Indoor air quality of schools in Alexandria City

Poor air quality in schools can affect children's desire and ability to concentrate and learn and may lead to increased rate of absenteeism. This study was carried out with the aim of characterizing and measuring indoor air quality in school buildings, measuring ventilation status and studying the impact of design and environmental parameters on some measured pollutant levels. The study was carried out in some primary schools of Alexandria City. All ventilation rate levels exceeded the ASHRAE standard of 15 cfm/pupil except for a few cases. Badly located and small window area led to air stagnation and low ventilation rates. Levels of TSP greatly exceeded a suggested daily guideline of 150 microg/m3. The highest average levels of TSP were found inside classrooms surrounded by unpaved playground and located near semi rural, commercial and heavy traffic areas, while lowest levels were in classrooms located next to residential areas. The average total bacteria were highest in winter. There was also a slight increase in respiratory symptoms and signs in winter. There was a significant positive correlation between average total, pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria with average TSP levels, indoor CO2 levels and relative humidity while a significant negative correlation was observed with ventilation rate and class volume occupied. The average attack rate of respiratory conditions was 1.96 episode per child. Running nose was the highest frequent symptom. Students of first grade, had an incidence rate higher than that among fifth grade students.     

Risk factors related to deaf-mutism among pupils attending the Alexandria governmental deaf-mute schools

Childhood deafness interferes with the cognitive development of the child, so it is considered a major handicap. The present work was carried out to reveal possible risk factors of deaf-mutism and the magnitude of each. The case control design was chosen as a research methodology. A 50% sample of deaf-mute pupils at the primary level were selected at random from each of the two governmental schools for the deaf-mutes in Alexandria (boys=96, & girls=76). A control group chosen at random from a main stream governmental school and matched by age and sex of the pupils as well as with education and occupation of the father. Matching was carried out at the sampling phase, pairing each case to its control. Data were collected by interviewing the mothers using an interviewing schedule. Matched analysis was carried out where pairing of cases and controls was retained. The likelihood estimate of Odds ratio conditional on the number of discordant pairs was estimated using McNemer's test. The 5% level was chosen as the level of significance. The study revealed 172 deaf-mute pupils. Their mean age was 9.48+/-1.981 years. Boys outnumbered girls (55.8% and 44.2% respectively). In 59.4% parents were cousins. Deafness was first noticed at 6 to 60 months of age with a mean of 14.70+/-10.2 months. Most fathers and mothers were illiterate (48.84% and 61.63%). Heredity was a risk factor, where 84.82% of cases had a positive family history compared to none of the controls. Moreover, in case of consanguinity the Odds ratio=5.60. Acquired deafness constituted the second important group of all causes of deafness. Meningitis featured as the most important cause of acquired deafness with an estimated relative risk of 18.5, followed by fever (Odds ratio=4.67), then repeated attacks of acute tonsillitis and ear disease where the case control percent difference was 8.72% and 4.65% respectively.     

弱智学校学生智力低下病因调查

目的了解天津市内启智学校学生智力低下的主要病因，以探索其干预康复措施。方法对启智学校的419名学生家长进行问卷调查及各启智学校学生病例登记调查，了解造成智力低下的原因及影响因素。结果与智力低下学生有关的疾病中，前5位病因为脑部疾病、新生儿窒息、先天愚型、孤独症、先天畸形。有39．6％智力低下学生的致病原因不明。可能影响疾病发生的因素有：发现智力低下时间、母孕年龄、产伤。结论减少智力低下患儿的根本是提高医疗水平、诊断水平和预防保健水平。     

湖北某特殊学校52例耳聋患儿耳聋基因检测结果分析

目的 对某特殊学校耳聋患者进行聋病易感基因GJB2、GJB3、SLC26A4和线粒体DNA4(mtDNA)个基因13个位点的筛查,并与该地区正常儿童进行比对,了解其突变基因与位点。方法 2017年3-9月采集52例耳聋患儿与1 131例正常儿童的外周血,提取基因组DNA,应用遗传性耳聋基因芯片检测试剂盒对GJB2、SLC26A4、mtDNA及GJB3基因的13个突变位点进行检测。结果 52例耳聋学生中18例(34.63%)突变携带者,携带不同突变基因。GJB2基因突变13例(25.00%),其中纯合突变3例(5.77%),单杂合突变6例(11.54%),复合杂合突变4例(7.69%)。SLC26A4基因突变3例(5.77％),其中纯合突变2例(3.85%),单杂合突变1例(1.92％);mtDNA基因突变2例(3.85％),均为1555A>G均质突变;未检测到GJB3基因突变。而1 131例正常儿童中125例(11.05%)突变携带者,携带不同突变基因。GJB2基因突变79例(6.99%),SLC26A4基因突变35例(3.09％),mtDNA基因突变11例(0.97％),未检测到GJB3基因突变。耳聋患儿与正常儿童耳聋基因检测分布差异有统计学意义(χ²=25.98,P<0.001)。结论 该聋哑学校耳聋突变热点基因以GJB2和SLC26A4为主,且GJB2 235delC(19.23％)是最常见突变位点,耳聋基因检测为减少出生缺陷提供了依据。     

Negotiating deaf-hearing friendships: coping strategies of deaf boys and girls in mainstream schools

BACKGROUND: Increasingly, deaf students are educated in mainstream school environments. This poses a question of how deaf children negotiate the demands of forming friendships with their hearing peers. The present study was designed to examine coping strategies of 35 deaf children attending full or partial mainstream school settings. METHOD: Using a qualitative analysis design, a range of coping strategies used by the children was described based on parents' reports. The relative success of these coping strategies in establishing relationships with hearing peers was assessed by examining strategies that increased the social success of deaf girls and boys. RESULTS: The results showed differences by gender in the effectiveness of coping strategies used by the participants. Deaf girls who were confident and frequently asked for clarifications or who were comfortable playing alone tended to achieve good relationships with hearing peers. In contrast, deaf boys' relationships with hearing peers benefited mostly from the boys' ability to perform well in sports. CONCLUSIONS: These findings are discussed in light of existing research on coping and current debates on the benefits of mainstreaming for deaf children.     

Health care utilization and adults who are deaf: relationship with age at onset of deafness

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the health care utilization of a nationally representative sample of U.S. deaf adults while accounting for the age at onset of deafness, an indicator of linguistic and sociocultural group affiliation. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: Data from the 1990 to 1991 National Health Interview Surveys the most recent years the Hearing Supplement was administered. The data were collected during in-home interviews of a sample of the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional analyses comparing health-related measures of adults deafened before (prelingually) and after (postlingually) the age of 3 and those of a representative sample of the general population, adjusting for sociodemographics and health status. Key measures were physician visits and preventive health care services utilization. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Compared with the general population, prelingually deafened adults had fewer physician visits and were less likely to have visited a physician in the preceding 2 years, whereas postlingually deafened adults had more physician visits and were more likely to have visited a physician in the preceding 2 years. Postlingually deafened women were less likely to have had a mammogram within the previous 2 years. CONCLUSIONS: In terms of health care utilization, the deaf population is heterogeneous. Prelingually deafened adults' use of health care is similar to that of other language minority groups. Postlingually deafened adults' use of health care services appears similar to people with chronic illness. Future studies must distinguish different groups of people with hearing loss in order to identify barriers and monitor improvements in health care services access.     

芜湖市中小学校长心理健康教育工作现状研究

采用自编的《中小学心理健康教育状况调查(校长问卷)》对安徽省芜湖市三县四区129名校长进行调查.结果发现:(1)心理健康活动课开设偏少,参与心理健康教育研究少;(2)学校心理健康教育效果不够理想;(3)中小学生心理问题偏多,心理健康教育工作困难多.对策:(1)推进课程建设,加强理论研究;(2)重视心理教育,大力开展培训;(3)引起上级重视,加速开展工作.     

芜湖市中小学校长心理健康教育工作现状研究

采用自编的<中小学心理健康教育状况调查(校长问卷)>对安徽省芜湖市三县四区129名校长进行调查.结果发现:(1)心理健康活动课开设偏少,参与心理健康教育研究少;(2)学校心理健康教育效果不够理想;(3)中小学生心理问题偏多,心理健康教育工作困难多.对策:(1)推进课程建设,加强理论研究;(2)重视心理教育,大力开展培训;(3)引起上级重视,加速开展工作.     

Epidemiology of school injuries in Alexandria

This study was conducted to reveal the magnitude of school injuries in Alexandria, their epidemiological patterns and outcomes. All pupils attending the casualty department of Alexandria Students' Hospital during the scholastic year 1996-1997 with school injuries were included in this study. An interview questionnaire and a transfer sheet were used to collect relevant information. Data were analyzed and the 5% level was taken to judge the significance of the obtained results. During the study period, 3422 pupils sustained school injuries yielding a rate of 4.25 per 1000. This rate was significantly higher among boys (6.43 per 1000) as well as in secondary schools (8.11 per 1000). Most of these injuries occurred inside the school (72.0%). In relation to school activity, injuries occurred more frequently during breaks (28.1%), school trips (27.8%) and teaching sessions (25.6%). Falls were responsible for 52.3% of the injuries followed by struck by or against (25.2%), while 11.9% were due to road traffic accidents. The most commonly affected sites were the upper (46.2%) and lower (32.1%) limbs as well as the head and neck (16.6%). High proportions of the resulting injuries were minor, however, severe injuries namely, fractures (23.2%) and brain concussions (2.8%) were encountered. Significant differences were observed in this respect in relation to the pupils' gender and educational stage. Only 12.5% of the cases were hospitalized. All recovered completely except four cases of leg amputation and no deaths were recorded. School injuries appear to be a priority area for primary preventive activities. School personnel should receive safety rounds to recognize the potential environmental hazards. Stringent supervision is required in areas and during activities with high frequency of injuries. Moreover, safety education should be incorporated in the curriculum and activities involving school children.     

Vertical transmission of HBsAg in Alexandria

A total of 735 pregnant women at delivery and their babies were screened for HBsAg to assess the vertical transmission of HB virus infection. The carrier rate among pregnant women was 5%, evidence of intrauterine transmission reached 8.1% and that of perinatal transmission was 33.3% The most important factors affecting the carrier rate in mothers were the social class, parity, injections, dental manipulation and hospitalization. Nevertheless, among the factors increasing the rate of materno-fetal transmission were the presence of "e" Ag, high titer of HBsAg in mothers serum, cord blood antigenaemia, age of the mother, prolonged duration of labour and breast-feeding.     

Incidence of congenital rubella syndrome in Japan (1965-1985). A nationwide survey of the number of deaf children with history of maternal rubella attending special schools for the deaf in Japan

Accurate congenital rubella syndrome surveillance in Japan is of great interest because of the hypothesis that the Japanese rubella virus was less virulent than the strains prevalent in Europe and the Americas 20 years ago. A nationwide survey of deaf children with a history of maternal rubella in special schools for the deaf in Japan yielded a total of 365 deaf school children with congenital rubella syndrome born between 1963 and 1982. The overall average prevalence was 0.31 case per 100,000 population, and the incidence was 0.1-6.1 cases per 100,000 annual live births in Japan. If one considers the decrease in the number of deaf children attending special schools for the deaf because of the recent adoption of the policy of integrating deaf children into ordinary schools, the number of cases of congenital rubella syndrome might actually be much greater than that revealed by this survey and much greater than the 88 cases previously reported in Japan. Among the 365 cases who had deafness, 8.2% were found to have cataract (with and without congenital heart disease), and 11.0% were found to be complicated by congenital heart disease (but without cataract).     

学区"阳光周末"体育活动对居民健康状况的影响研究

目的:观察新乡市大学园区、一体化管理和资源共享的3所高校与社区参加"阳光周末"体育活动的28～60岁年龄阶段600名居民(教工)健康状况,为学区针对性、可持续性的开展"阳光周末"体育活动和疾病预防工作提供科学依据.方法:①采用资料调阅法对600名不同年龄阶段的居民(教工)开展"阳光周末"体育活动前、后的疾病检出率进行统计和分析;②采用自行设计的"学区居民(教工)实施"阳光周末"活动前、后的亚健康、亚健康状态和健康行为认知"调查表.对其进行健康状况实地问卷调查.结果:大学园区学区居民(教工)在开展"阳光周末"体育活动前健康状况不容乐观,发病率呈逐年上升趋势;参加"阳光周末"体育活动1.4年后居民(教工)的疾病检出率呈明显下降趋势(P<0.05),亚健康总发生率由活动前的62.7%降至48.8%;差异有统计学意义(P<0.01).结论:学校体育与社区体育有机结合,实施一体化管理和资源共享.在有效改善不同年龄阶段的学区居民(教工)身体健康状况方面,特别在培养居民(教工)具备良好身心素质方面有着独到的功能,并为学区体育各自的发展提供了新的思路.