Actividad física y calidad de vida por parte de los pacientes de la atención primaria de la ciudad de Terrassa (Physical activity and quality of life by patients of primare care of the city of Terrassa)

En el artículo se describen y analizan los resultados de un estudio realizado para investigar la relación entre la práctica físico-deportiva y la calidad de vida percibida (CVP). La muestra del estudio estuvo integrada por un colectivo de ciudadanos (968), pacientes de Atención Primaria, entrevistados mientras se encontraban en las salas de espera, de cuatro Centros de Atención Primaria (CAP) de la ciudad de Terrassa. Los objetivos del estudio fueron: 1) Evaluar la relación entre la percepción de calidad de vida y la actividad físico-deportiva; 2) Verificar si, en tal percepción, hay diferencias significativas entre hombres y mujeres. Las conclusiones fueron las siguientes: Existe una percepción mejor de la calidad de vida entre los usuarios que realizan actividad físico-deportiva que entre los pacientes sedentarios, sea la actividad moderada o intensa. Las mujeres que realizan actividad físico-deportiva mejoran su percepción de Calidad de Vida en mayor grado que los hombres. Las mujeres mejoran su CVP en el ámbito social y los hombres en el ámbito físico, por lo que la práctica deportiva es una fuente de la socialización de las mujeres. Abstract. The article describes and analyzes the results of a study carried out to investigate the relationship between physical-sports practice and perceived quality of life (QOL). The study sample was made up of a group of citizens (968), Primary Care patients, interviewed while they were in the waiting rooms of four Primary Care Centers (CAP) in the city of Terrassa. The objectives of the study were: 1) To evaluate the relationship between the perception of quality of life and physical-sports activity; 2) Verify if, in such perception, there are significant differences between men and women. The conclusions were as follows: There is a better perception of the quality of life among users who perform physical-sports activity than among sedentary patients, be it moderate or intense activity. Women who perform physical-sports activity improve their perception of Quality of Life to a greater degree than men. Women improve their CVP in the social sphere and men in the physical sphere, so sports practice is a source of women's socialization.

Workplace Conflicts and Perception of Quality Higher Education in Ghana

Conflicts as a complex reality are common in higher education settings. Unfortunately, little is known about their impact on perceptions of the quality of higher education. This study assessed the impact of structural and interpersonal conflicts on the perception of quality higher education. To obtain the data, the study used a cross-sectional survey research design. The study sampled 310 academic and administrative staff from three universities in Northern Ghana using a multi-stage sampling technique. The questionnaire was the primary data-gathering tool. The prevalence of conflicts and perception of quality in higher education were assessed using simple frequencies and percentages, while the structural equation modelling technique was used to investigate the complex relationship among structural conflicts, interpersonal conflicts, and perception of higher education quality. The results indicate that most workplace conflicts in higher education are structural in nature, arising from jurisdictional uncertainties, interdependence, and authority relationships. The findings further indicate that structural and interpersonal conflicts have little influence on perceptions of quality higher education. Nevertheless, in terms of direction, structural conflicts have a positive link with the perception of quality higher education, whereas interpersonal conflicts have a negative relationship. It is hereby recommended that a cross-sectional survey on the influence of conflicts on effective teaching and learning in public universities in Ghana should be conducted.

RHETORICAL ANALYSIS AT THE SERVICE OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION: GENDER-BASED DIFFERENCES IN STUDENTS' PERCEPTION OF THE SPEAKER

The paper points out the benefits of rhetorical analysis and rhetorical criticism in developing business communication skills. At Zagreb School of Economics and Management, both the American and the European approach to business communication have been combined, with LSP courses taught in the first year and business communication and rhetoric courses taught in the second year. An experiment was conducted on a sample of 99 students, including 57 female and 42 male participants, who were asked to assess the teenage activist Greta Thunberg and her speech at the UN Climate Action Summit in 2019. The research focused on the role of the gender in perception of quality, attractiveness of the speech, the use of ethos, pathos and logos, persuasiveness and the influence potential. The results showed that male students gave lower grades to Greta and her speech, unlike the female students, who would also be more willing to change their behavior as the result of listening to Greta’s speech. Nevertheless, these differences were statistically significant only for a limited number of questions. The potential gender bias to speakers should be addressed in the rhetoric and business communication course design. Exposing students to a diverse set of speakers increases their critical thinking skills, ensuring higher objectivity and bias-free assessment of speakers including their peers.

Quality of life of nurse practitioners during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT Objective: to assess the quality of life of nurse practitioners during the COVID-19 pandemic and analyze related factors. Methods: cross-sectional and analytical study carried out with nurse practitioners. A questionnaire on sociodemographic characterization, work activities and changes perceived with the pandemic and WHOQOL-bref were used. To compare the groups of interest, analysis of covariance was used. Results: 572 professionals participated, who had a mean total quality of life score of 56.79 (SD=13.56). In the relationship of variables with WHOQOL-bref, having two or more jobs and being a nurse were associated with better quality of life, but being a woman and working more than 50 hours a week was associated with a worse perception of the construct. Conclusions: the factors analyzed indicate a lower perception of quality of life associated with the social domain, requiring interventions that reduce the damage to professionals’ health and contribute to quality of care provided.

Assessment of the perception of quality in mexican municipal sports services

The objective of the present investigation was to assess the perception quality of municipal sports services of the city of Allende, Nuevo León, Mexico. For the analysis of the data the statistical software SPSS v.24 was used. The instrument used was SERVQUAL, adapted to the Mexican sports context, which consists of 22 items grouped into 5 dimensions (tangible, empathy, reliability, responsiveness and safety). The sample of this study was 100 subjects, in a range of 16 to 60 years, of which 57 (51.6%) belong to the male gender and 43 (48.4%) to the female gender. The descriptive and correlation analyzes of the sample were carried out. Among the results obtained, the study presents acceptable quality values for said municipal complex. In conclusion, the evaluation, monitoring of the objectives and indicators of the municipal sports services are of vital importance to perform an adequate follow-up of the expectations, perception and satisfaction of its users, which will make municipal sports management more efficient.

Quality Control of Subtitles

Quality control of subtitles is a relatively unresearched field, even though it has a significant influence on the overall quality, and thus viewers’ experience of subtitles. It is carried out in different ways: various language service providers and broadcasters have different procedures, for instance, it sometimes solely involves proofreading. An online questionnaire has been distributed among professionals involved in the production chain of subtitles: broadcasters, streaming and video-on-demand services, vendors also known as language service providers, subtitlers, quality controllers and proofreaders.The hope is that this report will enable professionals involved in quality control of subtitles to further enhance their quality control procedures. The results of this research could also be used in experimental investigation of viewers’ perception of quality in subtitling by using the same research methods applied in this study. Lay Summary We do not know much about the quality control of subtitles on which many viewers depend to be able to follow TV content in foreign languages, or because they are deaf or hard-of-hearing. I conducted research by means of an online questionnaire among professionals and organisations involved in the production of subtitles to check how and whether they ensure viewers get subtitles of the highest possible quality. One of the main findings of the survey is that all professionals involved in the subtitling process think that the quality of subtitles is important, and that freelance subtitlers largely don’t think their clients pay enough attention to subtitling quality. The questionnaire was sent to TV and streaming broadcasters, agencies that work as intermediaries between broadcasters and subtitlers, quality controllers and proofreaders. Based on the findings of this survey, I have recommended several steps that can be taken to ensure better quality subtitles.

Quality perception throughout the table egg supply chain

Purpose:This research shows how the perception of quality differs through the table egg chain and highlights the main quality characteristics for each studied chain participant (farm, retail, consumer).Design/methodology/approach:Observing the change in perception starts from the farm, through retail to the end consumer using the customer–supplier interaction, while looking back from the consumer to the farm, the application of the quality function deployment (QFD) was used. The study included 30 farms, 50 retail stores, 1,000 customers and 300 households.Findings:The farm–retail comparison highlights the type of production as the dominant factor affecting egg quality for both of these participants, followed by hen diet and the type of laying hen hybrid from the farmer's point of view, while retail focuses on packaging and egg damage. Egg quality aspects from the retail–household perspective emphasize the shell appearance and the origin of the eggs, while shelf life and egg class are equally important characteristics for both participants. The application of the QFD throughout the entire egg chain emphasizes quality vs price as the most important characteristic.Originality/value:This study could serve to food policy makers as an introduction to further research and production orientation in relation to the set of quality requirements associated with the egg supply chain.

Students’ School Satisfaction: The Role of Classroom Climate, Self-efficacy, and Engagement

Students’ satisfaction with school is subjective, cognitive appraisal of overall positivity of school experiences, and precisely because it represents the key aspect of children’s overall perception of quality of life, it is important to find out what influences students’ school satisfaction and to which extent. The goal of this research was to establish whether self-efficacy and engagement function as mediating variables in the relationship between classroom climate and students’ school satisfaction. The research included 597 students from primary schools in Zagreb, Croatia. A structural equation model was designed and tested. The model testing showed that positive classroom climate has statistically significant and positive effects on self-efficacy and engagement. Furthermore, self-efficacy has a significant positive impact on explaining engagement. At the same time, negative classroom climate has a significant positive influence on engagement, which in turn contributes to the final effect on school satisfaction. The model has explained 56% of the school satisfaction variance in total.

Benefits of Quality Management Standards in Organizations

The main motives for implementing standards are external and internal. External motives are related with aims to enter new markets, export new goods, meet customer requirements, achieve better corporate image, gain market share, or increase customer satisfaction. Internal motives occur when the organization itself wants to improve the internal system and when processes and benefits depend on the internal motives of the organization. In order to disclose the benefits of quality standards, an empirical study was conducted with quality representatives from organizations in different fields of business activity in Lithuania. The research aimed to investigate what quality management systems prevail in organizations and to reveal the motives and benefits of implementation. The empirical study found that after the implementation of quality management standards (QMS), the quality level improved; the number of incidents and defects (complaints) decreased; employee involvement and perception of quality increased; company profits increased; customer satisfaction increased; and company management was improved.