Search results for: critical alarms checklist

Authors: Moshmi Sangavarapu

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The US healthcare industry has undergone tremendous digital transformation in recent years, but critical care access to lower-income ethnicities is still in its nascency. This population has historically showcased substantial hesitation to seek any medical assistance. While the lack of sufficient financial resources plays a critical role, the existing cultural and knowledge barriers also contribute significantly to widening the access gap. It is imperative to break these barriers to ensure timely access to therapeutic procedures that can save important lives! Based on ongoing research, healthcare access barriers can be best addressed by tapping the untapped potential of caregiver communities first. They play a critical role in patients’ diagnoses, building healthcare knowledge and instilling confidence in required therapeutic procedures. Recent technological advancements have opened many avenues by developing smart ways of reaching the large caregiver community. A digitized go-to-market strategy featuring connected media coupled with smart IoT devices and geo-location targeting can be collectively leveraged to reach this key audience group. AI/ML algorithms can be thoroughly trained to identify relevant data signals from users' location and browsing behavior and determine useful marketing touchpoints. The web behavior can be further assimilated with natural language processing to identify contextually relevant interest topics and decipher potential caregivers on digital avenues to serve that brand message. In conclusion, grasping the true health access journey of any lower-income ethnic group is important to design beneficial touchpoints that can alleviate patients’ concerns and allow them to break their own access barriers and opt for timely and quality healthcare.

Keywords: healthcare access, market access, diversity barriers, patient journey

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Authors: Jessica Hemberg, Mikaela Miller

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Unreasonable workload and work-related stress can reduce nurse leaders’ job satisfaction and productivity and can increase absence and burnout. Nurse leaders’ workload in public healthcare settings is relatively unresearched. The aim of this study was to investigate nurse leaders’ perceptions of workload and task distribution with relation to leading work tasks in public healthcare. A qualitative explorative design was used. The data material consisted of texts from interviews with nurse leaders in public healthcare (N=8). The method was inspired by content analysis. The COREQ checklist was used. Informed consent was sought from the participants regarding study participation and the storage and handling of data for research purposes. Six main themes were found: Increased and unreasonable workload, Length of work experience as nurse leader affects perception of workload, Number of staff and staff characteristics affect perception of workload, Versatile and flexible task distribution, Working overtime as a way of managing high workload, and Insufficient time for leadership mission. The workload for nurse leaders in a public healthcare setting was perceived to be unreasonable. Common measures for managing high workload included working overtime, delegating work tasks and organizing more staff resources in the form of additional staff. How nurse leaders perceive their workload was linked to both the number of staff and staff characteristics. These should both be considered equally important when determining staff levels and measuring nurse leaders’ workload. Future research should focus on investigating workload and task distribution from nurses’ perspectives.

Keywords: nurse leaders, workload, task distribution, public healthcare, qualitative

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Authors: Rodrigo Guimarães Santos

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The quality of public transport services has been considered as a critical factor by their users and also by users of individual transport. Thus, this dissertation aims to adapt a model that assesses the quality of public transport and determines its level of service based on the views of its users. The methodology is widely used by marketers and allows measuring the quality of services by assessing the perceptions and expectations of users. The adapted SERVQUAL was tested with users of public transport service users and car in Brasília-DF, city of Brazil. This research involved 241 questionnaires answered by people living in the various administrative regions of Brasília-DF. The analysis of the determinants pointed out that the quality of the public transport service offered in the city is low and users of public transport and cars have a high degree of expectations for improvement in all tested determinants. This method enabled the identification of the most critical determinants and those needing strategic actions for continuous improvement of quality. Adapting the SERVQUAL for a public transport service was satisfactory and demonstrated applicability to internal and external services, including measuring the public transport services in other cities with the opinion of the users.

Keywords: transportation services, quality services, servqual scale and marketing services

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Authors: Sushil Kumar Solanki, Rachna Khare

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Universal Design is a concept of built environment creation, where all people are facilitated to the maximum extent possible without using any type of specialized design. However, accessible design is a design process in which the needs of people with disabilities are specifically considered. Building standards on accessibility contains scoping and technical requirements for accessibility to sites, facilities, building and elements by individual with disability. India is also following its prescriptive types of various building standards for the creation of physical environment for people with disabilities. These building standards are based on western models instead of research based standards to serve Indian needs. These standards lack contextual connect when reflects in its application in the urban and rural environment. This study focuses on critical and comparative study of various international building standards and codes, with existing Indian accessibility standards to understand problems and prospects of concept of Universal Design building standards for India. The result of this study is an analysis of existing state of Indian building standard pertaining to accessibility and future need of performance based Universal Design concept.

Keywords: accessibility, building standard, built-environment, universal design

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Authors: Cathryn Robinson, Bernard McKenna, David Rooney

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This paper argues that the application of values-based leadership increasingly challenges leaders in rules-based organisations, particularly in bureaucratic organisations such as the military, public service, police, and emergency services. Leaders are grappling to reconcile how to enact values-based leadership and decision-making when they are bound by rules, policies, and procedures. This interpretive study used a multi-faceted vignette (critical incident) as the basis of an interview with air force officers at three levels: executive, senior, and junior. In this way, practice is forced to intersect with discourse. The findings revealed a shared set of discourse themes (legal; rules; safety and risk; operational practice/theatre discourses), but also clear dialectical tensions. These tensions were evident in executive officers and senior leaders emphasizing rules and information themes, whereas junior officers emphasized decision making, collateral, and situation. These findings reveal discourse and practice incommensurability that could have grave implications in the conduct of war.

Keywords: critical incident, discourse analysis, rules-based, values-based

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Authors: Mumtaz Mooncey, Alexander Jolly, Megan Fisher, Kerry Robinson, Robert Lloyd, Dave Fielding

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Introduction: The integration of the WingFactors in-situ simulation programme has transformed the education landscape at the Whittington Health NHS Trust. To date, there have been a total of 90 simulations - 19 aimed at Paediatric trainees, including 2 Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS) scenarios. The opportunity for joint debriefs provided by clinical faculty and airline pilots, has created a new exciting avenue to explore human factors within psychiatry. Through the use of real clinical environments and primed actors; the benefits of high fidelity simulation, interdisciplinary and interprofessional learning has been highlighted. The use of in-situ simulation within Psychiatry is a newly emerging concept and its success here has been recognised by unanimously positive feedback from participants and acknowledgement through nomination for the Health Service Journal (HSJ) Award (Best Education Programme 2021). Methodology: The first CAMHS simulation featured a collapsed patient in the toilet with a ligature tied around her neck, accompanied by a distressed parent. This required participants to consider:; emergency physical management of the case, alongside helping to contain the mother and maintaining situational awareness when transferring the patient to an appropriate clinical area. The second simulation was based on a 17- year- old girl attempting to leave the ward after presenting with an overdose, posing potential risk to herself. The safe learning environment enabled participants to explore techniques to engage the young person and understand their concerns, and consider the involvement of other members of the multidisciplinary team. The scenarios were followed by an immediate ‘hot’ debrief, combining technical feedback with Human Factors feedback from uniformed airline pilots and clinicians. The importance of psychological safety was paramount, encouraging open and honest contributions from all participants. Key learning points were summarized into written documents and circulated. Findings: The in-situ simulations demonstrated the need for practical changes both in the Emergency Department and on the Paediatric ward. The presence of airline pilots provided a novel way to debrief on Human Factors. The following key themes were identified: -Team-briefing (‘Golden 5 minutes’) - Taking a few moments to establish experience, initial roles and strategies amongst the team can reduce the need for conversations in front of a distressed patient or anxious relative. -Use of checklists / guidelines - Principles associated with checklist usage (control of pace, rigor, team situational awareness), instead of reliance on accurate memory recall when under pressure. -Read-back - Immediate repetition of safety critical instructions (e.g. drug / dosage) to mitigate the risks associated with miscommunication. -Distraction management - Balancing the risk of losing a team member to manage a distressed relative, versus it impacting on the care of the young person. -Task allocation - The value of the implementation of ‘The 5A’s’ (Availability, Address, Allocate, Ask, Advise), for effective task allocation. Conclusion: 100% of participants have requested more simulation training. Involvement of airline pilots has led to a shift in hospital culture, bringing to the forefront the value of Human Factors focused training and multidisciplinary simulation. This has been of significant value in not only physical health, but also mental health simulation.

Keywords: human factors, in-situ simulation, inter-professional, multidisciplinary

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Authors: Reni Francis

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Learning has transcended the classroom boundaries to create a learner centric, interactive, and integrative teaching learning environment. This study analysed the impact of iLearn on the teaching, learning, and evaluation among 100 teacher trainees. The objectives were to cater to the different learning styles of the teacher trainees, to incorporate innovative teaching learning activities, to assist in peer tutoring, to implement different evaluation processes. i: Identifying the learning styles among the teacher trainees through VARK Learning style checklist was followed by planning the teaching-learning process to meet the learning styles of the teacher trainees. L: Leveraging innovations in teaching- learning by planning and creating modules incorporating innovative teaching learning and hence the concept based year plan was prepared. E: Engage learning through constructivism using different teaching methodology to engage the teacher trainees in the learning process through Workshop, Round Robin, Gallery walk, Co-Operative learning, Think-Pair-Share, EDMODO, Course Networking, Concept Map, Brainstorming Sessions, Video Clippings. A: Assessing the learning through an Open Book assignment, Closed book assignment, and Multiple Choice Questions and Seminar presentation. R: Remediation through peer tutoring through Mentor-mentee approach in the tutorial groups, Group work, Library Hours. N: Norming new standards. This was done in the form of extended remediation and tutorials to understand the need of the teacher trainee and support them for further achievements in learning through Face to face interaction, Supervised Study Circle, Mobile (Device) learning. The findings of the study revealed the positive impact of iLearn towards student achievement and enhanced social skills.

Keywords: academic achievement, innovative strategy, learning styles, social skills

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Authors: Bi Xiao Fang, Tan Bao Zhen

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Soft skills, core competencies, and generic competencies are exchangeable terminologies often used to represent a similar concept. In the Singapore context, such skills are currently being referred to as Critical Core Skills (CCS). In 2019, SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) reviewed the Generic Skills and Competencies (GSC) framework that was first introduced in 2016, culminating in the development of the Critical Core Skills (CCS) framework comprising 16 soft skills classified into three clusters. The CCS framework is part of the Skills Framework, and whose stated purpose is to create a common skills language for individuals, employers and training providers. It is also developed with the objectives of building deep skills for a lean workforce, enhance business competitiveness and support employment and employability. This further helps to facilitate skills recognition and support the design of training programs for skills and career development. According to SSG, every job role requires a set of technical skills and a set of Critical Core Skills to perform well at work, whereby technical skills refer to skills required to perform key tasks of the job. There has been an increasing emphasis on soft skills for the future of work. A recent study involving approximately 80 organizations across 28 sectors in Singapore revealed that more enterprises are beginning to recognize that soft skills support their employees’ performance and business competitiveness. Though CCS is of high importance for the development of the workforce’s employability, there is little attention paid to the CCS use and profiling across occupations. A better understanding of how CCS is distributed across the economy will thus significantly enhance SSG’s career guidance services as well as training providers’ services to graduates and workers and guide organizations in their hiring for soft skills. This CCS profiling study sought to understand how CCS is demanded in different occupations. To achieve its research objectives, this study adopted a quantitative method to measure CCS use across different occupations in the Singaporean workforce. Based on the CCS framework developed by SSG, the research team adopted a formative approach to developing the CCS profiling tool to measure the importance of and self-efficacy in the use of CCS among the Singaporean workforce. Drawing on the survey results from 2500 participants, this study managed to profile them into seven occupation groups based on the different patterns of importance and confidence levels of the use of CCS. Each occupation group is labeled according to the most salient and demanded CCS. In the meantime, the CCS in each occupation group, which may need some further strengthening, were also identified. The profiling of CCS use has significant implications for different stakeholders, e.g., employers could leverage the profiling results to hire the staff with the soft skills demanded by the job.

Keywords: employability, skills profiling, skills measurement, soft skills

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Authors: Tobias Schramm, Günther Prokop

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In Germany, the number of road fatalities has been falling since 2010 at a more moderate rate than before. At the same time, the average age of all registered passenger cars in Germany is rising continuously. Studies show that there is a correlation between the age and mileage of passenger cars and the degradation of their chassis components. Various studies show that degraded shock absorbers increase the braking distance of passenger cars and have a negative impact on driving stability. The exact effect of degraded vehicle shock absorbers on road safety is still the subject of research. A shock absorber examination as part of the periodic technical inspection is only mandatory in very few countries. In Germany, there is as yet no requirement for such a shock absorber examination. More comprehensive findings on the effect of degraded shock absorbers on the safety-critical driving dynamics of passenger cars can provide further arguments for the introduction of mandatory shock absorber testing as part of the periodic technical inspection. The specific effect chains of untripped rollover accidents are also still the subject of research. However, current research results show that the high proportion of sport utility vehicles in the vehicle field significantly increases the probability of untripped rollover accidents. The aim of this work is to estimate the effect of degraded twin-tube shock absorbers on the safety-critical tipping and rolling behaviour of passenger cars, which can lead to untripped rollover accidents. A characteristic curve-based five-mass full vehicle model and a semi-physical phenomenological shock absorber model were set up, parameterized and validated. The shock absorber model is able to reproduce the damping characteristics of vehicle twin-tube shock absorbers with oil and gas loss for various excitations. The full vehicle model was validated with steering wheel angle sinus sweep driving maneuvers. The model was then used to simulate steering wheel angle sine and fishhook maneuvers, which investigate the safety-critical tipping and rolling behavior of passenger cars. The simulations were carried out in a realistic parameter space in order to demonstrate the effect of various vehicle characteristics on the effect of degraded shock absorbers. As a result, it was shown that degraded shock absorbers have a negative effect on the tipping and rolling behavior of all passenger cars. Shock absorber degradation leads to a significant increase in the observed roll angles, particularly in the range of the roll natural frequency. This superelevation has a negative effect on the wheel load distribution during the driving maneuvers investigated. In particular, the height of the vehicle's center of gravity and the stabilizer stiffness of the vehicles has a major influence on the effect of degraded shock absorbers on the overturning and rolling behaviour of passenger cars.

Keywords: numerical simulation, safety-critical driving dynamics, suspension degradation, tipping and rolling behavior of passenger cars, vehicle shock absorber

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Authors: Nilesh Pancholi, Mangal Bhatt

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This paper highlights comparative results of traditional FMECA and multi-factor decision-making approach based on “Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS)” for aluminum wire rolling mill plant. The suggested study is carried out to overcome the limitations of FMECA by assigning the scores against each failure modes in crisp values to evaluate the criticalities of the failure modes without uncertainty. The primary findings of the paper are that sudden impact on the rolls seems to be most critical failure cause and high contact stresses due to rolling & sliding action of mesh to be least critical failure cause. It is suggested to modify the current control practices with proper maintenance strategy based on achieved maintainability criticality index (MCI). The outcome of the study will be helpful in deriving optimized maintenance plan to maximize the performance of continuous process industry.

Keywords: reliability, maintenance, FMECA, TOPSIS, process industry

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Authors: Niesha Douglas, Lisa Merriweather, Cathy Howell, Anna Sancyzk

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Many studies explain that mentoring in an academic setting contributes to student success and retention. However, in the United States, where the population is diverse and filled with multiple ethnic groups, mentoring has become too generalized and fails to offer a unique individualized experience for underrepresented minorities (URM). The purpose of this paper is to describe the findings of an ongoing qualitative study that investigates the relationships among STEM doctoral faculty and URM students. Several faculty from three different predominately white institutions (PWI) in the Southeastern region of the United States were interviewed and engaged in open dialogue about their experiences with mentoring. The data collection included semi-structured interviews that took place in the classroom (pre-COVID-19) as well as virtually. The theoretical framework draws on the idea of Critical Race Theory and how cultural, social constructs interfere with effective mentoring for URM Doctoral STEM students. The findings in this study suggest that though the faculty and several years of experience mentoring students, there were some gaps in understanding the needs of URM students and how mentoring is a unique relationship that should be specialized for each student and should not fit into one mold.

Keywords: culture, critical race theory, mentoring, STEM

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Authors: Zafar Ali

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The aim of this research is to highlight problems that are faced by women at the hands of men. Males in Pakistani society have power and use this power for the exploitation of women. Further, the purpose of the study is to make societies like Pakistan and especially the young generation, aware and enable them to resist such issues, and the role of discourse in this regard is to minimize its political and social repercussions. The study finds out different discursive techniques and manipulative language used in the short story to construct gender identity. The study also investigates socio-economic roles in the construction of gender identity. This study has been completed with the help of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) principles. CDA principles have been applied to the text of the selected short story Saleema from Daniyal Mueenuddin’s collection In Other Rooms, Other Wonders. Related passages, structures, expressions, and text are analyzed from the point of view of CDA, especially Norman Fairclough’s CDA approach. It was found from the analysis that women have no identity of their own in patriarchal societies like Pakistan. Further, it was found women are mistreated, and they have a very limited and defined role in Pakistan. They cannot go beyond the limit defined to them by men.

Keywords: gender issues, resourceful groups, CDA, exploitation

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Authors: Yin Rui, Yin Ming, Yang Wang

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This paper presents empirical evidence validating the Lorentz transformation of rotational frames for both inside critical cylinder (ICC) and outside critical cylinder (OCC) configurations, as well as the corresponding transformations of associated physical quantities. These transformations have been applied to derive the electromagnetic field parameters of a spinning charged particle. In our analysis of a two-proton system, we have not only uncovered strong interactions that are 238 times stronger than the electrostatic force but also elucidated the mechanisms underlying its stability and self-sustainable nature. This strong interaction manifests exclusively at distances on the order of 〖10〗^(-15)meters, consistent with the known range of the strong nuclear force. Furthermore, we have extended our analysis to multi-proton systems, specifically examining configurations containing four to seven protons. For these more complex systems, we have derived the strong interaction forces, providing insights into the nuclear dynamics of larger atomic nuclei. Our findings offer a more comprehensive understanding of the nature of strong interactions among protons. This work may have significant implications for advancing our knowledge of nuclear structure and stability and could potentially bridge the gap between electromagnetic and strong nuclear forces within a unified theoretical framework.

Keywords: special relativity, Lorentz transformation, strong interactions, particle spin

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Authors: Sami Houry

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Complex systems exhibit universal characteristics as they near a tipping point. Among them are common generic early warning signals which precede critical transitions. These signals include: critical slowing down in which the rate of recovery from perturbations decreases over time; an increase in the variance of the state variable; an increase in the skewness of the state variable; an increase in the autocorrelations of the state variable; flickering between different states; and an increase in spatial correlations over time. The presence of the signals has management implications, as the identification of the signals near the tipping point could allow management to identify intervention points. Despite the applications of the generic early warning signals in various scientific fields, such as fisheries, ecology and finance, a review of literature did not identify any applications that address the program student withdrawal problem at the undergraduate distance universities. This area could benefit from the application of generic early warning signals as the program withdrawal rate amongst distance students is higher than the program withdrawal rate at face-to-face conventional universities. This research specifically assessed the generic early warning signals through an intensive case study of undergraduate program student withdrawal at a Canadian distance university. The university is non-cohort based due to its system of continuous course enrollment where students can enroll in a course at the beginning of every month. The assessment of the signals was achieved through the comparison of the incidences of generic early warning signals among students who withdrew or simply became inactive in their undergraduate program of study, the true positives, to the incidences of the generic early warning signals among graduates, the false positives. This was achieved through significance testing. Research findings showed support for the signal pertaining to the rise in flickering which is represented in the increase in the student’s non-pass rates prior to withdrawing from a program; moderate support for the signals of critical slowing down as reflected in the increase in the time a student spends in a course; and moderate support for the signals on increase in autocorrelation and increase in variance in the grade variable. The findings did not support the signal on the increase in skewness of the grade variable. The research also proposes a new signal based on the fractal-like characteristic of student behavior. The research also sought to extend knowledge by investigating whether the emergence of a program withdrawal status is self-similar or fractal-like at multiple levels of observation, specifically the program level and the course level. In other words, whether the act of withdrawal at the program level is also present at the course level. The findings moderately supported self-similarity as a potential signal. Overall, the assessment of the signals suggests that the signals, with the exception with the increase of skewness, could be utilized as a predictive management tool and potentially add one more tool, the fractal-like characteristic of withdrawal, as an additional signal in addressing the student program withdrawal problem.

Keywords: critical transitions, fractals, generic early warning signals, program student withdrawal

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Authors: Muhammad Hamza

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This study attempts to analyze the social media reports regarding Covid-19 that impacted the psyche of Pakistanis. This Study is delimited to hashtags from Tweets on a social media platform. During Covid-19, it has been observed that it affected the psychological conditions of Pakistanis. With the application of the three-dimensional model presented by Fairclough, together with a data analytic software “FireAnt” i.e., social media and data analysis toolkit, which is used to filter, identify, report and export data from social media accurately. A detailed and explicit exploration of the various hashtags by users from different fields was conducted. This study conducted a quantitative as well as qualitative methods of analysis. The study examined the perspectives of the Pakistanis behind the use of various hashtags with the lenses of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). While conducting this research, CDA was helpful to reveal the connection between the psyche of the people and the Covid-19 pandemic. It was found that how different Pakistanis used social media and how Covid-19 impacted their psyche. After collecting and analyzing the hashtags from twitter it was concluded that majority of people received negative impact from social media reports, while, some people used their hashtags positively and were found positive during Covid-19, and some people were found neutral.

Keywords: Covid, Covid-19, psyche, Covid Pakistan

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Authors: Ramu Rawat

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Background: This paper is an effort to analyze the role of education and occupation as critical determinants in using smokeless tobacco among male adults in India and its selected states. Methodology: Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) India 2009-10 data have been used for this study. Bivariate and Multivariate (Cox proportion hazards model) analyses are carried out to measure the impact of education and occupation on use of smokeless tobacco among male adults in India. Results and Conclusion: The study evidently suggests that, majority of Indian male adults are using Khaini and Gutkha (local names for smokeless tobacco). The analysis also shows that education and occupation are two important critical predictors of use of smokeless tobacco. The males at younger age with no or little education from rural area use smokeless tobacco more than their counterpart group from urban areas. This distinction can be attributable to their lack of knowledge or ignorance about the consequences of tobacco consumption. Place of residence played significant role for declining use of smokeless tobacco along with the effect of society. Society awareness about harmful effects of smokeless tobacco with local level government may play important role for controlling the use of any type of tobacco or tobacco products in India.

Keywords: smokeless tobacco, male, Khaini, education, occupation

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Authors: Duangkamol Thitivesa

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This paper explores the use of project work in a content-based instruction in a Rajabhat University, Thailand. The use of project is to promote kinds of learning expected of student teachers as stated by Thailand Quality Framework: TQF. The kinds of learning are grouped into five domains: Ethical and moral development, knowledge, cognitive skill, interpersonal skills and responsibility, and analytical and communication skills. The content taught in class is used to lead the student teachers to relate their previously-acquired linguistic knowledge to meaningful realizations of the language system in passages of immediate relevance to their professional interests, teaching methods in particular. Two research questions are formulate to guide this study: 1) To what degree are the five domains of learning expected of student teachers after the use of project in a content class?, and 2) What is the academic achievement of the students’ writing skills, as part of the learning domains stated by TQF, against the 70% attainment target after the use of project to enhance the skill? The sample of the study comprised of 38 fourth-year English major students. The data was collected by means of a summative achievement test, student writing works, an observation checklist, and project diary. The scores in the summative achievement test were analyzed by mean score, standard deviation, and t-test. Project diary serves as students’ record of the language acquired during the project. List of structures and vocabulary noted in the diary has shown students’ ability to attend to, recognize, and focus on meaningful patterns of language forms.

Keywords: Thailand quality framework, project Work, writing skill, summative

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Authors: Samuel Quashie

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This study is aimed at demonstrating the applicability and contribution of ‘Conceptual and Funnelling Methods’ during the literature review stages, for PhD in Construction Management, which focused on the ‘Development of an Integrated Management for Post-Disaster Reconstruction’, the viability of this approach using conceptual and funnel methods are demonstrated. The ‘conceptual review method’ builds upon the strengths of relevant material, detailing major points and areas covered and evaluates lesser relevant literature. Publications are reviewed in an integrated style, challenging the scientific theory and seeking to develop new insights. The funnel method grouped reviews by commonality, regardless of the topic or thesis statement. It shows that the literature review is acquired using different kinds of information to increase the variety and diversity of the investigation. Results demonstrated conceptual and funnel methods ability to reviewed and appraised the relevant literature. It puts them into an integrated style, allows an evaluation of credentials, originality, theory base, context and significance of the quality work to emerge. Objectives of the review are met and gaps in knowledge are identified and direct further studies to answer the research questions.

Keywords: Ph.D, construction management, critical literature review, conceptual and funnel methods

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Authors: Donald B. Enu, Clement O. Ukpor, Abigail E. Okon

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Unreliable scoring of students’ performance by lecturers short-chains students’ assessment in terms of underequipping the school authority with facts as intended by society through the curriculum hence, the learners, the school and the society are cheated because the usefulness of testing is defeated. This study, therefore, examined lecturers’ scoring objectivity of essay items in the Department of Social Science Education, University of Calabar, Nigeria. Specifically, it assessed lecturers’ perception of the relevance of scoring rubrics and its level of application. Data were collected from all the 36 lecturers in the Department (28 members and 8 non-members adjourned to the department), through a 20-item questionnaire and checklist instruments. A case-study design was adopted. Descriptive statistics of frequency counts, weighted means, standard deviations, and percentages were used to analyze data gathered. A mean score of 2.5 and or 60 percent and above formed the acceptance or significant level in decision taking. It was found that lecturers perceived the use of scoring rubrics as a relevant practice to ensure fairness and reliable treatment of examiners scripts particularly in marking essay items and that there is a moderately high level of adherence to the application of scoring rubrics. It was also observed that some criteria necessary for the scoring objectivity of essay items were not fully put in place in the department. It was recommended strongly that students’ identities be hidden while marking and that pre-determined marking scheme should be prepared centrally and strictly adhered to during marking and recording of scores. Conference marking should be enforced in the department.

Keywords: essay items, objective scoring, scorers reliability, scoring rubrics

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Authors: Nan-Ting Yu, Boksun Kim, Long-Yuan Li

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The cold-formed steel beams with web holes are widely used as the load-carrying members in structural engineering. The perforations can release the space of the building and let the pipes go through. However, the perforated cold-formed steel (PCFS) beams may fail by distortional buckling more easily than beams with plain web; this is because the rotational stiffness from the web decreases. It is well known that the distortional buckling can be described as the buckling of the compressed flange-lip system. In fact, near the ultimate failure, the flange/web corner would move laterally, which indicates the bending of the web should be taken account. The purpose of this study is to give a specific solution for the critical stress of flange/web distortional buckling of PCFS beams. The new model is deduced based on classical energy method, and the deflection of the web is represented by the shape function of the plane beam element. The finite element analyses have been performed to validate the accuracy of the proposed model. The comparison of the critical stress calculated from Hancock's model, FEA, and present model, shows that the present model can provide a splendid prediction for the flange/web distortional buckling of PCFS beams.

Keywords: cold-formed steel, beams, perforations, flange-web distortional buckling, finite element analysis

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Authors: Ru-Yu Lien, Shih-Hsin Hung, Shu-Fen Lu, Shu-I Chin, Wen-Ju Yang, Wan Ming-Shang, Chien-Ying Wang

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Background: Upon recovery from critical condition, patients are normally transferred from the intensive care units (ICUs) to the general wards. However, transferring patients to a new environment causes stressful experiences for both patients and their families. Therefore, there is a necessity to communicate with the patients and their families to reduce psychological stress and unplanned return. Methods: This study was performed in the general ICUs from January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2021, in Taipei Veteran General Hospital. The patients who were evaluated by doctors and liaison nurses transferred to the general wards were selected as the research objects and ranked by the Critical Care Transition Program (CCTP). The plan was applied to 40 patients in a study group and usual care support for a control group of 40 patients. The psychological condition of patients was evaluated by a migration stress scale and a hospital anxiety and depression scale. In addition, the rate of return to ICU was also measured. Results: A total of 63 patients out of 80 (78.8%) experienced moderate to severe degrees of anxiety, and 42 patients (52.6%) experienced moderate to severe degrees of depression before being transferred. The difference between anxiety and depression changed more after the transfer; moreover, when a transition program was applied, it was lower than without a transition program. The return to ICU rate in the study group was lower than in the usual transition group, with an adjusted odds ratio of 0.21 (95% confidence interval: 0.05-0.888, P=0.034). Conclusion: Our study found that the transfer program could reduce the anxiety and depression of patients and the associated stress on their families during the transition from ICU. Before being transferred out of ICU, the healthcare providers need to assess the needs of patients to set the goals of the care plan and perform patient-centered decision-making with multidisciplinary support.

Keywords: ICU, critical care transition program, healthcare, transition program

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Authors: Phutthiwat Waiyawuththanapoom, Pimploi Tirastittam, Manop Tirastittam

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Thailand is the agriculture country which mainly exports the agriculture product to the other countries in so many ways which are fresh vegetable, chilled vegetable or frozen vegetable. The gross export for Thailand’s vegetable is 30-40 billion baht per year, and the growth rate is about 15-20 percent per year. Ginger is one of the main vegetable product that Thailand export to Japan because Thailand’s Ginger has a good quality and be able to supply Japan’s demand with a reasonable price. This research paper is aimed to study the factors which affect the efficiency of the supply chain process of Thailand’s ginger to Japan. There are 5 factors which related to the exporting Thailand’s ginger to Japan which are quality, price, equipment and supply standard, custom process and distribution pattern. The result of the research showed that the factor which reached the 'very good' significant level is quality of Thailand’s ginger with the score of 4.86. The other 5 factors are in the 'good' significant level. So the most important factor for Thai ginger farmer to concern is the quality of the product.

Keywords: critical success factor, export, ginger, supply chain

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Authors: Asif Mahmood, Yousef Alzeghayer

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The size effects of a precursor Y2BaCuO5 (Y211) powder on the microstructure and critical current density (Jc) of liquid infiltration growth (LIG)-processed YBa2Cu3O7-y (Y123) bulk superconductors were investigated in terms of milling time (t). YBCO bulk samples having high Jc values have been selected for the flywheel energy storage system. Y211 powders were attrition-milled for 0-10 h in 2 h increments at a fixed rotation speed of 400 RPM. Y211 pre-forms were made by pelletizing the milled Y211 powders followed by subsequent sintering, after which an LIG process with top seeding was applied to the Y211/Ba3Cu5O8 (Y035) pre-forms. Spherical pores were observed in all LIG-processed Y123 samples, and the pore density gradually decreased as t increased from 0 h to 8 h. In addition to the reduced pore density, the Y211 particle size in the final Y123 products also decreased with increasing t. As t increased further to 10 h, unexpected Y211 coarsening and large pore evolutions were observed. The magnetic susceptibility-temperature curves showed that the onset superconducting transition temperature (Tc, onset) of all samples was the same (91.5 K), but the transition width became greater as t increased. The Jc of the Y123 bulk superconductors fabricated in this study was observed to correlate well with t of the Y211 precursor powder. The maximum Jc of 1.0×105 A cm-2 (at 77 K, 0 T) was achieved at t = 8 h, which is attributed to the reduction in pore density and Y211 particle size. The prolonged milling time of t = 10 h decreased the Jc of the LIG-processed Y123 superconductor owing to the evolution of large pores and exaggerated Y211 growth. YBCO bulk samples having high Jc (samples prepared using 8 h milled powders) have been used for the energy storage system in flywheel energy storage system.

Keywords: critical current, bulk superconductor, liquid infiltration, bioinformatics

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Authors: Richard Grünwald, Wenling Wang, Yan Feng

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The presented paper explores the changing dynamics of regional water security in the Mekong River Basin and examines the contemporary water-related challenges from a critical hydropolitical perspective. By drawing on the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation and Conflict Database (LMCCD) recording more than 3000 water-related events within the basin in the last 30 years, we identified several trends changing the dynamics of the regional water security in the Mekong River Basin. Firstly, there is growing politicization of water that is no longer interpreted as abundant. While some scientists blame the rapid basin development, particularly in upstream countries, other researchers consider climate change and cumulative environmental impacts of various water projects as the main culprit for changing the water flow. Secondly, there is an increasing securitization of large-scale hydropower dams with questionable outcomes. Despite hydropower dams raise many controversies, many riparian states push the development at all cost. Such water security dilemma can be especially traced to Laos and Cambodia, which highly invest in the hydropower sector even at the expense of the local environment and good relations with neighbouring countries situated lower on the river. Thirdly, there is a lack of accountable transboundary water governance that will effectively face a looming water crisis. To date, most of the existing cooperation mechanisms are undermined by the geopolitical interests of foreign donors and increasing mistrust to scientific approaches dealing with water insecurity. Our findings are beneficial for the policy-makers and other water experts who want to grasp the broader hydropolitical context in the Mekong River Basin and better understand the new water security threats, including misinterpretation of the hydrological data and legitimization of the pro-development narratives.

Keywords: critical hydropolitics, mekong river, politicization of science, water governance, water security

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Authors: Valerii Dashuk

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The usage of the confidence intervals in economics and econometrics is widespread. To be able to investigate a random variable more thoroughly, joint tests are applied. One of such examples is joint mean-variance test. A new approach for testing such hypotheses and constructing confidence sets is introduced. Exploring both the value of the random variable and its deviation with the help of this technique allows checking simultaneously the shift and the probability of that shift (i.e., portfolio risks). Another application is based on the normal distribution, which is fully defined by mean and variance, therefore could be tested using the introduced approach. This method is based on the difference of probability density functions. The starting point is two sets of normal distribution parameters that should be compared (whether they may be considered as identical with given significance level). Then the absolute difference in probabilities at each 'point' of the domain of these distributions is calculated. This measure is transformed to a function of cumulative distribution functions and compared to the critical values. Critical values table was designed from the simulations. The approach was compared with the other techniques for the univariate case. It differs qualitatively and quantitatively in easiness of implementation, computation speed, accuracy of the critical region (theoretical vs. real significance level). Stable results when working with outliers and non-normal distributions, as well as scaling possibilities, are also strong sides of the method. The main advantage of this approach is the possibility to extend it to infinite-dimension case, which was not possible in the most of the previous works. At the moment expansion to 2-dimensional state is done and it allows to test jointly up to 5 parameters. Therefore the derived technique is equivalent to classic tests in standard situations but gives more efficient alternatives in nonstandard problems and on big amounts of data.

Keywords: confidence set, cumulative distribution function, hypotheses testing, normal distribution, probability density function

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Authors: Louis Hickman

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Stakeholder theory is a powerful conception of the firm based on the notion that a primary focus on shareholders is inadequate and, in fact, detrimental to the long-term health of the firm. As such it represents a departure from prevalent business school teachings with their focus on accounting and cost controls. Herein, it is argued that stakeholder theory can be better conceptualized as a critical theory, or one which represents a fundamental change in business behavior and can transform the behavior of businesses if accepted. By arguing that financial interests underdetermine the success of the firm, stakeholder theory further democratizes business by endorsing an increased awareness of the importance of non-shareholder stakeholders. Stakeholder theory requires new, non-financial, measures of success that provide a new consciousness for management and businesses when conceiving their actions and place in society. Thereby, stakeholder theory can show individuals through self-reflection that the capitalist impulses to generate wealth cannot act as primary drivers of business behavior, but rather, that we would choose to support interests outside ourselves if we made the decision in free discussion. This is due to the false consciousness embedded in our capitalism that the firm’s finances are the foremost concern of modern organizations at the expense of other goals. A focus on non-shareholder stakeholders in addition to shareholders generates greater benefits for society by improving the state of customers, employees, suppliers, the community, and shareholders alike. These positive effects generate further positive gains in well-being for stakeholders and translate into increased health for the future firm. Additionally, shareholders are the only stakeholder group that does not provide long-term firm value since there are not always communities with qualified employees, suppliers capable of providing the quality of product needed, or persons with purchasing power for all conceivable products. Therefore, the firm’s long-term health is benefited most greatly by improving the greatest possible parts of the society in which it inhabits, rather than solely the shareholder.

Keywords: capitalism, critical theory, self-reflection, stakeholder theory

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Authors: Racheli Magnezi, Inbal Gazit, Michal Rassin, Joseph Barr, Orna Tal

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An effective process for transmitting patient critical information is essential for patient safety and for improving communication among healthcare staff. Previous studies have discussed handover tools such as SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) or SOFI (Short Observational Framework for Inspection). Yet, these formats lack flexibility, and require special training. In addition, nurses and physicians have different procedures for handing over information. The objectives of this study were to establish a universal, structured tool for handover, for both physicians and nurses, based on parameters that were defined as ‘important’ and ‘appropriate’ by the medical team, and to implement this tool in various hospital departments, with flexibility for each ward. A questionnaire, based on established procedures and on the literature, was developed to assess attitudes towards the most important information for effective handover between shifts (Cronbach's alpha 0.78). It was distributed to 150 senior physicians and nurses in 62 departments. Among senior medical staff, 12 physicians and 66 nurses responded to the questionnaire (52% response rate). Based on the responses, a handover form suitable for all hospital departments was designed and implemented. Important information for all staff included: Patient demographics (full name and age); Health information (diagnosis or patient complaint, changes in hemodynamic status, new medical treatment or equipment required); and Social Information (suspicion of violence, mental or behavioral changes, and guardianship). Additional information relevant to each unit included treatment provided, laboratory or imaging required, and change in scheduled surgery in surgical departments. ICU required information on background illnesses, Pediatrics required information on diet and food provided and Obstetrics required the number of days after cesarean section. Based on the model described, a flexible tool was developed that enables handover of both common and unique information. In addition, it includes general logistic information that must be transmitted to the next shift, such as planned disruptions in service or operations, staff training, etc. Development of a simple, clear, comprehensive, universal, yet flexible tool designed for all medical staff for transmitting critical information between shifts was challenging. Physicians and nurses found it useful and it was widely implemented. Ongoing research is needed to examine the efficiency of this tool, and whether the enthusiasm that accompanied its initial use is maintained.

Keywords: handover, nurses, hospital, critical information

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Authors: Saba Shams Bidhendi, Steven Goh, Andrew Wandel

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The implementation of lean manufacturing initiatives has produced significant impacts in improving operational performance and reducing manufacturing wastes in the production process. However, selecting an appropriate set of lean strategies is critical to avoid misapplication of the lean manufacturing techniques and consequential increase in non-value-adding activities. To the author’s best knowledge, there is currently no methodology to select lean strategies that considers their impacts on manufacturing wastes and performance metrics simultaneously. In this research, a multi-objective methodology is proposed that suggests an appropriate set of lean initiatives based on their impacts on performance metrics and manufacturing wastes and within manufacturers’ resource limitation. The proposed methodology in this research suggests the best set of lean initiatives for implementation that have highest impacts on identified critical performance metrics and manufacturing wastes. Therefore, manufacturers can assure that implementing suggested lean tools improves their production performance and reduces manufacturing wastes at the same time. A case study was conducted to show the effectiveness and validate the proposed model and methodologies.

Keywords: lean manufacturing, lean strategies, manufacturing wastes, manufacturing performance, optimisation, decision making

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Authors: B. S. Abdelwahed, B. B. Belkassem

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Beam-column joints are a critical part in reinforced concrete RC frames designed for inelastic response to several external loads. Investigating the behaviour of the exterior RC beam-column joints has attracted many researchers in the past decades due to its critical influence on the overall behaviour of RC moment-resisting frames subjected to lateral loads. One of the most critical zones in moment-resistant frames is the knee joints because of restraints associated with providing limited anchorage length to the beam and column longitudinal reinforcement in it and consequentially causes a lot of damage in such building frames. Previous numerical simulations focussed mainly on the exterior and interior joints, for knee joint further work is still needed to investigate its behaviour and discuss its affecting parameters. Structural response for an RC knee beam-column joint is performed in this study using LS-DYNA. Three-dimensional finite element (FE) models of an RC knee beam-column joint are described and verified with experimental results available in literature; this is followed by a parametric study to investigate the influence of the concrete compressive strength, the presence of lateral beams and increasing beam reinforcement ratio. It is shown that the concrete compressive strength has a significant effect on shear capacity, load-deflection characteristics and failure modes of an RC knee beam-column joints but to a certain limit, the presence of lateral beams increased the joint confinement and reduced the rate of concrete degradation in the joint after reaching ultimate joint capacity, added to that an increase in the maximum load resistance. Increasing beam reinforcement ratio is found to improve the flexural resistance of the anchored beam bars and increase the joint maximum load resistance.

Keywords: beam reinforcement ratio, joint confinement, numerical simulation, reinforced concrete beam-column joints, structural performance

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Authors: Cassandra Hansen, Paul Doherty, Chris Ferner, German Whitley, Holly Torpey

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Wildfire is a natural and inevitable occurrence, yet changing climatic conditions have increased the severity, frequency, and risk to human populations in the wildland/urban interface (WUI) of the Western United States. Rapid dissemination of accurate wildfire information is critical to both the Incident Management Team (IMT) and the affected community. With the advent of increasingly sophisticated information systems, GIS can now be used as a web platform for sharing geographic information in new and innovative ways, such as virtual story map applications. Crowdsourced information can be extraordinarily useful when coupled with authoritative information. Information abounds in the form of social media, emergency alerts, radio, and news outlets, yet many of these resources lack a spatial component when first distributed. In this study, we describe how twenty-eight volunteer GIS professionals across nine Geographic Area Coordination Centers (GACC) sourced, curated, and distributed Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) from authoritative social media accounts focused on disseminating information about wildfires and public safety. The combination of fire progression maps with VGI incident information helps answer three critical questions about an incident, such as: where the first started. How and why the fire behaved in an extreme manner and how we can learn from the fire incident's story to respond and prepare for future fires in this area. By adding a spatial component to that shared information, this team has been able to visualize shared information about wildfire starts in an interactive map that answers three critical questions in a more intuitive way. Additionally, long-term social and technical impacts on communities are examined in relation to situational awareness of the disaster through map layers and agency links, the number of views in a particular region of a disaster, community involvement and sharing of this critical resource. Combined with a GIS platform and disaster VGI applications, this workflow and information become invaluable to communities within the WUI and bring spatial awareness for disaster preparedness, response, mitigation, and recovery. This study highlights progression maps as the ultimate storytelling mechanism through incident case studies and demonstrates the impact of VGI and sophisticated applied cartographic methodology make this an indispensable resource for authoritative information sharing.

Keywords: storytelling, wildfire progression maps, volunteered geographic information, spatial and temporal

Procedia PDF Downloads 176