The Relationship between Depression and Insomnia Symptoms Amongst a Sample of UK University Students

Umair Akram,asha akram,Maria Gardani,Antonia Ypsilanti,Kristofor McCarty,Sarah Allen,Lambros Lazuras 대한수면학회 2019 sleep medicine research Vol.10 No.1

Research exploring the relationship between mental health difficulties and insomnia amongst stu- dents in the UK remains limited. This study further examined the extent of potential relationships between insomnia, anxiety and depression symptoms amongst university students in the UK. A sample of 487 students from four northern universities completed The Insomnia Severity Index, SLEEP-50, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scales. Approximately one fifth of students expe- rienced mild to severe levels of depressive symptoms, and two thirds reported anxious symptoms. One quarter of students indicated insomnia symptoms in the clinical range, however the preva- lence of sleep-disorders other than insomnia remained low (< 5%). Finally, symptoms of insomnia and apnoea were significantly related to depression, after controlling for co-morbid anxiety. The current outcomes highlight the high prevalence of depressive and insomnia symptoms amongst university students in the UK. Considering the relationship between insomnia and depression, stu- dent-focused mental health services should explore the possibility of treating insomnia to circum- vent depression.

Développer l’expression écrite du français par les activités de pensée critiquey

Soodeh Eghtesad,Akram Inanloo Khajlo 고려대학교 응용문화연구소 2020 에피스테메 Vol.0 No.24

This study analyzes the impact of a practical teaching of critical thinking on the writing skills of French language learners in an institutional context in Iran. Learners were divided into two groups, an experimental group and a control group; Honey's (2005) Critical Thinking Questionnaire was administered to the participants and their scores were analyzed to ensure that there was no significant difference between the two groups regarding their critical thinking abilities at the beginning of the training. Learners completed five semesters of coursework with identical course objectives and activities. However, the experimental group also received critical thinking training through media analysis, debates, and problem-solving activities. The analysis of the data, which consisted of qualitative analysis of students’ writings in the middle and at the end of the training, indicates that the experimental group outperformed the control group in writing. These results imply that critical thinking activities had a positive impact on learners' writing skills since they allowed them to perform writing tasks by paying attention to the writing as a process, rather than only focusing on the final product. Soodeh Eghtesad・Akram Inanloo Khajlo 121 [RÉSUMÉ] Développer l’expression écrite du français par les activités de pensée critique Soodeh Eghtesad・Akram Inanloo Khajlo Cette étude tente d’analyser l'impact de l'enseignement de la pensée critique sur le développement des compétences d'écriture des apprenants du français langue étrangère en contexte insitutionnel en Iran. Les apprenants étaient divisés en deux groupes, un groupe expérimental et un groupe témoin et le questionnaire de pensée critique de Honey (2005) était administré aux participants des deux groupes afin d’assurer qu'il n'y avait pas de différence significative entre les deux groupes concernant leur capacité de pensée critique au début de la formation. Les apprenants ont suivi cinq semestres de formation dont les objectifs du cours et les activités étaient identiques, mais le groupe expérimental a également reçu une formation à la pensée critique à travers des activités d’analyse des médias, de résolution de problèmes, et de débats, tandis que le groupe témoin n’a suivi aucune formation à la pensée critique. L’analyse des données, qui consiste en analyse qualitative des écritures des apprenants des deux groupes au milieu et à la fin de la formation, montre que le groupe expérimental a surpassé le groupe témoin en matière de production écrite, ce qui indique que l’enseignement de la pensée critique avait un impact positif sur les compétences d’écriture des apprenants, puisqu’elle les a rendus capables d’écrire en faisant attention au processus d’écriture plutôt que focaliser uniquement sur le produit final.

Effects of Betulinic Acid on the Male Reproductive System of a Streptozotocin-Nicotinamide-Induced Diabetic Mouse Model

Akram Ahangarpour,Ali Akbar Oroojan,Layasadat Khorsandi,Golshan Arzani,Golshan Afshari 대한남성과학회 2016 The World Journal of Men's Health Vol.34 No.3

Purpose: The present study was conducted to evaluate the favorable or harmful effects of betulinic acid (BA) on a diabetic reproductive system.Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 60 male Naval Medical Research Institute mice (20∼25 g) were randomly divided into 6 groups: control, diabetes, diabetes+BA (10, 20, and 40 mg/kg), and diabetes+ metformin (200 mg/kg). A diabetic model was induced by a single dose of streptozotocin (STZ) (65 mg/kg) injection intraperitoneally 15 minutes after an intra-peritoneal administration of nicotinamide (NA) (120 mg/kg). BA and metformin were gavaged for 2 weeks after confirmed diabetes induction in the treatment groups. One day after the last treatment, plasma luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and testosterone levels were evaluated. The cauda epididymis and testis were removed to analyze the sperm count and testis histopathology.Results: LH levels increased in diabetic (p<0.001) and diabetic BA-treated mice (p=0.009). Plasma levels of testosterone (p< 0.001) and sperm count (p=0.04) decreased in these groups when compared to the control group. Furthermore, administration of 10 mg/kg (p=0.001), 20 mg/kg (p=0.004), or 40 mg/kg (p<0.001) of BA led to a greater reduction in plasma testosterone levels compared to the diabetes group. Seminiferous tubule vacuole numbers increased in diabetic and diabetic BA-treated mice, but testis morphology and FSH level assessment revealed no significant differences between the groups.Conclusions: STZ-NA can induce diabetic alterations in the male reproductive system and the administration of BA in diabetic treated mice resulted in a worse outcome.

Temperature stable dielectric properties of lead-free BiFeO₃–BaTiO₃ modified with LiTaO₃ ceramics

Akram, Fazli,Ahmed Malik, Rizwan,Hussain, Ali,Song, Tae-Kwon,Kim, Won-Jeong,Kim, Myong-Ho Elsevier 2018 Materials letters Vol.217 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>LiTaO<SUB>3</SUB> (LT)-modified (1 − <I>x</I>)(0.675BiFeO<SUB>3</SUB>–0.325BaTiO<SUB>3</SUB>) + 0.6 mol% MnO<SUB>2</SUB> + 0.4 mol% CuO (BFBTMC–<I>x</I>LT, where <I>x</I> = 0–0.030) ceramics were synthesized by solid state reaction method. The crystal symmetry, ferroelectric response, and temperature stable dielectric properties were investigated as a function of different LT-content. The X-ray diffraction study of BFBTMC–LT piezoceramics revealed no remarkable variation in the crystal symmetry. The value of maximum polarization (<I>P</I> <SUB>m</SUB> ≈ 24 μC/cm<SUP>2</SUP>) and remnant polarization (<I>P</I> <SUB>r</SUB> ≈ 18 μC/cm<SUP>2</SUP>) were obtained at BFBTMC–0.010LT composition. The maximum temperature of permittivity (<I>T</I> <SUB>max</SUB>) decreased by the addition of LT-content in BFBTMC materials. The un-doped sample was ferroelectric; a change to relaxor behavior occurred by the addition of LT-content, with broad frequency dependent curves of dielectric mid-value permittivity (ε<SUB>rmid</SUB>) and tangent loss as a function of temperature. A significant enhancement occurred at 3 mol% LT-modified BFBTMC ceramics, with ε<SUB>rmid</SUB> = 5000 ± 9.5% (250–450 °C at 1 kHz). These results are favorable for practical applications in high temperature dielectrics.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> LiTaO<SUB>3</SUB>-modified BiFeO<SUB>3</SUB>–BaTiO<SUB>3</SUB> dielectric ceramics were prepared. </LI> <LI> Easy and reproducible solid state reaction method was used. </LI> <LI> Temperature stable dielectric of 5000 ± 9.5% was achieved in the range 250–450 °C. </LI> </UL> </P>

Silkworm Growth and Silk Yield on Selected Supplemented/ Un-supplemented Mulberry Varieties

AKRAM, Waseem,Usman ZAFAR,이종진 한국곤충학회 2002 Entomological Research Vol.32 No.4

Sericulture has been on developing foot hills till today in Pakistan. It is for the past few years that this industry has received recognition through greater research on the nutritional aspects. Various experiments i.e., nutritional supplementation and searching alternate food plants have been on way with varying degree of success. The present approach includes the very much neglected aspect of trying mulberry varieties and working out their impact on the silkworm growth/ development and silk yield. In Pakistan three varieties of mulberry Morus alba, M. nigra and M. indica are commonly found, these were selected for the present studies and the already established mineral dose 0.2%N ±0.1% P±0.3% K±0.1% Ca±0.15% Mg±0.15% Mn was supplemented to them through dipping method. Amongst the so designed nine treatments those in which the silkworm larvae were fed on M. nigra leaves in any form /combinatiyielded best results, as the larvae in these treatments consumed more food (73.71 gm /10 larvae) and converted maximum(77.22%) of it into body matter. This improved silkworm growth, a primary parameter for increasing the over all production and resulted in better cocoon size which weighed heavier (2.43 gm/cocoon and 1.10 gm/shell) as compared to rest of the test treatments (0.67 and 0.70 gm/shell on M. alba and M. indica, respectively).

A unified stabilized finite volume method for Stokes and Darcy equations

Akram Boukabache,Nasserdine Kechkar 대한수학회 2019 대한수학회지 Vol.56 No.4

In this paper, we present and analyze a cell-centered collocated finite volume scheme for incompressible flows to compute solutions simultaneous to Stokes and Darcy equations by applying a pressure jump stabilization term to avoid locking. We prove that the new stabilized FV formulation satisfies a discrete inf-sup condition and error estimates for both problems. Finally, we present some numerical examples confirming this analysis.

Determinants of early initiation of breastfeeding in Peru: analysis of the 2018 Demographic and Family Health Survey

Akram Hernández-Vásquez,Horacio Chacón-Torrico 한국역학회 2019 Epidemiology and Health Vol.41 No.-

OBJECTIVES: Early initiation of breastfeeding (EIBF) is one of the most cost-effective strategies to reduce neonatal mortality. We sought to determine the prevalence and determinants of EIBF in Peru. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional analytical study of the 2018 Peruvian Demographic and Family Health Survey as a secondary data source. In total, 19,595 children born during the 5 years prior to the survey were included in the study. The dependent variable (EIBF status), socio-demographic variables, and pregnancy-related variables were analyzed using a multivariate logistic regression model to identify the determinants of EIBF. RESULTS: The prevalence of EIBF in the study population was 49.7%. Cesarean deliveries were associated with a lower likelihood of EIBF (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.06; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.05 to 0.07) than were vaginal deliveries. Newborns born at public health centers (aOR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.15 to 1.65) had a higher rate of EIBF than those not born at public or private health centers. Women from the jungle region (aOR, 2.51; 95% CI, 2.17 to 2.89) had higher odds of providing EIBF than those from the coast. Mothers with more than a secondary education (aOR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.55 to 0.76) were less likely to breastfeed during the first hour of the newborn’s life than women with primary or no education. CONCLUSIONS: More than half of Peruvian children do not breastfeed during the first hour after birth. The major determinants of EIBF status were the delivery mode and the region of maternal residence. Strategies are needed to promote early breastfeeding practices.

Numerical Investigation of Turbulent Open Channel Flow with Semi-cylindrical Rough Beds

Akram Abbaspour,Saeed Hashemi Kia 대한토목학회 2014 KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering Vol.18 No.7

Flow development in an open-channel with rough beds was investigated using FLUENT, a commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software. The Renormalization Group (RNG) k-ε turbulence model was used for subcritical flow cases. The Volume of Fluid (VOF) method was used to allow the free-surface to deform freely with the underlying turbulence. The main purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the different types of surface roughness on a turbulent boundary layer in a relatively high Reynolds flow. The determination of velocity profile in turbulent open channels with rough bed is a difficult task due to the significant effects of the roughness. The velocity distributions in the log-region for the rough wall were determined. The roughness function ∆U + , the characteristic downward shift of the logarithmic part of the mean velocity profile, was found to be more than 12 for three rough surfaces the roughness function, ∆U + scales logarithmically with normalized effective height y+.

Asymmetric Flankers in Comodulation Masking Release

Akram Pourbakht,Leila Faraji 대한청각학회 2019 Journal of Audiology & Otology Vol.23 No.1

Background and Objectives: Detection of auditory signals may be improved when maskersfar from the frequency of the target signal are coherently amplitude-modulated. This improvementof signal detection is called comodulation masking release (CMR). In the CMR experiments,flankers have been usually arranged symmetrically. In practice, we will be confrontedwith a problem by using symmetric flankers due to the limited output of clinical audiometers,especially at high-frequency. We aimed to check whether flanker arrangement has any effecton the amount of CMR, especially when there is no flankers with a frequency higher than thesignal. Subjects and Methods: Eighteen normal hearing listeners ranging in age from 20 to46 years old participated. Symmetric (2-2) and asymmetric (3-1 and 4-0) flankers were usedand then the amount of CMR compared among them. Results: Our results showed in thesame numbers of flankers, there were no statistically CMR differences between symmetricand asymmetric arrangement. Also when we did not have a flanker at a frequency higherthan the signal and all flankers were placed below the signal, there was no statistically differencewith the symmetric arrangement. Conclusions: The asymmetry of the flankers andalso omitting the flankers with a frequency higher than the signal, have no effect on CMR results. We concluded that CMR can be considered by using clinical audiometer.

CEnsLoc: Infrastructure-Less Indoor Localization Methodology Using GMM Clustering-Based Classification Ensembles

Akram, Beenish Ayesha,Akbar, Ali Hammad,Kim, Ki-Hyung Hindawi Limited 2018 Mobile information systems Vol.2018 No.-

<P>Indoor localization has continued to garner interest over the last decade or so, due to the fact that its realization remains a challenge. Fingerprinting-based systems are exciting because these embody signal propagation-related information intrinsically as compared to radio propagation models. Wi-Fi (an RF technology) is best suited for indoor localization because it is so widely deployed that literally, no additional infrastructure is required. Since location-based services depend on the fingerprints acquired through the underlying technology, smart mechanisms such as machine learning are increasingly being incorporated to extract intelligible information. We propose CEnsLoc, a new easy to train-and-deploy Wi-Fi localization methodology established on GMM clustering and Random Forest Ensembles (RFEs). Principal component analysis was applied for dimension reduction of raw data. Conducted experimentation demonstrates that it provides 97% accuracy for room prediction. However, artificial neural networks, <I>k</I>-nearest neighbors, <I>K</I><TEX>$ ^{\ast }$</TEX> , FURIA, and DeepLearning4J-based localization solutions provided mean 85%, 91%, 90%, 92%, and 73% accuracy on our collected real-world dataset, respectively. It delivers high room-level accuracy with negligible response time, making it viable and befitted for real-time applications.</P>