Prospective Cohort Study of Sociodemographic Factors, Including Occupation and Subsequent Unemployment, Under COVID-19 in Japan

Background: We examined the relationship between sociodemographic factors, including occupation and unemployment, among workers during COVID-19 in Japan.Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study using a self-administrated questionnaire. We surveyed the socioeconomic status, personal characteristics, and occupation of recruited workers at baseline (December 22–25, 2020); subsequent unemployment was examined at follow-up (February 18-19, 2021). We determined the odds ratio (OR) of unemployment for sociodemographic status and occupation. The multivariate model was adjusted for sex and age.Results: Among the 19,941 participants, 725 (3.6%) had experienced unemployment. Multivariate analysis showed that the OR and 95% confidence interval (CI) of unemployment associated with sex were 1.35 (1.14–1.60) for women compared with men. With increasing age, the OR for unemployment was lower (OR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.97–0.99; P <0.001), adjusted for sex. The OR and 95% CI for the association with marital status were as follows: 1.33 (1.03–1.71) for being married (spouse not working); 2.09 (1.65–2.64) for bereaved or divorced; and 1.29 (1.07–1.56) for unmarried compared with married (spouse working). The respective figures for the association with annual household income were as follows: 4.05 (3.00–5.46) for <2 million yen; 2.12 (1.62–2.78) for 2–4 million yen; and 1.46 (1.11–1.93) for 4–6 million yen, compared with >10 million yen. The figures for the association with education were 1.73 (1.12–2.66) for junior high or high school and 1.83 (1.19–2.83) for vocational school, junior college, or technical school. The association with occupation was 2.01 (1.63–2.48) for temporary or contract employees, 1.35 (1.02–1.78) for self-employed, and 3.02 (1.68–5.42) for agriculture, forestry, or fishing, compared with general employees; it was 0.56 (0.40–0.79) for public employees, faculty members, or non-profit organization employees. The association with job type was 1.25 (1.04–1.51) for jobs mainly involving interpersonal communication and 1.85 (1.55–2.21) for mainly manual or physical labor, compared with mainly desk work.Conclusions: COVID-19 appears to have created difficulties for previously vulnerable groups. This suggests the need for employment and economic support for such individuals.

Exploring the factors related to adolescent health literacy, health-promoting lifestyle profile, and health status

Background Health literacy has been concerned a key factor for determining the use of health information and promoting health. The study aimed to explore adolescent health literacy, health-promoting lifestyle profile, and health status and related factors. Methods A cross-sectional study design was used; 918 first year junior college students were recruited in Taiwan. The measurements were the Chinese Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-C-Q), the Chinese Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLP-S), and the Health Status Questionnaire. Results The mean score for health literacy was 36.15 (±6.21), with 30.17% of the participants having insufficient or problematic health literacy. Further, 19.9% of participants were obese and 11.2% experienced emotional instability. Health literacy and health-promoting lifestyle profile showed significant positive and negative correlations with perceived health status and depression, respectively (p < 0.05). An exercise frequency of ≥3 times/week was a predictor of health literacy, health-promoting lifestyle profile, and emotional stability. Conclusions Adolescent health literacy, health-promoting lifestyle profile, and health status require careful consideration. In adolescents, developing regular exercise may increase health literacy, thereby developing healthy lifestyle profiles and ameliorating obesity and depression-related issues.

Day to Day Mathematics

Mathematics plays a predominant role in our everyday life and has become an indispensable factor for the progress of our present day world. Counting starts from day one of the birth of a person. Most students would like to know why they have to study various mathematical concepts. Teachers usually cannot think of a real-life application for most topics or the examples that they have are beyond the level of most students. Mathematics is generally regarded as the driest subject at school, made up of routine, difficult, boring, arcane and irrelevant calculations which have nothing to do with discovery and imagination. In this paper, I have discussed the purposes of mathematics, aims of mathematics education and the rationales for a broad-based school curriculum followed by some examples of applications of mathematics in the workplace that secondary school and junior college students can understand. Lastly, I will look at how mathematical processes, such as problem solving, investigation, and analytical and critical thinking, are important in the workplace. The truly outstanding work of this research paper is a collection of review papers / articles investigating the open problems. In this paper I have discussed recent advances, problems and their current status as well as historical background of the subjects. It will help the students in pursuing higher education in their respective fields.

Impact of Socioeconomic Status on Cancer Incidence Risk, Cancer Staging, and Survival of Patients with Colorectal Cancer under Universal Health Insurance Coverage in Taiwan

This study examined the impact of socioeconomic status on colorectal cancer risk, staging, and survival under the National Health Insurance (NHI) system in Taiwan. Monthly salary and education level were used as measures of socioeconomic status to observe the risk of colorectal cancer among individuals aged 40 years or above in 2006–2015 and survival outcomes of patients with colorectal cancer until the end of 2016. Data from 286,792 individuals were used in this study. Individuals with a monthly salary ≤Q1 were at a significantly lower incidence risk of colorectal cancer than those with a monthly salary >Q3 (HR = 0.80, 95%CI = 0.74–0.85), while those with elementary or lower education were at a significantly higher risk than those with junior college, university, or higher education (HR = 1.18, 95%CI = 1.06–1.31). The results show that socioeconomic status had no significant impact on colorectal cancer stage at diagnosis. Although salary was not associated with their risk of mortality, patients with colorectal cancer who had elementary or lower education incurred a significantly higher risk of mortality than those who had junior college, university, or higher education (HR = 1.39, 95%CI = 1.07–1.77). Education level is a significant determinant of the incidence risk and survival in patients with colorectal cancer, but only income significantly impacts incidence risk.

Effect of Barber Shop Servicescape on Customer Satisfaction and Revisit Intention

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Barber Shop servicescape on customer satisfaction and revisit intention. After setting the barbershop servicescape factors as aesthetics, convenience, cleanliness, and air-conditioning environment, the relationship between the barbershop's servicescape evaluation and customer satisfaction and revisit intention was verified. The research results are as follows. First, the age of users is in their 30s and 40s, accounting for 69% of the total, with college graduates accounting for half of them, and office workers were the most common. Married people earning less than 3 to 4 million won also accounted for the majority. Second, the customer's use of Barber Shop Servicescape showed the highest number of visits from 8 to 12 weeks, and the frequency of visits by those in their 30s and younger was high once every 4 weeks. In the case of single people, the number of visits more than once every 4 weeks was relatively higher than that of married people, and the reason for using the barber shop was to maintain style. Third, as a result of examining the tangible, responsive, and reliable dimensions of Barber Shop users, the level evaluation of Barber Shop servicescape by age was more meaningful than other areas in all areas (esthetics, convenience, cleanliness, air-conditioning environment) in their 30s and 40s. level was highly rated. Fourth, as a result of examining the effect of Servicescape on customer satisfaction and re-visit intention, the correlation between Barber Shop Servicescape evaluation and customer satisfaction was (.781) and that with re-visit intention (.618) showed a significant correlation. As a result of the evaluation of Barber Shop Servicescape by age, it was found that those in their 30s and 40s evaluated more significantly than other age groups in all areas. By educational background, the most significant results were found among those who graduated from a junior college and those who earned 5 million won or more. By marital status, it was found that the unmarried group evaluated significantly, and by the type of barber shop, it was found that the franchise was more significant than the individual shop. When looking at the effect of Barber Shop servicescape on customer satisfaction and revisit intention, the effect on customer satisfaction was R=.781 and the effect on revisit intention was R=.618, indicating that the effect on customer satisfaction was slightly larger. As a result of these results, it was possible to establish that the service landscape of Barber Shop affects customer satisfaction and re-visit intention.

Entrepreneurship Education, Psychological Cognition, and Entrepreneurship Activities: An Analysis Based on a Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis

At present, research in the field of college students' entrepreneurship has proliferated, but these studies tend to analyze the net benefits of various factors on entrepreneurial activities, which are affected by the configuration effects of multiple factors; hence, it remains unclear whether entrepreneurial education can make graduates more efficient to started their own companies. To fill this gap in the literature, drawing on general systems theory and using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), we take 1,87,914 undergraduate and junior college students from 1,231 colleges and universities in China as a sample to explore the relationships among the five conditions in the entrepreneurship education environment and cognitive level (i.e., the quality of staff, subject curriculum, entrepreneurial competition, intentions, and opportunity identifications) and entrepreneurial activities. The fsQCA results show that none of these factors are sufficient for entrepreneurial activity. In contrast, three combinations of the five conditions (i.e., co-creation type, competition-oriented environment, and entrepreneurship education that fits under the guidance of entrepreneurial intention) can produce high entrepreneurial activity, as well as substitution and complementarity among the various elements within the configuration. These results show that the combined effect of the five conditions is more conducive to the entrepreneurial activities of college students. Finally, after a discussion of the study's findings, theoretical, and practical contributions are analyzed with regard to the field of entrepreneurship in Chinese colleges, and alternative options indicate that college students are more likely to become entrepreneurs in the future.

To study to Assess the Effectiveness of Planned Teaching on Knowledge and Attitude Regarding Transmission and Prevention of HIV/AIDS among Students of Junior Colleges

Introduction: HIV/AIDS is becoming a growing global danger to mankind. Since the first cases were reported, HIV/AIDS has been spreading at an alarming rate. Background: In India, The age group of 15-24 years accounts for 35% of all AIDS cases, indicating that the younger population is especially vulnerable to epidemics. Methods: The study was based on an interventional evaluatory approach and one group pretest-posttest design used. 60 junior college student samples were collected using Non-probability purposive sampling technique. one way ANOVA and t-test used to estimate the association between post-test knowledge and posttest attitude score transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDS among students of junior college the and the selected demographic variables. Results: This study revealed that the Mean value of the pretest knowledge score was 21.51 and the post-test knowledge score was 26.46 and the standard deviation of the pre-test knowledge score was ±4.96 and the post-test standard deviation was ±5.66. The t-value is 5.09 and the p-value is 0.0001. The mean value of the pretest attitude score was 28.48 and post-test attitude score was 40.25 and the standard deviation of the pre-test attitude score was ±4.13 and the post-test attitude score was ±2.45. The t- value is 18.98 and the p-value is 0.0001. There was a significant association of post-test knowledge score with the source of information about HIV/AIDS and there was no significant association of post-test attitude score regarding transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDS. Conclusion: The study concluded that planned teaching on knowledge and attitude regarding transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDS among students of junior college was effective as a teaching strategy.

Measurements of quality of village-level care and patients’ healthcare-seeking behaviors in rural China

Background Although the progress in global health initiatives has improved the availability of primary health care (PHC), unqualified healthcare remains a serious challenge in low- and middle-income countries, where PHC is often underutilized. This study examines factors associated with patients’ healthcare-seeking behaviors in rural Chin—seeking healthcare at village-level PHC providers, at higher-level health facilities, self-medicating, and refraining from seeking medical help. We focus on provider-side factors, including (1) the unobservable quality indicator, (2) the observable quality indicator, and (3) the observable signal indicator. Methods We analyzed 1578 episodes of healthcare-seeking behaviors of patients with diarrhea or cough/runny nose symptom from surveys conducted in July 2017 and January 2018 in 114 villages of the Yunnan province. We investigated the correlation between quality-related factors with patients’ healthcare-seeking behaviors by multinomial logit regression. Results We found that rural patients were insensitive to the unobservable quality of healthcare providers, as measured by standardized clinical vignettes, which might be attributable to the credence nature of PHC. The observable quality indicator, whether the clinician has received full-time junior college formal medical education, was associated with patients’ healthcare choices. Patients, however, were more likely to select healthcare based on the observable signal indicator, which was measured by the availability of medicines. Additionally, the observable signal indicator had no significant association with two quality indicators. Notably, socioeconomically-disadvantaged patients relied more on the village-level PHC, which emphasized the role of PHC in promoting the welfare of rural populations. Conclusions Our study found an inconsistency between objective quality of healthcare provided by providers and subjective quality perceived by patients. Patients could not identify the actual quality of PHC precisely, while they were more likely to make decisions based on the observable signal indicator. Therefore, the quality of PHC should be more observable to patients. This study not only supplements the literature on healthcare-seeking choices by examining four types of behaviors simultaneously but also clarifies rural patients’ perceptions of the quality of PHC for policy decision-making on increasing the utilization of PHC and improving the medical welfare of the vulnerable.

An Empirical Study on Talent Management Strategies of Knowledge-Based Organizations Using Entrepreneurial Psychology and Key Competence

The empirical study reported here aims to improve the effectiveness of knowledge-based talent management in science and technology enterprises and promote the stable development of enterprises. First, the impact of entrepreneurs’ psychological cognition and personal characteristics on entrepreneurial activities is analyzed based on entrepreneurial psychology. Then, the theory of key competence is introduced to study the management mode of knowledge-based talents. The advantages of talents in enterprises are sorted out through constructing the key competency model to manage talents efficiently. The technology-based enterprise M is taken as an example for analysis by the key competence model to obtain 18 key capability indexes. Through the principal component analysis of 255 employees’ survey results, finally, four factors are extracted (business execution ability, team cooperation ability, strategic thinking ability, and management decision-making ability), which can reflect 68.92% of the total key competence. The average values of “business execution ability” and “team cooperation ability” in the first-level dimension of key competence index are 4.14 and 4.24, respectively, which can be regarded as the essential key competence. The investigation results of the academic qualifications of staff of M indicate that 6% of employees have a doctorate, 38% have a master’s degree, 37% have a Bachelor’s degree, and 19% have a junior college degree or below. Moreover, knowledge-based employees are basically satisfied with the organization and management of the company, but they are dissatisfied with the training mechanism and promotion mechanism. Therefore, enterprises should pay attention to the psychological needs of knowledge workers and the innovation of talent management. The research results are of significant value for science and technology enterprises to absorb and retain knowledge-based talents and promote the common development of enterprises and employees.