In the history of public health, space has evolved through several stages driven by shifts in concepts of disease control. The history of public health is summarized by George Rosen in six phases: Origins (before 500 CE), Middle Ages (500–1500), Mercantilism and Absolutism (1500–1750), Enlightenment and Revolution (1750–1830), Industrialism and the Sanitary Movement (1830–1875), and the Bacteriological Era (1875–present). By integrating architectural sociology—a temporal lens examining the interplay between architecture, individuals, and society—this study investigates how architects historically responded to public health challenges, offering critical insights for contemporary healthy habitat design. Architecture not only addresses survival needs but also materializes societal consciousness. The progression of health-related cognition (e.g., germ theory), behavioural norms (e.g., hygiene practices), infrastructure systems (e.g., sanitation networks), and scientific advancements collectively redefined spatial paradigms. Architects constructed temples, thermae, lazarettos, Beitian Yangbingfang (charitable infirmaries), anatomical theaters, quarantine hospitals, tenements, mass housing, and biosafety laboratories. These cases exemplify the co-evolution of “Concept” (disease control ideologies), “Technology” (construction methods), and “Space” (built environments). By synthesizing centuries of public health spatial practices, this research deciphers the dynamic interplay among “Concept, Technology, and Space”. Leveraging historical patterns, we propose a predictive framework to refine future spatial strategies in anticipation of emerging health crises.
Metal iodide materials as novel components of thermal biological and medical systems at the interface between heat transfer techniques and therapeutic systems. Due to their outstanding heat transfer coefficients, biocompatibility, and thermally activated sensitivity, metal iodides like silver iodide (AgI), copper iodide (CuI), and cesium iodide (CsI) are considered to be useful in improving the performance of medical instruments, thermal treatment processes, and diagnostics. They are examined for their prospective applications in controlling thermal activity, local heating therapy, and smart temperature-sensitive drug carrier systems. In particular, their application in hyperthermia therapy for cancer treatment, infrared thermal imaging for diagnosis, and nano-based drug carriers points to a place for them in precision medicine. But issues of stability of materials used, biocompatibility, and control of heat—an essential factor that would give the tools the maximum clinical value—remain a challenge. The present mini-review outlines the emerging area of metal iodides and their applications in medical technologies, with a special focus on the pivotal role of these materials in enhancing non-invasive, efficient, and personalized medicine. Over time, metal iodide-based systems scouted a new era of thermal therapies and diagnostic instrumentation along with biomedical science as a whole.
We report on the measurement of the response of Rhodamine 6G (R6G) dye to enhanced local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) using a plasmonic-active nanostructured thin gold film (PANTF) sensor. This sensor features an active area of approximately ≈ 2.5 × 1013 nm2 and is immobilized with gold nanourchins (GNU) on a thin gold film substrate (TGFS). The hexane-functionalized TGFS was immobilized with a 90 nm diameter GNU via the strong sulfhydryl group (SH) thiol bond and excited by a 637 nm Raman probe. To collect both Raman and SERS spectra, 10 μL of R6G was used at concentrations of 1 μM (6 × 1012 molecules) and 10 mM (600 × 1014 molecules), respectively. FT-NIR showed a higher reflectivity of PANTF than TGFS. SERS was performed three times at three different laser powers for TGFS and PANTF with R6G. Two PANTF substrates were prepared at different GNU incubation times of 10 and 60 min for the purpose of comparison. The code for processing the data was written in Python. The data was filtered using the filtfilt filter from scipy.signals, and baseline corrected using the Improved Asymmetric Least Squares (ISALS) function from the pybaselines.Whittaker library. The results were then normalized using the minmax_scale function from sklearn.preprocessing. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to capture the topography of the substrates. Signals exhibited a stochastic fluctuation in intensity and shape. An average corresponding enhancement factor (EF) of 0.3 × 105 and 0.14 × 105 was determinedforPANTFincubated at 10 and 60 min, respectively.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an important concept of modern economic theory. In the last few decades, it has become an increasingly popular marketing tool used by companies. Consumers too want to see more CSR activities, especially those focused on environmental protection. The petroleum industry produces both toxic and non-toxic waste at almost all stages of production. While petroleum companies satisfy market demand, they also want to meet consumers’ moral and ethical demands. In this light, CSR has become vital for the development of industry. This paper looks at CSR in the petroleum industry, and its effect on customer satisfaction and subsequently toward the customer repurchase intention in Malaysia. The starting point of this paper is the Stakeholder Theory. It then examines CSR endeavors within the oil and gas sector and its link to customer repurchase intentions. It also looks at the established hypotheses between the activities of CSR (Economic Responsibility, Legal Responsibility, Ethical Responsibility, Philanthropic Responsibility), customer satisfaction and repurchase intention. This paper aims to learn about the customer’s sense of fulfilment with the CSR activities, and what could be the reaction base on the customer’s expectation.
Management and efficiency have a fundamental impact on the performance of public hospitals, as well as on their philanthropic mission. Various studies have shown that the financial weaknesses of these entities affect the planning, setting of goals and objectives, monitoring, evaluation and feedback necessary to improve health systems and guarantee accessibility as an inalienable right. This study aims to analyze the management and efficiency of third-level and/or high-complexity hospitals in Colombia, through a statistical model that uses financial analysis and key performance indicators (KPIs) such as ROA, ROE and EBITDA. A non-experimental cross-sectional design is used, with an analytical-synthetic, documentary, exploratory and descriptive approach. The results show financial deficiencies in the hospitals evaluated; hence it is recommended to make adjustments in the operating cycle to increase efficiency rates. In addition, the use of the KPIs ROA and ROE under adjusted models is suggested for a more precise analysis of the financial ratios, since these adequately explain the variability of each indicator and are appropriate to evaluate hospital management and efficiency, but not in EBITDA ratio, hence the latter is not recommended to evaluate hospital efficiency reliably. This study provides relevant information for public health policy makers, hospital managers and researchers, in order to promote the efficiency and improvement of health services.
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