The long-term effects of digital literacy programs for disadvantaged populations: analyzing participants’ perceptions

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Azi Lev-On ◽  
Nili Steinfeld ◽  
Hama Abu-Kishk ◽  
Sigal Pearl Naim

Purpose This study aims to examine the long-term effects of an Israeli digital literacy government program for disadvantaged populations, as they are perceived by participants of the program one year after completing the course. Design/methodology/approach Participants in the program were interviewed about the effects of participating in the program, their experiences and satisfaction, in retrospect, a year after they completed the program. Findings The main reasons for joining the program included cognitive motivations, mainly interest to become familiar with internet applications, followed by employment aspiration. Positive benefits from participation included accumulated knowledge, confidence in using technology, empowerment and enhanced sense of self-efficacy. Interviewees also reported that as they could not practice or communicate with instructors once they completed the program, a significant portion of the accumulated gains faded. Social implications Social and practical implications: Digital technologies constitute key infrastructure to facilitate public participation, as well as for gaining social, political and economic capital. Therefore, there is a significant social value in reducing digital inequality by increasing digital literacy of disadvantaged populations, i.e. citizens with low socioeconomic status and low digital literacy. This study sheds light on the benefits gained from such programs, as perceived by past participants. Originality/value While previous studies evaluating digital literacy programs focus on specific technical improvements and short-term gains, this study investigates the long-term effects and shortcomings of the program as perceived by participants.

Facilities ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pia Sirola ◽  
Annu Haapakangas ◽  
Marjaana Lahtinen ◽  
Virpi Ruohomäki

Purpose The purpose of this case study is to investigate how the personnel in an organization experienced the process of change when moving from private offices to an activity-based office (ABO) and how their perceptions of change were associated with changes in their satisfaction with the work environment a year after relocation. Design/methodology/approach A comparative pre-post study design and mixed methods were used. Survey data was obtained from 154 employees before the relocation and 146 after the relocation. The data on the 105 employees who responded to both surveys were statistically analyzed. Representatives of different units were interviewed (n = 17) and documentary material was analyzed as complementary material. Findings The personnel’s criticisms concerned the reasons for the change, their opportunities to influence the office design and the extent to which their views were taken into account. Environmental satisfaction decreased after moving to the ABO. The personnel’s ratings of the workplace change process before the relocation were associated with the later change in environmental satisfaction. Based on logistic regression, the degree of agreement with management’s reasons for the change was the strongest predictor of the change in environmental satisfaction. Practical implications Organizations that move from private offices to an ABO should invest in high-quality change management and simultaneously develop both work and facilities. Special attention should be paid to clarifying the rationale for the change to the employees and to providing them with opportunities to influence during the change. Organizations should continue to monitor user experiences and evaluate the effects of the change after the office redesign and should take corrective action as needed. Originality/value This empirical case study is unique as it combined qualitative and quantitative methods and investigated the process of relocation and its outcomes in a one-year follow-up. This approach captured the importance of managing change and assessing the long-term effects of office redesign when moving from private offices to an ABO.


2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoling Li ◽  
Xingyao Ren ◽  
Xu Zheng

Purpose – This paper aimed to analyze the short- and long-term effects of the breadth and depth of seller competition on the performance of platform companies, and investigated the underlying mechanisms of customers’ two-sided marketing tactics on the structure of the competition between sellers. Design/methodology/approach – A longitudinal research design was adopted by gathering daily market objective data on e-commerce platforms for 250 days, and the dynamic evolution effects was analyzed by using a vector autoregression model which compared the differences between the short- and long-term effectiveness of different customer relationship management (CRM) strategies. Findings – The breadth of competition amongst sellers improves the performance of platforms, whilst the depth of competition among sellers has a positive effect on the short-term performance. However, it has a negative effect on the long-term performance of their platforms. In both the short and long terms, advertising tactics that attract new buyers contribute more to increases in the breadth of seller competition than those that attract existing buyers do. Subsidies for new sellers decrease the depth of seller competition more than those for old sellers. Research limitations/implications – Further research could be undertaken to investigate the validity of marketing tactics other than advertising tactics, and thus expand the time windows of the available data. Practical implications – It is imperative for platform companies to implement effective control over seller competition to balance the interests of the sellers and of themselves. Originality/value – The dyadic paradigm of CRM research has been extended by considering the perspective of the electronic platform company, how the tactics of exploitation and exploration of two-sided customers impact upon seller competitive structures have been delved into and why new customers have a unique value to platform companies has been identified.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sviatlana Engerstam

PurposeThis study examines the long term effects of macroeconomic fundamentals on apartment price dynamics in major metropolitan areas in Sweden and Germany.Design/methodology/approachThe main approach is panel cointegration analysis that allows to overcome certain data restrictions such as spatial heterogeneity, cross-sectional dependence, and non-stationary, but cointegrated data. The Swedish dataset includes three cities over a period of 23 years, while the German dataset includes seven cities for 29 years. Analysis of apartment price dynamics include population, disposable income, mortgage interest rate, and apartment stock as underlying macroeconomic variables in the model.FindingsThe empirical results indicate that apartment prices react more strongly on changes in fundamental factors in major Swedish cities than in German ones despite quite similar development of these macroeconomic variables in the long run in both countries. On one hand, overreactions in apartment price dynamics might be considered as the evidence of the price bubble building in Sweden. On the other hand, these two countries differ in institutional arrangements of the housing markets, and these differences might contribute to the size of apartment price elasticities from changes in fundamentals. These arrangements include various banking sector policies, such as mortgage financing and valuation approaches, as well as different government regulations of the housing market as, for example, rent control.Originality/valueIn distinction to the previous studies carried out on Swedish and German data for single-family houses, this study focuses on the apartment segment of the market and examines apartment price elasticities from a long term perspective. In addition, the results from this study highlight the differences between the two countries at the city level in an integrated long run equilibrium framework.


Stroke ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Belkin ◽  
Alexander S Fairman ◽  
Benjamin M Jackson ◽  
Paul J Foley ◽  
Scott M Damrauer ◽  
...  

Introduction: Current evidence suggests that dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) reduces perioperative stroke, but increases bleeding after carotid endarterectomy (CEA). The long term effects of antiplatelet therapy after CEA have yet to be studied. Methods: A retrospective review of patients undergoing CEA in the national Vascular Quality Initiative database (2003-2018) was performed. Based on antiplatelet regimen at discharge, patients were propensity score matched on aspirin monotherapy vs. DAPT. Multivariable logistic regression and Kaplan-Meier analyses were used to investigate the long term effects of antiplatelet regimen on mortality and stroke/TIA. Results: Of the 72,122 patients undergoing CEA, 64.6% were discharged on aspirin, and 35.4% on DAPT. The DAPT group had higher frequencies of comorbidities (COPD, HTN, CHF, smoking, diabetes) as well as atherosclerotic diseases (PAD, CAD, prior PCI, prior CABG). After propensity score matching, two groups of 8,722 patients with comparable comorbidities were formed. While unmatched Kaplan-Meier analysis showed the DAPT cohort to have higher mortality (p=0.001), this difference dissipated after matching. The resultant matched DAPT cohort did not differ from the aspirin group in one year stroke/TIA (1.7% vs. 1.6%, p=0.70), or mortality (3.1% vs. 3.3%, p=0.55). At 5 years, however, patients treated with DAPT did exhibit a mortality benefit (6.4% vs. 7.3%, p=0.02) with multivariable logistic regression identifying DAPT as an independent predictor of reduced mortality (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.88-0.99, p=0.04). Conclusions: Patients discharged on DAPT after CEA represent a significantly different cohort than those discharged on aspirin monotherapy. After propensity score matching, there was no difference at one year stroke/TIA or mortality outcomes, but DAPT was found to be protective against long-term mortality. Further study is warranted to investigate this finding.


Circulation ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (Suppl_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasiliki Gardikioti ◽  
Dimitrios Terentes-printzios ◽  
Konstantinos Aznaouridis ◽  
George Latsios ◽  
Gerasimos Siasos ◽  
...  

Introduction: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is a procedure that alters dramatically the hemodynamics in patients with severe aortic valve stenosis who undergo this procedure. Hypothesis: We investigated the hypothesis that arterial properties and hemodynamics are affected immediately after TAVI as well as in the long-term. Methods: We enrolled 90 patients (mean age 80.2 ± 8.1 years, 50% males) with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis undergoing TAVI. Carotid-femoral and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (cfPWV and baPWV) were used for the assessment of arterial stiffness. Augmentation index corrected for heart rate (AIx@75) and subendocardial viability ratio (SEVR) were measured non-invasively. Measurements were conducted at baseline, after the procedure (during hospitalization) and at 1 year. Results: Acutely after TAVI we observed a statistically significant increase in arterial stiffness (7.5 ± 1.5 m/s vs 8.4 ± 1.9 m/s, p=0.001 for cfPWV and 1,773 ± 459 cm/s vs 2,383 ± 645 cm/s, p<0.001 for baPWV) without a concomitant change in systolic blood pressure (Figure). One year later, arterial stiffness was still increased compared to pre-TAVI measurements (7.5 ± 1.5 m/s vs 8.7 ± 1.7 m/s, p<0.001 for cfPWV and 1,773 ± 459 cm/s vs 2,286 ± 575 cm/s, p<0.001 for baPWV). We also found a decrease in AIx@75 (32.2 ± 12.9 % vs 27.9± 8.4 %, p=0.016) after TAVI that was attenuated at 1-year follow-up (32.2 ± 12.9 % vs 29.8± 9.1 %, p=0.38). SEVR displayed an increase acutely after TAVI (131.2 ± 30.0 % vs 148.4± 36.1 %, p=0.002) and remained improved 1 year after the procedure (131.2 ± 30.0 % vs 146± 32.2 %, p=0.01). Conclusions: In conclusion, shortly after TAVI the aorta exhibits a "stiffer" behavior in response to the acute change in hemodynamics, which settles in the long term. Our findings further elucidate the hemodynamic consequences of TAVI and may entail a prognostic role in this growing population.


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Rioja ◽  
Fernando Rios-Avila ◽  
Neven Valev

Purpose – While the literature studying the effect of banking crises on real output growth rates has found short-lived effects, recent work has focused on the level effects showing that banking crises can reduce output below its trend for several years. This paper aims to investigate the effect of banking crises on investment finding a prolonged negative effect. Design/methodology/approach – The authors test to see whether investment declines after a banking crisis and, if it does, for how long and by how much. The paper uses data for 148 countries from 1963 to 2007. Econometrically, the authors test how banking crises episodes affect investment in future years after controlling for other potential determinants. Findings – The authors find that the investment to GDP ratio is on average about 1.7 percent lower for about eight years following a banking crisis. These results are robust after controlling for credit availability, institutional characteristics, and a host of other factors. Furthermore, the authors find that the size and duration of this adverse effect on investment varies according to the level of financial development of a country. The largest and longer-lasting decrease in investment is found in countries in a middle region of financial development, where finance plays its most important role according to theory. Originality/value – The authors contribute by finding that banking crisis can have long-term effects on investment of up to nine years. Further, the authors contribute by finding that the level of development of the country's financial markets affects the duration of this decrease in investment.


2001 ◽  
Vol 90 (02) ◽  
pp. 63-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Walach ◽  
T Lowes ◽  
D Mussbach ◽  
U Schamell ◽  
W Springer ◽  
...  

AbstractLittle is known about long-term effects of homeopathic treatment. Following a double-blind, placebo controlled trial of classical homeopathy in chronic headaches, we conducted a 1-year observational study of 18 patients following the double-blind phase, and a complete follow-up study of all trial participants. Eighteen patients received free treatment for daily diary data (frequency, intensity, duration of headaches) over the course of 1 y. All patients enrolled in the double-blind study were sent a 6-week headache diary, a follow-up questionnaire, a personality inventory and a complaint list. Eighty-seven, of the original 98 patients enrolled returned questionnaires, 81 returned diaries. There was no additional change from the end of the trial to the one-year follow-up. The improvement seen at the end of the 12-week trial was stable after 1 y. No differential effects according to treatment after the trial could be seen. Patients with no treatment following the trial had the most improvement after 1 y. Five of 18 patients can be counted responders according to ARIMA analysis of single-case time-series. Patients with double diagnoses and longer treatment duration tended to have clearer improvements than the rest of the patients. Approximately 30% of patients in homeopathic treatment will benefit after 1 y of treatment. There is no indication of a specific, or of a delayed effect of homeopathy.


Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Igor Dekemati ◽  
Barbara Simon ◽  
Igor Bogunovic ◽  
Ivica Kisic ◽  
Katalin Kassai ◽  
...  

In addition to the dry (D) and rainy (R) seasons, a combination of the two i.e., rainy-dry (RD) and dry-rainy (DR), can also be observed in one year. The effects of the dry (D) and rainy (R) on soil are known, hence we hypothesized that the effects of the rainy-dry (RD) and dry-rainy (DR) periods on soil may differ from the former assessments. The aim of the study is to investigate the effect of six tillage treatments (ploughing—P, disk tillage—DT, loosening—L, tine tillage (a deeper—T and a shallower—ST) and no-till—NT) on earthworm abundance and crumb ratio during a long-term research (16 years) on Chernozems. The results related to the four year-groups (D, R, RD, and DR) with different residue cover. Seven degrees of cover ratio (between 12.5% and 62.5%) were selected on stubbles. Higher cover ratio (≥52.5%) improved water conservation, increased earthworm abundance (31 and 41 ind m–2) and crumb (78 and 82%) ratio (p < 0.01). R year came first in the rank of water content and earthworm abundance and DR proved to be more favorable for crumb formation. Considering the rank of soil tillage treatments, ST takes first place in evaluation of soil water content (SWC) and crumb ratio, and NT for earthworm abundance.


Significance A fiscal crunch exacerbated by the pandemic and associated oil-price crash has forced the authorities to step up long-term ‘Omanisation’ efforts, ultimately taking pressure off the bloated public sector wage bill. This comes as Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, one year into his reign, launches a raft of new political, military and economic initiatives. Impacts Oman will remain compliant with OPEC+ oil production cuts. The sultanate will boost output at its competitive giant Ghazeer and Khazzan gas fields in Block 61 to benefit from high prices. Muscat will prioritise agriculture, fisheries and logistics for non-oil growth but struggle to secure project financing post-pandemic.


2019 ◽  
Vol 85 (23) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gizem Levent ◽  
Ashlynn Schlochtermeier ◽  
Samuel E. Ives ◽  
Keri N. Norman ◽  
Sara D. Lawhon ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Antibiotic use in cattle can select for multidrug-resistant Salmonella enterica, which is considered a serious threat by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A randomized controlled longitudinal field trial was designed to determine the long-term effects of a single dose of ceftiofur or tulathromycin on Salmonella population characteristics in cattle feces and peripheral lymph nodes and on hides. A total of 134 beef cattle from two sources were divided among 12 pens, with cattle in each of the 3-pen blocks receiving a single dose of either ceftiofur or tulathromycin or neither (control) on day 0. Fecal samples were collected before treatment (day 0) and repeatedly following treatment until slaughter (day 99+). Hide and lymph node samples were collected at slaughter age. Salmonella prevalence, phenotypic antimicrobial resistance, serotype, and phylogenetic relationships were examined. Multilevel mixed logistic regression models indicated no significant effects (P ≥ 0.218) of metaphylactic antibiotics on the prevalence of Salmonella across sample types. However, there was a significant time effect observed, with prevalence increasing from spring through the midsummer months (P < 0.0001) in feces. The majority of Salmonella isolates were pansusceptible to a panel of 14 antibiotics both before and after treatment. Highly prevalent Salmonella serotypes were Salmonella enterica serovar Montevideo, Salmonella enterica serovar Anatum, Salmonella enterica serovar Cerro, and Salmonella enterica serovar Lubbock across all sample types. Strong pen and cattle source serotype clustering effects were observed among Salmonella isolates originating from fecal, lymph node, and hide samples; however, the potential role of Salmonella isolates from the pen environment prior to animal placement was not assessed in this study. IMPORTANCE Salmonella is a leading bacterial foodborne pathogen, causing a significant number of human infections and deaths every year in the United States. Macrolides and 3rd-generation cephalosporins play critical roles in the treatment of human salmonellosis. Use of these antibiotics in beef cattle can select for resistant bacteria that may enter the food chain or spread from the farm via manure. There is a lack of longitudinal research concerning the long-term effects of metaphylactic antibiotic administration. Here, we assessed Salmonella population dynamics during the feeding period until slaughter following single-dose antibiotic treatment. We found no long-term effects of antibiotic use early in the cattle-feeding period on Salmonella prevalence and antimicrobial resistance at slaughter. We identified the pens in which cattle were housed as the factor that contributed most to Salmonella serotypes being shared; importantly, the dominant strain in each pen changed repeatedly over the entire feeding period.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document