Usability of India’s government statistics1

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Vikas Kumar
Keyword(s):  
National Sample ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Sample Surveys ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Jammu And Kashmir ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Government Statistics

The quality of metadata is a crucial determinant of usability/interpretability of data. This paper draws attention to the poor quality of India’s government statistics and the paucity of metadata necessary to understand the problems. The paper suggests that there has been a decline in India both in terms of the availability and quality of metadata for key government sources of information including maps, decennial population censuses and National Sample Surveys amidst growing sophistication in the understanding of metadata. The poor quality of metadata impairs cross-sectional as well as inter-temporal comparisons and policymaking apart from concealing biases and lapses of government statisticians. The paper draws on the experience of three states – erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur and Nagaland – where government statistics have been affected by serious errors that are not well-understood due to the lack of adequate metadata.

An experience of performing spirometry by trained general practitioners

2020 ◽  
pp. 34-36
Author(s):  
M. A. Pokhaznikova ◽  
E. A. Andreeva ◽  
O. Yu. Kuznetsova
Keyword(s):  
General Practitioners ◽  
Quality Criteria ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Male Gender ◽  
Study Research ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Quality Of Research ◽  
Forced Expiratory Maneuver ◽  
Maximal Effort

The article discusses the experience of teaching and conducting spirometry of general practitioners as part of the RESPECT study (RESearch on the PrEvalence and the diagnosis of COPD and its Tobacco-related aetiology). A total of 33 trained in spirometry general practitioners performed a study of 3119 patients. Quality criteria met 84.1% of spirometric studies. The analysis of the most common mistakes made by doctors during the forced expiratory maneuver is included. The most frequent errors were expiration exhalation of less than 6s (54%), non-maximal effort throughout the test and lack of reproducibility (11.3%). Independent predictors of poor spirogram quality were male gender, obstruction (FEV1 /FVC<0.7), and the center where the study was performed. The number of good-quality spirograms ranged from 96.1% (95% CI 83.2–110.4) to 59.8% (95% CI 49.6–71.4) depending on the center. Subsequently, an analysis of the reasons behind the poor quality of research in individual centers was conducted and the identified shortcomings were eliminated. The poor quality of the spirograms was associated either with the errors of the doctors who undertook the study or with the technical malfunctions of the spirometer.

Supply Chain Integration: Establish the Appropriate Challenges in Improving Integrated SC in an Innovative Approach of IBS

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ani Saifuza Abd Shukor ◽  
Muhammad Fadhil Muhammad ◽  
Shamsida Saidan Khaderi ◽  
Faridah Muhammad Halil
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
System Integration ◽  
Publishing House ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Supply Chain Integration ◽  
Project Environment ◽  
The Poor ◽  
International Publishing

The shift to an integrated IBS construction approach requires enhanced supply chain integration to improve the productivity as well as the poor quality of human behavioual aspect in IBS project. This paper is to identify the challenges at each tier between players to facilitate supply chain integration among the IBS players. Findings adopted from semi-structured interview revealed the critical attitude issues of human factors, lack of interaction and sharing knowledge between interdisciplinary people. The findings of this study is useful to improve integration of supply chain and enhance innovation and sharing interaction between players in the IBS Malaysian construction project environment.© 2016. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.Keywords: Construction Environment; Industrialised Building System; Integration and Supply Chain 

scholarly journals Examining Australian’s beliefs, misconceptions and sources of information for COVID-19: a national online survey

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. e043421
Author(s):  
Rae Thomas ◽  
Hannah Greenwood ◽  
Zoe A Michaleff ◽  
Eman Abukmail ◽  
Tammy C Hoffmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Health Behaviours ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Commercial Television ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Public Health Strategies

ObjectivePublic cooperation to practise preventive health behaviours is essential to manage the transmission of infectious diseases such as COVID-19. We aimed to investigate beliefs about COVID-19 diagnosis, transmission and prevention that have the potential to impact the uptake of recommended public health strategies.DesignAn online cross-sectional survey.ParticipantsA national sample of 1500 Australian adults with representative quotas for age and gender provided by an online panel provider.Main outcome measureProportion of participants with correct/incorrect knowledge of COVID-19 preventive behaviours and reasons for misconceptions.ResultsOf the 1802 potential participants contacted, 289 did not qualify, 13 declined and 1500 participated in the survey (response rate 83%). Most participants correctly identified ‘washing your hands regularly with soap and water’ (92%) and ‘staying at least 1.5 m away from others’ (90%) could help prevent COVID-19. Over 40% (incorrectly) considered wearing gloves outside of the home would prevent them from contracting COVID-19. Views about face masks were divided. Only 66% of participants correctly identified that ‘regular use of antibiotics’ would not prevent COVID-19.Most participants (90%) identified ‘fever, fatigue and cough’ as indicators of COVID-19. However, 42% of participants thought that being unable to ‘hold your breath for 10 s without coughing’ was an indicator of having the virus. The most frequently reported sources of COVID-19 information were commercial television channels (56%), the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (43%) and the Australian Government COVID-19 information app (31%).ConclusionsPublic messaging about hand hygiene and physical distancing to prevent transmission appears to have been effective. However, there are clear, identified barriers for many individuals that have the potential to impede uptake or maintenance of these behaviours in the long term. We need to develop public health messages that harness these barriers to improve future cooperation. Ensuring adherence to these interventions is critical.

Numerical Analysis of Masonry under Compression via Micro-Model

2011 ◽  
Vol 243-249 ◽  
pp. 1360-1365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Rong Lü ◽  
Meng Wang ◽  
Xi Jun Liu
Keyword(s):  
Joint Strength ◽  
Ultimate Load ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Micro Model ◽  
Element Analysis ◽  
Mortar Joint ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Finite Element Analysis ◽  
Brick And Mortar

The micro-model, which the brick and the mortar model are separated, is used to analyze masonry. Meanwhile, the mortar is divided into three layers along the thickness direction to obtain the internal mechanical behavior of mortar, and the vertical mortar joint strength is taken as 50% strength of the horizontal mortar joint for considering the poor quality of vertical mortar joint. The compressive ultimate load and failure mode of masonry taken from the finite element analysis result, especially the vertical cracks throughout all bricks and mortar and change of brick and mortar strain, are in agreement with the experimental results. It shows that the micro-model and method adopted in paper are able to effectively apply in nonlinear structural analysis for masonry.

A ‘Galilean’ science of language

2014 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 671-704 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHRISTINA BEHME
Keyword(s):  
Language Evolution ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Child Psychology ◽  
Scientific Work ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
Basic Understanding ◽  
Sixth Decade

The Science of Language, published in the sixth decade of Noam Chomsky's linguistic career, defends views that are visibly out of touch with recent research in formal linguistics, developmental child psychology, computational modeling of language acquisition, and language evolution. I argue that the poor quality of this volume is representative of the serious shortcomings of Chomsky's recent scholarship, especially of his criticism of and contribution to debates about language evolution. Chomsky creates the impression that he is quoting titbits of a massive body of scientific work he has conducted or is intimately familiar with. Yet his speculations reveal a lack of even basic understanding of biology, and an unwillingness to engage seriously with the relevant literature. At the same time, he ridicules the work of virtually all other theorists, without spelling out the views he disagrees with. A critical analysis of the ‘Galilean method’ demonstrates that Chomsky uses appeal to authority to insulate his own proposals against falsification by empirical counter-evidence. This form of discourse bears no serious relation to the way science proceeds.

scholarly journals Quality Assessment of Some Essential Children’s Medicines Sold in Licensed Outlets in Ashanti Region, Ghana

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grace Frimpong ◽  
Kwabena Ofori-Kwakye ◽  
Noble Kuntworbe ◽  
Kwame Ohene Buabeng ◽  
Yaa Asantewaa Osei ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Evaluation ◽  
Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Ashanti Region ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Medicine Outlets ◽  
Children’S Medicines

The quality of 68 samples of 15 different essential children’s medicines sold in licensed medicine outlets in the Ashanti Region, Ghana, was evaluated. Thirty-two (47.1%) of the medicines were imported, mainly from India (65.6%) and the United Kingdom (28.1%), while 36 (52.9%) were locally manufactured. The quality of the medicines was assessed using content of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), pH, and microbial limit tests, and the results were compared with pharmacopoeial standards. Twenty-six (38.2%) of the samples studied passed the official content of API test while 42 (61.8%) failed. Forty-nine (72.1%) of the samples were compliant with official specifications for pH while 19 (27.9%) were noncompliant. Sixty-six (97.1%) samples passed the microbial load and content test while 2 (2.9%) failed. Eighteen (26.5%) samples passed all the three quality evaluation tests, while one (1.5%) sample (CFX1) failed all the tests. All the amoxicillin suspensions tested passed the three evaluation tests. All the ciprofloxacin, cotrimoxazole, flucloxacillin, artemether-lumefantrine, multivitamin, and folic acid samples failed the content of API test and are substandard. The overall API failure rate for imported products (59.4%) was comparable to locally manufactured (63.9%) samples. The results highlight the poor quality of the children’s medicines studied and underscore the need for regular pharmacovigilance and surveillance systems to fight this menace.

scholarly journals Assessing the Quality of Patient Information for Cholesteatoma on the Video Sharing Platform YouTube

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rithvik Reddy ◽  
Horace Cheng ◽  
Nicholas Jufas ◽  
Nirmal Patel
Keyword(s):  
Video Quality ◽  
Scoring Systems ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Kappa Score ◽  
Good Reliability ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Youtube Videos ◽  
Scoring Tool

Objectives: The objective of this study is to assess quality of the most popular cholesteatoma videos on YouTube using recognized scoring systems and to determine if video quality metrics correlated with video popularity based on likes and views Design: Cross sectional survey of available data Setting: Metadata acquisition using YouTube searches using Australian IP addresses Participants: Three independent neuro-otologists partaking in scoring videos Main outcome measures: Each video was viewed and scored by three independent assessors using both a novel tool to score the usefulness of the video as well as the validated DISCERN scoring tool. Popularity metrics were analyzed and compared to video popularity. Results: A total of 90 YouTube videos were analyzed with an average 55,292 views per video with an average of 271 likes and 22 dislikes. The inter-rater correlation was moderate with Fleiss-kappa score 0.42 [P < 0.01] using a novel scoring tool for cholesteatoma and inter-rater correlation coefficient was 0.78 [95% CI = 0.58 - 0.90] indicating good reliability for DISCERN scores. The overall video quality was poor with higher DISCERN scores found in videos uploaded from Academic Institutions. Conclusions: Informative video quality on YouTube on cholesteatoma is overall of poor quality. Videos with unclassified sources or more dislikes correlated poorly with video quality. Given the increase in patients turning to the internet for information regarding their health conditions, otology and otolaryngology societies should be encouraged to publish high quality YouTube videos on cholesteatoma and other ear conditions.

scholarly journals The Madrasa in Indonesia (Authority, Knowledge and Discourse Surrounding its Development)

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 231
Author(s):  
Syamsul Kurniawan ◽  
Muhammad Miftah
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Educational Institution ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
West Kalimantan ◽  
National Education ◽  
The Public ◽  
Sociological Approach ◽  
The Poor ◽  
National Education System

<p class="06IsiAbstrak"> </p><p class="06IsiAbstrak">The focus of this paper is the madrasa in Indonesia and its development which is examined from the perspective of Michel Foucault regarding their authority, knowledge and discourse.<strong> </strong>The madrasa’s performance, which is still relatively low and unable to compete with public schools or pesantrens (Islamic Boarding Schools), will be examined from this perspective. This paper departs from the study of literature with a historical-sociological approach. The sources of the data come from the literature related to the history and development of madrasas. From Foucoult's perspective, the performance of the madrasa--which in its development shows a decline trend and is of relatively low quality and less competitive compared with general schools or pesantrens-- is closely related to power, knowledge and discourse factors. My argument is supported by the evidence that there is no an established “blueprint” for the supervision and development of madrasas in Indonesia, in contrast to schools or pesantrens. Likewise, the problem of interplay of madrasa policies in the integration of the national education system has put the madrasa in the midst of domination of schools and pesantrens, especially in the midst of society since the appreciation and level of community participation in the madrasa are not very encouraging. In addition, there is an opinion among the public which perceives the madrasa as the second educational institution after schools or pesantrens. This opinion is, of course, supported by empirical data, such as research from Nur Hamzah (2017) and Sukino (2017) which examined the madrasas in West Kalimantan Province, and revealed the poor quality of some madrasas in this area, which in my opinion is the "top of the iceberg" of the madrasa, especially in the outermost, interior and underdeveloped areas of Indonesia.</p>

scholarly journals Poor Physical Capacity in Bronchiectasis Patients Is Correlated with Poor Quality of Life

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jarkko Mäntylä ◽  
Tanja Törölä ◽  
Witold Mazur ◽  
Paula Bergman ◽  
Paula Kauppi
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Risk Factors ◽  
Disease Severity ◽  
Bacterial Colonization ◽  
Severe Disease ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Physical Capacity ◽  
Bacterial Colonisation ◽  
Cross Sectional

Abstract BackgroundTo study the risk factors associated with quality of life (QoL) in a cohort of Finnish non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (BE) patients. We aimed to evaluate which of the clinical characteristics were risk factors for poor quality of life, how patients with frequent exacerbations differed from those with only few exacerbations and if QoL symptom domains were correlated with dyspnoea or severity of BE.MethodsA cross-sectional study and part of the EMBARC study including questionnaire data and medical record data. Study participants were recruited between August 2016 and March 2018 from three different pulmonary clinics in Helsinki University Central Hospital (HUH) catchment area, Finland. The study included 95 adult patients with (mean age was 69 (SD± 13) years).A Finnish translation of the disease-specific quality of life-bronchiectasis (QoL-B) questionnaire was applied, and scores in the lowest quarter (25%) of the scale were considered to indicate poor QoL. The bronchiectasis severity index (BSI) and FACED (including FEV1, age, pulmonary bacterial colonization, affected lobes and dyspnoea) score were used. The severity of dyspnoea was examined using the modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) dyspnoea scale.ResultsAlmost all (82%) presented with chronic sputum production and exacerbations, with a median rate of 1.7 (SD ±1.6). Exacerbations (OR 1.7, p < 0.01), frequent exacerbations (OR 4.9, p < 0.01), high BSI score (OR 1.3, p < 0.01) and extensive disease (OR 3.7, p = 0.05) were predictive of poor QoL. Frequent exacerbations were associated with bronchial bacterial colonisation, low forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and radiological disease severity. Based on the BSI, 34.1% of our cohort had severe disease, whereas 11.6% were classified as severe according to the FACED score. The mMRC dyspnoea score (r = -0.57) and BSI (r = -0.60) were negatively correlated with physical domain in QoL-B questionnaire. ConclusionFrequent exacerbations, radiological disease severity and high BSI score were predictive of poor QoL. Reduced physical capacity was correlated with dyspnoea and severity of disease. Interventions to reduce bacterial colonisation and to maintain physical functioning should be used to minimize exacerbations and to improve quality of life in BE patients.Study registrationUniversity of Helsinki, faculty of medicine; 148/16.08.2017

Poor quality of life in Australian men: Cross-sectional associations with obesity, mobility, lifestyle and psychiatric symptoms

Maturitas ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 103 ◽  
pp. 32-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon L. Brennan-Olsen ◽  
Julie A. Pasco ◽  
Sarah M. Hosking ◽  
Amelia G. Dobbins ◽  
Lana J. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Psychiatric Symptoms ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Cross Sectional
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