Factors associated with concussion-symptom knowledge and attitudes toward concussion care seeking in a national survey of parents of middle-school children in the US

BackgroundDeveloping appropriate concussion prevention and management paradigms in middle school (MS) settings requires understanding parents’ general levels of concussion-related knowledge and attitudes. This study examined factors associated with concussion-symptom knowledge and care-seeking attitudes among parents of MS children (aged 10–15 years).MethodsA panel of 1224 randomly selected U.S. residents, aged ≥ 18 years and identifying as parents of MS children, completed an online questionnaire capturing parental and child characteristics. The parents’ concussion-symptom knowledge was measured using 25 questions, with possible answers being “yes”, “maybe”, and “no”. Correct answers earned 2 points, “maybe” answers earned 1 point, and incorrect answers earned 0 point (range: 0–50; higher scores = better knowledge). Concussion care-seeking attitudes were also collected using five 7-point scale items (range: 5–35; higher scores = more positive attitudes). Multivariable ordinal logistic regression models identified predictors of higher scores. Models met proportional odds assumptions. Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) (excluding 1.00) were deemed statistically significant.ResultsMedian scores were 39 (interquartile range: 32–44) for symptom knowledge and 32 (interquartile range: 28–35) for care-seeking attitude. In multivariable models, odds of better symptom knowledge were higher in women vs. men (aOR = 2.28; 95%CI: 1.71–3.05), white/non-Hispanics vs. other racial or ethnic groups (aOR = 1.88; 95%CI: 1.42–2.49), higher parental age (10-year-increase aOR = 1.47; 95%CI: 1.26–1.71), and greater competitiveness (10%-scale-increase aOR = 1.24; 95%CI: 1.13–1.36). Odds of more positive care-seeking attitudes were higher in white/non-Hispanics vs. other racial or ethnic groups (aOR = 1.45; 95%CI: 1.06–1.99) and in older parental age (10-year-increase aOR = 1.24; 95%CI: 1.05–1.47).ConclusionCharacteristics of middle school children''s parents (e.g., sex, race or ethnicity, age) are associated with their concussion-symptom knowledge and care-seeking attitudes. Parents’ variations in concussion knowledge and attitudes warrant tailored concussion education and prevention.     

The role of cognitive factors in chemistry achievement

Evidence from the research literature suggests that a variety of cognitive factors is responsible for chemistry achievement. This investigation examined the role of four cognitive factors, namely, formal reasoning ability, prior knowledge, field dependence/ independence, and memory capacity on achievement in chemistry as measured by tests of laboratory application, chemical calculations and content knowledge. The sample comprised grade 11 students from eleven high schools who were following the same chemistry syllabus. The results indicated that prior knowledge and formal reasoning ability were each statistically significantly related to variation in chemistry achievement. Field dependence/independence and memory capacity played no significant role in chemistry achievement.     

Effect of Oestrogen on Altering the Serum and Urinary Levels of Calcium,Phosphate and Magnesium in Hysterectomised Women Compared to Natural Menopausal South Indian Women: A Case Control Study

Given the paucity of studies conducted to know the effect of suddenness and earlier onset of endocrinological changes associated with hysterectomy, on the serum and urinary levels of calcium, magnesium and phosphate the present study was conducted to compare the levels of calcium, magnesium and phosphate in serum and urine of hysterectomised and natural menopausal south Indian women. This is a cross-sectional observational study. The study included three groups of 30 healthy premenopausal, 30 early surgical menopausal and 30 natural post menopausal women. Women suffering from any endocrine disease were excluded. Analysis was performed in serum and urine sample. The levels of calcium, magnesium and phosphate in serum and calcium/creatinine, magnesium/creatinine and phosphate/creatinine ratio were estimated in urine by spectrophotometric method. Hysterectomised women (serum calcium: 8.7 ± 0.09 mg/dl; urine calcium/creatinine: 0.16 ± 0.02) have significantly low serum calcium (p < 0.001) and high urinary calcium/creatinine (p = 0.002) ratio and post menopausal women (serum magnesium: 2.1 ± 0.03; serum phosphate: 4.4 ± 0.16; urinary calcium/creatinine: 0.17 ± 0.02; urinary magnesium/creatinine: 0.09 ± 0.01) have significantly high serum magnesium (p = 0.016), serum phosphate (p = 0.043) and high urinary calcium/creatinine (p = 0.002), magnesium/creatinine ratio (p = 0.025) compared to healthy pre menopausal women. Post menopausal women (serum calcium: 9.1 ± 0.08) have significantly high serum calcium and phosphate compared to hysterectomised women (serum phosphate: 3.93 ± 0.11). Hysterectomised women have significantly low serum calcium, oestrogen and high urinary calcium/creatinine ratio compared to healthy premenopausal women and low serum calcium and low serum phosphate compared to natural postmenopausal women. Natural postmenopausal women had low serum oestrogen and high serum magnesium, serum phosphate, urinary calcium creatinine ratio and urinary magnesium creatinine ratio compared to healthy premenopausal women.     

An extended chemical analysis of gallstone

Chemical composition of gall stones is essential for aetiopathogensis of gallstone disease. We have reported quantitative chemical analysis of total cholesterol bilirubin, calcium, iron and inorganic phosphate in 120 gallstones from haryana. To extend this chemical analysis of gall stones by studying more cases and by analyzing more chemical constituents. A quantitative chemical analysis of total cholesterol, total bilirubin, fatty acids, triglycerides, phospholipids, bile acids, soluble proteins, sodium potassium, magnesium, copper, oxalate and chlorides of biliary calculi (52 cholesterol, 76 mixed and 72 pigment) retrieved from surgical operation of 200 patients from Haryana state was carried out. Total cholesterol as the major component and total bilirubin, phospholipids, triglycerides, bile acids, fatty acids (esterified), soluble protein, calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, sodium, potassium, inorganic phosphate, oxalate and chloride as minor components were found in all types of calculi. The cholesterol stones had higher content of total cholesterol, phospholipids, fatty acids (esterified), inorganic phosphate and copper compared to mixed and pigment stones. The mixed stones had higher content of iron and triglycerides than to cholesterol and pigment stones. The pigment stones were richer in total bilirubin, bile acids, calcium, oxalate, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride and soluble protein compared to cholesterol and mixed stones. Although total cholesterol was a major component of cholesterol, mixed and pigment gall stone in Haryana, the content of most of the other lipids, cations and anions was different in different gall stones indicating their different mechanism of formation.     

Effect of Interaction Between Duration of Alcohol Consumption and Alcohol Dependence on Thyroid Function Test: Cross Sectional Observational Study

Dependence on alcohol, nicotine and duration of alcohol consumption are known to alter thyroid function tests. This study was conducted to assess the effect of interaction between the duration of alcohol consumption and alcohol dependence on TFT. The subjects consisted of 38 male patients with alcohol dependent syndrome co morbid with nicotine dependent syndrome, 33 male patients with alcohol dependent syndrome and 30 male normal healthy volunteers. Liver function tests, haematological parameters and thyroid function tests were assayed. Two way multivariate ANOVA was used to assess the interaction effect by SPSS 21 package. Multivariate analysis of combined TFT levels revealed no significant (P = .078) difference amongst groups based on alcohol dependence, significant difference (P = .001) amongst groups based on duration of alcohol consumption and no significant (P = .604) interaction effect between duration of alcohol consumption and alcohol dependence. Tests of between subject effects for individual TFT revealed significant (P = .014) difference in T3 between groups based on alcohol dependence, significant difference in the levels of fT4 (P = .001), T3 (P = .07) and T4 (P < .001) between groups based on duration of alcohol consumption was observed. Interaction between the effect of duration of alcohol consumption and alcohol dependence for individual TFT did not reveal any significance. fT4, TSH and T4 levels were significantly low in persons consuming alcohol for more than 20 years. TSH levels were significantly low in ADS compared to controls. Significant decrease in the levels of thyroid hormones was observed as the duration of alcohol consumption increased.     

An Investigation of User Comments on Facebook Pages of Trinidad and Tobago’s Indian Music Format Radio Stations

Starting in the 1990s, the Caribbean two-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago witnessed the establishment of several Indian-music format radio stations, most of which now stream their content on the World Wide Web or otherwise make their content available beyond the range of their terrestrial radio transmitters. The convergence of traditional terrestrial radio with audio streaming technology combined with the spread of high speed broadband connections has expanded the audience of a typical radio station from a few kilometers to a globally dispersed set of listeners who often include those physically displaced from their native cultural programming. The present investigation examines the Facebook comments of domestic and foreign listeners to Indian-music format radio stations from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.     

Student Perceptions of Social Loafing in Undergraduate Business Classroom Teams

There is a rich body of research devoted to the causes and remedies of social loafing in workplace teams. However, the social loafing phenomenon remains underinvestigated from the perspective of students in undergraduate business classroom teams. In particular, how they define and respond to loafing remains unknown. This article reports findings from a two-stage study that shows social loafing as a more complex construct than current conceptions suggest. Moreover, students avoid confronting loafers and prefer to have instructors administer postpriori justice based on their self-report of individual contributions. Based on the findings and recent writings, the article speculates on the causes of these student responses to social loafing in classroom teams.