The strategic decision making process and influence of personality

Decision making is very critical to any organization’s success. This paper studies the strategic decision making processes in five farms and one forest plant school farm, and the individual personality of the managers. The question is whether personalities of the managers play any role in their decision making. To understand the decision making process and managers’ personality, case studies were done in six rural farms in the Uppsala region in Sweden. The results suggest that managers use both the intuitive and analytical approaches in the decision making, and that personality play a part in their decision making behavior. However, other factors such as farms’ organization, managers’ formal education etc, also influence the decision making behavior of the managers

Effect of Technology on Service Quality Perception and Patient Satisfaction- A study on Hospitals in Bangladesh

This study investigates the intricate dynamics of technology's influence on service quality perception and patient satisfaction in Bangladesh's healthcare sector, a vital component of emerging economies. Focusing on the interplay between technology, service quality, and patient satisfaction, the research employs a quantitative approach, utilizing a structured questionnaire survey conducted both online and in-person among patients in private hospitals in Dhaka city. Statistical analyses, including correlation and regression, were applied to the gathered data. Key findings reveal significant correlations between service quality dimensions (responsiveness, assurance, communication, and discipline) and patient satisfaction. Notably, technology-related factors, specifically the use of tips, negatively impact satisfaction levels. Regression analysis identifies responsiveness, assurance, communication, and tips as significant predictors of patient satisfaction. Limitations, including the exclusive focus on Dhaka city's private hospitals, underscore the necessity for broader research across diverse healthcare settings to enhance generalizability. Practical implications recommend healthcare providers prioritize improving responsiveness, assurance, and communication, considering patient preferences on technology-related practices like tipping. From a societal perspective, the study emphasizes the broader importance of optimizing technology to elevate patient experiences, contributing to overall well-being. The research's originality lies in its nuanced examination of technology's influence on service quality and patient satisfaction within the distinctive context of Bangladeshi private hospitals. Acknowledging its limitations, this study encourages future research to explore technology's impact on service quality across various healthcare settings, providing valuable insights for ongoing improvements

Prevalence of hypertension and its risk factors among school teachers in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Background: School teachers in urban area are experiencing sedentary life style behaviors. This study was aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors of hypertension (HTN) among school teachers in Dhaka city.Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out from May to October of 2017. Total 323 school teachers in Dhaka city aged between 25-59 years were enrolled using cluster random sampling technique. Data on socio-demographic profile, different risk factors, co-morbidities, family history and blood pressure (BP) were recorded. HTN was recorded according to pre-defined criteria. Factors associated with HTN analyzed by Chi-square test (χ2).Results: The prevalence of HTN among school teachers was 52%. The mean ± SD age was 46.5±7.8 years. Majority teachers (52%) were earning between 20,000 and 50,000 Bangladeshi Taka per month and about 61.6% had service duration >15 years. Development of HTN was significantly associated with age, monthly family income and service duration (p=0.001). Majority participants were female (65.6%) and female to male ratio was 1.9:1. Female teachers were more hypertensive compared to male (68% vs 32%). Taking extra salt (OR 1.977, 95% CI 1.269-3.079), low intake of fresh vegetables (OR 2.048, 95% CI 1.228-3.416), higher waist circumference (OR 1.990, 95% CI 1.006-3.933) and mental distress (OR 1.724, 95% CI 1.045-2.844) were found to be significantly associated with HTN.Conclusions:The prevalence of HTN was higher among the study participants. Building awareness by promoting healthy life style and behaviors for prevention and control of HTN should be given importance among teachers. 

Static and dynamic effective stress coefficient of chalk

Deformation of a hydrocarbon reservoir can ideally be used to estimate the effective stress acting on it. The effective stress in the subsurface is the difference between the stress due to the weight of the sediment and a fraction (effective stress coefficient) of the pore pressure. The effective stress coefficient is thus relevant for studying reservoir deformation and for evaluating 4D seismic for the correct pore pressure prediction. The static effective stress coefficient [Formula: see text] is estimated from mechanical tests and is highly relevant for effective stress prediction because it is directly related to mechanical strain in the elastic stress regime. The corresponding dynamic effective stress coefficient [Formula: see text] is easy to estimate from density and velocity of acoustic (elastic) waves. We studied [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] of chalk from the reservoir zone of the Valhall field, North Sea, and found that [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] vary with differential stress (overburden stress-pore pressure). For Valhall reservoir chalk with 40% porosity, [Formula: see text] ranges between 0.98 and 0.85 and decreases by 10% if the differential stress is increased by 25 MPa. In contrast, for chalk with 15% porosity from the same reservoir, [Formula: see text] ranges between 0.85 and 0.70 and decreases by 5% due to a similar increase in differential stress. Our data indicate that [Formula: see text] measured from sonic velocity data falls in the same range as for [Formula: see text], and that [Formula: see text] is always below unity. Stress-dependent behavior of [Formula: see text] is similar (decrease with increasing differential stress) to that of [Formula: see text] during elastic deformation caused by pore pressure buildup, for example, during waterflooding. By contrast, during the increase in differential stress, as in the case of pore pressure depletion due to production, [Formula: see text] increases with stress while [Formula: see text] decreases.</jats:p

Buspirone Dose-Response on Facilitating Forelimb Functional Recovery in Cervical Spinal Cord Injured Rats

Buspirone, widely used as a neuropsychiatric drug, has also shown potentials for motor function recovery of injured spinal cord. However, the optimum dosages of such treatment remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the dose-response of Buspirone treatment on reaching and grasping function in cervical cord injured rats. Seventeen adult Sprague-Dawley rats were trained to reach and grasp sugar pellets before a C4 bilateral dorsal column crush injury. After 1 week post-injury, the rats were divided into 3 groups to receive 1 of 3 different dosages of Buspirone (i.p., 1 dose/day: 1.5, n = 5; 2.5, n = 6 and 3.5 mg/kg b.w., n = 6). Forelimb reaching and grip strength test were recorded once per week, within 1 hour of Buspirone administration for 11 weeks post-injury. Different dose groups began to exhibit differences in reaching scores from 4 weeks post-injury. From 4-11 weeks post-injury, the reaching scores were highest in the lowest-dose group rats compared to the other 2 dose groups rats. Average grip strength was also found higher in the lowest-dose rats. Our results demonstrate a significant dose-dependence of Buspirone on the recovery of forelimb motor functions after cervical cord injury with the best performance occurring at the lowest dose tested

Changes in Specific Surface as observed by NMR, caused by saturation of Chalk with porewater bearing divalent Ions

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectrometry has proved to be a good technique for determining the petrophysical properties of reservoir rocks; such as porosity and pore size distribution. We investigated how pore water rich in divalent ions affect the NMR signal from chalk with two different depositional textures. We compared two cases. The first experiments on outcrop chalk with high salinity brines showed that saturation with divalent ions (Mg2+, Ca2+ and SO4 2-) cause major shifts in the T2 distribution curve, probably due to precipitation in the pore space. In a second set of experiments, fluid samples where precipitation takes place were found to show shifts in the T2 relaxation curve due to the creation of crystals. We were able to identify how differences in the rock texture and precipitants within the pore space may affect the transverse relaxation time by altering the surface-to-volume ratio of the pore space. The results of this work could benefit the ongoing study on the optimization of the water composition for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) methods and shed light on how it can affect the mechanical and physical properties of the rock