Search results for: nursing home
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 2086

Search results for: nursing home

706 Nurse Practitioner Led Pediatric Primary Care Clinic in a Tertiary Care Setting: Improving Access and Health Outcomes

Authors: Minna K. Miller, Chantel. E. Canessa, Suzanna V. McRae, Susan Shumay, Alissa Collingridge

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Primary care provides the first point of contact and access to health care services. For the pediatric population, the goal is to help healthy children stay healthy and to help those that are sick get better. Primary care facilitates regular well baby/child visits; health promotion and disease prevention; investigation, diagnosis and management of acute and chronic illnesses; health education; both consultation and collaboration with, and referral to other health care professionals. There is a protective association between regular well-child visit care and preventable hospitalization. Further, low adherence to well-child care and poor continuity of care are independently associated with increased risk of hospitalization. With a declining number of family physicians caring for children, and only a portion of pediatricians providing primary care services, it is becoming increasingly difficult for children and their families to access primary care. Nurse practitioners are in a unique position to improve access to primary care and improve health outcomes for children. Limited literature is available on the nurse practitioner role in primary care pediatrics. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development, implementation and evaluation of a Nurse Practitioner-led pediatric primary care clinic in a tertiary care setting. Utilizing the participatory, evidence-based, patient-focused process for advanced practice nursing (PEPPA framework), this paper highlights the results of the initial needs assessment/gap analysis, the new service delivery model, populations served, and outcome measures.

Keywords: access, health outcomes, nurse practitioner, pediatric primary care, PEPPA framework

Procedia PDF Downloads 494
705 Brazil's Olympian Tragedy: Searching for Citizenship in Vila Autodromo

Authors: Rachel K. Cremona

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Forty years ago, Vila Autodromo was a small fishing settlement in southwest Rio de Janeiro. By 2012, Vila Autodromo had established itself into a working class neighborhood – certainly not a slum, but nonetheless designated as a ‘favela’ as a consequence of its history as an illegal settlement that was thus never provided with public services. Vila Autodromo sits on a large lagoon, adjacent to the Olympic Park being constructed for the 2016 Olympic Games to be held in Rio, and looks out over the expensive high rise condominiums that have sprouted across the water. In 2009, when Rio submitted their bid for the Olympic games, there were approximately 900 families that called Vila Autodromo home, and the original plans for the games clearly show their homes remaining in place. Today, only a handful of these homes remain. This paper will utilize the case study of Vila Autodromo to examine the broader issue of Favelas in 21st century Rio de Janeiro. While race and poverty have become synonymous with Brazil’s inegalitarian social order – and personified by the thousands of favelas scattered in and around large cities like Rio and Sao Paulo – much less attention has been given to the political status of the nation’s invisible majority. In particular, this research will examine the question of citizenship and argue that the most fundamental problem of inequality in Brazil is not simply a product of history, race and social order, but more specifically a problem of ‘personhood’. The political marginalization of Brazil’s poor does not simply reinforce their social marginalization, it institutionalizes it in a way that makes it almost impossible to escape. The story of Vila Autodromo captures this problem in a way that not only illustrates the clear (though ambiguous) role of the state in the perpetuation of Brazil’s underclass, but also the human resilience that it has fostered.

Keywords: citizenship, poverty, displacement, favela

Procedia PDF Downloads 436
704 Examining the Predicting Effect of Mindfulness on Psychological Well-Being among Undergraduate Students

Authors: Piyanee Klainin-Yobas, Debbie Ramirez, Zenaida Fernandez, Jenneth Sarmiento, Wareerat Thanoi, Jeanette Ignacio, Ying Lau

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In many countries, university students experience various stressors that may negatively affect their psychological well-being (PWB). Hence, they are at risk for physical and mental problems. This research aimed to examine the predicting effects of mindfulness, self-efficacy, and social support on psychological well-being among undergraduate students. A non-experimental research was conducted at a university in the Philippines. All students enrolled in undergraduate programs were eligible for this study unless they had chronic medical or mental health problems. Power analysis was used to calculate an adequate sample size and a convenience sampling of 630 was recruited. Data were collected through online self-reported questionnaires from year 2013 to 2015. All self-reported scales used in this study had sound psychometric properties. Descriptive statistics, correlational analyses, and structural equation modeling were performed to analyze the research data. Results showed that the participants were mostly Filipino, female, Christian, and in Schools of Nursing. Mindfulness, self-efficacy, support from family, support from friends, and support from significant others were significant predictors of psychological well-being. Mindfulness was the strongest predictor of positive psychological well-being whereas self-efficacy was the strongest predictor of negative psychological well-being. In conclusion, findings from this study add knowledge to the existing literature regarding the predictors of psychological well-being. Psychosocial interventions, with the focus on strengthening mindfulness and self-efficacy, could be delivered to undergraduate students to help them enhance psychological well-being. More studies can be undertaken to test the interventions and multi-centered research can be conducted to enhance generalizability of research findings.

Keywords: mindfulness, self-efficacy, social support, psychological wellbeing

Procedia PDF Downloads 426
703 Gender and Work-Family Conflict Gaps in Hong Kong: The Impact of Family-Friendly Policies

Authors: Lina Vyas

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Gender gap, unfortunately, is still prevalent in the workplace around the world. In most countries, women are less likely than men to participate in the workplace. They earn considerably less than men for doing the same work and are generally expected to prioritize family obligations over work responsibilities. Women often face more conflicts while balancing the increasingly normalized roles of both worker and mother. True gender equality in the workplace is still a long way off. In Hong Kong, no less is this true. Despite the fact that female students are outnumbered by males at universities, only 55% of women are active participants in the labour market, and for those in the workforce, the gender pay gap is 22%. This structural inequality also exacerbates the issues of confronting biases at work for choosing to be employed as a mother, as well as reinforces the societal expectation of women to be the primary caregiver at home. These pressures are likely to add up for women and contribute to increased levels of work-life conflict, which may be a further barrier for the inclusion of women into the workplace. Family-friendly policies have long been thought to be an alleviator of work-life conflict through helping employees balance the demands in both work and family. Particularly, for women, this could be a facilitator of their integration into the workplace. However, little research has looked at how family-friendly policies may also have a gender differential in effect, as opposed to traditional notions of having universal efficacy. This study investigates both how and how much the gender dimension impacts work-family conflict. In addition to disentangling the reasons for gender gaps existing in work-life conflict for women, this study highlights what can be done at an organizational level to alleviate these conflicts. Most importantly, the policies recommendations derived from this study serve as an avenue for more active participation for women in the workplace and can be considered as a pathway for promoting greater gender egalitarianism and fairness in a traditionally gender-segregated society.

Keywords: family-friendly policies, Hong Kong, work-family conflict, workplace

Procedia PDF Downloads 178
702 Adult Health Outcomes of Childhood Self-Control and Social Disadvantage in the United Kingdom

Authors: Michael Daly

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Background/Aims: The interplay of childhood self-control and early life social background in predicting adult health is currently unclear. We drew on rich data from two large nationally representative cohort studies to test whether individual differences in childhood self-control may: (i) buffer the health impact of social disadvantage, (ii) act as a mediating pathway underlying the emergence of health disparities, or (iii) compensate for the health consequences of socioeconomic disadvantage across the lifespan. Methods: We examined data from over 25,000 participants from the British Cohort Study (BCS) and the National Child Development Study (NCDS). Child self-control was teacher-rated at age 10 in the BCS and ages 7/11 in the NCDS. The Early life social disadvantage was indexed using measures of parental education, occupational prestige, and housing characteristics (i.e. housing tenure, home crowding). A range of health outcomes was examined: the presence of chronic conditions, whether illnesses were limiting, physiological dysregulation (gauged by clinical indicators), mortality, and perceptions of pain, psychological distress, and general health. Results: Childhood self-control and social disadvantage predicted each measure of adult health, with similar strength on average. An examination of mediating factors showed that adult smoking, obesity, and socioeconomic status explained the majority of these linkages. There was no systematic evidence that self-control moderated the health consequences of early social disadvantage and limited evidence that self-control acted as a key pathway from disadvantage to later health. Conclusions: Childhood self-control predicts adult health and may compensate for early life social disadvantage by shaping adult health behaviour and social status.

Keywords: personality and health, social disadvantage, health psychology, life-course development

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701 Re-Engineering of Traditional Indian Wadi into Ready-to-Use High Protein Quality and Fibre Rich Chunk

Authors: Radhika Jain, Sangeeta Goomer

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In the present study an attempt has been made to re-engineer traditional wadi into wholesome ready-to-use cereal-pulse-based chunks rich in protein quality and fibre content. Chunks were made using extrusion-dehydration combination. Two formulations i.e., whole green gram dhal with instant oats and washed green gram dhal with whole oats were formulated. These chunks are versatile in nature as they can be easily incorporated in day-to-day home-made preparations such as pulao, potato curry and kadhi. Cereal-pulse ratio was calculated using NDpCal%. Limiting amino acids such as lysine, tryptophan, methionine, cysteine and threonine were calculated for maximum amino acid profile in cereal-pulse combination. Time-temperature combination for extrusion at 130oC and dehydration at 65oC for 7 hours and 15 minutes were standardized to obtain maximum protein and fibre content. Proximate analysis such as moisture, fat and ash content were analyzed. Protein content of formulation was 62.10% and 68.50% respectively. Fibre content of formulations was 2.99% and 2.45%, respectively. Using a 5-point hedonic scale, consumer preference trials of 102 consumers were conducted and analyzed. Evaluation of chunks prepared in potato curry, kadi and pulao showed preferences for colour 82%, 87%, 86%, texture and consistency 80%, 81%, 88%, flavour and aroma 74%, 82%, 86%, after taste 70%, 75%, 86% and overall acceptability 77%, 75%, 88% respectively. High temperature inactivates antinutritional compounds such as trypsin inhibitors, lectins, saponins etc. Hence, availability of protein content was increased. Developed products were palatable and easy to prepare.

Keywords: extrusion, NDpCal%, protein quality, wadi

Procedia PDF Downloads 224
700 Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Psychosocial Consequences of Sickle Cell Disease: The Case of Patients in a Public Hospital in Ghana

Authors: Vincent A. Adzika, Franklin N. Glozah, Collins S. K. Ahorlu

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Background: Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is of major public-health concern globally, with majority of patients living in Africa. Despite its relevance, there is a dearth of research to determine the socio-demographic distribution and psychosocial impact of SCD in Africa. The objective of this study therefore was to examine the socio-demographic distribution and psychosocial consequences of SCD among patients in Ghana and to assess their quality of life and coping mechanisms. Methods: A cross-sectional research design was used, involving the completion of questionnaires on socio-demographic characteristics, quality of life of individuals, anxiety and depression. Participants were 387 male and female patients attending a sickle cell clinic in a public hospital. Results: Results showed no gender and marital status differences in anxiety and depression. However, there were age and level of education variances in depression but not in anxiety. In terms of quality of life, patients were more satisfied by the presence of love, friends, relatives as well as home, community and neighbourhood environment. While pains of varied nature and severity were the major reasons for attending hospital in SCD condition, going to the hospital as well as having Faith in God was the frequently reported mechanisms for coping with an unbearable SCD attacks. Multiple regression analysis showed that some socio-demographic and quality of life indicators had strong associations with anxiety and/or depression. Conclusion: It is recommended that a multi-dimensional intervention strategy incorporating psychosocial dimensions should be considered in the treatment and management of SCD.

Keywords: anxiety, depression, sickle cell disease, socio-demographic quality of life, characteristics, Ghana

Procedia PDF Downloads 476
699 Khon Kaen University Family Health Assessment Tool Training Program on Primary Care Unit Nurses’ Skills

Authors: Suwarno, D. Jongudomkarn

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Family Health Assessment (FHA) is a key process to identify the family health needs, family health problems, and family health history. Assessing the family health is not only from the assessment tool but also from health care provider especially Nurse. Nurses’ have duties to assess the family as holistic view and they have to increase their capacities (knowledge, skills and experiences) in FHA. Thus, the continuing nursing education-training program on using the KKU FHA Tool was aimed to enhance the participant nurses’ capacities in (FHA) based on such tool. The aim of this study was to evaluate the KKU FHA Tool training program on PCU nurses’ capacity before and after training program in Primary Care Unit Bantul, Yogyakarta. The Quasi-Experiment with one group pre-, post-test design as a research design with convenient sampling technique and one group pre- post test formula for Nurses who work in Six PCU Bantul, Yogyakarta as much as fourteen respondents. The research processes were used training program with module, video and handbook KKU FHA Tool, KKU FHA tool form and capacities questionnaires. It was analyzed by descriptive data, Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Paired Sample t-test. The overall comparing analysis of paired sample t-test revealed that the mean values of pre-test were 3.35 with SD 0.417, post-test was 3.86 with SD 0.154 and post-test in later two weeks was 4.00 with SD 0.243. It was found that the p value of among the pre-test, the intermediate post-test and the post–test in later two weeks were 0.000. The p value of the intermediate post-test and post-test in later two weeks was 0.053. KKU FHA Tool training program in PCU Bantul Yogyakarta was enhanced the participant nurses’ capacities significantly. In conclusion, we are recommending KKU FHA Tool forms have to develop and implement with qualitative research as complementary data in PCU Bantul Yogyakarta by Focus Group Discussion.

Keywords: family health assessment, KKU FHA tool, training program, nurses capacities

Procedia PDF Downloads 378
698 The Influence of Having Sons or Daughters on Rural Mothers Life Quality after Birth: A Sample from Hebei Province in China

Authors: Jin Liang, Q. Li, Yue Qi, Liying Wang, Wenhua Yu, Xun Liu

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Fertility is very important for women. The gender role of women gives them the fertility ability. Giving birth to a boy or a girl might have effect on the mother’s life in the past in China. However, with the shifting of traditional attitudes and views, the women's social status and living situation have been transformed. Although the pregnancy and childbirth can still bring them a major impact on their lives, the form and content of the impact have changed. So we investigated the rural women of Hebei province after birth to reflect their living situation changes before and after birth and the differences of their living situation from women in the past by using a self-made rural women life situation change questionnaire, the index of well-being, and the index of general effect questionnaire. It has shown that women’s living situation after babybirth in Hebei province is well in general, and their mind and body, as well as their interpersonal relationships and social status, were all enhanced. The women’s living situation after babybirth was positively related to and could anticipate subjective happiness, and specifically, the rural women’s mind and body, their interpersonal relationship and social status in rural women life situation change questionnaire are the main predicted factors to subjective happiness. Furthermore, the women’s self-identification on female roles was influenced by the children’s gender. Specifically, women with only one daughter had highest self-identification on female roles, consisting with their families' concept about children’s gender, which indicated family values have a great effect on women’s self-identification on female roles in rural. Moreover, the women’s living situation and subjective happiness are both impacted by home incomes.

Keywords: rural women, parturition, well-being, life quality

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697 Telephonic Communication in Palliative Care for Better Management of Terminal Cancer Patients in Rural India: An NGO Based Approach

Authors: Aditya Manna, L. K. Khanra, S. K. Sarkar

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Aim: Due to financial incapability and the absence of manpower-poor families often fail to carry their advanced cancer patients to the nodal centers. This pilot study will explore whether communication by mobile phone can lessen this burden. Method: Initially a plan was generated regarding management of an advanced cancer patient in a nodal center at District Head Quarter. Subsequently every two week a trained social worker attached to the nodal center will follow up and give necessary advice and emotional support to the patients and their families through their registered mobile phone number. Patient’s family were also encouraged to communicate with the team by phone in case of fresh complain and urgency in between. Results: Since initiation in January 2013, 193 cancer patients were contacted by mobile phone every two weeks to enquire about their difficulties. In 76% of the situation trained social workers could give necessary advice by phone regarding management of their physical symptoms. Moreover, patient’s family was really overwhelmed by the emotional support offered by the team over the phone. Only 24% of cancer patients have to attend the nodal center for expert advice from Palliative Care specialists. Conclusion: This novel approach helped: (a) In providing regular physical and emotional support to the patients and their families. (b) In significantly reducing the financial and manpower problems of carrying patients to the nodal units. (c) In improving the quality of life of patients by continuous guidance. More and more team members can take help of this new strategy for better communication and uninterrupted care.

Keywords: palliative care, terminal care, home based palliative care, rural india

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696 Economics of Open and Distance Education in the University of Ibadan, Nigeria

Authors: Babatunde Kasim Oladele

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One of the major objectives of the Nigeria national policy on education is the provision of equal educational opportunities to all citizens at different levels of education. With regards to higher education, an aspect of the policy encourages distance learning to be organized and delivered by tertiary institutions in Nigeria. This study therefore, determines how much of the Government resources are committed, how the resources are utilized and what alternative sources of funding are available for this system of education. This study investigated the trends in recurrent costs between 2004/2005 and 2013/2014 at University of Ibadan Distance Learning Centre (DLC). A descriptive survey research design was employed for the study. Questionnaire was the research instrument used for the collection of data. The population of the study was 280 current distance learning education students, 70 academic staff and 50 administrative staff. Only 354 questionnaires were correctly filled and returned. Data collected were analyzed and coded using the frequencies, ratio, average and percentages were used to answer all the research questions. The study revealed that staff salaries and allowances of academic and non-academic staff represent the most important variable that influences the cost of education. About 55% of resources were allocated to this sector alone. The study also indicates that costs rise every year with increase in enrolment representing a situation of diseconomies of scale. This study recommends that Universities who operates distance learning program should strive to explore other internally generated revenue option to boost their revenue. University of Ibadan, being the premier university in Nigeria, should be given foreign aid and home support, both financially and materially, to enable the institute to run a formidable distance education program that would measure up in planning and implementation with those of developed nation.

Keywords: open education, distance education, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, cost of education

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695 User Requirements Study in Order to Improve the Quality of Social Robots for Dementia Patients

Authors: Konrad Rejdak

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Introduction: Neurodegenerative diseases are frequently accompanied by loss and unwanted change in functional independence, social relationships, and economic circumstances. Currently, the achievements of social robots to date is being projected to improve multidimensional quality of life among people with cognitive impairment and others. Objectives: Identification of particular human needs in the context of the changes occurring in course of neurodegenerative diseases. Methods: Based on the 110 surveys performed in the Medical University of Lublin from medical staff, patients, and caregivers we made prioritization of the users' needs as high, medium, and low. The issues included in the surveys concerned four aspects: user acceptance, functional requirements, the design of the robotic assistant and preferred types of human-robot interaction. Results: We received completed questionnaires; 50 from medical staff, 30 from caregivers and 30 from potential users. Above 90% of the respondents from each of the three groups, accepted a robotic assistant as a potential caregiver. High priority functional capability of assistive technology was to handle emergencies in a private home-like recognizing life-threatening situations and reminding about medication intake. With reference to the design of the robotic assistant, the majority of the respondent would like to have an anthropomorphic appearance with a positive emotionally expressive face. The most important type of human-robot interaction was a voice-operated system and by touchscreen. Conclusion: The results from our study might contribute to a better understanding of the system and users’ requirements for the development of a service robot intended to support patients with dementia.

Keywords: assistant robot, dementia, long term care, patients

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694 Gender Inequality in Pakistan: A Study of Economic Inequality Keeping in View the Gender Biased Societal Set up and Patriarchal Mind Set

Authors: Humera Malik

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Gender inequality, as a societal issue, is prevalent in all spheres of life in Pakistan. It is world-wide understood that gender equality is a basic right of every human being as well as the source of development and prosperity for the whole country. In fact, many countries endeavor to ensure equal opportunities for men and women which will, in turn, help to attain sustainable growth in every field. Most of the women in Pakistan live their life under the societal pressure which is exerted by centuries old traditions. This archaic setup restricts women to stay at home because their survival is conditional to their total subjugation to the male member of the family. This patriarchal structure confers men the right to deal women as their property. It is not wrong to say that women endure severe discrimination in their whole life. No doubt, women are confronted with multifaceted discrimination in the field of education, health, politics, social status, etc. The main theme of this research is to ascertain the present condition of gender inequality in the field of economy in Pakistan. Pakistan’s poor ranking in Global Gender Gap Index, 2016 clearly depicts that women are deprived of fundamental rights as well as equal opportunities of development. This very state of affairs depicts the real picture of government’s commitment to women empowerment and gender equality. The nature of this research is descriptive which helps to determine the status of women in Pakistan on the basis of labour force participation, wage gap, estimated incomes, and ratio of high ranking positions secured by women. It is an endeavor to understand the reasons of economic inequality by following qualitative method of research. Moreover, few recommendations will be suggested to get rid of this issue.

Keywords: dismal, discrimination, feudal, patriarchal, wage gap

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693 Designing a Learning Table and Game Cards for Preschoolers for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) on Earthquake

Authors: Mehrnoosh Mirzaei

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Children are among the most vulnerable at the occurrence of natural disasters such as earthquakes. Most of the management and measures which are considered for both before and during an earthquake are neither suitable nor efficient for this age group and cannot be applied. On the other hand, due to their age, it is hard to educate and train children to learn and understand the concept of earthquake risk mitigation as matters like earthquake prevention and safe places during an earthquake are not easily perceived. To our knowledge, children’s awareness of such concepts via their own world with the help of games is the best training method in this case. In this article, the researcher has tried to consider the child an active element before and during the earthquake. With training, provided by adults before the incidence of an earthquake, the child has the ability to learn disaster risk reduction (DRR). The focus of this research is on learning risk reduction behavior and regarding children as an individual element. The information of this article has been gathered from library resources, observations and the drawings of 10 children aged 5 whose subject was their conceptual definition of an earthquake who were asked to illustrate their conceptual definition of an earthquake; the results of 20 questionnaires filled in by preschoolers along with information gathered by interviewing them. The design of the suitable educational game, appropriate for the needs of this age group, has been made based on the theory of design with help of the user and the priority of children’s learning needs. The final result is a package of a game which is comprised of a learning table and matching cards showing sign marks for safe and unsafe places which introduce the safe behaviors and safe locations before and during the earthquake. These educational games can be used both in group contexts in kindergartens and on an individual basis at home, and they help in earthquake risk reduction.

Keywords: disaster education, earthquake sign marks, learning table, matching card, risk reduction behavior

Procedia PDF Downloads 257
692 Risk Factors for High School Dropouts

Authors: Genesis F. Dela Cruz, Liza C. Costa

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The study is concerned with the Risk factors of dropping out among Grade VII students for SY 2012-2013. A total of 87 Grade VII Students-At-Risk-of-Dropping Out (SARDOs) were involved in this study. The descriptive survey method was used in this study. A 50-item questionnaire was used in data gathering. Expert validation was done to determine the validity and reliability of the instrument. The study used Chi Square, Kruskal Wallis Test and Mann Whitney Test in the statistical treatment of data. The study revealed that the respondents are within the standard age limit for Grade VII students in the Philippines which is 13 years old. Males more than females usually becomes SARDOs. SARDOs come from low economic status and complete families contrary to the common belief that they came from single-parent families. The study also showed that parent’s involvement in educating their children on family-related factors contributed to the very good perception on the family related factors. Based on age, there are no significant differences in their perception of the four major recognized risk factors for dropping out among all ages. There are no significant differences in their perception of the family, individual and community related factors for dropping out based on sex. However, females have a more favorable perception when it comes to school related factors. No significant differences in their perception of dropping out were also noted when they are classified according to distance of school from home. The respondents do not differ in their perception on family, individual and community related factors when they are classified according to type of family. When surveyed regarding the respondents’ reason for being absent, it was found out that laziness and being late are the two major reasons. Respondents also perceived remedial and tutorial classes as school-initiated intervention measure to prevent school disengagement or dropping out.

Keywords: drop-out, guidance and counseling, school initiated intervention, students at risk of dropping out

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691 Pharmacological Activities and Potential Uses of Cyperus Rotundus: A Review

Authors: Arslan Masood Pirzada, Muhammad Naeem, Hafiz Haider Ali, Muhammad Latif, Aown Sammar Raza, Asad Hussain Bukhari, Muhammad Saqib, Muhammad Ijaz

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Cyperus rotundus (Cyperaceae), a medicinal herb, is being traditionally used as a home remedy for the treatment of various clinical conditions like diarrhea, diabetic, pyretic, inflammation, malaria, and for treating stomach and bowel disorders. Its current status is one of the most widespread, troublesome, and economically damaging agronomic weeds, growing wildly in various tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. Tuber and rhizomes of Cyperus rotundus possess a higher concentration of active ingredients in the form of essential oils, phenolic acids, ascorbic acids and flavonoids, responsible for its remedial properties. Exploitation of any medicinal plant application depends on the crucial and comprehensive information about the therapeutic potential of a plant. Researchers have evaluated and characterized the significance of Cyperus rotundus as an anti-androgenic, anti-bacterial, anti-cancerous, anti-convulsant, anti-diabetic, anti-diarrheal, anti-genotoxic, anti-inflammatory, anti-lipidemic, anti-malarial, anti-mutagenic, anti-obesity, anti-oxidant, anti-uropathogenic, hepato-, cardio-, neuroprotective, and nootropic agent. This paper comprises a broad review to summarize the current state of knowledge about chemical constituents, potential economic uses and therapeutic aspects of Cyperus rotundus that will aid in the development of bioethanol and modern herbal medicine through latest technologies that will promote the ability of this plant in the cure of many clinical disorders.

Keywords: purple nutsedge, chemical composition, economic uses, therapeutic values, future directions

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690 Study of Parking Demand for Offices – Case Study: Kolkata

Authors: Sanghamitra Roy

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In recent times, India has experienced the phenomenal rise in the number of registered vehicles and vehicular trips, particularly intra-city trips in most of its urban areas. The increase in vehicle ownership and use have increased parking demand immensely and accommodating the same is now a matter of big concern. Most cities do not have adequate off-street parking facilities thus forcing people to park on the streets. This has resulted in decreased carrying capacity, decreased traffic speed, increased congestion, and increased environmental problems. While integrated multi-modal transportation system is the answer to such problems, parking issues will continue to exist. In Kolkata, only 6.4% land is devoted for roads. The consequences of this huge crunch in road spaces coupled with increased parking demand are severe particularly in the CBD and major commercial areas, making the role of off-street parking facilities in Kolkata even more critical. To meaningfully address parking issues, it is important to identify the factors that influence parking demand so that it can be assessed and comprehensive parking policies and plans for the city can be formulated. This paper aims at identifying the factors that contribute towards parking demand for offices in Kolkata and their degree of correlation with parking demand. The study is limited to home-to-work trips located within Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) where parking related issues are most pronounced. The data for the study is collected through personal interviews, questionnaires and direct observations from offices across the wards of KMC. SPSS is used for classification of the data and analyses of the same. The findings of this study will help in re-assessment of the parking requirements specified in The Kolkata Municipal Corporation Building Rules as a step towards alleviating parking related issues in the city.

Keywords: building rules, office spaces, parking demand, urbanization

Procedia PDF Downloads 317
689 Knowledge and Capabilities of Primary Caregivers in Providing Quality Care for Elderly Patients with Post- Operative Hip Fracture, Songklanagarind Hospital

Authors: Manee Hasap, Mongkolchai Hasap, Tasanee Nasae

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The purpose of this study was to evaluate the primary caregivers’ knowledge and capabilities for providing quality care to be hospitalized post-hip fracture surgery elderly patients. The theoretical framework of the study was derived from the concepts of dependent care agency in Orem’s Self-Care theory, and family care provision for the elderly and chronically ill patients. 59 subjects were purposively selected. The subjects were primary caregivers of post-operated hip fracture elderly patients who had been admitted to the Orthopaedic Ward of Songklanagarind Hospital. Demographic data of the caregivers and patients were collected by non-participant observation using the evaluation and recording forms. The reliability of caregivers’ knowledge measurement (0.86) was obtained by KR-20 and that of caregivers’ capabilities for post-operative care evaluation form (0.97) obtained from 2 observers by interrater reliability. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistic, which were frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. The result of this study indicated that elderly patients with post-hip fracture surgery had many pre-discharge self care limitations. Approximately, 75% of the caregivers had knowledge to respond to patient’s essential needs at a high level, while the rest (25%) had this knowledge a moderate level. For observation, 57.63% of the subjects had capabilities in care practice at a moderate level; 28.81% had capabilities in care practice at a high level, while 13.56% had at a low level. The result of this study can be used as basic information for patients and caregivers capabilities developing plan especially, providing patients’ activities, accident surveillance and complications prevention for a good life quality of elderly patients after hip surgery both hospitalization and rehabilitation at home.

Keywords: care givers’ knowledge, care givers’ capabilities, elderly hip fracture patients, patients

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688 Isolation and Identification of Microorganisms from Marine-Associated Samples under Laboratory Conditions

Authors: Sameen Tariq, Saira Bano, Sayyada Ghufrana Nadeem

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The Ocean, which covers over 70% of the world's surface, is wealthy in biodiversity as well as a rich wellspring of microorganisms with huge potential. The oceanic climate is home to an expansive scope of plants, creatures, and microorganisms. Marine microbial networks, which incorporate microscopic organisms, infections, and different microorganisms, enjoy different benefits in biotechnological processes. Samples were collected from marine environments, including soil and water samples, to cultivate the uncultured marine organisms by using Zobell’s medium, Sabouraud’s dextrose agar, and casein media for this purpose. Following isolation, we conduct microscopy and biochemical tests, including gelatin, starch, glucose, casein, catalase, and carbohydrate hydrolysis for further identification. The results show that more gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The isolation process of marine organisms is essential for understanding their ecological roles, unraveling their biological secrets, and harnessing their potential for various applications. Marine organisms exhibit remarkable adaptations to thrive in the diverse and challenging marine environment, offering vast potential for scientific, medical, and industrial applications. The isolation process plays a crucial role in unlocking the secrets of marine organisms, understanding their biological functions, and harnessing their valuable properties. They offer a rich source of bioactive compounds with pharmaceutical potential, including antibiotics, anticancer agents, and novel therapeutics. This study is an attempt to explore the diversity and dynamics related to marine microflora and their role in biofilm formation.

Keywords: marine microorganisms, ecosystem, fungi, biofilm, gram-positive, gram-negative

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687 Role of Non-Timber Forest Products in Local Livelihood and Household Economies in Resource-Rich vs. Resource Poor Forest Area of Mizoram

Authors: Uttam Kumar Sahoo, K. Lalhmingsangi, J. H. Lalremruati

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Non-timber forest resources particularly the high-value, low volume NTFPs has drawn interest as an activity all over the world during the past three decades that could raise standards of living for the rural folks while being compatible with forest conservation. This is particularly true for the people living in and around or fringes of protected areas. However, the economics that plays between resources’ stock and its utilization by the humans is yet to be validated and evaluated logistically. A study was therefore designed to understand the linkages between resource (especially NTFPs) availability and their utilization, existing threats to this biodiversity conservation and the role of NTFPs within the livelihood systems of those households that are most directly involved in creating conservation threats. About 25% of the households were sampled from the two sites ‘resource-rich’ and ‘resource poor’ area of Dampa Tiger Reserve (Western boundary). Our preliminary findings suggest that the collection of relatively high-volume and low value NTFPs such as fuelwood, fodder has caused degradation of forest resources while the low-volume and high-value NTFPs such as wild edible mushrooms, vegetables, other specialty food products, inputs to crafts, medicinal plants have resulted into species promotion/conservation through their domestication in traditional agroforestry systems including home gardens and/or collateral protection of the Tiger Reserve. It is thus suggested that proper assessment of these biodiversities, their direct and indirect valuation, market and non-market profits etc be carried out in greater details which would result in prescribing effective management plans around the park.

Keywords: household economy, livelihood strategies, non-timber forest products, species conservation

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686 Important Factors Affecting the Effectiveness of Quality Control Circles

Authors: Sogol Zarafshan

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The present study aimed to identify important factors affecting the effectiveness of quality control circles in a hospital, as well as rank them using a combination of fuzzy VIKOR and Grey Relational Analysis (GRA). The study population consisted of five academic members and five experts in the field of nursing working in a hospital, who were selected using a purposive sampling method. Also, a sample of 107 nurses was selected through a simple random sampling method using their employee codes and the random-number table. The required data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire which consisted of 12 factors. The validity of this questionnaire was confirmed through giving the opinions of experts and academic members who participated in the present study, as well as performing confirmatory factor analysis. Its reliability also was verified (α=0.796). The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 22.0 and LISREL 8.8, as well as VIKOR–GRA and IPA methods. The results of ranking the factors affecting the effectiveness of quality control circles showed that the highest and lowest ranks were related to ‘Managers’ and supervisors’ support’ and ‘Group leadership’. Also, the highest hospital performance was for factors such as ‘Clear goals and objectives’ and ‘Group cohesiveness and homogeneity’, and the lowest for ‘Reward system’ and ‘Feedback system’, respectively. The results showed that although ‘Training the members’, ‘Using the right tools’ and ‘Reward system’ were factors that were of great importance, the organization’s performance for these factors was poor. Therefore, these factors should be paid more attention by the studied hospital managers and should be improved as soon as possible.

Keywords: Quality control circles, Fuzzy VIKOR, Grey Relational Analysis, Importance–Performance Analysis

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685 Smart Technology Work Practices to Minimize Job Pressure

Authors: Babar Rasheed

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The organizations are in continuous effort to increase their yield and to retain their associates, employees. Technology is considered an integral part of attaining apposite work practices, work environment, and employee engagement. Unconsciously, these advanced practices like work from home, personalized intra-network are disturbing employee work-life balance which ultimately increases psychological pressure on employees. The smart work practice is to develop business models and organizational practices with enhanced employee engagement, minimum trouncing of organization resources with persistent revenue and positive addition in global societies. Need of smart work practices comes from increasing employee turnover rate, global economic recession, unnecessary job pressure, increasing contingent workforce and advancement in technologies. Current practices are not enough elastic to tackle global changing work environment and organizational competitions. Current practices are causing many reciprocal problems among employee and organization mechanically. There is conscious understanding among business sectors smart work practices that will deal with new century challenges with addressing the concerns of relevant issues. It is aimed in this paper to endorse customized and smart work practice tools along knowledge framework to manage the growing concerns of employee engagement, use of technology, orgaization concerns and challenges for the business. This includes a Smart Management Information System to address necessary concerns of employees and combine with a framework to extract the best possible ways to allocate companies resources and re-align only required efforts to adopt the best possible strategy for controlling potential risks.

Keywords: employees engagement, management information system, psychological pressure, current and future HR practices

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684 Quantitative Evaluation on Community Perceptions of Sanitation and Hygiene in Rural Guatemala

Authors: Akudo Ejelonu, Sarah Willig, J. Anthony Sauder, Heather Murphy, Frances Shofer

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Background: The high prevalence of diarrheal diseases in the village of Tzununá, Guatemala is linked to lack of sanitation facilities and handwashing practices. Diarrheal diseases are preventable and improved access to latrines, hygiene education and clean water may improve sanitation by reducing the spread of disease. Objective: Between May 2015-January 2017, the University of Pennsylvania Chapter of Engineers Without Border (PennEWB) and local partners designed an intervention to reduce diarrheal disease by building pour flush latrines in 50 individual households and providing education on the importance of handwashing practice. Design/Methods: Through convenient sampling, we surveyed 45 households to evaluate the community’s knowledge of diarrheal disease, handwashing practices, and maintenance of the latrines. Results: 92% of the study participants experienced decrease of new cases of diarrheal disease after receiving a latrine. Only 11% washed their hands after defecating in the latrine. There was gap in understanding the health outcome of latrine sanitation and handwashing education. The respondents did not connect the reduction of diarrheal disease with latrine use and maintenance. Instead, they associated their motivation for latrine use with aesthetics, proximity to their home, ease and comfort, and reduction of shame. We recommend that PennEWB adopt UNICEF or WHO education on hand washing practice. Conclusion: Social interaction and social pressure drove the household use of latrines. The latrines are being valued and cleaned. The education that the residents received did not target norms and behaviors. Latrines could be used to create a new social norm that supports behavioral change.

Keywords: diarrheal disease, latrine, open defecation, water, sanitation and hygiene

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683 The Effectiveness of Using Picture Storybooks on Young English as a Foreign Language Learners for English Vocabulary Acquisition and Moral Education: A Case Study

Authors: Tiffany Yung Hsuan Ma

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The Whole Language Approach, which gained prominence in the 1980s, and the increasing emphasis on multimodal resources in educational research have elevated the utilization of picture books in English as a foreign language (EFL) instruction. This approach underscores real-world language application, providing EFL learners with a range of sensory stimuli, including visual elements. Additionally, the substantial impact of picture books on fostering prosocial behaviors in children has garnered recognition. These narratives offer opportunities to impart essential values such as kindness, fairness, and respect. Examining how picture books enhance vocabulary acquisition can offer valuable insights for educators in devising engaging language activities conducive to a positive learning environment. This research entails a case study involving two kindergarten-aged EFL learners and employs qualitative methods, including worksheets, observations, and interviews with parents. It centers on three pivotal inquiries: (1) The extent of young learners' acquisition of essential vocabulary, (2) The influence of these books on their behavior at home, and (3) Effective teaching strategies for the seamless integration of picture storybooks into EFL instruction for young learners. The findings can provide guidance to parents, educators, curriculum developers, and policymakers regarding the advantages and optimal approaches to incorporating picture books into language instruction. Ultimately, this research has the potential to enhance English language learning outcomes and promote moral education within the Taiwanese EFL context.

Keywords: EFL, vocabulary acquisition, young learners, picture book, moral education

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682 Development of an Online Raw-Vegan Eating Program to Reduce Sugar Intake

Authors: Sara D. Garduno-Diaz, Lorena Loriato

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Food selection is one of the main modifiable risk factors for the avoidance of several detrimental health conditions. Excessive and regular sugar intake has been identified as highly unfavorable, yet a highly occurring practice. A proposed approach to modify this eating practice is the online program developed here. The program targets a modification of mindset and lifestyle habits around food, through a four week raw-vegan guided eating program. While the focus of the program is to set up sustainable changes in sugar intake reduction, it also aims to promote a plant-based eating style. Three pilot sessions have been run with participants from seven different countries. Participants are guided through the program via a combination of daily e-mails, a 24-hour support platform, and by-weekly remote live sessions. Meal preparation techniques, as well as cooking instructions, are provided, following set menus developed by a team of professional chefs and nutritionists. Goal setting, as well as alternatives to specific food-related challenges, is addressed. While the program is intended for both women and men, the majority of participants to date have been female. Feedback has been positive, with changes in eating habits have included an elimination of added sugars, an increase in home cooking and vegetable intake, and a reduction in foods of animal origin. Difficulties in following the program have been reported as unavailability of certain ingredients depending on the country of residence of the participants, social and cultural hurdles, and time restrictions. Nevertheless, the results obtained to date indicate this to be a highly interactive program with the potential to be scaled up and applied to various populations as a public health measure on the way to better health.

Keywords: eating habits, food addiction, nutrition education, plant-based, remote practice

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681 Using the Transtheoretical Model to Investigate Stages of Change in Regular Volunteer Service among Seniors in Community

Authors: Pei-Ti Hsu, I-Ju Chen, Jeu-Jung Chen, Cheng-Fen Chang, Shiu-Yan Yang

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Taiwan now is an aging society Research on the elderly should not be confined to caring for seniors, but should also be focused on ways to improve health and the quality of life. Senior citizens who participate in volunteer services could become less lonely, have new growth opportunities, and regain a sense of accomplishment. Thus, the question of how to get the elderly to participate in volunteer service is worth exploring. Apply the Transtheoretical Model to understand stages of change in regular volunteer service and voluntary service behaviour among the seniors. 1525 adults over the age of 65 from the Renai district of Keelung City were interviewed. The research tool was a self-constructed questionnaire and individual interviews were conducted to collect data. Then the data was processed and analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 20 (Windows version) statistical software program. In the past six months, research subjects averaged 9.92 days of volunteer services. A majority of these elderly individuals had no intention to change their regular volunteer services. We discovered that during the maintenance stage, the self-efficacy for volunteer services was higher than during all other stages, but self-perceived barriers were less during the preparation stage and action stage. Self-perceived benefits were found to have an important predictive power for those with regular volunteer service behaviors in the previous stage, and self-efficacy was found to have an important predictive power for those with regular volunteer service behaviors in later stages. The research results support the conclusion that community nursing staff should group elders based on their regular volunteer services change stages and design appropriate behavioral change strategies.

Keywords: seniors, stages of change in regular volunteer services, volunteer service behavior, self-efficacy, self-perceived benefits

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680 Translating the Gendered Discourse: A Corpus-Based Study of the Chinese Science Fiction The Three Body Problem

Authors: Yi Gu

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The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu has been a bestseller Chinese Sci-Fi novel for years since 2008. The book was translated into English by Ken Liu in 2014 and won the prestigious 2015 science fiction and fantasy writing Hugo Award, drawing greater attention from wider international communities. The story exposes the horrors of the Chinese Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, in an intriguing narrative for readers at home and abroad. However, without the access to the source text, western readers may not be aware that the original Chinese version of the book is rich in gender-bias. Some Chinese scholars have applied feminist translation theories to their analysis on this book before, based on isolated selected, cherry-picking examples. Thus this paper aims to obtain a more thorough picture of how translators can cope with gender discrimination and reshape the gendered discourse from the source text, by systematically investigating the lexical and syntactic patterns in the translation of Liu’s entire book of 400 pages. The source text and the translation were downloaded into digital files, automatically aligned at paragraph level and then manually post-edited. They were then compiled into a parallel corpus of 114,629 English words and 204,145 Chinese characters using Sketch Engine. Gender-discrimination markers such as the overuse of ‘girl’ to describe an adult woman were searched in the source text, and the alignment made it possible to identify the strategies adopted by the translator to mitigate gender discrimination. The results provide a framework for translators to address gender bias. The study also shows how corpus methods can be used to further research in feminist translation and critical discourse analysis.

Keywords: corpus, discourse analysis, feminist translation, science fiction translation

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679 Institutional Capacity of Health Care Institutes for Diagnosis and Management of Common Genetic Diseases-a Study from a North Coastal District of Andhra Pradesh, India

Authors: Koteswara Rao Pagolu, Raghava Rao Tamanam

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In India, genetic disease is a disregarded service element in the community health- protection system. This study aims to gauge the accessibility of services for treating genetic disorders and also to evaluate the practices on deterrence and management services in the district health system. A cross-sectional survey of selected health amenities in the government health sector was conducted from 15 primary health centers (PHC’s), 4 community health centers (CHC’s), 1 district government hospital (DGH) and 3 referral hospitals (RH’s). From these, the existing manpower like 130 medical officers (MO’s), 254 supporting staff, 409 nursing staff (NS) and 45 lab technicians (LT’s) was examined. From the side of private health institutions, 25 corporate hospitals (CH’s), 3 medical colleges (MC’s) and 25 diagnostic laboratories (DL’s) were selected for the survey and from these, 316 MO’s, 995 NS and 254 LT’s were also reviewed. The findings show that adequate staff was in place at more than 70% of health centers, but none of the staff have obtained any operative training on genetic disease management. The largest part of the DH’s had rudimentary infrastructural and diagnostic facilities. However, the greater part of the CHC’s and PHC’s had inadequate diagnostic facilities related to genetic disease management. Biochemical, molecular, and cytogenetic services were not available at PHC’s and CHC’s. DH’s, RH’s, and all selected medical colleges were found to have offered the basic Biochemical genetics units during the survey. The district health care infrastructure in India has a shortage of basic services to be provided for the genetic disorder. With some policy resolutions and facility strengthening, it is possible to provide advanced services for a genetic disorder in the district health system.

Keywords: district health system, genetic disorder, infrastructural amenities, management practices

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678 Comparison of the Results of a Parkinson’s Holter Monitor with Patient Diaries, in Real Conditions of Use: A Sub-Analysis of the MoMoPa-EC Clinical Trial

Authors: Alejandro Rodríguez-Molinero, Carlos Pérez-López, Jorge Hernández-Vara, Àngels Bayes-Rusiñol, Juan Carlos Martínez-Castrillo, David A. Pérez-Martínez

Abstract:

Background: Monitoring motor symptoms in Parkinson's patients is often a complex and time-consuming task for clinicians, as Hauser's diaries are often poorly completed by patients. Recently, new automatic devices (Parkinson's holter: STAT-ON®) have been developed capable of monitoring patients' motor fluctuations. The MoMoPa-EC clinical trial (NCT04176302) investigates which of the two methods produces better clinical results. In this sub-analysis, the concordance between both methods is analyzed. Methods: In the MoMoPa-EC clinical trial, 164 patients with moderate-severe Parkinson's disease and at least two hours a day of Off will be included. At the time of patient recruitment, all of them completed a seven-day motor fluctuation diary at home (Hauser’s diary) while wearing the Parkinson's holter. In this sub-analysis, 71 patients with complete data for the purpose of this comparison were included. The intraclass correlation coefficient was calculated between the patient diary entries and the Parkinson's holter data in terms of time On, Off, and time with dyskinesias. Results: The intra-class correlation coefficient of both methods was 0.57 (95% CI: 0.3-0.74) for daily time in Off (%), 0.48 (95% CI: 0.14-0.68) for daily time in On (%), and 0.37 (95% CI %: -0.04-0.62) for daily time with dyskinesias (%). Conclusions: Both methods have a moderate agreement with each other. We will have to wait for the results of the MoMoPa-EC project to estimate which of them has the greatest clinical benefits. Acknowledgment: This work is supported by AbbVie S.L.U, the Instituto de Salud Carlos III [DTS17/00195], and the European Fund for Regional Development, 'A way to make Europe'.

Keywords: Parkinson, sensor, motor fluctuations, dyskinesia

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677 Competitors’ Influence Analysis of a Retailer by Using Customer Value and Huff’s Gravity Model

Authors: Yepeng Cheng, Yasuhiko Morimoto

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Customer relationship analysis is vital for retail stores, especially for supermarkets. The point of sale (POS) systems make it possible to record the daily purchasing behaviors of customers as an identification point of sale (ID-POS) database, which can be used to analyze customer behaviors of a supermarket. The customer value is an indicator based on ID-POS database for detecting the customer loyalty of a store. In general, there are many supermarkets in a city, and other nearby competitor supermarkets significantly affect the customer value of customers of a supermarket. However, it is impossible to get detailed ID-POS databases of competitor supermarkets. This study firstly focused on the customer value and distance between a customer's home and supermarkets in a city, and then constructed the models based on logistic regression analysis to analyze correlations between distance and purchasing behaviors only from a POS database of a supermarket chain. During the modeling process, there are three primary problems existed, including the incomparable problem of customer values, the multicollinearity problem among customer value and distance data, and the number of valid partial regression coefficients. The improved customer value, Huff’s gravity model, and inverse attractiveness frequency are considered to solve these problems. This paper presents three types of models based on these three methods for loyal customer classification and competitors’ influence analysis. In numerical experiments, all types of models are useful for loyal customer classification. The type of model, including all three methods, is the most superior one for evaluating the influence of the other nearby supermarkets on customers' purchasing of a supermarket chain from the viewpoint of valid partial regression coefficients and accuracy.

Keywords: customer value, Huff's Gravity Model, POS, Retailer

Procedia PDF Downloads 123