Search results for: clinical decision support sytem

Authors: Angga Hidayah Ramadhan, Luciana Andrawina, M. Azani Hasibuan

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Data will be as a core of the decision if it has a good treatment or process, which is process that data into information, and information into knowledge to make a wisdom or decision. Today, many companies have not realize it include XYZ University Admission Directorate as executor of National Admission called Seleksi Masuk Bersama (SMB) that during the time, the workers only uses their feeling to make a decision. Whereas if it done, then that company can analyze the data to make a right decision to get a pin sales from student candidate or registrant that follow SMB as many as possible. Therefore, needs Knowledge Management System (KMS) with Geographic Information System (GIS) use 5C4C that can process that company data becomes more useful and can help make decisions. This information system can process data into information based on the pin sold data with 5C (Contextualized, Categorize, Calculation, Correction, Condensed) and convert information into knowledge with 4C (Comparing, Consequence, Connection, Conversation) that has been several steps until these data can be useful to make easier to take a decision or wisdom, resolve problems, communicate, and quicker to learn to the employees have not experience and also for ease of viewing/visualization based on spatial data that equipped with GIS functionality that can be used to indicate events in each province with indicator that facilitate in this system. The system also have a function to save the tacit on the system then to be proceed into explicit in expert system based on the problems that will be found from the consequences of information. With the system each team can make a decision with same ways, structured, and the important is based on the actual event/data.

Keywords: 5C4C, data, information, knowledge

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Authors: Taksina Bunbut, Kevin Wongleedee

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The purposes of this research were to study factors influencing the decision of international tourists to revisit Bangkok, Thailand. A random 200 samples was collected. Half the sample group was male and the other half was female. A questionnaire was used to collect data and small in-depth interviews were also used to get their opinions about importance of tourist decision making factors. The findings revealed that the majority of respondents rated these factors at medium level of importance. The ranking showed that the first three important factors were a safe place to stay, friendly people, and clean food. The three least important factors were a convenience transportation, clean country, and child friendly. In addition there was no significance difference between male and female in their ratings of the factors of influencing the decision of international tourists to revisit Bangkok, Thailand.

Keywords: factors, international tourists, revisit, Thailand

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Authors: Jemini Vyas, Oluwatobi Adeyoe, Jenny Branagan, Chandran Tanabalan, John Beatty, Aakash Pai

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Introduction: The development of robotic surgery has accelerated centralisation to tertiary centres, where robotic radical prostatectomy (RP) is offered. The purpose of concentrating treatment in high volume specialist centres is to improve the quality of care and patient outcomes. The aim of this study was to assess the impact on clinical outcomes of centralisation for locally diagnosed patients undergoing RP. Methods: Clinical outcomes for 169 consecutive laparoscopic & open RP pre-centralisation were retrospectively compared with 50 consecutive robotic RP conducted over a similar period post-centralisation. Preoperative risk stratification and time to surgery were collected. Perioperative outcomes, including length of stay (LOS) and complications, were collated. Post-operative outcomes, including erectile dysfunction (ED), biochemical recurrence (BCR), and urinary continence, were assessed. Results: Preoperative risk stratification showed no difference between the two groups. The median time from diagnosis to treatment was similar between the two groups (pre-centralisation, 121 days, post-centralisation, 117 days). The mean length of stay (pre-centralisation, 2.1 days, post-centralisation, 1.6 days) showed no significant difference (p=0.073). Proportion of overall complications (pre-centralisation, 11.4%, post-centralisation, 8.7%) and complications, above Clavien-Dindo 2, were similar between the two groups (pre-centralisation1.2%, post-centralisation 2.2%). Post operative functional parameters, including continence and ED, were comparable. Five-year BCR free rate was 78% for the pre-centralisation group and 79% for the post centralisation group. Conclusion: For our cohort of patients, clinical outcomes have remained static during centralisation. It is imperative that centralisation is accompanied by increased capacity, streamlining of pathways, and training to ensure that improved quality of care is achieved. Our institution has newly acquired a robot, and prospectively studying this data may support the reversal of centralisation for RP surgery.

Keywords: prostate, cancer, prostatectomy, clinical

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Authors: S. J. Yune, S. Y. Lee, S. J. Im, B. S. Kam, S. Y. Baek

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This study aimed to determine the reliability of clinical performance assessments, having been emphasized by ability-based education, and professors overall assessment methods. We addressed the following problems: First, we try to find out whether there is a difference in what we consider to be the main variables affecting the clinical performance test according to the evaluator’s working period and the number of evaluation experience. Second, we examined the relationship among the global rating score (G), analytic global rating score (Gc), and the sum of the analytical checklists (C). What are the main factors affecting clinical performance assessments in relation to the numbers of times the evaluator had administered evaluations and the length of their working period service? What is the relationship between overall assessment score and analytic checklist score? How does analytic global rating with 6 components in OSCE and 4 components in sub-domains (Gc) CPX: aseptic practice, precision, systemic approach, proficiency, successfulness, and attitude overall assessment score and task-specific analytic checklist score sum (C) affect the professor’s overall global rating assessment score (G)? We studied 75 professors who attended a 2016 Bugyeoung Consortium clinical skills performances test evaluating third and fourth year medical students at the Pusan National University Medical school in South Korea (39 prof. in OSCE, 36 prof. in CPX; all consented to participate in our study). Each evaluator used 3 forms; a task-specific analytic checklist, subsequent analytic global rating scale with sub-6 domains, and overall global scale. After the evaluation, the professors responded to the questionnaire on the important factors of clinical performance assessment. The data were analyzed by frequency analysis, correlation analysis, and hierarchical regression analysis using SPSS 21.0. Their understanding of overall assessment was analyzed by dividing the subjects into groups based on experiences. As a result, they considered ‘precision’ most important in overall OSCE assessment, and ‘precise accuracy physical examination’, ‘systemic approaches to taking patient history’, and ‘diagnostic skill capability’ in overall CPX assessment. For OSCE, there was no clear difference of opinion about the main factors, but there was for CPX. Analytic global rating scale score, overall rating scale score, and analytic checklist score had meaningful mutual correlations. According to the regression analysis results, task-specific checklist score sum had the greatest effect on overall global rating. professors regarded task-specific analytic checklist total score sum as best reflecting overall OSCE test score, followed by aseptic practice, precision, systemic approach, proficiency, successfulness, and attitude on a subsequent analytic global rating scale. For CPX, subsequent analytic global rating scale score, overall global rating scale score, and task-specific checklist score had meaningful mutual correlations. These findings support explanations for validity of professors’ global rating in clinical performance assessment.

Keywords: global rating, clinical performance assessment, medical education, analytic checklist

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Authors: Sakul Jariyachansit

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The purposes of this research were to investigate and to compare the factors affecting the decision for Tourism in Thailand by ASEAN Tourists and among ASEAN community tourists. Samples in this research were 400 ASEAN Community Tourists who travel in Thailand at Suvarnabhumi Airport during November 2016 - February 2016. The researchers determined the sample size by using the formula Taro Yamane at 95% confidence level tolerances 0.05. The English questionnaire, research instrument, was distributed by convenience sampling, for gathering data. Descriptive statistics was applied to analyze percentages, mean and standard deviation and used for hypothesis testing. The statistical analysis by multiple regression analysis (Multiple Regression) was employed to prove the relationship hypotheses at the significant level of 0.01. The results showed that majority of the respondents indicated the factors affecting the decision for Tourism in Thailand by ASEAN Tourists, in general there were a moderate effects and the mean of each side is moderate. Transportation was the most influential factor for tourism in Thailand. Therefore, the mode of transport, information, infrastructure and personnel are very important to factor affecting decision making for tourism in Thailand by ASEAN tourists. From the hypothesis testing, it can be predicted that the decision for choosing Tourism in Thailand is at R2 = 0.449. The predictive equation is decision for choosing Tourism in Thailand = 1.195 (constant value) + 0.425 (tourist attraction) +0.217 (information received) and transportation factors, tourist attraction, information, human resource and infrastructure at the significant level of 0.01.

Keywords: factor, decision making, ASEAN tourists, tourism in Thailand

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Authors: Noor Attar

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This paper provides an overview of the current situation of HIV/AIDS patients in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and a literature review of the concepts of stigma communication, communication of social support. These concepts provide the basis for the proposed methods, which will include conducting a textual analysis of materials that are currently distributed to family members of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHIV/A) in KSA and creating an educational brochure. The brochure will aim to help families of PLWHIV/A in KSA (1) understand how stigma shapes the experience of PLWHIV/A, (2) realize the role of positive communication as a helpful social support, and (3) develop the ability to provide positive social support for their loved ones.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS, Saudi Arabia, social support, stigma communication

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Authors: My Ha, Suwei Lin, Huiying Zou

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This study aimed at investigating the association between teacher support and academic resilience in a developing country. Using the data from PISA 2018 Student Questionnaire and Cognitive Tests, the study provided evidence of the significant impact teacher support had on reading literacy among 15-year-old students from low socio-economic status (SES) homes in Vietnam. From a total of 5773 Vietnamese participants from all backgrounds, a sample of 1765 disadvantaged students was drawn for analysis. As a result, 32 percent of the low SES sample was identified as resilient. Through their response to the PISA items regarding the frequency of support they received from teachers, the result of Latent Class Analysis (LCA) divides children into three subgroups: High Support (74.6%), Fair Support (21.6%), and Low Support (3.8%). The high support group reported the highest proportion of resilient students. Meanwhile, the low support group scored the lowest mean on reading test and had the lowest rate of resilience. Also, as the level of support increases, reading achievement becomes less dependent on socioeconomic status, reflected by the decrease in both the slope and magnitude of their correlation. Logistic regression revealed that 1 unit increase in standardized teacher support would lead to an increase of 29.1 percent in the odds of a student becoming resilient. The study emphasizes the role of supportive teachers in promoting resilience, as well as lowering educational inequity in general.

Keywords: academic resilience, disadvantaged students, teacher support, inequity, PISA

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Authors: Arezoo Fallahi‎

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Background: Exercise behavior (EB) has a significant impact on infertility, but the magnitude of the effect is not easily determined. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of social support and self-regulation, as external and internal factors, on changes in exercise behavior among infertile women. Methods: For a cross-sectional study conducted in Sanandaj (Iran) in 2020, we recruited infertile women (n=483) from 35 comprehensive healthcare centers by means of convenience sampling. Standardized face-to-face interviews were conducted using established and reliable instruments for the assessment of EB, social support, and self-regulation. Logistic regression models were applied to assess the association between EB, social support and self-regulation. Results: The majority of the participants (56.7%) had secondary infertility, while 70.8% of them did not perform any exercise. Self-regulation and social support were significantly higher in women with secondary infertility than in those with primary infertility (p < 0.01). Self-regulation was significantly lower in women whose height was below 160 centimeters (cm) (p<0.05). Social support was significantly higher among participants aged ≥ 35 years and weighing ≥ 60 kilograms (kg) (p < 0.01). The odds of EB adoption increased with self-regulation and social support (OR=1.05, 95% CI=1.02-1.09, p <0.01), (OR=1.06, 95% CI=1.02-1.11, p <0.01). Conclusion: Social support and self-regulation almost equally influenced EB in infertile women. Designing support and consultation programs can be considered in encouraging infertile women to do exercise in future research.

Keywords: social support, regulation, infertility, women, exercise

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Authors: Saurav Dhawan, Sanchit Bansal

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Background T-MACS is a computer-based decision aid that ‘rules in’ and ‘rules out’ ACS using a combination of the presence or absence of six clinical features with only one biomarker measured on arrival: hs-cTnT. T-MACS had 99.3% negative predictive value and 98.7% sensitivity for ACS, ‘ruling out’ ACS in 40% of patients while ‘ruling in’ 5% at the highest risk. We aim at benchmarking the use of T-MACS which could help to conserve healthcare resources, facilitate early discharges, and ensure safe practice. Methodology Randomized retrospective data collection (n=300) was done from ED electronic records across 3 hospital sites within MFT over a period of 2 months. Data was analysed and compared by percentage for the usage of T-MACS, number of admissions/discharges, and in days for length of stay in hospital. Results MRI A&E had the maximum compliance with the use of T-MACS in the trust at 66%, with minimum admissions (44%) and an average length of stay of 1.825 days. NMG A&E had an extremely low compliance rate (8 %), with 75% admission and 3.387 days as the average length of stay. WYT A&E had no TMACS recorded, with a maximum of 79% admissions and the longest average length of stay at 5.07 days. Conclusion All three hospital sites had a RAG rating of ‘RED’ as per the compliance levels. The assurance level was calculated as ‘Very Limited’ across all sites. There was a positive correlation observed between compliance with TMACS and direct discharges from ED, thereby reducing the average length of stay for patients in the hospital.

Keywords: ACS, discharges, ED, T-MACS

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Authors: M. A. T. AlSudairi, T. G. K. Vasista

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The concept of social media is becoming the top of the agenda for many business executives and public sector executives today. Decision makers as well as consultants, try to identify ways in which firms and enterprises can make profitable use of social media and network related applications such as Wikipedia, Face book, YouTube, Google+, Twitter. While it is fun and useful to participating in this media and network for achieving the communication effectively and efficiently, semantic and sentiment analysis and interpretation becomes a crucial issue. So, the objective of this paper is to provide literature review on social media, network and related technology related to semantics and sentiment or opinion analysis covering business and governance perspectives. In this regard, a case study on the use and adoption of Social media in Saudi Arabia has been discussed. It is concluded that semantic web technology play a significant role in analyzing the social networks and social media content for extracting the interpretational knowledge towards strategic decision support.

Keywords: CRASP methodology, formative assessment, literature review, semantic web services, social media, social networks

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Authors: Yutong Xu, Wanting Zhang, Jia Wang, Zihan Guo, Weiguang Ma

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Background: The resilience education of intern nursing students has significant implications for the development and improvement of the nursing workforce. The clinical internship period is a critical time for enhancing resilience. Aims: To evaluate the resilience level of Chinese nursing interns and identify the factors affecting resilience early in their careers. Methods: The cross-sectional study design was adopted. From March 2022 to May 2023, 512 nursing interns in tertiary care hospitals were surveyed online with the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, the Clinical Learning Environment scale for Nurse, and the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale. Structural equation modeling was used to clarify the relationships among these factors. Indirect effects were tested using bootstrapped Confidence Intervals. Results: The nursing interns showed a moderately high level of resilience[M(SD)=70.15(19.90)]. Gender, scholastic attainment, had a scholarship, career adaptability and clinical learning environment were influencing factors of nursing interns’ resilience. Career adaptability and clinical learning environment positively and directly affected their resilience level (β = 0.58, 0.12, respectively, p＜0.01). career adaptability also positively affected career adaptability (β = 0.26, p < 0.01), and played a fully mediating role in the relationship between clinical learning environment and resilience. Conclusion: Career adaptability can enhance the influence of clinical learning environment on resilience. The promotion of career adaptability and the clinical teaching environment should be the potential strategies for nursing interns to improve their resilience, especially for those female nursing interns with low academic performance. Implications for Nursing Educators Nursing educators should pay attention to the cultivation of nursing students' resilience; for example, by helping them integrate to the clinical learning environment and improving their career adaptability. Reporting Method: The STROBE criteria were used to report the results of the observations critically. Patient or Public Contribution No patient or public contribution.

Keywords: resilience, clinical learning environment, career adaptability, nursing interns

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Authors: Farzad Jalilian, Mehdi Mirzaei Alavijeh, Fazel Zinat Motlagh

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Social support is an important benchmark of health for people in avoidance conditions. The main goal of this study was to determine the three kinds of social support (family, friend and other significant) to drug cessation among male addicts, in Kermanshah, the west of Iran. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 132 addicts, randomly selected to participate voluntarily in the study. Data were collected from conduct interviews based on standard questionnaire and analyzed by using SPSS-18 at 95% significance level. The majority of addicts were young (Mean: 30.4 years), and with little education. Opium (36.4%), Crack (21.2%), and Methamphetamine (12.9%) were the predominant drugs. Inabilities to reject the offer and having addict friends are the most often reasons for drug usage. Almost, 18.9% reported history of drug injection. 43.2% of the participants already did drug cessation at least once. Logistic regression showed the family support (OR = 1.110), age (OR = 1.106) and drug use initiation age (OR = 0.918) was predicting drug cessation. Our result showed; family support is a more important effect among types of social support in drug cessation. It seems that providing educational program to addict’s families for more support of patients at drug cessation can be beneficial.

Keywords: drug cessation, family support, drug use, initiation age

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Authors: Alma Sobrevilla

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Using panel data from Mexico, this paper studies the determinants of women’s intrahousehold decision-making power using a generalised ordered logit model. Fixed effects estimations are also carried out to solve potential endogeneity coming from unobservable time-invariant factors. Finally, the paper analyses quadratic and community divergence effects of education on power. Results show heterogeneity in the effect of each of the determinants across different levels of decision-making power and suggest the presence of a significant quadratic effect of education. Having more education than the community average has a negative effect on power, supporting the notion that women tend to compensate their success outside the household with submissive attitudes at home.

Keywords: women, decision-making power, intrahousehold, Mexico

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Authors: Aref Aasi, Sahar Ebrahimi Bajgani, Erfan Aasi

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Breast cancer (BC) continues to be the most frequent cancer in females and causes the highest number of cancer-related deaths in women worldwide. Inspired by recent advances in studying the relationship between different patient attributes and features and the disease, in this paper, we have tried to investigate the different classification methods for better diagnosis of BC in the early stages. In this regard, datasets from the University Hospital Centre of Coimbra were chosen, and different machine learning (ML)-based and neural network (NN) classifiers have been studied. For this purpose, we have selected favorable features among the nine provided attributes from the clinical dataset by using a random forest algorithm. This dataset consists of both healthy controls and BC patients, and it was noted that glucose, BMI, resistin, and age have the most importance, respectively. Moreover, we have analyzed these features with various ML-based classifier methods, including Decision Tree (DT), K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), Logistic Regression (LR), Naive Bayes (NB), and Support Vector Machine (SVM) along with NN-based Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) classifier. The results revealed that among different techniques, the SVM and MLP classifiers have the most accuracy, with amounts of 96% and 92%, respectively. These results divulged that the adopted procedure could be used effectively for the classification of cancer cells, and also it encourages further experimental investigations with more collected data for other types of cancers.

Keywords: breast cancer, diagnosis, machine learning, biomarker classification, neural network

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Authors: Arindam Chaudhuri

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Classification of data has been actively used for most effective and efficient means of conveying knowledge and information to users. The prima face has always been upon techniques for extracting useful knowledge from data such that returns are maximized. With emergence of huge datasets the existing classification techniques often fail to produce desirable results. The challenge lies in analyzing and understanding characteristics of massive data sets by retrieving useful geometric and statistical patterns. We propose a supervised parallel fuzzy rough support vector machine (PFRSVM) for data classification in cloud environment. The classification is performed by PFRSVM using hyperbolic tangent kernel. The fuzzy rough set model takes care of sensitiveness of noisy samples and handles impreciseness in training samples bringing robustness to results. The membership function is function of center and radius of each class in feature space and is represented with kernel. It plays an important role towards sampling the decision surface. The success of PFRSVM is governed by choosing appropriate parameter values. The training samples are either linear or nonlinear separable. The different input points make unique contributions to decision surface. The algorithm is parallelized with a view to reduce training times. The system is built on support vector machine library using Hadoop implementation of MapReduce. The algorithm is tested on large data sets to check its feasibility and convergence. The performance of classifier is also assessed in terms of number of support vectors. The challenges encountered towards implementing big data classification in machine learning frameworks are also discussed. The experiments are done on the cloud environment available at University of Technology and Management, India. The results are illustrated for Gaussian RBF and Bayesian kernels. The effect of variability in prediction and generalization of PFRSVM is examined with respect to values of parameter C. It effectively resolves outliers’ effects, imbalance and overlapping class problems, normalizes to unseen data and relaxes dependency between features and labels. The average classification accuracy for PFRSVM is better than other classifiers for both Gaussian RBF and Bayesian kernels. The experimental results on both synthetic and real data sets clearly demonstrate the superiority of the proposed technique.

Keywords: FRSVM, Hadoop, MapReduce, PFRSVM

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Authors: Mohamed Abdalla Elamein Boshara, Peter Charles Woods, Nour Eldin Mohamed Elshaiekh

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Knowledge Management has become very important for Disaster Management response and planning. This paper proposes the implementation of a Knowledge Management System with a sustainable data collection mechanism for reliable and timely information management to support decision makers in making the right decisions in the timely manner.

Keywords: knowledge management, disaster management, incident tracking, web application

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Authors: Eva Queheille, Franck Taillandier, Nadia Saiyouri

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Waste management has become a major issue in demolition works, because of its environmental impact (energy consumption, resource consumption, pollution…). However, improving waste management requires to take also into account the overall demolition process and to consider demolition main objectives (e.g. cost, delay). Establishing a strategy with these conflicting objectives (economic and environment) remains complex. In order to provide a decision-support for demolition companies, a multi-objective optimization model was developed. In this model, a demolition strategy is computed from a set of 80 decision variables (worker team composition, machines, treatment for each type of waste, choice of treatment platform…), which impacts the demolition objectives. The model has experimented on a real-case study (demolition of several buildings in France). To process the optimization, different optimization algorithms (NSGA2, MOPSO, DBEA…) were tested. Results allow the engineer in charge of this case, to build a sustainable demolition strategy without affecting cost or delay.

Keywords: deconstruction, life cycle assessment, multi-objective optimization, waste management

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Authors: Carolinda Douglass

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Institutional Effectiveness (IE) is the purposeful integration of functions that foster student success and support institutional performance. IE is growing rapidly within higher education as it is increasingly viewed by higher education administrators as a beneficial approach for promoting data-informed decision-making in campus-wide strategic planning and execution of strategic initiatives. Specific IE tools, including, but not limited to, project management; impactful collaboration and communication; commitment to continuous quality improvement; and accountability through rigorous evaluation; are gaining momentum under the auspices of IE. This research utilizes a case study approach to examine the use of these IE tools, highlight successes of this use, and identify areas for improvement in the implementation of IE tools within higher education. The research includes three case studies: (1) improving upon academic program review processes including the assessment of student learning outcomes as a core component of program quality; (2) revising an institutional vision, mission, and core values; and (3) successfully navigating an institution-wide re-accreditation process. Several methods of data collection are embedded within the case studies, including surveys, focus groups, interviews, and document analyses. Subjects of these methods include higher education administrators, faculty, and staff. Key findings from the research include areas of success and areas for improvement in the use of IE tools associated with specific case studies as well as aggregated results across case studies. For example, the use of case management proved useful in all of the case studies, while rigorous evaluation did not uniformly provide the value-added that was expected by higher education decision-makers. The use of multiple IE tools was shown to be consistently useful in decision-making when applied with appropriate awareness of and sensitivity to core institutional culture (for example, institutional mission, local environments and communities, disciplinary distinctions, and labor relations). As IE gains a stronger foothold in higher education, leaders in higher education can make judicious use of IE tools to promote better decision-making and secure improved outcomes of strategic planning and the execution of strategic initiatives.

Keywords: accreditation, data-informed decision-making, higher education management, institutional effectiveness tools, institutional mission, program review, strategic planning

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Authors: Esabelle Lo Yan Yam, Pheak Chhoun, Sovannary Tuot, Emily Lancsar, Siyan Yi

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Persons living with HIV (PLHIV) need lifelong antiretroviral treatment (ART) to keep their viral load suppressed to an undetectable level, maintain a healthy immune system, and reduce the risk of transmitting HIV to others. However, many factors affect PLHIV's adherence to ART, including access to antiretrovirals (ARV), stigma, lack of social support, and the burden of seeking lifelong care. Community-based care has been shown to be instrumental in the experience of PLHIV in many countries, including Cambodia. In this study based in Cambodia, a community-based ART delivery (CAD) intervention involving community action workers (CAWs) who are PLHIVs was introduced. These workers collect pre-packaged ARVs from the ART clinics and dispense them to PLHIVs in the communities. The quasi-experimental study involved approximately 2000 stable PLHIV in the intervention arm and another 2000 PLHIV in the control arm (receiving usual care). A cost-effectiveness analysis is currently conducted to complement the clinical effectiveness of the CAD intervention on the care continuum and treatment outcomes for stable PLHIV, as well as the operational effectiveness in increasing the efficiency of the ART clinics and the health system. The analysis will consider health system and societal perspectives based on primary outcomes, including retention in care, viral load suppression, and adherence to ART. Additionally, a consultation with the National Centre for HIV/AIDS, Dermatology, and STD under the Cambodia Ministry of Health will be done to discuss the conduct of a budget impact analysis that can quantify the financial impact on the government's budget when adopting the CAD intervention at the provincial and national levels. The budget impact analysis will take into consideration various scaling-up scenarios for the interventions in the country. The research will assess the cost-effectiveness of the CAD intervention to support national stakeholders in Cambodia to make an informed decision on the adoption and scaling up of the intervention in Cambodia. The results are currently being analyzed and will be available at the time of the conference.

Keywords: Cambodia, community intervention, economic evaluation, global health, HIV/AIDs, implementation research

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Authors: Israa Sh. Tawfic, Sema Koc Kayhan

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Given a large sparse signal, great wishes are to reconstruct the signal precisely and accurately from lease number of measurements as possible as it could. Although this seems possible by theory, the difficulty is in built an algorithm to perform the accuracy and efficiency of reconstructing. This paper proposes a new proved method to reconstruct sparse signal depend on using new method called Least Support Matching Pursuit (LS-OMP) merge it with the theory of Partial Knowing Support (PSK) given new method called Partially Knowing of Least Support Orthogonal Matching Pursuit (PKLS-OMP). The new methods depend on the greedy algorithm to compute the support which depends on the number of iterations. So to make it faster, the PKLS-OMP adds the idea of partial knowing support of its algorithm. It shows the efficiency, simplicity, and accuracy to get back the original signal if the sampling matrix satisfies the Restricted Isometry Property (RIP). Simulation results also show that it outperforms many algorithms especially for compressible signals.

Keywords: compressed sensing, lest support orthogonal matching pursuit, partial knowing support, restricted isometry property, signal reconstruction

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Authors: Ali H. Muhammad

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This paper investigates both instrumental and emotional family support on employee job satisfaction and perception of work-family conflict. Instrumental family support is manifested in family behavior that contributes to the reduction of employee’s family responsibilities and keeping the physical home environment in a proper shape. Emotional family support includes the encouragement and praise that the employee receives from his family and families for the employee’s work problem and their role in assisting the employees in dealing with these problems. The paper suggests that instrumental and emotional family support increases employee’s job satisfaction. Furthermore, the study proposes that family support decreases employee’s perception of work-family conflict. In addition, this study examines the reliability and validity of the family support index developed by Lynda King and her colleagues in 1995. Confirmatory factor analysis is used to test the validity of the instrument in an Arab business setting. A paper-pencil questionnaire was used to collect data from a random sample of 70 Kuwaiti employees working in the oil sector. Data were analyzed using factor analysis, reliability tests, and regression analysis. Results confirmed the research hypothesis. Family support had a positive effect on job satisfaction. Furthermore, family support significantly contributed to the reduction of employee perception of work-family conflict.

Keywords: family support, job satisfaction, work-family conflict, Kuwait oil sector

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Authors: Bright C. Opara, Gideon C. Uboegbulam

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This study can be appreciated from the significant role culture exert in purchase decision of durable goods the world over. This study is motivated by cultural diversity in Nigeria and socio-economic changes that have taken place in the recent times. These call for the validation of similarly studies in order to formulate informed marketing strategies that will enhance purchase behaviour. This study therefore, is set out to examine the cultural influence in family purchase decision-making for durable goods in the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria (Hausa, Ibo, and Yoruba). The primary data was sourced using structured and semi-structured research questionnaire, while the secondary information was generated from existing / available relevant literature journals / periodicals. A judgmental sampling technique was used to determine the sample size of 300 households. The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) statistical tool was used to test the hypotheses, with the aid of Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17.0. The finding showed that cultural influence on the family Purchase Decision of Durable Goods does not significantly differ in three ethnic groups, and that family Purchase Decision Making for Durable Goods does not significantly differ in the three ethnic groups. We therefore, conclude that culture do not really impact significantly on the purchase behaviour of the three ethnic groups in the Nigeria as it does in some others. However, there is need for marketers and marketing decision makers not to generalise the findings of this study. This is because of the significant role culture play in purchase behaviour which differs from one culture or country to another.

Keywords: cultural, durable goods, influence, purchase decision

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Authors: Maggie Hall, Haley O'Neill

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The U.S. faces a severe shortage of abortion providers, exacerbated by the June 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. Midwives, especially certified nurse midwives, are well-positioned to fill this gap in abortion care. However, a lack of clinical education and training prevents midwives from exercising their full scope of practice. National and international organizations that set obstetrics and midwifery education standards, including the International Confederation of Midwives, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and American Public Health Association, call for expansion of midwifery-managed abortion care through the first trimester. In the U.S., midwifery programs are accredited based on compliance with ACME standards and compliance is a prerequisite for the American Midwifery Certification Board exams. We conducted a literature review of studies in the last five years regarding abortion didactic and clinical education barriers via CINAHL, EBSCO and PubMed database reviews. We gave preference for primary sources within the last five years; however, due to the rapid changes in abortion education and access, we also included literature from 2012-2022. We evaluated ACME-accredited programs in relation to their geography within abortion-protected or restricted states and assessed state-specific barriers to abortion care education and provision as clinical students. There are 43 AMCB-accredited midwifery schools in 28 states across the U.S. Twenty schools (47%) are in the 15 states in which advanced practice clinicians can provide non-surgical abortion care, such as medication abortion and MVA procedures. Twenty-four schools (56%) are in the 16 states in which abortion care provision is restricted to Licensed Physicians and cannot offer in-state clinical training opportunities for midwifery students. Six schools are in the five states in which abortion is completely banned and are geographically concentrated in the southernmost region of the U.S., including Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Texas. Subsequently, these programs cannot offer in-state clinical training opportunities for midwifery students. Notably, there are seven ACME programs in six states that do not restrict abortion access by gestational age, including Colorado, Connecticut, Washington, D.C., New Jersey, New Mexico, and Oregon. These programs may be uniquely positioned for midwifery involvement in abortion care beyond the first trimester. While the following states don’t house ACME programs, abortion care can be provided by advanced practice clinicians in Rhode Island, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Montana, New Hampshire, and Vermont, offering clinical placement and/or new ACME program development opportunities. We identify existing barriers to clinical education and training opportunities for midwifery-managed abortion care, which are both geographic and institutional in nature. We recommend expansion and standardization of clinical education and training opportunities for midwifery-managed abortion care in ACME-accredited programs to improve access to abortion care. Midwifery programs and teaching hospitals need to expand education, training, and residency opportunities for midwifery students to strengthen access to midwife-managed abortion care. ACNM and ACME should re-evaluate accreditation criteria and the implications of ACME programs in states where students are not able to learn abortion care in clinical contexts due to state-specific abortion restrictions.

Keywords: midwifery education, abortion, abortion education, abortion access

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Authors: Kevin Soubly, Kaysara Khatun

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This study applies the existing Middle-Out Perspective (MOP) as a complementing analytical alternative to the customary dichotomous options of top-down vs. bottom-up strategies of international development and commons governance. It expands the framework by applying it to a new context of land management and environmental change, enabling fresh understandings of decision making around land use. Using a case study approach in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia among a village of indigenous Dayak, this study explores influences from both internal and external middle actors, utilizing qualitative empirical evidence and incorporating responses across 25 village households and 11 key stakeholders. Applying the factors of 'agency' and 'capacity' specific to the MOP, this study demonstrates middle actors’ unique capabilities and criticality to change due to their influence across various levels of decision-making. Study results indicate that middle actors play a large role, both passively and actively, both directly and indirectly, across various levels of decision-making, perception-shaping, and commons governance. In addition, the prominence of novel 'passive' middle actors, such as the internet, can provide communities themselves with a level of agency beyond that provided by other middle actors such as NGOs and palm oil industry entities – which often operate at the behest of the 'top' or out of self-interest. Further, the study posits that existing development and decision-making frameworks may misidentify the 'bottom' as the 'middle,' raising questions about traditional development and livelihood discourse, strategies, and support, from agricultural production to forest management. In conclusion, this study provides recommendations including that current policy preconceptions be reevaluated to engage middle actors in locally-adapted, integrative manners in order to improve governance and rural development efforts more broadly.

Keywords: environmental management, governance, Indonesia, land use, middle actors, middle-out perspective

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Authors: Kristin Lewis, Howard Steele, Anne Murphy, Miriam Steele, Karen Bonuck, Paul Meissner

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The present study examines data collected during the randomized control trial (RCT) of the Group Attachment-Based Intervention (GABI©), a trauma-informed, attachment-based intervention aimed at promoting healthy parent-child relationships that support child development. Families received treatment at Treatment Center and were randomly assigned to either the GABI condition or the treatment as usual condition, a parenting class called Systematic Training for Effective Parenting (STEP). Significant improvements in the parent-child relationship have been reported for families participating in GABI, but not in the STEP control group relying on Coding Interactive Behavior (CIB) as applied to 5-minute video-films of mothers and their toddlers in a free play context. This report considers five additional attachment-relevant 'clinical codes' that were also applied to the 5-minute free play sessions. Seventy-two parent-child dyads (38 in GABI and 34 in STEP) were compared to one another at intake and end-of-treatment, on these five-point dimensions: two-parent codes—the dissociation and ignoring; two child codes—simultaneous display of contradictory behavior and fear; and one parent-child code, i.e., role reversal. Overall, scores were low for these clinical codes; thus, a binary measure was computed contrasting no evidence with some evidence of each clinical code. Crosstab analyses indicate that child fear at end-of-treatment was significantly lower among children who participated in GABI (7% or 3 children) as compared to those whose mothers participated in STEP (29% or 10 children) Chi Sq= 6.57 (1), p < .01. Discussion focuses on the potential for GABI to reduce childhood fearfulness and so enhance the child's health.

Keywords: coding interactive behavior, clinical codes, group attachment based intervention, GABI, attachment, fear

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Authors: Yong Cang

Abstract:

RJV001 is a subcutaneous injection containing mutated recombinant Collagenase H (ColH), leading to disruption of collagen matrix in adipose tissue and programmed cell death of adipocytes. Here we reported our clinical investigation of the safety, tolerance and pharmacodynamics of localized RJV001 injection into healthy human abdominal fat tissues (NCT04821648, Arizona Research Center). Investigate the safety, tolerance and clinical pharmacodynamics of subcutaneous RJV001 in humans. In the dose-escalating study, 18 subjects completed the study, 100% female, 78% white, with a mean age of 42[±9.9]. All three tested dose (0.05, 0.075 and 0.15 mg/injection), up to 30 injections, were safe and well-tolerated. Bruising and tenderness to palpation, mild to moderate, were the most frequent local skin reactions but nearly all resolved within 30 days. Additionally, physician-monitored ultrasound measurement showed that a reduction in abdominal fat tissue thickness was consistently observed in Cohort C (0.075, 0.15 mg/injection, 30injections), with a mean reduction of 7.37 [± 2.020] mm. Based on this clinical study, RJV001 has been advanced to phase II clinical studies. In the dose-escalating study, subcutaneously administered RJV001 was safe and well-tolerated in healthy adults up to 0.15 mg/injection, 30 injections. Fat reduction and adipocytolysis were observed by ultrasound measurements and histological analysis for exploratory purposes.

Keywords: fat reduction, mutant collagenase, clinical trial, subcutaneous injection

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Authors: Sawsan J. Al-husseini, Talib A. Dosa

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Educational institutions are today facing increasing pressures due to economic, political and social upheaval. This is only exacerbated by the nature of education as an intangible good which relies upon the intellectual assets of the organisation, its staff. Top management support has been acknowledged as having a positive general influence on knowledge management and creativity. However, there is a lack of models linking top management support, knowledge sharing, and innovation within higher education institutions, in general within developing countries, and particularly in Iraq. This research sought to investigate the impact of top management support on innovation through the mediating role of knowledge sharing in Iraqi private HEIs. A quantitative approach was taken and 262 valid responses were collected to test the causal relationships between top management support, knowledge sharing, and innovation. Employing structural equation modelling with AMOS v.25, the research demonstrated that knowledge sharing plays a pivotal role in the relationship between top management support and innovation. The research has produced some guidelines for researchers as well as leaders, and provided evidence to support the use of knowledge sharing to increase innovation within the higher education environment in developing countries, particularly Iraq.

Keywords: top management support, knowledge sharing, innovation, structural equation modelling

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Authors: Jenny Jin

Abstract:

Background: The therapeutic use of cannabis for cancer symptom control in Australia is gaining momentum, reflecting a broader global acceptance of its medicinal potential. Objective: This overview examines the historical context, current regulations, and clinical applications of cannabis in oncology within Australia. Methods: A historical analysis outlines the ancient and 19th-century medicinal uses of cannabis, followed by its prohibition in the early 20th century and subsequent resurgence in the late 20th century. The current legal framework under the therapeutic gods administration (TGA) is discussed. Results: Research indicates that cannabinoids, particularly THC and CBD, effectively alleviate pain, reduce chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, stimulate appetite, and enhance overall quality of life for cancer patients. Despite these benefits, challenges such as dosing standardization, stigma, and access barriers persist. Conclusion: Continued clinical research, policy development, and educational initiatives are essential to optimize the use of cannabis in cancer care. A patient-centred approach, emphasizing interdisciplinary collaboration and informed decision-making, is crucial for improving therapeutic outcomes in this evolving field.

Keywords: historical context of cannabis, symptom control in oncology patients, therapeutic benefits, outcome and future

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Authors: Frederic Jumelle, Kelvin So, Didan Deng

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In this paper, we are introducing a model of artificial general intelligence (AGI), the functional neural network (FNN), for modeling human decision-making processes. The FNN is composed of multiple artificial mirror neurons (AMN) racing in the network. Each AMN has a similar structure programmed independently by the users and composed of an intention wheel, a motor core, and a sensory core racing at a specific velocity. The mathematics of the node’s formulation and the racing mechanism of multiple nodes in the network will be discussed, and the group decision process with fuzzy logic and the transformation of these conceptual methods into practical methods of simulation and in operations will be developed. Eventually, we will describe some possible future research directions in the fields of finance, education, and medicine, including the opportunity to design an intelligent learning agent with application in AGI. We believe that FNN has a promising potential to transform the way we can compute decision-making and lead to a new generation of AI chips for seamless human-machine interactions (HMI).

Keywords: neural computing, human machine interation, artificial general intelligence, decision processing

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Authors: Musthaya Patchanee

Abstract:

The aim of this research is to study potential factors relating to the decision of return migration of Myanmar migrant workers in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province by conducting a random sampling of 400 people aged between 15-59 who migrated from Myanmar. The information collected through interviews was analyzed to find a percentage and mean using the Stepwise Multiple Regression Analysis. The results have shown that 33.25% of Myanmar migrant workers want to return to their home country within the next 1-5 years, 46.25%, in 6-10 years and the rest, in over 10 years. The factors relating to such decision can be concluded that the scale of the decision of return migration has a positive relationship with a statistical significance at 0.05 with a conformity with friends and relatives (r=0.886), a relationship with family and community (r=0.782), possession of land in hometown (r=0.756) and educational level (r=0.699). However, the factor of property possession in Prachuap Khiri Khan is the only factor with a high negative relationship (r=0.-537). From the Stepwise Multiple Regression Analysis, the results have shown that the conformity with friends and relatives and educational level factors are influential to the decision of return migration of Myanmar migrant workers in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, which can predict the decision at 86.60% and the multiple regression equation from the analysis is Y= 6.744+1.198 conformity + 0.647 education.

Keywords: decision of return migration, factors of return migration, Myanmar migrant workers, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province

Procedia PDF Downloads 541