures to prevent them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescent Medical Decision Making (aMDM) is frequently discussed but presents a significant challenge in practice, especially in cases of adolescents with life threatening or life limiting illnesses. In this paper, we present a case that explores the importance of aMDM, the difficulties for providers when engaging adolescents in these discussions, and how certain skills may be incorporated into pediatric practice. Literature suggests that patients of this age group, while being legally without capacity, have meaningful insights into their care. However, unless physicians feel comfortable and competent engaging adolescents in a manner that honors their developmentally appropriate understanding of their illness, these insights can be lost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncovering the world's ethnic inequalities is hampered by a lack of ethnicity-annotated datasets. Name-ethnicity classifiers (NECs) can help, as they are able to infer people's ethnicities from their names. However, since the latest generation of NECs rely on machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), they may suffer from the same racist and sexist biases found in many AIs. Therefore, this paper offers an algorithmic fairness audit of three NECs. It finds that the UK-Census-trained EthnicityEstimator displays large accuracy biases with regards to ethnicity, but relatively less among gender and age groups. In contrast, the Twitter-trained NamePrism and the Wikipedia-trained Ethnicolr are more balanced among ethnicity, but less among gender and age. We relate these biases to global power structures manifested in naming conventions and NECs' input distribution of names. To improve on the uncovered biases, we program a novel NEC, N2E, using fairness-aware AI techniques. We make N2E freely available at www.name-to-ethnicity.com. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, many research projects were forced to adapt their design and conduct interviews online. This paper discusses the benefits and challenges of using online focus groups with participants representing different generations and cultural and social backgrounds. Based on the researchers' experiences and field notes from a three-country comparative project, aiming at analysing the extent to which previous experience of state surveillance impacted attitudes to commercial monitoring and tracking of online behaviour among two generational cohorts, the paper identifies seven aspects where the move from offline to online interviewing interfered with the original research design. The paper suggests that most of these interferences resulted in a need to adjust the methodology to better fit the online setting. We reflect critically upon the issues of technological preconditions and digital skills, recruitment, group size, degrees of previous acquaintance, the role of the interviewer, participants' household status and media environment, and ethical considerations concerning privacy and data management. Based on these methodological insights, we conclude that future online focus group research would benefit from using smaller groups and adjusted moderation, flexibility in interviewing tools and channels, and new, online-specific ethical considerations when planning, executing, and analysing interviews. The paper advocates the complementarity between in-person and online focus groups as two modalities of data collection and argues for the normalization of hybrid methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The increasing integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into areas like financial planning has spurred interest in how various demographic groups, notably older adults, perceive and adopt this technology. This paper aims to identify personas and explore how factors like age, gender, and knowledge impact AI acceptance. The data shows varying levels of willingness to adopt AI in finance across demographics. Younger, more educated individuals demonstrate greater trust and usage of AI-enabled financial tools, raising concerns about inclusivity and potential barriers for older or less educated individuals. The paper will delve into these disparities, exploring the underlying reasons for resistance, such as perceived risks or lack of education about AI. To ensure equitable distribution of AI's benefits, we recommend enhancing AI literacy and designing more inclusive AI, as this approach paves the way for a society in which AI empowers all ages with its potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the digital age, social media has emerged as a significant platform, generating a vast amount of raw data daily. This data reflects the opinions of individuals from diverse backgrounds, races, cultures, and age groups, spanning a wide range of topics. Businesses can leverage this data to extract valuable insights, improve their services, and effectively reach a broader audience based on users' expressed opinions on social media platforms. To harness the potential of this extensive and unstructured data, a deep understanding of Natural Language Processing (NLP) is crucial. Existing approaches for sentiment analysis (SA) often rely on word co-occurrence frequencies, which prove inefficient in practical scenarios. Identifying this research gap, this paper presents a framework for concept-level sentiment analysis, aiming to enhance the accuracy of sentiment analysis (SA). A comprehensive Urdu language dataset was constructed by collecting data from YouTube, consisting of various talks and reviews on topics such as movies, politics, and commercial products. The dataset was further enriched by incorporating language rules and Deep Neural Networks (DNN) to optimize polarity detection. For sentiment analysis, the proposed framework employs predefined rules to trigger sentiment flow from words to concepts, leveraging the dependency relations among different words in a sentence based on Urdu language grammatical rules. In cases where predefined patterns are not triggered, the framework seamlessly switches to its sub-symbolic counterpart, passing the data to the DNN for sentence classification. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed framework surpasses state-of-the-art approaches, including LSTM, CNN, SVM, LR, and MLP, achieving an improvement of 6–7% on Urdu dataset. In conclusion, this research paper introduces a novel framework for concept-level sentiment analysis of Urdu language data sourced from social media platforms. By combining language rules and DNN, the proposed framework demonstrates superior performance compared to existing methodologies, showcasing its effectiveness in accurately analyzing sentiment in Urdu text data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the lives of persons of all ages throughout the world. Older adults have been particularly susceptible to the virus and have died at higher rates than any other age group. Starting from the early days of the pandemic, gerontologists rallied to address a wide variety of issues affecting older people's lives. This paper reviews gerontological research that began shortly after the pandemic was declared and examines how a model of meaningful connectedness undergirding spiritual and religious experiences sheds light on the suffering and the resilience of older people during the pandemic. It notes that despite over four decades of research on the role of religion and spirituality in older people's lives, there has been little mention in major gerontology journals of the role of elders' religiousness and spirituality in their responses to the pandemic. The paper concludes with a call for gerontologists to pay closer attention to elder religiousness and spirituality and the many questions that need to be addressed regarding older people's experiences during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: South and South-East Asian countries report a great liability for the world's road traffic injuries (RTIs) and deaths. A vast number of research studies tested various interventions including specific protective devices to prevent accidents, but no review papers have been conducted to find out the prevalence of RTIs in South-East and South Asian countries. Objective: This review paper was an attempt to find out the prevalence of RTIs and their associated factors in South-East and South Asian countries. Methods: Following the guidelines of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), we searched the articles in the electronic databases of PubMed/Medline, Scopus, CINAHL, ProQuest, and Web of Science. Articles were selected if they reported the prevalence of RTI, or road traffic accident (RTA) deaths. In addition, a data quality assessment was done. Results: Out of the 10,818 article hits from the literature search, ten articles found the eligibility and inclusion criteria. Most of the studies reported that males are involved in the RTIs more than females. The male mortality rate is more than the female mortality in RTI mortality. Young adult males are the major victims when compared with the different age groups of male victims. Two-wheelers are the major contributors to the accident rate. Religious or national festivals are not free from accident-prone times. Climatic seasons and nighttime have a major influence on the RTIs. RTIs are increasing due to the sudden and huge increase in the number of motor vehicles and the development of cities and towns. Conclusion: Accidents are non-predictable but controllable disasters in society. Overspeeding, bad conditions on road, the vulnerability of the vehicles, and careless driving are the major reported reasons for RTIs. Making and implementing strict laws can help us to control RTAs. The major effect on the reduction of RTI can be assured only with the presence of responsible people. That can be achieved only by creating awareness in society about traffic rules and responsibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]