A qualitative investigation of the impact of peer to peer online support for women living with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Background: Polycystic Ovary Syndrome is a common, chronic condition which affects women living with the condition both physically and psychologically. Social support may be beneficial to sufferers in coping with chronic conditions and the Internet is becoming a common place for accessing social support and information. The aim of this study was to consider the experiences of women living with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome who access and participate in an online support group discussion forum dedicated to issues surrounding this condition. Methods: Fifty participants responded to a series of open-ended questions via an online survey. Results: Thematic analysis revealed a number of empowering and disempowering experiences associated with online support group participation. The empowering processes reported by members of the group included: Connecting with others who understand; Access to information and advice; Interaction with healthcare professionals; Treatment-related decision making; Improved adjustment and management. In terms disempowering processes, only two were described by group participants: Reading about the negative experiences of others and Feeling like an outsider. Conclusions: For women living with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, participation within an online support group may help to empower them in a range of important ways however, there may be some disempowering consequences

Long memory estimation for complex-valued time series

Long memory has been observed for time series across a multitude of fields and the accurate estimation of such dependence, e.g. via the Hurst exponent, is crucial for the modelling and prediction of many dynamic systems of interest. Many physical processes (such as wind data), are more naturally expressed as a complex-valued time series to represent magnitude and phase information (wind speed and direction). With data collection ubiquitously unreliable, irregular sampling or missingness is also commonplace and can cause bias in a range of analysis tasks, including Hurst estimation. This article proposes a new Hurst exponent estimation technique for complex-valued persistent data sampled with potential irregularity. Our approach is justified through establishing attractive theoretical properties of a new complex-valued wavelet lifting transform, also introduced in this paper. We demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed estimation method through simulations across a range of sampling scenarios and complex- and real-valued persistent processes. For wind data, our method highlights that inclusion of the intrinsic correlations between the real and imaginary data, inherent in our complex-valued approach, can produce different persistence estimates than when using real-valued analysis. Such analysis could then support alternative modelling or policy decisions compared with conclusions based on real-valued estimation

The Relation Between Noise Induced Hearing Loss and Years of Service Among Workers of a Paper Factory

IntroductionThis study planned to investigate the occurrence time of noise induced hearing loss (NRHL) among workers in a loud work environment.Material and MethodsFor this study, the data of 70 workers who work in different departments of a paper factory was examined retrospectively. Workers were allocated in two groups as A (environment’s noise level is under 80 dB) and B (over 85 dB) according to their departments’ noise level. The workers with noise induced hearing loss were determined with the last Pure Tone Audiogram results.ResultsThe median age was 36.98 of 70 workers included 2 females and 68 males. 15 workers with hearing loss were determined. Group B showed twice as many hearing loss results compared to the group A (5 in A and 10 in B groups), however, these results were not found to be statistically significant (p: 0.244). In the examination of the number of workers with noise induced hearing loss distributed by the years spent in this workplace, 14 of the workers who have been working in the factory over 10 years had hearing loss while only 1 worker in the group with up to 10 years of experience was affected. The difference of this distribution was statistically significant (p: 0.002).ConclusionThe data of this study shows that there is a positive correlation between hearing loss incidence and years of service in a loud workplace. Particularly, individuals with over 10 years of experience show distinctive increase of hearing loss. Years spent in a loud workplace and accordingly, the amount of time being exposed to loud noise, increase the noise induced hearing loss

Ranking Web Design Firms with the ORESTE Method

Developing a website, creating an online presence and a brand image are difficult for the companies because of requiring research, thought and time. One of the ways to overcome this difficulty is hiring a web design firm. There are many web design firms in the market and it is critical to determine which one best meets a company's needs. In this paper one of the MCDM (Multi Criteria Decision Making) techniques, called ORESTE (Organization, Rangement Et Synthese De Donnes Relationnelles), has been applied to the selection of web design firm. This method is simple and does not require the quantification of criteria weights and alternatives, rather only their ordinal rankings. The application has demonstrated that the ORESTE method provides a structured, rational and consistent approach to complex decision problems