Search Results (313)

Infection with SARS-CoV-2 and the resulting COVID-19 can cause both lung and kidney damage. SARS-CoV-2 can directly infect renal cells expressing ACE2 receptors, resulting in kidney damage, and acute kidney injury (AKI) has been reported in COVID-19 hospitalized patients. The pathophysiology of COVID-19-associated AKI is multifactorial. Local and systemic inflammation, immune system dysregulation, blood coagulation disorders, and activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) are factors that contribute to the development of AKI in COVID 19 disease. COVID-19 patients with kidney involvement have a poor prognosis, and patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) infected with SARS-CoV-2 have an increased mortality risk. CKD patients with COVID-19 may develop end-stage renal disease (ESRD) requiring dialysis. In particular, patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 and requiring dialysis, as well as patients who have undergone kidney transplantation, have an increased risk of mortality and require special consideration. Nephrologists and infectious disease specialists face several clinical dilemmas in the prophylaxis and treatment of CKD patients with COVID-19. This entry presents recent data showing the effects of COVID-19 on the kidneys and CKD patients and the challenges in the management of CKD patients with COVID-19, and discusses treatment strategies for these patients. Full article

Urban planning has long pursued the improvement of health and wellbeing through the rapidly evolving scholarship and practice of health-supportive environments, underpinned by the seminal World Health Organization’s Healthy Cities Framework. Although a much more recent development, technology has been informing urban planning, as well as advancing healthcare and personal wellbeing monitoring and assessment. Known as the Smart City movement, it has much to offer regarding life in towns and cities, as well as how they are managed, maintained, and developed. There is also a growing appreciation of the potential for smart city technology to enhance human and environmental health in the context of urban planning and public place making. This has been reinforced by the COVID-19 pandemic with its reawakening of community interest in health and wellbeing, including mental illness, a greater awareness of the importance of local environments, and an explosion of technological knowhow in the embrace of remote working, online shopping, and education. Using the example of the authors’ “Smart Social Spaces” project, this entry discusses the potential benefits of an evolving integrative concept called “Smart Healthy Social Spaces”. The aim is to support community wellbeing as part of everyday living, especially associated with social connection, in densely populated and culturally diverse urban environments, where locally situated public spaces are increasingly important for all citizens. Full article

Active learning strategies are increasingly implemented in chemical engineering education, yet challenges persist in stimulating student participation and motivation. The rigorous demands placed on students in this field, from complex practical requirements to extensive programming and computational skills, underscore the need for innovative educational tools. Gamification emerges as a pivotal instrument in this context, fostering active student engagement, enhancing practical application of knowledge, increasing motivation, and providing a more precise assessment of student comprehension. These educational games serve as a powerful adjunct to traditional teaching strategies, equipping students with necessary skills for their future careers in the field. These games include laboratory course games, process simulators, games used in foundational courses, and those centered around reaction kinetics. This entry primarily investigates the various games employed to bolster student learning during chemical engineering laboratory courses. A thorough analysis is conducted on the survey of existing games used specifically in chemical engineering labs. The gamut of games discussed includes escape games, along with Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) games, all aiming to enhance laboratory experiences in areas such as fluid mechanics, organic reactions, and process control. This entry concludes by examining the prospective trajectory of gamification in chemical engineering labs, offering insights into future potential and advancements in this innovative educational approach. Full article

The term ‘environmental design for dementia’ relates to both the process and outcomes of designing to support or improve cognitive accessibility in physical environments. Environmental design for dementia is evidenced as an effective nonpharmacological intervention for treatment of the symptoms of dementia and is associated with higher levels of independence and wellbeing for people living with a variety of age-related cognitive, physical, and sensory impairments. Evidence-based dementia design principles have been established as a means of supporting both the design and evaluation of environmental design for dementia. Full article

Viewed as the glue that binds societies, social cohesion is considered an essential ingredient to address common societal challenges. Definitions and associated conceptual frameworks usually summarise social cohesion as collective attributes and behaviours characterised by positive social relations, a sense of identification or belonging, and an orientation towards the common good. However, there are a large variety of definitions, and disagreement exists about what constitutes the core components, causes and consequences of social cohesion. Full article

The affective economy is a concept that emerged within the field of social sciences, focusing on the interplay between emotions, affects, and economic processes. It explores how emotions and affective experiences shape economic practices, consumption patterns, and the production of goods and services. In the affective economy framework, emotions are seen as not merely individual but deeply embedded in social and political contexts, shaping and being shaped by social structures and power dynamics. The affective economy emphasizes how emotions circulate and contribute to the construction and maintenance of social orders, impacting economic actions. It acknowledges the profound impact of emotions and affects on economic behavior. Thus, this concept sheds light on the intricate relationship between emotions and economic processes, demonstrating how affective experiences influence consumption, production, labor, financial decisions, and the overall dynamics of the market economy. It emphasizes the need for a more nuanced understanding of human behavior in economic contexts, recognizing the significance of emotions and affective responses as integral components of economic activities. This concept is connected to notions of dwelling, topophilia, and affective atmospheres, providing insights into the complexities of economic transactions in diverse cultural contexts. Full article

Positioning theory is a social theorization that aims to capture the dynamic analysis of conversations and discourses taking place in a social setting. Conversations as part of language assume interlocutors. As one engages in the interactive speech acts in the social setting, there comes the importance of interlocutors involved in these speech acts in creating a social reality, as language forms the knowledge of reality. Certain types of rights and duties can be observed in interactions between speakers and hearers in a social communicative context of interlocutors. The cluster of rights and duties, recognized in a certain social setting, can be termed as a position. One of the critical aspects is that positions are not always intentional or even conscious. Therefore, positioning theory has been redefined as a method of analysis with a focus on storylines. Storylines reveal implicit ascriptions and resistances of rights and duties through the performance of a variety of actions in a social setting where appropriateness of social acts are established and recognized by the participants engaged within the social situation. The education setting presents a dynamic situation where a variety of moral orders come into actions that set possibilities for different actors to engage in shifting positioning to accomplish certain educational actions. This entry presents the use of positioning theory in an educational setting. Full article

Financial interdependence refers to the practice of sharing money as an expression of mutuality. Forms of financial interdependence are often rooted in cultural norms and values and may be carried out as a commitment to the well-being of the family through financial transfers, practiced as informal savings groups, or even established as legally constructed agreements. Financial interdependence can result in either beneficial or harmful outcomes, depending upon the nature of the relationships and the available resources. As a social and cultural concept, it has been generally neglected in the discourse on financial independence, yet it has important implications for society as a basis for collective prosperity. Full article

Judo is a well-known Japanese martial art that also features in Olympic games. Recently, an increasing interest has been observed in the application of judo as a multicomponent exercise, with a growing body of evidence showing that this feature improves physical and cognitive performance in older adults. Therefore, this review highlights the benefits of judo training in preventing physical and cognitive decline in older adults. Specifically, first, this review outlines the basic characteristics of judo (philosophy, match, and training). Subsequently, prior research examining the impacts of judo training on the physical and cognitive aspects of elderly individuals is reviewed. Thereafter, the brain mechanisms underlying the effects of judo training in improving physical and cognitive performance are discussed. Throughout this review, judo training demonstrated some positive effects on physical (gait and balance, among others) and cognitive (memory and executive function) function in older adults. These positive effects are attributed to a variety of changes in the brain (e.g., increased neurotrophic factor expression and increased cerebral blood flow, among others) that affect different brain regions and networks both functionally and structurally. From these findings, this review concludes that judo training can be an effective way to maintain and prevent physical and cognitive decline in older adults. Full article

Neurodiversity is a concept and a social movement that addresses and normalizes human neurocognitive heterogeneity to promote acceptance and inclusion of neuro-minorities (e.g., learning disabilities, attention disorders, psychiatric disorders, and more) in contemporary society. Neurodiversity is attributed to nature and nurture factors, and about a fifth of the human population is considered neurodivergent. What does neurodiversity mean neuroscientifically? This question forms the foundation of the present entry, which focuses on existing scientific evidence on neurodiversity including neurodiversity between and within individuals, and the evolutional perspective of neurodiversity. Furthermore, the neuroscientific view will be synergistically integrated with social approaches, particularly in the context of the normalization of neurodiversity and its association with the medical and social models of disability. This multidimensional analysis offers a cohesive and comprehensive understanding of neurodiversity, drawing insights from various vantage points, such as social, psychological, clinical, and neuroscientific viewpoints. This integrated approach fosters a nuanced and holistic discussion on the topic of human diversity. Full article

Interdisciplinary and integrated powerful knowledge (IIPK) is the outcome of integrating multiple disciplinary perspectives and approaches to tackle challenging real-world issues. Using many disciplinary fields, IIPK is essential for problem solving, innovation, and technical breakthroughs that require careful, imaginative, and innovative application of a wide range of disciplinary knowledge. It is especially relevant when addressing socio-scientific issues, which require a comprehensive understanding of scientific, social, and ethical dimensions. Collaborative and interdisciplinary work among people with diverse backgrounds and expertise is necessary to advance IIPK, including professionals from different academic fields, policymakers, stakeholders, and community members who bring various perspectives and values to the table. The co-creation of IIPK could inform policy making, support informed decision making, and lead to more comprehensive, effective, and sustainable solutions. Theoretical underpinnings and practical applications of co-creating IIPK are discussed here based on several principles with the potential to impact current practices. The co-creation and dissemination of IIPK could use multiple platforms, such as scholarly articles, encyclopedias, and media, including social media. These platforms provide scope for co-creating powerful knowledge through a people participatory approach, which would lead to changes in practices. Full article

This entry discusses the importance of cultural competence in the healthcare of humans and animals, its challenges, its mixed research results, and the need for widely applicable competencies. Although there is research evidence showing that cultural competence is linked with patient satisfaction, better doctor–patient relationships, adherence to therapy, and to some extent, better health outcomes, there is a huge variety of models and competencies in the literature, which has sometimes resulted in inclusive outcomes, confusion as to what constitutes the necessary competencies, and patchy implementation. In spite of the development of cultural competence in human healthcare, its implementation in veterinary medicine remains poor. On this note, the aims of this entry are to provide a brief overview of the cultural competence in healthcare and veterinary medicine and education, to outline the important facts, and to highlight the need for more standardisation in implementing and testing widely applicable cultural competencies for both human and veterinary healthcare. Full article

The domestication of humans is not an issue of domesticity but of the effects of the domestication syndrome on a hominin species and its genome. These effects are well expressed in the ‘anatomically modern humans’, in their physiology, behavior, genetic defects, neuropathology, and distinctive neoteny. The physiological differences between modern (gracile) humans and their ancestors, robust Homo sapiens types, are all accounted for by the domestication syndrome. From deductions we can draw about early human behavior, it appears that modifications are attributable to the same cause. The domestication hypothesis ascribes the initiation of the changes to selective breeding introduced by the consistent selection of neotenous features. That would trigger genetic pleiotropy, causing the changes that are observed. Full article

Feedback is essential for the development of veterinary medical learners. This review explores the theory and practical use of feedback in the modern clinical teaching environment. Our purpose is to assist veterinary teaching institutions engage in effective feedback exchange between instructors and learners. Based on literature evidence, quality feedback requires training for both learners and instructors. Effectively executed feedback should be a powerful learning and teaching tool in the development of competencies of the learner. Following the theoretical discussion, we propose a method for delivering scheduled feedback sessions to veterinary medical learners. This differs from ‘on-the-go’ feedback during each clinical encounter, which we have discussed in a previous article related to the use of the five microskills in clinical teaching. Full article

Achieving optimal treatment outcomes in glaucoma requires patients to adhere to their medication regimens. Possible barriers to patients’ cooperation include the misunderstanding of a treatment’s importance or errors in applying instructions, forgetfulness, financial constraints and others. Due to the fact that glaucoma usually causes no apparent symptoms or pain, on the one hand, and the significant inconvenience that the eye drops used for glaucoma treatment can cause due to local irritation, on the other, patient compliance is a challenge. To address this challenge, we require strategies for improving adherence to glaucoma treatment. The importance of proper eye drop administration techniques cannot be overstated, particularly for vulnerable populations such as the elderly, the sick and the visually handicapped. Studies have shown that failure to comply with glaucoma treatment is a significant factor affecting disease progression, emphasizing the need for interventions that improve patient compliance. Educational interventions, medication reminders and the use of assistive devices such as eye drop aids have been shown to improve adherence to glaucoma treatment. By promoting strategies that can be used to enhance treatment adherence, healthcare providers can ensure that glaucoma patients receive the full benefits of their treatment plans, reducing the risk of disease progression. Many patients struggle with the complexity of their treatment regimens and the challenges of administering eye drops. This entry provides a comprehensive overview of the different barriers to patient adherence to glaucoma eye drop treatment, emphasizing the difficulties associated with eye drop instillation. This entry examines a range of eye drop aids available to patients, evaluating their modes of action, benefits, drawbacks and effectiveness in improving patient compliance. By providing detailed information on the barriers to adherence and the range of eye drop aids available, this entry aims to support healthcare providers in helping glaucoma patients to achieve better treatment adherence and outcomes. Full article