Home e-health system integration in the Smart Home through a common media server.

Science.gov (United States)

Pau, I; Seoane, F; Lindecrantz, K; Valero, M A; Carracedo, J

2009-01-01

Home e-health systems and services are revealed as one of the most important challenges to promote Quality of Life related to Health in the Information Society. Leading companies have worked on e-health systems although the majority of them are addressed to hospital or primary care settings. The solution detailed in this paper offers a personal health system to be integrated with Smart Home services platform to support home based e-care. Thus, the home e-health system and architecture detailed in this research work is ready to supply a seamless personal care solution both from the biomedical data analysis, service provision, security guarantee and information management s point of view. The solution is ready to be integrated within the Accessible Digital Home, a living lab managed by Universidad Politécnica de Madrid for R&D activities.

Home Economics Archive: Research, Tradition and History (HEARTH)

Science.gov (United States)

Click here to go to the Mann Library Home Page Click here to return to the HEARTH Home Page Click , Tradition and History HEARTH is a core electronic collection of books and journals in Home Economics and Archive: Research, Tradition and History (HEARTH). Ithaca, NY: Albert R. Mann Library, Cornell University

Connecting to the Internet Securely; Protecting Home Networks CIAC-2324

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Orvis, W J; Krystosek, P; Smith, J

2002-11-27

With more and more people working at home and connecting to company networks via the Internet, the risk to company networks to intrusion and theft of sensitive information is growing. Working from home has many positive advantages for both the home worker and the company they work for. However, as companies encourage people to work from home, they need to start considering the interaction of the employee's home network and the company network he connects to. This paper discusses problems and solutions related to protection of home computers from attacks on those computers via the network connection. It does not consider protection of those systems from people who have physical access to the computers nor does it consider company laptops taken on-the-road. Home networks are often targeted by intruders because they are plentiful and they are usually not well secured. While companies have departments of professionals to maintain and secure their networks, home networks are maintained by the employee who may be less knowledgeable about network security matters. The biggest problems with home networks are that: Home networks are not designed to be secure and may use technologies (wireless) that are not secure; The operating systems are not secured when they are installed; The operating systems and applications are not maintained (for security considerations) after they are installed; and The networks are often used for other activities that put them at risk for being compromised. Home networks that are going to be connected to company networks need to be cooperatively secured by the employee and the company so they do not open up the company network to intruders. Securing home networks involves many of the same operations as securing a company network: Patch and maintain systems; Securely configure systems; Eliminate unneeded services; Protect remote logins; Use good passwords; Use current antivirus software; and Moderate your Internet usage habits. Most of these

Reengineering hemodialysis for the home environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Treu, Denny

2010-01-01

Denny Treu of NxStage Medical, Inc., who has led the development of six dialysis systems with various companies, reports here on a home hemodialysis system that his company successfully designed specifically for home use.

Market research companies and new product development tools

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijssen, E.J.; Frambach, R.T.

1998-01-01

This research investigates (1) the share of new product development (NPD) research services in market research (MR) companies’ turnover, (2) MR companies’ awareness and use of NPD tools and the modifications made to these NPD tools, and (3) MR company managers’ perceptions of the influence of client

Academic research – a catalyst for the innovation process within companies in Romania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodica Pamfilie

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Current economic developments make the use of scientific resources, especially academic research, to be no longer just an option for companies wanting to remain competitive, but a necessity. This statement is based on the research conducted by the authors during the last three years on the companies` performance in Romania regarding the results of the innovation process and capitalization on scientific resources in order to improve this vital process. To achieve this, a mechanism should be created, through which key players in the market - companies, universities, research institutes and government - could work together towards the common goal of economic growth. This mechanism would help companies move beyond incremental innovation by using knowledge generated by universities or research institutes. This can be achieved with the support of the governmental environment, by adopting policies and creating a general favourable climate for research and by fostering its integration among companies. This paper presents an analysis of the degree to which companies in Romania use the results of academic research when developing new products or services. Among the identified issues we include the Romanian companies’ tendency to perform individual research and development projects, though their frequency is quite low given the difficulties in successfully delivering them to the market. The research shows the importance of using academic research when moving beyond incremental improvements and developing the innovation processes within the company. The prospect of a future model of the university as a knowledge and innovation hub of can significantly contribute to the capitalization of academic research by companies in order to develop sustainable businesses.

Gore offers to help drug companies pursue research.

Science.gov (United States)

1996-03-08

A meeting convened between Vice President Al Gore and executives of leading pharmaceutical companies to determine means of accelerating efforts to develop vaccines, therapeutics, and microbicides for people with HIV. Gore explained that the administration will work with pharmaceutical companies to determine the long-term effectiveness of drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), work with international groups to increase investment in vaccine development, help develop new microbicides for women with HIV, and identify promising areas of AIDS research. According to advocates, the Clinton Administration has made great strides in improving and accelerating the FDA's drug approval process. The next goal of the pharmaceutical research agenda should be to include consumer advocates in the decision-making process.

Action research in nursing homes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, John; Bilfeldt, Annette

2016-01-01

quality in a joint effort between care workers, residents at the nursing home, and researchers. It concludes that the project led to empowerment of the residents and staff and played an important role in the development of democratic knowledge building about better quality and ethics in elder care....

77 FR 35060 - Pfizer Therapeutic Research, Formerly Known as Warner Lambert Company, Pfizer Worldwide Research...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-12

... Research, Formerly Known as Warner Lambert Company, Pfizer Worldwide Research & Development Division... December 2, 2011, applicable to workers of Pfizer Therapeutic Research, Pfizer Worldwide Research... Worldwide Research & Development Division, Antibacterial Research Unit, Pharmacokinetics, Dynamics and...

RESEARCHES REGARDING THE ONLINE PRESENCE OF THE BIHOR COUNTY COMPANIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mares Marius Daniel

2012-07-01

Full Text Available In this paper is presented a survey of companies’ websites in Bihor county. The study aims at local companies whose scope of activity allows them to interact with the end-users – individuals and whose presence in the virtual environment is ensured by websites. Companies that own a website use it for different purposes: to communicate to the users information about the company, to promote its products and services offered, to offer potential clients the opportunity to purchase these products online, to interact with their clients. The website of a company ensure its constant presence and can be used as an instrument in the marketing strategy, as a meaning of identity development or growth of the brand exposure, as a support for relationships with potential buyers or as a way of achieving market research. But for the website to fulfill the purpose for which it was made it must give the needed importance to certain aspects. Research carried out reveals an intensified concern of the companies for creating their own websites, for communicating with potential clients from the virtual environment, but they do not give importance to issues related to updating the information, structure, appearance, purpose sites. Most companies use the website mainly for information. They give little importance to promotion, yet not realizing the benefits they might have. Less than one third of the websites analyzed offers the possibility of online orders.

Business Solutions Case Study: Marketing Zero Energy Homes: LifeStyle Homes, Melbourne, Florida

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2015-06-01

Building America research has shown that high-performance homes can potentially give builders an edge in the marketplace and can boost sales. But it doesn't happen automatically. It requires a tailored, easy to understand marketing campaign and sometimes a little flair. This case study highlights LifeStyle Homes’ successful marketing approach for their SunSmart home package, which has helped to boost sales for the company. SunSmart marketing includes a modified logo, weekly blog, social media, traditional advertising, website, and sales staff training. Marketing focuses on quality, durability, healthy indoor air, and energy efficiency with an emphasis on the surety of third-party verification and the scientific approach to developing the SunSmart package. With the introduction of SunSmart, LifeStyle began an early recovery, nearly doubling sales in 2010; SunSmart sales now exceed 300 homes, including more than 20 zero energy homes. Completed homes in 2014 far outpaced the national (19%) and southern census region (27%) recovery rates for the same period. As technology improves and evolves, this builder will continue to collaborate with Building America.

Emerging Market Multinational Companies and Internationalization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Estrin, Saul; Nielsen, Bo B.; Nielsen, Sabina

2017-01-01

We develop a multilevel theoretical framework for investigating the role of home country urbanization for emerging market multinational companies' (EMNCs) international expansion. We propose that more urbanized home environments directly increase EMNC's proclivity to internationalize and moderate...

The Research Administrator's Responsibility for Buying from Minority-Owned Companies.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaffer, Lyle E.

1979-01-01

The author, the president of Amoco Venture Capital Company, a subsidiary of Standard Oil Company of Indiana designed to promote minority purchasing and finance minority enterprise, describes his program and the national program to promote minority enterprise. Ways that research administrators can develop minority sources for laboratory needs are…

Home economics in development through action research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Benn, Jette

2010-01-01

This research study aimed at describing and developing home economics education through an action research approach in 2 schools and classes grade 6. The study went through 3 phases, an explorative phase with preliminary observations, interviews and discussions with teachers and pupils. Next...... in discursive phase changes have been implemented and conducted in accordance with findings. Third phase the explicative phase results were translated into text books for pupil's grade 4 to7 and to a teachers' guide. The subject is analysed theoretical through a model of the subject and research field. Findings...... and suggestions were discussed in relation to theories of learning, education and home economics. The overall perspectives were to involve pupils, to make them responsible by active and critical participation, and lastly to evaluate education in different ways....

Harnn Natural Home Spa Business Plan

OpenAIRE

Kusol, Chompunuch

2008-01-01

Home Spa Partnership is looking for the amount of 50,000 GBP from an investor to invest in the business. The Company offers 20% of its authorised share capital for 17,500 GBP and the preference shares amounting to 32,500 GBP. This amount will be brought into the infrastructures and initial overhead cost for the start-up Thai spa business in the UK under 'Harnn Natural Home Spa' brand. The Company Home Spa Partnership was incorporated in July 2008 with issued share capital of 80,000...

Technology Solutions for Existing Homes Case Study: Accelerating the Delivery of Home-Performance Upgrades Using a Synergistic Business Model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2016-04-14

The Building America team NorthernSTAR investigated opportunities to use the massive customer networks of the home service industry as a means to connect homeowners to home-performance solutions. Home service companies could provide a pathway to advance building-science-guided upgrades by being in close proximity to homeowners when a decision-making moment is at hand. Established trust provides an opportunity for the company to deliver sound information and influence during a remodeling decision.

Mapping a Research Agenda for Home Care Safety: Perspectives from Researchers, Providers, and Decision Makers

Science.gov (United States)

Macdonald, Marilyn; Lang, Ariella; MacDonald, Jo-Anne

2011-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative interpretive design was to explore the perspectives of researchers, health care providers, policy makers, and decision makers on key risks, concerns, and emerging issues related to home care safety that would inform a line of research inquiry. Defining safety specifically in this home care context has yet to be…

Building America Energy Renovations. A Business Case for Home Performance Contracting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baechler, Michael C. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Antonopoulos, C. A. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Sevigny, M. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Gilbride, T. L. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Hefty, M. G. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2012-10-01

This research report gives an overview of the needs and opportunities that exist in the U.S. home performance contracting industry. The report discusses industry trends, market drivers, different business models, and points of entry for existing and new businesses hoping to enter the home performance contracting industry. Case studies of eight companies who successfully entered the industry are provided, including business metrics, start-up costs, and marketing approaches.

Eli Lilly and Company's bioethics framework for human biomedical research.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Campen, Luann E; Therasse, Donald G; Klopfenstein, Mitchell; Levine, Robert J

2015-11-01

Current ethics and good clinical practice guidelines address various aspects of pharmaceutical research and development, but do not comprehensively address the bioethical responsibilities of sponsors. To fill this void, in 2010 Eli Lilly and Company developed and implemented a Bioethics Framework for Human Biomedical Research to guide ethical decisions. (See our companion article that describes how the framework was developed and implemented and provides a critique of its usefulness and limitations.) This paper presents the actual framework that serves as a company resource for employee education and bioethics deliberations. The framework consists of four basic ethical principles and 13 essential elements for ethical human biomedical research and resides within the context of our company's mission, vision and values. For each component of the framework, we provide a high-level overview followed by a detailed description with cross-references to relevant well regarded guidance documents. The principles and guidance described should be familiar to those acquainted with research ethics. Therefore the novelty of the framework lies not in the foundational concepts presented as much as the attempt to specify and compile a sponsor's bioethical responsibilities to multiple stakeholders into one resource. When such a framework is employed, it can serve as a bioethical foundation to inform decisions and actions throughout clinical planning, trial design, study implementation and closeout, as well as to inform company positions on bioethical issues. The framework is, therefore, a useful tool for translating ethical aspirations into action - to help ensure pharmaceutical human biomedical research is conducted in a manner that aligns with consensus ethics principles, as well as a sponsor's core values.

Company Strategies for Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI): A Conceptual Model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Klaassen, P.; van de Poel, Ibo; Asveld, Lotte; Flipse, Steven; Scholten, Victor; Yaghmaei, Emad

2017-01-01

Responsible research and innovation (RRI) has become an important topic in the academic community and in policy circles, but it has not yet been systematically included in the innovation process of companies. We discuss how companies can integrate RRI into their corporate social responsibility (CSR)

Company strategies for responsible research and innovation (RRI) : A conceptual model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van de Poel, I.R.; Asveld, L.; Flipse, S.M.; Klaassen, Pim; Scholten, V.E.; Yaghmaei, E.

2017-01-01

Responsible research and innovation (RRI) has become an important topic in the academic community and in policy circles, but it has not yet been systematically included in the innovation process of companies. We discuss how companies can integrate RRI into their corporate social responsibility

Home Detox: a cost-effective alternative.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiersema, B

1996-08-01

The scope of home care is expanding to include specialty services such as substance-abuse detox programs. One company serves as liaison with home care agencies to help patients with alcohol-related illnesses recover in the privacy of their homes.

Considerations and recommendations for conducting qualitative research interviews with palliative and end-of-life care patients in the home setting: a consensus paper.

Science.gov (United States)

Sivell, Stephanie; Prout, Hayley; Hopewell-Kelly, Noreen; Baillie, Jessica; Byrne, Anthony; Edwards, Michelle; Harrop, Emily; Noble, Simon; Sampson, Catherine; Nelson, Annmarie

2015-12-08

To present and discuss the views of researchers at an academic palliative care research centre on research encounters with terminally ill patients in the home setting and to generate a list of recommendations for qualitative researchers working in palliative and end-of-life care. Eight researchers took part in a consensus meeting to discuss their experiences of undertaking qualitative interviews. The researchers were of varying backgrounds and all reported having experience in interviewing terminally ill patients, and all but one had experience of interviewing patients in their home environment. The main areas discussed by researchers included: whether participation in end-of-life research unintentionally becomes a therapeutic experience or an ethical concern; power relationships between terminally ill patients and researchers; researcher reflexivity and reciprocity; researchers' training needs. Qualitative methods can complement the home environment; however, it can raise ethical and practical challenges, which can be more acute in the case of research undertaken with palliative and patients at the end-of-life. The ethical and practical challenges researchers face in this context has the potential to place both participant and researcher at risk for their physical and psychological well-being. We present a set of recommendations for researchers to consider prior to embarking on qualitative research in this context and advocate researchers in this field carefully consider the issues presented on a study-by-study basis. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Pilot study to investigate the feasibility of the Home Falls and Accidents Screening Tool (HOME FAST) to identify older Malaysian people at risk of falls.

Science.gov (United States)

Romli, Muhammad Hibatullah; Mackenzie, Lynette; Lovarini, Meryl; Tan, Maw Pin

2016-08-16

The relationship between home hazards and falls in older Malaysian people is not yet fully understood. No tools to evaluate the Malaysian home environment currently exist. Therefore, this study aimed to pilot the Home Falls and Accidents Screening Tool (HOME FAST) to identify hazards in Malaysian homes, to evaluate the feasibility of using the HOME FAST in the Malaysian Elders Longitudinal Research (MELoR) study and to gather preliminary data about the experience of falls among a small sample of Malaysian older people. A cross-sectional pilot study was conducted. An urban setting in Kuala Lumpur. 26 older people aged 60 and over were recruited from the control group of a related research project in Malaysia, in addition to older people known to the researchers. The HOME FAST was applied with the baseline survey for the MELoR study via a face-to-face interview and observation of the home by research staff. The majority of the participants were female, of Malay or Chinese ethnicity and living with others in a double-storeyed house. Falls were reported in the previous year by 19% and 80% of falls occurred at home. Gender and fear of falling had the strongest associations with home hazards. Most hazards were detected in the bathroom area. A small number of errors were detected in the HOME FAST ratings by researchers. The HOME FAST is feasible as a research and clinical tool for the Malaysian context and is appropriate for use in the MELoR study. Home hazards were prevalent in the homes of older people and further research with the larger MELoR sample is needed to confirm the validity of using the HOME FAST in Malaysia. Training in the use of the HOME FAST is needed to ensure accurate use by researchers. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Company strategies for responsible research and innovation (RRI): A conceptual model

OpenAIRE

van de Poel, I.R.; Asveld, L.; Flipse, S.M.; Klaassen, Pim; Scholten, V.E.; Yaghmaei, E.

2017-01-01

Responsible research and innovation (RRI) has become an important topic in the academic community and in policy circles, but it has not yet been systematically included in the innovation process of companies. We discuss how companies can integrate RRI into their corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and business strategy. To this end, we developed a conceptual model that links a company's RRI strategy to its context, and that helps to translate the RRI strategy into activities that r...

Company Strategies for Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI: A Conceptual Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ibo van de Poel

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Responsible research and innovation (RRI has become an important topic in the academic community and in policy circles, but it has not yet been systematically included in the innovation process of companies. We discuss how companies can integrate RRI into their corporate social responsibility (CSR policies and business strategy. To this end, we developed a conceptual model that links a company’s RRI strategy to its context, and that helps to translate the RRI strategy into activities that result in RRI outcomes. We also propose a process for developing company-specific RRI key performance indicators (KPIs that can support companies to measure RRI outcomes.

INDUSTRY-UNIVERSITY COLLABORATION FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF COMPANIES AS RESEARCH CUSTOMERS

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gerstlberger, Wolfgang; Kesting, Tobias

With regard to the increasing competitive situation in many industries due to continuous globalisation, companies more and more have to take into account external research support in order to maintain or even improve their competitiveness. In order to gain new and more detailed insights...... provide the core for a proposed segmentation framework concept for universities as suppliers on research markets. Following this idea, combined with the theoretical framework of market segmentation and transferring the customer segmentation approach to research markets, our paper gives concrete managerial...... into the actual experiences and perceived benefits of companies cooperating with universities and other external research institutions concerning particularly innovation-related support like product or prototype development, we conducted a transnational empirical survey in 2009. It addressed companies from...

A model of bussiness research skill s from university, company and state in colombia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jahir Alexander Gutiérrez Ossa

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The article aims to provide a model of research skills for companies (business people and professionals in the relationship University, COMPANY and State (UCS in Colombia. The triad’s performance requires an in-depth analysis of the link of business sector to research bodies. Systemic analysis helps to establish the organic composition of each actor in the relationship. It is necessary to expand the analysis about how actors perceive UCS relationship, evaluate the potential role of companies in the performance of the triad, and propose a model of business research skills. Each actor must deepen knowledge and integrate the role of research on that agreement.

Development of the businesses through the companies for market research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agim Zuzaku

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Market research as the main part of the marketing is very important for the development of businesses as well as for the opportunity in the creation new jobs. The purpose of this paper is to provide the incentives for the businesses to conduct market research while justifying that the market research is an important factor in the decision making process of the businesses and it impacts the development of their business activities by creating a safe decision-making through market research. In order to convert successfully any business ideas with high capital incomes, it is important for the companies to understand and to determine the right value of their investment. For this particular reason, it is important to address the thesis about how the investment in the market research proves the usefulness or the profit for the company. Nowadays, the market research is not only conducted to gather the information about the market and the collection of data. However, very often it is used even to assist in the identification of the opportunities for the future (this has been referred several times as “market research” ‘to point out the difference from’ data collection’. Market research is priceless in the creation process of the new products, services, brands or advertisements (Keegan, 2009. In the case of Kosovo, market research has found very limited room within the strategies for business development. According to the Kosovo Statistics Agency, during 2013, a total of 9421 enterprises have been registered, whereas in total 1508 enterprises or 16 % of the enterprises registered in 2013 have closed (Kosovo Statistics Agency, 2014. In the framework of this research, we have performed a research with the companies that provide services for market research in order to find out how a market research in Kosovo is conducted and in case the number of market research is increased, how much would it impact the creation of new jobs.

Information Cyberspace and Future Cyber Homes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eduard Babulak

2006-04-01

Full Text Available The current Internet combines very complex communications infrastructures, while connecting users globally and at the same time creating information cyberspace systems. Large companies such as Philips are working on communications technologies that will facilitate fully automated households (i.e., Cyber Homes. Today, people are using are using small digital pagers and phones with embedded computers and displays, palm-size computers such as Palm Pilot, notebook-size panel computers and wall-size displays. Current research and development trends in the field of Telecommunications and computing industries continues towards a human centric computing, smart spaces, smart devices, clothing, fully automated houses etc. This new technology creates environment where computers are everywhere and provide online access to information at any time to anyone. In this paper, the author discusses new technological trends directions in the Internet, E-commerce and Automation Industries, while presenting his own vision on application of ubiquitous computing in the future cyber home automation. In support of creating future fully automated cyber homes, the author promotes creation of interdisciplinary and multinational research and development teams world-wide.

Do public nursing home care providers deliver higher quality than private providers? Evidence from Sweden.

Science.gov (United States)

Winblad, Ulrika; Blomqvist, Paula; Karlsson, Andreas

2017-07-14

Swedish nursing home care has undergone a transformation, where the previous virtual public monopoly on providing such services has been replaced by a system of mixed provision. This has led to a rapidly growing share of private actors, the majority of which are large, for-profit firms. In the wake of this development, concerns have been voiced regarding the implications for care quality. In this article, we investigate the relationship between ownership and care quality in nursing homes for the elderly by comparing quality levels between public, for-profit, and non-profit nursing home care providers. We also look at a special category of for-profit providers; private equity companies. The source of data is a national survey conducted by the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare in 2011 at 2710 nursing homes. Data from 14 quality indicators are analyzed, including structure and process measures such as staff levels, staff competence, resident participation, and screening for pressure ulcers, nutrition status, and risk of falling. The main statistical method employed is multiple OLS regression analysis. We differentiate in the analysis between structural and processual quality measures. The results indicate that public nursing homes have higher quality than privately operated homes with regard to two structural quality measures: staffing levels and individual accommodation. Privately operated nursing homes, on the other hand, tend to score higher on process-based quality indicators such as medication review and screening for falls and malnutrition. No significant differences were found between different ownership categories of privately operated nursing homes. Ownership does appear to be related to quality outcomes in Swedish nursing home care, but the results are mixed and inconclusive. That staffing levels, which has been regarded as a key quality indicator in previous research, are higher in publicly operated homes than private is consistent with earlier

Discussion of nuclear science and technology information base on serving our company scientific research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Zhong; Liu Wenbin

2010-01-01

In the eleventh five-year, our company scientific research have a long way to go and preparatory work of commercial reprocessing has startup under digital information society. Fundamental change of existing content, model of nuclear science and technology information occurred to fit for new situation and new environment, and in order to service for our company scientific research. In this paper, we discuss the development of new services that fits for our company science and technology information. (authors)

Research into the evaluation of PR activities in companies from Serbia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Milan Nikolic

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the results of a research into the volume, type and quality of the evaluation of public relations activities in companies in Serbia. The survey was conducted via a web survey. The responses were collected from 50 PR service managers from 50 companies in Serbia. The results are presented through descriptive statistics and correlation analysis where some of the observed sizes of the connection were analyzed. The main conclusions can be summarized as follows: PR functions are often not assigned sufficient importance in companies in Serbia; the evaluation of PR activity is slightly neglected compared to other PR activities; intensive and continuous evaluation of the performances of PR activities increases the likelihood of the complete PR function of the company being successful; companies that are not so successful use evaluation less than successful companies; the evaluation of PR activities is mostly done through a method for measuring quantity; the main problems in the evaluation of PR activities are lack of time and money. The evaluation of PR activities in companies in Serbia can be improved through a greater understanding on the part of top managers, and also by hiring additional PR practitioners.

Going Global: Key Insights from Two Mexican Companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martha RIVERA

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper explores how Mexican companies in different industries have achieved international expansion, while at the same time preserving local elements in executing their strategies. For this initial stage of research, the analysis focuses on two companies: a Grupo Bimbo, the number one company in the bakery industry worldwide and b KidZania, one of the world’s top indoor family entertainment centers. The research methodology is based on in-depth interviews with CEOs and key executives from the two companies done over a period of more than ten years. We have also used secondary data such as press releases and case studies. By contrasting their strategies and comparing them with those of other multinationals like Ford Motor Company and Santander Bank, we identified major issues that we condensed into 10 key insights. Understanding how these companies have struggled and succeeded in gaining international markets can help other companies tailor their own strategies. Our argument is that the typical simplified international expansion process is insufficient when companies need to compete in the global arena. Becoming an MNC implies handling an entire ecosystem: building local presence, establishing joint ventures or alliances with local companies, recruiting local talent, developing new business models, reshaping the value proposition, developing new brands or introducing traditional ones with a local flavor, and understanding the supply chain and routes to market. Therefore, a number of aspects have to be taken into consideration beyond just simply selecting a market. For certain companies in emerging markets, making the decision to grow internationally was not initially in their strategic vision, but economic liberalization in their home country and the threat of being purchased by an MNC from a developed country triggered the decision. There is a learning process in international expansion, and trial and error is common and useful. The

Who Has Used Internal Company Documents for Biomedical and Public Health Research and Where Did They Find Them?

OpenAIRE

Wieland, L. Susan; Rutkow, Lainie; Vedula, S. Swaroop; Kaufmann, Christopher N.; Rosman, Lori M.; Twose, Claire; Mahendraratnam, Nirosha; Dickersin, Kay

2014-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To describe the sources of internal company documents used in public health and healthcare research. METHODS: We searched PubMed and Embase for articles using internal company documents to address a research question about a health-related topic. Our primary interest was where authors obtained internal company documents for their research. We also extracted information on type of company, type of research question, type of internal documents, and funding source. RESULTS: Our search...

Who has used internal company documents for biomedical and public health research and where did they find them?

Science.gov (United States)

Wieland, L Susan; Rutkow, Lainie; Vedula, S Swaroop; Kaufmann, Christopher N; Rosman, Lori M; Twose, Claire; Mahendraratnam, Nirosha; Dickersin, Kay

2014-01-01

To describe the sources of internal company documents used in public health and healthcare research. We searched PubMed and Embase for articles using internal company documents to address a research question about a health-related topic. Our primary interest was where authors obtained internal company documents for their research. We also extracted information on type of company, type of research question, type of internal documents, and funding source. Our searches identified 9,305 citations of which 357 were eligible. Scanning of reference lists and consultation with colleagues identified 4 additional articles, resulting in 361 included articles. Most articles examined internal tobacco company documents (325/361; 90%). Articles using documents from pharmaceutical companies (20/361; 6%) were the next most common. Tobacco articles used documents from repositories; pharmaceutical documents were from a range of sources. Most included articles relied upon internal company documents obtained through litigation (350/361; 97%). The research questions posed were primarily about company strategies to promote or position the company and its products (326/361; 90%). Most articles (346/361; 96%) used information from miscellaneous documents such as memos or letters, or from unspecified types of documents. When explicit information about study funding was provided (290/361 articles), the most common source was the US-based National Cancer Institute. We developed an alternative and more sensitive search targeted at identifying additional research articles using internal pharmaceutical company documents, but the search retrieved an impractical number of citations for review. Internal company documents provide an excellent source of information on health topics (e.g., corporate behavior, study data) exemplified by articles based on tobacco industry documents. Pharmaceutical and other industry documents appear to have been less used for research, indicating a need for funding for

Value-centric business development: descriptive and prescriptive research into five different companies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kukushkin, Merili; Otto, Tauno; Howard, Thomas J.

2015-01-01

The companies that discover changes and possibilities within the value system first and make use of them are considered to be prime movers and often are more successful than those who adapt late. Research has been done on multiple levels for understanding value-centric business from a practical......, and results involved in both the descriptive and the prescriptive phases of the research....... perspective as well as from a theoretical perspective. In the first stage of the research (Descriptive Study 1), practical experience and knowledge were gained simultaneously from a case company and from literature-based case analysis. As output of a prescriptive study, a specification of a proactive value...

Social barriers to the adoption of smart homes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Balta-Ozkan, Nazmiye; Davidson, Rosemary; Bicket, Martha; Whitmarsh, Lorraine

2013-01-01

The aim of this paper is to explore social barriers to the adoption of smart homes through the analysis of expert views and public attitudes. Smart home services aim to improve the comfort, convenience and safety of householders, as well as allowing them to use energy more efficiently and cope with increasing costs. Despite the existence of smart homes and smart home technologies for some time, their prevalence is not widespread, and thus their potential largely untapped. Using a combination of in-depth deliberative public workshops, expert interviews and a review of the existing literature, this paper explores social barriers to smart home diffusion, including how these vary by expertise, life-stage and location. The research highlights the importance of barriers such as control, security, and cost, providing insights for policymakers as well as smart-home designers and developers as to how these might be addressed. - Highlights: • Smart homes and related technologies can provide a variety of benefits. • Technologies need to be reliable and fit into householders’ lifestyles. • Public concerns relate to cost, control and privacy. • Trust in energy companies and government is important

Research Toward Zero Energy Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Robert Hammon

2010-12-31

This final report was compiled from the detailed annual reports that were submitted for efforts in 2008 and 2009, and from individual task reports from 2010. Reports, case studies, and presentations derived from this work are available through the Building America website. The BIRA team is led by ConSol, a leading provider of energy solutions for builders since 1983. In partnership with over fifty builders, developers, architects, manufactures, researchers, utilities, and agencies, research work was performed in California, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii and five (5) climate regions (Hot-Dry, Marine, Hot-Humid, Cold, and Hot/Mixed Dry). In addition to research work, the team provided technical assistance to our partners whose interests span the entire building process. During the three year budget period, the BIRA team performed analyses of several emerging technologies, prototype homes, and high performance communities through detailed computer simulations and extensive field monitoring to meet the required climate joule milestone targets.

Who has used internal company documents for biomedical and public health research and where did they find them?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L Susan Wieland

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To describe the sources of internal company documents used in public health and healthcare research. METHODS: We searched PubMed and Embase for articles using internal company documents to address a research question about a health-related topic. Our primary interest was where authors obtained internal company documents for their research. We also extracted information on type of company, type of research question, type of internal documents, and funding source. RESULTS: Our searches identified 9,305 citations of which 357 were eligible. Scanning of reference lists and consultation with colleagues identified 4 additional articles, resulting in 361 included articles. Most articles examined internal tobacco company documents (325/361; 90%. Articles using documents from pharmaceutical companies (20/361; 6% were the next most common. Tobacco articles used documents from repositories; pharmaceutical documents were from a range of sources. Most included articles relied upon internal company documents obtained through litigation (350/361; 97%. The research questions posed were primarily about company strategies to promote or position the company and its products (326/361; 90%. Most articles (346/361; 96% used information from miscellaneous documents such as memos or letters, or from unspecified types of documents. When explicit information about study funding was provided (290/361 articles, the most common source was the US-based National Cancer Institute. We developed an alternative and more sensitive search targeted at identifying additional research articles using internal pharmaceutical company documents, but the search retrieved an impractical number of citations for review. CONCLUSIONS: Internal company documents provide an excellent source of information on health topics (e.g., corporate behavior, study data exemplified by articles based on tobacco industry documents. Pharmaceutical and other industry documents appear to have been

Company Strategies for Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI): A Conceptual Model

OpenAIRE

Klaassen, P.; van de Poel, Ibo; Asveld, Lotte; Flipse, Steven; Scholten, Victor; Yaghmaei, Emad

2017-01-01

Responsible research and innovation (RRI) has become an important topic in the academic community and in policy circles, but it has not yet been systematically included in the innovation process of companies. We discuss how companies can integrate RRI into their corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and business strategy. To this end, we developed a conceptual model that links a company’s RRI strategy to its context, and that helps to translate the RRI strategy into activities that r...

Corporate Diversification, Firm Value and State Ownership in Chinese Publicly Listed Companies

OpenAIRE

Liu, Yang

2015-01-01

Corporate diversification has long been a focused and deeply developed field, defined as the process of a company expand its business into different areas. There are mainly three different types of corporate diversification: product diversification (related or unrelated) and geographic market diversification (home market or international market). Our research is concentrated on the first form of diversification. In addition, the relationship between corporate diversification and firm valu...

Ideas of home in palliative care research: A concept analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Tryselius, Kristina; Benzein, Eva; Persson, Carina

2018-04-23

To explore the concept of home and its' expressed spatialities in current palliative care research. Home is a central environment for living, caring, and dying. However, pure investigations of the sets of ideas linked to the concept seemed missing. Although identified as an important location, spatial perspectives expressed through the concept of home appeared unexplored. Rodgers' evolutionary concept analysis. Scientific articles published between January 2009 and September 2015. Rodgers' evolutionary concept analysis. Resulting attributes were explored from two geographically informed spatial perspectives. As main results, six attributes were identified and explored: Home as actor-capable of acting; emotional environment-something people have feelings for; place-a part of personal identity and a location; space-complex and relational spatial connections and a site for care; setting-passive background and absolute space; becoming-a fluid spatiality constantly folded. Examples of attributes and suggestions for further concept development were identified. The concept reflects various sets of ideas as well as expressing both relational and absolute perspectives of space. The most challenging for nursing research and practice seems to be investigation, operationalization, and testing the implementation of sets of ideas reflecting a relational thinking of space. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Insurance Companies Adapting to Trends by Adopting Medical Tourism.

Science.gov (United States)

Paul, David P; Barker, Tyler; Watts, Angela L; Messinger, Ashley; Coustasse, Alberto

Health care costs in the United States are rising every year, and patients are seeking new ways to control their expenditures and save money. Going abroad to receive health care is a cheaper alternative than receiving the same or similar care at home. Insurance companies are beginning to realize the benefits of medical tourism for both themselves and their beneficiaries and have therefore started to introduce medical tourism plans for their clients as an option for their beneficiaries. This research study explores the benefits and risks of medical tourism and examines the US insurance market's reaction to the trend of increasing medical tourism. The US medical tourism industry mirrors that of the United Kingdom in recent years, with more patients seeking care abroad than in the United States. Insurance companies have introduced new plans providing the option of traveling abroad to countries such as India and Costa Rica. Medical tourism is gaining popularity with US residents, and insurance companies are recognizing this trend.

Changing R&D models in research-based pharmaceutical companies

OpenAIRE

Schuhmacher, Alexander; Gassmann, Oliver; Hinder, Markus

2016-01-01

New drugs serving unmet medical needs are one of the key value drivers of research-based pharmaceutical companies. The efficiency of research and development (R&D), defined as the successful approval and launch of new medicines (output) in the rate of the monetary investments required for R&D (input), has declined since decades. We aimed to identify, analyze and describe the factors that impact the R&D efficiency. Based on publicly available information, we reviewed the R&D models of major re...

Electric heating provides a high level of home comfort - economically

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haapakoski, M.

1997-11-01

Research and development at IVO in the area of electric heating boasts a tradition going back almost thirty years. Research aimed at further progress is continuing. IVO and power companies launched the `Electrically heated houses of the century` project four years ago. The first results show that electric heating continues to be very competitive with other heating systems. It is an economical way of heating the home and it also increases the comfort of those living there

Do spin-off companies make academics' heads spin? The impacts of research-based spin-off companies on the production of scientific knowledge

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zomer, A.H.

2011-01-01

Public research organisations nowadays are very much involved in the commercialisation of their research results, especially by creating spin-off companies. Government generally views research commercialisation as an important driver of innovation and as an opportunity to supplement increasingly

Challenges to conducting research with older people living in nursing homes

OpenAIRE

Hall, Sue; Longhurst, Susan; Higginson, Irene J

2009-01-01

Abstract Background Although older people are increasingly cared for in nursing homes towards the end of life, there is a dearth of research exploring the views of residents. There are however, a number of challenges and methodological issues involved in doing this. The aim of this paper is to discuss some of these, along with residents' views on taking part in a study of the perceptions of dignity of older people in care homes and make recommendations for future research in these settings. M...

Work-life balance culture, work-home interaction, and emotional exhaustion: a structural equation modeling approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Nitzsche, Anika; Pfaff, Holger; Jung, Julia; Driller, Elke

2013-01-01

To examine the relationships among employees' emotional exhaustion, positive and negative work-home interaction, and perceived work-life balance culture in companies. Data for this study were collected through online surveys of employees from companies in the micro- and nanotechnology sectors (N = 509). A structural equation modeling analysis was performed. A company culture perceived by employees as supportive of their work-life balance was found to have both a direct negative effect on emotional exhaustion and an indirect negative effect meditated by negative work-home interaction. In addition, whereas negative work-home interaction associated positively with emotional exhaustion, positive work-home interaction had no significant effect. The direct and indirect relationship between work-life balance culture and emotional exhaustion has practical implications for health promotion in companies.

Research supporting the congruence between rehabilitation principles and home health nursing practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Neal, L J

1999-01-01

A grounded-theory study of 30 home health nurses conducted in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area used unstructured audiotaped interviews to elicit data as to how home health nurses define their practice. The purpose of the study was to develop a beginning substantive research-based theory of home health nursing practice. The model that emerged consists of three stages by which nurses attain autonomy in their practice. Adaptation was found to be the core category, in that nurses cannot function effectively or successfully in the home health arena unless they are or learn to be adaptable. Data also revealed that home health nurses either knowingly or unknowingly use rehabilitation nursing principles in their practice, thereby lending credence to the supposition that home health nursing practice is congruent with rehabilitation nursing principles.

Radiation applications research and facilities in AECL research company

Science.gov (United States)

Iverson, S. L.

In the 60's and 70's Atomic Energy of Canada had a very active R&D program to discover and develop applications of ionizing radiation. Out of this grew the technology underlying the company's current product line of industrial irradiators. With the commercial success of that product line the company turned its R&D attention to other activities. Presently, widespread interest in the use of radiation for food processing and the possibility of developing reliable and competitive machine sources of radiation hold out the promise of a major increase in industrial use of radiation. While many of the applications being considered are straightforward applications of existing knowledge, others depend on more subtle effects including combined effects of two or more agents. Further research is required in these areas. In March 1985 a new branch, Radiation Applications Research, began operations with the objective of working closely with industry to develop and assist the introduction of new uses of ionizing radiation. The Branch is equipped with appropriate analytical equipment including HPLC (high performance liquid chromatograph) and GC/MS (gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer) as well as a Gammacell 220 and an I-10/1, one kilowatt 10 MeV electron accelerator. The accelerator is located in a specially designed facility equipped for experimental irradiation of test quantities of packaged products as well as solids, liquids and gases in various configurations. A conveyor system moves the packaged products from the receiving area, through a maze, past the electron beam at a controlled rate and finally to the shipping area. Other necessary capabilities, such as gamma and electron dosimetry and a microbiology laboratory, have also been developed. Initial projects in areas ranging from food through environmental and industrial applications have been assessed and the most promising have been selected for further work. As an example, the use of charcoal adsorbent beds to concentrate

Ethical Responsibility of Neuromarketing Companies in Harnessing the Market Research – a Global Exploratory Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicolae Al. Pop

2014-02-01

Full Text Available A key challenge in the 21st century is identifying how to satisfy consumers’ needs in the best manner possible, whilst ensuring companies’ financial profitability. Scientists play a major role in achieving this goal, as research methods, techniques and tools have continuously evolved. In the last two decades, the development of these instruments has seen an important boost, as neuromarketing methods and techniques added depth and accuracy to traditional studies. The main aim of this paper is to highlight the role and importance of neuromarketing research techniques in the evolution of neurosciences and to explain how these techniques are used in market research. One of the most important challenges for companies who offer neuromarketing services is to stick to ethical principles when performing the investigations. This is an obligation they have both towards the beneficiaries – the companies providing products or services – and towards their consumers as well. This challenge has always been a subject of dispute between the advocates and critics of neuromarketing. Thus, this paper deals with this and other controversial topics. It starts with analysing a traditional persuasion model that has inherently been influenced by the neuromarketing research features. Then, it addresses the positive and negative aspects that subjects might have to face throughout neuromarketing studies, always bearing in mind the current Ethical Code of Conduct issued by the Neuromarketing Science and Business Association (NMSBA. An exploratory online research helped the authors test several hypotheses on ethical issues that neuromarketing companies have to handle. The research was performed on 67 neuromarketing companies from around the world that are members of the NMSBA. The findings are relevant both to researchers and neuromarketing companies, even the Romanian ones, who can use them used as insights.

Research on simulation based material delivery system for an automobile company with multi logistics center

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, D.; Guan, Z.; Wang, C.; Yue, L.; Peng, L.

2017-06-01

Distribution of different parts to the assembly lines is significant for companies to improve production. Current research investigates the problem of distribution method optimization of a logistics system in a third party logistic company that provide professional services to an automobile manufacturing case company in China. Current research investigates the logistics leveling the material distribution and unloading platform of the automobile logistics enterprise and proposed logistics distribution strategy, material classification method, as well as logistics scheduling. Moreover, the simulation technology Simio is employed on assembly line logistics system which helps to find and validate an optimization distribution scheme through simulation experiments. Experimental results indicate that the proposed scheme can solve the logistic balance and levels the material problem and congestion of the unloading pattern in an efficient way as compared to the original method employed by the case company.

Public involvement in research within care homes: benefits and challenges in the APPROACH study.

Science.gov (United States)

Froggatt, Katherine; Goodman, Claire; Morbey, Hazel; Davies, Sue L; Masey, Helen; Dickinson, Angela; Martin, Wendy; Victor, Christina

2016-12-01

Public involvement in research (PIR) can improve research design and recruitment. Less is known about how PIR enhances the experience of participation and enriches the data collection process. In a study to evaluate how UK care homes and primary health-care services achieve integrated working to promote older people's health, PIR was integrated throughout the research processes. This paper aims to present one way in which PIR has been integrated into the design and delivery of a multisite research study based in care homes. A prospective case study design, with an embedded qualitative evaluation of PIR activity. Data collection was undertaken in six care homes in three sites in England. Six PIR members participated: all had prior personal or work experience in care homes. Qualitative data collection involved discussion groups, and site-specific meetings to review experiences of participation, benefits and challenges, and completion of structured fieldwork notes after each care home visit. PIR members supported recruitment, resident and staff interviews and participated in data interpretation. Benefits of PIR work were resident engagement that minimized distress and made best use of limited research resources. Challenges concerned communication and scheduling. Researcher support for PIR involvement was resource intensive. Clearly defined roles with identified training and support facilitated involvement in different aspects of the data collection process. This can also ensure that vulnerable older people who participate in research have a positive experience that reinforces the value of their views. © 2015 The Authors Health Expectations Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

National Oil Companies: the view from Venezuela

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodriguez, M.

1994-01-01

National oil companies were key elements in the initial OPEC strategy and they brought a de-integration of oil industry. These companies have tried to move from crude marketing to product marketing through new investments at home and abroad in order to get higher value added and more secure markets for crude. Low prices bring new challenges. Venezuela's answers are strategic associations, operating contract for marginal fields and profit sharing agreements. (Author)

Production of high-quality marketing applications: strategies for biotechnology companies working with contract research organizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Hecker, Sandra J; Preston, Christopher; Foote, MaryAnn

2003-01-01

Many biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies use clinical research organizations (CROs) to assist in the writing and preparation of clinical documents intended for submission to health authorities. Start-up companies often require the expertise of a CRO to prepare their first regulatory documents. Larger or more experienced companies often require CRO staff to assist at times of multiple simultaneous submissions. The timely production of high-quality new drug marketing applications requires close collaborations between the drug company and the CRO. The views of both CRO and industry in ensuring best practices are discussed.

Patients' health or company profits? The commercialisation of academic research.

Science.gov (United States)

Olivieri, Nancy F

2003-01-01

This paper is a personal account of the events associated with the author's work at the University of Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children on a drug, deferiprone, for the treatment of thalassaemia. Trials of the drug were sponsored by the Canadian Medical Research Council and a drug company which would have been able, had the trials been successful, to seek regulatory approval to market the drug. When evidence emerged that deferiprone might be inadequately effective in a substantial proportion of patients, the drug company issued legal threats when the author proposed informing her patients and the scientific community. Until protests were made by international authorities in her field of research, the hospital and university did not adequately support the author's academic freedom and responsibilities as a medical practitioner. It is argued that underlying cause of this, and of other similar cases, is the political philosophy which is driving the commercialisation of universities and bringing about the deregulation of drug approval procedures. Together these changes constitute a serious threat to the public good.

The care unit in nursing home research: evidence in support of a definition.

Science.gov (United States)

Estabrooks, Carole A; Morgan, Debra G; Squires, Janet E; Boström, Anne-Marie; Slaughter, Susan E; Cummings, Greta G; Norton, Peter G

2011-04-14

Defining what constitutes a resident care unit in nursing home research is both a conceptual and practical challenge. The aim of this paper is to provide evidence in support of a definition of care unit in nursing homes by demonstrating: (1) its feasibility for use in data collection, (2) the acceptability of aggregating individual responses to the unit level, and (3) the benefit of including unit level data in explanatory models. An observational study design was used. Research (project) managers, healthcare aides, care managers, nursing home administrators and directors of care from thirty-six nursing homes in the Canadian prairie provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba provided data for the study. A definition of care unit was developed and applied in data collection and analyses. A debriefing session was held with research managers to investigate their experiences with using the care unit definition. In addition, survey responses from 1258 healthcare aides in 25 of the 36 nursing homes in the study, that had more than one care unit, were analyzed using a multi-level modeling approach. Trained field workers administered the Alberta Context Tool (ACT), a 58-item self-report survey reflecting 10 organizational context concepts, to healthcare aides using computer assisted personal interviews. To assess the appropriateness of obtaining unit level scores, we assessed aggregation statistics (ICC(1), ICC(2), η², and ω²), and to assess the value of using the definition of unit in explanatory models, we performed multi-level modeling. In 10 of the 36 nursing homes, the care unit definition developed was used to align the survey data (for analytic purposes) to specific care units as designated by our definition, from that reported by the facility administrator. The aggregation statistics supported aggregating the healthcare aide responses on the ACT to the realigned unit level. Findings from the multi-level modeling further supported unit level aggregation. A

Challenges to conducting research with older people living in nursing homes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Higginson Irene J

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Although older people are increasingly cared for in nursing homes towards the end of life, there is a dearth of research exploring the views of residents. There are however, a number of challenges and methodological issues involved in doing this. The aim of this paper is to discuss some of these, along with residents' views on taking part in a study of the perceptions of dignity of older people in care homes and make recommendations for future research in these settings. Methods Qualitative interviews were used to obtain the views on maintaining dignity of 18 people aged 75 years and over, living in two private nursing homes in South East London. Detailed field notes on experiences of recruiting and interviewing participants were kept. Results Challenges included taking informed consent (completing reply slips and having a 'reasonable' understanding of their participation; finding opportunities to conduct interviews; involvement of care home staff and residents' families and trying to maintain privacy during the interviews. Most residents were positive about their participation in the study, however, five had concerns either before or during their interviews. Although 15 residents seemed to feel free to air their views, three seemed reluctant to express their opinions on their care in the home. Conclusion Although we experienced many challenges to conducting this study, they were not insurmountable, and once overcome, allowed this often unheard vulnerable group to express their views, with potential long-term benefits for future delivery of care.

Improving quality and safety in nursing homes and home care: the study protocol of a mixed-methods research design to implement a leadership intervention

Science.gov (United States)

Wiig, Siri; Ree, Eline; Johannessen, Terese; Strømme, Torunn; Storm, Marianne; Aase, Ingunn; Ullebust, Berit; Holen-Rabbersvik, Elisabeth; Hurup Thomsen, Line; Sandvik Pedersen, Anne Torhild; van de Bovenkamp, Hester; Bal, Roland; Aase, Karina

2018-01-01

Introduction Nursing homes and home care face challenges across different countries as people are living longer, often with chronic conditions. There is a lack of knowledge regarding implementation and impact of quality and safety interventions as most research evidence so far is generated in hospitals. Additionally, there is a lack of effective leadership tools for quality and safety improvement work in this context. Methods and analysis The aim of the ‘Improving Quality and Safety in Primary Care—Implementing a Leadership Intervention in Nursing Homes and Homecare’ (SAFE-LEAD) study is to develop and evaluate a research-based leadership guide for managers to increase quality and safety competence. The project applies a mixed-methods design and explores the implications of the leadership guide on managers’ and staffs’ knowledge, attitudes and practices. Four nursing homes and four home care services from different Norwegian municipalities will participate in the intervention. Surveys, process evaluation (interviews, observations) and document analyses will be conducted to evaluate the implementation and impact of the leadership intervention. A comparative study of Norway and the Netherlands will establish knowledge of the context dependency of the intervention. Ethics and dissemination The study is approved by the Norwegian Centre for Research Data (2017/52324 and 54855). The results will be disseminated through scientific articles, two PhD dissertations, an anthology, presentations at national and international conferences, and in social media, newsletters and in the press. The results will generate knowledge to inform leadership practices in nursing homes and home care. Moreover, the study will build new theory on leadership interventions and the role of contextual factors in nursing homes and home care. PMID:29599394

A Strategic Knowledge Map for the Research and Development Department in a Manufacturing Company

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Śliwa Małgorzata

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Knowledge is a corporate resource, being grounds for initiating activities, which is important in a dynamic economy. The difficulties related to obtaining tacit knowledge, related primarily to experience and observation of the knowledge employee (Mendryk, 2011, encourage the companies to use tools supporting knowledge management and location. This article attempts at designing a dedicated, strategic knowledge map for a research and development department in a manufacturing company. Based on the reference works, the detailed characteristics of specific sources of knowledge in a manufacturing company and tools supporting the process of converting the tacit knowledge into explicit one, for example, the knowledge maps, were devised. Then, a strategic knowledge map model was designed for the research and development department (hereinafter abbreviated as SKM – R&D in the manufacturing company, comprising the following components: (1 fields of knowledge, (2 internal and external processes in the R&D department, and (3 sources of knowledge. Then, a practical implementation of the SKM – R&D model was presented.

Economy Home Improvement, Inc. Information Sheet

Science.gov (United States)

Economy Home Improvement, Inc. (the Company) is located in Lexington, Kentucky. The settlement involves renovation activities conducted at a property constructed prior to 1978, located in Lexington, Kentucky.

Research on a simulation-based ship production support system for middle-sized shipbuilding companies

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Young Joo; Woo, Jong Hun; Shin, Jong Gye

2009-12-01

Today, many middle-sized shipbuilding companies in Korea are experiencing strong competition from shipbuilding companies in other nations. This competition is particularly affecting small- and middle-sized shipyards, rather than the major shipyards that have their own support systems and development capabilities. The acquisition of techniques that would enable maximization of production efficiency and minimization of the gap between planning and execution would increase the competitiveness of small- and middle-sized Korean shipyards. In this paper, research on a simulation-based support system for ship production management, which can be applied to the shipbuilding processes of middle-sized shipbuilding companies, is presented. The simulation research includes layout optimization, load balancing, work stage operation planning, block logistics, and integrated material management. Each item is integrated into a network system with a value chain that includes all shipbuilding processes.

Research on a simulation-based ship production support system for middle-sized shipbuilding companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Young Joo Song

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Today, many middle-sized shipbuilding companies in Korea are experiencing strong competition from shipbuilding companies in other nations. This competition is particularly affecting small- and middle-sized shipyards, rather than the major shipyards that have their own support systems and development capabilities. The acquisition of techniques that would enable maximization of production efficiency and minimization of the gap between planning and execution would increase the competitiveness of small- and middle-sized Korean shipyards. In this paper, research on a simulation-based support system for ship production management, which can be applied to the shipbuilding processes of middle-sized shipbuilding companies, is presented. The simulation research includes layout optimization, load balancing, work stage operation planning, block logistics, and integrated material management. Each item is integrated into a network system with a value chain that includes all shipbuilding processes.

Improving quality and safety in nursing homes and home care: the study protocol of a mixed-methods research design to implement a leadership intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiig, Siri; Ree, Eline; Johannessen, Terese; Strømme, Torunn; Storm, Marianne; Aase, Ingunn; Ullebust, Berit; Holen-Rabbersvik, Elisabeth; Hurup Thomsen, Line; Sandvik Pedersen, Anne Torhild; van de Bovenkamp, Hester; Bal, Roland; Aase, Karina

2018-03-28

Nursing homes and home care face challenges across different countries as people are living longer, often with chronic conditions. There is a lack of knowledge regarding implementation and impact of quality and safety interventions as most research evidence so far is generated in hospitals. Additionally, there is a lack of effective leadership tools for quality and safety improvement work in this context. The aim of the 'Improving Quality and Safety in Primary Care-Implementing a Leadership Intervention in Nursing Homes and Homecare' (SAFE-LEAD) study is to develop and evaluate a research-based leadership guide for managers to increase quality and safety competence. The project applies a mixed-methods design and explores the implications of the leadership guide on managers' and staffs' knowledge, attitudes and practices. Four nursing homes and four home care services from different Norwegian municipalities will participate in the intervention. Surveys, process evaluation (interviews, observations) and document analyses will be conducted to evaluate the implementation and impact of the leadership intervention. A comparative study of Norway and the Netherlands will establish knowledge of the context dependency of the intervention. The study is approved by the Norwegian Centre for Research Data (2017/52324 and 54855). The results will be disseminated through scientific articles, two PhD dissertations, an anthology, presentations at national and international conferences, and in social media, newsletters and in the press. The results will generate knowledge to inform leadership practices in nursing homes and home care. Moreover, the study will build new theory on leadership interventions and the role of contextual factors in nursing homes and home care. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Nursing home research: the first International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics (IAGG) research conference.

Science.gov (United States)

Rolland, Yves; Resnick, Barbara; Katz, Paul R; Little, Milta O; Ouslander, Joseph G; Bonner, Alice; Geary, Carol R; Schumacher, Karen L; Thompson, Sarah; Martin, Finbarr C; Wilbers, Joachim; Zúñiga, Franziska; Ausserhofer, D; Schwendimann, R; Schüssler, S; Dassen, Theo; Lohrmann, Christa; Levy, Cari; Whitfield, Emily; de Souto Barreto, Philipe; Etherton-Beer, Christopher; Dilles, Tinne; Azermai, Majda; Bourgeois, Jolyce; Orrell, Martin; Grossberg, George T; Kergoat, Hélène; Thomas, David R; Visschedijk, Jan; Taylor, Stephanie J C; Handajani, Yvonne S; Widjaja, Nelly T; Turana, Yuda; Rantz, Marilyn J; Skubic, Marjorie; Morley, John E

2014-05-01

The International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics held its first conference on nursing home research in St Louis, MO, in November 2013. This article provides a summary of the presentations. Copyright © 2014 American Medical Directors Association, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The profitability of companies offering services to seniors: Comparative study of nursing homes and services at home

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Teresa M. Monllau Jaques

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Purpose: We considered two objectives; on one hand, to analyze the effectiveness and efficiency of enterprises, the purpose of which is to provide services to the elderly. On the other hand, examine whether the enactment of law 39/2006, has meant a change in the profitability of the companies.Design/methodology/approach: We study the accounting behaviour of companies that have more than 250 employees. The period submits to study is over the years 2004 to 2011. The data has been obtained through the SABI and AMADEUS databases.The variables analyzed were the operating margin (OMR rate and the rate of rotation (TAR assets ratioFindings and Originality/value: The analysis of the evolution of OMR shows that in the subsectors analyzed, the Spanish companies are not profitable. The conclusion is not the same when the variable analyzed is TAR. It shows a change in the behaviour of the analyzed companies since 2007. This variation is statistically significant in the case of the OMR, but not so in the case of TAR.Originality/value: The subsectors analyzed have been little studied in Spain. Knowing the evolution of their behaviour will improve the competitiveness of enterprises.

A diaper bank and home visiting partnership: Initial exploration of research and policy questions.

Science.gov (United States)

Sadler, Lois S; Condon, Eileen M; Deng, Shirley Z; Ordway, Monica Roosa; Marchesseault, Crista; Miller, Andrea; Alfano, Janet Stolfi; Weir, Alison M

2018-03-01

The cost of diapering an infant can place a significant financial strain on families living in poverty. Partnerships between diaper banks and home visiting programs for young families may offer an innovative solution to expanding the reach and impact of diaper banks in low-income communities. The purpose of this pilot study was to uncover preliminary information about the functions of diaper distribution through home visiting programs, and to inform future research and policy questions regarding diaper distribution to families in need. In this descriptive qualitative pilot study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 6 home visitors from Minding the Baby ® (MTB), a home visiting intervention for young parents. MTB clinicians routinely distribute diapers in partnership with The Diaper Bank in Connecticut. We used directed content analysis to code and analyze interview transcripts. These preliminary findings indicate that partnerships between home visiting programs and diaper banks may benefit families by improving diaper access, reducing stigma, and fostering trusting relationships with home visitors. Home visiting program benefits including engagement or re-engagement with families may need to be balanced with potential effects on clinical and therapeutic relationships. Recommendations for next steps in research and related policy questions are discussed. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The psychology of home environments: a call for research on residential space.

Science.gov (United States)

Graham, Lindsay T; Gosling, Samuel D; Travis, Christopher K

2015-05-01

Homes are important: People devote much of their thought, time, and resources to selecting, modifying, and decorating their living spaces, and they may be devastated when their homes must be sold or are destroyed. Yet the empirical psychological literature says virtually nothing about the roles that homes might play in people's lives. We argue that homes provide an informative context for a wide variety of studies examining how social, developmental, cognitive, and other psychological processes play out in a consequential real-world setting. The topic of homes is also well suited to collaborations with a diverse array of disciplines ranging from architecture and engineering to sociology and law. We illustrate the potential insights to be gained from studying homes with an exploratory study that maps the psychological ambiances (e.g., romance, comfort, togetherness) that people desire in their homes; we identify six broad ambiance dimensions (restoration, kinship, storage, stimulation, intimacy, productivity) that show mean differences across rooms. We connect these findings to existing work on situation selection in emotion regulation. These ideas provide only an initial foray into the domain of residential space, but they hint at the productive roles that homes and other spaces could play in psychological theorizing and research. © The Author(s) 2015.

An Examination of Strategic Philanthropy and CSR Communication Patterns among the World’s Twenty-One Largest Oil Companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Brad Gatlin

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Fortune Magazine’s 2012 list of 100 largest companies included 21 oil companies. This paper seeks to discern patterns of those 21 companies’ philanthropic efforts and communication thereof. Specifically, the paper will consider issues such as ownership (all companies were either publicly-traded or state-owned, the economic development of the home country, and the citizens’ expectations of corporate citizens. The philanthropic efforts of all 21 companies are discussed in the context of Porter and Kramer’s (2001 framework of the competitive context It is concluded that the oil industry is particularly well-suited to affect factor and, to a lesser extent, demand conditions, through philanthropic efforts. A model for classifying the philanthropic based on ownership and country conditions is proposed, and suggestions for further research are made.

Overview of superplastic forming research at ford motor company

Science.gov (United States)

Friedman, P. A.; Luckey, S. G.; Copple, W. B.; Allor, R.; Miller, C. E.; Young, C.

2004-12-01

In an effort to reduce vehicle weight, the automotive industry has switched to aluminum sheet for many closure panels. Although the application of aluminum is compatible with existing manufacturing processes and has attractive qualities such as low density, good mechanical properties, and high corrosion resistance, it has less room-temperature formability than steel. The expanded forming limits that are possible with superplastic forming can significantly improve the ability to manufacture complex shapes from materials with limited formability. Aluminum closure panels produced by superplastic forming have been used by Ford Motor Company for over a decade. However, applications have been limited to low-volume, specialty vehicles due to the relatively slow cycle time and the cost penalty associated with the specially processed sheet alloys. While there has been substantial research on the superplastic characteristics of aluminum alloys, the bulk of this work has focused on the development of aerospace alloys, which are often too costly and perhaps inappropriate for automotive applications. Additionally, there has been a limited amount of work done to develop the technologies required to support the higher production volumes of the automotive industry. This work presents an automotive perspective on superplastic forming and an overview of the research being performed at Ford Motor Company to increase the production volume so superplastic forming can be cost competitive with more traditional forming technologies.

Examining the Security Awareness, Information Privacy, and the Security Behaviors of Home Computer Users

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Keith

2015-01-01

Attacks on computer systems continue to be a problem. The majority of the attacks target home computer users. To help mitigate the attacks some companies provide security awareness training to their employees. However, not all people work for a company that provides security awareness training and typically, home computer users do not have the…

Backshoring of Danish manufacturing companies: A learning process perspective

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gustafson, Lasse; Pesoutova, Katerina; Turcan, Romeo V.

2017-01-01

The article summarizes a Master Thesis undertook in 2017 by Lasse Gustafson and Katerina Pesoutova, MSc students at International Business Centre at Aalborg University, supervised by Romeo V. Turcan. Rethinking previous Offshoring strategies and bringing production back home is a trend that more...... with the focus on Danish manufacturing companies in Northern Jutland. The findings are based on interviews conducted with companies in the region....

Unimaginable homes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller, Kristian; Klausen, Maja

2018-01-01

The chapter draw from critical mediatization theory, critical intimacy theory, and cultural gerontology and asks: How do elderly people practice their mediatized homes? Which roles do media play in constituting and disturbing the flows of bodies into the home? Moreover: how do dominant...... in the making of the mediatized home space. We conclude by returning to the research questions and making explicit how researching flows of bodies that in many ways inhabit homes of the in-between contributes to both gerontological and geomediatization research agendas....

Pushing Firm Boundaries through Research and Open Innovation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borup Lynggaard, Aviaja

2011-01-01

In this paper we will exemplify open innovation through a university-industry collaboration called Mobile Home Center (MHC). We will demonstrate how the model by Chesbrough can be used as a tool for mapping out a research process and furthermore illustrate what kind of outcast such project can...... provide into the company and bring forward the effect it has inside a company when performing open innovation together with research partners. We seek to bring forward how performing university-research collaboration can also change the practices inside a company and thus push the firm boundaries in new...... directions. Rather than looking at the firm as something static we will demonstrate how Chesbrough’s model on Open Innovation can be used to illustrate the dynamics of a company’s boundaries through Open Innovation....

Advancing Understanding on Industrial Relations in Multinational Companies: Key Research Challenges and the INTREPID Contribution

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gunnigle, Patrick; Valeria, Pulignano; Edwards, Tony

2015-01-01

companies using INTREPID (Investigation of Transnationals’ Employment Practices: an International Database) data. Finally, the paper identifies some of the main industrial relations issues that remain to be addressed, in effect charting a form of research agenda for future work using the INTREPID data......This paper has three principal aims. It firstly provides some theoretical background on the key current research issues and challenges in regard to industrial relations in multinational companies. It then presents a concise review of scholarship to date on industrial relations in multinational...

Factors associated with home hazards: Findings from the Malaysian Elders Longitudinal Research study.

Science.gov (United States)

Romli, Muhammad H; Tan, Maw P; Mackenzie, Lynette; Lovarini, Meryl; Kamaruzzaman, Shahrul B; Clemson, Lindy

2018-03-01

Previous studies have investigated home hazards as a risk factor for falls without considering factors associated with the presence of home hazards. The present study aimed to determine patterns of home hazards among urban community-dwelling older Malaysians, and to identify factors contributing to home hazards. Cross-sectional data from the initial wave of the Malaysian Elders Longitudinal Research study were used. Basic demographics were obtained from the Global Questionnaire. Basic and instrumental activities of daily living were measured using the Katz and Lawton-Brody scales, and home hazards were identified using the Home Falls and Accidents Screening Tool. Participants were also asked if they had fallen in the previous 12 months. Data were analyzed from 1489 participants. Hazards were frequently identified (>30%) in the toilet and bathroom areas (no grab rail, no non-slip mat, distant toilet), slippery floors, no bedside light access and inappropriate footwear. Lower educational attainment, traditional housing, Chinese ethnicity, greater number of home occupants, lower monthly expenditure, poor vision and younger age were the factors independently associated with home hazards. This study provides evidence that home hazards are a product of the interaction of the individual's function within their home environment. Hazards are also influenced by local sociocultural and environmental factors. The relationship between home hazards and falls appears complex and deserves further evaluation. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2018; 18: 387-395. © 2017 Japan Geriatrics Society.

Employing Quality Principles in Evaluating Research Companies According to I.S.O Requirements 9001/2000 (AL-Melad Company Case Study

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Abdulrahman A. Ibrahem

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Research companies are considered to be the pioneer in the country since it have  advanced personal staff of high qualification. Thus it is considered as shining point in the society. Therefore, it have to be the first in applying the quality requirements. This will positively reflected on its performance.            The research aim is to evaluate the quality management for Al-Melad Company. In the present study, the current system of Al-Melad company is evaluated according to  I.S.O 9001/2000 requirement. A computer program is prepared for this purpose to facilitate evaluation process depending on check lists of quality requirements and on field existing conditions living with experts and on the information presented to the program operator through interviews, documents and registries.            The program  will evaluate each element and the pivot in the system and then a total evaluation of the applied quality system. It is found that the congruence percentage with the requirements is 29.84%. This finding illustrate the need of construction quality system based on mixing the functions of the main management (planning and organizing with I.S.O specification 9001/2000 and principles of total quality management.

Accelerating the Delivery of Home Performance Upgrades through a Synergistic Business Model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schirber, Tom; Ojczyk, Cindy

2016-04-11

Achieving Building America energy savings goals (40% by 2030) will require many existing homes to install energy upgrades. Engaging large numbers of homeowners in building science-guided upgrades during a single remodeling event has been difficult for a number of reasons. Performance upgrades in existing homes tend to occur over multiple years and usually result from component failures (furnace failure) and weather damage (ice dams, roofing, siding). This research attempted to: A) understand the homeowner's motivations regarding investing in building science based performance upgrades; B) determining a rapidly scalable approach to engage large numbers of homeowners directly through existing customer networks; and C) access a business model that will manage all aspects of the contractor-homeowner-performance professional interface to ensure good upgrade decisions over time. The solution results from a synergistic approach utilizing networks of suppliers merging with networks of homeowner customers. Companies in the $400 to $800 billion home services industry have proven direct marketing and sales proficiencies that have led to the development of vast customer networks. Companies such as pest control, lawn care, and security have nurtured these networks by successfully addressing the ongoing needs of homes. This long-term access to customers and trust established with consistent delivery has also provided opportunities for home service providers to grow by successfully introducing new products and services like attic insulation and air sealing. The most important component for success is a business model that will facilitate and manage the process. The team analyzes a group that developed a working model.

Smart Homes for Elderly Healthcare-Recent Advances and Research Challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Majumder, Sumit; Aghayi, Emad; Noferesti, Moein; Memarzadeh-Tehran, Hamidreza; Mondal, Tapas; Pang, Zhibo; Deen, M Jamal

2017-10-31

Advancements in medical science and technology, medicine and public health coupled with increased consciousness about nutrition and environmental and personal hygiene have paved the way for the dramatic increase in life expectancy globally in the past several decades. However, increased life expectancy has given rise to an increasing aging population, thus jeopardizing the socio-economic structure of many countries in terms of costs associated with elderly healthcare and wellbeing. In order to cope with the growing need for elderly healthcare services, it is essential to develop affordable, unobtrusive and easy-to-use healthcare solutions. Smart homes, which incorporate environmental and wearable medical sensors, actuators, and modern communication and information technologies, can enable continuous and remote monitoring of elderly health and wellbeing at a low cost. Smart homes may allow the elderly to stay in their comfortable home environments instead of expensive and limited healthcare facilities. Healthcare personnel can also keep track of the overall health condition of the elderly in real-time and provide feedback and support from distant facilities. In this paper, we have presented a comprehensive review on the state-of-the-art research and development in smart home based remote healthcare technologies.

Smart Homes for Elderly Healthcare—Recent Advances and Research Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Aghayi, Emad; Noferesti, Moein; Memarzadeh-Tehran, Hamidreza; Mondal, Tapas; Deen, M. Jamal

2017-01-01

Advancements in medical science and technology, medicine and public health coupled with increased consciousness about nutrition and environmental and personal hygiene have paved the way for the dramatic increase in life expectancy globally in the past several decades. However, increased life expectancy has given rise to an increasing aging population, thus jeopardizing the socio-economic structure of many countries in terms of costs associated with elderly healthcare and wellbeing. In order to cope with the growing need for elderly healthcare services, it is essential to develop affordable, unobtrusive and easy-to-use healthcare solutions. Smart homes, which incorporate environmental and wearable medical sensors, actuators, and modern communication and information technologies, can enable continuous and remote monitoring of elderly health and wellbeing at a low cost. Smart homes may allow the elderly to stay in their comfortable home environments instead of expensive and limited healthcare facilities. Healthcare personnel can also keep track of the overall health condition of the elderly in real-time and provide feedback and support from distant facilities. In this paper, we have presented a comprehensive review on the state-of-the-art research and development in smart home based remote healthcare technologies. PMID:29088123

Smart Homes for Elderly Healthcare—Recent Advances and Research Challenges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sumit Majumder

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Advancements in medical science and technology, medicine and public health coupled with increased consciousness about nutrition and environmental and personal hygiene have paved the way for the dramatic increase in life expectancy globally in the past several decades. However, increased life expectancy has given rise to an increasing aging population, thus jeopardizing the socio-economic structure of many countries in terms of costs associated with elderly healthcare and wellbeing. In order to cope with the growing need for elderly healthcare services, it is essential to develop affordable, unobtrusive and easy-to-use healthcare solutions. Smart homes, which incorporate environmental and wearable medical sensors, actuators, and modern communication and information technologies, can enable continuous and remote monitoring of elderly health and wellbeing at a low cost. Smart homes may allow the elderly to stay in their comfortable home environments instead of expensive and limited healthcare facilities. Healthcare personnel can also keep track of the overall health condition of the elderly in real-time and provide feedback and support from distant facilities. In this paper, we have presented a comprehensive review on the state-of-the-art research and development in smart home based remote healthcare technologies.

Safety in home care: A research protocol for studying medication management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Easty Anthony

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Patient safety is an ongoing global priority, with medication safety considered a prevalent, high-risk area of concern. Yet, we have little understanding of the supports and barriers to safe medication management in the Canadian home care environment. There is a clear need to engage the providers and recipients of care in studying and improving medication safety with collaborative approaches to exploring the nature and safety of medication management in home care. Methods A socio-ecological perspective on health and health systems drives our iterative qualitative study on medication safety with elderly home care clients, family members and other informal caregivers, and home care providers. As we purposively sample across four Canadian provinces: Alberta (AB, Ontario (ON, Quebec (QC and Nova Scotia (NS, we will collect textual and visual data through home-based interviews, participant-led photo walkabouts of the home, and photo elicitation sessions at clients' kitchen tables. Using successive rounds of interpretive description and human factors engineering analyses, we will generate robust descriptions of managing medication at home within each provincial sample and across the four-province group. We will validate our initial interpretations through photo elicitation focus groups with home care providers in each province to develop a refined description of the phenomenon that can inform future decision-making, quality improvement efforts, and research. Discussion The application of interpretive and human factors lenses to the visual and textual data is expected to yield findings that advance our understanding of the issues, challenges, and risk-mitigating strategies related to medication safety in home care. The images are powerful knowledge translation tools for sharing what we learn with participants, decision makers, other healthcare audiences, and the public. In addition, participants engage in knowledge exchange

A Research Agenda on Assessing and Remediating Home Dampness and Mold to Reduce Dampness-Related Health Effects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mendell, Mark J. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Computational Cosmology Center

2015-05-28

This report briefly summarizes, based on recent review articles and selected more recent research reports, current scientific knowledge on two topics: assessing unhealthy levels of indoor D/M in homes and remediating home dampness-related problems to protect health. Based on a comparison of current scientific knowledge to that required to support effective, evidence-based, health-protective policies on home D/M, gaps in knowledge are highlighted, prior questions and research questions specified, and necessary research activities and approaches recommended.

A Research Agenda on Assessing and Remediating Home Dampness and Mold to Reduce Dampness-Related Health Effects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mendell, Mark J. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2015-06-01

This report briefly summarizes, based on recent review articles and selected more recent research reports, current scientific knowledge on two topics: assessing unhealthy levels of indoor D/M in homes and remediating home dampness-related problems to protect health. Based on a comparison of current scientific knowledge to that required to support effective, evidence-based, health-protective policies on home D/M, gaps in knowledge are highlighted, prior questions and research questions specified, and necessary research activities and approaches recommended.

User study: information needs of contracting companies of market research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frederico Cesar Mafra Pereira

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This paper has as main objective to understand why companies use market research as a source of information for their business, with a comparison between what they want to apply for a research and the effective use of the information received. The main methodological approach was based on the 'Model for identifying needs, seeking and use of information' (MAFRA PEREIRA, 2010, and from this approach has drawn up a script for conducting interviews with clients of research institute located in Belo Horizonte (MG. The results showed the applicability of the model, identifying information needs, gaps of information and the effective use of information in their respective organizational contexts; besides the methodological procedures for conducting and analyzing the results.

VULNERABILITY OF COMPANIES

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ARMEAN ANDREEA

2013-06-01

Full Text Available In present, the study of vulnerability of companies is increasing in every field due to the unstable economic environment influences. The object of this research is to define and identify vulnerabilities of companies and the establishment of evaluation methods at their level. This article emphasizes the importance and usefulness of one of the best known model in this way, from our point of view, namely Băileşteanu, Negrila Pattern. This pattern covers both external factors and internal ones, that increase vulnerabilities of companies, and fit the companies in which the state of vulnerability are (vitality, viability, vulnerability, high vulnerability, difficulty and high difficulty, with a matrix. The result of the research is that any company belonging to any field, can be analyzed using this model, and assigned to one of the conditions defined within.

Exploring new operational research opportunities within the Home Care context: the chemotherapy at home.

Science.gov (United States)

Chahed, Salma; Marcon, Eric; Sahin, Evren; Feillet, Dominique; Dallery, Yves

2009-06-01

Home Care (HC) services provide complex and coordinated medical and paramedical care to patients at their homes. As health care services move into the home setting, the need for developing innovative approaches that improve the efficiency of home care organizations increases. We first conduct a literature review of investigations dealing with operation planning within the area of home care management. We then address a particular issue dealing with the planning of operations related to chemotherapy at home as it is an emergent problem in the French context. Our interest is focused on issues specific to the anti-cancer drug supply chain. We identify various models that can be developed and analyze one of them.

SpaceScience@Home: Authentic Research Projects that Use Citizen Scientists

Science.gov (United States)

Méndez, B. J. H.

2008-06-01

In recent years, several space science research projects have enlisted the help of large numbers of non-professional volunteers, ``citizen scientists'', to aid in performing tasks that are critical to a project, but require more person-time (or computing time) than a small professional research team can practically perform themselves. Examples of such projects include SETI@home, which uses time from volunteers computers to process radio-telescope observation looking for signals originating from extra-terrestrial intelligences; Clickworkers, which asks volunteers to review images of the surface of Mars to identify craters; Spacewatch, which used volunteers to review astronomical telescopic images of the sky to identify streaks made by possible Near Earth Asteroids; and Stardust@home, which asks volunteers to review ``focus movies'' taken of the Stardust interstellar dust aerogel collector to search for possible impacts from interstellar dust particles. We shall describe these and other similar projects and discuss lessons learned from carrying out such projects, including the educational opportunities they create.

Competing with giants. Survival strategies for local companies in emerging markets.

Science.gov (United States)

Dawar, N; Frost, T

1999-01-01

The arrival of a multinational corporation often looks like a death sentence to local companies in an emerging market. After all, how can they compete in the face of the vast financial and technological resources, the seasoned management, and the powerful brands of, say, a Compaq or a Johnson & Johnson? But local companies often have more options than they might think, say the authors. Those options vary, depending on the strength of globalization pressures in an industry and the nature of a company's competitive assets. In the worst case, when globalization pressures are strong and a company has no competitive assets that it can transfer to other countries, it needs to retreat to a locally oriented link within the value chain. But if globalization pressures are weak, the company may be able to defend its market share by leveraging the advantages it enjoys in its home market. Many companies in emerging markets have assets that can work well in other countries. Those that operate in industries where the pressures to globalize are weak may be able to extend their success to a limited number of other markets that are similar to their home base. And those operating in global markets may be able to contend head-on with multinational rivals. By better understanding the relationship between their company's assets and the industry they operate in, executives from emerging markets can gain a clearer picture of the options they really have when multinationals come to stay.

Breastfeeding status and marketing practices of baby food manufactured in nursing homes.

Science.gov (United States)

Mathur, G P; Pandey, P K; Mathur, S; Mishra, V K; Singh, K; Bhatt, O P; Loomba, R K; Luthra, C; Taneja, S; Kapoor, R

1993-11-01

In January 1993 in Kanpur, India, a survey of 7 private nursing homes revealed that infant formula was given to most newborns (52.4%). The most common brands included Lactogen-I, Milk Care, Raptakos, Dexolac Special Care, and Lactodex. Staff at 5 nursing homes gave prelacteal feeds (water, glucose water, and infant formula) to newborns when they were separated from their mothers. Staff at only 2 nursing homes gave the newborn to the mother immediately after delivery. The longest period between delivery and giving the newborn to the mother was 24 hours. All but one of the nursing homes did not know about the government policy and the recent bill that bars free or low-cost infant formula supplies to hospitals. The administration of the nursing homes did not inform the procurement department, in writing, of the government policy. 4 nursing homes bought low-cost supplies of infant formula from the companies. The companies sold the infant formula to the nursing homes at a price 48.3% to 86.7% lower than the market price. Medical stores inside or outside the nursing homes sold the infant formula to parents at the other 3 homes. The nursing homes used, on average, 2-50 kg/month. Nestle (Lactogen-I) and Dalmia Industries (Milk Care) had a monopoly in infant formula in 4 and 3 nursing homes, respectively. Infant formula was in stock in 5 nursing homes. None of the nursing homes gave mothers free or low-cost infant formula at discharge. Lower than market price and increased number of calls to the hospitals and physicians by company personnel were marketing techniques used by the manufacturers to maintain market share. These results show that, despite government policy and the bill, hospitals continue to use infant formula. The government should use the mass media to increase awareness about its policy on infant foods and the concept of the Baby Friendly Hospital.

Market Risk Disclosures: A Comparison between Companies in Japan and China

OpenAIRE

Xie, Shaomin; Nissan, Samir; Okada, Hiromasa

2012-01-01

This paper presents a comparative analysis of market risk disclosure by Japanese and Chinese companies whose stocks are traded on New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as American Depository Receipts (ADRs) as well as on stock exchange of their own home country. All the companies selected in this study made quantitative disclosures on Item 11 in their 20-F reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)．However, in Japan, only two companies made quantitative disclosures outside the fina...

77 FR 7613 - Dow Chemical Company; Dow Chemical TRIGA Research Reactor; Facility Operating License No. R-108

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-13

... NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [Docket No. 50-264; NRC-2012-0026] Dow Chemical Company; Dow Chemical TRIGA Research Reactor; Facility Operating License No. R-108 AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission... Facility Operating License No. R-108 (``Application''), which currently authorizes the Dow Chemical Company...

75 FR 70081 - Home Federal Bancorp, Inc., Shreveport, LA; Approval of Conversion Application

Science.gov (United States)

2010-11-16

... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Office of Thrift Supervision [AC-52: OTS No. H-4749] Home Federal... 5, 2010, the Office of Thrift Supervision approved the application of Home Federal Mutual Holding Company of Louisiana and Home Federal Bank, Shreveport, Louisiana, to convert to the stock form of...

Sears Home Improvement Products, Inc. Information Sheet

Science.gov (United States)

Sears Home Improvement Products, Inc. (the Company) is located in Longwood, Florida. The case involves renovation activities conducted at property constructed prior to 1978, located in cities across Minnesota, Wisconsin, California, Georgia, Nevada.

The Nursing Home Culture-Change Movement: Recent Past, Present, and Future Directions for Research

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman, Anna N.; Schnelle, John F.

2008-01-01

This article uses a retrospective approach to critique the research base underlying the nursing home culture-change movement--an effort to radically transform the nation's nursing homes by delivering resident-directed care and empowering staff. The article traces the development of the movement from its inception 10 years ago to 2005, when the…

Beyond and between academia and business: How Austrian biotechnology researchers describe high-tech startup companies as spaces of knowledge production.

Science.gov (United States)

Fochler, Maximilian

2016-04-01

Research and innovation policy has invested considerable effort in creating new institutional spaces at the interface of academia and business. High-tech startups founded by academic entrepreneurs have been central to these policy imaginaries. These companies offer researchers new possibilities beyond and between academia and larger industry. However, the field of science and technology studies has thus far shown only limited interest in understanding these companies as spaces of knowledge production. This article analyses how researchers working in small and medium-sized biotechnology companies in Vienna, Austria, describe the cultural characteristics of knowledge production in this particular institutional space. It traces how they relate these characteristics to other institutional spaces they have experienced in their research biographies, such as in academia or larger corporations. It shows that the reasons why researchers decide to work in biotechnology companies and how they organize their work are deeply influenced by their perception of deficiencies in the conditions for epistemic work in contemporary academia and, to a lesser degree, in industry.

Nursing home ownership trends and their impacts on quality of care: a study using detailed ownership data from Texas.

Science.gov (United States)

Stevenson, David G; Bramson, Jeffrey S; Grabowski, David C

2013-01-01

The role of ownership in the provision of nursing home care has long been a challenging issue for policy makers and researchers. Although much of the focus historically has been on differences between for-profit and not-for-profit facilities, this simple distinction has become less useful in recent years as companies have employed more complicated ownership and management structures. Using detailed ownership data from the state of Texas, we describe the evolution of nursing home corporate structures from 2000 to 2007, analyze the effect of these structures on quality of care and staffing in nursing homes, and discuss the policy implications of these changes.

Overview of research work activities in German language in the Home Automation area; Ueberblick deutschsprachiger Forschungsaktivitaeten im Bereich Home Automation. Forschungsinstitute, Themen, Ergebnisse - Schlussbericht

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Staub, R.

2010-02-15

This final report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) takes a look at research work carried out in Germany and Austria on 'smart homes'. The aim of the project was to determine which work has already been carried out in Germany and Austria so that work in Switzerland can be concentrated on questions that have not been looked at in Germany and Austria. The appropriate research institutions are listed. Concrete projects are briefly described and their relevance for Swiss efforts is examined. Various Home Automation project categories are listed, as are the most important research institutes involved. The particular research projects in Germany and Austria and their relevance to Swiss efforts are listed.

Using a measure of person-perception skills to identify outstanding home care workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Grosch, Kerry; Medvene, Louis; Walker, Diane

2011-01-01

This study involved university-community collaboration with an international home care company for the purpose of developing a tool to identify talented caregivers. Tested was the hypothesis that workers' ability to provide care in person-centered ways would be positively associated with their ability to describe others in complex ways--that is, their person-perception skills. Company coordinators functioning as supervisors used an innovative 10-item instrument to screen 554 home health aides for their person centeredness. The most and least person-centered workers were evaluated for their person-perception skills. Person centeredness was positively associated with the complexity of home care workers' descriptions of others.

Narrative Accounting Practices in Indonesia Companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Inten Meutia

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This research aimed to reveal creative accounting practices in the form of narrative accounting occuring in companies in Indonesia. Using content analysis, this research analyzed the management discussion and analysis section in the annual report on the group of companies whose performance had increased and declined in several companies listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange. This research finds that the narrative accounting practices are applied in these companies. The four methods of accounting narratives are found in both groups of companies. There are stressing the positive and downplaying the negative, baffling the readers, differential reporting, and attribution.

Ethics and gender issues in palliative care in nursing homes: an Austrian participatory research project.

Science.gov (United States)

Reitinger, Elisabeth; Heimerl, Katharina

2014-06-01

The development of palliative care in nursing homes in German-speaking countries has gained in importance within the past 15-20 years. Ethical and gender issues are core aspects of a palliative care culture and should therefore be better understood. The aim of this study was to highlight insights regarding ethical and gender issues, based on the experiences of professionals in nursing homes. A 2-year participatory action research study was performed in collaboration with three nursing homes in Austria. The article focusses on 10 group discussions with interdisciplinary professional teams that were conducted to generate ethical narratives. Thematic and narrative analysis was undertaken both individually and within the interdisciplinary research team. Findings and interpretations were validated with practitioners and researchers. A total of 36 narratives were collected and summarised within eight themes concerning the theoretical journey of a nursing home resident with relatives from entry into the house until death. The most burdensome ethical dilemmas are not the ones around death and dying but rather those relating to small-scale everyday work/life issues. Sharing experiences and feelings in ethical discussions provides relief. Emotions are important facilitators of insight into ethical dilemmas. Gender issues can be observed in care situations as well as in the organisational structure of nursing homes. Opportunities to share experiences and perspectives around ethical questions in interdisciplinary group discussions help professionals to better understand difficult issues and find appropriate ways of managing them. There is a need for communication structures such as facilitated ethical discussions that enable nursing home staff to reflect their everyday decisions. Expression of emotions should be encouraged in ethical decision-making processes in nursing homes. Gender-sensitive reflection supports the development of palliative care as organisational culture. �

Work-home interference in relation to work, organizational, and home characteristics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dikkers, J.S.E.

2008-01-01

In this thesis we examine work-home interference in relation to work, organizational, and home characteristics. The study is guided by the following three research questions: i) how are workload and negative WHI temporally related? (research question 1); ii) is work-home culture related to the use

Cooperation and competition in business on example of Internet research of opto-electronic companies

Science.gov (United States)

Kaliczyńska, Małgorzata

2006-10-01

Based on findings from earlier studies which showed that links to academic web sites contain important information, the following study examines the practicability of using co-link data to describe cooperation and competition in optoelec-tronic business. The analysis was based on 32 companies and organizations which were found in an issue of a specialist magazine. For the purpose of the research three search engines - Google, Yahoo! and MSN Search were used. Assuming that a number of co-links to a pair of Web sites is a measure of the similarity between the two companies, the study aims at search for the sets of companies that would be similar to one another. The method applied is the MDS - multidimensional scaling that allows to present results of the analysis on a 2D map.

THE SMART HOMES – A PROMISING BUSINESS DOMAIN WHICH WORTH ATTENTION OF ROMANIAN TELECOM COMPANIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Radu PRODAN

2013-06-01

Full Text Available In the paper the authors present an overview of the main worldwide development directions in the Smart Home solutions, review the Smart Home services, and give recommendations to potential Romanian and foreign investors in the establishment of such services in Romania. The homes and how people live and behave in them have evolved dramatically in the last fifteen years. Today, the authors are able to present a few major trends that revive the Smart Homes: social trends, digital addiction and the fact that global players see the home like the kernel of the digital atmosphere that surrounds us. The purpose was to identify an opportunity today, as these trends have a satisfying maturity degree.Studying various projects, authors were able to estimate that Smart Homes revenues will increase with 8-10 % per year until 2020 in Romania. These estimates include both direct revenues like home automation products/services and indirect revenues like maintenance of the new devices/services.

Towards global consensus on outcome measures for atopic eczema research: results of the HOME II meeting.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmitt, Jochen; Spuls, Phyllis; Boers, Maarten; Thomas, Kim; Chalmers, Joanne; Roekevisch, Evelien; Schram, Mandy; Allsopp, Richard; Aoki, Valeria; Apfelbacher, Christian; Bruijnzeel-Koomen, Carla; Bruin-Weller, Marjolein; Charman, Carolyn; Cohen, Arnon; Dohil, Magdalene; Flohr, Carsten; Furue, Masutaka; Gieler, Uwe; Hooft, Lotty; Humphreys, Rosemary; Ishii, Henrique Akira; Katayama, Ichiro; Kouwenhoven, Willem; Langan, Sinéad; Lewis-Jones, Sue; Merhand, Stephanie; Murota, Hiroyuki; Murrell, Dedee F; Nankervis, Helen; Ohya, Yukihiro; Oranje, Arnold; Otsuka, Hiromi; Paul, Carle; Rosenbluth, Yael; Saeki, Hidehisa; Schuttelaar, Marie-Louise; Stalder, Jean-Francois; Svensson, Ake; Takaoka, Roberto; Wahlgren, Carl-Fredrik; Weidinger, Stephan; Wollenberg, Andreas; Williams, Hywel

2012-09-01

The use of nonstandardized and inadequately validated outcome measures in atopic eczema trials is a major obstacle to practising evidence-based dermatology. The Harmonising Outcome Measures for Eczema (HOME) initiative is an international multiprofessional group dedicated to atopic eczema outcomes research. In June 2011, the HOME initiative conducted a consensus study involving 43 individuals from 10 countries, representing different stakeholders (patients, clinicians, methodologists, pharmaceutical industry) to determine core outcome domains for atopic eczema trials, to define quality criteria for atopic eczema outcome measures and to prioritize topics for atopic eczema outcomes research. Delegates were given evidence-based information, followed by structured group discussion and anonymous consensus voting. Consensus was achieved to include clinical signs, symptoms, long-term control of flares and quality of life into the core set of outcome domains for atopic eczema trials. The HOME initiative strongly recommends including and reporting these core outcome domains as primary or secondary endpoints in all future atopic eczema trials. Measures of these core outcome domains need to be valid, sensitive to change and feasible. Prioritized topics of the HOME initiative are the identification/development of the most appropriate instruments for the four core outcome domains. HOME is open to anyone with an interest in atopic eczema outcomes research. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

The Home Country of the MNE

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hobdari, Bersant; Gammeltoft, Peter; Li, Jing

2017-01-01

to the domestic business eco-system in an emerging economy, and thereby to strategies of outward investments. Specifically, we argue that businesses interact with each other in their home economy, and these patterns of interactions influence strategies of internationalization as companies not only compete...

Reading and company

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kuzmičová, Anežka; Dias, Patrícia; Vogrinčič Čepič, Ana

2017-01-01

in the environment where one engages in individual silent reading. The primary goal of the study was to explore the role and possible associations of a number of variables (text type, purpose, device) in selecting generic (e.g. indoors vs outdoors) as well as specific (e.g. home vs library) reading environments....... Across all six samples included in the study, participants spontaneously attested to varied, and partly surprising, forms of sensitivity to company and social space in their daily efforts to align body with mind for reading. The article reports these emergent trends and discusses their potential...

Private Investment Purchase and Nursing Home Financial Health

Science.gov (United States)

Cadigan, Rebecca Orfaly; Stevenson, David G; Caudry, Daryl J; Grabowski, David C

2015-01-01

Objective To explore the impact of nursing home acquisition by private investment firms on nursing home costs, revenue, and overall financial health. Data Sources Merged data from the Medicare Cost Reports and the Online Survey, Certification, and Reporting system for the period 1998–2010. Study Design Regression specification incorporating facility and time fixed effects. Principal Findings We found little impact on the financial health of nursing homes following purchase by private investment companies. However, our findings did suggest that private investment firms acquired nursing home chains in good financial health, possibly to derive profit from the company’s real estate holdings. Conclusions Private investment acquired facilities are an important feature of today’s nursing home sector. Although we did not observe a negative impact on the financial health of nursing homes, this development raises important issues about ownership oversight and transparency for the entire nursing home sector. PMID:25104476

The Analysis of Company Characteristic Influence Toward CSR Disclosure: Empirical Evidence of Manufacturing Companies Listed in Jsx

OpenAIRE

Rahman, Arief; Widyasari, Kurnia Nur

2008-01-01

This paper investigates the influence of company characteristic toward Corporate Social Responsibility disclosure. The research is using the proxy of management ownership, leverage, size, profitability and company profile as the variable of company characteristic, while the CSR disclosure, unlike the previous researches, is proxied by dummy score from the companies' mandatory disclosure based on the items of Public Environmental Reporting Initiative (PERI) and Global Reporting Initiative Soci...

Virtual rehabilitation: what are the practical barriers for home-based research?

OpenAIRE

Threapleton, Kate; Drummond, Avril E.R.; Standen, Penny

2016-01-01

Virtual reality technologies are becoming increasingly accessible and affordable to deliver, and consequently the interest in applying virtual reality within rehabilitation is growing. This has resulted in the emergence of research exploring the utility of virtual reality and interactive video gaming interventions for home use by patients. The aim of this paper is to highlight the practical factors and difficulties that may be encountered in research in this area, and to make recommendations ...

Smart homes, private homes? An empirical study of technology researchers? perceptions of ethical issues in developing smart-home health technologies

OpenAIRE

Birchley, Giles; Huxtable, Richard; Murtagh, Madeleine; ter Meulen, Ruud; Flach, Peter; Gooberman-Hill, Rachael

2017-01-01

Background Smart-home technologies, comprising environmental sensors, wearables and video are attracting interest in home healthcare delivery. Development of such technology is usually justified on the basis of the technology?s potential to increase the autonomy of people living with long-term conditions. Studies of the ethics of smart-homes raise concerns about privacy, consent, social isolation and equity of access. Few studies have investigated the ethical perspectives of smart-home engine...

Quality Improvement in Home-Based Child Care Settings: Research Resources to Inform Policy

Science.gov (United States)

Lawrence, Sharmila; Stephens, Samuel A.

2016-01-01

This "Topic of Interest" provides a comprehensive list of research in the Research Connections collection that was published in 2005 or later addressing issues related to quality improvement specifically in home-based child care. The resources are grouped under the following headings: Overviews, Summaries, and Reviews of Quality…

Fundamental elements in examining a child’s right to education: A study of home education research and regulation in Australia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Glenda JACKSON

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Home education provides valuable educational and developmental opportunities for children. An examination of Australia’s research indicates many best educational practices, including more informed mediation, contextualised learning, and opportunities to exercise autonomy. Key features include learning embedded in communities and program modification in response to students’ needs. Current state and territory legal requirements are examined within the context of this research and Australia’s obligations to international human rights treaties. All jurisdictions accept home education as one way to meet compulsory education requirements. The extent to which respective laws then reflect understanding of home education research and practice varies. Most jurisdictions allow for a varietyof educational approaches. Some oversight regulation could however be modified to reflect a better understanding of home education. Consultation with home educators and reference to research would assist the development of more uniform legislation and policy across Australia, and enable better regulatory practice.

Empirical research on the internal audit position of companies in Serbia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ljubisavljević Snežana

2011-01-01

Full Text Available In the context of the globalization of business operations and the increasing use of information technologies, complexity of business transactions, and business risk, the role of internal audit is becoming increasingly important and the range of tasks performed by internal auditors is growing. As a part of the company control system, the internal audit assesses the efficiency, effectiveness, economy, and fairness of the realization of tasks, provides consulting services to the enterprise’s management, and promotes the effectiveness of risk management with the aim of creating added value and enhancing business activities. It is the aim of this work, through empirical research conducted in large and medium-sized Serbian companies, to show the degree of development of the internal audit, the perception of accountants in respect to the tasks and responsibilities of internal audit, and whether there is a connection between the enterprise size and legal form on the one hand, and the organization and responsibilities of internal audit on the other.

Research on the development strategy of Pingdingshan iron and steel industry cluster with Wugang Company as the core

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang Shuai

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Arouse the great potential of the industrial clusters will play a significant role in promoting the development of local WuGang company. The article takes the Pingdingshan City as the research object, who is a typical resource-based city and develops on the basis of the local resources of coal and iron ore, the core enterprise WuGang Company is a large state-owned enterprise based on the wide and thick steel plate production. Many problems also exit in the cluster innovation, company network construction, company cooperation. The article is from the perspective of steel industry cluster and cluster innovation. Firstly, the article introduces the correlation theory about the steel industry cluster and the basic development information of Pingdingshan steel industry cluster, and promotes the research purpose and meaning.The article will give the analysis to the problems from the Pingdingshan steel industry cluster and develop the reform proposals and development strategy according to the actual situation.

Why job autonomy matters for young companies' performance: company maturity as a moderator between job autonomy and company performance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Preenen, P.T.Y.; Howaldt, J.; Oeij, P.R.A.; Dhondt, S.; Kraan, K.O.; Jansen, E.

2016-01-01

Although the positive impact of job autonomy has been widely shown for individual-level employee outcomes, research on job autonomy and company-level outcomes has been surprisingly scarce. Therefore, among 3,311 companies in the Netherlands, we investigate the relationship between employees' job

The Corporate Connection: Effective Company Research Is Just Like People Research--On a Larger Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Kourofsky, Carolyn E.

1992-01-01

To cultivate companies for fund raising, the college development officer should focus on appropriate people, understand giving trends, follow mergers and acquisitions, and note corporate differences in giving patterns. Annual reports can reveal company self-image, help identify individuals, and illuminate the company's fiscal situation. However,…

Improving Elderly's Dental Hygiene Through Nursing Home Staff's Dental Health Education at the Nursing Home

OpenAIRE

Santoso, Bedjo; Eko Ningtyas, Endah Aryati; Fatmasari, Diyah

2017-01-01

Stomatitis often occurs in elderly at nursing home. They need nursing home staff assistance to maintain their dental and oral health. Therefore, nursing home staff need dental health education. Lecture or discussion methods, which are more effective to improve knowledge, attitude and skill of nursing home staff was the purpose of this research. The research design was quasi-experiment research and pretest-posttest with control group. The sample was 42 nursing home staffs and 74 elderlies, div...

Internationalisation at Home: Exploiting the Potential of the Non-nationals' and Expatriates' Community

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreja Jaklič

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Objective: The paper explores the first-time internationalisation strategy and discusses whether firms could actually begin internationalisation at home without crossing the border by approaching the international expatriates’ community in the home city/market. Research Design & Methods: The concept of internationalisation at home is studied through the case study method. An example of a public company from the creative industry in the capital city from the Central and Eastern European region is studied. Findings: The expatriates’ community, so far often neglected market segment, has a rising potential in several European cites. The results highlight a positive impact on performance after approaching the expatriates’ community. Organisational learning effects result in improved and stabilised sales and strengthened firm-specific advantages. Implications & Recommendations: Internationalisation at home is disruptive innovation, especially appropriate for enterprises under high resource constraints. It is fast, cost efficient and has positive externalities. The international expatriates’ community in the home city/market offers fast organisational learning and a testing area for enterprises. Contribution & Value Added: Internationalisation at home adds to the existing understanding of internationalisation. The findings that firms could begin the organisational learning process of internationalisation before or even without the first foreign entry and proposals for the integrating expatriates’ community into the marketing strategy may influence future internationalisation paths.

ThinkHome Energy Efficiency in Future Smart Homes

OpenAIRE

Christian Reinisch; Mario J. Kofler; Félix Iglesias; Wolfgang Kastner

2011-01-01

Abstract Smart homes have been viewed with increasing interest by both home owners and the research community in the past few years. One reason for this development is that the use of modern automation technology in the home or building promises considerable savings of energy, therefore, simultaneously reducing the operational costs of the building over its whole lifecycle. However, the full potential of smart homes still lies fallow, due to the complexity and diversity of the systems, badly ...

Realizing business benefits from company IT standardization : Case study research into the organizational value of IT standards, towards a company IT standardization management framework

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Wessel, R.M.

2008-01-01

From a practical point of view, this research provides insight into how company IT standards affect business process performance. Furthermore it gives recommendations on how to govern and manage such standards successfully with regard to their selection, implementation and usage. After evaluating

Research on the Impact of Ownership Structure to Operation Performance of the Chinese Listed Port Companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bao Jiang

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The ownership structure which has a huge impact on company operation performance is the foundation of corporate governance structure choice. At present, the number of China's listed port companies is the largest in the world; however, they have a very complex ownership structure. This study discusses the impact of ownership structure on the operation performance of the Chinese ports. This empirical research applies factor analysis to evaluate the operation performance of listed port companies, and then adopts linear regression analysis based on the evaluation results to explore the impact of ownership structure to operation performance. Finally, it proposes recommendations for optimizing the ownership structure of listed port companies, in order to promote a better and faster development of China's port industry. The empirical results show that for most of the listed port companies, the largest shareholder is in the absolute controlling position, and the gap between the largest shareholder and the second largest shareholder is very large, which means the ownership concentration is relatively high. Meanwhile, the top five shareholders equity ratio squared is in negative correlation with operation performance.

12 CFR 201.104 - Eligibility of consumer loans and finance company paper.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... are acquired by a finance company from a dealer-seller of such homes. (e) The principles stated above..., marketing, and carrying of agricultural products or the breeding, raising, fattening, or marketing of...

Achieving external validity in home advantage research: generalizing crowd noise effects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tony D Myers

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Different factors have been postulated to explain the home advantage phenomenon in sport. One plausible explanation investigated has been the influence of a partisan home crowd on sports officials’ decisions. Different types of studies have tested the crowd influence hypothesis including purposefully designed experiments. However, while experimental studies investigating crowd influences have high levels of internal validity, they suffer from a lack of external validity; decision-making in a laboratory setting bearing little resemblance to decision-making in live sports settings. This focused review initially considers threats to external validity in applied and theoretical experimental research. Discussing how such threats can be addressed using representative design by focusing on a recently published study that arguably provides the first experimental evidence of the impact of live crowd noise on officials in sport. The findings of this controlled experiment conducted in a real tournament setting offer some confirmation of the validity of laboratory experimental studies in the area. Finally directions for future research and the future conduct of crowd noise studies are discussed.

Achieving external validity in home advantage research: generalizing crowd noise effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Myers, Tony D

2014-01-01

Different factors have been postulated to explain the home advantage phenomenon in sport. One plausible explanation investigated has been the influence of a partisan home crowd on sports officials' decisions. Different types of studies have tested the crowd influence hypothesis including purposefully designed experiments. However, while experimental studies investigating crowd influences have high levels of internal validity, they suffer from a lack of external validity; decision-making in a laboratory setting bearing little resemblance to decision-making in live sports settings. This focused review initially considers threats to external validity in applied and theoretical experimental research. Discussing how such threats can be addressed using representative design by focusing on a recently published study that arguably provides the first experimental evidence of the impact of live crowd noise on officials in sport. The findings of this controlled experiment conducted in a real tournament setting offer a level of confirmation of the findings of laboratory studies in the area. Finally directions for future research and the future conduct of crowd noise studies are discussed.

Fulfillment Research Resources through Access Financial Report fo Go Public Company at Library STIE Perbanas Surabaya Perpustakaan STIE Perbanas Surabaya

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Melati Purba Bestari

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Modern libraries are characterized by the diversity of information services to users, including to fulfill the information needs of researchers. Fulfill the information requirements for this research group is very important because the information provided affect the quality of research. Library of STIE Perbanas Surabaya efforts to fulfill the information needs of researchers is to provide research resources through the provision of access annual and financial report for go public company. To provide convenience to users who do research and need annual and financial report for go public, library of STIE Perbanas Surabaya provide easy access through online catalog. To fulfill the annual and financial report for go public company, library tracking data on Indonesian stock exchange and go public company. Library attempts to provide easy access to information is expected to support a process that requires researchers and  annual and financial report data so as to improve the quality and quantity of scientific works in the field of economics science, especially for subject of banking, finance and business.

Fulfillment Research Resources through Access Financial Report fo Go Public Company at Library STIE Perbanas Surabaya Perpustakaan STIE Perbanas Surabaya

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Melati Purba Bestari

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Modern libraries are characterized by the diversity of information services to users, including to fulfill the information needs of researchers. Fulfilling the information requirements for this research group is very important because the information provided affect the quality of research. Library of STIE Perbanas Surabaya efforts to fulfill the information needs of researchers is to provide research resources through the provision of access annual and financial report for go public company. To provide convenience to users who do research and need annual and financial report for go public, library of STIE Perbanas Surabaya provide easy access through online catalog. To fulfill the annual and financial report for go public company, library tracked data on Indonesian stock exchange and go public company. Library attempts to provide easy access to information is expected to support a process that requires researchers and annual and financial report data so as to improve the quality and quantity of scientific works in the field of economics science, especially for subject of banking, finance and business.

Unveiling the Incidence of Interfirm Collaboration: Evidence from Research and Development Companies in Malaysia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zurina Adnan

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, interfirm collaboration has become an increasingly popular strategy among many organizations in various industries, in order to remain competitive. Based on the contingency theory, this paper examines the moderating effect of interfirm collaboration on the relationship between Human Resource Management (HRM practices and organizational performance. Interfirm collaboration refers to the collaboration strategies undertaken by R&D companies, with other companies in similar or diverse functional areas, including R&D, marketing, or manufacturing, to enhance performance.  Using data from 64 R&D companies, the hierarchical regression analyses showed that only collaboration in R&D and functional collaboration in manufacturing significantly moderated the relationship between HRM practices and organizational performance. Overall, the results provided partial support in the domain of the contingency theory. These results, however, are limited by the small sample size, which might have produced non-significant findings. Therefore, the generalization should be taken cautiously. Future research with a larger sample size is needed to confirm the findings.

The Japan Home-health Apparatus Industrial Association: investigation of home-use electronic sphygmomanometers.

Science.gov (United States)

Shirasaki, O; Terada, H; Niwano, K; Nakanishi, T; Kanai, M; Miyawaki, Y; Souma, T; Tanaka, T; Kusunoki, T

2001-12-01

The Japanese Home-health Apparatus Industrial Association is an official independent organization comprising ten departments. That concerned with home electronic sphygmomanometers, which has seven participants from different Japanese manufacturers, has already undertaken and is currently involved in various activities related to voluntary standards for performance validation and quality assurance. Because Japanese companies form a large proportion of manufacturers, these activities are important in terms of autonomic regulation. Although many improvements have been made to home electronic sphygmomanometers, some problems still remain unresolved, especially in terms of measurement reliability and easy operation by lay people. Another aspect of the department's work relates to making proposals on major validation standards, such as those of the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation, the British Hypertension Society and Comité Européen de Normalisation (CEN). Clinical validation should be discussed in order to define a more accurate standard method of measurement using auscultation and more appropriate criteria that are unaffected by primary blood pressure variation.

Third European Company Survey: Workplace innovation in European companies

OpenAIRE

Oeij, P.; Žiauberyté-Jakštiené, R.; Dhondt, S.; Corral, A.; Totterdill, P.; Preenen, P.

2015-01-01

Workplace innovation (WPI) is a developed and implemented practice or combination of practices which enables employees to participate in organisational change and renewal and hence improve the quality of working life and organisational performance. This report looks at reasons for enabling WPI, adoption and implementation, and impact on organisation and management, employees and employee representatives. The research is based on 51 companies identified in Eurofound’s third European Company Su...

A Qualitative Research Regarding the Online Advertising Formats Used by Romanian Companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Acatrinei Carmen

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The present paper offers an in-depth view about the online advertising formats that are used by Romanian companies or digital advertising agencies. The qualitative research based on semi-structured detailed interviews with 12 professionals, took place in Bucharest, in February-March 2015. From the online advertising formats defined by IAB, the Romanian representatives mentioned to promote their organizations or to develop campaigns for their clients by using: search, display, social media, video advertising, affiliate marketing and sponsorship advertising format (advertorials and content sponsorship. The specialists argued about the most relevant and efficient online advertising format that they use. From their personal experience, the professionals were asked to mention which are the elements / attributes that have a significant impact on: search, display, video, social media and mobile advertising campaigns. All the respondents mentioned that their companies use remarketing campaigns. The budget of an online advertising campaign is settled differently among the formats used. The purpose of the paper is to analyze the views of professionals regarding the Romanian online advertising market and this study precedes a quantitative research among Romanian consumers exposed to online advertising campaigns in order to make a comparison between the results obtained in both studies and propose a model of online advertising campaign as close to consumers‟ wants.

Telecommuting (Work-At-Home) at NASA Lewis Research Center

Science.gov (United States)

Srinidhi, Saragur M.

1994-01-01

This report presents a study in evaluating the viability of providing a work-at-home (telecommuting) program for Lewis Research Center's corporate employees using Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN). Case studies have been presented for a range of applications from casual data access to interactive access. The network performance of telemedia applications were studied against future requirements for such level of remote connectivity. Many of the popular ISDN devices were characterized for network and service functionality. A set of recommendations to develop a telecommuting policy have been proposed.

Conclusion: The balanced company

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Scheuer, John Damm; Jensen, Inger

2013-01-01

This concluding chapter brings together the various research findings of the book "The balanced company - organizing for the 21st Century" and develops a general overview of their implications for our understanding of the balancing processes unfolding in companies and organizations....

Influence of food companies' brand mascots and entertainment companies' cartoon media characters on children's diet and health: a systematic review and research needs

Science.gov (United States)

Kraak, V I; Story, M

2015-01-01

Reducing the extent and persuasive power of marketing unhealthy foods to children worldwide are important obesity prevention goals. Research is limited to understand how brand mascots and cartoon media characters influence children's diet. We conducted a systematic review of five electronic databases (2000–2014) to identify experimental studies that measured how food companies' mascots and entertainment companies' media characters influence up to 12 diet-related cognitive, behavioural and health outcomes for children under 12 years. Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria. Studies used 21 unique popular media characters, but no brand mascots. Results suggest that cartoon media character branding can positively increase children's fruit or vegetable intake compared with no character branding. However, familiar media character branding is a more powerful influence on children's food preferences, choices and intake, especially for energy-dense and nutrient-poor foods (e.g. cookies, candy or chocolate) compared with fruits or vegetables. Future research should use a theoretically grounded conceptual model and larger and more diverse samples across settings to produce stronger findings for mediating and moderating factors. Future research can be used to inform the deliberations of policymakers, practitioners and advocates regarding how media character marketing should be used to support healthy food environments for children. PMID:25516352

A Qualitative Research Regarding the Online Advertising Formats Used by Romanian Companies

OpenAIRE

Acatrinei Carmen

2015-01-01

The present paper offers an in-depth view about the online advertising formats that are used by Romanian companies or digital advertising agencies. The qualitative research based on semi-structured detailed interviews with 12 professionals, took place in Bucharest, in February-March 2015. From the online advertising formats defined by IAB, the Romanian representatives mentioned to promote their organizations or to develop campaigns for their clients by using: search, display, social media, vi...

Good Publication Practice for Communicating Company-Sponsored Medical Research: GPP3.

Science.gov (United States)

Battisti, Wendy P; Wager, Elizabeth; Baltzer, Lise; Bridges, Dan; Cairns, Angela; Carswell, Christopher I; Citrome, Leslie; Gurr, James A; Mooney, LaVerne A; Moore, B Jane; Peña, Teresa; Sanes-Miller, Carol H; Veitch, Keith; Woolley, Karen L; Yarker, Yvonne E

2015-09-15

This updated Good Publication Practice (GPP) guideline, known as GPP3, builds on earlier versions and provides recommendations for individuals and organizations that contribute to the publication of research results sponsored or supported by pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostics, and biotechnology companies. The recommendations are designed to help individuals and organizations maintain ethical and transparent publication practices and comply with legal and regulatory requirements. These recommendations cover publications in peer-reviewed journals and presentations (oral or poster) at scientific congresses. The International Society for Medical Publication Professionals invited more than 3000 professionals worldwide to apply for a position on the steering committee, or as a reviewer, for this guideline. The GPP2 authors reviewed all applications (n = 241) and assembled an 18-member steering committee that represented 7 countries and a diversity of publication professions and institutions. From the 174 selected reviewers, 94 sent comments on the second draft, which steering committee members incorporated after discussion and consensus. The resulting guideline includes new sections (Principles of Good Publication Practice for Company-Sponsored Medical Research, Data Sharing, Studies That Should Be Published, and Plagiarism), expands guidance on the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors' authorship criteria and common authorship issues, improves clarity on appropriate author payment and reimbursement, and expands information on the role of medical writers. By following good publication practices (including GPP3), individuals and organizations will show integrity; accountability; and responsibility for accurate, complete, and transparent reporting in their publications and presentations.

Smart Home Test Bed: Examining How Smart Homes Interact with the Power Grid

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2016-11-01

This fact sheet highlights the Smart Home Test Bed capability at the Energy Systems Integration Facility. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is working on one of the new frontiers of smart home research: finding ways for smart home technologies and systems to enhance grid operations in the presence of distributed, clean energy technologies such as photovoltaics (PV). To help advance this research, NREL has developed a controllable, flexible, and fully integrated Smart Home Test Bed.

Adaptation of a nursing home culture change research instrument for frontline staff quality improvement use.

Science.gov (United States)

Hartmann, Christine W; Palmer, Jennifer A; Mills, Whitney L; Pimentel, Camilla B; Allen, Rebecca S; Wewiorski, Nancy J; Dillon, Kristen R; Snow, A Lynn

2017-08-01

Enhanced interpersonal relationships and meaningful resident engagement in daily life are central to nursing home cultural transformation, yet these critical components of person-centered care may be difficult for frontline staff to measure using traditional research instruments. To address the need for easy-to-use instruments to help nursing home staff members evaluate and improve person-centered care, the psychometric method of cognitive-based interviewing was used to adapt a structured observation instrument originally developed for researchers and nursing home surveyors. Twenty-eight staff members from 2 Veterans Health Administration (VHA) nursing homes participated in 1 of 3 rounds of cognitive-based interviews, using the instrument in real-life situations. Modifications to the original instrument were guided by a cognitive processing model of instrument refinement. Following 2 rounds of cognitive interviews, pretesting of the revised instrument, and another round of cognitive interviews, the resulting set of 3 short instruments mirrored the concepts of the original longer instrument but were significantly easier for frontline staff to understand and use. Final results indicated frontline staff found the revised instruments feasible to use and clinically relevant in measuring and improving the lived experience of a changing culture. This article provides a framework for developing or adapting other measurement tools for frontline culture change efforts in nursing homes, in addition to reporting on a practical set of instruments to measure aspects of person-centered care. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Building America Case Study: Accelerating the Delivery of Home-Performance Upgrades Using a Synergistic Business Model, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2016-04-01

Achieving Building America energy savings goals (40 percent by 2030) will require many existing homes to install energy upgrades. Engaging large numbers of homeowners in building science-guided upgrades during a single remodeling event has been difficult for a number of reasons. Performance upgrades in existing homes tend to occur over multiple years and usually result from component failures (furnace failure) and weather damage (ice dams, roofing, siding). This research attempted to: A) Understand the homeowner's motivations regarding investing in building science based performance upgrades. B) Determining a rapidly scalable approach to engage large numbers of homeowners directly through existing customer networks. C) Access a business model that will manage all aspects of the contractor-homeowner-performance professional interface to ensure good upgrade decisions over time. The solution results from a synergistic approach utilizing networks of suppliers merging with networks of homeowner customers. Companies in the $400 to $800 billion home services industry have proven direct marketing and sales proficiencies that have led to the development of vast customer networks. Companies such as pest control, lawn care, and security have nurtured these networks by successfully addressing the ongoing needs of homes. This long-term access to customers and trust established with consistent delivery has also provided opportunities for home service providers to grow by successfully introducing new products and services like attic insulation and air sealing. The most important component for success is a business model that will facilitate and manage the process. The team analyzes a group that developed a working model.

Climate@Home: Crowdsourcing Climate Change Research

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, C.; Yang, C.; Li, J.; Sun, M.; Bambacus, M.

2011-12-01

Climate change deeply impacts human wellbeing. Significant amounts of resources have been invested in building super-computers that are capable of running advanced climate models, which help scientists understand climate change mechanisms, and predict its trend. Although climate change influences all human beings, the general public is largely excluded from the research. On the other hand, scientists are eagerly seeking communication mediums for effectively enlightening the public on climate change and its consequences. The Climate@Home project is devoted to connect the two ends with an innovative solution: crowdsourcing climate computing to the general public by harvesting volunteered computing resources from the participants. A distributed web-based computing platform will be built to support climate computing, and the general public can 'plug-in' their personal computers to participate in the research. People contribute the spare computing power of their computers to run a computer model, which is used by scientists to predict climate change. Traditionally, only super-computers could handle such a large computing processing load. By orchestrating massive amounts of personal computers to perform atomized data processing tasks, investments on new super-computers, energy consumed by super-computers, and carbon release from super-computers are reduced. Meanwhile, the platform forms a social network of climate researchers and the general public, which may be leveraged to raise climate awareness among the participants. A portal is to be built as the gateway to the climate@home project. Three types of roles and the corresponding functionalities are designed and supported. The end users include the citizen participants, climate scientists, and project managers. Citizen participants connect their computing resources to the platform by downloading and installing a computing engine on their personal computers. Computer climate models are defined at the server side. Climate

Under pressure, out of control, or home alone? Reviewing research and policy debates on the occupational health and safety effects of outsourcing and home-based work.

Science.gov (United States)

Quinlan, Michael; Bohle, Philip

2008-01-01

The practice of outsourcing or subcontracting of work has grown rapidly in most countries over the past two decades. Outsourcing, de-institutionalization, and a range of other practices have also resulted in a growth of home-based work. Home-based workers, even when not part of a subcontracting process, operate in an isolated situation remote from their employer and other workers. Do such work arrangements expose workers to greater risk of injury, illness, or assault? The authors reviewed international studies of the occupational health and safety (OHS) effects of subcontracting and home-based work undertaken over the past 20 years. Of the 25 studies analyzed, 92 percent found poorer OHS outcomes. The studies were examined for clues about the reasons for these negative outcomes. The authors also identified similarities and differences between subcontracting and home-based work. Despite the evidence of poor OHS outcomes, research into outsourcing has stalled in recent years. With notable exceptions, governments have taken little account of findings on these work arrangements in their laws and policies, in part because neoliberal ideas dominate national and global policy agendas. The authors examine policy challenges and regulatory responses and make suggestions for future research and policy interventions.

Empirical research on financial capability evaluation of A-share listed companies in the securities industry based on principal component analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiuping Wang

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Based on the relevant financial data indicators of A-share markets of Shanghai and Shenzhen in 2009, with all of 29 listed companies in the securities industry as the research objects, this paper selects 10variables that can fully reflect the financial capability indicators and uses the principal component analysis to carry out the empirical research on the financial capability. The research results show that the comprehensive financial capability of listed companies in A-share securities industry must be focused on the following four capabilities, investment and income, profit, capital composition and debt repayment and cash flow indicators. In addition, the principal component analysis can effectively evaluate the financial capability of listed companies in A-share securities industry, and solve the problems in the previous analysis methods, such as excessive indicators, information overlapping and so on.

An Efficient Secure Scheme Based on Hierarchical Topology in the Smart Home Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mansik Kim

2017-08-01

Full Text Available As the Internet of Things (IoT has developed, the emerging sensor network (ESN that integrates emerging technologies, such as autonomous driving, cyber-physical systems, mobile nodes, and existing sensor networks has been in the limelight. Smart homes have been researched and developed by various companies and organizations. Emerging sensor networks have some issues of providing secure service according to a new environment, such as a smart home, and the problems of low power and low-computing capacity for the sensor that previous sensor networks were equipped with. This study classifies various sensors used in smart homes into three classes and contains the hierarchical topology for efficient communication. In addition, a scheme for establishing secure communication among sensors based on physical unclonable functions (PUFs that cannot be physically cloned is suggested in regard to the sensor’s low performance. In addition, we analyzed this scheme by conducting security and performance evaluations proving to constitute secure channels while consuming fewer resources. We believe that our scheme can provide secure communication by using fewer resources in a smart home environment in the future.

Digital media in the home: technical and research challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Ribas-Corbera, Jordi

2005-03-01

This article attempts to identify some of the technology and research challenges facing the digital media industry in the future. We first discuss several trends in the industry, such as the rapid growth of broadband Internet networks and the emergence of networking and media-capable devices in the home. Next, we present technical challenges that result from these trends, such as effective media interoperability in devices, and provide a brief overview of Windows Media, which is one of the technologies in the market attempting to address these challenges. Finally, given these trends and the state of the art, we argue that further research on data compression, encoder optimization, and multi-format transcoding can potentially make a significant technical and business impact in digital media. We also explore the reasons that research on related techniques such as wavelets or scalable video coding is having a relatively minor impact in today"s practical digital media systems.

Quality of Care and Job Satisfaction in the European Home Care Setting: Research Protocol

Science.gov (United States)

van der Roest, Henriëtte; van Hout, Hein; Declercq, Anja

2016-01-01

Introduction: Since the European population is ageing, a growing number of elderly will need home care. Consequently, high quality home care for the elderly remains an important challenge. Job satisfaction among care professionals is regarded as an important aspect of the quality of home care. Aim: This paper describes a research protocol to identify elements that have an impact on job satisfaction among care professionals and on quality of care for older people in the home care setting of six European countries. Methods: Data on elements at the macro-level (policy), meso-level (care organisations) and micro-level (clients) are of importance in determining job satisfaction and quality of care. Macro-level indicators will be identified in a previously published literature review. At meso- and micro-level, data will be collected by means of two questionnaires utilsed with both care organisations and care professionals, and by means of interRAI Home Care assessments of clients. The client assessments will be used to calculate quality of care indicators. Subsequently, data will be analysed by means of linear and stepwise multiple regression analyses, correlations and multilevel techniques. Conclusions and Discussion: These results can guide health care policy makers in their decision making process in order to increase the quality of home care in their organisation, in their country or in Europe. PMID:28435423

Quality of Care and Job Satisfaction in the European Home Care Setting: Research Protocol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liza Van Eenoo

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Since the European population is ageing, a growing number of elderly will need home care. Consequently, high quality home care for the elderly remains an important challenge. Job satisfaction among care professionals is regarded as an important aspect of the quality of home care. Aim: This paper describes a research protocol to identify elements that have an impact on job satisfaction among care professionals and on quality of care for older people in the home care setting of six European countries. Methods: Data on elements at the macro-level (policy, meso-level (care organisations and micro-level (clients are of importance in determining job satisfaction and quality of care. Macro-level indicators will be identified in a previously published literature review. At meso- and micro-level, data will be collected by means of two questionnaires utilsed with both care organisations and care professionals, and by means of interRAI Home Care assessments of clients. The client assessments will be used to calculate quality of care indicators. Subsequently, data will be analysed by means of linear and stepwise multiple regression analyses, correlations and multilevel techniques. Conclusions and Discussion: These results can guide health care policy makers in their decision making process in order to increase the quality of home care in their organisation, in their country or in Europe.

Locational conditions, cooperation, and innovativeness: evidence from research and company spin-offs

OpenAIRE

Lejpras, Anna; Stephan, Andreas

2008-01-01

This paper has two goals. First, it analyzes the extent to which the innovativeness of spin-offs, either born from a research facility or from another company, is influenced by locational conditions. Second, it provides evidence on how important local cooperation links are in comparison to nonlocal ones. Using a sample of approximately 1,500 East German firms from knowledge-intensive sectors, we estimate a structural equation model applying the partial least squares method. We find that proxi...

This is NOT VHS vs. Betamax! The Development of Platform Strategies in Home Automation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Berends, Hans; Deken, F.; Hummel, J.T.

2018-01-01

This study set out to extend theory on platform development strategies using a comparative, inductive study of 94 home automation platforms. We selected home automation because companies have entered this domain from very different backgrounds and the sector is still in the period of turbulence and

Home Rx: The Health Benefits of Home Performance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wilson, Jonathan [National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH), Columbia, MD (United States); Jacobs, David [National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH), Columbia, MD (United States); Reddy, Amanda [National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH), Columbia, MD (United States); Tohn, Ellen [Tohn Environmental Strategies, Wayland, MA (United States); Cohen, Jonathan [Dept. of Energy (DOE), Washington DC (United States); Jacobsohn, Ely [Dept. of Energy (DOE), Washington DC (United States)

2016-12-01

Evidence in a new, groundbreaking U.S. Department of Energy report, Home Rx: The Health Benefits of Home Performance, shows that home performance upgrades can improve the quality of a home’s indoor environment by reducing the prevalence of harmful indoor air pollutants and contaminants. Until recently, no systematic review of this evidence had been conducted, limiting full understanding of the link between home performance and health. This new report summarizes current knowledge and identifies research gaps. The design characteristics and results of each of the 40 studies considered in the report are summarized in a searchable matrix.

IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE COMPANY: THE CASE OF COMPANIES FROM BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hasan Mahmutović

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The discourse of globalization and its effects have been the most current topic in the field of economics in recent times. However, empirical research on the impact of globalization on companies, especially in transition countries, is very scarce. This paper focuses on the study of the impact of globalization on the performance of companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina by analyzing their interrelationships. The findings, in the case of companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina, have confirmed earlier findings about the double impact of globalization by showing, on the one hand, its positive effects and, on the other hand, the negative effects on the performance of the companies. Additionally, the research results have shown that negative effects are felt more strongly in the case of small and medium-sized companies than in the case of large companies.

ANALYSIS OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS ENGAGED BY JAPANESE MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

CODRUŢA DURA

2011-01-01

Full Text Available In recent years, the most visible feature of globalization was the new trend of the capital flow which moves from the stage of nternalization to the stage of transnationalization. The decisive factor that led to this development was the trans-nationalization of production/ distribution networks by multinational companies (MNCs. MNCs, which are also frequently referred to as transnational corporations (TNCs, are conglomerate organizations which carry out multiple and diverse economic activities and they consists of a parent company and a large number of subsidiaries operating in various countries of the world. Japan has been worthy of note on the international business scene not only by the high competitiveness of its companies on the global markets, but especially through the transnationalization of the activities of these enterprises, a process which has resulted in the implementation, via Foreign Direct Investments (FDI of Japanese production units abroad, with significant positive impact both on the global economy and on the domestic economy. A great number of empirical studies since the mid-1990s, using firm-level data, have shown that multinational companies (MNCs dominate today the Japanese business environment. The paper puts together the findings of some interesting working papers published by Japanese researchers in recent years, trying to provide a scientific answer to the following question: “In what way do FDI undertaken by MNCs influence the level of performances achieved by Japanese companies at home?” The conclusion is that FDI and the activity carried out by Japanese MNCs abroad have indubitable positive effects on both countries and firms involved - such as raises in production, employment and productivity at firms’ level or increases in competition intensity among firms, improvements in real wage and welfare at macroeconomic level.

Strategy Assessment of Company ECOPOSTES

OpenAIRE

Cortazar Sanabria, Javier Mauricio

2015-01-01

This thesis focuses on developing a research on the different types of strategies a company can implement depending on their situation and the various analyses that must be completed before making the strategy decision. External and internal environment methods are described together with the various forms of corporate restructure methods a company can use if needed. The whole process is followed step by step to provide a strategy assessment to company Ecopostes, a Colombian company focused o...

Restoration and revitalization of areas of the Severoceske doly a.s. Chomutov company damaged by mining activities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ondracek, V.; Brabenec, J. [North Bohemian Mines, Chomutov (Czech Republic); Rehor, M. [Brown Coal Research Inst., Most (Czech Republic)

2010-07-01

Brown coal is of significant importance as a raw material to the Czech Republic as a result of increasing energy demands. It is the primary fossil fuel of homes in the Czech Republic, without which it would become fully dependent on energy source imports. Founded in 1994, the Severoceske doly a.s. company is the greatest mining company of the Czech Republic. The Severoceske doly, a.s. Chomutov joint stock company mining is drawn up in open pit mines and uses continual technology with excavators, long distance conveyers, and stackers. Large area external and internal dumps remain after the final stages of mining and quarrying. This paper summarized the basic facts about Severoceske doly a.s mining company, with particular reference to revitalization and restoration activities. The paper focused on restoration efforts in the Bilina Mines localities and Nastup Tusimice Mines, and on modern restoration methodology, and the application of research and science. It was concluded that a solution can be found that would fundamentally limit negative impacts to the landscape of brown coal areas using knowledge of rock characteristics relocated by mining and all the relationships in the area's surroundings. 4 refs., 2 tabs., 2 figs.

RESEARCH ON THE APPRAISAL OF INTANGIBLE ASSETS IN ROMANIAN COMPANIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leontina Păvăloaia

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Irrespective of the cultural environment in which companies operate (Europe, Asia, America or any other geographical area, intangible assets have a significant role in the development of a business since they contain knowledge that can be the engine of the respective business and they can offer competitive advantage. The current article is a study of companies listed on BVB under category I. We have considered the percentage of intangible assets that the latter companies have and that are present in financial statements, and their value under the circumstances in which the market value is higher than net assets.

Research of Executives' Perceptions in Companies and Organizations on the Importance of Mentoring in the Frame of In-House Education and Training

Science.gov (United States)

Fragoulis, Iosif; Valkanos, Efthymios; Voula, Florou

2011-01-01

The purpose of the present paper is to present the outcomes of a research on the executives' perceptions in companies and organizations on the importance of mentoring in the frame of in-house education and training. The paper researches the perceptions of people who work for companies and organizations as far as their participation in mentoring…

Should academic journals publish e-cigarette research linked to tobacco companies?

Science.gov (United States)

Shaw, David M; Etter, Jean-François; Elger, Bernice S

2016-08-01

Electronic cigarettes are currently polarizing professional opinion. Some public health experts regard them as an effective smoking cessation aid and a vital means of reducing active and passive smoking, while others regard them as another attempt by the tobacco industry to create new customers and addicts. These different attitudes unsurprisingly yield different conclusions regarding both the appropriate regulation of e-cigarettes and the ethical status of research funded by, or conducted in, cooperation with the tobacco industry. This paper examines whether e-cigarette research linked to the tobacco industry should be regarded as an exception to the rule that tobacco industry research is so tainted by conflicts of interest that journals should refuse to publish them, or at the very least treat them as a special case for scrutiny. Despite the fact that e-cigarettes can be used for smoking cessation, most of the conflicts of interest that apply to other tobacco research also apply to e-cigarette research linked to that industry. Journals that currently refuse to publish findings from studies linked to tobacco companies have no reason to make an exception in the case of e-cigarettes. © 2015 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Influence of food companies' brand mascots and entertainment companies' cartoon media characters on children's diet and health: a systematic review and research needs.

Science.gov (United States)

Kraak, V I; Story, M

2015-02-01

Reducing the extent and persuasive power of marketing unhealthy foods to children worldwide are important obesity prevention goals. Research is limited to understand how brand mascots and cartoon media characters influence children's diet. We conducted a systematic review of five electronic databases (2000-2014) to identify experimental studies that measured how food companies' mascots and entertainment companies' media characters influence up to 12 diet-related cognitive, behavioural and health outcomes for children under 12 years. Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria. Studies used 21 unique popular media characters, but no brand mascots. Results suggest that cartoon media character branding can positively increase children's fruit or vegetable intake compared with no character branding. However, familiar media character branding is a more powerful influence on children's food preferences, choices and intake, especially for energy-dense and nutrient-poor foods (e.g. cookies, candy or chocolate) compared with fruits or vegetables. Future research should use a theoretically grounded conceptual model and larger and more diverse samples across settings to produce stronger findings for mediating and moderating factors. Future research can be used to inform the deliberations of policymakers, practitioners and advocates regarding how media character marketing should be used to support healthy food environments for children. © 2014 The Authors. Obesity Reviews published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of World Obesity.

The new role of national oil companies - NOCs in international energy markets: a study case of BRICS; O novo papel das national oil companies - NOCs nos mercados internacionais de energia: um estudo de caso das BRICS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Simas, Marcelo Marinho [Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (PETROBRAS), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2012-07-01

remarkable change is observed in the environment of the oil and gas industry from the beginning of this decade in view of several factors: raise of technical ability and investments in R and D by the National Oil Companies (NOCs); rising tendency of oil price - result of economical expansion of China and India - despite momentary falls; nationalization of oil and gas reserves in several countries and technological transfer from oil companies to services companies. Herewith a high degree of reserves concentration of oil and gas production was acquired toward a few companies and countries. According the PFC Energy, in 2009 NOCs held 77% of world reserves of oil and 51% of gas against 7% and 9% respectively of the International Oil Companies (IOCs), with impact on oil geopolitics and energy market. Contrarily, IOCs are also redefining their role in this 'chess game' of oil geopolitics due above all to the direction of exploitation programs for deep waters in the few remained areas, to the high investments in R and D to raise the recovery factor of the mature fields and to rendering specialized services to the NOCs. The objective of this research is to consider the new strategies of the NOCs, their influences in the economic and energetic policies of the home countries of the companies as well as the IOCS, their influences in the concentration of the reserves and production, integration with the productive chain and participation in several sectors of industry. (author)

Independents in European Gas Markets after liberalisation - downstream integration of upstream oil and gas companies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eikeland, Per Ove

2005-01-01

A central objective of gas market liberalisation in Europe in the 1990s was to increase competition by opening end-use markets for independent suppliers. Upstream oil and gas companies in Europe reacted to this opportunity by announcing strategies to integrate forward in European gas markets. By late 2004, however, upstream companies still recorded generally weak downstream strategy implementation in Europe. The article concludes that this general implementation gap should be explained by political failure in EU member states to abolish gas market barriers to entry for independents. Variation between companies in degree of implementation should be explained by variation in conditions in the companies' home markets / wider business spheres and internal company factors. (Author)

Smart grid business case for private homes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Villefrance, Rasmus; Brandt, Jonas; Eriksen, Poul Svante

2013-01-01

We describe and consider how the potential of energy savings may drive the penetration of smart grid technology into private homes. We assess the sociological processes which lead to energy savings when the residents have access to smart grid technology. We propose a way to establish a cash flow...... from consumers via electrical distribution companies to smart grid technology providers on the Danish market. Finally, we assess the impact of such a business development on the society, as well as relating the penetration of smart grid technology in private homes to the societal goal of 100% renewable...

A Company's Internal Potential to Implement a Strategy to Acquire a Competitive Advantage: Action-Research Within a Mexican CompanyHttp://Dx.Doi.Org/10.5585/Riae.V9i2.1657

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Víctor Gabriel Sánchez Trejo

2010-11-01

Full Text Available The small business in Mexico made an important contribution to the economic and social development of the country. Nevertheless, they present constant difficulties to reach a global and durable performance due to its specific characteristics. The generation of an internal development constitutes an alternative to compete with enterprises of the same size and with big companies in an external environment increasingly competitively and unstably. This article presents an intervention-research in a medium company where the socioeconomic theory was applied and developed dynamical strategic capacities having a direct impact in the organizational and social performance of the company.

The Canadian Niagara Power Company story

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ball, N.R.

2005-01-01

This book chronicles the history and contributions of the Canadian Niagara Power Company and its employees toward the establishment of electricity generation and distribution in Niagara Falls and Fort Erie, Ontario, dating back to its founding in 1892. Through historical photographs, maps and drawings, the book demonstrates the impact of electricity on the Niagara region. It emphasizes the many skills and jobs required to run the company that generated electricity and maintained a complete system to deliver power, metering, and billing services through the depression, wars, and postwar booms, even during lightning, snow and ice storms. The company began producing power in 1905 with what had been the world's largest-capacity turbines and generators that supplied power to both sides of the Niagara River. Initially, most of the electricity was exported to New York State. The company eventually expanded its Canadian customer service area from Niagara Falls, Ontario, to Fort Erie, Bridgeburg, Amigari, Ridgeway, Stevensville, Crystal Beach and Point Abino. Throughout its history, the Canadian Niagara Power Company provided power at a lower cost than its neighbouring competitors. The William Birch Rankine Generating Station became an important tourist attraction, showcasing the latest electrical appliances of the time in an effort to promote the use of electricity in homes and offices. Today, the station remains a tribute to the fact that natural beauty can coincide with industry. The book also chronicles the difficult business challenges caused by restructuring in the electric power industry in the 1990s, repairing aging equipment and applying the latest in automation and remote sensing technology. Today, the company as FortisOntario is expanding to other communities around Ontario. refs., tabs., figs

Report on a comprehensive research study (home welfare apparatus system - interface); Sogo chosa kenkyu (zaitaku fukushi kiki system - interface) hokokusho

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-03-01

In the light of the increasing role of welfare at home with the advance of the aging society, the paper conducted an investigational study on the R and D of the home welfare apparatus system - interface. In the study, making the most of the leading home care apparatus systems (welfare technohouses) installed at seven places in the country, the paper carried out a stay experiment on how the life is in the welfare house into which home welfare apparatus is integrated, and an experiment to assess biological data on aged people. Especially as to the support apparatus used for smooth life motions in houses such as movement, excretion and bathing, examined were the linkage with house bodies, care apparatus used, mutual interface with welfare apparatus, etc. By the experiments to assess these home welfare apparatus, an analytical study was conducted on the points to be improved in welfare apparatus and housing equipment, and at the same time on the course of the research/development. Concerning a system for the research study, a research promotion committee was established in Technology Research Association of Medical and Welfare Apparatus, the members of which are learned persons from the industrial circle, the government and universities. 111 figs., 36 tabs.

Falling R and D in oil companies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Creusen, H.; Minne, B.

2000-01-01

During the last decade, the research expenditures of the 11 major oil companies and two specialised oil engineers have dropped worldwide. To explain this trend, this article points to an R and D race among the companies and to certain common expectations. The race is due to the absence of knowledge spillovers across the companies, because they need to keep their process innovations secret. Common expectations regarding the high risks of research for new energy sources leads to wait-and-see behaviour instead of own research. A small increase in research efficiency partly compensates for the drop in R and D

Information Technology in the Home Barriers, Opportunities, and Research Directions

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Lewis, Rosalind

2000-01-01

...; but what are the implications of increased Information Technology (IT) in the home? Can increased in-home IT create opportunities that will change the way we live and function within our homes and communities and facilitate greater societal benefits...

The Theoretical Foundations for Establishment and Functioning of Transnational Companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Korogodova Olena O.

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The article provides the concepts of both the transnational and the multinational corporations. The main types of transnational companies have been defined and characterized. A retrospective of development of the transnational structures has been carried out considering the multinational, global and specific marketing strategies of the production-commercial activities of companies at different stages of formation. The main benefits for globalization of companies have been defined. The level of the global investment flows has been provided. A top-ten of the leading transnational companies according to the Global Fortune 500 has been allocated, the quantitative changes in the geographical structure of the leaders as to the home countries have been determined. The degree of influence of the transnational structures on the world level of scientific, technological developments, as well as commercializing the market for high-tech products has been defined. The objectives of creating the strategic transnational alliances have been determined.

EVALUATION OF E-RECRUITMENT LEVEL AMONG THE LARGEST COMPANIES IN POLAND - PROJECT OF RESEARCH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dorota Buchnowska

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The changes taking place in the labor market cause that it is increasingly difficult to recruit employees with the right skills and competencies to companies. To reach the right candidates, they use modern IT solutions, such as ATS (Applicant Tracking System, which are supporting the processes of recruitment. Among others, they enable the publication of job offers on the Internet - on corporate websites, job portals and business social networking services - and apply for jobs online through these channels. This article pre-sents the evolution of the use of the Internet, and particularly the social media, in the recruitment process and presents a projekt of comprehensive research, which aims is to analyze and evaluate of the level of development of e-recruitment in Poland among largest companies.

Home | SREL Herpetology Program

Science.gov (United States)

Savannah River Ecology Laboratory Herpetology Program Herp Home Research Publications Herps of SC /GA P.A.R.C. Outreach SREL Home powered by Google Search Herpetology at SREL The University of SREL herpetology research programs have always included faculty of the University of Georgia, post

LEVERAGE IMPACTS ON AGRO-INDUSTRIAL COMPANY INVESTMENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nugroho A.C.

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Agro-industry has an important role in Indonesian economic growth. One of the crucial constraints in agro-industry investments in developing country is due to limited access to investment fund. This research was aimed to analyze the impacts of leverage on the agro-industrial company investments. The research used financial report data of the manufacturing industries on agro-industrial bases registered in Indonesian Stock-Exchange from 2007 to 2016. The data were analyzed using panel data regression analysis. The results of the research showed that the leverage influenced negatively on the agro-industrial companies. Cash flow has a negative impact on the company investments, which shows the existence of financial constraints when the company decide to invest.

Community-centred Networks and Networking among Companies, Educational and Cultural Institutions and Research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Konnerup, Ulla; Dirckinck-Holmfeld, Lone

2010-01-01

This article presents visions for community-centred networks and networking among companies, educational and cultural institutions and research based on blended on- and off-line collaboration and communication. Our point of departure is the general vision of networking between government, industry...... and research as formulated in the Triple Helix Model (Etzkowitz 2008). The article draws on a case study of NoEL, a network on e-learning among business, educational and cultural institutions and research, all in all 21 partners from all around Denmark. Focus is how networks and networking change character......’ in Networked Learning, Wenger et al. 2009; The analysis concerns the participation structure and how the network activities connect local work practices and research, and how technology and online communication contribute to a change from participation in offline and physical network activities into online...

77 FR 16280 - Capital Research and Management Company, et al.; Notice of Application

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-20

... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [Investment Company Act Release No. 29981; File No. 812-14007... than 10% of the acquired company's voting stock to be owned by investment companies and companies... and Exchange Commission (the ``Commission''). ACTION: Notice of an application under section 6(c) of...

The Factors Influencing the Sense of Home in Nursing Homes: A Systematic Review from the Perspective of Residents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. D. Rijnaard

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose. To provide an overview of factors influencing the sense of home of older adults residing in the nursing home. Methods. A systematic review was conducted. Inclusion criteria were (1 original and peer-reviewed research, (2 qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods research, (3 research about nursing home residents (or similar type of housing, and (4 research on the sense of home, meaning of home, at-homeness, or homelikeness. Results. Seventeen mainly qualitative articles were included. The sense of home of nursing home residents is influenced by 15 factors, divided into three themes: (1 psychological factors (sense of acknowledgement, preservation of one’s habits and values, autonomy and control, and coping; (2 social factors (interaction and relationship with staff, residents, family and friends, and pets and activities; and (3 the built environment (private space and (quasi-public space, personal belongings, technology, look and feel, and the outdoors and location. Conclusions. The sense of home is influenced by numerous factors related to the psychology of the residents and the social and built environmental contexts. Further research is needed to determine if and how the identified factors are interrelated, if perspectives of various stakeholders involved differ, and how the factors can be improved in practice.

RELOCATION OF HOME APPLIANCES FACTORY BY USING SYSTEMATICAL LAYOUT PLANNING (SLP COMBINED WITH FLOW ANALYSIS AND ASSEMBLY PROCESS DESIGN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yosef Adji Baskoro

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Every manufacturing company must have experiencing building a layout. Fred.E Meyers has stated that only death and taxes are certain, there exist a third certainty-a plant layout will change, thus many methods to generate layout are established and each has its own purposes and benefits. This research focused on the design of manufacturing facilities supported by in-depth analysis of Assembly process design with a high stresses on the Systematical Layout Planning ( SLP and Flow Analysis method to facilitate an outcome of layout accordingly to the system needs. This is a real case study conducts with an objective of generating a recommendation layout for Home Appliances Company specifically for television plant

How do Companies Invest in Corporate Social Responsibility? An Ordonomic Contribution for Empirical CSR Research

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Matthias Georg Will

2014-07-01

Full Text Available This paper takes both a conceptual and an empirical approach to answer the question as to how Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR can be connected to the company’s role as an agent of social value creation when it operates within an imperfect institutional framework of market competition. To develop a functional design for an empirical study, we draw on the concept of ordonomics, which provides a heuristics for responsible business activities in society. Drawing on ordonomics, we devise three questions: Referring to action responsibility we ask in which CSR activities companies do invest in their day-to-day business. Referring to governance responsibility we ask as to how companies realize win-win solutions through strategic commitments. In addition, with regard to discourse responsibility we ask in which stakeholder dialogues companies engage in order to discuss and find functional rules for organizing win-win solutions. In our empirical study, we reveal insights into the micro-level analysis of the CSP-CFP link and generate several new questions to be the subject of future research.

Learning energy literacy concepts from energy-efficient homes

Science.gov (United States)

Paige, Frederick Eugene

generation. • Utility bill limits and constraints exemplify the ability to conserve energy resources. • Replicable examples teach lessons on conservation. • Via an understanding of the water-energy nexus, water conservation lessons transfer to energy saving lessons. • Passive design exemplifies how a shift in thinking can conserve energy resources through informed efficient decision-making. • Societal shifts in energy consumption are evident at home. • Efficient homes provide applicable examples of social and technological innovations. • The home is the environment in which memorable lessons on energy are passed through cultures. • Home energy consumption comparisons are a popular and effective social innovation, but people have mixed emotions about their usefulness. • A utility bill communicates that utility companies are monitoring energy use to calculate cost. • Interactivity enhances feedback from energy monitors. • Calculating and monitoring energy use is perceived as a complex mathematical process. • Energy consumption feedback at the appliance level is desired to inform decisions. • There is a separation between personal energy monitoring and public monitoring. Implications of this research are that an energy literate society will have the knowledge that is a prerequisite for the motivation to address energy and climate issues. Educators, policy makers, engineers, and designers all play a role in creating a built environment that encourages energy saving behavior.

More Than Four Walls: The Meaning of Home in Home Birth Experiences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emily Burns

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The “home versus hospital” as places of birth debate has had a long and at times vicious history. From academic literature to media coverage, the two have often been pitted against each other not only as opposing physical spaces, but also as opposing ideologies of birth. The hospital has been heavily critiqued as a site of childbirth since the 1960s, with particular focus on childbirth and medicalisation. The focus of much of the hospital and home birthing research exists on a continuum of medicalisation, safety, risk, agency, and maternal and neonatal health and wellbeing. While the hospital birthing space has been interrogated, a critique of home birthing space has remained largely absent from the social sciences. The research presented in this article unpacks the complex relationship between home birthing women and the spaces in which they birth. Using qualitative data collected with 59 home birthing women in Australia in 2010, between childbearing and the home should not be considered as merely an alternative to hospital births, but rather as an experience that completely renegotiates the home space. Home, for the participants in this study, is a dynamic, changing, and even spiritual element in the childbirth experience, and not simply the building in which it occurs.

Online video marketing plan for a product launch : Case company: Altal Oy

OpenAIRE

Ngo, Quan

2015-01-01

This bachelor’s thesis aims to create a detailed guideline for using marketing videos in various online channels for Altal Oy. The commissioning company, Altal Oy is a Finn-ish start-up founded by three employees in 2014. It operates in the smart home tech-nology sector. The thesis topic is based on the current needs of the company to pro-mote for the launch of its brand new products in the Finnish market. A real project of making a promotion video is conducted and reported in parallel with t...

LHC@home gets new home

CERN Multimedia

Oates, John

2007-01-01

"The distributed computing project LHC@home is moving to London from Cern in Switzerland. Researchers at Qeen Mary University have been trialling the system since June, but are now ready for the offical launch" (1 page)

[Response of Pharmaceutical Companies to the Crisis of Post-Marketing Clinical Trials of Anti-Cancer Agents -- Results of Questionnaires to Pharmaceutical Companies].

Science.gov (United States)

Nakajima, Toshifusa

2016-04-01

Investigator-oriented post-marketing clinical trials of anti-cancer agents are faced to financial crisis due to drastic decrease in research-funds from pharmaceutical companies caused by a scandal in 2013. In order to assess the balance of research funds between 2012 and 2014, we made queries to 26 companies manufacturing anti-cancer agents, and only 10 of 26 responded to our queries. Decrease in the fund was observed in 5 of 10, no change in 1, increase in 3 and no answer in 1. Companies showed passive attitude to carry out doctor-oriented clinical trials of off-patent drugs or unapproved drugs according to advanced medical care B program, though some companies answered to proceed approved routines of these drugs if clinical trials showed good results. Most companies declined to make comments on the activity of Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED), but some insisted to produce good corroboration between AMED and pharmaceutical companies in order to improve the quality of trials. Further corroboration must be necessary for this purpose among researchers, governmental administrative organs, pharmaceutical companies, patients' groups, and mass-media.

Effect of Customer Satisfaction on Company Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petr Suchánek

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The subject of this article is customer satisfaction and its impact on company performance through satisfaction with its products, including a comparison with the competition. Research was conducted in search of factors which affect customer satisfaction on the one hand and the performance of the company on the other hand. We constructed a model explaining what specific factors (affecting customer satisfaction have an impact on the performance of a company. This model can help management to better run the business and achieve higher performance. The article is based on research that focused on companies in the food industry in Czech Republic and on their customers. First, we found the financial performance of surveyed companies (based on indicators ROA, ROE and assets turnover and on this basis they have been divided on companies efficient and inefficient. Furthermore factors were identified (based on previous research of authors that have an impact on customer satisfaction (among these factors include product quality, customer requirements for product, comparison with competitive products, etc.. With the use of non-parametric statistical methods, logistic regression and discriminant analysis was analyzed, what factors affecting customer satisfaction also affect business performance.

Consent, including advanced consent, of older adults to research in care homes: a qualitative study of stakeholders' views in South Wales.

Science.gov (United States)

Wood, Fiona; Prout, Hayley; Bayer, Antony; Duncan, Donna; Nuttall, Jacqueline; Hood, Kerenza; Butler, Christopher C

2013-08-09

Care home residents, especially those lacking capacity to provide consent for themselves, are frequently excluded from research, thus limiting generalisability of study findings. We set out to explore stakeholders' views about the ethical and practical challenges associated with recruiting care home residents into research studies. Qualitative individual interviews with care home residents (n = 14), their relatives (n = 14), and general practitioners (GPs) (n = 10), and focus groups (n = 2) with care home staff. Interviews focused on the issues of older adults consenting to research in care homes, including advanced consent, in general and through reference to a particular study on the use of probiotics to prevent Antibiotic Associated Diarrhoea. Data were analysed using a thematic approach incorporating themes that had been identified in advance, and themes derived from the data. Researchers discussed evidence for themes, and reached consensus on the final themes. Respondents were generally accepting of low risk observational studies and slightly less accepting of low risk randomised trials of medicinal products. Although respondents identified some practical barriers to informed consent, consenting arrangements were considered workable. Residents and relatives varied in the amount of detail they wanted included in information sheets and consent discussions, but were generally satisfied that an advanced consent model was acceptable and appropriate. Opinions differed about what should happen should residents lose capacity during a research study. Research staff should be mindful of research guidance and ensure that they have obtained an appropriate level of informed consent without overwhelming the participant with unnecessary detail. For research involving medicinal products, research staff should also be more explicit when recruiting that consent is still valid should an older person lose capacity during a trial provided the individual did not previously state a

DESIGN OF EXPERIMENTS IN TRUCK COMPANY

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Bibiana Kaselyova

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Design of experiment (DOE represent very powerful tool for process improvement vastly supported by six sigma methodology. This approach is mostly used by large and manufacturing orientated companies. Presented research is focused on use of DOE in truck company, which is medium size and service orientated. Such study has several purposes. Firstly, detailed description of improvement effort based on DOE can be used as a methodological framework for companies similar to researched one. Secondly, it provides example of successfully implemented low cost design of experiment practise. Moreover, performed experiment identifies key factors, which influence the lifetime of truck tyres.Design/methodology: The research in this paper is based on experiment conducted in Slovakian Truck Company. It provides detailed case study of whole improvement effort, together with problem formulation, design creation and analysis, as well as the results interpretation. The company wants to improve lifetime of the truck tyres. Next to fuel consumption, consumption of tyres and their replacement represent according to them, one of most costly processes in company. Improvement effort was made through the use of PDCA cycle. It start with analysis of current state of tyres consumption. The variability of tyres consumption based on years and types was investigated. Then the causes of tyres replacement were identified and screening DOE was conducted. After a screening design, the full factorial design of experiment was used to identify main drivers of tyres deterioration and breakdowns. Based on result of DOE, the corrective action were propose and implement.Findings: Based on performed experiment our research describes process of tyres use and replacement. It defines main reasons for tyre breakdown and identify main drivers which influence truck tyres lifetime. Moreover it formulates corrective action to prolong tyres lifetime.Originality: The study represents full

'right@home': a randomised controlled trial of sustained nurse home visiting from pregnancy to child age 2 years, versus usual care, to improve parent care, parent responsivity and the home learning environment at 2 years.

Science.gov (United States)

Goldfeld, Sharon; Price, Anna; Bryson, Hannah; Bruce, Tracey; Mensah, Fiona; Orsini, Francesca; Gold, Lisa; Hiscock, Harriet; Smith, Charlene; Bishop, Lara; Jackson, Dianne; Kemp, Lynn

2017-03-20

By the time children start school, inequities in learning, development and health outcomes are already evident. Sustained nurse home visiting (SNHV) offers a potential platform for families experiencing adversity, who often have limited access to services. While SNHV programmes have been growing in popularity in Australia and internationally, it is not known whether they can improve children's learning and development when offered via the Australian service system. The right@home trial aims to investigate the effectiveness of an SNHV programme, offered to women from pregnancy to child age 2 years, in improving parent care of and responsivity to the child, and the home learning environment. Pregnant Australian women (n=722) are identified after completing a screening survey of 10 factors known to predict children's learning and development (eg, young pregnancy, poor mental or physical health, lack of support). Consenting women-surveyed while attending clinics at 10 hospitals in Victoria and Tasmania-are enrolled if they report having 2 or more risk factors. The intervention comprises 25 home visits from pregnancy to 2 years, focusing on parent care of the child, responsivity to the child and providing a good quality home learning environment. The standard, universal, Australian child and family health service provides the comparator (control). Primary outcome measures include a combination of parent-reported and objective assessments of children's sleep, safety, nutrition, parenting styles and the home learning environment, including the Home Observation of the Environment Inventory and items adapted from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. This study is approved by the Royal Children's Hospital Human Research Ethics Committees (HREC 32296) and site-specific HRECs. The investigators and sponsor will communicate the trial results to stakeholders, participants, healthcare professionals, the public and other relevant groups via presentations and

Campbell Creek Research Homes: FY2013 Annual Performance Report OCT.1, 2012 SEP. 30, 2013

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jackson, Roderick K [ORNL; Boudreaux, Philip R [ORNL; Munk, Jeffrey D [ORNL; Gehl, Anthony C [ORNL; Lyne, Christopher T [ORNL; Odukomaiya, Wale O [ORNL

2014-05-01

1.INTRODUCTION AND PROJECT OVERVIEW The Campbell Creek project is funded and managed by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Technology Innovation, Energy Efficiency, Power Delivery and Utilization Office. Technical support is provided under contract by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). The project was designed to determine the relative energy efficiency of typical new home construction, of retrofitting of existing homes, and of high-performance new homes built from the ground up for energy efficiency. This project was designed to compare three houses that represent current construction practices: a base case (Builder House CC1); a modified house that could represent a major energy-efficient retrofit (Retrofit House CC2); and a house constructed from the ground up to be a high-performance home (High Performance House CC3). To enable a valid comparison, it was necessary to simulate occupancy in all three houses and extensively monitor the structural components and the energy usage by component. In October 2013, the base case was also modified by replacing the builder-grade heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system with a high-efficiency variable-speed unit. All three houses are two-story, slab-on-grade, framed construction. CC1 and CC2 are approximately 2,400 ft2. CC3 has a pantry option, used primarily as a mechanical equipment room, that adds approximately 100 ft2. All three houses are all-electric (with the exception of a gas log fireplace that is not used during the testing) and use air-source heat pumps for heating and cooling. The three homes are located in Knoxville in the Campbell Creek Subdivision. CC1 and CC2 are next door to each other with a south-facing orientation; CC3 has a north-facing orientation and is located across the street and a couple of houses down. The energy data collected will be used to determine the benefits of retrofit packages and high-performance new home

Smart Secure Homes: A Survey of Smart Home Technologies that Sense, Assess, and Respond to Security Threats.

Science.gov (United States)

Dahmen, Jessamyn; Cook, Diane J; Wang, Xiaobo; Honglei, Wang

2017-08-01

Smart home design has undergone a metamorphosis in recent years. The field has evolved from designing theoretical smart home frameworks and performing scripted tasks in laboratories. Instead, we now find robust smart home technologies that are commonly used by large segments of the population in a variety of settings. Recent smart home applications are focused on activity recognition, health monitoring, and automation. In this paper, we take a look at another important role for smart homes: security. We first explore the numerous ways smart homes can and do provide protection for their residents. Next, we provide a comparative analysis of the alternative tools and research that has been developed for this purpose. We investigate not only existing commercial products that have been introduced but also discuss the numerous research that has been focused on detecting and identifying potential threats. Finally, we close with open challenges and ideas for future research that will keep individuals secure and healthy while in their own homes.

Research and implementation of geographic information service mode in digital home

Science.gov (United States)

Lei, B.; Liu, K.; Gan, Y.; Zhong, M.

2014-04-01

Accompanying infrastructure improvements and networking technology innovation, the development of digital home service industry has gotten more and more attention. However, the digital home service levels have not sufficiently met rising demand from users. Therefore, it is urgent to propose and develop new service modes for the digital home. Geographic information services can provide various spatial information services such as map search, spatial information query. It has become an inevitable trend to implement geographic information services in the digital home. This paper proposes three new geographic information services modes for the digital home after sufficient requirement analysis: pushed information service mode, interactive information service mode, personalized information service mode. The key technologies to implement geographic information services on digital televisions are studied, involving digital television middleware technology, network transmission technology and visualization technology. According to the service modes' characteristics mentioned above, a service system in the digital home is established to implement geographic information services on the basis of digital television. The implementation of geographic information services in the digital home not only enriches the digital home services content, but also promotes geographic information from specialization to public popularity.

The Future of Home Health Care

Science.gov (United States)

Landers, Steven; Madigan, Elizabeth; Leff, Bruce; Rosati, Robert J.; McCann, Barbara A.; Hornbake, Rodney; MacMillan, Richard; Jones, Kate; Bowles, Kathryn; Dowding, Dawn; Lee, Teresa; Moorhead, Tracey; Rodriguez, Sally; Breese, Erica

2016-01-01

The Future of Home Health project sought to support transformation of home health and home-based care to meet the needs of patients in the evolving U.S. health care system. Interviews with key thought leaders and stakeholders resulted in key themes about the future of home health care. By synthesizing this qualitative research, a literature review, case studies, and the themes from a 2014 Institute of Medicine and National Research Council workshop on “The Future of Home Health Care,” the authors articulate a vision for home-based care and recommend a bold framework for the Medicare-certified home health agency of the future. The authors also identify challenges and recommendations for achievement of this framework. PMID:27746670

Home Education and Law in China

Science.gov (United States)

Sheng, Xiaoming

2018-01-01

Home education is at an early stage for the public, researchers, media and educational authorities in China. Yet the research relating to the development of home education has been entirely ignored. In particular, the literature focusing on the legal status of home education is negligible in the educational context of China. There is no literature…

Smart GSM Based Home Automation System

OpenAIRE

Teymourzadeh, Rozita

2013-01-01

This research work investigates the potential of ‘Full Home Control’, which is the aim of the Home Automation Systems in near future. The analysis and implementation of the home automation technology using Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) modem to control home appliances such as light, conditional system, and security system via Short Message Service (SMS) text messages is presented in this paper. The proposed research work is focused on the functionality of the GSM protocol, whic...

Clifford’s Fireplace Company Limited Brand Identity Project

OpenAIRE

Dee, Peter

2009-01-01

Peter Dee - Strategic Design and Marketing Consultant, was responsible for the design and development of the brand identity for the Clifford’s Fireplaces Company which was used on business cards, letterhead, advertisements, promotional material and e-Commerce website. Clifford's Fireplaces Ltd. was established in 1947 and with over 65 years of experience in the fireplace and home heating business it is their goal to ensure that customers obtain the most appropriate products and services to me...

How to find home backwards? Navigation during rearward homing of Cataglyphis fortis desert ants.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfeffer, Sarah E; Wittlinger, Matthias

2016-07-15

Cataglyphis ants are renowned for their impressive navigation skills, which have been studied in numerous experiments during forward locomotion. However, the ants' navigational performance during backward homing when dragging large food loads has not been investigated until now. During backward locomotion, the odometer has to deal with unsteady motion and irregularities in inter-leg coordination. The legs' sensory feedback during backward walking is not just a simple reversal of the forward stepping movements: compared with forward homing, ants are facing towards the opposite direction during backward dragging. Hence, the compass system has to cope with a flipped celestial view (in terms of the polarization pattern and the position of the sun) and an inverted retinotopic image of the visual panorama and landmark environment. The same is true for wind and olfactory cues. In this study we analyze for the first time backward-homing ants and evaluate their navigational performance in channel and open field experiments. Backward-homing Cataglyphis fortis desert ants show remarkable similarities in the performance of homing compared with forward-walking ants. Despite the numerous challenges emerging for the navigational system during backward walking, we show that ants perform quite well in our experiments. Direction and distance gauging was comparable to that of the forward-walking control groups. Interestingly, we found that backward-homing ants often put down the food item and performed foodless search loops around the left food item. These search loops were mainly centred around the drop-off position (and not around the nest position), and increased in length the closer the ants came to their fictive nest site. © 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

The work-home interface : The role of home-based predictors of burnout among mothers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Missler, M.A.; Stroebe, M.S.; van der Laan, G.

2014-01-01

Research into the work–home interface has mainly focused on work-related variables, leaving aspects associated with the home domain relatively understudied. This investigation examined both facilitation and conflict between home and work in a sample of 260 working mothers with children up to four

Factors Influencing Company Relations with Market Stakeholders, in the Face of Crises in Company Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olszewska Barbara

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Crises in company development are a particular subset of management crises. They emerge on various stages of company development, as a result of gradual depletion of effective management solutions. Crisis situations in companies have varied impact on company stakeholders. The paper presents results of empirical studies of factors influencing company relations with market stakeholders and those that facilitate the process of restoring and maintaining any relations that suffered in the course of crises in company development. The authors’ intention was to identify such factors and evaluate their importance, in relation to various stages of company development and the associated types of crisis situations faced by companies. Empirical studies suggest that certain factors may facilitate conflict resolution in matters concerning company relations with market stakeholders, and that the impact of these factors varies depending on the phase of organizational development and the type of the associated crisis situation. It must be noted, that one of the most important factors to influence problem resolution is the perceived honesty of the exchange participants. Moreover, research suggests that opinions on the significance of organizational dependence of exchange participants in the resolution of problems in relations with market stakeholders are varied.

The evolution analysis of listed companies co-holding non-listed financial companies based on two-mode heterogeneous networks

Science.gov (United States)

An, Pengli; Li, Huajiao; Zhou, Jinsheng; Chen, Fan

2017-10-01

Complex network theory is a widely used tool in the empirical research of financial markets. Two-mode and multi-mode networks are new trends and represent new directions in that they can more accurately simulate relationships between entities. In this paper, we use data for Chinese listed companies holding non-listed financial companies over a ten-year period to construct two networks: a two-mode primitive network in which listed companies and non-listed financial companies are considered actors and events, respectively, and a one-mode network that is constructed based on the decreasing-mode method in which listed companies are considered nodes. We analyze the evolution of the listed company co-holding network from several perspectives, including that of the whole network, of information control ability, of implicit relationships, of community division and of small-world characteristics. The results of the analysis indicate that (1) China's developing stock market affects the share-holding condition of listed companies holding non-listed financial companies; (2) the information control ability of co-holding networks is focused on a few listed companies and the implicit relationship of investment preference between listed companies is determined by the co-holding behavior; (3) the community division of the co-holding network is increasingly obvious, as determined by the investment preferences among listed companies; and (4) the small-world characteristics of the co-holding network are increasingly obvious, resulting in reduced communication costs. In this paper, we conduct an evolution analysis and develop an understanding of the factors that influence the listed companies co-holding network. This study will help illuminate research on evolution analysis.

Aviation Research and the Internet

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, Antoinette M.

1995-01-01

The Internet is a network of networks. It was originally funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DOD/DARPA and evolved in part from the connection of supercomputer sites across the United States. The National Science Foundation (NSF) made the most of their supercomputers by connecting the sites to each other. This made the supercomputers more efficient and now allows scientists, engineers and researchers to access the supercomputers from their own labs and offices. The high speed networks that connect the NSF supercomputers form the backbone of the Internet. The World Wide Web (WWW) is a menu system. It gathers Internet resources from all over the world into a series of screens that appear on your computer. The WWW is also a distributed. The distributed system stores data information on many computers (servers). These servers can go out and get data when you ask for it. Hypermedia is the base of the WWW. One can 'click' on a section and visit other hypermedia (pages). Our approach to demonstrating the importance of aviation research through the Internet began with learning how to put pages on the Internet (on-line) ourselves. We were assigned two aviation companies; Vision Micro Systems Inc. and Innovative Aerodynamic Technologies (IAT). We developed home pages for these SBIR companies. The equipment used to create the pages were the UNIX and Macintosh machines. HTML Supertext software was used to write the pages and the Sharp JX600S scanner to scan the images. As a result, with the use of the UNIX, Macintosh, Sun, PC, and AXIL machines, we were able to present our home pages to over 800,000 visitors.

Ownership, financing, and management strategies of the ten largest for-profit nursing home chains in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Harrington, Charlene; Hauser, Clarilee; Olney, Brian; Rosenau, Pauline Vaillancourt

2011-01-01

This study examined the ownership, financing, and management strategies of the 10 largest for-profit nursing home chains in the United States, including the four largest chains purchased by private equity corporations. Descriptive data were collected from Internet searches, company reports, and other sources for the decade 1998-2008. Since 1998, the largest chains have made many changes in their ownership and structure, and some have converted from publicly traded companies to private ownership. This study shows the increasing complexity of corporate nursing home ownership and the lack of public information about ownership and financial status. The chains have used strategies to maximize shareholder and investor value that include increasing Medicare revenues, occupancy rates, and company diversification, establishing multiple layers of corporate ownership, developing real estate investment trusts, and creating limited liability companies. These strategies enhance shareholder and investor profits, reduce corporate taxes, and reduce liability risk. There is a need for greater transparency in ownership and financial reporting and for more government oversight of the largest for-profit chains, including those owned by private equity companies.

Review of Researches on Agricultural Industry Chain at Home and Abroad

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Ge; SONG; Taiyan; YANG; Jianhui; LIU

2014-01-01

Management of agricultural industry chain is the main form of modern agricultural industrialization. Integration and optimization of agricultural chain have great significance in deepening the reform in the countryside,quickening the development of agricultural modernization and establishing new system of agricultural management. Based on the theory sources and contents of agricultural chain as well as the current researches at home and abroad,this paper hackles and concludes information technology,logistics management and food safety and quality in foreign agricultural chain as well as the organization model,operation mechanism,integration and optimization,promotion and extension,financing and risk prevention,influencing factors as well as performance evaluation in domestic agricultural chain and offers relevant review in order to provide further reference for future researches.

THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE MARKETING NEEDS AND MEANS OF COMMUNICATION OF THE ROMANIAN MARKETING COMPANIES - A MARKETING RESEARCH -

OpenAIRE

Tudor Edu; Costel Iliuţă Negricea

2011-01-01

The marketing needs of the Romanian marketing companies are very diversified, commencing with the research of the needs and demand on the target market, going down to the 4Ps (Product, Price, Promotion and Placement) and their components.The present marketing research was performed using 7 categories of information sources: specialised publications in marketing; specialised publications in economics; information provided by specialised institutions in consultancy and marketing research; infor...

A comparison of home care clients and nursing home residents: can community based care keep the elderly and disabled at home?

Science.gov (United States)

Shugarman, L R; Fries, B E; James, M

1999-01-01

Admission cohorts from the Michigan Medicaid Home and Community-Based Waiver program and Ohio nursing homes were compared on measures of resource utilization including a modified Resource Utilization Groups (RUG-III) system, Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), and overall case mix. We found that, contrary to previous research, the two samples were remarkably similar across RUG-III categories. However, the nursing home sample was more functionally impaired on measures of ADL functioning and overall case mix. Results of this study may inform policymakers and providers of the potential for maintaining the appropriate population in the home with government-funded home care.

Home Environment, Self-Concept and Urban Student Achievement: A Bibliography and Review of Research. NJ Urban Education Research Reports No. 5.

Science.gov (United States)

Shapiro, Carol; Bloom, Joel S.

This review analyzes recent research on student personality, social and home environment, and the influence of these factors on academic achievement, particularly among minority and disadvantaged students. Several factors which purportedly affect student achievement and which are examined in the review include: (1) socioeconomic status and its…

Home and Building Energy Management Systems | Grid Modernization | NREL

Science.gov (United States)

Home and Building Energy Management Systems Home and Building Energy Management Systems NREL researchers are developing tools to understand the impact of changes in home and building energy use and how researchers who received a record of invention for a home energy management system in a smart home laboratory

Exploration and design of smart home circuit based on ZigBee

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Huirong

2018-05-01

To apply ZigBee technique in smart home circuit design, in the hardware design link of ZigBee node, TI Company's ZigBee wireless communication chip CC2530 was used to complete the design of ZigBee RF module circuit and peripheral circuit. In addition, the function demand and the overall scheme of the intelligent system based on smart home furnishing were proposed. Finally, the smart home system was built by combining ZigBee network and intelligent gateway. The function realization, reliability and power consumption of ZigBee network were tested. The results showed that ZigBee technology was applied to smart home system, making it have some advantages in terms of flexibility, scalability, power consumption and indoor aesthetics. To sum up, the system has high application value.

Brand values for consumers and companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Veljković Saša

2010-01-01

Full Text Available In contemporary business management, which is characterized by intense competitive pressure, marketing is getting more and more dominant role. Companies on the market are more exposed to competitive pressure due to the growing number of suppliers (bidders and substitutive products on the home market, and increase of foreign competition due to the world economy globalization. The success of marketing tools usage largely depends on the expected financial effects realization, as well as the survival of company on the market does, both in long and short terms. Brand marketing is a useful tool in modern business environment and it is an important source of competitive advantage. The concept and essence of brand have been significantly changed recently, compared to the period of twenty or more years ago. Brand is no more considered as just a label or sign, it is a tool that creates value for consumers and significantly contributes to improving the competitive position on the market. In brand creating process one should start from the elements that influence the creation of value for consumers and to consistently apply mechanisms to maximize the function of the brand on the market and enable companies to achieve maximum impact in terms of achievement of competitive advantage. It is important at the same time, in the respect of analysis of the financial payback investment in brand creating, to conceder brand impacts on the financial performance of the company. The aim of this paper is to point out the role, importance and concept of brand in modern marketing, and to highlight the role and way of creating value for consumers with help of the brand, which contributes to improving the competitive position and points out the brand influence on the financial performance of companies.

Marketing plan for a mobile application : Marketing research and a plan for a mobile application of a startup company

OpenAIRE

Koljonen, Camilla

2016-01-01

The purpose of this thesis is to provide an insight of the application market and to create a marketing plan for a new mobile application. The client is a startup company and they needed a marketing research and a marketing plan for their mobile application. The company does not have a person working with marketing and therefore they asked for this project. The application itself provides information about local bars and nightclubs. It will be launched first in southern Europe and after world...

TOTAL REWARDS MODEL IN ROMANIAN COMPANIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena-Sabina HODOR

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Total Rewards Management is a subject of major importance for companies, because, by using models for this, firms can achieve their objectives of high performance. In order to analyse a validated total rewards model in Romanian Accounting and Consulting Companies, it is used The WorldatWork Total Rewards Model, which depict what contributes to applicant attraction and employee motivation and retention. Thus, the methodology of the previous survey is adjusted to the local context. The conclusions for the methodological aspects illustrate that the present research involves three strategic steps in order to achieve the objectives presented: the analysis of organizational environment of the companies from the sample, checking if Total Rewards Model proposed in the previous research is applicable for the same romanian companies from the previous survey, the analysing of the differences between results, and, if necessary, the adaptation of the model for Romania.

Going Global: Key Insights from Two Mexican Companies

OpenAIRE

Martha RIVERA; Silvia CACHO-ELIZONDO

2015-01-01

This paper explores how Mexican companies in different industries have achieved international expansion, while at the same time preserving local elements in executing their strategies. For this initial stage of research, the analysis focuses on two companies: a) Grupo Bimbo, the number one company in the bakery industry worldwide and b) KidZania, one of the world’s top indoor family entertainment centers. The research methodology is based on in-depth interviews with CEOs and key executives fr...

COMPANY PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT AND REPORTING METHODS

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Nicu Ioana Elena

2012-12-01

Full Text Available One of the priorities of economic research has been and remains the re-evaluation of the notion of performance and especially exploring and finding some indicators that would reflect as accurately as possible the subtleties of the economic entity. The main purpose of this paper is to highlight the main company performance measurement and reporting methods. Performance is a concept that raises many question marks concerning the most accurate or the best method of reporting the performance at the company level. The research methodology has aimed at studying the Romanian and foreign specialized literature dealing with the analyzed field, studying magazines specialized on company performance measurement. If the financial performance measurement indicators are considered to offer an accurate image of the situation of the company, the modern approach through non-financial indicators offers a new perspective upon performance measurement, which is based on simplicity. In conclusion, after the theoretical study, I have noticed that the methods of performance measurement, reporting and interpretation are various, the opinions regarding the best performance measurement methods are contradictive and the companies prefer resorting to financial indicators that still play a more important role in the consolidation of the company performance measurement than the non-financial indicators do.

QUALITATIVE MARKETING RESEARCH REGARDING THE IMPACT OF THE CRISIS ON THE ACTIVITY OF THE LEASING COMPANIES

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CRISTINA BĂLTEANU

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The financial crisis has caused the economic system both direct and indirect effects. Negative macroeconomic shocks have had a direct impact on the results of leasing companies, and effects such as panic and "nervous breakdown" also had major repercussions. The purpose of this paper based on a qualitative marketing research is knowing, on the one hand, the effects of the crisis on the consumption of leasing products/services and, on the other hand, the factors that caused these effects. The study also aimed to outline the possible evolution of the leasing services offers over the next three years, taking in consideration the measures taken by leasing companies in order to restart the financing process through this system.

Assessment of Intellectual Capital in Joint-Stock Companies

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Rima Tamošiūnienė

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The evaluation of intellectual capital factors is an essential part for the management of joint-stock companies. Many authors indicate that successful intellectual capital management increases value added in joint-stock companies. Nevertheless, intellectual capital is a complex and challenging concept as there is still no clear guidance, what the intellectual capital features and its structural parts are. Theoretical research revealed that scientists accentuate various intellectual capital parts depending basically on the type of their research, on the level of the research (micro, mezzo, macro, variables they selected to investigate and similar. This research paper gives an insight what drivers can be increasing value added in joint-stock companies.

Facebook marketing for a direct selling company

OpenAIRE

Egeberg, Chenette

2015-01-01

The purpose of the thesis was to provide recommendations for how the studied company could improve their Facebook marketing activities. The company was the Danish subsidiary of an multinational direct selling company of health and beauty products. The following research questions were devised: 1) What are the constraints and challenges for LR Denmark’s facebook marketing as a subsidiary of a Multinational Corporation and as a Direct Selling Company? 2) How can LR Denmark improve the...

From academic research to the creation of Chelatec company

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loussouarn, A.

2002-01-01

Full text: CHELATEC (www.chelatec.fr) was founded in 2000 as a spin-off INSERM at institute U-463, Nantes Hospital, France. The present team has benefited from the abilities and know-how acquired in radioimmunotargeting within the vectorisation group of INSERM. The company provides complete engineering services based on complexation and vectorisation, as adapted to the client's needs in the fields of customised radiolabelling, radioimmunotargeting, decorporation and trapping of metals. CHELATEC conducts R and D activity under contract in key fields of chemical applications to medicine and environment. Our mission is to enable pharmaceutical industries and biotechnolgies companies to successfully exploit our skills and to help them in their product of process development. CHELATEC produces and supplies radiolabelled compounds

Facilitating home birth.

Science.gov (United States)

Finigan, Valerie; Chadderton, Diane

2015-06-01

The birth of a baby is a family experience. However, in the United Kingdom birth often occurs outside the family environment, in hospital. Both home and hospital births have risks and benefits, but research shows that, for most women, it is as safe to give birth at home as it is in hospital. Women report home-birth to be satisfying with lowered risks of intervention and less likelihood of being separated from their family. It is also more cost effective for the National Health Service. Yet, whilst midwives are working hard to promote home birth as an option, it remains controversial. The aim of this paper is to raise awareness of the safety of home birth and the needs of women and midwives when a home birth is chosen. It provides an overview of care required and the role of the midwife in the ensuring care is woman-centred and personalised.

ThinkHome Energy Efficiency in Future Smart Homes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reinisch Christian

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Smart homes have been viewed with increasing interest by both home owners and the research community in the past few years. One reason for this development is that the use of modern automation technology in the home or building promises considerable savings of energy, therefore, simultaneously reducing the operational costs of the building over its whole lifecycle. However, the full potential of smart homes still lies fallow, due to the complexity and diversity of the systems, badly engineered and configured installations, as well as the frequent problem of suboptimal control strategies. Summarized, these problems converge to two undesirable conditions in the "not-so-smart" home: energy consumption is still higher than actually necessary and users are unable to yield full comfort in their automated homes. This work puts its focus on alleviating the current problems by proposing a comprehensive system concept, that shall ensure that smart homes can keep their promise in the future. The system operates on an extensive knowledge base that stores all information needed to fulfill the goals of energy efficiency and user comfort. Its intelligence is implemented as and within a multiagent system that also caters for the system's openness to the outside world. As a first evaluation, a profile-based control strategy for thermal comfort is developed and verified by means of simulation.

Explaining regional variation in home care use by demand and supply variables

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Noort, Leendert Olivier; Schotanus, Fredo; van der Klundert, Joris; Telgen, Jan

In the Netherlands, home care services like district nursing and personal assistance are provided by private service provider organizations and covered by private health insurance companies which bear legal responsibility for purchasing these services. To improve value for money, their procurement

The legal status of engineering companies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1981-10-01

It is assumed that the carrying out of research, also in the nuclear field should be entrusted to engineering companies, especially when dealing with the setting up of technological structures. This paper considers the problems of the legal status of such companies under Italian legislation. (NEA) [fr

CHANGING ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE IN A ROMANIAN COMPANY

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CRIVEANU Maria Magdalena

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The focus on studying the issue of change, migrated from the attention towards western countries, struggling with the growing spread of globalization, which affects all the changes in the environment, to the former socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which have undergone dramatic changes since 1989. The most disturbing event was the transition from the centralized economy system to the market economy system, which led to a series of mutations at both psychological and organizational level. In this context, this article aims to identify both the dominant type of culture in the largest retail company in Romania and the dominant type of culture in other similar companies. This research project aims at studying the culture and its specificity within the company, but also its impact on society and on the organization. The issue at stake is a retail company in Romania, in which we tried to identify the dominant culture within the company and culture desired by its employees. We also conducted a parallel between the culture type identified in the Romanian company and the type of culture identified in other companies. The research results can be a starting point for the manager charged with change, as he can easily identify discrepancies between the dominant culture and culture desired by employees

Starting a Chinese Sauce Company in Helsinki

OpenAIRE

Shu, Bing; Shi, Jianan

2017-01-01

The thesis is about starting-up a Chinese sauce company in Helsinki. The introduction is about the history of Laoganma company and the missions of a branch company in Helsinki, as well as the aims of the project. The part about market research includes the current situation of Finnish sauce market and a SWOT analysis for a Finnish market entrance. Also, a successful case reflects the developed way for the company. Then, the price and location are defined in the thesis. Sales strategi...

Home Within Me

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kreuzer, Maria; Mühlbacher, Hans; von Wallpach, Sylvia

2017-01-01

In an increasingly globalized, digitalized and perceived unmanageable world, consumers strive for belongingness, identification and security and re-discover the importance of home. Home is central to peoples’ individual as well as collective identities and their self-development (McCracken, 1989...... in Austria and the sample consisted of 15 locals (study 1) and 17 first generation immigrants (study 2) to identify possible commonalities and differences. This research adds to existing literature by 1) empirically confirming the existence of dimensions of home (e.g., physical, social, temporary...

Top management team heterogeneity and firm performance: An empirical research on Chinese listed companies

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHANG Ping

2007-01-01

An empirical study of the 2001-2002 data from 356 Chinese companies listed in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges indicates that within the social context of China the characteristics of a firm's top management team have a different impact on firm performance from those of foreign countries. Also, the tenure heterogeneity and functional experience heterogeneity of the top management team are inversely related to firm performance. This paper analyzes and discusses the findings in detail and points out areas for future research.

Business Strategy Formulation By Shareholders and Company Management using The Analytical Network Process (ANPBusiness Strategy Formulation by Shareholders and Company Management Using Analytical Network Process (ANP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Faizal Faizal

2016-11-01

Full Text Available This research aimed to identify the business strategy formulation by the shareholders and the management of the company. Ten companies were selected to be the objects of this research. Those companies were the information technology, telecommunication, printing, mining, construction and chemical companies in Indonesia. The research was conducted by using the Analytical Network Process (ANP and considering the chosen respondents as the decision makers (experts of those companies. The respondents were chosen by using the non-probabilitty sampling method. The result shows that the roles of the company managements are considered m ore influental (0,57143 than the roles of the shareholders (0,28571. From the output of stakeholder’s condition, the best-stratified priority strategies are differentiation (0,600515, cost of leadership (0,230754 and focus (0,168731.

How do companies envisage the future? Functional foresight approaches

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Kononiuk Anna

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The main aim of the paper is to present the synthesis of the results of methodological analysis conducted on examples of foresight projects executed in chosen companies representing four companies type: small and medium-sized enterprise (SME, nonprofit- organization, international corporations and consulting companies as well as to posit functional approach for the implementation of foresight research within organizations. The empirical part of the study is based on the qualitative approach. A multiple case study methodology is employed. The research objects are sixteen companies experienced in foresight research. The first part of the paper gives an overview of definitions of corporate foresight and the analysis of background that have influence on the conducting of foresight in large multinational companies on one side and SMEs on the other side. In the field of the theory of foresight research, the study demonstrates that there are different motivations for foresight introduction as well as different organizational structure of teams conducting the activities and the approaches that they use. In the practical perspective, the study and a detailed functional foresight approach proposed by authors could be valuable for SMEs who consider implementing foresight research into their strategic planning processes.

Success of Family Company: Critical Evidence from the United States

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anastasia Petlina

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose of the article: The purpose of the paper is to define the point of family company’s success. The object of research is family business as an economical phenomenon. There is a double subject of this study: firstly, to find out the main resources, from which information about successful companies can be detected and, secondly, to analyze one big family company as case study for identification its key success factors. Methodology/methods: The article was prepared on the basis of general theoretical scientific methods, in particular analysis, synthesis, analogy, comparison, generalizations, deduction and methods of expert estimates. In the first phase secondary research of scientific literature and electronic resources about the paper topic was conducted. On the base of that result, the primary research was conduct, which is based on analysis of family company E. & J. Gallo Winery. Based on the received information, the key success factors were identified. The sources of the research are internet web-pages of the company, articles about company in famous Czech business magazines and scientific journals form Emerald database, reports of company and financial data from Amadeus database and The Global Family Business Index. Scientific aim: The aim of scientific research is to improve the understanding of family company’s success from the perspective of difficulties faced by family company. Findings: The results of this study allowed the finding of a main point for the family company’s success based on review of key sources about successful family companies. In addition, activity of E. & J. Gallo Winery was analyzed as the case study for critical evidence that phenomenon. Conclusions: This study has contributed to the theoretical body of family business research providing an important first step to gaining insights into the family company’s success and its key factors which influence effective functioning of family company.

The Factors Influencing the Sense of Home in Nursing Homes: A Systematic Review from the Perspective of Residents.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M.D. Rijnaard; Joost van Hoof; H. Verbeek; H.C. Beerens; S.L. Molony; W. Pocornie; Eveline Wouters; B.M. Janssen; A. Eijkelenboom

2016-01-01

Purpose. To provide an overview of factors influencing the sense of home of older adults residing in the nursing home. Methods. A systematic review was conducted. Inclusion criteria were (1) original and peer-reviewed research, (2) qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods research, (3) research

Home-based Healthcare Technology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Verdezoto, Nervo

of these systems target a specific treatment or condition and might not be sufficient to support the care management work at home. Based on a case study approach, my research investigates home-based healthcare practices and how they can inform future design of home-based healthcare technology that better account......Sustaining daily, unsupervised healthcare activities in non-clinical settings such as the private home can challenge, among others, older adults. To support such unsupervised care activities, an increasingly number of reminders and monitoring systems are being designed. However, most...

Leaving home in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Rikke Skovgaard

2015-01-01

The paper focuses on ethnic differences in the timing and patterns of leaving the parental home. Leaving home is a key transition in the life course of the individual, and extensive research has been conducted on the timing and patterns of leaving it. However, ethnic differences in these patterns...... of leaving home. Results showed that while some differences disappeared when controlling for covariates, others persisted, thus indicating ethnic differences in home-leaving patterns. A strong link between leaving home and marriage was substantiated for Turks, but not for Somalis. The home-leaving patterns...... of Somalis were much more similar to those of Danes. Overall, Turkish descendants were similar to Turkish immigrants but with some differentiation. The analyses identified the existence of ethnic differences in home-leaving patterns but also found evidence of a shift towards less traditional patterns, i...

Study on analysis of potential competition and discrimination issues relating to a pilot project for an EU tax consolidation scheme for the European Company statute (Societas Europaea)

OpenAIRE

Deloitte

2004-01-01

Would a specific tax regime that i) grants to companies formed under the European Company Statute the possibility to or ii) requires companies formed under the European Company Statute to establish the consolidated tax base for their EU wide activities according to one set of rules(either European or that of their ?home state?) and does not provide this possibility for companies which are run under a different legal form discriminate against these latter companies and/or provide state aid to ...

Measuring the impact of total quality management on financial performance of croatian companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dubravka Pekanov Starčević

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Changes in the business environment have resulted in increasing the importance of the quality of products and services of a company. Insisting on quality has become a strategic goal of a company and a determiner of competitiveness both in the home and international market. The traditional approach to quality included determination of product quality after production was completed. High costs of testing to determine the quality of products and services concludes that quality assurance must be approached differently. Product controls and tests used until that moment had to be replaced with a more modern, more efficient and more effective approach known as total quality management (TQM. TQM supporters suggest that TQM implementation results in improved product quality, reduced product return, reduced costs of serving unsatisfied customers and other benefits that ultimately lead to improved financial performance of the company. This paper examines the impact of TQM imple- mentation on the financial performance of Croatian companies whose securities are traded within the regulated market. General characteristics of companies were compared in terms of (nonsystematic application of total quality management. Furthermore, the financial performance of the companies that have successfully implemented the method was measured.

Attitudes of palliative home care physicians towards palliative sedation at home in Italy.

Science.gov (United States)

Mercadante, Sebastiano; Masedu, Francesco; Mercadante, Alessandro; Marinangeli, Franco; Aielli, Federica

2017-05-01

Information about the attitudes towards palliative sedation (PS) at home is limited. The aim of this survey was to assess the attitudes of palliative care physicians in Italy regarding PS at home. A questionnaire was submitted to a sample of palliative care physicians, asking information about their activity and attitudes towards PS at home. This is a survey of home care physicians in Italy who were involved in end-of-life care decisions at home. One hundred and fifty participants responded. A large heterogeneity of home care organizations that generate some problems was found. Indications, intention and monitoring of PS seem to be appropriate, although some cultural and logistic conditions were limiting the use of PS. Specialized home care physicians are almost involved to start PS at home. Midazolam was seldom available at home and opioids were more frequently used. These data should prompt health care agencies to make a minimal set of drugs easily available for home care. Further research is necessary to compare attitudes in countries with different sociocultural profiles.

Human-centered design and smart homes : How to study and design for the home experience?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eggen, J.H.; van den Hoven, E.A.W.H; Terken, J.M.B.; van Hoof, J.; Demiris, G.; Wouters, E.J.M.

2016-01-01

The focus of this chapter is on designing for smart homes. The perspective will be user-driven design research. The chapter starts with a context analysis of the home environment. This analysis shows that, from a user perspective, home is about emotions and not about the physical house with all its

Newborn Care in the Home and Health Facility: Formative Findings for Intervention Research in Cambodia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alessandra N. Bazzano

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Global coverage and scale up of interventions to reduce newborn mortality remains low, though progress has been achieved in improving newborn survival in many low-income settings. An important factor in the success of newborn health interventions, and moving to scale, is appropriate design of community-based programs and strategies for local implementation. We report the results of formative research undertaken to inform the design of a newborn health intervention in Cambodia. Information was gathered on newborn care practices over a period of three months using multiple qualitative methods of data collection in the primary health facility and home setting. Analysis of the data indicated important gaps, both at home and facility level, between recommended newborn care practices and those typical in the study area. The results of this formative research have informed strategies for behavior change and improving referral of sick infants in the subsequent implementation study. Collection and dissemination of data on newborn care practices from settings such as these can contribute to efforts to advance survival, growth and development of newborns for intervention research, and for future newborn health programming.

Home parenteral nutrition in children: the Polish experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Ksiazyk, J; Lyszkowska, M; Kierkus, J; Bogucki, K; Ratyńska, A; Tondys, B; Socha, J

1999-02-01

Home parenteral nutrition has become routine for management of intestinal failure in patients. In Poland the main obstacle to widespread use of home parenteral nutrition is the lack of interest of commercial companies in delivering feedings and ancillaries to patients. Twenty-five home parenteral nutrition patients aged from 4 months to more than 13 years were reviewed. The mother or both parents were trained in home parenteral nutrition techniques for 4 to 6 weeks and compounded the nutrients themselves at home. The mean duration of home parenteral nutrition was 10,117 patient days. Hospital stays of patients receiving parenteral feedings were significantly shorter than the duration of administration of home parenteral nutrition (p rate of catheter occlusion decreased within the observation period, and in 1997 not one case of occlusion was observed. In 1997 only three catheters were removed during 7.8 patient years, and the overall incidence of catheter-related complications was 0.38 per patient year. The overall occurrence of septicemia was one case in 516 days and of catheter infection was one in 459 days. In 1997 a catheter was infected on average of once every 1419 days. There was significant improvement in the z score for weight during therapy. The average monthly cost of nutrients and ancillary items was approximately $1200 (4200 Polish zlotys [PLN]). These costs are 1.6 to 3 times lower than those recorded in other studies. Home parenteral nutrition in children with nutrients mixed by caregivers in the home setting is a safe and appropriate method of treatment that can be used in countries where home parenteral nutrition solutions are not manufactured or where commercial home parenteral nutrition is not economically feasible.

Packaging colour research by tobacco companies: the pack as a product characteristic.

Science.gov (United States)

Lempert, Lauren K; Glantz, Stanton

2017-05-01

Tobacco companies use colour on cigarette packaging and labelling to communicate brand imagery, diminish health concerns, and as a replacement for prohibited descriptive words ('light' and 'mild') to make misleading claims about reduced risks. We analysed previously secret tobacco industry documents to identify additional ways in which cigarette companies tested and manipulated pack colours to affect consumers' perceptions of the cigarettes' flavour and strength. Cigarette companies' approach to package design is based on 'sensation transference' in which consumers transfer sensations they derive from the packaging to the product itself. Companies manipulate consumers' perceptions of the taste and strength of cigarettes by changing the colour of the packaging. For example, even without changes to the tobacco blends, flavourings or additives, consumers perceive the taste of cigarettes in packages with red and darker colours to be fuller flavoured and stronger, and cigarettes in packs with more white and lighter colours are perceived to taste lighter and be less harmful. Companies use pack colours to manipulate consumers' perceptions of the taste, strength and health impacts of the cigarettes inside the packs, thereby altering their characteristics and effectively creating new products. In countries that do not require standardised packaging, regulators should consider colour equivalently to other changes in cigarette characteristics (eg, physical characteristics, ingredients, additives and flavourings) when making determinations about whether or not to permit new products on the market. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Housing Archetype Analysis for Home Energy-Efficient Retrofit in the Great Lakes Region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, S. -K. [Cost Effective Energy Retrofit (CEER) Team, Midland, MI (United States); Mrozowski, T. [Cost Effective Energy Retrofit (CEER) Team, Midland, MI (United States); Harrell-Seyburn, A. [Cost Effective Energy Retrofit (CEER) Team, Midland, MI (United States); Ehrlich, N. [Cost Effective Energy Retrofit (CEER) Team, Midland, MI (United States); Hembroff, L. [Cost Effective Energy Retrofit (CEER) Team, Midland, MI (United States); Lieburn, B. [Cost Effective Energy Retrofit (CEER) Team, Midland, MI (United States); Mazor, M. [Cost Effective Energy Retrofit (CEER) Team, Midland, MI (United States); McIntyre, A. [Cost Effective Energy Retrofit (CEER) Team, Midland, MI (United States); Mutton, C. [Cost Effective Energy Retrofit (CEER) Team, Midland, MI (United States); Parsons, G. [Cost Effective Energy Retrofit (CEER) Team, Midland, MI (United States); Syal, M. G. [Cost Effective Energy Retrofit (CEER) Team, Midland, MI (United States); Wilkinson, R. [Cost Effective Energy Retrofit (CEER) Team, Midland, MI (United States)

2014-09-01

This project report details activities and results of the "Market Characterization" project undertaken by the Cost Effective Energy Retrofit (CEER) team targeted toward the DOE goal of achieving 30%-50% reduction in existing building energy use. CEER consists of members from the Dow Chemical Company, Michigan State University, Ferris State University, and Habitat for Humanity Kent County. The purpose of this market characterization project was to identify housing archetypes which are dominant within the Great Lakes region and therefore offer significant potential for energy-efficient retrofit research and implementation due to the substantial number of homes possessing similar characteristics. Understanding the characteristics of housing groups referred to as "archetypes" by vintage, style, and construction characteristics can allow research teams to focus their retrofit research and develop prescriptive solutions for those structure types which are prevalent and offer high potential uptake within a region or market.

Application opportunities of agile methodology in service company management

OpenAIRE

Barauskienė, Diana

2017-01-01

Application Opportunities of Agile Methodology in Service Company Management. The main purpose of this master thesis is to identify which methods (or their modified versions) of Agile methodology can be applied in service company management. This master thesis consists of these parts – literature scientific analysis, author’s research methodology (research methods, authors’ research model, essential elements used in the research of application of Agile methodology), research itself (prelimina...

Internal market – situation and forecasting for Croatian groups of companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zoran Krupka

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze and compare the attitude of managers to the market position of independent companies in comparison to the companies that are members of groups of companies in Croatia. In addition, research included an analysis of their attitudes toward current and future internal market trends with respect to the number and the value of transactions conducted within Croatian groups of companies. Methodology: Relevant secondary and primary dana was used in the research. In secondary research, relevant scientific and professional literature was analyzed. Primary research was done by using a questionnaire on an intentional sample of experts, including 127 managers working for groups of companies in Croatia. Findings: Two main hypotheses were tested: H1 – The internal market of Croatian groups of companies, measured by the number of transactions, will grow in the future; H2 – The internal market of Croatian groups of companies, measured by transaction value, will grow in the future. Both hypotheses were accepted. Implications: Research results imply a further strengthening of the financial and economic importance of groups of companies in Croatia, and a weakening of the companies that are not members of such groups. This implies a tendency toward certain monopoly development in some economic sectors. The development and continuous growth of the internal market compels countries to implement control and regulatory practices with regard to the use of transfer pricing, a path Croatia will have to follow.

Crucial market demands and company competencies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Bjarne; Stacey, Julia

1999-01-01

More and more, it is acknowledged that a company's success depends on it being capable of complying with the market's demands and wishes. It is, however, not always obvious, how the individual company will be able to meet the market's demands. A recent MAPP study has investigated this topic...... and identified a number of central market demands, which Danish food companies are faced with. Moreover, the study has identified which competencies are required to meet these demands and have also looked at howsuccessful companies structure some of these competencies. The study takes its point of departure...... in a literature review of MAPP's research. Results show that there are 27 central market demands, retail and consumer demands that Danish companies ought to be able to live up to. The study has also identified which competencies food companies must possess to be able to meet market's demands. Results from three...

Videoconferencing for Health Care Provision for Older Adults in Care Homes: A Review of the Research Evidence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Louise Newbould

2017-01-01

Full Text Available A scoping review was conducted to map the research evidence on the use of videoconferencing for remote health care provision for older adults in care homes. The review aimed to identify the nature and extent of the existing evidence base. Databases used were Embase, Medline, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library Reviews. The review identified 26 articles for inclusion, of which 14 were case studies, making the most used study design. Papers described videoconferencing as being used for assessment, management of health care, clinical support, and diagnosis, with eight of the papers reporting the use of videoconferencing for more than one clinical purpose. A further eight papers reported the use of videoconferencing for assessment alone. The literature reported the collection of various types of data, with 12 papers describing the use of both qualitative and quantitative data. The outcomes mainly addressed staff satisfaction (n=9 and resident satisfaction (n=8. Current evidence supports the feasibility of videoconferencing in care homes. However, research needs to be undertaken to establish the contexts and mechanisms that underpin the successful implementation of videoconferencing in care homes and to define useful measures for success.

Videoconferencing for Health Care Provision for Older Adults in Care Homes: A Review of the Research Evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Newbould, Louise; Mountain, Gail; Hawley, Mark S; Ariss, Steven

2017-01-01

A scoping review was conducted to map the research evidence on the use of videoconferencing for remote health care provision for older adults in care homes. The review aimed to identify the nature and extent of the existing evidence base. Databases used were Embase, Medline, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library Reviews. The review identified 26 articles for inclusion, of which 14 were case studies, making the most used study design. Papers described videoconferencing as being used for assessment, management of health care, clinical support, and diagnosis, with eight of the papers reporting the use of videoconferencing for more than one clinical purpose. A further eight papers reported the use of videoconferencing for assessment alone. The literature reported the collection of various types of data, with 12 papers describing the use of both qualitative and quantitative data. The outcomes mainly addressed staff satisfaction ( n = 9) and resident satisfaction ( n = 8). Current evidence supports the feasibility of videoconferencing in care homes. However, research needs to be undertaken to establish the contexts and mechanisms that underpin the successful implementation of videoconferencing in care homes and to define useful measures for success.

Building America Best Practices Series, Volume 6: High-Performance Home Technologies: Solar Thermal & Photovoltaic Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baechler, Michael C.; Gilbride, Theresa L.; Ruiz, Kathleen A.; Steward, Heidi E.; Love, Pat M.

2007-06-04

This guide is was written by PNNL for the US Department of Energy's Building America program to provide information for residential production builders interested in building near zero energy homes. The guide provides indepth descriptions of various roof-top photovoltaic power generating systems for homes. The guide also provides extensive information on various designs of solar thermal water heating systems for homes. The guide also provides construction company owners and managers with an understanding of how solar technologies can be added to their homes in a way that is cost effective, practical, and marketable. Twelve case studies provide examples of production builders across the United States who are building energy-efficient homes with photovoltaic or solar water heating systems.

Use of the Home Safety Self-Assessment Tool (HSSAT) within Community Health Education to Improve Home Safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Horowitz, Beverly P; Almonte, Tiffany; Vasil, Andrea

2016-10-01

This exploratory research examined the benefits of a health education program utilizing the Home Safety Self-Assessment Tool (HSSAT) to increase perceived knowledge of home safety, recognition of unsafe activities, ability to safely perform activities, and develop home safety plans of 47 older adults. Focus groups in two senior centers explored social workers' perspectives on use of the HSSAT in community practice. Results for the health education program found significant differences between reported knowledge of home safety (p = .02), ability to recognize unsafe activities (p = .01), safely perform activities (p = .04), and develop a safety plan (p = .002). Social workers identified home safety as a major concern and the HSSAT a promising assessment tool. Research has implications for reducing environmental fall risks.

Innovation Initiatives in Large Software Companies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Edison, Henry; Wang, Xiaofeng; Jabangwe, Ronald

2018-01-01

empirical studies on innovation initiative in the context of large software companies. A total of 7 studies are conducted in the context of large software companies, which reported 5 types of initiatives: intrapreneurship, bootlegging, internal venture, spin-off and crowdsourcing. Our study offers three......Context: To keep the competitive advantage and adapt to changes in the market and technology, companies need to innovate in an organised, purposeful and systematic manner. However, due to their size and complexity, large companies tend to focus on the structure in maintaining their business, which...... can potentially lower their agility to innovate. Objective:The aims of this study are to provide an overview of the current research on innovation initiatives and to identify the challenges of implementing those initiatives in the context of large software companies. Method: The investigation...

Analysing and Developing TQM Strategies - An Important Part of Company Innovation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hartz, Ove

2000-01-01

activities and employee behaviour in industrial company cultures. The paper outlines and discusses some results of total quality management research projects and case study research in industrial companies carried out at the Technical University of Denmark. The background of the viewpoints and experience......This paper discusses strategies for development of total quality management as an integrated part of company innovation taking the size and other particular characteristics of the specific company into consideration, with the focus on issues related to the development of appropriate total quality...... outlined is based on a combination of theoretical work, case study research and involvement in the practical development of total quality management in industrial companies of very different sizes....

[Medical equipment companies and their ties with technology development centers in Mexico].

Science.gov (United States)

Hernández, B; Arredondo, A; Cruz, C; Sánchez, E; Damián, T

1993-10-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the characteristics of the companies that produce, distribute, and service medical equipment in Mexico and the factors related to whether or not they had established ties with research and technology development centers. The data analyzed came from a survey of such companies carried out in Mexico City and environs in 1989. The information was updated in 1991. Multivariate analyses were carried out in order to identify the characteristics of companies that had established ties or wished to do so and the areas of interest of those companies. Of 208 companies surveyed, only 23% had ties with research centers. The companies that had such ties or were interested in establishing them tended to invest in research and to have made plans for expansion. The establishment of ties appeared to be a two-way process, with positive consequences for the companies involved, the research centers, and the health sector. It was concluded that it would be advantageous to design programs to promote ties with companies having the characteristics mentioned.

Business Alliances between Japanese and Taiwanese Companies

OpenAIRE

シンポ, ヒロヒコ; Hirohiko, Shimpo

2012-01-01

In the beginning of the 21^st century, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) revolution is steadily progressing to build a new social infrastructure. In this process, Taiwanese companies are becoming increasingly significant. This paper illuminates the entire image of Taiwanese companies centering on the electronics industry. Although there is little research on Taiwanese companies, there is still less on their financial condition and their corporate governance. This paper aims t...

Assessment Of Shell Petroleum Development Company Extension ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Journal of Agriculture and Social Research (JASR). Journal Home · ABOUT THIS JOURNAL · Advanced Search · Current Issue · Archives · Journal Home > Vol 4, No 2 (2004) >. Log in or Register to get access to full text downloads.

Corporate financial decision makers' perceptions of their company's safety performance, programs and personnel: Do company size and industry injury risk matter?

Science.gov (United States)

DeArmond, Sarah; Huang, Yueng-Hsiang; Chen, Peter Y; Courtney, Theodore K

2010-01-01

Top-level managers make important decisions about safety-related issues, yet little research has been done involving these individuals. The current study explored corporate financial decisions makers' perceptions of their company's safety and their justifications for these perceptions. This study also explored whether their perceptions and justifications varied as a function of company size or industry injury risk. A total of 404 individuals who were the most senior managers responsible for making decisions about property and casualty risk at their companies participated in this study. The participants took part in a telephone survey. The results suggest that corporate financial decision makers have positive views of safety at their companies relative to safety at other companies within their industries. Further, many believe their company's safety is influenced by the attention/emphasis placed on safety and the selection and training of safety personnel. Participants' perceptions varied somewhat based on the size of their company and the level of injury risk in their industry. While definitive conclusions about corporate financial decision makers' perceptions of safety cannot be reached as a result of this single study, this work does lay groundwork for future research aimed at better understanding the perceptions top-level managers.

An empirical analysis of strategy implementation process and performance of construction companies

Science.gov (United States)

Zaidi, F. I.; Zawawi, E. M. A.; Nordin, R. M.; Ahnuar, E. M.

2018-02-01

Strategy implementation is known as action stage where it is to be considered as the most difficult stage in strategic planning. Strategy implementation can influence the whole texture of a company including its performance. The aim of this research is to provide the empirical relationship between strategy implementation process and performance of construction companies. This research establishes the strategy implementation process and how it influences the performance of construction companies. This research used quantitative method approached via questionnaire survey. Respondents were G7 construction companies in Klang Valley, Selangor. Pearson correlation analysis indicate a strong positive relationship between strategy implementation process and construction companies’ performance. The most importance part of strategy implementation process is to provide sufficient training for employees which directly influence the construction companies’ profit growth and employees’ growth. This research results will benefit top management in the construction companies to conduct strategy implementation in their companies. This research may not reflect the whole construction industry in Malaysia. Future research may be resumed to small and medium grades contractors and perhaps in other areas in Malaysia.

Stroke and Nursing Home care: a national survey of nursing homes.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Cowman, Seamus

2010-01-01

BACKGROUND: Although stroke is recognised as a major factor in admission to nursing home care, data is lacking on the extent and nature of the disabilities and dependency in nursing homes arising from stroke. A national study conducted in nursing homes can quantify the number of residents with stroke in nursing homes, their disability and levels of dependency. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey research design was used. A total of 572 public and private nursing homes were identified nationally and a stratified random selection of 60 nursing homes with 3,239 residents was made. In half of the nursing homes (n = 30) efforts were made to interview all residents with stroke Survey instruments were used to collect data from residents with stroke and nursing home managers on demography, patient disability, and treatment. RESULTS: Across all nursing homes (n = 60), 18% (n = 570) of the residents had previously had a stroke. In homes (n = 30), where interviews with residents with stroke (n = 257), only 7% (n = 18) residents were capable of answering for themselves and were interviewed. Data on the remaining 93% (n = 239) residents were provided by the nursing home manager. Nurse Managers reported that 73% of residents with stroke had a high level of dependency. One in two residents with stroke was prescribed antidepressants or sedative medication. Only 21% of stroke residents were prescribed anticoagulants, 42% antiplatelets, and 36% cholesterol lowering medications. Stroke rehabilitation guidelines were lacking and 68% reported that there was no formal review process in place. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides seminal findings on stroke and nursing home services in Ireland. We now know that one in six nursing home residents in a national survey are residents with a stroke, and have a wide range of disabilities. There is currently little or no structured care (beyond generic care) for stroke survivors who reside in nursing homes in Ireland.

What are the consequences for Danish Fashion Premium Brand Companies to incorporate Ethical Fashion in their company structure?

OpenAIRE

Bartoli, Nicla; Nielsen, Amalie

2014-01-01

This paper is meant to investigate the topic of Ethical Fashion implemented in Danish Fashion Premium Brands Companies. In order to have an almost complete scientific paper, the group decided to formulate the folowing problem formulation “What are the consequences for Danish Premium Brand Companies to incorporate Ethical Fashion in their company structure?” With three main research question: The first one is focusing on how Ethical Fashion is defined in the Danish fashion industry, in order t...

Fostering Student Entrepreneurship and University Spinoff Companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tony Bailetti

2011-10-01

Full Text Available A student spinoff company strives to transform knowledge acquired by students into an income-generating business. This article outlines how a university can increase the number of spinoff companies created by its student entrepreneurs. Student spinoff companies are of interest to all forward-thinking universities, particularly those that support research and teaching programs in the field of entrepreneurship. The spinoff companies provide tangible evidence that students acquire viable entrepreneurial skills while studying at the university. In addition, student spinoff companies contribute to regional economic development, commercialize knowledge that otherwise would go undeveloped, help universities attain and expand their core missions, and increase the return on the investments in university R&D. University policies developed specifically for student spinoff companies significantly affect the growth potential of such ventures. This article provides a model and a set of principles that universities can use to support and increase the number of student entrepreneurs at their institutions. The model and principles are grounded in research findings and practical experience. In addition, the article suggests that universities adopt a results-based management approach to plan and deploy initiatives to support student entrepreneurs. The approach is widely used by government agencies interested in increasing the outcomes from their investments.

Home Automation and Security System

OpenAIRE

Surinder Kaur,; Rashmi Singh; Neha Khairwal; Pratyk Jain

2016-01-01

Easy Home or Home automation plays a very important role in modern era because of its flexibility in using it at different places with high precision which will save money and time by decreasing human hard work. Prime focus of this technology is to control the household equipment’s like light, fan, door, AC etc. automatically. This research paper has detailed information on Home Automation and Security System using Arduino, GSM and how we can control home appliances using Android application....

Creating a new home

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gram-Hanssen, Kirsten; Bech-Danielsen, Claus

2012-01-01

Housing research is increasingly focusing on how different groups of residents use their dwelling and transform it into a home. In this article, we look at the homes of immigrants in Danish social housing. The article is based on qualitative interviews with Somali, Iraqi and Turkish immigrants, a...

SMEs’ Organizational Performance: Comparative Study between Cooperated and Uncooperated Companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Karla de Lucena Justino Gomes

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Faced with the need for survival and competitiveness, here called micro and small enterprises (MPE, they seek to develop competitive differentials, such as the insertion of the company into a cooperation network. Several researches seek to identify the benefits of cooperative strategies, but few studies seek to compare the organizational performance of cooperating companies with that of uncooperated companies. Thus, the present study has as general objective to verify if the MPE, when inserted in cooperation networks, present organizational performance superior to those that are not inserted in that context. The present research is of the survey type and involves 67 companies inserted in cooperation networks and 154 companies that do not participate in cooperation networks. To achieve the objective, the organizational performance was analyzed based on the managers' perception regarding aspects associated to the following performance measures: customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, company growth, company profitability and overall performance. The results indicate that the companies included in cooperation networks presented superior performance when compared to the companies not included in cooperation networks

The Future of Home Health project: developing the framework for health care at home.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Teresa; Schiller, Jennifer

2015-02-01

In addition to providing high-quality care to vulnerable patient populations, home healthcare offers the least costly option for patients and the healthcare system, particularly in postacute care. As the baby boom generation ages, policymakers are expressing concerns about rising costs, variation in home healthcare service use, and program integrity. The Alliance for Home Health Quality and Innovation seeks to develop a research-based strategic framework for the future of home healthcare for older Americans and those with disabilities. This article describes the initiative and invites readers to provide comments and suggestions.

MARKETING STRATEGY OF COMMERCIAL HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cut Zaraswati

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The objectives of this research are to: 1 compare the effect of premium earnings products of health insurances after the launching of national social health insurance (JKN-BPJS (Badan Penyelenggara Jaminan Sosial for health; 2 analyze the internal and external factors of private/commercial health insurance companies; 3 formulate a marketing strategyy for health insurance product after the operation of JKN-BPJS for health.  It is a challenge for commercial health insurance to survive and thrive with the existence of JKN-BPJS for health which is compulsory to Indonesia’s citizens to be a member. The research begins by analyzing premium earnings of the commercial health insurance company one year before and after the implementation of JKN-BPJS for health, the intensive interviews and questionnaires to the chosen resource person (purposive samplings, the analysis on Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE, External Factor Evaluation (EFE, Matrix IE and SWOT are used in the research. Then it is continued by arranging a strategic priority using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP.  The result from the research is there is totally no decreasing premium earnings for the commercial health insurance company although the growth trend shows a slight drop.  The appropriate strategy for the health insurance company in the commercial sector is the differentiation where the implication is involving customer service quality improvement, product innovation, and technology and infrastructure development.      Keywords:  commercial health insurance company, Marketing Strategy, AHP Analysis, national social health insurance

Older adult perceptions of smart home technologies: implications for research, policy & market innovations in healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Coughlin, J; D'Ambrosio, L A; Reimer, B; Pratt, M R

2007-01-01

Advances in information communications technology and related computational power are providing a wide array of systems and related services that form the basis of smart home technologies to support the health, safety and independence of older adults. While these technologies offer significant benefits to older people and their families, they are also transforming older adults into lead adopters of a new 24/7 lifestyle of being monitored, managed, and, at times, motivated, to maintain their health and wellness. To better understand older adult perceptions of smart home technologies and to inform future research a workshop and focus group was conducted with 30 leaders in aging advocacy and aging services from 10 northeastern states. Participants expressed support of technological advance along with a variety of concerns that included usability, reliability, trust, privacy, stigma, accessibility and affordability. Participants also observed that there is a virtual absence of a comprehensive market and policy environment to support either the consumer or the diffusion of these technologies. Implications for research, policy and market innovation are discussed.

Home care in Australia: an integrative review.

Science.gov (United States)

Palesy, Debra; Jakimowicz, Samantha; Saunders, Carla; Lewis, Joanne

2018-01-01

The home care sector comprises one of Australia's fastest growing workforces, yet few papers capture the overall landscape of Australian home care. This integrative review investigates home care with the aim of better understanding care recipients and their needs, funding, and regulation; care worker skills, tasks, demographics, employment conditions, and training needs. Over 2,700 pieces of literature were analyzed to inform this review. Results suggest sector fragmentation and a home care workforce who, although well-placed to improve outcomes for care recipients, are in need of better training and employment support. Suggestions for future research regarding Australian home care include studies that combine both aged and disability aspects of care, more research around care recipients, priority needs and strategies for addressing them, and how best to prepare home care workers for their roles.

Assessment of Gender Balanced Policies across Companies

OpenAIRE

Šrámová, Michaela

2017-01-01

The thesis aims to analyze the representation of women in the top management within companies in the Czech Republic and companies' approach towards gender diversity. Theoretical background is provided as an introduction to the topic. Terms leadership and leadership styles are defined. The thesis follows with gender leadership specifics and typical characteristics for the Czech Republic. The research part is based on the interviews with HR representatives conducted in five chosen companies. Ty...

HRM, company performance and employee well-being

OpenAIRE

Vanhala, Sinikka; Tuomi, Kaija

2006-01-01

This paper is dealing with the relationships between HRM, company performance and employee well-being. The relationship between S/HRM and company performance has received much attention in prior literature, while the employee perspective has been widely neglected in this research tradition. The purpose of this paper is two-fold: first, to identify and evaluate how company performance and employee well-being are related, and, secondly, to evaluate the possibilities of HR policies and practices...

Pervasive Home Care - Technological support for treatment of diabetic foot ulcers at home

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Simon Bo

2006-01-01

of the patient in collaboration with patient and home care clinicians. My main research method has been qualitative analysis of the empirical results generated during an experimental project using Participatory Design (PD) to investigate potential futures in the treatment of patients with diabetic foot ulcers...... the need arises for moving treatment and care involving specialised knowledge from the hospital to the home. In this dissertation I use the term Home Care" for the multidisciplinary investigation of how this movement can be supported with technology enabling the expert to carry on a treatment in the home...... approach that I outline in this dissertation. Furthermore I describe the results of the project contributing to three related scientific fields: home care technologies, telemedicine and computer supported cooperative work (CSCW). The main conclusion towards home care technologies is that the many visionary...

Rhetorical Features of the Company Website

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Anne Ellerup

2002-01-01

will discuss the functional and the compositional aspects of corporate communication on the World Wide Web by comparing company websites with traditional market communication media. I will focus on linguistic and visual features of the company website and briefly account for some of the media constraints......Recent years have seen a growing body of literature ceoncerned with the World Wide Web as a new form of communication, and numerous discussions on composition, structure and design of successful company websites are being held in all kinds of forums within and outside the Internet. However, most...... these discussions seem to focus on the technological properties of the Internet or tend to serve purely practical purposes and only few researchers discuss the rhetorical features of web communication, the exception being a litited number of researchers dealing with metaphors on the Web. In this paper I...

Funding a Health Disparities Research Agenda: The Case of Medicare Home Health Care

Science.gov (United States)

Davitt, Joan K.

2014-01-01

Medicare home health care provides critical skilled nursing and therapy services to patients in their homes, generally after a period in an inpatient facility or nursing home. Disparities in access to, or outcomes of, home health care can result in patient deterioration and increased cost to the Medicare program if patient care needs intensify.…

Disruption Management for the Real-Time Home Caregiver Scheduling and Routing Problem

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Biao Yuan

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The aggravating trend of the aging population, the miniaturization of the family structure, and the increase of families with empty nesters greatly affect the sustainable development of the national economy and social old-age security system of China. The emergence of home health care or home care (HHC/HC service mode provides an alternative for elderly care. How to develop and apply this new mobile service mode is crucial for the government. Therefore, the pertinent optimization problems regarding HHC/HC have constantly attracted the attention of researchers. Unexpected events, such as new requests of customers, cancellations of customers’ services, and changes of customers’ time windows, may occur during the process of executing an a priori visiting plan. These events may sometimes make the original plan non-optimal or even infeasible. To cope with this situation, we introduce disruption management to the real-time home caregiver scheduling and routing problem. The deviation measurements on customers, caregivers, and companies are first defined. A mathematical model that minimizes the weighted sum of deviation measurements is then constructed. Next, a tabu search (TS heuristic is developed to efficiently solve the problem, and a cost recorded mechanism is used to strengthen the performance. Finally, by performing computational experiments on three real-life instances, the effectiveness of the TS heuristic is tested, and the advantages of disruption management are analyzed.

University Deals with Drug Companies Raise Concerns over Autonomy, Secrecy.

Science.gov (United States)

Nicklin, Julie L.

1993-01-01

The large, exclusive research deal the Scripps Research Institute (California) made with one drug company has drawn criticism for conflict of interest. Critics fear researchers will focus more on marketing than on pure science and will protect corporate interests. Much of the deal-making is with foreign companies, sending profits overseas. (MSE)

Financial Performance Bank BNI Syariah Company

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diana Widhi Rachmawati

2018-05-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT PT Bank BNI Syariah, one of them working are a big banking company is almost covering all over the country until now looked at  pretty good company asset which are owned, so author conduct research in the title “Financial Performance PT Bank BNI Syariah in Solvability Ratio”. Financial Statement Analysis is aplication from tools and technical analysis financial report general aim and data to be related and estimation produce useful conclutions in business analysis. Financial Performance Analysis research used analysis methode is solvability ratio. General aim to give information finance performance PT Bank BNI Syariah development.  Special goals is finance performance PT Bank BNI Syariah from Solvability Ratio”. This Sample is: PT Bank BNI Syariah. Final result which is research obtained it says finance performance  PT Bank BNI Syariah from Solvability Ratio quite solvable, because this three point inside it contained increased.  This development hope PT Bank BNI Syariah, to be remain consistent with trying to do breakthrough a company goals   Key Words  :  Financial Performance PT Bank BNI Syariah

Home palliative care works: but how? A meta-ethnography of the experiences of patients and family caregivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarmento, Vera P; Gysels, Marjolein; Higginson, Irene J; Gomes, Barbara

2017-12-01

To understand patients and family caregivers' experiences with home palliative care services, in order to identify, explore and integrate the key components of care that shape the experiences of service users. We performed a meta-ethnography of qualitative evidence following PRISMA recommendations for reporting systematic reviews. The studies were retrieved in 5 electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycInfo, BNI, CINAHL) using 3 terms and its equivalents ('Palliative', 'Home care', 'Qualitative research') combined with 'AND', complemented with other search strategies. We included original qualitative studies exploring experiences of adult patients and/or their family caregivers (≥18 years) facing life-limiting diseases with palliative care needs, being cared for at home by specialist or intermediate home palliative care services. 28 papers reporting 19 studies were included, with 814 participants. Of these, 765 were family caregivers and 90% were affected by advanced cancer. According to participants' accounts, there are 2 overarching components of home palliative care: presence (24/7 availability and home visits) and competence (effective symptom control and skilful communication), contributing to meet the core need for security. Feeling secure is central to the benefits experienced with each component, allowing patients and family caregivers to focus on the dual process of living life and preparing death at home. Home palliative care teams improve patients and caregivers experience of security when facing life-limiting illnesses at home, by providing competent care and being present. These teams should therefore be widely available and empowered with the resources to be present and provide competent care. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Execution in early stage companies - lessons from other verticals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sunstrum, R.

2004-01-01

'Full text:' Execution is the link between what you want and what you get. We all strive for a killer product in a hot market. That is necessary but insufficient. Whether or not part of what you get is the sustained ability to make money is dependent on a broader set of skills and practices. As you take that killer product to market, do you know how to produce it cost effectively, deliver when expected, react with agility to changing customer expectations, and support their every after-sales wish? These are all part of the broader execution picture. Electronics companies have learned from automotive companies. Fiber optic companies were learning from the semiconductor industry when the bubble burst, and now industries including bio-medical devices and, closer to home - the fuel cell industry, needs to import the experience of other relevant verticals. Without doing so, killer products will die short of commercial success. This presentation will provide an overview of these execution issues that the fuel cell industry is facing, and will face, and provide you with a path to learning from others. (author)

Analysis of companies' environmental strategies for a green society

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sarmento, Manuela; Durao, Diamantino; Duarte, Manuela

2006-01-01

The present research is based on a survey sent to large, medium and small size companies, located in Portugal and within what are considered the most pollutant industrial sectors. The analyses of the results, processed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 11.0, show that generally companies are concerned with the implementation of clean processes, green products and eco-equipment to have a cleaner environment, i.e. a more sustainable society. Statistically, the results show that the 98 potential polluting companies are moderately contributing for a green society (x m =3.1) regarding the ten environmental strategies under research. It can also be concluded that, globally, environmental strategies are directly linked to the companies' size. (author)

Beware of Data Gaps in Home Care Research: The Streetlight Effect and Its Implications for Policy Making on Long-Term Services and Supports

Science.gov (United States)

Newquist, Deborah D.; DeLiema, Marguerite; Wilber, Kathleen H.

2016-01-01

Policy initiatives increasingly seek greater use of home- and community-based services for older persons and those with chronic care needs, yet large gaps persist in our knowledge of home care, an indispensable component of long-term services and supports. Unrecognized data gaps, including the scope of home care provided by private hire and nonmedical providers, can distort knowledge and poorly inform long-term services and supports policy. The purpose of this article is to examine these gaps by describing the universe of formal home care services and provider types in relationship to major national sources. Findings reveal four distinct home care sectors and that the majority of formal home care is provided in the sectors that are understudied. We discuss the policy implications of data gaps and conclude with recommendations on where to expand and refine home care research. PMID:26062611

HOW COFFEE COMPANIES CAN STAY COMPETITIVE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

RALUCA DANIELA RIZEA

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The coffee shop industry in the U.S. includes 20,000 stores with combined annual revenue of about $11 billion. Major companies include Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, Caribou, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, and Diedrich (Gloria Jean’s. The industry is highly concentrated at the top and fragmented at the bottom: the top 50 companies have over 70 percent of industry sales. Coffee is one of the world’s largest commodities. The top green coffee producing countries are Brazil, Colombia, and Vietnam. Many grower countries are small, poor developing nations that depend on coffee to sustain local economies. The U.S. is the world’s largest importer of green coffee beans and the largest consumer of coffee. The main objective of this study is to investigate the competitive strategies that U.S. coffee franchise companies adopt considering customers’ expectations and industry best practices. In order to achieve this objective, a best practice benchmarking analysis was performed taking into account the top U.S. coffee companies This analysis showed that product and service innovation are necessary in order to stay competitive in the market and attract new or to keep existing customers successfully. Many customers focus on the special atmosphere each store has and which is characterized by the location, music, interior design, seating or whether internet access is provided. Particularly for specialty coffee shops it is important not to sell only the beverage but the whole experience. Coffee shops have to establish a unique image that prevents customers from buying products from another shop or use home-brewing systems which are also on the rise in American households. In addressing the increased level of competition, every company’s focus should be on differentiating from the rest of the market in every possible business segment (products, atmosphere, location, image etc..

Effect of Customer Satisfaction on Company Performance

OpenAIRE

Petr Suchánek; Maria Králová

2015-01-01

The subject of this article is customer satisfaction and its impact on company performance through satisfaction with its products, including a comparison with the competition. Research was conducted in search of factors which affect customer satisfaction on the one hand and the performance of the company on the other hand. We constructed a model explaining what specific factors (affecting customer satisfaction) have an impact on the performance of a company. This model can help management to ...

Effective Business Planning : Case Study: Company X

OpenAIRE

Yakovleva, Yulia

2017-01-01

A business planning process plays one of the most important roles in a company. A business plan can either provide stablility and prosperity to a company or drastically worsen its state. Thus, the recommendations for efficient business plans are very useful for companies that have some difficulties with their perfomance. The thesis has a deductive approach, and the qualitative research method was chosen as primary data was collected through desk study and interviews. The secondary data wa...

A clinician-driven home care delivery system.

Science.gov (United States)

August, D A; Faubion, W C; Ryan, M L; Haggerty, R H; Wesley, J R

1993-12-01

The financial, entrepreneurial, administrative, and legal forces acting within the home care arena make it difficult for clinicians to develop and operate home care initiatives within an academic setting. HomeMed is a clinician-initiated and -directed home care delivery system wholly owned by the University of Michigan. The advantages of a clinician-directed system include: Assurance that clinical and patient-based factors are the primary determinants of strategic and procedural decisions; Responsiveness of the system to clinician needs; Maintenance of an important role for the referring physician in home care; Economical clinical research by facilitation of protocol therapy in ambulatory and home settings; Reduction of lengths of hospital stays through clinician initiatives; Incorporation of outcome analysis and other research programs into the mission of the system; Clinician commitment to success of the system; and Clinician input on revenue use. Potential disadvantages of a clinician-based system include: Entrepreneurial, financial, and legal naivete; Disconnection from institutional administrative and data management resources; and Inadequate clinician interest and commitment. The University of Michigan HomeMed experience demonstrates a model of clinician-initiated and -directed home care delivery that has been innovative, profitable, and clinically excellent, has engendered broad physician, nurse, pharmacist, and social worker enthusiasm, and has supported individual investigator clinical protocols as well as broad outcomes research initiatives. It is concluded that a clinician-initiated and -directed home care program is feasible and effective, and in some settings may be optimal.

Interprofessional collaboration in nursing homes (interprof): a grounded theory study of general practitioner experiences and strategies to perform nursing home visits.

Science.gov (United States)

Fleischmann, Nina; Tetzlaff, Britta; Werle, Jochen; Geister, Christina; Scherer, Martin; Weyerer, Siegfried; Hummers-Pradier, Eva; Mueller, Christiane A

2016-08-30

Interprofessionalism, considered as collaboration between medical professionals, has gained prominence over recent decades and evidence for its impact has grown. The steadily increasing number of residents in nursing homes will challenge medical care and the interaction across professions, especially nurses and general practitioners (GPs). The nursing home visit, a key element of medical care, has been underrepresented in research. This study explores GP perspectives on interprofessional collaboration with a focus on their visits to nursing homes in order to understand their experiences and expectations. This research represents an aspect of the interprof study, which explores medical care needs as well as the perceived collaboration and communication by nursing home residents, their families, GPs and nurses. This paper focusses on GPs' views, investigating in particular their visits to nursing homes in order to understand their experiences. Open guideline-interviews covering interprofessional collaboration and the visit process were conducted with 30 GPs in three study centers and analyzed with grounded theory methodology. GPs were recruited via postal request and existing networks of the research partners. Four different types of nursing home visits were found: visits on demand, periodical visits, nursing home rounds and ad-hoc-decision based visits. We identified the core category "productive performance" of home visits in nursing homes which stands for the balance of GPs´ individual efforts and rewards. GPs used different strategies to perform a productive home visit: preparing strategies, on-site strategies and investing strategies. We compiled a theory of GPs home visits in nursing homes in Germany. The findings will be useful for research, and scientific and management purposes to generate a deeper understanding of GP perspectives and thereby improve interprofessional collaboration to ensure a high quality of care.

Improvement of pressure ulcer prevention care in private for-profit residential care homes: an action research study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kwong, Enid Wy; Hung, Maria Sy; Woo, Kevin

2016-11-25

A need exits to develop a protocol for preventing pressure ulcers (PUs) in private for-profit nursing homes in Hong Kong, where the incidence of PUs is relatively high and which have high proportion of non-professional care staff. The implementation of such protocol would involve changes in the practice of care, likely evoking feelings of fear and uncertainty that may become a barrier to staff adherence. We thus adopted the Systems Model of Action Research in this study to manage the process of change for improving PU prevention care and to develop a pressure ulcer prevention protocol for private for-profit nursing homes. A total of 474 residents and care staff who were health workers, personal care workers, and/or nurses from four private, for-profit nursing homes in Hong Kong participated in this study. Three cyclic stages and steps, namely, unfreezing (planning), changing (action), and refreezing (results) were carried out. During each cycle, focus group interviews, field observations of the care staff's practices and inspections of the skin of the residents for pressure ulcers were conducted to evaluate the implementation of the protocol. Qualitative content analysis was adopted to analyse the data. The data and methodological triangulation used in this study increased the credibility and validity of the results. The following nine themes emerged from this study: prevention practices after the occurrence of PUs, the improper use of pressure ulcer prevention materials, non-compliance with several prevention practices, improper prevention practices, the perception that the preventive care was being performed correctly, inadequate readiness to use the risk assessment tool, an undesirable environment, the supplying of unfavorable resources, and various management styles in the homes with or without nurses. At the end of the third cycle, the changes that were identified included improved compliance with the revised risk assessment method, the timely and appropriate

The History of the 2nd Ranger Company

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Bond, Victor

2003-01-01

The purpose of this research project is to uncover the history of the 2nd Ranger Company and to determine the impact segregation had on the selection, training, and combat operations of the 2nd Ranger Company...

The Role of Company-Cause Fit and Company Involvement in Consumer Responses to CSR Initiatives: A Meta-Analytic Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grzegorz Zasuwa

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The marketing literature suggests that company-cause fit is of key importance to developing a successful socially responsible initiative. However, controversy exists regarding the level of this fit. While some studies report that high fit between a company and a cause has beneficial effects on consumer responses to such efforts, other research identifies negative impacts. This paper aims to obtain a deeper insight into this issue by examining the moderating role of company involvement in a cause. A meta-analysis of 51 experimental studies, yielding a total sample size of 11,335 subjects, shows that company-cause fit influences consumer responses to CSR initiatives most positively when a company with a positive reputation is highly involved in a cause, that is, when the company donates at least products. If such a company provides its beneficiary with only monetary contributions (i.e., low involvement, the effects of fit are significantly less influential.

Which Companies Benefit form Liberalization?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Baghdasaryan, Delia; la Cour, Lisbeth; Schneider, Cédric

2016-01-01

Theoretical research shows that competition has positive effects on productivity, for companies that are initially efficient, but not for unproductive firms. Our empirical analysis on a panel data of Czech companies, years 1995–2004, confirms this result. In addition, our analysis shows that when...... economic reforms affect both domestic and foreign competition, controlling for domestic competition is crucial when assessing the impact of trade liberalization. Otherwise, the effect of trade liberalization on firm productivity is upward biased....

Children's exposure to secondhand smoke at home before and after smoke-free legislation in Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ying-Ting; Tsai, Yi-Wen; Tsai, Tzu-I; Chang, Po-Yin

2017-11-01

In January 2009, Taiwan broadened smoke-free legislation, requiring mass transportation systems, indoor public areas and indoor workplaces with 3 or more people, to become smoke-free. We investigated the secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure at home for children aged 3-11 years in Taiwan before and after the implantation of the legislation. We studied 7911 children from the 2005, 2009 and 2013 National Health Interview Surveys (cross-sectional, nationally representative household surveys). Logistic regression modelling estimated adjusted ORs (AOR) and 95% CIs for children's SHS exposure at home in 2009 and 2013 (2005 as reference) for the overall sample and for each category of household socioeconomic status (SES) and household composition. Prevalence of children SHS exposure at home decreased from 51% (2005) to 32% (2009) and 28% (2013). Compared to 2005, children in 2009 and 2013 had lower likelihoods of SHS exposure at home with AOR of 0.45 (95% CI 0.41 to 0.51) and 0.41 (95% CI 0.36 to 0.46), respectively. All children had reduced SHS exposure at home after the legislation, irrespective of household SES and compositions. Low household income, low parental education level, living with grandparents or living with other adults was individually associated with increased SHS exposure. The proportion of children exposed to SHS at home in Taiwan declined substantially from 2005 to 2009 after smoke-free legislation, and fell further by 2013, irrespective of SES and household compositions. Still, inequality in SHS exposure at home by SES and household composition warrants future research. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Nursing perception of patient transitions from hospitals to home with home health.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Shannon Bright; Alexander, Judith W

2012-01-01

The study's purpose was to determine nurses' opinions of sending patients from the hospital to home with home health services. The study occurred in the Charleston, South Carolina, Tricounty area (Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties). Home health agencies and hospitals were invited to participate. The study used a survey design to gather information on nursing perceptions of current practices and needed changes to improve transition of patients. The population was nurses (licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and registered nurses (RNs)) employed at inpatient hospitals or home health agencies in the area. Thirty-four RNs responded with no LPNs respondents. Agency administrators/chief nursing officers agreed for their agencies to participate and distributed the survey using a Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) Internet-based survey tool. Using the survey results and information from a literature review, the study developed a list of propositions, which participating administrators reviewed, for improving transitions to home. Both home health and hospital nurses reported a need to improve the process of sending patients from hospital to home with home health services. This study provides hospitals and home health agencies with propositions to facilitate the establishment of a process to communicate effectively patients care needs and streamline the discharging patients from the hospital to home health care; thus, improving patient transition. Case managers and discharge planners will need interagency collaboration along with evidence-based interventions to transition patients from the hospital to home with home health services with various populations. Direct patient care nurses in both hospital and home health settings should share the same accountability as case managers to ensure successful transitions.

How companies evaluate their offshore outsourcing activities? : A study of the challenges and opportunities associated with outsourcing to different countries

OpenAIRE

Attias, Irina

2014-01-01

Companies outsource their manufacturing for cutting costs and to be able to concentrate on their core competences. Offshore outsourcing reached its peak less than 10 years ago but nevertheless today’s literature has started to argue whether offshoring brings true long-term profits for companies that practice it. Whereas many multinational enterprises work on bringing their production back to their home countries, small and microenterprises seem to have only the ...

Internet protocol television for personalized home-based health information: design-based research on a diabetes education system.

Science.gov (United States)

Gray, Kathleen Mary; Clarke, Ken; Alzougool, Basil; Hines, Carolyn; Tidhar, Gil; Frukhtman, Feodor

2014-03-10

The use of Internet protocol television (IPTV) as a channel for consumer health information is a relatively under-explored area of medical Internet research. IPTV may afford new opportunities for health care service providers to provide health information and for consumers, patients, and caretakers to access health information. The technologies of Web 2.0 add a new and even less explored dimension to IPTV's potential. Our research explored an application of Web 2.0 integrated with IPTV for personalized home-based health information in diabetes education, particularly for people with diabetes who are not strong computer and Internet users, and thus may miss out on Web-based resources. We wanted to establish whether this system could enable diabetes educators to deliver personalized health information directly to people with diabetes in their homes; and whether this system could encourage people with diabetes who make little use of Web-based health information to build their health literacy via the interface of a home television screen and remote control. This project was undertaken as design-based research in two stages. Stage 1 comprised a feasibility study into the technical work required to integrate an existing Web 2.0 platform with an existing IPTV system, populated with content and implemented for user trials in a laboratory setting. Stage 2 comprised an evaluation of the system by consumers and providers of diabetes information. The project succeeded in developing a Web 2.0 IPTV system for people with diabetes and low literacies and their diabetes educators. The performance of the system in the laboratory setting gave them the confidence to engage seriously in thinking about the actual and potential features and benefits of a more widely-implemented system. In their feedback they pointed out a range of critical usability and usefulness issues related to Web 2.0 affordances and learning fundamentals. They also described their experiences with the system in

Towards a smart home framework

OpenAIRE

Alam, Muddasser; Alan, Alper; Rogers, Alex; Ramchurn, Sarvapali D.

2013-01-01

We present our Smart Home Framework (SHF) which simplifies the modelling, prototyping and simulation of smart infrastructure (i.e., smart home and smart communities). It provides the buildings blocks (e.g., home appliances) that can be extended and assembled together to build a smart infrastructure model to which appropriate AI techniques can be applied. This approach enables rapid modelling where new research initiatives can build on existing work.

Stroke and Nursing Home care: a national survey of nursing homes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

McGee Hannah

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Although stroke is recognised as a major factor in admission to nursing home care, data is lacking on the extent and nature of the disabilities and dependency in nursing homes arising from stroke. A national study conducted in nursing homes can quantify the number of residents with stroke in nursing homes, their disability and levels of dependency. Methods A cross-sectional survey research design was used. A total of 572 public and private nursing homes were identified nationally and a stratified random selection of 60 nursing homes with 3,239 residents was made. In half of the nursing homes (n = 30 efforts were made to interview all residents with stroke Survey instruments were used to collect data from residents with stroke and nursing home managers on demography, patient disability, and treatment. Results Across all nursing homes (n = 60, 18% (n = 570 of the residents had previously had a stroke. In homes (n = 30, where interviews with residents with stroke (n = 257, only 7% (n = 18 residents were capable of answering for themselves and were interviewed. Data on the remaining 93% (n = 239 residents were provided by the nursing home manager. Nurse Managers reported that 73% of residents with stroke had a high level of dependency. One in two residents with stroke was prescribed antidepressants or sedative medication. Only 21% of stroke residents were prescribed anticoagulants, 42% antiplatelets, and 36% cholesterol lowering medications. Stroke rehabilitation guidelines were lacking and 68% reported that there was no formal review process in place. Conclusions This study provides seminal findings on stroke and nursing home services in Ireland. We now know that one in six nursing home residents in a national survey are residents with a stroke, and have a wide range of disabilities. There is currently little or no structured care (beyond generic care for stroke survivors who reside in nursing homes in Ireland.

Beware of Data Gaps in Home Care Research: The Streetlight Effect and Its Implications for Policy Making on Long-Term Services and Supports.

Science.gov (United States)

Newquist, Deborah D; DeLiema, Marguerite; Wilber, Kathleen H

2015-10-01

Policy initiatives increasingly seek greater use of home- and community-based services for older persons and those with chronic care needs, yet large gaps persist in our knowledge of home care, an indispensable component of long-term services and supports. Unrecognized data gaps, including the scope of home care provided by private hire and nonmedical providers, can distort knowledge and poorly inform long-term services and supports policy. The purpose of this article is to examine these gaps by describing the universe of formal home care services and provider types in relationship to major national sources. Findings reveal four distinct home care sectors and that the majority of formal home care is provided in the sectors that are understudied. We discuss the policy implications of data gaps and conclude with recommendations on where to expand and refine home care research. © The Author(s) 2015.

The Impact of the OECD BEPS Action Plan on Finnish Multinational Companies – Case Study

OpenAIRE

Hirvinen, Jyri

2017-01-01

This research attempts to evaluate the effects that the new OECD BEPS action plan might cause to the companies, main focus being in Finnish multinational companies and in the company being researched in the case study part of the research. The author understands the limitations of the one company case study model in the research but believes that use-ful information can be gained on the effects of the OECD BEPS action plan by examining the changes that the case study company has to go through...

77 FR 45385 - Capital Research and Management Company, et al.; Notice of Application

Science.gov (United States)

2012-07-31

... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [Investment Company Act Release No. 30150; 812-13616-09... 6(c) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (``Act'') for an exemption from section 15(a... requirements. Applicants: AMCAP Fund, American Balanced Fund, American Funds Fundamental Investors, American...

75 FR 42432 - Northern Natural Gas Company, Southern Natural Gas Company, Florida Gas Transmission Company, LLC...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-21

... Natural Gas Company, Southern Natural Gas Company, Florida Gas Transmission Company, LLC, Transcontinental... abandonment of facilities by Northern Natural Gas Company, Southern Natural Gas Company, Florida Gas... resources, fisheries, and wetlands; Cultural resources; Vegetation and wildlife; Endangered and threatened...

The relationship between barriers to change and the work engagement of employees in a South African property management company

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elsabé Bell

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Orientation: For any organisational change initiative to have a successful outcome, people need to contribute and be engaged in the process. Research purpose: The main objective of the research was to determine the relationship between barriers to change and work engagement. The secondary objectives of the research were to determine whether there are significant relationships between barriers to change, work engagement and demographic variables. Motivation for the study: Exploring and understanding the relationship between barriers to change and work engagement amongst different demographic groups will help organisations to predict which working environments and jobs are amenable to organisational change and which will alleviate, and maybe even eliminate, the negative effects of change. Research design, approach and method: The researchers used a cross-sectional survey research design. They drew a convenience sample of 234 employees (N = 234 from a South African property management company. They administered the Barriers to Change Questionnaire and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. Main findings: The results showed a practically significant relationship, with a large effect, between barriers to change and work engagement. In addition, the results showed significant differences between barriers to change and demographic groupings based on home language, ethnicity and organisational level. The results also showed significant differences between work engagement and demographic groupings based on home language, ethnicity and level of education. Practical/managerial implications: Managing barriers to change can increase the work engagement of employees. Contribution/value-add: The research adds to the knowledge about the adverse effects of organisational change initiatives on people.

Acquiring taste in home economics?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stenbak Larsen, Christian

Objective: To explore how home economics was taught in Denmark before the recent Danish school reform, which also revised the objectives and content of home economics, naming it Food Knowledge (Madkundskab) Methods: Participant observation was done in home economic lessons in two case schools...... appreciated by the group of boys, and others again learned to stick with their idiosyncrasies when pressured by the teacher. Conclusions: Children were acquiring taste in the home economic lessons, but not only the kind of tastes that the teacher had planned for. This leads to reflections on the very complex...... process of taste acquiring and to a call for further research into taste acquiring in complex real life contexts as home economics lessons....

Social Capital, ICT Use and Company Performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Scupola, Ada; Steinfield, Charles; Lopez-Nicolas, Carolina

2010-01-01

to information and opportunity predicted company performance, particularly for small start-up companies. The pattern of results complements prior work that establishes the importance of social capital in regional business clusters by demonstrating how certain ICT uses complement personal relationships to enhance......This study explores how some uses of ICTs, as well as having social capital and other means of access to knowledge resources, are related to company performance in a knowledge-intensive business cluster. Data were collected through a survey of companies in the Medicon Valley biotech region located...... in Denmark and Southern Sweden. Responding companies included established producers of biotechnology-related products as well as small biotechnology start-up firms emphasizing research and development.  The results suggest that when ICT use was aimed at accessing and enhancing human and intellectual capital...

Social Capital, ICT Use and Company Performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Steinfield, Charles; Scupola, Ada; López-Nicolás, Carolina

2009-01-01

to information and opportunity predicted company performance, particularly for small start-up companies. The pattern of results complements prior work that establishes the importance of social capital in regional business clusters by demonstrating how ICT use complements personal relationships to enhance......This study explores how some kinds of ICT uses, as well as social capital and other means of access to knowledge resources, are related to company performance in a knowledge-intensive business cluster. Data were collected through a survey of companies in the Medicon Valley biotech region located...... in Denmark and Southern Sweden. Responding companies included established producers of biotechnology-related products as well as small biotechnology start-up firms emphasizing research and development.  The results suggest that when ICT use was aimed at accessing and enhancing human and intellectual capital...

EFFECTING FACTORS DELIVERED FINANCIAL REPORTING TIME LINES AT MANUFACTURING COMPANY GROUPS LISTED IDX

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sunaryo Sunaryo

2012-11-01

Full Text Available The primary objective of this research is to learn the effect among ROA, Leverage, Company Size, and Outsider Ownership with time lines, either partially or simultaneously. Secondary data were collected by purposive sampling of manufacturing company groups listed on IDX and the preceding scientific research journals, using logistic regression to test the hypothesis simultaneously. The results of this research describe that ROA and Leverage do not significant effect to time lines, but company size and outsider ownership have significant effect to time lines. It is recommended that the topic of this research can be continued with merchandising company groups, or service company groups either general or special, like: hotels, insurances, bankings; or, with new independence variables added. 

Neuroscience within companies: some case studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Emanuela Salati

2017-04-01

Full Text Available It is possible to understand many crucial processes within organizations such as change planning and management, training, decision making and leadership thanks to organisational neuroscience. For example, poorly managed change can result in alarm messages within our brains. Managers must be aware of how their words, emotions and conduct have a significant impact on team mood and results. Another fast-growing area of research is neuromarketing, thanks to company investments. This article presents a success story: a company that, faced with the need to change its selling proposition, uses neurometric techniques to analyse possible resistance of the sales force and then acted accordingly. Even training can significantly improve company efficiency thanks to neuroscience. This article also discusses some experiments carried out by the Training Department of a large public transport company.

Outward Foreign Direct Investment from BRIC countries: Comparing strategies of Brazilian, Russian, Indian and Chinese multinational companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wladimir Andreff

2015-12-01

Full Text Available An overall comparative study of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI from BRIC countries and strategies conducted by multinational companies (MNCs based in the BRICs is elaborated on with a same methodology for Brazil, Russia, India and China. The comparison pertains to the historical emergence of firms’ internationalisation, their booming expansion in the 2000s then their muddling through the current crisis, the specificities of OFDI from each home country, OFDI geographical distribution and industrial structure, econometric testing of the respective determinants of Brazilian, Russian, Indian and Chinese OFDI, and the role of home countries’ governments vis-à-vis home-based MNCs. Beyond some common characteristics, BRICs’ MNCs exhibit a number of major country-specific features.

Does manager in better economic value added’s companies feeling more satisfied? An investigation of EVA’s role in mitigating agency problem proxies: empirical research from emerging market sample, namely Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dimas M. Widiantoro

2013-03-01

Full Text Available This research is formulating the cause of agency conflict into three factors. The first one is agent unsatisfactory on the existing compensation system. The second is the high ratio of free cash flow in the company. The last is the absence of good monitoring on the company operation. Based on those three factors, this research aims to find a full perspective of these occurrences. One of the tools to investigate it is using EVA® as investigator tools, which is relatively new as a performance measurement in Emerging Market. The proxy variables on agency conflict are new investment ratio and total asset turn over. The control variables are dividend payout ratio and leverage. There are two research questions that being addressed in this research. The first, if there are any differences in agency conflict proxies between companies that have positive EVA® in their performance and companies with negative EVA®. The Second is to analyze if EVA® has significant role to influence the behavior of manager which tend to trigger the agency conflict within the company. The Methodology of this research was paired t-test data comparison between positive EVA companies and negative EVA. In addition, we analyzed the relationship of variable within the model with Data pool from 2002 until 2011To sum up the methodology; we tested the model with robustness test and Causality Test as well. The research finds out that Manager in companies with better EVA® tend to have lower agency conflict level. In conclusion, EVA® is strongly supporting the control variable in explaining its influence on dependent variables or agency conflict proxies.

RELATIONSHIP MARKETING RESEARCH TAILORED TO SUPPORT SALES MANAGEMENT. CASE STUDY: AN INTERNATIONAL EXPRESS LOGISTICS COMPANY IN ROMANIA

OpenAIRE

Pop Nicolae Alexandru; Mihoc Florin; Fotea Ioan Stefan

2010-01-01

Within current economy context, complexities and particularities most companies are constantly seeking to maximize effectiveness and efficiency of their business. As sales force represents for most organizations their “spearheds”and direct contact with the market, its management can be a source for customer satisfaction and overall efficiency. Relationship marketing research with all its particularities and dimensions, if tailored appropriately can explicitly pinpoint major sources of custome...

Beyond "medical tourism": Canadian companies marketing medical travel.

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, Leigh

2012-06-15

Despite having access to medically necessary care available through publicly funded provincial health care systems, some Canadians travel for treatment provided at international medical facilities as well as for-profit clinics found in several Canadian provinces. Canadians travel abroad for orthopaedic surgery, bariatric surgery, ophthalmologic surgery, stem cell injections, "Liberation therapy" for multiple sclerosis, and additional interventions. Both responding to public interest in medical travel and playing an important part in promoting the notion of a global marketplace for health services, many Canadian companies market medical travel. Research began with the goal of locating all medical tourism companies based in Canada. Various strategies were used to find such businesses. During the search process it became apparent that many Canadian business promoting medical travel are not medical tourism companies. To the contrary, numerous types of businesses promote medical travel. Once businesses promoting medical travel were identified, content analysis was used to extract information from company websites. Company websites were analyzed to establish: 1) where in Canada these businesses are located; 2) the destination countries and health care facilities that they market; 3) the medical procedures they promote; 4) core marketing messages; and 5) whether businesses market air travel, hotel accommodations, and holiday tours in addition to medical procedures. Searches conducted from 2006 to 2011 resulted in identification of thirty-five Canadian businesses currently marketing various kinds of medical travel. The research project began with what seemed to be the straightforward goal of establishing how many medical tourism companies are based in Canada. Refinement of categories resulted in the identification of eighteen businesses fitting the category of what most researchers would identify as medical tourism companies. Seven other businesses market regional, cross

THE R&D AND THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS. THE CASE OF PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandra-Maria GALAN

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Research and development represents one of the key activities of the business environment which shows company’s ability of continuous development. The interest in research and development can be observed in the global companies goals of being innovative by the goods and products offered. Combing these two elements helps improving company’s competitiveness which has a major contribution in the development of some strategic arias like health, energy or industry. The level of development of a company and the degree of diversification of the products and services offered is different from company to company, which highlights the fact that in the process of internationalization companies need to be focused to work on their advantages in order to keep the competition away. In these sort of cases companies decide to pay a particular attention in assigning resources for specific activities of research and development. The success of the pharmaceutical companies depends of the of research and development activity which objectives is to encourage creativity and innovation regarding the development of new medicines or other pharmaceutical products. The pharmaceutical industry would not be able to evolve without massive investments in research and development which is the base of the evolution of the company. On the other hand, the more they invest in research and development, the companies tend to expand their activity abroad in order to promote the comparative advantages obtained by the activity of research.

Pharmaceutical company spending on research and development and promotion in Canada, 2013-2016: a cohort analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lexchin, Joel

2018-01-01

Competing claims are made about the amount of money that pharmaceutical companies spend on research and development (R&D) versus promotion. This study investigates this question in the Canadian context. Two methods for determining industry-wide figures for spending on promotion were employed. First, total industry spending on detailing and journal advertising for 2013-2016 was abstracted from reports from QuintilesIMS. Second, the mean total promotion spending for the years 2002-2005 was used to estimate total spending for 2013-2016. Total industry spending on R&D came from the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB). R&D to promotion spending using each method of determining the amount spent on promotion was compared for 2013-2016 inclusive. Data on the 50 top promoted drugs, the amounts spent, the companies marketing these products and their overall sales were abstracted from the QuintilesIMS reports. Spending on R&D and promotion as a percent of sales was compared for these companies. Industry wide, the ratio of R&D to promotion spending went from 1.43 to 2.18 when promotion was defined as the amount spent on detailing and journal advertising for the 50 most promoted drugs. Calculating total promotion spending from the mean of the 2002-2005 figures the ratio was 0.88 to 1.32 for the 50 most promoted drugs. For individual companies marketing one or more of the 50 most promoted drugs, mean R&D spending ranged from 3.7% of sales to 4.1% compared to mean promotion spending that went from 1.7 to 1.9%. The ratio of spending on R&D to promotion varied from 2.11 to 2.32. Eight to 10 companies per year spent more on promotion than on R&D. Depending on the method used to determine promotion spending, industry-wide the ratio of R&D spending to promotion ranges from 1.45 to 2.18 (sales representatives and journal advertising only) or from 0.88 to 1.32 (total promotion spending estimated based 2003-2005 data.) For the individual companies promoting one or more of the

75 FR 13524 - Northern Natural Gas Company, Southern Natural Gas Company, Florida Gas Transmission Company, LLC...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-22

... Natural Gas Company, Southern Natural Gas Company, Florida Gas Transmission Company, LLC, Transcontinental... notice that on March 5, 2010, Northern Natural Gas Company (Northern Natural), 1111 South 103rd Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68124- 1000, filed on behalf of itself and other owners, Southern Natural Gas Company...

The Aggressive Competitiveness Influence on the Retailer Company Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonio Benedito Oliveira Junior

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The aggressive competitiveness refers to the company tendency to challenge direct and intensively its competitors when entering into a market or to enhance its position outperforming its rivals. An approach about aggressive competitiveness shares the traditional view of "strength-weakness-opportunity-threat", another view consistent with the hyper-competitiveness model, and the third view follows the dynamic competitiveness line. However, researches have not yet focused either on the motivations or on the strategic guidelines before the attack or on the direct relationship between Aggressive Competitiveness (AC and Retailer Company Performance (CP through a qualitative and quantitative study. Within this context, the objective of this research was to analyze: i the impact of the AC in the retail CP; and ii the effect of company size factor (medium/large versus micro/small in this relationship. It was carried out a mixed survey in two stages. In the first it was used a qualitative approach, through multiple case study with eight companies. Then, in the second phase it was held a survey with 64 companies. The results indicate a positive and significant impact of the AC on the CP, but this impact is not different between medium and large sized enterprises versus micro/small sized companies. This research contributes theoretical and empirically to the literature about AC of retail companies, generating subsidies for managers to adopt a more aggressive attitude in the competitive dynamics of the retail market. The practical cases studied here corroborate the influence of AC on the CP. Specifically it demonstrates the AC importance for the survival and growth of the company in increasingly dynamic, turbulent and competitive markets.

Safety in a Manufacturing Company

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kopczewski Marian

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The safety systems include the functioning of the institutions of a state, central, and local government, businesses, and social organizations. Research in this discipline should contribute to the development of the theoretical foundations and systems of national and international security and operating systems in the area of technical safety. Technical safety engineering should deal with a design, build, operation, and decommissioning of technical measures in order to minimize the opportunities and the size of their negative impact on the environment, people, and the good of civilization. With this in mind, the main purpose of the research was to evaluate the safety of technical manufacturing company that uses a wide machine park. A plant manufacturing parts and components for automobiles was the audited company.

An Assessment of RFID Applications in Manufacturing Companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gładysz Bartłomiej

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The meaning of Cyber Physical Systems and an Internet of Things with indication of RFID position in those concepts was outlined. Research program related to assessment of RFID technology was presented. Author deducted on problems related to RFID implementations and RFID essentially for logistics of manufacturing companies. Research goals and problems were formulated. Tools, techniques, models and methods that could be utilized were proposed and discussed. Research was focused on design of a new method to support early decision making phases for RFID application in logistics of manufacturing companies. Author stated that literature and practice lacks of complex method to answer if RFID is strategically important for the company, which processes should be RFID-supported, how RFID-supported processes should be designed and if RFID-support is rational. Framework for assessment of RFID technology with illustrative example was discussed.

The effectiveness of innovative processes implemented by the SME companies. Results of the empirical research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomasz Norek

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The essence and the importance of innovation in the process of building the competitiveness of enterprises is widely described in the economic literature. But the analysis of innovative activity of companies very often indicates that the innovations introduced to the market do not bring the expected benefits. This leads to the conclusion that very often innovation activities of enterprises are inefficient. And detailed analysis of such cases can identify the key barriers to implementing effective innovation.The modern model for the innovative activity indicates that one of the key factors for success of innovative activity of enterprises is properly implemented the introduction of new solutions to market. The problem of diffusion of innovation involves a number of issues related to the process of spreading and promoting innovation in the market. It is widely recognized that the powers of innovation diffusion is an important determinant of the capacity of firms.Author posed the following research hypothese: Innovative activities carried out by the surveyed companies is inefficient.The purpose of this paper is to present the problems associated with effective diffusion of innovation in the SME sector business activity in Poland, with particular emphasis on the barriers in this area. Commonly available statistical data, the author’s empirical research results from the period 2009–2012 and results of other studies conducted by the University of Szczecin were used to prepare this publication.

IMPLEMENTATION OF E-CRM IN MACEDONIAN COMPANIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MARGARITA JANESKA

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Customer Relationship Management (CRM in the digital economy is a challenge for companies that operate in the new electronic environment. In fact, companies that use the internet as basic infrastructure for their operations must adapt and to be ready to respond to the growing challenges who are posed from more sophisticated consumers. CRM concept includes possibilities, methodology and technology that enable companies to operate through improving relations with consumers. CRM as a strategic set of activities begins with a detailed analysis of organizational strategy and ending with measurement of value for stakeholders. CRM owes its expansion to the emergence of the Internet. Digital economy enables more effective targeting and personalization. The basic motive for the research is the fact that e-CRM is a relatively new concept and in recent years has made significant strides in companies around the world aimed at customers. Namely, e-CRM is positioned high on the priority list of today's corporate agendas. The aim of this paper is to consider the importance and benefits of the implementation of e-CRM concept in Macedonia, and to determine the factors that contribute to its successful implementation. The research results should contribute to increasing the profitability and competitiveness of Macedonian companies.

Home Feeling for the Modern Nomad

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borup Lynggaard, Aviaja

2011-01-01

This paper describes a research project, Mobile Home Center, about home and mobility in relation to transnational HCI. The project concerns design for mobile life and it is an investigation, through user studies and prototypes, of how to support the act of home making away from the primary home. We...... bring in the perspective that transnational HCI is not only concerning individuals distributed across boarders, but also the reality of individuals who live their lives as a modern nomad in multiple countries. We bring in a new perspective of how most people perform homing tactics rather than living...

Formative research on creating smoke-free homes in rural communities

OpenAIRE

Escoffery, Cam; Kegler, Michelle Crozier; Butler, Susan

2008-01-01

The home is a significant place for exposure to secondhand smoke for children and non-smoking adults. This study explored factors that would convince families to adopt household smoking bans and actions to create and maintain smoke-free homes. Interviews were conducted with adults in 102 households in rural Georgia. Participating families had a young adolescent and included households with a mix of smokers and non-smokers and smoking ban status. Families reported they would consider a total b...

Comparative Analysis of Homebuyer Response to New Zero-Energy Homes: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Farhar, B. C.; Coburn, T. C.; Murphy, M.

2004-07-01

In 2004, mail questionnaires were sent to 271 homebuyers in a highly energy-efficient community and 98 homebuyers living in an adjacent conventional community. People surveyed had to have lived in their homes for at least 6 months. The questionnaires addressed perceptions and preferences relative to the new home purchases, and the role, if any, that energy efficiency and solar features might have played in these purchases. Also investigated was the willingness to pay for energy features; preferences on whether energy features should be standard or optional; preferences on energy policies; perceived problems; aesthetics; homebuyer satisfaction and the reasons for it; environmentalism; and experience with the utility company.

"A private little revolution": the home pregnancy test in American culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Leavitt, Sarah

2006-01-01

The home pregnancy test went from novelty to norm in twenty-five years. This article explores its cultural impact in the context of the women's health movement. Though women had long made do without it, the "private little revolution," as the test was called in an early advertisement, enabled them to take control of their reproductive health care and moved the moment of discovery from the doctor's office (back) to the home. The article introduces the test, explores its acceptance by physicians and by women, looks at the marketing of the test by drug companies, and traces its use in movies, television, and novels.

Production and Logistics Performance of Czech and Slovak Companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Polakova Veronika

2013-03-01

Full Text Available This contribution deals with the issues of production and logistics performance of Czech and Slovak companies. The goal of the research was to analyze logistic processes, methods of industrial engineering, methods and evaluation of manufacturing, software tools utilized for measurement and management of performance, which are currently applied in manufacturing companies in the Czech and Slovak Republic. This analysis was done with the utilization of qualitativeresearch conducted in 80 selected manufacturing companies in 2009. The results are compared in the continuity with the conclusions from previous researches on manufacturing and logistic factors of the competitiveness of Czech industrial manufacturers carried out during the period 2000-2001 in the framework of the research project of the Faculty of Economics and Management completed in 2004.

A Research Review: The Importance of Families and the Home Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Cole, Jennifer

2011-01-01

Parents are a child's first educator. A child's family and home environment has a strong impact on his/her language and literacy development and educational achievement. This impact is stronger during the child's early years but continues throughout their school years. Many background variables affect the impact of the family and home environment…

Quality analysis of IMR of domestic companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grubor Aleksandar

2003-01-01

Full Text Available Marketing research activities are in function of identification and understanding of the changes in functioning of the world market. For the need of efficient management of international companies performance, based on principles of international marketing, reliable, on time and complete (in other words quality information have crucial importance. Therefore, information based on marketing research represents the initial point of the strategic management decisioning process that guide activities of the company towards better position in the future, having in mind own competitive position and prevailing relations in business environment.

Home Environment of Selected Filipino Gifted Individuals

Science.gov (United States)

Pawilen, Greg Tabios

2018-01-01

This study investigated the home environment of selected Filipino gifted individuals. It aims to answer two research questions: (1) what is the giftedness profile of the selected Filipino gifted?; (2) what types of home environments do Filipino gifted have? This study uses qualitative methods, specifically narrative research strategy, to provide a…

User preferences and usability of iVitality: optimizing an innovative online research platform for home-based health monitoring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

van Osch M

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Mara van Osch,1 AJM Rövekamp,2 Stephanie N Bergman-Agteres,1 Liselotte W Wijsman,3,4 Sharon J Ooms,5 Simon P Mooijaart,3,4,6 Joan Vermeulen71Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, Utrecht, 2Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, 3Department of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Leiden University Medical Centre, 4Netherlands Consortium for Healthy Ageing, Leiden, 5Department of Geriatric Medicine, Radboud Alzheimer Centre, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, 6Institute for Evidence-Based Medicine in Old Age, Leiden, 7Research School, CAPHRI, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the NetherlandsBackground: The iVitality online research platform has been developed to gain insight into the relationship between early risk factors (ie, poorly controlled hypertension, physical or mental inactivity and onset and possibly prevention of dementia. iVitality consists of a website, a smartphone application, and sensors that can monitor these indicators at home. Before iVitality can be implemented, it should fit the needs and preferences of users, ie, offspring of patients with dementia. This study aimed to explore users’ motivation to participate in home-based health monitoring research, to formulate requirements based on users’ preferences to optimize iVitality, and to test usability of the smartphone application of iVitality.Methods: We recruited 13 participants (aged 42–64 years, 85% female, who were offspring of patients with dementia. A user-centered methodology consisting of four iterative phases was used. Three semistructured interviews provided insight into motivation and acceptance of using iVitality (phase 1. A focus group with six participants elaborated on expectations and preferences regarding iVitality (phase 2. Findings from phase 1 and 2 were triangulated by two semistructured interviews (phase 3. Four participants assessed the usability of the smartphone application (phase 4 using a think aloud

SAFER - Company Snapshot - SAFER - Company Snapshot

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Transportation — The Company Snapshot is a concise electronic record of company identification, size, commodity information, and safety record, including the safety rating (if any),...

Employees motivation in two wood industry companies in Croatia

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Denis Jelačić

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This research analysed the motivating and demotivating factors amongst employees in two wood processing companies in Croatia. Research was conducted over the year 2014 and 2015, during the economic recovery of the companies and Croatian economy in general. Research was conducted with a survey using a questionnaire containing six questions with multiple choice statements. The questions were closed-ended, and respondents used the Likert four-level scale of importance for each statement. A total of 180 employees were surveyed, and results were statistically processed by using the χ2 - test and cluster analysis. This study established that the motivation factors most important to employees between researched companies are significantly different. Employees were most concerned about social needs. Also, employees consider psychological circumstances of work to be very important. Employees’ overall motivation can be linked to higher efficiency and higher quality production and business results, and such research should be conducted more often.

Performance concept through a Service-Dominant Logic in Tunisian manufacturing companies

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Nejla Kerfai

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research is to discuss the meaning and the aims of transitions to Service-Dominant Logic (SDL concept especially in Tunisian manufacturing companies. It also aims to observe the performance perception, measurement and practices by these manufacturing companies. A literature review revealed that SDL share some ideas with other concepts such as corporate social responsibility, resource based view and product service system. Therefore a conceptual model of the transition to SDL in manufacturing companies was proposed. Then an interview-based study was employed to explore the extent of the SDL as well as the performance perception measurement and practices in the Tunisian manufacturing companies. An interview guideline was developed and used in the interviews across some of Tunisian companies. A qualitative data analysis revealed that the studied Tunisian manufacturing companies consider the performance as the combination of Quality-Cost-Time, they uses mostly technical and quality indicators and give importance to practices concerning quality management. The presented results are limited by the low response rate and the small sample size. Since the respondents belong to manufacturing companies, the research results could be only indicative of this type of companies. This research is an attempt to explore the service transitions that many manufacturing companies seek to undertake in order to contribute in the development of manufacturing companies’ networks to provide grounds to be more competitive and preferment.

Improvement of pressure ulcer prevention care in private for-profit residential care homes: an action research study

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Enid WY Kwong

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A need exits to develop a protocol for preventing pressure ulcers (PUs in private for-profit nursing homes in Hong Kong, where the incidence of PUs is relatively high and which have high proportion of non-professional care staff. The implementation of such protocol would involve changes in the practice of care, likely evoking feelings of fear and uncertainty that may become a barrier to staff adherence. We thus adopted the Systems Model of Action Research in this study to manage the process of change for improving PU prevention care and to develop a pressure ulcer prevention protocol for private for-profit nursing homes. Methods A total of 474 residents and care staff who were health workers, personal care workers, and/or nurses from four private, for-profit nursing homes in Hong Kong participated in this study. Three cyclic stages and steps, namely, unfreezing (planning, changing (action, and refreezing (results were carried out. During each cycle, focus group interviews, field observations of the care staff’s practices and inspections of the skin of the residents for pressure ulcers were conducted to evaluate the implementation of the protocol. Qualitative content analysis was adopted to analyse the data. The data and methodological triangulation used in this study increased the credibility and validity of the results. Results The following nine themes emerged from this study: prevention practices after the occurrence of PUs, the improper use of pressure ulcer prevention materials, non-compliance with several prevention practices, improper prevention practices, the perception that the preventive care was being performed correctly, inadequate readiness to use the risk assessment tool, an undesirable environment, the supplying of unfavorable resources, and various management styles in the homes with or without nurses. At the end of the third cycle, the changes that were identified included improved compliance with the

Exploring workplace violence among home care workers in a consumer-driven home health care program.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakaishi, Lindsay; Moss, Helen; Weinstein, Marc; Perrin, Nancy; Rose, Linda; Anger, W Kent; Hanson, Ginger C; Christian, Mervyn; Glass, Nancy

2013-10-01

Nominal research has examined sexual harassment and workplace violence against home care workers within consumer-driven home care models such as those offered in Oregon. This study examined home care workers' experiences of violence while providing care to consumer employers, the patients who hire and manage home care workers. Focus groups and interviews were conducted in Oregon with 83 home care workers, 99 Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) employees, and 11 consumer employers. Home care workers reported incidents of workplace physical violence (44%), psychological abuse (65%), sexual harassment (41%), and sexual violence (14%). Further, three themes were identified that may increase the risk of workplace violence: (1) real and perceived barriers to reporting violence; (2) tolerance of violence; and (3) limited training to prevent violence. To ensure worker safety while maintaining quality care, safety policies and training for consumer employers, state DHS employees, and home care workers must be developed. Copyright 2013, SLACK Incorporated.

Translating research into practice in nursing homes: can we close the gap?

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman, Anna N; Applebaum, Robert A; Schnelle, John F; Simmons, Sandra F

2012-10-01

A gap between research and practice in many nursing home (NH) care areas persists despite efforts by researchers, policy makers, advocacy groups, and NHs themselves to close it. The reasons are many, but two factors that have received scant attention are the dissemination process itself and the work of the disseminators or change agents. This review article examines these two elements through the conceptual lens of Roger's innovation dissemination model. The application of general principles of innovation dissemination suggests that NHs are characteristically slow to innovate and thus may need more time as well as more contact with outside change agents to adopt improved practices. A review of the translation strategies used by NH change agents to promote adoption of evidence-based practice in NHs suggests that their strategies inconsistently reflect lessons learned from the broader dissemination literature. NH-related research, policy, and practice recommendations for improving dissemination strategies are presented. If we can make better use of the resources currently devoted to disseminating best practices to NHs, we may be able to speed NHs' adoption of these practices.

OpenSHS: Open Smart Home Simulator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nasser Alshammari

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This paper develops a new hybrid, open-source, cross-platform 3D smart home simulator, OpenSHS, for dataset generation. OpenSHS offers an opportunity for researchers in the field of the Internet of Things (IoT and machine learning to test and evaluate their models. Following a hybrid approach, OpenSHS combines advantages from both interactive and model-based approaches. This approach reduces the time and efforts required to generate simulated smart home datasets. We have designed a replication algorithm for extending and expanding a dataset. A small sample dataset produced, by OpenSHS, can be extended without affecting the logical order of the events. The replication provides a solution for generating large representative smart home datasets. We have built an extensible library of smart devices that facilitates the simulation of current and future smart home environments. Our tool divides the dataset generation process into three distinct phases: first design: the researcher designs the initial virtual environment by building the home, importing smart devices and creating contexts; second, simulation: the participant simulates his/her context-specific events; and third, aggregation: the researcher applies the replication algorithm to generate the final dataset. We conducted a study to assess the ease of use of our tool on the System Usability Scale (SUS.

OpenSHS: Open Smart Home Simulator.

Science.gov (United States)

Alshammari, Nasser; Alshammari, Talal; Sedky, Mohamed; Champion, Justin; Bauer, Carolin

2017-05-02

This paper develops a new hybrid, open-source, cross-platform 3D smart home simulator, OpenSHS, for dataset generation. OpenSHS offers an opportunity for researchers in the field of the Internet of Things (IoT) and machine learning to test and evaluate their models. Following a hybrid approach, OpenSHS combines advantages from both interactive and model-based approaches. This approach reduces the time and efforts required to generate simulated smart home datasets. We have designed a replication algorithm for extending and expanding a dataset. A small sample dataset produced, by OpenSHS, can be extended without affecting the logical order of the events. The replication provides a solution for generating large representative smart home datasets. We have built an extensible library of smart devices that facilitates the simulation of current and future smart home environments. Our tool divides the dataset generation process into three distinct phases: first design: the researcher designs the initial virtual environment by building the home, importing smart devices and creating contexts; second, simulation: the participant simulates his/her context-specific events; and third, aggregation: the researcher applies the replication algorithm to generate the final dataset. We conducted a study to assess the ease of use of our tool on the System Usability Scale (SUS).

Opportunities and Barriers related to Supply Chain Collaboration for Delivering Integrated Single-Family Home Renovations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mlecnik, E.; Kondratenko, I.; Haavik, T.

2013-01-01

Single-family home renovations often show deficiencies in project management. There might be a market addressing house owners who would prefer integrated renovation services and clear responsibilities. Companies that would respond to these client’s needs would have a clear market potential,

Work Engagement: A Double-Edged Sword? A Study of the Relationship between Work Engagement and the Work-Home Interaction Using the ARK Research Platform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katrine Listau

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The aim of the present study was to investigate how being engaged at work affects academics’ work-home interaction. Using the Conservation of Resources theory as a theoretical framework, the study contributes to existing research by examining the relationship between the work engagement subscales (i.e. vigour, dedication, and absorption and both work-home facilitation and work-home conflict. In order to test the hypotheses, a Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling analysis was conducted using a large sample of academics from the Norwegian university sector (N = 4378. The results indicated that vigour and dedication had a positive relationship with work-home facilitation and a negative relationship with work-home conflict. In contrast, absorption was not significantly related to work-home facilitation, but was positively associated with work-home conflict. Thus, we conclude that work engagement seems to have the potential to create both positive and negative outcomes.

Innovation policy of European chemical companies with special focus on large companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Supriyo Das

2015-07-01

Full Text Available According to Arora et alii (1998, the chemical industry is one of the largest and most R&D-intensive manufacturing sectors in all the advanced economies, and its innovative patterns and productivity growth processes can have profound impacts on economic growth as a whole. The European chemical industry supplies virtually all sectors of the economy and accounts for 17.8% of the total sales of chemicals in the world. This paper gives an overview of the European chemical industry and the changing scenario of the world chemical industry by focusing on the top fifteen chemical companies in Europe. It describes the current problems this industry is facing in Europe especially after the economic crisis and shows that the region and the top companies are investing in R&D to bring about innovation and overcome the current challenges. It shows that R&D spending in absolute terms has hardly changed over the years and that the industry is still globally the largest investor in R&D activities. In terms of R&D, BASF has made the greatest investment followed by Bayer and Syngenta, while R&D intensity is highest for Syngenta and Bayer. BASF and Bayer have made most patent applications and have also had the highest number of patents granted. The quality of research in most chemical companies is very high and most of the large European companies make their first patent application in Europe rather than elsewhere. All the large chemical companies use Merger & Acquisition (M&A to gain access to innovation. Industry-academia collaboration is one way to generate innovation in the chemical industry in Europe. Chemical clusters and the geographical distribution of chemical companies play a significant role in generating innovation.

Perilaku Agresif Siswa dari Keluarga Broken Home

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Randi Pratama

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This research is based because of the aggressive behavior shown by the students, especially students who come from a broken home. The purpose of this study is to describe the aggressive behavior that is owned by a student who comes from a broken home in terms of attacking people physically, verbally, and damaging and destroying property and wealth of others. The results of this research shows that in general student’s aggressivebehavior are on average level. Implications of research in guidance and counseling is as the basis for programs to prevent and cope with aggressive behavior that is owned by the students, especially students who come from a broken home. Cooperation with the homeroom teacher mentors, teachers and other school personnel will also help identify students who have an aggressive behavior, especially students who come from a broken home to immediately provided services.

Career Planning Trends in Japanese Companies

OpenAIRE

Firkola, Peter

2005-01-01

This paper provides an overview of career planning trends in Japanese companies. Research on career development in Japan is first reviewed. Career planning practices in Japanese companies are examined. Factors influencing career planning choice are then discussed. It was found that there appears to be a change occurring in the career planning practices, specifically the shifting of responsibility for an employees' career from the employer to the employee. (JEL Classifi-cation: M12, M54

LOGISTICS ASPECTS OF PRACTICAL MARKETING IN ELECTRICITY COMPANY

OpenAIRE

Ewa Moroz

2008-01-01

An anonymous questionnaire was presented to employees of an electricity distribution company - Enion Grupa Tauron S.A. – Department Czestochowa. The research, in the part presented in this paper, referred to company-customer relations and to an influence that those relations have on costs and quality of work in the company, mainly in the aspect of employees’ understanding of those connections. In the paper author states the conclusion that suggests implementation of Lean Thinking procedures i...

THE ROLE AND IMPORTANCE OF COMPANY CRISIS DIAGNOSIS IN ANTI-CRISIS MANAGEMENT

OpenAIRE

Klodane, Alona

2016-01-01

Nowadays, under a free market, crises at companies are a frequent phenomenon; however, anti-crisis management and related aspects are currently a little researched problem in Latvia. The research aim is to examine the nature of company crisis diagnosis and its role and importance in the anti-crisis management system. The research general tasks are: to describe the nature of company crisis diagnosis and review the scope, purpose and tasks of performing a diagnosis; to examine the role and impo...

Deprivation of Dignity in Nursing Home Residents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Høy, Bente

2016-01-01

deepened knowledge in how to maintain and promote dignity in nursing home residents. The purpose of this paper is to present results concerning the question: How is nursing home residents’ dignity maintained or deprived from the perspective of close family caregivers? In this presentation we only focus...... on deprivation of dignity. Methodology: The overall design of this study is modified clinical application research. The study took place at six different nursing home residences in Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Data collection methods were individual research interviews. All together the sample consisted of 28...

Beyond "medical tourism": Canadian companies marketing medical travel

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background Despite having access to medically necessary care available through publicly funded provincial health care systems, some Canadians travel for treatment provided at international medical facilities as well as for-profit clinics found in several Canadian provinces. Canadians travel abroad for orthopaedic surgery, bariatric surgery, ophthalmologic surgery, stem cell injections, “Liberation therapy” for multiple sclerosis, and additional interventions. Both responding to public interest in medical travel and playing an important part in promoting the notion of a global marketplace for health services, many Canadian companies market medical travel. Methods Research began with the goal of locating all medical tourism companies based in Canada. Various strategies were used to find such businesses. During the search process it became apparent that many Canadian business promoting medical travel are not medical tourism companies. To the contrary, numerous types of businesses promote medical travel. Once businesses promoting medical travel were identified, content analysis was used to extract information from company websites. Company websites were analyzed to establish: 1) where in Canada these businesses are located; 2) the destination countries and health care facilities that they market; 3) the medical procedures they promote; 4) core marketing messages; and 5) whether businesses market air travel, hotel accommodations, and holiday tours in addition to medical procedures. Results Searches conducted from 2006 to 2011 resulted in identification of thirty-five Canadian businesses currently marketing various kinds of medical travel. The research project began with what seemed to be the straightforward goal of establishing how many medical tourism companies are based in Canada. Refinement of categories resulted in the identification of eighteen businesses fitting the category of what most researchers would identify as medical tourism companies. Seven other

Environmental impacts of informal settlements with second homes (vacation homes. A case study: Apuseni Nature Park.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

OANA ALEXANDRA CIUPE

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The past decades has seen the rapid development of second homes in many country of the world. Therefore, secondary dwellings used for tourism-related purposes (vacation homes or second homes are a reality that becomes more pronounced and visible at both nationally and internationally level. However, the rapidity and the novelty of the phenomenon creates difficulties in terms of efficient management and suitable integration in spatial planning and urbanism plans, favoring - in a negative way - expanding of build-up areas (with second homes in a chaotic way. Since there has been no detailed investigation of second homes tourism from the perspective of informal settlements, this article follows a case-study design, with in-depth analysis of informal settlements with vacation homes found in Apuseni Nature Park. Based on long-term field research, will be exemplified 4 types of informal settlements with second homes (vacation homes identified in the case study. The aim of this paper is to critically analyse the effects of informal settlements with vacation homes on the natural environment.

INNOVATION DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT IN VERTICALLY INTEGRATED HOLDING COMPANY

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Natalya T. Uspenskaja

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The trend towards production consolidation and integration processes taking place both in the Russian and global economies leads to development of business associations, with a holding company being the most common form inRussiaand around the globe. The evidence in favor of the formation of holding companies is that they can benefit from the scale (bulk purchasing, centralized stuff training; in the global capital and exports markets they can be more effective than smaller businesses and, if non-profitable, a loss-making structure is easier to liquidate than the entire company; holding companies and associations can be an effective defender from political interference. As the importance of the well-functioning and harmonized procedure for the companies’ integration will increase (especially in the context of Russian business, where specific features of many areas of the production system imply the use of holding oligopolies as the most effective form of market structures, there is a need in their more profound study and, in particular, in the analysis of the most important technologies of the general integration procedure. The article outlines the relevance of innovative development management of vertically integrated holding systems, lists principles of innovative activity management and considers the features of innovation management of a vertically integrated holding company. The objective of the research is to study theoretical and practical aspects of innovative development management in vertically integrated holding systems. The object of research is management structures in innovative holding companies. While working on the article, the following methods of economic research were used: abstract and logical method, empirical method, method of expert evaluations, as well as methods of structural and functional and statistical analysis. 

Research on service strategy of electricity selling company under the reform of electricity market

Science.gov (United States)

Long, Zhuhan; Meng, Shiyu; Dou, Jinyue; Zeng, Ming; Sun, Chenjun

2017-10-01

The opening of the sale side of electricity market is an important goal of the new round of power system reform in China, and it is necessary to speed up the establishment and development of the electricity selling companies to achieve this goal. First of all, this paper defines the key problems, which are needed to be solved in the establishment of the sale side market, such as demand side response, optimization of users' power consumption mode, profit mode of electricity selling companies and fair competition in the market. On this basis, this paper analyzes the business of electricity selling company, from the aspects of the transition of business ideas, improving the energy efficiency level, providing integrated energy solutions and innovating business management mode; and then, the service strategies of electricity selling companies are put forward.

Venture capital and efficiency of portfolio companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Thillai Rajan

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Venture Capital (VC has emerged as the dominant source of finance for entrepreneurial and early stage businesses, and the Indian VC industry in particular has clocked the fastest growth rate globally. Academic literature reveals that VC funded companies show superior performance to non VC funded companies. However, given that venture capitalists (VCs select and fund only the best companies, how much credit can they take for the performance of the companies they fund? Do the inherent characteristics of the firm result in superior performance or do VCs contribute to the performance of the portfolio company after they have entered the firm? A panel that comprised VCs, an entrepreneur and an academic debated these and other research questions on the inter-relationships between VC funding and portfolio firm performance. Most empirical literature indicates that the value addition effect dominates the selection effect in accounting for the superior performance of VC funded companies. The panel discussion indicates that the context as well as the experience of the General Partners in the VC firms can influence the way VCs contribute to the efficiency of their portfolio companies.

Report on the comprehensive investigational research (at-home welfare apparatus system); Sogo chosa kenkyu (zaitaku fukushi kiki system) hokokusho

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-03-01

An investigational study was conducted on the research and development of an at-home welfare apparatus system. In this study, a stay experiment was carried out on whether aged or handicapped people can easily live in welfare houses into which at-home welfare apparatus was integrated, using high-tech at-home nursing apparatus systems (welfare techno house: WTH) which were installed at seven places in Japan based on `the development of a system supporting independent excretion.` In addition, the following were conducted: experiments on at-home welfare apparatus in terms of the evaluation of performance/operability/safety, physical physiology reactions, nursing burden/estimate of independence, two-way communication, examination of housing environments, etc. In WTH Chofu, a test on evaluating welfare apparatus was conducted by people with limbs paralysis and healthy case workers. In WTH Sapporo, by a working group studying biological information, examinations were made on the situation of standing up of healthy adults, old people and people with paralysis of one side of the body from various types of chairs, beds, wheel chairs, portable toilets and sitting down on them. An examination was also made on harmony with psychological function and physically adaptable function by a working group studying at-home nursing apparatus. 75 figs., 15 tabs.

Needs of home care services for the bedridden patient’s problems living in their home

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Nuran Akdemir

2011-03-01

Full Text Available The study was carry out as an semi-experimental study to identify the difficulties confronted by bedridden patients with stroke to give them necessary counseling services and to improve models of home care service.Method: The research sample is composed of 38 patients discarged from Hacettepe University İbni Sina Hospital and Health Ministry Ankara Numune Hospital Neurology services following cerebro-vascular accident. The data derived from the research is evaluated through percentage usage. Patients included in the study were visited average 5 times during the research.Result: During the home visiting, it is found out that most of the patients were in need of information concerning insufficient hygienic care, other illnesses, use of medication, discharge system problems like constipation and diarhea and dietary/nutritional; it is also observed that they are experiencing psycho-social diffuculties. The study results put forward suggestions in realizing progression and to form model of systematic home care services.

The Healthy Home Offerings via the Mealtime Environment (HOME) Plus study: design and methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Fulkerson, Jayne A; Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne; Story, Mary; Gurvich, Olga; Kubik, Martha Y; Garwick, Ann; Dudovitz, Bonnie

2014-05-01

Informed and engaged parents and healthful home environments are essential for the health of youth. Although research has shown health benefits associated with family meals, to date, no randomized controlled trial (RCT) has been developed to examine the impact of a family meals intervention on behavioral and health outcomes. The Healthy Home Offerings via the Mealtime Environment (HOME) Plus study is a two-arm (intervention versus attention-only control) RCT being conducted in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Built on previous pilot research, HOME Plus aims to increase the frequency and healthfulness of family meals and snacks and reduce children's sedentary behavior, particularly screen time, to promote healthier eating and activity behaviors and prevent obesity. HOME Plus is delivered to families in community settings. The program includes 10 monthly sessions focused on nutrition and activity education, meal planning and preparation skill development. In addition, five motivational goal-setting phone calls are conducted with parents. The primary outcome measure is age- and gender-adjusted child BMI-z score at post-intervention by treatment group. Secondary household-level outcomes include family meal frequency, home availability of healthful foods (fruits/vegetables) and unhealthful foods (high-fat/sugary snacks) and beverages (sugar-sweetened beverages), and the quality of foods served at meals and snacks. Secondary child outcomes include dietary intake of corresponding foods and beverages and screen time. The HOME Plus RCT actively engages whole families of 8-12 year old children to promote healthier eating and activity behaviors and prevent obesity through promotion of family meals and snacks and limited media use. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Food and meals in caring institutions - a small dive into research.

Science.gov (United States)

Hansen, Kai Victor

2016-05-09

Purpose - With the growing older population, the increasing interest in the elderly's eating habits and the meal situation go hand in hand and are challenges in many countries, including Norway. The purpose of this paper is to investigate, part of an ongoing project in Norway, address four categories of elderly people: healthy elderly (HE), old people with home care, elderly living in institutions, and critical ill elderly. Design/methodology/approach - The aim of this study was to investigate related articles concerning food and the elderly in the four identified categories, defining six different meal experience categories to disclose possible gaps in the research in terms of core product, room, personal service, company, atmosphere, and management control systems (MCS). Database searches, conducted through JSTOR and Web of Science, started with words in combination with "elderly and meal experiences" and were narrowed down to the most relevant papers with words from the six meal experience categories. Ultimately, 21 of 51 downloaded papers from international journals were reviewed. Findings - A comparison of the four elderly groups was made across the six different meal experience categories, which disclosed several gaps. Among the 21 papers, five focused on HE, 12 on older people living with home care, 16 on elderly living in institutions, and one on critical ill elderly. The specific under-researched gaps include room, company, atmosphere, and MCS. Research limitations/implications - Future research will need to investigate these groups more thoroughly, and the research should concentrate on the HE and critical ill in connection with the six meal experience aspects. Originality/value - The combination of meal experience aspects towards different elderly categories is an original perspective on the aim of the literature review.

Probing a Proactive Home: Challenges in Researching and Designing Everyday Smart Environments

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Frans Mäyrä

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Based on the results of a 3-year interdisciplinary study, this article presents an approach in which proactive information technology was introduced into homes, and discusses the derived design principles from a human-centered perspective. The application of proactive computing in homes will face particularly sensitive conditions, as familiar and reliable household elements remain strongly preferred. Since there is considerable resistance towards the increase of information technology in homes, both the calm system behaviors and the degree of variety in aesthetic designs will play major roles in the acceptance of proactive technology. If proactive technology will be an embedded part of a home’s structures and furniture, it needs to blend with the normal, cozy standards of a real living environment and aim to enhance the homeyness or the key social and aesthetic qualities of homes.

Self-perception of ethical behaviour: The case of listed Spanish companies

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Maria José García López

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Purpose: This article aims to research into the perception that companies have of their ethical behavior. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire was conducted in June 2014 among the listed companies that comprise the IBEX35 index of Spanish stock exchanges. For the statistical analysis, contingency tables (double entry were drawn up as well and several statistical tests (Cramer’s V, Pearson’s x2, Kendall’s correlation coefficient; and Goodman and Kruskal’s Gamma. Findings: The results show the self-perception that listed Spanish companies have of their ethical behaviour, with the observation that, generally, they have a greater perception than the reality of the study actually shows. Research limitations: Main limitations are that the sample size is small, although it includes the largest listed companies in the country. Respondents were essentially the Corporate Social Responsibility managers, so they may not be familiar with some of the subjects on which they were questioned, as we are dealing with large companies where responsibilities may be very compartmentalised. Practical implications: This line of research helps to know more about the self perception of big Spanish listed companies about their ethical behavior. Social implications: The evidence provided by this study helps to know more about aspects than can be improved in connection the ethical behavior in companies. Recent scandals make the topic very relevant from a social point of view. Originality/value: In recent years there has been much talk about the ethics of organisations and studies on the subject are plentiful. However, there has been scarcely any research into the perception that companies themselves have of their ethical behaviour.

Decision support at home (DS@HOME – system architectures and requirements

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Marschollek Michael

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Demographic change with its consequences of an aging society and an increase in the demand for care in the home environment has triggered intensive research activities in sensor devices and smart home technologies. While many advanced technologies are already available, there is still a lack of decision support systems (DSS for the interpretation of data generated in home environments. The aim of the research for this paper is to present the state-of-the-art in DSS for these data, to define characteristic properties of such systems, and to define the requirements for successful home care DSS implementations. Methods A literature review was performed along with the analysis of cross-references. Characteristic properties are proposed and requirements are derived from the available body of literature. Results 79 papers were identified and analyzed, of which 20 describe implementations of decision components. Most authors mention server-based decision support components, but only few papers provide details about the system architecture or the knowledge base. A list of requirements derived from the analysis is presented. Among the primary drawbacks of current systems are the missing integration of DSS in current health information system architectures including interfaces, the missing agreement among developers with regard to the formalization and customization of medical knowledge and a lack of intelligent algorithms to interpret data from multiple sources including clinical application systems. Conclusions Future research needs to address these issues in order to provide useful information – and not only large amounts of data – for both the patient and the caregiver. Furthermore, there is a need for outcome studies allowing for identifying successful implementation concepts.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF INNOVATION ASPECT EVIDENCE IN CONSTRUCTION AND MULTI-SECTOR COMPANIES

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Ricardo Floriani

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The goal of this study is to make a comparative analysis of innovation aspect evidence among construction and multi-sector companies. Descriptive research was done through a content analysis of administration reports from 2005 to 2007. From the researched material, 14 aspects of innovations were extracted, which offer the basis to the content analysis. Two non-probability samples were developed, the first consisting of 22 multi-sector businesses, within 18 economic sectors, which comprises the companies in the comparison. Aspects of innovation found in this group of companies were compared to those stated in the reports of the administration of the 34 construction companies with open capital, which comprise the second sample. The survey results show that the evidence of innovation aspects are different in construction companies when compared to the administration reports of multi-sector business of 2005, 2006 and 2007. The construction companies state fewer innovation aspects in the administration reports than multisector companies in the analyzed period. The conclusion is that while construction companies can be considered fairly innovative, multi-sectorial companies present more innovations on average.

Comparison of Long-term Care in Nursing Homes Versus Home Health: Costs and Outcomes in Alabama.

Science.gov (United States)

Blackburn, Justin; Locher, Julie L; Kilgore, Meredith L

2016-04-01

To compare acute care outcomes and costs among nursing home residents with community-dwelling home health recipients. A matched retrospective cohort study of Alabamians aged more than or equal to 65 years admitted to a nursing home or home health between March 31, 2007 and December 31, 2008 (N = 1,291 pairs). Medicare claims were compared up to one year after admission into either setting. Death, emergency department and inpatient visits, inpatient length of stay, and acute care costs were compared using t tests. Medicaid long-term care costs were compared for a subset of matched beneficiaries. After one year, 77.7% of home health beneficiaries were alive compared with 76.2% of nursing home beneficiaries (p Home health beneficiaries averaged 0.2 hospital visits and 0.1 emergency department visits more than nursing home beneficiaries, differences that were statistically significant. Overall acute care costs were not statistically different; home health beneficiaries' costs averaged $31,423, nursing home beneficiaries' $32,239 (p = .5032). Among 426 dual-eligible pairs, Medicaid long-term care costs averaged $4,582 greater for nursing home residents (p nursing home or home health care. Additional research controlling for exogenous factors relating to long-term care decisions is needed. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Perceptions of corporate social responsibility in Australian forestry companies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gordon, Melissa; Lockwood, Michael; Hanson, Dallas; Vanclay, Frank; Schirmer, Jacki

2014-01-01

To date, limited research has been conducted investigating forest company employee views about corporate social responsibility (CSR). We interviewed 19 employees within two forest companies in Australia. Employees mostly understood CSR as an approach to business not purely focused on financial

How tobacco companies ensure prime placement of their advertising and products in stores: interviews with retailers about tobacco company incentive programmes.

Science.gov (United States)

Feighery, E C; Ribisl, K M; Clark, P I; Haladjian, H H

2003-06-01

About 81% of cigarette manufacturers' marketing expenditures in the USA is spent to promote cigarette sales in stores. Relatively little is known about how these expenditures help the manufacturers achieve their marketing goals in stores. A better understanding of how tobacco companies influence the retail environment would help researchers and tobacco control activists to monitor industry presence in stores. To describe the types of tobacco company incentive programmes offered to retailers, how these programmes impact the store environments, and possible visual indicators of retailer participation in incentive programmes. In-depth qualitative interviews with a convenience sample of 29 tobacco retailers were conducted in 2001. USA. The types and requirements of retailer incentive programmes provided by tobacco companies, and how participation in a programme alters their stores. The retailers provided insights into how tobacco companies convey promotional allowances and special offers to them and how these incentives shape the retail environment. Retailers noted that tobacco companies exert substantial control over their stores by requiring placement of products in the most visible locations, and of specific amounts and types of advertising in prime locations in the store. Retailers also described how tobacco companies reduce prices by offering them volume based discounts, "buy two, get one free" specials, and "buying down" the price of existing product. Tobacco companies are concentrating their marketing dollars at the point-of-sale to the extent that the store is their primary communication channel with customers. As a result, all shoppers regardless of age or smoking status are exposed to pro-smoking messages. Given the financial resources spent by tobacco companies in stores, this venue warrants closer scrutiny by researchers and tobacco control advocates.

Strategies of Dividend policy of the companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange

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Jabłoński Bartłomiej

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Research into the determinants of companies’ decisions about paying out dividends, which has been described in the Polish specialist literature, concentrates mainly on the dividends actually paid out. The research presented in the article refers to declarations of the companies included in their dividend policies. The aim of the article is to present an attitude to dividend policy exhibited by the companies listed on the Warsaw stock exchange. A particular attempt was made at identifying various formulas of constructing dividend policies by the companies and the declared conditions for dividend payments and their amounts. 118 dividend companies took part in the research and they were selected from among the companies listed on the Warsaw stock exchange in the years 2006-2012. The authors have analysed the dividend policy of the companies in terms of its components and the way it was formulated, as well as the determinants of decisions about dividend payments declared by the companies. The results of the analysis were referred to the types of strategies of the dividend policy presented in the specialist literature. The research results indicate that the boards of many companies do not consider formulating and publicising the principles of making dividend payments to be a relevant area of investor relations. The dividend policy of the companies is usually formulated too generally, with the use of general statements. Satisfying capital needs for the planned development processes appears to be a basic determinant of the distribution of profit, which is why residual dividend policy is prevalent in the analysed companies.

ROMANIAN PERSPECTIVE ON CUSTOMER LOYALTY FOR DIRECT SELLING COMPANIES

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Claudia BOBALCA

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the research is to investigate Romanian direct sellers’ perceptions on customers’ loyalty. The research objectives are: (1 to identify the direct sellers’ perceptions on the concept of loyalty; (2 to identify the main loyalty techniques that direct sellers use in their work with the clients; (3 to frame the portrait of a loyal customer. As a research method, we used qualitative research based on depth interviews. It is an exploratory and instrumental research, the results being used for building a questionnaire for a future survey. The investigated population is represented by direct selling women, with ages beteeen 19 and 30 years. For direct sellers, loyalty is an attitude and also a behavior, it means buying from the same company, from the same seller and preferring the products of the company. The main loyalty techniques that direct sellers use in their work with the clients are: promotional actions, personalization the relation with the client and offering stimulants. The loyal customer is the one who buys companies’ products every month or at least quarterly, spends a monthly amount of 100 Ron on these products, works with the same seller, pays on time for the order, doesn’t look only after promotions, loves the products, recommends the company to others, doesn’t return the order, wants to buy more products from the company and trusts its products.

Mining the Home Environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, Diane J; Krishnan, Narayanan

2014-12-01

Individuals spend a majority of their time in their home or workplace and for many, these places are our sanctuaries. As society and technology advance there is a growing interest in improving the intelligence of the environments in which we live and work. By filling home environments with sensors and collecting data during daily routines, researchers can gain insights on human daily behavior and the impact of behavior on the residents and their environments. In this article we provide an overview of the data mining opportunities and challenges that smart environments provide for researchers and offer some suggestions for future work in this area.

Mining the Home Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, Diane J.; Krishnan, Narayanan

2014-01-01

Individuals spend a majority of their time in their home or workplace and for many, these places are our sanctuaries. As society and technology advance there is a growing interest in improving the intelligence of the environments in which we live and work. By filling home environments with sensors and collecting data during daily routines, researchers can gain insights on human daily behavior and the impact of behavior on the residents and their environments. In this article we provide an overview of the data mining opportunities and challenges that smart environments provide for researchers and offer some suggestions for future work in this area. PMID:25506128

Do companies experiment with business model configurations? Evidence from the medico-tech industry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Montemari, Marco; Thomsen, Peter; Schaper, Stefan

of the research sample, which contains 80 companies from several industry segments and of certain value chain positions. In some of these segments the number of companies is particularly limited (e.g. virtual reality, sensory, etc.). Practical implications – The paper presents a process useful for companies...... distinct BM configurations according to Taran et al.’s (2016) 5-V ontology in 80 companies in the medical-technology industry. The mapping tool is used in a content analysis format. Four researchers took part in the mapping exercise to ensure reliability of the results. Findings – Companies operating...

Integrated Marketing Strategies of German Companies : Start-Ups vs. Global Brands

OpenAIRE

Kostin, Irina

2016-01-01

The purpose of this bachelor's thesis is to find out and analyze different marketing strategies of German fashion companies. The main part is comparing relatively young start-up companies to established companies and analyzing to what extent the strategies differ. The methodology used in this paper were semi-structured expert interviews with German start-up companies. The results were analyzed and compared to the secondary research on the big global German companies. The findings showed that ...

Determining Factors for Delisting of Companies Listed on BM&FBOVESPA

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Patricia Maria Bortolon

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Traditionally, the capital market has attracted the interest of scholars and researchers, motivated to understand the process of going public and trading securities of companies on a stock exchange. In this research context, an aspect had been neglected, something which indi cates a gap in the body of knowledge about the capital market and corporate governance: delisting of companies. We aim to identify the determining factors for delisting companies from the Commodity & Futures Exchange BOVESPA (BM&FBOVESPA. Methodologically, this research has related a set of variables collected from secondary data available on the database of the Securities Commission of Brazil (CVM, BM&FBOVESPA, and Economatica. By analyzing 227 listing cancellations, between 2001 and 2012, the results indicate that de listing of companies from BM&FBOVESPA is determined by the following factors: (i greater concentration of ownership and control; (ii lower free float; (iii lower liquidity of shares; (iv greater availability of cash; and (v larger size. The fact that the controlling shareholder is a public or private company determines significant differences in the decision to delist. While in the first case cash availability is the most important factor, in the second liquidity is the main determining factor for delisting. From the academic viewpoint, this research extends the studies on delisting, still incipient in the Brazilian capital market context. For the capital market, identifying the characteristics of companies prone to cancel listing may prevent investors concerned about inherent risks at the time of acquiring shares by the controlling group interested in delisting.

Family caregivers' experiences in nursing homes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lohne, Vibeke; Høy, Bente; Wilhelm Rehnsfeldt, Arne

2014-01-01

This qualitative study is focusing on dignity in nursing homes from the perspective of family caregivers. Dignity is a complex concept and central to nursing. Dignity in nursing homes is a challenge, according to research. Family caregivers are frequently involved in their family members’ daily...... experiences at the nursing home. This Scandinavian application study has a descriptive and explorative design. Twenty-nine family caregivers were included. A phenomenological-hermeneutic approach was used to understand the meaning of the narrated text. The interpretations revealed two main themes: “One should......, but still important in nursing homes. It seems therefore important to further investigate experiences of family caregivers in the context of nursing homes....

Research Article Special Issue

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2017-02-15

Feb 15, 2017 ... A nation was considered the home base for a company if it was .... 5. To alter, improve or enhance a nation's image /reputation ... In sum, political approaches see nation branding, at worst, as an augmented form of .... economic stability, human rights, women's rights, indigenous people's rights, children's.

A home monitoring program including real-time wireless home spirometry in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: a pilot study on experiences and barriers.

Science.gov (United States)

Moor, C C; Wapenaar, M; Miedema, J R; Geelhoed, J J M; Chandoesing, P P; Wijsenbeek, M S

2018-05-29

In idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), home monitoring experiences are limited, not yet real-time available nor implemented in daily care. We evaluated feasibility and potential barriers of a new home monitoring program with real-time wireless home spirometry in IPF. Ten patients with IPF were asked to test this home monitoring program, including daily home spirometry, for four weeks. Measurements of home and hospital spirometry showed good agreement. All patients considered real-time wireless spirometry useful and highly feasible. Both patients and researchers suggested relatively easy solutions for the identified potential barriers regarding real-time home monitoring in IPF.

CSR and technology companies: A study on its implementation, integration and effects on the competitiveness of companies

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Juan Andres Bernal-Conesa

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Purpose: In this paper, a structural equation model is presented in order to explain the motivations of implementing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR in Spanish technology companies and its linkage with others standardized management systems before CSR implementation. It also examines whether CSR influences the competitiveness of these companies. Design/methodology/approach: The study was conducted in companies located in Spanish Science and Technology Parks. For this study, a survey was sent and structural equation model was used. Findings and Originality/value: Model results show that there is a positive, direct and statistically significant relationship between the motivations, previous management systems, implementation of CSR and the real integration of CSR in the organization. Research limitations/implications: Limitations are determined by the technique used for the proposed model: structural equations, which assume linearity of the relationship between latent variables. Practical implications: Companies can use the results of this study as a foothold to enhance the integration of CSR based on previous management systems and take advantage of synergies between them, since the integration of CSR has a direct relationship with the competitiveness of the company. Originality/value: The link between the motivations of CSR, CSR actions and their integration in technology companies are reliably and empirically demonstrated.

Capability maturity models in engineering companies: case study analysis

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Titov Sergei

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In the conditions of the current economic downturn engineering companies in Russia and worldwide are searching for new approaches and frameworks to improve their strategic position, increase the efficiency of the internal business processes and enhance the quality of the final products. Capability maturity models are well-known tools used by many foreign engineering companies to assess the productivity of the processes, to elaborate the program of business process improvement and to prioritize the efforts to optimize the whole company performance. The impact of capability maturity model implementation on cost and time are documented and analyzed in the existing research. However, the potential of maturity models as tools of quality management is less known. The article attempts to analyze the impact of CMM implementation on the quality issues. The research is based on a case study methodology and investigates the real life situation in a Russian engineering company.

Intergrated dental care in nursing homes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gerritsen, P.F.M.

2015-01-01

The thesis deals with integrated dental care in nursing homes. First, the dental treatment needs were ascertained of 432 residents in three Dutch nursing homes that offer integrated dental care. Dentist researchers intra-orally examined the residents and found that 72% required dental treatment.

Customer Relationship Management System in Occupational Safety & Health Companies: Research on Practice and Preliminary Design Solution

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Robert Fabac

2011-10-01

Full Text Available One of the most prominent contemporary trends in formation of companies is the approach to development of a customer-oriented company. In this matter, various versions related to the intensity of this orientation are differentiated. Customer relationship management (CRM system is a well-known concept, and its practice is being studied and improved in connection to various sectors. Companies providing services of occupational safety and health (OHS mainly cooperate with a large number of customers and the quality of this cooperation largely affects the occupational safety and health of employees. Therefore, it is of both scientific and wider social interest to study and improve the relationship of these companies with their customers. This paper investigates the practice of applying CRM in Croatian OHS companies. It identifies the existing conditions and suggests possible improvements in the practice of CRM, based on experts’ assessments using analytic hierarchy process evaluation. Universal preliminary design was created as a framework concept for the formation of a typical customer-oriented OHS services company. Preliminary design includes a structural view, which provides more details through system diagrams, and an illustration of main cooperation processes of a company with its customer.

PLANNED HOME BIRTH: A REVIEW

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Tamara Serdinšek

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Background: Home birth is as old as humanity, but still most middle- and high-income countries consider hospitals as the safest birth settings, as complications regarding birth are highly unpredictable. Despite this there are a few countries in which home birth in integrated into official healthcare system (the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Canada etc.. Home births can be divided into unplanned and planned, and the latter can be further categorized by the presence of the birth attendants. This review focuses on planned home births, which are differently represented throughout the world. In the United States 0.6-1.0% of all children are born at home, in the United Kingdom 2-3%, in Canada 1.6% and in the Netherlands 20-30%. For Slovenia, the number of planned home births is unknown; however, in 2010 0.1% of children were born outside medical facilities.Conclusions: The safety of home birth in still under the debate. While research confirms smaller number of obstetric interventions and some complications in mothers who give birth at home, the data regarding the neonatal and perinatal mortality and morbidity is still conflicting. This confirms the need for large multicentric trials in this field. Current home birth guidelines emphasize that women should be well informed regarding the possible advantages and disadvantages of home births. In addition, the emphasis is on definition of selection criteria for home birth, indications for intrapartal transfer to the hospital and appropriate education of birth attendants. 

Influential variables in the profitability of hospital companies

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Judit Creixans

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Purpose: This study attempts to evidence the economic and financial health of Spanish hospital companies in the period 2008-2015 and discover the variables that explain their profitability for survival and the opportune performance of their assets during a period of technological revolution and austerity. Design/methodology: The study methodology consists of the short and long-term financial analysis of the companies in the study sample during the period 2008-2015, together with analysis is of their economic state, equity and treasury. To add value to the research, the profitability of the hospital companies has been explained in terms of the following independent variables: short-term solvency, debt, business size, legal form, GDP per capita, population density of and indicators of Corporate Social Responsibility. Findings: In the analyzed period, the economic and financial health of hospital companies is characterized by acceptable liquidity and indebtedness that significantly influence its profitability; this is accompanied by good financial and expenditure management, though it is necessary to improve the management of assets. Research limitations/implications: It was not possible to obtain data for 2016, as it was not available in the database used (SABI. These data would have been useful to evaluate the changes in trends that are taking place in the health sector due to the technological revolution and economic policies affecting it. Practical implications: The health sector is one of the pillars on which society is based, and therefore knowing detailed economic and financial information allows us to make appropriate decisions, both on the hospital level and in terms of the economic policies of governments. Social implications: This study provides evidence of the financially relevant indicators that healthcare companies must control for their survival and to provide proper service to society in general. The research also identifies non

[INDENA SPA company's patent portfolio of Ginkgo biloba preparation].

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Nan; Guo, Kai; Cheng, Xin-min; Liu, Wei

2015-10-01

INDENA SPA Company in Italy is a multi-national company that produces and sells plant extracts. Based on its own re- search advantages in the field of Ginkgo biloba preparation, the company protects its own products market effectively through building patent portfolio around the patents of its opponent. Based on the multi-angle analysis for patent portfolio of G. biloba preparation from the aspects of application time, legal status, technical development route, and patent portfolio layout, this article provides technical reference on research and development of G. biloba preparation, and the author suggest that Chinese applicants learn techniques and layout experiences of other patents fully to enhance the level of research and patent protection level.

TIME MANAGEMENT AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION AT PRODUCTION COMPANIES

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Yurii Safonov

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The purpose and objectives. Time management is still not a very popular element in many enterprises, while its implementation significantly increases staff productivity and, ultimately, the effectiveness of the company. For this reason, the purpose of the article is to promote time management in a business environment by providing specific tools, principles, methods and systems, and to show its importance to the company and describe the influence of time management for the enterprise. Methods. The study used a generalization, systematization, empirical research, systematic and logical approach to the development of theoretical and methodological provisions for instrumental support management performance of the industrial enterprise. Results. Time management is one of the most important strategic tools of the modern manager. It can help both existing companies and companies that are just launched (the project. Practical implications. The current goal of time management as a mechanism to improve the efficiency of the company. Value/originality. To implement it, the company offered a popular time management system, allowing the company to increase the effectiveness of its activities.

Analysis of Expatriation Process in a Slovenian Company

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Pintar Rok

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Background and Purpose: The multinational companies require different approach of human resource management to achieve their goals. The reason is in employees who are working abroad, so-called expatriates. The purpose of the research is to investigate perceptions and experience of the expatriates working in one of the Slovenian multinational company.

Knowledge sharing through social media: Investigating trends and technologies in a global marketing and advertising research company

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Dina Adamovic

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate social media technology trends in Nielsen – a global information and measurement company – and to establish how these technologies can help the company to create a knowledge-sharing culture.Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate trends in knowledge-sharing technologies in Nielsen.Method: The researchers distributed semi-structured questionnaires to a sample of employees in Nielsen’s Television Audience Measurement Department. They also conducted interviews with specific employees in this department to gain a better understanding of employees’ attitudes toward, and perceptions of, the use of social media tools for creating a knowledgesharing culture at Nielsen. The researchers validated the data to see whether it could support the research and used triangulation to create a holistic view of the data they received from the questionnaires.Results: The findings of the study revealed that respondents had a positive attitude to sharing knowledge with one another through using social media tools. However, some respondents thought that technology, in general, was ‘the tree of good and evil’. The survey findings showed that Nielsen did have social media tools. However, not all employees were aware of these tools or were willing to use the tools to share knowledge. This study highlighted the possible advantages of the social media for sharing knowledge and how Nielsen could use the tools more widely.Conclusion: In order for a knowledge sharing culture to thrive at Nielsen, its employees need to engage more with social media tools in their business practices. 

ANALYSIS OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCHES IN PHARMACEUTICAL PROMOTION GLOBALLY: TOWARDS INTERNATIONALLY DEVELOPING PRACTICALLY-ORIENTED GUIDELINES FOR PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES

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M. M. Bahlol

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose. Pharmaceutical industry is transnational and globally important. Many pharmaceutical companies operate their business in multinational and international forms in different countries. Diverse researches from different countries indicated and confirmed marketing promotion importance in pharmaceutical field. Therefore, marketing promotion and its effects are a very important issue that should be globally investigated in real life and evidence context. We oriented our research according to these scientific and practical values.Methodology. We reviewed pharmaceutical marketing promotion researches from more than 25 different countries, e.g., USA, Canada, Italy, France, Russia, India, Egypt and Syria where we employed our knowledge of three widely spread languages, i.e., English, Russian and Arabic. Such language variation supports us with large and variable amount of scientific knowledge, deep understanding and ability of analysis. Some studies investigated average response to pharmaceutical marketing promotion and few studies took into consideration heterogeneity in their effects with respect to advertising medium or drug characteristics.Originality. We investigated empirical evidences of pharmaceutical marketing promotion that can be directed to either consumer or healthcare professionals.Findings. We extracted, gathered and associated information of pharmaceutical promotion globally which oriented us to several evidence and practical facts with regard to employing promotion tools in different definite situations pertinent to main directions; their welfare and health enhancing effects and adverse effects. Practical Implications- Consequently, we developed practically-oriented guidelines for companies concerning pharmaceutical promotion globally ate the end of this paper.

IMPLEMENTATION OF QUALITATIVE RULES IN COMPANY`S INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

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Anna WOLNOWSKA

2012-07-01

Full Text Available In the article there were presented chosen issues of quality management. Important role of information and work processes in companies were emphasized . Based on eight rules of quality management, TQM standards and ideas of discipline pioneers like Deming, Juran, Crosby and Shewart, author has constructed way of using chosen rules and assumptions to company`s information circulation. Analogy, suggested by author, has not only emphasized importance of information as a company`s resource, but also has pointed to possibility of improving ways of managing this information.

French scientists offered time to set up companies

CERN Document Server

Butler, D

1999-01-01

The French minister of national education, research and technology announced that French researchers working for public research institutes and universities are to be offered up to six years sabbatical leave to set up their own companies (11 para)

Home educators and the law within Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Petrie, Amanda J.

1995-05-01

In education literature, there is often confusion between compulsory provision of education and compulsory schooling, falsely giving the impression that schooling is compulsory. This is not the case. Home education is permitted in some form or other in all the European countries studied except Germany. Where the alternative of home education is denied to children who are in difficulty, such as very young children of itinerant workers, or children who are school phobic, one has to question whether the good of the individual child is being considered, rather than the ideals or convenience of education administrators. Home education is a welcome alternative to those children who need it and benefit from it and there is no evidence in academic literature or general writing on education to suggest that home education does not usually offer a good alternative to the children involved, both academically and socially. Much research has been undertaken into home education in the US, there have been a few studies within the UK and a study in Switzerland of the laws which apply to home educators within each canton and an assessment of the numbers of home educated children in both Austria and Switzerland. In other European countries, there has been little or no research into the numbers of home educated children, the ways in which home educated children learn, efficient methods of monitoring home education, or whether home education is effective. Perhaps it is by looking more closely at these families that the effectiveness of schooling can be better assessed: fundamental questions can be asked about the added value of schooling. My preliminary investigations indicate that, with the exception of Denmark, where it is easy for parents to set up small schools with financial help from government, there are instances of home education in all the countries studied.

Home and away? Creating identities and sustaining places in a multicentered world

Science.gov (United States)

Daniel R. Williams; Susan R. Van Patten

2006-01-01

Imagine being able to 'travel the world without leaving home'. This is not the overblown promise of some high-tech, computer-generated virtual world, but the veritable promise of The World. Built and operated by a Norwegian company called ResidenSea and launched on her maiden voyage in early 2002, The World is a 191-metre-long 'global village at sea...

Marketing Strategy : Company X Entering the Australian Wine Market

OpenAIRE

Tsukrejev, Jaan

2014-01-01

The main objective of this thesis was to identify which marketing strategy is most effective for wine producing companies to enter and compete on the Australian wine market with excessive supply and diminishing demand. The purpose of the thesis was to create a marketing strategy for the commissioner, a case company, referred to as Company X for confidential reasons. Secondary research, predominantly based on marketing literature and governmental statistics, was conducted to create the th...

Nuclear research and nuclear technology in the Federal Republic of Germany

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1981-01-01

The atomwirtschaft-atomtechnik has reflected the development of this quarter century. In this jubilee edition it describes the future lines of development. It has invited the Federal German companies and institutions of the branch to present their performance potential in the form of monography - more detailed than usually. This invitation was accepted by 81 of the most important enterprises. The figure also includes a number of important service companies, the research centres of the country, and last not least, a number of energy supply enterprises. Part 2 of this jubilee edition as a whole offers a crossection of the present performances offered in the German nuclear research, nuclear techniques, and the planning and service belonging to nuclear power operation. For the English-speaking readers, a digest part was set up in part 3 of the present edition. In part 4, the reader will find a product index in German and English. Each key-word indicates an offering firm by the page number allocated. Access to the monographies (part 2) and the digest (part 3) can be found in the listing of the monography-advertisers from page 102 on. The atw-jubilee edition closes with part 5, with product advertisements of companies from home and abroad. (orig./UA) [de

Knowledge services in science and technology - improving the university/research centre - company relationship

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Magalhaes, Adriana Braz Vendramini Bicca

2009-01-01

This research proposes a conceptual model for Knowledge Services Structure applicable to Science and Technology Parks (STP) and targeted to micro, small and medium enterprises, in order to improve the business - university - research centers relationship. The idea emerged from exploratory studies on STP and the observation of a knowledge gap on this subject: academic studies that have proposed support services structures to link companies - university - research centers in STP were not available. The study methodology is composed by: exploratory studies complemented by action research. Five aspects of analysis (knowledge services, business development, ordinary/ S and T infrastructure services, expansion of area, and image / visibility) were chosen; a questionnaire based on the these aspects were elaborated and applied by e-mail (e-survey), using as data-base the IASP associated members for the selection of potential respondents. The questionnaire was answered by STP managers from different countries (Spain, Italy, Portugal, Germany, United Kingdom, China, Brazil, Turkey and Uruguay) and, for a deeper and better answers understanding, presential interviews were conducted in certain European STP. After presentation, analysis and discussion of the results, a conceptual model of knowledge service structure for STP has been made, using as basis the Technology Park of Sao Paulo structure. During the formulation of the conceptual model stage, a brief discussion on the importance of knowing and meet the customer needs meant on the inclusion of a customer-interface in the final model. (author)

At Home with Students

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lyngsø, Anita

2015-01-01

This article reflects the methodological challenges presented in the research process, where the principle of 'following the field’ means that the researcher must also follow students engaged in online activities in their own homes. The ethnographic studies are a part of a PhD project...

A web based tool for storing and visualising data generated within a smart home.

Science.gov (United States)

McDonald, H A; Nugent, C D; Moore, G; Finlay, D D; Hallberg, J

2011-01-01

There is a growing need to re-assess the current approaches available to researchers for storing and managing heterogeneous data generated within a smart home environment. In our current work we have developed the homeML Application; a web based tool to support researchers engaged in the area of smart home research as they perform experiments. Within this paper the homeML Application is presented which includes the fundamental components of the homeML Repository and the homeML Toolkit. Results from a usability study conducted by 10 computer science researchers are presented; the initial results of which have been positive.

The Healthy Home Offerings via the Mealtime Environment (HOME) Plus study: Design and methods1

Science.gov (United States)

Fulkerson, Jayne A.; Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne; Story, Mary; Gurvich, Olga; Kubik, Martha Y.; Garwick, Ann; Dudovitz, Bonnie

2014-01-01

Background Informed and engaged parents and healthful home environments are essential for the health of youth. Although research has shown health benefits associated with family meals, to date, no randomized controlled trial (RCT) has been developed to examine the impact of a family meals intervention on behavioral and health outcomes. Methods/Design The Healthy Home Offerings via the Mealtime Environment (HOME) Plus study is a two-arm (intervention versus attention-only control) RCT being conducted in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Built on previous pilot research, HOME Plus aims to increase the frequency and healthfulness of family meals and snacks and reduce children’s sedentary behavior, particularly screen time, to promote healthier eating and activity behaviors and prevent obesity. HOME Plus is delivered to families in community settings. The program includes 10 monthly sessions focused on nutrition and activity education, meal planning and preparation skill development. In addition, five motivational goal-setting phone calls are conducted with parents. The primary outcome measure is age- and gender-adjusted child BMI-z score at post-intervention by treatment group. Secondary household-level outcomes include family meal frequency, home availability of healthful foods (fruits/vegetables) and unhealthful foods (high-fat/sugary snacks) and beverages (sugar-sweetened beverages), and the quality of foods served at meals and snacks. Secondary child outcomes include dietary intake of corresponding foods and beverages and screen time. Conclusions The HOME Plus RCT actively engages whole families of 8–12 year old children to promote healthier eating and activity behaviors and prevent obesity through promotion of family meals and snacks and limited media use. PMID:24480729

The Home as Workplace: Investigating Home Based Enterprises in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The research revealed the importance of home based enterprises as a major source of income generation and socialization in urban areas. Recommendations include the adoption of case-specific planning models, consideration of cultural contexts in planning and the adoption of local economic development strategies in ...

Globalization and the marketing orientation of companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aneta Oniszczuk-Jastrząbek

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The functioning of the enterprise in a constantly changing environ-ment means that companies should make the necessary transformation, meet challenges, and thus anticipate and shape the reality. Each company should be the instigator of continuous change, particularly innovative projects which success depends largely on the mobilization of all em-ployees for creative thinking, action and learning. Today, a company is considered as innovative and competitive, when it possesses the ability to use marketing in order to understand the market and results of scientific research, new concepts, ideas and inventions which are expected by consumers due to the high level of modernity.

Nursing Home Compare

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — The data that is used by the Nursing Home Compare tool can be downloaded for public use. This functionality is primarily used by health policy researchers and the...

Development Efforts Of Oil Companies As Perceived By Rural ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... that the host communities are highly satisfied with companies' efforts (projects and services) to them. Based on these findings, recommendations were made. Key words: Oil producing communities; oil exploration/production; company's development efforts; Journal of Agriculture and Social Research Vol.4(1) 2004: 60-71 ...

[Research of controlling of smart home system based on P300 brain-computer interface].

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jinjia; Yang, Chengjie

2014-08-01

Using electroencephalogram (EEG) signal to control external devices has always been the research focus in the field of brain-computer interface (BCI). This is especially significant for those disabilities who have lost capacity of movements. In this paper, the P300-based BCI and the microcontroller-based wireless radio frequency (RF) technology are utilized to design a smart home control system, which can be used to control household appliances, lighting system, and security devices directly. Experiment results showed that the system was simple, reliable and easy to be populirised.

Solar Mosaic Inc. Mosaic Home Solar Loan SunShot 9 Final Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Walsh, Colin James [Solar Mosaic Inc., Oakland, CA (United States)

2017-02-09

The 6686 Mosaic SunShot award has helped Solar Mosaic Inc to progress from an early stage startup focused on commercial crowdfunding to a leading multi-state residential solar lender. The software platform is now used by the majority of the nation's top solar installers and offers a variety of simple home solar loans. Mosaic is has originated approximately $1Bil in solar loans to date to put solar on over 35k rooftops. The company now lends to homeowners with a wide range of credit scores across multiple states and mitigates boundaries preventing them from profiting from ownership of a home solar system. The project included milestones in 5 main categories: 1. Lending to homeowners outside of CA 2. Lending to homeowners with FICO scores under 700 3. Packaging O&M with the home solar loan 4. Allowing residential installers to process home solar loans via API 5. Lowering customer acquisition costs below $1500 This report includes a detailed review of the final results achieved and key findings.

Response bias in international marketing research

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Jong, M.G.

2006-01-01

The saturation of domestic markets in the industrialized parts of the world, combined with increased competition in home markets from foreign competitors forces many companies to look for opportunities beyond their national boundaries. Surveys are a crucial source of data in international marketing

Home safe home: Evaluation of a childhood home safety program.

Science.gov (United States)

Stewart, Tanya Charyk; Clark, Andrew; Gilliland, Jason; Miller, Michael R; Edwards, Jane; Haidar, Tania; Batey, Brandon; Vogt, Kelly N; Parry, Neil G; Fraser, Douglas D; Merritt, Neil

2016-09-01

The London Health Sciences Centre Home Safety Program (HSP) provides safety devices, education, a safety video, and home safety checklist to all first-time parents for the reduction of childhood home injuries. The objective of this study was to evaluate the HSP for the prevention of home injuries in children up to 2 years of age. A program evaluation was performed with follow-up survey, along with an interrupted time series analysis of emergency department (ED) visits for home injuries 5 years before (2007-2013) and 2 years after (2013-2015) implementation. Spatial analysis of ED visits was undertaken to assess differences in home injury rates by dissemination areas controlling differences in socioeconomic status (i.e., income, education, and lone-parent status) at the neighborhood level. A total of 3,458 first-time parents participated in the HSP (a 74% compliance rate). Of these, 20% (n = 696) of parents responded to our questionnaire, with 94% reporting the program to be useful (median, 6; interquartile range, 2 on a 7-point Likert scale) and 81% learning new strategies for preventing home injuries. The median age of the respondent's babies were 12 months (interquartile range, 1). The home safety check list was used by 87% of respondents to identify hazards in their home, with 95% taking action to minimize the risk. The time series analysis demonstrated a significant decline in ED visits for home injuries in toddlers younger than2 years of age after HSP implementation. The declines in ED visits for home injuries remained significant over and above each socioeconomic status covariate. Removing hazards, supervision, and installing safety devices are key facilitators in the reduction of home injuries. Parents found the HSP useful to identify hazards, learn new strategies, build confidence, and provide safety products. Initial finding suggests that the program is effective in reducing home injuries in children up to 2 years of age. Therapeutic/care management study

Corporate Social Reporting: a Comprehensive Picture of Indonesian Mining Companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosinta Ria Panggabean

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Recently, stakeholders demand that CSR reporting of a company provides social and environmental information as well as the financial information reported in financial statement. This research questioned whether CSR reporting of Indonesian mining companies may be regarded as a mechanism which social and environmental accountability are discharged. The purpose of this research is to provide a content analysis framework and information on the comprehensiveness of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR reporting of Indonesian mining companies. The methodology used is content analysis method by a framework derived from GRI G3.1 Guidelines. Comprehensive reporting contains three types of information for each disclosed CSR item: (i vision and goals, (ii management approach, and (iii performance indicator. The framework was used to assess the comprehensiveness of CSR report by analyzing the 2012 financial reports and annual reports of Indonesian listed mining companies. The content analysis of CSR reporting of the listed mining companies in Indonesia shows a low level of comprehensive reporting. This finding agrees those of prior studies on the completeness of CSR reporting and adds to the debate regarding whether CSR reporting of Indonesian mining companies can be considered a mechanism for discharging social and environmental accountability.

Impact of company performances on the stock price: An empirical analysis on select companies in Serbia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Milošević-Avdalović Snežana

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The global financial crisis of the late 2007 has provoked unprecedented shocks to the world markets and weaken investors' confidence due to the turbulent movements and frequent changes of stock prices. Emerging capital markets suffer from unsatisfactory corporate governance, market manipulation and insider trade problems. In such circumstances, institutional investors, managers, analysts and other market participants are in constant search of the trading strategy that will outperform the market. This research is an instrument for the identification of the main determinants of stock prices on the Belgrade Stock Exchange. The panel data regression analysis includes 42 companies that represent the composition of the BelexLine index for the period from 2010 to 2014. The paper looks at the impact of specific (internal variables of companies, such as company size, return on assets, return on equity, earnings per stock, book value, price-earning ratio, price-to-book ratio and leverage and the stock price of companies that compose the BelexLine index. The results indicate that variables such as the size of the company measured by assets, return on assets, leverage, earnings per stock, book value and price-to-book ratio provide a unique contribution to a statistically significant predictor of stock prices.

Research on the cultivation path of smart home-based care service mode in Internet+ vision

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peng Qingchao

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Home-based care for the aged is an effective method to solve the problem of caring the aged in China. This thesis analyzes some problems existing in the development of current home-based care service for the aged in our country and the positive effects brought by Internet+ in home-based care service. It proposes a new service mode of care for the aged--Internet+ home-based care service, and explains the establishment of this system and the responsibilities of the participants. Also, it explores the path to realize the establishment of Internet+ home-based care service mode so as to promote the healthy development of home-based care service in China.

[Attractiveness of France for international clinical research: 8th survey conducted by Leem (French association for pharmaceutical companies)].

Science.gov (United States)

Galaup, Ariane; Barthélémy, Philippe; Pouletty-Lefebvre, Brigitte; Béhier, Jehan-Michel; Zetlaoui, Jean; Borel, Thomas

2018-04-18

The Leem (French association of pharmaceutical companies) has conducted the eighth survey on attractiveness of France for clinical research. It serves to measure France's global competitiveness for international clinical trials and assess its strengths and areas of excellence. It also highlights the potential for progress and emerging trends at a time when the regulatory environment in France and Europe is undergoing change. This survey has been updated every two years since 2002 using the same methodology. It assesses the current status of research undertaken in France by the pharmaceutical industry between January 1st 2014 and December 31st 2015. Thirty companies (62% of the French market) have participated in this 8th survey which involved 3474 centers (versus 2860 in 2014) and 16,622 patients (versus 14,634 in 2014) enrolled in France across 586 clinical trials (versus 613 in 2014). This survey shows a reduction in the number of phase I and phase II trials. It also confirms that the studies conducted in France are primarily concerned with oncology (45%). Despite improvements across hospital contracts times (due to the adoption of the sole agreement) and performance indicators in trials (such as the number of patients enrolled by center), trial setup times in France are still overly lengthy (with stable times by French authorities). Ensuring that clinical research remains a priority issue for country is crucial for patients because of rapid access to innovation but also for the vitality of the French economy. Constructive dialogue with stakeholders on the subject of clinical research is essential to enhance the attractiveness of France and to improve the continuum between research, innovation and care. Copyright © 2018 Société française de pharmacologie et de thérapeutique. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Outdoor Education Course - The New Product of a Company Offer

OpenAIRE

Beránek, Jiří

2007-01-01

and Key Words Title: Outdoor Education Course- The New Product of a Company Offer Aim: Analysis and evaluation of needs and attitudes of the present company clients of Firma na zážitky, s.r.o. company in the outdoor education field to frame a pilot project of an outdoor course programme. Method: Method of questionnare was used to analyse and evaluate needs and attitudes ofthe company clients. Results: A project of outdoor course programme was created according to results of realized research....

A Simple Survey Concerning the Approach of the Cleaning Companies to Mercury Spills

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Derya Camur

2010-12-01

Full Text Available AIM: The aim of this study is to determine the knowledge of the cleaning companies in case of mercury spills at home. METHOD: Thirty-two cleaning companies were interviewed by a telephone survey. Two standard questions were asked to an authorized people of the company. “A manometer is broken on the carpet. The mercury in the manometer is all spilled on the wall to wall carpet in the living room. We want our carpet to be cleaned. Could you do it? How can be the carpet cleaned? Have you ever cleaned a carpet on which mercury was spilled?” It is stated that mercury spillage has happened just a very short time ago and nothing have been done after that. RESULTS: Fifty percent of the 32 companies work in Istanbul, 37.5% in Ankara and 22.5% in Izmir. Three companies from Ankara, five from Istanbul, one from Izmir stated that they have encountered with mercury spillage before. Three of the companies who have stated that the have not encountered with mercury spillage before, asked “What is mercury?” and one of them asked whether “Mercury is a communicable disease, isn’t it?”. Twenty-two of the interviewed cleaning companies stated that they could clean the carpet with stain remover and three of them offered vacuuming, one washing the carpet with carpet shampoo, one person cleaning the stain by wiping with alcohol/ethyl alcohol. Five of the companies stated that they could not clean the stain and one of them he has advised throwing the carpet away. CONCLUSION: In many developing countries there is no responsible association or institution for mercury spills. Such simple surveys may be very important in determining training and gaps concerning public health problems. [TAF Prev Med Bull 2010; 9(6.000: 557-562

Does hospital at home for palliative care facilitate death at home? Randomised controlled trial

Science.gov (United States)

Grande, Gunn E; Todd, Chris J; Barclay, Stephen I G; Farquhar, Morag C

1999-01-01

balance ideal research design against the realities of evaluation of palliative care had the effect that the trial achieved less statistical power than originally plannedParticular problems were that many patients failed to receive the allocated intervention because of the unpredictable nature of terminal illness, inclusion of other service input alongside hospital at home, and the wide range of standard care availableThe trial illustrated problems associated with randomised controlled trials in palliative care, none of which are insurmountable but which require careful consideration and resourcing before future trials are planned PMID:10582932

Home Automation

OpenAIRE

Ahmed, Zeeshan

2010-01-01

In this paper I briefly discuss the importance of home automation system. Going in to the details I briefly present a real time designed and implemented software and hardware oriented house automation research project, capable of automating house's electricity and providing a security system to detect the presence of unexpected behavior.

ORGANIZATIONAL ROUTINES IN RUSSIAN COMPANIES: REVIEW OF PRACTICES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olga Valieva

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Results of the first stage of the researches conducted in 2012-2013 are presented in article. Researches are connected with studying of transformational processes intra corporate of managemetn practices in the Russian companies and their subsequent institutionalization. Preliminary results showed that in the companies there is a standard set of organizational routines which part are information, and administrative routines, routines of the power of the founder, genetic, institutional and development routines. During research statistically significant connection between types of organizational structures, the sizes of the organization, information processing and administrative practices is established. It is revealed as change of approaches to management of the organization can affect a corruption component.

The linkage between knowledge management practices and company Performance: Empirical evidence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nausheen Syed

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose: This study explores the linkage between Knowledge management practices and company performance. Keeping in view the theoretical and empirical importance, the present study examines the predicting linkage of Knowledge management practices (sharing of best practices and building of consistent process, continues employee learning, effective management of knowledge, innovative culture development, and management of core competencies with company performance.Methodology: The study was carried out on purposively selected sample of 412 employees at different managerial positions. They were administered questionnaires including Knowledge Management Practices and company performance. Data was operated by using SPSS version 20.Correlation and regression analysis was done to establish the relationship between various Knowledge management practices and company performance.Findings: Results of this study illustrated that all selected Knowledge management were positively related to company performance. Based on the findings, and management of core competencies was the strongest predictor of company performance, followed by innovative culture development, effective management of knowledge and sharing of best practices and building of consistent process, continues employee learning.Research limitations/implications: The paper focuses on examining the perceptual impacts of Knowledge management (KM practices on company performance. The interpretation of results should be taken with caution.Value: The aim of this research is to investigate the relationship between Knowledge management and company performance, study the importance of Knowledge management as a source of sustainable competitive advantages for companies and to investigate how the introduction of Knowledge management practices facilitates company performance to improve. The practices that have a more positive influence on company performance are also discussed.

Gravity anomalies without geomagnetic disturbances interfere with pigeon homing--a GPS tracking study.

Science.gov (United States)

Blaser, Nicole; Guskov, Sergei I; Entin, Vladimir A; Wolfer, David P; Kanevskyi, Valeryi A; Lipp, Hans-Peter

2014-11-15

The gravity vector theory postulates that birds determine their position to set a home course by comparing the memorized gravity vector at the home loft with the local gravity vector at the release site, and that they should adjust their flight course to the gravity anomalies encountered. As gravity anomalies are often intermingled with geomagnetic anomalies, we released experienced pigeons from the center of a strong circular gravity anomaly (25 km diameter) not associated with magnetic anomalies and from a geophysical control site, equidistant from the home loft (91 km). After crossing the border zone of the anomaly--expected to be most critical for pigeon navigation--they dispersed significantly more than control birds, except for those having met a gravity anomaly en route. These data increase the credibility of the gravity vector hypothesis. © 2014. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Community-based distribution of misoprostol to prevent postpartum haemorrhage at home births: results from operations research in rural Ghana.

Science.gov (United States)

Geller, S; Carnahan, L; Akosah, E; Asare, G; Agyemang, R; Dickson, R; Kapungu, C; Owusu-Ansah, L; Robinson, N; Mensah-Homiah, J

2014-02-01

To report on a rigorous distribution and monitoring plan to track misoprostol for community-based distribution to reduce postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) in rural Ghana. Operations research. Rural Ghana. Women in third trimester of pregnancy presenting to primary health centres (PHCs) for antenatal care (ANC). Ghana Health Service (GHS), Millennium Village Projects, and the University of Illinois at Chicago conducted an operations research study designed to assess the safety, feasibility, and acceptability of community-based distribution of misoprostol to prevent PPH at home deliveries in rural Ghana. One thousand doses (3000 tablets, 200 μg each) were obtained from the Family Health Division of GHS. Three 200-μg tablets of misoprostol (600 μg) in foil packets were packaged together in secured transparent plastic packets labelled with pictorial messages and distributed to midwives at seven PHCs for distribution to pregnant women. Correct use of misoprostol in home deliveries and retrieval of unused misoprostol doses, PPH rates and maternal mortality. Of the 999 doses distributed to midwives, 982 (98.3%) were successfully tracked, with a 1.7% lost to follow-up rate. Midwives distributed 654 doses to women at third-trimester ANC visits. Of women who had misoprostol to use at home, 81% had an institutional delivery and were able to return the misoprostol safely to the midwife. Of the women that used misoprostol, 99% used the misoprostol correctly. This study clearly demonstrates that misoprostol distributed antenatally to pregnant women can be used accurately and reliably by rural Ghanaian women, and should be considered for policy implementation across Ghana and other countries with high home birth rates and maternal mortality ratios. © 2013 Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

How to use innovations for company growth

OpenAIRE

Melicharová, Kristýna

2011-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to identify the key characteristics of successful innovation, analyse the innovation process in Unilever and provide set of recommendations for the company. This paper addresses a key question of current business -- how to achieve growth of a company via innovation. The thesis is based on the already published research for identifying the best practices in dealing with innovation, survey with strategic innovation leaders in HHC Unilever, interviews with employees ...

The Utility of Home-Practice in Mindfulness-Based Group Interventions: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Lloyd, Annette; White, Ross; Eames, Catrin; Crane, Rebecca

2018-01-01

A growing body of research supports the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs). MBIs consider home-practice as essential to increasing the therapeutic effects of the treatment. To date however, the synthesis of the research conducted on the role of home-practice in controlled MBI studies has been a neglected area. This review aimed to conduct a narrative synthesis of published controlled studies, evaluating mindfulness-based group interventions, which have specifically measured home-practice. Empirical research literature published until June 2016 was searched using five databases. The search strategy focused on mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), and home-practice. Included studies met the following criteria: controlled trials, participants 18 years and above, evaluations of MBSR or MBCT, utilised standardised quantitative outcome measures and monitored home-practice using a self-reported measure. Fourteen studies met the criteria and were included in the review. Across all studies, there was heterogeneity in the guidance and resources provided to participants and the approaches used for monitoring home-practice. In addition, the guidance on the length of home-practice was variable across studies, which indicates that research studies and teachers are not adhering to the published protocols. Finally, only seven studies examined the relationship between home-practice and clinical outcomes, of which four found that home-practice predicted improvements on clinical outcome measures. Future research should adopt a standardised approach for monitoring home-practice across MBIs. Additionally, studies should assess whether the amount of home-practice recommended to participants is in line with MBSR/MBCT manualised protocols. Finally, research should utilise experimental methodologies to explicitly explore the relationship between home-practice and clinical outcomes.