The Role of Redress in B2C E-Business: An Exploratory Study of Consumer Perceptions

Redress provides a formalized recourse to consumers in lodging complaints against poor customer service. Its importance is heightened in the realm of B2C e-business where traditional means of establishing rapport with brick-and-mortar stores do not exist. However, redress has yet to be aptly understood and the study of its role in e-business has been sparse. This paper presents an exploration into the role of redress in online B2C transactions, through the perceptions of a selected group of online consumers, with key implications for online business practices and customer relationship management

Implementing a digital patient feedback system: an analysis using normalisation process theory

Background: Patient feedback in the English NHS is now widespread and digital methods are increasingly used. Adoption of digital methods depends on socio-technical and contextual factors, alongside human agency and lived experience. Moreover, the introduction of these methods may be perceived as disruptive of organisational and clinical routines. The focus of this paper is on the implementation of a particular digital feedback intervention that was co-designed with health professionals and patients (the DEPEND study). Methods: The digital feedback intervention was conceptualised as a complex intervention and thus the study focused on the contexts within which it operated, and how the different participants made sense of the intervention and engaged with it (or not). Four health care sites were studied: An acute setting, a mental health setting, and two general practices. Qualitative data was collected through interviews and focus groups with professionals, patients and carers. In total 51 staff, 24 patients and 8 carers were included. Forty-two observations of the use of the digital feedback system were carried out in the four settings. Data analysis was based on modified grounded theory and Normalisation Process Theory (NPT) formed the conceptual framework. Results: Digital feedback made sense to health care staff as it was seen as attractive, fast to complete and easier to analyse. Patients had a range of views depending on their familiarity with the digital world. Patients mentioned barriers such as kiosk not being visible, privacy, lack of digital know-how, technical hitches with the touchscreen. Collective action in maintaining participation again differed between sites because of workload pressure, perceptions of roles and responsibilities; and in the mental health site major organisational change was taking place. For mental health service users, their relationship with staff and their own health status determined their digital use. Conclusion: The potential of digital feedback was recognised but implementation should take local contexts, different patient groups and organisational leadership into account. Patient involvement in change and adaptation of the intervention was important in enhancing the embedding of digital methods in routine feedback. NPT allowed for a in-depth understanding of actions and interactions of both staff and patients

Exploring engagement with digital screens for collecting patient feedback in clinical waiting rooms: The role of touch and place

From SAGE Publishing via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: epub 2019-12-09Publication status: PublishedFunder: Health Services and Delivery Research Programme; FundRef: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100002001; Grant(s): 14/156/16Health service settings are increasingly installing digital devices to enable people to engage digitally with multiple processes, including automated ‘check-in’, as well as collecting feedback on experiences of care. In addition, policy is increasingly driving digital agendas to promote patient engagement with online services, management of health records and routine monitoring. While this tendency towards widespread digital diffusion has been viewed as a means of enabling greater empowerment of patients and improved responsiveness of services to ‘patient voice’, social scientists have provided critical insights on the use of digital technologies in practice. However, there remains limited understanding of the mechanisms and contexts for digital engagement. In particular, there is a need for further research on the sensory and spatial aspects of engagement that are integral to everyday use (or non-use) of technology in practice. This article reports new insights from detailed qualitative case studies utilising in-depth interviews with patients, carers and staff, in addition to ethnographic observations of different digital modalities and their usage in specific health care contexts. A sociomaterial approach and concepts of affective atmosphere and technogeography are drawn upon to analyse the role of touch and place in the collection of digital feedback in multiple waiting room settings for people with physical and mental health long-term conditions. The findings highlight how barriers to engagement varied by context such as particular concerns about privacy for those with mental health problems and physical and sensory barriers for those with physical impairments. The findings demonstrate how digital inequalities can play out in practice and have implications for the design and development of digital innovations and tackling inequalities that may be associated with implementation of new digital technologies in healthcare

Perbandingan Sintesis antara Senyawa 4’-Nitrokhalkon dan 2,4- Dimetoksi-4’-Nitrokhalkon dengan Bantuan Iradiasi Gelombang Mikro

Chalcone (1,3-diphenylprop-2-en-1-one) is a precursor compound of flavonoids that have two aromatic rings connected by three α, β-unsaturated carbons. Chalcone can be synthesized by the base-catalysed crossed aldol condensation (Claisen-Schmidt) using the reaction between aromatic aldehyde with aryl ketone. In this research, synthesize of 4-nitrochalcone and 2,4-dimethoxy-4’-nitrochalcone compounds with microwave irradiation assistance had been done. 4-nitrochalcone was synthesized from acetophenone and 4’-nitrobenzaldehyde, while 2,4-dimethoxy-4’-nitrochalcone was synthesized from 2,4-dimethoxyacetophenone and 4’-nitrobenzaldehyde. The purity of the synthesis compounds were shown from the data of melting point and thin layer chromatography. Identification of structure was shown from infrared spectral data and proton nuclear magnetic resonance. From the obtained results, 4-nitrochalcone and 2,4-dimethoxy-4’-nitrochalcone compounds can be synthesized by microwave irradiation assistance. The yield of 4’-nitrochalcone was 58.19%, while 2,4-dimethoxy-4’-nitrochalcone was 19.07%. The effect of methoxy groups (-OCH3) on acetophenoe ease the reaction of the formation of chalcone compounds in terms of yield of the synthesis product

Association between sleep quality and type 2 diabetes at 20-year follow-up in the Southall and Brent REvisited (SABRE) cohort: a triethnic analysis.

BACKGROUND: The risk of developing type 2 diabetes associated with poor sleep quality is comparable to other lifestyle factors (eg, overweight, physical inactivity). In the UK, these risk factors could not explain the two to three-fold excess risks in South-Asian and African-Caribbean men compared with Europeans. This study investigates (1) the association between mid-life sleep quality and later-life type 2 diabetes risk and (2) the potential modifying effect of ethnicity. METHODS: The Southall and Brent REvisited cohort is composed of Europeans, South-Asians and African-Caribbeans (median follow-up 19 years). Complete-case analysis was performed on 2189 participants without diabetes at baseline (age=51.7±7 SD). Competing risks regressions were used to estimate the HRs of developing diabetes associated with self-reported baseline sleep (difficulty falling asleep, early morning waking, waking up tired, snoring and a composite sleep score), adjusting for confounders. Modifying effects of ethnicity were analysed by conducting interaction tests and ethnicity-stratified analyses. RESULTS: There were 484 occurrences of incident type 2 diabetes (22%). Overall, there were no associations between sleep exposures and diabetes risk. Interaction tests suggested a possible modifying effect for South-Asians compared with Europeans for snoring only (p=0.056). The ethnicity-stratified analysis found an association with snoring among South-Asians (HR 1.41, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.85), comparing those who snored often/always versus occasionally/never. There were no elevated risks for the other sleep exposures. CONCLUSION: The association between snoring and type 2 diabetes appeared to be modified by ethnicity, and was strongest in South-Asians

How are trainees in clinical microbiology and infectious diseases supervised in Europe? An international cross-sectional questionnaire survey by the Trainee Association of ESCMID

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Undescended testis: 513 patients’ characteristics, age at orchidopexy and patterns of referral

10.1136/archdischild-2013-305225Archives of Disease in Childhood995401-40

The genomic road to invasion - examining the similarities and differences in the genomes of associated oral pre-cancer and cancer samples.

Background: It is frequently assumed that pre-invasive lesions are simpler precursors of cancer, and will contain a limited subset of the genomic changes seen in their associated invasive disease. Driver mutations are thought to occur early, but it is not known how many of these are present in pre-invasive lesions. These assumptions need to be tested with the increasing focus on both personalised cancer treatments, and early detection methodologies. Methods: We examined genomic copy number changes in 256 pre-invasive and invasive samples from 69 oral cancer patients. Forty-eight samples from 16 patients were further examined using exome sequencing. Results: Evidence of a shared ancestor of both dysplasia and carcinoma was seen in all but one patient. One third of dysplasias showed independent copy number events. The remainder had a similar or simpler copy number pattern to the carcinoma. All dysplasias examined contained somatic mutations absent in the related carcinoma. Previously observed copy number changes and TP53 mutations were very frequently observed, and almost always shared between dysplasia and carcinoma. Other gene changes were more sporadic. Pathway analysis confirmed that each patient’s disease developed in a different way. Examining the numbers of shared mutations, and the rate of accumulation of mutations showed evidence that all samples contain a population of sub-clones, with little evidence of selective advantage of a subset of these. Conclusions: These findings suggest that most of the genomic changes driving oral cancer occur in the pre-cancerous state by way of gradual random accumulation rather than a dramatic single event

Examining the impacts of individual lot stormwater detention in a housing estate

This paper describes the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) simulations of three individual lot stormwater detention systems under the car porches of houses. These three systems consist of ready-made modular units presumably fitted under 49 m2 car porches of 204 double-story terrace houses. The 37,032 m2 housing estate is calculated to have 75% of land covered with houses, 25% with roads and other infrastructures. The housing estate was subjected to 5-minute, 10-year Average Recurrent Interval (ARI) short-duration design rainfall. The model predicted that all three systems could reduce the peak runoff at outfall from 2.79 to 0.38 m3/s. It indicated that any of the system could cause 86% reduction of the runoff for the whole housing estate. In order to differentiate the performance of the three systems, the housing lot was further investigated. When Type 1 system (1.15 m high with 49 m3 per lot) was analysed by the SWMM model, only 8% of its storage volume was filled that highlights an over design. Type 2 system (0.3 m high with 6 m3 per lot) modelled at 84% while Type 3 system (0.3 m high with 9 m3 per lot), at 54%. The difference in heights between the systems explained the low percentage of filling for the Type 1 system. Comparing Type 2 and Type 3, concrete structure within Type 3 had only half of its volume filled. In this light, the Type 2 system made of polyethylene pieces was found the most efficient in lowering post-development peak runoff