Search results for: traffic information quality

Authors: Redha Elhuni, M. Munir Ahmad

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The main purpose of this research is to construct a generic model for successful implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM) in oil sector, and to find out the effects of this model on the organizational sustainability development (OSD) performance of Libyan oil and gas companies using the structured equation modeling (SEM) approach. The research approach covers both quantitative and qualitative methods. A questionnaire was developed in order to identify the quality factors that are seen by Libyan oil and gas companies to be critical to the success of TQM implementation. Hypotheses were developed to evaluate the impact of TQM implementation on O SD. Data analysis reveals that there is a significant positive effect of the TQM implementation on OSD. 24 quality factors are found to be critical and absolutely essential for successful TQM implementation. The results generated a structure of the TQMSD implementation framework based on the four major road map constructs (Top management commitment, employee involvement and participation, customer-driven processes, and continuous improvement culture).

Keywords: total quality management, critical success factors, oil and gas, organizational sustainability development (SD), Libya

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Authors: N. Boutaghane, F. Z. Tounsi

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Many physical and technological factors degrade the SPECT images, both qualitatively and quantitatively. For this, it is not always put into leading technological advances to improve the performance of tomographic gamma camera in terms of detection, collimation, reconstruction and correction of tomographic images methods. We have to master firstly the choice of various acquisition and reconstruction parameters, accessible to clinical cases and using the attenuation and scatter correction methods to always optimize quality image and minimized to the maximum dose received by the patient. In this work, an evaluation of qualitative and quantitative tomographic images is performed based on the acquisition parameters (counts per projection) and reconstruction parameters (filter type, associated cutoff frequency). In addition, methods for correcting physical effects such as attenuation and scatter degrading the image quality and preventing precise quantitative of the reconstructed slices are also presented. Two approaches of attenuation and scatter correction are implemented: the attenuation correction by CHANG method with a filtered back projection reconstruction algorithm and scatter correction by the subtraction JASZCZAK method. Our results are considered as such recommandation, which permits to determine the origin of the different artifacts observed both in quality control tests and in clinical images.

Keywords: attenuation, scatter, reconstruction filter, image quality, acquisition and reconstruction parameters, SPECT

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Authors: Shan Huang, Guanjun Huang, Yongjun Zeng, Haiyuan Wang

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The impacts of whole-growth warming on grain yield and quality in double rice cropping systems still remain largely unknown. In this study, a two-year field whole-growth warming experiment was conducted with two inbred indica rice cultivars (Zhongjiazao 17 and Xiangzaoxian 45) for early season and two hybrid indica rice cultivars (Wanxiangyouhuazhan and Tianyouhuazhan) for late season. The results showed that whole-growth warming did not affect early rice yield but significantly decreased late rice yield, which was caused by the decreased grain weight that may be related to the increased plant respiration and reduced translocation of dry matter accumulated during the pre-heading phase under warming. Whole-growth warming improved the milling quality of late rice but decreased that of early rice; however, the chalky rice rate and chalkiness degree were increased by 20.7% and 33.9% for early rice and 37.6 % and 51.6% for late rice under warming, respectively. We found that the crude protein content of milled rice was significantly increased by warming in both early and late rice, which would result in deterioration of eating quality. Besides, compared with the control treatment, the setback of late rice was significantly reduced by 17.8 % under warming, while that of early rice was not significantly affected by warming. These results suggest that the negative impacts of whole-growth warming on grain quality may be more severe in early rice than in late rice. Therefore, adaptation in both rice breeding and agronomic practices is needed to alleviate climate warming on the production of a double rice cropping system. Climate-smart agricultural practices ought to be implemented to mitigate the detrimental effects of warming on rice grain quality. For instance, fine-tuning the application rate and timing of inorganic nitrogen fertilizers, along with the introduction of organic amendments and the cultivation of heat-tolerant rice varieties, can help reduce the negative impact of rising temperatures on rice quality. Furthermore, to comprehensively understand the influence of climate warming on rice grain quality, future research should encompass a wider range of rice cultivars and experimental sites.

Keywords: climate warming, double rice cropping, dry matter, grain quality, grain yield

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Authors: Jui Chen Wu, Ming Yi Hsu

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Background and Purpose: Shift work of nursing staff is inevitable in hospital to provide continuing medical care. However, shift work is considered as a health hazard that may cause physical and psychological problems. Serious workplace fatigue of nursing shift work might impact on family, social and work life, moreover, causes serious reduction of quality of medical care, or even malpractice. This study aims to explore relationships among nursing staff’s shift, workplace fatigue and quality of working life. Method: Structured questionnaires were used in this study to explore relationships among shift work, workplace fatigue and quality of working life in nursing staffs. We recruited 590 nursing staffs in different Community Teaching hospitals in Taiwan. Data analysed by descriptive statistics, single sample t-test, single factor analysis, Pearson correlation coefficient and hierarchical regression, etc. Results: The overall workplace fatigue score is 50.59 points. In further analysis, the score of personal burnout, work-related burnout, over-commitment and client-related burnout are 57.86, 53.83, 45.95 and 44.71. The basic attributes of nursing staff are significantly different from those of workplace fatigue with different ages, licenses, sleeping quality, self-conscious health status, number of care patients of chronic diseases and number of care people in the obstetric ward. The shift variables revealed no significant influence on workplace fatigue during the hierarchical regression analysis. About the analysis on nursing staff’s basic attributes and shift on the quality of working life, descriptive results show that the overall quality of working life of nursing staff is 3.23 points. Comparing the average score of the six aspects, the ranked average score are 3.47 (SD= .43) in interrelationship, 3.40 (SD= .46) in self-actualisation, 3.30 (SD= .40) in self-efficacy, 3.15 (SD= .38) in vocational concept, 3.07 (SD= .37) in work aspects, and 3.02 (SD= .56) in organization aspects. The basic attributes of nursing staff are significantly different from quality of working life in different marriage situations, education level, years of nursing work, occupation area, sleep quality, self-conscious health status and number of care in medical ward. There are significant differences between shift mode and shift rate with the quality of working life. The results of the hierarchical regression analysis reveal that one of the shifts variables 'shift mode' which does affect staff’s quality of working life. The workplace fatigue is negatively correlated with the quality of working life, and the over-commitment in the workplace fatigue is positively related to the vocational concept of the quality of working life. According to the regression analysis of nursing staff’s basic attributes, shift mode, workplace fatigue and quality of working life related shift, the results show that the workplace fatigue has a significant impact on nursing staff’s quality of working life. Conclusion: According to our study, shift work is correlated with workplace fatigue in nursing staffs. This results work as important reference for human resources management in hospitals to establishing a more positive and healthy work arrangement policy.

Keywords: nursing staff, shift, workplace fatigue, quality of working life

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Authors: Araba A. Z. Osei-Tutu, Ebenezer Odame, Joseph Bawa, Samuel Amponsah

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Education is recognized as a fundamental human right and a catalyst for development. Despite progress in the provision of higher education on the African continent, there persist challenges with the tripartite areas of access, equity and quality. Therefore, this systematic review aimed at providing a comprehensive overview of conversations and voices of scholars on these three concepts in HE in Africa. The systematic review employed a thematic analysis approach, synthesizing findings from 38 selected sources. After a critical analysis of the sources included in the systematic review, deficits in access, quality, and equity were outlined, focusing on infrastructure, regional disparities, and privatization challenges. The review also revealed the weak enforcement of quality assurance measures. Strategies for improvement, proffered by the study, include expanding public sector HE, deregulating the educational sector, promoting open and distance learning, implementing preferential admission policies, and enhancing financial aid. This research contributes valuable insights for policymakers, educators, and stakeholders, fostering a collaborative approach to address challenges and promote holistic development in African higher education.

Keywords: access, equity, quality, higher education, Africa, systematic review, strategies

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Authors: Basharat Yousuf, Abhaya K. Srivastava

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Psyllium gum alone and in combination with sunflower oil was investigated as a possible alternative edible coating for improvement of quality and shelf life of fresh-cut papaya. Different concentrations including 0.5, 1 and 1.5 percent of psyllium gum were used for coating of fresh-cut papaya. In some samples, refined sunflower oil was used as a lipid component to increase the effectiveness of coating in terms of water barrier properties. Soya lecithin was used as an emulsifier in coatings containing oil. Pretreatment with 1% calcium chloride was given to maintain the firmness of fresh-cut papaya cubes. 1% psyllium gum coating was found to yield better results. Further, addition of oil helped to maintain the quality and acted as a barrier to water vapour, therefore, minimizing the weight loss.

Keywords: coating, fresh-cut, gum, papaya, psylllium

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Authors: S. Bangphan, P. Bangphan, T.Boonkang

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Quality control helps industries in improvements of its product quality and productivity. Statistical Process Control (SPC) is one of the tools to control the quality of products that turning practice in bringing a department of industrial engineering process under control. In this research, the process control of a turning manufactured at workshops machines. The varying measurements have been recorded for a number of samples of a rice polished cylinder obtained from a number of trials with the turning practice. SPC technique has been adopted by the process is finally brought under control and process capability is improved.

Keywords: rice polished cylinder, statistical process control, control charts, process capability

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Authors: Sukriti Sabharwal, Sonali Bhattar, Shikhar Saxena

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Introduction: COVID-19 molecular diagnostic laboratory is the cornerstone of the COVID-19 disease diagnosis as the patient’s treatment and management protocol depend on the molecular results. For this purpose, it is extremely important that the laboratory conducting these results adheres to the quality management processes to increase the accuracy and validity of the reports generated. We started our own molecular diagnostic setup at the onset of the pandemic. Therefore, we conducted this study to generate our quality management data to help us in improving on our weak points. Materials and Methods: A total of 14561 samples were evaluated by the retrospective observational method. The quality variables analysed were classified into pre-analytical, analytical, and post-analytical variables, and the results were presented in percentages. Results: Among the pre-analytical variables, sample leaking was the most common cause of the rejection of samples (134/14561, 0.92%), followed by non-generation of SRF ID (76/14561, 0.52%) and non-compliance to triple packaging (44/14561, 0.3%). The other pre-analytical aspects assessed were incomplete patient identification (17/14561, 0.11%), insufficient quantity of samples (12/14561, 0.08%), missing forms/samples (7/14561, 0.04%), samples in the wrong vials/empty VTM tubes (5/14561, 0.03%) and LIMS entry not done (2/14561, 0.01%). We are unable to obtain internal quality control in 0.37% of samples (55/14561). We also experienced two incidences of cross-contamination among the samples resulting in false-positive results. Among the post-analytical factors, a total of 0.07% of samples (11/14561) could not be dispatched within the stipulated time frame. Conclusion: Adherence to quality control processes is foremost for the smooth running of any diagnostic laboratory, especially the ones involved in critical reporting. Not only do the indicators help in keeping in check the laboratory parameters but they also allow comparison with other laboratories.

Keywords: laboratory quality management, COVID-19, molecular diagnostics, healthcare

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Authors: Dwarika P. Shrestha, Dipendra Gurung, Rushma Shrestha, Inger Rosdahl

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Introduction: Skin diseases are one of the most common health problems in Nepal. The objectives of this study are to determine the prevalence of skin diseases and impact on quality of life in rural areas in Nepal. Materials and methods: A house-to-house survey was conducted, to obtain socio-demographic data and identify individuals with skin diseases, followed by health camps, where the villagers were examined. A pilot study was conducted in one village, which was then extended to 10 villages in 4 districts. To assess the impact on quality of life, the villagers were interviewed with Skin Disease Disability Index. This is a questionnaire developed and validated by the authors for use in Nepal. Results: In the pilot study, the overall prevalence of skin diseases was 20.1% (645/3207). In the additional 10 villages with 7348 (3651/3787 m/f) inhabitants, 1862 (721/1141 m/f, mean age 31.4 years) had one or more skin diseases. The overall prevalence of skin diseases was 25%. The most common skin disease categories were eczemas (13.7%, percentage among all inhabitants) pigment disorders (6.8%), fungal infections (4.9%), nevi (3.7%) and urticaria (2.9%). These five most common skin disease categories comprise 71% of all skin diseases seen in the study. The mean skin disease disability index score was 13.7, indicating very large impact on the quality of life. Conclusions: This population-based study shows that skin diseases are very common in the rural areas of Nepal and have significant impact on quality of life. Targeted intervention at the primary health care level should help to reduce the health burden due to skin diseases.

Keywords: prevalence and pattern of skin diseases, impact on quality of life, rural Nepal, interventions

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Authors: Luqman Afolabi

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This paper measures the impacts of trade and institutions on environmental quality in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). To examine the direction and the magnitude of the effects, the study employs the pooled mean group (PMG) estimation technique on the panel data obtained from the World Bank’s World Development and Governance Indicators, between 1996 and 2018. The empirical estimates validate the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis (EKC) for the region, even though there have been inconclusive results on the environment – growth nexus. Similarly, a positive coefficient is obtained on the impact of trade on the environment, while the impact of the institutional indicators produce mixed results. A significant policy implication is that the governments of the SSA countries pursue policies that tend to increase economic growth, so that pollutants may be reduced. Such policies may include the provision of incentives for sustainable growth-driven industries in the region. In addition, the governance infrastructures should be improved in such a way that appropriate penalties are imposed on the pollutants, while advanced technologies that have the potentials to reduce environmental degradation should be encouraged. Finally, it is imperative from these findings that the governments of the region should promote their trade relations and the competitiveness of their local industries in order to keep pace with the global markets.

Keywords: environmental quality, institutional quality sustainable development goals, trade

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Authors: Moustafa Osman Mohammed

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This paper is mapping air quality model to engineering the industrial system that ultimately utilized in extensive range of energy systems, distribution resources, and end-user technologies. The model is determining long-range transport patterns contribution as area source can either traced from 48 hrs backward trajectory model or remotely described from background measurements data in those days. The trajectory model will be run within stable conditions and quite constant parameters of the atmospheric pressure at the most time of the year. Air parcel trajectory is necessary for estimating the long-range transport of pollutants and other chemical species. It provides a better understanding of airflow patterns. Since a large amount of meteorological data and a great number of calculations are required to drive trajectory, it will be very useful to apply HYPSLIT model to locate areas and boundaries influence air quality at regional location of Windsor. 2–days backward trajectories model at high and low concentration measurements below and upward the benchmark which was areas influence air quality measurement levels. The benchmark level will be considered as 30 (μg/m3) as the moderate level for Ontario region. Thereby, air quality model is incorporating a midpoint concept between biotic and abiotic components to broaden the scope of quantification impact. The later outcomes’ theories of environmental obligation suggest either a recommendation or a decision of what is a legislative should be achieved in mitigation measures of air emission impact ultimately.

Keywords: air quality, management systems, environmental impact assessment, industrial ecology, climate change

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Authors: İmren Öztürk Yılmaz, Abdullah Yasin Bilici, Yasin Atalay Candemir

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The system consists of 4 main elements: motion system, image acquisition system, image processing software, and control interface. The parts coming out of the production line to enter the image processing system with the conveyor belt at the end of the line. The 3D scanning of the produced part is performed with the laser scanning system integrated into the system entry side. With the 3D scanning method, it is determined at what position and angle the parts enter the system, and according to the data obtained, parameters such as part origin and conveyor speed are calculated with the designed software, and the robot is informed about the position where it will take part. The robot, which receives the information, takes the produced part on the belt conveyor and shows it to high-resolution cameras for quality control. Measurement processes are carried out with a maximum error of 20 microns determined by the experiments.

Keywords: quality control, industry 4.0, image processing, automated fault detection, digital visual inspection

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Authors: V. Mantey, N. Findlay, I. Maddox

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The quality and quantity of global satellite data have been increasing exponentially in recent years as spaceborne systems become more affordable and the sensors themselves become more sophisticated. This is a valuable resource for many applications, including disaster management and relief. However, while more information can be valuable, the volume of data available is impossible to manually examine. Therefore, the question becomes how to extract as much information as possible from the data with limited manpower. Buildings are a key feature of interest in satellite imagery with applications including telecommunications, population models, and disaster relief. Machine learning tools are fast becoming one of the key resources to solve this problem, and models have been developed to detect buildings in optical satellite imagery. However, by and large, most models focus on affluent regions where buildings are generally larger and constructed further apart. This work is focused on the more difficult problem of detection in populated regions. The primary challenge with detecting small buildings in densely populated regions is both the spatial and spectral resolution of the optical sensor. Densely packed buildings with similar construction materials will be difficult to separate due to a similarity in color and because the physical separation between structures is either non-existent or smaller than the spatial resolution. This study finds that training models until they are overfitting the input sample can perform better in these areas than a more robust, generalized model. An overfitted model takes less time to fine-tune from a generalized pre-trained model and requires fewer input data. The model developed for this study has also been fine-tuned using existing, open-source, building vector datasets. This is particularly valuable in the context of disaster relief, where information is required in a very short time span. Leveraging existing datasets means that little to no manpower or time is required to collect data in the region of interest. The training period itself is also shorter for smaller datasets. Requiring less data means that only a few quality areas are necessary, and so any weaknesses or underpopulated regions in the data can be skipped over in favor of areas with higher quality vectors. In this study, a landcover classification model was developed in conjunction with the building detection tool to provide a secondary source to quality check the detected buildings. This has greatly reduced the false positive rate. The proposed methodologies have been implemented and integrated into a configurable production environment and have been employed for a number of large-scale commercial projects, including continent-wide DEM production, where the extracted building footprints are being used to enhance digital elevation models. Overfitted machine learning models are often considered too specific to have any predictive capacity. However, this study demonstrates that, in cases where input data is scarce, overfitted models can be judiciously applied to solve time-sensitive problems.

Keywords: building detection, disaster relief, mask-RCNN, satellite mapping

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Authors: Elida M. R. Bonifacio

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English language proficiency has become an essential issue in aviation communication after aviation incidents, and accidents happened. Lack of proficiency or inappropriate use of the English language has been found as one of the factors that cause most of those incidents or accidents. Therefore, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) established the requirements for minimum English language proficiency of aviation personnel, especially pilots and air traffic controllers in the 192 member states. In Brazil, the discussions about this topic became patent after an accident that occurred in 2006, which was a mid-air collision and costed the life of 154 passengers and crew members. Thus, the number of schools and private practitioners willing to teach English for aviation purposes started to increase. Although the number of teaching materials internationally used for general purposes is relatively large, it would be inappropriate to adopt the same materials in classes that focus on communication in aviation contexts. On the contrary, the options of aviation English materials are scarce; moreover, they are internationally used and may not fulfill the linguistic needs of all their users around the world. In order to diminish the problems that Brazilian practitioners may encounter in the adoption of materials that demand a great level of adaptation to meet their students’ needs, a checklist was thought to evaluate textbooks. The aim of this paper is to propose a checklist that evaluates textbooks used in English language training of Brazilian air traffic controllers. The criteria used to compound the checklist are based on materials development literature, as well as on linguistic requirements established by ICAO on its publications, on English for Specific Purposes (ESP) principles, and on Brazilian aviation English language proficiency test format. The checklist has as main indicators the language learning tenets under which the book was written, graphical features, lexical, grammatical and functional competencies required for minimum proficiency, similarities to official testing format, and support materials, totaling 117 items marked as YES, NO or PARTIALLY. In order to verify if the use of the checklist is effective, an aviation English textbook was evaluated. From this evaluation, it is possible to measure quantitatively how much the material meets the students’ needs and to offer a tool to help professionals engaged in aviation English teaching around the world to choose the most appropriate textbook according to their audience. From the results, practitioners are able to verify which items the material does not fulfill and to make proper adaptations since the perfect material will be difficult to find.

Keywords: aviation English, ICAO, materials development, English language proficiency

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Authors: Takashi Kaminagayoshi, Shigeyuki Haruyama

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To improve the manufacturing efficiency of biologics, such as antibody drugs, a quality engineering framework was designed. Within this framework, critical steps and parameters in the manufacturing process were studied. Identification of these critical steps and critical parameters allows a deeper understanding of manufacturing capabilities, and suggests to process development department process control standards based on actual manufacturing capabilities as part of a PDCA (plan-do-check-act) cycle. This cycle can be applied to each manufacturing process so that it can be standardized, reducing the time needed to establish each new process.

Keywords: antibody drugs, biologics, manufacturing efficiency, PDCA cycle, quality engineering

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Authors: Carlos Tarmeño Noriega, Igor Aguilar Alonso

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Fungal diseases are common in vineyards; they cause a decrease in the quality of the products that can be sold, generating distrust of the customer towards the seller when buying fruit. Currently, technology allows the classification of fruits according to their characteristics thanks to artificial intelligence. This study proposes the implementation of a control system that allows the identification of the main fungal diseases present in the Italia grape, making use of a convolutional neural network (CNN), OpenCV, and TensorFlow. The methodology used was based on a collection of 20 articles referring to the proposed research on quality control, classification, and recognition of fruits through artificial vision techniques.

Keywords: computer vision, convolutional neural networks, quality control, fruit market, OpenCV, TensorFlow

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Authors: Muhammad Arslan Usman, Muhammad Rehan Usman, Soo Young Shin

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Live video streaming is one of the most widely used service among end users, yet it is a big challenge for the network operators in terms of quality. The only way to provide excellent Quality of Experience (QoE) to the end users is continuous monitoring of live video streaming. For this purpose, there are several objective algorithms available that monitor the quality of the video in a live stream. Subjective tests play a very important role in fine tuning the results of objective algorithms. As human perception is considered to be the most reliable source for assessing the quality of a video stream, subjective tests are conducted in order to develop more reliable objective algorithms. Temporal impairments in a live video stream can have a negative impact on the end users. In this paper we have conducted subjective evaluation tests on a set of video sequences containing temporal impairment known as frame freezing. Frame Freezing is considered as a transmission error as well as a hardware error which can result in loss of video frames on the reception side of a transmission system. In our subjective tests, we have performed tests on videos that contain a single freezing event and also for videos that contain multiple freezing events. We have recorded our subjective test results for all the videos in order to give a comparison on the available No Reference (NR) objective algorithms. Finally, we have shown the performance of no reference algorithms used for objective evaluation of videos and suggested the algorithm that works better. The outcome of this study shows the importance of QoE and its effect on human perception. The results for the subjective evaluation can serve the purpose for validating objective algorithms.

Keywords: objective evaluation, subjective evaluation, quality of experience (QoE), video quality assessment (VQA)

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Authors: Lubowa Samuel

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Health information systems, often known as HIS, are critical components of the healthcare system to improve health policies and promote global health development. In a broader sense, HIS as a system integrates data collecting, processing, reporting, and making use of various types of data to improve healthcare efficacy and efficiency through better management at all levels of healthcare delivery. The aim of this study is to assess the adoption of health information systems (HIS) in a resource-constrained country drawing from the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2) model. The results indicate that the user's perception of the technology and the poor information technology infrastructures contribute a lot to the low adoption of HIS in resource-constrained countries.

Keywords: health information systems, resource-constrained countries, health information systems

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Authors: Mifta Ul Jannat, Raju Ahmed, Al Mamun, Jannatul Ferdaus, Ritu Costa, Milon Biswas

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Blockchain is an internet-based invention that is coveted in the permanent, scumbled record for its capacity to openly accept, record, and distribute transactions. In a traditional supply chain, there are no trustworthy participants for an organic product. Yet blockchain engineering may provide confidence, transparency, and traceability. Blockchain varies in how companies get real, checked, and lasting information from their supply chain and lock in customers. In an arrangement of cryptographic squares, Blockchain digitizes each connection by sparing it. No one person may alter the documents, and any alteration within the agreement is clear to all. The coming to the record is tamper proof and unchanging, offering a complete history of the object’s life cycle and minimizing opening for extorting. The primary aim of this analysis is to identify the underlying problem that the customer faces. In this post, we will minimize the allocation of fraud data through the ’Smart Contract’ and include a certificate of quality assurance.

Keywords: blockchain technology, food supply chain, Ethereum, smart contract, quality assurance, trustability, security, transparency

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Authors: Lama Yaseen, Nourah Al-Hosain

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A Multi-modal system in urban mobility is an essential framework for an optimized urban transport network. Many cities are still heavily dependent on vehicle transportation, dominantly using conventional fuel-based cars for daily travel. With the reliance on motorized vehicles in large cities such as Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia, traffic congestion is eminent, which ultimately results in an increase in road emissions and loss of time. Saudi Arabia plans to undergo a massive transformation in mobility infrastructure and urban greening projects, including introducing public transport and other massive urban greening infrastructures that enable alternative mobility options. This paper uses a Geographic Information System (GIS) approach that analyzes the accessibility of current and planned public transport stations and how they intertwine with massive urban greening projects that may play a role as an enabler of micro-mobility and walk-ability options in the city.

Keywords: urban development, urban mobility, sustainable mobility, Middle East

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Authors: Shilan Rahmani Azr, Siavash Emtiyaz

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Recent development in computing and communicative technologies leads to much easier mobile accessibility to the information. Users can access to the information in different places using various deceives in which the care variety of abilities. Meanwhile, the format and details of electronic documents are changing each day. In these cases, a mismatch is created between content and client’s abilities. Recently the service-oriented content adaption has been developed which the adapting tasks are dedicated to some extended services. In this method, the main problem is to choose the best appropriate service among accessible and distributed services. In this paper, a method for determining the optimal path to the best services, based on the quality control parameters and user preferences, is proposed using max heap tree. The efficiency of this method in contrast to the other previous methods of the content adaptation is related to the determining the optimal path of the best services which are measured. The results show the advantages and progresses of this method in compare of the others.

Keywords: service-oriented content adaption, QoS, max heap tree, web services

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Authors: Gokulan Vethanayakam, Daniel Aston

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Introduction: The ReSPECT process supports healthcare professionals when making patient-centered decisions in the event of an emergency. It has been widely adopted by the NHS in England and allows patients to express thoughts and wishes about treatments and outcomes that they consider acceptable. It includes (but is not limited to) cardiopulmonary resuscitation decisions. ReSPECT conversations should ideally occur prior to ICU admission and should be documented in the eight sections of the nationally-standardised ReSPECT form. This audit evaluated the use of ReSPECT on a busy cardiothoracic ICU in an NHS Trust where established policies advocating its use exist. Methods: This audit was a retrospective review of ReSPECT forms for a sample of high-risk patients admitted to ICU at the Royal Papworth Hospital between January 2021 and March 2022. Patients all received one of the following interventions: Veno-Venous Extra-Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (VV-ECMO) for severe respiratory failure (retrieved via the national ECMO service); cardiac or pulmonary transplantation-related surgical procedures (including organ transplants and Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) implantation); or elective non-transplant cardiac surgery. The quality of documentation on ReSPECT forms was evaluated using national standards and a graded ranking tool devised by the authors which was used to assess narrative aspects of the forms. Quality was ranked as A (excellent) to D (poor). Results: Of 230 patients (74 VV-ECMO, 104 transplant, 52 elective non-transplant surgery), 43 (18.7%) had a ReSPECT form and only one (0.43%) patient had a ReSPECT form completed prior to ICU admission. Of the 43 forms completed, 38 (88.4%) were completed due to the commencement of End of Life (EoL) care. No non-transplant surgical patients included in the audit had a ReSPECT form. There was documentation of balance of care (section 4a), CPR status (section 4c), capacity assessment (section 5), and patient involvement in completing the form (section 6a) on all 43 forms. Of the 34 patients assessed as lacking capacity to make decisions, only 22 (64.7%) had reasons documented. Other sections were variably completed; 29 (67.4%) forms had relevant background information included to a good standard (section 2a). Clinical guidance for the patient (section 4b) was given in 25 (58.1%), of which 11 stated the rationale that underpinned it. Seven forms (16.3%) contained information in an inappropriate section. In a comparison of ReSPECT forms completed ahead of an EoL trigger with those completed when EoL care began, there was a higher number of entries in section 3 (considering patient’s values/fears) that were assessed at grades A-B in the former group (p = 0.014), suggesting higher quality. Similarly, forms from the transplant group contained higher quality information in section 3 than those from the VV-ECMO group (p = 0.0005). Conclusions: Utilisation of the ReSPECT process in high-risk patients is yet to be well-adopted in this trust. Teams who meet patients before hospital admission for transplant or high-risk surgery should be encouraged to engage with the ReSPECT process at this point in the patient's journey. VV-ECMO retrieval teams should consider ReSPECT conversations with patients’ relatives at the time of retrieval.

Keywords: audit, critical care, end of life, ICU, ReSPECT, resuscitation

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Authors: Abbas Nasir, Xiong Zhang, Sohail Ahmad, Yiping Cui

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Non-polar a-plane AlGaN epilayers of high structural quality have been grown on r-sapphire substrate by using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). A graded non-polar AlGaN buffer layer with variable aluminium concentration was used to improve the structural quality of the non-polar a-plane AlGaN epilayer. The characterisations were carried out by high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HR-XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Hall effect measurement. The XRD and AFM results demonstrate that the Al-composition-graded non-polar AlGaN buffer layer significantly improved the crystalline quality and the surface morphology of the top layer. A low root mean square roughness 1.52 nm is obtained from AFM, and relatively low background carrier concentration down to 3.9×  cm^-3 is obtained from Hall effect measurement.

Keywords: non-polar AlGaN epilayer, Al composition-graded AlGaN layer, root mean square, background carrier concentration

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Authors: Abdullahi Mohammed

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The microbial quality of beef and mutton sold in four major markets of Bauchi metropolis was assessed in order to assist in ascertaining safety. Shops were selected from 'Muda Lawal', 'Yelwa', 'Wunti', and 'Gwallameji' markets. The total bacterial count was used as index of quality. A total of thirty two (32) samples were collected in two successive visits. The samples were packed and labelled in a sterile polythene bags for transportation to the laboratory. Microbial analysis was carried out immediately upon arrival under a septic condition, where aerobic plate was used in determining the microbial load. Result showed that beef and mutton from Gwallameji had the highest bacterial count of 9.065 X 105 cfu/ml and 8.325 X 105 cfu/ml for beef and mutton respectively followed by Wunti market (6.95 X 105 beef and 4.838 X 105 motton) and Muda Lawal (4.86 X 105 cfu/ml beef and 5.998 X 105 cfu/ml mutton). Yelwa had 5.175 X 105 and 5.30 X 105 for beef and mutton respectively. Bacterial species isolated from the samples were Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp, Streptococcus species and Staphylococcus species. However, results obtained from all markets showed that there was no significant differences between beef and mutton in terms of microbial quality.

Keywords: beef, mutton, salmonella, sterile

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Authors: Catarina Grande, Barbara Mota

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The main goal of the present study was to understand the impact of childhood cancer on the quality of life of survivors and the extent to which oncologic disease affects the functionality and participation of survivors at the present time, compared to the time of diagnosis. Six survivors of pediatric cancer participated in the study. Participants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview, adapted from two instruments present in the literature - QALY and QLACS - and piloted through a previous study. This study is based on a qualitative approach using content analysis, allowing the identification of categories and subcategories. Subsequently, the correspondence between the units of meaning and the codes in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health for Children and Young, which contributed to a more detailed analysis of the impact on the quality of life of survivors in relation to the domains under study. The results showed significant changes between the moment of diagnosis and the present moment, concretely at the microsystem of the survivor. Regarding functionality and participation, the results show that the functions of the body are the most affected domain, emphasizing the emotional component that currently has a greater impact on the quality of life of survivors. The present study allowed identifying a set of codes for the development of a CIF-CJ core set for pediatric cancer survivors. He also indicated the need for future studies to validate and deepen these issues.

Keywords: cancer, participation, quality of life, survivor

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Authors: Rossukhon Makaramani, Supanan Sittilerd, Wipada Prasarnsaph

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The study aimed to 1) examine management status of a Program in Education at the Faculty of Education, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University (SSRU); 2) determine main components, indicators and criteria for constructing quality assessment framework; 3) assess quality of a SSRU Program in Education; and 4) provide recommendations to promote academic excellence. The program to be assessed was Bachelor of Education Program in Education (5 years), Revised Version 2009. Population and samples were stakeholders involving implementation of this program during an academic year 2012. Results were: 1) Management status of the Program in Education showed that the Faculty of Education depicted good level (4.20) in the third cycle of external quality assessment by the Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment (ONESQA). There were 1,192 students enrolling in the program, divided into 5 major fields of study. There were 50 faculty members, 37 holding master’s degrees and 13 holding doctorate degrees. Their academic position consisted of 35 lecturers, 10 assistant professors, and 5 associate professors. For program management, there was a committee of 5 members for the program and also a committee of 4 or 5 members for each major field of study. Among the faculty members, 41 persons taught in this program. The ratio between faculty and student was 1:26. The result of 2013 internal quality assessment indicated that system and mechanism of the program development and management was at fair level. However, the overall result yielded good level either by criteria of the Office of Higher Education Commission (4.29) or the NESQA (4.37); 2) Framework for assessing the quality of the program consisted of 4 dimensions and 15 indicators; 3) Assessment of the program yielded Good level of quality (4.04); 4) Recommendations to promote academic excellence included management and development of the program focusing on teacher reform toward highly recognized profession; cultivation of values, moral, ethics, and spirits of being a teacher; construction of specialized programs; development of faculty potentials; enhancement of the demonstration school’s readiness level; and provision of dormitories for learning.

Keywords: quality assessment, education program, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, academic excellence

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Authors: Keiko Sakai

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In Japan, all stages of public education aim to foster a zest for life. ‘Zest’ implies solving problems by oneself, using acquired knowledge and skills. It is related to the self-regulation of metacognition. To enhance this, establishing good learning habits is important. Tardiness in undergraduate students should be examined based on self-regulation. Accordingly, we focussed on self-monitoring and self-planning strategies among self-regulated learning factors to examine the causes of tardiness. This study examines the impact of self-monitoring and self-planning learning skills on the degree and reason for tardiness in undergraduate students. A questionnaire survey was conducted, targeted to undergraduate students in University X in the autumn semester of 2018. Participants were 247 (average age 19.7, SD 1.9; 144 males, 101 females, 2 no answers). The survey contained the following items and measures: school year, the number of classes in the semester, degree of tardiness in the semester (subjective degree and objective times), active participation in and action toward schoolwork, self-planning and self-monitoring learning skills, and reason for tardiness (open-ended question). First, the relation between strategies and tardiness was examined by multiple regressions. A statistically significant relationship between a self-monitoring learning strategy and the degree of subjective and objective tardiness was revealed, after statistically controlling the school year and the number of classes. There was no significant relationship between a self-planning learning strategy and the degree of tardiness. These results suggest that self-monitoring skills reduce tardiness. Secondly, the relation between a self-monitoring learning strategy and the reason of tardiness was analysed, after classifying the reason for tardiness into one of seven categories: ‘overslept’, ‘illness’, ‘poor time management’, ‘traffic delays’, ‘carelessness’, ‘low motivation’, and ‘stuff to do’. Chi-square tests and Fisher’s exact tests showed a statistically significant relationship between a self-monitoring learning strategy and the frequency of ‘traffic delays’. This result implies that self-monitoring skills prevent tardiness because of traffic delays. Furthermore, there was a weak relationship between a self-monitoring learning strategy score and the reason-for-tardiness categories. When self-monitoring skill is higher, a decrease in ‘overslept’ and ‘illness’, and an increase in ‘poor time management’, ‘carelessness’, and ‘low motivation’ are indicated. It is suggested that a self-monitoring learning strategy is related to an internal causal attribution of failure and self-management for how to prevent tardiness. From these findings, the effectiveness of a self-monitoring learning skill strategy for reducing tardiness in undergraduate students is indicated.

Keywords: higher-education, self-monitoring, self-regulation, tardiness

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Authors: Piotr Tylec, Alicja Dudek, Grzegorz Torbicz, Magdalena Mizera, Natalia Gajewska, Michael Su, Tanawat Vongsurbchart, Tomasz Stefura, Magdalena Pisarska, Mateusz Rubinkiewicz, Piotr Malczak, Piotr Major, Michal Pedziwiatr

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Introduction: Quality of life after bariatric surgery is an important factor when evaluating the final result of the treatment. Considering the vast surgical options, we tried to globally compare available methods in terms of quality of following the surgery. The aim of the study is to compare the quality of life a year after bariatric intervention using network meta-analysis methods. Material and Methods: We performed a systematic review according to PRISMA guidelines with Bayesian network meta-analysis. Inclusion criteria were: studies comparing at least two methods of weight loss treatment of which at least one is surgical, assessment of the quality of life one year after surgery by validated questionnaires. Primary outcomes were quality of life one year after bariatric procedure. The following aspects of quality of life were analyzed: physical, emotional, general health, vitality, role physical, social, mental, and bodily pain. All questionnaires were standardized and pooled to a single scale. Lifestyle intervention was considered as a referenced point. Results: An initial reference search yielded 5636 articles. 18 studies were evaluated. In comparison of total score of quality of life, we observed that laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) (median (M): 3.606, Credible Interval 97.5% (CrI): 1.039; 6.191), laparoscopic Roux en-Y gastric by-pass (LRYGB) (M: 4.973, CrI: 2.627; 7.317) and open Roux en-Y gastric by-pass (RYGB) (M: 9.735, CrI: 6.708; 12.760) had better results than other bariatric intervention in relation to lifestyle interventions. In the analysis of the physical aspects of quality of life, we notice better results in LSG (M: 3.348, CrI: 0.548; 6.147) and in LRYGB procedure (M: 5.070, CrI: 2.896; 7.208) than control intervention, and worst results in open RYGB (M: -9.212, CrI: -11.610; -6.844). Analyzing emotional aspects, we found better results than control intervention in LSG, in LRYGB, in open RYGB, and laparoscopic gastric plication. In general health better results were in LSG (M: 9.144, CrI: 4.704; 13.470), in LRYGB (M: 6.451, CrI: 10.240; 13.830) and in single-anastomosis gastric by-pass (M: 8.671, CrI: 1.986; 15.310), and worst results in open RYGB (M: -4.048, CrI: -7.984; -0.305). In social and vital aspects of quality of life, better results were observed in LSG and LRYGB than control intervention. We did not find any differences between bariatric interventions in physical role, mental and bodily aspects of quality of life. Conclusion: The network meta-analysis revealed that better quality of life in total score one year after bariatric interventions were after LSG, LRYGB, open RYGB. In physical and general health aspects worst quality of life was in open RYGB procedure. Other interventions did not significantly affect the quality of life after a year compared to dietary intervention.

Keywords: bariatric surgery, network meta-analysis, quality of life, one year follow-up

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Authors: Chengalappa Seenappa, Narayanappa Devkumar, Narayanappa Nagaraja

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Mulberry leaf is the major economic component in sericulture and quality of leaf produced per unit area has a direct effect on quality of cocoon. Among all the agronomical inputs, irrigation water has highest impact on mulberry leaf quantity and quality. The water productivity in sericulture in the country is inadequate and inefficient though India has the largest irrigated area. There is a need of proper irrigation methods and conservation practices to ensure efficiency and economy in water use. Hence, this field experiment was conducted at College of Sericulture, Chintamani, Chickaballapur district, Karnataka, India during 2013 and 2014 to know the quantity, quality and water productivity of mulberry influenced by different methods, levels of irrigation and mulching in Eastern Dry Zone (EDZ) of Karnataka, India. The results revealed that the mulberry leaf quantity, quality and water productivity were significantly influenced by different methods, levels of irrigation and mulching. Subsurface drip irrigation at 0.8 CPE (Cumulative Pan Evaporation) recorded higher leaf yield, chlorophyll, relative water, protein content and water productivity (42857 kg ha-1 yr-1, 8.54, 65.80%, 22.27% and 364.41 kg hacm-1, respectively) than surface drip at 1.0 CPE (38809 kg ha-1 yr-1, 7.34, 62.76%, 17.75% and 264 10 kg hacm-1, respectively) and micro spray jet at 1.0 CPE (39931 kg ha-1 yr-1, 7.96, 63.50%, 19.00%, 35617 kg ha-1 yr-1 and 271.83 kg hacm-1, respectively). Mulching treatment recorded maximum leaf yield, chlorophyll, relative water, protein content and water productivity (38035 kg ha-1 yr-1, 7.12, 62.11%, 16.14% and 330 kg hacm-1, respectively) compared to without mulching. These results clearly indicated that subsurface drip irrigation at lower level of irrigation (0.8 CPE) and mulching increased the quantity, quality and water productivity of mulberry leaf than surface drip and micro spray jet irrigation at higher level of irrigation (1.0 CPE) by saving 20 per cent of water. Therefore, in the coming days subsurface drip irrigation in mulberry cultivation may be more appropriate to realise higher yield, quality and water productivity in EDZ of Karnataka, India.

Keywords: subsurface drip irrigation, mulching, water productivity, mulberry

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Authors: Maria Corazon Tapang-Lopez, Alyn Joy Dela Cruz Baltazar, Bobby Jones Villanueva Domdom

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The requisite for an organization implementing quality management system to sustain its compliance to the requirements and commitment for continuous improvement is even higher. It is expected that the offices and units has high and consistent compliance to the established processes and procedures. The Development Academy of the Philippines has been operating under project management to which is has a quality management certification. To further realize its mandate as a think-tank and capacity builder of the government, DAP expanded its operation and started to grant graduate degree through its Graduate School of Public and Development Management (GSPDM). As the academic arm of the Academy, GSPDM offers graduate degree programs on public management and productivity & quality aligned to the institutional trusts. For a time, the documented procedures and processes of a project management seem to fit the Graduate School. However, there has been a significant growth in the operations of the GSPDM in terms of the graduate programs offered that directly increase the number of students. There is an apparent necessity to align the project management system into a more educational system otherwise it will no longer be responsive to the development that are taking place. The strongly advocate and encourage its students to pursue internal and external improvement to cope up with the challenges of providing quality service to their own clients and to our country. If innovation will not take roots in the grounds of GSPDM, then how will it serve the purpose of “walking the talk”? This research was conducted to assess the diverse flow of the existing internal operations and processes of the DAP’s project management and GSPDM’s school management that will serve as basis to develop a system that will harmonize into one, the Learning Management System. The study documented the existing process of GSPDM following the project management phases of conceptualization & development, negotiation & contracting, mobilization, implementation, and closure into different flow charts of the key activities. The primary source of information as respondents were the different groups involved into the delivery of graduate programs - the executive, learning management team and administrative support offices. The Learning Management System (LMS) shall capture the unique and critical processes of the GSPDM as a degree-granting unit of the Academy. The LMS is the harmonized project management and school management system that shall serve as the standard system and procedure for all the programs within the GSPDM. The unique processes cover the three important areas of school management – student, curriculum, and faculty. The required processes of these main areas such as enrolment, course syllabus development, and faculty evaluation were appropriately placed within the phases of the project management system. Further, the research shall identify critical reports and generate manageable documents and records to ensure accuracy, consistency and reliable information. The researchers had an in-depth review of the DAP-GSDPM’s mandate, analyze the various documents, and conducted series of focused group discussions. A comprehensive review on flow chart system prior and various models of school management systems were made. Subsequently, the final output of the research is a work instructions manual that will be presented to the Academy’s Quality Management Council and eventually an additional scope for ISO certification. The manual shall include documented forms, iterative flow charts and program Gantt chart that will have a parallel development of automated systems.

Keywords: productivity, quality, learning management system, agency-based graduate school

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