Secondhand Smoke Exposure of Expectant Mothers in China: Factoring in the Role of Culture in Data Collection

A community based intervention to modify preventive behaviors of cutaneous leishmaniasis in children: a randomized controlled trial based on PRECEDE PROCEED model

OBJECTIVES

Iran ranks among the top six countries globally with a significant incidence of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL). Using planning models is one community-based intervention to promote preventive behaviors. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the PRECEDE-PROCEED model (PPM) in modifying preventive behaviors related to CL in children through mother training in a community intervention.

METHODS

A randomized controlled trial based on the PPM model was conducted on 168 mothers (intervention (n = 84) and control group (n = 84) with 10 years old children in the rural areas of Iran. Mothers from 7 village areas were randomly allocated to the intervention (2 village) and control groups (5 village). The intervention group received a program comprising eight 90-minute training sessions and environmental interventions. In this study, we utilized the PPM as a framework to design the questionnaires on Leishmaniosis prevention behavior. Participants in both groups completed the questionnaires at baseline (before the intervention), immediately after the intervention, and at the 2-month follow-up. Analysis of the data was conducted utilizing SPSS20, with statistical significance set at p < 0.05.

RESULTS

Compared to the control group, the intervention group showed significant increases in knowledge, enabling factors, reinforcing factors, attitude, and preventive behaviors related to Cutaneous Leishmaniasis over time from baseline to follow-up (P < 0.001). No significant differences (P > 0.05) were observed in the alterations of the PPM construct, knowledge, and preventive behaviors within the control group from pre-intervention to follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

Community (education and environmental) intervention based on PPM is feasible and acceptable to modify preventive behaviors of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in children by increasing a mother's knowledge and attitude as well as changing enabling and reinforcing factors.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

IRCT20160619028529N8.

Effectiveness of massage and range of motion exercises on muscle strength and intensive care unit-acquired weakness in Iranian patients with COVID-19: a randomized parallel-controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Muscle weakness is prevalent in intensive care patients. This study focused on comparing the effects of massage and range of motion (ROM) exercises on muscle strength and intensive care unit-acquired weakness (ICU-AW) among patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

METHODS

This study was a randomized clinical trial that recruited patients (n=45) with COVID-19 admitted to the ICU and divided them into three groups (ROM exercises, massage, and control). We evaluated muscle strength and ICU-AW in the arms and legs using a hand dynamometer. The Medical Research Council sum score was determined before and after the intervention.

RESULTS

The study findings were that 0%, 20%, and 100% of the participants in the ROM exercises, massage, and control groups had ICU-AW on the 7th day of ICU admission. The ROM exercise group had greater muscle strength in the hands and legs than the massage and control groups, and the massage group had greater muscle strength than the control group.

CONCLUSIONS

Massage and ROM exercises could improve muscle strength and reduce ICU-AW in COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU.

Land-use and food security in energy transition: Role of food supply

Food security in a just energy transition is a growing debate about designing sustainable food secure networks worldwide. Energy transition, land-use change, and food security are crucial factors for food security and provision. The increased demand for food products and customer preferences regarding food safety provide various issues for the current agriculture food supply chain (AFSC). Along with rising sustainability concerns, strict government regulation, food security, and traceability concerns compel managers, business houses, and practitioners working in AFSC to adopt new tools, techniques, and methodologies to model current food supply chain problems. Thus, in turn, design the food logistics network for food security. Hence, this study investigates the core determinants of food security and supply in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and Lebanon over the period of 2010–2019. In order to estimate the objectives of the study, we employ the fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least squares estimators (DOLS) to draw the study findings. However, the estimated results show a negative association of land use with food security and supply. Likewise, energy transition, gross domestic product, and agricultural value added (AVA) contribute to the food security supply. In contrast, urbanization's negative but insignificant contribution to the food supply in selected economies exists. Besides, another core objective of the study is to investigate the moderate role of the energy transition on the gross domestic product, agriculture sector, and land use and find the significant contribution to the food supply. However, the current study also tries forecasting for the next 10 years and employs the impulse response function (IRF) and variance decomposition analysis (VDA). Congruently, this study uses the pairwise panel causality test and finds exciting outcomes. The COVID-19 crisis has posed challenges such as energy consumption and food security issues. On behalf of the results, the current study proposes imperative policies to investigate the desired level of food supply. The findings provide valuable insights for experts, policymakers, and officials to take practical measures for energy use and food security challenges.

Examining the Relationship Between Product Market Competition and Chinese Firms Performance: The Mediating Impact of Capital Structure and Moderating Influence of Firm Size

This study emphasized the relationship between the Chinese companies' product market competition and organizational performance. This article explored the mediating effect of capital structure and the moderating impact of firm size in achieving better performance of Chinese companies. This study employed a sample of 2,502 Chinese firm observations and identified that market competition positively influenced firm performance. Additionally, capital structure partly mediated the relationship between product market competition and firm performance. Similarly, the present study also tested the moderating effect of firm size (both small and large) on the association between product market competition and firm performance. The results showed that moderating large businesses affects the nexus between product market competition and firm performance. Conversely, small firms' moderating role revealed a substantial adverse impact on the association between product market competition and firm performance. These findings contribute to the literature on the complex implications of market competition on business firms' performance. The results provide insightful and practical implications for future research directions.

Comparison of Students' Mental Wellbeing, Anxiety, Depression, and Quality of Life During COVID-19's Full and Partial (Smart) Lockdowns: A Follow-Up Study at a 5-Month Interval

Objective

Scholars have debated the COVID-19's full and partial lockdowns' effectivity to control the transmission of the new case. They emphasized the provision of required economic and social resources worldwide. Past literature related to COVID-19 has contributed little evidence to examine the efficacy of full and partial lockdown measures with experimental perspectives at different intervals. This study bridges this literature gap and explores the full and smart lockdowns' impacts on Pakistani students' mental health, depression, quality of life, and anxiety symptoms, during the various waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Method

This pretest and posttest experimental designed web-based survey recruited 40 students from March 23 to August 23, 2020, and recorded their responses. The study incorporated four standardized psychological instruments to receive the desired datasets related to students' mental health, quality of life, anxiety, and depression. Researchers shared data links with the participants via social media, WhatsApp. The study applied one-way and multivariate ANOVA tests (analysis of variance) to draw the desired results.

Results

This study's findings suggest that both full and partial COVID-19 lockdowns effectively improve students' mental health and quality of life. These measures help reduce anxiety and depressive symptoms among university students. The study results exhibit that partial lockdown (PL) is more effective in improving quality of life. Besides, PL helps reduce anxiety symptoms than complete lockdown among Pakistani students.

Conclusion

The present study's findings suggest that students are vulnerable. They need particular interventions and preventive measures to protect and improve their mental health and quality of life during a global pandemic. As the stressful experience of the epidemic persists in Pakistan. It will also be interesting to examine the psychological impact of the successive waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Product Market Competition and Firm Performance: Business Survival Through Innovation and Entrepreneurial Orientation Amid COVID-19 Financial Crisis

The product market competition has become a global challenge for business organizations in the challenging and competitive market environment in the influx of the COVID-19 outbreak. The influence of products competition on organizational performance in developed economies has gained scholars' attention, and numerous studies explored its impacts on business profitability. The existing studies designate mixed findings between the linkage of CSR practices and Chinese business firms' healthier performance in emerging economies; however, the current global crisis due to the coronavirus has made product market completion fierce, which ultimately affects business firms' performance. This study focuses on this logical global challenge, investigates the rationale, and examines product-market completion impact on firms' performance operating in the Chinese markets. The study collected data from the annual reports of Chinese business organizations with A-share listing and registered with the database of China Stock Markets and Accounting Research (CSMAR). The study employed a Generalized Method of Moment technique and investigated the connection between product market competition and Chinese firm performance. The empirical analysis of this study highlights the conclusion that market competition positively and significantly affected business firms' performance. This study specified that product market competition play a dynamic and indispensable role in achieving healthier firm performance in the Chinese markets. This study provides valuable insights on practical implications and future research directions for the scholars to draw interesting results with new study models.

Social Media Efficacy in Crisis Management: Effectiveness of Non-pharmaceutical Interventions to Manage COVID-19 Challenges

The new identified virus COVID-19 has become one of the most contagious diseases in human history. The ongoing coronavirus has created severe threats to global mental health, which have resulted in crisis management challenges and international concerns related to health issues. As of September 9, 2021, there were over 223.4 million patients with COVID-19, including 4.6 million deaths and over 200 million recovered patients reported worldwide, which has made the COVID-19 outbreak one of the deadliest pandemics in human history. The aggressive public health implementations endorsed various precautionary safety and preventive strategies to suppress and minimize COVID-19 disease transmission. The second, third, and fourth waves of COVID-19 continue to pose global challenges to crisis management, as its evolution and implications are still unfolding. This study posits that examining the strategic ripostes and pandemic experiences sheds light on combatting this global emergency. This study recommends two model strategies that help reduce the adverse effects of the pandemic on the immune systems of the general population. This present paper recommends NPI interventions (non-pharmaceutical intervention) to combine various measures, such as the suppression strategy (lockdown and restrictions) and mitigation model to decrease the burden on health systems. The current COVID-19 health crisis has influenced all vital economic sectors and developed crisis management problems. The global supply of vaccines is still not sufficient to manage this global health emergency. In this crisis, NPIs are helpful to manage the spillover impacts of the pandemic. It articulates the prominence of resilience and economic and strategic agility to resume economic activities and resolve healthcare issues. This study primarily focuses on the role of social media to tackle challenges and crises posed by COVID-19 on economies, business activities, healthcare burdens, and government support for societies to resume businesses, and implications for global economic and healthcare provision disruptions. This study suggests that intervention strategies can control the rapid spread of COVID-19 with hands-on crisis management measures, and the healthcare system will resume normal conditions quickly. Global economies will revitalize scientific contributions and collaborations, including social science and business industries, through government support.