Going Telemental

Telemental health (TMH) is considered by many to be the future of mental healthcare, with some claiming that these methods should replace more traditional approaches. Early teletherapeutic initiatives demonstrate an immediate set of benefits for patients including improved access to care, reduced costs, better schedule flexibility, greater environmental familiarity, and higher rates of patient engagement. Notable limitations to TMH include enhanced privacy concerns, the variable digital literacy of certain populations/persons, and technological instability. However, other limitations regarding therapeutic relationships, experiences, and settings have gone undertheorized and are not sufficiently represented in the current research. This chapter surveys these considerations and argues that digital medical interventions are unable to effectively replicate the same degree of ‘contact' and ‘intimacy' available in physical care; providers should therefore be cautious in wholly replacing in-person methods or in implementing a standalone paradigm of digital care.

Wellbeing as Defined by Resident Physicians: A Qualitative Study

The importance of resident wellbeing is increasingly recognized by the ACGME as essential. While prior studies have quantified wellbeing/burnout, few have defined wellbeing from the resident–physician perspective. A REDCap® survey was distributed to residents in various programs, responses were grouped by theme, and data analyzed via chi-square. From 19 institutions, 53/670 responded, from university (34.0%), community (30.2%), and community/university-affiliated (30.2%) programs, mostly surgical (84.9%), followed by medical (9.4%). Wellbeing was defined by mental and spiritual/religious health (33.8%), overall health (23.0%), free time/time management (23.0%), and job/salary satisfaction (18.9%). Proposed changes to traditional training included fewer hours and more schedule flexibility (38.2%), and increased/improved support/feedback (14.7%). Nearly half of the respondents perceived lacking education on career longevity. Wellbeing is paramount to the personal/professional development of residents. Data on resident-defined wellbeing are lacking. The improved understanding of wellbeing defined here can be used to improve residency training programs.

Impacts of Metering-Based Dynamic Priority Schemes

Several works published over the last two decades have shown for a stylized set-up with homogeneous users that metering-based priority (MBP) schemes may generate Pareto improving departure time adjustments similar to those induced by congestion pricing, but without any financial transaction. We investigate whether MBP (i) still generates significant savings and (ii) remains Pareto-improving, with various sources of heterogeneity (in schedule flexibility, desired arrival time, and capacity usage). We consider two types of schemes: one where the priority status is allocated randomly (R-MBP) and another (HOV-MBP), which only prioritizes users with small capacity usage (e.g., carpoolers). We find that the relative total cost savings of R-MBP decrease with heterogeneity in flexibility, but may increase with heterogeneity in desired arrival time. It fails however to be Pareto-improving, as nonprioritized users are almost systematically worse-off. HOV-MBP circumvents this issue by generating an ordering effect and a modal shift, which both contribute to a better distribution of benefits among users. Under favorable circumstances, they may even restore a Pareto improvement. Overall, MBP appears as a realistic way to alleviate congestion, scoring well both in terms of efficiency and social acceptability.

The Future of English for Specific Purposes Classes Beyond the Pandemic Context as Seen by the Students of Agricultural Sciences

While English for Specific Purposes has been dealt with by researchers all over the world, the insertion of educational technology and online environment is a relatively new concept. This article explores the main aspects of an effective online ESP learning process during the 2019-2020 academic year within the split frame generated by the pandemic context. It also aims at setting the educational frame for the future of ESP classes from the standpoint of the freshmen of Agricultural Sciences. An online questionnaire was answered, its structure being underlined by aspects such as content and skill-related tasks, accessibility, motivation, engagement, educational environment, media and assessment. The use of specialization-related materials is positively adjusted towards the online ESP classes, whereas frequency usage of skill-related tasks shows more balanced values between on-site and online ESP classes. In terms of schedule flexibility, the online medium is the more manageable of the two. If the combination of online exercises, specialized sites, online apps and platforms is clearly the norm for the online ESP classes, on-site assessment is evaluated as being more accurate. Although the students’ answers are relatively balanced, the majority agreed that the online environment is the most suitable frame for the future ESP classes.

Voluntary and Involuntary Nonadherence: Terminology for Labeling Patient Participation

The descriptions and labels healthcare providers place upon patients can greatly determine the quality and availability of the healthcare they receive. When that patient is given the label nonadherent or noncompliant within healthcare, it can have a detrimental impact on the patient. But patient adherence is a more complicated issue than can be express with a binary determination; is or is not, yes or no. Therefore, additional terminology should be utilized to properly convey the patient’s participation status when the patient does not fully engage in care. This paper proposes the implementation of additional qualifying language: involuntary nonadherence and voluntary nonadherence. Involuntary nonadherence is defined as when the patient desires to participate in care but is unable to do so because of factors outside of his/her control. These could involve inadequate means of transportation, difficulties with schedule flexibility, etc. These patients are demonstrating nonadherence by current standards but would participate if circumstances allowed – outside pressures are influencing the decision to be nonadherent. Contrast that with voluntary nonadherence, defined as when the patient gives informed refusal to participate, and the patient is fully able to participate but actively chooses not to. This additional qualifying language could ensure protection for patients from being labeled and potentially dismissed due to circumstances outside of their control.

Investigating the Potential of Truck Platooning for Energy Savings: Empirical Study of the U.S. National Highway Freight Network

Truck platooning enabled by connected automated vehicle (CAV) technology has been demonstrated to effectively reduce fuel consumption for trucks in a platoon. However, given the limited number of trucks in the traffic stream, it remains questionable how great an energy saving it may yield for a practical freight system if we only rely on ad-hoc platooning. Assuming the presence of a central platooning coordinator, this paper is offered to substantiate truck platooning benefits in fuel economy produced by exploiting platooning opportunities arising from the United States’ domestic truck demands on its highway freight network. An integer programming model is utilized to schedule trucks’ itineraries to facilitate the formation of platoons at platoonable locations to maximize energy savings. A simplification of the real freight network and an approximation algorithm are used to solve the model efficiently. By analyzing the numerical results obtained, this study quantifies the importance of scheduled platooning in improving trucks’ fuel economy. Furthermore, the allowable platoon size, schedule flexibility, and fuel efficiency all play a crucial role in energy savings. Specifically, by assuming that following vehicles in a platoon obtain a 10% energy reduction, an average energy reduction of 8.48% per truck can be achieved for the overall network if the maximum platoon size is seven, and the schedule flexibility is 30 min. The cost–benefit analysis provided at the end suggests that the energy-saving benefits can offset the investment cost in truck platooning technology.

Student nurses' views on shift patterns: what do they prefer and why? Results from a Tweetchat

Aim: To understand student nurses' views around shift patterns. Design: Qualitative study Method: We held a Tweetchat in May 2019, where we asked questions around the frequency of 12-hour shifts working on placement; schedule flexibility while on placement; which shift patterns they preferred and why. Data from the Tweetchat were analysed to identify emerging themes and inductively develop a coding frame. Results: Seventy-three nursing students participated in the Tweetchat. The majority (68%) of respondents reported that they work 12-hour shifts on placements. We identified three main overarching themes: "Achieving a personal equilibrium"; "Meeting the needs of the care environment", "Factors affecting negotiation capacity". Data highlighted a conflict for most students, where they preferred 12-hour shifts because of more time off for study, paid work, and leisure, while acknowledging 12-hour shifts had a negative effect on fatigue, exhaustion, and their ability to achieve self-care (i.e. poor diet, no exercise).

Real-Time Office Seat Allocation System using Spring MVC framework

Real-time Seat Allocation System is a web application that assists employees and employers in handling modern-day seating issues at work. Currently, seats are assigned to employees manually, which is a time-consuming process. This might cause issues if seats were not assigned or if none were available for some employees. Furthermore, during pandemics, social distance rules must be followed, making it difficult to manage the workforce. The proportion of individuals allowed in the workplace must adhere properly. As the firm grows, so does the number of employees, which necessitates the expansion of infrastructure, which costs money and time. These issues can be addressed to some extent by a shared office concept, in which employees have access to a desk and can work as needed. This article presents a responsive web application through which company employees can registerusingtheircompanyIDandreserveaseatifoneisavailableonaspecified day and time. Admins can add or remove offices, floors, and seats with certain permissions. To implement the business logic, the application uses Java, Spring MVC web framework with Tomcat server, renders the views using Java Server Pages, and uses front-end technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for the front-end design of the User Interface. The web application built promotes the concept of using a shared workspace to maximize resource use. It also aids in increasing employee productivity by providing them with workplace seating and schedule flexibility.