scholarly journals Monitoring Consumer Purchasing Behavior for Wood Furniture before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 873
Author(s):  
Andreja Pirc Barčić ◽  
Manja Kitek Kuzman ◽  
Tihana Vergot ◽  
Petra Grošelj
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Economic Factors ◽  
Purchasing Behavior ◽  
Future Design ◽  
Furniture Manufacturing ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Information Research ◽  
Wood Furniture ◽  
Buying Behaviors

Monitoring consumer buying behaviors in terms of their preferences and attitudes has been known as an important driver for the success and development of various industries, including a wood furniture manufacturing. The aim of this study was to identify and compare the purchasing behaviors of furniture consumers in the period before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two surveys were conducted in Croatia, the first in April and May 2020 with the assumption that consumer purchasing behaviors will change during the COVID-19 pandemic in the following year and the second one during March 2021. Differences regarding consumer purchasing behaviors and preferences for wood furniture between respondents regarding demographic and economic factors before and during the pandemic were found. The coronavirus pandemic is teaching us all hard lessons about resilience and adaptability, and new opportunities and solutions are essential. Nowadays, it is becoming increasingly important to produce information. Research offers insights into future design and building communication to better meet the information needs of different types of consumers and to more broadly increase the acceptance and appeal of wood furniture in society in the spirit of sustainable and bio-based circular economy.

A Strategy for Design of Marine Pollution Monitoring Studies

1986 ◽  
Vol 18 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 15-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Segar ◽  
E. Stamman
Keyword(s):  
Information Needs ◽  
Marine Pollution ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Pollution Monitoring ◽  
Systematic Evaluation ◽  
Management Information ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Management Context ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Scientific Testing

Most historical marine pollution monitoring has proven useless in a management context. A strategy for development of effective marine pollution monitoring programs is outlined. This strategy is based on the following steps: 1) systematic evaluation of the management information needs, 2) identification of the hypothetical impacts associated with those management concerns, and 3) investigation of the feasibility of monitoring those effects such that the existence, or absence, of a specified level of effects can be established in a statistically-valid manner. There are two fundamentally different types of monitoring program: site-specific and regional. These two types of program differ markedly in scope and approach when designed through application of this strategy. The strategy requires development of null hypotheses which address management concerns and which are amenable to scientific testing. In order for the program to be successful, the null hypotheses selected for inclusion in a marine pollution monitoring program must address levels of effect which are predefined to be environmentally significant. The definition of environmentally significant effect levels is a difficult process which must be primarily the responsibility of the managerial community.

scholarly journals Respiratory Tract Problems among Wood Furniture Manufacturing Factory Workers in the Northeast of Thailand

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Soongkhang ◽  
W. Laohasiriwong
Keyword(s):  
Respiratory Symptoms ◽  
Dust Exposure ◽  
Wood Dust ◽  
P Value ◽  
Factory Workers ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Furniture Manufacturing ◽  
Reduce Lung Function ◽  
Medium Level ◽  
Wood Furniture

Background Wood furniture manufacturing factory workers are at high risk of exposure to wood dust in wood working processes. Wood dust exposure could cause respiratory symptoms, such as reduce lung function, chronic bronchitis, and asthma. The Northeast region of Thailand has many wood furniture manufacturing factories. However, limited studies were carried out to explore the effect of wood dust exposure on workers.Objective This study aimed to assess the respiratory symptoms and determine factors associated with these symptoms among wood furniture manufacturing factory workers.Method This cross-sectional analytical research used a multistage random sampling to select 511 workers from three provinces in the Northeast of Thailand. The data was collected using a structured questionnaire interview. The content validity of questionnaire was tested by 3 experts and had a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.82. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regressions.Result The result indicated that 29.94% of these workers had respiratory symptoms, including coughing(18.79%), nasal secretion (15.66%), and stuffy nose (15.07%). Factors that were significantly associated with respiratory symptoms (p–value<0.05) were (a) not always wearing mask (adjusted OR=2.26;95% CI=1.37-3.72), (b) low to medium level of knowledge on dust prevention (adjusted OR=1.83;95% CI=1.23- 2.73) and (c) contacted softwood dust (adjusted OR=1.97;95% CI= 1.06-3.64).Conclusion About 30% of wood furniture manufacturing factory workers had respiratory symptoms with related to both personal preventive behaviors and their working environments. Therefore, the raising awareness for using personal protective equipment during work will help them to prevent from various respiratory track problems.

Modeling Personas for Older Adults with Heart Failure

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 1072-1076 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard J. Holden ◽  
Pushkar Joshi ◽  
Kartik Rao ◽  
Anagha Varrier ◽  
Carly N. Daley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Failure ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Self Care ◽  
Chronically Ill ◽  
User Centered Design ◽  
Future Design ◽  
Patients With Heart Failure ◽  
Design Activities ◽  
Key Dimensions

In the early stages of the design process, designers often benefit from the use of personas, or archetypes of target users presented in a vivid way to highlight design-relevant characteristics. In the growing efforts to create health information technology (HIT) for older adults, empirically derived personas could help orchestrate more user-centered design activities. However, there is a lack of ready-to-use personas for older adult HIT users and more so for those designing in specific domains such as heart failure self-care. This paper presents personas of older adults derived from qualitative analysis of interviews with 24 older patients with heart failure. Analyses unearthed key dimensions distinguishing patients based on their dispositions towards the self-management of their chronic condition, including locus of control, relationship with the health/support system, information needs, and activities of self-care. Two personas are presented: Direction Follower and Researcher, with subtypes for the latter codified as Investigator and Explorer. Our work contributes to future design of systems including HIT to support chronically ill older adults.

scholarly journals Phosphate and Ammonium Removal from Wastewaters Using Natural-Based Innovative Bentonites Impacting on Resource Recovery and Circular Economy

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (21) ◽  
pp. 6684
Author(s):  
Miltiadis Zamparas ◽  
Grigorios L. Kyriakopoulos ◽  
Marios Drosos ◽  
Vasilis C. Kapsalis
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Resource Recovery ◽  
Sem Analysis ◽  
Langmuir Model ◽  
Treated Wastewater ◽  
Ammonium Removal ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Ph Range

The research objective of the study is the estimation of a novel low-cost composite material f-MB (Fe-modified bentonite) as a P and N adsorbent from wastewaters. Τhe present study aimed at examining the phosphate and ammonium removal efficiency from different types of wastewater using f-MB, by conducting bench-scale batch experiments to investigate its equilibrium characteristics and kinetics. The SEM analysis revealed that the platelets of bentonite in f-MB do not form normal bentonite sheets, but they have been restructured in a more compact formation with a great porosity. Regarding the sorption efficiencies (Qm), the maximum phosphate sorption efficiencies (Qm) calculated using the Langmuir model were 24.54, 25.09, 26.13, 24.28, and 23.21 mg/g, respectively, for a pH range of 5 to 9. In addition, the maximum NH4+-N adsorption capacities (Qm) calculated from the Langmuir model were 131.8, 145.7, 168.5, 156.7, and 159.6 mg/g, respectively, for a pH range from 5 to 9. Another important finding of this study is that f-MB can recover P from treated wastewater impacting on resource recovery and circular economy (CE). The modified clay f-MB performed the phosphate and ammonium recovery rates of 80% and 78.5%, respectively. Finally, f-MB can slowly release the largest proportion of phosphate and ammonium ions for a long time, thus extending the application of the f-MB material as a slow-release fertilizer and soil improver.

scholarly journals MEASUREMENT ERRORS AFFECTING THE CHARACTERISTICS OF MULTI-POSITION SYSTEMS, AND WAYS TO REDUCE THEM

InterConf ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 333-346
Author(s):  
Andriy Аrtikula ◽  
Dmytro Britov ◽  
Volodymyr Dzhus ◽  
Borys Haibadulov ◽  
Anastasiia Haibadulova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Information Security ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Measurement Errors ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Single System ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Different Types ◽  
System Errors ◽  
System Characteristics

Modern wide development of science and technology causes the growth of information needs in all branches of human development. At present, there are all opportunities to increase information security by combining sources of information into a single system. At the same time, when merging, specific difficulties and features emerge, which together make it difficult to implement the proposed solutions. The paper considers the peculiarity of combining different types of radar stations into a single information system. Errors of measurements of separate parameters and their influence on system characteristics are considered. Options for solving the problems that have arisen are proposed.

Online Information Retrieval Systems Trending From Evolutionary to Revolutionary Approach

2019 ◽  
pp. 303-317
Author(s):  
Zahid Ashraf Wani ◽  
Huma Shafiq
Keyword(s):  
Information Retrieval ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Online Information ◽  
Retrieval Systems ◽  
Diverse Species ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Future ◽  
Information Retrieval Systems ◽  
Information Professionals ◽  
The Web

Nowadays, we all rely on cyberspace for our information needs. We make use of different types of search tools. Some of them have specialization in a specific format or two, while few can crawl a good portion of the web irrespective of formats. Therefore, it is very imperative for information professionals to have thorough understandings of these tools. As such, the chapter is an endeavor to delve deep and highlight various trends in online information retrieval from primitive to modern ones. The chapter also made an effort to envisage the future requirements and expectation keeping in view the ever-increasing dependence on diverse species of information retrieval tools.

scholarly journals Embodying circularity through usable relocatable modular buildings

Facilities ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 75-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riikka Kyrö ◽  
Tuuli Jylhä ◽  
Antti Peltokorpi
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Care Home ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Support Functions ◽  
Health Care Centre ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Modular Buildings

PurposeGlobal megatrends such as urbanization and ageing of the population result in fast-paced demographic changes, which pose different types of challenges for different regions. While many rural municipalities bear the burden of under-used buildings, cities are in a hurry to develop new ones to meet new space demands. The purpose of this paper is to assess the potential of relocatable modular buildings to address these challenges, following the principles of circular economy, while at the same time offering usability.Design/methodology/approachThis multiple case study explores existing relocatable modular health-care buildings in Finland. The case buildings host hospital support functions, imaging services, a health-care centre and a care home. The primary data comprise 21 semi-structured interviews and observation during factory and site visits.FindingsBased on the findings, relocatable modular buildings have many benefits and provide a viable option for cities and municipalities struggling to meet their fluctuating space demands. Some challenges were also identified, mainly derived from the dimensional restrictions of the modules.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the emerging body of knowledge on circular economy in the built environment. More specifically, the research provides a very concrete example of circularity and details a framework for usable and relocatable modular buildings. In conclusion, relocatable modular buildings could solve the challenges posed by quickly changing demographics in different types of regions and deliver both usability and circularity.

HMOs and Health Services Research: The Penalty of Taking the Lead

1996 ◽  
Vol 53 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 18-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy B. Bernstein ◽  
Jill Bernstein
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Policy ◽  
Health Services Research ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Health Maintenance Organization ◽  
Services Research ◽  
Health Maintenance ◽  
Future Evolution ◽  
Different Types

Although health maintenance organization (HMO) structures and databases are not uniform across plans, there are unique characteristics of HMO data in general that make them useful in examining health policy and delivery issues. The authors examine differences in data generated by different types of HMOs. After discussing why health services research using HMO data is needed by HMOs, other providers, practitioners, payers, and consumers of health care, the authors examine ways in which HMOs can provide sound answers to crucially important questions about the future of health care. They conclude that although the need for research on HMOs is compelling, researchers need to understand the information needs of HMOs and the incentives that are shaping the industry's approach to system delivery and clinical outcomes research. If HMOs do not take the lead in conducting health services research, they will diminish their role in shaping policies that will shape their future evolution.

scholarly journals Communication for Coproduction: Increasing Information Credibility to Fight the Coronavirus

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (6-7) ◽  
pp. 692-697 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huafang Li
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Information Asymmetry ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Public Trust ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Information Asymmetries ◽  
Information Intermediaries ◽  
Information Credibility ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Credible Information

Governments and citizens need to work together to fight and win the war against the coronavirus and coproduce better health outcomes. However, information asymmetries exist between the two parties and influence coproduction adversely. Effective communication by satisfying different types of citizens’ information needs can reduce the degree of information asymmetry and improve coproduction. When citizens distrust governments, governments can use credible information intermediaries, such as experts and volunteers, to increase information credibility. Increasing information credibility could further reduce information asymmetry, increase public trust, and motivate citizens to comply with health policies and coproduce better health outcomes.

scholarly journals Sustainable Public Procurement: The Impact of Ability, Motivation, and Opportunity on the Implementation of Different Types of Sustainable Public Procurement

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (19) ◽  
pp. 5215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jolien Grandia ◽  
Dylan Voncken
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Public Procurement ◽  
Social Return On Investment ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Green Public Procurement ◽  
Public Organisations ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
International Social

Public organisations develop sustainable public procurement (SPP) policies to compel suppliers to contribute to societal goals. Studies show that the ability, motivation, and opportunity that procurers have to procure in a sustainable manner affect the uptake of SPP. Most studies into SPP examine these factors only in the context of one type of SPP (e.g., green procurement). The goal of this paper is therefore to examine the relationship between ability, motivation, and opportunity and six types of SPP: (1) green public procurement, (2) social return on investment, (3) circular economy, (4) bio-based public procurement, (5) innovation-oriented public procurement and (6) international social criteria. An online survey was administered amongst procurers working in Dutch public organisations. The research shows that ability, motivation, and opportunity affect Green Public Procurement (GPP). Opportunity did affect green public procurement, innovation-oriented public procurement and circular economy, but not the other types of SPP. We were unable to identify an antecedent of more social types of SPP in this research. This research shows that findings based on GPP cannot be directly generalized to other types of SPP, and that there is a need for research into the antecedents of social types of SPP.

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